The new Horus Heresy campaign book is available to pre-order today bringing the bloody Thramas Crusade to the tabletop, along with new rules and options for the Dark Angels and Night Lords. It marks the best-ever time to get into The Horus Heresy, so here is our quick guide to starting a force for the I or VIII Legions.
Troops
The backbone of any Age of Darkness army is the Legion Tactical Squad. Not only are they essential for claiming objectives, but they can also put out an impressive amount of firepower with their bolters, especially if they use their Fury of the Legion special rule.* The easiest way to pick up a couple of units of Legion Tactical Space Marines is with the Mark III and Mark IV Space Marines kits.
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These kits contain all of the options for your squad and are also compatible with a number of the weapons kits from Forge World, such as the Umbra Pattern Bolters if you want them to stand out a bit more on the battlefield.
HQ and Elites
Now it’s time to add some flavour to your forces. With the Night Lords, we recommend grabbing another Mark IV Space Marines kit and a Terror Squad upgrade pack. The Terror Squad is great at spreading fear and disrupting your enemy’s plans. To lead the army, take a Praetor armed with a chainglaive and back him up with a Night Raptor squad. With their jump packs, they can quickly advance to sow terror and bring death.
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For the Dark Angels, we’ve gone with something a bit more stoic in the form of a unit of Inner Circle Knights Cenobium. In their Cataphractii Terminator Armour, they can shrug off most incoming fire with ease before cutting down their foes with their Terranic greatswords. Back them up with a Praetor in Terminator Armour, and you have a unit that no-one will want to go near.
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Next Steps
That’s a great start to your army, and from there you can really add in whatever takes your fancy. You really can’t go wrong with more Legion Tactical Squads though – the only question is whether you stick with the same marks of power armour that you already have or add in some Mark V or Mark VI plates.
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A Leviathan Dreadnought is also a great addition. Not only do they look intimidating, but you can choose the weapons loadout to suit the mission that you have in mind for it.
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Then you’re perfectly placed to add in more units as you like, including the Contekar Terminators for the Night Lords and the Deathwing Companions for the Dark Angels, both of which are coming out soon.
There’s just one more thing that your army needs…
Primarchs
Now, you don’t have to include a Primarch in your army, but it seems like a bit of a wasted opportunity if you’re going to battle in the 31st Millennium and not include one of these demi-gods of war. They will absolutely tear through anything you point them at, short of another Primarch.
Plus, what’s more fun than leading your army with some of the greatest warriors that Humanity has ever known, recreating their famous battles and seeing if you could succeed where they couldn’t?
Are you excited about starting your own Dark Angels or Night Lords army? Make sure that you grab a copy of The Horus Heresy Book 9 – Crusade, as it contains all of their army special rules and Legion-specific units.
* Fury of the Legion lets a unit fire all of its bolt weapons twice. It’s really not something you want to be on the receiving end of!