There’s no need for a preamble in this month’s edition of the Legacies of the Age of Darkness series – we’ve got a Daemons of the Ruinstorm army list for you. Let’s turn things over to the guys behind the Warhammer: The Horus Heresy game for more information.
Andy: With the release of the Ruinstorm Daemons army list, we're almost at the end of this current wave of Age of Darkness articles, focusing on the more esoteric forces available to Traitor armies. We've seen Bound Daemons, Corrupted Knights, and Daemon Engines, with one more option to be revealed soon in the final article of this series.
This army list is intended to represent the hordes of unknown entities that assailed the Imperium at various points throughout the Horus Heresy, in particular during the Betrayal at Calth right at the outset, but also as events near their culmination at the Siege of Terra.
Chaos as we know it from the Warhammer 40,000 setting wasn't anywhere near as present or defined in the 31st Millennium as it would become later – readers will note that we don't name the four Chaos Gods, or use such familiar terms as 'Bloodletter’ or 'Daemonette'. This is deliberate, as it helps keep these entities more mysterious and horrifyingly alien. Such Daemons certainly did appear in the Horus Heresy and are described in the Black Library novels as taking part in the carnage, but so too are a range of far less classifiable manifestations, which can all be imagined as the baseline types presented in each unit entry.
One last thing – this list by its very nature exists on the fringes of the setting, and previous editions have pushed the limits of what the game is designed to represent. This iteration has changed significantly from the previous form, making it less extreme and generally more conventional in playstyle. We still recommend limiting its use to narrative or relaxed games rather than matched play against strangers or at more competitive events, but if you do want to field it in such a context, check with the organiser first to get their take on its suitability for their event.
Ben: This army list allows you to take a full army of Ruinstorm Daemons, including an optional Lord of War Detachment in which there are a number of options included, ranging from the Ruinstorm Arch-Daemon to unique characters such as Ka'bandha Unbound and Cor'Bax Utterblight Unbound. This list is intended to represent the roiling and unfocused hordes that spilled from significant breaches in reality. As such, you cannot take an Allied Detachment alongside a Primary Detachment drawn from this army list, nor can you take any units from this list as part of an Allied Detachment.
Daemons summoned into reality to fight alongside the Traitor Legions are the preserve of the Bound Daemons army list found within The Burning of Ohmn-Mat. As noted in the rules presented here, you can still include Daemon units from this army list in your other armies, via a Traitor Legion Esoterist, individuals known to dabble in such proscribed practices.
While writing this army list, we've also taken the opportunity to update some of the previously published rules such as the Ætheric Dominions. This has also been implemented to the previously published Bound Daemons and Daemon Engines rules. As such, you will soon be able to download updated versions of the Exemplary Battles in the Age of Darkness documents for The Burning of Ohmn-Mat and The Depths of Tredecimmia.
Thanks guys! The Daemons of the Ruinstorm army list can be downloaded below:
