Halleluja!

PRAISED BE!

At the Forge World Weekender this last weekend, they revealed info about the sixth book in the Horus Heresy series. As Moses from Mount Sinai, Garro from the heresy30k forum delivered the news for us. Like Aaron I had been dancing around a golden calf, the calf known as counts-as.

I was planning on writing a post on how I use to field my second legion, but the news from the Weekender made me re-evaluate my army choice. First of all, I am going to expand on my Space Wolf army, but only when the seventh book comes. NO, John the Revelator, NOT the book of the seven seals, but almost as great. Secondly, I’m going to field my Taurii using the blackshields list.

Here is the description of the blackshields, given by Garro.

They are bloody perfect for me. The second legion is more or less destroyed, a war band fighting on any side to gain favour in the eyes of their dead primarch and avenge their fallen brothers. They use whatever equipment they can find, and don’t have the means to fight a protracted galactic war anymore.

So far, I have used the rules for the Imperial Fists. This has given me the opportunity to convert Templars, or Bekhrum Sharruti, and make use of teleporters and awesome duel-mechanics. It fitted the theme I wanted, since I could use the Pride of the legion ROW and engage in furious melee. Lately though, I have felt that it’s kind of wrong to use counts-as, a golden calf if you will, an idol to fill the void of a guiding code. When asked which army I play, I would answer: “Well, it’s a homebrew second legion, but I use the rules for the Imperial Fists.” This made me feel a bit like a power gamer, since the rules of the Fists are pretty damn good.

Aaron! REPENT!

Garro didn’t shatter his rumours from the Weekender like Moses did. Arguably, he didn’t know I was playing counts-as, and I don’t think he would care. Neither is he my brother or patriarch. I threw aside the calf and have now joined the flock of the righteous. Well, I’m still not going to paint my models black, but the vague description of the Blackshields from Forge World says I don’t have to. 

REJOICE!

Here is some more information, though I guess you’ve already read it on heresy30k.

·         is a new version of the legiones astartes rule, and uses the standard legion crusade army list

·         adds +1 to the roll to see who goes first
·         are 'by the emperors/horus's command' allies to legions, and fellow warriors to non-legion army lists
·         may not take praetors, command squads, tactical squads, drop pods, dreadnought drop pods or deathstorm drop pods
·         can't use rites of war, but can use the alternative FoCs.
·         may only take a single consul of any kind
·         must have more vehicles than infantry units
may take one or none of the following collections of rules·         gain FNP(6+) but must pass a leadership test to end the movement phase further away from a visible enemy unit then they started. if test is failed they move D6" towards the closest enemy unit they can see
·         gain +1 leadership and rerolls 1s to hit while within 6" of another friendly blackshield unit, however they may not use the leadership value of other models and suffer D3 casualties if they fail a leadership test in the assault phase in addition to other effects. characters gain preferred enemy instead and can not take chaplains nor ally with other astartes
·         up to half of the  infantry units without a dedicated transport gains deep strike but suffers D3 casualties if mishaps in addition to other effects, may take additional wargear options, characters may take rad grenades, after half of the blackshield units have been killed, each turn after, each unit must pass a leadership test or be removed from play
·         may choose one of the following options but may not take allies
option 1: +1 str, +1 toughness, -1I, -1" to charge range, may not sweeping advance
option 2: +1ws, +1bs, -2ld
option 3: gains fear, fleet and rage, -1bs
option 1: +1 str, +1 toughness, -1I, -1" to charge range, may not sweeping advance option 2: +1ws, +1bs, -2ld option 3: gains fear, fleet and rage, -1bs  option 1: +1 str, +1 toughness, -1I, -1" to charge range, may not sweeping advance option 2: +1ws, +1bs, -2ld option 3: gains fear, fleet and rage, -1bs black shields may take a range of replacement wargear options called 'pariah' each confers a bonus over the original wargear, but has a negative attachment as well.·         pariah power armour: +3 armour save but is reduced to +5 against weapons of str6 or higher and ap4 or worse. but you can run and then fire snap shots with pistol, rapid fire and assault weapons.
·         pariah bolter: assault2, 16" range, but if the unit charges after firing, it counts as disordered.
·         pariah flamer: str 3 flamer, but can be fired with the following extras:str 4, torrent, gets hot. the boosted version cannot be used for overwatch
·         Xenos deathlock:  18" str 5 ap5 assault 2 at the end of the shooting phase, but before morale or pinning tests, any unit which has taken unsaved wounds from this weapon must take a leadership test, with a negative modifier equal to the number of wounds caused. fearless models must still take the test, but count as stubborn. if the test is failed the unit suffers an additional D6 wounds which can be saved normally (still ap5). each squad that fires a xenos deathlock must roll 2d6 at the end of the shooting phase, if they roll lower than the total number of XDL shots fired by the squad, then the unit suffers a single wound with no armour saves allowed. this doesn't count for overwatch.  ·         may take a blackshield reaver lord, basically a speical praetor with different wargear options, all the basics are there, plus the pariah gear and some others, while some 'fancy' praetor gear isn't.
·         black shields have a named character called 'nemean reaver' who is believed to be a former dark angel, may also be taken as a knight errant and replaces his blackshield special rules for the knight errant rules for a price.
·         main basic squad is the 'marauders' 5-20 basic marines with lots of basic options and 1in5 can take special/heavy weapons

Apis be praised, this is amazing! I can actually make a war band with cool and fluffy rules. They will probably not be very great, but the most important thing is that I don’t have to live with the self-inflicted shame of counts-as. I asked Garro about the marauder squad’s options. He answered me, like manna from the sky!

standard marine statline, but with 2 attacks each (sergeant has 3). each starts with a bolt pistol and chainsword or chainaxe

5-20 men, with 1 in 5 taking one of the following·         sniper rifle
·         xenos deathlock
·         flamer or pariah flamer
·         rotor cannon
·         grenade launcher (frag&krak)
·         heavy flamer
·         melta gun
·         plasma gun
·         heavy bolter
·         autocannon
·         missile launcher (frag&krak)
·         multi-melta
·         swap BP for plasma pistol
·         swap BP for hand flamer
·         swap chain weapon for power weapon
any and every model can also take one of these·         lascarbine or autogun
·         astartes shotgun
·         laslock
·         second boltpistol
·         bolter or pariah bolter
·         heavy chainsword
·         lascutter
sergeant can take power fists, lightning claw or thunderhammer and can take a combi-weapon and/or a plasma pistol as additional weapons.the unit gets either power armour or pariah power armour.

This is fantastic. I await the final rules with great anticipation. Until then, walk in the light of Apis. And Garro, if you read this, thank you for the great job of enlightening us humble nerds.



- Olvebanipal