Brotherhood and Betrayal Pt 1

Welcome back.

We are not leaving the 30K universe just yet, but are switching focus away from the Death Guard.

Most of the (few) Heresy games I get to play are with 2 other players. While we occasionally adjust points values to even up the sides (e.g. one 2000pt army vs two 1000pt armies) more often than not we play a free for all, everyone against everyone. This has proven to be a less than streamlined experience as the rules are really written for one on one play.

When we came across the Triumph and Treachery rules, specifically written for multi-player games, it piqued our interest. The rules are definitely more ‘beer and pretzels’ than tournament style and mostly introduce random elements and more opportunities to surprise you and your opponents.

The rules are fairly straightforward:

  1. The only real multi-player rule is that, in any given phase, you can only interact with one opponent

    • This takes a little getting use to but forces you to assess the biggest threat each phase (and eliminates a lot of the rules issues around multiple people trying to interact at the same time, and frankly, just streamlines the game play)

  2. Next, it introduces a random turn order

    • On the edges, this means you may get 2 turns back to back or have everyone else go twice before you

    • But it does create some fun tension as you tentatively turn the card to see who goes next - will it be you and you can pull off your brilliant strategy or will it be your opponent who might disrupt everything

  3. Victory tokens are introduced as a replacement for victory conditions.

    • For every unit destroyed, the victor receives tokens to represent the point value of said unit

  4. Each player also has a hand of cards that either grant them a benefit or causing an impediment to their opponents

    • Some cards can be played at anytime, in any phase, on any players turn, others have more proscribed uses. While most cards can be played for free, some require spending precious victory tokens

    • Again, they just add a level of interest and fun. Usually they have a minimal impact on the outcome and add a bit of color/fluff to the proceedings. But every once and a while they can play a pivotal role - like when I was preparing to wipe out a unit of deep striking Terminators that appeared in my back ranks then my opponent played a card that prevented me from targeting him.

  5. Finally, the mercenary rules allow you to field units from another army (up to 20% of your force). But those units can turn on you if they are routed or may sit a round out if enough cash (aka victory tokens) change hands

    • Obviously, you could just take an allied contingent, but the mercenary rules are more flexible, allowing you to take any model from any army so long as there is one character model

    • You can also convert points into victory tokens if you want to play at a point disadvantage.

Triumph and Treachery.jpg

Now, as you'll note from the pictures, there was one complication - this supplement was designed for the old WHFB.

Fortunately, most of the rules were easily transferable (e.g. a +1 WS works in both systems just fine) and where the rules don't apply (e.g. magic) there was a 30K comparable (e.g. pyskics). So most of the changes were cosmetic.

I updated all the turn order cards to reflect Horus Heresy forces.

I updated all treachery card imgary to match the red book visual style and updated the flavor text.

Lastly I replaced the money tokens, something Space Marines would care little for, with something they would - glory and honor! Thought this worked well as it would be something Maries would strive to earn, commanders might actually use to motivate or sway troups and would work for both loyalist and traitor forces.

In addition, we also added a few House rules

  1. Though the intent is to use the tokens in place of the scenario victory conditions, we often use both victory tokens and victory points (at a conversion of 200 tokens for 1 victory point)

  2. For the Mercenary’s rule, we allow players to take units from their own army and allowed reserve deployment (where is doesn’t conflict with any unit/legion rules). The idea actually plays very well in Horus Heresy, where every legion:

    • had Marines that secretly sided with enemy, lurking in their ranks

    • included loyal (or traitor) Marines from other, oppositely declared, legions

    • had Marines who were conflict over who the enemy was

    • had Marines mortified to find themselves fighting against their former brothers

Next up we’ll look at some of the component designs and producing the final pieces.

For the Emperor and Mortarion Pt 5

Welcome to the final update on the 30K Death Guard Horus Heresy army. I hope you’ve enjoyed this somewhat abbreviated journey.

My final Forgeworld order had arrived adding a Spartan (along with the Death Guard legion doors) for a bit of punching power and transport capability.

In terms of assembly, there were the usual challenges when working with a large resin kit. There was a fair bit of hot water dipping to straighten various pieces. The tracks required a good deal of sanding and I’ll need to go back with some gap filler once the man cave is up and running. But, all in all, the kit went together fairly well.

I, of course, added a few magnets for the weapon sponsons and in the copula. While that would allow me to swamp weapons, given the limited options on the Spartan, it was more just to make transport easier.

I also added another 5 Grave Wardens Terminators - warriors from Typhon’s own company, specially equipped Cataphractii suits armed with horrific alchemical weaponry. I can now have 10 Grave Warden lead by Typhon all in a Spartan for a serious Death Star (is that still a thing?), of course at whooping 1,000pts.

And finally, here is the completed Death Guard army.

Well, that’s it for the army so far. Its a pretty solid mix of units and allows for a few different options on tabletop, from ‘sit back and shoot’ with missile launchers and artillery to a very assaulty force with Meltaguns, Terminators and the Spartan. The Leviathan can be used in either option, with either a ranged or assault load-out.

No plans to expand the army at this point though I would eventually like to get a Rhino for the Tactical Support squad, a Moritat with a jump Assault Squad and, of course, the big man, Mortarion, himself.

I hope this has been an interesting look into one of GWs non-Core games. Again, I’d highly recommend checking out Horus Heresy if you have any interest in the Space Marines. The wealth of legion specific units, models and rules grant a richer more thematic experience and new level of Space Marine play. And in combination with the accompanying lore, it builds up the 40K back story in more hand-ons manner, beyond simply reading the stories (as good as they are).

Next up is a look at the Triumph and Treachery reskin.

For the Emperor and Mortarion Pt 4

Continuing on with our look at 30K Death Guard. Just a short post this time.

I had received the second Forgeworld order by this point. Did a big push here and completed the Tactical Squad, added a Heavy Support squad with Missile Launchers. I also built my leader, Calas Typhon, First Captain, first to fall to Chaos, soon to become Typhus the Traveler, Host of the Destroyer Hive and Master of the Terminus Est.

I opted to build Typhon stock, using the bare head (the only one I plan to have in the army)

Having most of the HQ and troops completed by now, wanted to add a few things that would pack a little more of a punch. First, was the Leviathan dreadnaught. This is a stellar model, truly a massive presence on the battlefield.

As I’ve done with previous projects I magnetized the arms to allow for different weapon configurations
(in fact, all the weapon options)

As a bonus, here are a few images from a recent game vs the Night Lords and Space Wolves. Despite a strong start, Leman Russ, the Primarch himself, deigned to descend and wipe the board with me. Its a bit of a sea of grey, but plan to make these guys my first airbrush project.

Next post will see the Death Guard in all their glory

For the Emperor and Mortarion Pt 3

Welcome back! We’ll be continuing our look at the 30K Death Guard army.

In Horus Heresy, your HQ choices mostly consist of a Praetor (aka Chapter Master, Lord Commander) and Centurions (aka Detachment commanders, Lt Commanders). What makes things interesting, is that Centurions can be upgraded to Consuls, warriors with specialized roles within the legion. There are, at least, 12 different kinds, plus some Legion specific ones. Some Consuls will be familiar to any 40K player (e.g. Librarian, Chaplain, Legion Champion - aka Emperor’s Champion, Forge Lord - similar to a Tech Marine). Others, such as a Praevian, Master of Signals, Siege Breaker, Herald, Delagutus, Moritat or Vigilator have fallen out of use by the 41st millennium. But in Horus Heresy, they add a host of new abilities to your army.

The Legion Champion is chosen from the finest fighters in the legion, has access to the best weaponry and is normally tasked with slaying the mightiest warriors of the enemy.

I’ve included the original GW model for comparison.

  • I gave him the Anvilus Class backpack (also kinda liked that of all the legions, the Death Guard wouldn’t care about their increased radiation)

  • I swapped the head with Callus Typon’s helmeted head (as I’d using the bare head for Typhon himself)

  • I replaced the Power Sword with a more fitting Power Scythe - getting the arms and hands into a position that mimicked the pose of the original model was no easy feat!

  • Most difficult, was replacing the left leg to match the right - oddly, the original model has a MKIII leg and a MKIV leg (and as mentioned in previous posts, I wanted the army to be entirely MKIII)

I also added a Master of Signals and a Siege Breaker.

The Master of Signals links the front-line marines with their support elements and is capable of calling in orbital bombardments and improving marines targeting capabilities.

I again had to try and make a MKIII version as the Forgeworld model is in MKIV armor. Similar to the Apothecary, I carefully cut off as many bits from the original model (head, pouches, antennae) and glued them onto a MKIII body.

Finally the Siege Breaker. They lay waste to large strategic targets, lay siege to fortifications and lead armored spearheads. They give units an extra punch against vehicles and buildings and grant access to certain forbidden weaponry.

Forgeworld only makes a Siege Breaker in Terminator Armour (and then it was a special Events Day fig) so needed to make one in MKIII. Again, I dipped into my Iron Hands bits to find a suitably imposing head and backpack, converted up a combi-bolter/grenade launcher, and gave him the customary badge of honour, a Thunderhammer.

Hope you enjoyed this look at the HQ units and will continue next post with even heavier hitters.

For the Emperor and Mortarion Pt 2

Welcome back to this side trip into the Horus Heresy. In this post we’ll see the burgeoning Death Guard army grow into a proper fighting force.

A few caveats

First, last post saw the army in its infancy - not really playable. The next few posts will see the army quickly grow to ~3000pts - a mere trick of the internet. It really represents a couple of years of work.

Second, while this army has a fair bit of resin, it is entirely possible to play Horus Heresy without purchasing anything from Forgeworld. GW makes the basic units in plastic: HQs, MKIII and MK IV Troops, Cataphractii and Tartaros pattern Terminators and a Contemptor Dreadnought. If you are willing dip into the 40K range for vehicles and to do some simple conversions you can field most units.

That said, if you want to lean into the theme of your legion (e.g. Death Guard Power Scythes), use the actual 30K models for characters, speciality units or vehicles or get access to some of the harder to ‘counts-as’ models (e.g. Deredeo or Leviathan Dreadnoughts) you will need to pay up.

Last post the army had the beginnings of a Tactical and a Breacher squad, a 5 man Grave Warden Terminator squad, a converted Legion Champion, an Apothecary and 3 Quad Launchers.

I then added more Tactical marines in the form of a 5 man Tactical Support Squad with meltaguns.

In Heresy, Tactical marines have no special or heavy weapons options. Instead you can have dedicated special weapon or heavy weapon squads.

When determining what weapons to use, I followed Mortarian’s teachings -
“there is nothing that cannot be accomplished with a Bolter, Flamer and Meltagun.”

I also completed the Breacher squad, bringing them up to the 10 man minimum and added Sergeants to each squad.

I used the (now discontinued) Forgeworld Death Guard torsos and heads, the Andilus Backpacks and Power Scythes. The Death Guard can purchase Power Scythes (+1 St, -1 In, AP2 and +1 attack for each model in base contact) at the cost of a Power Fist.

I debated on how to best use the torsos, heads and backpacks - e.g. use them for every Death Guard, or interspersed them through-out the army, but eventually decided they would be mark of seniority among the legion and would only used them for Sergeants and other notable models.

I also completed the second Apothecary. My first Apothecary model was more or less the stock FW one.

But the other FW model is in MKIV armor (and as previously mentioned I only wanted MKII or III armor) so needed to convert/create a new Apothecary in MKIII armor.

So I hacked off as many tubes, vials and containers as I could from the original model and, along with the arms, combined them with parts from an Iron Hands Legion squad (which I picked up to use as bits). I think he looks, aside from fairly menacing, quite like a veteran Apothecary (minus the tabard).

Next up a look at some of the special characters.

For the Emperor and Mortarion Pt 1

Several years ago some friends tried to get me into Horus Heresy.

Horus Heresy

Playing both 40K and WHFB (and Warmachine and X-Wing), I wasn't looking for a new game, and one primarily dedicated to marine on marine action didn't strike me as being particularly exciting.

But, with my hobby drying up (and my miniatures packed away in storage), I gave it a go and found it a remarkably engaging and enjoyable game - what I feared would be a dull conflict between two identical sides turned into a deeper appreciate for the differences between the legions, largely omitted in 40K. With a host of new legion specific units, wargear and rules, I felt I was playing Marines with a whole new perspective.

I borrowed and proxied armies for a year, lamenting the lack of hobby tools/space when finally I broke down and decided to build a stock army - no conversions, just snip and glue - no hobby space required.

As to what army, that was long decided - the 14th legion, the Death Guard.

Death Guard

Having played mostly loyalist forces in 40K, switching sides for 30K seemed obvious. Of the traitor forces, there were a number of contenders: I liked the Sons or Hours and Emperors Children colour schemes, but wasn’t gripped by their backstory. Thousand Sons playstyle didn’t suite me (I had proxied a few games as I liked their imagery). Iron Warriors and World Eaters were too similar to other armies I had and other members of the group already played Night Lords and Alpha Legion.

In the end, it had to be the Death Guard. From a fluff perspective, I liked they always had their own agenda vs following Horus. I liked their relentless, no frills, approach to war, slow grind, use any weapon to achieve their objective. Their play style filled a particular hole amongst my armies - close range shooting, vs gun line or assault. And I liked their colour scheme (and painting a light coloured army would be new). There was also an easy tie into a Nurgle force in 40K, which I always wanted to build.

I'm also quite a fan of the Mk III 'Iron Armor' (which the Death Guard favor) and found I was quite militant about not having any Mk IV in my force. Unfortunately many of the HQ choices are in non-Mk III armor, so ended up converting several of them (so much for no conversions!)

I picked up a Battle of Calth box set (just as GW discontinued it) to get some ‘cheap’ plastic MKIII suits and got the Death Guard shoulder pads from Forgeworld. Also picked up a mix of Imperial Sector and Necromunda bases to allow for some scenic basing options without any hobby space or tools required.

Here is the army in its early days. The five tactical marines. I also got some Breachers, Grave Warden Terminators and the Apothecary/Legion Champion combo. Both the Apothecary and Breachers seemed to fit with Death Guard feel - marching forward, the ‘hardened armour’ of the Breachers shrugging off incoming incoming shells, the ‘feel no pain’ of the Apothecary pushing their unstoppable march forward.

I also dug out some old Thudd Gun’s I had for a Death Corp of Krieg army (it was just a fluke I was able to find these so easily). I thought these would make good Rapier Quad Launchers - they had a little more of that ‘old school’ artillery feel that the actual Rapier Carrier.

Here is a close-up on the first conversion - a Death Guard Legion Champion (next to a friend’s Thousand Sons as we compared our two different takes on this mini) - more on him later.

That’s it for now - next post will continue with the Death Guard as the army grows.