A riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma, and covered in nonsense. These masters of infiltration and sabotage have long been my favourite of Legions, be it for their subtle ploys and realistic spy tactics, or their occasional descents into outright memery and trolling. Let’s take a look at what they’re capable of in the new edition.

Legion Trait - Lies and Obfuscation

In the first edition of the game, the 20th could pick one of several universal special rules to give to their units before each battle. While this made them adaptable (particularly for tournaments where you’re otherwise unable to change your list), this also left their rules feeling somewhat plain and uninspiring. Fortunately, Heresy 2.0 is gonna change that:

How to completely screw with your enemy’s perception in one fun little rule. A 2" difference may not sound like much, but it makes so many things so much harder for your opponent to do. A 7" charge (the average for a 2d6 roll) normally has more than a 58% of chance going off. Alpha Legion more than halve that to 28%. Got Salamanders training meltaguns on your tanks? They’re gonna need to get within 4" to use that Armourbane. The 20th can now debuff their opponents at nearly every turn by being just that little bit further away than they expect. This rule finally (and ironically) gives the Alpha Legion an identity. Now, there is one other little part to the Alpha Legion’s base rules…

The Rewards of Treachery

Once the main gimmick of an AL Rite of War, we now get it for free!

That’s a lot of words to say; pick another legion’s special unit, swap out its Legion Trait for yours, and stick it in your army. This option opens up so many modeling, painting, and gameplay options for the Legion. Try looking to units who benefit more from their datasheet than their Legion Rules (like ‘shooty’ units in ‘melee’ legions, or vice versa), and you may be able to use them better then their parent legions. Stolen Interemptors, Grave Wardens, Pyroclasts and Dark Furies are a few options I’m particularly interested by.

A Subtle Panoply - The Armoury of the Alpha Legion

The Alpha Legion specific wargear is an odd set, they’re definitely useful where they show up on our special units and characters, but I wouldn’t call them an auto-take in other places.

• Power Daggers, S3 Ap3 power weapons with Breaching(5+) and Sudden Strike(1), these are cheap 5pt upgrades for your characters to surprise your enemy with, they make good companions to power axes/fists in mirror-match challenges as you can risk trying to get the kill first with the weaker dagger.
• Banestrike Bolters/Combi-Bolters, shorter range S5 Ap4 bolters with Breaching(6+), these can be taken by Seeker and Veteran squads, and are the standard wargear for our Headhunters. Definitely improved from the last edition. We also share these with the Sons of Horus.
• Venom Spheres, one-use Assault 6 Poison grenades. Every one of our unique units and characters comes with at least one, but I’m not sure I’d pay for them anywhere else.

Saboteur Consul

Our unique consul option returns, and I’m not sure to make of him. For a cheap 15pt upgrade your centurion picks up Infiltrate, Scout, Melta bombs, Breacher charges, Shroud bombs, and his special rule False Flags - as long as he hasn’t shot or charged in the game, then he can’t be shot at either. However, he can’t join any units other than Seekers or Headhunters, and you don’t get the False Flags rules if you do. This makes him a bit of a lone wolf, glass cannon. I guess give him a combi-melta and send him on a suicide mission vehicle hunting, but if you’re looking at that sniper rifle option, I’d just take a Vigilator or Exodus instead.

Unique Reaction - Smoke and Mirrors

Used in the enemy shooting phase, this one use reaction allows your unit to redeploy 12" away (though you then scatter D6") before the shooting hits you. You could use this to move yourself into cover, or onto an objective, move out of rapid fire range, or even leave range/line-of-sight of the firing unit entirely, in which case your opponent can’t re-target and wastes those shots! Perfect for baiting out some dangerous shooting (if there’s solid cover/LoS blocking terrain nearby), outmaneuvering your opponent at a key moment.

Warlord Traits

The XXth have three very different warlord traits that all function very differently.

The Mobius Configuration (Loyalist Only)

This is a weird one. Functioning almost more like a mini Rite of War, you can take an Allied Detachment of any Legion and count them as Fellow Warriors. However, these are not treasured allies, but simply pawns in your game. Not only can your opponent not score any victory points when these allied units die, but you actually gain +1 victory point if they’re all dead at the end of the game. In addition, these allied units can’t use reactions, but the first AL unit to use a reaction each turn gets to use it for free. Enjoy the benefits of playing both sides against each other.

Master of Lies

A simpler trait here, but still an incredibly useful one. After everything’s been deployed (including infiltrators and scouts), you can redeploy up to three of your units. Shift from a balanced line to overloading a single flank, pull your tanks out of the way of enemy melta weapons, and generally set the starting battlefield to your advantage. You also gain an additional reaction in the movement phase.

Hydran Excursor

The most directly buffing of the three. At the start of the battle, pick a particular space marine legion (so remember that this trait becomes less useful if multiple enemy legions are present, and completely useless if you’re not fighting marines), and your Warlord and his unit gain +1 to hit against them in both melee and shooting. A really great buff, particularly when used with high WS units stolen with Rewards of Treason. 10 Justaerins and a Praetor hitting on 2’s anyone? You also get an additional shooting phase reaction, perfect for use with Smoke and Mirrors.

Rites of War

As most legions do, the Alpha Legion have just two Rites of War. The Coils of the Hydra expands on the Rewards of Treason while Headhunter Leviathal encourages you to cut the head off your enemy.

Coils of the Hydra

Upsides:

• Whatever unit you pick with Rewards of Treason, you can take 3 of. Want 30 Firedrakes without having to play Salamanders? Now you can.
• Your Rewards of Treason units have Fearless until their reinforcements turn up.
• All the rest of your units gain a +1 to hit on the turn they enter the battlefield.

Downsides:

• All your Rewards units have to start on the table. No deepstrike, no outflank, no nothin’.
• All your non-Rewards units? They ALL have to start in reserve.

This Rite of War really forces a certain game plan onto you, and I’m not sure I’m a fan of how it does it. Sure, you get 3 lots of whichever unit you’ve stolen from another Legion, but they’d better be pretty tanky as they’re the only targets your opponent has to deal with turn one. Putting them in transports can mitigate this somewhat, but I’d suggest hunkering down and waiting for the cavalry to arrive.

Headhunter Leviathal

Upsides:

• Headhunters can be taken as Troops and Fast Attack choices.
• If the Slay the Warlord Secondary Objective is being used, you gain an extra +2 Victory points if you score it.
• During the first game turn all AL infantry has Shrouded(5+) when more than 12" away from the enemy.

Downsides:

• All your vehicles have to start in reserves.
• You must have more Fast Attack than Heavy Support choices.

A Rite all about going for the throat; take several units of Headhunters and… well… hunt the head of the enemy army for those bonus victory points, while also getting a solid turn 1 defensive buff. Still, be warned that you’re gonna still need to bring some regular Troops choices as the Headhunters don’t gain the line keyword. This Rite also encourages you to leave your tanks and transports at home, so make up your firepower deficit with heavy support squads and combi-weapons wherever you can put them.

Legion-Specific Units

Alpharius

The first and the last, the Alpha and the Omega. Alpharius is no slouch in combat (though he does come up short when compared to his brothers), between the armourbane and instant death of his Pale Spear, and his unique plasma blaster the Hydra’s Spite, he can do the work against multi-wound infantry, Automata, and vehicles alike. However, where his talents really lie are in buffing the rest of your army. These are such a big part of his value (and his points cost) that I’m gonna cover the three parts individually:

Sire of the Alpha Legion

2 parts to this one, the first pretty much just being the Master of Lies Warlord Trait again - Redeploy three units. It’s a good trait that you basically don’t miss out on due to taking the Primarch. The second part is the bonus reaction all warlord traits give, however, Alpharius gets a bit more flexibility than most. At the start of your opponent’s turn, you can pick which phase you want to have the extra reaction in. Expect a lot of incoming charges this turn? Pick the Assault phase.

Everywhere and Nowhere

This rule as it currently stands is frankly amazing, but I could very well see it being FAQ’d due to its particular… shenanigans. Before deployment starts, Alpharius can choose to have 1 of 3 rules: Infiltrate, Scout, or Deep Strike. He then gives up to 3 AL units the same rule. You’re thinking, hey, that’s great! Alpharius gets some good deployment options and allows you to bring a good chunk of your army with him. But there’s one detail (or rather lack of) about this rule.

It has no restrictions on which of your units you can pick.

According to this rule, you could have Alpharius grant deepstrike to full Dreadnought talons, whole tank squadrons, even superheavies. All they need is the Legiones Astartes (Alpha Legion) rule, and you can do it. Want to drop a Primarch + 3 Leviathan Dreadnoughts (without needing pods) into your enemy’s line and immediately charge? You can. And you’ll still have 2 picks left to give Deep Strike to. I don’t know whether this was intentional or not on GW’s part, but if it stays, whoo boy there’s gonna be some fun plays to be made here.

Insidious Mastermind

Finally, something to buff almost the whole of the army. At the start of any of your turns, as long as Alpharius is on the table (or in a transport), you can give 1 of 3 special rules to all non-vehicles in the army that last until the start of your next turn; Fleet(2), Preferred Enemy(Everything), or Sudden Strike(1). Use Fleet to ensure you can get where you need to go when you absolutely have to. Use Sudden Strike when you’re about to make a lot of charges to hit first. And use Preferred Enemy (Everything) when you have the opportunity to deal maximum damage. The caveat? You can only use each once. The days of always on PE(Everything) are sadly over¹, but we still have it when we need, as well as some extra utility.

Armillus Dynat

Our named Praetor option, Dynat makes for a good warlord and combat character, functioning somewhat as a lesser Alpharius. The main reason I say that is his warlord trait: you can pick up to 3 Alpha Legion Infantry and give them Infiltrate, Scout, or Counter Attack(1), as well as an additional movement phase reaction. Want the Mutable Tactics of last edition back somewhat, but don’t want to bring the Primarch? Dynat’s your boy. He also brings an interesting set of wargear; a venom sphere, a phosphex bomb, and his unique paired sword and hammer. The Prince and The Prophet as they are named are a standard power sword, and a S9 non-brutal non-specialist-weapon Thunder Hammer respectively. The twist is that Dynat is able to split his attacks between the 2 weapons, and, as long as he connects with one hit of his sword, he gets an extra attack with his hammer.

Exodus

The greatest sniper of the Legiones Astartes is finally worthy of his title. A bit of a lone wolf, he can’t be a compulsory HQ, or Warlord, or join any unit except Recon Squads or Headhunters. This guy can get anyplace he needs to, starting the game in either any piece of area terrain, or anywhere more than 9" from the enemy². An expert shot, he says fuck you to Night Fighting, Shroud Bombs, or anything else that would otherwise prevent him from firing normally (no Shrouded against him either). But let’s talk about what he’s actually firing with: The Instrument. Its short range Rapid Shot mode is 3 shots S7 Ap2 with Sunder and Pinning at a low 24", not bad for nailing 2+ save models or light vehicles. The Execution Shot is what he’s really here for; a single S7 Ap1 shot with Sniper, Sunder, Pinning, and if he’s been sitting still, Brutal(2). Apothecary? Blam! Tooled up, artificer armoured sergeant? Blam! Non-Termie Centurion? BLAM!

Lernaen Terminators

Oof… Our Elite terminators have taken a bit of a hit this edition I’m afraid, though they still definitely have their uses. We’ve lost a point of WS but like all terminators are up to 2 wounds (even 3 on the Harrower). We’ve still got Stubborn, we’re the only terminators to still be scoring, and have picked up It Will Not Die (5+) and the rule Hydran Exemplars - same as the Hydran Excursor warlord trait as long as there’s nothing but Lernaens in the unit. A +1 to hit is a little more useful than WS5 under certain circumstances (and at least our shooting benefits too), but the change makes us noticeably less tanky in melee with the new WS to-hit chart. Standard equipment is still power axes and volkite chargers, but for some reason we pay an extra 5pt premium for power/chainfists over other terminator units. Fun heavy weapon options do remain, our conversion beamer is a good shout for the objective holding role I think they’ve tried to gear Lernaens towards, or if you want more Choom we can now take volkite culverins.

Headhunter Kill Team

Brighter news however for the Headhunters. Somewhat anemic in the last edition, always in the shadow of just taking Seeker Squads, they now have some real utility. These shadowy assassins come with the new and improved banestrike combi-bolters and power daggers, meaning they can handle 2+ and 3+ armour well as long as you’re rolling hot enough. Like Seekers, they have BS5, Precision Shots(4+) and Infiltrate, but have also got Scout, Relentless, and Preferred Enemy(Independent Characters). They finally fit their name, being the perfect unit for shooting at whoever has the balls to take up an HQ slot. Equipment-wise they get combi-weapons cheaper than anybody else, and 1 can trade for a heavy bolter or multi-melta. Consider tooling up an all-melta squad (the Prime can even steal an inferno pistol off some distracted Blood Angels) and go for some sneaky vehicle hunting. Or run them regular, and take out sergeants, apothecaries, and other characters with guns that hit like breaching Heavy bolters, before charging in, knives in hand.

And there we have it - the Alpha Legion of the new edition. All in all, I’m pretty happy with the changes. We’ve gained an actual Legion Trait rather than just a pick and mix from the USRs, our adaptability has been retained in our special characters and warlord traits, and a few places where our rules caused feels bad moments³ they’ve been changed. FYI, the lack of pics in this article is because I currently don’t have access to my Alpha Legion. I’m looking forward to getting a lot of games in after the summer with my sneaky boys, as well as planning lots of fun shenanigans for Alpharius and his deep strike gang.

Hydra Dominatus!