Right. About time we got to the Protaganists of the Heresy I suppose. What do mean they’re not? Their father’s name is literally in the title!

As with my last review, please don’t take this as gospel. I’ve been playing a few games with the 16th, but I’m certainly not the most competetive soul, as hopefully it may have been realised now, so this is just as much as judge of character as it is capability on the field.

Legion Trait

It doesn’t hurt to start with the Legion trait.

Its a really solid Legion Trait. All enemy melee strength at a -1 of the first turn of any combat regardless of charge or being charged. This is a really viciously useful trait, allowing the Sons to typically trade well in a combat of equals, or level the playing field with many others. For example, charge your contemptor with Fist into any non-combat dreadnought and you’re laughing on that first turn as it feebly tries to kick you, whilst you’re free to hammer back. Against infantry your dreadnoughts just became even harder to wound, reducing the use of those auto-hit krak grenades too. For your infantry, watch the opponent’s face as you remind them they are on 5’s to wound your tactical marines with their own equivilent, or better yet use 5s to hit and wound vs Legion Officers and Elit unit. With fewer powerfists about too, the chance of running into ‘Instant Death’ weapons in melee is reduced significantly (for turn 1 at least).

For vehicles, doing an additional 3 hits in a ram is useful. But not earth shattering. But again don’t knock the edge it may give you, especially ramming the odd rhino into opponents backline vehicles!

I will say though, its sad to lose a lot of the old tatical benefits to playing Sons of Horus too. The +1BS at close range, and the reroll 1s for reserves were consistently handy, and allowed the Legion synergy to really flow through an army list. The loss of the free hits at I1 is a shame I must say, it was a really nice gimmick that gave the Sons some extra character on the field comapred to their brethren. Theres a lot of synergy in the new rules too, but I can’t help but feel that the slimlining of the legion traits has stolen a bit of character away.

Advanced Reaction

The Legion advanced reaction is a use of the old special rules from the last edition. But rather than benefit from +1BS all the time at 12" its now a once per game shooting reaction. Yay? In all honesty whilst its useful in its own way, this is just ‘Return Fire’ with a +1BS, fantastic if you have close range guns who are actually in close range (like a support melta squad, or Volkite Chargers) but otherwise doesn’t provide any major advantage. One of the better units to actually use this kind of reaction on is a Multi-melta rhino - with the pintle mount counting as defensive, you can now wing a BS5 armourbane shot back at close range!

Warlord Traits

The Sons, like every Legion, have got 3 Warlord traits.

• Traitor: Chosen by the Dark Gods. This is good fun. The whims of the dice and the gods play a big part. But statistically you’re likely to be rolling around with a Strength and Toughness 5 warlord all game. Definitely handy in combat, leaving enemy Legionaries at 6s to wound on the first turn… Course he may also just die, but thats the risk you take with the Gods! Grants the movement reaction too, which arguably is extremely useful in and of itself (more interceptor!).
• Loyalist: Wolf of Luna. +1 Attack in the first turn of combat against any traitor legion force for the warlord and his unit. So not only are you tankier, but you’ll be hitting harder. Another solid trait that really plays nicely with the legion rules and behaviour. It gives an assault reaction too, rather characteristically!
• Either: The Armour of Pride. You’ve become 5th Edition Commissar Yarrick. Kind of. First time the warlord dies, roll leadership. You pass - gets back up with D3 wounds! You fail/they’re killed with ID/they’re removed by a special rule - warlord stays dead. Arguably the weaker of the three traits, and again very reliant on the dice gods. Yes theres a good chance you’ll be staggering backc with some wounds, but there’s always a chance (especially if your warlord in a centurion) that they just drop dead right there for no benefit.

Dark Emissary

Ooh a spooky style consul! This one was definitely designed with the thought of Serghar Targost in mind. The Lodge Master of the Vengeful Spirit and maker of the Lupercii (kinda). The Dark Emissary is in essence an improved Chaplain - the ‘Staff of Dark Authority’ is a neat +1 Strength AP3 beatstick, and murderous strike does add some bite. It also increases the Leadership of all models in 6" for the purposes of morale tests. Pretty nifty. However the meat of the Consul’s rule only works if they are the HQ in an allied detachment - making all Sons of Horus in the detachment Stubborn. For 25pts its an slightly tweaked herald, but whose use is only at its peak when used as an ally.

Situational, but quite the characterful unit.

Equipment

The sons of Horus arsenal stocks two weapons.

Carsoran Power Axe - an at initiative AP3 axe, with breaching 5+. Its a neat weapon, a great alternative to the power sword, and the at initiative value allows you to plant good breaching hits against armoured enemies before they get their powerfists and thunder hammers back. The specialist weapon is a downside though, limited the number of attacks you can reliably get in. Its a small downside though, and on Justaerin or in a Black Reaving Rite with Rage, you can make up the attacks easily. The best bit is, anyone who can take a power weapon can take one of these for the same cost. So a whole command squad, or basic Terminators, with these could be pretty cheap for their output!

Banestrike Bolters - These have gone through a small improvement from last edition. Still the 18" range, and only breaching 6+, they are now strength 5 - so can hit a little harder. For 5pts any Independent Character can take one, or the combi bolter variant. Veterans can take them for 2pts a piece, and seekers can take them for free. On an officer they’re an extra sneaky ranged attack, on veterans they are a nice close range bite. Seekers though would be dropping their far superior Kraken bolters, so not the best choice.

We’ll get round to the absent Reavers…

Rites

The sons have 2 rites of war, no expansion from Last Edition

The Black Reaving

No surprises in this one, the Reaving has stayed very similar to its old form, with a few minor tweaks.

• Any LA (Sons) that charge into a locked combat OR charges a unit that is the target of at least one other charge during the same sub-phase, gains Rage (2). This is a nice change. Gone is the last edition of trying to charge in consecutive turns against the same enemy unit, now just band your squads together and charge in at the same time!
• Reavers can be troops, and gain line as troops. One of the only traitor rites to grant the troops choice line, it actively promotes you taking them in the army, and using them for their best purpose - move fast and claim key targets.
• Justaerin gain deepstrike - not changed from last edition. One of the only ways to give them deepstrike, so a massive benefit. But…
• Must take a master of signal. So thats a 45pt tax, for a unit that does give excellent benefits, but also screws with your own deepstrike. Not helpful, adds to risk. So either you take the risk of units flailing about and deepstrike multiple squads, or you deepstrike just the one unit of terminators and hope it lands on target - suffering all the interceptor… Yeah, not great.
• The force must include more fast attack than heavy support.

The rite is a good one overall, giving your flavourful units line, your terminators deepstrike, and your whole army a nice bit of punch in combat. The downsides though are rather crucial. Firstly you’re now further limited with your heavy support, a category that is already in high competition can now have a maximum of 2 units, and thats if you can spare the points for 3 fast attack units (and some of those aren’t cheap). Furthermore as mentioned the key element of the rites restrictions currently (until errata’d) actively messes with another of the elements. Its certainly characterful for the Sons to somehow be self defeating in their plans, but its really not helpful to planning an effective strategy other than “Lets hope the dice work!”. The biggest issue is the temptation to rely on Reavers, an inflexible, expensive, melee focussed unit, as your troops. But we’ll return to that point later.

The Long March

This one has changed a little since 1st edition.

• All non-vehicle LA units gain +1 movement, but only to basic movement. No bonuses to running, or to charging.
• Cataphractii Terminators, Tartaros Terminators, Justaerin Terminators can all be troops. No line though, so don’t hope to hold any objectives.
• Those terminators all also gain Outflank. Not deepstrike though.
• Must be traitors.
• The army must not include any units with sub-type ‘Heavy’ unless they enter from reserves, or begin embarked in a transport.

I may be missing something here. But as far as Rites go, this is mediocre. You’ve got terminators as troops, faster moving terminators I’ll grant, but terminators who cannot actually score. Furthermore two of those units (the Cataphractii and Justaerin terminators) cannot actually begin on table unless embarked… and they can’t deepstrike as standard! So now if you want to take the heavier terminators you are not only having to pay the points cost for the unit, you are having to pay a further tax for their transport or a warmonger to bring them in. Either that or footslogging in outflank, and hope they can arrive where you need them. The movement benefit has some use, but as it applies to vehicles, and rules as written does not affect jump troops, its actual in game use is small. Honestly it leaves me scratching my head to work out what the point of the rite is, other than if you have a few extra terminators and don’t really want any other rites for your force.

At least the negatives are small?

Units

The sons have a good variety of units on hand… well… they have four, but three use the same statblock.

Justaerin

The elite. Cataphractii clad, with Banestrike Combi-Bolters and Carsoran Axes they still strike as much an image now as they ever had. They are still furious charge, relentless, stubborn, chosen warriors, who can easily shatter opposing terminators on the charge and whose lack of +1S power axes are made up for by their furious charge ability. Their tankier two wound nature now feels slightly less so when everyone is two wounds, but they still can take a few good hits in the right situation. And with WS5, BS5 and 3 attacks base now, they’ll pack a good punch back! They can still take a Multi-Melta for 25pts, and they can all still swap out their banestrike combi-bolters for combi-weapons of various forms. They can also take a variety of power weapons, meaning that overall they remain an incredible flexible unit that can be tooled with to do as needed. Need a hefty anti-tank troop? Multi-Melta and combi-meltas. Want them to shred infantry? Lightning claws and volkite chargers. At WS and BS 5 they can definitely hold their own in combat, which they’ll need to at 275pts base (100pts more than an equivilent 5 man terminator squad). Unlike their more common brethren they may also not take things such as nuncio-voxs, augury scanners or vexillas. (If you’re curious that means they are 20pts more than last edition at base cost, despite losing their scoring ability).

Most egregiously, the Justaerin may only take a Land Raider Proteus or a Dreadclaw drop pod as transport. No Spartan option, and no built in option to deep strike, despite the fact the unit can go up to 12 men strong. Now this was the case too in last edition, but unlike in 1.0, regular terminators can now take a spartan as a dedicated transport. So if you have a squad larger than 5 men you have to make a choice - do you lose a heavy support slot to bring in a spartan for them, pay for a warmonger to gain deepstrike, take the Black Reaving, or risk footslogging them up the field? Unlike last edition theres no option to bring them in with Abaddon, meaning either you’re paying in force org slots, or redesigning the whole army to fit around their use.

Overall the Justies are still a brutally good unit. But they have suffered in this update as well as benefitted. They hit hard, and can tank a good response, but actually getting them into the combat is the expensive part.

Reavers

So reavers have changed a little since last edition. We’ll start with the good:

• 2 wounds! Really nice add on, keeping them in line with the veteran equivilents and making the whole squad that little bit tankier.
• Free Chainaxes. Gone are the days of paying 1pt per chainaxe, these now come standard across the squad. And with the chainaxes now having gained shred, its really brutal.
• Counterattack! Honestly I cannot begin to state how useful this rule make reavers. When combined with the fact that the legion rule, and the Black Reaving can be triggered when charging or being charged, it just becomes less of a panic to need your reavers to charge. These are not 3rd Legion perfectionists, they’re gutterfighters and brawlers, and the rules not better reflect that.
• Still 135pts base. Its worth putting this on the good side, they’re 20pts more than a veteran squad, for the same statline with counter attack and precision shot/strike. Not terrible.

The less good however:

• Lost outflank. This hurts I’m not going to lie. When you’re already restricted on options for entry, losing outflank on a unit described as being all about outflanking and beheading an enemy, just smites a little. Its not the end of the world, but it is a shame when outflanking now allows for charges.
• The loss of bolters/volkite. Where beforehand the Reaver squad was a combat styled Seeker Squad equivilent, it is not made clear that GW wants these as an all out combat unit. Gone is the ability to equip the squad with banestrike bolters, combi-weapons, or volkite chargers. This isn’t a major drain, however it definitely reduces tactical flexibility within the roster, and means that realistically you need multiple squads to perform the same role that Reavers could at low points levels. The combi-weapon loss also hurts their ability to take down more armoured opponents - a bit of nuiscance in the era of the contemptor dreadnought and 2 wound terminators. Interestingly they can however still take the 1 in 5 plasmagun/meltagun/flamer/plasma pistol - all of which are now a bit cheaper.
• 22pts per additonal model. For a squad that can take up to 15 extras, this is now a very expensive investment. Your basic 10 man squad is now 245pts to last editions 210, and thats without power weapon upgrades (which you’ll want a couple of) or artificer armour, or a vexilla, or a plasma gun… Suddenly that 10 man squad is now costing 300pts+ which is way too big an investment in a small scale game, when your opponent has 2 basic tactical squads and a baseline centurion for under the same.
• They are an Elite’s choice now. Adding yet more competition to an already overcrowded part of the force org. And messing with the options for their specialised Rite of War, which was designed around Reavers being a Fast Attack choice.
• Transport. Its a similar rant to the Justaerin. Just like last edition the Reavers can only take a Rhino or Dreadclaw as a transport. However unlike last edition they don’t have outflank to keep the Rhino safe, and the Dreadclaw is no longer an assault vehicle… for a unit thats been retooled to be all about assaults. Time to pay more points for a useful transport! Or do as I do, take a rhino, get out first turn, so you can still get a T2 charge off.

In all honesty I do love Reavers. But they are now more expensive, and more finickity to use in comparison to last edition. The upside is though at 2 wounds a piece, chosen warriors, counter attack, and WS5 they will hit like an absolute truck. You charge the enemy? 4 attacks each with chainxes. They charge you? 4 attacks each with chainaxes. And with precision strike 6+ its surprisingly easy to snipe out enemy vexillas and sergeants without worrying about challenges or your own safety, whilst the WS5 means that non-elite troops will striggle to actually land decent hits. So don’t get me wrong, they are a good unit, but you’re really paying for it, and sacrificing an Elite slot.

Reaver Agressor Squad (Extended)

Pay 165pts for 5 Reavers with Jump Packs? Sounds like a solid deal! Thats 6pts extra per model, a discount from last edition!

What do you mean its 30pts per extra Reaver?

Yup. Same statline, same upgrade options (admittedly a Deepstriking 5 man unit with a meltagun may be hilarious). Its a bone thrown to all the people who had modelled jump pack Reavers and thats fair, just an expensive one at 315 for 10 of them barebones.

It’s another bloody elite slot though.

Chieftain Squad (Explary Battles)

Ooh a HQ choice! Feeling exciting today are we GW?

This is a 125pt 5 man unit of Reavers, armed with banestrike bolters, boarding shields, chainswords and a standard. They’ve lost counter attack, and precision strike/shot, but have gained ‘Kingslayers’ allowing the unit to reroll all 1s to hit in combat with any units containing an independent character or a Primarch, and for any model in a challenge with such an individual to reroll all failed ’to hit’ rolls. They can also be a retinue for a HQ, but only for ‘Master of the Legion’, and if they are the Officer can’t leave. As far as equipment goes they can all take chainaxe’s for 2 points (why wouldn’t you?) or power weapons for 10pts a piece. You can go to a maximum of 10 in the squad…

Oh an the entire unit may take Artificer Armour for 5pts a model.

Its a weird unit I’m not going to lie. Assuming you give them all chainaxes and AA as standard you’ll be paying 185pts for 5 Pseudo-Terminators who are fearless, scoring, and gain some benefits to killing enemy HQs. They have a better shooting output than a basic Reaver Squad (mind you so does a tactical squad), and a slightly worse combat output (because no counter-attack and boarding shields) but in return those boarding shields will work wonders to neuter incoming opponents and commanders. In comparison to a regular command squad though they definitely have some usage, and more than anything add a really great characterful HQ choice for a small scale Sons force.

Just really don’t expect one to actually win vs a primarch!

Characters

HORUS THE WARMASTER

He’s big, he’s bad. He’s the daddy of all this lot. Horus is back revamped and tinkered with for sure. He also has a new ‘Ascended’ Version!

Standard Horus’s statline has certainly changed, seeing an improvement in almost every stat, now rocking in at Strength and Toughness 7, with 7 Wounds, 6 Attacks and an improved BS6. He’s still WS8 too, making him a sod to hit with non-elite units. His equipment has seen some mild buffs - Worldbreaker has gained Brutal (2) and Sunder, at the cost of concussive, whilst the Talon has gained deflagrate in melee, at the cost of disabling strike. The Serpents scales are stil 2+/3++, and he still comes with a cognis signum. He’s lost the ’teleport matrix’, but now has Deep Strike as standard. (Though who’s he’s deepstriking with I haven’t a clue)

Its Horus’ abilities where there’s been the biggest changes. He now has 2 key abilities, and a warlord trait.

Master of War - Once per game you get +1 reaction in every phase.

Master of Weapons - He can split his attacks, nothing can hit him on better than a 4+ regardless of enemy WS.

Sire of the Sons of Horus - All Infantry in the same army regardless of faction gain +1 Leadership, and Stubborn. (Arguably the best ability)

I’m going to say it. This is actually really underwhelming. Seriously so. Its not that these are bad abilities, they definitely help to make him into an absolutely brutal warmachine and a close combat monster. But I can remember reading Horus’ rules in 1.0 and being amazed. Here was a character who could auto-deepstrike himself and his unit without scattering on a turn of the players choice. He made Veterans and Terminators, including Justaerin, troops choices (ergo scoring), could bring down a lance blast from the Vengeful Spirit, gave the whole army Outflank, seized on a 4+ and gained addtional attacks whenever fighting an enemy who was WS4 or less. Horus was the commander. He buffed his forces, made his army fit his way of war, and was still a beast to fight in combat, with disabling strike being able to serious harm an opponent’s staying power.

And all of this was 500 points!

For 100 points more he has arguably lost almost every characterful rule in his arsenal, retaining only his weapons and the ability to buff the army Leadership (which has been improved slightly). I’m going to say it clearly - whilst Horus is good, he has lost all the character in favour of being a beatstick. His changes epitomise the new edition, sleek, slimlined, but lacking in character. And I get it, reactions are the thing, and +1 in every phase can and will decide battles. But somehow it feels hollow compared to his older ruleset, which allowed him to command throughout the battle as opposed to just once per game.

Also. Who the hell is he deepstriking in with? Am I missing a piece of equipment here?

Horus ASCENDED

So you like your Horus ‘Post-Molech’? Well now theres rules!

Ascended Horus costs you 1000pts! And upon paying for it, he immediately becomes even more of a beast.

• His strength, toughness, and wounds all go up by one.
• He gains Feel No Pain 4+ (rare for a primarch at all).
• He gains Rage (3) - bringing him to a base 9 attacks on the charge.

Horus Ascended also gets 3 new rules: A Dark Fate - When he dies the first time put him in reserves and bring him back with a single wound remaining. So you kill the 1000pt beast, it can deepstrike in again next turn! And with the ability to charge from deepstrike… yeah thats not something you necessarily want flying around the board. Interestingly the rules point out that if you kill him both time, it counts as two ‘Slay the Warlord’ and two ‘Price of Failure’.

The Power of Chaos Eternal - Once per game you make Horus Strength and Toughness 10 for that assault phase. When its over he takes an automatic Perils of the Warp, but any wounds are assigned to the unit before him! The Warmaster just casually ‘roids out for a turn. Bloody handy for smashing Primarchs up using the Talon - which becomes S10 AP2 Shred, Deflagrate… Owch.

The Spreading Corruption - Any Infantry, Cav, or Dreadnought in the army can be made ‘Corrupted’ for 25pts. Meaning they gain Fear, can join Daemons, and can no longer be broken from combat in the same way. Its an expensive upgrade, but an army of Fear causing, high leadership, combat focussed sons is quite a prospect I must say.

This upgraded version is very powerful, and quite the beast. He’ll easily shatter any unit you throw at him in combat for certain. However at 1000pts don’t expect to see him in the field too often. In fact with the high costs, don’t expect to see Horus all that much. 600pts is a big ask for a small game, and 1000pts even moreso. No wonder the warmaster doesn’t take to the field during the Siege of Terra - they couldn’t afford him!

First Captain Abaddon

Abaddon, First Captain, Commander of the Justaerin, etc, is quite the beast. Like his gene-father he has seen a statistical buff overall, now rockinga juicy WS7 that puts him above most commanders and equal to some primarchs! Honestly having read the later Siege books, and in particularly Saturnine, the new Abaddon feels befitting. With I5, 5 attacks, 4 wounds and ld10 he has a very suitable statline, and thats before abilities.

He’s battle hardened (1) - reducing those pesky Thunder Hammers to 1 wound per hit! He’s also got Deepstrike like his father, making him the only SoH HQ choice that has it (other than a warmonger) so capable of joining Justaerin in a Black Reaving list! Furthermore he’s fearless, and has precision strike 4+. These two are excellent, as when paired with the WS7 it makes him a great solo tarpit/horde killer with most legionaries being forced to hit him on 5s, and the turn he charges also wound on 5s.

Equipment wise - gone is the power sword! The first captain now is equipped with a standard paragon blade, like he ought to have. On top of this, his claw has also seen a buff. Now becoming x2S, AP2, shred, mastercrafted, and specialist weapon (which means he’s on 7 attacks on the charge). Downside is, its unwieldy. But to be honest vs most units the ability to hit on 2s, and wound on rerollable 2s, with precision strike on a 4+, is more than enough. Charge in, let his bodyguards take the hits or challenge, then use the claw to sweep away. Or if the enemy is a praetor - charge in, challenge, and ram all 7 attacks into them on 3s.

Oh, he also still has the banestrike combi bolter - for the odd pot-shot.

Honestly the only big letdown is his warlord trait. A 4+ FNP in the movement and shooting phases of the turn he deepstrikes in. Its medium tier, giving his unit great survivability on arrival, but also not providing much use or benefit after that turn. He also gets +1 move reaction (which I continue to hold is one of the best). Unlike last edition he no longer just grants Deepstrike to the unit he joins either - reducing the use of the trait entirely - and no longer gains any accuracy buffs to his striing in (previously rerolling mishaps) meaning the master of deepstrike is very limited as to who he’s coming with… and has to hope theres a clear enough area to land depending on the scatter dice.

For 250pts Abby is a beast. However like so much of the Sons characters, he is situational, and not necessarily an ‘auto-take’ option. Considering he is the cost of 2 other HQs added together…

Malogurst the Twisted

Maloghurst has, in all honesty, taken a bit of a knock this edition. He still is the Bearer of the Eye (now his warlord trait) which makes him and the unit he is attached to both scoring and essentially obsec - meaning only enemy scoring units may deny them an objective. He gets Adamantium Will 4+ and It will not Die 5+ making him a little tankier than the centurions he is equivilent to. Big downside of his rules is speed though - he is M6 base, and his unit may not run or make sweeping advances. There’s also a distinct lack of making Reavers and Vets troops as per last edition - which sucks a bit.

Equipment wise he has a Banestrike Bolter, bolt pistol, power sword (a little disappointing but not the worst), and a refractor field - along with his legion standard. Nothing exiciting or unexpected really, although a power sword as opposed to something a little more unique is a shame (or even a Carsoran Axe), but makes sense.

He is Master of the Legion as well - meaning you don’t need to sink points into a pesky praetor too… which is good. As Mal is running you at 140pts total, so is costing you the same as a one for an arguably worse statline.

All in all you are paying big points for a risk/reward character. In the right unit he is giving Fear, Fearless, and scoring with obsec. However you are also paying the same as a tooled out praetor for a worse invun, worse combat potential, fewer wounds (having LOST a wound since 1st edition) and a speed hindrance. Best bet for using him effectively - stick him with Cataphractii terminators in something solid, and use them to batter the enemy scoring into submission/keep Mal alive. Make them Justaerin for real character, and maybe add an apothecary just to keep Mal free from precision shot problems.

Captain Garviel Loken

Cerberus, the Wolf of Istvaan. Loken, like Saul Tarvitz and Garro, is one of those characters who has reall encapsulated the heresy. So its good to see him still in the army list. Biggest upsides for Loken is that he hasn’t changed in cost! He’s lost an initiative (down to the standard I5 now) but in return is 5 attacks base, ld10, and has a 2+ armour save! Honestly that alone is a really positive change for the Luna Wolves players, making him far more survivable than he used to be.

Ruleswise Loken has kept his Born Survivor rule, albeit modified, so if he dies on the field the controlling player just has to pass a ld10 test for him to get back up again with D3 wounds (just like his Daddy, although minus the teleport). His warlord trait also gives him and his unit +1 attack on the turn they charge or are charged by traitor astartes - which on a big blob of vets, or terminators, or Reavers is rather useful indeed.

Not much else to say about Loken really, he’s just good. Only downside is losing the 12" leadership bubble, but in return has gained equipment and stat buffs to more than make up for it. He’s still more costly than a Praetor, but grants a fair bit more buff to his force and is more surviable, so arguably worth every penny.

Captain Tybalt Marr (Extended)

Disclaimer. I have a soft spot for Tybalt Marr. He just feels like the epitome of a Sons of Horus. Ferocious, visciTous and dogged (plus ultimately betrayed by the Legion’s hubris).

Marr can be found in the extended rules, and honestly has seen both buffs and losses. He’s a praetor statline character, with Master of the Legion and all the expected stats. Unfortunately he has lost his Preferred Enemy (Loyalists), and his unique pinning warlord trait which would finally have been good! This is arguably the biggest downside, as it takes away the character that made Marr unique on the table, and fit his BL characterisation. Instead he now just auto-has the ‘Armour of Pride’ warlord trait yawn which is both the weakest trait overall, and the one that doesn’t match who is is.

Equipment wise, he has kept a banestrike bolter, and the Cthonian culling blade, and this is where there is at least some improvement. Stil a form of lesser paragon blade, the culling blade is now a flat S5, and grants Murderous Strike 5+, Breaching 5+, Duellist’s edge (1) and is Master Crafted. So you’re fishing for 5s (a sits otherwise AP -) but when you do they’ll hit hard. Without specialist weapon he’s also on the full 5 attacks on the charge. So best bet is to spot a juicy low level character, charge in, challenge (so Duellist’s Edge is in effect) and then splat them. As Tybalt would do himself.

Is it perfect? No. Has it preserved all his character? Also no. Is it worth 175pts? Definitely not. If they had given him Preferred Enemy as the Warlord trait for him + his unit I’d say yes. But in his currently form Marr brings very little buff to the table for anyone other than himself.

However will that stop me making one to use regardless? Absolutely not!

Conclusions

If I was to give a single sentence summary of the new Sons rules it would probably be “Solid, but lacks character”. Which is good, but also a little sucky.

Unfortunately it seems this is the curse of becoming the ‘bad guy’ poster boys. Theres nothing bad about their rules, nothing so weak it hurts, or outright overcosted. However there is also a stripping down of many of their more characterful elements and rules, in particular the army wide buffs that they could get. The loss of ability to give Justaerin or Terminator officers deepstrike, the loss of Horus’ extra bits, the loss of Mal’s bodyguard of Veterans etc.

It doesn’t make them bad by any stretch, the sons hit hard and fast on the table as they ought to. But theres less of the ’tactical headhunting killers’ and more ‘frontline hammer and chainaxe’ about them. Like a rational World Eater. Worst bit is there’s honestly some easy fixes to this. Such as letting Reavers take banestrike bolters again, and allow them to be kitted as an alternate seeker style squad. Hell even just give them the old deathdealers rule to make me want to fire their pistols and risk return fire!

I know this feels kind of a negative conclusion really. And it kind of is. The new Sons rules represent all the changes of 2.0 encapsulated.

Streamlined, effecient, effective. But a little less characterful for the change.