Horus Heresy: Don’t Like A Specific Legion? Play As Blackshields
Don’t want to swear loyalty to one side during the great conflict? Or maybe you want to oppose your “original” Legion. Then be a Blackshield.
Having trouble picking a Legion? Or maybe the Legion that best fit you was on the “wrong” side? Then here is a way to get around that: create a Blackshield force. But what are Blackshields? Marines without a home.
“Evoking martial tradition of ancient times, a Blackshield was a warrior who had entirely denounced his parent Legion, or in some extreme cases had never known from which Legion they originated. They often fought under a false banner or bore no banner at all. Groups of Blackshields fought against both sides in the Heresy, dating back to the Battle of the Coronid Deeps of 006-008.M31.”
Horus Heresy Blackshields
Essentially, Blackshields can be used as mercenaries or other irregular fighting forces in the Horus Heresy. There are a few famous Blackshield Bands as well, but you can also create your own. What’s cool about this concept is that it’s got a lot of lore behind it but not a ton of rules. It’s an opportunity for Hobbyists and Narrative Players to really explore the unexplored in the Horus Heresy.
If I were going to make a Blackshield Band I’d probably start with a specific Legion and base them off of that. Maybe they were Loyalists Death Guard who broke off and abandoned the Warmasters plot. Or Perhaps they were Imperial Fists who decided that Dorn was wrong for defending Terra and the Emperor. That’s the fun of the Blackshields — you get to create your own story and reasons for their denouncement of their former Legion.
“…one of the few defining factors common across Blackshields was the fact they all denounced their heritage and none considered themselves belonging to any Primarch. This led to most, though not all, painting themselves in a distinctive black. As with Shattered Legions forces, Blackshields were encountered on both sides of the war and in many cases were fighting entirely for themselves. Some bore the Aquila while others bore the Eye of Horus, but none answered to any master except themselves. The Imperium considered many of these bands to be little more than Pirates.”
Rules-wise, I’d probably stick to using the rules from their former parent Legion. Only I’d avoid using their Primarch for obvious reasons. I’d also avoid mixing and matching from different Legions. That’s just going to be confusing to play and play against — especially if they are all painted the same. But hey, that’s just my recommendations. Blackshields do what they want.
The new Boxed set is a great starting point if you want to kick off your Horus Heresy army. And if you don’t know what Legion to play, start a Blackshield force and go from there!
