Horus Heresy: How To Play The New Edition
The updated edition is upon us. Want to know how to play in the Horus Heresy: Age of Darkness? We’ve got you covered.
The Horus Heresy might still be up for Pre-orders but we got a preview copy and have been putting it to good use. Matt sat down with the rulebook and broke down the basics of How To Play the Horus Heresy in a relatively quick format.
Horus Heresy How To Play
If you’re familiar with Warhammer 40,000 this shouldn’t be that much of a change for you. The core rules are based off of the 3rd-7th edition rulesets. That means things like the WS vs WS chart are still a thing as well as the To Wound chart/matrix. But don’t fret on that too much, you’ll pick it up in no time.
It looks a lot more complicated than it really is.
There are some larger changes that you should be aware of. We covered many of them here. However, here’s a short summary of the things you want to read-up on as they are different compared to the previous version.
Reactions
“You can make one Reaction during each Phase of your opponent’s turn – though specific special rules can give you extra Reactions, up to a limit of three per Phase.”
You’ll also note there are now terms for the Active Player and the Reactive Player, too. There are some basic Reactions you can make that are universal. There are also Advanced Reactions which can be specific to the army or the Legion you’re playing. So be sure to read-up on your army’s special rules and double check how your Advanced Reactions can be used!
Dreadnoughts Got A New Profile
Dreadnoughts of all shapes and sizes got a rework. They no longer have the Front/Side/Rear Armor profiles. They are now treated as really big infantry models with a stat block akin to a Marine — only better. This has it’s pros and cons but it’s a noteworthy change! Oh, one other change is a many of the Elite units now have two wounds. Looking at you Terminators.
Universal Special Rules Updates
When you really dig into the rules for yourself, be sure to double check that USR section. Many of those rules got tweaked and work slightly different than you might remember them. It might just be a wording thing or it could be a complete rework. There are too many USRs to cover here so we just wanted to call that out for when you’re moving on the basics of How To Play and into the more “Advanced” rules of the game.
The Horus Heresy: Age of Darkness setting is in a really good spot with these new rules. Plus, with everyone getting their Legion Rules at pretty much the same time every one should be on the same footing. When a new edition launches it’s a magical time of learning and discovery together. So get in there and get prepared to play some Warhammer in the Horus Heresy Era!
