Warhammer: Legions Imperialis – The Most Important Things To Know
Games Workshop revealed the new game this weekend and we’re going over five of the most important things you need to know!
In case you missed the reveal, Warhammer: The Horus Heresy – Legions Imperialis is bringing the game back to an EPIC scale. But what does that even mean? We’re here to talk about that and a few more things. Games Workshop might have talked about 10 things you need to know but we’re distilling these down to the most important ones. So strap in and let’s get to the most important reveals and info about exciting new game from GW.
Epic Scale
This is the #1 thing you need to know about the game. It’s what GW is now calling “Epic Scale” which is a combination of a few things. First up, it’s the same scale used for both Adeptus Titanicus and Aeronautica Imperialis. And yes, that means you can combine your models from those games into this new version. And yeah, we called this one — along with everyone else who noticed that both games were in the same scale already.
However, there is one important thing to note about the scale and in particular Legions Imperialis: the bases ARE thinner than your standard 40k bases. This means you may want to rebase some of your AT Titans…or not. I think a lot of that is going to come down to the base requirements for Legions Imperialis. We’re waiting to find out! If nothing else it’s just going to matter more for the visuals than anything else.
Order System
According to GW:
On the battlefield, Detachments – equivalent to the individual ‘units’ in other Warhammer games – operate according to the Orders assigned to them each round. Orders are initially hidden when issued, meaning you’ll have to predict what your opponent’s plan is and devise your own strategy to counter.
This is an interesting one and probably the second most important thing to know. Legions Imperialis will feature a hidden Order System. I’m curious as to how this will be implemented and how these orders will be executed. How simple and/or complex will these order be? Are units going to be limited to simple actions such as “move” or “fire” in a turn? Will you be able to do both or will there be special orders that allow a Detachment to do both? This is a key feature that we need more info on! And we get a tease about in the next part…
Alternating Detachment Activations
This is another BIG principle to know. Legions Imperialis is an “alternating activation” game. Here’s what GW says:
The activation of Detachments alternates, meaning you move or fire a Detachment, then your opponent does, and so on. You’re always in the thick of battle, adjusting plans as you go to seize advantages that present themselves.
So yes, it seems like this info combined with the info above about Orders means you’re telling your units to move OR fire. And then your opponent will go. While I do appreciate the alternating activations I’m a little concerned about these “simple” limited orders. We’ll have to see how this plays out.
Battlefield Terrain Is Destructible
This detail was mentioned in the preview but this is more good news! Because the scale is the same as Adeptus Titanicus and Aeronautica Imperialis all of the terrain and emplacements featured in those games will be the right scale for Legions Imperialis. That means there already a ton of terrain in the game. and now we also know that you’ll be able to destroy that same terrain in game!
A plethora of terrain types have rules, taking you from crumbling hive cities to thick jungles, lava fields and beyond. Oh, and you can blow up buildings with the right weapons… or a Titan fist!
Build The Massive Army Of Your Dreams
When constructing your army you’re going to have a lot of flexibility in doing so. The main thing is that each army will resolve around “formations” and each of these formations is “essentially an entire Horus Heresy – The Age of Darkness army” — which sounds awesome. GW gave us some examples here:
Want a Legiones Astartes army mounted entirely in gunships for an aerial assault? You can do that! Solar Auxilia super-heavy tank company? Yep! There’s a myriad of options and more to come in the future, allowing you to build the grand army of your hobby dreams.
I can’t wait to see these army construction rules. I also can’t wait to get my hands on these kits. I REALLY want to know how they will be sold and how many bases will be in a box!
Time to bust out the AT and AI models you’ve had in your collection!
