Table of Contents
The Lore
Andrew_N: It is obvious that the focus of the current iterations of both Legions Imperialis and Horus Heresy is the early parts of the Heresy, in particular the Dropsite Massacre on Isstvan V. The lore portions of Journal Strategia: The Ruins of the Salamanders, is no exception. Focusing in particular on the actions of the XVIII Legion Salamanders during the Massacre, readers get a great insight into the Legion’s actions during the battle, and that of their direct opponents, the Death Guard and Iron Warriors. This is exciting for players new and old; despite knowing of the Dropsite Massacre for decades, players have not had as much attention paid to the battle and relevant campaign as there has been in the last year.
Pairing with the lore drops in the most recent Horus Heresy Journal Tacticas, readers learn more about the combatants and combats of the Ignis Sector, the portion of the Urgall Depression assigned to the Primarch Vulkan. We get Tables of Organization for both Loyalist and Traitor forces in the sector, including Astartes, Auxilia, and Mechanicum forces, a cool callback to the campaign force charts from campaign codexes in earlier editions of 40k. In addition to brief biographies of Astartes Primarchs and officers, readers also get small biographies of non-Astartes commanders, something of interest to folks that play Auxilia or Mechanicum armies.
Readers then are treated to an in-depth description of the Massacre in the Sector, from the Salamanders’ and their allies’ first landings on Isstvan V, to the escape of the final survivors to orbit. The individual actions of the commanders is rather interesting to see, including a bizarrely altruistic action on the part of a Night Lords Praetor, and some impressive badassery from a Solar Auxilia commander as she finds her troops and herself holding the line to give the loyalist Astartes more time to escape.
The Historical Mission
There’s only one historical mission, and I feel that trimming the lore by a page or two would have let them put a second in.
It’s a fairly straightforward kill mission, with two defender deployment zones and the attacker zone in the middle. The attacker is the Salamanders and their Auxilia allies, with the large defender zone consisting of the Iron Warriors with some fortifications and obstacles, and the other defender zone the Death Guard contingent.
It’s a kill mission with no objectives and extra victory points for wiping out detachments. The Attacker has the Breakthrough secondary, and the Defender has the Defiant secondary (but only for the Iron Warriors Defenders deployment zone).
It’s not super interesting, and the temptation for the Salamanders player is to wipe out or cripple the Death Guard and then concentrate everything left on the Iron Warriors.
New Astartes Formations
Legion Saturnine Heavy Assault Cadre
This is probably the most useful formation to put Saturnine Terminators in. It consists of a HQ and two Support, with two more optional Support and two Bastion. The HQ must be the Saturnine Terminator HQ, the Support must be Saturnine Terminators and the Bastion must be Saturnine Dreadnoughts.
This isn’t a formation that’s great in assault, as it won’t have the numbers to overwhelm opponents and the only really good assault unit is the HQ. What it is good at is teleporting down somewhere, and then holding it. The Saturnine Terminator HQ is placed first, scattered and then the other detachments in the formation are placed with at least one model within 6”. This is done even if the scatter means the HQ lands in a structure or impassable terrain and is destroyed.
This is much better than normal Deep Strike, and means you can drop Saturnine Terminators on objectives or your opponents artillery park or somewhere else and be accurate in placing everything down after the HQ. The only issue is the dreadnoughts, who don’t have a transport option in the formation.
NotThatHenryC: I agree this is the best Formation to put Saturnines in. It gives them Deep Strike for free and that’s an excellent way to get their powerful but short-ranged guns into range. Otherwise their Very Bulky rule makes them very awkward to move around and their own little legs won’t get them where they need to be.
It’s not ideal for Saturnine Dreadnoughts, which just have to walk. Actually though that’s not too bad as these are relatively cheap and their guns have ok-ish range, so that’s not too big a problem. If you do want some Saturnine Dreadnoughts this Formation gives you some Bastion slots to put them in without filling up another Detachment.
Legion Super Heavy Spearhead
The new default big tank formation, this gives all your big tanks Rend and Wrecker if there are two or more models in their detachment. It helps anything that will be getting close to infantry, and in particular Kratos squadrons, which will always start out meeting the condition to get the benefit.
The formation is for 3 heavy armour, with two optional heavy armour and an air support, so this can be a nice big formation of tanks.
NotThatHenryC: I like this Formation for Typhons, Ascalons and Glaives, perhaps more than Kratos. The vehicles that benefit most are the ones that are happiest to operate in units of 2 or more, so maybe not things like Falchions and Mastodons. Typhons aren’t too expensive to field in units and probably need multiple shots to bring down structures or kill Detachments inside them. Ascalons and Glaives both need to operate fairly close to the enemy, where their rending melee attacks will help. Both can effectively split their fire as their main weapons fire independently, so you don’t need to worry about overkill. Wrecker (1) with a -1 save modifier is basically useless and your super-heavies aren’t the units you want storming enemy structures anyway.
Mainly I think this Formation is useful as just a way to bring a bunch of big tanks, without any taxes paid for little tanks or Commanders. You could certainly argue that giving them Rend in melee is a trap as they should never be fighting up close, in which case the formation lets you bring a load of big independent tanks.
Legion Aegis Defence Strongpoint
A HQ, a Core and two Bastion, with options for a Support, an Artillery and two more Bastion. The Bastion all have to be either Araknae or Tarantula platforms, but the Araknae get point defence on their weapons. On the negative side you aren’t allowed to Infiltrate, so you can’t infiltrate these onto mid board objectives.
It means you can use them to garrison bits of your deployment zone, protect your artillery park, etc.
NotThatHenryC: Giving Point Defence to Araknae platforms is pretty great for firing overwatch. Autocannon turrets are going to make a bit of a mess of things like Rhinos in the mid-board. Punishers are more specialised, with the ability to devastate infantry, though their shorter range doesn’t cover much of the board. It doesn’t benefit the missile version at all, as those fire Blast weapons, which can’t overwatch.
New Astartes Units
Legion Saturnine Command
A better in combat and much more survivable infantry command unit (it has two wounds instead of 1 and 5+ invulnerable), though it doesn’t have Medicae. You’ll use it with Saturnine Terminators, but you may also like a tougher command unit in the middle of your infantry formations with Saturnine Terminators in one of the support slots.
NotThatHenryC: I think these are useful if you want to attach an HQ to any Detachment that’s riding in a Thunderhawk or Mastodon. The Saturnine Command stand uses two slots but that doesn’t really matter as the Detachment they’re attached to will have 6 stands and never 7, as you buy infantry bases in pairs. There’s always going to be room for these guys. The only major downside is lacking Medicae, though perhaps you can have a tactical stand with a medic in the Detachment.
Legion Saturnine Terminator Detachment
I think this is going to be the most controversial unit in this book for two reasons.
The stands are individually equipped, so there are five possible loadouts, one of which you pay more for, and are going to have to roll separately and keep track of.
They are pretty pricey, at 85 points for 3 stands (potentially 115 if you have twin disintegrator/plasma bombard combos).
While they are tough, with Armoured, 4+ save and 2 wounds (so light weapons
AP0 and they reroll failed saves against them) and 5+ invulnerable for when they get shot by non-light weapons, they are CAF +3, which means they’ll lose combats against assault infantry (basically everything with Rend rolling around) but last for two turns due to having two wounds unless they are getting ganged up on. There’s a lot of units that are cheaper and will kick the snot out of them, and even basic tactical marines are CAF +2.
Disruption fists, if you choose to have them and give up a gun for them, mean you cause two wounds if you win a combat by 4 or more. That won’t often happen and a lot of what you’ll fight is one wound infantry, not big tanks and super heavies. I would not recommend giving up guns for this.
They do have good shooting, if short ranged, and disintegrators are very effective against anything in range. Plasma bombards are good against infantry and have Barrage and Light AT, so can fire indirectly and target vehicles. You can have a pair of either, giving them Accurate, or one of each, giving you 3 dice per stand of shooting but costing you an extra ten points per model.
I can see why the designer pointed Saturnines at 85 for 3 stands, but I do feel they’ve been too conservative and should have gone for 75 points for the detachment. They would still be twice as expensive per stand as normal Terminators, but they’d feel like a much better deal for the unit.
NotThatHenryC: Definitely a tricky unit. Ultimately if you field a small Detachment close to the enemy you should expect them to get swamped by enemy infantry. That’s a problem when you’re armed with short-ranged guns.
It’s disappointing that the fists do nothing, except in very unlikely scenarios where you meet something with two wounds and roll really well. Even then you could have at least two bases of pretty much any other infantry for the price of a base of these, doing two damage by fighting twice. Instead of paying 85 points for three Saturnine bases you could pay 90 points for eight terminator bases, for example. That feels like a far better option to stick inside a Mastodon or Thunderhawk.
I’d consider running a small Saturnine Heavy Assault Cadre armed with one of each kind of gun or otherwise double plasma. The disintegrators are cool but, with two shots and more range, I prefer plasma. You could potentially have them ride around in a Thunderhawk or Mastodon but that costs a load of points and feels a bit wasted on a shooty unit like this. Better to have them deep strike for free, in my opinion.
Legion Saturnine Dreadnought Detachment
This is a fairly interesting unit, as it’ll inevitably be compared to Leviathans (monsters in melee with CAF +5 and Rend, not as good at shooting and only one wound but also half the cost) or Contemptors (cheaper all rounders for less than half the price per model).
Essentially as Saturnine Dreadnoughts have no fist you are buying a gun dreadnought, and comparing it to Saturnine Terminators with both guns (38.33 per model) these clock in at 37.5 points per model and have better guns.
The Disintegrator/Plasma Bombard loadout is a multi role one that can hit vehicles and infantry, can fire indirectly and while it isn’t great in melee, wants to keep out of it anyway.
The Graviton Pulveriser/Inversion Beamer isn’t as good, but is pure anti vehicle firepower. With only an 8” range getting -2 AP on each weapon, but still has 1 dice at 16”.
I can see these getting use in general, as they provide the good guns of Saturnine Terminators but at a lower cost. The model looks really nice as well, which will push people towards including them in dreadnought hordes. They make a reasonable multi-role support dread, especially when paired with Leviathans to act as a wrecking ball.
NotThatHenryC: The trouble with these things is that getting them around the board requires a Mastodon or Thunderhawk, at huge expense. You could almost certainly achieve more by spending the points on other infantry or tanks instead, so we need to look at other options.
I think the plasma/disintegrator version can just be deployed fairly centrally and plod up the board. If they find themselves with decent fire lines on turn 2 or 3 they could switch to First Fire, making the disintegrators seriously horrible. The Grav/inversion load-out has to be near the enemy though and that can only really be done with drop pods. This seems to work in LI, though in Big Heresy they aren’t allowed in pods so it’s possible they could be hit by a FAQ in future.
Araknae Weapons Platform Battery
With three choices of weapon, the big question is whether this is better than the Tarantula. It’s certainly interesting, and while they are 30 points a model and Tarantulas are 36 points for 4 models, they still have distinct roles and are wildly different to the Tarantulas.
Quad Accelerator Autocannons – 5 dice, 18” range, 5+ to hit, -1 AP and Tracking. Five dice of anti infantry/light vehicle firepower is actually pretty great to have and I’d say this is worth it.
Twin Punisher Cannon – 4 dice, 12” range, 4+ to hit, -1 AP and Light AT, Skyfire, Rapid Fire and Accurate. This is great for killing infantry, and rerolling misses gives you even more chances to get 6s. Skyfire is nice to have, but Hyperios Tarantulas are better with a 25” range and no light AT.
Orias Heavy Frag Missiles – 2 dice, 24” range, 4+ to hit, Barrage, Blast 3”, Light and Limited (2). This is for dropping anti infantry barrages on your enemies, and is useless against vehicles. Against infantry hordes dropping 3” blasts is great if your opponent bunches them up, but I’d regard this as the one that might not see much use, depending on how big a fan of tanks, transports, and so on that your opponent is.
It’s wild that this unit, which is very ‘also appearing in this boxed set’ in 30k, is actually worth taking alongside Tarantulas as part of setting up firebases, especially if you can infiltrate them.
NotThatHenryC: I quite like these. The autocannons have a respectable bubble of anti-pretty-much-anything firepower. The missiles fire a 3” blast, which is pretty rare in LI and a genuine threat to infantry, who will have to spread out to avoid massive damage. The Punishers have great damage output but a 12” range on a static model is a problem unfortunately and I think they’ll be too easy to avoid, unless you have something like an artillery park to protect from assault.
Legion Falchion Squadron
A Fellblade with a 30” Neutron Laser. You have a Neutron Laser able to reach out and hit Titans/Super Heavies at range so you can stun them with Shock Pulse, you get two dice hitting on 4+ with Accurate, and you have it on a Fellblade hull so you survive long enough to get those shots in on Titans.
I know I’ve criticised how much Shock Pulse there is out there, but this is a solid Titan hunting unit. Partner it with something for knocking down void shields, and then just disable titans with your big neutron laser.
Legion Ascalon Squadron
A Fellblade with a giant flamethrower, this is great for clearing up infantry. Firestorm means it ignores to hit modifiers for terrain and cover saves, and -2 AP means most infantry saves will be ignored too. Probably best paired with quad heavy bolter sponsons as you’ll be close to infantry and point defense will come in real handy.
Legion Glaive Squadron
Similarly great for murdering infantry, the Volkite Carronade has Beam and Deflagrate, and that means you measure out an 18” straight line and roll against every detachment under it. Deflagrate means every unsaved wound generates an extra hit against that detachment. With -2 AP this means you can get quite a lot of hits if your opponent has left lots of infantry/walkers/etc where you can get them under a single line.
Hull mounted heavy bolters give you two point defence dice, you can get another 4 from the sponsons if you choose to.
NotThatHenryC: The Glaive’s effectiveness will depend on how many enemy units it’s able to get in that Line it fires. It could well get several and do a lot of damage, but probably without killing off any single detachment entirely. Like the Ascalon’s flamer, the Glaive’s Volkite doesn’t pick a target, meaning you’re free to put any weapon you like on the sponsons as they’ll be able to choose what they fire at. Personally I like laser destroyersas the Glaive will tend to go close to the enemy, where they ought to be in range.
Legion Fellblade Squadron
The multi-role Fellblade, you have the option of firing anti infantry or anti-tank shells from the Fellblade Accelerator Cannon, you have hull heavy bolters and a demolisher cannon, and a choice of sponsons. With the options you have, I recommend you build it with a role in mind, either anti-infantry or anti-tank, and spend the 5 points on the pintle heavy bolter so you have 4 dice of point defence in case infantry get close.
NotThatHenryC: Fellblades are a dependable multi-role unit and Falchions are a solid pick for long-range sniping of heavy targets. Both are a bit boringly conventional in comparison with the Ascalon and Glaive, with their Firestorm and Template weapons. I’d much rather have the option of putting a flamer template down or zapping a beam through several Detachments than having yet another source of ordinary guns.
Sponson choice is interesting because the Glaive and Ascalon’s actually get to target freely, since Firestorm and Beam weapons don’t select targets at all. That means it’s fine to stick tank hunting laser destroyers on either if you like. In fact you could argue there’s no point using point defence to shoot up infantry, moments before annihilating them with your main gun. Let them burn!
It’s also nice that, as super-heavies, they aren’t prevented from firing by little stuff locking them in combat. Think carefully before you charge a Glaive on First Fire, as it’s likely to incinerate your troops before they can fight.
New Iconic Formations
Saturnine Excubitor Cadre
A Salamanders Loyalist formation, this consists of a compulsory Saturnine Terminator HQ with 2 detachments of 6 Saturnine Terminators and 2 Mastadons for 570 points (a 60 point discount vs buying them normally). There is the option to take 6 Saturnine Terminators, 4 Saturnine Dreadnoughts and 2 Mastadons for 495 points (a 55 point discount).
The special rule for the formation is that the turn that the Saturnine Terminators disembark from their transport they gain the Shred rule, forcing Infantry, Walkers and Cavalry to reroll successful saves against hits taken.
It’s a discounted attack force with a nice special rule, but if you take the optional units as well then you’re sinking over 1000 points into 19 infantry models, 4 dreadnoughts and four transports.
Iron Warriors Obliteration Century
All heavy tanks all the time. The compulsory detachments are a Kratos HQ, 3 Kratos and 3 Fellblades for 620 points (a discount of 25 points but also giving you fixed options and no pintle weapons) with the option of 3 Falchions, 3 Glaives and 3 Typhons for another 790 points (a discount of 110 points, but again, fixed options and no pintle weapons).
The special rule is that morale checks taken by detachments fired on by this formation subtract one from the result.
It’s an Iron Warriors and Traitor formation, and it’s interesting and playable (though I hope you like lascannons because that’s what all the options are) but the major discount only kicks in when you add the optional units. I think the Super Heavy Spearhead is better but Iron Warriors might have fun putting this together, and if you don’t like it you can just use the same models in the Super Heavy Spearhead formation instead.
The Sacramentii Foehammers
A Loyalist Solar Auxilia formation, this comprise four Leman Russ Executioners (1 upgraded to tank commander), eight Leman Russ Strike tanks and 4 Malcador tanks. You pay 675 points for this (a discount of 85 points). You can optionally add two Malcador Infernus, two Malcador Annihilators and three Stormhammers for 490 points (a discount of 45 points).
The special rule you gain is that if you have a detachment in the formation on a Charge order, they gain Rend for the turn, making them significantly better in assault.
It’s an interesting formation, and lets your tanks assault things (like other tanks or artillery batteries) and encourages you to use some of the less common Leman Russ variants.
Final Thoughts
It’s the first supplement since the rebalancing in the Liber Strategia. It also completes the Astartes army list unless they want to add more infantry like breachers or destroyers or legion specific units like Primarchs, special characters and various legion elite units.
The units are in general fairly useful, and the only one I see being controversial is the Saturnine Terminators.
The big news is the super heavy armour marines get, along with a formation to grind things beneath their tracks and I think that’s enough to headline the supplement.
The supplement being 48 pages (the same length as the recent Rohirrim supplement for Middle Earth) is showing an appetite for smaller books for the specialist games. Previous supplements have been bigger, but have had more models to release alongside.
It’ll be interesting to see where LI goes from here, and what the release schedule will be like. What will they release? Will we get Custodes or Militia or Demons? Will we get special legion units? Special characters? We’ll see.
