Wargames Gallery: Former Allies

The Emperor's Children champion soars ahead to confront his former ally in the Iron Hands. The Salamanders are close, but not close enough to join in. Can he defeat his former ally before the Salamanders can join in? 

[Spoilers: yes]

Wargames Gallery Showcase: Shattered Legions

The image below showcases my (very modest) Shattered Legions forces to date. 

I find myself in a bit of a quandary about what to do next in the absence of the new rulebook! Hopefully that should arrive sooner rather than later though. I have a bunch of Iron Hands that I have assembled, but I don't know if to configure them as a Veteran Squad, or a regular heart of the legion tactical squad just yet. 

Regardless, the image shows a complete Raven Guard and Salamanders tactical squad, a double melta gun contemptor for the Salamanders along with a terminator character; a More Deythan squad, and vigilator for the Raven Guard, and a freshly painted Iron Hands praetor. 

The gaming mat and terrain accessories are from Game Mat EU for the curious. 

Wargames Gallery: Salamanders Contemptor Onslaught

The Iron Warriors look on grimly as the Salamanders' contemptor enters firing mode on the unit in front of him - there are no reactions left to be executed other than to stand there and take the shots. 

Wargames Gallery: Salamanders Defence

The bitter remains of a Salamanders expeditionary force defend their objective; part of a larger Forge World necessary to prosecute the war for the Loyalists. They remain in the dark about the fate of their Primarch. 

Horus Heresy 2e Review: Firedrake Terminator Squad

Warpstone Flux Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

5/5 stars. See - I sometime do award 5/5 to some units on the odd occasion! Here, this is a somewhat unique unit in the game thanks to the thunder hammer and storm shield set up they can take (among others). The points cost is high, and I almost didn't give full stars to the unit due to the cost. The honest reason I gave full stars here is because I simply hate facing off against them! 

Background.

Discipline, self sacrifice, the Promethian Cult, a singular focus, and the elites of the legion combine to make arguably one of the best units in the game. I despise facing off against full thunder hammer and storm shield set ups. And it is because of this that I really respect them. (Also on the odd occasion proxied them for a Rewards of Treason unit in true Alpha Legion style as well - not sorry). 

Strengths.

Much has already been said of this unit. They are WS=5, double wound, and 2 attacks base terminators in cataphractii armour. They come with power weapons and combi bolters as their base set up, but can be upgraded in a number of ways, the most popular of which I've already repeatedly noted above! 

In addition, they can be used as a retinue, and have a wonderful re roll to hit of pure 1's in close combat which makes them a greater force to be reckoned with. Take a land raider to taste and you have the makings of a genuine death star unit with amazing staying power that "It Will Not Die" only enhances.

Weaknesses.

Apart from the somewhat expensive points cost (points sink?) this is an amazing unit. 

Builds.

5 Firedrakes, Thunder Hammers and Storm Shields all round (325 points).

The build that I don't like facing off against, as well as the Rewards of Treason target for the same reason. Add more members to taste and take that land raider (or deep strike if possible). Master craft the squad leader's weapon if desired.

5 Firedrakes, 3 combi-meltas, 1 heavy flamer, 2 chain fists (310 points).

A bit of a tank hunting variant with some ranged fire power. Master craft a chain fist to taste. 

5 Firedrakes, 4 combi-flamers, 1 heavy flamer (280 points).

For those that just like lots of fire. Use the baseline power weapon (possibly as a power axe?). Great as a cover unit for something else behind them and for making enemies scramble out of cover. 

Horus Heresy 2e Review: Pyroclast Squad

Warpstone Flux Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

4/5 stars. The rules are solid and the squad functions very well for what it does.

Background.

Getting rid of the destroyer squads was a good move for our humanitarian hero, Vulkan. But his Salamanders still needed something to do a bit of end of days style cleansing with, so he forged the pyroclasts. Their role is one of cleansing. With fire - or more accurately a weapon of Vulkan's own devising. 

Strengths.

Two wounds each is very nice here along with It Will Not Die, and an invulnerable save against the very things they bring to the battlefield (fire, fire, and a touch of fire. Or melta, volkite, or plasma as well). I like the melta bombs here a whole lot more than I should as well. The 2+ save is, of course, great.

The flame projectors that they carry have two firing modes that can be used - one is a template with fire at S=6, the other is a melta gun variation. They also double up to perform close combat duty very nicely. 

Weaknesses.

Having to select every member in the squad firing in the same mode (template vs melta) might seem like a weakness, but it really isn't. Similarly the limited range of upgrade to the unit may also seem problematic, but the squad is already fairly optimized that you will just use the thunder hammer most of the time and call it a day I guess. And in all honesty, the price tag is not much of a negative compared to the humble support squad either for what you get for it. Pity other upgrades like a Vexilla is not available. 

Difference to First Edition.

Two wounds. The melta bombs come as standard now as well. 

Builds.

5 Pyroclasts, Warden with Power Fist (195 points).

The basic build. You will need either the power fist or thunder hammer to be fully effective. Take a transport to get where you need to be. Master craft a weapon to taste.

10 Pyroclasts, Warden with Thunder Hammer (350 points).

Can't really go too wrong, but I prefer smaller units for this squad I think. That said, put a praetor in here that is close combat orientated and you have a recipe for a nasty unit straight out of a land raider. 

Horus Heresy 2e Review: Vulkan

Warpstone Flux Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

4.5/5 stars. The rules are very strong indeed.

Background.

Vulkan is the good guy. The humanitarian. The perpetual. And amazingly a match for many of his brothers, whilst also being a consummate craftsman. Whilst his brothers played war leaders and planetary unifiers, he was more than happy to be a teacher and protector. He carried this over to his legion and sought to minimize the casualties he caused. This, of course, way not the way of some of his brothers. He was well liked by most of them all the same. 

Strengths. 

All Salamanders gain stubborn under his warlord trait which is excellent. The extra reaction in the shooting phase is solid as well. 

The stat line is great with a WS=S=T=7 at the expense on one lower initiative than his brothers. You won't mind this given his armaments though. Dawnbringer, his hammer, strikes with S=10 and AP1 just to make some of his brothers jealous. His side arm is a S=7 lance with d6 burst which is one of the better ones compared to his brothers.  Rounding this out is his 2+/3++ armour which is excellent. He re-rolls against flame and volkite where applicable, but I suspect that hardly will ever be used.

More than anything else, Vulkan is the tank among his brothers. His It Will Not Die is at 4+ and he will out last many of his brothers and tar pit others. 

Weaknesses.

Beware of getting stuck in combat yourself all game long. No doubt a lot of Salamanders players have this experience already. He's much the same in this edition. 

Overall.

As a tank, he will tank all game long. Choose your targets though. He can take on most things in the game and win, and for his brothers stands a good chance against half of them at least (forget taking on Horus or The Lion though). 

Difference to First Edition.

He's lost some of his special rules and army boosts (no more re-rolling deny the witch for instance). Beyond this, its pretty similar. And its always hammer time. 

Horus Heresy 2e Review: Salamanders Armoury and Psychic Powers

Warpstone Flux Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

4.5/5 stars, and rounded down. The rules are strong.  

Artifice and Flame. The Salamanders are noted artisans within the background. Here they can master craft any of their weapons (1 per character for a small points cost) which is solid enough. In addition they can exchange heavy bolters for dragon's breath heavy flamers. 

Dragon's Breath Weapons. With a nice amount of S in each weapon, the key difference to base weapons is the modification of the Wall of Death rule to grant 1d6 hits instead of 1d3. These things are deadly when used right. 

Dragon Scale Storm Shield. The key difference between the Salamanders and other legions is arguably the upgrade available to shields. This turns their terminators in cataphractii armour into 3+ invulnerable saving throw monsters. This is massive, and keeps the Salamanders alive even better than their base legion rules. This is the main reason I am giving 4.5 stars out of 5 to the Salamanders here.

Mantle of the Elder Drake. Battle Hardened for a good amount of points. Its not quite as good as it was, and its not eternal warrior. But it gets close. 

Psychic Discipline: Fury of the Salamander.

This psychic discipline is used with the Awakening Fire rite of war and grants 2 abilities. The first is Salamander's Fury which changes open terrain into difficult terrain, and difficult terrain into both difficult and dangerous within a bubble. This is a magnificent power, but comes at the price of having to stay still and not do much else. The second is Elemental Horror which is a glorious template attack at S=7 with pinning, deflagrate, shell shock and psychic focus to boot. Take with a unit of heavy flamers and you will make exactly zero friends. 

Overall.

No special consul for the Salamanders, but the slight nerf to the base rules is more than made up for with a very strong armoury which even the average player will know what to do with and the average opponent might arguably struggle with. I am liking the Awakening Fire rite of war for the Salamanders in particular right at the moment. 

Horus Heresy 2e Review: Salamanders Legion Traits and Rites

Warpstone Flux Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️

3.5/5 stars. Rounded down. The rules are average, and some are rather nice. 

Warlord Traits.

The Salamanders Legion has three warlord traits on offer, including a traitor one, much to my surprise. 

The Weight of Duty. For the Loyalists, the warlord and his army gain S+1 against a unit that causes fear in combat. The unit also has hatred of traitors. This comes at the cost of not being able to take the nastier, unwholesome units like destroyer squads, but the bonus assault reaction is nice. Overall this is an average trait that will see sufficient play. 

Promethian Will. Bonuses to Ld against pinning and a reduction of incoming fear is a nice, but not complete replacement of their core rules from the first edition. Shooting reaction bonus is solid, but as above, they can't take the nastier units. Once again, average, and an inferior replacement for first edition rules. 

Redemption of Flames. I find it surprising that a traitor only warlord trait exists for the Salamanders since they were selected for destruction largely as the Warmaster didn't think he could turn any of them. Recall: in the lore, the Salamanders are really the humanitarians and the good guys, despite the red eyes. The bonus +1 to wound when using flames or volkite is strong and the bonus assault reaction the same. This is the best trait of the lot. I'm sad it is not that fluffy myself.

Rites of War.

The Conenant of Fire. Pyroclasts and Support Squads gaining Line and becoming troops when using flamers is all fine and good, as are predator squads with dragon's breath equipment as troops. Not deep striking is a problematic draw back, so take some termites instead if you're playing that way. Destroyers being eliminated is fluffy, but having to take a champion consul is odd. This is an average to sub-part rite of war that just enables things to be taken as troops fundamentally and as such it might appear to be a "shrug" all round, but it will still see play. 

The Awakening Fire. Being able to take Fear as an upgrade is excellent, as is ignoring Ld modifiers for pinning. Psykers having to use the Fury of the Salamander is not really a drawback (we will look at this psychic discipline later). Having the option to take an additional chaplain is a reasonable exchange rate (and indeed at least 1 chaplain must be taken). No jump packs can be problematic, but who take cavalry (similarly restricted). Of course, the restriction of no Vulkan might seem harsh, but it is fluffy. This is a strong rite of war to my mind.

Difference to First Edition.

The rules here appear to replace some of the first edition core rules for the legion somewhat. They are not quite as powerful, but they will do quite nicely. I'm surprised at the traitor warlord trait's existence, and doubly concerned that its the most powerful! Oh well. Good luck to those Salamanders players taking the side of the Warmaster. 

 

Horus Heresy 2e Review: Salamanders Legion Rules

Warpstone Flux Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️

2.5/5 stars -- rounded up to 3/5 stars. The rules are okay and can be solid enough when played well.

Background.

The Salamanders were betrayed and broken at the Massacre in the Isstvan system at the opening in the Heresy. With Vulkan missing in action afterward, the legion was reduced to guerrilla actions for most of the rest of the civil war and their splintered forces carried on confronting the traitors wherever they found them.

Legion Rules Review.

Blood and Fire grants a reduction in rolls to wound against them when using many different types of special weapons (plasma, melta, volkite, and flames in general). In addition for models with more than one wound or hull point, they gain It Will Not Die on a 6+ roll. This rule then speaks volumes about staying power and survivability, but the canny opponent might be able to work around this.

Artifacts of Nocturne grants access to the unique wargear options from the armoury whilst The Creed of Vulkan provides the warlord traits. As with some other legions, there are no unique consul choices to be had within the Salamanders.

Advanced Reaction.

Duty is Sacrifice is an interesting advanced reaction that can be used once per game. On receiving a charge a Salamanders unit can gain +1 to WS, S, and A for that assault phase. But there's a downside: roll 1d6 for each combatant and get an unsavable wound against you on a 6! Ouch! Should the charge fail though, the Salamanders gain Fearless instead of all of the above. This is an interesting reaction at minimum in the sense that it has a downside. Probably best played with multi-wound units where possible, but in the right situation it can be very strong.  

Difference to First Edition.

Overall, the Salamanders are a bit thin on the ground in terms of the sheer number of unique units that they are fielding as core in second edition. Otherwise, they retain only scraps of the rules that they are famous for as they have been hit with some significant nerfs here. I mourn the loss of Strength of Will for them in particular, but some of this is included in a Warlord Trait at least.

Wargames Gallery: Salamanders Shattered Legion

This is my complete(?!) Salamanders Shattered Legions force. For each component of the Shattered Legions, I'm incorporating 1 HQ selection, 1 Troops, and 1 something else. In this case, the "something else" is the Salamanders Contemptor Mortis. 

The army list for this component is as follows:

1 x Praetor in Terminator Armour, with Thunder Hammer, and combi-melta. [This could be swapped to Delegatus in lower points games]. 

1 x Tactical Squad with bolt guns and bolt pistols, Sergeant with power fist and melta bombs (nuncio vox to taste).

1 x Contemptor Mortis with twin multi-meltas. 

The Salamanders Praetor will be the lead character for the Shattered Legions and loan the Covenant of Fire rite of war to the entire army for when it is combined with the Raven Guard and Iron Hands components of this force. 

I'm yet to complete the other two legions that will make up this force, but progress is slowly being made. Very happy with how the Salamanders contingent have worked out. Dreadtober 2020 certainly pushed me to finishing off the dreadnought, and hence this entire Salamanders component. 

Dreadtober 2020: Project Complete!

Behold: a mighty Salamanders Legion Contemptor Mortis! (Warning: Picture Heavy!). 

Fully painted and ready to extract righteous vengeance from the traitors on Isstvan 5. 

Different angles are shown in the images below. 

[Background: Kraken Mats desert war zone city.]

Dreadtober 2020: Fire Knee!

Some progress in Dreadtober 2020 on my Contemptor Mortis Salamanders Legion dreadnought. I completed the under coat using a white colour in order to base coat using contrast paints -- in this case warp lightning contrast paint following my earlier recipe. The one disadvantage of this approach on a model of this size is that it leaves whiter colours in the recesses. This makes getting black in to those areas more essential and time consuming. Not an impossible task, just one that takes time. 

Moving beyond the green base coat, I decided to resurrect my blending approach to fire painting for the knee cap. Its a limited area of the model to try this technique on, but I'm please with the outcome -- see image.

In brief, I've used a wet blending approach with the fire here, similar to how I paint Bloodletter's swords. I start with the white colours here and then apply yellows to the inner fire, blend with orange as the next layer up, and then red at the extremes. This creates a nice visual from a distance and works well to suggest the fire aspect of the miniature. Close up, as per the image, it is easy to see just how messy and haphazard this approach actually is. I won't claim it is neat, but fire isn't generally neat either. This is a paint job best viewed from a little distance in my mind to create the desired effect. 

Next steps will be to extend the fire to the main torso and focus on highlighting the relevant parts of the model. I'm getting there now and its looking promising to say the least - I can almost feel how I want the paint scheme to end up looking!

Dreadtober 2020: Salamanders Contemptor Mortis

I have had this project hanging over me for a very long time now -- and Dreadtober is the perfect opportunity to attempt to make some appreciable progress with it. Behold the mighty Contemptor Mortis! Fully assembled and awaiting some tender, loving paint work to be applied.

The plan is to use the contrast painting method worked out for my Shattered Legions Salamanders from much earlier and apply some blending to the more fiery aspects of the armour to help it stand out. The base will be kept in keeping with the other miniatures and feature a dark sandy tone. 

Wish me luck!

Salamanders Legion Praetor Terminator

For every army, there needs to be a commander. Some are junior, others are more senior. Some are pressed in to the role due to circumstances beyond anyone's control. This Praetor has a feeling of seniority combined with circumstances (Isstvan 5) that no one in the legion foresaw.

The model has been assembled from a variety of sources. The legs and torso come from the Forge World range -- Salamanders Legion Firedrake. However, I wanted the model to not be a total copy of the Firedrake, replete with shield and everything (even though that was actually very appealing for canonicity and authenticity to Isstvan 5).

Instead, the arms are a thunder hammer (actually sourced from the Dark Angels range) and a chaos space marines combi-melta gun. The reasons for the are due to personal experience with the Dark Angels (narratively, the Salamanders are friendly with most other legions -- sworn brothers to the Dark Angels, and why shouldn't some of the senior officers have served and made comrades out of other legions - there's plenty of evidence in the books for this, not least of all between Fulgrim and Ferrus Manus), and the latter due to the dire situation that the survivors of Isstvan 5 found themselves in. I think he must have looted it from a more chaotic legion myself - perhaps the Word Bearers?

The shoulder pads are both the same and from the (older) chaos space marine terminator range -- the skull with curled horns. This shoulder pad is not as chaotic in nature as it might seem. To my mind, they conjure up the marine's background on Nocturne where he might have hunted such great beasts.

The helmet meanwhile is from standard 40k terminators. I was toying with a lot of different helmets for this praetor ranging from a bald head, through to top knots, and everything in between. I felt that the standard 40k terminator was appropriate given the upper torso configuration which is very reminiscent of the 40k range. He could therefore be deployed as one of any type of terminator (potentially) using the armour as counts-as Cataphractii, and so forth.

For the painting, I followed the usual prescription of the warp lightning contrast paint, accented by lighter greens and complemented by the fire motifs.

In all, a worthy leader of the desperate force that I'm constructing for my Shattered Legions. And for once, not Meduson either. Rather, this is the praetor who re-forged his brothers and cousins to use the Covenant of Fire rite of war to survive, eliminate their enemies, and attempt to escape Isstvan 5.

Salamanders Shattered Legions Squad

Especially for those of you (plural) that asked: today is a picture of the completed Salamanders Shattered Legions squad.

Forged from the remains of multiple and diverse original Salamanders squads, the marines in this unit feature a variety of iconography (note the differing paint schemes for the helms for instance), armour marks, and equipment. Some are largely intact, some have a bolt pistol holster, but not pistol contained inside. Some have a few frag grenades, others are replete with extensive pouches. 

Most sport obvious battle scarring and damage. Several appear to have conducted field repairs to their armour on the move, incorporating a mixture of armour marks, and replacing parts from traitor legions. The most clear example of this is the brother with the Alpha Legion chaos back pack, but look closely for shoulder pads from other legions, and greaves too. This is all intentional and meant to reflect the harsh survival conditions that they have undergone in the Urgall Depression on Isstvan 5. 

The bases are done with a combination of various grades of sand, stones, and grit, coupled with cork, and an assortment of plastic pieces to give them a unified feeling. I've blackened parts of the 32mm bases to provide a war torn feeling which I think works well to offset their armour colours. 

Painted Salamanders Legion Squad: 10/10

Finally today is the squad sergeant of my Salamanders Legion squad. This marine is armed with a bolter, bolt pistol, power fist, and melta bombs (which can be seen on his left hand leg) and a few accessories.

I decided to try a bodyline of battle damage diagonally across his torso and thigh - I think this has worked nicely and complements the highlighting across the armour elsewhere. The pose is a bit more dynamic than most of the rest of the Salamanders that I've painted up which adds to the model. The paint scheme is fairly standard otherwise, and includes a decal on the left leg to finish it all off.

So, that's the full squad. More Shattered Legions incoming in the days and weeks ahead!

Painted Salamanders Legion Squad: 9/10

The penultimate marine in the squad, featuring a long arial for communications, which can double as a Nuncio Vox if needed. Half tempting to turn it in to a Vexilla by adding some banner to the top of it to be honest, but I'll leave it as is.

The battle damage here is limited to the right hand knee and shin, with a few select other areas highlighted. The decal on the right hand shoulder is an officer rank, suggesting that he once held a solid rank, but is now out for pure rage-filled revenge against the traitors.

The base is cork, and has been painted with a black undercoat, highlighted, washed, and with some black stippling applied in selected places for relief.

Painted Salamanders Legion Squad: 8/10

Another day, another marine, this time in one of the older marks of power armour.

There's nothing too remarkable about this particular brother at first glance. Battle damage can be seen across both knees, and the upper chest. Dust is caking some of the left foot. The rights shoulder pad though is painted in silver. I think the narrative here is that this might be a replacement from the Iron Warriors that he defeated perhaps? Battlefield repairs and all.

Not many left to show you from this squad now. Numbers 9 and 10 coming soon, including the sergeant.

Painted Salamanders Legion Squad: 7/10

This miniature was the original one that I used to figure out the painting scheme for the Salamanders Legion on using Contrast Paints. The main difference here to the earlier images that I posted is the finishing and weathering applied.

Most obviously is the rusted areas that can be seen on the metal sheet beneath the feet of this marine, but also around the feet and shoes, and some of the shin plates. Highlighting has been employed all over to bring this marine in to line with the others and make sure that he looks like he fits in with the rest of the squad nicely. I'm calling this one done at this stage, even though I could probably work a bit more on him.