Painted Iron Warriors Spartan Land Raider

This tank has been hanging over me for years silently pleading to be painted. The task is now done to a tabletop standard! Featuring quite a few decals, some hazard stripes, and otherwise plenty of silver and black, the Spartan land raider is unmistakably Iron Warriors.

I would be lying if I said I enjoyed painting all the rivets. I started with a few and then realized my mistake! Oh well, at least it shows some attention to detail if nothing else! Very happy with how it has turned out and I might well add on some more weathering (there's quite a lot at the lower edges of the tank, but thinking that the tracks could do with some as well potentially). Job done to a good enough standard regardless. 

Painting With Decals!: Iron Warriors Rhino Dedicated Transport

Sometimes I feel that decals have really spoiled me. This Iron Warriors rhino is essentially "paint by decals" - which if its not a thing already it really should be. 

The rhino follows a standard Iron Warriors colour scheme with a variety of tones of silver ranging from lead belcher through to a more glittering silver, all toned down with washes of Nuln oil. Black and silver accents abound.

What really is interesting here are the decals. On the top hatch, I have taken one of the four very large decals and sliced it down the middle (and trimmed the upper edge a touch) to fit on the hatch. I had to carefully slice around the hinge joints to made this fit overall, but the effect is strong. Less obvious are the Iron Warriors skulls on the circular side doors which also follow the split-in-half approach. I still like them like this, but overall its not quite as effective as the upper hatch I think. Some hazard stripes and roman numerals round out the front of the tank. Overall a great job, but the decals have really done the hard work for me here. 

Horus Heresy 2e Review: Imperial Fists Decurion Sagittar

Warpstone Flux Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

4.5/5 stars. Rounded down. A truly excellent upgrade for the Imperial Fists. 

Background.

This battle brother likes his autocannon. On top of a vehicle. Shooting lots and all around. A little too much. 

Strengths.

For a modest points cost, gain not only an augury scanner, but also an Illiastus assault cannon on a pintle for your Saggitar to use. 

He can shoot one defensive weapon or his pintle weapon and choose to gain skyfire or precision shots against a different target to the rest of the tank. This is extremely nice and provides strong options. And of course, he is an Imperial Fist and really likes the assault cannon.

Weaknesses.
Not many realistically.

Overall.

Well worth the points cost for the equipment price alone. The special rules make this truly impressive.

Horus Heresy 2e Review: Sons of Horus Decurion Lanius

Warpstone Flux Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

3.5/5 stars. Rounded up. A very reasonable vehicular upgrade.

Background.

Somewhat like a commissar for the Sons of Horus. This guy will shoot at friendly Sons of Horus in whom the unacceptable seed of fear blossoms. 

Strengths.

As a tank upgrade, it is cool to see he comes with a banestrike bolt cannon as standard. The range, rate of fire, strength and possible breaching is significant here.

There are 2 special rules to take note of. Firstly he comes with an impressive banner that grants Ld=9 to all who gaze upon it for morale and pinning purposes. Secondly, he will shoot any Sons of Horus unit within a reasonable range that fail a morale check for d3 wounds and thus amend that failure!

Weaknesses.
I mean - yes. He will kill your own men. But this does have a place in some circumstances.

Overall.

A solid, if double edged upgrade to ensure morale remains high!

Horus Heresy 2e Review: Legiones Decurion Locus

Warpstone Flux Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

4/5 stars. A strong vehicular upgrade.

Background.

Some marines are experts at optimisation of the biggest guns. When you place one of these men on board a tank with a big gun, you have a recipe for an explosive result.

Strengths.

This upgrade grants an advanced reaction that provides the tank with the option of firing back against a shooting attack. 

The player can elect one of two forms. Either all defensive weapons plus one battle weapon with the normal rules. Or: just the one battle weapon with +1 to hit. This might be a tough choice depending on the nature of the defensive weapons, but I can certainly see that this choice depends on the vehicle itself. It is a strong reaction indeed and can be game changing with some fortuitous die rolls!

Weaknesses.
No reaction against charges here - unlike the Defensor. 

Overall.

An excellent upgrade that honestly should be considered as almost standard if you have the points cost available to pay for it. 

Horus Heresy 2e Review: Legiones Decurion Defensor

Warpstone Flux Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️

3/5 stars. Nice enough, and a welcome addition to vehicles for second edition.

Background.

Some space marines have talents for long range fire power. Others like things up close and personal. This marine likes shooting things with pintle mounted weapons from the top of tanks and is an expert at it.

Strengths.

For a low points cost, you gain the point defence advanced reaction. This allows you to shoot back at a target that targets you for a charge or shooting attack. There are limitations. Only defensive weapons can fire, and pintle weapons. But you man gets double shots with the pintle weapon.

It is hard to choose what weapon load outs to give for the point defence. I'd suggest a multi melta in most cases, and probably defensive volkites? That said, the heavy bolter is exceptionally tempting given the sheer amount of shots that you get coupled with the range. My preference though is for the multi melta since the things shooting at you are probably going to be other vehicles. 

Weaknesses.
You can only choose to upgrade very specific units. I find this very odd ineed. Select between predators, sicaran squads (including punishers), and Kratos. 

Overall.

A reasonable upgrade and cheap enough to afford in most lists running these units. 

Horus Heresy Review: Carnodon Strike Squadron

Background.
The final entry in Book 9 is the Carnodon Strike Squadron. This comes in two different guises: one for the Solar Auxilia, and one for the more regular Imperial Army. Fundamentally, this is a middle of the road battle tank, with statistics to match. 

Strengths.

The twin-linked autocannon is very nice here, although I suspect that most players will want to swap out the heavy flamer sponsons for something else. 

The Saturnyne version for the Solar Auxilia comes with the option of also swapping out the main turret which in some cases  might be desirable to create (e.g.) a lascannon based tank.

Weaknesses.

Arguably the armour isn't that great, but as stated above, the price about matches what you might expect.

Builds.

Carnodon with Twin Linked Autocannon, and autocannon sponsons (65 points).

A reasonably good amount of bullets coming out of this tank for the points cost here. Take a squad of 3 if you have the points.

Saturnyne Pattern Carnodon with Twin Linked Lascannon, and lascannon sponsons (105 points).

Not quite a predator tank, but still very nice.

Saturnyne Pattern Carnodan with Twin Linked Multi-laser, multi-laser sponsons, and a multi-laser pintle (85 points).

Purely for those of you who can't get enough multi-lasers. 

Horus Heresy Review: Saturnyne Pattern Aurox Armoured Transport

Background.

The Aurox is to the Imperial Army what the Rhino is to the Space Marines. The design philosophy of both are incredibly similar: they needed to be able to be mass produced, and to be able to be repaired and allow for additional load outs in the field. 

Beyond that, this is the standard transport solution for the troops of the Imperial Army, Solar Auxilia, as well as the Cultist armies in 30k.

Strengths. 

I regard the points cost of the Aurox as cheap and cheerful and therefore an asset not to be over-looked.

Weaknesses.

In a case of "you get what you pay for", the Aurox is not well armed or armoured in the grand scheme of things. These transport boxes will blow up regularly, and that's just to be expected.

Builds.

The Aurox comes in two baseline flavours: one for the Solar Auxilia and one for everyone else. The only difference is that the Solar Auxilia get the Explorator Adaption upgrade included, and have slightly more options. 

Aurox (Solar Auxilia) with multi-laser (35 points).

I kind of like the multi-laser, but by all means keep the heavy stubber instead, or take the heavy flamer. The extra armour is a nice optional upgrade here. 

Aurox (Everyone Else) with heavy stubber (25 points). 

Not much to say here. The heavy flamer is tempting against some armies, but otherwise stick with the heavy stubber.

 

Horus Heresy Review: Legion Arquitor Bombard

Background.

The Arquitor Bombard is what you get when you cross a Vindicator with Ordnance weapons. And also when you add on sponsons. It is competing against a lot of other entries for heavy support choices in a Legion army, but it can find a role when supporting troop advances and tacking stubborn fortifications. 

Strengths. 

There is a choice of three main weapons for the Bombard. The Morbus Heavy Bombard is very similar to a vindicator, but with ordnance. It also gets a special shell called the Carcass shell that can flesh bane troops out of the way. This gives flexibility in my mind.

The Graviton-Charge Cannon is a large-scale graviton weapon combined with haywire. This is always going to be good against vehicle heavy enemies and can perform exceptionally well given the right circumstances.

The Spicula Rocket System is a large payload of rockets in two different modes (5 and 7 inch), but comes with the possibility of running out of rockets if the 7 inch mode rolls a 6. I don't see this as a big problem since you will only be firing this (probably) 3 or 4 times in a game and might not choose the 7 inch mode every time. I like the other additional weapons in combination with this one to really whittle down enemy troops.

Weaknesses.

The cost is steep, and one has to weigh up a vindicator against this slot. The Bombard probably wins in many circumstances, but the trusty vindicator is likely more durable. 

Builds.

Bombard with Morbus. (140 points).

I like the basic version with no upgrades. Take 3 of them if you have the points and the will to use them.

Bombard with Graviton-Charge Cannon. (140 points).

Tempting to take some extra armour and armoured ceramite here to be honest. 

Bombard with Spicula Rocket System, Autocannon Sponsons, Havoc Launcher (165 points).

For sheer fire power that might just rival a predator combined with a large pie plate, this is a built that should not be overlooked at all. Take 3 of them to give your opponent a fright. Take 3 units of 3 but beware of not making any friends and your ability to deal with very heavy armour. 

Horus Heresy Review: Legion Sabre Strike Tank

Background.

The Sabre is portrayed as a strike tank. Rather than being a gun line tank of the early great crusade, these tanks represent a new form of warfare seen later on: strike, keep the enemy big guns suppressed, fade, and form up again elsewhere very quickly. 

This mode of operation will clearly suit some of the faster legions, and those who favour flexible deployment and rapid repositioning when required. I think they should see a reasonable amount of play (and potentially more had they been released at the same time as the Sicaran). 

Strengths.

I think we are getting what we are paying for here. A mobile big weapon on a moderate quality tank. It can have multiple battlefield roles depending on its load out, ranging from anti-tank, to anti-infantry, without competing against predators and vindicators for the same force organization slot. 

Weaknesses.

For the faster legions (e.g., White Scars), the fast attack slot is probably already spent before you get thinking about these tanks. As such, it may favour other legions whose builds might not be so pressured on this slot in the force organization chart, but still like flexibility and more tanks (e.g., Alpha Legion, Iron Hands).

Fundamentally, they are also 12 armour on the front, and 10 at the back. This isn't a tough tank, but it should do a good job for the points cost.

Builds.

Sabre with Neutron Blaster and multi-melta (110 points).

Does the anti-tank job very nicely. Add a pintle combi-melta if you're feeling lucky?

Sabre with Volkite Saker and havoc launcher (80 points).

The anti-infantry option. Take a Volkite Culverin to taste.

Sabre with Anvilus Snub Cannon and 4x Sabre Missiles (85 points).

Monster hunter tank.

All of the above can also select extra armour and armoured ceramite to taste as well. 

Astraeus

By the time that I've sat down and had chance to write this, the Astraeus super-heavy primaris tank will be old news to many in the blogosphere. Regardless, I had a few thoughts from the video and writing that was released via the Warhammer community page that I wanted to jot down here.

Firstly, the link -- check out the Astraeus for yourself if you've not already done so!

Described by the Warhammer team themselves as a cross between a Sicaran, a Repulsor, and a Fellblade, its not hard to see why this tank blends these elements together in to a single vehicle. The macro cannons on the top of the tank are a force to be reckoned with due to the stats alone, and their presence on the top of the tank is highly reminiscent of the Sicaran itself. The use of the gravitation platform to keep the vehicle floating seems to be a recurring theme that is developing with both the (re)introduction of the Custodes and now with the Primaris marines. 

Although there are obviously other weapons on board this device of destruction such as the las-rippers on the sponsons, the main stand out is the defensive capabilities. This super-heavy is boasting some serious armour and defensive capabilities in terms of hosting void shields inside it. Indeed, it seems to have the defensive capabilities of a war hound titan from first glance. 

All together, this tank is a new evolution. Yet, in doing so, it seems to be breaking one of the fundamental constants that has been with Warhammer 40,000 for so long: the fact that no new technology gets designed and built since the grim dark of the far future is in a state of technological stagnation. Of course, this statement applies to other items such as the Primaris marines themselves and the other weaponry that have come along with them. I get the Guilliman has been preparing for this in secret, but I do wonder how the existent Forge Worlds might feel about all this new technology coming along. At least in terms of the grim dark dystopian narrative that has been with us for so long.

In terms of the model itself, I'm actually a bit of a fan of it. When the Primaris marines and their new transports came along I was a little bit sceptical. Yet for this tank, I really do like it. Somehow, despite the obvious things like the grab-technology all over and the over the top weaponry, it somehow just all works as a singular entity. The modellers have done really well to blend all of the aspects of the tank together in to a cohesive whole. Whist I will not be purchasing this particular model myself in the near future, I'm sure many people will be. I think it will perform very well indeed on many battlefields and will look glorious whilst doing so. Bring me my titan...

Horus Heresy Review: Karacnos Assault Tank

Background.
A Triaros tank that has had its interior fitted with the mechanisms for the support of a weapon that should have been banned by the Geneva Convention and never made it through to the 30th millennium. The shells are (and I quote) "small plasma implosion devices wrapped around  highly toxic radium-cobalt isotope cores". If this description along didn't want to make a world press for a good deal and join the Imperium, I'm not sure anything would.

Strengths.
The main weapon of this tank is horrendous (as suggested above). It is heavy 3 with a range of special add on rules including the deadly rad-phage as well as ignoring cover saves. Although the AP is only 4, it makes up for it in the wealth of bonus rules it gets and can really be a great weapon for taking our infantry by the bucket load. Even terminators from the Death Guard would look at this weapon twice.

Beyond that, the side sponsons have their own little servitor brains that mean they can target different units and snap shot at BS=2. The armour on the front is a great AV=14 as well, and it comes with the shock ram that the Triaros takes as standard.

Weaknesses.
The tank has hazardous munitions that mean it can explode with a large radii. So one might want to keep one's own infantry a little bit away from the tank. Just in case.

Other than that, the points value might plausibly put some players off wanting this unit, but not many.

Builds.
Just one to toy about with given that there are very few upgrades available here.

Karacnos, with blessed auto simulacra and smoke launchers (235 points).
You could add other things like extra armour or hunter killer missiles. But they're not strictly needed. I personally like the blessed autosimulacra rule myself, so that is why it is present. 

Horus Heresy Review: Legio Custodes Caladius Grav-Attack Squadron

Background.
The Caladius is a mobile weapons platform in a nutshell. It boasts the Iliatrus accelerator cannon that would later be retro-fitted to the Sicaran for the space marine legions, and can potentially take heavy blaze cannons instead in the much rarer annihilator pattern upgrade.

Strengths.
Fast. Deadly. Lots of fire power. Flexible in a pinch. And very handy to have on your side.

Weaknesses.
The primary draw back here for me is the armour value of 11 on the rear. Other than that, it really is a decent tank overall and comparable to a predator or a sicaran from the more familiar space marine arsenal.

They are so fast and deadly, that they are rather forgiving on the controlling player and I think they're going to see a good amount of use in either variety.

Builds.
1 Caladius, armoured ceramite (205 points).
A bit of a baseline build. Take extra armour to taste.

1 Caladius, Blaze Cannons, armoured ceramite (220 points).
An interesting choice here. The exoshock rule can provide a vital extra result for the controlling player that can readily see the demise of any tank it is looking to take out. Overall, well worth the price being paid so long as a good target can be brought in to range. It could be very good against enemy knights for instance. 

Genestealer Cults Review: Leman Russ Squadron

Background.
Stolen directly from the Imperial Guard of the `host' planet, the Leman Russ battle tank is well-known for what it does on the battlefield across the Warhammer 40,000 Universe.

Strengths.
This is a great tank! Excellent front armour, great side armour and versatile set ups. I don't really dislike much about them overall. I guess it ultimately depends on the kinds of opponent that one expects to face. Having said, that, some of the pie plates do rely on BS=3, so that's not so awesome. A large number of shots would be better to ensure a few hits arguably. But I still like and respect the Leman Russ.

Weaknesses.
The rear armour is only 10. But you all knew that, right?

Builds.
There are a lot of builds to consider here. What is below is just a sub-sample of the ones that appeal to me personally.

Leman Russ, Eradicator, heavy flamer (120 points).
This basic battle tank is really versatile. I like the flamers for defence and assault roles. The eradicator nova is a mid-range beast that can bring the hurt in numbers to Imperial Guard, Eldar, and the like.

Leman Russ, Exterminator, heavy bolter sponsons (140 points).
A lot of dakka here to get around the BS=3 issue. Not much not to like really!

Leman Russ, Vanquisher, Multi-melta sponsons (155 points).
Heavy, high strength shots at long range is still awesome no matter what enemy one is facing. However, the BS=3 is a really big issue here though. That said, certain builds of the cult armies could outflank this beast, so the above build is equipped with multi meltas to help take advantage of this. Add an extra lascannon if the points allow.

Leman Russ, Battle Cannon (150 points).
Large blasts and large ranges. Very nice. Add plasma cannon sponsons if desired? A hunter killer missile as well? Perhaps a lascannon too?

Genestealer Cults Review: Goliath Rockgrinders

Background.
As the name suggests, the rock grinder grinds rocks. This is made evident by the grindy rock drill dozer on the front designed for the grinding of rocks.

Its chassis is in common with the Goliath Truck and is a bit of an upgrade from said truck. Like most things in the Cults armoury, it has been stolen, adapted and put to use of the day of light when the cult springs forth from the darkened mines that they have long been labouring in.

Strengths.
Most obviously, the Rockgrinder has a better armour rating than the goliath truck and is not open topped. Arguably it will be hanging around longer. And (rules as written), it can transport purestrain genestealers.

The rugged construction is a nice boon in common with the truck that provides a "save" of sorts against crew shaken, stunned and vehicle immobilised results.

Weaknesses.
Unlike the truck, this is not an open topped vehicle. Whilst this is a strength in terms of not dying quicker, clearly it also means that any transported cultists cannot assault out of it so readily.

The weapons are not much to write about here. Although the strength is good, the BS is really what makes this less than tempting overall. I can see a good use for the clearance incinerator option though. The torrent is very nice and the flamer template bypasses the poor BS of the vehicle.

Builds.
Not many options here, but here are two.

Rockgrinder with a cache of demolition charges (80 points).
Yeah, they're okay. Nothing special though. And one could subtract off the charges to save on valuable points to be honest.

Rockgrinder with clearance incinerator (80 points).
I like these ones due to the torrent. Several of these can be very nice in a squadron. 

Genestealer Cults Review: Goliath Truck

Background.
Along with others, I was disappointed to not see cult limo's in this army list. The Goliath makes up for this a bit by being fluffy in terms of an army based around hard working hybrids hidden from society for a long time down in the mines (or elsewhere).

Strengths.
The Goliath is open topped which means that anyone embarked on it can assault directly from it. This is fabulous and resonates very well with the melee aspects of the army.

However, costing more than a rhino and being open topped means it won't last as long in all probability.

The weapons are nice enough with a twin linked auto cannon on board that will make a difference to the truck. The heavy stubber is neither here nor there, but its okay.

On top of this, the rugged construction rule is great for keeping the truck going come what may.

Weaknesses.
Purestrains cannot get on board. Presumably their claws are a bit too sharp?

Builds.
The only real question here is whether to take demolition charges? The range of these is very low and hence there's a good chance of blowing up the truck through their use. But if you have the full hull points intact, then it might be worth it as a one off to take out some terminators before charging in to mop up the rest with some rending weapons. Hence, I would recommend:

Goliath (50 points).
The basic build is actually really nice overall!

Genestealer Cults Review: Chimera

Background.
Stolen, hidden and ready for use when the cult spews forth from its hidden tunnels, the Chimera is a mainstay of the Imperial Guard and its uses are probably well known.

Strengths. 
The Chimera is arguably one of the nicer transports in the game since it is able to pump out plenty of shots from the las gun arrays, the heavy bolter and the multi-laser.

Water is also not an issue for its movement -- the Chimera is amphibious for those of you who might be like me and regularly overlook this fact.

Weaknesses.
Yes, it costs more than a space marine rhino. But so what. Its a bit better really. The only negative is shared with the rhino -- this is not an assault vehicle.

All that said, there are few other forces in the game that can make all their transports infiltrate and (or) outflank. This is terrific and could readily be built upon with some choice upgrades.

Builds.
There are not too many builds to consider in the absence of formations. Here are a few.

Chimera (65 points).
The naked build with standard equipment remains a mainstay of any Imperial Guard type army. It is excellent here as well.

Chimera with heavy flamers in place of both multi laser and heavy bolter (65 points).
Very nice for outflanking some opponents when required. Take a dozer blade or hunter-killer missile to taste.

Horus Heresy Review: Macrocarid Explorator

Background.
No two macrocarids are the same, being deployed by individual forge worlds and having been tweaked with by their magi on their own terms. This leads to a vast array of front line vehicles that the Mechanicum can field on the battlefield. All of them deadly in their own right and all worth of respect.

Strengths. 
The best way to think of the macrocarid is as a customisable land raider. It has transport capacity and it has AV=14 all around coupled with an impressive 4 hull points. The base points cost is actually entirely reasonable and it comes with las cannons on side sponsons, plus a mauler cannon on the hull.

The added rules provide an all round survival quantum, plus other nice rules such as an augury scanner. The only real question is how to configure it for your needs which we look at in the builds section below.

Weaknesses.
There are few weaknesses here in reality. The macrocarid is a strong choice all told, but like all good choices there is a temptation to splurge a lot of points on the vehicle. This temptation should be resisted, no matter how good things look on paper. A few Destroyer strength hits will take care of this beast and its often better to not have all proverbial eggs in one basket as a result.

Builds.
Macrocarid Explorator with Exploratory Augury Web (245 points).
I really like the exploratory augury web for its ability to mess around with reserves. But this comes at the price of a reduced transport capacity. Hence it might be the case that this build is a mobile wall or screen for other pieces of your army.

Macrocarid Explorator with Flare Shield and Armoured Ceramite (240 points).
A very tough vehicle for any army to fight against. Put your precious units inside and use them wisely. Add a conversion beamer to taste!

Macrocarid Explorator with Two Irradiation Engines and hull-mounted Graviton Imploder (250 points).
Irradiate your opponents and then mop up with the graviton imploder. Very nasty combination really.

Macrocarid Explorator with twin linked Plasma Phased Fusil and sponson Mauler Cannons (205 points).
Very nice dakka for your enemy marines.

Other builds like having a servo-rig and anabaric claw are all possible, but the above examples are probably superior for generic builds rather than specialised battle smith builds. 

Horus Heresy Review: Legion Mastodon Heavy Assault Transport

Background.
Employed only sparingly during the Great Crusade to breach enemy positions, the Mastodon saw increased use in the days of the Heresy as a fully armed and armoured transport capable of protecting its transported marines even against titans to a reasonable degree.

Strengths.
This is both a Lords of War entry in the force organisation chart, and possesses an incredible 40 spaces for transport up for grabs. Importantly, it can also take up to 2 dreadnoughts (taking 10 spaces each) in this capacity, making it very formidable for enemy armies.

It carries out its transport role very well with not just crazy Land Raider style armour, armoured ceramite, a whole slew of hull points, but dual void shields to boot. (Recall: even a war hound titan has only 2 void shields itself!).

Even without carrying anything, its presence in a game is very significant and entire armies and strategies could well be built around its use. Its weapons are formidable enough to be a headache for almost anything (granted, they're not destroyer strength though). Flamers, lascannons, meltas, they're all here!

As if that's not enough, if a unit occupies it, there are houses to snap shots when being charged at, catastrophic damage table rolls get a whopping -2 modifier, and if it survives it becomes a proper ruins with 2 entry points! This is very cool in my opinion and represents such a big structure turning in to a battlefield obstacle that can then be used tactically in subsequent firefights.

In terms of upgrades, the vox relay is a cool way to manipulate reserves for the army and punish the enemy for deep strike mishaps. Take if you want fliers on the board on turn 2. Otherwise, probably don't bother.

Weaknesses.
Destroyer weapons.

Builds.
Mastodon, super heavy command tank (720 points).
Look, you don't have to take any upgrades at all. But hey, you've invested a lot of points already, so why not a few more? I like both the relay vox and the sky reaper battery, but hesitate to sacrifice the sky reaper battery for the relay on accounts of the sky fire rule there (without knowing if the rest of the army includes fliers or not).

This could be just downright dirty with the right army. Consider the Iron Hands with Head of the Gorgon rite of war for instance. Or how about Ferrus Manus himself in an unbound list? Ferrus Manus *inside* the Mastodon? With air support? Good luck.

Horus Heresy Review: Legion Vindicator Siege Tank Squadron

Background.
In the original Betrayal publication, the Legion Vindicator was a singular selection for the Heavy Support slot in the army list. Here, in Retribution, it appears that this decision has been reversed to a more standard 1 to 3 tanks in a squadron. Nice! I'll therefore simply update my review for the original Vindicator entry here.

Strengths.

Genuinely, I'm quite fond of the vindicator as a tank. The Betrayal book explicitly notes that the vindicator finds a lot of use in both Iron Hands Legion and Sons of Horus Legion forces. But for my own part, I regularly use vindicators with my 40,000 Death Guard armies and have won some solid victories through the holes they've manage to punch in enemy lines.

My earlier reviews of Chaos Vindicators and Dark Angels Vindicators still applies in the Heresy era (modulo the daemonic possession stuff in the chaos variant, of course!). I think they make great tanks for many legion armies, but they are competing for a heavy support slot against other viable options here (assuming we're not playing with unbound armies). One interesting option available in the Heresy era is to replace the demolisher cannon with a laser destroyer array. I like this option as it provides a very nice tactical flexibility (especially coupled with the overload option).

Weaknesses.

As with rhino's, the rear armour is something to watch out for. Otherwise, its a very sound and robust tank with very little worries beyond positioning and range.

Builds.

A few sample builds to think about.

Legion Vindicator, dozer blade, armoured ceramite (145 points)

I think this is probably the baseline vindicator for the Heresy / Great Crusade era. The use of the armoured ceramite is almost a given to protect against lance and melta a little better and the dozer blade to help the tank get where it needs to be.  Add a machine spirit and/or auxiliary drive to taste. Of course, naked works well as well here.

Legion Vindicator, Laser Destroyer Array, armoured ceramite (150 points)

With a slightly larger range than the destroyer cannon, the need to move around is lessened and I've removed the dozer blade. This is probably the baseline build for the laser destroyer variant.

Legion Vindicator, dozer blade, armoured ceramite, havoc launcher, machine spirit (185 points)

For when you have to get somewhere and you want to pressure the enemy significantly. Half tempted to replace the havoc launcher with a heavy flamer for counter charge purposes. At this price tag, it starts to get expensive though.

Legion Vindicator, Laser Destroyer Array, Heavy Bolter (145 points)

At first glance, this seems kind of odd. But then factor in that the weapons both have the same range and realise that this combination could be a character killer.

Legion Vindicator, dozer blade, hunter-killer missile (135 points)

Cheaper and highly expendable. This one - particularly if taken a couple of times and filling out the heavy support slot - can be a painful experience for an opponent.