World Eaters Tartaros Terminator with Lightning Claws

Another World Eater today, to add to the growing terminator squad. This one is decked out in twin lightning claws which in game go well with the armour type to try to get that sweep in. 

The painting follows the standard pattern that I've established for this legion, replete with the blue shoulder pads and the grime look that has accumulated in the recesses of the otherwise off-white armour. The blood for the blood god paint is dribbled over the claws and down the marine's side suggestive of recent action. Decals from the official range are on both shoulders and both shin pads here (roman numeral, along with the crossed chains which indicates a gladiatorial win against a fellow world eater). The black splotches were added with a sponge application in a similar manner to the dreadnought from dreadtober earlier in the year. 

The base meanwhile is relatively simple with technical paint and dry brushing to give it the overall effect. A black base rim rounds out the miniature - largely because I can't imagine it being another colour (let's not mention goblin green in the 1980s/1990s, okay?). 

Dreadtober 2024: Completed World Eaters Leviathan

The World Eaters Leviathan is done!

I genuinely love the final stages of painting World Eaters. To some it might seem like I've ruined a particularly crisp and nice paint job. I disagree. I set out wanting to have a battle worn and bloodied leviathan. The only way to achieve this is with weathering. And blood. For the blood god. The weathering features two toned grey and black speckles using a sponge applicator. I've made chips using silver inside of significant wear and tear to emphasize this aspect. The blood has been both painted and sponged on in a consistent manner to hopefully show some up close and personal work. This features most prominently on the chest (close range fire I suspect), and on the shins (he kicked his foes, clearly). There's a lot less blood on the rear of the miniature for obvious reasons (don't turn your back on your foes!), but the weathering features both wear and tear as well as explosive impacts on the rear. 

And for reasons I am unable to explain adequately, gravitons are green. Too bad. I've decided. 

Hope you've enjoyed following along with my Dreadtober leviathan project! I'm really pleased with the outcome here and I hope you've enjoyed seeing the progress week after week! Very glad I did this, and even happier with the end result. 

My original plan was to sell this miniature on eBay, but now I'm not sure! 

Dreadtober 2024: Leviathan with Decals

Progress report on my Dreadtober project: a World Eaters Leviathan. Here, I have got to the stage of applying all of the decals to the miniature. I can now get a really good sense of what the finished miniature is actually going to look like. 

The miniature looks very "clean" at this stage though. I am intending to make it a lot more mucky and stained with explosive barrages. Let alone liberal application of Blood for the Blood God to match up with the other miniatures in this particular allied detachment! It's certainly looking a lot better and even though I've been away, I am well on course to finishing this miniature on schedule - possibly even by the end of next week. Who knows. 

World Eaters Terminator with Power Maul

The conversion from yesterday is now fully painted! This is a World Eaters terminator decked out in the pre-heresy colour scheme for the legion, but also replete with a lot of dirt and blood to give it a grime filled, mid-action look. 

The decals are direct from the World Eaters range, and the blood is, of course, Blood for the Blood God which is simply amazing for this kind of work. I've applied it in both clumps of large gore, as well as splattering it across key areas in a lighter handed manner. I am very pleased with the vibe here and the theme. Even for pre-heresy, this is a nasty terminator who can readily be imagined bringing compliance in the only way that this legion knows how to do. Up close and personal without remorse or quarter. 

Dreadtober 2024: Leviathan based coated in World Eaters colours

Dreadtober continues! Progress has now included applying the base coat to the Leviathan dreadnought to bring out the legion identity! As can be seen, I've settled on World Eaters here. 

In addition to the base coat of blues, whites, and iron, I have also started to pick out the recesses using Guilliman flesh. This is deliberately sloppy in application. As well as going into the recesses of the armour, there's also a stain around these recesses which will accentuate the dirty / "in action" vibe that I'm aiming for with this miniature. 

The next step will be to get some World Eaters decals in place before progressing to some edge highlights and other fun stuff. 

World Eaters Assault Squad Assemble!

Finally had time to make progress on my World Eaters allied detachment. These are the main troops of the detachment - a squad of jump pack assault marines.

The most obvious thing here are the chain axes and other bits - sourced from an eBay vendor. I'm very happy with these - particularly the arm options which might not be so obvious at first glance.

The sergeant sports a pair of falax blades and - like some of his brothers - is positioned on top of a barrel ready to make the next leap and strike. On the left is the brute with the power maul taken from the Dark Angels terminator range. And on the right is one with a power spear. You may well ask why this arrangement. Largely the answer is the rule of cool and I wanted a squad that communicated disorganized weapons like a bunch of gladiators that have just scooped up whatever they had to hand and are using them very freely. This is emphasized by the left and right handedness of the rest of the squad wherein the chain axes are evenly being used in the left and right hands. 

All told, a bit of a mob of braying marines ready to jump at the next target as the nails bite into their heads - and a story told with dynamism while keeping a relatively consistent basing policy to bring it all together. 

World Eaters Conversion: Power Maul Jump Pack Marine

I am always impressed by how even a small conversion or bit swap can change the whole demeanour of a miniature. This is one such case. 

This particular fine specimen has only two changes. The first is the power maul right arm which is taken from the Dark Angels terminators range. The second is the head which is from the Khorne 40k range. There is a little problem with the maul if you look closely. The size of the fist is too large - ever so slightly - for the Heresy range. This is because it is a terminator sized hand. However, I think it still works as a World Eaters jump pack marine for the Heresy range - he's clearly just been flexing a lot? The bit itself really suits the World Eaters - the post is one of sheer barbarism combined with a wicked looking maul that even the Lion might be embarrassed to see his sons utilise once in a while. 

The base has cork on it, with a resin topper to give it a bit of extra height. Overall the miniature is a simple conversion but certainly communicates the violence incarnate of the World Eaters legion through and through. I could easily imagine this marine knocking his opponents off their feet and flinging them to the side with a killer dent in their torsos. 

World Eaters Assault Sergeant

When I sat down to consider how to craft a World Eaters assault marine sergeant, I wanted to incorporate a good deal of dynamism into the model as well as some of the rage that the Legion has been exposed to thanks to the nails. This is the result.

The base has a sliced in half barrel for the World Eater to stand on. This naturally puts him at a bit of an angle, but this is more than compensated for by the positioning of the legs, arms, and tilt of the head.

The parts used here feature falax blades on both arms combined with Khorne berserker head to highlight the nails digging in, and a shoulder pad from the same range largely because they look cool and the legion icon is very visible. No de-chaos-ifying has been needed here at all thankfully. The model fits the brief that I had in my head when I sat down too. This readily will serve as either loyalist or traitor, depending on the need, and is one of the first miniatures for my World Eaters allied detachment that I am creating. I might add a melta bomb yet - I'm undecided!

World Eaters Warmonger / Praetor

A new conversion today - this time for the World Eaters! Plans are afoot for a small allied detachment of this legion. This particular miniature will serve as either a Praetor (in which case the weapon is a paragon blade) or as a Warmonger - primarily for the use of the teleport device (in which case the weapon might be an excoriator?). 

The bits used are most obviously a Red Butcher body. The arms and weapon come from the Dark Angels terminator range. The shoulder pads are Forge World resin Tartaros armour. I wanted this guy to suggest violence incarnate combined with martial skill and intimidation. I think it does so in droves. 

Horus Heresy 2e Review: Kharn the Bloody

Warpstone Flux Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
4/5 stars. The rules are good and come very much recommended.

Background.

Of all the World Eaters, Kharn stands out as the one whom Angron grew to trust (or at least not kill on first sight) and would eventually start to trust his counsel. Of course, Kharn also had a dark destiny ahead of him, but during the Heresy we find him as a line captain who become Angron's equerry. 

Strengths.

Most notably here, Kharn is not yet a ravening mad man. He still has his wits about him somewhat and is much easier to control and use than some of the 40k editions that he appears in will be. 

Kharn possesses a bunch of nice rules such as precision strikes and rampage along with a solid set of equipment (like an iron halo and artificer armour) and a stat line that is fractionally better than a regular praetor (especially the in the WS department). 

I like the fact that he can take Gore child for a modest points cost increase if Angron isn't around and this should be seriously considered if the points cost allows.

Finally the warlord trait is entertaining. He cannot be charged by a reaction unless it is a primarch making such a reaction. This is very good indeed and as far as I can tell fairly unique in the game (need to read through some other entries again to double check that statement). The bonus movement reaction is great for the army overall. 

Weaknesses.

Relatively none, unless you wanted to take him in a Loyalist faction! If you're wanting a praetor and you can afford to invest the points, then Kharn is worth it.

Difference to First Edition.

As with many World Eater units, I have been hesitant to draw differences due to the large span of time since Betrayal was released. Many things here remain similar, but there are changes, and those changes are generally good and in a positive direction. 

Overall. 

Kharn is well worth the points (and absolutely in comparison to a plainer praetor) and can readily chop up many enemy infantry. He doesn't strictly need gore child, but it absolutely is recommended. Not only this, he is a totally fluffy choice for the World Eaters. I strongly recommend him as the HQ if Angron is nowhere to be seen. 

Horus Heresy 2e Review: Rampager Squad

Warpstone Flux Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️
3/5 stars. The rules are fine.

Background.

Those World Eaters who get implanted with the nails and show extra savagery are often put in to front line assault squads. Essentially, these are the rampager squads. 

Strengths.

Automatic access to Cadere weapons is a nice touch and the ability to take jump packs is great. Given that they appear in the Rites of War, I would reckon on seeing many more rampager squads in second edition compared to first edition. In many ways, this squad is the defining squad of the World Eaters. 

Stat line wise, they have a great movement combined with improved WS, 2 wounds, and a bonus attack. Furious charge and stubborn are the icing on the cake here.

Weaknesses.

I think the price tag is arguably a touch high? Not quite sure to be honest as they do perform well enough, and the price is cheaper than first edition. Additionally, it is necessary to consider how best to get them into close combat; drop pods, land raiders, and jump packs all spring to mind here.

Difference to First Edition.

They have lost feel no pain, but they can gain that back through other means. Scouts is also lost. Their stat line certainly has been improved, so overall I think this squad is fractionally better in second edition.

Builds.

5 Rampagers, 4 with Excoriator Chainaxes, Jump Packs, Champion with artificer armour and power fist (210 points).

Something of a baseline squad. I like the excoriator axes here for the AP3. The jump packs are to get them in position.

10 Rampagers: 5 with Excoriator Chain Axes others with different caedere weapons, Champion with artificer armour and twin lightning claws (265 points).

Note the points cost here in relation to other squads (e.g. terminators). Although that extra wound is nice, the armour save is still 3+. This is a squad for a land raider and potentially to escort a HQ choice or to be put with an apothecary.

Horus Heresy 2e Review: Red Butchers

Warpstone Flux Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️
3/5 stars. The rules are average.

Background.

When World Eaters utterly succumb to their inherent madness, as happened from time to time before the coming of Angron, but very much so after the Butcher's Nails and at the Betrayal, they become savages of little more than rage. The techmarines fashioned mobile prisons for them and released them from their chains in the ship's hold when needed.

Strengths.

A solid stat line combined with a default of twin power axes, fearless, and hatred of everything. These terminators are a force to be reckoned with, but ultimately nothing particularly special or out of the ordinary. In some ways they are a baseline terminator against which other terminators might be measured.

Weaknesses.

Low leadership (but remember fearless). Ravening madmen (but take hits at S-1).

The Red Butchers are probably slightly over-priced in terms of points costs and what you get for them. But equally the fearless rule is worth the premium. 

Difference to First Edition.

Much smoother rules and better rounded.

Builds.

The builds here are very straight forward. Decide between the axes, or upgrade with hammers and fists.

Keep one axe or gain a combi-bolter, depending if you think you're going to get the charge in (you should with a drop pod or a land raider or similar if the army is made well). Lightning claws are also good here, but cost a bit too much in relation to the axes possibly. 

5 Red Butchers, 2 Thunder Hammers, Devoured with Grenade Harness (280 points).

Perhaps a baseline build, but very expensive to be honest.

10 Red Butchers, 2 Thunder Hammers, 2 Chain Fists, Devoured with grenade harness and combi-flamer (530 points).

More of a maximal squad to take advantage of the cheaper extra bodies.

8 Red Butchers, 8 Combi-Bolters, Devoured with Grenade Harness and combi-plasma (405 points)

Take Khorne's sacred number ... or something.

Horus Heresy 2e Review: Angron

Warpstone Flux Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️
3/5 stars. The rules are nicely fluffy. Maybe 3.5 stars on a good day.

Background.

The master of the World Eaters is a character that has been systematically used through his life and abused. I have a lot of sympathy for him due to circumstances that he could never control or be in charge of. And for the glimmer of a moment when he was in control and commanded his gladiator's rebellion, he was denied a worthy death by his would be father. Ever resentful and filled with unbroken rage, it is simplicity itself to see why he through in his lot with Horus. Yet he had no particular love of the rest of his brothers who turned traitor either. His is a tragedy that could have been averted many times over. It didn't have to be this way. But by the end of the Heresy, he became a Daemon Primarch and would be forever walking the eight fold crimson path with nothing but his own rage and blood lust for company. We weep for the possibilities lost.

Strengths.

Simply put, Angron is a beat stick (but also comes with army buffing abilities which is nice). By this I mean that his strengths are in close combat (did anyone expect anything less?) and that is where the controlling player needs to get him to with all due celerity. 

The Sire of the World Eaters rule gives the army a welcome boon in the form of feel no pain and adamantium will. This will make Thousand Sons players cry. The bonus to movement reactions will also really help to get the army in an optimum position.

The Butcher's Nails grant a bonus cumulative attack increase every game turn, but at the expense of everyone treating Angron at WS=3 for attacks targeting him, much like the Ravening Madmen rule. Meanwhile the Red Sands allow him to enter plentiful challenges and split attacks according to his whim. 

His equipment is good with 2+/4++ and a stat line that is reasonable for a Primarch. The weapons are great. 

Weaknesses.

The WS=3 for strikes against him is a weakness. But does Angron care? Nope.

Overall.

A strong primarch, but not the strongest. Points wise he is about right give or take a few as he has a lot of special rules in addition to an army wide buff. Hence worth taking if the army cost allows. 

Horus Heresy 2e Review: World Eaters Armoury

Warpstone Flux Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️
3/5 stars. The rules are fluffy and fine.

World Eaters Armoury.

The World Eaters lack a specific unique consul upgrade, but have access to several special upgrades and weapons instead. 

World Eaters Berserkers, and Ravening Madmen.
For a modest points increase, a character can gain A+1 and cause others to wound him at S-1. Minor problem is that they take to hit rolls as if they were WS=3. This is a bit of a rational transaction in many ways. What it is trading on is being able to kill off the enemies and giving them a bit of durability against incoming assaults weapons at the expense of getting hit all the time - they really don't care about themselves. Overall it might not be worth the price though. That A+1 and S-1 combined should be worth the price being paid, but the negative offset is significant.

Savage Fervour.

The ability to exchange chainswords for chanaxes for free is not only fluffy for the World Eaters, but also a good move. The bonus S+1 from it in comparison to the chainsword is worth it! Do it! [Assuming you also have a good source of chain axes for conversion purposes? At the time of writing, this isn't obvious how to get them in bulk].

Caedere Weapons.

These weapons are from Angron's gladiator pits and represent unusual and brutal weapons. They are a mixed bag with 4 different options. Out of them all, I like the Excoriator Chainaxe the best myself. The meteor hammer is passable, the falax blades are very good with Rending (4+) and Duellist's Edge, while the barb-hook lash is acceptable.

Difference to First Edition.

Neutral. Everything is about the same give or take a bit of smoothing around the edges?

Horus Heresy 2e Review: World Eaters Traits and Rites

Warpstone Flux Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️
3/5 stars. The rules are average.

Warlord Traits.

The World Eaters have a choice of 3 warlord traits. 

Blood Hunger. Available only to traitors, this trait is a bit vampire like and grants an extra wound when an enemy is killed by them, with a cap of 6. In return, they are compelled to charge the closest enemy and gains a movement reaction. This is a reasonable trait, but by no means game defining and calls for a melee death star unit around the HQ choice.

Cloaked in Blood. Thanks to the stains left visible on their armour and their reputation, this warlord imposes Ld-2 on enemies in close combat. Like the above, there's also a bonus movement reaction. I like this one a lot as it helps with sweeping enemies aside. Would suggest something like a tartaros terminator squad escort here.

The Butchers Claws. Seems fitting perhaps for loyalist elements (but not exclusive to them), this marine can channel the rage generated by the nails in their skulls. They get S+1 in addition to the Violence Incarnate rule (NB: the rules as written need a touch of better wording here, but I think its obvious myself that they don't got A+1 as well which I've heard people interpret this one as). The bonus assault reaction is good. This is a generic trait which I think is good for almost any warlord, but again not game defining either. 

Rites of War.

Berserker Assault. Enhanced running moves, charge rolls, and Ld bonus to pinning make this almost a default choice for World Eaters. Having rampagers as troops is nice and predators as fast attack is superb. Having negatives of compulsory charges against nearest targets and no allies is a pitiful price to pay for such bonuses. Obviously here this army is about a wave of berserkers backed up by fast moving tanks to provide covering dakka. This does not exclude things like contemptors by any means, and will provide a quintessential World Eater play style.

The Crimson Path. With the nails digging deep, this rite grants the amazing ability to ignore the first wound caused per phase. This is terrific and army defining. Access to It Will Not Die for characters outside of their deployment zone calls for commander led charges, and rampagers gaining line is very strong. The limit of having more infantry than others and only one heavy support is fluffy and in line with expectations. This rite is fairly exchangable with the above, and provides a similar play style that enemies will need a lot of pinning attacks to prevent. Choose the other rite if you're worried about pinning?

Different to First Edition.

Look, it has been so long since the World Eaters were published in Betrayal that I think that most comparisons will be flawed given the iterations they have had. I think the present rules here are good, but not amazingly good. Fluffy, without being game defining. This is why they get 3 stars from me. 

Horus Heresy 2e Review: World Eaters Legion Rules

Warpstone Flux Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
3.5/5 stars - rounded up. The rules are high quality, but you must get your marines in to close combat and in good numbers to take maximum advantage of them. 

Background.

The World Eaters were ever violent even before the onset of the Heresy. Their Primarch, Angron, had every reason to resent his gene father, The Emperor, hence their allegiance to the Warmaster Horus should not come as a surprise to any. During the Heresy they were there right from the start at Isstvan and saw action from there to Ultramar in the Shadow Crusade before making their way to Terra itself with a freshly created Daemon Primarch of Khorne in their cargo. 

Naturally, this legion is a close combat orientated one and the rules reflect this.

Legion Rules Review.

Violence Incarnate. Gaining +1 attacks on the charge above and beyond other bonuses and even when such charges are disordered is a good core rule to have. 

For me, the only real question here is how to maximally exploit the rule, and this means getting in to combat quickly. Hence it is suggested to take - where possible - plenty of transports or deep striking elements to take advantage of their extra attacks. I would also suggest erring on the side of large squads in order to try to sweep an enemy on the turn that they engage -- and also to survive until they get into close combat with the enemy. 

The Butcher's Panoply gives access to the Armoury, World Eaters Berserkers can gain access to the Berserker upgrade, while the Hounds of War brings the choices of warlord traits.

Advanced Reaction.

The Savage Tide enables the controlling player to gain feel no pain when shot at and then after surviving such an incoming attack immediately charge at the player who shot at them. This is nasty and when timed well can turn an entire game around for the World Eaters. 

Difference to First Edition.

Improved. And Cleaner. I last reviewed the World Eaters legion rules in 2014 (wow!) and back then some of their bonuses required "activation". This was always a bit of a poor rules construction to my mind. The new rules are much simplified, and always active which represents such a quality of life improvement compared to the older rules. The new reaction really will help as well. Remember to use other reactions to get your units close to melee as well. The controlling player will need a way to get into combat (of course) and I always like the World Eater drop pod armies that I've faced as a preferred method. Although the World Eaters might meet their match against other melee armies, there are ways to master this by taking large blobs of squads where they can and this is fluffy for 30k as well. There's a lot to like about the World Eaters in the new edition compared to the old one. 

Horus Heresy Review: Red Hand Destroyer Assault Squad

Background.
Bit late with this one (and updating the blog more generally) due to real life. But here it is: the Red Hand Destroyer Squad. The so-called "Red Hand" is the Butcher's Mark - awarded to those who displayed excessive violence by the Master of the World Eaters, or to those who simply slay much higher ranked officers in the same legion. Rather than these squads being made up of brothers who share fraternity with each other, they are stand out rivals; competing with each other in the World Eater's vanguard to be worth of the symbol. 

Strengths. 

These units are destroyer squads with some nice extra upgrades and rules. The Bearers of the Blood Hand rule is a kind of negative harkening back to the old days of Khorne Berserkers in 4th Edition 40k -- they have to charge an enemy within 12 inches if possible. The Ravaging Assault rule gives them +1 to combat resolution and sweeping advances. Together, and with upgrades, this makes this squad a frightful opponent in close combat. Counter attack and the usual World Eaters rules is just the icing on the cake. 

Weaknesses.

This is an "ordinary" squad of marines with 1 wound and a 3+ save each. Treat them as such!

The biggest problem is that they take up a very cramped Elites spot in my opinion. 

Builds.

10 Ravagers, 2 with Thunder Hammers, and the Blood Bonded with a 3rd thunder hammer and artificer armour. (260 points). 

Take a rhino. Hammer time.

5 Ravagers, all with jump packs, 1 missile launcher with suspensor, Blood Bonded with power fist. All with jump packs. (175 points).

A bit of a base line unit, but also a distraction carnifex. 

15 Ravagers, all with jump packs, 3 missile launchers, Blood Bonded with power fist. (415 points).

Getting to a larger size here, and a significant threat when used well.

The above builds don't explicitly use twin falax blades and the like, but feel free to experiment in that department. Phosphex bombs would also be useful in certain situations and could well be added to the second squad listed for additional threat. 

World Eaters Muster -- Video

Taken at Warhammer World, this is a video of the mustering of the World Eaters legion that is featured in the artwork and publicity for the Horus Heresy books. I really liked the juxtaposition of the different Realm of Battle tiles coupled with the stark white and blues of the space marine marching in strict rows and columns plus the sheer violence that is lurking under the surface of a legion that used to know well the value of tactics and strategy.

Warhammer World: World Eaters of Horus Heresy

Continuing my series of reference images from the Warhammer World special exhibit, today is the turn of the World Eaters. White is always a tough colour to get looking really nice, and these miniatures are a great example of how to do it. Combined with the obligatory blood splatter and the blue accents from the shoulder pads, these are great looking World Eaters.

Horus Heresy Review: Gahlan Surlak

Background.
I have some genuine sympathy for the World Eaters. Well, more than I have for the Night Lords at any rate. And of the World Eaters, the fall from grace of Gahlan Surlak is one that might be entirely predictable. As one of the leading apothecaries of his legion, he used to be serious about his job of returning brothers to the battlefield as soon as possible. But this sank in to the background as the Heresy took hold. By amping up the Butcher's Nails, he ensured that they would either come back victorious, or dead. There was becoming little need for him.

Strengths.
One of the main rules to be aware of here is the Exhortation of Butchery special rule that applies to all World Eaters apothecaries and primus medicae from after the Shadow Crusade (008.M31). This gives a bonus to attacks, at the (1 in 6) risk of dying in the same assault phase. This is voluntary and can be chosen or activated every assault phase by the controlling player. This is a huge boon to the World Eaters and entire armies can be constructed around it.

For Surlak personally, he is the master of inductees. He can turn troops in to +1S, FnP, -1BS no scoring units if he desires. This is a very nice bonus that in conjunction with the Exhortation of Butchery rule can bring around swift victories in close combat.

Weaknesses.
Surlak is not a compulsory HQ, just like other Primus Medicae. Therefore you need a genuine HQ selection such as a praetor. That shouldn't be too much of a problem for the World Eaters one hopes!

Overall.
A very characterful addition to the World Eaters traitors and important for the addition and introduction of the Exhortation of Butchery special rule. Worth the points value, and clearly an important component of any Bodt campaign.