Battlefield Fortifications – Datasheets

The Cybertheurgist Trait is used in the following Forces of the Taghmata datasheets:

High Command

• Archmagos

• Archmagos on Abeyant

• Archmagos Draykavac

• Archmagos Scoria

The most basic of the Cybertheurgist’s arts allowed them to boost the output of the reactors that powered the various machines in their charge. While such manipulation ran the risk of burning out actuators, voiding cortex chips or crippling electrical relays, it also proved a significant boost to combat prowess.

In the terrible darkness of the Horus Heresy many among the ranks of the Mechancum swiftly found ways to use their arcane knowledge to undo the works of those of their kin they now called enemy. The subtle data-djinn used to empower a machine could also be turned against it, forcing servos past their tolerance, burning out circuitry and overcharging weapons systems.

Some tech-priests focussed their skills not on the manipulation of technology on a grand scale, but on the subtle control of hand cogitator and optic relay. In war, such adepts could confound the enemy by debilitating key wargear mid-battle, leaving the foe shorn of the technology they relied on.

The most powerful cybertheurgists were capable not only of boosting the prowess of their charges, but also of implanting temporary programming shunts. These were intended to allow even simple automata to react with more haste to the changing nature of the battlefield, though at the risk of damage to their internal systems.

The Lacrymaerta Trait is used in the following Forces of the Taghmata datasheets:

While the vast majority of the servants of the Lacrymaerta are flesh rather than steel, the complex web of implants and augmetics that enslaves them allows their masters to employ Cybertheurgy on them. Though it is more difficult to coax the same performance from sinew and bone, the effect in battle can be worth the difficulty. Sadly, the flesh of servitors and thralls rarely survives the ministrations of their masters, fortunately it is considered easily replaceable.

With calculated disregard for terror and pain inflicted on their own charges, the priests of the Lacrymaerta have been known to intentionally push their servants past tolerance when battle threatens to overwhelm them. The explosive demise of units whose end was inevitable may yet take some few of the enemy with them - a worthy trade in the eyes of the flesh-smiths of the Lacrymaerta.

The Reductor Trait is used in the following Forces of the Taghmata datasheets:

The cybernetic creations of the Ordo Reductor had always been more complex engines than simple automata, blending the nervous system of a living being with a cold skeleton of metal. When the priests of the Ordo Reductor let slip the limiters of the Thallax’s reactors it boosted the output of their metal frames, but tormented the living nerves with searing pain, often seeing them loose terrible screams as they were driven into a frenzy.

The priests of the Ordo Reductor know well the arts of lock and bolt, there are few doors or portals whose mechanisms they cannot subvert. If they can force a passage to any fortress’ gate then they have no need of cannon or drill to pierce its protections, and those that cower inside must face their wrath without the protection of the tall walls or tank’s gullet.

The Myrmidax Trait is used in the following Forces of the Taghmata datasheets:

The adepts of the Myrmidax have always been some of the most ancient of the creeds of Mars, and within the data-engrams of their remote storage was kept the centuries of accumulated wisdom, the bitterness of defeat and the glory of victory. The tech-priests of that order could loose that ancient data to boost the prowess of their warriors and suffuse their augmetics with the fury of warriors long dead.

• Overcharged Reactors
  +5 Points

• Cogitator Purge
  +10 Points

• Chastise the Machine Spirit
  +25 Points

• Programming Interrupt
  +20 Points

• Flesh-knit Protocols
  +5 Points

• Omega Protocols
  +15 Points

• Deactivate Limiters
  +5 Points

• Unseal the Portal
  +20 Points

• Fury of Ages
  +5 Points

Military buildings are often vital to defensive operations, serving to shelter vulnerable troops, mount heavy guns or deploy other technological defences. During the Horus Heresy almost every force made use of such defences, though they were rarely considered a decisive element in any order of battle.

• A Model with the Fortification Type can never be moved by any Rule or effect after it has been Deployed.
• A Model with the Fortification Type can never be placed into Reserves and must always be deployed at the start of a Battle (see the Rules for deploying Fortifications).
• A Model with the Fortification Type may never Hold, Control or Contest an Objective Marker of any kind.
• A Model with the Fortification Type can never be affected by any kind of Status, including both Tactical Statuses and Cybertheurgic Statuses. However, such a Model can be affected by Cybertheurgic Rites that do not apply a Cybertheurgic Status.
• A Unit that includes a Model with the Fortification Type may never be joined by any other Models of any Type.
• A Model with the Fortification Type cannot make Reactions of any kind, unless a specific Sub-Type states otherwise.

Structures are specialised fortifications that carry no weapons, nor allow troops to shelter within, but instead allow the deployment of rare technological devices. From communications platforms to void shield generators, these platforms may seem irrelevant in the face of armoured gun turrets, but when wisely used can be equally as powerful.

• A Model with the Structure Sub-Type can be Captured (see the Rules for Capturing Fortifications).

This fortification is constructed to allow infantry to use it as a fighting platform or mustering ground and is equipped with armoured barricades and plating to protect its occupants.

Set up to impede attackers and offer some small cover to warriors fighting from behind them, barricades are a common type of fortification.

• Light Area Terrain provides a 6+ Cover Saves to all Models within its boundaries.
• Medium Area Terrain provides a 5+ Cover Save to all Models within its boundaries.
• Heavy Area Terrain provides a 4+ Cover Save to all Models within its boundaries.

• A Special Rule or other effect attached to the wound specifies that it ignores Cover Saves or that no Cover Test may be made.
• The attack is being made as part of a Combat during the Fight Sub-Phase, or a Challenge in the Challenge Sub-Phase.
• A Cover Test may be taken to discard a Penetrating Hit, if one is available to the Model.

Infantry units include all types of foot soldiers. Infantry are fairly slow moving, but can cross almost any terrain and make the best use of cover to avoid enemy fire.

Mightiest of all the Emperor’s creations and the greatest warriors and generals of their age, the Primarchs of the Space Marine Legions epitomise the dark ages of the Horus Heresy. These colossi of war were powerful beyond the capabilities of any mortal warrior or steel-forged automata - for their only equal was another of their own kind.

• Any Hits inflicted by a Model with the Paragon Type, as part of either Shooting Attacks or in close combat, are allocated by the attacking Model’s Controlling Player and not the Controlling Player of the Target Unit.
• Models with the Paragon Type may join and leave a Unit that includes Models with the Infantry Type, and Models with the Infantry Type may join and leave a Unit that includes one or more Models with the Paragon Type.
• Models with the Paragon Type may Embark and Disembark upon Models with the Transport Sub-Type.
• A Model with the Paragon Type may Issue and Accept Challenges.
• The Controlling Player of a Unit that includes one or more Models with the Paragon Type may use the Characteristics of one of those Models to resolve any Characteristic Checks made for that Unit.
• In Step 1 of the Resolution Sub-Phase, when deciding how many Models a Player controls in a Combat, a Model with the Paragon Type counts as a number of Models equal to that Model’s Base Wounds Value.

Emplacements are either purpose built military structures or civilian buildings hastily converted to mount ranged weapon batteries. Given the limited nature of the systems that control these structures they cannot be relied upon to fight a battle alone, but can serve as a useful means of delaying or corralling the foe while more traditional troops act elsewhere on the battlefield.

• A Model with the Emplacement Sub-Type has a Ballistic Skill Characteristic and can make Shooting Attacks.
• A Model with the Emplacement Sub-Type can have the Return Fire and Interceptor Reactions made for it.

Bunkers are fortified shelters for infantry, allowing them to find temporary respite on the battlefield. Some such structures also boast fixed weapons batteries, allowing troops to continue to fight even as they take cover.

• A Model with the Bunker Sub-Type has a Transport Capacity Characteristic.
• Only Models with the Infantry Type that have no variant of the Bulky (X) Special Rule may Embark on a Model with the Bunker Sub-Type.
• A Model with the Bunker Sub-Type can be Captured (see the Rules for Capturing Fortifications).

Some weapons are almost as dangerous to the wielder as to the foe. Supercharged powerpacks can explode in combat or volatile munitions can jam or even detonate, all of which can prove deadly to those charged with deploying such weapons.

Some fortifications have specially designed compartments where a limited number of combatants can make attacks at the enemy outside while remaining out of harm’s way. Such attacks are made with limited fields of view, due to the often cramped compartments and limited openings from which to fire, and the use of some dangerous weapons is avoided – lest an unfortunate overload causes catastrophic damage in the tight quarters of such bunkers.

Drop pods and other dedicated orbital assault vehicles are intended for one purpose only - to deliver warriors and equipment from orbiting spacecraft to battlefields on a planet’s surface. Once deployed they play little further part in the battle, serving only to support the onslaught of their passengers.

The Aquila Strongpoint includes one or more orbital missile launchers intended to keep the skies clear of enemy drop craft, but of limited use in targeting ground units. While these weapons are devastating to drop pods and other similar orbitally deployed transports, it lacks the sophisticated targeting systems or delicate thrusters to track and target smaller infantry or low altitude aircraft.

1. Select Target Unit.
2. Check Target.
3. Declare Weapons.
4. Set Fire Groups.
5. Select Fire Group To Resolve.
6. Make Hit Tests.
7. Make Wound Tests.
8. Select Target Model.
9. Make Saving Throws & Damage Mitigation Tests.
10. Select Next Fire Group.
11. Remove Casualties.

Some weapons trade precision for indiscriminate destruction, high explosive impacts that can devastate a wide area. From artillery shells to high energy blasts, such weapons are popular tools of destruction on the battlefields of the Horus Heresy.

Long range artillery fire is the terror of any infantry advance, striking its targets no matter what cover they seek or where they attempt to take shelter.

Some weapons are designed not only to kill and main, but also to shock and disorient the foe. Such weapons may rely on blinding flares, bursts of enervating energy or even subtle poisons to slow and disable the enemy, but their effects are the same. Debilitated and vulnerable, warriors struck by such weapons become easy prey.

Some weapons are calibrated to fire only at the most distant of targets and struggle to hit any enemy inside that range.

These huge weapons are intended for the long range destruction of key enemy assets and are not equipped for rapid retargeting or for tracking lesser targets.

• The target Unit includes at least one Model with the Vehicle Type.
• The target Unit includes at least one Model with the Paragon Type.
• The target Unit includes at least one Model with a Base Wounds Characteristic of 10 or more.

Aquila macro-cannon

Deep strike deployments are usually conducted en-masse and at a distance from the enemy, lest the attacking force be destroyed in detail as it lands.

Whether equipped with antigrav repulsors or empowered by some esoteric, psychic art, this unit is able to skim above the ground. While incapable of true flight, this does allow it to avoid any of the hampering effects of the prevailing terrain, gliding over obstacles that would ensnare or entangle more conventional troops.

• A Unit that includes only Models with the Antigrav Sub-Type may ignore the effects of any and all Terrain it passes over during movement, including passing over Impassable Terrain without penalty or restriction. However, such Units may not begin or end their movement in Impassable Terrain, and if beginning or ending their movement in Dangerous Terrain must take Dangerous Terrain Tests as normal.
• A Unit that includes only Models with the Antigrav Sub-Type may ignore both friendly and enemy Models and Units when moving. However, when moving over a friendly Unit all Models with the Antigrav Sub-Type must end their move at least 1" away from all Models that are not part of the same Unit, or if moving over an enemy Unit, must end their move at least 1" away from any enemy Model.

Most combat aircraft fly at such speeds that regular weaponry is hard pressed to track or hit them. Only cannon and beams specifically designed to strike such swift targets have any hope of landing hits upon them by any means other than sheer luck.

Heavy beams and armour-piercing cannon rarely inflict superficial damage, but always blast and break the hull of their target. Such weapons are superior tank killers, their sheer power prized over lesser weapons when the objective is to apply maximum damage without concern for finesse.

Icarus lascannon array

Some weapons cleave flesh with ease, inflicting terrible wounds that no mortal toughness can resist. Though of less use against armour and steel, such munitions are capable of tearing bloody holes in the ranks of advancing infantry and stalling any attack in its tracks.

Whether by dint of superior skill or exemplary wargear, some warriors are better able to place strikes on enemy weak points. Such attacks can fell even the most powerful foes with a single well-placed shot.

Bolter

Designed to pierce the armour worn by heavy infantry, some weapons have gained a fearsome reputation on the battlefields of the Floras Heresy. While many such weapons are rare or temperamental in use, the sheer power of their attacks more than makes up for this.

Plasma gun

The beams of energy generated by melta weaponry dissipate over long ranges. When used at close quarters, however, their effect on armoured vehicles is devastating.

Meltagun

Twin Icarus lascannon

The Fortress of Redemption includes one or more orbital missile launchers intended to keep the skies clear of enemy drop craft, but of limited use in targeting ground units. While these weapons are devastating to drop pods and other similar orbitally deployed transports, it lacks the sophisticated targeting systems or delicate thrusters to track and target smaller infantry or low altitude aircraft.

Some weapons feature augmented motility and enhanced targeting systems, able to track and lock onto fast moving targets with ease.

Hyperios missile launcher

Some weapons are so heavy that, while they can be fired on the move, are more powerful when properly braced and made ready before shooting. Warriors on the battlefield must use their judgement to decide when speed is required and when the full firepower of their arsenal must be unleashed.

Some weapons are tied into an array linked by a cogitator system to fire as a linked system into several different arcs of fire simultaneously. Most often such weapons are intended to hold back hordes of enemies via simplistic targeting systems that are unable to replicate the individual thinking of a trained unit of real soldiers.

Heavy bolter array

These fortifications are often deployed ahead of the main advance to provide cover for an assault or to close a gap in the lines of an advance. Airdropped from another craft or even a spaceship in low orbit, special single use thrusters ensure the bunker survives its fall and can start defensive operations almost immediately

Template weapons shoot clouds of fire, gas or other lethal substances, rather than shells or bullets.

Some weapons are so terrifyingly potent that their use instils abject fear in even the most strong-willed warriors. In the face of such wanton power the target can only flee or prepare for death, for few would live to tell of the true horrors of the Age of Darkness once they were unleashed on the battlefield.

Heavy flamer array

Primus Turbo Laser

This fortification is constructed to allow infantry to use it as a fighting platform or mustering ground.

The Skyshield is designed to allow for an easy embarkation and disembarkation point for warriors and supplies carried by aerial transports.

• Whilst on the Battlefield, a Model with the Flyer Sub-Type does not block Line of Sight or the Movement of any Model.
• When moving a Model with the Flyer Sub-Type, ignore all Terrain effects and Rules. However, a Model with the Flyer Sub-Type may still not end a move in or on Impassable Terrain, a Terrain Feature or a Building.
• Models with the Flyer Sub-Type may move through Models with the Vehicle Type, but never inflict Hits on enemy Units they move through and are never eligible to be the Target of the Death or Glory Advanced Reaction.
• No Model of any kind may join a Unit that includes a Model with the Flyer Sub-Type.
• A Model with the Flyer Sub-Type can never gain any Tactical Statuses and ignores any Rules that would force it to do so.
• A Model with the Flyer Sub-Type may never be Locked in Combat or attacked in any way during the Assault Phase and may not be targeted by attacks made using a Melee Weapon.
• A Model with the Flyer Sub-Type may never make a Reaction of any kind, unless that Reaction specifically states it may be made by Models with the Flyer Sub-Type - but can be targeted by Reactions.
• When a Player is instructed to roll on the Vehicle Damage Table for a Model with this Sub-Type, no roll is made. Instead, the Model loses a single Hull Point.

The crack of the sniper’s rifle or the burst of heavy artillery, both signal a sudden and indiscriminate death and send infantry scurrying for cover. Such weapons are meant as much to pin the foe in place as to kill them, breaking up advancing ranks of troops and shattering defensive formations.

Vengeance battlecannon

A hail of enemy gunfire serves to keep any warrior’s head down, and some weapons are designed specifically to suppress the foe. Only the most steadfast of troops will continue the advance when all they can hear is the whistle and crack of gunshots and the screams of the fallen.

Avenger bolt cannon

The steel warriors of the Mechanicum are unlike any other force in the galaxy, unflinching automatons of logic engrams and gears. Though far more rugged than even the Emperor’s Legiones Astartes, they are bound to the unchanging dictates of their programming and lack the tactical flexibility of flesh and blood warriors.

• Models with the Automata Type cannot gain any Tactical Statuses and are considered to automatically pass any Check made to avoid gaining a Tactical Status. However, if a Unit that contains any Models with the Automata Type also includes any Models that do not have the Automata Type, that Check must be made using the Characteristics of one of the Models that does not have the Automata Type and is not automatically passed.
• When targeting a Unit that includes any Models with the Automata Type, the effects of the Poisoned (X) Special Rule only trigger on a Wound Test with a result of a ‘6’ before modifiers are applied, regardless of the value of X for that variant of the Special Rule.
• A Unit that includes one or more Models with the Automata Type may not make Reactions.

These massive engines of war are unlike the soulless warriors of the Mechanicum, for at their heart rests a mortal warrior whose instincts and experience guides their steel body on the field of battle.

• When targeting a Unit that includes any Models with the Walker Type, the effects of the Poisoned (X) Special Rule only trigger on a Wound Test with a result of a ‘6’ before modifiers are applied, regardless of the value of X for that variant of the Special Rule.
• A Model with the Walker Type may attack with all Weapons they have in each Shooting Attack they make, including as part of a Reaction. Note that this does not allow Weapons that do not have the Assault Trait to be used to attack as part of a Volley Attack.
• In Step 1 of the Resolution Sub-Phase, when deciding how many Models a Player controls in a Combat, a Model with the Walker Type counts as a number of Models equal to that Model’s Base Wounds Value.

• A Special Rule or other effect attached to the wound specifies that it ignores Invulnerable Tests or that no Invulnerable Test may be made.
• An Invulnerable Test may be taken to discard a Penetrating Hit if one is available to the Model.

Void shield generator

True void shields are massive energy barriers used to protect cities, titans and void-borne craft from weapons of truly gargantuan power. Such devices are rarely deployed at a tactical scale due to the complexity of their systems and the power drain of such a device. A few highly sophisticated vehicles with powerful atomantic engines can empower limited void shielding, and a tactical scale power generator can, for a limited time, project a similar shield.