Many command squads go to war clad in Cataphractii Terminator armour, using its sheer bulk and durability to protect the life of their commander. Able to withstand even the most vicious blows and bearing the finest weaponry in the Legion’s armoury, these exemplary warriors embody the finest qualities of the Legiones Astartes, valiantly spearheading assaults into the most hazardous of war zones holding the Legion’s banners high. Cataphractii armour is amongst the earliest marks of Terminator armour to be issued to the Legions and, as such, the most experienced veteran Legionaries often choose it over more recent marks, preferring its proven superior protection to serve them in the duty of safeguarding their commander in battle.
| LD | CL | WP | IN | |||||||||||
| M | WS | BS | S | T | W | I | A | LD | CL | WP | IN | SAV | INV | |
| Legion Cataphractii Chosen (⌀40mm) | 8 | - | - | - | ||||||||||
| Legion Cataphractii Chosen (⌀40mm) | 6 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 8 | - | - | - | 2+ | - |
| Legion Cataphractii Standard Bearer (⌀40mm) | 8 | - | - | - | ||||||||||
| Legion Cataphractii Standard Bearer (⌀40mm) | 6 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 8 | - | - | - | 2+ | - |
Some weapons strike with such force that they cause terrible wounds that can lay low even the most formidable combatant.
When a model is allocated a Wound inflicted by a weapon with this special rule, it does not suffer only one Wound but instead suffers a number of Wounds equal to the number in brackets associated with the specific variant of this special rule, with all of the Wounds inflicted using the same AP and special rules as that of the initial Wound. Roll to save against each Wound inflicted separately, but note that Wounds caused in excess of a given model’s remaining Wounds do not spill over to other models and are lost. This special rule has no effect on models that do not have a Toughness value.Some weapons rely not on the speed of their wielder, but on their sheer length or cunning design to inflict harm upon the foe before they can react.
A model making attacks as part of an Assault using a weapon with this special rule, adds the value of (X) that is included as part of this special rule to its Initiative Characteristic. If a model has more than one weapon with this special rule then that model only increases the value of its Initiative by the value of the special rule on the weapon whose profile is used by that model to attack during the Fight sub-phase. A weapon that is not used to attack does not modify the model’s Initiative Characteristic – models that may attack with more than one weapon, or models claiming the bonus for having a second weapon, may only add the value of the highest variant of this special rule and do not add the values together.These melee weapons are sheathed in disruption fields that allow them to cleave armour as though it were paper and annihilate flesh or bone with ease. They are both difficult to master, for a single mis-stroke can lead to catastrophe in a close packed melee, and expensive to manufacture and maintain, and so are mostly found only in the hands of the finest warriors in the Legiones Astartes.
All weapons listed here are counted as ‘Power’ weapons for those rules that affect such weapons. A model that is eligible to select a power weapon may take any of the weapons included in this Profile.| Ranged Weapon | |||||||
Ranged Weapon | R | FP | RS | AP | D | Special Rules | Traits |
| Power sword | |||||||
| Power sword | - | User | 3 | Melee, Rending (6+) | - | ||
| Power axe | |||||||
| Power axe | - | +1 | 2 | Melee, Unwieldy | - | ||
| Power maul | |||||||
| Power maul | - | +2 | 3 | Melee | - | ||
| Power lance | |||||||
| Power lance | - | +1 | 3 | Melee, Reach (1) | - | ||
| Ranged Weapon | |||||||
Ranged Weapon | R | FP | RS | AP | D | Special Rules | Traits |
| Power fist | |||||||
| Power fist | - | x2 | 2 | Melee, Unwieldy, Specialist Weapon | - | ||
| Gravis power fist | |||||||
| Gravis power fist | - | 9 | 2 | Melee, Brutal (3) | - | ||
| Thunder hammer | |||||||
| Thunder hammer | - | x2 | 2 | Melee, Unwieldy, Brutal (2), Specialist Weapon | - | ||
| Lightning claw | |||||||
| Lightning claw | - | User | 3 | Melee, Shred, Rending (6+), Specialist Weapon | - | ||
The Space Marines of the Emperor’s Legions are genetically engineered, psycho-indoctrinated warriors with superhuman abilities, and minds and souls tempered for war. Each of the Legions has its own idiosyncrasies and character – the product of their gene-seed and the unique warrior cultures fostered by their masters.
Any unit with this special rule will have a number of additional special rules and abilities specific to their ‘named’ Legion, all of which will be defined in other Horus Heresy – Age of Darkness publications. A Space Marine unit may only have one such ‘named’ rule, e.g., Legiones Astartes (Sons of Horus). Space Marine units from a different Legion may only be included in an army using an Allied Detachment and in conjunction with the Allies in the Age of Darkness chart.Relentless warriors are strong of arm – nothing can slow their implacable advance.
Relentless models can shoot with Heavy or Ordnance weapons, counting as Stationary, even if they moved in the previous Movement phase. They are also allowed to Charge in the same turn they fire Heavy, Ordnance, or Rapid Fire weapons.Whether due to intense training, indomitable armour or blind madness, some warriors will keep advancing no matter the firepower directed at them.
A unit that contains only models with this special rule ignores modifiers to Leadership when making a Morale check or Pinning test – except those caused by the Fear (X) special rule or the Corrupted and Anathema Sub-types. If a unit has both the Fearless and Inexorable special rules, it uses the rules for Fearless instead of Inexorable.Some weapons are capable of breaching armour with a terrifying ease, whether by specially designed munitions, careful targeting or sheer brute power.
When rolling To Wound for a model that has the Breaching (X) special rule, or is attacking with a weapon that has the Breaching (X) special rule, for each To Wound roll equal to or higher than the value listed in brackets, the controlling player must resolve these wounds at AP 2 instead of the weapon’s normal AP value. This rule has no effect on models that do not have Wounds, such as models with the Vehicle Unit Type.A branch of weaponry now commonplace among the ranks of the Legiones Astartes, bolt weapons are based on a robust Terran design, refined from the weapons used during the Emperor’s battles to conquer Old Earth. These brutally efficient weapons fire a caseless, self-propelled and mass reactive munition, more akin to a miniature rocket than a simple bullet and easily capable of eviscerating most foes against which the Space Marines of the Imperium find themselves matched. Such was the success of these weapons that they would eventually come to replace the more complex Martian weapons that had once dominated the arsenals of the Legiones Astartes.
All weapons listed here are counted as ‘Bolt’ weapons for those rules that affect such weapons.| Ranged Weapon | |||||||
Ranged Weapon | R | FP | RS | AP | D | Special Rules | Traits |
| Bolt pistol | |||||||
| Bolt pistol | 12 | 1 | 4 | 5 | Pistol | Assault, Bolt | |
| Bolter | |||||||
| Bolter | 24" | 4 | 5 | Rapid Fire | - | ||
| Combi-bolter | |||||||
| Combi-bolter | 24" | 4 | 5 | Rapid Fire, Twin-linked | - | ||
| Kraken bolter | |||||||
| Kraken bolter | 30" | 4 | 4 | Rapid Fire | - | ||
| - Tempest rounds | 18" | 3 | 6 | Assault 3, Ignores Cover | - | ||
| - Scorpius rounds | 24" | 5 | 4 | Assault 1, Breaching (4+) | - | ||
| Nemesis bolter | |||||||
| Nemesis bolter | 72" | 5 | 5 | Heavy 1, Rending (5+), Sniper, Pinning | - | ||
| Heavy bolter | |||||||
| Heavy bolter | 36" | 5 | 4 | Heavy 4 | - | ||
| Gravis bolt cannon | |||||||
| Gravis bolt cannon | 48" | 5 | 4 | Heavy 6, Twin-linked | - | ||
| Gravis heavy bolter battery | |||||||
| Gravis heavy bolter battery | 48" | 5 | 4 | Heavy 8, Twin-linked | - | ||
| Avenger bolt cannon | |||||||
| Avenger bolt cannon | 36" | 6 | 3 | Heavy 7 | - | ||
An Ancient Terran innovation, pairing a bolter with another secondary weapon to allow elite formations of warriors to project superior firepower at the climactic moment of battle. Most often used to break through enemy lines or to stymie the onslaught of enemy armour, these weapons are the mark of the elite of the Legiones Astartes, issued to the most skilled of warriors to maximise their worth.
Combi-weapons are divided into two types: magna and minor. Both are composed of a primary weapon and a secondary weapon, and a model with any combi-weapon may attack with both primary and secondary weapons in the same Shooting Attack without needing the Firing Protocols (X) special rule.| Ranged Weapon | |||||||
Ranged Weapon | R | FP | RS | AP | D | Special Rules | Traits |
| Bolter (Primary) | |||||||
| Bolter (Primary) | 24" | 4 | 5 | Rapid Fire | - | ||
| Flamer (Secondary) | |||||||
| Flamer (Secondary) | Template | 4 | 5 | Assault 1 | - | ||
| Meltagun (Secondary) | |||||||
| Meltagun (Secondary) | 12" | 8 | 1 | Assault 1, Armourbane (Melta), One Shot | - | ||
| Plasma gun (Secondary) | |||||||
| Plasma gun (Secondary) | 24" | 7 | 4 | Rapid Fire, Breaching (4+), Gets Hot, One Shot | - | ||
| Volkite charger (Secondary) | |||||||
| Volkite charger (Secondary) | 15" | 5 | 5 | Assault 2, Deflagrate | - | ||
| Grenade launcher (Secondary) | |||||||
| - Frag | 24" | 3 | 6 | Assault 1, Blast (3"), Pinning | - | ||
| - Krak | 24" | 5 | 4 | Assault 1 | - | ||
| Disintegrator* (Secondary) | |||||||
| Disintegrator* (Secondary) | 24" | 5 | 2 | Rapid Fire, Instant Death, Gets Hot, One Shot | - | ||
R | FP | RS | AP | D | Special Rules | Traits |
- | x2 | 2 | Melee, Unwieldy, Specialist Weapon |
R | FP | RS | AP | D | Special Rules | Traits |
- | User | 3 | Melee, Shred, Rending (6+), Specialist Weapon |
R | FP | RS | AP | D | Special Rules | Traits |
- | x2 | 2 | Melee, Unwieldy, Brutal (2), Specialist Weapon |
An auxiliary weapon system fitted to Terminator armour, the grenade harness unleashes a barrage of fragmentation bombs at the foe as the Terminator charges.
A unit that includes at least one model with a grenade harness makes attacks at its normal Initiative Step during an Assault after it has successfully Charged through Difficult Terrain or Dangerous Terrain, but still suffers any penalties to Charge rolls imposed by Difficult Terrain or Dangerous Terrain when resolving a Charge through Difficult Terrain or Dangerous Terrain.The greatest commanders of the Space Marine Legions are all but peerless in their strategic and tactical abilities. The genecraft of the Emperor that created them, honed by individual talent and the experience of countless battles, has sharpened their acumen to a preternatural degree.
The Master of the Legion special rule grants the following benefits:One of the first issued Tactical Dreadnought Armour patterns, the Cataphractii suits were even more heavily protected than their contemporaries, with slab-like ceramite pauldrons housing additional shield generators. This design has the unfortunate side effect of overstraining the armour’s exoskeleton and slowing the wearer dangerously, however. This difference led to the pattern’s declining use with some Legions at the outbreak of the Horus Heresy.
Legion Cataphractii Terminator armour confers a 2+ Armour Save and a 4+ Invulnerable Save. In addition, a unit that includes any models with Cataphractii Terminator armour may not make Sweeping Advances.| A Note on Unique and Variant Terminator Armour: If a unit is described as having a particular additional variant of Terminator armour, such as the Gorgon Terminators of the Iron Hands, or as wearing a personalised and unique suit, such as the armour worn by the Primarch Horus, the rules for this armour will be provided in the unit’s description and should not be inferred from elsewhere. | ||
This datasheet has HQ Battlefield Role. Full list of Legiones Astartes units sharing same Battlefield Role follows:
Trusted lieutenants or paragons of martial virtue, these warriors let no challenge go unanswered in the heat of battle.
A model with this special rule may issue and accept Challenges as if it had the Character type. Note that this does not allow a model with this special rule to use any other special rules associated with the Character type.Many of the most famous and powerful commanders went to war with a dedicated cadre of bodyguards and adjutants. These guardians served both to protect their master in the heat of battle, preserving his life against all threats, and as a vital reserve of skilled warriors to press the attack at the most crucial moment.
A Legion Command Squad, Legion Cataphractii Terminator Command Squad or Legion Tartaros Command Squad may only be selected as part of a Detachment that includes at least one model with the Master of the Legion special rule. A unit selected in this manner is considered a ‘Retinue Squad’ and the model with the Master of the Legion special rule is referred to as the Retinue Squad’s Leader for the purposes of this special rule (if the Detachment includes more than one model with the Master of the Legion special rule then the controlling player selects one as the unit’s Leader). The Retinue Squad does not use up a Force Organisation slot and is considered part of the same unit as the model selected as its Leader. The Retinue Squad must be deployed with the model selected as its Leader deployed as part of the unit and the Leader may not voluntarily leave the Retinue Squad during play. A Legion Command Squad, Legion Cataphractii Terminator Command Squad or Legion Tartaros Command Squad may not be selected as part of an army without a Leader.Each Space Marine Legion maintains the ancient military tradition of the battle standard being a rallying point and spur to glory. These icons vary greatly from Legion to Legion depending on their particular martial culture. Be they a tattered flag that has weathered the shot and shell of a hundred battlefields, a burning steel standard, or a trophy rack bedecked with the heads of slain xenos, it is in the shadow of such banners and icons that battles are won or lost.
All of the controlling player’s units with the Legiones Astartes (X) special rule within 6" of a friendly model with a Legion standard are considered to have a Leadership Characteristic of 10 when resolving Morale checks or Pinning tests (but not Psychic checks). In addition, all models in a unit that includes a Legion standard gain the Line Sub-type as long as they remain part of that unit – this benefit is lost immediately if the model with the Legion standard is removed as a casualty.