Battles in the Age of Darkness

Modes of Play

On this page, you’ll find an array of different Rules and guidelines to suit all hobbyists, from collectors who play occasional games, enthusiastic newcomers playing games with unknown opponents, groups of hobbyists who regularly meet up with their friends, to veteran gamers who have spent years honing their forces for competitive matches.

The Core Rules are everybody’s starting point but, as everyone enjoys the Warhammer hobby in different ways, this section of the book introduces a variety of ways to approach your games, as well as the various themes and narrative campaigns that are presented in other Horus Heresy publications. Each offers an alternative experience, but it’s important to note that elements of each can be mixed and matched to create whatever kind of gaming experience you want - they are a toolbox, providing inspiration and options to get the Dice rolling and allow you to play with your collection of Citadel and Forge World miniatures on the tabletop.

You will also find a guide to building Battlefields, the Rules for creating your Army, and the Core Mission Packs which make up the standard mode of play. So, whether you are looking to wage war in one of the myriad deadly environments of the galaxy, play a team game, or fight Battles as part of an escalating narrative campaign, there are numerous ways of playing to enable you to do so.

A galaxy of war awaits you!

Armies In The Age Of Darkness

This section details how to select a balanced Army for use in the various Horus Heresy: Age of Darkness Mission Packs. Note that to use this section you will need one or more of the Liber books which contain Army lists and Faction Rules.

The great Battles of the Horus Heresy were not fought between disorganised mobs of warriors, but between the marshalled strength of the Space Marine Legions, the Imperial Army and other forces loyal either to the Emperor or his treacherous son, Horus. Likewise, the collection of Forge World and Citadel miniatures you use to resolve Battles of the Horus Heresy - Age of Darkness will need to be organised into cohesive forces in order to properly represent the engagements of this devastating conflict. These forces are called Armies. In a game of the Horus Heresy - Age of Darkness, each Player will control a single Army. Each Army is selected by the Player that controls it to suit both their tactical and aesthetic preferences. While Players can choose to simply make use of whichever Models in their collection they feel are appropriate, most Missions require that each Player taking part in a Battle control an Army selected using the Crusade Army Selection Rules. The Crusade Army Selection Rules require all Armies be selected in a fixed manner and to a maximum Points Value dictated by the Mission in use, ensuring that Battles offer a fair challenge to all Players involved. The Crusade Army Selection Rules require the use of one or more Army Lists - these can be found in the various Liber books and at least one of these books will be required to use these Rules.

Crusade Army Selection Rules

These Rules assume that Players select an Army for a specific Battle, doing so as part of an event where they plan to resolve that Battle. However, some Players may prefer to select an Army with no specific event or opponent in mind, and have that Army and roster ready for play once an event is arranged. In such cases simply omit Step 2 from the process, it is further advised that when selecting ‘general use’ Armies, that a Points Limit of 3,000 Points be used as this will be applicable to most missions.

In all cases, Army Lists and the details of the choices made in their selection are not secret and should be made available to other Players once the Battle has begun. However, unless all Players involved agree, all Armies should be fully selected and play started before the Players exchange Army lists. No Player should gain advantage by reviewing their opponent’s Army List before selecting their own Army.

1. Set Points Limit

Once the Players have arranged a Battle, they must set a Points Limit which will apply to all Armies involved in the Battle. The default Points Limit for Battles in the Age of Darkness is 3,000 Points, but Players may select any Points Limit that is agreeable to all Players. Note that Points Limits of less than 2,000 or more than 4,000 fall outside the intended scope of play of the Core Rules and may prove unbalanced. The total Points Value of all Units and options selected in an Army may not exceed the Points Limit.

2. Select Mission

Once a Points Limit has been set, the Players must select or randomly determine a Mission to be used for the Battle. The Core Mission Pack is considered ideal for most games, but a number of other Mission Packs are presented in the various Age of Darkness publications and any may be selected. Each Mission Pack will have a means of randomly determining a Mission to be played, or Players may simply roll off to determine which of them will select a MisSion to be used. Once determined, the Mission selected must be declared to all Players.

4. Fill Force Organisation Slots in the Primary Detachment

Once Allegiance, Faction and Army List arc decided, Units must be selected to fill Force Organisation Slots in the Crusade Primary Detachment Force Organisation Chart, using the Rules for Selecting Units found on page 282. When selecting Units for a Primary Detachment, the Player is required to fill only one Force Organisation Slot of their choice (all Detachments must include a minimum of one Unit), and if they wish may choose not to select any other Units in that Detachment. However, the selection of Units as part of the Primary Detachment will heavily affect which other Detachments will be available in the Army and should be carefully considered.

5. Select and Fill Additional Detachments

The Units selected as part of the Primary Detachment may allow the Player to select additional Auxiliary or Apex Detachments. Furthermore, any Army may include one or more Allied Detachments as well as a single Lord of War Detachment and/or a Warlord Detachment regardless of which Units are included in the Primary Detachment.

These Detachments are filled in the same manner as a Primary Detachment, using the Rules found on page 287. Some Auxiliary or Apex Detachments may have requirements that must be met before they can be selected, or grant bonuses if selected. In all cases, such requirements or bonuses will be listed in the Rules for that Detachment.

6. Complete Army Roster

The Player should continue selecting and filling additional Detachments until either they cannot select further Detachments or they have used up all of the Points allowed by the Points Limit set. Note that an Army selected using the Crusade Army Selection must adhere to the following Rules:

• The total Points Value of all Units included in the Army must be equal to or less than the Points Limit set in Step 1.
• Each Detachment in the Army must include at least one Unit.

Once complete, all Units and the options selected for that Unit must be listed on an Army Roster.

Detachment Types

The following Rules detail the various types of Detachment available in a Horus Heresy Army and how they are used when selecting an Army.

Primary Detachments

All Armies must include one, and no more than one, Primary Detachment.

Every Army must include a single Primary Detachment - and may never include more than one. Each High Command Force Organisation Slot filled in the Primary Detachment allows the Controlling Player to select one Apex or Auxiliary Detachment to be added to the Army. Likewise, each Command Force Organisation Slot filled in the Primary Detachment allows the Controlling Player to select one Auxiliary Detachment to be added to the Army. If multiple Command Force Organisation Slots are filled, then multiple Auxiliary Detachments may be added to the Army - these may be multiple instances of the same Auxiliary Detachment or different Auxiliary Detachments as the Player desires. Apex and Auxiliary Detachments added to the Army in this manner are linked to the Primary Detachment and must use the same Army List to select any Units that are selected to fill Force Organisation Slots in those Detachments. Players may choose not to add additional Detachments when eligible to do so.

Apex Detachments

An Army can include any number of Apex Detachments, depending on the number and type of High Command Choices selected.

An Army may include any number of Apex Detachments. The number available in any Army is determined by the number of High Command Force Organisation Slots that have been filled, with each such Slot filled allowing a single Apex Detachment to be taken. Any High Command Force Organisation Slots that were optionally used to include an additional Auxiliary Detachment in the Army do not also allow an Apex Detachment to be included - for each High Command Slot the Controlling Player may include one Apex Detachment or one Auxiliary Detachment, not both. All Apex Detachments are linked to other Detachments, usually Primary Detachments, which determines which Army List and Faction must be used by the Apex Detachment. Each High Command Force Organisation Slot filled in an Apex Detachment allows the Controlling Player to select an additional Apex Detachment or Auxiliary Detachment to be linked to the Primary Detachment. Furthermore, each Command Force Organisation Slot filled in an Apex Detachment allows the Controlling Player to select an additional Auxiliary Detachment to be linked to the Primary Detachment.

Allied Detachments

Armies do not have to include an Allied Detachment and can include more than one, but no more than 50% of the Points Limit may be spent on allied Units and all Allied Detachments must be a different Faction than the Primary Detachment.

An Army does not have to include an Allied Detachment, but may include any number of Allied Detachments the Controlling Player chooses - as long as the total Points Value of all Units selected in all Allied Detachments combined is no more than 50% (rounded up to the nearest whole number) of the Points Limit set for a Battle. All Units selected to fill Force Organisation Slots in an Allied Detachment must be selected from a different Faction than that used for the Primary Detachment. If more than one Allied Detachment is included in an Army, then all Allied Detachments in the Army must be of a different Faction than the Primary Detachment, but may be the same as other Allied Detachments.

Each Command Force Organisation Slot filled in an Allied Detachment allows the Controlling Player to select one Auxiliary Detachment to be added to the Army. If multiple Command Force Organisation Slots are filled, then multiple Auxiliary Detachments may be added to the Army - these may be multiple instances of the same Auxiliary Detachment or different Auxiliary Detachments as the Player desires. Auxiliary Detachments added to the Army when selecting Command Choices for an Allied Detachment remain separate Detachments, but are linked to that Allied Detachment that allowed their selection and must use the same Army List to select any Units that are selected to fill Force Organisation Slots. Players may choose not to add additional Detachments when eligible to do so.

Selecting Units for Detachments

Each Unit selected as part of a Detachment will fill a Force Organisation Slot - that Force Organisation Slot is then full and no more Units may be selected using it. In addition to filling up Force Organisation Slots in a Detachment, each Unit selected will also use up Points from the Army’s Points Limit. Each Unit Profile will list a basic Points Value for the Unit, as well as a number of options which may be selected at a further cost in Points. Once Army selection is completed, the total Points Value of all selected Units must be equal to or lower than the Points Limit for that Battle. While it is not required, Players may find it beneficial to keep a running total of the Points Value of selected Units while selecting an Army in order to avoid spending too many Points.

Once each Force Organisation Slot in a Detachment has had a Unit selected to fill it, or the Army’s Points Limit is reached, no further Units may be selected for that Detachment. A Player may also choose to simply leave some Force Organisation Slots empty, either to save Points or because they do not wish to fill them. Once a Player has finished selecting Units for a Detachment, they may, if they have not yet reached the Points Limit for the Army, select another Detachment to fill - if the Army includes any other Detachments. If the Army includes no other Detachments, all Force Organisation Slots in all available Detachments have been filled or the Army’s Points Limit has been reached then no further Units may be selected and the Army Selection process is complete.

When arranging to play an Age of Darkness Battle, Players should first decide on which Mission Pack they will use (where more than one is available). Each Mission Pack will detail how to select an individual Mission and how to set up and resolve the Battle.

In this rulebook, the Core Missions are presented as a baseline play experience. These Missions arc focussed on capturing and controlling objectives. They will suit balanced Armies and can be considered the standard mode of play, with opportunities to leverage both the sheer power of elite Units as well as the tactical value of support Units.

The Core Missions are intended to be used as the standard Play experience. These missions are balanced for both competitive and casual play alike, and allow Players to make full use of the tactical options presented in the Warhammer: The Horus Heresy Rules.

How To Use Core Missions

The following Rules will allow Players to make use of the Core Missions when playing Battles, from selecting Armies through to resolving the end result of the Mission.

Battles using the Core Missions

Regardless of whether using the Core Missions for standalone Battles or as part of a campaign, all Players must follow these Steps in order to resolve a Core Mission. Each of these Steps should be completed in the sequence they are presented in, with each Step being fully completed before moving on to the next.

1. Select Core Mission

The first Step in resolving a Core Mission is to select a Mission for the Battle. The Players may either select one of the Core Missions that both Players agree on or roll a single Dice on the table below to decide which Core Mission will be played.

2. Select Armies

The second Step in resolving a Core Mission is for all Players to create an Army Roster, a list of all Models, Units and options to be included in their Army. All Armies for use in a Core Mission must use a Points Limit of 3,000 Points selected using the Rules provided on page 282. Once Army Rosters have been completed by all Players taking part in the Battle, those Army Rosters are then available for any Player to review, excepting only any options where a Special Rule specifically requires a choice to be kept secret from another Player. A Player may not choose to amend their own Army Roster after having reviewed that of any of their opponents.

3. Prepare the Battlefield

At the start of Step 3, the Players must set up an area to be used as the Battlefield. This should be a flat area 4’ x 6’ in size. Players may also require additional space to place accessories, Dice, Reserves and any Models removed from play. Once an area for the Battlefield has been set aside, the Players must place Terrain on the Battlefield.

Before placing Terrain, the Players must decide what Terrain will be available to be placed for this Battle. When playing a Core Mission, the following is suggested as an appropriate amount of Terrain for use, though Players may instead choose to use an amount of Terrain appropriate to their collection and preference:

Area Terrain – Two large zones of Area Terrain of up to an approximate footprint of 10" x 10" and four smaller zones of specific Area Terrain with a footprint of approximately 6" x 6". In all cases Players should decide whether each individual zone of Area Terrain is Light, Medium or Heavy before moving to the next step.

4. Deploy Objectives

In the fourth Step the Players must set up all Objectives required for the Mission that was selected in Step 1. Each Mission will give specific Rules for how Objectives must be set up.

5. Select Deployment Map

At the start of Step 5, a Deployment Map must be selected, this will dictate which Deployment Zones are to be used in Step 7. The Players may either select one of the core Deployment Maps that both Players agree on, or roll a single Dice on the table below to decide which core Deployment Map will be used.

Once the Deployment Map Type has been determined, the Players must allocate one specific Deployment Zone to each Player. All of the Core Deployment Maps list a Deployment Zone A and a Deployment Zone B - both Players must roll a single Dice, with the Player that rolls the highest using Deployment Zone A and the Player that rolls lowest using Deployment Zone B. If the result of the roll is a tie, then the Players must roll again until one Player rolls higher than the other.

6. Declare Mission Reserves

In this Step both Players should roll off. The Player that loses the roll-off must then declare if they intend to place any of their Units into Reserves. Once these Units have been noted on that Player’s Army Roster, the Player that won the roll-off must declare if they intend to place any Units into Reserves. Note that all Players must deploy at least one Unit onto the Battlefield at the start of play, unless another Special Rule states otherwise.

During Step 7, further Units may only be added to Reserves if there is no position where the controlling Player can legitimately deploy them according to the deployment Rules of the Core Mission being played. Where this is the case, those Units that cannot be deployed are placed immediately into Reserves.

7. Deploy Armies

In this Step both Players should roll off. The Player that loses the roll-off must then deploy all Units in their Army that were not placed in Reserves in Step 6 to the Deployment Zone allocated to them in Step 5. If there is no position where the Controlling Player can legitimately deploy one or more of their Units within the required Deployment Zone, those Units must be placed into Reserves instead - if the Reserves Mission Special Rule is not in use, then those Units are placed to one side and cannot be used in the Mission, but do not count as having been Removed as Casualties.

8. Play Core Mission

The Player that deployed first in Step 7 takes the first Player Turn.

All Core Missions are played for four Battle Turns. At the end of the fourth Battle Turn, this Step ends and the Battle ends.

9. Decide Victor

Once all four Battle Turns have been completed, the victor is decided by the number of Victory Points each Player has scored.

Victory Points are scored either by the Primary Objective or by Secondary Objectives, these offer different tactical challenges to Players and in general Primary Objectives will offer the most reward.

Mission Special Rules

The Core Missions make use of a number of Mission Special Rules. These are Special Rules that only apply during a Mission that lists them and supersede certain aspects of the Core Rules or add new options to play. The Mission Special Rules used in the Core Missions are detailed here.

Seize The Initiative

When this Mission Special Rule is in use, before beginning the First Turn of the Battle, the Player that is not taking the first Player Turn may choose to roll a Dice. If the result of this Dice roll is 6 or more, then that Player takes the First Player Turn instead.

Counter Offensive

When this Mission Special Rule is in use, if at the start of the last Battle Turn of the Battle a Player has only half or less the number of Victory Points currently scored by the Opposing Player, then that Player may declare a Counter Offensive. If they choose to do so, then all Victory Points scored by that Player in the last Battle Turn for controlling an Objective or by means of the Vanguard (X) Special Rule are doubled. The number of Victory Points scored is doubled after any modifiers have been applied to the value of an Objective.

In order to claim victory in The Heart of Battle, Players must capture a single high value central Objective Marker, or dominate surrounding lesser value Objective Markers to accumulate Victory Points each Turn.

VICTORY CONDITIONS: THE STORM’S CENTRE
The following Mission Objectives are used in this Mission:

Primary Mission Objectives

• Capture Objective Markers

Secondary Mission Objectives

• Slay the Warlord (3)
• Giant Killer (3)
• Last Man Standing (3)
• First Strike (3)

This Core Mission uses a single Objective Marker with a value of‘3’, placed at the centre of the Battlefield, and two Objective Markers with a value of T placed away from the centre of the Battlefield. In the Victory Sub-Phase of each Player’s turn as the Active Player they may score Victory Points if they Control any Objective Markers (Players may also score Victory Points from the Core Mission Secondary Objectives).

At the end of Battle Turn Four, the Player with the highest total of Victory Points is the winner.

OBJECTIVE MARKERS
Four Objective Markers with a value of ‘2’ must be placed for this Core Mission.

In Step 4 of the Core Mission Process four Objective Markers, each with a value of ‘2’, must be placed in a fixed area of the Battlefield. To place these Objective Markers the Players must first roll off. The Player that wins must then place one Objective Marker anywhere on the Battlefield that is at least 12" away from any Battlefield edge. Once the first Objective Marker has been placed, the Player that lost the roll-off must then place a second Objective Marker anywhere on the Battlefield that is at least 12" away from any Battlefield Edge or any other Objective Marker. The Players then alternate placing a second Objective Marker each using the same restrictions.

MISSION SPECIAL RULES
This Mission uses the Reserves, Counter Offensive and Seize the Initiative Mission Special Rules.

In order to claim victory in Take and Hold, Players must hold Objectives in the middle of the Battlefield, exploiting the limited value of those Objectives to confound the foe.

VICTORY CONDITIONS: VITAL GROUND
The following Mission Objectives are used in this Mission:

Primary Objectives

• Capture Objective Markers

Secondary Objectives

• Slay the Warlord (2)
• Giant Killer (4)
• Last Man Standing (4)
• First Strike (2)

This Core Mission uses two Objectives with a value of ‘3’, placed in the middle of the Battlefield. In the Victory Sub-Phase of each Player’s turn as the Active Player they may score Victory Points if they Control any Objective Marker (Players may also score Victory Points from the Core Mission Secondary Objectives).

At the end of Battle Turn Four, the Player with the highest total of Victory Points is the winner.

Modes of Play

This section explains the different ways in which Players can approach Battles in the Age of Darkness - the various modes of play commonly referenced as part of the Rules.

At its heart, the Horus Heresy - Age of Darkness is a narrative game intended to recreate the myriad conflicts of a galaxy-spanning civil war. The aim of the Core Rules is to create a sense of verisimilitude of the Age of Darkness and give Players an authentic Horus Heresy experience, even when playing a game which has no pre-defined or Player-created story. However, there are many ways in which Players can structure their gaming experience to better suit their own preferences and that of their gaming group. We refer to these different ways of playing as Modes of Play, each a shorthand for a specific set of preferences that is intended not to categorise Players, but to illustrate the wide variety of ways in which Players can enjoy this hobby.

Tournament Play

A Battle fought using the Tournament Play Mode pits Players against a number of other Players as part of a structured competition in which a series of games are played to determine an overall champion.

Tournament Play is ideal for those who wish to play in a competitive spirit, and also allows Players to test their skills against opponents that they do not regularly play. This makes it ideal for leagues and tournaments, events where many Battles are resolved within a fixed and often short time frame as a structured set of games with a defined winner. Such events are ideal for those without a regular gaming group or with limited time available to play. Such tournaments often make use of variant Rules for the selection of Armies and may include unique Missions of the organiser’s design, all intended to focus the Battles on a specific aspect of the Rules and to encourage competition among the Players. Due to the nature of the Horus Heresy, most such events will split the Players into two groups, Loyalist and Traitors, who compete against each other, but this is not always true. This Mode of Play is best suited for Players that are more interested in challenging opponents on an even footing outside of an established gaming group and the thrill of triumphing in a close run test of skill and strategy.

Expanding the Age of Darkness

There are plenty of variations on the Modes of Play presented here. Further supplements will provide a subset of Rules which modify the core Horus Heresy - Age of Darkness game Rules in unique ways to represent specific combat environments and circumstances, as well as escalations of hostility which are beyond those encompassed even by a standard Age of Darkness Battle. Theatres of war, such as Zone Mortalis (desperate close-in tunnel fighting in the depths of hive cities or the guts of massive voidships) and City Fight (warfare in the battle- torn ruins of oncc-great cities) for example, represent very different modes of warfare to the standard game, each with its own challenges and often calling for unique stratagems and Army compositions. The Rules for playing such games will be presented in future Horus Heresy - Age of Darkness publications.

For us, the Horus Heresy is first and foremost a narrative experience. It’s about retelling the epic Battles and crushing defeats of the Age of Darkness and about creating our own legends of heroism and villainy. The rules exist to help us find those narratives and to add a touch of uncertainty to each firefight and each clash of heroes. There are tactics waiting to be unleashed, and cunning combinations of weapons and units with which to intimidate your foe, but these are not the focus of the rules contained herein. These rules are complex by design, as they must be to reflect the sheer breadth of characters and warriors that fought in the Age of Darkness and the depth of possibilities in their stories. Yet, in their exploration on the battlefield can we find the real drama of the Horus Heresy, in desperate charges, epic challenges and unyielding engines of war. That is the nature of the Horus Heresy, a challenge for veteran warriors and gamers and the more ambitious of newcomers. This new edition follows these principles and tries to bring them to the fore, building upon the foundation of those editions that have gone before.

But, before we dig into the details of this new edition, let’s talk a little about our overall goals and what we wanted to achieve. First and foremost, we’ve tried to tidy up the overall structure of the rules - to streamline processes and make it more obvious how, why and when things should be done as part of play. This shouldn’t really change what you do at the table, but should make it easier to do it. Our second goal was to refine key aspects of the rules, changing the way certain established parts of the rules work to make them better without fundamentally changing what they do. Here we’ve tweaked things like Reactions, psychic powers and various special rules so that they are leaner and more efficient at promoting the kind of play we think is emblematic of the Horus Heresy hobby. Lastly, we’ve included a few surprises to mix things up and keep the game interesting and fun for both veteran gamers and newcomers to the galactic civil war. Likely you’ve already noted the system of Tactical Statuses, the new Charge rules and the revised army selection rules. These are larger departures from previous editions, but ones we feel make the game more fun and will encourage players old and new to take a fresh look at how they approach the battlefield and hobby.

With these goals in mind, we’ve made enough small changes that it would be impossible to discuss them all (without setting aside a whole book just for that purpose). So in this brief afterword, we’ll limit ourselves to talking about some of the more important changes here, starting with model characteristics. In this edition we’ve added a number of new characteristics, the names of which may be familiar to long-time veterans of the hobby, but nostalgia was not the main reason for their return. Instead, this change is all about giving leaders the ability to specialise in specific roles and in turn allow oft-ignored leader types to have a more prominent role. In the last edition Leadership dealt with almost every non-combat rule in the game, leaving little reason for players to select any HQ other than Praetors. Now that different characteristics handle different situations, other leaders can step to the fore without compromising the Praetor’s role as master of the Legion, nor forcing other leaders to be expert commanders. Librarians can be the best at using and resisting psychic powers without also being expert tacticians; Techmarines can focus on repairing vehicles without serving as back-up Sergeants; and Moritats can be stubborn without also being expert technicians. This allows specialists to be powerful in their assigned roles and generalists to have value in smaller forces without hijacking the intended role of other models. Our intent being to rebalance the rules to better accommodate the units and warriors of the Horus Heresy, so that we see a wider variety of leaders in armies when taken in combination with other key changes.

Of those key changes, the introduction of a more complete system of Tactical Statuses offers a new way for players to shape the course of a game. Instead of just killing the enemy, they can now be suppressed, pinned, stunned or routed - with each status offering drawbacks to be exploited by the enemy. With the rules that inflict these statuses spread across a variety of different weapons, it grants certain lesser used weapons new strength outside of simply how good their AP was, as well as new places for different characteristics to shine. Now the humble Centurion, with his higher Cool characteristic, becomes an invaluable tool for resisting Statuses without supplanting the greater combat power and Leadership of the assault focussed Praetor. As with many other of the changes you’ll find in this edition, it is not intended to radically alter the way in which the game is played, but to add more nuance to the way we’ve always played it. Moreover, we’ve sought to enable more genuine options in the tools we use to play - from weapons to units to characters, we’ve tried to make sure each has a distinct purpose. Each situation should have more and less appropriate tools, but no one unit combination should be pre-eminent in all situations.

With more gameplay options becoming valid and powerful tactics for disrupting your opponent’s strategy, we’ve also looked at how we select and form armies. Here we’ve moved player agency to the fore, with an emphasis on making it easy and fun for players to assemble the kind of army they want, without arbitrary limits. The various categories of units have been re-organised into a more varied set that better represents the armies of the Horus Heresy and ‘taxes’ on certain units removed and replaced with incentives. Now selecting an army should feel more like a series of meaningful choices than simply following the same cookie-cutter pattern as every other army. With the final structure of an army now decided by player choices, the whole process should feel more like an integral part of the hobby, another method of showcasing each player’s unique take on the Horus Heresy alongside painting and modelling.

There are lots of other changes to discover, from new rules to integrate Flyers more easily into play, to a whole new Challenges system to add drama and inspire war stories in the Assault Phase. These are all crafted with the same intent as those changes we’ve looked at in more detail, seeking to streamline play and add fun new options for a narrative driven gaming experience. We hope this new edition and the changes we’ve made will make your battles in the Age of Darkness both easier and more engaging.