Drop Troops - New Additions and Full Army Recap

After buying the Imperialis Militias and Cults army list, I realized I was going to need a lot more men to make my units legal for Horus Heresy. So I painted up enough riflemen to give me a full squad of 20, plus a few medics to add into my units as needed. Here are the new models and a look at the full army so far. It just needs a commander to be FOC-legal for Horus Heresy or 40k.

First up, some converted Auxilia Medicae. Grav-chute strikes are extremely dangerous so these guys will be in high demand and given no shortage of opportunities to apply their arts.

Imperial Reinforcements

After numerous stinging defeats at the hands of the traitors, a call for Imperial reinforcements has been answered by an elite strike force of Imperial Fists, led by Sergeant Darius Faulk.

Horus Heresy Battle Report 5: The Onslaught Continues

PRE GAME AND MISSION:

We used our custom mission cards and each drew a random, secret mission. For a list of the missions, see the previous battle report.

Pete drew Take and Hold. After putting back his first choice, Phil drew Assassinate and had to play it face up.

Rolling for the shape of the deployment zones yielded opposing corners. Phil won the roll to choose his deployment zone and chose the southwestern corner. Pete won the roll to go first and chose to deploy and go second.

View of the battlefield from the south. 

Drop Sentinels

The Xhorik 87th Drop Troops Regiment is finally getting some heavy support - relatively speaking, of course...

Drop sentinels of the Xhorik 87th. They have been in a field for a good while, picking up some dust and grime.

Drop Troops Provenance of War - Draft Rules

I'd like to be able to use my drop troops in our games of Horus Heresy. It seems the closest army list is the Imperialis Militia and Cults, as the Solar Auxilia is a bit too elite and has a very distinct fighting style built in to their rules. The Militia list allows for quite a bit of customization through the Provenances of War, but none of them really fit a drop troop army so I thought I would take a stab at making my own.


Drop Troopers................................+50 points

Unlike most Imperialis Militias and Cults, a drop troopers army is made up of highly-trained professional soldiers in a permanent state of combat readiness. They are an airborne force that trades heavy armor for mobility. They have no use for any equipment that cannot be transported by a Valkyire.

All units consisting entirely of Infantry gain Deep Strike.
Option - Sentinel units can gain Deep Strike for +50 points per unit.
Option - Grenadiers and Platoon Command Cadres can take a Valkyrie as a dedicated transport as long as they number 12 or less.

Cannot be combined with Cult Horde, Tainted Flesh, or Abhuman Helots.

Legion Fellblade Super Heavy Tank

I've uploaded a few pics of the newest (and biggest) addition to our Horus Heresy campaign - a Legion Fellblade super heavy tank. I've had my eye on this behemoth for the past year and I'm incredibly excited to have it assembled and ready for painting. As with any large resin model from Forgeworld, it was a complicated and frustrating build that took 10+ hours to complete. Each piece of resin must be cut (sometimes sawed) away from the sprue, excess resin scrapped away, washed with soap and water, heated and re-molded, cracks and holes filled in with green stuff, and then assembled.

This Fellblade should give my brother and I a centerpiece for our biggest battles and a powerful Lord of War choice that entire missions and scenarios can be crafted around. A model like this really elevates the games it is a part of beyond some periphery skirmish - this is now the epicenter of the battle or campaign. And by rule it has to be more than a skirmish, as the LoW choice can only make up 25% of your force's total points. So except for special missions Phil and I craft around this Fellblade that are more in the realm of narrative play, this tank will only be allowed in games of 2,400 pts. and more.

I really felt that this model "fit" with my Death Guard army I'm building. Slow and intractable, heavy firepower, intimidating - it makes sense that my legion would make use of a tank like this as it fits the tactics and personality of the army perfectly. Other Super Heavies may have more advanced weaponry and are perhaps better overall, but they don't fit a Death Guard army like the Fellblade with its old school tank look, its massive turret cannon and brutal demolisher for close encounters.

At the end of the pictures you'll find a size comparison between the Fellblade, a rhino and a space marine. This sucker is big!
 

Old Terrain - Updated

This little piece of terrain was slapped together by much younger versions of ourselves around 2003 or so. It was looking a little out of place with the stark white snowy base and pristine condition of the barrels and equipment, so I decided to give it a little refresher by adjusting the base to look more similar to the table and the rest of the terrain and adding some dirt and weathering to the equipment. 

Nothing special on its own, but it should fit in OK among the rest of the terrain now. 

Scatter Terrain

In the last games, we realized we needed a bit more small terrain pieces that provide cover. So I decided to work up these quick pieces of scatter terrain before I start painting my sentinel.

Stacks of pipes, barrels and tires. Simple yet effective.

And here they are again with a few models standing behind them for scale.

Drop Troops Grenadiers/Storm Troopers

I painted these guys up to be my Storm Troopers in the 7th Edition Drop Troops list. In Horus Heresy, the closest equivalent is Grenadiers. Either way, these guys are supposed to be more heavily armed and armored than my basic troops. In WH40k, they have hot shot lasguns. In Horus Heresy, they do not have an option for a strong basic gun (boltguns are the strongest option they have) so I will be adding a couple of special weapons troopers to give them some offensive capability. At some point, they will get a Valkyrie.

Horus Heresy Battle Report 4: Hunters and Hunted in the Ruins of Bielyr

ARMY SELECTION: 850 Points

Death Guard Eradication Patrol  -  Pete

• Praetor Wolfgang: Terminator armor, Paragon Blade, volkite charger, digilasers
• Tactical Squad Stärke: 14 marines with close combat weapons, sergeant with power fist and artificer armor
• Tactical Support Squad März: 7 marines with volkite calivers
• Heavy Support Squad Tragen: 3 marines with missile launchers
• Contemptor Dreadnought Friedrich:  multi-melta, meltagun, dreadnought close combat weapon

White Scars and Drop Troops  -  Phil
R.A.P.T.O.R. Team (Rapid Assault, Precision Tactical Operations and Reconnaissance) 

White Scars, Brotherhood of the Wind

• Consul Kuyuk: Power glaive, bolter, cyber-hawk
• Tactical Squad Kheeg: 10 marines
• Tactical Support Squad Khoer: 5 marines with plasma guns
• Legion Outrider Squad Anchin: 3 bikes with twin-linked plasma guns

Xhorik 87th Drop Troops, 3rd Company "The Golden Eagles"

• 2nd Platoon (remnants)
• Platoon command squad with melta gun
• Infantry squad with grenade launcher
• Attached Storm Trooper Squad: 8 storm troopers
• Tauros with grenade launcher