notprop wrote:Anyone else remember those so called squat models and game cards when we were speculating on the Mystery Box [Spulk]? Must be the same me thinks [or at least related].

Commander Endova wrote:I think the conecept looks cool, but the few models they show are kinda... "meh" in my opinion. Definitley looks like a ton of fun though.

Sir Motor wrote:

Commander Endova wrote:I think the conecept looks cool, but the few models they show are kinda... "meh" in my opinion. Definitley looks like a ton of fun though.

I agree with Endava.

I thought "Its time to get cool pre-heresy termies!"
As fallen-angel player,Pre-heresy armor is always welcome but....its...


Anyway,game will be cool it seems.

dienekes96 wrote:Have the old Horus Heresy boardgame. Absolutely getting this.

and also presents a roughly historical recreation of the conflict's events.

Horus Heresy is an epic board game for two players set in the dark future of Games Workshop's preeminent Warhammer 40,000 universe.

Scottywan82 wrote:Ummm.... I like FFG and I like 40K and I like the HH.... But this board game looks rather boring, honestly. How is this meant to represent the entire Heresy?

Grinshanks wrote:Yeesh! Anybody who is caught up over the game pieces is missing the point of this game completely. Its a board game not a miniatures game. Just because its using a GW license doesn't mean it has to have anything to do with minis.

ShumaGorath wrote:Not 40k scale.

infilTRAITOR wrote:This seems like wasted effort to me. Not gonna bother with this at all.

Alpharius wrote:Or, buy the game and realize that you might not be able to use the miniatures in 40K?
Seriously, this is a HUGE upgrade from the cardboard tokens that the original came with, in my opinion.
This looks to be a LOT of fun, and I can't wait for more details and, more importantly, a release date!

InquisitorFabius wrote:Why? Does Axis and Allies end the same way every game?

Platuan4th wrote:

infilTRAITOR wrote:This seems like wasted effort to me. Not gonna bother with this at all.

This seems to be the trend for those who didn't get to enjoy it the first time 'round.

Those of us who did, however, seem to be wetting ourselves in excitement.

infilTRAITOR wrote:
Instead of focusing resources and energy on what players need (and want)

Grinshanks wrote:

infilTRAITOR wrote:
Instead of focusing resources and energy on what players need (and want)

You are aware that its not GW that are releasing this?

infilTRAITOR wrote:

Grinshanks wrote:

infilTRAITOR wrote:
Instead of focusing resources and energy on what players need (and want)

You are aware that its not GW that are releasing this?

Well aware, thanks.

BrassScorpion wrote: I just went through the FFG pages on this game and didn't see a release date. I'm going to be checking back there regularly till I see one. If the list price on this is about $100 US then it's also worth checking Amazon.com for this because Amazon often carries FFG games when they are first released at a huge discount. I got Chaos In The Old World for 37% off the list price from Amazon and with free shipping.

Ozymandias wrote:Never played the original but this looks cool. I wonder if they will reissue Doom of the Eldar, that was one of my favs.

FFG wrote:Horus Heresy includes over 120 detailed miniature models including 10 plastic terrain pieces, and more than 200 cards to bring this sweeping conflict to life on a stunning map of the war-torn Terra.

We have an official pricetag - $99.95 USD

BrassScorpion wrote:The $99 re-release of Space Hulk proved that you can get that kind of money for a board game if the components are numerous and of high quality and I'm sure FFG was paying attention to that when they decided on the components and price for this Horus Heresy game.

Horus Heresy is a brand new board game that takes place in the grim darkness of the far future of Warhammer 40,000, one of the preeminent science fiction settings ever created. It is also without a doubt one of the most iconic environments of all time, having remained in active development for more than two decades, across a wide variety of media from tabletop miniatures games, board games, novels and more. The sprawling mythos, baroque aesthetic sensibilities, and dark gothic outlook are unmistakeable, and are enjoyed by legions of fans all around the world.

We at Fantasy Flight Games were honored to have an opportunity to contribute to this richly textured history. We chose to highlight the most pivotal and climactic moment from the Warhammer 40,000 canon, a seminal event that occurred in the Imperium of the 31st millennium. It is a tale that has also fiercely captured the imaginations of writers and fans alike, as it rings with grand, mythic significance!

I speak of the fall from grace of the great Warmaster Horus, once the greatest scion of the Holy Emperor of Terra, now turned heinous betrayer and intent upon the total destruction of the Imperium. The story is the stuff of legend, and for those who are interested in exploring further, we heartily recommend the phenomenal Horus Heresy series of novels published by the Black Library.

The game takes place during the apocalyptic final battle on the planet Terra, the birthplace of mankind and the heart of the Imperium. This is the last stand, for both sides.



As some of you may know, Games Workshop published an earlier board game by the same name, many years ago. This classic GW release served as inspiration as we considered how to approach these momentous events of the Horus Heresy, and specifically, the Battle of Terra. If perhaps you've ever seen the original board, you will recognize that the game map is very similar. We're proud to pay homage to the richness of this source material, while expanding the play experience in ways never imagined back when it was first in print.

As we move closer to the release of Horus Heresy, we'll continue to explore the game in more detail including a review of the forces available to each player, the order and initiative systems, and combat resolution. For today's article I'm going to set the stage for this monumental conflict, and describe the start of play of Brother Against Brother, the scenario recommended for first timers which roughly covers the events as described in the original stories.

Horus Heresy is not a game where players safely inch forward towards an eventual clash of forces. In this game, the battle is about to reach its peak. Horus' flagship, the Vengeful Spirit, has just moved into orbit around Terra. The Emperor has committed to this final stand against the traitorous forces of his once celebrated son. There is no compromise, nor time to consider alternate plans. The campaign against Terra will end soon, and only one side will be left standing.

After both players have finished placing their units on the board, it may appear at first glance that the ensuing conflict will be quite one-sided. A naive Imperial player might surmise their vast defenses are impenetrable, as most of the board will be filled with legions of forces loyal to the Emperor. However, Traitor players take heart for two events are going rattle the foundations of the Imperial player, and both take place before the first turn even begins!


The first action in the game is called corruption, when both players will begin to understand exactly how extensive the insidious spread of Chaos truly is. The Traitor player selects twelve individual Imperial Army units or Imperial Tank Divisions, and tests each one in turn. The heroic and steadfast Space Marines cannot be targeted as their loyalty cannot be questioned! They will fight without fear and to the death against Chaos and the dark powers of the warp.

The Traitor player will draw a bombardment card for each target unit, and refer to the symbol at the bottom of the card to discover to whom that unit is loyal. Each unit's loyalty may only be jeopardized once during this opening phase, and the number of corruption tests allowed will vary for each scenario.

If upon revealing the bombardment card you find an Imperial Eagle, that unit will continue to fight in the name of the Holy Emperor. If the card displays the Chaos star, the unit has actually switched its allegiance, and will immediately have its grey Imperial base swapped for a black Chaos base for easy identification. That unit is now under the full control of the Traitor player!

At this point, the board will probably look quite different. Some regions that previously represented Imperial strongholds will now contain a mix of loyal and Traitor units, which will quickly escalate into combat at the start of turn one. Other areas will be completely under the control of Chaos, likely forcing the Imperial player to reconsider their plans.

Once the corruption step is complete, there is but one final action the Traitor must take before the first turn begins in earnest, that is to order a barrage of orbital bombardments in an attempt to decimate Imperial units or blow through the protective plasteel walls of their fortifications.

You will draw upon the same deck as before, except now you will refer to the top of the card to resolve the attack. Each bombardment must be declared as either a precise or reckless strike, which will impact both the accuracy and effect of the attack. A precise bombardment will hit more often than a reckless one, but the reckless bombardment will occasionally cause tremendous amounts of damage. As with corruption, each scenario will divulge how many bombardments are available to the Traitor player at the start of play. If you're playing Brother Against Brother, the Traitor player makes four attacks.

The corruption and the bombardment mechanics do a remarkable job of setting the stage for a mind-blowing finale to a cataclysmic confrontation. Every time I play, I marvel at how much I feel like I'm part of this final, epic showdown. We are thrilled to be producing this game, and cannot wait until you have had a chance to join in the fun!

I'd like to close with a personal letter from Alan Merrett, the IP Manager for Games Workshop and one of their longest serving employees. Thank you Alan for your dedication and support, for granting us the opportunity to create this game, and for the years of hard work you've put towards the development of this fantastic setting.


In 2004 I wrote a preface to 'The Horus Heresy Volume 1: Visions of War' an art book by the Black Library (Games Workshop's fiction publishing imprint) in which I gave a brief outline of the publishing history of the Horus Heresy and made reference to the amazing fan support and enthusiasm it has enjoyed over the years. The art book featured pictures taken from the Sabertooth Games collectible card game the 'Horus Heresy CCG' – the background story of which was a real labour of love for me and for FFG's own Steve Horvath who was the project lead at Sabertooth at that time and my main collaborator on the project. Sadly that game is no longer being published but it was the catalyst for GW to continue working on the Heresy in some other ways.

'Visions of War' was merely the first of what ended up being a series of four art books covering the Heresy and they have been subsequently reprinted as a single work entitled 'Horus Heresy - The Collected Visions'. In addition to this the Black Library has been producing a best-selling line of novels detailing the Heresy in hitherto untold depth. Since the release of the first novel these books have enjoyed unprecedented popularity amongst the fans of the Warhammer 40,000 universe and continue to feature strongly in the sales charts.

My 2004 preface singularly failed to mention one small piece of Horus Heresy history. This was the release in 1993 of 'Horus Heresy' – a board and counters wargame by Jervis Johnson. This was the second in a short series of Games Workshop games launched under the rather unimaginative 'Wargame Series' label. Despite critical and commercial success the series ended with game number three as Games Workshop increasingly focussed its efforts on the miniatures and tabletop wargames that it is most known for. The game 'Horus Heresy' seemed destined for oblivion. That is until FFG stepped forward!

This new game from FFG pays obvious homage to the original 'Wargame Series' effort but has been dusted with all-new FFG magic. The game board has clear similarities to the old game but a new set of rules and a raft of new components, including some really terrific playing pieces, mark this new game out as something a little special.

Alan Merrett
Games Workshop
2009

Horus Heresy is a board game that pits two players against each other to recreate the most famous battle of Warhammer 40,000's rich history, in which the Warmaster Horus's betrayal of the Emperor comes to its climax. Taking the side of either traitor or loyalist, players control a fearsome array of units, including the Emperor and Horus themselves. Brother fights brother, and the universe hangs in the balance!

Alpharius wrote:Awesome!

So it isn't just a 'reprint' of the old game, but a newer version, a 2.0 so to speak?

Nice!

Heresy is set during the apocalyptic, final battle that determines the fate of the Imperium at the time of the 31st millennium, and sets the stage for the Warhammer 40,000 universe we know today. In the canonical version of these events, the Emperor personally brought the battle to the Warmaster's flagship, resulting in an epic clash between father and son. At its end, Horus lay dead and the Emperor nearly so. His broken body has remained entombed within the Golden Throne for ten thousand years, not dead, yet not entirely alive.

Horus Heresy the board game will return you to this pivotal moment in the history of the Imperium and sets the very fate of the Emperor and Horus in your hands. How will you command on that fateful day?

In case you missed it, our first preview describes the state of affairs at the very start of the game. The Emperor and his loyal forces have chosen to make their stand at the Imperial Palace, and are prepared to hold off the impending attack at all costs. The Warmaster Horus has just brought the Vengeful Spirit into orbit above Terra, first calling into action the traitors hidden in the midst of the Imperial forces, and following up with a fierce orbital bombardment across the landscape. The battle then begins in earnest!
As we've already noted, Horus Heresy has been designed without dice, instead using elegant card mechanics to drive all the action forward. We have already seen one deck of cards in use at the start of the game where, rather than rolling dice and referring to multiple charts, the Traitor player simply draws a card to resolve each corruption attempt or orbital bombardment. Not only does this keep the game moving smoothly, but it does so while offering a richer set of results. Each card deck in the game acts as much more than a simple random number generator. These cards introduce thematic and narrative elements that have a direct impact on play, while adding an entirely new layer of balanced game mechanics that offer an experience that you're going to love.

We'll explore how these card-driven mechanics make for a more exciting and challenging game in the coming weeks, especially with regards to long-term strategic play versus the short-term tactical rhythm of combat. Before we can dive deeper we need some context for how units are represented on the battlefield, and learn a bit about how they are put to use during the game.

Whether taking command over the collected armies of the Imperium or of the Traitor legions, you will have control over two types of troops: units and heroes.

A unit is one playing piece but it can represent an entire battalion or division. Remember that the scale of this conflict is so huge that a single piece may represent hundreds or thousands of individual combatants. The Battle of Terra was an apocalyptic battle of near-imaginable proportions, which would be impossible to represent on a figure-for-figure basis. As an example, both an Imperial Tank division and a gibbering Daemon horde are represented on the map by a single playing piece. Half way through your very first game you will come to know the full weight of command as you find yourself scanning across the war-ravaged landscape, issuing orders to your collected forces as they edge ever closer towards the enemy to do battle, or as your Chaos Thunderhawk flights land planetside to deliver reinforcements to the fray.



Every unit in the game is assigned a Roman numeral designating its combat rank, a statistic which represents the unit's overall effectiveness in battle, which ranges from I - IV. Rather than referencing a stat sheet during combat, each playing piece displays a number of points equal to its rank directly on the figure's base. The combat rank of each unit will play a direct role in what actions become available as it enters combat, as well as how much damage it can take.

Let's consider one of the units we've seen already, the Imperial army. This group of soldiers are the meat and potatoes infantry available to the Imperium, and while plentiful, do not offer much in the way of exceptional combat or defensive prowess. All Imperial army units have a combat rank of I.

On the other side of the scale, the Emperor was responsible for creating the Adeptus Astartes, commonly known as Space Marines. These genetically-altered, super-human warriors have been engineered to be superior in every way to a normal human being. Those Space Marines standing honorably with the Emperor have spurned their traitorous brothers and remain unshakeable in their devotion to the Imperium as its principal defenders. Each Space Marine unit, whether loyalist or traitor, is assigned a combat rank of III.

In addition to commanding its units, each side also has available a number of Heroes– exceptional individuals who will play a decisive role in the impending battle. The most significant of all are the two god-like beings that hold supreme command over each faction, namely the Emperor and Warmaster Horus. In fact, you can win immediately by eliminating your rival commander, an act that is surely much easier said than done.

Heroes differ from units in that they are not assigned a combat rank, as their advantages are unique. Each player has a reference sheet available that lists all their Heroes' abilities. Also special cards are drawn from the Hero combat deck when they are part of a battle, and even the damage sustained by each Hero is tracked individually on a Hero damage track printed right on the game board.



In a future article we will look deeper into what Heroes offer in play, especially the Primarchs of both loyal and traitor Space Marine chapters. Far beyond simply acting as leader, these demi-gods of war stride forth across the field accomplishing tremendous feats outside the realm of mortal men, and inspiring their legions forward into battle whether in the name of the Emperor or the Warmaster Horus.

The Primarchs were the creations of the Emperor himself, and represented his greatest achievement before the fall of Horus to the powers of Chaos. Until that schism, the collected legions of the Adeptus Astartes, led by their Primarchs, were the Emperor's primary force for reuniting humanity during the Great Crusade. Now brother fights against brother in a cataclysmic battle for the future of the Imperium. Their special abilities will often turn the tide of a battle, pushing one side or the other to a decisive victory. Their influence on the battlefield can not be overlooked!

Now that the stage has been set, check back over the coming weeks for more in depth looks at the game mechanics, including combat tactics and combat resolution, the ebb and flow of initiative, and much more. Until next time!

Morathi's Darkest Sin wrote:Oh my fething G.. *faints*


Yeah I'll be buying this baby, one of the many games I used to love, but where lost when I sold all my stuff for that one year I dropped out of the hobby in 96-97.

Looks awesome.

ph34r wrote:The minis look decent, especially considering how many of them you get, it's just a shame that there is nothing that can be pressed into service in 40k like Space Hulk's models.

ph34r wrote:The minis look decent, especially considering how many of them you get, it's just a shame that there is nothing that can be pressed into service in 40k like Space Hulk's models.

Today we take a deeper look at the mechanics of Horus Heresy, the two player board game set during the epic Battle of Terra, where the Warmaster Horus revealed the depths of his betrayal of the Emperor with an all out assault on the Imperial Palace. To date we've detailed the opening scene with the Bombardment and Corruption phases, and continued with a look at how units and Heroes are represented in the game. Today we're going to examine exactly how you command your units and Heroes into battle, whether your legions are racing towards a pivotal strategic objective or pressing forward with a relentless attack against the enemy. In Horus Heresy, all of these operations are managed by issuing and executing Orders.

Each player is given an Order deck of 40 cards that covers everything from simple troop movements to the building of defensive fortifications, from frenzied assaults against your opponent to brutal orbital bombardments. Although the specific set of orders available to the Imperial and Chaos player may differ, the information as presented on each card is organized in the exact same way.

Pictured at the right is an order card from the Imperial player's deck. This is a great example of the basic information found on every card, starting with the name of the order at top and followed by the card's effect – a description of exactly what the player may do at the time this order is executed. For this card it should be obvious that the Imperial player will gain two new Tank Divisions and may bring them onto the board in a friendly or neutral factory area.

The final important detail is the pair of skull icons pictured at the left edge, which denotes this order's Initiative cost of 2. Every order has an Initiative cost that will range between zero and three skull icons. We'll explore Initiative in a future article, but for the moment I'll reveal only that Initiative is a primary mechanism in Horus Heresy, and one that introduces an unprecedented layer of strategic gameplay. Not only does Initiative have a huge impact on the choices you will make as you command forth your forces, but it does so in an exciting and uniquely challenging way. You will need every last shred of your strategic ability to prevail!

Let's continue with today's discussion and look at the Chaos order "Assemble," which includes additional details you will find on cards from both factions.

At the bottom left you'll find the green Starting Order icon. Both players begin the game with a small number of key orders at the ready, and the Starting Order icon marks every card that starts in your hand rather than in your order deck. Of course you will have many opportunities throughout the game to draw additional orders into your hand, gaining ever more exciting and impactful options as the battle rages on.

At the very bottom center of this card is the recycle symbol. Normally, once an order is executed it is then placed on your order card discard pile. However, if an order is marked by the recycle symbol you instead place it face-up into your Reserve, rather than discarding it.

During future Action phases you may choose to recycle an order from this pool, rather than drawing a fresh card from your Orders deck. This can have a tremendous impact late in the game, especially if you've planned a strategy that requires a certain well-timed order to succeed, and that card happens to sit conveniently in your Reserve pool!

The last bit of new information we're going to cover today is called the Strategic Effect. An order's Strategic Effect will always be beneficial to you in some way, but it requires that you become a craftier player and start to consider your future plans. Let's see how this all comes together during game play.

The board in Horus Heresy depicts the environs of the Imperial Palace and its surrounding terrain, split up into individual areas equivalent to the spaces into which you put your playing pieces. At the right edge of the board is a smaller version of the surface of Terra that is divided instead into "regions," and it includes positions for placing Order cards. Every area on the main map is therefore easily identified as belonging to a specific region.

This abstracted depiction of Terra is known as the Strategic Map, and it's one of two ways to deliver orders to your units and Heroes. Each Round you may choose to play an order directly from your hand and execute it at the card's full Initiative cost, or you might instead place that Order on the Strategic map in preparation for a future round at a cost of 1.

There are two potential benefits gained from playing to the Strategic Map: you can execute an expensive Order for lessthan the printed cost in this way, and more importantly it's the only way to gain the Strategic Effect for that order. You'll soon come to appreciate the effectiveness of planning a long-term strategy rather than impetuously issuing orders at whim. The benefits to be gained by establishing a deliberate course of action and making full use of the Strategic Effects of your orders are substantial enough to alter the future of the Imperium, whether for good or ill.

However, the greatest challenges with long-term plans will arise from your opponent. When you play to the Strategic Map you are opting to take advantage of your card in a future round, rather than immediately. The conditions of the battlefield and hence your priorities may have changed by the time you can execute that order. Also, as both you and your opponent can make use of the same Strategic Map, what happens when both players have an order in the same region? We'll continue to examine initiative, activation, and orders in more depth in upcoming articles.
Keep your long-term goals clear in your mind as you act or you'll quickly find yourself overrun by a more judicious opponent. Horus Heresy places you and your opponent at the heart of the legendary Battle for Terra. This is war – and whether you play as the Emperor or as the Warmaster Horus, your forces await your command!

BrassScorpion wrote:

Alpharius wrote:Or, buy the game and realize that you might not be able to use the miniatures in 40K?
Seriously, this is a HUGE upgrade from the cardboard tokens that the original came with, in my opinion.
This looks to be a LOT of fun, and I can't wait for more details and, more importantly, a release date!

I'm with you on those comments. This is not a miniatures game per se, the "minis" are game tokens for a board game and I think they look cool. I just went through the FFG pages on this game and didn't see a release date. I'm going to be checking back there regularly till I see one. If the list price on this is about $100 US then it's also worth checking Amazon.com for this because Amazon often carries FFG games when they are first released at a huge discount. I got Chaos In The Old World for 37% off the list price from Amazon and with free shipping.

CrazyThang wrote:Well, plenty of their other games are kind of expensive. Arkham Horror for example. Great game, but if IIRC it was somewhere between $50 - $75 when it came out, with the expansions being around $20 - $30 each. And all that is is a bunch of cardboard and cards (with a tiny bit of plastic in the form of bases).

My friend and I used to joke it was so expensive because of the high quality cardboard they used.

Cruentus wrote:Not to make this about price, but why is this retailing for $100 when Axis and Allies:1942 edition goes for $30, and has 350 playing pieces?

gil gerard wrote:Anyone know what the price tag is?

It is time once again for us to return to Holy Terra, birthplace of the human race and the heart of the sprawling Imperium of man, at the time of the 31st millennium. As we hurtle down through the churning atmosphere the clouds quickly thin to reveal a battle raging across a crevasse latticed landscape, centered about the magnificence of the Imperial Palace itself. Within its baroque and immense bastions the shining light and hope for the future of mankind stands nobly in his inner chambers, surrounded by a cadre of the most elite of all protectors, the Adeptus Custodes.


The Emperor observes the catastrophic unraveling of Terra, with massive orbital bombardments searing their cataclysm across entire divisions of tanks and platoons of the Imperial army, recklessly attempting to blow through the imposing plasteel fortifications that shield the Palace itself. He senses how at this very moment, legions of the once loyal are revealing the depths of their own depravity, turning on their brothers in search of blood, driven to insanity by the insidious whisperings of the forces of Chaos.

After so many centuries of progress beyond the darkest days of humanity and the Age of Strife, it has come now to this – the once celebrated Warmaster Horus has returned home bringing naught but hatred and madness. He has cast aside his soul by this most blasphemous act of treachery, choosing to unite in spirit with the ruinous powers of strife and destruction. The Warmaster has brought his warship Vengeful Spirit into orbit and from the command center he prepares for battle, along with legions of Traitor Space Marines, gibbering Daemon hordes, and other unspeakable evils. This is the final stand for both the forces of the Imperium and for Chaos - there will be no turning back. Welcome to the Horus Heresy!



In our last sneak peek we began to explore how you command your myriad forces and heroes into action. We learned how you each draw from a deck of order cards, those accumulated opportunities and manoeuvres that become available over the course of the conflict. We also discovered that you begin the game with a starting hand of these cards, and that by playing these cards you can execute commands to move your troops, launch attacks, build fortifications and much more.

We also saw that there is more than one way to execute an order. If you play your order card to the strategic map rather than directly from your hand, you can create opportunities where an order is less costly and sometimes gain a strategic benefit as well.

Today we are going to unravel the mystery of initiative, which we talked about briefly but haven’t explored in any depth. We’re also finally going to understand how and when activation comes into play, as well as how this will affect your game. Let’s dive right in.

Horus Heresy is played in rounds. At any point in time only one player, called the current player, will have the initiative. As the current player you can take a single action whether playing an order card straight from your hand, or executing an existing order from the strategic map. If you understand that an order card represents potential energy and activity on the battlefield, know that the action step is when those possibilities finally manifest.

The heartbeat for everything in Horus Heresy, the conductor that sets the pace and the ebb and flow of all actions, is the initiative track that runs along one entire edge of the game board. Each player has an initiative marker on the track that is moved in accordance with the orders you choose to execute.

During each game round the player whose marker is closest to the start of the Initiative track is called the current player. If both markers ever rest on the same space they are stacked, and whoever has their marker on top will gain the initiative that round. At the start of the game, the Chaos player’s marker actually begins on top of the Imperial marker on the first spot of the initiative track.



As we've seen before, every order card has an initiative cost that ranges from 0 to 3. You pay this cost by moving your initiative marker forward along the track each time you take an action. After you've finished moving your marker, you redetermine who has initiative. If you're still the closest to the start, you remain the current player and can take yet another action in the following round.

This cycle continues, one round at a time, until your initiative marker passes that of your opponent. When your opponent’s marker is closest to the start of the initiative track, there is a change of initiative and your opponent becomes the current player. Over the course of a battle both initiative markers will pulse ahead and behind of each other, in response to the choices you each make. This rhythmic sequence is the crux of the entire initiative system, and makes for exciting and incredibly fun game play.

As the supreme commander of a monumental array of forces, you're faced with the challenge of weighing the short-term benefits of taking an action against the risks of granting your opponent too much of an opportunity to respond. Here's an example that should make this dynamic process more clear, as well as offer some insight into the rich strategic possibilities to be found in Horus Heresy.



For this example imagine that you are playing as the Emperor, and in your hand are the three Imperial order cards pictured above. At the moment, your initiative marker is exactly two spaces behind that of your opponent. Since you are closest to the start of the initiative track, you are the current player. No matter how you choose to execute these orders, once the Assault is played your initiative marker will move forward three spaces, therefore passing your opponent's marker and causing a change of initiative.



However, perhaps you'll choose to execute one of the initiative 1 cards first. As pictured below, you can even play a 1 cost card, then another 1 cost card to end up on top of the Chaos player's initiative marker. Since the player on top is always the current player by default, you would still be able to issue a final order, even one with an initiative cost of 3! By playing your Assault card last you can ensure that all three commands occur before the impending change of initiative.

You are always free to act within your limits, but your actions need to do more than just afford you some desirable result. The choices you make will also grant your opponent more or less of an opportunity to respond. In the picture below, you might have been successful executing three simultaneous orders, but now your opponent is three spaces behind you. What orders do they currently have in hand? Do you realize that in the picture below, the Chaos player could conceivably execute 6 points worth of orders before you have initiative once again? What price is worth taking action and when is that cost too high? I hope you're up for the challenge!



There is one last thing we introduced in the last article that will have a powerful impact on the game, and that is activation. Each player is given a pile of activation markers that are used to quickly denote an area where your units have taken an action. Most order cards explicitly state which areas are activated after it executes.

Take a look at the order card pictured to the left. It should be fairly clear that you will need to activate the destination area after executing the order. However, the bottom half of the card reveals that when you execute the same order from the strategic map and gain the card's strategic effect, you actually do not activate the destination area. Perhaps you are wondering why you need to be concerned with activation at all?

The importance of activation is devastatingly simple: if your units are in an area that you have already activated, they may not execute any further orders. In other words, any units within an activated area will remain wholly inert. That area will remain so marked until the next refresh phase, at which time both players can remove all their activation tokens from all areas on the board. Refresh phases are clearly marked on the initiative track and are triggered by the first player to move into that space.

The activation system will force you to consider your entire combined force, rather than over-relying on any single unit. These innovative order and initiative systems should hopefully cause you to weigh your options carefully. The question of which areas to activate is a decision you must not take lightly, especially if you plan on keeping particular units ready to move.

These are but a few of the unique mechanics found in Horus Heresy that will infuse your games with the visceral thrill of large-scale strategic combat. You alone are responsible for successfully leading your forces into the fray, while keeping a clear eye focused on the primary objectives of your campaign. In a future article we will take this conversation down to ground level, as we familiarize ourselves with the nuanced yet white-knuckled tactical demands of combat in Horus Heresy!

legoburner wrote:What issue was the battle barge expansion in btw?

Alpharius wrote:
According to this site:

http://www.gamehobby.net/white_dwarf_magazine/white_dwarf_161.html

It was WD 161.

Hope that helps!

legoburner wrote:

Alpharius wrote:
According to this site:

http://www.gamehobby.net/white_dwarf_magazine/white_dwarf_161.html

It was WD 161.

Hope that helps!

Great, thanks. I have the back issue (thanks to an old ebay auction) but not the card inserts, ah well! That would be why I was not familiar with it. Great issue though, man o war battle report and many pages of horus heresy goodness.

This week we take a break from our recent sneak peeks of the game mechanics of Horus Heresy, and instead take a look at the game through the eyes of the designer, Jeff Tidball. Jeff was gracious enough to share some of his personal insights into what he wanted to achieve with the game, especially as a long-time player of Warhammer 40,000. Enjoy!



I remember exactly which day I found out there was a deal in the works between Fantasy Flight Games and Games Workshop. It was the day I came back to the office from my two weeks of paternity leave when my younger son was born. I had just sat down to start sifting the massive pile of accumulated e-mail when I was pulled aside and told I'd be in meetings all day because a few nice gentlemen from Nottingham would be arriving at the office shortly (but would I please keep that to myself for the time being).

Fast forward a couple of weeks; the deal was done and we were in release-planning mode. At the time I was FFG's Vice President of Product Development. Given that privilege of place, I had a certain amount of latitude to stand up and shout—when the Horus Heresy project came up and it became clear that we'd do it as a big-box game—“Step away, developers! That game's mine!”

Rewind about twenty years. When I was in junior high and high school, I played a lot of the Milton Bradley Gamemaster games, especially Axis & Allies, Fortress America, and Shogun. You're here at the Fantasy Flight website, so I don't need to tell you about the joy of pushing a mountain of plastic figures across the front line in preparation to grind your hapless opponent into the dust. I also played a prodigious amount of Warhammer 40,000 in those days. I wasn't so hot with the painting and modeling, but the fact that a good half of my bedroom was dominated by a four-foot by eight-foot miniatures table should testify to my dedication.

Given those personal influences, it probably came as no shock to my co-workers that I stood on top of the opportunity to design and develop a “mountains-of-plastic-figures” game set in the Warhammer 40,000 universe and threw my elbows until everyone else backed away. It was clear right away that approaching Horus Heresy solely as a game design challenge wasn't the correct approach. Why? Because the Horus Heresy source material—in addition to being a board game—is a story, originally told in the first edition board game's rulebook, later expanded in Sabertooth's CCG, and even now continuing to unfurl in Black Library's novels. From the beginning, I knew that FFG's Horus Heresy board game needed to be an adaptation of the story as much as it needed to be a game of the proper style.

The challenge in adapting any story (be it a comic, novel, film, or whatever) into a game (be it a board game, card game, or roleplaying game) is that there's a fundamental difference between what a story is and what a game is: In a story, the author tells you what happens. In a game, you decide.

After giving it some thought, I set this goal for myself: At the end of the day, I wanted it to be possible for just about everything that happens in the canonical Horus Heresy story to be able to happen in the game. But at the same time, I wanted lots of other things to be possible, too. As much as Warhammer 40,000 fans love the canonical narrative, I don't think they want to just re-enact those same events blow by blow and die-roll by die-roll. They want to try out different decisions. They want to play “What if?”


What if the Traitor forces landed here, and here, and here? (Instead of there, and there, and there…)
What if Horus had decided to land on Terra and lead his forces from the front lines?
What if the Emperor had taken the fight to the Vengeful Spirit from the very beginning?



While I explored ways to include plenty of options for players to take the “historical” situation in different directions, my biggest fear was that I'd accidentally make it impossible for the game to reflect the real story. I was scared that I'd accidentally develop a game where players could play game after game after game and discover that it was mechanically impossible for a game of Horus Heresy to resolve as the canonical story does. So I kept that parameter in mind, too.

The design process started with fact-finding. In addition to playing Jervis Johnson's original Horus Heresy board game (which FFG frontman Jeremy Stomberg dug up from his personal collection and graciously loaned me for the better part of a year), my cohort Sam Stewart (then an FFG editor, now the Rogue Trader line developer) and I sat down with photocopies of the Horus Heresy narrative and a highlighter and simply marked all of the things in the story that we thought it should be possible to do in the game.

Through that process, lots of the work we needed to do was very clearly identified. It became clear, for example, that the game needed robust rule systems for epic combat between heroes. It became clear that we needed ways for fortifications to be demolished, for Space Marines to be moved around the map, the Emperor to take the fight to Horus's flagship, and more.

But even given the level of general rules complexity I could deploy while designing a big-box game, it became clear that there couldn't be independent rule systems for all of the things we had identified that ought to be able to happen in a Horus Heresy board game. It would be too much for players to keep in their heads; the rulebook would come out north of 100 pages.

Cards came to the rescue, in two general types: combat cards and event cards. Each provided a structure on which myriad bits of flavorful coolness could be hung. When it became clear that titans needed to be able to destroy fortifications, that necessary capacity became a special effect you could use when you had titans present and drew the correct combat card. Many such events from the canonical stories likewise found their way into the special effects of combat cards. With regards to those canonical events that occurred outside of battle I discovered that these essential narrative moments could also be reflected just as well (and maybe better) as event cards.

Eric Lang was the one who suggested, after playing a relatively early Horus Heresy prototype, that the event card deck for a given game of Horus Heresy ought to function a bit like an Old One in Arkham Horror, to define the scope and outlines of a concrete scenario. I took his idea one step further, dividing each event deck into acts. The division into acts brought me full circle, back to story. It allowed me to divide events into broad categories, defining some that should generally occur at the beginning of a story (when forces are gathered and the table is set), some for the middle of a story (when the enemies clash!), and some for the end of a story (when the heroes close in and climactic events bring about massive upheavals). Although it had been known from the beginning that a game of Horus Heresy wouldn't always play out just like the canonical story, by having the right kind of events take place at the right times during each game, the overall feeling of the epic narrative could be retained.

So, for example, “Apocalypse Rains Down,” an event card that allows the Traitor to continue his pre-game bombardments, clearly makes the greatest sense near the beginning of the game, and so it occurs most frequently in the various scenarios' first acts. Similarly, “The Righteous Heed the Call,” a card that allows the Imperial player to add forces to the board (called up from garrisons outside the game board proper), obviously also belongs in the “table-setting” portion of play, in the early game. Games of Horus Heresy end most satisfyingly in titanic clashes between the surviving heroes and the units they personally lead. Thus, the event card “Titans Stride the Earth,” which allows a hero and the forces with him an extra movement and an extra battle, is clearly something that belongs in a game's final turns and makes almost no sense at all at the beginning of a game.

Over the course of Horus Heresy's development I came to enjoy, more and more, the challenge of “explaining” things that had happened in playtesting with story beats that either did happen in the canonical story or would be easy to imagine happening in some parallel universe's telling of it. When an overwhelming Traitor force failed to take an Imperial fortification, it was easy to imagine a heroic Primarch standing atop the walls and inspiring an all-or-nothing defense while missiles rained down around him. When Traitor tank divisions proved unable to roll all the way from their landing zone to the Imperial Palace due to some unfortunate arrangement of activation tokens, it was easy to imagine that it was impossible for them to advance due to a massive battle between Space Marines and Traitor Space Marines being waged in their way.

In fact, imagining such scenarios eventually became almost a danger to the development process. It was sometimes more fun to try to explain some gameplay anomaly with an interesting story twist than to figure out whether we had stumbled across an inelegant nubbin of rules that needed to be filed off or even thrown out. In the end, I think I was usually successful in restraining myself. You'll be the judge, I imagine.

My ultimate hope is that when Horus Heresy is released, you'll take the same kinds of cues I did from your games' unfolding events and entertain yourself in the same way, with exciting explanations for why things turned out one way instead of some other way. I hope you'll invent awesome epics for yourself inside your own little shard of the Warhammer 40,000 universe. Those stories you tell and that you own, because you made the decisions and you pushed the little mountains of plastic soldiers across the front line, are ultimately where the best features of stories and games meet: in an exciting story that you were responsible for creating.

Jeff Tidball is a freelance writer and game designer. Visit him on the web at www.jefftidball.com