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So, since I picked up and read the books that Forge World did for the Badab War I can't help but think of one thing: What if Forge World did the same thing for the Horus Heresy?

Honestly, how awesome would that be? If Forge World did it, it could be kept separate from the standard 40k game that is out there today, but it would have rules for playing all the First Founding armies and campaign rules for the battles fought...

For instance, the Thousand Sons would play somewhat like a standard Space Marine army except that their Vet Sgt leading the pack would be like a mini-Librarian and be able to cast a psychic spell instead of shooting. The Space Wolves could take packs of Wulfen like the 13th Company did. The Raven Guard could get a reduced cost on Drop Pods, but not be able to take certain HVY choices. Forge World could leverage off the Hours Heresy novels and create new Special Characters ect.

If you think about it, the idea would fit in perfectly with all the pre-heresy Space Marine armor and weapons packs that Forge World has come out with recently...

Thoughts?

With all the Pre-Heresy stuff they have put out, they may very well be building to this very event.

It would be good, but I'd still like it if they kept the mystery to that era, as it's a really crucial part of it.

It would be dull as all getout for me, as I don't play Marines or Guard.

I might be talked into picking up some, i suppose

Personally for me, it would depend on how FW would approach it. If they just released a new book with only 1 or 2 new models/conversion packs, I wouldn’t be interested. If the story/rules were primarily focused on loyalists triumphing over traitors (i.e. fairy tale, good vs. evil nonsense), I wouldn’t be interested.

Now if they went out of their way to release minis for all the primarchs, quality rules for all the legions as well as some kind of bundle deal on their webstore, I’d be interested.

I'm with Ascalam. Horus Heresy means even more Space Marines and no Sisters of Battle.

candy.man wrote:Now if they went out of their way to release minis for all the primarchs, quality rules for all the legions as well as some kind of bundle deal on their webstore, I’d be interested.

Agreed. I'd love to see some Primarch and Custodes models.

AlexHolker wrote:I'm with Ascalam. Horus Heresy means even more Space Marines and no Sisters of Battle.

Not only that, but there is NO Inquisition yet (as it was created just before the Emperor went to confront Horus) and NO Grey Knights (created in the closing days of the Heresy/just after the Heresy).

But on the bright side, there would need to be rules for the Emperor and Primarchs, the Adeptus Custodes, and just legions in general.

seeing some stuff for the Adeptus Custodes would be pretty cool.

I would totally collect a Custodian army if they did that plus they would run really nicely as grey knights for 40k. Great idea.

Why do you think Custodians would run "really nicely as Grey Knights for 40k"?

For that matter, why does anyone think they'd make a good army?

The Custodes aren't really suitable for rank and file.

They're warriors, not soldiers. Heroes one and all, it'd be like fielding an army consisting entirely of Chapter Masters or Archons.

Exactly he he he. I'm a space wolf player I LIVE FOR HEROES.

I would like this very much.

Wolflord Patrick wrote:What if FW did rules for the Horus Heresy?

they would probably get a lot of money

Why bother?
With the current FW rules you can easily do a crusade era army, hell with standard codex rules you could probably do one.
The primarchs would have to be fan made of course but if you have some friends willing to do it...

purplefood wrote:Why bother?

to get a lot of money

I'd much rather they didn't personally.
Game-play-wise, there's not much different between the existing Chapters and the HH Legions for the most part, so many/most HH forces can easily be represented using an existing Codex.
From this, it would mean that the key differences would be Primarchs, Custodes and Special Characters. The latter of which doesn't really add much extraordinary IMHO.
For me, I would MUCH rather they stayed away from making Primarch models and rules. I've never seen a good set of Primarch rules or models (and I've seen a lot) IMHO and I believe such characters and demi-gods are incredibly difficult to represent gamewise and model-wise, particularly with the amount of 'fluff-armour' that comes with the Primarchs. I don't think even FW could do them justice and we know FW isn't exactly known for the quality of their rules.
I wouldn't mind Custode models and rules and I love their heresy-era armour and kits, but I would really prefer they stayed away from making rules for the heresy, particularly for the Primarchs, who I would also rather they didn't make models for.

I think it would be awesome...

To address some of the concerns mentioned, the Sisters of Battle could be included if they focused in on the battle of Prospero where the Sisters of Silence aided the Space Wolves in going after the Thousand Sons.

They "Could" write rules for the Primarchs and build models for them, however I would state that the only way to use them would be in Apocalypse games or games with 3000 point armies or larger. Using them in smaller games would be like sticking a super-heavy tank on the table in a 1500 point game.

I think FW will probably do this in the future and break it down into volumes in the same way as the Badab War. Each volume could focus in on a handful of armies and revolve around key battles such as Isstvan V, Isstvan III, and leading up to the final battle on Terra. The Isstvan V book would have special rules for the Raven Guard, Salamanders, Iron Warriors, ect...

Thousand Sons and Alpha Legion could also do with rules and lists, since their fighting styles are pretty far off from what the majoriity of the legions did.

The Imperial Guard would also benefit from a Great Crusade era book. The HH books have included some interesting guard formations, and they had better tech back during the crusade.

Wolflord Patrick wrote:I think it would be awesome...

To address some of the concerns mentioned, the Sisters of Battle could be included if they focused in on the battle of Prospero where the Sisters of Silence aided the Space Wolves in going after the Thousand Sons.

Except the Sisters of Silence aren't just Siisters of Battle, they're also pariahs, which is why they went to Prospero. So they would have to have their own rules.

TechMarine1 wrote:

Wolflord Patrick wrote:I think it would be awesome...

To address some of the concerns mentioned, the Sisters of Battle could be included if they focused in on the battle of Prospero where the Sisters of Silence aided the Space Wolves in going after the Thousand Sons.

Except the Sisters of Silence aren't just Siisters of Battle, they're also pariahs, which is why they went to Prospero. So they would have to have their own rules.

Yes, but the models would do very well as stand-ins. A 40k SoB player could participate in a Heresy battle using new rules to represent 30k Sisters of Silence, just like a 40k Ultramarines Chapter player could use their models with new rules to represent 30k XIII Legion Ultramarines.

Nearly every race or faction would have some representation in the 30k world - even the xenos are all either unchanged (Orks, Eldar) or could be used to represent generic alien species that were swept aside during the Great Crusade (Tau, Necrons, Nids). If Forgeworld was smart, they'd do their books such that Great Crusade opponents could be represented by existing races, while still leaving the door open for their own expensive and very presumably profitable kits to be sold. Everyone wins! (except Grey Knights lol)

CalgarsPimpHand wrote:Yes, but the models would do very well as stand-ins.

Uh, no - from the art we've seen so far they look nothing alike - and I'm not sure that SoB players would relish the thought of giving up both the rules and the very identity of their army just for this. Might as well proxy Custodes with Grey Knights.

Speaking of, a Custodes army? Aren't GKs uber enough already?

That said, I guess I'm just feeling a bit indifferent here because I really don't care about the HH (I like the background but don't care at all for novels or miniatures), though I do understand that there seem to be lots of fans. Usually I'd be inclined to say "more power to them", but in this case I'd actually prefer Forgeworld to support other armies a little more first before starting up entirely new projects.

What I wouldn't give for an Imperial Armour book or something like the Uplifting Primer focusing on the SoB/Ecclesiarchy. As it stands, the most one could ask for is footnotes as cannonfodder for the baddies before the heroes (Guard and Marines) roll in, with only the latter receiving all those beautiful illustrations and fluff and all. Most of the xeno races have a similar problem, though I suppose the Tau are at least dealt with in more detail in the Taros Campaign book.

I guess it's just "democratic" - Marines and IG seem to sell best, so they get the most support. Doesn't make me feel any less jealous, but I can understand it and even still rejoice a little, as I like IG a lot, too. But if they'd put the Horus Heresy on top of that, ... phew.

CalgarsPimpHand wrote:Yes, but the models would do very well as stand-ins.

Err, no.

Lynata wrote:

CalgarsPimpHand wrote:Yes, but the models would do very well as stand-ins.

Uh, no - from the art we've seen so far they look nothing alike - and I'm not sure that SoB players would relish the thought of giving up both the rules and the very identity of their army just for this. Might as well proxy Custodes with Grey Knights.

You're totally right, of course the models don't look the same, and I totally didn't mean to say Sisters of Battle should be happy to give up their army identity.

I only meant to say, if they planned out their books right, just about anyone could at least proxy their existing army for something if they wanted to participate. A series of 30k rulebooks could result in an interesting series of army lists that mirror the current 40k range almost perfectly while simultaneously breathing new life into lots of armies. That would allow just about everyone to play as something if they want to, with Forgeworld set to capitalize on it with proper bits.

Just to give an example, what if they DID come out with a "Battle for Prospero" book, and in addition to the obligatory TS and SW rules and models, they included Sisters of Silence rules and put out a set of bits suitable for converting some hypothetical future SoB plastics into Sisters of Silence?

I don't see this as any different to any other book FW puts out, where two or three armies get all kinds of attention and a few new units while everyone else gets ignored. If you play SoB now you're already left out in the cold as it is (which I do think they should correct, as I'm starting an Order of the Bloody Rose army myself). If a Heresy rulebook did bring the SoB some attention, at the very least it might introduce some useful resin bits to be used with the existing/future range.

Ahh, gotcha. On that note there wouldn't have to be any new miniatures, though, just lots of sets to change existing armies.

Come to think of it, didn't they already make a move into this direction with some Great Crusade-era Marine jump packs and stuff?

On the other hand, converting an army into another sounds like a pretty permanent thing - those SoB just turned into SoS would stay SoS forever, same for any other armies that would get modified with such kits. But I suppose if someone finds the Heresy era more interesting that would still be more ideal than new miniatures, given that he could just sacrifice miniatures of an army he'd no longer want to play.

I can't imagine anything useful in the form of bits from that era for 41st millennium armies, though. Unless would want to deviate from established designs, of course.

PS: From what I recall of the SoS designs, don't they look far more like Eldar than any existing human minis? Thin armour, giant plumes, ... the only thing they have in common with the SoB is that they're female.

you sisters of battle players please remember the sisters of silence how cool would it be if they released them eh?

Lynata wrote:From what I recall of the SoS designs, don't they look far more like Eldar than any existing human minis? Thin armour, giant plumes, ... the only thing they have in common with the SoB is that they're female.

You're right actually. Might be even more feasible then as they wouldn't have to wait for plastic Sisters, they could base them off Guardians.

Either way I actually agree with you. I'm just thinking it would be highly profitable for them to continue to putting out new conversion kits for 30k era units, and to release rulebooks to promote them. What with the popularity of the HH books it even seems stupid not to. The Badab War book is certainly cool in its own right, but I almost feel like it was a back-door way of testing the waters for Crusade and Heresy era armor types. I wouldn't be surprised if they continued down that path.

Most sister of silence conversions I have seen have been based off of wyches and guardians/warriors/dark elves/high elves.

ph34r wrote:Most sister of silence conversions I have seen have been based off of wyches and guardians/warriors/dark elves/high elves.

yeah but think about this how cool would it be to see actual models of them?
Not only that but deathguard and all those new jetbike conversions.... and then new technologies from the Horus Hersey. :wink:
So this also means we will see new models of fortune, and if they do a battleforce with the legions all.
Then a new model of Ahriman before the hersey. a beautiful model in the making.
Then Garro's model.
It is very good chance for forgeworld to make up for gamesworkshop's mistakes.