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Hey everyone,
My group and I are creating a set of rules to play the Horus Heresy in 4th Edition 40k and we are trying to stay true to what the lore was back in that edition (both in terms of available wargear/units and the story), thus we have been gathering together as much information from older sources like the 2nd edition and 3.5 Chaos Codices and Index Astartes.
Here is what we have so far on the wargear side of things, it would be a massive help if you have any further nuggets of information from 4th edition or earlier that we have missed.
GENERAL
“Because the Traitor Legions were the ones that had advanced furthest from Terra, they were amongst the last to receive new weapons and armour. This meant that the Space Marines fighting for Horus lacked many of the weapons which would be subsequently phased into the arsenals of the Imperium…”
GRENADES
“… no access to Melta Bombs or Multi-meltas, but Meltaguns were commonly available.”
“Blind grenades, Photon Flash flares and Melta Bombs were also exceptionally rare and seldom seen on the battlefield.”
PLASMA WEAPONS
Plasma during this time period seems significantly less advanced and more deadly to the user than in the 41st millennium (and in modern lore, where it seems to be the opposite?)
“At the time of the Horus Heresy Plasma weapon technology was at a dangerous phase in its development.”
“… portable (though dangerous) Plasma Guns and even Pistols existed, but the Heavy Plasma Gun [Plasma Cannon] could only be mounted on a Dreadnought or vehicle.”
“Plasma Guns and Pistols which could be carried by a Space Marine… were still prone to overheating and leaking energised plasma…”
“The earliest Heavy Plasma Guns generated a hail of… plasma bursts, but this was found to cause extensive burnouts… [this limited] Heavy Plasma Guns to being mounted on vehicles and Dreadnoughts.”
“… both Plasma Missiles and Plasma Grenades were in common use… during the Horus Heresy.”
“Though combi-weapons [with] Plasma Guns were developed during the Horus Heresy, they remained relatively rare and were not issued to squads.”
HEAVY WEAPONS
A lack of man portable Multi-meltas and Plasma Cannons.
“Autocannon were favoured… Heavy Bolters could cut a swathe through enemy troops… Lascannon remained in use as the faithful tank killers… Missile Launchers were widely used…”
CLOSE COMBAT WEAPONS
Interesting that Power Swords seem to be incredibly rare
“… Space Marine Legions at the time of the Horus Heresy used a more diverse variety of assault weapons from the [Great] Crusade, including Power Maces and Chain-axes...”
“Power Maces were later developed into the Crozius Arcanum used by Space Marine Chaplains and Thunder Hammers used by Space Marine Terminators.”
“Power Swords were an exception… as the secrets of their manufacture were still lost, making any that were uncovered rare and valued artifacts.
TERMINATORS
No Assault Cannons, Storm Bolters, Cyclone Missile Launchers or Thunder Hammers, but combi-weapons instead, with possible close combat attachments.
“… Tactical Dreadnought Armour was still under development at the time. Only after centuries more warfare did Terminators emerge armed with the Assault Cannon, Storm Bolters, Cyclone Missile Launchers and Thunder Hammers…”
“… linking additional weapons together to make a Terminator-sized gun. Combi-weapons combine together a Bolter with one of three other weapons: a Flamer, a Meltagun, or a second Bolter.”
“… Techmarines sought to constantly refine and improve on the basic design [of the combi-weapon], leading to the addition of chainsaw attachments and powered blades that allowed the guns to be used as secondary weapons in hand-to-hand combat.”
“The first [heavy] weapon developed [for Terminator Armour] was a Heavy Flamer”
“… as Terminators were used more and more… the quest began to adapt other weapon types. The most successful early weapon was the Reaper Autocannon…”
“armed with… combi-weapon and Chain-axe.”
JUMP PACKS AND SKIMMERS (Land Speeders and Jet Bikes?)
Limited Jump Packs and 'Skimmers', although the Dark Angels codex states that Jet Bikes were fairly common during the Great Crusade.
“… both Jump Packs and skimmers were available to the Space Marine Legions in limited quantities prior to the Heresy…”
“At the time of the Horus Heresy, the Adeptus Astartes made very limited use of Jump Packs.”
DREADNOUGHTS
“… Dreadnought weapon systems are superior to vehicle mounted and infantry carried weapons in a number of ways: they are more sturdily constructed, have an increased ammunition capacity and benefit from improved targeting systems.”
“Havoc Missiles were first fitted to Dreadnoughts in an effort to increase their destructiveness for assaults and city fights.”
“Assault Launchers provide a Dreadnought with extra firepower at short range… Each Assault Launcher carries three Frag Grenades which are all fired together… it is impossible to mount Assault Launchers and a Havoc Launcher… at the same time.”
“… Dreadnoughts carry auxiliary combi-weapons… the same combi-weapons carried by Terminators…”
CHAPLAINS
So all the Legions had Chaplains?
“The Word Bearers are the only Chaos Legion that still includes Chaplains in their ranks.”
THE LEGIONS ASTARTES
The Index Astartes articles cover these fairly comprehensively, but it's interesting to note that in the 3.5ed Chaos Codex it is the Iron Warriors, World Eaters, Death Guard and Emperor's Children legions that are supposed to be the back up for the Iron Hands, Salamanders and Ravenguard on Istvaan V
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