http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/69.page JForum - http://www.jforum.net FFG Horus Heresy game was any good, or the GW one that came out in the 90s.

I kind of think that a siege game with orbital drops, titans and your own unit betraying you would be cool.]]> http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/preList/783521/10662118.page http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/preList/783521/10662118.page GMT GW - the FFG one upgraded the components to plastic.

I have not played it myself, but I haven’t run across an FFG game I would call “bad”, and since it is essentially a reprint, it’s likely it was well-thought of.

Board game geek might have some helpful reviews of the game, come to think of it.]]> http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/preList/783521/10662247.page http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/preList/783521/10662247.page GMT
I will admit that I only played once, and not that far into it. But I thought the game was pretty good. It is different from most other board games, but the mechanics are more common now. As a big Star Wars fan, I see a lot of similar mechanics in Rebellion and in the Warhammer FFG game Forbidden Stars. That said, this game is huge and takes some time to set up and play. I would love to get a full game in, but it takes some dedication.

Thanks,
Duncan]]> http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/preList/783521/10662249.page http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/preList/783521/10662249.page GMT
It has the same strengths and the same weaknesses of WoTR in my opinion.

Strengths: You feel as though you are commanding forces in an epic struggle. You feel like you have cool tricks at your disposal. you can play the game twice and not feel like it's the same game, while at the same time you're playing out a fixed scenario. The game is reasonably balanced, and there's tons going on so it's perfect for two pretty hardcore gamer types who enjoy playing games directly opposed to one another, unlike a lot of modern board games that really want to be in that 4-6 player range and which seem very anemic at 2 players. Also, in my own personal experience, the scenario is very well balanced, and I've played it with different folks several times and had an even number of chaos and imperium victories.

Weaknesses: There is SO MUCH gak going on, you need to be a serious gamer type to get it. Do not, ever, under any circumstances, full stop, purchase this game if you are a (let's be realistic) man who has no gamer friends and is looking for something to badger your wife into playing with you because it is set up for 2 players. Also similar to WOTR the setup is gargantuan. Every miniature basically starts on the board and you'd better believe there's a set spot for those little tiny globs of plastic to go (and I hope you can distinguish between the guardsman globs and the sapce marine globs). You also have information vital to players packed in every square inch of everything, on sidebars, on cards, on trackers, on comet on blitzen and you will I promise mess something up because your little figures are covering up some rule or symbol on a map tile. This is the most common frustrating moment of the game:

1) resolve long, drawn out combat
2) remove a ton of figures from the board
3) find out those figures were on something that would have drastically changed the ball game in that conflict you just resolved if you'd seen the little symbol their bases were on]]> http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/preList/783521/10662297.page http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/preList/783521/10662297.page GMT
The Horus Heresy is a bold game. It has to be. It's tackling the most pivotal moment in all of Warhammer 40,000 - the assault on Terra. To that end, Fantasy Flight has delivered a game that takes the important concepts of this cinematic siege and distills them down into a smorgasboard of game mechanics. The opening of the game is already a nail-biting event, with the Heretics raining down a massive orbital bombardment, while forces once thought loyal suddenly reveal their traitorous intent. The forces of Chaos feel like fantastic bad guys in this game, as their forces feel limitless (it costs them very little to reinforce their forces), while the Emperor's forces are severely limited. Great example; a unit of Chaos Daemons are as strong as a unit of Loyal Space Marines, but Chaos can always bring in new daemons, while a unit of Space Marines can never be replaced. The Primarchs, and the Emperor, are units you can use in the game, and are incredibly powerful units that can swing entire battles, or even possibly win battles on their own (hint; don't do this, even if it is possible). Losing a Primarch is a weighty loss, as well it should be.

Okay, so if you like the 40k setting, the actions you take in the game will be pure gold. However, let's talk mechanics now, because there's a lot of them. Something that's both a strength and a weakness in this game are the huge number of mechanics. It's a strength because it gives a sense of scale. Surely, if you're controlling so many things, they must all be important, right? And thankfully, that's true! They all are! However, some of the random rule intricacies will really trip you up. Like using Thunderhawks to transport units. It's cool, it's a thing... but I haven't yet played a game where critical Thunderhawk use was essential to victory, and the rules for Thunderhawks are LONG. The critical mechanics are; Stratagem Use, and Combat Cards. Stratagems in Horus Heresy are how you actually do your actions. Sometimes you need units in position first. I found this to be more something that the Imperials have to do, because their forces are so spread out at the start of the game - it's hard to bring the right forces to bear. Chaos starts very condensed, so most of Chaos' actions will be straight up attack actions. The trick is; you have an initiative track on the board that controls when certain stages and events happen, as well as whose turn it is to do something. If you can set up a double or even triple-turn, you will have a devastating advantage. At the same time, if you're too slow and methodical, it'll give your opponent too many chances to disrupt your plans, and you could find yourself out-maneuvered and resolving stratagems (and spending that initiative) to do NOTHING, which is also devastating. More than anything else in the game, learn this feature.

The other major mechanic is combat. Combat is both extremely simple and extremely complex, such that you should never enter into it haphazardly. Ultimately fights come down to "who gets the bigger number?", with whomever is able to put down more cards having the advantage. However, the number of ways that this can resolve is pretty extreme and complex. You alternate who gets to put down cards and deal damage, and cards do other things too (Chaos can sacrifice a unit sometimes to just flat-out kill an impossible-to-replace defender; yikes!), and as you swap back and forth the number of cards you can put down increases. Some fights, choosing to go first or second is the difference between victory and defeat (and don't be fooled; going second is quite often stronger than going first, but is also riskier).

If you're not careful, especially as the Imperials, you can suddenly find yourself out of units, and then the game is just playing through to a forgone conclusion.

It's one of my favourite two-player games, but it takes commitment to play it.



General advice:

As Chaos: Starports! Starports! Starports! Just like in the history of the real Horus Heresy, control of the Starports was essential to Chaos' plans for victory. If you can control both Starports near the Imperial Palace, victory will be yours. Absolutely do not let those brash and passionate Blood Angels and Sanguinius take your Starport. Reinforce yourself frequently. You'll be tempted to smash the gates right away, because the Emperor is so close, but it's a trap. Those defences are stronger than they look. Wear them down instead. Send your forces into battles knowing that overkill means you'll lose units (there's a cap on how many units can continue to live in a territory). Think like Avengers: Infinity War. You have blood to spare.

As Imperials: Regroup and get a Starport! You need to be cagey and send a lot of forces to their deaths. You can't replace things easily, so this is painful, but keeping Chaos moving away from the palace and leaving a Starport exposed is essential to cutting off their unending supply of additional forces. I find that striking out with the Blood Angels is your best bet, but the White Scars are also there to help you - and they move fast. Use the White Scars to contain Chaos outbreaks and threaten to steal Starports. The Imperial Fists and the Custodes are not disposable, and will hold the line even when incredible opposition is brought against you. Lastly; use those Space Marines. Chaos Primarchs are harder hitters, but Loyalist Primarchs lead armies. Backed up by their Chapter, your Primarchs are capable of truly great deeds.

Good luck!

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