Warhammer 40K Arks of Omen Angron Review

Angron was born a son of the Emperor of mankind, a Primark, and leader of the World Eaters chapter of Space Marines. During the Horus Heresy Angron was one of the first to betray and raise arms against his father, casting off any semblance of humanity as the war continued until he became a demon prince, a champion of the blood god Khorne. Defeated during the Horus Heresy, and like all demons who can never truly die, Angron has spilled blood in the name of his god ever since. Arks of Omen is the next phase of the Warhammer 40,000 ongoing narrative and continues with Arks of Omen Angron, where the Red Angel turns his blades on the Imperium once again. In this article, we'll look at what's in the book and what it adds to games of 40K.

What Are The Arks of Omen?

Arks of Omen are a series of Warhammer 40,000 books that along with containing details of the next stage of the 40K narrative, will also include new rules for playing, focused on the included narrative campaign.

The Arks themselves are great space hulks, drawn out of the warp by Abaddon and his new ally, the chaos demigod of inventors, engineers, scientists, and artisans, Vashtorr, who is the focus of the third Arks of Omen book. Abaddon and Vashtorr have twisted these space hulks from their floating mass of dead ships, into powerful frigates that Abaddon filled with his warriors and sent out in search of powerful key fragments, that would see the dreams of Abaddon and Vashtorr fulfilled.

In Arks of Omen Angron, the Red Angel and a huge fleet of World Eaters have turned their attention to a world housing the Choral Engine, an ancient piece of technology that can turn the tide of the long war in the Imperium's favor.

What New Rules Are In Arks of Omen Angron?

Games Workshop has said that following player feedback, there won't be any new rules in Arks of Omen for standard games, instead, in Arks of Omen, there are the rules for a whole new game type, Boarding Actions.

Boarding Actions take place in the close confines of the twisted corridors of space hulks, using the walled scenery recently found in Kill Team Into the Dark and Kill Team Shadowvault. 2 sets of the Kill Team scenery are required to play a standard boarding action game, so if you own both of those Kill Team sets, you already have all the scenery you'll need. If you don't, the Warhammer 40,000 Boarding Action Terrain set will include all the scenery you need to play in a single box.

Arks of Omen Angron includes the rules for a variety of forces for use in Boarding Actions, which we detail below, along with several new missions, but you will need a copy of Arks of Omen Abaddon for the Boarding Action core rules that Arks of Omen Angron builds on. You can check out our review of Arks of Omen Abaddon here.

Which Factions Have Rules In Arks Of Omen Angron?

Arks of Omen Angron focuses on a few factions, adding special rules and list-building options for the following:

• World Eaters
• Chaos Space Marines (including the Alpha Legion, Creations of Bile, Black Legion, Emperor's Children, Iron Warriors, Night Lords, Red Corsairs, and Word Bearers)
• Space Marines (including Black Templars, Blood Angels, Crimson Fists, Dark Angels, Deathwatch, Flesh Tearers, Imperial Fists, Iron Hands, Raven Guard, Salamanders, Space Wolves, Ultramarines, and White Scars)
• Grey Knights
• Astra Militarum
• Orks

Each included faction has rules for Mustering a Boarding Patrol, Rules Adaptations, Enhancements, and Boarding Patrol Stratagems. If your faction is listed as a sub-faction in the above list then they also get a specific Enhancement and Boarding Patrol Stratagem unique to that sub-faction.

As a Night Lords and Raven Guard player, it's great to see the In Midnight Clad stratagem which makes Night Lords units harder to hit, and Infiltrating Advance, which allows a Raven Guard unit to make a move action after being set up in an entry zone. As the focus of Arks of Omen Angron, the World Eaters get 3 unique enhancements and 6 boarding action stratagems. Our favorite is the Direct Approach, which allows a Terminator or Eightbound unit to move through a closed bulkhead (which then can't be closed again) and into combat with an enemy unit.

What Are Our Final Thoughts On The Warhammer 40K Arks of Omen Angron?

The narrative in Arks of Omen Angron is superb and is a joy to read through. The included rules are focused on several factions, and really bring out the unique flavor of each, allowing sub-factions to shine in their way of war. It would have been nice to have some sub-faction rules for the Astra Militarum and Orks, or a unique Stratagem for the Imperial Navy Breachers from Kill Team who also have rules for 40K. 

With the World Eater Codex and new releases coming alongside this, it really is a great time to be a follower of the Blood God and some superb narrative games could be set up with Grey Knights vs World Eaters in Boarding Actions.

Should I Buy Warhammer 40K Arks of Omen Angron?

While the narrative in Arks of Omen Angron is glorious, if you don't play boarding actions, then this won't have anything else for you as a player. If you do play boarding actions and not any of the factions included in Angron, then other than the narrative and having a heads up on what your opponent might play, then this might not be for you either. If you do play boarding actions and one of the included factions, then this will be a great purchase. The faction-specific rules add some great depth and uniqueness to the different factions, more so if you're a World Eaters player.

The copy of Warhammer 40K Arks of Omen Angron used to produce this review was provided by Games Workshop.