Warhammer Horus Heresy Liber Imperium Preview

Though the Astartes, those massive armored space marine legions, are the poster children of Warhammer: The Horus Heresy (and Warhammer 40K), they are by no means the only players in the grand game of war between the imperium of mankind and the darkening roil of Chaos. Xenos races like the Orks, Tyranids, and Eldar drive their forces forward in far-flung sectors. The Adeptus Mechanicus crafts ever-evolving technology on Mars. And then there's the Liber Imperium, the forces of brave men and women who fight for the emperor. With the release of Horus Heresy Liber Imperium, you can now field an Imperium army (or supplement your loyalist armies) in the latest edition of Warhammer Horus Heresy. Games Workshop provided us with a preview copy of the book, and we're charting our initial thoughts! Read on, and stay tuned at the end of the article for added notes on other new releases this week, including the Warhammer: Age of Sigmar Ogor Mawtribes battletome, the Bloodpelt Hunter, and more!

Warhammer Horus Heresy Liber Imperium Factions Covered

There are four distinct factions of warriors included in Horus Heresy Liber Imperium, representing forces loyal to the emperor. First, there's the Legio Custodes. These golden-clad Astartes are the pinnacle of bio-engineering, are outfitted with the emperor's own personal arsenal of weaponry, and, in the lore of the Horus Heresy, reserved for protection of the emperor himself and missions of only the most extreme importance. They do not deign to trifle with smaller affairs.

Also included in Horus Heresy Liber Imperium are the Sisters of Silence, less of an army and more of a paramilitary force of women dedicated to policing rogue psykers throughout the imperium of man. More skilled at subterfuge and close-quarters combat, they can struggle to amass a force to reckon with in open battle.

The Solar Auxilia are the foot soldiers of the imperium, and these standard humans make up for their lack of bio-engineered prowess with sheer numbers. With tanks, transports, and other vehicles at their disposal, these soldiers form groups of attacking cohorts ready to strike.

Finally, there's a small section dedicated to the Divisio Assassinorium. These highly secretive, cold-blooded assassins can strike and kill with martial prowess, information gathering (and jamming), viruses, and more.

Each section includes special rules for each faction, special abilities for their warlords, and limitations on the makeup of each faction. Horus Heresy is all about reveling in the little details, and fine-tuning your armies based on specified army construction rules, and Horus Heresy Liber Imperium adds all the detail you could hope for in building these forces. Each section also includes full army lists, including battle profiles for named heroes, legions of warriors, and vehicles.

Warhammer Horus Heresy Liber Imperium New Assassins

Up for preorder this weekend are three new deadly assassins to join the ranks of the Divisio Assassinorum, the Venenum Assassin, the Infocyte Assassin, and the Adamus Assassin.

The Adamus Assassin, pictured above, is all about martial prowess. They are trained to study their enemies and strike hard and fast, and this model comes with a powerful Nemesii blade with an edge so sharp it can rend steel, a Needlespine blaster with bolts drenched in synthetic venom, and has a number of special abilities including the aptly named "Decapitation Strike".

Described in the rulebook as "manipulators, thieves and hoarders of information," and with a reputation like that, there's no telling what kind of chaos you can sow on the battlefield with these units. The Infocyte Assassin comes equipped with laspistols, but it's their special abilities that really make them shine. They can stop your opponents from deploying models near them, take a leadership test to deal wounds to Automata units near them, and can cause havoc to machines.

Finally, we have the Venenum Assassin, an assassin skilled in the arts of poison and virulent disease. Complete with Unnatural Conditioning that sees them immune from multiple sources of radiation-type damage, and outfitted with multiple different ways to poison their opponents, the Venenum Assassin can easily bring even the toughest forces to their knees in a matter of moments.

Bonus: Warhammer Age of Sigmar: Ogor Mawtribes 

Smashing its way onto the battlefield of Games Workshop's fantasy wargame Warhammer: Age of Sigmar is a new battletome dedicated to the Ogor Mawtribes, a new vanguard (a box set collecting previously released models) for the forces, and the release of an exciting new model: the Bloodpelt Hunter.

The Battletome goes into detail explaining the lore of the Ogor Mawtribes, as well as updated rules to run an entire Mawtribes army. These huge, bulky brutes are ravenously hungry, and looking to sink their teeth into anyone who would dare oppose them on the battlefield. If you're looking for an army that smashes hard (even if they don't necessarily always get the drop on their opponents) and brings blood and gnashing teeth down on their enemeis, the Ogor Mawtribes might be perfect for you.

 The addition of a new unit known as the Bloodpelt Hunter will add some serious range to your Ogor Mawtribes army, with his huge crossbow and giant bolts, he's clad in thick furs to help shield him from attacks. He also carries with him a trophy rack of heads he's harvested from monsters, and his abilities make him a great answer to any monsters your opponent may be fielding. Plus, we're truly just in love with the look of this model.