Games Workshop has released the all-important Legacies of the Age of Darkness PDF for Warhammer: the Horus Heresy. This free document contains rules for scores of units that have been playable in previous editions of the game but which are missing from third edition’s army books, letting established players continue to use models that – for a while at least – seemed like they were no longer game legal.
Early reviews of Warhammer: The Horus Heresy third edition revealed that the Liber army books were missing many unit entries, and that many other units were now far more limited in what weapons and equipment they could take, sparking widespread community backlash from fans fearing their carefully crafted models were now expensive paperweights. The 207 page Legacies Age of Darkness PDF restores vast quantities of the missing units and unit loadouts.
You can download the Legacies of the Age of Darkness PDF from the Warhammer Community website. Games Workshop has stated several times that, by default, the contents of the Legacies PDF will be valid in official organised play events such as tournaments and narrative weekenders, and won’t have the restrictions that affect Warhammer 40k factions.
There are three main classes of unit in the book: those that once had models that are now out of production, like the Legion Basilisk or the Ordinatus Ullator; those that previously had rules but have never had dedicated models, like the Dark Angels‘ Excindio Battle-Automata or The Tormentor; and alternative weapon and gear loadouts for units that exist in the Liber army books, like the Librarian with Jump Pack, or Space Wolves Varagyr Terminators with Frost-Claws and Chainfists.
Some options haven’t made it back: you can’t take Deathwing Companions with jump-packs, or attack-bikes with autocannons, to pick a couple. While it’s likely that all the really popular units are covered, anyone who has gone to the effort and expense of making a niche converted unit will be understandably frustrated. But the number of units delisted from the game has gone from jaw-dropping to about what you’d expect from an edition change.
Has your force got a new lease of life thanks to the Legacies PDF? Do you have some hasty changes to your most converted units to make (or to revert back)? Come and chat about it in the official Wargamer Discord community.
I’ve been so stoked by Heresy 3.0 that I spent the weekend working on my sprue backlog for the Iron Warriors: I’ve now got thirty forty more silver boys to paint up, and fast. If you want to paint your Space Marine legion rapidly, you should check out paint pens – I explain why they’re so useful in this article.