Games Workshop has revealed 105 units that will receive rules for Warhammer the Horus Heresy third edition in a free ‘Legacies of Darkness’ PDF. The firm published the article on Wednesday, after social media discussions around the new edition turned sour when it became clear that the core Liber army books were missing rules for many units and weapon loadouts.
The new article states that “some of you are concerned that certain units in your existing armies might not be usable in the new edition, especially if they don’t feature in the Liber book for that faction”. This is a bit of an understatement – the online Horus Heresy community has been in uproar.
As I reported on Tuesday, the units removed from the core Liber army lists have the most impact on the most heavily invested fans, who are likely to have invested time and money into converting models to create customised loadouts. One fan told me that 97% of his army was no longer legal under the Liber rules: “I have one squad currently (five man) that is equipped as this edition allows”.
The Legacies of Darkness PDF will return many options to players, some from the Liber books, others from the second edition Legacy PDF and the various free Exemplary Battles downloads. 23 generic Space Marine units are getting rules, and “the PDF will include options to equip many characters with more exotic wargear including bikes, jump packs and Terminator armor”.
Then each of the Space Marine Legions is getting rules for further units, and in some cases “additional Legion Armoury options”. Likewise, missing units are returning to the other factions like Mechanicum, as are fortifications.
A few units aren’t present, but GW describes these as “a selection of named characters who have never had miniatures released” and “a very small number of units which once existed in the rules but were never on sale, and which are no longer part of the game at all”. It adds that “this might be because a newer incarnation of that unit has replaced them, or because we plan to revisit them at some point”.
The residual concern is that units which are present in the new Liber books, but which have more restrictive weapon loadouts than they did previously, won’t get these options reinstated. Some, like Tartaros Terminators with power fists, are definitely returning, but it’s not clear if (for example) Ultramarines Suzerains with thunderhammers or Space Wolves Varagyr with thunderhammers and frost claws will.
Legacy PDFs were first announced when Horus Heresy 3rd edition was revealed, on May 23, and on July 2 a Warhammer Community article explained that the main Legacies of the Age of Darkness PDF would be available when the game launched, with rules for “units with rules in past editions which never had miniatures, or which have left the range”. That article also stated that the default status of these units would be “tournament legal”.
Evidently, that wasn’t enough to make fans confident that all their models would still have rules. It speaks to a very low degree of trust from the community for the company, and perhaps also to a lot of new players who jumped on board with Heresy 2.0 and have never been around for an edition change before.
The backlash could have been avoided, or at least substantially mitigated, if GW had given influencers the free Legacies of Darkness PDF as well as the Liber army books. The fact that they didn’t suggests the firm still doesn’t recognise exactly what it is selling – players may pay money for models and rulebooks, but they’re buying into a game system, hobby, and community.
As I said in my Horus Heresy Saturnine review, I think the core rules of third edition are great, and that the army lists are the only spot I can see it falling apart. Perhaps the Legacies of Darkness PDF will pull it all together.
Enthusiasm suddenly rekindled for the Horus Heresy? Come and join us in the official Wargamer Discord community, you’ll be in good company.
If you want to get into the treacherous saga of the Heresy, our guide to the Horus Heresy reading order will help you navigate the maze of books!