Are you looking for a way to customize your own Horus Heresy force? The the Blackshield rules might be your ticket to hobby freedom.
The Horus Heresy was a turbulent time in the Imperium’s history. The Astartes Legions were battling against themselves and things could get pretty messy. To throw a wrench in the works, there were even some Astartes from Traitor Legions that sided against the Warmaster. Or supposed Loyalist Astartes that turned traitor — and many more outcasts, forsaken, and lost Legiones Astartes in the mix.
They might be exiled from their home Legion or abandoned them on principle. Whatever happened, they have no home now. That’s where the Blackshields came into play. These Astartes banded together to form their own Warbands. Now you can add them to your own Horus Heresy Army.
Blackshield Endryd Haar
“One of the most interesting of these occurrences were the independent warbands known as Blackshields, who often painted over their heraldry or even scorched their armour black to remove all trace of their home Legion – hence the name. Their tactics were quite unlike those of a regular battalion of Space Marines, and now you’ll be able to field your own cohort of irregulars in the Age of Darkness with a suite of updated rules. “
Create Your Own Blackshields
Download the Legiones Astartes Blackshield Rules Here
The Blackshield have no new units in their rules. However, they do gain the new Blackshields Trait as well as a new Rite of War and a bunch of Oaths of Moment. These really let you get in there to customize your Blackshields how you want. Not all Blackshields are renegades and marauders. Some of them might be psychically endowed or perhaps clones. You get to choose you how you envision them and use the thematic rules to build them out.
“While rarely as powerful as the Legions from which these warbands sprang, they offer even veteran players a new way to use Space Marine armies on the tabletop, and a new way to explore the lore of the Horus Heresy. With a wealth of opportunities for unique conversions and modelling projects, Blackshields armies also offer an opportunity to build an army of Space Marines like no other. “
Blackshields Hobby Time
Personally, I view this as a way to not only customize your own unique Horus Heresy force, but I think of this as a great way to really dive into the hobby side of things. The Blackshields have no set standard in terms of visuals. Other than the fact that they “blacked out” their own Legion markings. This opens up a world of different painting and hobby opportunities.
If you’ve ever really wanted to get into serious battle damage for your marines this is a great way to model those scars. Kitbashing armor is encouraged here, too. Often the Blackshields had to scrounge up whatever wargear they could find. And it’s great that you can find rules to support that now thanks to the new download.
So go check out their rules and see if anything appeals to you. Who knows!? You might get inspired to create a whole new Blackshield warband using one of the many new Oaths of Moment!
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Writer, Editor, Texas Native, and now Tex-Pat, Adam covers all things Tabletop Gaming. Which includes Warhammer 40,000, Age of Sigmar, D&D, Board Games and everything else that involves dice, boards, cards and a table.
A hobbyist, player, and collector of miniatures and games, Adam’s current obsession are his Death and Chaos Armies for Age of Sigmar, his Blood Angels and Tyranids for 40k, an expanding collection of Marvel: Crisis Protocol minis, and his ever growing Arkham Horror: The Card Game Collection.
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