30k Sons of Horus Terminators

Horus for hope - or else!!

More escalation in the continuing 30k arms race.  Here is a squad of Legion Terminator Marines, wearing "Cataphrachtii" pattern terminator armour, painted in the colours of the 16th Legion, the Sons of Horus.

"Power Fists for Change!"

Troops wearing the Terminator, or "tactical dreadnought", armour represent elite combats units in the Space Marine Legions.  And in 30k, most of the Legions take this further, sporting some kind of specialized tactical dreadnought troops.  In the case of the Sons of Horus, it is the Justaerin Terminators.  I did not care for the goofy, proto-dark-Eldar look of the Justaerin figures myself, so I went with the "generic" Cataphractii armour, reasoning that the 16th Legion was a huge formation and would mostly have access to these more "generic" units, with the Justaerin limited to just one company in the Legion (led by that warm fuzzy fellow Abbadon...)

The sergeant is rather menacing - I wish I had not been in such a hurry to finish these, as I would have take time to shave those stupid skulls off...oh well - by GW standards, still pretty tame

The Terminators are equipped for the most part with combi-bolters, a precursor to the storm bolter seen on the 40k Marine terminators.  One Marine is carrying the absurd-yet-so-dumb-yet-gorgeous reaper autocannon as a special weapon - another 30k-era fixture, used prior to the assault cannon.  All also have power fists for smashing the enemies of Horus right in the face, save the Sergeant, who carries a Thunder Hammer, which also smashes the enemies of Horus, but makes it hurt even more.  The Sergeant is also sporting a "grenade harness", a small grenade launcher on the top of his armour.

"Horus just wants to talk with you..."

"Accept that change is coming..."

Terminators are great fun to have from a collecting and fluff standpoint, but function very poorly in the actual game.  GW's 40k rules engine - as has been noted here often and, much more effectively, in so many other places on the web - harbours many deep flaws, and in the case of the terminators, these flaws combine to render them close to useless.  Despite their impressive stats and armaments, getting them to contact with the enemy is very difficult, and when that enemy is a Space Marine Legion, chances are they will be shot to be pieces by sheer volume of accurate and scary fire before they can accomplish much.

Oh man - just LOOK at this gun - bonkers!

The Reaper Autocannon - a 30k favourite!!

Terminators look cool and are fun to paint, but are a waste of points in your force, looking much more impressive on paper, in contrast to actual results on the table, which are almost always disappointing.  This was certainly the case when they went into action last week (more on that soon).

One critique of the design, not much room for decals, save the top...at least Ferrum Mori will be able to recognize them and not step on them accidentally

Whatever their table attributes, the looks-cool-factor is certainly high on these sculpts.  They appear menacing, and as I said, that reaper autocannon just can't be beat for "WTF?"  I'm glad to have these as part of the battle line for the 16th Legion!

Up next, some more Sons of Horus...