It’s been some time since I’ve had the opportunity to get stuck into a Horus Heresy review, and oddly this review has landed on my lap just as I obtain a Thousand Sons Heresy army. Tzeentch playing a part in this? I think so.

Welcome to our review of the latest Journal Tactica for The Horus Heresy. This one is called Prospero Burns: Judgement of Valdor. For this edition of The Horus Heresy Games Workshop have been releasing Journal Tacticas to expand the game, adding new Detachments, units and missions to keep the game fresh. The previous one was Journal Tactica: Zone Mortalis, which (spoilers…) contained rules for Heresy games set in Zone Mortalis scenery. You can read our review here.

Before we get stuck into this latest Journal, a big shout out to Games Workshop for sending us a copy to review for you folks. If you fancy preorder this book, or treating yourself to other Warhammer bits and bobs, don’t forget to check out our affiliates over at Element Games. If you click through one of our affilate links not only will you see prices cheaper than RRP, but if you buy something we’ll get a little kick back too, which we’d super appreciate!

Now actually, before we delve fully into the book, we need to give a mention to the brand new Custodes Support Battle Group which is also up for preorder along with this Journal, which Matt has been frantically building and painting…

Custodes Support Battle Group Unboxing

Alongside the Journal we have a pretty exciting box up for pre order for Custodes.

Clocking in at £140, the Custodes Support Battle Group is a big box containing an assortment of brand new models released in plastic for the first time.

6 models doesn’t sound a lot, but these are pretty big kits and I have a feeling that the combined RRP for these kits will be a lot more than the asking price – Horus Heresy Battle Group boxes tend to offer some fantastic discounts, and they tend to fly off the shelves super quickly! This also combines really well with the previous Custodes Battle Group box!

Those with a keen eye will notice that this one is duel branded Horus Heresy and 40k, and Games Workshop have stated that there will be full rules for all of these units in 40k – now the big question is if that also means they will be in the Codex when it comes out. I have a feeling it might do. I think this is the start of more of an alignment between the Specialist Games and Main Studio, and hopefully a sign of a little more cross pollination between the two when it comes to sharing ranges.

All of these kits have previously been in resin, but now in plastic for the first time they are a lot more accessible for a lot of people and easier to build too! While this box will be the first place to pick them up, these will all get individual releases later too.

So what’s in the box?

Well, let’s start with the big one – the Telemon Dreadnought. This is an absolutely glorious kit that is a joy to build! Unlike some of the other Heresy kits this actually has locators to but it together in a couple of fixed poses for the legs, with two examples listed (though I suspect you could cut off locators and pose it yourself if you wanted to). This makes it much easier to put together a decent pose for it without having to do too much dryfitting to work out how you want it standing!

Like a lot of other heresy kits there’s also magnet holes and enough connectors in the kit in order to make it possible to switch out between every weapon option. I love when kits are like this and means you can swap the loadout of your dread between games. There’s a couple of fins that stick on the outside of the weapons, so I’d recommend building a mixture on the left and right to allow you to have two guns, two fists or a mixture of both!

Next up we have the Pelas Grav Attack, a small quick vehicle with a very similar style to the larger Custodes vehicles.

This is a really fun little tank to paint up, and I love all the exposed detailing in the engine nacelles – it’s got a nice sleek look to it as is much easier to pick up now it’s in plastic!

Finally in this box you get 4 Gryfalcon Jetbikes. Each jetbike is on it’s own sprue and there’s a couple of options to make them look different across the squad such as a selection of plumes for the helmets and 4 different poses for the lance (including stowed away as seen above)

The main weapons mostly stay in place with resistance, but I used a little blutac to make sure they didnt move – this then means I can swap out the guns between games too!

All in all this makes for an awesome box that can be used both in Horus Heresy and Warhammer 40k!

So what about the Journal Tactica itself? Let’s check it out!

Journal Tactica | Prospero Burns: Judgment of Valdor Introduction

This Journal clocks in at 50 pages, and there’s two fairly big reasons for picking this up.

Firstly, we have a handful of new Legio Custodes and even a smidge of Solar Auxilla new content in here.

More importantly (and interestingly) the book introduces full rules for field Daemons of Tzeentch in your games of The Horus Heresy, which is…well…absoutely awesome.

The Lore

We are going to make our way through the book page by page in this review, and the book opens up with a bunch of lore.

As the name probably gives away, the lore in this book focuses on the conflict between the Space Wolves and Thousand Sons on Prospero, with the addition of the Legio Custodes and Daemons.

I’ll be the first to admit that I am behind on my Heresy lore, but I really enjoyed soaking in the text from this book. (Seriously, I’ve picked up a Thousand Sons army at the PERFECT time).

I’m not going to give away any spoilers, but it’s a great read, even for those who have deep dived into the Heresy.

In total, theirs about 17 pages of pure lore in here, mixed in with some old and some new artwork, as well as a cool diagram of one of the conflicts.

Legendary Mission: The Fall of the Domus Tenebri

The Journal includes just the one mission. For this Legendary mission it advises one player to field 3,000 points of Custodes, and for the second player to field 2,500 of Thousand Sons as well as 500 points of Daemons of Tzeentch.

The mission sounds very fun to play, and plays around a Daemonic Incursion special mission rule. There are no objective markers in the mission, however the Defender (who has to be the Thousand Sons player) gets to place two Warp Breach tokens. These tokens play with the Daemonic Incursion mission rule, which allows the Defending player to randomly deploy the Daemons element of their force. The player rolls on a table, and that determines the unit that deploys next through the Warp.

The mission objectives sound really fun and thematic, and I love the Incursion rules. One to try out on the tabletop.

I would have, however, liked to have seen more than the one mission in the book personally.

Legio Custodes Rules

And so we move on to the rules, which I’m sure is why a lot of you are reading this!

The first faction to get rules in the book are the Legio Custodes.

Adjutorum Sodality (0-1, costs 275pts) is a new Detachment available to Custodes players. It comprises of:

• 1x Vestarios
• 1x Signifer
• 1x Blade Champion

The Blade Champions gets some very cool new warger, called the Vaultsword. Its stats are as follows:

• IM +1
• AM +2
• SM S
• AP 2
• D 1
• Special Rules: Duellist’s Edge (1), Precision (4+)
• Traits: Power

The Signifer gets a new rule too, Imperatoris Vexilla. Once per battle you can use this ability when contesting an objective, granting you control over said objective, ignoring any rules which may be preventing you from controlling that objective, before setting the objectives value to 1 for the remainder of the battle.

The Vestarios doesn’t get left out. He has an ability which allows you to remove Tactical Statuses from Friendly units, using the Magisterium Vexilla.

To round out this section, the book recommends using Sentinel Guard models with weapons taken from the Shield Captain and Custodian Guard sprues. I’d personally used the Blade Champion from 40k, but it’s always nice to have a reason to kitbash.

I really like this Detachment. It feels very Custodes and it provides the right buffs for the army IMO.

Solar Auxilla Rules

We very quickly move on to the next set of rules, which are for the Solar Auxilla.

The book introduces a new Cohort Doctrine, Oblitum Pattern Cohort. These Auxilla are humans who have been psycho-conditioned to their absoute limits.

To that end, this Cohort has the following special rules:

Psycho-Conditioned

In short, any models with this Special Rule ignore negative Leadership modifiers, however must make a Willpower check in order to make Reactions and Score Objectives. This is a very double edged sword special rule, in particular when it comes to scoring objectives. Should they fail a Willpower check to score an objective, that unit immediately gains the Stunned status.

Imperial Writ

Again, in short, models with this rule can be included in an Allied Detachment for a Legio Custodes army, but may never have a Legiones Auxilla Designation.

Makes sense!

In additon to the above, any army that has this Doctrine, for each Veletaris Tercio Auxilliary Detachment, the army gains access to a single Helot Tercio Auxilliary Detachment without requiring an additonal Command Force Organisation slot to be filled.

Helot Tercio

This Tercio allows you to take one Command unit, two Infantry and a Support unit, however it has a few cavaets:

• The Command Slot can only be used to select Discipline Master Cadre Units
• The Troop Slots can only be used to select Infantry Troop or Levy Troop Units.
• The Support Slot can only be used to select Militia Medicae or Fire Support Troop units, each selected from the Imperialis Militia Army List (which is very cool).

What is even cooler, is the the Militia units you take replace the Imperialis Militia trait with the Solar Auxilla faction trait. The rules also point out that Command units in this Tercio do not grant access to additional Auxilliary Detachments.

We also get a cool shot of the scheme for one such Cohort, the Tyrian Exo-guard Auxilliary.

Daemons of Tzeentch Army List

Here. We. Go. The section I know I have been waiting for.

For the first time (yeah I know Ruinstorm Daemons are a thing) we see proper rules for the Daemons we know and love in The Horus Heresy.

We get full army list rules here, which include how to build a Daemons of Tzeentch list. They are a sub-faction of the Daemons faction.

The rules point out that Daemons can only be Traitors. You cannot take them as Loyalists (and why would you, who wants a Loyalist Daemon?!).

Daemons taken in this list can only have the Fateweaving Psychic Discipline, unless otherwise noted.

The Daemons of Tzeentch exclusive Gambit is called Master of Fates, which allows the Controlling player to choose to use the characteristics of a Lord of Change to make Attacks.

Thousand Sons Auxilliary Detachment

If you are running the Thousand Sons as your Primary Detachment, then you can select a new Auxilliary Detachment called Aetheric Incursion. To do so, you need an Esoterist or Prosperine Sorcerer unit to be selected to fill a Command Force Organisation slot. This Aetheric Incursion Detachment has slots for:

• 1x Command Slot
• 2x Troops Slots
• 1x Support Slot
• 1x Flyer Slot

As you would imagine, this Detachment can only be made up of models with the Tzeentch trait.

Psychic Discipline: Fateweaving

The Daemons of Tzeentch have access to their own Psychic Discipline, and it looks really fun.

Firstly, a model with this discipline gains the following benefits:

• The Fateweaver Trait
• 3 x Psychic Powers

The first Psychic power is called Metamorphise, which is a Curse. This curse can give a unit a random Tactical Status. Lots of text for this one, but in short you can potentially give an enemy unit Pinned, Stunned or Suppressed.

Phasewarp is the second spell, again another Curse, which can make an area terrain that would normally block Line of Sight no longer block Line of Sight.

Finally Warpshield can grant a friendly unit the Shrouded special rule.

Daemons of Tzeentch Datasheets

So, what Datasheets are included in this Army List? Well, let’s run through them.

• Ascendant Lord of Tzeentch: A Daemon Prince basically, with the option of gaining wings for 30 additonal points. He’s a beast, with Eternal Warrior (1), Fear, Bulky and Champion of the Dark Gods. He comes stock with a Changeblade, or for 15 points extra he can swap it for a Greater Changeblade. The Greater version is -2 to IM, but grants +2 Strength and Crits on 5+s, whilst the normal blade Crits on 6s, but is base Strength (6) but is IM 1.His Champion of the Dark Gods ability in short means he has to declare of accept challenges, and if he ever would gain the Disgraced Status, he would instead be removed from the Battlefield and placed into reserves.
• Herald of Tzeentch: The Hearald looks a great pick, mainly due to his ability to select a unit to gain Deep Strike, basically allowing them to appear from the Warp during the game. He also explodes on death and can take up to two Psychic Disciplines, including Pyromancy and Telekinesis. He also has Eternal Warrior (1).
• Flamers of Tzeentch: A Support slot choice. They can move through Cover and have the wargear Changefire, which is a template weapon, FP 1, RS 5, AP 5, D1 with Panic (1) and Heavy (FP).
• Screamers of Tzeentch: The flyer choice in this Army List. They are speedy, with Movement 12″. They have Outflank and Vanguard (2), as well as Razorspines (IM 1, AM A, SM 5, AP -, D 1, with Impact (S) and Breaching (6+).
• Horrors of Tzeentch: An absoute staple in any Tzeentch army, and yes, they split as they get shot into Blues (unless they are shot by Disintergrator weapons). They have ranged and melee wargear, giving them versatility. A unit starts with 10, but you can pay additional points to take a unit of 20.
• Lord of Change: YES! You can take a Lord of Change! He has Eternal Warrior (2), can take two Psychic Disciplines and is just generally awesome, with a 2+ save and 4+ invun. He gets D3 Reaction points thanks to his Tides of Change special rule. He has another rule, Warpblaze, which comes into play with his ranged attack. Should a model suffer an unsaved wound from his ranged attack, then the model suffers D3 wounds instead of 1.

Theirs a few Special Rules doted about the Army List, such as Convocators (Psykers with this can be selected as Nodes to modify the value of Line (x) possessed by Friendly or Enemy units) and Primal Terror (which is only on the Lord of Change, which forces opposing units to make a Leadership test when making a Reaction, or when Charging a unit with this rule).

Traitor Solar Auxilla Cohort Doctrine: Fateweaver Cohort

Yes, mroe Solar Auxilla rules, only this time for Traitorous ones.

This Cohort grants all models in this army as having the Tzeentch trait, the Traitor trait and a 6+ invulnerable save against wounds cuased by Perils of the Warp or a weapon with the Psychic trait.

Command sub-types in this list gain the Psyker trait and the Fateweaving Psychic Discipline.

The Fateweaver Cohort gain access to an exclusive Tercio called Aetheric Incursion Tercio, which includes a Command Slot, 2x Troop slots, a Support and Flyer Slot. The key cavaet here is that slots in this Detachment must be taken by Daemons of Tzeentch units!

I really wish they’d included an image of the scheme at this point!

Summary

And that, sadly, brings us to the end of the Journal.

So what do I think?

Firstly, as with all of these Journals, you really don’t have to pick this book up unless it contains rules you want to use, or perhaps to be able to play the Legendary mission.

From the face value of the book, I actually expected more Custodes content, however the Detachment included in the book does look great IMO (I haven’t played as Custodes!). Having the new Solar Auxilla Cohort to run alongside them however is very cool and thematic, even if the main Cohort rule is very swingy.

The stars of the show are the Daemons of Tzeentch, with a full army list included and ways to field them both with the Thousand Sons and with a new Traitor Solar Auxilla Cohort. I’ve always (and I mean always) fancied painting some Tzeentch models, and now that I have a Thousand Sons Heresy army, well, it now HAS TO HAPPEN. I sort of fancy painted some Fateweaver Cohort too, basically dive all the way in.

The rules for them look fun, in particular the Psychic Discipline and more importantly the Datasheets tick the boxes for me, in particular the Ascendant Lord.

The big question this book opens is, well, will we see the other Daemon armies come fully over to The Horus Heresy? I strongly believe we will, it just makes sense, and it’ll make sense to Games Workshop too as (as old as the models are) it’ll open the door to many more sales of those classic Daemon models, and just perhaps means we’ll see original new or reimagined Daemons for Warhammer 40,000. Time will tell on this one.

The book is aimed at a very specific audience, and whilst some Custodes players may feel a tiny bit short changed, followers of Tzeentch will no doubt be cackling with delight.