Games Workshop 60010101001" Horus Heresy: Betrayal at Calth (Eng)

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First things first – this ain't no game for rookies. It's an expensive (but great value), tactically sophisticated board game that will demand a good few hours of preparation before you can play. The miniatures included in the game – all those beautiful old-school Space Marines and Terminators and such – come on the traditional Games Workshop sprues, and you're going to have to cut, snip and glue every one together using the elegant new construction instructions. XIII th Legion records of the Calth muster remain highly accurate with regards to their own numbers, and place the total amount of combat-ready Legiones Astartes deployed by the Ultramarines at 185,923 Space Marines. As the magos concentrated on gaining access to Calth's planetary defence system, the Loyalists' fate took a turn for the worst. The forces of the XVII th Legion's Commander Hol Beloth descended upon the guildhall with a vengeance. He had come to punish the hated Ultramarines with a force of Traitor Titans, the Word Bearers' Terminator-armoured Cataphractii and the dreaded daemon-possessed Astartes of the Gal Vorbak.

The battle lines are drawn beneath the surface of Calth, the Ultramarines holding their ground against the Word Bearers. Yet the brutal onslaught of the XVII Legion has left both sides desperately low on ammunition. As the Ultramarines search out hidden caches of weapons and munitions, the Word Bearers infiltrate their lines, waiting for the right moment to strike and steal their contents. Yet one amongst the Word Bearers is not so subtle in their approach to warfare… Overall: I really enjoyed playing Betrayal at Calth. I love the rich history of the Warhammer 40,000 setting, but more than that I really liked the tactical decision making required during the game. The rules seem deceptively simple at first, but upon playing the game you discover there are a lot of subtle features lurking just beneath the surface. Almost every turn offered significant and meaningful choices, and nothing ever felt automatic. I particularly like the interplay of the various weapon choices and the special effects each weapon has on the enemy. Even the “weakest” weapons can be used to excellent effect by a clever and careful strategist. The six scenarios present unique and interesting challenges for both sides, and Games Workshop has already started publishing additional scenarios in their White Dwarf publication, offering the potential of unlimited replayability. More Multiplayer Maps: As each new story act is released new multi-player maps will be released as well. And now there's a brand new board game about one of the key battles in the time of The Horus Heresy. I'll be covering it in two parts – today, those first impressions.At the orbital watchtower high above Calth, located at the Kalkas Fortalice, Uhl Kehal Hesst, a Mechanicus Server of Instrumentation, detected scrapcode within the global Cogitator system -- the dull amber threads of diseased information buried in the mass of healthy data. There was 2% more of it than any Analyticae projection had calculated for the Calth noosphere, the entirety of Cogitator data being used across Calth's global system, even under the irregular circumstances wrought by the conjunction of Imperial forces on the planet below. This was an unacceptable margin of error for the system, and the Mechanicus' senior Tech-priests reported the problem to Guilliman. They informed the Primarch that the scrapcode problem had been identified as a hindrance and that, though regrettable, these things did often happen within complex Cogitator systems and should not hamper his Legion's preparations for the coming campaign. At around Mark -16.44.00, Magos Uhl Kehal Hesst noticed a foreign scrapcode infesting the cogitators controlling Calth's orbital defence network. The source of this scrapcode was a Chaos ritual being conducted in secret at the camp of the Word Bearers' auxiliaries, The Brotherhood of the Knife. [2d]. This ritually-produced scrapcode, known as the Octed, was finally implanted at Mark -7.55.09. [2e] Then, the Ultramarines player sets up Captain Aethon and his Legion Veteran Tactical Squad anywhere in the Ultramarines Deployment Zone. I Horus Rising • II False Gods • III Galaxy in Flames • IV The Flight of the Eisenstein • V Fulgrim • VI Descent of Angels • VII Legion • VIII Battle for the Abyss • IX Mechanicum • X Tales of Heresy • XI Fallen Angels • XII A Thousand Sons • XIII Nemesis • XIV The First Heretic • XV Prospero Burns • XVI Age of Darkness • XVII The Outcast Dead • XVIII Deliverance Lost • XIX Know No Fear • XX The Primarchs • XXI Fear to Tread • XXII Shadows of Treachery • XXIII Angel Exterminatus • XXIV Betrayer • XXV Mark of Calth • XXVI Vulkan Lives • XXVII The Unremembered Empire • XXVIII Scars • XXIX Vengeful Spirit • XXX The Damnation of Pythos • XXXI Legacies of Betrayal • XXXII Deathfire • XXXIII War Without End • XXXIV Pharos • XXXV Eye of Terra • XXXVI The Path of Heaven • XXXVII The Silent War • XXXVIII Angels of Caliban • XXXIX Praetorian of Dorn • XL Corax • XLI The Master of Mankind • XLII Garro • XLIII Shattered Legions • XLIV The Crimson King • XLV Tallarn • XLVI Ruinstorm • XLVII Old Earth • XLVIII The Burden of Loyalty • XLIX Wolfsbane • L Born of Flame • LI Slaves to Darkness • LII Heralds of the Siege • LIII Titandeath • LIV The Buried Dagger

War has raged under Calth long after the actions on the surface, protracted conflicts to slay entrenched Word Bearers throughout the planets depths carry on. It has been 4 years since Squad Acastus secured a teleportarium and routed the Word Bearers from their librarium outpost. Not only were the surviving Loyalist elements tormented by the depredations of the Word Bearers' tenebrous allies, but also by the deterioration of the situation in the Veridia System. The Word Bearers had turned the full destructive capability of the Calth orbital defence platforms, as well as the formidable firepower of their own fleet, against the system's sun itself and the resulting flare in solar radiation was beginning to take its toll on the warriors on Calth's surface. Those not shielded from the sun's glare or protected by the augmented physiology of the Legiones Astartes, were soon blistered and burned, and most would later to succumb to extreme radiation poisoning. Only those scant enclaves that were within one of the few shielded structures still held by the Loyalists escaped this lingering death, though few who still lived could see this as anything but a temporary reprieve. When the Horus Heresy ended and Roboute Guilliman initiated the Second Founding and the Reformation of the Imperium as its first Lord Commander, he would get his wish, and the Imperium would once more make use of psychic powers against the forces of Chaos despite the inherent dangers. The Primarch's intervention saved the lives of dozens of his sons. It fell to them though to persuade their gene-father to cease his furious battle on the flagship's outer hull and to rejoin his warriors within. The Primarch had fought for ten hours without respite, his sons believing him lost. Now he was returned to them, and for the first time since the beginning of the Battle of Calth, defeat and extinction did not seem inevitable.tide of assault nor blunt the zealous fury of the Legiones Astartes Word Bearers. Valiant troopers died by the thousand, and at last the Word Bearers' intent in boarding specific orbital defence platforms was revealed as the same scene was enacted upon the bridges of scores of defence platforms. Those commanders taken alive were forced to bear witness to the destruction heaped upon the world whose defence they were sworn to. Compelled to watch by the vice-like grip of a Word Bearers Dark Apostle or other senior officer, the last sight these men and women saw served as a vital component in the vast At first, Rubio refused to abandon his brothers, but was left with no choice when in the face of the Word Bearers' overwhelming assault, he unleashed his dormant psyker abilities, saving his company but making him an outcast for disobeying the dictates of the Council of Nikaea that had disbanded the Space Marine Legions' Librarius corps. Legio Oberon - "The Death Bolts" - Wardens of the newly founded Forge World of Anvari, a thrall domain of mighty Accatran, the Legio Oberon had undertaken to provide a demi-Legio force for the Ghaslakh Crusade. However, only two maniples of god-engines were to make planetfall before the arrival of the Word Bearers forces, grounding in eastern Ourosene and northern Erud. The remainder of the Legio's forces would not arrive until after the fighting had concluded.