Last Saturday the Horus Heresy community at Dice Dojo continued their year long series of events focusing on the events of the Solar War with an epic close quarters battle for the Lunar facilities of the secretive Selenar Gene Cults.
This day long event was put on by Alec, Will, and Tyler, all outstanding organizers for our growing Horus Heresy community based at Dice Dojo. This was truly a special event, as we had a total of 22 players with close to 100,000 (!!!) points of models on the tables, along with many Primarchs and unique characters. Perhaps the best part of this game was the bespoke terrain representing the Selenar Gene Labs on the Lunar surface. These were printed, built, and beautifully painted for this event by fellow community members Justin and Victoria.
Their work was incredible and made this event really unique as armies were able to fight on the Lunar surface on one table, while another sprawling battle raged in the labyrinthine passageways beneath the surface. This was represented with the wealth of terrain available for use in the basement of the Dice Dojo. Players scrambled back and forth between the the surface and the subterranean battles. For this event we used the Zone Mortalis rules for Horus Heresy 3.0, meaning this was a bitter fight between infantry, automata, and plenty of dreadnoughts. It was also my first time trying out Zone Mortalis!
With this event on the calendar for a number of months, I spent the lead up to it feverishly building Solar Auxilia models to represent allies for my loyalist Emperor’s Children and Death Guard. I managed to assemble 40 more Lasrifle Infantry, and 10 Veletaris to add to my existing Solar Auxilia force, putting me at a total of 75 Auxilia infantry.
I even managed to paint up a Death Guard Praetor in the week leading up to the event. The wave of excitement from Heresy at Adepticon was put to good use preparing for this event!
After a rousing game of Tapple, the Loyalists were able to secure first deployment and first “turn,” as we alternate each game phase in the Apocalypse games that Dice Dojo hosts. The bulk of my Emperor’s Children and Death Guard were deployed deep underground, shoulder to shoulder with Grant’s Salamanders and White Scars, and Aaron’s White Scars. My Solar Auxilia were given the dangerous and thankless task of fighting alongside their fellow Loyalists on the Lunar Surface, as they are armored and equipped for void combat. It was pretty amusing seeing them lined up next to a massive detachment of Custodes, Salamander terminators, and Mechanicum automata.
Spirits were high and the vibes were impeccably good as we kicked off the battle for the Laboratories of the Selenar Gene Cults. One of my favorite aspects of the Horus Heresy is the strong narrative and hobby focus the community has, which is very evident at the games put on at the Dice Dojo. This translates into a fun and rowdy day of dice rolling, laughing, joking, and shit talking. We had plenty of visitors to the basement over the course of the day asking questions and just witnessing the spectacle that is a 100,000 point Zone Mortalis Apoc game. Alec and Will also came up with a number of cool and sometimes hilarious special rules to simulate warp trickery and unexpected things like collapsing ceilings, booby traps, and poison gas. These chaotic, random events are another aspect of these games that I really love.
We managed to get through a whopping 4 whole turns over the course of the game. All of those, up until turn 4, saw my Emperor’s Children and Death Guard in a desperate struggle against Jon’s beautifully painted Word Bearers. These Word Bearers were led by none other than Lorgar and supported by Argel Tal, leading a squad of his Gal Vorbak. The XVIIth Legion put up incredibly stiff resistance against the Loyalists arrayed in this area of the fight. Loyalist Emperor’s Children, Death Guard, Salamanders and White Scars threw themselves at the traitors, attempting to drive a wedge into their lines.
Meanwhile the Lunar Surface was pure chaos, with Custodes entering the Gene Labs early on to battle an array of traitor forces who were also seeking to capture the facilities. My humble Lasrifle and Veletaris squads advanced towards the gene labs, bravely fending off attacks from Demons with disciplined volleys of Lasrifle fire. Unfortunately many were cut down by the perfidious traitor marines of the Emperor’s Children who emerged behind them in Turn 3. The lucky remainder made it to the threshold of the Gene Labs only to see a chaotic battle between Custodes, Demons, and traitor Emperor’s Children.
At the top of the final turn the warp shenanigans were turned up to 11, as the Essence of Chaos special rule was doled out to much of the table. This meant that upon passing a Willpower test, units could deep strike to any other part of the battlefield for the final turn. I promptly failed a number of these tests, pinning my units in place, while some succeeded and were able to deep strike to Mortarion’s last known location. This resulted in a close quarters battle between what was left of my forces and a number of Sam’s traitor Death Guard, as both sides tried to wipe out their former battle brothers. Unfortunately my attempts to assassinate the Primarch of the Death Guard failed as Mortarion teleported to another part of the battle to duel a Salamanders Praetor.
Across the tables other massive battles raged between Astartes, Demon, and the automata of the Mechanicum. Primarchs dueled and fell in battle. The tech thralls of the Mechanicum attempted to overwhelm the World Eaters by sheer force of numbers. The Iron Warriors and Salamanders faced off in grinding combat, taking up whole yards of table space.
The most epic moment of the day for me came down to a final duel between Saul Tarvitz and Argel Tal. The two captains battled for 4 whole rounds, with Saul managing to save a number of devastating hits from the demon-possessed Word Bearer. My game ended with Tarvitz valiantly falling in battle surrounded by his brothers in the IIIrd and XIVth Legions. Argel Tal and the Word Bearers held on and claimed their sector of the Gene Labs.
By the end of Turn 3 the Loyalists had a significant lead in points. At the end of Turn 4 however the score was incredibly close: Loyalists 121 points and Traitors at 126 points. A fitting end to another fantastic Horus Heresy narrative event at the Dojo. I’m already stoked for our next big event in June which will be a Planetstrike Apocalyspe game. The Traitors are landing on Terra!
Thanks again to all of the organizers, players, and the Dice Dojo for hosting! There seems to be no end in sight for my excitement and hype for Heresy 3.0. Keep an eye out for more hobby progress posts!
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