#isstvan

Isstvan V

Battle of Isstvan III

The Battle of Isstvan III was the start of the Horus Heresy and was fought between the Adeptus Astartes loyal to the Emperor of Mankind and those traitors that swore fealty to Warmaster Horus.

The battle fought on Istvaan III served both to amass those forces loyal to the Warmaster without suspicion from the Imperial authorities, and also cull those elements within the ranks of the Traitor Legions who Horus suspected of remaining loyal to the Emperor of Mankind.

I have prepared a brief seminar on the excrable Alpha Legion, and their infiltrating assassins.

To make a long story short, Headhunters are a unit in dire need of an update. They’re basically worse Seekers. Considering the Alpha Legion developed the Seekers, I guess they decided they were too good and made battles too interesting.

Headhunters fill the same niche as Seekers do, in that they’re BS 5 marines in power armour, with the Precision Shot rule, in the Fast Attack section, used to destroy vulnerable targets. There are, however, a number of differences in wargear and rules.  

Let’s look at the two units without any upgrades. Seekers come with Implacable Advance, Marked for Death and Special Issue Ammunition – in essence, they can contest objectives, get Preferred Enemy against a single unit or character selected after infiltrators are placed, and can choose each turn which of a number of profiles they want to use with their bolters – you can get access to normal bolts with AP 4 and extra range, bolts with S 5 and AP 2 that count as Heavy Weapons, and weaker bolts that are small blast templates. Since all of them are superior to normal bolter shots, you’ll probably never use them with your Seekers. Extra Seekers are twice as expensive as extra Tactical Marines for the basic Legion squad, any number of them may buy combi-weapons, and the squad sergeant has some nifty little upgrades as well.

Compared to all that, the Headhunters lose Implacable Advance, Marked for Death and Special Issue Ammunition, and instead gain Infiltrate (only they can’t infiltrate their transport if they take one) and combi-bolters with Banestrike ammunition. To be fair they also get power daggers and venom spheres, but with normal marine stats and a single wound, any dedicated CQC-unit will destroy them with ease. Their combi-weapons are slightly cheaper, but not enough to justify taking this unit over a normal Seeker squad. The unit can take a single heavy bolter with suspensor web and Banestrike ammunition, and this only costs 10 points, but since you can’t stock up on them it still isn’t really worth it. The squad leader can exchange their bolt pistol for an inferno pistol, which isn’t something you see everywhere even in the Heresy, and though it’s a bit expensive you might as well. It’s worth noting that extra Headhunters cost a bit more than extra Seekers, so the savings you might have made with the combi-weapons are lost (and then some).