Black Legion Ascendant

So the Black Legion Supplement is here and there are some questions as to what is it worth as many were thinking that Codex: CSM was really the Black Legion book. Well, I can say that this is a big YES and NO.

When I started with reading the background story that is 64 pages long and some cool new art is in this section. I was actually disappointed as it starts out with story that has been used over and over again, but this is a story about Abaddon and his rise with the Legion and little sentences were being added that were adding more story and then it moves into new stuff all together.

There is detailed story on what Abaddon was doing directly after the fall from the Horus Heresy and how he came to be different from other warlords and daemon-primarchs alike, and some of the great victories he had there. I havn't read any of this before and think it is new to the background.

Then the story moves into the 1st Black Crusade and what Abaddon was really doing while is forces were assaulting Cadia, and what methods he used to attack the Imperium.

Then there is sections dedicated to each of the Black Crusades and what Abaddon's goal for it was. These are really cool and add a lot to the value of this book.

The last section is about the different warbands in the Black Legion the worship different gods or the Warband of Oath-breakers that have failed Abaddon.

Now for the rules. There are some minor changes to the structure of the army, but not much. This appears to be norm for these supplements.

First is you can take Chosen as troops without having to purchase Abaddon

ALL units must take Veterans of the Long War if it is their options.

If Abaddon is your Warlord of your primary detachment, then you can have one unit of terminators upgraded to Bringers of Despair that have +1WS & BS for a descent points cost.

Allies are treated like the Farsight one. This supplement uses the same allies matrix as CSM codex, but can ally itself with the CSM codex as battle brothers.

A Character that can take artifacts in Codex CSM can now instead use the ones in this codex. They are:

The Spineshiver Blade which is an AP3 deamon weapon and gives +1 initiative in close combat. I see this one getting lots of use as it is really good for its points cost, and if combined with Mark of Slannesh a Chaos Lord can be striking before almost all other SM and CSM captains/lords and can strike on par with Eldar Lords. I believe this is the #1 in this book.

The Crucible of Lies which gives the bearer a -1T and re-reoll invul saves of 1. Maybe in the right combinations this is good, but don't see it being too much.

Last Memory of Yuranthos is a psyker only item and is not bad. It increases the psyker level by one, but gives the user a new power instead of drawing one randomly.
This is a Nova power that is 6" range S4 AP5 with Assualt 2D6, blind and ignores cover and can use 2 warp charges to increase range to 12" and 3 to increase to 18". This is a nice power, and will have a nice effect against those pesky Tau!

The Eye of Night is like a Chaos version of Orbital Bombardment. it infinite range S5 AP4 Heavy 1 Haywire Maelstorm (D3 hullpoints against vehicles) Large Blast, Ignores cover, one use only. This is circumstantial item I think, but don't know if the points cost is worth it.

The Skull of Ker'ngar gives the bearer Eternal Warrior and Adamantium Will. Finally some EW love in the Chaos codex.

The Hand of Darkness is an awesome close combat weapon that gives the user x2 S AP1 Armourbane, Fleshbane and Instant death all at initiative. This item is also very awesome, and is almost like making you own mini Abaddon. I had a hard time determining the Spineshiver blade over this as my favourite but I can see many people using this.

Warlord Traits

1. Black Crusader gives the Warlord and all friendly units in 12" preferred enemy SM.

2. Eye of the Gods lets you re-roll the Gift of Mutations.

3. Gift of Balefire gets template shooting attack at S4 AP5 assault 1, soulblaze, one use only.

4. Unholy Fortitude give the it will not die rule. This is my favorite.

5. Soul Stealer give the instant death to melee attacks on roll to wound of 6.

6. Chosen of Abaddon gives the warlord and friendly units within 12" stubborn. This is also very awesome and gives some help to the LD issues of the Chaos book.

The are 7 cities of Death Stratagems
7 Planet strike stratagems
There is also 3 new Altar of War missions and 4 Echoes of War missions to fight over.

This is the third supplement book, and there is a pattern with them on what they provide. I think we will continue to see the same things with each new book.

Read  Farsight Supplement Review