Warhammer tackles fan complaints about Horus Heresy third edition and promises old models "won’t be resigned to a life on the shelf"

A Saturnine Terminator in Iron Warriors colors takes aim, while soldiers can be seen in the background.

The folks over at Warhammer HQ seem to be aware that Horus Heresy fans are up in arms over changes in the game's third edition, because it promises a new set of rules that'll address the issue - and suggests that things aren't quite as bad as they may first appear.

If you're just catching up, many in the community noticed that older units and loadouts (which fans had normally spent a significant amount of time collecting or converting) weren't included in the new Horus Heresy third edition 'Liber' army books after Horus Heresy Saturnine coverage embargos lifted. This caused a lot of understandable upset - so much so that Warhammer has now dropped a post explaining how it's addressing the situation. That's because "the upcoming Legacies of the Age of Darkness PDF is a huge document which will allow you to continue to use the vast majority of miniatures you’ve amassed over the last decade of collecting," the company says.

Although this PDF is not due to launch until after Saturnine hits shelves at the end of July, Warhammer's post rattles off an extensive list of units, vehicles, and characters that'll get rules in it. These will be tournament-legal at official Horus Heresy events, and for third party events, it'll apparently be down to the organizers to decide.

Rules for Talons of the Emperor, Ruinstorm Daemons, and the Imperial Army will apparently follow throughout the year.

(Image credit: Future / Benjamin Abbott)

According to the post, the reason these stats weren't included within the Liber army books is a matter of space and because they highlight the game's current range of available miniatures. More specifically, the Liber books are "written to reflect the contents of boxed units, so new players can build armies without feeling the need to buy multiple kits just to make one unit. The boxes themselves are designed to represent the most typical wargear loadouts those units would have. It also means that these rulebooks can still be compact enough to transport to your games."

Interestingly, the post goes on to note that legacy units aren't any less important than those in the Liber collection; indeed, Warhammer points out that stats in the Legacies of the Age of Darkness PDF "are no less official than those units with rules in the Liber books."

While a "very small number of units" aren't included in the PDF, these were apparently never on sale and have been written out because something might have replaced them... or the team hopes to bring them back at some point in a new form. A few named characters who never got miniatures aren't included either, but Warhammer suggests that approximations can be made by using the troops they were a variant of (like Captains) and adding necessary loadouts.

I think this might be as close to a happy ending as we could have hoped for. Fan outrage was completely understandable because Horus Heresy is such a narrative-heavy game where personalization is king, so still being able to use units not seen throughout the Liber books in an official fashion is a relief.

Basically, your beloved conversions and faithful old-timers almost certainly aren't going anywhere.

Stock up on Horus Heresy

• Cheaper units: Save up to $20 at Miniature Market
• Saturnine US: $315 $267.75 at Rogue Traders Gaming
• Saturnine UK: £195 £156 at Wayland Games

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