Horus Heresy - Age Of Darkness - Core Rulebook (Hardback)

This 336-page hardback book includes:

• The Age of the Emperor: An overview of humanity's fall and the Imperium's rise.
• The Imperium of Mankind: A closer look at the structure of the Imperium at the advent of the Horus Heresy.
• The Legiones Astartes: This massive, in-depth section explains just what goes into creating a Space Marine, illustrates the various types of weapons and power armour employed by the Legions, and provides a dedicated look at each of the 18 Space Marine Legions, including information on their distinctive history, tactics, organisation, and the mighty Primarchs that lead them – as well as a visual guide to their heraldry and colour schemes.
• Additional Factions: This section explains the roles these groups played in the Imperium – and its downfall – including their histories, favoured tactics, and military structures.
• An Age of Darkness: This section delves into the opening acts of the Horus Heresy, setting the stage for the most devastating war in human history. It includes a summary of the brutal events of the Isstvan Drop Site Massacre, the advances made by the Traitor war machine, and the emergence of the cosmic Ruinstorm, from which daemonic entities spill into reality.
• Pivotal Events of the Horus Heresy: This section offers crucial insight into where the Legions are, who they're fighting, and what terrible grudges are being formed at various stages of the war.
• Core Rules: You’ll learn about the general principles of the game, its turns and phases, how to command your units, measure distances, shoot at enemies, and charge into melee. You’ll also learn about Reactions, which allow each player to respond to unfolding events even when it's not their turn.
• Unit Types: This section explains how to use distinct unit types, such as Characters, Vehicles, and Automata, as well as the unnatural Psychic Powers that can be wielded in battle.
• Terrain: This section provides rules for using different kinds of terrain on your tabletop, including Barricades, Jungles, and Ruins, as well as how to claim Fortifications and use a variety of Buildings.
• Special Rules: This section offers a centralised roster of all the universal special rules that govern different units and weapons, from cunning Scouts to explosive Blast weapons.
• Showcase: The book includes a photographic showcase of seven stunning Legiones Astartes armies from different hobbyists, including commentary on how they chose to collect, build, and paint that faction. It also offers four battlefield showcases, demonstrating the cinematic ways you can recreate the settings of the Age of Darkness.
• Modes of Play: This section breaks down the various ways to play your games, including the broad categories of Narrative Play, Matched Play, and Open Play, as well as Campaigns and even team games.
• Preparing for Battle: This section explains how to start (and finish) a game, including Force Organisation Charts for assembling your army list, a guide to setting up your table and deploying your armies, a variety of victory conditions, and six missions and six deployment maps to combine for standard games.
• Reference & Index: The book closes out with a reference section, with quick-and-simple rules summaries to help your games run smoothly, and a lengthy index to make looking up specific rules much easier.