emperor vs horus

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Disclaimer and Copyright Notice

This project is a personal hobby project based on the Warhammer 40,000 intellectual property of Games

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The background text and all illustrations are excerpts from published works, copyright their respective

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author Mike Adams, copyright 2006.

The project is intended to support the Warhammer 40,000 game. In order to make use of this project, you

will need a copy of the Warhammer 40,000 rulebook as well as the source books Codex: Daemonhunters

and Codex: Chaos Space Marines.

The article may be printed and/or stored for personal use only, but may not be distributed or re-published inany form without written permission from the author.

Background to the Battle

Gambling the result of the Heresy on a single action, Horus lowered the shields protecting hisbattle barge. The Emperor, accompanied by an elite bodyguard, teleported aboard, but were cast


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throughout the Chaos-warped starship. Horus easily defeated several Imperial Fists veteransbefore slaying Sanguinius, the angel-Primarch of the Blood Angels. Finally, the Emperor foundhis way to Horus' command room, and engaged his once-beloved son in a titanic duel of strength,wits, and power.

"The Emperor fought Horus, power sword against lightning claw, with brutal blows that

would eviscerate any mortal man dozens of times over. The Emperor held back for muchof the battle, remembering Horus as his beloved son and not wishing to believe that he

had turned so utterly to Chaos. This allowed Horus to inflict crippling mortal wounds on

the Emperor, since nothing short of the Emperor's full power would be sufficient todefeat him. At the critical point in the battle, a single Space Marine in Terminator

armour, probably of the Imperial Fists Legion, entered the room: Horus flayed him alive

with but a look, and in that instant the Emperor realised how far his favoured son had

turned. The sacrifice of the Imperial Fists Terminator bought the Emperor time to delivera finishing blow to Horus. With iron resolve, he gathered his full strength and delivered

a massive psychic blow that killed Horus almost instantly. In his final moments, the

powers of Chaos were driven from him, and the Emperor sensed his favoured son's

return to sanity for a fraction of a second before he was annihilated. "

Although accounts of the actual battle vary, almost all confirm that the end of the duel resulted inHorus' death, and the fatal wounding of the Emperor. While there are conspiracy theories aboutthe Emperor and the Golden Throne, these are yet unfounded. Knowing instantly when theirleader had fallen, the forces that had declared their loyalty to Horus splintered and fled, mosthiding within the warpstorm known as the Eye of Terror. The Sons of Horus did likewise, butunder the direction of Horus' lieutenant, Abaddon, took the time to launch an assault on Horus'battle barge and retrieve their leader's body.

The Emperor of Man

Note you will need a copy of Codex Daemonhunters for anexplanation of some of the special rules used by TheEmperor.

The Emperor of Man

Profile WS BS S T W I A Ld

TheEmperor

5 5 4 4 4 5 4(5) 10


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Equipment:

The Sword of Light, The Razor Gauntlet, His Runic Armour, Golden Halo, Purity Seals, FragGrenades.

Psychic Powers:

The Emperor is an extremely powerful psyker. He can kill most mortal men with but a stare, andis a formidable psychic duellist. He has the psychic powers Hammerhand and Scourging andcarries a Force Weapon (see The Sword of Light). In addition, The Emperor has the Life Drainability, which counts as a psychic power that does not require a Psychic Test. The unique PsychicHood built in to His Runic Armour also doubles the range of any psychic powers he uses, soScourging has a range of 36 not 18. Once per battle, he may use two of his powers in a singleturn. That means either two of the three psychic powers or one of these and the Force Weapon.The rules for Hammerhand, Scourging and Life Drain are to be found in both CodexDaemonhunters and Codex Witch Hunters.

Psychic Warding:

The Emperor has a strong warp presence able to repel creatures of the Warp, and prescientabilities to anticipate attacks. When The Emperor takes a Psychic Test, he only suffers a Perils OfThe Warp attack on a roll of 12, not on a roll of 2. Any enemy wishing to target The Emperor orhis retinue with a psychic power must first pass a Leadership test. If they fail, they may not targetThe Emperor or his retinue but they may attack another target instead. The Emperor and hisretinue also benefit from a 4+ save against the effects of any and every psychic power usedsuccessfully against them. If this save is passed then the power is nullified and has no effect. Inaddition, The Emperors His Runic Armour incorporates a Psychic Hood. To nullify enemy psychicattacks, the player can choose to use either the Psychic Hood or else The Emperors innatepsychic warding, not both. Minor psychic powers have no effect at all on The Emperor.

SPECIAL RULES

The Sword of LightThe Sword of Light was meticulously crafted over a generation by the best artisans in theImperium, using the most arcane technology scoured from the Galaxy. It is psychically chargedand transcribed with sigils to ward off daemons. The Sword of Light may only be wielded by TheEmperor, designed to fit his glove and provide a channel for his unique, psychic abilities. TheSword counts as a master-crafted Force Weapon which also confers +2 Strength.

The Razor GauntletThe Razor Gauntlet is a master-crafted Lightning Claw with built-in Digi-Lasers. The Digi-Lasersare powerful short-ranged lasers. They may be used at the start of close combat before anyattacks are worked out. One model in contact with The Emperor, chosen by the player, suffers awound on a D6 roll of 4+. Normal saving throws are allowed. In addition, the Digi-Lasers count asan extra close combat weapon, giving The Emperor a total of 5 Attacks on his profile.

His Runic ArmourThe Emperors armour is unique, splendid in brilliant gold, forged by master craftsmen, ornateand inscribed with runes. It incorporates the best protection technology known to the Imperium ofMan. The armour confers an Armour Save of 2+. The Emperor does not suffer Instant Deathwhen wounded by a weapon whose Strength is at least twice The Emperors Toughness, taking asingle wound instead. His Runic Armour also incorporates a Psychic Hood designed to enhanceThe Emperors already formidable psychic talents. The Hood can be used to attempt to nullifyenemy psychic attacks instead of The Emperors innate psychic defences (see Psychic Warding


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above). The Hood also has the effect of doubling the range of any psychic powers used by TheEmperor (see Psychic Powers above). His Runic Armour also incorporates technology to allowthe Emperor to teleport into battle using Deep Strike.

Golden HaloThe Golden Halo incorporates a powerful energy shield, granting The Emperor a 4+ invulnerable

save which may be used instead of His Runic Armours normal 2+ save.

PrescienceThe Emperors unique psychic abilities give him foresight, enabling him to anticipate events at thepersonal level and at the battlefield level. At the battlefield level, this ability manifests itself asfollows. The Emperor can detect enemy infiltrators just as if he were equipped with an Auspex,and gets a free shot at Daemons and Deep Striking units just as if he were an Inquisitor with asingle Mystic in his retinue (see Codex Daemonhunters).

Awesome PresenceThe Emperor is an awesome presence, projecting a holy light, both in real space and in warpspace. Any enemy wishing to shoot at or charge The Emperor must first pass a Leadership test. Ifthey fail, they may not attack The Emperor, but may attack another target instead. Any enemy in

base contact with The Emperor wishing to attack him in close combat must first take a Leadershiptest. If it is passed, the model can attack normally. If it is failed, the model counts as havingWeapon Skill 1 for the rest of that round. Any enemy wishing to target The Emperor with apsychic attack must also first pass a Leadership test (see Psychic Warding).

Abhorrent to DaemonsThe presence of The Emperor is abhorrent to foul creatures of the Warp, who rail against hispsychic purity. To represent this, all Daemons within 6 of The Emperor suffer -1 to theirLeadership. Daemons which take Instability tests while The Emperor is on the battlefield take thetest with a -1 modifier to their Leadership. And all Daemons attempting to charge The Emperormust roll dice for their assault range as if they were moving in difficult ground.

Noble Spirit

The Emperor is a giant among men, a super-human of supreme courage, iron will and noblespirit. The Emperor and any unit he joins can choose whether to pass or fail any Morale Check orPinning Test he is called on to make, even if failure is normally automatic.

Immortal MajestyThe Emperor is a rare and extraordinary being, blessed by the gods. The gods will intervene topreserve him if he is close to death. Each time The Emperor suffers a Wound, that Wound issaved on a D6 roll of 4+. This is an additional save taken after all other saves.

Final DeathblowShould The Emperor ever lose his last Wound, before he becomes a casualty he make one freeLife Drain psychic attack as his final act before he passes unconscious (when a Primarch orother supreme hero will recover his body to the Imperial Palace on Terra to place him on a life

support system and feed his psychic soul with sacrificial volunteers, while supervising theconstruction of the Golden Throne).

Commander of LegionsThe Emperor is a supreme leader and grand strategist, revered by all loyalists. If The Emperor ison the table, then all loyalist squads may use his Leadership for Morale, Pinning or LeadershipTests (but not Psychic Tests). Where there is a choice of mission based on strategy rating, TheEmperor player may always choose the mission. Similarly, he may either choose to win the diceroll for choice of table edge or request that the dice for the first turn be re-rolled.


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Independent CharacterThe Emperor is an Independent Character.

Royal GuardIn battle the Emperor is always accompanied by a retinue of Custodes (see below).

The Royal Guard

Royal Guard

Profile WS BS S T W I A Ld Sv

Captain of

the Guard

5 4 4 4 2 4 3 9 2+

Custodes 4 4 4 4 1 4 2 9 2+

Number/squad:

Captain of the Guard and 3-8 Custodes.

Weapons:

Custodian Blades, Purity Seals, Frag Grenades, Krak Grenades, Terminator Honours (included inprofiles).

Characters:

All Royal Guard have Artificer Armour (included in profiles) and all are treated as IndependentCharacters for the purposes of close combat.

Custodian BladesCustodian Blades are meticulously crafted heavy power halberds with built-in bolters. They countas a power weapon wielded in two hands and confer a 4+ invulnerable save in close combat only.The Blade can be wielded normally or it can be wielded in one almighty blow. In this case, allAttacks may be replaced by a single Attack at +2 Strength. The bolter built-in to the Blade can befired as a normal bolter in the shooting phase and is subject to the normal rules and restrictionsfor Rapid Fire weapons, except that it is master-crafted.


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Deep StrikeThe squad can teleport into battle using Deep Strike.

Warmaster Horus

Note you will need a copy of Codex Chaos Space Marines for an explanation of some of thespecial rules used by Warmaster Horus.

Warmaster Horus

Profile WS BS S T W I A Ld Sv

Horus 6 5 4 5 4 5 5 10 2+/4+

Equipment:

Talon of Horus, Slayer of Mortals, Blessed Armour, Eye of Horus.

Psychic Powers:

Horus is a powerful, dark sorcerer who has made a pact with the Chaos Gods. Tzeentch hasconferred on Horus the Sorcerer ability. He has the major psychic power Wind of Chaos andautomatically passes all Psychic Tests he is required to take. Horus disdains minor psychicpowers.

SPECIAL RULES


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Talon of HorusThe Talon of Horus is a fearsome gauntlet with enormous, razor-sharp claws and built-in combi-bolter, fashioned by the greatest artisans of Horuss rebellion, inscribed with Chaos symbols andblessed by the Chaos Gods. The Talon counts as a master-crafted lightning claw with built-incombi-bolter.

Slayer of MortalsThe Slayer of Mortals is a huge, ancient mace that has crushed so many heads and limbs that itis said to be imbued with a daemonic thirst for combat and will fell the mightiest enemy with asingle blow. The Slayer of Mortals counts as a master-crafted 'rending' power maul, with theadditional effect that each Wound it inflicts instead causes D3 Wounds.

Blessed ArmourThe Warmasters armour is adorned with arcane devices, runes and fetishes and blessed by theChaos Gods. It has the abilities of normal Terminator armour but the invulnerable save isincreased to 4+ (included in the profile). The armour will also nullify any psychic power usedagainst Horus, or that includes him in its area of effect, on a D6 roll of 4+. In addition, the armourincorporates a Daemonic Rune, making Horus immune to Instant Death.

Eye of HorusHorus bears an insidious, evil eye, gifted from the Chaos God of Change, which he uses to seewhat will come to pass, allowing him to pre-empt opponents in combat. The Eye allows Horus tore-roll either a single armour save, a single to-hit roll or a single to-wound roll in each of his ownturns.

WarmasterAs well as being a ferocious warrior, Horus is a consummate leader and skilled orator. TheWarmaster, his personal retinue and any other Chaos units apart from Daemons with a modelwithin 6 of him will automatically pass any Morale Tests or Pinning Tests they are required totake.

Chosen of the Gods

Uniquely, Horus does not follow any one particular Chaos God, but is blessed by all of them. Hecounts as having all of the Marks of Chaos: Mark of Tzeentch (Chaos Sorceror, automaticallypasses Psychic Tests); Mark of Slaanesh (Warp Scream); Mark of Khorne (included in profile);Mark of Nurgle (included in profile).

Daemonic GiftsHorus has not succumbed to daemonhood, but has the following daemonic gifts: DaemonicEssence (included in profile), Daemonic Rune (included in Blessed Armour).

Attracts DaemonsWith his strong presence both in real space and Warp space, and with the blessing of all of theChaos Gods, Horus is a focus for daemonic incursion. He counts as having a Personal Iconaligned with any and all Marks of Chaos.

Independent CharacterWarmaster Horus is an Independent Character.

Sons of HorusHorus is accompanied in battle by a personal retinue of Chaos Chosen from the Sons of HorusSpace Marine Legion (see below).


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Sons of Horus

Horus' personal retinue of Chaos Chosen can be selected from the

Chosen entry in Codex Chaos Space Marines as normal, except thatthe only Mark of Chaos they may take is the Mark of Chaos Undivided.

Normally, the retinue should consist of 4 to 9 Chosen TerminatorChampions, armed with power weapons and combi-bolters. AnyChosen may upgrade his power weapon to a Power Fist or LightningClaw, and/or upgrade his combi-bolter to a combi-flamer or combi-melta, or replace all his weapons with a pair of Lightning Claws. OneChosen carries an Icon of Chaos Undivided. All have the Mark of ChaosUndivided. All have Spiky Bits.

Optional Rules

The following optional rule adds progressive damage to the two mighty champions as they fight. Itmakes the game more interesting if you are just playing the two characters.

Progressive Damage

Whenever The Emperor or Horus takes a wound (after all saves), in addition to the characterlosing a wound against its Wounds profile as normal, roll for progressive damage to thecharacter. Roll first on the Wound Location Table to determine the location of the wound, then rollon the corresponding location table to determine the effect of the wound. If the character takesmore than one wound in a turn, roll for each wound inflicted.

In the case of an Armourwound, if the effect rolled for is not applicable, re-roll on the same table.In the case of a Weapon wound, dice first for which main weapon is affected. If all main weaponsare destroyed, then the wounded player chooses a secondary weapon. If all weapons aredestroyed, ignore the result (in that case, the character is in enough trouble!) If the given weaponwound effect is not applicable to the particular weapon, re-roll on the same table. If no results areapplicable to that weapon, simply count the weapon destroyed.

Wound Location Table


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Score Location

1 Armour

2 Weapon

3 Limb

4 Body

5 Head

6 Mind (psychic)

Armour

Score Wound Effect

1-2 Reduce armour save by 1

3-4 Reduce invulnerable save by 1

5Lose one armour special ability, e.g. Psychic Hood,Daemonic Rune (wounded player chooses)


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6Lose one other protection special ability, e.g.Awesome Presence, Immortal Majesty (woundedplayer chooses)

Weapon

Score Wound Effect

1-2 Weapon suffers -1 Strength

3-4 Weapon no longer master-crafted

5Weapon loses its power field (a force weaponbecomes a power weapon, a power weapon loses itsability to ignore armour saves)

6Weapon loses a special ability, e.g. Strength bonus,Rending rule (wounded player chooses)

Limb

Score Wound Effect

1-2 Reduce Attacks by 1 permanently

3-4 Reduce Initiative by 1 permanently


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5-6 Reduce Weapon Skill by 1 permanently

Body

Score Wound Effect

1-2 Reduce Strength by 1 permanently

3-4 Reduce Toughness by 1 permanently

5-6Lose one named special rule, e.g. Abhorrence toDaemons, Eye of Horus (wounded player chooses)

Head

Score Wound Effect

1-2 Reduce Ballistic Skill by 1 permanently

3-4 Reduce Weapon Skill by 1 permanently

5 Reduce Initiative by 1 permanently

6 Reduce Attacks by 1 permanently


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Mind (psychic)

Score Wound Effect

1-1 to Psychic Test; or if automatically passed, now thisis not automatic

2 Lose one Psychic Power, e.g. Wind of Chaos

3Lose one Psychic Ability, e.g. automatically passesPsychic Test, can use two powers in one turn

(wounded player chooses)

4Lose one leadership or command ability, e.g. NobleSpirit, Warmaster (wounded player chooses)

5Lose one named special rule, e.g. Abhorrence toDaemons, Eye of Horus (wounded player chooses)

6Lose one Psychic Warding special ability, e.g. nullifypsychic attacks on 4+ (wounded player chooses)

Designer's Notes

Reason

The titanic battle between The Emperor and Horus is the most major historical event in theWarhammer 40,000 background. It marked the end of the Horus Heresy and the start of the10,000 year period of human history which is represented in the Warhammer 40,000 tabletopgame. At the end of the forty first millenium, The Emperor is barely living, sealed in The GoldenThrone on Terra and worshipped as a God. The battle with Horus is the last time when TheEmperor walked the earth as a man (although a super-human man). It represents almost aformer, glorious age, before the really dark period of the main Warhammer 40,000 setting. It isbegging to be gamed in some form. It would not be too difficult for Games Workshop to release a


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special Warhammer 40,000 variant which takes us back to the time of the Horus Heresy, and Iwould be very surprised if it is not already in planning or in some draft format in the vaults ofGames Design.

For joe wargamer, the most accessible way to bring this era alive is to replay the famous combatthat ended the Heresy. I was surprised not to find something like this already in existence.

Anyway, this is what I am presenting here for your delectation.

I have concentrated on the two main combatants themselves, but for completeness I havecreated profiles for their retinues. I could go further (and maybe one day I will) and create profilesfor the Primarchs, especially Sanguinus of the Blood Angels who was slain by Horus just prior toThe Emperor's arrival. I guess it depends on how far you want to go. At the moment you can playa fun game substituting suitable character models for The Emperor and Horus, but ideally youwould create special conversions. I can see each character model being a major project in itself,plus the retinues. And then you really need to build some custom terrain to represent Horus'Battle Barge where the fight took place. Like I say, it depends how far you want to go, but I hopesomebody out there is inspired to go 'the whole hog'!

Design Principles

I adopted quite a strict design principle from the start, which was that I would build each characterfrom existing rules. The reason is that there are lots of powerful special rules already in existencethat push the boundaries of the game system. They are well proven, well play-tested, andcarefully designed to fit into the Warhammer 40,000 game. What I would do is bring appropriaterules together to fit the theme of each character.

For example, for The Emperor I decided that I could pick the best stats line from any human orSpace Marine in the game, and give him any Imperial wargear without limit or restriction. The onlyqualification is that he must remain 'in character', e.g. it would be stupid to give him a lascannonand a medi-kit! I also decided that because of his famous psychic abilities, he could choose thebest psychic stats and abilities. The Emperor character could also take any Imperial special rulesto do with leadership or command, but not to do with close combat.

So The Emperor's stats line is based on Marneus Calgar (very senior Space Marine specialcharacter), with wargear based on things like Iron Halo, Adamantine Cloak and Nemesis ForceSword (as wielded by a Grey Knights Grand Master of course!). I created my own names in manycases, because The Emperor's equipment would of course be unique, specially fabricated for himalone.

I did the same for Horus, who is based on Abaddon The Despoiler. I allowed myself the choice ofChaos abilities and wargear with certain restrictions, primarily that he has not succumbed to anyone Chaos power and has not ascended to daemonhood. He is a psyker, but can not pickpsychic special abilities in the way I allowed for The Emperor.

Of course this was just the starting point. I had to tweak a little, but really very little. The problemwas that when I first playtested the characters, Horus whipped The Emperor every time, usuallyin one turn! The reason is that, being a follower of Chaos, Horus had slightly better combat-oriented stats, and a master-crafted lightning claw wielded by a WS6 character is going to make anonsense of anybody's defences. It was then that I realised I needed a very simple solution,which was to give The Emperor a special "Immortal Majesty" save (this is actually "Ignore Injury"from the Blood Angels Death Company).

Points


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I have not attempted to come up with points values, I hope for obvious reasons. Points values aremainly arrived at through a lot of play testing in different scenarios against different opponents,which I just don't have time nor resources for. In any case, these characters can only be used invery specific scenarios created just for them. It is obvious that The Emperor or Horus willunbalance most armies and most games. Having said that, I believe the balance is right betweenthe two individuals. If you play The Emperor versus Horus, I believe the outcome could go eitherway, hopefully as close and nail-biting as the historical encounter.

Multiple Weapons

Both The Emperor and Horus have two main close combat weapons. I have interpreted theWarhammer 40,000 rules as follows: A character must choose which weapon he is using in eachround of close combat and fights with that weapon only. For example, The Emperor must choosewhether to fight with the Sword of Light or the Razor Gauntlet, not both. However, note TheEmperor does get the benefit of the digi-lasers, whichever weapon he uses. This is a veryimportant rule and gives each player a key decision to make in each combat round.

Playtest Results (Tactics)

As I wrote above, in my first playtesting Horus whipped The Emperor every time, in just oneround. Back to the drawing board! I took away the D3 Wounds on Horus' power maul and gaveThe Emperor the 4+ "Immortal Majesty" save, but in my next round of playtesting I decided I hadmade the classic error of overcompensating. Finally, Horus got his D3 Wounds back.

I think what I am left with is a good game based on just two characters. For The Emperor, the keydecision is how to use his psychic powers, when to use his "Once per battle, he may use two ofhis powers in a single turn" special rule, and whether to use the Sword of Light or the RazorGauntlet. "Life Drain" is very powerful, but can only take one wound and stops The Emperorusing the Force Sword. The Force Sword is the killer weapon because of its ability to take allHorus' remaining wounds and kill him outright, but it doesn't get the re-roll of the Razor Gauntlet,and there is a 50:50 chance Horus will nullify the effect of the Force Sword anyway. For Horus,

his stats are so good he can keep pounding The Emperor every turn. His difficulty is gettingenough wounds past The Emperor's "Immortal Majesty" before he succumbs to the Sword ofLight.

One final note - just in case you thought these superhuman characters were impossibly powerful -during playtesting the characters were brought down to earth by a couple of things. The Emperorsuffered a wound from a Perils of the Warp attack, which was embarrassing, and his Royal Guardlooked clumsy when they assaulted Horus across a wall, but got stuck crossing the wall (i.e. fellshort because of their difficult terrain roll) and then got counter-charged!

Well, that's it. Good luck with your dice, have fun and drop me a line to let me know how you goton.

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emperor vs horus