Having an infantry based legion list combine with this rule makes for an incredibly effective army. That said, some of these rules can be used as a build for the entire army. These three rules are probably not something to build an entire army around as they are situational, based on what the enemy is playing. It will give them a competitive edge in most (but maybe not all) situations. I cannot underscore enough what this rule is doing for the legion. Lots of psykers in an enemy Thousand Sons build? Well, that's probably what Adamantium Will is going to help with. Should their opponent have a lot of melee units ( World Eaters, Raven Guard, some Sons of Horus builds), then the counter-attack rule is going to look good instead. Should their opponent be tank heavy ( Iron Warriors, Iron Hands), then they may well decide to choose tank hunters to improve their devastator squads. This rule alone is what makes the legion so very deadly.

This comprise of scouts, infiltrate, tank hunters, counter-attack, move though cover, and adamantium will. In short, the legion can select from between a number of special rules at the start of every battle. Truly, there are only two rules that the Alpha Legion possesses in addition to the usual space marine rules. All have some talent at being in an assault squad, a devastator squad, or wherever they are needed. This means that every legionary within the Alpha Legion can carry out almost any battlefield role, should he be required to. Indeed, the mission and their contribution to group work is valued much more than heroic individuals. Their training enforces this approach to warfare - they are only permitted to 'graduate' as a unit, and individual antics are frowned upon. Hence, beyond all the secretive activity, the Alpha Legion are depicted as being masters of combined arts warfare, of tearing enemies apart as they attack from multiple vectors unexpectedly, and of slaughtering all before them without much mercy in a killing blow, once they have pulled apart their critical elements. Although some feel that the meme of surprise attack and counter-purpose has been over-done in those books, to my mind, it is exactly how the Alpha Legion should behave. I'm very much a fan of how the Alpha Legion are depicted in Extermination, and in the wider books that have been published by the Black Library. This contrasts strongly with the very earliest depictions of the Alpha Legion being twisted by chaos (and Slaanesh in particular).

The background material for the Alpha Legion in the era of the Horus Heresy is presented as one giant enigma wrapped around a mystery, tied up with uncertainty and a brightly coloured bow of misdirection. I know a lot of my readers have been waiting for me to publish this one, but here it is at last, my 30k Horus Heresy Review of the Alpha Legion rules.

How to play legion alpha