Codex 38th Company (Part 4 - Revision 2) · 2:21am Aug 5th, 2019
Welp, someone asked, so I might as well keep re-doing these.
Section 4 supplemental codex: Lunar Guard
The Lunar Guard comprises those ponies who exclusively serve the Night Court, Princess Luna’s domain and primary office of administration. In theory, the Night Court is the other half of Equestria’s royal sovereignty, and can perform every function of the Celestial Day Court when the latter is at rest or otherwise unavailable. In practice, the Night Court is a sad shadow of its daytime equivalent, owing in part to its sudden and unexpected establishment after Luna’s return to power. Its bureaucratic and administrative personnel are generally inexperienced, its legal remit is confusing, and there is little to no pressure to improve its workings due to the unsurprising dearth of petitioners. Some say that Princess Luna herself is the problem, far preferring a personal approach to matters of state and disliking the minutiae and bureaucracy so common to modern government. To be certain, the Princess of the Night has never developed the talent for governance that her sister had mastered since building Equestria from its foundations, to say nothing of being its sole ruler for a full millennium. At the least, however, she cannot be blamed for the gross lack of activity, seeing how she once waged a revolution over the matter.
One area that the Night Court enjoys unusual competence is martial affairs and security, however, and the Lunar Guard is taken far more seriously among Canterlot’s citizens than their daytime counterparts. In part this is because the post is occupied almost entirely by batponies, an uncommon and grim breed of equestrian hailing from various cavernous territories within Equestria’s borders. The origin of the batponies, also known as thestrals, is cloaked in myth and rumor, but it is well understood that they’ve generally had little to do with Equestria at large since Nightmare Moon’s exile up until Luna’s purification. As such, nearly every one of the batponies is a brooding survivalist who grew up without knowing the comfort or (supposed) security of Equestrian society, and this has lent their kind a type of bitter militancy starkly at odds with the attitudes of the common pony.
The Lunar Guard was quite nonplussed when its mistress swore herself to the service of the Iron Warriors; a sense of hard-earned independence and skepticism of outsiders would have had most glad to stand in defense of Equestria without the humans’ help, even if such an effort was clearly futile. Their attitude has improved since beginning combat service, thankfully. While they’re rarely as popular as their harmonious and relentlessly cheerful cousins, they tend to fit in much better among the grim and fatalistic human soldiers. The Iron Warriors in particular have a fondness for the batponies, and many prefer the thestrals to pegasi as scouts and light infantry support for their nerve and determination.
Curiously, batponies of the Lunar Guard outright refuse to accommodate Chaos worship within their ranks, which many find odd given that the other, “harmonious” pony breeds do so without censure. Batponies that are found to even be considering taking Marks are shunned and quietly expelled from the ranks. When asked about this they declare that their only loyalty is to the Princess of the Night and their country. Many other ponies suspect they blame the darker powers for the corruption of their Princess so long ago, and resist its influence out of sheer spite even while serving its interests. Still others consider that they’re perhaps less upset about Chaos possibly spurring her to revolt, and more upset that it let her lose.
Rules:
Lunar Guard units may be included in any 38th Company detachment.
Lunar Guards, obviously, are well-suited to working and fighting at night. Some use magic or technological means to enhance their vision when in the dark, while others have developed special methods such as echolocation to compensate for their limited sight. All units from the Lunar Guard have the Hypersenses special rule.
Hypersenses: Models with this special rule have a unique set of senses in addition to conventional sight and hearing that enemy augur baffling or camouflage are unable to fool. Models with Hypersenses ignore penalties to hit inflicted by special rules such as Cover of Darkness, Smoke Launchers, Cloaking Device (from these supplements), etc. This does not effect their ability to hit on Overwatch fire, which still requires a 6+ to hit.
Batpony: batponies are considered by some to merely be another sort of pegasus, but this view is inaccurate at best. Although both species possess wings, the batponies’ are leathery and muscular, where the pegasi have light, feathered wings. Batponies, as a consequence, are unsuited to soaring or high-altitude flying, but their heavier wings allow them to hover with greater stability and control than their lighter and generally weaker cousins. This allows them to fire and control ballistic weapons easily while on the move and remain airborne even in close combat where there is little room to maneuver. Besides their wings, batponies have excellent hearing to facilitate echolocation, and naturally are experts in night-time survival and combat.
Models with the Batpony special rule have the Fly special rule in addition to the Hypersenses rule. They generally may not be held in reserve to deploy from high altitude, unlike pegasi. Batponies with access to the Armory may only select wargear available to all pony types.
HQ
Princess Luna (260 points/power rating 20 - HQ choice)
Princess Luna’s volunteering service to the 38th Company was a tumultuous decision, to say the least. Putting aside Celestia’s personal feelings about both her dearest student and younger sister serving a force of murderous pirates, there were a fair number of ponies who felt that an ex-megalomaniac rebel with power almost on par with Celestia herself was not a pony they wanted under the command of evil minds. The decision was made despite them, however, and Luna quickly distinguished herself as a tactical asset a magnitude more powerful than Twilight Sparkle and even the Iron Warrior’s own leaders. Even Sliver, stubbornly opposed to the recruitment and deployment of ponies alongside his Chaos Space Marines, has been forced to accept her usefulness as a weapon. He needs little persuasion to deploy her in support of his troops if it means many Astartes lives are preserved, although he still distrusts the equine psyker enough to demand she be held in reserve until circumstances warrant her intervention.
Armed with daemon armor and deadly power fists forged by Solon himself, Luna becomes a near-unstoppable force once she takes to the battlefield, hunting down the most powerful enemies and tearing them asunder with an eagerness and fury quite uncharacteristic of most ponies. Besides engaging the most powerful foes without fear or mercy, she also possesses a somewhat bothersome flair for the dramatic, using her control of lunar satellites to blot out the sun before entering the battlefield. While the Company’s soldiers agree that it is quite a chilling and impressive effect, she doesn’t seem especially swayed by the complaints that the gun lines don’t like fighting in the dark.
M: 16" | WS: 2+ | BS: 3+ | S: 5 | T: 4 | A: 4 | W: 6 | Ld: 10 | Sv: 2+ |
Princess Luna is a single model with Daemon Armor and an Iron Gage, from the Forge of the Warsmith.
Special Rules: Independent Character, Alicorn, Hypersenses, Ace Flyer, Princess of the Night, The Eclipse
Princess of the Night: Luna is pretty much the second most powerful pony who ever lived; many even say (or at least suspect) that in terms of combat power and prowess specifically, she is Celestia’s better. Luna may use up to four psychic powers per turn and attempt to Deny the Witch twice per turn. She has the Touched by Darkness special rule and an Invulnerable Save of 4+.
The Eclipse: Luna uses her control of orbital satellites to make dramatic entrances when she takes to the field, striking terror into the heart of the enemy and hopefully cutting down on the accuracy of incoming fire. Luna may start the game in reserve and be deployed on the table at the end of any friendly Movement Phase, being placed no less than 9" away from any enemy model. Furthermore, on the turn Luna is deployed (which will be the first turn if she starts the game on the table), ALL units suffer a -1 penalty to ranged attacks until the beginning of the owning player's next Movement Phase. Units with Hypersenses, naturally, ignore this penalty.
(Note that if there is a scenario-specific reason for her to be unable to block out the local light source – such as a combat in an area with substantial other light sources, for example – then The Eclipse may be ignored where appropriate.)
Daemon Armor: This enhanced power armor is fueled by a trapped daemon rather than any conventional or even sorcerous power. The daemon is generally unhappy with its confinement, but still works to deflect and stop incoming munitions, seeing as the foe has to break through it before they can harm Luna. Daemon Armor provides a 2+ Armor Save and grants the Daemon keyword.
Iron Gage: These monstrous power fists are psykant weapons, able to float through the air with the lightest touch of Luna’s considerable will. As power fists go, they’re actually somewhat weak; without the leverage of being physically attached to a Space Marine-sized mass, their impact is more akin to what mundane humans manage with such weapons. Their free-floating and dexterous nature does, however, enable Luna to attack faster and easily find the weakest points in armored vehicles when applying them to the task of dismantling a tank or walker. Naturally, Solon also made the weapons into intensely powerful psionic projectors, because that’s kind of what he does. The beams have been compared to full-strength lascannon blasts, although Luna’s lack of a proper scope targeting (and the somewhat awkward nature of aiming a giant hand) means that they lack the range advantage of their “mundane” counterparts.
The Iron Gage counts as two weapons with the following profile (bonus to Attacks included in profile):
| Range: M | S: 6 | AP: -3 | D: 1d3 | Melee, Arcane Blow |
Arcane Blow: On a roll of 6 to wound, the target of an attack takes one Mortal Wound in addition to its regular damage.
The Iron Gage can also be charged as a psionic weapon in order to make an attack in the shooting phase. This does not prevent them from being used as a melee weapon. It may be charged to use one of either of the following profiles, but not both.
| Range: 24” | Type: Heavy d3 | S: 9 | AP: -3 | D: d6 | Arcane Blow |
| Range: 24” | Type: Assault 2d6 | S: 4 | AP: -1 | D: 1 | Arcane Blow |
Princess Luna knows all psychic powers from the Shadow discipline, detailed at the end of this supplement. In addition, she may select one other power from the Harmony discipline.
Faction Keywords: Chaos, Iron Warriors, Lunar Guard, 38th Company
Keywords: Character, Infantry, Psyker, Fly, Pony, Daemon, Princess Luna
Lieutenant (45 points/power rating 4)
The Lieutenants of the Lunar Guard act as front-line leaders, guiding their packs into the fray and teaching them in the field. They’re also responsible for evaluating the soldiers placed under their command, picking out the most aggressive and quick-witted Guards as well as the most cautious and intelligent. The former are moved to special assault units or schooled directly to become Lieutenants themselves, while the latter are usually promoted out of combat duty and given administration roles off the front lines. While this makes for reliably competent special combat teams, it rarely lends itself to capable paper-pushers. Thus, unlike the Royal Guard, the thestrals of the Lunar Guard make most of their decisions in the field on a lower level than most would expect (or hope for) during any given operation. Lieutenants enjoy considerable autonomy, and are rarely accountable to their superiors back at the Night Court… even when those superiors would very much like them to be.
The 38th Company can appreciate the strength of officers that personally take to the field and make decisions independently, but don’t take so kindly to assumptions of impunity. Quite a few Lieutenants were shocked to find themselves removed from duty on some human’s say-so, and outright terrified to learn that Princess Luna had intervened on their behalf to save them from execution for disobeying orders or insubordination. Discipline has thusly improved considerably as their ranks shrank. Those more cooperative with their sapien masters have found themselves duly rewarded with superior wargear, additional troops, and better pay. To be sure, the thestral Lieutenants still chafe at the command of humans and post-humans, but as ever they have adapted and endured.
Lieutenant | M: 12" | WS: 3+ | BS: 3+ | S: 4 | T: 3 | A: 3 | W: 4 | Ld: 10 | Sv: 5+ |
A Lunar Lieutenant is a single model armed with a splinter rifle, flak armor, a brutal close combat weapon, and melta charges.
Special Rules: Batpony, Hypersenses, Infiltrate
A Lieutenant may select wargear from the Armory, Wargear from the Forge of the Warsmith, and up to one Sacred Relic.
A Lieutenant may take an Echo Blaster for 20 points, and/or a Phantom Cloak for 30 points.
Infiltrate: This unit may be deployed last, after all other units have been placed but before any roll to Steal Initiative. It may be placed anywhere on the tabletop that is more than 18" from all enemy units.
A unit with melta charges may elect to trade their normal allotment of attacks for one attack against an eligible target with the profile below:
Melta charges | Range: M | S: 8 | AP: -4 | D: d6 | Melee, Melta, May not target models with Infantry keyword
Faction Keywords: Chaos, Iron Warriors, Lunar Guard, 38th Company
Keywords: Character, Infantry, Fly, Pony, Lieutenant
Troops
Lunar Guards (100 points/power rating 7)
The basic infantry unit comprising the Lunar Guard’s armies, the batpony attack squads are the sentinels of Canterlot truly feared by its citizens and criminals, as they became quite infamous for taking over the investigations of detectives working in the day by launching bold raids on criminals’ homes and busting up shady meetings in the night. Many an allegedly corrupt senator or black marketer have been scared to within an inch of their lives by having armed batponies burst into their homes and seize them in the dead of night, carrying them off to the dungeons in a flurry of beating wings and angry shrieks. Of course, not many of these terrifying arrests led to convictions, as the Lunar Guard doesn’t always wait until the court has enough evidence against the suspect, but the knowledge that one could be dragged screaming from one’s bed and into the dungeons for mere suspicion of wrongdoing tends to keep would-be criminals on the straight and narrow.
The Lunar Guard eagerly took to using human wargear, even while grumbling about human control. They were enthusiastic proponents of polyceramic armors, mono-molecular blades, and extrasensory visors, which improved their armor, weight load, combat power, and enhanced their already impressive senses. They were less impressed with lasguns, which fire highly visible projectiles and also make a fair amount of noise; although the thestrals wouldn’t necessarily be running a lot of covert missions, they tend to instinctively dislike flashy weapons. A solution was found with the adoption of Dark Eldar splinter rifles, of which the Company possessed many from repeated run-ins with other space pirates. Although dismissed by humans and Chaos Marines as an inefficient terror weapon, its stealthier nature proved quite popular with the batpony soldiers. In the field, the Lunar Guards are most adept at ambush tactics, waiting within darkened hovels and improvised camouflage before leaping at a target in shrieking packs. At night their skills are – as expected – particularly potent, and Orks operating on Centaur III have quickly learned to treat the presence of mundane bats as a bad omen, reigning in their nighttime patrols and raids immediately.
Lunar Guard | M: 12" | WS: 4+ | BS: 4+ | S: 3 | T: 3 | A: 1 | W: 1 | Ld: 7 | Sv: 5+ |
Lunar Sergeant | M: 12" | WS: 3+ | BS: 3+ | S: 3 | T: 3 | A: 2 | W: 1 | Ld: 8 | Sv: 5+ |
A unit of Lunar Guard is composed of 9 Lunar Guards and 1 Lunar Sergeant. They are armed with splinter rifles and flak armor.
Special Rules: Batpony, Hypersenses, Infiltrate
A Lunar Sergeant may select wargear from the Armory.
Up to two Lunar Guards may take Echo Cannons for 20 points each.
A unit of Lunar Guards may take up to 10 additional models at a cost of +3 power rating or 10 points each.
Faction Keywords: Chaos, Iron Warriors, Lunar Guard, 38th Company
Keywords: Infantry, Fly, Pony, Lunar Guards
Elites
Shades (80 points/power rating 6)
The elite branch of the Lunar Guard is a secretive and clandestine organization whose origin and operations are a complete mystery to the other half of Equestria’s government. Although the existence of Lunar Guards designated as “Shades” was disclosed to the Royal Guard and to the treasury to account for their equipment, training, and salaries, literally no pony from the Day Court had ever met a Shade, including Celestia and those ministers who ostensibly oversaw both military groups. Thus it was rumored that they were a clan of assassins, magically empowered by Luna to hunt down those whose dreams indicated evil deeds or thoughts of treason. The reality is much less dramatic and sinister, as Luna kept these expert agents on constant training missions doing monster control and making contact with isolated batpony tribes in hostile regions that have continued to spurn contact with Equestria. These warriors are on call at all times to defend Equestria from the greatest evils imaginable, and can be recalled within a single night when they are needed to fight. Unfortunately for the dark heroes, Equestria’s greatest enemies have an infuriating tendency to arrive in the day time, and then get trounced by Celestia’s student before the Shade units can return to Canterlot and organize a counter-attack. So it is that some of Equestria’s strongest and most able warriors find themselves performing extremely underwhelming duties while their existence is basically vilified or ignored by the citizens they were sworn to protect.
Or so it was. The Orks provided an enemy too numerous for Twilight Sparkle to defeat on her own, and too powerful for the Royal Guards to challenge with any hope of success. Moreover, the Iron Warriors were impressed enough by their capabilities and magical gear to demand the Shades’ support on the field, and in service to the Company they’ve found challenges more than a match for their skills (much more, in some unfortunate cases). The Shades move with uncanny stealth and attack with terrifying fury, selecting key opponents and pouncing in a sudden burst of swirling darkness and debilitating shrieks. Melta charges allow these batpony commandos to annihilate enemy armor that isn’t adequately supported, while Resonance Casters allow them to render even hardened melee fighters clumsy and dazed as they swoop in for the kill. This has also improved their reputation with the populace; ironic, perhaps, since the 38th Company would gladly set them to the assassination work of which they were originally and unfairly accused.
Shade | M: 12" | WS: 3+ | BS: 3+ | S: 4 | T: 3 | A: 2 | W: 1 | Ld: 8 | Sv: 4+ |
Shadow Sergeant | M: 12" | WS: 3+ | BS: 3+ | S: 4 | T: 3 | A: 3 | W: 1 | Ld: 9 | Sv: 4+ |
A unit of Shades consists of 4 Shades and 1 Shadow Sergeant, all armed with carapace armor, splinter rifles, crescent blades, melta charges, and phantom cloaks.
Special Rules: Batpony, Hypersenses, Infiltrate, Shadowstrike
Shadowstrike: The unit is placed in reserve rather than deploying normally at the beginning of the battle. At the end of any friendly Movement Phase, the unit may be placed on the battlefield anywhere no less than 9" away from all enemy units. During the turn it arrives, the unit may re-roll all rolls to hit and any rolls to charge.
One model in the unit may be upgraded with a Resonance Caster for 20 points. This does not replace their ranged weapon.
Up to two models in the unit may trade their Crescent Blades for Power Lances or Power Swords for 15 points each, or trade their Splinter Rifles for Echo Cannons at 20 points each.
The unit may purchase up to 5 additional Shades at a cost of +3 power rating or 16 points each.
Faction Keywords: Chaos, Iron Warriors, Lunar Guard, 38th Company
Keywords: Character, Infantry, Fly, Pony, Shades
Moon Mage (80 points\power rating 6)
Like other elite branches of the Lunar Guard, little is known about the Moon Mages aside from an admission of their existence and a raft of grim rumors about their fearsome skills. The truth of the Moon Mages, however, is at least as nefarious as the worst rumors, if not a little embarrassing. Borne of an ancient unicorn cult that sided with Nightmare Moon after her rise to power, the dark and secretive order quickly went into hiding upon Nightmare Moon’s exile, and proceeded to pass down their secrets of ancient and deadly black magic from generation to generation, waiting for the day that their mistress would return and seize power once more. After a millennium of anxious and exhausting secrecy and fervent training, upon the night in which the moon loomed unmoving in the night sky, they immediately gathered and headed to Canterlot to reveal themselves as loyal servants of the Mistress of Night and assist her return to ascendency.
One can only imagine how embarrassed they were to meet Princess Luna, who had already been purified by then and had no desire to usurp power from her sister anymore. After some extremely awkward meetings regarding the distinct lack of Eternal Night they were looking at, it was quietly decided that they’d reform their evil charter and join Princess Luna’s legally remitted army, the Lunar Guard, in defense of Equestria and the restored diarchy.
Unlike much of the rest of the Lunar Guard, the Moon Magi have been quite enthusiastic about siding with the 38th Company. Putting aside that they finally get to play out the dark henchpony role that they’ve been planning for a literal millennium, working for a Chaos army has provided numerous opportunities to uncover dark lore and experiment with daemonic powers. Actually worshiping Chaos and receiving Marks representing their dedication is still strictly forbidden by their order (and by the constantly suspicious Lunar Guards escorting them), but their scholars and battle sorcerers find there’s plenty of leeway for them to tamper with powers that no mortal pony was ever meant to behold. And really, that’s all they ever wanted!
Moon Mage | M: 7" | WS: 4+ | BS: 3+ | S: 3 | T: 3 | A: 2 | W: 1 | Ld: 8 | Sv: - |
Lunar Guard | M: 12" | WS: 4+ | BS: 4+ | S: 3 | T: 3 | A: 1 | W: 1 | Ld: 7 | Sv: 5+ |
Lunar Sergeant | M: 12" | WS: 3+ | BS: 3+ | S: 3 | T: 3 | A: 2 | W: 1 | Ld: 8 | Sv: 5+ |
A Moon Mage unit consists of a single Moon Mage and 4 Lunar Guards. The Moon Mage is armed with a soul sphere and magic cloak. The Lunar Guards are armed with splinter rifles and flak armor.
Special Rules: Unicorn, Hypersenses, Touched by Darkness
The Lunar Guards attached to the Moon Mage may upgrade one of their number to a Lunar Sergeant for 10 points, and may otherwise access all the normal wargear options for a Lunar Guard unit. None of those upgrades may be granted to the Moon Mage.
A Moon Mage unit may include up to ten additional Lunar Guards at a cost of +3 power rating or 10 points each.
Soul Sphere: These dark and mysterious trinkets don’t necessarily take the form of spheres, as each daemonic artifact is personally crafted by its wielder in a unique form that’s linked to their magical aura. Still, mysterious floating orbs are the most generic and common form of these dangerous artifacts, and the most efficient receptacles of the power leeched from its victims. When used in combat, these powerful items allow the user to draw the animating energies out of a victim, leaving bodies chilled and unresponsive and even robotic enemies struggling to remain functional. Soul spheres are psionic wargear. When charged, they gain the following shooting profile:
Soul Sphere | Range: 24” | Type: Assault 1 | S: * | AP: * | *When rolling to wound, a roll of 2-4 inflicts a single Mortal Wound on the unit, while a roll of 5-6 inflicts d3 Mortal Wounds on the target unit
A Moon Mage may use 3 psychic powers in the Psychic Phase and can attempt to Deny the Witch one per Psychic Phase. They know the Levitation power and choose 2 other powers from the Shadow psychic power discipline.
Faction Keywords: Chaos, Iron Warriors, Lunar Guard, 38th Company
Keywords: Character, Infantry, Psyker (Moon Mage), Fly (Lunar Guards), Pony, Moon Mage, Lunar Guards
Lunar Guard Wargear
Phantom Cloak: This magic garment, when worn, actually fuses partially to the wearer’s skin and flows in an inexplicable, ghostly wind current like a floating, liquid shadow. It is difficult for anyone looking at the bearer to tell exactly where the shifting darkness ends and the warrior begins; the shifting protrusions could be nothing but inky, harmless void or thin concealment of a deadly blade. To kill something wearing a phantom cloak requires as much luck as skill as one hacks away at the writhing shadows, and deficiency in either means almost certain death. Phantom Cloaks grant an Invulnerable Save of 5+, and units targeting them suffer a -1 penalty to their hit rolls.
Echo Weapons: The 38th Company, a Chaos army that disdains any devotion to Slaanesh, nonetheless possesses a great deal of sonic weaponry looted from the Noise Marines they’ve encountered in the past and dispatched. Although the potency of the sonic weapons are well-established, non-Slaaneshi troopers find them almost impossible to aim; without the extreme sensitivity to changes in pitch and timbre, and given the unorthodox nature of the destructive energies, a soldier using a sonic weapon cannot determine where the destructive peak of the sonic pulse will hit, or how it will interact with surrounding terrain. Sophisticated targeting systems could ultimately make these weapons useable, but these arrays were complex and easily damaged, and ultimately not considered a worthwhile investment over the traditional boltgun.
Enter the batponies, who not only possessed more sensitive hearing, but explicitly developed it to track the movement and convergence of sound waves in a cluttered environment. The sonic weapons still had to be modified, as the intensity of the sonic pulses were almost deadly to an unmodified batpony as opposed to a corrupted Space Marine, but weakening the pulse also allowed longer, higher-frequency waves to make up each volley, and some could be fine-tuned to disrupt an opponent’s neural synapses at their convergence wavelength, disorienting them. The batponies find the pulses easy to aim, and the sonic feedback creates a clear image of the terrain surrounding the enemy under otherwise distracting or obscured conditions, actually allowing them greater accuracy than with more straightforward ballistic weapons. This new generation of sonic weapons were named Echo weapons, and quickly proved more successful in the field than the usual splinter rifles that the thestrals tended to prefer. Unlike Noise Marines, the Lunar Guardsmen don’t especially like using their sonic weapons, as they dislike noisy weapons in general and find the discordant and powerful sonic pulses headache-inducing and unpleasant in particular. They do, however, enjoy the sight of the enemy collapsing onto the ground with blood running from their ears and nose.
Echo Blaster | Range: 12" | Type: Assault d6 | S: 3 | AP: -2 | Hits automatically, Ignores cover, Disorient
Echo Cannon | Range: 24” | Type: Assault 5 | S: 3 | AP: -1 | Ignores Cover, Echo
Resonance Caster | Range: 18” | Type: Assault 2d3 | S: 3 | AP: -1 | Ignores Cover, Disorient, Echo
Disorient: Units that suffer unsaved wounds from weapons with this rule cannot fire Overwatch during the same turn.
Echo: Batponies find that these weapons, though REALLY loud and obnoxious, are a natural complement to their echolocation. The first whine of the weapon’s build-up helps guide the rest of the volley, telling the batpony exactly how to adjust their aim for maximum effect. Weapons with the Echo special rule add +1 to their rolls to hit when used, including Overwatch fire.
Shadow Discipline
Blackvolt
The Lunar mage’s answer to the magic missile, traditionally delivered with a tasteless pun; usually the word “shocked” is involved.
Blackvolt has a Warp Charge value of 7. It automatically hits the nearest enemy unit and inflicts 2d6 wounds with an AP value of -2 and damage 1.
Gloom
This enchantment causes despairing illusions and writhing shadows to surround the enemy target, confusing and terrifying them. Even those creatures who are nominally immune to the degrading psychology of war and death find it difficult to stand strong on the battlefield when they can no longer rely on their senses and equipment.
Gloom has a Warp Charge value of 5 and targets any enemy unit within 24". When successfully cast, the target unit suffers a -3 penalty to any Morale Tests it's called upon to make, in addition to other penalties. Furthermore, any unit that normally doesn't have to take a Morale Test due to special rules, leadership auras, other psychic powers, etc, must take the Morale Test and cannot automatically pass it using those rules. The Morale Test can still be passed automatically with the use of Stratagems.
Gift of Shadows
Magic energy seeps from the ground like tendrils of liquid darkness, surrounding and enervating the chosen soldiers rather than choking the life from them (for once). The magical darkness swirls about them, protecting the troopers while lending unnatural ferocity to their attacks. There is a SLIGHT concern about the lingering effects of being infused with shadow magic, but it’s generally agreed that it’s less concerning than the immediate effect of an enemy’s axe.
Gift of Shadows has a Warp Charge value of 6 and targets a friendly unit within 18". When successfully cast, the target unit may add +1 to all hit and wound rolls in the Fight Phase.
Starfall
The ultimate incarnation of dark magic, this feat of psychic might and concentration sends a rain of flaming comets crashing into the ranks of the enemies. There are few examples of supernatural destruction more potent that this power, and there is a strong argument among the Equestrian Magi councils that its usage should be completely and utterly forbidden for any besides Princess Luna herself. The Moon Magi thus take great delight in flaunting this spell on the battlefield. At least, when they can manage to cast it successfully…
Starfall has a Warp Charge value of 9. When successfully cast, immediately make three shooting attacks with the following shooting profile, obeying all the usual rules for ranged weapons. The attack may be used against the same target three times, once against three targets, or somewhere in-between, but they must be allocated before making hit rolls.
| Range: 30" | Type: Heavy 1d6 | S: 8 | AP: -2 | D: 3 | This attack does not require line of sight
This was really cool!
I really appreciate the attention to detail and background information, this really makes me want to reread your stories!
Waiting for someone to upload a video of a game being played with all of these unique characters and rules XD
This was surprisingly fun reading. It's actually been a while since I'd read any of your stories. But is inspiring me to get back into them.
Ponies are terrifying Psykers, that's for sure
Honestly, one day I'm tempted to get a 3D printer and dish out a proper Iron Hearts army. I have at least two friends that would be willing to play with me using those rules, and that'd be hilarious and epic in equal measure
Things like Starfall also have a minimum range, to avoid anihilating your own forces? At 30 inch range thats 2 mages being able to hit annywhere on a 5*10 foot table if spaced correctly in the centre?
5100166
8th Edition no longer has template scatter (or templates, for that matter), so a minimum range isn't necessary.
I suppose narrative-wise it would make sense, but you can imagine the user modifying the spell to suit the situation, like shooting the comets at a sharp angle or even having them fire laterally out of a portal at ground level.
5100396
Pity you cant have them fire vertically upwards out of a portal below ground level.
Oh, so no Lunar Chaos ponies?