As we look to the new edition of Warhammer: The Horus Heresy, the ways you fight your battles — and claim victory — have evolved while staying true to the narrative spirit of the Age of Darkness. This edition refreshes how missions are chosen, how the game flows, and how your army earns every hard-fought Victory Point on the battlefield.
Streamlined Battle Structure
In the new edition, missions are fought over four Battle Turns, a tighter timeframe than the previous five or six. This shift makes each turn more decisive and demands sharper tactical choices from the start.
Another key change: your mission is now determined earlier in the pre-game process — right after setting your Points Limit — so players can adapt their force and deployment to match the specific objectives they’ll face.
Primary Objectives & Capturing Ground
Battles are still won by accumulating Victory Points (VP), earned mainly by seizing and holding objectives, eliminating key targets, and achieving mission-specific goals.
The Primary Mission Objective remains the main route to victory in the Core Rulebook’s three missions. Players must capture Objective Markers scattered across the battlefield, each worth between one and three VP. At the end of each turn, you score VP for every objective your units control during the Victory Sub-Phase.
Tactical Strength & the Power of Line Units
To control an objective, units need at least one model within 3" of it. If both sides contest an objective, you compare their combined Tactical Strength — usually the number of models within range.
Some core Troops units, like Tactical Squads and Lasrifle Sections, benefit from the Line (X) special rule. This rule boosts their Tactical Strength, letting them hold objectives against larger enemy formations, and even scores extra VP when they control markers. For example, a Tactical Squad with Line (2) can generate three VP from an objective normally worth just one — making Line units essential for holding territory.
Secondary Objectives for Additional VP
In addition to Primary Objectives, each mission includes Secondary Objectives that reward players for specific achievements. The Core Rulebook features four:
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Last Man Standing: Have more non-Routing units than your opponent at game’s end.
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Slay the Warlord: Destroy enemy High Command units.
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Giant Killer: Eliminate enemy Lords of War or Primarchs.
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First Strike: Wipe out a unit in your first player turn.
Each mission awards different VP for these goals. For instance, Heart of Battle provides a balanced three VP for each, while Crucible of War grants four VP for First Strike and two for the others.
New Scoring Rules: Vanguard & Expendable
The new edition also introduces two Special Rules that add fresh layers to scoring:
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Vanguard (X): Common on Assault and Terminator Squads, this grants extra VP when your unit destroys or routs an enemy controlling or contesting an objective — but limits how many VP the unit can score from holding objectives itself. This makes Vanguard units ideal for counterattacks and clearing objectives.
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Expendable (X): This reduces the VP a unit awards when destroyed, to a minimum of one. For example, a Tarantula Battery with Expendable (3) will only give up one VP if wiped out in the first turn, even if the First Strike Secondary Objective could award four VP otherwise.
A New Way to Claim Victory
With all these changes, the new edition of The Horus Heresy encourages more decisive games, focused army builds, and dynamic objectives. Line Troops gain new importance, counter-assault units gain new roles, and every duel, bombardment, and objective push has real stakes for the battle’s outcome.
Prepare your Legiones Astartes — Loyalist or Traitor — and plan carefully: in the Age of Darkness, every point counts.
