The new edition of Warhammer: The Horus Heresy brings with it a number of changes to the rules: there are additions, removals and rethinks, but the important thing to know is that it’s still the game you’ve all been playing for more than a decade now.*
Today we’re taking our first look at one of the big rules evolutions: Advanced Characteristics.
Advanced characteristics
Every unit in Warhammer: The Horus Heresy now has an expanded statline which includes three new characteristics: Cool, Willpower and Intelligence, or CL, WP and IN. Alongside Leadership (LD), these four stats are known as Advanced Characteristics, and they deal with mental aptitude – whether that’s bravery or sensitivity to the Empyrean.
This is not the first time these four stats have appeared together in a Warhammer game. Those especially long in the fang may remember that they featured in Rogue Trader, the very first edition of Warhammer 40,000.
These stats fell out of use in the next edition, but they were revisited when Necromunda was revamped in 2017.
While it’s always nice to revisit the classics, nostalgia is not the driving factor for their return in the Age of Darkness. It’s all about bringing more nuance and narrative into the game.
Where previously Leadership represented every facet of a character's mental fortitude, you can have real specialists bringing their own strengths and weaknesses to an army. Distinguishing between these traits allows much more differentiation between units, and in a setting where mythic deeds and storied champions are at the heart of everything, that’s crucial.
How do Advanced Characteristics work in game?
LD, IN, CL and WP are all used in Characteristic Checks. When called upon to make a check, players roll two dice aiming for equal or under their unit’s characteristic – either to complete an action or avoid a penalty – which is exactly how LD works at the moment.
Each Advanced Characteristic interacts with a different part of the game. Leadership shows how receptive your troops are to following orders, and is used to gauge panic and rally fleeing units. Cool shows how calm your troops are under pressure and incoming fire, and it is used to avoid debuffs – such as penalties from suppressive fire.
Willpower is a more metaphysical stat, used primarily for manifesting – or resisting – psychic powers. Higher Willpower makes powers more likely to work, and you’ll take less damage from the Perils of the Warp.
Intelligence is used when interacting with technology. This could mean a Techmarine trying to fix a vehicle, or a specialist using an augur to track enemy units.
Tests are taken against the lowest characteristic in a unit, with two key exceptions. Models that have the Sergeant rule can always test on behalf of their unit, while Commanders who join units may also lend their stats to any check – an important role for middleweight characters.
As you can see, a basic Space Marine has a respectable Advanced Characteristic mix, passing most of the tests, most of the time (roll seven or less on two dice). A Sergeant bolsters their Leadership to a healthy 8.
A Centurion, on the other hand, is better at passing all these tests across the board, as you would expect from an exemplar of his Legion.
Other specialists might have a less even spread of stats: The Master of Signals has no better Willpower or Cool than a basic Legionary, for instance, but an impressive Intelligence of 10 demonstrates his mastery of logistics.
Then there are Primarchs, who score very high across all four Advanced Characteristics.
Advanced Characteristics don't stop at 10. Most Primarchs have 12 LD and 10 CL, WP and IN. Unless these are some modifiers in play, they will always pass Panic and Rally checks, and can reliably pass most others.
Not all Primarchs are equal. Magnus has 11 WP, while Horus Ascended has a whopping 14 LD – even with the most crippling modifiers, he will never run from the fight.
Beyond Space Marines, Advanced Characteristics become less well rounded. A Tech-Thrall has a feeble mind, but they will always get on with the job of walking mindlessly into the most brutal warzone, not caring at all when their fellow is taken out by precision sniper fire.
Charonite Ogryns have the lowest intelligence in the game, so let’s hope your battleplan does not require them to operate any complex mechanisms or tie a shoelace. But in their drug-fuelled fury, they are surprisingly dependable – good at taking (simple) orders and very unlikely to bolt at the first sign of trouble.
This is just our first look at new rules; we’ll be back later this week to discuss the new Tactical Statuses and Weapon Stats.
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* And it’s really still true to its 1998 roots…
**In an earlier version of this article, we failed our own IN check and said that the Centurion had an Initiative of 1. It's actually 5.
