Horus Heresy 2nd Edition starter set review: "Bigger and messier than 40K, but it's also more immersive"

Yes, I know what you're probably thinking: bit late, fellas? And you're right. The Horus Heresy: Age of Darkness box (AKA Horus Heresy 2nd Edition starter set) has been in stores for almost three years now. Still, as the starting point for one of Games Workshop's core systems, it's well-worth covering. Plus, if rumors are to be believed, 2025 may turn out to be a pretty big year for the setting...

Let's start at the very beginning, though, by explaining what the Horus Heresy even is. Put simply, it's a tabletop war game very like Warhammer 40,000... only set 10,000 years earlier (hence many fans nicknaming it 30K) and focusing on the decade-long civil war between the loyalist forces of the Emperor of Mankind and Horus Lupercal's Chaos-tainted traitors.

The Heresy game began in 2012 as a Forge World supplement for Warhammer 40,000, then still in its 6th edition. Several more of these tomes were published, with a standalone rulebook following in 2017 which finally formalised the Horus Heresy as its own standalone game. The second edition was launched in 2022 with The Age of Darkness box, which is what we're reviewing here today.

Horus Heresy - Age of Darkness features & design

• Everything you need to get started in the Horus Heresy game
• A staggering number of miniatures in the box, the core of a huge army
• A really handsome 336-page rule book

The first thing that you'll notice about the Age of Darkness box is its size: this thing is properly enormous. There's a good reason for that. Inside the box you get a huge amount of miniatures: 40 Mark 6 Space Marines, 10 Cataphractii Terminators, a Spartan battle tank, a Contemptor Dreadnought, and two Legion Praetors (one for the Sons of Horus and one for the Imperial Fists, though both are lacking Legion details so could be painted for any faction you like).

The box is pitched as containing two small armies but, given they're all Space Marine models, there's absolutely nothing to stop you from using them all as the same army – indeed, that's exactly what most players do.

As well as the miniatures, the set contains the complete 336-page Age of Darkness hardback rulebook. There's no getting away from just how long this is, but the good news is that the rules themselves "only" take up about a third of the book with the rest made up of the rich lore and background material, beautiful art and hobby pages, and missions. Finally, there's also a sheet of Sons of Horus and Imperial Fists transfers, plastic blast templates, and dice.

Now, we all know that Warhammer is not a cheap hobby, but this is undeniably good value. It costs $315/£195 to buy Age of Darkness directly from Games Workshop. Shop around a bit, however, and you'll probably be able to shave around 20-25% off that – a fantastic deal given the amount of plastic you're getting here, plus the rule book.

All that said, if you're planning on getting seriously into Heresy then be prepared to spend a lot more to keep up with other players. Depending on which Space Marine Legion you choose you'll need to pick up one of the two Space Marine army books (Liber Astartes for the Loyalists, and Liber Hereticus for the Chaos lads). And while 50 foot soldiers, a tank, and Dread is certainly a lot, you're probably going to want to also add special and heavy weapons squads, a few more tanks, and another Dreadnought or two (which perform fantastically in this game) – all sold separately, of course.

Gameplay

• Players alternate turns to move, shoot, and engage in close combat
• Vehicles and massed ranks of troops play a larger role than in 40K
• Rules are more detailed and granular

Before we get into the rules differences to 40K, there are a few more basics you should know about the Heresy game.

Firstly, there are far fewer factions to choose from: the nature of the setting means that most armies you'll encounter are made up solely of Space Marines, though the Solar Auxilia (the 30K equivalent of the Astra Militarum) and the Mechanicum are also playable. Xenos factions do exist in this era, but unless you're using fan-made rules, they aren't currently playable in the game.

The second thing to point out is that this is less immediately accessible than 40K. Around about Warhammer 40,000's 8th edition (AKA the first one with Primaris Marines), that game became simpler and more streamlined than it was previously. That's no bad thing – it's made it a much more welcoming game for new players – but some veterans prefer the rules to be a bit more detailed and granular, which is where The Horus Heresy comes in. Basically, the Heresy game is a throwback to the 6th and 7th edition 40K ruleset, with a few tweaks.

It also has a different vibe, closer to a historical war game, with many players deeply invested in the lore of the setting (as told in the many Black Library novels set in the time period) and playing out canonical grudge matches between Legions – there's no love lost between the Thousand Sons and the Space Wolves, for instance. Ditto the Iron Warriors and the Imperial Fists.

It might be helpful to get into a few of the rules differences here. There are probably too many to list, but here are the biggies…

• Army building: Force Organisation, which determines which units you take, works a little differently to 40K. You have to be led by an HQ unit and take two Troops choices before adding more Troops, Elites, Fast Attack, Heavy Support, and so on. With your army selected you now need to choose some Rites of War. These help differentiate armies – they're effectively additional rules that represent the pros and cons of playing with, say, Ultramarines or Blood Angels or Sons of Horus or my own good sneaky boys the Alpha Legion.
• Reactions: These special actions can be made by units in your opponent's turn as – you guessed it – a reaction to things that they do. You can use one reaction in each phase of your enemy's turn, up to a limit of three in total. There are two Movement Phase Reactions (Advance and Withdraw), two Shooting Phase Reactions (Return Fire and Evade), and two Assault Phase Reactions (Overwatch and Hold The Line). Learning how and when to deploy each of these is essential to the game.
• Squad formation: Infantry in Heresy typically all carry the same weapons (Bolters) and can be in units of up to 20 men. If you want special or heavy weapons then you have to take dedicated squads of, say, five Lascannons or flamers or whatever – which are not included here. This brings us to another point: Heresy is a game with a high body count. You get a lot of models here because you need a lot of models.
• Vehicles: Tanks and transports have more in-depth rules here than in 40K. The correct positioning of a Spartan, for instance, is crucial here – you have to really think about how your troops deploy, and about which ways sponson weaponry is pointed. Likewise, the way you destroy enemy vehicles is different. In 40K a tank is effectively a big single unit with wounds that can be depleted. In Heresy there's a wide array of different ways to damage a vehicle, from minor inconveniences to outright destruction.
• Scatter dice: Related to the above, the return of this humble but much beloved cube is used to add a bit of random chance to how certain weapons work.

Should you buy Warhammer: The Horus Heresy – Age of Darkness

If you want a more in-depth take on Warhammer 40,000 in a richly-detailed setting, or if you just really love Space Marines, then yes, The Horus Heresy is for you. It's bigger and messier than 40K, but it's also more immersive. If, however, this is your first Games Workshop purchase then you may want to consider trying out some of the more streamlined systems first, like Kill Team or Warhammer 40,000 itself. It's not that the Heresy rules are particularly hard to get to grips with, there's just more of them.

It's also a game that requires a certain amount of "buy in" before you can really get going – as we mentioned above you'll need to buy at least one more book and several to many more units depending on how big you want to go. Still, if you're ready and eager for a Warhammer game that's aimed directly at hardcore hobbyists, and which has the potential to take over your entire life, then this is the one for you. This is Space Marine warfare on a grand scale.

There's one last thing we should mention, though take this with a pinch of salt. There's some fairly credible gossip that The Horus Heresy might be getting a new – third – edition sometime later this year, with a new starter set to go with it.

At the time of writing we genuinely have no idea if this is true or not or when this hypothetical set could be released – though Games Workshop usually has a big summer release. With that in mind, you need to consider if you will be more ticked off if you A) buy the Age of Darkness set only for a new one to be released later this year, or B) don't buy it and miss out on getting all these lovely models for a bargain price when the set is officially discontinued. And only you can make that decision my friend.

Buy it if...

Don't buy it if...

How we tested Warhammer: The Horus Heresy - Age of Darkness

Our reviewer has played this game multiple times over a long period. They have built a medium-sized Alpha Legion army using the models in this box, plus various additional units sold separately.

For more details on our process, check our guide to how we test board games, or the general GamesRadar+ reviews policy page.

For more recommendations, check out these essential board games for adults or the best 2-player board games.