Horus Heresy: Zone Mortalis Gets Full Update – Close Combat Just Got More Intense
Breach the depths of close-quarters fighting in the upcoming Tactical Journal: Zone Mortalis.
In a summer of exciting Warhammer releases, the upcoming Journal Tactica: Zone Mortalis might just be the stuff I’m most eager for. The Horus Heresy is my favorite flavor of Warhammer, and Zone Mortalis has been one of my favorite formats in which to explore the 31st millennium. The current edition of the game is my favorite by far, but the free PDF of Zone Mortalis rules released last summer was pretty barebones. This full update for the edition looks like a really promising evolution of the previous edition’s full ZM rules, first released in The Siege of Cthonia.
Updated Core Zone Mortalis Rules
Close quarters combat and infantry tactics have always been the heart of Zone Mortalis games. Meant to model tunnel-fighting, void-ship breaching assaults, and other battlefields too confined for vehicles and walks, the humble Space Marine reigns in these battles.
All the basics are here, as expected. We’ll be getting rules for tight corridor movement, opening, closing (and perhaps locking) doors, and stairways linking levels of the battlefield together. In previous editions Zone Mortalis simply forbade access to whole categories of models like tanks, but now, be getting a modifiable “Confined Space (X)” rule that can be applied to specific sectors of the battlefield. This was introduced in the PDF last year, but the studio now suggests that it’s intended to be manipulated to allow larger units like tanks or even knights to access some parts of the battlefield. This is extremely cool stuff letting you stage intense infantry breaching actions while just outside a larger battle rages.
Reserves Stratagems and new Advanced Reactions
The previous incarnation of Zone Mortalis utilized a secondary list building system allowing players to place units in reserve and to bring them onto the battlefield at differing costs. Based upon the strength of a unit (Tactical Squads were cheap, Terminator Squads not so cheap) you could then spend more of your limited number of Reserves points to deploy them on the sides of the table, or even your opponent’s deployment zone. This led to some really tense tactical decisions for both players and I’m excited to see that we’re getting those kind of mechanics again.
Now, you’ll use new Reserves Stratagems to choose how your units deploy and what they can do when they first arrive. A few examples have been listed along with a little about how they work.
- Reinforcements
- Forced March
- Encirclement
- Flanking Force
- Teleport Strike
Generally, the more aggressive the deployment position that is allowed by a Reserves Stratagem, the higher the Target Number is to achieve, but some Units will innately get a bonus for using a certain one – for example, a Unit with the Outflank Special Rule will get a bonus when they use Flanking Force, but models with the Heavy Sub-Type will suffer a penalty.
As well, a pair of new Advanced Reactions are being added to the game, available to all armies in Zone Mortalis Games. Take Cover can be made in response to a shooting attack while Bypass Cogitator will give you the opportunity to take control of the sub-systems, perhaps closing or opening doors and otherwise causing havoc for your opponent.
New Missions
Games of Zone Mortalis have very different requirements than a standard game of Horus Heresy. Accordingly, we’re getting a new set of ZM specific missions. Since these missions play faster and tend to be even bloodier than standard games, the missions last up to 6 turns instead of the standard 4 and have a points limit per-side of 1,500.
It seems that all of these new missions will have Blood for Blood as their primary objective (slaughter the hell out of your opponent’s army) but with differing secondary objectives. Sector Domination is the example given and grants victory points for controlling specific sectors of the battlefield over the course of your game.
New Units
The Horus Heresy has always been powered by kit-bashing and the current edition is no better. But what is better, is that the Journal Tacticas (Tacticae?) have introduced a number of new units intended to be kitbashed. While the studio often suggests specific models as a basis for these kitbashes it’s ultimately up to you and I love the creative encouragement here.
It sounds like we’ll be getting a number of new Army list profiles for ZM focused units like Mechanicum Castellax armed with heavy flamers in their Infernus Maniple configuration. The Solar Auxilia are receiving new options for breaching shotguns and shields used by Veletaris Raider Sections and tech-support from Auxilia Combat Technicians. The Astartes aren’t left out of course, and they’ll be getting rules for Veteran Despoiler and Breacher Squads.
Finally, we’ll also be recieving environmental rules to layer atop your games of Zone Mortalis. Old favorites like Abyssal Darkness are returning alongside new rules for interacting with Cogitator Terminals. I’m maybe the most excited about the promise of the Unknown Enemies rule in which auspex signals of troop strength are only revealed to your opponent when they come into close contact.
This is all sounding really good to me. Zone Mortalis is one of the jewels in the crown of the Horus Heresy and I cannot wait to get stuck in again soon.
We’re on a Mass Elevator to hell, going down!
