Helycon

They already did this with a couple of the Forge World dreadnought models for the Custodes. The Telemon is the best example of this. They even specified the size before, but that no longer seems to be on the page.

You're mistaken the army rule (which is the Martial Ka'tah) and the detachment rule. The latter is currently less useful due to the devastating wounds change, whereas the army rule hasn't changed. I realise it feels pedantic, but it also means that a codex will give room for different detachment rules to shine. Doesn't mean Shield Host might not remain the same. That said, getting a lot of points increases gives more room for other units to perhaps shine. Bertus Praetors got cheaper and add a lot of mobility, as do Venatarii. I do hope they take a good look at some of the dreads and the Aquilon terminators. I love those models and they feel severely lacking at the moment. Same for the Sagitarum and Pyrithite and Adrasite spears. Those guys really don't need to be more expensive then regular guards.

With the state of the game and ongoing changes they have been making, I will not be buying any more physical copies of (rule)books. I'm sad about the way the balance launched for many armies. I play very casually and have no interest in competitive play whatsoever. I do not enjoy stomping or being stomped on when I have my beer and pretzel game. Memorable games are the ones that are close, back-and-forth, where tactical decisions and maybe that last epic dice throw decides the game. I do applaud the changes GW is making to even things out. It also makes sure I'm not buying the codices, as I don't need them to look up rules that might not be correct anyway.

I personally am OK with the changes to towering, as it does require some more mobility in list building. The small points increase on Armigers is fine too and hardly noticeable in an army consisting of units that cost 400 points each. The bondsman abilities less so. It absolutely neuters it in both power and to me, even worse, flavour. It feels like another experienced Knight teaching his squire how to do a certain action, which is completely missing now. The big Knights themselves are now less powerful, which might be needed due to them being difficult to kill, so I'm sort of OK with that, but wished they had found a more elegant solution here. The stratagems are also a cut too far. Increasing the costs would have made more sense, so you'd have to be a bit more picky if you wanted to use it in favour of perhaps using tank shock on two Knights (if you had a Lancer). I reckon Knights will still be at around 50% though, since they're just tough cookies. I'm just a bit sad about the flavour fail that now is the Bondsman abilities.

If he's bringing mainly wardogs, you might be OK, as it's the toughness of the knights that pushes them over the top for most armies. It's not going to change much for Custodes, as you'll wound on 5's with your melee most of the time against both Wardogs and big Knights. They are a lot more mobile though, so going for objectives is going to be a bit more challenging. That said, Knights are tough to balance due to their toughness and wounds. They are either too hard to kill, or die too easily. His edition, they fall into the former, which eaves you to try and engage them on your terms and having to play the strategy game. Get into melee as soon as you can (Blade Champions are good anyway) and use your stances to your advantage. I reckon Custodes have the best chance die to their survivability and relatively high strength, so now em down

Thanks for that! As I don't play heresy, I shall revert to your knowledge. Funnily enough, Arbitor Ian just did a video regarding the way Knights can be used in Heresy! Anyway, I'm looking forward to receiving mine hopefully tomorrow. I have some free hours next week due to overtime in the last couple of weeks, so I can muck about building it!

The Atrapos only has the frame in common as all the armor plates are different. And for Heresy, it has the smallest base as Mechanicum only if I'm not mistaken. I'm sure they'll come around to it eventually, but I'm doubtful it's high on the list.

My local hobby store still has them available to order, which is most intriguing. I get it's an expensive model, but I expected it to sell out in a day. I ordered mine straight away, as I buffered up since we knew it was coming . I'm very happy I don't need to buy the resin one. I'm not opposed to resin, but plastic is just that much easier! Hopefully they'll do a similar trick later on with the other knights, but perhaps the torso is too different with the ammo feeds. Still, also buffering up for those, especially the Castigator! This will be a stand-out piece for any Imperial Knight army, as tall and imposing as it is and the pose-ability looks great too. I think there were some tips to building it if you want the full range of motion in one of the WarCom articles, for those that may have missed it, although I doubt people hyped for the model did

https://www.warhammer-community.com/2023/06/01/legions-and-legends-warhammer-the-horus-heresy-models-in-games-of-warhammer-40000/ If you check the 'Exceptions to the Test of Time' it explicitly tells you both Knights and Custodes will receive support for rules. Make of that what you will

I was building some Allarus and Wardens today. Something to take into account (which I wasn't 100% sure about) is that the plume is on top of the armor's carapace and not on the head itself. If that's for you to make it stand out, then it'll work!

Apologies! Must have remembered that wrong. I knew it had to do with the fact they came in boxes of 7, didn't know it could be 5 as well.

Yes. This is especially annoying in more elite armies. The only real option you tend to have, is enhancements.

Because that's basically how power level worked in 9th

GW have outrightly stated you will be able to take units in sizes as they come out of the box, with some leeway if the box offers to make you a single model into a leader/character. Tacticals come in boxes of 10, no models make something different, so that's the unit size. It's that ham-fisted. It was also one of the myriad reasons why Death Guard were annoyed by the squad size of Plague Marines, as they come in boxes of 7, but had a squad size of 10 as a minimum. Fixed now, but another miss for 10th (lack of) proofreading.

@Toxichobbit appreciate the write up! I do hope the CU, if that starts to form, for Warhammer stays a bit in its lane. One of the things that I imagine a lot of people also enjoy about the hobby is creating their own stories. Having everything fleshed out in series and films could limit creativity