Legions Imperialis – Liber Strategia

23Aug/250

Legions Imperialis – Liber Strategia

The new releases for Legions Imperialis not only cover plastic miniatures, but also a new supplement: the Liber Strategia.

This 240-page book brings together all the army lists previous released in the core rulebook and three campaign supplements into a single hard cover and adds further Iconic Formations (Formations of Legend) along with the new entries in the army list from this release. It therefore covers all current formations and units for the Legiones Astartes, Solar Auxilia, Mechanicum Taghmata, Dark Mechanicum, Collegia Titanica and Knight Households the army lists.

Pre-order opens today on August 23rd, and the book will be available in store on September 6th. The RRP is 40 GBP / 51,25 EUR.

This is the fourth supplement for Legions Imperialis, after The Great Slaughter, The Devastation of Tallarn and The Rise of the Mechanicum. Unfortunately, unlike the Campaign Compendium for Adeptus Titanicus the Liber Strategia only covers the army lists and none of the campaign, lore or other additional content. Not only does it sum up the army lists from the core rules and the three supplement, it also the Bonded Cybernetica Support Formations that were released by Games Workshop as a free PDF.

A significant improvement is the split unit profiles, which address the issue of visibility with variants and subclasses of different units being included within the main unit entry in the core rulebook, making them difficult to find. Examples include the Mechanicum Knights and certain tanks. Beyond that, some of the profiles have been updated, for example adjusted point costs, and characteristic profiles or their weapons, for example Apothecari for Legiones Astartes or new rules for plasma weapons, as well as included the changes from erratas. A lot of balancing changes in here and too many to list them here in detail.

Most of the book is devoted to the Legiones Astartes, beginning with the formations, including the Iconic Formations, which is the new name for the Formations of Legends that were introduced in the older supplements. There are generic formations available to all Astartes legions and others limited to certain army lists.

Formations Legiones Astartes

Legion Demi-Company (Core Rules)
Legion Garrison Force (Core Rules)
Legion Armoured Company (Core Rules)
Legion Aerial Assault (Core Rules)
Legion Sky-Hunter Phalanx (The Great Slaughter)
Legion Drop Pod Assault (The Great Slaughter)
Legion Heavy Assault Spearhead (The Devastation of Tallarn)
Legion Subterranean Assault (The Devastation of Tallarn)

Iconic Formations / Formations of Legend

Iron Hands Seeker-Killer Clave Ultor (The Devastation of Tallarn)
Iron Warriors Proioxis Macro-Assault Wing (The Devastation of Tallarn)
Alpha Legion Harrow Group Arcadus (The Devastation of Tallarn)
Legion Tactical Strike Force (**NEW** / Liber Strategia)
Legion Speartip Assault (**NEW** / Liber Strategia)
Legion Stonebreaker Siege Force (**NEW** / Liber Strategia)
Death Guard Reaping Host (**NEW** / Liber Strategia)
White Scars Chogorian Warband (**NEW** / Liber Strategia)

Support Formations

Brethren of Iron (Bonded Cybernetica Support Formations)

The Legiones Astartes are the only army list with new entries, to cover the releases of the Vindicator, Whirlwind, Typhon, Cerberus and Mastodon plastic kits. We have added the information on which rule set each unit was introduced to the main game.

Legion Command (Core Rules)
Legion Predator Commander (The Devastation of Tallarn)
Legion Sicaran Commander (The Devastation of Tallarn)
Legion Kratos Commander (The Devastation of Tallarn)

Core

Legion Tactical Detachments (Core Rules)

Support

Legion Plasma Gun Support Detachment (Core Rules)
Legion Missile Launcher Support Detachments (Core Rules)
Legion Assault Detachments (Core Rules)
Legion Terminator Detachments (Core Rules)
Legion Rapier Battery (Core Rules)
Legion Leviathan Siege Dreadnought Detachment (Core Rules)
Legion Contemptor Dreadnought Talon (Core Rules)
Legion Deathstorm Drop Pod Battery (The Great Slaughter)
Legion Palisade Drop Pod (The Great Slaughter)

Vanguard

Legion Outrider Squadron (The Great Slaughter)
Legion Scimitar Jetbike Squadron (The Great Slaughter)
Legion Land Speeder Squadron (The Great Slaughter)
Legion Javelin Squadron (The Great Slaughter)

Bastion

Legion Tarantula Battery (Core Rules)
Legion Deredeo Dreadnought Detachment (Core Rules)

Light Armour

Legion Sabre Squadron (The Devastation of Tallarn)

Battle Tank Detachments

Legion Sicaran Squadron (Core Rules)
Legion Sicaran Omega Squadron (Core Rules)
Legion Sicaran Punisher Squadron (The Devastation of Tallarn)
Legion Sicaran Arcus Squadron (The Devastation of Tallarn)
Legion Predator Squadron (Core Rules)
Legion Vindicator Squadron (**NEW** / Liber Strategia)

Heavy Armour Detachments

Legion Kratos Squadron (Core Rules)
Legion Cerberus Squadron (**NEW** / Liber Strategia)
Legion Typhon Squadron (**NEW** / Liber Strategia)
Legion Mastodon Squadron (**NEW** / Liber Strategia)

Artillery Detachments

Legion Scorpius Battery (**NEW** / Liber Strategia)
Legion Whirlwind Battery (**NEW** / Liber Strategia)

Transport Detachments

Legion Rhino Detachment (Core Rules)
Legion Spartan Detachment (The Great Slaughter)
Legion Land Raider Detachment (The Great Slaughter)
Legion Termite Detachment (The Devastation of Tallarn)
Legion Drop Pod Detachment (The Great Slaughter)
Legion Dreadnought Drop Pod Detachment (The Great Slaughter)

Air Support Detachments

Legion Xiphon Interceptor Interceptor Squadron (Core Rules)
Legion Storm Eagle Squadron (Core Rules)
Legion Fire Raptor Squadron (Core Rules)
Legion Thunderhawk Gunship (Core Rules)

Following the unit entries, the book covers the Legion-specific rules for each of the eighteen different Astartes Legions, as seen in the Core Rulebook. These are unchanged with the exception of the Alpha Legion whose Mutable Tactica now do not include vehicles, only Infantry, Cavalry and Walkers.

While this is already an extensive Space Marine army list, there are still a few unit options that we know from the Horus Heresy are missing. Many of the infantry options are not covered in depth, as we are used to at a larger scale. There are no Veterans, Destroyers or Breachers, nor some of the options we had in older Epic games, such as Apothecary or Techmarine. Games Workshop has closed many gaps in the vehicle department with the recent release, but a few units are still missing, including the Sicaran Venator, Land Raider Proteus Carrier, Vindicator Laser Destroyer, Arquitor, Dreadclaw/Assault Claw, and all the super heavies: Glaive/Fellblade and Falchion. There is also a final air support slot for the Sokar Pattern Stormbird gunship.

While the transhuman Astartes were at the heart of the conflict, billions of ordinary humans fought on both sides of the Horus Heresy. The Solar Auxilia are among the most veteran of these forces and are part of the Legions Imperialis range, which represents regular human soldiers. While most of their options are covered in the rulebook and the first two supplements, they received new Iconic Formations in the Liber Strategia.

Solar Auxilia Army List

Formations

Solar Auxuilia Sub-Cohort (Core Rules)
Solar Auxilia Armoured Company (Core Rules)
Solar Auxilia Pioneer Company (Core Rules)
Solar Auxilia Artillery Company (The Great Slaughter)
Solar Auxilia Mechanised Infantry Sub-Cohort (The Great Slaughter)
Solar Auxilia Super-Heavy Company (The Great Slaughter)
Solar Auxilia Titan Hunter Company (The Devastation of Tallarn)
Solar Auxilia Leman Russ Spearhead (The Devastation of Tallarn)

Iconic Formations / Formations of Legend

Tallarn Reborn Carmine Ambush Tercio (The Devastation of Tallarn)
Galibed Oathsworn Thyreos Siege Breaker Company (The Devastation of Tallarn)
Solar Pattern Sub-Cohort (**NEW** / Liber Strategia)
Ultima Pattern Sub-Cohort (**NEW** / Liber Strategia)
Mechanised Pattern Sub-Cohort (**NEW** / Liber Strategia)
Cthonian Headhunters Sub-Cohort (**NEW** / Liber Strategia)
Theta-Garmon Deathless Sub-Cohort (**NEW** / Liber Strategia)

Support Formations

Iron Cohort (Bonded Cybernetica Support Formations)

The same applies to unit choices. The army list was almost complete with the core rules, with some gaps filled in by The Great Slaughter and Devastation of Tallarn. These additions mostly consisted of heavy and super-heavy tank choices.

Legate Commander Detachment (Core Rules)
Auxilia Tactical Command Detachment (Core Rules)

Core

Auxilia Lasrifle Tercio (Core Rules)

Support

Auxilia Ogryn Charonite Section (Core Rules)
Auxilia Veletaris Storm Section (Core Rules)
Auxilia Cyclops Battery (The Great Slaughter)

Vanguard

Auxilia Aethon Heavy Sentinel Patrol (Core Rules)

Bastion

Auxilia Rapier Battery (Core Rules)
Auxilia Tarantula Battery (Core Rules)

Battle Tank Detachments

Leman Russ Strike Squadron (Core Rules)
Leman Russ Vanquisher Squadron (Core Rules)
Leman Russ Executioner Squadron (The Devastation of Tallarn)
Leman Russ Demolisher Squadron (The Devastation of Tallarn)
Leman Russ Annihilator Squadron (The Devastation of Tallarn)
Leman Russ Exterminator Squadron (The Devastation of Tallarn)
Malcador Tank Squadron (Core Rules)
Malcador Vanquisher Squadron (Core Rules)
Malcador Annihilator Squadron (Core Rules)
Auxilia Malcador Infernus Squadron (The Great Slaughter)
Auxilia Valdor Squadron (The Great Slaughter)

Heavy Armour Detachments

Auxilia Baneblade Squadron (Core Rules)
Auxilia Hellhammer Squadron (Core Rules)
Auxilia Stormhammer Squadron (The Great Slaughter)
Auxilia Shadowsword Squadron (The Devastation of Tallarn)
Auxilia Stormsword Squadron (The Devastation of Tallarn)
Auxilia Stormblade Squadron (The Devastation of Tallarn)

Artillery Detachments

Auxilia Medusa Battery (The Great Slaughter)
Auxilia Basilisk Battery (The Great Slaughter)

Transport Detachments

Auxilia Dracosan Detachments (The Great Slaughter)
Auxilia Arvus Lighter (Core Rules)

Air Support Detachments

Auxilia Thunderbolt Squadron (Core Rules)
Auxilia Avenger Strike Fighter Squadron (Core Rules)
Auxilia Lightning Fighter Squadron (Core Rules)
Auxilia Marauder Bomber Squadron (Core Rules)

One of the Solar Auxilia's major issues is their lack of lore compared to the Astartes. Most of the lore is generic and relates to the Auxilia forces themselves. The individual forces differentiate themselves primarily through their paint job, as they do not benefit from any Auxilia-specific rules like the Astartes do. This means it doesn't matter whether you play the Cthonian Headhunters or the Inwit Phalangites. Yet they have Iconic Formations providing a bit of character to some Auxilia lists. If we use the Horus Heresy range and known units as a guideline, the only things missing are the Aurox Transport and the Hermes Sentinels. Otherwise, the Solar Auxilia are 'complete'.

The most recent addition to Legions Imperialis, and a very comprehensive one at that, is the Mechanicum of Mars, including the traitor forces. The Rise of the Mechanicum supplement provided pretty much everything, from formations to unit entries, but the Liber Strategia added a new Myrmidax Conclave formation and the Bonded Cybernetica created a mixed formation for use with the miniature range and every other faction.

Mechanicum (Taghmata)

Formations

Legio Cybernetica Cohort (Rise of the Mechanicum)
Autokratorii Regiment (Rise of the Mechanicum)
Taghma Sub-Covenant (Rise of the Mechanicum)
Ordo Reductor Subdivision (Rise of the Mechanicum)
Myrmidax Conclave (**NEW** / Liber Strategia)

Iconic Formations / Formations of Legend

Exsominis-Tertia Cybernetica Cohort (Rise of the Mechanicum)

Support Formations

Itinerant Cybernetica Cohort (Bonded Cybernetica Support Formations)

Regarding the unit entries - all of them come from The Rise of the Mechanicum supplement. They didn't hold back - as we got a full release with lots of options and full playable forces straight away.

Archmagos Prime (Rise of the Mechanicum)
Archmagos Prime on Abeyant (Rise of the Mechanicum)

Core

Adescularis Tech-Thrall Covenant (Rise of the Mechanicum)
Thallax Cohort (Rise of the Mechanicum)

Support Detachments

Tech-Priest Auxilia (Rise of the Mechanicum)
Myrmidon Secutor Host (Rise of the Mechanicum)
Myrmidon Destructor Host (Rise of the Mechanicum)
Arlatax Battle-Automata Maniple (Rise of the Mechanicum)
Domitar Battle-Automata Maniple (Rise of the Mechanicum)
Castellax Battle-Automata Maniple (Rise of the Mechanicum)

Vanguard

Ursarax Cohort (Rise of the Mechanicum)
Vorax Battle-Automata Maniple (Rise of the Mechanicum)
Vultarax Strato-Automata Squadron (Rise of the Mechanicum)

Bastion

Thanatar Siege-Automata Maniple (Rise of the Mechanicum)

Battle Tank Detachments

Karacnos Assault Tank Squadron (Rise of the Mechanicum)
Krios Battle Tank Squadron (Rise of the Mechanicum)
Krios Venator Squadron (Rise of the Mechanicum)

Transport Detachments

Triaros Armoured Conveyor (Rise of the Mechanicum)

As mentioned above, the army list covers all known units, except for the Ordinatus engines.

In the last supplement, we gained access not only to the loyalist forces of the Mechanicum, but also to the traitors (who are not simply "evil" Mechanicum) with their own battle engines and units - mostly walkers.

Dark Mechanicum

Formations

Terror Protocol Cohort (Rise of the Mechanicum)
Purge Protocol Cohort (Rise of the Mechanicum)
Swarm Protocol Cohort (Rise of the Mechanicum)
Dark Taghma Sub-covenant (Rise of the Mechanicum)

Iconic Formations / Formations of Legend

Sibilans Taghma (Rise of the Mechanicum)

Support Formations

Ironbound Ruinhost (Bonded Cybernetica Support Formations)

The following list is not exhaustive, as the unit entries are not limited to the ones listed below. They are in addition to the units available to the regular Taghmata.

Scintillax "Cyclops" Noopsheric Stalker Network (Rise of the Mechanicum)

Core

Errax "Butcher" Assault Stalker Cohort (Rise of the Mechanicum)

Vanguard

Harpax "Swarmer" Scout Host (Rise of the Mechanicum)

Light Armour

Tenebrax "Archer" Battle Stalker Cohort (Rise of the Mechanicum)

Heavy Armour Detachments

Serperos "Overlord" Heavy Stalker Maniple (Rise of the Mechanicum)

All of these units are new designs and are currently exclusive to Legions Imperialis. However, as Games Workshop uses 28–32 mm models for the cover art of all its 'epic' scale ranges (Titanicus, Aeronautica and Imperialis), it is safe to say that it is only a matter of time before we see these as plastic kits, or at least as resin models by Forge World, in the third edition of Horus Heresy.

I am not sure if we will see the missing Dark Mechanicum units, as we didn't receive possessed/daemon Adeptus Titanicus miniatures either. The Automata Malefica are the Horus Heresy army list units that haven't received an Epic scale counterpart, such as the Brass Scorpion, Decimator, Kytan Daemon Engine and Blood Slaughterer.

Legions Imperialis incorporates the entire Adeptus Titanicus range, so we had access to rules for all of the Titans right from the start with the core rules. However, the option to implement a whole maniple, rather than just single Titans, to support your forces came with the Rise of the Mechanicum supplement.

Collegia Titanica

Formations

Axiom Battleline Maniple (Rise of the Mechanicum)
Lupercal Light Maniple (Rise of the Mechanicum)
Purgigatus Heavy Maniple (Rise of the Mechanicum)
Ruptura Battleline Maniple (Rise of the Mechanicum)
Ferrox Light Maniple (Rise of the Mechanicum)
Corsair Battleline Maniple (Rise of the Mechanicum)

Iconic Formations / Formations of Legend

Demi-Maniple Aeterna (Rise of the Mechanicum)

Support Formations

Collegia Titanica Support Cohorts (Bonded Cybernetica Support Formations)

All the units were taken from the Adeptus Titanicus game, and the starter set provided rules for them. We also received new plastic weapon options for the Warhound Scout Titan, and the Dire Wolf was moved from resin to plastic for Legions Imperialis. The points for Titans have been adjusted, with smaller ones becoming cheaper, Warbringer and Warlords remaining the same, and Warlords becoming more expensive.

Titans

Warhound Hunting Pack (Core Rules)
Dire Wolf Heavy Scout Titan (Core Rules)
Reaver Battle Titan (Core Rules)
Warbringer Nemesis Titan (Core Rules)
Warlord Battle Titan (Core Rules)
Warlord-Sinister Battle Titan (Core Rules)
Warmaster Heavy Battle Titan (Core Rules)
Warmaster Iconoclast Titan (Core Rules)

As the Warmaster is already an incredibly dominant unit in this game and at this scale, I assume it is rather unlikely that we will see an Emperor Titan in the future. While the very old lore and some of novels mention further (sub) classes of titans, it is likely that this complete.

Just as the Collegia Titanica, the Knight Households received their own rules with the starter set and were primarily used as 'cheaper' support units until they were given their own formations in The Rise of the Mechanicum, as well as additional options in the form of the free Bonded Cybernetica formations.

Knight Households

Formations

Barony Guard Lance (Rise of the Mechanicum)
Vanguard Lance (Rise of the Mechanicum)
Bastion Lance (Rise of the Mechanicum)
Bonded Household Lance (Rise of the Mechanicum)

Support Formations

Knight Household Retainer Cohorts (Bonded Cybernetica Support Formations)
Knight Household Aegis Cohorts (Bonded Cybernetica Support Formations)

All the Knights were available as models from their release in Adeptus Titanicus, but for the release of the Mechanicum, the rather expensive Forge World resin kits were replaced with plastic ones, making those units more accessible. In addition, splitting their unit entries in Liber Strategica makes them easier to find, as the Mechanicum Knight variants were upgrades to their regular variants in the core rules, which made them easy to skip over when searching. All of these units got point cost reductions, making them cheaper to deploy.

Knight Detachments

Knight Armiger Banner (Core Rules)
Mechanicum Knight Moirax Banner (Core Rules)
Questoris Knight Banner (Errant, Paladin, Warden, Gallant, Crusader) (Core Rules)
Questoris Mechanicum Knight Banner (Styrix, Magaera) (Core Rules)
Cerastus Knight Banner (Acheron, Castigator, Lancer) (Core Rules)
Cerastus Knight Atrapos Banner (Core Rules)
Acastus Knight Porphyrion Banner (Core Rules)
Acastus Knight Asterius Banner (Core Rules)

If we don't expect further variants from 40k to be retconned into the Heresy, there are no known gaps in the lists.

After all these army lists and unit entries, which take up most of the 240 pages, we are provided with updated reference sheets containing all the weaponry information we need.

To reiterate after this extensive list of units and formations, this is the content of the Liber Strategia. We don't get The Great Slaughter of Beta-Garmon or any of the campaign rules and scenarios. Neither do we get the Tallarn campaign or any of their scenario special rules, nor the escalation campaign rules from the Mechanicum supplement. We just get all the formations and unit entries from these three books, as well as those from the free PDF, all combined in a single book.

Conclusion

Is Liber Strategia different to what I expected? Yes. Is that a bad thing? No, not really. Firstly, it's not called the '2025 Legions Imperialis Compendium', but rather the 'strategy book' and it gives me the option of having all unit entries in a single volume for ALL of the forces - my own as well as those of the other players. This undoubtedly provides value, as I don't have to carry the core book, three supplements and a printed pdf with me - just two books - and not to forget all the updates, as a lot of detachments and unit entries have been changed, partially in small details.

I'm just not sure what this means for Legions Imperialis as a game. It feels a bit like a milestone in the product's life cycle. It's as if they've taken their foot off the gas, saying, 'This is it; you can use the game now — it's complete.' The campaign compendium for Adeptus Titanicus was released after five supplements, similar to the Blood Bowl compendia which cover multiple issues of Spike! magazine, combining content that was out of print and released over multiple issues. I don't have a problem with these; I find them quite handy. However, I assumed that we would see something similar for Legions after one or two more supplements, once the Astartes lists are complete, and that we would see another epic campaign compendium, such as Isstvan or even the Siege of Terra, with supporting formations of Custodes, Sisters of Silence, and Daemons for the loyalist and traitor army lists.

However, as the Liber Strategica focuses so strongly on unit entries, perhaps the next supplements will focus more on lore and conflicts with scenarios than on new units, similar to the Journal Tactica. Nevertheless, this book accompanies the release of some great new plastic kits, and I'm really looking forward to finding out what's coming next for Legions Imperialis.

The Horus Heresy and Legions Imperialis are brands by Games Workshop.

The reviewed product item was provided by the manufacturer.