+ inload: Battle report: The Revenge of Toshiba part I +

+ The Revenge of Toshiba: part I +

+ A Warhammer 40,000 9th edition battle report +

+ The Reginae Obscurae looms over the quailing Lamb's Worlders... +

+++Doctrinal integrity at 23% and falling+++ 

+++Noradrenaline spike detected+++

+++Dopamine levels flat-lining+++

Archmagos Murasaki Toshiba wiped away lubricant tears from her compound optical nodes with the heavy sleeve of her rubberised red robes, as she approached the sealed vault. Her attendant flock of servo-skulls and cybercherubs wailed binaric litanies of lamentation. 

As she began entering the hexagrammatic code commands into an ancient but scrupulously maintained terminal, the sacred metal of its outer casing almost completely obscured by solidified wax and purity seals, she felt the holy rage build inside her. Her mem-nodes involuntarily autospooled back to the logically impossible events that had taken place scant days ago when the fleshunits of the provincially-named 'Lambs Worlders' had somehow managed to defeat her forces  – despite a woeful lack of augmentation, and using the most rudimentary of combat STC templates. 

This blasphemy, this shame, could not be suffered. That drive, an emotional response so strong that it ate at the adamantine-hard strings of her logic like the oxidative process that transmuted holy iron into worthless rust, had brought her here to this place, this tomb of proscribed wonders. 

The last of the command codes entered, the silence was broken by the metronomic thunder of vast gears at work and the vast portal began – 

+++Doctrinal integrity at 48% and rising+++

+++Dopamine spike detected+++

– to open. She stepped past the threshold, her many mechanical insect-jointed legs clicking on the hard floor as she did so. With a thought, the head of her axe of office ignited, casting a wan light across the chamber. Dimly, it reflected from the red lenses of scores of ancient battle-automata – Domitars, Castellax, Kastelans... even the mighty Thanatar. They stood in their serried ranks, unmoving, their compact reactor cores quiescent. 

+++Rise. Awaken. Your Hive Queen demands it. Rise. Awaken+++

+ Magos Toshiba of Bezoa, amid a sea of her underlings. Defeat, she decided, would be avoided by placing her reliance entirely in the hands of capable machines, not puling partial-fleshunits. +

+++

+ Game type and Mission +

+ Belligerents: Bezoan Skitarii and allies (Lucifer216); Lamb's World Imperial Guard (Apologist) +
+ Limitations of conflict: 200 Power Level +
+ Battle site: Westward Spill, the outskirts of a proto-hive on Neues Tremo, a frontiersworld in the Magyar system, Sector Antona Australis. [+noosphericinloadlink embedded+] +

+ An unapologetic 'big game', Lucifer216 and I had been keen to continue the campaign begun in Tensions over Neues Tremo [+noosphericinloadlink embedded+], where the plucky boys and girls of Lamb's World had pulled off an unlikely victory over the increasingly erratic Bezoans. The roots of the war lay in a conflict of doctrine between the Bezoans and the Slav Nasr Enginseers assigned to the Lamb's World regiments. Toshiba of Bezoa an ambitious, and covetous Magos, had secretly instigated conflict on a frontier world and manipulated events to ensure Lamb's World regiments were assigned to suppress the rebellion – which left them, so she supposed, isolated and vulnerable to destruction at the hands of her forces. +

+ Alas for Toshiba, Caef Whittaker of the Lamb's World 18th proved a capable commander, and he managed to fight off the ambush. As the Bezoans retreated to lick their wounds, Whittaker and his forces high-tailed it to Westward Spill, where he hoped to report the betrayal. Scant days passed before the Bezoans appeared again, and the exhausted forces of the Lamb's Worlders were forced back into the field. +

+ Caef Whittaker, of the Lamb's World 18th, frantically redirecting his forces to avoid a collapse of morale in the face of the Lords of War. +

+ I mustered pretty much everything Lamb's World related that I could find, and the inimitable Omricon pledged an allied platoon from the Lastrati 3rd Rifles, supplemented by the famed Righteous Indignation, an ancient and storied Baneblade. +

+ Magos Toshiba (commanded by Lucifer216) meanwhile, opted to shelve the partial-fleshunits that had clearly caused her defeat(!) and raided the deep vaults of Bezoa in search of the dubiously-permitted technomancy that she calculated would bring her victory. +

+ Mighty robots from 'the Hive' – some sanctioned, others... not so much. +

+ In addition to an army of robots, she called in favours from the ill-starred House Temporis, a peculiar – and arguably* heretical – Navigator-led Knight Household. Two Knights of legend attended the Magos: Gnosis and the Reginae Obscurae. +

+ Being a bit rusty on the rules, and aware we'd have our work cut out with such a big game, we opted to minimise additional rules, so there were no warlord traits, non-modelled unit upgrades or the like in this game – just a big game involving the simple underlying engine of 9th edition. +

+ There were six objectives to fight over – these represented critical noospheric spoor that the Bezoans could use to justify their apparently treasonous attack on the Slav Nasr Enginseers (and – by the by, as far as the Bezoans are concerned – their Lamb's World and Lastrati hosts). Denied these, the attack would be completely unjustifiable – and there were be call in higher places to sanction the aggression of Bezoa. Perhaps worse for Toshiba, they might instigate investigations into their shadowy domains. +

* Omricon's Inquisitor Josiah Maltheus always argued they were!

+++

Nothing happened for the span of many mortal hearts and breaths. With machine-born patience, Toshiba waited in the silent azure gloom. Then she felt it, the first waves of electromagnetism as the fire in reactor-hearts kindled. Turbines spun up, heavy metal limbs let out pneumatic hisses and the blue glow of her axe gradually gave way to the blood red glow coming from countless active sensor nodes and diode displays. 

The local noosphere, a moment ago near-absent, sprung into eager, buzzing life. It was filled with dozens of reports indicating successful activation. In a microsecond they were drowned out by a flurry of failed target acquisition notifications. If Toshiba had retained her human throat, she would have swallowed involuntarily. The sheer… hunger of the automata always took her by surprise, despite her eidetic recall. That and the extent of their animalistic awareness.

+++Bide. Target acquisition will commence in 22 hours sidereal. Such is the will of the Omnissah. Follow+++

With that cant, Toshiba turned, ignoring the thunderous cacophony behind her, and began to march out of the tomb, beginning the long procession to the bulk lifters that would carry this maniple of machines to where they would make holy murder in the Machine God’s name.  

+++

+ Set up and deployment +

+ Move up, we can barely breathe! +

+ Coo, well this was a big game. More than a hundred Guard infantry, a score of robots, nearly a dozen tanks and three super-heavies meant that the Guard barely fitted on an 8 x 4ft board – and with the number of huge bases on the Mechanicus side, things weren't better there! To an extent, this is part of the problem of the increasing size of games (not much room for meaningful manouevre), but as we were aiming for spectacle, I think it works well! +

+ Guard's-eye view. The forces barely fit into the 12in deployment zone – not, I suspect, that these Lamb's Worlders would complain about the shield of steel around them! +

+++

+ For big games, we find it generally more sensible to discuss set up etc. rather than rely on the luck of the dice. A diagonal deployment might have worked, but short edges would have just meant most stuff wasn't involved. Long board edges mean everything can get stuck in – for maximum carnage and over-the-top spectacle. +

+ Three-quarters of the board represented part of the badland deserts of Neues Tremo, the remainder representing a small xeno-archaeological outpost of the planet's proto-hive. The Guard gathered in the south, while the Mechanicus approached from the north. +

+ The Lamb's Worlders deployed an armoured wedge in the centre, anchored by the Righteous Indignation and supported by first platoon – directly behind the tanks. To their west, their urban-fighting allies, the Lastrati 3rd, waited in the urban edges of the Spill (bottom of picture), supported by a heavy weapon platoon (a battery of mortars and heavy bolters) and a Rapier squadron. +

+ To the east of the Baneblade, Second Platoon and the company's auxiliaries (Rough Riders and Ogryns) advanced alongside the grumbling Lastrati tanks. _

+ Opposite this gathering of might drew up the dread robots of the Mechanicus, with the unmistakable Knights seeking a mighty kill in the centre. In the Spill, skittered a mass of Vorax, directed by a Datasmith. +

+++

+ Early turns +

+ Vorax rush forward to secure the peculiar xenos technology + 

+ Commanding the Mechanicus western flank, Datasmith Teslo Murakoshi urged his Vorax forward, keen to push up to the walls of the complex, where they could muster for a brutal assault, sheltered from the small arms of the Guard. +

+ As Whittaker struggled to direct his forces through vox-static, Toshiba  smoothly ordered her unshakeable forces forward. A sea of bloodshed-eager robots kicked up clouds of dust in their urgency. The Magos lingered over an irrelevant feeling of satisfaction; but dismissed it. Such indulgences, she mused, were clearly the cause of her earlier defeat. +

+ The Lastrati, a mongrel regiment made up of the battered survivors of decade-long conflicts, grimly looked down their sights. With no targets visible, they were wearily aware that the order to advance must come – the noospheric datapackets must be kept from the hands of this lunatic priesthood. +

+ A battery of Lamb's World mortars begins to bombard Murakoshi's forces, arcing high over the reinforced walls – with the aim of softening up the defenders and make the Lastrati's work easier. Alas, anti-personnel shells do little to robots designed to withstand high-intensity attacks. + 

+ Urged forward with the digital equivalent of bloodlust, the battle-automata made advance at the double, their shooting paltry. +

+ The noise is cacophonous, the confusion total! +

+ With what little sense of self-preservation being furiously overridden by the Magos, they marched towards a killing field. +

+ Before events overtook them, the order came for a general advance. Whittaker favoured a policy of oversaturating target acquisition – in essence, by making everything an equal threat, unwary opponents would spread out their fire, diluting its effect instead of concentrating on key targets. +

+ To ensure compliance, Commissars and Priests were seeded amongst the Lamb's Worlders – though thus far, the nearby Righteous Indignation had proven a reassuring presence for the Guardsmen. +

+ Toshiba had adopted a 'horns of the bull' strategy, with a solid centre flanked by faster units on both the west and east. Hovering drones spearheaded the eastern flank, their Thallax jet-troops making the most of the Munitorum supply depot, which had only just seen the end of the assault on the proto-hive. +

+ With neither side willing to back down, the centre of the battlefield quickly filled with troops and vehicles from both sides. Casualties at first were light, with the Mechanicus' short-to-medium range weaponry unable to cover the distance. +

+ The same could not be said for the Guard. Shells and missiles began to fall amongst the centre, blasting apart the advancing Castellax. The Rapier squadron in particular proved their worth, an entire maniple of the battle-automata being reduced to scrap metal in one volley. +

+ The Leman Russ squadrons focussed their fire on the Knights – Whittaker was all too aware that these Lords of War would be intent on the biggest prize... +

+ Second platoon, spearheaded by the Company's elite mounted Grenadiers, lends their fire to the attack, their small arms contributing little in damage. +

+++

+ Mid battle +

+ Toshiba's forces have taken the majority of the damage and casualties at this point – but the forces are now arrayed at the optimum range for the inhuman robots. Besides, casualties overall have been light. The Reginae Obscurae and Gnosis, both smoking but operational, close in on the Righteous Indignation, determined to claim the scalp. +

+ For its part, the Righteous Indignation was living up to its name, it weapons proving considerably more effective than the slightly-smaller bore battle cannons of the Lamb's World tanks. +

+ A Valkyrie swept in, performing a strafing run on the Vorax as it carried its Grenadier squad towards the central objective. Murakoshi's forces had little to answer, and so continued their metallic advance, heedless of the myriad small explosions around them. +

+ This was not a battle that men could win by strength of arms – but perhaps the power of their weaponry could overcome their hulking foes? This Special Weapons team finds out the hard way that even melta guns can fail to find their mark... +

+ A panoramic shot shows the flow of the battle. The two forces are poised to meet in the middle, where the bulk of the noospheric datapackets lie. The speed of the Mechanicus means that three lie in Bezoan hands – and this keen eye on the mission early on is to prove crucial. +

+ Second Platoon demonstrate why the Mechanicus cannot rest on their laurels – fewer than a dozen Thallax now need to hold their prize from a reinforced platoon of determined Guardsmen for an extended period. +

+ The duel of the Superheavies heats up. The Reginae Obscurae and Righteous Indignation trade hammerblows, both taking grievous damage. The Gnosis, meanwhile, almost disappears under battlecannon and Manticore fire...+

+ As the battle begins to stretch, the two forces grapple with each other; neither yet able to find the telling advantage. Where will victory fall? +

+ We'll find out in part two! +

+++

+ [+ Part II currently inloading – [awaitpend] updates +] +

+ inload: Adeptus Titanicus battle report – Great Ash Forge +

+ The Battle of Great Ash Forge +

+ An Adeptus Titanicus battle report +

'Aye, I remember Auberon,' muttered the old priest, his augmitter continuing to emit an errant tic-tic-tic as he paused to draw on the pipe. 'We spent fourteen weeks picking spalling out of the Cathedral after Father Victory fell.' He paused to tamp the smouldering fauxbacco down with one of his right thumbs. The neophytes waited, shifting uneasily, their new implants pink and raw. At length, the techpriest looked up, and the glittering iris-lenses of his eyes slowly cycled open. Perfect sapphire crystal, they seemed to see far past the courtyard; reliving, perhaps, the devastation of the war.

+ Game: Adeptus Titanicus, 2,500pt

+ Combatants: Legio Kerberos, Legio Nikator (Sons of the Temple)

+ Theatre: Ashdown Forge, Forgeworld Minoris: Auberon, Spinther Subsector [+noosphericexloadlink embedded+], Antona Australis

+ Mission: Seize and Hold, on a staggered front.

+++

+ Background: It is a peculiarity of the Adeptus Mechanicus that concepts of honour and loyalty are critical – any Magos uncovered in falsifying a dataset or reducing the truthvaluesum of a material quality would be humiliated; possibly excommunicated by forcible disbarring from the greater noospheric net, for example – while simultaneously the group tolerates extremes of physical and doctrinal drift. Forces that would be immediately declared heretical for their beliefs, practises or even appearance in the wider Imperium are allowed, by and large, to exist unmolested. +

+ It is thus that the arks of The Sons of the Temple – late of the proscribed Forge World Sumer-Nikator – roam from place to place, pursuing their visionary-led goals with no official santion against them from Mars. They move as they please, descending onto worlds and demanding succour from the faithful. One such unfortunate host region was the Smelts, a group of minor Forges in Antona Australis. A damp and drizzly world, the constant heat of the sweltering manufactora swathes great regions of the planet in a constant mist; laden with sensor-baffling aluminium and more esoteric trace elements. +

+ Nominally the world lies under the protection of Legio Validus, but with the Kings in Yellow deployed resisting the ongoing expansion of the Brightsword Protectorate in the rimwards region of the sector, ancient compacts compelled Legio Kerberos to respond to the invasion. Auberon might be a minor Forge in the great scheme of things, but allowing a rival Mechanicus agency – particularly one around which swirled rumours of flirtation with forbidden datascreeds – a foothold in the profitable region was doubleplusundesirable... +

+++

+ It was with great pleasure that I was able to host my friends for a day of gaming, synthohol and fish and chips. We caught up, talked rubbish, and played Adeptus Titanicus... And we started gaming again with a bang!  Lucifer 216 and I played an ambitious 3,000pt Titan battle. The size of the game took it above the 'Epic Clash' game size; the largest recommended in the book – never let it be said that the PCRC do things by halves! +

+++

+ In the red corner: Legio Kerberos +

+ My pictures don't do the beautiful glossy red and gold of Kerberos justice, let alone pick out the intricate and beautiful freehand webs and skulls – but trust me when when I say that this was a stunning force to face, and a treat to play against. +

+ Lucifer216 brought a Maniple of two Warlords, two Reavers, three Knight Lancers and Zeus, a Warmaster. A significant force that were deployed to drive off the encroaching Legio Nikator presence from the planet. Such a show of force was sure to dissuade any renegades chancing their hand... wasn't it? +

• Myrmidon Maniple
• 'The End of All Things', Finis Omnium – Warlord Titan with Sunfury plasma annihilator, Belicosa volcano cannon, apocalypse missile  launchers. Equipped with ranging auspexes.
• 'Father Victory' – Warlord Titan - with Sunfury plasma annihilator, Belicosa volcano cannon, paired laser blasters. Equipped with ranging auspexes.
• Gloriae Ultio – Reaver Titan with laser blaster, gatling blaster, apocalypse missile launcher
• Megaera – Reaver Titan with melta cannon, chainfist, turbo-laser  destructor
• Zeus Alastor – Warmaster Titan with two Suzerain class plasma destructors, two apocalypse missile arrays, revelator missile launcher. Equipped with infusive supercoolant, and ranging auspexes.
• House Temporis – 3 Cerastus Knight-Lancers

The Kerberos forces were well-prepared, having deployed ensuring one of the planet's many Void Shield Relays were nearby (this was effectively free, owing to the Forge World rules from the mission cards); and having ample Plasma Reserves (two of them, in fact). Forward-ranging Skitarii support forces had also seeded the area around the Cathedral of the Omnissiah Incoherent with Thermal Mines.

+++

+ In the, uh... slightly less red corner: Legio Nikator +

+ Woe to the city of Great Ash Forge, for The Sons of the Temple had deployed in force themselves. A long column of Titans walked in from the plains: two Maniples of their Titans – an Extergimus band of three Warlords and a Warbringer was supported by a Corsair group of three Reavers. +

+ With neither force prepared to withdraw, the rivals began warily to advance into the outskirts of the mist-shrouded city, closing the gap. Great swirling bubbles of force coaslesced around each Titan as void shields were lit, and the air became pregnant with the deep prickly hum of charging macro-las weaponry. +

• Corsair Maniple
• 'Old Spiteful' Senex Codomannus – Reaver Titan with two laser blasters, and apocalypse missile launcher. Princeps Senioris – Dominant Strategist.
• Dura-Yurobus – Reaver Titan with melta cannon, apocalypse missile launcher and laser blaster.
• Megasthenes Dura – Reaver Titan with two gatling blasters, and vulcan megabolter.
• Extergimus Maniple
• Coropedion – Warlord Titan with macro gatling blaster, paired laser blasters, and belicosa volcano cannon. Princeps Senioris; upgraded with Tracking gyroscopes.
• 'The Manifest Law' Ipsus Granicus – Warlord Titan with Arioch titan power claw, paired laser blasters, sunfury plasma annihilator. Upgraded with Tracking gyroscopes and ablative armour. Veteran Princeps.
• Dread Hellespontion – Nemesis Warbringer with two volcano cannons and Mori quake cannon. Upgraded with Tracking gyroscopes and Seismic Auspex.
• Gaugamela – Warlord Titan with mori quake canon, apocalypse missile launchers and sunfury plasma annihilator.

Typical of its straightforward and bellicose nature, 'The Manifest Law' bore an Overcharged Cannon (I used Battlebling's Plasma Burner model for this upgrade). The Manifest Law was commanded by a Veteran Princeps; and fifth-columnists within the Forge had not only arranged for a Communications Relay to supply information to the invaders, but had also exloaded False Intel to Kerberos.

+++

+ 'Visual contact, Princeps!' +

+ Kerberos won the coin flip for setting up, and we deployed the objectives roughly clustered around the courtyard of the Cathedral. Once we'd done that, Teutates Polassar, Princeps Senioris of the venerable Reaver Senex Codommanus – known to its allies and enemies alike as 'Old Spiteful' – deployed his expertise as Dominant Strategist, claiming the first turn. +

+ Kerberos had deployed in a serried line, largely in the open. Canny planning meant that they had been able to set up a killing floor as Nikator Engines emerged from behind the cathedral. Brooding and massive, the Warmaster clanked into place last, looming from the mist over the main Administratum bloc. Nikator, meanwhile, had pushed two Reavers to the right flank, with the Warbringer and Old Spiteful on the left; and the three Warlords as a tough hinge in the centre. +

+ New intel trickled in through the local noosphere, revealing that one of hte objectives was further from Kerberos than they had thought... As warhorns blared on both sides, the Reavers strode into action. Moving at full stride, first Megasthenes Dura and then Dura-Yurobus made for the worker habs at the upper right of the battlespace; trusting in speed, distance and obscuring mist to keep them safe. +

+  One of Kerberos' Warlords, Father Victory, advanced cautiously. The Dread Hellespontion had no such compunction, launching a quake cannon shell that detonated amidst the densely packed Engines on the left. As the Reaver braced for impact, the remaining Kerberos Warlord lumbered away, a shield stripped. A broken Lancer was revealed, and the survivors stumbled dizzily away, towards the cover of the tall communications tower. The effects of the shell slowed them considerably – and the typically vindictive shots of Old Spiteful finished them off. +

+ Missiles streaked out at long range as Gaugamela opened early fire on the looming Warmaster, stripping shields. +

+  Roaring aggressively, Ipsus Grancius threw caution to the wind and began advancing at full stride, the experimental plasma blaster on its right arm leaving a retinal trail on all witnesses. Distant shots licked out between combatants, but besides shimmering contrails and the rainbow shudder of void shield banks straining, no substantital damage was caused, save to the central Kerberos Reaver, Gloriae Ultio, whose shields collapsed entirely. +

+ Eager to take the fight to the enemy, the Princeps of Zeus Alastor emerged protectively from behind the Administratum Bloc. Stepping in front of the Bloc, missiles  began to streak out and impact on the advancing Warlord's shields; followed by licks of plasma from the colossal arm batteries. Swathed by clouds of smoke and superheated steam, the Princeps tapped its infusive supercoolant, allowing a satisfied smile as red reactor dials cooled to green ready lights. +

+ As the Warmaster concentrated on Ipsus Granicus, the Reavers  continued their advance, Dura-Yurobus firing bursts at Zeus Alastor to continue battering at its shields. Gaugamela planted its feet firmly and rocketed barrage after barrage of missiles at Zeus Alastor, following up. Under this covering fire, Coropedion's veteran Princeps, Hamilcar Syphax, coolly ignored the Warmaster in favour of picking on the vulnerable Reaver. +

+ Directing its fire at Gloriae Ultio, the Warlord's weapons caused a broad spread of damage – thanks in no small part to the Maniple's scorched earth approach – but was unable to land a killing blow. The Ultio was staggered but still in the fight. +

+ Even as Dread Hellespontion's quake shells arced over the cathedral towards them, Finis Omnium and Father Victory turned their fire on Ipsus Granicus, whose shields blew out spectacularly, shattering the windows on the northern hab-blocks. Gloriae Ultio began to pull back, but it would prove too late... +

+ With the mechanical snarl of a denied brawler, Ipsus Granicus slowed to a walk. There was no way to reach the unsure safety of combat with Zeus Alastor, so the Princeps made a calculated decision to place itself between the undamaged Coropedion and the Warmaster. Trusting to fate, the Ipsus Granicus turning its overcharged cannon onto the Ultio. Swaying and smouldering, the damaged Reaver was torn apart by hammering super-maximal plasma fire. A roar went up from the Nikator ranks: Engine Kill! +

+ Worse was to come for Kerberos, as Gloriae Ultio's wounded machine sprit lashed out, its weapons flaring even as it fell. Close-range laser fire washed over Father Victory's shields, which collapsed. A massive dust cloud erupted as the Reaver fell, plastering Father Victory in funereal ash. + 

+ Such injury would not go unavenged. Both Warlords opened up on Ipsus Granicus, the ablative armour absorbing some of the fury before breaking away. Great gouges were torn out of the Nikator Engine's legs, body and head, but seemingly miraculously the Titan stood, swaying as its stabilisers wavered crazily. +

+ With Ipsus Granicus wavering but standing, Coropedion was hidden from Zeus Alastor – and the two flanking Reavers pounced on the unshielded Warmaster. Together with carefully directed fire from Gaugamela, the three Nikator Engines conspired to damage both shoulder missile banks and one of the plasma destructors. A quake cannon shell slammed the Warmaster backwards into the Administraum Bloc – but none of this would move Zeus Alastor's from its intended path. +

+ Straightening, it raised its remaining arm weapon to finish off the wavering Warlord in front of it. Washed over with powerful bolts of maximal fire energy, Ipsus Grancius collapsed to the floor, with a groan of slumping metal. Its unstable and overcharged plasma annihilator detonated, washing Coropedion, Zeus Alastor and Dura-Yurobus alike; though besides a couple of collapsed shields, no damage was done. +  

+ Megaeros, the surviving Kerberos Reaver, abandoned its steady advance towards Senex Codomannus and Dread Hellespontion, instead moving to claim the objective shifted at the start of the conflict. +

+ 'An eye for an eye,' muttered the Belicosa Moderatus on Coropedion, as Princeps Syphax ordered the execution of Father Victory in vengeance. To the surprise of all, it proved a killing blow, the overcharged bolt of energy striking the unshielded Kerberos Engine and setting off a colossal chain reaction that broke open Father Victory's plasma reactor. With a colossal explosion that rocked the city, a roiling white-hot cloud expanded, engulfing the nearby Finis Omnium. Bypassing the undamaged Warlord's shields, the plasma destroyed the second Warlord too! +

+ With two of the strategic points firmly in Nikator hands, and Kerberos' forces gutted, the red-armoured survivors retreated into the mist, leaving the crowing Sons of the Temple bellowing their victory. +

+++

+ A startling and enjoyable game with plenty of cinematic moments, I had a ball – I think Coropedion deserves some sort of marking to record killing two Warlords with one shot! To me, that certainly marked the turning point. Prior to that, I felt that I had the advantage, but one that was swiftly ebbing away as the Warmaster and close combat Reaver got into position. Had the game gone on with Finis Omnium intact, I think Kerberos could have claimed the fourth objective; and from there, it would have been an uphill battle for me to drive them off as a swiftly-repairing Warmaster menacingly advanced. +

+ Thanks to Lucifer216 for a very enjoyable game. I'm looking forward to further games against Kerberos, where perhaps the famed elite Warhounds might prove the bane of Nikator's ponderous Engines... I think the mission generation created by the cards was really good, and would thoroughly recommend their use. +

+ inload: The Houses of Nestis and Temporis [GuestpostID: Lucfier216] +

+ Houses of Suffering and Shadow +

+ Being a bit buried under various data-screeds in the real world, it's with great pleasure that I'm able to showcase another of the PCRC's armies; our resident painting machine Lucifer216's beautiful Knight forces. +

+ A few months back, we played one of our inaugural games of 8th edition 40k pitting the Iron Warriors' 242nd against the combined might of Nestis and Temporis. This would have been an absolutely dreadful match-up in 7th edition, but in 8th it remained tense, dynamic and exciting – which went a long way to convincing me of the success of 8th edition. +

Knights make a fantastic spectacle against the low-rise buildings of Purefinder Chaunterwick.

+ Since the game, I've been keen to get my ever-busy chum to give us a write-up of his gorgeous force; and he was kind enough to oblige. Enjoy! +

+++

Hi all,  Lucifer216 here, long-time friend of Apologist and a member of the PCRC (Plastic Crack Rehab Clinic). With the recent release of the new Imperial Knight codex, we both thought it was a good time to take a look at my own ‘force’ of Knights – though really that should be ‘forces’ as I ended up plumping for two Knight Houses instead of one.

Let’s face it, it’s difficult to resist the lure of big stompy giant robots, and when the Imperial Knights: Renegade boxset first came out, I leap at the chance to get my hands on what for me (lack of posable legs aside), is one of Games Workshop’s best plastic kits.

So, why two Knight Houses? Well, I was a bit torn. On the one hand I really wanted to try out Candy Red as a scheme, having it seen to great effect on a number of armies and I also (inspired by the dark and characterful background of House Vyronii and House Orhlacc) wanted my own shadowy and gothic Knight House. At the same time, I wanted to give my Warhound Titan, the Animus Dominus, some company and expand its background. I also wanted to create two Knight Houses that are very located in the Antona Australis sector [+Appendnote auth:Apologist+ Antona Australis is 
the PCRC’s little postage-stamp sized section of the Galaxy, which you can read about through the tab at the top of the blog].

Enter Houses Nestis [+noosphericinloadlink embedded+]  and Temporis [+noosphericinloadlink embedded+]. House Nestis is an Ancient Greek-inspired Questor Mechanicus house with plenty of references to mythology and a big focus on duality, while Temporis is a Questor Imperialis house, whose pilots are also navigators and possessed of a sinister mien. For more of on their background, click the hyperlinks above.

I painted the knights using an airbrush for the most part (doing their frames all in one go, with the exception of the Reginae Obscurae as I bought it later), and really enjoyed doing a fair bit of freehand. I’ve never considered myself much of an artist, but I’m really pleased about how it’s come out.

It hasn’t been all plain-sailing and some practical lessons learnt include:

• Write down the exact colour scheme as you go (I have forgotten the recipe for House Nestis’ red, which is going to make expanding it tricky)
• Tamiya Clear Red dissolves FW Clear Black which I used for shading so you shouldn’t go back with it. 
• Avoid using mixtures of metallic for the basecoat of large areas. I’m not amazingly happy with how the metallic trims have come out and the mix I used seems to have given it a slight texture in places. I opted for using  Retributor Armour on the Reginae Obscurae which has given a much better result. 

Enough pontificating – let’s move onto the Knights!

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+ House Nestis +

+ Enyo and Klymene+ 

+ Designate: Enyo +

The knight armours Klymene and Enyo have fought alongside each other for centuries and embody the obsession with duality that permeates Janusian culture. Enyo, a bellicose Knight Errant piloted by Domina Eris, is always on the move, constantly searching for fresh targets for its thermal cannon or crashing headlong into melee. Enyo’s thirst for carnage is endless and prior to Eris’ ascension, three aspirants died in the attempt to meld with its machine spirit. Her supremacy over the armour’s machine spirit has come at a cost for it is a jealous steed – making the discomfort of disconnection almost unbearable, though the only outward sign of it is her burning gaze and haunted manner.

+ Designate: Klymene +

In contrast to its sister-engine and as might be expected of a Knight Crusader, Klymene is patient and methodical. The armour’s teardrop heraldry reflects both the sorrow the Sito Sisterhood feels under the yoke of the Iron Fathers and the suffering that House Nestis inflicts upon its foes.

However, the armour’s sorrowful aspect also owes much to the attitude of its pilot, the supremely skilled Domina Atia. Her long list of honours, engine-kills and exemplary service has bred a burning resentment within her breast. She dreams of the devastation that she could wreck in the Omnissiah’s name while piloting a Warlord titan, but such power will forever be denied to her by the simple and arbitrary impediment of her sex. This bitterness is compounded by witnessing the follies of her two sons, Atlas and Prometheus, princeps of the Warlord Titans, Back-Breaker and Flame Eternal, respectively and the bloody rampages of her older sister, Domina Leda, aboard the Knight Valiant, Tisiphone. When Atia dwells overlong on this injustice, Klymene is prone to glitching, its hurt pride spilling out from the throne mechanicum as auspex-ghosts and grinding gears.

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+ House Temporis +

+ Gnosis – Knight Paladin + 

It is said of Gnosis that it is always exactly where it should be. In the madness and chaos of the battlefield, this quiet miracle has saved thousands of Imperial lives and foiled ambushes beyond counting. While all the pilots of House Temporis are blessed and cursed in full measure with the fey insight endemic to those with navigator blood in their veins, Lady Svetlana, Gnosis’ pilot, is famed for flashes of tactical brilliance that manifest themselves as migraine-bright visions of the many futures yet to be. A painfully pale and consumptive creature, given by the gothic standards of House Temporis, Svetlana is haunted by the knowledge of her own demise. Why it should be to old age and neglect in a dank, mouldering, oubliette troubles her beyond all measure.

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+ Kynigos – Knight Crusader +

Kynigos and its pilot, the lady Alla, possess inhuman patience, their favourite tactic being to stand reactor cold for long hours at a time, before bursting into motion with horrific ease, going from a cold start to full plasma burn in an instant – a feat that should be impossible for any Knight Armour. This trait first made itself known in Kynigos’ very first engagement, a confused skirmish with the vanguard of Forgeworld Bezoa as its scouting fleet entered the territory of Storm’s End and made planetfall deep in the web-wastes. There Kynigos and its first pilot, Lady Natalya, struck again and again, each time seemingly from nowhere. After the events of that day, in which the newly blooded engine recorded three super-heavy class kills, Natalya commissioned Kynigos’ distinctive heraldry to commemorate their deeds. However, Since the rites of accord were signed between the two factions, Bezoa has petitioned House Temporis to strike the markings that bear silent witness to its folly no less than fifteen times, but Lady Alla and her liege, Queen Katherine will have none of it. 

+++

+ Reginae Obscurae – Cerastus Knight-Atrapos +

+ Designate: Reginae Obscurae +

Given by Forgeworld Bezoa as part of the first tranche of tribute that sealed the grand bargain between it and House Temporis, the Reginae Obscurae ('Shadow Queen' in Low Gothic) has been the armour of choice for the Queens of Storm’s End for centuries. Though it has suffered grievous damage on many occasions, each time it has been painstakingly restored to its former glory. The most recent of these woundings occurred during the chaos invasion of Tsu’as. Queen Elizabeta went to glory, following her wrathful destruction of the Thousand Sons Land Raider, Fist of Ra, laid low by the sorcery of Magnus’s sons and the marksmanship of the Iron Warriors. The residual trauma was so great that Elizabeta’s successor, Queen Katherine, almost died during the rite of becoming and the fallen monarch’s spirit still haunts the knight’s Throne Mechanicum, whispering dire secrets and warnings into the young queen’s ears.

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+ The new rules +

In-game, I’ll probably run House Temporis using the rules for House Terryn as their swiftness is a good match for Temporis’ (in-universe) tendency to violate the laws of time and space, often without realising that they are. House Nestis is more problematic – I’ll probably run them as either House Vulkner (shooty) or House Raven (getting in the opponent’s grill quickly), with it being a tradition to consult an Oracle on the eve of battle to decide which of their twin doctrines they will use.

+ Expansion plans +

While I have a huge backlog to work through (I’m painting Tyranids for an event in October, and need to go back to my half-finished Mechanicus, Primaris Space Marine and Death Guard armies), I am tempted to slowly expand both Houses. I’m thinking that House Nestis would work well with a Knight Valiant or Knight Castellan, while House Temporis, given its relationship with Forgeworld Bezoa [+noospheric inloadlink embedded+] (which has lots of Horus Heresy era technology) and the fact that I’ve already got one Cerastus pattern knight, could be expanded with a few more.

Now back to your standard (and Inquisition-approved) pict-feeds…

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+ Thanks again to the ever-gracious Lucifer216. +