My opponent brought a Precept Maniple that happened to be exactly the same points value as last time, consisting of a Warlord, Warbringer, Reaver and two Warhounds.
Legio Crucius Precept Maniple
Warlord Battle Titan - 385 pts
Sunfury Plasma Annihilator - 45 pts
Belicosa Volcano Cannon - 55 pts
Carapace Apocalypse Missile Launchers - 15 pts
Terminus Override - 30 pts = 530 points
Warbringer Nemesis Titan - 325 pts
Gatling Blaster - 15 pts
Laser Blaster - 25 pts
Mori Quake Cannon - 20 pts = 385 points
Reaver Battle Titan - 250 pts
Melta Cannon - 35 pts
Gatling Blaster - 15 pts
Turbo Laser Destructor - 20 pts = 320 points
Warhound Scout Titan - 180 pts
Plasma Blastgun - 30 pts
Vulcan Mega Bolter - 10 pts = 220 points
Warhound Scout Titan - 180 pts
Turbo Laser Destructor - 20 pts
Vulcan Mega Bolter - 10 pts = 210 points
I countered them with pretty much the same guys I had last time, except I armed both Reavers for close combat.
Legio LXIX Venefica Ferrox Maniple
Reaver Battle Titan Cum ergo videritis abominationem desolationis, quæ dicta est a Lorgar propheta, stantem in loco sancto, qui legit, intelligat; princeps seniores Modthryth - 250 pts
Melta Cannon - 35 pts
Power Fist - 20 pts
Vulcan Mega Bolter - 10 pts
Reinforced plating - 10 pts = 325 points
Reaver Battle Titan Deos tuos non colimus, et thronum auream, quam erexisti, non adoramus - 250 pts
Chainfist - 20 pts
Gatling Blaster - 15 pts
Turbo Laser Destructor - 20 pts
Reinforced plating - 10 pts = 315 points [640]
Warhound Scout Titan Et regnum erit velut ferrum - 180 pts
Turbo Laser Destructor - 20 pts
Vulcan Mega Bolter - 10 pts = 210 points [850]
Warhound Scout Titan Regnum transiit a te - 180 pts
Turbo Laser Destructor - 20 pts
Vulcan Mega Bolter - 10 pts = 210 points [1060]
Dire Wolf Scout Titan Ipse revelat profunda et abscondita, et novit in tenebris constituta - 210 points
Ardex Defensor Mega-Bolter - 10 pts
Neutron Laser - 45 pts
Reinforced plating - 10 pts = 275 points [1335]
Cerastus Knight Banner Hircine - 130 pts
2 × shock lance and ion gauntlet shield - 40 pts = 170 points [1505]
Questoris Knight Banner Azura - 120 pts
4 × Questoris melee weapon - 20
2 × thermal cannon - 20 = 160 points [1665]
**
We set up my Dropzone Commander buildings and scratchbuilt terrain on a 4'×4' surface, and decided we'd play a Meeting Engagement.
We rolled for objectives, and I picked Glory and Honour, meaning I'd have to destroy his Warlord. Last time I played, I set myself a goal of learning to tackle my opponent's big Titans, so I figured this was my chance. Said opponent picked Vital Cargo, which meant that one of his Titans would, unbeknownst to me but beknownst to him, be carrying some important cargo that needs to be transported over my table edge. My secondary objective was that I'd score victory points for every table quarter that had my units in it but no enemies, and he'd score victory points for every Titan he had in my deployment zone.
The deployment zones were pretty shallow, and we weren't using Stratagems, so we both just more or less deployed our Titans in a row. I had the Questoris Knights of Banner Azura in the center and the Cerastuses of Hircine on the right flank. Finding the Warlord on my far left, set up my Dire Wolf Ipse revelat profunda et abscondita, et novit in tenebris constituta opposite it.
When I saw the Warlord camped out in the far left corner behind the tank farm and the rest of the loyalist forces massed in the center, I figured that my strategy would be to let them come to me and see if I could lure the Warlord out. So on the first turn, I advanced cautiously and took some pot shots at the Warlord with the In tenebris's neutron laser, to no real effect. The loyalists, winners of two past battles, strode forward with confidence.
**
On the second turn, some heavy exchanges of fire developed in the middle of the battlefield, with my Princeps Seniores in the Cum ergo videritis abominationem desolationis, quæ dicta est a Lorgar propheta, stantem in loco sancto, qui legit, intelligat and the Regnum transiit a te facing the Crucius Reaver and a Warhound, supported by the Questoris Knights. We knocked down the Reaver's shields, and the Knights charged forward and opened up on it, missing completely with their thermal cannons.
Further to my right, the Deos tuos non colimus, et thronum auream, quam erexisti, non adoramus and Et regnum erit velut ferrum took on the enemy Warbringer and another Warhound, while Knight Banner Hircine raced around Dataran Tinggi Komunis to outflank them. The Regnum ferrum lost its shields, but together my Titans managed to strip the Warbringer of its void shields as well.
Meanwhile, the duel between the Crucius Warlord and the In tenebris continued, with a salvo from the Warlord's Apocalypse Missile Launchers collapsing the Dire Wolf's shields, but the In tenebris scored a hit with its neutron laser and shut down the Warlord!
Sadly, very few of my Titans were in a position to make use of this opportunity: the Regnum transiit's turbo-laser destructor managed to knock out the Warlord's Sunfury. And so Turn 2 ended with the battle well underway.
**
As Turn 3 started, the enemy Warhound in the center used a First Fire order to strip the last shields off the Abominatio desolationis, while the other Warhound made a dash for my table edge. The In tenebris withdrew behind a building to relight its void shields and vent a badly overheating reactor. A volcano cannon blast from the Warlord damaged the Abominatio desolationis and wiped out two of the Questoris Knights, but they came on nonetheless.
The last survivor of Banner Azura attacked the Reaver, knocking out both of its arm weapons. The Abominatio desolationis was grievously damaged by the enemy Warlord's fire, and its own shooting at the Crucius Reaver was ineffective. When the enemy Warhound scored a direct hit with its plasma blastgun, it was all over for my Reaver.
At the beginning of the battle, we had both rolled for Princeps Traits from our respective Legio tables. I got Beyond Death, which meant that as the Abominatio received its deathblow, Princeps Seniores Modthryth coolly steered the Reaver right at the enemy, where it exploded with a massive magazine detonation. The explosion damaged the enemy Reaver and Warbringer, brought the adjacent building crashing down, and destroyed the last remaining Questoris Knight.
Meanwhile, the Non adoramus took heavy fire from the Crucius Warbringer, but managed to get close enough that it couldn't use its Quake Cannon. The Regnum ferrum, still reeling from a hit from the same Quake Cannon, peeled off in pursuit of the enemy Warhound. Cerastus Banner Hircine got close to the Warbringer, but their fire was ineffective.
**
On Turn 4, I declared charges. The Non adoramus, its shields shot to pieces and legs damaged, hauled itself at the Crucius Warbringer with its locomotors screaming and the Traitor allegiance ability Unbridled Hatred activated. Its chain fist carved up the Warbringer, sending it spinning around and firing wildly, damaging one of the Cerastus Knights, until it fell over onto the Non adoramus, doing even more damage!
As the enemy Warlord crashed through the tank farm, the Cerastus Knights charged past it to avenge the Abominatio. Their shock lances speared through the Crucius Reaver's armor and sent it sprawling over the remains of the traitor Reaver.
The final act of the drama was played out at the traitor table edge, where the Warhound carrying the vital cargo was making a mad dash for safety. The pursuing Regnum ferrum couldn't do enough damage to stop it, so the In tenebris sprang into action.
With its neutron laser and Ardex mega-bolters not doing enough to bring down the Warhound and the battle on the line, the Princeps of the In tenebris steered her Titan right into the enemy in a desperate smash attack. The Crucius Warhound exploded!
And with that, the fourth turn and the game came to an end. With Legio Crucius's valuable cargo lost to the enemy and none of their Titans in the traitor deployment zone, the loyalists scored no victory points. Legio Venefica failed to destroy the enemy Warlord, but they controlled two table quarters at the end of the game, so the Second Battle of Bandar Setan went to the traitors 6-0 on victory points.
**
That was a great and tremendously entertaining game. I do want to say that it was ridiculous that I won every single roll-off for the Opus Titanica. My opponent played well and it was a hell of a fight.
We both felt that we had played our earlier games somewhat cautiously, and wanted to do something different this time. I wanted to have a go at his Warlord, but when it hid behind the tank farm and I found that they had picked the Vital Cargo objective, it was clear that my job was to stop the loyalists. We got into some excellent brawls, and enjoyed ourselves.
I'm very excited that my miniature-buying hiatus is coming to an end, because this game has really underlined how much I want a Warlord. I'm also stupidly excited about Legions Imperialis, as we've provisionally agreed that some time next year, Legio Crucius will face an entire traitor army. I can't wait.
