The rumors from Raseir are that Laws have become more important than men, and that it has become a crime to think. Few go to that city now, and even fewer return.
- dialogue, Quest for Glory II: Trial by Fire
Never in a state
Can laws be well administered when dread
Has ceased to act, nor can an armèd host
Be rightly ruled, if no defence of fear
And awe be present.
- Menelaos, in Sophocles's Ajax, trans. Edward Hayes Plumptre (1878)
The battle for the desert world of Lautan Lama rages on. The Legio Venefica force under Princeps Seniores Modthryth got the better of the loyalists in the initial skirmish at
Bitter Tower, but Legio Crucius rallied and seized the vital fuel supplies at
Depoh Minyak. As the Titans of Legio Crucius advance deeper into the streets of
Bandar Setan, the traitors are waiting for them in ambush.
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**
This battle will be the debut of the first new Titan I bought: a
Dire Wolf Heavy Scout Titan, the
Ipse revelat profunda et abscondita, et novit in tenebris constituta, or
In Tenebris. This was the single resin model, not the new box of two with all kinds of fancy weapon options. I picked the one with the neutron laser; I like volcano cannons, but you can get them on anything these days, and the neutron laser promises to be weird and disproportionately useful against bigger Titans. The small size of the Dire Wolf also works perfectly with Legio Venefica's Envious trait.
The carapace weapon was easy enough to magnetize: I drilled out the hole in the hull and cut off the tab in the weapon and drilled a corresponding hole there, fit the magnets and left the piston rods supporting the weapon unglued.
The Ardex bolters fit snugly enough that they stay in place without glue, although if I'm honest, I hardly anticipate an alternative weapon option there.
This was actually a very easy assembly job for a Forge World resin model! I pretty much did the whole thing in one sitting, and then applied model railway ballast to the base.
**
My esteemed opponent showed up with a Legio Crucius Mandatum maniple and attached psi-titan, worth 1665 points:
Warlord Battle Titan Filia Gehennae; princeps seniores - 385 pts
2 × Sunfury Plasma Annihilator - 90 pts
Paired Gatling Blasters - 30 points
Terminus Override Mechanism - 30 pts = 535 points
Warhound Scout Titan Moritelcontar - 180 pts
Plasma Blastgun - 30 pts
Vulcan Mega Bolter - 10 pts = 220 points [755]
Warhound Scout Titan Caput Lupi- 180 pts
Inferno Gun - 20 pts
Vulcan Mega Bolter - 10 pts = 210 points [965]
Warlord-Sinister Psi Titan Pater Formidinis (ʼAbu Al-hōl) - 385 pts
Psi-titan - 300 pts
Paired Apocalypse Missile Launchers - 15 pts = 600 points [1665]
I assembled a force to meet them. I quite like the Heavy Scout Titan rule that lets you bring a Dire Wolf as a replacement for an optional Warhound in a maniple. It means I can bring pretty much exactly the same Ferrox maniple as last time, but with the Dire Wolf as an additional Titan. For Knight support, I'm bringing three Questoris Knights and the two Cerastus lancers from the core set. Here they are:
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
Volcano Cannon - 25 pts
Laser Blaster - 25 pts
Apoptygma Missile Launcher - 10 pts = 310 points [635]
Warhound Et regnum erit velut ferrum - 180 pts
Turbo Laser Destructor - 20 pts
Vulcan Mega Bolter - 10 pts = 210 points [845]
Warhound Regnum transiit a te - 180 pts
Plasma Blastgun - 30 pts
Vulcan Mega Bolter - 10 pts = 220 points [1065]
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 = 265 points [1330]
Cerastus Knight Banner Hircine - 130 pts
2 × shock lance and ion gauntlet shield - 40 pts = 170 points [1500]
Questoris Knight Banner Azura - 120 pts
3 × Questoris melee weapon - 15
rapid fire battle cannon - 10
2 × thermal cannon [20] = 165 points [1665]
**
We set up the terrain centered on a tall tower block.
I was quite timid in my deployment (I had slept very poorly the previous night), and concentrated on hiding from my opponent's scary Warlords. The Filia Gehennae deployed straight down the middle, and 'Abu Al-hōl on the Crucius left.
I mostly just hid behind buildings, and spent my stratagem points on sending Knight Banner Azura to Outflank. The In Tenebris deployed last due to its special rule, and I lined it up for a shot on the Filia Gehennae.
However, I failed my order rolls, and of course the neutron laser shot missed. And to make things worse, I had my shot lined up properly, but failed to realize that my Dire Wolf was wide open to 'Abu al-Hōl.
The Sinistramanus Tenebrae sang out for the first time, scoring a direct hit on the In Tenebris and nearly destroying it with one shot. The Dire Wolf quickly scuttled into cover behind a building as its servitor clades struggled to control the damage. Meanwhile, the Venefica Reavers engaged the Crucius Warlord on the left. The Cerastus Knights moved up the middle, their ion shields shunting aside enemy fire, and the outflanking Questoris Knights arrived on the left table edge.
As the Cerastus Knights got in range, the Caput Lupi opened up on them, knocking one Knight down with its Inferno Gun.
Alarmed by the Psi-Titan, the whole Venefica force shifted left, hoping to overwhelm the Crucius Warlord Filia Gehennae.
However, despite Knight Banner Azura's best efforts in getting round the Warlord, the battle was a stalemate. The Abominationem Desolationis strode forward to break the deadlock - right into the sights of 'Abu al-Hōl.
Once more, the Sinistramanus Tenebrae struck, leaving the traitor Reaver a smoking wreck. In the last moments of the battle, the In Tenebris scored a hit on a loyalist Warhound, shutting it down temporarily, but the writing was on the wall for Legio Venefica.
With one enemy Reaver knocked out, the Cerastus Knights destroyed and a Dire Wolf heavily damaged with no losses of their own, the battle of Bandar Setan is a clear victory for Legio Crucius.
**
So yeah, I lost that one. Here's the undisputed MVP of the battle, the Warlord-Sinister Psi-Titan Pater Formidinis, better known as ʼAbu Al-hōl. That left hand of darkness really is murderous, and I'm afraid I will definitely be seeing more of it.
My esteemed opponent played a very solid defensive game, and made good use of the Psi-Titan. I don't want to take anything away from that when I say that at the same time, I'm quite disappointed in myself for playing timidly and indecisively. In retrospect, I recognize that having slept very poorly the previous night played a large part in this; I felt like I was operating at the limits of my cognitive capability, like toward the end of our last
Game of Thrones session. I didn't have a coherent plan and made poor decisions.
However, I learned a lot. I was quite impressed by the durability of the Cerastus Knights, and I need to use them more. I feel like I could have gotten more out of the Questoris flankers, but also that I need more thermal cannons. The Dire Wolf barely got to participate, but hey, it survived the Psi-Titan and actually managed to shut down a Titan! I like that I'm learning more all the time.
I have two principal tactical notes for myself. The first and most important of these is that if I'm going to do the small Titans and Knights things, which does appeal to me for several reasons, I need to be more consistently aggressive and plan better for taking down the Warlords and such. The other one is that this would be easier if I could ever remember the Ferox maniple bonus. But I'm also pretty sure I want a Warlord.
**
The most important takeaway from all this, though, is that Titanicus is such a fucking great game. I had a good time playing, I got a whole bunch of new ideas I want to try for next time, and I'm quite simply looking forward to more.
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