Epic: The Battle of Asculum Towers

After their bruising defeat in the battle of Basilica 953371, the Word Bearers of the Morbid Fane chapter face a new enemy: an entire damn Titan Legion. I've wanted to try pitting my space marines against an army of Titans ever since I got my hands on Legions, and my friend Aaro was kind enough to oblige me. Neither of us took this too seriously; both of us had a lot of fun.

**

Because I knew I'd be facing Titans, I invested in some neutron lasers by splitting a box of Cerberus tank destroyers with a friend.

One of my favorite units in old Epic were always the tunnelers, because they're just so silly. I love them. I even built one in 28mm, and I think there should be a mission in Darktide where you're deployed in a Termite. So when a friend asked if I wanted a box of 8mm Termites on a pretty steep discount, well, you bet I did.

Three Termites are enough to transport a tactical detachment and attached HQ, so that'll get us started.

In total, I brought my two demi-companies of infantry, an armored company and a sky-hunter phalanx with two pairs of Land Speeders and Javelins. The allied contingent was an Auxilia armored company of a Leman Russ Vanquisher squadron, two Valdors and a Shadowsword.

My opponent brought an Axiom maniple of a Warlord, a Reaver and two Warhounds, and borrowed two of my Questoris Knights and an Auxilia sub-cohort.

**

We set up my Titanicus terrain for some Legions action. I need some smaller terrain pieces! These were designed for a game where the smallest thing on the table is a Warhound Titan.

We rolled for a mission and got Stronghold Assault, which meant two neutral objectives and one objective in each player's deployment zone. For secondary objectives, I picked Breakthrough and my opponent chose Control the Battlefield: I'd have to pass some secretly pre-selected units over his table edge, and he'd get victory points for each table quarter he controlled.

The Crucius deployment was simple: line abreast, with the Warlord standing on the objective. Titans may not have any tactical strength to control contested objectives with, but it doesn't matter if they can kill everyone before they get close enough!

As for me, I deployed my infantry in the dubious shelter of the buildings, and the tanks in what I think of as a Team Yankee/World War III parking lot. I really just wanted to throw my tanks at the Titans and see what happens.

My strategy is going to be to secure the neutral objectives and hope the Titans' firepower isn't enough to kill everyone.

**

As the first turn started, the traitor army surged toward the towering loyalist Titans, which hung back and opened a devastating fire.

One of the first casualties was my Shadowsword, defeated in a volcano cannon duel by the Crucius Reaver.

The first fire phase also marked the Legions debut of templates, as the Warlord opened fire with its quake cannon.

Some follow-up shots from the Warhound skulking behind the fuel tank nearly wiped out the Leman Russes, with the sole survivor breaking and fleeing.

Traitor return fire knocked down some void shields. At this rate, the butcher's bill would be steep.

Victory points:

Loyalists: 0 VP

Traitors: 0 VP

**

Undaunted, the traitors pushed for the neutral objectives. 

On the right, the Contemptor Dreadnought Talon Septuaginta centesimae mortes secured their objective, while one tactical detachment and the missile launcher marines hoofed it over to the left.

Enemy fire knocked out half of the Contemptors and blew up a Kratos.

On the left, the loyalists destroyed a Valdor and one of the brand-new Cerberus tank destroyers, as well as two Predators, sending the survivors fleeing off the battlefield! Traitor fire knocked down the shields on the Crucius Reaver and damaged it slightly.

The casualties keep mounting, but we've captured an objective!

Victory points:

Loyalists: 0 VP

Traitors: 4 VP

**

It's Turn 3 and my army looks a lot smaller than it used to.

This is the turn I sent in the Outflanking Sky-Hunter Phalanx, to see if I could get in a couple of multi-melta shots on an unguarded Titan's rear armor.

As the skimmers moved in, the Crucius Warhound on my right redeployed, and the Auxilia infantry garrisoning the buildings charged!

The Contemptors shot down half of the charging infantry and finished off the rest in mêlée, but the Javelins on my right and one of the Land Speeder squadrons were wiped out!

On my left, the loyalist Reaver made an about turn to destroy my Javelins.

On the right, the heroic Contemptors were destroyed by the Warlord Titan. My Kratoses knocked down the void shields on the loyalist Warhound and damaged its hull.

While the losses piled up, the neutral objectives stayed in traitor hands.

Victory points:

Loyalists: 0 VP

Traitors: 12 VP

**

Turn 4 opened with a charge order for the damaged Warhound, but as it strode into the overwatch fire of Kratos squadron Behold! his mercies flourish, the barrage of lascannons was too much for it to withstand, and the Warhound toppled over.

In the enemy rear, the Termites emerged and disgorged a Word Bearers Tactical detachment to secure the table quarter.

My army was looking dangerously thin on the ground!

Especially after the surviving Warhound wiped our a Predator squadron.

On the right, the Word Bearers surrounded the Auxilia infantry as it wiped out my Land Speeders, and at the moment of their triumph, slaughtered the loyalists with bolter fire.

I'm so proud of this, it's the most villainous Word Bearers-y thing I've ever done in a wargame.

Victory points:

Loyalists: 0 VP

Traitors: 20 VP

**

After Turn 4, it was pretty obvious that I was going to win on victory points, but we were enjoying the game so we played until the end, although nothing much really happened. On the last turn, the Warlord blew up the last surviving Kratos, and only a batch of lucky saves stopped my Whirlwinds from scoring an engine kill on the second Warhound.

Final score:

Loyalists: 7 VP

Traitors: 35 VP

**

So, this was not a 100% serious game of Legions Imperialis. But it was definitely 100% fun, and, I think, a successful introduction to Legions for my esteemed opponent. The amount of firepower coming off a Warlord Titan is absolutely hilarious, and the sheer intimidation of one of them standing on an objective is awesome. I have to get one of my own.

Speaking of hilarious, this has to be the funniest case of new model syndrome I've ever had. Every single Titan-killer unit I got for this - the Valdors, Cerberuses and Shadowsword - promptly blew up or ran away. I think I got like one neutron laser shot off from one of the Valdors. I fully expected the Termites to somehow explode or scatter off the table.

On the positive side, the Kratoses were, once again, brilliant. They're becoming one of my favorite units, as they can take so much punishment while hurting the enemy. I'm delighted that the Ruin of the Salamanders supplement has been announced, as not only do the Saturnine Terminators look gloriously silly, but there are Fellblades and Glaives and everything, so surely a heavy armor formation like the Auxilia super-heavy company must be coming for the marines? I want Fellblades, but I also just want more Kratoses. Entire formations of Kratoses.

Oh, because of the insufferable people who claim the plural of codex in English is codices, my official suggestion for the plural form of Kratos is Kratices.

Another nice surprise was the Contemptors, who held up a lot better than I expected under fire. I'm also beginning to feel that every army could use an Auxilia sub-cohort. They're cheap infantry for sitting on objectives, what's not to like?

The more I think about it, the more I believe a Titan army could actually be viable, and would definitely be fun.

**

Legions continues to be great fun, and I'd like to thank my esteemed opponents for some excellent games. Here's hoping for more next year.

Let's Read the Horus Heresy 23: Betrayer

Skane was the one to find the body.

 - The Horus Heresy: Betrayer, Aaron Dembski-Bowden

"If the Bureau of Ordnance can't provide us with torpedoes that will hit and explode ... then for God's sake, get the Bureau of Ships to design a boat hook with which we can rip the plates off a target's side."

 - Rear Admiral Charles A. Lockwood USN, Commander, Submarines, Pacific Fleet, at a 1943 meeting of the Submarine Officers' Conference, quoted in Clay Blair Jr., Silent Victory: The U.S. Submarine War Against Japan, J.B. Lippincott Company, Philadelphia and New York, 1975.

"Status on the ursus claws?"

 - Flag-Captain Lotara Sarrin

We're back with the Word Bearers and the World Eaters, conducted by Aaron Dembski-Bowden, who I think has to be the best Horus Heresy author by quite a margin. Betrayer is one of the books Games Workshop has kept in print, and it's a nice change reading a physical book again. I loved Dembski-Bowden's First Heretic, and have been looking forward to this.

**

Once again, Dembski-Bowden fully lives up to expectations. As grand and intoxicating as First Heretic was, this picks up where it left off, with the excellent addition of Angron and his equerry Khârn. Lorgar has some great interactions with Magnus and Angron, and Horus even phones in psychically, but the stars of the show are indubitably Khârn and Argel Tal, two of the most charismatic characters of the Horus Heresy. It's like being with the Mournival and friends in Horus Rising again.

If you remember the Super Star Destroyer from Battle for the Abyss, it turns out Lorgar has two more of them. The combined Word Bearers-World Eaters fleet tears through Ultramar, fighting smurfs all the way. Probably my least favorite feature of ADB's prose is when he pontificates on war, especially as I can't really not fact-check it as I read it. But the battle on Armatura is a delight of mil-sf. The way both the captain of the Conqueror and the Legio Audax titans have to work around the World Eaters' senseless rage is excellent, and I can barely describe my astonishment when the World Eaters get resupplied. Actual logistics!

The prize for best supporting character, by the way, definitely goes to Captain Lotara Sarrin of the Conqueror. I love her, and I hope she gets to bombard a planet soon. After Armatura, the gang heads to Nuceria, where they have a climactic battle for the ages. It's got everything from Warhound Titans fighting an Imperator to Erbs being horrible.

I could write so much, but I don't really want to. I strongly recommend experiencing Betrayer yourself. I feel that if any Horus Heresy books come close to transcending Warhammer fiction, this is one. For my money, Horus Rising, First Heretic and Betrayer are by far the best books in the series, and I'd say Betrayer is the best of the lot. Great characters, great war stories, great drama and tragedy. It's simply epic.

Let's Read the Horus Heresy 22: Angel Exterminatus

A small detail, almost inconsequential, but important nevertheless.

 - The Horus Heresy: Angel Exterminatus, Graham McNeill

Fulgrim and the boys are back in town as they go on an adventure with Perturabo and the Iron Warriors, in a very McNeill book in both the good and the bad.

**

While I've quite liked McNeill's short stories lately, at the beginning of this book he's back to his Fulgrim self. We're treated to a lengthy description of a parasite creature emerging from an insect - only for an Iron Warrior to step on it.

Brutal proof – if proof were needed – that the living world existed with no thoughts of compassion, justice or mercy.

Yes, we get it, your values are showing again.

The action in Angel Exterminatus starts with the Iron Warriors attacking a fortress held by the Imperial Fists.

A commander could have all the planet-killing weapons at his disposal, the most sophisticated fortress, the most advanced countermeasures, but he still needed men of flesh and blood to cross that last scrap of open ground to get to grips with the enemy.

Yeah but why though. Apparently there are several Grand Battalions of Iron Warriors, with massive artillery and Auxilia support, not only besieging but actually storming a fortress held by a single company of Imperial Fists. For no reason. Yes, Perturabo is really pissed about the assault, but still, it's a total mystery why any of this would make any sense.

Luckily, once Fulgrim arrives, we're on firmer ground, and his theatrics and interactions with Perturabo are excellent. Perturabo even gets to be a character: we learn he's from Space Ancient Greece and he and his legionnaires love building things, and even harbor secret passions for archeology. This is the best part of the book by far, so I'd say anyone who's into the Iron Warriors will want to check it out.

For the rest of us, it's a slightly more mixed experience. The other similarity between Angel Exterminatus and Fulgrim is that they're both way too long. While the plot itself is pretty good, there are several side plots, most of which are kinda pointless, and the action starts getting repetitive and the whole thing just drags. A good editor would have cut something like a hundred pages from this.

The story is that Fulgrim recruits Perturabo to help him find some secret eldar super-weapons hidden in the Cygnus X-1 anomaly, or as Perturabo calls it, the Eye of Terror. Even this main plot could have been much more interesting; there's some early drama about using the services of an eldar to guide them, but McNeill never does anything particularly interesting with it. They're also being pursued by an Iron Hands ship and its slightly motley crew, which, again, is at times interesting, but ends up being a kind of an afterthought.

There's several things I like in this: Fulgrim, Lucius and Fabulous Bill all on a manic quest to just absolutely be the worst possible person they can ever be (they all still lose to Erbs), Perturabo and the peacable side of the Iron Warriors, and several scenes. The Emperor's Children are also just comically and suicidally evil at this point, so much so that I can't entirely figure out how they manage to survive as a legion. But on the whole, Angel Exterminatus is too long, too boring, and possibly worst of all, most of the action scenes are very forgettable.

**

So yeah, I'd say this is one for big Iron Warriors fans, and even they're going to snooze through most of the action scenes. I think I may need a bit of a break from all the Horus Heresying at some point, because it's starting to get a bit repetitive. Still, we'll see what's next.

Epic: The Battle of Basilica 953371

We're following up our first game of Legions Imperialis with a 2000-point rematch. As the Horus Heresy rages, the traitor Word Bearers and loyalist Imperial Fists are locked in bloody battle over Administratum Basilica 953371, a key local government node. This report is a bit sketchier than I might have hoped, because the game was a wildly entertaining close-range brawl, and I've forgotten who exactly blew up what.

**

For this rematch, my opponent is bringing all sorts of shiny new things like Vindicators, Mastodons and a Thunderhawk Gunship. On the traitor side, I have a demi-company and an armored company, as well as a Brethren of Iron consisting of two reinforced Thallax cohorts and a Kratos commander.

Last time, the loyalists fielded two Warhound Titans. I think it's high time my Legio Venefica walked a Legions Imperialis battlefield, so I'm bringing a Reaver Titan. Since the Abominatio Desolationis got blown up in its last battle with Legio Crucius, my legion will be represented by the Deos tuos non colimus, et thronum auream, quam erexisti, non adoramus, or the Non Adoramus for short.

That left me with 200 points to spend on allies, which is just enough for a Yat-Kha sub-cohort, the Glorifiers of the White Snow, and, from the 256th bomber wing of the 2773rd (Provisional) Air Group, a Marauder bomber.

**

With our armies picked, it was time to set up the terrain. We'll be fighting over Basilica Administratum 953371, so we placed that building in the center of the table.

I agree with Goonhammer that the pre-painted Gothic Sector terrain is truly excellent, and I appreciate the damaged and destroyed variants of the buildings.

For the mission, we rolled All Out War, meaning we freely place six objectives, and deploy right in each other's face. It promised to be absolutely hilarious. I set up my armor and the Auxilia on my left, the larger Thallax cohort in the center, and the Reaver on my right. My opponent sent his Marine tanks against mine, with the Mastodons and Auxilia armor sweeping left around the Basilica.

**

Turn 1 started with my larger Thallax cohort firing their jump packs and taking control of Basilica 953371 and with it, objective 3.

As they did so, the loyalist Mastodons swung around the basilica and unleashed their cargoes of Terminators and Contemptor Dreadnoughts.

The Terminators charged the Rapier battery, losing a stand to their overwatch fire, while the Contemptors attacked the Brethren of Iron's command Kratos. The loyalist Thunderhawk swooped down to add to the chaos, with assault marines spilling from its exits, and the traitor Xiphons barreled in on an intercept course, but their shots went wide.

On the traitor left, my spanking new Whirlwinds opened fire, blowing apart two loyalist Predators and causing the last one to turn tail and flee.

On the right, the Non Adoramus downed a shield from the nearest Mastodon with its gatling blasters, while the carapace-mounted Apoptygma missile launcher wiped out the Deredeo Dreadnoughts holding objective 2!

In the close combat phase, the Imperial Fist assault marines knocked out two Vindicators, and the Contemptors tore the Kratos apart. As the loyalist Vindicators lined up to blast the Basilica Administratum, the Thallax cohort turned its multi-meltas on the enemy tanks and destroyed all four.

At this point I have to say that the dice were outrageously in my favor: I was rolling hot and my opponent was missing shots and failing saves everywhere. I commend him for his exemplary sportsmanship in tolerating a frankly ridiculous run of bad luck.

Victory points:

Loyalists: 3 VP

Traitors: 16 VP

**

As Turn 2 opened, the Imperial Fists Mastodons swept forward, trying to bring their siege melta arrays to bear on the Reaver. However, I had given the Non Adoramus very simple orders: charge!

Meanwhile, the loyalist Kratoses took possession of objective 2, and destroyed my Land Raiders.

My Marauder bomber came in for its first proper bombing run, managing to kill some Imperial Fists assault marines.

The assault marines unsuccesfully stormed the Basilica Administratum, while the Terminators finally wiped out the traitor Rapier battery. The remaining loyalist Contemptors charged into close combat with the Reaver, which stomped them and damaged one of the Mastodons. However, the Titan exposed its rear armor to the guns of the loyalist Thunderhawk. Dodging fire from traitor Xiphons, it battered down the last remaining void shields and blew smoking holes in the Reaver with its turbo-laser destructor. With a terrifying groan, the Non Adoramus collapsed.

Loyalist tanks added to the carnage by knocking out an enemy Kratos and bringing the building by objective 5 crashing down, destroying the Veletarii inside. Return fire from the Kratoses blew up a loyalist Mastodon.

Victory points:

Loyalists: 12 VP

Traitors: 25 VP

**

The traitors may have had a victory point lead, but the tide was beginning to turn.

The traitor Marauder bombed the Imperial Fists Terminators, sending them falling back. Its twin Skystrike missiles homed in on the loyalist Thunderhawk but missed; however, the front turret gunner drew a bead on the massive Astartes flyer, and a lucky shot brought the Thunderhawk down!

Meanwhile, the surviving Mastodon knocked the enemy Xiphons out of the sky with its anti-aircraft weapons, and a lascannon shot from a Leman Russ brought down the Marauder. At some point I lost the Storm Eagle, and the sole loyalist Xiphon was also shot down.

The loyalist super-heavies opened fire on the basilica, damaging it severely while staying out of the range of the Thallax multi-meltas.

Victory points:

Loyalists: 28 VP

Traitors: 31 VP

**

As Turn 4 started, I knew I needed to grab several objectives or I'd lose the game. My ineptly executed assault on objective 6 had failed, and the last remaining loyalist Kratos and the Baneblade were sitting on objective 2. I'd have to dislodge them to stand any chance of victory.

Heroically, my last surviving Predator did its part by knocking out the Baneblade.

My Whirlwinds finally cleared the loyalist infantry from objective 6.

But in the center, the Basilica Administratum finally collapsed under the concentrated fire of the loyalist armor, burying most of the Thallaxes in the rubble.

As the surviving Thallaxes ran away, the battle finally came to an end. There was no way I could have caught the loyalists in victory points on the last turn, so I conceded.

Victory points:

Loyalists: 44 VP

Traitors: 37 VP

Secondary objectives:

Loyalists: +10 VP, total 54 VP

Traitors: +10 VP, total 47 VP

Game ends: loyalist victory.

**

It had become necessary to destroy the basilica to save it. With the loyalists standing victorious over the smoking ruins, the traitors beat a hasty retreat.

I have to say, I feel I made up for my extraordinary run of luck with the dice by playing quite badly. I misdeployed my Whirlwinds, didn't quite know how to use my bomber or the second Thallax cohort, and threw way too many resources at objective 6. My opponent, on the other hand, massed his forces effectively, and once he'd weathered the wrath of the dice gods, just plain beat me up.

Like our previous Legions outing, I thoroughly enjoyed the game. I think we're kind of mostly getting the hang of it, and only forgetting some of the more niche rules any more. I swear that one day I'll actually remember to use Master Tactician!

This game strengthened my opinion that Legions is, first and foremost, a game of firepower. Mobility and protection certainly play their part, but I have to say that the game is so entertainingly lethal that blowing up your opponent seems to be the key to victory. On that front, the Thallaxes were excellent, and when my artillery finally got where they needed to be, they did great work. My Kratoses were solid once again, and I really hope we get a heavy armor formation for the marines at some point.

I don't quite know how I feel about Titans just yet. I couldn't make up my mind whether to take a chain fist or a second gatling blaster on my Reaver, and with the scenario we rolled, I so wish I'd have gone for the chain fist. On the other hand, with a more conventional deployment, maybe the Titan would have lived longer, too. More experiments are in order.

To conclude, I need more artillery.

**

So that was an excellent game of Legions Imperialis! To repeat myself, I love this game, and not just because of Space Marine nostalgia. And luckily, there's more to come soon!

P.S. I'm delighted to add a link to Shaun's blog post on our games!

Let's Read the Horus Heresy 21: Shadows of Treachery

My scream woke me from the dream.

 - The Crimson Fist, John French; in The Horus Heresy: Shadows of Treachery

Next up it's yet another anthology. This one's good, though.

**

John French gets us started with a whole novella about the Imperial Fists fighting the Iron Warriors. It's quite decently written, and I like an epic space battle, but the Fists are just kinda boring. Once again, Rogal Dorn is a complete buffoon, and he's clearly trained his legion to obey his orders stupidly literally to the point of suicide, but the more I read about him, the more sense that makes.

Because French writes pretty well, I have to say that the Iron Warriors were a bit of a disappointment here as they were just a pile of generic villain tropes with some hazard stripes painted on. My only impression of Perturabo at this point is that he's an uninteresting video game end boss.

Graham McNeill follows up with the Dark King, a short story on how the Primarch of the Night Lords, Conrad Kurze, starts his rebellion against the Imperium. It features Rogal Dorn being a buffoon, and I am a fan of Kurze kicking his ass.

Dan Abnett is next, and we're back on Terra in The Lightning Tower, with... Rogal Dorn. I didn't know this was an Imperial Fists anthology. This is kind of a follow-up story to the previous one, I guess, but it really doesn't add much and isn't very interesting. I can think of so many things I'd rather read than Dorn's internal monologue.

Graham McNeill then surprises us by heading back to Mars, without a suit of yellow power armor in sight. It's a good story, though: a prequel to Mechanicum, which I liked. There's a Gav Thorpe story, and I tried reading it for a bit, and then moved on. At least I think Rogal Dorn wasn't in it.

Next up is a third McNeill story, Death of a Silversmith. I'm slightly surprised that of all the Horus Heresy authors, he's quite good at these little vignettes far from the main action. Last but certainly not least is Aaron Dembski-Bowden's novella, the Prince of Crows, starring First Captain Sevatar of the Night Lords. This is Dembski-Bowden on top form: excellent entertainment that had me stay up too late because I didn't want to stop reading.

**

So here we have a rare thing: a really good Horus Heresy short story anthology. I think Prince of Crows alone is worth the price of the whole thing, and Dark King's pretty good too, which I think makes this an almost compulsory volume for Night Lords fans.

Which I'm afraid I'm slightly becoming. I really liked Sevatar and the whole gang, and I think that if these books were my introduction to the Horus Heresy, I'd be seriously considering a Night Lords army. After all, the Punisher was my favorite Marvel character. I'm going to try to limit myself to maybe building a character model.

Epic: Iron Lion Zion

"Faith and steel must now be joined."

 - the daemon Ingethel, in The Horus Heresy: Aurelian, Aaron Dembski-Bowden

Now that I've played Legions Imperialis, I've got lots of ideas on how to expand my Word Bearers army. When I read The First Heretic, I thought the Legio Cybernetica robots in Word Bearers colors were very cool, so I definitely want a Brethren of Iron formation.

**

After the Mechanicum supplement for Legions came out, Games Workshop published PDF rules for what they call Bonded Cybernetica Formations. These are a way to take Mechanicum troops - mostly robots - in other armies, without using up the ally allowance. The marine formation is called a Brethren of Iron; it's a marine HQ and two Core slots, which must be either marines or Thallax automata. All the marine units in the formation gain the Cortex Controller rule, so they can give orders to robots.

So at some point, I'll want at least one marine tactical detachment to do some cortex controlling. This gave me several conversion ideas, so I grabbed a Mechanicum infantry box and got to work. I gave the sergeant an axe from a Tech-Priest Auxilia and a servo-arm from an Archmagos, and added a Rapier crewmember to the stand.

I gave the Tech-Priest who lost his axe a hammer from one of the Terminators on the marine sprue, so I guess I also have a Mechanicum unit.

Since I was chopping up an Archmagos, I stuck his axe on a marine commander, and added another Rapier crewmember, to make a start on an HQ unit.

I'm coming back to these guys when I field them! For now I just want to say that I'm quite surprised I find myself actually enjoying 8mm conversions.

**

Another support formation in the same PDF is the Collegia Titanica Support Cohort. It lets you bring robots as part of the Collegia Titanica list, and even better, regular Mechanicum infantry as optional choices. So I painted the tech-thralls in the Mechanicum infantry box in the colors of Legio Venefica.

I think they look pretty good! When I get some robots, I'll be able to field these guys with my Titans.

**

I also got myself a second Predator squadron. I wasn't too impressed with the Sicarans, but I liked my las-preds.

Building tanks gave me a very silly idea for my Brethren of Iron. They need an HQ choice. I could just include a command stand, but what do I do with it? It's not fast enough to keep up with the Thallax automata and it doesn't have jump packs, so it would slow them down. But attaching it to a tactical detachment is just a waste of a cortex controller.

You know what could keep up with the robots or go off and do things on its own? A Kratos. And just like that, a stupid conversion idea was born.

Since I already used one Archmagos for conversion bits, I took the tentacles from their Abeyant and stuck them to a Kratos hull.

I stuck the front of the Abeyant, with the speaker and antenna, to the back of the Kratos turret, and the servo-arm to the side, and added another antenna-like thing to the left side of the turret.

I like it!

Meanwhile, I built the Thallax Cohorts from the Mechanicum box and painted them. I quite like the models!

As I was putting my next army list together, I ended up with a spare 20 points and couldn't think of anything else to use it on except even more Thallaxes. Since I don't have any more of the models, I painted two bases of Ursarax automata to proxy them with.

So for my next game, I'll be fielding a Brethren of Iron formation consisting of a Kratos Commander and two four-stand detachments of Thallax battle-automata.

**

I like the robots and will almost certainly pick up the Battle-Automata box, but in general, I'm not really sold on the Mechanicum aesthetic in Legions. It's also weird to me that they have no flyers; there are Machine Cult ornithopters in the Horus Heresy novels and 40k, so hopefully we'll see them at some point. And, of course, some more artillery.