Their target: a sewage processing center, Sanitary Nexus 1600-Theta, being attacked by the 337th Yat-Kha Shock Cohort and elements of Legio Venefica. After their defeat at Administratum Basilica 953371, the traitors were looking to retake the initiative; whoever controlled the sewage works could make life very unpleasant for the enemy. The traitor Solar Auxilia had no idea what they would be facing, until a gigantic shape began to loom in the clearing morning mists...
I'm delighted to get to follow up my first game of Warhammer Renaissance with some more Legions Imperialis. Last time, I faced a loyalist Titan Legion, and it was very silly and a lot of fun. This game would turn out to be very much the same! Shaun already wrote up a battle report on his blog, so this will be my perspective.
**
My opponent wanted to keep his list a secret, so I decided I'd surprise him as well: for the first time in my Legions life, I intend to field an Auxilia army. I'm fielding my Sub-Cohort, the Glorifiers of the White Snow, and all four of my super-heavy tanks.
I've opined in the past that Legions is a game of firepower, and based on some calculations I did, Auxilia Rapiers are one of the cheapest ways to get it. So I was lucky to be able to pick up not one, but two boxes of Auxilia support on discount at a friendly local gaming store. I built a battery of four laser destroyers and another of eight quad launchers, or more familiarly, Thudd guns. Together with my Veletaris Storm Section, they'll form a Pioneer Company, the Fishers of the Tengri Nor.
This will also be the combat debut of my Ikteros pattern Basilisks. To help all that artillery hit its targets, I'm calling on the Imperial Navy and fielding a Marauder Pathfinder, the Queen of the Blue World: its Auspex Array lets my artillery ignore the -1 to hit modifier for firing indirectly.
Finally, as allies, I'm bringing my newly finished demi-company of World Eaters, one detachment in Termites and the rest in Rhinos, and a Reaver Titan, the Abominatio Desolationis. So here's my list:
Solar Auxilia Sub-Cohort The Glorifiers of the White Snow - 535 points
HQ: Tactical Command
Core: Lasrifle Tercio
Core: Lasrifle Tercio
Support: Ogryn Charonite Section
Battle Tank: Leman Russ Vanquisher Squadron
Vanguard: Aethon Heavy Sentinel Patrol (4)
Air Support: Thunderbolt Squadron The Exalters of the Moon (2)
Solar Auxilia Pioneer Company Fishers of the Tengri Nor - 441 points
HQ: Legate Commander Detachment
Core: Veletaris Storm Section
Bastion: Rapier Battery (laser destroyers)
Bastion: Rapier Battery (quad-launchers) (8)
Artillery: Basilisk Battery
Air Support: Marauder Pathfinder The Queen of the Blue World
Solar Auxilia Super-Heavy Company Declare the Law of the Truth - 440 points
Heavy Armor: Storm Hammer Squadron
Heavy Armor: Storm Hammer Squadron
Heavy Armor: Shadowsword Squadron
Heavy Armor: Stormblade Squadron
1st Demi-Company, 117th Company, World Eaters Legion - 183 points
HQ: Legion Command
Core: Tactical Detachment
Core: Tactical Detachment
Support: Assault Detachment
Transport: Rhino Detachment (3)
Transport: Termite Detachment (2)
Legion Support: Reaver Titan Cum ergo videritis abominationem desolationis, quæ dicta est a Lorgar propheta, stantem in loco sancto, qui legit, intelligat, Legio Venefica - 400 points
Gatling blaster, chain fist, Apoptygma missile launcher
**
So what was the big secret my opponent was keeping from me?
A Warmaster Titan.
Shaun had built and painted a Warmaster in secret, and I was facing a Titan Legion army of a Warmaster and a pair of Warhounds, with an allied Salamanders Saturnine heavy assault cadre. I had a notion that the Saturnines were coming, but the Warmaster was a complete and delightful surprise.
The Saturnine cadre consisted of the command stand, four detachments of three Saturnine stands each, and two units of two Saturnine Dreadnoughts. Those things are massive, by the way. The Warmaster was kitted out with an Apocalypse missile launcher and a Vulcan mega-bolter, as well as Anvilus defence turrets; one Warhound had a Volkite eradicator and shudder missiles, while the other had a melta lance and a shock lance.
Of course, I had some idea from his cryptic hints that he probably had a big Titan, but I had decided to not even try optimizing my army for one, and see how I'd do. I was hoping he'd have at least some infantry for my Thudd guns to shoot at. But now we would see!
**
We set up Shaun's lovely terrain, with a new feature as the centerpiece.
This, I'm told, is a sewage processing center, so clearly that would be what we're fighting over.
We rolled a Devastation mission: six objectives, and we both get points for holding ones in our deployment zones and the neutral zone, and if we captured one of our opponent's objectives, we could destroy it for 10 VP. I like to think that both sides were there to capture the sewage center and destroy sewer pipes running to their opponent's territory. For secondary objectives, we both picked Vital Intel, and placed the objective counters on opposite sides of the sewage complex.
My strategy was the same as for my previous game against a Titan army: play the objectives, but also see what it's like fighting a Titan. I expected the Warmaster to be ridiculously destructive, and that I would lose a home objective to the Saturnine cadre, but that beyond that, my opponent would struggle to score objectives.
The loyalist deployment was very straightforward, with a grand total of seven models on the tabletop, with the right flank refused.
I set up my Thudd guns in some difficult terrain, the Basilisks in line within command distance of my Legate, and everyone else more or less in line abreast. I was careful to place my Reaver on the other side of the sewage complex as the Warmaster!
I would like to point out that that thing is absolutely gigantic.
Since I had a Pioneer Company, my Veletaris Storm Section could infiltrate, so I placed them in the basilica on my left, where they could contest the neutral zone objective.
My laser destroyer Rapiers took their Forward Deployment move toward the building they would occupy, and the Sentinels advanced down the deserted left side of the battlefield.
**
Turn 1
The loyalists won the initiative, and would keep it until the last turn. On the loyalist left, the Warmaster began its inexorable march forward, and the Warhounds swept right behind the sewer complex, two of the Saturnine dreadnoughts marching with them.
I marched my forces forward on the left, securing the building overlooking my left-side home objective. My Shadowsword, sure to be a prime target for the enemy, hid behind a building. On my right, the World Eaters were completely undaunted by the massive Titan facing them, and gunned the engines of their Rhinos and drove onto the cathedral plaza.
The first fire phase was mostly me trying to see if I could hurt the Warmaster. My Leman Russes, Storm Hammers and Basilisks poured fire into the Titan, joined by the Reaver's missile launcher, and knocked down seven shields. My Thudd guns also managed to score a wound on one of the Saturnine Dreadnoughts. For the first time, my Marauder Pathfinder provided fire control with its auspex array, staying well out of the range of enemy fire.
The Titan replied. The Revelator missile launcher hit the basilica on my left: the Veletaris inside were unscathed, but two Sentinels were destroyed, and the survivors broke and fled. The plasma destructors blew up the command Stormhammer, and knocked two wounds off the Stormblade.
The Titan also destroyed two stands of Auxilia infantry, and opened up on the World Eaters with its Vulcan mega-bolter and Anvilus lascannons. The Rhinos sped through the hail of mega-bolter shells, but the lascannons found their targets, blowing up two of the vehicles. Only a single stand survived.
Meanwhile, my Thunderbolts made an attack run on one of the loyalist Warhounds, knocking down its shields and inflicting a wound.
In the end phase, my Sentinels rallied, and the loyalist Titans were unable to relight so much as a single void shield!
The butcher's bill was already steep, but at the end of the turn, I controlled both of my home objectives and one neutral one, while my opponent held one of his home objectives.
Victory points:
Loyalists: 5 VP
Traitors: 13 VP
**
Turn 2
Seeing the Warmaster's shields stay down, Legate Üüriintuya gave the order: keep firing! Bringing down the loyalist behemoth would be an incredible honor for her regiment. As her tank gunners reloaded, the air before them started to shimmer, and with an explosion of warp energy, the Saturnine Terminator cadre teleported onto the battlefield.
At the same time, my tunnelers surfaced in the enemy rear.
As the World Eaters took cover in the adjacent building, the survivors of the Rhino rush sheltered in the cathedral and the sole remaining Rhino barreled toward the enemy rear. Meanwhile, more Saturnine squads arrived, surrounding my tanks.
The loyalist Warhounds split up, one moving to support the Saturnine Terminators and the other engaging my Reaver. My Thunderbolts lined up for an attack run on the Warhound on my left, and the Queen of the Blue World was there to direct the artillery. My assault marines took cover in some trenches near the loyalist objective, while the Ogryns marched out across the open toward the Warhound.
The firing started with the laser destroyers on my left knocking down the enemy Warhound's shields. The Basilisks had the range on the Warmaster, and with a crackle like lightning and a shower of sparks, the giant Titan's last void shields collapsed.
Heroically, the survivors of the Auxilia infantry on the right opened fire on the Salamanders Terminators and managed to take several of them down!
Wounded but undaunted, the Warmaster returned fire. It took out several Thudd guns, wiped out the Auxilia infantry on my right, and the plasma destructors finished off the Stormblade and destroyed the Shadowsword. The Warhound also sent some shudder missiles into my Thudd guns.
An improbable series of bolter shots from my World Eaters brought down a Saturnine Dreadnought.
The Warhound on the loyalist right fired its shock lance at my Reaver, bypassing its shields, and while it failed to score a wound, the shock halved my Titan's movement and only allowed it to fire one weapon. However, my Thunderbolts opened fire on the unshielded Warhound and destroyed it.
The servitor clades on the Warmaster managed to relight seven of its void shields, while the surviving Warhound was unable to restore any.
Victory points:
Loyalists: 15 VP
Traitors: 21 VP
**
Turn 3
The battlefield was starting to look a lot emptier! I needed to secure some objectives before that Warmaster wiped out my entire army.
In the movement phase, the Warmaster kept coming, and turned somewhat to the right for some better firing arcs down the table, and the Warhound turned back to secure the objective threatened by my tunnelers. I gave out my charge orders: the assault marines charged the Saturnine Dreadnoughts holding the loyalist right objective, while my Termites and Rhino charged the lone dreadnought on the left, and the tactical marines assaulted the Warhound!
A volley from the Saturnine Terminators wiped out my Leman Russes.
They shouldn't actually have been allowed to have those first fire orders, but they never got to shoot so no harm done!
In the close combats, my assault marines destroyed one Saturnine Dreadnought and damaged another, while the other Dreadnought killed a Termite and took a wound for a tie. The Warhound killed half the tactical marines but suffered damage.
The Warmaster opened fire again, destroying two Basilisks, nearly wiping out the Thudd Guns, swatting my Thunderbolts out of the sky and severely damaging the building my remaining Auxilia tercio was holding.
The Saturnine Terminators finished off my last super-heavy tank.
Finding my right flank objective deserted, the Saturnines destroyed it for 10 VP.
The servitors on the Warmaster brought even more void shields online, making it painfully obvious that there was no way I could destroy that monstrosity. With the destruction of one of my objectives, the victory points were tantalizingly close!
Victory points:
Loyalists: 28 VP
Traitors: 29 VP
**
Turn 4
For the first time in the game, I won the initiative. With the battlefield starting to look largely deserted, I pulled back my surviving artillery and laser destroyers. My hope now was to destroy at least one objective and keep the others out of loyalist hands to win the game.
The Warmaster pivoted to face my few remaining forces, and the Warhound strode out of the mêlée with the World Eaters, ready to dispatch any survivors of the fight for the loyalists' left-flank objective. The Saturnine Terminators started their ponderous march across the battlefield, taking casualties from my last tercio's lasrifle fire.
The World Eaters survivors all charged into the battle for the objective, and the Saturnine Dreadnought wrecked the last Rhino before falling to the traitor marines.
At the other side of the battlefield, the Ogryns charged the last Saturnine dread and destroyed it.
My Reaver, the Abominatio Desolationis, staggered forward, still partially debilitated by the shock lance, and opened up on the loyalist Warhound with its gatling blaster. Smashing aside the last void shield, the huge shells exploded across the Titan, bringing it crashing to the ground. The resulting explosion killed half of the surviving tactical marines.
In a final display of overwhelming firepower, the Warmaster destroyed one of the last Thudd guns and completely wiped out my Ogryns and assault marines with its Revelator missile launcher.
The sole remnants of the demi-company destroyed their objective, wrecking crucial sewer lines for ten victory points.
With a victory point margin of 16 in favor of the traitors, we judged that it would be impossible for the loyalists to win in the fifth turn, and called it a game.
Final score:
Loyalists: 31 VP
Traitors: 47 VP
**
So, that was an amazingly fun game. We always take ages to get set up and play the first few turns, but because Legions is so hilariously lethal, it speeds up considerably by around turn 3. Once again, my thanks to Shaun for being an excellent opponent and posting a battle report and everything!
So far, both of my games against Collegia Titanica armies have been similar: the bigger Titans wreak unbelievable carnage and just about wipe out my army, while I do my best to secure enough objectives and not get tabled. They've also been great fun. Titans are hilariously destructive, especially the Warmaster. Playing against one is an experience everyone should have. It's terrifying to see it marching down the table spitting death. There was a moment when the shields came down when I thought maybe, maybe we could actually destroy that thing, but we never had a chance.
I also have to say that the Warmaster looks much better live on the tabletop than it does in pictures, let alone the official art. I remember looking at it in the online store and not being very impressed, but the sheer size of it on the tabletop is awesome. Similarly, I had somehow not realized how big the Saturnine Dreads were. They and the Terminators also look much better on the tabletop than I expected.
The sheer amount of firepower on the big Titans, as well as their ability to take damage, is quite scary, and I still think that Titan armies can actually be viable in Legions. Especially with the bonded Mechanicum formation that lets you take robots and cheap infantry. I was also quite pleased with my Reaver this time.
I fully understand why Shaun is unhappy with the Warhounds. To me, they're a class of Titan that really need to make full use of their mobility to be worth their points. Also, while I love that they got a whole new suite of weapons with the Legions core box, I can't help thinking that they're all a bit specialized for Legions purposes; I think that in games of Legions, the classic Titanicus combo of Vulcan mega-bolter and plasma blastgun could work very well, and I'd definitely give the Inferno Gun a try, too; it was an unpleasant thing to encounter for my Knights in Titanicus!
I thought the Saturnine Cadre was as excellent deep strike threat. Having those guys sitting on their teleport pads meant I had to more or less plan for losing one of my home objectives, because that combo of precision deep strike and short-range firepower is pretty darn good. A minimum-size cadre is only 220 points! I'd say it's definitely worth considering, as the threat of them appearing somewhere on your backline will make any opponent at least slightly worried.
On my side, I loved how punchy the Basilisks were, and the sheer amount of dice I got to roll with the Storm Hammers was delightful. The Leman Russ Vanquishers continue to perform, and I may need to look at getting more Russes. The Termites absolutely continue to spark joy and I may bring some to every single game. I'd need to do the numbers to figure out if the artillery bonus from the Pathfinder is worth it; in a game with more targets for the Thudd guns, I think it may well be. It can even do a little incidental air defense with the Skystrike missiles.
Overall I quite liked playing an Auxilia army. My sleeper MVPs were the Veletaris section, who infiltrated onto the battlefield and just kept scoring that neutral zone objective every turn. I think I want more of them.
**
After the battle, we need some kill markings. The Abominatio Desolationis previously accounted for a Legio Crucius Warbringer, and now we can add a Warhound to its tally.
The Gatling Blaster has these big panels on the sides, so I decided that instead of trying to paint rings on all six barrels, maybe I could just add a silhouette there.
And the same for the Exalters of the Moon:
One must imagine Shaun busy painting super-heavy silhouettes onto his Warmaster.
**
I have to admit that I was a bit disappointed that all the Summer Preview gave us was some of the Titan weapons in plastic that had already been available in resin. But I'm still glad we got something, and that GW hasn't altogether forgotten about Legions, and even remembers Adeptus Titanicus.
Speaking of Titans, I'm now the only person in our three-man Legions group who hasn't fielded a Titan Legion army, so I know what to start working on!
Legions continues to be a lot of fun, and I do think it's a very good game.
