Ordo Reductor

All right, today I'll be talking about the changes to the Ordo Reductor as specified in Forge World's new (well, not really new, I'm more than a month late) book, Mechanicum: Taghmata Army List.

As an aside, I've decided to get myself a Legio Cybernetica army, so Ordo Reductor isn't my kind of thing. I'll either buy the Battlegroup Cybernetica and a 2nd Thanatar or 3 Thallax shock troopers with phase-plasma fusils and a 5th Castellax robot, this time with Darkfire cannon. However, I think I'll just go with what my heart says and give up on trying to fit Thallax shock troopers in (just so they can help with skyfire with Icarian upgrades and anti-vehicle duties) and go with an all battle-automata theme - the TRUE Legio Cybernetica and the reason why I'm playing it in the first place. Giant robots!

So I think the list I'll most likely get is 1 Archmagos Dominus, 4 Castellax robots with 2 Mauler pattern bolt cannons and 2 Darkfire cannons, 3 Vorax robots with poisoned ammo for their rotor cannons and 2 Thanatar siege-automata. In this way, with my Knight Paladin filling in the Lord of War slot, my list turns into a true Legio Cybernetica army with nothing but giant robots. Awesome. Go for fluff and theme instead of trying to make it competitive, that might be a good advice. Alternatively, I can field the Legio Cybernetica as allies to my Questoris Knights, where I have a Knight Paladin as my lord scion, a Knight Errant scion, allied with an Archmagos Dominus, 2 Castellax robots with siege wreckers, 1 Castellax battle-automata with Darkfire cannon, 3 Vorax robots with poisoned ammo for their rotor cannons and 1 Thanatar siege-automata. If games go up to 2,500 points as is usual for Horus Heresy (right now my list stands at 2,000 points), I'll  use Legio Cybernetica as my primary detachment alongside an allied detachment of 2 Questoris Knights for 2,500-point games (1 Archmagos Dominus, 2 Castellax robots with siege wreckers, 2 Castellax robots with Darkfire cannons and automata power blades, 3 Vorax battle-automata with poisoned ammo for their rotor cannons and 2 Thanatar siege-automata with Knight Paladin Seneschal with 1 bio-corrosive heavy stubber and Knight Errant scion).

Anyway, we'll see. Besides, this is a post for the Ordo Reductor so without further ado I'll move into that.

Ordo Reductor

Basically, the Ordo Reductor is like a Rite of War, and it has the following restrictions and benefits:

Unlocks Magos Reductor, which can be upgraded to an Archmagos Reductor as per the Magos Dominus, but apparently he's 10 points cheaper than the Dominus. Different from the Magos Prime.

Unlocks Minotaur battery and artillery battery. Can you say awesomeness? Except that if I want artillery I would have stuck to Imperial Guard. Well, not too bad because it seems there are benefits to using artillery in this list. 12 Medusa-cannon artillery tanks, all with upgrades? Yes, please.

Compulsory HQ choice must be Magos Reductor or Archmagos Reductor, or some special character called Caleb Decima who apparently is an Archmagos Reductor. Well, as per Legio Cybernetica, duh. Besides, he's cheaper but has no Feel No Pain.

Compulsory Troops choices must be Thallax cohorts. Again, duh. That's why I'm playing Legio Cybernetica. I love Thallax cohorts, but I love Castellax robots even more. Anyway, not a bad chocie, they're incredibly versatile and I would field 9-men Thallax cohorts with 3 phase-plasma fusils, upgraded with Icarian or Destructor. Yay. Except that it would take away points from my artillery, so...nope. Bare bones would do, with the necessary Icarian upgrades.

If you're taking Battle or Siege-automata, you can only take less than half your army. Dude, why are you playing this list then? Go play Legio Cybernetica instead. This is for the Reductor artilleries! Minotaur and artillery batteries!

Artillery tank squadron starts out as a Whirlwind at 85 points, I believe, you can take up to 3 of them in each slot, and upgrade them with various weapons like the Demolisher cannon, quad lascannon, dual melta cannon, Earthshaker cannon, Medusa cannon, Colossus Bombard cannon. Other options are heavy flamer or heavy bolter, +1 front armor and Blessed Autosimulcra (I believe the Knights get this for 10 points each).

Minotaur artillery tanks are no longer super-heavy, are 70 points cheaper (still expensive though, but probably worth the cost?), can be squadroned in threes, has 5 hull points instead of 6 and a rear-facing flare shield, with a twin-linked massive blast Earthshaker cannon. Scary. Very scary.

And the Ordo Reductor has its own special Force Organization Chart. Titled the Matrix of Ruin, as below:

Matrix of Ruin

Compulsory: 1 HQ, 2 Troops, 2 Heavy Support (what? You were taking Ordo Reductor for the artillery tanks anyway and if you weren't, you're doing it wrong)

Optional: 1 HQ, 3 Troops, 2 Elites, 2 Fast Attack, 2 Heavy Support and 2 - yes, TWO - Lords of War. Yup, I'm gonna throw in 2 Questoris Knights if I ever try the Ordo Reductor out (nope, still sticking to Legio Cybernetica, sorry). Yahoo!

It has a special rule, The Unfettered Wrath of the Machine, which means all Tanks are scoring in the enemy deployment zone in Age of Darkness missions (30K or Horus Heresy missions), or gain Objective Secured in Maelstrom of War missions. Can I say awesome? 4x3 Artillery tanks with Demolisher cannons rolling up to objectives, park there and secure them for the rest of the game, blasting enemy troops into oblivion? Yes, please.

And again, 2 Knights. Yes, 2 Knights. Probably the 2 Macro-engines from the Ordo Ordinatus can fit in here somehow in higher-point games, but...they are too expensive. I prefer Titans.

Anyway, there you have it. The new Ordo Reductor! A potential list would be a Magos Reductor with Machinator Array, 2 Thallax Cohort with their Icarian or Destructor upgrade (3 troopers each), 3 Kios Venator, 2 Medusa artillery batteries of 3 each (making that 6), a single Minotaur artillery tank because it's too expensive otherwise, a Questoris Knight Paladin and a Questoris Knight Errant as the 2 Lords of War. Sounds scary, doesn't it?

I think I'll stick to Legio Cybernetica. My wallet simply can't afford that amount of awesomeness. And I like my giant robots a lot more than artillery. Thanatar walking up to a Minotaur and saying hello before wrecking it - that's more my style. Anyway, we'll see.

May the Omnissiah grace us with more knowledge (and knowledge is power! The first creed, remember that!)!