About My Blog
Ave Omnissiah!
My blog is primarily my own personal fluff in the Warhammer 40,000 universe regarding the Draconis system such as the Knight House Yato in Ryusei, their Household Militia, the Draconian Defenders, and the Forge World of Draconis IV with its Adeptus Mechanicus priesthood, Cybernetica cohorts and Skitarii legions, and the Titan Legion, Legio Draconis, known as the Dark Dragons.
Featured Post
Retrospective: Imperial Knights
Today, we're going to a Retrospective on...Imperial Knights! I mean, this is primarily an Imperial Knight blog, so obviously if I'm ...
Saturday, January 28, 2017
Oh, the horror!
Guess what!? Games Workshop has finally released plastic models for the Blue Horrors and Brimstone Horrors! Now you no longer have to worry about getting Brimstone Horrors and buying that Eternal Tower or whatever Tower gameset just to get them. And you also don't have to buy too many Exalted Flamers just to get the bunch of Blue Horrors.
Buy your Blue Horrors and Brimstone Horrors and begin horrifying your opponents with your Pandemonium of Tzeentch today! You can find them at Games Workshop's official website.
Sunday, January 22, 2017
Conclave Acquisitorius, Grand Convocation and Castellans of the Imperium analysis
Welcome to AdMech Knight's standard tactica where you'll find the usual highly flawed analysis, heavily biased viewpoints and unreliable advice. Today we'll be talking about the Conclave Acquisitorius and Grand Convocation Detachment, as well as the Castellans of the Imperium Deatchment, in the recently released Fall of Cadia book, and see what they're all about, how we can or should use them (or not), and the usual stuff. Oh come on, if you've read this blog before, you know what to expect - I did the same for Thousand Sons and the Cadian Battle Group for Wrath of Magnus and Mont'ka last year and 2 years ago.
First though, we shall have a look at Belisarius Cawl, Archmagos Dominus. We will probably not look at Celestine, the Living Saint and Inquisitor Katarinya Greyfax (because she's a bitch - well, I did warn you that I'm heavily biased) because this is primarily an Adeptus Mechanicus, Imperial Knight and Imperial Guard blog, so if they aren't Guard characters or Mechanicus characters or nobles from the knightly houses, I ain't gonna bother with them. Besides, a lot of other bloggers and reviewers and writers would have written much better analysis for these guys anyway. So let's concentrate on the Mechanicus aspect. And the combined Imperium forces - the reason why I included the Castellans of the Imperium Detachment is because...Imperial Guard. No, really. This is also an Imperial Guard blog, so I should speak about it as well. Anyway, moving on to our beloved Archmagos Belisarius Cawl...
Belisarius Cawl, Archmagos Dominus
Where do we begin? The dude is a monster. He's an Independent Character, so you can join him with any squad, and he has quite beefy stats, with BS5, WS5, S5, T6. 5 Wounds, Initiative 3 and 3 Attacks. He has the standard Leadership 10 for legendary, unique characters, and a 2+ armor save to make sure he doesn't get killed easily. His Toughness 6 means he is very resilient, and will not be Instant Death-ed by any high strength weapon unless it's a Destroyer weapon. Yes, unfortunately, Cawl does NOT have Eternal Warrior (unlike Celestine), so he is still susceptible to Instant Death such as Force weapons, Strength D weapons and Transmorgify (damn Thousand Sons players rolling sixes on their Tzeentch psychic powers). Otherwise, with 5 Wounds and Toughness 6, he will not be getting squished and obliterated by even Strength 10 weapons, so don't worry about that Demolisher cannon. However, 5 Wounds are pointless if he gets Instant Death-ed, so keep him out of range of those Destroyer weapons and psykers with Force. Poor guy also only has a 5++ invulnerable save because of his refractor field (not conversion field). He does have a decent 5+ Feel No Pain special rule, which is awesome because of his Warlord Trait that allows him to re-roll failed Feel No Pain rolls. So Cawl can't feel pain. Cool.
But what makes him stand out is his Artificer Self-repair Mechanisms, which allows him to recover D3 Wounds lost earlier in battle. Okay, now that's crazy. It also explains why he doesn't have Eternal Warrior, because he'll truly be an Eternal Warrior who can't die (yeah, He Will Not Die). He is equipped with the standard power axe that's master-crafted, and an arc scourge for haywire goodness. He also has a solar atomizer, which blast enemies into atoms with the power of the sun...or for tabletop players, a Strength 10 AP1 meltagun with 12" range (so you need to be within 6" for the melta to work...uh, no thanks). It's also master-crafted and fire off D3 assault shots, so yay. He also has a Mechadendrite hive that gives him a Dataspike haywire attack at Initiative 10, plus 2D6 additional attacks at Strength 4 AP- (what...?!). Uh well, 2D6 S4 AP- attacks aren't that useful anyway, but it will help him chew through a blob of say, Orks, Guardsmen, Cultists, Fire Warriors or whatever cannon fodder with terrible armor saves and low Toughness.
Cawl also has access to the standard Canticles of the Omnissiah, which all you believers of our venerable Cult Mechanicus should already be familiar with. No? Go read my Cult Mechanicus tactics on this blog then, or the Adpetus Mechanicus War Convocation...uh, okay. Maybe they're still under construction. Sorry. Anyway, your standard Canticles of the Omnissiah, in case you don't know, include giving your Mechanicus (and Skitarii AND Imperial Knights if you're using Conclave Acquisitorius or Adeptus Mechanicus War Convocation) Stubborn/Fearless, re-rolling failed To Hit rolls in close combat attacks (from a variety of re-rolling ones to all), our beloved Shroudpsalm that gives Stealth, Shrouded or both, Re-roll failed shooting attacks (again from just ones to all), an increase in Strength (plus 1, 2 or 3), and the Eletromancer frenzy where you ca generate 1 to 3 Strength 4 AP- thundershock attacks for each model at Initiative 10 during close combat. The potency depends on the number of Mechanicus units you have using the Canticles, so for example 1-3 units will only have the bare minimum of benefits (only re-roll failed To Hit rolls of Ones), 4-7 will have a slightly better effect (ones and twos), and 8+ is the most awesome of them all (re-roll ALL failed To Hit rolls!). Sweet. Until you remember that your standard, normal Tech-priest Dominus also has this at almost half of Cawl's points, and has additional access to Arcana Mechanicum and other wargear. Huh.
What Cawl does have that our regular servants of the Omnissiah do not is the Canticles of the Archmagos because apprently our Tech-priest Dominus are just lowly Magos. Oh well. Anyway, they are insane. Like the normal Canticles, their power varies, depending on the number of units you have in your army, but as I said, they are INSANE. First one gives you It Will Not Die for all Mechanicus units (or at least those with the Canticles rules, so take the War Convocation or Conclave Acquisitorius), and you get to roll twice if you have 4-7 units, and thrice if you have 8+. Wow. That's just insane. There's also another Canticle that increases your Ballistic Skill from +1 all the way until +3. So you can have BS6 Kataphron Destroyers firing 18-36 grav shots, re-rolling ones (of course you need a 6 for that second time to hit). Okay, that's crazy. And you also have another that gives them invulnerable saves, which...well, isn't that good until you reach that 4++ invulnerable save at 8+ units (starts at 6++, middles at 5++ and maxes at 4++). The thing is that most of your Mechanicus units have 6++ and 5++ saves anyway, so this Canticle doesn't help much unless you're using the War Convocation or Conclave Acquisitorius to give your Imperial Knights all-round 4++ invulnerable save, improve Cawl's own invulnerable save, and make your Skitarii more resilient So the Canticles actually snowballs in potency with the more units you have on the table. Cool.
Cawl is a great addition to any Adeptus Mechanicus force, and he even excels in armored armies that are heavily tank or vehicle based, like the Imperial Guard's armored company. You know, the Cadian Emperor's Fist Armored Company with a Tank Commander and 3 squadrons of Leman Russ tanks? Keep them within 12" of Cawl and they benefit for the Canticles of the Archmagos too - the Canticles not only apply to Cult Mechanicus units or Mechanicus units included in the War Convocation and Conclave Acquisitorius, but also to any friendly Imperium vehicle within 12" of Cawl. So yes, your Leman Russ tanks can now fire at BS6 (BS7 if taken in the Cadian Emperor's Fist Armored Company) and have 4++ invulnerable saves! Can you say awesome?!
Conclave Acquisitorius
Conclave Acquisitorius is the Formation-based Detachment for the Adeptus Mechanicus. It's similar to the War Convocation, but a lot more unwieldy. That said, it does provide quite a few benefits that the Adeptus Mechanicus War Convocation does not have...but doesn't have a few of the awesome benefits that the War Convocation has.
You need Belisarius Cawl to lead your Conclave Acquisitorius, and 1-2 Skitarii Battle Maniples OR you can just take 1 War Cohort, which is 3 Skitarii Battle Maniples, 1 Holy Requisitioner, 0-1 Cohort Cybernetica (sweet!), 0-1 Numinous Conclave (I'll pass), and 1-2 Imperial Knights or just fuck it and take an entire Baronial Court (hell, yeah!). Funnily enough, I actually have the models to field this army, if I convert my Kataphron Destroyers into Kataphron Breahers, but...I'll get into that later.
At first glance, you'll be overwhelmed by how many units you've to take. I mean, yeah, that's a freaking lot. The Adeptus Mechanicus War Convocation only requires one Skitarii Battle Maniple alongside a flexible Cult Mechanicus Battle Congregation and an Imperial Knight Oathsworn Detachment. So you can get away with the minimum number of units. Well, you can do the same with the Conclave Acquisitorius too, because you only need 1 Battle Maniple and 1 Imperial Knight for the minimum requirements, and instead of the Battle Congregation you just take a Holy Requisitioner and Cawl. The problem is that the Holy Requisitioner locks you into taking Kataphron Breachers ONLY, so you won't be taking Kataphron Destroyers and spamming heavy grav or plasma culverins like I am. Aw, shucks. On the bright side, you do benefit from the Holy Requisitioner special rules, which allows you to Deep Strike your Tech-priest Dominus and Kataphron Breachers. Best of all, your Tech-priest Dominus will not scatter if you Deep Strike within 6" of an objective marker, and your Kataphron Breachers also will not scatter if they Deep Strike within 6" of your Tech-priest Dominus. Wow, yay! Not only that, you get to re-roll your Reserve Rolls and have all of them Deep Strike and arrive from Reserve from a single roll. Awesome. Oh, and your Kataphron Breachers get Zealot and Counter-attack if within 6" of an objective marker. So yes, these rules more than make up for the lack of flexibility of the Battle Congregation.
The Numinous Conclave, which gives your Electro-Priests Crusader, and allows the Corpuscarii to fire an additional shot when within 6" of the Fulgurites, and the enemies who suffer a Wound from their shooting become electrified. This means that if they get charged by your Fulguries, your dudes get to re-roll failed To Wound rolls in close combat. Uh, okay. It does make them better than if you were to take them in a standard Battle Congregation, but the problem is that you've to take a minimum of 2 units EACH (max 3 units), and they really aren't worth taking in my opinion.
The Cohort Cybernetica, I probably don't need to talk much about it beause you can see how awesome it is for yourself. Also, giant robots. Your Kastelan Battle Protocol takes effect IMMEDIATELY as long as your Tech-priest Dominus is alive, and your Cybernetica Datasmith and Tech-priest Dominus can re-direct your Kastelan Robots' shooting at different targets (Split Fire, baby!). Plus they count as a single unit (3 for Canticles of the Omnissiah, so you get to have your cake and eat it), making them a psuedo-deathstar unit with majority Toughness 7, many Wounds, 2+ armor save, 5++ invulnerable save that can reflect an enemy's attack on a roll of 6 (yeah, I know, crazy right?), and all 3 units benefit from a single Arcana Mechanicum, for example the Dominus's Autocaduceus of Arkhan Land giving BOTH Kastelan Robot maniples It Will Not Die, and your Datasmith's Raiment of the Technomartyr giving the whole squad Cognis. Complete that with flamers on all your Kastelan Robots, you can snap-fire at BS2, which makes a lot of difference given the amount of dakka your robots can pour out. I will find all sort of ways to force a Cohort Cybernetica into my Conclave Acquisitorius, indeed I will.
The War Cohort is...well, not worth taking, in my opinion. Sure, you get to re-use one Doctrina Imperative that you already used earlier, but...3 of each and every unit? Uh...no. I think the Sicarian Ruststalkers and Sicarian Infiltrators, while awesome as surgical units, are best taken in small numbers. Taking 3 squads of each of them is just going to bloat your points cost, given how expensive they are, and they're so fragile and situational you'll just be wasting them. One squad is good enough. I would just take the bare minimum of 1 Skitarii Battle Maniple.
The Baronial Court on the other hand makes my mouth water. Unlike the War Convocation, your Imperial Knights get to be a Character and Baron, take Knight relics (hell yeah! Helm of the Nameless Warrior for Rampage! Sanctuary for all-around ion shield! Mark of the Omnissiah for It Will Not Die!) AND the Baronial Court rules with Overwatching and Counter-attacking Imperial Knights and improved BS and WS for your Baron, as well as improved ion shield saves on the front. Keep in mind your Knights have to be within 6" of your Baron for the ion shield bonus and 12" for the Overwatch and Counter-attacking bonuses. This makes it almost worth taking the Conclave Acquisitorius over the War Convocation if you're playing massive games.
Yes. If you're playing massive games. In an earlier post I mentioned that I can field a Conclave Acquisitorius with the current models I have. With a single Battle Maniple, a Cohort Cybernetica (I told you I'll squeeze it in somehow), Archmagos Cawl himself, the Holy Requistioner (proxying my Kataphron Destroyers as Kataphron Breachers or converting them) and a Baronial Court of 4 Imperial Knights, my total point counts tallied up to 4,200.
My Imperial Knights in a Baronial Court costs about 1,665 alone. My Battle Maniple should be about 110+75+170+185+75+450= 1,065. Holy Requistioner should be 105+2x180=465. Cybernetica Cohort would be 290x2+60+30+135=805. Archmagos Belisarius Cawl himself costs 200 points. The total required points of Conclave Acquisitorius should add up to 1,665+1,065+465+805+200=4,200. Now who the hell is going to play 4,200-point games with me? I'll go around asking, but I highly doubt anyone will be willing to play 4,200-point games with me. And to be honest, I'm a bit wary of going into such games because it means I'll most certainly face Lords of Skulls and Wraithknights, which will wreck my armies. Well, I'm bringing 4 Imperial Knights so I certainly cannot complain. But still, that's a bit extreme. And you know what's the funniest thing? This isn't the maximum number of units. Oh, far from it.
Apparently if you bring the maximum number of units in the Formation, which is Cawl, 1 Skitarii War Cohort (3 Battle Maniples, essentially), 1 Holy Requistioner with 3 units of Kataphron Breachers instead of the minumum 2, 1 Numinous Conclave with 3 units of each type of Electro-Priests (Omnissiah, no!), 1 Cybernetica Cohort (okay, this is fine - thank the Omnissiah it's just 2 Kastelan Robot maniples!) and 5 Imperial Knights in your Baronial Court, all units in your Formation gains the Skitarii Doctrina Imperatives. I can tell you that's not going to happen. Not for me, at least. If you pull it off, good luck finding an opponent. I'll be happy to watch your game, like how I follow winters SEO. Speaking of which he just posted Adeptus Mechanicus War Convocation versus Eldar yesterday, so I'm going to watch that soon. Anyway, if anyone ever plays the whole damned thing, let me know and I'll even proudly post your video on this website or at least write a battle report for you (or post your battle report). Or if you have your own blog, I'll be happy to read it there. But...let's face it, the odds of that is highly unlikely. Even me, a devoted servant of the Omnissiah, is going to dismiss the 2nd and 3rd Battle Maniples (I don't have that much money), not bother with the detestable Electro-Priests (I told you I'm biased) and cannot afford a 5th Knight. So nope. I'll play a 4,200-point game with my current Conclave Acquisitorius if I can ever find an opponent, but no more than that.
So if you're not taking the maximum units, what are you getting out of this other than the individual formation benefits and Cawl's awesome Canticles of the Archmagos? For starters, all units in the formation get Canticles of the Omnissiah, just like our beloved Adeptus Mechanicus War Convocation. With 5 Imperial Knights receiving Canticles of the Omnissiah like Shroudpsalm, or re-rolling close combat hits, this can be worth it. Not to mention they all get It Will Not Die even without needing to be within 12" of Cawl and an all-round 4++ save! And that's in addition to the Knightly house relic and formation bonuses! The same applies throughout your Skitarii, who will definitely benefit from the Ballistic Skill enhancement and invulnerable save Canticles. But...that's it. Really. The other benefit is that all Characters in the Conclave Acquisitorius get to upgrade a weapon to Master-crafted for free, but that's kind of meh. Yeah, your Baron has a master-crafted reaper chainsword now, whoopee, or maybe a master-crafted Stormspear rocket pod/Avenger Gatling cannon if you're using a Knight Crusader instead of the melee variants. Your Skitarii Alphas get to re-roll a single 1 for their guns/melee weapons, as do your Tech-Priest Dominus (and Cybernetica Datasmith, oh the joy of a 6" range Master-crafted gamma pistol). To be honest, that isn't impressive. I've to say the Canticles of the Omnissiah applying across the board is pretty good, though, and should be worth it. Plus you get the individual formation benefits as well which are really awesome, like the It Will Not Die Kastelan Robots with Cognis, almost Deathstar-like unkillability, Split Fire and immediate Protocols effects, Deep Striking Tech-priest Dominus and his retinue of Kataphron Breachers that can capture objectives and do not scatter, and Overwatching and Counter-attacking Imperial Knights with a relic and improved ion shields. If you want to compare this to the Adeptus Mechanicus War Convocation, you've to take all these into account,
On the other hand, the Adeptus Mechanicus War Convocation is a lot less unwieldy and can be played at lower points, such as 1,850 or 2,000. To field a proper Conclave Acquisitorius, taking just the minimum number of units and sacrificing the Cybernetica Cohort, you'll still essentially need 2,105 even with minimal upgrades. And that gives you just 1 Imperial Knight, no Kastelan Robots and no Baronial Court benefits. At least you still get the Deep Striking Tech-Priest Dominus and Kataphron Breachers with no scatter, and Cawl. On the other hand, if you take the War Convocation, you get essentially 700 points of free wargear and Arcana Mechanicum, as well as immunity to Gets Hot! rolls (so spam those plasma calivers!), and the flexibility to take Kataphron Destroyers with heaavy grav instead of being locked into Kataphron Breachers (no Deep Striking though). I guess it really depends - if you're playing lower-point games that are 2,000 and below, then the War Convocation is for you. If you're playing high-point games that reach up to 3,000 and above, then go for the Conclave Acquisitorius and abuse those individual formation benefits to the max. Personally, while I'm tempted by the Baronial Court and Cohort Cybernetica in the Conclave Acquisitorius, I ultimately still feel that the Adeptus Mechanicus War Convocation is still the superior choice, especially in lower-point games, and the free wargear is just too tempting. Of course, it's not exactly a friendly army, so for the sake of the Omnissiah, do not use them against newcomers who have just started the hobby.
Combined Imperium Forces
Grand Convocation Detachment
The Grand Convocation Detachment is a special detachment that allows you to field your Adeptus Mechanicus models in one combined army. So if you're like me, who has a disparate bunch of Adeptus Mechanicus models (which was designed solely for the Adeptus Mechanicus War Convocation, but hey, let's be friendlier and experiment with other methods of playing the army), you can probably play this. And honestly, this is a lot easier to field and play than the Conclave Acquisitorius as it has the flexibility to go under 1,850 points. Phew.
The requirements are different from your standard Combined Arms Detachment or even the specific detachments for your Adeptus Mechanicus codex (Skitarii Maniple for Skitarii, Cult Mechanicus Battle Congregation for Cult Mechanicus and Imperial Knight Household Detachment). You must take at least 2-4 HQ choices, 4+ Troops choices (no limit!), 0-6 Elites, 0-6 Fast Attack, 0-6 Heavy Support and 0-3 Lords of War in any combination. You must also take at least two different Factions, so no "I have 2 Tech-priests Dominus and 4 units of Kataphron Destroyers - this is my Grand Convocation!" shennigans. Take some Skitarii Vanguard with your Kataphron Destroyers and Tech-priest, for Omnissiah's sake. Your HQ choices are Belisarius Cawl, the usual Tech-Priest Dominus and Enginseer (and Servitors if you so desire) from Imperial Guard. Uh, Astra Militarum codex, or the Imperial Agents one if you prefer that one, since he gets the Canticles of the Omnissiah from that. Your Troops are Kataphron Destroyers, Kataphron Breachers, Skitarii Vanguard an Skitarii Rangers, so they are actually pretty decent. I daresay you have some of the best Troops in Warhammer 40,000, I mean which other Troops allow you to spam heavy grav? And Skitarii Vanguard are actually excellent in maxed out squads with their rad carbines, so go for it! You have the 2 Electro-Priests, which by now you'll know I do not recommend taking, and Sicarian Infitrators and Sicarian Ruststalkers for the Elites. As always, the Sicarians are the better choice, to me anyway, but they do cost a lot more than the Electro-Priests. Your only Fast Attack choice is the Sydonian Dragoons, so not much option there, and it's best to take them in squadrons because their taser lances can snowball and give you lots of hits when you roll sixes. Worth it, really, and they're pretty cheap and effective, plus do a good job. For Heavy Support you have the Ironstrider Ballistarii, which from my experience so far isn't exactly good because he misses all his lascannon shots. Probably should take them in a squadron for more effective tank hunting. However for Heavy Support I like the Kastellan Robot Maniples and Onager Dunecrawlers a lot better, even though they're more expensive. They are worth their points - Kastelan Robots are tough Monstrous Creatures that are extremely hard to kill and they pack a very powerful punch with dakka - both normal and twin-linked S6 AP3 shots that can annihilate a Space Marine and its equivalent squad. Onager Dunecrawlers provide the best anti-air in the game, as well as have S10 AP1 neutron lasers that can utterly obliterate anything from tanks to Terminators. Plus the Power of the Machine Spirit that the Grand Convocation provides, you can now have all the different weapons in the same squadron and shoot them at different and appropriate targets while retaining the awesome 4++ invulnerable save their field harmonics provide. So no more overkill with 3 Icarus Arrays, yet having 50% chance of avoiding that melta shot's explodes result! Last of all, your Lords of War is pretty much the standard 5 Imperial Knights that's all the same except the way they're equipped. Knight Crusader, Knight Errant, Knight Gallant, Knight Paladin and Knight Warden. Take your pick, and you can have up to 3 of them in any combination. Have fun making up your mind!
So what happens if you field your army in this manner? For example, I can field Belisarius Cawl, a Tech-Priest Dominus with Autocaduceus of Arkhan, 2 units of Kataphron Destroyers with heavy grav cannons, 10 Skitarii Vanguard with omnispex, and 5 Skitarii Rangers also with Omnispex. That bare minimum will be 200+135+180x2+110+75=880. Then I can throw in 3 Onager Dunecrawlers, one with Icarus array, and 2 with neutron lasers, all with Cognis heavy stubbers to bring the total to 880+370=1,250. A Kastelan Robot Maniple might cost another 320, bringing it up to 1,570, and adding a Knight Warden will bring it to 1,990. The rest can be upgrades, like conversion field for the Tech-Priest Dominus, refractor field for Vanguard alpha, etc. to round it off to 2,000 points. If I want 1,850 points, then I suppose I can swap the Knight Warden for another 2 Kastelan Robots, which will cost me 1,840, and again I'll round off the points with upgrades. I mean, if this is a friendly match, I'll probably not use Imperial Knights, but if I need an Imperial Knight, I'll just swap out the Kastelan Robots for a Knight. That will be 1,670-1,720, giving me 130-180 points to play with. I guess I could get rid of omnispex on the Rangers and add Sicarian Infiltrators and give conversion field to my Dominus to round off the points if I have to. Or I can just replace the Tech-Priest Dominus with an Enginseer (from Imperial Guard), saving myself 95 points, remove the Stormspear rocket pod from my Knight Warden and omnispex from the Skitarii Rangers to squeeze in the Kastelan Robot maniple. So it'll be 200+40+180x2+110+65+370+380+320=1,845.
What do you get if you build an army like this? All vehicles in the Grand Convocation get It Will Not Die - which is why I was trying to fit in an Imperial Knight into my list instead of the Kastelan Robots. Vehicles benefit most from this list! It's just too bad you can't take vehicles as your Troops. In addition, all vehicles that are within 6" of a HQ get Power of the Machine Spirit. Hence my decision to upgrade my Onager Dunecrawlers with cognis heavy stubbers. I can fire the cognis heavy stubbers at some infantry, then use Power of the Machine Spirit to fire my Icarus Array at a flyer or skimmer, and then fire the 2 neutron lasers elsewhere. Pretty cool, huh? There's also one more point about this Detachment - if you take the maximum number of units in this detachment, meaning you take 4 HQ, 4 Troops, 6 Heavy Support, 6 Elites, 6 Fast Attack and 3 Lords of War, they all get Canticles of the Omnissiah. Awesome...except that once again, you'll never be able to take all of them in low-point games. You'll probably need almost 3,000 points just to max out the list, and seriously taking 6 Elites for Mechanicus is not worth it...so forget about that unless you're ready to play Apocalypse-class games. If that's the way you roll, then I suggest you just take the Conclave Acquisitorius instead. It's way cheaper and more effective anyway.
However, the point of the Grand Convocation is for you to field a slightly more flexible army that you can still field in low-point games. As the games get larger you can add another Imperial Knight without needing to go over 2,500 points, but at least staying below that so as not to play Apocalypse sized games like the Conclave Acquisitorius. Ugh. And it's friendlier than the War Convocation too! When I return to Singapore, I suppose, I can play 1,850 points without the Imperial Knight (kind of suck for me, but hey, friendly games, so...).
Castellans of the Imperium Detachment
This is for the other Imperium forces that are not Adeptus Mechanicus. Don't worry, you can still take Imperial Knights. So yay. As with the Grand Convocation, you need 2-4 HQ, 4+ Troops, 0-6 Elites, 0-6 Fast Attack, 0-6 Heavy Support and 0-3 Lords of War. All your units in this detachment get Hatred. Yay! If you take the maximum number of units, which again isn't feasible in low-point games so there's no point, all of them get Zealot. My life for Cadia! And all that. Of course, you'll need to field from at least 2 different Factions, so if you're going to field nothing but Imperial Guard models, stick to the damned Combined Arms Detachment. You'll get your Objective Secured there anyway.
However, the rule that makes it stand out is the Flock to the Front Line. It's like the Chaos's Cultist rule thing (I think, I don't play Chaos). Basically, every time a Troops unit from your Castellans of the Imperium is destroyed, you roll a D6, and on a 5+ you get to place a new unit into Ongoing Reserves that is identical to the one just destroyed. Then you can bring them in next turn from Reserves. Best of all, even if this new Troops is destroyed after arriving from Reserves, you get to roll a D6 AGAIN to see if you get yet another clone Troopers. Awesome. Well, you only have 1/3 chance of reviving them, so maybe it's not awesome (it'll be game-breaking otherwise), but this allows you to build an army around expendable Troops - more on that later.
What can you take? There's too much to write, so I won't list all of them, but basically any unit from the Asassins, Imperial Guard I mean Astra Militarum, Adepta Sororitas, Death from the Skies, Inquisition, Imperial Agents, Imperial Knights, Miltarium Tempestis and Space Marines plus their Amgels of Death supplement (for Cataphractii Terminators and Contemptor Dreadnoughts). Take note that you can't take the special snowflake Space Marines like Space Wolves, Dark Angels, Grey Knights, Blood Angels, etc. but you can take the normal Space Marines with standard Chapter Tactics like Black Tempars, Ultramarines, Iron Hands, Imperial Fists, Salamanders, etc. I think you're allowed to take Legion of the Damned, but I don't know how these guys work or are different because I don't have Imperial Agents. Oh, and for Lords of War, you can take up to 3 Baneblade variants or Imperial Knights just because. Who says the Imperium can't have good things?
One good way of fielding this is spamming Militarum Tempestus squads. Cheap suicide melta squads, Deep Striking from everywhere, and every time they're destroyed, just roll a D6, put on a troll face and place them on Ongoing Reserves again, only to Deep Strike them again next turn. Now you have a good reason for making cheap suicide melta squads and abusing them to the max without worrying whether they'll make up for their points cost! Hooray! And another supposedly must-take model is Inquisitor Cotaez from Imperial Agents, because his Warlord Trait apparently gives all your non-vehicle models Objective Secured. So you can have Objective Secured Terminators, Centurions, Devastators, Seraphim, Celestians, Bikers, etc.!
Another thematic way to line this up is Power Armored Sisters of Battle alongside Leman Russ tanks, or Crusaders alongside Leman Russ tanks, if you think Imperial Guardsmen are too fragile, but want to field their superior tanks instead of the Space Marines' lackluster Predators and overly expensive Land Raiders. Have the various forces of the Imperium march side by side, and yell, "For the Emperor!" I'll personally use my Militarum Tempestus Scions as Troops, cheap suicide melta squads that Deep Strike and steal objectives or kill tanks, and field Leman Russ Tanks in the Heavy Support. Ironically I can't field Skitarii or Cult Mechanicus alongside my Leman Russ Tanks, but whatever. Throw in Celestine as a HQ because why the hell not, and you'll have a Castellans of the Imperium raring to go! Or something...
For the Emperor! Cadia STANDS!
First though, we shall have a look at Belisarius Cawl, Archmagos Dominus. We will probably not look at Celestine, the Living Saint and Inquisitor Katarinya Greyfax (because she's a bitch - well, I did warn you that I'm heavily biased) because this is primarily an Adeptus Mechanicus, Imperial Knight and Imperial Guard blog, so if they aren't Guard characters or Mechanicus characters or nobles from the knightly houses, I ain't gonna bother with them. Besides, a lot of other bloggers and reviewers and writers would have written much better analysis for these guys anyway. So let's concentrate on the Mechanicus aspect. And the combined Imperium forces - the reason why I included the Castellans of the Imperium Detachment is because...Imperial Guard. No, really. This is also an Imperial Guard blog, so I should speak about it as well. Anyway, moving on to our beloved Archmagos Belisarius Cawl...
Belisarius Cawl, Archmagos Dominus
Where do we begin? The dude is a monster. He's an Independent Character, so you can join him with any squad, and he has quite beefy stats, with BS5, WS5, S5, T6. 5 Wounds, Initiative 3 and 3 Attacks. He has the standard Leadership 10 for legendary, unique characters, and a 2+ armor save to make sure he doesn't get killed easily. His Toughness 6 means he is very resilient, and will not be Instant Death-ed by any high strength weapon unless it's a Destroyer weapon. Yes, unfortunately, Cawl does NOT have Eternal Warrior (unlike Celestine), so he is still susceptible to Instant Death such as Force weapons, Strength D weapons and Transmorgify (damn Thousand Sons players rolling sixes on their Tzeentch psychic powers). Otherwise, with 5 Wounds and Toughness 6, he will not be getting squished and obliterated by even Strength 10 weapons, so don't worry about that Demolisher cannon. However, 5 Wounds are pointless if he gets Instant Death-ed, so keep him out of range of those Destroyer weapons and psykers with Force. Poor guy also only has a 5++ invulnerable save because of his refractor field (not conversion field). He does have a decent 5+ Feel No Pain special rule, which is awesome because of his Warlord Trait that allows him to re-roll failed Feel No Pain rolls. So Cawl can't feel pain. Cool.
But what makes him stand out is his Artificer Self-repair Mechanisms, which allows him to recover D3 Wounds lost earlier in battle. Okay, now that's crazy. It also explains why he doesn't have Eternal Warrior, because he'll truly be an Eternal Warrior who can't die (yeah, He Will Not Die). He is equipped with the standard power axe that's master-crafted, and an arc scourge for haywire goodness. He also has a solar atomizer, which blast enemies into atoms with the power of the sun...or for tabletop players, a Strength 10 AP1 meltagun with 12" range (so you need to be within 6" for the melta to work...uh, no thanks). It's also master-crafted and fire off D3 assault shots, so yay. He also has a Mechadendrite hive that gives him a Dataspike haywire attack at Initiative 10, plus 2D6 additional attacks at Strength 4 AP- (what...?!). Uh well, 2D6 S4 AP- attacks aren't that useful anyway, but it will help him chew through a blob of say, Orks, Guardsmen, Cultists, Fire Warriors or whatever cannon fodder with terrible armor saves and low Toughness.
Cawl also has access to the standard Canticles of the Omnissiah, which all you believers of our venerable Cult Mechanicus should already be familiar with. No? Go read my Cult Mechanicus tactics on this blog then, or the Adpetus Mechanicus War Convocation...uh, okay. Maybe they're still under construction. Sorry. Anyway, your standard Canticles of the Omnissiah, in case you don't know, include giving your Mechanicus (and Skitarii AND Imperial Knights if you're using Conclave Acquisitorius or Adeptus Mechanicus War Convocation) Stubborn/Fearless, re-rolling failed To Hit rolls in close combat attacks (from a variety of re-rolling ones to all), our beloved Shroudpsalm that gives Stealth, Shrouded or both, Re-roll failed shooting attacks (again from just ones to all), an increase in Strength (plus 1, 2 or 3), and the Eletromancer frenzy where you ca generate 1 to 3 Strength 4 AP- thundershock attacks for each model at Initiative 10 during close combat. The potency depends on the number of Mechanicus units you have using the Canticles, so for example 1-3 units will only have the bare minimum of benefits (only re-roll failed To Hit rolls of Ones), 4-7 will have a slightly better effect (ones and twos), and 8+ is the most awesome of them all (re-roll ALL failed To Hit rolls!). Sweet. Until you remember that your standard, normal Tech-priest Dominus also has this at almost half of Cawl's points, and has additional access to Arcana Mechanicum and other wargear. Huh.
What Cawl does have that our regular servants of the Omnissiah do not is the Canticles of the Archmagos because apprently our Tech-priest Dominus are just lowly Magos. Oh well. Anyway, they are insane. Like the normal Canticles, their power varies, depending on the number of units you have in your army, but as I said, they are INSANE. First one gives you It Will Not Die for all Mechanicus units (or at least those with the Canticles rules, so take the War Convocation or Conclave Acquisitorius), and you get to roll twice if you have 4-7 units, and thrice if you have 8+. Wow. That's just insane. There's also another Canticle that increases your Ballistic Skill from +1 all the way until +3. So you can have BS6 Kataphron Destroyers firing 18-36 grav shots, re-rolling ones (of course you need a 6 for that second time to hit). Okay, that's crazy. And you also have another that gives them invulnerable saves, which...well, isn't that good until you reach that 4++ invulnerable save at 8+ units (starts at 6++, middles at 5++ and maxes at 4++). The thing is that most of your Mechanicus units have 6++ and 5++ saves anyway, so this Canticle doesn't help much unless you're using the War Convocation or Conclave Acquisitorius to give your Imperial Knights all-round 4++ invulnerable save, improve Cawl's own invulnerable save, and make your Skitarii more resilient So the Canticles actually snowballs in potency with the more units you have on the table. Cool.
Cawl is a great addition to any Adeptus Mechanicus force, and he even excels in armored armies that are heavily tank or vehicle based, like the Imperial Guard's armored company. You know, the Cadian Emperor's Fist Armored Company with a Tank Commander and 3 squadrons of Leman Russ tanks? Keep them within 12" of Cawl and they benefit for the Canticles of the Archmagos too - the Canticles not only apply to Cult Mechanicus units or Mechanicus units included in the War Convocation and Conclave Acquisitorius, but also to any friendly Imperium vehicle within 12" of Cawl. So yes, your Leman Russ tanks can now fire at BS6 (BS7 if taken in the Cadian Emperor's Fist Armored Company) and have 4++ invulnerable saves! Can you say awesome?!
Conclave Acquisitorius
Conclave Acquisitorius is the Formation-based Detachment for the Adeptus Mechanicus. It's similar to the War Convocation, but a lot more unwieldy. That said, it does provide quite a few benefits that the Adeptus Mechanicus War Convocation does not have...but doesn't have a few of the awesome benefits that the War Convocation has.
You need Belisarius Cawl to lead your Conclave Acquisitorius, and 1-2 Skitarii Battle Maniples OR you can just take 1 War Cohort, which is 3 Skitarii Battle Maniples, 1 Holy Requisitioner, 0-1 Cohort Cybernetica (sweet!), 0-1 Numinous Conclave (I'll pass), and 1-2 Imperial Knights or just fuck it and take an entire Baronial Court (hell, yeah!). Funnily enough, I actually have the models to field this army, if I convert my Kataphron Destroyers into Kataphron Breahers, but...I'll get into that later.
At first glance, you'll be overwhelmed by how many units you've to take. I mean, yeah, that's a freaking lot. The Adeptus Mechanicus War Convocation only requires one Skitarii Battle Maniple alongside a flexible Cult Mechanicus Battle Congregation and an Imperial Knight Oathsworn Detachment. So you can get away with the minimum number of units. Well, you can do the same with the Conclave Acquisitorius too, because you only need 1 Battle Maniple and 1 Imperial Knight for the minimum requirements, and instead of the Battle Congregation you just take a Holy Requisitioner and Cawl. The problem is that the Holy Requisitioner locks you into taking Kataphron Breachers ONLY, so you won't be taking Kataphron Destroyers and spamming heavy grav or plasma culverins like I am. Aw, shucks. On the bright side, you do benefit from the Holy Requisitioner special rules, which allows you to Deep Strike your Tech-priest Dominus and Kataphron Breachers. Best of all, your Tech-priest Dominus will not scatter if you Deep Strike within 6" of an objective marker, and your Kataphron Breachers also will not scatter if they Deep Strike within 6" of your Tech-priest Dominus. Wow, yay! Not only that, you get to re-roll your Reserve Rolls and have all of them Deep Strike and arrive from Reserve from a single roll. Awesome. Oh, and your Kataphron Breachers get Zealot and Counter-attack if within 6" of an objective marker. So yes, these rules more than make up for the lack of flexibility of the Battle Congregation.
The Numinous Conclave, which gives your Electro-Priests Crusader, and allows the Corpuscarii to fire an additional shot when within 6" of the Fulgurites, and the enemies who suffer a Wound from their shooting become electrified. This means that if they get charged by your Fulguries, your dudes get to re-roll failed To Wound rolls in close combat. Uh, okay. It does make them better than if you were to take them in a standard Battle Congregation, but the problem is that you've to take a minimum of 2 units EACH (max 3 units), and they really aren't worth taking in my opinion.
The Cohort Cybernetica, I probably don't need to talk much about it beause you can see how awesome it is for yourself. Also, giant robots. Your Kastelan Battle Protocol takes effect IMMEDIATELY as long as your Tech-priest Dominus is alive, and your Cybernetica Datasmith and Tech-priest Dominus can re-direct your Kastelan Robots' shooting at different targets (Split Fire, baby!). Plus they count as a single unit (3 for Canticles of the Omnissiah, so you get to have your cake and eat it), making them a psuedo-deathstar unit with majority Toughness 7, many Wounds, 2+ armor save, 5++ invulnerable save that can reflect an enemy's attack on a roll of 6 (yeah, I know, crazy right?), and all 3 units benefit from a single Arcana Mechanicum, for example the Dominus's Autocaduceus of Arkhan Land giving BOTH Kastelan Robot maniples It Will Not Die, and your Datasmith's Raiment of the Technomartyr giving the whole squad Cognis. Complete that with flamers on all your Kastelan Robots, you can snap-fire at BS2, which makes a lot of difference given the amount of dakka your robots can pour out. I will find all sort of ways to force a Cohort Cybernetica into my Conclave Acquisitorius, indeed I will.
The War Cohort is...well, not worth taking, in my opinion. Sure, you get to re-use one Doctrina Imperative that you already used earlier, but...3 of each and every unit? Uh...no. I think the Sicarian Ruststalkers and Sicarian Infiltrators, while awesome as surgical units, are best taken in small numbers. Taking 3 squads of each of them is just going to bloat your points cost, given how expensive they are, and they're so fragile and situational you'll just be wasting them. One squad is good enough. I would just take the bare minimum of 1 Skitarii Battle Maniple.
The Baronial Court on the other hand makes my mouth water. Unlike the War Convocation, your Imperial Knights get to be a Character and Baron, take Knight relics (hell yeah! Helm of the Nameless Warrior for Rampage! Sanctuary for all-around ion shield! Mark of the Omnissiah for It Will Not Die!) AND the Baronial Court rules with Overwatching and Counter-attacking Imperial Knights and improved BS and WS for your Baron, as well as improved ion shield saves on the front. Keep in mind your Knights have to be within 6" of your Baron for the ion shield bonus and 12" for the Overwatch and Counter-attacking bonuses. This makes it almost worth taking the Conclave Acquisitorius over the War Convocation if you're playing massive games.
Yes. If you're playing massive games. In an earlier post I mentioned that I can field a Conclave Acquisitorius with the current models I have. With a single Battle Maniple, a Cohort Cybernetica (I told you I'll squeeze it in somehow), Archmagos Cawl himself, the Holy Requistioner (proxying my Kataphron Destroyers as Kataphron Breachers or converting them) and a Baronial Court of 4 Imperial Knights, my total point counts tallied up to 4,200.
My Imperial Knights in a Baronial Court costs about 1,665 alone. My Battle Maniple should be about 110+75+170+185+75+450= 1,065. Holy Requistioner should be 105+2x180=465. Cybernetica Cohort would be 290x2+60+30+135=805. Archmagos Belisarius Cawl himself costs 200 points. The total required points of Conclave Acquisitorius should add up to 1,665+1,065+465+805+200=4,200. Now who the hell is going to play 4,200-point games with me? I'll go around asking, but I highly doubt anyone will be willing to play 4,200-point games with me. And to be honest, I'm a bit wary of going into such games because it means I'll most certainly face Lords of Skulls and Wraithknights, which will wreck my armies. Well, I'm bringing 4 Imperial Knights so I certainly cannot complain. But still, that's a bit extreme. And you know what's the funniest thing? This isn't the maximum number of units. Oh, far from it.
Apparently if you bring the maximum number of units in the Formation, which is Cawl, 1 Skitarii War Cohort (3 Battle Maniples, essentially), 1 Holy Requistioner with 3 units of Kataphron Breachers instead of the minumum 2, 1 Numinous Conclave with 3 units of each type of Electro-Priests (Omnissiah, no!), 1 Cybernetica Cohort (okay, this is fine - thank the Omnissiah it's just 2 Kastelan Robot maniples!) and 5 Imperial Knights in your Baronial Court, all units in your Formation gains the Skitarii Doctrina Imperatives. I can tell you that's not going to happen. Not for me, at least. If you pull it off, good luck finding an opponent. I'll be happy to watch your game, like how I follow winters SEO. Speaking of which he just posted Adeptus Mechanicus War Convocation versus Eldar yesterday, so I'm going to watch that soon. Anyway, if anyone ever plays the whole damned thing, let me know and I'll even proudly post your video on this website or at least write a battle report for you (or post your battle report). Or if you have your own blog, I'll be happy to read it there. But...let's face it, the odds of that is highly unlikely. Even me, a devoted servant of the Omnissiah, is going to dismiss the 2nd and 3rd Battle Maniples (I don't have that much money), not bother with the detestable Electro-Priests (I told you I'm biased) and cannot afford a 5th Knight. So nope. I'll play a 4,200-point game with my current Conclave Acquisitorius if I can ever find an opponent, but no more than that.
So if you're not taking the maximum units, what are you getting out of this other than the individual formation benefits and Cawl's awesome Canticles of the Archmagos? For starters, all units in the formation get Canticles of the Omnissiah, just like our beloved Adeptus Mechanicus War Convocation. With 5 Imperial Knights receiving Canticles of the Omnissiah like Shroudpsalm, or re-rolling close combat hits, this can be worth it. Not to mention they all get It Will Not Die even without needing to be within 12" of Cawl and an all-round 4++ save! And that's in addition to the Knightly house relic and formation bonuses! The same applies throughout your Skitarii, who will definitely benefit from the Ballistic Skill enhancement and invulnerable save Canticles. But...that's it. Really. The other benefit is that all Characters in the Conclave Acquisitorius get to upgrade a weapon to Master-crafted for free, but that's kind of meh. Yeah, your Baron has a master-crafted reaper chainsword now, whoopee, or maybe a master-crafted Stormspear rocket pod/Avenger Gatling cannon if you're using a Knight Crusader instead of the melee variants. Your Skitarii Alphas get to re-roll a single 1 for their guns/melee weapons, as do your Tech-Priest Dominus (and Cybernetica Datasmith, oh the joy of a 6" range Master-crafted gamma pistol). To be honest, that isn't impressive. I've to say the Canticles of the Omnissiah applying across the board is pretty good, though, and should be worth it. Plus you get the individual formation benefits as well which are really awesome, like the It Will Not Die Kastelan Robots with Cognis, almost Deathstar-like unkillability, Split Fire and immediate Protocols effects, Deep Striking Tech-priest Dominus and his retinue of Kataphron Breachers that can capture objectives and do not scatter, and Overwatching and Counter-attacking Imperial Knights with a relic and improved ion shields. If you want to compare this to the Adeptus Mechanicus War Convocation, you've to take all these into account,
On the other hand, the Adeptus Mechanicus War Convocation is a lot less unwieldy and can be played at lower points, such as 1,850 or 2,000. To field a proper Conclave Acquisitorius, taking just the minimum number of units and sacrificing the Cybernetica Cohort, you'll still essentially need 2,105 even with minimal upgrades. And that gives you just 1 Imperial Knight, no Kastelan Robots and no Baronial Court benefits. At least you still get the Deep Striking Tech-Priest Dominus and Kataphron Breachers with no scatter, and Cawl. On the other hand, if you take the War Convocation, you get essentially 700 points of free wargear and Arcana Mechanicum, as well as immunity to Gets Hot! rolls (so spam those plasma calivers!), and the flexibility to take Kataphron Destroyers with heaavy grav instead of being locked into Kataphron Breachers (no Deep Striking though). I guess it really depends - if you're playing lower-point games that are 2,000 and below, then the War Convocation is for you. If you're playing high-point games that reach up to 3,000 and above, then go for the Conclave Acquisitorius and abuse those individual formation benefits to the max. Personally, while I'm tempted by the Baronial Court and Cohort Cybernetica in the Conclave Acquisitorius, I ultimately still feel that the Adeptus Mechanicus War Convocation is still the superior choice, especially in lower-point games, and the free wargear is just too tempting. Of course, it's not exactly a friendly army, so for the sake of the Omnissiah, do not use them against newcomers who have just started the hobby.
Combined Imperium Forces
Grand Convocation Detachment
The Grand Convocation Detachment is a special detachment that allows you to field your Adeptus Mechanicus models in one combined army. So if you're like me, who has a disparate bunch of Adeptus Mechanicus models (which was designed solely for the Adeptus Mechanicus War Convocation, but hey, let's be friendlier and experiment with other methods of playing the army), you can probably play this. And honestly, this is a lot easier to field and play than the Conclave Acquisitorius as it has the flexibility to go under 1,850 points. Phew.
The requirements are different from your standard Combined Arms Detachment or even the specific detachments for your Adeptus Mechanicus codex (Skitarii Maniple for Skitarii, Cult Mechanicus Battle Congregation for Cult Mechanicus and Imperial Knight Household Detachment). You must take at least 2-4 HQ choices, 4+ Troops choices (no limit!), 0-6 Elites, 0-6 Fast Attack, 0-6 Heavy Support and 0-3 Lords of War in any combination. You must also take at least two different Factions, so no "I have 2 Tech-priests Dominus and 4 units of Kataphron Destroyers - this is my Grand Convocation!" shennigans. Take some Skitarii Vanguard with your Kataphron Destroyers and Tech-priest, for Omnissiah's sake. Your HQ choices are Belisarius Cawl, the usual Tech-Priest Dominus and Enginseer (and Servitors if you so desire) from Imperial Guard. Uh, Astra Militarum codex, or the Imperial Agents one if you prefer that one, since he gets the Canticles of the Omnissiah from that. Your Troops are Kataphron Destroyers, Kataphron Breachers, Skitarii Vanguard an Skitarii Rangers, so they are actually pretty decent. I daresay you have some of the best Troops in Warhammer 40,000, I mean which other Troops allow you to spam heavy grav? And Skitarii Vanguard are actually excellent in maxed out squads with their rad carbines, so go for it! You have the 2 Electro-Priests, which by now you'll know I do not recommend taking, and Sicarian Infitrators and Sicarian Ruststalkers for the Elites. As always, the Sicarians are the better choice, to me anyway, but they do cost a lot more than the Electro-Priests. Your only Fast Attack choice is the Sydonian Dragoons, so not much option there, and it's best to take them in squadrons because their taser lances can snowball and give you lots of hits when you roll sixes. Worth it, really, and they're pretty cheap and effective, plus do a good job. For Heavy Support you have the Ironstrider Ballistarii, which from my experience so far isn't exactly good because he misses all his lascannon shots. Probably should take them in a squadron for more effective tank hunting. However for Heavy Support I like the Kastellan Robot Maniples and Onager Dunecrawlers a lot better, even though they're more expensive. They are worth their points - Kastelan Robots are tough Monstrous Creatures that are extremely hard to kill and they pack a very powerful punch with dakka - both normal and twin-linked S6 AP3 shots that can annihilate a Space Marine and its equivalent squad. Onager Dunecrawlers provide the best anti-air in the game, as well as have S10 AP1 neutron lasers that can utterly obliterate anything from tanks to Terminators. Plus the Power of the Machine Spirit that the Grand Convocation provides, you can now have all the different weapons in the same squadron and shoot them at different and appropriate targets while retaining the awesome 4++ invulnerable save their field harmonics provide. So no more overkill with 3 Icarus Arrays, yet having 50% chance of avoiding that melta shot's explodes result! Last of all, your Lords of War is pretty much the standard 5 Imperial Knights that's all the same except the way they're equipped. Knight Crusader, Knight Errant, Knight Gallant, Knight Paladin and Knight Warden. Take your pick, and you can have up to 3 of them in any combination. Have fun making up your mind!
So what happens if you field your army in this manner? For example, I can field Belisarius Cawl, a Tech-Priest Dominus with Autocaduceus of Arkhan, 2 units of Kataphron Destroyers with heavy grav cannons, 10 Skitarii Vanguard with omnispex, and 5 Skitarii Rangers also with Omnispex. That bare minimum will be 200+135+180x2+110+75=880. Then I can throw in 3 Onager Dunecrawlers, one with Icarus array, and 2 with neutron lasers, all with Cognis heavy stubbers to bring the total to 880+370=1,250. A Kastelan Robot Maniple might cost another 320, bringing it up to 1,570, and adding a Knight Warden will bring it to 1,990. The rest can be upgrades, like conversion field for the Tech-Priest Dominus, refractor field for Vanguard alpha, etc. to round it off to 2,000 points. If I want 1,850 points, then I suppose I can swap the Knight Warden for another 2 Kastelan Robots, which will cost me 1,840, and again I'll round off the points with upgrades. I mean, if this is a friendly match, I'll probably not use Imperial Knights, but if I need an Imperial Knight, I'll just swap out the Kastelan Robots for a Knight. That will be 1,670-1,720, giving me 130-180 points to play with. I guess I could get rid of omnispex on the Rangers and add Sicarian Infiltrators and give conversion field to my Dominus to round off the points if I have to. Or I can just replace the Tech-Priest Dominus with an Enginseer (from Imperial Guard), saving myself 95 points, remove the Stormspear rocket pod from my Knight Warden and omnispex from the Skitarii Rangers to squeeze in the Kastelan Robot maniple. So it'll be 200+40+180x2+110+65+370+380+320=1,845.
What do you get if you build an army like this? All vehicles in the Grand Convocation get It Will Not Die - which is why I was trying to fit in an Imperial Knight into my list instead of the Kastelan Robots. Vehicles benefit most from this list! It's just too bad you can't take vehicles as your Troops. In addition, all vehicles that are within 6" of a HQ get Power of the Machine Spirit. Hence my decision to upgrade my Onager Dunecrawlers with cognis heavy stubbers. I can fire the cognis heavy stubbers at some infantry, then use Power of the Machine Spirit to fire my Icarus Array at a flyer or skimmer, and then fire the 2 neutron lasers elsewhere. Pretty cool, huh? There's also one more point about this Detachment - if you take the maximum number of units in this detachment, meaning you take 4 HQ, 4 Troops, 6 Heavy Support, 6 Elites, 6 Fast Attack and 3 Lords of War, they all get Canticles of the Omnissiah. Awesome...except that once again, you'll never be able to take all of them in low-point games. You'll probably need almost 3,000 points just to max out the list, and seriously taking 6 Elites for Mechanicus is not worth it...so forget about that unless you're ready to play Apocalypse-class games. If that's the way you roll, then I suggest you just take the Conclave Acquisitorius instead. It's way cheaper and more effective anyway.
However, the point of the Grand Convocation is for you to field a slightly more flexible army that you can still field in low-point games. As the games get larger you can add another Imperial Knight without needing to go over 2,500 points, but at least staying below that so as not to play Apocalypse sized games like the Conclave Acquisitorius. Ugh. And it's friendlier than the War Convocation too! When I return to Singapore, I suppose, I can play 1,850 points without the Imperial Knight (kind of suck for me, but hey, friendly games, so...).
Castellans of the Imperium Detachment
This is for the other Imperium forces that are not Adeptus Mechanicus. Don't worry, you can still take Imperial Knights. So yay. As with the Grand Convocation, you need 2-4 HQ, 4+ Troops, 0-6 Elites, 0-6 Fast Attack, 0-6 Heavy Support and 0-3 Lords of War. All your units in this detachment get Hatred. Yay! If you take the maximum number of units, which again isn't feasible in low-point games so there's no point, all of them get Zealot. My life for Cadia! And all that. Of course, you'll need to field from at least 2 different Factions, so if you're going to field nothing but Imperial Guard models, stick to the damned Combined Arms Detachment. You'll get your Objective Secured there anyway.
However, the rule that makes it stand out is the Flock to the Front Line. It's like the Chaos's Cultist rule thing (I think, I don't play Chaos). Basically, every time a Troops unit from your Castellans of the Imperium is destroyed, you roll a D6, and on a 5+ you get to place a new unit into Ongoing Reserves that is identical to the one just destroyed. Then you can bring them in next turn from Reserves. Best of all, even if this new Troops is destroyed after arriving from Reserves, you get to roll a D6 AGAIN to see if you get yet another clone Troopers. Awesome. Well, you only have 1/3 chance of reviving them, so maybe it's not awesome (it'll be game-breaking otherwise), but this allows you to build an army around expendable Troops - more on that later.
What can you take? There's too much to write, so I won't list all of them, but basically any unit from the Asassins, Imperial Guard I mean Astra Militarum, Adepta Sororitas, Death from the Skies, Inquisition, Imperial Agents, Imperial Knights, Miltarium Tempestis and Space Marines plus their Amgels of Death supplement (for Cataphractii Terminators and Contemptor Dreadnoughts). Take note that you can't take the special snowflake Space Marines like Space Wolves, Dark Angels, Grey Knights, Blood Angels, etc. but you can take the normal Space Marines with standard Chapter Tactics like Black Tempars, Ultramarines, Iron Hands, Imperial Fists, Salamanders, etc. I think you're allowed to take Legion of the Damned, but I don't know how these guys work or are different because I don't have Imperial Agents. Oh, and for Lords of War, you can take up to 3 Baneblade variants or Imperial Knights just because. Who says the Imperium can't have good things?
One good way of fielding this is spamming Militarum Tempestus squads. Cheap suicide melta squads, Deep Striking from everywhere, and every time they're destroyed, just roll a D6, put on a troll face and place them on Ongoing Reserves again, only to Deep Strike them again next turn. Now you have a good reason for making cheap suicide melta squads and abusing them to the max without worrying whether they'll make up for their points cost! Hooray! And another supposedly must-take model is Inquisitor Cotaez from Imperial Agents, because his Warlord Trait apparently gives all your non-vehicle models Objective Secured. So you can have Objective Secured Terminators, Centurions, Devastators, Seraphim, Celestians, Bikers, etc.!
Another thematic way to line this up is Power Armored Sisters of Battle alongside Leman Russ tanks, or Crusaders alongside Leman Russ tanks, if you think Imperial Guardsmen are too fragile, but want to field their superior tanks instead of the Space Marines' lackluster Predators and overly expensive Land Raiders. Have the various forces of the Imperium march side by side, and yell, "For the Emperor!" I'll personally use my Militarum Tempestus Scions as Troops, cheap suicide melta squads that Deep Strike and steal objectives or kill tanks, and field Leman Russ Tanks in the Heavy Support. Ironically I can't field Skitarii or Cult Mechanicus alongside my Leman Russ Tanks, but whatever. Throw in Celestine as a HQ because why the hell not, and you'll have a Castellans of the Imperium raring to go! Or something...
For the Emperor! Cadia STANDS!
Saturday, January 21, 2017
Fall of Cadia Summary and spoilers
Well, I can only sum up the story in Fall of Cadia in two words: Cadia STANDS!
Yes, that's right. Cadia didn't fall. Cadia remains standing. Okay, so it got destroyed and turned into a daemon planet. So humans can no longer live in it. So what? The Cadians made their last stand, their spirits remain unbroken and they drove the forces of Chaos - including Abaddon himself - off the surface of their planet. In the end, about 3 million Cadians escaped with their lives aboard the Phalanx, but that's a detail I'll get to later. I'll just say this: Cadia STANDS!
Okay, let's start from the beginning. Fall of Cadia begins with the awakening of Celestine, the living Saint. Apparently she's very tired, but there's no one else to fight, so she answers the call to battle, wakes up and travels from...the Warp? Well, the book says the Void, but Celestine basically picks up her sword and flies to Cadia. Yay. Reinforcements!
Cadia stands. After Abaddon threw his forces into the meatgrinder, the defenders of Cadia repulsed the armies of Chaos at great cost. However, they succeeded, driving away Chaos and destroying their armies and fleets. Cadia stands. Ursarkar Creed, Lord Castellan of Cadia, has used his tactical genius to outwit the enemy and defeated them. Millions of Cadians have fallen in the defense of their world, and almost as many Imperial Guard regiments from other worlds, devoted Sisters of Battle, and the stalwart warriors of the Adeptus Astartes, have sacrificed for a world that is not theirs. Their deaths were not in vain. Cadia still stands defiant before the fleeing armies of the Despoiler, unbroken, proud and strong.
Unfortunately, Creed knows as well as Abaddon himself that this isn't the end. Victory was still far from reach. The Despoiler will surely attack again, and this time with several times more ferocity than the last one. Hence, Creed begins rallying his defenses, repairing whatever bastions or macro-cannon batteries, orbital defenses, fortresses that he can, and sacrifices the few remaining astropaths and psykers to send a signal through the broiling warp storm to call for reinforcements. Whether those reinforcements will arrive or not does not matter. Cadia will fight on.
Unfortunately, right after the message is sent, a ship comes in bearing an ominous message. A massive armada of Chaos ships have just warped into the Cadian system, much bigger than the preceding fleet. The previous assault was just the first wave, a quick and superficial foray to test the defenses of Cadia. Abaddon's 13th Black Crusade has only just truly begun...
Oh, and there's some mention about the Cadian pylon and how oh-so-mysterious they are. Foreshadowing the role they will play later in the story, no doubt. Whatever the case, the Adeptus Mechanicus is only sure of this single fact: they are ancient, they were build by xenos so primordial they existed before the birth of the first signs of life on Earth. Oh, and they apparently have an effect on calming the Warp around the Eye of Terror, hence providing the only stable pathway from the Warp - hence the Cadian Gate, because the pylons allowed for the Warp storms to stabilize for safe travel. Yay.
Anyway, we then suddenly move to Eriad VI. Archmagos Belisarius Cawl leads his Conclave Acquisitorius to uncover xenos archeotech and ancient artifacts on Eriad VI, his Explorator fleet inadvertently drawing Ork hordes who want nothing more than to wage war and loot. Led by Big Mek Gangrek, who Cawl slays personally with his Solar Atomizer, the Orks number in legions and relentlessly assault the slowly dwindling Mechanicus army, Skitarii maniples and war machines. Cawl continues digging despite the inevitable defeat of his forces, encouraged by Sylandri Veilwalker, a Harlequin Shadowseer, who leaves a cryptic message. I have to love their exchange. Veilwalker speaks in poetic riddles, saying nonsense like, "the music of destiny is changing. The dancers must learn new steps, or perish in the fading notes." I was like, "huh? What the hell are you talking about?" And to my amusement, Cawl has the same reaction, staring at her blankly. Almost as if she was sighing, Veilwalker then explains, "I'm here to tell you to keep digging." Dude...just say that from the start. Confusing riddles don't help anyone.
Then we move to the Necron, Trazyn the Infinite, who...well, basically he doesn't behave like a Necron at all. Bloody hell, the xenos acts exactly like a freaking human. He gets irritated when the Bell of Saint Gerstahl rings, ending up destroying his vault and accidentally commands his warrior legions to hibernate in stasis-sleep, his stuff got destroyed. He gets irritated, but gets the warning basically and embarks for Cadia.
The next step is the Phalanx, which comes under attack by the Iron Warriors, led by the Warsmith Shon'tu...who dies. The Daemon Prince Be'lakor takes over, but the Imperial Fists, under the command of Captain Tor Garadon, fight back and defend the Phalanx from Traitor Marines and Daemons alike, but at great cost. The 1st and 3rd Companies lost a lot of good men, and they were forced to purge one-tenth of the Phalanx. Wounded, they escape into the Warp to prevent the Traitors from turning the Phalanx's weapons on holy Terra. The Daemons, thanks to the Phalanx's entry into the Warp, grew stronger, but the dwindling Imperial Fists were aided by the sudden appearance of the Legion of the Damned. Hell, yeah! The Imperial Fists and Legion of the Damned combined forces and eradicated every trace of Daemons from the Phalanx, including giving Be'lakor the smackdown and pummeling him with Garadon's power fist. The Daemon Prince got fisted...literally. Anyway, finding out about the crisis on Cadia, Garadon heads there immediately despite the protests of Commodore Trevaux and with the approval of the Legion of the Damned. Hot damn.
The formidable fleet of Abaddon's forces sail into the Cadian system, sweeping aside any Imperial Navy ship that dared stood in their way. Uniting the various ships, from the Despoiler's Black Legion black ships, Nurgle's plagueships, the Thousand Sons' cabal-ships and the World Eaters' blood-red leviathans, which included the historical and legendary flagships Terminus Est and the Fortress of Agony, Failbaddon, I mean Abaddon plans the demise of mighty Cadia. Key in his fleet is the last known survivor of the Blackstone Fortresses, the Will of Eternity, which possesses the power to annihilate entire planets in Planetary Annihilation style. Not looking too good for our valiant Cadian defenders here, I'm afraid.
With the approach of the Blackstone Fortress, Cadia gets nervous, Creed understanding the significance of it, and orders the repair of some null-array thingy that will neutralize the Blackstone Fortress's planet-killer beam. Someone send that blueprint to the Star Wars universe, they're going to need it. Ahem, anyway, Magos Klarn and his tech-priests and servitors are unable to repair and complete the null-array in time, so a Space Wolf vessel, the Firemane's Fang, offers to board the Vengeful Spirit in a desperate attempt to delay the arrival of the Will of Eternity, bringing two hundred Space Marines from various chapters, including 58 Space Wolves, and the survivors of the Cadian 13th and a full maniple of the Martian Skitarii. Evidently, they failed and were destroyed, or so it's implied, but you'll see Sven Bloodhowl again. Apparently they succeeded in boarding the Will of Eternity, but I'll get to that later. Whatever their fate, the Chaos fleet, along with Will of Eternity. shows up above Cadia before the null-array is completed. Fortunately, the null-array worked, thanks to Trazyn's intervention, and sacrificing a few Mechanicus adepts to his cost - their deaths were worth it, his nanobots improving the null-array and allowing Cadia to weather the planet-killer's beam. Yay. Cadia stands. For now at least, for the siege of Cadia has only just begun, with its skies polluted by the dark forms of traitor drop-ships.
The battle took place at Kasr Kraf, and boom! Fights take place, Cadians die, Traitors die, Space Marines die, but they hold. More Traitors die than Loyalists, the Imperium's stalwart defenders reaping a toll many times that of their number. In addition to the Ironwolves of Space Wolves, the Dark Angels, Dark Templar and Novamarines join in, as do many other Chapters. The Knights of House Raven sally forth, wreaking destruction in the Chaos lines. The Sisters of Battle hold the Shrine of Saint Morrican, even against three Lords of Skulls, which were destroyed by the Canoness Genevieve. Her sister Eleanor helps out when Genevieve was wounded, fight, fight, etc. But they hold. The Traitor Titan Legion, Legio Vulcanum, is almost taken out by the Valkyrie squadron of the Howling 119th, taking out the lead Warlord Titan and sending the rest of the Titans in confusion. Cadia continues to fight defiantly, the Cadians valiant against the unceasing tide of Chaos.
The Hounds of Abaddon, led by the Daemon Prince, Urkanthos, charge into Kasr Kraf. Their charge basically broke Kasr Kraf and it fell apart. Beset by the surviving Titans of Legio Vulcanum, which the Knights of House Raven - led by Baroness Vardus, fight a losing battle against, swarmed by Daemons and cultists from within, even the courageous Cadians faltered. The Space Marines lent whatever aid they can, but even their inspiring presence wasn't enough to turn the tide. Urkanthos fights all the way to the heart of Kasr Kraf, determined to destroy the null-array so that the Will of Eternity can fire its planet-killer beam and obliterate Cadia. Many Cadians and Sisters of Battle stand in his way, but he kills them all. Canonesses Genevieve and Eleanor fight valiantly and bravely against all odds, but the Daemon Prince proved too much for them. Despite inflicting agonizing wounds on Urkanthos, Genevieve and Eleanor eventually succumb to his brutal assaults.
In the midst of it all, a traitor Baneblade suddenly attacks the Chaos Space Marines and cultists, thanks to the intervention of Trazyn, whose nanomachines infiltrated its system and turn it on the traitors. Yay for the Necrons, I guess?
After killing Magos Klarn, Urkanthos is poised to destroy the null-array...
And then we have a sudden switch back to Belisarius Cawl, who finds a pylon in Eriad VI, the same pylon as the ones scattered all over Cadia. Revelation dawns upon Cawl, who suddenly understands what this means, what the pylons' true purpose were. Taming the Warp, basically, if you don't get it. Anyway, Cawl understands that he has to rush to Cadia to save the pylons, for he finally sees through Abaddon's insidious plans and understands what the Despoiler has been planning all this time, with these thirteen Black Crusades that have seemingly "failed".
Looks like it's Abaddon's turn to smirk and say, "just as planned." Damn him. Ugh.
Just when all hope is lost in Cadia, Celestine plunges in from above, inspiring courage and hope in all the defenders. She revives Canonesses Genevieve and Eleanor as the Geminae Superia, and they kick Urkanthos's ass after he destroys the null-array. Though the null-array is destroyed and the Blackstone Fortress can fire, the Phalanx shows up from the Warp, destroys a bunch of Chaos ships and charge right at the Will of Eternity. Not only that, they send reinforcements in Thunderhawk gunships, the survivors of the Imperial Fists 1st and 3rd Companies joining the fight. Oh, and let's not forget the Legion of the Damned.
Remember Sven Bloodhowl and all those Space Marines, Cadian 13th and Skitarii that jumped onto the Firemane's Fang to delay the Blackstone Fortress? Apparently they boarded the Will of Eternity, like I told you. They play a huge part in blowing up the Blackstone Fortress from within, fighting inside and for some reason the Blackstone Fortress itself seemed to aid the Imperium's defenders, its bulkheads unsealing and automated defenses disengaging. Thanks to the intercession of the Phalanx, which took out a huge chunk of the Blackstone Fortress, the Imperium boarders seized the chance and blow the Will of Eternity up from the inside. Hooray! No more planet-killing spectacle...whoops, I spoke too soon.
Anyway, with the Will of Eternity destroyed, the biggest threat to Cadia has been eliminated. With the arrival of Celestine, the Living Saint, and the fresh reinforcements from the Imperial Fists, Legion of the Damned and more, Cadia stands firm. The beleaguered defenders earn a brief reprieve, and a temporary victory. Creed, however, knows that they were far from true victory, Abaddon's true strength still held in reserve while Cadia's power has been nearly spent. It was only a breather before the true killing blow.
Then we have Abaddon and Chaos politics, and Abaddon basically saying screw you to his lieutenants and deciding to go down to Cadia himself to end the war personally.
The defenders of Cadia use the chance to rest, sleep, bury the dead and reorganize their forces, with the Dark Angels Master Korahael taking command of the Space Marines forces and Creed taking charge of the Imperial Guard regiments. Thankfully, the Mechanicus fleet arrives, carrying Cawl's forces and Skitarii. Archmagos Belisarius Cawl had rushed over to Cadia after his revelation in Eriad VI, and the Mechanicus forces were requested by Creed to repair Cadia's shattered defenses. The Crimson Fists Space Marines chapter arrive with the Cadian 14th, and a dozen battered crisers limped in from Solar Mariatus, bringing the welcome reinforcements of the Knights of House Taranis and the tanks of the Armored 51st after being rescued by Space Wolves boarders. Yay.
Cawl proceeds to study the main pylon thing, essentially the command pylon, while the battle for the Elysion Fields begin. Apparently Abaddon personally dropped down with a second wave of Chaos armies, intent on ending the war in Cadia once and for all. As he does so, Trazyn appears before Cawl, dangling precious knowledge and information in front of the cautious archmagos, who realizes he has little choice but to listen.
All I can say is that the battle at Elysion Fields didn't go very well. Cadians died, more Cadians died, and I'm pretty sad. Ugh. The Knights of House Raven ended up utterly destroyed, also much to my misery. The east was a mess, but the Space Marines dive in to reinforce the eastern lines and drove off the surviving Titans and Crimson Slaughter renegades after the demise of House Raven's Knights and the retreat of the Cadian 185th. The west was held by cold Cadian steel, the Cadian 9th holding the line with Basilisk artillery support. The north was also firmly defended by the Battle Sisters of Our Martyred Lady, Celestine and her Geminea Superia at their head. Warpsmiths and Daemon Engines fell before their faith and might, their Exorcists, melta, fiery promethium and bolters shredding all the tainted and corrupted horrors the un-believers threw at them.
But the south, where Abaddon's true assault fell, obliterated the Cadian 8th and 21st, and where the lines collapsed. Creed personally led with his Cadian 8th, his very own company. Abaddon, on the other hand, realizes the symbol Creed was to the Cadians, and is determined to kill him - for Creed's death would be the killing blow that will finally break Cadian valor and spirit. It is here where one of the greatest tragedies of the Warhammer 40,000 universe finally occurs - Color Sergeant Kell falls and dies, saving Creed. He shoves Creed aboard a Valkyrie and orders it to fly off while losing a leg below his knee. Despite the horrendous injury, he stands up to Abaddon like the badass that he is and tries to fight. Unfortunately, the brave color sergeant's defiance proved futile and Abaddon easily snaps his spine, killing him.
No! Kell died! Kell DIED! NOOOOOOOOOOOOO! How could you, Games Workshop!? How could you kill Kell of all people?! NOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!
To the west, the Cadian 9th have fallen, and the 75th and 403rd defend what remains. To the north, the traitor forces have completely crumpled, the Adepta Sororitas successfully winning against their formidable foes, though at great cost. Recognizing the danger at the south, Celesine then flies there to confront Abaddon and fight him. Creed is forced to retreat into the catacombs with his surviving Cadian 8th, bolstered by Cawl's Skitarii, even as Abaddon and his Terminators pursued him and his forces relentlessly. Unfortunately, the Cadians and Skitarii are overwhelmed, and the traitors make their way to Cawl's position. The venerable archmagos is still too focused on tinkering with the command pylon and ignores the battle, but his Kataphrons are in danger of being overwhelmed. Trazyn the Infinite decides to lend a hand and opens his vault to release several of his collections, including Lieutenant-Commander Cerantes of the Ultramarines, in charge of Contemptor Dreadnoughts and cataphractii Terminators. An entire regiment of Vostroyan XXI also show up, sick from stasis, but recovering quickly to join the fray. Snipers from long-dead Tanith, Salamanders, and even an Adeptus Custode all jump in with the time-lost Ultramarines to fight the traitors. I mean, we don't need a good reason to fight Chaos scum, right?
However, one person stays apart - Inquisitor Katarinya Greyfax of the Ordo Hereticus, and her bodyguards of storm troopers drawn from 55th Kappic Eagles, don't fire at all.
Abaddon sees Cawl tinkering with the command pylon and panics, ordering his sorcerers to summon Daemons. The Ultramarines die, slaughtered to the last man, poor dudes. Fortunately, the Legion of the Damned shows up and help them out. Cadian 8th fights on valiantly again (this is starting to get repetitive), but they're reinforced by the Wulfen. The Space Wolves, led by the Ironwolves and Highfell, charge in and rip Daemons apart. Yay. The Kappic Eagles finally join in, firing into the Black Legion and slaughtering masses of traitor Marines - yeah, the stormtroopers are actually killing Chaos Space Marines with hot-shot lasgun fire. Really. Cadians resist stubbornly, fighting as well as the Kappic Eagles, staring down the Daemons and the Terminators of the Black Legion. Fortunately, help arrives in the nick of time, Celestine the Living Saint descending into the catacombs and slaying Daemons with her Ardent Blade. Finally reaching Abaddon, she engages him in a duel, her revived Geminae Superia at her side to help her in a three-against-one. Hey, the guy's a superhuman genetically engineered Chaos scum with the blessing of the dark gods. The three women are going to need every advantage they can get.
Greyfax, being typically grimdark, scowls and rages at all the heresy in front of her, with the mutants, the idolatry of the so-called False Saint, blah, blah. She rages at Trazyn, who owns her in a verbal war of words, and has no choice but to accept that he's right and turn her attention to the Chaos filth spawning before her.
Archmagos Belisarius Cawl finally succeeds in activating the command pylon and closes the Warp thingy surrounding the Eye of Terror, closing the storm and stabilizing the Warp currents, isolating reality from the Immaterium. In doing so, he expelled all the Daemons from reality, but also reduces the potency of psykers. Celestine loses her powers in the process, unfortunately, and so do her Geminae Superia, and the duel swings in Abaddon's favor. Poor ladies. Abaddon gains the upper hand and knocks Celestia down, ready to deliver the killing blow. Knowing that it will be disastrous to lose Celestine, Creed orders the 8th to rush in and stab Abaddon with bayonets...no, you did not read that wrong. The Cadian 8th rushed in to stab Abaddon with bayonets. Before they could reach him, Greyfax throws Abaddon off with a psychic attack, saving Celestine and buying time for the Cadians to rescue her.
Needless to say, they got slaughtered.
Aside from the debacle with Abaddon, the Imperium's defenders succeed in defeating the Black Legion and repulsing them. The Space Marines, the Cadians, the Kappic Eagles, Cawl's Skitarii and robotic maniples, even Greyfax herself, advance and destroy the Black Legion. Creed himself leads a contingent of Kasrkin platoon and charged Abaddon again with nothing but bayonets. They actually managed to defeat Abaddon's Terminators. Yeah, the Kasrkin actually wiped out Abaddon's Terminator bodyguards. Unfortunately, plot armor saved Abaddon and he annihilates all the Kasrkins, eliminating them all save for Creed himself. As with all stereotypical villains, Abaddon talks a tad too much while slowly strangling Creed to death after cutting off a few of his fingers (he's going to be like Ciaphas Cain!). Thanks to his big mouth, he ends up getting stabbed in the back by Celestine, and promptly lets go of Creed, who also seem to have massive plot armor and survives yet another close shave with death.
"CREEEEEEEEEEEEEED!"
Yeah, Abaddon was howling after Celestine backstabs him and Creed once again escapes death. Dick move, Celestine, but hey, since the target is a Chaos scum and filthy traitor, that backstabbing is justified. It's too bad she didn't cut off Abaddon's arms, though. That would have been more fitting and appropriate, I mean, to disarm Abaddon again...what a wasted opportunity.
Anyway, realizing that he had no time left because the last vestiges of the Warp were fading, Abaddon orders a retreat and teleports the hell out of there like the coward he is. The surviving warriors of the Black Legion retreat, and the traitor Space Marines all evacuated, taking heavy losses as the loyalists fire at their fleeing drop-ships and figures. The Chaos Space Marines sustain massive casualties, but many escaped. The cultists and un-believers were left behind like the cannon fodder they are, the Chaos Space Marines not thinking them worth saving. Poor dudes.
Abaddon, simmering with rage at his failure to kill Creed ("CREEEEEED!"), crying salty tears over how he failed to break Cadia's spirit, acts like the sore loser that he is, and decides to fire a huge chunk of the Blackstone Fortress from its fragmentary remains right into Cadia. Like an artificial meteor, in the same style of the asteroid that killed the dinosaurs 65 million years ago. Long story short, Cadia dies, its surface ravaged and blown up, the tetonic plates all messed up and lava boiling to the surface. With the planet dying, the Cadians and all the Imperium forces were forced to evacuate. The pylons also get destroyed, and the seal they placed on the Eye of Terror is ripped open again once more, and the rupture between reality and Immaterium becomes much bigger than before. Cawl is aghast at the turn of events, everyone on Cadia scrambles to evacuate or they'll die with the planet.
Worse, because of the pylons' destruction, Daemons begin pouring forth across the surface of Cadia, attacking and killing the beleaguered survivors. Fortunately, with the Warp's resurgence, Celestine and her Geminae Superia's powers are restored and they slay Daemons by the legions, buying time for the survivors to evacuate. Recovering from shock that his beloved Cadia has been wrecked and obliterated by the Blackstone meteor, Creed steels himself and orders his 8th to buy time for the remaining survivors to evacuate. Creed and the Cadian 8th stay behind on Cadia and fight to the very last against endless hordes of Daemons, long after the final survivors leave the surface of devastated Cadia.
Cadia stands!
After ensuring that Cadia stands, proudly, defiantly against the Daemons trying to infest and turn Cadia into a Daemon world, Ursarkar E. Creed slips a cigar into his mouth and murmurs to himself, "just as planned." From far in the Warp, the raging voice of Abaddon echoes throughout the void.
"CREEEEEED!"
Taking some satisfaction in outwitting his archenemy and frustrating his goals once again, Creed turns to a metal giant in a scaled cloak.
"So you were saying something about eternity?"
The figure, most likely Trazyn the Infinite who wants to put Creed in his collection, cocks his head for a moment before nodding. Creed grins, puffing the smoke from his cigar.
"Sure. Sounds like a good idea. I suppose at some point of time in the 42nd Millennium, I'll infiltrate holy Terra or whatever poor important planet out of nowhere and use my tactical genius to bring the Imperium to victory once again. Say, you wouldn't happen to have a Titan in your vault that I can Infiltrate out of nowhere, do you?"
Trazyn smiles back, his eerie skeletal face shining ominously in the gloom. "Sounds like a plan," he agrees eagerly. "Thief or Savior...I wonder what I'll be then."
"Why not be both? You'll find something better to steal."
Later, in the late 42nd Millennium, after Trazyn releases Creed to lead the Imperium to victory over Abaddon's 20th Black Crusade, he finds the Imperium treasury empty, and no significant characters to add to his collection. Trembling with rage, Trazyn howls into the void.
"CREEEEEEEEEEEEEED!"
The remaining Imperial fleet, escorted by Cawl's Mechanicus fleet, flees from the Cadian system after getting to a safe distance to fly into the Warp. Bad things happen, the Chaos fleet destroys a few Imperial ships, one ship has a Daemon possess a Primaris Psyker, and gets destroyed on that bitch Greyfax's orders. Out of 850 million Cadians, only 3 million survived, and they're on those ships. Don't worry, the Draconian system will welcome the Cadian survivors and allow them to set up their Imperial Guard regiment there.
Anyway, before I get too ahead of myself with my Draconians, the Imperial fleet limps away. At first Abaddon doesn't think them worth the trouble to pursue, but he's alerted by one of his lieutenants, Zaraphiston, that there's an important relic on the Ark Mechanicus - Cawl's flagship. So he hotly pursues the Mechanicus fleet, who stays behind even after the rest of the Imperial fleet translates into the Warp, because the Ark Mechanicus, Iron Revenant, is damaged in the opening salvo. The rest of the Mechanicus fleet sacrifices themselves to buy time for the Iron Revenant to escape to Klasius, but the Vengeful Spirit trades fire with it. Why Klasius, the ice moon? Well, apparently Celestine reveals to Cawl a dream, and Cawl shuts the annoying Greyfax up (someone shoot her already).
Obviously the Iron Revenant is unable to stand up to the Vengeful Spirit and breaks apart. Fortunately, the crew and everyone aboard manage to escape to the icy surface of Klasius, making use of the vicious snow-storms to conceal themselves from Abaddon's relentless pursuers. The Black Templars, Celestine and the Adepta Sororitas, the Kappic Eagles following Greyfax, Cawl and his Mechanicus maniples in his Triaros Conveyer that contained the awesome relic, and the lumbering Knights of House Taranis. All of them descend upon the icy surface, hide in the snow-storms and run from Abaddon and friends. Unfortunately, Abaddon and his Black Legion find the beleaguered Imperial defenders time and time again, with Chaos bikers, Heldrakes and Raptors. Taking casualties and killing their pursuers, the Imperial forces continued to soldier on, Cawl following Celestine's vision and heading for some ancient structure.
A final battle takes place at the gate of the ancient structure, Abaddon and his Daemon engines and Chaos tanks all rushing forward to annihilate the defenders of the Imperium once and for all. Abaddon and his Terminator retinue show up personally to chase the last of the Kappic Eagles, who were forced into a fighting withdrawal - Militarum Tempestus Stormtrooper never retreat! They're just making a tactical withdrawal! Fortunately, help arrived in the form of combined Eldar forces. Craftworld Eldar, Dark Eldar and Harlqeuins (I think) show up and obliterate the pursuing Black Legion forces. Veilwalker appears to talk to Cawl, and offers a parley or alliance. The Imperial forces, exhausted and worn down by the Black Legion, accepts the Eldar's assistance and they all escape into the portal.
Cadia stands. And now the Imperium will continue the war against Chaos, from a new beginning.
My life for Cadia! Uh, I mean, Cadia stands!
Yes, that's right. Cadia didn't fall. Cadia remains standing. Okay, so it got destroyed and turned into a daemon planet. So humans can no longer live in it. So what? The Cadians made their last stand, their spirits remain unbroken and they drove the forces of Chaos - including Abaddon himself - off the surface of their planet. In the end, about 3 million Cadians escaped with their lives aboard the Phalanx, but that's a detail I'll get to later. I'll just say this: Cadia STANDS!
Okay, let's start from the beginning. Fall of Cadia begins with the awakening of Celestine, the living Saint. Apparently she's very tired, but there's no one else to fight, so she answers the call to battle, wakes up and travels from...the Warp? Well, the book says the Void, but Celestine basically picks up her sword and flies to Cadia. Yay. Reinforcements!
Cadia stands. After Abaddon threw his forces into the meatgrinder, the defenders of Cadia repulsed the armies of Chaos at great cost. However, they succeeded, driving away Chaos and destroying their armies and fleets. Cadia stands. Ursarkar Creed, Lord Castellan of Cadia, has used his tactical genius to outwit the enemy and defeated them. Millions of Cadians have fallen in the defense of their world, and almost as many Imperial Guard regiments from other worlds, devoted Sisters of Battle, and the stalwart warriors of the Adeptus Astartes, have sacrificed for a world that is not theirs. Their deaths were not in vain. Cadia still stands defiant before the fleeing armies of the Despoiler, unbroken, proud and strong.
Unfortunately, Creed knows as well as Abaddon himself that this isn't the end. Victory was still far from reach. The Despoiler will surely attack again, and this time with several times more ferocity than the last one. Hence, Creed begins rallying his defenses, repairing whatever bastions or macro-cannon batteries, orbital defenses, fortresses that he can, and sacrifices the few remaining astropaths and psykers to send a signal through the broiling warp storm to call for reinforcements. Whether those reinforcements will arrive or not does not matter. Cadia will fight on.
Unfortunately, right after the message is sent, a ship comes in bearing an ominous message. A massive armada of Chaos ships have just warped into the Cadian system, much bigger than the preceding fleet. The previous assault was just the first wave, a quick and superficial foray to test the defenses of Cadia. Abaddon's 13th Black Crusade has only just truly begun...
Oh, and there's some mention about the Cadian pylon and how oh-so-mysterious they are. Foreshadowing the role they will play later in the story, no doubt. Whatever the case, the Adeptus Mechanicus is only sure of this single fact: they are ancient, they were build by xenos so primordial they existed before the birth of the first signs of life on Earth. Oh, and they apparently have an effect on calming the Warp around the Eye of Terror, hence providing the only stable pathway from the Warp - hence the Cadian Gate, because the pylons allowed for the Warp storms to stabilize for safe travel. Yay.
Anyway, we then suddenly move to Eriad VI. Archmagos Belisarius Cawl leads his Conclave Acquisitorius to uncover xenos archeotech and ancient artifacts on Eriad VI, his Explorator fleet inadvertently drawing Ork hordes who want nothing more than to wage war and loot. Led by Big Mek Gangrek, who Cawl slays personally with his Solar Atomizer, the Orks number in legions and relentlessly assault the slowly dwindling Mechanicus army, Skitarii maniples and war machines. Cawl continues digging despite the inevitable defeat of his forces, encouraged by Sylandri Veilwalker, a Harlequin Shadowseer, who leaves a cryptic message. I have to love their exchange. Veilwalker speaks in poetic riddles, saying nonsense like, "the music of destiny is changing. The dancers must learn new steps, or perish in the fading notes." I was like, "huh? What the hell are you talking about?" And to my amusement, Cawl has the same reaction, staring at her blankly. Almost as if she was sighing, Veilwalker then explains, "I'm here to tell you to keep digging." Dude...just say that from the start. Confusing riddles don't help anyone.
Then we move to the Necron, Trazyn the Infinite, who...well, basically he doesn't behave like a Necron at all. Bloody hell, the xenos acts exactly like a freaking human. He gets irritated when the Bell of Saint Gerstahl rings, ending up destroying his vault and accidentally commands his warrior legions to hibernate in stasis-sleep, his stuff got destroyed. He gets irritated, but gets the warning basically and embarks for Cadia.
The next step is the Phalanx, which comes under attack by the Iron Warriors, led by the Warsmith Shon'tu...who dies. The Daemon Prince Be'lakor takes over, but the Imperial Fists, under the command of Captain Tor Garadon, fight back and defend the Phalanx from Traitor Marines and Daemons alike, but at great cost. The 1st and 3rd Companies lost a lot of good men, and they were forced to purge one-tenth of the Phalanx. Wounded, they escape into the Warp to prevent the Traitors from turning the Phalanx's weapons on holy Terra. The Daemons, thanks to the Phalanx's entry into the Warp, grew stronger, but the dwindling Imperial Fists were aided by the sudden appearance of the Legion of the Damned. Hell, yeah! The Imperial Fists and Legion of the Damned combined forces and eradicated every trace of Daemons from the Phalanx, including giving Be'lakor the smackdown and pummeling him with Garadon's power fist. The Daemon Prince got fisted...literally. Anyway, finding out about the crisis on Cadia, Garadon heads there immediately despite the protests of Commodore Trevaux and with the approval of the Legion of the Damned. Hot damn.
The formidable fleet of Abaddon's forces sail into the Cadian system, sweeping aside any Imperial Navy ship that dared stood in their way. Uniting the various ships, from the Despoiler's Black Legion black ships, Nurgle's plagueships, the Thousand Sons' cabal-ships and the World Eaters' blood-red leviathans, which included the historical and legendary flagships Terminus Est and the Fortress of Agony, Failbaddon, I mean Abaddon plans the demise of mighty Cadia. Key in his fleet is the last known survivor of the Blackstone Fortresses, the Will of Eternity, which possesses the power to annihilate entire planets in Planetary Annihilation style. Not looking too good for our valiant Cadian defenders here, I'm afraid.
With the approach of the Blackstone Fortress, Cadia gets nervous, Creed understanding the significance of it, and orders the repair of some null-array thingy that will neutralize the Blackstone Fortress's planet-killer beam. Someone send that blueprint to the Star Wars universe, they're going to need it. Ahem, anyway, Magos Klarn and his tech-priests and servitors are unable to repair and complete the null-array in time, so a Space Wolf vessel, the Firemane's Fang, offers to board the Vengeful Spirit in a desperate attempt to delay the arrival of the Will of Eternity, bringing two hundred Space Marines from various chapters, including 58 Space Wolves, and the survivors of the Cadian 13th and a full maniple of the Martian Skitarii. Evidently, they failed and were destroyed, or so it's implied, but you'll see Sven Bloodhowl again. Apparently they succeeded in boarding the Will of Eternity, but I'll get to that later. Whatever their fate, the Chaos fleet, along with Will of Eternity. shows up above Cadia before the null-array is completed. Fortunately, the null-array worked, thanks to Trazyn's intervention, and sacrificing a few Mechanicus adepts to his cost - their deaths were worth it, his nanobots improving the null-array and allowing Cadia to weather the planet-killer's beam. Yay. Cadia stands. For now at least, for the siege of Cadia has only just begun, with its skies polluted by the dark forms of traitor drop-ships.
The battle took place at Kasr Kraf, and boom! Fights take place, Cadians die, Traitors die, Space Marines die, but they hold. More Traitors die than Loyalists, the Imperium's stalwart defenders reaping a toll many times that of their number. In addition to the Ironwolves of Space Wolves, the Dark Angels, Dark Templar and Novamarines join in, as do many other Chapters. The Knights of House Raven sally forth, wreaking destruction in the Chaos lines. The Sisters of Battle hold the Shrine of Saint Morrican, even against three Lords of Skulls, which were destroyed by the Canoness Genevieve. Her sister Eleanor helps out when Genevieve was wounded, fight, fight, etc. But they hold. The Traitor Titan Legion, Legio Vulcanum, is almost taken out by the Valkyrie squadron of the Howling 119th, taking out the lead Warlord Titan and sending the rest of the Titans in confusion. Cadia continues to fight defiantly, the Cadians valiant against the unceasing tide of Chaos.
The Hounds of Abaddon, led by the Daemon Prince, Urkanthos, charge into Kasr Kraf. Their charge basically broke Kasr Kraf and it fell apart. Beset by the surviving Titans of Legio Vulcanum, which the Knights of House Raven - led by Baroness Vardus, fight a losing battle against, swarmed by Daemons and cultists from within, even the courageous Cadians faltered. The Space Marines lent whatever aid they can, but even their inspiring presence wasn't enough to turn the tide. Urkanthos fights all the way to the heart of Kasr Kraf, determined to destroy the null-array so that the Will of Eternity can fire its planet-killer beam and obliterate Cadia. Many Cadians and Sisters of Battle stand in his way, but he kills them all. Canonesses Genevieve and Eleanor fight valiantly and bravely against all odds, but the Daemon Prince proved too much for them. Despite inflicting agonizing wounds on Urkanthos, Genevieve and Eleanor eventually succumb to his brutal assaults.
In the midst of it all, a traitor Baneblade suddenly attacks the Chaos Space Marines and cultists, thanks to the intervention of Trazyn, whose nanomachines infiltrated its system and turn it on the traitors. Yay for the Necrons, I guess?
After killing Magos Klarn, Urkanthos is poised to destroy the null-array...
And then we have a sudden switch back to Belisarius Cawl, who finds a pylon in Eriad VI, the same pylon as the ones scattered all over Cadia. Revelation dawns upon Cawl, who suddenly understands what this means, what the pylons' true purpose were. Taming the Warp, basically, if you don't get it. Anyway, Cawl understands that he has to rush to Cadia to save the pylons, for he finally sees through Abaddon's insidious plans and understands what the Despoiler has been planning all this time, with these thirteen Black Crusades that have seemingly "failed".
Looks like it's Abaddon's turn to smirk and say, "just as planned." Damn him. Ugh.
Just when all hope is lost in Cadia, Celestine plunges in from above, inspiring courage and hope in all the defenders. She revives Canonesses Genevieve and Eleanor as the Geminae Superia, and they kick Urkanthos's ass after he destroys the null-array. Though the null-array is destroyed and the Blackstone Fortress can fire, the Phalanx shows up from the Warp, destroys a bunch of Chaos ships and charge right at the Will of Eternity. Not only that, they send reinforcements in Thunderhawk gunships, the survivors of the Imperial Fists 1st and 3rd Companies joining the fight. Oh, and let's not forget the Legion of the Damned.
Remember Sven Bloodhowl and all those Space Marines, Cadian 13th and Skitarii that jumped onto the Firemane's Fang to delay the Blackstone Fortress? Apparently they boarded the Will of Eternity, like I told you. They play a huge part in blowing up the Blackstone Fortress from within, fighting inside and for some reason the Blackstone Fortress itself seemed to aid the Imperium's defenders, its bulkheads unsealing and automated defenses disengaging. Thanks to the intercession of the Phalanx, which took out a huge chunk of the Blackstone Fortress, the Imperium boarders seized the chance and blow the Will of Eternity up from the inside. Hooray! No more planet-killing spectacle...whoops, I spoke too soon.
Anyway, with the Will of Eternity destroyed, the biggest threat to Cadia has been eliminated. With the arrival of Celestine, the Living Saint, and the fresh reinforcements from the Imperial Fists, Legion of the Damned and more, Cadia stands firm. The beleaguered defenders earn a brief reprieve, and a temporary victory. Creed, however, knows that they were far from true victory, Abaddon's true strength still held in reserve while Cadia's power has been nearly spent. It was only a breather before the true killing blow.
Then we have Abaddon and Chaos politics, and Abaddon basically saying screw you to his lieutenants and deciding to go down to Cadia himself to end the war personally.
The defenders of Cadia use the chance to rest, sleep, bury the dead and reorganize their forces, with the Dark Angels Master Korahael taking command of the Space Marines forces and Creed taking charge of the Imperial Guard regiments. Thankfully, the Mechanicus fleet arrives, carrying Cawl's forces and Skitarii. Archmagos Belisarius Cawl had rushed over to Cadia after his revelation in Eriad VI, and the Mechanicus forces were requested by Creed to repair Cadia's shattered defenses. The Crimson Fists Space Marines chapter arrive with the Cadian 14th, and a dozen battered crisers limped in from Solar Mariatus, bringing the welcome reinforcements of the Knights of House Taranis and the tanks of the Armored 51st after being rescued by Space Wolves boarders. Yay.
Cawl proceeds to study the main pylon thing, essentially the command pylon, while the battle for the Elysion Fields begin. Apparently Abaddon personally dropped down with a second wave of Chaos armies, intent on ending the war in Cadia once and for all. As he does so, Trazyn appears before Cawl, dangling precious knowledge and information in front of the cautious archmagos, who realizes he has little choice but to listen.
All I can say is that the battle at Elysion Fields didn't go very well. Cadians died, more Cadians died, and I'm pretty sad. Ugh. The Knights of House Raven ended up utterly destroyed, also much to my misery. The east was a mess, but the Space Marines dive in to reinforce the eastern lines and drove off the surviving Titans and Crimson Slaughter renegades after the demise of House Raven's Knights and the retreat of the Cadian 185th. The west was held by cold Cadian steel, the Cadian 9th holding the line with Basilisk artillery support. The north was also firmly defended by the Battle Sisters of Our Martyred Lady, Celestine and her Geminea Superia at their head. Warpsmiths and Daemon Engines fell before their faith and might, their Exorcists, melta, fiery promethium and bolters shredding all the tainted and corrupted horrors the un-believers threw at them.
But the south, where Abaddon's true assault fell, obliterated the Cadian 8th and 21st, and where the lines collapsed. Creed personally led with his Cadian 8th, his very own company. Abaddon, on the other hand, realizes the symbol Creed was to the Cadians, and is determined to kill him - for Creed's death would be the killing blow that will finally break Cadian valor and spirit. It is here where one of the greatest tragedies of the Warhammer 40,000 universe finally occurs - Color Sergeant Kell falls and dies, saving Creed. He shoves Creed aboard a Valkyrie and orders it to fly off while losing a leg below his knee. Despite the horrendous injury, he stands up to Abaddon like the badass that he is and tries to fight. Unfortunately, the brave color sergeant's defiance proved futile and Abaddon easily snaps his spine, killing him.
No! Kell died! Kell DIED! NOOOOOOOOOOOOO! How could you, Games Workshop!? How could you kill Kell of all people?! NOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!
To the west, the Cadian 9th have fallen, and the 75th and 403rd defend what remains. To the north, the traitor forces have completely crumpled, the Adepta Sororitas successfully winning against their formidable foes, though at great cost. Recognizing the danger at the south, Celesine then flies there to confront Abaddon and fight him. Creed is forced to retreat into the catacombs with his surviving Cadian 8th, bolstered by Cawl's Skitarii, even as Abaddon and his Terminators pursued him and his forces relentlessly. Unfortunately, the Cadians and Skitarii are overwhelmed, and the traitors make their way to Cawl's position. The venerable archmagos is still too focused on tinkering with the command pylon and ignores the battle, but his Kataphrons are in danger of being overwhelmed. Trazyn the Infinite decides to lend a hand and opens his vault to release several of his collections, including Lieutenant-Commander Cerantes of the Ultramarines, in charge of Contemptor Dreadnoughts and cataphractii Terminators. An entire regiment of Vostroyan XXI also show up, sick from stasis, but recovering quickly to join the fray. Snipers from long-dead Tanith, Salamanders, and even an Adeptus Custode all jump in with the time-lost Ultramarines to fight the traitors. I mean, we don't need a good reason to fight Chaos scum, right?
However, one person stays apart - Inquisitor Katarinya Greyfax of the Ordo Hereticus, and her bodyguards of storm troopers drawn from 55th Kappic Eagles, don't fire at all.
Abaddon sees Cawl tinkering with the command pylon and panics, ordering his sorcerers to summon Daemons. The Ultramarines die, slaughtered to the last man, poor dudes. Fortunately, the Legion of the Damned shows up and help them out. Cadian 8th fights on valiantly again (this is starting to get repetitive), but they're reinforced by the Wulfen. The Space Wolves, led by the Ironwolves and Highfell, charge in and rip Daemons apart. Yay. The Kappic Eagles finally join in, firing into the Black Legion and slaughtering masses of traitor Marines - yeah, the stormtroopers are actually killing Chaos Space Marines with hot-shot lasgun fire. Really. Cadians resist stubbornly, fighting as well as the Kappic Eagles, staring down the Daemons and the Terminators of the Black Legion. Fortunately, help arrives in the nick of time, Celestine the Living Saint descending into the catacombs and slaying Daemons with her Ardent Blade. Finally reaching Abaddon, she engages him in a duel, her revived Geminae Superia at her side to help her in a three-against-one. Hey, the guy's a superhuman genetically engineered Chaos scum with the blessing of the dark gods. The three women are going to need every advantage they can get.
Greyfax, being typically grimdark, scowls and rages at all the heresy in front of her, with the mutants, the idolatry of the so-called False Saint, blah, blah. She rages at Trazyn, who owns her in a verbal war of words, and has no choice but to accept that he's right and turn her attention to the Chaos filth spawning before her.
Archmagos Belisarius Cawl finally succeeds in activating the command pylon and closes the Warp thingy surrounding the Eye of Terror, closing the storm and stabilizing the Warp currents, isolating reality from the Immaterium. In doing so, he expelled all the Daemons from reality, but also reduces the potency of psykers. Celestine loses her powers in the process, unfortunately, and so do her Geminae Superia, and the duel swings in Abaddon's favor. Poor ladies. Abaddon gains the upper hand and knocks Celestia down, ready to deliver the killing blow. Knowing that it will be disastrous to lose Celestine, Creed orders the 8th to rush in and stab Abaddon with bayonets...no, you did not read that wrong. The Cadian 8th rushed in to stab Abaddon with bayonets. Before they could reach him, Greyfax throws Abaddon off with a psychic attack, saving Celestine and buying time for the Cadians to rescue her.
Needless to say, they got slaughtered.
Aside from the debacle with Abaddon, the Imperium's defenders succeed in defeating the Black Legion and repulsing them. The Space Marines, the Cadians, the Kappic Eagles, Cawl's Skitarii and robotic maniples, even Greyfax herself, advance and destroy the Black Legion. Creed himself leads a contingent of Kasrkin platoon and charged Abaddon again with nothing but bayonets. They actually managed to defeat Abaddon's Terminators. Yeah, the Kasrkin actually wiped out Abaddon's Terminator bodyguards. Unfortunately, plot armor saved Abaddon and he annihilates all the Kasrkins, eliminating them all save for Creed himself. As with all stereotypical villains, Abaddon talks a tad too much while slowly strangling Creed to death after cutting off a few of his fingers (he's going to be like Ciaphas Cain!). Thanks to his big mouth, he ends up getting stabbed in the back by Celestine, and promptly lets go of Creed, who also seem to have massive plot armor and survives yet another close shave with death.
"CREEEEEEEEEEEEEED!"
Yeah, Abaddon was howling after Celestine backstabs him and Creed once again escapes death. Dick move, Celestine, but hey, since the target is a Chaos scum and filthy traitor, that backstabbing is justified. It's too bad she didn't cut off Abaddon's arms, though. That would have been more fitting and appropriate, I mean, to disarm Abaddon again...what a wasted opportunity.
Anyway, realizing that he had no time left because the last vestiges of the Warp were fading, Abaddon orders a retreat and teleports the hell out of there like the coward he is. The surviving warriors of the Black Legion retreat, and the traitor Space Marines all evacuated, taking heavy losses as the loyalists fire at their fleeing drop-ships and figures. The Chaos Space Marines sustain massive casualties, but many escaped. The cultists and un-believers were left behind like the cannon fodder they are, the Chaos Space Marines not thinking them worth saving. Poor dudes.
Abaddon, simmering with rage at his failure to kill Creed ("CREEEEEED!"), crying salty tears over how he failed to break Cadia's spirit, acts like the sore loser that he is, and decides to fire a huge chunk of the Blackstone Fortress from its fragmentary remains right into Cadia. Like an artificial meteor, in the same style of the asteroid that killed the dinosaurs 65 million years ago. Long story short, Cadia dies, its surface ravaged and blown up, the tetonic plates all messed up and lava boiling to the surface. With the planet dying, the Cadians and all the Imperium forces were forced to evacuate. The pylons also get destroyed, and the seal they placed on the Eye of Terror is ripped open again once more, and the rupture between reality and Immaterium becomes much bigger than before. Cawl is aghast at the turn of events, everyone on Cadia scrambles to evacuate or they'll die with the planet.
Worse, because of the pylons' destruction, Daemons begin pouring forth across the surface of Cadia, attacking and killing the beleaguered survivors. Fortunately, with the Warp's resurgence, Celestine and her Geminae Superia's powers are restored and they slay Daemons by the legions, buying time for the survivors to evacuate. Recovering from shock that his beloved Cadia has been wrecked and obliterated by the Blackstone meteor, Creed steels himself and orders his 8th to buy time for the remaining survivors to evacuate. Creed and the Cadian 8th stay behind on Cadia and fight to the very last against endless hordes of Daemons, long after the final survivors leave the surface of devastated Cadia.
Cadia stands!
After ensuring that Cadia stands, proudly, defiantly against the Daemons trying to infest and turn Cadia into a Daemon world, Ursarkar E. Creed slips a cigar into his mouth and murmurs to himself, "just as planned." From far in the Warp, the raging voice of Abaddon echoes throughout the void.
"CREEEEEED!"
Taking some satisfaction in outwitting his archenemy and frustrating his goals once again, Creed turns to a metal giant in a scaled cloak.
"So you were saying something about eternity?"
The figure, most likely Trazyn the Infinite who wants to put Creed in his collection, cocks his head for a moment before nodding. Creed grins, puffing the smoke from his cigar.
"Sure. Sounds like a good idea. I suppose at some point of time in the 42nd Millennium, I'll infiltrate holy Terra or whatever poor important planet out of nowhere and use my tactical genius to bring the Imperium to victory once again. Say, you wouldn't happen to have a Titan in your vault that I can Infiltrate out of nowhere, do you?"
Trazyn smiles back, his eerie skeletal face shining ominously in the gloom. "Sounds like a plan," he agrees eagerly. "Thief or Savior...I wonder what I'll be then."
"Why not be both? You'll find something better to steal."
Later, in the late 42nd Millennium, after Trazyn releases Creed to lead the Imperium to victory over Abaddon's 20th Black Crusade, he finds the Imperium treasury empty, and no significant characters to add to his collection. Trembling with rage, Trazyn howls into the void.
"CREEEEEEEEEEEEEED!"
The remaining Imperial fleet, escorted by Cawl's Mechanicus fleet, flees from the Cadian system after getting to a safe distance to fly into the Warp. Bad things happen, the Chaos fleet destroys a few Imperial ships, one ship has a Daemon possess a Primaris Psyker, and gets destroyed on that bitch Greyfax's orders. Out of 850 million Cadians, only 3 million survived, and they're on those ships. Don't worry, the Draconian system will welcome the Cadian survivors and allow them to set up their Imperial Guard regiment there.
Anyway, before I get too ahead of myself with my Draconians, the Imperial fleet limps away. At first Abaddon doesn't think them worth the trouble to pursue, but he's alerted by one of his lieutenants, Zaraphiston, that there's an important relic on the Ark Mechanicus - Cawl's flagship. So he hotly pursues the Mechanicus fleet, who stays behind even after the rest of the Imperial fleet translates into the Warp, because the Ark Mechanicus, Iron Revenant, is damaged in the opening salvo. The rest of the Mechanicus fleet sacrifices themselves to buy time for the Iron Revenant to escape to Klasius, but the Vengeful Spirit trades fire with it. Why Klasius, the ice moon? Well, apparently Celestine reveals to Cawl a dream, and Cawl shuts the annoying Greyfax up (someone shoot her already).
Obviously the Iron Revenant is unable to stand up to the Vengeful Spirit and breaks apart. Fortunately, the crew and everyone aboard manage to escape to the icy surface of Klasius, making use of the vicious snow-storms to conceal themselves from Abaddon's relentless pursuers. The Black Templars, Celestine and the Adepta Sororitas, the Kappic Eagles following Greyfax, Cawl and his Mechanicus maniples in his Triaros Conveyer that contained the awesome relic, and the lumbering Knights of House Taranis. All of them descend upon the icy surface, hide in the snow-storms and run from Abaddon and friends. Unfortunately, Abaddon and his Black Legion find the beleaguered Imperial defenders time and time again, with Chaos bikers, Heldrakes and Raptors. Taking casualties and killing their pursuers, the Imperial forces continued to soldier on, Cawl following Celestine's vision and heading for some ancient structure.
A final battle takes place at the gate of the ancient structure, Abaddon and his Daemon engines and Chaos tanks all rushing forward to annihilate the defenders of the Imperium once and for all. Abaddon and his Terminator retinue show up personally to chase the last of the Kappic Eagles, who were forced into a fighting withdrawal - Militarum Tempestus Stormtrooper never retreat! They're just making a tactical withdrawal! Fortunately, help arrived in the form of combined Eldar forces. Craftworld Eldar, Dark Eldar and Harlqeuins (I think) show up and obliterate the pursuing Black Legion forces. Veilwalker appears to talk to Cawl, and offers a parley or alliance. The Imperial forces, exhausted and worn down by the Black Legion, accepts the Eldar's assistance and they all escape into the portal.
Cadia stands. And now the Imperium will continue the war against Chaos, from a new beginning.
My life for Cadia! Uh, I mean, Cadia stands!
Thursday, January 19, 2017
Fall of Cadia lost in the Warp
First of all, fellow Guardsmen, I would like to apologize for not posting anything about the Fall of Cadia. As you all know, I pre-ordered my copy, along with a box of the Triumvirate of the Imperium, last week, but I'm disappointed to tell you that they have not arrived.
Fortunately, the Deparmento Munitorum (Games Workshop) has assured me that my copy is in transit, and is currently floating in the Warp right now. They should expect to materialize in real space around tomorrow or Saturday. Once they arrive, I will be able to read them and then upload all relevant information into the noosphere.
Regardless, I'm sure there are already reviews, spoilers, tactica analysis and all the other stuff floating around the noosphere right now, so get your mechadendrites plugged in and read those if you can't wait. Or approach your regimental Commissar. I'm sure he'll teach you the value of patience or something.
So please hold on for a while longer! Reinforcements will be arriving shortly, so hold your ground and defend Cadia until then!
Note: This poor Draconian Armored regiment, along with a contingent of Imperial Knights from House Yato, and a group of Adeptus Mechanicus cohorts including a Skitarii maniple and Cybernetica legion, ended up fighting on one of Cadia's moons a full week after Cadia was blown up, razing and eradicating the last of the Traitors still remaining in the Cadian system. None of us were aware that Cadia had been blown up until an Archmagos under Archmagos Besiliarius Cawl arrived to inform of us the news...which will not happen until tomorrow or Saturday.
Fortunately, the Deparmento Munitorum (Games Workshop) has assured me that my copy is in transit, and is currently floating in the Warp right now. They should expect to materialize in real space around tomorrow or Saturday. Once they arrive, I will be able to read them and then upload all relevant information into the noosphere.
Regardless, I'm sure there are already reviews, spoilers, tactica analysis and all the other stuff floating around the noosphere right now, so get your mechadendrites plugged in and read those if you can't wait. Or approach your regimental Commissar. I'm sure he'll teach you the value of patience or something.
So please hold on for a while longer! Reinforcements will be arriving shortly, so hold your ground and defend Cadia until then!
Note: This poor Draconian Armored regiment, along with a contingent of Imperial Knights from House Yato, and a group of Adeptus Mechanicus cohorts including a Skitarii maniple and Cybernetica legion, ended up fighting on one of Cadia's moons a full week after Cadia was blown up, razing and eradicating the last of the Traitors still remaining in the Cadian system. None of us were aware that Cadia had been blown up until an Archmagos under Archmagos Besiliarius Cawl arrived to inform of us the news...which will not happen until tomorrow or Saturday.
Wednesday, January 18, 2017
Cadia: Another Imperial Victory!
Greetings, all Guardsmen of the Imperium!
By now you must all have received the news regarding the so-called Fall of Cadia. We have received confirmation that Cadia has indeed been destroyed - however, contrary to popular belief, Cadia did not fall.
The Regimental Standard has published a report regarding the truth behind Cadia - the destruction of planet was actually a masterfully crafted strategy to deceive the arch-enemy and lure them into a trap. Devised by none other than the tactical genius, Lord Castellan Ursarkar Creed, the Imperium succeeded in destroying the majority of the traitor and renegade forces after trapping them on Cadia, only to blow up the planet along with the vile xenos pylons located all over its surface. Consequently, the Imperium achieved a significant victory and crushed Abbadon the Failure...I mean Despoiler's plans of a successful 13th Black Crusade, and once again disarmed him. Literally. With his ambitions in ruins, the traitor fled back to the Eye of Terror, and experts have concluded that it is very unlikely that he will launch another attempt at an invasion of Holy Terra, at least in the near future.
Now that the campaign is over, the Imperium will be taking a well-deserved break - which means vacations for all you Guardsmen who have fought bravely for the Emperor on Cadia. While this might not suffice for the sacrifices your regiments have made over the course of the war, it is better than nothing. For those of you still dissatisfied with the compensation of a year-long holiday, please report to your regimental Commissar for negotiations.
Once again, a very excellent job done by you all, and the Imperium would like to extend its thanks to all the Guardsmen, both dead and alive, who have contributed to the valiant effort of the defense of Cadia. Its destruction is just the beginning of many more victories for the Imperium, and a clear sign to the arch-enemy - we are not afraid of blowing up more of the Imperium's planets to destroy them, if necessary! Even if it's supposed to be a so-called vital pillar of the Imperium's defense!
For the Emperor!
By now you must all have received the news regarding the so-called Fall of Cadia. We have received confirmation that Cadia has indeed been destroyed - however, contrary to popular belief, Cadia did not fall.
The Regimental Standard has published a report regarding the truth behind Cadia - the destruction of planet was actually a masterfully crafted strategy to deceive the arch-enemy and lure them into a trap. Devised by none other than the tactical genius, Lord Castellan Ursarkar Creed, the Imperium succeeded in destroying the majority of the traitor and renegade forces after trapping them on Cadia, only to blow up the planet along with the vile xenos pylons located all over its surface. Consequently, the Imperium achieved a significant victory and crushed Abbadon the Failure...I mean Despoiler's plans of a successful 13th Black Crusade, and once again disarmed him. Literally. With his ambitions in ruins, the traitor fled back to the Eye of Terror, and experts have concluded that it is very unlikely that he will launch another attempt at an invasion of Holy Terra, at least in the near future.
Now that the campaign is over, the Imperium will be taking a well-deserved break - which means vacations for all you Guardsmen who have fought bravely for the Emperor on Cadia. While this might not suffice for the sacrifices your regiments have made over the course of the war, it is better than nothing. For those of you still dissatisfied with the compensation of a year-long holiday, please report to your regimental Commissar for negotiations.
Once again, a very excellent job done by you all, and the Imperium would like to extend its thanks to all the Guardsmen, both dead and alive, who have contributed to the valiant effort of the defense of Cadia. Its destruction is just the beginning of many more victories for the Imperium, and a clear sign to the arch-enemy - we are not afraid of blowing up more of the Imperium's planets to destroy them, if necessary! Even if it's supposed to be a so-called vital pillar of the Imperium's defense!
For the Emperor!
Friday, January 13, 2017
Triumvirare of the Imperium back in stock
Good news! The Triumvirate of the Imperium are back in stock and available for pre-orders again! Warhammer 40,000 Facebook page has posted the news not long ago. So make sure you grab them now before they run out again!
I knew there had to be some reason why I was able to pre-order the Triumvirate of the Imperium yesterday along with my Fall of Cadia book yesterday...
Go order them today!
I knew there had to be some reason why I was able to pre-order the Triumvirate of the Imperium yesterday along with my Fall of Cadia book yesterday...
Go order them today!
Black Library Success and question about Ian Douglas
I've finally succeeded in solving the Verified by Visa problem, and went ahead and purchased all the Black Library Ebooks that I wanted.
In other words, I have bought and downloaded Ciaphas Cain: The Complete Story, Ahriman Collection, Sabbat Worlds: The Digital Collection, Baneblade, Shadowsword, Stormlord, Iron Harvest, Gates of the Devourer, and Of Gods and Men. That's a lot of stuff to read, but I'll clear through them eventually and write the promised book reviews. Yay.
I will purchase The Razing of Prospero separately, because it seems cheaper on Amazon for one thing and it's the only physical copy that I'm ordering. I just wanted the rest for now. So yeah. I'll read through them after I finish Ian Douglas's Warstrider series (no book reviews for that, unless you really want). Speaking of which, I'm a massive fan of Ian Douglas, and I've read most of his sci-fi military books, from the Galactic Marines series (almost all 3 trilogies, from the Heritage trilogy, the Legacy trilogy and 1 book out of the Inheritance trilogy, will probably find a way to finish them up soon), all 6 books from the Star Carrier series (I've already pre-ordered book 7 Dark Mind and will receive it in April or so), Star Corpsman (both books) and even his Andromeda Dark series (Starscape). Now I'm reading book 2 of his 1990s Warstrider series, and I've bought all 7 of them. They're a good read so far, if a little dated (and might I say naive about all that politics and freedom stuff), and I'm enjoying them.
Therefore, I would like to pose this question to any readers who's reading this blog. Okay, I'm probably looking very stupid now because I know nobody reads this blog, or the readership is close to zero anyway, but I'll still ask anyway. Does anyone of you want to see book reviews for Ian Douglas's sci-fi military series? I mean, it's the same genre as Warhammer 40,000, which is what this blog is mainly about anyway. Right? So how about it? Who wants to see book reviews for the Star Carrier series? Or the Galactic Marines? Andromeda Dark? Warstrider? Star Corpsman?
Or would you prefer me to keep this blog as purely Warhammer 40,000? No unrelated stuff even if they are novels of the same genre? I might not even bother with the book reviews, I might just list spoilers, or just list the books and brief summaries if that's what you prefer, because my book reviews tend to be longwinded and unreadable anyway.
So what would it be? Do you think it's heresy to include unauthorized material not belonging to the Imperium of Man? Or do you think the Ecclesiarchy and Deparmento Munitorum should relax their rules and allow Ian Douglas's books to take up a small territory under their watchful wings? Please let me know. In the meantime, what remains unchanged is my plans to write book reviews for the Black Library novels I have just purchased. For the Emperor!
In other words, I have bought and downloaded Ciaphas Cain: The Complete Story, Ahriman Collection, Sabbat Worlds: The Digital Collection, Baneblade, Shadowsword, Stormlord, Iron Harvest, Gates of the Devourer, and Of Gods and Men. That's a lot of stuff to read, but I'll clear through them eventually and write the promised book reviews. Yay.
I will purchase The Razing of Prospero separately, because it seems cheaper on Amazon for one thing and it's the only physical copy that I'm ordering. I just wanted the rest for now. So yeah. I'll read through them after I finish Ian Douglas's Warstrider series (no book reviews for that, unless you really want). Speaking of which, I'm a massive fan of Ian Douglas, and I've read most of his sci-fi military books, from the Galactic Marines series (almost all 3 trilogies, from the Heritage trilogy, the Legacy trilogy and 1 book out of the Inheritance trilogy, will probably find a way to finish them up soon), all 6 books from the Star Carrier series (I've already pre-ordered book 7 Dark Mind and will receive it in April or so), Star Corpsman (both books) and even his Andromeda Dark series (Starscape). Now I'm reading book 2 of his 1990s Warstrider series, and I've bought all 7 of them. They're a good read so far, if a little dated (and might I say naive about all that politics and freedom stuff), and I'm enjoying them.
Therefore, I would like to pose this question to any readers who's reading this blog. Okay, I'm probably looking very stupid now because I know nobody reads this blog, or the readership is close to zero anyway, but I'll still ask anyway. Does anyone of you want to see book reviews for Ian Douglas's sci-fi military series? I mean, it's the same genre as Warhammer 40,000, which is what this blog is mainly about anyway. Right? So how about it? Who wants to see book reviews for the Star Carrier series? Or the Galactic Marines? Andromeda Dark? Warstrider? Star Corpsman?
Or would you prefer me to keep this blog as purely Warhammer 40,000? No unrelated stuff even if they are novels of the same genre? I might not even bother with the book reviews, I might just list spoilers, or just list the books and brief summaries if that's what you prefer, because my book reviews tend to be longwinded and unreadable anyway.
So what would it be? Do you think it's heresy to include unauthorized material not belonging to the Imperium of Man? Or do you think the Ecclesiarchy and Deparmento Munitorum should relax their rules and allow Ian Douglas's books to take up a small territory under their watchful wings? Please let me know. In the meantime, what remains unchanged is my plans to write book reviews for the Black Library novels I have just purchased. For the Emperor!
Thursday, January 12, 2017
Black Library Verified by Visa
This is a frustrating problem that has been going on for days now, but I am unable to purchase the books from Black Library with my visa. Apparently Verified by Visa is blocking me from using my card, even though I'm pretty sure I filled out the right details.
As such, the book reviews will not be coming for a very long time. Either I'll have to call them soon, or I'll have to visit a TCF bank branch and check with them what this is all about. I think I'll give up eventually. It's just too much hassle, and the total cost of the books I tried to buy is over US$300. Not exactly a luxury I can spend on my student stipend. So...all right, I give up. Sigh.
On other news, I did pre-order the Gathering Storm: Fall of Cadia and the Triumvirate of the Imperium, but once again the Verified by Visa thing bugged me and I resorted to paying for my purchase through PayPal. That means I'll at least be able to write a review and the usual spoiler summary for Fall of Cadia like I did for Mont'ka and Wrath of Magnus. So don't worry about it. I'll at least get that settled without any problems. Funnily enough, the Triumvirate of the Imperium is listed as temporarily out of stock so I've no idea how I managed to pre-order it, but whatever. I paid for it, and if they can't deliver it, I should get a refund. I hope. The book itself should arrive without a hitch or so I hope. Or maybe they'll delay the delivery until the Triumivrate of the Imperium becomes available again.
So the Black Library books are most likely not coming while Fall of Cadia will definitely be arriving - if it's late, it's late. Not that people are checking my blog for spoilers and reviews/analyses anyway, so I don't think that matters. I'm looking forward to analyzing the Adeptus Mechanicus Grand Convocation and the Conclave Acquisitorius. I might actually have the models to form the Conclave Acquisitorius once I get my hand on the good old Archmagos Belisarius Cawl. I think I might actually get a second Tech-priest Dominus, and either convert my Kataphron Destroyers into Kataphron Breachers or buy 2 sets of Kataphron Breachers for the Holy Requisitioner formation. Well, it's unconfirmed, but I can field the Battle Maniple (I already have one for my Adeptus Mechanicus War Convocation), I just need a 2nd Tech-Priest Dominus and the 6 Breachers (or convert my Destroyers) for the Holy Requisitioner, and I already have the Cybernetica Cohort and Baronial Court. Of course, if I field everything, it'll probably cost over 4,000 points. Uh, okay...yeah, that's a lot.
My Imperial Knights in a Baronial Court costs about 1,665 alone. My Battle Maniple should be about 110+75+170+185+75+450= 1,065. Holy Requistioner should be 105+2x180=465. Cybernetica Cohort would be 290x2+60+30+135=805. If I'm not mistaken, Archmagos Belisarius Cawl himself costs 200 points. The total tally or total required points of Conclave Acquisitorius should add up to 1,665+1,065+465+805+200=4,200. Okay, that's a lot of points. And I mean a lot. As much as I'm proud to own a Conclave Acquisitorius, who the hell is going to play 4,200 points with me?! Hell, never mind 4,200, who's going to play 4,000-point games with me? It makes for a fluffy army, but let's be serious. I will hardly find an opponent willing to face down 4 Imperial Knights alongside with a full Skitarii Battle Maniple and 4 Kastelan robots...and if I do, it'll probably be Wraithknight spam anyway.
So what should I do? Well, we'll think over it some more when I finally get the book.
As such, the book reviews will not be coming for a very long time. Either I'll have to call them soon, or I'll have to visit a TCF bank branch and check with them what this is all about. I think I'll give up eventually. It's just too much hassle, and the total cost of the books I tried to buy is over US$300. Not exactly a luxury I can spend on my student stipend. So...all right, I give up. Sigh.
On other news, I did pre-order the Gathering Storm: Fall of Cadia and the Triumvirate of the Imperium, but once again the Verified by Visa thing bugged me and I resorted to paying for my purchase through PayPal. That means I'll at least be able to write a review and the usual spoiler summary for Fall of Cadia like I did for Mont'ka and Wrath of Magnus. So don't worry about it. I'll at least get that settled without any problems. Funnily enough, the Triumvirate of the Imperium is listed as temporarily out of stock so I've no idea how I managed to pre-order it, but whatever. I paid for it, and if they can't deliver it, I should get a refund. I hope. The book itself should arrive without a hitch or so I hope. Or maybe they'll delay the delivery until the Triumivrate of the Imperium becomes available again.
So the Black Library books are most likely not coming while Fall of Cadia will definitely be arriving - if it's late, it's late. Not that people are checking my blog for spoilers and reviews/analyses anyway, so I don't think that matters. I'm looking forward to analyzing the Adeptus Mechanicus Grand Convocation and the Conclave Acquisitorius. I might actually have the models to form the Conclave Acquisitorius once I get my hand on the good old Archmagos Belisarius Cawl. I think I might actually get a second Tech-priest Dominus, and either convert my Kataphron Destroyers into Kataphron Breachers or buy 2 sets of Kataphron Breachers for the Holy Requisitioner formation. Well, it's unconfirmed, but I can field the Battle Maniple (I already have one for my Adeptus Mechanicus War Convocation), I just need a 2nd Tech-Priest Dominus and the 6 Breachers (or convert my Destroyers) for the Holy Requisitioner, and I already have the Cybernetica Cohort and Baronial Court. Of course, if I field everything, it'll probably cost over 4,000 points. Uh, okay...yeah, that's a lot.
My Imperial Knights in a Baronial Court costs about 1,665 alone. My Battle Maniple should be about 110+75+170+185+75+450= 1,065. Holy Requistioner should be 105+2x180=465. Cybernetica Cohort would be 290x2+60+30+135=805. If I'm not mistaken, Archmagos Belisarius Cawl himself costs 200 points. The total tally or total required points of Conclave Acquisitorius should add up to 1,665+1,065+465+805+200=4,200. Okay, that's a lot of points. And I mean a lot. As much as I'm proud to own a Conclave Acquisitorius, who the hell is going to play 4,200 points with me?! Hell, never mind 4,200, who's going to play 4,000-point games with me? It makes for a fluffy army, but let's be serious. I will hardly find an opponent willing to face down 4 Imperial Knights alongside with a full Skitarii Battle Maniple and 4 Kastelan robots...and if I do, it'll probably be Wraithknight spam anyway.
So what should I do? Well, we'll think over it some more when I finally get the book.
Tuesday, January 10, 2017
Fall of Cadia Detachments and Formations
Well, look what Warhammer Community brought us today! They have a post on the detachments and formations available in the Fall of Cadia. This is going to be awesome!
They have a few details on the Triumvirate, Mars United (Not a football team), and Crusade for Cadia. The Adeptus Mechanicus formations allows you to form detachments from Cult Mechanicus, Skitarii and Imperial Knights into a combined single army, apparently, and features power of the machine spirit. Wait, that's the Grand Convocation we're talking about here. The other formation, the Conclave Acquisitorius is a super big formation that grants all the characters master-crafted weapons and I think free relics and wargear (I could be wrong). Grand Convocation is a more flexible choice that allows you to mix and match, while Conclave Acquisitorius is more rigid, but allows your Mechanicus forces to grant each other a mix of abilities from all the armies. Or something. We shall see.
On the other hand, we have the Wrathful Crusade, which combines the Black Templars, Astra Militarum (Imperial Guard, jeez), and Adepta Sororitas (Sisters of Battle), all of whom are led by Celestine and Inquisitor Katarina Greyfax. It's a troops-heavy formation, apparently, but the awesome part is that everyone gains Hatred AND you can bring Troops back from the dead, just like the Lost and the Damned from the Traitor's Hatred thing. I think. I can't remember (sorry, I'm not a Chaos player). For the Emperor!
They have a few details on the Triumvirate, Mars United (Not a football team), and Crusade for Cadia. The Adeptus Mechanicus formations allows you to form detachments from Cult Mechanicus, Skitarii and Imperial Knights into a combined single army, apparently, and features power of the machine spirit. Wait, that's the Grand Convocation we're talking about here. The other formation, the Conclave Acquisitorius is a super big formation that grants all the characters master-crafted weapons and I think free relics and wargear (I could be wrong). Grand Convocation is a more flexible choice that allows you to mix and match, while Conclave Acquisitorius is more rigid, but allows your Mechanicus forces to grant each other a mix of abilities from all the armies. Or something. We shall see.
On the other hand, we have the Wrathful Crusade, which combines the Black Templars, Astra Militarum (Imperial Guard, jeez), and Adepta Sororitas (Sisters of Battle), all of whom are led by Celestine and Inquisitor Katarina Greyfax. It's a troops-heavy formation, apparently, but the awesome part is that everyone gains Hatred AND you can bring Troops back from the dead, just like the Lost and the Damned from the Traitor's Hatred thing. I think. I can't remember (sorry, I'm not a Chaos player). For the Emperor!
Monday, January 9, 2017
Conclave Acquisitorius and Grand Convocation
Guess what? It seems that we have new Adeptus Mechanicus formations in the Fall of Cadia book, and pre-orders for them are already available on the Games Workshop webstore. The first one is Conclave Acquisitorius, and here's the description on the website:
Description
Belisarius Cawl does not take his rank – that of Archmagos Dominatus – lightly. Each time he ventures out into the cold gulfs of space to gather materials for his secret labours, he uses his absolute authority to requisition impressive swathes of combined Mechanicus forces to aid him. Maniples of Skitarii and chanting Electro-Priests stride into battle, their confidence bolstered by the hulking silhouette of a towering Imperial Knight. Enhanced above their already-sinister capabilities by Cawl’s datapsalms, the combined Mechanicus forces brazenly appropriate all information for the glory of the Omnissiah.
This bundle collects together the miniatures necessary to assemble the Conclave Acquisitorius, a formation from The Gathering Storm: Fall of Cadia. You’ll receive an impressive array of miniatures, including the Triumvirate of the Imperium (Belisarius Cawl, Celestine, the Living Saint and Inquisitor Greyfax) as well as a veritable wealth of Adeptus Mechanicus:
- a framed and signed commemorative art print by Paul Dainton limited to a mere 50 individually-numbered copies, as well as 3 artwork cards featuring the heroic Triumvirate of the Imperium from The Gathering Storm: Fall of Cadia;
- 10 Skitarii Vanguard;
- 10 Skitarii Rangers;
- 5 Sicarian Ruststalkers;
- 5 Sicarian Infiltrators;
- 3 Sydonian Dragoons;
- an Onager Dunecrawler;
- 2 Kataphron Breachers;
- an Imperial Knight Warden;
- a Kastelan Robot Maniple (4 Kastelan Robots and 2 attendant Datasmiths);
- 2 Fulgurite Electro-Priests;
- 2 Corpuscarii Electro-Priests;
- a Start Collecting! Skitarii set – this adds another 10 Skitarii Vanguard, another Onager Dunecrawler and a Tech-Priest Dominus.
This bundle collects together the miniatures necessary to assemble the Conclave Acquisitorius, a formation from The Gathering Storm: Fall of Cadia. You’ll receive an impressive array of miniatures, including the Triumvirate of the Imperium (Belisarius Cawl, Celestine, the Living Saint and Inquisitor Greyfax) as well as a veritable wealth of Adeptus Mechanicus:
- a framed and signed commemorative art print by Paul Dainton limited to a mere 50 individually-numbered copies, as well as 3 artwork cards featuring the heroic Triumvirate of the Imperium from The Gathering Storm: Fall of Cadia;
- 10 Skitarii Vanguard;
- 10 Skitarii Rangers;
- 5 Sicarian Ruststalkers;
- 5 Sicarian Infiltrators;
- 3 Sydonian Dragoons;
- an Onager Dunecrawler;
- 2 Kataphron Breachers;
- an Imperial Knight Warden;
- a Kastelan Robot Maniple (4 Kastelan Robots and 2 attendant Datasmiths);
- 2 Fulgurite Electro-Priests;
- 2 Corpuscarii Electro-Priests;
- a Start Collecting! Skitarii set – this adds another 10 Skitarii Vanguard, another Onager Dunecrawler and a Tech-Priest Dominus.
So yeah. I've no idea what the rules are for this formation, but it's evidently a massive one. All those points add up together and give you quite the massive army that's definitely more than 2,000 points even if we get free upgrades. I think. Well, I'll let you know when I get the book and view the formations.
You can pre-order this Conclave Acquisitorius on the Games Workshop webstore, but be warned: it's very pricey. Costs US$1,200. So watch your credit card.
The second Adeptus Mechanicus formation is the Grand Convocation.
It's a smaller formation, which doesn't seem to include Imperial Knights, and costs a lot less. Again, here's the description:
Description
Giving praise to the Omnissiah as they wage war using revered and advanced technology, the various forces at the disposal of the Adeptus Mechanicus will often work in concert under the direction of the Martian priesthood.
This bundle contains the miniatures necessary to assemble the Grand Convocation, a Detachment for The Gathering Storm: Fall of Cadia that combines the various forces of the Machine God into a single army, unified in mechanical devotion. Included:
- a framed and signed commemorative art print by Paul Dainton limited to a mere 50 individually-numbered copies, as well as 3 artwork cards featuring the heroic Triumvirate of the Imperium from The Gathering Storm: Fall of Cadia;
- a Tech-Priest Enginseer;
- 10 Skitarii Vanguard;
- 10 Skitarii Rangers;
- 3 Kataphron Destroyers;
- 3 Kataphron Breachers;
- 3 Ironstrider Ballistarii;
- 2 sets of 5 Electro-Priests – a set of Coruscarii and a set of Fulgurite;
- 5 Sicarian Infiltrators;
- 5 Sicarian Ruststalkers;
- a Start Collecting! Skitarii set – this adds another 10 Skitarii Vanguard, another Onager Dunecrawler and a Tech-Priest Dominus.
This bundle contains the miniatures necessary to assemble the Grand Convocation, a Detachment for The Gathering Storm: Fall of Cadia that combines the various forces of the Machine God into a single army, unified in mechanical devotion. Included:
- a framed and signed commemorative art print by Paul Dainton limited to a mere 50 individually-numbered copies, as well as 3 artwork cards featuring the heroic Triumvirate of the Imperium from The Gathering Storm: Fall of Cadia;
- a Tech-Priest Enginseer;
- 10 Skitarii Vanguard;
- 10 Skitarii Rangers;
- 3 Kataphron Destroyers;
- 3 Kataphron Breachers;
- 3 Ironstrider Ballistarii;
- 2 sets of 5 Electro-Priests – a set of Coruscarii and a set of Fulgurite;
- 5 Sicarian Infiltrators;
- 5 Sicarian Ruststalkers;
- a Start Collecting! Skitarii set – this adds another 10 Skitarii Vanguard, another Onager Dunecrawler and a Tech-Priest Dominus.
So it's a smaller formation that you can field under 1,850 points, but no Imperial Knight and no Kastelan robots either. You can pre-order the Grand Convocation on the Games Workshop webstore as well, and it's a lot more affordable at US$470. It's entirely up to you. Again, I've no idea what the formation bonus is, but we'll see. This looks good, and I hope to find out more.
By the way, the pre-orders for the Triumvirate of the Imperium have run out, they're temporarily out of stock. So I can no longer pre-order the Gathering Storm collection bundle as I intended. It always happens to me - my visa doesn't acknowledge me when I tried to order the Black Library books online (I'll visit my bank when the semester begins to fix the problem) so the book reviews are on hold. Guess I'll make do with the book itself. Not as if I have the time to build the models anyway, and the Triumvirate wouldn't be doing anything on their own since the rest of my army is left in Singapore. Ugh, I need to shuttle my Draconian Armor Imperial Guard regiment and the Adeptus Mechanicus military forces of the Forge World of Draconis IV to Cadia and help them...
Speaking of which, from what I've seen so far, the Adeptus Mechanicus War Convocation still seems to be the preferable Adeptus Mechanicus formation, even with the addition of these two. The Conclave Acquisitorius seems too unwieldy and huge to field in proper games, and the Grand Convocation...well, I guess you can ally in an Oathsworn Detachment of Imperial Knights if you really want to. We shall see.
For the Omnissiah! Uh...I mean, ave Omnissiah?
Saturday, January 7, 2017
Fall of Cadia, Triumvirate of the Imperium video
Warhammer TV has just released a trailer for the Triumvirate today! Go ahead and watch it. Basically the Chaos fleet has flown into orbit around Cadia and commenced their bombardment while the Triumvirate of the Imperium stands firm. You have Celestine, the Living Saint and her loyal Geminae Superia (Sisters Genevieve and Eleanor), Inquisitor Katarinya Greyfax of the Ordo Hereticus and Archmagos Belisarius Cawl who leads the Cybernetica legion (Kastelan robots!) and Skitarii (Onager Dunecrawlers!).
You can pre-order the Triumvirate of the Imperium here at the Games Workshop webstore. The Gathering Storm Collection looks good to me too. I think I don't mind spending a bit extra to get all 3 dudes and the book, since I've given up on the Thousand Sons anyway. In addition to them you also get a deck of Empyric Storm Cards.
For those invested in the tabletop game and not just the fluff, what does Fall of Cadia bring for us? Well, we get the rules for the three dudes, Inquisitor Katarinya Greyfax, Saint Celestine and Archmagos Belisarius Cawl, their individual rules at least so that you can field them with any army of the Imperium. Or you can combine the three of them into one single formation. For us Adeptus Mechanicus fans, we get 6 new Arcana Mechanicum, essentially relics for Cult Mechanicus. Yay. As for formations, the Sisters of Battle get a Imperial Crusade Detachment where you can field Black Templars and the Adepta Sororitas in one army.
And we Adeptus Mechanicus fans get the Grand Convocation, which combines Cult Mechanicus, Skitarii and Mechanicus Knights in one army. I believe it's different from the Adeptus Mechanicus War Convocation that I've been using since 2015, which is a Cult Mechanicus Battle Congregation detachment combined with a Skitarii Battle Maniple and an Imperial Knight Oathsworn detachment. That's the War Convocation while this one is called the Grand Convocation. So we get new rules. Yay! Awesome!
I'll let you guys know more when I get more information. I'll probably get the Gathering Storm Collection because my Thousand Sons project looks dead. As usual, I'll post a detailed spoiler about the fluff and an analysis of the new detachments and formations. For the Emperor! Cadia shall not fall!
Well, spoiler alert: Cadia does fall (obviously, if you've not figured that out from the title), and the Pylons apparently detonate and blow up the entire planet. Ouch. The vaunted Cadians have lost their homeworld. Makes me want to cry. I believe we defeated Abaddon the Despoiler and the Chaos fleet, though, from what I've heard they're forced to retreat. I don't know how reliable these rumors are, but I'll confirm them and let you know in the detailed spoiler eventually.
For the Emperor!
You can pre-order the Triumvirate of the Imperium here at the Games Workshop webstore. The Gathering Storm Collection looks good to me too. I think I don't mind spending a bit extra to get all 3 dudes and the book, since I've given up on the Thousand Sons anyway. In addition to them you also get a deck of Empyric Storm Cards.
For those invested in the tabletop game and not just the fluff, what does Fall of Cadia bring for us? Well, we get the rules for the three dudes, Inquisitor Katarinya Greyfax, Saint Celestine and Archmagos Belisarius Cawl, their individual rules at least so that you can field them with any army of the Imperium. Or you can combine the three of them into one single formation. For us Adeptus Mechanicus fans, we get 6 new Arcana Mechanicum, essentially relics for Cult Mechanicus. Yay. As for formations, the Sisters of Battle get a Imperial Crusade Detachment where you can field Black Templars and the Adepta Sororitas in one army.
And we Adeptus Mechanicus fans get the Grand Convocation, which combines Cult Mechanicus, Skitarii and Mechanicus Knights in one army. I believe it's different from the Adeptus Mechanicus War Convocation that I've been using since 2015, which is a Cult Mechanicus Battle Congregation detachment combined with a Skitarii Battle Maniple and an Imperial Knight Oathsworn detachment. That's the War Convocation while this one is called the Grand Convocation. So we get new rules. Yay! Awesome!
I'll let you guys know more when I get more information. I'll probably get the Gathering Storm Collection because my Thousand Sons project looks dead. As usual, I'll post a detailed spoiler about the fluff and an analysis of the new detachments and formations. For the Emperor! Cadia shall not fall!
Well, spoiler alert: Cadia does fall (obviously, if you've not figured that out from the title), and the Pylons apparently detonate and blow up the entire planet. Ouch. The vaunted Cadians have lost their homeworld. Makes me want to cry. I believe we defeated Abaddon the Despoiler and the Chaos fleet, though, from what I've heard they're forced to retreat. I don't know how reliable these rumors are, but I'll confirm them and let you know in the detailed spoiler eventually.
For the Emperor!
Thursday, January 5, 2017
The Gathering Storm
White Dwarf has released a preview regarding Fall of Cadia: The Gathering Storm! This is the January issue, so make sure to get it if you're interested!
Here it is:
If you're unable to read the words, I'll type them out for you.
The Gathering Storm
Now is the Time of Ending and the fate of Humanity hangs in the balance. Yet a storm is gathering that will eclipse all the wars that have come before it. We sent Dan, our most experienced Stormseer, into the Warp (also known as the Design Studio) to find out more.
The year is 999.M41 and the Imperium teeters on the brink of destruction. On the Eastern Fringe, the Tau Empire encroaches upon the Damocles sector. To the galactic north-east, the shieldworlds of Baal are consumed by the Tyranids of Hive Fleet Leviathan, while Baal itself - home world of the Blood Angels Chapter - is assailed by Daemons. In the Diamor system, Kharn the Betrayer leaves red ruin in his wake.
Fenris is broken and the Space Wolves bloodied, following an invasion by the Daemon Primarch Magus the Red, whose slaughter of Fenris's people enabled him to pull the Planet of the Sorcerers across the threshold of reality and into the galaxy. Warp storms tear across the galaxy like a crimson scar across the heavens. The Malestrom waxes strong and the Eye of Terror burns with the ferocity of the Dark Gods.
Cadia
The Cadian system lies on the edge of the Eye of Terror, the rift between the material realm and the Immaterium. It is the duty of the worlds in the Cadian system to guard the Cadian Gate, the only stable Warp corridor from the Eye of Terror - the path that Abaddon's Black Crusades have often taken. Though many of the planets in the Cadian system are home to shipyards, orbital defenses and Astra Militarum forces, it is Cadia Prime that bears the full brunt of the system's responsibilities, training billions of new recruits every year to defend the Imperium.
And now, at the end of the 41st Millennium, Abaddon's 13th Black Crusade pours forth from the Eye of Terror. Thousands of starships carrying millions of warriors emerge from the Warp to lay waste to the Imperium of Man. Among Abaddon's forces march Legionaires of the Great Crusade, embittered warriors over 10,000 years old who wish only to see the galaxy burn. Renegade Space Marines and traitor Guardsmen fight alongside them, followed by hordes of Cultists and Warp-tainted psykers. Daemons caper in the wake of the Black Crusade, waiting for the boundary between realities to shatter so they can pour forth and sate their hunger on souls that burn bright with with life. Beset on all sides by aliens, heretics and witches, the Imperium can only watch as Cadia is assailed by the greatest army Abaddon the Despoiler has ever assembled...
...and weep as Cadia fights its last war.
"The Fall of Cadia is one of those events we all secretly hoped would happen, but never expected to," says Creative Writing Manager Jes Bickham, who's currently overseeing the rules and background writers working on the Gathering Storm project. "Cadia, and the people of Cadia, are symbols of Imperial defiance, forever fighting against the forces of Chaos. Cadia has always stood firm where lesser worlds, and lesser people, would long have fallen to the Dark Gods. Indeed, Abaddon the Despoiler has conducted no fewer than 12 Black Crusades up to this point and Cadia has always stood in his way. The 13th Black Crusade is different. This time Abaddon's full military might is aimed at Cadia and he intends to destroy it. He's totally motivated by hubris - he will destroy Cadia. But that's not solely what this book is about, because the events that take place in Cadia, and the characters that fight for the world's survival, will set in motion other events that will have massive ramifications for the future of the Imperium. It's safe to say nothing will be the same again!"
That becomes abundantly clear when you read the introduction to the book, which describes in no uncertain terms that Cadia is doomed. Abaddon's invasion has already ravaged the world, millions have died, millions more are dying and Chaos, in every sense, is rife. Daemons...
Inquisitor Greyfax of the Ordo Hereticus
Inquisitor Katarina Greyfax is a member of the Ordo Hereticus, the Ordo responsible for hunting down witches. She was sculpted by miniatures designer Steve Buddle.
"I've wanted to sculpt a female Inquisitor for some time," says Steve. "I was inspired by a piece of John Blanche's artwork - several pieces, actually - and I thought it would be great to design a female member of the Ordo Hereticus. She's meant to be from another time, captured by Trazyn the Infinite hundreds if not thousands of years ago, which is why her wargear looks a little more archaic than that of other Inquisitors. Her power pack has exhaust pipes sticking out of it, her bionic eye is directly linked to a candle on her hat and she carries a condemnor pattern boltgun - essentially a crossbow for slaying heretics. I also wanted her power armor to look like the suits worn by the Adepta Sororitas, with the cabling on the thigh plates, the under-bust corset, the high greaves and armored boots. It suggests she might once have been a battle sister herself - her haircut certainly indicates that - or that perhaps her armor was given to her by them many years ago."
For more details and content, please purchase the January issue of the White Dwarf! For the Emperor! For Cadia! UGH! NOOO! CADIA WILL NOT FALL! NEVER! NOOOO!!!!
Here it is:
If you're unable to read the words, I'll type them out for you.
The Gathering Storm
Now is the Time of Ending and the fate of Humanity hangs in the balance. Yet a storm is gathering that will eclipse all the wars that have come before it. We sent Dan, our most experienced Stormseer, into the Warp (also known as the Design Studio) to find out more.
The year is 999.M41 and the Imperium teeters on the brink of destruction. On the Eastern Fringe, the Tau Empire encroaches upon the Damocles sector. To the galactic north-east, the shieldworlds of Baal are consumed by the Tyranids of Hive Fleet Leviathan, while Baal itself - home world of the Blood Angels Chapter - is assailed by Daemons. In the Diamor system, Kharn the Betrayer leaves red ruin in his wake.
Fenris is broken and the Space Wolves bloodied, following an invasion by the Daemon Primarch Magus the Red, whose slaughter of Fenris's people enabled him to pull the Planet of the Sorcerers across the threshold of reality and into the galaxy. Warp storms tear across the galaxy like a crimson scar across the heavens. The Malestrom waxes strong and the Eye of Terror burns with the ferocity of the Dark Gods.
Cadia
The Cadian system lies on the edge of the Eye of Terror, the rift between the material realm and the Immaterium. It is the duty of the worlds in the Cadian system to guard the Cadian Gate, the only stable Warp corridor from the Eye of Terror - the path that Abaddon's Black Crusades have often taken. Though many of the planets in the Cadian system are home to shipyards, orbital defenses and Astra Militarum forces, it is Cadia Prime that bears the full brunt of the system's responsibilities, training billions of new recruits every year to defend the Imperium.
And now, at the end of the 41st Millennium, Abaddon's 13th Black Crusade pours forth from the Eye of Terror. Thousands of starships carrying millions of warriors emerge from the Warp to lay waste to the Imperium of Man. Among Abaddon's forces march Legionaires of the Great Crusade, embittered warriors over 10,000 years old who wish only to see the galaxy burn. Renegade Space Marines and traitor Guardsmen fight alongside them, followed by hordes of Cultists and Warp-tainted psykers. Daemons caper in the wake of the Black Crusade, waiting for the boundary between realities to shatter so they can pour forth and sate their hunger on souls that burn bright with with life. Beset on all sides by aliens, heretics and witches, the Imperium can only watch as Cadia is assailed by the greatest army Abaddon the Despoiler has ever assembled...
...and weep as Cadia fights its last war.
"The Fall of Cadia is one of those events we all secretly hoped would happen, but never expected to," says Creative Writing Manager Jes Bickham, who's currently overseeing the rules and background writers working on the Gathering Storm project. "Cadia, and the people of Cadia, are symbols of Imperial defiance, forever fighting against the forces of Chaos. Cadia has always stood firm where lesser worlds, and lesser people, would long have fallen to the Dark Gods. Indeed, Abaddon the Despoiler has conducted no fewer than 12 Black Crusades up to this point and Cadia has always stood in his way. The 13th Black Crusade is different. This time Abaddon's full military might is aimed at Cadia and he intends to destroy it. He's totally motivated by hubris - he will destroy Cadia. But that's not solely what this book is about, because the events that take place in Cadia, and the characters that fight for the world's survival, will set in motion other events that will have massive ramifications for the future of the Imperium. It's safe to say nothing will be the same again!"
That becomes abundantly clear when you read the introduction to the book, which describes in no uncertain terms that Cadia is doomed. Abaddon's invasion has already ravaged the world, millions have died, millions more are dying and Chaos, in every sense, is rife. Daemons...
Inquisitor Greyfax of the Ordo Hereticus
Inquisitor Katarina Greyfax is a member of the Ordo Hereticus, the Ordo responsible for hunting down witches. She was sculpted by miniatures designer Steve Buddle.
"I've wanted to sculpt a female Inquisitor for some time," says Steve. "I was inspired by a piece of John Blanche's artwork - several pieces, actually - and I thought it would be great to design a female member of the Ordo Hereticus. She's meant to be from another time, captured by Trazyn the Infinite hundreds if not thousands of years ago, which is why her wargear looks a little more archaic than that of other Inquisitors. Her power pack has exhaust pipes sticking out of it, her bionic eye is directly linked to a candle on her hat and she carries a condemnor pattern boltgun - essentially a crossbow for slaying heretics. I also wanted her power armor to look like the suits worn by the Adepta Sororitas, with the cabling on the thigh plates, the under-bust corset, the high greaves and armored boots. It suggests she might once have been a battle sister herself - her haircut certainly indicates that - or that perhaps her armor was given to her by them many years ago."
For more details and content, please purchase the January issue of the White Dwarf! For the Emperor! For Cadia! UGH! NOOO! CADIA WILL NOT FALL! NEVER! NOOOO!!!!
Tuesday, January 3, 2017
Cadia - Gateway to the Eye
Warhammer community has posted about Cadia - Gateway to the Eye. It gives a detailed and interesting background about Cadia, so it'll be a great read! Read more if you want to know about the awesome Cadian Shock Troops! They're the best Imperial Guard regiment in the Imperium of Man!
Cadia will NOT fall! For Cadia! For the Emperor!
Cadia will NOT fall! For Cadia! For the Emperor!
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