Way of the Warrior

The two men strode across the verdant garden at a brisk pace, and despite the beauty of their surroundings, neither of them paused to admire the view. Elegantly pruned trees stood in what appeared to be a randomly staggered formation, pink Sakura blossoms drifting on the slight breeze. Water poured along a long bamboo pipe, trickling into a foutain in the garden.

General Jakren Stein eyed the smooth, white stones scattered across the garden. At first, his military eye had discerned a pattern to them, drawing parallels with the utililarian designs of the Kasrs in his home world. While the city-fortresses had all been destroyed when Abaddon the Despoiler invaded Cadia during the Thirteen Black Crusade, Stein's memories of serving in Kasr Kraf remained as vivid as ever. However, he realized there was no defensive pattern to the stones, no formidable formation. They were placed randomly, almost resembling serene rocks in a river.

His eyes were once again drawn to the bamboo pipe. Water sloshed into one end of the pipe, and it eventually sank under the weight of the water collected within the bamboo contusion, spilling its contents into the small fountain. With a loud thunk, the heavier end of the bamboo struck the rock, but it didn't rest upon the rough surface for long. A few seconds later, the bamboo pipe sprang upward once the water within it had been emptied, to drink the trickle of water pouring from above.

Stein shook his head, not sure what to make of the device. His companion, dressed in a fur coat that served as the uniform of the Valhallan Ice Warriors, chuckled. Mistaking the Cadian General's confusion, he offered an assurance.

"Don't worry. The warriors of House Yato aren't as...uptight as most other Knight Houses. You should have seen the ceremonies of House Terryn or House Cadmus. Their rituals last for days! There was one time where my officers and I were forced to listen to his majesty the High King ramble on about the gloried histories of his House for hours..."

"I understand, Colonel Ivanov." Stein sighed, raising a hand to cut off his companion's rambling. He brushed a hand over his green vest, which seemed thin when compared to the Valhallan's thick fur coat. Even though it wasn't very hot, he had no idea how Tolk Ivanov could stand being dressed like that. "Honestly, I was expecting a great feast, in line with House Cadmus's traditions, but it appears that House Yato prefers something...simpler."

That said, Stein had no idea what to expect. He had rumors of this tea ceremony, and honestly, he viewed all these formalities as a complete waste of time. However, the nobles of Knight Houses were powerful allies, and if he had to put up with such nonsense in order to borrow their formidable strength, he wouldn't mind sacrificing an hour or two of his time. At least he wouldn't have to spend an entire day, or worse...a week.

"What can you tell me about House Yato?" He asked instead. "Your Valhallan regiments have fought beside them before, have they not?"

"Ah...plenty of times." Ivanov nodded. The Valhallan colonel rubbed the back of his neck and chuckled. "They are formidable warriors, as you'd expect of a Knight House. Codes of chivalry and honor, and all that. But House Yato calls it...what was it, bushido, if I'm not mistaken. The way of the warrior, in Gothic. Sounds different, but all the same, really."

"I meant to ask about their command structure and military tactics, actually."

"Oh, well...they are pretty flexible and courageous. Like all Knights, they prefer close combat - view it as honorable. As for command structure...you know House Terryn, right? His majesty High King Tybalt?"

Stein nodded, and Ivanov continued.

"Here in Draconis III, House Yato's version of the High King is the Shogun. Don't address him as his majesty or accidentally call him the High King, they don't like that."

"Shogun. I assume he's the overall commander of the Knight Houses in Draconis III?"

"That's right. The ruler, so to speak, who reigns on behalf of the God-Emperor of Mankind. The Draconians believe the God-Emperor specifically selects him as His representative in Draconis III." Ivanov shrugged with a non-commital grin. "And the lords under the Shogun are the Daimyo. Basically, House Yato's equivalent of the Barons."

"So the Shogun rules over the Daimyos...who command Knightly retainers." Stein had read up on the information in his dataslate beforehand, but he appreciated hearing from an officer from a regiment who had firsthand experience with the Knight House. When Ivanov nodded, he breathed a sigh of relief. "Got it."

"We're here, by the way." Ivanov sounded cheerful, a jarring contradiction of the usually grim and stoic Valhallans who Stein usually encountered. The two men stopped before a wooden sliding door, and before Stein could knock, a strong voice spoke up from within.

"Please come in."

Stein glanced at Ivanov, who gestured for the general to enter first. He took a deep breath and pushed the sliding door to the side. Before he could step onto the tatami mat, the voice spoke up again.

"I would appreciate it if you take off your footwear."

Stein frowned, but he didn't object. He unlaced his boots and placed them by the side of what seemed like straw sandals. There were more regular shoes and boots beside the straw sandals, which was why he knew where to place his boots. Ivanov followed his lead, kicking off his boots before placing them neatly by the side.

"You can keep on your socks, sir," he said, unable to hide his amusement. Stein scowled and raised his hands from his feet before stepping onto the tatami mats.

Inside, a bald man knelt behind a low, wooden table, pouring tea into cups. His skin was a little tanned, resembling that of an unarmored White Scars warrior, with a black stubble of a mustache and beard covering his lean jaw. His figure was unimposing, but Stein could sense strength within that lithe silhouette, as if coiled to strike whenever a threat showed up. However, the bald man looked up, his dark eyes crinkling mildly.

"General Stein. I apologize for making you come all the way out here, even though you are so busy."

"Not at all, your excellency." Stein recognized the man as the Shogun. Yato Yoshimoto looked just as unassuming as he was in hololiths and dataslates, but in person, he exuded incredible strength and personality. Even though he didn't raise his voice, his words were projected across the room.

Yato wasn't alone. A tech-priest of the Adeptus Mechanicus was nearby, kneeling by another table. However, far from the eerie countenances of hybrid cyborgs that he had come to expect from the mysterious servants of the Martian priesthood, this particular one was mostly humanoid. While dressed largely in the red robes that were their typical attire, he largely bore a human face of flesh, and whatever augmetics he might have were concealed beneath the rust-colored fabric.

A few more nobles of the Knight House were also present, kneeling in what seemed like uncomfortable postures without complaint. All of them had the same black hair and slightly yellowed skin. They bowed politely when Stein took his seat aat Yato's gesture.

"Have some tea." At the Shogun's nod, a lady in a kimono approached the two Astra Militarum officers and served them cups of tea, along with sweets. Stein inclined his head as thanks while Ivanov chugged the tea down heartily.

Yato smiled. "I hope the tea is to your liking, Colonel Ivanov. It is not tanna, but the taste shouldn't be too weak."

"Not at all, not at all!" Ivanov laughed. "I like green tea as much as tanna. Developed a liking for it."

"If you'd like, I'll order some of these tea leaves sent to your regiment as a gift."

"That would be much appreciated."

Stein sipped the tea as he listened to the polite exchange. Inwardly, he was impatient to get to the heart of the matter, but he was aware that this decorum was often part of the formal rituals that Knight Houses conducted. It would not do to offend an invaluable ally. He suppressed the desire to jump straight to the topic at hand.

Fortunately, he didn't have to wait long. Perhaps Yato sensed his unease. Or maybe the Shogun was just as aware of the urgency of the crisis, for he raised his head to look at the tech-priest from the Adeptus Mechanicus.

"Now that we have all gathered here, I suppose we should begin. Magos Dominus Dominic here has petitioned for military aid, which is why I have gathered you all here, including our esteemed guests from the Astra Militarum."

Yato nodded toward Stein and Ivanov. The Draconian nobles spared the two officcers a glance, but none of them stared directly for too long. Apparently, such a gesture was considered impolite in Draconian culture.

"For those of you who do not know, this is Jakren Stein, in command of the 1,651st, 1,652nd and 1,653rd Cadian armored regiments." Yato nodded at Stein. "And Colonel Tolk Ivanov, of the 598th Valhallan regiment."

"Nice to meet you," Ivanov said, bowing his head a fraction. Stein followed his example, despite feeling uncomfortable. Again, Draconian culture appeared to place emphasis on deference.

"Takeda Taisa, you will be liasing with them." At the Shogun's words, Stein realized that at least one of the nobles present was dressed in full military uniform. Unlike the green and khaki uniforms that the Cadians favored, or the grey furred coats of the Valhallan Ice Warriors, the Draconian Defenders wore pristine uniforms of black and gold. The middle-aged man bowed, his black hair cropped close to his scalp.

"It is an honor."

"Ah, Taisa is their equivalent of colonel," Ivanov whispered to Stein. "They use a similar ranking system, but with different names..."

"My apologies." Yato cleared his throat. "Sometimes we slip into...non-Gothic nomenclature. But yes, Colonel Takeda is the commanding officer of the 724th Draconian Armored Defenders. They will be accompanying the task force to Kryptos VIII."

At that, he glanced at Dominic, who was sipping tea, much to Stein's surprise. He had thought the Mechanicus priest would no longer bother with conventional food and beverages.

"We will also have a macroclade of Skitarii and Cybernetica automata, as well as a fleet of the Basilikon Astra."

Stein nodded. He had read the briefings and had expected as much. Instead, he was more interested in something else.

"What is the situation at Kryptos VIII? I had my regimental astropaths just barely decipher the astrotelepathic cry for help before we were summoned here, but..."

Yato hesitated for a moment. "We are unsure...but from what we could decipher, a combined force of Iron Warriors and Word Bearers struck the mining world of Kryptos VIII about three months ago. They seized several hive cities and the Iron Warriors apparently built a massive fortress on the central continent. We aren't sure about this, but one of our astropaths claimed that he saw visions...visions of the Word Bearers enacting some kind of ritual within that fortress. We don't know what ritual that is, except that it will most likely have dire consequences if the Heretic Astartes succeed."

"I concur." Stein nodded. "We must stop the Traitors and reclaim Kryptos VIII, if nothing else."

"There is more." This time, everyone turned to Dominic, whose voice sounded curiously organic. The tech-priest placed his cup of tea down on the table with an unaugmented hand, though Stein swore he could see a mechadendrite trailing out of its sleeve. "A Mechanicus outpost in orbit of one of the outer worlds of the Kryptos system picked out an approaching Ork Waaagh!. By our calculations, there is a 97.3% likelihood that the Orks have already reached Krpytos VIII and are launching a full invasion."

"That's all we know for now, but we will find out more when we reach the system," Yato said grimly. "To answer the call for aid, I will be dispatching several Knight Lances along with Takeda Taisa's 724th regiment and five other regiments, including two battalions of Kamikaze Troopers. And I was wondering if you would like the honor of leading the Astra Militarum forces, General Stein?"

"I would definitely be honored to do so," Stein replied immediately, bowing his head. He recognized this as a courtesy from his host. "You have given my regiments purpose again."

"Not at all." Yato smiled and shook his head. "Your Cadians have honored us with your presence, and I am aware that you are enthusiastic to wage war once more. The blood of a warrior runs strongly in your veins, as much as ours, I suspect."

Stein simply nodded. It was only by the Emperor's will that his three regiments ended up in the Draconis Sector, adrift and cut off from Cadia when the Great Rift sundered the galaxy in half, rendering half of the Imperium beyond reach. The Astronomican had only just returned recently, and the Daconis Sector had received news that Lord Commander Roboute Guilliman had returned to Terra and was launching the Indomitus Crusade.

For his part, Stein was grateful to the Draconians for accepting the lost Cadian regiments, adopting them as their own.

"The sons and daughters of Cadia will always be welcomed in Draconis III," Yato said, as if reading his thoughts.

"So ten Astra Militarum regiments, several lances of Knights and a single Mechanicus macroclade?" Everyone turned to Ivanov, and he shrugged. "I'm assuming my Valhallans get to go too?"

"Of course." Yato chuckled. "We will not deny you and your 598th regiment that honor, Ivanov-san."

"Thanks, I guess?" Ivanov offered a lopsided grin. He rubbed his hands gleefully. "My men and women will relish shooting some Orks."

"Indeed. I hear that the Valhallans are renowned Ork slayers. But it won't just be us." Yato sipped some of his tea. "I heard that the Black Templars will be accompanying us. Their fleet from the Aligherian Crusade has stopped by Draconis IV for repairs and resupply, and I believe their Marshal Mowbray intends to recapture Kryptos VIII as well."

The Shogun lowered his voice. "The Black Templars wish to settle their grudge with the traitors of the Iron Warriors, it seems."

"That will be a great comfort." Stein and his Cadians had fought alongside the transuman warriors of the Adeptus Astartes, and he could think of no allies more reliable and formidable - apart from the noble Knights, of course.

"There is one last thing." This time, Yato directed his words not at the Astra Militarum officers or the Tech-priest, but toward the Knight pilots kneeling by their tables. His eyes narrowed, and for a second, Stein felt a chill run down his spine. "We couldn't confirm this through the astropathic messages. but apparently the traitor Knights of House Malinax are present as well, having allied themselves to the Iron Warriors and Word Bearers."

There was a sharp intake of breath across the room, and the Knight pilots of Draconis III tensed. Stein wasn't sure what had just happened, but he could guess that the Knights of House Yato held a grudge against the fallen scions of House Malinax.

That must be why the Shogun was sending several Knight Lances in addition to six Astra Militarum regiments from his world.

"You understand what this means, don't you?" Yato asked softly, yet every single man in the room heard him clearly. "If you encounter the traitors of House Malinax, destroy them. Allow them to suffer the full extent of our wrath. Do not let a single one of them escape."

There was a brief silence, and then the Daimyos of House Yato answered as one.

"Yes, our lord Shogun."

The Knight Atrapos is here!

 

Warhammer Community has just announce that the Knight Atrapos is here!

He looks awesome, doesn't he?

Nice. I can't wait to get a banner! I'll need to get these guys in addition to my banner of Knight Styrix! Perhaps I should build a Mechanicus Lance and an Imperial Knight Lance (or was it Loyalist Lance?)! That would be awesome! Right now I have 6 of the regular Questoris Knights (2 banners) and 6 Cerastus Knight Lancers (2 banners). I'll probably be able to field 2 Lances with these guys. Oh, and I also have 2 Acastus Knights Porphyrion, though they can't be part of any Lances now. Oh well. Anyway, we'll see!

Cerastus Knight-Atrapos!

 

The Cerastus Knight-Atrapos has been announced! Forge World is releasing them and their rules! I'm getting these guys in addition to my Knights Styrix (I need to order those guys soon). I have the 40K version from Forge World, so I want a mini-sized versions of them too so that I can accurately represent my Knight House even in Adeptus Titanicus. You can check the news out on Warhammer Community!

Anyway, what do these guys have? Of course...the graviton singularity cannon!

Uh, it's only Strength 6 and 1 shot, though, which is kind of...lackluster. Yeah, you can do Coordinated Strike at potentially Strength 10 but only one shot, but...I dunno about that. That's kind of disappointing, but then again, I guess blast 3" is cool (that means 2 hits if you don't roll a miss?).

Nice to see this rule come into play for Adeptus Titanicus too! Cool! This also combos with the Knight-Atrapos's melee attack, which is exactly what I'm going to field the Knights for. Get in close, smack them with the Atrapos lascutter! Best of all, it's Fusion too! Woohoo! 8 attacks at close range from a banner of 4 dudes, with Fusion, that's gonna tear a Warlord Titan apart, never mind Warhound! And with Macro-Extinction Protocols...yeah, this is gonna be good.

It has the same defensive buffs that the Knight Styrix has, so I'm really looking forward to fielding a small banner of these guys in my Knight Household Army! A Cerastus Knight Lance of Knight Atrapos and Knight Lancers, combined with a Questoris Knight Lance of Knights Errant, Knights Crusader and Knights Styrix! I dunno if we'll ever get Knights Preceptor, but at this point I'm so spoiled by all the Knight choices I don't really care. I wonder if we'll eventually get Armiger and Dominus class Knights? Oh, and don't forget, there's still the Acastus Knight Asterius that they have yet to release. Huh.

Well, we'll see! As for me, I can't wait to expand my Knight Household!

Defense of Metalica

 

Yup, Warzone Charadon is here. War comes to Metalica, and my Knights of House Yato shall rally to the defense of the venerable forge world. Typhus and his Death Guard company (1st company, right?) shall fall before the might of adamantium, steel and faith. The Imperial Knights of House Yato - and of Draconis III - shall prevail against the plague lords. We will destroy Nurgle's forces and ensure the sanctity of Metalica.

We will bring death to the Death Guard! And we shall drown the Dark Eldar/Drukhari in darkness!

I don't know what new rules we will get for the Adeptus Mechanicus and Imperial Knights (Death Guard and Drukhari also will get new rules), but as usual I'm more interested in the lore. I can't play anyway. It sucks, but with Covid-19 wrecking havoc in the States...yeah. Lockdown and quarantine it is. Damn Nurgle and his stupid plagues. Not fun when it happens in real life, eh? But I'm more interested in the lore, as usual, and I hope Battlefleet Draconis is enough to drive away Typhus's plague fleet and the Terminus Est. Not that we will show up in the lore, but hey, at least I'll have my Knights of House Yato appear somewhere in Metalica to fight off the Death Guard or something...don't worry, our faith in the Emperor will make us immune to whatever plagues Nurgle conjures!

Knight Styrix and Knight Magaera up for preorder!

 

The Forge World Knights are finally up for preorder! Yay! You can go to Forge World to preorder them now! Honestly, I'll just buy them next week because there aren't any bonuses to preordering. Hopefully they don't run out by then...

They come in banners of 2-4, so I'll get a full banner of 4. Oh, and they come with command terminals, so you don't have to worry about their rules. 2 of them cost US$50 (ugh, that's expensive). I'm still getting 4 of them, heh. I love Knights. Now all we have left is the Cerastus Knight Atrapos.

Crucible of Retribution

 

So I got my hands on Crucible of Retribution. I'm not sure what to say, but...well, there wasn't much. They did have some new awesome Titan Legions and Knight Houses in the book. I was particularly taken in by House Moritain, because they have such awesome lore. I mean, scholar-Knights! That's pretty much the same as my Thousand Sons! I also like their Seneschal Traits, which were pretty awesome even if they are a little suitational. No matter, I'll try them out here and there. My Imperial Knights are pretty much samurai Knights, heh, so we'll do the whole Zen and Bushido culture in Imperial Knights, and I think House Moritain's lore captures that perfectly too. Well, when I have the chance, I'll try them out. I'm still waiting for the Knight Styrix, so that I can add a banner of them to my Knight Lance. I haven't given up on playing a Knight Household Army, which I will support with a single Titan reinforcement.

The Legio Trait and Legio Specific Wargear of Legio Ignatum (Fire Wasps) appeal to me too. I'm considering using those instead of making my own Titan Legion Traits from Defense of Ryza, but we'll see. Legio Draconis (Dark Dragons) might be better off having their own individuality, but I can't really think of any of the Legio Traits in Defense of Ryza that appeals to me, other than Elite Magos. We'll see, I guess. I also like Legio Damicium, their Legio Trait and refusal to bow against all odds are awesome. Also helps that they are from Urdesh. I know Urdesh was reconquered by the Imperium and is now a Loyalist world, but did they ever rebuild Legio Damicium? It'll be sad if the Unbroken Lords remain forever broken. Legio Tempestus (Storm Lords) was rebuilt and is now a Loyalist Titan Legion (see Dan Abnett's Titanicus for more details - they relocated to Orestes after the Horus Heresy and took part in the Sabbat Worlds Crusade). But...man, I didn't think Urdesh fell to Chaos during the Heresy.

Speaking of which, the story of Crucible of Retribution chronicles the war in the Belt of Iron. So on one side, you have the Loyalist Forge World: Atar-Median - the homeworld of Legio Atarus (Firebrands), Graia - the homeworld of Legio Astraman (Morning Stars) and Arachnus - the homeworld of Legio Venator (Iron Spiders). Well...Arachnus fell to anarchy and broke away as a Blackshield after a calamitous civil war, but we'll get into that later. Reinforcing them is Legio Ignatum (Fire Wasps), one of the Triad Ferrum Morgulus of Mars. Standing against them are the three Traitor Forge Worlds: Valia-Maximal - the homeworld of Legio Laniaskara (Impalers), Kalibrax - the homeworld of Legio Kulisaetai (Gatekeepers), and Urdesh - the homeworld of Legio Damicium (Unbroken Lords). Eventually, Arachnus will betray the Imperium and become a Blackshield world, and the traitor elements of Legio Venator rename themselves to Legio Tritonis (Dark Tide). There is also the Protectorate of Unsubdued Steel, a Blackshield faction, though I have no idea what happened to them eventually.

When the Horus Heresy struck, there was a Cold War of sorts, only for it to erupt into open war when a fleet of Iron Warriors warped in to help Legio Kulisaetai and the Mechanicum Taghmata forces of Kalibrax to conquer Atar-Median. Obviously they weren't going to take that lying down, so they launched a preemptive strike before Kalibrax and their Iron Warrior allies could finish their preparations, securing a swift victory.

Unfortunately, the three traitor Forge Worlds wouldn't just sit back and watch. They launched an invasion and basically conquered five out of seven systems in the Belt of Iron, thus triggering the Cataclysm of Iron. Needless to say, Atar-Median and Graia, along with the Loyalist elements of Legio Venator, fought back and reconquered the systems, driving the Traitors out. The Traitors refused to go down without a fight and resorted to scorched earth tactics, often nuking or virus-bombing the holdings they were driven out of, turning entire planets into radioactive or toxic wastelands. Ugh. That sucks.

In any event, Valia-Maximal, bearing a grudge against Graia, sought to conquer Graia and its empire. Meanwhile, the remnants of Legio Venator, assisted by Legio Atarus and the forces of Atar-Median returned to take back Arachnus and its moons from the Blackshield traitors who prematurely declared their independence. Before that, they joined up with Legio Ignatum to bring Urdesh to heel and ended up annihilating Legio Damicium, breaking the Unbroken Lords. While recapturing Arachnus and subjugating Urdesh, Graia was somewhat forced to fend for itself, but they managed to fight back and attempted to conquer a line of bastion planets standing between them and Valia-Maximal. They failed most of their attempts, only succeeding once. As for Kalibrax, the oppressed had enough, and insurgents revolted, throwing a massive fleet that overwhelmed their orbital defenses and even allowed them to capture the orbital defence platforms. Without Titan Legions to support them, they contented themselves with blockading Kalibrax and awaiting reinforcemens, which would eventually come during the Great Scouring. As for Graia, they suddenly found their route of conquest opened up when the Traitor forces mysteriously disappeared. Invading the line of planets all the way until Valia-Maximal, they found that the Traitors were all...gone. Weird. No one knows what happened to them.

Oh, and there's Jerulas Station, which nobody knows what happened to it either. It got invaded by either a Blackshield force or xenos, for when Urdesh sent a research team down to investigate, two-thirds of their fleet got blown up. Ouch.

So it ends in an Imperium victory, but as always, it's a pyrrhic one. Because grimdark. At this point, it's hard to take the whole grimdark, pyrrhic victories seriously because that's all that happens. It's becoming pretty predictable and grinding at this rate. But okay. Still several mysteries and loose ends that never got tied up, like what happened to Valia-Maximal? Where did they all disappear to? What about the Protectorate of Unsubdued Steel? Did they get reconquered by the Imperium? And who's ruling over Jerulas Station right now? Lots of questions, no answers. Oh, well. I guess we'll find out in the 41st Millennium.

For now, I'll just await my banner of Knight Stryrix...and eventually Knight Atrapos. Speaking of which, House Col'Khak is pretty cool too, being founded on Atar-Planitia, sort of a sister world to Atar-Median. So they are subordinated to Legio Atarus and the Forge World of Atar-Median (seconded to the Mechanicum Taghmata forces there). Cool!

Speaking of which, is there really a difference between Skitarii and the Taghmata Omnissiah? I'm starting to think Taghmata is an umbrella term that basically emcompasses the Skitarii as well...like, why on Holy Terra/Mars would they separate the Skitarii from the Taghmata? That makes no sense. Even the Legio Cybernetica is part of the Taghmata. Do we still use Taghmata for the 41st Millennium, or do we just call them Adeptus Mechanicus Battle Congregations and Maniples? Ugh. As much as I love the rich lore of both the Horus Heresy and Warhammer 40,000 proper (as in properly in the 41st Millennium), sometimes they make things overly complicated.

...anyway, I'll go play with my Knights now. I think.

Knights Magaera and Styrix for Adeptus Titanicus

 Sorry for not posting for so long. It's unfortunate, but I got caught by university stuff and writing obligations. Had to redo my proposal a few times, spend a few weeks (or months) reading, as well as trying to write a new story from scratch. Before you ask, it's a trashy story not worth reading and nobody is interested in it (at least nobody in Warhammer 40,000, anyway, it's meant to be Japanese light novel styled, so basically...yeah, just call me an edgy weeb). Also, suffered from some depression, especially because some readers on the writing website I post on gave me lots of grief for my writing. I know I suck at writing, but damn, those guys really should lay off on the insults. If you hate my stories, then don't read them. Is there a need to leave nasty comments? I'm human too, you know.

Sorry for rambling. Don't mind me. But thanks to me being so busy, I couldn't even get excited about the latest Crucible of Retribution book in Adeptus Titanicus. The story didn't even appeal to me. I probably was looking forward to Schism of Mars, and when I learned that there was nothing new in there - no new Titans, no new Knights, I was disappointed. Where were the Knights Magaera and Styrix, where were the Knights Atrapos that we saw in Defense of Ryza? The story was about a bunch of forge worlds I had never heard before (with the exception of Graia and Urdesh - which was cool, especially since I am a fan of Dan Abenett's Gaunt's Ghosts series). But I really couldn't get excited about it because there were no major stakes, not like those that got referenced in the Horus Heresy novels such as Titandeath and Doom of Molech. Hell, even Ryza was cool because of all the plasma technology and how famous of a forge world it was. But the Crucible of Retribution felt flat somehow. That was why I ended up not posting about it, because it just didn't get me enthusiastic. Couple that with depression...and you know how it goes. I did preorder it on Saturday, though, and I'll go through the story and write about it if I feel motivated enough. Sigh.

I was also supposed to post about the Imperial Armor Compendium yesterday, but I got a little depressed when I saw that Death Korps of Krieg Grenadiers were removed, along with the Leman Russ Annihilator and Leman Russ Conqueror. Well, seems like those are being moved to Legends, and the Grenadiers will most likely be folded into Militarum Tempestus Scions (same treatment as Kasrkins, I suppose). I was a bit cheered up when I saw the Stormblade, Carnodon, Vendetta and Secutarii Hoplites, which are a major part of my army, but ultimately I didn't really have the motivation to post, especially since I had to deal with a pretty condescending reader yesterday - a bugger who even falsely accused me of deleting one of his comments (why would I do that but not delete his other 30 comments?) and slandered me right in the front page of my story. My apologies. Sigh. It has really been a depressing couple of months.

But this news on Warhammer Community really cheered me up. We are getting Knights Magara and Styrix for Adeptus Titanicus! WOOHOO!

They look really awesome! I'll definitely be getting them for my Knight Household Army, which also represents my Knight House in the far future of the 41st Millennium. I don't have space or money to buy the actual Knights from Forge World, so I'll content myself with these little guys for Adeptus Titancus! YES!

Now, let's have a look at their rules.

My favorite volkite weapons! Yay! Hmm, interestingly enough, it has pretty low Strength, with a value of 4. Decent number of shots, 3, which means up to 12 in a banner of 4 Knights Stryrix (which I'll definitely get). Not only that, they have Voidbreaker, which means Titans must roll an extra dice whenever they take shield saves. Hah! That will make for effective shield-stripping! Not bad!

Seems like the their graviton guns have the concussive trait, and both Knights have Hekaton siege claws that are Strength 6 and have Rending, with 2 attacks each. Hmm, not bad. I can't wait to field them!

They also have ionic flare shields that reduce the Strength of incoming attacks, and Blessed Autosimulacra that allows wounded Knights to recover a lost Structure Point on a 6+. Sweet!

Interestingly enough, Knights Magaera have the Lightning cannon, which is Blast 3", Strength 5 and has Rending. Cool.

I'm sticking to my Knights Styrix, though. Because I love volkite weaponry. Still, it's interesting to see what the Knights Magaera have to offer (and I might just magnetize them). Their plasma fusils are Strength 4 at 2 attacks each, which is cool.

I have been looking forward so much to these Knights that I am momentarily able to snap out of my depression and post about them! I'll be eagerly awaiting their release and buy them once they are out. YAY! Knights of House Yato, we march!

Oh, as an aside, even during the midst of Corvid19, perhaps I might be able to join an Adeptus Titanicus campaign soon...