Knights of House Yato

Sorry for not doing much this week. To afford my hobby (especially since I want to buy a bunch of Imperial Knights), I took up a part-time job. I originally was going to make use of the money I earned from my part-time job to buy and build a Deathwatch army, but I don't think I'll be able to do that, so that plan has gone out of the window. Deathwatch is no longer on the agenda. I don't have the time and funds for it, at least not in the near future. Instead I will focus solely on my Imperial Knight army.

I came to a decision regarding House Yato. In the end, instead of bothering with all the crunch, gameplay, strategy, list-building, tactics and what-not, I decided to go back to my original inspiration for House Yato - House Taranis from Graham McNeill's Mechanicum. That is one of my favorite Horus Heresy books, right up there with A Thousand Sons. Actually, I'm not even sure which I prefer, but regardless, Mechanicum is up there on my list of favorites, and one of the reasons why I enjoyed it was because I followed the Imperial Knights of House Taranis, especially Raf Maven and Leopold Cronus - their journey to hunt that warp-cursed machine thing. That was one of the highlights of the book for me. Oh, and the last stand of the Knights of House Taranis and the Titans of Legio Tempestus. That was so heart-breaking to read and was what drew me to the awesome Knights in the first place. Furthermore, I remember writing a few years ago (was it 3 years? 4?) that House Yato and the Knight houses of Draconis III are closest to House Taranis because they do not need neural implants or sockets to connect with their Knights or something. So...yeah, I decided to model my Knight house after House Taranis in terms of gameplay too. So I'll be building a fluffy list rather than a competitive list (though the moment I chose Knights for my main faction, I doubt I can use that as an excuse). Just like the fluff I did for my original House Yato back in 7th edition, I decided to make them as close to House Taranis as possible.

In other words, just like House Taranis, House Yato is blessed with the Omnissiah's Grace. Yay.

So how do I build my Knight list? I already have a Knight army, so what do I add? I honestly do not think I'll get any new Questoris-class Knights since I practically have one of each except the Knight Gallant. The Knight Gallant is cool and all, but I'm not a big fan of pure melee units without much in the way of shooting. The Knight Crusader fits my style more, but obviously it would be impractical to take 3 of them in the same list, especially since they cost quite a bit in terms of both points and cash. So I'll work with what I have, and then add to my list a couple of the new Knights such as the Knight Castellan and Armigers Helverin. So how do I compile a list around these new units and still include my old units? Basically let's look at a 1,500-point list.

Super-heavy Detachment

Knight Castellan with 2 siegebreaker cannons and 2 shieldbreaker missiles 604 (Ion Bulwark Warlord Trait and Cawl's Wrath)

Knight Errant with heavy stubber and stormspear rocket pod 440 (Fury of Mars)

Knight Warden with meltagun and twin Icarus autocannon 454 (Mark of the Omnissiah or Endless Fury)

Total: 1,498 (9 Command Points -> 6 because of Heirlooms of the Household Stratagem)

Looking good. 3 Knights, perfect for a Super-heavy Detachment. Not only that, it gives me a whooping 6 bonus Command Points! Nice! And it's kind of fluffy, and I'm just gonna spam the Heirlooms of the Household Stratagem because...I can. Anyway, that's my 1,500-point list. For bigger games, I'll have room for at least one more Knight.

Super-heavy Detachment

Knight Castellan with 2 siegebreaker cannons and 2 shieldbreaker missiles 604 (Ion Bulwark Warlord Trait and Cawl's Wrath)

Knight Errant with heavy stubber and stormspear rocket pod 440 (Fury of Mars)

Knight Crusader with 2 heavy stubbers, rapid-fire battle cannon and stormspear rocket pod 530 (Mark of the Omnissiah)

Armiger Helverin with heavy stubber 174

Total: 1,748 (9 Command Points -> 6 because of Heirlooms of the Household Stratagem)

This list is for 1,750-point games because apparently that's the point number they're using at tournaments or something. I'm not sure. But that's what I'm going with if I'm only restricted to a 1,750-point list. Still a pretty fun and great list that's thematic, since I'm going House Taranis-styled House Yato, and all the awesome heirlooms and whatnot. For 2,000-point games, I can swap the Armiger Helverin for a proper Titanic Knight

Super-heavy Detachment

Knight Castellan with 2 siegebreaker cannons and 2 shieldbreaker missiles 604 (Ion Bulwark Warlord Trait and Cawl's Wrath)

Knight Errant with heavy stubber and stormspear rocket pod 440 (Fury of Mars)

Knight Crusader with 2 heavy stubbers, rapid-fire battle cannon and stormspear rocket pod 530 (Mark of the Omnissiah)

Knight Warden with meltagun 424 /  Knight Paladin with heavy stubbers 423

Total: 1,998 / 1,997 (9 Command Points -> 6 because of Heirlooms of the Household Stratagem)

Of course, there's always the option to swap the 4th Knight out for an Imperial Guard Battalion. This will give me more Command Points as well as infantry and a tank. After all, it's weird to have a Knight lance go into battle alone without infantry and armored support. Well, Knights are armor, but you know what I mean. It's unfortunate that Knights cost so much that I can only squeeze in a small, almost minimal Battalion, otherwise I would have a lance of Knights accompanying a full-sized Brigade. Well, that's that. What to do indeed.

Super-heavy Detachment

Knight Castellan with 2 siegebreaker cannons and 2 shieldbreaker missiles 604 (Ion Bulwark Warlord Trait and Cawl's Wrath)

Knight Errant with heavy stubber and stormspear rocket pod 440 (Fury of Mars)

Knight Crusader with 2 heavy stubbers, rapid-fire battle cannon and stormspear rocket pod 530 (Mark of the Omnissiah)

Total: 1,574

Imperial Guard Battalion Detachment

Company Commander with plasma pistol 35 (Kurov's Aquila)

Tempestor Prime with bolt pistol 41

Infantry squad with plasma gun 47

Infantry squad with plasma gun 47

5 Militarum Tempestus Scions (Kamikaze Storm Troopers) with 2 hot-shot volley guns 62

Leman Russ Executioner tank with lascannon and plasma cannon sponsons 192

Total: 424

Grand Total: 1,998 (14 Command Points -> 10 because of Heirlooms of the Household Stratagem and Imperial Commander's Armory Stratagem)

There you go. Perfect for a 2,000-point game, and the Astra Militarum detachment is a household retinue for House Yato, escorting and protecting the Knights with infantry and tanks. There's even Kamikaze Storm Troopers!

For even bigger games, I can go with a pure Knights list.

Super-heavy Detachment

Knight Castellan with 2 siegebreaker cannons and 2 shieldbreaker missiles 604 (Cawl's Wrath)

Knight Errant with heavy stubber and ironstorm missile pod 411 (Fury of Mars)

Knight Crusader with 2 heavy stubbers, rapid-fire battle cannon and stormspear rocket pod 530

Total: 1,545

Super-heavy Detachment

Knight Valiant with 2 siegebreaker cannons and 2 shieldbreaker missiles 594 (Mark of the Omnissiah and Blessed by the Sacristans Warlord Trait)

Armiger Helverin with heavy stubber 174

Armiger Helverin with meltagun 187

Total: 955

Grand Total: 2,500 (12 Command Points -> 9 because of Heirlooms of the Household Stratagem)

So that's a full pure Knights army for a 2,500-point game, if anybody ever wants to play that many points. I don't have to worry about it as I probably wouldn't be getting the Knight Valiant for a while. I'll focus on the Knight Castellan and Armigers Helverin for now, and once I'm done with that, I'll see how much funds I have left. Money is always a limiting factor. And time too. I've no idea how busy my next semester will be, so it might be difficult for me to build a second Dominus-class Knight during the semester. Won't stop me from trying, though. As always, it'll be funny to use the Our Darkest Hour Stratagem on my Knight Valiant, bring him back to life (on a 4+ though, ugh) and then unleash 3D6 auto-hitting shots with his conflagration cannon. Cool, eh?

For the Emperor and the Omnissiah!

Forge World Knights

Well, I'm not usually a Forge World person (because they're so damned expensive that I'm priced out of them), but I guess this will be interesting for everyone. Basically, Forge World is writing rules for us to use the Dominus-class and Armiger-class Knights in Horus Heresy games.



Warhammer Community has the article here. So check it out if that's your thing.





Apparently these designs have been retconned to have existed for a super-long time, since the ancient Dark Age of Technology and before the Horus Heresy. Why no one mentioned them in the lore or fluff, I can't say for sure, but...yeah. Whatever.





But that's not all. Apparently Forge World has been cooking up new Knights too. Instead of building transports for Adeptus Mechanicus or writing rules for old Mechanicum units (Thanatar, Castellax, Vorax, etc) in Imperial Armor or working on Fires of Cyraxus, the staff at Forge World decided to shelve that and work on building new Knights. Because they make more money than making rules for 30K Mechanicum units for 40K.



So yeah. New Forge World Knight. Yay. Except that I can't afford that, so I'll pass. Plus resin is such a pain to work with.



The Thanatar appearing in the Forge World Open Day seems promising, and could hint at a release of Fires of Cyraxus, but I won't hold my breath. Disappointed once, will be disappointed forever. If I don't expect anything, I'll be pleasantly surprised, much better than being bitterly disappointed yet again.



You already know the Imperial Knights FAQ and Renegade Knights Index. After all, I already reported them in this blog (and I was faster than Natfka at Faeit 212 blog too!). But just to remind you guys, the FAQ now allows us to use our Forge World Imperial Knights in our army rather than restrict it only to Dominus-class and Questoris-class Knights. As long as they're Titanic (and most of the Imperial Knights in Forge world - if not all - have the keyword Titanic), they're good to go.





Oh, right. And not forgetting the Renegade Knights and their use of forge world Knights too.





...at least that's what the Warhammer Community said, but they posted loyalist Mechanicus Knights for the Renegade Knights pictures. Derp.

Anyway, you can check out the Forge World Knights here, or you can check out the Index for Renegade Knights and the Imperial Knights faq here. For the Emperor!

Trying to build House Yato

One of the good things about building an Imperial Knight army is that I already have 4 Knights. Knight Crusader, Knight Errant, Knight Paladin and Knight Warden, so I have a very flexible force to swap out stuff here and there. Unfortunately, with the new codex, it seems that I've new stuff to get to expand on my Knights roster and build a more optimal list. Maybe.

So how do I do it?

First, let's look at the new Knights. Which would be best to add to my current roster? The Dominus-class Knights look absolutely amazing, so I'll definitely get at least one. Since my strategy usually relies on shooting with my Knight Crusader or Knight Paladin, it would be better for me to get the Knight Castellan instead of the Knight Valiant. He synergizes better with my Knight Crusader for example, or lore-wise, he synergizes really well with my Shadowsword. I can imagine an anti-Titan force. House Yato's Knight Castellan smashing the void shields apart with his shieldbreaker missiles, and then Colonel Ikeda's Shadowsword driving up to deliver the killing blow with his volcano cannon. Well, fluff-wise, it would be a company of three Shadowswords flanking the Knight Castellan. So Knight Castellan it is, even though I actually like the Knight Valiant a lot. The conflagration cannon seems so awesome. Tough choice, really tough choice. But I like plasma. Besides, my Draconian Armored Defenders is a defensive sige army, so it makes more sense for them to pair up with a Knight Castellan who sits back and fires from long range while extending his Ion Aegis over the squadron of Leman Russ Executioners and armor infantry. Even a traitor Titan Legion would have to be cautious going up against the formidable firepower of a Knight Castellan and a company of Shadowswords!

Next, what other stuff should I add to my Knight list? I was thinking a Knight Preceptor because of his las-impulsor and also because he gives buffs to Armiger-class Knights. Furthermore, he's great at close-range and melee (well, all Knights except the Crusader are good at melee). So it would be fun for me to play around with a Knight Preceptor and stick him with a couple of Armiger bodyguards.

So what Armiger bodyguards do I want? This actually surprised me. I thought I was more inclined toward the Armiger Helverins because they're the shooty version, after all. But as I tried to build a list around them, it appeared that most of the Household Traditions don't benefit them. Of course I have one version where I don't get a Knight Preceptor (which sucks because the Armiger Helverins don't get re-rolls of ones if I don't take him) but a 2nd Knight Crusader instead. So it'll be a Knight Castellan, 2 Knights Crusader and 2 Armigers Helverins in a single Super-heavy Detachment for 6 Command Points. This iteration will take House Hawkshroud as the Household Tradition because that seems to be the most...uh, effective and fluffy Tradition for a shooty Knight army that wants to stay back and fire from afar. It's not that bad, actually, and I do like the list. But I can't optimize my Armiger Helverins without the Knight Prceptor. Oh well. That's fine too.

But if I don't go the shooty House Hawkshroud (Yato) route, then what are the other options and possibilities?

I could rebuild a Questoris Mechanicus or Mechanicus Knights list with my army. Especially with what I have in mind with regards to purchasing new Knights. That would mean getting Forgebane (yay). A Knight Castellan, a Knight Prceptor, a Knight Errant and 2 Armigers Warglaive in a lance, and a patrol detachment of Adeptus Mechanicus.

House Yato Adamantine Lance (taking House Krast Tradition)

Knight Castellan with 2 shieldbreaker missiles and two twin siegebreaker cannons (Warlord Trait First Knight, Cawl's Wrath Heirloom) 604

Knight Preceptor with multi-laser and Stormspear rocket pod 470

Knight Errant with heavy stubber and Stormspear rocket pod 440

2 Armigers Warglaive with meltaguns 177x2=354

Total: 1,868

Draconis IV Adeptus Mechanicus Patrol Detachment (Stygies VIII forge world dogma)

HQ

Tech-priest Enginseer 47

Troops

5 Rangers with 2 transuranic arquebus 85

Total: 132

Grand Total: 2,000 (9 Command Points)

Well, this is the pure Knights list...or was supposed to be pure Knights, but obviously I ended up with spare points for an Adeptus Mechanicus Patrol Detachment. Oh well. But if I want more Adeptus Mechanicus stuff, I could always take out the Knight Errant and squeeze in a Battalion and a couple of Onager Dunecrawlers.

House Yato Adamantine Lance (taking House Krast Tradition)

Knight Castellan with 2 shieldbreaker missiles and two twin siegebreaker cannons (Warlord Trait First Knight, Cawl's Wrath Heirloom) 604

Knight Preceptor with multi-laser and Ironstorm missile pod 441/Knight Errant with heavy stubber and Stormspear rocket pod 440

2 Armigers Warglaive with meltaguns 177x2=354

Total: 1,399/,1398

Draconis IV Adeptus Mechanicus Battalion Detachment (Stygies VIII forge world dogma)

HQ

Tech-priest Dominus with volkite blaster and macrostubber 125

Tech-priest Enginseer 47

Troops

5 Skitarii Vanguard with taser goad and 2 plasma calivers 72

5 Skitarii Vanguard with arc pistol, arc maul and 2 arc rifles 56

5 Skitarii Vanguard 40

Heavy Support

Onager Dunecrawler with Icarus Array 130

Onager Dunecrawler with Icarus Array 130

Total: 600

Grand Total: 1,999/1,998 (11 Command Points)

This gives me a bit more Command Points and a lot more dakka (I think?). Honestly, I would prefer to go the shooty route and give my Onager Dunecrawlers neutron lasers and get Armigers Helverin instead but House Krasts's Household Tradition doesn't benefit them well. Armigers Helverin don't have melee weapons, so Cold Fury doesn't benefit them as much as say, Armigers Warglaive who have the Reaper chain-cleaver that allows them to re-roll all hit rolls in the fight phase in the turn they charged, or was charged or performed a Heroic Intervention. On the other hand, I don't really need the Knight Preceptor so I can just replace him with my Knight Errant instead, since everyone gets to re-roll hit rolls in the fight phase regardless. And with the range, I doubt House Vulker's Firestorm Protocols benefit the Armigers Helverin much, plus I have the Knight Preceptor to re-roll ones anyway. The point is to maximize the use of the Armigers Warglaive and Knight Preceptor's melee capabilities with House Yato/Krast's Cold Fury. I have half a mind to just make my Skitarii Metalica, but I think I prefer Stygies VIII. Actually, I prefer Mars, but whatever. Lucius might not be a bad choice either, given the amount of AP -1 weaponry (bolt rifles, heavy flamers, heavy bolters, Custodes' spears, etc.). But they're just there...to provide infantry and anti-air support for my Knights. So cool beans...I think?

However, it is entirely possible to swap the Knight Castellan out for a Knight Valiant and go House Raven so that I can advance everyone and shoot without penalties. That would be cool and I could swap the Icarus array on one of the Onager Dunecrawlers for a neutron laser. The Knight Valiant would get either Ion Bulwark or Blessed by the Sacristans Warlord Trait (you can bet I'll use it on the conflagration cannon) and the Mark of the Omnissiah Heirloom. Everyone would be advancing and firing, so that will be awesome. I would replace the meltaguns on the Armigers Warglaive with heavy stubbers and take away the arc pistol so that I can upgrade the Ironstorm missile pod into a Stormspear rocket pod. That sounds like a great option too. If I go this route, I'll make my Skitarii Metalica to go along with the whole House Raven and Metalica forge world pairing (never mind it's House Yato and Draconis IV forge world in my case). In either case, I can make the Tech-priest Dominus my Warlord and give him the Necromechanic Warlord Trait and either Autocaduceus of Arkhan Land or the Lucius Solar Flare Relic. The Solar Flare will teleport my Tech-priest Dominus to wherever my Knights are and repair whoever needs repairing (heal 2 wounds, use Tech-Adept Stratagem to heal another 2 wounds on my Knight!). If need be, I can use it to repair up to 8 wounds on my Onager Dunecrawler, especially with the Autocaduceus of Arkhan Land allowing me to re-roll repair rolls! Of course, if I go the House Raven and Metalica route, I don't mind taking Ordered Efficiency Warlord Trait and Raiment of the Technomartyrs to...utterly destroy assault armies. That would be fun. Maybe. I don't know. We'll see! In either case, I'll spend an extra 2 Command Points to give my main Knight (Knight Castellan or Knight Valiant) a Warlord Trait and a relic, if necessary. Combined with Mark of Omnissiah, and healing 4 wounds a turn, my Knight Valiant might just never die. Probably the Lucius relic Solar Flare here works better for my Knight Valiant adopting the House Raven tradition.

Of course, there's the Imperial Knight route or Questoris Imperialis. So instead of doing Mechanicus, I go down the Imperial Knights route. As mentioned earlier, I could just get another Knight Crusader and 2 Armigers Helverin, and then do a House Hawkshroud styled House Yato Lance.

House Yato Adamantine Lance (taking House Hawkshroud Tradition)

Knight Castellan with 2 shieldbreaker missiles and two twin siegebreaker cannons (Warlord Trait Ion Bulwark, Armor of the Sainted Ion Heirloom) 604

Knight Crusader with 2 heavy stubbers, rapid-fire battle cannon, Stormspear rocket pod 530

Knight Crusader with 2 heavy stubbers, rapid-fire battle cannon, twin Icarus autocannon 515

2 Armigers Helverin with heavy stubbers 174x2=348

Total: 1,997 (9 Command Points)

Now that's an all Knight list! Of course, if I decide to take a Knight Preceptor instead, I could instead go House Griffith and take Imperial Guard since...well, Questoris Imperialis and Astra Militarum pair together as opposed to Questoris Mechanicus and Adeptus Mechanicus. But how would that work out?

House Yato Adamantine Lance (taking House Griffith Tradition)

Knight Preceptor with multi-laser and Stormspear rocket pod (Knight Seneschal Warlord Trait, Mark of the Lance Heirloom) 470

2 Armigers Warglaive with meltaguns 177x2=354

Total: 824

Kamikaze Storm Troopers Battalion

HQ

Tempestor Prime with command rod 45

Tempestor Prime with command rod 45

Troops

5 Militarum Tempestus Scions with 2 plasma guns 74

5 Militarum Tempestus Scions with 2 plasma guns 74

10 Militarum Tempestus Scions 100

Elites

Militarum Tempestus Command squad with 4 plasma guns 88

Total: 426

Draconian Armored Defenders Spearhead

HQ

Company Commander with power sword 34

Fast Attack

2 Armored Sentinels with lascannons 120

Heavy Support

Leman Russ Executioner with lascannon and plasma cannons 192

Leman Russ Executioner with lascannon and plasma cannons 192

Leman Russ Annihilator with lascannon and plasma cannons 212

Total: 750

Grand Total: 2,000 points (12 Command Points)

The purpose of this list is to maximize the use of House Griffith's Glory of the Charge Household Tradition. The Armigers Warglaive have 10 attacks on the charge if I use the Sweep (good for infantry!) and by giving the Knight Preceptor the Knight Seneschal Warlord Trait, I'm potentially giving him 18 attacks with Titanic Feet! Not to mention, if I escort him with the Armigers Warglaive, they can re-roll ones during the fight phase! This makes them more reliant on the Knight Preceptor, as opposed to House Krast's Household Tradition that gives me a flat-out re-roll all hits during the fight phase. This looks good too, but I'm a little disappointed I can't squeeze a Knight Castellan into the list. Oh well. We'll see. Actually, there's a way to play with the Knight Castellan in the list. It'll be something like:

Draconian Armored Defenders

Brigade Detachment (12 Command Points)

HQ

Company Commander with plasma pistol and power sword (Warlord with Grand Strategist Warlord Trait and the Kurov's Aquila Heirloom) 39

2 Tempestors Prime with command rods 45x3=90

Elites

Militarum Tempestus Command Squads with 4 plasma guns 88

Commissar with bolt pistol 16

Commissar with plasma pistol 20

Troops

5 Militarum Tempestus Scions with 2 plasma guns 74

5 Militarum Tempestus Scions with 2 plasma guns 74

10 Militarum Tempestus Scions 100

Infantry squad with plasma gun 47

Infantry squad with plasma gun 47

Infantry squad with plasma gun 47

Fast Attack

Armored Sentinel with plasma cannon and sentinel chainsaw 57

2 Armored Sentinel, each with lascannon (60x2=120)

Heavy Support

3 Leman Russ Executioner tanks, each with lascannon and plasma cannons (192x3=576)

Total: 1,395

Super-heavy auxillary

Knight Castellan with 2 shieldbreaker missiles and 2 siegebreaker cannons 604

Grand Total: 1,999 (15 Command Points)

Of course, I could spend 2 Command Points to give the Knight Castellan a Warlord Trait and an Heirloom (preferably House Krast's First Knight and Cawl's Wrath), then spam Ion Aegis to protect my tanks and infantry. It'll be...hilarious. For bigger games, I'll just wrap it up with a Shadowsword and swap one of the Leman Russ Executioner tnaks for a Leman Russ Annihilator. Cool, eh?

Now which do you think is the most feasible list? The House Hawkshroud styled list? The Questoris Mechanicus list? Or should I just get a Knight Castellan and play him alongside my Astra Militarum Brigade? Or is the House Griffith Titanic Feet styled list more fun to play? Or perhaps the Relentlessly Advancing House Raven styled Knight Valiant and friends with Metalica-styled Draconian Skitarii?

Awesome news for Imperial Knight players!

Well, let's be honest. It's not just Imperial Knight players. It's Renegade Knight players as well. Games Workshop has seen fit to bestow upon us rules for Renegade Knights! Check out the Warhammer Community article today!



You can access the PDF for Renegade Knights through this link. It gives you Chaos Traitors and heretics point deductions and rules to Questoris Traitoris. So now you'll be able to field Renegade Knights using the same number of points as us loyalists, and you still have all those customization that Traitors are allowed. So 2 Avenger Gatling cannons or whatever. No Knight Preceptor, funnily enough. Not only that, you can also field your Chaos Armigers (both variants) or Chaos Dominus-class Knights. So Chaos players can field a Renegade Knight Castellan or Renegade Knight Valiant if that pleases you. Furthermore, you have your own Questoris Traitoris Stratagem that costs 2 Command Points.



You also get a Relic that's called the Traitor's Mark, which subtracts Leadership from enemy units 12" away, or 2 Leadership from enemy units 6" away from the bearer. Cool.





So you get those two above, and more. Yay. Good for you, Chaos players. Celebrate!



And what about us Loyalist Imperium players? Well, I've great news for you guys. Guess what? We have a FAQ for our Imperial Knights codex! This is excellent news, especially for people who play pure Knights! Basically, if your Super-heavy Detachment contains at least 1 Titanic Imperial Knight, you get 3 Command Points. So you can add 1 Questoris-class Knight and 2 Armigers for 3 bonus Command Points! Sweet! And here's the kicker. If your Super-heavy Detachment contains three Titanic Imperial Knights, add 6 to your Command Points for a total of 9! Can you f-ing believe this?! HOLY EMPEROR! Our prayers have been answered! Thank you, God-Emperor of Man! Thank you so much! FOR THE EMPEROR! WOOHOO! YEAH!

...so what does this mean for me? I dunno. I can't build a Knight army until I get to the States. All I have is one Knight Crusader on hand, so I'll live with that for now. I'm planning to bring him to the States and build a Knight army around him and a Dominus-class Knight. With the 6 Command Points given us Knights now, this is gonna be awesome!

Draconian Armored Defenders versus Primaris Space Marines Battle Report

I managed to finally get a game for the first time in ages! No, it's not after the Age of Darkness. Never mind, bad joke. Anyway, I managed to get a game today, as well as 5 new Cadian Guardsmen, who will be painted in the Draconian colors of black and gold. For Draconis! For the Emperor! Yeah, they're Draconian Guardsmen who learn the Cadian Regimental Doctrine of Born Soldiers, but they're not Cadians. They're Draconian. The Draconian Armored Defenders!

I'm starting to think my Draconians specialize in defensive siege warfare. On the tabletop, I play a static gunline, but this easily translates into a defensive army that entrenches themselves firmly behind trenches (again, another bad joke), defensive lines, barricades and barriers, and overwhelm all attackers with...well, overwhelming firepower. Tough, sturdy Leman Russ Executioner tanks who just sit still and bombard attacking enemies, and Guardsmen who...well, take cover in trenches and shoot prettty well (with the re-rolls of ones, I guess). And then you have the elite Kamikaze Storm Troopers who are the Draconian equivalent of Cadian Kasrkins. Yay. These are the attackers who drop in behind enemy lines and take out high-value targets and strategic installations while the armored tanks and entrenched infantry defend and endure the assault from the enemy. Makes a lot of sense. That's why they're called the Draconian Armored Defenders.

Anyway, my opponent brought Primaris Marines. He spent a Command Point to upgrade a Primaris Captain into the Chapter Master (but he wasn't the Warlord...wait, what?), had a 2nd Primaris Captain, but this guy was in gravis armor for the added Toughness. Then he had 3 squads of Intercessors, which were 7, 6 and 6. Or something. I'm not sure how that worked out. He also had 3 Aggressors and 2 squads of 7 Hellblasters each. So it was a Battalion of Primaris Space Marines. They were all foot-slogging because...well, he didn't bring transports. He was a Blood Angels player so he wasn't used to this list and he didn't know how to make use of them...evidently. It was a 1,200-point game. Obviously he didn't want to play against my Imperial Knight and honesstly, I had no intention of fielding my Knight Crusader in such a low-point game (I originally brought my Knight Crusader to face Adeptus Custodes).

On the other hand, I brought a company commander with plasma pistol, a Tempestor Prime with tempestus command rod, 2 infantry squads with plasma guns, 10 Militarum Tempestus Scions (Kamikaze Storm Troopers), a Militarum Tempestus Command squad with 4 plasma guns, a Taurox Prime with Taurox gatling cannon and hot-shot volley guns, and 4 Leman Russ tanks. I only had 2 Leman Russ Executioners with plasma cannons and lascannons and a Leman Russ Punisher with 3 heavy bolters. So to top up the rest of the points, I borrowed a Leman Russ main battle tank with 3 heavy bolters.

We rolled off to see who deployed first, and he won, and I finished deploying last. That meant he had a +1 to his roll-off. Unfortunately, he rolled a 1 and I rolled a 5, so the +1 didn't matter. I started first.

Turn 1

Mindful of the threat his Hellblasters posed to my tanks, I began by having all my Leman Russ Executioner tanks firing at the first squad of Hellblasters and wiped them out. The Leman Russ main battle tank then fired on the Aggressors and wiped them out too. That was a significant chunk of his firepower gone. As for my Taurox Prime, it went up and killed maybe 1 or 2 Intercessors. My Leman Russ Punisher also took out another 2 or 3 Intercessors, but because they had cover from my AP 0 Punisher gatling cannon, they had 2+ saves and made most of them.

My opponent then moved his Intercessors and Chapter Master forward, as well as his Hellblasters. His Hellblasters put about 4 wounds on my Leman Russ Punisher tank, and between the krak grenades from the auxiliary grenade launchers and the bolt rifles, the Intercessors put about 3 wounds on the Taurox Prime. Not a lot of harm done.

Turn 2

My Leman Russ Executioner fired on the Hellblasters and took out about 3 or 4 of them, I believe. The other Leman Russ Executioner and main battle tank wiped out an Intercessor squad, but the Leman Russ Punisher didn't do much because the Intercessors made most of their 2+ saves. The 10 Militarum Tempestus Scions had disembarked, but their shooting was ineffectual despite the First Rank, Fire! Second, Rank, Fire! from my Deep Striking Tempestor Prime. I only took out maybe 1 or 2 Intercessors at most. My plasma command squad also took aim from the order and killed about 4 or so Intercessors, I believe? I can't remember. Anyway, I know there were still quite a few Intercessors left, maybe 2 or 3 from one squad, and 2 or 3 from another squad, and 2 from one last squad.

The Hellblasters moved forward and planted another 4 wounds on my Leman Russ Executioner this time (not the Punisher - he fired on the Punisher originally because that was the only tank within his line of sight and he didn't dare put his Hellblasters within line of sight of my Leman Russ tanks). The Intercessors mowed down the majority of my Kamikaze Storm Troopers with their bolt rifles...they took out 3 of my plasma gunners with their shooting. Then the Chapter Master and Intercessors charged into combat and the Chapter Master basically killed 3 Guardsmen with his power fists, and then the Intercessors killed another 5. I don't know why my Sergeant and lone Kamikaze Storm Trooper could fight back but they did and did nothing. Then the last 2 Kamikaze Storm Troopers fled because they failed morale - losing 8 casualties would do that to you. With the Kamikaze Storm Troopers wiped out, the Intecessors and Chapter Master consolidated into my sole surviving plasma gunner and the Taurox Prime.

Turn 3

I used Jury Rigged to heal a wound on my Leman Russ Executioner, and then had my plasma gunner, Tempestor Prime and Taurox Prime fall back. The 2 infantry squads let loose with whatever lasgun shots and plasma gun shots they have, but I think they didn't kill anyone. The Leman Russ Executioner wiped out the Hellblasters, then the second one wiped out another Intercessor squad. The Leman Russ Punisher shot the Chapter Master, who was the closest enemy unit to him, and killed him through sheer dakka despite the 2+ saves. The 2nd Leman Russ main battle tank then kiled a second Intercessor squad, which meant there was only 2 Intercessors left on that end of the table. On the other end, where the blasted remains of the Hellblaster was, the Warlord Primaris Captain was alone.

The 2 guys survived my plasma gunner's barrage despite the "Get back into the fight!" order after falling back. They shot him to death, and then charged my Tempestor Prime, but failed to kill him. My Tempestor Prime only took a wound, and he fought back...only to roll 3 ones for his attacks. Wow. Anyway, that was game. My opponent conceded because he had nothing left - just 3 models on the table. I still had 4 Leman Russ tanks and a Taurox Prime - all of whom were over half their health - and 2 full infantry squads who were completely unscathed and still under the command of my Company Commander. There was little point in continuing. The outcome was clear.

The Draconian Armored Defenders had won. Against humanity's finest...against the legendary Space Marines. Despite all the narrative, all the lore, all the fluff I've read, on the tabletop, the Imperial Guard prevailed and utterly crushed the Space Marines. The Adeptus Astartes were unable to match the sheer firepower of the Astra Militarum and their armored might.

To be fair, if it had been completely infantry against infantry, the Intercessors and Primaris Space Marines would have won. Honestly, I was lucky. I got to go first. If my opponent had gone first and had the full benefit of unleashing a bombardment of plasma from his Hellblasters, I would have lost a tank or 2, and I wouldn't have been able to wipe out so much of his forces. The winner was decided by who got to go first. It was...just weird.

Well, I'll take the victory and celebrate another Imperial Guard victory! It's rare that we get to win, so let's just praise the Emperor for now!

Tada raised his head and watched the blasted battlefield. The Space Marines had tried to charge over the terrain to destroy the tanks, but the formidable firepower of the Leman Russ tanks had pulverized them to nothing. Superheated plasma from the Leman Russ Executioners turned even the most armored Space Marine into molten slag, and the Leman Russ Punisher sent a devastating barrage that crumpled the power armor of the charging Space Marines and reduced the transhumans inside into bloody pulps.

"This was...surprisingly easy," he remarked to his adjutant, Tsutsui. "I thought the Space Marines were supposed to be the Emperor's Finest. The Angels of Death...gods among us mortals. But they die just like any other mortal."

Tsutsui shrugged. "Well, they had quite the lackluster codex. Or maybe the Space Marine commander didn't know what he was doing."

"The Emperor Protects...we must have gotten some really good rolls."

"Yeah, and those poor bastards must be rolling pretty badly."

They glanced at the Leman Russ main battle tank that they had borrowed. The attached tank commander, Ueda, stood out of his cupola and waved at them.

"Did you even need my help?"

"Yeah, of course. Your main battle cannon utterly obliterated them."

"Well, Strength 8 AP -2...it wonds these Marines on a 2+." Ueda shrugged. "No wonder they're falling like fries."

"Where's their armor?"

"You mean their Repulsor tank? Come to think of it, if they had even one Repulsor tank, we would be destroyed."

Tada couldn't help but shudder at that. The amount of lascannons bristling on that Primaris Space Marine tank was nothing short of obscene. On the other hand, a single Repulsor cost almost two times as much as one Leman Russ tank. But it had 4 lascannon shots, enough to destroy a single Leman Russ tank in one volley.

"Good thing we brought anti-infantry tanks today. They had so much infantry."

"...yeah. The Emperor protects."

Despite the legends he had read and heard about the revered Space Marines, Tada was still perplexed over how they were crushed so easily. Even their vaunted power armor could not withstand a barrage from a Leman Russ tank. No wonder the Tallan Desert Raiders defeated the accursed Iron Warriors during the Horus Heresy despite being mere mortals.

"Well..." Tada ducked as his Leman Russ Executioner fired another volley of plasma, which incinerated another squad of hapless Space Marines. "Let's just celebrate this victory, all right?"

"...Lieutenant, don't forget to honor the Kamikaze Storm Troopers," Tsuutsui reminded him. Tada started.

"Oh, right..."

The Kamikaze Storm Troopers had sold themselves dearly, getting wiped out to a man. They had scrambled ahead and dropped right behind enemy lines to distract the Space Marines, their hot-shot lasguns - or hellguns being ineffectual against the ceramite power armor of the transhuman warriors. In retaliation, the Space Marines had butchered the Storm Troopers, leaving only Colonel Matsuda, the Tempestor Prime behind.

But the Kamikaze Storm Troopers' sacrifice had not been in vain. Thanks to the diversion, the Space Marines were distracted long enough for the Leman Russ tanks to roll into position and pulverize their positions into molten craters with high ordnance, explosive shells and superheated plasma. They never stood a chance.

"Welcome to the Guard," Tada muttered. "You win some, you lose some. This is why the Imperial Guard always win. Every one of us is expendable, and not afraid to sacrifice our lives to achieve an objective. Emperor bless their souls...they did good."

"Indeed," Tsutsui agreed before blasting another heavy weapons Marine squad into oblivion with the plasma cannons. "But you know....our armor infantry has barely fired a shot."

The two infantry squads entrenched in cover were only providing cover fire, their las-fire ineffective against the hulking warriors' power armor. But as with the Kamikaze Storm Troopers, their attempts at combat had successfully diverted the Space Marines' attention away from the real threat. Thanks to that, the Leman Russ tanks were mostly unscathed.

"Well, that's why the Storm Troopers always get the glory." Tada shrugged. "And the normal infantry don't. But if you ask me, I'd rather be alive than receive posthumous honors."

"Agreed." Tsutsui swept the main Executioner cannon around, but saw that there were no longer any targets around. "Huh...the Space Marines are wiped out."

"Oh well." Tada glanced at the defensive lines where the infantry remained under cover. "The infantry finally has work to do. Get them to scout the area. Ensure there are no survivors."

"Roger that."

With that, the Draconian Armored Defenders moved on to the next phase of their defensive mission.

Gaunt's Ghosts The Anarch

Oh, thanks to Warhammer Community, I've found out that the fourth and final book for the Victory story arc - after the events of Blood Pact, Salvation Reach and The Warmaster, is titled The Anarch! I have no idea when it'll be released, but it should be soon. I hope. For now, we'll be waiting on Sandy Mitchell's Ciaphas Cain novel, Choose your Enemies. But yeah, I can't wait for The Anarch because Dan Abnett is promising that it'll be an awesome novel!

So strap on your lasguns, Ghosts, and let's get on with liberating the Sabbat Worlds! Or...do you want to live forever?

New Forge World rules for Adeptus Mechanicus!

With Imperial Armor: Fires of Cyraxus being thrown into oblivion and...well, probably never going to be released, there are Adeptus Mechanicus players complaining about how they can't use their forge world units for their Warhammer 40,000 games. I feel them. I have a couple of Castellax battle-automata and a Thanatar siege-automata sitting on my shelf next to a couple of Tech-priests Dominus who probably wouldn't see the light of day...or a game because we have no rules for them in Warhammer 40,000.

Ugh. That sucks.

But fear not! Thanks to a wide petition from avid fans, Forge World has finally seen fit to supply us with rules for the Titan Guard and the drill thing...!



The main article is from Warhammer Community, so check out their page if you're interested!



Looking really cool, huh? So basically we have the Termite Assault Drill and Skitarii Titan Guard, which are the Secutarii Hoplites and the Secutarii Peltasts!



I know lots of people have been clamoring for a transport for Adeptus Mechanicus, and Forge World has finally answered their prayers. Here you go, the first-ever Adeptus Mechanicus transport that can ferry Skitarii or Mechanicus units about. Have fun!




And then you have these guys who guard Titans. This is pretty timely, especially since we just got our Knights release. Add a couple of Secutarii units to guard your Dominus-class Knights! This will be so awesome! For the Omnissiah!

Hopefully there will be more on the way for the Adeptus Mechanicus, especially since there's so much Mechanicum Taghmata stuff to port over from Horus Heresy. Ugh. I can't wait to use my Legio Cybernetica...my automata are waiting on the shelf, collecting dust as they wait to get rules for Warhammer 40,000. NOOOO!!!!! Well, the only thing I can do now is pray to the Machine God and trust that the Motive Force will move things along nicely for us. We'll see.