The Order of Ruin

[Petitioner's City]

How would you represent an Order of Ruin force for the XV? What would you include, to be as fluffy as possible?

 

I[m considering a pseudo-Ignis, but I am not sure if he should be Siege Breaker, Praevian or Master of Signals, or even a praetor. Ideally he needs be a praetor in cataphracti armour, joined to a single Paragon of Metal thing to represent Credence - but that isn't possible, is it, under the rules? Or could a praetor/suitable consul lead a squad of the Heavy Support Castellax-Achaea, one of whom one day will be Credence?

 

 

[Gabriel Santar]

While I don't want to sound dismissive, would the Order of Ruin even deploy as an army in the traditional sense? Page 152 of Inferno describes them as in the 'background' when forces are being raised, and I can't find reference to any assets of the Legion belonging to them exclusively - not even on an 'informal' level like with the Dark Angels' Wings.

That being said, if you wanted to do a force of the Order I think the general rule would be Techmarines, Tanks and Mechanicum stuff I suppose. At least one Forge Lord would probably feature, as well as a Legion Artillery Battery, and if you took a Rite you'd want one that permitted Ordo Reductor allies. On the subject of Ignis I think you could get away with maybe a Praevian leading a Castellax or Castellax-Achaea, since even if Ignis is the Master of the Order (it's been a while since I read Sorcerer or Unchanged) it's unclear what his actual equivalent rank within the Legion would be.

[Petitioner's City]

While I don't want to sound dismissive, would the Order of Ruin even deploy as an army in the traditional sense? Page 152 of Inferno describes them as in the 'background' when forces are being raised, and I can't find reference to any assets of the Legion belonging to them exclusively - not even on an 'informal' level like with the Dark Angels' Wings.

 

That being said, if you wanted to do a force of the Order I think the general rule would be Techmarines, Tanks and Mechanicum stuff I suppose. At least one Forge Lord would probably feature, as well as a Legion Artillery Battery, and if you took a Rite you'd want one that permitted Ordo Reductor allies. On the subject of Ignis I think you could get away with maybe a Praevian leading a Castellax or Castellax-Achaea, since even if Ignis is the Master of the Order (it's been a while since I read Sorcerer or Unchanged) it's unclear what his actual equivalent rank within the Legion would be.

 

He's called 'the' Master in M32, but that might be because he is the only one of a master level left. Or the only one known to Sanahkt when he encounters him. Inferno refers to another Magister, that a Sister kills. 

 

I see your answer, I'm not sure I entirely like it - it does feel dismissive, especially as you are stamping down on a fun fluffy idea. I like the imaginative idea of the nearly 2000 members of the Order and its 800 automata on Tizca, and the 2000 out in space somewhere, plus whatever other resources. The Order is small, therefore - 4000 legionnaires, plus automata - but of course this is itself a significant component of a legion. I doubt they are all seconded, and Inferno makes reference to an armoured column of the Order of Ruin (re presentable as an armoured breakthrough?) as part of a greater force. So they do work in action. Notably, I do like how Inferno notes how, whilst the Legion had a good amount of armour, they were used in limited actions and had little infantry contingents themselves.

 

Overall, I think it's deliberately obscured how an Order like that of Ruin, or the Jackal or the Blind, works. Really these are for our player imaginations. Perhaps the Order of Ruin is perhaps best represented by certain rites of war. But really, I don't like your dismissive answer because for me, Inferno and the Ahriman books were about suggesting more possibilities in the baroque and byzantine world of the XV. For example, the way Ignis was represented, and Inferno's allusions or anecdotes, such as that of poor Magister Gul Hadrastep, suggest the evocative role of these leaders & savants of war. I agree, agents of the OoR could be seen to be solitary or smaller additions to larger forces - although their alienating personalities, if Sanakht is to be believed, suggests they were difficult bedfellows. 

 

For myself, I wasn't meaning a 'pure' Order force as my XV army was conceived as a infiltrator/hunter killer/speedy force with a smaller killing blow force orchestrated by a Master of Ruin comparable to Ignis - it's fluffy rather than playable really, comparable to Ignis's role in the Ahriman books, but I wanted to make sure it was more solid than just the solitary man in orange of later millenia. In conceiving this, what I mean are the elements within a greater Host that would accurately represent an element of the Order (a master or adept and his followers, working to ensure the killing blow falls most fully, much like Ignis working for Ahriman in Sorceror and Unchanged), working alongside other mini-forces of their respective orders or force dispositions (meaning chances to do separate kinds of colour and heraldry). I'm just not sure how to fit orange into a TS scheme, even as a wee allusion to Ignis's future colours. 

 

But it is fun to think of a pure OoR force, for smaller games :D 

[Fire Golem]

Where's Ignis from, is he a character in the Ahriman novels?

[Petitioner's City]

Indeed! He's described as the 'Master of the Order of Ruin', he's a very hostile figure, but also enigmatic and ambiguous. Think a Thousand Sons Snape ;)

[Fire Golem]

I'm waiting for the Ahriman omnibus to come out!