Mandragola’s Legio Astorum (and Mortis and stuff)

[Sword Brother Adelard]

You can buy that mat from Element Games too. I have the 4x4 version.

[Mandragola]

You can buy that mat from Element Games too. I have the 4x4 version.

Yeah I wasn't sure whether to go for 4x4 or 6x4. In the end I thought having one mat for all purposes would be useful. I'm glad I went with 6x4 as it allows bigger games, though it will be a bit annoying to have to mask off bits.

[Sword Brother Adelard]

I literally don't have a table big enough for the 6x4!

[Mandragola]

I bought a 6x4 folding table from Gamemat.eu. So far it has been used for one game of AT and one child's birthday picnic. It's pretty useful and it has a good flat surface, though there are quite a lot of bits that you wouldn't want to scrape yourself with, or trap your fingers in.

[Mandragola]

Well I've been doing some more work, this time on knights and a titan instead of terrain.

 

Here's my current knight WIPs. The Armigers are super cute. I think the yellow comes out quite nicely. It's just Wraithbone spray, Yriel yellow and gloss reikland flesh shade, though I'll do a bit of highlighting later on. I also plan to give them some markings to indicate banner leaders and stuff.

 

 

One of the Helverins came with two right arms, so I had to chop it up under the magnifier and make it into a leftie. There were bits so small I was worried I'd blow them away. It'll definitely pass muster now - not that anyone would have noticed if I'd left it alone of course.

 

 

I'm also slowly working on my Dire Wolf. I've got it into a pose I'm happy with but it's not quite centred on the base and the pistons on its right foot need replacing because they weren't long enough. This gives me a bit more time to wonder how I'm going to paint the thing. I think it'll have some of the big "L" transfers and maybe even the odd red bit, to signify that it's sort of a test bed for esoteric weapons. Maybe not though - I'll see how I feel.

 

[schoon]

That yellow did come out very nice.

 

...and those Armigers are tiny!

[Mandragola]

I got my dire wolf more or less table ready and tried it out in a game a few weeks ago, while the site was down  this guy needs more work as I’m not really happy it - especially the big yellow “wings”  they make him look like a duck or something.

I’ll get back to that at some point. It was good enough for a game, which was the point. 
 

The actual game was… interesting. 1850 points with an Astorum Regia comprising two brawler warlords, a plasma VMB warhound and the dire wolf. In support I had 3 lancers and 3 armiger warglaives, also having their first game.
 

My opponent also played Astorum, so presumably this was actually some sort of holo-simulation. He had a venator and a Ferrox, for a total of three reavers and four hounds (all plasma/VMB). There were no melee weapons on the reavers, which were mainly set up for long-ish range with volcano cannons and laser blasters - guns I don’t rate, tbh. 
 

So basically the game went as I’d expected, with my Regia able to soak the incoming fire, mainly on my Seniores’ warlord, while picking off the hounds and largely ignoring the Reavers. My lancers died unluckily, two dying to a PBG shot that needed 6s and got two and the third getting melted by a wild-firing reaver, which he’d just killed. But my Seniores held on and the enemy titans fell, one after another, to the combined fire of my two warlords and warhound. We called it at the end of turn 3 with all my titans alive and more than half of my opponent’s dead. 
 

I’d love to be able to say the dire wolf contributed lots to this but the truth is it didn’t. It fired a total of four shots, having been on first fire once. It destroyed two weapons (actually kind of handy, but unable to shut down the target), missed a shot and did no damage with the fourth. So much for that! By hanging back firing it’s neutron laser to no effect it also couldn’t shoot it’s bolters, which were out of range. There’s no question that a second warhound would have contributed more, both by doing more damage and by being more of an active, mobile threat.

 

On the other hand I was quite pleased by the armigers. They didn’t have a chance to attack anything due to outflanking in a 3 turn game but they got into the enemy DZ and hid, spoiling his hold the line mission. They’re perfect for this kind of job, costing only 85 points and 1 strat point to outflank.

mum actually considering running Helverins instead of warglaives. I think the point of these things is to outflank and they’re not too likely to make it to melee, especially with effective command 6. Helverins can shoot on the turn they arrive and then keep their distance, plinking off the occasional void shield and maybe sometimes getting a shot at rear armour. 
 

the best option is probably a mixtrure. Actually, the two warglaives and one helverin you get in the pack would be fine. The helverin would be a nuisance and the two warglaives a threat that couldn’t be totally ignored. 
 

I’m going to a tournament (that’s what it calls itself, so an actual competitive event) the weekend after next and I think a unit of these things is likely to make it into my list. It’s actually a bit of a shame I need to bring some other knights to get access to them - and the event rightly bans Acastus except for households, so it’s probably going to be Cerastus.
 

The list I’m looking at will be a Regia again, with no upgrades. Two warlords (both with apoc and sunfury, one gatling and one quake), three hounds (two plas/VMB, one volkite/VMB), a banner of a lancer and an Acheron and the armigers. Seven activations is way more than I’m used to, especially with my recent adventures with the Extermigus maniple. 
 

I’m still thinking about a few options but I think this could be a fun battlegroup. The volkite hound is probably a bit bad but less so in a Regia as it won’t be haring off at speed, so can save its reactor for an occasional beam shot. Could be fun. 

[Gillyfish]

Really interesting to hear your reflections and the way the game went. Do you think the Dire Wolf could be more useful or is highly situational or perhaps just more of a distraction?

[Mandragola]

I'm not really sure how good the dire wolf is yet, but I didn't particularly enjoy using it. I like playing a game of manoeuvre and the dire wolf is a sniper. The result is a unit that may or may not achieve results based on dice rolls, rather than what I do as a player.

Also though, even if it does work, shutting down an enemy titan isn't as big a thing as all that. It's great of course, but the thing isn't actually dead yet. A basic plasma/vmb warhound can actually kill things very effectively and will tend to achieve something, rather than the all or nothing effect of the dire wolf.

Another issue is that it's unable to operate independently. It can't kill anything on its own - even knights are going to be hard for it to threaten - so it always needs to coordinate with friends. As such it's a bit like taking a double-vmb warhound. In the right situation it's very useful, but you will sometimes find it facing a warlord with no shields or a unit of lancers, which it can't hurt at all.

In larger games it's probably more useful. You can make up for its failures and capitalise on its successes more. But at the same time shutting down one of many enemy engines is less significant than shutting down one of a few.

The volcano cannon version is sort of interesting. On the face of it it's just worse than a plasma/vmb hound but there's slightly more to it than that. I might recommend those in an Audax force to unlock Ferrox maniples, for example.

In summary: it's actually fine but I don't really like it.

[Mandragola]

I’m going to a tournament in Bournemouth this weekend. I’m working on getting a force ready and this lot are my outstanding unready models. 
 

ill also be bringing a couple of warlords and two more warhounds, for a full Regia maniple. It’s 1850 points which is a little bigger than usual and gives a bit more freedom. 

[Mandragola]

Astorum walks, ready for this weekend’s tournament. 
 

Now to dig out all the cards, templates and so on that I need. This should be a fun weekend. I’ll try and take a few photos so I can report on how it goes. 

[schoon]

Those look great!

Break an actuator at the tournament!

[Raziel-TX]

Lovely models. Godspeed at your tournament. 

[General Zodd]

Looking great! Best of luck for the event, which one is it, and will there be streamed games or anything?

[Mandragola]

The event is being run by Alex, who does the Maximal Fire podcast. It’s in Bournemouth. I don’t think the AT will be streamed but I there might also be 40K and stuff happening. That quite often is. 

[Bjorn Firewalker]

Excellent work on the models.

[General Zodd]

Oh, I didn’t realise that event had come round again already! Have an amazing weekend, if it were nearer an airport (I’m in Belfast) I’d definitely be heading over for it! 

[Mandragola]

I’m on the train back from the tournament so thought I’d do a bit of a write up.

Overall it was a great event. The Maximal Fire guys have a lot of good AT boards now. Some were a bit open but not too bad overall.

I brought an Astorum Regia maniple with some knight friends. Both warlords had apoc launchers and sunfury, with a macro Gatling on one and quake on another. All the hounds had a VMB; two had plasma and one a volkite - which came in handy actually. I had a lancer and Acheron and a banner of armigers.

I played five games, as follows:

Game one was against a Legio Venator Extermigus maniple with a warlord, two reavers and a Psy-titan. The mission was chokepoint. I lost this game due to some canny play by my opponent, and the fact we only got to turn 3. He first moved the objective 3” back towards his board side with a strat and then had his Psy-titan spam me with the large quake blast power. This, and the fact we only got to turn 3, meant my warlords were unable to reach the objective. If we’d played a turn 4 I would likely have killed a warlord and captured the centre. Bit annoying, and all of the first day felt pretty rushed. 
 

Oh well, on to game 3 and another Extermigus, though this one actually included three Fureans warlords, plus their dire wolf friend. We had to fight over four objectives. This became a game of two flanks. On my left my warhounds fought a cagey engagement against the dire wolf and a warlord. On the right, my two warlords and my knights were able to overwhelm two enemy warlords. Seizing the right flank meant I ended up in control of three objectives, for a win despite dreadful secondaries scoring nothing. 
 

Game three, and my third Extermigus maniple! This one was four warlords, two of which had a claw. Scary! It was a mission to grab an objective and run away. My armigers, thanks to a concealment barrage, we’re able to grab the objective and hide. It finished with two of my warhounds dead, two enemy warlords down and a draw for the primary mission, though I got the win thanks to having the “hold the line” secondary.

Then off to the pub for food and a good blather with other Princeps, before a rubbish night’s sleep due to hay fever. Fortunately, I find that human frailties like fatigue go away during games (only to flood back in the breaks) so I played on.

Game four was against Mortis with minimum Fortis and Lupercal maniples. The fortis reavers were mutated with preternatural grace and -1 to be hit so would be really hard to kill. Luckily I was able to lure them out of position with my knights so they weren’t able to do much while I killed off the three warhounds and very nearly the warlord. It was a straightforward kill-based mission and I had managed to get enough points for a win there, thanks to only losing one hound myself. It was low-scoring because it was hard for either of us to get clear shots, meaning stuff just didn’t die. 
 

So on to game five and a full Vulpa Ferrox maniple, with a dire wolf, a couple of lancers and four armigers. Mission was to burn 3 objectives in each other’s deployment zones. The board was pretty open, which benefitted me. What didn’t benefit me was the dire wolf popping out of its cover, charging a warlord and killing it on turn one - most unexpected! This damn thing managed to kill one of my warhounds too before I brought it down - when of course it revealed that it was a virulent messenger, so earned 10pm for dying in my DZ - on top of 20 other VPs ot got by burning an objective and a tertiary mission to kill that Warlord. Ouch!

Luckily for me, my opponent failed some command checks for his full strides. Outflanking my Armigers and full striding my Cerastus up the side forced him to split his force and I ended up all but tabling him, leaving only a warhound alive, vainly chasing one armiger around. That Armiger was my man of the match, having successfully burned two of my opponent’s three objectives, despite a Reaver falling on his banner just as it arrived from outflanking, killing his two friends and both my Cerastus!

Overall that was a very enjoyable, if somewhat tiring, weekend. Despite losing my first game I came away with third place, which I’m pretty happy with. I’m often kicking myself and thinking about how to change my list on the way home from events but this time I’d have to say things went very much according to plan. My army was tough as hell with the shield sharing and Astorum rerolls to repairs and still respectably shooty. The knights offered a lot of utility for a relatively low cost, so I expect I’ll use them more in future. 

[schoon]

Sounds like cracking fun! You're not the only one who reports on Maximal Fire putting on a good event.

 

...and thank-you for the write-up.

[Sword Brother Adelard]

I have to say, putting virulent messenger on a forward deploying dire wolf is such an annoying move. I think that should be errata'd.

[Tar Aldarion]

Thanks for the report, Mandragola. Congratulations to your 3d place, and may the hay fewer grant you better nights soon.

Interesting that the Extergimus appears so often at tournaments. It's a good and solid maniple for killing things, sure as sure, but I'd have thought its low activation count and the difficulty of achieving missions with its ponderous machines would make it not overly "competitive".

I happen to have just fielded my first Krytos Extergimus on saturday. It was fun, and I actually achieved a surprising 30:0, wracking all three objectives in "wrath and ruin". Apparently, the maniple can achieve missions after all. Of course, Knights help a lot. I didn't kill that much, but then I also didn't have much plasma left to extergimate because environment was vent at 5+ and lose extra plasma at 5+ in the end phase. I'll certainly play it again - who should, if not Krytos?

[Mandragola]

I've had some fun playing Extermigus myself with my Astorum. As this event was 1850 points I quite seriously considered a four-Warlord list, which is just about possible. It just isn't all that good, unfortunately. You don't have the activations and can't move much, making it tough to achieve the missions that require to to cross the board. Controlling the middle tends to be pretty easy though, as nothing can live in front of that much firepower.

Thing is, the Regia I ran is tougher, faster and probably even more dangerous. The ability to share shields with warhounds is fantastic for both them and the Warlords, and means I can keep up the firepower in a straight fight for longer. The agility of hounds also means it's easier to focus fire on one target, where sometimes an Extermigus can find itself a bit dissippated. A single Warlord is rarely going to drop a target in one shot but getting two of them pointed at anything can be difficult.

Here are some photos of the event. This was my battlegroup, plus a Dire Wolf I brought along for a parade they were running.

Game 1, where my opponent has moved the objective a bit towards himself and then spammed my Warlords with the quake psychic power, preventing me from getting there.

Game 2 vs the Fureans Extermigus, which I managed to outmanoeuvre to claim two objectives.

Game 3, where I faced a four-Warlord Extermigus with two Clawlords. Managed to drop two of them in exchange for two hounds, then win on secondaries.

Game 4, against a Mortis Fortis and Lupercal. This is the end position with a few Warhounds dead. You can't see my Armigers but they're behind the Warlord, fluffing their attempts to cut off its legs.

The hero of game 5 was this Armiger. His unit outflanked only to have a Reaver fall on them just as they arrived. This lone survivor managed to un-shake himself and then burn two objectives. A Warhound got the third.

[General Zodd]

Sounds like you had a great couple of days! Shame about game 1, did you run out of time because you/your opponent was a little rusty, or was it a timing issue with the event itself? I find I tend to finish my games quite quickly, though, so maybe I’m just prone to more impulsive decision making, so don’t worry about the time limit as much!

[Mandragola]

It's a bit hard to say why that game took so long. There were some rules to look up for sure and my own force had seven activations, which wasn't fast - though also wasn't a huge problem in other games. But at the point it was clear the game was going to end my opponent was in a better position to rush the middle than I was. Another turn and I think I'd have cleared him out of there but it wasn't to be.

[schoon]

Sounds like the Armigers were very worth the points! Great AAR.