Legio Favilla walks - Ashen Gods unleashed

[Fajita Fan]

Warlord head? Yes! Can you mock up the guns without the shoulder armor?

[Sherrypie]

Maybe at some point when I have the energy to magnetize the blighters.

 

But first, more battle reports (and reduced pictures, click open for proper resolution)!

 

Having painted some new models, they of course needed to take to the field and we hit off with a bigger narrative game from Shadow and Iron, a 2500 vs. 2000 point scrap at an agri-sprawl. Astorum's player had about 2100 points worth of engines with him, so they took the defensive role of a fighting retreat under Favilla's onslaught. I hadn't actually thought about my lists beforehand, so in order to not waste time I just used an improvised custom legio off the top of my head that I will soon be refining a bit for proper effect: ability to swap a Warlord in, Vulpa's disruptors for melee goodness and elite magos for a bit of repairs. Didn't even take a fourth item, all important bits were in and normal stratagems weren't in use in this narrative scenario anyway so what the heck.

 

Both sides had artillery barrage representing violent storms in the area (which also gave each unit a 1/6 chance of being Quaked every turn), as well as titan hunter infantry running around. The Astorum side also had some sneaky thermal mines. In the chaos of war, both sides could put Warhounds in ambush that would then jump from the shadows second turn onwards when they wished. While the objective of the game was to smack the other at least 500 points harder, burning hatred between the leaders of the battlegroups meant double points were awarded for felling the overall commanders aboard Iram et Lumen and Memento Mori. Astorum had a strong Fortis maniple supported by two hidden Hounds, while I took two Ferrox maniples supported by two Acastii pairs (which I houseruled to lose their Blasts and not be able to aim, because no way am I using their normal rules from an already stronger position).

 

Deployment was agressive: the defender could put their stuff anywhere on their table half, the attacker on theirs over 8" from any enemies. Astorum deployed close to the front, which on immediate hindsight might have been quite optimistic given the amount of fists running in their general direction, but this was partly due to the fighting retreat that meant that Astorum had to be closer to their table edge from turn three onwards and any lost ground meant reduced tactical options. With that said, Favilla gleefully strode to meet the haughty Warp Runners.

 

 

Storm clouds cracked and shields sputtered as the fight began. Infantry didn't really do much in the whole game, as both sides kept sending their troops to counter the other's as Astorum command realised they didn't have time nor room to spare for any lost shields.

 

 

We have been informed by a most unrealiable narrator that good guys use blue plasma, red is for baddies. This is obviously false propaganda.

 

 

The opening maneuvers are limited, as the Warp Runners take this moment to either shuffle backwards out of charge range or throw some politely missed melta shots towards the Favilla line that starts to encircle the right flank. Ruina Superborum did get a little scratch on Cyntar Volta before its retreat, however, which it then followed next turn by running it down entirely through thermal mines that almost blew its legs off underneath. As Volta crashed down in flames, it let loose with all its guns and unfortunately singed Solem Ignem next to it.

 

 

As the first god-engine came crashing down, two Astorum Hounds leapt up from their hiding bunkers near a factory house in their backlines, letting loose on the midfield.

 

 

On the right flank Memento Mori had been denied a charge on Proudstrider, as the sandstone hill had crumbled under its weight. Frustrated, it had sated its war lust by mauling the brave Reaver with Edax Rerum and the supporting knights so badly, that it was finally brought low by a thunderbolt from the heavens above... and naturally turned around, firing blindly into Iram et Lumen as it fell.

 

 

In the middle, Iudex Ultionis sped up and charged Solem Ignem, ripping its wounded legs off in one go. As the mighty god of war stumbled backwards, tossed around like a broken doll, it let out one last cry of defiance and, nomen est omen, blew up like a raging star. With so many engines packed near, bits of armour and molten metal spattered everyone.

 

 

Wounded, but still standing, Iram et Lumen tried to bring Iudex Ultionis down but was ultimately not quite succesful before Memento Mori waded through the bedrock up on the hill behind it, power fields humming around its hand as it flexed its claws in anticipation. Though the Astorum Hounds acquitted themselves well, one blasting Ruina Superborum apart and the other finally felling Iudex on top of the burning slagheap in the canyon, they could not hope to stem the tide alone. Memento Mori stepped forward and rammed its fist through Iram, crushing its spinal superstructure and sending it toppling down through the pulverized buildings nearby, war horns blasting in triumph over the noise of the storm. As Eclipsor was subsequently taken down by longrange lasfire from the Acastus, the surviving crew of Crudelis Ortus beat a hasty retreat.

 

 

Brutal! The close quarters deployment meant the Clawlords could get stuck in pretty quickly and given that in Ferrox they hit on 2+ rolling 15+d6 for armour (ie. criticals on 2+ anywhere), those charges straight up murder things. Astorum's straight frontal deployment was perhaps foolish, but such are the wagaries of war and much fun was had by all. Including bystanders, always keep an eye out for recruiting more folks into the fold :D

 

Regarding Acastii, I felt they were pretty good with these changes. Flexible, not oppressive and pretty nifty additions to an already dangerous titan group.

 

We also took a lighter 1500 matched game afterwards (sadly no pictures), which was interesting. He took a full Axiom maniple, I took one Ferrox (a WL, 2 R and a WH) with one Acastus with straight normal rules to see how they really perform. Both went for Engage and Destroy. I wanted to try out War Lust boosted movement for a first turn surge, which failed pretty hard since only my Warlord got Full Stride off and the rest failed their orders immediately, resulting in a less than ideal rush forwards into their waiting guns. Compounding this was a Scatter mine barrage, which resulted in a devastating hit on every single titan I had, because little explosives weren't going to stop me from blasting ahead. As he kept kiting my Warlord out of charge range and hampering my advance with more mines while I kept immediately failing my orders going forwards, things looked a bit grim but all was not lost. Running heedlessly through mines and laughing all the way to bank as only superficial damage was taken, Ruina Superborum withstood another Reaver's charge and slipped past to brutalize a Warhound behind as it was once again almost blown apart by thermal mines. On the other flank I concealed a shieldless Memento Mori with a LoS-blocking smoke pillar and maneuvered to threaten a charge in the near future. This actually realized sooner than later and one broken Warhound was kicked out of the way, though its pound of flesh was had as Iram et Lumen avenged it by smashing Memento against a hill with its own fist from behind. Funnily enough, this was around the time my luck had changed: while Ruina's charge hadn't killed the Warhound it targeted, said Warhound shot Ruina's legs off and managed to make it fall both on itself (killing it instantly) and their mostly untouched Reaver nearby. In its death throes, Ruina's fall managed to put three criticals on said Reaver and without wasting a second, it was then immediately killed by Aurora Terribilis' sniping missile launcher. All this time my one Acastus had been pumping a HORRIFIC amount of fire on the clumped opposition, regularily throwing such lines as "four hits on this guy, two on the other and one on that third" out there. This was taxing on the opposition's shields and gave me time to pump unfettered plasma and melta shots into Iram et Lumen from pointblank range, which eventually resulted in its death and the closing of the game with me a bit ahead. A good game and a surprising victory, even after Igot absolutely shafted for the first two turns by my orders and those mines.

[noigrim]

Awesome!

[Fajita Fan]

It’s neat seeing melee Warlords do something but it looks like deployment helped there. I see a warp missile on a Reaver, did it do anything?

[Sherrypie]

It’s neat seeing melee Warlords do something but it looks like deployment helped there. I see a warp missile on a Reaver, did it do anything?

Mostly the deployment made them super-effective, as they are pretty much one punch killers with death being the expected result on average rolling. In the later game with a long way to go both sides got kills with Clawlords and there I had to wade through a minefield to get anywhere.

 

Warp missile wasn't fired, as the Reaver didn't get a chance (first turn didn't bother, second turn moved with Emergency Repairs, third got into a fight with a Warhound too close to fire, then died). It's cheap and opportunistic, which is fine for a melee Reaver that can usually expect to really have maybe one turn before its death where it could fire it effectively any way. Just had a discussion about this elsewhere, after seeing someone had made a 1500 point list with 5x power/chain/warp suicide chargers. I think it could actually be pretty funky, since most of them are anyway going to be running and there's no real shooting to strip shields off the enemy line, so the warp weaponry on their backs is actually quite fine for sniping those badly injured but still shielded engines that have been scraped by the forward Reavers who have themselves died off. Also good for tactical weapon sniping in critical situations, especially since the FAQ disabling weapons with Warp things can also do Body damage. It's a funky list with attitude, I'll give 'em that.

[Sherrypie]

Carrying on, I tried to see if I could squeeze an engine out in a day. Almost, just battle damage, stains and basing to do tomorrow but Damnatio Memoriae is soon in walking condition.

 

[Mandragola]

Great work. I ought to do something like that. Get a model done and dusted instead of flitting between projects.

[Guest]

I really like the style you do your Titans in.

[Fajita Fan]

A titan in one day?!? You people are machines. 

[Sherrypie]

Thanks lads, this was an impromptu attempt as I realised one friendly painting competition deadline was coming up tomorrow and I had nothing prepared. Whoops.

 

I'm getting quicker with the techniques, especially since I started just making everything brown first to not stress about the trims, but the main slowing factor still comes from having no plan beforehand. Deciding how each panel ends up on the fly holds my assembly line back, as does suddenly deciding it would be a great idea to freehand a few dozen fleur de lys onto the banner. But then again, why paint if it's not fun while at it :)

[Dragonlover]

I ended up setting up a spreadsheet to work out the colour placements, could be worth a try?

 

Dragonlover

[Sherrypie]

Thanks for the idea Dragonlover, but I quite enjoy the freewheeling madness of spontaneous ideas :D

 

Also, boom!

 

 

Damnatio Memoriae is ready to walk and burn some worlds! As the name gives away, this engine is called to war when no trace of civilization is to remain, sweeping the pages of history clean with atomic fire.

 

 

I had a lot of fun incorporating this idea into its heraldry:

 

 

Also, since Fajita Fan brought up Fureans some time ago, I was inspired to try some yellow:

 

 

...Never again, yellow is just horrible to paint :P

[Mendi Warrior]

Sublimissime! I love it!

[Fajita Fan]

LOL I love that we get extra armor plates for bases like that.

[Sherrypie]

Extra parts for the win, all kits should feed one's bitz box. Eventually as they accumulate enough and other projects are finished (...pfft), I want to make some fallen and blasted titan carcasses to go along with craters and other dynamic environment parts.

[Sherrypie]

Alright, Contemptus Mundi is pretty much ready to get primed. Reaver arms are a bit scrawny, but they'll do as the default hinges are just horrid.

 

 

[schoon]

Will you be using the stock head for this, or doing something else?

[Fajita Fan]

Ooo, like a broken head revealing that underneath? Out of curiosity what do Warlord power Fists look like on a Warbringer?

[Sherrypie]

Will you be using the stock head for this, or doing something else?

 

The variant Warlord head, next to the base in the pictures. The stock head looks... weird, don't like its proportions. Might experiment with other Reaver heads in the future, though they also stick out a bit.

 

Ooo, like a broken head revealing that underneath? Out of curiosity what do Warlord power Fists look like on a Warbringer?

...not sure I follow on the broken head thing, whu? On fists, can't test with these glued in but I guess they wouldn't be that hard to put in if one wanted to make an overarmoured melee Reaver from the Warbringer kit.

[Fajita Fan]

The skull you have greenstuffed would look amazing with the two halves of that Warlord head shaped like it's splitting open.  I have like ZERO need for any more titans but you damn people are giving me so many great ideas I want to run with 

 

Using the Warbringer as an over-armored melee Reaver fallen to Khorne is...wow...

Edited March 4, 2020 by Fajita Fan

[Mandragola]

I’m curious to see how that head works out. The default head is quite odd, I agree. Actually I’ve got a couple of those heads so I can just try it myself.

 

Nice pose. Will look great painted I’m sure.

[Gore Crow]

Very nice posing, can't go wrong with the "captain morgan". I love your ornate look with the extra gubbins.

[Mendi Warrior]

Lovely work, cool greenstuffing!

[Sherrypie]

Very nice posing, can't go wrong with the "captain morgan". I love your ornate look with the extra gubbins.

The sensible number of captain Morgans in a given force is probably finite, but it hasn't been reached yet. All hail the tactical rocks.

 

Now I'm intrigued by the heavy reaver concept, like Gryphonicus or Audax bolt extra armour on theirs. I think there was a campaign upgrade too for that. Sigh, projects...

[Mendi Warrior]

You need to add an eye-patch and a hooked hand at some point