Adeptus Titanicus Legio Vulcanum Review

Hi loyal and heretical Princeps all, TOC Princeps Siph here to talk about the Legio Vulcanum from the information within "The Doom of Molech" book. This is just a summary to give you a snapshot (First Fire Order?) and full details can be found within "The Doom of Molech" book.

Legio Vulcanum (Dark Fire/Lords of Ruin)

Firstly you'll notice that the Legio has two Low Gothic names, this is because the Forge World of Stygies VIII is home to two Titan Legions, both bearing the name Legio Vulcanum giving an interesting two-faced twisted-clone background to this now fallen, traitor Legio. Rivalry and competition between both Dark Fire and Lords of Ruin factions within Legio Vulcanum grew during the Heresy, siding with the Warmaster but fighting over every kill. The use of close-combat weapons became favoured to ensure the most valuable trophies could be claimed for all to see, and reckless actions saw that the only the hardiest and most skilled crews were left standing.

Traits:
Two-Faced God: This is an interesting trait owing to the clone nature of the Legio's Princeps. You can nominate two Titans to be commanded by a Princeps Seniores, both in separate Maniples which is great for Command Dice rolls, however the dark flip-side is if one Princeps Seniores Titan is destroyed, the other counts as suffered an unrepairable 'Princeps Wounded' damage effect for the rest of the game.

For the Fallen: The close bond that cloned Princeps' feel is bought out in this trait, learning from the mistakes of its brothers, so for each Titan in the battlegroup that is destroyed, the Vulcanum player gains a single dice re-roll that may be used once each round.


Stratagem:

Symbiotic Commands: This Stratagem is a strong one, it is played in the strategy phase after successfully issuing an Order. The player may immediately issue the same Order to any or all the Vulcanum Titans without needing to roll further Command Checks!

Legio Specific Wargear:
Twinned Machine Spirits: Just as the Princeps are cloned, so to are the Titans replicated. Any two Titans, including multiple pairs, can take Twinned Machine Spirits for a small points cost. These two Titans then count as being part of a Squadron, however the drawback is that should a twinned Titan roll the Reactor Dice 'Machine Spirit' symbol, both Titans make a Command Check to see if their Machine Spirit's awaken.

Janus Pattern Missiles: Stygies VIII has amassed great stocks of Janus Pattern Missiles, any Titans armed with Apocalypse Missile Launchers (including paired) may take Janus Missiles for a small points cost. These missiles may split the dice between more than one target. These are split between the Titan's main target (or Targets if Split Fire Order is activated) with one dice having to target that, the rest can target any within a certain distance of the main target provided they are in line of sight of the weapon - this is great, you are now effectively not limited to the restrictive fire arc for Apocalypse Launchers and can effectively split fire the missiles to better take down Void Shields of nearby Titans.

Legio Specific Princeps Seniores Personal Traits:

These are randomly determined from a Vulcanum Trait table or use the main rulebook traits.

True Born: this Seniores is a rare true-born son or daughter of Stygies and can add small bonus to their Command Check results, but the roll of a 1 is still a failure preventing further rolls, regardless of re-rolls or special rules.

Divided of Mind: The Seniores is a host to a shard personality, their mind constructed from MIU ghosts and mind-tapes giving great knowledge. If the Seniores fails a Command Check, you roll the Orders dice and apply the new result whether you want it or not, (apart from one particular one which you can ignore or apply).

War's Orphan: The Seniores is the last of it's Clone Line making them reckless - the Seniores Titan may push it's reactor whilst the Reactor marker is on the last hole on it's track, gaining the benefits but the Reactor level does not advance, however each time it should have advanced, the Titan suffers a high strength hit to the body, bypassing Voids.

A characterful set of traits and stratagems reflecting the clone-duality nature and the recklessness of the rival Legio factions of Legio Vulcanum. The stand out for me is the Legio specific wargear, both strong additions to any Vulcanum Princeps Battlegroup. The background favours titans armed with close-combat weapons (hoping for re-release of the 28mm Titan Chainfist) and adornments of suitable felled enemies, so the spare plates and heads from the sprues can be put to good use.

Thanks for reading along, may your Titans stride well and aim true, TOC Princeps Siph.