Today we being our review of the newest supplement for Adeptus Titanicus, Defence of Ryza. As usual, we’ll start with a review of the lore supplied in this new book, covering this brutal campaign born of nothing less than jealousy and made more important due to Horus’s ambitions.
THE BOOK
The fourth supplement in Adeptus Titanicus, Defence of Ryza is a hardback book that covers the battle for the Forge World of Ryza. Like always, there is a gorgeous cover, but this time we are treated to a special Mechanicum-type Knight on it. Portents of things to come?
Clocking in at 108 pages, the largest of the AT supplements, the new expansion provides us with new lore, missions, Titan Legions, and more. It’s easy to say that Defence of Ryza follows in the footsteps of the other supplements. So, what’s new?
- New lore of the battle of Forge World Ryza itself and a bit of its history
- Six new narrative missions
- New Legion rules for four Titan Legions, two each of Loyalists and Traitors
- Reprints of rules for Legios Crucius and Mortis
- Lore and rules for six Knight Households
- Four new maniples
- Rules for games fought on Ryza and Ryza Secundus
- Additional items brought in through the appendix.
THE LORE
We got a map. Sadly, this map isn’t nearly as special as some of the previous ones and it’s largely useless, showing that Ryza has two huge continents and a bunch of bridges connecting them. However, we did get 18 pages of lore when you factor in the planetary/continent description pages.
Most of the new lore is simple, yet impactful. Fans of Warhammer 40,000 will have long known that relations between Mars and Ryza are somewhat strained. This was actually true even 10,000 years prior, during the days of the Mechanicum. Mars is the epicenter of their domain and none should stand as tall or as proudly as they, which makes Ryza’s power and standing absolutely unbearable.
Ryza is powerful, well-defended, and loved by many other Imperial forces in the galaxy. It became the Furnace of Shackled Stars through its mastery of plasma technology and its ability to forge alliances by helping those it can return to the fight. Horus sees this as a huge threat to be destroyed after Beta-Garmon is cracked, something that the traitorous forces of Mars are all too willing to sack and even claim for themselves.
The simplicity of the story is that once the “why” is revealed, it’s just a matter of telling the facts of a string of battles. That, admittedly, feels like a bit of a shame. There is nothing special about the story beyond the jealousy Mars had of Ryza and Kelbor Hal’s wish to be able to claim it for the Red Planet. The Legios Vulturum, Magna, and Mortis use trickery to gain a foothold on the planet and then overwhelming force to nearly capture it. We won’t go too far into the story so as to avoid spoilers, but even the way the Loyalists ultimately, and barely, secure victory isn’t all that special. We do, however, have to say that the conditions behind that victory are suitably heroic and bring shame the Titan Legions, which we don’t often see. We also find out later that Mars was right to be jealous and that the distrust some have of Ryza’s secrecy in the 40k era is actually warranted. While the lore itself doesn’t feel particularly special, it’s fairly well written overall with only a few parts feeling rushed. However, this sets the stage for what feels like forces and missions that will be full of outright carnage and heavy-hitting forces that may feel like a throwback to Titandeath but in a good way. This creates a very exciting start to this book.
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