Adeptus Titanicus - Defence of Ryza - Expanding the Household, Appendices, and Final Thoughts

We finally wrap up our coverage of the main contents of Defence of Ryza. Expanded Knights rules, appendices containing new battleground rules and more, and our final thoughts.

EXPANDING THE HOUSEHOLD

Knights got a lot more attention in this book than we expected they would. With exception of Doom of Molech, these books are usually quite Titan-centric and while you get a few new things for Knights you don’t get much. This has not been the case thus far and it continues with Expanding the Household.

There’s a little bit of extra lore to be had and new explanations on Battle Standards are offered. There are a few Battle Standards updated in this book and plenty of new ones added. This comes in the form of standards for the Baronial Court AND for Lances. This is definitely a good expansion for Knights. However, the biggest changes come from being able to field a Household’s High King. The addition of Seneschals for Lances was huge and this new addition is a Seneschal on steroids, including powerful new buffs and rules that will make certain parts of Knight Lances all but unbreakable.

APPENDICES

We are graced with two new appendices. The first is the ever-normal battlefield special rules. The book features the battlefields of Ryza, Plasmatic Infrastructure, and Ryza Secundus. The battles on the “that’s no moon” that is Ryza Secundus are very fluffy and reflect the dangers of fighting in space with so many dangerous things able to topple on you at the same time. Of all of the supplements thus far, it feels like Defence of Ryza offers the best narrative battlefields of them all.

New stratagems are always welcome and this book delivers. There isn’t much to say since stratagems on their own are always powerful and we can never complain about an increased tactical toolbox. We will say, however, that Override Signal is just downright mean. It can either show just how cold-blooded you are about your own Titans, or hand your foe a bomb in their own back yard.

FINAL THOUGHTS

The short and skinny of Defence of Ryza is that it’s a good supplement. However, this is not due to any extremely grandiose tale (in fact the overall lore was rather basic, though informative), exceptional set of new stratagems, or earth-shattering new features (only because we previously had Creating a Titan Legion before). This book is a good supplement because it actually makes up the whole package. It has solid lore, some of the best new maniples to come out in a while, and a very good balance of everything in the game without making it feel like a parody. This is a book that every Titanicus player should get, if nothing else, because of how well it adds to every aspect of the game in a balanced way.

Adeptus Titanicus - Defence of Ryza - Allegiance Abilities and Creating a Titan Legion

Where Shadow and Iron brought the new psi-Titans and some new weapons, Defence of Ryza brings new allegiance abilities to the game and the newer version of Creating a Titan Legion, a revamp of the White Dwarf rules.  For most, the allegiance abilities will be the most important, so we’ll touch on those first.

BATTLEGROUP ALLEGIANCES

Hundreds, if not thousands, of Titans fought in the Horus Heresy on both sides of the war, while some forged their own paths.  No Titan Legion was spared betrayal, be it those who stayed loyal to the Emperor while the Legio turned, or Princeps who fell to the honeyed whispers of the Warmaster while their Legio followed the Emperor.  The new allegiance abilities give players the ability to show their true colors beyond just those of a Titan Legion and reflect the nature of the forces they fought for and alongside.  The same can be said of the Knight Households, which also gain their own allegiance abilities, further broken down by Loyalties to additional sub-factions.

Upon building your battlegroup for the game you have the ability to use allegiance abilities if you and your opponent agree.  At this stage, you will declare who your battlegroup fights for, be it Loyalists, Traitors, or Blackshields.  Note that your Legio itself does not influence this since not all Titans in a particular Legio stayed loyal or went renegade.  Of course, each allegiance does have restrictions which will need to be adhered to (eg. Traitor Battlegroups cannot take psi-Titans, but likewise Loyalists cannot take Corrupted Titans).

It should also be noted that Blackshield Titans are a new addition and that Blackshield Titans of Legend will be coming in future supplements.  The same can also be said of Renegade Knight Banners.

Briefly, the Titan allegiance abilities are:

• Loyalist-Adaptive Tactics allows the player to swap the orders on one Titan after the Damage Control phase without the need for a command check; however, this comes with a limitation AND can only be used once per game.
• Traitor – Unbridled Hatred allows a single Traitor Titan to add to both their normal and boosted movement speeds, and add 1 to the Dice value for all of their melee weapons.  However, this ability can only be used on a single Titan and only once per game.
• Blackshields – Decentralized Command allows Titans to continue issuing orders after a failed command check.  Like the other allegiance abilities, it may only be used once per game.

Knight Households also receive their own allegiance abilities and specific Knightly Qualities, but these are likely to be discussed in another article.  It should be noted that the following allegiances exist:

• Questoris Imperialis (Imperium Loyal Knights)
• Questoris Mechanics (Mars Loyal Knights)
• Questoris Traitoris (Traitor Knights)
• Questoris Oblitus (Blackshield Knights, though oddly considered a type of traitor only in the lore)

CREATING A TITAN LEGION

The beauty of our hobby is the ability to create your own lore and forces.  We build our battlegroups and refight duels of a far future driven by war.  However, we also like to put our own spin on things and the Horus Heresy saw so many Titan Legions snuffed out that history has forgotten their names.  This allows us the opportunity to create our own Titan Legions and Defence of Ryza brings that opportunity back, though somewhat differently from the White Dwarf rules we previously had.

The core of it is simple.  There are four rules you can pick for your Legio, spread among three categories: Legio Traits, Stratagems, and Wargear.  You can only pick two from each category at max but you certainly have a lot of flexibility.  However, it should be noted that there are definitely differences in your options from the White Dwarf article, though the Defence of Ryza selections supercedes the White Dwarf article and have replaced it.  However, this will cause many a player to rejoice in their newfound options, especially if they didn’t have the previous White Dwarf rules.

Adeptus Titanicus - Defence of Ryza - The Missions

 Like other supplements before it, Defence of Ryza comes with several Narrative Play missions.  Six missions allow you to tell the story of the Traitors attempting to take the venerable Forge World.

The Narrative Play missions for Defence of Ryza certainly fit the story that you read in the lore section.  However, the book blends elements of other supplements before it and having Doom of Molech is a must to play all of the missions in this new book.  It is amazing to see the different supplements come into play and to know that the game is genuinely building on itself as it goes along.  This is something that definitely bodes well for the future of Adeptus Titanicus and it may leave the game open to more possibilities as time goes on.

The missions are certainly interesting and next to Titandeath tell the best story among the supplements.  Three really stand out:

• A battle on an isthmus where you certainly don’t wish to fall of the board.
• A mission based upon Knights shaming Titans into action.
• The final, vengeful battle of the invasion of Ryza. 

The missions in this book have been wonderfully created and will certainly tell of the planet’s defense quite well.

Adeptus Titanicus - Defence of Ryza - Titans, Maniples, and Knights

Welcome back to our coverage of the Adeptus Titanicus supplement Defence of Ryza.  This book treats us to the usual expansion of Titan Legion rules and also give us some new Knight House rules, included House Morbidia who is doggedly loyal only to Kelbor Hal and House Sidus, the secret children of Ryza that proved Mars had every reason to be jealous of the Forge World after all.

THE TITAN LEGIONS

The supplement provides rules for:

·         The Death Bolts, the Legio Honorum

·         The Cockatrices, the Legio Osedax

·         The Warmongers, the Legio Crucius

·         The Flaming Skulls, the Legio Magna

·         The Gore Crows, the Legio Vulturum

·         The Death’s Heads, the Legio Mortis

As usual, each is given a quick blurb about what makes them special along with a full page of rules, stratagems, and traits.  The rules for the Legios Crucius and Mortis are the same as their previous publications but are included in Defence of Ryza since both forces had roles to play in the conflict, especially Crucius since it is their home Forge World.  We’ve included brief descriptions of each Legio to give you a taste of what is coming, but full breakdowns of each Legio are in their own article.

HONORUM

·         The crusaders of the Titan Legions, they are inexhaustible and staunchly loyal

·         This Legio excels at punishing salvos, heavy hitters, and good command checks.

 

OSEDAX

·         Ryza wasn’t the only Forge World that Mars had beef with and Osedax paid the price for it.

·         A Legio reforged in the fires of war, Osedax focuses on unshakeable Command Checks and a vengeful style.

 

CRUCIUS

·         The masters of plasma and sons of Ryza itself.

·         Durability is a by-word for Crucius and their ability to keep plasma going all day and remaining cool is their hallmark.

 

MAGNA

·         We sense a fire theme among the Traitor Legios though these guys are a minor Legio that just happened to campaign alongside Horus and Lorgar a lot.

·         These are the spearhead specialist of the Traitors.

 

VULTURUM

·         The Legio Pallidus Mor would love to have a word with these guys who jack their paint scheme, though where Vulturum stands apart is its shrouded history and use of esoteric and experimental weaponry.

·         Specialized wargear define this Legio while it hunts the weak.

 

MORTIS

·         The Legio Mortis reflects crews that are methodical killers.

·         They have traits that reward engine kills and allow for pain to be temporarily bypassed

 

THE MANIPLES

The book gives us four new maniples, including:

• Perpetua Maniples consisting of 1 Warlord and 2-4 Reavers, built to withstand punishing fire and repair protocols that reflect it.
• Extergimus Maniples of 3-4 Warlords and up to 1 Warbringer, this maniple is all about the scorched earth policy and beefed up weapons at the cost of hotter running reactors.
• Firmus Maniples of 1-3 Reavers and 2 Warhounds, allowing the use of distraction tactics provided by the Warhound.
• Dominus Maniples of 1 Warlord, 2 Reavers, 1 Questoris or Cerastus Banner, and up to 2 Warhounds and 1 more Banner; this maniple throws off targeting and provides “meat shields” for the Titans in the form of Knights that intercept shots from quite some distance.

 This time around the new maniples are actually very strong and are probably among the best in the game.  Perpetua Maniples will be great for the average gun line player while Extergimus Maniples are for the things you just want dead.  The Dominus Maniple is a reprint of the White Dwarf rules and still provides some amazing opportunities, acting as a modified “expanded” Axiom Maniple with different rules and completely different benefits.

KNIGHT HOUSES

Knights take on a larger role in the Defence of Ryza story and it’s great to see them nab the spotlight outside of a book like Doom of Molech.  One moment in particular stands out in the lore and it’s the stuff of legend.  This book gives us new household roles, along with the usual 1/3 sheet of lore and Seneschal Traits.  We’re treated to:

• House Sidus – The secret of Ryza that gave proof to Mars’ suspicions after the Heresy.
• House Taranis – A powerful brotherhood and first among equals in the Knightly Houses.
• House Zavora – Deeply engrained with the Mechanicum
• House Morbidia – Fanatically loyal to Kelbor Hal and jealous of the favor given to Houses Taranis and Zavora.
• House Ioden – Perfidious betrayers who followed the style of House Devine’s betrayal.
• House Oroborn – A House that fell to some unknown malaise and and eventual corruption of the soul itself.

Adeptus Titanicus - Defence of Ryza - Intro and Lore

Welcome, Princeps!

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.

Adeptus Titanicus - Defence of Ryza Inbound

We all knew the book was coming, but we doubt anyone expected it to go on pre-order the day that 9th Edition Warhammer 40,000 comes out.  Let's take a quick look at what's coming up in Defence of Ryza and where you can find out more.

First up, full details that we can glean right now are available at Warhammer Community's two posts:

https://www.warhammer-community.com/2020/07/19/sunday-preview-fighting-for-the-forge-world/

https://www.warhammer-community.com/2020/07/20/the-titan-legions-of-ryza/

Defence of Ryza is a pretty straight forward description.  Will you shatter the great Forge World or will you defend it?

Ryza was an important target for Horus and the Dark Mechanicum.  It's a powerful planet and home to a major Titan Legion and Skitarii contingent.  The new book gives us not only four new Titan Legions, but six Knight Houses and revised rules for creating your own Titan Legion beyond the White Dwarf rules published in 2019.

Wait.....Blackshield?  Yes, you're reading that right.  Blackshield Titan Legions are going to be a thing meaning we'll have some new lore to uncover.  And that's on top of the new Knight kits that we'll receive, allowing the deadly Knights Acheron and Castigator to be built.  Most impressive.  The final part of the release is a new deck of stratagem cards that come from the new book.

We've also seen preview for four of the Titan Legions in the new book, including:

• Legio Honorum, the Death Bolts - A young, crusading Legio that took the fight to Horus's allies with some serious fervor.
• Legio Osedax, the Cockatrices - Decimated by the Dark Mechanicum this Legio is vengeful and has no problem with retaliation.
• Legio Magna, the Flaming Skulls - Reckless, these large allies of the Word Bearers and Sons of Horus loved using spearhead attacks much in the way that Horus Lupercal did.
• Legio Vulturum, the Gore Crows - A Legio whose existence is pretty much shrouded, these merciless killers used plenty of experimental technology.

This should certainly make Defence of Ryza and interesting book.