Fourth playtest with the Traitor Titan Legion (TTL), yet again against the E-UK version of the Space Marine White Scars chapter.

For info on the TTL, head over to viewtopic.php?f=82&t=32062

Have switched powers for this game. Instead of pure Slaanesh I've now started to test their arch-enemies: Khorne. Have taken a balanced list to begin with, with a structure fairly close to what I've played before with Slaanesh. This allows for a wide selection of units (most new to me) and to make comparisons with the battles I've played before.

Banelord with Greater Daemon Possession
Cannons of Chaos, Plasma Furnace, Havoc Barrage Missiles x 2
Mace Tail, Battle Head

Ravager
Infernal Projector, Doom Fist, Heretek Shrine
Gun Tail, Battle Head

2 Greater Brass Scorpions
Daemonic Assault Engines
Daemonic Assault Engines
Mauler Chaos Knights
Hellblades
5 Lesser Daemons


White Scar Terminators in Land Raiders + Supreme
Assault Marines + Chaplain
Assault Marines
Tactical Marines + Hunter
White Scar Bikes
Predator Annihilators
Thunderhawk
Thunderbolts
Maruder Bombers
Warhound Titan

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AC for Traitor Titan Legion and Hive Fleet Dagon

Setup: Lots of big, blocking terrain pieces on this one (we should probably try and make some more non-blocking terrain for variety). The extensive water feature was to my advantage however, since War Engines treat it as open ground. Managed to get almost all objectives on one side of the battlefield which felt pretty good considering my activation inferiority.

The plan was to use the Banelord to guard the Blitz, but since my opponent put up his Tacticals within range of the slow-firing Cannons of Chaos + Havoc Barrage Missiles I decided to try and gamble that I could get the first turn. Otherwise I put almost everything on the left as that seemed to be where the action would be. Had only the Maulers on the far right in the forest.

A quirk with playing pure Khorne is that you get no garrisons. This is a bit annoying for a list that wants to close with the enemy, but feels pretty thematic. And the list has other strenghts.

My opponent decided to put his bikes in the Thunderhawk (how do they fit inside of that?).

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AC for Traitor Titan Legion and Hive Fleet Dagon

First turn, White Scars wins initiative.

The Tacticals (1) realize that they face destruction if they stay put, and instead doubles over to the left. The Ravager (2) doubles forward and give them a blast marker. Next comes the Thunderbolts (3) and attacks the Maulers in the forest. One takes a hit, and they marshal (4) in response, advancing forwards.

The Maruder Bombers (5) spot a 5cm gap in the Ravager's air umbrella, and squeaks through to bomb the Daemon Assault Engines on the far left. The Banelord (6) doubles over and shoots the Cannons of Chaos and two Havoc Barrage Missiles at the Tacticals.

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AC for Traitor Titan Legion and Hive Fleet Dagon

The Thunderhawk with the White Scar Bikes flies in (1) and makes an air Assault on the suppressed Daemon Assault Engines. While neither side manages to score any casualties the Engines lose the assault and relocates forwards towards the objective. The other unit of Daemon Assault Engines (2) doubles over and shoots at the bikes, giving them a blast marker.

Some Assault Marines (3) hop over to the middle ruins, and the Hellblades (4) attack the Predators, killing 1.

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AC for Traitor Titan Legion and Hive Fleet Dagon

The Predators (1) doubles forwards, catching the Daemon Engines in a crossfire. They don't manage to kill anything. Next the Greater Brass Scorpions (no number, should be 2) triples forwards, threatening the Tacticals.

The Terminators (2) doubles up, yet again putting the Daemon Engines in crossfire. They kill one. The Warhound (3) advances, and kills another. The remaining Assault Marines in the forest (4) triples over towards the buildings.

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AC for Traitor Titan Legion and Hive Fleet Dagon

Second turn. White Scars win initiative. TTL rolls a 1, and due to the "Fickle Masters" special rule they lose 2 Lesser Daemons from the pool. The single remaining Daemon Engine has failed to rally, and is now on the far side of the hill, near the enemy Blitz.

The Tacticals (1) tries to get away from the Greater Brass Scorpions, and makes an advance. They then give the Ravager a blast marker.

The Hellblades (2) attack the bikes, and the nearby Daemon Assault Engines then retains and engages the Bikes. They roll for extra attacks, and gets a respectable total of 13 close combat attacks. I did forget to summon daemons however, and pay for this with getting two Engines killed in the fight. It is won, and both participants retreat towards the Blitz.

The Maruder Bombers (4, should be 3) tries to enter the battlefield, but fails even with a re-roll. The Ravager (3, should be 4) advances towards the Predators, wiping them out. The Greater Brass Scorpions (5) retain initiative, and engages the Tacticals in the Forest

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AC for Traitor Titan Legion and Hive Fleet Dagon

The assault between the Tacticals and the Greater Brass Scorpions (1) is easily won by the latter, but each is damaged. Some Assault Marines (2) triples over. The Banelord (3) advances and fires its Plasma Furnace on the broken bikes, killing both.

The Terminators and the Land Raiders (4) doubles back, and kills one of the Greater Brass Scorpions, the other being too far into the forest to be seen. The Maulers (5) doubles over the water, giving the Assault Marines a blast marker. The Thunderbolts (6) then attack them, damaging one.

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AC for Traitor Titan Legion and Hive Fleet Dagon

The Warhound (1) doubles over and gives the Maulers some blast markers. The Thunderhawk lands and picks up the Assault Marines (2). In the rally phase, only the single surviving Daemon Assault Engines manages to rally. The surviving Greater Brass Scorpion tries to navigate the forest, but rolls a double one and a critical, and is destroyed. My bad luck in this regard continues...

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AC for Traitor Titan Legion and Hive Fleet Dagon

Turn three. White Scars win the initiative.

The Maruder Bombers (1) decide to make their initiative roll, and swoops in to break the foolish Maulers (which declined to rally in the previous turn). The single Daemon Engine (2) summons two units of Fleshhounds and attacks the tacticals on the Blitz. The Banelord (3) retains initiative and sustains fire on the Terminators and Land Raiders that with great confidence had decided to put themselves within line of fire. This confidence is warranted, as only a single Land Raider falls victim.

The Terminators (4) attack the Daemon Engine on the Blitz, killing his two daemons and breaking the formation. The Ravager (5) doubles over to contest two objectives and finishes off the remaining tacticals.

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AC for Traitor Titan Legion and Hive Fleet Dagon

The Thunderhawk (1) swoops down and drops off its Marines next to the Mulers. Next the Warhound (2) advances over and catches them in a crossfire, killing two. Some Thunderbolts (3) fly in and shoot at the surviving Mauler, but fail to kill it. The Hellblades (4) fly in and shoot at the Assault Marines, giving them a blast marker.

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AC for Traitor Titan Legion and Hive Fleet Dagon

Turn Four, White Scars win initative.

Only the Daemon Assault Engines close to the friendly Blitz managed to rally in the previous turn, and the Thunderbolts (1) fly in and break them. The Banelord (2) fires its single remaining Havoc Barrage Missile at the Terminators, but fail to kill anything. The Ravager (3) retains initiative, and goes into Overwatch. Since the Ravager is the key to White Scars winning, the Maruder Bombers (4) start to give it blast markers. The Hellblades (5) fly in and attack the Assault Marines. Some Assault Marines (6) hop over and put the Ravager in crossfire. The other formation of Assault Marines (7) capture the objective. The Thunderhawk (8) fires its battlecannon on the Ravager. Lastly the Terminators brave the Ravager's overwatch in the hope of scoring some damage, but fail to do so.

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AC for Traitor Titan Legion and Hive Fleet Dagon

Final Result: The battle ends in a draw, with neither side having achieved any objectives.

A frustrating game as I consistently failed to win any initiatives. For an army with few and quite fragile activations that really hurts. On the other hand my Daemon Assault Engine formations proved unkillable, and managed to take on some pretty tough formations and prevailing. The Greater Brass Scorpions felt like a very weak choice, and have been altered somewhat in response. Playing a defensive Banelord kept the Blitz safe, but it is perhaps a waste of points to have something that powerful camping. The Ravager configuration was quite powerful but very very short ranged. The Mauler Chaos Knights didn't really manage to do anything, but have quite a lot of potential *if* I were to ever win an initiative roll.

Overall the list performed mostly as expected. Khorne is usually the weakest chaos power due to its being very reliant on close combat. I could have used Lesser Daemons better, protecting my formations from breaking, and it would probably have been useful to have more of them. Will be interesting to try some Lord of Battles next time, perhaps they can give the list some stability. Maintaining the activation count through turn 3 and 4 is really the single most important aspect of playing a list like this if it is ever to win.

If you've made it this far, thanks for reading! And do check out the development of this list at viewtopic.php?f=82&t=32062.

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AC for Traitor Titan Legion and Hive Fleet Dagon

neat greater brass scorps

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AFK with real life, still checking PMs

Thanks! Built them out the the Necron Wraith kit + some greenstuff and Chaos bitz.

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AC for Traitor Titan Legion and Hive Fleet Dagon