About My Blog

Ave Omnissiah!

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My blog is primarily my own personal fluff in the Warhammer 40,000 universe regarding the Draconis system such as the Knight House Yato in Ryusei, their Household Militia, the Draconian Defenders, and the Forge World of Draconis IV with its Adeptus Mechanicus priesthood, Cybernetica cohorts and Skitarii legions, and the Titan Legion, Legio Draconis, known as the Dark Dragons.

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Retrospective: Imperial Knights

Today, we're going to a Retrospective on...Imperial Knights! I mean, this is primarily an Imperial Knight blog, so obviously if I'm ...

Thursday, April 28, 2016

Death from the Skies

I think the latest White Dwarf mentions something about Death from the Skies.

As I own a couple of Vendetta gunships (going to be 3 if I ever get round to building my 3rd one, which is still stuck in sprues and stuff), I guess I'll be keeping an eye on this. The problem?

Well, let me summarize Death from the Skies for you first. Basically, you have this new flight phase called Dogfight where you declare a challenge, and if your opponent declines, you both roll off to see if the Dogfight takes place at all. It can only take place if you both have flyers in reserve, so if they're already on the table and out of reserve, no Dogfight for you!

Um, there seems to be four sub-phases, with the interception phase determining who is the attack and who is the defender. And also a manuver phase or something. Anyway, beware. Anything destroyed in Dogfight phase is destroyed for good, so no arriving on reserves after it has been shot down by an enemy fighter!

For an Imperial Guard player like me, uh...well, looks like there's nothing for me to do because my Vendetta gunships aren't aerial superiority fighters. Yeah, triple twin-linked lascannons are awesome, but they aren't made for dogfights. If I want one, I'll get a Lightning Fighter from Forge World, but I probably won't. As for my Imperial Knights and Adeptus Mechanicus army...well, yeah. Nope. No flyers at all.

So this Dogfight phase and Death from the Skies expansion isn't going to take flight for me.

Sunday, April 24, 2016

Deathwatch: Underkill

Deathwatch: Underkill has been written and I've uploaded it into Fanfiction dot net! Click on the link to read, and any feedback and comments will be appreciated.

Thanks! HA HA HA! For the Emperor!

Friday, April 22, 2016

Imperial Knights: Renegade

Yup, I've finally gotten the White Dwarf issue for Imperial Knights: Renegade. Basically, what happens when Imperial Knights go bad? Apparently the once-noble Freeblade, the Living Litany, has fallen to Chaos and now roams as the Litany of Destruction, devastating Imperial lines across the sector. To stop him, Baron Balthazar of House Terryn makes planetfall on Tellerax Prime to slay his fallen brother-in-arms.


Yay. Yeah, that's about it. Seriously. It's modelled after the...uh, not-exactly-interesting Godbreaker Clash that pitted an Imperial Knight against a Stormsurge Siege suit last year, but this time we have two Imperial Knights fighting against each other. The renegade Imperial Knight, the Chaos Daemon Knight known as the Litany of Destruction, is a Knight Gallant with an Ironstorm rocket pod. On the other hand, Baron Balthazar pilots a Knight Paladin, Ever-Stalwart, with a twin Icarus autocannon and a pair of heavy stubbers. Cool!

The story goes where the Litany of Destruction attempts to break through Imperial lines on Tellerax Prime, so Baron Balthazar and his Ever-Stalwart must stop him at all costs. And they do, dealing massive, massive damage to the Renegade Knight and forcing him to limp off the battlefield to lick his smoldering ruins. Hah! Take that, you traitor!

There's a datasheet for the Daemon Knight, known as Renegade Knight. Apparently, it's a Forsworn Knight Detachment that allows you to ally Renegade Knights to armies of Chaos Space Marines and Chaos Daemons as Battle Brothers. YAY! I'm not sure because White Dwarf doesn't have the details, but it seems that Renegade Knights have Preferred Enemy (Imperial Knights). Fortunately, we Imperial Knights also have Preferred Enemy (Renegade Knights) so it evens out in the end. Hooray! Long live the Emperor!

There's also an update for the game Freeblade, but I don't own an ipad or smartphone or tablet, so I can't play the game. I will, eventually...anyway, someone had the idea to drag the Freeblade Vortigan into the melee and pit him against the Litany of Destruction. And he lost horribly. Ouch. The poor Freeblade Vortigan was wrecked by the Litany of Destruction in close combat, having his Reaper chainsword ripped off by the Thunderstrike Gauntlet, and then pounded into a smoking wreck. NO! How could we let the traitors win!?

Fortunately, the Litany of Destruction's victory was short-lived, for Baron Balthazar stumbled upon the wounded Renegade Knight and tore him apart with his Reaper Chainsword. Justice is done! All hail the Imperium!

Yes, yes, my Imperial biasness is coming out strong here. Sorry. A big apology to Chaos fans out there. But hey, you crushed the Freeblade Vortigan, and your big boss Abbadon is running amok over Cadia. Give us Imperial dudes something to cheer about once in a while, okay?

Anyway, I'll recommend those to buy the brand-new boxed game Imperial Knights: Renegade. It's value for money. I can't, because I'm broke after paying visa fees and all that, but also because I already have 4 Imperial Knights. I don't need more. So yeah. Please understand and spare me. But if you haven't gotten an Imperial Knight yet, and are thinking of adding one or two to your collection, then I'll advise you to get this because it's a great set! Not only does it have two Imperial Knights with all the options - you can probably build a Renegade Knight with two Avenger Gatling cannons! - you also get terrain pieces in the form of Sanctum Imperialis! Great deal, huh?

You also get a rulebook, reference cards, transfer sheet and dice. I only want the rulebook for the lore and the datasheet. Well, the datasheet I don't need because I'm loyal to the Imperium. But I love the lore and fluff, and would want a copy of the book. Argh. But I don't need another two Imperial Knights, do I......

Anyway, for the Emperor! And if you're interested in pre-ordering it, visit the Games Workshop Imperial Knights: Renegade page for more details!

Stormtroopers Overkill

Sorry for the long absence (it's been 2 weeks!), I had been busy. I needed to make minor amendments to my thesis and still am in the process of applying for my visa.

This might be trouble because it means I have to sell away my collection before I leave overseas, and as a graduate student, I might not have enough money to buy a new army in Minnesota. Oh well.

Anyway, who cares about my personal problems? Let's get back down to the awesome universe of Warhammer 40K. Today, I've finally procured the White Dwarf magazines that I need to in order to write articles for my blog. This one will be about the Militarum Tempestus...argh, I'll just call them Stormtroopers, in Deathwatch: Overkill. I also bought the issue on Imperial Knights: Renegade, but I'll elaborate more on that in another article.

As you probably already know, White Dwarf has an exclusive new mission for Deathwatch: Overkill, where you use Stormtroopers in place of a Deathwatch Space Marines Kill Team. And boy is that more fun! It covers the missions of Inquisitor Chaegryn, who led his inquisitorial stormtroopers into Ghosar Quintus. Being grimdark, we all know how that's going to turn out...well, they got wiped out. Ouch. That's why Team Excis went in and also got eradicated, before Team Cassius finally came in. Oh well. Anyway, the rules for the missions are the same, except that you have 10 Stormtroopers instead of 5 Space Marines (or 8 instead of 4 if you're using the missions from the Overkill box). Nothing much to say here, except that it should be fun. For me, who prefers Stormtroopers to Space Marines, anyway.

I can think of a new story now...Deathwatch: Underkill.

The Kamikaze Troopers, the highly respected Stormtroopers of the Draconis Armored Defense Force Imperial Guard Regiment, are the first to respond to a distress signal from the world of Phantos Sextus. Upon arriving with an inquisitor from the Ordo Xenos, they discover the butchered remains of the Deathwatch Kill Team...uh, Killian.

When the superhuman Space Marines of the revered Deathwatch chapter succumbs to the insidious claws of a Genestealer Cult, it is up to the brave men of the Imperial Guard to step up and cleanse the galaxy of Xenos scum!

If I ever get around to writing it, I'll post it on Fanfiction.net. Otherwise...oh well. You know. Life happens.

Oh yeah, as a tidbit for buying the White Dwarf issue, I found this Codex: Apocrypha Extra at the back of the magazine. Kamikaze Troopers BANZAI! Note that these are stories about the infamous actions of the Militarum Tempestus, found on a small column on page 31.

Stubborn unto Death

The 196th Iotan Gryphonnes were deployed in their entirety to kill every single Earth caste scientist, researcher and student on the Tau world of Bork'an. Whilst the action began promisingly, the Tau counterattack was overwhelming as the Earth caste deployed experimental battlesuits and prototype weapon systems that annihilated the Scions with ease (ouch). The Earth caste having fled, the Iotan Gryphonnes found their repeated requests for extraction denied and were hunted down by the vengeful Fire Warriors and XV25 Stealth Teams.

My own addition: However, the 196th Iotan Gryphonnes were able to exterminate every Fire Warrior and XV25 Stealth Teams by relying on brutal cunning and carefully planned ambushes. Salvaging the superior technology and weapons from their dead enemy, the Scions continued to wage a guerilla war against the Tau military units stationed on that world, causing massive collateral damage and disrupting key research institutions. Okay, so maybe that didn't happen...but it should have, damn it...

The Lost Patrol

Having repelled an Eldar raid on a far-flung colony world, the 47th Thetoid Dragons began to investigate the mysterious xenos ruins uncovered in the attack. They discovered a network of shimmering unreal tunnels that defied geometry. Inside, they were harried for days by Eldar Harlequins for reasons that made sense only to the capricious aliens, leading the 47th to a rune-covered portal. The Thetoid Dragons passed through, finding themselves trapped on a Daemon world, surviving against the legions of Khorne for a full two days before being slaughtered to a man.

First Blood

A full six regiments of Tempestus Scions were tasked with breaching the infamous Eye of Terror to determine just where the first strike of Abaddon's Thirteenth Black Crusade would take place. But just as soon as they left the light of the Astronomican they vanished, never to be seen again...

My own addition: ...until now. As Abbadon the Despoiler strikes at the heart of Cadia, the full six regiments of Tempestus Scions emerge from the Warp, having been misdirected and swept away by the fickle currents of the nefarious realm to appear in a much later time. They land near Kasr Gallan, reinforcing a faltering defense that was being assaulted by Chaos forces. Their appearance turned the tide against the forces of Chaos, buying Lord Castellan Ursarkar E. Creed the time he needed to counterattack and retake a significant portion of Cadia from the hands of the Great Enemy. Okay, so maybe this didn't happen...but it should have, damn it...

Monday, April 4, 2016

Necropolis

I've just finished reading Necropolis and I must say, it was one hell of a fething ride.

Now I know why it's titled Necropolis. Vervunhive, the city they fought to save, became a necropolis in the end. Of course the Imperial Guard won, but at a huge cost. "This is what victory looks like." It was so compelling, sobering and...just dark. Ouch. I was torn apart when *massive spoiler here, skip this sentence if you don't want to be spoiled* Dorden's son died. I wished he didn't, but...feth, it was horrible.

Yeah, I talk like a Ghost now.

Anyway, I can clearly see the difference between Gaunt's Ghosts and Ciaphas Cain. Ciaphas Cain is about the amusing antics of an individual, and while it remains my favorite, it doesn't quite talk about the collective that Gaunt's Ghosts do. I like Caffran, I sympathize for Milo, I learn from Mkoll, I fight with Varl, I cheer for Daur, I admire Dorden, I have fun with Bragg, I laugh at Larkin, and I follow Corbec. I also obey Gaunt because he's such a great leader! Unlike Ciaphas, who though has Jurgen and friends to play around with, Gaunt is more about the motley crew. A group, a band of brothers, if you will, rather than a solitary hero.

Both series have their respective strengths. Yeah, I prefer Ciaphas Cain's light-hearted heroics, but Gaunt's Ghosts is sobering, somber and just outright reaches to the heart. In any case, I'm hooked and I'm looking forward to reading more omnibuses of Gaunt's Ghosts and their adventures!