Warhounds 2 Warmasters

A Journey Through the Embers of War; An Emberlord Primus’ Tale

Welcome all Ladles and Spoons and other assorted Cutlery! This is the first of 3 articles penned by the recently enobled Emberlords, the winners by aggregate of the Embers of War Saga. Kicking things off is the often mentioned Alex, my regular local opponent and he that has ascended the throne and assumed primacy over the Ember Commoners and less Lords! If you’d like to hear about how Alex got on, what lists he took and how much he enjoys the Double Vortex period of the Adeptus Titanicus meta, read on – Jay

Tim, Alex and Ben (Taff). Or Emberlords Tertius, Primus and Secundus to the common folk.

Alex: So, my first post on Warhounds2Warmasters, eh? With the dust settled, the engines fallen silent and the Embers of War saga having come to a close, it’s a good time to reflect. It’s been a fantastic series: 9 games against 7 players ( 2 ended up playing me twice) and to finish as Emberlord Primus has been a fantastic result that I don’t think I expected.

I’ve been playing Adeptus Titanicus for a few years now, with Jay first introducing me to the game at our local club in Maidenhead. Over time, I started attending events with my Astorum, until finally getting some breakthrough success at Beachhead 2024 (playing alongside Jay and Simon (Ed Note: aka Badger) where we took 1st place and then placing 1st at Twisted Titancius: 6.

Playing the objectives and thinking tactically is something I have put a fair amount of time in towards learning and improving – fighting against myself as there is a big part of my brain that just wants to watch Titans go boom (Ed Note: Alex’s grin when he once ‘big red buttoned’ his own Reaver and caused a chain reaction that wiped out 3 of my Warhounds and all of my Acheron Knights is still vividly etched on my memory).

As an aside, anyone who says they play Adeptus Titanicus and doesn’t want this, isn’t playing the game right!

When Jay confirmed that his first event as a Tournament Organiser was going to be not too long after Twisted Titanicus: 6, that (along with the requirement to paint and bring a table of terrain myself) left me with little energy to fully prepare and practice a new list – I’ll talk about it later when it comes to the lists I brought, but my Embers of War: One list was a bit casual as a result.

Embers of War: One

Going into Embers One I had low expectations. I had a rough plan of what I wanted my list to do: Warlord and Acastus provide fire support, Reavers run forward and charge things in an aggressive fashion and the Warhounds run interference and score objectives if required.

Game 1, against Ben’s Xestobiax – a Crusade Legio – seemed to work well – by the end of turn four, he had only one Reaver left and I was closing for the kill……… only to run out of time. At that point it was dice down on a 40-40 draw. Well played on Ben’s part, facing off against corrupted melee titans and still having an engine surviving was better than I had ever achieved the first time I played against corrupted melee Reavers.

Game 2 saw me pitted against Simon’s Ignatum. A very different story. I found myself losing all of my titans to a very strong shooting list which featured double vortex missiles (a weapon I really don’t like). In fact, my Acastus got shot off the board by a c-beamer before the other games in the room had finished deploying. From memory, I don’t think we even got to turn 5. Another painful experience of playing against Legio Ignatum for me.

So this meant that for game 3 I may have carried a chip on my shoulder and a point to prove. I had Ashley with Legio Venator, beautiful titans, and I ended up winning! As the final scores were totalled, I was finishing near the bottom of the table but at least having one win to my name.

This event was probably the worst I’ve performed at an event in the last year or so – one of each: win, draw and a loss. But I had a lot of fun and the stuff that Jay was trying was refreshing: to see a scoreboard with your points throughout the day was simultaneously exciting and depressing (when seeing how low you were in the rankings).

Embers of War: Two

I would like to say that with Embers Two I had learnt my lesson and prepared my list well in advance. But I cannot. Not without lying.

I ended up running a very similar list to that which I had run at Twisted Titanicus: 6, a Ferrox maniple with an Arcus maniple in support . I made a few tweaks to weapon and wargear choices.

Game 1: I drew Luc and his Legio Fureans, whose list also included a Warbinger-a noble choice. It ended up being the only one of his titans left standing at the end of game one, as I got back into the swing with corrupted Astorum.

Game 2: I thought for a second I was stuck in Groundhog day – it was another Fureans list. But this was against Tom, a local and relative newcomer to Titanicus, and was another fantastic game. He was mad enough (in the very best way) to bring a Reaver with two melee weapons, which I ended up charging with my combat reaver. Towards the end of the game came the high-point where Tom’s Warlord detonated itself in the Damage Control phase-wiping out one of my warhounds that had come round to get in his flank. Peak Titanicus!

Game 3: A rematch against Ben – who was running the same list as Embers 1. I had a lot more confidence this time…….right up until he dropped two Vortex missiles on my Warbinger and killed it in turn 1. Have I mentioned I hate Vortex Missiles? Because I do. A lot. (Ed Note: It’s a unique kind of pressure on the top table in the final round facing double Vortex. Not something I ever hoped would linger too long)

The rest of the game was a tough slog. It ended up running far beyond all the other games, drawing a crowd of everyone else in groups as they finished. I managed to secure some points but Taff ran away with the win, knocking me down into 3rd place – not a bad outcome for the day for me, really. It was a reminder that if you build a strong list, there will be always someone with a counter.

Embers of War: Three

So coming into Embers 3 I knew I had performed reasonably well so far, so I actually put some time into my list planning for the finale. However, the problem I had this time around was in making a decision, which list to actually take? I solved this conundrum by writing all of my ideas down in order and then having Ben roll a D6 and send a video with the result.

Ben rolled a 6.

And so, I took a Warlord Sinister ‘Psi’ Titan to Embers 3 with a Crusade Legio Extergimus maniple as support.

The finale took place in a different venue, the new, bigger hall for this event allowed for more players and better facilities. Round 1 would see tables once again picked at random, this time with numbered tokens which would denote the player numbers for the day. 

Round 1: I drew Greg and his Ignatum in what I later learned was his first ever tournament game. Unfortunately for Greg the Psi came out swinging! With the first activation resulting in scattering titans and a dead Warhound. With the return of Retrieval to tournament play and me utilising Blind missiles from my Warlords I managed to score maximum points on my primary objective in turn 3, leaving me plenty of time to kill the targets I had picked out for the secondary. I finished the game having tabled Greg – however with the repeated taxing roll failures on firing the Sinistramus effectively stopped me from throwing any more Anitpathic Tempests down the board after Turn 1. A tough game for Greg to start with, but he stayed in good spirits throughout and was a great opponent to play against.

Game 2: I was paired with William, who had brought a Crusade legio himself with some lovely conversions. This was a tight game on a table with heavy urban terrain. I selected a pair of objectives that are very “Eggs in Basket” – Honour thy Forebears and Deny Them. Putting the Banner on one of my Warlords,and choosing both of my Extermigus Warlords as the targets to keep alive for ‘Deny Them’ necessitated the use of a Void Shield Generator.  With the heavy cover afforded in most areas I didn’t get a lot of mileage from the Psi Titan. The Sinistramus’ beam kept crossing terrain and losing the ability to pick where it hit. Realistically, the most that the Psi and my Warhound did was to attract enemy attention, so by turn 5 I was able to pop blind missiles on both of my target warlords and secure the win.

Game 3: Finding myself in the top four, I was nervous about who I would face next. For this event, in a change to most standard MP events, the four highest scoring players were randomly drawn against one another. This was done to avoid the continued pitching of 1st and 2nd place in the final round and seeing the loser tumble down the rankings – with this approach, players couldn’t predict or plan for their opponents. Luc was first to draw an opponent and he drew my number. My second rematch of the series!

For this one I decided on using another of the objectives brought back for this event – Vital Cargo. With there only being 24 inches between the top of my deployment zone and the opposing side, I felt I could get there no problem. My secondary was more of a difficult choice and had me trapped in analysis paralysis for a minute or two. I went for Priority assignment, with one warlord the Shield the other the Spear.

This game was a lot of fun – this time Luc had brought his Astorum, and he really knew how to play them. He cunningly used Vox Blackout in the first turn, to prevent my usual opening of starting to strip shields from a distance using First Fire orders. This didn’t stop the Psi, though, and with a few turns of bullying with Anitpathic tempest I killed one warhound and damaged one of his Warlords. I managed to shield my own hound with Blind missiles until it ran off the board on turn 2. There was a moment where I thought my Spear Warlord would not get the kills required due to Luc cooking off one his Warlords in the Damage control phase. Then his Acastus revealed itself, and along with killing a Warhound I was able to secure max points.

At the end of the day I ended up finishing second on the day with Simon taking first place in the closest competition I have ever seen. We drew for Victory points (both having scored maximum points in every round) and so it came down to the first Tie Breaker, Victory Points Conceded. I had conceded 5 and Simon had conceded 4 and so fell shy of First place by a single point in the points conceded column. The second Tie Breaker was on Scale Lost for the event and I had only lost 6 Scale to Simon’s 18. There was a brief scuttle to and fro as Jay had to check and recheck which Tie Breaker had been set to have priority before Simon was declared the rightful Princeps Primus. However, across the three events I had scored enough to secure myself the title of Emberlord Primus, the highest scoring attendee of the Saga by aggregate.

My Thoughts

The Embers series has been great fun. Each event has grown and become bigger than the last and its great to see another AT event establishing itself. I’ve had a great time at each, seeing the various things that Jay does differently to other TOs: the Live scoreboards, different ways of allocating tables in the rounds, individual nameplates for attendees and the lovely trophies made by Jay and Christina. 

But for me, the real highlight has been the social aspect. The after game meals and getting to meet so many people from across the community. AT really has the best group of people playing it.

I’m looking forward to the next series of events – I suspect that with people now attending regularly, and the ongoing improvement of several players, that I’m gonna have to work so much harder going forward. It’s gonna be fun.

The Lists

Embers 1

Titan Legion: Legio Astorum (Warp Runners)

Allegiance: Traitor

Reaver Titan [325 points]

Apocalypse Missile Launcher, Gatling Blaster, Reaver Titan Power Fist

Singular Purpose

Corrupt Titan – Overwhelming Rage

Reaver Titan [325 points]

Apocalypse Missile Launcher, Gatling Blaster, Reaver Titan Power Fist

Singular Purpose

Corrupt Titan – Overwhelming Rage

Warhound Titan [240 Points]

Plasma Blast Gun [WH], Vulcan Megabolter [WH]

Corrupt Titan – Preternatural Grace

Warhound Titan [220 Points]

Vulcan Megabolter [WH], Vulcan Megabolter [WH]

Corrupt Titan – Preternatural Grace

Warlord Titan (540 points):

Princeps Seniores – 6 Shackled

Apocalypse Missile Launchers, Chitinous Carapace, Conversion Beam Extirpator, Mori Quake Cannon [WLD],

Tracking Gyroscopes

Corrupt Titan – Frozen Soul, Chitinous Carapace

+Acastus Knight Banner [350 Points]+

Acastus Knight Lord Scion (185 points) – Acastus Knight Porphyrion: Acastus Twin Autocannon, Porphyrion Ironstorm Missile Pod, Porphyrion Twin Magna Lascannon

Acastus Knight Scion Martial (165 points) – Acastus Knight Porphyrion: Acastus Twin Autocannon, Porphyrion Ironstorm Missile Pod, Porphyrion Twin Magna Lascannon

Stratagems:

• Machine Defiance
• A Score to Settle
• Concealment Barrage
• Last Ditch Effort
• Sabotage
• Vox Blackout
• War Lust
• Warp Displacement

This list, as previously stated, was put together in a hurry. The main aim was to be flexible -its a mix of long range support, melee titan threats and warhounds to flank/score objectives. I brought War Lust and Warp Displacement to assist with movement, paired with the extra boosted speed from Asotrum’s trait you can cross the board in a ridiculously quick time.

The one thing I would change about this list was the Acastus – they did great work at one point (20+ hits to a banner of Lancers) but were very swingy. Not to mention the game where Simon deleted them in a single shot.

Embers 2

Titan Legion: Legio Astorum (Warp Runners)

Allegiance: Traitor

+Ferrox Light Maniple [1,135 Points]+

Reaver Titan [325 points]

Princeps Seniores-Reckless Hubris

Apocalypse Missile Launcher, Gatling Blaster, Reaver Titan Power Fist

Singular Purpose

Corrupt Titan – Overwhelming Rage

Dire Wolf Titan [300 Points]

Ardex Defensor Mega-Bolter, Daemonic Ichor, Organic Protrusions,Volcano Cannon [DW]

Singular Purpose

Corrupt Titan – Overwhelming Rage, Daemonic Ichor, Organic Protrusions

Warhound Titan [255 Points]

Plasma Blast Gun [WH], Vulcan Megabolter [WH]

Corrupt Titan – Preternatural Grace, Daemonic Bile

Warhound Titan [255 Points]

Plasma Blast Gun [WH], Vulcan Megabolter [WH]

Corrupt Titan – Preternatural Grace, Daemonic Bile

+Arcus Battleline Maniple [865 Points]+

Warbringer Nemesis Titan [445 Points]

Princeps Seniores-Beast of Aeons

Ardex Defensor Cannon,Mori Quake Cannon [WBG], Volcano Cannon, Volcano Cannon

Singular Purpose (Wrathful)

Corrupt Titan – Frozen Soul, Chitinous Carapace

Warhound Titan [220 Points]

Plasma Blast Gun [WH], Swarmer Missiles

Warhound Titan [200 Points] Swarmer Missiles, Swarmer Missiles

• Machine Defiance
• A Score to Settle
• Bloodthirst
• Concealment Barrage
• Experimental Locomotors
• Vox Blackout
• War Lust
• Warp Displacement

This  list is a favourite of mine to run as it combines two or the things I enjoy most-corrupted melee and sitting at the back and shooting at long range- the only thing missing is a Warlord! WIth the addition of a Direbomb the Ferrox is a potent melee threat-though the addition of demonic bile is purely because I enjoy the idea of titans vomiting plasma over their foes.

The Arucus sits at the back, with the warbringer focusing its blast weapons on the biggest threats. With the Ferrox in front, it didn’t normally get threatened (unless you fire 2 Vortex missiles at it “shakes fist at Ben”)

Embers 3

Titan Legion: Crusade Legio (Custom)- Blind Missiles, Macro Charges, Engines of War, Power Reserves [1 Stratagem Points]

Allegiance: Loyalist

 Extergimus Battleline Maniple [1,305 Points]

Replace Warlord with Warhound

Warlord Titan (525 Points):
Princeps Seniores- Devoted Servant of the Machine

Apocalypse Missile Launchers , Conversion Beam Extirpator , Mori Quake Cannon 

Blind Missiles,Tracking Gyroscopes

Warlord Titan (530 Points):
Apocalypse Missile Launchers , Bellicosa Volcano Cannon , Graviton Ruinator 

Blind Missiles,Tracking Gyroscopes

Warhound Titan (250 Points): Plasma Blast Gun , Swarmer Missiles

Macro Charges,Bastion Shielding

Support Titan (745 Points)

Warlord-Sinister Titan (745 Points):

Apocalypse Missile Launchers, Mori Quake Cannon, Sinistraamanus Tenebrae,

Tracking Gyroscopes

+ Stratagem Hand +

1. Concealment Barrage
2. Forward Observers
3. Iron Resolve
4. Last Ditch Effort
5. Power Reserves
6. Power Reserves
7. Void Shield Relay
8. Vox Blackout

For Embers 3 I used a version of my Beachhead 2025 list- to fit the Warlord Sinister in, I needed to drop one Warlord and a Warhound. This takes the list down to 4 activations, which takes a bit of practice at getting used to – I’m still working on it.

Putting a Warhound into the Extermigus can be a BIG risk- but when it hits with the Plasma Blastgun at strength 12 at maximal fire, it’s worth it. Blind Missiles are really versatile – probably to the point of being overpowered. Even with only two in my list they helped me max all three of my primary objectives.

As for strats, Power Reserves is really useful in an Extergimus as you can guarantee a shot with a draining weapon, saving your heat for increasing the strength of your weapons. Alternatively, It does have use in letting a Warhound boost for speed without fear of cooking itself!

Alex,
Emberlord Primus (M’lord of Embers, His Toasty Nibbs, Sire)