Imperial Armour Volume 12 - The Fall of Orpheus

Something a bit different tonight. Normally I wouldn’t do a ‘review’ type of post but as I have found myself answering a few questions regarding Imperial Armour Vol 12 – The Fall of Orpheus I thought I would do a run down on it. Keep in mind this is not a review per se, more a list of what can be found in the three army lists that are in the book, namely the Dynasty of Maynarkh Necron List, The Minotaurs Chapter and the Krieg Assault Brigade List.

I am not going to cover the background information in the book, mainly because it would take far too long to do it justice and I any who want to know will be buying the book anyway and don't want it spoiled by reading snippets here.

I won’t be giving points or stats so please don’t ask (via comment or email), but I will note anything that I pick up as looking interesting.

Part 1 - The Necron Dynasty of Maynarkh:

The list begins with the background to the Dynasty (again I am not going to go into it so people can enjoy reading it for themselves). However it appears that the Dynasty hasn’t fared well when it came out of hibernation.

Included is a new Necron specific set of Warlord Traits.

The army list breaks down as this (units in blue are ‘see Codex: Necrons’)

HQ – Kutlakh the World Killer, by the sounds of it this is a Necron Lord who has lost his marbles.

HQ – Toholk the Blinded, the Dynasty Arch-Cryptek
HQ – Maynarkh Overlord
HQ– Destroyer Lord
HQ – Royal Court (0-5 Maynarkh Lords, 0-5 Crypteks)

Troops – Maynarkh Warrior Phalanx (no idea how this is different to a regular Codex unit, though it can take Flensing Scarabs which are new)

Troops - Maynarkh Flayed One Pack (ditto)
Troops - Maynarkh Immortals (can’t be taken as compulsory choices)

Dedicated Transports – Command Barge, Ghost Ark & Night Scythe

Elites – Canoptek Tomb Stalker

Elites – Charnel Lychguard (limited to one unit for each Overlord in the army)
Elites – Deathmarks, Triarch Praetorians, Triarch Stalker

Fast Attack – Canoptek Acanthrites

Fast Attack – Wraiths, Tomb Blades, Necron Destroyers
Fast Attack - Maynarkh Canoptek Scarab Swarms (may be upgraded to Charnel Scarabs which are more anti-infantry)
Fast Attack – Canoptek Tomb Sentinel (this can be taken in Codex armies but is Heavy Support)

Heavy Support – Tesseract Ark (interesting rules, it has a ‘weapon’ which gives several benefits as well as having several fire modes)

Heavy Support – Sentry Pylon (1-3 unit, can be a mix of types)
Heavy Support – Night Shroud Bomber (the bombs look painful, but at least it only has five of them)
Heavy Support – Doomsday Ark, Annihilation Barge, Monolith, Doom Scythe, Spyder

Super-Heavy – Gauss Pylon

Fortification – Necron Tomb Citadel (this isn’t cheap even without the defence battery upgrades. You can also dock Monoliths or Sentry Guns giving them a bonus. The Citadel gives you plenty of boons)

Part 2 – The Minotaurs:

As with the Necron section you are given background on the Chapter and its organisation – though not a huge amount, just a few pages.

Basically the Minotaurs use the Codex: Space Marines with the following additions:

HQ – Lord Asterion Moloc

HQ – Chaplain Enkomi
HQ – Hecaton Aiakos (Contemptor Dreadnought, is an Elite choice in Codex armies)
HQ – 0-1 Damocles Command Vehicle

Heavy Support – Vigilator-Sergeant Hamath Kraatos (heavy bolter wielding upgrade to a Devastator Squad)

Heavy Support – Storm Eagle Assault Gunship
Heavy Support – Storm Eagle Assault Gunship Roc Pattern (tank destroyer version)
Heavy Support – Sentry Gun Battery
Heavy Support – Deathstorm Drop Pod
Heavy Support – Predator Infernus (Flamestorm Cannon which can be upgraded to a Magma-Melta)
Heavy Support – Predator Executioner (may be upgraded to a Heavy Conversion Beamer)
Heavy Support – Spartan Assault Tank

Part 3 – The Krieg Assault Brigade List:

Plenty of info on Krieg and their armed forces, more than with the Minotaurs.

Unlike the Krieg Siege list this one is much more mobile. With more transports, tanks and mobile artillery.

Very nice touch is the Krieg Warlord Traits, with emphasise their style of warfare, and Krieg specific Orders which are a mix of the standard Guard orders and Krieg themed ones such as ‘Duty Unto Death’ and ‘Without Mercy’. We also have the Krieg special rules affecting the morale checks and making them Fearless and when combined with the Officers having the Iron Discipline rule it means Krieg squads will potentially be hard to crack.

Another nice touch is the option ‘Forlorn Hope’ special rule which the Krieg player may select. This means an additional Objective is placed which the Krieg player must take, if he fails to capture it the enemy get a bonus to their VP’s instead. As a bonus infantry squads can be recycled giving you an endless wave of infantry marching to their doom. Very nice.

 

Here is a breakdown of the army list – I’m not listing all the detail/options but instead picking out some interesting titbits:

 

HQ – Death Korps Marshal Karis Venner

HQ – Company Command Squad (may take the following advisors – Artillerist, Quartermaster, Tech Prist Militant)

HQ – Quartermaster Cadre

 

Elites – Engineer Squad

Elites – Griffon Strike Battery

Elites – Forward Command Tank (a Russ with benefits)

Elites – Hydra Battery

Elites – Rapier Battery

 

Troops – Infantry Platoon (1 HQ + 2-6 squads, as normal no HW or transport options)

Troops – Grenadier Storm Squad

 

Dedicated Transport – Storm Chimera (Autocannon armed Chimera with extra armour and track guards)

Dedicated Transport – Centaur

Dedicated Transport – Hades Drill (rules as per IAVOl 1 2^nd Ed - Engineers only)

 

Fast Attack – Hellhound Squadron

Fast Attack – Death Rider Platoon (0-1 Command Sqaud which may include a Commie, 1-6 Death Rider Squads)

Fast Attack – Salamander Scout Squadron

 

Heavy Support – Heavy Weapons Platoon (1-3 squads, no command squad)

Heavy Support – Thunderer Squadron

Heavy Support – Leman Russ Squadron (all types available)

Heavy Support – Ordnance Tank Battery (1-3 Bassie, Medusa or Colossus, can’t be mixed unit)

Heavy Support – Field Artillery Battery (1-4 Thudd Guns or Heavy Mortars)

Heavy Support – Navy Support Squadron (1-3 ‘bolts, Lightnings or Avengers, can’t be mixed)

 

And that is that.

If you have any questions post them up, though as stated earlier I won't be handing out any stats or points etc. I have no intention to turn this into a news/rumours blog or something along the lines of many, many blogs already out there (too many frankly). But I thought people might like the army list info above so I thought I'd post it up.