So, played against my first Titan outside of an Apocolipse game... Warhound class Titan with IG to back it up. Not a lot to the IG with all those points tied up in the Warhound. I think there were:
2 Armored Sentinels
1 Platoon, more or less naked... 4-5 Squads, LT, pretty much just Las Guns
1 Platoon, 4-6 Squads, Heavy Bolters a few Melta Bombs?
Company Command Squad...
I brought:
CPT Tycho
Sternguard (7, Meltas, drop pod)
Assault Squad (10, 2 Melta, Jump Packs)
Sanguinary Priests (2, Terminator, Jump Pack)
Death Company (Jump Packs, 2 Power Axes)
DC DN (HF)
Storm Raven (TL MM, TL LC)
Bastion (Quad Gun, Void Shield)
Joe's Star Wars IG were impressive... The AT-AT as a Warhound works. Joe wound up winning the game (Emperor's Will) by getting "First Blood" as neither Warlord died, we both had Line Breaker and his one Objective held matched the Warhound's VP.. It was actually a pretty good game all around :-)... The Death Company not being able to hold anything and my over caution regarding what happens if the Titan explodes cost me. So, overall I am less concerned about the big nasties... Honestly, sending 1-2 Death Company into each Squad of his Infantry meant they would usually kill a bunch and rout them... Lacking the weight of attacks of a blob or the Power Weapons, etc... No real threat, and I would have probably been better off with an Assault Squad doing that. The DC DN did eat a Melta Bomb once, but being immune to shaken/etc., it really didn't notice. Mostly, I lost due to it ending on Turn 5 before I could wipe out the remaining IG Squads... The Lads were in close and wiping squads with an almost contemptuous ease... So, IG NEED Special/Heavy Weapons or they are just speed bumps for an Assault force that is quick... Like my FT...
What did I learn? D Weapons are insanely overpowered... I can certainly see why there are a bunch of people wanting them banned... A single hit to the Fortification simply destroys it and kills everyone in it. No rolls needed, it just explodes the building. :-) Yeah, I can see this being OK for an Apoc game of "more" points, but at 40K scale the oversimplification has gone too far I think. Yes, it is the easy button answer to the Tau/Eldar/non flying MC silliness, simply erasing them from the board, but I think they could have done better NOT simply porting the Apoc charts into 40K. It really does provide a disincentive to play the game really if you are not completely prepared for this. In other words, do NOT but Fortifications, don't bother with special characters, etc... Doesn't matter, they all die to the blasts of doom... Or, bring lots of Fliers and Void Shields of your own. I wound up killing the Warhound, not as easily as I thought, my Sternguard came in and did 4 Hull Points of damage, the Raven finished it off. I got lucky and his first turn of shooting with the D laser was bad, I think he took down the Void Shield then missed the building... Next turn not as lucky, but by then I had it down to the last HP or two. Still, the mere threat of the D weapon and the explosion when it died was probably worth the 750-800 points. Pretty sure it took down close to it's points value. Next time, I know a single Sternguard suicide squad is not enough, so may just wait it out for the fliers to deal with the monster... Seeing a few IG Super Heavies hit the tables locally, the Warhound and... Well, one guy does have a Revenent Class Titan... I do have my ancient Warhound and I have to say the rumored Knights are looking like they'll be fun if true... But honestly, it becomes a VERY different game when you shoehorn an Apoc element into it. 30K has it right with the 25% rule. Yes, for games under 2000 points it basically means no Superheavies or Titans. Good. So, people can play what they expect and not get blindsided by a one dimensional army built around the Titan with a few Infantry escorting. Knowing it is coming, you can adjust your build and make it less of an issue... OTOH, it would shake things up a LOT at bigger Tournaments if the uber lists had to be prepared to face "I don't give a Damn" class D weapons... I don't know, for a fun, local environment I think they are a bit overpowered, further expanding the divide between the top tier and the rest...
On to the IA2 book... Pretty. Not a whole lot of truly useful stuff from a gamer perspective though. I'd say I am looking at 10-20 pages of REALLY good game rules, etc., and a whole lot of the "Jane's Defense, 40K" for the rest... So, just a bit for me to scan/print to have the relevant rules for the things I plan on using. Mortis Class DNs, Marines get 1/Detachment now (DA not limited so 3/Detachment if they want)... The Interceptor rules are probably overpowered in the current incarnation, and I have had excellent luck with my "Warhammer" Class DN (Yes, BT ref) with the Las Cannons... The Autocannons get more shots, but not ignoring Marine Armor I find them far less of a threat overall. Besides, Str 9 AP 2 almost always hitting for 2 shots is enough to make most Vehicles at least pay attention. And I regularly splash Fliers with my Legion one, so my Crimson Fists getting one will be most welcome. Otherwise, the Roc class Storm Eagle is pretty insane, at least on paper... 2 * TL LC, a TL MM and a 4 shot Missile Launcher firing Krak missiles? On a Flier that can transport 14? Yes, loaded out like that it is like 320 points, so probably overpriced, but... Strafing Run and PotMS mean I can pretty reliably tear up Vehicles and Marine armored Squads as I fly around... No rules for the Raven's Combat Drop or whatever they called it, and I REALLY like that, but for the extra 2 real weapons to fire, I will happily give that up... The Deathstorm Drop Pod has potential and I am glad to see it actually be something that may even work... A little curious why you HAVE to buy the 25 point upgrade to Drop Pod Assault... Without it, it lacks the Deep Strike rule, so is essentially a Vehicle/Bunker... So, it is a 100 point vehicle :-)... d3 hits from either the Whirlwind or the Assault Cannon to every Unit within 12" when it lands... So Danger Close IS dangerous here... Expensive and probably giving up a fairly easy "First Blood" to a lot of armies if you fail to kill something off on your turn, but looks like fun. The Relic weapons look neat, but the penalty you must pay to FIELD a Relic is pretty steep. So, mostly not something I will do outside of my Wolves perhaps... All in all, "Neat", and my CF army gets a powerful boost in the form of good AAA and a potential gunship... Wolves/BA/DA? Not so much really... So, Marines of most type got some new "now fully legal" toys, and while amusing, not a whole lot really changes except that I suspect more FW or their clones will be ordered here and there...
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