Adeptus Titanicus: The Defence of Ryza

The forge world of Ryza is second only to Mars in its splendour. Famed for its innovative plasma technologies, it is a prime target for the Dark Mechanicum and their ally, the Warmaster Horus. As the forces of the traitor Fabricator-General, Kelbor-Hal, attack, Ryza’s defenders prepare to sell their lives dearly for their world.

CONTENTS – An overview of the Defence of Ryza. – Background and Legion-specific rules for six Titan Legions: Honorum, Osedax, Crucius, Magna, Vulturum and Mortis. – Four new maniples to use in your games. – Background and rules for six Knight Houses: Sidus, Taranis, Zavora, Morbidia, Ioeden and Oroborn. – Full colour examples of paint schemes and heraldry for Titans and Knights. – Six narrative missions based on the dramatic events of the story. – Three different allegiances for your Titan Legions, and four for your Knight Houses. – Rules for creating your own Titan Legions, including 16 Traits, 15 Stratagems, and 21 pieces of Wargear. – Battle Standards, Lance Standards and High Kings to expand your Knight Households. – New environments: Manufactoria, Plasmatic Infrastructure and Ryza Secundus. – 11 new Stratagems to use in your games.

The first the first section of the book is dedicated to setting up the conflict, pointing out the importance of Ryza.

The second part of the book covers the details on the Titan Legions and Knight Houses that joined the Dark Mechanicum forces on their march on Ryza. These are the Titan Legions – Legio Magna (Flaming Skulls), Legio Vulturum (Gore Crows), and Legio Mortis (Death’s Heads) – and Knight Houses Morbidia, Ioeden, and Oroborn. The defending counter-part on the loyal side are the Tech-Priests of Ryza themself, supported by Legio Crucius (Warmongers), Legio Honorum (Death Bolts), and Legio Osedax (The Cockatrices), and three Knight Houses Taranis, Zavora, and Sidus.

The third section of the book covers the narrative missions of the Defence of Ryza. The six missions take you through the following battles:

o The Battle for Ryza Secundus: Last Stand (House Morbidia vs. House Vornherr).

o The Treachery of House Ioeden: Ambush (House Ioeden vs. Legio Honorum).

o A Road less travelled: Assault upon the Fortress (Legio Vulturum vs. Legio Crucius).

o Death of Salvation: The Defiance of Legio Crucius (Traitor Force vs. Lego Crucius).

o Honour and Glory: The Relief of Endeavour (Traitor Force vs. Loyalist).

o Conveyance Terminus Nine-Omega (Traitor Force vs. Loyalist).

All of these scenarios have special objectives which sometimes favour one of the two sides, creating a more realistic imbalance on the battlefield.

The final section of the book contains a Legio creation supplement. Creation rules for Titan Legions aren’t a new idea, there was a basic rules article(8 pages) included in White Dwarf of July 2019, but the creation rules in The Defence of Ryza are much more elaborate and give the player a lot more flexibility within its pages. (16 in total).

The book itself is a 108 page hard back book with a glossy front cover depicting a titan of Legio Crucius. The binding is very good, it feels like its stitched, not just glued together. A particularly nice touch is the ribbon bookmark.

This book feels like it is of a higher quality, as with other Forge World books, compared to the Warhammer 40,000 rulebooks and Codices published by Games Workshop.