Welcome back to Goonhammer’s series for aspiring Titan Principes. We here at Goonhammer’s own Collegia Titanica know that Adeptus Titanicus can seem intimidating to players unfamiliar with its particular quirks, but this series aims to equip you with everything you’ll need to play out epic clashes on the battlefields of the far future with your very own Titan Battlegroup. In this series, we’ll be taking a more in-depth look at the various Legios of the Collegia Titanica – exploring their origins and how to use them on the tabletop, from maniple selection and their loadouts, through to how to command them on the field of battle to secure ultimate victory.
Titancius has a surprising amount of depth to it despite a relatively limited model range and unit count due to the sheer number of different ways it gives you to tailor your force. Most of these choices are made in advance of a game such as your Titan loadout and the structure of your maniples. But Just before deployment you’ll choose what stratagems and tactics your forces will have at their disposal for the upcoming battle.
Stratagems and tactics unlock many different abilities that vary from “basic utility” all the way up to “game-defining,” which you keep hidden from your opponent until it’s time to use them. After a few supplements, the game has loads to choose from, so this week we we’re looking at those stratagems, how to use them, and what we think of them.
Using Stratagems
The first question here is the easiest: how do you get stratagem points? You start by looking at the size of the game you’re playing. Most games will be in the 1250-1750 point bracket, which means you start with 3 stratagem points. Next, look at your opponent’s list: how many sets of legion rules are they taking? For each legion in your opponent’s list, you get an extra 2 stratagem points. Finally, look at the points cost for your list and your opponent’s list. For each increment of the “underdog margin” between your lists, you get another 2 stratagem points.
So as an example, if you bring a 1260 point Legio Vulpa list, and your opponent brings a 1,550 point list pairing Legio Gryphonicus with Legio Atarus, your opponent would get 5 stratagem points – 3 base + 2 for your one set of legion rules – and you would get a whopping nine – 3 base + 4 for your opponent’s two sets of legion rules + another 2 for the underdog margin.
We find that most games will be in the “Confrontation” bracket, and that most opponents will bring one set of legion rules. This means that in your average game of Adeptus Titanicus, you’ll have five stratagem points to use. Bidding for the Underdog Margin could net you more points, but it typically isn’t worth it.
Choosing Stratagems
Now that we know how many stratagem points we have at our disposal, we now have the challenge of deciding which ones to take. Here are some of the major factors you’ll want to take into account when choosing your stratagems:
- Objectives
- What objective do you have for your mission? What is your opponent trying to achieve? Look at Stratagems that will help you in this goal, such as Long Retreat for Loyalists or Warp Displacement for traitors when playing Retrieval.
- If your opponent has an objective with a higher potential score and you think they might be able to convert, consider a tertiary objective – if you choose the right one and manage to bring it home, it could win you the game.
- Terrain
- How is the terrain going to impact your game? A number of stratagems work better depending on the field, especially if your opponent is going to be bunched up.
- Titans & Maniple
- Some stratagems work better with different Titans, whether being used offensively or defensively. Thermal Mines into a list full of Warhound Titans with the Vital Cargo or Retrieval objective can be a nasty trick.
- Sometimes, you might even build a specific Titan for use with a particular stratagem – Overcharged Cannon is a prime candidate here.
- Since you get to choose your stratagems after seeing your opponent’s list, be sure that you’re bringing ones that will work well against them. For instance, if you’re playing against a force of all Warhounds, a tertiary objective that requires you to kill a Warlord isn’t a great idea. Similarly, if your opponent is likely to move aggressively into close range with you, think carefully before taking too many stratagems that require you to be at long range.
- Loyalty
- Whether or not you’re loyal to the Emperor will determine which faction subset of Stratagems you have access to. These add even more options and flavour to your force, and include some really cool ones such as Iron Resolve or Warp Displacement.
- Legio
- Some Legios have their own exclusive Stratagems which have devastating effects such as Offensive Surge for Legio Fureans, which can be used for a unique edge. Not all of them are amazing, and a few are really core to how the legion works. Definitely look closely at these when they’re available.
Tier 1 stratagems are worth considering regardless of most conditions if you are eligible. Nothing is an auto-include in Titanicus, but if you’ve got points left over and aren’t sure what to take, you can’t go wrong with these. A good example here is Blind Barrage from the Core Rules. It’s cheap, it gives you a powerful effect, and it’s got flexibility that allows you to protect a key model in your own battlegroup or interfere with the accuracy of your opponent’s big guns.
Tier 2 stratagems are powerful abilities which should be taken if you’ve got the right conditions on the table. A good example here is Only Forwards from Shadow & Iron – if you’re playing a “stand back and shoot” list, or if the terrain is so dense you don’t think you’ll be able to line up a single turn with multiple charges, this probably isn’t worth the SP. The difference between Tier 1 and Tier 2 stratagems is that Tier 2 stratagems won’t be readily usable in every game.
Tier 3 stratagems are pretty situational, but can do some solid work when they connect. The difference between Tier 2 and Tier 3 is usually either that Tier 3 stratagems are usually either even more situational or just plain too expensive for what you get. A good example is Orbital Lance Strike – it’s powerful when it lands, but it’s not super reliable and you only get it once per game.
Tier 4 stratagems are either pretty hard to use or aren’t that great. They also tend to be unreliable or not very effective, though several of them can create very memorable moments in the game. The difference between Tier 3 and Tier 4 is one of effectiveness – if you don’t have a narrative reason for taking one of these, they might disappoint you.
Don’t let this ranking deter you from taking something you think is cool, though! These rankings are to help you get a sense for what’s effective from a rules perspective, not necessarily what you’ll have fun with. However, keep in mind that more expensive and more situational stratagems might feel more like a weight dragging you down than a useful tool in your arsenal.
Soggy: I feel it’s important to underline that Adeptus Titanicus is more of a narrative game rather than a perfectly balanced competitive one and we certainly aren’t saying you should only take the Tier 1/2 stratagems. Things like Scatterable Mines have the potential to ruin someone’s day. Make sure you have the same expectations of the game and be excellent to each other.
| Name | Restriction | Cost | Text | Verdict | Tier | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Veteran Princeps | 1 | When this is chosen the player chooses one of their Titans that is not a Princeps Seniores to be commanded by a Veteran Princeps. Add 1 to the result of any Command checks made when issuing an order to the chosen Titan. This may be purchased multiple times | Competes with Iron Resolve, trading away the certainty that you’re going to get the order you want exactly when you want it for more reliable orders across the board. If you want to issue orders frequently and consistently, pick this. If you want one decisive turn and are a Loyalist, go for Iron Resolve (or Only Forwards for close-combat lists). If you want to guarantee one decisive turn and are a Traitor, sucks to be you, I guess. | 1 | S&I | |
| Concealment Barrage | 1 | Play during any Strategy phase. Place the 5” template anywhere on the battlefield. Any part of the battlefield underneath the template blocks line of sight. Remove the Blast marker at the end of the round. | Got instantly nerfed and is still one of the best strats in the game. You can no longer place it reactively to say "no, that Titan is not allowed to shoot, actually," but it is still a very powerful tool that can deny key lanes of shooting to let you work through your opponent's force without having to worry about return fire. Plus, making you play it at the top of the stratagem phase honestly makes it more fun - thinking about where to put it so you get the most use out of it while minimizing your opponent's ability to play around it can be a brain-burner that is a lot of fun. | 1 | S&I | |
| Profane Blessing | Traitor | 1 | Play in the first strategy phase of the game. The player chooses one of their Titans and places a token next to its Command Terminal. That unit may re-roll any number of dice for a single roll; for example the dice for a Command Check, or any dice from the hit roll from a single weapon. After resolving the re-roll remove the token. This stratagem may be purchased multiple times. | Very good. Getting a once-per game re-roll on Titans during clutch moments can be huge. Being able to re-roll shield saves to keep your shields up after rolling a shocking number of 2's or being able to get the kill shot on an enemy titan is huge. | 1 | |
| Iron Resolve | Loyalist | 1 | Play when a Titan fails a command check during the Strategy Phase or when a Knight Banner fails a command check to see if they become Shaken in any phase. That check is instead passed. This can be purchased multiple times. | Do you know you're going to need a particular order at a particular time to execute your strategy? This actually guarantees it. | 1 | S&I |
| Blind Barrage | 1 | Once per battle, play this during the Strategy phase. Pick a unit on the battlefield. Any attacks that target it or are made by it suffer a -2 To Hit penalty for the duration of the round. | The original auto-include. Able to be used offensively on a Titan you want to miss or on a vital Titan that needs to survive this turn. | 1 | Core | |
| Override Signal | 1 | Play this Stratagem when a Titan (friend or foe) within 12" of a friendly Titan suffers Catastrophic Damage, before rolling on the Catastrophic Damage table. When rolling on the Catastrophic Damage table for the chosen Titan, add 4 to the result | Sometimes you really want to see a catastrophic meltdown. This helps you do that. | 1 | DoR | |
| Tactical Assessment | 2 | Play this at the end of the deployment phase, before rolling to see who is the First Player. The player may immediately discard their current objective and determine a new one by rolling two D6 on the Mission Objective table as described in the Adeptus Titanicus rulebook | Simply incredible. This is a mulligan on your objectives that happens after you've seen the deployment, so you can tailor the objective you pick to the situation as it stands on the field. A fantastic stratagem that should always be in consideration. | 1 | DoR | |
| Last Ditch Effort | 1 | Play this Stratagem when a friendly Titan falls due to the Laid Low or Wild Fire Catastrophic Damage effect. The controlling player may choose the direction the Titan falls, rather than determining it by rolling a Scatter dice. If, for whatever reason, both players are allowed to choose the direction the Titan falls, randomly determine the direction as normal and discard this Stratagem | Being able to force a Titan to fall in the direction you want can save your own Titans and possible take out an enemy in close or mid range. Plus, it's cheap. In most games you'll lose at least one engine, and with the number of times we find ourselves fervently wishing that, just once, the scatter die would come down in our favor, this is a solid trick that could help mitigate a disaster or turn an even trade into an advantageous one. | 1 | DoR | |
| Vox Blackout | 3 | Play this Stratagem in any Strategy phase. The Strategy phase immediately ends and all orders are removed, with the exception of Shutdown orders. | Was God-Tier, still very good after changing to 3 points instead of just 1. TLDR; Counterspell. Always useful to deny any critical orders such as charge orders or completely ruin Knight Households from Coordinated Striking. Can be used to prevent your opponent from any stratagems if you play it first. Condit: Just be careful bringing this into a casual game - denying your opponent a critical stratagem can create a real "feel bad" moment. | 2 | DoM | |
| Overcharged Cannon | 2 | Play this Stratagem in the Strategy phase of the first round. The player chooses one of their Titans armed with a weapon with the Maximal Fire trait. Place this card next to the Titan's Command Terminal and select one of its weapons with the Maximal Fire trait. For the duration of the battle, the Titan can fire this weapon on Super Maximal Fire. This works in exactly the same way as the Maximal Fire trait, except that the weapon's Strength is increased by 4 instead of 2. | Turn your Sunfury into a Bellicosa that can do targeted shots. Core unshielded Titans and vapourise Knight Banners on demand | 2 | DoM | |
| The Long Retreat | Loyalist | 1 | Play this Stratagem in any Strategy phase. For the duration of this round, the player's Titans do not halve their Speed when moving outside of their Front arc. | All of your Titans can now moonwalk even better than a Corsair Maniple, fantastic for Retrival or doding through terrain. | 2 | DoM |
| Blood Thirst | Traitor | 1 | Play this Stratagem in any Strategy phase. For the duration of the round, the player's Titans add 2 to any To Hit rolls made against enemies within 2" of them. In addition, the player's Titans add 2 to their Command checks when attempting to issue the Charge order. | Excellent for maniples who want to get in close and a near auto-include for Vulpa Titans with Distruption Emmiters | 2 | DoM |
| Quake Shells | 2 | Play this during any Strategy phase. Place the 5" Blast marker anywhere on the battlefield then scatter it D10". Any unit touched by the marker where it eventually lands suffers D3 Strength 6 hits, or D6 Strength 6 hits if the central hole of the Blast marker is entirely over its base. In addition, the unit is then moved D6" in a direction determined by the Scatter dice (this may result in a Collision - see page 31 of the Adeptus Titanicus rulebook). This does not change the unit's facing. | Can lead to hillarious results on a terrain dense map or if your opponent is going to bunch up. Use their own weight against them. | 2 | DoM | |
| A Quick Kill | 1 | Play this in the End phase of the first or second round. If at least one enemy Titan with Scale 8 or greater has been destroyed, score 5 Victory points. | Five VPs can often decide a game, a worthwhile gamble if you think you can focus down a Reaver quickly. | 2 | DoM | |
| Hold the Centre | 2 | Play this at the end of the battle. The player scores 2 Victory points for each of their Titans that are within 12" of the centre of the battlefield. In addition, they score an extra 5 Victory points if there are no enemy units within 12" of the centre of the battlefield. | Quite often this can lead to some easy Victory Points as you will be going to the centre of the map anyway. | 2 | DoM | |
| Justice for the Fallen | Loyalist | 1 | Play this at the end of the battle. If the player has destroyed at least as many enemy Titans as they themselves have lost, they score 5 Victory points. | If you've got a heavy maniple and your oppoenent has a load of Warhounds this is an easy tertiary objective to claim | 2 | DoM |
| War Lust | Traitor | 2 | Play this Stratagem in any Strategy phase. For the duration of the round, the player's Titans add 2" to their Boosted Speed characteristic. In addition, the player's Titans add 2 to their Command checks when attempting to issue the Full Stride order. | Need to get somewhere fast? This will get you there. Great for Vital Cargo or Retrival when supported by Obscuration or Blind Barrages. Condit: Also has use in close combat lists, giving you a little leeway when you're trying to make a long charge. | 2 | DoM |
| Cursed Earth | 1 | Play this Stratagem in the first Strategy phase of the game. The battlefield is heavily irradiated, making shields less effective. Titans must roll an extra dice when making Void Shield saves, while Knight Banners count the Strength of attacks as one higher for the purposes of working out their Ion Shield saves. | An interesting symmetric ability, although you need to tip it in your favor - such as combining it with Strafing Run to ensure your opponent has no voids. Note that it's not limited to the first battle round: you play it round 1, but its effect isn't limited to the first round. We think it probably continues for the entire game RAW. Condit: If you like lasers, this is a cheap and effective way to get even more mileage out of their Shieldbane trait. | 2 | DoM | |
| Wages of Betrayal | Loyalist | 2 | Play this Stratagem in any Strategy phase. For the duration of the round, enemy Titans suffer a -2 penalty to Command checks. The enemy Princeps Seniores suffers a -3 penalty to Command checks instead. | Deny your traitorous opponent an effective orders phase and make their machine spirits more rowdy. Solid. Even better against Corrupted Titans which also have a negative penalty to command checks. | 2 | DoM |
| Warp Displacement | Traitor | 2 | Play in any phase. Choose one of your own units and roll 2D6. Models within the chosen unit move that many inches in a straight line in a direction chosen by the player, ignoring any rules for movement such as Dangerous or Blocking Terrain. If the unit would be placed in a piece of terrain, other than Blocking, the unit suffers D3 S7 hits to its Body, bypassing void shields, and the terrain is destroyed. If the unit would be placed overlapping the base of another unit, the unit stops at its base and suffers a collision. This does not change the unit’s facing and a unit cannot move off the battlefield - if it would, place the unit on the battlefield edge. | Fun, flavorful, and very useful in the right list. The fact that you can use it whenever you want - including in the middle of a phase - makes it even stronger. | 2 | S&I |
| Only Forwards | Loyalist | 2 | Play during the start of any Strategy Phase. For the remainder of that phase, any unit may be issued Full Stride or Charge order without need of a command check | If you're running a loyalist list full of brawlers and close-combat monsters, this stratagem is for you. Otherwise, it's a bit expensive - you really want at least 3 Titans to be getting use of this for it to be worth it. | 2 | S&I |
| Weapons to Full | Loyalist | 2 | Play during the Combat phase. Select a friendly Titan. That Titan may immediately attack with any/all of its weapons even if it has already been activated in the Combat phase that round. After resolving each weapon attack the Titan rolls a D10 on the Reactor Overload table. | Getting what is effectively a second activation in the combat phase is cool as hell, and would be a steal at 2CP if it weren't for the downside. However, rolling multiple d10 on the Reactor Overload table has a solid chance of causing your Titan to just instantly vanish. Could be a neat trick to pull on a Titan that's almost certainly going to die anyways, but as it stands the downside and 2CP cost make it a bit risky to be worth putting at the top of your list. | 2 | S&I |
| MIU Link | 1 | Play this in the first strategy phase. The player chooses two of their Titans to link MIU. For the remainder of the game, when making a weapon attack, you may measure from either linked Titan for the purposes of determining the Accuracy value for short or long range. If either of the linked Titans suffers the MIU feedback critical damage effect, both Titans suffer it and the MIU link stratagem is ignored for the remainder of the game, even if the damage is repaired. | This lets you play around some of the more awkward range restrictions and get increased accuracy at ranges where you normally wouldn't (or avoid penalties where you'd usually incur them). A neat trick depending on your list, with a harsh downside that's mitigated by the fact that your head is the best-armored track on any Titan. | 2 | S&I | |
| Augmented Servitor Clades | 2 | Play in the first Strategy phase. The player chooses one of their Titans to have a Senior Enginseer aboard. Increase the Servitor Clades for that Titan by 1 during each Damage Control phase. | Lets you give a single Titan half of the Elite Magos trait from White Dwarf. This is a very strong effect that is only held back by its 2CP cost. | 2 | S&I | |
| Thermal Mines | 2 | Play this Stratagem immediately after an enemy unit finishes moving or making a turn. That unit suffers D3 Strength 8 hits to its legs. Shield saves cannot be made against the hits. | Does your opponent need to get somewhere with a Reaver or a Warhound? This will get the damage track started for you. We have seen it one-shot Warhounds from full health. | 2 | Core | |
| Decapitating Strike | 2 | Play this at the end of the battle. If the opposing player's Princeps Seniores' Titan has been destroyed, score Victory points equal to half its Scale (rounding down). | If your opponents Princeps Senioris isn't a Fire Support Titan, chances are you will be able to focus them down if you want to. | 2 | Core | |
| Homing Warheads | 2 | Play this Stratagem in the first Strategy phase of the game. The player chooses one of their Titans armed with an AML or paired AML so long as the titan doesn't already have an upgrade affecting that weapon. Subtract 3 from the dice value of the weapon (to a min of 1). For the remainder of the game, attacks with this weapon do not suffer negative modifiers when attacking an obscured target or when attacking a target out of LoS with the Barrage trait | Solid on a Warlord, not great on a Reaver. Being able to put 7 dice at 2+ on targets you don't have line of sight to is cool. | 2 | DoR | |
| Enhanced Coolant | 2 | Play this stratagem during any strategy phase. The player chooses one of their Titans; for the remainder of the game roll a d6 each time that titan would increase its reactor level. On a 5+, increase the reactor one less hole than normal to a minimum of zero holes. If an effect results in multiple increases such as maximal fire, roll individually for each increase | With the number of times you'll take heat over the course of the game, reducing your total heat load by 1/3 on average could make the difference on an engine that runs hot. Probably best used on a Reaver to keep it out of the orange when playing aggressively or a heat-heavy Warbringer to push for volcano cannons or shieldbane. | 2 | DoR | |
| Experimental Locomotors | 1 | Play this Stratagem in the first Strategy phase of the game. The player chooses one of their Titans; for the remainder of the battle the Titan may use its boosted Speed characteristic without pushing its reactor. During every End phase roll a D10 for this Titan. On a 1, the Titan suffers a Devastating Hit to its Legs and this Stratagem is discarded | This ability is an amazing way to pick up some extra mobility on a model that you want to get stuck in. The downside is rough when it goes off, but is probably good enough to be worth taking in certain lists, like a Ruptura with two Reavers or any list with access to re-rolls. | 2 | DoR | |
| Reactor Surge | 2 | Play this Stratagem when activating a Titan in the Combat phase. If the chosen Titan has a Shield level of X, this Stratagem is immediately discarded. Otherwise, increase the Titan’s Reactor Status level by any number of holes – you cannot voluntarily advance it further than the end of the Status tracker. For each hole the marker is moved along the Reactor Status level, repair the Titan’s Void Shield level by 1. This counts as the Titan’s activation for this round. | A guaranteed out-of-sequence shield repair that only costs heat. Very strong effect on Titans that have the room for it in their reactor, and could make the difference between shields collapsing or not. | 2 | DoR | |
| Venerable Machine Spirit | 2 | Play this Stratagem in the first Strategy phase of the battle. The player chooses one of their Titans that is not a Titan of Legend or Psi Titan; for the remainder of the battle that Titans increases its WS and BS values by +1 to a maximum of 2+. Also, it may be issued Emergency Repair or Charge orders without the need for a command check. However, reduce the Titan's command characteristic by -3. If a command check is failed the Belligerent result is applied with no roll. | Phenomenally powerful on the correct Titan - consider using it on a Claw lords | 2 | WD | |
| Scatterable Mines | 2 | Play this Stratagem during any Strategy phase. Place a marker anywhere on the battlefield then scatter it D10". The area within 6" of this marker counts as Dangerous terrain. Remove the marker at the end of the round. | Has seen a hefty nerf and for good reason, now at half the size it used to be and only once per game instead of every turn this will still be useful for slowing down Warhound advances but isn't a must-take by any means. | 3 | DoM | |
| Strafing Run | 2 | Play this during any Strategy phase. A squadron of fighter bombers scream across the battlefield, attacking everything in their path. Choose one of the four edges of the battlefield and pick a point on that edge. Then pick a point on any other edge of the battlefield and draw an imaginary line between the two. Any unit under this line, or within 2" of it, takes D3 Strength 6 hits. The arc from which the hits originate is determined by the direction the line is travelling. Determine which arc the first chosen point is within for each unit hit and resolve the hits against that arc. | Annoyingly useful at chipping shields off Titans across the board. Very handy if your opponent is bunched up in squadrons but once per game for the cost might not be worth it. | 3 | DoM | |
| Warmasters Portion | Traitor | 2 | Play this Stratagem in the Strategy phase of the first round. During the Movement and Combat phases of the first round, the player's Titans can re-roll rolls of 1 when making To Hit rolls. | Useful on Maniples dropping voids on the first turn, quite often denied due terrain or deployment. | 3 | DoM |
| Experimental Weapon | 2 | Play this Stratagem in the Strategy phase of the first round. The player chooses one of their Titans and places this card next to its Command Terminal. Then randomly choose one of the Titan's weapons. For the duration of this battle, the selected weapon gains the Maximal Fire trait, though must always declare that it is using this Trait each time it fires. If the weapon already has the Maximal Fire trait, select another weapon. | Whilst this can lead to some hillarious situations like a MegaBolter Array with Maximal Fire, the fact you don't get to choose the weapon (unless you game it with the other weapons) and that you have to always use Maximal Fire makes us less likely to use this | 3 | DoM | |
| Ablative Amour | 1 | Play this Stratagem in any Strategy phase. The player chooses one of their Titans and places this card next to its Command Terminal. The first Direct, Devastating or Critical Hit suffered by the Titan is ignored. Then discard this card. | Useful Utility but not very exciting. Could be used as a bait and switch on Vital Cargo. Decent in close-combat focused lists to let you shake off the first hit on a Titan that's closing and makes giving up your Combat phase with Full Stride a little less painful, since the counterpunch won't be as hard. | 3 | DoM | |
| Great Crusade Titans | Loyalist | 2 | Play this Stratagem in any Strategy phase. For the duration of the round, the player's Titans add 2 to Command checks when issuing Charge orders. In addition, when moving under Charge orders the player's Titans count as moving 6" further than they actually moved for the purposes of working out additional Attack dice. | Great for Loyalists who want to punch some fools. Can lead to some surprisingly powerful melee attacks at point blank - you can get an 8-die charge with a chainfist Reaver, which is going to hurt. | 3 | DoM |
| Martian Servitor Clades | Loyalist | 3 | Play this Stratagem at the beginning of any Damage Control phase. Each of the player's Titans adds two Repair dice to their Servitor Clades until the next Strategy Phase. In addition, if the player's opponent is fielding any Legio Mortis or Legio Tempestus Titans, they may re-roll any results of 1 on the Repair dice. | Excellent for recovering your Titans but at a relatively high cost. The bonus against Mortis is nice, considering how frequently you'll run into them, but this strat is ultimately a bit expensive. | 3 | DoM |
| Living Armour | Traitor | 3 | Play this Stratagem in any Strategy phase. The player chooses one of their Titans and a location on the chosen Titan that has suffered Structural Damage. The player then rolls a D10. If the result is equal to or higher than the amount of Structural Damage suffered, all damage to the location is repaired. Otherwise there is no effect, but the player may retain this card and play it again next round. | Considering there usually is no way to repair Structural Damage, this is a very unique power with some interesting risk reward mechanics attached. Ultimately a bit expensive, but being able to go back to the top of the track could be very powerful. | 3 | DoM |
| EarthShaker Mines | 2 | Play this Stratagem immediately after an enemy unit finishes moving or making a turn. Roll a D6. On a 2 or more, that unit suffers D3 Strength 6 hits; a Titan takes these hits to its Legs. Shield saves cannot be made against the hits. In addition, the unit is then moved D6" in a direction determined by the Scatter dice (this may result in a Collision – see the Adeptus Titanicus rulebook). This does not change the unit’s facing. On a 1, nothing happens but the Stratagem is not discarded and can be played again in a subsequent round. | The leg damage is only going to tickle unless if it has previously been hit, but forcing a Titan to pinball in the middle of a Squadron or dense terrain is always a good time. | 3 | DoM | |
| No Prisoners | 2 | Play this at the end of the battle. Score 5 Victory points if all enemy Titans have been destroyed. If the points total of the game is 2,500 points or more, score 10 Victory points instead. | Generally speaking if you've tabled your opponent you've won the game anyway. Although this could be funny to use against someone playing a Knight Household with a single support Titan | 3 | DoM | |
| Titanic Decapitation | 1 | Play this in the End phase if an enemy Titan was destroyed by suffering Critical Damage to its head. Score 5 Victory points. | Headshots and kills are less common due to their heavy armour, but this can pay out for it's low cost - Especially if you are going into Melee | 3 | DoM | |
| Penance | 2 | Play this at the end of the battle. The player scores 3 Victory points for each of their Titans that has not been destroyed, but which is Structurally Compromised. In addition, they score an extra 3 Victory points if their Princeps Seniores' Titan currently has any Critical Damage. | At the end of the battle your Titans will be worse for wear, although this will require clever play on your part to keep them alive as your opponent will normally focus where possible | 3 | DoM | |
| Dark Pledge | 1 | Play this Stratagem in the Strategy phase of the first round. The player chooses an enemy Titan or number of Titans with a Scale of 10 or more to mark for destruction. If, at the end of the battle, these marked Titans have been destroyed, the player scores 10 Victory points. If all or some of the marked Titans have not been destroyed by the end of the battle, the player loses 10 Victory points. | Killing a Warlord takes some serious dedication and can be tricky if they are hanging out in the back field. An interesting gamble | 3 | DoM | |
| Titan Hunter Infantry | 2 | This Stratagem can be played once in each Strategy phase of the game. When this Stratagem is played, place two markers anywhere on the table wholly within a piece of terrain (this does not need to be the same piece of terrain). Instead of activating a Titan or Knight Banner, a player may fire with these markers as if they were units, following all of the rules for making attacks and using the profile below. If more than one player has this Stratagem, players take turns when placing their markers, beginning with the First Player. If two opposing markers are placed in the same piece of terrain, immediately remove both markers. BS/WS: 5+. Firing Arc: 360 degrees. Range: S 6" (+1), L12" (-). Dice: 4. Strength: 5. Traits: -. | This strategem is rad if only for the ability to make the counters from old Epic Marines. As long as you are playing a relatively dense table you should get some milage out of this ability. Keep in mind that with the most recent FAQ, the tokens vanish once they're used, so you can't just fill every piece of terrain with angry Space Marines. | 3 | DoM | |
| Forward Observers | 1 | Play this Stratagem before making an attack using a weapon with the Barrage trait. Place a command bastion or communication relay anywhere on the board to represent a forward observer team position that has been camouflaged up until this point. While the Asset is on the board, when friendly units make attacks using weapons with the Barrage trait, they may draw line of sight, though not range, from this model, thus ignoring the normal -2 penalty for firing indirectly. | For a very low cost you can ensure your barrage weapons won't be blocked by terrain. The fact this pops out once needed rather than being placed at the start of the game makes it more practical. | 3 | DoM | |
| Wails of the Damned | Traitor | 2 | Play during any strategy phase. For the remainder of that round, subtract 2 from the result of command checks made for enemy units when issuing orders. | Makes issuing orders less reliable for your opponent, potentially denying them an important order when it counts. Not as potent as Vox Blackout, but also doesn't stop you from issuing more stratagems either. | 3 | S&I |
| Unhallowed Ground | Traitor | 2 | Play during the first Strategy phase of the game. The battlefield is infused with tained Warp energies. At the end of each movement phase, any unit that has not moved suffers D3 S6 hits, ignoring void and ion shields. Titans suffer these hits to the Legs. | Most lists want to be moving anyway, so this isn't the biggest downside. Also, the units who are most likley to want to stand still for First Fire - Warlords and Acastus - don't care much about strength 6. It's funny and flavorful, but won't make much of a difference most of the time. | 3 | S&I |
| Aetheric Infusion | Traitor | 2 | Play during any phase. The player chooses one of their Titans and rolls a D10. On a 3 immediately make a repair roll for the Titan adding 2 to their Servitor Clades for that roll. On a 2 the Titan takes D3 Devastating hits to the Body. On a 1 the Titan suffers Catastrophic Damage | A potentially strong repair out of sequence with a 20% chance of killing you. Neat, if you need it, I guess. | 3 | S&I |
| Even in Death | Loyalist | 2 | Play when a friendly Titan suffers Catastrophic Damage, before rolling on the Catastrophic Damage table. Instead of rolling on the table, roll a D6; on a 1-4 the Titan suffers a Magazine Detonation, on a 5+ it suffers a Catastrophic Meltdown. Add 1 to the D6 result if the reactor was orange, or add 3 if red. | If you want to use a Titan as a hand grenade, this lets you guarantee that it will explode. Gives you a solid chance of a Catastrophic Meltdown, even when you're not redlining. Interesting on singleton close combat Titans or as a trick to punish lists that get too aggressive. | 3 | S&I |
| Sacrificial Lock-On | Loyalist | 2 | Play at the start of any Combat phase. Place the 5” Blast marker so that the central hole is entirely over a friendly model’s base. Any unit touched by the marker suffers D3 S10 hits or 2D3 S10 hits if the hole is entirely over its base. The attack does not ignore void shields even if the friendly model the marker is centred over is within 2” of a Titan with active shields. | This might let you trade favorably with a dying Titan, but could just as well result in nothing happening. If you're going to use it, make sure the Titans you're targeting don't have voids up - if you need more ways to strip shields, there are better ways to get that from your strat points. This needs to count in order to be worth it. | 3 | S&I |
| Shock Mines | 3 | Play after an enemy unit has finished moving or making a turn. That unit suffers D3 S5 hits to its Legs. Shield saves cannot be made against these hits. If that unit suffers any Direct, Devastating, or Critical damage that unit discards any order it currently has and is immediately issued Shutdown Orders. This Shutdown Order is automatically removed at the end of that round. | 3CP is a lot. However, the results here can be terrifying - if you hit the right target. It's next to useless against Warlords, but if you've ever wanted to terminate that flanking Warhound with extreme prejudice, this is a good way to send a personalized invitation to that particular party. Bair: If you hit it with Thermal Mines first, the shutdown is a near-guarantee. It's a lot of CP, but could be a neat trick. | 3 | S&I | |
| Tracer Cloud | 1 | Play during any Stratagem phase. Place the 5” template anywhere on the battlefield. A player may re-roll Hit rolls for attacks made against any unit under the marker. Remove the Blast marker at the end of the round. | This strat was an easy Tier-1 choice, but got nerfed in the post-Shadow & Iron FAQ at which point it dropped down to a more situational pick. Rather than being the "fuck those Titans in particular" stratagem that it was originally, it is now more of a neon flashing sign, declaring "Do Not Go In There" to any god-engines that happen to be in the neighborhood. You're not likely to get a ton of use out of the bonus to hit unless you're firing at a Fortis Battlepile or something, but it has its applications. | 3 | S&I | |
| Outflank | X | When chosen, secretly note one of your own units. The cost of the stratagem is equal to half of the unit’s scale rounding up. Play at the start of deployment to set that unit to one side and state that it is outflanking. Write down which flank the unit will be arriving from but do not reveal to the opposing player(s). At the start of the movement phase turn 1 reveal to your opponent which flank the unit will be arriving from. During the second movement phase the unit can be activated. | Not going to be used every game, but can result in some devastating results if you plan for it. We've seen it work very well with a full banner of Questoris Knights with Thermal Cannons. Unlike 40K there is no distance you need to come in from your opponent - take advantage of this. | 3 | Core | |
| Sabotage | 2 | Play this Stratagem at the start of any phase. Pick an enemy unit which does not currently have Shutdown orders, remove its current Order (if any), then roll an Order dice – the unit immediately takes the Order shown. If it cannot be issued that Order, only its current Order is removed – no new Order is given. | One of the most hillarious Strategems when it works - such as shutting down a Titan on the first turn, or giving a fire support Titan full stride orders. It isn't something you should rely on but can certainly win you games. | 3 | Core | |
| Artillery Bombardment | 2 | Play this during each Strategy phase. Place the 5" Blast marker anywhere on the battlefield, then scatter it D10". Any unit touched by the marker where it eventually lands suffers a Strength 8 hit, or two Strength 8 hits if the central hole of the Blast marker is entirely over its base. | Dropping a pie plate every turn is nice, but most of the time your targets will have voids or ion saves, and that assumes you even manage to hit them after the 10" scatter. Still, this could clear out some terrain and land the odd lucky hit. | 3 | Core | |
| Orbital Lance Strike | 2 | Once per battle, play this during the Strategy phase. Place the 3" Blast marker anywhere on the battlefield, then scatter it D6". Any unit touched by the marker where it eventually lands suffers D3 Strength 10 hits, or 2D3 Strength 10 hits if the central hole of the Blast marker is entirely over its base. | Will do some real hurt on a target without voids, but there is still the chance it misses completely. You only get one shot with it, but it's a doozy and the 6" scatter gives you a good chance you'll at least wing your target. | 3 | Core | |
| Break Through | 1 | The player can enact this at the end of the battle to score 1 Victory point for each of their units with a scale of 5 or more that is within 9" of their opponent's edge of the battlefield | Worth looking at if you are doing Vital Cargo or if your opponent is doing Hold the Line | 3 | Core | |
| A Score to Settle | 1 | Play this at the end of the Battle. Score 1 additional Victory point for each enemy unit that has been destroyed. | Cheap, but harder to cash in compared to other tertiaries if your opponent isn't using Knights | 3 | Core | |
| Command Bastion | 1 | A command bastion allows the owning player to issue one more order after they fail a Command check when issuing orders in the Strategy phase. The order must be issued to a unit within 18" of the command bastion. Note that this does not allow more than one order to be issued to a unit. | Useless in an Axiom, but worth considering if you're building around a lot of fire support Titans to take advantage of First Fire and Split Fire orders. | 3 | Core | |
| Apocalypse Missile Strongpoint | 2 | In the 'Enact Stratagems' step of the Strategy phase, the owning player can make an attack with the strongpoint's apocalypse missile launcher, using the profile which follows. The strongpoint has a Ballistic/Weapon Skill of 4+ and a 360 degree firing arc. Range: S 30" (-), L 120" (+1). Dice: 5. Strength: 4. Traits: Barrage. | If your opponent is lacking long range firepower one of these in the open can happily ping at shields from long range. Failing that it could still be a nusciance with barrage at targets more than 30" away. | 3 | Core | |
| Communications Relay | 2 | Subtract 1 from the result of any Command checks for units that are within 18" of a communications relay that is owned by the enemy. | Amusing if your opponent is using Knights and there is some cover you can hide this behind. | 3 | Core | |
| Macro Cannon Battery | 2 | In the 'Enact Stratagems' step of the Strategy phase, the owning player can make an attack with the battery's macro cannon, using the profile which follows. The battery has a Ballistic/Weapon Skill of 4+ and a 360 degree firing arc. Range: S 12" (-), L 24" (-1). Dice: 2. Strength: 10. Traits: Ordinance. | Strength 10 hits are going to make themselves known against a target without voids, but the limited effective range and accuracy makes us think about taking Artillery Barrage instead | 3 | Core | |
| Void Shield Relay | 2 | Failed Void Shield saves can be re-rolled for units that are within 2" of a friendly relay and which have not moved (voluntarily or involuntarily) this round. | Being able to reroll all failed saves is huge. Rather amusing with a Fortis Maniple on Hold the Line, but how much use you get out of it will depend on your objectives and table. | 3 | Core | |
| Gifts of the Dark Mechanicum | Traitor | 3 | Play this Stratagem in the Strategy phase of the first round. The player chooses one of their Titans and places this card next to its Command Terminal. Each time the Titan Pushes its Reactor, the player can choose to place a token on this card instead of rolling the Reactor dice, gaining the benefits of Pushing the Reactor without advancing the Reactor track. Once this card has three tokens placed on it, it is discarded. | Push it to the limit and avoid the reactor dangerzone. Interesting on a Warhound with lasers, and even better if you're using it as a shield battery in a Regia - being able to push for Shieldbane or Voids to Full without having to roll is cool. Bair: This is probably Tier 3 in a Regia, and Tier 2 in a Vulcanum Regia. It's still expensive, but getting 3 free reactor pushes to keep those shields re-rolling for your little battery hounds is really good. The ability to choose when you use it makes it even better. | 3 | DoM |
| Redundant Systems | 2 | Play this Stratagem in any Strategy phase. The player chooses one of their Titans; the first time Critical Damage is suffered by that Titan it is ignored – do not move the marker up the tracker. Any other effect, such as loss of Structure points, still occurs. If a Titan is forced to move the Critical Damage marker more than once for an attack, move it one fewer space. Then, discard this Stratagem | Competes with Ablative Armor, which defends against the first hit of any point and costs one point cheaper. However, this strat guarantees that you'll stop a point of critical damage and can't be circumvented by firing lower strength weapons first to sneak in a direct hit. Probably too expensive for what you get, though. | 3 | DoR | |
| Miracle of Mars | 3 | Play this stratagem at the start of the damage control phase. The player chooses one of their titans and places this card next to it's command terminal. At any point during the titans activation the player may discard the card to cool the reactor. To see how effective this is roll 2D10 and add 5. If the result is 7-15, reduce by D3. If the result is 16-24, reduce by D6. If the result is 25, move all the way to the left. | While the probabilities are a little obscured due to the seasonal gimmick, this strat will always reduce your Titan's reactor by at least d3, and has a 55% chance of reducing it by at least d6. It's expensive, but could come in handy. | 3 | WD | |
| Dawn Attack (3) | 3 | Play this Stratagem in the first Strategy phase of the game. For the first two rounds of the game, darkness cloaks the battlefield. Titans must roll (D6+1) x5 to determine how many inches they can see - only enemies within this range can be targeted. Titans that shot earlier in the round can be targeted, regardless of the distance an attacker can see. | Oozing with flavour, this now may be actually worth considering its cost after its update in Loyalist Legios. If you're issuing a lot of Full Strides first turn, this is an interesting trick, but even then you're looking at an average of 22.5" range, which will typically be obsolete by round 2. Condit: Unfortunately, it's also unclear when you check this range - if the range is determined when you play the stratagem, it's a bit weaker as your opponent can just play around it. However, if you roll to determine sight range when the Titan activates, this could create some interesting mind games. After some debate, we think you probably roll for each Titan when they activate for the first time. If there's a clarification it could make this stratagem slightly more effective. Still wouldn't be amazing, though. | 3 | DoM | |
| Endurance of Terra | Loyalist | 2 | Play this Stratagem when one of the player's Titans suffers Critical Damage. The player rolls a D6. If the result is a 3+ then the damage is ignored. Otherwise, the damage is suffered as normal and the player may retain this card to use in subsequent rounds. | It's pretty unlikely to prevent that critical damage when you really need it and by the time it works it is most likely too late. however needing a flat 3+ now is easier to get. At 2 points, it's too expensive for how situational it is. | 3 | DoM |
| Static Rain | 3 | Play this Stratagem during any Strategy phase. Choose a point on the battlefield. Any Titan within 12" of this marker must immediately make D3 Void Shield saves. | Too expensive to be knocking maybe just a shield or two off of enemy titans. Just take other things, please. | 4 | DoM | |
| Auspex Bafflers | 2 | Play this Stratagem in any Strategy phase. The player chooses one of their Titans or Knight Banners. Until the end of the round, the chosen unit increases the To Hit roll penalty for being obscured by 1, i.e., -2 To Hit if at least 25% of the unit is obscured, or -3 To Hit if at least 50% of the unit is obscured. | An asymmetric Blind Barrage that requires you to hide in cover which will make things harder for you to return fire anyway. Rather iffy and we would probably take Blind Barrage due to it's ease of use. | 4 | DoM | |
| Secutarii Batallion | Loyalist | 3 | Play this Stratagem in each Strategy phase. Any enemy units with a Scale of 3 or less immediately suffer D6 Strength 3 Hits if they are within 2" of one of the player's Titans. | Only affects Questoris, costs 3 points, and only goes off once per banner - it targets units and not models. | 4 | DoM |
| War of Fates | Traitor | 1 | Play this Stratagem in any Strategy phase. Before the Movement phase, Damage Control phase and Combat phase, the player rolls a D10. If the result is an odd number, for the duration of that phase any D6 roll of 6 counts as a 1 and any D10 roll of 10 counts as a 1. If the result is an even number, for the duration of that phase any D6 roll of 1 counts as a 6 and any D10 roll of 1 counts as a 10. | If you had a choice of which to pick, this would be very interesting. As it stands, if you're in a situation where it doesn't matter whether you're OK with either outcome, you've probably already won. | 4 | DoM |
| Haywire Barrage | 2 | Once during the game, play this card in the Strategy phase. Place a marker anywhere on the battlefield then scatter it D10". Roll 2D6 for each Titan within 6" of the marker. If the roll is equal to or greater than their Scale, they take 1 point of Critical Damage to a random location, ignoring shields. If the location is a weapon, it is disabled. If the location is a disabled weapon or already has 3 points of Critical Damage then the barrage has no effect. Knight Banners hit by a Haywire Barrage take D3 Strength 7 hits that ignore ion shields. | While more reliable than Warp Storm at hitting the intended target, a single critical damage to a random location isn't typically that useful unless you roll a Weapon. | 4 | DoM | |
| Localized Warp Storm | Traitor | 3 | Play this stratagem in any strategy phase. Place the 3” blast marker anywhere on the battlefield and scatter it D10”. Any unit touched by the blast after it has scattered suffers D3 hits as if attacked by a Warp weapon that has successfully hit. | Expensive and will rarely work. Potentially funny if it hits, but not worth wasting the majority of your points on. | 4 | S&I |
| EMP Discharge | Loyalist | 2 | Play during the movement or combat phase. Pick a friendly Titan that has active void shields. Every Titan that has active void shields within 3” of that Tian suffers a number of S4 hits equal to the Void Shield level of the chosen Titan, as if resolving an attack from a Shieldbane weapon. After resolving these hits the chosen titan’s void shield level is reduced to X. | Dropping shields is a hell of a gambit that might come back to bite you, and getting maximum mileage out of this will require you to get a Warlord (or at least a Reaver) with full shields within 3” of an enemy. But when it works, it’s super cool. | 4 | S&I |
| Noble Sacrifice | 1 | Use during strategy phase. Pick a Titan from your force who is structurally compromised and roll a D6. Add 1 if the reactor is orange, 3 if red. The Titan suffers a Magazine Detonation on a 1-4 or Catastrophic Meltdown on a 5-6. At the end of the battle lose a number of victory points equal to the Titan’s scale. | In the right circumstances this can make for a very memorable game, getting into position can be tricky but the VP penalty makes this one expensive to ROI | 4 | Core | |
| Voidbreaker Field | 2 | Play this Stratagem immediately after an enemy unit with active Void Shields finishes moving or making a turn. Roll a D6. On a 2 or more, the opposing player must immediately make a number of Shield saves equal to the number rolled on the D6. On a 1, the Stratagem can be used a second time, in a subsequent turn. | If this was half the cost we feel it would be more useful, as it is you are better off taking Strafing Run which goes off every turn and hope for chip damage | 4 | Core | |
| Cripple the Foe | 2 | Play this at the end of the battle. Score 2 Victory points for each enemy Titan that has not been destroyed, but which is Structurally Compromised. In addition, score 2 Victory points for each enemy Battlefield Asset that has been destroyed. | Handy if you don't finish the on your oppoenents Titans. If your opponent is spamming battlefield assets (which you won't know at this point) it's a nice bonus | 4 | Core | |
| Plasma Generator | 1 | When the owning player activates a unit within 1" of the plasma generator in the Movement phase, they can declare that it will draw power instead of moving or making turns (or attacking, if it has the First Fire order). The unit does nothing when it is activated, but its Reactor Level is reduced by D3. | Only useful with the stars align in terms of Loadouts or Mission Objectives, using this in your movement activation might be useful, but you're giving up a lot. There are other one-off reactor management strategems you may want to consider instead, or just issue Emergency Repair orders - they're about as effective on anything bigger than a Warhound. | 4 | Core | |
| Dusk Attack | 2 | Play this Stratagem after all objectives have been deployed. Pick any objective on the battlefield. Move that objective D6" in any direction – this can take it outside its normal deployment area. The objective cannot be moved off the board, nor can it overlap with a piece of Blocking terrain | 4 | DoR | ||
| Partial Shutdown | 1 | Play this Stratagem at the start of any Movement phase. Choose a friendly Titan to initiate Partial Shutdown. The chosen Titan is immediately issued Shutdown orders, replacing any Order previously given. The void shields of a Titan that has initiated a Partial Shutdown do not collapse. In addition, a Titan issued Shutdown orders as part of the Partial Shutdown Stratagem reduces its Reactor level by 1 instead of 2 during the Damage Control phase and Reactor rolls can be made for the Titan if forced to do so. Barring these exceptions, a Partially Shutdown Titan follows all other normal rules for the Shutdown order as described in the Adeptus Titanicus rulebook | A neat trick that might make issuing Shutdown orders somewhat more palatable, but ultimately still not great. The free vent is nice, but still being forced to make reactor checks and giving up your combat phase is ultimately probably too much, especially given that you have to use this at the start of the movement phase. | 4 | DoR |
Titan Legions
As we mentioned earlier, some Legios have their own exclusive stratagems reflecting their style of warfare. Here’s our take on those stratagems:
| Name | Restriction | Cost | Text | Verdict | Tier | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Blessings of the Emperor | Defensor | 2 | Reveal this Stratagem when a hit would result in one of your Titans rolling on the Catastrophic Damage table. The hit is ignored and this Stratagem has no further effect. | Being able to say no when your Opponent says "ENGINEKILL" is always amusing. Although you have to make the investment worth it | 1 | TD |
| Fog of War | Solaria | 1 | Play this Stratagem in the Strategy phase of the first round. The Imperial Hunters player may redeploy a Warhound Titan for every Titan with a Scale of 7 or greater in their force. These redeployed units can be placed anywhere that they would normally be allowed to deploy by the mission being played. This stratagem can be purchased multiple times. | Redeploy shenanigans are always great, especially with Warhounds, who definitely benefit from the ability to hide from key firing arcs. | 1 | TD |
| Offensive Surge | Fureans | 3 | Reveal this Stratagem in any Combat phase. The Tiger Eyes player may choose one of their deployed Tiger Eyes maniples; for this Combat phase, each Titan in the chosen maniple may attack twice with one of its weapons but must increase its Reactor level by 1, in addition to any other effects. | Puts the Alpha in Alpha Strike, worthy of the high cost | 1 | TD |
| Burned Ones | Infernus | 1 | Play during any Combat phase. Choose any piece of Blocking terrain within 12” of any Legio Infernus Titan and remove it replacing it with an area of difficult terrain of the same size. This can be purchased multiple times. | Don't like that building? That's fine. Just blow it up! Cheap, useful when you need it, and you can take it as many times as you want. | 1 | S&I |
| Cull the Weak | Vulturum | 1 | Play this Stratagem when an enemy Titan moves outside of its Front arc (see Sidestepping and Backing Up in the Adeptus Titanicusrulebook), whether voluntarily or involuntarily. A friendly Legio Vulturum Titan can immediately make an attack with one of their weapon systems against that target, increasing its Reactor Level by 1 to do so. For all intents and purposes, this is a new attack requiring an Attack roll, any additional increases to the Titan’s reactor level, etc. | Hate Corsairs? This strat is for you. Punish your opponent for moving in unpredictable and untelegraphed ways. And if you've got two maniples, you can spend a Princeps Trait to be able to take this more than once. | 1 | DoR |
| Scent of Blood | Vulturum | 2 | Play this Stratagem when an enemy Titan suffers Critical Damage in the Combat phase as a result of damage from an attack made by a friendly Legio Vulturum Titan. After the attacking Titan’s activation has ended, you can immediately activate another friendly Legio Vulturum Titan that hasn’t yet been activated this Combat phase, increasing the chosen Titan’s reactor level by 2 to do so. This counts as that Titan’s activation this Combat phase | An out-of-sequence activation that lets you follow up on a crit to either try and finish off that target or get started on a new one. | 1 | DoR |
| Battle Fervour | Magna | 3 | Play this Stratagem during any Strategy phase. For the remainder of the phase, friendly Legio Magna Titans may be issued Charge orders without the need to make a Command check. In addition, for the remainder of the round, friendly Legio Magna Titans may re-roll Hit rolls of a 1 for attacks made with a weapon with the Melee trait. | Magna wants to be in close, and this lets you make excellent use of this. A well-coordinated set of charges can turn the tide of a game, and adding the extra dice on is just gravy. Well worth the cost. | 1 | DoR |
| Heedless Charge | Laniaskara | 1 | Play this Stratagem at the start of any Strategy phase. For the remainder of the phase, any friendly Legio Laniaskara Titan can be issued a Charge order without the need to make a Command check. | Auto include if you've got multiple melee titans, low cost makes it easy to use with Warp Displacement | 1 | CoR |
| Steadfast Basion | Kulisaetai | 1 | Add 6" to the Short range (but not the Long range) characteristic of all weapons without the Melee trait carried by a Legio Kulisaetai Titan during the Shooting phase, so long as it has not moved (voluntarily or involuntarily) already this round. | Hillarious with the right weapons, makes for great called shot opportunities for weapons with short range bonuses - Lasers and Gatlings become terrifying | 1 | CoR |
| Methodical Advance | Kulisaetai | 2 | Play this Stratagem in the Strategy phase of the first round. Choose a Scale. All friendly Legio Kulisaetai Titans with the same Scale as the chosen Scale may immediately make a move although no Titan may declare Power to Stabilisers! or Power to Locomotors!. After the effects of the Stratagem have been resolved, the opposing player becomes the First Player. Titans that move in this way may not be activated in the Strategy phase of the first round. | Depends on battlegroup and scenario, excellent for maniples homogenous titans like the Lupercal or Corsair. Effectively gives you a full stride with the ability to still shoot. | 1 | CoR |
| Stygian Veil | Tritonis | 3 | The Legio Tritonis player may immediately place three markers anywhere on the battlefield, so long as each marker is at least 10" from a previously deployed marker. Any section of the battlefield within 3" of the centre of the marker blocks line of sight and any non-Legio Tritonis player within 6" of the centre of one or more markers suffers a -2 penalty to their Command check. All markers are removed at the start of the End phase. | God tier. More effective that three Concealment Barrages - which aguably was the best stratagem in the game and that's before the command debuff. Strongly consider taking the multiple times. | 1 | CoR |
| Portents of Doom | Interfector | 2 | Reveal this Stratagem during the Strategy phase. Any enemy Titan or Knight Banner within 12" of a Legio Interfector Titan may not be issued Orders this round. | Best used with a Maniple with numerous closing Titans, this can ruin someone's orders phase whilst you still get to make your own | 2 | DoM |
| A Day of Retribution | Defensor | 2 | This Stratagem can be purchased by any Legio Defensor player. Play this Stratagem in the Strategy phase of the first round. Choose a single friendly Legio Defensor Titan. That Titan may immediately make an attack with one of its weapons. While resolving this attack, double the weapon’s Long range. Then, advance your Titan’s Plasma Reactor track three places. Once the effects of he attack have been worked out, begin the first game round. | Only really practical on a Warlord Carapace Weapon, this is a great way to drop voids quickly at the cost of your reactor's stability | 2 | TD |
| Maniple of One | Atarus | 2 | The Firebrands player may reveal this Stratagem at the beginning of any round. For the duration of that round, one Titan in their force may gain the benefits of any Maniple trait normally available to the Firebrands. Note that while this Stratagem is in effect , the chosen Titan loses any other Maniple trait it might have and does not count as being a part of any other maniples. | Utility and flexibility is always nice to have. You won't always take this, but it could allow you to set up some really interesting turns. | 2 | TD |
| March of the Dead | Mortis | 3 | Play this Stratagem in the Strategy phase of the first round. The Legio Mortis player may immediately move each of their Titans just as if it was the Movement phase. This special movement cannot be boosted. If the player uses this Stratagem, their opponent automatically becomes the First Player for the remainder of the first game round. | Blitz up the field for a relatively high cost. | 2 | TD |
| No Pity for the Vanquished | Vulpa | 1 | Play this Stratagem when an enemy Titan is destroyed (i.e., makes a roll on the Catastrophic Damage table). The Titan who inflicted the killing attack may immediately make another attack with the same weapon system against a fresh target within 12" of the destroyed Titan. For all intents and purposes, this is a new attack requiring a dice roll, any increases to the Titan's reactor level, etc. | This one seems like a weird fit until you realize that Vulpa's trait rewards you for using ranged weapons within 2". If you finish something off with a gatling or laser, you can get a free follow-up round of shooting with it. Not bad. | 2 | TD |
| Precision Volley | Praesagius | 2 | Play at the start of the Strategy Phase, before any orders are issued. Until the start of the next round, add 1 to the Hit rolls of all attacks made by Legio Praesagius Titans when using a weapon’s Long range | Incredibly powerful, this will let you set up a seriously dangerous turn of shooting at long range. | 2 | S&I |
| Decisive Action | Oberon | 2 | Play at the start of any Strategy phase. If played during the first round, until the end of the phase Legio Oberon Titans may be issued First Fire or Full Stride orders without needing a command check. If played in any round after the first, then any Legio Oberon Titans may be issued with Full Stride or Split Fire Orders without needing a command check. All Titans issued using this stratagem must be issued the same order. | Lets you issue a whole pile of free orders to your maniple. The spread of options here is pretty good, letting you either close the distance or unload from a distance, which will help you adapt to your opponent's battleplan. Not an autotake, but definitely worth considering. | 2 | S&I |
| Unstoppable | Mordaxis | 3 | Play at the start of the Damage Control phase before any repair rolls are made. Until the end of the phase add 2 to the Servitor Clades of all Mordaxis Titans | An expensive but powerful ability that might just be able to turn the tide of the game. | 2 | S&I |
| Tormented Machine Spirit | Interfector | 1 | Reveal when an Interfector Titan would roll on the Awakened Machine Spirit table. Instead of rolling on the table, make an attack with each of the Titan's weapons. These attacks must be made against the closest model, friend or foe. | This is it: the good "guarantee an effect on Awakened Machine Spirit" stratagem. It's still not incredible, but at 1 point cost and with a potent effect for a legion that wants to be in close, it's worth considering having in your back pocket. Just make sure you've got your ranges right. | 2 | DoM |
| Spearhead Assault | Magna | 2 | Play this Stratagem during any Strategy phase. For the remainder of the round, friendly Legio Magna Titans add 1 to all Hit rolls and Armour rolls made as a result of an attack against a target within 8" of the attacking Titan, in addition to any other modifiers. However, enemy Titans add 1 to all Armour rolls made as a result of an attack against a Legio Magna Titan originating from its Side or Rear arc, in addition to any other modifiers | High risk, high reward. The downside here is that if you're within 8" of your target, the rest of their battlegroup is likely to be able to flank you. You'll need to make this decisive to be worth it | 2 | DoR |
| Relentless March | Osedax | 1 | Play this Stratagem during any Strategy phase. For the remainder of the round, friendly Legio Osedax Titans may be issued Full Stride orders without the need to make a Command check and are not affected by Difficult terrain and Dangerous terrain | Ignoring dangerous or difficult terrain is cool, especially if you pair this with Scatterable Mines or some other way to generate difficult or dangerous terrain. The bonus to Full Stride orders is a nice trick, but you won't always use it for that. | 2 | DoR |
| Blood Begets Blood | Osedax | 3 | Play this Stratagem when a friendly Legio Osedax Titan suffers Catastrophic Damage. After resolving the effects of the Catastrophic Damage, every friendly Legio Osedax Titan may immediately make a single weapon attack. This attack must be made against the closest visible enemy unit. Increase the Plasma Reactor level of any Titan that makes an attack in this way by 2, in addition to any other advances associated with weapon fire | This could be very powerful, but is a bit too expensive and is just flat too risky if you're heavy on Warhounds. The out-of-sequence shots are nice, but that much heat could be a dealbreaker. | 2 | DoR |
| Strength and Resolve | Astraman | 1 | The Morning Stars player may reveal this Stratagem when activating a Titan during the Strategy phase. Until the beginning of the following round, attacks made against that Titan gain no bonus to Armour rolls as a result of damage already inflicted as indicated by the Command Terminal (see the Adeptus Titanicus rulebook). This counts as the Titan’s activation for that phase | A useful investment for your larger engines to shrug off smaller arms fire deny your oppoenent vital Engine Kills, although can often be too little too late. | 2 | CoR |
| Punish their Folly | Ignatum | 1 | Play this Stratagem when an enemy Titan ends its move within 3" of a Legio Ignatum Titan as part of a Charge order. Before any attacks are resolved, that Legio Ignatum Titan can immediately make an attack using their Ballistic Skill with a weapon without the Melee trait. | In the matchups against melee titans just the fact this stratagem exists can change the game. | 2 | CoR |
| Endurance beyond Limit | Damicium | 3 | Play this Stratagem at the start of the Combat phase, before any units are activated. The Legio Damicium player may immediately make a Repair roll for each Titan, rolling a number of D6 equal to half its Servitor Clades characteristic rounding up | Similar to Mordaxis' Unstoppable, the timing on this makes it easier to use and less likely to feel like a waste - won't have to worry about using it when you rolled boxcars anyway | 2 | CoR |
| Strategiser | Oberon | 3 | Play when an opponent plays a stratagem that costs 2 or less points, before resolving its effects. The stratagem is discarded and its effects ignored. | Agents of Vect comes to Titanicus. It's a doozy, but could be an incredibly powerful tool to have in your back pocket. Unfortunately, 3 stratagem points is a lot in this game, so don't expect to take this often. However, if you think your opponent is planning around a specific stratagem, this will really throw a wrench in the works. | 2/3 | S&I |
| For the Red Planet | Fortidus | 2 | The Dauntless player may reveal this Stratagem when activating a Titan. Until the beginning of the following game round, the Titan ignores the damage effects of Critical Damage to its Head, Body or Legs, as chosen by the player when the Stratagem is revealed. | Situational but at least used upon activation to ignore a vital critical such as a damage to the Legs on Retrival or Vital Cargo | 3 | DoM |
| Bounty of Mars | Astorum | 2 | Play this Stratagem at the beginning of the Damage Control phase of any round. Choose one type of critically damaged system or disabled weapon, i.e., Head, Body, Weapon, etc. For the duration of this Damage Control phase, the dice score required to repair this system is reduced by 1, i.e., if a dice result of 5 or 6 is normally required then for this phase, the player can use a dice result of 4, 5, or 6. | If the stars align and you have multiple Titans that need help on repairs, this could be useful. However, you won't run into that situation that often. | 3 | TD |
| Machine Defiance | Astorum | 2 | Play this Stratagem when a Titan's Void Shields collapse. Immediately roll a number of D6 equal to the Titan's Servitor Clades characteristic. For each roll of a 5 or 6, restore the Titan's Void Shield level by 1. Note, this is not a Repair roll and does not benefit from any effects which influence or modify Repair rolls. | Gives you a chance to bring void shields back when they go down. Held back by the fact that you can't do anything except raise voids. Could be a real pain for your opponent to deal with depending on your objective and the state of the board. | 3 | TD |
| Scorched Earth | Krytos | 1 | Reveal this Stratagem in any Strategy phase. For the duration of that round, when targeting terrain, Titans of the Legio Krytos add 2 to the Strength of their weapons. | It's not often that you intentionally target terrain, but on Split Fire orders you can set the world ablaze | 3 | TD |
| Symbiotic Commands | Vulcanum | 1 | Play the stratagem in the strategy phase after sucessfully issuing an order to a vulcanum titan. The player may immediately issue this same order to any or all of the vulcanum titans in the same battlegroup without further command checks. | Vulcanum already has enough command shenanigans between Twinned Machine Spirits, the extra princeps, and the re-rolls later in the game, so this winds up being somewhat redundant. | 3 | DoM |
| Crusading Spirit | Honorum | 1 | Play this Stratagem during any Strategy phase. For the remainder of the phase, friendly Legio Honorum Titans do not suffer penalties to Command checks. In addition, a single Legio Honorum Titan may re-roll a failed Command check made when issuing Orders | In another legion, this might be better ranked, but Honorum already has plenty of options to improve reliability of Command checks. | 3 | DoR |
| Guard the Gates | Ignatum | 2 | Play this Stratagem at the start of the first round’s Strategy phase. Friendly Legio Ignatum Titans can be issued the First Fire order without the need to make a Command check. | Useful in battlegroups that have a number of Reaver Apocs or Warbringers, but otherwise limited use. Easy to counterplay | 3 | CoR |
| Red Skies | Fortidus | 1 | The Dauntless player may reveal this Stratagem when one of their Titans suffers a Magazine Detonation or Catastrophic Meltdown result on the Catastrophic Damage table (see page 36 of the Adeptus Titanicus rulebook). When resolving the Catastrophic Damage effects, add 5 to the Titan's Scale. | Interesting, but ultimately not very useful. Not only do you have to lose a Titan, but you have to roll high on the Catastrophic Damage table, limiting its usefulness. | 4 | DoM |
| Impetous Machine Spirit | Atarus | 1 | Reveal this Stratagem when a Firebrands Titan would be required to make a roll on the Awakened Machine Spirit table (see page 44 of the Adeptus Titanicus rulebook). Rather than rolling, the Firebrands player may instead choose to automatically apply the Impetuous result, rolling D6+2" rather than D6" to determine the distance moved. | Not that great. Could be an interesting trick to close the gap if your machine spirit happens to wake on a Voids to Full roll, though. | 4 | TD |
| Frontier Guard | Lysanda | 2 | Play during the Strategy phase of any round. Until the end of the round, the WS and BS of any Legio Lysanda Titan within 3” of an objectives (for their own victory conditions) is increased by 1 (to a maximum of 2+). | This would be neat if objective markers were more of a thing - as it stands, they don't come up often enough to make this worthwhile. Keep it in mind if the format for matched play changes, though. | 4 | S&I |
| Stand Firm | Astraman | 3 | The Morning Stars player may reveal this Stratagem at the beginning of any round. For the duration of that round, any friendly Legio Astraman Titan can merge void shields with any other friendly Legio Astraman Titans as if they were part of the same Squadron, so long as none of the Titans sharing void shields have moved this round | Greviously overcosted with unfortunate timing, which signals the intent of a significant part of your forces for the turn. | 4 | CoR |
| Iron Endures | Krytos | 1 | Reveal this Stratagem in any Strategy phase. For the duration of that round, all God Breakers Titans reduce the Strength of hits suffered as a result of Dangerous terrain by 2 (to a minimum of 0). | We find that personally and at events most terrain is blocking/impassble rather than dangerous terrain, making this have limited use. | Butt | TD |
Show Your Strategic Genius
Stratagems add another layer of depth to Titanicus and will help you keep your opponent guessing. Clever use of these can turn a game around or result in legendary moments that you’ll talk about around the table for some time. And while choosing the right stratagems in your games is difficult, what’s important is that you think about what you’re trying to accomplish, and how the various stratagems might play into that.
Also keep in mind that just because a stratagem is expensive, situational, or a little weak doesn’t mean that it can’t be fun to play with. Take the time to experiment and find out what works for you, but keep in mind that you’ve only got so many points to work with. Stratagems are yet another way to define how your legion plays, so as long as you’re thinking about how they can support the play style you’re looking for, you can’t go wrong.
As always, if you have any questions or feedback, feel free to drop us a note in the comments below or email us at contact@goonhammer.com.
