Painting Challenge Submission 17 - Epic 30k Titans

Epic 30k Titans from loyalist and rebel factions...the galaxy will burn!

It's been neat diving into new periods (ancient/medieval) and new rules (SAGA and Hail Caesar) during Curt's Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge, but I still have a 30k side duel on my mind as we enter the closing stretch. During this edition of the Challenge I have been particularly pleased to see a number of others participants becoming interested in Epic 30k.  Byron, Iannick and John have all done some great stuff, and it's humbling to be part of their inspiration, even if this inspiration is often referred to as "corruption"...


I haven't painted much Epic 30k myself this Challenge, and that didn't seem right to me, so I approached the vast pending pile here at home last week and present to you some Titans - the penultimate war machines of the 30th Millenium!

Legio Mortis titans, with a some 6mm Space Marines to give a perspective on the size of the models

The concept of Titans launched the whole Epic game set in the first place at GW, when they issued the game "Adeptus Titanicus".  While you can absolutely play a very fun and engaging game without any Titans on the table (we do this often), their presence does add an entirely new dimension to the fun.  I mean, just look at these bonkers things...

Legio Gryphonicus engines with same Space Marines, again for size perspective...

For those who don't follow the setting too closely, the Titans in 30k are, like the Space Marines, organized into Legions. Where the Space Marine Legions are pledged to the Emperor (or, they were initially, at any rate, LOL), the Titan Legions are pledged to the Mechanicum (a sort of parallel empire of technological knowledge based from Mars, an IT department from Hell) and the Forge World planet of their own founding.  Space Marine Legions and Titan Legions fought together as allies through the Great Crusade and built their own connections and sub loyalties. As the Space Marine Legions divided during Horus' rebellion, so it was with the Titan Legions, with many opting to follow the glorious Warmaster, as the Mechanicum split along with the rest of the Imperium.

Warhound class from the War Griffons, sporting Vulcan Mega Bolter and Plasma Blastgun

The specifics of the weapons are boring - bottom line, they wreck sh!t

I have painted Titans from opposing loyalist and rebel Legions so we can have Titan scraps here with the group during our Epic 30k games.  The purple Titans are from the Legio Mortis, the so-called "Death Heads", one of the largest Titan Legions in service, they had been attached to Horus' expeditionary fleet for a long time and had no concerns joining him for his plans to Make Terra Great Again. The Death Heads rolled with Horus all the way to the siege of Terra, and smashed through the gates of the Imperial Palace itself during the great assault.

Reaver class titan of the War Griffons

Sporting a gatling cannon, a volcano cannon and apocalypse launcher (on top)

A bit of weathering on the feet...all that dust from the march, no matter how big you are...

The grey and yellow engines are from Legio Gryphonicus, known as the "War Griffons".  As Horus didn't trust this bunch to go along with his vision, he used his authority as Warmaster to ensure the War Griffons were spread out into smaller detachments throughout the Imperium. The War Griffons remained loyal to the Emperor, and as such their experience of the opening phases of the Horus Heresy tended to be a series Pearl-Harbour type encounters where these smaller detachments fell in glorious final defence of various doomed outposts and positions as Horus advanced on Terra.  Ultimately the remnants of the Legio Gryphonicus would gather together and even many scores once the assault on Terra had been repelled, but it was rough going until then...

Reaver class titan from the Death Heads

So what type of Titans are these? The smaller walkers are "Warhound" class - "scout" (!) titans, an utterly hilarious concept given the size of the things, but they are, relatively speaking, faster and less heavily armed than the larger classes. Of the larger classes, there are several, but the ones you see here are"Reaver" class - "medium" (!!) battle titans.  The Reavers are front line engines of war for the Titan Legions.

The beast is sporting a volcano cannon, turbo lasers and the ubiquitous apocalypse launcher (most common feature of this variant of titan)

There are four Titans shown in this submission, but only three were painted during the Challenge.  The Warhound for Legio Mortis was painted last summer. With the points scored on these models, I passed my goal of 1,000 points worth of painting, which I'm pleased about (although I still won't match the prodigious output Byron has achieved...)

These models will see action during an Epic 30k demonstration game here in Winnipeg at "Legions Maxximus" running from March 17 to 19.  I'm looking forward to taking the Horus Heresy to "epic" levels. If you enjoy Epic or the Horus Heresy I hope you can join us!