Volkite Weapons for Adeptus Titanicus

Assortment of new "Volkite" weapons for Adeptus Titanicus.

More new guns for the God Engines of Adeptus Titanicus! Here we have the range of new "Volkite" weapons for the Titans. Fans of 30k will be familiar with the "Volkite" weapon class - it is essentially a Martian heat ray/death ray kind of thing. They are great fun to use in 30k games, and the sculptors who designed them made them look pretty cool (in my view, at least - YMMV). Tactical support squads equipped with "Volkite Calivers" are a must for any 30k force for me - for the "looks cool factor" if no other reason.

Like the las guns, bolt guns, and other scary weapons of the grim and dark future, the rules writers and designers for the Horus Heresy setting ultimately came up with a Volkite-type weapon of every size, from a pistol all the way to a "volkite demi-culverin" for tanks and the "volkite carronade" for super-heavy tanks (such as the lovely Glaive painted by MikeF for his Alpha Legion collection).

So would the Titans miss out on this fun? Heck no! Earlier this summer GW released Volkite weapons for the Titans, and being a nerd, I picked some up - here they are. These are all multi-part resin kits from Forge World.

"Volkite Eradicator" on the carapace mount of a loyalist Reaver Titan from Legio Gryphonicus.

Volkite Weapons in Adeptus Titanicus

Reaver Titan of Legio Mortis modelling a new "Volkite Eradicator".

As you smash your foes in Adeptus Titanicus, you are trying to find the right mix of weapons that will knock out the enemy's formidable void shields - often, though not always, accomplished through volume of fire - and also have the power to deliver a killer blow - often, though not always, accomplished through a high strength rating.

Loyalist Warlord from Legio Gryphonicus sporting a new "Volkite Destructor".

Closer look at the new Volkite weapon for the Warlord Titans.

The volkite weapons would purport to give you a bit of both - the rate of fire is not high, but they have special rules that nonetheless make them rather taxing for the void shields of your enemies. The weapons come in two flavours - "Volkite Eradicators" for the arms of your Warhound Titans, or the carapace mount of your Reaver Titan - and "Volkite Destructors" for the arms of your Warlord Titans. 

The Death Heads won't miss out...Legio Mortis trying out its new toy...

As you might expect, the "Destructor" hits a little harder than the smaller "Eradicators" on the Warhounds and Reavers. I obviously have not had a chance to use these in a game yet, but my initial assessment is that, while these things look cool, they would suffer from opportunity cost - they could be useful, but you only have so many weapon mounts to go around, and the other weapons are probably more useful.

All sorts of arcane-looking power bits on this weapon design. Good times await!

In terms of their headline use, knocking over void shields, I can see how they might be a better option the vulcan mega bolters...but using up an arm mount on a Warlord Titan for this purpose is, to me, possibly a waste. The "Destructor" does benefit from a "Beam" special rule, but I don't think that compensates for the loss of one of the other, much more destructive weapon options you might employ on the arms of your Warlord.

The Reaver is probably the worst option for this weapon...with just a single mount, and therefor single shot available, you are unlikely to have the truly devastating impact you hoping for when it comes to knocking over the void shields of your enemy - the missile launcher will do a better job, from a longer range - but again, it looks neat, and does have a higher strength, offering some flexibility of use.

Ready for Volkite mayhem! Warhounds sporting their new "Volkite Eradicators"

If you are going to use these weapons, the Warhound is probably the chassis to use them on - and they would be best used in pairs. To me, they would functionally replace the twin vulcan bolters, and generally fulfill the same battlefield role you would have had for a Warhound with twin bolters - knocking the void shields from enemy engines in one pass of firing, leaving them vulnerable to killer hits from other, larger titans on your side. And while the strength isn't all that high, it is still usefully higher than that of the bolters, so you can spray destruction at wounded Titans, or enemy Knights.

So here we are, even more weapons for Adeptus Titancus. During the early stages of the release of this game, the lack of weapon options was a great frustration. A couple of years later, there is now quite a wide variety to choose from - although a number of them have disappeared from Forge World's web store, so...I hope you got them while you had the chance...

Anyway, thanks for reading!