New Knight & Reaver Weapon for AT18

Some AT18 painting - another Cerastus Knight Lancer and a new carapace weapon for a Reaver Titan.

In my last post about painting, I mentioned I was staying in 10mm, and I sort of consider the new Adeptus Titanicus model range from GW to be 10mm-ish...at any rate, after finishing those few small Prussians, my brushes have returned to Adeptus Titanicus subjects for the past couple of weeks.  Here is a Cerastus Knight and a Warp Missile Rack for the carapace mount of a Reaver Titan.

Cerastus Knight
The Cerastus Knight is one of the newer models GW have released for their Adeptus Titanicus re-boot ("AT18").  When it comes to the "fluff" of the story, the Knights are not of great interest to me, but the models are really lovely and the Knights can play an important role in the game.  This specific Knight will join two I painted earlier this year to form a full-strength banner of Cerastus Lancers.

This may shock you...

Each Cerastus Knight seen here carriers a shock lance and an "Ion Gauntlet" (a power fist for Knights, essentially).  They are intended for close combat on the AT18 table.  They are able to move fast and if they survive to get close to their opposition, the shock lances could deliver a nasty surprise to even the mighty Warlord Titans.  They will also do well putting a beating on banners of opposing Questoris Knights.

I can't say enough about the excellent decal sheets GW has released for AT18. They are very nice, and really help finish a model, especially the Knights, which are often sporting heraldry of their various "houses".

There are other weapons available, in theory, for the Cerastus Knight chassis, but for now the shock lance and ion gauntlet are the only models out there. I assume the flame cannon and bolt cannon variants will arrive as either separate model sets, or as upgrades from Forge World.

The Ion Shield, which is capable of delivering a short-range "shock blast".

The shock lance...another short-range weapon, but can be very deadly on the table if the Knight is in the right position...

My loyalists now have the support of two different Knight banners - these fellows, and a full strength banner of six Questoris Knights.

Warp Missile Rack
GW's support for AT18 has been hit-and-miss, but they are gradually releasing a greater variety of weapons for the Titans in the game.  Selecting different weapons load-outs for your Titans was always a fun aspect of the original Adeptus Titanicus game - and while the new Reaver kits at least have a touch of variety in their weapon loadouts, Forge World has augmented the choice out there (for a price, of course) by releasing Warp Missile Racks designed to fit the carapace weapon mount on Reaver Titans.

A one-shot deal, mounted in the carapace mount of a Legio Gryphonicus Reaver Titan.

The Warp Missile is a fun, whacky, weapon.  Basically the missile flies at the enemy Titan, goes briefly into the warp in order to avoid any void shields, then returns from the warp just in time to hit the target Titan.  In essence, this weapon gives you a chance to land a critical hit on an enemy God-engine even while your target's void shields are in rude health. Yikes! This weapon has a lot of disruptive potential - I look forward to seeing the players try it out on the table!

Another view of the Warp Missile Rack.  The missile itself can be removed to show it has been fired (and presumably has caused trouble for the Warmaster's minions...).

While I am not hobby-savvy enough to figure out how to magnetize the arm weapons on my Reaver Titans, it is very easy to magnetize the carapace weapons, and so it is easy to swap out the Apocalypse Launcher and/or Laser Blaster to mount this thing on top.

Reaver Titan and Cerastus Lancer banner - you can see the Cerastus Knights are pretty tall for Knights (it's all relative in the grim darkness of the far future).

There is a nice variety of weapons available out there now for your Titans.  They are not cheap to acquire, and GW has managed to package this in a fashion that brings to mind the ridiculous process TV signal-sellers use to flogging channel packages, but they are out there now, and even seem to be in supply.  As I said above, choosing weapon loadouts is, for me, part of the fun, so I hope to share some more progress on different weapons for my Titans soon.  And, of course, more Titans at some point...

Thanks for visiting!

Cerastus Knights for Adeptus Titanicus

More loyalist reinforcements - a pair of Cerastus Knight Lancers for Adeptus Titanicus.

 More elements for Adeptus Titanicus in this post.  Still painting Knights, but these are of a different sort from the previous bunch - these are "Cerastus"- type Knights (as opposed to the "Questoris" sort which I have been painting previously).  These Knights, which can see from their equipment, are the "Lancer" variety - equipped with a shock lance and an ion gauntlet (aka fist to punch things) as well as a shield.

He'll poke your eye out...

These new models were released...earlier this year, I think? Or maybe late 2018? I can't remember exactly...the pace of new releases in this game has been so slow, and the levels of stock so low, that I have been losing track.  They come two to a box - and yes, the price remains exhorbitant. But the model kits are brilliantly done, and you get a great decal sheet to use with the models.

Gives you an idea of the relative size of the Cerastus Knights...a good bit taller than the Questoris machines.

The Cerastus Knights are a good bit taller than the Questoris ones, and they are a little tougher as well. But there are limits to the size of their "Banners" - they top out at three machines, where the Questoris banners can have as many as six machines.  I have just painted these two for my loyalist forces for now, but have others in the queue - hoping to have a "Banner" of three machines for each of my loyalists and rebels.

The models have an excellent sort of "loping" motion...very well done by GW.

While the Cerastus are tougher, they are also easier to target because they are larger, and the big scary weapons like the bellicosa volcano problems will blast them to pieces. Fortunately the Cerastus Knights also move fast, and have a good command rating, so you have a better chance to give them orders.  The shock lance can be extremely damaging to even mighty Warlord Titans if they are able to charge home - enemy Princeps will need to keep an eye on these fellows, and ensure the flanks of their God-engines are covered.

You're going to need that shield...

The Cerastus-type chassis can carry other weapon assortments - a big flamer, a big heavy bolter, and different sorts of blades for "close combat" situations - but those models (or maybe just separate weapon sprues?) haven't yet been released by GW.  I believe GW intends to release them...but it's hard to know, as they have been so hot-and-cold when it comes the re-booted Adeptus Titanicus.

Thanks for visiting the blog, hope you are having a great summer. 

More Knights - and a building(!) - for Adeptus Titanicus

Some more Adeptus Titanicus painting...three more Knights, and a building.

A few weeks ago I added three more Knights to my Adeptus Titanicus forces so as to be able a full "banner" of six machines for an Adeptus Titanicus demonstration game we were hosting at Prairiecon XL.  Well, here yet again is another trio of Knight models - this time for the loyalist side of my collection.

More Knights for the loyalists...more targets for Horus...

I don't have much time or interest in the back story of the Imperial "Knight Houses", but these models are really tremendous.  They can be painted relatively quickly, but there is a stunning amount of detail on them, which will reward the extra effort if you want to dive in.  I tried to split the difference, going for a pretty straightforward paint job, but pulling out some fun details here and there.

Amazing detail on these models.

They also come with great decal sheets, and they make SUCH a difference, very, very cool.  I made liberal use of the decals, and wow, do they ever help make these models even nicer.

Thermal cannon...gets results!

Gatling cannon...scratches paint...not much more...

The Knights are also represented well in the re-booted Adeptus Titanicus rules. They are small, yes (I mean, it's all relative, but they are small compared to the Titans), but they move quickly, and in a group the "banner" can really cause damage to enemy Titans.  Some of the Knight weapons are scarier than others - for example, I do find the "avenger gatling cannon" to be a fairly useless weapon in the Adeptus Titanicus game (in a game of Epic 30k, that would be another story).  But the battle cannon and thermal cannon can bring the pain - particularly if the Knights get close, and start making hits from inside enemy void shields.

I now have two full strength "banners" to deploy in my collection - one each for the loyalist and rebel factions.

Building assembled from the bits in the new Adeptus Titanicus box set.

The buildings kits are great - very modular, and can be assembled in all sorts of ways.

The building is assembled from the new Adeptus Titanicus building bits that came with the new game.  They are really cool...you can build them in a bewildering number of different ways.  The downside is that you have to paint them...I'm slow to paint terrain.  But every so often I get to it, and I finished this one building quickly while painting the Knights. 

Updated collection photo showing the loyalist and rebel forces.

Legio Gryphonicus maniple and allied Knight Household support.

Legio Mortis and allied Knight Household support. Horus for hope!

Stay tuned for (hopefully) more painting progress to appear soon...thanks for visiting the blog, and have a great day!

Adeptus Titanicus at Prairiecon 2019

Loyalist Titans stalk the land at Prairiecon XL in Brandon, MB.

Did another Prairiecon just happen...? Why...yes, yes it did! It is indeed that time of year again, when a number of Conscripts travel to the lovely city of Brandon, Manitoba, to participate Prairiecon - Prairiecon XL, in fact! 40 years! That's just tremendous, what a fun tradition to take part in!

For 2019 there were a number of Conscript-involved games at the three-day event, and I'll share some photos of one of them in this post - a game of "Adeptus Titanicus", the re-boot version GW released last year.

View of the table, the opposing Titan battlegroups all lined up...

The scenario was a very basic clash, intended to show off a few models and the rules.  The fight involved an isolated station where the Warmaster, Horus Lupercal, kept a "summer home".  A loyalist battlegroup from Legio Gyphonicus wanted to secure this location so valuable intelligence could be gathered.  The rebel forces, comprised of a Legio Mortis battlegroup, were determined to stop them - after all, who wanted to be the one to explain to Horus that loyalists had captured his summer house???

A close-up of the objective...Horus Lupercal's "summer home".

As a wrinkle, the players were not allowed to deliberately fire on or destroy the buildings (again, the loyalists wanted to preserve the possible intelligence finds, while the rebels feared the consequences of Horus finding out any of his stuff was wrecked because their efforts were lacking...). Two buildings in the centre of the table were found to have strange, dark-age-of-technology shielding that blocked all fire - even indirect shots that would go above them - and so the opposing Titan commanders would have to maneuver with these restrictions in mind.

Warlord Titans anchor the loyalist battle line...Curt's awesome Lucius-Pattern model in the foreground.

The opposing battlegroups were identical and balanced, intended to give a general flavour of the game - two Warlords, one Reaver, one Warhound, and a full-strength banner of Knights on each side. Curt was kind enough to travel to Brandon for a visit and bring some of his amazing Adeptus Titanicus kit with him, including his awesome third-party Lucius Pattern Warlord, which looked amazing on the table.

The Legio Mortis engines move toward the centre of the table...

Reactors were powered, orders issued and battle joined! Over a few turns, the rebel side had the low-end of the luck with the dice...in particular, one of their Warlords had its shields blown out on the first turn, followed quickly with a number of serious blasts from opposing Volcano Cannons, blowing off arms, punching holes in the body and in the head. Yikes!

Heavy fighting in the centre of the table, Knight banners on both sides going head-to-head

Another view of the clash among the Knights.

As the fighting continued, the rebel Warhound was destroyed, its weapons blasting away randomly before it went critical and exploded.  The opposing Knight banners traded blows, with the loyalist side bearing the brunt of the losses in that confrontation...but overall, the Loyalists had the edge by the time we called the game - although one of the loyalist Warlords was nearing critical status on its reactor after heavy use of the volcano cannons - that might have been interesting if we played one more turn...

"What happened to my arms???" Things got rough for this Legio Mortis Warlord after its shields blew out...

What treats, we wonder, would the loyalists find in Horus' summer home? Might have to play a "Part 2" for this game sometime, maybe an Epic 30k game? We'll see!

Congratulations to Prairiecon for 40 years! That's quite an achievement.  Hopefully Dallas and Mike will post some more photos from their games over the weekend as well.  Thanks to everyone who attended, and to Dallas, Mike and Curt for making another trip to Brandon for some great gaming. It's a great tradition, and I wish the Prairiecon folks all the best for the next 40 years! 

More Knights for Adeptus Titanicus

A "banner" of rebel Knights prepares to depart the staging grounds of my kitchen and fight for Horus and the Warmaster!

The blogging pace has slowed as summer approaches in Canada. But I haven't stopped painting - honest! Work has been very busy (this is a good thing) and then there has even been a bit of nice weather here and there, so I haven't been painting as much, but I've still been painting.

Fusion cannon - very nasty at short range!

After a steady run of historical subjects on my painting table, I've turned my brushes once again to the grim darkness of the far future.  While GW hasn't exactly been killing it with support for their new game, I still have models in the "pending pile" I should take care of. Here are three more Knights for GW's re-booted "Adeptus Titanicus", the game featuring the clash of massive, city-crushing war machines during the (even) dark(er) days of the Horus Heresy.

The detail on these new plastic Knights is incredible - very clever little kits.

I find the story of the Knight Houses in 30k/40k to be utterly barmy - who cares about House Puffin-Humper (likely not an actual Knight Household, but that is what they all seem like to me). But the Knight models themselves are really nicely done, and the "Adeptus Titanicus" rules reflect their role in the Titan-filled battlefields of the grimdark future very well.  In the 30k/40k universe Knights are large war machines - much larger than you or me, than even Space Marines, their dreadnoughts or their heaviest super-heavy tanks.  But they are still the small fry when put in the context of the city-crushing Titans. With this in mind, the role of the Knights in the "Adeptus Titanicus" game emphasizes careful movement and harassing fire.

A view of some of the great detail on the rear of the Knights.

As the small fish in the big pond, the Knights are pretty vulnerable to the heavy weapons of the Titans. Their defence relies on speed and mobility, and the group application of their Ion shields.  The larger the "banner" of Knights, the better the shield protection they have. The basic "banner" size, of three Knights, doesn't leave much margin of error when a Volcano Cannon shot arrives.  By increasing the "banner" to a maximum size of six machines, the Knights' ability to survive increases materially. As a group the Knights can pose a serious threat to the big Titans, getting close, inside the void shields, and delivering heavy damage. The Princeps of the Titans ignore enemy Knights at their peril, and will rely on friendly Knights to keep them in the clear, so they can focus on the enemy's larger war engines.

The gatling cannon of the Knights is not super-useful in the "Adeptus Titanicus" game, but if nothing else, this fellow can serve as ablative armour when a Volcano Cannon shot arrives...

I have two "banners" of three Knights painted previously - one each for the loyalists and rebels.  I want to expand those to full six-Knight banners.  It will come as no surprise to anyone that the rebel side gets the first set of reinforcements...Horus for Hope! These three will join my growing rebel forces.

So things are slowing down, yes, but stay tuned for more painting and gaming as the summer approaches. Thanks for visiting, have a great day!

Painting Challenge Submission 16 - Legio Mortis Warhound Titan for "Adeptus Titanicus"

A Warhound "scout" titan from Legio Mortis, ready to hunt for hope and change...

The diversion from historical painting subjects and into the grim darkness of the far future and GW's re-booted "Adeptus Titanicus" continues.  Having added some God-engines to the delusional "loyalist" faction, I naturally needed to balance things out for the side of hope and change, the Warmaster! So here is one more Warhound class titan.

Vulcan mega-bolter on the left "arm" mount.

This Titan is painted in the colours and markings of Legio Mortis, the charming "Death Heads".  Many Titan Legions supported the Warmaster's noble rebellion against the tyranny of the Imperium, but Legio Mortis was front-and-centre, foremost among Horus' ranks, even leading the assault on the Imperial Palace on Terra itself. 

Turbo-lasers on the right "arm" mount.

The weapon load-out includes a set of "turbo lasers" on one arm, and a "vulcan-mega bolter" on the other.  On its own, this engine is a limited threat, but paired with the other Warhound in the maniple, the mega-bolters can knock down the void shields on enemy engines and either move in for a kill at short range with their own energy weapons, or let the more heavily-equipped Reavers and Warlord strike final blows.

View of the detailing on the rear and top of the Titan.

With this little guy completed, my Legio Mortis forces now have a complete "Axiom Battle Line" maniple, ready to face the toe-chewing loyalists who cling to their pathetic so-called "Emperor".  The "Axiom Battle Line" is one of the basic core force-types for the Titan Legions. It is comprised of one Warlord titan, two Reaver titans and two Warhound titans.  

By using different Maniple formations in the game, players can access some different bonuses for command, firing etc.  The "Axiom Battle Line" is a middle-of-the-road type formation, able to deal with anything that comes up, and gets every different class of titan on to the table, which I enjoy.

A view of the new Titan with his colleagues.

Two complete Titan maniples now sitting on the shelf!

All of these toys got to see some action this past weekend at a local gaming even here in Winnipeg. Challenge participant Byron came out to play the game, and also brought some excellent buildings from the game "Dropzone Commander" along, which is wonderful, as those larger buildings look great while also being big enough to block the lines of fire of the bigger Warlord titans. So a big "thank you" to Byron!

An Imperial city waits for "agressive urban development"...

Loyalist battle group moves out...

The god engines of the noble Warmaster deploy...

During the game, Dallas ran the loyalist battlegroup, while Dave V and Byron ran the rebel battlegroup.  While no Titans cooked off, the rebels were pretty shot up - the Legio Mortis Warlord in particular had two weapons blown off and had taken some serious hits to the body and critical damage to the legs...it was great fun to get these monsters on the table again. 

This edition of Curt's Painting Challenge is winding down...I think I might have one or two submissions left, we'll see...thanks for visiting, and have a great day!

Painting Challenge Submission 15 - Loyalist Titans for "Adeptus Titanicus"

Imperial Titans, ready to move out in support of some doomed cause in the name of the so-called "Emperor"...

My next submission to Curt's Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge was a marked change in terms of painting focus.  I left horses and muskets behind and ripped 30,000 years into the grim darkness of the far future with two titans from GW's rebooted game "Adeptus Titanicus." 

"Let's go for a walk!"

These are both plastic kits from the new line of models GW has released to support the re-booted version of the game.

Reaver class titan.

"Adeptus Titanicus" was re-launched by GW last fall - if you want to know more about that, and see how GW handled the whole thing like the pack of s***-eating gnarled c***s that they are, see here.  I painted a few of the new Titans right after the game came out, but haven't really touched any of the kits since last year. That needed to change, as I was helping to run an "Adeptus Titanicus" demonstration game at an event here in Winnipeg this past weekend. I wanted to add some reinforcements - and also try some of the newer weapons which have been released for the Reaver class Titans.

There are two classes of Titan represented here, both in the colours of Legio Gryphonicus, the "War Griffons", a Titan Legio who fought on the side of the loyalists in the Horus Heresy.

Rear detail on the Reaver model...really nice model.

The Reaver model has, as I said, some of the newer weapon sprues GW released in February of this year.  It is sporting a "volcano cannon" on one arm, a "laser blaster" on the other, and another "laser blaster" up on the carapace mounting - overall, this engine is configured to deliver knock-out kills on enemy engines which have already lost, or nearly lost, their void shields.  Other Titans in the maniple will have to focus on knocking out the void shields of the enemy machines so this one can make some engine-kills.

Detail on the carapace plate.

The "volcano cannon" in particular is very powerful, but tricky to manage, as it puts pressure on the Titan's plasma reactor.  The Reaver has less reactor capacity, so the Princeps commanding this Reaver will need to manage that carefully in a game. 

I also used an alternate head that came with the kit...I liked how this version had so many optical lenses in the "eyes".  With a weapon load-out primed for making "kill shots", it seemed to me this crew would want all the targeting assistance it can get...

The Warhound up close.

View of the engine detail.

View from the turbo-laser side...

The smaller Titan is a "Warhound" class "scout" (ROFL) titan. I mean, this thing is still much larger than even the largest Space Marine super-heavy tank, but it's all relative, right? As the smallest Titan, the Warhound does move ahead of its larger companions, and is much more manoeuvrable, with lighter weapons, and so in this sense it is a "scout".  This particular Warhound is equipped with a "vulcan mega-bolter" and a "turbo-laser" - these weapons on their own don't do much damage to other titans, but the "mega-bolter" is very useful for knocking out void shields.  So if this Warhound can take out some shields, his bigger cousin can deliver a kill shot...

Scale creep anyone? You can see how the old Reaver and Warhound castings stack up to the new model kits - a Space Marine Fellblade super heavy tank is also in the photo to give you an idea of the size of the things.

The newer plastic kits from GW are very nice, and as you can see in the photo, they have re-scaled them to a fairly radical extent compared to the old models once used for this game. Because of this, and the eye-watering prices for the models, "Adeptus Titanicus" will certainly remain a niche game - but the rules are excellent, the game itself is a lot of fun.  If you enjoy the 30k/Horus Heresy setting, you will certainly enjoy the game! Given the way GW manages these sorts of products, I suggest you act now to get the rules and models if you are interested...

"Family photo" - the War Griffon maniple, and allied Knights, together on the display shelf.

I'm excited to have these two engines finished, as I now have a complete "Axiom Battle Line" maniple for the Imperial side of my collection - one Warlord, two Reavers and two Warhounds. There is also a small banner of Knights available to provide some additional support.  Five God-Engines and a Knight banner is plenty to occupy the attention of several players - I would not imagine many "Adeptus Titanicus" games where more than this deploys for one side.

Of course, no project for me is ever truly "finished" - I can always "round out" every collection with a few more items! In this case the Knight banner could use some reinforcements, just to help them live a little longer on the table (a full banner of six Knights can be quite the pest!), and longer term I would like to get one more big-ass Warlord sporting some different weapon load-outs involved, but all of that will wait for a bit, as the rebel side of my Titan collection will need some further attention first...