New Weapon Options for Adeptus Titanicus

Assortment of new carapace-mounted weapon systems for the Warlord Titans of Legio Mortis

Some more modest bits of Adeptus Titanicus work to share - new weapon options for the Warlord Titans. These bits are all from Forge World, and while they still seem somewhat new to me, I'm sure they have all been out there for at least 15 months, if not longer. These are all options for the carapace mounts on the Warlord Titans models with GW's re-booted Adeptus Titanicus. Naturally, I painted these up in the colours of Legio Mortis - after all, the Warmaster always made sure his chosen ones got the new kit first, why should my collection be any different? 

Choosing from a wide variety of bonkers weapons systems to equip your Titan was a big part of the fun of the original Adeptus Titanicus, and it was slightly infuriating when the new Warlord Titan models only came with a single choice for the arms and the carapace. The variety is here now, however, and while acquiring the different weapon options is expensive (naturally), and requires dealing with Forge World (i.e. even more expensive), the choice is getting nicely varied, and Princeps can again ponder all sorts of different combos of insane far-future weapons with which to smite their foes!

With the caveat that they are resin, these are still nice little bits, and thankfully they magnetize easily on the shoulder mounts of the Warlord Titan model kits. Here are a few close-ups...

Paired Vulcan Mega-Bolters

The Vulcan-Mega Bolter array modeled on one of my Legio Mortis engines.

Of all of the weapon options, this is perhaps the least intimidating, at least in the context of the otherwise imposing chassis of the mighty Warlord Titan. These weapons are essentially giant super-versions of the bolt guns carried by Space Marines - and it is so very 30k to know that the Mechanicum would have designed a version of the bolt gun to match the size of every soldier and vehicle in the known universe of the grim and dark far future. Hilarious.

For a weapon with "mega" in the name, I have to say they don't seem that intimidating. That said, they will rip the void shields from enemy engines, so they definitely have their uses in Adeptus Titanicus.

In the game, these weapons will spit out a hail of shots which stand little chance of damaging other Titans, but are excellent at overwhelming void shields. Knocking the shields off of enemy engines is a very useful thing, so it is not like these things are useless - but for me it is a matter of opportunity cost. If you are equipping your Warlord with these guns, you are missing out on some other really cool guns (see more in this post). Best to leave the shield-stripping work to the Warhounds, IMO, and make sure your Warlord Titans are carrying weapons with knock-out power. That said, preferences vary, so I'm glad to have this option in my collection. 

Paired Turbo Laser Destructors

Paired Turbo-Laser Destructors on a Warlord Titan from Legio Mortis.

Huge, destructive laser weapons - does what the name says. In the grim darkness of the far future, who wouldn't want to blast things with huge lasers? It is easy to get these "laser destructors" confused with the similar-looking-and-sounding "laser blasters". The statistics and performance of the weapons are also very similar. 

Ready to blast the followers of the false Emperor into particles...

So the carapace laser weapon options for Warlords are similar, but they are still different - these weapons hit a little harder with a lesser rate of fire. They will harm an enemy engine's shields, but really are better for delivering killing blows once the enemy's shields are down. Plus, they look nice and menacing up there on top of the Warlord Titan.

Paired Gatling Blasters

Oh YEAH! Paired Gatling Blasters! This will be fun!

Now we're talking! If the Vulcan Mega-Bolters don't look all that scary up on the Titan, these things are the opposite - terrifying! Count on the Mechanicum to come up with what is essentially a 125mm gatling cannon! A pair of them no less! These bonkers things right up the alley of the bonkers 30k setting.

So. Much. GATLING. Good times await!!

 

Not only do these things look cool, they are pretty useful in the game. They get to shoot - a lot - and hit with a decent punch. Plus your Warlord can be covered in gatling-type cannons! That is the best! Can't wait to take these out for a "spin"...

Now that I have these available for my Legio Mortis engines, I suppose I will need to paint some up for the loyalist side as well. I try to keep my collection balanced, but somehow Horus' followers always seem to get the new stuff first...I will see if I can balance things out a touch with my next painting effort. Thanks for reading, everyone!

"Grand Opening" and Rogue Trader 40K Game

Well, it did take awhile but we're now pretty much settled into our new house, and more importantly, the basement gaming area is ready. So to celebrate this I hosted an old-school 40K "Rogue Trader" game last week.

The cabinets are IKEA "Besta" with glass doors and shelves, and added interior LED lighting. IKEA is great but every component is offered "a la carte" which means costs can quickly escalate. Fortunately I don't picture us moving again anytime soon so there should be a long amortization ;-)

The game table base is made up of 4x2 foot folding tables picked up on sale at Canadian Tire. Very sturdy and a perfect base for the very weighty terrain board that goes on top.
 

Anyway, on to the game! Greg had very kindly come up with a scenario to continue our "Rynn's World" campaign pitting my RT Orks against his Guardsmen and Crimson Fist Space Marines. In this game, taking place on the outskirts of New Rynn City, an Ork blocking force is buying time for the rest of the horde to arrive. The Orks occupy the defensive line seen about 1/3 of the way from the top of the table. There are three objective markers spread along the line; the forces of the Imperium start in the city sector and have 10 turns to take the objectives.

Conscripts Mike F. ready to roll with the forces of the Imperium. Greg ran the game. Kevin and Dave V. assisted with the Imperial forces, which comprised:

- Pedro Cantor
- A squad of five Crimson Fists w/heavy bolter
- A squad of five Crimson Fists w/missile launcher
- A 5-man Imperial Guard Command section w/ two lascannons, medic, standard bearer
- A 10-man squad of Imperial Guardsmen w/ grenade launcher and lascannon
- A 10-man squad of Imperial Guardsmen w/grenade launcher and lascannon
- A Thudd gun

 Conscript Wes, centre with beer, acted in an advisory capacity to the Ork side, which consisted of:

- Thrugg 2.0 in Mega-armour and a few buddies
 - A "Kan" (dreadnought) with missile launcher and flamer
- Three teams of six boyz, each w/ heavy bolter
- Two emplaced zzzap guns/lascannons with grot crew
- Air "support" from da Red Barun

 Byron made it out to the game as well which was cool.

 Initial Ork dispositions, left to right: lascannon, boyz squad (near objective), HQ squad in reserve, boyz squad with second objective, lascannon, Kan, boyz squad with third objective in sandbag bunker.

A view from the western edge of the table.

Red Barun executing a precision airstrike (!) on the Guard HQ squad in the ruined building at top centre.

Here's a pic of that Guard HQ squad, in happier times... they ended up routing out of the building after soaking up mucho bolter and lascannon from the boyz opposite them. Mike left shortly after that... (he said he had to work early. Uh-huh...)

Marine assault! Space Marines occupy a ruined building and lay down covering fire.

The main Imperial thrust came on the Ork left. I've moved the HQ squad and Kan to cover but as you can see, Imperial shooting has already whittled away the Boyz squad. Some uncharacteristically accurate Ork shooting peeled away most of the Guardsmen supporting the Marines, too.

Also, this guy (at left) died. held an objective all by himself, making an invaluable contribution to Imperial victory. (original text must have been wishful thinking on my part - thanks to Dave V. for the reality check)

This is where the Kan should have shredded some Space Marines...

...sadly it fell in the first round of combat without even striking a blow. Waaah. The Ork HQ also withered under the savage Marine assault. Fortunately Ork shooting killed or routed all of the Guardsmen and some of the Marines too. The question was, would the Imperials have enough models left on their side to have at least one on each objective by turn 10? (Yes, the game was that bloody :-)

The remaining Orks form a conga line out of the bunker to try and safeguard one more objective, but to no avail.

The Marines were just too tough tonight, even with Toughness 3 they pwned. The Orks acquitted themselves well though; the Barun accounted for several targets and there was one turn where I literally rolled six "6"s in a row with the Ork heavy bolter. We routed the Guard HQ squad handily as well. Gotta take those Thorpeian "moral victories" where you can.

The victors... both of them ;-)

Well, it was a hard fought game and yet another very cool Rogue Trader battle is in the books. I'm really happy with the new gaming space and glad that the boys could make it out. Hopefully I'll be back to regular blogging as regular gaming resumes at my place. I think next week we'll test the PrairieCon game I intend to run, as the Endor forest moon model just arrived late last week :-)

New Reaver Titan - WITH Magnets!

Reaver titan model, together with weapon assortment - plastic model (with some resin weapons) from GW/Forge World.

Reinforcements for Adeptus Titanicus continue to march forth from the pandemic painting forges. This is a Reaver class battle titan painted in the colours of Legio Mortis, along with a full assortment of weapons. The titan model itself and nearly all of the weapons are multi-part plastic kits from GW - a couple of the weapon choices for the carapace points are resin bits from Forge World.

A "classic" loadout - lasers on the left, gatling cannon on the right, and a big "Apocalypse" missile launcher up top.

The Reaver is a "medium" class (!) battle titan - "medium" insofar as it is bigger and slower than the "scout" class Warhound titans, but still smaller and faster than the massive Warlord class titans. The Reaver is a frontline battle titan, with scary heavy weapons that can level entire city blocks in one blast, and commonly found among all of the Titan Legions in the Adeptus Titanicus game. Good times!

Laser blaster option for the carapace.

Another carapace option - Vulcan Mega Bolter.

Perhaps the whackiest carapace option - the "Warp Missile Rack".

GW's plastic models for the revamped "Adeptus Titanicus" game are just wonderful, beautiful kits. But not all of them were designed with small magnets in mind - some were - but the Reavers were not, or at least not completely. I don't think there was any sinister motive there...the Reaver's design has a rounded joint in the "shoulder" and in the mounts for the arm weapons themselves. The folks who created the plastic model kits for the Reavers were true to this design - the carapace weapon mount has a feature that easily fits a small magnet, but the arm weapons do not. So you cannot magnetize the weapons mounts for the arms and swap out the weapons - not without a bit of hobby engineering.

A particularly "angry" configuration? Two close combat weapons? Not sure this would work out in the game, but I know there are members of the group who would want to try :)

I chickened out at the prospect of magnetizing the first Reaver titans that I built for my collection. My Legio Mortis Reavers had all of the weapons, even the carapace mounts, glued down. The Reavers for my Legio Gryphonicus collection have the arm weapons glued down, although I did magnetize the weapon mounts on the carapace. That gave players some choice, but not much.

The "Volcano Cannon" on the right arm - good times!

The "Melta Cannon".

But my friends have inspired me to try to build a Reaver with all weapon points magnetized. To build up my courage, I practised first on some Warhounds. That worked for me - yay! I then opened up a new Reaver model, got out the magnets and...it worked! Here we are, a new God-engine for the rebel forces hoping to topple the unjust tyranny of the so-called "Emperor".

"Let's go for a walk!"

Growing collection of spare weapons for the different titans...

I am pretty pumped to have a Reaver model that can mount a whole variety of weapons. And it can share arm weapons with the Nemesis Warbringer Titan I painted earlier this spring, so the variety works all around.

Updated "family photo" for my Legio Mortis detachment....

You can see from the photos throughout this post there is a fine assortment of terrifying weapons for any Princeps to choose from, including the bonkers "close combat" weapons, which are hilarious and great fun. You might be ten stories tall...but there are STILL some things that MUST be punched...or sawed! That is one aspect of the crazy 30k/40k setting that I never get tired of...I know some players in our group like to play particularly aggressive in these games, so I'm glad we'll have more options for them to enjoy.

A big "thank you" to Dallas for helping with photos/planning for how to get the magnets to work properly on the Reaver chassis! Now I need to get a similar one prepared for the loyalist faction...hope all are safe and well out there!

Rise of the God-Machines!

 

As alluded to in Conscript Greg's original post on Ferrum Mori, I'm largely responsible for Titan Escalation. I always loved the old Armorcast Reaver Battle Titan, being that it was so closely based on GW's own Epic-scale titan models. Greg's progress on his Titan spurred me on to get mine completed as well.

Last week Greg brought over old Ferrum Mori for the Rogue Trader game (battle report forthcoming) and asked if I could a bit of a photoshoot with our two Titans together, so here goes...

As Greg noted in his post, his Titan is painted in the livery of the Legio Mortis, a Titan legion that turned traitor alongside Warmaster Horus. However, clearly it's early days yet for Ferrum Mori, since Imperial livery is still clearly in evidence alongside Sons of Horus iconography. No tentacles yet either ;-)

Apocalypse-class missile launcher and shoulder pauldron bear Imperial icons.

Decorated powerfist.

Greg did a nice job on the paintwork. He told me he went for a "cleaner" look as opposed to the dinged-up battle damaged look you'll see on my Legio Metalica titan.

"Horus promised to get us a bigger banner if we joined his team."

The Imperial Knight decal sheet included an awesome "VIN plate" transfer which Greg has used to good effect here.

Here's my Legio Metalica Reaver Battle Titan marching as to war.  I chose Legio Metalica (or "Iron Skulls"), a loyalist legion,  for my Titan since Greg was going traitor with his. I also went in a bit of a different direction from Greg's build, with heavier weathering, combined with the traditional Epic-style banners.

Sponge-chipping on the top carapace combined with spot application of Leadbelcher paint to simulate deeper chips.

The banners were downloaded from Bell of Lost Souls - helpfully made available by another Armorcast Reaver enthusiast. You can see his gorgeous Titan here.

Can't have a huge-ass Titan weapon without a kill banner, can you?

Leg armour displays Imperial livery with traditional tabard. I cut two small rectangles of plasticard and superglued the chain to them, then superglued the plasticard to the Titan. The banner top was wrapped around a spare piece of narrow gauge plastic rod. The banner support rod is suspended from the chains, then two skulls from the bits box were attached, one to each end of the support rod. It was a bit tricky to put this together but I think it looks good.

**OMG - I just realized I used the "reversed" banner!! Will have to address this...Jeez **

I made the banner pole from the same gauge rod as the tabard support, painted it and attached the banner with white glue. The Imperial eagle finial is from the bits box as well.

VIN plate from Imperial Knight decal sheet indicates construction on the Forge World of Metalica.

Here's a better view of the banner with Legio Metalica and Collegia Titanica iconography. The pole is removable.

Kill banner is also suspended from a removable chain, so I can switch it over to the Vulcan Mega-Bolter if necessary.

L-R: Ork Stompa, Leman Russ, Shadowsword, Imperial Knight, Land Raider

Here's a group shot with some of the other heavy hitters in my collection, just to show scale. The Reavers are significantly taller and larger than anything else out there. I really like these Armorcast kits - they are big, sturdy and great looking. Unlike Greg, I magnetized the arms using massive rare-earth magnets. This works well but was a bit of a pain, requiring major surgery to the resin. The Titan arms are very heavy and the resin is super-tough.

I really enjoyed working on the Reaver. It's really an iconic model and a great throwback to an earlier era of 40K... a more innocent time, if you will. Enthusiasts like Armorcast founder Mike Biasi came up with a cool project, pitched it to GW, and lo and behold, got a license to produce their fan resin. Contrast with today where fan resin producers get cease-and-desist orders and lawsuits pitched at them. But even if the fan in me doesn't agree, I understand. GW has Forge World in-house now, and doesn't need fan resin. There is more money to be made by selling a $1,000 Titan model themselves than there is in licensing a third-party to sell one for $400.  

I'm just looking forward to seeing these two god-machines go toe-to-toe in a massive Heresy battle. Now THAT will be impressive!