Horus Heresy 3e Review: Warlord Titan

Warpstone Flux Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 5/5 stars. The titan that is the size of a child and costs like a very old used car.

Background. 

The mainstay of the titan legions. More responsibly for Unity and Heresy than the space marine legions themselves - arguably. They can lay waste to both armies and cities alike, and can do so on airless rocky moons and verdant planets alike so long as the ground beneath them can support their mass. Their only true enemy is others of their kith and kin. 

Strengths.

It is a Warlord Titan. I can't actually believe I'm even reviewing it (pinch me). It is incredible, and certainly a centre piece. 

For the Arms:

The Mori Quake Cannon has macro auspex with large pie plates, S=12, and 10 damage. This is great against knights and tanks and will rip down other titans over time as well. 

The Belicosa Volcano Cannon is similar, but has a smaller pie plate but increases the strength to 13 and has 12 damage. This is real anti-titan territory here. Macro auspex does mean anti-tank and anti-Knight and Titan duty though. 

The Macro Gatling Blaster also has macro auspex and pumps out 5 S=10 shots per turn. The damage is 5 and there is also armour bane. I would actually tend to disfavour this weapon unless you are really tank hunting or knight hunting in favour of something more anti-titan (remember the primary rule: if you are taking titans, then so is your opponent!). 

The Sunfury Plasma Annihilator is also macro auspex as you might imagine and has two modes - the maximal fire mode having power hungry. The pie plates are either big or apocalyptic. But I think unless you are going to go for maximal mode regularly, this one is really clearing out tanks and knights rather than being strictly anti-titan. 

The Arioch Power Claw has a built in Vulcan Mega Bolter which is great for shooting up tanks and knight. As a power claw, it has an impressive S=13 with 12 damage which is more than enough for taking out knights in a single backhanded swipe and will similarly hurt titans if it lands. So long as you get in range! Take a BS upgrade here. 

For the Carapace:

The Apocalypse Missile Launchers have the rule of cool and are shield breakers. They wreck 3 void shields per hit which is magnificent when facing off against other titans. 

The Laser Blasters on the carapace are also fine and give S=10, and 5 damage with armour bane. I actually prefer the missile launchers slightly for this edition. 

Weaknesses. 

As with my comment about the Reaver (etc.), I want to see the full range of weapons available at epic scale come in to being for 28mm play. 

As an aside. This is the third time I have reviewed a Warlord Titan. Here's a brief history:

Year: 2016. First Edition. Points Cost = 2750. Financial Cost = 1240 pounds sterling.

Year: 2023. Second Edition. Points Cost = 3000. Financial Cost = 1537.50 pounds sterling. 

Year: 2026. Third Edition. Points Cost = 3000 (3300 for BS=4). Financial Cost = 1741 pounds sterling.

Financial costs assume the basic body, Mars-Alpha pattern head, carapace missile launchers, and 2 volcano cannon arms). 

Builds.

Warlord Titan, Apocalypse Missile Launchers (Carapace), 2 Volcano Cannons. 

Strong anti-titan duty for stripping void shields and ripping up hull points. 

Warlord Titan, Laser Blasters (Carapace), and 2 Sunfury Plasma Annihilators.

I prefer the above build, but this one is still viable even if the plasma is not quite as good as it was in previous editions. 

Warlord Titan, Laser Blasters (Carapace), Quake Cannon, Arioch Power Claw.

Slightly up close and personal, and well worth the increase in BS here. 

Horus Heresy 3e Review: Warbringer Nemesis Titan

Warpstone Flux Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 5/5 stars. Another medium sized titan!

Background. 

The Nemesis has a reputation for a restless machine spirit with ghost sensor artifacts that sometimes enable it to lock on before a threat is even sensed by the crew. It is in effect a "heavy support" choice (my words) for the Titan legions and brings heavy weapons to bear in order to bring down enemy titans. Hence the name.

Strengths.

This titan is your long range firepower platform and needs to be played as such. Consider the power hungry rule carefully for the imposition of snap shots and go from there. 

For the Arms:

The Gatling Blaster gives 5 shots at S=9, AP=2 and 4 damage. This will rip through lighter tanks and really hurt elite formations given the opportunity. Armour bane is the icing on the cake.

The Laser Blaster is S=10, and 5 damage, but reduces the fire rate to 3. Armour bane here as well which means this is almost a go to weapon for anti tanks and even anti-titans. 

The Melta Cannon has S=12 and the valuable melta rule with a pie plate and 8 damage. Of course, only one shot here though. 

The Volcano Cannon is your real titan killer. With S=13 and a whopping 12 damage, it will cause serious problems. But it is also power hungry with a small pie plate. 

For the Carapace:

The Nemesis Quake Cannon is a power hungry large pie plate with 10 damage at S=12. Great for clearing the board of pesky knights. 

The Nemesis Volcano Cannon is also power hungry, but has a smaller pie plate in exchange for S=13 and 12 damage. 

Either is viable, but the question is whether you are facing tightly packed vehicles or not. If not, then the second option is really the one to go for from a purely power gaming point of view (pun not intended). 

Weaknesses. 

Not many weaknesses here at all. You get what you pay for in terms of the points cost and it is very effective.

Builds.

Nemesis Titan, Quake Cannon (Carapace), 2 Gatling Cannons. 

Take the Majoris Crew and fire aware. 

Nemesis Titan, Volcano Cannon (Carapace), and 2 Melta Cannons.

Pure armour (knight, titan) hate here. 

Reaver Titan, Volcano Cannon (Carapace), Volcano Cannon, Laser Blaster.

Yes, the power hungry rule can hurt. But it is still magnificent!

Horus Heresy 3e Review: Reaver Titan

Warpstone Flux Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 5/5 stars. A medium sized titan!

Background. 

A battle titan in name, and in role. The Reaver is a most ancient design of Mars, and sees use throughout all of the Titan Legions. Considered almost holy by Martian standards, its origin has long since been lost to ancient history. 

Strengths.

As with other titans, if you are bringing one to the battle, then you should let your opponent know and plan for them doing the same. This argues for having high strength weapons. The main issue that you face here is that many weapons have the power hungry special rule. This means other weapons only fire snap shots. Let's have a look at them.

The Gatling Blaster gives 5 shots at S=9, AP=2 and 4 damage. This will rip through lighter tanks and really hurt elite formations given the opportunity. Armour bane is the icing on the cake.

The Laser Blaster is S=10, and 5 damage, but reduces the fire rate to 3. Armour bane here as well which means this is almost a go to weapon for anti tanks and even anti-titans. 

The Melta Cannon has S=12 and the valuable melta rule with a pie plate and 8 damage. Of course, only one shot here though. 

The Volcano Cannon is your real titan killer. With S=13 and a whopping 12 damage, it will cause serious problems. But it is also power hungry with a small pie plate. 

The Power Fist is treated as a ranged weapon in the third edition since you don't get titans entangled with close combat really. With S=12 and 10 damage with armour bane it can wreck lighter vehicles and knights in one hit. But you have to get up close since the range is only six inches. 

Weaknesses. 

The missile launcher on the carapace is the only choice. In previous editions it could at least be swapped out to a vortex missile or turbo laser destuctor. This really needs to be re-instated. To be very honest, I would like to see the full range of weapons available at epic scale to be implemented at 28mm scale. Including a return of the chain fist. Pretty please?

Builds.

Reaver Titan, 2 Gatling Cannons. 

Arguably a bit of a waste, but if you upgrade to a Majoris crew, then this will rip apart quite a lot of elite troops and lesser tanks.

Reaver Titan, Volcano Cannon, Power Fist.

For your titan and knight killing pleasure. But you have to move to get up close and personal. Switch out the power fist for a melta cannon or laser destructor for a better ranged option. 

Reaver Titan, Laser Blaster, Melta Cannon.

A balanced ranged option that doesn't have the power hungry rule to worry about. 

Horus Heresy 3e Review: Warhound Titan

Warpstone Flux Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 5/5 stars. It is a titan - enough said!

Background. 

The smallest of the true titans! It is classed as a scout as it moves quickly and can be deployed as such by the legions.

Strengths.

I'm broadly copying my notes from First and Second Edition here since they still apply. 

So let's be honest about something. If we're taking a titan, we're probably going to be opposed with titans. Therefore, I strongly would recommend that any titan is equipped with at least one high strength weapon to try to counter any enemy titans or super heavies. 

One overlooked "strength" to remember is that titans can move. Yep. Seriously. They have legs. They walk, jog and run. Remember to think about this: it is a mobile weapons platform after all.

For the weapons:

The Vulcan mega bolter is a 12 shot S=7 monstrosity that inflicts suppressive. Nice for shooting up heavier units thanks to 2 damage per shot, and the AP is 3. 

The Inferno Cannon is also S=7 hellstorm template that has panic and inflicts a remarkable 3 damage at AP=3. Clearly nice for clearing out weaker enemies. 

The plasma blast gun is S=8 pie plates at AP=2 and 5 damage which increases to S=9 and more damage with a larger pie plate is you're willing to take the power hungry rule (snap shots with other weapons). 

The turbo laser destructor is your anti-titan weapon with S=12, 6 damage, AP=2 and armour bane. It is almost an auto-include I suspect for certain types of games!

Weaknesses. 

It is the smallest class titan, so "only" has 2 void shields. You can live with this.

Builds.

Apart from weapons, the main consideration is what crew to use. I recommend at least a Senioris to increase the BS to a value of 4. 

Warhound Scout Titan, 2 Vulcan Megabolters. 

Don't bother unless you know for certain there are no other super heavies or land raiders on the enemy side. Pumping out 24 AP3 shots every turn will rapidly decimate any space marine army otherwise. No fun for the opponent in this regard (but then, you're taking a titan!). A candidate for a Majoris crew to be honest (BS=5). 

Warhound Scout Titan, 2 double-barrelled turbo laser destructors.  

Tank and titan killing weapons with a 5" blast every turn is serious business. This is the kind of titan that is ready for anything. Nothing in the game cannot be handled by it. Take it. 

Warhound Scout Titan, 1 plasma blast gun, 1 double-barrelled turbo laser destructor.

A more balanced titan (if such a thing exists! lol!), the massive blasts from the plasma gun is amazing at range and fun to play. Its also high strength and is flexible (depending on if you're facing hordes for instance). And the laser destructors are for the enemy titans to contend with.

I don't like the inferno cannon especially, but it can have its uses on smaller boards or ones where you can readily move the titan into position. 

Horus Heresy 3e Review: Triaros Armoured Conveyor

Warpstone Flux Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 4/5 stars. The rule are good.

Background. 

The secrets of this armoured transport are guarded well by the Mechanicum. So well, in fact, that not even the space marine legions have access to the arcana that gave them birth. They serve many roles from hermetically sealed environments, through to ramming, and being able to transport a large number of troops.

Strengths.

For a transport, AV=14 on the front is valuable, and 12's elsewhere are solid enough. With 7 hull points, they are likely to get you where you need to be, but the real sell here is the 22 transport capacity. 

The volkite calivers are good and the mauler bolt cannon backs this up with some status effects. Auto repair is strong here too, as is the flare shield. The shock ram is also an encouragement to plough through enemy formations.

Weaknesses. 

For a transport, the points cost is, of course, steep so you won't be taking too many of these in all probability. 

Builds.

The only build upgrade is whether to take hunter killer missiles and these are probably to taste for this vehicle and the army as a whole. They are cheap enough though (especially as a fraction of the tank's cost). 

Horus Heresy 3e Review: Secutarii Cohort

Warpstone Flux Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️ 3/5 stars. The only troops choice possible for a Titan Ordinal detachment. 

Background. 

Developed in parallel to the Skitarii legions, the Secutarii share many of the ancient and near unknowable ways of old Mars. Their purpose is, simply put, to defend the titan legions. This might seem absurd at some level. But there are many threats to titans. The Secutarii are there to take care of would be ambushers and human sized targets that would simply not regularly be targeted by the building-shaking and tank-busting weaponry of the titans. Further, they are there to mop up the human sized remnants of anything the titans blow up. Like the people who are being transported in tanks or the ones taking cover in a bunker that the titan targets. They are also regularly deployed to defend a titan landing zone or just generally help with the titan legions, as required.

Strengths.

The stat line is strong for mortals (even those enhanced by the Mechanicum) with WS=BS=4. 

They come standard with arc lances and mag-inverter shields. The mag-inverter shield gives the shield trait but is also interesting for reducing the charge distance of an enemy by 1. This can sometimes make a difference. The arc lance meanwhile is I+1, S+1 with precision and shock (suppressed) which is tactically excellent, an the AP=3 is excellent here. 

This pair can be swapped out for galvanic casters. Shred and rending at bolter like range with 3 shots is very attractive and can cause damage even though the AP is a measly 6 and the S=3. I'd advise going big here. 

Rad grenades will help with all of the above, but the price tag adds up fast. 

Weaknesses. 

T=3 is a key weakness. The save of 4+ with a 6+ invulnerable is not going to keep them alive too long either. Remember to use shield (mag inverter) or smokescreen (galvanic caster) where needed too.

Builds.

Secutarii Cohort, 20 members, Galvanic Caster (315 points).

The ranged version. 

Secutarii Cohort, 10 members, Arc Lances and Mag-Inverter Shields, Rad Grenades (185 points).

The close combat version. 

Horus Heresy 3e Review: Secutarii Axiarch

Warpstone Flux Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 4/5 stars. The only command choice possible for a Titan Ordinal detachment. 

Background. 

Axiarchs are the leaders of the Secutarii cult within the Mechanicus. Rather than being selected on merit, they are chosen for having defended a downed titan, or having recovered one from the field -- one of the most "sacred" of tasks that the sect are called on to perform. Subject to further testing and evaluation, they are then rebuilt in armour forged from a dead titan and upgraded with protocols to replace parts of their brain. The outcome is something beyond a space marine.

Strengths.

With WS=BS=5, these former human beings have been extensively upgraded and have advanced stats to match. 

They come with an arc lance which is very reasonable, but can be swapped out for power swords (keep the lance) or arc mauls (sacrificing initiative for strength which is a rational transaction). The mag-inverter shield gives the shield trait but is also interesting for reducing the charge distance of an enemy by 1. This can sometimes make a difference. 

As a Legio Armsmen, they ignore warhorns, gain Ld+1, but suffer panic checks when their friendly titan gets toppled. 

Other upgrades are rad grenades (generally worth it) and cyber-familiars (Intelligence check bonus of 2 which might be situational, but could be worth it). 

Weaknesses. 

T=3 is a key weakness but you do have a 2+ save in this edition to make up for it which is good.

Builds.

Secutarii Axiarch, Arc Maul, Rad Grenades, Cyber Familiar (110 points).

This is the maximal upgrade version. Since you are playing with titans my logic here is that player can afford the points cost for the upgrades. 

Horus Heresy 3e Review: Legio Titanicus Rules Overview

The second half of Liber Questoris covers the Legio Titanicus - the Titan Legions of the Horus Heresy.

Without doubt, the Titans of the Forge Worlds were responsible for more of the Great Crusade victories than the Astartes themselves. They are deadly. They are big. And there's lots of special rules about them.

Detachments.

You can take a titan with an ordinary army as a Lords of War choice. Or you can use the special Titan Ordinal primary detachment. You only get 1 titan though, and a bunch of Secutarii and their transports. I really wanted Titan maniples against each other. Of course, that's still possible, you just have multiple single detachments. But its a bit odd. 

Profiles.

We have (typically) 4 profiles per titan. One for each region of their body: Head, Carapace, Arms, and Legs. They each have different armour values and hull points. 

Speaking of armour values, there's 2 versions: primary armour (which you will use all the time) and exposed armour (once you get to crippled status for a titan). And you also have void shields to get through first which are AV=13 and can be re-booted depending on the crew trait of the titan. War horns are also mounted on titans which can unleash terrible noises. This reduces advanced characteristics by (X) within 24 inches which is handy for forcing routs and similar. 

Damage.

Damage adds up as you might expect by reducing hull points through penetrating and glancing hits. Glancing hits though result in a roll on the damage table but if crippled then you get 1 hull point instead. The damage table gives some negative modifiers to your next turn. But if you get down to zero hull points, the relevant part (head, carapace, arms, and legs) suffer significant problems and their armour counts as exposed. Crippled parts that are hit again roll on the critical damage table. It is here you get mortal blows to the Princeps, the reactor exploding, weapon breakages, and for the legs - the titan literally falling over (splat!). 

Tactics of Desperation.

Small units have the option of swarming the titan as an assault action. They literally climb the structure looking for minor flaws. This involves an intelligence test with modifiers based on the units type and the titan's crew. If successful, then the attacking unit can make a choice of effects to cause the titan such as stripping the armour (future attacks are against the exposed armour value for the turn) and jamming the actuators (the controlling player can't move the titan in the next turn). The swarm attack can also be to cause damage (get bonuses on the intelligence test) or to escape harm (reduce incoming damage in exchange). Of course, the mitigation cost is steep. S=8 time d6+1 incoming hits result against the unit, but if a cool check is passed, then these are only at 1 damage and AP=4. If failed, then 2 damage and AP=2. 

Engine Kill and Missions.

The missions included in the book make clear that you should tell your opponent you will be fielding a titan, and that you can't take the titan detachment outside of these special missions. That's okay. 

Different types of titan (Scout like warhouds, or Battle like reavers) are worth different victory points. But what I found really interesting with the missions is the existence of strategic objectives that only the titans can take. There are macro emplacements (AV=15, gains 5 victory points per 5 hull points lost - with an infinite number of hull points possible curiously enough! I've not seen an infinity in a game yet - this is not a great idea gaming wise I feel); communications bunker (AV=14, 20 hull points) which is worth 10 victory points and reduces your enemy reserve rolls to 6+ for the rest of the game (I like this); and a Command Post (same as the above in terms of stats) worth 10 victory points which causes suppressed for every unit in their army if they fail a cool check outside of combat. 

Horus Heresy 2e Review: Warlord Battle Titan

Warpstone Flux Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

5/5 stars. Pure win.

Background.
The mainstay of the titan legions. More responsibly for Unity and Heresy than the space marine legions themselves - arguably. They can lay waste to both armies and cities alike, and can do so on airless rocky moons and verdant planets alike so long as the ground beneath them can support their mass. Their only true enemy is others of their kith and kin. 

Strengths.
See the notes that I made about the Warhound Titan in the previous post to begin with. 

I last reviewed the Warlord Titan in 2016, at that point it cost 2750 points (now 3000 points which is still more than fair) and cost GBP 1240 - now costs 1185 before the weapons which would take it up to the region of GBP1537.50 (volcano cannons and missile launchers). As I stated in 2016, I would like you to have a good hard look at those numbers. Are you going to use it in a game? Are you rich enough not to care? Or merely display it in your home somehow and hope that your toddlers (if you have any) don't try to play with it as an equal (in size at least)? I don't yet own one myself, but have often toyed with the desire to purchase one, I will freely admit. 

With a game breaking AV=15 on two faces, a whopping 30 hull points, 6 void shields, 5++, and all the usual titan rules you've come to expect, I'm not even sure how to bring a Warlord down short of fielding one against it myself. Other than that, we get to choose two arm weapons and two carapace weapons. And yes: there is choice here. The weapons are all viable in various combinations. For the arms, I like the sun fury plasma annihilators and the bellicose pattern volcano cannons most myself. I don't like the close combat weapon (the shooting is better, and you've got a great stomp attack anyway and can't be locked in combat regardless -- even by another titan. Hence I think taking ranged weapons is better, but equally, it is the size of my own hand, and also works well in full sized games of Titanica). For the carapace, I like all options. However in second edition, we are missing the vortex option - why oh why???

Weaknesses.
None. Even the fact that it explodes magnificently upon engine death can be a strength. 

Builds.
To be clear: you can not truthfully go wrong here. These builds are merely suggestions.

Warlord Battle Titan, 2 Laser Blasters, 2 Belicosa Volcano Cannons.

Lots of ranged D class weapons to cause headaches. Big pie plates too. Nothing not to like.

Warlord Battle Titan, 2 Apocalypse Missile Launchers, 2 Sunfury Plasma Annihilators.

More dakka. I actually prefer the above build, but this one is still totally viable. 

Warlord Battle Titan, 2 Laser Blasters, 1 Arioch Power Claw, 1 Mori Quake Cannon.

Absolutely viable as well, the only issue here is the minimum range on the quake cannon if you're closing with another target? But you don't care and can shoot at something else. 

Horus Heresy 2e Review: Warbringer Nemesis Titan

Warpstone Flux Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

5/5 stars. Excellent

Background.
The Nemesis has a reputation for a restless machine spirit with ghost sensor artifacts that sometimes enable it to lock on before a threat is even sensed by the crew. It is in effect a "heavy support" choice (my words) for the Titan legions and brings heavy weapons to bear in order to bring down enemy titans. Hence the name.

Strengths.
Again, I will refer the humble reader back to the general notes that I made concerning the Warhound Titan in the previous post. 

The Nemesis comes with improved front armour (AV=15) compared to even the Reaver a whopping 6 void shields along with gatling blasters and the carapace mounted quake cannon. The autocannon batteries are not to be sniffed at either. All told this is a very dangerous titan that has an apocalyptic mega blast with the quake cannon and can take out targets with uneasy regularity. 

All this in mind, the same caveat applies here as it does to the Reaver: you're not taking it in regular games. Its either massive games, or specific Titan games. The upgrades are all good. 

Weaknesses.
None really. Maybe AV=12 at the rear needs to be thought about in terms of positioning?

Builds.

Warbringer Nemesis Titan, Nemesis Quake Cannon, 2 Gatling Laser Blasters.
Naked, and specifically for removing power armour enemies, or enemy mechanicum?

Warbringer Nemesis Titan, Nemesis Volcano Cannon, 2 Volcano Cannons.

Lots of AP1 from volcanoes all round. The nasty anti-titan build. Replace the arms with melta cannons for a bit of a closer ranged threat?

Horus Heresy 2e Review: Reaver Battle Titan

Warpstone Flux Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

5/5 stars. Nothing not to like here!

Background.
A battle titan in name, and in role. The Reaver is a most ancient design of Mars, and sees use throughout all of the Titan Legions.

Strengths.
I will refer the humble reader back to the general notes that I made concerning the Warhound Titan in the previous post. 

Look, if you're taking a Reaver Titan, then you are probably playing either a super massive points value game of Horus Heresy, OR you are taking part in a specific tournament / titan walk event. Otherwise, you're probably using it for the most massive objective imaginable? There's void shields here, there's lots of armour, and there's three titan weapons to choose between. Take your pick. It is actually all good here - there are no bad choices. 

Weaknesses.
I'm not sure what to write here since the Reaver is just wonderful to my biased eyes! That said, see my notes below about permitted builds in this edition versus the previous one.

Builds.

All of the four weapon choices here are great. But why we are not permitted to have a carapace mounted laser in this edition is beyond me. Please FAQ this! And what about the carapace vortex??

Reaver Battle Titan with Apocalypse Launcher, Laser Blaster, Titan Close Combat Weapon
This is probably a base line Reaver. It contains a mix of D weapons, large blasts, and the close combat weapon to make sure you move the thing to take advantage of it. 

No longer valid in this edition WHY??? Reaver Battle Titan with carapace-mounted vortex missile, 2 laser blasters
Very nasty turn 1 launch with the vortex missile to take out any close clumps of things you dislike, followed up by lots of D class shots. And lots more D class blast shots every turn thereafter. Nasty. Just nasty. Replace the vortex missile with a carapace mounted double-barrelled turbo laser destructor if you like, for sustained D shots every turn.

No longer valid in this edition WHY??? Reaver Battle Titan with carapace-mounted double-barrelled turbo laser destructor, 1 melta cannon, 1 volcano cannon.
Sit back. Blast away. Replace the volcano cannon with a laser baster to taste. But beware: this is one titan that you will forget to move around.

Horus Heresy 2e Review: Warhound Scout titan

Warpstone Flux Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

5/5 stars. Its a titan. You can bring it to games under 3000 points. Splendid!

Background.
The smallest of the true titans! It is classed as a scout as it moves quickly and can be deployed as such by the legions.

Strengths.

I'm broadly copying my notes from First Edition here since they still apply. So let's be honest about something. If we're taking a titan, we're probably going to be opposed with titans. Therefore, I strongly would recommend that any titan is equipped with at least one strength D weapon to try to counter any enemy titans or super heavies. Admittedly, S10 is a close second, but its not quite the same. The ability to take these weapons should not be overlooked!

Titans are treated as gargantuan creatures in assault and can therefore make stomp attacks which is easy to forget when you're playing with all that shooting power. The final "strength" to remember is that titans can move. Yep. Seriously. They have legs. They walk, jog and run. Remember to think about this: it is a mobile weapons platform after all.

Weaknesses.
It is the smallest class titan, so "only" has 2 void shields. You can live with this. The reactor meltdown should also be a weakness, but in all honesty, it is fun when they go boom and Princips shout "Engine Death" - as you should. 

Builds.
Warhound Scout Titan, 2 Vulcan Megabolters
Don't bother unless you know for certain there are no other super heavies or land raiders on the enemy side. Pumping out 30 AP3 shots every turn will rapidly decimate any space marine army otherwise. No fun for the opponent in this regard (but then, you're taking a titan!).

Warhound Scout Titan, 2 double-barrelled turbo laser destructors
 D weapons with a 5" blast every turn is serious business. This is the kind of titan that is ready for anything. Nothing in the game cannot be handled by it. Take it.

Warhound Scout Titan, 1 plasma blast gun, 1 double-barrelled turbo laser destructor
A more balanced titan (if such a thing exists! lol!), the massive blasts from the plasma gun is amazing at range and fun to play. Its also high strength and is flexible (depending on if you're facing hordes for instance). And the laser destructors are for the enemy titans to contend with.

Warhound Scout Titan, 1 plasma blast gun, 1 vulcan mega-bolter
A more "standard" configuration, but one this is frankly, not as effective as the two previous examples unless you are playing full scale Adeptus Titanicus.

I cannot say I'm a fan of the inferno cannon, but can see some of its merit in flushing out power armour opponents for a swift moving war hound.

Reaver Progress at the resolution of September 2021

A short update on the Reaver today. The picture below shows the rough state of play for the titan. Everything is dry-fitted together (and a big shout out to my daughter who helped with the dry fit and holding the weapon on to the carapace for the image; but ignore the shoulder pads being the wrong way around! Maybe this will start an unlikely trend? Maybe not...). 

Regardless, significant progress has now been made with the painting of this beast. All the basics are in place and awaiting the first oily wash over before progressing to some detail and edge highlighting. 

For the curious, the Warhound weapon on the top has one of the spare Warhound leg guards wrapped around the top, but I intend to make this fully exchangeable for the missile launcher. As for the rest of the titan, the legs guards, the knees, the weapons, and the shoulders all need to be glued into place yet. I will keep the torso unglued from the legs to ensure portability. 

Much more work yet to be accomplished here, but good progress is being made!

 

Titanic Weapon Addition: Apocalypse Missile Launcher

Reinforcement weaponry is here for my Reaver Titan: an apocalypse missile launcher.

This heavyweight resin product from Forge World only comes in a small number of parts. The main body of the missile launcher is one solid, large blob of resin that is hard to miss. On the rear of the launcher is a small vent system that has to be glued on. Beneath is the connector that plugs it into the carapace of the Reaver Titan itself. 

And at the front are the missiles themselves. Each and every one of the missiles comes on a small resin sprue and must be added on its own. This is tricky due to the curvature of the missiles (it makes them tough to get in place, even with tweezers). Significantly, it is also easy to get one slightly misaligned and pointing in ever so slightly the wrong direction compared to its neighbours. This can be seen in the image where I've taken it at a certain angle to exaggerate this effect. Look closely and its possible to see a few missiles whose tips appear to not face forward. In real life when looking at the model straight on, this is hardly possible to detect though. I am reasonable confident that once I've applied a paint scheme to the missiles that any slight deviation from full frontal facing will be easily disguised. 

I know some people like to remove some of the missiles to suggest mid-battle action. But for me, I've decided to keep all of the missiles in their place since I wanted to present a fully loaded and ready weapon system. I should post more Reaver pictures as there's been a hell of a lot of progress since the last time!

Perennia Logo

It turns out that there is more than just me worldwide that wanted to have a titan in the Perennia colours. I was stoked that others reached out to me in the past year to discuss Legio Perennia (you know who you are) and I was only too happy to chat about that titan legion and what its iconography might be.

Now, when one invents a legion, there is complete freedom to choose whatever you like for iconography or colour. But the situation is slightly different here. Legio Perennia is a canon legion, but there is very little to go on for the Legio, except for the mention in the Horus Heresy short story that involves the Alpha Legion (which was also me reason for selecting Perennia).

Candidly, there really is only the name of the Legio.

As mentioned a long time ago when I was choosing the painting scheme, I felt that Perennia comes from the same root as "perennial", as per the plant type. This fact in itself is why I chose green for the major part of the colour scheme that I adopted for the war hound. To me, it also has overtures of something eternal, and even slightly Celtic perhaps.

Hence when I sat down to think about the logo, I wanted to try for something that brought these themes together.

The best result I had was looking at the ancient Celtic Tree of Life logo (also: Yggdrasil). If you google for "celtic tree of life", you will see the kind of thing I am talking about. The added benefit of this kind of symbology is that it is old enough to be out of copyright. Despite this benefit, the knots and swirls are very tough to paint due to the sheer level of complexity (I attempted several). So I started to look for a lower complexity version. There were not many. This Amazon seller for instance -- https://www.amazon.com/Celtic-Yggdrasil-Sticker-Mythology-Knotwork/dp/B01BO14HEI -- has bumper stickers that look great, and almost what I was after. In start white, it would stand out excellently against the green paint job of the body of the titan. Yet, it still lacks a certain something to my mind. Plus: needed to be simpler - much simpler. A design of this complexity is exceptionally tough to reproduce without very specific templating. 

I therefore retained the idea of knots, but simplified it a lot. I ended up with this design that I painted on the side of my war hound. 

I am broadly happy with this as it is simple enough to duplicated, yet specific enough to be easily sighted and recognised. Let the annals show that this knotwork is now the logo and symbol of Legio Perennia!

Titan Stripes

One of the toughest problems in painting (beyond getting white or yellows looking magnificent) is the challenge of undertaking straight lines, or stripes, on curved surfaces. 

For my Reaver Titan, however, this is exactly what I wanted to undertake. Now, there are numerous approaches to achieving this. The best I've seen uses sticky tape designed for acrylic nail art (i.e. nail varnish / nail polish). However, all the techniques are broadly similar. Take something with straight edges that is tacky, but not too sticky that it will rip off the layer that you adhere it to. Put said sticky stuff over the model, and then paint as best you can. Remove the tack and you should have straight lines underneath. 

The image above shows a pitiful attempt at illustrating what I mean using regular masking tape which I had left over from decorating a room in the house (i.e. it goes over power sockets, or the edges where the walls meet the ceiling to avoid paint getting splodged on the ceiling). Its application here is precisely the same. However, the hard part is the raised surface of the Reaver's shoulder pad. This means that some of the paint will creep in underneath parts of the otherwise straight edge. Although there are solutions on the market to this, I have found its slightly more bother than the cost otherwise pays off. Hence slightly thicker masking tape usually does the job. 

Here, the titan shoulder pad has already been base coated in white. I'm going to add black stripes to the pad, and then fill in (and / or touch up) using a slightly brighter white. The results of this is displayed below. 

The lines are for the main part super-neat, although there are one or two slight issues that I will go back and paint over when the time comes -- or hide with the use of weathering paint / oil more likely. I am not claiming this is perfect, but it is very sufficient for curved surfaces for my purposes and the grime layer that will be added later will take care of most of the slight issues seen in the second image. 

Reaver Embodied

Whilst I have not glued the upper torso to the legs, the progress on the Reaver has been significant in the days gone by. The image shows the stage that everything is up to. In a nutshell: it is now ready to paint.

Having said that, it is clear that I've not added on the knee pads, the shin pads, shoulders, or weapons. The intention is to paint these components separately and then glue them in to place as the final step. I wanted to pay some attention to the areas beneath them before attaching them, hence their absence from the image above. Just need some good weather outside to start spraying.

Reaver Body

After a lot of clamping and drying, the body of the reaver is now firmly locked in to place. Apart from a slight warping that I fixed with a hairdryer, there were no real issues in construction during this stage beyond having the patience to allow the piece to dry out thoroughly before removing the clamps that I had used. 

Inside the body are the painted pieces that I did earlier in the process: the dirty brass looking walkway surrounded on either side by the computers and servitors doing their thing. I have also glued in to place the void shield generators (circles toward the rear of the model - right hand side of this image above). 

I am keeping the lid unglued (as recommended) and will paint this up as a distinct section. Lots of rapid progress expected soon though as this titan is really taking shape now. 

Battle Titan Volcano Cannon

A short update on the Reaver today with the other main weapon built and assembled.

The main problem with this weapon was the thin layer of release agent that was covering some of the outer parts -- in particular the outer cladding either side of the main weapon that can be seen in the image.

That said, the new design of the Volcano Cannon follows the other re-design of the laser blaster. Once again, the bits on the sprue here will be attached at the last moment as they will determine whether this is a left or right arm (they're interchangeable with some magnetisation shenanigans). For my Reaver, this will be its right arm (at least that's the plan at the moment!).

Reaver Cockpit

A bit more painting on the interior of the Reaver: this time the cockpit interior. It follows the general aesthetic that I established on the servitor walls for the main interior: dark, broody, with a slightly retro vibe. The pulses in particular on the screens could almost be a vax display at some level!

Now, many painters usually go for a digitized view out of the front window for these displays. However, my logic here is that the Princeps already has that view afforded to him thanks to jacking in to the retinal and spinal connection ports. Hence there's no real need to have that screen in front of him. Similar arguments can be made for the Moderatii (to a lesser extent). Hence I thought that a neat idea might be to have a machine print out similar to a medical diagnostic machine. Perhaps they're relaying information about the peak power consumption? Every time a primary weapon fires, there's a pulse! Or maybe its like a windows style CPU usage readout? Either way, I kind of like the concept a bit more than having a viewport, hence I went with it. This idea is replicated on the right hand side, as well as on the lower left rectangular display just below the dials.

For the keyboards, I originally wanted to try to suggest that the keys had some kind of back-lighting to them. However, this did not go quite as I had envisioned. Regardless, I'm happy with the outcome here. Time to glue the Princeps in place soon!