+ inload: Post-event enthusiasm +

+ Gaming at The Corsair Gambit part II +

+ A company of Salamanders Predators sweep in on the attack. +

+ Last inload concerned polishing off a Legio Maximal Reaver Titan for a Legions Imperialis event run by Maximal Fire down at Entoyment in Poole. Very pleased to report that it was a lot of fun! Alex and Johnny who were running things had clearly put a lot of effort into making sure things ran smoohtly, and that was eased along by everyone being a really nice, friendly bunch of players. I'd thoroughly recommend further events down here – Entoyment is a real Aladdin's cave of gaming, and one of my few regrets was the schedule being so packed that I didn't get more chance to explore. +

+++

+ The background for this event was built on the results of the previous Corsair Gambit event earlier in the year, in which the forces of the Warmaster managed to establish a foothold on Nabed-Paleae, Forgethrone of Legio Maximal. As a Salamanders loyalist player, I was part of the taskforce sent to reclaim this critical world. +

+ I won't go into great depth about the games, but suffice to say they were all very fun, and it was a treat to come to a gaming event where everyone was so friendly. +

+ Game 1 +

+ A planetstrike against a defending Sons of Horus army. Highlights included the Kratos tanks that just would not die, the treacherous Reaver Moderatus (I missed all three of its – 2+ to hit – Volcano Cannon shots!), and an absolutely spectacular Sons of Horus army belonging to a great chap called Gary. +

+ I managed a narrow win on objectives here – my strategic skills rather flattered by the fact he had to deploy his army to defend the whole board, while I could pick and choose which parts to contest. +

+ If nothing else, these shots go to show just how cool Legions Imperialis looks on the boards Maximal Fire brought down – and bear in mind that this was one of ten or so, so they'd really put the effort in on terrain. +

+ Green on green. Playing against such a beautiful Sons of Horus army was a real highlight of the weekend. Helps that it was against such a sporting opponent and remained close all the way through. +

+ A shot from the viewpoint of Profugon Iratus. +

+++

+ Game 2 +

+ This game was an ambush scenario, with the Salamanders defending a central ridge against Night Lords attackers, led by a cunning commander whose name – alas – evades my leaking mem-banks. Apologies! +

+ A very different army to face. Rather than tanks with infantry and air support, here I was facing a mass of infantry, Dreadnoughts and jetbikes, largely deployed via Drop Pods. Quite the contrast, and a nice change of pace. At the last event, very little had been released, so most lists were pretty samey – not so here; a very diverse set of lists. +

+ Another very fun game against a lovely opponent who was very patient with explaining the intricacies of drop pods and transports to me. These events are always learning experiences for me; however well-prepared I try to be! +

+ A second close victory here – despite Profugon Iratus being surrounded and brought low by the swift and vicious Night Lords legion. Again, the result could esily have gone either way, and I benefitted from some event special rules that affected morale. The Salamanders' special rules are not quite a hard counter to the Night Lords', but I think were important in how a few close fights fell out. +

+ I had been warned that Titans were a bit pillow-fisted and ineffectual in Legions Imperialis, and I'm sorry to say that was my experience, too. On the plus side, I think having a lot of points tied up in one activation did help my games to go slightly quicker – and of course it was great to be able to field a campaign-specific Legio to lean into the theme of the event. +

+++

+ Game 3 +

+ The day closed with a short sharp shock of a game with the awesome Jon [+IGident: @jonlukedesign +] from Battle Bling – he had designed a lot of the bits in my army, in fact; from the Thunderhawk upgrades to the objective markers. +

+ I had faced his World Eaters at the previous event, and lost in a fairly close tussle across a dense city – but his beautiful army has clearly have been polishing their skills, as they took my army apart in two turns across the salt desert, with minimal casualties! +

+ I'd love to blame tiredness for the number of tactical blunders I made early on, leading to isolated picket forces being bypassed and troops being trapped in their transports, but full credit to him, he kept the pressure up and finished the job in a fittingly brutal World Eater style! +

+ Victories are lovely, but you learn a heck of a lot more from defeats – and when they're in such a friendly, collegiate atmosphere with such a nice gang, there's really nothing to mope about. A third very fun game. +

+++

+ Closing calculations – on Legions Imperialis +

+ I don't think I'm saying anything too contentious to say that Legions Imperialis is a flawed system. It is also, however, a lot of fun. Events like this demonstrate to me that you do get spectacular thematic games, and beneath all the needlessly complex chrome, bells and whistles it retains a good underlying engine that looks great on the table. +

+ You do, however, need to play with the right spirit of cooperation. It would be very easy to abuse the army-building, and if you're looking for the 'best' options in-game, there's rarely even much consideration. With this borne in mind, I was really pleased to see the sheer variety of armies and unit types that people had brought – these were a group of people who clearly love both the setting and the scale, and valued playing the game first and foremost. I'm very grateful to have been playing in this sort of environment. +

+ I hate to say it, but as it stands I'd hesitate to recommend Legions Imperialis to new players until there's a substantial FAQ or revision. I hope that in a year or two the army list, agonisingly incompletely and broken up across multiple expensive expansions, is collected into a single volume. +

+ Of course, when you do get these ingredients together – sportsmanship, beautiful armies, great tables – it's a heady combo, and the game is really very fun. Things largely do what you'd expect them to, and you get the sense of a 'grand sweep of battle'. I just hope GW can get their act together to make Legions Imperialis the success it could be. +

+++

+ Closing calculations – on the Corsair Gambit +

+ On the event itself, I have no real criticisms. Very nicely run, and some flavourful additions that added to the theme. Three games at 2,000pts did feel a little crammed, but we were asked midway through the first whether we'd prefer to cut things to two games. We ended up pressing ahead for three, which I think was the right decision, but for future events – particularly if they're at larger points limits – I think I'd prefer a two-game per day approach. +

+ Personally, I'd have loved this to be done over the course of a weekend; it was nice to meet and catch up with people from last time, but it would have been even better to have less time pressure, and some more time to socialise. +

+ We also got to see a sneak preview of, and free sample from, Battlebuilder – a very snazzy-looking nameplate service that's a collaboration between Maximal Fire, Battle Bling and some others. I hope to do a proper look at that in the near future, but the thing that made it jump out to me is that you can design things 'live' on the website itself. +

 

+ Glittering prizes +

+ I was also delighted to receive the Best Painted trophy, which you can see nuzzled between the free objectives pack we were given, and a flyer for Entoyment's Beachhead 2025 event next year. Winning this was very unexpected, given the quality of armies on display. Turns out that I can thoroughly recommend painting a Titan from the organiser's Legion to score some brownie points with the judges! +

+++

+ The true test of an event is whether you come away filled with enthusiasm, and I'm happy to say that I'm already planning for a potential third event in the Corsair Stars – you can see some additional Land Raider reinforcements above, and as you'll see below, I've also got started on an Iron Skulls maniple for Adeptus Titanicus, too. More on this shortly... +

+ inload: Legio Maximal Reaver Titan – 'Profugon Iratus' +

+ Painting Profugon Iratus of Legio Maximal +

+ Profugon Iratus – eager to walk in defence of his homeworld. +

+ One more evening of painting to go prior to Saturday's event, and priority has to go to the Salamanders' Land Raiders, which have lingered on the sidelines while I worked up this Reaver Titan. As you can see, it's at a playable stage, though I'm intending to add some markings, finishing details and banners prior to fielding it. +

+++

+ Colour scheme +

+ The background for the Vigilants (Legio Maximal) didn't include any notes on colour scheme, but since Maximal Fire has recently had a rebrand, I took the colours from their swanky new logo:

+ Having reserved black for metallics and the banners, the bulk of the armour plating was worked up in GW's Fire Dragon Bright and Grey Seer. I worked this up by mixing in Vallejo Cold White, and used Daler Rowney's FW white acrylic ink to thin the mix, which increases the fluidity without compromising the opacity – a handy shortcut for speed and smoothness. +

+ These work-in-progress shots show the plating, which was sprayed with Grey Seer. The skeleton underneath was worked up along the lines of my Iron Warrior infantry [+noosphericinloadlink embedded+] +

+ At this stage I was concentrating on getting a clean appearance, and edged the panels with Skrag brown (for the orange ones) and Vallejo Luftwaffe Uniform WWII (for the white ones). +

+ To hint at Maximal Fire's logo, I included a few zig-zag patterns and splits to hint at the lightning bolt in their logo. The grey panel lines look quite nice, I think, but I ultimately decided to do them brass/gold as you see below. + 

+ This pict-capture also shows the painted base, with a couple of crates showing both the old Maximal Fire logo (as a nod to the past) and the Battle Bling logo. With the amount of sponsorship on this model, it feels a bit like an F1 car! +

+ Weaponry +

+ Weapons are a good place to add some contrasting spot colours. The WIP below shows the weapons in place, with areas picked out in white. Just look what a difference a spot of GW's Talassar Blue contrast paint makes to the appearance of the lasers on top, compared with the one on the arm. +

+ The right arm weapon is the plasma decimator [+noosphericexloadlink embedded+ from Battle Bling. It'll count as a Volcano cannon. Both arms are magnetised using Battle Bling's arm upgrades [+noosphericexloadlink embedded+], too. +

+ I had fun painting this, using the Daler-Rowney FW acrylic ink to good effect. The area was painted pink, and then repeated layers of diluted ink laid into the area, so that it flowed into the recesses and gave a reverse-highlight effect. The opacity of the inks helps the result to look particularly bright – and you'll now see why the armour plates retain a hint of grey: it's key that the brightest white is the supposedly glowing one. +

+++

+ What's left? +

+ I'd like to add an heraldic device to the top carapace – probably a hare to symbolise vigilance (and be a bit different to the millions of eagles on Imperial models). Along with that, I've got plans for a lighthouse, t-rex and some form of identifier for Nabad-Paleae, the Legion's forgeworld (the objective for the overall campaign at the weekend). I've also got plans for the aforementioned black banners: one each for the arms and one for between the legs. +

+... oh, and also to bring a bit of detail to the eyes. +

+ If you've got any suggestions for other markings – serious or in-jokey – feel free to let me know and I'll do my best to incorporate them! +

+++

+ inload: Epic Reaver build continues +

 + Work in progress: Posing a Reaver Titan – part II +

+ Part I of this project can be found here:
[+noosphericinloadlink embedded+]

+ 'Old Spiteful' of Legio Sumer-Nikator, traversing rough ground at speed +

‘Raising a Reaver Titan is a matter not of construction, but of faith. The Machine-Spirit must be invited (a coy term for ‘lured’) into the mechanical frame once it has been correctly sanctified.

‘Once aboard, a series of increasingly secretive rites must be observed and warily conducted, culminating in the sacrifice of a local predator-beast in the sanctum of the reactor core. The aim is to bind the Anima to the metal, ivory and plastek construction; thereby making a synthesis that invests cold metal with spirit. The more puissant the creature, the more powerful the binding and the resultant Titan.

‘Fewer than one in a thousand attempts is a success; more than a quarter of the attempts are fatal for the Priest-Attendant.’

– Liber Humer-Ghant; extr. On the Enthusiasm of War Engines

+++

+ Our last look at our Legio Maximal Reaver saw it with a sculpted base with the feet firmly integrated to give it a sense of presence and weight. It's now time to move on to working upwards, constructing the legs and torso. +

+ Battle Bling upgrade armour plates – Loyalist; Classic option – tacked in place. +

+ My personal preference for building any model is to build it in its entirety, as I find it holds my interest and I enjoy the process more (not to mention it saves bits getting lost when things have to be packed away!) but I do occasionally use subassemblies. +

+ Not only does it make it easier to paint into recesses, but it offers you the ability to basecoast things with starkly different primers, saving painting work later, but it also forces you to slow down and consider things. That particular note is handy for Reaver Titans, which have a number of things about the legs that can trip up the builder. +

+ Lower legs +

The back of the lower leg is on the left; and the front on the right.

+ We looked last time at the subtly non-symmetrical feet, and a similar thing applies to the lower legs. Here, you want to make sure that the Aquila (double-headed eagle) detail faces backwards, as in the picture above. I've clipped the armour plates in place to help make this clear; but the reason for it is that the Aquila should remains visible once the armour's in place. As you can see, the Battle Bling upgrade armour preserves this nice little touch. +

Traitor armour plates showing the same thing – and perhaps it would have been nice for these to have an additional detail to obscure the Aquila.

+ Another thing to note about the armour upgrades (both Loyal and Traitor) is that they replace the knee armour completely – it's integrated into the shin armour a bit like Mark VI power armour. This doesn't make any difference here, but it does mean that you can't make another common building mistake for the standard kit, which is to glue the kneepads on upside-down. +

+++

+ Upper legs and pelvis +

+ The upper legs are more subtly asymmetrical, with the difference being the vent on the back – visible on the right-hand side of the picture. The upper legs are otherwise interchangeable, and you can easily build them with the vents facing forwards. To be honest, this is one of those things that could easily be optional rather than 'correct'. +

+ The pelvis/groin/hips piece is simple – there's a larger and smaller hole to receive armour plates on front and back. The upgrade armour's fit on these is nice and snug, so they'll stay in place without any temporary fixes for painting. +

+ Traitor front +

+ Loyalist front +

+ Loyalist rear +

+ Whether loyal or traitor, these pieces are the same for both options in the respective upgrade packs. +

+++

+ Assembling the legs +

+ When assembling the legs, bear in mind the pose you decided upon (see part I), and keep it in mind as you work. Dry fit the parts – and feel free to use Blu-tak or similar to hold it temporarily. +

+ When you feel confident, you can begin to glue things. Work joint by joint, building upwards from the feet. 

+ The key things to remember when assembling the lower legs are:

• Get the pieces the right way round
• Don't overextend joints, or the armour won't fit
• Ensure that the recesses on the legs broadly align with the recess/divots for the pistons – you've got a little bit of play, but not much.

+ While the glue on the lower legs is drying, dry fit the armour to check that it fits, and that there is sufficient space for the pistons. The poses available here are surprisingly limited without carving into the pistons and armour – but don't worry, you only need a few degrees off vertical/horizontal to create a convincing pose. +

+ Upper legs and waist +

+ My advice here is to allow the lower legs to dry completely, which will give you a firm foundation to build upon. Placing the upper legs on top too quickly can cause the lower legs (which have a relatively small attachment point) to move, which means you'll be trying to keep too many components in place at once, and risk ending up with a wrong or awkward pose. + 

+ Add a small amount of glue to the hips and attach the upper legs loosely. Before this subassembly dries, dry fit it against the knees. There are a series of grooves on the top of the lower leg that should fit snugly. If they don't, try adjusting the hip until the upper leg grooves slot in. +

+ If they still don't fit, disassemble the hips and upper leg subassembly and leave to dry. Add a touch of polystyrene cement to the ankle of the problematic lower leg and wait until you can flex the joint. Reset it to a less extreme pose (but bear in mind your original aim) and start again. +

+ The key things to remember when assembling the upper legs and waist are:

• Get the pieces the right way round
• Work slowly, and on top of a firm foundation
• Don't be afraid to tilt the upper legs – much of the 'weight' of the pose will come from the angle you choose, and you can be quite extreme here as long as the centre of gravity remains where you want it. 
• Generally speaking, the more acute the angle of the upper leg, the further forward the knee should be compared with the foot. 
• The waist determines how the entire upper torso and weapons will sit. Unless you have a particularly dynamic pose in mind, the top of the waist piece should be near parallel to the ground, or tilted slightly forwards.

+ Example poses +

+ Moving at pace, Senex Codomannus is caught mid-stride. The centre of gravity sits forward, the front leg bent as it settles into a new position (note drooping toes as it finds firm footing); the rear leg straight, trailing and lifting. The torso is canted forward on the waist to give more impression of momentum, and the weapons are trained downwards. +

+ In contrast, Mercato Stipent looks wary and hesitant. Both feet are firmly placed and braced on the ground. Here, the rear leg is bent, and the front straighter; giving the sense that the Titan has stepped backwards or is adjusting its placement – note how the centre of gravity is set further back. The weapons are up and the head follows the direction of the Gatling blaster. +

+ Alternatively, you can build up one leg at a time. Start with the leg you're happy with and glue on the upper leg and pelvis. Adjust this so that the top of the pelvis is parallel with the ground or canted only slightly – any more than this will quickly make the Titan look like it's overbalancing. Once one leg is in position, you can adjust to get the other leg into place. +

+++

+ Once the legs are fully assembled, attach the pistons. The longer one sits at the front, as shown; the other three are interchangeable. +

+ With the pistons in place, dry fit the armour plates again, and adjust if necessary. These small pieces have quite a bit of play – but as a general note, it's worth doing this assembly with small amounts of glue to make adjustments easier. You can go back and reinforce joints later, often simply through the capillary action of the glue into the joint, with no breakage necessary. +

+ When adding the pistons, bear in mind that these will have additional small armour plates themselves, so try to sit them as centrally as possible in the recesses and divots, to give yourself as much space and flex for these. Keep the pistons upright and straight if you can, too – it gives a neater final effect. +

+ The pose of the foot has forced the front piston on the left leg (right of picture) out at an angle – but note that I've used what flexibility is there to ensure enough space for the piston armour to fit in the gap left in the leg armour. +

+ When reposing the foot to an extreme, it's fairly inevitable that you'll end up with some parts needing to be adjusted; whether that's a toe, shin, piston or even the entire leg. If you're willing to compromise the pose, it's best to do this on the fly – but if you've got something really specific in mind, then you can trim down the relevant parts to get things to fit. I suggest, however, that this is a last resort, and that wherever possible you make such changes in an unobstrusive place as possible. +

+++

+ Upper body +

+ A plate is included to cover the bottom of the upper body (the 'chest', if you imagine the Reaver stooping). This slots neatly into place, and like the other parts, will stay in place through friction; useful for painting the plates separately.  +

+ ...And the top plate simply sits on top. This isn't quite so snug, but is fine for temporary work. +

+ The pauldrons then balance in place on top of the shoulders. The Battle Bling designers have added positional details inside to ensure a precise fit. Note that because this is circular, you do have some limited poseability; shrugging the armour forward to close the gaps at the front, for example. +

+ The shoulders are one of the most distinguishing parts of the upgrade kits. The Loyalist Classic and Traitor Heretic packs have the larger pauldrons above, which hang down at front and back. These are symmetrical and interchangeable, so you can use either pad on either side. If you want to represent reinforced or extra armour in-game, these are a good way to do so. +

+ Traitor equivalent – Forsaken variant +

+  The Loyalist Winged and Traitor Forsaken packs instead have designs closer to the plastic originals, with asymmetrical shapes and less coverage. These give a lighter, sleeker look – just make sure you glue them on on the correct sides! +

+++

+ Assembly and painting +

+ With all the subassemblies completed, slot the armour plates in place to do a final check on the pose. If you're happy, your ready to prime and paint. +

+ As noted, keeping the armour plates separate can help when painting, allowing you to use a dark primer on the structural skeleton and a different primer entirely on the armour plates – here's what that looks like with Halfords camo brown (recently rebranded and repackaged, but I'm happy to say still the same reliable stuff) and Games Workshop's Grey Seer. +

+ And the upgrade kit (Loyalist – Classic) in all its glory. +

+ Kit review summary – Battle Bling Titan armour upgrades +

+ I'm impressed with these kit. All are really well engineered, and it fits like a dream, particularly impressive given the awkwardness of the shapes and the precision needed. I've no hesitation in recommending it. All four of the variants fit right in, and are ideal for adding some individuality to your Titans, whether that's to make it easier to distinguish Titans within your Maniple or Battlegroup, or simply for the fun of having something a bit different. +

+ Here's the link:

[+noosphericexloadlink embedded+]

+ Future ideas +

+ I hope that Battle Bling continue to produce different armour variants like this (and indeed there's a few spiked options already), and I'd love to see a proper asymmetric monstrous one for possessed Titans. I'm really surprised no-one's tried to tackle this yet, as an easy upgrade kit seems to be leaving money on the table. +

+ Likewise it would be nice to see upgrades that reflect specific things like wargear upgrades. Not only would they be nice aesthetic upgrades, but they'd also be useful for providing a physical reminder of which Titans have upgrades. These could be nice and generic:

• Engine upgrade to fit in the gap at the back of the body, between the shield generators: Plasmatic binders/Motive subreactors/Bi-folded power containment/Plasma channels
• Armour upgrade including parts to cover the upper legs (like the Warbringer)
• Sensor upgrade to fit around the cowl above the head, perhaps, to represent upgrades like Gravitonic sensor array/

+ ... and on an entirely subjective and selfish note, I'd also love to see a head or two to supplement these armour sets. Long-time readers will know I've been hoping some enterprising individual would make a modern take on the other classic Reaver head 2 (below), as I think Titan's heads are the key to their personality, and helps your giant robot feel like your giant robot. +

+ Until then, I'll be using a conversion I made from a spare Warlord head and 40k Knight. You can see the first splashes of colour on the Titan, too. Keep your eyes peeled for more! +

+ Base metal – the Reaver's 'skeleton' receives its first splashes of colour +

+++

+ inload: Battle Bling's Reaver Titan armour upgrades +

+ Building Legio Maximal – The Vigilants +

+ Battle Bling upgrades for Adeptus Titanicus +

+ I've got another gaming day coming up at Maximal Fire's Corsair Gambit campaign down in Poole, and will be taking my Salamanders once again – hoping to improve on my record of two losses and – uh, another loss. Themed around the battle for control of Nabed-Paleae, the throneworld of the Titan Legion Legio Maximal, I wanted to make sure that I brought along at least one Titan for theme. +

+ You can read about the campaign here: [+noosphericexloadlink embedded++noosphericexloadlink embedded+] – at time of writing, there are still some tickets available, if you fancy joining in. +

+++

+ Battle Bling to the rescue – Reaver Titan upgrade kits overview +

+ I had the pleasure of meeting Johnny and Jon of Battle Bling at the last campaign day, and having politely cooed over my Thunderhawk (above), which uses their upgrades – you can read more in this inload – they very kindly sent over a selection of Titan upgrades for me to use. I'll focus on the Reaver here, but will come back in the future to show you the Warlord versions, too. +

+ Below is the snappily-named 'Loyalist Armour Plates compatible with Reaver Titans' kit: + 

... and its stablemate, the 'Traitorous Armour Plates Compatible with Reaver Titans' kit: 

+ Both are shown straight from the bubble-wrap bags in which they were supplied; the supports have already been removed, and there's very little clean-up work necessary. +

+++

+ The Titan models from GW are shared by both sides of the Horus Heresy civil war, with spikes and stylised eagles shared by both sides. While you can err one way or the other with the plasic options, they're far less obviously 'Chaos' or 'Imperial' than you might expect from 40k. +

+ These kits allow you to make your loyalties clearer – though it's worth pointing out that with the right paint job, you could happily scatter parts from the 'Traitor' kits across a more savage Loyalist Legio, and vice versa. These aren't upgrades dripping with purity seals or leering daemon faces, but subtle options for variation within your Maniple or collection. +

+ Differing in sculpted detail and trim, both kits use the same underlying plate geometry, and so are cross-compatible – you could mix and match parts with each other (and the standard plastics, of course) on the same Titan. The kits come with 10 pieces each:

• 2 pauldrons (shoulder armour)
• Upper and lower carapace
• Front and rear pelvis
• 2 parts for each lower leg

+ There are two options for Loyalists (Classic and Winged) and two for Traitors (Heretic and Forsaken). These differ in the decoration of the upper carapace, and the shape of the pauldrons (shoulder armour) – the other plates are common to each kit. You'll note that there are 13 pieces in each picture above – that's because I was sent both options for each. You'll need to pick which bits you prefer; so I'll do my best in this build-along to showcase all the options. +

+++1

+ The key question – fitting +

+ Upgrade kits can be a problem if they're not properly designed and manufactured, as parts end up not fitting properly together. I'm happy to say that, being 3D-printed, these don't have the shrinkage problem of resin manufacture. They fit perfectly to the plastic GW Titan parts. They're also reassuringly sturdy – I've had plenty of 3D printed material that is very brittle and breakable, but whatever Battle Bling uses is a great balance of strength and flexibility. +

+ Having said that, these aren't as flexible as plastic, and won't put up with much pressure from a knife. If you do end up with a breakage, it's likely to be sheer and clean, so a quick fix with superglue will put things right. +

+ The leg armour plates come in two parts, and are a great example how well they fit. On the left you can see the two pieces assembled around the plastic lower leg of the reaver, with the join scarcely visible. On the right you can see the two components, with tongue-and-groove connectors to help slot things into the correct position. +

+ I don't want to pre-empt the finished result, so I'll reserve judgement 'til I've finished building the while thing. Nevertheless, early results are very reassuring that the finished kit is :

a) Going to look ded proppa

b) Be nice and sturdy for gaming.

+++

+ From the ground up – Building a Legio Maximal Reaver part 1+

'Burning cold, biting heat; these are the stressors that led to life.' So begins the Liber Maximalis, the curious record of the Legio Maximal's difficult inception. 

• Warcry/Motto  'Magno conatu, magnis clamoribus proelii, et festinanter progredi longius quam hostes, triumphabimus.'
• Founding  Great Crusade 
• Conscription-contributions from numerous Legios; principally Gryphonicus; Krytos and Tempestus
• Homeworld  Nabed-Paleae
• Warden Domains: Corsair World Cluster
• Allegiance  Unknown  (Fidelitas Scindo)
• Colours  White, Black and Orange

+ Let's look at how you can put these upgrades to use, then. To give the kits a proper road test, I thought I'd combine their use with a step-by-step on how I go about posing my Titans.  This is the first part: preparing the base and posing the feet. +

+ Theoretical +

+ Posing can add a lot of character to your Titan. Pose is always down to personal preference, so my key recommendation is to do what you like. The basic kit is very flexible and poseable anyway, so I always think it's worth taking some time to make your God-Engine unique. +

+ For me, I like Titans to look huge and ponderous – but not static. The kit will allow you to create great walking poses, particularly on a flat base, but if you want to have a lifted foot, or walk over rough terrain, I find adjusting the feet is critical to giving that extra dose of realism and weight. +

+ In concert with being out of contact with the base surface, even subtly adjusting the toes to hang slightly below the level of foot gives a more natural gait to this WIP shot of Titan. +

+ However, fiddling around with every joint is an easy road towards a rag doll, the joints looking floppy or the overall impression simply looking slumped or stilted instead of predatory and intimidating. +

+ Do some research for a pose you like. Decide whether you want to go for a super-dynamic or more restrained look. Be reassured that even minor changes can make a surprising difference. +

+ To help decide on a pose that will be successful, consider the following:

• Pace and role – How fast do you want your Titan to be moving, and does this fit its role? Having just a toe or two in contact will make the Titan look very fast – but it fights with the idea of them being big. Even at full stride, larger Imperial Titans will likely have at least one foot in full contact with the floor, simply because of their sheer mass. Lighter Scout Titans can get away with less – perhaps even to the point of jumping.

+ The Warbringer is an artillery Titan; its carapace mount making the centre of gravity even more unstable than other Titans, so a ponderous march is fitting. +

• Dynamics – The faster the Titan is moving, the more the centre of gravity needs to look right. This is key to selling the post. If the centre of gravity doesn't chime with  the placement of the feet, your Titan is going to look like it's toppling over, rather than speedy. Conversely, if your Titan has both feet braced, you can play about with the centre of gravity and bring dynamism into play from the waist up. 

• Limits – There are physical limits on the poses available because of the structure of the Titan. The knee, for example, will only bend so much before the armour plates won't fit. Some joints don't have such limits – the hips are very free, for example – but you need to consider the leg as a whole. A knee at full lock and over-extended hip is going to look comical rather than intimidating. You can, of course, trim things away for more dynamic poses, if that's your jam. To maintain movement in a stable, straight line, the centre of gravity will usually be over the foot in contact with the ground.

+ A pacey Warhound is better able to sell a sense of speed and movement than larger Titans. Note that the leading foot is almost directly under the centre of gravity, and that the torso is very balanced. Note also that the trailing leg is directly behind the front leg, rather than out to one side. These are what give the impression of fast – but controlled – forward momentum. +

+ Before you begin, decide on the pose you want. Picture it in your head. If it doesn't make you feel too daft, try standing in the pose yourself, to get an idea of how your legs, feet and pelvis relate to one another. +

+++

+ Practical +

_1  Gather some small rocks. These should be a mix of sizes, and ideally include some with flat surfaces to make it easier to glue them securely to the base. I prefer to find more jagged rocks, to add additional texture – but as the main point of these is to create some variation in height for the Titan's feet and legs to interact with, you could use smooth pebbles and build up texture later.

_2  Use superglue to attach them to the base. Aim for clusters that suggest rocky outcrops, rather than scattering them evenly over the surface. As we're properly testing this armour's flexibility, I've put a large cluster for one foot to rest on, about a third in from one side. For easier posing I suggest you leave plenty of space for at least one of the feet to sit flat, and avoid putting too many rocks down.

_3  Use a spatula or old brush to apply a layer of acrylic texture paste. I used Winsor & Newton's Galeria sand texture gel here, but you could happily use an equivalent art medium, or polyfilla (Spackle in the US, I think). Work this in closely around the rocks, building up the surface and binding the rocks firmly down.

_4  Once covered, spend a little time moving the texture paste around to avoid anything looking like brushmarks or a considered texture. Add some texture on top of the largest rocks, but avoid the sides.

_5  Pour some builder's sand on top and give it a gentle shake. You can press down or give it a spray of clean water to help settle it in and affix it to the texture paste, but this shouldn't be necessary – it's quite sticky stuff.

_6  Tip away the excess and run your thumb round the base to remove any stray particles from the rim. The texture paste will now stay tacky for a few hours, so be careful when handling it. 

_7  We've got a critical hour or so in which we can still embed material in it and substantially change the texture. Here I've dropped in a couple of Maximal Fire crates, but you could use any scatter terrain or spare miniatures you have to hand. Gently press them into the surface, then use your spatula or old knife to held draw the texture paste up to them, as though dust or dirt has settled against them. This helps the objects look seated in the base, and stops them looking weightless.

_8  It's time for our Titan to start making footprints. Remove the feet from the sprue, and make sure that you know which is left and which is right – as you can see above, the frontmost and rearmost toes are asymmetrical. Don't be caught out!

_9  Place them lightly on the base to check the basic positioning. This picture shows the problem with using the feet straight out of the kit for uneven ground – they look stiff and weightless. We need to get those toes flexing to account for the uneven ground.

_10  The scary bit! Chopping up the irreplaceable feet can be nerve-wracking, but if you use a sharp, fresh blade, you'll get a nice clean cut. Make a straight vertical cut as close to the central circular part of the foot (the 'sole', for want of a better term) as possible. This will mean cutting partially through the recess/divot for the piston. Don't panic about this – it will largely be hidden by the piston and armour plates later. Still, try to make the cut as clean as possible.

_11  The first removed toe. 

_12  Removing as little material as you can, clean up the area to restore the shape to the sole and remove excess plastic that has been pushed out of shape by the cut.

_13  Use the blade (or a pen or paint) to mark both the toe and the part of the sole from which you removed it with a number or symbol (Roman numerals are easy – and thus safer – to make), and repeat with the other toes. This will make it much easier to reassemble the foot.

_14  Use polystyrene cement to re-attach the front toe at the required angle. You can trim the back of the toe and the area of sole flat at the attachment point to help ensure a decent grip. Here, you can see that I'm picturing the front toe is flat against the floor, with the sole of the foot lifting away. This will be the rear foot, which is in motion.

_15  Attach the side toes in the same way. Before the glue is completely dry, hold the foot in position on your working surface as shown, to check that the placement of the other toes helps sell the movement – in this case, the side toes droop a little and are slightly rotated to keep the parallel with (but not touching) the ground. Note that you can't take this rotation too far, or you'll find trouble with the pistons later on.

_16 The moment of truth! Place the foot in position on your base. It's best to do this before the polystyrene cement is dry, and while the texture paste is still slightly malleable, as you can then adjust. Timing this is – quite literally – a balancing act. Too early and things will slip and fall apart; too late and things will be trick to adjust. Once happy, gently press the front toe down to force the texture paste outwards, letting the foot sink in a little.

It is key to leave enough space for the other foot – and the rest of the Titan! Having the feet too close together will result in a Titan that looks vulnerable or nervous; not the fierce predator we want. Place the foot well to the left or right of the centre line of the base, and interacting with the rocks and details you've put into the base already.

_17 Check the pose works from different angles, and use a modelling tool to carefully tweak things where necessary. Here, you can see the Reaver's right toe has been twisted to bring more of it into contact with the rocks beneath.

_18  Glue on the rear toe. You can see that the join is quite ugly. You can wait until everything is secure to clean it up, or rely somewhat on the pistons and armour sparing your blushes.

_19  We now follow a similar process for the other foot. The difference now is ensuring that the foot pose complements, rather than replicates, the first. Since the trailing foot is lifting away, it can't be bearing the weight of the Titan – thus this leading foot must be doing so. We place the sole of the foot at flat as possible on the base. When placing it, remember to leave a gap for the hips and waist. In this particular example, the rocks make movement awkward for the Princeps – so he carefully places the Reaver's leading foot on the lowest, flattest part of the rocky outcrop, for the most support.

_20  Attach the toes as before to help emphasise the pose. Here, the toes are as flat to the undulating surface as possible, and the rocks mean that they are often tilted upwards to maximise the surface contact with the rocky ground.

_21  Positioning needs to be done on a toe by toe basis. Rely on the physical model in front of you, and let gravity sink the toe into position, before making adjustments to ensure the pistons and armour will line up.

_22  The feet are now complete. Thus far, things have been worked will still flexible and malleable, but we now need our foundations to be as solid as possible to build upon. Leave the whole thing to dry overnight, or longer if possible.

+++

+ This is the end of the first part of the tutorial. We'll come back soon to start to build on top... +