From DavidL - Going Small: Epic 40K Titan Defense Company (61 Points)

As promised in my last post, I'm finally getting a start on my big "small" project (but not before Curt schooled us all on the true meaning of big "small" projects!).

Back in 2013, I spotted a very nice deal on eBay for a bunch of old Epic-scale Warlord and Reaver Titans. Adeptus Titanicus was my first GW game, and the second minis game I ever bought, so seeing those old sculpts really brought back a flood of nostalgia. I had discovered my own personal version of OldHammer.

A return to Epic scale also meant a return to painting in 6mm, something I haven't done in 20-plus years. I painted up my newly-acquired Titans in the colors of Legio Mortis and Legio Metalica so that they could fight proper Adeptus Titanicus battles, but I wanted to add some infantry as well so that I could field my Titan Legions in games of Epic 40K. Wanting my Titan Legion infantry to look somewhat different than their Imperial Guard brethren, I settled on using proxy miniatures to represent the grunts tasked with keeping the Titans safe from other enemy infantry and tanks, and found some great selections among the "Pax Arcadia" line from Dark Realm Miniatures.

This is the Heavy Weapon Platoon using the "AT Infantry" pack from Dark Sword. Each stand sports a las-cannon and heavy bolter. For color scheme, I went with the classic Imperial uniform of grey fabric and red helmets.

Here's the Titan Defense Company proper, six five-man squads to a platoon. Dark Sword's "Light Infantry" supplied the requisite figures.

For the Company's leaders, I invoked the Adeptus Mechanicus with the command stands; Dark Sword's "Industrial Infantry" did the trick nicely here with their flowing robes and industrial equippage.

The command HQ stand also comes with its own Rhino for riding in style. I chose a camo scheme suitable for fighting in urban ruins, since that's what my Epic terrain consists of.

Likewise, the basing was kept purposely muted so as to suggest rubble and ruin. I achieved the texture by emptying out a bunch of Earl Grey tea bags, the gluing the grounds to the bases. It's a bit more "in scale" than the basing sand I had on hand.

Speaking of the bases, I went with standard 28mm slottabases rather than the usual wafer-thin bases one typically sees with Epic. The reason I did this was two-fold: first, I like a bit more thickness to my bases when it comes to any scale smaller than 15mm, so that it's easier to pick up without inadvertently grabbing the fragile figures; second, I realized the slottabases were the same thickness as the standard Titan bases. So now everyone's on the same level, as it were, giving an excellent sense of the true scale between the Titans and the swarms of infantry and vehicles.

A selection of infantry and vehicles alongside a Legio Metalica Warlord.

I also threw in a platoon of Leman Russ tanks. These are some of the latter-day metal castings from the line, which came after I stopped playing Epic. I was quite impressed with how each tank is highly individualized with stowage and other customizations.

All together, I've got 105 6mm figures and four 6mm vehicles. That tallies up to a grand total of 60.5 points. This completes my Titan Defense Company, and therefore my Titan Legion project. However, I'll be back in coming weeks as I begin work on my next Epic endeavor: da Orks!

The grunt's-eye view...

From Curt:

David, these are brilliant! I think I'm not alone in having a soft spot for all things Titan-esque. Of course, with the genre being generally well-regarded, it has consigned itself to the IP  purgatory that GW reserves for its best designed systems. What a bunch of f*cking ijits, I tell ya.

Anyway, GW bashing aside, these models are fabulous. I really like the punchy, high-contrast colours, and your basing is excellent as well. GregB and I did much the same thing with our EPIC basing, abandoning the original (and limiting) strip system for more flexible (and arguably visually pleasing) circular and square bases. 

Thanks for the tip on the Dark Realm 6mm proxies. These models are great and you've done them proud. BTW have you checked out the stuff from Onslaught Miniatures? I picked up some of their Sisterhood castings in order to do 'Sisters of Battle' for EPIC (SHHH! don't tell Greg!). :)

Oh, and that Titan is Da Bomb!

Great work David!