From GregB: Imperial Titans for "Adeptus Titanicus" (45 Points)

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

Another 180-degree turn in painting focus for this week.  We leave horses and muskets behind and rip 30,000 years into the grim darkness of the far future with two titans from GW's rebooted game "Adeptus Titanicus."  Titans are the "god-engines" of the wars in the far future, massive bi-pedal war machines packing mountain-levelling firepower and protected by spooky void-shields.

"Let's go for a walk!"

Organised into semi-monastic, clan-like legions, the Titans are massive, macro-firepower ground assault force used to back the Space Marines and Imperial Army forces across the Imperium.  The arrival of a Space Marine Legion would be bad news already, but if the Marines are accompanied/supported by a Titan Legion then...well, in all likelihood, your lovely world will soon be reduced to rubble - if you're lucky!

Reaver class titan.

In the Horus Heresy - the great, galaxy-spanning civil war launched when the Warmaster Horus tried to liberate humanity from the clutches of the so-called "Emperor" - the different Titan Legions picked sides, and Titan would fight Titan in city-smashing encounters...these are the battles you are creating/re-creating when you play "Adeptus Titanicus".

"Adeptus Titanicus" was re-launched by GW last fall - if you want to know more about that, and see how GW handled the whole thing like the pack of s***-eating gnarled c***s that they are, see here.  I painted a few of the new Titans right after the game came out, but haven't really touched any of the kits since last year. That needed to change, as I will be helping to run an "Adeptus Titanicus" demonstration game at an event here in Winnipeg this weekend, and reinforcements were needed, starting with the Imperial side of my collection!

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

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

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

Detail on the carapace plate.

The "volcano cannon" in particular is very powerful, but tricky to manage, as it puts a lot of pressure on the Titan's plasma reactor.  I also used an alternate head that came with the kit...I liked how this version had so many optical lenses in the "eyes" - seems to me this crew will want all the targeting assistance it can get...

The Warhound up close.

View of the engine detail.

View from the turbo-laser side...

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

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

The newer plastic kits from GW are very nice, and as you can see in the photo, they have re-scaled them to a fairly radical extent compared to the old models once used for this game. Decisions like that, together with the eye-watering prices and complete sh**head approaches to the packaging of the weapon options in the different kits have ensured "Adeptus Titanicus" will remain a niche game - but the rules are excellent, the game itself is a lot of fun.  If you enjoy the 30k/Horus Heresy setting, you will certainly enjoy the game - I'm looking forward to running it this weekend.

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

I'm excited to have these two engines finished, as I will now have a complete maniple for the Imperial side of my collection!  In terms of points...I have no idea what points these will be worth. Strictly speaking, these would be "10mm vehicles", I think, but I am happy to accept whatever my minion believes is appropriate.  Power to the reactors! Full stride! As newly-painted models, I'm confident things will go flawlessly for these two engines this weekend...

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Naturally, we're going to have something different from GregB. Why oh why couldn't he stick to something French, Franco-Prussian, or otherwise Frenchified. But no, he had to succumb to the heresy and take up painting Titans for Horus. DavidB already demolished my planet for a hyperspace bypass, thank you!

Consulting the annals of the Painting Challenge, it looks like warhounds go for 10 points, and reavers go for 20 or so. Though, given the size of the things, that seems a bit low. If the really huge ones are 40 points, I'm gonna say they're the equivalent of a 28mm vehicle and a 40mm vehicle, respectively. So, they're 20 and 25, so call it 45 points. 

Cracking job, though.