“In truth a Titan has only three enemies: folly, hubris and another of its own kind.“

Grand Master Volkus, Ordo Sinister, Divisio Militaris

Titans. The mere mention of the name evokes images of gigantic beasts and monstrous opponents that cannot be beaten by normal means. Something that lurks in the mists of battle, before breaking through the shroud and sowing death with every foot step. Something so outrageous that it causes fear in those mortals who dare look upon it as it rampages forwards.

Most people will see their first Titan in the flesh at Warhammer World, either in the museum or in Forgeworld. Even in bare resin, they’re imposing, painted they become the avatars of death they are modelled to represent. The first representation in the lore is often via the Horus Heresy books or Dan Abnett’s Titanicus (ISBN: 1844165868).

For me, my first introduction to a Titan was Dies Irae in Dan Abnett’s Horus Rising. Dies Irae is an Imperator Titan, a Titan so large, that Forgeworld don’t actually make one for gaming purposes. They make Warlord Titans, the largest of the battle Titans look positively small. Even in literature form, Titans come across as unbeatable and utterly outrageous. However, as later books show, Titans are what Goliath was to David. An undeniable threat, but one that has weaknesses that can be exploited.

Titans were not unaffected by the Warmaster Horus splitting from the Emperor. In fact, the Titan Legios were split twofold. One aspect of the split came from Horus himself, exercising the political power he held and using his charisma to convince them to join. The second aspect came from Mars itself. Birthplace of the Titans, home to the Mechanicum and the site of an all encompassing civil war. The Fabricator General of Mars, Kelbor Hal did not view the Emperor as the physical manifestation of the Omnissiah. Instead Kelbor Hal saw him as an imposter, albeit a powerful one, using the guise of being the Omnissiah in order to control Mars. Indeed, the decrees to seal away knowledge such as that contained within the Vaults of Moravek was viewed as the Emperor trying to control the advancement of the Mechanicum. Those Titan Legios swayed by Kelbor Hal or Horus Lupercal were classified Traitoris Profundus.

Force Organisation:

The Legio Titanicus is a component of the Mechanicum, either Loyalist or Traitor and the rules for the Titans are in The Horus Heresy: Mechancium Taghmata Army List book. However, due to the points cost of each Titan and the rule that no more than 25% of your points can be in a Lord of War choice, you’re limited in what you can field alongside an army using the Crusade or Onslaught Force Organisation chart. Realistically, Legio Titanicus isn’t a sole army, its something that you bolt on to your existing one for added punch/narrative reasons. Either way, for the larger Titans, you’ll be looking at a Leviathan Force Organisation chart.

This Force Org is designed to allow you to field multiple Lords of War, or, if you’re so inclined – one huge Lord of War. You may also take an Allied Detachment, which is comprised of one Compulsory HQ and one Compulsory Troop, allowing an additional troop choice, one Elite choice, one Fast Attack choice and one Heavy Support choice. This means you can quite feasibly field a Titan or two alongside a very narrative driven army.

You do however need to tell your opponent that you’re going to run Leviathan Force Organisation and Titans. Most Heresy armies are geared towards being very fluffy, and despite the fluffiness of a potential Legio Titanicus force, they won’t be able to even dent a Titan. Don’t be that guy and inform your opponent. Make friends for the right reasons, don’t lose them for the wrong ones.

That being said – this isn’t an easy Force Organisation to play. You can expect to wield a significant firepower advantage over your opponent – but they’ll beat you on manoeuvrability and objective scoring without a doubt. If you’re running an Allied Detachment – even then, it’s an uphill struggle. However this sort of game can be quite fun – set up and played sensibly.

Titan Guard:

Titans do not fight alone. If they did, their effectiveness would drop off significantly. The bigger they are the harder they fall – yet Titans fall with the fury of a sun that explodes from within them.

There are many ways to fell a Titan. Whilst direct action is clearly a Titan Legios preferred way, it carries significant risk to themselves too. An easier way would be to dispatch a combat force small enough to be ignored in general, but strong enough to cause damage. However, even this form of direct action can be outrageously costly, as even an errant Plasma Blast Gun shot can wipe out several armoured vehicles. Smaller combat platforms than armoured units rarely carry the combat capability to do significant damage however.

The answer is infantry then. It seems inconceivable that a Titan as large as a Warlord is more vulnerable to infantry assault than a massed armoured formation, but by virtue of the fact that it is hard to target fast moving disparate infantry squads – they’re easy to outmanoeuvre.

Couple this with specialised assault teams carrying melta charges and boarding equipment makes infantry an absolutely brutal force for taking down Titans.

This is the sole reason Secutarii exist. Taken from the ranks of the Mechanicum Skitariius and trained to operate in the specific battlefield environments that occur around Titans, Secutarii defend the vulnerable points from infantry assault.

Secutarii act as an entirely separate element of the Skitarius. They’re effectively cult-troops. This is why you’ll never see them operating organically with a Skitarii unit. Secutarii are under the direct command of a Titan Legio. Secutarii Axiarchs exist in the chain of command to coordinate the Titans defence and report directly to a Legio Princeps.

Due to their environment, they have specialist wargear that separates them from their Skitariius brothers, namely the Kyropatris field generator. Without this, the Secutarii would be immediately annihilated when the Titans engaged or when large amounts of fire converged on them. Kyropatris field generators work to create a miniature flare shield effect for the Secutarii, however the generators are only effective in massed formation. These, coupled with refractor fields or mag-inverter shields can greatly improve the resilience of the Secutarii against anything other than a direct hit from Titan grade weapons.

Secutarii Axiarchs control the Secutarii forces during the deployment. They are highly skilled leaders and soldiers and have specialist wargear that even includes Titanshard armour, an armour that is comprised of Damaged Titan Plating. Furthermore they provide bonuses to the Secutarii by the involking of certain binaric protocols; these help to improve survivability, make their shooting more efficient or better navigate the field of battle.

Secutarii are split into two combat designations: Hoplites and Peltasts. Each operate in their own distinct functional areas.

Hoplites are the close in defenders of Titans and march alongside or underneath the Titans, mag-inverter shields raised in order to present a significant melee defence perimeter. Their arc lances are suitably strong and able to cause significant damage to vehicles due to their haywire properties. Furthermore, much like the Cerastus Knight Lancer, they have a short ranged shooting ability, focussing a beam of overcharged energy towards infantry and vehicles. It’s haywire effect burns out circuitry of armour.

Finally, we have Peltasts. These are the ranged weapons specialists that are able to change their ammunition to better suit the mission in hand. One of these is the ability to fire a blind barrage. This ammunition is a combined shell of metallic shards, radiation emitters and incredibly hot burning material. Upon ordered by the Axiarch, the Peltasts fire their blind barrage to shroud the presence of a friendly unit temporarily. Due to the size of Titans, it takes two such units to create a convincing enough shrouding effect to blind enemy weapons and augary scans.

These should, in a narrative game, be the core of your allied detachment. It’s really the only time you’ll be fielding them as they lose some of their benefits if not directly supporting a Titan or two.

Titans of the Legio Titanicus:

There are many types of Titan – historical and current. Some of the Titans are further broken down by weapons or battlefield sub-role. I’ll preface this paragraph by stating that I’m discussing only the rule supported Titans, their weapon options and not splitting them into battlefield sub-roles. There are however, three main classes of Titans of the Legio Titanicus: Scout, Battle and Imperator.

Scout Class – Warhound Titans. Scout is an odd term for a Titan that’s c.15m tall (Mars or Lucius pattern dependent). These are the smallest of the “true” Titan class, though they tower over the battlefield and being superior weight and strength of firepower with them. Warhound Titans are used to range ahead of the main Battle Titan line, feeding their larger brethren with colossal amounts of targeting and environmental data. They’re also responsible for fending off lesser threats and can wholly change the tide of battle by themselves in a single area against conventional threats, such is their inherent firepower.

However, Warhounds lack the reactor capacity, weapons hardpoimts and defensive countermeasures of Battle Titans, having only two void shields, so cannot directly face off against their bigger brethren. Instead, they rely on their far greater speed and manoeuvrability to stay alive in Engine War. They also employ pack tactics, amassing rapidly, targeting weak points and disappearing in their environment, repeating this until the Battle Titan finds itself utterly crippled.

Battle Class – Reaver, Warbringer Nemesis and Warlord Titans.

Reaver class Battle Titans are a mid-sized Titan, standing a full 24m tall. They are of ancient design, being the oldest type in existence in any great number, it’s design predating the Great Crusade. They are a marked step up from the Scout class Warhound, having a reactor of far greater potential. Thusly, they are able to mount ever more powerful armament and power four void shields. Singularly, a Reaver will outmatch a Warhound, however they are vulnerable to pack tactics, which can quickly overload the void shielding.

Reavers can mount ranged or melee armament, something a Warhound cannot do. The melee armament comes in the form of giant powerfists or chainfists. These are primarily used for enemy Titans, although their reach allows them to engage fortifications or enemy vehicles too.

Warbringer Nemesis Titans are long range support platforms. They are more heavily armoured on the upper sections and have multiple anti aircraft batteries straddling their main weapon, the Nemesis Quake Cannon.

These huge weapons are used to obliterate fortress walls and defences from extreme long range with exceptional accuracy. They are equally adept at overloading Titan good shields and delivering a kill shot without even being within visual range. There is another pattern of Quake cannon, know as the Mori and is fitted to Warlord Titans as an arm mount.

Warbringers merge several elements of the Reaver and Warlord into one platform, notably they have boarding defence weapons in the form of three Ardex-Defensor Bolters.

Warbringer Nemesis are able to defend themselves from other battle titans at close range too, by virtue of the fact that the chassis arm mounts can take the same weapons as Reaver Titans. This means they can accurately strip the voids of an approaching Titan and slow it’s advance before delivering a more conventional barrage of fire to kill the enemy engine.

Warlords, by comparison, are absolute leviathans of war. Standing 36m tall, they are bristling with exceptionally high powered weapons systems that not even Reavers or Warbringers can mount.

The rear deck alone is protected by Ardex-Defensor Las Cannons, and there are a pair of smaller Ardex-Defensor Bolt Cannons on the front. This gives it unparalleled boarding defence compared with the rest of the Battle Titan class.

Most fearsome are those mounting Sunfury Plasma Annihilator and Arioch Power Claws. The massively powerful Sunfury Plasma Annihilator far outclasses any other plasma weaponry mounted on non-Imperator class, ground based platforms.

Imperator Class Titans.

Imperator Titans are the rarest Titan in existence, with the knowledge to create them thought to be lost to the Mechanicus. Towering over even Warlord Titans at 43-54m tall, an Imperator Titan mounts the largest, most powerful weaponry on ground-based platforms and comes in two forms. The first, and namesake of the class in general is the Imperator and is a standardised assault platform. The second is the Warmonger sub-class, which focuses purely on being a fire support platform, similar to how a Warbringer Nemesis operates in the Battle Titan class.

Unlike the widespread seeding of Scout and Battle Titans within the Legios, not every Legio had Imperator Titans. For instance, Legio Fureans strength was principally split between Warhound and Warlord Titans – they did not utilise Reaver or Warbringer Nemesis in a widespread form, nor did they have an Imperator Titan.

Rules:

As mentioned, there are no rules for the Imperator Titan in Horus Heresy: Battles in the Age of Darkness. For this section i’ll discuss the individual rulesets and how i would employ the Titans. Note, that i have experience with all but the Warbringer Nemesis – so that entry will simply be my interpretation compared to the performance of the others within its class.

Titan Generic Rules. All Titans are Super-Heavy Walkers. This means that they use the Super-Heavy Vehicle rules for Shooting, Vehicle Damage and Catastrophic Damage. Super-Heavy Walkers can move 12″ in the Movement Phase and if moving into or within difficult terrain, you double to result of the highest dice roll when making difficult terrain tests – this then becomes the maximum distance in inches that the model can move. Apart from this, they obey movement rules that Walkers have and as a final note, Super-Heavy Walkers cannot fire Overwatch.

All Super-Heavy Walkers gain Fear, Hammer of Wrath, Invincible Behemoth, Move Through Cover, Relentless, Smash and Strikedown. This means that any melee a Titan gets into causes a Fear Check, potentially reducing the opponents WS to 1. Furthermore, when they charge, they cause damage via the Hammer of Wrath rule at AP-. They also won’t be slowed by charging through terrain to get into melee. Titans can’t be one shot and can fire Heavy, Salvo or Ordinance weapons as if they didn’t move. Smash makes all of its attacks AP2 (unless using an AP1 weapon) and provides the ability to make a single attack that rerolls armour penetration if needed. Finally, Strikedown makes any model that suffered an unsaved wound or passes one or more saving throws against an attack made with this rule move as if it were in difficult terrain.

Additionally, Warhounds, Reavers and Warbringers have Night Vision – this means that coupled with Night Fighting they represent an unparalleled threat. This is strangely absent from the Warlord Titan – something that i can only assume is a typo.

The Reactor Meltdown rule is one you hope will seldom come into effect, however the weight of fire that can bear down on a Titan that’s in the wrong position due to a tactical mishap can cause it to crop up. Effectively, if a Titan suffers a Titanic Explosion result on the Catastrophic damage table, the reactor will go Nuclear. This is bad. Effectively, it follows the Titanic Explosion process, except that the hits are all Destroyer. Gulp.

If you’re a Mechanicum player, you’ll want to keep close to the Titans. The God Engine rule means that any Mechanicum units within 24″ and on the same side as the Titan become fearless!

Being Titans, they have Void Shields of a varying amount. Void Shields have an armour value of 12 and a Glancing, Penetrating wound or Destroyer weapon hit will drop a void shield. Once all of the Void Shields have dropped, further hits strike the Titan itself. These Void Shields may be reignited at the end of a Titan’s turn on a 5+, rolling once for each shield that’s dropped.

Towering Monstrosity is another variable rule, depending on the Titan in question. The base ruleset for this rule is that a Titan may never be locked in combat and is immune to the effects of Haywire attacks, Dangerous Terrain and Psychic Attacks other than Witchfire, which must attempt to damage it as normal. From there, the various classes add in multiple additional rules.

Weapon Skill for all Titans is WS2, with Ballistic Skill being BS4.

Warhound Titan – 750pts. With regards to movement, Warhound Titans also have the Agile rule, which means that they can sacrifice weapons in the Shooting phase to move further. A Warhound may fire all of it’s weapons and move as normal, fire a single weapon and move an additional D6 inches or fire no weapons and move an additional 2D6 inches. This means it can seriously cover the table and react to threats as and where they occur. Don’t underestimate this ability – either fielding or against a Warhound.

Warhound Titans might not be particularly adept at melee, having no melee weapon options, however, they can stamp their feet rather well. They get 1 attack which is resolved using the Stomp rule at Initiative step 4. This isn’t actually that bad! They’re also Strength 10, which is nothing to sniff at.

Being a Scout Titan they have the least armour and defences. Front armour is 14, Side 13 and Rear 12 – this means that a Land Raider or Spartan actually has better armour values. However they also have two Void Shields and 9 Hull Points which help them compensate this weakness. They’re also still fairly small compared to the other Titans, meaning that they can seek out the cover of citiscapes fairly easily.

However, you don’t really want to be charging this Titan into the forefront of your Opponents gunlines. Virtually any Legiones Astartes army will be able to tear holes into the Warhound with relative ease once the Void Shields are down and with a Heavy Support focussed army such as Death Guard a Warhound can be removed from the table fairly quickly. Especially in melee, where causes no penalties to hit – something of a problem.

The bonus here is that you’ll be able to chew through those platforms quickly too. Equipped base with an arm mounted Vulcan Megabolter and Titan Plasma Blastgun it’s nothing to ignore. The Vulcan will make short work of infantry squads, having 60″ range, Strength 6, AP3 and firing 15 shots. The Blastgun has two profiles, Rapid and Overload. Rapid give you a Primary Weapon 2, Massive Blast 7″ at 72″ range, Strength 8, AP2. It’s pretty brutal, but for those tougher targets Overload will give you a Primary Weapon 1, Apocalyptic Blast 9″ at 96″ range, Strength 10, AP2. Flare shields aside – these starting weapons pack an absolute punch.

The two optional weapons (that can replace one or both of the standard weapons for no cost) are the Turbo Laser Destructor and Warhound Inferno Gun. The Turbo Laser is an absolute SLAYER of a weapon. It will give you a Primary Weapon 2, Large Blast 5″ at 96″ range, Strength D, AP2. This weapon can potentially toast Spartans in a single shot and severely damage Mastodon, Typhon or Bane-chassis vehicles. Remember – you roll for the Destroyer Table, and then for the Penetrating hits too. It’s ruthless.

The Warhound Inferno Gun is monsterous versus light armour and infantry. It provides a Primary Weapon 1, Hellstorm Template at Strength 7, AP3. This means you can rampage through enemy lines of infantry potentially quicker with just one of these than with two Vulcans.

Overall, a Warhound is a totally credible threat for 750pts – which certainly cannot be said for some Lords of War (i’m looking at you Mastodon and Thunderhawks). Best bit, it will fit neatly into a 3000pts game – meaning you can happily field one against a friend with a Primarch! Just don’t get into melee!

Reaver Titan – 1,475pts. Upping the armour and void capacity, the Reaver marches in with Front armour 14, Side 14, Rear 13, 18 Hull Points and 4 Void Shields. This gives it a notable edge over its smaller brethren in defensive capability. Furthermore, there is an additional hard point atop the carapace and a much wider range of weapon options, including a Battle Titan Power Fist or Battle Titan Chainfist.

Towering Monstrosity (Reaver Titan) adds a new rule to Towering Monstrosity in the fact that the Titan my only be hit on a 6 by Infantry and Monstrous creatures of any type in assault and on a 5 or 6 by Super-Heavy Walkers and Gargantuan Creatures. This means it’s a lot less susceptible to melee than the Warhound.

Stock, the Reaver comes with a Carapace-mounted Apocalypse Missile Launcher, an arm mounted Battle Titan Laser Blaster and an arm mounted Battle Titan Gatling Blaster. This means its got a balanced capability out of the box to defeat most targets. The Apocalypse Missile Launcher is more than capable of barraging enemy infantry positions and generally harrassing different light to medium platforms on the battlefield. The Battle Titan Laser Blaster puts out Primary Weapon 3, Large Blast 5″ at 96″ range, Strength D, AP2. This makes it a solid proposition for defeating most armour on the tabletop. The Battle Titan Gatling Blaster provides Primary Weapon 6, Large Blast 5″ at 72″ range, Strength 8, AP3. It’s effectively a huge autocannon that is more than able to smash infantry squads with ease.

Due to the additional reactor power we now start to see the emergence of truly titanic weapons systems. Firstly, the Battle Titan Volcano Cannon offers Primary Weapon 1, Massive Blast 7″ at 180″ range, Strength D, AP2 for an extra 50pts cost. Even on the longest table, there’s no real hiding from it. Next, the Battle Titan Melta Cannon – effectively a huge multi-melta offering up Primary Weapon 1, Apocalyptic Blast at 72″ range, Strength 10, AP1 with the Melta rule. This again, is a bane of armour on the tabletop, only lacking in the amount of shots it can fire in a single shooting phase and the prevalence of Armoured Ceramite.

For the carapace armaments, you can exchange the Apocalypse Missile Launcher for any of the Warhound Titans weapons with no extra cost incurred. However, there is a new option – the Battle Titan Vortex Support Missile. It also incurs no cost, but brings with it Primary Weapon 1, Large Blast 5″, One Use, Vortex” at a frankly ludicrous 12-960″ range, Strength D, AP1. Effectively, Vortex missile impact markers remain in place on the table and become Impassable Terrain. This is very effective at halting an enemy advance through a choke point.

Finally, we hit the melee options. The Battle Titan Power Fist and Battle Titan Chainfist. Both are Strength D, AP1 – however the Chainfist has Machine Destroyer for an additional 75pts. This rule means that when attacking a target with an armour value, rolls of 1 on the Destroyer Damage table may be re-rolled. This is actually quite significant – as often melee is the last attempt to destroy an enemy Super Heavy.

Commonly, you’ll see Reavers with two arm mounted Reaver Laser Blasters and the Apocalypse Missile Launcher – this gives a solid ranged performance against infantry and armour alike.

Warbringer Nemesis Titan – 2100pts. The Warbringer Nemesis takes the Reaver ruleset and improves upon it, adding the fact the Warbringer Nemesis Titan’s carapace-mounted weapons may not target models closer than 20″ from its hull, unless they are Flyers, Flying Monstrous Creatures or other Super-heavy vehicles or Gargantuan Creatures.

It also significantly increases the defensive capabilities of the chassis. More heavily armoured than the Reaver, the Warbringer is Front armour 15, Side armour 14 and Rear armour 12. However, it does have 6 void shields and 24 Hull Points. Finally, Heavy Structure gives it a 6+ invulnerable save.

Able to take any Battle Titan weapons systems on its arms without incurring cost, the real changes and increase of cost comes from the carapace weapons. Immediately noticeable are the two Defence Batteries, offering Heavy 4, Twin-Linked, Sunder, Skyfire, Interceptor at 72″ range, Strength 7, AP4 per battery. This means that aircraft can be fairly heavily lit up – meaning that Primaris-Lightning Strike Fighters don’t have a consequence free target to attack – far from it.

Finally, the big gun. The Nemesis Quake Cannon. Primary Weapon 1, Apocalyptic Blast, Barrage, Seismic Shock, Concussive, Strikedown at 20-480″ range, with a Strength pattern of D/9/6 on the template rings, AP3. Basically, it can shoot without seeing, hit like a train and whatever survives won’t be moving without taking dangerous terrain tests and will be hitting at Initiative 1 in melee for the rest of the turn. It’s a particularly nasty weapon.

It’s an interesting platform, but, big weapon aside, it doesn’t really offer much more than you can find on a Reaver and certainly doesn’t compete against a Warlord. However, if working in a maniple against other Titans, the Warbringer certainly fulfils a role – smashing enemy Titans from afar before they can close and cause critical damage in melee. Odd thing to say, however quite a lot of Titans (mine included) are magnetised and in Engine War often run Power Fists, Chainfists or Power Claws.

It has its place, but in my mind not as a single choice for supporting an army in a Primary Detachment. It’s rules are located here – as it was released after the latest Mechanicum Taghmata red book was published.

Warlord Titan – 2,750pts. For a mere 650pts more than a Warbringer Nemesis you get quite the upgrade. Front armour 15, Side armour 15, Rear armour 14, Strength D, 6 Void Shields and 30 Hull Points. Quite frankly, unless there’s another Warlord on the tabletop, this thing is nigh on indestructible.

It also adds a fair few rules. Firstly, we have Reinforced Structure, which provides a 6+ invulnerable save and World Burner which means its template weapons can target terrain features when shooting.

Carapace weapons cannot target enemies closer than 24″ to the Titan and the Titan’s Stomp attacks use Large Blast 5″ templates.

It’s rear deck is protected by 2 Ardex-Defensor Las Cannons and the forward arcs have 2 Ardex-Defensor Bolt Cannons. Finally, if this Titan explodes, it goes full nuclear. Anything within 12″ is hit by a Strength D blast, with that expanding up to D/D/D at 12″/24″/36″ depending on the roll on the catastrophic damage table.

Weapons wise, the Warlord brings the A Game to the tabletop. As standard it comes complete with 2 Belicosa Volcano cannons and two Apocalypse Missile Launchers. Belicosa Volcano cannons are Primary Weapon 1, Apocalyptic Blast 10″, Machine Destroyer at 180″ range, Strength D (no rings), AP1. It’s outright terrifying to enemy armour.

Interestingly, the weapons options for the Warlord are the most wide ranging of all the previously mentioned Titans combined. Firstly, and my favourite, is the Sunfury Plasma Annihilator. These offer Primary Weapon 4, Apocalyptic Barrage (cloverleaf), Plasma Wave at 72″ range, Strength 9, AP2. This is more than effective at burning up anything in a miniature sun – especially as Plasma Wave forces the reroll of successful saves. As with every Primary Weapon you roll 2D6 and pick the highest result for armour penetration. It’s a lovely modelled weapon with a lovely set of rules.

Next is the Mori Quake Cannon, the Warlord fitment of the Warbringer Nemesis main armament. Except, you can now take one on each arm if you wanted to.

The final ranged arm mount is a Macro-gatling Blaster. Like the Battle Titan Gatling Blaster turned up to 11, this weapon is Primary Weapon 6, Large Blast 5″ at 72″ range, Strength 10, AP3.

Finally, we reach the arm mounted melee weapons. There are two options here, the first being a Saturnyne Las Cutter, which is a Strength D, AP 1, Machine Destroyer, Instant Death beat stick with a Hellstorm, Primary Weapon 1, Instant Death, Strength 9 shooting function built in. The second and my favourite melee weapon is Arioch Titan Power Claw. Again, this is Strength D, AP 1, Machine Destroyer, however, this also grants +1 Attack. For 75pts you can even add a Vulcan Mega Bolter to the upper surface of it. It’s brutal.

But wait, there’s more! Carapace options start with the Apocalypse Missile Launchers, allowing a free swap (one or both) to either Two double-barrelled Turbo Laser Destroyers, Two Twin-Linked Vulcan Mega Bolters or Two Titan Plasma Blastguns. You basically get unrivalled customisation for each deployment, bringing with it a bonus of what is effectively a Warhound Titans worth of firepower atop your arm mounted weapons.

If you’re wanting more powerful weapons, you can pay 100pts to put any of the following atop instead: Two Battle Titan Laser Blasters, Two Battle Titan Melta Cannon or Two Battle Titan Gatling Blasters.

If missiles are your mainstay – fear naught! You can fit two Vortex Missile Banks for 150pts or two Incinerator Missile Banks for 75pts. The Incinerator Missile Banks offer Primary Weapon 10, Apocalyptic Barrage, No Cover Saves, One Use at 12-360″, Strength 6, AP3. For each individual bank. That’s truly epic for purging an enemy front line of its infantry squads.

This is why out of all of the Titans, i prefer the Warlord. It’s truly terrifying, a leviathan of war that’s customisation to the conflict you find yourself in. It’s also as iconic as a Bloodthirster is to me of the Warhammer universe. Meanwhile, out of the lore and rules aspect and into the real world, it’s the size of a small toddler, truly imposing and despite its cost – has taken over a year to get to the point it is now. When looking at it, it still has months to go of work before i can call it “complete”.

Summary: There are multiple classes of Titan and each has its own specific battlefield role. Determining which you want depends almost entirely on the narrative and play style of your existing Heresy force. Legio Titanicus realistically should be considered a bolt on instead of an army outright. You’ll have more fun this way too.

It’s important to remember that Titans are both a difficult opponent and a difficult army to play well. It really isn’t a case of dropping a Warlord Titan on the table and winning the game – there’s a lot of strategy to succeeding and a loss comes easier than a victory.

You really do need to give your opponent a heads up if you’re fielding a Leviathan Force Organisation. They simply won’t have the required firepower to deal with a Titan otherwise. You can play Titans as Lords of War (adhering to the 25% rule) in Crusade/Onslaught Force Organisations without too much concern however as generally, there is enough firepower to balance the game.

With the points levels for Titans in Horus Heresy set so much better than in Warhammer: 40,000 (mostly due to a distinct lack of a toxic WAAC playstyle in Heresy) you can really enrich a battle in a truly magnificent and memorable way. Follow your narrative heart and bring the force of Legio Titanicus (and Secutarii as an Allied Detachment) to the table in a meaningful and fun way for all involved!

Just Remember: A game needs to be fun for both players. Don’t be “That Guy”.

Example Lists:

At 3,000 points you can include the Warhound Titan alongside a Mechanicum Primary Detachment, whereas it’s impossible to meet the points using it in a Primary Detachment with allied Secutarii. Therefore for 3,000 points Leviathan Force Organisation, the first port of call is a Reaver.

Legio Titanicus & Secutarii 3K. Using indentured Mechanicum Moirax to provide a fast moving anti infantry support element alongside the Secutarii this list also introduces the Reaver Titan to the table. This is predominantly outfitted to be in Anti-Tank or Anti-Titan form. Mechanicum Vorax are included to outflank and be a Character hunting force, aiming to assassinate key enemy commanders before they can coordinate successful strikes on the God Engine!

Legio Titanicus

Reaver Battle Titan: arm-mounted Reaver laser blaster 1,475

Allied Mechanicum

Secutarii Axiarch: power weapon (master-crafted; axe); arc pistol; omnispex; Shattersphere grenades 85

19 Secutarii Peltasts: Peltast Alpha (galvanic-caster with kinetic hammershot rounds; refractor field; omnispex; arc pistol; Shattersphere grenades; augury scanner); 16 × galvanic-casters (kinetic hammershot rounds); 3 × arc rifle 351

19 Secutarii Hoplites: Hoplite Alpha (omnispex; Shattersphere grenades; augury scanner) 270

5 Vorax Class Battle-automata: Frag grenades; 2 rotor cannon (bio-corrosive ammunition); enhanced targeting array 475

Mechanicum Knight Moirax Talon 30

• Knight Moirax: Gyges Siege Claw with built-in rad cleanser 155

• Knight Moirax: Gyges Siege Claw with built-in rad cleanser 155

Force Organisation Chart: Leviathan; Traitor

2,996 points

Legio Titanicus & Secutarii 3.5K. At this points level we are looking at bringing the biggest class of Titan, the Warlord. At this level of Titan you simply must tell the opponent. The narrative behind this army is that the force is deployed as the lead element of the Spearhead, such as in The First Wall, where a Legio Fureans Warlord is the lead element to assault the wall. The Secutarii provide a close in defensive line to the God Engine, dismissing any foolish notions of boarding the Titan!

Legio Titanicus

Nuncio Mortis (Mars Warlord Battle Titan): arm-mounted Sunfury plasma annihilator; arm-mounted Arioch Titan power claw (Vulcan mega-bolter) 2,825

Allied Mechanicum

Secutarii Axiarch: power weapon (master-crafted; axe); arc pistol; omnispex; Shattersphere grenades; augury scanner 90

19 Secutarii Peltasts: Peltast Alpha (galvanic-caster with kinetic hammershot rounds; refractor field; omnispex); 16 × galvanic-casters (kinetic hammershot rounds); 3 × arc rifle 331

19 Secutarii Hoplites 250

Force Organisation Chart: Leviathan; Traitor

3,496 points