+ inload: Building the Reaver Titan +

+ Scythian Uprising + 

+ Update on building the big Reaver – things are ticking along, and I thought I'd share some notes. +

+++

+ Building the Scythian +

For anyone fluent (or at least conversant) in the technolinguis dialect of printing, my (very kind and indulgent friend) tells me that this was printed in PLA with a 0.2mm nozzle. having handled 3D prints before, I was expecting quite a lot of cleaning up to remove layer lines, but I was pleasantly surprised with how clean it was. There is a surface texture, but it's more like the slight drag you get from running your fingers over the paper in a book, rather than definite steps and coarseness.

I worked over the surfaces with DSPIAE sanding sponges – some very useful little tools I picked up on the recommendation of Stuntwedge – and did a little sharpening and cleaning with a craft knife, but in all honesty it required very little clean up. Even the sanding was mainly for my own peace of mind, and because I'm intending to use oils – I didn't want to have channels for them to flow down.

As shown above, even before cleaning the parts slotted together very neatly on the torso, and it's got a full interior.

After clean up I broke it up and gave it a once-over with grey primer. I've mentioned before that I do this sometimes to help pick out details. I'd like to do a nice job on this kind gift, so I want to give it my best shot.

... quick shot after priming. Grey makes details easier to see, by providing a little tone to the white PLA.

And the reason I've primed it is visible here – can you see those layer lines on the curves on the left-hand side of the picture? These need cleaning up, and there are few areas that would be improved with another light sanding to improve the finish.

+++

+ Building the base +

It's unlikely to see too much gametime, so priority for the base is stability and display. It amused me to have a scaled-up version of the oval Titanicus bases, so I ordered an oval plaque from an MDF supplier. It measures 29 x 42cm (A3 size, with the corners cut off, essentially).

A layer of polyfilla formed the base texture, over which I placed some layers of 5mm thick foamboard  and larger rocks to build up some relief. Very large ones are a great opportunity for adding some height, and you don't have to go completely over the top – just enough to break up the sense of artificial flatness and add some natural scale.

Once dry I added my usual mix of Golden Acrylic texture paste, small rocks and sand to texture, bond and seal the surface. I added a little soil to the mix for variety – just some compost that I baked in the oven at 100 degrees for twenty minutes to kill off any bio-forms and render it inert. A layer of PVA over the top will later seal it all in and help prevent degradation.

I didn't plan the base specifically for the pose – in some ways I wanted to have the model adapt to what's there, as I thought that would be a nice way to add some authenticity. More on the posing and building in a future inload – so for now, I'll leave you with where it currently stands:

+ inload: Upcoming 3rd edition gaming event +

+ Tears of the Eye of Terror +

+ A 3rd edition campaign day +

Astartes – but are they working to defend or destroy Kasr Holn?

 

+ {InloadsummVAL=} Plans are afoot with the good Sinan to run another 3rd edition narrative campaign day; this inload offers an overview. Also present is a look into the Red Corsair Raider kits, with a particular eye on Retrohammer gaming +

+++

+ After Armageddon +

Following the fun of running an Armageddon-themed campaign day [+noosphericinloadlink embedded+], Sinan has twisted my arm (admittedly, it didn't take much convincing!) to help organise a follow-up day of 3rd(ish) edition gaming.

This time, we'll be refighting part of the Eye of Terror Campaign, which you may remember fondly...

+++

+ Staring back into the Eye +

While it's subject to change, we wanted to get as much info out as possible early on, so people can start planning and building their forces. The current plans:

• Aim and rules:
• A relaxed, fun and thematic day of 3rd edition 40k with like-minded hobbyists.
• Rules and theme: 
• Refighting part of the conflict on Kasr Holn, one of the Fortress Worlds in the Cadia system. 
• We'll be using 3rd edition rules, rolling in the later revisions such as the updated assault rules from White Dwarf. These have been collected together and compiled into the '3.5' edition rules.
• We want people to bring the armies they want, so we're very open to people using the Codex they want – as with the Third War in 3rd Armageddon event, if you prefer the later Chaos Codex to the earlier one, for example, you'll be able to build armies using that. Basically, if your army was useable during any part of 3rd, you'll be able to use it.
• Date: 
• Saturday December 5th, 2026
• Location: 
• Hildenborough Village Hall, Kent, UK
• Defenders: 
• Imperial Guard (1999, 2003 and Eye of Terror codices et al.)
• Space Marines (incl. Dark Angels, Space Wolves et al.)
• Inquisition (incl. Grey Knights, Sisters of Battle etc.)
• Craftworld Eldar.
• Attackers: 
• Chaos Space Marines (both the earlier and famous 3.5 codices are welcome)
• Chaos Daemons
• Lost and the Damned
• Traitor Imperial Guard.
• Models
• Whatever you like! If you want to bring out classic models from 3rd, that's great; and likewise if you want to bring modern models or custom conversions, that's equally good – the important thing is that they fit the theme.
• Games: 
• Two* over the course of the day (possibly three – subject to discussion)
• Price:
• £30 or less 

+++

+ Grand Warlord and Aspiring Warlord tickets +

To make things accessible and friendly, Sinan and I are aiming to have 'Grand Warlord' tickets which allow you to bring two 1,000pt lists that combine into a larger 2,000pt army; and cheaper 'Aspiring Warlord' tickets that allow you to bring a smaller 1,000pt warband.

This allows people with large armies to bring a cohesive collection, or if you can't decide whether to bring World Eaters or Traitor Fen Guardsmen, Grand Warlords can bring both!

If you're a bit nervous about coming along to an event on your own, you and a mate can buy Aspiring Warlord tickets and stick together for the event. Your armies can match or complement each others', but equally if you want to bring your classic Eldar and your friend want to paint a new Astartes Praeses force, that's also cool.

... and if you are happy to come on your own, but only have a smaller army or would struggle to bring a big force on the train, that's also cool – just purchase an Aspiring Warlord ticket and we'll find you a gaming partner or organise smaller games for Aspiring Warlord ticketholders. All the results will count!

+++

+ Hitting the theme +

Theme is at the heart of this event – we want everyone to walk away with stories of the cool events and fun they had, so it's pointedly not a competitive event, and we ask everyone coming to bear that in mind and choose their armies with that in mind.

The Eye of Terror campaign is full of great potential, and rich with threads to follow. There will be some campaign-specific characters and units that you'll be able to add to your armies, and we encourage you to explore the background and theme your army around it.

For the Imperials, the defence of Kasr Holn will be supported by the Chapters of the Astartes Praeses, so if you fancy adding a squad of Night Warch, Relictors  or Crimson Scythes to your army, you'll be able to. You'll also have access to the cream of the Cadian armies.

For the Chaos attackers, you'll have access to Daemon Engines beyond the Defiler, along with some of Abaddon's most powerful Chosen – not to mention some other surprises...

+++

+ Do you want to know more? +

If this sounds like the sort of event you'd like to get involved with, keep an eye on +Death of a Rubricist+ and join the event Discord – here's a noospheric nodelink invite: [+noosphericexloadlink embedded+].

There you'll be able to meet other players and discuss army lists, and tactics and strategies in specific Chaos and Imperial areas.

+++

+ Red Corsair Raiders +

And because it's not really an inload without models, I wanted to show off some of the new Red Corsair Raider models. These are awesome – effectively truescale marines that you can buy off the shelf. 

This, GW, if you're inloading, is what I'm after – more of these, please!

I don't have a huge problem with Primaris Marines, but I do like the old look of Space Marines. These models really bring back that look, but combine it with the new larger size of GW models. Being able to build classic marines off-the-shelf without extensive conversion is bliss.

These are a beautiful update to the old Tactical Squad, improving the proportions while retaining the particular look and charm of the older styles of armour. The boltguns are larger, but not quite so long and 'tacticool' as the Primaris bolt rifles, and the plates of the armour remain nice and clean, with fewer additional plates, panel lines, cables and ports than the Primaris equivalent.

New Marine next to a 2nd ed. starter monopose Marine

... and next to a Primaris-based conversion.

I was interested to see what was possible using the kit as it comes, and I'm pleased to say that you can make a full combat squad of basic boltgun-armed Tacticals, as you can with the squad images. The only additions are a few shoulder pads and a bit of trimming down of loincloths – everything else is straight from the kit.

The kit's a bit limited to be perfect – with just five poses and quite distinctive armour (there's a near-complete Mark III suit, and one that has lots of Mark IV details, for example), you can get away with a couple of squads, but adding more will quickly start to look repetitive without conversion.

Fortunately, the parts are happily nice and compatible with other Marine kits. Heads, backpacks and shoulder pads are perfectly compatible with the older ranges, and the arms will swap out/combine with Primaris arms. I'd suggest the lighter Primaris armour (Phobos) arms will work very well, as they lack the extra forearm bracing.

The Horus Heresy kits will also probably work, but the heads are quite dinky. I'd suggest the HH character kits, which are bigger, for some reason, than the line troopers.

+++

+ inload: Moderati Primus of the Scythian +

+ 'Enact on my mark.' +

+ Moderati Primus Waldemar Styrmir

What can we say of Waldemar Styrmir? Strict. Disciplined. Fastidious in his personal habits, and measured in all things. He is the very model of a Moderati Primus of the Stormlords: capable, decisive and willing to uphold both the order of his Princeps while acting as an advocate and champion of the crew.

He is in line to move on to master his own Titan in time – as war and circumstance dictate – and his steadying presence will be much missed by Scythian, with which he has built a peculiarly close rapport.

+++

+ Reaver crew hierarchy +

The background is fairly vague on how Titans actually work – and probably blessedly so, as it'd doubtless throw up all sorts of contradictions and arguments. Suffice to say that while the Princeps  in a sense becomes the Titan, and his or her will is enacted by instinct as though the Princeps is controlling their own body, there is still the need for a crew.

As discussed in an earlier inload [+noosphericinloadlink embedded+], the crew of a Reaver varies in size, even potentially within a Legio, so when creating your own Titan you've got a lot of space to play in terms of crew size. If you prefer the Princeps to essentially be the Captain of a ship – issuing orders to a large number of underlings, the background will back you up on that; while if you prefer a small crew and more emphasis on the Princeps' direct engagement with the Titan, there's still plenty of narrative space for that. With this project, I'm erring towards the former, both because I like the concept of a crew deck, and also because it allows me to make more models! 

+++

+++

+ What does a Moderati Primus do? +

Number 2; right-hand man; vice-chair, the Moderati Primus is first amongst equals... beneath the Princeps, of course. The Moderati Primus acts as a node to ensure the Princeps' orders are put into action, covering movement and aiming and firing the weapons.

A go-between for the rest of the crew and the Princeps, the Moderati Primus is a trusted lieutenant to the Princeps, and ranked – as the title suggests – above the other Moderati. Some are destined to remain as Moderati, but I like the idea that some that hold this rank show the inherent capability and sufficient promise to eventually move on to the Princepture of a Titan of their own.

For that reason, I've picked a Reaver Titan Princeps model to represent Waldemar Styrmir, the Moderati Primus on Scythian at the time we've picked. This model was an exclusive at a Warhammer World event many years back. I picked one up then (he was painted up as Mauryan Magon, Princeps of Legio Sumer-Nikator's Dura-Yurobus [+noosphericinloadlink embedded+]) but this chap is a subsequent purchase. 

They turn up relatively frequently on sites like eBay – just be aware that there are lots of counterfeit/recast versions of the various Titan crew models, so caveat emptor. It's not my favourite of the various sculpts, being the least dynamic of the bunch, but the raised gorget  and half-bionic head has charm. The stiff pose also works very well to suggest a 'disciplined enforcer' character; perfect for our rather by-the-book Moderati Primus character.

The rod of office (or whatever it is) clutched in his right hand is a nice touch to break up the flatness of the pose – but it's also very fragile, so if you're looking for a second-hand one, keep an eye out that this is intact or at least included.

Painting-wise I used a similar approach to Princeps Sulerian, using Prussian blue and green washes for the unifoom, and building up various metallics for the armour.

The black leather is the same equal mix of burnt umber and Payne's grey as used for the cables.

I tackled the skin on the head with little more than layers of Gryphonne Sepia and Reikland Fleshshade, mixing them with Vallejo cool white for opacity where I needed a little more coverage. It was a fun experiment, and one I'll return to. It works well for these very delicate and finely-detailed resin figures, ensuring very little textural build-up.

You'll spot I have painted the hands as though he's wearing fingerless gloves. That was to ensure a bit of visual contrast against the dark uniform and holster; and in-universe I like the idea that (unlike the Princeps) Styrmir needs to be able to control Scythian both mentally – through the hard-plugged crew manifold – and physically, with haptic touch controls. It's a small way to show that he's bridging the gap between Princeps and the rest of the crew.

I weas really pleased with how the bionic eye turned out. It's absolutely tiny, so getting a couple of layers of teal on there, and a tiny highlight, was the best I could manage, but I really think it pops.

+++

Next inload we'll meet two of the other Moderati... stay plugged!

+++

+ inload: Princeps of the Scythian +

 + 'Yes, my Princeps' +

+ Princeps Proximal Sulerian +

+ Gathering a crew +

+ Building on last inload – about the Stormlords' Reaver Titan Scythian [+noosphericinloadlink embedded+], here we'll turn to the first of the crew. +

+++

+ Princeps Proximal Sulerian +

It's fitting we look at the Princeps first. Captain of the crew; master of the Titan, the Princeps is a special figure, one amongst millions who is capable of bridging the gap between the Titan's (mostly) human crew and the monstrous machine spirit of the Titan itself. It takes a special figure, one of monumental will and strength of mind to command a Battle Titan, and those who do so are forever changed.

Such is the case of Princeps Proximal Sulerian, who has commanded Scythian for more than four decades. The youngest of seven, Sulerian's family was high-hab, and benefitted greatly from in-utero enhancement. The nakedly ambitious Proximal was eventually promoted past his similarly talented siblings through cunning as much as merit; and as he is fond of reminding his crew, he has now outlived them all.

Granted Princepture of the Warhound Cirsium vulgare after service as Famulous to the notable Amato,  and later the Reaver Solaris Summus, the last Sulerian became noted for his haughtiness and personal reserve. It was his rigid discipline that made him – in the Legio's eyes at least – an obvious choice to become Master of the Scythian when its previous Princeps, Wiedbach Lüp, was killed in combat with the orks of the Carmine Cluster.

The bonding proved difficult; with Sulerian struggling to assert his dominion over the Scythian's notoriously fitful, changeable machine spirit. While he was able to coax the Reaver into an uneasy but effective relationship for his first campaigns, Scythian's manifold roils beneath an apparently calm surface, and it continues to rankle and test its Master.

Profoundly affected by his experience with Scythian, the Princeps has hardened further; his cold ambition curdling into a more judgemental character. Away from the Titan, Proximal Sulerian now cuts a saturnine, gloomy figure, haunted as much as empowered by the Reaver. 

+++

+ Painting +

The rich blue is Golden Acrylics Prussian blue, highlighted with the addition of Vallejo's Cold White. I kept the palette deliberately cool and stark, with even the gold braiding being desaturated. 

The slightly glossy black of the pipes and leatherwork is produced simply, with a combination of Payne's grey and Burnt umber FW acrylic inks – this combo makes a beautiful dark mix that works as well on its own as to add depth to metallics.

The armour was produced with layers of stippling; being built up with Boltgun metal (or the modern equivalent, Iron Warriors), Runelord brass and Chainmail. I added Agrax Earthshade touches, particularly in the recesses.

The cold blue-turquoise monocle was inspired by the eyes of the Titans in the rulebook art, which have this particular hue.

To give a sense of age, the skin started over a yellow-grey base [+vizref=above{status=WIP
}+], and was built up mostly with purple and yellow washes.

+++

+ inload: Creating a Reaver Titan +

+ Origines Dubiae – the Scythian +

+ Work in progress +

Scry-chronicle pre-mission datasquirt: {authval: Sensorius-principal Ossteon}

Validity: {principal >14% accur.}

'And it came to be told that Titans would march, and the storm would follow with them.'

Mission parameters:_________________________

+ Scythian +

Recently we looked at the crewing of Titans [+noosphericinloadlink embedded+], with particular reference to the Reaver. That inload covered a lot of the theoretical side of things, so today we'll start looking at one specific Titan, and how we can use the ideas to create some personalities for gaming and narrative.

I hope that the inload covers off how I approach things, and encourage you to have a go yourself. It's great fun!

+ A motley crew... +

+ Where to start? +

There's no need for a crew if we don't have a Titan, so let's work out the Legio and individual Titan. I've been mulling over what Legio to work this deep dive around, and have settled on the Stormlords – Legio Tempestus – for the following reasons:

• Legio Tempestus has a rather peculiar and winding background, with three homeworlds, and good options for the Titan to be Loyalist, Traitor, Blackshield – which also means that it's as general and open an opportunity as I can get for a 'catch-all' generic Reaver Titan crew.
• A 'canon' Legio with an established history both in-universe and the real world gives me the best chance of finding background dots to join.
• As a good example of that, 'Legio Tempestor' [sic.] turned up to help defend Armageddon during the Third War, according to Codex: Armageddon, so there's a great example of those lovely little notes that prompt a story.
• It'll make for a great excuse to get some paint on some AT-scale Titans and create an opposing force for my Legio Metalica (another Legio that has flexibility in loyalty – or at least plausible deniability...)

+ Naming the Titan +

I exloaded on naming Titans back in the dim and distant past, and you can read it here: [+noosphericinloadlink embedded+]. Taking that sage advice to heart, I looked at existing names for the Stormlords. Odrysian appears in the Traitor Legios book:

... and Tempestus appear in lots of other books and rulebooks, notably Abnett's seminal Titanicus and McNeill's Mechanicum. A sample of Tempestus Reavers includes:

• Arcadia Fortis
• Hand of Dominance
• Metallus Cebrenia
• Raxvalian
• Jogozh
• Cerulean Stride

A nice varied bunch, and a good example of not hewing too closely to your theme: a mix of names can give a richer feel to the Legio culture. Here, I 

I played around with some High Gothic names, and mused on using plant names – binomial nomenclature's a great place to find inspiration for cod-Latin. Urtica Dioica, for example is stinging nettle, and strikes me as a great name for a Titan.

In the end, I thought a single-word name would suit – easy to remember and it fits in with the Titanicus rulebook and Horus Heresy black books naming (e.g. Odrysian, Raxvalian). I opted for Scythian, which is general enough to work for loyalist or traitors, and also quicker to say when gaming than a longer double-barreled name!

Like T. S. Eliot's cats, Reavers deserve more than one name, so there'll also be a High Gothic name in addition to its Low Gothic cognomen, but that'll be decided upon in the closing stages of the project, as I'd like to muse on that a bit more.

Next inload we'll start looking at the crew of the Scythian – and how their personalities, and Scythian's own, affect one another.

+++

+ inload: Year IX +

+ Year Nine +

+ Straight Outta 2nd Edition +

+ The +Death of a Rubricist+ Facebook node is nine years old today, so with that flimsy excuse, out come the Blood Angels – the Ninth Legion – for a spin in the sunshine. +

+++

+ Armageddon Once More +

Well, well; what's old is new again! #New40k has been announced, and we're on our way back to Armageddon. An excuse – if ever I needed one – to exload about this seminal setting, and why I like it so much. 

The stakes of Armageddon are huge, but at the same time human. This is not – or at least in the past was not – a galaxy-defining conflict like Cadia or the appearance of the Tyranids or Necrons. However terrible losing Armageddon would have been for the Imperium, the loss of a single planet is not existential.

As a player and hobbyist, I like that sense of overall inertia. 40k is already overblown in terms of drama, and let's face it, a planetary system should be enough of a battlefield to give a sense of the stakes.

But more importantly than that, it'll offer new opportunities and ideas for gaming on the planet; whatever the scale and whatever the army. Orks, Steel Legion, Space Marines and more!

+ inload: Painting the Warden Titan +

+ Incertae Sedis +

+ Warden Titan painting progress +

+ Progress ticks over on the Warden Titan, with the shades established on the reds, and now ready for highlighting. I've also started the stripes on the black and white panels, and blocked in the trim. +

+++

+ Incertae Sedis +

Perhaps more importantly, the Warden now has a name – for what is any Engine without a boiler plate? The Incertae Sedis is ticking along smoothly, and I'm hoping to  get it largely polished off ahead of bigger things...

Here's a picture of the red prior to last night's work, set against Carnivore, so you can see the intended effect. At the moment, Incertae is looking flatter and more vibrant, because the glazes haven't yet enriched and knocked it back.

With that said, however, it's not that much different, and a spot of spit and polish will see him ready for the battlefield.

I've followed the notes for the rest of the Iron Skulls [+noosphericinloadlink embedded+], and I'm pleased with how rich the red is coming out. I'm in two minds about the silver head. Part of me likes the reference to 'Iron Skulls', but it also looks a bit unfinished. 

I'll likely reserve judgement until I've got the trim worked up and the surrounding metals muted. Perhaps some contrast will make it look a bit more intentional; perhaps I'll change the 'cheeks' to white; and perhaps I'll split the difference with some chequers or transfers or something.

Speaking of surrounding metals, at the moment they're really just a quick layer over the top of the undercoat. A few washes (Leviathan purple and Gryphonne sepia added wet in wet and allowed to mix and mingle) and some drybrushing layers will go a long way to adding some texture and interest.

The black and white panels have also been established. I find something surprisingly restful about painting hazard stripes freehand, and it's nice to follow the form with the shading. I've used a surprisingly deep grey for most of the the 'white' here – it's various mixes of Payne's grey and Vallejo cold white – so that the bright edge highlights will pop. You can just about see an example of this on the left of the upper thigh on the trailing leg below.

+++

+ inload: Personalising your Titans – crew and structure +

+ Crewing a Titan +

+ A Titan is crewed by its Princeps and Moderati – but who else is involved; and what do they actually do? Today's inload investigates what's actually going on inside a Reaver Titan, and how you can use the info to help create fun narratives for your games or force background. +

+++

Scry-chronicle pre-mission datasquirt: {authval: Sensorius-principal Ossteon}

Validity: {principal >14% accur.}

+ Thought for the day: Knowledge is power, guard it well. +

Mission parameters:_________________________

+++

+ Nuts and bolts of Titan crew +

Prior to the 2018 release of Adeptus Titanicus (AT18), the background about Titan crews was fairly thin. Jervis Johnson's original 1987 release (AT87) had this to say:

The core concepts of Princeps as the commander and Moderati as support have held true ever since, even if the atmosphere as a whole has become more bound up in mysticism, doctrine and so forth.

The new rulebook expands considerably on this, with these rather lovely blueprint-style plates that inject some nice pseudo-realism into the game.

These are riddled with fun stats like the Titan's resting height (25.21m for the Mk XXIII Koron-Valerius configuration Mars-pattern Reaver Battle Titan) as well as naval-style berthing gauge, and more sci-fi stuff like reactor output and anima integrity; all intended to give us a sense of the universe as well as a bit of concrete info.

I'm pleased that the stats are tied to this very specific type of Titan, so there's still wiggle room for making your own stuff – to justify, for example, why your Forge World's particular pattern of Titan is slightly taller or shorter.

For the sake of the inload, the bit we're interested in is the Conventus complement or crew. For this Reaver, we're told it's as follows:

• Crew: 4–8
• Clade: 9–17

While an update to the original background, it's nice to see that the old material is still valid – the Specialist Games studio (and GW in general) is pretty good at sensitively updating material like this to expand upon, rather than overwrite, older background.

As we'll see, there's lots of info to get our teeth into, but there's also a lot of freedom in interpretation, so however you like your Titans – as walking battleships with a central voice of command, or as enormous robo-jockey battlesuits – there's a way to bring your vision to the table.

+++

+ Crew of the Reaver +

Delving deeper into the image, it reveals where this crew are placed in the Titan, and gives us their names.

• Armoured Head – Princeps and two to five Moderati; presumably the variance depends on the pattern and specific Titan.
• Limb weapon mounting point(s) – Weapons moderati
• Plasma Reactor – Tech-priest

The Clade is also explained by the Plasma Reactor – these are the sort-of human Servitors that enact the crew's will. 6–14 are noted as being housed in the Plasma Reactor, and this is the evidence for suggesting that the Tech-priest is formalised as part of the crew, rather than the 

Incapable of independent thought, servitors simply follow the orders of the crew, and presumably help to ensure general systems like the shield projectors or stabilisers are operating smoothly, so the Tech-priest and Moderati can concentrate on the important stuff which requires independent thought.

The numbers in the image above need a little detective work to make sense. With a Clade of 9–17, but only 6–14 in the plasma reactor with the Tech-priest, we're short by three. With three primary weapons – one on each arm, and a third on the carapace – I think it makes most sense for the missing servitors to be assigned to primary weapons, and stowed in either alongside the Moderatus in individual gunnery command chambers, or (depending on the specific type of Reaver) perhaps in the weapons or mounted within the walls. I imagine some Forgeworlds are more or less concerned with the servitors' dignity!

An alternative – and remember, this is all informed guesswork – is that the missing three servitors could be accounted for as gunners for the automated defence weapons, be patrolling the deck as combat servitors, or pretty much any other task you'd like them for in your Titan.

+++

+ What do the crew do? +

The names of the crew are a mix of High Gothic cod-Latin and naval/military terms, which means that we can make some educated guesses as to their roles and duties.

• Princeps
• Perhaps the easiest to define, and certainly the most explored in the background, is the Princeps. This crew member takes the role of the ship's captain, and is also the one who has the most direct and deep connection to the Titan; feeling its body as his or her own.
• Primus
• This rank is in Betrayer, the Primus is seemingly reponsible for actioning the Princeps' orders; covering movement and aiming and firing the weapons.
• Steersman
• From implication, the Steersman is in charge of directing the Titan's movements; maintaining a course and speed.
• Navigator
• ... and the flip side of the Steersman taking you somewhere is the Navigator showing the Princeps where they need to go. In the context of 40k, Navigators are usually a special abhuman, but here I think it's most likely a more mundane map-reader and person in charge of analysis.
• Sensorious
• We can interpret this as someone in charge of the Titan's sensor array – something akin to a real-world officer in a naval operations room, in charge of identifying threats and hazards through 'spoor', the 40k equivalent of radar, sonar etc. 
• Pleasingly, the sensorium is also a biological concept; it's the part of the brain that receives and interprets experiences – which is very on-brand for a 40k Titan.
• Oratorius
• With heavy Classical/religious trappings drawn from orare ('to pray'), the Oratorius can be interpreted as being in charge of that very 40k-coded mix of militarism and mysticism; so having some role to do with channeling and placating the Machine Spirit of the Titan and guarding the spirits of the crew. 
• Alternatively, we can draw the origin of the rank from Oratorio, which is a musical term, suggesting this Moderatus orchestrates everything; making sure all the crew and systems are working together.
• Weapons Moderati
• Fairly clear here, I think. A Weapons Moderatus is in charge of a particular primary weapon.
• Tech-priest
• The other easy one – or at least a more well-documented 40k role – the Tech-priest in a Titan is in charge of the Servitor clade, monitoring and overseeing the plasma reactor, and directs repairs. He's the chief engineer, but with a heavy coat of religious paint.

In some background it's suggested that the Princeps controls everything that the Titan needs to do actively – movement, weapons and so forth. This relegates the rest of the crew to support roles. In other bits of background, we have the Princeps operating more as a directing force; so they order the Moderati to fire the weapons or increase the Titan's speed, for example – but it's the Moderati themselves that action things.

If you prefer the former, this makes having a crew on the smaller end much more sensible: one Princeps supported to two Moderati. If you prefer the latter, it makes more sense to have specialist Moderati directly involved in aiming and firing the guns, or moving the Titan's legs. And of course, you can happily blur the roles a bit: the Princeps deciding all the Titan's movement, for example, but the Moderati actually enacting things.

By terminology (and the appearance of the 'Secundus' rank in Betrayer), we can take the Primus to be the second-in-command – a 'Number 1' that's a senior Moderatus. We're told that Moderati are effectively Princeps in training, some (but not all) of whom will one day ascend to command a Titan of their own. You can decide how formal you want your Legio to be; and having titles like Primus are one way of showing it.

As a third option, it's notable that the 'gunnery command chamber' listed is singular, so all the weapons Moderati and our missing servitors could be grouped together rather than in individual little 'bubbles' for each main gun. But that begs a questions – where is this gunnery command chamber, and what form does it take?

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+ Where do the crew go? +

Besides the background in the book, we've also got the models to help guide us. The Forge World Reaver Titan is the Mars-Pattern, and that has the Princeps and two Moderati in the head...

+ Pict-capture from Games Workshop – used without permission +

...while under the carapace you'll find a Tech-priest and three servitors embedded in the walls and ceiling. Bafflingly, GW have precisely zero pictures of the Reaver interior on their website, but you can can see some great shots of the interior built and painted by Goddenzilla at their blog Kaiju Country [+noosphericexloadlink embedded+].

What can we take from this? At face value, that the Mars-pattern Reaver sits toward the lower end of the crew complement outlined in the rulebook background. Given that the Clade is represented by just three visible servitors, however, rather than the minimum of six, we should probably assume that the model doesn't quite reflect the in-universe reality – so it's entirely possible that there are more Servitors and possibly Moderati in other parts of the Titan that simply aren't shown/modelled.

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+ Rivet-counting +

For explorations of the 'fuzzy edges' of 40k like this, I've always leaned towards the 'yes, and' principle. By that I mean that while there's often an answer within the 'official' background, there's lots of room for interpretation and variety. 'Yes, Mark II power armour has a fixed helm – and there are some variants that have a mobile helm'. It allows people to point to particular details and stick closely to 'the canon lore', but also allows for updates, retcons and good old fashioned exploring and creativity.

Do Reaver Titans have the Princeps and two Moderati in the head? 

Yes, and some also have more Moderati elsewhere as well/this Legio has all the crew in the gunnery deck/this pattern only has the Steersman there/this particular Titan crams seven crew into the head.

You have a lot of freedom. While Titans can be identified as different types, they are ritualised and individual creations – so their creation has as much in common with a church or temple as with, say, a tank or car.

Churches of a particular era can be identified by being built in a cross shape, and will have an atrium, an apse, an altar etc. – these are the things that make them a church building rather than, say, a town hall – but there will also be a lot of variety in the specifics. The point is that they're individual buildings, and not mass-manufactured.

Likewise a Reaver can be identified by certain elements: being broadly human-shaped, having mounting points for three primary weapons, broad scale (covered by the in-universe term Immensus), and having a machine spirit that can be interacted with by the Princeps. The finer details – berthing gauge, resting height, reactor output etc. – will vary depending upon the particular Forgeworld, time and circumstances of its creation. This extends to the crew compartment, and thus the crew.

On top of that, besides the design of the individual Titan, the Forge World's, Legio's and crew's cultural and societal idiosyncracies, beliefs and ranking systems will also differ, which means that there's absolutely no reason why different Titans of the same type might not have different crews for various reasons. 

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Back to the crew. What does this variety mean for our hypothetical Reaver crew? Well, all Reavers must have a Princeps, and must have a Tech-priest, and must have at least two Moderati. Beyond that, you've got a lot of flex.

Even within a Titan Legion, different Titan patterns and variants exist. Mars- and Lucius-pattern Titans might serve together as the result of ten thousand years of war, alliance and trade, and there are presumably lots more patterns of Titan, some of which might cram all the crew into the head; others of which split them between the head and a gunnery deck; and still others might have the crew elsewhere. 

AT87 made this explicit, with the 'Deathstrike head' variant. This replaced the head entirely with a giant gun (Jes Goodwin clearly channeling his inner Mekaniak with this design!), and moved the crew to a fire control platform or tower:

Incidentally, it's my guess that this concept of a giant centreline gun with a viewing platform served as part of the inspiration for the new Warbringer-Nemesis Titan.

The variety of heads Jes designed suggests that the GW design team left lots of design space open on what exactly was going on in a Titan's head. The Command and Custodian Heads (top left of the picture) suggest a mobile command and control centre, perhaps with more space for Moderati – these would be a great head to use as inspiration if you want lots of Moderati there. I can picture a two-tiered bridge-style interior, with the Sensorius, Oratorius and Princeps on one level, and a Steersman and two weapon Moderati on the next level down.

The weapons heads – particularly the close combat and Corvus assault head – would suggest that the Princeps and Moderati were tucked away elsewhere in the Titan, on a separate command and control deck, so this concept might be your choice if you prefer a naval-style 'ops room' to the more common pilot-style approach.

(The design, of course, suggests that – but doesn't insist upon it. You're quite welcome to have your Princeps and Moderati perched above a chainblade if you wish! That mix of reverence and danger is very fitting for the insanity of the 41st millennium).

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+ Conclusion +

Much of this is my speculation, and its purpose is to spark some ideas for you to help design and explore the crew of your Titan.

The point that I'm dancing around is that you can have a very rigid and structured system for your Reaver (and other Titans), or a very freeform one. Like much of 40k, you've got the whole gamut of sleek Star Trek-style sci-fi right down to techno-barbarian thugs following through with blood ritual, taking in hooded monks guiding their titan through organ-style keyboards, amputees in fluid-filled tanks, fighter-pilot style charmers and much, much more.

Keep your inload-port cycled open, as I'm planning to use the info and ideas above as a way to explore a Reaver crew of my own devising – to show how this all works in practise, and how we can apply it to  making fun models with a bit of story behind them.

+ Cue 80s montage music +

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