+ Delving into the depths +
 |
| + Onto the planning tables + |
+ With the theme of a new Titan maniple in mind, I've been enjoying musing and planning. Key ideas for the project are:
- Cool poses
- Using Retrohammer schemes on modern models
- Lighting?
+ I'll be hitting up Bob Hunk for some advice on the feasibility of the latter – check out his tutorials on his blog here [+noosphericinloadlink embedded+] – as Titans strike me as a good 'big' model to play about on. +
+ The posing we've looked at in the previous couple of inloads, so today I'll focus on the research for the old paint schemes. +
+++
+ Planning a Maniple +
+ Battle Titans – Warlords, Warbringers and Reavers – are my jam. Now Adeptus Titanicus is at a mature stage, I'm coming round to Warhounds and Knights, but I definitely know that I want to field as many Battle Titans as I can fit into the 1,950 points limit for the Beachhead event. +
+ My research therefore started with looking up the old Titans. I vaguely recalled a battle report having Reavers in. After a bit of noospheric scouring I stumbled upon this precious node [+noosphericexloadlink embedded+] which links all the Epic articles from White Dwarf. +
+ Armed with this I could check out the articles, roam the noosphere and gather all the data I needed! +
+ The results +
+ This is the initial list, with the Titans drawn from battle reports in issues 179 and 184, plus the Warlord Old Three Skulls, featured heavily in the Space Marine 2nd edition launch, and Steel Hammer mentioned in the Second War for Armageddon background. Here's a rundown:
+ Warlord 1 +
Steel Hammer – Malleo Chalybis
- Free armament
+ No pict-capture of a model, therefore, for our gallant Princeps Senioris, but on the plus side, I've got completely free reign with Steel Hammer's armament. +
+++
+ Warlord 2 +
Old Three Skulls – Tricranium the Great
- Gatling blaster
- Power Fist
- Volcano cannon and vortex missile
+ Tricranium the Great, or 'Old Three Skulls' to his mates, was the Titan used to advertise Space Marine 2nd edition (SM2). One of these came in the box; a reuse of the sprue from the first edition of Adeptus Titanicus (AT1). The studio paintjob – by Mike McVey, is lovely, and there's lots here to provide inspiration for a modern twist on things. +
+ In terms of armament, the arms are no problem: a macro-Gatling and Arioch Titan Power Fist Claw are perfect modern updates. The carapace, however, is a bit more problematic. Neither the Volcano cannon nor Vortex Missile is an option for Warlord carapace, so we'll be seeing Tricranium being fielded with something else – at the moment I'm leaning towards these old-school Apocalypse Missile Launchers for retro appeal. +
+++
+ The Reavers +
+ Four Metalica Reavers make an appearance in three different battle reports. The first was WD#160, where Mark Watts led a then-unnamed Titan, freshly-painted by Neil Hodgson of the 'Eavy Metal team, into battle in the Assault on Barbarius (against Richard Helliwell's Alaitoc Eldar, for the record). +
+ The second was WD179 in Inferno, the promotional battle report for Titan Legions, between Legio Metalica led by Jervis Johnson and Waaagh! Hargluck led by Andy Chambers. The same Reaver appears here, now accompanied by a pair of others (and the Imperator Cassus Belli). +
+ The three gain names:
+ ...and a fourth Reaver appears in WD184's Abomination!, a battle between Ian Pickstock's Imperial Guard and Gav Thorpe's Tyranids. Lots of lovely Knights and two Warhounds, too. +
+ The new Titan is on the top left-hand side; the three are referred to throughout as 'Ferratus Primus, Secundus and Tertius' – I won't copy the whole thing here, but here's a taste. +
+ For obvious reasons the battle reports re-used models as different characters in-universe, so happily I've got at least one potential name for all four Titans:
- Reaver 1: Clavigera/Ferratus Primus
- Vulcan Mega-bolter
- Chainfist
- Barrage Missile
 |
| Clavigera/Ferratus Primus |
+ Not an easy loadout to translate to the modern game. The Chainfist is straightforward, but the Barrage Missile Launcher no longer exists, and the Vulcan Megabolter isn't an option for Reaver arms (for some reason). Gatling blaster seems a simple change; and an Apocalypse Missile Launcher could work for the carapace. +
+ I might look at strategems or wargear to see if these can be updated – something that changes the way a Missile Launcher or Gatling Blaster behave in some way might explain things and offer a modelling opportunity. +
+ It's a shame that the modern Volkite Eradicator is carapace only, as this low-strength, shield-stripping, high rate of fire weapon would otherwise be a more creative way of updating things. +
+ By far the easiest to bring into the modern game; this is simply a case of using an Apocalypse Missile Launcher on the carapace and Laser Blasters on the arms. +
+ Annoyingly, the oldest Titan, Castigator, seems to be the trickiest to find good pict-captures of, though happily most of the details are there. From what we can gather in the White Dwarf, this model was painted first, and you can see that he's slightly different to the others – I suspect were painted in a group as they're so cohesive. Castigator has gold trim (unlike the others' gunmetal), and his head is red rather than white. +
+++
- Reaver 2: Carnivore/Ferratus Secundus
- Multi-launcher
- Turbo-laser
- Turbo-laser
 |
| Carnivore/Ferratus Secundus |
+ By far the easiest to bring into the modern game; this is simply a case of using an Apocalypse Missile Launcher on the carapace and Laser Blasters on the arms. +
+ Since there's not much to say on him otherwise, here's a good opportunity to talk about things common to all four: firstly, the banners, which provide some good inspiration for updating. Secondly, I've just noticed that the three Reavers painted later all have white heads – perhaps an intentional nod to the 'Iron Skulls' Legion name? +
+++
- Reaver 3: Castigator
- Turbo-laser
- Gatling blaster
- Warp Missile
 |
| Castigator |
+ It's worth noting that not only are details like this perfectly in keeping with the varied and heraldic nature of Titans, it's also all grist to the mill of inspiration. I want to evoke the idea of these models, rather than rivet-counting obsession. Let's face it, despite Adeptus Titanicus players tending towards the older side of the hobby, I very much doubt anyone will recognise my resulting models unprompted! +
+ Weapon-wise, Castigator is another easy fit in the modern game. All of his weapons are simple updates to the modern equivalents: Laser Blaster, Gatling Blaster and Warp Missile. +
+++
- Reaver 4: Ferratus Tertius
- Vulcan Mega-bolter
- Inferno gun
- Plasma cannon
 |
| Ferratus Tertius |
+ Spoiler warning for a twenty-odd year old battle report, Poor Ferratus Tertius gets downed by a faceful of alien goo that pretty much melts his legs off! +
+ Weapons-wise, Ferratus Tertius is the most problematic of all: none of his weapons exist for Reavers in the modern game, so there are a few options. The heat-based Inferno gun could be reimagined as a Melta Cannon (also having the advantage of providing some much-needed finishing punch to the group); a conversion of this using parts from the new Warhound Melta Lance might be fun. The Vulcan Mega-bolter will have to be treated as for Clavigera at the top – and given the awkwardness of this, I think I might simply use the excuse to swap things out for something completely different and otherwise lacking to the Maniple in-game, like a volcano cannon. +
+ The Plasma cannon on the carapace no longer exists, but it does offer a great opportunity to swap in a modern weapon like the Graviton Destructor – something different would be fun, and the silhouette is evoactive of the bulbous plasma cannon... +
+++
No comments:
Post a Comment