+ inload: Rules for Ork Gargants and Eldar Titans in Adeptus Titanicus +

+ Eldar and Orks in
Adeptus Titanicus +

 + Free Bloodsong supplement released +

+ It's nearly Christmas, so as promised, the Bloodsong supplement for Games Workshop's Adeptus Titanicus, which allows you to play with Ork and Eldar forces, is now freely available. You can find it here:

[+Bloodsong+]

+ The Phantom Titan spread, featuring the beautiful work of MeshyMesh Miniatures +

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+ What is Bloodsong? +

It's a free supplement for Games Workshop's awesome Adeptus Titanicus (AT) game, which has been on the boil for the past couple of years. Started in 2019 soon after the release of AT, it's been in playtesting for the best part of two years now, gradually expanding in scope and being refined.

There comes a time, however, when the dials have been calibrated, the chrome polished and the War Engines hunger for purpose, so the version you find here is ready for play.

Please do let me know if you try it out, and I'd love to hear any feedback, positive or critical. Feel free to come join the discussion on the Death of a Rubricist Facebook group  [+noosphericexloadlink embedded+], or as noted in the document itself, send me an email to comment directly on the PDF with your ideas for further refinement.

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+ What will I find inside? +

This 64-page print-ready booklet contains everything you need to play Open Play games of Adeptus Titanicus with Xenos – Eldar Titans and Ork Gargants.  They can be played against your existing Imperial or Traitor Titan forces, or indeed against each other. 

You'll need to find new tactics and strategies to command or combat the terrible threat of the Xenos – and rest assured that they've been playtested to ensure a level of balance.

+ @johnpaints awesome Goff Tribe accompanies one of the short stories. +

The supplement contains everything you need to represent the particular nature of these Xenos in Adeptus Titanicus, so you'll have the following nuts-and-bolts: 

• Command Terminals
• Weapon cards
• Special rules
• Maniple equivalents
• How to prepare the cards and Command Terminals
• How to use the supplement

...along with material to make the supplement a bit more enjoyable and easy to read and reference during a game:

• Artwork 
• Short stories and colour text
• Table of contents
• Reference pages.

+ Titan (and Gargant) silhouettes now make the Conclave and Bigmob limits a bit easier to understand – and hopefully look nicer too! +

For those who have been following along or helping with playtesting, this is the final version. You'll spot version notes on the weapon cards and Command Terminals, so for future games, make sure you find the ones with v1.5 to ensure you've got the up-to-date Terminals and Weapon cards:

+ The version note is at the top left of each Terminal (highlighted) ; and on the back of each weapon card. +

You'll also find that the visuals have been substantially improved by the following artists, who generously allowed me to feature their inspirational work. Thank you one and all! Go and check 'em out on Instagram for more awesome stuff.

• John W – @johnpaints 
• MeshyMesh – @MeshyMesh Miniatures 
• Dorkamorka – @argaastes 
• Rich – @2ndeditionpaints 
• @biped_jackdaw 
• Gary C
• Tommy – @BigBossRedSkullz  / BigBossRedSkullz.com
• John N – @jgnstudios  / JGN.Studios 

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+ What's next? +

The supplement is now 'complete', though I intend to return and revise in a couple of years' time to take in any comments, feedback and development in that time – so please do keep the feedback coming, particularly if you feel something's not working as intended. As a fanmade supplement, it's much easier to make adjustments.

The plan now is to follow up Bloodsong with a campaign booklet that expands the options available to the Xenos and makes the supplement more suitable for play in Matched Play events. While still in the early stages, this is intended to bring in:

• Stratagems for both Orks and Eldar
• New Bigmobs and Conclaves
• War-clan and Waaagh rules to further customise and theme your xenos forces
• Missions and a themed campaign
• Rules for Mekboy Gargants/Supa-Stompas.

In essence, I'm following the model of how the Legio rules for Imperial and Renegade Titans were released. I’m leaning away from ‘Craftworld’ and ‘Clan’ as terms because they don’t really reflect the way the forces work in-universe, and the archetype of some Clans/Craftworlds don’t translate particularly well into giant robot battles. Perhaps most importantly of all, I don’t want to limit how people paint their models! That said, as currently planned the new  fit the broad archetypes – so there’ll be – for example – a ‘bashy’ one that’ll fit Goffs and a ‘sneaky’ one to fit Alaitoc if you prefer to paint them to match.

+ Work in progress – watch this space! +

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+ Sounds fun – I'd like to know more +

Great! Go download the Bloodsong supplement using this link [+noosphericexloadlink embedded+], and if you'd like to help spread the word, that'd be very much appreciated. Feel free to share it, play it and adjust it as you like  – but as noted in the copyright notice at the back, please be respectful to Games Workshop's IP.

I'd love to hear you feedback and thoughts, and if you are inspired enough to build, paint or play with Xenos in the awesome game of Adeptus Titanicus, please do share any pics of your models and games on Instagram using the tag #ATBloodsong. I'd love to see them – and if you're happy for me to do so, perhaps feature them in a future expansion.

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+ inload: Bloodsong update and Great Gargant +

+ 'Ere We Go – Great Gargant +

+ Before the paint is dry on the first, a second Great Gargant has emerged from the Meks' workshop, eager to get into combat with the 'oomie Titans. +

As the great philosopher Udgrub of Gaff had it: 'Woss ded ard and ded shooty? A Gargant. Woss even arder and shootier and krumpier? Two Gargants!' Who am I to argue with such a paragon of kultur?

The finer points of ork warfare aside, I'm delighted with this print, which was given to me over a pint at the local. Drawing from the same original sculpt, the two 3D-sculptors have given slightly different results, as you can see below. The new one is slightly more broad in the chest and the arms are proportionally a little lower, and I think these differences help to suggest an individuality that's fitting for Gargants. After all, each is a kustom job – even when orks try to copy each other, there's inevitably some variance.

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+ Gaming +

Besides making a very attractive set of bookends, why would two Great Gargants be useful? Well, what if you had a set of rules that let you play Orks – or Eldar, if that's your breakfast fructose pulp-preserve of choice – in Adeptus Titanicus? Well, I'm pleased to say that such a supplement exists, and pending a couple of permissions for featured artworks, it's just about ready to release.

You can judge for yourself whether I've been successful in my initial aims – the first article on the project was written back in September 2018 [+noosphericinloadlink embedded+], and it's been more actively polished and revised in the years since.

I've been beavering away on Bloodsong for just about as long as the new version of Adeptus Titanicus has been out. We're now up to beta version 14, and I'm on track to publish the free, finished, ready-to-play booklet as a Christmas thank-you to readers. 

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+ What's new? +

Well, if you've already given the expansion a try, I hope you'll be pleased to hear that it's more refinement than rework. 

The Eldar, who benefitted from being much more similar to Imperial Titans, haven't thrown up any huge problems in playtesting, and are largely untouched. The big exception is the psychic lance, which has been considerably toned-down following playtesting – terrifying it might be in background terms, the older rules were both powerful to the point of being oppressive, and also a pain to use in practise.

As for everyone's favourite space-hooligans, ork shields seemed uncharacteristically reliable in early turns – not a problem when you've just got one on the table, but the more you had, the more oppressive it turned out to be. The solution? I looked back into Adeptus Titanicus '87 for inspiration, and found a rule about Power Fields occasionally allowing shots through gaps. There's thus now a (small) chance for a shot to go through and set off a fire. This gives 'feels-good' factor for the opponent, and also gives the Ork player something to juggle in otherwise quiet early turns. Win-win.

In addition to that, the shields/boiler relationship now has a smaller 'sweet-spot', so it's much harder for an Ork player to simply avoid touching their boiler. There's also a bit more of reward/encouragement for pushing, introduced through adjustments to the Gargant's speed value.

The Maniple equivalents – Conclaves for Eldar, Mobs for Orks – were a relatively late addition, and  while the Eldar ones seem to have worked out okay, playtesting revealed some fairly elementary problems with the ork's Godbreaka mob; which has been defanged and reworked.

It's not all down-tuning for the orks, however. The gun decks – those key elements for the 'land battleship' feel – now kick out two shots per Krew assigned, making them a genuine alternative to other parts of the Gargant, for example. In recompense for the reduction in their durability, they've also seen some of their more characteristic weapons tweaked upwards; increasing a little in S, range or coming down in cost.

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Besides the crunch, there's now lots of lovely pictures submitted by talented hobbyists like jgnstudios, Gary C, MeshyMesh and Johnpaints, to give you an idea of how to build and paint your Gargants and War-Clans.

I've worked up some silhouette illustrations for the various Maniple equivalents...

... and you've got new background and lore, all lovingly re-interpreted from the original material and aiming to reconcile newer and older lore.

The book has also received reference sections for each faction, so you've got quick comparisons for weapon stats, Command Terminals and more.

+ Tactics and strategy +

Overall, I'm very pleased with how playtesting has refined things, but as always, these rules are explicitly designed for Open Play. I hope they give you fun, balanced games, but the key aim is to allow Xenos players the chance to get involved, and provide a new challenge for Imperial players.

Quite a few playtests threw up a common point that's worth addressing: Imperial players who used an existing force sometimes found it difficult to adapt in their first game – those who tooled up to take on the aliens they were facing tended to fare better. I wanted to make sure that each faction provided a new and interesting challenge to the Imperials, as it's as much an expansion for them as it is for Xenos players. After all, Imperial/Traitor players are likely to make up the vast majority of games you'll get in.

As a result, a lot of the weapons and tactics that are optimal against other Imperial/Traitor Titans aren't necessarily ideal for tackling the Xenos – and that's intentional. The lower armour ratings and shieldbane trait make the oft-derided lasers surprisingly useful against Gargants, for example, while a combination of weight of fire (to deal with holo-fields) and precision shots (once they're knocked down) are your friend against Eldar, rather than specialist Titans.

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+ Back to the point +

But enough on the rules, let's look at some more pictures of the Great Gargant!

+ inload: Bloodsong quick Q&A and notes +

+ New frontiers +

+ Titanicus wargaming with xenos +

+ Getting the gang back together – from left to right, Ork Great Gargant; Imperial Warlord Titan, Eldar Phantom Titan. + 

+ I've held off a bit on posting pics of the various Titans, mainly because I haven't got any painting done for weeks and weeks; hobby time being taken up elsewhere. Nevertheless, with Bloodsong out in the wild [+noosphericexloadlink embedded+], and some feedback coming in already, I though the pic above gave a good indication of my take on things. +

+ This inload will look at the plan for Bloodsong, and address some early playtesting feedback. +

+++

+ The plan, early feedback and FAQs +

First off, thanks for everyone who's downloaded, read and given Bloodsong a go so far – please do let me know how you're getting on with it, and any feedback – positive or negative – is very welcome!

'Wombo combos' are exactly what I'd like to see you playtest to pressure test the rules; the playtesting so far has explicitly been Open Play and aimed at making sure the rules work mechanically, so seeing the live playtest results of more competitive players will be very helpful indeed. 

However, please do try 'em out 'in the round', as it were – there's lots that I was concerned was overtuned, but seems to work fine in our (admittedly rather soft!) games. Feel free to pop your findings in a message to me (I'm not thin-skinned, so don't worry about hurting my feelings!), or better yet, in a comment on the PDF, so they're all collected together.

The plan is for three months of playtest feedback to pin down the Terminals, Maniple equivalents and Weapons. (And gather artwork and model pics). Those are the core that anyone using the rules will have to engage with. After that, adding in the Legio equivalents, new weapons and new units (the Mekboy Gargant/Supa-Stompa) will be relatively easy.

… and August is therefore the plan for release of an updated version, which I hope will be a 64 or 80pp one, containing the lore and missions for a mini-campaign alongside the rest.

+ Playtesting +

Bloodsong is all, of course, unofficial, and I'd emphasise that your game is yours, whoever's rules you're using as a kicking-off point. If you're lucky enough to have someone willing to play unofficial rules, I imagine both you and they are already open-minded and creative enough to make some tweaks to better fit your take on things.

With that said, a common set of rules is necessary to make meaningful tweaks and adjustments, so when playtesting and providing feedback, I'd please ask you to give things a try as they're presented – or please let me know what changes you've made, so I can take into account.

When providing feedback, the 'big questions' I want to answer are:

• ‘Did they feel like Eldar/Orks?’
• ‘Were they fun to play with?’

and most importantly,

• ‘Were they fun to play against?’

After that, please feel free to get as granular and detailed as you like. Think a particular weapon stinks? Think the pricing's off? Want to know why X Y or Z was done? Let us know. 

There's a thread on the + Death of a Rubricist + Facebook group for discussion, or you can send me a message through the comments and contact details here, if you prefer.

+ Early feedback and FAQs +

Some quick response answers to unclear areas:

Orks

I read it as all sizes of Gargant need to have a belly gun and two arm guns but the Mega-Gargant's towers and kustom job are optional, is that correct?

Yes, that’s right.

Gargants can use weapon cards from their size or smaller, so a Great or Mega Gargant could use either the Great Gargant sized Gut Buster or the Gargant sized (half the points for the same weapon but less armoured), correct?

Typo here! Great Gargant version should be S10 and Blast (5in); hence the heftier price. This is flagged on the PDF for change. 

If you have 2 dice of krew in the weirdboy tower, is the strength determined by adding the 2 values together?

Yes, add the values together… although this is one of those bits that I’m very keen to hear feedback on. If you’re finding it oppressive, please let me know.

Are there any plans on the works for Stompas?

Knights and equivalent are beyond the scope of this project for the moment at least, but the Mekboy Gargant is definitely on the drawing board – currently occupying a specialist supporting role somewhat like the Imperial Dire Wolf or Warbringer Nemesis. Their weapon cards will be akin to (and  possibly interchangeable with) the Mega Gargants' Kustom Job cards. This unit will be included in the updated version, with a more 'normal' weapon option allowing you to field it as a Supa-Stompa.

[As an aside on terminology, the Mekboy Gargant, present in Epic: Space Marine 2nd edition and Titan Legions as the Mekboy Gargant, disappeared after Epic: 40,000, and was replaced by the Supa-stompa in Epic: Armageddon. Confusingly, the current 40k-scale Stompa is (in-universe) about this size – so you can see why I've got a bit tied in knots about whether Stompas are in or not!]

This unit will be great to proxy with your old Epic Gargant or Steam Gargant models.

What's the reasoning behind Gargants being on round bases?

We tried them on both, and found round bases gives more of a solid, unwieldy ‘feel’ in-game that helps to distinguish the orks from the other factions, and makes the model appear chunkier.

Round bases also opened up some interesting little tactical considerations – since the gun decks can fire in the side arcs, it allows Gargants to protect themselves from flanking knights or help an ally strip shields without turning. They can also fire slightly behind themselves, which gives a nice ‘navy battle cruiser’ feel. 

With that said, there’s not a huge amount in it, so feel free to adapt and use oval bases if you wish, or they better frame your models – these are, after all, homemade rules, so adapt them as you like.

Eldar

Can Revenants use their jump jets jump over titans?

No; cinematic as the visual is, I think that causes mechanical and gameplay problems. Feel free to playtest, but my instinct is that Revenants are already had enough to draw a bead on! 

Imageine a Warhound squadron attacks a Revenant.  The first shot from the first weapon hits the shield vanes, so the attacking Warhound finishes the rest of its attacks with no holofield active. When the second Warhound attacks, are the holofields active, or do they stay down until all squadron attacks are completed?

I’d suggest the shields are back in place for the second and subsequent Warhounds, as it’s a different unit. The mechanic is intended to encourage focussed fire from individual Titans, and since the holofields are the only defence the Revenant has, it seems harsh to allow an entire squadron to benefit (particularly once various Legio/Maniple bonuses are factored in). 

Some of the critical damage effects have names that are not defined in the booklet.  Do we assume they are analogous to what's in the main rulebook? e.g. Spiritmesh disturbed does not have a reference in the rulebook I can see; Steersman wounded, and Soulstone compromised are not defined in the rulebook, but I think its a safe assumption that they are analogous to MIU feedback, etc? 

Yes, the critical damage results started as ‘fluffy’ equivalents, with no mechanical difference – while some are now different, assume the others are as you’ve outlined. I’ll clarify this in the next update.

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+ How big's a [+INSERT TITAN HERE+]? +

Scale and size (particularly base size) have an impact on the game; from interactions with terrain to line of sight issues and arcs of fire, so the supplement contains a few notes that allude to it. However, I didn't want to bog down what's meant to be a practical gaming supplement with endless screeds of conversion suggestions – that's what this noospheric node is for!

On model size, you'll see that the fluid lines between Gargants and Great Gargants is mentioned a few times in Bloodsong, and that's to help when converting. With no official figures, you'll be forced to convert, find third-party sculpts, or scratch build – and that's complicated by the fact that there are lots of different interpretations of the various units; both officially and in fan-made material. 

+ This looks 'right' to me, weaned as I was on the original Adeptus Titanicus – but there's a decent argument that the modern Phantom, for example, should be nearer Reaver in size. +

I've tried to provide some structure in Bloodsong but leave lots of wiggle room – the last thing I want to do is tell someone they can't use their cool model because it doesn't match the letter of these rules. As long as it's clear to both you and the other player(s) what's what, than I think you can go a long way by being generous with line of sight etc. If you're converting or scaling things, I'd aim for the following height from base to top of head:

• Gargant between 9–12cm (3½–5in)
• Great Gargant between 12.5 and 15cm (5–6in)
• Phantom Spectre 15cm (6in) and larger
• Phantom Shade 12.5cm (5in) and smaller
• Revenant 9–10cm (3½–4in)

These are the assumed sizes used in Bloodsong, based partially on the background; on comparisons of the old Epic models to the new Titanicus models; on comparisons of the 28mm Eldar Forgeworld Titans to the 28mm Imperial Forgeworld Titans, and a hefty dollop of practicality – which models I found myself able to source. 

I really want Bloodsong to be accessible, so you'll note that the sizes suggested mean that you can essentially 'demote' the old Epic Phantom and Great Gargant to stand in as Revenants and (standard) Gargants respectively. These are relatively easy to find second-hand, and all the various generations of the official sculpts will be in the right ballpark.

+ Taller and more gracile, and shorter but stockier – you could use the Phantom Shade rules for one and the Phantom Spectre for the other; but equally you might just treat them as different styles of the same type. +

Part of the reason for the Shade/Spectre versions of the Phantom is to allow different interpretations to better match people’s models and conversions – but again, if you dislike the idea of having different types of Phantom, then by all means just pick one and stick with it. If you're converting your own, I’d suggest the Wraithlord is small but in the right ballpark for the Phantom. 

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+ inload: Bloodsong goes public +

+ Bloodsong complete + 

+ Free Adeptus Titanicus expansion with rules for Eldar Titans and Ork Gargants +

+ No time to waste? Just need the Google Drive link? +
+ Manifold access, my Princeps: [+noosphericexloadlink embedded+] +

+ Command new forces; engage new enemies! +

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+ Changes and updates +

... and now that everyone who just wants the free Bloodsong expansion has blithely closed this noospheric node, those that remain suckling on the datafeed can enjoy the inner secrets of the project.

Way back in 2018, shortly after the release of the new Adeptus Titanicus, I (rather fatefully) wrote:

I'll preface this by saying that these rules are only intended to tide players over until we get some official rules.

Well, seven years have passed, and not so much as a squeak from Games Workshop on any official rules for Eldar and Orks, so since 2023 I've been tinkering away on creating a full print-ready expansion for the game so xenos enthusiasts and those looking for a new Open Play challenge can get involved. 

The result is Bloodsong, which has gone through nine 'alpha' iterations, being playtested and tweaked in a small pool in various back rooms and on the + Death of a Rubricist + Facebook group (thanks for all feedback thus far!). It's now complete to the point that it's ready for more broad distribution, with everything from custom Command Terminals and Weapon Cards to instructions for how to print the 50pp booklet to the right size. Perhaps most importantly, it explains how to use the supplement with the official rules to create all-Eldar or all-Ork forces.

For anyone who's already been using the supplement, this new public version includes the following improvements:

• Practical additions: 8 Maniple equivalents – 4 each for Eldar and Orks.
• Extensive improvement and refinement of the Ork section, polishing it to match the Eldar. Clarification of suggested base sizes and conversion ideas for Gargants.
• Mega Gargant rules clarifications.
• Useability improvements: a table of contents, 'How to use this book' and development notes throughout.
• Single page formatting (view it on Acrobat in two-page view with cover page)
• Terminology tweaks – the Wraithtension table had started to annoy me, so it's now the Wraith Matrix table, which feels a bit more 'Eldar' to me.

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+ Find new enemies and allies for your Imperial and Traitor Titans for Open Play Titanicus! +

+ What's next? +

Next, I hope, is for the supplement to get more feedback from other gaming groups, which will help to tweak and adjust the points values to make for more fun and exciting games, and highlight any glaring clangers I've made.

Besides the nuts and bolts of the mechanics, my next priority is improving the look of the layout by adding some artwork and more background material: example Titan/Gargant pictures for the maniple equivalents, nicely styled in-action battle pictures, and some design flourishes to make it as professional as possible – I've been aiming to make it as user-friendly, polished and attractive as I can.

If you can help – either by supplying pictures of your own models, or suggesting artists I can ask, please do let me know in the comments, either here on the blog, or on the Facebook group – or through the Google Drive link:

[+noosphericexloadlink embedded+]

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+ Tell me more! +

Glutton for punishment, eh? Want to know more about the process and past development? By using the [+insphere contentsieve+] at the top right of the page, you can search for Titanicus and read through all the various changes and designer's notes – here's a good start, if you fancy looking at the philosophy and process behind the project [+noosphericinloadlink embedded+].

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