+ 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 bits and bobs – 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.

+++

+ 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. 

+++

+ 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! +

+++

+ 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.

+++

+ 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+]

+++

+ 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+].

+++

+ inload: Bloodsong – Eldar and Orks in Adeptus Titanicus +

 + Bloodsong version 0.5 +

+ A quick riffle through the [+ Insphere contentsieve +] (the search function for this noospheric node, to the right of the body of the post) will reveal that I've been working on rules for introducing xenos to Adeptus Titanicus – specifically Eldar Titans and Ork Gargants. +

+ I've just uploaded version 0.5 of the Bloodsong pack to the +Death of a Rubricist+ Facebook group. The files can be downloaded freely and shared as you like – and as always, I welcome playtesting notes and feedback on the group.

A direct link to the files can be found here: [+noosphericexloadlink embedded+]. You will need to be a member of the Death of a Rubricist Facebook group – and if you're new to it, please answer the three questions when prompted: it's the only way I can screen for bots! +

+ Of course, there's nothing stopping you from joining, downloading and leaving immediately (not even hard feelings!), but I do encourage you to stick around and get involved. +

 + A new fan sculpt I picked up second-hand +

+ Ch-ch-ch-changes +

+ v0.5 brings some big updated: Eldar get access to the Revenant Scout Titan and its weapon cards, and – perhaps of more interest to some readers – brings the orks out to play. You get Gargants, Great Gargants and their weapon cards.+

+ Long-time inloaders might recall the first draft of the ork rules a while back – [+noosphericexloadlink emebdded+] well, they're updated and available now, including terminals and cards. +

+ I'm very pleased with how these rules work – I think they really capture the feel of directing Gargants, and would love to hear your battlefield experiences when using them: both good and bad! +

+ Based on feedback received I've also tweaked the Eldar stats a little – nothing major, but it is worth your time replacing the old cards and terminals with these. I've also squashed some gremlins). 

+++

+ A glimpse into the future +

+ The Warlock is on the horizon, and I'm also planning to revise the Phantom into two sub-classes: the Phantom Shade and Phantom Spectre. +

+ This is because there are two broad schools of thought for the Phantom: one that sees it as the equivalent to the Warlord Titan, and one that sees it as something more akin to a Reaver. +

+ In keeping with my 'nothing new without good reason' philosophy, the most elegant way I could think of to square this circle is to allow both to co-exist. The Shade and Spectre classes are a throwback to the classifications for the Phantom, from the original Codex Titanicus supplement – in essence, equivalent to the Deathbringer, Eclipse, Nemesis variants for the Imperial Warlord. +

+ The Phantom Shade and Phantom Spectre will not differ greatly. They will share the same weapon cards, for example. The nearest equivalent I can think of is that between the Reaver and Nemesis Warbringer – fundamentally the same chassis, but with slight variation in Infinity Circuit, armour etc. +

+ Ultimately, the splitting of the two is for three major reasons:

• To allow a broad church of players to get a Phantom that matches their vision for the Titan, whether that's slightly heavier or slightly lighter.
• To give some slight variation and increase the tactical choices available to Eldar players.
• There are a number of quite different fan-sculpts of the Phantom Titan around, and I've always preferred the 'model-led' approach to writing rules. 

+ My hope is that this approach will let people differentiate their models if they wish – or just opt for a single type without impacting their chances in-game. +

+++

inload: Eldar Titans and Ork Gargants

+ Eldar and Orks for Adeptus Titanicus +

+ Rules, playtesting and a plea +

+ With v0.4 of the document up and ready on the files section [+noosphericexloadlink embedded+], it's now out there for you to playtest. If you have any feedback, ideas, questions or critique of the Eldar Phantom and/or  Ork Gargant rules, please post them up on the Facebook group [+noosphericexloadlink embedded+], or as a comment below. It's particularly helpful if you've had a chance to playtest them live, as it were, to experience them in the round. +

+ Likewise, if you've built or painted any Eldar Titans or Ork Gargants, I'd love to see them – it'd be great to feature them on the blog, or use them in this Eldar and Ork expansion. +

+++

+ Models +

+ Rules are all very well, but models are what this is really about. With all these xenos popping up, it's looking like it's time for a Great Crusade, right? +

+ What little painting time I've had recently has been concentrating on the Catachan guntruck thingie, but I have been able to build and undercoat the Revenant Titans above (and below). +

+ They are 3D prints, and a very kind gift from PCRC stablemate Lucifer216. The kits went together very smoothly, and I've based them on 60mm rounds – I toyed with 80mm bases (like Warhounds), but the lithe alien war engines just looked utterly lost. +

+++

+ While we're talking about building, my brother sent over the WIP pictures of the Gargants he and his boys made – thought I'd share them here so you can see the materials and ideas that went into them. +

+ The rear shot shows some neat little details – I particularly like the use of the Genestealer cult Goliath drill-shield thing as the rear balcony. +

+++

+ inload: Rumours of Epic Horus Heresy +

+ Silver Stars and Tiny Titans +

+ Epic-scale Silver Stars +

+ Murmurs from the warp (or that is, the reliable rumourmancer 'Chapter Master Valrak', suggest that a new edition of Epic is coming out. We've also seen some interesting phrasing in recent Warhammer Community articles [+noosphericexloadlink emebdded+] about the Warlord Titan – though that might be wishful thinking... In any case, the rumours point to Epic being the 'big thing' for the latter part of this year, following the release of 40k's 10th(!) edition. + 

+ Regular inloaders will know something about the 6mm scale really catches my imagination, and Epic: Armageddon is my favourite game. The new edition will supposedly be based in the Horus Heresy. I'm a little disappointed that we won't see Eldar and Orks and the rest (at least at first), but you've got to start somewhere. The popularity and distinctive colour schemes of Space Marines makes them an obvious way for Games Workshop to test the waters. +

+ Probably just as important as those factors, is cost-saving and risk-management. The civil war setting means the same models can be used on both sides – exactly as they are in Adeptus Titanicus. +

+ I am excited to see a new generation of Epic-scale miniatures. The technology and engineering skill now on show means that any new models – and by the Omnissiah let's hope they're plastic – should be stunning. +

+++

+ Revenants in Adeptus Titanicus +

+ And since it's looking unlikely we'll have small-scale xenos any time soon, I'm sure the hobby community will be cracking on with making their own. The inimitable Lucifer216 has kindly sent me a shipment of Revenant Titans – I'm looking forward to building these and trying out the playtest rules we've been working on. +

+ You can find the playtest rules for the Revenant in this inload [+noosphericinloadlink embedded+]. +

+++

+ inload: Adeptus Titanicus – Eldar Revenant Scout Titan +

+ Adeptus Titanicus: Eldar Revenant Scout Titan playtesting rules +

+ Forgeworld's 40k-scale Revenant Titan with sonic lances +

+++

+ With the basic rules of the Phantom established for Adeptus Titanicus, I dived into White Dwarf 186 to read more about its smaller kin, the Revenant Scout Titan. Here's an excerpt:  

With its lightning speed and deadly armament, the Revenant Scout Titan epitomises the Eldar approach to war! Each Revenant Titan is equipped with a pair of sophisticated jump jets which enable it to bound across the battlefield in a series of springing leaps. Armed with two pulse lasers, a missile launcher and a scatter laser, Revenants use their mobility to pick off vulnerable enemy units or crack open and explore any weakness in the line.

Eldar Titans 

Eldar Titans are very different to those used by the Imperium. Imperial Titans are born in the boiling flames and arcing energies of the Adeptus Mechanicus forges, bolted and welded together with ceramite skin and adamantium bones. Eldar Titans are grown or extruded from a strange psycho-plastic called Wraithbone, under the control of the psychic morphing powers of the Eldar caste of Bonesingers. Wraithbone is an immensely durable material, tougher than adamantium and stronger than plasteel. Wraithbone has another important property, it can conduct psychic energy and respond to it in an almost organic way. This gives Eldar Titans a flexibility and finely tuned musculature almost akin to living creatures.

Eldar Titans are tall and slender, moving with a smooth agility and grace unachievable by human Titans. They benefit not only from the experience of their crews (who dedicate themselves to their TItan for the equivalent of several human lifetimes) but also from the collective consciousness of a large Spirit stone which contains the souls of numerous dead Eldar. The TItans's Wraithbone core permits the spirits contained within it to flow freely through the whole construct. This gives the Eldar Titan a consciousness of its own which, combined with its living crew, makes it a deadly fighting machines.

Scout Titans

The best known Eldar Titans are the Phantom and Warlock Battle Titans. These tall, elegant instruments of war are quite capable of crushing any opponent. Less common, but no less deadly, are the Eldar Revenant Scout Titans. These sleek, fast killing machines are deployed to add extra punch to the Eldar skimmer forces of Jetbikes and Vypers whenever they are raiding or scouting the enemy battle line. Revenants are well armed for their size, normally carrying twin pulse lasers for use against tanks and Titans, plus a missile launcher and scatter laser for tackling enemy infantry. With the aid of the Revenants, Eldar Jetbikes can sweep aside the opposing forces and launch deep strikes against enemy-held objectives.

To increased the manoeuvrability of the Revenant and enable it to keep up with the skimmers, the Titan is equipped with a highly efficient arrangement of jets powered by gasses siphoned directly from the Titan's plasma reactor. These very powerful jump jets allow the Revenant to make long, powered leaps which can easily carry it over intervening battlefield obstacles such as woods, marshes or buildings.

[+White Dwarf 186+]

+ The original design for the Revenant Titan, shown above, was quite different – I'll look at various designs in a future inload. +

+++

+ Take-aways +

+ Old White Dwarfs are a great source for background material, and while older rules sets get outdated, I like to get a feel for the designer's intentions when updating things. It's also good to see how the same information (on, say, Eldar Titans in general) is redrafted and presented anew. Little things that are implied are sometime made explicit – like the presence of plasma reactors in Eldar Titans, which was previously arguable. +

+ Holo field apologetics +

+ Likewise, there's an interesting note on holofields later in the article:

'Holo fields are useless against area effect weapons which don't rely on pin-point accuracy to hit. Therefore, the holo field save does not apply against hits from barrages, or any other attack that uses a template of any kind.'

+ That's a fairly straightforward statement, and brings up an interesting design quandry. Should this weakness to template weapons be applied to the updated rules I'm using? +

+ For the moment, I'm going to leave them as-is. The holofield mechanic I'm using – modifiers to hit, rather than an additional save – is based largely on a desire to use existing mechanics where possible. It does, however, make me feel that perhaps I ought to lose the scattering on a D6 even on a successful hit... +

+ Other sight-blocking wargear and abilities in modern Adeptus Titanicus (like Concealment Barrage) operate on modifiers, and I think this nicely reflects the lore of how holo fields work:

'Holo fields are not designed to block, absorb or shunt aside attacks like Imperium void shields and Ork power fields. Instead the holo field confuses enemy's locating and targeting systems by defracting [sic] the subject's image. When a unit protected by a holo field moves, its mage seems to explode into a storm of multi-coloured shards. The faster the vehicle or Titan moves, the more scattered the image becomes. When it stops, the cloud appears to coalesce into a solid shape again.'

+ Secondly, the way armour and saves works in modern Adeptus Titanicus is very different to classic Epic – and oddly enough, the void shields in modern AT work more like the old holo fields! I want the Eldar to feel familiar but distinct to any player of the modern game, and that's why I'll stick with the playtest rules for the moment. +

+++ 

+ Interestingly, the approach I'm taking has a precedent here. I noted in an earlier article that I wanted to minimise book-keeping, and so while I toyed with the idea that the model would have to move a certain distance for various holofield effects, I rejected that as being too hard to track and too likely to cause arguments. Instead, I decided it would be the order the unit is on, rather than the distance it moves, which affects the holo field benefit. That's exactly what's described in White Dwarf 186: 

'Because the effectiveness of the holo field is linked to the speed of movement of the vehicle or Titan, the saving throw varies according to the orders the subject is on. This makes the holofield far more effective when the target is on Charge orders rather than First Fire. [...] The saving throw is tied only to the unit's orders and not to the distance the model moves in a turn.'

+++

+ Jump jets +

'The Revenant is equipped with a pair of powerful jump jets which are powered directly from its plasma reactor. Gravitic drives cut in when the Revenant jumps, neutralising part of its mass to allow it to make long graceful leaps over obstacles and impassable terrain.'

+ This piece of wargear is characteristic, perhaps defining, of the Revenant. It's going to define the Titan. The older rules were simple in concept, though quite granular in detail. As noted earlier, I want this ruleset to be easy-to-grasp for players, so adapting existing mechanics seems sensible. + 

+ At root, what made the Revenant stand out in old Epic was its ability to leap tall buildings (etc.) in a single bound. Its manoeuvrability, speed and ability to set ambushes are repeatedly referenced, so those are the things we want to reflect in the modern game. +

+++

+ Don't believe the hype: statting the Revenant +

+ The straightforward answer, then, is to give it huge Speed and Manoeuvre characteristics, but I'm not confident that will make for a particularly interesting game experience. Simply making it much faster than a Warhound will potentially cause problems with objective-based play, and could easily be frustrating. I also wonder whether it's really justified. One of the dangers of taking statements from articles like this in isolation is that you get a warped view. If you look at the equivalent lore for the Warhound, for example, you'll get similar emphasis on their speed etc. +

+ Looking at the actual in-game stats as well is thus a much fairer point of comparison. Here we find the Warhound has a movement of 25cm, while the Revenant has 30cm – so a bit faster, but not the huge difference we might guess from reading the Revenant article in isolation. +

+ So, with that in mind, how can we make the Revenant both interesting to play with and against? How can we differentiate it and not make it a 'Warhound +1'? My answer to this is as follows: +

+ Speed  A higher bases Speed than the Warhound, but similar speeds when pushed. This ties into the idea that the Eldar Engines are inherently superior, but more risk-averse than their Imperial counterparts. +

+ Agility  + There's not really much point in giving it a substantially greater Manoeuvre characteristic than the Warhound (3/5), as the Imperial Scout Titan can already turn more than 180 degrees in a turn. The background text in the Revenant article in WD183 – there, it's stated:

'The Revenant Titan is very fast and extremely agile, so unlike other Titans it can turn as many times as it wants while it is moving.'

+ However, I think that removing the turn limit in modern Titanicus would be a shame. You remove a key part of the engagement with the table, and strip the player of the considerations of manoeuvre. Secondly, it would stop it feeling like a Titan, and start feeling more like a Knight. Knights have the Agile rule which does exactly this – allows unlimited turns – and giving it to a Titan would blur things too much for my taste. +

+ To partly reflect the improved agility, then, I've instead taken the less abstract approach of simply giving it a smaller base, allowing it to move more freely on the table without simply bumping its stats too high. +

+ Jump Jets  As perhaps the defining characteristic of this Titan, the jump jets need some thought, and warrant some unique rules. I can't think of anything quite equivalent to this in the existing rules, though there's some promising stuff in the rules for moving over terrain. This is defined by the Titan's Scale – you can move over blocking terrain up to half the Titan's scale in inches, as long as the base can clear it. (Another point in favour of having a small base.) +

+ It's thus a neat mechanic to use as a start – and all you need is a statement 'The Revenant counts as being twice its scale for the purposes of moving over terrain.' Further to this, we'll let it ignore Difficult and Dangerous terrain unless it lands within it. +

+++

+ The Revenant Terminal +

+ ...and so here's the Terminal, ready for playtesting. +

+ In addition to this, you'll need to know:

• The Eldar playtesting rules summary in this inload [+noosphericinloadlink embedded+], 
• We're playtesting Revenants on 60mm bases. This is intentionally slightly smaller than the Warhounds, as it goes some way to reflecting their agility. 
• You should use the Warhound turning/arc template for Revenant manoeuvres and checking arc.
• A larger version (v005) is available on the +Death of a Rubricist+ Facebook page, which you can find through Linktree.

+++