Welcome back to Goonhammer’s series for aspiring Titan Principes. We here at Goonhammer’s own Collegia Titanica know that Adeptus Titanicus can seem intimidating to players unfamiliar with its particular quirks, but this series aims to equip you with everything you’ll need to play out epic clashes on the battlefields of the far future with your very own Titan Battlegroup. In this series, we’ll be taking a more in-depth look at the various Legios of the Collegia Titanica – exploring their origins and how to use them on the tabletop, from maniple selection and their loadouts, through to how to command them on the field of battle to secure ultimate victory.
Every God-Engine is a revered and often ancient relic of each Legio, some of which have attained legendary status for their feats on the battlefield. Released in mid-2019 the Titans of Legend added the rules for ten unique engines for your games of Adeptus Titanicus – if you were lucky enough to pick them up before they ran out of stock.
Today we’re going to give you an idea of how each of these God-Engines work, what roles they fill and options on how to use them on the tabletop.
Table of Contents
Loyalists
Lucius Praetorian – Legio Astorum Reaver
This takes Astorum’s ability to survive to an all time high. With the Veteran Princeps trait to reroll one of the dice rolls as well this Titan is venting heat on 3’s and repairing Critical damage on 4’s, not to mention being able to reignite void shields on a 5.
You can arm it however you like and there’s 2 main ways of taking this guy, either with a chainfist paired with melta and Vulcan mega bolter and charge him down the field in a Ferrox or Corsair for the extra damage or mobility OR for even more survivability take in a Fortis or Perpetua with choice of guns to taste. The Fortis allows Lucius to share shields with other titans when they haven’t moved as well as nullifying any bonus to armour rolls from damage or flank while the Perpetua gives an additional repair dice if the Titan hasn’t moved, bumping up to 5 repair dice with +1 to all rolls AND a reroll all but guaranteeing having shields up to full and a nice cool plasma reactor.
Consider saving Machine Defiance for this engine – you won’t get the re-roll from the legion trait or the +1 from its special ability, but you will be more likely than not to roll a 5+ and bring your voids right back up. This is crucial, since that one extra activation it takes your opponent to get an engine kill could be the difference between losing this engine and having it hang on forever.
Bair: I’m not really sure who looked at Astorum and went “ah what they need is a Reaver that’s even harder to kill” and made this thing. Take it. Always.
Ignis Ferrus – Legio Atarus Warlord
The 25 point premium is a bit steep, but it’s worth it – this is just begging for you to push your reactor as hard as possible. You might be tempted to take dual belicosas, but that’s not the best use case – while it will keep your heat in check if you roll the double advance, failing your command check to awakened machine spirit will just force you to push again and fire at a 4+ BS. Instead, take a brawler loadout and push aggressively for movement, then get a free shot if you “fail” your push roll. Plus, the extra yellow spot on the reactor track lets you push for movement and still not have to worry too much about using Maximal Fire on a Sunfury (or even a macro-gatling with Experimental Weapon, if you’re feeling spicy).
As a bonus, give it the Shedim Rift Veteran personal trait to let you re-roll your Sunfury’s armor checks and nearly guarantee damage on every shot that hits. Finally, consider this as your Maniple of One target to get some additional mobility from the Corsair trait, or to really unload on something with First Fire if you manage to get into the right position.
Dawn of Enlightenment – Legio Defensor Reaver
25 points more. Interesting shield battery in a Fortis – pair it with a Warlord you care about and as long as you can keep the thing alive you’ll get 1 shield back for free every turn. As a bonus, have it hide behind its larger friend to keep it obscured from enemy fire as it steadily regenerates shields to keep you protected. You’ll want to take longer-ranged weapons here to take the best advantage of its special ability.
Alternatively, you could take this in a Perpetua for the extra repair dice in the Damage Control phase to make sure it doesn’t suffer VSG burnout, then chuck hot laser death down range with either a pair of volcano cannons or a laser/volcano loadout.
Bellator Magno – Legio Gryphonicus Warlord
This thing owns. BS 2+ re-rolling 1s against your Vow target is absolutely bonkers, and once you kill it (or if you roll a bunch of 2s against an obscured target), you can still re-roll as long as you’ve got reactor space. And all for a 10-point premium. Really, just about anything will work with this Titan, so just shove it in whatever maniple you were going to take anyway. If there were a Titan of Legend you should expect to see in every game they’re allowed in, this is it.
Take Reckless Maverick for an extra activation and watch the fireworks – just be careful that you don’t push too far and explode. Called shots with plasma on a 4+ re rolling all failed hits will almost certainly kill whatever location the Belicosa just caused a crit to. Make it even more deadly and take Overcharged Cannon on the plasma arm to push it up to strength 12. Add in AMLs for turn 1 shield stripping at 2+ (or 3+ with Barrage) while moving up to get the plasma arm in range.
Bair: I just restarted my Gryphonicus and you best believe I’m building Bellator.
Iracundos – Legio Ignatum Reaver
The Iracundos Reaver is a solid midfield support option. It comes pre-equipped with Laser Blasters, Apocalypse Missile Launchers and a Gatling Blaster for 310 points. This loadout excels at void-breaking and at finishing off damaged Titans.
Its Hear My Fury ability allows it to forgo its movement activation to force an enemy titan within 18” perform a command check – if it fails it loses any orders it has present. While not guaranteed, this can turn games around by cancelling charge orders if you have the initiative.
You want to be in close anyway for the bonus to hit in short range, so the -1 for the laser blaster is just encouraging you to stand where you should be anyway. Plus, if someone is foolish enough to get close, Hear My Fury might remove a charge order that could threaten to kill you. That alone could be game-changing. This is a decent choice for a Fortis or other “stand-and-shoot” maniple, since you’ll have to give up your movement to use its special ability anyway. It won’t get much done until they close, but if you set up in the mid-field they’ll come to you.
Traitors
Iben Faruk – Legio Fureans Warhound
The Iben Faruk is a Kingslayer, excelling at toppling the largest prey. Pre-equipped with a Hunting Auspex, it has +2 on armour rolls versus Titans with scale 10 or higher. This can be stacked with other abilities such as the Titan Stalker princeps trait, adding a further +1 to armour rolls on larger targets or the Lupercal’s Hunting Pack +2 on coordinated strikes.
Great at killing Warlords (and maybe other larger things soon?). Take in a Lupercal for a plasma blastgun that’s doing effective S14 shots when combining shots against a Warlord, and an effective S8 mega bolter against it too, guaranteeing that kill after other Warhounds have taken shields down. Nasty.
Soggy: Always root for the underdog.
The risk here is that this Titan’s ability might not come into play at all. At first that seems like a feel-bad moment, but keep in mind that the 20 point cost here is what you’d be paying for the Hunting Auspex anyway, so you’re essentially getting a free boost.
Penumbral Reaper – Legio Mortis Warlord
The Penumbral Reaper is a pre-equipped Brawler Warlord with a Power Claw, Paired Laser Blasters and Sunfury for 525 points. The main attraction is the Towering Exemplar trait, which gives friendly titans within 12” a +1 to all command checks and the ability to reroll hits of 1. It will want to lead from the front, buffing it’s allies and closing in to kill. The ability to reroll hits of 1 combined with it’s native 4+ WS means you will be hitting 2+ and rerolling ones – meaning it’s lights out when you get in range.
Whilst the usual choices of War Lust and Bloodthirst are tempting choices from a stratagem perspective, Legio Mortis’ March of the Dead can help you get into position. Consider bringing it alongside a Corsair to give its friends a Command value of 3+ and an extra die with chainfist attacks. Spicy.
Bair: I’d probably want to use War March AND March of the Dead, which most games means all SP spent turn 1, but getting the Warlord 20” down the table early alongside a host of melee equipped Reavers would be so fun.
Mantellum Fulmen – Legio Tempestus Warhound
The Mantellum Fulmen is a lone wolf on the field, a Warhound Titan that is unable to squadron but excels at fighting alone. It’s 3+ command allows it to pass orders easier, which pairs nicely with the ability to First Fire with both of it’s weapons. The better command value also means it is far more likely to trigger Glory in Death when it falls. It also has 3+ WS, making it effective when it manages to get within an enemies voids.
It’s a very flexible engine, and there are a few places where it shines.
- Scrapper: The Fulmen will try to close the gap to a high priority target as much as possible, trying to get within voids on a flank where it can make some potent called shots to weak points. Use a First-Fire order on the turn following a charge to finish off its prey. For this role, you probably want to stick to the tried and true Blastgun + Vulcan Megabolter loadout.
- Laserboat: Equipped with dual Chasmata Pattern Turbo-Laser Destroyers, the Fulmen can land high damage shots from up to 38” away, making good use of First Fire orders to whittle enemy armour from afar. Then, when it’s time to go in for the kill, it can move in and put in 4 called shots to finish off its prey.
Hammer of Tyrants – Legio Krytos Warlord
Push everything. 100% take Experimental Weapon because there’s no downside here and a 50% chance it makes your carapace weapon +2S, but can also be cool if it goes on the belicosa for strength 14 pie plates. Getting to cool off after a crit is nice, but if you’re taking critical damage on a Warlord you’re probably in a bad spot already, so it’s more of a last-ditch reaction than something you should be banking on. It’s also begging for Overcharged Cannon on one of your weapons for that extra damage, since you’ll be trying to use Maximal Fire all the time anyway.
Vestiti Ferrus – Legio Vulpa Reaver
The Vestiti Ferrus is an up-armoured Reaver, which sadly isn’t as interesting as some of the other Titans of Legend or anything spicy which we would expect from the premier melee Legio. The Ironclad trait applies each time you take a Devastating hit – on a roll of a 6, you will only lose a single structure. Each damage track also has it’s direct hit threshold raised by one, meaning that in melee or if your voids have dropped you will be taking less damage.
The Vestiti Ferrus comes at a base cost of 275 points meaning you’re paying a 25 point premium. At first glance, this doesn’t seem that great compared to some of the other defensive rules in the game, but since Vulpa wants to be within 2” anyway, giving them a bonus to shields seems a bit superfluous. This isn’t the Titan you’ll be building a list around, but it’s not uncommon to find yourself with 25 points to spare after slapping Disruption Emitters on everything in sight, so getting some additional durability on one of your Reavers is fine.
As for loadouts, give it a chainfist, and set it loose. It’s particularly threatening in a Ruptura, where it can credibly cross the board remarkably quickly while saving its reactor for Voids to Full, which increases its chances of getting wherever it’s trying to go without taking any damage to its armor.
Write Your Own Legend
Although they can be a bit of a mixed bag, the Titans of Legend give you another way to spice up your game and provide a great modelling opportunity to replicate these venerated God-Engines. If you didn’t pick the terminals up during the initial print run, there is still some hope as they were sold in bundles which some people have been parting out over time. That said, it would be nice to see a reprint and some more unique titans for the other Legios that have come out since.
