Machines of Destruction

Titans armed with Multiple Rocker Launchers, Vortex Missiles and heavy Mega-Cannon are primarily used to smash foes at a distance. However, the technology of the Imperium is arcane in some respects, and the Princeps of such Titans often find that once they have annihilated a portion of the enemy, no other targets present themselves to the rudimentary targeting matrices of the Moderatii gunners. To counteract this problem, some Titans have one of the weapon systems replaced with a landing pad, which is used in combination with a specially modified land speeder. The Land Speeder scouts for enemy targets and relays this information back to the Titan, delivering vital target co-ordinates and information on the foe’s movements.

A Warlord Titan may have Carapace Landing Pad instead of a carapace weapon.

• The Carapace Landing Pad comes complete with a Land Speeder (the same as a Space Marine Land Speeder, though crewed by Praetorians).
• The Land Speeder must remain within a 60cm command radius of the Titan, and if it is further than this or the Titan is destroyed it will act like any other unit which is out of command range.
• The Titan can fire any Mega-Cannon, Vortex Missile or Multiple Rocket Launcher with the special artillery rule at any target the Land Speeder can draw a line of fire to (within the weapon’s normal range, of course). If this ability is used to make a Preparatory Bombardment the Titan does not go onto overwatch but may not move in the movement phase (it can move in the assault phase as usual).
• The Land Speeder can be given orders just like a normal detachment. If it is destroyed then the Titan loses any abilities associated with the Landing Pad.

Titans which have been fitted for combat in jungles, cities and other close terrain often find themselves surrounded by enemy infantry and light vehicles and unable to bring its main weapon systems to bear on them. As a defence against these types of ambushes, some Titans are fitted with Carapace Multi-lasers for close-range defence. The Multi-lasers are fitted onto the rear of the Titan's carapace pointing behind the Titan, covering its rear as it advances into the enemy. Although short ranged, the Multi-lasers can have an important effect on firefights with ambushing enemy.

Only Warlord Titans may be fitted with Carapace Multi-lasers.

• Carapace Multi-lasers have a 180° fire arc to the rear and can only be used in a firefight.
• For every enemy unit within firefight range and the fire arc of the Carapace Multi-lasers, you may add +1 to the Titan’s firepower for resolving the firefight. This means that the more enemy trying to ambush you, the more effective the Multi-lasers are.
• Unfortunately, the space and energy requirements of the Carapace Multi-lasers are usually offset by removing a void shield generator. This is generally not seen as too much of a compromise as much of the Titan’s fighting will take place at close quarters, within its void shields. A Titan with Carapace Multi-lasers has one void shield less than normal.

As huge as a Titan is, once you have allocated space for the plasma reactor, internal control conduits, tank-sized engines and servos, immense ammunition bays, a small chapel to the Machine God, scanning arrays, comm-net chambers, crew billets and the weapon systems themselves, there’s not much room left for sophisticated target acquisition and tracking sensors and fire control mechanisms. This means that as potent as a Titan’s weapons are, accuracy is never their strongest point — rate of fire and raw firepower are given greater credence than pinpoint accuracy. However, some specially constructed Titans have one weapon system replaced with a Fire Control Centre. Crewed by tech-adepts, the Fire Control Centre can track incoming fire and calculate enemy positions, re-direct the Titan’s fire and also relay information about target positions and movements.

Only Warlord Titans may have a Fire Control Centre.

• The Fire Control Centre replaces one of the carapace weapons.
• A Titan with a Fire Control Centre may re-roll any misses from one weapon system in each shooting phase, just like troops in overwatch. You must designate which weapon system is using the Fire Control Centre before rolling any dice, but you may change which weapon has the benefits from turn to turn.

Titans are capable of unleashing a constant salvo of fire as they march relentlessly forward. However, though relatively fast across open ground, Titans are by no means manoeuvrable or able to rapidly react to enemy movements and attacks. This is further compounded by certain types of terrain, such as ruins, woods, swamps and rivers. Fighting across this type of battlefield can be particularly hazardous as the Titan loses its footing on smashed tree stumps, slips on uneven river beds and overloads stabilisers and servos smashing through ruined buildings. Rubble claws were incorporated into some Titans to allow them to move over such features with greater safety. The greater size and improved suspensors of the Rubble Claws allow the Titan Princeps a greater control over his war engine. Unfortunately, the Rubble Claws are somewhat more ponderous and restrict the manoeuvrability of the Titan even more than normal. For this reason Titans fitted with Rubble Claws are generally used in engagements against static enemy defences and slow moving foes, when the Titan does not have to turn speedily and can steadily advance, crushing trees and pulverising plascrete with each stride.

Any Titan may have Rubble Claws provided they are suitably represented on the model.

• A Titan with Rubble Claws must use its 45° turn at the start of its move, otherwise it must pay 5cm for each turn as normal. However, if the Titan enters dangerous terrain there is no chance of the Titan taking a hit if it rolls a 1 — the Titan is stopped as normal but do not roll another die to see if it takes damage.

During a particular era of the 34^th Millennium, the prevailing doctrine amongst the Techno-Magi of the Adeptus Mechanicus was Strength Is Everything. Titans built during this period featured heavier payloads or more weapon systems than earlier or later Titans, although not without detriment to other factors. Most commonly, the central command centre in the Titan’s head was replaced by a secondary weapon system, and the command crew worked in a small con-chamber further into the Titan’s carapace. Although firepower was substantially increased, there is a downside. The reduced command capacity of the Titan affects the cohesion of the crew's actions and its ability to maintain its attack under constant pressure.

A Warlord or Reaver Titan may replace its head with either a Gun Battery [head] or an Assault Weapon [head].

• Weapon heads have a front fire arc.
• A Titan with a weapon head loses its Stubborn ability and only removes D6-2 Blast markers in each End phase (treat rolls of less than 0 as 0).
• A [Gun Battery head] has a range of 30cm and 6 Firepower.
• An [Assault Weapon head] allows the Titan to add +D6 to its Assault value when fighting against another war engine.

One of the old weapon head variants was the Deathstrike Centerline Cannon. As this fell out of use, the name Deathstrike was then recycled in an environmentally friendly fashion for the devastating support missile launchers of the Imperial Guard. Therefore, I’ve come up with a few new name possibilities. If you feel strongly about this please write in and make your vote for which one you prefer. (Don’t you bloody dare! — Ed)

A. Obliterator Cannon | B. Exterminator cannon | C. Annihilator Cannon

The >enter name< follows on from the idea that firepower is all-important. With a head-mounted Mega-Cannon a Titan can make an excellent siege-breaker, or defensive bastion. Unfortunately, this is about all the Titan can do, as moving is very difficult with no dedicated command and control centre.

This can only be fitted to Warlord Titans.

• The Titan has a Mega Cannon mounted instead of a head command centre.
• The Mega Cannon cannot be fired if the Titan moves in the same turn.
• When the Titan moves, each additional turn of 45° costs 10cm of movement rather than 5cm.

Titans are moving, fighting incarnations of the Machine God, and are one of the ultimate symbols of the Emperor’s might. To further enhance this role, a few Titans are designated as Custodians. A Custodian Titan is commanded by a high-ranking Princeps as usually leads Titan Battle Groups into the fray. Custodian Titans are fitted with a huge devotional bell atop there carapace, whose deafening tolls resound across the battlefield as it strides forward, dealing death to the enemy. This is a very inspiring sight for all servants of the Emperor and troops accompanied by a Custodian Titan will fight to their utmost and perform acts of almost insane courage.

A Warlord Titan may be fitted with a Custodian Bell. It’s also preferable that the Titan is also enhanced in some other fashion, with one of the special Custodian heads, extra insignia, preaching balconies and so on.

• Any detachment with its Command HQ within 15cm of the Custodian Titan (including the Titan itself) removes one additional Blast marker in the End phase (D6 rather than D6-1, usually).
• If the Custodian Titan [becomes] Wrecked or Destroyed [then] you must deduct an additional 5 points from your army morale total, due to the devastating loss of the Emperor’s finest war machine.