Imperial Titans
From Warhammer 40k
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[edit] Overview
Titans are the most sacred war machines of the Adeptus Mechanicus. They are thought to be the embodiment of the machine god. Each forge world of the Adeptus Mechanicus is protected by the Skitarii, the Praetorians, and the Collegia Titanicus.
The Imperium operates several types of Titan divided into classes, Scout Titans, Battle Titans and the colossal Emperor class titans.
The Mars Pattern variants of the Warhound and Reaver are animalistic, characterized by sleek curves and rounded armour, in contrast to their Lucius Pattern equivalents which are more humanoid and angular. The Mars Pattern Warlord Titan has a similar styling to the Lucius Warhound and Reaver. Emperor Class Titans, besides their fearful weaponry, and also designed as symbols of Imperium might and appear as towering ornate cathedrals.
[edit] Scout Titans
These light, fast and agile war machines are used for reconnaissance and harassment missions.
[edit] Warhound Class Titan
The Warhound Class Titan is a nimble Titan designed to outflank and attack an opponent in packs. Warhounds are often deployed to reconnoiter ahead of the Battle Titans and draw enemy war machines towards them. Their small size and high speed means that they can reach the enemy much more quickly than Battle Titans.
With a height of approximately 14.5 meters the Warhound is dwarfed by all the other Battle Titans. This can be an asset when seeking cover to get out of the line of fire. Because of the Warhound's relatively weak armour and only two void shields, it cannot take sustained firepower like Battle Titans. A Warhound should never attempt a frontal assault against other Titans.
Despite being designated as a scout, the Warhound is formidably armed. The Warhound has two shoulder mounted hardpoints. The armament is selected on a mission specific basis from the following weapons:
The combination of a Plasma Blastgun and Vulcan Mega-Bolter, provides a balanced combination of anti-infantry and anti-armour firepower.
Their compact size makes the Warhound ideally suited for urban combat. In the confines of city streets the firepower of the Warhound makes it an efficient hunter-killer against infantry units.
[edit] Mars Pattern Warhound
[edit] Lucius Pattern Warhound
[edit] Battle Titans
The Battle Titan class consists of the Warlord as well as the Reaver, the oldest of all titans and thus highly revered by the Adeptus Mechanicus.
[edit] Reaver Class Titan
The Reaver Titan is a medium-sized Titan and the smaller of the two Battle Titans. The Reaver Class Battle Titan is an older design than the heavier Warlord Class Battle Titan. The design predates the Imperium itself. The Reaver was by far the most common Titan in the early days of the Imperium and during the Horus Heresy.
The Reaver has proven its efficiency when used as a support weapon with the infantry and mechanized formations. Its speed allows it to keep up with mechanized formations, and its smaller size means that it is more capable using cover to stay out of the line of fire. Its armour is slightly weaker than that of the Warlord and it has four void shields to the Warlord's six. They are considerably more durable than Warhounds, and able to take roughly twice the amount of damage of a Warhound. They stand just under twice the height of a Warhound, or approximately 130 feet (39 meters) in height.
The Reaver has three weapon hardpoints. The Reaver has a smaller Plasma Reactor than the Warlord. Because of the Reaver's smaller size and less power it cannot support some of the biggest weapons found on the Warlord.
The weapons mounted are variable; they can mount some of the more powerful Battle Titan weapons although the Scout Titan weapons are more common. Most of the patterns carry Multiple Rocket Launchers on their carapace mounting. Unlike Warhounds, Reavers can carry close-combat weapons, which are extremely effective in Titan-scale mêlée battles.
However, it is suggested that Reavers are becoming increasingly rare, and as is with some Imperial technology, it is possible that the secrets to their manufacture have been lost. For these reasons, Reavers usually perform fire support, avoiding direct combat.
[edit] Mars Pattern Reaver
The Mars Pattern's carapace mounts a Multiple Rocket Launcher and Laser Blasters on each arm.
[edit] Lucius Pattern Reaver
The Lucius Pattern's carapace bears a Rocket Launcher, with the arms carrying a Volcano Cannon and Gatling Blaster.
There is also a fire support variant of the Lucius, with Multiple Rocket Launchers on all three mountings. While expensive to field, compared to an Imperial Guard artillery of Basilisks and Manticores of the same firepower, the Titan is much stronger against enemy assaults and cannot be broken.
[edit] Warlord Class Titan
Warlord Titans are the larger and more powerful class of Battle Titans, the other being the smaller Reaver Class. They appear to be the least common class in use, and many Forge Worlds field their own patterns. Chaose may also use all titians.
They are approximately 100% larger than the aging Reaver Class Titan, bringing its size to 60 meters tall, and able to withstand considerably more damage, with heavier armour and six void shields. They have four Battle Titan weaponry hardpoints on the shoulders and arms, allowing a great variety of configurations. While Scout-class weapon batteries can be mounted, Warlords usually mount Battle-class weaponry. There is even a specialist class, the rare Psi-Titans, where psychic weaponry is added.
[edit] Mars Pattern Warlord
The Mars Pattern mounts two twin-linked Turbo Laser Destructors on its carapace, with a Volcano Cannon and Gatling Blaster on the arms.
A special variant carries a close combat Powerfist and Gatling Blaster on its arms, plus a Vortex missile and Rocket Launchers on the carapace.
Imperius Dictatio of the "Titan" graphic novels is a standard Mars-pattern.
The Warlord Titans were the first to be introduced in the Epic scale featuring as a box set with 6 plastic models and Styrofoam buildings, the accompanying rules meant for Heresy-era Titan-on-Titan combat. Simple rules for interactions with vehicles and infantry were subsequently published, and the Epic Space Marine box set developed the full initial rules for infantry and vehicles.
[edit] Emperor Class Titans
The super-heavy Emperor Class Titans are among the largest machines deployed on any planet. They stand over 100 feet (30 meters) in height and are armed with some of the most destructive weapons the Imperium of Mankind has ever created. Emperor class Titans are commonly operated by the Divisio Mandati but some are under the direct control of the Divisio Militaris Titan Legions.
It should be noted that no official height for Titans has been established and many different reports of Titan height have been heard, this could be because each titan is unique in construction, each Forgeworld would possibly hold a different Blueprints for each titan class. This could explain why Imperator Titans have been reported as tall as 240 feet (73 meters), or as small as 180 feet (55 meters).
[edit] Imperator Class Titan
The largest Emperor Titans are the versatile Imperator. These massive machines mount the extremely powerful Plasma Annihilator, largest land based Plasma Cannon in existence. It also carries the massive Hellstorm Cannon capable of reducing several city blocks to rubble in a single salvo. In addition to these fearsome primary weapons; the Imperator is equipped with a staggering number of lasers, bolters and other defense weapons. It also has the capacity to carry an entire company of Tech Guard for extra protection.
The Imperator Class Titans are not only fearsome war machines. They are also walking cathedrals dedicated to the Imperial cult. These are used to display the awesome might of the Imperium to bolster the morale of the faithful and strike fear into the enemies of The Emperor.
[edit] Warmonger Class Titan
The Warmonger Titan is slightly smaller than the Imperator. With advanced fire control and targeting systems, the Warmonger is a deadly fire support platform capable of destroying any foe from long range.
Its Primary weapons consist of a rack of massive Doomstrike missiles, and enormous twin linked Defense lasers which are normally only found in Planetary Defense Force installations. For close support it carries a large number of Bolters and anti-personnel weapons for self defense.
The Warmonger is also equipped with a landing pad to support a spotting craft.
[edit] Titan Defenses
[edit] Void Shields
Imperial Titans become increasingly well-armoured as their size increases. They also have 'Void Shield' generators to augment existing protection, which are able to absorb destructive energy on the Titan's behalf, although there is a limit to how much they can handle. They are directly controlled by the Princeps, and can be left running after having absorbed dangerous amounts of energy to allow for extra protection; this however has a high chance of permanently damaging the generator.
Void Shields always come in sets to maximize the likelihood of at least one remaining up after a barrage, and larger Titans may have as many as six or more fields. It is theoretically possible for a huge amount of small-arms fire to bring down a shield, giving infantry some ability to attack them. They however cannot defend against everything; for instance they cannot block non-ranged weapons (eg Titan-scale mêlée combat) and special technology like the "Warp missile", which bypasses normal defenses by traveling through the Immaterium.
Emperor-class Titans are also commonly equipped with point-defense weapons to protect themselves against infantry and aircraft that cannot be targeted with conventional weaponry. Carapace-mounted Multi-Lasers are often employed in this respect, as are more exotic weapons for dealing with aircraft
In essence, nothing can match up to an Imperial or Warmonger class titan. All tremble before its colossal size.
[edit] Imperial Titan Construction
Very little is known about the methods used in the construction of Imperial Titans. It is known that many Forge Worlds are capable of producing their own Titans (and some have their own patterns and legions). Of these Forge Worlds, it is known that Mars and Lucius have their own patterns (these patterns are provided as model kits by Forge World), and it is likely that other large Forge Worlds such as Ryza and the recently destroyed Gryphonne IV do/did as well.
Often times, the Imperium does not have the means to build new items, as the knowledge of their construction is lost. Titans however were not built using STC templates, and as such the Adeptus Mechanicus knows fully how to build at least some of the Titan variants. As the process of building any machine requires a complex ceremony and rituals, it is probable that the construction of a Titan is an immense undertaking, and requires centuries and in some cases millenia to complete, requiring extremely experienced and talented fabricators and the purest and most blessed materials.
[edit] Imperial Titan Crew
The 'Captain' of a Titan is called the Princeps, a rare individual in that he can retain his sanity after connecting with the 'Machine Spirit' of the Titan. The Princeps controls the Titan by means of a mental link device. Using this, the Princeps merges his/her consciousness with the Titan's sentient machine spirit. After doing so, he/she can guide its movements and weapons as though it were an extension of his/her body, and provides a greatly heightened perception of the battlefield. It requires a strong will to maintain this connection, and Titans can go out of control on rampages of destruction should the Princeps fail to maintain dominance.
There has also been noted rare instances where a Princeps has died while connected to the Titan, thus creating a ghost of themselves that remains inside the Titan's 'Machine Spirit'. This often referred to as a "ghost in the link".
The Princeps is located in the head, along with several system controllers called Moderati. The number of Moderati depends on the size of the Titan, and their duties are relegated to monitoring and maintaining weapons, as well as keeping track of the Auspex (a radar like device) readings.
Further crew includes Techpriests (engineers) for repair work and blessings, and Servitor (cyborg-like organisms) set on the more mundane tasks like manipulation of controls and monitoring of Auspexes.
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