Faction Focus: Titans

Faction Focus: Titans

So I've already got two predictions, one positive one negative.

The first thing I want to point out is the title of this article is "Faction Focus: Titans," not, "Warhammer 40,000 Faction Focus: Titans."  It's posted under #NEW40K and they promised news about Titans for 40K, but I don't think that's all we're getting.  

So my positive prediction: there will be teasers for Titanicus and possibly even talk about their plans, if any exist, for Apocalypse in 10th Edition.  I'm even pretty sure that is Titanicus artwork.

My negative prediction: Titans will be getting the Forge World and Heresy treatment.

In short, though I'm betting we'll see some rules below, Titans will probably not be allowed at Competitive events.  I'm betting that will include things like certain Xenos models too.  From my faction, I'm guessing they're not planning on balancing Harridans and Hierophants for the game.  We might still get Hierodules, though.  But then, they already took away a bunch of our Forge World units!

Let's see if they prove me wrong.

ADEPTUS TITANICUS

So right off the bat we're getting Imperial Armour Indexes for each faction, with a separate one for Titans themselves.  And so far it sounds like they're treating these Indexes the same way as any other.  So that's good.

The rules for including one are simple.  If you're Imperium or Chaos, you can include 1 Adeptus Titanicus model.  Whether they'll be anywhere near affordable enough to include is another story.

THE WARLORD TITAN

And we're just going straight to the top for this article!  The Warlord comes packing with a new Toughness stat of 16 and 100 Wounds.  This is still 20 Wounds less than its 9th Edition counterpart.  Its Warp Shields have been simplified to a flat 5+ Invuln against all ranged attacks, so you can't break them anymore.  This massive war machine is also OC 30, meaning you'll need practically an army to steal an objective from it.  Strangely, it's got a 6+ Ld.  If anything was going to have a Primarch's 5+, or even Greyfax's 4+, you'd think it'd be a titan.

And it's bristling with guns, including the now Strength 32 Belicosa which will allow it to even wound other Warlords on 2s.  Strangely, it's not -6 AP like the previous big guns we've seen, meaning you can still get a save if you can find cover somehow.  But lets face it, you're shooting this thing at something that can't qualify for cover.  It's also gone up to damage 18!  I'm not going to go through all the other weapon changes individually, though some are nearly untouched.  The highlights are the Ardex-defensors losing their bonus in Overwatch, a pretty big nerf to the Sunfury, the Arioch getting a sweep, and the macro gatling blaster getting shots for days.

Titans in 9th Edition came with a CP tax in edition to their massive points bill.  This has returned in 10th as a tax on all Stratagems used on them.  Any Stratagem you use on a Warlord will cost you a massive four times the CP.  I think this is also a way to balance the Titan's ability to be included in any Imperium or Chaos faction.  Considering they probably haven't even written all the Stratagems that 10th Edition will eventually have, this is potential future proofing against problems.

The Warlord also gets the Screamer-killer ability we've seen a few times now, allowing it to for a Battle-shock test on a unit.  Though if any unit would get to inflict Battle-shock on multiple units, you'd think it would be a Warlord.

THE PHANTOM TITAN

We also get a little Aeldari number in the form of the Phantom Titan.  They went with T14 and 55 wounds with an OC of 20.  However its shielding still keeps its 4+.  I'm again not going to go over all of its weapons, but there are substantial nerfs here, even past what 10th Edition has been doing.  

However, unlike its Imperial counterpart, this one gains all the faction rules, including Strands of Fate.  We get a rule missing from the Warlord Titan here, the ability to move over models and terrain.  I'm guessing that must be part of the Warlord's Super-heavy Walker rule.  This one also gets a CP tax, but at three times the cost instead of four.  One massive thing to note here is that it gets a rule called Flawless Poise that allows it to Fall Back and shoot and charge.  Many of us were expecting some of the keyword rules would already allow models like Knights to do this.  But it looks like you have to be a Titan to see this kind of rule by default.  It does make me wonder if the Warlord will get that with it's Super-heavy Walker, or if it can be pinned in combat.  If it does, than that means the Phantom doesn't get a rule of its own.

THE HIEROPHANT BIO-TITAN

Yes!  We get to see the stats on the Hierophant too!  The bio-titan comes in at T14, 30 wounds, and a 5+ Invuln.  It's also Ld 8+ like most non-synapse units.  The bio-plasma torrent is actually pretty buffed by 10th Edition standards, gaining another D6 shots.  But the dire bio-cannon is honestly straight up nerfed.  This model used to be a descent Titan hunter, but those days appear to be over.  In exchange, they've boosted its melee, making it vicious against against both other Titans and ground troops.

Rules-wise, the Hierophant gets a +1 to hit against Battle-shocked units, emphasizing the Tyranid's new roll as intergalactic horrors, and gets the same rule the Phantom got for moving over models.  It doesn't get the ability to Fall Back and shoot though.  It's also still acts as a Transport, though we don't know which and how many models it can carry.  But the best part is there's no CP tax!

GARGANTUAN SQUIGGOTH

Oi!  Iz time da boyz show dem how itz done!

The Squiggoth gets similar stats to the Hierophant, though it's got slightly lower toughness and better leadership.  It's weapons have standard 10th Edition conversions to them, though the huge tusks have taken a slight nerf in exchange for a new sweep attack.

It comes with Firing Deck 20 to allow embarked Boyz to dakka away.  They also can fire perfectly fine while tied up in melee thanks to Walking Bastion.  This model also manages to escape a CP tax.  A simple unit for a more barbaric age.

T'AU MANTA

The reveals keep coming, making this our most packed Faction Focus yet!  We get the full card for the Manta, including what it can carry.  And that "what" is basically an entire Tau battle force.

The Manta hasn't lost any wounds, but is still nerfed by going down to a 5+ Invuln.  It's guns are mostly untouched, save a buff to the heavy rail cannon and burst cannon.  It gains the Fire Support rule in the form of Aggressive Deployment, allowing disembarking units to get rerolls to Wound against struck targets.  And considering what this thing can carry, that target probably will be a crater.  It also gets the CP tax we saw on the Phantom.

FINAL THOUGHTS

And with that, we've covered most of the factions that can bring these massive models!  Both of my predictions were wrong, though there was a foot note about Titanicus at the bottom.  This article was entirely focused on models you will be able to bring to a 40K game, with no exceptions stated for competitive play.

Obviously we don't know what they'll cost yet.  Save for painting competitions, you weren't taking a Warlord, Phantom, or Manta to a tournament since they're too expensive for a Strike Force game.  But you could bring Squiggoths and Hierophants.  I'm pretty sure under new army construction rules you can take just a single titan as your army if it's 2000 points or less, so if they dip that low it's technically legal.  My guess is they probably won't see the board in most lists, but its nice the option is staying there.