Adeptus Titanicus – Warlord Battle Titan

The final part of my Adeptus Titanicus coverage is this "double feature" of the Warlord Battle Titan, one variant with volcano cannons and one with plasma annihilator and power claw.

The Warlord - currently - marks the heaviest of the available battle titans for Adeptus Titanicus, is only outclassed by the even larger Emperor Class Titan. Even though the Reaver and Warhound are much smaller and less material consuming to produce, the Warlord Titan is the most numerous of the Imperial battle titans. And they are kept in service for millenniums, some date back to the Great Crusade or even the Dark Ages of Technology. There are / were several patterns and marks of the Warlord Titan. The original mark of the Warlord covered a beetle like carapace and that design was kept from the first edition until the late 80s and can be found in first plastic model of the Warlord Titan. It was succeeded by a more bulky carapace variant, that was available for a brief amount of time, as Epic 40.000 was already developed and Space Marine was about to get pulled. This variant is strongly influenced by the early artwork of the Warlord Titan. In the late 90s, a Mark 3 (Epic 40k) variant of the Warlord Titan, that was classified as a Lucius pattern of the Warlord, and was available as a multi part metal kit. The newest incarnation is called Mars Alpha Pattern and produced by Forge World for 28mm as a resin kit and by Games Workshop as a 6/8mm plastic kit.

The Warlord Titan is commanded by a Titan Princeps and depending on the mark of the pattern between 7 to 12 Moderati, and an extended crew of multiple servitors (up to 35) and servo skulls.

  

There are multiple sub-classes and weapon configuration patterns of the Warlord Titan, dating back to the Oldhammer / Rogue Trader era of the games. Both kits cover the Mars Alpha Pattern Warlord build, with different weapon load-outs. According to the Epic Armageddon rulebook, the standard weapon configuration of a Mars-pattern Warlord would be two Turbo-laser Destructors in the carapace mounts with a Volcano Cannon and a Gatling Blaster in the arm mounts. But a Warlord Titan's arm weapons can consist of two of the following: Laser Blaster, Gatling Blaster, Melta Cannon, Plasma Destructor, Quake Cannon, Volcano Cannon and / or a Titan Close Combat Weapon including an Arioch Power Claw. On top of that, the Warlord class's two carapace mounts can be fitted with one of the following: Turbo-laser Destructor/Laser Blasters, Plasma Blastgun, Inferno Gun, Vulcan Mega-Bolter, Apocalypse Missile Launcher or a Vortex Missile.

The earlier kit (called Warlord kit A in the further review), released along with the rule set and the large Grandmasters edition covers two Volcano Cannons and Apocalypse Missile Launcher on top, the later released variant (called Warlord Kit B further), that is available since December 2018, covers two Plasma Annihilators, an optional Arioch Power Claw and Turbo-laser Destructors as weapons. The weaponry is interchangeable and the new sprue that replaced the weapon of the earlier one, will be released as an individual item in early 2019.

The rules for using the Warlord Class Battle Titan with Adeptus Titanicus can be found in the Adeptus Titanicus boxed set.

Both kits are available for 85 EUR each and cover 144 parts each. The casting is superb and there are lots of lots of small bits and pieces with this kit, to give you a high amount of flexibility with the poses due to the joints in hip, knee and ankle. There are only a minor amount of mould lines and as you can imagine, this is a "classic" multi-part, not an easy-to-build or push fit model. It covers three large sprues of grey plastic each and you will need plastic glue to assemble the Warlord. I would suggest a bit of model building experience as well, as this is one of the rather complex kits among the Games Workshop range. But one with the most details as well. Whereas the variant of the Warlord with power claw offers an additional weapon, carapace option and a much higher density in the weapon sprue, both Warlords only cover the choice between two different heads each and three different designs (Opus Titanicus, Eye of Horus and blank) for the mid-part of the shoulder armour plate, to show the affiliation to either the loyal or traitor legions. And as with the Warhound and Reaver, the decals cover the insignia for the same five different houses, three of the loyal titan legions, Gryphonicus, Astorium and Atarus, and two of the traitors of house Fureans and Mortis. The decal sheet is much larger and the designs and patterns are different from the other two sheets, to match the armour plates of the Warlord. The kit includes a multipage construction leaflet and a 120mm oval base.

The instructions are identical up to the part, that covers the weapon systems and heads. The bases for the Adeptus Titanicus trio in comparison, from left to the rights, the 80mm Warhound base, the 105mm Reaver base and the 120mm Warlord base.

 

Both kits share the two "main" sprues for the Warlord, covering the "main skeleton" of legs and torso, along with the armour plates and carapace. The main sprues cover alternative shoulder plates for the Warlord, to show either the Opus Titanicus, the Eye of Horus or is kept blank for your own design. Beyond that, there are no options for traitors or loyalists or further optional parts.

  

The third sprue is different with each of the kits. The density of the third sprue from kit A is much lower and caused a bit of disenchantment with the buyers, as the lack of further options and empty spaces in sprues are not good to combine. But it seems as they reacted to the feedback, as both the new sprues for the Warlord and Reaver are quite densely filled.

For Warlord Kit A, you have two different head options, both Mars Alpha pattern, one with loyal insignia, the other one without. Beyond that, there are unfortunately no optional parts with this variant of the Warlord. And it covers the two volcano cannon arm weapons and two carapace-mounted apocalypse missile launchers.

Much better and more sensible is Warlord Kit B. It has two different head options as well, but covers the Mars Beta Pattern of the Titan Head (the 28mm variant is a Warhammer World exclusive, so that is a neat "easter-egg") along with the shields and a head option, that is strongly influenced by the early Warlord Titan (see pictures in the second row). This sprue covers optional front plates for the shoulders, that are reinforced. And the sprue covers the two Sunfury plasma annihilators for the arms, an option for an Arioch power claw / power fist and two carapace-mounted laser blasters.

I'll build both kits simultaneously and sometimes will show both parts in a single picture, to give you a better understanding of the piece itself. As with the other titans this week, the Warlord starts with its groins. There is a conical mount for the upper body and two ball joints for the legs on the hip.

   

The legs have flexible knee joints, that go about 40° back and more than 90° forward. Pay attention to the orientation of the pieces, as left and right have different designs.

 

The feet of the Warlord Titan are again single cast pieces, but are not just connected by a ball joint at the ankle but with 4 pistons around each ankle. It might make sense for you to way for the upper body to be assembled as well, before you choose the pose for your legs, as the hip, the knee and ankle are all moveable and will result in a different position for the torso as well. I went with a standing pose and a walking pose, where the other leg is lifted up slightly. It is best to build a temporary substructure, like a base or two, to stabilize / support the leg while the glue settles.

  

As we just build the skeleton of the legs so far, it is now time to add the armour around the lower legs and thighs. I did not glue them onto the model yet, they are just stuck to or placed into position with a bit of blu-tac.

 

Now we continue with the next build unit, the upper body. It is interesting that it has a railing on the back. If you should have miniatures from the old Epic around, you could add as a gimmick some tech marine or imperial soldier as a crew member on that part.

The body is quickly assembled and has a good fit. The pieces snap well into each other and only need quick drop of glue and press to keep their form.

You might have a gap on the upper line along the power reactor. Those will be partially be covered by the void shields, but it might be useful to glue weld them or add a bit of liquid green stuff or putty to cover that gap. The amount of parts and the way they are cut is very well made and you achieve a level of plasticity, that you would not have had a couple of years ago.

While the "lore" states, that a Warlord Titan has 6 void shields, the Mars Pattern Warlord has 8 of them on his shoulders. But this information maybe outdated and only count for the older marks of the Warlord. In this step the shoulder mounts for the arms are added, along with the side armour on the flanks of the torso.

Now for the variation on the armour plates. The middle part of the shoulder carapace comes in three different designs in both kits, loyal, blank and traitor. As for the front and back part of the shoulder armour, that covers an Aquila either way. In kit B you have the option for reinforced shoulder armour towards the front. Please note, that the reinforced plates do not have the connector pieces for the heraldry shields that go with the heads.

Similar to the earlier armour pieces, I just put these into place with a bit of blu-tac, to be able to paint the whole substructure before adding the armour.

The heads are the combined number from kit A and kit B. The Mars Alpha Pattern heads (two to on the left) come from kit A and are identical beside the decoration on the cheeks. With kit B you get the Mars Beta Pattern head and a heaume styled head, that is an homage to the design of the first Warlord titans heads. Kit B features a different set of shields as well. Interesting fun fact, the Mars Beta Pattern head is a design, that originally is only available by Forge World at a Warhammer World exclusive item.

Now for the weapon options. Kit B comes with a Titan close combat weapon that can be either build as a power claw or power fist, depending on which fingers you add. For both are enough parts there to build fist and claw either open or clenched. And it can be build either as a left hand or a right hand. On the back of the hand is a Vulcan Mega-bolter, that is optional, if you want it to.

Kit B covers a pair of sunfury plasma annihilators as well. They are identical, so you could build two lefts or rights, if you want to use them on more than one titan.

Kit A covers a pair of Volcano cannons. The smaller Type 22-S, MkIV Volcano Cannons, Phaeton pattern are mounted on the superheavy tanks of the Imperial Guard, the Shadowswords.

All of the weapons are connected to the shoulders / body by the same upper arm piece. These are identical and there is no difference between left and right.

They have a ball joint as well and you can glue them in different angles. The upper arms and the volcano cannons have armour plates as well.

Games Workshop added small recesses to both the arms and the connection surface inside the shoulders. They will fit 5mm round magnets. It isn't mentioned anywhere in the instruction or product description, but it is clearly meant to be used that way. I assume we will see further weapon options, either as plastic sprues or resin upgrades.

Now that the arms are weaponised, it is time for the carapace mounts. There is an apocalypse missile launcher system with kit A.

And laser blasters with kit B. The older Lucius pattern Warlord only did have the double barrelled Turbo-Laser.

These are interchangeable on both kits, and cover the same recesses for placing magnet in them on both the mount and the weapon. But as you can simply put them on top, there is no real need for them to be magnetized.

And now that we have all the pieces assembled, a full shot of the Mars Alpha Pattern build from kit A, but with the Laser Blasters on the carapace from kit B.

A brief recommendation on the build. You can build the Warlord just as a skeleton, as it is. All the armour plates can be added later on and can be painted on their own. Especially if you plan on adding decals I recommend doing it this way. And as with the other titans, do not glue the upper body to the legs, as you can take those two units apart until painting. And it will make it easier to transport them.

And both Warlord titans facing each other, with A build as a loyalist and B build as a traitor, just swapped the carapace weaponry between the two kits.

As for the size, a comparison next to the regular and Primaris Space Marine and the 6mm Epic Ork boy. What models are even bigger than the Warlord? Well, for one the Imperial Knight in 40k is another couple of cms taller than the Warlord. Around the same height is the Nemesis Dreadknight.

The Warlord is the biggest model available by Forge World as 28mm kits (the Tau Manta might be larger in surface), and starts at around 1.150 EUR. There are a couple of different heads and weapons for the Warlord available and you can assemble them in a builder, reaching a list price of around 1.550-1.600 EUR. Similar to the other kits, the 28mm version is around 4 times taller than the Adeptus Titanicus kit. In this case 23 Inch compared to 5,3 Inch. To continue the newly invented Titan-benchmark euro per inch ratio (by me), the Adeptus Titanicus Warlord beats the Forge World Warlord with 16 EUR/Inch (85 EUR for 5,3 Inch) to 69 EUR/Inch (1.587 EUR for 23 Inch). By comparing with the sizes of the Forge World kits, the Adeptus Titanicus Warlord should be a bit taller, around 1,5-2cm taller, but may be that got "eaten" by the squatting knees.

To conclude the review, both Warlord Titans assembled and from different angles. On both the armour plates are just stuck in place with blu-tac, the arms are magnetised and the carapace weaponry is just put on. You see, stable enough to pose and to prepare for painting.

Conclusion
It was quite a blast to build the Warlords. The fit is incredibly well and the instructions are very clear. It takes a bit of time to get everything assembled, but that is part of the hobby and I enjoy it, so nothing bad about it. You could put the Warlord into some amazing positions, due to the ball joints in the hip, the knees and ankles. You can have them stride forward, stand still or slowly stomp along. Along with the upper torso and positioning of the arms and weapons, you can give the whole miniature a quite dynamic pose, even though we are talking about a walking fortress.

It is a bit tricky to compare the price of 85 EUR with other Games Workshop kits. Yes, it is about the size of a Nemesis Dreadknight, that cost just half of it. The Imperial Knight is a bit taller, but costs a solid 25 EUR more. And if you have built one of these Warlords, you will undoubtedly recognise, that the Adeptus Titanicus kits have an incredible amount of detail. Especially compared to the Knight, the amount of detail on the parts of the Warlord is much higher / denser. That is something that makes it much clearer, that you have a model of something much bigger in your hand.

If you compare kit A and B, for my honest opinion, B is better made. It gives you more options. Not a lot, but if gives you options. You have an additional arm weapon, and within that the variety between power claw and power fist, clenched or opened. The different shoulder front armour. That is actually the only point that isn't satisfying about the Warlord kits, they could have had more variety. If not for the weapons, it would have been great to have more distinctive differences between loyals and traitors. With kit A, you more or less build how it comes from the box, just the shoulder insignia and minor differences on the head, that's it.

The new sprue from kit B will be made available in the New Year as an individual item. With the New Year Open Day around the corner on the first weekend in January, we will know more about what they have planned for the new year, among Adeptus Titanicus.

Yet, 85 EUR might not be cheap. But compared to almost the 1.600 EUR that the Forge World Warlord costs, it is a bargain to get your hands on one of the most iconic models of the Warhammer 40.000 universe. Even if you do not play Adeptus Titanicus, I think it is a model that is worth of collecting it. And among the large models, compared to some of the impressive kits from the Age of Sigmar range, like Archaon Everchosen, it is still quite satisfying and manageable to paint, even if you're not a master painter. So with holidays around the corner, this is one of the "Treat-yourself" choices, you could get yourself as a reward this Christmas.

The Warhound Scout Titan and Reaver Battle Titan were already introduced on here.

Warhammer 40.000 and Adeptus Titanicus are brands by Games Workshop.

The reviewed product item was provided by the manufacturer.