Adeptus Titanicus – Warmaster Iconoclast

The variant of the Warmaster Titan, the Iconoclast with different weaponry was released in Winter '21, and actually the first of the Adeptus Titanicus plastic kits, that I didn't cover as a review - until now!

The Warmaster keeps it very similar to the Warlord Titan, where only a single sprue is swapped to cover the alternative variant of the titan. And for that reason, this is more of an add-on along with some further add-ons, to the initial review of the Warmaster variant with the plasma destructors. As well as making use of my newly access to 3d printing.

The kit wasn't supplied by the manufacturer this time, but more of a casual chance at a trade, and I added a few bits that I found online (more in detail below). The RRP of the Warmaster is now 130 EUR since April '22 (compared to 125 EUR when it was released last year) and it covers four large sprues, an oval base, decals, a rather unflattering black and white assembly instruction, along with the cards and terminals made from card board, covering the rules and information for gameplay.

Sprue D from the Warmaster (detail shots in the linked review) is replaced in this variant with the new sprue E. In here we find the new designs for the head(s), the weapon system on the carapace - a cruciator gatling array, and the both weapon systems for the arm - desolator chainsword, one Krius siege drill that can also be assembled as a Krius grav imploder. As these are close combat weapon systems, the armour on the arms / lower shoulder area is a bit different, similar to a medieval Knights with shields to cover the area around the shoulder joint.

The weapon systems for the shoulder hard points are part of the sprues A to C and the same on both variants. Sprue is tightly packed with bits and pieces. Casting is well done. Nothing to argue here.

The reason why I went for a second Warmaster, wasn't actually coming from the Iconoclast titan itself. I didn't find a close combat Warmaster that fancy and it is such a heavy tier, that it will most likely on see action very rarely. But I found a few digital items that I could use to make this one really stand-out, so the "aftermarket" parts created my demand for a second kit.

I will link the STL files below, you can download them with a free Cults3D account. All of the items that I needed fitted - along with some Varus Miniatures Warmaster items (how fitting) the plate of my rather small Mono 4K printer, so I could produce these in one go.

• Alternative Warlord Heads by Totenpf
• Warmaster Titan - Void Shield Generators Relocation by BadCredentials
• Reaver Titan Plasma Cannon by DaSub00
• Waist Armour from the Battleduke Warstrider by Stroganoff

So, I had a new head, an alternative for the waist armour, a different design for the Void Shield Generators and plasma cannons for the carapace - just for the looks. On top I got some jewellery chains to provide some fitting finish for the upcoming Legio Magna. Printing that plate took about 6 hours at 0,025mm steps and according to the slicer around 35 ml of resin (so roughly 1 EUR just material, without the costs of wear and tear). With Forge Worlds additional carapace weapons for the reaver costing 15,50 EUR, I would easily stay below that and stay below the 9 to 12 EUR (excl. shipping, VAT and fees) that the Etsy offers are.

To give you a very early idea on how this is going to look, I did a mock up on the very naked, raw upper body of the Warmaster titan. At this point the main difference is between the two Warmaster is the carapace mounted armour, and the aspect that I moved the Void Shields from the centre towards front and back, replacing the smaller guns but providing a new design with two reaver sized back weapons (you can use any weapon system that fits the reavers back, so missile launcher or so would be an option as well).

Some close ups and comparisons of the two variants. As mentioned above, the shoulder mounted plasma blastguns are just for the looks, but I combined them with the shoulder hard points, going for a very ranged / heat-weapon look to balance out the close combat main armament.

The design for the Void Shield Generators Relocation is from BadCredentials and fits like a charm. You need four of these and need to mirror two of them. They replace the small anti-air weaponry that I really didn't care about.

As for the head. The files are meant for Warlord Titans, but that's the beauty of a digital file, I took a quick measurement of the Warmaster heads and upscaled the STL to 125%, added supports and printed it. Came out great. Really satisfied with the detail and just what I had in mind to do with my own 3d printer. A brief word of advice while handling Epic and Adeptus Titanicus files. Make sure they are properly scaled, some files are in the classic Epic 6mm scale, others are in the newer AT scale (that is often named 8mm).

And as I did with my Legio Astraman a while back, I magnetized the weapons / arms. Especially on a model this size, it makes it much easier to handle during painting and transportation. I used 6 by 2 mm round magnets for this and depending on how I paint these, I could even swap them between the legions or at least am more flexible in case of additional designs by Forge World or after market.

Beside the carapace mounted cruciator gatling array that was already shown above, the major difference between the two currently available Warmaster kits are the primary weapon systems. A Krius weapon system, that can be either built as a siege drill or a grav imploder. And a desolator chainsword for the other arm. Both weapon options can be mounted either left or right.

The Krius Siege Drill / Grav Imploder is a compact fist styled weapon. It comes with four fingers that can be articulated, as they have rails directly on the fist, and then fingers that can be positioned at multiple points along the part. By this you can either build a very compact, "dense" fist or something more like a chain saw claw that can even grab onto things, as shown in the last picture. The main difference between the two builds is actually a small round plate in the centre of the "palm", that is either a drill bit or something that looks similar to a subwoofer.

The other weapon is the Desolator Chainsword. A very large close combat weapon for a very large model. The blade is fixed but it has a grappling iron mounted on the chainsword, that be moved. In a way that you can either move it in and have the teeth of the blade shown or extend it to the maximum and have a hook. I went for a middle position. This weapon comes with an armour shield for both sides, so you can field it on the left and right arm, depending on your preferences.

Next up the legs. These are exactly the same as with the first kit. The Warmaster is actually cleverly constructed here. As you have a suggested pose that is guided by some small pins and grooves that can be easily removed. My first build rests on a wreck. And I wanted something even more dynamic for the second one.

I highlighted the pieces that you need to cut, if you want to pose the Warmaster more freely, as you create ball joints and moving pistons that way. A great thing on the Warmaster compared to the Warlord Battle Titan at this point is that the armour is designed to better coop with that, as it often gets in the way on the Warlord if you go for a sharper angle on the legs for example.

I wanted the Warmaster to stomp on a building. Like really crush it beneath its feet, very similar to what is described about Dies Irae in the first Horus Heresy novels, while on Istvaan. Therefore I first build the standing leg and then used a paint pot to have something for orientation.

As I really don't like the waist armour panels on the Warmaster, I looked for a replacement. There are some on etsy, but I really didn't feel like paying 8 EUR (that's without VAT, shipping and the import fee from the UK) for such a small piece, so I used a digital copy from the Warlord Titans armour panels and scaled it up to 125% - and it works like a charm.

And while the glue is setting and you're fixing the smaller build units in place, always check, does it feel right with the remaining pieces. Do I need to change the angle, lift or lower certain parts? Hence I did a mock-up after just holding the upper body to it. I swapped left and right arms, put a rhino (one of my failed prints) in the Krius claw and added the 3d printed pieces.

Of course, I can't put the paint pot on the Warmasters base, so I need something fitting for him to stomp on. And after a brief brain storming, I decided to use something from GrimDarkTerrain. I started up Chitubox, used a 120 by 95 mm flat base as a placeholder / guide scale and toyed around. The final result is a small section of a fortress, made from the Wall of Mytilene.

A quick break down of the used bits - Wall of Mytilene (January 2021 package)

• 2x MT-023 Tower Entry Door
• 1x MT-027 Short Wall Base
• 1x MT-029 Short Wall Topping
• 1x MT-032 Tower Emplacement Topping
• 1x MT-034 Tower Base 2
• 1x MT-052 22.5 Wall Base
• 1x MT-054 22.5 Wall Topper

If I cramp the plate a bit, it should fit on a single one. Have to see if I damage / modify the designs before print or do that later on with the "final" prints. Did a quick overlay of the digital design and the Warmaster. I think that pose works. Along with some miniatures on the walk way, that should really create a dynamic finish.

Did this second build change my conclusion on the kit? Not by much. I was already satisfied with the Warmaster Titan with Plasma Destructors. Level of detail is amazing and the possibilities for articulation are great. Yes, it is not a bargain, but I think can be a very rewarding project. I am not that keen about it being so close combat focused and another (ranged) weapon option would have been great, but there was simply no space left on the sprue. Yet, they could have made more sinister / traitor looking heads for this one, these are pretty close to the ones we had in the first kit in my opinion.

But as mentioned above, I didn't really had the need for a second Warmaster, but the opportunity to use the digital files I found pushed to get this kit and I think this might be the case in some more builds around Adeptus Titanicus (from Warhounds, Reavers to the Warbringer there are a lot of option out there).

All the 3d printed pieces were printed on an Anycubic Photon Mono 4K using their Grey Resin at 0,025mm.