Titans in Warhammer 40K

Background, Play Balance, Classes

by Mike Biasi, Alan Carey, Time DuPertuis


THE STATE OF TITAN RULES

This set of rules is the final version of the original Titans in Warhammer 40,000 rules presented in Inquisitor #3 way back in 1991. This system has been developed and play-tested over the past five years so most of the bugs have been worked out. These rules are not officially approved by Games Workshop, so please use at your own risk. Rules for using these rules with datafax vehicles are covered later in the article. There will then be two completely separate rule systems for using Titans in 40K, the datafax system for smaller games and the Inquisitor system for larger games where the true power of the Titans can be more acurately represented.

TITAN DATAFAXES

Armorcast is currently working closely with Games Workshop to produce 2nd edition datafaxes for all of the Titans, but it will take some time to develop and fully playtest them before release. The Titans on these new datafaxes will be considerably less powerful and cost less points than the ones represented in this article. Being less powerful, they will be more playable in normal games, although the larger Titans will still not really be playable in smaller 40K games.

BACKGROUND

Our search for Titan rules for 40K began in late 1989 with a few Northern California players independently building 40K scale Titans. Rex Rouvieire used Matchbox Invid Shock and Scout Troopers to build small Eldar Titans while Tim DuPertuis built an Ork Titan based on an Iron Kong "Zoid". We got them together at Dundracon in February 1990 and did battle using simple rules we each had developed for our Titans.

Our combined rule systems needed work (problems with the weapons) so we gave it up for the time being, using the Titans only occasionally. Then in the summer of 1991, along came Mike Biasi with an early version of his awesome Reaver Titan, asking if we had done any rules for Titans. The Reaver just cried out for rules so we began to develop Titan rules for 40K. These rules were first published in the February 1991 issue of Inquisitor #3 and we have been using and refining them ever since.

INQUISITOR TITAN RULE SYSTEM DESCRIPTION

Games Workshop was in the process of developing a revision of the earlier vehicle rules presented in White Dwarf 103 using the template system that was finally completed in 1992. Since these new vehicle rules were not complete (or official) yet we decided to use the earlier damage system of Strength vs Toughness and Damage Points for each Titan hit location.

This system works just like infantry shooting: a Strength 4 weapon will wound a Toughness 4 target on a 4+, etc. Just as a hero has more than one wound, so does each hit location on a Titan. This is very similar to the system that is used for the Tyranid Carnifex except that working out damage is a bit more complex.

The damage system is a combination of the original expanded Epic damage rules and extended 40K rules. They are a bit more complex than the Armor Value/Datafax system, but should be easy for any experienced 40K player to learn.

PLAY BALANCE

This set of rules is specifically designed to make Titans as destructive and scary (to ground troops at least) as the game background suggests that they really should be. Titans are big, tough, mean and nasty. An army facing a Titan needs heavy firepower to be able to take down void shield shields and stand up to the awesome firepower of a Titan. In Epic scale a Warlord or Reaver can easily destroy a Land Raider platoon or an infantry platoon in one turn and this is reflected in these rules.

The Titans in this system are very tough and take longer to destroy than normal 40K vehicles. This means that these rules don't generally work well in a normal four turn game with 2000 points per side. They are designed for longer games (6 turns plus) with higher points totals per side (4-5000 points plus).

ADDING TITANS TO YOUR ARMIES

Titans are purchased out of the support section of an army list. Titan purchases should be considered as coming from a special section of the support section of the army list and both players should have the same amount of points available for Titan purchases. Since Titans are optional vehicles in the 40K system, all players need to know well before armies are selected that points will be available for purchasing Titans. The maximum class of Titans available should also be determined before the game as well as possibly how many Titans of each class can be purchased.

Knights are equivalent to heavy or super heavy vehicles and are fairly playable in most 2500+ point per side games. Scout class Titans are a bit less playable in a normal 40K game, but one can reasonably be worked into a game of over 3000 points per side. Since Titans come out of the 50% Support points allocation, a 2500 point Reaver generally requires a 5000+ point army.

CHANGES

We have made a number of revisions to the rules, including weapon point values, so these rules supersede any of the previous Titan rules printed in Inquisitor.

TITAN CLASSES

Titan types are broken down into five classes in order to categorize their toughness and other characteristics as well as the weapons classes they can carry. A Titan can carry weapons classes up to its own class, but not higher. All Titan classes are provided for all races to provide future Titan design possibilities. (If you build it there will be a class for it.)

    1. Dreadnought
    2. Knight
    3. Scout/Light (Warhound, Revenant, Stomper)
    4a. Medium (Reaver, Slasher)
    4b. Medium: Heavy (Medium with extra weapon(s))
    5a. Heavy (Warlord, Phantom, Slasher, Gargant)
    5b. Very Heavy (Heavy with extra weapons)
    5c. Super Heavy (Emperor, Great Gargant)

Notes: The Ork Gargant is a very flexible design and can be built as a class 5a, b or c Titan. The Slasher can be built as a class 4 or class 5a Titan.

Originally an Emperor class Titan was only a little bit larger than a Warlord Titan, but this changed drastically with the second edition of Space Marine. Emperor class Titans and Ork Mega Gargants will be covered in more detail at a later date.

NEW HEAVY WEAPONS CLASSES

New Weapons Classes
Class 1:The standard man-portable 40K heavy weapons. Dreadnought weapons.
Class 2:Standard Vehicle and Titan Knight weapons. (Never man portable.)
Class 3:Heavy Vehicle and Scout Titan (Warhound, Stomper, Revenant) weapons.
Class 4:Super Heavy Vehicle and Medium Titan (Reaver, Slasher) weapons.
Class 5:Heavy Titan (Warlord, Gargant, Phantom) weapons.
Class 6:Fixed Emplacement Only! Never Mobile.
Example: A Reaver Titan may only carry Class 4 or lower weapons.

WOUND/DAMAGE CHART

To go along with the new weapons classes the "To Wound/Damage Chart" is extended to 15 with the following chart extension.

Weapon
Strength
Target Toughness
8910111213 1415
84566----
934566---
1023 4566 --
112234566-
1222234566
132222 3456
1422222345
1522222234

SUSTAINED FIRE WEAPONS

The higher classes of sustained fire weapons use the same rules and roll the same number of Sustained Fire dice as comparable Class 1 weapons. Titans firing sustained fire weapons ignore the first Jam die per shot (counts as a miss-do not reroll).

TITAN MOVEMENT

Movement follows the normal vehicle movement rules, i.e.; moving at Fast speed (F) allows one 45 degree turn, moving at Combat speed (C) allows two 45 degree turns and moving at Slow speed (S) allows unlimited turns during the move.

Note that many of the Titans have no Slow speed number, meaning that the Titan's maximum turn is two 45 degree turns per movement phase, even if turning in place. Titans with no Slow speed listed have a nominal Slow speed of 4" for use in acceleration/deceleration and damage results that reduce the Titan to Slow speed only.

Some Titans have no Fast speed listed. This means that they are very maneuverable and can always make at least two 45 degree turns when moving and never have the -1 to hit modifier for moving at Fast speed.

Charges

Titans may move up to their maximum listed speed during a charge but do not double their move for a charge.

Terrain

Woods, buildings, rubble and marsh are impassable to Titans except for Knights which can move through woods at Slow speed and Gargants which just push buildings down (up to two stories, except military structures like bunkers etc.). Low hills and broken or difficult ground have no effect on a Titan's move. Titans move through deep rivers at Slow speed. Titans can step over linear obstcles as tall as their knees, but not taller and may not walk on top of buildings.

OTHER STATISTICS

WS, BS, Toughness and Initiative are the same as in standard 40K rules. See the Close Combat rules for Attacks. The other stats on the Titan data sheets are described as follows:

  • S/T Strength/Toughness-A Titan's Strength is equal to its Toughness.
  • D/L Damage per Hit Location-refers to the amount of damage the Titan can take per hit location (Legs, Arm Weapon, Body and Carapace, Belly or Wing Weapon(s) (typically). Because of their massive construction, Ork Titans take double the D/L stat damage for the Body location.

Psychology: Titan crews are immune to all psychological effects. Knight class Titans cause Fear and all other Titans cause Terror.

Titan Fire Arcs, Line of Sight and Range: Titan weapon fire arcs are 90 degrees to the front of each weapon measured from the pivot point of the weapon. Targeting devices are assumed to be on the weapon, so the weapon pivot point is also where LOS is determined from. Range is measured to and from the Titan's feet, not to the tips of gun barrels.

Waist Pivot: Titans with pivoting waists may make one turn of up to 90 degrees at the waist at the end of the movement phase before firing, but must fire all weapons within the same body fire arc. Titans making any torso twist have a -1 to hit modifier because of the slow speed at which the torso turns.

Titans may not move unless the centerline of the body is within the front 90 degree arc of the legs. If a Titan makes a torso twist that takes the centerline of the body out of the front 90 degree arc of the legs while moving at Fast or Combat speeds, in the following turn it will be forced to move with the body turned sideways, fall flat on its face and be destroyed. Basically torso twists outside the front 90 degree arc of the legs only work if the Titan is stopped or is at Slow speed so that it can stop in the following turn.

SHIELDS AND FIELDS

Powerfields and void shield shields have their own Toughness and Damage Points, so are not automatically destroyed when wounded, but must lose all damage points to be downed (void shield shields) or permanently destroyed (powerfields). Repair attempts on downed void shield shields are made in the Rally Phase.

  • Imperial void shield shields have a Toughness of 11 and take 15 damage points each. (No Flicker)
  • Knight Titan Powerfields have a Toughness of 10 and take 10 damage points each. (Flicker 5, 6)
  • Ork Powerfields have a Toughness of 10 and take 10 damage point seach. (Flicker 6)

FLICKER NOTES: Powerfields have to be lowered for a short time in order for weapons to be fired through them. This short time is represented by a flicker roll by any model shooting at an powerfield equipped Titan in a turn after the Titan has fired. If the shooter rolls the flicker number, the shot has gone through the powerfield when it was lowered, bypassing the powerfield(s) and striking the Titan directly.

ELDAR TITAN HOLOFIELDS

Eldar Holofields do not offer actual physical protection as do Imperial void shields and Ork power fields, but make the Eldar a harder target to hit by blurring the image of the target and making its exact location difficult to determine. In game terms this adds "minus" modifiers (based on the speed of the target) to the firer's "to hit" roll.
Titan Holofield "To Hit" Modifiers,/TH>
Holofield OnlyNet Holofield
Plus Movement Modifiers
No move0
Up to 10"-1
10"+-2
20"+-3
30"+-4

Yes, this can make Eldar targets very hard to hit, but only if the Eldar player uses the fields correctly by remaining at high speeds at all times. If he doesn't keep moving at fast speeds, he will be an easy target. Generally, Eldar Titans will run out of room to maneuver even on large battlfields and so become easy targets. Don't forget the large target "to hit" modifier (+1) for Titans. If you expect to be facing Eldar Titans, be sure to upgrade your BS skills when you point out your Titan.

SHOOTING AT TITANS

Weapon shots hit as normal with the following "to hit" modifiers:

    -1 Firer at Fast speed
    +1 Large target (Knights, Titans except Gargants)
    +2 Very large target (Gargant and Great Gargant only)
    -1 Targeting a specific Hit Location (Legs, etc.)
    -X Movement and holofield mods as appropriate

Blast Marker Weapons

Place the blast marker over the center of the Titan and roll to hit. A "hit" is a hit on one random hit location for blast markers up to 1l/2'', while larger blast marker use the normal rules for hitting vehicles. The hit location under the hole in the blast marker is hit automatically. Other hit locations covered by the template are hit on a D6 roll of 4, 5 or 6, just like normal 40K rules with the exception that hits on locations not under the hole have the strength of the hit reduced by one.

A "miss" will scatter using the scatter die and the artillery die and will cause the special "malfunction" results listed in the 2nd edition rulebook. If you would like to center the blast marker on a specific hit location apply the -1 to hit modifier above.

High/Low Blast Markers

2" (or smaller) blast markers are not large enough to include both the body and legs of large Titans. To hit the legs of an Imperial or Eldar Titan of Class 4 or larger with a 2" (or smaller) blast marker, you must directly target the legs and have no chance of hitting any other parts of the Titan.

Hit Locations

The possible Hit Locations on a Titan are: (D6 Roll)

Imperial Titans
1Legs
2Right Arm
3Left Arm
4Carapace Weapon(s)* Body
5Body
6Body
* Randomize if there is more than one Carapace weapon.
If a 4 is rolled for a Titan without a Carapace/Wing location (Warhound) reroll until a four is not rolled.

Ork Titans
1Feet (Legs)
2Arms (Randomize R or L)
3Belly Gun or Head gun
4Body
5Body
6Body

Eldar Titans
1Legs
2Right Arm (randomize upper or lower for TD Knight)
3Left Arm (randomize upper or lower for TD Knight)
4Wing Weapons
5Body
6Body
If a 4 is rolled for a Titan without a Wing location (Revenant) reroll until a four is not rolled.

TO HIT / DAMAGE PROCEDURE

1. Roll to hit.

    A. If powerfields or void shield shields are up, roll to wound powerfields or void shield shields. Roll the amount of damage as per weapon stats. Reduce fields/shields by that amount of damage on the void shield section of the datasheet. (If any damage is left after fields/shields are down apply excess damage to Titan-the wound is automatic as any shot that can damage fields/shields can also damage any Titan except for the Gargants. For Gargants roll another wound roll to see if the shot wounds the Gargant itself.

    B. If powerfields or void shield shields are down or a powerfield flickers, roll to wound the Titan.

    Roll D6 For hit location (unless targeting a specific hit location or using area weapons). If a hit location is already destroyed, no further damage is done by subsequent hits.

    Body hits are further divided by an additional D6 roll:

      1,2 Field/Shield Generator
      3,4 Mind Impulse Unit/Control
      5 Reactor /Powerplant
      6 Head/Crew

    3. Apply damage to Titan - Roll D6 on Level Of Damage Table on the Titan Reference Sheet, applying the Titan size modifiers at the bottom of the table. Cross reference D6 roll with amount of damage caused to get the level of damage. Hits are not cumulative-roll separately for each hit.

    4. Cross reference hit location with level of damage on Damage Effects Table on the Titan Reference Sheet to get damage results. Also write the amount of damage caused in the appropriate box on the Titan data sheet.

If a location is already damaged (unrepaired but not destroyed), the damage level of the hit goes up by one level: A Superficial hit becomes a Minor hit, a Minor hit becomes a Critical hit and a Critical hit becomes a Catastrophic hit.

Repairs

Repair of void shields and repairable damage takes place in the player's own Rally Phase. Individual void shields (including partially downed shields) and damaged parts are fixed on a D6 roll of 5 or 6. Only Damage from the Titan Damage Effects Table is repairable as noted on the table.

CLOSE COMBAT

Titans in close combat can use the normal second edition 40K close combat rules, but we prefer to use a modified version the original 40K close combat system that is described after the general close combat rules. The advantage of this system is that both Titans can be damaged in close combat, not just one as in the current 40K system.

Combat Rules for Both Systems

Titans in CC with other Titans can choose which hit location they attack from the Hit Location Chart instead of rolling a D6, assuming of course, that the model can reach the hit location.

The following modifiers apply in both close combat systems: +1 Charging

Facing

Titans fight at full WS only in their front 180 degree facing. A Titan may not attack to the rear, but must turn around or pivot at the waist during its own movement phase to be able to attack an opponent behind itself. A Titan attacked from the rear has a WS of 1 for the purpose of determining the attacker's hits.

Parrys

A Titan using a powersword may parry one of his opponent's attack dice (force him to reroll it). A parry may not be made if the opponent Titan is two or more classes higher the powersword equipped Titan. Infantry may not parry the mass of a Titan attack.

A Titan must declare a charge (giving up its shooting phase) to go into close combat (CC), other than to make stomp attacks vs. infantry or vehicles (see below). Titans may move up to their maximum listed speed during a charge but do not double their move for a charge. If a charging Titan kills its opponent in the first combat phase, it is considered to have not lost any speed and may continue its movement as normal in the next movement phase. In other words, if the opponent is killed the Titan does not need to slow down or stop. If the combat continues to a second combat phase the charging Titan is considered stopped.

Pinning

Titans may only be pinned (held in melee) by Titans of the same or higher class. A larger Titan wishing to leave a combat may simply walk away, but may not walk through the smaller Titan, and must turn 45 degrees and then move away.

INQUISITOR TITAN CLOSE COMBAT SYSTEM

This modified version of the original Rogue Trader close combat system (or the current Fantasy Battle system) uses WS vs. WS on a modified "to hit" table. Titans with no close combat weapons have one stomp (kick) attack in CC, while Titans with close combat weapons have one stomp attack and two weapon attacks with each CC weapon. Roll differently colored dice to hit for each weapon and resolve damage separately. Stomp attacks can only hit the legs (feet or body on Ork Titans) of a Titan.

A Titan fights in close combat (CC) just like any other model, comparing its WS against its opponent's WS on the chart below. Close Combat is simultaneous but there are negative modifiers for low Initiative Titans. Roll one die for each Attack. The numbers needed to hit are shown below.

Titans with a lower Initiative stat than their opponent have "minus" modifiers to the "to hit" roll equalling the difference between initiatives minus one. Example: Titan A has Strength 10 an I of 5, and Titan B has an I of 3. The difference is two Strength 11 minus one gives a modifier of -1. Titan B will have a -1 "to Strength 12 hit" modifier to his hit rolls in this close combat.
Close Combat To Hit Table
Attacker
Weapon
Skill
Defender Weapon Skill
12345678
3234566--
42234566-
522234566
622223456
722222345
822222234
922222223
1022222222
Example: WS 5 vs. WS 5 attacks hit on 4+

Stomp Attacks During Movement

A Titan may make stomp attacks against troops or vehicles during its movement without declaring a charge. As the Titan moves over troops or vehicles it may attempt to step on them.

Each stomp attack costs the Titan 3" of its movement and attacks with the strength (S/T) of the Titan. Damage is equal to one half of the Titan's D/L statistic. Vehicles are attacked vs. their weakest hull or body armor value and take damage as normal. Remember that penetration is ALWAYS Strength + Damage + D6. Save modifiers for stomp attacks are shown on page 42 of the 40K rulebook. Extend the chart to cover higher strength attacks: S10 = -7, S11 = -8, S12 = -9, etc. Since these attacks are slow and ponderous, each individual attacked model may try to move out of the way by rolling a D6.

    2+ Non-Terminator Infantry escapes
    3+ Light vehicles (buggy, bikes), Terms, DNs escape
    4+ Vehicles escape
    5+ Heavy vehicles escape (Fast speed less than 20")
    6 Super Heavy vehicles (Baneblade etc.) escape

All Skimmers add +1 to the die roll. If the escape is successful simply move the model out of the Titan's path.

TITANS AND DATAFAX VEHICLES

Assuming you have dealt with the issue of play balance, the mechanics for adding Titans to a datafax game require only the simple rules below. Remember that Armor Penetration ALWAYS equals a weapon's Strength plus Damage plus D6.

These Titan rules can be used in conjunction with the second edition vehicle and dreadnought Datafaxes with the following change: When a Titan's shot hits a datafax vehicle, use the following modifiers (based on the strength of the weapon) to modify the roll on the vehicle's Damage Tables.

Strength 100Strength 13+3
Strength 11+1Strength 14+4
Strength 12+2Strength 15+5

The Damage Tables for all vehicles are extended above 6 on the table below.

Extended Damage Table For All Hit Locations

1-6Use normal vehicle or dreadnought Damage Table
7-8Vehicle destroyed, all crew and passengers killed
9-11Vehicle vaporized! Remove from table

Damage rolls above 6 apply to vehicles and dreadnoughts no matter which location was hit.

Example: A Warlord fires its Class 5 laser and hits a Land Raider. In this case penetration is automatic as the Strength 13 laser does 30+5D6 damage. Armor penetration would be 43+6D6, more than enough to penetrate automatically. (You didn't really think your Land Raider had enough armor to stop a Warlord's laser, did you?) You roll a 4 for the damage roll and add the modifier for the weapon's strength of 13 (+3) to the roll for a total of 7 and check the results on the Extended Damage Table. Result 7 states that the whole vehicle is destroyed (no matter which location was hit).

More Titan Rules

Introduction
Background, Play Balance, Classes
Wierd Weapons vs. Titans
Titan Point Values
Reference Sheet
Ork Gargant Special Weapons
Revenant and Phantom Titans
Titan Legions

Data Sheets

Warhound
Revenant
Reaver (2 main weapons)
Reaver (3 main weapons
Phantom-Spectre
Phantom-Shade
Warlord
Heavy Warlord
Ork Great Gargant


Back to Table of Contents -- Inquisitor #14
© Copyright 1996 by Tim DuPertuis.

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