Imperator-class Titan

"How like a God He is, that ancient Machine, primal of all His Kind, the Imperator! His mighty Fists, massive like two Towers of Destruction, laden with Doom of Mankind's bitter Foes. He watches over us now as Battle joins, and in his Shadow we shall advance upon our Enemies and defeat them."

— Anonymous Adeptus Mechanicus Enginseer

The mighty Imperator-class Titan, walking avatar of the Machine God

The Imperator Titan is the largest and most powerful variant of Emperor-Class Titan ever deployed by the Titan Legions of the Adeptus Mechanicus. It is literally a walking fortress and is armed with much more firepower than the next Battle Titan in size, the smaller Warlord-class Titan. An Imperator-class Titan is one of the two classes of super-heavy Titans known as Emperor Titans that also includes the even more rarely deployed Warmonger-class Titan. The Imperator-class of Emperor Titan is a general-purpose assault platform, whereas the Warmonger-class Emperor Titan is a dedicated fire-support unit with more advanced fire control and targeting systems intended to aid its more specialised function. Both classes of Emperor Titan represent the most powerful mobile weapon systems in the arsenal of the Imperium of Man and are often unmatched by any force deployed by the enemy. Emperor Class Titans are extremely rare in the Imperium as the Adeptus Mechanicus has lost the capability to manufacture these monstrous war engines. Due to their immense size, Imperator Titans are not nearly as fast or agile as their smaller Scout and Battle Titan counterparts, but they more than make up for this failing with their sheer firepower and heavily armoured bulk. The Tech-priests of the Mechanicus consider the two classes of Emperor Titan to be avatars of the Machine God, walking incarnations of death intended to destroy all those who have displeased the Omnissiah.

Design

Imperial Imperator-class Battle Titan

The Imperator and Warmonger Emperor Titans stand approximately 55.5 metres (182 feet) tall. But this has been known to vary, as the infamous Chaos Imperator Titan Dies Irae of the Legio Mortis that laid siege to the Imperial Palace during the closing days of the Horus Heresy was said to stand approximately 43 metres (141 ft.) tall, a smaller size due to the fact that it had no cathedral dedicated to the God-Emperor on its back since the Imperial Cult had not yet become the state religion of an officially atheistic Imperium. These formidable super-heavy combat walkers are the largest and most powerful war machines at the disposal of the Imperium (with the exception of void ships); their firepower remains unrivalled by any other land unit used by any of the other factions of the galaxy. The size of their arm-mounted primary weapons are surpassed only by the ordnance of the largest vessels of the Imperial Navy. They are loaded to the brim with pre-installed weapons, and their mounts can handle Titan weapons too big for even Battle Titans (they do not carry any of the close-combat weapons, as their sole focus is on extreme firepower). Emperor Titans are very rare, and can crush many weaker war engines. Taking advantage of this formidable firepower, the Imperator Titan bombards enemy positions with an awesome and relentless barrage, far out of range of most of the enemy artillery.

Armament

Arm-Mounted Primary Weapons

The Imperator and Warmonger Class Titans can carry up to two arm-mounted primary weapons from the following:

• Doomstrike Missile Launcher
• Hellstorm Cannon
• Plasma Annihilator
• Vengeance Cannon

Carapace-Mounted Secondary Weapons

The Imperator and Warmonger Class Titans can carry up to six carapace-mounted secondary weapons from the following Titan-grade armaments:

• Apocalypse Missile Launcher
• Gatling Blaster
• Inferno Gun
• Laser Blaster
• Melta Cannon
• Plasma Destructor
• Quake Cannon
• Volcano Cannon
• Vortex Support Missile
• Vulcan Mega Bolter

Operation

An Imperator-class Titan goes into combat

Imperator and Warmonger-class Emperor Titans are crewed by one Princeps who commands the Titan and a number of Moderati who control its weapon systems, with multiple Tech-priests and Servitors stationed aboard the massive walker to provide basic technical support and maintenance during combat.

Deployment

In comparison to Battle Titans of all classes, the Imperators and Warmongers are rare with most Titan Legions only able to field three or four in a campaign. These monstrous war engines are commanded by only the most battle-hardened Princeps. Their crews are composed of the finest crew members from other Titans within the Legion. The Titan Legion's Grand Masters often use Imperator Titans as their mobile headquarters from where they can issue commands or lead vital assaults personally. Imperators are most often employed as vast mobile fortresses, strengthening vulnerable sectors of the Imperial battlelines or to act as a reserve force. These Titans spearhead massive assaults when a major offensive begins, their immense firepower being brought to bear against enemy lines. Imperators are not configured to fight other Titans in close combat, relying instead on their deadly firepower to utterly annihilate their opponents before they can close in and engage with them. A complete company of Imperial Guard troops or Adeptus Mechanicus Skitarii soldiers can be housed aboard the Imperator to guard it against infantry assaults or to be transported to vital objectives.

Notable Variants

Warmonger-class Titan

The Warmonger-class Titan is a notable variant of the Imperator Titan, and is very similar in structure and appearance. It is unknown which variant was designed first as this knowledge has been lost down the long millennia of the Imperium's existence, however, it is well documented that both the Warmonger and Imperator Battle Titans were both utilised extensively long before the outbreak of the galaxy-wide conflict of the Horus Heresy. Though they are physically similar, the functions of each class varies significantly. The weapons systems of this Imperator Titan variant provides it with a deep strike/fire-support capability, allowing the Warmonger-class to stand back and pound their foes from afar. This makes this particular Battle Titan a magnet for enemy aerospace craft. However, the Warmonger has a health array of anti-aircraft systems not to mention sufficient number of void shields, to keep these threats at bay. This often leaves enemy commanders challenged in how best to deal with this deadly foe.

Warmonger Armaments

• 8x Doomstrike Missiles
• Vengeance Cannon
• 4x Quad Autocannon
• Fire Control Center

Notable Imperator Titans

• Abominatus "Despoiler of Worlds" (Imperator-class Titan) - Abominatus is one of the most terrifying of all the servants of the Blood God. Abominatus is the hellish union of an Imperator-class Titan and a Greater Daemon of Khorne. When it walks the ground shakes beneath its steel shod feet and the enemies of the Blood God quail in fear. This Chaos Titan wields fire and steel against its foes, with flames and gun smoke flickering from each casement and embrasure in its massive body, its soul burns with the unquenchable fire of a Daemon's hate. Abominatus carries a veritable arsenal of weapons built onto its body. Its main armament, the Hellstorm Cannon and Plasma Annihilator, along with its main battery function in an identical fashion to its Imperial counterpart. However the weapons on its main fighting platform are quite different. This Chaos-possessed Titan also has a Scorpion Cannon, a lethal multi-barrelled weapon used for close assaults and is normally mounted on Daemon Engines of Khorne. It possesses Manglers, huge battle claws which can sweep aside battle tanks and flay enemy Titans to twisted metal. As Abominatus is part daemon and part machine, this makes it particularly resistant to psychic attack as well.
• Aquila Ignis (Imperator-class Titan) - The Aquila Ignis was an Imperator-class Titan of the Legio Mortis, constructed in the Daedalia Forge Yards far to the south of Tharsis on Mars. The Aquila Ignis fought during the Schism of Mars against Loyalist elements from the Legio Tempestus in the battle for Magma City, where it was destroyed in the destruction of the Magma City.
• Dies Irae (Imperator-class Titan) - The Dies Irae was an Imperator-class Titan of the Legio Mortish which was attached to the 63rd Expeditionary Fleet under the command of the Warmaster Horus. This infamous Titan was present during the opening days of the Horus Heresy at Istvaan III, when it followed Horus' orders and helped exterminate the remaining Loyalist Astartes of the Traitor Legions present on that cursed world after they were virus-bombed by their comrades from orbit. The Dies Irae was also present during all of the major ground assaults towards the end the rebellion. The Dies Irae finally met its fate ten millennia later during the siege of Hydra Cordatus in 999.M41 during the 13th Black Crusade when it served as part of an Iron Warriors attack force. When it was confronted by Imperial Titans from the Collegia Titanica, the Dies Irae was critically damaged when a Loyalist Warlord-class Titan detonated its plasma reactor when it was in close proximity to the Traitor Titan, which damaged the ancient Imperator-class Titan's armour. Another Warlord Titan then penetrated the Dies Irae's Void Shields and compromised external carapace with its Battle-Claw and crushed the Chaos-tainted Titan's plasma reactor. The resulting explosion wiped the Dies Irae 's ancient taint from the face of the galaxy forever.
• Dominatus (Imperator-class Titan) - The Dominatus was an Imperator-class Titan from an unknown Titan Legion that fell in battle, fighting against the Forces of Chaos during the failed defence of Lorn V. Laying broken and forgotten for millennia, the lost Titan was rediscovered by the Imperium, and so, the Cadian 412th Imperial Guard Regiment, under the command of General Sturnn was despatched to retrieve it. With the aid of the Eldar Farseer Taldeer of Craftworld Ulthwé and her warhost, who was on Lorn V for her own reasons, General Sturnn's regiment fought their way through both the Chaos Lord Crull's Blood Legion of Khorne Chaos Warband and the Warboss Gorgutz 'Ead 'Unter's Orks, reaching the fallen Titan before their enemies. Powering up the slumbering god-engine, the Imperial forces were forced to fight the ancient menace, known as the Necrons, which had begun to emerge from beneath Lorn V's surface. Despite the Farseer's betrayal, Taldeer convinced General Sturnn to aid them against this new threat, and so, they made use of the Dominatus' powerful weapons into the Necrons' advancing Monoliths, thus defeating the Necron forces. But in the process, the ancient Titan's core was ruptured in the process, causing it to explode spectacularly, killing General Sturnn and the majority of the Cadian 412th. The Eldar had managed to flee back into the Webway just before it exploded. Those few survivors of the decimated regiment, quickly spread word off-world of the treachery of the Eldar Farseer, and to the present day, their regimental banner bears a black ribbon to mark their failure to recover the ancient Imperator Titan.
• Exemplis (Imperator-class Titan) - The Exemplis was the last remaining Imperator Titan of the Legio Ignatum, worshiped by the Adeptus Mechanicus as an avatar of the Omnissiah. The Exemplis saw its last action on the world of Tanakreg against a large Word Bearers Traitor Legion warhost of the Dark Apostle Jarulek. Despite the horrendous casualties it inflicted upon the heretics, the Chaos Space Marines managed to board and destroy the Exemplis after attacking its more vulnerable components.
• Imperious Corporalis (Imperator-class Titan) - The Imperious Corporailis was a Imperator Titan present during the Sabbat Worlds Crusade.
• Magnus Casei (Imperator-Class Titan) - Originally belonging to the Legio Vindictus, the Titan Legion detached to the protection of the Raven Guard’s home-system of Kiavahr, Magnus Casei was in fact controlled by one of the sedituous sub-cults within the Mechanicum known as Order of the Dragon. During the early years of the Horus Heresy, Magnus Casei’s treachery was the initial spark that marked the beginning of insurrectionnist uprisings on Kiavahr, which attempted to profit from the depleted state of the Raven Guard Legion to seceed from the Imperium and quite possibly join Horus’ cause. As would only far later be discovered, the entire insurrection had been but a diversion to allow one of the Alpha Legion’s twin-Primarchs, Omegon, to infiltrate the Ravendelve-complex and steal the highly valuable Primarch-gene-seed template given to Corvus Corax by the Emperor himself.
• Mettalum Olympus (Imperator-class Titan) - The Mettalum Olympus was a notable Imperator Titan, commanded by Princeps Goethe, which managed to almost single-handedly hold off a Tyranid invasion on the ash-choked plains of Horst Prime. Surrounded by an entire horde of Hierophant Bio-Titans, the ancient Titan met its end when the Tyranids managed to breach its plasma reactor. The resultant explosion vapourised everything within a kilometre, leaving a crater that is still visible from orbit.
• Praeco Deictus (Imperator-class Titan) - An Imperator Titan of the Legio Crucius, which had survived the grim days of the Horus Heresy and had won countless victories on thousands of worlds for the Imperium. The Praeco Deictus was destroyed, along with other Titans of the Legio Crucius, defending the Hive World of Kado from the Forces of Chaos. During the fighting, a hundred Slaanesh Hell-Knights infiltrated the main Hive City and emerged to attack the Imperator Titan from the rear where it was most vulnerable, turning it into a pile of molten slag.

Sources

• Adeptus Titanicus (2nd Edition) (1988), pg. 5
• Codex: Titanicus (1st Edition), pg. 19
• Codex: Tyranids (5th Edition), pg. 81
• Citadel Journal 13, "Abominatus, Despoiler of Worlds Chaos Titan", pp. 41-44
• Deathwatch: The Achilus Assault (RPG), pg. 94
• Only War: Hammer of the Emperor (RPG), pg. 21
• Titan Legions (1994), pg. 19
• Warhammer 40,000: Apocalypse (6th Edition) (Digital Edition), pg. 388
• White Dwarf 194 (US), "Modelling Workshop - Abominatus Chaos Titan," by Adrian Wood, pp. 39-43
• White Dwarf 190 (US), "Epic: Slaanesh War Machines", pg. 29
• White Dwarf 181 (US), "Epic Titan Legions - Imperator," by Gavin Thorpe, pp. 23-30
• White Dwarf 179 (US), "Epic Titan Legions - Inferno," by Andy Chambers & Jervis Johnson, pp. 41-43, 45-46
• White Dwarf 178 (US), "Epic Titan Legions - Into the Maelstrom," by Andy Chambers & "Epic Titan Legions - The Titan Legions," by Rick Priestley, pp. 7, 10, 12, 45, 49
• Horus Rising (Novel) by Dan Abnett
• False Gods (Novel) by Graham McNeill
• Fallen Angels (Novel) by Mike Lee
• Mechanicum (Novel) by Graham McNeill
• Deliverance Lost (Novel) by Gav Thorpe
• Iron Hands (Novel) by Jonathan Green
• Dark Apostle (Novel) by Anthony Reynolds
• Apocalypse - Emperor Battle Titan Datasheet
• Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War - Winter Assault (PC Game)

Gallery

Size comparison between an Imperator-class Battle Titan, a Warhound-class Scout Titan and an Imperial Guardsman

A Warmonger-class Emperor Titan

The Chaos-corrupted Imperator-class Titan Dies Irae of the Legio Mortis

Abominatus, "Despoiler of Worlds," Chaos-corrupted Imperator-class Titan