"A Titan is nothing less than the Omnissiah given form."
- —Techmarine Ignatius
A Warhound-class Scout Titan of the Legio Mortis in combat during the Horus Heresy.
The Warhound-class Titan belongs to the smallest class of Imperial Titan and is used as a scout carrying out reconnaissance of the enemy's lines or as the flanking element of a Titan Legion in conjunction with others of its kind.
The Warhound-class Titan is thus the most common form of what is classified as a Scout Titan by the Collegia Titanica.
Design[]
Schematic of a Warhound Pattern Scout Titan dating to the late Great Crusade era in M30 with Firstborn Space Marine for size comparison.
The Warhound differs structurally from other Imperial Titans in that it sacrifices a humanoid appearance for a canine-like chassis with reverse-jointed legs and shoulder weapon mounts. Warhound Scout Titans are lightly-armed and armoured compared to other Titans, although still fearsome compared to the more standard armoured combat vehicles deployed by the various intelligent species of the Milky Way Galaxy.
The Warhound Titan, despite being a class of Scout Titan, is still an immense war machine that stands 17.08 metres (approx. 56 feet) tall. On the battlefield, the Warhound has been proven to be very effective, as the double-barrelled Turbolaser Destructor which it is now possible to mount on a Warhound-class chassis can destroy even super-heavy armoured vehicles with ease.
When they are deployed against other Titans, Warhound Titans use their superior speed and manoeuvrability to avoid enemy weapons fire. They also make use of pack-oriented techniques to destroy enemy Titans, and there are some instances where lone Warhound Titans have defeated heavier classes.
Armament[]
Warhound Titans are protected by two void shield generators and are otherwise lightly armoured, emphasising speed over strength. They possess two Titan-grade weapon mounts on their arm hardpoints and are limited in their selection to the lighter class of Titan weapons such as the:
- Ursus Claw (Initiated by Legio Audax)
- Natrix Shock Lance (Initiated by Legio Audax)
The most common configuration of armaments for Warhound Titans seen on the battlefield are the use of the Plasma Blastgun and the Vulcan Mega Bolter.
During major engagements Warhounds operate on the flanks of the Imperial forces, seeking to assault enemy tanks and infantry formations rather than other Titans, where their lighter weapons can still inflict immense damage and provide the maximum tactical benefit.
Operation[]
Warhound-class Scout Titan Advensis Secundus of the Legio Metalica armed with a Plasma Blastgun and a Vulcan Mega Bolter, as deployed during the Taros Campaign against the T'au in the 41st Millennium.
A Warhound-class Titan normally requires a Human crew of five members which increases to twelve when constructs like servitors and Servo-skulls are included. Like all such god-engines, a Warhound Scout Titan is commanded by an officer of the Adeptus Mechanicus' Collegia Titanica known as a princeps, whose cerebrum is cybernetically interlinked through the Titan's command throne directly to the Titan's Mind Impulse Unit (MIU), enabling them to oversee all aspects of the war machine's operations. They are assisted by two junior officers known as moderati (sing. moderatus), who control the Titan's navigation, movement, sensor operations and weapons systems.
In their turn, the moderati control a complement of three remote servitor-slaves which have been hard-wired into the Scout Titan's weapons, void shield generators and engineering systems. From the engine room, two Tech-priests make up the final Human members of the crew. It is their job to control the output of the Titan's Plasma Reactor, the true heart of the Titan, supplying power to all the god-engine's various systems as required.
Four Servo-skulls are also usually tasked to a Warhound Titan's crew to assist its Human members with any miscellaneous tasks or unexpected need for repairs that might crop up in combat. Like other Titans, Warhound Scout Titans are equipped with an artificially-intelligent Machine Spirit (essentially an on-board computer) that interfaces directly with the mind of the princeps through the MIU, thus avoiding the Imperium's ancient proscriptions against allowing the development of truly independent machine intelligence.
Yet, with the passage of many standard centuries of combat, these Machine Spirits can develop a surprising amount of independence and even personalities of their own.
Deployment[]
Warhound-class Titan of the Legio Metalica
Being faster and more agile than a standard Battle Titan, Warhound-class Scout Titans are deployed as the eyes and ears of the Titan Legions on campaign, raging far ahead of the main battle groups. They are the only Titans to be normally deployed by the Titan Legions in packs of two members, as compared to the larger Battle and Emperor Titans which normally operate alone.
By Collegia Titanica tradition, Warhound Titans can only operate in a pack with a maximum of two Titans as a result of the actions of Chaos Warhound Titans on Terra during the Horus Heresy. When the Traitor Titan Legions landed on Terra, the Arch-traitor Horus let them terrorise Terran civilians in squad-sized (10+) units of Warhounds.
As a result of this blood-stained history, during the reformation of the Imperium in the Time of Rebirth after the conclusion of the Horus Heresy, the Adeptus Terra ordered the Titan Legions to never again allow Warhound Scout Titans to operate in squads larger than two, to prevent such horrors from being perpetrated upon Humanity again. Obviously, the forces of Chaos do not feel bound by this rule.
Sub-Patterns[]
The Warhound-class Scout Titan maintains a number of sub-patterns that differ primarily in the armament load-outs they are given so that they are better adapted to specific tactical roles.
Wolf-class Titan[]
Wolf-class Titans operate in packs of two, and their wargear is specialised to aid them in finding and hunting down enemy forces that are seeking to elude a larger Titan force.
Mastiff-class Titan[]
The Mastiff-class Titan sub-pattern of the Warhound is not as agile or as well-protected as the Wolf-class sub-pattern, having been armed and modified to serve as solitary vanguard Titans for a larger Titan force. This is because Mastiffs specialise in flanking enemy positions to sow confusion with well-planned hit-and-run attacks, and so their armament load-outs have been reduced to increase their capaicity for speed, allowing them to assault and enemy formation and then immediately retreat.
Jackal-class Titan[]
The Jackal-class Titan is a sub-pattern of the Warhound Scout Titan that is very similar to the Mastiff sub-pattern, as it is used in the same tactical role as an ambusher. But the Jackal possesses more potent void shields so that it may better engage its foes during hit-and-run attacks conducted at a closer range.
Because of this tactical choice, Jackal princeps prefer to arm their Scout Titans with an Inferno Gun and Vulcan Mega Bolter.
Chaos Feral-class Titans[]
To their eternal shame, the Titan Legions bear the stain of disloyalty to the Emperor like so many other branches of the Imperial armed forces. Like the Legiones Astartes, many of the Titan Legions also sided with Horus against the Emperor during the dark days of the Horus Heresy and eventually fled to the dark refuge known as the Eye of Terror when their master was defeated.
Within the forces of Chaos, the dreaded Chaos Warhound-class Titans, reclassified as Feral-class Titans by the Imperium, have seen millennia of service in the Traitor Titan Legions' pursuit of the Long War against the Imperium of Man, becoming utterly corrupted by the daemonic powers of the Warp and the fickle favour granted to these vile war machines by the Ruinous Powers.
Many of these dreaded god-engines easily date back to long before the Horus Heresy and have had their Machine Spirits wholly corrupted and possessed by the Warp-touched powers of Chaos. The Chaos Titan's Machine Spirit and its damned crew become possessed by Daemons and are doomed to serve the will of the Chaos Gods in battle for all eternity.
Collegia Titanica Technical Specifications[]
| Vehicle Name: | Warhound-class Scout Titan | Main Armament: | Plasma Blastgun |
|---|---|---|---|
| Forge World of Origin: | Mars | Secondary Armament: | Vulcan Mega Bolter |
| Known Patterns: | III-XXI | Traverse: | 100 Degrees |
| Crew: | 1 Princeps, 2 Moderati, 2 Tech-priests, 3 Servitors, 4 Servo-skulls | Elevation: | |
| Powerplant: | Type XIV Plasma Reactor | Main Ammunition: | Unlimited from reactor |
| Weight: | 410 tonnes | Secondary Ammunition: | 14000 Rounds |
| Length: | 17.08 metres | Armour | |
| Width: | 11 metres | ||
| Height: | 14 metres (at rest) | Superstructure: | 95 millimetres |
| Ground Clearance: | 6.5 metres | Hull: | 95 millimetres |
| Max Speed - on road | 58 kilometres per hour | Gun Mantlet | N/A |
| Max Speed - off road: | 42 kilometres per hour | Vehicle Designation: | 0550-4332-982-WH |
| Transport Capacity: | N/A | Firing Ports: | N/A |
| Access Points: | N/A | Turret: | N/A |
Videos[]
Sources[]
- Adeptus Titanicus (1st Edition), Rulebook, "Warhound Class Scout Titan"
- Adeptus Titanicus - The Horus Heresy: Loyalist Legios (Specialty Game), pp. 110, 169
- Titan Legions, pp. 18-19
- Imperial Armour Apocalypse, pg. 99
- Imperial Armour Volume 3 - The Taros Campaign, pp. 251-254
- Warhammer 40,000: Apocalypse (6th Edition) (Digital Edition), pp. 362-363, 389
- Adeptus Titanicus Part 12: Warhound Scout Titans (Image)
- Warhammer Community - Speedrun Engine Kills With Massive Adeptus Titanicus Conversion Beam Weapons
- Warhammer Community - Pop Void Shields Like Bubbles With Adeptus Titanicus' New Volkite Weapons
- Warhammer Community - Turn Titans' Mass Against Them With Graviton Weapons for Adeptus Titanicus
Gallery[]
| Titans | |
|---|---|
| Scout Titans | Rapier-class Titan • Warhound-class Titan (Wolf-class Titan • Mastiff-class Titan • Jackal-class Titan) |
| Heavy Scout Titans | Dire Wolf-class Titan |
| Battle Titans | Reaver-class Titan • Carnivore-class Titan • Mirage-class Titan • Komodo-class Titan • Executor-class Titan • Warbringer Nemesis-class Titan • Punisher-class Titan • Warlord-class Titan (Death Bringer-class Titan • Eclipse-class Titan • Nightgaunt-class Titan • Nemesis-class Titan • Warlord-Sinister-class Psi-Titan) • Siege Titan • Apocalypse-class Titan |
| Heavy Battle Titans | Warmaster-class Titan (Warmaster Iconoclast-class Titan) |
| Emperor Titans | Imperator-class Titan • Warmonger-class Titan |
| Chaos Titans | Subjugator Scout Titan • Questor Scout Titan • Feral-class Titan • Ravager-class Titan • Banelord-class Titan • Plaguelord-class Titan • Painlord-class Titan • Warplord-class Titan |
| STC Titan | Castigator-class Titan |