[v5.0] Core Rules: Titans and Preatorians

From: Peter Ramos <primarch_at_...>
Date: Wed, 24 Apr 2002 09:10:12 -0400

Hi!

TITANS
Purchasing Titans
Modular Purchasing
The Titans (or, in the case of Orks, Gargants) are the ultimate machines of war and have fearsome abilities that set them apart from regular units. Unlike other units they have more flexibility and most of them can be fitted with a variety of weapons with different degrees of effectiveness. The ones that have fixed or limited armament are listed in the section titled “Special Titans”, and each are explained within the following chapters pertaining to their armies.

----> "special titans" and their points cost will be moved to their corresponding army list. The above paragraph will be edited accordingly.

Titans or Gargants that can be purchased in a modular fashion may form part of an army in two ways: They may be purchased individually as Special Cards or as Battle Groups, which are the equivalent of Company Cards, or in some armies (as Chaos) even as Support Cards. Both have the same limitations and restrictions as normal Special Cards and Company Cards.

----> while this will be address in depth in each army list we will need to better define what kind of cards will titans be available as (special support, other).

Titans are purchased according to the following steps:

1. Purchase an empty hull (or “chassis”) from the Titan Chassis Costs list given below. The chassis must be outfitted with weapons in order to be fielded.
2. Purchase the weapons you wish to arm the Titan with from the Titan weapons list belonging to its army.
3. Add the cost of the hull and weapons together and then round up to the nearest 50-point increment.
4. Determine the Victory Point value of the Titan (1 VP per hundred points, round to the nearest hundred).

Example: Imperial Warlord Titan armed with Volcano Cannon, Vortex Missile, Gatling Blaster, Chain Fist; 500 (hull) + 100 (Volcano Cannon) + 150 (Vortex Missile) + 60 (Gatling Blaster) + 25 (Chain Fist) = 835 => 850 (rounded up to the nearest upper 50 point increment), this is what you actually pay in points for the Titan). This Warlord costs 850 points to field and is worth 9 VPs (rounded up to the nearest hundred) to the enemy if destroyed.

---->No change.

Optional Rule: Titan Battle Groups
Titan Battle Groups are formations consisting of 3 Titans of the same type (see below for Ork exception). When forming a Battle Group one chassis is free, but the cost for all weapons (on all three hulls) is still paid for. Titans of a battle Group must remain in a 25cm unit coherency from at least one other Titan of the group. In this case round up the purchase values for each individual Titan then add those for the total Battle Group cost. Only Warlords, Reavers, Eldar Phantom Titans, Ork Great Gargants and Slasha Gargants may form Battle Groups.


        Victory Points
VPs for all Titans in a battle group are based on the value of the Titan regardless of whether or not a chassis was paid for.

Example: A Battle Group consisting of three of the above mentioned warlords would cost 2050 points. The first two Titans cost 850 points each and the third costs 350 since the hull is free (but you still have to purchase the weapons!).

VPs are awarded for each destroyed Titan, in the above example 9 VPs for each (even though you paid 350 for the last Titan its VP value is 1VP per hundred points - 9 VPs to the enemy!).

        Ork Gargant Big Mobz
Big Mobz are battle groups where you can have both Great Gargants and Slasha Gargants. You get a free chassis for the smallest of the 3. The largest becomes the Boss Gargant and automatically receives a full compliment of power fields (12 in the case of the Great Gargant). All Gargants in the Big Mobz must be at most 25cm away from the Boss Gargant to receive orders for the turn. If the Boss Gargant is destroyed another takes it place in the following turn.

---->Will be moved to the optional area in the core rules.

Titan Chassis Costs
Army Code Titan Chassis Type Cost
Imperial/Chaos R Reaver 300
                        D Warhound 125
                        W Warlord 500
Eldar P Phantom 300
                        W Warlock 400
Chaos C Lord of Battle 400
Ork G Great Gargant 400
                        S Slasha Gargant 300
Tyranid HD Hierodule 350
                        HR Hierophant 475

---->These will be moved to their corresponding army list. Discussion as to hull cost should be made then.

Special Titan Costs
Army Name Cost*
Eldar Revenant 200
Chaos Subjugator 225
        Questor 225
        Banelord (Including Bloodletter Head, Chaos Titan Tail, Doomfist, Havoc Missile Rack, Hellstrike Cannon) 800
Ork Mekboy G. 450
* Including the fixed weapons.

---->These will be moved to their corresponding army list. Discussion as to hull cost should be made then.

Titan Special Rules
Orders
Titans use and follow the normal order rules as other ground units, except for the Dig-in order.

----> The dig in counter as with related rules will be in the section dealing with buildings and fortifications.

Movement
Titans are ponderous machines and are extremely un-maneuverable. To reflect this, Titans can only turn once up to 90 degrees during their movement. Exceptions: All Eldar Titans and Warhound Scout Titans are very maneuverable and may turn as many times as desired.

----> As per discussion we will add that a titan may turn up to a total of 90 degrees.

        Moving Backwards
Titans and Praetorians can back up at half their movement rate. That is, for every centimeter they go backwards they are considered to have moved two centimeters.

----> This was omitted as moving backwards may only be in advance orders.

Firing Arc
Imperial, Eldar and Chaos Titans possess a 180-degree arc to the front of the model. Ork Gargants possess a 180-degree arc from front to back of the model. This means that Gargants can fire at models behind them, but weapons on the left side of the Titan can not fire at models to its right and vice versa. Some weapons have special fire arcs. These will be detailed in their corresponding descriptions.

Firing
Titans fire normally as per their given orders. Their multiple weapons can bring fire upon various targets as line of sight and range permits.

----> No changes.

Titan Shields
Titans possess more protection than mere armor. Shields offer increased protection. These absorb incoming hits until all are knocked down leaving the Titan vulnerable. The energy required to take down a shield is more than simple infantry weapons can manage. To represent this only weapons with at least a -1 modifier to the armor save are capable of knocking down shields. Lesser weapons don’t have the energy to do so. Shields that are knocked down during the turn can be repaired on a roll of 4+ in the end phase. One roll is made for each shield to be repaired.

There are different types of shields depending on what army/race you play. Imperial Titans and their Chaos counterparts (they use the same types of Titans) use Void Shields and follow the rules explained in the previous paragraph. Ork Gargants use Power Fields that are less unreliable compared to the Titan Void Shields. The workings of these are explained in the Gargants section of the Ork Chapter.

---->No changes.

The number of void shields or power fields a Titan has depends on the type of Titan. These numbers are shown in the following table.

Titan Type Number Of Void / Power Shields
Warlord 6
Reaver 4
Warhound 2
Banelord 6
Lord of Battle -
Great Gargant D6+6
Slasha Gargant D3+3

---->This will be moved to the corresponding books.

Eldar Titans use a different protective system known as Holo-fields. This device wreaks havoc on targeting systems making them difficult to hit. Also the dispersion of the field and the distortion it produces is dependent on the speed the Eldar Titan is moving. To represent this Eldar Titans receive an un-modifiable save against incoming shots according to the orders issued. This is shown in the following table.

Titan Is On: Save
First Fire Orders 4+ Fixed
Advance Orders 3+ Fixed
Charge Orders 2+ Fixed
 
Holo-fields are ineffectual against weapons that use any kind or template. This is due to the fact these attacks do not rely on pinpoint accuracy to deal out damage. Therefore Eldar Titans do not receive a Holo-field save against attacks that use a template. However since aiming is a problem barrages ALWAYS scatter regardless of whether the barrage is direct or not.

----> As pointed out this wording is horrible. It will be changed to clearly state that barrage weapons ignore holofield saves but always scatter, even direct barrages.

Damage
Titans can withstand more damage than lowly troops and vehicles. To represent this they all possess location templates. These locations, and their saves, vary according to whether the shot hits the front, side or back of the titan. When an unshielded Titan is successfully hit special scatter dice are used. These are both rolled once to determine where the shot lands (if it lands in a vacant square the shot misses!). Once the location is determined it must save (according to what save value it has), subtracting any save modifiers for armor, if the save fails the shot is considered to have penetrated the Titan’s armor. For each failed save you roll once on the damage table and apply the damage stated on the damage table.

----> No change.

Locations that are hit by multiple penetrating hits (failed saves) roll for damage normally, but the second and following penetrating hits add +1 to the damage roll for each penetrating hit beyond the first damage roll. This bonus is in addition to any damage modifiers the weapon may have.

Example: A Warlord Titan receives a penetrating hit to the reactor; the first roll for damage is a two, meaning the reactor is off line. A second penetrating hit again hits the reactor; the second roll is a 3.Since this is the second penetrating hit the player would add +1 to the damage roll making his modified roll a 4. This modified number is the one you look up on the table and apply the damage. If the second hit would have been by a Volcano Cannon that has a +3 bonus to the damage roll the full bonus would be 4 (+1 for the second hit and +3 for the weapon) and the modified roll would be 7! In this case apply the result of a “6” for any modified roll that exceeds 6.

Note that sometimes the second damage roll may be lower than the first. In this case continue to apply the first higher damage result if it has not been repaired. If the damage has been repaired apply the new damage as normal.

Whenever the damaged location is the reactor, it means the Titan is helpless and cannot repair damaged weapons and locations or recuperate shields until the reactor is repaired. This means that if by some circumstance the reactor is damaged and the Titan still has shields, the shields are non-functional until the reactor is back again online. Damaged locations can be repaired in the End Phase on a roll of 4+. Locations that the damage table states as destroyed cannot be repaired.

Due to their size Titans may be targeted, regardless of whether the whole model can be seen. A shot that deviates to a location that is covered by an obstacle is considered a miss.

Shots that land in an already destroyed location count as a miss.

----> No changes.

Titans and Close Combat
Titans are fearsome opponents in close combat. To represent this Titans possess several special rules regarding close combat. Titans engaged by other Titans, Praetorians, Super Heavy vehicles and Knights resolve close combat as per the standard rules described under close combat rules.

Close combat is resolved by each player rolling 2D6 and adding the close assault factor of the engaged model to the dice result, these values appear in each unit's description. Once the dice are rolled and the close assault factors (CAF) added the player with the highest total wins. If the loser is a Titan or Praetorian, the winner then chooses a location on the opponent and rolls for damage (see the section on Damage above). There will not be any location scatter and saving rolls. Super-Heavies and Knights that lose a round of close combat are destroyed without any rolls on their damage tables (if any). See the related sections in the Tech-Guard and Ork chapters for the special rules about Imperator Titans and Mega Gargants.

Models that do not belong to the above groups (i.e. Infantry, Vehicles, Bikes, Cavalry) follow these special rules:

The first level of defense is the titan’s anti-personnel weapon. Be it an electro-hull or a bunch of mad snotlings the effect is the same. Roll a d6 for each troop stand engaged with the titan. On a roll of 5+ the stand SURVIVES the titan’s anti-personnel weapons. Once all survivors have been determined they fight one round of close combat with the titan as per the standard close combat rules for titans outlined above.

In the case of vehicles the same rules outlined as above apply, but they use their own armor save instead of the 5+ save for troops.

When units that are affected by the titan's defence system (such as troops and vehicles) and units immune to the defence system (like other titans, praetorians, knights and super heavies) attack the same titan simultaneously, resolve each combat SEPARATELY. That is either resolve the close combat between the titan and the infantry/vehicles or the group containing knights, super heavies, etc. This is to avoid the ploy of attacking the titan with a swarm or cheap troops and adding on knight class units (or greater) and thus getting extra d'6 to the close combat thus making it easier to defeat the titan. In effect each combat is independent of the other. The attacking player (since he has the most models involved) may select in which order the close combat is resolved.

----> As per our discussions this whole section will be redone. The new rule is that titans follow the same rules everything else does, except that it gains a bonus of an extra 2d6 in close combat versus infantry (for a total of 4d6) and an extra d6 versus vehicles (for a total of 3d6). Elite units reduce the extra dice by one.

        Elite Units
Units designated as elite have a higher chance of surviving an encounter with a titan in close combat. An elite model survives the titan’s anti-personnel weapons on a roll of 4+ instead of the standard 5+. In addition elite units may engage in selective pinning. This means a unit of elite troops does not have to engage all models in a unit before it can gang up on one or more models. In essence it may pick and choose which stands they may engage while ignoring others.

----> This will be reintegrated in the core rules besides the command unit rules. Of course there is still the issue of what this means. One great idea given to me was that elite units should get a re-roll, perhaps ONE per turn, be it a save, to hit or close combat. I thought this was a very good idea since I wouldn't like to give bonuses to stats and such since elite units already have high ones. A re-roll is a good compromise.

Opinions?

Special Titan Types
Not all of the Titans available in the game follow the standard Titan price rules. This is because some Titans feature special weapons or represent unique configurations. These are purchased with their weapons fitted, and cannot benefit from the Titan weapons list belonging to their armies. These Titans and Gargants are explained under the armies they belong to. Titans that belong to this class are listed below:

 Imperial Imperator Titan
 Eldar Revenant Scout Titan
 Chaos Slaanesh Scout Titans
 Ork Mega-Gargant
 Ork Mekboy Gargant

In addition to the above, Tyranid Bio-Titans, although purchased by the modular method, have different rules regarding to damage and repair. See the Tyranid Booklet for more information.


Titan weapon descriptions and points cost, together with their Hit Templates and Damage Tables, can be found in their Army Booklets.

----> all this can be eliminated since it will be covered in the army books.
 
PRAETORIANS
Praetorians are gigantic armored vehicles of death and destruction. Although ponderously slow their long ranged weapons make sure their wrath is vented on the enemy.

Special Rules
Orders
Praetorians usually carry a large compliment of recon and intelligence apparatus which make them able to react promptly to battlefield conditions. To reflect this all Praetorian vehicles are considered command (HQ) vehicles for purposes of movement and firing (they move at Charge rate and fire in the First Fire segment). Due to their vast size the normal rule of not being able to target them unless they are the closest models of that class in range do not apply to these gigantic vehicles.

----> Since the poll indicates this rule will change and also praetorians have a max move anyway the rule should read "may move and fire on first fire orders".

Movement
Praetorians are slow and may only move a maximum of 10cm per turn (it is not doubled for charge). Also they are restricted to a single 90-degree turn at any point of their movement.

        Moving Backwards
Praetorians can back up by half their movement rate. That is, for every centimeter they go backwards they are considered to have moved two centimeters.

---->No changes.

Firing
Praetorian superior fire control systems permit them to always fire in the First Fire segment. The firing arcs of the models’ weapons are detailed in the units' descriptions.

Many Praetorians possess some type of shield. Individual unit descriptions will specify the number and type of shields. To represent their resilience Praetorians also have hit location templates. The hit resolution procedure is the same as for the hit location templates for Titans. Templates for Praetorians may be found in the relevant Army Booklets.

----> No changes.

Close Combat
Due to their size and slow speed they are vulnerable to close combat from lesser units. Close combat with Praetorians is resolved in the normal fashion as described under the close combat rules section. The special close combat rules for Titans do not apply to Praetorians.

Due to their size only Titans or other Praetorians can pin a Praetorian, lesser models cannot pin them.

----> No changes.

Void Shields and Repairs
Void shields mounted on praetorians regenerate on a roll of 4+ on a D6 (just like titan void shields). Repairs can also be performed on a roll of 4+ on a D6.

----> No changes.
 
Praetorian Costs
This table lists all the available Praetorians, along with the army they belong to, and their cost.

----> They will be moved to the corresponding book. Discussions on cost will occur there.

Peter
Received on Wed Apr 24 2002 - 13:10:12 UTC