The Warlord Titan is one of the most destructive forces of the Imperium of man. Come take a look at what this monstrosity is made of in this edition of Lore.
Let’s take a look at what it takes to man and crew one of the largest Titans on the battlefields of the 41st Millenium.
Via: Lexicanum
The Warlord is by far the most widely employed, numerous and versatile class of Imperial Battle Titan deployed by the Collegia Titanica; second in power only to the rare Emperor Class Titans. Some Warlords date back to time of the Great Crusade or even the Dark Age of Technology. The sheer longevity of the Warlord means a variety of different patterns and variants have been built, some mounting unusual upgrades such as landing platforms for aircraft, siege rams to batter down walls and assault pods to disgorge infantry into the enemy’s strongholds.
This also means the design’s capabilities and tolerances are well-known among the Mechanicus, making the Warlord an ideal test-bed for new devices conjured up by the Divisio Investigatus.
The primary role of a Warlord is as a front-line combatant where the fighting is heaviest. Its primary line of defense are six Void Shield generators which intercept enemy fire before it even hits the war engine. So powerful are these shields that a Warlord can withstand continuous bombardment from over five dozen armored vehicle and artillery platforms with no loss of shield strength. Beneath the shields are meters of adamantium armored plating, which themselves can ward off a regiment‘s worth of firepower with but minor scarring.
The weaponry the Warlord mounts is similarly stupendous, with four primary Titan-grade systems and numerous secondary armaments for fighting in built-up areas. So powerful are these weapons that Warlords can level entire cities with them. A Warlord can easily destroy a Warhound Scout Titan in a matter of seconds, and will handily defeat a Reaver Battle Titan in a one-on-one duel. Warlord Battle Titans do have one weakness in that their plasma reactor is located in the abdominal cavity, making it susceptible to heavy weapons fire if the armor is breached. For this reason many Warlords are geared towards long-range fire support.
The Warlord Titan is equipped with powerful heavy-duty auspex equipment meant to allow it to locate targets within the most hellish and inhospitable conditions. Everything from radar scanners and echo-locators to spectrographic sensors and electromagnetic detectors are used to paint an accurate picture of the surrounding terrain and the location of enemy forces.
A Warlord can get an accurate target lock based on heat signatures, seismic activity, motor noise, communication signals, even falling masonry knocked over by foes attempting to flee the war-god’s wrath. A Warlord’s aural phones are sensitive enough to locate the distinct “wailing” made by void shields operating in a high-static environment while in the middle of a sandstorm.
The command crew of a Warlord consists of a Princeps and several Moderati housed in the armored head of the Titan, which connect with the Titan on an intimate level through a Mind Impulse Unit and view the outside world through the Manifold. The Princeps maintains primary control of the Titan, thoughts becoming action with a direct link with the mighty war engine’s spirit. In the days of the Great Crusade a Warlord Titan could be controlled through a command throne with implants fused into the princeps’ flesh and hard-switchs for emergency overides, but even back then this method was fast becoming obsolete.
Both the mental and physical strain of a princeps being disconnected from his engine, combined with the degradation of their body through wear and tear over the many centuries of service, meant many quickly transferred to a fully immersed amniotic tank. This method of being suspended in liquid information means a Warlord princeps is able to maintain remote congress with their Titan, while the loss in personal mobility pales in comparison to being a walking god on the grim battlefields of the far future.
The cockpit is split into two levels, with the moderati, steersman and sensori seats placed in the chin while the princeps’ amniotic tank is placed behind them. In the event of an emergency the head contains a fire suppression system and a weapons locker, protected by biometric sensors, containing shotguns and lascarbines to fight off boarders. Access to chemical stimulants means the crew is capable of over eight days of continuous combat, although by this point they will be dangerously exhausted and forced to return to replenish ammunition anyways. While the head is armored against attacks, a kamikaze run by a Lightning fighter is capable of decapitating the Warlord.
Other members of the crew include a Tech-Priest housed in a secluded alcove in the back of the cockpit and an Enginseer who monitors the machinery in the belly of the Titan. Like other Titans the Warlord is equipped with Servitors who are slaved to individual weapon systems. While it is possible for the firing of weapons to be done manually by one of the crewmembers, servitors are able to do so far more effectively. Assuming manual control is sometimes necessary in cases such as the Titan’s spirit overwhelming the low-grade servitor minds in a fit of feral bloodlust and firing the weapons itself without being commanded.
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About the Author: Tim Roberts
