Is Adeptus Titanicus really more expensive than Warhammer 40k? Tuns out AT may be so inexpensive to play it’s basically free in GW money.
We realize some of you might already be rolling your eyes. But take a closer look at why Titanicus might spice up your tabletop life.
Titanicus is one of those games where as soon as you mention its name, one of your friends is bound to have a full-body shudder and shoot it out of the sky. The “high” upfront cost is what seems to really turns people away. But let’s see how the price really compares to a 40k army.
Starting a 40k Army: What You’re Expecting to Spend
Let’s look at one of the most popular 8th edition armies right now. Dark Eldar. With competitive 40k growing more and more popular, we’re going to be looking at some choice units that we see in most lists. Here’s the price of everything you’ll need:
- Codex: $40
- Grotesques: $25 per model. Most lists run around ten…$250
- Talos: $46.25 per model. Most lists run three-nine. We’re going middle of the road and saying six for $277.50
- 3x Squads of Wracks (troops) for a Battalion: $108
- 2x Haemonculus (HQ roles) in a Battalion: $52
Total points: 1250
Total Cost: $727.50
Now, looking at everything as a whole. You just spent $700 on half of the points that tournaments play at.
All You Need To Play Titanicus
If you’re wanting to get into Titanicus by yourself as cheaply as possible, you can buy a rules set for $60 and a Battle Group box (which contains a full maniple you need to play the game) for about $160. You can find them on eBay for different kinds of prices. All in all, you’ll have everything you need to play the game for roughly $250.
Putting that in 40k terms, $250 would get you about 650-700-ish points of Dark Eldar.
Titanicus Has A Different “Feel” From Any Other Game
A Spikey Bits’ Legio Astorum Warlord Titan
When you play Titanicus, you take on the role of a super-sized metal walker made for total destruction. These things can’t turn on a dime and are extremely hard to take down. When you play this game, you can literally get a sense for the sheer weight these guys carry with them.
In 8th edition, your vehicles can turn on a dime, powerslide, shoot from the very tip of the track, etc. However, in Titanicus, movement and facing are paramount. Being such a big two-legged walker, you can only turn in 45-degree angles and the bigger the Titan, the hard it is to maneuver. If you wanted to side-step, for example, you’d basically be cutting your movement in half because, in real life, you don’t side-step as good as you do walking forward normally.
The Titan is literally shuffling his legs side to side in order to keep his front armor facing the enemy.
The weapons used in the game are all meant for popping void shields or cracking the nigh-impenetrable plating on the Titans. Either way, you get a real sense of mayhem taking place when Titan against Titan engage one another.
The Machine Spirit is all up in this game too. When you’ve got a bunch of super-sized walkers running rampant in an open field, the Machine Spirit is bound to do something crazy. Pilots can lose control of their Titans, Titans can shoot randomly, etc. It’s a really unexpected mechanic that nobody can plan for.
Really, if you wanted to experience another GW game in a new light, Titanicus might be perfect for you. You can grab everything you need for a quarter of the cost of what a 40k army would nowadays. Next time you see somebody playing Titanicus, ask them about the game and they’ll for sure tell you It’s the best game you aren’t playing.
Sure you may be thinking that Underworlds is cheaper at $60 to start, but you may still have to take into account, what like 10 expansions at $35 each, and two starters as well.
What do you think about Titanicus? What’s stopped you from playing Titanicus so far? Let us know in the comments of our Facebook Hobby Group.
About the Author: Wesley Floyd
Wesley Floyd
Job Title: Staff Writer
Joined: 2018
Socials: @RealmbrushPainting
About Wesley Floyd: Wes has been in the Warhammer hobby since 2015 and joined the Spikey Bits writing team in 2018. He is known for his satirist takes on trending topics and imaginative yet amazingly affordable hobby solutions to painting Warhammer miniatures.
Imperial fanboy, tabletop fanatic, and the self-proclaimed King of Sprues. He knows for a fact that Mephiston red is the best-tasting paint and is the commission painting equivalent of a Wendy’s 4 for $4. If you like what he writes and want to contact him or have your tabletop minatures painted (to a mostly okayish standard), message him on Instagram.
