Where did it come from and what can it do? The background of the Warlord Titan!
The Warlord Battle Titan is a class of Imperial Battle Titan. It is the most numerous of Imperial Titans with millions having been built over the many years of its existence; in fact the design is older than the Imperium of Man itself. The Warlord is essentially a walking fortress, packing enough firepower to wipe out entire armies on its own. The only true threat to a Warlord is another Titan of the same magnitude, such as those used by the traitorous Dark Mechanicus or the alien Ork and Eldar races. Thousands of Warlord Titans saw action on both sides during the wars of the Horus Heresy.
original Warlord “beetle-back” titan design
Overview
The Warlord is by far the most widely employed, numerous and versatile class of Imperial Battle Titan deployed by the Collegia Titanica; it is 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 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 armoured 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 armour 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.
To steady itself Warlord Titans are fitted with internal gyros and gravitational stabilisers to brace themselves when firing or moving over difficult terrain. Warlords have a stride length of 20 meters.
newer Warlord titan design
Warlord Sub-classes
Eclipse
The Eclipse Class Titan is a lighter version of the more common Death Bringer. An Eclipse Warlord is deployed if more staying power is needed than a Reaver Class Titan can provide but a Death Bringer is not available or needed. They are typically armed with Volcano Cannons, Gatling Blasters, and Apocalypse Missile Launchers.
Death Bringer
The Death Bringer Class Titan is the most common configuration of Warlord Class Titans and are equipped with a variety of weapons that can be used for a multitude of battlefield roles.
Nightgaunt
The Nightgaunt Class Titan is a variant of the standard Warlord pattern designed mainly to hunt down enemy Titans and destroy them in close combat. Nightgaunts are faster than other Warlord patterns, always equipped with one or two Titan Close Combat Weapons or lighter, short-ranged firepower.
Nemesis
The Nemesis Class Titan is fielded if brute power is required. These machines excel in long-range firepower and siege warfare but possess poor manuverability. Usually foregoing close-ranged weapons, they sometimes will nonetheless field a single Titan Close Combat Weapon to discourage any deepstrikes by enemy forces. Nemesis Warlords are typically equipped with a mix of Quake Cannons, Volcano Cannons, Inferno Guns, Plasma Destructors, and Apocalypse Missile Launchers.
Warlord Crew
Accounts differ as to the exact number of crew aboard a Warlord Titan. Most agree that a Warlord has one Princeps and several Moderati, although the exact number and role of the latter differ. Early sources indicate all four Moderati as being responsible for each controling one of the Titan’s four weapons. More recent sources indicate that Moderati is a specific role, that of second-in-command and charged with overseeing the general welfare of the Titan and the princeps, with the other command crew consisting of a Sensori tasked with controlling the engine’s sensors and a Steersman charged with controlling it’s movements. Still other sources indicate that in addition to the command crew the Warlord has other ordinary crewmen numbering over one hundred, from numerous servitors and tech-adepts to gunnery crews and press-ganged ratings.
Warlord Height
A number of sources list varying heights for Warlord Battle Titans. Direct statements about Warlord height include 33 meters, 40 meters, 60 meters, and even 200 meters (656 feet). Other examples include statements that a Mars-pattern Warlord sitting on its knees is still over 30 meters tall, and that the head of a Warlord Titan is said to rest thirty meters above the ground, with the gunnery deck another ten meters above. According to the scale diagram in the Apocalypse Rulebook a Warlord Titan is approximately 33m (100ft), equivalent to 23″ tall on tabletop, with other artwork depictions being similarly inconsistent.
Forge World Warlord titan model
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About the Author: Rob Baer
Rob Baer
Job Title: Managing Editor
Founded Spikey Bits in 2009
Socials: Rob Baer on Facebook and @catdaddymbg on X
About Rob Baer: Founder, Publisher, & Managing Editor of Spikey Bits, the leading tabletop gaming news website focused on the hobby side of wargaming and miniatures.
Rob also co-founded and currently hosts the Long War Podcast, which has over 350 episodes and focuses on tabletop miniatures gaming, specializing in Warhammer 40k. and spent six years writing for Bell of Lost Souls.
Every year, along with his co-hosts, he helps host the Long War 40k Doubles Tournament at Adepticon and the Long War 40k Doubles at Las Vegas Open, which attracts over 350 players from around the world.
Rob has won many Warhammer 40k Tournaments over the years, including multiple first-place finishes in Warhammer 40k Grand Tournaments over the years and even winning 1st place at the Adepticon 40k Team Tournament.
With over 30 years of experience in retail and distribution, Rob knows all the products and exactly which ones are the best. As a member of GAMA (Game Manufacturers Association), he advocates for gaming stores and manufacturers in these difficult times, always looking for the next big thing to feature for the miniatures hobby, helping everyone to provide the value consumers want.
While he’s played every edition of Warhammer 40k and Warhammer Fantasy (since 5th Edition) and has been hobbying on miniatures since the 1980s, Titans of all sizes will always be his favorite! It’s even rumored that his hobby vault rivals the Solemnance Galleries, containing rulebooks filled with lore from editions long past, ancient packs of black-bordered Magic Cards, and models made of both pewter and resin.
