One of the most often asked questions about the fire support Reaver is “why take one”? On the face of it, the 6BP that the three missile launchers deliver would appear to be a poor investment based on the Reaver’s points cost compared to say an Imperial Guard Artillery Company. In many respects I wouldn’t disagree, however there are a few things about the Reaver that are worth taking into consideration. Firstly as a massive War Engine the Reaver cannot be suppressed until it has accumulated more Blast Markers than its starting damage capacity. This makes the Reaver a lot tougher than your average row of Basilisks which will turn on turn very quickly lose their power advantage. The second consideration is the fact that the Reaver missile launchers do not lose a turn reloading in comparison to a Manticore. They will lay down 6BP each and every turn until broken or destroyed. Taking into account both of these factors can actually make the Fire Support Reaver a dangerously underestimated unit to an unwary opponent and certainly worth considering for important ‘suppression’ missions. As a final consideration being a Legio Titan the Reaver has an initiative of 1+ compared to the Imperial Guard Artillery’s initiative of 2+. This may not seem a big deal but when the chips are down I would rather know that my Reaver will deliver the goods turn after turn even in the face of heavy enemy fire, something even the most staunch Imperial Artillery Battery cannot guarantee once the shells start falling. My final point in defence of the poor Reaver is I have seen numerous Artillery Companies wiped out by being quickly over-run by a fast moving enemy assault force, however I have yet to see a Titan troubled by such events. Unlike the fragile artillery batteries which need protecting against enemy engagement actions, the Reaver is more than capable of defending itself against all but the most ferocious assault, simply ‘walking out of combat’ stamping the enemy into tiny pancakes as it moves on to maul yet another formation. In summary, an Imperial Guard Artillery Company will probably deliver the goods on turn one, but five turns later I’d bet a bottle of Sakra that the Reavers missile barrage will still be dealing out punishment long after the Imperial Artillery has fallen silent. So does this mean the Reaver is in fact better than the Artillery Company after all? In truth no, just different. Both formations have their strengths and weaknesses, however I do think only a foolish commander would discard the Fire Support Reaver just on the strength of barrage points alone without considering its true battlefield worth.
The Warhound shown here is one of Forge World's resin models and is one of a number of Warhounds that make up my Epic Titan Battlegroups being a favourite model of mine. The weapons shown have been swapped around to match the 40K scale 'Wolf' class which differ slightly from the ones packaged. This is a very simple process if you have both of Warhound packs from Forge World as the remaining two weapons are actually the correct ones to arm a 'Jackal' Class Warhound, so no wastage which is a bonus. This particular Warhound is one of a pair from the 'War Griffons' Legio, a Titan Legion that was first introduced with the very first edition of Epic (Adeptus Titanicus) and therefore seemed highly appropriate to be one of the first Titans to add to my Epic Armageddon Imperial forces. To paint the Titan in War Griffon colours I first undercoated the assembled model with a black spray primer, the base having already been textured with some plastic ruins and rubble. The entire model was then dry brushed with a mix of Brazen Brass, Tin Bitz and Boltgun Metal to give an ancient look to the metal chassis. The top carapace and lower leg armour was then painted Shadow Grey and highlighted by adding increasing amounts of Ghostly Grey to the mix. For the leg armour I also added dabs of watered down Ghostly Grey to create a dappled pattern. The thigh armour, groin plate, head and weapons were all painted with a 50/50 mix of Bubonic Brown and Desert Yellow to which increasing amounts of Bleached Bone were added for the highlights. After that it was just a simple case of painting in any weapon details and highlights with Chainmail and the the icons in either Skull White or Shining Gold.
The Warhound is a good example of how careful posing of the model can give the suggestion of movement, or 'dynamics'. By positioning the angle of the legs so that the weight is over the front foot and the back leg is stretched out raising the trailing foot the impression of forward movement is immediately given. The position of the weapons and head also help to emphasise the motion. The Warhound is an easy model to make dynamic due to the multipart nature of the model and included ball joints, however the same principles can be applied to most of the Imperial Titans and is well worth experimenting with before sticking the model together. That about wraps up the first batch of Steel Legion for now, time to concentrate on the other Imperial forces on Armageddon, namely the Space Marines. That's far from it though for Armageddon's local boys as I still have a hefty number of units left to paint yet, including Sentinels, more support formations and some large scale armoured units. Until next time though, happy painting. | Back to Steel Legion Introduction | Back to Epic Armageddon Introduction | |
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It would appear that the
humble Fire Support variant of the Reaver has been much maligned
of late, aspersions cast on its viability as worthy unit for an
Imperial force when compared to other units. As I add such a
variant to my own Imperial forces, I look at a few reasons why
such judgements may be a little hasty.
The Warhound is the
smallest of the Imperial Titans, being a 'Scout' class and is
often fielded as part of a two-Titan Battlegroup
Getting movement.