Book Review: Titanicus

This is my review of Titanicus by Dan Abnett, the epic that centers around a forgeworld that is being invaded by chaos renegade titans of the Dark Mechnicum. The book promises a lot of titan on titan action, and boy, it doesn't disappoint!

Forgeworld, Orestes, is being attacked by the titans and skitarii of the Dark Mechanicum. The forge world is home to the Titan Legion, Legio Tempestus and they quickly determine that they need some support, so the forge calls in Legio Invicta. So we get to see the arrival and mustering of a full Titan Legion to this Hive World. We get to see it from the point of view of the engine drivers themselves, their commanders, the front line tank crews, the activated Planetary Defense Force (PDF) and even a few common folk who dwell in the hive.

These points of view break up into the common stories that we follow in each chapter, and each one could have been a novel in itself, but in the capable hands of Mr. Abnett, we are treated to a vast overall story that doesn't rely on cheap plot ploys or gimmicks to tell or complete it. His handling, again, is what makes his stories so charming and "real" to the reader.

We follow a PDF force, Activated 26th, and a particular member of it, Cally Samstag, whose experience is little more than weekend warrior hikes when the war starts, and she finds herself as an unlikely leader when shit hits the fan for her PDF,

Erik Vargo, a tank commander, finds himself and the survivors of his tank division in situation much like Cally did when their tanks are wiped out by a rival titan. We follow this motley band's attempt to get back into the fight throughout the course of the novel, and this story has a very satisfactory conclusion. I say no more on this point to avoid spoilers.

We also follow an assortment of different Titans and mechanicus members, some live and some die. But the more important one that we follow, I feel is Princeps Gearhart, leader of the Titan battle group and of Legio Invicta. We see his fight to hold all the groups together, to win the war, and to win his war for his own humanity.

Adept Faust's story is particularly fascinating for it's inner look at the Mechanicus and how his research is conducted. Prior to this past year's release of the Adeptus Mechanicus Codex books for Warhammer 40,000, this book was probably one of the more in depth reviews of the Mechanicus side of 40K lore, and Faust's story is particularly revealing in that regard.

These stories all tie together, but distantly, and we get to see the good, bad, and ugly of this massive war from all these perspectives to get a big picture that few of these protagonists ever realize themselves. I have always been fascinated by the concept of Hiveworlds, especially what goes on outside them and the ash plains that surround them. What type of people live there? What are their lives like? Etc. ever since we gamers were first exposed to the idea back when White Dwarf (vol 1) #130 was released with the introduction to Confrontation, the game that became Necromunda). This novel shows us what life is like in these industrial suburbs, and what warfare does to overturn this life. On the flip-side, we can see how life in the central hive is effected as well, and it indeed becomes something of a concern when the Hive almost tears itself apart for reasons not concerned with the war.  

The French get the better cover for some reason.

• Did I like it? Hell yes I did. The start was slow, but the build up was very much worth it.
• Was it hard to put down? I picked and poked at this book for a few months, when I could find some quiet time read, usually before bed. And yes, it was a difficult book to put down. Every plot is quite riveting and the curiosity to see what comes next was addictive. 
• Could I care about the characters? You really can't help it, even though it's an Abnett novel, who is famous for introducing characters and killing them a few chapters later (Fell Cargo is a great example) but damn, you want to see these people make it through the book. 
• Did the writer truly grasp how the 'world' of the 41st millennium works in the sense that it doesn't betray or retcon previously established (as I know it) lore? Abnett is the master of it. This book only affirms it. 
• Was I being talked down too? Not once, I like Abnett's style, and whether he presents the story in 1st or 3rd person it doesn't matter, it feels right to read his works. He is writing about some serious and intense combats but they never feel like "war porn" to me. Knows when to gloss over it, and get on with the story, a trick I wish McVey would figure out each time I read his Dark Angel bools. 
• How predictable is this story? It's not really, another reason why this book is so satisfying to me. 
• Do I recommend this book? Highly. 

Daemon Prince (part 3)

I am determined to get this beastie done by xmas!

I painted the marine helmet/head that the Daemon Prince is holding, and in honor of the last game I played (back in May! Yikes!), I chose to make this defeated marine a Dark Angel. Also, the green contrasts well with DP's red color scheme. Also it occurred to me that the Skippy the Bloodthirster, a Slave to Darkness era original model from the late '80s, also has a Dark Angel shoulder pauldron on his base. I swear it's an unintentional theme, but what the hell, I might as well run with it now!

The pic above was an extreme zoomed in close up that I took to see my details better. The helmet appeared fine to me at normal size but this close-up revealed many flaws I otherwise would have dismissed. Me being me, I took this as an opportunity to try to fix these flaws, and here's what it appears like zoomed out to normal size.

It's a little better but I most likely will keep messing with it until I am satisfied.

I probably need to take a better pic, but discarded on a rock behind the DP is a severed hand from this poor unfortunate marine. I plan to add a lot of Blood For the Blood God paint on the rocks and the DP's hand which is holding the head.

And now the braying masses can rejoice: he now has a head!!!

Work progresses...

Daemon Prince (part 2)

I got to spend this last Sunday home with my kid, and when the windows of opportunity briefly opened I was able to make progress on this beastie.

The pic above shows where I was working on the burning light that is errupting through his shoulder armor.

However the bulk of what I did was on the wings. I wanted a more fiery-orange effect to contrast from the darker skin tone on the body. Using an old orange color from the old Citadel Epic Paint Set, I applied this over the Bloodletter Glaze that I had applied already (see part 1) and I really liked how the intensity of the color was kicked up.

Here is a test fitting just to get a sense of how these colors are working together, and so far I am liking it. The color added a sort of glossy sheen to the wings, but I think I like this result as it conveys a sense of wetness.

Next, I highlighted the wings further by adding streaks of Fiery Orange. This really makes the wings appear more dynamic and I am considering painting my bloodletters like this when I finally get to them.

I proceeded to work on the flesh and armour. I added another old Citadel color, Red Gore, to the skin. I am reluctant to take the color up any further in highlights, but I am pondering it still. On the armor I painted the rims with Brass and Gold which corresponds with both my World Eaters and Black Legion chaos marines.

And here is the state he is in for the moment, but work proceeds...

Daemon Prince (part 1)

One of my local game stores holds a tournament for 40K on the 1st Sunday of each month, and I thought I knew the points needed for this past only to find I didn't have the points required in painted models. And obviously, at that time, my Chaos Bikers were not even close to being ready. So I had to skip that event. On my last visit to another store, Hobbytown, I decided to purchase a Daemon Prince that I could quickly assemble and paint, that perhaps I could use to give me some flexibility when it comes to points spread.

 I immediately had the notion to magnetize his right arm so I could equip him with different weapon options for WYSIWYG purposes. In the pic aboveyou can see how I had the idea to put the magnet inside the body.

And although it tested alright, once I had a magnet glued to an arm, it simply proved to be too feeble of a connection to hold the arm. After much frustration, I decided to just abandon the idea.

Moving onto the base, I proceeded to work up the idea he is on a shatter battlefield, yet tie it in with the bases of the other models in this army. Lot of big stones that one might imagine could have been part of a structure or a street perhaps? Regardless, I intend to have a few marine weapons scattered around to imply a recent fight that the Daemon Prince has won.

And the loser of that fight has his head being held up by the Daemon Prince. I like to think that the DP is perhaps speaking to the head.

Here the model has progressed and after the black primer was applied, I painted the fleshy areas with Scab Red  and added Terracotta paint to the base.

Next I added a Rusty metallic (Tin bitz) to the armor's trim.

Here is all of the parts with the base coat, and with Mephiston Red applied over the Scab Red.

The rear of the model showing the Mephiston Red.

The inner parts of the wings was glazed with Bloodletter Glaze, and new color in the current Citadel range that I just acquired and I was very impressed with how well it pops out the colors.

The rest of the model was washed with a combination of Black Ink and . I am shooting for the same color that I used on this Juggernaut that I finished a few months ago.

And this is my progress so far more updates soon!

Chaos Bikers (part 4)

I finally moved on to working on the rest of my Chaos Bikers and I have begun the process of repairing them.

Awaiting the Superclean bath

Here they are awaiting their chemical bath, to be cleansed of the superglue nightmare that bound them together. I am using that purple stuff, Superclean, to remove the superglue. I let them soak in the stuff for a few days, but I'm convinced that the zipkicker abuse that these models went through will have to require more effort to get off. Luckily a few scrapes of an x-acto blade was all that was requried. 

Unfortunately the builder of these models also went over board on the plastic cement as well, which the Superclean doesn't touch, and I had to resort to some drastic measures. Using my jeweler's saw I hack-sawed the square bases right off of them. Although some of the tires got a bit damaged in the process, when I am done with the model you'll never know the difference!

And here is the temporary waiting area for these bikes, in all their various bits and pieces awaiting for more attention from me. The original owners were horrible not just in the construction of these models, but in the assembly prep as well, and I am finding, and removing,  a depressing amount of mould lines on these things.

Next up, the rebuilding process...

Fenrisian Wolves (part 1)

A few years ago, the exact weekend the ork Fighter Bomber kit was released, I took it, and a handful of other models that I had that were awaiting their turn for priming, out to my poach and primed them. One model was an ammo runt, which I finished a few months ago, and the other 5 models were Fenrisian Wolves. The day was 6/3/2012.

I figured I would paint them quickly since they consisted of mostly hair and should be easy to dry brush.

"Quickly" only applies however if you actually do more than simply prime them. Which I didn't, as I started on that Ork Fighter instead.

It didn't help much that in the first game that I used them, and every game since, they were horribly ineffective. (Examples: relic-fight, When-sisters-make-you-hot,  To be a Lone Wolf, and War-returns-to-Johnson-City.)

When my fiance and I went to Warhammer at Turkey Creek she bought me another box of Fenrisian Wolves (she loves wolves!). This means that I definitely need to get this unit painted up finally, especially now that they might actually be effective in the game as a pack of 10 models. I will try not to let their humble deaths in previous warzones interfere with their completion... and you never know it might even lead to me working on and playing with my Space Wolves again.

Sven's House.

"Sven's House", is a clever nick-name for an Imperial Bastion that I built with a Space Wolves theme. This is a post that I simply forgot about. Not sure why, it just happened that way. So while reviewing some older posts I found a pic of this thing and remembered that I never actually wrote about it. I guess I was hoping to finish it, and then do a single post chronicling it's creation. However either I have lost some of the photos, or I just never took them to begin with.

This is one of those models that I painted on the sprue first. I painted it quickly and somewhat feverishly, and the assembly went fast as well. The first pic shows me beginning the process of assembling the 2nd level.

This pic shows my complete painting of the front door and the gun sponsons.

Next I assembled the 2nd story and used rubberbands to hold the whole thing together while the glue was curing.

The top level was fairly easy to paint, and it makes sense to paint this model as you put it together, as there are some areas that are just easier to paint this way.

Finally the walls on the roof were added, and the whole thing has come together rather nicely.

I am surprised that I don't have pics of one of the side joins that I messed up on and had to fill in with Green Stuff. No matter, it looks good now, and one really has to seek out this mistake

 It has some rust streaks and a few other details, but other than that, I haven't done much with it. I used it in maybe two games, and I was grossly unimpressed, and even deflated, by the rules for it, and apart from a few photo shoots...

"Home sweet home!"

...it hasn't gotten much attention from me. I just preferred the rules in the original Planetstrike book, and rules for it in both 6th and 7th edition, have quite frankly, made the thing a point-allocated deathtrap.  So until the day that fortifications are able to fire at multiple targets, this model simply doesn't have rules based in common sense. Still, I like the model and I want to one day finish it.