One of the things I really love about Space Marine 2e and Titan Legions is the inclusion of datafaxes for the largest Titans: the Space Ork Mega-Gargant and the Imperator Titan. I feel the hit location templates add a lot to the feel of these Titans as massive, towering machines of war, housing hundreds of crew, garrison troops and menial dregs to keep the cogs running. What would it be like to fuse a little bit of this character back into Epic 40,000? I drew up some quick rules for review that optionally add a little more detail to Titans in Epic 40k games (although I would only recommend these in smaller games, where each side has one or two Titans max).

Titan Datafaxes
Each Titan has a unique, two-sided data card for allocating hits and resolving damage. To accommodate these cards, the attack procedure is slightly modified when Titans are targeted.

Firing at Titans:
1) Choose attacking detachment and target Titan.
2) Choose target locations on the datafax (following the rules for split fire if declaring more than one target location).
3) For each target location, roll two Aim dice to shift attack. As long as the Titan is not immobilized and the attack is not coming from the rear, the target player may choose in which order to apply the shifts (up and then right or right and then up). This represents the Titan crew twisting away from the attackers to protect vulnerable locations. Otherwise, the attacker may choose the order to apply the shifts. A shift must always keep the attack on the location template—if this is not possible, then simply reroll the Aim dice until you achieve a legal result.
4) Roll attacks against target location armour. Dice may be assigned to a location that is one space adjacent (horizontally or vertically), although the armour for that location is considered to be 1 point higher than normal.
5) Apply Force or Void Shields to reduce successful hits.
6) Deduct remaining hits from damage capacity and roll a single critical damage for each damaged location (only once, regardless of number of hits).

Catastrophic Damage: Some hit locations list a second 6 result on the critical damage table. Use this result instead of the normal 6 result if the section has already been critically hit previously (i.e., any result other than "No extra damage") and the Titan has lost at least half of its damage capacity. We recommend you keep track of previously hit sections by placing a spare blast marker on the space on the Titan's datafax.

Attacking from Side or Rear: There are no separate hit location templates for attacks against the side or rear of the Titan. Instead, assume that attacks from one side may not target arms or legs on the other side (and cannot shift into those locations either). Attacks to the rear count any hit on the head location as a reactor hit instead.

David and Goliath: Although it should be obvious, hits against a Titan in close combat by anything other than another Titan can only target the lowest leg locations and do not shift. Stomp stomp stomp...

What did you think of the AT2 rules?

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Oh I forgot to thank you for uploading those! They look very cool and I am still absorbing them. On the one hand, I really like the damage system (it feels gradual, just like the ponderous Titans that are being slowly pulverized by the weight of enemy fire). On the other hand, it seems like it is still very much it's own game (much like Adeptus Titanicus and Titan Legions, I suppose!).

If I had one complaint, it would be that the rules for incorporating ATII into E40k still feel a little rough; for example, normal troops attacking Titans use ATII rules for shooting, E40k rules for firefights and cannot assault at all (which is strange, given that firefights and assaults are essentially the same process in E40k). The designer explains the latter move by arguing that close combat should really spotlight Titan vs Titan slugfests, but the downside is that Titans can no longer break infantry formations in close combat and send them running for the hills (one of the most cinematic things in E40k, in my opinion).

Moreover, although I think the ATII shooting system works fine for Titan vs Titan games, it seems like a step backwards when infantry stands have to give up the Firepower table when attacking Titans. The rules for infantry shooting at Titans in ATII are a lot more reminiscent of SM2e, with each unit rolling a D6 vs their shooting ability (i.e., 4+, regardless of unit). To me, that "every unit rolls an attack" is just not as interesting as the E40k Firepower table—it's too close to Warhammer 40k and does not portray to the unique scope of E40k, where individual soldiers do not really matter and are abstracted into the background.

Lastly, it's a very minor point, but I was slightly disappointed by the hit location tables. I love the visual references of Titan Legions (even if they were only used for the two biggest Titans—the Mega Gargant and the Imperator). That's what I am trying to do above. Overall though, I really do like ATII—it would make a fantastic stand-alone game and even has great ideas for E40k that are worth mining. The incorporation of E40k units in ATII is still a little rough and feels somewhat unfinished to me, but there are a ton of excellent ideas there and an essentially workable system at the core of it. I am still trying to figure out how to incorporate the Strength vs Armour system without altering E40k's Firepower method too much.

OK thanks, food for thought. I had not looked through them in detail for many years.

The titan vs infantry CC issue is something I actually probably agree with him about, from a "suspension of disbelief" point of view. i.e. it always did seem odd to me that space marines could kill a titan with their combat knives... however as you say, backporting that principle into an existing game can have unintended consequences.

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Interesting and a good point. When I read the rules, I assumed close combat against a Titan involved the infantry boarding it and having shootouts inside the accessways and battle stations of the machine's feet and legs (damage could represent meltabombs placed on vital locations). Note that Warhound and Reaver Titans will always have at least twice the assault of a full compliment of opposing Space Marines, which means they will get +2 on the assault result roll right off the bat. Titans can of course lose combat and be torn to the ground by hordes of poor bloody infantry, which is pretty cinematic in my mind as well! One thing I enjoy about E40k is that these moments actually provide a morale boost, as a roaring cheer goes up amongst your troops to the fallen enemy Titan.

Yeah, plus, battle of Hoth

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