I managed to get my hands on an advance copy of Titianicus at the week end and devoured it very quickly.  I wont give much away apart from technical snippets.

Legio information

We get to see a host of our favourite weapons and some new one.

Vulcan mega bolters
Plasma blast guns
Plasma destructors
Turbo lasers
Volcano cannons (not as common as destructors)
Missile pods (more on these later)
Power fist/claw
Power flails
Chain fist
Bident
Fusion Mace.

The missile pods hold 5 missiles with a variety of war heads, as well as having spares in the titan that are then slotted in as the first ones are fired off.  They also seem to be either fired directly at targets in focussed groups, which is the main way used, to either fell shield or to finish of titans.

The other way, which was only used one by chaos titans is the mass saturation we are use to from missile pods.

Chaos warhounds were also spotted with missile pods and close combat weapons.

Warlords also have a bridge crew of 4.  Princeps, moderati, steersman and sensori.  They also have an extyra enginseer helping maintain the reactor and other systems.  The also often carry a princeps in training.

Skitarii

Totally different to those that we have met.  They have personality and are not slow clumsy things!  The servitors from both sides (and both forge worlds for the imperium) all seem to be people with hard wired devices who are fanatically devoted into serving the forge and its masters (which leads to, in my mind, some very funny exchanges between a member of the legio and his skitarii body guard and vox servitor).

Skitarii are gene bred into hulking brutes, about Catchan size, with hard wired weapons and massive spiked armour, covered in pelts and bright colours.  They are designed to look fearful.  It was also mentioned that their ferocity could match that of the space wolves (though normally when facing dark mechanicus).

_________________
Tyranid air marshal

Interesting info. Thanks, Rag. Makes we want the book even more now.   I presume a "bident" is a two-pronged trident.

_________________
"I don't believe in destiny or the guiding hand of fate." N. Peart

I have my copy too.

_________________
Currently doing a plastic scenery kickstarter

I assumed that too.  It is a close combat weapon.

I assume that abnett used bident instead of trident so that us old warhorse wouldn't get it confused with the trident missile.

_________________
Tyranid air marshal

Of course they have personality, they are not robots.

_________________
"Your limbs are mighty. Let them smite the foes of our Emperor."

Thanks, Rag!

Giving nothing away about the book (I've had mine for weeks   ) I'd say it's probably worth a read if you like titans - and who doesn't!

Other than the entertainment factor of titan on titan action it's not that great a novel. Certainly not Abnett at his best. If you've read the Titan: God Machine graphic novel you'll spot some themes about the relation between the Titans and those that drive them.

I look forward to seeing what the rest of you make of it.

Ah, titan porn.

_________________
http://www.troublemakergames.co.uk/
Epic: Hive Development Thread

To be honest Mr Abnet writes okay fiction, but really quite often poor 40k fiction. Normally settling for the modern day plus a couple of funny words for computers and similar. In fact you could change a few words and make it any of the future fantasy settings that are knocking around.
I once glanced at the comic though and the titan stuff looked pretty dire (on a demon world or something?).

_________________
If using E-Bay use this link to support Tac Com!
'Abolish red trousers?! Never! Red trousers are France!' – Eugene Etienne, War Minister, 1913
"Gentlemen, we may not make history tomorrow, but we shall certainly change the geography."
General Plumer, 191x

In 'The Saint' he did manage to capture a spot of medieval supernatural happenings - miracles you might say. Otherwise you're right - gaunt's ghosts seemed pretty 20th century: a modern army in a somewhat medieval world. That's how it is with the Imperial Guard I guess though.

His Titan Graphic novel started out ok, but yes it got rather silly. I imagine it's actually rather hard to write a decent novel about giant walking robots.

_________________
[url=http://tinyurl.com/bott2015][img]http://i62.tinypic.com/205fcow.jpg[/img][/url]

To say it more bluntly: He writes the same stuff over and over again, it could be used for anything, fantasy or SF or modern and for any universe. I detest it.

The only part of the Titan comic that was any good was book one.

_________________
"Your limbs are mighty. Let them smite the foes of our Emperor."

I agree that the story was rather bland and the odd jumping between characters, who sometimes only have a chapter, ot confusing every now and then.

However Titan on Titan action is great, especially with slaaneshi  Titans  

_________________
Tyranid air marshal

The titan comic was just terrible. Two lines of dialogue, 5 pages of explosions, two lines of dialogue, 5 pages of explosions, etc.

_________________
http://www.troublemakergames.co.uk/
Epic: Hive Development Thread

Yeah, Titan Porn.  

_________________
Currently doing a plastic scenery kickstarter

Gotta love that Titan Porn...still Book One was enjoyable...if not for the interactions between the different members of the Legion when someone who was essentially an 'untrained rookie' got the control of a Warlord...

Still I think with Abnett is the problem lies more in the fact he can write something thats quite good to start off with, but just doesn't know when to stop, and drags it out to the furthest possible point while becoming gratingly boring.

_________________
Chaos Titan Legions: Khorne
Chaos Titan Legions: Nurgle