Legio Gryphonicus Warlord Titan Bellator Veritatus is the first war engine I assembled and painted for the new edition, and a chance to test out a new palette. Legio Gryphonicus, known as ‘The War Griffons,’ is among the many venerable legios from the original 80s game and the first plastic Titans.
I cannot praise the new kit enough, especially the remarkable design work by Chris Drew. Although the Titanicus version is based on the full-sized scale model created by Will Hayes for Forgeworld, Chris has developed a kit that not only brings joy during assembly but also boasts delightful design touches. These include pre-made magnet mounts for easy weapon swapping, excellent articulation, and clever placement that effectively conceals injection gates and mold lines.
In my opinion, the Warlord is personally one of my top three favorite kits produced by Games Workshop in the past three decades. From an ‘Epic’ scale perspective, it finally re-establishes the godlike stature these engines were always meant to possess. Truly magnificent.
Breaking the Titan kit down
Since this was my first Warlord kit, I dedicated ample time to figuring out the sub-assemblies and the best painting strategy. I found it beneficial to break the kit down into separate torso and leg assemblies, as well as separate weapon arms and the head. Additionally, I treated the armor plates separately, allowing me to airbrush both the underlying metallic frame and the armor without the need for masking.
This approach made painting the trim so much easier. Trust me when I say that there is an abundance of trim on these kits, so your patience will definitely be put to the test. However, the end result is absolutely worth it.
Full ahead steersman, striding speed!
Warlords are colossal engines designed for resilience rather than speed, capable of withstanding firepower that would easily fell lesser engines. In my opinion, they truly shine when their stride pattern reflects the immense weight they carry, with knees and hip actuators pushing forward.
Of course, everyone is free to model their war engines as they see fit. However, personally, I find that dynamic running poses can be less convincing in conveying their true scale. On the other hand, Warhounds present a different situation, although I still avoid making them appear as if they are ‘sprinting.’ It’s simply a matter of personal preference.
Legio Decals
When I constructed and painted the Titans, the legio-specific colour decals from Specialist Games were not yet available. So, I had to work with the monochrome decals from the boxed set. Fortunately, I had a War Griffons sheet from Forgeworld, intended for my old Lucius Warhound, which had two smaller color plates that I managed to fit onto the carapace armor.
That’s why the markings are asymmetric, but personally, I quite like it as it adds more character to ‘Bellator Veritatus.’
In the future, I plan to create more Gryphonicus engines. However, I will prioritize fleshing out the traitor Mortis engines and gathering the courage to finally tackle Legion Solaria. I have tested them, and I am satisfied with the results. Now, I just need to complete what I started and let them take their rightful place on the battlefield.
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