A change of scale as I talk about the first Questoris Knights I painted for the new Titanicus. House Vyronii. Adeptus Titanicus 2018 very much sticks to the scope of its 1988 predecessor by focusing on engine wars that took place during the horus heresy. It is not a return to ‘Epic’, which personally I feel is a good thing as it keeps the war engines front and centre, a status they lost when diluted into the wider combined arms scope of Epic. That being said I’d love to see a new version of Epic one day that pulls together all the amazing kits Titanicus and Aeronautica Imperialis have breathed new life into, but definitely as its own separate game. More options is good.
What Titanicus does feature in support of the Titans however are Questoris and Mechanicum Knights. These diminutive versions of their 30K/40K scale counterparts are incredibly detailed and quite simply adorable. I can’t build enough of them. Some feel they have become too much of a focus of the game, but as they haven’t in any way lessened the ability to still play a gritty engine on engine battle without any knights I don’t see this a problem. In fact being able to pitch Knight households against one another just brings another dimension in my humble opinion. I’m sure more true god engines of the legio will be added in time now the majority of knight chassis have been realised in plastic and resin.
The fun part of painting the AT scale Knights is packing in variety and contrast in the metallics. There is such a density of detail in these kits it’s really worth lavishing time on the shadows and highlights, especially around the weapons and hip joints.
Big palette, tiny miniatures
My method for painting the Knight and Titan chassis is to treat them exactly the same way I do their larger counterparts, no special tricks. The only accommodation I make is for the scale so when it comes to adding textures to the frame an try to keep the marks light and small in size. Other than that the process is no different.
Starting with a base of vallejo metal alchemy emerald green I shade in burnt iron, then a mix of model series red black and Games Workshop rhinox hide. Over the shadow areas I airbrush black and blue ink to adjust the palette back to a cold hue and the final step is to add the highlights in chrome. These I try to keep precise and emphasise on key upper surfaces like the tops of weapon barrels, hip and waist joints. This may seem a lot of stages for such a small miniature but the effort is totally worth it in my view.
Even with the different tones in the metallics it’s still quite monochromatic so I picked out a few details in brass and copper to increase readability.
Weapon magnets
Of the two banners I painted in house Vyronii colours, six knights in total the first three I magnetised the weapons. They really don’t need it to be honest, but I just wanted to see if it could be done so I could try a few interesting weapon combinations. I used 2mm x 1mm neodymium magnets which I sunk into the shoulder sockets. It’s not difficult to do, but probably unnecessary given the cost of the kits is not that great and it doesn’t really add anything from a rules perspective. Fun though if you fancy giving it a shot.
This is just the start for my House Vyronii as I love the metallic green scheme and heraldry. I will be adding Cerastus and Porphyrion classes in time to create a force worthy of call up by the legions. Given that I spent a good few weekends throughout 2020 assembling all of the knight kits to date there are going to be a few more household banners to come, fear not.
