Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you: No adverts like this in the forums anymore. Times and dates in your local timezone. Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance. Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely. Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net. If you are already a member then feel free to login now.

The purpose of an Imperial Titan isn't really to fight other titans in 1v1 combat. At least not under ideal situations. Titans are intended to lend fire support to surrounding armies, however large they may be. They wouldn't send a Titan out because they need to kill another lone titan.

That being said, I find the physics of a 40k titan to actually be significantly more believable, at least from a movement standpoint (weapons and all that aside, I mean). The sheer mass of something 25-150 meters tall would make it impossible for any metal to hop around like a Jaeger would. The force of a 500 ton behemoth crashing down on the ground would destroy both the ground, and the mech.

I'm not saying that either one is particularly believable or realistic, I just find the 40k version to be a little bit more kosher in terms of the "would this thing even be able to move as advertised" test. People want mechs to fight other mechs, but it's simply not the realistic application in a military setting. Battleships were rarely sent out by themselves with no support, and when they were, it was for brief periods because they were easily overwhelmed by smaller, lighter craft that could get in close and pepper the ship with small fire. It's too much of a risk for both sides involved...take, for example, the Bismark of WW2 when it engaged the British battleship Hood.

The Bismark destroyed the Hood, yes, but the Hood also crippled the Bismark so much that it had to slowly move to a safe haven port, which resulted in its eventual destruction. Had these ships engaged with their fleets, they probably could have gotten away safely using the covering fire, with only smaller loses incurred by both sides.

What I'm saying is, huge mechs and capital ships should always, in a realistic scenario, be used in supporting fire roles. Anything else is too much of a risk. Therefore, while the Jaeger would probably win in a 1v1 scenario assuming the physics of both sides worked (they don't) The 40k wins in my book because of it passes the preliminary smell test.