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So I got the big box this summer, and in that time I built and painted...just one...Warlord Titan. He looks magnificent. He's house Gryphonicus. The problem is, I have been perpetually frozen in deliberation as to whether I will build the box to be TWO factions (I'd do Mortis for the other) so that I can play with my non AT (read: pretty much everyone) collecting friends, or go all out one faction because I'm not made of money and I'd love to meet the imaginary players around her (they must exist!) who want to play the full game.

Anyone else have this dilemma? What should I do? The other hangup is I hear that people don't even usually run a maniple that has two warlords...so I wouldn't even need two...hmm...

Two factions is the way to go - one Loyalist and one Traitor.

It also gives you the chance to do two color schemes, so you don't get bored painting the same thing over and over.

 schoon wrote:
Two factions is the way to go - one Loyalist and one Traitor.

It also gives you the chance to do two color schemes, so you don't get bored painting the same thing over and over.

What the rabbit said.

You can always field both 'loyal' and 'traitor' forces on the same side against an opponent with their own army if you want. Just assume the battle is pre-Mortis going bad, or the Titans in loyalist colours have gone rogue and joined the Warmaster, or whatever. Instant double-sized army!

One little trick you could do is to use a certain colour or visual marker that isn't normally part of the standard scheme in a minor way on both forces. Like a certain armour panel or kneecap or flag that you always paint white, no matter which side the Titan is on. Or a particular bit of heraldry that appears on both. That way, if you ever field them all as part of the same faction, there will be a subtle unifying theme across all the models even if the Gryphonicus and Mortis colours otherwise seem mismatched.

(I'm thinking here of traditional colour schemes for Eldar Aspect Warriors. I used to paint Banshees bone-white, Fire Dragons red, etc., but I always had a bit of green on them somewhere because my Craftworld colour scheme was green and black. Seemed to work.)

I did my entire GME box (with added extras) as the same legion. Should I ever get someone over interested in a game I can divide them up and pit them against each other, but having that fully painted maniple in my display case feels great! (Also Gryphonicus!)

Plan is to eventually expand the collection into a second Legion to have two full lists but that will be some time off, next on the to-do list for AT is definitely terrain and such.

Your easiest way out of this dilemma is to look towards purchasing a box of Warhounds...

If you are going to play others on a more serious level( Matched play ) then you'll need at least 3 titans for a mandatory maniple. So, for now, paint the two Legios as Gryphonicus and Mortis. Then add two Warhounds to your Gryphonics Warlord to make up the maniple. But here is the trick...

Leave the top carapaces on your warhounds unglued; they will fit snuggly and actually won't fall off even when held upside down! In the Warhound set is 4 carapaces, so you can paint two of them as Gryphonicus and two as Mortis. This way you can field them as the competitive maniple AND for your casual games field 1 Warlord, 1 Warhound & 3 Knights for both players.

Its a little bit more to spend but definitely worth it.

Nice idea though for purist the warhounds will have incorrect armour plates for one side. But for introducing game for others acceptable levels if you aren't nut enough like me

Pretty good idea. Wonder would same work with reavers?

tneva82 wrote:
Nice idea though for purist the warhounds will have incorrect armour plates for one side. But for introducing game for others acceptable levels if you aren't nut enough like me

Pretty good idea. Wonder would same work with reavers?

Exactly. For casual gaming its acceptable, and the purist would probably insist on proper maniple and matched play rules anyway - fielding their own models.

Sadly, the same trick doesn't work with the Reaver. You could magnetize the shoulder pads but the carapace itself kept sliding off.

Oh, the carapaces on the Questoris Knights don't need glueing neither! I found leaving them un-glued to be useful when just getting them table-ready and leaving the option open to do more paint work later.

I had the same dilemma last week or so, ended up painting them all as Astorum.

I think if you look at it practically, it doesn't really make sense to have 2 Legios painted up. While it's nice to have the box set painted as intended, you'd have to ask yourself "am I likely to actually get enough play out of the Mortis engines?" If you do decide to split it for a game then it's easy enough to just keep a mental reminder of who's using what.

 Valkyrie wrote:
I had the same dilemma last week or so, ended up painting them all as Astorum.

I think if you look at it practically, it doesn't really make sense to have 2 Legios painted up. While it's nice to have the box set painted as intended, you'd have to ask yourself "am I likely to actually get enough play out of the Mortis engines?" If you do decide to split it for a game then it's easy enough to just keep a mental reminder of who's using what.

It makes sense in allowing you to actually play games more. If I had just one legion I would be rather limited in games having indeed played zero games this year.

And if you get into big enough game you would like more titans you can still play both colours on same side so..

SamusDrake wrote:


Sadly, the same trick doesn't work with the Reaver. You could magnetize the shoulder pads but the carapace itself kept sliding off.

Never underestimate the power of blu-tack!

Zenithfleet wrote:

SamusDrake wrote:


Sadly, the same trick doesn't work with the Reaver. You could magnetize the shoulder pads but the carapace itself kept sliding off.

Never underestimate the power of blu-tack!

Well, um...yes! I suppose one can use the blue-wonder for such a feat...

SamusDrake wrote:

Zenithfleet wrote:

SamusDrake wrote:


Sadly, the same trick doesn't work with the Reaver. You could magnetize the shoulder pads but the carapace itself kept sliding off.

Never underestimate the power of blu-tack!

Well, um...yes! I suppose one can use the blue-wonder for such a feat...

Unfortunately the STC for the miraculous Tactica Azure was lost during the Dark Age of CAD Technology.

It was probably copied from those heretical space elves anyway.

(More seriously, I've been unable to decide on a paint scheme for my Titans, so I've been playing games with the bare plastic models and holding their armour plates on with blu-tack. It sometimes works loose during a game but generally holds up well. Just need to keep it away from static grass.)

SamusDrake wrote:

tneva82 wrote:
Nice idea though for purist the warhounds will have incorrect armour plates for one side. But for introducing game for others acceptable levels if you aren't nut enough like me

Pretty good idea. Wonder would same work with reavers?

Exactly. For casual gaming its acceptable, and the purist would probably insist on proper maniple and matched play rules anyway - fielding their own models.

Sadly, the same trick doesn't work with the Reaver. You could magnetize the shoulder pads but the carapace itself kept sliding off.

Oh, the carapaces on the Questoris Knights don't need glueing neither! I found leaving them un-glued to be useful when just getting them table-ready and leaving the option open to do more paint work later.

that is where the nutral approach comes into play.
select the blank armor plates, and paint it in colours that currently has no "known faction", for the warhounds you just mix the plates.

as for OPs question, split it up. mainples with more then 1 warlord is for the high point games. low and middle point game for the moust part only run 1 warlord.