Support Your Local Titan! Titans in Assault

Many people view Titans as unstoppable engines of destruction impervious to all harm - they see things like AV: 14/14/13, four shields, six structure points and guns galore and despair (good if you own said titan).

However one thing not on that list is a mighty close combat capacity - they hit hard, but with WS2, I1. Also they have a huge board footprint and are slow, making them easy to catch. Being walkers it is hard to plant a grenade on them, but mosterous creatures (Str+2D6 ap), other walkers (with DCCWs) and power / chain fist wielding freaks with with their likely superior WS will put a hurting on you.

The best things about being a titan and being assaulted is that the attacker needs to pass a morale check or cannot assult. Unfortunately most things that will be assaulting you are likely to be fearless. Also unless they are gargantuan or another SH walker, you won't be locked, so can blast those pesky ants into oblivion in your turn. The flip side is 99% of titan weapons are blasts, so not a terribly good thing to be firing at close range (the only good use for the VMB!).


So what to do?

Never despair! The key is in realising that while a Titan is a mighty engine of destruction, it is still but a part of your army. At a rough guide the points of your titan should be matched by 75% of supporting forces. By this I mean for a 1250pt Reaver, you should have around 900 points of Guard milling aroung at its feet to fend off counter attacks.

The best units for this in my opinion are Penal Legion squads and Sentinels. Penal Legionnaires are pretty cheap, stubborn, and with a good roll very effective in a fight.

Sentinels are great to screen against assaulters, as they are vehicles so can't be tank shocked out of the way (by that Land Raider filled with TH/SS termies), can have a good variety of weapons, and are pretty cheap. The most useful part from a more meta view is that they have large bases, so can deny a bigger area with fewer guys. Add in Apocalypse and each Sentinel can be a single unit, meaning each has to be shot at individually etc etc.

Other options are the Devil Dog (for some close range melta fun), Hydras, Russ Executioners for a fluffy bit of support, or LS Storms to mess with deep strikers. If you feel like playing hardball (and if you're bringing a titan you probably do), the classic Inquisitor with Mystic combo becomes a whole lot nastier when a titan gets free shots on you. Discouragement can be just as effective as annihilation.


The main thing is to deny the enemy the opportunity to get close enough to fire those meltas at close range and plant grenades. If all else fails try to convince them to play on a 10ft long table and not use flank march next time ;)


What to do when they do get close?

Pray to the dice gods to be kind? If your foe is smart, or you are reading this looking to take out a titan (boo hiss!), then they will try to blast a chunk in your screen and assault through that. Well if they really want to there's not much you can do about it really. Things like placing your titan in a set up with difficult / impassible terrain near it will allow you to predict the likely avenues of attack and fortify it more heavily.

Having multiple units nearby also means that you can take advantage of the enemy being unable to lock in with the titan. Shoot them as much as you can, the assault. Kill them great, tie them up on your turn - just as good. They're not hitting the titan, and that's what counts. Sacrificing that 80pt penal squad to a hopeless fight to save your 750pt Warhound for a turn? Sounds like a fair tradeoff to me.


What if they bring a Gargantuan Creature?

Crap your pants if they also took flank march. GCs are the absolute bane of titans - StrD weapons only do one wound at a time to them, they hit hard in assault, and (worst of all) lock SH walkers in assault. A titan that isn't shooting is as good as dead anyway. Another woe is that they can tank shock non-SH vehicles out of the way.

To counter a GC, try and keep as far away as possible (duh), but also try and have another superheavy to throw in its path. It may be expensive to drive a Baneblade infront of a Heirodule, but it won't be locked (not a walker) so can still shoot it in your turn should it survive the encounter. Plus it is a big obstacle to walk around.


The Titan Close Combat Weapon

Hitting at StrD? +3 attacks? Looks badass? There must be a catch.

There is - it's called Towering Monstrosity (for Reavers and Warlords). That means you can only hit other superheavies or GCs in assault with your shiney new toy. Sacrificing a huge amount of firepower is only recomended when you know you'll be facing a GC heavy opponent (or have a cunning plan of flank marching a SH gunline or some such). A very situational weapon, so its usefulness is questionable.

Looks cool though.


The Stompa

The Stompa deserves a seperate section, as it has the considerable advantage of being able to hit everything in assault with its TCC. It is also able to be loaded full of boyz, so in this case you want to rush the enemy with your titan.

Tactics are nice and simple - rush the Stompa forward, firing as you go surrounded by boyz and wagons. Put a Mek with KFF inside for a 4+ cover save and watch all the firepower you'll be attracting go to waste. The (fearless) horde surrounding you will deter all but the most persistant of assaults, and the Stompa can be used as a sledgehammer to drive into a foe, tankshocking vehicles and men out of the way to allow the rest of the boyz in for a stoush.

The Big Mek Stompa is more akin to the Imperial versions, but should still keep near the front of the attack. Being an Effigy of Gork (or possibly Mork) means the nearby boyz will all be fearless, so nice and difficult to kill.

In effect the Stompa is less a gun platform and more a giant battlewagon with bigger dakka and choppa.


Heirodoodles

Run forward, shoot things, eat other things. Do I really need to say this?

But in seriousness, it's all about priority. If your opponent sets down an Imperator on the far side of the board, don't worry. Flank march a 750pt Heirodule into it and laugh as his 4000pt monstrosity can't shoot or move as you just locked it in assault.

The flip side of the assault-lock tecnique is that it may become a tar-pit if you keep turning up 1s on the damage chart. None of the 'nid GCs have a StrD attack, so if the dice are not kind it can become a very protracted affair. However as I said earlier if the titan isn't shooting it might as well be dead, as it's out of the game.

You need to weigh up if you can afford the potential loss of a GC to keep it out of the game. A GC that isn't assaulting and killing lots of things is not living up to its potential. In the same way it may be better for the titan to kill the infantry and the meltagun vets to kill the Stompa, it may be better for the Heirodule to kill the infantry platoon in a massive multiple assault and let the Carnifexes chip away at the Warhound.


Summary

Shooty titans: avoid assault - put up a protective screen and be prepared to sacrifice units to tie up threats.

Assaulty things: Make sure that when you assault a SH or similar you shouldn't be using the prodigous killing power on more, seemingly less worthy, targets. Use them to support the rest of your army.