Why Titans and D-Weapons Aren't as Scary as You Think

Blunt Post:

I've been seeing a lot of doom and gloom about "Escalation" and a lot of it is because people don't now all the options that are available to them and just freak out.

I see things like "D weapons are OP." and "Just field a Titan and you win."

Not true, not even close. The simple fix for a non-Escalation army is to take void shield generators. Each generator can be upgraded to have 3 projected void shields(layers). That is essentially an AV12 HP3 12" bubble that has IWND and can't be destroyed by simple popping all the bubbles. You could also take the Void Relay Network and have upwards of 3 generators with 3 layers each. At single FoC that's 9 void layers, at double you can take 16 (SIXTEEN!) layers. Even a Revenant will have trouble with 9 layers (which is a fraction of the Revenants points), let alone 16.

Now, the fix I recommend is to simply adapt your list, also known as "balancing" it.  There are many options, void shields, Tau Fireblade Fire Support Cadres, Stormwings are easy to slot in. I have made several lists that can effectively deal with a titan, even without Escalation or Stronghold using both no allies and allied combinations of the following codices: Space Marines, Chaos Marines, Daemons, Dark Eldar, Necrons, Inquisition. Not a single superheavy, formation or void shield. I admit, just using Stronghold makes it much more effective but it can be done without it. Some kill the titan faster, which does not automatically equate to "easier", others are more tricky. So I know it is possible to make balanced lists without these supplements that can combat them. Once you add them to your arsenal, however, your ability to fight back curves upwards.

40k is not supposed to be a cut-throat competitive game. Think about this: You cant go to a tourny expecting there to be anything but min-maxed lists, super combos (screamerstars), "cheese" lists and other things that borderline abuse the 40k system. That I think hurts the spirit of the game more so than anything else. These new expansions, I personally believe, give players and option to field what the 40k universe is all about without padding/manipulating the system and counter the cheese: Big Scary Warmachines.

Riddle me this:

It's called "Escalation" for a reason.