On fiery swings, the Icarion class dropships swoop down from orbit and deliver their deadly cargo directly into the midst of the fray. Although Icarion dropships were a common method of transport during the Great Crusade, they were seen much less frequently after the Beta Garmon conflict.

The Icarion class is capable of not only safely delivering a Reaver Class Titan to the surface, but also brings a detachment of Titan Guards and a Knight Banner to protect the Titan while she powers up. During engagement the Icarion Dropship serves as a forward base and battlefield gantry for the Titan.

The Icarion Titan Dropship

In the picture above you see a very very early concept stage of the Icarion Dropship. These mock-up enders are an important design step to check proportions and sizes for the model I am working on. In the picture you see two types of red cylinders: the smaller ones are 8mm tall and about the size of a Space Marine in Adeptus Titanicus. The taller ones are the size of a Questoris Kignht incl. base.

The idea behind this concept is, that when a titan makes planetfall under combat conditions, it will need to be carried down to the surface in the most protected way and this protection may not end after landing. Assuming that even in the 30th millenium nobody will be crazy enough to drop a Titan with a live Plasma Reactor, I thought about how this could be done and still follow the logic in-universe.

Of course laws of nature and physics do not really play a big role in Warhammer and the Mechanicum found ways to bend every principle of physics millenia ago, but still this dropship would have to follow the aesthetics of the universe. Dropping a Titan is not just delivering any weapon to the surface; it is a statement by the Legio. The big guys are here to sort things out. And that’s exactly what I am trying to capture in that model: the Legio has arrived and is here to win the conflict, use the Icarion as a base, repair and retrofit Titans in the bays and use it as a forward command post.

While the Titan powers u pher reactor, the Knight Banner will emerge from the top and “man” the battlements and Titan Guard will swarm out to secure the immediate surroundings. Gun emplacements emerge and scan for hostiles and once the Plasma Rector is live, the Titan will walk.

How big is it?

Big. At the moment the Icarion is about 23x23cm and 26cm tall. There will be two modes (as indicated in the render): closed mode with the shield wall attached to the hull and extended fortress mode, which makes the footprint of the Icarion even bigger.

I have not done the math and completed the planning yet, but the kit will feature something around 45-50 parts to build.

Wait… this is not Terrain!

Well, kind of… as you know, I have a very frequent exchange with my members and a good feedback system in place. This feedback involves influence on what will be released in the next months. A few weeks ago we had a bg vote and the members had a say in what will be next for GDT to be done:

• In April we will see more parts for the Argos Bunkers from the March Package and the introduction of Terrain for the Martian Robot-Boys
• In May there will be the release of the Icarion Dropship and a few additions to extend on previous releases
• In June we will explore all things connected to an Agri World (think GrimDark Harvesters)

But coming back to the question: yes, technically a dropship is not terrain. However, it is so freaking big that I do not consider this to be a vehicle, but terrain. The sheer size of it makes it a great centre piece for all gaming tables and an even better mission objective for narrative play and campaigns.