Toxic Studio 13: Forge World Retlaxi

Forge World Retlaxi

(Summary about this page and why.)

This page will be the log of a long term project of building my Warhound and Rever Titans of Legio Mortis. These will not be the typical titans that can be purchased from Forge World, they will be scratch builds. I am also putting this page up in order for others to use as a resource for others that would like to attempt to scratch build their own titans. Many searches have lead me to some very detailed and awesome scratch builds but nothing with how they got the end results. This will be a detailed log on how and materials used in order to get the end results.

(About Legio Mortis)

The Legio Mortis (Death's Heads) are a Traitor Titan Legion of the Dark Mechanicus that repudiated their oaths to the Emperor of Mankind and followed Warmaster Horus into the service of the Ruinous Powers during the Horus Heresy. There is very little information in Imperial records about the founding of this Titan Legion, though they are known to have been founded before the Age of the Imperium, during the Age of Strife, in the early days of the Cult Mechanicus' conquest of Mars.

(Legion History)

The name of the Legio Mortis was feared and distrusted by many within the Imperium long before the betrayal and horror of the Horus Heresy was to unfold. Originating in the pre-Imperial Age of Strife the Legio Mortis was, according to the legends of the Martian Lexmechanics, one of the "Triad Ferrum Morgulus" -- the three originating Titan Legions created by the besieged Cult Mechanicum during the bloody wars to take back the Red Planet from the degenerate hordes of Cy-Carnivora and mutant scavers that had overwhelmed Mars after the fall of the first human interstellar civilisation. As was recorded in the iconography of their seal, the purpose of their creation was two-fold: firstly, to stand sentinel at the gates of the Fabricator-General's domain as tireless guardians, and second, the annihilation of all life that would threaten the Machine Cult. As such, the Legio Mortis served as both sentry and exterminator. Grim, dour and secretive, the Legion had gained a dark repute during the conquest of Mars as merciless and sinister that would only grow as the centuries passed, and it is now lost in time whether they gained their common name, "Death's Heads," from their iconography, the ritual onyx skull masks and sable robes their Princeps wore, or their long practice of arraying the skeletal remains of those they had slain across the armoured pediments of their war machines as trophies.

Bound they were by rite and tradition in personal loyalty to the office of the Fabricator-General of Mars, and many times were they used both against his enemies in war (for Mars was not truly pacified until the coming of the Emperor), and as a weapon to maintain his authority among the Fabricator-General's own and punish recalcitrant Magi and even other Titan Legions when needed. This history garnered them few friends or allies and their long standing rivalry with their fellow members of the Triad Ferrum Morgulus, most notably the Legio Ignatum, and their contempt for the "upstart" Titan Legions of other Forge Worlds than Mars was well known. In particular, the Legio Venator could not be trusted to fight alongside them without the threat of civil conflict erupting after the events of the Accatran Compliance during the Great Crusade.

Their reputation as an infamously fractious and insular force -- whose allegiance many within the Imperium's military staff believed remained solely to the Fabricator-General and to the Emperor not at all -- resulted in the tragic irony of the Legio Mortis ' assignment to the personal flag of Horus Lupercal of the Luna Wolves for the purpose of guaranteeing and deepening the Titan Legion's loyalty to the Imperium. Notwithstanding smaller battlegroups assigned to the Legio Mortis Forge-fortress on Mars and to the blockade of the Uhn Holdfast, the bulk of the Titan Legion's active strength was assigned as the Titan backbone of the 63rd Expeditionary Fleet under Horus. With that charismatic and deadly Primarch they fought in over one hundred campaigns in the later decades of the Great Crusade, and the ashes of countless worlds and the bones of scores of different alien races adorned their war engines. During these years of blood and battle a new loyalty was indeed forged for the Legio Mortis, but it was not to the distant Emperor of Mankind but rather to Horus, and they became pledged to his standard above all, and followed him willingly into treachery.

Project Log
(10-27-12)

Today I start with the first part of this project. I have started with research and with the info that I have collected I have decided that I will start with the Warhounds. Yes, that is correct Warhounds. I will start with the construction of the first 4 Warhounds of the legion and are considered the most notable Warhounds and are involved in the Istvann III Atrocity.

•Blood Wolf (Warhound-class Titan) - Involved in the Istvaan III Atrocity. Part of War Maniple Ferrum Mori.

•Carrion Crow (Warhound-class Titan) - Involved in the Istvaan III Atrocity. Part of War Maniple Ferrum Mori.

•Sothis (Warhound-class Titan) - Involved in the Istvaan III Atrocity. Part of War Maniple Ferrum Mori.

•Venator (Warhound-class Titan) - A member of the Death's Head Scouts, a Warhound Titan battlegroup that fought during the Horus Heresy. It was the excesses committed by Senior Princeps Esau Turnet's Death's Head Scouts during the course of the Horus Heresy which were directly responsible for terminating the practice of organising Scout Titans (such as the Warhound) into battlegroups. By the order of the High Lords of Terra they were limited to operate single or in pairs, so that the horror of civilian massacres, perpetrated by packs of Warhound-class Titans during the Battle of Terra, may never again be visited upon mankind.

Doing additional research I found an Image of the Legio Mortis Princeps Honour Banner.

The next step in this process will be to acquire some measurements in order to start designing the templates that will be used to build all future Warhound Titans. I have already decided that The warhounds will be of the Mars pattern and I will be using plasticard for all of the titans. The other thing that I have decided to do with this project is that the titans will have the look of pre-heresy crossing over to a post-heresy look. This is the same thing that I am doing with my Death Guard army. Off to the drawing board. I will post my results of what I come up with, but the first thing that I have to do is get measurements on the feet and legs.

Comments, advice and criticism is always welcomed.

Project Log
(11-8-12)

I have been working on the templates for the Mars Pattern Warhound. still trying to work out the measurement's. However I have already went off course with the project and started a Reaver Titan.

Manu Ruinam (Hand of Ruin)

just a roughed out torso at this point. Should have more after this weekend.

Project Log

(11-10-12)

Made adjustments to the engine exhaust today. Using a existing template that I found to provide the base and modify the existing template in order to make it look more like the current Forge World Reaver Titan. I will be constructing the right side latter today and adding the Carapace armor support then will build the exhaust cover cowing.