The Emperor's Five Talons

[Vash113]

While we've known that the Adeptus Custodes and the Sisters of Silence were collectively known as the Talons of the Emperor for some months now the release of Inferno has added considerably more information to the Emperor's most powerful personal forces. One blurb in particular at the start of the army list in Inferno says the following:

 

 

 

... the Talons of the Emperor is the name given to those elite forces of the Imperium who drew their commands directly from the Master of Mankind in war, and served Him as emissaries, agents, bodyguards and destroyers. They include among their number the legendary Legio Custodes, the Emperor's own sworn protectors, and the feared Sisters of Silence, harvesters of the Great Tithe, as well as the shadowy inhuman killers of the Officio Assassinorum, and other even stranger and more occluded agencies such as the tech-arcanists of the Templi-Chronos and the dread Psi-Titans of the Ordo Sinister.

 

So instead of two Talons, we have five, and rules for four of them to boot. Now Templi-Chronos sounds like it has something to do with time technology, understandable why the Emperor would keep that kind of thing to himself. The Ordo Sinister Psi-Titans and their technology, the Sinistratum Tenebrae or "Left Hand of Darkness" and psychic powers on a macro-scale and of course the Assassinorum.

 

So what do you guys think about this expanded list of the Talons of the Emperor? Anyone else suddenly struck by the idea of a mixed force of Custodes, Sisters AND Assassins and goodness-gracious-if-I-had-the-money a Warlord-Sinister Psi-Titan?

[Sete]

This is interesting.

Any colour scheme to the psy titans? And would it be feasible to have some skitarii in those colours? (And a "psy knight" for shenanigans purposes)

 

Could you please share more info about the Black Custodes aswell?

 

It would be awesome to do a combined army of the Talons of the Emperor.

[Sandlemad]

@Sete: Officially the Ordo Sinister's colours were black/green trimmed with silver but there's no clear pictures in Inferno showing it. Part of the mystique.

 

On skitarii, bit of a tricky question. The Ordo Sinister was the only force of titans that had no connection with the Mechanicum. 25 warlords were delivered to Terra, no strings attached. They were not under the remit of the techpriesthood, they had no forge world to defend, they were crewed entirely by captive psykers and blank princeps trained personally by the Emperor. Culturally they were as un-Mechanicum as the astartes legions, so they probably didn't have attached maniples of Martian-style skitarii/secutarii. The nightmarish aura they put out would probably also drive any close-support troops to madness.

 

That said, did they perhaps have some some forces of black-coated bionics-equipped mind-wiped Terran titanguard that could be represented using skitarii rules? Sure, that could work.

 

The black-armoured custodes were a particular force called the Wardens of the Vaults of Rython, based deep in the imperial dungeons. They don't appear to have been anything too different from the normal guys, just presumably set to guard something terrifying annd with their own badass livery.

 

Are there any references to the Ordo Sinister or psy-titans fighting after the heresy? I know psy-titans were mentioned in guarded terms in the old EoT codex.

[jeffersonian000]

FW just release a Psi-Titan Warlord model and rules.

 

SJ

[Vash113]

This is interesting.

Any colour scheme to the psy titans? And would it be feasible to have some skitarii in those colours? (And a "psy knight" for shenanigans purposes)

 

Could you please share more info about the Black Custodes aswell?

 

It would be awesome to do a combined army of the Talons of the Emperor.

 

The heraldry of the Ordo Sinister is described as thus: "liveried in deep green-black verdigris and bearing a snarling lion in cold argent head as its sigil..."

 

That bit also goes on to describe the markings on the Titan as reading the "Ordo Sinister - Pavore Dominetur" and the name "Polaris-Albedelach."

 

As for Skitarii that's a no-go, the Ordo Sinister is not described as fielding any support personel nor does it have anything to do with the Adeptus Mechanicus. No Secutarii Titan Guard or vassal Imperial Knight houses. The Emperor requisitioned twenty-five Warlord class Titans from Mars and then retrofitted them into Warlord-Sinister pattern engines with Pariahs as pilots known as Preceptor-Intendants. Hard-wired psykers replace the moderatii and most of the rest of the crew and what remains is controlled by machine spirits and other automated systems. However as Sandlemad indicated a black-clad force of Ordo Sinister support troops could be interesting, but personally I'd stick to a combined-arms Talons of the Emperor for support troops.

 

The Black Custodian is a Custodian-Warder and serves as part of a sub-faction known as the "Warders of the Vaults of Rython." The vaults are apparently deeply sequestered and forbidden parts of the Imperial Palace with an entire sub-faction of the Custodes assigned to guard them, likely the store-houses of some of the Imperium's most forbidden weapons and technology only allowed to see service with the Talons of the Emperor. In addition to black armor, silver trim and bronze cabling the Custodian-Warders are shown to use a different shoulder pad armorial replacing the single-headed raptor of the usual Custodes design with a twin-headed Palatine Aquila, however unlike the usual which has one eye shut and one open the Warder Aquila has both eyes open and fitted with gems. Dunno if Forge World will release variant pads at some point but hey, they might.

 

 

 

Are there any references to the Ordo Sinister or psy-titans fighting after the heresy? I know psy-titans were mentioned in guarded terms in the old EoT codex.

 

Not that I recall, but then the Inferno fluff seems to indicate the Ordo Sinister wasn't going to be deployed even in the defense of Terra except as an utter last stand so it seems likely IMO that fluff-wise if anything of the Ordo Sinister remains it's likely been waiting on Terra for ages, but now that Guilliman has set the Custodes and Sisters loose maybe any remaining Psi-Titans will join them. I'm kinda expecting Forge World to address and expand the Talons of the Emperor in 40k in future Imperial Armor books, we'll just have to see.

 

 

FW just release a Psi-Titan Warlord model and rules.

 

SJ

 

Rules yes, model not yet. Inferno didn't even sort of "leak" show any Warlord-Sinister unique parts: head, tilt-shields and the weapon, the Sinistratum-Tenebrae, but I'd expect those to be coming in the next few months probably. Before then though we've got the Agamatus Jetbikes coming soon, and we've already seen images of the "Heavy Dreadnought" and I'd expect that in another month or two.

[Purge the Daemon]

In terms of the model forgeworld staff was asked about pieces they have yet to start designing them. But supposedly might be head weapon and the alternate little shoulder pads for the ordo sinister I would also assume transfers as well.

[Vash113]

In terms of the model forgeworld staff was asked about pieces they have yet to start designing them. But supposedly might be head weapon and the alternate little shoulder pads for the ordo sinister I would also assume transfers as well.

 

That's what I'm expecting them to do, it would fit with their existing "Build a Titan" thing on the Forge World store.

[Charlo]

I imagine once the Psi-Titan bits are done (arm/ head/ shields) we'll see one in full Ordo Sinster Colours, maybe a transfer sheet too...!

 

The Templi-Chronos I doubt we'll see in game, as they could really mess with stuff, but who knows? We have little to no idea what they do.

 

Assassins were at one point slated to be in Inferno (I guess as part of the Talons list) but were dropped to give them a proper look later. My guess is the Solar War, so they can do loyal/ traitor assassins at the same time.

[Vash113]

I imagine once the Psi-Titan bits are done (arm/ head/ shields) we'll see one in full Ordo Sinster Colours, maybe a transfer sheet too...!

 

The Templi-Chronos I doubt we'll see in game, as they could really mess with stuff, but who knows? We have little to no idea what they do.

 

Assassins were at one point slated to be in Inferno (I guess as part of the Talons list) but were dropped to give them a proper look later. My guess is the Solar War, so they can do loyal/ traitor assassins at the same time.

 

Yea I think we'll see the Ordo Sinister in full colors when the upgrade parts come out. We also likely aren't going to see the Templi-Chronos in games however the background in Inferno seems to indicate (to me anyway) that maybe the Stasis Bombs used by the Deathsworn squads of the Space Wolves were supplied by the Emperor's agents, forged by the Templi-Chronos perhaps.

 

I also look forward to seeing what Forge World does for Assassins, frankly I'd love to see (even in resin) models for the Venenum and Vanus Temples.