Custom Legio lore: what to keep in mind?

[Doctor Perils]

Hi,

I'm currently working on the lore for my DIY Titan Legio, and I've realised that I'm not too sure where to start for writing an engaging article on one. Without access to the black books and only extremely short write ups in the Titanicus books, I've been looking through Lexicanum and Wikias/Fandom sites for examples. But it seems like only a tiny handful of Legios have much written about them, and of them mostly the most major, like Mortis and Astorum.

 

So, in your opinion, what considerations should I have about my Legio? Obviously History is going to be a major part of any article, but what other sections could be of interest? Home forge world, Legio culture/beliefs, preferred titans and maniples, allied houses and astartes could all be of interest I imagine, but would something like Organisation be of any use considering the Legios apparently all share the same organisation anyway?

 

In addition, are there any major considerations to write around when starting? The founding of the Mechanicum, the Death of Innocence and Beta-Garmon might all be important to all Legios, but not all Legios can be on Mars off screen for instance...

Also, and here I may be betraying my lack of knowledge about the Mechanicum, but were the Forge Worlds really colonised during the Age of Strife, and with them their Titan Legios, or is that lore outdated? What of the Divisiones of the Legios?

 

Do we know how most Moderati and Princeps are recruited in most Legios? (Solaria and Fureans seem to be special cases, but also the only examples I know of). IIRC, there is a kind of Academy or College for Princeps, is that also the case for Moderati? Do Moderati get promoted to Princeps status? Do Principes get "promoted" to larger titans over their career, or do they have to train for their own specific Titan Class at the academy?

 

 

Anyway, if you can answer or provide thoughts about these questions, that would be awesome; but feel free to use this thread if you have any of your own questions :D If this can turn into a thread similar to the Liber Surgery (http://www.bolterandchainsword.com/topic/301536-the-liber-surgery/), only specialised in Adeptus Titanicus stuff, that would great :tu:

[Beren]

A lot of the time Legion culture and history is what leads to Legion tactics. For example Atarus is a young Legio unconstrained by traditions, with a historical grudge against Martian orthodoxy. They result is a Legio that 'specialises' in adaptive tactics. Xestobiax is a Legio with a limited transport fleet and limited replenishment, traditionally separated into 'Vigils' of twelve that each have a specific location to safeguard. The result is a Legio with a disdain for scout titans (they're typically fighting on their own terrain) accustomed to holding their ground.

 

Another thing to consider is how your Legion seperates itself. Legio Tempestus for example was separeted into two halves, Crucius and Gryphonicus are noted to have garrison posts around the galaxy, whilst Xestobiax was seperated into the aforementioned vigils which were mainly posted within their home Zhao-Arkhad system and surrounding space.

 

As far as I know, Forge Worlds and Titan Legios were seeded during the 'Long March' out from Mars during the Age of Strife. A lot of fleets just vanished due to warp storms and other hazards, and even once founded a Forge World was vulnerable. Some Forge Worlds, such as Cyclothrathe and Atar-Median were founded over the course of the Great Crusade whilst others such as as M'Pandex, Incladion and Sarum were saved from destruction or decay by the Imperium's arrival.

 

Legios Vulcanum I and II are notable in that they used clone dynasties as stock for their crew, and Legio Vulpa is mentioned in Titandeath to include suitable recruits from crew children. Other than that, I'm not really sure where they come from, but the novels do make frequent reference to Moderati being promoted to Princeps and Princeps being promoted between Titan classes in all cases that I can recall.

Edited August 11, 2020 by Beren

[Brother-Captain Gilead]

A lot of these questions are something that you can actually decide for yourself. There are in-lore examples of moderati who desire to make princeps (Legio Mortis personnel during the Horus Rising trilogy are examples of this), but there are also in-lore examples of moderati who are unable to become princeps since they have different plugs (the Titan comics written by Dan Abnett back in the day). As to where people were recruited you have a lot of different examples as well, with the Legio Fureans who recruited their princeps from barbaric tribesmen, Legio Crucius who recruited from the techpriests of Ryza and Legio Vulcanum that had cloned twins for princeps.

 

Since you need a point to start from to get down and narrow the lore down from among all of these possibilities, I personally would start by figuring out the circumstances of the Legio's conception. Was it created on Mars like the first Legios? Was it created on a different, but still a major forge world like Metalica or Ryza? Was it created on a Forge World of your own creation, if yes, is it the only one that world has? Is that Forge World still the one that the Legio calls home, or has it been transplanted like so many were during the Great Crusade (Mars at least had a habit of gifting minor Legios to reclaimed Forge Worlds as part of compliance negotiations)?

 

Just figuring out the answers to these questions would I think narrow the scope down a bit. Like, for example here is some lore I created just now for Legio Crepusculum (Twilight Legion). Legio Crepusculum was the last Titan Legion the forges of Ryza created during the Great Crusade, with the final God-machine walking off the assembly line merely a decade prior to the Istvaan Massacre, which led to its name gaining an ironic echo during the horrors of Horus Heresy. The Legio was from the very beginning created not as an expeditionary force, but to act as stewards and guardians on the edges of the Imperium where the light of the Astronomican fades. To that end the Legio was gifted by the priests of Ryza to a recently discovered Forge World Achinato that had been suffering from xenos predations on the Eastern Fringe of the Galaxy.

 

Fresh from the forges, the God-machines soon found themselves in dire straits as by the time they had completed their journey to their new home the Imperium tore itself apart. The princeps remembered their original oaths of fealty to Ryza well, and when the leadership of Achinato started discussing secession and return to autonomy they knew that they had to act before they would forever lose their honor alongside their spineless masters. In one fell evening they decapitated the leadership of Achinato by burning down the spire where the ruling council had congregated and the leader of the Legio took up the mantle of regent for the Forge World. This bloody coup would leave a mark on both the Forge World and on the Legio and would forever strain the relationship between them, even as the tradition of the leader of the Legio holding the honorary title of Regent of Achinato has remained to this day. This strain manifested itself even during the Heresy as the forgefanes of Achinato struggled to build the capabilities necessary to supply a Legio while maintaining its commitments to produce material for the Imperium at large, leaving the God-machines with very low levels of supplies and necessitating that the Legio plan for engagements to be short and decisive rather than long slugfests.

 

For its personnel, the Legio recruits heavily from the world of Achinato and its vassal latheworlds, but curiously the leader that the Legio has chosen for itself has more often than not been one of the few outsiders within the Legio and even more curiously these outsiders have often had some link with distant Ryza. Whether this is the Legio remembering and honoring its roots or a safety measure to have the Legio maintain the distance it has with the ruling council of Achinato due to their predecessors weakness is hard for anyone outside the Legio to determine. Among the more radical members of the ruling council it is even whispered that this was Ryza's plan all along, to give a gift of a Legio, but to turn that gift against the Forge World that shelters it. The truth of these matters will remain clouded as is often the case with Mechanicus politics.

 

There, all of this from just me figuring out a "what if" from a starting point of a titan legion from Ryza that was transplanted to a new Forge World just as the Horus Heresy was about to start. I hope this helps.

[Iron Hands Fanatic]

I second everything that Beren said, especially where it comes to how a Legio's background informs their tactics - it might actually be useful to work backwards from what tactics you wanna use for your Legio to infer some of their nature/history - if you have Defence of Ryza, figure out which Crusade Legio rules you'd like to use and help that shape your Legio. Another thing of note is that a Legio's Forge World will heavily inform the nature of any Titan Legio they have - if you're giving them a custom homeworld, figure out a bit about the conditions of said planet and think about how that might effect a Legio stationed upon it, and if you're adding a new Legio to an existing, obscure Forge World, find as much info on the world as you can and do the same.

 

Also, there were a few Legio formed as dedicated Great Crusade forces at the outset of the Great Crusade, or new Legio formed from a large Legio which split at some point as the Crusade's progress, so that's an alternative option for founding.

[Beren]

 

Also, there were a few Legio formed as dedicated Great Crusade forces at the outset of the Great Crusade, or new Legio formed from a large Legio which split at some point as the Crusade's progress, so that's an alternative option for founding.

 

Also that such Legios were sometimes rewarded by being assigned to a newly discovered Forge World, such as Praesagius being established upon Gantz.

 

By contrast, Legio Suturvora (later Infernus) had effectively been exiled from Mars to act as a mendicant Crusade Legio and by the time of the Heresy still had no home other than its long-abandoned and sealed off Forge-fane on Mars.

[Sandlemad]

Organisation can be interesting. Legions share the same broad structure but there’s still the possibility of variation within that, though it’s usually going to be variation of emphasis. You could check out the background for Xestobiax, usual structure but in practice the semi-permanent ‘vigils’ particular battlegroups were placed on ended up being more important for understanding the legion’s organisation. You could probably say the same about Tempestus having multiple forge holdings, which wound up with distinct loyalties.

 

That’s correct RE: the foundation of the forge worlds. If you like, there’s a few broad origins for titan legions

 

• The Triad Ferrum Morgulus or their descendents who still treat Mars as their home forge; so this is Mortis, Tempestus and Ignatum but also smaller legions like Fortidus and possibly others.
• Legions sent out into the dark as part of those Age of Strife colonisation efforts, who then became the primary military force for their forge worlds and who had centuries of experience even before said forge worlds reconnected with the great crusade; folks like Fureans, Gryphonicus, Astorum, Crucius. There’s variability here too, Fureans was a broken legion on a single forge world wracked by civil war when the crusade found it, while Gryphonicus was the fist of interstellar empire for Gryphonne IV.
• ‘Crusading’ legions that were committed to the great crusade, either uprooted from other Martian holdings (Suturvora, Tenerii, Vulpa) or founded specifically for the new alliance with Terra (Praesagius, maybe Honorum?). These often then settled down as the crusade wore on.
• Legions founded during the great crusade as contingencies of Mechanicum expansion or politicking (Solaria when the Mechanicum encountered their knight world, Atarus as split off from Osedax for a newly settled forge world) 

 

I don’t think the divisiones are much in evidence in the newer background. There seems to be less emphasis on the collegia titanica as a central body run from Mars with different purpose-focused divisions and more on it being a more literal collegium or association of legions with their own loyalties, either to Mars, the crusade, their own local forge world, etc.

 

In terms of other considerations, I think it’s worth paying attention to history and character beyond, say, “this legion is from a fire planet so they’re Like This”. That's cool on its own but there's plenty of military history things to pull from.

 

• Was there anything on their homeworld that did impact, e.g. their colour scheme or background? Solaria was a quite specific product of not just their knightly homeworld, but a particular Artemisian hunting cult. Fureans’s culture and beliefs took on a more shamanistic aspect over the centuries as they drew recruits from nearby feral worlds.
• If they were from a reconnected forge world, how did first contact go? Fureans fought bitterly against inclusion but ultimately felt loyal to one set of their conquering opponents and eventual allies (legio Mortis) but didn’t feel strongly about the other (the Iron Warriors). Osedax got wrapped up in politicking between their world, Phaeton, and Mars, leading to a split and the foundation of legio Atarus. Xana's power meant the imperium was suspicious of Vulturum when they first met them.
• How did they feel about the imperial ideology of the great crusade? Gryphonicus were earnest believers beyond almost any part of the Mechanicum, Mortis saw it as a tedious distraction from their own role, Defensor went all-in on the imperial cult, Crucius saw it as good test but anticipated a new civil war, etc
• Did they adhere to a particular Mechanicum ideology? Vulpa stuck with particular beliefs about increasing entropy in the universe or something, while Suturvora were hardline fundamentalists about the right way to venerate the machine god.  
• Did they have a particular relationship with their Mechanicum masters? Mortis was simultaneously the Fabricator General’s praetorian guard and internal executioners. Vulturum were used as test-beds for their master’s experimental gear. Parts of Xestobiax were pulled into the radical views of the Arkhadine Mechanicum while others kept their distance.
• What kind of seniority did they have? Atarus were looked down on as newcomers and byblows of political strife whereas Oberon, not much less young, built a fine reputation through their victories and tactical nous.
• Were their experiences shaped by particular campaigns? Atarus bore a grudge against other legions because of the Shedim Drift campaigns. Same with Solaria and Vulpa. Vulturum’s initially suspicious reputation was assuaged by the honours they won in the Rangdan xenocides. Praesagius's early and chivalrous success stirred envy and got them assigned to the worst battlefields of the mid-crusade before they wound up in Ultramar.
• As you said, were they close to other imperial bodies? Oberon and Praesagius were intimately associated and on excellent terms with Guilliman and the Ultramarines, while others like Audax fought alongside many legions but eventually sort of got lumped with the World Eaters as a “back of the class gang” kind of expeditionary fleet. Vulpa and Interfector had Word Bearers 'advisors' in their fleets.
• If they’re traitors, how did they fall? Were they approached before the first shots were fired, like Mortis, Fureans and Krytos? Were they practically tricked into it, like Suturvora, Interfector and Mordaxis? Did they all turn or was there internal conflict?
• Did they prefer a particular titan class for any reason? Audax could only use warhounds because of STC corruption or something, and then engrained tradition. Xestobiax used warhounds but scorned them somewhat because they considered them a waste of limited resources. Gryphonicus favoured the reaver because they churned so many out and adapted them for various roles.

All these can then be used as seeds for thinking about how your legion actually fought and what kinds of strategems they favoured. Or, as IHF says, find the traits you like and work backwards, see how they interact with these questions.

Edited August 11, 2020 by Sandlemad

[Mandragola]

The blank s

 

I second everything that Beren said, especially where it comes to how a Legio's background informs their tactics - it might actually be useful to work backwards from what tactics you wanna use for your Legio to infer some of their nature/history - if you have Defence of Ryza, figure out which Crusade Legio rules you'd like to use and help that shape your Legio. 

I agree with this. It's tough to work from a blank sheet of paper. It's much easier if you've got a sort of framework to work around, and the traits of your Legio are a great place to start. How come they are like this?

 

This does of course risk the temptation of just picking whatever traits you like most. There might not be too much wrong with that though. Ultimately, this is a game and you want to have a good time when you play it.

 

One thing I would recommend is to avoid restricting yourself unnecessarily. For some reason it's very common for people who write their own fluff to immediately jump to stuff they can't have. So they can't have this or that unit, they never work with knights, or whatever. I don't think there's much point in limiting yourself in that way. Ultimately reducing your options reduces your fun, in my experience.

[noigrim]

You should build your forgeworld first and make the legion around that

[Fajita Fan]

You should build your forgeworld first and make the legion around that

Concur.  Picture the planet and forge your titans come from, that will often influence their tactics, color scheme, favored engines/maniples, or organization.

 

Do Moderati get promoted to Princeps status? 

Yes.

 

Do Principes get "promoted" to larger titans over their career

Yes.

 

Do we know how most Moderati and Princeps are recruited in most Legios?

Make it up, there are very few "formal" way things are done preheresy.  Not everything in the nascent Imperium had the rigid structure of the Codex Astartes so you're kinda free to make up what you'd like.  Fancy noble houses who send prospective children into arranged marriages to form alliances leading to the right to pilot a titan?  Go for it.  Teenage battle royales where the last person standing gets the right to the next titan?  Go for it.  Warrior monks who spend decades in study to join titan college?  Go for it.  Democratic bodies who vote for titan crews?  Go for it.  Some kind of Ender's Game training system?  Go for it!!

 

Based on two sentences in a HH novel I tried to make a custodes legion who act as the Emperor's vanguard whenever he drops down to fight but I didn't love the color scheme. 

Edited August 12, 2020 by Fajita Fan

[schoon]

I'm going to suggest an alternate approach.

 

Figure out your Legio's traits, etc. based on your preferred play style.

 

Then write a piece of Legio history about how each of those traits came into being.

 

This will usually suggest personalities, tactics, events, etc. that will further fill in the blanks.

 

Then you can flesh out the rest in accordance to all the excellent advice above.

[Brother-Captain Gilead]

 

*snip*

 

Do Moderati get promoted to Princeps status? 

Yes.

 

Do Principes get "promoted" to larger titans over their career

Yes.

 

*snip*

 

There are in-lore examples of Legios that operate differently though. Unless the canon status of the old Titan comics has changed, in those the moderati and the princeps came from different backgrounds and had different plugs that were not interchangeable. Additionally, once a princeps was bound to a titan and its machine spirit, that was it. You would not be moved to a different titan anymore than you would change your bloodtype or skeleton. You were part of that titan until you died and once that happened your spirit would haunt the God Machine and give (hopefully) useful advice to your successors.

 

That being said those comics are old and have problems with scale, so I am ok with considering them canon-adjacent rather than canon-defining, especially since the HH books depict at least Legio Mortis and Legio Tempestus to have princeps moving from titan to titan as well as having moderati with aspirations to having their own God-Machine to command eventually.

[noigrim]

Eh if you get promoted you get the new plugs too

[Doctor Perils]

Some spectacular comments and hooks for developing legios, thanks for the help and all the ideas you've given me :D

I must admit I wasn't expecting to get as much feedback, and I'm very happy to see how many of these tips and tricks could be applicable to any Legio one may want to develop, not just for mine :)

 

I'll see if I can summarise some of this discussion here (leaving out the examples for the moment)

There are two competing bodies of thought as to where to actually start:

- some believe it is best to start off from the Forge World, its culture, environment, politics, beliefs, etc. This will then inform the culture and history of the legio itself, and in turn the legion's tactics (and the in-game traits afterwards)

- others see it best to work in the opposite direction: pick the in-game traits that you think could make an interesting story together, then write snippets of lore around them as justification to why the legion has that trait, and flesh out legion culture, history and tactics before moving up to the forge world's culture itself.

 

Both methods have advantages and drawbacks in my opinion, but both seem perfectly valid :tu:

 

 

Next up comes founding options. For a custom Forge World it seems there's two main periods of founding:

- as part of the "Long March" during the Age of Strife, where Mars sent out colonisation ships to seed new Forge World's

- during the Great Crusade, when suitable planets were identified by the Mechanicum

 

When speaking of the Legio itself, it could be:

- created on Mars, as a more minor Legio to the Triad,

- created on (or for) one of the Long March forge worlds as its main military force

- created during the Great Crusade, for Crusading duties or as a split from a larger Legio; this could still be crusading by the time of the Heresy, or have been assigned to a refound or newly founded Forge World

- created during the Crusade for the Mechanicum's own political purposes (either to create bonds with newly found worlds or for potential strife upon the forge world, within the Mechanicum, or against the Imperium when the time came)

 

There's definitely some very interesting plot hooks in there already imo.

 

 

After founding considerations comes organisation: while it seems Legios already nominally follow a unified chart of organisation, in practice there are still many variations possible. Potential subdivisions, including legio halves (or demi-legios), garrison forces, "vigils" etc. On a personal/personnel level, some Legios have promotions from Moderati to Princeps, but not all; some have principes promoted to different titan classes; some will promote promising principes to Princeps seniores (and other senior officer levels) on a permanent basis whilst others will only choose a princeps seniores on a temporary basis (whether elected by their peers or nominated by the forge world's tech priests); in yet others, once a Princeps is "bonded" to a particular Titan, they will never again change god-machine, let alone change titan class...

 

 

Speaking of crew, it seems pretty much 100% up to you. Canon examples and ideas provided here include:

- cloned dynasties or twins

- noble houses

- children of crew

- teenage Battle Royales

- barbaric tribesmen

- warrior monks

- alumni of titan college

- techpriests

- "democratically" "elected" crew

- outsiders from other forge worlds

- Ender's game training system

 

 

 

On the topic of the overall organisation of the Collegia Titanica, it seems it is no longer a single entity, in much the same way that the Adeptus Astartes are a collection of mostly independent chapters with no formal over-arching administration. So too are gone the Divisiones, with the Divisio Telepathica's duties transferred to the Ordo Sinister, some legions said to be used as testbeds for Techpriests' new innovations (thus taking over the function of the Divisio Investigatus) and expeditionary forces being a part of certain legions or independent legions means that the Divisio Mandatum seems to no longer have a use either.

However, this change means that we are far more free to see our Legios (or even separate DIY sections of larger Legios) become truly fleshed out forces with their own allegiances and beliefs alongside their culture and history.

 

 

Finally, here were some questions that came up that can help to flesh out the legio:

- what impact does their homeworld have on them, eg. Colour scheme or background?

- were they from a forge world reconnected during the Great Crusade? If so, how did it go?

- do they have any particular feelings on the Imperium and the great crusade?

- how about the Martian Mechanicum?

- do they adhere to a particular Mechanicum ideology?

- do they have Hereteks? If so, do they dabble in daemonforging, xenotech, abominable intelligences...

- what is their seniority? How do other legios or imperial organisations view them?

- what is their size? Rivaling the Primus Legios, or barely more than a maniple?

- did they participate in any particular campaigns? How may that have affected them?

- do they uphold any alliances, whether with other forge worlds, knight houses, space marine legions, imperial army regiments...

- conversely, do they have any rivals or enemies? Before the heresy? During?

- if they are traitors, how and why did they fall? If not, what motivates their loyalty?

- have they ever had any internal strife? Is there factionalism within the legio?

- do they have any preferred or disdained titan classes or classifications? If so, why?

- do they have any preferred or disdained weapon technologies? How might this affect their tactics?

- how well do they adapt to unexpected fighting conditions? Are they hyper-specialised into one type of warfare or environment, or are they more of a jack of all trades?

 

 

Thanks for all the input :D I've got some ideas buzzing around already, but I'll post that up in a separate thread, so as to keep this one more as a generic reference :)

[Gore Crow]

Good stuff here, just wanted to add what I used in the beginning to spark some inspo: https://1d4chan.org/wiki/Titan_Legion_Creation_Tables

[Fajita Fan]

 

 

 

*snip*

 

Do Moderati get promoted to Princeps status?

Yes.

Do Principes get "promoted" to larger titans over their career

Yes.

 

*snip*

There are in-lore examples of Legios that operate differently though. Unless the canon status of the old Titan comics has changed, in those the moderati and the princeps came from different backgrounds and had different plugs that were not interchangeable. Additionally, once a princeps was bound to a titan and its machine spirit, that was it. You would not be moved to a different titan anymore than you would change your bloodtype or skeleton. You were part of that titan until you died and once that happened your spirit would haunt the God Machine and give (hopefully) useful advice to your successors.

 

That being said those comics are old and have problems with scale, so I am ok with considering them canon-adjacent rather than canon-defining, especially since the HH books depict at least Legio Mortis and Legio Tempestus to have princeps moving from titan to titan as well as having moderati with aspirations to having their own God-Machine to command eventually.

If I remember correctly in Dan Abnett’s “Titanicus” the princeps of the Warlord is slowly losing himself to the MIU and his moderati is being groomed for command of his own titan.

 

GW’s canon changes at whim, the only thing that bugs me with titan or knight backgrounds is seeing them literally painted as part of an Astartes chapter. I’ve seen some beautifully painted knights and titans who are supposedly piloted by space marines which is less likely than the USAF being given a Navy aircraft carrier.

[Brother-Captain Gilead]

Eh if you get promoted you get the new plugs too

 

The Titan comics kind of implied that that would not be possible, but then again the Titan comics also had everyone of the titans crew suffering from withdrawal pains and hallucinations every time they were not part of the titan as well as having the princeps take command of the titan by basically jamming MIU wires into his neck to kill the enemy crew that had boarded his titan and hijacked the controls. Oh, and the princeps could communicate telepathically with each other by way of a shared connection through the machine spirit / human spirit interlink. Which the tyranids used to turn a titan to their side. And tried to corrupt the whole titan legion with, but then the old spirit of the previous princeps melded his mind with the tyranid hive mind and then killed himself and thus annihilated the swarm. As you do.

 

Those old Titan comics were really weird... ;)

[Fajita Fan]

 

Eh if you get promoted you get the new plugs too

 

The Titan comics kind of implied that that would not be possible, but then again the Titan comics also had everyone of the titans crew suffering from withdrawal pains and hallucinations every time they were not part of the titan as well as having the princeps take command of the titan by basically jamming MIU wires into his neck to kill the enemy crew that had boarded his titan and hijacked the controls. Oh, and the princeps could communicate telepathically with each other by way of a shared connection through the machine spirit / human spirit interlink. Which the tyranids used to turn a titan to their side. And tried to corrupt the whole titan legion with, but then the old spirit of the previous princeps melded his mind with the tyranid hive mind and then killed himself and thus annihilated the swarm. As you do.

 

Those old Titan comics were really weird...

 

There's a bunch of that in "Titanicus" and it's a great book.  Highly recommended.

[Beren]

 

Eh if you get promoted you get the new plugs too

 

The Titan comics kind of implied that that would not be possible, but then again the Titan comics also had everyone of the titans crew suffering from withdrawal pains and hallucinations every time they were not part of the titan as well as having the princeps take command of the titan by basically jamming MIU wires into his neck to kill the enemy crew that had boarded his titan and hijacked the controls. Oh, and the princeps could communicate telepathically with each other by way of a shared connection through the machine spirit / human spirit interlink. Which the tyranids used to turn a titan to their side. And tried to corrupt the whole titan legion with, but then the old spirit of the previous princeps melded his mind with the tyranid hive mind and then killed himself and thus annihilated the swarm. As you do.

 

Those old Titan comics were really weird...

 

 

A lot of this (aside from the Tyranid stuff) is still canon as of Titandeath.

[noigrim]

Let's not forget the tyranid corrupted warlord.

Bloody illegal aliens, they took our titans!

[Syrakul]

I'm going to suggest an alternate approach.

 

Figure out your Legio's traits, etc. based on your preferred play style.

 

Then write a piece of Legio history about how each of those traits came into being.

 

This will usually suggest personalities, tactics, events, etc. that will further fill in the blanks.

 

Then you can flesh out the rest in accordance to all the excellent advice above.

I agree with this and for my legio I went with the more blatant 40k style "super-theme" like you see with space wolves or blood angels.

 

Think of a motif, how would a legio embodying that behave on the battlefield? colors used?

 

My custom legio is called "Legio Ouroboros : The Void Snakes", and they are eerie green with some snake-like orange/black markings, using fast striking tactics and wargear (from WD creation rules). They do wibbly wobbly time shenanigans and I was inspired by the band "the Sword" and all that stoner metal mysticism (Warp Riders is my jam)

 

Hell you could just say "what colors look cool?" and "how would I want to play the game?" then do that and fill in the background for fun later.

[noigrim]

About the colours taka a look at the colour wheel: I recommend two complementary and one opposite

[Uberlord Gendo]

The fluff for the Knight house I use with my titans is totally centered around rationalizing the suicidal tactics that they end up getting used for.

The idea is that they're neuro-gheists of daredevil and glory seeking pilots that are written onto blank servitors, so they live, they die, they live again, chalking it up to Omnissiah's favor. There's a lot of yelling WITNESS ME involved...

But then that got into ideas about what the Forge that maintains them is like- why do they skirt tech heresy in this way? How do they do it? What made them realize that, with the way echoes of former pilots pile up in engine manifolds, a knight's pilot is more or less just a biological component required to complete the circuit and do some computation on?

 

In combination with directions I wanted to go based on my legio's color scheme, I ended up working out a whole Mechanicum cosmology for my Forge that sees machine spirits as akin to those of the dead (the dead whose memories and personalities they upload into the planetary data-looms at the funeral).

 

Of course, now that I've seen the custom rules in Defence of Ryza, I now want to do a legion that's based around the rationale of using Diabatic Warheads, so... yeah... mixed results.

[ToyShip]

 

 

I'm going to suggest an alternate approach.

 

Figure out your Legio's traits, etc. based on your preferred play style.

 

Then write a piece of Legio history about how each of those traits came into being.

 

This will usually suggest personalities, tactics, events, etc. that will further fill in the blanks.

 

Then you can flesh out the rest in accordance to all the excellent advice above.

I agree with this and for my legio I went with the more blatant 40k style "super-theme" like you see with space wolves or blood angels.

 

Think of a motif, how would a legio embodying that behave on the battlefield? colors used?

 

My custom legio is called "Legio Ouroboros : The Void Snakes", and they are eerie green with some snake-like orange/black markings, using fast striking tactics and wargear (from WD creation rules). They do wibbly wobbly time shenanigans and I was inspired by the band "the Sword" and all that stoner metal mysticism (Warp Riders is my jam)

 

Hell you could just say "what colors look cool?" and "how would I want to play the game?" then do that and fill in the background for fun later.

Warp Riders is such a dope album! So cool that you came up with a Legio based on that. Kinda think it’d be cool to do one based on Mastodon’s Blood Mountain or Crack the Skye. Cheers for the idea!