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House Cadmus - Sources: Adeptus Titanicus - The Horus Heresy: Titandeath (Specialty Game), pg. 93Codex: Imperial Knights (8th Edition), pp. 26-27Codex: Imperial Knights (7th Edition) (Digital Edition), pp. 40-41Codex: Imperial Knights (6th Edition) (Digital Edition), pp. 20, 42-43, 52-57, 103-106The Imperial Knight Companion (6th Edition), pp. 34-43
House Caesarean - House Caesarean: House Caesarean, known also by the cognomen "The Unbowed" and among its foes as "The Knights of Carrion," is a Renegade Knight house that repudiated its oaths to the Emperor of Mankind and followed the Warmaster Horus into the service of the Ruinous Powers during the Horus Heresy.
House Caesarean - Notable Campaigns: Battle of Tallarn (010-012.M31) - The House Caesarean is known to have fought in various engagements during the Horus Heresy, including the famed Battle of Tallarn. Perturabo, primarch of the Iron Warriors, launched an all-out planetary invasion of the verdant Imperial staging world of Tallarn, his Legion bolstered by dozens of allied Traitor Imperialis Auxilia regiments, the Traitor Titans of the Legio Krytos and the Knights of House Caesarean. Both the Loyalists and Traitor high commands were taken by surprise by Perturabo's actions and the invasion quickly escalated after he ordered Exterminatus upon the world, scouring its surface of living matter by way of a voracious Life-eater viral barrage. While the population of the world was all but wiped out, many defenders survived thanks to extensive subterranean shelters. The ensuing campaign was fought between vast formations of Imperial Army and Solar Auxilia tanks, the Titans of the Legio Gryphonicus, the Knights of House Megron, the indentured Automata of the household army of the Rogue Trader Sangrea as well as armoured forces of the Iron Hands, Imperial Fists, White Scars and Ultramarines Legions. No infantry can survive in the poisoned wastes, and the war quickly draws in other forces from across the region, including the Titans of the Legio Astorum. The Battle of Tallarn is considered the largest armoured engagement in the known history of Mankind, and while counted as a victory for the Loyalists, millions of warriors and war machines on both sides are left scattered across the lifeless, deadly surface of the planet.Battle of Beta-Garmon, "The Titandeath" (006-013.M31) - House Caesarean took part in the long and savage Beta-Garmon campaign, which included hundreds of war zones across dozens of worlds. During this conflict, House Caesarean provided Knight support to the Legio Krytos. Even before the greater armies of the Warmaster Horus reached the star cluster, the battle lines had long since been drawn, and fighting had been going on for many Terran years. It was a cauldron of battle that would consume millions of lives before its end and see the demise of entire Titan Legions, earning this campaign the dire moniker of the "Titandeath." The Beta-Garmon Cluster, also known as the gateway to the throneworld of Terra, was the last hurdle that the Warmaster Horus' forces had to overcome before they reached the Imperium's capital world. Heavily fortified by the Loyalists, Beta-Garmon would become one of the greatest and bloodiest battles of the Horus Heresy, as well as one of the longest-lasting.
House Caesarean - House Combat Doctrine: House Caesarean had a reputation for their skill in urban warfare, able to stalk the streets and strike before anyone knew they were there. Many of their Seneschals favoured swiftly falling upon their foes in a deadly lightning assault, carving through the opposition before they were aware an enemy had come.The Cerastus Knight-Acheron, like the Reborn depicted below, is a fearsome sight on the battlefield, a reaper of lives carefully designed not only to destroy but also to inspire terror. Most unusual amongst the Knight households, House Caesarean preferred this pattern of Knight armour for use in urban warfare, as its armament proved highly efficient during urban pacification actions. Few Scions choose to ride into battle in Acheron armour voluntarily, a fact attributed to the anima of the armour often being awash in the inherited memories of past massacres it had perpetrated.This stigma never took root amongst the ranks of House Caesarean, whose Scions saw the Cerastus Knight-Acheron as playing a vital part in the household's survival during the Age of Strife, making appointment to pilot an Acheron an honoured one. The sole exception to this was during intra-household warfare, where it was considered uncouth and dishonourable to set a fellow Ceasarean Scion ablaze, resulting in Acheron armours often being excluded from such conflicts.
House Caesarean - Notable Knights: Unrepentant Relict (Questoris Knight Warden) - Unrepentant Relict, depicted above upon the muster fields of Octavia in 002.M31, was one of the few House Caesarean Knight armours to have survived the constant cycle of urban warfare on its home moon during the Age of Strife. Much of House Caesarean's strength during the Great Crusade derived from armours fashioned in the standard century preceding the arrival of the Imperium or from fresh shipments of Knight armour following Octavia's Imperial Compliance. Due to its ancient nature, the possession of an armour such as Unrepentant Relict brought considerable status within the household, making it a frequently fought-over relic; the Questoris Knight is recorded to have changed hands amongst the tribal families at least 27 times, first as spoils of conquest from intra-household warfare and then through subterfuge and politics during the Great Crusade.Reborn (Cerastus Knight-Acheron) - Like all Knight Acherons utilised by House Caesarean, the Reborn specialised in urban warfare, its armament of a Flame Cannon and Reaper Chainfist proving highly efficient during urban pacification actions.
House Caesarean - Notable Personnel: None listed in current Imperial records.
House Caesarean - Titan Legios: Legio Krytos (No formal bond; reciprocal ties between House Caesarean and the Forge World of Krytos)
House Caesarean - Space Marine Legions: Iron Warriors
House Caesarean - House Strength: The distrustful nature of House Caesarean meant the household proved resistant to attempts to accurately catalogue its numbers and military power. Rough estimation places House Caesarean as a Secundus-class Knight house, capable of fielding anywhere between 150-210 Knight armours.Such numbers were divided between tribal families, each ruled over by warlords capable of tracing their ancestry back to the household's founders. There were five prominent families in active service at the onset of the Horus Heresy, four of which were deployed alongside either the Legio Krytos or the Iron Warriors Traitor Legion; all four are known to have turned against the Emperor.A smaller family unit never left Octavia, having assigned itself to watch over the rebirth of the moon. The fate of these Scions has yet to be determined.
House Caesarean - House Colours: The Knights of House Caesarean are painted in a halved yellow and black colour scheme with silver trim.
House Caesarean - House Arms: The arms of House Caesarean takes the form of an ankh, an ancient Gyptian hieroglyphic on Old Earth that was commonly used in writing and art to represent the word for "life" and, by extension, as a symbol of life itself.
House Caesarean - Sources: Adeptus Titanicus - The Horus Heresy: Rulebook (Specialty Game), pg. 14-17Adeptus Titanicus - The Horus Heresy: Titandeath (Specialty Game), pg. 95Adeptus Titanicus - The Horus Heresy: Traitor Legios (Specialty Game), pp. 38, 44-47Tallarn: Ironclad (Novel) by John FrenchGames Workshop Online Store - Legio Krytos & House Caesarean Transfer SheetWarhammer Community - Want to Assemble a Bright & Colourful Titan Legion That's Also Terrifying? Legio Krytos Is For You (12 Nov 2021)Warhammer Community - Adeptus Titancus Part 2: The Horus Heresy (07 Aug 2018)
House Calestros - House Calestros: House Calestros is a Loyalist Imperial Knight House of the Imperium. There is very little information in Imperial records about this Knight House, other than their valiant stand on their homeworld of Alaric Prime against the invasion of Ork Warlord Grukk and his Red WAAAGH! in 998.M41.
House Calestros - Notable Campaigns: Defence of Alaric Prime (443.998.M41) - In 998.M41, Warlord Grukk of the Red WAAAGH! ploughs into the densely populated Sanctus Reach, his crusade's juggernaut momentum smashing past the Space Marine homeworld of Obstiria to plunder the planets beyond. The Imperium prepares to make a stand upon Alaric Prime, a Feudal World of linked archipelagos and crumbling gaols. When a flotilla of Ork rust-ships make planetfall, the knightly houses of Alaric lead their Cadian allies in a worldwide counterattack. Warlord Grukk's bullish tactics take a heavy toll on the human defenders before the legendary Freeblade known as Gerantius, the Forgotten Knight, joins the conflict, tipping the war into a new phase of desperate battle.
House Calestros - Notable Knights: Kyrana Calestros - During the defence of Alaric Prime from the ravaging greenskin hordes of Warlord Grukk, this noble Knight of House Calestros who was foully slain during the sulphur storm at Kraken Falls. He valiantly held back an Ork flotilla for half a cycle even as the toxic rain and wind stripped his Knight to its bones. Only when his canopy cracked and his flesh fell from his skull did his guns fall silent.
House Calestros - Notable Personnel: None listed in current Imperial records.
House Calestros - House Colours: The colours of House Calestros are not listed in current Imperial records.
House Calestros - House Arms: The arms of House Calestros are not listed in current Imperial records.
House Chimaeros - House Chimaeros: House Chimaeros was a Renegade Knight House in service to the Chaos God Tzeentch. House Chimaeros was once considered the noblest House among all the Imperial Knights of the Knight World of Adrastapol. No other House of that world can boast to have held the crown of its High King as often or as long as House Chimaeros. Yet today its name stands as a testimony that even the most illustrious bloodline can fall prey to the evil promises of Chaos.Under the disguise of friendship and loyalty, House Chimaeros secretly planned to betray their allies and kill them on the beleaguered Industrial World of Donatos Primus. Colluding with the Chaos Space Marines of the Word Bearers Traitor Legion, House Chimaeros planned to use the events of what became known as the Donatos Uprising to seize power on Adrastapol and formally secede from the Imperium.Initially successful in their attempt to wound the Loyalist Knight Houses of Adrastapol, House Chimaeros and their equally treacherous allies within House Wyvorn quickly became embroiled in a three-way conflict with the remaining Imperial forces on Donatos Primus as well as their former allies among the Word Bearers and the Renegades and Chaos Cultists stirred up in the Donatos population. Weakened by this division, House Chimaeros was ultimately defeated, its remaining Nobles hunted down by the vengeful Knights of House Draconis, House Minotos and House Pegasson. The last Loyalist scion of this ancient House chose to abandon his family name and turned Freeblade. Under the identity of the Knight of Ashes, he now hunts for the source of House Chimaeros' corruption: a powerful witch in the service of the Changer of Ways, the Chaos God Tzeentch.The House motto was Fortis vo Modifactum ("Strength through Adaptation").
House Chimaeros - House History: The origins of House Chimaeros are a matter of fierce speculation -- as are the origins of all of Adrastapol's Knight Houses -- since most records of that distant time when Adrastapol was first colonised by humans are now lost to Imperial archives. It is generally agreed upon that as with most later Knight Worlds of theImperium of Mankind, Adrastapol was first settled in the distant Age of Technology. In the earliest records available House Chimaeros was but one -- if a powerful one -- of several Houses of Imperial Knights claiming Adrastapol as their homeworld. Perhaps more than any other House, House Chimaeros has left its mark on its homeworld. It is generally believed to have produced the greatest numbers of High Kings of Adrastapol. It was for instance under the banner of High King Rhoderic Tan Chimaeros that the Loyalist Knight Houses met the Renegade Knights of House Hydrax and House Medusos during the troubled times of the Horus Heresy and defeated them.Over the following millennia, House Chimaeros held a firm grip on the office of High King, a position that went mostly unchallenged. In their wisdom, House Chimaeros did not try to subjugate the other Houses, but allowed them to maintain their own identity and independence, thus preventing an internecine conflict between itself, House Draconis, House Minotos, House Manticos, House Wyvorn and House Pegasson. After this long period of stability came the disaster of the Yondax Crusade for which High King Dyforn Tan Chimaeros rightfully took the blame. As punishment for his failures, the Imperium of Man deposed King Dyforn and granted the crown to House Draconis. To mask House Chimaeros' shame, all the Knights were sworn to secrecy and a suitable tale was invented to explain House Chimaeros' loss of power.While most of its seasoned Knights were engaged in the Yondax Crusade, Adrastapol successfully fended off a major Greenskin invasion known to Imperial historians as WAAAGH! Skarjaw. The Ork Warboss Skarjaw was a feral representative of his race and had built his might with a powerful complement of lumbering warbeasts commonly referred to as Squiggoths. Following the losses of several fortresses and keeps belonging to House Manticos, an alliance of all Knightly Houses was forged by Kingsward Gerraint, who had assumed the title of High King.In a series of bloody conflicts that entered Adrastapol's history as the Ork Wars, WAAAGH! Skarjaw was defeated due to the courage and audacity of House Draconis. The overeager leader of the Greenskins had ventured too far ahead of his main invasion force, which rendered him vulnerable to a surprise attack. Led by the future High King Tolwyn Tan Draconis, then merely a Gatekeeper, Warboss Skarjaw and his personal Squiggoth were slain. Yet the Orks promptly settled on Adrastapol and it took acting High King Gerraint and his Knights many standard years of effort finally to rid the Knight World of the xenos taint.
House Chimaeros - Notable House Chimaeros Knights: Sword of Heroes - Sword of Heroes is the Knight Errant that serves as the personal mount of Luk Kar Chimaeros, the Knight of Ashes. It was at the helm of Sword of Heroes that Luk Kar Chimaeros would fight and survive the Donatosian War. Throughout that conflict, Sword of Heroes proved to be a Knight of exceptional durability, surviving both the Traitor onslaught of the First Battle for the Valle Electrum and the hunt for the Renegade Knights of House Chimaeros. At the ambush in the Adeptus Arbites fortress, the Knight suit's actuators proved unusually resilient, allowing Luk to escape the tumbling wave of rocks and debris when others failed. Alone of the Chimaeros Knights, Sword of Heroes would walk again after the campaign on Donatos Primus, although it is unclear if the Knight retained its original name after Luk Kar Chimaeros fully embraced his identity as the Knight of Ashes. Bearing the colours of a Freeblade, Sword of Heroes has joined its master in the hunt for the Traitor Alicia Kar Manticos.Therianthros - Therianthros was the Knight Crusader piloted by Viscount Gerraint Tan Chimaeros during the Donatos Uprising. As befitting the personal Knight of House Chimaeros' ruler, Therianthros was perhaps the best maintained Imperial Knight within the entire House and it was treated with great care by the House's oathbound Sacristans. Following the death of High King Tolwyn Tan Draconis and his own succession to the crown of the High King, Viscount Gerraint had the ancestral symbol of the office of the High King of Adrastapol, a revered Tempest Blade, fitted to Therianthros. Therianthros saw many battles on Donatos Primus but eventually met its end at the hands of Tolwyn's daughter Gatekeeper Lady Jennika Tan Draconis and her Knight Paladin, Fire Defiant.
House Chimaeros - House Strength: As one of the primary Knight Houses of Adrastapol and the ancestral home of a long and proud line of High Kings, House Chimaeros was generally considered the most powerful of the world's knightly households, matched perhaps only by its rival from House Draconis. This balance of power was upset when in the wake of Viscount Gerraint's and Lady Alicia's union, House Chimaeros all but swallowed the remainder of House Manticos.Establishing the true military strength of House Chimaeros in the wake of the extensive data-purge that followed their betrayal and their condemnation as reductum hereticum extremis is difficult. Conservative estimates would place them at the middle to lower Secundus rank, which would account for around 150 suits of Knight armour, several of which retained their allegiance to House Manticos. As with other Knight Houses of Adrastapol, House Chimaeros relied heavily on the Knight Paladin and its variants, of which it favoured an even mix.
House Chimaeros - House Colours: House Chimaeros' colours are listed as a quartered livery of grey and green.
House Chimaeros - House Arms: As their name indicates, the arms of House Chimaeros bear the emblem of the ancient and fierce mythological creature known as the chimaeros, or chimera in the legends of Old Earth.
House Chimaeros - Signature Weapon: The scions of House Chimaeros were famously equipped with one of the most exotic weapons of Adrastapol, the well-named chimersword. Heavier than the Pegassian Rapier and yet lighter than the draconblade favoured by House Draconis, the chimersword is a peculiar longsword whose blade is said to reflect light as if it was covered in oil. During honour duels, a chimersword is said to cut through the air with an eerie, otherworldly sound, a technique believed to be used to unnerve the Scion's opponent and bring him to commit some fatal error.This is only made possible by the peculiar composition of the weapon, for where most swords have a blade forged from a single piece of steel, the chimersword's blade is made up of a series of discs, held together by a central metallic cord. By releasing the tension in the cord, the chimersword can almost instantly pass from sword to whip. This versatility makes the Chimaeros' swordplay an incredibly fluid fighting style. It often involves a defensive pirouette during which the wielder can unexpectedly transform the sword into a whip. Even when used as a whip, the metallic cord is powerful enough to trap and even break enemy weapons.
House Col'Khak - House Col'Khak: House Col'Khak, known also as the "Col'Khak Collective," is an alliance of Imperial Knight houses of the Questor Mechanicus. Col'Khak was founded in the late 30th Millennium during the Great Crusade on the frigid Agri-world of Atar-Planitia in support of the then-recently founded Forge World of Atar-Median.As such, the Collective owed its fealty first to the ancient Mechanicum -- through its bonded Forge World of Atar-Median -- and second to the Imperium.
House Col'Khak - Origins: Newly founded alongside the Forge World of Atar-Median by exiles from Phaeton, the Col'Khak Collective were seeded onto the frigid world of Atar-Planitia during the early years of the Great Crusade in the late 30th Millennium, itself newly conquered and life-stocked as an Agri-world. From inception, the warriors of House Col'Khak were forever bound to Atar-Median as vassals to serve alongside its Taghmata forces and the Titans of the Legio Atarus.The close ties between Atar-Planitia and Atar-Median are evident in the flawless manner with which those of House Col'Khak performed alongside the Firebrands on the field of battle. Together, the three militant arms of House Col'Khak formed a fighting force of muchrepute capable of facing any threat in any corner of the galaxy. Such is the level of integration between the house and its Mechanicum allies that the archmagos preelate, or lead princeps of a battlegroup to which Col'Khak is assigned, is treated with a measure of veneration and granted full authority over the assembled Knights.This devotion to the ideals of the Mechanicum extends far beyond the field of battle, for the warriors of House Col'Khak have long adapted many of the rites and practises of the Cult Mechanicus for its own purposes. Many were the gifts of technology and armament bestowed upon House Col'Khak by its patrons and each was treated as precious relics and heirlooms of the Collective. Even the Mechanicum practise of cybernetic augmentation was readily accepted, with many warriors voluntarily undergoing extensive levels of modification to bring them closer to the Omnissiah, though most chose to retain a measure of Human aesthetic.It is said that many of the oldest Scions of Col'Khak are little more than preserved cerebral matter and life support systems that, outside of their armour, appear almost like animate statuary, their gilded and argent-plated bodies mimicking the ideal Human form.
House Col'Khak - Horus Heresy: Sworn vassals to the Legio Atarus and Atar-Median first and the Imperium second, House Col'Khak looked to its masters come the Horus Heresy, trusting in the Forge World to lead the household down the prosperous path. To this end, the warriors of House Col'Khak were deployed to Isstvan V alongside a demi-legio of Legio Atarus god-engines and, like their liege lords, fell upon the basalt plains during the Drop Site Massacre, slaughtered by the dishonourable hand of treachery.This act sealed the future of House Col'Khak, its Scions clamouring to venture forth into the galaxy alongside maniples of the Legio Atarus, as well as several detachments of Knights that were independently deployed in absence of the god-engines in order to claim vengeance for their brethren slain at the hands of the Traitors.Though a rare sight during the Great Crusade, the independent deployment of House Col'Khak increased in frequency during the Horus Heresy to match the demands of the cataclysmic civil war.Eager to seek revenge for those brethren slain in the opening moves of Horus' rebellion, the warriors of Col'Khak took to this role with ease, disseminating amongst the stars in search of Traitors to purge in the Omnissiah's name.
House Col'Khak - Notable Knights: Omnissiah's Grace (Questoris Knight Paladin) - It was a common practice for House Col'Khak Knights, such as the Knight Paladin Omnissiah's Grace, depicted above upon the fields of Atar-Median in 001.M31, to be permanently seconded to a Legio Atarus Titan maniple. Omnissiah's Grace was reportedly assigned as a forward scout for the Ruptura maniple designated as "Blessed Fire" during the Horus Heresy and saw frequent battle across the Belt of Iron. A Knight assigned to a maniple in such a manner was released from its service only when the maniple rotated back to Atar-Median, which often took solar decades to do so, or when the maniple in its entirety fell in battle. In the latter case, it was often the Knights that fell first, expending their own lives in defence of their betters.Omnissiah's Will (Cerastus Knight-Atrapos) - A survivor of Isstvan V, Omnissiah's Will was piloted by the techno-savant Scion Mechanicum Ailaedus VII. Depicted above on the eve of the Cataclysm of Iron's final campaign, Ailaedus had already sown a path of destruction across the Belt of Iron, the speed of his Knight armour and its potent weapons proving the end of numerous Battle Titans. A favoured tactic of Ailaedus and the Omnissiah's Will was to charge a pair of closely ranked enemy god-engines, cutting the legs out from under one of the Titans, so that it fell burning into the other enemy machine, destroying both.
House Col'Khak - House Strength: Upon its creation, the near-boundless industry of Phaeton provided House Col'Khak with over 100 Knight armours to form the core of its strength, with the means to produce more bequeathed upon the nascent Forge World of Atar-Median. The close ties between Atar-Median and House Col'Khak ensured the Knight house received a continuous supply of Knight armours, including several dozen Magaera and Styrix armours, of which Col'Khak were noted to field significantly greater quantities than most other Knight households.Following the losses House Col'Khak suffered upon Isstvan V, the household boasted a strength of 254 Knight armours, many of which were directly bound to Legio Atarus maniples deployed across the Belt of Iron. Each detachment of House Col'Khak was designed to support the composition of the battlegroup it served, each boasting several different Knight patterns within its number to ensure the capability of reacting to any threat that presented itself.
House Col'Khak - Parent Titan Legio: Legio Atarus
House Col'Khak - Allied Titan Legios: Legio AgravidesLegio Astraman
House Col'Khak - Allied Space Marine Legions: Iron HandsSalamandersRaven Guard
House Col'Khak - House Colours: The colours of House Col'Khak are red and black.
House Col'Khak - House Arms: House Col'Khak's coat of arms is a tan Phi icon (uppercase), the 21st letter of Old Earth's ancient Grecian alphabet that was often used to represent the golden ratio. This symbol was centered with an archway, the top of which was a half-cog, denoting this Knight household's close ties to the ancient Mechanicum. These symbols were centred upon a field of red.
House Col'Khak - Sources: Adeptus Titanicus - The Horus Heresy: Loyalist Legios (Specialty Game), pp. 68, 74-77Adeptus Titanicus - The Horus Heresy: Titandeath (Specialty Game), pg. 93Adeptus Titanicus - The Horus Heresy: Crucible of Retribution (Specialty Game), pp. 21-22, 25, 28, 60-61, 70Adeptus Titanicus - The Horus Heresy: Rulebook (Specialty Game), pp. 16, 74The Horus Heresy - Book Six: Retribution (Forge World Series), "Age of Betrayal", by Alan Bligh, pg. 31The Horus Heresy - Book Four: Conquest (Forge World Series) by Alan Bligh, pp. 98-99Warhammer Community - Crucicble of Retribution: The Story (23 Oct 2020)
House Coldshroud - House Coldshroud: House Coldshroud, also known as the "Gryphon Sires," is a Loyalist Imperial Knight vassal-house of the Questor Mechanicus. The Scions of House Coldshroud are drawn from the Octad, the stellar region around Gryphonne IV ruled over by that Forge World.As long as Gryphonne IV has existed, favoured families have given up their sons and daughters to the ranks of House Coldshroud, there being few higher honours.House Coldshroud is relentless in its service to the Legio Gryphonicus and fought at their side throughout the Great Crusade and into the Horus Heresy. During the Invasion of Paramar V, House Coldshroud faced overwhelming Traitor forces, ultimately covering their allied Titan Legion's retreat and paving the way for the retaking of the planet with the lives of their Scions.
House Coldshroud - Notable Campaigns: First Battle of Paramar (673.006.M31) - House Coldshroud Knights assisted the Legio Gryphonicus in its battle with the Traitor Legio Fureans at the Paramar Nexus spaceport during the First Battle of Paramar V. Though the Loyalists were driven from the world, the Legio Fureans took heavy casualties from the Loyalist defenders.Battle of Beta-Garmon, "The Titandeath" (006-013.M31) - House Coldshroud took part in the long and savage Beta-Garmon campaign, which included hundreds of war zones across dozens of worlds. During this conflict, House Coldshroud provided Knight support, as always, to the Legio Gryphonicus. Even before the greater armies of the Warmaster Horus reached the star cluster, the battle lines had long since been drawn, and fighting had been going on for many Terran years. It was a cauldron of battle that would consume millions of lives before its end and see the demise of entire Titan Legions, earning this campaign the dire moniker of the "Titandeath." The Beta-Garmon Cluster, also known as the gateway to the throneworld of Terra, was the last hurdle that the Warmaster Horus' forces had to overcome before they reached the Imperium's capital world. Heavily fortified by the Loyalists, Beta-Garmon would become one of the greatest and bloodiest battles of the Horus Heresy, as well as one of the longest-lasting.Battle of Tallarn (010-011.M31) - House Coldshroud Knights supported Legio Gryphonicus Titans against the Iron Warriors' assault on the once-verdant world of Tallarn.
House Coldshroud - Notable Knights: Vainglory (Questoris Knight Magaera) - The Vainglory, as depicted above, was a relic Knight Magaera that served during the Great Crusade and Horus Heresy eras. Such patterns piloted by a Scion of House Coldshroud was considered a mark of shame for having acted dishonourably.Falchion-LVI (Cerastus Knight Lancer - Falchion-LVI was manufactured on Gryphonne IV at the outbreak of the Horus Heresy, as part of that Forge World's efforts to bolster the Imperium's defence against the inexorable advance of the Warmaster Horus' hosts. Falchion-LVI was first deployed to Paramar V, where it stood firm against the furious charge of the massed Knights of House Perdaxia, and later served on Tallarn alongside the famous Legio Gryphonicus Warlord-class Titan Iron Regent.Resplendent in Honour (Cerastus Knight-Castigator) - This Knight armour, depicted below, bore two stylised griffons (one on each shoulder guard) which were earned by Resplendent in Honour during the Great Crusade and represented the bond this Knight held with the Legio Gryphonicus Warlord Titan Argent Monarch, having been seconded to the god-engine's service for over seven solar decades by the outset of the Horus Heresy.
House Coldshroud - Notable Personnel: None listed in current Imperial records.
House Coldshroud - House Strength: As befitting its primary role as vanguards for the Legio Gryphonicus, the principal strength of House Coldshroud lies in the use of Cerastus Knight patterns, favoured for its worth as vanguard fighters. According to official records submitted to the Divisio Militaris, of the 389 Knight armours in operation under the banner of Coldshroud at the onset of the Horus Heresy, 238 of those were Cerastus Knight patterns, split evenly between the three most common variants: Lancer, Acheron and Castigator. This marked Coldshroud as a Primaris-grade household.The remaining strength of the household consisted of a standard spread of Knight patterns, including numerous Questoris patterns and several Acastus patterns, the latter of which were frequently bound to Warbringer Nemesis and Warlord Titans, to serve as a mobile deterrent against any force seeking to disrupt the firebase of the larger god-engines.Despite the blessed technological relics employed by such relic Knight armours as the Knight Magaera, the piloting of such a Knight armour within House Coldshroud was used as a mark of shame. Those Knight Scions who had acted dishonourably were appointed to the Throne Mechanicum of both Knights Magaera and Knights Styrix as penance for their actions. Much of this shame came from the sinister nature of the pattern's Machine Spirit, which often displayed a bloodthirsty demeanour.Such Knight armours were still prized relics amongst the household despite this reputation, allowing the chastised Scion opportunity to regain their honour through overcoming the darkness within the Knight armour while displaying renewed adherence to the house tenets in defiance of adversity.Long-term assessment of House Coldshroud's strength is more difficult, for the casualty rate of a bonded Knight vassal-house is considerably greater than that of an autonomous household, a fact attributed to the scale of threats such a household faces when serving in the shadow of its Legio masters.
House Coldshroud - Loyalist Titan Legios: Legio Gryphonicus (Bound as vassal-house to the Forge World of Gryphonne IV in service to the Legio Gryphonicus)
House Coldshroud - Space Marine Legions: Iron Warriors (Loyalist)
House Coldshroud - House Colours: The heraldry and iconography worn by House Coldshroud closely follow those of the Titan Legion under which they are bonded to serve. Though they bear their own icon, the colours of this Knight household are derived from their parent Legio. The colours of House Coldshroud are golden-yellow and mottled grey. This heraldry symbolises their vassal service to the Legio Gryphonicus.Almost exclusively, vassal-house armours are much more uniform in their heraldry than their Imperial house counterparts, bearing little or none of the individual iconography, motifs and devices that describe the Scion's many noble deeds. Bonded as they are to the service of their Adeptus Titanicus masters, vassal-house Scions such as those of House Coldshroud live and die by the orders of their masters.Knights of House Coldshroud often bear griffon motifs in homage to the Legio Gryphonicus they serve. Although no official edict forbade the use of decorative griffons by all, it was deemed unseemly for a Scion of Coldshroud to do so without having first been recognised for an honourable act upon the battlefield in service to a princeps of their parent Legio.
House Coldshroud - Kill Markings: As Vassal Knights, House Coldshroud exist soley to serve their Adeptus Titanicus masters and only make account of their own kills if they are especially significant. However, many are granted the right to share the glories of their overlords and so bear a range of kill-markings.Many Knight armours of House Coldshroud utilise the distinctive chess piece icons used by the War Griffons to represent various classes of Titan -- skulls for multiple heavy Battle Titan kills (the majority most likely Warlords), a knight piece represents a Scout Titan kill (most likely a Warhound). If one of these kill-markings are borne on a Knight's honour banner, this would suggest that the Knight had a direct hand in the kill, rather than it being a victorious honour.
House Coldshroud - House Arms: The arms of House Coldshroud at the time of the Great Crusade and Horus Heresy consisted of a double-headed eagle upon which was centred the icon of the Collegia Titanica.The arms of House Coldshroud in the 41st Millennium consists of a griffon and a knight helmet facing each other, centred within the Cog Mechanicum, the symbol of the Adeptus Mechanicus. The crest of House Coldshroud symbolises the unbreakable bond between the Legio Gryphonicus and the Knight Scions of their vassal-house.
House Coldshroud - Sources: Adeptus Titanicus - The Horus Heresy: Loyalist Legios (Specialty Game), pp. 34-37Adeptus Titanicus - The Horus Heresy: Titandeath (Specialty Game), pp. 30, 93The Horus Heresy - Book Three: Extermination (Forge World Series) by Alan Bligh, pg. 160White Dwarf 24 (August 2018), "Parade Ground - The God-Machines March," pg. 103White Dwarf 30 (February 2019), "Vassal Knight Houses," pp. 130, 132-133
House Curtana - House Curtana: House Curtana, known as the "Swords of Justice", is a Loyalist Questor Mechanicus Imperial Knight house of the Imperium.House Curtana hails from the Knight World of Karastus.
House Curtana - Notable Campaigns: Defence of Karastus (Unknown Date.M41) - During some unknown point in Imperial history, the stalwart Knights of House Curtana successfully defended their homeworld of Karastus when it was besieged by the Ork WAAAGH! of Grimgutz da 'Orrible.War for the Aberrus System (Unknown Date.M42) - Alongside the Knights of House Borgius, several Imperial Guard regiments, Adepta Sororitas and a company each of Knights of the Raven and Scythes of the Emperor Space Marines, House Curtana battles a tendril of Hive Fleet Kraken for the life of the planet Glacemaw.
House Curtana - Notable Knights: None listed in current Imperial records.
House Curtana - Notable Personnel: Sir Dennis Gladiomanus - Sir Dennis Gladiomanus was once a Knight of House Curtana, the Swords of Justice. A tactful orator, Sir Dennis was selected to meet with an Adeptus Mechanicus delegation in the hope of securing better materials and technology for their Sacristans. Though an agreement could not be reached, Sir Dennis chose to leave his homeworld of Karastus with the Adeptus Mechanicus in the hope that spending time with them would help him understand them better and, perhaps, come to a more fruitful trade agreement. It has been over 500 years since Sir Dennis left his homeworld, yet his Knight Warden Fortitude has appeared on countless military rosters during that time, fighting alongside the Skitarii of Mars, against Orks, Aeldari, Tyranids and even the Dark Mechanicus. House Curtana have enquired about this on several occasions, appealing to the Adeptus Mechanicus to return the surely long-dead Noble's suit to them, but have been assured that Dir Dennis is alive and well and still very much in command of his Knight suit. Some whisper that he's been rewarded with life-extending augmetics, others claim he's been completely replaced by a fleshless cybernetic pilot. What's for sure is that the Knight Warden continues to this day, fighting with distinction alongside the Skitarii and maintaining excellent trade relations between the Adeptus Mechanicus and House Curtana.
House Curtana - House Colours: The colours of House Curtana are red, yellow and black.
House Curtana - House Arms: The crest of House Curtana is a cog struck through with a sword -- representing the Sword of Justice allied to the cog of the Adeptus Mechanicus.
House Degallio - House Degallio: House Degallio was a Loyalist Imperial Knight house that hails from the Knight World of Alaric Prime, located in the Sanctus Reach on the edges of the Segmentum Obscurus. House Degallio was an old and prominent knightly household that was once led by Neru Degallio, a master of scores of Knights and Nobles.Neru was feared and respected in equal measure. He was an old and powerful Noble with dominion over much of Alaric Prime. A great political leader and warlord, Degallio built up his house on a planet known for its bitter rivalries and constant internecine conflicts.Over long years of bargaining and politicking, and exploiting the mastery of the sea granted him by Isle Degallio, Neru Degallio eventually saw his fortunes eclipse those of the other Nobles of Alaric Prime. For much of his life, Neru enjoyed only success and glory. That came to end with the arrival of the Red WAAAGH! and the doom of his house.Over the course of a single, blood-soaked campaign of unimaginable carnage, House Degallio would be brought low, its Knights destroyed and its power broken in countless battles to defend Alaric Prime. His losses would drive Neru and his Knight, the White Warden, onto the path of the Freeblade.
House Degallio - House History: House Degallio was indisputably the most powerful Knight House upon the world of Alaric Prime, in part due to the strength of its ancient alliance with the Adeptus Mechanicus. However, none could deny that Degallio's influence was directly related to an advantage that no other Alarican house could boast -– unparalleled mobility in times of war.House Degallio has a long and proud history of seafaring. Once, its steamships were little more than ugly hulks that conveyed the criminal elements of Alaric Prime to incarceration upon the volcanic hellscape of Isle Ignivitch. Since it opened a sideline in oceanic trade, the house has grown considerably in influence and wealth.At the house's inception, it had but one solitary Knight active, known as the White Warden. By the time its trade routes were fully established across Alaric Prime, its seaborne sacristies held several dozen Knights, each a warrior of great repute.Even the mightiest battle steamer of Lord Neru's fleet is a mere tug beside the fusion-powered superstructure known as Isle Degallio. Originally a mobile conglomeration of prison hulks, Isle Degallio has become far more than a conjoined fleet.Over the centuries, layers of sea-mulch and captured turf have laid strata of organic matter over the adamantium stanchions of its foundations. It has come to resemble nothing less than a small landmass that roams the oceans of Alaric Prime under its own power.In times of civil war, the titanic Isle Degallio makes haste for the coastline nearest to the battle, its fusion engines powering it through the ocean spray so fast that its attendant navy struggles to maintain its cordon around the island's perimeter.Once land is sighted, the navy spreads out into a great battle line of heavily-armed ships, pounding the coastline with artillery shells once the enemy is in range.Isle Degallio itself will power in close, its Knights striding across the bridges extruding from the isle's landmass into shallow waters before charging across the dunes and launching themselves into the fight.Isle Degallio is so large that it has its own civilian population. Several teeming cities dot its skyline, supporting all manner of industries and ensuring the isle's pre-eminence as a trading hub.Despite this, rival houses whisper that the islanders are inbred to a man, calling its warriors "sea-lions", "fish-eyes" and all manner of other unflattering nicknames.The noble lineage of House Degallio remains free from genetic weakness, in truth -- there are always more than enough mamzels and consorts in each generation willing to exchange the boredom of their landbound houses for a life of seaborne adventure.
House Degallio - A Sundered House: For solar decades Neru Degallio oversaw the rise to power of his house, eclipsing all others until the name Degallio became synonymous with Imperial might and the ancient majesty of the Knights themselves. When the Red WAAAGH! attacked the Sanctus Reach, Alaric Prime was the last world to feel the wrath of the Orks.After a long and terrible war, the Orks were repelled, though only at great cost to House Degallio. The house was left a shadow of its former glory, its strength lost with the deaths of scores of its finest nobles and the destruction of their Knights.Though Neru Degallio had won victory over the Orks alongside his Imperial allies, it was at a terrible price. As the most powerful knightly house on Alaric Prime, it had fallen to Degallio to weather the brunt of the fighting, and of all the house's Knights and Nobles, only Neru survived.In the aftermath of this pyrrhic victory, the families of the fallen sons placed the blame of so much death squarely upon Neru's shoulders. The lord of House Degallio found himself unable to answer their accusations or the predations of the other knightly houses, and when his own consort disappeared in mysterious circumstances, Neru turned Freeblade, taking the name of his Knight as his own and leaving Alaric Prime behind.
House Degallio - Notable Campaigns: A Tragedy Out of Time (792.M39) - Six regiments of Astra Militarum make the translation from Warpspace on the outskirts of the Sanctus Reach System, heading to Alaric upon orders to intercept and destroy the Malefactors. Unbeknownst to them, the fickle tides of the Warp have dislocated their arrival time. They arrive several millennia too late. The Astra Militarum instead wage war upon the incarcerated masses of the Alarican prison isles, believing the criminals there to be the renegades they have been ordered to kill. The intervention of Gerantius complicates matters just as the Alarican knightly houses are trying to prove their loyalty to the Imperium. War breaks out, but only for a few days -- the Degallio household successfully brokers peace after its messenger-skulls make it to the Imperial Guard high command. The death toll still numbers in the thousands.Defence of Alaric Prime (443.998.M41) - In 998.M41, Warlord Grukk of the Red WAAAGH! ploughs into the densely populated Sanctus Reach, his crusade's juggernaut momentum smashing past the Space Marine homeworld of Obstiria to plunder the planets beyond. The Imperium prepares to make a stand upon Alaric Prime, a Feudal World of linked archipelagos and crumbling gaols. When a flotilla of Ork rust-ships make planetfall, the knightly houses of Alaric lead their Cadian allies in a worldwide counterattack. Warlord Grukk's bullish tactics take a heavy toll on the human defenders before the legendary Freeblade known as Gerantius, the Forgotten Knight, joins the conflict, tipping the war into a new phase of desperate battle.
House Degallio - Notable House Degallio Knights: White Warden - The formidable Knight Errant suit of Lord Neru Degallio.
House Degallio - Notable House Degallio Personnel: Neru Degallio - The former patriarch of House Degallio, Neru Degallio, known to his men as the "Seablade," and to his closest friends as the "Old Warlrus," was both feared and respected amongst the Knight houses. Neru Degallio's flair in the arts of battle is legendary, as is his alarming facial hair. His consort, the svelte and skull-masked Lady of the Keys, is a powerful political force in her own right. She has been instrumental in the meteoric rise of House Degallio to the pinnacle of influence on Alaric Prime, possessing a fearsome intellect and considerable charisma. Anyone who so much as hints that Neru or his consort might be past their prime is given the honour of fighting alongside the White Warden, Degallio's battle-scarred but indomitable Knight suit. As the battle rages, the patriarch's detractor is forced to reassess his opinion -- no one can argue with a kill count that is more than double that of the next Noble. But alas, his house was eventually brought low by the predations of the Red WAAAGH! that attacked Alaric Prime. Held primarily responsible for the deaths of many of the Knights he fought alongside of, Neru opted to become a Freeblade. Taking the name of his Knight White Warden as his own, the newly-dubbed Freeblade sought out battlefields across the Imperium, venting his anger upon Heretics and xenos in the name of the God-Emperor. The Ork race in particular felt the wrath of the Freeblade, the grudge he held against them from Alaric Prime having become a burning splinter in his heart.Sire Garrett Degallio - Sire Garrett Degallio fights in one of House Degallio's Alabaster Lance formations, and is renowned for his courage and prowess in combat. Trained in the use of the sword by his uncle, the lord of the house, Garrett has won countless honours both on the field of battle and in ritualised combat with his fellow Nobles. As Warboss Grukk the Face-rippa and his Red WAAAGH!  armada approached Alaric Prime, Garrett stood ready alongside his kin to drive the xenos invaders from his homeworld with righteous fury and the indomitable might of his Knight Errant.Sire Phyne Degallio - Sire Phyne Degallio was the favoured progeny of the Great Lord of the Sea, Neru Degallio, and was skilled at both blade and lance. During the valiant defence of Alaric Prime from the greenskins hordes of Warboss Grukk, Phyne Degallio was taken by the treachery of the enemy while defending the citizens of the Smouldering Isle, he drowned in his Knight and was borne to the sea floor by an Orkoid war effigy.
House Degallio - House Colours: House Degallio's are off-white, yellow and black.
House Degallio - House Arms: The heraldry of House Degallio was a sea creature rampant on the right side of the house's shield, halved, with the Imperial eagle on the left side.The same dual-split used throughout most Knight house heraldry symbolised House Degallio's loyalty, which was equally divided between their house and the Imperium.The anchor symbols harkened back to House Degallio's mastery of the sea, during better days.
House Devine - House Devine: House Devine is a Renegade Knight house that repudiated its oaths to the Emperor of Mankind and followed the Warmaster Horus into the service of the Ruinous Powers during the Horus Heresy.House Devine fell under the sway of Slaanesh, the Prince of Pleasure, and was the first of the Knight houses to betray the Imperium of Man and the ancient Mechanicum and become Chaos Knights.During the Battle of Molech, the sudden defection of House Devine proved to be the pivotal factor in the defeat of the Loyalist forces seeking to halt Horus' relentless advance on Terra.