Legio Astorum: Lucius pattern Warhound Titan - Liktor Rex

Howdy Guys and Girls :)

Today I want to show you my Lucius pattern Warhound Titan - I painted her four years ago, and although I would do her a bit different today, I'm still in love with her. It's always good to see what you did over the years, and how much your painting and building style evolved.

Hope you enjoy her, and big thanks @ King Fluff for the awesome effects in the first picture ^.^

The Legio Astorum

Liktor Rex - Lucius pattern Warhound Scout Titan - depicted during the Battle for Tallarn.

Title: The Legio Astorum Ordo Titanicus

Militaris Grade: Primus

Patent: Pre-Unification, Lucian Mechanicum

Warden Domain: Lucius (Production Grade III-Prima Forge World, Tithe Grade of Aptus Non)

Cognomen: The Warp Runners

Allied War Houses: none known

Known support units: Skitarii of Lucius

Used patterns of Titans: Lucius, Mars

Allegiance: Fedelitas Totalis

The Titans of the Legio Astorum, known as the Warp Runners fought throughout the Great Crusade and have a number of Titans blessed by the Emperor of Mankind himself. Later, the Legion fought throughout the darkest days of the Horus Heresy, and participated in numerous engagements including the infamous Battle of Tallarn. Legend has it that a battlegroup of Legio Astorum Titans was present at the defence of the Emperor's Palace during the Battle of Terra.

The forges of Lucius are some of the mightiest in the Imperium, and Lucius Pattern weapons and vehicles are found on many worlds and in many armies. Lucius is most notable for having its own pattern of Warhound, Reaver, and Warlord-class Titans, as the only other known patterns of this Titans all originate on Mars itself. These are the only god-machines sophisticated enough to teleport straight into battle. This is a point of pride amongst the Lucians, and cause of envy amongst their fellow legions.

Size comparison between Liktor Rex and Tower Breaker.

Note: Liktor Rex bears various honour markings, showing that the God-Machine has fought alongside the White Scars, Space Wolves, Iron Hands, Imperial Fists and others during the Great Crusade.

Note: S.P.Q.T. stands for Senātus Populusque Terra or "The Senate and People of Terra" in low gothic - a fairly recent addition to her heraldic.

Why Legio Astorum?

Since I painted her as Apocalypse support for my Dark Angels and Space Wolves armies, I wanted a Legio that fought with both in the past. After reading through The Siege of Vraks, I found them - the Warp Runners.

Searching the internet for some inspiration, this picture sealed it for me at the end:

Dark blue with flames? Awesome! 

Also, thanks to new fluff, the Legio Astorum can teleport into battle - how cool is that?

Forgeworld paint scheme:

I didn't use it (no airbrush back then, also not sure if the book even existed four years ago), but there is an official Legio Astorum paint scheme from FW, aswell as a full to-do guide in Forgeworlds' Imperial Armour Model Masterclass Volume 2.

The studio's Titans were painted using the following method:

- Chaos Black spray undercoat

Blue - using an airbrush:
- Base coat of Mordian Blue (should be Macragge Blue now)
- coat of Regal Blue (should be Kantor Blue now) which was kept out of the model's recesses
- Edge highlite of Enchanted Blue (should be Caledor Sky now)
- blue and purple inks were airbrushed over the blue armoured plates in subtle marbled patterns

Yellow - using an airbrush
- Base coat of Tamiya Flat Yellow, multible coats
- first highlites with a mix of little bit Tamiya Flat White and Flat Yellow over the corncers
- recesses were airbrushed with a thinned down mix of Macharius Solar Orange and Calthan Brown (Jokaero Orange and Mournfang Brown)
- a coat of Purity Seal was applied to protect the painting done so far
- a heavy wash of burned umber oil paint thinned with white spirits was applied to the whole surface
- a hairdryer was used rapidly, dry the oil paint until the surface moisture had been removed but the paint was still greasy enough to push around. A clean, dry cloth was used to wipe away the oil paint from raised surfaces

When completely dry the carapace was given a light coat of gloss varnish.

What's your favourite Titan Legion (or Legions!)? Let us know in the comments below! Thanks for reading :)

Regards,
Lady Atia