Collegia Titanica

The Collegia Titanica is the division of the Adeptus Mechanicus that includes the Legions composed of Titans, the colossal Imperial robotic war machines that are the most powerful engines of war in the Imperium of Man. The Collegia is also more rarely known as the Adeptus Titanicus (a contraction of "Adeptus Mechanicus Collegia Titanica").

History
During the Horus Heresy, part of the Collegia turned against the Imperium along with almost half of the Adeptus Mechanicus, creating the Dark Mechanicus and the Chaos Titan Legions. Out of all the Collegia's Titan Legions, only those stationed on Terra remained loyal to the Emperor of Mankind. The rest declared themselves for the Warmaster Horus and Chaos. The Traitor Titan Legions even took part in the Siege of the Imperial Palace during the Battle of Terra. After the defeat of the Heresy, the Traitor Titans were driven into the Warp rift called the Eye of Terror, along with the rest of the Traitor forces who had sided with Horus and the Ruinous Powers of Chaos.

Organization
The Collegia has four divisions: the Divisio Mandati, Divisio Telepathica, Divisio Investigatus, and most importantly, the Divisio Militaris which actually includes the Battle Titans. The Divisios are further divided into a number of "Legions" or "Orders": groupings of Titans such as the Fire Wasps Legion or War Griffons Legion. Each Legion is a self-contained unit headed by an officer with the rank of Grandmaster.



The Divisio Militaris (Military Orders)
The Orders or Legions of the Divisio Militaris (or as it is more commonly called, the Military Orders) are the main military forces of the Collegia Titanica, and each, as a self-sufficient unit, includes its own ground combat troops and support staff in addition to its Titans.

Each Legion is based on its own Adeptus Mechanicus Forge World - most Forge Worlds having one (or in some cases several) Titan Legions.

Although their home Forge Worlds are technically their bases, the Legions are actually stationed throughout the galaxy, guarding vulnerable locations across the Imperium. Many Legions are stationed near the Eye of Terror, ready to combat their Chaotic counterparts.

At full strength, a Legion typically numbers 16 Titans, however this figure varies greatly in practice. Battle losses can take centuries to replace, as the construction of a new Titan is a long and extremely laborious process for the Adeptus Mechanicus. The Warlord is the most commonly found class of Titan among the forces of the Imperium, the Reaver is used for more intensive battles and the Emperor-class is by far the most formidable type of Titan, but an increasingly rare sight on the battlefields of the 41st Millennium. There have been rumors of a stronger class of Titan that existed during the Great Crusade, the rumoured Apocalypse-class Titan.

Titan Legions are deployed only in the most vital campaigns facing the Imperium and on battlefields that will allow them the room to manoeuvre and unleash the full power of their colossal weaponry.

Divisio Mandati
The Titan Orders of the Mandati are known as "Executive Orders." They travel in vast temple-spacecraft, responsible for bringing the Pax Imperia to independent human worlds. Each temple ship carries a small but potent number of the immense Emperor-class Titans, plus Tech-priests, regular Mechanicus troops, maintenance adepts and support personnel.

Each Emperor Titan is its own self-contained unit, carrying members of the Adeptus Arbites, the Inquisition and the other organizations of the Adeptus Terra. It is through this combination of persuasion and vast firepower that many worlds are brought into the fold of the Imperium.

The elite of the Mandati's orders are known as "Missionary Orders" - they travel beyond the known areas of space, often accompanying Rogue Trader missions to discover new worlds and regions of space.

Divisio Telepathica
As a highly specialized Divisio, the Telepathica is somewhat smaller than the Mandati and Militaris Divisios. The Telepathica is responsible for the dreaded Psi-Titans, Titans capable of projecting the power of the Warp, which are particularly useful when deployed against the daemonhosts of Chaos or groups of Traitor Titans. Its orders are the Telepath Orders, each said to operate from a secret Forge World near the heart of the Imperium, since the existence of Chaos is a closely-held secret of the Imperium, as are all those organizations like the Ordo Malleus, the Grey Knights and the Divisio Telepathica of the Collegia Titanica devoted to combating it.

Divisio Investigatus
The Investigatus is the scientific research division of the Collegia Titanica; its role is to construct the Titans of all the orders, and to engineer and test improvements in Titan technology. All of the Investigatus Orders are based on Mars, the capital Forge World of the Adeptus Mechanicus. At times, an Investigatus Order takes part in battles so that it can field-test new Titan weapons patterns.