A Leviathan Pattern Siege Dreadnought of the ancient Space Wolves Legion
The Leviathan Dreadnought, formally the Leviathan Pattern Siege Dreadnought, was crafted in limited numbers in the latter days of the Great Crusade of the late 30th Millennium, developed in secret on Terra, away from the pervasive oculars of the ancient Mechanicum.
Its massive frame incorporates hybridised technologies, some dating back into the dim past of Humanity. Towering over later Imperial combat walker patterns, this heavily armoured Dreadnought is savagely powerful. It was designed for siege warfare and primarily armed with close combat and heavy fire support weaponry that can rend buildings, vehicles and flesh alike; though it is no less effective when armed with the powerful and esoteric short-ranged weaponry uniquely developed for it.
The Leviathan's oversized Atomantic Reactor allows it to bear weapons more powerful than other classes of Dreadnought, and also powers reinforced energy fields that surpass those developed for the Contemptor Pattern Dreadnought. Power has its cost though, and the systems of the Leviathan place a lethal level of strain on the minds of its occupants. Space Marines who find themselves interred within a Leviathan will pay a heavy toll; either with their life, or their reason.
A Leviathan Pattern Siege Dreadnought of the ancient Thousand Sons Legion
Those few examples of Relic Leviathan Dreadnoughts which survive into the 41st Millennium are ancient and terrible relics, rarely spoken of and rarely deployed, dreaded as much as they are revered by those Chapters in whose Armoury vaults they reside and stand empty until direst need.
The tormented and ravaged minds of those Astartes interred within are driven to the edge of madness by the little-understood mechanisms unique to the Leviathan Dreadnought, trapped in gore-soaked dreams of the lost Age of Darkness during the Horus Heresy which haunt the machines themselves, and soon suffer a final dissolution owing to the terrible strain the Leviathan inflicts on those who would dare to master it.
Only the full authority of a Master of the Chapter is sufficient to unleash these terrifying machines in war, as where they strike and what they kill is as often determined by their dark dreaming as it is the will of their commanders.
History[]
A Leviathan Pattern Siege Dreadnought of the Death Guard Legion during the Horus Heresy.
Developed in the highest secrecy not on Mars, but on Terra, the Leviathan Dreadnought was an alternative development of the highly successful Contemptor Dreadnought. It represents hybrid technologies, some of which it is believed date back to the Age of Strife, which rumours had it were created by the hand of the Emperor directly.
The resources required to produce one were immense, equal perhaps even to an Imperial Knight. Made available to the Legiones Astartes only in limited quantities before the outbreak of the Horus Heresy, they were highly valued and recognised as savagely powerful siege and hunter-killer units. They placed an onerous and ultimately lethal strain upon their occupants, the Leviathan's incumbent burning brightly but briefly in their second life.
Many in the ancient Mechanicum were deeply uneasy over the design, seeing it as purpose-designed to match and indeed destroy the Mechanicum's own Battle-automata in some future, unforeseen crisis or dispute between them and the wider Imperium.
During the Horus Heresy, Loyalists with access to Terra were able to obtain new Leviathan Dreadnoughts, although never many, while Traitors and isolated Loyalist forces were reduced to marshalling their few Leviathans carefully or hunting down the relics of the dead from the battlefields of the galactic civil war to be re-commissioned.
Unit Composition[]
- 1 Relic Leviathan Pattern Dreadnought (41st Millennium Only)
- 1-3 Legion Leviathan Pattern Dreadnoughts (31st Millennium Only)
Wargear[]
A Relic Leviathan Pattern Dreadnought is armed and equipped with:
- 2 Leviathan Siege Claws with built-in Meltaguns
- 2 torso-mounted Heavy Flamers
- Reinforced Atomantic Shielding
A Relic Leviathan Pattern Dreadnought may replace one or both of their Leviathan Siege Claws with built-in Meltaguns with any of these options:
- One or two Leviathan Siege Drills with built-in Meltaguns
- One or two Leviathan Storm Cannons (Storm Cannon Array)
Horus Heresy Wargear[]
During the Great Crusade and Horus Heresy the Leviathan Dreadnoughts of the Legiones Astartes featured different weapon loadout options than those relics still found during the 41st Millennium.
A Legion Leviathan Pattern Dreadnought is armed and equipped with:
- 2 Leviathan Siege Claws with built-in Meltaguns
- 2 hull-mounted Heavy Flamers
- Reinforced Atomantic Shielding
A Legion Leviathan Pattern Dreadnought may replace one or both of their Leviathan Siege Claws with built-in Meltaguns with any of these options:
- One or two Leviathan Siege Drills with built-in Meltaguns
- One or two Leviathan Storm Cannons
A Legion Leviathan Pattern Dreadnought may replace its torso-mounted Heavy Flamers with this option:
- 2 torso-mounted, twin-linked Volkite Calivers
Legion Leviathan Pattern Dreadnoughts may also have a variety of equipment such as:
Notable Leviathan Pattern Siege Dreadnoughts[]
Hrimthursar Arn Therod, the Ice Lord of the Sons of Ymir, Ancient of the Fourth Great-Company
- Hrimthursar Arn Therod - Therod was a Leviathan Pattern Siege Dreadnought of the Space Wolves Legion's 4th Great Company. Arn Therod was renowned even amongst the bitter ranks of the Hrimthursar (Space Wolves Dreadnoughts) for his grim demeanour and unremitting wrath. Therod was present for the breaking of the Acropolis Magna's gates during the Burning of Prospero and the slaughter that soon followed. Therod systematically slaughtered the members of the Prosperine Spireguard for solar hours on end, their weapons proving little more than an annoyance against the mighty Dreadnought's hull. As with all Space Wolves Legion Dreadnoughts, Therod's hull was covered with decorative inscriptions and designs, mostly commemorating past deeds and victories. One design of note was the Hagalaz rune inscribed upon the Dreadnought's left greave, a mark of the Hrimthursar, the most hated of the Sons of Ymir, the given name for the Space Wolves Dreadnought cadres.
Blood Angels Leviathan Siege Dreadnought, Venerable-Exemplar Jophial, Keruvim Convocation of Ancients during the Battle of Signus Prime.
- Venerable-Exemplar Jophial - Jophial was a Leviathan Pattern Siege Dreadnought of the Blood Angels Legion's Keruvim. Jophial was a capable sculptor and continued to work marble even after he was interred in the sarcophagus of a Leviathan Dreadnought. Venerable-Exemplar Jophial was aboard the Red Tear, still engaged with enemy forces in the outer compartments, when that venerable warship slammed into the surface of Signus Prime during the Signus Campaign. It is a testament to the formidable armour of his Dreadnought chassis that Jophial survived the impact of the crash landing, and a tribute to his valour that he was among the first of the survivors to dig himself free and secure the area around the wreck. After serving a vital role in recovery operations, the indomitable ancient would go on to serve as a linchpin in the defence of the wreck.
Ancient-Reductus Vakuran, a Leviathan Dreadnought of the Night Lords Legion.
- Ancient-Reductus Vakuran - Vakuran was a Leviathan Dreadnought of the Night Lords Legion. Before being interred within a Dreadnought, Ancient-Reductus Vakuran had fought during the later stages of the Unification Wars on Terra and eventually fell in combat against a mighty Over-wyrd of the Hambro-Cuth. Later, sometime after the outbreak of the Horus Heresy, he would be sealed within his Leviathan Pattern Dreadnought after it was captured from the Ultramarines Legion at Xorthorn VII, the Night Lords ripping the still-living body of its previous Loyalist owner out and casting him upon the bloody ground. While interred within his Leviathan Dreadnought, Vakuran is known to have participated is dozens of campaigns across the Ultima and Tempestus Segmentums. In each case he led the forces of the Night Lords in direct assaults against heavily-defended Loyalist positions. In each assault his attacks were described as direct, brutal and crude, leading observers to suspect that he had been driven to the edges of sanity by the strain of operating the highly-demanding systems of the Leviathan Dreadnought.
Iron Hands Leviathan Siege Dreadnought, Ancient-Claviger Khalon, Heavy Assault Echelon, Order Novii, Morragul Clan-Company during the Horus Heresy.
- Ancient-Claviger Khalon - Khalon was a Leviathan Pattern Siege Dreadnought of the Iron Hands Legion's Morragul Clan Company. Once a Legion Consul of the Ungavarr Clan-Company, Ancient-Clavigar Khalon was a Terran-born siege-breaker of great renown, having won countless honours during the early days of the Great Crusade. Khalon fell in combat during the apocalyptic Battle of Rust, and was barely saved by Legion Apothecaries. His body was placed in stasis so that he could later be interred within a mighty Dreadnought. When at last a Dreadnought shell was available, it was to be a prototype class intended for heavy assaults and siege warfare, a perfect fit for the renowned siege-breaker. Upon being placed within his new Dreadnought form, Khalon was found to be mentally ill-suited to his new existence and was prone to bouts of extreme instability. At the order of Ferrus Manus himself he was transferred from Clan Ungavarr to Clan Morragul, where his demeanour was considered to be more suited to the orphans and outcasts that had gathered under the stewardship of Iron Father Autek Mor. During the Era Indomitus in the 41st Millennium, Khalon served with a Deathwatch force that was deployed to face the conflicts raging on Armageddon.
Dark Angels Leviathan Dreadnought Venerable-Praefectus Coriolanus, the Archon of Stone, during the Horus Heresy.
- Venerable-Praefectus Coriolanus - Coriolanus, the Archon of Stone, was a Leviathan Dreadnought in the Dark Angels Legion during the Horus Heresy. He served the Legion for more than two standard centuries, and was once the marshal of the Ist Legion's Host of Stone before his internment within a Dreadnought. As the Horus Heresy raged, Coriolanus took part in the Thramas Crusade and was among the Dark Angels that defended the world of Nadress III from the Night Lords. His Legion's might was not enough to save the world, though, and the fortress Coriolanus was defending began to be overwhelmed by the Traitors. Before it fell to the Night Lords, Coriolanus sacrificed himself by using his Leviathan's Grav Flux Bombard to collapse the fortress around him, entombing them all in rubble.
Carab Culln of the Red Scorpions Chapter after his transformation into a Relic Leviathan Dreadnought known as "Carab Culln the Risen".
- Carab Culln the Risen - Carab Culln is the former lord high commander (Chapter Master) of the Red Scorpions Chapter and a current Relic Leviathan Dreadnought. Known throughout the Imperium, he is a warrior of great courage and battle experience who has fought the enemies of Mankind across the breadth of the galaxy. Renowned as an inspirational leader of unimpeachable bravery, Carab Culln had the honour of being selected as Magister Militum (supreme commander) of the Loyalist Space Marine forces during the internecine conflict known as the Badab War from 904.M41 until 912.M41. During his baptism of fire as a Chapter Master in this conflict, he preferred to lead the major actions of the war from the front, earning the respect and admiration of his peers. Carab Culln was believed lost to the Imperium in the campaigns of the Indomitus Crusade. Grievously wounded in the slaying of the Great Beast of Sarum, Culln's shattered body was returned to his Chapter, bearing only the faintest whisperings of life. Thus in honour he was interred within the armoured shell of a Relic Leviathan Dreadnought, blessed with the technology to allow Culln to serve his brethren in battle once again, now as Carab Culln the Risen.
Sources[]
- Imperial Armour Index: Forces of the Adeptus Astartes (8th Edition), pg. 30
- The Horus Heresy Book Six: Retribution (Forge World Series) by Alan Bligh, pp. 235-237, 292
- The Horus Heresy Book Seven: Inferno (Forge World Series) by Alan Bligh, pp. 53, 78, 142, 186, 197
- The Horus Heresy Book Eight: Malevolence (Forge World Series) by Neil Wylie and Anuj Malhotra, pg. 128
- The Horus Heresy Book Nine: Crusade (Forge World Series), pg. 99
- The Horus Heresy: Legiones Astartes - Age of Darkness Army List pp. 11, 76-77
- White Dwarf 460 (January 2021), "The Keep Extremis," pp. 32-37
- Forge World - Leviathan Siege Dreadnought Experimental Rules
- Forge World - Leviathan Pattern Siege Dreadnought
- Forge World - Leviathan Pattern Dreadnought with Siege Claw & Siege Drill
- Forge World - Leviathan Pattern Siege Dreadnought Siege Claw
- Forge World - Leviathan Pattern Siege Dreadnought Grav-Flux Bombard
- Forge World - Leviathan Pattern Siege Dreadnought Storm Cannon
- Forge World - Leviathan Pattern Dreadnought with Storm Cannon & Grav Flux Bombard
- Forge World - Leviathan Pattern Siege Dreadnought with Cyclonic Melta Lance & Siege Claw
- Forge World - Leviathan Pattern Siege Dreadnought Talon
- Forge World Webstore - Carab Culln the Risen
Gallery[]
