The Red Talons are a Second Founding Space Marine chapter descended from the Iron Hands, defined since their creation by a single, consuming purpose: hunting down the Traitor Legions that betrayed the Emperor.
What the Red Talons are
They’re a Second Founding successor of the Iron Hands Legion, raised at the end of the Great Scouring. Their homeworld is Raikan, and their armour is red with a silver aquila and black pauldron trim.
Unlike many chapters with broad strategic roles, the Red Talons exist for one job. They were built to pursue renegades and Traitors, and they’ve never really stopped.
Where they came from
Their roots run back to Autek Mor, an Iron Father of Clan Morragul during the Horus Heresy. Mor was a Terran-born captain who never quite fit in with his fellow Iron Hands officers, and Clan Morragul became a home for legionaries who didn’t fit the Legion’s rigid codes either.
After the Isstvan III atrocity and the death of Ferrus Manus, Mor didn’t join Shadrak Meduson’s guerrilla campaign. He launched his own full-scale assaults on the Traitors instead, operating far from Terra and earning a reputation as a byword for destruction behind enemy lines. That mindset carried straight into the chapter he inspired.
- Nuclear strikes on Gethsamaine Colonus’ major cities
- Orbital bombardment of the Traitor mining world Saria Major
- Routing a Sons of Horus-led company at Locurtar Station
- Fighting World Eaters at the Battle of Bodt, where the planet’s moon was brought down
How they fight
The Red Talons don’t do half-measures. Their doctrine leans hard into annihilation, orbital strikes, and relentless pursuit of anyone marked as Traitor.
That focus makes them brutally effective against renegades, but it also colours how they see the wider Imperium. They’re not diplomats or garrison troops. They’re a weapon pointed at a specific enemy.
Don’t confuse them with the Old World mercenaries
There’s a completely separate Red Talons in Warhammer’s Old World setting: a Tilean mercenary company in the 25th century IC, part of the garrison on Rijker’s Isle near Marienburg. Their captain is Jacopo d’Arezzo.
Same name, different universe. If you’re reading about 40k, you want the Space Marine chapter.
Key facts
- Second Founding successor chapter of the Iron Hands Legion
- Homeworld is Raikan
- Armour is red with a silver aquila and black pauldron trim
- Origins trace back to Autek Mor and Clan Morragul during the Horus Heresy
- Defined by a permanent vendetta against the Traitor Legions
- Not to be confused with the Tilean mercenary company of the same name in the Old World
FAQ
Who are the Red Talons’ primarch?
They descend from Ferrus Manus, primarch of the Iron Hands, through the Second Founding.
What makes the Red Talons different from other Iron Hands successors?
Their single-minded vendetta against the Traitor Legions. That purpose goes back to Autek Mor’s campaigns during the Horus Heresy.
Are the Red Talons loyalist?
Yes. They’re a loyalist Space Marine chapter, raised from Iron Hands stock after the Heresy.