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In general there are still quite a few forge worlds retaining this knowledge.

If we're considering books as cannon material: In Titanicus don't they imply that they still produce some? If you have other cannon sources where it is stated (if they still know or not) and you remember it please name it.

ps I read a answer about the imperium having lost the knowledge of how they create Space Marines: Are there other characters enhanced in the same way as Hector Rex in Warhammer 40K?

Correct me if I am wrong but they still know, it is just that some chapters are better than others in the process or are more like mad mystical surgeons;

What the Imperium is unable to do is to perform modifications on the genseeds and create a whole new "Legion"(not the best word)

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  • I don't understand what you're asking, could you clarify things a little?
    – Edlothiad
    Mar 2, 2017 at 15:10
  • Ok I guess that's a little clearer, thanks Daft
    – Edlothiad
    Mar 2, 2017 at 15:14
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    If they couldn't make more Marines the chapters would be extinct in the 10,000 years range from the Heresy and into the 42nd millennium.
    – Schneejäger
    Mar 2, 2017 at 20:12
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    No, the False Emperor can no longer produce Space Marines or Titans. Please surrender to the nearest Forces Of Chaos, as all hope is lost.
    – PhasedOut
    Mar 3, 2017 at 22:26
  • @Schneejäger Space Marines have to be created from geneseeds which are harvested upon death, so I think the question is whether or not this supply of geneseeds can be grown or replenished if destroyed.
    – Harabeck
    Mar 3, 2018 at 14:32

2 Answers 2

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I fear that the question is not 100% easy to answer (with how fluid the canon of 40k is). But lets split it up first:

Titans: From different books (novels + army books of the tablebook) it is so, that the Imperium does produce even Titans. Where is not completely answerable but AT LEAST on some forge worlds Titans can and are produced.

Still though despite old designs being produced, it is unknown if new designs are possible to be created. It is here unknown both if the Imperium CAN design new titan variants and also if they would do so if they can (I only say the inquisition and mechanicus could easily see such a task as heretical).

Space Marines: Here also the answer is a bit less complete than I would like. What we know the Imperium cannot do is create new Primarchs (the original progenitors of the Space Marines). Thus all space marines "produced" are coming from the glands (genetical material) harvested from dead space marines. This means producing space marines is possible. Even creating "new" Chapters. BUT only from already existing genetic material (and its mutations). Creating a chapter with a completely new genetic material is not possible.

This information here is also strewn in in bits here and there in the novels and the army books (and has changed at least slightly over the decades).

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    As an addition to this, IIRC, the Imperium is also unable to replicate Terminator armour. They can maintain the suits they have, but not make new ones. This is why Terminator armour is reserved for the veterans in each chapter.
    – Steve-O
    Mar 2, 2017 at 18:01
  • Not sure about the terminator armour. The problem with it is that it gets devastated quite often when the termis face tyranids (especially gene stealers). So unsure if they REALLY can't build new ones (else the number should be dwindling quite fast already)
    – Thomas
    Mar 2, 2017 at 18:51
  • T-Armor is officially on the list of things that mankind has lost the understanding of. Originally they were deemed "while supplies last," but then I believe GW came out and said that they were simply a forgotten tech. While there are still processes in place that can reproduce them, the understanding behind them has been lost. Part of the reason the T-Armor is so revered as well is because the Crux Terminatus is believed to contain a small piece of the Emperor's armor within it. New suits of course would not, but the "original line" does.
    – Odin1806
    Mar 2, 2017 at 21:19
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The Imperium can create new Space Marines. Each Space Marine has 2 Progenoid glands or 'gene seed' http://warhammer40k.wikia.com/wiki/Progenoid_Glands which are usually harvested when a Space Marine falls in battle. It takes roughly 10 years for one of these glands to become mature.

With regards to Titans, they are revered as holy relics and do require time to build but there are still forge worlds that produce them http://wh40k.lexicanum.com/wiki/Anvillus

You wouldn't see new Titans unless an STC was found http://warhammer40k.wikia.com/wiki/Standard_Template_Construct_(STC)

The Imperium has stagnated since the death of the Emperor and the Mechanicum generally see it as Heresy if someone creates something that doesn't follow an STC. In fact they're annoyed at the Blood Angels for not handing over the STC of the Baal Predator. They pretty much revere STCs' as holy artefacts.

Any 'new' Space Marines are however based off the geneseed from the original Primarchs. They don't have a way to create 'new' geneseed but they can create new glands as mentioned above to create new chapters, it's just these Chapters will have similar characteristics to their founding legion.

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