Officia Monstrosa – Iron Warriors

[apologist]

 

Dust lay across the fallen figure, drawing white streaks across the grubby armour. It lay in dry eyes. He had been dead and staring before the explosion had draped him in his stony shroud. 

 

Not long before, mused Yavuz. He squatted on his haunches next to the corpse, his own face pinched. Resting his hands on his knees, he paused a moment to enjoy the stretch in his hamstrings and lower back. His armour fizzed. The pitiless light threw stark shadows; highlighted the cracked plate and skin scaly with rad-wash. 

 

Above the distant sound of small arms fire and shrieking shells, Yavuz heard footsteps. Considered, but not wary. Konstantin stopped besides the squatting warrior, cradling his boltgun. He pursed his lips. 

'Nikephoros?'

Yavuz nodded once in reply. 'You were not close.' Konstantin continued, his tone disinterested. Yavuz might have smiled.

'No.' It was an odd statement for his squadmate to make, particularly given the circumstances. He reached forward unhesitatingly, drawing his combat blade and moving to one knee in the same movement.

 

The silver edge cut easily through the scalp, lodged, was freed with a slight grunt. Yavuz cradled Nikephoros' head, his face pinched as he wrenched upwards. A crackle of particularly unusual gunfire – Mass-accelerator? Volkite? – accompanied the motion. Yavuz placed the top of Nikephoros' skull gently to one side, then tilted the head to let the hard light in. He raised an eyebrow, almost in surprise. Despite the rad-count, it was pink, unspoiled. Konstantin knelt beside him, placed his boltgun down as more members of the squad filtered in. Yavuz slipped two fingers into the brainpan, lifted out a glistening grey-pink chunk and placed it in his mouth.

 

His thoughts might have shamed him once. Weakness. This was the first meat he had tasted since planetfall. By the Warmaster, it was good. Konstantin could not hide his hunger, either. Yavuz detected a rise in his heartbeat, saw him lick his lips.

 

Yavuz placed Nikephoros' head back on the floor, then sat back, meditatively. The warriors ranged around the area remained watchful, as Konstantin flipped open the dead Astartes' pouches for ammunition, his expression impossible to read. The distant gunfire swelled with the wind, then fell away. An eerie whine sounded. An irrelevant siren. Who was it for? Who could not have understood the danger by now?

 

Yavuz's skin blanched, then flushed. He sat, cross-legged, still. While they waited, Konstantin used his combat blade to scrape away the few honour marks on the dead man's armour; used the blade in a rocking motion to make a crude 'X' across the squad and company markings; specialist litany, his oath-parchment  – everything except the Legion's dead-skull identifier. His expression was unreadable, his muttering almost inaudible.

 

Finally, he jabbed the point of the knife into the corner of the eye socket of the Legion symbol. Pulling back on the blade, he levered out the black onyx. He placed it to one side, then repeated the process on the other eye socket. His movements were careful, steady. A shell, much closer, made him wince, but he continued after a moment. He placed the two near-circles in his hand, a pool of glossy black, then used the handle of his blade to break them, cracking them into shards. With a rolling motion, not unlike a pestle in the mortar of his hand, he ground them to grit. Finally, he held them over Nikephoros' face, and let the grains spill through his gauntlet, covering the eyes. 

 

He paused briefly, looking at the fallen warrior. After a short time, he gave a dismissive grunt, reached out for his boltgun, and stood. An intake of breath made him look back at his sergeant, still sitting cross-legged.

 

 

Yavuz opened his eyes.

'I... know the area.' he said, hesitantly. 'The Fists are... that way.' 

 

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+ [appended inload 270416] +

 

+++

 

 

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Palatarch Yavuz

 

Phalangite Konstantin

 

Phalangite Radoslav

 

Phalangite Koinos

 

Hyoidite Aganthan

 

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Edited April 27, 2016 by Apologist

[Slips]

Oh Jeebus :O

[Commissar Molotov]

One never knows what to expect next from your workbench! Really interesting. Are these to go up against Bob's Fists?

[Daemon2027]

Love it. Love everything about this. More.

[apologist]

Oh Jeebus

 

A good 'Oh Jeebus', I hope?

 

 

One never knows what to expect next from your workbench! Really interesting. Are these to go up against Bob's Fists?

 

Ha! Too true. I barely know what to expect myself. You've hit the nail on the head. There are loads of Heresy-era armies in the PCRC, but mostly loyalists. As a result, some traitors make a lot of sense. Plus the IVth are awesome, of course My plan is essentially to match Bob_Hunk's Fists in vague numbers/points levels, with a view to theming the army around the Siege of Terra.

 

+++

The Hydra, on 12 Aug 2015 - 2:20 PM, said:

Love it. Love everything about this. More.

 

There is little more beyond the backs of the marines at the moment; but I have an evening free tonight... Let's see how they grab me :)

 

 

 

 

 

 

What's the Duty of Monsters? I hope you'll stick around to find out

Edited August 12, 2015 by Apologist

[Kriegriss]

really cool I love the look of em

[Charlo]

Have these guys been heavily chopped and such to be a bit more true scale?

 

Because they look hench and awesome!

[Kriegriss]

I also wondered if there had been some true scaling going on but was not sure

[Commissar Molotov]

Ah, and here was me hoping we'd see action in the Iron Cage!

[DuskRaider]

BY GOD, HE'S DOING TRAITORS. Keeping my eye on this.

[Daemon2027]

Have these guys been heavily chopped and such to be a bit more true scale?

 

Because they look hench and awesome!

  

I also wondered if there had been some true scaling going on but was not sure

Apologist uses terminators as a base for his true scale conversions. He is one of the true masters of the art, Google the The Praetors of Calth. I also recommend his blog http://apologentsia.blogspot.co.uk/?m=1

[Ishagu]

Not sure what I was going to find in this thread.

 

Some wonderful models it seems! Truly, great work!

[paz]

This gets me right in the heresy. Cannot wait for more (especially that fluff, damn...)

[apologist]

Ah, and here was me hoping we'd see action in the Iron Cage!

 

Never say never. It's nice to have a loose narrative to inform the army, but just as my Calth-themed Ultramarines have been fielded elsewhere, there's no reason a refight of the Iron Cage couldn't be done (well, a bit of it, at least!)

 

 

BY GOD, HE'S DOING TRAITORS. Keeping my eye on this.

Glad to have you on board. Now grab an oar

 

 

Have these guys been heavily chopped and such to be a bit more true scale?

 

Because they look hench and awesome!

  

I also wondered if there had been some true scaling going on but was not sure

Apologist uses terminators as a base for his true scale conversions. He is one of the true masters of the art, Google the The Praetors of Calth. I also recommend his blog http://apologentsia.blogspot.co.uk/?m=1

 

 

Not quite sure I deserve that accolade, but thanks! As The Hydra says, I tend to use Terminator bits to give my marines a bit more bulk. That said, I have been considering doing a standard-scaled force for heresy-era games. The Iron Warriors need to be true-scaled to sit alongside Bob_Hunk's cool LED-lit Imperial Fists, which are also based on Terminators.

 

Not sure what I was going to find in this thread.

Some wonderful models it seems! Truly, great work!

Ta very much. 

 

 

This gets me right in the heresy. Cannot wait for more (especially that fluff, damn...)

Wait no longer... 

 

+++

 

'Give me my armour! Give me my armour!' The phrase, which had started as a demand, had become a froth-laden bellow. The bondsmen winced slightly as the marine began to slam his fists against the dirty armourglass again. Over and over, he had repeated his attacks, his hands reduced to little more than clubs of blood.

 

They tried to ignore the battering, which continued frenziedly, without rhythm. His words – his mantra – became an atavistic howl, then a wordless shriek. One of the bondsmen nervously peeked over his shoulder. The naked Astartes' eyes were bulging in rage, unfocussed and pink with broken blood vessels. The armourglass was smeared with blood, with spit, with acid burns. 

'Should we stum him again?' one of the bondsmen whispered. The other opened his mouth to speak, just as the door to the dimly-lit chamber began to open. The great wheel in the centre turned, ponderously at first, then more freely. The bondsmen unlimbered their rifles and brought them to their shoulder, trying to ignore the garbled, spitting demands of their charge.

 

'Pax.' The Iron Warrior's command was given as he stepped into the room, and the bondsmen relaxed their aim and stepped back. As the caged Astartes saw the new arrival, the hammering slowed, then renewed. 

'Give me my armour!' The last word trailed off as the Astartes screwed his eyes shut in rage and began battering his head against the glass, his hands open and trembling. 'I'll kill you! I'll kill you all!'

 

The new arrival stepped forward, and raised a hand to place it against the armourglass, quizzically. He held it there. It didn't so much as tremble under the other's barrage of furious blows.

 

'Is it meet to treat with us so, because a stranger is dead?' 

 

The bondsmen looks uncertainly at one another. Were the visitor's words a question? The second bondsman opened his mouth to speak, then shut it as the two Astartes locked gazes. They paused for a moment, their faces pretenaturally alike; their individual birth-seed overcome and subsumed beneath the bleak dominance of the Emperor's genetic manipulation. Their faces, like so many of the legion, were scarred and imperfect reflections of Perturabo's; their features hard, as though chipped from a great flint. Their expressions were similarly bitter and bilious. Hard lines clustered around the free Iron Warrior's pinched, thin-lipped mouth. The other's face was a patchwork of strained white-yellow and red-purple in its fury. Clusters of tendons and veins stood proud, his face inches from his brother's. His nose and brow pressed against the glass, straining, desperate. His eye wheeled, searching.

 

All of a sudden, as though a switch had been flicked, the caged Space Marine stopped. His hands dropped, smearing wetly down the glass. His breathing slowed, though ragged puffs of condensation beneath his nostrils belied the suddenly-chilly exterior. He seemed to relax a little, though his face remained pressed firmly against the glass, the flesh distorted, any nobility made grotesque under the pressure. The silence was as eerie as the rage.

 

He wetted his lips, slowly. Then, his eye fixed on the visitor, and in a voice no louder than a whisper, he spoke.

'Give me my armour.' 

 

The new arrival appeared to reach a decision. His face remained dour, but the bondsmen detected a hint of amusement as he turned to address them. 

'Give him his armour.'

 

+++

 

I worked a little on these five last night:

 

Pretty pleased with how they're turning out. I took some photos while I was going along as an aide memoire, so I'll write up the step-by-step process on my blog and post it here. They're now at the stage I can get stuck into the fun detailing, so I have a few bits to discuss. 

 

1) Lens colours – Erring towards red at the moment, but happy to hear your thoughts on what I should do. Something more unusual like yellow, orange or green. Perhaps even a mix across the force?

 

2) Markings – I'm going to play down the hazard striping; using it for small bits of trim and honorifics rather than across whole plates of the armour.

 

3) Armour – A mix of marks seems most appropriate for the pragmatic Iron Warriors; practicality over artifice. That said, where does the balance lie between customising your armour to be most effective, and vanity personalisation? I imagine the latter would be frowned upon, but if an Iron Warrior can make his armour more suitable to his purpose in the Legion, isn't that desirable?

 

4) Helms – I've scattered a few of the specialised Iron Warrior helms in. There's now a choice on whether to keep a fairly random mix, to start to emphasise one style over the others. 

 

If anyone has any thoughts on these, I'd love to hear 'em.

Edited August 13, 2015 by Apologist

[Olis]

Looking pretty good so far but I can't really comment on the overall aesthetic until you've got all the colours you need on them. As for customisability of each warrior's suit - I would agree that 'vanity' affectations (like sanguinary guard style armour) are not the order of the day for Iron Warriors. 'Pragmatism versus specialisation' would be the best way to frame it in my mind. Perhaps something akin to Hyaenidae's past efforts?

[Dragonlover]

 

 

3) Armour – A mix of marks seems most appropriate for the pragmatic Iron Warriors; practicality over artifice. That said, where does the balance lie between customising your armour to be most effective, and vanity personalisation? I imagine the latter would be frowned upon, but if an Iron Warrior can make his armour more suitable to his purpose in the Legion, isn't that desirable?

 

The way I see it, extra armour plate on left shoulder because that's where you always get shot? No worries. Extra armour plate with ornately detailed Legion symbol? Nah, no need.

 

I can also see stuff like Marksman's Honours and the like being painted on rather than as a physical embellishment.

 

Dragonlover

[Kriegriss]

they look great fella really enjoying you're thread inspiring me alot I might try a true scale kill team one day I really think you're method captures what I imagine astartes to look like but aside from that they look great and the way you write you're thread with fluff is really engrossing and I await every update

 

I apologize for not recognizing you from you're ultra thread witch is also great thanks for putting such high quality content up for us to enjoy

Edited August 13, 2015 by Kriegriss

[paz]

Man, why is it you don't write for BL?

 

That short was fantastic. I've always found the iron warriors to be fairly bland (siege, mean, intractable) but this writing really gives them a sense of legion character: Cold, dangerous, all sharp edges and density but brittle like obsidian. 

Can't wait for more hobby and fluff!

[Noserenda]

Me likey, me likey a lot! May steal some of your ideas for my next batch of iron warriors too.. :D

[Tyrannicide]

Great start! This is nothing short of the level of quality we've all come to expect with your Ultras.

 

For the eye lenses I would take a page out of Hyaenidae's book and go with the color of the cold black void - just like their hearts, those poor bastard sons of Perturabo.

 

But really, gives them a sinister and enigmatic edge.

[apologist]

Coo, thanks for all the lovely feedback, everyone – much appreciated!

 

Here's the first part of how I've painted these guys. If the pictures are a bit small, you can see clickable larger versions on Death of a Rubricist here.

 

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Iron Warrior Infantry painting guide part 1

This is as much an aide memoire as anything else, so apologies in advance if something's unclear. I hope it's of use to someone. I've listed the paints and other materials I've used, but feel free to substitute them for what you have available. It's all a bit of a moveable feast. If you've any questions, please let me know and I'll do my best to answer.

 

1_  Prime grey, then spray or basecoat black. I use Halford's grey primer and matt black. Next, make a large well of Runefang Steel (or similar light-tinted metal) on your palette – approximately three brushloads. Add a little flow enhancer (I use Daler Rowney's brand; Lahmian Medium is the GW equivalent) and mix.

Next, add a drop of sepia ink. Finally, add a little Scorched Brown in one corner. Allow these colours to bleed into the silver, so that you can use mixes or pure versions of the silver. Use a large brush to paint the whole model, aiming for a variegated effect. Alternatively, you could paint it silver then lightly drybrush with a mix of silver and brown.

 

2_ Still using a large (size 4 round) brush, quickly paint the whole model with Devlan Mud wash, and drop in touches of badab Black in recesses. Sepia ink mixed with flow enhancer or Vallejo Smoke are good alternatives.
Use your thumb or a piece of untextured kitchen paper to swipe away the wash from raised surfaces. Allow to dry completely before continuing.

 

3_ Paint the shoulder pads, gun casing, flexible undersuit and any pouches – bascially, anything that isn't hard metal – using Charadon Granite or similar dark grey.

 

4_ Switch to a size 1 round and begin to establish the midtone metal. I use almost undiluted paint at this point, picking up just a little at a time (to prevent it drying on the bristles) on a damp brush. I use a wandering, scrawling motion of the tip to paint in the Iron Warrior's plate, avoiding the recesses and aiming to give a textural, battered appearance. You can see the effect quite well on the forearm bracer on the left of the picture.

Avoid the shoulder trim and any parts that you want to differentiate. I paint the backs of the legs, most of the backpack and the working parts of the gun differently, in order to provide some visual interest, for example, so I leave these areas alone.

It's worth noting at this point that I'm thinking about the light source (above) at this point, and applying less paint to areas away from it. As a result, some areas receive barely any paint and remain shaded. The legs illustrate this well. The trailing leg (left of picture), is shaded and dark because the light from above can't get to it. It receives a little reflected light from below, so isn't untouched, but not much. Compare with the forward leg, where the thigh is cleanly highlighted (apart from an area of battle damage), the knee receives a little, and the shin virtually no light. The foot also remains largely in shadow, except for the toes, which are relatively light.

 

5_ Using the size 1 brush, paint the shoulder pads and gun casing with pure flow enhancer. Starting from the bottom, drop in sepia ink and slowly draw the brush up towards the zenith, applying pressure to let the brush splay out, then reducing it and lifting away the brush. You can use Badab Black wash if you prefer.

Place the figure the right way up to dry. You're aiming to paint the pads in one brushstroke, so that you don't get any marks, and you create a smooth gradation. Placing the figure the right way up means that the colour (already stronger in the lower part) flows down to strengthen the tone, and away from the highlight areas.

 

6_ Gold! I used Winsor & Newton gold ink, but on consideration I'd suggest you use an acrylic gold as the ink tends to shift a lot if disturbed. Paint all of the trim, including the shoulder trim. Try not to add so much that the model looks gaudy, but enough to break up the monotone nature.

 

7_ Apply topical washes across the armour. I kept three pots open in front of me – Leviathan Purple (used for the gold and also added sparingly wet-in-wet across the model as a whole), Devlan Mud (added to strengthen the tone of armour recesses) and Badab Black (added to further reinforce armour recesses, and for the differentiated metal of the gun, backpack and back of legs.)

Once dry, I touched in tiny touches of Badad Black on the face, to begin to establish the deepest tones near the focal points.

 

8_ Once dry, basecoat the base. I used Scorched Brown here. Leave the model to dry overnight.

 

Second part up when I get a chance to finish 'em off.

+++

 

 

[...]As for customisability of each warrior's suit - I would agree that 'vanity' affectations (like sanguinary guard style armour) are not the order of the day for Iron Warriors. 'Pragmatism versus specialisation' would be the best way to frame it in my mind. Perhaps something akin to Hyaenidae's past efforts?

 

The way I see it, extra armour plate on left shoulder because that's where you always get shot? No worries. Extra armour plate with ornately detailed Legion symbol? Nah, no need.

I can also see stuff like Marksman's Honours and the like being painted on rather than as a physical embellishment.

 

Ah, good, looks like I'm leaning the right way with 'em, with minimal decoration. That said, a little Legion pride is good for cohesion, so I may find a way to get some flourishes in. On the basis that they honour the Legion over the individual – nothing like the personal heraldry of my Ultramarines.

 

Man, why is it you don't write for BL?

That short was fantastic. I've always found the iron warriors to be fairly bland (siege, mean, intractable) but this writing really gives them a sense of legion character: Cold, dangerous, all sharp edges and density but brittle like obsidian. Can't wait for more hobby and fluff!

Cheers – always lovely to hear feedback on the colour text; glad you enjoyed it.

 

Me likey, me likey a lot! May steal some of your ideas for my next batch of iron warriors too..

Hey dude, how's life treating you and the anti-PCRC?

 

For the eye lenses I would take a page out of Hyaenidae's book and go with the color of the cold black void - just like their hearts, those poor bastard sons of Perturabo.

I do rather like that idea (nice one Hyaenidae), but I'll have to find another way to draw the eye to the focal point, then. Hmm. Perhaps a headlight effect? i.e. grey glass, rather than lit up?

 

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Edited April 7, 2017 by Apologist

[Daemon2027]

I would certainly keep the heraldry to minimum, I wouldn't over do the hazard stripes either. I think little things like a coloured helm stripe to pick out sgts, maybe a small mark of honour handed out by the primarch or carried through the great crusade. Subtle details that aren't obvious with a quick glance but come apparent as you study the models.

 

I love the close up pic of the model used in the painting guide you posted yesterday. Nice amount of attitude.

[apologist]

Cheers; he was the first one I made – and, as is so often the case, the reason to make more!

 

Here are a couple of close-ups. Still WIP – I'll get round to finishing them off then post up the individual marines with a bit of colour text.

 

This picture shows that nice matt black you can get with the combination of flow enhancer and ink.

 

 

 

Not going to win any beauty prizes, this fella. Fortunately, he's got some spare faces on his belt.

(If you're interested in how I approached painting the faces, there's some more info on Death of a Rubricist.)

 

 

With the more drilled and standardised Ultramarines, I've missed making these characterful little poses. They can look a little odd on their own, but in group shots, they work nicely. The guy grabbing Little Horus' arm here is a good example. His pose looks a bit odd on its own, but works well here, I think.

Edited August 14, 2015 by Apologist

[apologist]

Iron Warrior Infantry painting guide part 2

 

9_ Highlight the black areas subtly using a mix of Charadon Granite and Fenris Grey. Dilute the mix with flow enhancer. Use dry Boltgun Metal to highlight the non-plate metal areas (back of legs, boltgun, backpack etc. – see step 4 in the previous inload)

 

 

10_ Use slightly diluted Iyanden Darksun or Averland Sunset to paint in the accent areas. I've added a stripe down the right shoulderpad. Once dry, overlay it with Golden Yellow until you get a fairly smooth coverage. There's no need to make it absolutely smooth, as that risks making it look odd in contrast with the battered gunmetal plate.

 

 

11_ Dilute an off-black (i.e. a very dark grey or brown – I used Scorched Brown mixed with sepia ink) with a little flow enhancer and use the tip of a size 1 brush to paint in the freehand markings. I suggest using a decent-sized brush as it'll hold enough paint for you to paint a section at a time, without having to reload. I use off-black rather than a pure black to reduce the contrast. These details should be subtle, not eye-catching.

 

 

12_ Finish the squad markings, then dilute a warm red-brown (Scorched Brown or Dark Flesh) with flow enhancer until it is very meagre. Use this to glaze the yellow, adding the suggestion of wear and weathering without adding texture. Concentrate the colour away from the light and in recesses to add shading.

 

 

13_ Tear off a small piece of artifical sponge and bunch it in your fingers. Dip it in a little of the same colour as the base (Scorched Brown, in this case). Wipe off the excess and lightly dab this across the model, focussing on areas that stick out, like knees, elbows and hands. Avoid the torso, face and rifle.

 

 

14_ Base the model (I used successive layers of grey drybrushing, along with dry grass to match Bob_Hunk's army [noospheric link embedded]). To finish, I used a mix of a cold blue (Hoeth Blue) and Vallejo white to paint in the eyes. I built these up with a couple of layers, and entirely filled the socket recesses. This creates a slight glow effect. To increase the contrast, I also glazed the areas around the eyes with grey-brown.

 

 

Your Iron Warrior is now ready to menace the galaxy!

[apologist]

Hyoidite Aganthan

 

Hyoidite is an archaic IV Legion cognomen for a signalman; the term coming back into use post-Isstvan as Horus encouraged those who had rallied to his flag to alter their sigils, identifiers and codes to reduce the ease of identification. Almost all the rebels chose to ritually removing the Imperial Eagle and replace it with the great Eye of Horus, but many of the Warmaster's supporters took great pains to revise their uniforms and procedures from the ground up; a not-inconsiderable task that, in a number of documented cases, caused havoc for the rebel's command and control on the battlefield.

 

The Iron Warriors as a whole were obedient in following the edict; but this was through their typical chilly efficiency rather than heated fervour for the Warmaster. With relish, the Legion High Command began to disseminate Olympian terms throughout the Legion's structure. Some commentators interpret the order as a typically sullen and tokenistic gesture to the Warmaster's wishes, while others have argued that it ought to be taken at face value; as a genuine desire to confuse the enemy with minimal potential for internal miscommunication. Certainly the Iron Warriors' choice was a convenient shibboleth long-familiar to the majority of the Legion – a code that would be easily broken, but owing to the divergent Olympian laryngal anatomy, was difficult for non-Olympians to convincingly duplicate over vox. 

 

The noted commentator Egris of Hiath made a well-argued point in his famed esay 'On the Causes and Results of Rebellion' that the Iron Warriors' choice was unusually sentimental. As the last generation of Olympians, the Iron Warriors' culture – self-extinguished – was in real danger of being lost. Egris' discussion built from this point to argue that the Iron Warriors were practising a rebellion of ideas against the monolithic bureacracy of Terra; a stab for (admittedly limited) individuality and diversity against the homeworld's smothering need to force uniformity and compliance. Such an argument, Egris concluded, demonstrated the treacher-legionaries tortured and contradictory need for both self-expression and centralised dominance. He was posthumously vindicated in his assessment as the defeated Legion fractured into followers of different ideologies during the Great Scouring and following years.

 

 

Whatever the truth, the Iron Warriors' command choices were well-supported in the field with individuals like Aganthan. To a Legion which regarded mathematical precision as key to their offensive and defensive strategies, communications specialists were tested to a high degree, and in demand amongst line officers. In addition, they were usually fielded in pairs to ensure redundancy. The senior Legionary would bear intelligence-gathering and measuring equipment such as sniff-sweepers and specialist haruspex units in addition to standard pattern auspices.

 

One such device can be pictured above; the hand-held unit connected by bulky redundancy wires to internal receptors built into his plate. The junior Legionary would pass on the datascreeds interpreted by the hyoidite through a long-range vox-comms unit. 

 

 

Many amongst the treacher-legions were issued with newer armour prior to the rebellion, owing to Horus' favour, though far from all. Nevertheless, the general lack of  supply during the Siege of Terra, meant that many amongst the Warmaster's forces were left with older suits. This was exacerbated in the IVth Legion's case by the Iron Warriors' peculiarly attenuated deployment pattern, and during the Siege of Terra it was far from unusual to see members of the Legion in marks ranging from gleaming prototype Mark VI to those forced to deploy in retro-fitted Mark II Crusade suits.

 

The rear image shows the hooped underplating of the Voss-pattern Mark III armour with which Aganthan takes the field, as well as showing the legionary's holstered sidearm and spare ammunition. Perturabo's teachings had resulted in a rigidly drilled Legion, where good weapon order was second nature to even the rawest recruit. This lent a rigid steel base to the Warmaster's assault on Terra, against which the Sons of Horus, Alpha Legion and World Eaters could flex fluidly; resulting in a terrifyingly effective alloy of attack.

 

This angle also shows a variant Legionary identifier; a broad Or stripe with a simple Legion numeral below a Tactical marking of the double-headed arrow. This was a relatively common variant amongst the Legion, developed post-Isstvan in imitation of their more specialised units' markings.

 

 

Voss-pattern armour was generally regarded as second-best by most Legions; plagued as it was with unstable heat-build-up, minor power fluctutations, and a poor HUD suite. As a result, it was often passed on to second-line or reserve units. Garrison units of Iron Warriors were notorious for finding themselves lumbered with shipments from the Forge World after other Legions had interdicted deliveries of better-quality plate. While the practise was frowned upon by the Adeptus Terra, few would speak up in favour of isolated Iron Warrior Captains when faced with the demands of senior officers from other Legions.

 

Perhaps such treatment was one source of the Iron Warrior's famed resentment. It is thus part of the tragedy that the sons of Perturabo were often deliberately chosen as garrison troops with the Adeptus Terra's foreknowledge that they would receive poorer-quality materiel. Were the Legion and its bitter master more able to see past the apparent slight – and were the Adeptus Terra more forthcoming in explaining their reasoning –  the Fourth Legion's command might have seen that they had been selected for such treatment precisely because they were so resourceful in matters of technology. They could be relied upon to adapt their suits individually; creating wonderfully creative artifices to overcome the armour's drawbacks with few raw materials. 

 

In addition to the nameplate (usually restricted to honoured veterans), Aganthan's combat knife has script written in a curt, fussily-neat hand. Post-mortem examination revealed the writing to be a list of names. Perhaps fallen comrades, perhaps victims of the knife ritually noted. The truth will never be known.

 

 

Such sympathetic adaptations can be clearly seen in the images shown here: the addition of reinforcing molecular bonding studs, a rear-facing raised pauldron to protect the notoriously vulnerable rear head cabling, and sundry less obvious adaptations.

 

Aganthan's tilt-shield with a heraldic device is an unusual, though not unheard-of, affectation amongst the IVth, and here it serves a stolidly practical use in covering a bullet trap between the Voss-pattern pauldron and the chest.

 

The Tigrus-pattern boltgun, a popular and common pattern amongst the Warmaster's legions, is standard issue. It was a peculiarity of many Iron Warriors commanders to prioritise the distribution of arms over armour; for reasons unknown.