IHF's HH Designs [08/04 Ironwrought/Praevian Consul]

[Iron Hands Fanatic]

Okay, so I've made this thread to compile all my Heresy - era stuff, so that I don't have a load of separate threads as I keep uploading lineart, unit concepts, etc. - next up will be 'Absolom Destroyers' unit concept & lineart for the Iron Tenth

Here's a list of (current) contents:

*Land Raider Achilles Variants

*Golem Heavy Assault Squads

*My DIY 10th Legion Clan, Clan Brannsar

Please, feel free to leave any criticism / feedback - that's why I'm collecting this all here.

Anyway, hope you enjoy & thanks for looking

LAND RAIDER ACHILLES VARIANTS:

I Legion, the Dark Angels: Achilles Mortem:

Primary Weapon [Hull Mount]: Demolisher Siege Cannon
Secondary Weapons [sponsoon Mounts]: Flamestorm Cannons / Twin-Linked Multi-Meltas

When the schematics for adapting the MKIIb Land Raider Phobos chassis into the ‘Achilles’ variant arrived with the 1st Legion, Warsmith Ozul had already tasked his techmarines with repurposing the new designs with Perturabo’s blessing, details of which were spreading as quickly amongst the Legions as the schematics upon which they relied.

However, the artificers of the Dark Angels immediately started converting a number of their existing Phobos Land Raiders according to the new templates, experimenting with installing different weapons systems within the new hull mount, whilst ordering production of Achilles hulls from their supplying Forge Worlds. Within the 4th Legion, progress was much slower – the Iron Warriors’ distrust of the Imperial Fists from whom the schematic originated meant they rigorously tested the designs, looking for any sign of fault or flaw.

By the time Ozul had approved the Iron Warrior’s redesign for prototype manufacture, christened the Reductor, the 1st Legion was already field testing their ‘Achilles Mortem’, featuring a hull mounted demolisher cannon due to its relative simplicity, and the Enginseers’ experience with mounting it upon a variety of armoured vehicles. When Perturabo discovered this, he ordered his artificers co-opt the designs, reprimanding Ozul for his laxness. The only change the 4th Legion made to the Dark Angels’ new variant was the replacement of its sponsoon Flamestorm cannons – originating with the Predator Infernus – with twin linked multi-meltas, dedicating the vehicle as a true siege tank.

The 1st Legion primarily used the new Achilles mortem to deliver elite units to crucial enemy-held chokepoints, able to smash apart defences with its Demolisher cannon and flush out infantry with its powerful flame weapons. The Iron Warriors used the Mortem in a much less approved strategy, using its armour-shattering weapons to tear open fortifications in order to unleash the censured brutality of destroyer squads upon the heart of enemy garrisons, purging their strongholds from within.

It has been suggested that the Land Raider ‘Ares’, a battle tank occasionally accompanying forces of the ‘Unforgiven’ Chapters, may have been based upon the designs for the Achilles Mortem.

X Legion, the Iron Hands: Achilles Dominus:

Primary Weapon [Hull Mounted]: Graviton Cannon
Secondary Weapons [sponsoon Mounted]: Twin-linked: Lascannons / Multi-meltas / Volkite Culverins

When the Forge Worlds and Forge Masters of the 10th Legion received the Imperial Fists schematics for the Land Raider Achilles, alongside information regarding the Iron Warriors’ intent to re-purpose said designs, the Iron Hands had an unmatched reputation for mechanised warfare. True to this, Ferrus Manus ordered the complete and extensive integration of the new designs into the Legion’s armoured divisions, as well as the development of specialised variants utilising the newly adopted weapon mount.

With their unrivalled relationship with the Mechanicus, the 10th possessed a huge stockpile of weaponry that would be considered esoteric and rare amongst the other Legions. The Achilles Dominus took advantage of this, featuring the tank-shattering power of a Graviton Cannon as its primary weapon. In the years to come, the Dominus would be used to counter mechanised threats, blasting into the heart of enemy armoured echelons to bring the power of a small contingent of heavy support marines to bear, scattering their opponent’s war engines and allowing them to be destroyed piecemeal.

XII Legion, the World Eaters: Achilles Nox:

Primary Weapon [Hull Mounted]: Vulcan Megabolter
Secondary Weapons [sponsoon Mounted]: Twin-linked Autocannons

Possessing modified designs for multiple variants of the Achilles as well as the original, the Forge Lords of the 12th Legion bade their Forge Worlds modify the Achilles with enhanced anti-infantry firepower, sufficient to carve a path into the heart of an enemy horde to release the World Eaters’ most bloodthirsty warriors.

Bearing the terrifying Vulcan Mega Bolter, the Achilles Nox could turn an enemy infantry force to paste in a matter of seconds, tearing through the ubiquitous heavy bolter shells at a monstrous rate. If an Achilles Nox was fielded, it undoubtedly carried some of the 12th Legion’s most unhinged warriors, who would often leap from the accelerating war engine as it tore into infantry formations.

XIII Legion, the Ultramarines: Achilles Terminus:

Primary Weapon [Hull Mounted]: Laser Destroyer
Secondary Weapons [sponsoon Mounted]: Twin-linked Lascannons

The muse of decorated tank commander Jarius Frey, the Achilles Terminus was the result of his petition to Guilliman to have the 13th Legion’s techmarines repurpose the Land Raider Achilles into a dedicated tank hunter and Astartes command tank.

Carrying enough laser weapons to burn through the void shields of a scout Titan, the Terminus mounted the deadly Laser Destroyer battery upon its hull, which – alongside its sponsoon lascannons – allowed it to act as a spearhead to Ultramarines’ armoured forces, tearing through any mechanised formation capable of damaging it. Its small transport capacity was often utilised by the division’s commander and staff, allowing him to coordinate the accompanying vehicles and monitor the overall combat. If part of a smaller division, the Terminus could transport a small Tactical Support unit to purge the wrecks of enemy vehicles it had left in its wake, or bear a techmarine to maintain the valued engine of war.

It is generally believed the modified STC for the Achilles Terminus would later be used to develop the inferior Terminus Ultra Land Raider.

GOLEM HEAVY ASSAULT SQUADS:

++Intercept Transmission++/++High Priority++/++Code: Medusan Battle-Cant++/++Cipher Identified [Minimum encryption – prioritised data transmission speed]++
++Decrypting++
++Legion Identifier: X++/++Division Identifier: Clan Felg [Order Quarii]++
++Transmission follows:

The Gorgon has fallen. All Legionaries immediately abort Istvaan V rendezvous. Repeat: immediately abort Istvaan V rendezvous. Command chain broken. Highest authority reverts to Clan leaders.
Priority hazard alert: widespread Legion hostiles. 3rd, 4th, 8th, 12th, 14th, 16th, 17th, 20th confirmed traitor. Advise immediate engagement or withdrawal upon contact. Only confirmed non-hostile Legions as follows: 18th, 19th [advisory: forces severely depleted]. Recommend extreme caution upon contact with non-listed Legions.
Secondary hazard alert: Mechanicum forces [including Titan Legions] identified as variable allegiance. Recommend cooperation only with forces capable of Medusan battle-cant.
Tertiary hazard alert: Imperial Army, Naval forces identified as variable allegiance. Recommend eradication if allegiance indeterminate.
Suggest marshalling Clans at separate assembly points. Advisory: Medusa likely high priority traitor target.
Clan Avernii neutralised. Negligible attached force survivors. Secondary wave approximately 20% strength – all remaining 10th forces dispersed from Istvaan system.
Advisory: traitor target likely Terra. Inhibit this objective. Destruction of enemy forces, equipment highest priority. Extreme prejudice recommended.

terminates++

++Recover Data: Clan Felg [Order Quarii]++
++Processing Request++
++Local Data Stack: Request Results++/++Force Estimates++/++Significant Legionary Profiles++/++Combat Data++
++Access: Force Estimates++
++Processing Request++
++Request Results++/++Tactical Overview++/++Specialist Formations++
++Access: Specialist Formations++
++Processing Request++
++Request Results++/++Rapier Batteries++/++Iron Wave Companies++/++Golem Heavy Assault Squads++
++Access: Golem Heavy Assault Squads++
++Processing Request++
++Request Results++

++ Officio Militaris Unit Assessment:++/

-+Squad Formation: 10-20 ‘Golem’ Assault Marines+-/
-+Wargear:+-/
--Modified MKII ‘Crusade’ Armour [Note: 10th Legion Artificers’ standard practice includes producing Power Armour with an adapted ceramite mixture of Medusan origin – this occurs to such an extent that standard, manufactorum supplied Power Armour is a rarity within the Legion]--/
--MKII adapted Astartes jump pack--/
--Umbra pattern bolt pistol--/
--Modified chainfist [Note: originally weapons designed for use by Legionaries equipped with ‘Cataphractii’ pattern tactical dreadnought armour, these adapted chainfists are universally wielded by Golem assault marines with their right hands, which are replaced by bionic prosthetics upon their initiation as full Legionaries – this allows the Astartes to use the melee weapons with considerably more force than standard power armour would allow – approximately equal to that provided by the ‘Terminator’ armour for which they were initially designed]--/
--‘Melta’ thermic bombs--/
--Fragmentation grenades--/
--Combat blade--/
-+Specialist Wargear [Noted use by 0-4 Legionaries per squad]:+-/
--‘Melta’ thermic gun--/
--Lascutter--/
--Graviton gun--/

++Remembrancer observer datafile:++/

--[Note: likelihood of disinformation small - author was not part of the 52nd expeditionary fleet she was observing, instead attached to the 3rd Legion : the two forces were deployed together at time of writing - the Iron Hands grant Remembrancers little access to their military data, therefore sources are likely Emperors Children Legionaries]--/

--‘Golem’ Heavy Assault Squads are units of specialist assault marines dedicated to anti-armour objectives. Although the Legion makes limited use of assault squads, the ‘Golems’ are highly prized by Iron Hands commanders for situations when overwhelming firepower is not appropriate for the neutralisation of their enemies’ armoured assets.

These units utilise massive cutting weapons usually fielded by much more heavily armoured terminator formations as their primary weapons – their chainfists are designed for tearing through bulkheads or armoured hulls. Although most power-armoured Astartes would not have the strength to use such a weapon to its true potential, the obligatory bionic enhancement of the right hand that every Legionary undergoes allows them to overcome this disadvantage.

Once among their prey, the heavy assault squads are brutally efficient, tearing through vital systems, armoured chassis and weapon mounts with ease, often slaughtering occupying crew with the terrifying power of mass-reactive rounds in enclosed spaces. Equipped with high-output thermic munitions, these ‘Golems’ can bring down even the mightiest of war machines, utilising jump packs to out manoeuvre their lumbering targets and close distances swiftly in order to avoid their often astonishing firepower.

The ‘Golem’ Heavy Assault Squads are a relatively new feature of the 10th Legion’s forces, originally conceived during the pacification of Nine-Hundred-and-Seventy-Six Three of 987.M30 by Order Triarii of Clan Brannsar. Facing organised resistance by a human splinter-strain known as the Exalted, the Order began enacting long-range barrages against the labyrinth-cities of the populace with their armoured divisions, demolishing much of the sprawling metropolises by unleashing the tanks’ firepower within the envelope of the cities’ advanced void shields. However, the heavily mechanised companies of the Order suffered fierce resistance once they were within the shattered ruins of these cities – the Exalted had reverse engineered technology from an enormous crashed xenos void craft at the planet’s southern pole. This had allowed them to develop armoured vehicles possessing considerable firepower which could glide over the urban ruins using arcane anti-gravitic technology. Standard practice within the 10th Legion for dealing with armoured resistance is to utilise anti-armour war engines to obliterate all resistance, but this lead to the loss of a number of mechanised assets, including Sicarian as well as Predator battle tanks due to the mobility of Exalted vehicles allowing them to outflank and encircle the Order’s armoured squads.

Wary of discarding his armoured assets piecemeal and unwilling to induce the dishonour of requesting assistance of other Orders, Iron-Captain Athanasius ordered his Warleaders to assemble the small units of Assault Marines within the Order, and set his techmarines about modifying wargear as quickly as they could for expedient deployment. Two squads were gathered, each twenty-five marines strong, and outfitted with modified cataphractii chainfists and a plethora of meltabombs. Able to out-manouvre the nimble Exalted grav-engines, these heavy assault squads were able to ambush and destroy the considerable armoured reserves of the Exalted military, accelerating the pacification of Nine-Hundred-and-Seventy-Six Three.

When Iron-Captain Gabriel Santar of Clan Avernii’s Order Primarii made lord Ferrus aware of the combat data from Iron-Captain Athanasius’s unorthodox strategy, the Primarch ordered this data disseminated to the leaders of every Clan within the Legion. Although no explicit order was given, almost every Clan integrated the new units into the structure of their Orders to a lesser or greater extent, for the Gorgon is anything but whimsical with the information he shares with his lieutenants.

Interestingly, the moniker ‘Golem’ is not of Medusan origin like the ‘Morlock’ honorific granted to Clan Avernii’s elite warriors, but was adopted after the conquering of a federation of superstitious human enclaves. Observing the fearless nature with which the heavy assault marines mobbed their massive bunker-tanks, regardless of the number who were rent from the skies by their crackling weapons, or crushed to a pulp beneath their colossal tracks, the human soldiers named them after an ancient myth thought to have been passed down since their journey from Terra Millenia before. Said to be magical automatons formed with a furnace’s heat, the Golems were said to be utterly dedicated to their task – a perfect name for these relentless warriors.--/

++Remembrancer Illustration [Note: all pict data of military units designated classified data by 10th Legion – secondary encryption applies]++/

--Recovering--/
--Error: Junk data identified--/
--Scrubbing: please wait--/

--Scrubbing complete--

CLAN BRANNSAR;

[Noserenda]

Wow :D This is impressive stuff!

[GhostMalone]

Well where the hell did the IH stuff come from

[Iron Hands Fanatic]

Well where the hell did the IH stuff come from

 

Its all from various pics I found on the 40k wiki, with tank & space marine designs from various legions. I then re-coloured them, and edited in all the insignias, added further highlights, etc.

[Barabbas Sogalon]

Wow. Just... wow.

[Iron Hands Fanatic]

Thanks for the positive comments, got a couple more pages for Brannsar (added to main post too):

[Koriel]

Amazing stuff.

Wish FW would churn out some of the achilles variants, I'm particulary fond of the world eater tank. The golem assault squad is just bad ass, the art and fluff is top notch and it makes me wanna start a Iron Hands force :P

 

Keep up the good work.

[helterskelter]

This is just phenomenal, the detail is awesome. Then you made me want tanks, lots of tanks *sinks back to world of tanks on xbox*

[TheForgottenAngel]

And jaw is broken from dropping so hard

[Max Power]

As an Iron Hands player, and a serious tread head, I can't begin to tell you how much I adore this post.

[Iron Hands Fanatic]

I just wanted to say thanks for all the overwhelmingly awesome feedback, its really keeping me motivated

Anyway, I kinda felt bad for leaving out the 'poor bloody infantry', so here's one of the Breacher Centuries (added to main post too)

[Max Power]

I know it's been done in military history, but I love that your phalanxes are a big tank supported by smaller class tanks. It has inspired me to pick up a few more tanks and organize my company accordingly. Couple that with the fact that I just found the Onslaught Force Organization chart in the Massacre book, and I'm a happy tread head. 

[infyrana]

So many shields... I like it a lot !  Especially on the Deathshroud looking terminator ;)  I seriously might have to steal that one idea for that single mini ^^

 

Great stuff ! :D

[Iron Hands Fanatic]

I know it's been done in military history, but I love that your phalanxes are a big tank supported by smaller class tanks. It has inspired me to pick up a few more tanks and organize my company accordingly. Couple that with the fact that I just found the Onslaught Force Organization chart in the Massacre book, and I'm a happy tread head. 

 

Not gonna lie, when I saw the Onslaught chart, part of my brain was trying to see if I could fit the Fellblade / Baneblade company into it :P

 

I just love the amount of flexibility an astartes tank company could have, within a basic framework - I sorta figured out the following rules for the size of each Phalanx:

*One Phalanx = 3 Squadrons

*Rhino sized vehicles (e.g preds, whirlwinds, etc.) / Land Raider sized vehicles = 3-5 in a Squadron

*Sicaran sized vehicles = 2- 4 in a Squadron [they're rarer / newer]

*Spartan / Malcador sized vehicles (e.g a Cerberus) = 1-2 in a Squadron

*Crassus sized vehicles (e.g a Praetor) = 1 Squadron

*Shadowsword / Fellblade sized vehicles = 2 Squadrons

So from there on its basically mix & match: you could have a Phalanx thats basically 'PEW, PEW' with a Cerberus, 2 Valdors & 4 Sicaran Venators, y'know, in case you love Neutron Lasers :P

 

And I totally get what you mean with one super-heavy & a group of escorts in a Phalanx - you could easily alter it for specialized formations:

*3 Predator Anihilators & a Shadowsword / 2 Sicaran Venators & a Falchion - Anti-Armour / Titan

*3 Predator Executioners & a Stormblade / 2 Sicarians & a Fellglaive - Anti-Heavy Infantry / Light Armour

[GhostMalone]

Brother ease PM me a tutorial on making these I'm so impressed :D

[Iron Hands Fanatic]

Brother ease PM me a tutorial on making these I'm so impressed

Might as well just post it here in case anyone else is interested

The three programs I use are pretty standard for a Windows PC:

*MS paint

*MS Office Picture Manager

*MS Office Word

[warning: as this method has no dedicated editing software, it is labour intensive]

Also, I'm not sure how well it'd transfer to other legions, its easier for the IHs because their scheme is black & white effectively, so I can use a wide range of initial Pics

• Stage 1: MS Office Picture manager

*Get your pic - I use 40k wiki, as it has most of the images from FW's IA series, and these are usually pre-edited to have a blank white background, which is pretty much essential - just save it to an easily accessible folder

*Edit the colour - for IHs, its just a matter of dropping the saturation to minimum, and adjusting the contrast / brightness until it looks suitibly metallic

*For other Legions, on the 'colour' tab, you'll want to adjust the hue / amount / saturation until you're comfortable - although you will be limited by the existing colour scheme on the pic somewhat

*Make sure the background / highlights are still white - just use 'enhance colour' & click on the background (note, this will often adjust the overall hue if you aren't careful, so apply liberal use of 'undo'

• Stage 2: MS Office Picture manager

*Get the insignias you want to use - as above, its ideal if its background is one colour so you can overlay it onto your main pic - google fu will be idea;

*Crop / adjust colour as much as you want here - you might even want to open it with MS paint to invert the colours if its Black & White, etc.

*Follow step one to adjust them to your liking

• Stage 3: Transparency: MS Paint / Word

*There are 2 ways of doing this, if the main pic's background is perfectly monotone, don't worry about it now

*If it isn't then you need to open it with paint

*Use 'fill' to get as much of the background as single colour as possible (try not to use a colour present on the main pic, or it'll become transparent everywhere), and then 'touch up' those parts of the background left over with the paintbrush - ensure its the same colour you used before, or the transparency will go out the window

• Stage 4: Assembly: MS Word

*Insert your main pic, and resize as appropriate - if its not white, go to 'set transparent colour' and click on the background

*you might want to use the 'recolour' feature if its not quite right

*apply all the insignias / details you want - text boxes are your friend, as they allow you to lay stuff over the main pic - set thefill as transparent, but leave the outlines solid until you're done in case you want to adjust them later - remember to set the images being applied' backgrounds as transparent

*for numbers / basic shapes, just insert them in text boxes straight from word / basic shapes, altering their % transparency as you like

*if you want to adjust the colour of an irregular area, e.g a shoulder pad, draw a 'free-form' shape over it, remove the outside line, colour as desired, and then alter the % transparency as you like

*once the pic has been finished, go to full screen mode & hit print screen - you can then paste this into paint to crop & re-highlight in white as you desire

NOTE: if you assemble the finished pick outside of the doc you want to use as the final version, set the page colour to one other than white - otherwise, when you insert the pic into the final doc & set the background as transparent, all the white on the pic will go transparent too & you'll have to re-apply them in paint

[infyrana]

The fact that you bothered to put this out for someone who asked, gets my like for sure :)

[BassWave]

Someone's been busy ;) This stuff here is phenomenal! I just love official it looks!

 

I'll be ordering the bits necessary to make a golem soon, after all, Lord Ferrus wills it :D

[Anvilarium]

Hi IHF!

 

I used to do all of my Iron Hands mock-ups on the Anvilarium with Pixlr - it's a free online web-browser Photoshop equivalent.

 

You can access it here: http://pixlr.com/editor/

[Iron Hands Fanatic]

Hi IHF!

I used to do all of my Iron Hands mock-ups on the Anvilarium with Pixlr - it's a free online web-browser Photoshop equivalent.

You can access it here: http://pixlr.com/editor/

Holy ***p Urza, that's phenomenally useful - I always wondered how you managed to get those recolours looking so damn good - thanks brother

@BassWave - that's awesome - although I don't envy you - if only I'd made him in MK III, your life would be so much easier - but y'know, unfluffly Iron Armour assault marines n' all that

Edit: just a quick update, there will be some more stuff up in a bit, I'm working on a couple of pages based on an Apothecary Section, using a Minotaur Apothecary pic & a WE Storm Eagle - I'll also do a profile on 'Bane-Centurion Severn', the Warleader of the 1st Order's Destroyer Century, for whom I'm doing a sketchy portrait

[Memento Of Prospero]

Sketchy as in unsanctioned mechanicum tehnology ;)

[Iron Hands Fanatic]

Sketchy as in unsanctioned mechanicum tehnology

Of course - I would never allow it to be produced by a fleshy organic using some kind of graphite - that would be techno-heresy

[Iron Hands Fanatic]

Hopefully I'll have finished this guy's profile at some point tomorrow:

[helterskelter]

Stop making beautiful things! I cannot afford to start iron hands too!

[infyrana]

Iron Hands would be my next army, love seeing them painted up, and breachers to boot... but I can't afford, and your funky doobree posters of awesomeness aren't helping :)