157th Grand Battalion Project Log - the Masters of Euxinius

[Majorbookworm]

(Hello and welcome to my plog. I started this a while back, but never posted any further to it mainly because of my considerable powers of procrastination when it comes to painting stuff, ironically the main reason I started collecting in the first place. So, I've reworked the fluff a bit and gotten some pictures which aren't potato quality. Enjoy.)

++ Stand Ready. Last rounds fired.++

Satyrkos looked quickly over the parapet of the trench, ignoring the pathetic attempts of the distant Multi-laser turrets to supress the inevitable assault. Stretched out either side of the Chaos Marine was the rest of his Company, Assault troops, Despoilers and Breachers, backed up by Dreadnoughts and assault guns. The loyalist defence consisted of little more than planetary militia in this sector, their Ist Legion support having been drawn off by the main attack on the north flank of the city. Only the two Knights lurking in the hastily fortified hab-blocks behind the walls posed any real danger to them. For the smallest moment, silence fell as the distinctive double blasts of the Thorakatai's Minotaur guns died away and as then as he gave a curt order to attack, the company rose from the trenches with a wordless roar"

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The 157th Grand Battalion controls the small pocket of space that is System 32-486, or 'Euxinius.' Euxinius itself is a bleak world, massively fortified as is any domain of the Iron Warriors, The Grand Battalion is a highly conservative force, seeking to maintain the character, tactics, organisation and honour of the IVth Legion of old, looking down on the newer, less pure warbands that make up the legion in the post-heresy era. As such, they are highly organised, ordering themselves closely on the lines of a Grand Battalion of the Crusade/Heresy era. Altogether they can must around 3700 astartes, split between three Grand Companies (designated the 301st, 296th and 316th) and several specialist independent formations, including a Super-Heavy Company, a Special Armoured Group, a Heavy Counter-Armour Wing, and Stor-Bezashk.

The Grand Companies are the primary fighting arm of the 157th. Grand Companies were equivalent to the Battalions that other legions divided their chapters into, but imbued with a much greater level of support assets. Consequently, after the four Line Companies (consisting mostly of Tactical and Heavy Support Squads), Assault Company (Despoiler, Tactical Support with Flamers and Meltas, Breacher and Assault Squads) and the Armour Century (Land Raiders, Predators and Vindicators), each possesses it's own Heavy Shock (Terminator veterans), Artillery (Legion Basilisk and Rapier batteries), Apolakron (bonded Cybernetica and Daemon Engines) and Dreadnought elements. In all, they are more like small chapters than the battalions they grew from, counting roughly 750-800 marines each. Auxiliaries, be they Janissary slave-troops, Renegade Mechanicus or the well-trained and equipped Thorakitai, are also directly attached here when in the field.

The 157th rules Euxinius from the the massive fortification known simply as the Citadel. The size of a small continent, it is a massive fortification, consisting of shielded and hardened legion facilities, sprawling barracks, hab zones (for both freeborn and slave), industrial sectors and defended by thousands of miles of dense trenchlines, artillery parks, defensive curtain walls and squat sub-suborbital gun-forts. It provides a home for nearly half of the planets population. The freeborn class, which enjoys relative freedom and autonomy in their own affairs by dint of their service in the Thorakata auxiliary force, resides here, alongside nearly a billion slaves who toil in their homes and businesses, as well as the industrial sectors. Outside the Citadel, the other primary landmark is the Forge-fane of Styx-Gamma, the abode of the Renegade Mechanicus Elements which accompanied the 157th to the world initially. The rest of the world is populated by Metics who are technically freeborn but enjoy no no level of protection whatsoever, scratching out a living in the various petty Kingdoms and nomadic mutant tribes, ever at risk from the Legionaries depredations, the Mechanicus, and each other.

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Picture of full army WIP

This is an army intended for play as either 40k or Heresy era (aesthically I'm going for a spikey legion force, to represent the GB from the late heresy onwards. It's mainly to look badass on my shelf, so competitiveness isn't a factor really. A fairly long-term project, as it will be quite expensive (lots of FW stuff and I'll be trying to balance it with other hobbies and expenses, namely drinking and computer games while being a practically unemployed student :D

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Current Order of Battle (will update as I progress)

HQ - Terminator Chaos Lord (WIP)

Elites - Helbrute/Ferrum Infernus/Legion Dreadnought

- Cataphractii Terminator squad

- Assorted DV chosen who I were going to use as squad sargeants, but I'm not sure now

Troops - 15 man Chaos Marine squad/ Legion Tactical or Despoiler Squad (WIP)

- Breacher Siege squad (WIP)

Heavy Support - Land Raider (WIP)

- Vindicator

- (Iron) Havocs w/ Autocannon

- Forgefiend

Further Plans.

- One or two more tactical squads made from a mix of FW armour, GW IW resin sets and eventual FW helmets and torsos.

- redo the 15 man squad likewise (currently basic CSM kit + some mutilated Dark Angels

- Praetor for Heresy HQ, might just Golg depending on if I like his model or not

- Havoc squad w/ Lascannon

- Raptor/Assualt squad

- A couple of Contemptor dreads, likely one w/ a conversion Beamer and the other a Mortis.

- should probably get some Rhinos for tac squads

More Long Term Stuff

- flesh out command echelon more, I'm thinking a Master of Signal, a techmarine, a warpsmith and a banner bearer team

- Rapier batteries w/ Laser Destroyers or Ectoplasma cannon

Tanks: potential Predator squadron, Sicarran (maybe a Venator), maybe a second LR, I intend for the eventual centrepiece of the army to be a Typhon, perhaps a Fellblade or Falchion if I win the Lottery

- Perturabo of course

- Chosen squad.

- Dark Mech and Traitor Army auxiliaries if I ever feel like converting a ton of stuff (had an idea for some Myrmidion based Obliterators

[Forté]

Images fixed for you. Click edit and you'll see what I did ;)

 

Promising stuff too. No need to stop there :tu:

[Kythnos]

More Iron Warriors are always a good thing, especially if they look as nice as yours do

Iron Within! Iron Without!

[Majorbookworm]

Thank guys, most of it is still WIP, and i'll try and get my infantry all finished and up here soon.

[Majorbookworm]

++ 15 targets right side... now 13, 10, 7... ++

The air was filled with the whine of auto gun rounds, and the thrum of bolts replying in kind. Gunfire chattered and crashed in the close confines of the bombed out hab-block and hulking shapes moved threateningly in the smoke. Brother Darghkir's Reaper Autocannon roared, mulching the so-called resistance in the hallway before him, chuckling grimly as rounds cascaded off his virually impregnable armour. It was their own fault really, he thought, if they refused the rightful authority of the Warsmith, and his obvious superiority in all things military, then no matter that the Grand Battalion had only just arrived on-world, such mutiny had to be crushed. The remains of the militia's stronghold was a charnel house, dozens of smashed corpses laying the Terminators' wake, despite Squad Rhynchus having only effected the breach 7 minutes ago.

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The 157th possess a supply of 136 suits of Terminator armour, mostly Cataphractii pattern, allowing each Grand Company to maintain a demi-company of such formidable veteran warriors. The form a invaluable organic Heavy Shock asset, able to assault any position in almost any environment, crushing any resistance through sheer strength and fire power. Deploying mainly in flexible, 5 legionary squads, they are armed with combi-weapons, Reaper Autocannon and power- or chain-fists.

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I just love the Cataphractii armour, it's so awesome and menacing, and fits Iron Warriors to a t in my opinion. I based the paint scheme off of the IW Terminator in HH 3. Intended for use as a gunline (via Land Raider) or deep strike unit to hunt HQs and whatnot. That being said, they're only attempt at such an action came slightly unstuck (they didn't come on for 3 turns, by which the rest of my army was basically and my opponent mainly just let them come on out of pity).

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The entirety of Squad Rhynchus

Legionary Darghkir

Terminator Champion/Sergeant Rhynchus

Scrubs with Combi-Plasmas

Dude with lightning claws

[Lagrath]

This looks great. Good luck on your army log. I look forward to seeing more. Iron Warriors are awesome.

[Iron-Daemon Forge]

The Iron Warriors force is looking really cool.  I've really like the background your adding to this army log :D