IHF's Archive: Sketching the Heresy - The Manufactorum

[Iron Hands Fanatic]

Excellent call viz. the Hierarch Cohort. 

 

I've often had people say that XXth legion units or characters that are clearly, obviously Alpha Legion are a contradiction in terms - as in, that if you can see them, and see they're Alpha Legion, that somebody's doing something wrong ... To which I've generally replied that if you can see them, and see they're Alpha Legion, that probably means *they want you to*. And that they're there as a seriously shiny distraction (carnifex) for drawing your attention from all the Alpha Legion you *can't* see, who are probably elsewhere. 

 

I see where you're going with the Phase Spear concept - one possibility (that might make it easier on those of us who occasionally attempt to model your creations ) may be to go instead of down the direct visual recollection of Alpharius' Pale Spear .. to make the 'phase' element more prominent by drawing from the Necron-style Xenophase blade on the Deathwatch sprue. After all - we know from The Serpent Beneath (as well as various subsequent outings of a more contemporary nature) that the Alpha Legion have some curious command over Necron-origin technology (and are in the process of Constructing Additional Pylons). 

 

Honestly, I prefer to avoid directly referencing factions like the Necrons/Tyranids *directly* in 30k stuff, if only because at the time of the Great Crusade there were so many other prominent Xenos species about and it can make the universe feel kinda small, plus in the Heresy, phase technology isn't actually all that rare in the Imperium - for example in the Terrax-pattern Termite drill. Plus their whole deal is evoking a very superficial aspect of the Alpha Legion so directly tying their appearance into Alpharius' works closely with that - their spears wont be an exact match but clearly mirroring it (although I will probably make reference to speculation that the spears incorporate Xenos technology in their background blurb).

 

Also, something cool which just occurred to me is regarding the Shields - if you were going down the Greek path, a logical thing here would be a Gorgoneion device. Not just coz snakey symbolism, but also because of what a Gorgoneion actually represented in the ancient world. Both 'warding'/'protection' - and also Royal/Imperial Power. [article I wrote earlier this year touching upon the subject] , hence why ti's so frequently found on coins and such. This would go with the symbolic role of the unit as guarding Lords.

 

Such a device would also obviously draw the eye , especially if it were crackling with lightning in the manner of that 'Gorgos' 'Storm-Face' IE concept. And this may help to reflect the special rule you've got in mind around reducing the shooting attacks of the foe against other Alpha Legion units to snap shots. Perhaps the serpents upon the shield-facing writhe and twist in manners that throw off the concentration and the depth-perception etc. of people looking upon them without adequate filtering [a bit of a 'petrification' in terms of psychological effect maybe] and look rather  terrifying all up.

 

For the shields, I'm kinda wanting a physical embodiment of the Legion's various Icons - my current thought is a large central Alpha/Omega icon with the hydra symbol partially curled around it (the idea was actually for this central circular section to be removable as the combat shield option), with the classic rectangular shape of the boarding shield having a vertically stacked 'XX' wrought into the background, so each shield almost forms a Legion banner in aspect. That said, the idea for their ornate armour was partially inspired by the cultists of Kosmos hemets from Assasains Creed: Odyssey, which clicked with the aesthetics of Autilon Skorr in my head, and with the helmets bearing the visage of various mythical beasts, a Gorgonesque version would definitely be there, especially given a death mask combined with the hydra symbol forms it so perfectly. 

 

Now whenever the Alpha Legion come up, there's always a bit of a 'contest' - in my mind at least - between the Greek aesthetics and conceptry that they're more obviously visually associated with, and the Germanic elements that Alan Bligh cunningly wove into their Black Book presentation [i have a rant about this elsewhere].

 

As applies your concept ... I did wonder whether the equipment - spears and shields - was going for a Greek style hypaspists sort of vibe. I think there's a definite thematic resonancy there.

 

Although it did also occur to me that there may be potential for drawing more from the 'Germanic' style of thing - we often find Classical rulers (as well as those who sought to imitate them - King Herod is one perhaps surprising example, as of course are the later Byzantine Emperors) starting with Caesar making use of Germanic bodyguards (occasionally, specifically to guard them *from* their guards - backstabbing from the Praetorian guard etc. As the Alpha Legion fragments into infighting as the Heresy grinds on, this may become a somewhat relevant consideration for the Hierarch Cohort - protection of their Lord from their own Legion and its divided loyalties).

 

If going down that route of potential inspiration to draw from, they'd keep the shields - the helmets would incorporate similarly ornate metalwork, perhaps drawing from the prominent golden brows of some Saxon helms with accompanying chainmail veil or something - or the bared teeth approach (some of the Varangians appear to have had rather impressive bearded-and-moustached faceplates); and while it would be plausible to have the spears, perhaps an option to instead equip them with hand-axes and shields as some of these latter body-guard units tended to be?

 

The reasoning for this - in my head anyway - is that while a Spear is, indeed, a pretty great weapon for keeping people at arm's length and co-operating with a shield ... in tight confines and close quarters, it can become a bit cumbersome - as they require more room to maneuver, and it's possible to get inside its reach and therefore inside the wielder's guard. Which, I presume, is where the power dagger comes in.

 

An axe, meanwhile, has shorter reach and arc and greater percussive force behind it; and may be more useful in cramped, close fighting (it also has some precedency in terms of Skorr's weaponry - although his is, of course, a two-handed one; the Lernaean terminator axes might also be relevant - as may be their helms/the praetor one). In terms of the Xenos phase-bade visual element - the Necron Hyperphase Sword might be a viable approach (the main point of distinction between that weapon and an axe being the significant length of the blade - something which could certainly be carried over here).

 

Although on the other hand, there are already at least two axe-and-shield equipped Legion special units - Invictarus Suzerains and Phalanx Warders - so you may want to just keep to spears for the novelty/distinctiveness.

 

Anyway, just a few ideas I happened to have upon reading your concept. Look forward, as ever, to see what you come up with.

 

I may have to try doing one en truescale to go with the Alpha Legion chaplain-ish sort you inspired me to do awhile back; utilizing Lernaean terminator legs/bodies in order to get that 'ornate' armour look for the artificer plate.

 

Keep up the good work. 

 

While my initial inspiration for the Hierachs was Hellenic, I do like that the Alpha Legion intentionally seem to evoke all sorts of historical aesthetics and mythological associations, so whenever I finally start on their artwork (this is one I'm really looking forward to doing to be honest) I'll definitely draw from a number of references, especially for the sculptural reliefs on the artificer armour.

 

Yeah, as you've noted I do try and keep these distinctive from existing units, and given that their spears are a custom weapon that tie directly into their Primarch I'm not planning on giving them the option to swap them out (that is, unless I come up with a Legion-wide weapon that I'll give to Alpha Legion characters as a wargear option in their supplement), particularly as all of these units are supposed to be roughly set in the late Great Crusade - mid Heresy period.

 

Anyway, thanks for the feedback, glad you like the vibe of these guys!

 

 

 

 

 

Yeah, like Sandlemad said, pretty sure you're thinking of Kargus, Lheor was only ever a Heavy Support Centurion during the Heresy

 

 

So, an Armistos?

 

 

Yup, if you look at Lheor's titles under hiss name on the unit profile PDF, I've listed it there, as well as referencing it in the background for the Implosion bolts!

[Iron Hands Fanatic]

Okay, I'm just trying to get all the Alpha Legion units hashed out at the minute while I've got their ruleset in my head so next up are the:

 

SHAYATAN ERADICATORS:

 

• These are something of a hybrid between destroyers and tactical support marines, the idea being that they're specialists who employ weapons otherwise prescribed by the Imperium, and were only widely known about during the Heresy when they didn't have to hide their existence
• Aesthetically, given that the Headhundters are MkIV, the Hierarchs are MkIII, and the revamped Alpha Legio posessed will be based off MkVI, I'm veering towards giving them a mix of MkV & VI plate considering they're revealed during the Heresy, plus it's a nice opportunity to figure out what 'hardened' versions of those marks would look like
• Another Elites choice, although the Rite of War for the AL supplement will also make them non-compulsory Troops too
• 5-10 Eradicators, each with standard Legionary stats and comes with Power Armour, Krak Grenades & Venom Spheres, Bolt Pistols, Chainswords/ Combat Blades and a Venom Rifle
• Venom Rifles are modified needler rifles with AL concocted toxins - profile is Range: 24, S: 2, AP: 4, Type: Salvo 1/2, Poisoned (4+), Rending, Pinning
• All models can swap their Venom Rifles for Neural Ravagers or Heavy Bolters with Suspensor Webs & Banestrike ammo
• Neural Ravagers are related to Callidus Neural Shredders, based off Xenos/forbidden tech and primarily used to debilitate targets for capture: Range: Template, S: 1, AP: -, Type: Assault 1, Fleshbane, Blind, Pinning
• The whole squad can take Rad Grenades and Shroud Bombs, 1 in 5 can swap their Venom Rifle for a Xenos Dethlock (Blackshield wargear), Disintegration Blaster or Kai Aetherlance:
• Disintegration Blaster is based off the "Imperial Space Marine" Disintegration gun, the idea being it's a unification era weapon related to Adrathic technology what was later recalled from the Legions - Range: 18", S: 5, AP: 2, Type: Assault 1, Gets Hot, Instant Death
• Kai Aetherlance is a reference to the Kai gun through the lense of the Kai Hellspear that appeared in the Necromunda Book of Judgement, with Kai having experimented with technology that used warp capacitors as an energy source, which were all sequestered by the office of the Sigillate and the research forbidden - Range: 24, S: 6, AP: 3, Type: Assault 2, Concussive, Psy-Lash (rule from Malevolance psyarkana where psykers that suffer a wound are subject to Perils)
• The Shayatan Strike Leader can swap their CCW for a Heavy Chainsword/ Power Weapon, their Bolt Pistol for a Volkite Serpenta/ Plasma Pistol and can take a Power Dagger, Artificer Armour and Melta Bomb
• The whole squad has Outflank & Hardened Armour, can take a Nuncio-Vox
• They have a special rule called 'Eradication Imperatives' that increases their combat resolution & roll to Sweep by 1 in any combat with at least one unit they've wounded before that combat

Edited January 13, 2021 by Iron Hands Fanatic

[Noserenda]

One thing i think they missed with the Learnans as they are a bit messy for the more covert bits of the Legion is something like 3 headed hydra flails, though i suppose a collapsible version could be tacti-cool :D 

[Ryltar Thamior]

Looking forward to the up-armoured Mk.VI-ish plate (and I'd note that, oddly enough, at least one of the Headhunter helms appears to be a sort of quasi-Mk.VI beaky; potentially two, although the second one I'm thinking of looks closer in spirit to an elongated-muzzle Mk.IV ; in both cases, the beak plausibly houses sensorial equipment like the Mk.VI given the relatively smaller and more 'integrated' appearance of such on the exterior of these two helms relative to the other three Headhunter ones]. [in fact, our headcanon for why there's some visual discrepancies between our Mk.VI truescales and the Mk.VI of art is rather similar - that it's up-armoured instances more suited to the relevant formations' modus operandi etc.]

As applies the Kai Aetherlance - very cool concept, glad to see the old Kai Gun from the 3.5 CSM codex referenced (both by yourself and GW, apparently, as well). 

Interesting question as to how firing beams of focused warp energy would impact, say, daemons ; although if the utilization of *much more massive* weaponry like the Talismans of Vaul is anything to go by, they really would be quite horrifying-potency devices [especially to Necrons, C'tan, etc.]. There may be further potential for a psychological impact like a D-Scythe's successful discharge.

Indeed, in terms of heavier iterations (if such exist) - it may be worth considering the mechanism of impact not only of the D-Scythe (in particular, a 'flamer' or flamer template style version, a projector rather than a lance; although the Neural Ravager has the 'flamer' idea covered; there may be use for a 'breaching tool' style man-portable magna-melta-alike .. wherein the projection forward of its blast simply dissolves everything in its path into the warp, thus affording entry or a serious anti-vehicle punch ) - but also the D-Cannon, wherein it isn't simply the warp-portal ,  but the gravitational impacts of the warp in realspace , which act to destroy the target. 

The main thing I'd ponder, though, is that considering it's effectively using small-scale warp capacitors to channel the roiling immaterium in a focused manner out into the physical world ... what happens if/when one of those capacitors is damaged or otherwise impaired as the weapon fires ? Does the 'focus' get disrupted, does the projection of the warp cease ... or do we get a 'gets hot' style thing akin to a plasma cannon cooking itself off whereby the containment is breached, and the poor doomed legionnaire holding the Aetherlance finds parts of himself consumed by the energies he had sought to channel. [perhaps akin on a one-person scale to the 'Contagion of Eridanus' which resulted when the Adeptus Mechanicus attempted to reverse engineer a D-Cannon]  

There may or may not also be call for some form of 'psychic shielding' - not a psychic hood exactly, but a smaller-scale version running on not entirely dissimilar principle , so as to insulate the Marine from the potentially maddening influence of the immaterium and its conjuration occurring consistently within his own hands. This is particularly the case if the aforementioned possibility for a 'containment breach' on an Aetherlance becomes a thing - in which case, there would be legitimate points of concern for daemons of an intangible, lesser nature , exerting influence upon the now deceased marine's squaddies perhaps. 

--

Now, in terms of broader aesthetics and such .. one thing that did occur to me that may or may not be relevant - is the Mk.X range. We know that the Alpha Legion had 'early' access and just straight-out parallel development for Mk.VI ; and there are any number of people who appear to be doing 'Primaris' XXth for various reasons. 

While not suggesting that Mk.X elements would be insta-appropriate here (nor Phobos armour - these are supposed to be *up-armoured* / hardened suits, after all) , the mouth-and-nose covering heads in the Hellblaster kit seemed like they might be viable here in the odd case that the Astartes is helmetless ; or, for that matter, the heavily additionally intubated helms of some of the Inceptors , maybe even the semi-'tusked' helms you find on  Aggressors. Stylistically, anyway.

Another place that it might be viable to draw from, concerns the backpack mounted coils and tubing for the heavy plasma incinerators of the Hellblasters. I imagine that miniature warp capacitors , even miniature , are still pretty big pieces of kit [although if these Kai Hellspears are anything to go by - perhaps not. However, I'd have thought those would be closer in scope to a Scion's Hellgun rather than a mere Guardsman's Lasrifle ] , and 'redistributing' the load from the weapon itself to an externally mounted power-pack carried upon the back may make them more wieldy. 

--

Will also be interesting to see what you come up with for colours and other such exterior aesthetics. Black would, of course, be an option - although iirc the Effrit already have that, and the usual way it happens for Destroyers is via radiation and/or phosphex burns from weapons discharge . 

--

Anyway, I applaud, as per usual, your creativity and your ability to find various portions of the already-extant 40k background to draw upon with which to augment it. 

[Lucerne]

What kitbashing fits your mental image of their weaponry?

 

(Also have you seen the Lin's miniatures Alpha Omega hydra warriors? They're the first ones to come to mind for a mini-Alpharius styled armour with some mk 3 trappings)

[Iron Hands Fanatic]

Looking forward to the up-armoured Mk.VI-ish plate (and I'd note that, oddly enough, at least one of the Headhunter helms appears to be a sort of quasi-Mk.VI beaky; potentially two, although the second one I'm thinking of looks closer in spirit to an elongated-muzzle Mk.IV ; in both cases, the beak plausibly houses sensorial equipment like the Mk.VI given the relatively smaller and more 'integrated' appearance of such on the exterior of these two helms relative to the other three Headhunter ones]. [in fact, our headcanon for why there's some visual discrepancies between our Mk.VI truescales and the Mk.VI of art is rather similar - that it's up-armoured instances more suited to the relevant formations' modus operandi etc.]

 

As applies the Kai Aetherlance - very cool concept, glad to see the old Kai Gun from the 3.5 CSM codex referenced (both by yourself and GW, apparently, as well). 

 

Interesting question as to how firing beams of focused warp energy would impact, say, daemons ; although if the utilization of *much more massive* weaponry like the Talismans of Vaul is anything to go by, they really would be quite horrifying-potency devices [especially to Necrons, C'tan, etc.]. There may be further potential for a psychological impact like a D-Scythe's successful discharge.

 

Oh, I didn't mention it in the post above but yeah, the Psi-lash rule forces perils on any Psyker/ Brotherhood of Psykers/ Psychic Pilot /Daemon units

 

The main thing I'd ponder, though, is that considering it's effectively using small-scale warp capacitors to channel the roiling immaterium in a focused manner out into the physical world ... what happens if/when one of those capacitors is damaged or otherwise impaired as the weapon fires ? Does the 'focus' get disrupted, does the projection of the warp cease ... or do we get a 'gets hot' style thing akin to a plasma cannon cooking itself off whereby the containment is breached, and the poor doomed legionnaire holding the Aetherlance finds parts of himself consumed by the energies he had sought to channel. [perhaps akin on a one-person scale to the 'Contagion of Eridanus' which resulted when the Adeptus Mechanicus attempted to reverse engineer a D-Cannon] 

 

There may or may not also be call for some form of 'psychic shielding' - not a psychic hood exactly, but a smaller-scale version running on not entirely dissimilar principle , so as to insulate the Marine from the potentially maddening influence of the immaterium and its conjuration occurring consistently within his own hands. This is particularly the case if the aforementioned possibility for a 'containment breach' on an Aetherlance becomes a thing - in which case, there would be legitimate points of concern for daemons of an intangible, lesser nature , exerting influence upon the now deceased marine's squaddies perhaps. 

 

 

I'd considered giving it a rule like Gets Hot! But honestly, it'd mean that all 3 of the "heavy weapon" choices have some mechanism to wound their user, and I don't think their statline is necessarily powerful enough to require it - plus with these being weapons akin to Hellguns with warp-charge capacitors rather than some actual warp energy generator I figured it wasn't as extreme enough a deal to require such a mechanic.

 

Now, in terms of broader aesthetics and such .. one thing that did occur to me that may or may not be relevant - is the Mk.X range. We know that the Alpha Legion had 'early' access and just straight-out parallel development for Mk.VI ; and there are any number of people who appear to be doing 'Primaris' XXth for various reasons.

 

While not suggesting that Mk.X elements would be insta-appropriate here (nor Phobos armour - these are supposed to be *up-armoured* / hardened suits, after all) , the mouth-and-nose covering heads in the Hellblaster kit seemed like they might be viable here in the odd case that the Astartes is helmetless ; or, for that matter, the heavily additionally intubated helms of some of the Inceptors , maybe even the semi-'tusked' helms you find on  Aggressors. Stylistically, anyway.

 

Another place that it might be viable to draw from, concerns the backpack mounted coils and tubing for the heavy plasma incinerators of the Hellblasters. I imagine that miniature warp capacitors , even miniature , are still pretty big pieces of kit [although if these Kai Hellspears are anything to go by - perhaps not. However, I'd have thought those would be closer in scope to a Scion's Hellgun rather than a mere Guardsman's Lasrifle ] , and 'redistributing' the load from the weapon itself to an externally mounted power-pack carried upon the back may make them more wieldy. 

 

I tend to have a flick through Collected Visions before starting on the Design for Legion units given there are a ton of interesting aesthetics in there that don't necessarily translate directly to specific marks of power armour, but I think the biggest consideration with respect to the look of their helmets is what's an interesting way of retaining the distinct MkVI aesthetic while getting across the idea of additional life support/ filtration systems.

 

I'm gonna avoid having backpack power/ammo systems for these weapons - they're supposed to be special weapon-scale systems (with the exception of the Banestrike Heavy Bolter, but that's why the suspensor web is there) and given the variety of weapons in play, it'd make a hypothetical kit way less impractical.

 

Will also be interesting to see what you come up with for colours and other such exterior aesthetics. Black would, of course, be an option - although iirc the Effrit already have that, and the usual way it happens for Destroyers is via radiation and/or phosphex burns from weapons discharge . 

 

 

 

Their colour scheme will probably rely a lot on how I paint the other AL units for the supplement - the remastered Hydra's Eyes will have some kinda demonic/ chameleonic camouflage stuff going on so I might give them something of a kaleidoscope scale effect; I'm considering having all the Hierarchs' embossed sections in a deep bronze to further evoke their role as living avatars of the Legion; the fourth infantry unit is a recon unit which'll probably feature blackened/monochrome armour so these might actually be the best bet to display the Legion's 'classic' scheme, which actually works nicely with the lore that the Alpha Legion didn't really consider units like Destroyers any different from other combat specialities.  

 

What kitbashing fits your mental image of their weaponry?

 

(Also have you seen the Lin's miniatures Alpha Omega hydra warriors? They're the first ones to come to mind for a mini-Alpharius styled armour with some mk 3 trappings)

 

For the Venom Rifles, modified versions of the Escher Needle Rifles; the Neural Ravagers would have some visual similarity to the Callidus' Neural Shredder; the Disintegration Blaster would draw from the "Imperial Space Marine" combi-disintegrator/ pistol; the Kai Aetherlance is tricky given there's only 'maybe' a model of the Kai gun on the classic metal Chaos Space Marine champion; and the Xenos Deathlock is supposed to have some degree of ambiguity from how I read the Blackshields' rules.

 

I just checked the mini's out, and *kinda*? One thing that'll be essential to their aesthetic is that the embossed sections of their armour will have a bunch of mythological imagery rather than just the standard hydra scales, I want them to look almost like walking reliefs depicting battles/ creatures etc.

[Iron Hands Fanatic]

Okay, so I'm still working my way through the Alpha Legion units, but I've also been reading through a friend's copy of Book 9: Crusade so I can take notes of interesting stuff, and the whole idea of the forbidden Excindio units got me thinking about the 40k 'Helfathers' which guard the Iron Council as created by Guymer. So here's a rough outline of a future Iron Hands unit:

 

IRON HANDS HELWROUGHT CONCLAVE:

 

• Narratively, I like the idea of the Helwrought being a half-myth within the X^th Legion, a secretive formation directly under the purview of Ferrus Manus and rarely seen, with a single known detachment concealed within the heart of he Fist of Iron with others believed to guard the hidden Vaults of Mymir as well as several locations upon Medusa itself. It's unknown whether Ferrus deployed the Helwrought upon the Fist of Iron to Isstvan V - no records have ever been unearthed matching anything similar to their description during the battle, and those garrisons believed to house them were found to be empty upon investigation in the days following Ferrus' death, alongside their sanctum aboard the Fist of Iron. While none of the Iron Hands which made their way to the Vaults of Mymir ever made mention of these Helwrought guardians, those handful of Traitor Legion forces which successfully uncovered their locations are known to have suffered horrifying losses at the hands of figures clad in the armour of the Helwrought. As the Heresy continued, conclaves of Helwrought were encountered upon scattered battlefields, either intervening to tip the balance of battle in the favour of shattered bands of Iron Hands legionaries or arriving at the sites of Loyalist massacres to reap a butcher's bill upon Traitor troops who sought to plunder the slain, deployed by teleporter from eerie, blackened voidcraft strangely devoid of any external marking - in later years a string of unconnected figures within the surviving X^th Legion are also known to have been accompanied by retinues of unspeaking Helwrought warriors.
• They'd be a 0-1 Heavy Support choice, with a single Iron Father in terminator armour in an army able to additionally select a unit in place of a command squad.
• I really want to make them horrifyingly resilient to emphasise the fact they're really not even Legionaries any more - that'd probably mean Toughness 5, 3 Wounds, Feel No Pain and It Will Not Die, as well as Cybernetic Resilience to make them resistant to Poison/ Fleshbane shenanigans.
• In terms of wargear, the 40k Helfathers have a heavy weapon upon each arm so I'd probably go with that (as well as a rule that'd allow them to shoot both), Cataphractii Armour and a servo-arm

Still just initial spitballing but I liked the idea of them being a Legion of the Damned style force which hint at some of the darkness lurking beneath the surface of the X^th Legion

Edited September 19, 2020 by Iron Hands Fanatic

[bluntblade]

Maybe they should cause Fear as well. They Should Not Be, or something like that.

[Beren]

Would they wield weapons from the vaults as well, or would that be someone else's area?

[Iron Hands Fanatic]

Maybe they should cause Fear as well. They Should Not Be, or something like that.

 

Yeah that's a good shout, works for that midway point towards Monstrous Creatures feel for the stats

 

Would they wield weapons from the vaults as well, or would that be someone else's area?

 

I think to maintain the idea of plausible deniability regarding the Helwrought towards other organisations within the Imperium, they wouldn't have any obvious heretek wargear so that they could be explained away as just an obscure sub-formation of the Legion (which I think also makes sense with the idea that they *guard* the Vaults of Mymir). One of the Iron Hands other units will be souped up Devastators formed from forge inductees with more esoteric weapons like conversion beamers, heavier graviton guns and hand-portable neutron and accelerator weaponry, so it's possible they'll get access to one or two of those (probably the graviton doohickey, as I was thinking of having one anti-tank melta/grav arm and one anti-infantry volkite/plasma).

 

In terms of stuff like weaponry interred in the vaults, I think to really go into the Keys of Hel would require a full Age of Darkness theme, where you can build a full army of resurrected units, given that their description during the attack on Xana II in Retribution mentions revenant tanks, dreadnoughts and automata. So I may well do a dedicated supplement just for that, with a couple of extra units & items of wargear kinda like the Blackshields.

[Iron Hands Fanatic]

After figuring out the base profiles for all the Alpha Legion stuff, I'm gonna have to switch to fleshing out the new (non-vehicle) generic Legion units I've been planning given that some of the Legion-specific stuff relies on their templates or wargear (e.g Courser squads or Arkonak TDA).

 

That said, in between stuff I've been going over a few odd additions to each Legion's wargear I'll be making, so here's a few of them:

 

• Alpha Legion Praetors/Centurions/Consuls will be able to swap a Lightning Claw for the phase spear above, and units of terminators will be able to take a piece of phase-field wargear that allows them to ignore difficult /dangerous terrain and re-roll invulnerable saves for a single turn 
• Salamanders Support Squads will be able to take Boarding Shields & Hardened Armour instead of Chainswords/Combat Blades, and their Vindicators will be able to swap out their Demolisher Cannon for a lesser variant of the Mastodon's Siege Melta weapon
• World Eaters infantry in (non-Hardened) Power Armour can swap it for Blackshield's Pariah Armour, models not in TDA/with a Boarding Shield that have a Caedere Weapon can take a Combat Shield for free (styled in the form of modified manica), TDA equipped Praetors/Centurions/Consuls with Power/Chain Fists or Lightning Claws will have access to the Dimachaerii's Bolt-Spitters and Contemptor (-Cortus) Dreadnoughts will be able to swap their DCCW's inbuilt Combi-Bolter for a form of Ursus Claw
• Iron Hands Predators will be able to take turret Graviton Cannon, and models with LA: Iron Hands that have Heavy Flamers can swap them for Graviton Guns (the same extends to pintle HFs) - Praetors/Centurions/Consuls with Power Fists will also be able to swap them for a Medusan Zweihander (S: +2, AP: 2, Melee, Unwieldy, Two-Handed, forces successful Invulns to be re-rolled)
• White Scars tanks without Fast/ Skimmer can purchase Solar Auxilia Induction Chargers (makes them Fast for a single turn)
• Iron Warriors Predators will be able to take turret TL Olympia Pattern Bolt Cannon (the Iron Circles' shoulder weapon), and any models not in TDA/with a Boarding Shield that have access to a Power Weapon can instead take a Power Hammer (as seen on the Genestealer Cults) - S: +3, AP: 2, Melee, Unwieldy, Two-Handed, Concussive
• Emperors Children Characters can exchange a Chainsword/Combat Blade for a Charnabal Sabre 

Edited September 24, 2020 by Iron Hands Fanatic

[Ryltar Thamior]

Wraith Terminators. Neat. 

Also, the Salamanders support squads with special weapons and boarding shields are a nice and logical touch. 

The double-handed swords for the Xth are .. an unexpected direction, but one I quite like given the latent Germanic bits and pieces in their background, and the fine-forging implied in such a blade's construction. 

Good call as well with the Iron Warriors' hammer-time and the White Scars' nos tanks. 

[Iron Hands Fanatic]

Wraith Terminators. Neat. 

 

Also, the Salamanders support squads with special weapons and boarding shields are a nice and logical touch. 

 

The double-handed swords for the Xth are .. an unexpected direction, but one I quite like given the latent Germanic bits and pieces in their background, and the fine-forging implied in such a blade's construction. 

 

Good call as well with the Iron Warriors' hammer-time and the White Scars' nos tanks. 

 

Thanks - the Alpha Legion organisation section from Extermination mentions the Lerneans make use of phase technology but didn't specify what so I thought a field that makes them a bit more expeditious would be cool rather just another weapon/ weapon augment. Yeah the Salamanders are supposed to make heavy use of Breachers and with their focus on flamer/melta/volkite weapons it made sense, and I'm always pro adding a small variation to a common unit to give them a Legion-specific tweak. 

 

The Medusan Zweihander is a piece of wargear that's only been mentioned in the Black Library Heresy stuff as far as I'm aware, but given that Characters and Independent Characters are so often outfitted for melee, having each Legion with *a* form of unique close combat weapon is just a nice way to add some visual distinctiveness and variability - the description I could find paints them as "augmented-function Medusan zweihander, the length of a mortal man, riddled with power feeds and linked disruptor field generators" which seemed to match the profile (which I originally typo'd - they're AP 2 as otherwise the invul shenanigans would be pretty pointless vs Legion stuff).

[bluntblade]

One thing I'd like to see, if you're so inclined, would be a XVI^th Legion unit which uses combat shields. Like Aximand and co did, at least in the early days - and Loken's Luna Wolves.

[Iron Hands Fanatic]

Well, there are a couple of Sons of Horus units that'll likely have access to combat shields, so don't sweat it - one's a Lodge Warband style unit, and the others a Hussar/ Courser hybrid squad harking back to the old chaos marine bikers including warhounds in their units, where you have mounted hunters accompanied by cyber and bio-enhanced canids.

[Iron Hands Fanatic]

I'm doing a thing on Twitter where I do weekly concepts for AoS /40k /30k /Specialist Games on a rotating basis, and this was for the first 30k week:

https://twitter.com/TheManufactorum/status/1311364626609852422

Edited September 30, 2020 by Iron Hands Fanatic

[Fenbain]

Will you be updating your instagram with these as well or are you keeping them to Twitter? :-)

[Iron Hands Fanatic]

Will you be updating your instagram with these as well or are you keeping them to Twitter? :-)

 

I'm pretty sure these'll be sticking to Twitter - I barely use Instagram to be honest, I find it way less engaging and at this point there's such a backlog of stuff to post there I tend to just not to use it

[Doctor Perils]

How about your blog for those who don't use Instagram or Twitter :P

 

Really looking forward to your other legions :D

[Fenbain]

I'm pretty sure these'll be sticking to Twitter - I barely use Instagram to be honest, I find it way less engaging and at this point there's such a backlog of stuff to post there I tend to just not to use it

Fair enough!

Edited October 1, 2020 by Fenbain

[bluntblade]

Say, if you were to make the IH a duellist elite along the lines of the Templars or Palatine Blades, what would you have them wield?

[Doctor Perils]

Instinctively I'd go for Medusan Zweihänders, though no doubt Techmarine-styled halberds could work too

[bluntblade]

I have a vague idea for a look to go with that, drawing from a recentish Macbeth film.

[Iron Hands Fanatic]

On 10/1/2020 at 7:42 AM, Doctor Perils said:

How about your blog for those who don't use Instagram or Twitter

 

Really looking forward to your other legions

 

Blog takes a lot of formatting work and has very little interaction compared to here, where I'll still post any Heresy-relevant stuff

 

There will be a couple of purpose-built places where you'll be able to find fully-formatted rules PDFs/ updates/ designers notes and I'd *like* to launch that before the end of the year

 

On 10/1/2020 at 12:50 PM, bluntblade said:

Say, if you were to make the IH a duellist elite along the lines of the Templars or Palatine Blades, what would you have them wield?

 

Typically I see the Iron Hands' iconic melee weapons being power axes and thunder hammers, Zweihanders are a good shout but you'd probably need them to have a less powerful statline than my version given it's aimed at Centurions/ Praetors

Edited October 23, 2022 by Iron Hands Fanatic

[bluntblade]

I'm just picturing brutally armoured IH with whacking big swords and hammers. Everything two-handed for sure.