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Blood and Iron


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Hello everyone.

 

Now you will probably see me crop up on a few boards around the B&C over the next few weeks asking for help fleshing out ideas and for opinions on said ideas. The reason being after a difficult time the past year and a half things have taken a turn for the better where I can concentrate on warhammer again and even invest in a project. Now saying that I have just moved house and started a new job so I cant exactly go crazy right now which is why I'm asking you guys your opinion on certain ideas (basically seeing which one is worth investing in)

 

Now with the upcoming release of the betrayal at calth box set this defo seems like the best time to get into my favourite part of warhammer. The Horus heresy.

 

I've loved the idea of the heresy ever since it was little more than a few lines in the odd white dwarf or army book which is why I spent so much money over the years buying the black library Horus heresy novels, although you could probably argue that was a wasted investment seeing as how all my books (including none heresy, none warhammer,all my white dwarf magazines I've collected since I was about 12 and all my army books and codex's) have been scraped due to a mix up while moving house.

 

I've always said to myself that if I ever managed to get round to collecting a heresy era force it would have to be the World eaters. I don't know why maybe its the idea of these madmen being on the side of the 'good guys' that and I love their colour scheme.

 

However not being one for convention I thought about adding something a little different. Now keep in mind this is very much a bare bones idea. No names, marking, dates or such things of yet just a very brief over view.

 

 

A world eater captain who falls foul of Angron and the upper command of the legion. As a sign of humiliation the captain and thoughs under his command are 'tasked' with reinforcing the Iron Warriors and their arm of the crusade fleet at the other end of the galaxy. Dejected at being removed from their beloved legion and the brotherhood it provided as well as being attached to a legion the word eaters believe style of warfare is bellow that of a true warrior fall into a deep melancholy that only the bite of the butchers nails reprieve them from.

 

The first few years of their newly appointed task very nearly turned out to be their last as the world eater style of warfare and the sing of the nails proved to be very costly to the world eater ranks when it came to prolonged sieges, war of attrition and trench warfare that the iron warriors excelled at.

 

The lord of iron cared little for the casualty rate of the world eaters and was contented to let them die off and power through the crusade without their 'help' and if it wasn't for the sage advice of forrix that's exactly what would have happened.

 

For Forrix , even if he didn't like them, admired the world eaters and pitted them in equal measure. He believed that the insanity of Angron doomed what should have been a prized legion and convinced Perturabo to collar the world eaters fighting under his command, to show the imperium the he and he alone had managed to achieve what even the mighty Warmaster hadn't.

 

And so it was under the command of the Lord of iron and the warsmiths of the iron warriors that the world eater captain and his men managed to temper the nails and their violent insanity into a weapon. They taught them to read the ebb and flow of battle, when to let the nails sing and a berserker charge was needed and when to collar their wild desires and soften up an enemy with ranged fire power.

 

Never truly earning the trust of the cold brooding iron warriors they none the less earned their respect so when the time came for the world eaters to return to their parent legion they did so with a cache of new weaponry, tanks and armour and as one final act of respect the Lord of Iron himself allowed the world eaters to sport the hazard stripes as the companys personal heraldry.

 

 

I think I could make this force look fairly unique. Kind of a techno barbarian feel. Lots of armour but with big blocks of infantry.

The colour scheme would just be the world eaters blue and white but with the yellow and black hazard stripes on shoulder pads, grieves and even the odd weapon. I was also thinking of maybe making it an off white or even cream colour instead of the pure white. Lots of battle damage and skull trophies obviously.

 

Its the war machines I believe I could have the most fun with. Make it look like iron warrior technology but with a world eater twist.

 

Again guys this is very bare bones but let me know what you think.

Cheers

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Seems like a good idea, I think we see too few World Eaters around. However, I'd be reluctant to have them meet Perturabo himself, or even Forrix, as these are very well known characters on the forefront of the Heresy. Namedropping for Namedropping's sake isn't really that cool; not only that, but Perturabo would be insensed more than anything if Angron not only sent him help, but also help in the form of the "runts of the litter": he would only massacre these guys, he'd declare all out war on Angron.

 

Also, "taming" the butcher's nails seems like a dangerous path to follow, as (a) it sort of takes away from the feel of the World Eaters, and (b ) there doesn't really seem to be any fluff precedence, short of Macer Varren, who has attenuating circumstances. There should be some sort of drawback, as otherwise more World Eaters would try to do the same thing.

 

Otherwise, this seems like a nice start, and with minor rework this could turn into a nice army with a nice backstory

This is certainly an interesting idea, but I'll admit that Thorn has a point - about namedropping I mean. Considering how much autonomy the IVth was granted though, you could easily have an enterprising Warsmith work alongside them.

Having Angron dump them on a garrison world held by Iron Warriors would work, him basically abandoning the company there, and the respective captains working together in an echo of the brotherhood the legions were meant to have. Maybe the World Eater captain balked at the thought of implanting the butchers nails, or has defective ones - if the nails saw him as "unfit" he was clearly not worthy to be part of the Legion?

So then you could get the World Eaters and Iron Warriors stuck on a planet for who know show many years hone their craft in prolonged mock-campaigns against each other?

And then, with the heresy in full swing, both captains part ways to rejoin their legions - the warmsith recieving a chain-axe from the captain as a gift, and the warsmith granting the World Eater captain a technological boon - which he chooses to have be the repair of his nails, so he can truly be with his legion again?

Thanks for the reply's guys and your both right about the name dropping and the controlling the butchers nails thing. After re reading it I did cringe a little.

 

I do like the idea of them being dumped with an iron warrior garrison. Lost and forgotten. Having nothing to do but war games or after being left behind having to face of an invasion? orcs/hrud? Having no support but thoughs standing next to you.

The hazard stipes being nothing more than a show of respect for the brotherhood forged in battle?

 

I haven't put much thought into this since I posted it at the weekend but i'll start trying to plug some holes.

 

Thanks again.

Hazard stripes due to the two forces pretty much beginning to mix due to necessity in the face of adversity? So the World Eaters have the bodies, the IW have the equipment?

 

Why would the Iron Warriors need another legion to provide 'the bodies'? The only legion bigger than them was the Ultramarines. The Iron Warriors also had one of the fastest recruitment processes and the only thing that balanced this out and prevented them from outnumbering the Ultramarines was their outrageously high rate of attrition.

Iron Warriors were huge - but literally scattered across the galaxy - records exist of an Iron Warriors garrison expected to hold a troublesome world...numbering TEN MEN. I think the local warsmith/commander would happily ally with another legion for simple pragmatism.

I thought word bearers were second only to ulramarines?

 

Anyway I wasn't thinking huge numbers here that the iron warriors and world eaters could just throw marines at their problem. A small garrison of marines coming together to defeat a greater threat. Alliances and dare I even say friendship's forged through a conflict that pushes both parties to their limits. Both having to rely on each others strengths to carry the day. 

I thought word bearers were second only to ulramarines?

 

 

Nope.

 

1st: Ultramarines: 250,000

2nd: Iron Warriors: 150,000 - 180,000

3rd: Sons of Horus: 130,000 - 170,000

4th: World Eaters: 150,000

5th: Word Bearers: 100,000 - 150,000

 

Alpha Legion also comes in with 90,000 - 180,000 , but who even knows just how accurate that is. They're certainly not going to tell you the truth.

World eaters and iron warriors are battle-brothers according to the allies chart, so theres no reason why a garrison wouldn't be willing to fight alongside a company of world eaters. Both have some similar traits as well, such as the afore-mentioned "throw enough bodies at something and it will eventually die".

Oh, I'm well aware they're besties, it was just the notion that the Iron Warriors needed someone else to provide bodies to throw into battle that I was picking at. As for charging through the holes, fluff-wise at least, Iron Warriors do that well enough to rival the World Eaters.

 

Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying "No, don't do that army/idea", just that the idea needn't rely on the World Eaters being a crutch for the Iron Warriors, because they don't need it. Also, just keep in mind that, despite being sworn brothers, if you were planning on using the Hammer of Olympia rite of war, it prevents the Iron Warriors from taking allies from another legion (but only the legions, other 30k lists are fine).

I wasn't planning on running the force as a coalition of iron warriors and world eaters. Its solely going to be a world eater force with a slightly different identity, or themes probably a better word, than its parent legion due to the bond it forms with their iron warrior brothers during said experience.

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