Golem Heavy Assault Squads(Complete: 10/2 -1st post updated)

[Iron Hands Fanatic]

++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.

Transmission 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--

Greetings fellow 30k dwellers. After abandoning 40k Iron Hands due to the obliteration of their character & background, I've decided to dedicate myself to their Legion format. Seeing as working on minis is now a rarity for me, I thought I'd join the Heresy hype by basing some lineart / sketches around the fabled 10th Legion [existing finished work thread here].

The Golems are a unit I've had in mind for a while now, as Legion specific units are just awesome & I thought a unit of assault marines with chainfists & meltabombs dedicated to blowing up tanks would be the kind of assault marines the Iron Tenth would like.

The pic above is just the mock-up, I will edit the post in 1 or 2 weeks with the finished drawing, and I might add a scan of him at the 1/2 way point if I'm in particular need of feedback.

Anyway, thanks fer lookin'

[helterskelter]

Awesome piece fluff, I like where the sketch is going too. You added another noisey monkey to my fickle mind as tobwhich legion I will start.

[Brother Keyaetus]

Wish I had a few of them for my X Legion, they'd be very useful :P Nice fluff too, they look awesome.

[Marshal Rohr]

You could easily represent these fellows with heavy chainsword rules or pig standard power fists on your assault marines for the games you do get in with opponents if they give you trouble too! Very, very cool concepts, brother. Gets my mind racing with ideas for my own guys.

[KBA]

I love that sketch! Personally, I don't see an idea like this that plausible in the established 30K fluff. The 10th legion heavily underused assault squads to start, and specialized assault troops would suggest to be created out of quite a bit of direct battlefield experience leading to adaptability and need. They blow things up with armor, advance relentlessly shrugging off damage until they're in your face blowing you up, hammer to anvil and all. Just IMO. Keep on sluggin'.

[Iron Hands Fanatic]

I love that sketch! Personally, I don't see an idea like this that plausible in the established 30K fluff. The 10th legion heavily underused assault squads to start, and specialized assault troops would suggest to be created out of quite a bit of direct battlefield experience leading to adaptability and need. They blow things up with armor, advance relentlessly shrugging off damage until they're in your face blowing you up, hammer to anvil and all. Just IMO. Keep on sluggin'.

Well I guess I assumed a large proportion of that small proportion of assault marines would be trained as Golems - if necessary they can just be fielded as normal assault marines. Then again the Legion is a force of 113,000 Astartes, if only 5% were trained as assault marines, thats still 56,500 Assault marines. Plus when I wrote that almost every Clan has adopted them to some extent, a Clan can be larger than a chapter - and it could only contain 1 squad of 20 Golem Heavy Assault Marines.

These guys are the specialists of the Legion's assault marines, which aren't exactly numerous - I never said they were common.

To be honest, I originally concieved these guys as a unique unit of just one Clan, considering each is pretty much a sub-legion in its own right. However, I decided that seeing as I'd be posting up some lineart, other X Legion players might want in on the gig, and that'd be kinda restrictive - plus when I drew that cog with the lighting bolt through it for the first time, I just thought it was too cool to keep for myself :P

Just incase anyone was interested, my original idea was to have an assualt squad equipped with heavy chainsword & maxim bolters the IHs got from their mechanicum buddies - for some strafing gunny jump troops. But then I remembered that awesome bit in the Chapter's original [read: awesome and not complete and utter fluff - destroying heresy] background about the massed land-behemoths of the Clan Companies fighting a massive traitor armoured force, and their assault marines descending from their battlements to wreak havok amongst the tanks below, and knew I had to make some anti - tank assault marines :D

Just so you guys know, in game terms if I could DIY them, they'd be basically standard assault marines with chainfists & meltabombs, with the Tank Hunters & Stubborn USRs - at an appropriately inflated cost & with 1 in 5 able to take a meltagun, lascutter or graviton gun (originally I had them all with inferno pistols but realised how stupidly OP a whole squad of them with jetpacks would be).

Thanks for all the positive feedback guys, it really helps keep me motivated to finish this guy

[Marshal Rohr]

I think you mean 5,650 :P

[Iron Hands Fanatic]

whoopsy - multiplied 113,000 by 0.5 rather than 0.05

I was a bit like damn, thats a lot of assault marines

As a good Legionary, I will generate 1GB of text-based calculations, in binary *cough*, ugh I mean...Medusan battle-cant

[disease]

really enjoyed this

[Russ Brother 92]

I'd love even 10 of these to back up my terminators - don't suppose you could turn your mind to the Morlocks or have a figuring on what IF specialist breachers may be like?

[Iron Hands Fanatic]

@Disease: thanks brother, its nice to know my mad ideas are at least feasible

 

@Russ Bother 92: well, seing as Extermination is apparently going to the printers atm, I recon you'll get some cool Imperial Fists stuff (and hopefully IH) pretty soon, so it might be better to see whats coming with that. Plus after this fella, I've already planned the next lineart for my DIY chapter (link in sig). However, I would like to explore the idea of Ferrus's personal guard of Morlocks, the elite of the elite so to speak - seeing as the gorgon terminators are basically a slight upgrade to normal termies to represent the vast majority of the Morlocks (as far as I'm aware). Maybe they could be "Chamber Absortio Morlocks"

[Anvilarium]

The 10th legion heavily underused assault squads.

 

That's a common misconception. They had plenty of Assault Units. What they did heavily under-use was Jetbikes, Speeders, Jump Infantry and other Fast Attack choices.

 

Assault Squads however are Troop Choices in the Horus Heresy, and if you take them without Jump Packs, they are as widely available as any other Troop Choice.

[disease]

@Disease: thanks brother, its nice to know my mad ideas are at least feasible

 

Not mad at all, this is seriously good stuff. Easily plausible as a unit from the HH series - 30pts each perhaps?    

Tempted to actually make one, you know, for reference?  :D

[Iron Hands Fanatic]

@Disease: afraid I'm not a modeller anymore - my contributions to the background can be in writing and images only I'm afraid, but if anyone did try and model one, that would be super awesome (advisory - don't base the model on my illustration, it will probably be a pain in the ass to put together parts wise :P )

[KBA]

 

The 10th legion heavily underused assault squads.

 

That's a common misconception. They had plenty of Assault Units. What they did heavily under-use was Jetbikes, Speeders, Jump Infantry and other Fast Attack choices.

 

Assault Squads however are Troop Choices in the Horus Heresy, and if you take them without Jump Packs, they are as widely available as any other Troop Choice.

 

You don't have the option to unequip the Jump Packs off assault squads in HH. What you are referring to is trading in a tactical squad's bolter for a combat blade or chainsword, making them despoilers which don't have near the assault weapon options as the true blue assault squads.

[Anvilarium]

 

 

The 10th legion heavily underused assault squads.

 

That's a common misconception. They had plenty of Assault Units. What they did heavily under-use was Jetbikes, Speeders, Jump Infantry and other Fast Attack choices.

 

Assault Squads however are Troop Choices in the Horus Heresy, and if you take them without Jump Packs, they are as widely available as any other Troop Choice.

 

You don't have the option to unequip the Jump Packs off assault squads in HH. What you are referring to is trading in a tactical squad's bolter for a combat blade or chainsword, making them despoilers which don't have near the assault weapon options as the true blue assault squads.

 

Fair enough - I stand corrected!

[Iron Hands Fanatic]

Right, I'm currently doing some work on the Golem - its taking a while though - getting MKII to look plausible is tricky (thank god for the IHs' extensive armour modification)

So, I was glancing back through the fluff I wrote, and remembered that I'd created a completely new Clan - now, I'm a stickler for DIY stuff, so I thought that if I continue doing HH lineart based on the 10th Legion, it'd be cool to do some character pieces. However, I don't particularly want to create characters around existing Clans & Orders in the Legion because I have a feeling that it'll be gradually expanded upon as the FW Horus Heresy book series continues.

Instead, I'll probably make some characters for Clan Brannsar - which I created. Well, I also have a fascination with military organisation within 30k / 40k, so I decided that I'd have to flesh out the Clan in order to decide upon which characters I'd like to illustrate.

To that end, I've created the following organisation chart - which also helps me to get my head around the organisation of the Legion as set out in Massacre, and create some organisational quirks of my own.

Its not completely relevant, but it'll be a while till the Golem gets updated, so I thought I'd share:

Thanks for looking

[Iron Hands Fanatic]

Okay, so maybe my obsession with organisation is less common than I thought :P

Time for a proper update: I thought I'd show you guyswhy progress has been slow so far:

Goddamn Bionics

Hopefully should be a bit quicker from here on out, nothing should have to be quite so involved, apart from maybe the chainfist - but its a smaller area

Anyway, C&C very much appreciated - after all, the more work I do on it, the less I can change

[depthcharge12]

^^^

 

 

Humanahumanahumana.....

 

 

Humanahumanahumanah...

 

 

*dools over iPad*

[Russ Brother 92]

Very nice brother - wish I had your drawing skills

[Iron Hands Fanatic]

Thanks guys, its certainly nice to be working on something for the 10th again.

 

I may have to retract my original statement on not posting regular updates on this guy - the whole scaning / editing / posting process is fantastic for helping me realise any adjustments / corrections I want to make (although atm, there's no change required apart from maybe thickening the existing thigh towards the knee slightly)

 

As such, the next update will probably be with his legs finished - and hopefully less smudging (gah! left-handedness!)

 

Anyway, I'm glad you like him - I personally can't wait to do his helm - adaping MK II is fun :P

[Iron Hands Fanatic]

Right: next update:

Just of note, the box his left leg is on is just a placeholder - I'll probably edit it out for something else - which is why the persepctive / angle compared to the right leg looks wierd

Thanks for looking

[Iron Hands Fanatic]

Oh yeah, forgot to post this, a touch of narrative to accompany the update, enjoy:

 

 

Shiv grinned wide beneath his helm. Feet planted squarely on the roof of their Rhino, he leaned back, every jolt of recoil from his Boltgun sending a tingle of thrill down his spine. The cacophony of noise washed over him – screeching menials and adepts, stuttering binaric machine code emerging in garbled clusters from dying techpriests, the whine and hiss of failing machinery, distorted ‘ERROR’ messages shrieking from the broken loudspeakers of a dozen servitors.

 

It’s light harsh through Mars’ empty atmosphere and the clear hexes of the junction-complex’s colossal dome, the sun illuminated a scene as cold as its unforgiving glow. Shiv’s squad was scattered around the wrecked hull of their rhino, blood, oil and ash smeared across the metal deckplates. The Martians had left few assets to defend the hordes of refugees fleeing from the warfront – all their military might occupied ensuring mutual annihilation in the planet-wide civil war. So it was slaughter. The handful of Protectors which had managed to sunder their Rhino were dispensed with quickly, and the thrall-soldiers and combat servitors which had tried to cover the refugees escape were falling with consummate ease.    

 

Where once Shiv would have ensured each round brought a clean kill, he now rejoiced in butchering his targets in ever more inventive ways – detonating shells against walls to send shrapnel tearing through flanks or exposed craniums; landing rounds the perfect distance in front of a target so that they would suffer a brutal, agonising death from ruptured organs and blood loss. Treachery truly had granted them a freedom the Emperor could never give.

 

Squad Quann had been assigned the task of panicking the refugees in the transit networks purely because of their newfound freedom’s effect – turning on their brothers had unlocked tendencies long suppressed by the discipline of the Legiones Astartes. Each unhinged in their own way, their lack of order gave them purpose, a savagery more and more common amongst the Sons of Horus. Perfect for exposing the weaknesses in an enemy, perfect for shock troops. Perfect Targets.

 

Drunk on the slaughter, not a single member of squad Quann noted the roar of jetpacks amidst the deafening pandemonium – not quickly enough to do anything meaningful, at least. Raykyr was the first to detect the ambush, turning in a manner that defied the mass of the warplate that enclosed him, the whining barrels of his rotor cannon pausing for only a moment. But for Raykyr, death was too quick.

 

A sharp spike in static over the vox preceded the blur in Shiv’s peripheral vision, a distortion in the air lancing towards Raykyr.  When it reached him, Raykyr was only recognisable as an Astartes for a second.

 

His torso, head and left arm suddenly compacted, imploding with a force that instantly made ceramite as malleable as clay, ribbons of blood erupting from torn flesh arcing back on themselves, drawn into the invisible singularity.

 

Even as Raykyr’s remnants crumpled to the ground, simultaneous detonations launched Shiv forward, spinning him around, lurching away from the searing aftershock as the squad’s supporting Predator and Sicaran battle tanks were scorched into slag.

 

This involuntary movement saved his life. The blow that would have sheared through his twin hearts merely shredded his breastplate, tearing his left pauldron off in a shower of contorted ceramite. Although the roaring chainfist swung wide, the iron colossus that had thudded onto the Rhino’s twisted roof a moment before lashed out with a hissing bionic prosthesis, kicking Shiv to the roof’s edge. Every muscle in his body strained, supported by the humming servos of his power armour to stop him from collapsing back over the tank’s side. It wouldn’t save him.

 

Presented with a stationary target, a weapon designed for tearing through tank hulls ripped Shiv in half at the waist, leaving him alive long enough to see sergeant Quann draped across the shattered statue of the Omnissiah which had dominated the quadrangle in which they had deployed. Seared with a precision lascutter into his sea green warplate were two words:

 

“Remember Istvaan” 

[Memento Of Prospero]

Have you thought of a breacher shield instead of the pistol brother? A golem invokes durability and bulk, and that would also make sense as they jobs is to close thr gap against enemy heavy armour.

[jeremy1391]

Coming along nicely!