Forge World Iskolaa

[Lord_Ikka]

Forgeworld Iskolaa

The Dismal Plains

 

Intro
Orbiting a binary pair of stars, the Forgeworld Iskolaa is wreathed in a chemical fog. A large planet, twice the size of Holy Terra, Iskolaa is cloaked constantly by hydro-carbon emissions from its nine fortified forge-cities. These clouds rain corrusive oil and acid upon the face of the world. Only the shielded bulk of the forge-cities defies the rain, all else is stripped to bare rock and ore. Rising from the rocky plains are the forge-cities, each a kilometer in height and diameter, but everything above the surface is simply meters of armor, heavy energy shield projectors, weapons emplacements, and emission stacks. The real bulk of the forge-cities is buried in the earth, kilometers of steel corridors and gleaming research halls, twisting mine shafts and hammering factories. From these great underground bunkers pour vast armies of grey-clad Skitarii, the towering Knights of House Romlas, and even the God-Machines of Legio Tudas-Vaz.

 

The History of Iskolaa
Iskolaa is a world that has been destroyed by mankind's relentless manufacturing. Once covered with deep blue sand dunes and roaring promethium rivers, the planet is now bare rock and stone. The sand was melted down and the rivers drained, all to power the ravenous factories at the heart of the Mechanicus' forge-cities. These nine forge-cities are the pride of Iskolaa, the culmination of four millenia of dedicated industry and progress.

Iskolaa's adepts harbor a damning secret in the history of their forgeworld- they were founded by a proscribed sub-sect of Xenarites from Stygies VIII. The Xenarite sects were allegdedly purged from Stygies VIII in M36, but in reality the less-radical sects were folded into the Mechanicus of Stygies while the more extreme sects were sent on colonization expeditions. Forgeworld Iskolaa is the result of one of those secretive dispora fleets. Far from Stygies VIII, on the Eastern Rim of the Ultima Segmentum, Iskolaa still follows the Xenarite teachings- making advances and innovation based on Xenos technology.

For four thousand years the Iskolaa Mechanicus leadership has hidden their Xenarite leanings. They have sent their bound Knight House Romlas and Legio Tudas-Vaz across the Imperium to assist in many different campaigns to help deflect any question, as their Skitarii armies attack and capture Xenos tech.

Now, with the Great Rift open and massive incursions from both Chaos and Xenos forces, Forgeworld Iskolaa has recalled all their forces home. Large armies of Skitarii have been seen trudging the dismal plains between forge-cities, training and preparing for battle, as Knights and Titans emerge from underground bunkers to board Mechanicus mega-conveyers. Forgeworld Iskolaa is unleashing secretive, xenos-derived tech and ancient weapons as it joins the war to save the Imperium.

 

These large armies and willingness to fight to save other Imperial planets and forces has kept quiet many of the questions that lurk in Martian and Inquisition minds, those questions of Iskolaa's innovative technology and where it has come from. Those questions have not evaporated from the questioners minds though, and Iskolaa may have very hard times ahead if they cannot cloak their mysteries as well as they do their armies...

 

Colors
The colors of Iskolaa reflect their dour world- grey cloaks that are streaked with the oily rains of the homeworld, bronze-colored armor that gets slick corrusion stains after being out in the elements for any length of time. The gear of Iskolaa's Skitarii legions always looks ill-cared for, but any enemy that underestimates the deadliness that hids beneath a false cover of ill-repair finds that they are gravely mistaken.

 

Tactics
Like their Stygies VIII forbearers, Iskolaa armies rely on deception and diversion to disorient their enemies. To this end, they have developed a unique form of cloaking technology. Taking the stealth-screens of Stygies VIII and combining it with some principles of captured T'au technology has led to the creation of the waver-field. Waver-fields obscure both organic and electronic sensors by creating over-lapping "waves" of images, similar to what happens naturally on Iskolaa because of hydro-carbon saturated air. Waver-fields work best when the opponent is at a distance, as they are a masking device not a shielding one.

Skitarii and Secutarii form the bulk of the Iskolaa legions- ranks of grey-clad soldiers with mechanical enhancements and mental upgrades. Distaining the powerful bodies but limited mental capacity of battle servitors, Iskolaa armies contain solid cores of both firepower-heavy Skitarii Rangers/Vanguards and the arc-lance might of Secutarii hoplites.

Iskolaa armies invariabley have support in the form of the bonded jannisaries of Knight House Romlas and the God-Machines of Legio Tudas-Vaz. Due to the unique form of heirarchy within House Romlas, Iskolaa magos-dominus and Tudas-Vaz princeps are able to regulary summon lances and demi-lances of Knights with minimal difficulties. This is especially useful given House Romlas' possession of many Knight suits of ancient and terrible design. Legio Tudas-Vaz will frequently send a pair of Warhounds to contribute to an Iskolaa-led exploratory fleet, if not a full maniple of Titans. These Warhounds act as both scouts and backup for their Knight cousins, flanking the expedition's path and bringing formidable weapons to bear if need be.

 

Iskolaa army Organization

Ocak Iskolaa- The Tech-army of Forge World Iskolaa
Aga- High commander of the Forge World's military priests
Corbaci- Commander designate of a battle-legion
Orta Cemaat- Sicarian Infiltrators and Rustalkers, Priess of the Motive Force (Electro-priests), organized into kill-clades and brotherhoods
Orta Sekban- Skitarii troops, organized into cohorts of 500 (including support like Dunecrawlers, Dragoons, etc..)
Orta Boluk- Secutarii troops, organized into maniples of 200
Orta Yerliyyas- Battle robot and servitor maniples, deemed a punishment detail by Iskolaa tech-priests
Orta Ajemi- Training cadre for novice tech-priests/advanced training for skitarii alphas

Edited September 3, 2019 by Lord_Ikka

[Lord_Ikka]

Here are the pics for my army that I've completed so far. Still have another Dominus and two Enginseers to fully paint, and a Knight Atropos to wash/base. Then I'm thinking of getting the HH Scoria model for a Cawl count-as and some hoplites to give me a little melee fighting power.

 

ICT 2k army (biggest army shot I have, though I forgot my Warglaives...)

 

Magos-Dominus Vandrus Alix

 

Enginseer-acolytes of the Ajemi orta

 

Ranger Squad Alpha-1

 

Ranger Squad Alpha-2

 

Vanguard Squad Gamma-1

 

Vanguard Squad Gamma-2

 

Servitor maniple

 

Sicarian kill-clade

 

Onager Dunecrawlers

 

Knight Armigers of House Romlas

 

Knight Crusader of House Romlas

[Bjorn Firewalker]

You have a fine army. Its backstory needs work, though.

A massive planet, ten times the size of Holy Terra,

If the planet is ten times Terra's size, doesn't it mean it has ten times Terra's gravity? Humans cannot survive indefinitely at ten times Terra's gravity. Is some archeotech device responsible for reducing the planet's gravity to survivable levels?

Taking the stealth-screens of Stygies VIII and combining it with some principles of captured T'au technology

As the AdMech has little tolerance for innovation- to say nothing of reverse-engineering xeno technology- does this mean HERETEKS rule this forge world?

 

This sentence should be edited to hide the Tau influence on the forge world's technology, to avoid the Ordo Xenos' scrutiny.

Edited September 3, 2019 by Bjorn Firewalker

[Lord_Ikka]

You have a fine army. Its backstory needs work, though.

A massive planet, ten times the size of Holy Terra,

If the planet is ten times Terra's size, doesn't it mean it has ten times Terra's gravity? Humans cannot survive indefinitely at ten times Terra's gravity. Is some archeotech device responsible for reducing the planet's gravity to survivable levels?

Taking the stealth-screens of Stygies VIII and combining it with some principles of captured T'au technology

As the AdMech has little tolerance for innovation- to say nothing of reverse-engineering xeno technology- does this mean HERETEKS rule this forge world?

 

This sentence should be edited to hide the Tau influence on the forge world's technology, to avoid the Ordo Xenos' scrutiny.

 

To be honest, I haven't touched the backstory in a while- that should be twice the size of Terra, rather than ten times. Slightly higher gravity, but not double due to a smaller liquid metal core. 

 

As far as the Xenos-tech goes, that's par for the course for Stygies and its colonies- they are mysterious and innovative enough to be on the edge of heretical. Iskolaa is simply a little beyond that, with their tech having more Xenos-derived bits than other Stygies, but its not enough to trigger serious inquiries from Mars or the Inquistiion, yet. The fact that Iskolaa armies are marching to help other Imperial worlds during Indominus Crusade have helped stave off questions as well. I have updated the fluff to reflect that.

Edited September 3, 2019 by Lord_Ikka

[Bjorn Firewalker]

The revisions are well done.

[Rasp]

Very nice fluff and nice looking models

[Vel'Cona]

Lovely army!  Consistent paint scheme throughout and the background material helps tie it all together.  Thanks for taking the time to post it all up! :)

[Lord_Ikka]

Thanks for the kind words everyone, I appreciate it!

 

Now, I've been thinking (generally a bad thing...)- I hate the derpy look of the electro-priests but their rules are pretty good. What if I took the Warcry Unmade warband, cut off the obvious Chaosy details/faces, and added on some bits like electro-priest backpacks connected to their weapons via guitar string? Would that look suitable for a version of the Motive Force cults?