Iron Warriors

[Brother Warchild]

Librarium Article

Iron Warriors

History
Pre-Heresy
Pre-Heresy Iron Warrior Space MarineAlmost immediately upon being placed under the command of their primarch, Perturabo, the legion found itself being plunged into a seemingly never-ending series of campaigns. Immediately after completing the training of their first batch of recruits from Olympia, the legion went to war against the Black Judges of the nearby world of Justice Rock.

Quickly recognised as experts in the art of siege warfare, the Iron Warriors were regularly called upon to exercise their skills in cracking open enemy defences. Switched from one combat zone to another, the legion also found itself constantly diminishing in active crusading size as units from it were detached to act as garrison troops watching over worlds in the process of Compliance. The most famous of these garrisons was that of the Iron Keep on Delgas II, where one 10-man squad of Iron Warriors watched over a disgruntled population of 130 million. It is unknown why the Iron Warriors were so often selected for such assignments, or why Perturabo always accepted such orders without protest, but it is supposed that it began to inflict serious damage to the legion's morale. This growing disillusionment would eventually translate into a tragic explosion of despair and rage as the Iron Warriors learned that their own homeworld, Olympia, had revolted against Imperial rule. Briefed on the situation by the Warmaster Horus himself, Perturabo drew his legion away from the extermination campaign they were waging upon the Hrud and led them homewards, falling upon the world with no mercy. The planet was battered into submission, with over 5 million of the inhabitants killed. In the aftermath, the legion as a whole seemed aghast at their actions, aware that they had committed an unforgivable atrocity. However, before word of their actions could get out to the other arms of the Imperium, they once again received orders to move into action. This time it was to move to the Isstvan system; the Horus Heresy had begun.

The Horus Heresy
Part of the second wave assault on the traitor's position, the Iron Warriors joined the other legions in the formation in betraying the Imperium and choosing to fight alongside Horus, from the Isstvan system to the very gates of Terra's Imperial Palace. They took a perverse satisfaction in seeing the once great defenses that the Imperial Fists created being torn down and it was with the help of the Iron Warriors that the other legions were able to gain access into the Imperial Palace.

On the worlds the Iron Warriors had been forced to create garrisons, the commanders of these units also rebelled, offering up these worlds as resupply points for the Chaos forces who attacked Terra. After the events at Terra these garrisons would continue to be a thorn in the Imperium's side.

In the end, Horus was defeated by the Emperor, and the bulk of the Traitor Legions retreated into the Eye of Terror. Unlike some other, disorganized legions, the Iron Warriors escaped in a disciplined retreat.

Post-Heresy
Perturabo soon devised and enacted the one real victory for the Iron Warriors in the immediate aftermath of the Horus Heresy. He crafted a trap on Sebastus IV, designed to ensnare Rogal Dorn and the Imperial Fists, with whom Perturabo and his warriors harboured a bitter rivalry. The trap was known as the Eternal Fortress, a keep centred within twenty square miles of bunkers, towers, minefields, trenches, tank traps and redoubts. Upon hearing of this, Rogal Dorn publicly declared that he "would dig Perturabo out of his hole and bring him back to Terra in an iron cage".

Rogal Dorn expected an honourable battle, but this was not to be. Beginning by isolating the four Companies of the Imperial Fists that landed from their orbital support, Perturabo began to carefully divide his enemy and destroy them piecemeal. Some Imperial Fists managed to penetrate the defences and reach the center of the Eternal Fortress, only to find there was no central keep - simply an open space watched by yet more defenses. The fortress was a decoy of no real value. By the sixth day of the siege, Imperial Fists Space Marines were fighting individually, without support, using the bodies of their own battle brothers for cover.

The siege of the Eternal Fortress (later referred as the "Iron Cage") lasted for a further three weeks. Relief came in the form of Roboute Guilliman and a force of Ultramarines, but the siege left Rogal Dorn a broken man, rendered the Imperial Fists Chapter unable to fight for nineteen years, and the sacrifice of over four hundred loyalist Marines' gene-seed paved the way for Perturabo's ascension to Daemon Prince.

The Iron Warriors left on garrison duty defended their outposts in a decade-long campaign against Imperial forces. The Olympia garrison held out for two years, eventually triggering their missile stockpiles when defeat was unavoidable. They left a blasted wasteland that, like the other Traitor Legion home worlds, was declared Perdita.1

Organisation
Pre-Heresy
Even before being reunited with their primarch, Perturabo, the Iron Warriors were known for an affinity with technology and the clinical application of logic to military problems. This affinity was channeled by Pertuarbo, a skilled practitioner of siegecraft, into the mastery of that form of warfare. These abilities were increased by cross-training with the Adeptus Mechanicus. Their Warsmiths could match skills with Magi and it is said that Perturabo could beat any and all in the art of machine engineering. Their methodical attitude made them merciless men in battle and siege. After the siege works were built there was a choice given to the besiegers; either they throw down their arms then and there or the Iron Warriors would show no mercy. Just like many other legions they soon gained the reputation of brutality during siege, not to mention their merciless manner after the siege took place.

The Iron Warriors suffered a great deal of dispersion during the Great Crusade, with various units being detached for separate siege and garrison missions.

The Iron Warriors were organised as a number of Grand Companies each commanded by a Warsmith. Originally each Grand Company would have had a similar organisation, totalling around 1,000 Space Marines. At the time of the Heresy, the Legion had at least twelve Companies, although with the widespread deployment of many small detachments of the Legion at the time it is impossible to be sure if this figure of around 12,000 fighting Astartes was their maximum strength.

Current
Iron Warriors in action.After the events of the Heresy the Iron Warriors were finally set loose upon the galaxy. They gave up remaining pretense of mercy, becoming a rightfully feared enemy of the "corpse god". Whole worlds bowed down to the might of the Iron Warriors, some not even offering resistance. Over the last ten thousand years, the Iron Warriors have captured weapons from war of all theatres giving them a wide variety of vehicles, guns and artillery.

Their current organisation is completely non-standard. A Grand Company will often be divided into component detachments led by lesser champions. A tendency towards operating in multiples of three has been noted.1 Iron Warriors are almost exclussivly led by Warsmiths. A Warsmith is a high-ranking leader within the Iron Warriors Legion, seemingly similar to a Company Captain of a Space Marine Chapter. The Iron Warriors are known to pursue their recruitment programs aggressively, notably capturing a sizable source of pure gene-seed from the facility on Hydra Cordatus and using it to hot-house new Iron Warriors using a chaotic techno-organic method.2 These new Iron Warriors are selected periodically by Warsmiths for their Grand Company and subjected to various ordeals until they prove themselves worthy.

Traitor Titans are known to work with the Iron Warriors so much that some believe that they are in fact now part of the Legion.

The first Obliterators witnessed amongst Chaos forces were amongst the Iron Warriors and, on rare occasions, Iron Warriors have manifested the ability to 'morph' weapons, although with nothing like the versatility of true Obliterators.

Sources:
Index Astartes I
2:Storm Of Iron (Novel) by Graham McNeill
Dead Sky, Black Sun by Graham McNeill

[Baron von Lexus]

Looks pretty good but I have a few Additions,

1) Mention Medrenngard, their current Demonworld within the Eye of Terror.

2) They are distrustful of the other Legions and Demons as well.

3) Doctrine: The Iron Warriors prefer ranged combat over melee. They establish very formidable fortifications and excel not only at laying seige but enduring it as well.

Source: Codex Space Marines 2002 edition.

[Brother Warchild]

Tahnks BVL i will add that in.

[GriplionGremlin]

Originally Posted by Baron von Lexus

Looks pretty good but I have a few Additions,

1) Mention Medrenngard, their current Demonworld within the Eye of Terror.

2) They are distrustful of the other Legions and Demons as well.

3) Doctrine: The Iron Warriors prefer ranged combat over melee. They establish very formidable fortifications and excel not only at laying seige but enduring it as well.

Source: Codex Space Marines 2002 edition.

i'd also add that IW while prefering ranged combat were also known for thier counter assualts. they excell at not only fortified posts but in field fortifications as well. they are willing to allow points to be cut off confident they will hold and once enemy momentum is halted the counter attacks are extremely fierce.

when attacking fortifications they quickly determine point of main thrust and launch series of feints to confuse and weaken the target point.

source - codex chaos space marines (ver 3.5 - most recent prior to current)

also you might want to check out the old wd IA on them if you can find it. i've been trying to get a copy of it for quite some time now. i'm not sure the exact wd issue but i do know its prior to 266 and after 222. some where in there

looks good though dude!