"The Automatons" - IW "Counts-As" Thousand Sons Rubric Marines

"The Automatons" - Iron Warriors-Styled "Thousand Sons" Rubric Marines

Picture this in your mind's eye:  a squad of deceased, cybernetically-augmented, remotely-controlled "undead" Loyalist Space Marine bodies, with their armor still painted in their original Chapter's colors (in this particular case, Imperial Fists), but with the Iron Warriors symbol and/or hazard stripes visible on one shoulder guard (representing their subservience to their new masters, the Iron Warriors - a deliberate and calculated insult to the enemy...heh!).  All of these "Automatons" have Necron Warrior heads replacing their Space Marine helmets (representing the fact that they are lifeless, robotic automatons).

I plan to add some significant battle damage to their power armor (primarily in the form of various types of bullet & shell holes, blast cratering & scoring, blade-gouging, and so forth) before final painting is done.  This will help to convey the idea that these former Imperial Fists have been mortally wounded in honorable battle against their hated enemies, the Iron Warriors - but, after their deaths, their lifeless bodies were collected from the battlefield, subjected to vile, macabre acts of necromancy (both sorcerous and mechanical) by the Iron Warriors Chirumeks (Dark Apothecaries) and corrupted Techmarines, and then forced to serve their vicious murderers, fighting against their former Imperial Fists Battle-Brothers in the Long War against the Imperium for the rest of eternity! 

These warriors are already dead, and are therefore Fearless. The mechanical minds in their cybernetic replacement heads possess only rudimentary motive and combat programming, making them Slow and Purposeful. Their dead bodies, now impervious to pain, also have numerous mechanical and structural augmentations, giving them a 4+ Invulnerable Save ("Counts-As" Mark of Tzeentch).

Their limited programming requires that these "Automatons" be maintained and serviced (and remotely controlled) by a corrupted Techmarine ("Counts-As" an Aspiring Sorcerer" - pic coming soon!), who leads the Squad (a la the "The Sorcerer Commands" rule).

The "Automatons" bear specially modified, Ultra-High-Velocity Boltguns (which I will make using Necron Gauss Flayer barrel tips as barrel extensions) that fire specially modified Bolter shells which have sorcerously-enhanced armor-piercing explosive sabot charges. These enhanced munitions, known as "Inferno Bolts", are able to penetrate virtually any existing form of body armor (AP 3).

I was thinking that a fielding a Squad of these Iron Warriors "Automatons", painted up in Imperial Fists Space Marine colors, would be a thematically "fluff-appropriate" way of representing Thousand Sons Rubric Marines within an Iron Warriors Grand Company.  It would also be an ironically fitting (albeit perverse) tribute to the ten thousand years of HATE that the Sons of Perturaubo have for the Ancient Enemy!  And, on top of that, it would also serve as an appropriate little "knife-in-the-gut" to any deluded Lapdogs of Dorn that one might face on the tabletop...

Painted pics of these "Frankenstein's Monsters" coming soon...
 
IRON WITHIN!  IRON WITHOUT!

Cyborganic Champion Cravex - IW "Counts-As" Plague Marine Champion

"The Cyborganics" are my take on creating suitably "Iron Warriors-styled" proxy figures to represent Nurgle Plague Marines within my Grand Company, while remaining as "true-to-the-fluff" (i.e., the overtly mechanistic nature of the Iron Warriors) as possible.

Here are some pics of Cyborganic Champion (i.e., Plague Champion) Cravex, leader of my first Cyborganics Squad ("Counts-As" Plague Marines).

I always put a scratchbuilt Servo-Arm (usually constructed from various MechWarrior: Dark Age BattleMech parts) on my Iron Warriors Aspiring Champions (I always thought that this option, granted to them by the 3.5 CSM Codex, was quite "fluff appropriate" for the Iron Warriors, with their stated emphasis on Heavy Support choices/Vehicles/mechanization). I realize, of course, that it no longer serves any real purpose (except perhaps to help identify the figure as an Aspiring Champion), but I can always hope that, someday (whenever the individual Traitor Legion Codexes FINALLY come out...), they'll bring back the Servo-Arms...besides, they look cool.

The Auspex/Personal Icon/"Counts As" Mark of Nurgle, mounted on the top of the backpack (note the three dots in the center...looks like a Nurgle Icon!), is the radar antenna from a MechWarrior: Dark Age MH1 Defense AA Tank.

All the bionic limbs (and the mechanically-augmented bionic chestplate) are Necron Warrior arms, legs, and chest pieces, converted and modified to fit the Space Marine body.

For some time, I toyed with the idea of including a Plague Marine Squad or two in my Iron Warriors army, but I never actually did it. It was simply a matter of personal taste - I just never really liked the "fluff" background or the "looks" of Nurgle Marines, and they never seemed (to me) to fit with the "mechanical", or "inorganic" theme of the Iron Warriors. I make it a point to try (for the most part) to be something of a "fluff purist", and (according to the 3.5 'Dex), Plague Marines (being devotees of Nurgle) just didn't mix well with the overall Iron Warriors "Chaos Undivided" fluff/theme.

Then, I hit upon the idea of using "cyborg" Chaos Space Marines, or "Cyborganics", as I like to call them, to create a uniquely "Iron Warriors" method of representing Plague Marines. With the majority of their body parts replaced by bionic augmentations, these "cyborg" warriors are now more "machine" than "man" - and much, much tougher (physically) because of it. One could even suggest (for the sake of argument) that these "Cyborganics" are, in some way, a sort of "pre-Obliterator", perhaps going through the initial stages of the Obliterator Techno-Virus (which would help to explain away their increased Toughness, their "Feel No Pain" and "Fearless" special abilities, and, to a lesser extent, their "Blight Grenades" (Defensive Grenades - oily smoke grenades that release the Obliterator Techno-Virus when they explode, maybe?)). Taken together, these factors (in my opinion) provide a "thematically appropriate" way to represent "Counts As" Iron Warriors Plague Marines, in a manner consistent with the overtly mechanical theme of the Iron Warriors.

I plan to be able to field at least two or three full Squads of these "Cyborganics", eventually...

Painted pics coming soon!

IRON WITHIN!  IRON WITHOUT!