|
Some minor modifications to the list.
Iron Knights
By John T
The Iron Knights Space Marines are a different, more anachronistic, kind than the Marines of the Codex Chapters. Like all Marines they are dedicated to their cause but their organisation differs from the Codex Chapters.
Organisation
The Iron Knights never separates from their origin and the customs of their feudal protectorate planets. Their world consists of Realms, each consisting of one or more planets in the Tiveden system. A ?Household?, a governing family complex, rules each Realm. The most worthy males in the Household are elevated to Space Marines, after rigorous tests of course. Thus each Household incorporates a miniature counterpart to a Codex Chapter called a Banner. It has it own detachments, called Lances, and support units, Auxilia, led by the Master of the House and his retinue. This limited basis for recruitment means that the Iron Knights never grows to great numbers.
A Iron Knight army may consist of several Banners if need be but their speciality is operating in smaller strike forces, usually consisting of one to two Banners, and strike repeatedly to wear the target down if it is to hard to take in one go. To help locate the priority targets the Iron Knights rely heavily on Scouts and Landspeeders, and once the target is located these formations help herd and pin the enemy for the main forces strike. This ?strike and fade? technique is not much like guerrilla warfare, the Iron Knights strike with heavy assets such as terminators, dreadnoughts and other heavily armoured units and vehicles. And they strike for the heart of their opponent.
An elected Master of the Realms, the foremost among equals, rules the Realms. The Master of the Realms seldom participates in combat and then only in larger engagements. The Household he stems from is ruled and led by its own Master of the House and thus the Master of the Realms have no troops of his own during his Reign.
The Realms has their own air power and those accompany the Banners and armies if needed.
Technology
The Iron Knights focus on getting close to the enemy, into small arms or close combat range, and they have developed their teleport technology and technique far beyond any Chapter. Even the Machine Cult and Tech Priests of Mars cannot compete in this area. The Iron Knights use teleporting extensively and have means to teleport even Land Raiders directly into combat, even if machines of that size demands a Battle Barge to move them. Iron Knights also has the ability to recover their forces via teleportation but the long set-up time makes this ability unavailable during battle. They also use Landing Crafts, Thunderhawk Gunships, Landing Crafts and Drop Pods.
The Iron Knights holds their own factory of Land Raiders and even if few are produced due to the high cost they are more numerous than in other chapters. The availability of the Rhino ?family? of vehicles are on the other side very restricted due to manufactory issues. The few found mostly consists of the relatively heavy Vindicator, which the Iron Knights sees as essential and buys from outside sources.
Appearance and abilities
The people, and hence the Iron Knights, of the Tiveden system are blond and well built. To outsiders they seem restrained, silent and utterly proud. They don?t lie, ever, and it is considered a fact that an Iron Knight Space Marine cannot be lied to undetected. The Iron Knights regards a man as good as his word and thus liars forfeit their lives. This harsh view has led to several serious incidents in the Iron Knights dealings with outsiders. Furthermore, an Iron Knight never breaks his oaths. An Iron Knight that for some reason fails to fulfil his oath is expected to give his live in glorious combat, as a form of penitence. Whole Iron Knights Households and even larger armies are known to Crusade for similar reasons but more often for a set objective ore a certain amount of time and thus not always to the death.
The Iron Knights were founded in the second founding. Geneseed from Space Wolves, to give ferocity and loyalty, formed the basis and by adding geneseed from the same stock as the Iron Warriors stem from it was hoped that the headstrong and individual nature of the Space Wolves could be rained in somewhat. The result did not come out as expected. The Iron Knights are fiercely independent and only bow to the Emperor, regarding all other imperial components as at best their equals. This, their shared heritage with the Iron Warriors and their teleporting abilities puts them at odds with the Inquisition, among others. Several Inquisitorial investigation and abduction teams as been lost in Tiveden space.
The chapter's marines curiously bear their squad marking on both shoulderpads, with the chapter badge relegated to a small shield located in the front corner of their left shoulderpad.
They are described as having "gleaming, blue-grey armour".
The Iron Knights were on a self-imposed penitence crusade when they were called into action during the 13th Black Crusade.
Iron Knights Dreadnoughts
Iron Warriors revere their Dreadnoughts even more than Space Marines in general. The Dreadnoughts are seen as the perfect warrior, the epitome of warfare. They also make up a larger part of the chapters assets than what is usual. Furthermore, the Iron Knights use Siege Dreadnoughts and a unique variant called Swordmaster.
The Siege Dreadnoughts are heavily armoured and mounts a specialized Siege Inferno Cannon and the Siege Drill, a weapon that uses the same kind of disruption field as the Power Fist but uses a super-powered drill to rip trough any armour in fractions of a second. As soon as the drill has penetrated the armour promethium fuel and oxygen is gushed though nozzles at the top of the dill-head and ignited inside the target resulting in a devastating internal explosion.
The Swordmaster Dreadnoughts are considered the ultimate reward for a great warrior after his own body has given up and commanders use most of them. The Swordmaster is a close combat dreadnought but more than that an icon and a rally point for the Iron Knights. Armed with a mighty, powered, Great Sword which can slay swaths of foes in one swing, a shoulder-mounted Heavy Bolter spitting death and shielded by a impregnable stasis shield the Swordmaster wades trough enemy lines and breaks trough the heftiest fortifications.
Special Rule: Iron Knights Dreadnoughts
Iron Knights Dreadnoughts may chose any combination of weapons from the Core Rules and the Multi-melta described below as long as not duplicate weapons are picked.
Multi-melta/15cm/MW5+ and Small Arms/Macro-weapon
Notes: The Multi-melta can shoot and be used to confer the macro-weapon ability to the unit?s firefight value.
Further, if both a Commander and a Swordmaster Dreadnought is selected as upgrades for the same Spear/Auxilia, the Commander must join the Swordmaster Dreadnought unit.
Siege Dreadnought
Type/Speed/Armour/CloseCombat/Firefight
Armoured Vehicle/15cm/5+/4+/4+
Weapon/Range/Firepower/Notes
Siege Drill/(base contact)/AssaultWeapon/Macro-weapon, ExtraAttacks(+1) TK(1)
Siege Inferno Cannon/15cm/AP3+/AT5+/Ignore Cover
and Small Arms/Ignore Cover
Notes: Walker. Reinforced Armour. The Inferno Cannon can shoot and be used to confer the Ignore Cover ability to the unit?s firefight value.
Swordmaster Dreadnought
Type/Speed/Armour/Close Combat/Firefight
Armoured Vehicle/15cm/4+/3+/5+
Weapon/Range/Firepower/Notes
Great Sword/(base contact)/Assault Weapon/Macro-weapon, Extra Attacks(+2)
Heavy Bolter/30cm/AP5+
Notes: Walker. Reinforced Armour. Inspiring
Land Raider Helios
Type/Speed/Armour/Close Combat/Firefight
Armoured Vehicle/25cm/4+/6+/4+
Weapon/Range/Firepower/Notes
2xTwin Lascannon/45cm/AT4+
Whirlwind/45cm/1BP/Indirect Fire
Notes: Reinforced Armour, Thick Rear Armour, Transport (may carry one of the following units: Space Marine Tactical, Devastator & Scout units)
Iron Knight Librarians
Iron knight Librarians specialize in farsighting, telekinetics and, above all, teleportation. Thus, an Iron Knight Librarian loses the ordinary macro weapon ranged attack, and gives the special rule Infiltrate to all infantry units in the formation he joins. If his formation is commanded to participate in a combined assault with other formations this rule complies to all infantry units in the combined assault.
The Iron Knight Librarian is as fierce in close combat as all other characters of the iron Knights. The unit the Iron Knight Librarian joins gains an extra macro weapon attack in close combat.
Using The Army List
The following army list allows you to field an army based on the Iron Knight Chapter.
Iron Knight Space Marines are organised into small formations called Spears and Auxilia. Each Spear or Auxilia is made up of three or more units, and may also include a number of extra units called upgrades. The Army may only include as many Auxilia formations as it has Spear Formations.
The Spears and Auxilia that may be taken in a Iron Knight army are shown on the charts that follows. The charts also shows what units comprise the Spear/Auxilia, what upgrades are allowed, and its points cost. For example, a Dreadnought Spear consists of four Space Marine Dreadnoughts for 250 points, and may include the Commander, Dreadnought and Vindicator upgrades at an additional cost in points.
Each upgrade that is taken adds to the cost of the Spear/Auxilia, as shown on the upgrade chart. The upgrade chart also lists the units that make up the upgrade. Note that these will sometimes replace units in the Spear/Auxilia they are taken for, and sometimes takes the form of additional units for the formation. Each upgrade may be taken once per formation. For example, an Dreadnought Spear could include one Commander and one Vindicator. If both were taken it would cost 250 + 50 +75 = 375 points.
Special Rule: Iron Knight Transports
Iron Knights may teleport any number units at a cost of 10pts per unit. All units in a formation selected for teleportation must be upgraded. To be able to teleport Armoured Vehiclse besides those with Walker Special Rule a Battle Barge must be purchased. Note however that the teleportation can happen from turn one, even if the Battle Barge arrives later. This does not apply to Titan Legion Battlegroups.
Drop pods may be used as per Space Marine Core Rules.
Iron Knights does not have access to Rhinos.
Iron Knights Space Marine armies may be supported by Imperial Navy aircraft and Titan Legion battle groups. A maximum of up to a forth of the points available to the army may be spent on these formations.
Iron Knight Army List
Iron Knights Space Marine armies have a strategy rating of 5. All Iron Knights and Titan Legion formations have an initiative rating of 1+. Iron Knight aircraft formations have an initiative rating of 2+. The ?They Shall Know No Fear? rule applies to all Iron Knights formations (see 5.1.1).
Iron Knight Spears
Spear Units Upgrades Allowed Points Cost
Dreadnought 4 Dreadnoughts Commander, Dreadnought, Vindicator 250
Terminator 4 Terminator units Commander, Dreadnought, Vindicator, Land Raider 350
Vindicator 4 Vindicators Commander, Dreadnought 275
Land Raider 4 Land Raiders Commander, Crusader,Vindicator 350
Land Raider Helios 4 Land Raider Helios Commander, Vindicator, Hunter 400
Devastator 4 Devastator units Commander, Dreadnought, Vindicator, Land Raider 250
Iron Knight Auxilia
Auxilia Units Upgrades Allowed Points Cost
Assault 4 Assault units Commander, Vindicator, Dreadnought 225
Tactical 6 Tactical Commander, Vindicator, Dreadnought, 300
Thunderhawk Gunship 1 Thunderhawk Gunship Fighters 200
Scout 4 Scout units Commander, Sniper, Razorbacks 150
Strike Cruiser 1 Strike Cruiser Battle Barge 200
Thunderbolt Fighters 2 Thunderbolt Fighters Fighters 150
Marauder Bombers 2 Marauder Bombers Fighters 300
Landing Craft 1 Landing Craft Fighters 375
Land Speeder 5 Land speeders Commander, Typhoon/Tornado 200
Iron Knight Upgrades
Upgrade Units Cost
Battle Barge Replace Strike Cruiser with Battle Barge 150
Commander Add one Commander character to a unit in the formation. The Commander may be a Master, Librarian or Chaplain. If added to a formation including a Swordmaster Dreadnought Upgrade the commander is added to it. One Commander in the army may be a Supreme Commander. 50 (+50points if Supreme Commander)
Dreadnought Add 1-4 Dreadnoughts, 0-2 of these may be any combination of Siege Dreadnoughts or Swordmaster Dreadnoughts. 50 (+50 if Siege or Swordmaster Dreadnought)
Fighter Add 0-2 Thunderbolt Fighters 100 points each
Hunter Add 0-1 Hunter 75
Land Raiders Add 0-4 any combination af Land Raiders, Crusaders or Land Raider Helios 100 points (+25 if Crusader or Helios)
Razorbacks Add 0-4 Razorbacks 50 points each
Sniper Any Scout unit may be given the Sniper ability +25 points each
Typhoon/Tornado Replace any number of Landspeeders with 1 Landspeeder Tornado or Typhoon each +25 points per Typoon+10 points per Tornado
Vindicator Add 0-2 Vindicators 75 points each
Titan Legion Battlegroups
Formation Cost
One Warlord Class Titan 850 points
One Reaver Class Titan 650 points
One or Two Warhound Titans 250 points each
|
