+ Phalangite Ivanho +
+ The Iron Warriors' geneseed allowed for excellent integration with bionics and augmetics, on par with the Xth Legion. In concert with their experienced Apothecarion, this meant that more casualties were returned to the front lines more quickly than in other Legions. +
+ On the face of things, this should have proven a great advantage to the Imperium. In practice, it meant that a culture of brutal pressure and expectation built up around the wounded, forcing them back into warfare before they were truly recovered, dosed with immuno-suppressants and caked in anti-sepsis gels. In addition, while bionics and augments took readily, the flesh of the IVth Legion Astartes was not impervious to damage. Marginally less physically resilient than the Xth or XIVth Legions, Iron Warriors pushed back into the fight occasionally found themselves unable to keep up with their comrades, leading to a vicious circle of injury and too-swift return. Inevitably, this led to ill-feeling within Musters and Grand Companies. +
+ This rapid cycling of casualties back into the fight did have its advantages, particularly when scale of firepower was more important than quality. Phalangite Ivanho, pictured here, has been pushed back into the lines with a bulky temporary augmetic on his injured eye, preventing him from wearing a standard helm. Low-tech solutions like this were far from ideal, particularly in the rad- and gas-swamped battlegrounds of the Imperial Palace, but the Pitiless IVth were uncompromising. +
+ The lack of rest and repair is more obvious from this angle, as the damage to Ivanho's battleplate is shown. Cuts and rents in his breastplate, along with popped rivets in the reinforcement in his thigh armour, tell a grim story. +
+ The rest of his equipment appears standard; an unremarkable set of equipment for a standard line warrior. Soldiers like Ivanho were exceptional on their worlds of recruitment (Ivanho himself was drawn from a dusty satellite in the Dheneb system), but set against the stalwart Imperial Fists manning the walls, proved merely servicable. Casualties against the well dug-in Loyalist forces were horrendous. +
+ His muster markings are standard; though his boltgun is slightly unusual for this Grand Company. The Varn-pattern weapon was forged under license from the Forge World Umbra, and is near identical save for being constructed mainly from plastek. This renders it non-magnetic and requiring a carrying strap. +
+ Ivanho survived the Heresy, perishing in the Legion Wars nearly two centuries (Terran standard reckoning) later. His corpse was time-stamped after being found lashed to a standard lost by a Night Lords raiding party on Cadia. +
1 comment:
Great work as always. I like how you turned the roughness of the breastplate into a virtue by way of the fluff.
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