+ inload: Iron Warrior Siegemaster +

+ inload: Episcopi Artabas +

+ Iatayu Artabas, who met his end during the Siege of Terra was a polymath, a pragmatist and an amoral monster from the planet Kush Tertial. While he was a capable warrior – he was, after all, and Astartes – his rise through the rank to become a leader of men was due more to his pathological obsession with minuteae than charisma or ferocity. In any other Legion, he would have made a capable Line Officer. In the Iron Warriors, his detail-led approach gave him an overview that saw him command battalions. +

+ A rank specific to the IVth Legion, Episcopi were roughly equivalent to Lieutenant-Commanders, with a similar breadth of roles. Senior to the line Centurions, an Episcopus was a special designate who operated alongside a Grand Battalion; though with no special connection with it. An Episcopus could expect to be sent where he was most needed; where his abilities best suited the Legion's need. They included linebreakers, siegemakers and medical, morale or technical specialisms. Artabas excelled in all aspects of planned warfare, making him a vital cog in planning the assault on Terra. +

+ Pictured with his armament of choice – a simple power bludgeon and umbra-pattern bolt pistol – immediately prior to the assault on Pradesh Novum, Artabas limped out of this engagement, only to fall mere weeks later. A temporary tilt shield bears a simple stripe marking him as attached to the 242nd. His armour is otherwise unremarkable, save for the enhanced optics and data-gathering upgrades to his helm and powerpack. +

+ The most striking feature of this understated officer's appearance was his vulture familiar, Sampatu. Startled during a clash between the Iron Warriors and an infestation of Hrud, the bird rose up and spoiled the aim of an infiltrated hrud fusilier – an act which likely saved Artabas, though its perforated wing rendered it flightless. In a peculiar act of charity, Artabas recovered the bird and spent many months training it and assisting its recuperation using flight-recovery technology usually reserved for psychic cyber-familiars, servitor-putti and the like. larger, stronger and more resilient than the extinct Terran vultures which it closely resembled, the avian became both a totem and a preternaturally fast and vicious helper to Artabas. +

+ Artabas was an unusual choice to oversee the Officia Monstrosa, but then the very nature of the task – to subdue and capture a Primach during one of the greatest and most complex campaigns before or since – required something quite unique. +