Hey all,

Do you think it would be possible for an understrength company of Iron Hands to be near enough to Terra, heading over to Medusa, when its Warp Drives are destroyed, to be able to fight during the Siege of Terra? If it would be possible, I would have it wiped out during the siege, however.

Thoughts?

The IA article on the Iron Hands states that they harboured a great resentment to some of the other loyalist legions for failing to protect the Emporer during the assault on the palace, and believe that if they had been present there things would have been different. This would lead us to believe that they weren't, but we know that many of the legions were scattered throughout the galaxy as parts of different expeditions. Considering Terra's proximity to Mars, I can quite imagine that some of the Legion would have been present. Obviously if they were there, and were then wiped out, it would make the Iron hands sentiments as described in the IA article quite ironic :)

Of course the othe thing is that the IA article pre-dates the Heresy book series, and doesn't even confirm the fate of Mannus. I remember and am still amused by the Uproar of Iron Hands players caused by Sabretooth games when the bit about Fulgrim presenting the severed head of Mannus to Horus was published, with many people refusing to accept it as canon ^_^

I think now that McNeil made such a good account of the battle in Fulgrim alot of those resentments have dissapeared into the background and been replaced by a grudging acceptance, but from any account the Iron Hands got arguably more of a whipping than most other legions during the heresy!

I'd tend to agree with Pacific. The background in the Index Astartes certainly suggests that the Iron Warriors would not have had any significant forces near to Terra. Not only does their resentment over the defending loyalists failure to protect the big E suggest otherwise, but any Iron Hands close to Terra would have been sent on the attack on Istvaan V - certainly the Word Bearers forces that were in the vicinity were dispatched there, and as members of one of the Legions tasked with pacifying Istvaan V any Iron Hands would have been sent as well - and yet the only IH that were able to make it to take part in the attack were Ferrus' vetarans.

Of course, it is certainly possible, and indeed likely, that some Iron Hands would have been present. Given the close links with the Adeptus Mechanicus, there would almost certainly have been Techmarines, trainee techmarines, and envoys present on Mars. Any that survived the battle for Mars would have taken part in the battle for Terra. However, I just can't see it being anything near Company numbers - a few squads worth of marines perhaps, but certainly nothing significant.

Thanks for the help guys!

@Pacific & Red: Thanks for the comments guys!

That's true. Thanks for the help!

Well I could understand why, considering that Manus was the first Primarch to die. But then again, I'm biased since I'm an IH player. :lol:

You got that right, we lost all of our really pretty toys, like most of our Dreadnoughts, and Terminator armor. :( And our Primarch.

That's true, I had forgotten about Istvaan V, for a second. Thanks for that.

You sir, have just inspired my IH army's background! :D Thanks for the help.

Glad to be of assistance! I would imagine a high ranking Iron-Father (who would be the Iron Hands envoy to Mars, effectively their ambassador to the Ad Mech), probably with a bodyguard of vetarans/terminators, as the commander of any such small force. The remainder would be a few full techmarines, and a number of aspirant techmarines just at the beginning of their training who would probably be formed into tactical or devastator squads. Given the Iron Hands reverence of Dreadnoughts I can certainly imagine one or two being present as advisors to the Iron-Father as well.

I can't really see any assault marines fitting in with the idea, however. One or two tanks would probably be OK though - driving vehicles is perfect role for aspirant Techmarines, and they would represent recently completed vehicles comandeered by the Iron Hands when the fighting broke out.

P.S. I think that apart from their Primarch, the Iron Hands didn't to too badly compared to the other loyal Legions present at Istvaan V. Yes, they lost their vetarans, but the majority of the Legion couldn't make it in time and thus escaped unscathed. The Raven Guard and the Salamanders, however, neither of which were large Legions to start off with, lost almost the entirety of their fighting strength.

Indeed, that was what I was thinking of doing, having the Iron Father, with a squad of Terminators, two Tactical Squads, a Devastator Squad, and one or two Tech Marines. I think I will attempt to create a Conversion Beamer for the Iron Father, by using the Captain mini from AoBR, and then adding a Combi-Plasma and/or a Combi-Melta to his bolter.

You're right, so no Assault Marines, but I think I will include a Vindicator or a counts as Vindicator, since this is late in the Heresy and maybe a Land Raider.

True, the Raven Guard and Salamanders did lose many more marines then the Iron Hands, making the Raven Guard and Salamanders the undisputed heaviest causalities of Istvaan V. Virtually two entire Legions wiped out, as apposed to most of the Veterans being wiped out.

If you have them on Mars during the fighting there, then you could give them a Spartan for the Terminators.

You know, I may do just that! *Heads over to Gagoc's log for inspiration*