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Fantasy Armor

2019-04-12T08:12:04Z

2001:8003:22BD:8800:54B5:5617:99F4:D201: /* Living Fortress */

{{skub}}
{{Promotions}}

'''Fantasy armor''' has a long and noble tradition of [[awesome]]ness and [[skub|lively debates]]. Many kind of fantastic armor, such as sexy bear skin speedos, chain mail bikinis, massive codpieces, ridiculously massive suits of plate mail, armor made of gold or even gems, and other overly elaborate forms of armor are all standard equipment for adventuring parties. Threads dedicated to fabulous and ridiculous armors are a common sight on /tg/, and discussions regarding people's favorite type of armor are also a common way to pass the time, [[cancer|although doing so has a risk of starting an ugly political debate over issues best not discussed on this page]].

Most agree that even the most over-the-top armor designs aren't a huge problem for anything other than historically accurate settings, and in terms of the [[crunch]] it simply doesn't matter, as the stats and the design do not need to be linked in any way - after all, the key word is "fantasy".

==Common Types==
As you may see with the images to the side, fantasy doesn't need its armor to be logically sound. Due to this, armor design is usually done more to appease the eye than the mind. Thus, armor design and usage that tends to be over-the-top usually leans on the following styles:

===Living Fortress===
The character is so excessively armored with large pieces of armor that you must wonder how they can even walk unassisted without falling over. Usually done to give characters a stoic and/or intimidating look. Issues such as avoiding heatstroke and being unable to use a toilet in that armor are usually sidestepped in fiction, but then those issues are [[Magical Realm|almost]] never addressed in fiction anyway. In real-life these drawbacks were trade offs for the protection the armor offered, and the armor itself can't be put on or removed by the person wearing it without someone else helping - in practice it's usually one of the jobs of a squire. To avoid heatstroke, the wearer had to drink and minimize activity where possible, and as for the toilet problem... let's just say that since the armor can't be properly removed without help, there was a flap at the back.

===Bare Minimum===
Not an armor type, so much as a lack thereof. Characters in this style typically wear just enough to keep them from being classified as naked (think "Red Sonja" and you'll get the idea). Traditionally given to characters who favor speed over protection (or fanservice, depending on the setting), it is also sometimes given to those who use some kind of supernatural protection against damage to supplement their armor or simply happen to be so good at withstanding/dodging attacks that they don't normally need to worry about being hurt in the first place. The average magic user is a good example of this, given that the traditional wizard robes are just natural fiber clothing and aren't usually much better in terms of their protective value (enchantments and other forms of magical protection notwithstanding). One popular example is Conan being depicted wearing only boots, a loincloth and a belt. This look originated from artwork of Conan by renowned artist Frank Frazetta. Frazetta himself depicted Conan this way because he liked drawing the human body and put that personal preference in his art style (which is why men and women in his art tend to be scantily clad whenever possible).

It should be noted that the "almost naked female armor" is not actually as common as one might expect. The worst offenders are usually fantasy pinups and JRPGs (and in the latter case, often applies to both men and women); for tabletop RPGs and most videogames, they're actually somewhat uncommon in recent years in part due to the backlash.

===Flash to the Extreme===
The character's armor is excessively decorated and designed in an over-the-top manner (ranging from bright colors to it being encrusted in precious gems and metals) that they basically scream: "walking target" and/or "mobile treasure chest" when out into the field. Usually given to the upper hierarchy of a setting to denote either their position or wealth. [[Chaos Space Marine|Large spikes]] count as an "evil" version of this; while they can make a villain look intimidating, they'd also be getting in the way, either poking yourself or your allies ''constantly''.

===Style over Substance===
The character's armor includes elements that reduce its practicality in favor of looking flashy or appealing. Such features are found almost entirely on female armor and includes high heels, contoured breastplates, no clear means of fastening it together, thigh-high boots, and a lack of padding. Then again, one can easily point to countless real-world examples of the above-mentioned traits (Yes, even heels - riding a horse with stirrups is much easier wearing boots with heels), but most of the time were usually reserved for ceremonial armor and not optimized for combat.

===Fear Me===
The character's armor is specially designed to intimidate their enemies, either by just looking menacing or realizing what the armor is, is enough to inspire dread. This is typically reserved for villains, who will dress all evil-like to intimidate their foes and cement their position as a, or ''the'', big bad. The good guys sometimes use this style, as an attempt to show his allies and the enemy he means business. This can take a variety of forms, such as:
*Dreadful armor - simply designed to intimidate foes while looking dignified. They make take the shape of beings feared throughout the setting, like dragons, wolves, angelic/daemonic warriors, or what else have you. While sometimes they're adorned with iconography that their enemies would fear.

*Eldritch abomination - armor that looks like something H.P Lovecraft would make. Such style incorporates features that are designed to either disgust or horrify the enemy [[Chaos Space Marines|at the mere thought that something like them could exist.]] Typically used by big bads, who either have armor writhing like its alive or have fused with their armor like its their second skin.

*Armored hedgehog - covered in big sharp spikes. Some armors in this school have so many spikes that wearing them in real life would run the genuine risk of impaling oneself. Sometimes the user is even portrayed as using the spikes themselves as a weapon.

*The Faceless - some very intimidating primary villains wear helmets which completely obscure their face. This usually indicates to the viewer what it does to characters - this person is not to be fucked with. For some reason villains with full face protection tend to be very dangerous. They got so strong because they [[Reasonable Marines|wore helmets]] long enough to not get killed before [[Level|levelling up]] a lot.

===What are these "ergonomics"===

One thing should be emphasized about real world armor: It's already bloody uncomfortable to wear an at least 20 pound (or 10 kg) over shirt (which is about what the very lightest armor will weigh), never mind fight in such a thing. Padding was absolutely required for even the most basic of armor (most cutting weapons can do double duty as (expensive) clubs), and that's just the first obvious problem you'll have when fielding armor (and, in fact, there was and is a non-trivial amount of armor that was ''nothing but'' padding (go look up the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gambeson Gambeson] if you don't believe us; D&D calls it "padded armor" and undervalues it because game balance)). Padding, needless to say, is hard to move around in. The Ergonomics of Real World armor was (and remains to this day) very important, as a result of these and other factors.

Fantasy armor frequently ignores such considerations as "weight", "flexibility", "range of motion", "chafing", "padding", and "comfort", among other considerations, with exceptions being people who wear armor that shows a lot of skin (which sorta defeats the point of armor, but there you go) or where magic compensates for ergonomics or function (e.g.; a metal bikini enchanted to protect its wearer). This is also ignoring the tendency for almost everybody to walk around without any kind of helmet.

== The Main Source of Skub ==

Female armor is the main source of [[skub]] when Armor is discussed. Three points are probably indisputable:

# The forces that produce cheesecake outfits in Real Life probably exist in your game world.
# The realities of combat also probably exist in your game world, which directly counteracts #1.
# The armor worn by women in Fantasy Art veers strongly towards the cheesecake side of the line.
# In the real world, there were actual suits of armor that had some ''very'' goofy looking codpieces; [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armor_of_Ferdinand_I,_Holy_Roman_Emperor here's one famous example].
# In the real world, practical armor is fairly unisex - breasts just don't get as much in the way as you might expect, particularly once you start adding the necessary padding.
* Yes, we know that's five points, when we said three are indisputable. Which three of the above five are indisputable is widely disputed.

(For example, point number two is dependent on how much of a roleplayer vs. [[rollplaying|rollplayer]] you are. You wouldn't care much about how well armor covers you if it's +3 defense regardless of hit location. You'll also have people argue that artistic license is more important than adherence to reality when it comes to fiction, since it's not supposed to be a literal interpretation of reality anyway, but by that point you're entering a philosophical debate.)

Beyond those few points, expect to see nothing but bullshit, and maybe a few well meaning but absolutely wrong "Best Practices" suggestions.

== A Mild Digression about Ceremonial Armor ==

In Real Life, armor was usually divided into practical and Ceremonial armor. Practical armor was intended to be used (protect a guy from that spear or knife in the middle of a melee). Ceremonial armor was intended to look good. This resulted in occasional wild differences between the two, such as the ridiculous codpieces mentioned above.

Fantasy armor is usually inspired by the Ceremonial armor, as that's what was usually put into artistic depictions.

== The Warhammer Line ==

As a side note, if your armor is as or more ridiculous than Warhammer's (either [[Warhammer 40,000|40k]] or [[Warhammer Fantasy Battle|Fantasy]]), expect to be mocked. Yes, this means you, generic anime-inspired MMORPG, and you, [[That Guy]] who uses a screenshot from said MMORPG as his character portrait.

==See Also==
*[[Armor]]
*[[Pauldrons]]

==Gallery==
<center><gallery>
File:Skelerotic Warrior.png|It separates, AND supports!
File:Bikini-Armor-Cosplay.jpg|This armor protects the most vital parts of the body.
File:Megnets.jpg|Perfectly safe, proven by practical evidence.
File:Glamour armor.jpg| Fantasy armor is known to reveal Fabulous Secret Powers to its wearer.
File:Armour of Bulk.png|[[Centurion Squad|The Centurion armored suit]]. An armor system where [[Derp|the guy wearing powered armor wears another powered armor suit on top of it]]. At least the title is correct.
</gallery></center>

[[Category:Meme]]

Iron Warriors

2019-04-12T08:08:14Z

2001:8003:22BD:8800:54B5:5617:99F4:D201: >TTS

{{Infobox Traitor Legion
|Name = Iron Warriors
|Heraldry = [[File:Ironwarriorslogo.png|250px]]
|Battle Cry ="Iron Within, Iron Without!"
|Number = IV
|Primarch = [[Perturabo]]
|Original Homeworld = [[Olympia]]
|Current Homeworld = Medrengard
|Champion = Possibly [[Honsou]] or [[Shon'tu]] (Don't forget --Falk-- '''THE WARSMITH''')
|Specialty = Artillery, Attrition,breaking enemy defense
|Strength = Legion Strength (Divided by Grand Companies: Typically 500 to 4000 per Grand Company)
|Allegiance = [[Chaos Undivided]]
|Colours = Black, gold, silver, hazard stripes
}}
{{heresy}}
{{Topquote|Anger is an acid that can do more harm to the vessel in which it is stored than to anything on which it is poured.|Mark Twain, having never seen the [[Daemonculaba]]}}
{{Topquote|The world breaks everyone, and afterward, some are stronger in the broken places.|Ernest Hemingway}}
{{Topquote| No son, you let 'em finish, then you smash it.|pretty much the entire mentality of the iron warriors on the imperial fists. also kearney}}

The '''Iron Warriors''' originated as the fourth of the Emperor's legions of Space Marines, and are today the siege specialists of the Chaos Space Marines.

To your average Imperial citizen or Chaos cultist, the Iron Warriors are the most inhuman of the Chaos Marines. They aren't [[World Eaters|crazy berserkers]] or [[Death Guard|rotting hulks]], but they're just as terrifying because of their cold pragmatism. Yet this pragmatism hides the true terror of the Iron Warriors: the total abandonment of hope, virtue, and belief in good. They're masters of siege warfare. Instead of [[Black Legion|sheer ferocity]] or [[Word Bearers|divine intervention]], they rely on [[Dakka|firepower.]] Instead of using prisoners for [[Emperor's Children|orgies]], they use them for mine clearance and trench digging. They can build fortifications as, if not more, elaborate and defensible than the [[Imperial Fists]], and are the best Legion at storming them. Now that they no longer serve the Emperor, they are inscrutable monsters in grey plate who arrive on your world, kill your protectors, and force you to work against the Imperium you believe in. Then they discard you once you're no longer useful, and the last thing you'll see is their ugly, jagged fortifications claiming your home. And the only reason they had you live through it was because they wanted to let you know how much they hate you and your ideals in a higher purpose. It's not enough for the Iron Warriors to reject the Imperium and destroy it; they have to drag it through the same mud they had once been made to fight and die in.

They had a vision, once. Before the Heresy, it was a vision of a beautiful and peaceful Imperium, but that dream was shattered by Olympia's destruction. Now they want to build a twisted and oppressive empire of their own. The Iron Warriors still count on their old wargear, and generally are distrustful of the Chaos gods. They have a bitterness, a rage that they suppress with cold logic. The specifics of their goals vary among their number, but they're all hell bent on destroying the Imperium.

They also have a fetish for hazard stripes, which they make liberal use of in their colour scheme. It is as though they wish to say "do not use the side of my bolter as a step" or "touching my pauldron may result in crushed fingers." Then again, [[Chaos|considering who these guys are]], these would actually be good warnings to heed.

GW can't quite seem to figure out what they're supposed to be, so we've taken the liberty of choosing the more in-depth choice for them.

If you like the idea of siege warfare, heavy artillery, bionics, living cannons, and building your own empire, you'll probably like the Iron Warriors.

==Combat Tactics==
A [[Chaos]] [[Space Marines|Legion]] specializing in breaking sieges (as in, taking a fortified location, though logically this should mean that they can do this ''and'' break out of a siege) which is shown in their love of artillery and greater focus on ranged combat, which stands in contrast to the other Chaos Space Marine legions who are [[Rip and tear|far more disposed to melee combat]] (that doesn't mean that Iron Warriors won't punch a few skulls out, though!). Their troops are excellent close-range fighters and close-quarters combatants, and they often make use of special weaponry.

Iron Warriors are also fond of using hordes of human conscripts as cannon fodder, no doubt recruited from conquered worlds and slave populations on Medrengard. The conscripts are described as wearing red uniforms and bits of black armor, and armed with assorted bolt action rifles, lasguns, and autoguns. The Iron Warriors basically zerg-rush thousands of them at enemy strongholds to play fun games such as "find the minefield", "absorb the gunfire" and "reveal the artillery emplacements". They are one of the few Chaos legions that do take prisoners, but only to send them in the first wave instead of their conscripted slaves, who are considered to be slightly more valuable due to their ability to dig decent trenches and mines. It's Also worth mentioning that they LOVE Instant fortifications and makeshift cover, which allows them to FORTIFY THEIR POSITIONS wherever they launch an attack, along with boxing-in whatever poor enemy position they may lay siege upon.

They also have a lot of [[Obliterators]], which are a bunch of muscle blobs armed to the teeth on top of their heads (being Chaos guys, they have shit like that). Literally. They themselves are a walking arsenal, because they can '''MAKE WEAPONS OUT OF THEIR BODIES!'''

Enough to disgust even the Dark Eldar, the Iron Warriors are also the batshit insane sickfucks behind the [[Daemonculaba]], one of the most disturbing things in the galaxy. They're the only [[Chaos Space Marines]] who don't break down in maniacal laughter constantly, as they see this as a sign of weakness. They're not terribly fond of Daemons (like the [[Word Bearers]] or the [[Black Legion]] are), though they will make use of them (unlike the [[Night Lords]], who don't even like Chaos), and they aren't [[Alpharius|closet loyalists]] like the [[Alpha Legion]].

[[File:Iwdread.jpg|450px|left|thumb|What do you mean I've shot the wrong spot!?]]

==History==
Back in the old pre-Heresy days, no legion ever got shit on more than them. Things were a tiny bit promising at the start when Emps led them, but when Horus took over they got assigned all the [[Death Korps of Krieg|dirty, exhausting trench and ditch fighting]], and got no respect for it. There is a passage when, whilst shoveling up earthworks in preparation for the Drop Site Massacre, one of the Sons of Horus literally turns to one of the Emperor's Children and asks, "Hey, why aren't the Iron Warriors doing this?"

Even when they were rejoined by their [[Perturabo|Primarch]], it didn't get any better. In fact, it was that at that very moment that things really started to go downhill. When united with his legion for the first time, he looked upon them and saw that they were not [[Ultramarines|all they could be]] and so he decided that they needed a bout of [[Blam|decimation]] to motivate them properly. So he had 10% of his entire legion [[grimdark|sentenced to death]].

This actually worked and changed the character of the legion from "work-horse" legion to "meat grinder" legion; Perturabo's trick taught them that casualties do not matter, only victory does. They became a legion of [[neckbeards|mathematicians]], where battle strategies could be determined using formula based on available weaponry and expected attrition rates. Fortunately for them, Perturabo was expertly skilled with [[Roboute Guilliman|numbers and logistics]] and organised his legion extremely efficiently, therefore his legion was able to absorb such losses due to maintaining very high numbers, second only to the [[Ultramarines|XIIIth Legion]]. In fact they could have possibly overtaken any other legion in numbers if they did not continually suffer such high casualty rates.

This casual attitude towards attrition unfortunately created an atmosphere of paranoia amongst the officer cadre, where the only way to guarantee survival was to get promoted into a position of usefulness and never, ever get into a position where something bad could be made to stick to them. Therefore their officers suffered incredible [[Nerdrage]] whenever things did not go according to plan and [[That Guy|scrambled over each other]] attempting to gain the attention of their superiors.

Also, their reputation suffered amongst the allied Imperial Army auxilia, who gave the Iron Warriors the nickname ''Corpse Grinders'', as units that were assigned to them tended to get used as cannon fodder for softening up the enemy. This tendency eventually led to the [[Administratum|Council of Terra]] to only assign the Iron Warriors support from penal brigades of poor quality expendable troops, causing the reputation of the Legion to spiral further downwards. Oddly enough, the Iron Warriors were notable for having some of the most disciplined auxilia '''during''' the Horus Heresy, due to further freedom in organizing their allied forces.

This new-and-improved attitude still didn't endear them to their brother legions, though, and, eventually it was this complete lack of anything remotely resembling respect from anyone at all that would finally lead to [[Perturabo|their Primarch flipping his lid]].

===Heresy===
As the Iron Warriors ground on, feeding soldiers into meat grinders like a gambling addict at the Las Vegas slot machines, Olympia became unruly. Eventually, the nobility revolted. Perturabo snapped so hard that he had his Legion assault the world, enslaved the entire population and founded an "Iron Empire" around it to feed his war machine. Then he had a breakdown about what he'd done, which was all the leverage Horus needed to bring him on side for the Traitors. The Iron Warriors duly went to Isstvan V and took part in the Dropsite Massacre.

After that, the next step was Phall, where a large chunk of the Imperial Fists fleet was becalmed. To the Iron Warriors this was everyone's birthday and Christmas thrown together, but even though they nearly destroyed the entire fleet, Alexis Polux spoiled the party somewhat by ordering an attack on the ''Iron Blood''. Perturabo himself came under attack by Imperial Fists Terminators, which only helped to turn his paranoia up to 12. The Iron Warrriors' most rational commander was also backhanded into a Dreadnought by the Primarch when it emerged that Sigismund wasn't leading the fleet. Soon after, the IV joined the Emperor's Children on a campaign where Fulgrim tried to use Perturabo's life force to ascend to daemonhood. Things were looking like business as usual.

Where the Legion had its biggest successes, they were mostly on the Loyalist side. At Paramar, Kyr Vhalen's Grand Company met an Alpha Legion force invading their favourite Forge World. The Alpha Legion told them to get with the program. Kyr Vhalen told them "do one" and while Paramar was taken, the Iron Warriors inflicted serious losses on the tricksy bastards and some lived to fight another day. The old commander Barabas Dantioch humiliated his successor at the Schadenhold, and Auric Saxton killed off Lord Commander Iddinam of the Emperor's Children,

As the Heretics drew close to the Sol System, the IV Legion came into its own, crushing fortress after fortress on the world to Terra. Finally the Iron Warriors were having a good time, and it only got better on Terra as they pulled down whole square kilometres of Dorn's works. Until, of course, that big brawl happened...

===Iron Cage===
Taking inspiration from their Primarch, they display great facility in setting traps. The most notable of these was the "Iron Cage incident" at the close of the [[Horus Heresy]], where the Iron Warriors built a twenty square kilometer fortress on Sebastus IV with a massive fortified bunker at the center. They leaked information that allowed the [[Imperial Fists]] to track them there and [[Rogal Dorn]] himself promised to bring back Perturabo in "an iron cage". The Fists assaulted the fortress, taking huge casualties in doing so as the Iron Warriors fell back to split their advance and draw them into kill zones. Eventually the Fists expended all their ammunition and resorted to knife-fighting. When the Fists finally broke through to the central bunker, they discovered it empty save for the numerous inward-pointing guns designed to kill anyone who breached it. The entire purpose of the fortress was just to bait and exhaust the Imperial Fists' forces, turning their own legendary determination into a liability that led to their own deaths and the humiliation of their legion (albeit one that would have required the death of Perturabo to completely wipe them out, if you believe those corpsefuckers' propaganda). [[Just As Planned]]. While the Iron Cage incident was the most notable, the Iron Warriors do plenty of other things like that, but on a smaller scale. Nearly unrivaled dickery including firing fixed position guns into civilian habitation blocks to bait the enemy into counter-attacking, then evacuating through underground trenches and detonating pre-rigged explosives when the opposing forces reach the fixed gun emplacements.

===The War of the Beast===
This little incident that made the Ullanor Crusade look like a skirmish brought out some unusual behavior from the Iron Warriors. First of all, the threat posed by the orks against the galaxy was so great, that the Iron Warriors allied with the Imperial Fists, of all people. If that weren't out of character enough for them, they also found the orks' use of humans as literal cattle [[what|disgusting]]. Maybe the whole Daemonculaba thing was also too disgusting for them since Honsou hadn't been around at the time, maybe even the Iron Warriors have standards when it comes to human experimentation...or maybe the [[C.S. Goto|writer just didn't know jack shit about the Iron Warrior's character]]. It's probably that last one.

Honsou wasn't around at the time and Warsmith Kalkator, the leader of the Grand Company, was a firm anti-Chaos Warsmith- so he would have also been disgusted at the daemonculaba. It should also be noted Warsmith Kalkator's Grand Company operated away from the other Iron Warriors in the Eye of Terror and kept his own 'mini empire.' It wasn't like he isn't above doing horrible shit, as he was introduced gunning down his own human forces as they were being overrun by the orks. Aka how the Iron Warriors SHOULD be--stone cold pragmatists.

And it's worth pointing out that the Iron Warriors are still [[Space Marines]], and therefore (super)human. And part of that is generally seeing humanity as a superior species in the galaxy, especially this close to the Heresy, when they still thought and operated closer to their original legion mentality and hadn't fallen totally down the Chaos rabbit hole. Thus, seeing some xenos, especially orks of all things, setting themselves above humans chapped their ass mightilly. The Iron Warriors can treat mortal humans like dog shit, but they'll be damned if they'll let some orks do it. It's the principal of the thing.

Also, he would be the first person to get a space Marine chapter to turn traitor since the Heresy.

==The Unbreakable Litany==
The Iron Warriors have the coolest chants in 40k too. They say it to themselves to prepare for the meat grinder.
*'''From Iron, cometh Strength.'''
*'''From Strength, cometh Will.'''
*'''From Will, cometh Faith.'''
*'''From Faith, cometh Honour.'''
*'''From Honour, cometh Iron.'''
*'''This is the Unbreakable Litany.'''
*'''And may it forever be so.'''

==Iron Warriors Today==
[[File:A0e8a4e378bf013aade7393f60d8b20a.jpg|thumb|300px|right|Iron Within... You. 'Cause I shot you with my big ass [[Autocannon]]. (Look at his tiny hands, though. Aw)]]
They used to be incredibly badass in 3rd edition, with special rules for having more heavy weapon options, including tanks and artillery, and no limits on [[Obliterator]]s. But then 4th edition came around and instead of just toning the insanity down, [[Gav_Thorpe|Gav Thorpe]] (who's basically [[Matt_Ward|Matt Ward's husband]]) decided that spikey marines should be inferior to loyalists in every way possible.

The Iron Warriors have been one of the more popular legions in fluff over the past few years. While some have put this down to them being 'grittier' or more realistic than the others, the truth is probably more functional than fanciful: The Iron Warriors are for the most part ''not'' gibbering madmen. This might seem a dumb reason but it's actually important. To write a good character they need to make sense to the reader, even when we don't agree with them we need to understand why they want to do what they do. The other legions kinda lack that. Why did you attack that planet? [[Emperor's_Children|'Because it turns me on']] doesn't really make for an interesting character, nor does being [[Word_Bearers|told to by demons]], [[World_Eaters|wanting to kill everything all the time]] just [[Death_Guard|really digging dead stuff]] or [[Black Legion|because Zeke and his drinking buddies told me to]]. So that leaves the Iron Warriors as being just about the only generally sane legion who do things for reasons normal people can understand.

[[Graham McNeill]] wrote a book that was mostly about them. Called 'Storm of Iron', surprisingly, and it featured a boatload of Imperial Fists, Iron Warriors (surprisingly) and a whole load of dickery, including traitorous techpriests, countless rows of geneseed, and a daemon prince. To cap it all off, this is where [[Honsou]] gets his start. Last but not least, countless Imperial Guard and Titans.
...Tell me again why the Imperials lost? There was a traitor on the inside, and about fifty thousand tons of badass at the gates. Baaaad combination. (McNeill then wrote a [[Horus Heresy]] prequel called 'Angel Exterminatus', featuring Fulgrim being an even bigger dick than usual and an Iron Hands Professor Farnsworth.)

Even Ward seems to think they're cool, as he has Warsmith [[Shon'tu]] one-up both Honsou and Abaddon. How? He Invades Terra! He teams up with Be’lakor (yeah, the same guy from Fantasy battles) and uses Phalanx's warp door (yeah remember that from the Soul Drinkers book) to invade it hoping to take it over and bomb the Emperor's palaces. Even the combined plot armor of the Imperial Fists AND the [[Legion of the Damned]] is still just barely enough to force a stalemate.

John French, on the other hand, doesn't seem to like them much at all. This is a shame since they tend to be his go-to antagonists.

Anyway, here is [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l7ghs6p8inY their theme], done by [[HMKids]], which includes in the lyrics quotes from Dawn of War Chaos Space Marines for extra-flavour! They are METAL indeed!

An Iron Warrior named Valicar, serving a priestess of the Dark Mechanicus, became the first fleetmaster of the Black Legion. If not for his actions, Abaddon would have been trapped on the ''Eternal Crusader'' after his duel with Sigismund during the First Battle of Cadia.

The German Death Metal band "Debauchery" also wrote a song and video here [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9dqkmPI2JlM], and it is badass.

==Iron Warriors Character==
Personality-wise, the Iron Warriors are one of the most… unpleasant Traitor Legions. They are bonded by a mutual brotherhood forged by their hatred of the Imperium, their will to conquer, and their bitter paranoia, yet even then rivalries can surface and lead to some serious backstabbing. Makes you understand just what the appeal of the honest brotherhood of the Black Legion is. They value their hatred and opportunities to express it, and treat most they know as tools to express their hatred and accomplish their goals. To an Iron Warrior, everything boils down to a resource to be used and/or an obstacle to be cleared. War is mathematical equation that has to be solved for victory. Humans are slaves, expendable soldiers, breeding stock, and ultimately something to be fed (literally) into the Iron Warriors's war apparatus, making their lives a living, nightmarish hell beforehand. Fellow Iron Warriors are expected to carry out their brutal, violent work without question. They carry a powerful sense of brotherhood and an unflinching loyalty to their Legion, forged by a bitter hatred of their enemies and their cruel urge to dominate and enslave. At best, they view fellow Iron Warriors as coworkers or brothers-in-crime, or at worst, as hated rivals. Warsmiths ally and deal with each other to stave off the next battle so they can go to war on more hated targets, but if they smell weakness among their ranks, or a slight directed at one of them, they might decide your soldiers and your fort would be better off under their leadership, no matter the cost to get it. [[Grimdark]].

When the Iron Warriors go to war, everyone is expendable. Eve-ry-one. Back in the days of the Great Crusade they spent Astartes lives like bolter rounds, and human lives like <s>lasbolts</s> autogun bullets, and they haven’t exactly gotten better with time. Their pure, unadulterated contempt for life is such that, in the Siege of Castellax, they refer to their mortal servants simply as “flesh,” and place orders for more like they're fast food (battalions 3-5 were wiped out today. I’ll have four more, to go, and hold the pickles). Speaking of food, when rations started to get low, the Iron Warriors started feeding their people [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soylent_Green the rendered down remains of the dead]. (It's not like the Imperium does not do the same on the regular basis, though.)

The Iron Warriors are basically the very epitome of the bad boss trope. If you fuck up on the job, do something your way, or show any degree of insubordination, you're done for, end of story. The Night Lords may send the populations of entire worlds to the skinning pits just for shits and giggles (and record it all for future shits and giggles), and the Emperors Children may be impulsive, sociopathic sado-masochists who live and breathe to inflict pain, but even they would break under the brutal regimen of the Iron Warriors, where there is no room for impulsive behavior. There is only ruthless efficiency; grinding, crushing pragmatism and nothing else.

==Daily Routines==
*'''04:00 - Morning Reveille:''' The Iron Warriors emerge from their artillery batteries and fortifications.
*'''04:20 - Morning Maintenance Rituals:''' The Iron Warriors ensure their instruments of war are in tip top shape. A slave is turned into a servitor for every warhead that fails to detonate.
*'''05:00 - Morning Prayers:''' The Iron Warriors begin to pray to all four Chaos Gods. They are shorter than the Word Bearers and Black Legion as they view Chaos only as a weapon they can use, thus each prayer to each God lasts only 30 minutes.
*'''07:00 - Morning Firing Rites:''' The Iron Warriors test fire their artillery and siege weaponry at captured civilians and fortifications. Any Iron Warriors who [[FAIL|manage to miss a stationary target]] are also used as targets.
*'''10:00 - Close Combat Practice:''' The Iron Warriors descend in a cage for close-quarters combat practice. Servitors are used, as normal people are too squishy and die too quickly.
*'''12:00 - Tactical Indoctrination:''' The Iron Warriors gather to discuss which fortifications to destroy or which monument of [[Rogal Dorn]] to defile, along with directing their laborers and human auxiliary forces.
*'''13:00 - Afternoon Wargames:''' The Iron Warriors set up [[Miniatures|miniature pieces representing their forces on an open table with complex rules and dice to test each others' grasp of strategy.]] [[Perturabo]] sometimes joins in on the 'fun'. An ancient Terran snack known as 'The Doritos' are brought by the truckload and are complemented by an equally ancient Terran beverage known as 'Mountain Dew'. Those who consume 'The Doritos' are not allowed to touch field operation manuals until they ritually cleanse and scrape their fingers. Anyone failing to do so will find their hands in their next meal. Of course, none of this is fun. Rules Lawyers, Munchkins, Powerplayers: every single stick-to-the-book archetype you can think of is exercised here, and they won't have it any other way.
*'''14:00 - First Evening Meal:''' A feast is prepared by the legion serfs. Due to long hours without eating, some Iron Warriors may have already begun to eat bits off their slaves.
*'''15:00 - Evening Firing Rites:''' The Iron Warriors practice their artillery marksmanship on moving targets. Aerial targets are also available for those looking to impress their superiors. Any found using airburst or guided ordinance will find themselves and their arsenal fed to the nearest [[Obliterator]].
*'''18:00 - Battle Practice:''' The Iron Warriors descend into the labyrinthine trench lines. [[Powergamer|Heavy weapon ambushes and kill zones are the most popular tactics in the narrow trenches]].
*'''20:00 - Second Evening Meal:''' Another feast is prepared by legion slaves. Those slaves who have parts of their bodies eaten by hungry Iron Warriors are gifted bionic implants to make them useful again.
*'''21:00 - Evening Wargames:''' A game of [[Exterminatus|Galactic Cyclonic War]] is set up, where the only winning move is not to play. Any Iron Warriors foolish enough to play will be assigned to minesweeper duty. The remaining Warriors continue their earlier wargames.
*'''22:00 - Bitching about the Imperial Fists:''' A period is held for the Iron Warriors to bitch and moan about the [[Imperial Fists]] and why they can't wait to tear down Rogal Dorn's statue on Terra. Sometimes [[Perturabo]] joins in the bitching.
*'''23:00 - Evening Maintenance Rituals:''' Many Iron Warriors continue bitching about the [[Imperial Fists]] during this time, infusing their equipment with their cold, bitter hate.
*'''00:00 - Rest Period:''' The Iron Warriors retire to their artillery and siege vehicles.

{{Template:Chaos-Official}}
[[Category:Warhammer 40,000]]
[[Category:Chaos]]
[[Category:Space Marines]]

Ollanius Pius

2019-04-12T07:30:45Z

2001:8003:22BD:8800:54B5:5617:99F4:D201: Undo revision 568350 by 68.149.126.73 (talk)

{{Oldschool}}
[[Image:1225596941657.jpg|300px|thumb|right|The most hardcore Guardsman....ever.]]
{{Topquote|Where I fall, ten more shall take my place! And one hundred each of them! So strike me down! I am the harbinger!|Ollanius Pius, an Imperial Guardsman, to Warmaster Horus. You read that correctly.}}

'''Ollanius Pius''' embodies what it means to be a soldier of the [[Imperial Guard]] in this [[Grimdark|grimdark]] universe. He is THE most hardcore Guardsman ever and also the legendary saint of the Imperial Guard, because as legend goes, in the hopes of protecting the [[God-Emperor of Mankind|Emperor of Mankind]], Ollanius Pius put himself directly in front of [[Horus Lupercal|a walking demigod of battle]]. The fact that he did so without fainting, shitting himself in terror, or mewling like a wounded grox suggests that his testicles must have been forged from Mars-grade adamantium (or more likely, he had power balls. His testicles were of such might that they ignored armor saves in close combat and could themselves be used as weapons). Ollanius Pius is so manly that he makes [[Vance Motherfucking Stubbs]], [[Commissar Yarrick]], [[Gregor Eisenhorn]], [[Ciaphas Cain]], [[Kharn]], [[Colonel "Iron Hand" Straken]], [[Logan Grimnar]], [[Merrick]], [[Gunnery Sergeant "Stonetooth" Harker|Harker]], [[Creed]] and [[Sly Marbo]] piss themselves in terror. Well, maybe not [[Sly Marbo]] but he still respects the shit out of him.

Naturally, like a bunch of [[Squats|awesome]] [[Zoats|shit]] and virtually every piece of lore that has ever existed in Warhammer 40,000, [[Games Workshop]] retconned this story in several ways. Firstly his introduction is a bit of a retcon, since Ollanius wasn't in the original battle (read the Slaves to Darkness book) where the Emperor teleported to Horus' bunker (not flagship) and fought him there. Then when he was introduced, he was said to have originally sacrificed himself during Horus' assault on the Imperial Palace, placing himself between the Emperor and Horus (which would mean in that version Horus broke through), which makes sense, so they had to change it. The next story the Emperor fought Horus in Horus' command bunker again, teleporting in with [[Imperial Fists]] and Custodes, and while having a bunker on the ground makes it entirely possible that Pius was there (especially since the traitor legions were busy at the palace walls) it's fairly unlikely. Then they changed it again, this time having Emps board Horus' flagship, the Vengeful Spirit, along with a company of Imperial Fist terminators and Custodes, no Pius this time due to the fact that a Guardsmen would probably die the second they arrive there. At no point from here on out is Ollanius ever mentioned to have boarded the [[Vengeful Spirit]], though the idea of a heroic sacrifice was kept, GW replaced Pius with a [[Space Marine|Spehss Mahreen]] [[Terminator]], which wasn't that bad but then they retconned out the Terminator with an [[Adeptus Custodes]], which is SIX KINDS OF LAME.

[[Fantasy Flight Games]] brought him back though (sort of, leaving his existence in current canon questionable at best), which is a great justice and if you trust them, he really is just the most badass Guardsman ever, though exactly what he did isn't too clear besides die for the Emperor. But, NOW, thanks to [[Dan Abnett]], if GW ever returns Ollanius to his place at the Emperor's side, that's no big deal. He'll just be over 10,000 years old. Still a normal human, but just one that regenerates and has lived a long time. So...following the trend, there is a risk that he will be added back in the universe as the one who made the chip in Horus's armor and not [[Sanguinius]], and thus completely ruin the original story.

Other than the fact that he was man enough to stand up to Daddy's former favourite with nothing more than a flashlight and toilet paper armour, not much else is known about him, which probably means that he did even more heroic and manly shit during the Siege of Terra.

The entire point of the character is to demonstrate that [[The Lord of the Rings|true courage and inner strength can be found even among the weakest (by comparison) of individuals]]. (Also, see "Tank Man" [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tank_Man]). Games Workshop, in their infinite wisdom, completely missed this point and proceeded to replace the brave and ordinary little soldier with a progressively bigger and stronger superhero with every reveal/retcon, thus in a way making Horus' fall to Chaos seem less and less despicable; the original story of a superhuman so remorselessly killing an ordinary human could be seen in a similar light as a grown man killing a child. It is probably a near certainty that the next retcon will trade up the Custode for one of the missing Primarchs (such as the glorious and magnificent Ollanius [[Galactic Partridges|Partridge]]) or a fucking omnipresent [[Imperial Knight]]. Further updates will likely add the Terminator, the Custode, the second missing Primarch and an Imperial [[Titan (Warhammer 40,000)|Titan]] for good measure, all at the same time.

However, in the Visions Of Heresy Novel, the humble Imperial Guardsman is back with his heroic act of sacrifice, though it is not stated whether his name was Ollanius Pius. Probably because there was no need to, since everyone already knew his name in the fandom.

He also has a relic in the latest 6th Edition Astra Militarum/Imperial Guard codex, with the fluff saying he martyred himself against Horus and is the epitome of Imperial Sainthood, as does a similar relic in the 8th Edition Astra Militarum Codex. The [[Dark Heresy]] ''Blood of Martyrs'' splat mentions him there, saying the story of Pius is apocryphal (bringing up that other organizations have their own version of the tale) but still frequently told and he is widely venerated among Guardsmen as an exemplar of what a faithful Guardsman should be. So the Imperial Guard apparently canonically believes the original version of the tale, whether or not that's what actually happened. And at this point, nobody knows what actually happened and never will because GeeDubs refuses to enforce any kind of consistency in its own fluff (see below).

==New Fluff==
[[Image:Ollanius Pius.jpeg|thumb|right|Oll Pius returns, "better" than ever. Note the cross around his neck.]]
Also known as "Why the Black Library should not be allowed to write or sell anything".

In Dan Abnett's Horus Heresy novel "Know No Fear" Ollanius Pius' lore has changed dramatically. In the book he is named "Ollanius Perrson" (or "Oll" to his friends) and is part of a small group of immortal humans spread throughout the galaxy called [[Perpetual]]s. John Grammaticus (who is alive and well) claimed that out of the entire Ultramarine empire (which at the time consisted of a staggering 500 planets) there are only three Perpetuals (the total amount in the Imperium is unknown, but almost certainly not much higher). Pius estimates his date of birth at some point around 15,000 BC (by contrast, the Emperor claims he was born in roughly 8,000 BC- which would make Pius no less than '''7,000 years older than the Emperor'''), and is the same "breed" as Grammaticus and possibly the Emperor. At first this sounds like GW is missing the point again, but besides his extreme age and the whole immortality thing he seems to just be a normal human with normal human strength (coupled with the fact that, by all indications, he hasn't died once so far). Which, when compared to the psychic gestalt übermensch that is the Emperor, is kind of important; Ollanius is more representative of every strength (and weakness) of Mankind than the Emperor EVER was.

In the days of ancient [[Terra]] he was one of the Argonauts who adventured with Jason on the Argo to get the Golden Fleece and later he learned how to fight with a bayonet whilst fighting for the French in the trenches at Verdun during World War I. (Note that "Ole Persson" is the obvious pun, but in idiomatic French, "Olivier Personne" means "Oliver Nobody," which has interesting implications in and of itself.) He actually demonstrates his bayonet-trench fighting skills at Verdun in the novel "Angel Exterminatus." In Angel Exterminatus, the [[Iron Warriors]] Trident [[Warsmith]] Kroeger has a flashback (sort of, the memories were the memories of other people) and relives the near-death of "Carl", a German soldier at the hands of one "Olivier Perrson." Carl thought Ol was very rude because he interrupted Carl's dinner. Yes, poor Carl's dinner. Oll happened upon Carl eating . . . Carl's own commander. Oh yeah, Carl was a closet cannibal. Still, Carl thought it was a bit of an overreaction by an overly Pius asshole to stab Carl in the gut. Carl was only saved from a certain death when the crush of the battle forces Oll out of the trench. Ollanius is also confirmed as having fought in the armies of [[Awesome|Napoleon]] and [[Heresy|Saddam Hussein]].

He is confirmed as being very religious, hates Chaos and looks to the Emperor as a peer rather than a god/divine. Considering the Emperor's campaign to exterminate religion he may be the last pre-Imperial Cult religious person alive, let alone [[The Last Church|the last Catholic]]. What happened to the Pope and Church hierarchy we don't know (although it's probably pretty grimdark, although by the standards of Catholic belief, there ''would'' be a Pope somewhere), by the rules of Ollanius's by-then-ancient faith (cf. Romans xiv, 3ff., referring to the Emperor of the time ... plus ça change, no?) he was doing right by being a faithful Imperial citizen and soldier and, while the Imperium forbade religiosity, it did not (at the time of the Horus Heresy, which is when we last hear of Ollie) require worship, and as such there would have been no conflict with his religious beliefs ''per se'', even if they were proscribed by the Imperium (again, nothing new for the Church.) Despite the prohibition on religion, he seemed to live his faith reasonably openly and at best be regarded as a bit of an eccentric for it: again, not all that different from certain eras of the Roman history in the 2nd and 3rd centuries. He would not, we imagine, be amused at being regarded as a Saint in the Imperial cult, however.

We don't get it either but a vision given to Ollanius by Grammaticus indicates that he'll be restored to his original status as the person who sacrifices his life to save the Emperor from Horus, so at least he's back. Of course, whether he actually dies when this happens given the Perpetuals' ability to resurrect themselves upon death is anyone's guess. He might, as during Mark of Calth he gets the distinct feeling that this might going to be the end for him. Which makes sense given that he was killed by a super-chaos Horus. You don't get up from that, immortality won't help you if your soul is snuffed out. But perhaps not. And even if he did regenerate, he'd probably wake up on the Vengeful Spirit unless his body was moved-Perpetuals don't teleport when they die, they just heal and wake up. Needless to say, being trapped in the bowels of a chaos-infested warship would not be good for him (assuming he can even get off the bridge before [[Abaddon|Abby]] or one of his guards shoots him). In the same book he also briefly hooks up with John Grammaticus, another perpetual (also unlike Oll, John apparently was apparently turned into one by the Cabal whereas Oll is a "natural" perpetual).You know, the guy (i.e. John) who is actually with the Cabal and is at some point persuaded by Eldrad Uthan to turn rogue on the Cabal and that wiping out humanity might not be the best idea.... kind of giving John the final push, as he has long been nagging over the fact that he was helping genociding [is this even a word?] his own species for the good of all (well, not humans if the Cabal got their way). In another novel where John John stabs [[Vulkan]] with the fulgurite we encounter a now very mortal John (so his own premonition was not so wrong after all - unless someone reinstates his perpetual "gift") held in custody by the Cabal

==Writefaggotry==
WARNING: The following entry is so manly that reading it out loud may cause you to suddenly grow a beard. Girls, do not read this out loud. A fa/tg/uy's explanation of Ollanius:

''LOOK AT THIS FUCKING GUARDSMAN.''

''He's spent months fighting a grueling war in which his enemies are demigods allied with daemons, and now he's found himself in the closest thing to Hell he's ever known. He probably wasn't even supposed to get teleported up to the arch-traitor's battle barge in the first place, and just ended up in the wrong place at the worst possible time.

''Somehow he's survived horrors beyond comprehension to make his way to the very bridge of Horus' flagship. He saw a veritable angel call upon Horus to answer for his crimes, and he saw that angel die as messily as any guardsman. His Emperor - who he fervently believes is a god incarnate, even if he's not supposed to - lies mortally wounded, and Horus, perhaps, has taken a moment to gloat before he strikes the killing blow.''

''His armor is slightly more effective than tissue paper, his weapon slightly more powerful than a flashlight. A single electrified claw from Horus' weapon is bigger than his entire body. He stands before a being infused by the dark gods with incalculable power, that can and will obliterate his soul with no more effort than it would take him to swat a gnat. Nothing he can do could possibly make a difference.''

''He could run. He could turn his weapon on himself. He could give in to the insidious whispers that echo from the ship's corridors into his mind.''

''Ollanius Pius does the duty his Emperor requires of him. He dies standing and holds the '''FUCKING''' line.''

===A short poem about Ollanius Pius===
[[File:The Last Stand 1.png|400px|thumb|right|HE BOUGHT THE EMPEROR TIME... TIME TO SAVE US ALL.]]
The first time I hold my blood in my hands,
 The first time I see a man with nothing.
 Would be the first time I see my own lands,
 Covered in heresy, death, and rotting.

 My son stands over him corrupt and pale,
 A guard Ollanius Pius stands free.
 My fallen Horus lifts the deadly flail,
 In one instant, the strength of man I see.

 This mere man done what I was unable.
 A tear flows from my eye and it is clear,
 The tyrant's cold reign I must disable.
 Briefly I know what it means to feel fear.

 I leave the future to the strength of man,
 For they alone do far more than I can.

===Another poem regarding Ollanius===
Somewhere in the universe a coin flip lands on its side.

Somewhere in the universe a drop of water saves a life.

Somewhere in the universe a pebble stops a landslide.

Maybe it is because someone believed hard enough.

Maybe it is because everything is secretly fair.

Maybe it is because the universe is a vast place.

Yesterday, I was very cold.

Yesterday, I was very hungry.

Yesterday, I wanted to run away.

Today, I am going to believe hard enough.

Today, a pebble will stop a landslide.

Today, I am not going anywhere.

==Gallery==
<gallery>
Kriegsmeisterbunker.jpg|The first version of Horus and the Emperor's duel. Notice the location, making Pius' sacrifice possible, if implausible.
The legend of Ollanius Pius.jpg|The legend.
MUH OLLANIUS PIUS.png|The retcon.
Ollanius existed and was a Perpetual.png|Fantasy Flight Games' take on it.
</gallery>

{{IG-Characters}}

[[Category:Awesome]]

Chimera

2019-04-12T07:20:14Z

2001:8003:22BD:8800:54B5:5617:99F4:D201: /* Overview */

The '''Chimera''' is a monster from Greco-Roman mythology, described as a tripartite fire-breathing beast with the forequarters and head of a lion, the hindquarters and head of a goat, and a serpentine or draconic tail with a dragon's or snake's head. Exactly how that works out depends on the artist; perhaps the most iconic of real-world art depicts it as having a lion's head on its neck, a goat's head [[what|growing straight up out of the middle of its back]], and the reptillian head replacing the tip of its tail, but the most common modern depiction has the three heads sharing the same neckstump. What doesn't vary, strangely enough, is that even though the original Chimera was female, it ''always'' has a mane (beard) on the lion, even in period art depicting it as a unique creature. It ravaged the land with its fiery breath until Bellepheron killed it by using [[Pegasus]] to fly out of range of the fire whilst carrying a lance with a big block of lead on its tip; [[awesome|he threw this at its mouth and the flames melted the lead so it poured down Chimera's throat and killed it]]. In the centuries since, the work chimera has gained a second more borad meaning, reffering to any sort of weird mishmash between two or more different things Frankenseined together.

==In Fantasy Gaming==
Chimeras show up in a lot of fantasy games. Weirdly, they tend to have wings and be fliers (though admittedly they're usually very clumsy at it), despite the fact that the original Chimera was landlocked and this played a huge role in its defeat.

They are particularly prominent in [[Dungeons & Dragons]] (and thusly [[Pathfinder]]), where they are capable of speech, but usually not very bright. All the ego of a Red [[Dragon]] and none of the brains, essentially.

Chimeras also appear in [[Warhammer Fantasy]] and [[Age of Sigmar]], where they are creatures of [[Chaos]] and so usually show up as mounts for the Chaos Lords.

==In [[Warhammer 40000]]==

[[File:Chimera.gif|350px|right]]

Maybe you were looking for [[METAL BOXES|METHUL BAWKSES]]?

The '''Chimera''' Armored Transport is the [[Imperial Guard]]'s main troop carrier, capable of transporting troops on the battlefield and giving them fire support.

Unlike the [[Rhino Transport]] of the [[Space Marines]], the Chimera is an Infantry Fighting Vehicle, an infantry transport designed to transport men to where they need to be, then provide support fire and cover behind its armor. Remarkably survivable from the front and equippable with a wide array of weaponry, it has at least as much Infantry-killing firepower as 2 guard heavy weapon teams, as well as the ability to act as a mobile firepoint for guardsmen with Special Weapons that can shoot out from the vehicle. Adding both survivability and flexibility to an army that otherwise tends to be sluggish, the Chimera is a ubiquitous presence that finds a home in many Imperial Guard Army Lists.

===Overview===
The Chimera is one of the most important vehicles in the Imperial Guard's arsenal: it is a fast moving, amphibious vehicle capable of traversing terrain that even a [[Leman_Russ_Battle_Tank|Leman Russ]] would find impossible to cross (swamps, marshes and even the occasional river). When the enemy neglects to defend these positions because of their perceived obstructiveness, they can [[Creed|expect a squadron or two of Chimeras in their flanks]] or [[anal circumference|rear.]]

In all seriousness, the Chimera is a fantastic asset. Have your CCS cower in it with pride, or shove them straight at that [[Distraction Carnifex|Carnifex]] over there

The Chimera has several uses: it can be an armored taxi of sorts where it rushes in between the front lines to insert and/or pick up units, and it can go to the rear to pick up new units and deliver them to the heart of the battle. If needed they can serve as moving barriers, providing troops cover while they engage the enemy. A third use is that they [[DISTRACTION CARNIFEX|rush towards the enemy, shrugging off small arms fire]] as they [[Metal_Boxes|deliver their payload into the most defended positions.]] The Steel Legions of [[Armageddon]], one of the chief manufacturing planets for the Chimera, are fully mechanized and can move across the ash planes of their home world at frightening speeds.

The Chimera can mount a variety of weapons to support the squads they carry. The most common and famous weapon associated with the Chimera is the [[Multilaser]], a larger, even more rapid firing version of the [[Hellgun]], used to suppress enemy movement. This weapon can be replaced with either
[[Bolter|Heavy Bolter]] or [[Flamer|Heavy Flamer]] and can field either of those two in its hull. Forge World gives the Chimera even more blasty power with the ability to replace the main gun with an [[Autocannon]], turning it into a different breed of threat altogether and according to the 40k wiki (not lexicanum, the other one), the Kronus schenanigana in Dark Crusade resulted in the discovery of how to mount a Predator turret with Predator autocannon on a Chimera. Each side of the tank features a row of three Lasgun turrets that embarked passengers may fire at enemy squads. The top of the passenger compartment can open, too, so the rest of the squad can join in the merry shooty fun. For added punch against vehicles, it can also mount a Hunter-Killer Missile.

However, probably due to the current Imperial Guard Codex, not so many Guard players use them, preferring the SIGAOD (Shooty Imperial Guard Army Of Doom), which is better supported by the Imperial Guard's other transport, the [[Taurox]] or [[Valkyrie]]. Mech Guard love the fucking things though, since for the points-cost they're one of the best investments a squad can make. 260 points will buy four squads a dedicated transport option that essentially removes the need to carry either Heavy Bolters or Autocannons.

The other major use the Chimera finds is as a command vehicle; officers embarked inside can still issue orders, measuring their order radius from the tank's hull; this serves the dual purpose of increasing your order distance (since the Chimera is obviously larger than the man shouting orders from the hatch) and also keeping your HQ alive, since Guard HQ's are notoriously squishy.

One common trick with Chimeras is to, after unloading their passengers, form them into hunting packs (Soviet Bronegruppa IN SPACE) and have them roam around the battlefield pissing off targets of opportunity. with two long-ranged, rapid-fire weapons and surprising durability, they absolutely excel at punishing relatively anti-tank-light forces like the Orks and Tyranids.

One other tactic is to set a long line of chimeras across the board, screened by Hellhounds and screening heavy support. This provides a multi-tiered AV12 line charging straight at the enemy. Combine this with Vendettas to destroy enemy Armour or Valkyries to flank. Alternatively, focus all of your chimeras into a wedge, driving them straight into the middle/weakest part of the enemy line. This will, provided the enemy hasn't gone all out in anti-vehicle, tank shock your opponent off the board, separating their army in two and allowing your Chimeras and heavy support to surround and mop up the rest of their army. Schwerpunkt their HQ to dust.

Back in the early days, the Chimera had a few variants like the Leman Russ Battle Tank (Details can be read below), despite this, these variants did not catch up for some reason. It would be nice if the Imperial Guard have a few more IFVs in their arsenal.

===Variants===
====Chimerro====
[[File:Chimerro.jpg|200px|right|thumb|Chimerro]]
The <s>camaro</s> Chimerro is a variant of the standard Chimera and is by far, the most basic modification. Armed with an auto-loading hunter-killer missile and a multi-laser. It is used by the Astra Militarum and Skitarii.

As aforementioned, the Chimerro assault vehicles mount a standard hunter-killer missile tube with an [[Awesome|autoloader on the side]] of the standard multi-laser turret. This addition gives the Chimerro a powerful long-range weapon, while the multi-laser still allows it to support its disembarked infantry by mowing down enemy troops.

The Chimerro maintains the full transport capacity of the Chimera and thus can be used to replace Chimeras on a one-for-one basis in Imperial forces. Chimerros can also be organized into Chimero Assault Squadrons, which are then attached to various infantry detachments.

The variant has been tested and approved by veteran regiments of the Astra Militarum and Skitarii, yet GW has not made a up-to-date model for it to be used in 8th Edition.

====Chimerax====
[[File:Chimerrax.jpg|200px|right|thumb|Chimerax]]

The Chimerax is a more heavily modified assault version of the Chimera utilized by the Astra Militarum and Skitarii, providing Imperial assaults with protection against enemy flyers and troops. It is armed with four autocannons making it the poor man's version of the [[Hydra Flak Tank]].

Because the Chimerax are easily recognizable due to their upgraded turrets that mount four light autocannons, it makes the Chimerax somewhat vulnerable to be spotted and singled out by enemy forces. Nevertheless, these guns allow the Chimerax to lay down a curtain of fire; highly effective at keeping infantry, light skimmers and flyers at bay. However, unlike the Hydra, the Chimerax does not carry the complex tracking and ranging sensors that would make it truly effective at anti-aircraft.

The Chimerax maintains the full transport capacity of the Chimera and thus can be used to replace Chimeras on a one-for-one basis in Imperial forces. Chimerax can also be organized into Chimerax Assault Squadrons, which are then attached to various infantry detachments.

The variant has been tested and approved by veteran regiments of the Astra Militarum and Skitarii, yet GW has not made a up-to-date model for it to be used in 8th Edition.

====Chimedon====
[[File:Chimeddon.jpg|200px|right|thumb|Chimedon]]

The [[Leman Russ Battle Tank#Thunderer Siege Tank|Thunderer Siege Tank]] of Chimeras. The Chimedon assault vehicle is the most heavily armed version of the Chimera, destroying enemy vehicles that stand in the way of Imperial advances. It is fielded by the Astra Militarum and Skitarii.

Chimedons have a strengthened turret, allowing it to mount a short-barrelled battle cannon, similar to the cannon carried by the Stormhammer. The shells fired by the Chimedon are armor-plated, and can damage enemy tanks and [[Wat|even Titans]] at medium range.

The Chimedon maintains the full transport capacity, maneuverability and sturdiness granted by its Chimera hull, giving it superb tactical flexibility. However, it always lacks defensive bolters, making the Chimedon vulnerable to infantry assaults. Despite this, [[Derp|the actual model seem to discount the fluff and mounts one anyway.]] Due to this, Chimedons are not often used to spearhead assaults.

The Chimedon can be used to replace Chimeras on a one-for-one basis in Imperial forces. Chimedons can also be organized into Chimedon Assault Squadrons, which are then attached to various infantry detachments.

The variant has been tested and approved by veteran regiments of the Astra Militarum and Skitarii, yet GW has not made a up-to-date model for it to be used in 8th Edition. However, if your FLGS is okay with homerules, consider suggesting a Chimera with a Taurox Battle Cannon as a [[Counts As|counts as]] Chimedon.

A notable coincidence is that the former medium tank of the Imperial Guard was called the [[Carnodon]], thus, as the Chimedon is effectively to the Chimera as the Razorback is to the Rhino, it could easily be named as a combination of 'Chimera' and 'Carnodon'.

===Faction Specific Aspects===
====Genestealer Cults====
With the latest release of the new revamped [[Genestealer Cult]], it seems that [[Brood Brothers|certain generations]] of [[Genestealers]] was able to successfully [[Pretend|infiltrate]] even the commanding office of the [[Imperial Guard]] (How the upper Imperial authorities and local Imperial [[Paranoia|paranoia]] [[Fail|failed]] to locate ''THAT'' kind of [[Heresy]] is unknown), and are thus, able to [[Blood Ravens|steal]] some Chimeras and hoard it in the gigantic sewers of an Imperial underhive. A Genestealer Chimera functions the same as a regular Chimera only with Genestealer insignia.

====Inquisition====
The Inquisition can take chimeras for ten points cheaper, but they lose the mobile command vehicle rule. Loses some of the Imperial Guard vehicle options, but can purchase psybolt ammunition instead to make its heavy bolter(s) and storm bolter more powerful. They look normal from the outside, but open up to something that no one expects.

===Rules of Note===
There are actually written rules that say this particular Metal Box is also a boat. Its Amphibious rule allows it to move across water terrain. This would mean that it could ram an [[Ork Submersible|Ork Submersible]], or tank shock a [[Saharduin]] squad. Sadly, since nobody uses water terrain, plays apocalypse, or has more than one Saharduin model, Amphibious is a totally useless rule.

Another rule of note is the one that lets you use orders whilst riding in a chimera. This one's actually pretty useful.

===Weaknesses===
The Chimera's front armor is durable, but its side and rear armor are much more flimsy. While it's generally tougher than a Rhino, it also tends to be a bigger target since the Chimera's weapons are often too big for armies that rely on light armor ([[Dark Eldar]], [[Orks]], etc) to ignore, whereas a Rhino tends to be less of an obvious target. It also has only a single small access point (its rear door), which is such a glaring issue that it gets its own separate subsection.

====The Rear Door Paradigm====
The Chimera's only access point is its (comparatively tiny) rear door. Embarking rules state that every unit about to board a transport has to be within 2 inches of an access point, which means [[Derp|it's very hard (if not impossible) to fit more than 6 or so models into a Chimera during an embarking phase, when the Chimera has room for 12]]. This is a problem that the [[Rhino Transport|METAL BOX]] and [[Land Raider|GIANT METAL BOX]] just don't have, either because they have multiple doors, or because their access point is so big it makes the issue [[Moot|moot]].

This doesn't preclude larger units from starting the game already loaded in the Chimera, nor does it stop smaller units from using the damned thing like they pretty much always have, but it does mean that taking an [[Armored Fist Squad]] of 10 soldiers can quickly turn into a wonderful impersonation of when a fa/tg/uy tries to unpack and then repack a suitcase. You're generally not getting a larger unit back into the Chimera it disembarked from, so it's probably better for the Chimera to drive off and make new friends while the unit camps the objective. On the other hand, if you're willing to make the sacrifice, you can split your team members of the armored fist (or other) between two or more Chimera. This has its own obvious benefits and costs. But hey, you can always just rely on a Guardsman’s life expectancy to fix the issue for you.

==Navigation==
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==Star Wars==
The Chimaera was introduced as Thrawn's flagship in ''Heir to the Empire'' and would quickly become one of the most prominent ships in the EU. This is despite it being a mere Imperial II

''[[Star Wars]]'' doesn't have Greek mythology, but it was assumed to refer to ''[[Wikipedia:Chimera (genetics)|genetic]]'' Chimeras or at least some mad science hybrid beast since ''[[Star Wars]]'' has genetics advanced enough to produce human clones.

==Monstergirls==
[[File:MGE Chimaera.jpg|thumb|right|300px|Well, what do you think a cross between a [[catgirl]], a [[dragon]]girl and a [[satyr]]ess might look like?]]
{{Monstergirls}}
Chimera [[monstergirls]] are a rare breed, mostly because designers struggle with how to incorporate the three heads and tripartite body into one design.

In the [[Monster Girl Encyclopedia]], the "Chimaera" belongs to the small family of "Demon Beasts", and has the form of a lion-girl with goat's horns and legs, a serpent for a tail, a leonic paw for a right arm, a draconic paw for a left arm, and pauldrons reminiscent of a lion and a dragon's heads. Extremely powerful and destructive, it has a bad case of split personalities, with one persona for each of the four beasts that work as a team to support her in her goal of finding and keeping a lover.

[[Category:Dungeons & Dragons]][[Category:Monsters]][[Category:Greek Mythology]]