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Eldrad

2018-01-10T03:52:32Z

2001:8003:34BE:400:9D48:30AB:15A2:8042:

{{awesome}}
[[Image:450px-EldradThroneworld.jpg|thumb|right|350px|Helmetless Eldrad, looking suspiciously like Mon'Keigh actor Hugo Weaving. What are the odds? 5 to 1 that GW gets sued again in the near future.]]
'''Eldrad Ulthran''' is renowned as the most powerful [[psyker]] of an entire race of powerful psykers, the [[Eldar]], and '''was''' the Chief [[Farseer]] of [[Craftworld]] [[Craftworld Ulthwé|Ulthwé]]. He is awfully fond of engaging in overly elaborate plots to tweak the balance of fate, presumably to preserve the Eldar as a species. Also, he engages in only the highest forms of [[dick]]ishness, as the accounts from one of his retinue warlocks attest. Possibly father to Farseers [[Taldeer]] and [[Macha]]. [[Love Can Bloom]] is ambiguous on the matter, but current [[/tg/]] canon operates on the assumption that he is. Basically Spock's dad Sarek from Star Trek.

Some time ago, [[Abaddon the Despoiler]] led an assault on craftworld Ulthwé, to attack the Eldar Farseer Council there. After slowly slogging through the Craftworld while his [[Black Legion]] suffered massive casualties as the Eldar picked them off in hit and run attacks, Abaddon finally got to the council, but found Eldrad waiting for him. Eldrad quickly made a mockery of Abaddon's combat skill; he dodged Abaddon's strikes with the daemon sword [[Drach'nyen]] and the [[Talon of Horus]] with ease. In just two strikes, Eldrad cleaved through Abaddon's Terminator armor with virtually no effort and separated him from his arms. The Eldar then stuffed the remainder of the attack force into a [[Dreadclaw]] with "Failbaddon the Armless Failboat" as well as other demeaning terms and images painted all over it and launched it back into the [[Eye of Terror]] while laughing hysterically. And that is why Abaddon has no arms.

As of the 13th Black Crusade, Eldrad is getting more active. After stealing the crystallized bodies of Farseers from every Craftworld, he attempted to prematurely summon [[Ynnead]], the yet-to-be-born Eldar god of Death who would save them from [[Slaanesh]] before every single Eldar dies, which was when it was supposed to be born. When the [[Deathwatch]] intervened in the Battle of Port Demesnus, Eldrad was forced to flee, marking one of many times ''he himself was out-[[dick]]ed'' by Space Marines. Said summoning required the bodies of ''every'' Crystal Seer, and when Ulthwe's Seer Council learned of it, only the intervention of the [[Ynnari]] and the [[Harlequin]]s saved him from being executed. Instead, he was then was exiled from the Craftworld on pain of death if he returned.

Currently a member of the Ynnari, joining their quest to bring forth Ynnead in its full power with the Croneswords. He is one of the Eldar that guided the [[Black Crusade|survivors]] of [[Cadia]] on [[Kalisus]] to [[Macragge]] to ressurect [[Roboute Guilliman]]. In this way, the fates of two most prominent dicks in the galaxy intwined.

He used to be presumed dead, eaten by Slaanesh during the [[13th Black Crusade]]. [[Meme|He got better]] in 6th edition.

==History==
===Early Life===
The only thing known of Eldrad's life, before becoming trapped on the path of the Seer, was that he used to be a musician, and apparently still has quite an ear for that kind of stuff. Although he is most well-known as the High Farseer of Ulthwe, he did not begin that way, and his time on the Seer Council of Ulthwe was a surprisingly violent one.

Whilst he served on the [[Seer Council]], but before actually becoming its High Farseer, Eldrad had a bizarre tendency to get his female superiors killed on missions, often just as a [[Phoenix Lord]] arrived. This occured twice in the days before the Great Crusade, first when Eldrad and an older female Farseer journeyed with [[Asurmen]] to try to find a legendary Exodite Oracle. Said Oracle, believed to have been the first Eldar to ever forsee the Fall, turned out to be a Keeper of Secrets in disguise and, in the ensuing fight, killed Eldrad's superior. This pattern was repeated when Jain Zar visited the Craftworld, advising it against attacking a nascent Ork Waaagh, which the Crafworld's, at the time, most senior Farseer agreed with. Eldrad, however, wanted to attack and destroy said Waaagh, convincing the Craftworld to follow him and rousing the [[Avatar of Khaine]]. Despite all this the attack was a total failure, with the High Farseer dying, the Avatar of Khaine being destroyed (in one of its earliest defeats) and Eldrad himself almost being killed. In the end it was only because Jain Zar decided to intervene that the entire attack didn't fail. In the aftermath, though, despite his colossal cock up (the first of a career of failures), Eldrad's arrogance continued to rub Jain Zar the wrong way, and he refused to allow the former High Farseer's Spirit Stone into the [[Infinity Circuit]], deciding he could make better use of it personall (which probably means it just got chucked into his big collecion of tokens).

Were these simple coincidences or Eldrad's way of conniving his way to the top by ensuring his superiors all met with tragic fates? The answer to that probably depends on how much of a dick, and how competent, you think Eldrad is, although it is true that one skill he certainly has is getting other Eldar killed, in many ways Eldrad is the most successful murderer of Eldar since Slaanesh.

===Horus Heresy and later===

After ascending to the position of High Farseer Eldrad would try to interfere in the course of the Horus Heresy a few times, rarely to much success. First he attempted to warn [[Fulgrim]] of [[Horus]]' corruption but failed, costing the life of one of Ulthwe's greatest Wraithlords and his friend, and also seeing the Avatar of Khaine slain yet again on his watch when Fulgrim [[Wat|throttled]] it (one assumes that Ulthwe's Seer Council has become a bit suspect about letting Eldrad use the Avatar since he seems to always come back with it broken). He aided John Grammaticus and Vulkan, making clear also that he opposed the plan of the [[Cabal]]. Said opposition went so far he even killed the entire Cabal eventually. Apparently, according to him, at some point he and Vulkan did something together (with Eldrad disguising himelf as an old man representing Mount Deathfire to guide Vulkan towards Terra) which resulted in Vulkan giving him a Salamander's tooth, probably to join the huge collection of knick-nacks Eldard has along with the former High Farseer's Spiritstone.

Following the Heresy Eldrad next interfered in the affairs of the Galaxy when he and the Seers of Ulthwe allowed a group of Harlequins to infiltrate the Imperial Palace during the height of the [[War of the Beast]]. It is not exactly clear what he hoped to gain from this, as the [[Harlequin]]s butchered the palace guards as greetings before being annihilated by Custodians save one and the only message she delivered was to say that Chaos was the real threat, whilst Orks were literally moments away from destroying Terra, so its not clear how any of this really helped anyone. Maybe he really wanted those Harlequins dead and this was, somehow, the best way to do it. Or, the more plausible theory, Eldrad is just really bad at getting things done.

Since then Eldrad has been involved in a few events; he saved Saim-hann from a Hrud infestation, tried to forewarn Iyanden of the invasion of the [[Hive Fleet Kraken|Tyranids]], defeated the Ork Warboss [[Nazdreg]] and also took part in the battle of Blood and Tears. He seemed particularly invested in the small Craftworld of [[Idharae]], engineering the entire 2nd War of Armageddon to save said Craftworld, although it amounted to nothing in the end as the Invaders Space Marine Chapter simply destroyed Idharae instead. So much for that.

Indeed Eldrad has a poor reputation when facing off against Space Marines, beginning with his battle against Fulgrim. On Maedrax the Ulthwe forces under his direction were mauled by a single Blood Angels Battle Barge and failed in their mission to stop an awakening Necron Dynasty. He has had more luck when working with Space Marines, such as when he interfered to save Blood Angels Chief Librarian Mephiston. As the future would show Eldrad's true calling is as a lickspittle for Space Marines.

===Gathering Storm===

In many ways it was Eldrad, along with Abaddon, who started the whole set of events which have lead to the changes beginning in the Gathering Storm. Showcasing his extreme level of dickishness Eldrad stole Crystal Seers (remains of past Seers, which ''obviously'' contain a lot of psychic fuel to awaken a god) from every single Craftworld and endangered the entire Eldar species in an abortive attempt to awaken [[Ynnead]] which failed when [[Deathwatch]] Captain Artemis, through his superior precognition, beat him and his Harlequin associates. Rather than a full awakening only [[Yncarne|a shard of Ynnead]] stirred, settling within [[Yvraine]], and beginning the entire Fracture of Biel-tan storyline.

Since his act of incredible treason, Eldrad has been involved in aiding the Ynnari. He has also been removed from the Seer Council of Ulthwe, instead now moving with a small roving group of followers, interfering where he sees fit, and taking missions from the Primarch [[Roboute Guilliman]]. At least he recognizes that following the guidance of someone millions of times more intelligent than himself (because [[Spiritual Liege]]) and of god-like competence is an excellent idea. Yep, Eldrad's big calling in life is to do what a Space Marine tells him to. He did return to aid his home when it was invaded by [[Kairos Fateweaver]] though, assisting them in banishing an attempt by Daemons of Tzeentch to attack the Craftworld (Like a dick).

==Explanation==
Where did Eldrad’s reputation for being such a dick come from?

"i am the incarnate of A MASSIVE DICK" -eldrad's personal war chant.

He gives candy to young races.

And that candy will contain a slow-spreading gingivitis bacteria that will fester in the new race and slowly spread amongst their entire species. The gum pain will be considered a normal part of everyday life, and they will regularly take painkillers.

When the [[Tyranid|’Nids]] invade them in 3000 years, they too will be infected by the gingivitis disease—but they are mindless beasts, who know nothing of painkillers. Living in constant pain, only worsened by eating, this massive hive of ’Nids will starve and become extinct, a result of their own adaptation abilities.

And of course, Craftworld Ulthwé would have been the next target for that particular hive to eat. [[Just as planned|Just. As. Planned.]]

And that is why Eldrad is a dick. [[Asdrubael Vect|There is only one mortal being in 40k who is a bigger dick than Eldrad]].

Many [[Tales of Eldrad Ulthuan, the Dick]].

==Current Activities ==
As of 8th edition, and his exile, Eldrad is pulling old strings while fighting alongside the Ynnari, and at the beck and call of the Imperium. His devotion to the Imperium goes so far that he opposes the White Seers, the leaders of the Black Library itself, in favour of doing as told to be Roboute. Existing much like a Corsair fleet, Eldrad and his renegades now travel the galaxy, regularly offering sage wisdom or aid to those who fight against the overwhelming forces of Chaos(or occasionally getting into the fray himself, like during the War in the Labyrinth). Despite his exile when Daemonic forces invade the defenceless Ulthwé (due to Ulthwe sending its entire force to every corner of the galaxy in order to fight Chaos), Eldrad returned and kicked some major Chaos arse, like a dick.

He also turns out to be a bit of a hoarder, with whole towers stuffed with all manner of strange nik naks and other totally pointless items, gifted to him over his long life, that he was apparently too polite to refuse but too lazy to dispose of (what a dick).

Yvraine has taken to making fun of him because of his old age. I tell you, these youngsters today, have absolutely no respect for their “Eldars”. What dicks.

==This Dick On the Tabletop==
[[Image:EldradModel.jpg|thumb|right|350px|Be sure to highlight the dickishness when painting him.]]
{| class=wikitable
! || Pts || WS || BS || S || T || W || I || A || Ld || Sv
|-
| '''Eldrad Ulthran:''' || 195 || 5 || 5 || 3 || 4 || 3 || 5 || 1(2) || 10 || -/3++
|}

Eldrad is probably THE mainstay special character for Eldar armies. As we all know, the dude is rivaled as a (non-[[Magnus the Red|cheese]]) psychic powerhouse only by [[Ahzek Ahriman]]: he's got Mastery Level 4, meaning that if you go for Psychic Focus and roll on a single table, you've got access to every power on there except for one (something his Tzeentchian peer can only do with the Tzeentch discipline since he has to generate at least one power from it). He knows [[Warhammer 40,000/Tactics/Psychic 101#Daemonology|Sanctic Daemonology]], [[Warhammer 40,000/Tactics/Psychic 101#Telepathy|Telepathy]], [[Warhammer 40,000/Tactics/Psychic 101#Divination|Divination]], and, of course, [[Warhammer 40,000/Tactics/Eldar(7E)#Runes of Fate|Runes of Fate]]. Whereas Ahriman is all about the volume when it comes to mind bullets, Eldrad is all about stability and reliability. He has the usual Farseer toys: Runes of the Farseer, which allows him to re-roll once per turn any number of dice on a psychic test or a Deny the Witch test, and a Ghosthelm, which allows him to spend a warp charge to nullify a wound caused by Perils of the Warp. So like any Farseer, he's already much less likely than other psykers to get turned inside out by daemons or to have his powers fizzle out, even when casting big WC3 stuff. Furthermore, his staff gives him a 33% chance to generate an extra warp charge every time he successfully casts a power; so not only does he have those 4-5 powers, but he's usually got the charges to use all of them.

Besides his psychic prowess, Eldrad also has some nifty wargear. Armour of the Last Runes gives him a 3++ Invulnerable save, which, coupled with his T4, allows him to take more punishment than the average Farseer, though his resilience still isn't anything to write home to Craftworld Ulthwé about. He's got a shuriken pistol (always good to have a Bladestorm weapon handy, and it's an extra close combat attack), a witchblade (Fleshbane! Always wounds on 2+), and let's not forget his all-important psyker disco stick, the Staff of Ulthamar, which is S-User (which doesn't really matter), AP3 AND has Fleshbane and Force. Anything he hits with it gets wounded on 2+, probably doesn't get an armor save, and dies instantly if you activate Force. Enough said. Oh, and his special rules are Fleet, Ancient Doom, Independent Character, Battle Focus, and Psyker. Naturally, his Warlord Trait is An Eye on Distant Events—because, you see, Eldrad is a dick.

==Gallery==
<gallery>
Image:What'sthisinmyhand.jpg|He's a dick
Image:Eldrad shows abbadon who the boss of this gym is.jpg|He beat the shit out of [[Abaddon]] in close combat despite knowing full well what kind of reputation he had. What a dick.
Image:EldradCandy.jpg|Shas'la should always call for their nearest Shas'o if approached by a strange dick.
Image:Eldrad by astarsis86.jpg|He's a dick.
</gallery>

{{Eldar-Characters}}

[[Category:Stories/Warhammer 40,000]]

Enginseer

2018-01-10T03:43:02Z

2001:8003:34BE:400:9D48:30AB:15A2:8042:

[[File:Enginseer.jpg|250px|right|thumb|You did '''WHAT TO THE CHIMERA!?''']]
Enginseers (Not to be confused with the [[Eldar]] [[Farseer]] or [[Spiritseer]]) are members of the [[Mechanicus]]. They differ from [[Techpriest|Tech Priests]] in that Enginseers are more combat orientated and are the only few members from the Machine Cult that work for the other organizations of the Imperium (Enginseers are, [[grimdark|quite hilariously]], part of the Tithe the Adeptus Mechanicus gives the Imperium every so often along with the spaceships/tanks/guns/ammo/etc... They're a kind of glorified indentured servant.) Prominently, they accompany the [[Imperial Guard]] where they basically have the role of mechanics and maintenance crews, making sure the humongous amount of [[Lasgun|flashlights]], tanks and other tools of war are always up and running.

<s>You know those [[Tech Priest|Tech Priests]] from the original [[Dawn of War]] games? Yeah, technically they should be Enginseers, but Relic and THQ probably stuck with Tech Priests as they are probably easier to remember and won't get confused with the Farseers.</s> Those are referred to in-game as Techpriest Enginseers, so they're still correct.

==Overview==
Enginseers first and foremost are highly trained members of the Cult Mechanicus and are dedicated to the maintenance of Imperial technology. While Tech Priests may venture out and explore undiscovered locations for [[STC|more goodies to hoard]], Enginseers stay back to help other Imperial Organizations in order to keep their stuff running and maintain a stable relationship with the wider Imperium. They are a common sight on battlefields with large numbers of armoured vehicles, and are often accompanied by a retinue of [[Servitor|servitors]] for assistance or protection. Although most Guardsmen revere their vehicles enough not to risk annoying an Enginseer by 'tinkering,' [[That Guy|the modification of vehicles to fulfill a certain need is inevitable,]] much to the chagrin of any Enginseers present. Enginseer contingents are also included in the mighty [[Adeptus Titanicus|Titan Legions]] and the crews of the massive warships of the [[Imperial Navy]], allowing them to perform emergency repairs in the heat of battle.

Humorously, despite the respect they usually command among the units they are seconded to, Enginseers are not held in high regard among the Cult Mechanicus itself as their skills seldom contribute to The Quest for Knowledge. As a result of their overwhelmingly practical knowledge, they are often viewed as lowly but necessary cogs in the workings of the Cult.

Enginseers make use of robotic arm augmentations known as Mechadendrites that are connected to their central nervous system via the spine. They are used to help the enginseer in repair operations, heavy lifting and for self defense.

{{Template:Imperial-Guard}}
{{Template:Mechanicus}}

Sons of Guilliman

2018-01-10T02:12:20Z

2001:8003:34BE:400:9D48:30AB:15A2:8042:

{{Infobox Spess Mahreen Chapter
|Name = Sons of Guilliman
|Heraldry = [[File:Sons of Guilliman 1.jpg]]
|Battle Cry =
|Number =
|Founding =
|Successors of = [[Ultramarines]]
|Successor Chapters =
|Chapter Master =
|Primarch = [[Roboute Guilliman]].
|Homeworld = Praesidia
|Specialty =
|Strength =
|Allegiance = [[Imperium of Man]]
|Colours = Light Blue & White, Quartered
}}

The '''Sons of Guilliman''', also known as the Sons of Girlyman, sons of Gigglyhand, ect, are a successor chapter of the [[Ultramarine|Ultrasmurfs]] founded sometime in the 33rd Millennium. Not much is known about them besides they are 'proud and noble' (so like any successor of the Ultrasmurfs, then).

==History==
There is fluff regarding two battles that the Sons of Girlyman have taken part in; the [[Third War of Armageddon]] where they sent six companies to help battle the [[Orks]], and the [[Cleansing of Salinas]] where the Sons fought a force of Chaos Warriors who could bend reality and [[Rape|eat men whole]]. This battle ends in tragedy for the Sons when their force at the Cleansing gets wiped out, only for a force of silver warriors to smite the foes with lightning and faith ([[Grey Knights]] to the rescue again, eh?). Although it ended badly for the Sons, at least they are mentioned in a source. Thank you, [[Graham McNeil]], for doing your bit again to expand the fluff.

===Constantinius===
One cool bit of fluff is the story of Sergeant Constantinius, who turned traitor and proceeded to literally pull a one man [[Vraks|Siege of Vraks]]/mini [[Badab War]] by himself.

He was part of a strike force that repelled the [[Tyranids]] from the planet of '''Nova Terra''' ''([[Nova Terra Interregnum|yes, that one]])''. His squad then remained on the planet for three years to root out any remaining taint. He later discovered that the planet's ruling caste had been infiltrated by a [[Genestealer]] cult and proceeded to burn them to death.

Unfortunately for him, the local populace weren't happy that this blue superhuman had just BBQ'd their leaders, and rose up in revolution - to which he said ''"Fuck That!"'' and proceeded to burn the rest of the city down around him, along with the rest of his squad when they though he was being too heavy-handed. Having to justify his actions to the rest of the population, he told the people that he was only a monster because the [[Emperor]] made him one, which oddly endeared him, and he got himself an army, swiftly followed by the whole planet, which he renamed Constantinium in his own honour.

His war for independence attracted Chaos Space Marines, but Constantinius defeated their leaders and claimed the warbands for himself, building himself into a genuine military threat that took the Imperium thirteen years, three Chapters, twelve Imperial Guard regiments, a naval battlefleet, the Ordo Hereticus and the Officio Assassinorum to dig out.

Not bad for a one-man rebellion...

==Colours==
The Sons of Gullytan have a sweet but difficult colour scheme, which means only the best painters will have a chance of doing it well. It is blue and white quartered diagonally, so you have to have steady hand or a machine doing it for you.

{{Template:Marines-Official}}

[[Category:Warhammer 40,000]][[Category:Imperial]][[Category:Space Marines]]

Iron Hands

2018-01-10T02:10:14Z

2001:8003:34BE:400:9D48:30AB:15A2:8042:

{{Infobox Spess Mahreen Chapter
|Name = Iron Hands
|Heraldry = [[Image:Iron_Hands_Livery.jpg|center|140px]]
|Battle Cry = The Flesh Is Weak!
|Number = X
|Founding = [[First Founding]]
|Successors of = N/A
|Successor Chapters = [[Brazen Claws]], [[Iron Lords]], [[Red Talons]], [[Sons of Medusa]], [[Steel Confessors]]
|Chapter Master = [[Kardan Stronos]]/The Great Clan Council
|Primarch = [[Ferrus Manus]]
|Homeworld = [[Medusa]]
|Specialty = Bionics and mechanized warfare
|Strength = 1000 Marines
|Allegiance = [[Imperium]]
|Colours = Black and White
}}

{{Topquote|With steel we are stronger, but without a soul we are nothing.|Kardan Stronos}}

The '''Iron Hands''' were the X Legion of the [[Space Marines]] during the [[Great Crusade]] and the [[Horus Heresy]]. Their [[Primarch]] was [[Ferrus Manus]]. It's subtler than [[Space Wolves|GW's]] [[White Scars|usual]], but they have a strong resemblance to the Scottish, what with their Clans, gruff demeanor, undeniable backbone, and tendency to lose despite their badassery. Also, the Iron Hands are masters of mechanised warfare, boasting a great deal of tanks, aircraft and Dreadnoughts. They're basically the best armourmasters amongst the Space Marines, and are adept at both out-manuvering and out-playing their foes when it comes to land warfare. If you want really good vehicles as LSM, Iron Hands are really the way to go.
==History==
[[File:Iron Hands Space Marine.jpeg|thumb|left|An Iron Hands Space Marine. notice the iron hands of this Iron Hands.]]
===Past and Present===
The '''Iron Hands''' are, like most of their fellow chapters who originated from the first founding, completely bat shit crazy. The chapter worships their ancient Father who got a bad case of worms and ended up with silver metal-coated hands (sounds a bit like the 18th century method of using mercury to cure Syphilis) and subsequently now believe that flesh is weak and as a result the marines try to copy their Primarch and replace their body parts with machinery and cybernetic implants (right down to emotion inhibitors post-Heresy), which Ferrus himself was actually against, believing that they should trust in the strength of their flesh rather than attempting to improve upon the Emperor's work. This is all part of an undoubtedly Freudian complex brought about by the loss of their primarch during the Drop Site Massacre on Isstvan V. Of course, the chapter decided to blame everyone, '''especially''' the [[Emperor's Children|legion]] whose [[Fulgrim|primarch]] shortened [[Ferrus Manus]] by a head at neck level. Incidentally, this also includes '''Ferrus himself''', as they came to the conclusion that it was their Primarch's own failure to control his emotions that led to the series of tactical blunders which culminated in his death.

In spite of all this weirdness and being part of the [[First Founding]], the Iron Hands remain one of the most forgettable Chapters among [[Games Workshop]] and the fandom at large. Seriously, [[Feral World Religion|even /tg/ forgets about them half the time.]] The only chapter who has it worse are the [[Raven Guard]], barring Kyvvan Shrike. To add self mutilation and cybernetic enhancement (insult) to injury, those who do remember them often get confused with the [[Iron Warriors]], and these people are worse than heretics because at least a Heretic knows the difference between "corn" and "Khorne", but the term Iron seems to confuse many. Leading to much fuck'tardery comments like "Iron Within, Iron Without", these people are total bell-ends and deserve to be scorned (Or would that be, sKhorned?). With the publication of the ''[[Horus Heresy]]'' books the powers that be have finally begun to remember that the Iron Hands were one of the original Space Marine Legions, but aside from their Primarch in resin courtesy of [[Forge World]] they're still years away from getting a named character. But Iron Hands don't care they are too busy kicking arse, taking names and getting shit done. That said, they really are the Emperor's Tin Men in every sense of the word. Now they've got their own codex supplement (providing the world at large with a [[Chapter Master Smashfucker|certain slightly competitive character]]), looks like the Sons of the Gorgon are finally getting some attention.

Also, they're totally crazy post-apocalyptic Texan British Italians in space. Yes, this is canon.

===The Moirae Scism===
After the Emperor's death, there was a bit of debate as to whether He was the Omnisiah or not and, if he was, in what capacity. Rather than debate it amoung themselves, the Iron Hands chose to glare angrily at one another until the Admech were done fighting and debating it out. The group of Hands in the minority became the [[Sons of Medusa]] and formed their own chapter. Despite the extreme levels of [[heresy]], everyone kept a level head and remained civil. Which is a bit unnatural for 40k, honestly, and just shows how few fucks these guys have to give.

===The Gaudinian Heresy and its results (aka: Character Development)===

This needs some serious editing.
This event appeared in the Clan Raukaan supplement and it was meant as a form of character development for the whole chapter. To understand it further one should look at one of the people that was part of it.

Iron Father Kristos of the Iron Hands was a individual that would be described as questionable in many ways. An individual that was adherent to the extreme to the Tempering (the way of thinking that the chapter followed after the death of Ferrus Manus and the Horus Heresy), Kristos was known as a legendary leader of the Iron Hands, and was in charge of Clan Raukaan after the company suffered greatly after the Skarvus Ambush and lead it to victory. Under his command the clan managed to even retreat against the Eldar on the Garden World of Dawnbreak going directly for the main force around an excavation site the Eldar occupied and taking it, while ignoring the [[Catachan Jungle Fighters|Catachans]] and civilians the Eldar were butchering (not to mention telling the General to fight on and prove his worth while he was running away like a bitch).

*'''Further details''': The Tempering doctrine was actually a product of the Mechanicus to manipulate the Iron Hand's grief after Ferrus Manus' death. Had Shadrak Meduson, leader of the Shattered Legions, not died by the betrayal of a few Iron Fathers, the chapter could had become the complete opposite from today.

The questionable part with him was about the controversy around the battle for the Forge World of Columnus against the [[Orks|Weirdwaaagh!]] where the Iron Council accused him of deliberately sacrificing a company's worth of [[Raven Guard]] marines to achieve victory, which in all fairness, he did do. It was all done in such a way that many in the council accused him of not doing it out of standard cold logic and pragmatism, but personal feelings and a hidden agenda. The Kristosian Conclave however couldn't find anything on the Iron Father and found him and his supporters (the Kristosians) unapologetic despite protests from Captain Verox, Iron Father Marrus and the then young [[Kardan Stronos]]. That would result in the chapter being divided over their philosophy as the whole investigation ended into a revision of the Tempering. That would prove a load of horrible problems later on, only to reach its conclusion during the Gaudinian Heresy.

The Sapphire King, a Slaaneshi daemon [[FAIL|formed out of Ferrus' rage and frustration at the time of his death]] and which fed on the repressed emotions of the soul-scarred Iron Hands, saw them ripe for corruption and set a trap on the planet of Gaudinia Prime in the Gaudinia system, [[Soul Drinkers|because that always works so well.]] The Iron Hands sniffed out the daemon at the beginning of the 41st Millennium (presumably the Ordo Malleus was on vacation) and Iron Father Kristos (still stinking after the Kristosian Conclave) led 8/10th of the Chapter to fight on the planet while exterminating mutants and heretics on the other planets. The Emperor's Children were only on Gaudinia Prime, and to the Iron Hands' surprise, there was absolutely nobody on the planet (and even the Chaos Marines were not around). However, scans showed that large amount of bio-signatures were concentrated in the planet's southern hemisphere in the factoria complexes. Kristos took with himself both Clans Raukaan and Sorgoll and waltzed into the area despite the Iron Fathers Stronos and Verrox, yet he didn't want to hear out anything. The force found out what really was down there...

One billion of Imperial citizens fused into some scary techno-organic construct with the machineries, the marines moved on while Kristos was bewitched by the whole thing. And at that moment Kristos rammed one of his mechadendrites into the fleshy thing (because why not) and transformed into a cybernetic version into [[Chaos Spawn|that whose name shouldn't be called out-loud]] along with the rest of the Kristosians, and those who didn't were torn apart (among them Kristos's closest ally, Captain Graevaar). Tears into reality were opening and Slaaneshi daemons were appearing en-masses and the Sapphire King himself appeared through a rift along with his Emperor's Children retinue. What later happened was a battle mixed with madness as Iron Hands had to fight against their corrupt brethren, the daemons, and chaos marines.

While the battle raged like insane, more and more Iron Hands were succumbing to the warping effects that turned the Kristosians into what they became, while others didn't succumb. Through the power of lazy writing Stronos quickly realized what was happening. He activated his vox and barked orders to the marines to deactivate their emotion inhibitors. In that moment the Iron Hands exploded with emotions that they repressed for ten thousand years. It was so powerful even [[Khorne]] felt it at the back of his skull, and was a really stupid move as daemons are supposed to be powered by raw emotion, and this should have made them a lot harder to kill.(or maybe not, since repressed emotions tend to grow more powerful even as they fade into the subconscious, there is such a thing as an emotion you can't feel. So ESPECIALLY considering they were using inhibitors, it would make sense for repressed emotions to feed a daemon) Filled with sheer rage and true determination, the Iron Hands [[RIP AND TEAR|RIPPED AND TORE]] their way through their corrupted brethren, the daemons and Emperor's Children towards the Sapphire King. Stronos slew the thing that was once Kristos while the [[Librarian]] Epistolary Lydriik beheaded the Sapphire King himself with the Mindforge Stave so hard that, [[derp|combined with being depraved of the repressed emotions that were now free]], the daemon was permanently killed for good. After wiping out the chaos forces, the remaining Iron Hands, disgusted and horrified with what they experienced, skedaddled back to their fleet and blew the factoria to [[Exterminatus|kingdom come]] in order to wipe out any survivors left.

After the whole thing it was discovered that 1/3rd of the council was either dead or corrupted. If the Inquisition knew what happened to them, then the consequences would've been fatal for the sons of Manus. The Kristosians took the whole thing with the Tempering literally (as in completely cutting off their emotions and replacing them with cold logic), and this obsession with purging themselves of their emotions, a core tenet of theirs, was what would be the chapter's undoing. In a emergency session the council blabbled and argued about how the chapter should function. At this point Stronos unplugged himself while rising from his throne and, in his natural voice, spoke that the chapter was given a gift: [[AWESOME|''"With steel we are stronger, but without a soul we are nothing."'']] Words that would be eternally immortalized all over the chapter's Ironglass plaques on Medusa and beyond. It was also the first time in ten millennia that the sound of applauses would be heard on Medusa. And that's something...

On that day Kardan Stronos became [[Chapter Master Smashfucker]] (and would be re-elected at every single opportunity by the council) despite the disquiet of the few remaining Kristosians that somehow survived the situation and the Voice of Mars, yet even with what he said it wouldn't reverse ten millenia of indoctrination. It would be a long and difficult period for the sons of the Gorgon, but it was indeed a new beginning for the chapter.

The Gaudinian Heresy wasn't an immediate character development. The Iron Hands are still angry cyborgs operating on cold calculation, but they are slowly changing to become less emotionless and don't look at emotions as a weakness, and under Kardan Stronos the Iron Hands went on a heroic streak to bolster the military efforts in key warzones. Yet the council saw the Imperium plunging into darkness and their former allies falling to madness and corruption. Thus the Grand Calculation set forth to determine where they would serve best, and their successor chapters would also be included into the equation.

As the Iron Council debates, Stronos leads the chapter from one battle to another on its road to redemption...

==Organisation==
The chapter itself is ruled by the Great Clan Council, composed up of 10 seats, each representing one of the ten clans (the Iron Hand equivalent of a company). The clans themselves are all highly autonomous and are nomadic, travelling across Medusa in mobile fortresses. Each clan nominates a warrior to represent them at the Great Clan Council and together, the ten warriors get into all sorts of [[A Game of Pretend|debates and political shenanigans]]. The logic behind this is that with no central leadership role, the chapter cannot be lead astray like so many others have. This immediately makes the Iron Hands smarter then the rest of the fucking [[Warhammer 40,000]] universe because they're smart enough to realise that having everyone led by a de facto dictator was a pretty retarded idea. Then again, they also believe that replacing their dicks with drills is the best fucking idea in the world, so I suppose your mileage may vary. (And the fact that /tg/ considers this sort of setup as fucking ridiculous based on [[Codex Astartes|where the suggestion comes from]], so again, your mileage may vary.)

That said, they do have a kinda chapter master. When something major happens that affects the whole chapter, the council elects one of their members best suited for their current state. For example, if they're fighting orks the one who has the most experience fighting them will lead the chapter, and once done he will sit down. Making him more of a Chapter President really with checks and balances, the chapter master checks the council from getting caught up in red tape and the council makes sure he doesn't lead the chapter astray.

Organisation and doctrine wise, the chapter follows the basic idea of the [[Codex Astartes]], while changing all the bits they don't like or cannot follow due to the heavy losses/destruction of equipment at Isstvan V (yup 10,000 years later and the Departmento Mmunitorum has not yet resupplied them, fucking REMF's). Each company is called a "Clan" and there isn't a specific company for Scouts; instead each Clan recruits their own Neophytes. Once the recruit is indoctrinated, his left hand is replaced with a cybernetic replacement. As an Iron Hand serves his Chapter he gets more and more augmented: appendages, limbs, organs; the whole shebang until the Marine is little more than a brain in a shell. There are also rumours that dead warriors are instead replaced with automatons rather then new Neophytes. Because of their extensive augmentation the Iron Hands are amongst the strongest Space Marines: strong enough to dual-wield weapons that regular Space Marines would need both hands for like the [[Melta|Multi-Melta]]. Due to the destruction of equipment at the Drop Site Massacre, the chapter lacks in Terminator armour. However veterans are often given suits of Terminator armour and placed in charge of leading squads, called "Klaven", of Tactical Marines, who see the suits [[Pauldrons|giant pauldrons]] as inspirational. Additionally, Dreadnought chassis are highly revered and sought after pieces of equipment, and being entombed within a Dreadnought is the considered the best fate possible for an Iron Hands Marine. Finally, due to their shared love of machines the Iron Hands and [[Adeptus Mechanicus]] are pretty much bros 4 lyfe, with much Bromance and fist bumping. ''10011001010111001001110011001000000011010001101100011110010110011001100101001000000011110000110011- Mhu Rho 6''
[[File:Iron_Dakka.jpg|300px|thumb|left|The Iron Hands are the most gritty of the First Founders. You could even call it... True Grit.]]
In combat they are utterly unforgiving and relentless, hate [[Daemon|Daemons]] and the [[warp]] with a [[Angry Marines|rare and intense hatred]] and utterly despise [[heresy]] and [[blam|cowardice]]. During one particular campaign involving the rebellion of an entire sub-sector, the Iron Hands got in and [[Rip and Tear|fucked shit up so bad]] that they executed a third of the sub-sector's entire population. That is not killed. [[Commissar|Executed]]. As in the ones they did not kill in battle, and those who surrendered and begged for mercy. Despite this they are seen as a wholesome and pious chapter, unlike [[Flesh Tearers|some others that murder everything within sight regardless of whose side they're on]] [[Marines Malevolent|or level refugee camps because there are hostiles within the perimeter.]] Either way, don't piss them off lest you fuel their murderboner; and whilst on the subject of boners, it is believed they hate [[Slaanesh]] with the [[Rage|intense hatred]] of a billion [[Æonic Orb|Æonic Orbs]] because she's the Prince of Excess and the Iron Hands believe THE FLESH IS WEAK (the previously-mentioned one-third-of-a-subsector-getting-[[blam|blammed]] was because of Slaaneshi orgies and daemons). This could mean they are more apt at fighting the minions of She Who Thirsts, but there is, as all things Iron Hands related, not much to elaborate on this except they are getting shit done. (It could also be due to their particularly strong hatred of the [[Emperor's Children|Emperor's Children]], for a long list of reasons that include [[Fulgrim|a certain Primarch]] decapitating [[Ferrus Manus|a certain other Primarch]].)

In the Book "The Eye of Medusa" by David Guymer there is a description for "Helfathers", the Honorguard of the Ironfathers and [[Mary Sue|the best of the best]]. They're clad in black, bulky and heavily augmented suites of Terminator Armour. They have neither Clan nor Klaven-Ensignia on their armour and even their bionics are darkened and ancient. There is the superstition that the attention of an Helfather is bad luck, [[Awesome|even among Iron Hands]]. [[Kardan Stronos]], at the time squadleader told his accompanying tech adept:"[[Grimdark|The Helfathers aren't even human in the the way I am human]]. I don't know how many of them exist. I never heard any of them speak. As far as I know, they don't even have names. And believe me, Melitan Yolanis, [[Grimdark|I don't wish to know any more]]".
It's also said that they rarely, if ever, leave Medusa, so we won't see any rules for them anytime soon.

==Tabletop==
Good news is they got a much needed bone in 6th edition. Robin Cruddace realized how stupid it was for a chapter with close ties to the Ad-mech to not have a lot of gear; they're now loaded with tanks, aircraft, and dreadnoughts. Their variation of Chapter Tactics gives all marines 6+ FNP (which is a great bonus that will save a few marines here and there, but is not something to be built around), all of their characters and vehicles get It Will Not Die, and [[Techmarine|Techmarines/Masters of the Forge]] get +1 to Blessings of the Omnissiah. The strength in this particular set of Chapter Tactics is that basically every single model benefits from it, allowing you to play a wider selection of builds while still playing to its strengths.

...and then they get their own supplement. Interesting, it would seem GW is dealing with not knowing what to do with them by portraying the Chapter as full of contradictions, such as despite the clans being autonomous they do act like Codex companies. Apparently the Codex Astartes was simply "more logical" than the admittedly terrible idea of telling Guilliman and Dorn to go fuck themselves.

Also, [[Derp|they almost completely forgot about the Contqual purging]]. Codex: Marines skips most of the campaign right to the final battle on the Shardenus hub, and Supplement: Raukaan skips it entirely in favor of the suspiciously similar "Gaudinian Heresy". There's also a story in there about a certain Iron Father deciding that machines are better than men and then [[Heresy|getting brainwashed and mutated by a Keeper of Secrets]]. It's also deeply suspicious that for a Chapter which must absolutely revere their Apothecaries, potentially folding them into their Techmarines like Space Wolves and Blood Angels do with their Chaplains, since they'd be the ones in charge of installing new cybernetics, their fluff consistently yammers on about their Techmarines and just doesn't discuss their Apothecaries at any great length.

Crunch-wise in 8th edition, it doesn't seem so crap. They've kept their 6+ FNP from 7th edition although as of the rulings on Disgusting Resilience they have to roll it for each point of damage, not wound now. That said, ignoring 16.6% of all incoming damage is helpful. Like all chapter tactics however the rule [[Fail|doesn't effect vehicles and the Iron Hands no longer gain a benefit to fixing tanks either.]]

==Daily Rituals==
[[File:You're_Terminated.jpg|300px|thumb|right|A rare Iron Hands [[Terminator]] showing why metal is superior and why THE FLESH IS WEAK.]]
While each Clan Company has its own rituals and traditions, the following should be considered an outline of the Iron Hands daily routines:

04:00-Morning Prayer: The Iron Hands of the Clan Company are awoken from their power stations and reconfigure their Power Options for best performance, ready for the Iron Father to lead them in sermon which is completely told in Binary. 
05:00-Morning Firing Rites: The Iron Hands engage in [[Dakka|fire practice]]. 
07:00-Battle Practice: The Iron Hands gather for practice in the cages. Often the Iron Hands end up repairing the damage they inflicted on the practice servitor themselves. On more than a few occasions Chapter serfs have been unable to tell the difference between a battle-brother and a [[servitor]]. 
11:00-Morning Maintenance Rituals: The Iron Hands polish and repair their wargear and augmetics. 
13:00-Midday Meal: A light meal is prepared by the Chapter serfs and occasionally accidentally given to a Servitor - lol oops. 
13:30-Tactical Indoctrination: The Clan-Commander gathers the Iron Hands for a tactical sermon on potential enemies, pointing out the vulnerable weak flesh to fire [[Bolter|bolters]] at. 
14:30-Land-Behemoth Maintenance: The Clan Company assists in repairs to the Land-Behemoth which serves as the Clan's mobile fortress-monastery. Mostly because by this point the vessel has taken on too much ash and soot from Medusa's volcanoes to continue moving. Raising questions about whether this means machines are weaker than flesh earns a battle-brother one hundred days of penitential duties. 
16:00-Evening Firing Rites: Having gotten the Land Engine working again, the Clan Company assembles for evening firing practice. Again, they will often repair any damage they inflict on the practice servitor. 
18:00-Evening Prayer: The Iron Hands gather for the Iron Father to preach to them. Areas frequently covered include the sinfulness of still having your own kidneys, why washing machines are superior to many humans and mortification of pathetic, weak flesh by poking yourself repeatedly in the eye. 
20:00-Evening Meal: A feast is prepared by the Chapter serfs. Overcooking or undercooking the food will result in the serf being banished to the Enginerarium decks (trust us, for people born on a half-frozen planet, nothing is worse than the heat of the Enginerarium decks of a Land-Behemoth). Cooking the food just right will see the serf rewarded with being made a cooking servitor. 
21:00-Evening Maintenance Rituals: The Iron Hands spend the rest of their day overseeing maintenance of their wargear and augmetics with adjustable Spanners, Watchmakers and ratchet Screwdrivers. Many magnetic heads are lost on the Marines Armour in very hard to reach places, Rare Earth Magnets are banned. 
00:00-Rest Period: The Iron Hands retire to their power stations for the evening where they configure themselves to low power mode

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[[Category:Warhammer 40,000]][[Category:Imperial]][[Category:Space Marines]]