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| The Omnissiah has finally blessed us with our own codex! |
The Centurio Ordinatus are the Engines of the Omnissiah...well, they're the massive artillery engines that can level cities with their apocalyptic weapons, basically. The super-cannons, if you will. They make the poor Basilisks of the Imperial Guard look like a joke, but are admittedly a lot more difficult to field and ferry around. The Collegia Titanica consist of the God-Machines of the Titan Legions, and while they are dependent and a part of the Mechanicus, they aren't exactly subservient to them. They have their own command structure, so they don't answer to those annoying Magi and Tech-Priests. The Auxilia Myrmidon are Savants of War, and you've seen them in Forge World's Mechanicum and how cool-looking they are. They graft weapons into their cybernetica limbs and go around fighting, which is cool. The Legiones Skitarii are the Warriors of the Machine God, and while they technically do have their own command structure, doctrines and traditions, they answer to the Tech-Priests and Magos of the Adeptus, being placed under their authority and command. Legio Cybernetica is The Host Robotic and full of giant, cool-looking robots (again, look at Forge World's beautiful Mechanicum army and marvel over how awesome they look). And the Ordo Reductor are Bringers of Blessed Ruin, masters of siege warfare who put the Iron Warriors to shame with their incredible tactics. They're so awesome they have their own subtype in Forge World's Mechanicum Taghmata army, just like the Legio Cybernetica.
Oddly enough, the Skitarii don't show up in Forge World's Mechanicum...but that's where 40K comes in. To bring you a modern codex for our beloved Skitarii! I first came across them in, believe it or not, Ciaphas Cain's novels, and that's where I fell in love with them what with their awesome tech, their hellguns (now radium carbines and galvanic rifles, it seems) and all sort of cool weaponry.
The Skitarii are cybernetic soldiers and the bionic heart of the Adeptus Mechanicus' legions, defending the Forge Worlds of the Imperium, annihilating the enemies of the Tech-Priests and fighting at the vanguard of the quest of knowledge (hence Skitarii Vanguard, get it?). Formerly humans, they have their limbs and the majority of their organs replaced by augmetic battleware, which is cool. So they're cyborgs. Yay. Unlike the Taghmata, the Tech-Priests overseers do not command the Skitarii on the front,. Rather, they cowardly hide above in a scryer-ship, recording and watching the data while giving commands through the noosphere. Hah!
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| We look awesome while kicking ass! |
The Skitarii also escort the vast goliaths of the Centurio Ordinatus and serve as meat-shields for the god-machines of the Titan Legions, which actually have their own Skitarii Legions who serve separately and answer only to the Titan Legions' Princeps rather than the Tech-priests of the Cult Mechanicus (though it seems that the Princeps are still subject to the authority of Mars, as seen in the novel, Wrath of Iron, where Magos Ys had the authority to execute Princeps Firax Lopi of Legio Astorum, but in other novels, such as Titandeath, the Princeps Senioris have more authority than the Tech-priests and Magi of the Cult Mechanicus). The Tech-Priests commanding the Legio Cybernetica are pretty cool as they do lead in the front, and their battle robots are bolstered by Skitarii. I wonder what cool new rules we'll get with the new 9th edition Adeptus Mechanicus codex. The Skitarii also play bodyguards and babysit Tech-Priests brave but reckless enough to take the field and it has to be said that I would rather follow these Tech-Priests who stick their necks...er...mechadendrites into danger than the pussy Magos sitting comfortably in a large ship floating high above in orbit.
Like the vast regiments of the Astra Militarum, they fire volleys of discplined fire and impeccable skill, and their combat prowess is second only to the revered Adeptus Astartes. Wielding advanced technology normally not available to the huge Imperial Guard regiments, and even the vaunted Space Marine Chapters (unless you're unlucky enough to be a Techmarine), these guys get all the cool toys and effective Imperative Doctrina that turn them into a fearsome force...if you know how to use them in a tabletop game (which I don't, sadly I keep losing because I shoot at the wrong targets...has to be said that I play Skitarii much more effectively than Cult Mechanicus so maybe I should just stick to that).
Skitarii soldiers are created either by vat-grown or cloning processes, or they are former humans (convicts or soldiers) mind-wiped and repurposed into cold, efficient killing machines. They receive augmetics, cool cybernetics grafted into their bodies, and their brains are kind of operated upon and turned into amazing hybrids of gray matter and twisting neurocircuitry. Accounts for their better Ballistic Skill and accuracy than normal Guardsmen, eh? Their bodies are more machine than flesh, and the most awesome ones get to be Skitarii Alphas, who are basically the Sergeants. And then you have the Alpha Primus/Marshal, who's basically the commanding officer of the Legion. Pretty cool. And the metal used for their robotic limbs is titanium! Wow!
The old lore claimed that Skitarii had no transports and they would march for months on their robotic limbs, which is...quite frankly, stupid as warp, and I'm glad they retconned that BS. Seriously, the Adeptus Mechanicus is all about efficiency, and who thought it was efficient to drop a bunch of Skitarii miles away and have them march to the objective on foot? By the time they reach there, the war would be over. Thankfully, they retconned that dumb piece of fluff and now Skitarii are transported into battles atop hovering Skorpius Duneriders or borne into the air inside Archaeopter Transvectors.
Thanks to their extensive modification, the Skitarii can excel in any environment, withstanding extreme doses of radiation, ignoring toxic air, trekking across marshy terrains, not needing to breathe in the cold void of space...the list goes on.
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| Yeah, we have Warhound Titans (plural) behind us. What about it? THE FLESH IS WEAK! |
The Skitarii Legion in a Forge World are divided into macroclades, before being divided into Skitarii War Cohorts, which are in turn comprised of Battle Maniples. So yeah, that's where you get all your cool Formations from. Yay! Each Maniple have their own Skitarii Vanguard, Skitarii Rangers, Sicarian Ruststalkers, Sicarian Infiltrators, Ptexarii Skystalkers, Ptexarii Sterylizors (who came up with that lame name?), Ironstrider Ballistarii, Syndonian Dragoons, Serberys Sulphurhounds, Serberys Raiders, Skorpius Duneriders, Onager Dunecrawlers, Skorpius Disintegrators, Archaeopter Transvector, Archaeopter Stratoraptor and Archaeopter Fusilave. Yeah, we had a ton of reinforcements in late 8th edition, thanks to Psychic Awakening: Engine War. These guys will march into war and obliterate everything in their path, all from a single order from a Tech-Priest, solely to further the Quest of Knowledge!
The Omnissiah Protects! Hmm...not quite. Knowledge is Power. Yeah, that's the one.
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