The Scions of Devastation, Fluff revision needed

Hey all, I need some help making my fluff a lot more polished. Basically spending some time buying new minis and finishing the fluff before I begin repainting every single model in my army in preparation of the new Codex. Thanks in advance!

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Iron Warriors Remnant Grand Company - The Scions of Devastation
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The Scions of Devastation is a Grand Company of the Iron Warriors Traitor Legion based within the space hulk Crissaegrim. Operating primarily within Segmentum Obscurus, they are known for their siege tactics and the widespread Obliterator virus infection amongst its ranks. They are led by Warsmith Ignus the Irregulator and Daemon Prince Forneus Ironmaw.

+++ ORIGIN +++
These Iron Warriors were originally part of a Grand Company commanded by Warsmith Damarus the Ironblooded. After his death during the Siege of Terra, Lieutenant Segarus led the Grand Company back to Olympia and entrenched themselves to defend their homeworld from the Loyalist Legions' retribution. Unwillingly to stage the doomed defence, Lieutenant Ignus abandoned their betrayed homeworld and led one half of the Grand Company into the Eye of Terror. After years of staunch defence, Segarus and his Iron Warriors were completely wiped out defending Olympia. Ignus destroyed all records of their Grand Company to honour its memory by letting it perish along with their homeworld.

Ignus and his remnants re-emerged from the Eye of Terror with a terrible ferocity. They unleashed their hate-fuelled fury unto Segmentum Obscurus, sinking their fangs into any that stood in their path of vengeance. Companies of Ultramarines and Imperial Fists were hunted down and annihilated without mercy, even at great cost to themselves. In M35, Ignus established the Repulsive Class Grand Cruiser – Crissaegrim as his flagship.

Before the campaign known as the 'Cleansing of Crissaegrim', High Augur Gui-Mu named these Iron Warriors the 'Scions of Devastation' in his prophecy, a name Ignus adopted for his Grand Company with dark pride.

+++ HOMEWORLD +++
The Scions of Devastation found their base of operations in M37, after a failed warp-jump caused the Crissaegrim to crash and fuse into a drifting space hulk after being caught by its gravity field.

The Iron Warriors battled against the half-daemon cultists and Ork marauders that infested the space hulk in a gruesome campaign now known as the 'Cleansing of Crissaegrim'. Massive casualties suffered from the campaign forced the Iron Warriors to halt their quest for vengeance and found the space hulk as their new base of operations. Ignus named the space hulk after his flagship – Crissaegrim.

Crissaegrim is completely incapable of warp travel, despite all efforts by the Dark Mechanicus. It orbits around Megnir, a gas giant in the Thaskalos Star System, about fifteen times the diameter of Terra. The space hulk's surface is covered by twisted metal and thick ice. Its soupy atmosphere consists mainly of nitrogen, methane, and hydrogen-cyanide. Gargantuan vents release these poisonous gases from the space hulk's dark core into its atmosphere, which then fall back as toxic chemical snow.

+++ COMBAT DOCTRINE +++
The Iron Warriors follow a simple method. They commence battle with a sustained bombardment utilising every gun at their disposal. The basis of this is a complex fire plan in which every weapon is directed with utmost care at the optimum target for maximum effect. Where possible, the Iron Warriors will coordinate with Traitor Titan Legions to add to their own considerable firepower. The bombardment can last for weeks as the Iron Warriors rarely seem to be short of ammunition. They handle their weaponry well, with formations moving forward to fire and then redeploying before any reprisal. Often their entire force will move laterally to bring their fire against enemy weak points, with the result that counter-attacks flounder helplessly in the teeth of the Iron Warriors' weapons.

Where possible, field fortifications will be used to reinforce the line. Iron Warrior doctrine includes extensive use of fortifications to tie opponents down with the absolute minimum number of troops. This in turn keeps the bulk of the Iron Warriors troops fresh and available for assaults.

When a breach has been forced in the enemy defences it will initially be probed by veterans and infiltrated, then the gap will be prised open with firepower until a storming force can be unleashed.

These storming forces are based around fast moving heavy armour which can move instantly from relentless barrage to lightning-fast advance. Breaches are then widened until the defences are shattered. For the key moments in battle when a position absolutely must be taken, the Iron Warriors adopt an ice-cold ferocity that is comparable to the Blood Angels or World Eaters but only when the moment is right and never for longer than necessary.

Once they have an opponent at their mercy, the Iron Warriors are content to surround them and destroy them at their leisure, always preferring to let shell and laser beam do their work for them.

The Iron Warriors are expert sappers, engineers and miners and have acquired a formidable siege train of specialist equipment over the centuries. This includes Termite tunnellers, a Leviathan transport, Dreadclaw assault boats adapted for planetary landings and a large assortment of Imperial-built artillery. These are used very sparingly and are maintained and guarded by the 1st Company.
Additionally they have a number of Corvus assault pods which allow them to make use of any supporting Titans as siege towers. The Iron Warriors are so frequently supported by Titans that some Imperial experts have asserted that they are part of the same formation. This is not widely accepted, but the theory is a reflection of the Legion's predilection for heavy barrages.

+++ GENESEED +++
The Scions of Devastation are of the Iron Warriors First Founding Legion and bear the gene-seed of Perturabo. They are subject to varying degrees of mutation since turning to Chaos and have been known to replace mutated limbs with cybernetic ones.

They have a marked tendency toward suspicion and paranoia but are also extremely intelligent with naturally well-developed problem solving abilities.

+++BELIEFS+++
The Scions of Devastation share their Warsmith's all-consuming hatred for the Ultramarines and Imperial Fists Chapters for the destruction of Olympia, and seek to avenge their fallen brothers through any means necessary.

They view themselves with cold arrogance, and treat all manner of Chaos as disposable tools of war. Their emphasis in techno-organic research have attracted countless Hereteks to Crissaegrim, filling the space hulk's warped halls with blasphemies to the Adeptus Mechanicus.

+++ ORGANIZATION +++
The Scions of Devastation are led by Exalted Warsmith Ignus the Irregulator, and their current organization is completely non-standard. Ultimate command lies with the Core, and their orders are carried out by the Immortals and Selects. Each Select leads his own detachment of Iron Warriors, and are supported by vast contingents of slave-mechanicians for menial labour. They are also supported by Hereteks of the Dark Mechanicus, who commands flesh-fused mechanoids known as the Damnati.

THE CORE:
Command unit of the Scions of Devastation, the Core was created by Ignus after the True Olympian Uprising and is situated within the space hulk's vast labyrinthian core.

Forneus Ironmaw, The Banelord
One of the first Iron Warriors inducted into the Cult of Blood during the Ashen Crusade, Forneus and Squad Phobos claimed countless skulls for their dark master. He was captured by Samaedi of the Black Legion on Aldrin II, and became subject to the Slaaneshi's cruel tortures. His barely-living carcass was sent back to Ignus as a warning, which served only to strengthen the Warsmith's resolve. Unwilling to let the berserker die, Ignus encased Forneus within ancient 'Ironmaw' dreadnought. Forneus Ironmaw continued to fight in the front lines of battle, eventually dealing the finishing blow unto Samaedi on his flagship – Hell's Womb. Pleased with this act, Khorne elevated his maimed servant unto daemonhood.

Maelstrom keeps Forneus Ironmaw in stasis between battles, activating this daemonic engine only in times of dire need. The Banelord was last seen during the Thirteenth Black Crusade, laying waste to the defenders of Kasr Sonnen.

Ignus the Irregulator, Exalted Warsmith
Igarol was born on Terra in the 30th Millennium, and is one of the first inductees into the ranks of the Astartes Legions. Gifted with Perturabo's cold intellect, he received training from the Adeptus Biologicus on Mars and quickly mastered the development and use of viral weaponry. He firmly believes in the Imperial Truth and often found more comfort surrounded by machinery than men.

Upon Olympia, as the Emperor found his long-lost son, Igarol found two men that he will soon call his blood-brothers. Damarus the strategist and Segarus the warrior originally served under Dammekos, and aided Perturabo in ousting the tyrant. Since their induction into the Iron Warriors, the three men quickly formed an unbreakable bond. Igarol adopted the Olympian name – Ignus, and served under Damarus as Apothecary.

Since his retreat into the Eye of Terror, Ignus launched a series of bloody campaigns against the Ultramarines and Imperial Fists. His quest of vengeance continued until his betrayal by Samaedi of the Black Legion during the Abyssal Crusade and the subsequent destruction of his flagship in the Thaskalos Star System.

Ignus wears a modified version of his ancient master-crafted Tactical Dreadnought armour, forged from an age long lost and augmented with heretical technology from the Dark Mechanicus. His possessed Narthecium has been modified with a multi-laser array, and a corrupted Carnifex. His personal weapon is a daemonic phase drill called 'Sulferon'.

Core Augur Maelstrom, Sorcerer of the Forge
Maelstrom is the most trusted advisor of Ignus, and was instrumental to the survival and success of the Grand Company. Known as 'Gui-Mu' in his native tongue, this half-daemon was once the High Augur of the Cabal of the Night Sky. After the Cabal's defeat during the Cleansing of Crissaegrim, Gui-Mu and his kin were forced into Ignus' gene-seed implantation experiment. He was inducted into the Iron Warriors as the experiment's sole survivor, and took up the name 'Maelstrom' after a vision from Tzeentch. His personal weapon 'Shroudsight' is a staff made of the skulls of his fallen kin.

Sharing Ignus' obsession with the cyber-genetics, his research led to the creation of a modified strain of the Obliterator virus. The host is merged with his weaponry and armour, able to create ammunition and initiate repairs. Unable to progress further into Obliteratorhood, his sanity slowly sinks into oblivion and requires chemical enhancements, adrenaline stimulants, synaptic catalysts, and neuro-reprogramming to function. Maelstrom subjected all manner of slaves and Hereteks to this virus, which led to the creation a cabal of bio-mechanical warrior-slaves known as 'The Corrupt'.

Safeguards
Maelstrom has long recognized the superiority of the Obliterator as an instrument of war, a fact made clear in the savage Ashen Crusade. The Safeguards are the pinnacle of his research of the Obliterator virus on hardened Iron Warrior veterans. They have long lost the ability to speak and can only communicate through binary chatter and an artificial psionic communication link. The Safeguards are utterly loyal mechanoids capable of defending the Core to the very end.

Vammatar the Warpchild, Champion of Fernex
Former Genetor of the Adeptus Mechanicus. Einhard Vammatar was captured by the Dark Eldar during a slave-taking raid while accompanying Imperial forces. Drugged and tortured to the brink of madness, he cried out for salvation in the face of utter despair. What answered his call was not the grace of the Omnissiah, but a dark whisper from the Immaterium. Fuelled by its power, Vammatar massacred the entire crew of the assault boat and piloted the ship into the Eye of Terror.

Vammatar is obsessed with the ultimate possibilities of techno-organic fusion, and saw hope in merging flesh and machinery to produce blasphemies that surpassed the limitations of both forms. His experiments led to the creation of the Damnati, rotting marionettes made of flesh-fused machinery.

Vammatar obtained the remains of an Obliterator in M37, which caused him to mobilize his army of Hereteks and Damnati on a campaign to acquire more exemplary samples. The search led him into conflict against the Scions on twelve separate occasions, ending with his submission to the Irregulator in early M38.

He now serves as the leader of the Dark Mechanicus within Crissaegrim, and quartermaster of the Scions of Devastation.

THE SELECT:
Distinguished veterans of the Scions of Devastation Grand Company are all rewarded with the forced infection of the modified Obliterator virus strain. Those who retain their sanity after these trials are inducted into the elite Selects.

Anthrax
Anthrax served as leader of Squad Deimus since the Horus Heresy. Although his skills tend toward the tactical, he is, nonetheless, an excellent hand-to-hand fighter. The Dark Mechanicus enhanced his body with sinister bionics to create a remorseless killing machine.

Baetal
Baetal led Squad Ixion during the True Olympian Uprising in a failed attempt to remove Ignus as Warsmith of the Scions of Devastation. He was defeated by Maelstrom and left to rot in the life-support systems of a dreadnought sarcophagus. Baetal's insane fury served admirably during the Thirteenth Black Crusade after four thousand years of quarantine.

Chamber
Brutally maimed during the Horus Heresy, Chamber was kept barely alive by his sus-an membrane. After the discovery of the new Obliterator virus strain, Maelstrom infected Chamber's broken carcass and fused it with corrupted machinery.

Corrosion
Former Havoc and expert of solid projectile weaponry, Corrosion became the leader of Squad Icelus after its former leader died rejecting the modified Obliterator virus.

Entropy
Considered a failure by Maelstrom, Entropy was one of the first Iron Warriors chosen for the Safeguard Program. Although a highly-efficient killing machine, the modified Obliterator virus wracks constant pain throughout his body.

Shrapnel
The 'Shrapnels' is the secretive kill-team of the Scions, a vision of death whose sole purpose is to carry out assassinations for their Warsmith. After their final mission on Kasr Holn during the Thirteenth Black Crusade, only one Iron Warrior survived. This nameless warrior was personally chosen for Selection by Ignus.

Syzygy
A cold and calculating tactician, Syzygy wrestled a warp-forged weapon from the grips of a Bloodletter of Khorne during the Thirteenth Black Crusade. He is since sighted with this trademark Power Fist and Hellblade combination.

IMMORTALS:
Obliterators of the Scions of Devastation are given the name 'Immortals' due to the vast resources used to sustain their ranks. When an Obliterator is destroyed in battle, a part of him is recovered and used in the assembly of the next revision.

Cyclops
Formerly a Safeguard, Cyclops ascended into a fully fledged Obliterator after merging with two other Terminators.

Disconnect
Disconnect is the only Immortal to serve in every engagement. He serves Ignus' will without question.

Exile
Rebuilt from spare parts and what was left of his brain after the Ashen Crusade as a warrior-slave, Exile was infected with the Obliterator virus within the Eye of Terror.

Function
Given to Ignus in preparation for the Thirteenth Black Crusade from Medrengard.

Helix
Given to Ignus in preparation for the Thirteenth Black Crusade from Medrengard.

Purge
Former Hell Talon pilot, Purge was infected by the Obliterator virus and merged with the Chaos fighter.

Surma
This Obliterator was given the nickname 'Surma' during the Janus Campaign by the desert-world's inhabitants after a mythical beast of old.

Tensor
A result of a complex mind-control experiment by Maelstrom, Tensor was created with the aim of penetrating the Obliterator's thoughts.

Vector
Fully lobotomised, Vector is powered completely by the corrupted machine spirit trapped within the daemonic vessel.

SQUADRONS:
Each squadron of the Scions of Devastation is led by a Select, who utilizes his dark mind to process vast amounts of data on the battlefield and guide his squadron to ultimate victory.

The Corrupt
Iron Warriors infected with the modified Obliterator virus but failed to retain their sanity are inducted into the black squadron known as the 'Corrupt'. These twisted men are void of all emotions, and are deployed to undertake the most suicidal tasks in battle.

Squad Antalus (Select Chamber)
These tank-hunting specialists takes great glee in the destruction of enemy vehicles. They are often deployed with a Chaos Rhino APC to speed to more advantageous positions.

Squad Deimus (Select Anthrax)
A powerful unit of Iron Warrior veterans that seek to dominate the battlefield. They believe themselves as the standard that all Iron Warriors aspire to.

Squad Icelus (Select Corrosion)
Having served the Grand Company since the Great Crusade, Squad Icelus has seen countless conflicts in numerous battlefields.

Squad Ixion (Select Baetal)
Members of Squad Ixion are culled by Ignus in the aftermath of the True Olympian Uprising.

Squad Morus (Select Syzygy)
Created after the events of Justice Rock, Squad Morus is the ancient squadron originally led by Ignus.

Squad Phobus (Select Shrapnel)
All members of Squad Phobos were inducted into the Cult of Blood by Forneus and became the only squadron of Khorne Berserkers within the Grand Company. After their destruction in the Ashen Crusade, this squad holds new Iron Warriors from Medrengard.

Squad Zelus (Select Entropy)
Specializing in rapid close-combat engagements, Squad Zelus is known for their brutal tactics and fearlessness in the face of enemy onslaught.

VEHICLES:
The ancient vehicles of the Scion of Devastation has seen over ten-thousand years of endless war. Each one is maintained not only by the Dark Mechanicus within Crissaegrim, but also the Iron Warriors themselves, to ensure optimal condition and performance.

Bloodfang
This Predator tank is usually seen with its twin – Frostbite since the Ashen Crusade. It focuses on mobile assault using its Twin-Linked Lascannon.

Cerberus
The most ancient Predator tank of the Scions of Devastation, this anti-infantry tank has been in service since its construction on Olympia during the Great Crusade.

Frostbite
Twin to the Bloodfang, the Iron Warriors was seen deploying this Chaos Predator with its twin towards the end of the Ashen Crusade.

Irondust
The first vehicle of the Scions to undergo daemonic possession, this Vindicator assault tank was declared destroyed by Imperial forces no less than eight times since its first sighting during the Horus Heresy.

Lightstorm
Personal transport of the Irregulator, this now extinct Olympian pattern Land Raider Armoured Proteus was secretly developed by the Iron Warriors on their homeworld. Maintenance of this ancient vehicle is performed only by select members of the Core.

Rook
The standard mobile artillery piece of the Imperial Guard in the 41st Millennium, this corrupted Basilisk tank was heavily modified after salvaging it from Armageddon.

War Beast
Supplied by the Black Legion in the onset of the Thirteenth Black Crusade, this Defiler was first deployed in the Agripinaa Sector.

Great Iron Warrior background and a lot of fluff to make your force unique. I was also reading about a space hulk and a repulsive class grand cruiser...so I'm wondering if you will be making a fleet *My new Grand Company are void-borne as well...but their fluff is going through changes at the moment.

One thing in your fluff makes me curious: Olympia. The Iron Warriors were the ones who unleashed hell upon it when it rebelled before the Heresy itself. It seems strange that they would return to defend it. Most of those places would be in ruins and the population would have already been kill and put into slave stock. Further on you also mention how they loathe the UM and IF for Olympia's destruction and again the IW themselves were the ones to raze it in the first place.

Well, the Iron Warriors are the ones who detonated the missile stockpiles after defending Olympia for around a decade or so during the Great Scouring. Even though they killed the population after Dammaekos rose up again, it is still their home. They also experienced great shock and shame after they realized what they had done.

I basically used the fact that they defended Olympia for so long against Imperial forces as the key to my background. The main problem is that the fluff does not really deal with what the IW felt, as the Horus Heresy immediately broke out. Do you think that the IW would abandon their home? It's certainly interesting to discuss.

Thanks for the feedback!

I cannot believe I forgot about that. On a side note that would be an interesting story to read through.

As long as Abnett is writing it it's all good.