Games Workshop Warhammer 40k - Adeptus Mechanicus Skitarii Rangers/Vanguard

Product Information

Hyspasists: These are the basic tech-guard infantry, and are armed with lasguns. They are more augmented than the normal Imperial Guardsman, and may have received emotional-suppression surgery. [19a]

The Sciritae or Skiritai or Skioreitai or Skioritai ( Greek: Σκιρῖται and Σκιωρεῖται [1]) were a people subject to Sparta, whose status is comparable to that of the Perioeci. A Forge World's Skitarii Legion is divided into a number of macroclades, which are in turn broken down into cohorts and maniples. The vast majority of Skitarii War Cohorts are not borne into battle by armoured machines or aircraft, but simply stride to the front line without stopping, even should they have to start the journey solar months in advance of their allies.

Doctrina Imperatives

Castellan • Colossus • Cataphract • Crusader • Conqueror • Vorax • Hunter-Killer • Thanatar • Scyllax Guardian • Kastelan • Domitar • Arlatax • Vultarax Galvanic Casters also field a secondary concealed discharger capable of blinding enemy targets by burning their retinas through the use of Ignis-charges. The weapon may be augmented with a high-intensity capacitor which further compresses the galvanic charge to propel its slugs at supersonic speed with respectable armour-piercing capabilities. Galvanic Casters are primarily used by Secutarii Peltasts. One who looked for consistency in Skitarii augmentations would be sorely disappointed. A soldier of the Mechanicus may have a punchcard skullslot and leather bellows for lungs, whilst at the same time housing quantum bioware in his brain. In battle, Skitarii fight with near-robotic discipline and base their firing vectors and positioning on mathematical formulae guaranteed to bring about maximum success. While the Imperial Guard focuses on broad sweeping assaults, Skitarii units generally focus on maximizing their strength against vital enemy units and installations. [25] While Skitarii fighters do not require any boost in morale, they do receive regular enhancements from combat drugs that can cause sudden bursts of energy, strength, and regenerative power. However, many of these drugs are extremely dangerous and cause horrific side effects mere minutes after their use. [23] The Forge Worlds of the Adeptus Mechanicus are the cornerstones of their technocratic empire. A single Forge World can provide war materiel sufficient to supply an entire sector. Polluted strata of industry belch smoke from every region not lost entirely to biohazard or schism. Indentured serfs go about their labour like worker ants in a planet-sized hive.

It is in the red-hot guts of the Forge Worlds that the Skitarii Legions are born. Cohorts without number march out to protect the sovereign realm of the Omnissiah. Their sole desire is to bring His illumination to the darkness of the void and transmit every iota of information they uncover, even if it means razing everything in their path. Up to two members in a five-person squad, or three members in a ten-person squad, can replace their Radium Carbines with one of the following: Mindscrambler Grenades - Mindscrambler Grenades harbour the egg-sac of a Cthellan electrogenesis squid. When detonated, the resultant surge of bio-electricity causes heavy neural trauma in living creatures and artificial sentiences alike. Ironstrider Ballistarii are mounted upon the same long-legged combat walkers as their Sydonian Dragoon counterparts, able to walk the most hostile of terrain for years on end without rest. The monotask servitor charged with the duty of steering the Ironstrider is often the first component to fail, its long-suffering body finally wheezing its last. Because of this the Skitarii Vanguard are assigned to the most hazardous war zones the galaxy can offer. They bear this duty stoically and in solemn silence, fighting to the last in the name of their inhuman god.

Wrap-up

War of Recovery (104.M36) - Patchy reports cite technological wonders on the planets of the Mortuam Chain. Hoping precious STC databases can be uncovered, an Explorator fleet replete with macroclades of Skitarii is launched. This begins an escalating war against an Aeldari counter-invasion that lasts over a standard century. Victory is finally won when the Skitarii use the very weapons they recover against the foe, and several first generation, munitions-grade STC databases are returned triumphantly to Mars. As Battleline squads, you can take twice as many Skitarii Vanguard and Rangers as other units in your army, but the benefits don’t stop there. Several other Adeptus Mechanicus units have abilities that improve when they’re near their Battleline comrades – such as Sicarian Ruststalkers, who double their bonus to movement and charge distances from Optimised Gait . This gives Adeptus Mechanicus infantry the feeling of a well-oiled machine. Skitarii War Plate - Skitarii warriors are protected by armoured war plates designed to be worn for several standard years at a time. Secreted under a superdermal layer of ceramite alloy are recombinant cells that harness moisture from the wearer and recycle it. This liquid is transmuted into a gelatinous unguent that coats the inside of the suit, preventing the slow abrasion of the wearer's body whilst affording a measure of protection from the harmful emanations of their own weaponry. Aggressor Imperative goes all-in on a headlong assault into enemy lines, following up a barrage from your Assault weapons by charging full-speed into close combat. Likewise, Bulwark Imperative shores up a critical unit’s defences even further, turning Vanguard and Rangers into immovable objects even as they lay down fusillades of disciplined fire. The Word from the Studio One who looked for technological consistency in Skitarii augmentations would be sorely disappointed. A soldier of the Mechanicus may have a punchcard skullslot and leather bellows for lungs, whilst at the same time housing quantum bioware in his brain.

In the Cyropaedia (IV, 2), Xenophon compares them to the Hyrcanian cavalry, used by the Assyrians as rear-guard. The equipment can vary massively based on which Magos, Mechanicus Organisation or Forge World has raised and equipped them. There is little standardisation or central command of Skitarii across the Mechanicus, as each individual regiment is the personal army of a particular Magos. For example, the Skitarii of the Titan Legion Legio Invicta are gene-bulked humans with weaponised limbs and augmetic armour [4], whereas a different type of Skitarii investigated the dead world of Tarsis Ultra, and were seen to be wearing something similar in both function and design to Terminator armour. [2]

Codex Supplement – Order of Our Martyred Lady

The Skitarii seek to grow ever closer to the Machine God by augmenting their bodies with inviolate metal. Each new wound is a chance for bionic revelation. Such is their fanaticism that even healthy organs and body parts are cut away and replaced. Blessed Raiments - The heavy robes that the Skitarii wear to battle are lined with tiny leaden leech-spheres that absorb harmful energies. Branded above the hem is the Skitarii's squad number and the symbol of the Forge World to which he belongs. Known colloquially as "shivs" to the soldiers of the Astra Militarum due to the shivering, blurring appearance of their Transonic Weapons, Ruststalkers can dart across a battlefield with daunting speed and fight with a frantic energy. The glow from the impact guides his unit's next charge even in the fog of war. Within moments, one so marked is assailed by a stampede of titanium-hard feet and high-yield taser weaponry.