Forgekings

Forgekings armorial with corrupted iconography.

Colour of the Forgekings is similar to most Iron Warriors bar the Orange used sometimes instead of yellow

## Heretic Astartes Warband

### **Affiliation**

Iron Warriors
 Dark Mechanicum

### **Formation**

Horus Heresy. Current form came about in roughly M33

### **Strength**

Unknown, rumoured to potentially have as many as 3,000 Astartes. Believed to have Hundreds of Thousands of Auxilia.

### **Specialisation**

Siege Warfare, Armored Warfare, Daemon Engines

### **Battle Cry**

"For the Forge!" or "Iron Within, Iron Without!"

"*The Forge consumes all. It shall take everything your world has to offer to feed it, and I will use that to forge more of the very things that let me take your world. You should be thanking me. You and your world's worthless existence shall, at last, have meaning, as fuel for the Forge.*"
— Seleukian the Forgeking
The **Forgekings** are a Chaos Warband of Iron Warriors, led by the Warpsmith Seleukian, known as the Forgeking and Warsmith of the 33rd, 55th and 72nd Grand Companies. From their Hell-Forge, the Doomforge, the Forgekings craft numberless war machines, weapons and daemon engines to bolster their ranks and to supply their legion and allies with the weapons to help bring about the destruction of the hated Imperium of Man.

These merciless warriors have committed countless acts of destruction and horror in the 10,000 years since their legion's fall to Chaos.

## Notable Campaigns

* **The Dispute of Iron (ca.600-730.M34)** - Its cause hidden to the eyes of the Imperium, a vast civil war erupts on the Daemon World of Medrengard and rapidly spreads to the other domains of the Iron Warriors. Ancient pacts of fealty and alliance are called upon and scores of Chaos Space Marine warbands, daemons and Traitor Titan Legions are drawn into the maelstrom of relentless battle. This bitter feud is accredited at creating several sub-factions of Iron Warriors still active to the present day, such as the Steel Brethren, while utterly destroying others such as the Shattered Tower. As abruptly as it was begun the war suddenly ended, leading some to believe that the official conflict had been carried out according to the Daemon Primarch Perturabo's design in order to weed out the weak and the unworthy from his scions. During this time the Forgekings manage to not only defend their domain but expand it by subsuming warbands and the 72nd Grand company to double their numbers and the size of its domain. They also manage to forge many new pacts from various warbands.
* **The Wars of Flesh (Unknown Date)** - The transmogrifying daemonic plague known as the Technovirus spreads from Medrengard's deepest dungeons across the worlds of the Eye of Terror. It infects metal construct and mortal bodies alike, turning one to the other and blending warriors with their weapons and wargear until only sentient metal machine things remain. After the resultant conflicts, known as the Wars of Flesh, the nihilistic Cult of Destruction proliferates massively. Obliterators and Mutilators join the ranks of the Iron Warriors in ever greater numbers. Seleukian makes use of these new assets and begins experiments to test the capabilities and limits of the Technovirus.
* **A Tithe Paid -** When the minor Hell-Forge of Zorga refuses to pay its tithe to the Forgekings,
* **The Mundoyast Conflict (700-750.M39) -** Over the span of 50 years the material tithe from the mining worlds of the Mundoyast cluster in the halo stars to the Forge world of Mezoa drop dramatically. Believing that the Mining guilds of Mundoyast are reneging on their pacts, the Forge world sends a fleet to collect its due
* **13th Black Crusade (999.M41)** - The Iron Warriors Traitor Legion deployed in its entirety to take part in Abaddon the Despoiler's 13th Black Crusade against the Imperial Fortress World of Cadia. This resulted in the largest mobilisation of both Imperial and Chaotic forces seen in the Milky Way Galaxy since the Horus Heresy. The Forces of Chaos conquered large portions of Cadia for the first time, but remain trapped on the world by overwhelming Imperial naval superiority in the Cadian Gate. The Forgekings and their allies fight with distinction and brutality.
* **The Grand Siege Begins (Unknown Date.M42)** - In the wake of the birth of the Great Rift, the Daemon Primarch Perturabo unleashes great sieges on heavily fortified Imperial worlds across the galaxy. A vast stream of troops, materiel, vehicles and Daemon Engines flows from Medrengard out into the wider galaxy as the Iron Warriors once more make war upon the hated Imperium. The Doomforge roars to the sounds of the spoils of war fed to it and production reaches unheard-of levels. The Forgekings begin a series of sieges and raids for their Primarch and the Doomforge.
* **The Ruin of Neutrulold (Unknown Date.M42)** - Upon learning of the destruction of the Silver Flames Chapter and the lack of any defenders strong enough to oppose the Forgekings, Seleukian gathers the entire Warband and its immediate allies on the Doomforge, The Dark Mechanicum, the Infernal House Gorgos and even the mighty Warlord Titan the Breaker of Hope, with the aim to quickly claim the populated Hive World of Neutrulold and extract all the material possible. The Forgekings fleet obliterates the defence platforms in a matter of minutes and the entire warband deploys planetside and within 2 weeks the world is conquered. The Forgekings then enslave the population and force them to tear apart and extract everything of value, filling the haulers and transports to bursting with material. Billions die as they are worked mercilessly to death, causing the planets 16 billion population to drop to 3 billion, those survivors are then forced onto the transports to be taken to the Doomforge to work the forges til death, whilst the corpses are loaded up to process into food and other more twisted experiments. When the Optimus Legion arrives they find a world left in utter ruin, with nothing but ash and death remaining.

## Warband Organisation

The Forgekings are made up mostly of the remnants of the 33rd, 55th and 72nd Grand Companies of the Iron Warriors, as well as Renegade warbands that have been absorbed to replenish losses. As such the Organisation of the Forgekings mirrors that of 3 Grand Companies, each Grand Company should in theory be split into 10 Line Companies of 100 Astartes each, meaning the Warband can field up to 3,000 Astartes. However, it is not known if the Warband can truly field these numbers as due to constant war and their location within the Warp makes any attempt to count them impossible. Each company is led by a lesser champion called a Captain, despite the striking similarity to a Space Marine Chapter, there are differences and to even suggest that the Forgekings organisation mirrors a loyalist chapter is to invite a brutal death, or worse yet be made into one of the countless thralls that slave away in the Doomforge.

### Ranks and Formations

The Hierarchy of the Forgekings is almost a mirror copy of the Iron Warriors Legion. However, Seleukian has tweaked it to suite his needs as the master of the Doomforge.

* **The Forgelords -** The Forgelords, are Seleukian's equivalent of the Trident of Perturabo. However, unlike the trident that advised Perturabo on matters of war, the Forgelords are focused on the running of the Hell-Forge and the creation of ever more powerful weapons and engines of war. As such the Forgelords are made up of the 3 best Warpsmiths in the warband, it is they who help keep the forge functioning at full capacity and work besides Seleukian with his experiments.
	+ **Forgelord -** An honourary rank for one of the 3 chosen Warpsmiths who compose the Forgelords.
* **The Tryant Triarchy -** The Tyrant Triarchy is similar to the Forgelords, Seleukian's equivalent of the Trident of Perturabo, however unlike the Forgelords the Tyrant Triarchy advice Seleukian on matters of war. The Tyrant's are focused on keeping the Forgekings a fighting force and in a sense they are far more like the original Trident. The Tyrant Triarchy is open to any champion, unlike the Forgelords, they must simply be the most capable and best of the warband.
	+ **Tryant** - An honourary rank for one of the 3 chosen Champions who comprise the Tyrant Triarchy.
* **Master of Binding** - The Forgekings, like many Heretic Astartes, possess among their ranks Sorcerers, Psykers who wield death, destruction, and mutation, the mightiest powers of the Warp. However, the Forgekings have little use for such Sorcerers and the mutation and instability they inherently attract, and yet they are also crucial to the process of forging Daemon Engines. As such, all Sorcerers of the Forgekings are forced to study the arts and ways of Masters of Possession. In this way, in many regards, Masters of Binding are the Forgekings equivalent of these Daemonkin masters, however, with key differences. For one, little to any of the animosity that usually leads to Warpsmiths and Masters of Possession coming to blows exists, for the Forgeking himself will not accept such quarrelling. In addition, Masters of Binding share a similar view to Warpsmiths and see their skills as the best way to achieve their aims. In addition, they are far more inclined towards making Daemon Engines themselves rather than Possessed. It is these Sorcerers who are tasked with opening the portals and luring the daemon souls needed to forge the horrifying Daemon Engines, without which the Warpsmiths would be unable to. They also help reinvigorate and maintain the Daemon Spirits locked in the engines by ripping apart the soul of a nearby combatant and using the wrathful shreds to reinvigorate the monstrous construct. They also are the leaders of the few groups of Possessed the Forgekings Possess, able to tame and control these monsters far better than any other.
	+ **Dominator** - An honourary rank for one
* **Captain** - As with all large forces of Heretic Astartes, numerous Champions jostle for favour and supremacy, which often leads to a breakdown in organisation and the force becoming more of a collection of Champions and their followers. This is not the case for Forgekings, who, like their parent Legion and its warbands, try to maintain a coherent and effective organisation with varying degrees of success. The Forgekings, under Seleukian's leadership, fall into the far more successful categories. The Organisation of the Forgekings mirrors that of 3 Grand Companies, the 33rd, 55th and 72nd; each Grand Company is, in theory, split into 10 Line Companies of 100 Astartes each. Each line company is led by a champion called a Captain. It is to these Captains that order, and discipline are maintained and enforced, lest the Forgkings devolve into a petty warband. The position is by no means permanent; the Iron Warriors have always been a meritocratic force, with only the most capable, who survive their gruelling wars, being allowed to lead. Thus whenever a more capable champion within a company emerges, he can swiftly take command either by proving his superiority in front of a higher-ranking champion, such as a Tyrant, or by simply waiting for his captain to die in battle. Though more clandestine methods of climbing the ranks, whilst frowned upon, are not unknown.

* **Forgechosen** - The elite of the Forgekings are their Terminator squads known as the Forgechosen, these 150 terminators form the bodyguard of the Forgekings command, as well as the elite shock troops of the warband.
* **Siegebreakers** - The second most elite unit within the Forgekings are the Siegebreakers, these squads of Chosen make up the veteran core of the marines. Numbering 300 they are among the most dangerous and experienced warriors of the warband.
* Doom Scourges - Raptors
* Forge Hounds - Bikers
* Obliterators -
* **Forgekin** - The Forgekings relationship with the warp is not one of reverence, devotion or submission like so many others who have fallen to Chaos. Like their Legion they are not devout worshipers of the Chaos Gods, instead they honour their power and use the benefits offered by allegiance to Chaos to empower themselves rather than worshiping it. Thus the Forgekings seldom make any pacts with daemons or summon them unless they seek more Daemons to imprison within their daemon engines and create more of these monstrosities. However, Possessed
* **Forge Havocs** - Like many Iron Warrior warbands, the Forgekings possess a large number of Havocs. These heavy weapons specialists play a key role in the warband as they are an integral part of the Forgekings' ability to wage Siege and Armoured warfare with the skill that makes them so feared. Somewhat uniquely, the Havocs of the Forgekings are involved in the forging of their weapons, helping to design and craft them. This has the effect of giving the Havocs a sense of strong sense of pride in their weapons, and they constantly seek to improve them and prove their superiority over their fellow Havocs. This difference is

The remainder of the warband are made up of standard marines

### Auxiliaries and Allied Contingents

Like their parent Legion, the Forgekings make extensive use of non-Astartes forces to bolster their numbers. These range from techno-thralls and slaves to Chaos Cults and Traitoris Militarum Regiments. They also often fight alongside elements of the Dark Mechanicum and thus utilise Dark Skitarii and battle automata. They also have been known to utilise Ai machines in their campaigns to horrific and devastating effect.

The Auxilia that the Forgekings possess and utilise are both numerous and varied however

* ***The Varangiaktoi*** - The Elite stormtrooper like soldiers
* **The Helhammers** - The more standard guardsmen like Auxilia
* **The Forgecults** - Cultists
* **The Forgethralls** - Slaves and cultists who have their limbs replaced with robotic ones, like acro-flaglants
* **The Kalakaroi** - The Techno-Barbarian tribes that call the wasteland between the Forges, Fortresses and Hives home, used as shcok troops.

The Dark Mechanicum

* **Dark Skitarii**
* **Mutant slaves and Servitors**
* **Negavolt Cultists**
* **Cybothralls** - Mechslaves are Adeptus Mechanicus Tech-Priests that have been driven insane after being captured by the forces of Chaos. Now nothing more than mindless beasts, when they are unleashed the Mechslaves will heedlessly charge toward their masters' enemies. Only death will stop them, as the Mechslaves will ignore any wounds they suffer, in order to tear their foes apart with their hands and weapon equipped mechadendrites.
* **Robots** - one of the many

The Forgekings make little use of Daemons and warp entities, as they both have neither the means to summon them with ease nor have they forged any pacts with them.

### Vehicles, War Engines and Daemon Engines

Thanks to their control of the Doomforge, the Forgekings have managed to build and gather a truly horrifying arsenal of war machines, so much so that they often trade their surplus to other warbands in exchange for material, slaves, artefacts or pacts of allegiance.

Thanks to the Doomforge's capability to repair and cater to the needs of Knights and even Titans, the Forgekings have been able to forge many pacts with a variety of Traitor Titan Legios and Chaos Knight Houses, as well as numerous Dreadblade's. As such the Forgekings can call upon a number of Titans and Knights to their Campaigns and Raids, enabling them to use of these Gods of Destruction to devastating effect. This also extends to some Chaos Warbands and Renegades who are occasionally similarly called in to aid the Forgekings in their campaigns.

The Forgekings, like many Iron Warrior Warbands, have an incredibly high number of armoured vehicles at their disposal. These include many Rhino Armoured Personnel Carriers, Predator Main Battle Tanks and Vindicator Siege Tanks. Unlike most warbands, who are forced to either rely upon their existing stocks from the heresy, those stolen from loyalists or pacts with the Dark Mechanicum to supply them with these vehicles, the Forgekings can produce all the vehicles they need from the Doomforge. The pacts the Forgekings have with the Dark Mechanicum and their tied Hell-Forges do however provide them with even more vehicles. This means that even amongst the Iron Warriors the Forgekings have a large number of vehicles, often bartering their surplus for more raw materials, workers, artefacts and pacts.

The Forgekings also have an extensive collection of Daemon Engines. The Doomforge is capable of creating all. Seleukian and his Warpsmiths oversee the creation of every new engine

### Units of Renown

***The Hellakataphraktoi*** - Means The Hell Armoured the best of the Forgechosen, the 20 bodyguards of Seleukian himself, made up of two 10 man squads, the Forge Dominators and the Forge Fists

The Hellforged- the most veteran, elite and toughest of the Iron Warrior Veterans within the warband, they all fought on Terra itself and their skill in siege combat and shock attacks are truly terrifying.

The Forge Fists - a squad of 10 terminators originally from The Fists Excelsis Chapter, successors of the despised Imperial Fists, who fell to chaos and were forced into the Eye of Terror, the warband they ended up with was absorbed by the Forgekings and it soon came to light they were descended of the reviled Dorn. Despite this, their skill saw them rise up the ranks and soon Seleukian himself promoted them to his personal bodyguards and they have served with loyal distinction ever since. More out of a sense of survival and the power he has granted them to laud over the Iron Warriors under them than genuine care.

Despite the two squads coming from legions the other despised over the millenia since their formation a begrudging respect and bond has in a way formed. by no means are they a band of brothers, they still dislike and do not trust the other and look down upon them, but an understanding of sorts has grown, one of begrudging acceptance of the skill and reliability of the other, and the mutual task of protecting Seleukian and enforcing his will.

Makhai

The Steel Disciples remnants of a warband

***Breaker of Hope*** - A Warlord class titan

## Warband Headquarters

Unlike many Iron Warrior Warbands, the Forgekings do not call the Daemon World of Medrengard in the Eye of Terror home. Instead they are granted dominion of a powerful Hell-Forge located within the Eye of Terror, the Doomforge.

The Doomforge is a unique Hell-Forge, not controlled by the Dark Mechanicum but instead by the Iron Warriors legion . It is covered with vast hell-forge complexs, each filled with giant soul furnaces, slag pits, factories and assembly chambers. Millions of slaves toil away to keep the forges running, and vast quantities of material are consumed to produce weapons and engines of war. Vast amounts of ammunition are produced to feed the demand of the Iron Warriors, warp-forged vehicles are produced en mass to build up the legion's vast armoured stockpile, Daemon Engines are forged and tamed to serve their masters. These and worse are all created within the Doomforge, all for the Forgekings, the Legion and any who can afford their price.

Being a domain of the Iron Warriors The Doomforge isn't just a forge, it is also a fortress surrounded by battlements and massive towers, these and the defences within the forge itself make the Doomforge difficult to assail. Even more so since Seleukian killed his rival, the Warsmith Orim of the 72nd Grand Company, and incorporated his fortress into the Doomforge, as well as take over his Company, making it the main part of the Doomforges defense network.

Between

## Warband Combat Doctrines

The Forgekings' combat doctrine is similar in many ways to a typical Iron Warriors Warband, which itself is based on the doctrine of the Legion as a whole. A testament to the Iron Warriors' brutal and terrifying skill.

The Forgekings also make extensive use of Daemon engines. In particular, the Forgekings have a bias towards the terrifying Maulerfiends, due to their siege utility and single-mindedness when it comes to their target.

## Warband Gene-Seed

Since turning to Chaos, the Iron Warriors have been subject to varying degrees of mutation due to them long residing within the Eye of Terror and exposure to the corrupting influence of the Warp. They are known to replace mutated limbs with cybernetic ones, with the Forgekings in this regard being no different if not more keen than their parent Legion. The Iron Warriors' gene-seed produces a marked tendency towards suspicion and paranoia within the Astartes of the IVth Legion but also is known to create Space Marines who are extremely intelligent and possess naturally well-developed problem-solving abilities. This later trait serves the Forgekings well as masters of the Doomforge and the forging of the innumerable machines and weapons of war they are renowned for.

Like many of the other Traitor Legions, the Iron Warriors steal the gene-seed of Loyalist Astartes whenever possible since their own gene-seed is now too corrupted by exposure to the Warp to successfully produce new Astartes from human stock reliably. However, this is only done begrudgingly, as the Iron Warriors and their successors possess an inherent hatred for those newly created Heretic Astartes that posses non-Iron Warriors gene-seed. These warriors are often called "half-breeds", and are treated with utter contempt by those who are descended from "pure" Iron Warriors gene-stock. Deemed a necessity due to circumstances, these de-facto second-class warriors are not considered true Scions of Perturabo by the warband's ancient veterans who fought by the Iron Lord's side during the Horus Heresy. Despite their mixed heritage, it is possible for a half-breed to rise in rank or prestige, but it is often extremely difficult, as all but a few their brothers will often resent them for their impure genetic lineage.

Those few who are deemed worthy, and are lucky enough, to be implanted with a rare uncorrupted Iron Warrior gene-seed are by comparison treated like brothers by their fellow "Pure" Iron Warriors. However they are still looked down upon as inexperienced runts who have to show sufficient respect to older and veteran Astartes. Though rising up the ranks is a much easier endeavour for them as they do not have to suffer the discrimination and resentment that Half-breeds are subjected to.

## Warband Beliefs

"*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*"
—The Unbreakable Litany of the IV
Due to their close connection with the Dark Mechanicum, and Seleukian's position as ruler of the Doomforge, the Forgekings are amongst the most innovative of the Iron Warriors, who believe that only through war and the power of the Forge can one become stronger and remove all weakness.

Despite their proclamation of their belief in the Dark Gods and Chaos Undivided, like their Parent Legion, the Forgekings despise the 'Gifts' of the Gods that appear as mutations. To them like the Iron warriors, to be granted "boons" is weakness, for if one cannot accomplish a task without the supposed aid of their deities then they are weak, and the weak are not tolerated. When a mutation appears, the mutated body part is amputated and burned with all haste. The removed body part is then replaced with a cybernetic one crafted at their Hell-Forges. Many often symbolically burn the limb off by putting it into the molten slag of the Doomforge.

## Notable Members

* **Seleukian the Forgeking:** Warsmith and commander of the Forgekings, ruler of the Doomforge
* Echidna Atropos
* Tybos
* Kirak-Phal

### Battleships

***Wrath of Iron*** (Bellatoravia Class Battleship merged with a Legatus sub-class Battle Barge)

***Dooms Fist*** (Battle Barge)

### Grand Cruisers

2 executor Grand Cruisers

1 Repulsive class grand crusier

### Heavy Cruisers

2 styx class heavy Cruisers

2 hellfire Heavy Cruisers

2 hades class Heavy Cruisers

### Cruisers

4 Emasculator Class Cruisers

2 slaughter class cruisers

4 murder class cruisers

4 Carnage class cruisers

4 devastation class cruisers

2 strike cruisers

### Escorts

30 Escort Squadrons of 5 ships each

40 Iconoclasts

20 Infidel Raider

20 Idolator Raider

10 Apostate Class Raider

in addition to help transport the numerous slaves, material and weapons captured during their raids the Forgekings are known to have several hundred corrupted imperial transport ships.

## Warband Relics

* ***The Forgekings Hammer*** - The Forgekings Hammer is a unique and powerful Thunder Hammer used by Seleukian the Forgeking

## Relations

### Allies

The Forgekings accepted and with their Flagship, Wrath of Iron, destroyed the Battle Barge, the Iron Brotherhood strengthened their bond even further with more slaves and material gifted to the Doomforge and making themselves available when the Forgekings whenever they may require. Thus the Brotherhood are considered among the highest and most loyal Warbands the Forgekings cater to.