Imperial Robots - Robot Patterns: Baharat- The Baharat-class robot was designed for battling many unarmored foes at once. Standing at four metres tall, it is a mass of metal and muscle with two shoulder-mounted rotary Autocannons, its featureless facemask looking down upon its foes as it mows them down with an unrelenting barrage.Castellan - The Castellan-class robot was designed for general-purpose combat and assault and is also ideally suited for a wide-range of battlefield situations. It is armed with a Power Fist on each arm as well as a Heavy Bolter mounted above its chassis for additional protection and ranged firepower. This standard configuration makes it particularly effective in siege and anti-vehicle roles, and provides an effective compliment to heavy weapon armament.Castellax - The most common pattern of the widespread Castellan-type Battle-Automata in service, the Castellax is a general battle unit developed during the Great Crusade from its ancient forebear. Primarily intended for siege work and shock assaults, the Castellax Battle-Automata is a hulking humanoid machine with a notoriously aggressive and responsive Machine Spirit, and an enviable reputation on the battlefield. The Castellax, employed in units of one to five by the Legio Cybernetica, has a standard configuration of bolter and Bolt Cannon armament, and is able to maintain a punishing barrage of firepower as it advances.Castellax-Achea - Never ones to squander their Legion's ranks in bloody attrition or vainglorious frontal assaults, the Thousand Sons Legion, and indeed their primarch Magnus the Red, had long acknowledged the usefulness of the unliving might of Battle-Automata as obedient, resilient and ultimately expendable shock assault units. As with every other facet of warfare, the use of such Battle-Automata was something the Thousand Sons believed they could improve upon with the application of their psychic arts as a method of control and perhaps direct augmentation, freeing them potentially from the need for the techno-arcane lore of the ancient Mechanicum to be directly called up in these machines' construction and fielding. That such research had long been considered a "heretek anathema" to the Mechanicum was a factor ignored, as was so much else in the Thousand Sons' hubris, and with the assistance of near-Renegade elements from the isolated Forge World of Zhao-Arkhad, their early experiments had yielded fruit in the form of a custom-designed Castellax variant of their own specifications in the last years before their censure. Designed to be psychically responsive with a certain degree of self-will, eliminating the necessity for cortex controller-equipped superiors, the Castellax-Achea Pattern utilised a crystalline cogitator matrix charged with an intricate web of psychic energies woven from the stuff of the Immaterium. Pure tech-blasphemy according to the doctrines of the Omnissiah and the laws of the Imperium both, these esoteric devices give the Castellax-Achea the ability to be seamlessly manipulated like puppets under a psyker's remote control, and a limited self-will, allowing it to recognise friend from foe with reasonable accuracy when not under direction.Cataphract - The Cataphract-class robot is a heavily-armoured, general-purpose battle robot designed for use in almost all combat environments and situations. This versatility in a wide range of battlefield roles makes this war engine a highly-deployable and popular machine among the Legio Cybernetica's cohorts. This robot can mount a variety of weapons for various purposes, the most common being one lascannon above its chassis and a bolter mounted on one arm and one Flamer mounted on the other. It is often regarded by some Imperial commanders as a jack-of-all-trades.Colossus - The Colossus-class robot was designed to function primarily as a siege weapon. Its standard configuration combines a Siege Hammer mounted one of its arm appendages for attacking fortifications with a bolter mounted on its other arm appendage for use against defending troops. The Siege Hammer can also be used in close combat situations. It also possesses a chassis-mounted Multi-Melta for additional firepower. The Colossus is often employed by the Astra Militarum as a cheap alternative to the use of heavy artillery. A few Colossus-class robots are maintained by the Ordo Reductor of the Adeptus Mechanicus, mainly for testing new and experimental siege weaponry.Conqueror - The Conqueror-class robot was designed for use in battlefield situations where heavily-armed resistance is expected. Its combination of potent firepower combined with heavy armour is a major benefit of its design. On one of its arms is mounted an Autocannon, on the other a Power Fist. Above its chassis is mounted a Heavy Bolter for additional firepower. The Conqueror is ideally suited for assault, anti-vehicle and anti-Dreadnought roles on the battlefield.Arlatax - The Arlatax Pattern was a venture of the Xanite Mechanicum to improve upon the ancient Conqueror Pattern STC-derived robot and whose development is believed to have heavily influenced the final design-schematics of the later Domitar Pattern. Suspicious from the start of this new development of the priesthood of Xana II, the Priesthood of Mars never cleared the Arlatax for mass-production, and so this pattern only saw use within the Taghmata forces of its home Forge World of Xana II and other outlying Forge Worlds such as Atar-Median and Incaladion.Domitar - Accorded by most observers to be the last class of Battle-Automata to enter production on multiple Forge Worlds before the outbreak of the civil war of the Horus Heresy, the Domitar was a sophisticated variant of the ancient Conqueror Pattern. Larger than the more common Castellax alongside which it would serve, the Domitar was also swifter, designed to cross the open battlefield at speed, and built expressly to crash into the enemy with shattering force. To this end the Domitar's shock-protected and armoured frame was itself a weapon, while its blows were amplified to colossal proportions by the Battle-Automata's built-in Graviton Hammers, allowing it to pulverise battle tanks and, as it would later prove, even Legiones Astartes Dreadnoughts in combat. As a line-breaker, the Domitar was unparalleled in the ancient Mechanicum's arsenal, and its tactical flexibility was further augmented with a Missile Launcher armed with a variety of munitions.Domitar-Ferrum -The Domitar Ferrum Pattern was a notable evolution of the initial Domitar-class that saw exclusive use within the ranks of the Iron Warriors Legion. Following the Battle of Phall, when the flagship of the IV Legion, the Iron Blood, came under attack by the Imperial Fists and a kill-squad actually managed to break through and threaten Primarch Perturabo, the Lord of the Iron Warriors modified six Domitar-class Battle-Automata to form his personal honour guard, which quickly earned the moniker of the "Iron Circle." The Domitar-Ferrum Pattern had been thoroughly modified by the hands of the primarch himself and incorporated many technologies not available to the ancient Mechanicum. For instance, the Domitar-Ferrum replaced its built-in Missile Launcher with a shoulder-mounted Olympia Bolt Cannon, a weapon believed to have been developed by Perturabo from the Castellax-class Battle-Automata's Mauler Pattern Bolt Cannon. More importantly, being intended for use as untiring and ever vigilant bodyguards for the primarch himself, the Ferrum Pattern eschewed the use of both its Graviton Hammers for a single Graviton Maul and a great Karceri Battle Shield, a massive Storm Shield adapted to the colossal size of the Domitar-Ferrum. Throughout the wars of the Horus Heresy, Pertuarbo steadily modified a great quantity of Battle-Automata, so that maniples of the Domitar-Ferrum could readily be encountered across several battlefields, the towering robots acting as protectors and executioners of the primarch's will.Crusader - The Crusader-class robot is designed for agility, as it can move quickly on the battlefield and strike a telling blow. It is a light combat robot, and it is poorly armoured. It is most often employed in an anti-personnel mode, and has proven to be very popular with the forces of the Inquisition and other groups like the Adeptus Arbites, due to its effectiveness in mutant-hunter/killer operations. The Crusader is never used where heavy resistance or strong concentrations of enemy armour are expected. The Crusader is typically armed with dual Power Swords on each arm, and a chassis-mounted Lascannon.Vorax - The Vorax-class Battle-Automata is a hunter-killer unit created from the ancient and revered Crusader template pattern said to date back to the Dark Age of Technology and which may be found on every major Forge World in the Imperium. Created on pre-Imperial Mars to fulfil the roles both of search and destroy weapon and exterminator of rogue thinking machines, servitors and mutant vermin, their Cybernetica cortex engrams are known to be particularly predatory and vicious examples of their kind. Such are the bestial instincts that sleep within their blast-steel and ceramite bodies that numerous cut-outs and override cantos are hard-wired into their control programming to prevent these tireless hunting machines from devolving into becoming like the renegade thinking machines they prey upon in the shadows of the great forge-fanes on Mars. Armed with a pair of Rotor Cannon and a Lightning Cannon, the Vorax are prepared to meet most threats. At close quarters their battle-automata power blades make short work of even heavily-armoured infantry units.Kastelan - A huge, ancient robot class first built ten thousand standard years ago, the Kastelan robot is a perfect example of the Adeptus Mechanicus' repurposing of technology. Nearly unstoppable, their only flaw is that of any mere machine: they will follow instructions to the letter, even if this results in their own demise. A specialist Tech-priest -- the Cybernetica Datasmith -- must constantly update and reprogram the Kastelan via order data-slates, lest this enormous, clanking robot simply stride blindly into a nearby chasm. Make no mistake, however; when its controls are set to destroy, the Kastelan will eliminate whatever lies in its path. Kastelan robots are armed with multiple potential weapon load-outs, such as two sets of Power Fists or a pair of twin-linked Phosphor Blasters, and a choice of carapace-mounted weaponry, either an Incendine Combustor or yet another Phosphor Blaster.Scyllax-Guardian - No larger than an armoured man, the Scyllax Guardian Automata demonstrates formidable power in a more compact frame. These sophisticated machine-creatures are neither a true Battle-Automata, lacking a cybernetic neural cortex, nor are they a true servitor-class automata as their organic component is almost negligible, reduced to the ossuary skulls and Human neural tissue harvested from sources best left unknown. Their armoured carapaces, as durable as Adeptus Astartes battle-plate, house instead powerful electrothermic reactors and banks of lucid cogitator-stacks that process a storm of battlefield analysis engrams and protective tech-incantations, a system so potent some claim it borders on the blasphemy of the Silica Animus. Prized far beyond the servo-automata from which they were developed using ancient secrets uncovered during the Great Crusade, Scyllax are found in the retinues of only the highest ranking magi, where they serve as bodyguards and elite shock troops. Though there are some factions within the Adeptus Mechanicus who will have no truck with the Scyllax, claiming sinister provenance for its design, and that the Automata gain a subtle and dangerous self-awareness over time.Thanatar - The Thanatar-class Siege Automata is a heavy class Imperial robot utilised by the Legio Cybernetica during the Great Crusade and Horus Heresy eras. Designed as a mobile artillery platform rather than a general battle unit, it is armed with a Hellex Pattern Plasma Mortar. This is a terrifying weapon able to launch dense spheres of blazing plasma on arcing trajectories over defensive barriers and into the heart of enemy fortifications, incinerating anything in their blast radius with a liquid tide of sun-hot fire. The Thanatar's frame, built to accommodate the huge weapon and the power systems and fuel reserves required to supply it, is considerably larger than even the hulking Castellax-class Battle Automata. Its frame is also heavily reinforced, both to withstand the stresses of firing its principal weapon and to protect it from incoming attacks. This factor, alongside the use of an Atomantic Shield array, make Thanatars notoriously durable. Such is their resilience that Thanatars are beyond the ability of most small arms, no matter how advanced, to harm. It is not known if this particular class of heavy-siege Automata is still utilised by the mysterious Legio Cybernetica in the late 41st Millennium.Thanatar-Calix - A variant of the Thanatar-class Siege-Automata developed during the latter part of the Great Crusade, rumours persisted that this extraordinarily powerful variant of the Thanatar was the work of the combined efforts of the Sollex Myrmidon and Omega-Shevar covenant of the Ordo Reductor, alongside unknown representatives of the Legio Cybernetica. The Thanatar-Calix combines the deadly tech-arcana of all three of these secretive ancient Mechanicum factions into a single, devastating weapons platform geared towards the vanguard of siege assault warfare, able both to sunder the strongest fortifications in moments and conduct targeted strikes to neutralise defensive batteries or turret emplacements with the lethal fire of its Sollex Heavy Lascannon. These rare Siege-Automata were held as sacred by the Mechanicum Taghmata and Ordo Reductor covenants which fielded them, as well as signs of particular prestige within the Cult Mechanicus, and were seldom committed to battle without supporting escorts of lesser Battle-Automata and Guardian-Automata in the field to protect them in their perilous duties.Thanatar-Cynis - Unlike the lauded Thanatar-Calix, this variant of the potent Thanatar-class Siege Automata, known as the Cynis, was met from its creation by the magi of Estaban III with ill-fortune and acrimony. An unashamed attempt by the Mechanicum faction on Estaban to increase their power within the order of the Machine God's domains, the Cynis was intended to replicate the Thanatar Siege-Automata on a wider scale. By doing so, the magi of Estaban perhaps hoped to further usurp the sometimes troublesome Forge World of Ryza's importance in the eyes of the fabricator-general of Mars. Without Ryza's mastery of plasma-arcana however, the Cynis proved an unstable and often self-destructive design, despite its obvious battlefield power; its Machine Spirits were equally believed to be erratic and malevolent by those adepts whose task it was to tend them. Regardless, the fabricator-general approved its design over the strong objectives of Ryza, worsening the feud which had broken out between Ryza and Estaban III, although the production of the class was far less successful than hoped. Accusations of sabotage and malifica by the magi of Estaban III on the covert agents of Ryza were commonplace before the outbreak of the Horus Heresy, and when Estaban III declared for the Traitors and Ryza the Loyalists, bitter blood could at last be settled with iron and fire.Vultarax - Although most Battle-Automata are land-based, the Adeptus Mechanicus also makes use of flying Battle-Automata, or Stratos Battle-Automata in the nomenclature of the Taghmata Omnissiah. The Vulturax Pattern Stratos Battle-Automata was the most common of these flying robotic units at the time of the Great Crusade. The design had originally been developed during the Age of Strife on the Forge World of Anetarbraxus which was later destroyed in the Great Mandragoran Incursion. Fortunately for the Adeptus Mechanicus, the Vulturax's schematics had been gifted as a tribute to the Martian Mechanicum which would disseminate the design throughout its domains. The Vulturax Stratos Battle-Automata is a powerful and well-armed flying machine capable of fulfilling diverse battlefield roles such as heavily armed scout, dedicated hunter-killer or rapid response unit. This versatility made the design quite popular amongst Mechanicum Explorator expeditions. Many Imperial scholars have also remarked upon the many similarities the Vulturax shares with the Daemon Engines later known as Blight Drones.Other Classes - The Legio Cybernetica also operated many other classes of Battle-Automata, including the Lamba Zeta-01 Combat Class Robot, the Delta Omega-03 Combat Class Robot, and the Rho-Tau 17 Surveillance Class Robot.