Iron Warriors - The Price of Victory: The IVth Legion from their earliest days operated with determined and disciplined force, as solid and unyielding as the metal that they would later take as part of their name.They were known to be among the more technologically-able and proficient Legions by inclination -- although were overshadowed in this somewhat by the Xth Legion (the Iron Hands) during the Great Crusade's early years -- and preferred to strike always from a position of overwhelming superiority where able, bringing maximum force directly to bear on a foe.As its role developed as a main-line fighting force, often shouldering the brunt of extended combat operations, the IVth Legion put increasingly great store by the formulation of pre-battle strategy in detail and the use of massive, focused bombardment as a precursor to attack: the calculation of fields of fire, the use of high-intensity shelling, and the deployment of heavy armour and mechanised forces to spearhead attacks became the IVth Legion's stock-in-trade.In order to serve this bias, the IVth Legion also amassed the largest dedicated artillery train of perhaps any Legion in the Great Crusade's history.But while these tactics spoke of a cerebral, pragmatic and calculated approach to warfare, it was equally true of the Legion that once the battle had commenced, they would not relent from their attack for anything save direct order from the highest level to withdraw, even if suffering sudden reversals of fortune or unexpectedly high -- even staggering -- casualties.This bitter stubbornness grew over time within the IVth Legion, and became a point almost of pride with them -- they refused to fail, regardless of the cost in lives, and were determined to claw victory against any odds by sheer dint of discipline and firepower.As the Legion's victories, often unsung, were many, so was their price high. This seeming paradox of pronounced reliance on rationality and intellect set against infrequent but telling episodes of bloody-minded stubbornness in the Legion's behaviour was never more apparent than during the liberation of the war-torn Forge World of Incaladion in a gruelling campaign lasting between 842-843.M30.Although victory was at last achieved, the war would see the near-annihilation of the 8th Expeditionary Fleet's frontline forces in what was arguably a needlessly costly fashion.In the aftermath, several critical voices in the Imperial Court and among the primarchs opined that defeat had been deliberately courted by the IVth Legion in order to prove that they alone could do what was asked of them, no matter the odds.During this battle, the Legion refused to withdraw from the field after an initial assault unravelled spectacularly in the face of unprecedented and unexpected enemy counterattack; they fought on regardless, adhering to a battle plan already in tatters.Nearly 29,000 of their number fell in the single engagement before enemy forces were worn down by bloody attrition, including many of the Legion's most veteran units, making the battle one of the most costly of its age for the Imperium.What remained of the IVth Legion after Incaladion was a Legion no longer in favour and without a primarch yet to speak of. By the end of that decade, it is perhaps accurate to say that the IVth Legion's star had waned greatly as others rose.Incaladion had cast a pall over the IVth Legion's early successes and seen many of their most senior commanders slain, as well as the wholesale slaughter of over two million mortal Imperial Army soldiers under their command.While once the IVth Legion had been amongst the most numerous of the Space Marine Legions, constant warfare and attrition had eroded their numbers -- not dangerously to their existence, as the IVth Legion's gene-seed continued to prove to be of the highest quality as far as ease of implantation went -- but at least to the point where several others had since eclipsed them in size and range, while certain other Legions, most notably the Luna Wolves and Dark Angels, outshone them in the glory and in the majesty of their conquests.It was to this IVth Legion, damaged, disabused and without a clear direction of its own, that their primarch finally came.