"I have erred, and so I must atone.
I lived when I should have died,
For my punishment I must
become Immortal.
My deeds alone remaining."
- — Oath of the Immortals, The Rite of Ferrus Manus
An Iron Hands Medusan Immortal, Morragul Clan-Company (Legionary Name Redacted)
The Medusan Immortals were a specialised unit of the Iron Hands Legion that existed during the Great Crusade and Horus Heresy eras of the 30th and early 31st Millennia.
They were comprised of those Iron Hands Legionaries who had failed to meet their primarch's rigid standards and bleak code of honour in battle.
Whether tasting defeat by the fickle whims of fate or laid low by a wound too terrible to bear, the Medusan Immortals squads represented a forlorn hope, a final chance at glory and redemption.
History[]
An Iron Hands Veteran Sergeant leading his Medusan Immortals Squad in a lethal charge.
During the Great Crusade and Horus Heresy eras, the strength of the Iron Hands pseudo-feudal system of organisation created a highly disciplined and motivated force which both despised and punished failure and weakness.
This created an environment in which the most competent and strongest-willed rose quickly within the ranks, and those who did not make the measure were quickly weeded out.
For those Legionaries who had failed their unforgiving father's rigorous standards, by tasting defeat in battle or being laid low by grievous wounds, there remained only one course of action if their own fame or record did not afford them the license to carry on without the scorn of their brothers; the ranks of the Medusan Immortals.
The Medusan Immortals represented the final chance at glory and redemption for some in the Xth Legion. They would be placed where the fighting was thickest and survival wasn't likely, even for a transhuman Space Marine.
When an Iron Hand was made a Medusan Immortal, their primarch stripped them of rank and title. Reforged, their new calling was a badge of shame to all in their Legion, and they lost their old identities.
Armed and armoured principally as Legion Breacher assault units and featuring a high level of cybernetic rebuild among them, the Immortals bore no symbols of their clan or Legion, save its numeration and the black-on-white death's head symbol which proclaimed their mortal intent.
It was their lot and their pride to fight and die with steadfast, cold fury, never breaking ranks, marching relentlessly into the jaws of hell.
After the Drop Site Massacre of Isstvan V, the ranks of the Medusan Immortals swelled to unprecedented levels, the Legion having split into a number of disparate elements, their primarch dead and the Clan Council slain.
Those declared Medusan Immortals within the notorious Morragul Clan-Company were allowed to fight alongside their brethren, presenting a genuine opportunity to achieve absolution not just in their own eyes, but in the eyes of those they had failed.
Most unusual, the Medusan Immortals of this clan-company were allowed to display the "red talon" icon of the Morragul -- up until this point all Medusan Immortals were stripped of their clan-company markings upon induction.
Unit Composition[]
Dedicated Transport[]
- 1 Land Raider Proteus or Land Raider Phobos
- 1 Spartan Assault Tank (Optional)
Wargear[]
A pair of Medusan Immortals armed with Storm Shields and a Bolter and Graviton Gun respectively
Optional Wargear[]
Optional Wargear (Veteran Sergeant Only)[]
- Plasma Pistol
- Power Weapon
- Single Lightning Claw
- Power Fist
- Thunder Hammer
- Melta Bombs
- Single Breaching Charge
- Artificer Armour
Sources[]
- The Horus Heresy - Book Two: Massacre (Forge World Series) by Alan Bligh, pg. 233
- The Horus Heresy - Book Six: Retribution (Forge World Series) by Alan Bligh, pg. 118
- Meduson (Anthology) by Dan Abnett, David Annandale, John French, Guy Haley, Nick Kyme, Graham McNeill, Gav Thorpe and Chris Wraight
- Forge World - Iron Hands Medusan Immortals