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

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The Ruststalkers were originally devised as cybernetic assassins, sent into the Red Planet's wastes to hunt down feral servitors and other undesirables excommunicated from the Cult Mechanicus. They proved so effective at their task they were repurposed and militarised into groups known as "killclades." Your upgraded arc weapons are now more reliable against enemy vehicles. They increase their damage and always wound on a 4+ if they’re targeting anything from battle tanks to ork buggies. The arc rifle has also received a Range boost, and both it and the pistol have higher AP than previously – perfect for zapping whatever gets in your way.

Arc Lance - The Arc Lance is the signature weapon of Secutarii Hoplite phalanxes and bears many resemblances to the far larger weapons carried by the Cerastus Knight-Lancer. An Arc Lance is essentially a close-combat weapon that delivers short-range blasts of coruscating electromagnetic energy which also gives it limited ranged capabilities. As it is usually carried in combination with a Mag-Inverter Shield, the lance's power and strength is further augmented by the kinetic energy absored by the shield, so that every shot fired at the Secutarii augments its offensive capabilities. To face a Skitarii Legion is to fight against warriors that are less than human, and yet far more deadly. As with so much of the Cult Mechanicus' business, the truths of the Skitarii's creation are kept a close secret. Most Skitarii are born into the service of the Mechanicus either as natural-born human menials of the Cult Mechanicus who are cybernetically-enhanced specifically to serve as Skitarii or they are genetically-engineered clones or vat-born humans who are cybernetically enhanced from the moment of their accelerated "birth," much like certain types of Servitors. Others are repurposed from mind-wiped convicts or warriors handed over as punishment for failure or desertion. At first their victims, ranging from pirate warbands to xenos warhosts, can slip the net of Skitarii gunfire easily enough. If they flee far enough, solar months will pass, even standard years -- long enough that the terror of the initial engagement is all but forgotten.The Skitarii are the bionic heart of the Adeptus Mechanicus' infantry legions. Their tireless ranks defend the Forge Worlds of the Imperium, annihilate the enemies of the Tech-priests, and fight at the vanguard of the Quest for Knowledge. As the technocracy of the Cult Mechanicus extends its reach into the stars, the cybernetic Skitarii are always at the fore. So lethal is this offshoot of sonic technology that the Tech-priests have refined it into many different forms. These range from stiletto-swift razors to the much-feared Chordclaw, a needle-fingered gauntlet capable of turning a man's flesh to quivering mulch. 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]

Almost imperceptibly, it grows closer and closer -- and then the darkness lights up with the blazing of gunfire. The Skitarii, for whom the original engagement never ended, close in again and again until the deed is done. Whatever perils they face, the Skitarii march falters not. Sagitarii: These are the heavy weapon operatives. These only include dedicated heavy weapons squads, as heavy weapons attached to Hyspasist squads are still called Hyspasists. [32] Relics of Mars - Relics of Mars are items of terrifying power that are sometimes bestowed upon a Skitarii Alpha or Sicarian Princeps by a senior tech-priest for them to field test. As with so much of the Cult Mechanicus' business, the truths of the Skitarii's creation are kept a close secret. Some are vat-grown or cloned, whilst others are repurposed from mind-wiped convicts or warriors handed over as punishment for failure or desertion. Regardless of origin, all find a fanatical faith in the Omnissiah soon after their inception. It is then that their true transformation begins.They were often tied to the service of a specific forge city on Mars or one of the other Forge Worlds. They differed from the standard Skitarii in several small ways, most notably because their faces were covered by a bronze skull mask with glowing green eyes and they were dressed in red robes the colour of old rust. They were noted to smell of spoiled meat and machine oils. The first Sydonians settled a vast cratered area of Mars swathed in dense acidic mist. In the schisms that haunted Mars' past, those with stilt-augmetics could stalk these mists and yet live, their elevation allowing them to escape the worst effects of the acidic fog whilst remaining hidden from the enemy. The Secutarii share a common ancestry with the Skitarii Legions as they were both founded on sacred Mars in a time that largely predates the foundation of the Imperium of Mankind. But where the Skitarii are directly bound in service to their home Forge World or the heavily augmented Thallaxii serve only the Ordo Reductor, the Secutarii were created specifically to serve as honour guards and protectors of the ancient Mechanicum's most powerful weapons: the God-engines of the Collegia Titanica. While on the battlefield the power of the Titans is absolute, their sheer scale and prominence leads to certain vulnerabilities, vulnerabilities the Secutarii are designed to counter. The foremost of their roles are to provide close protection and defence of the Titans from covert assaults, infiltration attempts and ambushes, especially when the Titans are not in the field, but resupplying behind the frontline. Yet, it is also the Secutarii's sacred duty to accompany the Titans on the battlefield and keep them from being overrun by ground troops, for despite their unsurpassed power of destruction, even a Titan can fall if it is beset at close range by a well-armed and determined infantry force, much like a mighty beast ultimately brought low by the stings of venomous insects.

Twin Transonic Blades - Stiletto-swift weapons wielded in pairs, Transonic Blades are a form of Transonic Weapon that augments the user's own strength to devastating effect. Though it would never even occur to the Ballistarii to boast of such kills, their Tech-priest masters ensure their deadly accuracy is well known across the Imperium. The Skitarii Vanguard, known informally as "rad-troopers," bring the baleful touch of the Tech-priests to the far corners of the galaxy. They fight in the most inhospitable conditions possible, for over the many civil wars waged by the Cult Mechanicus, the Vanguard have learned not only to endure baleful energies, but to weaponise them. The tech-priests of the Adeptus Mechanicus revere ancient technology such as the robots of the Legio Cybernetica, which are held in greatest regard, but the same cannot be said for the troops of the Skitarii Legions, who are churned out on uncaring production lines. The Dark Fate of Vheinos (221.M32) - When the Astropathic Choir falls silent upon the Civilised World of Vheinos, Forge World Lucius sends its Skitarii to investigate at gunpoint. The resultant rebellion sees heresy spread like wildfire, just as the Tech-priests had calculated. Within solar days the Skitarii find themselves outnumbered eighty to one -- a ratio high enough to trigger rad warfare protocols. A solar month later the Skitarii leave the planet a lifeless wasteland, its Astropathic duct excised and permanently relocated to one of Lucius' moons.Arc weapons fire coruscating, well, arcs of electricity across the battlefield, frying opponents alive and messing with the systems of vehicles as holy energy courses through them. Just think loud zaps and the smell of burnt metal (and flesh and hair… eww).