Warhammer 40K: The Iron Hands, Sons of the Gorgon
Why are the Iron Hands are associated with gorgons? Why they are so into cybernetic augments? Time to dive into the lore of the Iron Hands.
The Iron Hands were the X Legion of the twenty original Space Marine Legions, sometimes referred to as the “Iron Tenth”. Their Primarch is Ferrus Manus. Like the other loyalist Legions, much of the Iron Hands forces would later, according to the dictates of the Codex Astartes, be re-organized into smaller Chapters. The Iron Hands are notable for their heavy use of bionics and their reverence for all things mechanical, and thus their close ties to the Adeptus Mechanicus.
Planet Medusa, Home of the Iron Hands
Medusa is positioned near original location of the Eye of Terror. Its landscape is harsh and generally unstable, with massive tectonic shifts occurring on a regular basis. Medusa is not united by any single government, but instead is populated by disparate clans of miners living out of great tracked vehicles travelling in caravans.
There are only two notable locations on Medusa: a volcano known as Karaashi, which was the location of the arrival of Ferrus Manus on the planet, and the Land of Shadows. The Land of Shadows is populated only by ghostly relics of ages past and is said to be haunted by the spirits of Medusans long dead; those who go there only go in order to become supplicants to the Iron Hands’ recruitment process.
Before The Great Crusade
Originally known as the Storm Walkers or Stormwalkers, the legion was created during the latter days of the Unification Wars on Terra. Recruitment bases at this time were spread widely all across the planet, but the warlike cultures of Albia in particular provided effective initiates for the Legion. The Legion’s first instance of recorded combat was in the Sol system against a Mutant warband known as Scythers. Shortly thereafter they exterminated the Xenos Lyasx on the world of Oberath. While the Legion was victorious in both actions, they did not yet seem to specialize in any area of warfare. It was only during the invasion of the Ork-held Planet 02-34 (designated ‘Rust’) that the Legion’s effectiveness in utilizing slow-moving mass firepower became apparent.
In the first years of the Great Crusade, the Legion earned great renown for its bellicose and combined arms strategies that were used in conjunction with the Excertus Imperialis. They would lead Imperial Army auxiliaries in making planetfall en masse and digging in (the storm). Next came a massed armored thrust of the Legion’s tanks, Dreadnoughts, and heavy infantry (the hammer). This became known as the “Hammer and the Storm”, and was the origin for their original name of Storm Walkers. The Legion became known for its cooperation with the Imperial Army, effective leadership, and strategic prowess.
Ferrus Manus – The Primarch’s Arrival
The Primarch of what would later officially become the Iron Hands, Ferrus Manus (also known as “The Gorgon”), was among the first of the Emperor‘s sons to be rediscovered. The early history of Ferrus Manus is chronicled in the folklore of Medusa. The most popular of these tales is the “Canticle of Travels“, which details the trials of Ferrus Manus and his ordeal with the Great Silver Wyrm known as Asirnoth. The Canticle is the only tale that even attempts to explain the mystery of how Ferrus Manus came by his living metal hands. Ferrus Manus never united the people of his homeworld in the way most of the other Primarchs had, on the basis that competition grew greater strength. When the Emperor eventually came to Medusa, Ferrus Manus tested himself against him as well in a cataclysmic battle that is said to have lain waste to entire mountains. Finally having found someone his equal, Ferrus accepted the Emperor as his master and took command of the X Legion of Space Marines, which was renamed the Iron Hands in his honor.
With the Gorgon at their head, the Iron Hands quickly became renowned for their ability to confront enemies of the Great Crusade head-on, gaining a reputation as ruthless and calculating fighters. They excelled at high-intensity warfare against both technologically advanced foes and brutal xenos such as Orks whose sheer power and vast numbers constituted a grave threat to the success of the Crusade. Soon enough, the Iron Hands became known as the Iron Tenth and were deliberately deployed to battlefronts where set-piece engagements against massed armies were likely. As their battle style required advanced war engines, the Iron Hands began to establish their notoriously close ties with the Adeptus Mechanicus, whose culture was astonishingly similar to their own.
Post Heresy Bionics
The Iron Hands are infamous for their extensive use of bionics, which has helped bring them into a close relationship with the Adeptus Mechanicus. After the Horus Heresy, when the Legions were reorganized into Chapters, the Iron Hands became recluses, attempting to find ways to make themselves even stronger so that they would be fit for serving under Ferrus Manus again at the end of times.
Many within the Chapter consider flesh to be a sign of weakness, and seek to expunge it from themselves through mechanical enhancement. To this end, they have made it a practice to make extensive use of bionic modifications, going so far that there are rumors of some battle brothers being wholly mechanical. Iron Hands consider the greatest honor they can receive is to be interred in Dreadnought armor. It is in the so-called Blessing of Iron ritual that the Iron Hands replace parts of their bodies with Bionics.
For More on the Iron Hands be sure to check out the Lexicanum!
