Armageddon Steel Legion

Armageddon Steel Legions: Representative of the Imperial Guard's more advanced formations, The Armageddon Steel Legions fight as mechanized infantry within Chimera APCs. Armageddon, a planet blighted and poisoned after centuries of industry, is a manufacturing centre and a constant battlesite between the Steel Legions and countless Ork hordes. The soldiers of the Steel Legions require gas masks and trenchcoats to protect them from their toxic homeworld, but equally require a uniform which emphasizes the technologically advanced society which produced them, and thus have a uniform which is a composite of many elements. Parts of the uniform are drawn from British Infantry uniform in WW1 (coats are modelled on the British 1914 Utility Tunic and Gasmasks are of the 1916 Box-Respirator type) & German Paratroops ( Fallschirmjäger )of WWII (helmet designs). This is contrasted with Steel Legion weapons, which are all much more high tech and more portable than comparable Imperial designs - for example, their rifles are 1/2 the size of Cadian weapons, and have folding wire stocks.

There were three wars of Armageddon so far, all of which the steel legion played a major part in. The first war fought for the planet is perhaps the least known, and probably for good reason. Cultists worshiping the Chaos god Khorne broke out in rebellion during a Warp storm. Soon, a great space hulk appeared over the planet, containing none other than Angron, the Daemon Primarch of the World Eaters. the legionairres were the backbone of the defense in the war.

The second invasion of Armageddon was a massive force of Orks in M40.941 led by the mighty Warboss Ghazkull Mag Uruk Thraka. The Overlord of the planet, Herman von Strab, was completely unprepared for the attack, and his own pride and incompetence only made matters worse. Eventually, the defense of the planet was taken over by Commander Dante of the Blood Angels. During the war, an Imperial Commissar named Yarrick, who had been exiled by Von Strab to Hades Hive, led a heroic defense of the hive which was using the steel legion to effectively defend Hades Hive.That eventually distracted Ghazkull, infuriating him enough to send more and more forces against Hades Hive. The battle escalated to such proportions that Ghazkull considered the fight a matter of personal pride, and took command of the forces of Hades himself, blinding him to the other battles on the world. Although the hive eventually fell, the distraction gave the Imperial forces enough time to mount a counterattack that finally broke the back of the Ork invasion force.

Fifty years after his first attempt, Ghazkull Thraka led a second "Waaagh" smashing into Armageddon. Commissar Yarrick and many of the heroes who fought for the planet before were called into battle again. The steel legion was again called up once again to defend thier homes.