Aquilon Terminator Squad

An Aquilon Terminator Squad of the Tharanatoi, armed with Solerite Power Gauntlets and deadly Adrathic Destructors.

An Aquilon Terminator Squad was a specialist formation of veteran Custodians that served in the ancient Legio Custodes, the elite bodyguard of the Emperor of Mankind, during the Great Crusade and Horus Heresy eras.

Squadrons of Aquilon Custodians are still deployed by the Adeptus Custodes of the 41st Millennium.

This elite formation was arrayed in formidable Aquilon Pattern Terminator Armour, a more complex form of standard Cataphractii Pattern Terminator Armour that possessed additional integrated power systems and capacitors.

To augment their formidable armour they had access to a deadly array of weaponry, including Solerite Power Gauntlets, Adrathic Destructors, Lastrum Storm Bolters or Infernus Firepikes.

History

A pair of Legio Custodes Aquilon Terminators storm through a breach during the Great Crusade.

Although the Tactical Dreadnought Armour project was conceived first and foremost for the use of the Legiones Astartes, it was inevitable given the success of Terminator Armour that its principles could also be adapted for Legio Custodes use. The first pattern developed was what became known as Aquilon Armour. Advancing yet further upon the Cataphractii Terminator Armour patterns, the Aquilon Pattern takes into account the enhanced physique of the Legio Custodes as being able to bear more weight and strain than even a Space Marine, and so is fitted with additional integrated power systems and capacitors which make up for some of the limitations of the origin pattern. This allows for the Cataphractii Terminator Armour's famous durability to be retained in the Aquilon Pattern, but with a degree of speed and manoeuvrability the former lacks.

Within the ranks of the Legio Custodes, Aquilon Terminator Sodalities were employed rarely but as need dictated, particularly on those rare occasions where the Legio Custodes were required to operate under conditions designated as "Zone Mortalis" or required to storm a breach. In such operations, the Legio was loathe to risk unwarranted loss of life, and the superior defences of the Aquilon Terminator Armour was relied upon to mitigate the risk as much as possible as well as provide a platform for mobile heavy firepower.

Role

A Legio Custodes Aquilon Terminator Squad battling the Traitor Legions of the Warmaster Horus during the Siege of Terra

Aquilon Terminator Squads were primarily found within the ranks of the Tharanatoi, the counter-assault forces of the Legio Custodes. Though there were few opponents that the Hykanatoi caste of Custodians could not deal with, they were not a rounded military force in the sense that they were not configured to deal with exigencies such as siegecraft or attrition warfare that fell outside their purview.

However, the Legio Custodes still maintained the ability to deploy its forces as heavy shock troops should the need arise, or indeed to counter a foe that directed overwhelming force against it in high-intensity warfare.

The Tharanatoi caste encompassed custom-modified suits of Terminator Armour optimised for use by the Custodian's transhuman frame, as well as vastly potent portable firepower such as carried by the Sagittarum Guard, whose weapons include those few dark relics known as Adrathic Weapons -- disintegration beams of phenomenal destructive potential, long gathered to the Emperor's household and entrusted to no other.

Unit Composition

• 3-10 Aquilon Terminators (Great Crusade and Horus Heresy eras)
• 3-6 Aquilon Custodians (41st Millennium)

Wargear

An Aquilon Terminator Squad armed with Solerite Power Talons and Infernus Firepikes.

• Aquilon Terminator Armour
• Lastrum Storm Bolter
• Solerite Power Gauntlet
• Misericordia

Optional Wargear

Any Aquilon Terminator may exchange their Solerite Power Gauntlet for the following:

• Solerite Power Talon

Any Aquilon Terminator may exchange their Lastrum Pattern Storm Bolter for one of the following options:

• Twin-Linked Adrathic Destructor
• Infernus Firepike

The entire squad may be equipped with any of the following options:

• Teleportation Transponders (Horus Heresy era only)
• Arae-Shrikes (Horus Heresy era only)

Dedicated Transport

• Coronus Grav-Carrier (Available only if an Aquilon Terminator Squad numbers six Custodians or less).

Sources

• The Horus Heresy - Book Seven: Inferno (Forge World Series) by Alan Bligh, pp. 116, 261
• Forge World Webstore - Legio Custodes Aquilon Terminators
• Forge World Webstore - Legio Custodes Aquilon Terminator Squad
• Forge World Webstore - Legio Custodes Aquilon Terminators with Infernus Firepikes
• Forge World Webstore - Aquilon Terminator Armoured Assault Force
• Forge World Custodes Datasheets