Legion Breacher Siege Squad

A Pre-Heresy Iron Hands Astartes who served in one of its Legion Breacher Siege Squads. Note that he is outfitted in Mark III Iron Power Armour and possesses a Boarding Shield.

A Legion Breacher Siege Squad was a specialised formation of the ancient Space Marine Legions used during the Great Crusade and Horus Heresy eras in the late 30^th and early 31^st Millennia.

Breacher Siege Squads utilised specialised tactics and wargear for the explicit purpose of acting as a vanguard assault force in the worst combat conditions imaginable and in the direst of war zones, known to the Legions as "Zones Mortalis" for the sheer likelihood of death faced by any who were forced to fight within them.

History

A Pre-Heresy Imperial Fists Phalanx Warder Breacher Squad Veteran Sergeant in Mark III Iron Power Armour.

The most harzardous and desperate spheres of warfare such as boarding actions amid the cold void of space and the forlorn hope of the first wave of attackers into a breached fortress often proved lethal beyond endurance, even for the warriors of the Legiones Astartes.

For this reason, since the early days of the Great Crusade, specialised forms of wargear and tactics had been under continuous development to cope with these "Zones Mortalis." Several of the Legions, such as the Imperial Fists, World Eaters and the Iron Warriors, had even made these bloody modes of warfare their particular concern.

Breacher Siege Squads were units of Space Marines equipped with specialised arms and employing specially customised and augmented suits of hardened Power Armour, usually variants of the Mark III Iron Pattern, modified by the Legion's Techmarines to better withstand the rigours of siege warfare, lethal environments and close-quarters boarding actions in space.

Breacher Siege Squads often employed heavy ablative shields to resist enemy fire and specialised breaching charges and lascutters to bypass bulkheads and shatter internal strongpoints.

The servos and power systems of their armour were often overstrained as a result of these modifications, and required constant extensive maintenance between battles.

This deficiency was one of the factors that ultimately led the Mechanicum to undertake the Tactical Dreadnought Armour development project in the last years of the Great Crusade.

Unit Composition

• 9-19 Legion Breacher Siege Space Marines
• 1 Legion Breacher Siege Sergeant

Wargear

• Power Armour
• Boarding Shield
• Bolter
• Bolt Pistol
• Frag Grenades
• Krak Grenades

Optional Wargear

• Volkite Charger
• Flamer
• Melta Gun
• Graviton Gun
• Lascutter
• Nuncio Vox
• Legion Vexilla (Legion Standard)

Optional Wargear (Sergeant Only)

• Artificer Armour
• Combi-weapon
• Plasma Pistol
• Power Weapon
• Power Fist
• Single Lightning Claw
• Thunder Hammer
• One Breaching Charge
• Melta Bombs

See Also

• Phalanx Warder

Sources

• The Horus Heresy - Book One: Betrayal (Forge World Series) by Alan Bligh, pp. 70, 72, 112, 132, 204
• The Horus Heresy - Book Two: Massacre (Forge World Series) by Alan Bligh, pp. 76, 99, 122
• The Horus Heresy - Book Three: Extermination (Forge World Series) by Alan Bligh, pp. 69, 88, 269
• The Horus Heresy - Book Five: Tempest (Forge World Series) by Alan Bligh, pp. 84, 86, 89, 110
• Forge World - Legion MK III Breacher Squad
• Forge World - Ultramarines Legion Breacher Siege Squad

Gallery

Iron Hands Legion Breacher Siege Squad member armed with Bolter and Boarding Shield (front view).

Iron Hands Legion Breacher Siege Squad member (side view).

Iron Hands Legion Breacher Siege Squad member, side view (opposite).

Iron Hands Legion Breacher Siege Squad member armed with Lascutter and Boarding Shield.

Emperor's Children Breacher Legionary, Unknown Name. This Astartes' Mark III Iron Pattern battle-plate was in only limited use by specialised units. Typically complex Emperor's Children heraldry is displayed.

An Ultramarines Legion Breacher Legionary Varinius, 97^th Company, 9^th Chapter (Attached to 402^nd Flotilla) Fleet Defence Attachment, Battle-Barge Phaunos This Astartes is wearing late production Mark III Iron Power Armour. His Boarding Shield displays the heraldry of a veteran Breacher squad.

Death Guard Legionary Caipha Morarg, assigned to 24^th Breacher Squad, 2^nd Great Company; his Mark III Iron battle-plate utilised a prototype Anvilus Pattern backpack unit that later became very common among Heretic Astartes -- this variant has enhanced stabilising thruster vents to aid in void operations, but inferior rad-shielding compared to the standard unit.

Sons of Horus Breacher Legionary, Avakhol Hurr, served as a part of his Legion's Rukal Breacher Battalion. The Rukal customarily preserved any blood spray from their previous engagements to decorate their armour, as a visible sign of their destuctive intent.

A Word Bearers Breacher Legionary, Shir Shadiru, Zaradnar Siege Squad, 4^th Company of the Flayed Hand Chapter. Note: Meticulously applied Colshisian runes. Also this Legionary bears several trophy skulls on his boarding shield.

A Salamanders Legion Breacher Legionary, Shendrak Nal'kor, Breacher Squad Ar'vak, 17^th Line Company. Note the Atticus Pattern Boarding Shield forged with his Legion's customary superior workmanship and quality.