INQ28: Skitarii Ranger conversion - Beltran Destrieux

The machine spirit guards the knowledge of the ancients.

Having finished Lucanus Molnár last month, we at Between the Bolter and Me have been musing about his background quite a bit, and decided it was time to share some of it, particularly how he became a member of the little know Ordo Machinum:

Although initially a member of the Ordo Xenos (with an obsessive fascination with the Ghost Warriors of the Iyanden craftworld), after his investigations into an aberrant technovirus (OTAV1X) led him to the to the forgeworld of Stygies VIII, Lucanus Molnár shifted his primary allegiance to the Ordo Machinum.  The shift went largely unnoticed in the Pacificus Conclave, and seemed a natural transition for the technologically minded Molnár.  Even the Mechanicum’s quick acceptance of his presense did not raise eyebrows, with the prevailing thought that his timely aid with the OTAV1X scourge opened doors.  The truth of the matter is more iniquitous, and while garrisoned on Stygies VIII, he uncovered elements of the heretical Xenarite sect.  The Xenarites, scholars and archivists of xenos technology, were thought to be eliminated in the Inquisitorial purge of 335.M36.  Instead of reporting the sect’s existence to the Conclave, Molnar saw a potential ally, one who might aid in his search for technology (human or xenos) to restore the Emperor to his former glory.  And so a tenuous union was formed between Lucanus Molnár and the Forge World of Stygies VIII; the Mechanicum would aid Molnár in his holy work, providing the limitless material resources and wargear that only a Forge World could supply, and Molnár would ensure the less “open-minded” members of the Inquisition would not learn of the thriving Xenarite sect within their midst.

Unboxing: Adeptus Mechanicus Skitarii Rangers/Vanguard

Glory to the Machine God!

Having only just unveiled a high profile release in the new Harlequin models, Games Workshop continues its relentless pace with an even more exciting release, the Skitarii of the Adeptus Mechanicus!  Although the followers of the Machine God have been in 40k lore since the beginning, and have been explored extensively by Jes Goodwin and John Blanche, there have been very few models to represent them in Warhammer 40k.  Back in 2000, GW’s Skullz program gave people a chance to get a few promotional Mechanicum models, but it was really only when Forge World started to create models for the Horus Heresy that people began to seriously consider starting armies dedicated to the Machine God.  So when rumors started to circulate that Games Workshop might create a line of plastic Mechanicum models, it was hard not to get excited, particularly when the FW models are so stunning.  I am pleased to say that these rumors have become a reality, and although the models are quite divergent from those released by FW, they are no less imaginative and exciting.  Always being partial to the line and file soldiers of an army, I decide to get a box of Skitarii Rangers/Vanguard (the troop choices in the new codex), to see what the new models are like.