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Hello everyone. This is just some fluff that i have been working on to for lack of other words, explain the creation of my current army list which is that of a Air Cav themed Steel Legion army inspired by the likes of movies such as Black Hawk Down and We Were Soldiers to the Fallschirmjager of WW2 (since the Steel Legion to resemble them rather well). This is my first attempt at fluff for these guys so tell me what you think and thanks for reading mates!


The Creation of the Steel Legion 11th Air Cav:


When the beast returned to Armageddon it brought death in its claws. Within weeks of arrival the entire planet of Armageddon was engulfed in the firestorm of war that followed the invasion, no where was a safe haven to be found. That in particular speaks for the proud remains of Hades Hive. In an act of terrible vengeance for its defiance in the first War between the Imperium and Ghazghkull's hordes the Hive was smashed asunder from the heavens as giant asteroids pummeled the Hive to oblivion. The population all but wiped out in one fell stroke. However not all died, including many from the remains of the 164th and 23rd Steel Legion Mechanized infantry.

Despite being in ruins the Hades remained a brutal battleground as orks flooded into the Hives corpse eager for easing pickings and loot. However the remaining survivors resisted and throughout the shattered ruins men and ork grappled in an increasingly bloody conflict. What was left of the Imperial forces fell under the leadership of a then mere Major Drecta, who personally rebuilt the remains from the ground up into a hard and quite effective force. Under his leadership, using a combination of guerrilla warfare and infantry assaults the Imperial forces began to fight back. Like a tightening fist the Imperial Forces halted the flow of orks into the ruins and inch by bloody inch began to drive the greenskins from the inner portion of the Hive.

For weeks the surviving military personnel with the aide of hive gangers and volunteers continued to hold back the numberless tides of orks that assailed them. Speed Freak convoys of both bikes and ork infantry where lured into dead ends to be slaughtered by hidden infantry and weapons emplacements. Ork outposts and safehouses were stormed and cleansed in daring assaults by elite squads of infantry wielding shotguns and heavy flamers. What little armor remained at Drecta's disposal lurked in the shadows of ruins ambushing ork armor before vanishing into the surrounding rubble. It was here their nickname of "Desert Wolves" was coined, in no little thanks to the signature serrated knife that each Imperial fighter began to carry. These knifes introduced into the fighting ranks from gangers they soon caused orks to fear these "steel teef" as many an ork corpse was to be discovered with its throat messily slit or other forms of mutilation as warnings to others.

Relief eventually came in the form of Marines from the Black Dragons and Salamanders Chapters along with several Guard regiments thanks to the reinforcements pouring in across the Imperium. What remained of the fighting men of Hades were transported to Hive Tartarus to be reassigned and it was here when their destiny was bestowed upon them. With the high numbers of ex-hive gangers and elite infantry they were a perfect fit for an aggressive, fast, hard hitting and somewhat insane force. Soon Tartarus Command informed Drecta, now a Colonel that they were to be formed into the 11th Air Calvary under his leadership with the sole purpose of hitting the orks where it hurt and responding rapidly to where they were needed. Also thanks to the unique nature of this regiment a few unorthodox practices and fighting equipment began to appear, in particular the creation of specialized "Drop Tanks" that could be dropped to assist in any battle. Armed exclusively with either Eradicator or Vanquisher cannons these wheeled variants of leman russ battle tanks vastly improved the fighting capability of the 11th, despite many complaints from Techpriests and the Adaptus Mechanicus

Within days of their founding the 11th Air Cav made an immediate impact by all but annihilating a massive ork force that included several Gargants in the Ash Wastes as it made its way to an already beleaguered Tartarus Hive. With Drecta leading personally he and a team of veterans landed on and infiltrated the massive Gargant "Morks Fist" and after planting some demo charges and fighting their way out, detonated its plasma core. The surrounding explosion wiped out a massive chunk of the ork convoy including two other Gargants whose unstable reactors detonated as well. the remains of the dazed and stunned ork horde were then brutally slaughtered as the veteran fighters of the 11th disembarked from their hovering Valkyries and Vendettas and with help from the several drop tanks mopped up the survivors.

Throughout the Armageddon War the 11th Air Cav continued to make an impact in the fighting by aiding in several key engagements around Hive Tartarus that went a long way into making sure the Hive would not fall. When the war finally bogged down into the stalemate that still remains to this date the 11th were called upon to leave Armageddon as their skills were needed elsewhere and to this date the Desert Wolves continue to serve proudly in the Emperors name.


Combat Doctrine: Specialize in Blitzkrieg tactics, primarily using Vendettas and elite infantry assaults that are supported by the drop tank variants.

Favored Heavy Weapon: Heavy Flamer

Favored Special Weapon: Melta Gun

Battle Cry: "Feet First!"

Orks have claws?
Just kidding.
I liked it.
Very nice. Well written as well.

purplefood wrote:Orks have claws?
Just kidding.
I liked it.
Very nice. Well written as well.

Thanks mate, and if you remember Ghazghkull has a pair of pretty big and scary power claws

My only fluff problems, is i dont think ork gargants are sophisticated enough to have plasma corer's and

"Air Cav made an immediate impact by all but annihilated a massive ork force that included several Gargants "

Change annihilated to annihilating(spl?)

okay, seems sound to me.
but what with "desert tigers"?
They're fighting in urban territory, and the majority of the planet is ash wastes.

Spelling has been fixed, dont know how i missed that one . And in regards to the plasma cores i got the idea that the orks may not exactly that but do indeed use something as unstable as them to power their gargants so went with it for the sake of clarity. And to be honest "Desert Wolves" sounds alot better then "Ash Wolves" in my opinion and also im a huge fan of Rommel so that did play a part as well.

I think Ash Wolves sounds pretty good. Ashen Wolves also sounds pretty good.

Maybe Ash Wastes Wolves?

If you really don't wanna do Ash, then I'd suggest changing the fluff so it's actually a desert.

Kinda confusing to see grey colored infantry and have them being called Desert Wolves.

grayspark wrote:I think Ash Wolves sounds pretty good. Ashen Wolves also sounds pretty good.

Maybe Ash Wastes Wolves?

If you really don't wanna do Ash, then I'd suggest changing the fluff so it's actually a desert.

Kinda confusing to see grey colored infantry and have them being called Desert Wolves.

Change the fluff of Armageddon? No chance.
And not all deserts are the same iirc desert simply means a place with a certain amount of rainfall per year/month there are places in the arctic (or antarctic) that can be classed as deserts.

grayspark wrote:I think Ash Wolves sounds pretty good. Ashen Wolves also sounds pretty good.

Maybe Ash Wastes Wolves?

If you really don't wanna do Ash, then I'd suggest changing the fluff so it's actually a desert.

Kinda confusing to see grey colored infantry and have them being called Desert Wolves.

My guys are the standard sand colored uniform the steel legion have in the Armageddon codex, no grey here

purplefood wrote:And not all deserts are the same iirc desert simply means a place with a certain amount of rainfall per year/month there are places in the arctic (or antarctic) that can be classed as deserts.

I get so fed up with people telling me the sahara desert is the biggest desert in the world. I point out that antarctica is bigger and is classed aas a desert.
My teachers stand corrected.
BTW ash wolves sound cool.
One thing I don't get about SL- In the fluff, they wear gas masks and trenchcoats and gloves, ect. because if thier skin comes into contact with the atmosphere, it will quickly rot. Then why, on the models, are thier ears showing?!