Games Workshop Warhammer 40k - Adeptus Mechanicus Skitarii Rangers/Vanguard

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Praetorians: These are the elite of the Skitarii. They are super-enhanced (bionically/cybernetically/chemically/genetically etc) humans who are augmented with a huge array of cybernetics and heavy weapons. They are, essentially, a sort of counterpart to Obliterators. However, many old sources also suggest that Praetorians are instead an elite Skitarii type following the fashion of Imperial Guard stormtrooper units, but with slightly more augmentations, putting them somewhere "between" storm troopers and Space Marines. All of these are completely plausible, and based on the preferences of the Magi who build them. [Conflicting sources] The Grand Hunt (303.M35) - House Raven, having felt the teeth of Eldar raiders from the paradise world of Geminex one too many times, formally petition for Skitarii aid. Twelve cohorts are sent to Geminex, grid-search tactics driving the Exodites and their allies from the planet's sacred places and into the crosshairs of House Raven's Imperial Knights. The Eldar of Biel-Tan retaliate, striking hard from hidden Webway portals. The Skitarii fight on through everything the Craftworld can throw at them. Once hard data has been gleaned from every one of Biel-Tan's war assets, the Skitarii withdraw en masse, leaving the remaining Knights of House Raven to make a desperate last stand. The Sciritae or Skiritai or Skioreitai or Skioritai ( Greek: Σκιρῖται and Σκιωρεῖται [1]) were a people subject to Sparta, whose status is comparable to that of the Perioeci. Tirelessly searching the galaxy for high-value targets alongside their Skitarii Ranger escorts, the Ballistarii stalk from the ochre mists with their oculist lenses flaring. To fall under the azure beam of their omnispex is to have but a heartbeat left to live. For a Ballistarius sniper, making a killshot is as easy and as natural as drawing breath.

Omnispex - An Omnispex carries a Raptor-class Machine Spirit (artificial intelligence) that can read heat emissions, data signatures, and biological waveforms even at extreme range. Should it be kept focussed for an extended period of time, it will determine the weak points of those it scrutinises and pass them on to its master.They were often tied to the service of a specific forge city on Mars or one of the other Forge Worlds. They differed from the standard Skitarii in several small ways, most notably because their faces were covered by a bronze skull mask with glowing green eyes and they were dressed in red robes the colour of old rust. They were noted to smell of spoiled meat and machine oils. The Occlusiad (550.M37) - The north-western fringe of the galaxy is ravaged by the Apostles of the Blind King, rogue Tech-priests who view Humanity's existence as an affront to the Machine God. The most blessed of Skitarii pass a point called the "Crux Mechanicus," their body more machine than flesh. Those that reach this stage of mechamorphosis are known as "Skitarii Alphas." Plasma Caliver - As volatile as it is deadly, a Plasma Caliver exchanges range for a truly terrifying rate of fire. A squad of Skitarii armed with several Plasma Calivers can light up a night with each volley. To say their users risk life and limb in the process is a grave understatement, yet to their Tech-Priest masters, such collateral damage matters not at all. The Skitarii are the bionic heart of the Adeptus Mechanicus' infantry legions. Their tireless ranks defend the Forge Worlds of the Imperium, annihilate the enemies of the Tech-priests, and fight at the vanguard of the Quest for Knowledge. As the technocracy of the Cult Mechanicus extends its reach into the stars, the cybernetic Skitarii are always at the fore.

Relics of Mars - Relics of Mars are items of terrifying power that are sometimes bestowed upon a Skitarii Alpha or Sicarian Princeps by a senior Tech-Priest for them to field test.Ranged Weapons - A pistol or other such sidearm such as a Phosphor Blast Pistol, Radium Pistol or Arc Pistol. In war the Sciritae formed an elite corps of light infantry, a lochos ( battalion) of about 600 men, which were used as a complement to the civic army. According to Thucydides ( v. 67), they fought on the extreme-left wing in the battle-line, the most threatening position for the hoplite phalanx: "In this battle the left wing was composed of the Sciritae, who in a Lacedaemonian army have always that post to themselves alone". At night, they were placed as sentinels ahead of the army ( Xenophon, Constitution of the Spartans, xii. 3) and acted as scouts to open the way for the king, whom they only could precede.

Because of this the Skitarii Vanguard are assigned to the most hazardous war zones the galaxy can offer. They bear this duty stoically and in solemn silence, fighting to the last in the name of their inhuman god. The Adeptus Mechanicus kits are a treat for tinkerers. You can build your whole kill team from two diverse dual kit boxes with loads of options, from cosmetic changes like alternative heads and accessories to wargear like scryer-skulls and data-tethers.Skitarii War Plate - Skitarii warriors are protected by armoured war plates designed to be worn for several standard years at a time. Secreted under a superdermal layer of ceramite alloy are recombinant cells that harness moisture from the wearer and recycle it. This liquid is transmuted into a gelatinous unguent that coats the inside of the suit, preventing the slow abrasion of the wearer's body whilst affording a measure of protection from the harmful emanations of their own weaponry. Collectively, they have fought alongside the Astra Militarum, the Adepta Sororitas, the Adeptus Astartes, and even the Primarchs of legend. Throughout the millennia the Skitarii Legions have fought with impeccable skill and discipline even when the colossi and ravaging daemons slaughter them in droves. In doing so they have assimilated a functionally infinite amount of information for their masters. The Adeptus Mechanicus never deletes anything, and its appetite for knowledge knows no bounds. A Skitarii Legion's sacred duty to protect its Forge World is second only to its quest for hard data -- information for their masters to digest, or to archive away unheeded to gather the dust of aeons.

Each Skitarius is but a single cog in a war machine that spans the entire Imperium. Controlled by the neurosync imperatives of their masters, the Skitarii are organised into War Cohorts capable of overcoming any foe. They work in glorious concert, every footstep or twitch of the trigger finger optimised to further the cause of the Cult Mechanicus. Skitarii were generally divided into different types depending upon the role they were expected to play on the battlefield.The Tech-priests of Graia and their Skitarii forces accentuate the deep crimson of Mars with the bright red of spilt blood. Their detractors believe this is because Graian warriors take an unhealthy interest in each spray of gore that jets from their victims. Wearing fully-sealed battle raiments and electromagnetised cybernetics, the Skitarii of Graia have fought space battles across the silvered exterior of their masters' spaceborne metropolises. The warriors of Graia bear the icon of the solar cog. The rising sun at its heart signifies the dawn of a new age, while the cog that surrounds it shows that the Tech-priests of Graia intend to be its masters. The Unknowable (991.M41) - Skitarii from Stygies VIII are sent to the diluvian-class world of Magogue when the planet's industry dries up its oceans to reveal Necrontyr architecture. The Skitarii fight valiantly against the Necrons of the awakening tomb complexes, allowing the planet's islander people to evacuate to a man, but are badly outmatched. Only their commanding Tech-priests, hunting for knowledge behind the lines, escape the ensuing carnage. However, in doing so they clash with Trazyn the Infinite. One by one the Tech-priests are collected in stasis fields and displayed as part of a monument to Magogue's fall. Since that day Ruststalker manufacturing has spread to every Forge World and the troops have fought on the front line of the Cult Mechanicus' many wars.