Iron Daemon

"The Chaos Dwarf's mastery of steam technology is clear to all when this colossal Daemonic war machine takes to the field."

—Description of an Iron Daemon in Total War: Warhammer III.^[3a]

The Iron Daemon, also more formally called the Iron Daemon War Engine, is one of the latest steam-powered Daemon Engine constructs, a blend of Daemon and technology, in the service of the Chaos Dwarfs. It is a mighty, smoke-belching powerhouse that fires blasts of steam-driven shrapnel against enemy forces or crushes fortifications while towing up to two steam carriages armed with either a Magma Cannon, a Deathshrieker Rocket Launcher, or a Dreadquake Mortar.^[1a]^[1b]^[3a]

In addition to those it tows to the battlefield, the Iron Daemon may be equipped with weapons such as the Skullcracker, designed for crushing fortifications and walls -- a hissing, grinding arcane-mechanical conglomeration of iron hammers, hacking blades and brutal picks to pulverise and shred anything unfortunate enough to be caught in front of it.^[3a]

The Iron Daemon is a weaponised version of the common trains used by the western Dwarfs in their underground tunnels.^[2]

Role[]

ChaosDwarfIronDaemon — A Chaos Dwarf Iron Daemon armed with Steam Cannonades as rendered for *Total War: Warhammer III*.^[2]

The Chaos Dwarfs possess a mastery of steam technology that far surpasses that of the engineers of the Empire. Their steam-driven devices are used first and foremost in the great mines that pit and scar the ash-strewn Plain of Zharr in the Dark Lands and the deep workings that riddle the earth beneath it like worms in rotting fruit. Here they drive great tunnelling and crushing machines, their flanks rusty with the blood of the countless slaves that toil to feed them.^[1a]^[3a]

IronDaemonRear — A Chaos Dwarf Iron Daemon as seen from the rear as rendered for *Total War: Warhammer III*.^[2]

Beside these, other grand machines hammer and roar night and day. To retrieve their mineral wealth, small, self-powered steam engines and traction carriages have been constructed to haul ore in lieu of beasts of burden such as horses or oxen which soon perish in the treacherous conditions, and in places where slave labour is impractical or inefficient. The Dawi-Zharr of Zharr-Naggrund prefer to place their trust in iron and brass and in fire and steam rather than muscle and bone. So it was not long before these engines were also deployed due to their obvious merits for hauling cannon, rockets, mortars and other destructive weapons to the battlefield rather than ore or iron ingots.^[1a]

The driving power behind these engines comes from coal, which the Chaos Dwarfs mine in great quantities beneath the Plain of Zharr and then infuse in arcane rites so that it burns hotter and far more constantly than naturally possible. Their furnaces will, however, willingly devour wood or other base materials if they happen to be the only available source of fuel with a temporarily acceptable loss in performance. Among the slaves of Zharr-Naggrund though, rumours abound of steam engines that run on blood, ground bones and screaming spirits, and such ingenuity is certainly not beyond the devious and inventive servants of Hashut, the Father of Darkness.^[1a]

ChaosDwarfIronDaemonConceptArt — Concept art for the Iron Daemon as depicted in *Total War: Warhammer III*.^[2]

One of the latest designs to see widespread service within the Chaos Dwarf empire is the Iron Daemon, a compact, armoured, steam-driven traction engine. The steam boilers that provide these machines with motive power to haul heavy armaments and munitions to the battlefield are cunningly designed so that they can also be used to work pressure-fed weapons such as cannonades and wall-breakers. This means that every Iron Daemon is also a powerful war machine in its own right -- a fully mobile artillery piece or murderous killing engine able to smash through fortifications and hack down ranks of living soldiers with equal ease.^[1a]^[3a]

SkullcrackerConceptart — Concept art for an Iron Daemon modified to serve as a Skullcracker anti-fortification engine as depicted in *Total War: Warhammer III*.^[2]

However, although the Chaos Dwarfs are skillful and determined artisans, their engines are not yet so sophisticated as to be completely reliable or entirely safe to operate in the anarchic field of battle. By the time the Kurgan Champion of Nurgle and Chaos Lord Tamurkhan's Warriors of Chaos horde descended from the Eastern Steppes in 2510 IC, the Sorcerer-Prophet Drazhoath the Ashen had already met with great success in implementing the use of these deadly and versatile engines within the Legion of Azgorh's forces under his command at the Black Fortress.^[1a]

He then swiftly decided when the bargain with the Chaos Lord was struck to make these machines the centre of his expeditionary force, and was eager to test their performance in traversing the hostile mountains and cities of the west. In particular he was keen to see them in battle against the vaunted war machines he knew the Empire was said to possess and he would not be disappointed.^[1a]

Wargear[]

The Iron Daemon may be equipped with the following weapons as well as Magma Cannons, Deathshrieker Rocket Launchers, or Dreadquake Mortars one of which can be towed on each of the up to two steam carriages the engine can pull behind it:^[1b]

Steam Cannonade - Powered by the channelled pressure of the Iron Daemon's furnace, a steam cannonade is a twin cannon used to blast a lethal storm of red-hot shrapnel and curse-laden shot into the ranks of the enemy.^[1b]

Skullcracker[]

"This Iron Daemon carries the Skullcracker attachment with it -- a constantly moving amalgam of blades and points fiendishly designed to mash the enemy to a bloody pulp."

—Description of a Skullcracker in Total War: Warhammer III.

A Skullcracker is an Iron Daemon steam locomotive that has been modified to crush fortifications and walls. The Skullcracker is a hissing and grinding arcane-mechanical conglomeration of iron hammers, hacking blades and brutal picks designed to literally pulverise and shred anything unfortunate enough to be caught in front of the machine.^[1b]^[3a]