Jubal Falk and the Nuln Ironsides.
Castellan-Engineer Jubal Falk commands the famed Nuln Ironsides, elite regiments of Imperial Handgunners.
History[]
Nuln, as one of the greatest cities of the Old World and formerly the capital of the Empire in times past, is rich in history, wealth and power, and possesses many laudable institutions famed far and wide. One of the greatest of these in Nuln's case is the Imperial Gunnery School, a College of Engineers rivalled in the Empire only by that of Altdorf, as well as the largest and most productive blackpowder works and cannon-foundries anywhere west of the Worlds Edge Mountains, save for perhaps those hidden in the deep Dwarf Holds. Apprentices and military men from across the Empire and beyond are drawn to study at the Gunnery School, while the weapons and branded powder kegs that pour out from it are traded across the world, and have been a keystone of Nuln's wealth and economy. What is perhaps less known is that the Gunnery School also maintains its own force at arms - the 'Iron Companies' - who serve both as part of the standing armies of Nuln itself by ancient treaty with the line of Electors, and are also active in the defence of Wissenland as well as standing guard on the famous artillery trains of Nuln in service to the wider Empire.[1a]
Most numerous of these are the Ironsides, regiments of Handgunners made up from apprentices and retainers of the School, who are fitted out in a panoply of black-enamelled iron plate armour reflecting the wealth and status of their patrons. The current field commander of the Ironsides is Castellan-Engineer Jubal Falk, an engineer with a flair for tactical matters who many see as a rising star and future Guildmaster of the school. Born a cooper's son on the river wharves of Nuln, Falk's natural talents and dogged enforcement of discipline have seen him rise rapidly in the ranks of the Ironsides, and he is respected by those under him both for his skills as a military engineer and as an honourable man if one notoriously unforgiving of slackness or incompetency.[1a][1b]
Already a seasoned soldier at the time of the Chaos assault of Tamurkhan's host, Falk held command of the muster of the Ironsides at Crow's Levee and was instrumental in holding the line against the Dolgan cavalry charge during the Chaos vanguard's attack on the first day of the great battle. Here the Ironsides' steady, disciplined fire raked the marauder onslaught before they could crash into the line, weakening them fatally and blunting their heedless charge which otherwise might have collapsed the Empire flank completely. Jubal Falk was wounded in the battle by an axe-blow, but despite his injury continued in command, and is said to have personally slain a Chaos sorcerer with his Hochland Long Rifle, blasting the creature's distorted head clean from its shoulders mid-spell using specialised alchemically-forged shot taken from the secret vaults of the Imperial Gunnery School.[1b]
Wargear[]
- Mercurial Shot: Made from a special hollow bullet filled with alchemical vitriol, this bullet shatters on contact and can bring down even the most inhuman target.[1b]