UR-025
"I am not a machine as you would understand. I am not a slave. I am not a thing. I am beyond and above you. I am a man of iron. And I am free."
- – UR-025
UR-025 is one of the very, very, very few Men of Iron remaining in the Galaxy, and the only one that has ever had a model. He appears in the Blackstone Fortress box set as one of the characters.
Background
As one of the elusive Men of iron of legend, UR-025 is a sentient machine that predates the Imperium, supposedly coming from the Dark Age of Technology itself. If this information is true, that means it's one of the oldest characters in the setting period, considering his existence predates the Horus Heresy, the Great Crusade, the Unification Wars, the Age of Strife, the Fall of the Eldar and the Cybernetic Revolt. That would put him at roughly 19.000 years old, probably much, much more if we take in consideration the lack of precision of imperial calendar and the lack of a specific fabrication date. Needless to say, it is an old fucker, and as such it has seen many, many things. He has claimed on occasion that he used to know the Omnissiah, and "not the earthling corpse, the actual one". Since the end of the Cybernetic Revolt, UR-025 has had to survive by living in the fringes of inhabited space, usually camouflaged as some sort of automata remote controlled by some Magos. He knows very well that, if he's ever discovered, he will be hunted down and destroyed by the Imperium or worse, turned to the Mechanicus to be studied forever. And thus he's designed a way to camouflage himself in plain sight: he just put an imperial aquila in his chasis, and that way no-one really bothers him, the cheeky fucker. That still does not stop him from creeping out most of his companions during the expedition to the Blackstone Fortress.
For a Man of Iron, he harbors no ill will towards Humanity—but he will kill any humans who threaten his anonymity. He is actually a rather sentimental fellow, lamenting not having company to talk to multiple times. He remembers plenty of extinct xenos species he had deals with, sounding genuinely saddened by their passing. Longing for company, UR-025 explores the seventh Blackstone Fortress; his goal is to determine if the fortress itself is also a sentient machine. Believing he may share some form of companionship, even kinship, with the ancient alien machine. Belisarius Cawl would be great friends with him—and by friends we mean that Cawl would dissect him for the Omnissiah.
On the Tabletop
40k
| Pts | WS | BS | S | T | W | A | Ld | Sv | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UR-025 Imperial Robot | 40 | 3+ | 3+ | 5 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 8 | 3+ |
UR-025 is a single model, armed with a power claw and a Mk I assault cannon (24" 4 shot heavy bolter). His Self Repair System rule allows him to regain one lost wound at the start of every round. Compared to other options he isn't that impressive. Sentinels, Leman Russ Punishers, Dreadnoughts, Kataphrons, Dunecrawlers, most Battle Automata and a squad of Skitarii have better weapons than he does. Being a character, he does make a cheap objective camper while regenerating the odd sniper wound and contributing a bit of firepower, though paying 1 CP (as the only usable keyword is Imperium) hurts.
Kill Team
| Pts | M | WS | BS | S | T | W | A | Ld | Sv | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UR-025 Imperial Robot | 30 | 5" | 3+ | 3+ | 5 | 5 | 4 | 2 | 8 | 3+ |
In Kill Team, UR-025 is excellent, filling a hole in the Admech's roster and being a Heavy that doesn't count against the normal limit on Specialists. He's slow, however, and doesn't get any benefit from Canticles.