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The Kastelan Robot is an ancient and common Imperial robot used exclusively by the Adeptus Mechanicus' Legio Cybernetica. Because the Mechanicus forbids true artificial intelligence, Kastelans have no free will. They follow programs and protocols loaded by a Tech-Priest Datasmith, who can change their battle protocols in combat.
Kastelans are slow but extremely tough, and they are protected by shield generators. They are armed with heavy phosphor blasters, twin heavy phosphor blasters or incendine combustors, and power fists for close combat.
The Legio Cybernetica has used the Kastelan class for ten thousand years, and some individual robots are said to be older than the Imperium. Because damaged robots are cannibalised to repair others, such claims are probably at least partly true. Robotic technology dates back to the Dark Age of Technology, and the Mechanicus reveres these machines far more than the Skitarii who fight beside them. Since the Horus Heresy, true artificial intelligence has been forbidden, so Kastelans run on rigid programmed 'protocols' rather than independent thought.
Since the Horus Heresy, Legio Cybernetica robots have not been controlled by the old bio-plastic cerebra of the ancient Mechanicum. Instead they run on doctrina wafers loaded by their Datasmiths. Kastelan fists strike with enough force to crumple thick armour or tear holes in ferrocrete. Incendine combustors are filled with Magos-blessed unguents and lit from the Perpetual Forge, and can turn a heretek into tallow in seconds.
Appearance & wargear
Kastelans are huge, rounded robots with domed heads, thick limbs, and fists or weapon arms. They usually move in groups led by a Datasmith.
A Kastelan is roughly 4.2 metres tall, twice the height of a Space Marine, with a domed head, a barrel chest and a solid metal body sheathed in ceramite. It carries heavy phosphor blasters, incendine combustors or twin heavy phosphor blasters, along with barrel-sized Kastelan fists. A refractor-like repulsor grid protects it from incoming fire.
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Battlefield role & tactics
Kastelans are slow, durable fire support and assault units. Their protocols let a Datasmith switch them between aggressive and defensive roles.
Kastelans fight in maniples of two to six, directed by a Cybernetica Datasmith who switches their protocols mid-battle. Aegis protocol makes them dig in defensively, Protector protocol has them fire phosphor in pinpoint volleys, and Conqueror protocol sends them striding into combat to smash through enemies with the force of a tank squadron. Their literal-minded programming is both a strength and a weakness. Maniples have been known to walk into lakes of lava or keep slaughtering after the threat is gone. Without their Datasmith, they become far less flexible.
Kastelans are slow, tough battle robots. They can be switched into ranged mode, firing phosphor blasters to drive enemies into cover, or into melee mode to smash armour. They need a Datasmith to change protocols, which makes them inflexible.
Notable battles & users
- Legio Cybernetica: Kastelans are among the most common of the Mechanicus' ancient war robots.
- Kastelan maniples have marched into lava flows or kept rampaging through cities after the techno-insurrection they were sent against had been crushed, because they followed their programming too literally.
Related
Characters (1)
Belisarius Cawl · Archmagos Dominus of the Adeptus Mechanicus
