A lumbering, coal-black engine of destruction, the warjack called Black Ivan is a peerless instrument of war. The machine strides the battlefield with the awareness and responsive reflexes of a living thing, sidestepping incoming fire while unleashing its own devastating barrages. Once in striking range, Black Ivan barrels into the enemy, knocking aside anything in its path and shredding both flesh and steel with savage ferocity. It has learned how to scan the battlefield and gauge the shifting tide of war, sensing where to shatter opposing lines or shore up friendly ones.[1]
Black Ivan is the most prized companion of Kommander Harkevich, a warcaster renowned for his tactical ingenuity and resourcefulness in the field. Having fought countless battles alongside Harkevich, Black Ivan has become adept at anticipating its master’s will and executing his wishes with brutal efficiency, allowing the warcaster to concentrate on commanding his other forces. A further mark of their close connection is the calming effect Harkevich’s presence exerts on the belligerent warjack, which greatly increases its natural accuracy in battle. Together, Harkevich and Black Ivan have defended the Empire’s holdings against a slew of different enemies. The warjack has scored victories against the ’jacks of the Northern Crusade, hacked through the bodies of Cryxian infiltrators, and even knocked a Cygnaran lord general off his horse.[1]
Over the years Black Ivan has undergone countless repairs and modifications. For example, after the warjack lost its axe by burying it in a Cygnaran Centurion, Harkevich ordered the axe replaced with a mighty grappling claw—a weapon his spirited ’jack could not lose. It pairs this claw with the traditional bombard of a Destroyer, though it is as likely to fire the weapon while grappling with an enemy as it is to shoot targets downrange. While Black Ivan is under Harkevich’s control, its mastery of the weapon is superlative, picking off otherwise elusive targets with ease.[1]
The most dramatic changes to the machine, however, have occurred within its cortex, where the warjack’s intelligence and tenacity enable it to surpass the expected limits of its chassis. While other Khadoran warjacks plod obediently across the battlefield, Black Ivan moves with singular purpose. The sooner it reaches the enemy, the sooner it can strike.[1]