The Markian Pact

This page details people, events, and organisations from The /tg/ Heresy, a fan re-working of the Warhammer 40,000 Universe.

The Markian Pact is a military alliance of five Imperial planets and a forgeworld that share similar cultures and work in unison to produce effective regiments specializing in combined arms and operational maneuvers. The regiments of the Markian Corps are insignificant individually; what the Markian regiments derive their power from is combined arms and unit cohesion, utilizing versatility to attain victory. Instead of going their separate ways, the regiments raised in the Markian Pact unify into a Grand Corps consisting of artillery, infantry, armor, and specialist elements combined to assault a single stubborn foe. This oddity of unity is accomplished with the approval of their Astartes benefactors, the Void Angels, who see the versatility and close ties of the Grand Corps as advantageous in planetary-scale warfare.

Worlds of the Markian Pact

Atashia

Atashia is the captital world of the Markian Pact, where representatives of all the Pact worlds meet to discuss issues. It is the industrial center of the Markian Pact (Barring Ghalhal), as it is where the Atashia-Pattern lasgun is produced, as well as the Markian Corps' testudos, Centaurs, sniper mantlets, and uniforms. Atashia is a temperate Earth-like world, with a slightly lower global temperature and a smaller tropical area. It is here that the Markains' ideals of rationalism and healthy skepticism were born near the end of the Age of Strife, and has since become the center of the Markian enlightenment. What Atashia is most famous for, however is its Imperial Army forces, which are the most numerous among the Markian Corps and includes line infantry, mechanized, armored, and artillery formations.

Karmia

Karmia is a civilized world second only to Atashia in the Pact, and art capital of the subsector. Besides great works of art, Karmia is also the second most prominent provider of regiments to the Corps, its export including infantry and artillery regiments. Karmia also provides the Karmia-Pattern lasgun to tank crews, mechanized regiments, and its own forces; however, it is not an industrial world, as it lacks the infrastructure of Atashia.

Kouralia

Kouralia is a water world, with less than 14% landmass on the surface divided into hundreds of island chains, necessitating its inhabitants to travel the world through alternate means. The most popular methods of travel are via ship, obviously, but Kouralians also use massive dirigibles of all shapes and sizes to traverse through the air. Their travel habits are reflected in their military forces, and Kouralia produces drop and air-mobile artillery regiments supported by airships, as well as L'Infanterie de Marine that travel the seas of Imperial worlds. Resource-wise, Kouralia exports large amounts of fish, and drills promethium from the sea-floor.

Lemartia

A high-gravity mining world, Lemartia has a pull 1.6 times greater than Atashia's, forcing the Lemartians to become stronger and stockier. A Lemartian native is stouter than the average human, and more well-built as well. Besides its tithes to Ghalhal and Atashia, Lemartia provides to the Markian Corps Les Régiments de la Sapeurs de la Lemartia, engineers specializing in tunnel-fighting, trench warfare, and sieges. Lemartia is also home to the Lemartian Bloodhound, a tough and purposeful dog breed with a keen nose.

Thenar

Thenar is a mountainous agri-world responsible for feeding the Markian Pact covered in sprawling mountain ranges and fertile valley plains. It is from here that roughrider and mountain infantry regiments hail, in addition to line infantry. Thenar is home to the Thenaran shepherd, a dog beloved across the Markian Pact for its intelligence and loyalty.

Ghalhal

An honorary member by virtue of providing the bulk of equipment to the Markian Pact, Ghalhal is a forgeworld younger than any other world in the sector. Founded in the ruins of the old Ghalhal which was lost in an interstellar war from the Age of Strife, Ghalhal's culture is a strange blend of old Ghalhal, the Markian Pact, and the Mechanicum. Although the techpriests of the Markian Corps hail from here, Ghalhal is under no obligation to provide troops; though it would assist the Markian Corps directly if the subsector is threatened.

The Markian Corps

The strength of the Markian Corps is not prowess in a particular kind of warfare, but in the ability for its regiments to communicate and coordinate. When the Markian Corps' regiments are raised they are not sent their separate ways across the galaxy, but rather formed into crand corps containing as many as dozens of regiments of many kinds. Thanks to rigorous joint training by the five worlds the grand corps have a level of combined arms rarely found in the Imperial Army, with high morale and a camaraderie between soldiers from many different regiments.

Regiments

• Line Infantry Regiments (LIR) are the most common units in a grand corps, consisting primarily of infantry with light armored and artillery support. Highly disciplined and able to handle any situation, though not excelling in any in particular.
• Artillery Regiments (HAR) are highly prominent in grand corps, being able to smash a hole in any line. Artillery regiments are rather large, possessing a mix of mortars, basilisks, medusas, and mountain guns. In case multiple grand corps come together to form an army, the artillery regiments form a single artillery corps of their own.
• Tank Regiments (LTR) are hardly notable. Though well-equipped and handled by trained crewmen, the tank regiments of Markia are simply there to fill a niche, and do not hold a distinct advantage over true tread-heads.
• Mechanized Regiments (HIR) are mobile elements of the Markian Corps meant to exploit breakthroughs and plug gaps in the line, originating from Atashia.
• Les Régiments de la Sapeurs de la Lemartia (SIR), or simply sapper regiments, are heavy siege specialists equipped with breaching drills, mole weapons (No word on mole transports. Yet.), heavy armor, and special weapons. Its men, being from the high-gravity world of Lemartia, are thick-skinned and stocky, and their smallish stature and experience let them maneuver tunnels with little hassle.
• Drop regiments (AIR) originate from the world of Kouralia, trained in high-altitude insertion. As with most other regiments, drop regiments are disciplined but far from the best at their job; though they do have mountain guns for more punch. If multiple grand corps come together to form an army, drop regiments come together with air-mobile artillery regiments and air support elements to form a shrike corps.
• The Air-Mobile Artillery (AAR) regiments of Kouralia are a strange contradiction. The linchpin of the air-mobile regiment is the mountain gun; a light, powerful gun capable of every form of transport from horse-drawn to hand-pushed to airlift. A key component of the mountain gun is that it is compact and can easily be disassembled and reassembled quickly, making rapid deployment via valkyrie within the realm of possibility. AARs also contain at least one airship as a command and heavy lifting vehicle.
• L’Infanterie de Marine (STR) are another unique force from Kouralia, as each regiment is an entire fleet of maritime vessels with supporting naval infantry for use in the oceans of the Imperium’s worlds. Vessels within an IMR are designed to be easily transported by specialized Mechanicus voidships from Ghalhal, and are equipped with enough firepower to match an artillery regiment, and supported with a complement of highly trained marines to take shore positions and perform maritime operations.
• The Mountain Infantry Regiments (MIR) of Thenar are light infantry specialized in alpine warfare as their name suggests, although they also have experience with forests and plains. What sets apart the mountain infantry from other light regiments the most is the mountain gun, which provides long-range anti-armor firepower to the regiment without losing much in terms of mobility.

Armaments

• The main armament of the Markian Corps during the Heresy is the Atashia-Pattern bold-action lasgun. Based on primitive designs from the Age of Strife, the Atashia-Pattern's powerful but easily-fried capacitors require a new cell to be loaded after every shot, sacrificing rate of fire for extra punch. It should be noted, however, that expert users of the Atashia-Pattern lasgun can fire dozens of times in only a minute, even including reloading of the ten-shot magazine.
• The Karmia-Pattern lascarbine is an improvement upon the Atashia-Pattern. Produced for drop regiments, L'Infanterie de Marine, mechanized regiments, and tank crews, the Karmia-Pattern is semi-automatic unlike the Atashia-Pattern, and is loaded via a twenty- or thirty- capacitor magazine on the bottom.
• The mountain gun is the main piece of air-mobile artillery and mountain infantry regiments for many reasons. Besides being light enough for transport by valkyries or horses, the mountain gun can also be disassembled easily, allowing it to be moved around in pieces and stored with ease.
• The sniper mantlet is a high-caliber anti-materiel rifle mounted on a heavy shield. Built for trench warfare and countering light armor, the sniper mantlet is capable of sharpshooting enemies, even on the frontline of a siege.
• No word on mole transports for sappers like in ye olden days. Yet...