Nobledark Imperium Imperial Forces
This page is part of the Nobledark Imperium, a fan re-working of the Warhammer 40,000 Universe. See the Nobledark Imperium Introduction and Main Page for more information on the alternate universe
TO DO:
- Finish arguments over how the military is structured
Imperial Guard
Standard Imperial Tactics
Standard Imperial infantry composition is to field a battalion of Imperial Guardsmen combined with a detachment of Eldar Guardians as auxiliaries. Unlike previous mixed-forces regiments throughout galactic history this arrangement tends to work rather well, because unlike these previous combined regiments both sides feel fairly safe that the other side isn't going to shoot them in the back. Both groups can and do fight on their own, but work spectacularly together. In theory, the regiment structure works by Imperial Guard forces taking the brunt of the enemy fire, and the Eldar acting as flankers. In practice, the more fragile, but heavier-hitting Eldar like this arrangement because it means they won't be the primary targets of enemy fire, whereas the Imperial Guard like this arrangement because even though they start out taking brunt of the blow, the Eldar auxiliaries will tear through enemy forces fast enough that they never become the targets of focus fire. As with everything in the Imperium, this varies from world to world. Specialist forces like Catachans, Kriegers, Harlequins, or Aspect Warriors function differently, and follow their own rules.
If there is any weakness to this arrangement, it's that Eldar and humans tend to only take orders from their respective species, which causes there to be two people in charge of a given regiment. If the two commanders can't come to an agreement, the army sputters, which can lead to one or the other going in alone.
After the Tau Empire was absorbed into the Imperium, Imperial commanders were eager to try to incorporate Tau Fire Warriors into this formation. The Imperium had seen how effective the Tau were at long-ranged combat, and saw great potential in their ability. In theory, the idea was to have a third group of Tau Fire Warriors providing long-range support fire from behind the Guardsman infantry, and if all worked as planned then half of the enemy army wouldn’t even be able to show up to the battle in the first place. However, in practice, this did not work for several reasons. First, the Tau were essentially a combined-arms force already (save for close combat), and didn’t appreciate being shoehorned into a long-range only role, even if they were talented at it. Secondly, much like Eldar and humans, Tau like to be commanded by Tau, so in an Eldar-Tau-human battalion you end up having three arguing commanders instead of just two. Third, and perhaps most importantly, Eldar and humans have worked together long enough to trust that one is not going to shoot the other in the back. This is not true of the Tau, especially given their attitude towards the Imperium for much of their history. When you factor in that in this arrangement the Tau are supposed to be in the back of the formation and thus in the perfect position to potentially shoot their allies in the back, the other soldiers start to get paranoid and morale drops. Eventually, it was decided to keep Tau divisions as their own separate forces, called in particularly for any enemy that has started to work out a viable counter, however soft, to the traditional Guardian+Guard one-two.
Eldar opinions on human weapons, like just about everything else in the Imperium, vary from Craftworld to Craftworld. Craftworlds like Alaitoc would sneer if offered human weapon as a sidearm, whereas Ulthwé Eldar would take two in addition to their own weapon and then ask if you have any more. Most Eldar see human weapons like modern soldiers do knives. Crude, simple, and inelegant compared to their primary weapon, but if you're stuck in the trenches in a do or die moment, it's better to have the other guy get shot than you. Therefore, Eldar that use human weapons use them as a sidearm or last resort weapon, if at all. It helps that many human-made weapons are based on STC designs and therefore easily replaceable and about as fragile as a brick (being designed for maximum durability), in contrast to the more delicate, precision-made (though still pretty tough) weapons of the Eldar. Therefore, an Eldar can be less careful with their sidearm and make sure their primary weapon is at maximum efficiency.
Imperial Infantry Command Structure
Due to the fact the Imperial Guard does not enforce specific organization for anything below battalion level, the vast different cultures and traditions that exist in the Imperium changes the size of the smaller units as they see fit. Terra did set minimum sizes on how large units must be before it could be recognized as said self-declared units by the wider Imperial Guard.
The lowest level of the Imperial Guard is the squad size. Guardsmen often operate in pairs for specialized tasks to keep confusion as low as possible between other in the same squad. The smallest recognized size for these squads is 10 soldiers per squad further broken into 5 pairs, although a command squad might only have 6 men. At least 4 squads form into a platoon with one of the squads being a command squad bringing the total amount of men in platoon to at least 36 Guardsmen. Examples like the Kriegers use 7 squads in a platoon bring their size to 76 Guardsmen.
Eldar squads attached to Guardsman platoons come in the smallest size of 5 Eldar per squad but their size can be bigger depending on their world of origin. Notably the Maiden world Eldar tends to be organized into larger sizes as they experience more attacks on their homes compared to the Craftworlds.
For the platoons to form into a company there must be at least 4 platoons with a company command squad, thus bringing the number to at least 150 men. The Cadian Shock Troops often deploy around 300 per company. The Kriegers use 10 platoons per company then adding the Company HQ with at least 1 Grenadier squad totaling in at least 704 Guardsmen, not counting transports which they are often deployed with.
The smallest size battalion uses at least 2 companies and battalion HQ before being deployed, bringing the numbers to 306 Guardsmen per battalion. The expected regiment holds at least 3 battalions and 1 support platoon which have 7 squads and 1 HQ totaling to 1.000 men. More often than not regiments like the Vostroyans use 3 infantry battalions and 2 standardized (organized not by 7 squad and HQ but like the infantry 3 squad with 1 HQ) support battalions coming up to 1.536 men. The Krieger regiments far pass these expectations by using 4 standardized support battalions and 6 infantry battalions jumping their numbers to 14.146 men including the regimental HQ.
The Corps used to garrison a world often use the smallest size with only 5 regiments totaling to at least 5.000 Guardsmen and these troops are used to raise PDF than to actually keep the peace. If there are still insurgents who disrupt the peace and not accept the Imperial Truth, these garrison corps can double or triple in regiments. This puts the tripled Corp to at least a small 15.000 to a gigantic 200.000 Guardsmen. The PDF used to aid the garrison Corp would be raised to around a low 400.000 and up to millions at a time like on hive worlds.
On the more peaceful systems the lax Guardsmen army deployed to ‘guard’ the place would only be using the tinniest size, thus only have 20.000 at any one time if a majority of it on reserve. At the more active systems the numbers would go up to around 40.000 to 60.000 troops in garrisoning systems not too far from a front. When the Imperial Guard does deploy an army to the frontline the commanders always request at least 100.000 for the more daring but normally uses 180.000 if they are luck.
- Additional info in thread XI, including number of troops in each Segmentum. Actual number of troops never agreed upon, left here as placeholder.
Forces of the Imperial Guard
Cadian Shock Troopers
Most “Cadian” Regiments are in fact not from Cadia or even have a drop of Cadian blood in them. “So why name them Cadian?” I hear you say. The Cadians were one of the few who proved themselves in the Great Crusade as the most versatile and adaptable troops the Imperial Army can deploy on most fronts. The organizational structure and equipment used by the Cadians were introduced to many different worlds as the original Cadian regiments toured the modern Imperium and beyond in the Crusade Era. The 200 year expansion period saw diverse traditions of regiments being used all over the galaxy as newly integrated worlds threw their armed forces to join the Imperial Army, and be sent to the far-flung reaches of the Imperium. The War of the Beast saw almost all Cadian regiments be recalled to the defense of Cadia or Terra if they were close enough. With the absence of many regiments from Ultima Segmentum and Segmentum Tempestus the worlds in these places were forced to raise totally new regiments from scratch for self-defense or as requisition to be deployed to the fronts.
Many of the Forge, Argi, and Feudal worlds used traditional local organization and equipment for planetary elite troops to form their own Guardsmen regiment at that time. Imperial, Hive and Fortress worlds on the other hand, saw the effectiveness in Cadian regiments as they fought against or with the Cadians during the Great Crusade. The industrial capability to manufacture standard Cadian equipment was already present on many Imperial worlds, but the Forge worlds refused to form Cadian regiments as these worlds dismiss the lack of artillery and armored vehicles and rather form the Skitarii armies. Argi and Feudal worlds lack the industry to produce and equip a Cadian regiment.
The adoption of Cadian regiments on so many different worlds shows the versatility and efficiency of the Cadian doctrine. After the War of the Beast, the original Cadian regiments would be sent to refortify the Cadian Gate. Many of the displaced Cadian civilian people would be reorganized to colonist groups leaving their homeworld. The same adaptable traditions carried over to colonize and frontier worlds when they raised their own Cadian regiments.
Cadian infantry regiments from Cadia are known as “Cadian Shock Troops” while off world or imitation regiments are known as “Cadian Foot Troops.” These Cadian Shock Troops would often have at least two detachments from other branches of the Imperial Guard, for example the 203rd Cadian Shock Troop has self-propelled heavy artillery and armored detachments. The Cadian Foot Troops often don’t follow this rule and only deploy with one detachment.
In a Cadian infantry regiment, a squad is made of 10 people that operate in 5 pairs. The Sergeant keeps up moral and plans out tactics with the Lieutenant who can operate as a vox-caster; they can also be equipped with melee weapons. The heavy weapon team is included to allow long range suppressive fire on the battlefield usually with a heavy stubber. The Medic works to keep the soldiers in fighting condition with the help of their underling that tags along into battles. The rest of the squad is made up of two pairs of weapon specialists normally being Lasgunners.
The Sargent is equipped with a chainsword and las-pistol for leading charges or CQC. Alternatively the Sargent can be armed like the Lieutenant who is given a las-carbine for self-defense. The heavy weapon team normally uses an offensive heavy stubber that fires 12.7mm rounds or a lighter defensive stubber firing 7.92 rounds. In the heavy weapons team the first member carries and fire the weapon while the other member feeds ammo, spots targets, guards the gunner, and act as a makeshift bipod. Both members are also equipped with a Lasgun and a las-pistol. The medic fights with a Lasgun and heals with the medikit which comes with medical drugs, chemicals, surgical tools, sedatives, injectors, bandages and a medical cogitator which can detect almost every known aliments. To help the Medic is the underling who carries extra supplies, guard the Medic, or help in surgery depending on the conditions. The weapon specialists mostly carry Lasguns although one or two of the four might have flamers instead. These specialists can really be armed with any weapon that can be held by two regular human arms, some can also serve the dual role of vox-caster as well. The specialist act as either a flanking force while the heavy weapon team suppressed the enemy or the center line that lay down fire.
Fenrisian Line Regiments
Seeing the effectiveness of Cadian troops after encountering them in battle during the Great Crusade, Fenris adopted the Cadian Doctrine and deployed Cadian Foot Troops to the front. Yet the War of the Beast changed the outlook of the Fenrisians on the Cadian Doctrine with the lack of mortal manpower when faced with the Ork threat. During the war, several Cadian Foot Troops were entirely wiped out within the first week. The Death world breed heroes for the Space Wolves, not infinite manpower for many Foot Troops. Fenrisians abandoned the Cadian Doctrine after the war and switched to the Fusilier Doctrine that the famous Mordian, Praetorian, and Scintillan use. Sacrificing quantity for quality, the Fenrisians can always request Space Wolves regiments to merge with a Line Regiment. The Flak Armor for the Fenrisian Line Guardsmen uses extra metal plates compared to Cadians. The infantry under the Fusilier Doctrine would stand shoulder to shoulder forming into lines facing the enemy before firing. The Fenrisian Line Regiments took this tactic and expand it with the introduction of self-propelled artillery to provide mobile defense and keep up with infantry on attacks. In these regiments the Fenrisians officers are encouraged to outgun the enemy via volley fire and if that fails just charge them. Fenrisian line infantry are better trained than Cadians in melee combat with some even wielding swords into charges.
Fenrisian Line Regiments often differ in tactics depending on whether they come from one of the Fenrisian colony worlds or Fenris itself. Old World Fenrisians are more wild and less coordinated in their approach, and typically operate in 5-10 man squads for the best kill-to-loss ratio. New World Fenrisians are more ordered and coordinated though they are still wilder than anyone outside your average Death Worlder. The two groups work best together, with New Worlder regiments holding the line and securing targets and Old Worlders scouting ahead and harrying supply lines.
Armageddon Outriders
Everybody knows the Steel Legion. Reflections of their world in microcosm. Steel and fire and ash; unstoppable waves of armor, Basilisk barrages like monsoon rains, choking clouds of lung-burning gas.
Less well-known is the fact that there are two parts to the Steel Legion. The first and largest are the heavy mechanized infantry they are famous for. The second is the Outriders.
The Outriders are all crazy. The infantry regiments of the Steel Legion recruit from inside the hives, the factory and forge workers, but the Outriders recruit from outside the hives, and there are only two ways to make a living out there.
The first is prospecting and wildcat mining. Delving deep into ancient and much-abused Ork-built structures with jury-rigged and second-hand equipment in search of veins of valuable materials. Everything from gold electrical circuits to adamantine armor plate. Most valuable of all is components of the old teleporter system. The Mechanicus has decided it wants planetary teleporters more than it hates Ork 'technology', and pays staggering sums for the smallest scraps. The description alone should tell you everything you need to know about how hard and dangerous the job is.
The second is Ork hunting. The Administratum and PDF will pay good thrones for Ork skulls. Two for a squig, five for a grot, and starting at forty for an Ork, more for larger or special types like Weirdboys and Brainboys. Reimbursement is included for promethium spent burning the bodies, and the PDF doesn't check too hard to make sure you're not claiming driving-around promethium as Ork-burning expense.
Outrider legend tells of Billy-Joe Hammerlord, who drove through an entire warband on his bike to take the head of the Warboss and earned enough to retire. The story grows every time in the retelling, so by now the old stories claim the warband stretched from one horizon to the other, the Warboss carved paths through the rubble for his army to march through just by dragging his axe along the ground behind him, and Billy-Joe earned enough to buy himself a fleet and became a Rogue Trader and went on adventures with Prince Yriel.
Officially, all the Orks on Armageddon are Feral. Most places, that means stone axes and weird squigs. But this is Armageddon. The world still remembers in her bones when she strode among the stars and slapped aside Battlefleet Solar like so many children's toys. A lot of the Orks are just waving around scrap-metal axes. Depending on what armories they've broken into, they might be tossing around vortex bombs.
The point is that Outriders are all crazy. In some ways they sort of resemble Orks themselves. They move around in a wide assortment of walkers, fat-tired buggies, and motorbikes, made of scrap metal and spare parts. Most of these vehicles started life in a Mechanicus factory but after generations of repairs and modifications nothing of the original vehicle is to be found. And most of them are that old- a good vehicle is a heirloom, passed down from father to son, each generation adding a bit more to it. They stick spikes on the vehicles and stick Ork skulls on the spikes, and judge each other by how skull-laden their bosspoles are. When an Ork warband and an Outrider clan are fighting it sometimes gets hard to tell which is which.
Outriders prefer las-weapons over slug, so there is that.
A common rite of passage among the Outriders is for the father to cripple an Ork with shots to its limbs, then for son finish it off with a knife. This marks the transition from childhood into adolescence. True manhood is often not considered to begin until the son repeats the ritual, as the father. It is important not just to kill Orks, but to ensure that Ork-killing will continue into the far future.
The point is that Outriders are all crazy, but they are Ork-killing crazy so they make excellent candidates for the Imperial Guard. Sometimes entire clans get recruited into their own regiments. Sometimes restless young men come in on their own to the recruiting office and get incorporated into the regular Steel Legions as scouts and cavalry. Most of the time they insist on bringing their own vehicles and most of the time the Munitorum lets them. It just insists that they repair their vehicles with standard issue parts. Since most of the time their vehicles are kitbashes of Sentinels and Chimeras this is usually not hard.
For all their skill and lunatic courage the Outriders are not famous, for the good and simple reason that there simply aren't as many of them as the normal Steel Legions. Armageddon outside the hive walls does not support high population densities. They just fade into the background as 'specialized auxiliaries' of the Steel Legion. But those who have met them have given rise to a proverb- “Armageddon has many faces, and all of them are lethal."
Doctrines of the Imperial Guard
In addition to the famed Cadian Doctrine, many regiments have also developed their own unique methods of fighting which have then spread throughout the Imperium. While this is hardly an exhaustive list, it provides a decent look into the sheer diversity of the Guard.
Infiltration Doctrine
Infiltration doctrine is a light infantry doctrine focused on stealth and mobility. It omits vehicles and heavy artillery from the TO&E almost entirely, relying on crew-served weapons that can be dismantled and carried by an infantry squad for heavy firepower. On the offence, infiltration regiments use their stealth and lightweight equipment to close with enemy formations undetected and from unexpected directions; once all elements are in position, they launch an overwhelming surprise attack from close range, using their crew-served weapons and snipers to suppress the enemy and ensure they cannot mount an organized defence. On the defense, they use the same qualities for hit-and-run raids, whittling down the enemy and melting away into the night when the enemy tries to bring their firepower to bear.
Infiltration regiments are usually equipped with specialized equipment such as camo-cloaks and night-vision goggles, but these are less important than how the regiment is trained. The nature of their operation requires that officers and NCOs be trained to a higher standard of independence than normal, as units as small as squads will often be trusted to maneuver individually in support of the overall objective. This usually cultivates a sense of being elite; combined with the looser chains of command infiltration regiments usually operate with, other regiments usually consider them insubordinate and undisciplined.
In combat, infiltration regiments are used to secure and move through terrain that mechanized regiments cannot. They are also used in combined-arms strategies to scout out enemy positions, assassinate officers, and destroy enemy strongpoints in advance of the main armored thrust. Infiltration regiments also maintain their effectiveness easier in the face of enemy air and orbital superiority thanks to their ability to fight while remaining hidden and dispersed. Finally, infiltration doctrines are popular among PDF forces incapable of maintaining large mechanized armies. However, as powerful as they are within their specialty, their lack of vehicles and artillery makes them perform poorly outside of it.
Armageddon Doctrine
Armageddon doctrine is a maneuver- and terrain-focused mechanized infantry doctrine. Developed by the Steel Legion in their endless battles against the Orks, Armageddon doctrine TO&E is extremely vehicle-heavy, with sufficient Chimeras to carry the entire regiment, strong organic artillery support, and at least a modest tank detachment. Mechanized scout detachments- Salamanders, Sentinels, and bikes (preferably jet-) are common, but can also be delegated to other specialized regiments. (The Steel Legion itself uses the Outriders for this purpose, but other regiments have other solutions.) Likewise, organic combat engineering support is common, as are air defense vehicles; Hydras in particular are valued for their ability to sweep aside Ork hordes in addition to aircraft. Soldiers are heavily armored in carapace.
In combat, Armageddon doctrine is often described as 'operationally offensive, tactically defensive'. Using the scout detachment to scout out the terrain and enemy dispositions, the regiment seeks to seize vital terrain features before the enemy and fortify it, forcing the enemy to assault a fortified position on terrain of the Imperium's choosing. To this end, Amageddon-style regiments usually carry copious amounts of barbed wire, mines, and other defensive implements; vehicles are equipped with dozer blades to dig out entrenchments. This is where the engineering detachment comes in. The scout detachment, if present, harasses the enemy on its approach, although this is not a vital component of the doctrine.
At the level of individual squads, Armageddon doctrine emphasizes close cooperation between infantry and armor; full mechanization means each squad has a Chimera, which they are responsible for defending from threats and vice versa.
Few worlds adopt the Armageddon doctrine in full. Although many other mechanized infantry forces adopt its emphasis on mobility, terrain, and forcing the enemy to attack fortified positions, few worlds can afford to equip their regiments with the same weight of metal as Armageddon, and thus do not adopt the full TO&E. In addition, the emergence of the Brain Boy caste has thrown the doctrine into flux; with the Orks no longer throwing themselves as eagerly into near-suicidal charges, the strategy has lost some of its effectiveness. Although the core of the strategy remains sound, the arguments at Steel Legion HQ about how to adapt to a changing galaxy continue long into the night.
Fast Attack Doctrine
A light-armor and occasionally bio-cavalry doctrine focusing on the use of speed and maneuverability as weapons.
There is no standard TO&E for Fast Attack regiments, due to the wide variance in equipment used. Salamander scout tanks, Sentinels, motor- and jet-bikes, a thousand varieties of armored car and riding beasts. A very few forge-worlds even have super-heavy fast-attack companies, equipping tanks as heavy as Baneblades with antigrav units to allow them to keep up with lighter forces.
Whatever the equipment, all Fast Attack units operate similarly, using overwhelming speed to strike at an enemy's weak points before an effective response can be mustered. The 'classic' pattern of attack is to punch straight through the enemy line and rampage through the rear areas, but that is hardly the only tactical possibility. Outflanking maneuvers, hit-and-run raids- speed opens many possibilities.
Fast Attack regiments are usually deployed as part of combined arms strategies, scouting for slower units or exploiting breakthroughs created by heavier ones. On their own, while fast and generally well-armed, they are also more fragile than a true tank unit and lack staying power. This varies, of course; the dynamics of a horse cavalry unit differ from Sentinels and Salamanders which differ from jetbikes. But the general principle holds; as with so many other things in the Imperium, there is strength in diversity.
Fast Attack units, like Infiltration units, are often popular among PDF forces which cannot sustain heavy tank formations but can build light tanks and armored cars or breed horses, which contributes to the wide variance of regiments following the doctrine.
Weapons of the Imperial Guard
Lasguns
The first instances of las-weapon technology came from Terra itself. It is thought to be a recreational weapon used in mock battles during the Dark Age of Technology. At that time these las-weapons beams had the power of 4mm stubber pellets where even thick cloth was effective armor against it. These relics were present on Terra and other worlds during the Warlord Era but it was the Emperor who reshaped it to become a lethal weapon. The Emperor’s scouts had presented him with some prototype weapons when preparing for the unification with Mars. One such weapon was the proto-Lascarbine that was superior to stubber carbines in all but firepower. The Las beams still had the power of a 4mm stubber pallet thus the Emperor in his intelligence recrafted the weapon so that it fired with the power of an 8mm stubber round. The Lascarbine first saw service as the replacement for the Autorifles which was the standard weapon for the Imperial Army in the unification of the Sol system. Next was the Laspistols which were design to replace the stubber pistols. The mass use of Las-weapons saw that the Lascarbine barrels started to warp after 5.000 shots and the Laspistol barrels warped after 2.000 shots. When these barrels warped, what would have been unmodified hitscan fire devolved to lose of accuracy where Guardsmen had to fire two or more times in the same place to get a hit. Even worst, when the Laspistol barrels warped soldiers had to fire at point-blank range to get hits.
The Imperial Army Handheld Weapons Development Bureau would develop the Lasgun which had a longer barrel and limited the power to 7.9mm stubber round strength. Then changed the iron sights of the weapon to allow attachable optics and added a stock for increase accuracy. The first Lasguns were deployed to the front during the Hunting Era where it was noted that these weapons had effectively the firepower as the Lascarbines but the barrels didn’t warp until after 10.000 shots. When the Apostasy Era started Guardsmen on both sides reported the Lascarbines and Lasguns in night-time fighting left noticeable muzzle flashes thus making the shooter an easy target. The Weapons Development Bureau would again work on the Lasgun and Lascarbine just after the Apostasy Era, to create the attachable flash suppressor for better night-time combat. Then they also created the light attachable stock for the Lascarbine.
Flak Armor
There was no such thing as a standardized armor used by the Imperial Army during the Great Crusade. The closes thing to such a concept came in the form of the Solar Pattern Void Armor used widely by the Solar Auxilia but that was a carapace-reinforced void suite rather than Flak Armor as we know it today. The first documented instances of what could be considered Flak Armor was when Cadian Shock Troops started equipping troopers en masse with light anti-shrapnel armor near the end of the Great Crusade. Cadian officers found out on the battlefield when Cadian Guardsmen attacked entrenched positions most of their losses sustained were from artillery or random bits of debris thrown into the air by artillery. The different regiments from Cadia phased out the traditional metal plate armor for Flak Armor, all future campaigns used Flak Armor once manufactorums switched production lines right before the War of the Beast.
The breastplate, shoulder pauldrons, knee plates, and greaves all used the same material and layering as each other. The helmet has considerable more armor and the fabric connecting the armor is much weaker or lacks any sort of plating. Most of the actual armor in Flak Armor uses an inner layer of shock absorbent gel with metal plating between the gal and outer ceramic layer. All three of these layers are connected and interwoven with carbon-fiber, metal-fabric, and nylon strings forcing the layers to stay together under most conditions. The ceramic plate was designed to deflect shrapnel or at least cause it to be stuck in the plate. The metal layer was placed to stop lasbolts or stubber rounds from fully penetrating through the armor in case if the shot passed the ceramic plate. The gal is there as either the last ditch effort to stop shrapnel from fully penetrating the armor or prevent internal bleeding from receiving a direct hit. Flak Armor fabric is made from different carbon-fiber, metal fabrics, and thick cloths to prevent shrapnel from cutting through or a blade from ripping it. Flak Armor helmet tend to have extra metal plating to ensure that not all shots to the head are fatal or random falling debris didn’t kill the Guardsman.
The first major combat test of Flak Armor was seen in the War of the Beast. On the frontlines Flak Armor proved to be basically ineffective in protecting against Ork weaponry. The Orks had used unusually large stubber rounds up to but not limited to 10 or 12mm that would slice right through Flak plating. What would be considered dangerous Ork rockets would often miss even with flam ammo, Flak armor was more than enough protection against most Ork rocketry short of city block leveling size. Crone Eldar and Dark Eldar weapons of both Saw and Splinter ammo had difficult times penetrating Flak plating unless there was concentrated fire where even the Flak plating can only protect against so much. When the Fallen first turned on Imperial Army elements, blosters were used for the first time against Flak Armor. The bolter rounds would often penetrate Flak plating to only cleanly exit out on the other side then explode, if the Guardsman was lucky they would still be alive. When a Guardsman was even luckier the bolter shell would be deflected off of Flak plating and explodes prematurely in mid-air, unless the explosion was in their face the shrapnel would be mostly harmless. The flexibility, simplicity, and cheapness to produce Flak Armor instead of Void suits led to many Imperial worlds adopting the Flak Armor, quotas and resources were limited in the total economic mobilization that happened in the War of the Beast made Flak Armor even more popular.
During the Apostasy, Imperial Guard regiments openly fought against one another and this saw the first use of Flak Armor against massed artillery. Regiments would launch massive formations to charge at entrenched Guardsmen who were well prepared for such an attack. The defenders would fire blinding volleys of artillery shells to delay the charge. Flak Armor proved a Guardsman could survive an artillery barrage short of a direct hit right next to their feet they would be fine, if the shockwave from the explosion didn’t destroy the body’s organs that is. Artillery barrages could now only slow down attacks from Guardsmen thanks to Flak Armor. Field modifications noted to be used by regiments during the Apostasy was extra cloth being to prevent shrapnel from easily slicing the joints. Thicker ceramic plates are used by veteran Guardsmen against Orks to at least survive glancing shots from Ork stubbers. Regiments constantly facing Crone or Dark Eldar is deployed with extra metal layered Flak Armor to prevent enemy fire from penetrating Flak plating.
Beastmen and Ogryn
As the Imperium spread its borders past the boundaries of Sol, it rapidly began to encounter new strains of abhumans. Some of these strains were familiar, including Navigators and additional tribes of Void Born. Others such as the Ratlings, Felinids, and Nightsiders were novel, but genetically stable, having evolved through Dark Age of Technology genetic engineering and natural evolution, a testament to humanity's hardiness and ability to survive on almost any world.
For the most part, the Steward was unconcerned with admitting these abhuman variants into the Imperium. He already had one abhuman primarch, another nearly so, and he himself was only human in the loosest sense of the word. To him the abhumans were just one more drop of variation in the great sea of humanity.
However, then the Imperium discovered the Ogryn. And the Beastmen.
Each race presented its own problems for the Imperium. The previous abhuman species were all genetically stable and essentially comparable to baseline humans in intelligence. The Ogryn were clearly of subhuman intelligence, being comparable to a mentally handicapped human at best, and behaved and looked like shaved apes more than people, fighting each other with their enlarged canine tusks.
The Beastmen were slightly more intelligent, but more in the manner of an extremely cunning predator than a civilized being, completely ruled by their instincts, and prone to additional mutations. When the Beastmen were discovered by the Imperium, their lives were brutish, nasty, and short.
Such was the Steward’s concern that he brought in his highest ranked geneticists and gene-wrights to consult on this matter. At this point in time the Steward’s various groups of genetic engineers had been merged into Adeptus Biologis, but had not yet adopted the trappings of the Mechanicum of Mars. The nominal head of the Biologis, a former genesmith, suggested the Ogryn and Beastmen were so unsalvageable that the Steward’s best options were either to wipe them out immediately and resettle the planet with humans of other stock or to sterilize them and then resettle the planets in 60 years or so after they had all died out, something that caused considerable consternation among other schools of thought in the Biologis.
The Steward made it abundantly clear that the suggestion of summary genocide on a world under the Imperium’s protection would not be tolerated and anyone found doing so without the Steward’s knowledge is grounds for immediate execution without appeal. The Steward argued the Ogryn and Beastmen were humans. Afflicted humans, but humans all the same. Their ancestors were no different than any other group that Earth but were merely dealt a bad hand by the universe through no fault of their own. Eventually, the Steward and the various factions of the Adeptus Biologis released an agreement. The Biologis would release carefully tailored mutations into the genepools of the Ogryn and Beastmen over thousands of years until the devolution in intelligence and sanity caused by the Age of Strife could be undone.
As of M41 Ogryn and Beastmen can be split into two broad categories: Primeval and Nova. Primeval Ogryn and Beastmen are rare, existing only on planets that have been just recently rediscovered by the Imperium. They are little different from the Ogryn and Beastmen first encountered by the Imperium in M30. Nova Ogryn and Beastmen vary in intelligence from little better than their Primeval ancestors to levels deemed acceptable to the Imperium (generally human intelligence or close to it).
Nova Ogryn have lost some of the strength and durability of their ancestors, but in general are much more intelligent (though less so than human on average). Combined with external artificial augmentations such as Biochemical Ogryn Neural Enhancement or “Bonehead Procedure”, some Ogryn officers are actually comparable to humans in intelligence.
Nova Beastmen are one of the greatest success stories of the Biologis, along with the Astartes and Necromundan eco-engineering. Out of all the strains of abhuman, the Beastmen benefited the most from genetic engineering, mostly because of how bad they had it to begin with. Some have theorized that the Beastmen were created via crude methods of genetic engineering by splicing in large amounts of non-human DNA (even moreso than other abhumans) during the Dark Age of Technology. When society collapsed during the Age of Strife, there was no way to correct the myriad mutations and glitches that cropped up over the following 10,000 years. Indeed, when the Beastmen were first discovered by the Imperium they were not even recognized as human-descended at first.
Although the Beastmen started off much worse than the Ogryn, their uplifting progressed much faster. The same shoddy genetic engineering that made the Beastmen prone to mutation in the first place meant that the new, stabler genes introduced by the Adeptus Biologis became established across the population very quickly. All Nova Beastmen as of M41 are essentially if human intelligence. Any Primeval Beastmen in M41 are all from very recently discovered worlds. Nevertheless, despite their dramatically more stable genome, Beastmen still suffer a slightly higher rate of mutation than the rest of the Imperium. No one is sure if the tendency towards mutations is due to the Biologis trying a little too hard to correct the flaws in the Beastmen genome or the Ruinous Powers trying to taint any long-term victory on the part of the Imperium.
The Adeptus Biologicus might have gone a little overboard in trying to keep the instincts of the Beastmen in check. As opposed to their Primeval brethren, Nova Beastmen tend to be rather solemn and dour, though this may be because they know how far they have climbed and how deep the pit they were lifted out of was. Their sense of duty and debt is second only to that of Krieg, but thankfully for the Imperium’s sake the Beastmen are much less suicidal. Promethean beliefs tend to be widespread among the Beastmen. However, the Nova Beastmen have not lost all of the bestial instincts of their kin. Beastmen often speak of a “Weakness of the Beast” to refer to any behavior that seems to be driven by instinct or base desire, one of the few societal ideas they may have picked up from the Adeptus Biologicus. Nova Beastmen in general also tend to have much sharper senses than baseline humans, and are valued even in otherwise all-baseline regiments as scouts and trackers.
Beastmen and Ogryn Society
Nova Ogryn tend to live under a tribal or clannish structure of government. There are perhaps dozens of worlds whose inhabitants come under the broad category of Ogryn and each world can have a thousand different tribal groups with their own set of traditions. However, most common are a leading Patriarch, some paternal ancestor of a large proportion of the tribe. Usually then there is the Wise Woman. Sometimes it's the chief’s mother, sometimes his wife, sometimes it's not a woman but just someone with good judgement. A priest/shaman for matters of spiritual significance and dealing with supernatural phenomena (which usually boils down to “leave it alone and tell the nearest adept”). Sometimes the tribe might be blessed/cursed with a Witch/Warlock who has psychic powers. Psychic Ogryn exist. They used to be rarer than in the baseline gene pool but now exist in the same proportion as baseline humanity. This may be a side effect of the increase in power or by using baseline human genes to uplift the Ogryn.
Although Ogryns are not as smart as baseline humans, they are generally smarter than people expect. The officers with BONE implants can fluently converse in High Gothic about all manner of matters both practical and philosophical and are invariably literate. But that's because they were already the brightest of the bright even before the biocrystalline Cortex Technology was inserted into their brain. The average Ogyrn can learn to maintain an extra-large laser rifle by route, can understand contractual obligations (although they will sign said contract with an X) and has enough brains to follow orders and even understand quite complex strategy provided it's explained slowly with small words and you get them to repeat it back to you just to make sure. Ogryn are also known to be fiercely loyal and honorable. It's a bloody strange day when an Ogryn breaks their word.
Nova Beastmen, on the other hand, tend to form rigid military hierarchies when left to form their own societies. This is not due to any intrinsic inclination to do so as opposed to baseline humanity, but more because any governmental structure that doesn’t encourage iron-hard discipline tends to implode within a few years. Their inner animal is still very close to the surface, and their increased cognitive faculties haven’t tamed it in the slightest. Beastmen societies are ruled by philosopher-kings called Brahmins, who tend to exemplify everything that the Beast is not. More of a high judge than a war chief, seemingly at odds with the otherwise militarized nature of Beastmen society, but a wise and solemn individual that will not give in to base desires and passions.
Another notable feature of Beastman society are Aurochs, the warrior-champions of Beastman society. These huge warriors are about the size and strength of Astartes, but overall tend to be much less effective for several reasons. First, Aurochs make up a vanishingly small proportion of the Beastmen population and cannot reliably be mass produced. Secondly, Aurochs lack all of the advantages beyond sheer strength that make Space Marines so lethal. Finally, Aurochs cannot use standardized equipment. Because of their rarity, armor and weaponry often have to be individually crafted, most Imperial helmets being unable to fit over their horns and even normal Beastmen helmets being too small for them.
Scion Tempestus
Difference between Stormtroopers and Scions
The Tempestus Scion or also known as Stormtroopers are the specialized heavy infantry regiments that are always broken down into smaller units. Once divided into battalions or companies they are attached to other units within the Imperial Army but can also serve under the Inquisition or Sororitas. The Scions are known for their high dropout rates in the intense training but prove in combat at being the best CQC non-melee soldiers in the Imperial Army. Scions and Stormtroopers differ in their training and equipment as they are given different tasks. Veteran Guardsmen or raw volunteers are first trained then deployed as Stormtroopers in the Imperial Guard. The Stormtroopers are only trained to fight in ground wars and are equipped as such. Stormtroopers are often given the task of assaulting fortifications and clearing buildings. Scions are volunteer veteran Stormtroopers who are retrained to fight inside void ships and infiltrate behind enemy lines. Their weapons are unchanged for the most part but the armor is a lighter version that can withstand the vacuum of the void.
Equipment
The Stormtroopers are sent to the frontlines as the first ones to clear out bunkers, trenches, and building. Missions of that nature mean the Stormtroopers are given the deadly ‘Hellgun’ Lasgun to one-shot enemies at point blank range. The Carapace Armor worn by Stormtroopers is the innermost armor worn by Diffusion squads, thus can prevent shrapnel or shots from less than 50m from disabling the Stormtrooper. The Stormtrooper armor allows them to clear tight places with relative safety from explosives and suppressive fire. Other than that they hold the same basic kit as a Guardsman but with more explosives. The Scions when first founded noted that the Carapace Armor accelerated exhaustion while hindering movement for the user. These two factors played an important role in crippling operators on independent infiltration missions. The Tempestus Scion developed the ‘Cephalon Armor’ which was a lighter version of Carapace Armor but still covering the same body parts while being stronger than Flak Armor. Cephalon Armor also comes along with a built-in antenna and shoulder mounted pic recorder that a commanding officer can use. The Scion’s basic kits are almost the same as the Stormtrooper’s but have an additional void survival kit.
Standardization
In terms of equipment, the Scions would all carry the same Scion basic kit and standard CQC weapons but they can always have extra things with them or swap out weapons because their armor is lighter. It keeps all Scion companies mostly the same while having enough changes to complete very specific missions. All Scion squads are at least expected to take on CQC & infiltration missions. The Stormtroopers on the other hand, just like their Guardsmen regiments, vary greatly from the world to world. All Stormtroopers are expected to be assigned the task of clearing cramp locations and fortifications. Now, how they are trained and equipped to do that changes from regiment to regiment. The Cadian Karskins are made for storming buildings in urban combat while the Cadian Guardsmen maneuver quickly in city street fighting. Kreiger Grenadiers, on the other hand, would charge at fortifications and trenches before everybody throwing a grenade then jumping inside.
Stormtroopers from Feudal worlds might only have a Lasgun and a single grenade while carrying a shield with several melee weapons. Kreiger Grenadiers would hold even more extra grenades than Karskins. Hive world Stormtroopers might always carry Meltaguns or Flamers due to the importance of high damage in fast reaction time weapons in urban warfare. The only thing standard is that they all wear some variation of Carapace Armor.
Notable Regiments
See Scion Regiments
Adeptus Astartes (Space Marines)
The ideal age for Astartes augmentation is somewhere between 19 and 25 years of age. At this point, the individual is young enough that their body can recover from the trauma of the procedure, but old enough that it is clear that it is worth giving them the enhancements. In theory, older individuals could undergo Astartes augmentation, but the risk of complication is so high that it is essentially not worth it. By the same token, younger individuals might be able to handle the stress of Astartes augmentations better than older individuals, but at this age the augmentations might affect their mental development. Ironically, earlier, less stable versions of Astartes augmentation, such as Thunder Warrior, Canis Helix, and Astartes Mark I augmentations, have a much higher compatibility rate and are are viable for a much wider range of ages than standard Mark III Astartes augmentations, in part because they are less invasive.
The Breaking of the Legions
During the Great Crusade, the Adeptus Astartes were organized into twenty distinct legions each composed of thousands of Space Marines. However, by M41, the Adeptus Astartes have been divided into many distinct chapters about 1000-1200 strong, each descended at least in part from one of the eighteen legions that survived the War of the Beast. The reason for this change in organization is complicated. Many lay students of history often claim that the impetus for this change was Roboute Guilliman's Codex Astartes, published in 243.M31. However, like much of Guilliman's work, the Codex Astartes was meant to be a thought exercise in how the Adeptus Astartes could be more efficiently organized in a post-Great Crusade environment, and Guilliman would never have tried to shove his ideas down his fellow primarch's throats.
In truth, all of the legions split up for different reasons, and at different times.
Several of the legions survived virtually as is for a little while longer under new leaders, who would have probably been considered primarchs in their own right if they hadn't had to stand in their predecessor's shadow. Kharn found himself essentially taking over more and more of his legions duties as Angron's health deteriorated. Abbadon was ambitious and charismatic enough to keep the Void Wolves in one piece for at least another generation. Leman Russ told Bjorn during a moment of mutual drunkenness to "look after the place while I step out for a minute". The next morning they realized Russ was gone and to make matters worse everyone had been just sober enough to remember what Russ had said the night before.
Other legions split up following the death of their primarch, or for simple matters of practicality. Old Man Khan called a meeting of the yabgu, despite not being dead yet, to make sure that whoever succeeded him would be competent enough not to run the legion into the ground. In a rare moment of humility, the yabgu compared themselves to Khan and realized that none of them could claim to have accomplished what Khan had accomplished by their age, and so the legion was split up. The descendants of the Thousand Sons such as the Grey Knights were already split up before their primarch's death (with the exception of the Blood Ravens), given that all were created to perform quite different, specialized tasks. The Imperial Fists found themselves splitting apart to fortify and garrison agri-worlds after the War of the Beast, on the basis that you cannot rebuild an empire if everyone is starving, and gradually drifted apart over the centuries. The same is true with the Iron Warriors and hive worlds and Iron Hands and forgeworlds. In these cases, Guilliman's Codex Astartes was seen as a natural framework for how to rework the legions into more autonomous units (though each legion implemented the Codex in their own way).
The Dark Angels are rather infamous for having split up before Guilliman ever wrote the Codex Astartes, after two-thirds of their number turned traitor during the War of the Beast. The Lion split the remaining loyalists into knightly orders and instituted the rank of Watcher to ensure that no one individual could ever subvert the entire legion. Guilliman may have actually been thinking of the Dark Angels when he wrote some parts of the Codex.
The Death Guard never really split up, even with the death of their primarch. Unlike the other legions they have never truly stopped marching to war.
There were two real deathknells for the concepts of a legion as a whole. The first was when Belarius the Abdicator refused to take up command of the full host of the Blood Angels after the death of Sanguinus, knowing full well that his entire reign would be spent in the shadow of the Martyr Angel. Instead he took command of a much more reasonable sized contingent of Blood Angels, nearly all survivors of the War of the Beast, with Belarius giving the most competent of the remaining Blood Angels command of their own groups. This set the precedent for most legions of breaking up into chapters after the death of their Primarch.
The other was the “Iron Cage” incident that happened to Fulgrim sometime in early M31. Fulgrim had always been a micro-manager, and was one of the strongest opponents of breaking the legions into chapters. However, after the War of the Beast, the sheer number of small-scale conflicts across the rebuilding Imperium and lack of local autonomy meant that the Empire’s Sons were ground down to about half the size of their prime merely by attrition alone despite being one of the biggest recruiters of new Astartes. The breaking point for the legion was when the Empire’s Sons got caught in a trap set up by a Tzeentch-worshipping Big Wyrd. The Wyrdboy was never caught, and by the end of it Fulgrim was left with enough marines to scrape into a little less than three chapters. After that point, even the strongest detractors of the Codex Astartes (with the exception of some particularly stubborn cases like the Death Guard) had to admit that Guilliman had a point.
However, despite this, successor chapters have not completely caught all ties with one another. Many chapters still retain close ties with their former brethren in other chapters, and many chapters have programs of officer exchange to encourage loyalty to the Imperium as a whole rather than a particular world or individual. Nevertheless, chapters are expected to be open about all inter-chapter interactions and unofficial brotherhoods are officially banned by explicit decree of the Emperor, in order to prevent the rise of another individual like Luther fostering ties of soft power beneath the nose of the Imperium. One of the jobs of the Inquisition’s Ordo Militarum is to make sure the Adeptus Astartes keep to this decree.
Additionally, by his own admission, Guilliman’s organizational suggestions were designed for times of relative peace, rather than all-out galactic war. In times of great crisis, the First Founding chapters (who are considered first among equals among successor chapters and whose original members were often some of the best soldiers in each legion) have the right to call for a Reformation of the Legion, where the successor chapters temporarily unite to lock arms and march under the united banner of the old legion once more. This policy is sometimes called the Last Wall policy, as Guilliman reputedly got this idea based on suggestions by the consummate soldier Rogal Dorn, who understood that the War of the Beast was not going to be the last major war the Imperium would face.
Responding to this call is completely voluntary, but many chapters consider it shameful for a successor chapter to refuse to answer the call, particularly since a call for a Reformation of the Legion is reserved for only the direst of emergencies that threaten the entire Imperium. The only time a refusal of the call is ever considered acceptable is if a chapter is severely undermanned or if they are physically unable to respond due to being directly under attack themselves. For example, the Lamenters were unable to respond to a call for the temporary reformation of the Blood Angels during the 12th Black Crusade, due to suffering from severe manpower losses beforehand. The Lamenters still blame themselves for not being able to respond to the call, even if the rest of the Imperium doesn’t.
Oficios and Adepta
The Assassins
The Officio Assassinorum was one of the oldest arms of the Imperial Government, and its roots date back to the barbarity and cruelty of the Old Night. Perhaps it was fitting that, as the Warlord became the Steward and the Unification became the Great Crusade, the ancient orders of assassins were finally brought to heel and integrated into the Imperium proper.
The Rebuke at Mount Vengeance is the common story of the Officio Assassinorum's founding. In those days, the young Imperium was mired in battles far and wide, but one particular front was facing opposition that none seemed able to counter. Here, commanding officers and vital figures were dying at an alarming rate, even in the safety of their rear areas; and although they were suspected to be the work of the enemy all of the deaths seemed to be of natural causes. The Warlord simply appointed new generals and ordered veteran bodyguards for the ones already in theatre, but in response his loathsome foes only grew bolder. Ever-more evidence of their activities was left behind, seemingly taunting the Imperium for their inability to protect their own; clean killings becoming vicious slaughters of officers and civilians alike. Commanders were found butchered in their headquarters with a single bodyguard left alive, usually little more than traumatised wrecks stammering about technological sorcery beyond that of the Warlord's Mechanicus allies.
Incensed at the atrocities inflicted upon his people, the Warlord made war on the Assassin Temples of the Salt Spires. Little is known about the Spires or mercenary, heartless Masters, for many archives of their history were lost in the anarchy of the War of the Beast (although this may well have been Vangorich's objective all along). The Warlord did the best to spread his own view - that the assassins were little but cowardly shadows who though they could behead the Imperium - but even his presence and words did little to bolster armies so plagued by fear and paranoia, and so he began using the antithesis of their own doctrine to plot their downfall. There were no grand offensives, no bold strikes, nothing that seemed major enough to warrant the assassins moving against it; yet suddenly they found their supplies of everything from ammunition to promethium - and most importantly, water - were perilously low. In their weakened state, the Temples knew they could not face the Warlord's forces, and so they came before him to seek treaty.
At Mount Vengeance, the Temple Masters met to offer peace to the Warlord.
At Mount Vengeance, they received his full scorn.
The Warlord was not content with their mere offer of fealty. For the atrocities the Masters inflicted on his people, for the lives they had taken, the Warlord would not be content with a glorified armistice. He gave them an offer of his own: total surrender, or total annihilation. That was their only choice.
Some of the Temple Masters, emboldened by hubris, unwisely struck the Warlord. They died. Some fled. They died, later. But on the mountain and around it - for many assassins had followed their Masters, perhaps out of loyalty or some morbid curiosity - others remained, bowing in total capitulation to the Warlord and the futility of resisting this god amongst men. For his part, the Warlord acted rather appropriately in that role, passing judgement on each Master and their assassins. Some were found guilty of crimes beyond forgiveness and were slain, often by their peers as a test of loyalty; others were granted the "clemency" of banishment into the salt wastes. Only one was judged pure enough to be worthy of leadership - and, as the new Grandmaster of Assassins, he was assured that the temples that surrendered would remain intact, albeit in service of the Imperium under the watchful eye of Malcador.
Thus was formed the Officio Assassinorum. Malcador was pleased with the Warlord's mercy; for it showed no amount of fury would blind him to true talent. A few thousand years later, the assassins proved that such talent brought risk, especially from those as secretive as the assassins.
In 546.M32, the Grandmaster of the Officio Assassinorum attempted to assassinate the High Lords of Terra. The Beheading, as it has since come to be know, was shrouded in mystery; with events restricted to the Imperial Palace, motive, means, and for some figures even identity have been lost to the shrouds of time. All that has survived to this day is that the Inquisitorial Representative, the Master of the Astronomicon, the Paternal Envoy of the Navigators, and the Fabricator-General of the Adeptus Mechanicus were all killed before the Steward was able to stop Grandmaster Vangorich's terror.
Naturally, many asked how Vangorich was able to get as far as he did. Perhaps the sheer scale of the events already taking place at the time (especially the rising threat of the Beast) was responsible, since it was the few periods in Imperial history where the High Lords were forced to abandon their usual backstabbing and power plays - that kept the Officios and Adepta in check - in favour of (relative) unity. However, others believe planning and preparation had taken decades, the timing an unfortunate consequence of Vangorich demanding so much care be taken to make the deaths of his fellow High Lords look like accidents.
All sources agree, however, that once his treachery was revealed Vangorich unleashed the assassins on the entire palace. The halls ran with blood of the highest Lords and the most lowly of servitors alike, yet there was one figure the assassins would not touch, could not touch, out of fear of what he had done to their forefathers: the Steward, who had vowed to personally put a stop to the killing spree desecrating the home of the Golden Throne. Vangorich, infuriated at the apparent incompetence of his underlings, took it upon himself to do the job they would not, attempting to slay the Steward with a vortex grenade as he emerged from his personal transport.
This went about as well as one would expect.
Even less is known about the outcome. Historians have waxed poetically about the Grandmaster facing an agonizing death, eternal torture, exile into the depths of the Webway with nothing but the clothes on his back, or any other number of tall tales. The most reliable account , however - attributed to the Captain-General of the Adeptus Custodes - states that the Steward simply broke Vangorich's neck as comfortably as one would a twig mere moments after his ill-advised attempt on the Steward's life.
For their part, the assassins were right to be fearful; for unlike their predecessors on Mount Vengeance the Steward gazed upon them with disappointment as well as fury. The Beheading had been undertaken by Vangorich, but the Steward noted with no small distaste that his orders had not been questioned by any under him. Malcador had managed to maintain the delicate balancing act between accountability and unflinching loyalty necessary in an organisation such as the Assassinorum, and without him it seemed the assassins were falling back on their bad habits.
Any other time he would have dismantled the Assassinorum's there and then, but the Steward was more concerned with reinforcing the wider Imperium against the coming onslaught of the Beast. In a time when every second was precious, the Steward could only set aside a day to scour the assassins' much-reduced ranks. Those found wanting of moral character were incinerated where they stood if they had acted on Vangorich's orders or pressed into a penal legion if they had not. One assassin that the Steward found was of solid loyalty and aided him in his purge of the temples, and they were declared new Grandmaster. The first decree they were to issue, however, was a warning - a warning to be spread through every temple, to every assassin from the depths of the Imperial Palace to frontline fighting against the Orks. A warning that, if the Steward was ever forced to intervene again, he would simply dissolve the Assassinorum instead of wasting more time on leniency.
Four thousand years later, the Steward was once again forced to intervene - although this time it was because of a crisis of his own making.
To her credit, the Grandmaster the Steward had put in place had served honorably, loyally, and carefully. Within the temples, long overdue reforms were undertaken, training formalised, and generations of assassins raised to revere the Imperium as a whole more than their temple. The Grandmaster, when she felt her time came, passed the title on to one she felt she could trust; and he continued her work, standardising material provisions and improving survivability. When he was lost in a warpstorm, his successor was well chosen, and worked to streamline chain of command and requisition. This continued, the Officio slowly evolving into an organisation capable of keeping up with the rapid changes of the galaxy, until the reign of Goge Vandire. Emperor Goge Vandire.
Goge Vandire was, initially, the ideal servant of the Imperium. Intelligent yet humble, decisive yet wise, he was familiar with all the intricacies of every part of the imperial government - save the assassins. Naturally, he was curious. At his first meeting with the High Lords of Terra, they each took their own oaths of loyalty and explained their roles. The, on the other hand, explained the history of the Beheading to the new Emperor, and explained why since then the Assassinorum always chose to swear loyalty to the wider Imperium instead of a particular individual. An explanation that would end up nearly tearing it apart.
"...hence, our loyalty is to the Golden Throne and its guardians rather than the one sitting upon it. A mere technicality, of course-" The Grandmaster offering a thin smile at this point, "-since I personally doubt we will ever receive liquidation orders from the archaeotech itself... but still."
The other High Lords had long ago learned not to question inner workings of the Assassinorum, while Emperor Vandire merely gave a hearty chuckle. They moved onto other, more pressing matters, and it appeared that that was the end of that. And it was, for the most part, but there was a small corner of Emperor Vandire's mind where those words echoed endlessly. "The Golden Throne and its guardians," the Grandmaster had said, but it seemed clear to him that there was only one guardian that mattered; the one who had appointed him to the position in the first place. Over the years of Emperor Vandire's reign - too many hard decisions, too many threats to the Imperium from within and without, perhaps too many treatments of juvenat - the echo rose in his mind until it was deafening, a mild irritation over semantics growing into full-blown paranoia.
Of course they were faithful to the Imperium, but the hypocrites chose the Steward to venerate as a figurehead! Even in the Palace, his own home, all the oaths in the galaxy would not change the fact that each soul's allegiance lay with the Steward rather than himself. They only trusted him because the Steward trusted him, had appointed him. Oh, yes, his reign and countless years of selfless service were all very good and well appreciated, but they were all nought against those of that living god. Everything he did was overshadowed by that guardian; his words judged against the Steward's, his actions compared to those of the Steward, the Steward, the Steward, who was never more than a moment away from the lips of Vandire's own people; as if he had been usurped before he was ever appointed to the throne.
Still, Vandire was still as talented as he always was, and soon managed to find an assassin willing to aid him; a callidus by the name of Tziz Jarek. By that point he was in direct control of every aspect of the Imperium thanks to a thousand emergency powers and Imperial edicts; yet frustratingly, the Grandmaster remained steadfastly insistent on the stance that had tormented Vandire since their first meeting. Jarek, on the other hand, was simply angry with the Assassinorum's reforms, and made sure to stay well out of range of Vandire's spittle and foam when he began to rant - although over time she found herself believing in more and more of his firey rhetoric.
The assassination was textbook perfection; the Grandmaster's long list of security measures outdone by Jarek's longer-still list of fallbacks and contingencies. However, the lifeless corpse that was quietly fed into a plasma generator was only a body double of the Grandmaster - even as Jarek disguised herself with polymorphine and assumed the seat of Grandmaster of Assassins - had already made her getaway, rallying those loyal to her from Terra and beyond. With the Assassinorum now firmly under his thumb, Vandire used the shadowy assassins as another weapon with which to prosecute what was rapidly becoming a reign of terror; opponents political and military alike disappearing or found butchered in cruel and unusual manners.
When the reign of Emperor Vandire was coming to an end, he began to use his assassins more openly against rebel forces - and it was at that moment, when they emerged from the shadows, that the true Grandmaster struck. Jarek had used the forces of the Assassinorum masterfully, always knowing which figures to liquidate to maximise disorder and panic - yet she had no experience of the same tactics being used against her, and could do little but order her own assassins to focus on the new threat.
The resulting battles were devastating. Assassins loyal to Vandire and to the Grandmaster both used long-forgotten, forbidden technologies on the other side, for each was (rightly) convinced that the victory of the other would see them exterminated to the last. Gene-sympathetic nerve gases, neutronic warheads, entropic broadcasters, pan-chronal disruptors, and other terrors were all used; some dating back to the nightmare of the Old Night. These were the Wars of Vindication, and they would be repeated again and again from Terra to the furthest reaches of the Imperium as assassin turned against assassin to purge the ones they saw as traitors.
When the Steward finally returned to Terra from his self-imposted exile, the Temples were little more than smoking, hellish ruin. The palace, too, was scarred by battle; and there he found the Grandmaster - who pointed to her lifeless doppelganger and declared that the traitor was dead.
The Steward was unamused.
The Grandmaster offered her life by way of apology, and begged the Officio Assassinorum be spared. She knew all too well of the warning passed down from each Grandmaster to the next, and of the possibility of her and her own suddenly being abandoned by an Imperium that had no other place for them. For his part, the Steward was bitterly disappointed with Emperor Vandire's descent into madness - yet this time he could not truly fault what had historically been the most troublesome of the High Lords' domains. One Grandmaster had fought with unwavering loyalty for the Imperium, while the other had done so in the name of the Emperor. Perhaps he was a little ashamed of his own poor judgement, for he was merciful; the Grandmaster was allowed to disappear into exile, and the remnants of the Assassinorum were to return to Terra for their final judgment.
The Steward of the Golden Throne retreated into the Imperial Palace for the last time, and when the Emperor of Mankind emerged, first and final orders to the ancient Officio Assassinorum were as follows:
- All assassins were to be granted a window of clemency, where an amnesty would be offered regardless of allegiance. They were misled, but had still fought with ferocious loyalty to their superiors - against some of the best in the Imperium, no less. Any who ignored this opportunity would be declared outlaws of the Imperium of the Golden Throne, for both the Grandmaster and her doppelganger had kept close eyes on their respective assassins (lest they defect). Huge bounties were offered, of course, but the most sought-after reward was the opportunity for the hunter to take the place of the assassin they defeated, becoming one of the Imperium's shadowy elite.
- After the grace period, the Officio Assassinorum would be completely and utterly dissolved. The Temples would remain, but only as individual institutions with no power and little role; all masters would stripped of formal office and all survivors either absorbed into the reborn order: the Officio Tactitum. No more secret handshakes or shadowy meetings lit by incense, no unaccountable Grandmasters operating without question. Civilian control would slow the Tactitum, perhaps even hamstring it, but this was the price to be paid to avoid the mistakes of the past.
- Perhaps most importantly, the Ordo Securitas of the Inquisition would be formed to monitor not only the assassins but the other highest echelons of the Imperium. These Inquisitors would be the guardians of the guardians, watching each Officio and Adeptus for corruption and abuse, wary of another Vangorich or Vandire emerging.
- However, due to their power to render judgment of even the highest figures of the Imperium, the Sicarius were only permitted to advise and regulate, never taking direction - at least, in theory. In reality, many Securitas Inquisitors found rather...creative ways to circumvent the decree that they may not maintain "men under arms".
The Emperor had spoken, and these were his commands.
The Officio Tacitum is a far more modern organization nowadays. Though it primarily is still famed for its assassins, it also produces operatives specialised in sabotage and covert warfare far from home. They are often assigned to the command of the Astra Militarum or individual Inquisitors; and each lone assassin is still a finely honed killing machine, but they now serve as spectacular force multipliers rather as ends in themselves. The Ordo Sicarius is satisfied with this arrangement, as it avoids the high risk and cost of the traditional lone wolf operations, and allows them to keep an eye on any assassins deployed.
The Temples? They are far less superstitious and shadowy than they once were, although the name of "Temple" has stuck in defiance of every reform that has been attempted. Each of them has diversified yet maintained their core roots in their quest to perfect the art of murder.
Temple Vindicare, who reach out far longer than all but the highest of psykers to deliver their kiss of death.
Temple Venenum, who can find a thousand toxins to kill a man from the gentlest of paradise worlds, each one exquisite to the palette in their own unique way.
Temple Eversor, who can scythe through men, orks, eldar and even Astartes with the horrifying ease of a power sword through flak armour.
Temples Culexus - who hunt down their prey with soulless eyes - and Callidus, who have no face to call their own.
Temple Vanus, which according to popular belief ha[EXPUNGED]oes not exist. The Ordo Sicarius has confirmed this, and will not allow any dispute.
The primary headquarters of the Tacticum, including the Temples, lie on Terra, although across each segmentum there are localised, lesser temples that train assassins, liason with other Imperial Forces, and seek recruits from outside the Schola the Temples traditionally draw from. The Ordo Sicarius also work closely with segmentum command to permit proper coordination if Tacitum assets are needed, although on a smaller level they are surprisingly good at scouting talented assassin candidates. With proper Inquisitorial oversight, the assassins are kept well in check, and well out of politics.
The High Lords of Terra still has a seat for the Grandmaster of Assassins, but it has been left vacant ever since the reign of Emperor Vandire. Few imagine it will ever be filled again.
Adeptus Astronomica
“We are the ones who give of ourselves so that others may walk in the light”
-- Motto of the Adeptus Astronomica
Of all the professions available to psykers of the Imperial Schola, perhaps none is more honored than those of the Adeptus Astronomica. These are the people who make daily life in the Imperium possible with literally nothing more than their sheer force of will. The Astronomican represents one of the first major cooperative efforts between humanity and the Eldar. Although originally of human creation, its design was improved by the Eldar as a gift of gratitude for humanity’s participation in the raid on Nurgle’s mansion, greatly improving the efficiency of the Astronomican and strength of its beacon. Although original estimates based on the average ability of a human psyker suggested that twelve thousand people at once would be needed to power the beacon, Eldar modifications decreased the actual number of psykers needed by an order of magnitude, while drastically reducing the amount of stress on an individual psyker.
However, at the same time, no profession is more tragic than that of the Adeptus Astronomica. Creating a psychic “bonfire” that can be seen by the entire Imperium is taxing on the individual, even with twelve hundred other psykers to share the burden. As a result, the psykers of the Adeptus Astronomica are rotated out in shifts in an attempt to maximize their health, with a third of the choir being rotated out every four months. However, even this is not enough to prevent long-term damage. Few psykers live more than a year, and almost none have survived more than eighteen months. In the Halls of the Astronomican, right before one enters the Chambers of the Astronomican itself, there is a small, grassy courtyard, nearly empty save for a stele made of the hardest adamantium. On it is inscribed the names of every psyker who has died in the course of powering the Astronomican, a testament to their bravery so that the Imperium will never forget their sacrifice.
EDITOR'S NOTE: Unfinished, never figured out why Astronomican needs psyker sacrifices when Emperor was able to power and direct it by himself during the Great Crusade. Couldn't have started out needing sacrifices because there weren't enough psykers available to the Imperium to keep it going until the Imperium had a lot of worlds under its command. Best suggestion was that it was damaged during the War of the Beast, but no reason was ever agreed upon.
Adeptus Sororitas
Rough Notes from the Threads
- Formed in the aftermath of the reign of Vandire and the Civil War along with the Ordo Securitas
- They receive some cybernetic and biological enhancements, putting them roughly on par with a Spartan from Halo
- A group of 3 Sisters is roughly equal to 1 Space Marine, winning about 5 times out of 10. However, the Marine has a significant advantage in melee due to much better physical attributes and the Sisters are encumbered by their Power Armor due to lack of a Black Carapace. To win, the Sisters would need to leverage numbers and teamwork.
- I believe we said they mostly operate with the Inquisition, though their organization and exact scope of duties is unclear/undiscussed at the moment.
Daughters of Russ
The Daughters of Russ, better known as the Valkyries, are a organization similar to the Adeptas Sororitas unique for only recruiting from Fenris and the Fenrisian colonies. The Daughters claim to be matrilineal descendants of Leman Russ via his many daughters, but given the size of Leman Russ' family and the amount of time that has passed since Russ came to Fenris, it is likely that everyone on the Fenrisian Worlds can trace their ancestry back to Leman Russ in some way.
The Daughters of Russ are best known for their ferocity. Although the Sororitas are well known for their aggression and their single-mindedness, the Valkyries fight with a viciousness that seems almost inhuman. In addition, the Valkyries also exhibit senses and other abilities that seem beyond standard Sororitas-level augmentation, leading some to suspect that the Sororitas enhancements either enhance the effect of the Canis Helix genes present in the general Fenrisian population or reawaken Canis Helix genes that were formerly dormant. Surprisingly, the Daughters are otherwise rather conservative for Sororitas, looking down on the sisterhoods who add additional augmentations like kill-glands. To the Valkyries, such additions mock and taint the skill of an individual in battle.
However, at the same time the Daughters are also well-known for their talents in medicine. The Valkyries have close ties with the Sisters Hospitalier, and often find themselves being sent to reinforce flagging battalions and save as many of the wounded as they can. It is these practices that led the first leader of the Daughters of Russ to say “it is our job to look Morkai in the eye and tell him, ‘you will not touch them today’”, which eventually became shortened into the motto of the order.
Editor's Note: Needs to be seen how they relate to Sororitas. Are they actual Sororitas, the female equivalent of Space Wolves, or what? It was pointed out that the concept is good, but they don't seem to function like the Sisters (as internal police).
Adeptus Mechanicus and its branches
Adeptus Biologis
Without metal man is a beast. Without flesh man is a tool.
-- Motto of the Adeptus Biologis
Despite being seen as just another branch of the Adeptus Mechanicus, the Adeptus Biologis actually has very different origins from the rest of the Mechanicus. Instead of being derived from the Martian Mechanicum, the Biologis were originally formed from the various geneticists and biotechnologists living in the territories that the Warlord conquered, including the gene-hippie conclaves of western Merika, the genesmiths of Ducht Jemanic, and the genewrights of Luna. The Biologis were eventually folded into the Mechanicus proper, and centuries of cultural and philosophical exchange have greatly reduced the differences between the two, but the group still retains its own unique quirks.
Today, the Adeptus Biologis performs a multitude of services throughout the Imperium. They travel to newly pacified worlds to make catalogs and studies of native flora and fauna. They study diseases and synthesize new medications to constantly try to beat back the plagues of Nurgle. They try to engineer more efficient versions of crops to feed the burgeoning Imperium. They often oversee augmentations of Space Marines and Sisters of Battle.
Perhaps the biggest difference between the Adeptus Biologis and most other divisions of the Adeptus Mechanicus is their stance on innovation. According to the Biologis, the Mechanicus’ prohibition on invention and innovation only applies to technology, not nature, a loophole the Biologis are happy to exploit. As a result, the Adeptus Biologis are much more willing to try new techniques than the Mechanicus proper, which is one reason why things like rejuvenant drugs and augmentation have improved over the centuries, even if it is only at a glacial pace. Of course, given that all of their equipment comes from the Mechanicus proper, the Biologis are often unable to build the kind of equipment they would like to use.
Another major difference between the Biologis and the rest of the Mechanicus involve physical augmentations. The Biologis are just as augment-happy as their brethren within the AdMech, but tend to prefer artificially engineered organs and genetically modified tissues over cybernetic implants. Even those Magos Biologis who do have mechanical implants often strive for a balance between flesh and metal, seeking to perfect the flesh before they involve the machine.
Like virtually every organization in the Imperium, the Adeptus Biologis can be broken up into a number of factions. The old rivalry between the gene-hippies and genesmiths is still there, only under different names. The Emergentists believe that artificial biological designs must be “balanced” as part of an integrated whole much like natural designs, and that the greatest parts of a design often emerge via interactions that are not forseen. By contrast, the Utilitarians believe the body is analogous to a machine, and must be treated as such. Any deviation from the perceived purity of a design is something not to be tolerated.
The Mechanicum, that is, the actual Mars-based organization who make up the majority of the Adeptus Mechanicus and primarily work with technology, do not like the Adeptus Biologis very much. They see the Adeptus Biologis as pretenders whose accouterments are little more than aping the Mechanicum of Mars. They see the aversion of the Biologis to cybernetic augmentations as an affront to the Credo Omnissiah. Nevertheless, they begrudgingly the Biologicus despite seeing them as lesser, much in the way scholars of the “hard sciences” looked down on biology prior to the Age of Strife. Perhaps this is one reason why, at some point in history, the Biologicus changed their apparel from dressing in robes of red to robes of dark green.
The Five Flagships
Phalanx. Nicor. Mirabilis. The Rock. Terminus Est. These are names that are instantly recognized by any scholar of Imperial history, as well as feared throughout history by those who sought to do the Imperium harm.
The Five, often colloquially referred to as the “Five Big Bastards” after a comment made by primarch Rogal Dorn, were a series of massive super-dreadnoughts commissioned by the Imperium in the last days of the Unification of Sol and the early years of the Great Crusade. Each of these ships were roughly 25 kilometers long and bristled with conventional weaponry. The five ships were roughly comparable in size and shape, though the Phalanx was perhaps a little larger and a little more heavily-armed than her sisters. In addition to newly constructed material mined from the Sol system, the Five were also constructed from the recycled remains of the numerous scattered shipwrecks throughout the Sol system (many of which came to the attention of the Imperium at the suggestion of the primarch Horus), making them packed full of whatever Dark Age-era technology could be salvaged from the wreckage.
The original construction of the Five was intended to be a show of solidarity between the newly unified nations of Sol. The ships were to be commissioned by the newly named Steward of Earth, constructed by the Mechanicum of Mars in the shipyards of Luna, and would be crewed by the Void Born of the Sol migrant fleet. However, become of the time and resource-intensive nature of their construction, only two of these ships, the Rock and the Phalanx, were ready by the beginning of the Great Crusade. The Rock was sent out as the flagship of the Imperium's first expeditionary fleet helmed by the Dark Angels, whereas the Phalanx remained in the Sol system to act as a deterrent to any potential force that would threaten Mars and Old Earth. Construction of the remaining three, the Nicor, Mirabilis, and Terminus Est, was not completed until much later in the Great Crusade, when the resources of additional systems could be brought to bear on their completion.
The Five were intended to be a long-term investment. In addition to building ties of unity between the major factions of Sol, the Five were meant to be a show of strength on the part of the nascent Imperium to the greater galaxy. The huge size of the Five meant that their internal workings could support much larger than average hydroponic bays, which meant they could function away from the Imperium for long periods of time without resupplying and be largely self-sufficient if they were ever cut off from Imperial supply chains. This made the Rock the ideal flagship to send out with the expeditionary fleet. Eventually, the plan was for the Five to be sent to the far corners of the galaxy, one for each major Segmentum, to act as flagships and command centers for the Imperial Navy. The Phalanx, Rock, Terminus Est, Nicor, and Mirabilis were to be sent to Segmenta Solar, Obscurus, Pacificus, Tempestus, and Ultima, respectively. Unfortunately, random chance and the whims of history ended up scuttling this plan. Although originally constructed as part of a set, each of the Five suffered dramatically different fates.
The Rock was infamously stolen by the arch-traitor Luther during the Chaos of the War of the Beast, only to be reclaimed by the loyalist Dark Angels after the Lion's final battle with his brother. Luther had not had his hands on the Rock long enough for it to be irrevocably tainted by Chaos, and the Dark Angels were able to repurpose the battleship for their own uses. To this day, the Rock remains the mobile headquarters of the Dark Angels chapter.
The Phalanx, although heavily damaged in the War of the Beast, remains as it always has in the Sol System, an old guard dog ever-ready to fight those that would threaten the capital of the Imperium.
The Mirabilis remains active in the galactic East, still acting as a flagship of the Imperial Navy rather than commanded by any chapter of the Adeptus Astartes, perhaps the only one of the Five along with the Phalanx that is still performing the job the Imperium intended for it. However, the Ultima Segmentum is nearly an order of magnitude larger than any other part of the galaxy, and there is little the Mirabilis can do beyond putting out fires.
The Nicor fought valiantly for many years, but was presumed lost in the aftermath of the second Black Crusade. In late M40, the Carcharodons found the carcass of the Nicor floating out in the middle of the Segmentum Tempestus, and after much friction with the rest of the Imperium refurbished it into their new headquarters. Although the Nicor is probably capable of void combat once more, the Carcharodons prefer to keep it in a strategic location in the galactic South to act as a central base from which they can coordinate their attacks. Ironically, the Nicor in some ways is performing the job it had always been intended to do in the first place, striking fear in the hearts of any who would threaten the Imperium in the Segmentum Tempestus.
The Terminus Est served the Imperium through more military campaigns than any other member of the Five. After being sent to take back the Segmentum Pacificum when the Imperium set out to reclaim the Segmentum, the ship was commandeered in the aftermath of the war by Typhus the Pilgrim, who made it into the mobile headquarters of his breakaway chapter the Black Templars. For six millennia, the Terminus Est was a constant presence on the western front of the Imperium. Much like the Black Templars themselves, the Terminus Est was forever marching to war, never resting, never stopping, almost seeming to have an indefatigable personality of its own. If there is any truth to the Mechanicus' claim that ships have machine spirits, there is perhaps no better argument in support of this idea than the Terminus Est.
However, no ship can fight forever. In late M38, the Terminus Est finally broke down after back-to-back fighting in an Armageddon War and putting down an assault on Necromunda. The Terminus Est managed to limp its mass to high Necromundan orbit before tidal forces tore the ship apart. Today, the Terminus Est is the closest thing the Black Templars have to a static headquarters. Like the Nicor, the Templars claim the Terminus Est might have a few more battles in her, but so far none have been willing to put that claim to the test.
Eldar-Only Forces
Handmaidens of Isha
Just as it is the job of the Adeptus Custodes to protect the Emperor of Mankind and his wife, it is the job of the Handmaidens of Isha to protect the Grand Empress Isha and her husband. The Handmaidens of Isha are the Eldar side of the Imperium's praetorian guard, drawn from the ranks of her most devout followers in the cults that sprung up in her wake following her rescue from Nurgle's mansion. Compared to many other followers of Isha, the blessings of the Handmaidens are rather subtle. Little more than an immunity to virtually all diseases and a seeming inability to sustain permanent damage from scaring or age. This allows the Handmaidens to perfect their physical training in a way that only one who does not have to worry about wear and tear on their body can. The Handmaidens are no pushovers, being armed with swords known as "the Thorns of Isha" that can inflict wounds that do not heal. The Handmaidens are also noted to have a connection to Isha that borders on the preternatural, able to sense if their charge is in direct danger even if they are unable to see her directly.
However, the Handmaidens of Isha have an another job in addition to protecting their Empress. As the Imperial Couple travels from world to world, the Empress often sends her handmaidens to inspect the world beforehand to ensure that the world is as upstanding as it often claims to be. Although many worlds have their own dirty little secrets that they have managed to keep secret from the Administratum, few can hide from the gaze of the All-Mother. Although the Adeptus Custodes are also often posted in Imperial society to keep watch for potential threats against the Emperor and Imperium, most of them are incapable of doing so without drawing attention to themselves. The Handmaidens of Isha, on the other hand, are capable of passing themselves off as just another Eldar or even avoiding notice altogether. Because the two groups have essentially the same job, they often end up directly cooperating with one another.
The Avatar of Biel-Tan
Biel-Tan hasn't deployed an Avatar of Khaine for nearly one hundred years. This wouldn't be surprising for a lesser craftworld, or a craftworld that is peaceable, but this is Biel-Tan. The most well known, influential, and martially famous craftworld. That Khaela Mensha Khaine hasn't made an appearance in a year, much less a near century would provoke suspicion.
However, among the eldar, it's considered a bit of a faux pas to ask about this. The Inquisition is another matter entirely though, and they already know the answer.
Biel-Tan's avatar has been awake this entire time. Biel-Tan summoned the avatar for the Ghoul Campaign, to help a desperate sword wind against a siege of orks with daemon support. The avatar of war led the survivors, many wounded, to victory against the orks, culminating in the avatar decapitating the bloodthirster Yel'Grazruk shattering the spirit of the enemy. The sword wind rejoiced.
Then they noticed the avatar wasn't gone. It had followed the fleeing enemy, and was killing as many as it could reach. The next day, the avatar was still killing. On the fifteenth day, it ran out of enemies to kill, and came back, planted its sword at the center of the biel tan fortification, and waited.
After the twentieth day, the Biel-Tan forces found themselves very worried indeed. The burning avatar still smoldered, glaring out at the horizon. In the face of their persistent god, finally they attempted to psychically contact the avatar, a hazardous venture for even the most skilled warlock.
After the warlock stopped chanting in a dead language, she managed to sputter out "Khaine waits for his chariot." No one knew what that referred to. But when the autarch ordered the sword wind back to Biel-Tan, the avatar followed, marched through the craftworld, and returned to his temple, still burning.
The avatar has sat there since, waiting for his chariot.
Tau Empire
Mont'Kau Battlesuits
As the Tau first expanded from their cradle of civilization on T’au into the greater galaxy, they began to realize that many of their opponents, including orks, tyranids, Space Marines, and more, were devastatingly effective in close-quarters combat. Although the Tau personally avoided melee combat whenever possible, they realized that many of their opponents were not going to do them a favor and do the same. The Tau would have loved to use their auxillaries to make up for this deficiency, but among their close allies only the kroot were well-suited for close combat and there were far more Tau regiments than there were kroot to go around.
As a result, at the behest of O’Shovah (Commander Farsight) back before the Schism, the Tau Empire decided to solve this problem by building bigger, more durable versions of the Crisis battlesuit specifically designed for melee combat. It has been suggested that O’Shovah was inspired to pitch his idea when he realized that battlesuits could be used to compensate for the Tau’s smaller physical stature and reluctance to engage in melee combat against foes such as Orks and Space Marines, but the Tau vehemently deny this is the case. Unlike most battlesuits, which were designed as mobile platforms for heavy ranged weaponry, these suits were designed for close quarters combat. These suits often carry guns, like all Tau battlesuits, but more often than not these tend to be close-range weapons like shotguns or tend to be a melee weapon first and foremost like a giant bayonet to which attaching an actual gun is an afterthought. The Tau called them Mont’kau Battlesuits, named after a particularly terrifying species of predator from their homeworld of T’au. To the rest of the Imperium, who lacked the appreciation for the intricacies of the Tau language, these suits simply became known as Predator Battlesuits.
Compared to a Space Marine or an Aspect Warrior, Mont’kau battlesuits aren’t as particularly agile in close-quarters combat (lacking the Black Carapace of a Space Marine or the flesh and blood agility of an Eldar), but like all Tau battlesuits they are lightweight for their size and, more importantly, easily replaceable. The purpose of the Mont’kau battlesuits is not to serve as shock troops, but to act as a bulwark to keep the close combat forces of the enemy away from the firing line. Mont’kau battlesuits are typically piloted by battlefield veterans, ones who are used to the chaos of battle and have fast enough reflexes to fight on the front lines. As a result, although melee combat is still the Tau’s biggest weakness, at least the Tau now have an answer to the numerous close-combat specialists that dominate the galactic landscape, and are not a complete joke about it. Nevertheless, the Tau claim that they are continually improving on the Mont’kau design, and that one day the Mont’kau battlesuits will be the equal of the front line combatants of the other major races.
One common addition to Mont’kau battlesuits is an outer layer of explosive reactive armor, made of an alloy similar to but more brittle than the traditional fio’tak, which is designed to fragment into a spray of ceramite-like shrapnel. This reactive armor can either be used to provide additional protection against anti-personnel ranged attacks or be command-detonated to act like a makeshift claymore mine. These reactive armor plates are actually capable of being added to a wide-variety of battlesuits, but are most often associated with the Mont’kau battlesuits due to their role in close combat. These additions, along with the directed flechette grenades that are now a common component of Tau infantry gear, were largely devised as contingencies against the Dark Eldar, whom the Tau held a particular hatred for after their repeated raids of the Tau Empire in the wake of the A.I. rebellion, the Tau Reformation, and the vanguard Hive Fleets. To the Dark Eldar, for whom speed was their primary protection, such devices would prove lethal.