The Markian Corps

This article is about an Imperial Army formation from the /tg/ Heresy project, a fan re-working of the Warhammer 40k universe.

The Markian Corps
Homeworld	The Markian Pact
Doctrine	Combined Arms
Signature Equipment	Atashia/Markia-Pattern Lasgun, Mountain gun
Colors	Red on Black
Associated Legion	Winged Victory/Void Angels

The Markian Corps is the collective Imperial Army forces supplied by the combined worlds of the Markian Pact, that share standardized equipment and organization. Though of greater quality than the average Imperial Army force, the strength of the Markian Corps is not prowess in a particular kind of warfare, but in the ability for its regiments to communicate and coordinate. When the Markian Corps's regiments are raised they are not sent their separate ways across the galaxy, but insteaded formed into one grand corps containing as many as dozens of regiments of many kinds. Thanks to rigorous joint training by the five worlds, the grand corps have a level of combined arms rarely found in the Imperial Army, with high morale and a camaraderie between soldiers from many different regiments, and well-made equipment from both the Markian world Atashia and the forge world Ghalhal.

History of the Markian Corps

The Markian Corps have their origins in the wake of the war against old Ghalhal. Unified in purpose, the Markian Pact organized their armed forces into a single host of soldiers, combining the strengths of their regiments to counteract their weaknesses. When the Mechanicum came to Ghalhal, the Markian Corps strengthened further with new materiel. Unfortunately, until the Imperium came there was little conflict in the Markian Pact, and so little use for the Markian Corps. It wasn't until the arrival of the Winged Victory in the Pact that the Markian Corps knew conflict again, but when they came into the Imperium they did so with a fervor that carried the grandeur of Markia across the galaxy for ten thousand years.

The Great Crusade

"The time is now near at hand which must probably determine whether humans are to be freemen or slaves; whether they are to have any property they can call their own; whether their houses and farms are to be pillaged and destroyed, and themselves consigned to a state of wretchedness from which no efforts will deliver them. The fate of unborn billions will now depend on the courage and conduct of the Markian Corps. Our cruel and unrelenting enemy leaves us only the choice of brave resistance, or the most abject submission. We have, therefore, to resolve to conquer or die."--Sky Marshal George Valjean

Throughout the early Great Crusade the grand corps of Markia were attached to the Winged Victory as Imperial Army auxiliaries, often alongside or mistaken for their cousins in the Ciban Chasseurs. In the Pacification of the Chwiorydd Hardd, the Markians, who have not known war for centuries, had their first taste of conflict since the war with old Ghalhal, facing the race of slavers known as the Amatteir. It was not battle itself that unsettled the Markian soldiers, however as they were still professional soldiers; it was the condition of slaves upon the world Chwiorydd Hardd 3 after contrasting with those on CH-4 that greatly disturbed many soldiers. As Karmian photo-journalist Verrell Boucher said:

"It was not their physical deprivations that struck me so. I had seen men and women lost in the wilds of my homeworld and returned to civilisation starved and sick before. It was their eyes. Our poor kinsmen, brutalised and degraded, looked at me with the mute ignorance of beasts. Foul aliens have taken human beings and made into them animals! How many more worlds is this happening on?"

Upon return to the Pact worlds for various military and civic reasons, veterans much like Boucher brought word of the atrocities committed by the xenos. Tales of the sheer harm and humiliation suffered by their fellow men galvanized the Markians, and aligned them sternly against the enemies of the Imperium. After further encounters with only more brutal aliens such as the Amatteir's full empire, the Dark Eldar of the Harakien star-empire, and the barbaric orks, the Markians' hatred for xenos was further validated, and to this day the Markians believe the only kind of xeno friend is one used as a sandbag to protect humans.

During the first part of the Great Crusade the Markian Corps served admirably alongside the Fifth Legion, especially their sapper regiments who proved vital in the Core Worlds and Harakien Sector campaigns. However, Markian Corps also showed its greatness in independent actions, without the assistance of the Legiones Astartes. It is among the formations who fought in such battles that names such as Caieton and Judas Ranc became known to the larger Imperium, their campaigns leading to the pacification of over a hundred more worlds before the Great Crusade's end.

The Nightkill Sector Campaign

"Here, there, everywhere. In front, behind. To the left, to the right. We are surrounded and outnumbered ten to one. We have caught the enemy in our grasp!" --Marshal Judas Ranc on Inkan

An empire of hive-mind arthropods known as the Arakan made itself known in the Nightkill Sector, consuming neighboring worlds to expand their dominion. With the Fifth Legion sent to the edge of the galaxy and no other Astartes available, it was up to the Markian Corps to purge this threat to the Imperium. The Sky Marshal of the Markian Pact, military leader of all Markian forces, organized the largest army of Markians ever assembled under the direct command of Grand Marshal Caieton, with the goal of neutralizing the Arakan at all costs. With the assistance of Mechanicum forces under Archmagos Khazal ibn Tekhalla, discoverer of the mountain gun STC, the Markian 31st Army set out for the Nightkill Sector.

Opening Battles on Pahoehoe

Grand Marshal Caieton decided to make his first strike on planet Pahoehoe, a recently-conquered periphery world of the Arakan Empire. Though it was only freshly colonized, the world was already crawling with Arakan warriors. While the initial landing forces were able to secure solid ground, the 95th Shrike Division found itself divided, isolated, and unable to complete its mission to discover the enemy base. Caieton was quick to respond, and ordered his subordinate, decorated soldier Marshal Judas Ranc of the 78th Grand Corps, to enact a rescue operation. The 78th abandoned their heavy armor and artillery for the sake of mobility, and rushed quickly through the enemy lines, relieving whatever elements of the 95th Shrike Division they could find. In the end, 70% of the 95th survived to fight another day, but the Markians were still unaware of the location of the Arakan base.

The Mechanicum had better luck finding the Arakan headquarters; or rather, knowing the nature of the Arakan's command structure. Using seismographic data gathered from sensors planted by forward scouts, Archmagos Khazal located dozens of seismic concentrations where the subterranean bases of the Arakan were located, but lines connecting the bases were nowhere to be found. Regardless, they now knew locations of the enemy, and the 31st Army immediately directed actions against the Arakan. The Markians prepared for several subterranean operations led by the Lemartian Sappers.

As expected, penetration of the enemy hives was difficult. Many tunnels were simply too narrow, and armor and artillery supper was useless. To end this battle quickly, Marshal Ranc proposed use of nuclear weapons place precisely in the hives to destroy all enemy resistance, an idea Caieton was reluctant to swallow. Unfortunately, Caieton yielded, and the Markians conducted operations to place nuclear bombs in the hives; one of such was led by Ranc himself, so that another commander would not risk his life in such a perilous and immoral mission. But despite the dangers, Ranc survived the mission where others fell, and was commended once again. After the Purge of Pahoehoe, Khazal deduced that the Arakan were not a monolithic power that initial research on their hive-mind suggested, suggesting there were multiple hive-minds based on the autonomy of Pahoehoe's bases. The campaign in the Nightkill Sector would be much more difficult than expected.

Inkan

Following Pahoehoe, there was the battle for the water world Inkan's sole continent. Unlike Pahoehoe, Inkan was heavily colonized, and Arakan lived above ground in massive cities populated by billions. Worse, is the system was defended by the Arakan fleet, complicating the naval forces' support. On the ground, nothing was as simple as on Pahoehoe; the Arakan were relentless, and only the strategic intervention of the Shrike Division and L'Infanterie de Marine saved the 31st Army from destruction early on. Once again, the 78th Grand Corps distinguished themselves by chasing the routed xenos. However, Marshal Ranc discovered too late that Arakan do not flee without reason, and the 78th Grand Corps found itself surrounded by Arakan. Ranc was neither perturbed nor shocked, and simply stated,"Here, there, everywhere. In front, behind. To the left, to the right. We are surrounded and outnumbered ten to one. We have caught the enemy in our grasp!"

The 78th Grand Corps fought its way back to friendly lines with only moderate casualties for an encirclement, inflicting heavy losses on the enemy. Meanwhile, the navy finished its battle with the Arakan, in the void, and proceeded to assist the ground forces with bombardment of the Arakan cities, only to find the cities to be defended by void shields. Grand Marshal Caieton hatched a plan: elite rangers of the 95th, 66th, and 180th Shrike Division would drop directly into the Arakan cities, deactivate the shield generators, and extract before the navy opened fire. The operation completed without any problems, and the rangers were gone long before the navy started bombarded their targets.

Final Battle for Culainn

As deduced by the Archmagos, the Arakan were not completely unified. In fact, Arakan society resembled a feudal empire, where the hive-mind nobles sacrificed the mindless bodies of the Arakan to further their goals, united under the massive Hive-Emperor solely by fear. However, the Imperial forces were proving greater than any horde of bugs, and many hive-minds feared for their own existence. To continue living, several hive-minds cracked a struck a deal with Grand Marshal Caieton to continue living, in exchange for the location of the Hive-Emperor on the world of Culainn. The Imperial Army mobilized, and gave special passage for the traitor hive-minds' fleets.

The battle for Culainn was a difficult one. The Mechanicum deployed its titans, Thallaxi of the Ordo Reductor, whatever forces it brought from the forges of Ghalhal on that burning hive world. However, even with the full might of the Mechanicum backing them, the Markian Corps found themselves outnumbered by the Arakan a hundred times over; numbers only the Legiones Astartes could face. Still, the Markian Corps had a trump card: Ghalhallan void missiles. Utilizing these ancient weaponry, the Mechanicum vaporized the cities of the world, shattering the psyche of the Hive-Emperor by destroying the cognitive brain-caste that sustained its thought processes. The Markian Corps and Skitarii finished off the disoriented rabble with ease, and took the world in the name of the Emperor. Meanwhile, the hive-minds that betrayed the Hive-Emperor set course for the outer fringe of the galaxy, settling in a sector that was next in line for an invasion by the Legiones Astartes.

The Mortekaiser Campaign

"Officially, my first command served on Ryleh in Segmentum Pacificus. But the truth is, we were in the Eastern Fringe. One day, an Astartes... approached me, and told me my regiment had been selected for a tour on the Eastern Fringe. Do you know those tales of fantastic xenos there? They are true, but it is not those irregularities who frightened me. It was those… Spires. I only ever saw pictures of them, but I knew where they were from the streaks in the sky. Their soldiers… Terrifying in their silence, their rough black armor, the crackling sparks arcing off them, the grotesque beasts they ordered about. I know those spires; they are the same. I cannot let them rampage unmolested. I must stop them."

"How many nukes does it take to destroy a titan legion?" "Three if you're Verdun."

"What starts with A and is a techpriest's worst nightmare?" "Verdun starts with a V."

Markia's other notable independent actions include the battles undertaken in the Mortekaiser Campaign against the foul Intax Empire and misplaced elements of the Morkai. When Imperial explorers discovered the human realm of Intax, they were terrified to find unrivaled levels of degeneracy: heathen machine-worship, unsanctioned pursuit of knowledge, human sacrifice, and playing with xenotech. Appalled by the level of heresy, the Mechanicum requested that the Markian Corps personally see to the empire's destruction. The Sky Marshal assigned the task to Grand Marshal Vivyan Broussard, whose command included the decorated war hero Marshal Judas Ranc, General Marius Marie-Gaston Verdun, and the lesser of the three, the 35th Army. Among other forces present were the Mechanicum Forces of Ghalhal and their Legio Cataegis, and knights of House Goda.

The Bridge World

The Intax Empire had dismantled a forgeworld. Verdun and the 1001st Division discovered this when they fell under fire from titans on the bridge world Ulysses. With Legio Cataegis and superheavy support elsewhere, Verdun had to work with what he had to slow the enemy titans. So, the 1001st lured the titans under a bridge-city, collapsed the two of its three bases with tactical nuclear weapons and brought several million tons of steel and flesh down atop an entire cohort.

Meanwhile, on the other side of Ulysses, Marshal Ranc had a different issue: AI. Abominable automata assaulted the 1002nd Division in the thousands, cornering them on a bridge-city where they faced both droids and human partisans. However, the odds were in the 1002nd's favor, for they had experience with cramped environs, numbers skewed towards the enemy, and generally being surrounded and outmatched. The 1002nd fought on for several days in a desperate fight, until support from the Skitarii and Shrike Divisions arrived. By the time they were relieved the 1002nd was decimated, and so the equally-exhausted 1001st Division was folded into them, with overall command being given to to Verdun.

The Burning World and Shazakh

In the wake of the battle for Ulysses, the Imperium became aware of the full extent of Intax's crimes. The campaign hastened, and Markia marched on the volcanically active Burning World. Though many parts were unsafe for the ill-equipped Markian Corps, the Intax battalions could move unhindered thanks to their bionic enhancements and automaton support. The Burning World was left to the Ghalhallan Skitarii, who too were safe in the wastes of the planet. Meanwhile, the Markian Corps proper moved on to the world of Carices and Helion Prime, where they faced light resistance compared to other worlds, regrouping with Ghalhal on Talia in preparation of the invasion of the pillaged forgeworld Shazakh, capital of the Intax Empire.

The battle for Shazakh was a long one. Titans, knights, xenotech of unknown origin, abominable intelligences, even the machine-halls of the manufactorums conspired to destroy the Imperial forces. From floor to floor, building to building, even in the throne room the Markian Corps fought, not resting until a grenadier placed a lasbolt in the Intax Emperor's head; and even still, there was brief respite, as the Imperium now had to purge the entirety of the Intax population, and destroy the automata roaming the worlds of the Mortekaiser Sector. Ultimately, fighting continued for centuries after the campaign ended, dragging far into the Age of the Imperium.

Ranc's Incursion on Dread

The 78th Grand Corps did not fight on Shazakh, as their commander had what were in his opinion more pressing matters to attend to. On the eve of the final assault Imperial patrols detected long and pointed vessels venturing near the plains world Dread. Most generals would pass this off to another, but Ranc was familiar with these ships; they were undoubtably transports of the Morkai, a race from the distant east he was somehow familiar with, and their presence in Segmentum Pacificus was both curious and unsettling. Immediately Ranc set out with the 78th, against Grand Marshal Broussard's wishes, and pursued the Morkai craft, finding they were already shooting troops to the ground, tiny black spots screaming through the atmosphere like burning meteors. The 78th did likewise, landing to engage the Morkai soldiers while the Imperial fleet engaged the spires. Battle was fierce, mores than even the battle on the bridge city. Morkai were nothing like the automata of Ulysses: their aim was true and deadly, their jagged jet-black armor deflected all but the most harrowing lasfire, their assaults were relentless, and their biomechanical horrors wreaked havoc on the Markian troops. The battle only ended when the Morkai suddenly began retreating to their spires, the Markians doing likewise in caution. This proved wise, as the planet's surface shook with an eery vigor, and green fissures opened all around the world, spewing skeletal machines. The 78th and their Morkai adversaries had just narrowly averted their destruction at the hands of the necrons, who stirred from their slumber briefly, only to return to their ancient rest once Dread was once again confirmed devoid of sentients.

Aftermath

In the wake of the Mortekaiser Campaign Imperial scholars unmasked the truth behind the Intax religion. Based on their machine worship, macabre face-paintings, myths, and proximity to a necron tomb world, the Intax probably worshiped the necrons of Dread as gods, revering them as purifiers who slumbered until the time came to purge the galaxy of the heathens. As for the morkai, their presence on Dread was baffling because morkai had no way of reaching the galactic core in a timely manner, let alone the Mortekaiser Sector; nor is it known why they landed on Dread beyond that it was related to the necrons. Though it was not all questions and confusion; promotions were in order after the campaign. Verdun was promoted to Marshal and commended for his actions on Ulysses. Ranc, who had defied orders in going to Dread, was nearly court-martialed. However, while the Markians were fighting on Shazakh, the Imperium erupted into civil war. Markia would need every man where he belongs, so Ranc was promoted to Grand Marshal in preparation for a new, more massive campaign.

The Hektor Heresy

Near the end of the Mortekaiser Campaign, the traitor Hektor initiated a civil war to take the Imperial Throne, taking with him half the primarchs and a large portion of the Imperium's territory. Compared to other segmenta, Pacificus was peaceful at first glance; no space marine legions were present in the segmentum. However, that is not to say it was a trivial matter, as the traitors of Pacificus, while still only human, were countless in ways the Astartes could never be. Rebels were hiding in every crevice and dark corner of the galactic west, renegade Solar Auxilia were rampaging across the segmentum, and countless forge worlds were defecting and supplying the traitors with materiel to match the Imperials. Marines or no, the battle for Segmentum Pacificus would be a long one.

The Markian Front

"We don't talk about the Wolverines."

At the dawn of the Hektor Heresy, the 2394th Solar Auxilia Cohort "Wolverines" launched an invasion of the Al-Sherar Sector from the galactic east with various allied forces. To assist the home front, Grand Marshal Caieton sent back only the 78th Grand Corps under the command of Grand Marshal Judas Ranc, and upon his return he gained command of the the 99th Army, a fresh force of raw recruits hardly fit for combat. His mission: prevent the Wolverines from reaching the Markian Pact and push the traitors out of the sector.

Ranc's strategy was simple: hold the Wolverines off in the neighboring Subsector Doxe. First Ranc disbanded the 78th Grand Corps and dispersed its veteran regiments into other grand corps, and onto the worlds of the subsector to train locals and stationed Markians. Then, he dissolved the artillery corps and shrike division, and placed their regiments under the three grand corps. The three remained corps were placed on the worlds of Dahlia's Rest, Burrock, and Korintus, to defend them from direct attack while other worlds organized for asymmetrical warfare against the Wolverine's allies.

The Scouring and the Verdunian Reforms

Before the Hektor Heresy the Markian Corps possessed a vast fleet beyond the venerable voidships used to fight Old Ghalhal, consisting of manyfold battleships and cruisers crewed by indigenous Markians. Though the Markian fleet had replaced its native hands with various press-ganged conscripts over its existence, the ships themselves had always been Markia's until the Imperial Reformation post-Heresy, when the fleet, including its eight most ancient voidships, was divided from the Markian Corps and absorbed by the new Imperial Navy to the ire of Markians. Worse, is that the Imperial Navy demanded the Markian Corps give all their aircraft, from air superiority fighters and bombers to dropships and support craft, to them; an order vehemently opposed especially by Kouralian officers who relied on air support. Ultimately, the two compromised: the Markian Corps may continue using dropships and close air support craft, but bombers and air superiority fighters were the domain of the Imperial Navy. Despite coming to and agreement, the Markian Corps's stubbornness drew foul feelings from the Imperial Navy, and the Navy's bitterness often kept Markians from boarding their ships. For centuries following the fiasco the Adeptus Mechanicus of Ghalhal or merchant captains would ferry the Markian Corps to other worlds, and even even in the forty-first millennium the Navy and Corp's rivalry stirs disputes; such was the damage they dealt to each others' pride.

With changes in warfare's conditions, the Markian Corps too needed to change. Sky Marshal Marius Marie-Gaston Verdun was the first to address this, by inducing many reforms in the Corps:

• The replacement of the Atashia-Pattern laslock with the Markia-Pattern lasgun;
• The standardization of Kouralian warship production with modern fire control systems, vox and radar systems, cruise missiles, and other modernizations of the aging Markian maritime fleet;
• The integration of commissars in Markian ranks;
• The removal of fighter and bomber wings from Kouralian air regiments;
• And the improvement of training in specialist ranks.

The Crimson Reign and the Fall of the Markian Pact

Though the Markian Pact suffered a slow decline for millennia, the Markian Corps did not feel it. The grand corps were scattered through the Imperium fighting wars in the name of the emperor, and the worries of their home were the least of their concerns. Only heroes that catch the aristocracy's attention ever returned, as was the case with one Grand Marshal Athenais Vernier, commander of the 733rd Army of the Markian Corps. Invited home by an aristocrat, Vernier came to Atashia for celebrations. But there, Vernier was subject to a great culture shock, becoming unable to reconcile the contrast between the hopeful lies and hopeless aristocracy of Markia, and the brutal truths that Vernier had seen in her long campaigns.

Vernier left the Markian Pact once again, only to return shortly after with not one but three armies of the Markian Corps. The Markian Corps stormed the capital, and Vernier personally marched into the council chambers, and randomly shot several councilors. Upon a steel throne atop a Leman Russ Vernier ensconced herself in those chambers, surrounded by politicians too terrified to so much as move or utter a word. The Crimson Reign of Vernier had begun, but it would not be Vernier but the people of Markia themselves who would enact bloody vengeance upon each other, for they had at last succumbed to the despair that consumed the purest of hearts. The Crimson Reign would continued for only a year, however, as Vernier committed suicide by throwing herself into the seas of Atashia, her own spirit broken by years of tragedy and war.

When the Crimson Reign ended, the Markian Pact followed. The ties between worlds were severed down to a gilded string of trade, and the old council dissolved. The Markian Corps, the last vestiges of the old Pact of Verdun and Ranc, drifted with the warp's winds, the various grand corps finding new lives as Navy armsmen, Inquisitorial militants, rogue trader mercenaries, planetary defense forces, Ghalhallan auxiliaries, or the simple Imperial Guardsmen they always were; and to this day, they maintain their traditions even with new commanders and soldiers. They became the Legion of Lost Souls, bringing old customs to new lands, introducing their practical weapons and tactics while accepting innovations from the cultures they joined. Even in the 41st millennium new regiments and grand corps sprout up, resurrected by the rediscovery of ancient Markian relics lost in the course of campaigns of old.

The Corps's Grandeur

The Markian Corps does not split its number to fight on countless worlds throughout the galaxy. Rather, the Markian regiments are gathered into grand corps, each serving on one world. Should even a grand corps be insufficient, the Markian Corps organize an army of multiple corps, including specialist formations such as artillery corps and shrike divisions.

Regiments

• Line Infantry Regiments (LIR) are the most common units in a grand corps, consisting primarily of infantry with light armored and artillery support. Highly disciplined and able to handle any situation, though not excelling in any in particular.
• Artillery Regiments (HAR) are highly prominent in grand corps, being able to smash a hole in any line. Artillery regiments are rather large, possessing a mix of mortars, basilisks, medusas, and mountain guns. In case multiple grand corps come together to form an army, the artillery regiments form a single artillery corps.
• Tank Regiments (LTR) are hardly notable. Though well-equipped and handled by trained crewmen, the tank regiments of Markia are simply there to fill a niche, and do not hold a distinct advantage over true tread-heads. In an army, tank regiments are often arranged with either sapper and artillery regiments into a siege corps, or with mechanized regiments in an assault corps.
• Mechanized Regiments (HIR) are mobile elements of the Markian Corps meant to exploit breakthroughs and plug gaps in the line, originating from Atashia.
• Les Régiments de la Sapeurs de la Lemartia (SIR), or simply sapper regiments, are heavy siege specialists equipped with breaching drills, mole weapons, mole transports, heavy armor, and special weapons. Its men, being from the high-gravity world of Lemartia, are thick-skinned and stocky, and their smallish stature and experience let them maneuver tunnels with little hassle.
• Drop regiments (AIR) originate from the world of Kouralia, trained in high-altitude insertion. As with most other regiments, drop regiments are disciplined but far from the best at their job; though they do have mountain guns for more punch, and have air support from avengers and valkyries. If multiple grand corps come together to form an army, drop regiments come together with air-mobile artillery and air regiments to form a shrike division.
• The Air Regiments (ATR) of Kouralia consist solely of aircraft. Once plentiful in the Great Crusade, limitations placed by the Imperial Navy led to the downfall of the Air Regiment, and now only have avenger strike fighters in their numbers.
• The Air-Mobile Artillery (AAR) regiments of Kouralia are a strange contradiction. The linchpin of the air-mobile artillery regiment is the mountain gun, a light cannon capable of transport by valkyrie; a feature that makes rapid air deployment possible. AARs also contain at least one airship as a command and heavy lifting vehicle.
• L’Infanterie de Marine (STR) are another unique force from Kouralia, as each regiment is an entire fleet of maritime vessels with supporting naval infantry. Vessels within an STR are designed to be easily transported by specialized Mechanicus voidships from Ghalhal, and are equipped with enough firepower to match an artillery regiment, and supported with a complement of highly trained marines to take shore positions and perform maritime operations.
• The Mountain Infantry Regiments (MIR) of Thenar are light infantry specialized in alpine warfare as their name suggests, although they also have advanced experience with forests and plains. What sets apart the mountain infantry from other light regiments the most is the mountain gun, which provides long-range anti-armor firepower to the regiment without losing much in terms of mobility.
• Especially prominent after the Verdunian Reforms, the Air-Defense Regiments (DTR) are outfits consisting of anti-aircraft artillery and tanks. Existing since the Markian Corps's foundation, the DTR's importance was increased after the Markians were barred from air-superiority fighters.
• Baneblades are very rarely used in LTR as spearheads or command vehicles, but they are in their greatest numbers in Superheavy Armor Regiments (HTR). The twenty-one baneblades that make an HTR can penetrate all but the toughest enemy defenses.

Armaments

• The primary armament of the Markian Corps during the Heresy is the Atashia-Pattern bold-action lasgun. Based on primitive designs from the Age of Strife, the Atashia-Pattern's powerful but easily-fried capacitors require a new cell to be loaded after every shot, sacrificing rate of fire for extra punch. It should be noted, however, that expert users of the Atashia-Pattern lasgun can fire dozens of times in only a minute, even including reloading of the ten-shot magazine. After the Verdunian Reforms, the Atashia-Pattern was phased out and replaced with the Markia-Pattern, though the Atashia-Pattern continues to see use as a ceremonial weapon.
• The Karmia-Pattern lascarbine is an improvement upon the Atashia-Pattern. Produced for drop regiments, L'Infanterie de Marine, mechanized regiments, sappers, tank crews, and all Karmian forces, the Karmia-Pattern is semiautomatic unlike the Atashia-Pattern, and is loaded via a twenty- or thirty- capacitor magazine on the bottom. Though it was mostly replaced by the Markia-Pattern lasgun after the Heresy, Karmian regiments continue using it out of tradition.
• The main service weapon after the Hektor Heresy is the Markia-Pattern lasgun, designed to receive the laspacks used by the rest of the Imperial Guard. It boasts equal firepower to the Atashia-Pattern while also being semiautomatic, but also possesses modularity, and can be modified for use by snipers, drop troops, light infantry, sappers, and tank and artillery crews.
• The mountain gun is the main piece of air-mobile artillery and mountain infantry regiments for many reasons. Besides being light enough for transport by valkyries or horses, the mountain gun can also be disassembled easily, allowing it to be moved around in pieces and stored with ease.
• The sniper mantlet is a high-caliber anti-materiel rifle mounted on a heavy shield. Built for trench warfare and countering light armor, the sniper mantlet is capable of sharpshooting enemies, even on the frontline of a siege.
• As experts on siege and tunnel warfare, the Lemartian sappers make heavy use of mole transports to bypass enemy lines, an ability they used to great effect during the Core Worlds Campaign.
• Designed in the Hektor Heresy to combat asymmetrical warfare and penetrate thick defenses, the banelord is a baneblade design indigenous to Ghalhal. The banelord forgoes all superheavy weaponry for two decks which can hold a Markian infantry company of 100, a single demolisher, vanquisher, or battle cannon; and six multilasers.