Skitarii
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The Skitarii (singular Skitarius, also known as Tech-Guard) (The most accurate pronunciation is "ski-tar-ih-ee", meaning a short i as in "sit" followed by a longer i as in "sheep" (usually displayed as ī with a top bar to simplify pronounciation for English speakers). This is because skitarius is most likely a second declension masculine noun ending in -ius, with nominative plural ending in -iī with a long i. Some of you are taught to pronounce -ii as "ee-aye", though. Use what you're comfortable with, but read this or something like it before you continue the Linguistic Crusade about a made-up pseudo-Latin word.) are the private army of the Adeptus Mechanicus. Under the Treaty of Mars, Forge Worlds are not required to give manpower over to the Imperial Guard under the Imperial Tithe, so they are allowed to raise, train, and equip their own Planetary Defense Forces. Standing somewhere between the Guard and the Space Marines in terms of ability, the Skitarii have access to absolutely everything the Adeptus Mechanicus can create. The only things they don't use are the Land Raider (which is due to a decree by the Emperor reserving it for the Adeptus Astartes during the Great Crusade)(like that stops the Inquisition...) and Dreadnoughts (though in theory they could, they just prefer carving up your brain and making you a servitor instead). Like the Guard, there is little standardization among Skitarii units. For example, they can't quite seem to agree if the greater unit is called a cohort or a brigade. Additionally, Skitarii will vary from simple gun-servitors under a few commanders to gene-enhanced augmented humans with major equipment.
Having existed since at least the Great Crusade, a Skitarii brain is altered to maintain their loyalty and obedience. Some are just psycho-surgically or biochemically altered, while others are full-on lobotomised. According to recent lore, one way the Tech Priests control legions of Skitarii are by messing with their brains from SPEHHS, firing off signals to make each and every one of those little bastards think they're being manipulated by the Omnissiah himself. On the plus side if, after their "indoctrination", they have anything resembling a working brain left, it'll usually be capable of some high level multitasking: a Tech-Guard officer will proficiently dual-chainsword-duel with you, while happily chatting with his fellow Skitarii on the vox in binaric cant, simultaneously catch up on his unread messages, recompiling the kernels in his cybernetic implants and trolling all the boards of future-#chan at the same time. So yeah, they're different than their service/slave counterparts. And speaking of differences, Skitarii from different forgeworlds don't always share the same look. Some prefer the classic "red-robe-with-hood" Martian style, while others wear Imperial Guard-like uniform, and some could be purely functionalist with no clothes beside armour - just name the style, and somewhere in the galaxy there is a forge world with similarity dressed Skitarii (except for THAT style, you sick fuck). One of the most popular styles the Skitarii employ is to wear fabulous fur coats, fang talismans and grizzly trophies, commonly associated with Death Worlders and Space Wolves; these are intended to terrify opponents. As if half-robot/zombie soldiers aren't terrifying enough.
They are generally the first line of defense on Forge Worlds and other Mechanicum installations. However, they also serve as marines (in the traditional sense) for some Explorator ships, and act as dedicated infantry and vehicle support for Titan Legions when they are deployed.
Also, they can be played on the tabletop, like a weird hybrid of Tau, Necron, and guardsma... ahem.. ASTRA MILITARUM Imperial Guard, and seem to be the 40k equivalent of the Skaven, except that they're not fucking fleabags! Who needs Emrpah loving humies/post-humie/heretic/xenos scum anyway?! Everyone knows the Omnissiah is where it's at!
See Also
- Skitarii tactics
- This sums up the Skitarii (be sure to kitbash your squad alpha so he gets an abbs mounted heavy weapon!)
- And again with related images
