Gland War Veteran
Gland War Veterans (Called Glandies or Gland Warriors for short by some in /tg/) were a specialized, genetically modified force of Imperial Guard Veteran designed to battle the Tyranids. They are considered by the Mechanicus as a far more successful and stable compared to the Afriel Strains.
After the Forge World of Dantris III became heavily infested and polluted by Tyranid forces, the Techpriests of the planet modified several companies of the Lostock 23rd to fight in the hellish conditions. Imagine Glandies as Space Marines without the power armor. They had many organs and drug-secreting glands implanted in their bodies so that they could survive unprotected such as an organ that would secrete stims, painkillers, and various medical drugs, more powerful natural air filters via a modified lung, enhanced bio-musculature structure for increased strength and etc. Their genetic tempering and augmentation has made them a distinct Abhuman, although whether they can breed and successfully pass on their genetic coding and new augmented organs is unknown. Their combat abilities and aggressiveness were also further increased in order to deal with the myriad of threats from the varied Tyranid forces.
Heck, the Gland War Veterans was so successful and super-anal retentive that even the Hive Mind thought they were crazy as fuck and that; despite the heavy losses they took, was able to ensure the successful defence of Dantis III. Only three Gland Warriors are believed to have survived, which were taken by the Inquisition for study and "debriefing".
At least one of them ended up in an Inquisitor's retinue so apparently "debriefing" doesn't always mean "dissected" or "killed with fire."
Gland War Veterans probably look almost indistinguishable from the average Human especially if he/she is in armor. Although they may be differentiated with increased muscle mass to fend off larger Tyranid creatures, denser musculature to shrug off blows from a Tyranid, heavier skeletal structure and possibly altered rib-cage to protect them from Tyranid weapons, hyper-resistant or acidic blood to protect the body from Tyranid cell infestation, enhanced senses to adapt to the wide variation of Tyranids, augmented or multi-layered lung to breath in the toxic gas from Tyranids, increased adrenaline and veins popping up everywhere.
Difference between Gland Warriors and Space Marines
You may wonder why are Glandies considered a sub-species whereas the Space Marines aren't despite sharing what appears to be similar biological enhancements. The answer could be that Space Marines use artificial organs to help 'complement' their body via added hormonal growth or enhancers, the same way some athletes use steroid injection shots to further enhance their body. In anyways, Space Marines are still considered Human due to very little genetic tempering. On the other hand, Glandies are supplemented with organs that may completely alter the genetic make up of the original owner.
While we may not have enough evidence of fluff, this theory may sound true. In order for the Glandies to become a sub-species of the mainstay Human, they must A) have a different but stable DNA code, B) have conditions that enable them to adapt to a particular scenario, C) be able to genetically procreate with their own kind and D) have a completely altered genetic make up. For the Glandies, they were given special organs to better adapt in fighting Tyranids which is far more specialized and theoretically more advance than the average 'Jack-Of-All-Trades' gene-seed enhancements given to the Space Marines.
The high specialization and the complete overhaul to make these men more able to compete with a Tyranic organism would be enough to classify them as distinct from Humans. If they have become so genetically different to Humans than it must be possible for them to pass on their augmented genes to their own kind in order for successful procreation unlike the Space Marine's whose organs are there to help their augmentations and are unable to have proper kids due to having their balls cut off (Which later falls completely flat into a 40k plot-hole with Uriel Ventris and his 'ancestor' Lucian Ventris - which may be explained with Uriel being a cousin to Lucian).
On The Tabletop
Due to their success, Gland War Veterans are getting increasing attention to the Imperial Guard and has been nagging the Mechanicum like a housewife to give them some of these augmented Abhumans. If you want to field them, use the D-99 Army List in the Imperial Armour 4: The Anphelion Project with the Hyper Aggressive Tendencies drawback, as that's pretty much exactly what the Gland War Veterans are.
