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Warhammer 40,000/Tactics/Imperial Militia and Cults (30k)

2021-02-06T15:45:31Z

2001:4930:172:25:AC3D:E498:C7A1:2583:

The latest FAQ can be found [https://whc-cdn.games-workshop.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/Horus-Heresy-General-Errata-and-FAQ-v1.1-Final.pdf here] (February 2019)
==Why Play Imperial Militia and Cults==
While not an overly powerful army, it is one of the most customisable armies you'll ever find <s>outside of</s> including 40k [[Warhammer 40,000/Tactics/Renegades_And_Heretics(8E)|Renegades and Heretics]]. These guys represent the mish-mash of military units found across the galaxy before anyone sat down and formalized the Imperial Guard (and sometimes before they were part of the Imperial Army). Remember all those Exemplary Battles of [[Great_Crusade|Astartes vs non-compliant humans]]? This is the perfect list to model them - the ''true face of the Great Crusade''. So you can build an army of cyber augmented Skitarii wannabes, a feral world regiment of jungle warriors, a pre-compliant civilization or even a full-fledged [[Chaos Cults]].

Because of the sheer range of options available to you which can radically change both the appearance and function of the units under your command, you can even use models that you wouldn't otherwise consider to take into a 40k environment: If you want to maintain a low-tech/high-tech contrast then why not use fantasy Empire models for the [[Praetorian_Guard|fancy uniforms and muskets]] and even have them as crewmen for your Leman Russes or Earthshaker guns? Similarly if you are using the ''Abhuman Helots'' and/or ''Tainted Flesh'' provenances why not just take Fantasy Beastmen models? or even Skaven models if you want to go a bit more steampunk/alchemical?
And, I bet no one ever told you this, but if you take the provenances of ''Abhuman Helots'' and ''Survivors of the Dark Age'', you get... [[Squat|SQUATS]]!!! THEY'RE BACK, BABY!!! Then you'd just need to find a player who's masochistic enough to let you use your 30K army list, warlord traits and rules against their 40K army, all in the name of nostalgia, of course...

*'''Pros'''
**Insane customisation options and the chance to model things you couldn't do with other armies.
**The ability to build a list tailored to your playstyle; large squads of footsloggers, or with ''Survivors of a Dark Age'' smaller mechanised units.
**Cheap and large scoring units that do not confer any points to your opponent for killing (it costs 60 points to get 20 Guardsmen-equivalents)
**A good modicum of firepower with large heavy weapons squads, artillery and access to Leman Russ squadrons

*'''Cons'''
**Without the right Provenances or correct placement of characters, you have poor Leadership across most of your units.
**Even with the huge amount of customisation options you have only a few choices of unit per FOC slot and some of them can be entirely written off or made compulsory depending upon your Provenance selection, leaving you with less room to do your own thing.
**It's more of a side note, but there are a mass of misprints in the army list that means you need to be a bit liberal in your interpretation. An example would be the Rogue Psykers not having a points cost, or Grenadier Squad starting off with Auxilia Rifles but [[Fail|only being allowed to replace their non-existent Lascarbines]], makes the entire thing feel rushed and not up to the standard of most Forgeworld stuff. Make sure you don't play [[That Guy]] with this list, you've been warned.

==Special Rules==

===Provenances of War===
This is where the modelling opportunities for this army come from. Your Force Commander can purchase up to two Provenances of War. While their cost seems rather low, they can all massively impact the rest of your army, and can radically change the army build and the options you can take. Some Provenances lock you out of certain things or are mutually exclusive with one another, but some also allow units to buy their own unique options.

*'''Warrior Elite:''' All units gain +1 Ld (max 9) and Militia Levy cannot be compulsory troops choices. ''~ More important than you may think, since this raises your Infantry Squads to Guardsmen-Level leadership, and also means that your Grenadiers don't need Discipline Masters.''

*'''Gene Crafted:''' +1 str and +1 initiative but cannot take FNP rolls. ''~ Makes Medicae Orderlies absolutely useless.''
**Can't be combined with Cyber-Augmented.

*'''Cyber Augmented:''' All units gain a 6+ invuln save, or +1 to existing invulnerable saves ''(to a maximum of 3+)'', but they reduce run and sweeping advances rolls by 1. You also gain [[Warhammer_40,000/Tactics/Mechanicum_(30k)|Mechanicum]] as sworn brothers.
**Can't be combined with Gene-crafted. ''~ The flesh is weak after all.''
**This and Survivors of a Dark Age are a good away to make Proto-Sisters. The 6+ invulnerable becomes their Act of Faith Invulnerable and the reduction to run represents a lack of Black Carapace.

*'''Alchem-Jackers:''' Gain the ''Stubborn'' USR, but if a unit fails a Ld test due to enemy shooting it becomes pinned instead of falling back. ''~ This is a good thing most of the time since your unit doesn't actually leave its position.'' Plus you might have gone to ground anyway.
**'''Frenzon:''' Any unit can purchase ''Rage'', but '''must''' perform sweeping advances, which is never a drawback, ever.

*'''Survivors of a Dark Age:''' Very powerful... Every eligible units gains +1 to their armour save, which essentially means Grenadiers are wearing Power Armour. The compulsory Troops must be Grenadier squads.
**'''Advanced Weaponry:''' Grenadiers and Platoon Command Squads can buy +1 Strength for their las weapons or rotor cannons, which is very good but gets expensive since all squads have to pay if the upgrade is taken and you have to pay 20 points per squad. Grenadier squads and Command squads can also purchase a Rhino a [[Awesome|Land Raider Proteus]], or a [[Tunneling_Transport_Vehicles#Termite|Termite Assault Drill]] as dedicated transports. YES!
***The +1 Strength to regular las weapons isn't all that useful in reality, as the Grenadiers have to pay 10 points to get lascarbines before the 20 points to get +1 Strength, whereas bolters cost 30 points. Likewise, the Command Squad start with lascarbines but can upgrade to bolters for 20 points, meaning in many cases you may as well get the bolters and just be wannabe Space Marines.
***It DOES have uses with lasrifles (30" S4 Rapid Fire) or laslocks (S5 Assault 1), as well as rotor cannons (3/4 shots at 15"/30" S4 firepower), which are all superior to bolters in one way or another. Enemies are likely getting saves either way.
**Can't be combined with Cult Horde or Tainted Flesh provenances. ''~ Your world is too civilized for [[Chaos]].''

*'''Feral Warriors:''' The army gains +1WS. [[Ogryn]]s gain +1 attack instead. The army cannot have more vehicle units than infantry.
**'''Blade and Fury:''' All non-ogryn squads can purchase +1 attack for 25 points. ''~ Good to combine with the melee buffs of other provenances.''

*'''Abhuman Helots:''' All units gain +1 toughness but have -1 initiative. The lowered initiative isn't much of a price to pay, when most your foes are I4 marines, going from I3 to I2 isn't much of a deal, but it does mean that gene-crafted isn't as good with it.
**'''Discipline Collars:''' Can be purchased for any unit, not just levy squads. It grants ''Stubborn'', but if they EVER fail a morale check on a double six, their heads explode and you remove the unit entirely.
***The drawback for taking the collars is barely significant at all, because if you fail a morale check as a result of lost combat you are more than likely just about to be sweeping advanced ''(especially with your lower initiative)'', so this spares the need to roll any more dice...this universe makes us all into horrible people.
**Space Marines and [[Solar Auxilia]] treat you as Distrusted Allies. ''~ Even in the age of 30k, it still sucks to be a [[Mutant]]''.

*'''Cult Horde:''' ''(Traitors only)'' Massively changes what you can do with your army. All units gain ''Hatred'' and ''Stubborn'' USRs, and they must always charge if in range, even if they have fired weapons that would render them unable to charge ''(like Heavy or Rapid fire weapons)'', but they perform a disordered charge if they do. However, all units (effected by Provenances of War, so doesn't effect your vehicles!) can [[derp|ONLY make snap shots]] when shooting and cannot go to ground, so build your models accordingly. Furthermore, the army cannot take grenadier squads. Feel free take Tanks, Sentinals and Flyers for your dakka and leave your infantry to the infantry killing!
**'''Cult Demagogue:''' Automatically happens with this Provenance. Your Force Commander gets the ''Daemon'' and ''Preferred Enemy (Loyalists)'' special rules, which is pretty sweet. He can also purchase a Tainted Weapon like the Word Bearers, but is probably better served by picking another weapon.
**Cannot be combined with Survivors of the Dark Age, <s>but may use Chaos Daemons as Allies.</s> Demons are now Sworn Brothers with all traitors. ''~ You can't expect [[murderhobo]]s to be tech experts.''
**Note: This may not be worth it following the FAQ since you lost ''Zealot'' (and the Fearlessness that came with it) but your vehicles still don't snapshot so this is still a powerful Provenances of War. ''Hatred'' and ''Stubborn'' are good and all, but the change forces a reevaluation of how units need to be built; taking smaller units that don't sting if/when you lose them to a bad round of combat and the following sweeping advance. Other Provenances can give you access to ''Stubborn'' so it becomes whether you want ''Hatred'' plus access to Chaos stuff; or the option of ''Rage'' (Alchem Jackers) or +1 Tough/-1 Init (Abhuman Helots)
**All the Snapshotting really does is stop you bringing Infantry Squads, Grens (which you literally cannot take anyways), Fire Support Squads, Recons and Rapiers yet it increases your anti infantry capacity on the already efficient Levy squads (even more when combo'ed with Tainted Flesh), just bring Sentinals and as many Russ' you can for your anti vehicle. Nothing stopping you bringing Infantry squads with Shotguns or CCW if you wanted better stats.

*'''Tainted Flesh:''' ''(Traitors only)'' All units gain Fear, Feel no Pain (6+) and Rending in melee, compulsory Troops MUST be Levy squads and cannot have more "non-levy" squads than levy squads, They can only take the Force Commander and rogue psykers as HQs (with no discipline masters, [[Just as planned|expect total chaos]] among your levy squads). They also gain access to Mutant Sp... [[Chaos Spawn|the disgusting things]].
**Cannot be combined with Survivors of the Dark Ages, Gene-Crafted or Alchem-Jackers. ''~ The power of Humanity is nothing compared to the gifts of the [[Warp]].''

[[File:IMandWCTable.PNG|center|thumb|600px|Now in matrix format]]

===Wargear===
====Ranged Weapons====
This army has staggering variety of less than staggering guns, allowing you precise control over the balance and type of your firepower to affordability.
*'''Auxilia Rifle''': the standard-issue rifle for most of your units. Just an 18" S3 Assault 1 gun. They are described as any weapon ranging from black powder muskets to esoteric lasrifles not seen anywhere else, ''Survivors of a Dark Age'' doesn't apply to it in any case. Kudos to anyone who actually takes fantasy empire muskets on their models and starts mowing down space marines with them.
*'''Auxilia Pistol:''' Flintlock pistols essentially, 8" range and the same damage as the rifle. Characters don't really have the option to take them, since they'll have better laspistols to start with anyway. But your infantry/levy/grenadier squads can take them instead of a rifle giving you extra attacks in close combat when paired with their close combat weapons.
*'''Auxilia Lascarbine:''' The same as the 40k lasgun.
*'''Auxilia Lasrifle:''' Better than the 40k lasrifle because they have 30" range.
*'''Bolter:''' Better than the 40k lasrifle because it's an ARMOUR PIERCING ROCKET RIFLE. Not as impressive as it sounds, but you know it and you might just love it. Available to Grenadiers and Command Squads.
*'''Blast Pistol:''' available to most characters. It's S5 and twin linked, which for 5 points seems like a bargain, however it only has a 6" range and ''Gets Hot!'' So you might have little opportunity to use it.
*'''Hand Flamer:''' available to all of your characters and squad leaders. A good option since you don't have to rely on Ballistic Skill to hit anything and it adds to your overwatch. It is usually one if your more expensive options, but it adds more to a squad than a Bolt pistol or blast pistol, so it should always be considered for each squad sergeant.
*'''Laslock:''' 18" S4 Assault 1, so a straight upgrade from the Auxilia rifle, optionally becoming S5 if you have the right provenance.
*'''Shotgun:''' Compared to the alternatives is a shorter range but (relatively) strong rank and file assault weapon. Not exactly shooty enough for shooty armies (like most of the other options) nor slashy enough for slashy armies, but an option if you just have to deny charges and want to hurt them at least a little.
*'''Needle Pistol:''' Its a ''Poisoned, Rending'' pistol, not available to regular sergeants but can be taken by Force Commanders and Discipline Masters. At 5 points it should be the default option as it can be a threat to near enough any form of infantry barring Death Guard.
*'''Rotor Cannon:''' Just like what the Legions get, S3 Salvo 3/4 (thought it will be S4 if you use the right Provenance). Not very good here either, as it is further hampered by the fact that it can only be taken as a special weapon option in Grenadier squads where it competes with better options. Or by Servo-Automata, who can't even improve it using a Provenance.

====Melee Weapons====
*'''Augmented Weapon:''' An S4 close combat weapon, no matter what the strength of your model is. Can be bought for most characters, but grenadiers can have the whole squad take them instead of their close combat weapon. Still not great considering if you wanted a close combat unit, you'd have built your army with specific provenances to do the job. That said, Gene-Crafted isn't the only melee option so this does have a place, such as in tainted ferals or... Various ferals.
*'''Charnabal Saber:''' Only the Force Commander can take one, giving him/her the Rending rule in melee and +1 Initiative in a Challenge. It's cheap at 5 points and can be considered a throwaway option, but is outclassed by nearly every other option and if your opponent is decked out for melee you're likely going to die. The only situation where it is of any use is if you took the ''Gene Crafted'' provenance so your commander can now strike at S4 & I5 and have a shot against marine sergeants and lesser characters.
*'''Power Weapons:'''
**'''Power Sword:''' In most cases this is a bad option for militia, as you strike after Marines you're likely to never get a chance to use it. As with the Saber above, its function radically changes when you take ''Gene Crafted'', so now you hit at the same strength and speed as those Marines. Just avoid challenges, as you are going to die.
**'''Power Mace:''' A better option than a sword, because unless your opponent forgets to clothe his characters in highly artificed fineries, that S+2 and ''Concussive'' rule will help you a lot more than AP3 will.
**'''Power Axe:''' Probably your best option. You were going to strike last anyway so you might as well resign yourself to that fact. With a few swings this will likely cause wounds to anyone without an Invulnerable save.
*'''Power Fist:''' Only available to Force/Platoon Commanders. For five more points than an axe you can have a Fist, which wounds on a 2+ rather than the axe's 4+ ''(not counting Gene Crafted, where you could then even insta-kill a marine with your S8)''. However, the Fist falls into the points vortex which sucks up more points because you have to justify your investment: so as a ''Specialist Weapon'' you've got nothing to pair it with, so you need to buy Digi-Weapons or Master-Craft it to improve your attacks, then you'll need a good invulnerable save in order to protect it long enough to take a swing... It goes on, but you're still going to die.
*'''Tainted Weapon:''' specialist weapon CCW that causes instant death. Get your psykers to take it because it's cheap and they have no other option anyway, so you might get lucky. If your Force Commander has the option of taking it, you've bought ''Cult Horde'' and you need to give them a better weapon than this to take advantage of ''Hatred'' and ''Preferred Enemy'' - unless you've taken Tainted Flesh as well, in which case the combination of ''Preferred Enemy, Rending'' and ''Instant Death'' makes the weapon scarier than you think.... Especially against battle automata.

====Special Issue Gear & Armour====
*'''Flak Armour:''' Default for most units and characters. It's a 5+ save but you know that's practically worthless in a marine heavy environment like the Horus Heresy. However with the right Provenance, beefed up flak is as good as Carapace Armour. At least it's better than...
*'''Sub-Flak Armour:''' When you thought Flak offered as much defense as cardboard. Sub-Flak is more like wet tissue paper, offering only a 6+ save. Even ''Survivors of the Dark Age'' wont offer any relief cause you're only bumping back to 5+ ''(still useless)'' Thankfully only your disposable Levy squads wear this, so it doesn't really matter if they die.
*'''Carapace Armour:''' comes standard on Grenadiers and can be bought as an upgrade for your HQ units. DO THIS even if you don't take the ''Survivors'' provenance, it gives you an actual save against bolt weapons.
*'''Power Armour:''' you know what this does. Sadly 3+ is as good as it gets; it is not further upgraded using Provenances and you can find ways to get yourself a 3++ save instead, so buying it is strictly optional.
*'''Refractor Field:''' 5+ save for your Force Commander. Can be bought for your Platoon Commanders Enginseers or Discipline Masters.
*'''Iron Halo:''' only available to your Force Commander.
*'''Cyber Familiar:''' This is where it gets interesting: it adds +1 to Invulnerable saves ''(to a maximum of 3+)'' and let's you reroll failed characteristic tests [[Fail|(but not Ld checks)]]. Your first option is to take it as a budget Iron Halo, as its five points cheaper than the Halo for the same save. Or you go the full nine yards and get the 3++ save for twenty five points. You need to decide if your Force Commander is worth that much, cause now you need to load up on even more gear to make your investment worthwhile. But at least this means you don't need to buy Carapace/Power Armour.
**Enginseers can buy a familiar too, but they also need to buy the Refractor Field separately, falling into the same points vortex as the Commander for only a single wound model.
*'''Nuncio Vox:''' only two ways of getting this in your army: either buying it for Enginseers or taken as a compulsory member of your Platoon Command Squad, so they'll rarely be seen on the field. It helps prevent deep strike scatter and spots for barrage weapons. Not a big deal because your army doesn't really deep strike, and Space Marine allies have these pretty much everywhere.
*'''Vexilla:''' available to your big Troops units for 10 points and let's you add +1 to combat resolution, as well as allowing you to attempt regroups normally when below 25% strength. Is it worth it? Ugh... Your soldiers are likely to die in droves in melee, but since your Provenances are nearly all geared towards getting you into melee you're going to want this on your side, if only to stop the pain from being laid on so thickly. If it ever helps you win combat then you've entirely justified its cost.
*'''Platoon Standard:''' only on your Platoon Command Squad, so it won't be a regular fixture in most armies. It grants pseudo-stubborn to friendly militia within 24". Very useful and is the glue that holds together most militia armies, unlesss you have stubborn elsewhere/in provenance.
*'''Infravisor:''' available to your Force Commander and your Recon squads. Grants ''Night Fight'' but makes you take ''Blind'' tests at Initiative 1. It's cheap enough but you really need to think about what to go with it, as Night Fighting never lasts past the first few turns. So make sure your Recon troops have Sniper Rifles and/or you attach your Force Commander to an artillery battery so you can get the most out of your early game advantage.

====Psyarkana====
As of ''HH8: Malevolence'' the Imperial Militia were granted access to Psyarkana items. Although their level of access is severely limited compared to Space Marine Legions, they do have a handful of items that they are permitted to take. Bearing in mind that the only available Independent Character in the army is the Force Commander.

*'''Icon of the Blazing Sun:''' Available to Loyaltist Independent Characters. Daemons locked in combat get their WS reduced to 1. With the right gear and Provenance this could make your warlord merely ''alright'' against Daemons as well as giving an attached melee squad a sorely needed edge. The other ability allows you to nullify psychic powers, though with a base Leadership of 8 it is a bit of a gamble otherwise you lose wounds for the attempt. This psy-relic does have uses, but it's almost certainly not worth specialising that much.
*'''Liber Magra Veneficarum:''' Traitor Independent Characters only. Get one level of Psychic Mastery and the ''Incursion'' power. The guaranteed ability to summon Daemon Brutes/Beasts can be pretty cool, though as a WC3 Daemonology power it might be a bit difficult to manifest without having a few extra warp charges in the bank, but luckily traitors can also take Rogue Psykers as other HQ choices.
*'''Terminal Lucidity Injectors:''' No, your Force Commander is not strong enough to justify one final burst of ranged shooting or one final melee attack ''(that still needs to roll to hit and to wound)'' is just not worth it.
*'''Psy-Resonant Pentacles:''' A cheap option that can really mess with Daemons or Psykers in close combat by dropping them to the rear of the Initiative order, so if you have the Force Commander in a melee squad like Ogryns you could pull off something surprising. It's cheap enough that if you know you're fighting the right opponent you can take it as a throwaway option that makes itself useful, just don't spring for an Iron Halo because it overrides the save with a 5++.
*'''Armatus Necrotechnica:''' 50 points to give a tank the ability to self-heal on a 6+ whenever models within 6" lose wounds, as well as dropping Ld values by -1 in the same radius. While this sounds underwhelming, it does apply the healing ''every time'' models lose wounds and not just once per turn. It is probably too expensive to put on a Leman Russ tank, Malcadors might do better, but Stormhammers with EIGHT Heavy Flamers are suddenly going to be impossible to kill once they get within firing range and have a large enough table footprint that the Ld Aura will be huge.

====Relics====
The Imperial Militia use the generic list of Dark Age of Technology relics everyone uses, but there are no specific ones to their army. So they don't get anything unique. Since they are restricted for IC use, the only ones with access to them would be the Force Commander or a Traitorous Rogue psyker, and both would be good recipients for such an item, particularly because the army relies on them much more than the Solar Auxilia does.

In a campaign you're only allowed one character with a relic which you'll be stuck for the rest of the campaign, so be sure of your decision. If the relic bearer is killed, the side that killed him can choose to play a Relic Hunt mission, where the winner steals (or recovers) the relic, even if it's a Legion specific one, but a Draw means that relic is effectively lost for everyone. Still, you can always opt to play a 'Relic Hunt' mission at the beginning of every campaign phase to [[Blood_Ravens|acquire]] FREE relics, where your war zone-assigned character must be deployed and thus miss all other missions played in that phase...but that way you can [[Adeptus_Mechanicus|hoard up]] on [[Blood_Ravens|relics]], even getting duplicates of the non-faction-specific ones, by rolling a D6 on the 'Relic Uncovered' table below. Of course, this only matters when playing missions instead of casual gaming, enjoy!

*'''#1 Nanyte Blaster:''' The [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grey_goo Grey Goo] gun of uncontrolled carnage!!! It's a S5 AP2 Fleshbane weapon, where if it kills anyone you center a large blast over the dead model on a die roll of 4+, causing a S5 AP2 hit to those underneath it. Unlike Volkite, each model who dies to this can cause ''yet MOAR'' large blasts on further rolls of a 4+. All you need to do is get one casualty and you can wipe out an entire unit! Smashing! Hilarious when it really works.
*'''#2 Warp Shunt Field:''' 3++ against shooting, however for every save of a 6+ (against direct fire weapons) the shooting unit suffers D6 S5 hits. This is the only risk-free defensive relic. Also hilarious if you get really lucky.
*'''#3 Phase Walker:''' Each moving phase, instead of moving you may place the bearer anywhere you like, counting as having just deep struck but with no scatter. If you move through a solid object you have to take a dangerous terrain check for EACH solid object you went through (including all models) so be wary of abusing it in city scenarios. Quite nice for Void Masters, who have Move through Cover, so feel free to abuse it. Too bad this leaves behind the rest of his unit, and commanders aren't known for being one-men armies. If you're up against an Assault heavy army though or are playing a Zone Mortalis/Cities of Death game it can make it's points back as your Warlord retreats through walls (and into another unit) so he can't be assaulted, like a panic button.
*'''#4 Combat Augment Array:''' Once per game, at the beginning of any of the controller's player turn, he may count any '''single''' die (only 1) rolled as an automatic 6 (Emails from FW confirm). However, he must also pass Toughness tests for each remaining wound. If he fails he suffers a wound with no saves or mitigating FnP rolls of any kind. A Cyber familiar can mitigate the danger by granting a re-roll on the commander tests. However, you're paying 35pts for '''one''' guaranteed 6 - nice combo with a Paragon Blade, but given that everyone strikes before you...[[Tau|do you really want to be in Close combat]]?
*'''#5 Cloaking Array:''' Once per game, at the ''beginning'' of ANY game turn you may make yourself invisible for that whole game turn (ie. on the 3rd turn both in your and your opponent's turn, thus starting on your enemy's turn if he goes first). You cannot be shot or charged at unless the enemy unit contains psykers or daemons, in which case the array immediately shuts down (so now ''everyone'' can hit you, not just the previous two). Unfortunately you cannot activate it while attached to a squad or if engaged in close combat already. You also cannot shoot, assault, move or ''do anything at all''. So your model stands on the same spot invisible but doing nothing during a whole game turn. Since you don't want your commander to be alone, pass on this one.
*'''#6 Void Shield Harness:''' Yep. You can get a [[Void_shields|voidshield]] for your dude. It's a large blast-sized shield, centered on your dude but protecting anyone that fits inside. Glancing, Penetrating and Destroyer hits will collapse the shield, but it can be restored at the end of your turn on a 5+, and with AV12 you'll be immune to most small arms fire. However, a result of Explodes! will overload the shield, disabling it for the rest of the game and placing a S6 AP4 Large Blast template centered on the bearer - that's '''Instant Death''' for your commander and his friends, who won't get their armor saves, so get the hell away from Meltaguns.

===Warlord Traits===
#'''Ruthless Tyrant:''' Gain +1 Leadership (to max 9) and the army may reroll Reserves
#'''Merchant Princeling:''' One infantry unit get better ranged weapons, and count their AP as one value better - ''so pick heavy support squads for [[Rape|AP3 Autocannons or Heavy Bolters]] or AP2 missiles''
#*'''Note:''' it can only be applied to a unit with the Infantry type - but not necessarily just 'provenance' infantry - so an enginseer with a cadre of ap2 phase-plasma fusils is possible.
#**Also note this ''isn't restricted to Militia and Cults units''. Did someone say [[Wat|buffing Custodes weapons]]?
#'''Beloved of the People:''' If the warlord ever dies, then the rest of his army gets Hatred from the remainder of the game. - ''Sucks if you took Cult Horde as a provenance''
#'''Marcher Lord:''' The warlord gains ''Implacable Advance'' (becoming a scoring unit in AoD games) and ''Stubborn'' while within 3" of an objective.
#'''Connoisseur of Alien Curios:''' Grab ''Fear'' and ''It Will Not Die''
#'''Robber Baron:''' The warlord can voluntarily fail any morale check and may also re-roll Run or Fall Back distances.

==Unit Analysis==

===HQ===
*'''0-1 Force Commander:''' An Independent character with a relatively poor statline compared to every other unit in the Age of Darkness (such is to be a man in a time of giants), worse even than the Solar Auxilia's Legate Commander, but you don't want him for his combat skills, but because you NEED him in order to purchase Provenances of War, so you are going to have him. Furthermore, he can pay 20pts for the ability to choose his Warlord trait instead of rolling for it, so you can reliably pull some pretty powerful combinations like using the -1AP with your Heavy Weapon squads, which is the only one you'll ever pick because your choices are limited to the Militia Cults WL trait list only and the other five are balls. He's pretty customizable, starting with a 5++ that can be upgraded up to a 3++, and can buy power armour (Which with SoaDA can go to a 2+) as well as a variety of melee weapons and pistols for those times you want him to pull his weight after you used your WT, but don't expect him to be a hero unit.

*'''Discipline Master Cadre:''' 2-5 near-Commissars, they get attached to other units and add +1 Ld ''(to max 9, and it is going to be nine anyway since their own Ld was eight)'' and allow for a LD reroll if they shoot some squad members. Oddly they're not as harsh as their 40k brethren, and while they cause D3 wounds to their unit, these wounds can be saved, although it could be argued that wild BLAMing is just as harsh as precise BLAMing. These guys may not be the compulsory HQ choice nor can any of them be the warlord, but your Force Commander was going to do all of that anyway. ''Back in the day'' your common Commissar had 2W base and a S4 weapon, and could buy a power weapon and refractor field at discount price.

*'''Auxiliary Platoon Command Squad:''' Six dudes; one commander who is basically there to get gear and nothing else, one nuncio-vox operator, one standard bearer who allows Militia units within 24" to discount casualties when taking morale checks ''(Stubborn aura, essentially)'' and three bodyguards, with the option to add four more of them. No orders because this ain't 40k, they also don't get heavy weapon teams. But all of the bodyguards in the squad may replace their lascarbines/autoguns with a variety of weapons, like bolters or heavy stubbers. Also, the Platoon Commander is merely Ld7 and the rest of the boys is Ld6, such was leadership in the Imperial Militia.
**Just keep the squad bare bones with lascarbines or CCW's except for a refractor field on the commander to eat AP4 or better, as if you're taking these for anything but the stubborn aura you're a moron.

*'''Rogue Psyker''' ''(Cult Horde or Tainted Flesh only)'' ML1 psykers with two wounds, but a sucktastic BS2 so witchfires that roll to hit are generally going to be useless, so avoid them. If they are ever killed short of being "removed from play" then they get possessed on a roll of 5+, which becomes a 2+ if they were killed by losing a wound to perils of the warp, replacing the model with a a 3 wound WS5/S5 rending nightmare. These guys are miles better than the Renegades & Heretics version by being independent characters, they cause fear, have FnP, and can actually take proper psychic powers from Pyromancy, Telekinesis, Biomancy and Malefic Daemonology. One psyker per detachment can even be upgraded to an "Alpha" psyker, granting him ML2, WS/BS3 (instead of 2), three Wounds and Toughness 4 making him a far better prospect.
**The January 2016 FAQ finally updated a points cost for these guys, they now come in at 35 points for the basic ML1 psyker.
**You can even buy them a Tainted Weapon on the cheap, giving their attacks the ''Instant Death'' special rule. Note that this weapon gets lost if the psyker gets possessed since you had to "remove" the psyker and "replace" it entirely with the daemon model. Still, for five points a lucky wound can do some real damage on enemy special characters and if you rolled Iron Arm on biomancy or Fiery Form on pyromancy then you've created a pretty mean close combat unit.
**When choosing psychic powers, just be aware of the limitations of the unit. As mentioned, the poor statline generally means rolling to-hit on witchfires are going to disappoint you, but beams, novas and to a lesser extent, blasts are still alright.

===Troops===
*'''Militia Infantry Squad:''' Twenty guardsmen with auxilia rifles and shitty Ld. No platoons, just one squad per slot. The sergeant gets customisation and can take things like hand flamers and power weapons. Also the squad can replace their auxilia rifles (18" S3) for a variety of weapons, from different-lasguns (lascarbines or lasrifles) to assault oriented weapons (shotguns, laslocks, pistols for +1A). Oh, and they get a goddammed ''Super-heavy as a DT'', the Gorgon Heavy Transport. Have fun.

*'''Inducted Levy Squad:''' 20-50 conscripts with shitty BS2 auxilia rifles and shittier sub-flak armour. They have the same options as regular militia but just don't bother because they're here as fodder. Which is what they are fantastic at, because ''they never confer any points for their destruction'' like by kill points or by first blood, making them perfectly expendable. ''Back in the day'' however, <s>Conscript</s> Levy squads had a sarge of their own (to take challenges for the not-Commissar you'll add to them to make them Ld9), and could either upgrade their dakka to "decent" tier (lascarbine, laslock) or accept the fact BS2 is useless and get a pistol instead for +1 attack. And if they objected they could be given Discipline collars to make them Stubborn. Oh, those were the times.
**Puny as they look, Levy squads can be turned into rather scary melee units, as all mobs are. Especially in ''Cult Horde'' armies, where you now have a huge mob with 3 re-rollable attacks on the charge ''(4 if you also bought Feral Warriors)'', though unless you find ways of shoring up their leadership you should be prepared to lose them following the first round of combat because ''Stubborn'' isn't enough to save you from a bad leadership roll and being swept up in the advance which follows, so at least they were cheap and expendable. Combo ''Cult Horde'' with ''Tainted Flesh'' for ''Rending'' attacks and the prospect of causing ''Fear'' on certain 30k Legions. 50 mooks with multiple rerollable rending attacks will chew through nearly any target on the table through weight of numbers, including Primarchs and will never cost you victory points if/when they get wiped out.

*'''Militia Grenadier Squad:''' 10-18 veterans with BS4, carapace armour and auxilia rifles. These guys do well to replace their weapons with something else due to their increased accuracy. The remaining two spaces are made up by adding special weapon guys.
**If you've got grenade launchers in the squad, you can buy Gas and Fireburst grenades for them. Both are small blast weapons, Fireburst grenades are S3 and pinning so might be good as a trolling device, whilst Gas Grenades are Poisoned (4+) and Ignore Cover, the problem with Gas grenades though are that they have only AP5 so Space Marines and Solar Auxilia are getting saves anyway, making normal frag rounds either exactly the same or better for most situations, unless you are fighting against other Militia or Cult armies.
**These guys can allow you to have dick-swinging contests with the [[What|Tau]]. Grab Survivors of the Dark Age, Lasrifles, +1 Strength Upgrade and 8 extra guys coming to 140 points. Now lets compare to the Tau Strike Squad. Tau: BS3, 30" S5 AP5, 12/24 shots, T3 and 4+ Save. You: BS4, 30" S4 AP-, 18-36 shots, T3(4 with Abhuman Helot) 3+ Save. And you can add 2 Rotor cannons to that to up the number of shots to a grand total of 44. While the Tau do get markerlight support and could therefore [[Rape|annihilate]] your squad off the board, they can't take all of them on at once, especially when they have to worry about your supper cheap tanks/artillery. [[Troll|Don't forget that this squad is only 160 points tops.]]
**While they can take a Land Raider Proteus, just pay more for a Gorgon unless you really want an Explorator Augury Web, it has the same AV as the Proteus except for its ass, can take Armoured Ceramite, has FIVE more HP, and is only 95 points more.

*'''Fire Support Squad:''' your heavy weapon squads, just like with imperial guard, but as Troops choices with no platoon tax. Unfortunately as support squads they cannot be compulsory choices. They come in units of 5-10 teams and have the full range of guard weapons, including heavy stubbers and multilasers. This unit has awesome potential.
**Grab a unit of 10 Heavy Flamers and screw holding the line. These guys can move up the board and toast some motherfuckers because who said that heavy weapons need to stay still? Don't forget that [[Troll|all of these guys are 2 Wounds, 2 Attacks and have a laspistol + CCW]], so make for surprisingly good assault troops. [[Rape|Add in the -1AP Warlord Trait and teach Marines fear again]]. THIS should be the way you have them for any assault-based list, and creates awesome modeling opportunities.

*'''Reconnaissance Squad:''' Five veterans in flak armour and are a support unit. But they have scout, infiltrate, move through cover and the option to buy chameleoline. They probably cost way too much for a base squad of five men in flak armour. But they may replace their lascarbines with shotguns or sniper rifles for a flat cost, I wonder which one you'll choose? Their sergeant can also take a demo charge, which might make some interesting suicide bomber units <strike>in a cult horde list</strike> for any provenance other than cult horde because all snap fire all the time means no blast or template weapons sadly.

===Dedicated Transports===
*'''Auxillia Gorgon Heavy Transporter''' So, the Space Marines can get Land Raiders, Solar Auxillia get Dracosans, and we get a super heavy tank as our main transport? Seems legit. With 9 Hull Points, AV 14/14/10 and a 5++ save on the front (4++ against Blast and Template weapons) it'll be tough for you opponent to take it down without devoting serious resources to it (unless they get behind it, in which case it's as good as dead). It comes stock with a one-use Gorgon Mortar Battery (12-48" S5 AP5 Heavy 4 Blast, Barrage and Pinning) and two twin linked Autocannons, as well as coming with the ability to transport 40 dudes and imposing a -2 modifier to the Catastrophic Damage Table. It can spring for hunter killer missiles and Armoured Ceramite (for the ultimate expression of FUCK YOU to your opponent), as well as swapping the Autocannons for TL Multi-Lasers or TL Lascannons. It can also swap it's Gorgon Mortar Battery for two forward and two rearward facing sponsons which must all be the same type, either Autocannons, Heavy Flamers, Heavy Bolters, Multi-Lasers or Lascannons. However you'll only field it with a plan in mind as it costs 275 points base, meaning no spamming superheavies.
**Note: This thing ''is not'' Open-topped, so don't let your opponent fool you into thinking that. Not that it will matter to that Drop Pod full of Marines with Meltas, they'll punch through your paper-thin AV 10 rear armour like it's a game of [[FATAL]] even if you do get Armored Ceramite. Oh, but also note that, since it has lost open-topped, it's not an Assault Vehicle any more. So those 40 provenanced-up Cult goons might not be as useful as you think.
*'''Aurox Armored Transport:''' A [[Rhino]] analog, usable by Command Cadres and Grenadier Squads numbering 10 or less. Apart from using a Heavy Stubber (that can be replaced with a Heavy Flamer) instead of a Storm Bolter, costing 10 pts less and BS3, it's pretty much identical to the Rhino, but has no potential upgrades (even the dozer blade).
*'''Rhino Armoured Carrier''' ''(Survivors of a Dark Age only)'' It's a Rhino, you know what it does. Stolen from the Space Marines, it has the exact same options as the one in the Crusade army list, so look there for more info. Also note that it has the same profile, so it's BS 4. Won't be amazingly handy, but it's worth remembering.
*'''Land Raider Proteus''' ''(Survivors of a Dark Age only)'' Mwhahaha, my puny humans now have access to one of the most powerful tanks in the game. No forward assault ramp means no Assault Vehicle and awkward model placement, and it only comes with two twin linked Lascannons stock. However it's also the cheapest of the Land Raiders, and can take the ever-useful Explorator Augury Web as well as other useful things such as Armoured Ceramite, hull mounted Heavy Bolters/Flamers, Auxiliary Drives and a host of weapon options. However, these costs add up quick, and as the Gorgon is only 95 points more and (generally) much more survivable and can lay down more hurt, you may want to think about taking one of those instead. If your opponent has a disturbing taste for anal, take this.

===Elites===
*'''Ogryn Brute Squad:''' 3-10 Ogryns with big sticks, flak armour and frag grenades. That's it. But the beauty of this in how they can be customised. You can buy power weapons, boarding shields or combat shields and get something equivalent to Bullgryns. Buy ripper guns and you've got normal 40k ogryns. You can even buy Heavy Bolters, that become 18" range assault weapons when held in their hands!!! However, the rules do say that each model may only buy one option from the list, so you cannot load up on cool shit, but you are allowed to mix and match. The only upgrade that is universal across the whole squad is Carapace Armour ''(which can be upgraded using Provenances to create [[Awesome|power armoured Ogryns]])'' which for a flat cost is always worth it. Consider what effect the army provenances will have on them before you build them, but the combinations are nearly endless.
**Shields are a tricky one; individually, a 6++/5++ invulnerable save at a cost of taking any improvement in damage output is absolutely not worth it. ''(Unless you take Tainted Flesh because they get enough rules to handle themselves)'' '''That being said...''' if the majority of the squad ''([[derp|thanks to the FAQ]])'' are equipped with Boarding Shield then it has a similar effect to Defensive Grenades, making the whole squad resistant to incoming charges. A 'frontline' of shields and 'rear rank' of axes works better than a pure unit of either. Cyber-augmetics plus shields give a 4++ in assault - pretty good on something as tough as an ogryn.
**Additional CCW is expensive at 10 points '''EACH''' for just one extra attack. If that's all you wanted remember that the ''Feral Warriors'' provenance gives them an extra attack a flat cost to the whole army
**Power Weapons are your most expensive option by far, but they also grant the 2 weapon bonus as well as beefing the unit with killy stuff. Axes become preferred here because even if you strike last, a model equipped with one is still likely to survive and beat down a marine or two. Maces tend to work alongside ''Gene-Crafted'' because of S8 and a chance at instant death, but a sword would strike at I4 as well so remains a good option. Kitting out a whole squad necessitates creating a Deathstar unit though.
**Lascutters should be avoided unless you are specifically trying to build up a set of Big Daddy clones [[Your Dudes|or something themed like that]], as they negate all the benefits of being an Ogryn.
**Guns are really up to you, as the models are already there for it. But having BS2 is not encouraging, massed S5 firepower can be found more cheaply and accurately in Fire Support squads or Leman Russ squadrons.

*'''Imperialis Auxilia Medicae Detachment:''' 3-6 guardsmen with medipacks and laspistol/CCW. No customisation beyond whatever provenances you take. You just deploy them separately to squads and get FnP. You are allowed to double up if you want to make certain a squad doesn't lose the rule.

*'''Enginseer Auxilia:''' one of the few squads that gains no benefit from your provenance, so it is what it is. You get 1-3 Enginseers and 4-8 Servo-Automata, which are basically more customisable T5 servitors that can take cool guns like phased plasma fusils or flamers. Enginseers can take invulnerable saves and graviton/volkite weapons if they want, and they can fix stuff and gain bonuses for each servitor with a servo arm in the unit.
**Enginseers are one of the few units that can take Augury Scanners which, after the latest FAQ, gives them Interceptor on everythin. Full stop. This makes Enginseer Auxilia one of the only ways to counter deep striking squads with Multi-Meltas or plasma-fusils. ''(Yes, Marine Heavy Support squads can do this bigger and better, but Enginseers can do it from the Elites slot and at peanuts per model!)''
**This unit is particularly useful in a cult horde list as it's unaffected by the provenance's enforced snap-firing, meaning this is your only infantry unit that has a chance of hitting a barn door at range. Take phased plasma-fusils plus the -1AP WL trait and drink the tears of anyone spamming Terminators or MEQs in artificer armour. Your dream of removing a deep striking Cataphractii unit in its own turn with 24 S6 AP2 shots? Fulfilled.

===Fast Attack===
*'''Arvus Lighter:''' Only marginally better than the travesty of their 40k incarnation in that they can take guns and use them properly; this makes them like flying razorbacks with twice the transport capacity. You can take them as dedicated transports for grenadiers and to be honest, it might be worth it here if you can stomach forking out for a resin box when you can have so many other things (why are you buying a Arvus Lighter this is Militia and Cults you could use a Tau Devilfish if you want). Since the Arvus won't last long with the amount of Dakka that 30k brings to the table. You may as well go full bore and shell out points for the twin linked Lascannons and the Armored Cockpit. Also should be considered, outside of Survivors of the Dark Age, the only non super heavy transport.

*'''Auxilia Sentinel Scout Squadron:''' almost exactly the same as the guard option, three to six chicken walkers with a heavy weapon, no plasma cannons but you can take a multi-melta. You can also take combat blades granting them +1 attack, but taking open topped AV10 walkers into melee is still generally not a good idea. By contrast, their ability to scout (and therefore outflank), makes them ideal for tank hunting.

*'''Thunderbolt Heavy Fighter:''' If you have one, field it as these are the business. They start off at BS4 which means their considerable firepower is going to come to bear more reliably, which now includes Kinetic Piercer missiles, which while only S6, are AP2, armourbane and heat-seeking which makes them twin linked against other flyers. While you could swap them for hellstrike missiles, you'd be an idiot to do so because of the drawbacks of the ordnance rule, but if you wanted more ground attack then sunfury missiles can be bought which are AP3 large blast and blinding but get hot. For added goodies, they can buy strafing run, so your nose guns hit things on the ground with rerollable 2s, and a flare shield which reduced incoming firepower by -1 strength.

*'''Terrax Pattern Termite Assault Drill:''' You get this five points cheaper than Solar Auxilia for the same standard loadout and 15 points cheaper than Legiones Astartes who have to buy heavy flamers separately. What you get is an underground drop-pod capable of carrying 12 models and arriving via special deep-strike, scattering a 5" blast marker, automatically avoiding impassable terrain and engaged units and then causing an automatic S10 AP- hit on anything else it scatters onto, then forcing the survivors to move out of the way so you can fit the giant drill who can then hose down the nearby units with heavy flamers. It is '''not''' an assault vehicle, so anything that deploys will be standing around waiting for the inevitable counter charge, unfortunately your melee units such as Levy squads need not apply since their minimum squad size is too high, and Ogryns are bulky and are not allowed. Because your shooting units tend to be quite fragile at close ranges maybe save it for some disposable short ranged squads like a shotgun Recon squad with a demo charge. Otherwise stick an Enginseer inside to keep it fixed and provide some nasty fire support with the tech thralls when he disembarks.
**It is one of the few units that can perform a turn 1 deep strike thanks to the ''Subterranean Assault'' rule, though you can only deploy half (rounding up) of these units on the first turn. Unless you play ''Survivors of the Dark Age'' you will be unlikely able to deploy more than two in the first turn because they are only Fast Attack choices but it still can be good for pushing enemy units out of position. If you do play ''Survivors'' and take them as dedicated transports for your grenadiers then you could pull off massed deep strikes the likes of which only an orbital assault Astartes army can achieve.

===Heavy Support===
*'''Rapier Battery:''' Your entry level artillery unit. You start out with quad multilasers which have all the sixes. You get six twin-linked shots at S6 AP6 at a range of 36" ''(6x6)'', so is very good at taking out infantry. You can swap this for a quad heavy bolter for free, which would be better against GEQ units due to the superior AP value. If you're looking for anti-tank then you can buy laser destroyers, which are 48" S9 AP1 twin-linked Ordnance, which are excellent even considering the the shitiness of the men firing them. If you want to annoy your opponent, then the most expensive option is the quad-mortar (thudd gun), which fires of four ''pinning + shell shock'' S5 small blasts each, so a battery of them will pepper the battlefield. While they may have poor AP and average strength for a heavy weapon, they can consume a chunk of time to resolve and give you a psychological advantage over your opponent as he gets frustrated with so many templates and wants you dead. Overall Rapiers are good and cheap, but at only Ld 6 and flimsy guardsmen crew they are going to fall over if something looks at them funny.
**Regarding longevity, remember that if the unit falls back, they abandon the gun which means it is permanently lost even if they regroup later. So morale boosting upgrades/provenances become your main priority. Don't worry so much about armour plating them, because the gun already has T7 and a 3+ save.
***Funnily, "Cult Horde" isn't as terrible for them because the quad laser/bolters can still snap fire twin linked, so can still potentially hurt something, yet because they are ''Artillery'' they are prohibited from declaring a charge, so can remain safely in position.
***"Alchem Jackers" can be a godsend, since it pins the unit when they suffer shooting morale checks instead of running away, meaning you don't automatically lose the gun, and still be able to shoot with quad guns on the same turn by snapfiring. While this has little benefit in melee, if your rapier gets caught up in close combat it's going to be dead soon anyway.

*'''Heavy Ordnance Battery:''' Immobile Earthshaker guns each with 4-8 crewmen who are subject to your provenance. If you're taking these hopefully your army has good leadership modifying rules since the crew only have LD 6 and will abandon the gun if they have to fall back. Either keep these WELL out of the way, or bump their leadership as high as you can. You swap the Earthshakers for Medusa Siege Guns, which is more cost for the same risk, but you gain the option of buying Breacher Shells.
**Breacher Shells are S10 AP1 Armorbane. When combined with the regular ordinance blasts of the Medusa, these batteries are one of your best sources of anti-tank.
**Unlike the rapier batteries, there is no way to snap fire with these guns, being both "Blast" and "Ordnance". So pinning the unit will effectively neutralise it. Taking "Cult Horde" with them makes you an idiot.
**Because as long as the gun is alive everyone is T7, but only the closest model tanks all the shots, consider an Aegis defense line to shield your artillery.

*'''Carnodon Strike Squadron:''' Predators on a budget, they are only BS3 and have AV12 on the front, but at 60 points each when their Heavy Bolter/Flamer sponsons are free you can fit a whole lot of dakka into a small list without having to buy any additional upgrades for them. They come in squadrons so you can scale up to suit your points allowance, and you can replace those sponsons for autocannons to have the same S7 coverage all around. There isn't a whole lot to mention here, since the tank itself is nothing spectacular and has few options for upgrades. The main draw is their value.
**Yes, the actual model comes with the option to swap for multi-lasers, volkites and lascannons, but Imperial Militia don't have those options. Autocannon turrets with bolter/flamer/autocannon sponsons only but at least that stops the unit from becoming a points sink if you invest too much into them. If you want more guns on a bigger budget then consider Leman Russes instead.

*'''Battle Tank Attack Squadron:''' Leman Russes, everyone's favourite, chosen from the vanilla, annihilator, exterminator, demolisher and vanquisher flavours. They've only got access to Heavy Bolter and Flamer sponsons (which is still better than the Solar Auxilia, who get no sponsons at all), but hilariously they can replace the hull gun with a multilaser, which might be a good idea if you're taking an ordnance tank and just want a gun for snap firing, or even as a makeshift AA gun.

*'''Malcador Heavy Tank:''' bigger Leman Russes, also a fast super heavy vehicle that is not a Lord of War. You can upgrade it to AV14 on the front if you sacrifice the Fast rule, but you can also take a Flare shield which applies all over and is boosted against templates. These used to be great tanks, but after the latest FAQ removed super heavy from their profile (what the FUCK Anuj????) they are now, unfortunately, pretty useless unless. You could take something like full lascannons to circumvent this problem and keep them cheap, but it's still a long way from the high strenght ordinance blasts.

*'''Mutant Spawn:''' ''(Tainted Flesh only)'' oh shi- GLARBLBLBLBL... ''Ahem'' slightly lesser than the 40k chaos version, possibly because they started out as humans and not space marines. They don't get access to marks and have only I2, however these ones have IWND and Hammer of Wrath as well as being 5 points cheaper on a per model basis, albeit with a higher startup cost like everything in HH, but you can take them in squads of ten which makes them a very potent prospect in melee. Their mutation table has also been heavily modified; taking effect from the beginning of the game and '''cannot be changed'''. Ones give them only a 5+ armour save, but at least it applies out of combat. Twos make them reroll 1s for random attacks, bleh. Threes give them Rending, so hope for this one and you can possibly have a big squad of these tearing through virtually anything.

===Lord of War===

*'''[[Baneblade|Auxilia Baneblade]]:''' - Though outclassed by the Legion Fellblade, the Baneblade is still a nasty proposition to face. Sporting a Baneblade cannon, Autocannon, Demolisher Cannon and a twin-linked heavy bolter. With the option of two/four Lascannons and two/four more twin-linked heavy bolters ''(the sponsons don't come as standard here)'' optional pintle mounts, AND optional Hunter-killer missile, it is a rolling fortress of death.

*'''Auxilia Stormhammer:''' - Taking Dakka to a logical extreme, the Stormhammer is less a superheavy and more a rolling fortress bristling with guns. Its hull weapon is a TL Battle Cannon, and its main gun is a S9 AP2 cannon with shred and pinning. With the options to take a pintle-mounted multilaser or heavy flamer, up to 4 HK missiles(!), a coaxial multilaser, a hull lascannon on top of the battle cannons, and six sponsons, all of which are armed with multilasers by default (making it [[C.S. Goto]]'s dream tank) but can be swapped out for heavy bolters, heavy flamers, or lascannons (and the first two options are free), it can take on more targets at once than any other superheavy. (The sponsons are switched out individually, so feel free to mix and match however you like.) and the whole tank can buy targeters giving it a nifty BS4. In short, the Stormhammer is your best bet for a versatile superheavy that can fit any situation that you can think of.

===Fortifications===

===Age of Darkness Theme: Army of Dark Compliance===
Built from a blending of Legiones Astartes and units from the Imperial Militia and Warp Cults list. However, it is quite distinct from the "Sacrificial Offering" Rite of War in that it does not use up your allies slot, allowing you to take allies from a third source. But it does prevent you from using a rite of War, so you cannot layer on extra special rules.

However you are still privy to the insane customisation options presented in the Warp Cults list, and you are not prevented from taking any option from your Legion list either.

The "Age of Darkness" themes requires your opponents permission to use, however it is an easy theme to build an army around because there are few rules to take account of.

*'''Restrictions'''
**You build your army with units from both the Crusade List and the Imperial Militia and Warp Cults list.
**You must include a Space Marine Praetor, Centurion or Consul to be your Warlord.
***''Do note that to take any Provenances of War you'll also need a "Force Commander" as one of your HQ choices as well.''
**Your army is automatically part of the traitor faction.
**You cannot use Rites of War.
**"Legiones Astartes" rules that apply to models by virtue of being in the same detachment do not apply of Militia units.
***''That means the only way to get Militia units to benefit from Astartes rules would be to attach an independent character with special rules that confer to units.''
**Unless specifically noted otherwise, all units count as being part of the same list for rules purposes such as Transports, Warlord traits and so on.
**You cannot include more units from the Legiones Astartes list than from the Imperial Militia list.
***''This is your main restriction, which prevents you from merely dabbling in Militia units.''
**You may not include Discipline Master Cadres

*'''Special Rules'''
**'''The Warmaster's Due:''' "[[Warhammer 40,000/Tactics/Tyrant's Legion(7E)|Tyrants Due]]" by another name, any time your Legion units are shot at which draws its line of fire through infantry militia units, you can add +1 to any cover save gained. However the militia unit then takes D3 wounds with no AP value, meaning your crap sub-flak conscript could take a hit from a Lascannon intended for a Space Marine and potentially survive it.
**'''Disposable:''' Any Militia units in your army may be affected the the "Disposable" rule, preventing them from conceding victory points for any reason when slain. It does however prevent these units from scoring or denying objectives so be sure and have enough Astartes units to hold on to objectives for you. You are not required to use this rule if you don't want to, but you must declare at the start of the game if you do.

==Allies==
A few notes about the list, since it interacts with other armies in different ways depending upon what Provenances of War they have taken.
*If they've taken Tainted Flesh or Cult Horde, then they cannot ally with Loyalist forces, though they may count ''Chaos Daemons'' as "Fellow Warriors".
*Cyber-Augmetics may count Mechanicum armies as "Sworn Brothers"
*Abhuman Helots only count Space Marine and Solar Auxilia armies as "Distrusted Allies"

===Agents===
'''Agents''' are also models useable by any HH army.
*'''Expeditionary [[Navigator]]:''' For those people who bought the model at an open day, Forgeworld released the rules for these guys for free on their website. For those that don't have the model, you can make/proxy your own (the Imperial Guard Astropath works well). He is one of the first ''Agents'' on the allies matrix represented in ''Betrayal'', though he can just be taken as an HQ slot. Essentially has the statline of a Conscript Guardsman, but comes with an Archaeotech pistol and the Aetherlabe staff, which allows his unit to fire snap-shots at a Deep striking unit arriving within 12" of him, or at full BS if it arrived by a Conjuration psychic power. He also causes Fear, which can be funny in crusade lists due to ATSKNF not existing. Finally, he also has Navigator powers, which are like 6th Ed psychic powers but don't use Warp Charges and can only use one per turn on a successful Ld test, failure pins himself and his unit.
**'''Lidless Stare:''' THE SHIT - shoot the flamer template, any infantry hit by it must pass an Initiative test or suffer [[FATAL|Instant Death]]. Which means most Space Marines touched are dead 33.3% of the time, Mechanicum infantry 50% of the time or better. Completely useless against bikes, jetbikes, and monsters, so YMMV.
**'''Warp Prescience:''' Enemies shooting at the Navigator (or his unit) suffers -1BS.
**'''Aetheric Disruption:''' All psykers on the table (friend or foe) roll THREE dice when determining what happens with Perils of the Warp and discard the lowest for the purposes of the result. Given this was written with 6th Ed in mind, it's not entirely clear whether that means any associated Ld test to mitigate Perils OR taking the two highest results of the Perils and applying BOTH, which means psykers are fucked, since that almost guarantees two wounds, unless that psyker rolls a 6 and turns into an unstoppable machine of death; it would be totally better if he discarded ''the highest'' die.

===Agents of the Emperor===
These are agents only usable by Loyalist players.
====The Knights Errant====
For ALL Knights-Errant, one very VERY important rule to remember is their Oath of Moment. Which means they have to pick a particular objective in order to be fielded; some of the easier ones, like ending the game in the enemy deployment zone, or ensuring an allied character survives, grant his army an extra victory point if he obtains it. Other, more difficult ones include personally slaying the enemy warlord in a challenge or making sure an enemy Primarch is killed ''(which he does not have to do personally, but since you are playing Milita this might be quite difficult to do)'', which nets his side three extra points. However, failing to complete his chosen objective means the side that took him cannot win at all, and can only settle for a draw.

*'''Nathaniel Garro:''' The first of the [[Knights-Errant]]. A three-wound Eternal Warrior, kitted out for challenges though he might struggle going toe-to-toe with some of the bigger named characters or a dangerously equipped Praetor. He is still meatier than your Force Commander will ever be, and you'll get the sense that he'll be able to stick it out long enough that he might just come out on top. He's not really a force multiplier the same way as the other Knights-Errant are, so consider if you really want Garro in your army, since you'll need to pad him out with a decent squad, Ogryns only really seem to fit the bill here.

*'''Tylos Rubio:''' The first recruit of Garro. A Mastery Level 2 psyker that can cast from divination and telekinesis... which is to say divination, since ''Echoes of Fate'' allows him to re-roll divination tests and any un-used warp charges can automatically become +1 strength each. Aside from those two special rules, he's just a mastery level 2 KE for 35 points less than a normal one. He's a solid choice, though you cannot change his loadout the same way as you could with a unnamed Knight Errant.

*'''Knight-Errant:''' A.K.A. Build your very own special snowflake™. A 2-wound space marine with a bunch of nice gear. He'll never stand toe-to-toe with the big bad-boys of the setting, but hey, you ''are'' playing Militia and Cults right? There is an awful lot you can do with a Knight Errant, but for those who came over from the Legion list bear in mind that your synergies are somewhat reduced. Nartheciums only apply to ''Legiones Astartes'' units so won't help your poor defenseless levy squads ''(you could have Medics anyway)'' and giving them a Jump Pack is kinda pointless since no other squad can Deep Strike along with them. But he DOES have ''Preferred Enemy (Traitors)'' so he can provide quite a significant boost to oversized militia squads, can take a servo-arm to fix things without spending an Elites slot and can ALSO become a '''Librarian Consul'''. This means that Loyalists can actually take a psyker without having to resort to allies, and also because he's a Legiones Astartes character -but not a unique named one- he is also eligible for a wide array of Psyarkana upgrades to fit your preference. This can be done all at the same time to make a swiss-army-knife character. Add in the option to swap his super-bolter for a sniper-rifle or a combi-weapon and you have a damn versatile support element. Go nuts!
**He has a few other cool rules too: like being able to ''Deep Strike'' without scatter, and cause his opponents to snap fire at him during the following turn, or count as disordered when charging him. If you don't want to attach him to a squad ''(and we don't blame you)'', deploying via his Falsehood is a perfectly adequate way to go.

==Tactics==
This army pretty much allows you to do whatever you want, although generally you'll be looking at infantry supported by armour and artillery. A large factor in how your army will play is what Provenances you take. Abhuman Helots, Survivors of the Dark Age, Cyber Augmentics and Tainted Flesh will all help improve the survivability of your infantry, while Warrior Elite, Alchem-Jackers and Abhuman Helots with Discipline Collars will make your guys less likely to run away so are highly recommended if you're not running Grenadier-only troops. There are ''a lot'' of Provenances that can improve your close combat game; Gene-Crafted, Feral Warriors, Cult Horde, Tainted Flesh and Alchem-Jackers with Frenzon all help you out in melee, although it's of questionable use in a Marine-oriented environment. However, only one Provenance, Survivors of a Dark Age, increases your range-game to any degree, [[Fail|which makes no sense at all]] considering that even with these buffs you'll get massacred by dedicated Marine units, but it's not supposed to allow your guys to go 1-1 with Marines, it's there to take it from a 3-1 fight to a 2-1 fight.

Your advantages include how cheap you are compared to other armies (seriously, even your [[What|Leman Russes are cheaper by 10 points]]), the fact that you can buff your infantry fairly easily with Provenances and Medicae Orderlies and the amount of armour and heavy firepower that you can bring to the field with artillery, Rapiers, Heavy Support Squads and Leman Russes, all of which are cheaper that anyone else's. However, this cheapness is balanced out by Provenances of War, making it not as spammy as it may initially seem.

Basically, what you want to do with these guys is find a theme to [[Roleplaying|forge a narrative]] on, and then base it round that. Want to have an army of clones that are little more than meat shields for your Dark Mechanimum army? Tainted Flesh and Cyber-Augmented are right up your alley. Want your humies to mimic beakies? Take Survivors of the Dark Age and load your Grenadier Squad up into Rhinos. However, as for competitive play it's not that good unless you [[Powergamer|really min-max]] your army, so don't expect a lot out of them.

Also of serious consideration is whether or not you want [[Ultramarines|Ultrasmurf]] allies to bring along Invictarus Suzerains to gain +1Ld to all your guys within 12" as well as bringing some hardier troops and better CC ability. Not compulsory but a good idea.

==Building your Army==

USE YOUR DAMN IMAGINATION! Want an army of Felinids? Abhuman Helots and Gene-Crafted. Only Renegades & Heretics have more customization. This army is about as customizable as they are but, they're less diverse both in the base units available and being restricted by the biggest source of customization being army wide. The units can take a startling rainbow of standard weapons, but like a rainbow, many of the options are almost the same. Its entirely possible (albeit better for friendly counts as games) to proxy a fantasy army, such as the Empire or possibly Skaven. Look at the stuff available on GW's website. Empire, Elf, Guard, Skaven, (some) Skitarii, even ORKS (with some converting) can work! Since many tournaments ban forgeworld anyway, look to other model sites if it suits your fancy. All of it works, all of its totally fluff friendly. WoC? Feral worlders. Infinity stuff? Technological advanced enclave. A WW2 model range? You get the idea. If you ever wanted to make an army thats truly "you", a one of a kind masterpiece, et cetera, this is for you. You may not exactly win, but you sure as hell wont be forgotten. Hell, make your army a bunch of chicks with swag armour and do a proto-sisters of battle army. Then piss people off and give them gene-crafted for Sister Marines, alchem-jackers with frenzon for RED RAGE sisters, or cyber sex gals.
If you're using Survivors of the Dark Age and decent armor, why not make an army of [[Adeptus_Arbites|Arbites]]? Survivors of the Dark Age and Abhuman Helots work for an army of Squats. Any combination of Tainted Flesh, Abhuman Helots, Feral Warriors and
Cult Horde could give you an army of [[Beastmen]]. Want something vaguely Calibanite? Warrior Elite and SotDA works well to that end.

{{Warhammer_30k_Tactics}}
[[Category:Warhammer Tactics/30k]]

Warhammer 40,000/Tactics/Imperial Militia and Cults (30k)

2021-02-06T05:27:46Z

2001:4930:172:25:AC3D:E498:C7A1:2583:

The latest FAQ can be found [https://whc-cdn.games-workshop.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/Horus-Heresy-General-Errata-and-FAQ-v1.1-Final.pdf here] (February 2019)
==Why Play Imperial Militia and Cults==
While not an overly powerful army, it is one of the most customisable armies you'll ever find <s>outside of</s> including 40k [[Warhammer 40,000/Tactics/Renegades_And_Heretics(8E)|Renegades and Heretics]]. These guys represent the mish-mash of military units found across the galaxy before anyone sat down and formalized the Imperial Guard (and sometimes before they were part of the Imperial Army). Remember all those Exemplary Battles of [[Great_Crusade|Astartes vs non-compliant humans]]? This is the perfect list to model them - the ''true face of the Great Crusade''. So you can build an army of cyber augmented Skitarii wannabes, a feral world regiment of jungle warriors, a pre-compliant civilization or even a full-fledged [[Chaos Cults]].

Because of the sheer range of options available to you which can radically change both the appearance and function of the units under your command, you can even use models that you wouldn't otherwise consider to take into a 40k environment: If you want to maintain a low-tech/high-tech contrast then why not use fantasy Empire models for the [[Praetorian_Guard|fancy uniforms and muskets]] and even have them as crewmen for your Leman Russes or Earthshaker guns? Similarly if you are using the ''Abhuman Helots'' and/or ''Tainted Flesh'' provenances why not just take Fantasy Beastmen models? or even Skaven models if you want to go a bit more steampunk/alchemical?
And, I bet no one ever told you this, but if you take the provenances of ''Abhuman Helots'' and ''Survivors of the Dark Age'', you get... [[Squat|SQUATS]]!!! THEY'RE BACK, BABY!!! Then you'd just need to find a player who's masochistic enough to let you use your 30K army list, warlord traits and rules against their 40K army, all in the name of nostalgia, of course...

*'''Pros'''
**Insane customisation options and the chance to model things you couldn't do with other armies.
**The ability to build a list tailored to your playstyle; large squads of footsloggers, or with ''Survivors of a Dark Age'' smaller mechanised units.
**Cheap and large scoring units that do not confer any points to your opponent for killing (it costs 60 points to get 20 Guardsmen-equivalents)
**A good modicum of firepower with large heavy weapons squads, artillery and access to Leman Russ squadrons

*'''Cons'''
**Without the right Provenances or correct placement of characters, you have poor Leadership across most of your units.
**Even with the huge amount of customisation options you have only a few choices of unit per FOC slot and some of them can be entirely written off or made compulsory depending upon your Provenance selection, leaving you with less room to do your own thing.
**It's more of a side note, but there are a mass of misprints in the army list that means you need to be a bit liberal in your interpretation. An example would be the Rogue Psykers not having a points cost, or Grenadier Squad starting off with Auxilia Rifles but [[Fail|only being allowed to replace their non-existent Lascarbines]], makes the entire thing feel rushed and not up to the standard of most Forgeworld stuff. Make sure you don't play [[That Guy]] with this list, you've been warned.

==Special Rules==

===Provenances of War===
This is where the modelling opportunities for this army come from. Your Force Commander can purchase up to two Provenances of War. While their cost seems rather low, they can all massively impact the rest of your army, and can radically change the army build and the options you can take. Some Provenances lock you out of certain things or are mutually exclusive with one another, but some also allow units to buy their own unique options.

*'''Warrior Elite:''' All units gain +1 Ld (max 9) and Militia Levy cannot be compulsory troops choices. ''~ More important than you may think, since this raises your Infantry Squads to Guardsmen-Level leadership, and also means that your Grenadiers don't need Discipline Masters.''

*'''Gene Crafted:''' +1 str and +1 initiative but cannot take FNP rolls. ''~ Makes Medicae Orderlies absolutely useless.''
**Can't be combined with Cyber-Augmented.

*'''Cyber Augmented:''' All units gain a 6+ invuln save, or +1 to existing invulnerable saves ''(to a maximum of 3+)'', but they reduce run and sweeping advances rolls by 1. You also gain [[Warhammer_40,000/Tactics/Mechanicum_(30k)|Mechanicum]] as sworn brothers.
**Can't be combined with Gene-crafted. ''~ The flesh is weak after all.''
**This and Survivors of a Dark Age are a good away to make Proto-Sisters. The 6+ invulnerable becomes their Act of Faith Invulnerable and the reduction to run represents a lack of Black Carapace.

*'''Alchem-Jackers:''' Gain the ''Stubborn'' USR, but if a unit fails a Ld test due to enemy shooting it becomes pinned instead of falling back. ''~ This is a good thing most of the time since your unit doesn't actually leave its position.'' Plus you might have gone to ground anyway.
**'''Frenzon:''' Any unit can purchase ''Rage'', but '''must''' perform sweeping advances, which is never a drawback, ever.

*'''Survivors of a Dark Age:''' Very powerful... Every eligible units gains +1 to their armour save, which essentially means Grenadiers are wearing Power Armour. The compulsory Troops must be Grenadier squads.
**'''Advanced Weaponry:''' Grenadiers and Platoon Command Squads can buy +1 Strength for their las weapons or rotor cannons, which is very good but gets expensive since all squads have to pay if the upgrade is taken and you have to pay 20 points per squad. Grenadier squads and Command squads can also purchase a Rhino a [[Awesome|Land Raider Proteus]], or a [[Tunneling_Transport_Vehicles#Termite|Termite Assault Drill]] as dedicated transports. YES!
***The +1 Strength to regular las weapons isn't all that useful in reality, as the Grenadiers have to pay 10 points to get lascarbines before the 20 points to get +1 Strength, whereas bolters cost 30 points. Likewise, the Command Squad start with lascarbines but can upgrade to bolters for 20 points, meaning in many cases you may as well get the bolters and just be wannabe Space Marines.
***It DOES have uses with lasrifles (30" S4 Rapid Fire) or laslocks (S5 Assault 1), as well as rotor cannons (3/4 shots at 15"/30" S4 firepower), which are all superior to bolters in one way or another. Enemies are likely getting saves either way.
**Can't be combined with Cult Horde or Tainted Flesh provenances. ''~ Your world is too civilized for [[Chaos]].''

*'''Feral Warriors:''' The army gains +1WS. [[Ogryn]]s gain +1 attack instead. The army cannot have more vehicle units than infantry.
**'''Blade and Fury:''' All non-ogryn squads can purchase +1 attack for 25 points. ''~ Good to combine with the melee buffs of other provenances.''

*'''Abhuman Helots:''' All units gain +1 toughness but have -1 initiative. The lowered initiative isn't much of a price to pay, when most your foes are I4 marines, going from I3 to I2 isn't much of a deal, but it does mean that gene-crafted isn't as good with it.
**'''Discipline Collars:''' Can be purchased for any unit, not just levy squads. It grants ''Stubborn'', but if they EVER fail a morale check on a double six, their heads explode and you remove the unit entirely.
***The drawback for taking the collars is barely significant at all, because if you fail a morale check as a result of lost combat you are more than likely just about to be sweeping advanced ''(especially with your lower initiative)'', so this spares the need to roll any more dice...this universe makes us all into horrible people.
**Space Marines and [[Solar Auxilia]] treat you as Distrusted Allies. ''~ Even in the age of 30k, it still sucks to be a [[Mutant]]''.

*'''Cult Horde:''' ''(Traitors only)'' Massively changes what you can do with your army. All units gain ''Hatred'' and ''Stubborn'' USRs, and they must always charge if in range, even if they have fired weapons that would render them unable to charge ''(like Heavy or Rapid fire weapons)'', but they perform a disordered charge if they do. However, all units (effected by Provenances of War, so doesn't effect your vehicles!) can [[derp|ONLY make snap shots]] when shooting and cannot go to ground, so build your models accordingly. Furthermore, the army cannot take grenadier squads. Feel free take Tanks, Sentinals and Flyers for your dakka and leave your infantry to the infantry killing!
**'''Cult Demagogue:''' Automatically happens with this Provenance. Your Force Commander gets the ''Daemon'' and ''Preferred Enemy (Loyalists)'' special rules, which is pretty sweet. He can also purchase a Tainted Weapon like the Word Bearers, but is probably better served by picking another weapon.
**Cannot be combined with Survivors of the Dark Age, <s>but may use Chaos Daemons as Allies.</s> Demons are now Sworn Brothers with all traitors. ''~ You can't expect [[murderhobo]]s to be tech experts.''
**Note: This may not be worth it following the FAQ since you lost ''Zealot'' (and the Fearlessness that came with it) but your vehicles still don't snapshot so this is still a powerful Provenances of War. ''Hatred'' and ''Stubborn'' are good and all, but the change forces a reevaluation of how units need to be built; taking smaller units that don't sting if/when you lose them to a bad round of combat and the following sweeping advance. Other Provenances can give you access to ''Stubborn'' so it becomes whether you want ''Hatred'' plus access to Chaos stuff; or the option of ''Rage'' (Alchem Jackers) or +1 Tough/-1 Init (Abhuman Helots)
**All the Snapshotting really does is stop you bringing Infantry Squads, Grens (which you literally cannot take anyways), Fire Support Squads, Recons and Rapiers yet it increases your anti infantry capacity on the already efficient Levy squads (even more when combo'ed with Tainted Flesh), just bring Sentinals and as many Russ' you can for your anti vehicle. Nothing stopping you bringing Infantry squads with Shotguns or CCW if you wanted better stats.

*'''Tainted Flesh:''' ''(Traitors only)'' All units gain Fear, Feel no Pain (6+) and Rending in melee, compulsory Troops MUST be Levy squads and cannot have more "non-levy" squads than levy squads, They can only take the Force Commander and rogue psykers as HQs (with no discipline masters, [[Just as planned|expect total chaos]] among your levy squads). They also gain access to Mutant Sp... [[Chaos Spawn|the disgusting things]].
**Cannot be combined with Survivors of the Dark Ages, Gene-Crafted or Alchem-Jackers. ''~ The power of Humanity is nothing compared to the gifts of the [[Warp]].''

[[File:IMandWCTable.PNG|center|thumb|600px|Now in matrix format]]

===Wargear===
====Ranged Weapons====
This army has staggering variety of less than staggering guns, allowing you precise control over the balance and type of your firepower to affordability.
*'''Auxilia Rifle''': the standard-issue rifle for most of your units. Just an 18" S3 Assault 1 gun. They are described as any weapon ranging from black powder muskets to esoteric lasrifles not seen anywhere else, ''Survivors of a Dark Age'' doesn't apply to it in any case. Kudos to anyone who actually takes fantasy empire muskets on their models and starts mowing down space marines with them.
*'''Auxilia Pistol:''' Flintlock pistols essentially, 8" range and the same damage as the rifle. Characters don't really have the option to take them, since they'll have better laspistols to start with anyway. But your infantry/levy/grenadier squads can take them instead of a rifle giving you extra attacks in close combat when paired with their close combat weapons.
*'''Auxilia Lascarbine:''' The same as the 40k lasgun.
*'''Auxilia Lasrifle:''' Better than the 40k lasrifle because they have 30" range.
*'''Bolter:''' Better than the 40k lasrifle because it's an ARMOUR PIERCING ROCKET RIFLE. Not as impressive as it sounds, but you know it and you might just love it. Available to Grenadiers and Command Squads.
*'''Blast Pistol:''' available to most characters. It's S5 and twin linked, which for 5 points seems like a bargain, however it only has a 6" range and ''Gets Hot!'' So you might have little opportunity to use it.
*'''Hand Flamer:''' available to all of your characters and squad leaders. A good option since you don't have to rely on Ballistic Skill to hit anything and it adds to your overwatch. It is usually one if your more expensive options, but it adds more to a squad than a Bolt pistol or blast pistol, so it should always be considered for each squad sergeant.
*'''Laslock:''' 18" S4 Assault 1, so a straight upgrade from the Auxilia rifle, optionally becoming S5 if you have the right provenance.
*'''Shotgun:''' Compared to the alternatives is a shorter range but (relatively) strong rank and file assault weapon. Not exactly shooty enough for shooty armies (like most of the other options) nor slashy enough for slashy armies, but an option if you just have to deny charges and want to hurt them at least a little.
*'''Needle Pistol:''' Its a ''Poisoned, Rending'' pistol, not available to regular sergeants but can be taken by Force Commanders and Discipline Masters. At 5 points it should be the default option as it can be a threat to near enough any form of infantry barring Death Guard.
*'''Rotor Cannon:''' Just like what the Legions get, S3 Salvo 3/4 (thought it will be S4 if you use the right Provenance). Not very good here either, as it is further hampered by the fact that it can only be taken as a special weapon option in Grenadier squads where it competes with better options. Or by Servo-Automata, who can't even improve it using a Provenance.

====Melee Weapons====
*'''Augmented Weapon:''' An S4 close combat weapon, no matter what the strength of your model is. Can be bought for most characters, but grenadiers can have the whole squad take them instead of their close combat weapon. Still not great considering if you wanted a close combat unit, you'd have built your army with specific provenances to do the job. That said, Gene-Crafted isn't the only melee option so this does have a place, such as in tainted ferals or... Various ferals.
*'''Charnabal Saber:''' Only the Force Commander can take one, giving him/her the Rending rule in melee and +1 Initiative in a Challenge. It's cheap at 5 points and can be considered a throwaway option, but is outclassed by nearly every other option and if your opponent is decked out for melee you're likely going to die. The only situation where it is of any use is if you took the ''Gene Crafted'' provenance so your commander can now strike at S4 & I5 and have a shot against marine sergeants and lesser characters.
*'''Power Weapons:'''
**'''Power Sword:''' In most cases this is a bad option for militia, as you strike after Marines you're likely to never get a chance to use it. As with the Saber above, its function radically changes when you take ''Gene Crafted'', so now you hit at the same strength and speed as those Marines. Just avoid challenges, as you are going to die.
**'''Power Mace:''' A better option than a sword, because unless your opponent forgets to clothe his characters in highly artificed fineries, that S+2 and ''Concussive'' rule will help you a lot more than AP3 will.
**'''Power Axe:''' Probably your best option. You were going to strike last anyway so you might as well resign yourself to that fact. With a few swings this will likely cause wounds to anyone without an Invulnerable save.
*'''Power Fist:''' Only available to Force/Platoon Commanders. For five more points than an axe you can have a Fist, which wounds on a 2+ rather than the axe's 4+ ''(not counting Gene Crafted, where you could then even insta-kill a marine with your S8)''. However, the Fist falls into the points vortex which sucks up more points because you have to justify your investment: so as a ''Specialist Weapon'' you've got nothing to pair it with, so you need to buy Digi-Weapons or Master-Craft it to improve your attacks, then you'll need a good invulnerable save in order to protect it long enough to take a swing... It goes on, but you're still going to die.
*'''Tainted Weapon:''' specialist weapon CCW that causes instant death. Get your psykers to take it because it's cheap and they have no other option anyway, so you might get lucky. If your Force Commander has the option of taking it, you've bought ''Cult Horde'' and you need to give them a better weapon than this to take advantage of ''Hatred'' and ''Preferred Enemy'' - unless you've taken Tainted Flesh as well, in which case the combination of ''Preferred Enemy, Rending'' and ''Instant Death'' makes the weapon scarier than you think.... Especially against battle automata.

====Special Issue Gear & Armour====
*'''Flak Armour:''' Default for most units and characters. It's a 5+ save but you know that's practically worthless in a marine heavy environment like the Horus Heresy. However with the right Provenance, beefed up flak is as good as Carapace Armour. At least it's better than...
*'''Sub-Flak Armour:''' When you thought Flak offered as much defense as cardboard. Sub-Flak is more like wet tissue paper, offering only a 6+ save. Even ''Survivors of the Dark Age'' wont offer any relief cause you're only bumping back to 5+ ''(still useless)'' Thankfully only your disposable Levy squads wear this, so it doesn't really matter if they die.
*'''Carapace Armour:''' comes standard on Grenadiers and can be bought as an upgrade for your HQ units. DO THIS even if you don't take the ''Survivors'' provenance, it gives you an actual save against bolt weapons.
*'''Power Armour:''' you know what this does. Sadly 3+ is as good as it gets; it is not further upgraded using Provenances and you can find ways to get yourself a 3++ save instead, so buying it is strictly optional.
*'''Refractor Field:''' 5+ save for your Force Commander. Can be bought for your Platoon Commanders Enginseers or Discipline Masters.
*'''Iron Halo:''' only available to your Force Commander.
*'''Cyber Familiar:''' This is where it gets interesting: it adds +1 to Invulnerable saves ''(to a maximum of 3+)'' and let's you reroll failed characteristic tests [[Fail|(but not Ld checks)]]. Your first option is to take it as a budget Iron Halo, as its five points cheaper than the Halo for the same save. Or you go the full nine yards and get the 3++ save for twenty five points. You need to decide if your Force Commander is worth that much, cause now you need to load up on even more gear to make your investment worthwhile. But at least this means you don't need to buy Carapace/Power Armour.
**Enginseers can buy a familiar too, but they also need to buy the Refractor Field separately, falling into the same points vortex as the Commander for only a single wound model.
*'''Nuncio Vox:''' only two ways of getting this in your army: either buying it for Enginseers or taken as a compulsory member of your Platoon Command Squad, so they'll rarely be seen on the field. It helps prevent deep strike scatter and spots for barrage weapons. Not a big deal because your army doesn't really deep strike, and Space Marine allies have these pretty much everywhere.
*'''Vexilla:''' available to your big Troops units for 10 points and let's you add +1 to combat resolution, as well as allowing you to attempt regroups normally when below 25% strength. Is it worth it? Ugh... Your soldiers are likely to die in droves in melee, but since your Provenances are nearly all geared towards getting you into melee you're going to want this on your side, if only to stop the pain from being laid on so thickly. If it ever helps you win combat then you've entirely justified its cost.
*'''Platoon Standard:''' only on your Platoon Command Squad, so it won't be a regular fixture in most armies. It grants pseudo-stubborn to friendly militia within 24". Very useful and is the glue that holds together most militia armies, unlesss you have stubborn elsewhere/in provenance.
*'''Infravisor:''' available to your Force Commander and your Recon squads. Grants ''Night Fight'' but makes you take ''Blind'' tests at Initiative 1. It's cheap enough but you really need to think about what to go with it, as Night Fighting never lasts past the first few turns. So make sure your Recon troops have Sniper Rifles and/or you attach your Force Commander to an artillery battery so you can get the most out of your early game advantage.

====Psyarkana====
As of ''HH8: Malevolence'' the Imperial Militia were granted access to Psyarkana items. Although their level of access is severely limited compared to Space Marine Legions, they do have a handful of items that they are permitted to take. Bearing in mind that the only available Independent Character in the army is the Force Commander.

*'''Icon of the Blazing Sun:''' Available to Loyaltist Independent Characters. Daemons locked in combat get their WS reduced to 1. With the right gear and Provenance this could make your warlord merely ''alright'' against Daemons as well as giving an attached melee squad a sorely needed edge. The other ability allows you to nullify psychic powers, though with a base Leadership of 8 it is a bit of a gamble otherwise you lose wounds for the attempt. This psy-relic does have uses, but it's almost certainly not worth specialising that much.
*'''Liber Magra Veneficarum:''' Traitor Independent Characters only. Get one level of Psychic Mastery and the ''Incursion'' power. The guaranteed ability to summon Daemon Brutes/Beasts can be pretty cool, though as a WC3 Daemonology power it might be a bit difficult to manifest without having a few extra warp charges in the bank, but luckily traitors can also take Rogue Psykers as other HQ choices.
*'''Terminal Lucidity Injectors:''' No, your Force Commander is not strong enough to justify one final burst of ranged shooting or one final melee attack ''(that still needs to roll to hit and to wound)'' is just not worth it.
*'''Psy-Resonant Pentacles:''' A cheap option that can really mess with Daemons or Psykers in close combat by dropping them to the rear of the Initiative order, so if you have the Force Commander in a melee squad like Ogryns you could pull off something surprising. It's cheap enough that if you know you're fighting the right opponent you can take it as a throwaway option that makes itself useful, just don't spring for an Iron Halo because it overrides the save with a 5++.
*'''Armatus Necrotechnica:''' 50 points to give a tank the ability to self-heal on a 6+ whenever models within 6" lose wounds, as well as dropping Ld values by -1 in the same radius. While this sounds underwhelming, it does apply the healing ''every time'' models lose wounds and not just once per turn. It is probably too expensive to put on a Leman Russ tank, Malcadors might do better, but Stormhammers with EIGHT Heavy Flamers are suddenly going to be impossible to kill once they get within firing range and have a large enough table footprint that the Ld Aura will be huge.

====Relics====
The Imperial Militia use the generic list of Dark Age of Technology relics everyone uses, but there are no specific ones to their army. So they don't get anything unique. Since they are restricted for IC use, the only ones with access to them would be the Force Commander or a Traitorous Rogue psyker, and both would be good recipients for such an item, particularly because the army relies on them much more than the Solar Auxilia does.

In a campaign you're only allowed one character with a relic which you'll be stuck for the rest of the campaign, so be sure of your decision. If the relic bearer is killed, the side that killed him can choose to play a Relic Hunt mission, where the winner steals (or recovers) the relic, even if it's a Legion specific one, but a Draw means that relic is effectively lost for everyone. Still, you can always opt to play a 'Relic Hunt' mission at the beginning of every campaign phase to [[Blood_Ravens|acquire]] FREE relics, where your war zone-assigned character must be deployed and thus miss all other missions played in that phase...but that way you can [[Adeptus_Mechanicus|hoard up]] on [[Blood_Ravens|relics]], even getting duplicates of the non-faction-specific ones, by rolling a D6 on the 'Relic Uncovered' table below. Of course, this only matters when playing missions instead of casual gaming, enjoy!

*'''#1 Nanyte Blaster:''' The [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grey_goo Grey Goo] gun of uncontrolled carnage!!! It's a S5 AP2 Fleshbane weapon, where if it kills anyone you center a large blast over the dead model on a die roll of 4+, causing a S5 AP2 hit to those underneath it. Unlike Volkite, each model who dies to this can cause ''yet MOAR'' large blasts on further rolls of a 4+. All you need to do is get one casualty and you can wipe out an entire unit! Smashing! Hilarious when it really works.
*'''#2 Warp Shunt Field:''' 3++ against shooting, however for every save of a 6+ (against direct fire weapons) the shooting unit suffers D6 S5 hits. This is the only risk-free defensive relic. Also hilarious if you get really lucky.
*'''#3 Phase Walker:''' Each moving phase, instead of moving you may place the bearer anywhere you like, counting as having just deep struck but with no scatter. If you move through a solid object you have to take a dangerous terrain check for EACH solid object you went through (including all models) so be wary of abusing it in city scenarios. Quite nice for Void Masters, who have Move through Cover, so feel free to abuse it. Too bad this leaves behind the rest of his unit, and commanders aren't known for being one-men armies. If you're up against an Assault heavy army though or are playing a Zone Mortalis/Cities of Death game it can make it's points back as your Warlord retreats through walls (and into another unit) so he can't be assaulted, like a panic button.
*'''#4 Combat Augment Array:''' Once per game, at the beginning of any of the controller's player turn, he may count any '''single''' die (only 1) rolled as an automatic 6 (Emails from FW confirm). However, he must also pass Toughness tests for each remaining wound. If he fails he suffers a wound with no saves or mitigating FnP rolls of any kind. A Cyber familiar can mitigate the danger by granting a re-roll on the commander tests. However, you're paying 35pts for '''one''' guaranteed 6 - nice combo with a Paragon Blade, but given that everyone strikes before you...[[Tau|do you really want to be in Close combat]]?
*'''#5 Cloaking Array:''' Once per game, at the ''beginning'' of ANY game turn you may make yourself invisible for that whole game turn (ie. on the 3rd turn both in your and your opponent's turn, thus starting on your enemy's turn if he goes first). You cannot be shot or charged at unless the enemy unit contains psykers or daemons, in which case the array immediately shuts down (so now ''everyone'' can hit you, not just the previous two). Unfortunately you cannot activate it while attached to a squad or if engaged in close combat already. You also cannot shoot, assault, move or ''do anything at all''. So your model stands on the same spot invisible but doing nothing during a whole game turn. Since you don't want your commander to be alone, pass on this one.
*'''#6 Void Shield Harness:''' Yep. You can get a [[Void_shields|voidshield]] for your dude. It's a large blast-sized shield, centered on your dude but protecting anyone that fits inside. Glancing, Penetrating and Destroyer hits will collapse the shield, but it can be restored at the end of your turn on a 5+, and with AV12 you'll be immune to most small arms fire. However, a result of Explodes! will overload the shield, disabling it for the rest of the game and placing a S6 AP4 Large Blast template centered on the bearer - that's '''Instant Death''' for your commander and his friends, who won't get their armor saves, so get the hell away from Meltaguns.

===Warlord Traits===
#'''Ruthless Tyrant:''' Gain +1 Leadership (to max 9) and the army may reroll Reserves
#'''Merchant Princeling:''' One infantry unit get better ranged weapons, and count their AP as one value better - ''so pick heavy support squads for [[Rape|AP3 Autocannons or Heavy Bolters]] or AP2 missiles''
#*'''Note:''' it can only be applied to a unit with the Infantry type - but not necessarily just 'provenance' infantry - so an enginseer with a cadre of ap2 phase-plasma fusils is possible.
#**Also note this ''isn't restricted to Militia and Cults units''. Did someone say [[Wat|buffing Custodes weapons]]?
#'''Beloved of the People:''' If the warlord ever dies, then the rest of his army gets Hatred from the remainder of the game. - ''Sucks if you took Cult Horde as a provenance''
#'''Marcher Lord:''' The warlord gains ''Implacable Advance'' (becoming a scoring unit in AoD games) and ''Stubborn'' while within 3" of an objective.
#'''Connoisseur of Alien Curios:''' Grab ''Fear'' and ''It Will Not Die''
#'''Robber Baron:''' The warlord can voluntarily fail any morale check and may also re-roll Run or Fall Back distances.

==Unit Analysis==

===HQ===
*'''0-1 Force Commander:''' An Independent character with a relatively poor statline compared to every other unit in the Age of Darkness (such is to be a man in a time of giants), worse even than the Solar Auxilia's Legate Commander, but you don't want him for his combat skills, but because you NEED him in order to purchase Provenances of War, so you are going to have him. Furthermore, he can pay 20pts for the ability to choose his Warlord trait instead of rolling for it, so you can reliably pull some pretty powerful combinations like using the -1AP with your Heavy Weapon squads, which is the only one you'll ever pick because your choices are limited to the Militia Cults WL trait list only and the other five are balls. He's pretty customizable, starting with a 5++ that can be upgraded up to a 3++, and can buy power armour as well as a variety of melee weapons and pistols for those times you want him to pull his weight after you used your WT, but don't expect him to be a hero unit.

*'''Discipline Master Cadre:''' 2-5 near-Commissars, they get attached to other units and add +1 Ld ''(to max 9, and it is going to be nine anyway since their own Ld was eight)'' and allow for a LD reroll if they shoot some squad members. Oddly they're not as harsh as their 40k brethren, and while they cause D3 wounds to their unit, these wounds can be saved, although it could be argued that wild BLAMing is just as harsh as precise BLAMing. These guys may not be the compulsory HQ choice nor can any of them be the warlord, but your Force Commander was going to do all of that anyway. ''Back in the day'' your common Commissar had 2W base and a S4 weapon, and could buy a power weapon and refractor field at discount price.

*'''Auxiliary Platoon Command Squad:''' Six dudes; one commander who is basically there to get gear and nothing else, one nuncio-vox operator, one standard bearer who allows Militia units within 24" to discount casualties when taking morale checks ''(Stubborn aura, essentially)'' and three bodyguards, with the option to add four more of them. No orders because this ain't 40k, they also don't get heavy weapon teams. But all of the bodyguards in the squad may replace their lascarbines/autoguns with a variety of weapons, like bolters or heavy stubbers. Also, the Platoon Commander is merely Ld7 and the rest of the boys is Ld6, such was leadership in the Imperial Militia.
**Just keep the squad bare bones with lascarbines or CCW's except for a refractor field on the commander to eat AP4 or better, as if you're taking these for anything but the stubborn aura you're a moron.

*'''Rogue Psyker''' ''(Cult Horde or Tainted Flesh only)'' ML1 psykers with two wounds, but a sucktastic BS2 so witchfires that roll to hit are generally going to be useless, so avoid them. If they are ever killed short of being "removed from play" then they get possessed on a roll of 5+, which becomes a 2+ if they were killed by losing a wound to perils of the warp, replacing the model with a a 3 wound WS5/S5 rending nightmare. These guys are miles better than the Renegades & Heretics version by being independent characters, they cause fear, have FnP, and can actually take proper psychic powers from Pyromancy, Telekinesis, Biomancy and Malefic Daemonology. One psyker per detachment can even be upgraded to an "Alpha" psyker, granting him ML2, WS/BS3 (instead of 2), three Wounds and Toughness 4 making him a far better prospect.
**The January 2016 FAQ finally updated a points cost for these guys, they now come in at 35 points for the basic ML1 psyker.
**You can even buy them a Tainted Weapon on the cheap, giving their attacks the ''Instant Death'' special rule. Note that this weapon gets lost if the psyker gets possessed since you had to "remove" the psyker and "replace" it entirely with the daemon model. Still, for five points a lucky wound can do some real damage on enemy special characters and if you rolled Iron Arm on biomancy or Fiery Form on pyromancy then you've created a pretty mean close combat unit.
**When choosing psychic powers, just be aware of the limitations of the unit. As mentioned, the poor statline generally means rolling to-hit on witchfires are going to disappoint you, but beams, novas and to a lesser extent, blasts are still alright.

===Troops===
*'''Militia Infantry Squad:''' Twenty guardsmen with auxilia rifles and shitty Ld. No platoons, just one squad per slot. The sergeant gets customisation and can take things like hand flamers and power weapons. Also the squad can replace their auxilia rifles (18" S3) for a variety of weapons, from different-lasguns (lascarbines or lasrifles) to assault oriented weapons (shotguns, laslocks, pistols for +1A). Oh, and they get a goddammed ''Super-heavy as a DT'', the Gorgon Heavy Transport. Have fun.

*'''Inducted Levy Squad:''' 20-50 conscripts with shitty BS2 auxilia rifles and shittier sub-flak armour. They have the same options as regular militia but just don't bother because they're here as fodder. Which is what they are fantastic at, because ''they never confer any points for their destruction'' like by kill points or by first blood, making them perfectly expendable. ''Back in the day'' however, <s>Conscript</s> Levy squads had a sarge of their own (to take challenges for the not-Commissar you'll add to them to make them Ld9), and could either upgrade their dakka to "decent" tier (lascarbine, laslock) or accept the fact BS2 is useless and get a pistol instead for +1 attack. And if they objected they could be given Discipline collars to make them Stubborn. Oh, those were the times.
**Puny as they look, Levy squads can be turned into rather scary melee units, as all mobs are. Especially in ''Cult Horde'' armies, where you now have a huge mob with 3 re-rollable attacks on the charge ''(4 if you also bought Feral Warriors)'', though unless you find ways of shoring up their leadership you should be prepared to lose them following the first round of combat because ''Stubborn'' isn't enough to save you from a bad leadership roll and being swept up in the advance which follows, so at least they were cheap and expendable. Combo ''Cult Horde'' with ''Tainted Flesh'' for ''Rending'' attacks and the prospect of causing ''Fear'' on certain 30k Legions. 50 mooks with multiple rerollable rending attacks will chew through nearly any target on the table through weight of numbers, including Primarchs and will never cost you victory points if/when they get wiped out.

*'''Militia Grenadier Squad:''' 10-18 veterans with BS4, carapace armour and auxilia rifles. These guys do well to replace their weapons with something else due to their increased accuracy. The remaining two spaces are made up by adding special weapon guys.
**If you've got grenade launchers in the squad, you can buy Gas and Fireburst grenades for them. Both are small blast weapons, Fireburst grenades are S3 and pinning so might be good as a trolling device, whilst Gas Grenades are Poisoned (4+) and Ignore Cover, the problem with Gas grenades though are that they have only AP5 so Space Marines and Solar Auxilia are getting saves anyway, making normal frag rounds either exactly the same or better for most situations, unless you are fighting against other Militia or Cult armies.
**These guys can allow you to have dick-swinging contests with the [[What|Tau]]. Grab Survivors of the Dark Age, Lasrifles, +1 Strength Upgrade and 8 extra guys coming to 140 points. Now lets compare to the Tau Strike Squad. Tau: BS3, 30" S5 AP5, 12/24 shots, T3 and 4+ Save. You: BS4, 30" S4 AP-, 18-36 shots, T3(4 with Abhuman Helot) 3+ Save. And you can add 2 Rotor cannons to that to up the number of shots to a grand total of 44. While the Tau do get markerlight support and could therefore [[Rape|annihilate]] your squad off the board, they can't take all of them on at once, especially when they have to worry about your supper cheap tanks/artillery. [[Troll|Don't forget that this squad is only 160 points tops.]]
**While they can take a Land Raider Proteus, just pay more for a Gorgon unless you really want an Explorator Augury Web, it has the same AV as the Proteus except for its ass, can take Armoured Ceramite, has FIVE more HP, and is only 95 points more.

*'''Fire Support Squad:''' your heavy weapon squads, just like with imperial guard, but as Troops choices with no platoon tax. Unfortunately as support squads they cannot be compulsory choices. They come in units of 5-10 teams and have the full range of guard weapons, including heavy stubbers and multilasers. This unit has awesome potential.
**Grab a unit of 10 Heavy Flamers and screw holding the line. These guys can move up the board and toast some motherfuckers because who said that heavy weapons need to stay still? Don't forget that [[Troll|all of these guys are 2 Wounds, 2 Attacks and have a laspistol + CCW]], so make for surprisingly good assault troops. [[Rape|Add in the -1AP Warlord Trait and teach Marines fear again]]. THIS should be the way you have them for any assault-based list, and creates awesome modeling opportunities.

*'''Reconnaissance Squad:''' Five veterans in flak armour and are a support unit. But they have scout, infiltrate, move through cover and the option to buy chameleoline. They probably cost way too much for a base squad of five men in flak armour. But they may replace their lascarbines with shotguns or sniper rifles for a flat cost, I wonder which one you'll choose? Their sergeant can also take a demo charge, which might make some interesting suicide bomber units <strike>in a cult horde list</strike> for any provenance other than cult horde because all snap fire all the time means no blast or template weapons sadly.

===Dedicated Transports===
*'''Auxillia Gorgon Heavy Transporter''' So, the Space Marines can get Land Raiders, Solar Auxillia get Dracosans, and we get a super heavy tank as our main transport? Seems legit. With 9 Hull Points, AV 14/14/10 and a 5++ save on the front (4++ against Blast and Template weapons) it'll be tough for you opponent to take it down without devoting serious resources to it (unless they get behind it, in which case it's as good as dead). It comes stock with a one-use Gorgon Mortar Battery (12-48" S5 AP5 Heavy 4 Blast, Barrage and Pinning) and two twin linked Autocannons, as well as coming with the ability to transport 40 dudes and imposing a -2 modifier to the Catastrophic Damage Table. It can spring for hunter killer missiles and Armoured Ceramite (for the ultimate expression of FUCK YOU to your opponent), as well as swapping the Autocannons for TL Multi-Lasers or TL Lascannons. It can also swap it's Gorgon Mortar Battery for two forward and two rearward facing sponsons which must all be the same type, either Autocannons, Heavy Flamers, Heavy Bolters, Multi-Lasers or Lascannons. However you'll only field it with a plan in mind as it costs 275 points base, meaning no spamming superheavies.
**Note: This thing ''is not'' Open-topped, so don't let your opponent fool you into thinking that. Not that it will matter to that Drop Pod full of Marines with Meltas, they'll punch through your paper-thin AV 10 rear armour like it's a game of [[FATAL]] even if you do get Armored Ceramite. Oh, but also note that, since it has lost open-topped, it's not an Assault Vehicle any more. So those 40 provenanced-up Cult goons might not be as useful as you think.
*'''Aurox Armored Transport:''' A [[Rhino]] analog, usable by Command Cadres and Grenadier Squads numbering 10 or less. Apart from using a Heavy Stubber (that can be replaced with a Heavy Flamer) instead of a Storm Bolter, costing 10 pts less and BS3, it's pretty much identical to the Rhino, but has no potential upgrades (even the dozer blade).
*'''Rhino Armoured Carrier''' ''(Survivors of a Dark Age only)'' It's a Rhino, you know what it does. Stolen from the Space Marines, it has the exact same options as the one in the Crusade army list, so look there for more info. Also note that it has the same profile, so it's BS 4. Won't be amazingly handy, but it's worth remembering.
*'''Land Raider Proteus''' ''(Survivors of a Dark Age only)'' Mwhahaha, my puny humans now have access to one of the most powerful tanks in the game. No forward assault ramp means no Assault Vehicle and awkward model placement, and it only comes with two twin linked Lascannons stock. However it's also the cheapest of the Land Raiders, and can take the ever-useful Explorator Augury Web as well as other useful things such as Armoured Ceramite, hull mounted Heavy Bolters/Flamers, Auxiliary Drives and a host of weapon options. However, these costs add up quick, and as the Gorgon is only 95 points more and (generally) much more survivable and can lay down more hurt, you may want to think about taking one of those instead. If your opponent has a disturbing taste for anal, take this.

===Elites===
*'''Ogryn Brute Squad:''' 3-10 Ogryns with big sticks, flak armour and frag grenades. That's it. But the beauty of this in how they can be customised. You can buy power weapons, boarding shields or combat shields and get something equivalent to Bullgryns. Buy ripper guns and you've got normal 40k ogryns. You can even buy Heavy Bolters, that become 18" range assault weapons when held in their hands!!! However, the rules do say that each model may only buy one option from the list, so you cannot load up on cool shit, but you are allowed to mix and match. The only upgrade that is universal across the whole squad is Carapace Armour ''(which can be upgraded using Provenances to create [[Awesome|power armoured Ogryns]])'' which for a flat cost is always worth it. Consider what effect the army provenances will have on them before you build them, but the combinations are nearly endless.
**Shields are a tricky one; individually, a 6++/5++ invulnerable save at a cost of taking any improvement in damage output is absolutely not worth it. ''(Unless you take Tainted Flesh because they get enough rules to handle themselves)'' '''That being said...''' if the majority of the squad ''([[derp|thanks to the FAQ]])'' are equipped with Boarding Shield then it has a similar effect to Defensive Grenades, making the whole squad resistant to incoming charges. A 'frontline' of shields and 'rear rank' of axes works better than a pure unit of either. Cyber-augmetics plus shields give a 4++ in assault - pretty good on something as tough as an ogryn.
**Additional CCW is expensive at 10 points '''EACH''' for just one extra attack. If that's all you wanted remember that the ''Feral Warriors'' provenance gives them an extra attack a flat cost to the whole army
**Power Weapons are your most expensive option by far, but they also grant the 2 weapon bonus as well as beefing the unit with killy stuff. Axes become preferred here because even if you strike last, a model equipped with one is still likely to survive and beat down a marine or two. Maces tend to work alongside ''Gene-Crafted'' because of S8 and a chance at instant death, but a sword would strike at I4 as well so remains a good option. Kitting out a whole squad necessitates creating a Deathstar unit though.
**Lascutters should be avoided unless you are specifically trying to build up a set of Big Daddy clones [[Your Dudes|or something themed like that]], as they negate all the benefits of being an Ogryn.
**Guns are really up to you, as the models are already there for it. But having BS2 is not encouraging, massed S5 firepower can be found more cheaply and accurately in Fire Support squads or Leman Russ squadrons.

*'''Imperialis Auxilia Medicae Detachment:''' 3-6 guardsmen with medipacks and laspistol/CCW. No customisation beyond whatever provenances you take. You just deploy them separately to squads and get FnP. You are allowed to double up if you want to make certain a squad doesn't lose the rule.

*'''Enginseer Auxilia:''' one of the few squads that gains no benefit from your provenance, so it is what it is. You get 1-3 Enginseers and 4-8 Servo-Automata, which are basically more customisable T5 servitors that can take cool guns like phased plasma fusils or flamers. Enginseers can take invulnerable saves and graviton/volkite weapons if they want, and they can fix stuff and gain bonuses for each servitor with a servo arm in the unit.
**Enginseers are one of the few units that can take Augury Scanners which, after the latest FAQ, gives them Interceptor on everythin. Full stop. This makes Enginseer Auxilia one of the only ways to counter deep striking squads with Multi-Meltas or plasma-fusils. ''(Yes, Marine Heavy Support squads can do this bigger and better, but Enginseers can do it from the Elites slot and at peanuts per model!)''
**This unit is particularly useful in a cult horde list as it's unaffected by the provenance's enforced snap-firing, meaning this is your only infantry unit that has a chance of hitting a barn door at range. Take phased plasma-fusils plus the -1AP WL trait and drink the tears of anyone spamming Terminators or MEQs in artificer armour. Your dream of removing a deep striking Cataphractii unit in its own turn with 24 S6 AP2 shots? Fulfilled.

===Fast Attack===
*'''Arvus Lighter:''' Only marginally better than the travesty of their 40k incarnation in that they can take guns and use them properly; this makes them like flying razorbacks with twice the transport capacity. You can take them as dedicated transports for grenadiers and to be honest, it might be worth it here if you can stomach forking out for a resin box when you can have so many other things (why are you buying a Arvus Lighter this is Militia and Cults you could use a Tau Devilfish if you want). Since the Arvus won't last long with the amount of Dakka that 30k brings to the table. You may as well go full bore and shell out points for the twin linked Lascannons and the Armored Cockpit. Also should be considered, outside of Survivors of the Dark Age, the only non super heavy transport.

*'''Auxilia Sentinel Scout Squadron:''' almost exactly the same as the guard option, three to six chicken walkers with a heavy weapon, no plasma cannons but you can take a multi-melta. You can also take combat blades granting them +1 attack, but taking open topped AV10 walkers into melee is still generally not a good idea. By contrast, their ability to scout (and therefore outflank), makes them ideal for tank hunting.

*'''Thunderbolt Heavy Fighter:''' If you have one, field it as these are the business. They start off at BS4 which means their considerable firepower is going to come to bear more reliably, which now includes Kinetic Piercer missiles, which while only S6, are AP2, armourbane and heat-seeking which makes them twin linked against other flyers. While you could swap them for hellstrike missiles, you'd be an idiot to do so because of the drawbacks of the ordnance rule, but if you wanted more ground attack then sunfury missiles can be bought which are AP3 large blast and blinding but get hot. For added goodies, they can buy strafing run, so your nose guns hit things on the ground with rerollable 2s, and a flare shield which reduced incoming firepower by -1 strength.

*'''Terrax Pattern Termite Assault Drill:''' You get this five points cheaper than Solar Auxilia for the same standard loadout and 15 points cheaper than Legiones Astartes who have to buy heavy flamers separately. What you get is an underground drop-pod capable of carrying 12 models and arriving via special deep-strike, scattering a 5" blast marker, automatically avoiding impassable terrain and engaged units and then causing an automatic S10 AP- hit on anything else it scatters onto, then forcing the survivors to move out of the way so you can fit the giant drill who can then hose down the nearby units with heavy flamers. It is '''not''' an assault vehicle, so anything that deploys will be standing around waiting for the inevitable counter charge, unfortunately your melee units such as Levy squads need not apply since their minimum squad size is too high, and Ogryns are bulky and are not allowed. Because your shooting units tend to be quite fragile at close ranges maybe save it for some disposable short ranged squads like a shotgun Recon squad with a demo charge. Otherwise stick an Enginseer inside to keep it fixed and provide some nasty fire support with the tech thralls when he disembarks.
**It is one of the few units that can perform a turn 1 deep strike thanks to the ''Subterranean Assault'' rule, though you can only deploy half (rounding up) of these units on the first turn. Unless you play ''Survivors of the Dark Age'' you will be unlikely able to deploy more than two in the first turn because they are only Fast Attack choices but it still can be good for pushing enemy units out of position. If you do play ''Survivors'' and take them as dedicated transports for your grenadiers then you could pull off massed deep strikes the likes of which only an orbital assault Astartes army can achieve.

===Heavy Support===
*'''Rapier Battery:''' Your entry level artillery unit. You start out with quad multilasers which have all the sixes. You get six twin-linked shots at S6 AP6 at a range of 36" ''(6x6)'', so is very good at taking out infantry. You can swap this for a quad heavy bolter for free, which would be better against GEQ units due to the superior AP value. If you're looking for anti-tank then you can buy laser destroyers, which are 48" S9 AP1 twin-linked Ordnance, which are excellent even considering the the shitiness of the men firing them. If you want to annoy your opponent, then the most expensive option is the quad-mortar (thudd gun), which fires of four ''pinning + shell shock'' S5 small blasts each, so a battery of them will pepper the battlefield. While they may have poor AP and average strength for a heavy weapon, they can consume a chunk of time to resolve and give you a psychological advantage over your opponent as he gets frustrated with so many templates and wants you dead. Overall Rapiers are good and cheap, but at only Ld 6 and flimsy guardsmen crew they are going to fall over if something looks at them funny.
**Regarding longevity, remember that if the unit falls back, they abandon the gun which means it is permanently lost even if they regroup later. So morale boosting upgrades/provenances become your main priority. Don't worry so much about armour plating them, because the gun already has T7 and a 3+ save.
***Funnily, "Cult Horde" isn't as terrible for them because the quad laser/bolters can still snap fire twin linked, so can still potentially hurt something, yet because they are ''Artillery'' they are prohibited from declaring a charge, so can remain safely in position.
***"Alchem Jackers" can be a godsend, since it pins the unit when they suffer shooting morale checks instead of running away, meaning you don't automatically lose the gun, and still be able to shoot with quad guns on the same turn by snapfiring. While this has little benefit in melee, if your rapier gets caught up in close combat it's going to be dead soon anyway.

*'''Heavy Ordnance Battery:''' Immobile Earthshaker guns each with 4-8 crewmen who are subject to your provenance. If you're taking these hopefully your army has good leadership modifying rules since the crew only have LD 6 and will abandon the gun if they have to fall back. Either keep these WELL out of the way, or bump their leadership as high as you can. You swap the Earthshakers for Medusa Siege Guns, which is more cost for the same risk, but you gain the option of buying Breacher Shells.
**Breacher Shells are S10 AP1 Armorbane. When combined with the regular ordinance blasts of the Medusa, these batteries are one of your best sources of anti-tank.
**Unlike the rapier batteries, there is no way to snap fire with these guns, being both "Blast" and "Ordnance". So pinning the unit will effectively neutralise it. Taking "Cult Horde" with them makes you an idiot.
**Because as long as the gun is alive everyone is T7, but only the closest model tanks all the shots, consider an Aegis defense line to shield your artillery.

*'''Carnodon Strike Squadron:''' Predators on a budget, they are only BS3 and have AV12 on the front, but at 60 points each when their Heavy Bolter/Flamer sponsons are free you can fit a whole lot of dakka into a small list without having to buy any additional upgrades for them. They come in squadrons so you can scale up to suit your points allowance, and you can replace those sponsons for autocannons to have the same S7 coverage all around. There isn't a whole lot to mention here, since the tank itself is nothing spectacular and has few options for upgrades. The main draw is their value.
**Yes, the actual model comes with the option to swap for multi-lasers, volkites and lascannons, but Imperial Militia don't have those options. Autocannon turrets with bolter/flamer/autocannon sponsons only but at least that stops the unit from becoming a points sink if you invest too much into them. If you want more guns on a bigger budget then consider Leman Russes instead.

*'''Battle Tank Attack Squadron:''' Leman Russes, everyone's favourite, chosen from the vanilla, annihilator, exterminator, demolisher and vanquisher flavours. They've only got access to Heavy Bolter and Flamer sponsons (which is still better than the Solar Auxilia, who get no sponsons at all), but hilariously they can replace the hull gun with a multilaser, which might be a good idea if you're taking an ordnance tank and just want a gun for snap firing, or even as a makeshift AA gun.

*'''Malcador Heavy Tank:''' bigger Leman Russes, also a fast super heavy vehicle that is not a Lord of War. You can upgrade it to AV14 on the front if you sacrifice the Fast rule, but you can also take a Flare shield which applies all over and is boosted against templates. These used to be great tanks, but after the latest FAQ removed super heavy from their profile (what the FUCK Anuj????) they are now, unfortunately, pretty useless unless. You could take something like full lascannons to circumvent this problem and keep them cheap, but it's still a long way from the high strenght ordinance blasts.

*'''Mutant Spawn:''' ''(Tainted Flesh only)'' oh shi- GLARBLBLBLBL... ''Ahem'' slightly lesser than the 40k chaos version, possibly because they started out as humans and not space marines. They don't get access to marks and have only I2, however these ones have IWND and Hammer of Wrath as well as being 5 points cheaper on a per model basis, albeit with a higher startup cost like everything in HH, but you can take them in squads of ten which makes them a very potent prospect in melee. Their mutation table has also been heavily modified; taking effect from the beginning of the game and '''cannot be changed'''. Ones give them only a 5+ armour save, but at least it applies out of combat. Twos make them reroll 1s for random attacks, bleh. Threes give them Rending, so hope for this one and you can possibly have a big squad of these tearing through virtually anything.

===Lord of War===

*'''[[Baneblade|Auxilia Baneblade]]:''' - Though outclassed by the Legion Fellblade, the Baneblade is still a nasty proposition to face. Sporting a Baneblade cannon, Autocannon, Demolisher Cannon and a twin-linked heavy bolter. With the option of two/four Lascannons and two/four more twin-linked heavy bolters ''(the sponsons don't come as standard here)'' optional pintle mounts, AND optional Hunter-killer missile, it is a rolling fortress of death.

*'''Auxilia Stormhammer:''' - Taking Dakka to a logical extreme, the Stormhammer is less a superheavy and more a rolling fortress bristling with guns. Its hull weapon is a TL Battle Cannon, and its main gun is a S9 AP2 cannon with shred and pinning. With the options to take a pintle-mounted multilaser or heavy flamer, up to 4 HK missiles(!), a coaxial multilaser, a hull lascannon on top of the battle cannons, and six sponsons, all of which are armed with multilasers by default (making it [[C.S. Goto]]'s dream tank) but can be swapped out for heavy bolters, heavy flamers, or lascannons (and the first two options are free), it can take on more targets at once than any other superheavy. (The sponsons are switched out individually, so feel free to mix and match however you like.) and the whole tank can buy targeters giving it a nifty BS4. In short, the Stormhammer is your best bet for a versatile superheavy that can fit any situation that you can think of.

===Fortifications===

===Age of Darkness Theme: Army of Dark Compliance===
Built from a blending of Legiones Astartes and units from the Imperial Militia and Warp Cults list. However, it is quite distinct from the "Sacrificial Offering" Rite of War in that it does not use up your allies slot, allowing you to take allies from a third source. But it does prevent you from using a rite of War, so you cannot layer on extra special rules.

However you are still privy to the insane customisation options presented in the Warp Cults list, and you are not prevented from taking any option from your Legion list either.

The "Age of Darkness" themes requires your opponents permission to use, however it is an easy theme to build an army around because there are few rules to take account of.

*'''Restrictions'''
**You build your army with units from both the Crusade List and the Imperial Militia and Warp Cults list.
**You must include a Space Marine Praetor, Centurion or Consul to be your Warlord.
***''Do note that to take any Provenances of War you'll also need a "Force Commander" as one of your HQ choices as well.''
**Your army is automatically part of the traitor faction.
**You cannot use Rites of War.
**"Legiones Astartes" rules that apply to models by virtue of being in the same detachment do not apply of Militia units.
***''That means the only way to get Militia units to benefit from Astartes rules would be to attach an independent character with special rules that confer to units.''
**Unless specifically noted otherwise, all units count as being part of the same list for rules purposes such as Transports, Warlord traits and so on.
**You cannot include more units from the Legiones Astartes list than from the Imperial Militia list.
***''This is your main restriction, which prevents you from merely dabbling in Militia units.''
**You may not include Discipline Master Cadres

*'''Special Rules'''
**'''The Warmaster's Due:''' "[[Warhammer 40,000/Tactics/Tyrant's Legion(7E)|Tyrants Due]]" by another name, any time your Legion units are shot at which draws its line of fire through infantry militia units, you can add +1 to any cover save gained. However the militia unit then takes D3 wounds with no AP value, meaning your crap sub-flak conscript could take a hit from a Lascannon intended for a Space Marine and potentially survive it.
**'''Disposable:''' Any Militia units in your army may be affected the the "Disposable" rule, preventing them from conceding victory points for any reason when slain. It does however prevent these units from scoring or denying objectives so be sure and have enough Astartes units to hold on to objectives for you. You are not required to use this rule if you don't want to, but you must declare at the start of the game if you do.

==Allies==
A few notes about the list, since it interacts with other armies in different ways depending upon what Provenances of War they have taken.
*If they've taken Tainted Flesh or Cult Horde, then they cannot ally with Loyalist forces, though they may count ''Chaos Daemons'' as "Fellow Warriors".
*Cyber-Augmetics may count Mechanicum armies as "Sworn Brothers"
*Abhuman Helots only count Space Marine and Solar Auxilia armies as "Distrusted Allies"

===Agents===
'''Agents''' are also models useable by any HH army.
*'''Expeditionary [[Navigator]]:''' For those people who bought the model at an open day, Forgeworld released the rules for these guys for free on their website. For those that don't have the model, you can make/proxy your own (the Imperial Guard Astropath works well). He is one of the first ''Agents'' on the allies matrix represented in ''Betrayal'', though he can just be taken as an HQ slot. Essentially has the statline of a Conscript Guardsman, but comes with an Archaeotech pistol and the Aetherlabe staff, which allows his unit to fire snap-shots at a Deep striking unit arriving within 12" of him, or at full BS if it arrived by a Conjuration psychic power. He also causes Fear, which can be funny in crusade lists due to ATSKNF not existing. Finally, he also has Navigator powers, which are like 6th Ed psychic powers but don't use Warp Charges and can only use one per turn on a successful Ld test, failure pins himself and his unit.
**'''Lidless Stare:''' THE SHIT - shoot the flamer template, any infantry hit by it must pass an Initiative test or suffer [[FATAL|Instant Death]]. Which means most Space Marines touched are dead 33.3% of the time, Mechanicum infantry 50% of the time or better. Completely useless against bikes, jetbikes, and monsters, so YMMV.
**'''Warp Prescience:''' Enemies shooting at the Navigator (or his unit) suffers -1BS.
**'''Aetheric Disruption:''' All psykers on the table (friend or foe) roll THREE dice when determining what happens with Perils of the Warp and discard the lowest for the purposes of the result. Given this was written with 6th Ed in mind, it's not entirely clear whether that means any associated Ld test to mitigate Perils OR taking the two highest results of the Perils and applying BOTH, which means psykers are fucked, since that almost guarantees two wounds, unless that psyker rolls a 6 and turns into an unstoppable machine of death; it would be totally better if he discarded ''the highest'' die.

===Agents of the Emperor===
These are agents only usable by Loyalist players.
====The Knights Errant====
For ALL Knights-Errant, one very VERY important rule to remember is their Oath of Moment. Which means they have to pick a particular objective in order to be fielded; some of the easier ones, like ending the game in the enemy deployment zone, or ensuring an allied character survives, grant his army an extra victory point if he obtains it. Other, more difficult ones include personally slaying the enemy warlord in a challenge or making sure an enemy Primarch is killed ''(which he does not have to do personally, but since you are playing Milita this might be quite difficult to do)'', which nets his side three extra points. However, failing to complete his chosen objective means the side that took him cannot win at all, and can only settle for a draw.

*'''Nathaniel Garro:''' The first of the [[Knights-Errant]]. A three-wound Eternal Warrior, kitted out for challenges though he might struggle going toe-to-toe with some of the bigger named characters or a dangerously equipped Praetor. He is still meatier than your Force Commander will ever be, and you'll get the sense that he'll be able to stick it out long enough that he might just come out on top. He's not really a force multiplier the same way as the other Knights-Errant are, so consider if you really want Garro in your army, since you'll need to pad him out with a decent squad, Ogryns only really seem to fit the bill here.

*'''Tylos Rubio:''' The first recruit of Garro. A Mastery Level 2 psyker that can cast from divination and telekinesis... which is to say divination, since ''Echoes of Fate'' allows him to re-roll divination tests and any un-used warp charges can automatically become +1 strength each. Aside from those two special rules, he's just a mastery level 2 KE for 35 points less than a normal one. He's a solid choice, though you cannot change his loadout the same way as you could with a unnamed Knight Errant.

*'''Knight-Errant:''' A.K.A. Build your very own special snowflake™. A 2-wound space marine with a bunch of nice gear. He'll never stand toe-to-toe with the big bad-boys of the setting, but hey, you ''are'' playing Militia and Cults right? There is an awful lot you can do with a Knight Errant, but for those who came over from the Legion list bear in mind that your synergies are somewhat reduced. Nartheciums only apply to ''Legiones Astartes'' units so won't help your poor defenseless levy squads ''(you could have Medics anyway)'' and giving them a Jump Pack is kinda pointless since no other squad can Deep Strike along with them. But he DOES have ''Preferred Enemy (Traitors)'' so he can provide quite a significant boost to oversized militia squads, can take a servo-arm to fix things without spending an Elites slot and can ALSO become a '''Librarian Consul'''. This means that Loyalists can actually take a psyker without having to resort to allies, and also because he's a Legiones Astartes character -but not a unique named one- he is also eligible for a wide array of Psyarkana upgrades to fit your preference. This can be done all at the same time to make a swiss-army-knife character. Add in the option to swap his super-bolter for a sniper-rifle or a combi-weapon and you have a damn versatile support element. Go nuts!
**He has a few other cool rules too: like being able to ''Deep Strike'' without scatter, and cause his opponents to snap fire at him during the following turn, or count as disordered when charging him. If you don't want to attach him to a squad ''(and we don't blame you)'', deploying via his Falsehood is a perfectly adequate way to go.

==Tactics==
This army pretty much allows you to do whatever you want, although generally you'll be looking at infantry supported by armour and artillery. A large factor in how your army will play is what Provenances you take. Abhuman Helots, Survivors of the Dark Age, Cyber Augmentics and Tainted Flesh will all help improve the survivability of your infantry, while Warrior Elite, Alchem-Jackers and Abhuman Helots with Discipline Collars will make your guys less likely to run away so are highly recommended if you're not running Grenadier-only troops. There are ''a lot'' of Provenances that can improve your close combat game; Gene-Crafted, Feral Warriors, Cult Horde, Tainted Flesh and Alchem-Jackers with Frenzon all help you out in melee, although it's of questionable use in a Marine-oriented environment. However, only one Provenance, Survivors of a Dark Age, increases your range-game to any degree, [[Fail|which makes no sense at all]] considering that even with these buffs you'll get massacred by dedicated Marine units, but it's not supposed to allow your guys to go 1-1 with Marines, it's there to take it from a 3-1 fight to a 2-1 fight.

Your advantages include how cheap you are compared to other armies (seriously, even your [[What|Leman Russes are cheaper by 10 points]]), the fact that you can buff your infantry fairly easily with Provenances and Medicae Orderlies and the amount of armour and heavy firepower that you can bring to the field with artillery, Rapiers, Heavy Support Squads and Leman Russes, all of which are cheaper that anyone else's. However, this cheapness is balanced out by Provenances of War, making it not as spammy as it may initially seem.

Basically, what you want to do with these guys is find a theme to [[Roleplaying|forge a narrative]] on, and then base it round that. Want to have an army of clones that are little more than meat shields for your Dark Mechanimum army? Tainted Flesh and Cyber-Augmented are right up your alley. Want your humies to mimic beakies? Take Survivors of the Dark Age and load your Grenadier Squad up into Rhinos. However, as for competitive play it's not that good unless you [[Powergamer|really min-max]] your army, so don't expect a lot out of them.

Also of serious consideration is whether or not you want [[Ultramarines|Ultrasmurf]] allies to bring along Invictarus Suzerains to gain +1Ld to all your guys within 12" as well as bringing some hardier troops and better CC ability. Not compulsory but a good idea.

==Building your Army==

USE YOUR DAMN IMAGINATION! Want an army of Felinids? Abhuman Helots and Gene-Crafted. Only Renegades & Heretics have more customization. This army is about as customizable as they are but, they're less diverse both in the base units available and being restricted by the biggest source of customization being army wide. The units can take a startling rainbow of standard weapons, but like a rainbow, many of the options are almost the same. Its entirely possible (albeit better for friendly counts as games) to proxy a fantasy army, such as the Empire or possibly Skaven. Look at the stuff available on GW's website. Empire, Elf, Guard, Skaven, (some) Skitarii, even ORKS (with some converting) can work! Since many tournaments ban forgeworld anyway, look to other model sites if it suits your fancy. All of it works, all of its totally fluff friendly. WoC? Feral worlders. Infinity stuff? Technological advanced enclave. A WW2 model range? You get the idea. If you ever wanted to make an army thats truly "you", a one of a kind masterpiece, et cetera, this is for you. You may not exactly win, but you sure as hell wont be forgotten. Hell, make your army a bunch of chicks with swag armour and do a proto-sisters of battle army. Then piss people off and give them gene-crafted for Sister Marines, alchem-jackers with frenzon for RED RAGE sisters, or cyber sex gals.
If you're using Survivors of the Dark Age and decent armor, why not make an army of [[Adeptus_Arbites|Arbites]]? Survivors of the Dark Age and Abhuman Helots work for an army of Squats. Any combination of Tainted Flesh, Abhuman Helots, Feral Warriors and
Cult Horde could give you an army of [[Beastmen]]. Want something vaguely Calibanite? Warrior Elite and SotDA works well to that end.

{{Warhammer_30k_Tactics}}
[[Category:Warhammer Tactics/30k]]

Warhammer 40,000/Tactics/Imperial Militia and Cults (30k)

2021-02-06T05:24:45Z

2001:4930:172:25:AC3D:E498:C7A1:2583:

The latest FAQ can be found [https://whc-cdn.games-workshop.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/Horus-Heresy-General-Errata-and-FAQ-v1.1-Final.pdf here] (February 2019)
==Why Play Imperial Militia and Cults==
While not an overly powerful army, it is one of the most customisable armies you'll ever find <s>outside of</s> including 40k [[Warhammer 40,000/Tactics/Renegades_And_Heretics(8E)|Renegades and Heretics]]. These guys represent the mish-mash of military units found across the galaxy before anyone sat down and formalized the Imperial Guard (and sometimes before they were part of the Imperial Army). Remember all those Exemplary Battles of [[Great_Crusade|Astartes vs non-compliant humans]]? This is the perfect list to model them - the ''true face of the Great Crusade''. So you can build an army of cyber augmented Skitarii wannabes, a feral world regiment of jungle warriors, a pre-compliant civilization or even a full-fledged [[Chaos Cults]].

Because of the sheer range of options available to you which can radically change both the appearance and function of the units under your command, you can even use models that you wouldn't otherwise consider to take into a 40k environment: If you want to maintain a low-tech/high-tech contrast then why not use fantasy Empire models for the [[Praetorian_Guard|fancy uniforms and muskets]] and even have them as crewmen for your Leman Russes or Earthshaker guns? Similarly if you are using the ''Abhuman Helots'' and/or ''Tainted Flesh'' provenances why not just take Fantasy Beastmen models? or even Skaven models if you want to go a bit more steampunk/alchemical?
And, I bet no one ever told you this, but if you take the provenances of ''Abhuman Helots'' and ''Survivors of the Dark Age'', you get... [[Squat|SQUATS]]!!! THEY'RE BACK, BABY!!! Then you'd just need to find a player who's masochistic enough to let you use your 30K army list, warlord traits and rules against their 40K army, all in the name of nostalgia, of course...

*'''Pros'''
**Insane customisation options and the chance to model things you couldn't do with other armies.
**The ability to build a list tailored to your playstyle; large squads of footsloggers, or with ''Survivors of a Dark Age'' smaller mechanised units.
**Cheap and large scoring units that do not confer any points to your opponent for killing (it costs 60 points to get 20 Guardsmen-equivalents)
**A good modicum of firepower with large heavy weapons squads, artillery and access to Leman Russ squadrons

*'''Cons'''
**Without the right Provenances or correct placement of characters, you have poor Leadership across most of your units.
**Even with the huge amount of customisation options you have only a few choices of unit per FOC slot and some of them can be entirely written off or made compulsory depending upon your Provenance selection, leaving you with less room to do your own thing.
**It's more of a side note, but there are a mass of misprints in the army list that means you need to be a bit liberal in your interpretation. An example would be the Rogue Psykers not having a points cost, or Grenadier Squad starting off with Auxilia Rifles but [[Fail|only being allowed to replace their non-existent Lascarbines]], makes the entire thing feel rushed and not up to the standard of most Forgeworld stuff. Make sure you don't play [[That Guy]] with this list, you've been warned.

==Special Rules==

===Provenances of War===
This is where the modelling opportunities for this army come from. Your Force Commander can purchase up to two Provenances of War. While their cost seems rather low, they can all massively impact the rest of your army, and can radically change the army build and the options you can take. Some Provenances lock you out of certain things or are mutually exclusive with one another, but some also allow units to buy their own unique options.

*'''Warrior Elite:''' All units gain +1 Ld (max 9) and Militia Levy cannot be compulsory troops choices. ''~ More important than you may think, since this raises your Infantry Squads to Guardsmen-Level leadership, and also means that your Grenadiers don't need Discipline Masters.''

*'''Gene Crafted:''' +1 str and +1 initiative but cannot take FNP rolls. ''~ Makes Medicae Orderlies absolutely useless.''
**Can't be combined with Cyber-Augmented.

*'''Cyber Augmented:''' All units gain a 6+ invuln save, or +1 to existing invulnerable saves ''(to a maximum of 3+)'', but they reduce run and sweeping advances rolls by 1. You also gain [[Warhammer_40,000/Tactics/Mechanicum_(30k)|Mechanicum]] as sworn brothers.
**Can't be combined with Gene-crafted. ''~ The flesh is weak after all.''
**This and Survivors of a Dark Age are a good away to make Proto-Sisters. The 6+ invulnerable becomes their Act of Faith Invulnerable and the reduction to run represents a lack of Black Carapace.

*'''Alchem-Jackers:''' Gain the ''Stubborn'' USR, but if a unit fails a Ld test due to enemy shooting it becomes pinned instead of falling back. ''~ This is a good thing most of the time since your unit doesn't actually leave its position.'' Plus you might have gone to ground anyway.
**'''Frenzon:''' Any unit can purchase ''Rage'', but '''must''' perform sweeping advances, which is never a drawback, ever.

*'''Survivors of a Dark Age:''' Very powerful... Every eligible units gains +1 to their armour save, which essentially means Grenadiers are wearing Power Armour. The compulsory Troops must be Grenadier squads.
**'''Advanced Weaponry:''' Grenadiers and Platoon Command Squads can buy +1 Strength for their las weapons or rotor cannons, which is very good but gets expensive since all squads have to pay if the upgrade is taken and you have to pay 20 points per squad. Grenadier squads and Command squads can also purchase a Rhino a [[Awesome|Land Raider Proteus]], or a [[Tunneling_Transport_Vehicles#Termite|Termite Assault Drill]] as dedicated transports. YES!
***The +1 Strength to regular las weapons isn't all that useful in reality, as the Grenadiers have to pay 10 points to get lascarbines before the 20 points to get +1 Strength, whereas bolters cost 30 points. Likewise, the Command Squad start with lascarbines but can upgrade to bolters for 20 points, meaning in many cases you may as well get the bolters and just be wannabe Space Marines.
***It DOES have uses with lasrifles (30" S4 Rapid Fire) or laslocks (S5 Assault 1), as well as rotor cannons (3/4 shots at 15"/30" S4 firepower), which are all superior to bolters in one way or another. Enemies are likely getting saves either way.
**Can't be combined with Cult Horde or Tainted Flesh provenances. ''~ Your world is too civilized for [[Chaos]].''

*'''Feral Warriors:''' The army gains +1WS. [[Ogryn]]s gain +1 attack instead. The army cannot have more vehicle units than infantry.
**'''Blade and Fury:''' All non-ogryn squads can purchase +1 attack for 25 points. ''~ Good to combine with the melee buffs of other provenances.''

*'''Abhuman Helots:''' All units gain +1 toughness but have -1 initiative. The lowered initiative isn't much of a price to pay, when most your foes are I4 marines, going from I3 to I2 isn't much of a deal, but it does mean that gene-crafted isn't as good with it.
**'''Discipline Collars:''' Can be purchased for any unit, not just levy squads. It grants ''Stubborn'', but if they EVER fail a morale check on a double six, their heads explode and you remove the unit entirely.
***The drawback for taking the collars is barely significant at all, because if you fail a morale check as a result of lost combat you are more than likely just about to be sweeping advanced ''(especially with your lower initiative)'', so this spares the need to roll any more dice...this universe makes us all into horrible people.
**Space Marines and [[Solar Auxilia]] treat you as Distrusted Allies. ''~ Even in the age of 30k, it still sucks to be a [[Mutant]]''.

*'''Cult Horde:''' ''(Traitors only)'' Massively changes what you can do with your army. All units gain ''Hatred'' and ''Stubborn'' USRs, and they must always charge if in range, even if they have fired weapons that would render them unable to charge ''(like Heavy or Rapid fire weapons)'', but they perform a disordered charge if they do. However, all units (effected by Provenances of War, so doesn't effect your vehicles!) can [[derp|ONLY make snap shots]] when shooting and cannot go to ground, so build your models accordingly. Furthermore, the army cannot take grenadier squads. Feel free take Tanks, Sentinals and Flyers for your dakka and leave your infantry to the infantry killing!
**'''Cult Demagogue:''' Automatically happens with this Provenance. Your Force Commander gets the ''Daemon'' and ''Preferred Enemy (Loyalists)'' special rules, which is pretty sweet. He can also purchase a Tainted Weapon like the Word Bearers, but is probably better served by picking another weapon.
**Cannot be combined with Survivors of the Dark Age, <s>but may use Chaos Daemons as Allies.</s> Demons are now Sworn Brothers with all traitors. ''~ You can't expect [[murderhobo]]s to be tech experts.''
**Note: This may not be worth it following the FAQ since you lost ''Zealot'' (and the Fearlessness that came with it) but your vehicles still don't snapshot so this is still a powerful Provenances of War. ''Hatred'' and ''Stubborn'' are good and all, but the change forces a reevaluation of how units need to be built; taking smaller units that don't sting if/when you lose them to a bad round of combat and the following sweeping advance. Other Provenances can give you access to ''Stubborn'' so it becomes whether you want ''Hatred'' plus access to Chaos stuff; or the option of ''Rage'' (Alchem Jackers) or +1 Tough/-1 Init (Abhuman Helots)
**All the Snapshotting really does is stop you bringing Infantry Squads, Grens (which you literally cannot take anyways), Fire Support Squads, Recons and Rapiers yet it increases your anti infantry capacity on the already efficient Levy squads (even more when combo'ed with Tainted Flesh), just bring Sentinals and as many Russ' you can for your anti vehicle. Nothing stopping you bringing Infantry squads with Shotguns or CCW if you wanted better stats.

*'''Tainted Flesh:''' ''(Traitors only)'' All units gain Fear, Feel no Pain (6+) and Rending in melee, compulsory Troops MUST be Levy squads and cannot have more "non-levy" squads than levy squads, They can only take the Force Commander and rogue psykers as HQs (with no discipline masters, [[Just as planned|expect total chaos]] among your levy squads). They also gain access to Mutant Sp... [[Chaos Spawn|the disgusting things]].
**Cannot be combined with Survivors of the Dark Ages, Gene-Crafted or Alchem-Jackers. ''~ The power of Humanity is nothing compared to the gifts of the [[Warp]].''

[[File:IMandWCTable.PNG|center|thumb|600px|Now in matrix format]]

===Wargear===
====Ranged Weapons====
This army has staggering variety of less than staggering guns, allowing you precise control over the balance and type of your firepower to affordability.
*'''Auxilia Rifle''': the standard-issue rifle for most of your units. Just an 18" S3 Assault 1 gun. They are described as any weapon ranging from black powder muskets to esoteric lasrifles not seen anywhere else, ''Survivors of a Dark Age'' doesn't apply to it in any case. Kudos to anyone who actually takes fantasy empire muskets on their models and starts mowing down space marines with them.
*'''Auxilia Pistol:''' Flintlock pistols essentially, 8" range and the same damage as the rifle. Characters don't really have the option to take them, since they'll have better laspistols to start with anyway. But your infantry/levy/grenadier squads can take them instead of a rifle giving you extra attacks in close combat when paired with their close combat weapons.
*'''Auxilia Lascarbine:''' The same as the 40k lasgun.
*'''Auxilia Lasrifle:''' Better than the 40k lasrifle because they have 30" range.
*'''Bolter:''' Better than the 40k lasrifle because it's an ARMOUR PIERCING ROCKET RIFLE. Not as impressive as it sounds, but you know it and you might just love it. Available to Grenadiers and Command Squads.
*'''Blast Pistol:''' available to most characters. It's S5 and twin linked, which for 5 points seems like a bargain, however it only has a 6" range and ''Gets Hot!'' So you might have little opportunity to use it.
*'''Hand Flamer:''' available to all of your characters and squad leaders. A good option since you don't have to rely on Ballistic Skill to hit anything and it adds to your overwatch. It is usually one if your more expensive options, but it adds more to a squad than a Bolt pistol or blast pistol, so it should always be considered for each squad sergeant.
*'''Laslock:''' 18" S4 Assault 1, so a straight upgrade from the Auxilia rifle, optionally becoming S5 if you have the right provenance.
*'''Shotgun:''' Compared to the alternatives is a shorter range but (relatively) strong rank and file assault weapon. Not exactly shooty enough for shooty armies (like most of the other options) nor slashy enough for slashy armies, but an option if you just have to deny charges and want to hurt them at least a little.
*'''Needle Pistol:''' Its a ''Poisoned, Rending'' pistol, not available to regular sergeants but can be taken by Force Commanders and Discipline Masters. At 5 points it should be the default option as it can be a threat to near enough any form of infantry barring Death Guard.
*'''Rotor Cannon:''' Just like what the Legions get, S3 Salvo 3/4 (thought it will be S4 if you use the right Provenance). Not very good here either, as it is further hampered by the fact that it can only be taken as a special weapon option in Grenadier squads where it competes with better options. Or by Servo-Automata, who can't even improve it using a Provenance.

====Melee Weapons====
*'''Augmented Weapon:''' An S4 close combat weapon, no matter what the strength of your model is. Can be bought for most characters, but grenadiers can have the whole squad take them instead of their close combat weapon. Still not great considering if you wanted a close combat unit, you'd have built your army with specific provenances to do the job. That said, Gene-Crafted isn't the only melee option so this does have a place, such as in tainted ferals or... Various ferals.
*'''Charnabal Saber:''' Only the Force Commander can take one, giving him/her the Rending rule in melee and +1 Initiative in a Challenge. It's cheap at 5 points and can be considered a throwaway option, but is outclassed by nearly every other option and if your opponent is decked out for melee you're likely going to die. The only situation where it is of any use is if you took the ''Gene Crafted'' provenance so your commander can now strike at S4 & I5 and have a shot against marine sergeants and lesser characters.
*'''Power Weapons:'''
**'''Power Sword:''' In most cases this is a bad option for militia, as you strike after Marines you're likely to never get a chance to use it. As with the Saber above, its function radically changes when you take ''Gene Crafted'', so now you hit at the same strength and speed as those Marines. Just avoid challenges, as you are going to die.
**'''Power Mace:''' A better option than a sword, because unless your opponent forgets to clothe his characters in highly artificed fineries, that S+2 and ''Concussive'' rule will help you a lot more than AP3 will.
**'''Power Axe:''' Probably your best option. You were going to strike last anyway so you might as well resign yourself to that fact. With a few swings this will likely cause wounds to anyone without an Invulnerable save.
*'''Power Fist:''' Only available to Force/Platoon Commanders. For five more points than an axe you can have a Fist, which wounds on a 2+ rather than the axe's 4+ ''(not counting Gene Crafted, where you could then even insta-kill a marine with your S8)''. However, the Fist falls into the points vortex which sucks up more points because you have to justify your investment: so as a ''Specialist Weapon'' you've got nothing to pair it with, so you need to buy Digi-Weapons or Master-Craft it to improve your attacks, then you'll need a good invulnerable save in order to protect it long enough to take a swing... It goes on, but you're still going to die.
*'''Tainted Weapon:''' specialist weapon CCW that causes instant death. Get your psykers to take it because it's cheap and they have no other option anyway, so you might get lucky. If your Force Commander has the option of taking it, you've bought ''Cult Horde'' and you need to give them a better weapon than this to take advantage of ''Hatred'' and ''Preferred Enemy'' - unless you've taken Tainted Flesh as well, in which case the combination of ''Preferred Enemy, Rending'' and ''Instant Death'' makes the weapon scarier than you think.... Especially against battle automata.

====Special Issue Gear & Armour====
*'''Flak Armour:''' Default for most units and characters. It's a 5+ save but you know that's practically worthless in a marine heavy environment like the Horus Heresy. However with the right Provenance, beefed up flak is as good as Carapace Armour. At least it's better than...
*'''Sub-Flak Armour:''' When you thought Flak offered as much defense as cardboard. Sub-Flak is more like wet tissue paper, offering only a 6+ save. Even ''Survivors of the Dark Age'' wont offer any relief cause you're only bumping back to 5+ ''(still useless)'' Thankfully only your disposable Levy squads wear this, so it doesn't really matter if they die.
*'''Carapace Armour:''' comes standard on Grenadiers and can be bought as an upgrade for your HQ units. DO THIS even if you don't take the ''Survivors'' provenance, it gives you an actual save against bolt weapons.
*'''Power Armour:''' you know what this does. Sadly 3+ is as good as it gets; it is not further upgraded using Provenances and you can find ways to get yourself a 3++ save instead, so buying it is strictly optional.
*'''Refractor Field:''' 5+ save for your Force Commander. Can be bought for your Platoon Commanders Enginseers or Discipline Masters.
*'''Iron Halo:''' only available to your Force Commander.
*'''Cyber Familiar:''' This is where it gets interesting: it adds +1 to Invulnerable saves ''(to a maximum of 3+)'' and let's you reroll failed characteristic tests [[Fail|(but not Ld checks)]]. Your first option is to take it as a budget Iron Halo, as its five points cheaper than the Halo for the same save. Or you go the full nine yards and get the 3++ save for twenty five points. You need to decide if your Force Commander is worth that much, cause now you need to load up on even more gear to make your investment worthwhile. But at least this means you don't need to buy Carapace/Power Armour.
**Enginseers can buy a familiar too, but they also need to buy the Refractor Field separately, falling into the same points vortex as the Commander for only a single wound model.
*'''Nuncio Vox:''' only two ways of getting this in your army: either buying it for Enginseers or taken as a compulsory member of your Platoon Command Squad, so they'll rarely be seen on the field. It helps prevent deep strike scatter and spots for barrage weapons. Not a big deal because your army doesn't really deep strike, and Space Marine allies have these pretty much everywhere.
*'''Vexilla:''' available to your big Troops units for 10 points and let's you add +1 to combat resolution, as well as allowing you to attempt regroups normally when below 25% strength. Is it worth it? Ugh... Your soldiers are likely to die in droves in melee, but since your Provenances are nearly all geared towards getting you into melee you're going to want this on your side, if only to stop the pain from being laid on so thickly. If it ever helps you win combat then you've entirely justified its cost.
*'''Platoon Standard:''' only on your Platoon Command Squad, so it won't be a regular fixture in most armies. It grants pseudo-stubborn to friendly militia within 24". Very useful and is the glue that holds together most militia armies, unlesss you have stubborn elsewhere/in provenance.
*'''Infravisor:''' available to your Force Commander and your Recon squads. Grants ''Night Fight'' but makes you take ''Blind'' tests at Initiative 1. It's cheap enough but you really need to think about what to go with it, as Night Fighting never lasts past the first few turns. So make sure your Recon troops have Sniper Rifles and/or you attach your Force Commander to an artillery battery so you can get the most out of your early game advantage.

====Psyarkana====
As of ''HH8: Malevolence'' the Imperial Militia were granted access to Psyarkana items. Although their level of access is severely limited compared to Space Marine Legions, they do have a handful of items that they are permitted to take. Bearing in mind that the only available Independent Character in the army is the Force Commander.

*'''Icon of the Blazing Sun:''' Available to Loyaltist Independent Characters. Daemons locked in combat get their WS reduced to 1. With the right gear and Provenance this could make your warlord merely ''alright'' against Daemons as well as giving an attached melee squad a sorely needed edge. The other ability allows you to nullify psychic powers, though with a base Leadership of 8 it is a bit of a gamble otherwise you lose wounds for the attempt. This psy-relic does have uses, but it's almost certainly not worth specialising that much.
*'''Liber Magra Veneficarum:''' Traitor Independent Characters only. Get one level of Psychic Mastery and the ''Incursion'' power. The guaranteed ability to summon Daemon Brutes/Beasts can be pretty cool, though as a WC3 Daemonology power it might be a bit difficult to manifest without having a few extra warp charges in the bank, but luckily traitors can also take Rogue Psykers as other HQ choices.
*'''Terminal Lucidity Injectors:''' No, your Force Commander is not strong enough to justify one final burst of ranged shooting or one final melee attack ''(that still needs to roll to hit and to wound)'' is just not worth it.
*'''Psy-Resonant Pentacles:''' A cheap option that can really mess with Daemons or Psykers in close combat by dropping them to the rear of the Initiative order, so if you have the Force Commander in a melee squad like Ogryns you could pull off something surprising. It's cheap enough that if you know you're fighting the right opponent you can take it as a throwaway option that makes itself useful, just don't spring for an Iron Halo because it overrides the save with a 5++.
*'''Armatus Necrotechnica:''' 50 points to give a tank the ability to self-heal on a 6+ whenever models within 6" lose wounds, as well as dropping Ld values by -1 in the same radius. While this sounds underwhelming, it does apply the healing ''every time'' models lose wounds and not just once per turn. It is probably too expensive to put on a Leman Russ tank, Malcadors might do better, but Stormhammers with EIGHT Heavy Flamers are suddenly going to be impossible to kill once they get within firing range and have a large enough table footprint that the Ld Aura will be huge.

====Relics====
The Imperial Militia use the generic list of Dark Age of Technology relics everyone uses, but there are no specific ones to their army. So they don't get anything unique. Since they are restricted for IC use, the only ones with access to them would be the Force Commander or a Traitorous Rogue psyker, and both would be good recipients for such an item, particularly because the army relies on them much more than the Solar Auxilia does.

In a campaign you're only allowed one character with a relic which you'll be stuck for the rest of the campaign, so be sure of your decision. If the relic bearer is killed, the side that killed him can choose to play a Relic Hunt mission, where the winner steals (or recovers) the relic, even if it's a Legion specific one, but a Draw means that relic is effectively lost for everyone. Still, you can always opt to play a 'Relic Hunt' mission at the beginning of every campaign phase to [[Blood_Ravens|acquire]] FREE relics, where your war zone-assigned character must be deployed and thus miss all other missions played in that phase...but that way you can [[Adeptus_Mechanicus|hoard up]] on [[Blood_Ravens|relics]], even getting duplicates of the non-faction-specific ones, by rolling a D6 on the 'Relic Uncovered' table below. Of course, this only matters when playing missions instead of casual gaming, enjoy!

*'''#1 Nanyte Blaster:''' The [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grey_goo Grey Goo] gun of uncontrolled carnage!!! It's a S5 AP2 Fleshbane weapon, where if it kills anyone you center a large blast over the dead model on a die roll of 4+, causing a S5 AP2 hit to those underneath it. Unlike Volkite, each model who dies to this can cause ''yet MOAR'' large blasts on further rolls of a 4+. All you need to do is get one casualty and you can wipe out an entire unit! Smashing! Hilarious when it really works.
*'''#2 Warp Shunt Field:''' 3++ against shooting, however for every save of a 6+ (against direct fire weapons) the shooting unit suffers D6 S5 hits. This is the only risk-free defensive relic. Also hilarious if you get really lucky.
*'''#3 Phase Walker:''' Each moving phase, instead of moving you may place the bearer anywhere you like, counting as having just deep struck but with no scatter. If you move through a solid object you have to take a dangerous terrain check for EACH solid object you went through (including all models) so be wary of abusing it in city scenarios. Quite nice for Void Masters, who have Move through Cover, so feel free to abuse it. Too bad this leaves behind the rest of his unit, and commanders aren't known for being one-men armies. If you're up against an Assault heavy army though or are playing a Zone Mortalis/Cities of Death game it can make it's points back as your Warlord retreats through walls (and into another unit) so he can't be assaulted, like a panic button.
*'''#4 Combat Augment Array:''' Once per game, at the beginning of any of the controller's player turn, he may count any '''single''' die (only 1) rolled as an automatic 6 (Emails from FW confirm). However, he must also pass Toughness tests for each remaining wound. If he fails he suffers a wound with no saves or mitigating FnP rolls of any kind. A Cyber familiar can mitigate the danger by granting a re-roll on the commander tests. However, you're paying 35pts for '''one''' guaranteed 6 - nice combo with a Paragon Blade, but given that everyone strikes before you...[[Tau|do you really want to be in Close combat]]?
*'''#5 Cloaking Array:''' Once per game, at the ''beginning'' of ANY game turn you may make yourself invisible for that whole game turn (ie. on the 3rd turn both in your and your opponent's turn, thus starting on your enemy's turn if he goes first). You cannot be shot or charged at unless the enemy unit contains psykers or daemons, in which case the array immediately shuts down (so now ''everyone'' can hit you, not just the previous two). Unfortunately you cannot activate it while attached to a squad or if engaged in close combat already. You also cannot shoot, assault, move or ''do anything at all''. So your model stands on the same spot invisible but doing nothing during a whole game turn. Since you don't want your commander to be alone, pass on this one.
*'''#6 Void Shield Harness:''' Yep. You can get a [[Void_shields|voidshield]] for your dude. It's a large blast-sized shield, centered on your dude but protecting anyone that fits inside. Glancing, Penetrating and Destroyer hits will collapse the shield, but it can be restored at the end of your turn on a 5+, and with AV12 you'll be immune to most small arms fire. However, a result of Explodes! will overload the shield, disabling it for the rest of the game and placing a S6 AP4 Large Blast template centered on the bearer - that's '''Instant Death''' for your commander and his friends, who won't get their armor saves, so get the hell away from Meltaguns.

===Warlord Traits===
#'''Ruthless Tyrant:''' Gain +1 Leadership (to max 9) and the army may reroll Reserves
#'''Merchant Princeling:''' One infantry unit get better ranged weapons, and count their AP as one value better - ''so pick heavy support squads for [[Rape|AP3 Autocannons or Heavy Bolters]] or AP2 missiles''
#*'''Note:''' it can only be applied to a unit with the Infantry type - but not necessarily just 'provenance' infantry - so an enginseer with a cadre of ap2 phase-plasma fusils is possible.
#**Also note this ''isn't restricted to Militia and Cults units''. Did someone say [[Wat|buffing Custodes weapons]]?
#'''Beloved of the People:''' If the warlord ever dies, then the rest of his army gets Hatred from the remainder of the game. - ''Sucks if you took Cult Horde as a provenance''
#'''Marcher Lord:''' The warlord gains ''Implacable Advance'' (becoming a scoring unit in AoD games) and ''Stubborn'' while within 3" of an objective.
#'''Connoisseur of Alien Curios:''' Grab ''Fear'' and ''It Will Not Die''
#'''Robber Baron:''' The warlord can voluntarily fail any morale check and may also re-roll Run or Fall Back distances.

==Unit Analysis==

===HQ===
*'''0-1 Force Commander:''' An Independent character with a relatively poor statline compared to every other unit in the Age of Darkness (such is to be a man in a time of giants), worse even than the Solar Auxilia's Legate Commander, but you don't want him for his combat skills, but because you NEED him in order to purchase Provenances of War, so you are going to have him. Furthermore, he can pay 20pts for the ability to choose his Warlord trait instead of rolling for it, so you can reliably pull some pretty powerful combinations like using the -1AP with your Heavy Weapon squads, which is the only one you'll ever pick because your choices are limited to the Militia Cults WL trait list only and the other five are balls. He's pretty customizable, starting with a 5++ that can be upgraded up to a 3++, and can buy power armour as well as a variety of melee weapons and pistols for those times you want him to pull his weight after you used your WT, but don't expect him to be a hero unit.

*'''Discipline Master Cadre:''' 2-5 near-Commissars, they get attached to other units and add +1 Ld ''(to max 9, and it is going to be nine anyway since their own Ld was eight)'' and allow for a LD reroll if they shoot some squad members. Oddly they're not as harsh as their 40k brethren, and while they cause D3 wounds to their unit, these wounds can be saved, although it could be argued that wild BLAMing is just as harsh as precise BLAMing. These guys may not be the compulsory HQ choice nor can any of them be the warlord, but your Force Commander was going to do all of that anyway. ''Back in the day'' your common Commissar had 2W base and a S4 weapon, and could buy a power weapon and refractor field at discount price.

*'''Auxiliary Platoon Command Squad:''' Six dudes; one commander who is basically there to get gear and nothing else, one nuncio-vox operator, one standard bearer who allows Militia units within 24" to discount casualties when taking morale checks ''(Stubborn aura, essentially)'' and three bodyguards, with the option to add four more of them. No orders because this ain't 40k, they also don't get heavy weapon teams. But all of the bodyguards in the squad may replace their lascarbines/autoguns with a variety of weapons, like bolters or heavy stubbers. Also, the Platoon Commander is merely Ld7 and the rest of the boys is Ld6, such was leadership in the Imperial Militia.
**Just keep the squad bare bones with lascarbines or CCW's except for a refractor field on the commander to eat AP4 or better, as if you're taking these for anything but the stubborn aura you're a moron.

*'''Rogue Psyker''' ''(Cult Horde or Tainted Flesh only)'' ML1 psykers with two wounds, but a sucktastic BS2 so witchfires that roll to hit are generally going to be useless, so avoid them. If they are ever killed short of being "removed from play" then they get possessed on a roll of 5+, which becomes a 2+ if they were killed by losing a wound to perils of the warp, replacing the model with a a 3 wound WS5/S5 rending nightmare. These guys are miles better than the Renegades & Heretics version by being independent characters, they cause fear, have FnP, and can actually take proper psychic powers from Pyromancy, Telekinesis, Biomancy and Malefic Daemonology. One psyker per detachment can even be upgraded to an "Alpha" psyker, granting him ML2, WS/BS3 (instead of 2), three Wounds and Toughness 4 making him a far better prospect.
**The January 2016 FAQ finally updated a points cost for these guys, they now come in at 35 points for the basic ML1 psyker.
**You can even buy them a Tainted Weapon on the cheap, giving their attacks the ''Instant Death'' special rule. Note that this weapon gets lost if the psyker gets possessed since you had to "remove" the psyker and "replace" it entirely with the daemon model. Still, for five points a lucky wound can do some real damage on enemy special characters and if you rolled Iron Arm on biomancy or Fiery Form on pyromancy then you've created a pretty mean close combat unit.
**When choosing psychic powers, just be aware of the limitations of the unit. As mentioned, the poor statline generally means rolling to-hit on witchfires are going to disappoint you, but beams, novas and to a lesser extent, blasts are still alright.

===Troops===
*'''Militia Infantry Squad:''' Twenty guardsmen with auxilia rifles and shitty Ld. No platoons, just one squad per slot. The sergeant gets customisation and can take things like hand flamers and power weapons. Also the squad can replace their auxilia rifles (18" S3) for a variety of weapons, from different-lasguns (lascarbines or lasrifles) to assault oriented weapons (shotguns, laslocks, pistols for +1A). Oh, and they get a goddammed ''Super-heavy as a DT'', the Gorgon Heavy Transport. Have fun.

*'''Inducted Levy Squad:''' 20-50 conscripts with shitty BS2 auxilia rifles and shittier sub-flak armour. They have the same options as regular militia but just don't bother because they're here as fodder. Which is what they are fantastic at, because ''they never confer any points for their destruction'' like by kill points or by first blood, making them perfectly expendable. ''Back in the day'' however, <s>Conscript</s> Levy squads had a sarge of their own (to take challenges for the not-Commissar you'll add to them to make them Ld9), and could either upgrade their dakka to "decent" tier (lascarbine, laslock) or accept the fact BS2 is useless and get a pistol instead for +1 attack. And if they objected they could be given Discipline collars to make them Stubborn. Oh, those were the times.
**Puny as they look, Levy squads can be turned into rather scary melee units, as all mobs are. Especially in ''Cult Horde'' armies, where you now have a huge mob with 3 re-rollable attacks on the charge ''(4 if you also bought Feral Warriors)'', though unless you find ways of shoring up their leadership you should be prepared to lose them following the first round of combat because ''Stubborn'' isn't enough to save you from a bad leadership roll and being swept up in the advance which follows, so at least they were cheap and expendable. Combo ''Cult Horde'' with ''Tainted Flesh'' for ''Rending'' attacks and the prospect of causing ''Fear'' on certain 30k Legions. 50 mooks with multiple rerollable rending attacks will chew through nearly any target on the table through weight of numbers, including Primarchs and will never cost you victory points if/when they get wiped out.

*'''Militia Grenadier Squad:''' 10-18 veterans with BS4, carapace armour and auxilia rifles. These guys do well to replace their weapons with something else due to their increased accuracy. The remaining two spaces are made up by adding special weapon guys.
**If you've got grenade launchers in the squad, you can buy Gas and Fireburst grenades for them. Both are small blast weapons, Fireburst grenades are S3 and pinning so might be good as a trolling device, whilst Gas Grenades are Poisoned (4+) and Ignore Cover, the problem with Gas grenades though are that they have only AP5 so Space Marines and Solar Auxilia are getting saves anyway, making normal frag rounds either exactly the same or better for most situations, unless you are fighting against other Militia or Cult armies.
**These guys can allow you to have dick-swinging contests with the [[What|Tau]]. Grab Survivors of the Dark Age, Lasrifles, +1 Strength Upgrade and 8 extra guys coming to 140 points. Now lets compare to the Tau Strike Squad. Tau: BS3, 30" S5 AP5, 12/24 shots, T3 and 4+ Save. You: BS4, 30" S4 AP-, 18-36 shots, T3(4 with Abhuman Helot) 3+ Save. And you can add 2 Rotor cannons to that to up the number of shots to a grand total of 44. While the Tau do get markerlight support and could therefore [[Rape|annihilate]] your squad off the board, they can't take all of them on at once, especially when they have to worry about your supper cheap tanks/artillery. [[Troll|Don't forget that this squad is only 160 points tops.]]
**While they can take a Land Raider Proteus, just pay more for a Gorgon unless you really want an Explorator Augury Web, it has the same AV as the Proteus except for its ass, can take Armoured Ceramite, has FIVE more HP, and is only 95 points more.

*'''Fire Support Squad:''' your heavy weapon squads, just like with imperial guard, but as Troops choices with no platoon tax. Unfortunately as support squads they cannot be compulsory choices. They come in units of 5-10 teams and have the full range of guard weapons, including heavy stubbers and multilasers. This unit has awesome potential.
**Grab a unit of 10 Heavy Flamers and screw holding the line. These guys can move up the board and toast some motherfuckers because who said that heavy weapons need to stay still? Don't forget that [[Troll|all of these guys are 2 Wounds, 2 Attacks and have a laspistol + CCW]], so make for surprisingly good assault troops. [[Rape|Add in the -1AP Warlord Trait and teach Marines fear again]]. THIS should be the way you have them for any assault-based list, and creates awesome modeling opportunities.

*'''Reconnaissance Squad:''' Five veterans in flak armour and are a support unit. But they have scout, infiltrate, move through cover and the option to buy chameleoline. They probably cost way too much for a base squad of five men in flak armour. But they may replace their lascarbines with shotguns or sniper rifles for a flat cost, I wonder which one you'll choose? Their sergeant can also take a demo charge, which might make some interesting suicide bomber units <strike>in a cult horde list</strike> for any provenance other than cult horde because all snap fire all the time means no blast or template weapons sadly.

===Dedicated Transports===
*'''Auxillia Gorgon Heavy Transporter''' So, the Space Marines can get Land Raiders, Solar Auxillia get Dracosans, and we get a super heavy tank as our main transport? Seems legit. With 9 Hull Points, AV 14/14/10 and a 5++ save on the front (4++ against Blast and Template weapons) it'll be tough for you opponent to take it down without devoting serious resources to it (unless they get behind it, in which case it's as good as dead). It comes stock with a one-use Gorgon Mortar Battery (12-48" S5 AP5 Heavy 4 Blast, Barrage and Pinning) and two twin linked Autocannons, as well as coming with the ability to transport 40 dudes and imposing a -2 modifier to the Catastrophic Damage Table. It can spring for hunter killer missiles and Armoured Ceramite (for the ultimate expression of FUCK YOU to your opponent), as well as swapping the Autocannons for TL Multi-Lasers or TL Lascannons. It can also swap it's Gorgon Mortar Battery for two forward and two rearward facing sponsons which must all be the same type, either Autocannons, Heavy Flamers, Heavy Bolters, Multi-Lasers or Lascannons. However you'll only field it with a plan in mind as it costs 275 points base, meaning no spamming superheavies.
**Note: This thing ''is not'' Open-topped, so don't let your opponent fool you into thinking that. Not that it will matter to that Drop Pod full of Marines with Meltas, they'll punch through your paper-thin AV 10 rear armour like it's a game of [[FATAL]] even if you do get Armored Ceramite. Oh, but also note that, since it has lost open-topped, it's not an Assault Vehicle any more. So those 40 provenanced-up Cult goons might not be as useful as you think.
*'''Aurox Armored Transport:''' A [[Rhino]] analog, usable by Command Cadres and Grenadier Squads numbering 10 or less. Apart from using a Heavy Stubber (that can be replaced with a Heavy Flamer) instead of a Storm Bolter, costing 10 pts less and BS3, it's pretty much identical to the Rhino, but has no potential upgrades (even the dozer blade).
*'''Rhino Armoured Carrier''' ''(Survivors of a Dark Age only)'' It's a Rhino, you know what it does. Stolen from the Space Marines, it has the exact same options as the one in the Crusade army list, so look there for more info. Also note that it has the same profile, so it's BS 4. Won't be amazingly handy, but it's worth remembering.
*'''Land Raider Proteus''' ''(Survivors of a Dark Age only)'' Mwhahaha, my puny humans now have access to one of the most powerful tanks in the game. No forward assault ramp means no Assault Vehicle and awkward model placement, and it only comes with two twin linked Lascannons stock. However it's also the cheapest of the Land Raiders, and can take the ever-useful Explorator Augury Web as well as other useful things such as Armoured Ceramite, hull mounted Heavy Bolters/Flamers, Auxiliary Drives and a host of weapon options. However, these costs add up quick, and as the Gorgon is only 75 points more and (generally) much more survivable and can lay down more hurt, you may want to think about taking one of those instead.

===Elites===
*'''Ogryn Brute Squad:''' 3-10 Ogryns with big sticks, flak armour and frag grenades. That's it. But the beauty of this in how they can be customised. You can buy power weapons, boarding shields or combat shields and get something equivalent to Bullgryns. Buy ripper guns and you've got normal 40k ogryns. You can even buy Heavy Bolters, that become 18" range assault weapons when held in their hands!!! However, the rules do say that each model may only buy one option from the list, so you cannot load up on cool shit, but you are allowed to mix and match. The only upgrade that is universal across the whole squad is Carapace Armour ''(which can be upgraded using Provenances to create [[Awesome|power armoured Ogryns]])'' which for a flat cost is always worth it. Consider what effect the army provenances will have on them before you build them, but the combinations are nearly endless.
**Shields are a tricky one; individually, a 6++/5++ invulnerable save at a cost of taking any improvement in damage output is absolutely not worth it. ''(Unless you take Tainted Flesh because they get enough rules to handle themselves)'' '''That being said...''' if the majority of the squad ''([[derp|thanks to the FAQ]])'' are equipped with Boarding Shield then it has a similar effect to Defensive Grenades, making the whole squad resistant to incoming charges. A 'frontline' of shields and 'rear rank' of axes works better than a pure unit of either. Cyber-augmetics plus shields give a 4++ in assault - pretty good on something as tough as an ogryn.
**Additional CCW is expensive at 10 points '''EACH''' for just one extra attack. If that's all you wanted remember that the ''Feral Warriors'' provenance gives them an extra attack a flat cost to the whole army
**Power Weapons are your most expensive option by far, but they also grant the 2 weapon bonus as well as beefing the unit with killy stuff. Axes become preferred here because even if you strike last, a model equipped with one is still likely to survive and beat down a marine or two. Maces tend to work alongside ''Gene-Crafted'' because of S8 and a chance at instant death, but a sword would strike at I4 as well so remains a good option. Kitting out a whole squad necessitates creating a Deathstar unit though.
**Lascutters should be avoided unless you are specifically trying to build up a set of Big Daddy clones [[Your Dudes|or something themed like that]], as they negate all the benefits of being an Ogryn.
**Guns are really up to you, as the models are already there for it. But having BS2 is not encouraging, massed S5 firepower can be found more cheaply and accurately in Fire Support squads or Leman Russ squadrons.

*'''Imperialis Auxilia Medicae Detachment:''' 3-6 guardsmen with medipacks and laspistol/CCW. No customisation beyond whatever provenances you take. You just deploy them separately to squads and get FnP. You are allowed to double up if you want to make certain a squad doesn't lose the rule.

*'''Enginseer Auxilia:''' one of the few squads that gains no benefit from your provenance, so it is what it is. You get 1-3 Enginseers and 4-8 Servo-Automata, which are basically more customisable T5 servitors that can take cool guns like phased plasma fusils or flamers. Enginseers can take invulnerable saves and graviton/volkite weapons if they want, and they can fix stuff and gain bonuses for each servitor with a servo arm in the unit.
**Enginseers are one of the few units that can take Augury Scanners which, after the latest FAQ, gives them Interceptor on everythin. Full stop. This makes Enginseer Auxilia one of the only ways to counter deep striking squads with Multi-Meltas or plasma-fusils. ''(Yes, Marine Heavy Support squads can do this bigger and better, but Enginseers can do it from the Elites slot and at peanuts per model!)''
**This unit is particularly useful in a cult horde list as it's unaffected by the provenance's enforced snap-firing, meaning this is your only infantry unit that has a chance of hitting a barn door at range. Take phased plasma-fusils plus the -1AP WL trait and drink the tears of anyone spamming Terminators or MEQs in artificer armour. Your dream of removing a deep striking Cataphractii unit in its own turn with 24 S6 AP2 shots? Fulfilled.

===Fast Attack===
*'''Arvus Lighter:''' Only marginally better than the travesty of their 40k incarnation in that they can take guns and use them properly; this makes them like flying razorbacks with twice the transport capacity. You can take them as dedicated transports for grenadiers and to be honest, it might be worth it here if you can stomach forking out for a resin box when you can have so many other things (why are you buying a Arvus Lighter this is Militia and Cults you could use a Tau Devilfish if you want). Since the Arvus won't last long with the amount of Dakka that 30k brings to the table. You may as well go full bore and shell out points for the twin linked Lascannons and the Armored Cockpit. Also should be considered, outside of Survivors of the Dark Age, the only non super heavy transport.

*'''Auxilia Sentinel Scout Squadron:''' almost exactly the same as the guard option, three to six chicken walkers with a heavy weapon, no plasma cannons but you can take a multi-melta. You can also take combat blades granting them +1 attack, but taking open topped AV10 walkers into melee is still generally not a good idea. By contrast, their ability to scout (and therefore outflank), makes them ideal for tank hunting.

*'''Thunderbolt Heavy Fighter:''' If you have one, field it as these are the business. They start off at BS4 which means their considerable firepower is going to come to bear more reliably, which now includes Kinetic Piercer missiles, which while only S6, are AP2, armourbane and heat-seeking which makes them twin linked against other flyers. While you could swap them for hellstrike missiles, you'd be an idiot to do so because of the drawbacks of the ordnance rule, but if you wanted more ground attack then sunfury missiles can be bought which are AP3 large blast and blinding but get hot. For added goodies, they can buy strafing run, so your nose guns hit things on the ground with rerollable 2s, and a flare shield which reduced incoming firepower by -1 strength.

*'''Terrax Pattern Termite Assault Drill:''' You get this five points cheaper than Solar Auxilia for the same standard loadout and 15 points cheaper than Legiones Astartes who have to buy heavy flamers separately. What you get is an underground drop-pod capable of carrying 12 models and arriving via special deep-strike, scattering a 5" blast marker, automatically avoiding impassable terrain and engaged units and then causing an automatic S10 AP- hit on anything else it scatters onto, then forcing the survivors to move out of the way so you can fit the giant drill who can then hose down the nearby units with heavy flamers. It is '''not''' an assault vehicle, so anything that deploys will be standing around waiting for the inevitable counter charge, unfortunately your melee units such as Levy squads need not apply since their minimum squad size is too high, and Ogryns are bulky and are not allowed. Because your shooting units tend to be quite fragile at close ranges maybe save it for some disposable short ranged squads like a shotgun Recon squad with a demo charge. Otherwise stick an Enginseer inside to keep it fixed and provide some nasty fire support with the tech thralls when he disembarks.
**It is one of the few units that can perform a turn 1 deep strike thanks to the ''Subterranean Assault'' rule, though you can only deploy half (rounding up) of these units on the first turn. Unless you play ''Survivors of the Dark Age'' you will be unlikely able to deploy more than two in the first turn because they are only Fast Attack choices but it still can be good for pushing enemy units out of position. If you do play ''Survivors'' and take them as dedicated transports for your grenadiers then you could pull off massed deep strikes the likes of which only an orbital assault Astartes army can achieve.

===Heavy Support===
*'''Rapier Battery:''' Your entry level artillery unit. You start out with quad multilasers which have all the sixes. You get six twin-linked shots at S6 AP6 at a range of 36" ''(6x6)'', so is very good at taking out infantry. You can swap this for a quad heavy bolter for free, which would be better against GEQ units due to the superior AP value. If you're looking for anti-tank then you can buy laser destroyers, which are 48" S9 AP1 twin-linked Ordnance, which are excellent even considering the the shitiness of the men firing them. If you want to annoy your opponent, then the most expensive option is the quad-mortar (thudd gun), which fires of four ''pinning + shell shock'' S5 small blasts each, so a battery of them will pepper the battlefield. While they may have poor AP and average strength for a heavy weapon, they can consume a chunk of time to resolve and give you a psychological advantage over your opponent as he gets frustrated with so many templates and wants you dead. Overall Rapiers are good and cheap, but at only Ld 6 and flimsy guardsmen crew they are going to fall over if something looks at them funny.
**Regarding longevity, remember that if the unit falls back, they abandon the gun which means it is permanently lost even if they regroup later. So morale boosting upgrades/provenances become your main priority. Don't worry so much about armour plating them, because the gun already has T7 and a 3+ save.
***Funnily, "Cult Horde" isn't as terrible for them because the quad laser/bolters can still snap fire twin linked, so can still potentially hurt something, yet because they are ''Artillery'' they are prohibited from declaring a charge, so can remain safely in position.
***"Alchem Jackers" can be a godsend, since it pins the unit when they suffer shooting morale checks instead of running away, meaning you don't automatically lose the gun, and still be able to shoot with quad guns on the same turn by snapfiring. While this has little benefit in melee, if your rapier gets caught up in close combat it's going to be dead soon anyway.

*'''Heavy Ordnance Battery:''' Immobile Earthshaker guns each with 4-8 crewmen who are subject to your provenance. If you're taking these hopefully your army has good leadership modifying rules since the crew only have LD 6 and will abandon the gun if they have to fall back. Either keep these WELL out of the way, or bump their leadership as high as you can. You swap the Earthshakers for Medusa Siege Guns, which is more cost for the same risk, but you gain the option of buying Breacher Shells.
**Breacher Shells are S10 AP1 Armorbane. When combined with the regular ordinance blasts of the Medusa, these batteries are one of your best sources of anti-tank.
**Unlike the rapier batteries, there is no way to snap fire with these guns, being both "Blast" and "Ordnance". So pinning the unit will effectively neutralise it. Taking "Cult Horde" with them makes you an idiot.
**Because as long as the gun is alive everyone is T7, but only the closest model tanks all the shots, consider an Aegis defense line to shield your artillery.

*'''Carnodon Strike Squadron:''' Predators on a budget, they are only BS3 and have AV12 on the front, but at 60 points each when their Heavy Bolter/Flamer sponsons are free you can fit a whole lot of dakka into a small list without having to buy any additional upgrades for them. They come in squadrons so you can scale up to suit your points allowance, and you can replace those sponsons for autocannons to have the same S7 coverage all around. There isn't a whole lot to mention here, since the tank itself is nothing spectacular and has few options for upgrades. The main draw is their value.
**Yes, the actual model comes with the option to swap for multi-lasers, volkites and lascannons, but Imperial Militia don't have those options. Autocannon turrets with bolter/flamer/autocannon sponsons only but at least that stops the unit from becoming a points sink if you invest too much into them. If you want more guns on a bigger budget then consider Leman Russes instead.

*'''Battle Tank Attack Squadron:''' Leman Russes, everyone's favourite, chosen from the vanilla, annihilator, exterminator, demolisher and vanquisher flavours. They've only got access to Heavy Bolter and Flamer sponsons (which is still better than the Solar Auxilia, who get no sponsons at all), but hilariously they can replace the hull gun with a multilaser, which might be a good idea if you're taking an ordnance tank and just want a gun for snap firing, or even as a makeshift AA gun.

*'''Malcador Heavy Tank:''' bigger Leman Russes, also a fast super heavy vehicle that is not a Lord of War. You can upgrade it to AV14 on the front if you sacrifice the Fast rule, but you can also take a Flare shield which applies all over and is boosted against templates. These used to be great tanks, but after the latest FAQ removed super heavy from their profile (what the FUCK Anuj????) they are now, unfortunately, pretty useless unless. You could take something like full lascannons to circumvent this problem and keep them cheap, but it's still a long way from the high strenght ordinance blasts.

*'''Mutant Spawn:''' ''(Tainted Flesh only)'' oh shi- GLARBLBLBLBL... ''Ahem'' slightly lesser than the 40k chaos version, possibly because they started out as humans and not space marines. They don't get access to marks and have only I2, however these ones have IWND and Hammer of Wrath as well as being 5 points cheaper on a per model basis, albeit with a higher startup cost like everything in HH, but you can take them in squads of ten which makes them a very potent prospect in melee. Their mutation table has also been heavily modified; taking effect from the beginning of the game and '''cannot be changed'''. Ones give them only a 5+ armour save, but at least it applies out of combat. Twos make them reroll 1s for random attacks, bleh. Threes give them Rending, so hope for this one and you can possibly have a big squad of these tearing through virtually anything.

===Lord of War===

*'''[[Baneblade|Auxilia Baneblade]]:''' - Though outclassed by the Legion Fellblade, the Baneblade is still a nasty proposition to face. Sporting a Baneblade cannon, Autocannon, Demolisher Cannon and a twin-linked heavy bolter. With the option of two/four Lascannons and two/four more twin-linked heavy bolters ''(the sponsons don't come as standard here)'' optional pintle mounts, AND optional Hunter-killer missile, it is a rolling fortress of death.

*'''Auxilia Stormhammer:''' - Taking Dakka to a logical extreme, the Stormhammer is less a superheavy and more a rolling fortress bristling with guns. Its hull weapon is a TL Battle Cannon, and its main gun is a S9 AP2 cannon with shred and pinning. With the options to take a pintle-mounted multilaser or heavy flamer, up to 4 HK missiles(!), a coaxial multilaser, a hull lascannon on top of the battle cannons, and six sponsons, all of which are armed with multilasers by default (making it [[C.S. Goto]]'s dream tank) but can be swapped out for heavy bolters, heavy flamers, or lascannons (and the first two options are free), it can take on more targets at once than any other superheavy. (The sponsons are switched out individually, so feel free to mix and match however you like.) and the whole tank can buy targeters giving it a nifty BS4. In short, the Stormhammer is your best bet for a versatile superheavy that can fit any situation that you can think of.

===Fortifications===

===Age of Darkness Theme: Army of Dark Compliance===
Built from a blending of Legiones Astartes and units from the Imperial Militia and Warp Cults list. However, it is quite distinct from the "Sacrificial Offering" Rite of War in that it does not use up your allies slot, allowing you to take allies from a third source. But it does prevent you from using a rite of War, so you cannot layer on extra special rules.

However you are still privy to the insane customisation options presented in the Warp Cults list, and you are not prevented from taking any option from your Legion list either.

The "Age of Darkness" themes requires your opponents permission to use, however it is an easy theme to build an army around because there are few rules to take account of.

*'''Restrictions'''
**You build your army with units from both the Crusade List and the Imperial Militia and Warp Cults list.
**You must include a Space Marine Praetor, Centurion or Consul to be your Warlord.
***''Do note that to take any Provenances of War you'll also need a "Force Commander" as one of your HQ choices as well.''
**Your army is automatically part of the traitor faction.
**You cannot use Rites of War.
**"Legiones Astartes" rules that apply to models by virtue of being in the same detachment do not apply of Militia units.
***''That means the only way to get Militia units to benefit from Astartes rules would be to attach an independent character with special rules that confer to units.''
**Unless specifically noted otherwise, all units count as being part of the same list for rules purposes such as Transports, Warlord traits and so on.
**You cannot include more units from the Legiones Astartes list than from the Imperial Militia list.
***''This is your main restriction, which prevents you from merely dabbling in Militia units.''
**You may not include Discipline Master Cadres

*'''Special Rules'''
**'''The Warmaster's Due:''' "[[Warhammer 40,000/Tactics/Tyrant's Legion(7E)|Tyrants Due]]" by another name, any time your Legion units are shot at which draws its line of fire through infantry militia units, you can add +1 to any cover save gained. However the militia unit then takes D3 wounds with no AP value, meaning your crap sub-flak conscript could take a hit from a Lascannon intended for a Space Marine and potentially survive it.
**'''Disposable:''' Any Militia units in your army may be affected the the "Disposable" rule, preventing them from conceding victory points for any reason when slain. It does however prevent these units from scoring or denying objectives so be sure and have enough Astartes units to hold on to objectives for you. You are not required to use this rule if you don't want to, but you must declare at the start of the game if you do.

==Allies==
A few notes about the list, since it interacts with other armies in different ways depending upon what Provenances of War they have taken.
*If they've taken Tainted Flesh or Cult Horde, then they cannot ally with Loyalist forces, though they may count ''Chaos Daemons'' as "Fellow Warriors".
*Cyber-Augmetics may count Mechanicum armies as "Sworn Brothers"
*Abhuman Helots only count Space Marine and Solar Auxilia armies as "Distrusted Allies"

===Agents===
'''Agents''' are also models useable by any HH army.
*'''Expeditionary [[Navigator]]:''' For those people who bought the model at an open day, Forgeworld released the rules for these guys for free on their website. For those that don't have the model, you can make/proxy your own (the Imperial Guard Astropath works well). He is one of the first ''Agents'' on the allies matrix represented in ''Betrayal'', though he can just be taken as an HQ slot. Essentially has the statline of a Conscript Guardsman, but comes with an Archaeotech pistol and the Aetherlabe staff, which allows his unit to fire snap-shots at a Deep striking unit arriving within 12" of him, or at full BS if it arrived by a Conjuration psychic power. He also causes Fear, which can be funny in crusade lists due to ATSKNF not existing. Finally, he also has Navigator powers, which are like 6th Ed psychic powers but don't use Warp Charges and can only use one per turn on a successful Ld test, failure pins himself and his unit.
**'''Lidless Stare:''' THE SHIT - shoot the flamer template, any infantry hit by it must pass an Initiative test or suffer [[FATAL|Instant Death]]. Which means most Space Marines touched are dead 33.3% of the time, Mechanicum infantry 50% of the time or better. Completely useless against bikes, jetbikes, and monsters, so YMMV.
**'''Warp Prescience:''' Enemies shooting at the Navigator (or his unit) suffers -1BS.
**'''Aetheric Disruption:''' All psykers on the table (friend or foe) roll THREE dice when determining what happens with Perils of the Warp and discard the lowest for the purposes of the result. Given this was written with 6th Ed in mind, it's not entirely clear whether that means any associated Ld test to mitigate Perils OR taking the two highest results of the Perils and applying BOTH, which means psykers are fucked, since that almost guarantees two wounds, unless that psyker rolls a 6 and turns into an unstoppable machine of death; it would be totally better if he discarded ''the highest'' die.

===Agents of the Emperor===
These are agents only usable by Loyalist players.
====The Knights Errant====
For ALL Knights-Errant, one very VERY important rule to remember is their Oath of Moment. Which means they have to pick a particular objective in order to be fielded; some of the easier ones, like ending the game in the enemy deployment zone, or ensuring an allied character survives, grant his army an extra victory point if he obtains it. Other, more difficult ones include personally slaying the enemy warlord in a challenge or making sure an enemy Primarch is killed ''(which he does not have to do personally, but since you are playing Milita this might be quite difficult to do)'', which nets his side three extra points. However, failing to complete his chosen objective means the side that took him cannot win at all, and can only settle for a draw.

*'''Nathaniel Garro:''' The first of the [[Knights-Errant]]. A three-wound Eternal Warrior, kitted out for challenges though he might struggle going toe-to-toe with some of the bigger named characters or a dangerously equipped Praetor. He is still meatier than your Force Commander will ever be, and you'll get the sense that he'll be able to stick it out long enough that he might just come out on top. He's not really a force multiplier the same way as the other Knights-Errant are, so consider if you really want Garro in your army, since you'll need to pad him out with a decent squad, Ogryns only really seem to fit the bill here.

*'''Tylos Rubio:''' The first recruit of Garro. A Mastery Level 2 psyker that can cast from divination and telekinesis... which is to say divination, since ''Echoes of Fate'' allows him to re-roll divination tests and any un-used warp charges can automatically become +1 strength each. Aside from those two special rules, he's just a mastery level 2 KE for 35 points less than a normal one. He's a solid choice, though you cannot change his loadout the same way as you could with a unnamed Knight Errant.

*'''Knight-Errant:''' A.K.A. Build your very own special snowflake™. A 2-wound space marine with a bunch of nice gear. He'll never stand toe-to-toe with the big bad-boys of the setting, but hey, you ''are'' playing Militia and Cults right? There is an awful lot you can do with a Knight Errant, but for those who came over from the Legion list bear in mind that your synergies are somewhat reduced. Nartheciums only apply to ''Legiones Astartes'' units so won't help your poor defenseless levy squads ''(you could have Medics anyway)'' and giving them a Jump Pack is kinda pointless since no other squad can Deep Strike along with them. But he DOES have ''Preferred Enemy (Traitors)'' so he can provide quite a significant boost to oversized militia squads, can take a servo-arm to fix things without spending an Elites slot and can ALSO become a '''Librarian Consul'''. This means that Loyalists can actually take a psyker without having to resort to allies, and also because he's a Legiones Astartes character -but not a unique named one- he is also eligible for a wide array of Psyarkana upgrades to fit your preference. This can be done all at the same time to make a swiss-army-knife character. Add in the option to swap his super-bolter for a sniper-rifle or a combi-weapon and you have a damn versatile support element. Go nuts!
**He has a few other cool rules too: like being able to ''Deep Strike'' without scatter, and cause his opponents to snap fire at him during the following turn, or count as disordered when charging him. If you don't want to attach him to a squad ''(and we don't blame you)'', deploying via his Falsehood is a perfectly adequate way to go.

==Tactics==
This army pretty much allows you to do whatever you want, although generally you'll be looking at infantry supported by armour and artillery. A large factor in how your army will play is what Provenances you take. Abhuman Helots, Survivors of the Dark Age, Cyber Augmentics and Tainted Flesh will all help improve the survivability of your infantry, while Warrior Elite, Alchem-Jackers and Abhuman Helots with Discipline Collars will make your guys less likely to run away so are highly recommended if you're not running Grenadier-only troops. There are ''a lot'' of Provenances that can improve your close combat game; Gene-Crafted, Feral Warriors, Cult Horde, Tainted Flesh and Alchem-Jackers with Frenzon all help you out in melee, although it's of questionable use in a Marine-oriented environment. However, only one Provenance, Survivors of a Dark Age, increases your range-game to any degree, [[Fail|which makes no sense at all]] considering that even with these buffs you'll get massacred by dedicated Marine units, but it's not supposed to allow your guys to go 1-1 with Marines, it's there to take it from a 3-1 fight to a 2-1 fight.

Your advantages include how cheap you are compared to other armies (seriously, even your [[What|Leman Russes are cheaper by 10 points]]), the fact that you can buff your infantry fairly easily with Provenances and Medicae Orderlies and the amount of armour and heavy firepower that you can bring to the field with artillery, Rapiers, Heavy Support Squads and Leman Russes, all of which are cheaper that anyone else's. However, this cheapness is balanced out by Provenances of War, making it not as spammy as it may initially seem.

Basically, what you want to do with these guys is find a theme to [[Roleplaying|forge a narrative]] on, and then base it round that. Want to have an army of clones that are little more than meat shields for your Dark Mechanimum army? Tainted Flesh and Cyber-Augmented are right up your alley. Want your humies to mimic beakies? Take Survivors of the Dark Age and load your Grenadier Squad up into Rhinos. However, as for competitive play it's not that good unless you [[Powergamer|really min-max]] your army, so don't expect a lot out of them.

Also of serious consideration is whether or not you want [[Ultramarines|Ultrasmurf]] allies to bring along Invictarus Suzerains to gain +1Ld to all your guys within 12" as well as bringing some hardier troops and better CC ability. Not compulsory but a good idea.

==Building your Army==

USE YOUR DAMN IMAGINATION! Want an army of Felinids? Abhuman Helots and Gene-Crafted. Only Renegades & Heretics have more customization. This army is about as customizable as they are but, they're less diverse both in the base units available and being restricted by the biggest source of customization being army wide. The units can take a startling rainbow of standard weapons, but like a rainbow, many of the options are almost the same. Its entirely possible (albeit better for friendly counts as games) to proxy a fantasy army, such as the Empire or possibly Skaven. Look at the stuff available on GW's website. Empire, Elf, Guard, Skaven, (some) Skitarii, even ORKS (with some converting) can work! Since many tournaments ban forgeworld anyway, look to other model sites if it suits your fancy. All of it works, all of its totally fluff friendly. WoC? Feral worlders. Infinity stuff? Technological advanced enclave. A WW2 model range? You get the idea. If you ever wanted to make an army thats truly "you", a one of a kind masterpiece, et cetera, this is for you. You may not exactly win, but you sure as hell wont be forgotten. Hell, make your army a bunch of chicks with swag armour and do a proto-sisters of battle army. Then piss people off and give them gene-crafted for Sister Marines, alchem-jackers with frenzon for RED RAGE sisters, or cyber sex gals.
If you're using Survivors of the Dark Age and decent armor, why not make an army of [[Adeptus_Arbites|Arbites]]? Survivors of the Dark Age and Abhuman Helots work for an army of Squats. Any combination of Tainted Flesh, Abhuman Helots, Feral Warriors and
Cult Horde could give you an army of [[Beastmen]]. Want something vaguely Calibanite? Warrior Elite and SotDA works well to that end.

{{Warhammer_30k_Tactics}}
[[Category:Warhammer Tactics/30k]]

Warhammer 40,000/Tactics/Imperial Militia and Cults (30k)

2021-02-06T05:16:00Z

2001:4930:172:25:AC3D:E498:C7A1:2583:

The latest FAQ can be found [https://whc-cdn.games-workshop.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/Horus-Heresy-General-Errata-and-FAQ-v1.1-Final.pdf here] (February 2019)
==Why Play Imperial Militia and Cults==
While not an overly powerful army, it is one of the most customisable armies you'll ever find <s>outside of</s> including 40k [[Warhammer 40,000/Tactics/Renegades_And_Heretics(8E)|Renegades and Heretics]]. These guys represent the mish-mash of military units found across the galaxy before anyone sat down and formalized the Imperial Guard (and sometimes before they were part of the Imperial Army). Remember all those Exemplary Battles of [[Great_Crusade|Astartes vs non-compliant humans]]? This is the perfect list to model them - the ''true face of the Great Crusade''. So you can build an army of cyber augmented Skitarii wannabes, a feral world regiment of jungle warriors, a pre-compliant civilization or even a full-fledged [[Chaos Cults]].

Because of the sheer range of options available to you which can radically change both the appearance and function of the units under your command, you can even use models that you wouldn't otherwise consider to take into a 40k environment: If you want to maintain a low-tech/high-tech contrast then why not use fantasy Empire models for the [[Praetorian_Guard|fancy uniforms and muskets]] and even have them as crewmen for your Leman Russes or Earthshaker guns? Similarly if you are using the ''Abhuman Helots'' and/or ''Tainted Flesh'' provenances why not just take Fantasy Beastmen models? or even Skaven models if you want to go a bit more steampunk/alchemical?
And, I bet no one ever told you this, but if you take the provenances of ''Abhuman Helots'' and ''Survivors of the Dark Age'', you get... [[Squat|SQUATS]]!!! THEY'RE BACK, BABY!!! Then you'd just need to find a player who's masochistic enough to let you use your 30K army list, warlord traits and rules against their 40K army, all in the name of nostalgia, of course...

*'''Pros'''
**Insane customisation options and the chance to model things you couldn't do with other armies.
**The ability to build a list tailored to your playstyle; large squads of footsloggers, or with ''Survivors of a Dark Age'' smaller mechanised units.
**Cheap and large scoring units that do not confer any points to your opponent for killing (it costs 60 points to get 20 Guardsmen-equivalents)
**A good modicum of firepower with large heavy weapons squads, artillery and access to Leman Russ squadrons

*'''Cons'''
**Without the right Provenances or correct placement of characters, you have poor Leadership across most of your units.
**Even with the huge amount of customisation options you have only a few choices of unit per FOC slot and some of them can be entirely written off or made compulsory depending upon your Provenance selection, leaving you with less room to do your own thing.
**It's more of a side note, but there are a mass of misprints in the army list that means you need to be a bit liberal in your interpretation. An example would be the Rogue Psykers not having a points cost, or Grenadier Squad starting off with Auxilia Rifles but [[Fail|only being allowed to replace their non-existent Lascarbines]], makes the entire thing feel rushed and not up to the standard of most Forgeworld stuff. Make sure you don't play [[That Guy]] with this list, you've been warned.

==Special Rules==

===Provenances of War===
This is where the modelling opportunities for this army come from. Your Force Commander can purchase up to two Provenances of War. While their cost seems rather low, they can all massively impact the rest of your army, and can radically change the army build and the options you can take. Some Provenances lock you out of certain things or are mutually exclusive with one another, but some also allow units to buy their own unique options.

*'''Warrior Elite:''' All units gain +1 Ld (max 9) and Militia Levy cannot be compulsory troops choices. ''~ More important than you may think, since this raises your Infantry Squads to Guardsmen-Level leadership, and also means that your Grenadiers don't need Discipline Masters.''

*'''Gene Crafted:''' +1 str and +1 initiative but cannot take FNP rolls. ''~ Makes Medicae Orderlies absolutely useless.''
**Can't be combined with Cyber-Augmented.

*'''Cyber Augmented:''' All units gain a 6+ invuln save, or +1 to existing invulnerable saves ''(to a maximum of 3+)'', but they reduce run and sweeping advances rolls by 1. You also gain [[Warhammer_40,000/Tactics/Mechanicum_(30k)|Mechanicum]] as sworn brothers.
**Can't be combined with Gene-crafted. ''~ The flesh is weak after all.''
**This and Survivors of a Dark Age are a good away to make Proto-Sisters. The 6+ invulnerable becomes their Act of Faith Invulnerable and the reduction to run represents a lack of Black Carapace.

*'''Alchem-Jackers:''' Gain the ''Stubborn'' USR, but if a unit fails a Ld test due to enemy shooting it becomes pinned instead of falling back. ''~ This is a good thing most of the time since your unit doesn't actually leave its position.'' Plus you might have gone to ground anyway.
**'''Frenzon:''' Any unit can purchase ''Rage'', but '''must''' perform sweeping advances, which is never a drawback, ever.

*'''Survivors of a Dark Age:''' Very powerful... Every eligible units gains +1 to their armour save, which essentially means Grenadiers are wearing Power Armour. The compulsory Troops must be Grenadier squads.
**'''Advanced Weaponry:''' Grenadiers and Platoon Command Squads can buy +1 Strength for their las weapons or rotor cannons, which is very good but gets expensive since all squads have to pay if the upgrade is taken and you have to pay 20 points per squad. Grenadier squads and Command squads can also purchase a Rhino a [[Awesome|Land Raider Proteus]], or a [[Tunneling_Transport_Vehicles#Termite|Termite Assault Drill]] as dedicated transports. YES!
***The +1 Strength to regular las weapons isn't all that useful in reality, as the Grenadiers have to pay 10 points to get lascarbines before the 20 points to get +1 Strength, whereas bolters cost 30 points. Likewise, the Command Squad start with lascarbines but can upgrade to bolters for 20 points, meaning in many cases you may as well get the bolters and just be wannabe Space Marines.
***It DOES have uses with lasrifles (30" S4 Rapid Fire) or laslocks (S5 Assault 1), as well as rotor cannons (3/4 shots at 15"/30" S4 firepower), which are all superior to bolters in one way or another. Enemies are likely getting saves either way.
**Can't be combined with Cult Horde or Tainted Flesh provenances. ''~ Your world is too civilized for [[Chaos]].''

*'''Feral Warriors:''' The army gains +1WS. [[Ogryn]]s gain +1 attack instead. The army cannot have more vehicle units than infantry.
**'''Blade and Fury:''' All non-ogryn squads can purchase +1 attack for 25 points. ''~ Good to combine with the melee buffs of other provenances.''

*'''Abhuman Helots:''' All units gain +1 toughness but have -1 initiative. The lowered initiative isn't much of a price to pay, when most your foes are I4 marines, going from I3 to I2 isn't much of a deal, but it does mean that gene-crafted isn't as good with it.
**'''Discipline Collars:''' Can be purchased for any unit, not just levy squads. It grants ''Stubborn'', but if they EVER fail a morale check on a double six, their heads explode and you remove the unit entirely.
***The drawback for taking the collars is barely significant at all, because if you fail a morale check as a result of lost combat you are more than likely just about to be sweeping advanced ''(especially with your lower initiative)'', so this spares the need to roll any more dice...this universe makes us all into horrible people.
**Space Marines and [[Solar Auxilia]] treat you as Distrusted Allies. ''~ Even in the age of 30k, it still sucks to be a [[Mutant]]''.

*'''Cult Horde:''' ''(Traitors only)'' Massively changes what you can do with your army. All units gain ''Hatred'' and ''Stubborn'' USRs, and they must always charge if in range, even if they have fired weapons that would render them unable to charge ''(like Heavy or Rapid fire weapons)'', but they perform a disordered charge if they do. However, all units (effected by Provenances of War, so doesn't effect your vehicles!) can [[derp|ONLY make snap shots]] when shooting and cannot go to ground, so build your models accordingly. Furthermore, the army cannot take grenadier squads. Feel free take Tanks, Sentinals and Flyers for your dakka and leave your infantry to the infantry killing!
**'''Cult Demagogue:''' Automatically happens with this Provenance. Your Force Commander gets the ''Daemon'' and ''Preferred Enemy (Loyalists)'' special rules, which is pretty sweet. He can also purchase a Tainted Weapon like the Word Bearers, but is probably better served by picking another weapon.
**Cannot be combined with Survivors of the Dark Age, <s>but may use Chaos Daemons as Allies.</s> Demons are now Sworn Brothers with all traitors. ''~ You can't expect [[murderhobo]]s to be tech experts.''
**Note: This may not be worth it following the FAQ since you lost ''Zealot'' (and the Fearlessness that came with it) but your vehicles still don't snapshot so this is still a powerful Provenances of War. ''Hatred'' and ''Stubborn'' are good and all, but the change forces a reevaluation of how units need to be built; taking smaller units that don't sting if/when you lose them to a bad round of combat and the following sweeping advance. Other Provenances can give you access to ''Stubborn'' so it becomes whether you want ''Hatred'' plus access to Chaos stuff; or the option of ''Rage'' (Alchem Jackers) or +1 Tough/-1 Init (Abhuman Helots)
**All the Snapshotting really does is stop you bringing Infantry Squads, Grens (which you literally cannot take anyways), Fire Support Squads, Recons and Rapiers yet it increases your anti infantry capacity on the already efficient Levy squads (even more when combo'ed with Tainted Flesh), just bring Sentinals and as many Russ' you can for your anti vehicle. Nothing stopping you bringing Infantry squads with Shotguns or CCW if you wanted better stats.

*'''Tainted Flesh:''' ''(Traitors only)'' All units gain Fear, Feel no Pain (6+) and Rending in melee, compulsory Troops MUST be Levy squads and cannot have more "non-levy" squads than levy squads, They can only take the Force Commander and rogue psykers as HQs (with no discipline masters, [[Just as planned|expect total chaos]] among your levy squads). They also gain access to Mutant Sp... [[Chaos Spawn|the disgusting things]].
**Cannot be combined with Survivors of the Dark Ages, Gene-Crafted or Alchem-Jackers. ''~ The power of Humanity is nothing compared to the gifts of the [[Warp]].''

[[File:IMandWCTable.PNG|center|thumb|600px|Now in matrix format]]

===Wargear===
====Ranged Weapons====
This army has staggering variety of less than staggering guns, allowing you precise control over the balance and type of your firepower to affordability.
*'''Auxilia Rifle''': the standard-issue rifle for most of your units. Just an 18" S3 Assault 1 gun. They are described as any weapon ranging from black powder muskets to esoteric lasrifles not seen anywhere else, ''Survivors of a Dark Age'' doesn't apply to it in any case. Kudos to anyone who actually takes fantasy empire muskets on their models and starts mowing down space marines with them.
*'''Auxilia Pistol:''' Flintlock pistols essentially, 8" range and the same damage as the rifle. Characters don't really have the option to take them, since they'll have better laspistols to start with anyway. But your infantry/levy/grenadier squads can take them instead of a rifle giving you extra attacks in close combat when paired with their close combat weapons.
*'''Auxilia Lascarbine:''' The same as the 40k lasgun.
*'''Auxilia Lasrifle:''' Better than the 40k lasrifle because they have 30" range.
*'''Bolter:''' Better than the 40k lasrifle because it's an ARMOUR PIERCING ROCKET RIFLE. Not as impressive as it sounds, but you know it and you might just love it. Available to Grenadiers and Command Squads.
*'''Blast Pistol:''' available to most characters. It's S5 and twin linked, which for 5 points seems like a bargain, however it only has a 6" range and ''Gets Hot!'' So you might have little opportunity to use it.
*'''Hand Flamer:''' available to all of your characters and squad leaders. A good option since you don't have to rely on Ballistic Skill to hit anything and it adds to your overwatch. It is usually one if your more expensive options, but it adds more to a squad than a Bolt pistol or blast pistol, so it should always be considered for each squad sergeant.
*'''Laslock:''' 18" S4 Assault 1, so a straight upgrade from the Auxilia rifle, optionally becoming S5 if you have the right provenance.
*'''Shotgun:''' Compared to the alternatives is a shorter range but (relatively) strong rank and file assault weapon. Not exactly shooty enough for shooty armies (like most of the other options) nor slashy enough for slashy armies, but an option if you just have to deny charges and want to hurt them at least a little.
*'''Needle Pistol:''' Its a ''Poisoned, Rending'' pistol, not available to regular sergeants but can be taken by Force Commanders and Discipline Masters. At 5 points it should be the default option as it can be a threat to near enough any form of infantry barring Death Guard.
*'''Rotor Cannon:''' Just like what the Legions get, S3 Salvo 3/4 (thought it will be S4 if you use the right Provenance). Not very good here either, as it is further hampered by the fact that it can only be taken as a special weapon option in Grenadier squads where it competes with better options. Or by Servo-Automata, who can't even improve it using a Provenance.

====Melee Weapons====
*'''Augmented Weapon:''' An S4 close combat weapon, no matter what the strength of your model is. Can be bought for most characters, but grenadiers can have the whole squad take them instead of their close combat weapon. Still not great considering if you wanted a close combat unit, you'd have built your army with specific provenances to do the job. That said, Gene-Crafted isn't the only melee option so this does have a place, such as in tainted ferals or... Various ferals.
*'''Charnabal Saber:''' Only the Force Commander can take one, giving him/her the Rending rule in melee and +1 Initiative in a Challenge. It's cheap at 5 points and can be considered a throwaway option, but is outclassed by nearly every other option and if your opponent is decked out for melee you're likely going to die. The only situation where it is of any use is if you took the ''Gene Crafted'' provenance so your commander can now strike at S4 & I5 and have a shot against marine sergeants and lesser characters.
*'''Power Weapons:'''
**'''Power Sword:''' In most cases this is a bad option for militia, as you strike after Marines you're likely to never get a chance to use it. As with the Saber above, its function radically changes when you take ''Gene Crafted'', so now you hit at the same strength and speed as those Marines. Just avoid challenges, as you are going to die.
**'''Power Mace:''' A better option than a sword, because unless your opponent forgets to clothe his characters in highly artificed fineries, that S+2 and ''Concussive'' rule will help you a lot more than AP3 will.
**'''Power Axe:''' Probably your best option. You were going to strike last anyway so you might as well resign yourself to that fact. With a few swings this will likely cause wounds to anyone without an Invulnerable save.
*'''Power Fist:''' Only available to Force/Platoon Commanders. For five more points than an axe you can have a Fist, which wounds on a 2+ rather than the axe's 4+ ''(not counting Gene Crafted, where you could then even insta-kill a marine with your S8)''. However, the Fist falls into the points vortex which sucks up more points because you have to justify your investment: so as a ''Specialist Weapon'' you've got nothing to pair it with, so you need to buy Digi-Weapons or Master-Craft it to improve your attacks, then you'll need a good invulnerable save in order to protect it long enough to take a swing... It goes on, but you're still going to die.
*'''Tainted Weapon:''' specialist weapon CCW that causes instant death. Get your psykers to take it because it's cheap and they have no other option anyway, so you might get lucky. If your Force Commander has the option of taking it, you've bought ''Cult Horde'' and you need to give them a better weapon than this to take advantage of ''Hatred'' and ''Preferred Enemy'' - unless you've taken Tainted Flesh as well, in which case the combination of ''Preferred Enemy, Rending'' and ''Instant Death'' makes the weapon scarier than you think.... Especially against battle automata.

====Special Issue Gear & Armour====
*'''Flak Armour:''' Default for most units and characters. It's a 5+ save but you know that's practically worthless in a marine heavy environment like the Horus Heresy. However with the right Provenance, beefed up flak is as good as Carapace Armour. At least it's better than...
*'''Sub-Flak Armour:''' When you thought Flak offered as much defense as cardboard. Sub-Flak is more like wet tissue paper, offering only a 6+ save. Even ''Survivors of the Dark Age'' wont offer any relief cause you're only bumping back to 5+ ''(still useless)'' Thankfully only your disposable Levy squads wear this, so it doesn't really matter if they die.
*'''Carapace Armour:''' comes standard on Grenadiers and can be bought as an upgrade for your HQ units. DO THIS even if you don't take the ''Survivors'' provenance, it gives you an actual save against bolt weapons.
*'''Power Armour:''' you know what this does. Sadly 3+ is as good as it gets; it is not further upgraded using Provenances and you can find ways to get yourself a 3++ save instead, so buying it is strictly optional.
*'''Refractor Field:''' 5+ save for your Force Commander. Can be bought for your Platoon Commanders Enginseers or Discipline Masters.
*'''Iron Halo:''' only available to your Force Commander.
*'''Cyber Familiar:''' This is where it gets interesting: it adds +1 to Invulnerable saves ''(to a maximum of 3+)'' and let's you reroll failed characteristic tests [[Fail|(but not Ld checks)]]. Your first option is to take it as a budget Iron Halo, as its five points cheaper than the Halo for the same save. Or you go the full nine yards and get the 3++ save for twenty five points. You need to decide if your Force Commander is worth that much, cause now you need to load up on even more gear to make your investment worthwhile. But at least this means you don't need to buy Carapace/Power Armour.
**Enginseers can buy a familiar too, but they also need to buy the Refractor Field separately, falling into the same points vortex as the Commander for only a single wound model.
*'''Nuncio Vox:''' only two ways of getting this in your army: either buying it for Enginseers or taken as a compulsory member of your Platoon Command Squad, so they'll rarely be seen on the field. It helps prevent deep strike scatter and spots for barrage weapons. Not a big deal because your army doesn't really deep strike, and Space Marine allies have these pretty much everywhere.
*'''Vexilla:''' available to your big Troops units for 10 points and let's you add +1 to combat resolution, as well as allowing you to attempt regroups normally when below 25% strength. Is it worth it? Ugh... Your soldiers are likely to die in droves in melee, but since your Provenances are nearly all geared towards getting you into melee you're going to want this on your side, if only to stop the pain from being laid on so thickly. If it ever helps you win combat then you've entirely justified its cost.
*'''Platoon Standard:''' only on your Platoon Command Squad, so it won't be a regular fixture in most armies. It grants pseudo-stubborn to friendly militia within 24". Very useful and is the glue that holds together most militia armies, unlesss you have stubborn elsewhere/in provenance.
*'''Infravisor:''' available to your Force Commander and your Recon squads. Grants ''Night Fight'' but makes you take ''Blind'' tests at Initiative 1. It's cheap enough but you really need to think about what to go with it, as Night Fighting never lasts past the first few turns. So make sure your Recon troops have Sniper Rifles and/or you attach your Force Commander to an artillery battery so you can get the most out of your early game advantage.

====Psyarkana====
As of ''HH8: Malevolence'' the Imperial Militia were granted access to Psyarkana items. Although their level of access is severely limited compared to Space Marine Legions, they do have a handful of items that they are permitted to take. Bearing in mind that the only available Independent Character in the army is the Force Commander.

*'''Icon of the Blazing Sun:''' Available to Loyaltist Independent Characters. Daemons locked in combat get their WS reduced to 1. With the right gear and Provenance this could make your warlord merely ''alright'' against Daemons as well as giving an attached melee squad a sorely needed edge. The other ability allows you to nullify psychic powers, though with a base Leadership of 8 it is a bit of a gamble otherwise you lose wounds for the attempt. This psy-relic does have uses, but it's almost certainly not worth specialising that much.
*'''Liber Magra Veneficarum:''' Traitor Independent Characters only. Get one level of Psychic Mastery and the ''Incursion'' power. The guaranteed ability to summon Daemon Brutes/Beasts can be pretty cool, though as a WC3 Daemonology power it might be a bit difficult to manifest without having a few extra warp charges in the bank, but luckily traitors can also take Rogue Psykers as other HQ choices.
*'''Terminal Lucidity Injectors:''' No, your Force Commander is not strong enough to justify one final burst of ranged shooting or one final melee attack ''(that still needs to roll to hit and to wound)'' is just not worth it.
*'''Psy-Resonant Pentacles:''' A cheap option that can really mess with Daemons or Psykers in close combat by dropping them to the rear of the Initiative order, so if you have the Force Commander in a melee squad like Ogryns you could pull off something surprising. It's cheap enough that if you know you're fighting the right opponent you can take it as a throwaway option that makes itself useful, just don't spring for an Iron Halo because it overrides the save with a 5++.
*'''Armatus Necrotechnica:''' 50 points to give a tank the ability to self-heal on a 6+ whenever models within 6" lose wounds, as well as dropping Ld values by -1 in the same radius. While this sounds underwhelming, it does apply the healing ''every time'' models lose wounds and not just once per turn. It is probably too expensive to put on a Leman Russ tank, Malcadors might do better, but Stormhammers with EIGHT Heavy Flamers are suddenly going to be impossible to kill once they get within firing range and have a large enough table footprint that the Ld Aura will be huge.

====Relics====
The Imperial Militia use the generic list of Dark Age of Technology relics everyone uses, but there are no specific ones to their army. So they don't get anything unique. Since they are restricted for IC use, the only ones with access to them would be the Force Commander or a Traitorous Rogue psyker, and both would be good recipients for such an item, particularly because the army relies on them much more than the Solar Auxilia does.

In a campaign you're only allowed one character with a relic which you'll be stuck for the rest of the campaign, so be sure of your decision. If the relic bearer is killed, the side that killed him can choose to play a Relic Hunt mission, where the winner steals (or recovers) the relic, even if it's a Legion specific one, but a Draw means that relic is effectively lost for everyone. Still, you can always opt to play a 'Relic Hunt' mission at the beginning of every campaign phase to [[Blood_Ravens|acquire]] FREE relics, where your war zone-assigned character must be deployed and thus miss all other missions played in that phase...but that way you can [[Adeptus_Mechanicus|hoard up]] on [[Blood_Ravens|relics]], even getting duplicates of the non-faction-specific ones, by rolling a D6 on the 'Relic Uncovered' table below. Of course, this only matters when playing missions instead of casual gaming, enjoy!

*'''#1 Nanyte Blaster:''' The [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grey_goo Grey Goo] gun of uncontrolled carnage!!! It's a S5 AP2 Fleshbane weapon, where if it kills anyone you center a large blast over the dead model on a die roll of 4+, causing a S5 AP2 hit to those underneath it. Unlike Volkite, each model who dies to this can cause ''yet MOAR'' large blasts on further rolls of a 4+. All you need to do is get one casualty and you can wipe out an entire unit! Smashing! Hilarious when it really works.
*'''#2 Warp Shunt Field:''' 3++ against shooting, however for every save of a 6+ (against direct fire weapons) the shooting unit suffers D6 S5 hits. This is the only risk-free defensive relic. Also hilarious if you get really lucky.
*'''#3 Phase Walker:''' Each moving phase, instead of moving you may place the bearer anywhere you like, counting as having just deep struck but with no scatter. If you move through a solid object you have to take a dangerous terrain check for EACH solid object you went through (including all models) so be wary of abusing it in city scenarios. Quite nice for Void Masters, who have Move through Cover, so feel free to abuse it. Too bad this leaves behind the rest of his unit, and commanders aren't known for being one-men armies. If you're up against an Assault heavy army though or are playing a Zone Mortalis/Cities of Death game it can make it's points back as your Warlord retreats through walls (and into another unit) so he can't be assaulted, like a panic button.
*'''#4 Combat Augment Array:''' Once per game, at the beginning of any of the controller's player turn, he may count any '''single''' die (only 1) rolled as an automatic 6 (Emails from FW confirm). However, he must also pass Toughness tests for each remaining wound. If he fails he suffers a wound with no saves or mitigating FnP rolls of any kind. A Cyber familiar can mitigate the danger by granting a re-roll on the commander tests. However, you're paying 35pts for '''one''' guaranteed 6 - nice combo with a Paragon Blade, but given that everyone strikes before you...[[Tau|do you really want to be in Close combat]]?
*'''#5 Cloaking Array:''' Once per game, at the ''beginning'' of ANY game turn you may make yourself invisible for that whole game turn (ie. on the 3rd turn both in your and your opponent's turn, thus starting on your enemy's turn if he goes first). You cannot be shot or charged at unless the enemy unit contains psykers or daemons, in which case the array immediately shuts down (so now ''everyone'' can hit you, not just the previous two). Unfortunately you cannot activate it while attached to a squad or if engaged in close combat already. You also cannot shoot, assault, move or ''do anything at all''. So your model stands on the same spot invisible but doing nothing during a whole game turn. Since you don't want your commander to be alone, pass on this one.
*'''#6 Void Shield Harness:''' Yep. You can get a [[Void_shields|voidshield]] for your dude. It's a large blast-sized shield, centered on your dude but protecting anyone that fits inside. Glancing, Penetrating and Destroyer hits will collapse the shield, but it can be restored at the end of your turn on a 5+, and with AV12 you'll be immune to most small arms fire. However, a result of Explodes! will overload the shield, disabling it for the rest of the game and placing a S6 AP4 Large Blast template centered on the bearer - that's '''Instant Death''' for your commander and his friends, who won't get their armor saves, so get the hell away from Meltaguns.

===Warlord Traits===
#'''Ruthless Tyrant:''' Gain +1 Leadership (to max 9) and the army may reroll Reserves
#'''Merchant Princeling:''' One infantry unit get better ranged weapons, and count their AP as one value better - ''so pick heavy support squads for [[Rape|AP3 Autocannons or Heavy Bolters]] or AP2 missiles''
#*'''Note:''' it can only be applied to a unit with the Infantry type - but not necessarily just 'provenance' infantry - so an enginseer with a cadre of ap2 phase-plasma fusils is possible.
#**Also note this ''isn't restricted to Militia and Cults units''. Did someone say [[Wat|buffing Custodes weapons]]?
#'''Beloved of the People:''' If the warlord ever dies, then the rest of his army gets Hatred from the remainder of the game. - ''Sucks if you took Cult Horde as a provenance''
#'''Marcher Lord:''' The warlord gains ''Implacable Advance'' (becoming a scoring unit in AoD games) and ''Stubborn'' while within 3" of an objective.
#'''Connoisseur of Alien Curios:''' Grab ''Fear'' and ''It Will Not Die''
#'''Robber Baron:''' The warlord can voluntarily fail any morale check and may also re-roll Run or Fall Back distances.

==Unit Analysis==

===HQ===
*'''0-1 Force Commander:''' An Independent character with a relatively poor statline compared to every other unit in the Age of Darkness (such is to be a man in a time of giants), worse even than the Solar Auxilia's Legate Commander, but you don't want him for his combat skills, but because you NEED him in order to purchase Provenances of War, so you are going to have him. Furthermore, he can pay 20pts for the ability to choose his Warlord trait instead of rolling for it, so you can reliably pull some pretty powerful combinations like using the -1AP with your Heavy Weapon squads, which is the only one you'll ever pick because your choices are limited to the Militia Cults WL trait list only and the other five are balls. He's pretty customizable, starting with a 5++ that can be upgraded up to a 3++, and can buy power armour as well as a variety of melee weapons and pistols for those times you want him to pull his weight after you used your WT, but don't expect him to be a hero unit.

*'''Discipline Master Cadre:''' 2-5 near-Commissars, they get attached to other units and add +1 Ld ''(to max 9, and it is going to be nine anyway since their own Ld was eight)'' and allow for a LD reroll if they shoot some squad members. Oddly they're not as harsh as their 40k brethren, and while they cause D3 wounds to their unit, these wounds can be saved, although it could be argued that wild BLAMing is just as harsh as precise BLAMing. These guys may not be the compulsory HQ choice nor can any of them be the warlord, but your Force Commander was going to do all of that anyway. ''Back in the day'' your common Commissar had 2W base and a S4 weapon, and could buy a power weapon and refractor field at discount price.

*'''Auxiliary Platoon Command Squad:''' Six dudes; one commander who is basically there to get gear and nothing else, one nuncio-vox operator, one standard bearer who allows Militia units within 24" to discount casualties when taking morale checks ''(Stubborn aura, essentially)'' and three bodyguards, with the option to add four more of them. No orders because this ain't 40k, they also don't get heavy weapon teams. But all of the bodyguards in the squad may replace their lascarbines/autoguns with a variety of weapons, like bolters or heavy stubbers. Also, the Platoon Commander is merely Ld7 and the rest of the boys is Ld6, such was leadership in the Imperial Militia.
**Just keep the squad bare bones with lascarbines or CCW's except for a refractor field on the commander to eat AP4 or better, as if you're taking these for anything but the stubborn aura you're a moron.

*'''Rogue Psyker''' ''(Cult Horde or Tainted Flesh only)'' ML1 psykers with two wounds, but a sucktastic BS2 so witchfires that roll to hit are generally going to be useless, so avoid them. If they are ever killed short of being "removed from play" then they get possessed on a roll of 5+, which becomes a 2+ if they were killed by losing a wound to perils of the warp, replacing the model with a a 3 wound WS5/S5 rending nightmare. These guys are miles better than the Renegades & Heretics version by being independent characters, they cause fear, have FnP, and can actually take proper psychic powers from Pyromancy, Telekinesis, Biomancy and Malefic Daemonology. One psyker per detachment can even be upgraded to an "Alpha" psyker, granting him ML2, WS/BS3 (instead of 2), three Wounds and Toughness 4 making him a far better prospect.
**The January 2016 FAQ finally updated a points cost for these guys, they now come in at 35 points for the basic ML1 psyker.
**You can even buy them a Tainted Weapon on the cheap, giving their attacks the ''Instant Death'' special rule. Note that this weapon gets lost if the psyker gets possessed since you had to "remove" the psyker and "replace" it entirely with the daemon model. Still, for five points a lucky wound can do some real damage on enemy special characters and if you rolled Iron Arm on biomancy or Fiery Form on pyromancy then you've created a pretty mean close combat unit.
**When choosing psychic powers, just be aware of the limitations of the unit. As mentioned, the poor statline generally means rolling to-hit on witchfires are going to disappoint you, but beams, novas and to a lesser extent, blasts are still alright.

===Troops===
*'''Militia Infantry Squad:''' Twenty guardsmen with auxilia rifles and shitty Ld. No platoons, just one squad per slot. The sergeant gets customisation and can take things like hand flamers and power weapons. Also the squad can replace their auxilia rifles (18" S3) for a variety of weapons, from different-lasguns (lascarbines or lasrifles) to assault oriented weapons (shotguns, laslocks, pistols for +1A). Oh, and they get a goddammed ''Super-heavy as a DT'', the Gorgon Heavy Transport. Have fun.

*'''Inducted Levy Squad:''' 20-50 conscripts with shitty BS2 auxilia rifles and shittier sub-flak armour. They have the same options as regular militia but just don't bother because they're here as fodder. Which is what they are fantastic at, because ''they never confer any points for their destruction'' like by kill points or by first blood, making them perfectly expendable. ''Back in the day'' however, <s>Conscript</s> Levy squads had a sarge of their own (to take challenges for the not-Commissar you'll add to them to make them Ld9), and could either upgrade their dakka to "decent" tier (lascarbine, laslock) or accept the fact BS2 is useless and get a pistol instead for +1 attack. And if they objected they could be given Discipline collars to make them Stubborn. Oh, those were the times.
**Puny as they look, Levy squads can be turned into rather scary melee units, as all mobs are. Especially in ''Cult Horde'' armies, where you now have a huge mob with 3 re-rollable attacks on the charge ''(4 if you also bought Feral Warriors)'', though unless you find ways of shoring up their leadership you should be prepared to lose them following the first round of combat because ''Stubborn'' isn't enough to save you from a bad leadership roll and being swept up in the advance which follows, so at least they were cheap and expendable. Combo ''Cult Horde'' with ''Tainted Flesh'' for ''Rending'' attacks and the prospect of causing ''Fear'' on certain 30k Legions. 50 mooks with multiple rerollable rending attacks will chew through nearly any target on the table through weight of numbers, including Primarchs and will never cost you victory points if/when they get wiped out.

*'''Militia Grenadier Squad:''' 10-18 veterans with BS4, carapace armour and auxilia rifles. These guys do well to replace their weapons with something else due to their increased accuracy. The remaining two spaces are made up by adding special weapon guys.
**If you've got grenade launchers in the squad, you can buy Gas and Fireburst grenades for them. Both are small blast weapons, Fireburst grenades are S3 and pinning so might be good as a trolling device, whilst Gas Grenades are Poisoned (4+) and Ignore Cover, the problem with Gas grenades though are that they have only AP5 so Space Marines and Solar Auxilia are getting saves anyway, making normal frag rounds either exactly the same or better for most situations, unless you are fighting against other Militia or Cult armies.
**These guys can allow you to have dick-swinging contests with the [[What|Tau]]. Grab Survivors of the Dark Age, Lasrifles, +1 Strength Upgrade and 8 extra guys coming to 140 points. Now lets compare to the Tau Strike Squad. Tau: BS3, 30" S5 AP5, 12/24 shots, T3 and 4+ Save. You: BS4, 30" S4 AP-, 18-36 shots, T3(4 with Abhuman Helot) 3+ Save. And you can add 2 Rotor cannons to that to up the number of shots to a grand total of 44. While the Tau do get markerlight support and could therefore [[Rape|annihilate]] your squad off the board, they can't take all of them on at once, especially when they have to worry about your supper cheap tanks/artillery. [[Troll|Don't forget that this squad is only 160 points tops.]]

*'''Fire Support Squad:''' your heavy weapon squads, just like with imperial guard, but as Troops choices with no platoon tax. Unfortunately as support squads they cannot be compulsory choices. They come in units of 5-10 teams and have the full range of guard weapons, including heavy stubbers and multilasers. This unit has awesome potential.
**Grab a unit of 10 Heavy Flamers and screw holding the line. These guys can move up the board and toast some motherfuckers because who said that heavy weapons need to stay still? Don't forget that [[Troll|all of these guys are 2 Wounds, 2 Attacks and have a laspistol + CCW]], so make for surprisingly good assault troops. [[Rape|Add in the -1AP Warlord Trait and teach Marines fear again]]. THIS should be the way you have them for any assault-based list, and creates awesome modeling opportunities.

*'''Reconnaissance Squad:''' Five veterans in flak armour and are a support unit. But they have scout, infiltrate, move through cover and the option to buy chameleoline. They probably cost way too much for a base squad of five men in flak armour. But they may replace their lascarbines with shotguns or sniper rifles for a flat cost, I wonder which one you'll choose? Their sergeant can also take a demo charge, which might make some interesting suicide bomber units <strike>in a cult horde list</strike> for any provenance other than cult horde because all snap fire all the time means no blast or template weapons sadly.

===Dedicated Transports===
*'''Auxillia Gorgon Heavy Transporter''' So, the Space Marines can get Land Raiders, Solar Auxillia get Dracosans, and we get a super heavy tank as our main transport? Seems legit. With 9 Hull Points, AV 14/14/10 and a 5++ save on the front (4++ against Blast and Template weapons) it'll be tough for you opponent to take it down without devoting serious resources to it (unless they get behind it, in which case it's as good as dead). It comes stock with a one-use Gorgon Mortar Battery (12-48" S5 AP5 Heavy 4 Blast, Barrage and Pinning) and two twin linked Autocannons, as well as coming with the ability to transport 40 dudes and imposing a -2 modifier to the Catastrophic Damage Table. It can spring for hunter killer missiles and Armoured Ceramite (for the ultimate expression of FUCK YOU to your opponent), as well as swapping the Autocannons for TL Multi-Lasers or TL Lascannons. It can also swap it's Gorgon Mortar Battery for two forward and two rearward facing sponsons which must all be the same type, either Autocannons, Heavy Flamers, Heavy Bolters, Multi-Lasers or Lascannons. However you'll only field it with a plan in mind as it costs 275 points base, meaning no spamming superheavies.
**Note: This thing ''is not'' Open-topped, so don't let your opponent fool you into thinking that. Not that it will matter to that Drop Pod full of Marines with Meltas, they'll punch through your paper-thin AV 10 rear armour like it's a game of [[FATAL]] even if you do get Armored Ceramite. Oh, but also note that, since it has lost open-topped, it's not an Assault Vehicle any more. So those 40 provenanced-up Cult goons might not be as useful as you think.
*'''Aurox Armored Transport:''' A [[Rhino]] analog, usable by Command Cadres and Grenadier Squads numbering 10 or less. Apart from using a Heavy Stubber (that can be replaced with a Heavy Flamer) instead of a Storm Bolter, costing 10 pts less and BS3, it's pretty much identical to the Rhino, but has no potential upgrades (even the dozer blade).
*'''Rhino Armoured Carrier''' ''(Survivors of a Dark Age only)'' It's a Rhino, you know what it does. Stolen from the Space Marines, it has the exact same options as the one in the Crusade army list, so look there for more info. Also note that it has the same profile, so it's BS 4. Won't be amazingly handy, but it's worth remembering.
*'''Land Raider Proteus''' ''(Survivors of a Dark Age only)'' Mwhahaha, my puny humans now have access to one of the most powerful tanks in the game. No forward assault ramp means no Assault Vehicle and awkward model placement, and it only comes with two twin linked Lascannons stock. However it's also the cheapest of the Land Raiders, and can take the ever-useful Explorator Augury Web as well as other useful things such as Armoured Ceramite, hull mounted Heavy Bolters/Flamers, Auxiliary Drives and a host of weapon options. However, these costs add up quick, and as the Gorgon is only 75 points more and (generally) much more survivable and can lay down more hurt, you may want to think about taking one of those instead.

===Elites===
*'''Ogryn Brute Squad:''' 3-10 Ogryns with big sticks, flak armour and frag grenades. That's it. But the beauty of this in how they can be customised. You can buy power weapons, boarding shields or combat shields and get something equivalent to Bullgryns. Buy ripper guns and you've got normal 40k ogryns. You can even buy Heavy Bolters, that become 18" range assault weapons when held in their hands!!! However, the rules do say that each model may only buy one option from the list, so you cannot load up on cool shit, but you are allowed to mix and match. The only upgrade that is universal across the whole squad is Carapace Armour ''(which can be upgraded using Provenances to create [[Awesome|power armoured Ogryns]])'' which for a flat cost is always worth it. Consider what effect the army provenances will have on them before you build them, but the combinations are nearly endless.
**Shields are a tricky one; individually, a 6++/5++ invulnerable save at a cost of taking any improvement in damage output is absolutely not worth it. ''(Unless you take Tainted Flesh because they get enough rules to handle themselves)'' '''That being said...''' if the majority of the squad ''([[derp|thanks to the FAQ]])'' are equipped with Boarding Shield then it has a similar effect to Defensive Grenades, making the whole squad resistant to incoming charges. A 'frontline' of shields and 'rear rank' of axes works better than a pure unit of either. Cyber-augmetics plus shields give a 4++ in assault - pretty good on something as tough as an ogryn.
**Additional CCW is expensive at 10 points '''EACH''' for just one extra attack. If that's all you wanted remember that the ''Feral Warriors'' provenance gives them an extra attack a flat cost to the whole army
**Power Weapons are your most expensive option by far, but they also grant the 2 weapon bonus as well as beefing the unit with killy stuff. Axes become preferred here because even if you strike last, a model equipped with one is still likely to survive and beat down a marine or two. Maces tend to work alongside ''Gene-Crafted'' because of S8 and a chance at instant death, but a sword would strike at I4 as well so remains a good option. Kitting out a whole squad necessitates creating a Deathstar unit though.
**Lascutters should be avoided unless you are specifically trying to build up a set of Big Daddy clones [[Your Dudes|or something themed like that]], as they negate all the benefits of being an Ogryn.
**Guns are really up to you, as the models are already there for it. But having BS2 is not encouraging, massed S5 firepower can be found more cheaply and accurately in Fire Support squads or Leman Russ squadrons.

*'''Imperialis Auxilia Medicae Detachment:''' 3-6 guardsmen with medipacks and laspistol/CCW. No customisation beyond whatever provenances you take. You just deploy them separately to squads and get FnP. You are allowed to double up if you want to make certain a squad doesn't lose the rule.

*'''Enginseer Auxilia:''' one of the few squads that gains no benefit from your provenance, so it is what it is. You get 1-3 Enginseers and 4-8 Servo-Automata, which are basically more customisable T5 servitors that can take cool guns like phased plasma fusils or flamers. Enginseers can take invulnerable saves and graviton/volkite weapons if they want, and they can fix stuff and gain bonuses for each servitor with a servo arm in the unit.
**Enginseers are one of the few units that can take Augury Scanners which, after the latest FAQ, gives them Interceptor on everythin. Full stop. This makes Enginseer Auxilia one of the only ways to counter deep striking squads with Multi-Meltas or plasma-fusils. ''(Yes, Marine Heavy Support squads can do this bigger and better, but Enginseers can do it from the Elites slot and at peanuts per model!)''
**This unit is particularly useful in a cult horde list as it's unaffected by the provenance's enforced snap-firing, meaning this is your only infantry unit that has a chance of hitting a barn door at range. Take phased plasma-fusils plus the -1AP WL trait and drink the tears of anyone spamming Terminators or MEQs in artificer armour. Your dream of removing a deep striking Cataphractii unit in its own turn with 24 S6 AP2 shots? Fulfilled.

===Fast Attack===
*'''Arvus Lighter:''' Only marginally better than the travesty of their 40k incarnation in that they can take guns and use them properly; this makes them like flying razorbacks with twice the transport capacity. You can take them as dedicated transports for grenadiers and to be honest, it might be worth it here if you can stomach forking out for a resin box when you can have so many other things (why are you buying a Arvus Lighter this is Militia and Cults you could use a Tau Devilfish if you want). Since the Arvus won't last long with the amount of Dakka that 30k brings to the table. You may as well go full bore and shell out points for the twin linked Lascannons and the Armored Cockpit. Also should be considered, outside of Survivors of the Dark Age, the only non super heavy transport.

*'''Auxilia Sentinel Scout Squadron:''' almost exactly the same as the guard option, three to six chicken walkers with a heavy weapon, no plasma cannons but you can take a multi-melta. You can also take combat blades granting them +1 attack, but taking open topped AV10 walkers into melee is still generally not a good idea. By contrast, their ability to scout (and therefore outflank), makes them ideal for tank hunting.

*'''Thunderbolt Heavy Fighter:''' If you have one, field it as these are the business. They start off at BS4 which means their considerable firepower is going to come to bear more reliably, which now includes Kinetic Piercer missiles, which while only S6, are AP2, armourbane and heat-seeking which makes them twin linked against other flyers. While you could swap them for hellstrike missiles, you'd be an idiot to do so because of the drawbacks of the ordnance rule, but if you wanted more ground attack then sunfury missiles can be bought which are AP3 large blast and blinding but get hot. For added goodies, they can buy strafing run, so your nose guns hit things on the ground with rerollable 2s, and a flare shield which reduced incoming firepower by -1 strength.

*'''Terrax Pattern Termite Assault Drill:''' You get this five points cheaper than Solar Auxilia for the same standard loadout and 15 points cheaper than Legiones Astartes who have to buy heavy flamers separately. What you get is an underground drop-pod capable of carrying 12 models and arriving via special deep-strike, scattering a 5" blast marker, automatically avoiding impassable terrain and engaged units and then causing an automatic S10 AP- hit on anything else it scatters onto, then forcing the survivors to move out of the way so you can fit the giant drill who can then hose down the nearby units with heavy flamers. It is '''not''' an assault vehicle, so anything that deploys will be standing around waiting for the inevitable counter charge, unfortunately your melee units such as Levy squads need not apply since their minimum squad size is too high, and Ogryns are bulky and are not allowed. Because your shooting units tend to be quite fragile at close ranges maybe save it for some disposable short ranged squads like a shotgun Recon squad with a demo charge. Otherwise stick an Enginseer inside to keep it fixed and provide some nasty fire support with the tech thralls when he disembarks.
**It is one of the few units that can perform a turn 1 deep strike thanks to the ''Subterranean Assault'' rule, though you can only deploy half (rounding up) of these units on the first turn. Unless you play ''Survivors of the Dark Age'' you will be unlikely able to deploy more than two in the first turn because they are only Fast Attack choices but it still can be good for pushing enemy units out of position. If you do play ''Survivors'' and take them as dedicated transports for your grenadiers then you could pull off massed deep strikes the likes of which only an orbital assault Astartes army can achieve.

===Heavy Support===
*'''Rapier Battery:''' Your entry level artillery unit. You start out with quad multilasers which have all the sixes. You get six twin-linked shots at S6 AP6 at a range of 36" ''(6x6)'', so is very good at taking out infantry. You can swap this for a quad heavy bolter for free, which would be better against GEQ units due to the superior AP value. If you're looking for anti-tank then you can buy laser destroyers, which are 48" S9 AP1 twin-linked Ordnance, which are excellent even considering the the shitiness of the men firing them. If you want to annoy your opponent, then the most expensive option is the quad-mortar (thudd gun), which fires of four ''pinning + shell shock'' S5 small blasts each, so a battery of them will pepper the battlefield. While they may have poor AP and average strength for a heavy weapon, they can consume a chunk of time to resolve and give you a psychological advantage over your opponent as he gets frustrated with so many templates and wants you dead. Overall Rapiers are good and cheap, but at only Ld 6 and flimsy guardsmen crew they are going to fall over if something looks at them funny.
**Regarding longevity, remember that if the unit falls back, they abandon the gun which means it is permanently lost even if they regroup later. So morale boosting upgrades/provenances become your main priority. Don't worry so much about armour plating them, because the gun already has T7 and a 3+ save.
***Funnily, "Cult Horde" isn't as terrible for them because the quad laser/bolters can still snap fire twin linked, so can still potentially hurt something, yet because they are ''Artillery'' they are prohibited from declaring a charge, so can remain safely in position.
***"Alchem Jackers" can be a godsend, since it pins the unit when they suffer shooting morale checks instead of running away, meaning you don't automatically lose the gun, and still be able to shoot with quad guns on the same turn by snapfiring. While this has little benefit in melee, if your rapier gets caught up in close combat it's going to be dead soon anyway.

*'''Heavy Ordnance Battery:''' Immobile Earthshaker guns each with 4-8 crewmen who are subject to your provenance. If you're taking these hopefully your army has good leadership modifying rules since the crew only have LD 6 and will abandon the gun if they have to fall back. Either keep these WELL out of the way, or bump their leadership as high as you can. You swap the Earthshakers for Medusa Siege Guns, which is more cost for the same risk, but you gain the option of buying Breacher Shells.
**Breacher Shells are S10 AP1 Armorbane. When combined with the regular ordinance blasts of the Medusa, these batteries are one of your best sources of anti-tank.
**Unlike the rapier batteries, there is no way to snap fire with these guns, being both "Blast" and "Ordnance". So pinning the unit will effectively neutralise it. Taking "Cult Horde" with them makes you an idiot.
**Because as long as the gun is alive everyone is T7, but only the closest model tanks all the shots, consider an Aegis defense line to shield your artillery.

*'''Carnodon Strike Squadron:''' Predators on a budget, they are only BS3 and have AV12 on the front, but at 60 points each when their Heavy Bolter/Flamer sponsons are free you can fit a whole lot of dakka into a small list without having to buy any additional upgrades for them. They come in squadrons so you can scale up to suit your points allowance, and you can replace those sponsons for autocannons to have the same S7 coverage all around. There isn't a whole lot to mention here, since the tank itself is nothing spectacular and has few options for upgrades. The main draw is their value.
**Yes, the actual model comes with the option to swap for multi-lasers, volkites and lascannons, but Imperial Militia don't have those options. Autocannon turrets with bolter/flamer/autocannon sponsons only but at least that stops the unit from becoming a points sink if you invest too much into them. If you want more guns on a bigger budget then consider Leman Russes instead.

*'''Battle Tank Attack Squadron:''' Leman Russes, everyone's favourite, chosen from the vanilla, annihilator, exterminator, demolisher and vanquisher flavours. They've only got access to Heavy Bolter and Flamer sponsons (which is still better than the Solar Auxilia, who get no sponsons at all), but hilariously they can replace the hull gun with a multilaser, which might be a good idea if you're taking an ordnance tank and just want a gun for snap firing, or even as a makeshift AA gun.

*'''Malcador Heavy Tank:''' bigger Leman Russes, also a fast super heavy vehicle that is not a Lord of War. You can upgrade it to AV14 on the front if you sacrifice the Fast rule, but you can also take a Flare shield which applies all over and is boosted against templates. These used to be great tanks, but after the latest FAQ removed super heavy from their profile (what the FUCK Anuj????) they are now, unfortunately, pretty useless unless. You could take something like full lascannons to circumvent this problem and keep them cheap, but it's still a long way from the high strenght ordinance blasts.

*'''Mutant Spawn:''' ''(Tainted Flesh only)'' oh shi- GLARBLBLBLBL... ''Ahem'' slightly lesser than the 40k chaos version, possibly because they started out as humans and not space marines. They don't get access to marks and have only I2, however these ones have IWND and Hammer of Wrath as well as being 5 points cheaper on a per model basis, albeit with a higher startup cost like everything in HH, but you can take them in squads of ten which makes them a very potent prospect in melee. Their mutation table has also been heavily modified; taking effect from the beginning of the game and '''cannot be changed'''. Ones give them only a 5+ armour save, but at least it applies out of combat. Twos make them reroll 1s for random attacks, bleh. Threes give them Rending, so hope for this one and you can possibly have a big squad of these tearing through virtually anything.

===Lord of War===

*'''[[Baneblade|Auxilia Baneblade]]:''' - Though outclassed by the Legion Fellblade, the Baneblade is still a nasty proposition to face. Sporting a Baneblade cannon, Autocannon, Demolisher Cannon and a twin-linked heavy bolter. With the option of two/four Lascannons and two/four more twin-linked heavy bolters ''(the sponsons don't come as standard here)'' optional pintle mounts, AND optional Hunter-killer missile, it is a rolling fortress of death.

*'''Auxilia Stormhammer:''' - Taking Dakka to a logical extreme, the Stormhammer is less a superheavy and more a rolling fortress bristling with guns. Its hull weapon is a TL Battle Cannon, and its main gun is a S9 AP2 cannon with shred and pinning. With the options to take a pintle-mounted multilaser or heavy flamer, up to 4 HK missiles(!), a coaxial multilaser, a hull lascannon on top of the battle cannons, and six sponsons, all of which are armed with multilasers by default (making it [[C.S. Goto]]'s dream tank) but can be swapped out for heavy bolters, heavy flamers, or lascannons (and the first two options are free), it can take on more targets at once than any other superheavy. (The sponsons are switched out individually, so feel free to mix and match however you like.) and the whole tank can buy targeters giving it a nifty BS4. In short, the Stormhammer is your best bet for a versatile superheavy that can fit any situation that you can think of.

===Fortifications===

===Age of Darkness Theme: Army of Dark Compliance===
Built from a blending of Legiones Astartes and units from the Imperial Militia and Warp Cults list. However, it is quite distinct from the "Sacrificial Offering" Rite of War in that it does not use up your allies slot, allowing you to take allies from a third source. But it does prevent you from using a rite of War, so you cannot layer on extra special rules.

However you are still privy to the insane customisation options presented in the Warp Cults list, and you are not prevented from taking any option from your Legion list either.

The "Age of Darkness" themes requires your opponents permission to use, however it is an easy theme to build an army around because there are few rules to take account of.

*'''Restrictions'''
**You build your army with units from both the Crusade List and the Imperial Militia and Warp Cults list.
**You must include a Space Marine Praetor, Centurion or Consul to be your Warlord.
***''Do note that to take any Provenances of War you'll also need a "Force Commander" as one of your HQ choices as well.''
**Your army is automatically part of the traitor faction.
**You cannot use Rites of War.
**"Legiones Astartes" rules that apply to models by virtue of being in the same detachment do not apply of Militia units.
***''That means the only way to get Militia units to benefit from Astartes rules would be to attach an independent character with special rules that confer to units.''
**Unless specifically noted otherwise, all units count as being part of the same list for rules purposes such as Transports, Warlord traits and so on.
**You cannot include more units from the Legiones Astartes list than from the Imperial Militia list.
***''This is your main restriction, which prevents you from merely dabbling in Militia units.''
**You may not include Discipline Master Cadres

*'''Special Rules'''
**'''The Warmaster's Due:''' "[[Warhammer 40,000/Tactics/Tyrant's Legion(7E)|Tyrants Due]]" by another name, any time your Legion units are shot at which draws its line of fire through infantry militia units, you can add +1 to any cover save gained. However the militia unit then takes D3 wounds with no AP value, meaning your crap sub-flak conscript could take a hit from a Lascannon intended for a Space Marine and potentially survive it.
**'''Disposable:''' Any Militia units in your army may be affected the the "Disposable" rule, preventing them from conceding victory points for any reason when slain. It does however prevent these units from scoring or denying objectives so be sure and have enough Astartes units to hold on to objectives for you. You are not required to use this rule if you don't want to, but you must declare at the start of the game if you do.

==Allies==
A few notes about the list, since it interacts with other armies in different ways depending upon what Provenances of War they have taken.
*If they've taken Tainted Flesh or Cult Horde, then they cannot ally with Loyalist forces, though they may count ''Chaos Daemons'' as "Fellow Warriors".
*Cyber-Augmetics may count Mechanicum armies as "Sworn Brothers"
*Abhuman Helots only count Space Marine and Solar Auxilia armies as "Distrusted Allies"

===Agents===
'''Agents''' are also models useable by any HH army.
*'''Expeditionary [[Navigator]]:''' For those people who bought the model at an open day, Forgeworld released the rules for these guys for free on their website. For those that don't have the model, you can make/proxy your own (the Imperial Guard Astropath works well). He is one of the first ''Agents'' on the allies matrix represented in ''Betrayal'', though he can just be taken as an HQ slot. Essentially has the statline of a Conscript Guardsman, but comes with an Archaeotech pistol and the Aetherlabe staff, which allows his unit to fire snap-shots at a Deep striking unit arriving within 12" of him, or at full BS if it arrived by a Conjuration psychic power. He also causes Fear, which can be funny in crusade lists due to ATSKNF not existing. Finally, he also has Navigator powers, which are like 6th Ed psychic powers but don't use Warp Charges and can only use one per turn on a successful Ld test, failure pins himself and his unit.
**'''Lidless Stare:''' THE SHIT - shoot the flamer template, any infantry hit by it must pass an Initiative test or suffer [[FATAL|Instant Death]]. Which means most Space Marines touched are dead 33.3% of the time, Mechanicum infantry 50% of the time or better. Completely useless against bikes, jetbikes, and monsters, so YMMV.
**'''Warp Prescience:''' Enemies shooting at the Navigator (or his unit) suffers -1BS.
**'''Aetheric Disruption:''' All psykers on the table (friend or foe) roll THREE dice when determining what happens with Perils of the Warp and discard the lowest for the purposes of the result. Given this was written with 6th Ed in mind, it's not entirely clear whether that means any associated Ld test to mitigate Perils OR taking the two highest results of the Perils and applying BOTH, which means psykers are fucked, since that almost guarantees two wounds, unless that psyker rolls a 6 and turns into an unstoppable machine of death; it would be totally better if he discarded ''the highest'' die.

===Agents of the Emperor===
These are agents only usable by Loyalist players.
====The Knights Errant====
For ALL Knights-Errant, one very VERY important rule to remember is their Oath of Moment. Which means they have to pick a particular objective in order to be fielded; some of the easier ones, like ending the game in the enemy deployment zone, or ensuring an allied character survives, grant his army an extra victory point if he obtains it. Other, more difficult ones include personally slaying the enemy warlord in a challenge or making sure an enemy Primarch is killed ''(which he does not have to do personally, but since you are playing Milita this might be quite difficult to do)'', which nets his side three extra points. However, failing to complete his chosen objective means the side that took him cannot win at all, and can only settle for a draw.

*'''Nathaniel Garro:''' The first of the [[Knights-Errant]]. A three-wound Eternal Warrior, kitted out for challenges though he might struggle going toe-to-toe with some of the bigger named characters or a dangerously equipped Praetor. He is still meatier than your Force Commander will ever be, and you'll get the sense that he'll be able to stick it out long enough that he might just come out on top. He's not really a force multiplier the same way as the other Knights-Errant are, so consider if you really want Garro in your army, since you'll need to pad him out with a decent squad, Ogryns only really seem to fit the bill here.

*'''Tylos Rubio:''' The first recruit of Garro. A Mastery Level 2 psyker that can cast from divination and telekinesis... which is to say divination, since ''Echoes of Fate'' allows him to re-roll divination tests and any un-used warp charges can automatically become +1 strength each. Aside from those two special rules, he's just a mastery level 2 KE for 35 points less than a normal one. He's a solid choice, though you cannot change his loadout the same way as you could with a unnamed Knight Errant.

*'''Knight-Errant:''' A.K.A. Build your very own special snowflake™. A 2-wound space marine with a bunch of nice gear. He'll never stand toe-to-toe with the big bad-boys of the setting, but hey, you ''are'' playing Militia and Cults right? There is an awful lot you can do with a Knight Errant, but for those who came over from the Legion list bear in mind that your synergies are somewhat reduced. Nartheciums only apply to ''Legiones Astartes'' units so won't help your poor defenseless levy squads ''(you could have Medics anyway)'' and giving them a Jump Pack is kinda pointless since no other squad can Deep Strike along with them. But he DOES have ''Preferred Enemy (Traitors)'' so he can provide quite a significant boost to oversized militia squads, can take a servo-arm to fix things without spending an Elites slot and can ALSO become a '''Librarian Consul'''. This means that Loyalists can actually take a psyker without having to resort to allies, and also because he's a Legiones Astartes character -but not a unique named one- he is also eligible for a wide array of Psyarkana upgrades to fit your preference. This can be done all at the same time to make a swiss-army-knife character. Add in the option to swap his super-bolter for a sniper-rifle or a combi-weapon and you have a damn versatile support element. Go nuts!
**He has a few other cool rules too: like being able to ''Deep Strike'' without scatter, and cause his opponents to snap fire at him during the following turn, or count as disordered when charging him. If you don't want to attach him to a squad ''(and we don't blame you)'', deploying via his Falsehood is a perfectly adequate way to go.

==Tactics==
This army pretty much allows you to do whatever you want, although generally you'll be looking at infantry supported by armour and artillery. A large factor in how your army will play is what Provenances you take. Abhuman Helots, Survivors of the Dark Age, Cyber Augmentics and Tainted Flesh will all help improve the survivability of your infantry, while Warrior Elite, Alchem-Jackers and Abhuman Helots with Discipline Collars will make your guys less likely to run away so are highly recommended if you're not running Grenadier-only troops. There are ''a lot'' of Provenances that can improve your close combat game; Gene-Crafted, Feral Warriors, Cult Horde, Tainted Flesh and Alchem-Jackers with Frenzon all help you out in melee, although it's of questionable use in a Marine-oriented environment. However, only one Provenance, Survivors of a Dark Age, increases your range-game to any degree, [[Fail|which makes no sense at all]] considering that even with these buffs you'll get massacred by dedicated Marine units, but it's not supposed to allow your guys to go 1-1 with Marines, it's there to take it from a 3-1 fight to a 2-1 fight.

Your advantages include how cheap you are compared to other armies (seriously, even your [[What|Leman Russes are cheaper by 10 points]]), the fact that you can buff your infantry fairly easily with Provenances and Medicae Orderlies and the amount of armour and heavy firepower that you can bring to the field with artillery, Rapiers, Heavy Support Squads and Leman Russes, all of which are cheaper that anyone else's. However, this cheapness is balanced out by Provenances of War, making it not as spammy as it may initially seem.

Basically, what you want to do with these guys is find a theme to [[Roleplaying|forge a narrative]] on, and then base it round that. Want to have an army of clones that are little more than meat shields for your Dark Mechanimum army? Tainted Flesh and Cyber-Augmented are right up your alley. Want your humies to mimic beakies? Take Survivors of the Dark Age and load your Grenadier Squad up into Rhinos. However, as for competitive play it's not that good unless you [[Powergamer|really min-max]] your army, so don't expect a lot out of them.

Also of serious consideration is whether or not you want [[Ultramarines|Ultrasmurf]] allies to bring along Invictarus Suzerains to gain +1Ld to all your guys within 12" as well as bringing some hardier troops and better CC ability. Not compulsory but a good idea.

==Building your Army==

USE YOUR DAMN IMAGINATION! Want an army of Felinids? Abhuman Helots and Gene-Crafted. Only Renegades & Heretics have more customization. This army is about as customizable as they are but, they're less diverse both in the base units available and being restricted by the biggest source of customization being army wide. The units can take a startling rainbow of standard weapons, but like a rainbow, many of the options are almost the same. Its entirely possible (albeit better for friendly counts as games) to proxy a fantasy army, such as the Empire or possibly Skaven. Look at the stuff available on GW's website. Empire, Elf, Guard, Skaven, (some) Skitarii, even ORKS (with some converting) can work! Since many tournaments ban forgeworld anyway, look to other model sites if it suits your fancy. All of it works, all of its totally fluff friendly. WoC? Feral worlders. Infinity stuff? Technological advanced enclave. A WW2 model range? You get the idea. If you ever wanted to make an army thats truly "you", a one of a kind masterpiece, et cetera, this is for you. You may not exactly win, but you sure as hell wont be forgotten. Hell, make your army a bunch of chicks with swag armour and do a proto-sisters of battle army. Then piss people off and give them gene-crafted for Sister Marines, alchem-jackers with frenzon for RED RAGE sisters, or cyber sex gals.
If you're using Survivors of the Dark Age and decent armor, why not make an army of [[Adeptus_Arbites|Arbites]]? Survivors of the Dark Age and Abhuman Helots work for an army of Squats. Any combination of Tainted Flesh, Abhuman Helots, Feral Warriors and
Cult Horde could give you an army of [[Beastmen]]. Want something vaguely Calibanite? Warrior Elite and SotDA works well to that end.

{{Warhammer_30k_Tactics}}
[[Category:Warhammer Tactics/30k]]

Melta

2021-02-04T16:12:27Z

2001:4930:172:25:AC3D:E498:C7A1:2583:

[[File:Meltagun.png|400px|thumb|right|The ubiquitous Meltagun, one of GW's [[Butthurt|only]] [[Awesome|original]] [[Skaven|ideas]], though forms of suspiciously similar real-life microwave-based weaponry predate WH40K by at least two decades.]]
'''Melta''' is a designation for a type of anti-armor weapon used widely by the forces of the [[Imperium]] and similarly by merit of being traitors, the forces of [[Chaos]] as well; the [[Tau]], [[Eldar]], and even [[Necrons]] also employ their own renditions of the concept. Think of infrared ovens IN SPACE, infused with extra [[RAGE]], and shot out using a tremendous amount of infrared light to [[rage|super-agitate]] the target, so that it heats up to the point where it's hot enough to melt itself away, whether they be Power Armor or Super-heavy Tank Armor. How hot? Well, steel vaporizes at 2760 C. Is it practical? Well, the Nazis experimented with using [[Nazi Equipment|Chlorine Trifluoride]] to burn vehicles and bunkers, and that burns at 2400 C, so yeah, it's conceivably possible to build such a weapon, if you can store enough energy and convert it to infrared fast enough.

The fundamental problem behind Melta-based weapons is that the super-high energy consumption and heat generation are used to explain its lack of range (when in reality an infrared laser should have actually pretty good range). In comparison to the equally useful [[Plasma]]-based weaponry, Meltas are much more potent in exchange for that shorter range, though Meltas also don't explode in your face on a bad roll, so that is certainly another benefit. On the gripping hand, Plasma weapons allow your troops to have some breathing room since they can be used at about medium range, so your troops won't always be at the risk of being caught in a vehicle's explosion, murdered in CQC, or ambushed by a nearby gun line after they fire off their guns in one turn. Though invariably biased towards tank hunting by superb armor penetration, Melta-based guns are also good weapons for all-around attack, defense, and infiltration; though it falls short in terms of range as mentioned. Infiltration with this can [[Butthurt|take vehicles out of the fight before they even have a chance to fire their weapon]]... and maybe [[Vance Motherfucking Stubbs|that's how the Baneblades were lost?]]

Depictions of Melta weapons firing themselves have been spotty in the face of publications and vidya gaems. In several publications and [[Dawn of War]]: Soulstorm, Melta weapons fire a constant stream, like a laser-flame thrower. Yet in the Caiphus Cain novels, Jurgen's melta operates more like a rifle, firing eye-searing acetonic flashes described as bright enough to be seen through closed eyelids. And in the [[Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine|Space Marine video game]] they fire a single rapid wave of energy in a manner that makes them essentially shotguns – Titus likely dispersed the beam so he could kill more Orks per shot as even Orks aren't dumb enough to drive tanks in extremely overbuilt urban zones – and the [[Dawn of War II]] series have Melta weapons firing a single blue/purple beam, while Dark Crusade uses discrete blobs of melt. In [[Eternal Crusade]], they fire a limited-range, damage-over-time beam you have to keep on target, presumably in order to make them less effective as an anti-infantry weapon.

==Imperial Melta Weapons==

===Melta Bomb===
[[image:MkXIXThermicCharge.jpeg|200px|right|thumb|Melta Bomb]]
Although the Imperium has not been successful at making pistol-sized Melta for cheap, it is very successful in the case of miniaturizing a hydrogen bomb.

For millennia, the [[Adeptus Mechanicus]] had hypothesized that there was a Melta weapon with an even lesser range than the Meltagun, and sure enough, one day they found the Melta Bomb [[STC]] printout. Despite the tags, Melta Bombs are land mine-sized fusion charges used to destroy enemy vehicles and fortifications. Normally, Melta canisters come with a handle by the side of the cylinder. This Melta canister here has its handle by the end to facilitate throwing like a grenade. Because its shape is unlike a grenade, it is still pretty awkward to throw with, and the weight is probably not helping either. Because they have to be placed right next to the target to be satisfactorily effective, they are mostly given to assault units who get up close and personal with the enemy on a regular basis, which translates to better accuracy when throwing them, if not setting them up right where they should be. Back around ten thousand years ago, there were Melta Bombs which were quite smaller, at around the same size as a regular grenade. Whether there are differences between these two sizes of Melta Bombs is uncertain since there is no distinction in-between where stats are concerned. We may consider that the smaller version is simply compacted for easier carrying, and that both versions weigh about the same.

Only two units in a Space Marine army uses Melta Bombs, Assault Squads and Vanguard Veterans. Although alike in appearance, what the Armorium Cherub in the Devastator Squad is carrying is not a Melta Bomb, especially since Devastator Squads do not use it (''and don't really have any reason to as well''). The Armorium Cherub's purpose is to facilitate reloading, making that canister more likely to be fuel for Multi-Melta, rather than a Melta Bomb.

In the 30k tabletop they're S8 AP1 with armorbane and unwieldy, and generally used for popping land raiders that the squad's chainswords and bolters don't have a hope in hell of glancing. Because they have armorbane and not melta, they bypass armord ceremite despite being a melta weapon. They can obly kill things with the vehicle keyword, however, so don't take them in replacement for a power fist to kill TEQ's.
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MeltaBombModel.jpeg|<center>Model</center>
IF MkXIX Lucifer Pattern MeltaBomb.jpg|<center>Imperial Fists</center>
MeltaBombDeathshroud.jpg|<center>Heresy Era</center>
EldarMeltaBomb.jpg|<center>Eldar</center>
FireDragonMeltaBomb.jpg|<center>Fire Dragon</center>
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===Inferno Pistol===
[[File:InfernusPistolProfile.jpg|200px|right|thumb|Infernus Pistol]]
This microwave blowtorch is where the Imperium of Man's mass production capability reaches its limits in the Melta category.

Inferno Pistols are those rare Melta weapons where you only need one hand to fire out the heat. Where miniaturization is concerned, the Imperium has not sorted out the cost issue of this weapon just yet compared to other pistol-scaled weaponry such as the [[Bolter#Bolt_Pistol|Bolt Pistol]] and the [[Flamer#Hand_Flamer|Hand Flamer]]. Notable users of these blowtorches are the [[Sisters of Battle]] and the [[Blood Angels]], both of which having a pretty high affinity for burning stuff. The Blood Angels in particular seem to make their own in-house called the '''Infernus Pistol'''. [[Sanguinius]] used one in conjunction with his [[Power_weapon#Power_Sword|Power Sword]] for close combat, and his eldest living non-Dreadnought son to date, [[Dante]], currently wields an Artificer Infernus Pistol known as ''Perdition Pistol''. With their latest codex, the Inferno Pistol is now at home with the Blood Angels and available to a variety of their assault specialized units. Of course, the Inquisition and the Deathwatch have access to Inferno Pistols; specifically the [[Ordo Hereticus]] for the Inquisition, those [[Hats|big-hatted pastors]] love nothing more than the look on your face when they one-shot your (probably heretical) Leman Russ. The Deathwatch has a variant called a Conflagration Pistol, which is one of the coolest names in all of 40K. It trades some ammo capacity for anti-armor punch. Dudes who came from the Salamanders love it.

Despite the fact that they used both these and Hand Flamers during that one [[Horus Heresy|heresy]], the [[Salamanders]] [[Derp|don't get them in regular 40k]].

Curiously, [[Chaos Space Marines]] had access to them in [[Dawn of War|Dawn of War 2]] despite never using them on tabletop, [[Wat|while the loyalists don't]] (the [[Ordo Hereticus]] [[Inquisitor]] hero of the [[Imperial Guard]] can get one as an anti-armor weapon though). If you upgrade them to the Mark of [[Khorne]], their Aspiring Champion gets one to make them slightly better at chasing and taking down light vehicles. The Chaos Champion boss in the Exterminatus of Typhon mission of Retribution's campaign also wields one [[Awesome|which he fires point blank several times into the maw of a Carnifex in a sync-kill]].

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SisterOfBattleInfernoPistol.jpg|<center>Sisters of Battle</center>
SoBInfernoPistolNew.png|<center>Sisters of Battle</center>
InquisitorInfernoPistol.png|<center>Inquisitor</center>
BloodAngelsSergeantInfernoPistol.jpg|<center>Blood Angels</center>
DeathCompanyInfernoPistol.jpg|<center>Death Company</center>
ChaplainInfernusPistol.png|<center>Infernus Pistol</center>
SanguinaryGuardInfernoPistol.png|<center>Sanguinary Guard</center>
InfernusPistolDiagram.jpg|<center>''[[Dante]]'s''</center>
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{{40k-Ranged-Weapon-Profile-7-8|r7=6"|s7=8|ap7=1|type7=Pistol, Melta|r8=6"|s8=8|ap8=-4|d8=D6|type8=Pistol 1|abil8=If target within half range, roll two dice for damage and discard the lowest result.}}
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===Gamma Pistol===
[[File:GammaPistol.jpg|200px|right|thumb|Gamma Pistol]]
You may have thought right off the bat that the Gamma Pistol is a kind of [[Radium Weaponry|Radium Weapon]]. Function-wise, however, it fits better as a Melta weapon.

Gamma Pistols are strange little weapons used by the [[Adeptus Mechanicus]], particularly the higher Tech-Priests, specifically Cybernetica Datasmiths. This weapon beams out ionizing radiation that can turn people into "blackened shadow" in a second. Basically, it skips the burning part and goes straight to the ash part. Of course, this is not the true potential of the weapon. Those who know how to tame its savage Machine Spirit – essentially knowing how the weapon actually works – can even cut holes into fortifications. This little gun shoots out beams that can melt stuff. Clearly, it is a Melta. Irradiation Projectors, though a similar weapon that projects actual radiation out, is not the same as the Gamma Pistol since it does not have the capability to engage armor and fortifications as effectively as the case of Melta. The short range of this weapon can be explained beyond its pocket-size. If you recall your Physics class back at school, there are several kinds of electromagnetic radiation, three of which we are interested in have a particular quality. Gamma ray, x-ray, and the higher portion of ultraviolet are ionizing, whereas the rest of the spectrum are not. Obviously, Gamma Pistols use the eponymous shortest wavelength, the one with the most penetrating power that comes from radioactive decay.

Whether there are other two variants of this type remains to be seen, though compared to Gamma Pistol, names like "''Extreme Ultraviolet Pistol''" and "''X-ray Pistol''" do sound a bit off.
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GammaPistolModelSide.jpg|<center>Right View</center>
GammaPistolModelProfile.jpg|<center>Left View</center>
GammaPistolPict.jpg|<center>Pict Capture</center>
GammaPistolPict1.jpg|<center>Pict Capture</center>
GammaPistolPict2.jpg|<center>Pict Capture</center>
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{{40k-Ranged-Weapon-Profile-7-8|r7=12"|s7=6|ap7=2|type7=Pistol, Armourbane|r8=12"|s8=6|ap8=-3|d8=2|type8=Pistol 1|abil8=Can re-roll failed wounds if target is Vehicle.}}
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===Meltagun===
[[File:Meltagun2.jpg|200px|right|thumb|Meltagun]]
Contrary to the pistol variant, this size is a standard across the Imperium by the rule of thumb – if the [[Imperial Guard]] uses it, it is practically universal.

Meltaguns are distinctive by its cylindrical barrel with a number of either slits or holes depending on the model. Practically, there are two reasons to having holes on your gun barrel beyond cool-looking aesthetics. The holes allow high pressure gases to vent out when a bullet is fired, reducing the recoil by reducing the gas that will have kicked over to the back. A similar alternative to drilling holes is the muzzle brake which is attached by the front of the barrel. Considering the thickness of the barrel here, that of the Meltagun might just be a muzzlebrake, rather than the actual barrel. But since Meltaguns shoot out heat rays and not bullets, recoil shouldn't really be a problem. The second reason for those holes is rooted in insulation. The primary duty of a barrel shroud is to protect the user from touching the hot barrel. Those holes are there to keep a good airflow for that same barrel to cool down while being small enough that a finger will not slip through one. For a gun that shoots melting rays, it is obvious for its barrel to be insanely hot enough to warrant insulation. This is understandable since the user will probably want the heat ray to only come out of one end of the weapon, melting things that he wants to melt and not himself in the process. Whether you can take off that shroud and fire your Meltagun in a possibly spread pattern remains a speculation.

Aside from the Imperial Guard in Special Weapons Squads of three, Tactical Squads of the [[Space Marines]] may also take one. [[Sisters of Battle]] normally get two. If they happen to be Dominions, they can get up to four.
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CadianMeltagun.png|<center>Cadian</center>
MeltaSolarAuxiliaCommand.jpg|<center>Solar Auxilia</center>
BattleSisterMeltagun.png|<center>Sororitas</center>
SpaceMarineMeltagun30k.png|<center>Heresy Era</center>
ArmigerMeltagun.jpg|<center>Armiger Knight</center>
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====Conflagration Mod====
[[File:DeathwatchMeltagun.jpg|200px|right|thumb|Conflagration Meltagun (''Placeholder'')]]
These are less of a distinct variant and more of a modification from the standard Meltaguns.

The [[Deathwatch]] Techmarine responsible for these modded heat guns was Enthor Calibos seconded from the Salamanders (''how surprising''). Once upon a time at Watch Fortress Erioch, he probably noticed that the Meltagun he was issued was not up to Salamanders pristine standard, and so he decided to modify them to his liking. Crafted in very limited numbers because this is just one Techmarine we're talking about, these compact, high-output Meltaguns have gained favor among those Battle-Brothers of the Deathwatch lucky enough to have wielded them. They are probably the reason to Calibos making more Conflagration modifications apart from those of his own arsenal in the first place. Reflecting the fine workmanship and deep love for cleansing flame of their creator, these powerful weapons have higher penetration and damage output at the expense of increased energy consumption. Because he possibly was feeling generous by then, Calibos also modified the in-house Infernus Pistols. Like their larger siblings, these weapons trade increased power usage for higher penetration and damage yield. They are a favorite of many Space Marines from the Salamanders Chapter as well as any other who happens to be a pyromaniac on the side.

In the end, these Conflagration Meltas are simply just better Meltas with the standard higher (''energy'') cost for better quality exchange.
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| Pistol
| 10m
| S/–/–
| 2d10 + 10E
| 15
| 2
| Full
| —
| 5
| 35
| Distinguished
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| Basic
| 20m
| S/–/–
| 2d10 + 10E
| 15
| 4
| 2 Full
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| 14
| 35
| Distinguished
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===Beamer Meltagun===
[[File:BeamerMeltagunPlaceholder.jpg|200px|right|thumb|Beamer Meltagun (''Placeholder'')]]
The Imperium has designed/found a Meltagun that fires at a decent range without sacrificing portability. The results? The usual.

The Beamer style of Meltagun was an attempt to create a longer-range Melta weapon that was still light enough to be easily carried into combat. Using fragments of decaying scrolls describing several ancient design patterns (''and after much divination and prayer''), the Zepherus Mark I "Beamer" Meltagun was developed. Though it still uses specialized gases melded and ignited into a sub-molecular thermal state like what a Melta should, this weapon features a longer barrel with a radiation beam surrounding the gaseous discharge. This low-level radiations acts as a harmonic wavefront for the super-hot release, allowing it to strike at longer distances. The necessary tuning for the beam to match the discharge proved impractical in the field, however, and only those willing (''or able'') to spend many hours of difficult correction after prolonged use still stand by the weapon – although given the sheer manpower of the Imperium, it shouldn't be out of place to assign some people exclusively for their maintenance. Almost no fighting units still utilize them despite the superior range, and their manufacture ceased after the first production run. On the other hand, there remains a possibility that the technical details for the Beamer Melta type have already circulated to several other Forge Worlds, continuing the legacy of this superior, albeit complex Meltagun under different aliases other than Zepherus Mark II.

Now prized as trophy weapons, some of these Zepherus still see use as part of elite mercenary groups or Inquisitorial Kill-teams.
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| 40m
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| 9
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===Melta Rifle===
[[File:Melta_Rifle.JPG|200px|right|thumb|Melta Rifle]]
A successor to the Beamer Meltagun. The [[Primaris Space Marines]] get yet another cool ass toy to play around with.

The Melta Rifle occupies a size niche in-between that of a regular Melta and the Multi-Melta. The catch, however, is that the advanced technologies used to construct this weapon allows the Melta Rifle to have Multi-Melta range. Instead of that usual cylinder for the magazine, the fuel source for the Melta Rifle distinguishes itself in terms of shape by being a bit bigger on the shorter side, resulting in a canister that probably will look pretty much like a canteen if you glue a bottleneck on one of its shorter ends.

Melta Rifles are wielded primarily by the new [[Eradicator]] Primaris Marines who functions similarly to a Space Marine [[Devastator Squad]], but more [[Awesome]]. They have a similar design as the Multi-Melta, but smaller and much lighter in weight. It has an extended magazine, presumably to enable the weapon to shoot out more superheated gas and maintain a long, steady beam of ionising plasma.

Like most Primaris infantry weapons like the [[Bolt Rifle]], the Melta Rifle has sub-variants including the even bigger '''Heavy Melta Rifle''', because the original Melta Rifle isn't [[Cheese]] enough. This is powered by a cable linking directly to the user's Power Armour.

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Heavy_Melta_Rifle.JPG|<center>Heavy Melta Rifle</center>
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===Multi-Melta===
[[File:MMArt.jpg|200px|right|thumb|Multi-Melta]]
Different from other commonly Heavy weapons such as the Heavy Bolter and the Heavy Flamer, the heavier version of the Meltagun is not called Heavy Melta.

The Multi-Melta is essentially two Meltaguns strapped together and supercharged. In game terms, this only doubles the (''already sucky'') range and makes it a heavy weapon; how taping two things together makes them shoot farther rather than just twice as hard is unclear. Due to the size and especially weight, Multi-Meltas are usually mounted on vehicles rather than carried. The Leman Russ Demolisher may have them mounted by the sponsons, while the Land Raider Crusader may mount one on its pintle; the weapon fits seamlessly with both vehicles' emphasis on short-range firepower. The Immolator may choose to replace its Twin-Linked Heavy Flamers or Twin-Linked Heavy Bolters with a Twin-Linked Multi-Melta. Due to its satisfactory effectiveness when arrayed against armor and monsters as well as the improved effective range, many other vehicles of the Imperium also have them mounted such as Razorbacks, Land Speeders, Dreadnoughts, and even on the sidecar of Attack Bikes. Because Multi-Meltas are so heavy, the [[Imperial Guard]] do not employ them without vehicles. By merit of wearing Power Armour, [[Space Marines]] and [[Sisters of Battle]] – emphasis on the Sisters of Battle – can afford to carry them around. [[Thallax|Thallaxes]] in particular, being quite larger than Astartes, carry them around normally – that is, not bulky, and/or not with the universally cool chainsaw grip.

It is unknown whether efficiency for other Melta weapons can be improved in this manner. Imagine a really big cylinder filled with Meltaguns... [[Melta#Cyclonic_Melta_Lance|Oh, wait a minute-]]
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DevastatorMeltaBomb.png|<center>Fuel Canister</center>
MultiMeltaServitor.jpg|<center>Servitor</center>
PortableMultiMelta.png|<center>Sister of Battle</center>
MultiMeltaAstartes.jpg|<center>Astartes</center>
MultiMeltaDamnedLegionnaire.jpg|<center>Damned Legionnaire</center>
MultiMeltaMediantPattern.jpg|<center>Mediant Pattern</center>
MultiMeltaThallax.jpg|<center>Thallax</center>
MultiMeltaCastellax.jpg|<center>Castellax Automata</center>
MultiMeltaCastellaxBack.jpg|<center>Castellax Automata (Back)</center>
MultiMeltaDreadnought.jpg|<center>Castraferrum Dreadnought</center>
MultiMeltaContemptor.jpg|<center>Contemptor Dreadnought</center>
MultiMeltaLandSpeeder.jpg|<center>Land Speeder</center>
VehicleMultiMeltas.png|<center>Leman Russ</center>
ImmolatorMultiMelta.png|<center>Twin-linked Twin-linked Meltagun</center>
MultiMeltaLandRaiderCrusader.jpg|<center>Land Raider</center>
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===Firestorm Multi-Melta===
[[File:DeathwatchMultiMelta.jpg|200px|right|thumb|Firestorm Multi-Melta (''Placeholder'')]]
Yet another "better" Melta weapon available to the [[Deathwatch]] because it is the Deathwatch.

Created millennia ago as a field modification of a damaged Maxima-pattern Multi-Melta by another Deathwatch Techmarine whose identity has been forgotten, though his name is likely not Firestorm, these Multi-Meltas trade higher energy consumption and shorter range for an even higher damage yield and the ability to fire in short bursts – the former being merely an upgrade just like the Conflagration mods, and the latter likely the reason to the Firestorm title. Although modifications of this kind/extent are typically frowned upon by the Mechanicus, the Deathwatch Techmarines of Watch Fortress Erioch have received special dispensation to perform this operation on limited numbers of existing weapons, so there is at least an official approval unlike some other field modifications we know of. Firestorm Multi-Meltas have a chance of bursting out a number of charges left in the fuel canister, so it is less of an ability and more of that it just happens to, which isn't exactly what we can call the most reliable feature since it relies on randomness and/or the resident Machine Spirit. Perhaps there is supposed to be a firing pattern in order to trigger the burst fire, but the correct sequence had already been lost in the typical Imperium fashion.

Just like the Conflagration mods, the Firestorm is simply a better Multi-Melta used by Watch Fortress Erioch.
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|'''Class'''
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|'''Dmg'''
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|'''Rld'''
|'''Special'''
|'''Wt'''
|'''Req'''
|'''Renown'''
|-
| Heavy
| 100m
| S/2/–
| 5d10 + 5E
| 15
| 6
| 2 Full
| Blast (2), Recharge, Volatile
| 70
| 65
| Distinguished
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</center>

===Thermal Lance===
[[File:ThermalLancePlaceholder.jpg|200px|right|thumb|Thermal Lance (''Placeholder'')]]
This is a weapon to choose when you want your Multi-Melta to be more precise, no matter the cost.

The Thermal Lance is a rare weapon, nearly as large as a standard Multi-Melta, though they both weigh about just the same. This one, however, fires a more accurate and directed heat beam using a much longer barrel with added directional containment beams to reduce dispersal, at the cost of lowered damage to the target compared to what the similarly-sized Multi-Melta can achieve. So what does this tell us about its appearance to imagine? The main barrel is explicitly stated to be longer, and that's definitely not something you see every day on a Meltagun. The presence of directional containment beams, which probably serve to do exactly what it says on the tin, likely suggests that there are additional smaller barrels which fire them. Since it's plural, we can be certain that there are at least two directional containment beams to keep the heat beam linearly together. Battlefield applications for the Thermal Lance is unknown, but for its pitiful range comparable to that of the Inferno Pistol, whatever that carries the weapon must be big and thrives in one-on-one close quarters combat. The big guy that carries this weapon is likely to be more of a "hunter" type since accurate beams allow for targeted strikes which isn't something you can just do with the regular, spread-out Meltagun.

All in all, the Thermal Lance is an alternative to a Multi-Melta for when what you want is a rifle with a range of a SMG and not a shotgun.
<center>
{|class="wikitable mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" style="background: white;"
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{|class="wikitable" style="border: 1px solid black; background: white; text-align:center; display:inline-table;"
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|'''Pen'''
|'''Clip'''
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|'''Wt'''
|'''Availability'''
|-
| Heavy
| 10m
| S/–/–
| 2d10 + 10E
| 12
| 2
| 2 Full
| Accurate
| 40
| Rare
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</center>

===''Solar Atomiser''===
[[File:SolarAtomiserProfile.jpg|200px|right|thumb|''Solar Atomiser'']]
One of the perks for being at the upper end of the Mechanicum hierarchy is customized weaponry, and this is [[Cawl]]'s.

Judging from its certainly baroque appearance, it is far from a perfume spray as its name suggests. By functionality, however, the ''Solar Atomiser'' does spray out something, and that thing ain't nice. Using a complex focusing array of his own design, this weapon concentrates thermic energy and Melta-waves into a short-ranged but utterly unstoppable blast that can melt through an enemy war engine in seconds; and he's not kidding when he said it's short-ranged. For a size way bigger than a Multi-Melta, its effective range is only at about what a normal Meltagun can do. But we all know how the electromagnetic spectrum goes – the closer it is to the shorter wavelength side, the scarier it is.

Though the Solar Atomiser probably doesn't operate under the same principles as the Gamma Pistol used by Datasmiths... you get the idea. Another thing to note is the "Solar" prefix which may have something to do with more than sounding fancy. As stated, the weapon concentrates thermic energy and Melta-waves. The thermic energy in question might have something to do with the "Solar" part of the name. Should that be the case, then this thermic energy is likely Plasma in origin, which would explain the middle part of the weapon, and make the ''Solar Atomiser'' a holy combination of Plasma and Melta technology.

Being on the receiving end of a nuclear shaped charge combined with star-hot ionised gas probably isn't very nice.
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|<gallery class="center">
SolarAtomiserBack.jpg|<center>Back View</center>
SolarAtomiserPict.jpg|<center>Pict Capture</center>
SolarAtomiserBFGA2.png|<center>Battlefleet Gothic: Armada 2</center>
</gallery>
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{{40k-Ranged-Weapon-Profile-7-8|r7=12"|s7=10|ap7=1|type7=Assault D3, Master-crafted, Melta|r8=12"|s8=10|ap8=-4|d8=D3|type8=Assault D3|abil8=If target within half range, Damage is D6.}}
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</center>

===Melta Destroyer===
[[File:Melta_Destroyer.JPG|200px|right|thumb|Melta Destroyer]]
The Melta Destroyer is a relatively new Melta design and essentially, the bigger brother of the Melta Rifle. The Melta Destroyer is only found on the [[Storm Speeder#Hammerstrike|Storm Speeder Hammerstrike]] as a secondary hull weapon. This chonkin gun is [[Rape|triple-barrelled for thrice the fun!]] Going by the appearance, it is clear that GW realized that the [[Flamer#Conflagration_Cannon|Conflagration Cannon]] looks cool, so they miniaturized it to fit the Primaris Land Speeder, and changed the race from Flamer to Melta for that anti-vehicular juice. It also has an <s>absurdly</s> decent range for a Heavy 3 Melta at 24" with a solid 8 Strength and AP-4. You will be punching holes through even the most heavily armored vehicle to get to the juicy bits.

Given the new and absolutely [[AWESOME]] rules of Melta weapons in 9th Edition, the Melta Destroyer is the MEQ-cleanser supreme. Seriously, D6+2 at half range, you are doing a minimum of [[Rape|3 WOUNDS per shot,]] meaning that this shit auto-kills GEQs, MEQs and even ''TEQs'' at a relatively okay 12" range. Fuck me a diddle, everyone NOT an [[Adeptus Custodes]] or a [[Terminator]] is gonna cry. Sure, the Hammerstrike is going to eat shots like nothing else (and at 10 wounds is liable to get demolished by concentrated AT fire) but if it reaches you, you are dead.
{{clear}}

===Cyclonic Melta Lance===
[[File:CyclonicMeltaLanceProfile.jpg|200px|right|thumb|Cyclonic Melta Lance]]
Surprise, surprise, turns out there really is a big cylinder filled with Meltaguns, and people call it the Cyclonic Melta Lance.

This Tri-Linked Multi-Melta here is made just for the massive size of the [[Dreadnought#Leviathan_Pattern|Leviathan Pattern Siege Dreadnought]], which is also be known to us as the Hulkbuster Pattern. These Dreadnoughts have a "Siege" tag behind there for a reason, and its array of weaponry must correspond as such. Now, in a siege, you are supposed to go up close to a fortified position where you'll probably be shot dead halfway through. Thankfully, the Leviathan is such a bulk that it most likely has more chances of making it through than a Rhino. With that part already cleared, your Leviathan will need something to breach through walls and bunkers. Six super blowtorches should be just enough to melt the living and non-living shit out of anything. Of course, since the weapon is comparatively bigger with triple the barrels, the Melta Lance is more destructive than your standard Multi-Melta. The rapid cycling this weapon goes through allows the Melta to discharge in a higher rate as well, though for some reason, the range is reduced, which is not really much of a problem for a Siege Dreadnought who usually has to close-in anyway. If you don't know what rapid cycling is, and haven't figured it out from the arrangement of the barrels, then we suggest that you remind yourself what a Gatling gun looks like. Well, yes, you would be correct. This is a Gatling Melta.

Sharing a word in its name with a [[Exterminatus#Cyclonic_Torpedoes|planet-killing bomb]] should also give you a hint or two that this pretty girl is dangerous.
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|<gallery class="center">
CyclonicMeltaLanceModel.jpg|<center>Model</center>
CyclonicMeltaLanceModel2.jpg|<center>Model</center>
CyclonicMeltaLance.jpg|<center>Front View</center>
</gallery>
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{{40k-Ranged-Weapon-Profile-7-8|r7=18"|s7=9|ap7=1|type7=Heavy 3, Melta|r8=18"|s8=9|ap8=-4|d8=D6|type8=Heavy 2D3|abil8=If target within half range, roll two dice for damage and discard the lowest result.}}
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</center>

===Magna-Melta===
[[File:DeimosPredatorMagnaMeltaProfile.jpg|200px|right|thumb|Magna-Melta]]
This is an instance where a weapon designed for space combat is appropriated for ground warfare.

The Magna-Melta is the primary weapon of the [[Caestus Assault Ram]], though calling it a weapon is technically untrue since the purpose of the Magna-Melta on that assault ram is to soften armour before the rams themselves dive straight through it, unloading its boarding party into enemy voidcraft. Since the timeframe of the distance before the ram hits the ship is small, the Magna-Melta must be very powerful in order to melt the armor at such a short period of time. Stopping by the ship before firing the Magna-Melta negates the purpose of the ram; besides, that is not cool, that's boring. The Caestus must come down to the ship like a Drop Pod, and the Magna-Melta recreates the heat from the atmospheric entry part. Of course, the action itself can also be recreated on other targets such as big fortifications which you are certain that won't topple down when the ram hits. Or you can be manly and purposely using an empty ram to collapse the enemy's fortifications and use its engines and melta to blast your way out like a boss. Since the Caestus is such a sturdy metal box, it is often used as landing craft, and this is when the Astartes of the Great Crusade realized that the Magna-Melta is one hell of a Melta Cannon. Since flying the Caestus around the place just in case they needed that big Melta is impractical, they stripped off that Magna-Melta and popped it on their Deimos Predator. And by then, they had tanks with big twin-linked Melta Cannons roving around alongside as far as those two hundred years lasted.

By the present, these are mostly replaced by Land Raider Redeemers with pintle Multi-Meltas. Sadly, nobody seems to know how to mount a Magna-Melta over the hull instead of the Assault Cannons, or perhaps Magna-Melta is in low supply like pretty much every ten thousand years old relic of the Imperium.
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CaestusAssaultRamMagnaMelta2.png|<center>Caestus Assault Ram</center>
DeimosPredatorInfernusMagnaMelta.png|<center>Deimos Predator Infernus</center>
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{{40k-Ranged-Weapon-Profile-7-8|r7=18"|s7=8|ap7=1|type7=Heavy 1, Large Blast (5"), Melta|r8=24"|s8=10|ap8=-4|d8=D6|type8=Heavy D3|abil8=If target within half range, roll two dice for damage and discard the lowest result.}}
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</center>

===Melta-Cutter===
[[image:TermiteMeltaCutterProfile.jpg|200px|right|thumb|Melta-Cutter]]
Like the Magna-Melta, the Melta-Cutter is not intended to be used as a weapon. Unlike the Magna-Melta, the Melta-Cutter is not quite as effective when appropriated as a weapon.

While the bigger Magna-Melta is primarily used to melt ship armor and anything less durable, the Melta-Cutter is primarily concerned with the ground, specifically rocks that the drill cannot pierce through. Other than that, it operates the same principle – soften them up before punching through. The same can be said for anybody who happens to be in front of the drill. The Melta-Cutter of the [[Hades Breaching Drill]] should be seen as more of a construction equipment (''like our modern rock grinders''), since the main purpose of that machine is to dig tunnels. As a matter of fact, Melta-Cutters are industrial equipment for construction work used by the Imperium. In that respect, Melta-Cutters are then similar to the [[Flamer#Clearance_Incinerator|Clearance Incinerator]], and so it should be reasonable for Genestealer Cults to have them in their uprisings. The Melta-Cutter of the [[Tunneling_Transport_Vehicles#Termite|Termite]], however, is more in line with conventional Melta weaponry. Considering the build which is analogous to typical subterranean drills you'll find in the 50s and 60s, what the Termite is expected to punch through is definitely not just the ground, and so it is afforded with a better Melta-Cutter. Size might also come into play as well since a bigger body means more power to power stuff like heat ray cannons by the drill.

On tabletop, the Termite's Melta-Cutter is a 12" ranged assault D3 weapon with a Strength of 8, AP -4 and a damage of D6. Due to its high strength and great AP, you are able to auto-kill most GEQs, MEQs and seriously fuck up TEQs on an average basis. The Hades itself is an even bigger "''fuck you''" machine, with 1d6 WS3+ S10 AP-4 D1d3 melee attacks (D1d6 against Vehicles), and it has a [[Awesome|4++ invul in the fight phase thanks to its whirling blades]]. All in all, whilst predictably a short-range weapon, it is also one of the best of its category.
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|<gallery class="center">
HadesMeltaCutter.png|<center>Hades Breaching Drill</center>
TermiteMeltaCutter.png|<center>Termite Assault Drill</center>
</gallery>
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{{40k-Ranged-Weapon-Profile-7-8|r7=12"|s7=8|ap7=1|type7=Heavy 1, Melta|r8=Melee|s8=x2|ap8=-4|d8=D3|type8=Melee|abil8=If target is Vehicle, roll D6 for Damage instead.}}
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{{40k-Ranged-Weapon-Profile-7-8|r7=N/A|s7=N/A|ap7=N/A|type7=N/A|abil7=Ignores difficult and dangerous terrain. Adds +2 to Strength when making ramming attacks against fortifications.|r8=12"|s8=8|ap8=-4|d8=D6|type8=Assault D3|abil8=If target within half range, roll two dice for Damage and discard the lowest result.}}
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</center>

===Siege Melta Array===
[[File:MastodonSiegeMeltaArray.png|200px|right|thumb|Siege Melta Array (''Top'')]]
We may consider this thing here a Melta-Cutter properly adapted for military applications.

The [[Mastodon|Mastodon Heavy Assault Transport]], in addition to its other wonderful bullshits, sports a front-mounted battery consisting of eight Melta cannons in addition to a big one at the center, ideal for punching massive holes on the heaviest of targets. While this is perfect for opening breaches in fortresses for transport to vomit its forty-man capacity into, it is also an excellent answer to enemy super-heavies, or just deleting fortifications since its Stone Burner rule scores extra hits with every Penetrating Hit against one. Unfortunately, you should not expect it to do too well to enemies up close since most of the Melta array is just situated too high for it to really hit anything below. This is what happens when you decide that it is a great idea to place your forward weapon on a vehicle with a ridiculously huge profile. But then again, like the case of the [[Caestus Assault Ram|Caestus]], the Siege Melta Array is not supposed to mow down enemies; it is supposed to crack down on fortresses, which it compensates for the lack of speed with more Melta. Of note, while the eight smaller Melta cannons are the size of what you would find on the [[Devil Dog]] and the aforementioned Caestus, the bigger centerpiece is about the same size as what you'd find on Questoris Knights.

The Siege Melta Array is essentially what you'd need in order to add a dash of heat to your huge battering ram.
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|<gallery class="center">
SiegeMeltaArraySide.jpg|<center>Side Arrays</center>
SiegeMeltaArrayFrontClosed.jpg|<center>Front Closed</center>
SiegeMeltaArrayFrontOpened.jpg|<center>Front Opened</center>
</gallery>
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{{40k-Ranged-Weapon-Profile-7-8|r7=12"|s7=9|ap7=1|type7=Heavy 4, Blast (3"), Melta, Stone Burner|r8=12"|s8=9|ap8=-4|d8=D6|type8=Heavy 4D3|abil8=If target within half range, roll two dice for damage and discard the lowest result.}}
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===Thermal Spear===
[[File:ArmigerWarglaiveThermalSpear.png|200px|right|thumb|Thermal Spear]]
It is essentially an oversized Multi-Melta that looks to be a baby brother to the Thermal Cannon below.

The Terminal Spear is a relatively large Melta weapon carried by combat walkers of the Imperial Knights, specifically the small Armiger class designated as Warglaive. Although reduced in size, even a single shot from this weapon here can still vaporize armor and melt through fortified walls and tanks alike. Unlike the similarly equipped Knight Errant, the Armiger chassis cannot afford to charge up close and wreak havoc at close range. It is too fragile for such maneuver since it is built for speed. It is nimble enough to employ harassment tactics, where the Warglaive shines. Swiftly, it moves up close and throws the Thermal Spear at pin-point precision to maximize its attack power before falling back to a safe distance. This is different from the Helverin variant which only have to maintain the distance to deliver its Autocannons. One may compare these two Armigers to our skirmishers of old, where the Helverins are archers whose range is far, while the Warglaives are javelinmen who have to get pretty close to unleash their payload. And do not think that having better range translates to archers being better. Just compare the size and weight difference between an arrow and a javelin and ask yourself which one has a better chance in planting you straight through to the ground when it hits.

The reason why they don't name this Melta cannon here with a more appropriate "Thermal Javelin" is probably because there is already an [[Javelin Attack Speeder|attack speeder]] with that name.
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|<gallery class="center">
ThermalSpearModel.jpg|<center>Model</center>
ThermalSpearView.jpg|<center>Alternate View</center>
ThermalSpearPict.jpg|<center>Pict Capture</center>
</gallery>
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{{40k-Ranged-Weapon-Profile-7-8|r7=36"|s7=8|ap7=2|type7=Heavy 1, Melta|r8=30"|s8=8|ap8=-4|d8=D6|type8=Assault D3|abil8=If target within half range, roll two dice for damage and discard the lowest result.}}
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===Thermal Cannon===
[[File:KnightErrantThermalCannon.png|200px|right|thumb|Thermal Cannon]]
This thing here is the Magna-Melta on steroids, or a bigger Thermal Spear with a rather distinctive shroud, should you prefer your descriptions more direct.

The Thermal Cannon is a large Melta weapon carried by the combat walkers of either the Questor Imperialis, the Questor Mechanicus, or the Questor Traitoris; the Imperial Knights, the Mechanicum Knights, and the Renegade Knights respectively. Chassis-wise, the Thermal Cannon is installed on the all-round Questoris class as the primary weapon of the Knight Errant, and the secondary weapon of the Knight Crusader. It is one of those weapons that can make even the most battle-hardened enemies have an [[Anal circumference|anal evacuation]], for such a weapon is capable of immolating most things in a wide radius, and probably effectively everything should it is fired at a closer range. The hissing blasts from a Thermal Cannon can melt through a fortress wall or turn a battle tank into a pile of bubbling slag. Against infantry, entire hordes can be reduced to a blackened shadow. Against vehicles, there is no armor that offers any proof against the Thermal Cannon's super-heated shots with the exception of armor found on larger Titan walkers. Outside of Knights, the Thermal Cannon is probably about the size to be mounted as the main gun for bigger tanks such as the Macharius, or even the Malcador. As of now, aside from the Mastodon, the only Melta tanks so far are smaller ones based on the Chimera and the Deimos Predator chassis.

All in all, for Knight Scions looking to up their anti-armor game, the Thermal Cannon delivers.
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ThermalCannonSide.jpg|<center>Side View</center>
ThermalCannonPict.jpg|<center>Pict Capture</center>
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====''Fury of Mars''====
[[File:KnightErrantThermalCannonRed.png|200px|right|thumb|''Fury of Mars'' (''Placeholder'')]]
Being the oldest Knight House in the Imperium of Man has its benefits which include good gear from the cogboys.

This remarkable weapon channels the fires of the Red Planet’s hottest forges, eradicating its victims even at extreme range. Deciphering the flowery language, it probably means the ''Fury of Mars'' is very high in quality. It was made on Mars, why wouldn't it? And since it is House Taranis we're talking about, there's a decent chance for this particular Thermal Cannon here to be pretty, pretty old. Remember, House Taranis is the Dark Angels of the Imperial Knights, or Horus Lupercal if we're looking by Primarchs since other Knight Houses were more or less "discovered" as well; the difference for the latter (''or possibly both'') is that House Taranis, though Mechanicum-aligned, is a loyalist. The ''Fury of Mars'' could have been so old that it was still hot out of the production line when the Unification Wars were still raging on Terra. Age aside, it is said that to face the ''Fury of Mars'' is to be subjected to the killing ire of the Omnissiah himself, and to be struck down without mercy. This Thermal Cannon is no different in terms of general capabilities compared to the standard breed. The only noticeable difference here apart from being really old and exclusive to House Taranis Knights who have Thermal Cannons on one arm or the other is the fact that it goes as far as a Reaver Melta Cannon (''of the current edition'') can go.

That is probably a good summary for the weapon – a Titan-grade Melta Cannon (''where only range is concerned'') at the size for a Questoris Knight.
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===Melta Cannon===
[[File:ReaverTitanMeltaCannon.png|200px|right|thumb|(Reaver) Melta Cannon]]
The reader should be informed that there are two kinds of Melta Cannons. The first is the kind you usually see carried by Reaver Battle Titans. The second kind is the one you can find attached on the [[Hellhound]] flame tank variant called [[Hellhound#Devil_Dog|Devil Dog]], which is pretty much what you should have in your mind for a Melta Cannon.

So right now, we know a few sizes all these Meltas come in. The very first one is the smallest Inferno Pistol size, which is pretty rare since it is not on the mass production line. Next to that is the standard Meltagun size which you may find carried by some soldiers as well as on many vehicles in the form of Multi-Melta. The Melta Cannon here is the next in line whose bore size is about what you'd find on the Magna-Melta and possibly the Thermal Spear too. It is unknown what the Imperium calls the size of Thermal Cannon, but it is likely folded as Melta Cannon just like the Titan size we have here. Note that it is rather unlikely for that size to be called "Thermal Cannon" since that prefix so far is only used where Knights are concerned, and it might be their own jargon for the modification fitted for those combat walkers. Now about this largest size we have here, notice how it is considerably longer relative to the size of the vehicle it is installed on. This might be an attempt to increase its range so that the Titan would not need to get too close in order to melt something. Because of the lack of range, it is unlikely for there to be a super-heavy tank such as the Baneblade mounting this as its main gun, although there is still a slight chance since the Imperium thinks mounting a giant flamethrower on the [[Malcador]] chassis is a good idea. The trapezoidal shroud is also rather unique as much as the pole below it; that pole is for hanging down flags, apparently.

This thing dumps small blasts worth of Multi-Melta statline upon anything it deems unlucky for that day, and it is one of the best ways of dealing with [[Terminator|Terminators]]. [[Titans (Warhammer 40,000)|Titans]] get an even bigger Melta Cannon with absolutely rapetastic statline – S10 AP1 10" (yes, TEN inches) blast that always rolls extra D6 on partials and 2D6 on direct hits. And due to being Primary Weapon, it also allows you to reroll primary to-pen dice. The only two downsides are its mediocre (''for a Titan'') range and lack of ignores cover, which is silly because fluff-wise, this thing will melt through any wall and bunker like it is made of butter, not to mention some silly ruins and trees.
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DevilDogCannon.png|<center>The smaller Devil Dog's</center>
MeltaCannon.jpg|<center>Front View</center>
MeltaCannonSide.jpg|<center>Side View</center>
MeltaCannonCrossSection.jpg|<center>Cross Section</center>
Meltablast.jpg|<center>There is no better kill than overkill</center>
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{{40k-Ranged-Weapon-Profile-7-8|r7=24"|s7=8|ap7=1|type7=Heavy 1, Blast, Melta|r8=24"|s8=8|ap8=-4|d8=D6|type8=Assault D3|abil8=If target within half range, roll two dice for damage and discard the lowest result.}}
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{{Template:40k-Imperial-Weapons}}
{{40k-GenestealerCults-Weapons}}
{{40k-Chaos-Weapons}}

== Eldar Melta Weapons ==
The [[Eldar]] employ fusion guns, fusion pistols, and fire pikes for their portable anti-tank weaponry. They also fire red energy orbs, a stark contrast to their Imperial counterparts. Fusion guns and fusion pistols are meltaguns and inferno pistols in a shape more pleasing to Eldar aesthetics, but fire pikes are longer range (18") meltaguns with no additional downsides. Fire Dragons can take a fusion gun on every squad member and their sergeant can take a fire pike.

===Fusion Pistol===
[[File:EldarHarlequinFusionPistol.jpg|200px|right|thumb|Fusion Pistol]]
The Fusion Pistol is a handheld, heat-based weapon – a Melta pistol used by the Eldar, and the baby brother of their Fusion family.

For a race that is not plagued by bureaucratic nightmares, the Fusion Pistol is curiously rather hard to find among Craftworlders – even the [[Aspect_Warrior#Fire_Dragons|Aspect Warriors who are all about the heat]] do not carry them. Only the Autarchs seem to carry them to battle. This might mean that the Fusion Pistol is similarly difficult to make like the Inferno Pistol, or that there is an Aspect Shrine exclusively tailored for usage of Fusion Pistols that we do not know about. The first conjecture is odd since, as mentioned, the Craftworld Eldar do not really stagnate in the same manner as the Imperium/Mechanicum. The second conjecture presents Aspect Warriors somehow exclusively using Fusion Pistols while remaining distinct from the Fire Dragons. These theoretical fusion cowboys might emphasize on swiftness in contrast to the Fire Dragons, taking advantage of the small size of their primary weapon. Perhaps specialized in combating heavy infantry and fast attack vehicles. Which actually sounds like a pretty reasonable Aspect. Conjectures aside, another fact here is that the Harlequin Eldar carry these quite frequent. Since this lot prefers close quarters combat, it makes sense for them to have a good number of Fusion Pistols in store just in case they have to dance straight to a tank or something similarly tough. The Harlequins might actually make these Fusion Pistols in-house, and distribute the surplus to Craftworlds.

The Fusion Pistol is practically identical to the Imperium's Inferno Pistol as far as stats are concerned.
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AutarchFusionPistol.jpg|<center>Autarch</center>
HarlequinFusionPistol.png|<center>Harlequin</center>
Skyraider's_Kiss.png|<center>''Eternal Crusade''</center>
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===Fusion Gun===
[[File:FusionGunProfile.jpg|200px|right|thumb|Fusion Gun]]
The Eldar possess an unsurpassed mastery in heat-based weapons, and they take savage delight in the devastation they create.

The Fusion Gun is by far one of the most common heat-based weapons of the Eldar, deployed in high numbers among the Aspect Warriors known as Fire Dragons. Though it can only be used at short range, it possesses a sophisticated targeting system, as befits high status troops like Aspect Warriors. Like most Eldar technology, the weapon is psychically activated, its resonant Wraithbone construction being sensitive to the Eldar's innately psychic mind. A Fire Dragons' Fusion Gun is linked to its targeter through the handle. It is common knowledge to always replace your Eldar Flamer with a Fusion Gun as the Fusion Gun just does the Flamer's job so much better for roughly the same cost and effectiveness. The ''Skyraider's Kiss'' can be utilized by both [[Fire Dragons]], [[Aspect Warriors]] as well as [[Storm Guardians|Storm Guardian]] units. This Fusion Gun variant was initially developed for deployment on Bethalmae. The "''Skyraider's Kiss''" design was [[Blood Ravens|"borrowed"]] from Craftworld Mymeara after their prototypes proved capable at functioning at well below sub-zero conditions. The addition of extra cabling to the weapon to shunt extra coolant also allows this variant to be fired more frequently, requiring less time to cool down between shots. The trade-off for the extra cooling is that the additional coolant has to be stored within weapon, making the whole thing heavier as a result.

Despite its overall superiority in fluff, the Fusion Gun is also practically identical to the Imperium's Meltagun in terms of stats.
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EldarFusionGun.jpg|<center>Variant</center>
StormGuardianFusionGun.jpg|<center>Storm Guardian</center>
AutarchFusionGun.jpg|<center>Autarch</center>
FireDragonFusionGun.png|<center>Fire Dragon</center>
Fusion_Gun.jpg|<center>''Skyraider's Kiss''</center>
FusionGunPict.jpg|<center>Pict Capture</center>
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===Fire Pike===
[[File:Fire_Pike.PNG|200px|right|thumb|Fire Pike]]
Instead of making a bigger Melta and carrying it in the same manner a Dark Reaper would, the Fire Dragons realized that to increase range, they only needed to extend the barrel.

The Fire Pike is essentially a Fusion Gun with a flag pole for a barrel exclusively carried by Eldar Exarchs of the Fire Dragons Aspect Shrine. Think of it as an elongated Fusion Gun that looks [[/d/|strangely phallic and erect]]. The lengthened barrel is not just for show, however. In fact, the Fire Pike is their only handheld Melta that is actually able to hit its target beyond three meters; an exceptional feat for its size. Although the bulkier Multi-Melta still maintains a longer range, smaller frames like regular Humans and Eldar would need Power Armour to carry it around. For a Melta weapon, the Fire Pike projects its radiating heat beam a considerable distance further than the standard range of regular Melta weapons of the same size/weight melting through the toughest armor with deadly precision. Fire Pikes predate the existence of the Imperium of Man, having been created by Eldar artisans long millennia ago. And so they are pretty rare among the arsenals of the Eldar, most often borne by the mightiest champions of their kind as [[STC|relic weapons beyond contemporary means to reproduce]] even for the Eldar Craftworlds. This may translate as Fire Pikes being rather common in the past, perhaps available to all Fire Dragons. Imagine a pike square consisted of Fire Pikes. Good luck running your tanks over that.

Stats-wise, the Fire Pike is literally just the Fusion Gun with six extra inches of range. That's it.
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FireDragonExarchFireLance.png|<center>Fire Dragon Exarch</center>
FueganFirepike.png|<center>''[[Phoenix_Lord#Fuegan|Fuegan]]'s''</center>
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===Inferno Lance===
[[File:Inferno Lance.PNG|200px|right|thumb|Inferno Lance]]
The Inferno Lance is the largest Melta weapon the Eldar so far has to offer.

Inferno Lances are carried by the more elite [[Wraithknight|Skathach Wraithknights]] who can afford better gear such as the alternative [[Monofilament_Weapons#Deathshroud_Cannon|Deathshroud Cannon]]. As you can tell from the apparent barrel long enough to almost convince you that it is a long-range cannon, the weapon is a refinement based on the previous Fire Pike of the Fire Dragons. Powered by the Skathach's integral generator, the Inferno Lance is capable of burning through the armor of even the mightiest enemy war machine in a single, sustained burst of super-heated particles and high-band radiation. To make the best use of the Inferno Lances, the Wraithknights usually equip these in a pair for twice the ''Dakka''. A shame that it is not found as secondary weapons on Eldar Titans such as the [[Revenant Scout Titan]] or the more powerful [[Phantom Battle Titan]], as this would give the Space Elves a good chance in poking a dent on the Titans of the Imperium; unless, of course, they already have something bigger and better. If that is the case, it better not be another long-barreled Fusion Gun... speaking of which, since the Fire Pike is essentially a branch off the regular Fusion Gun, we have not yet seen what the Eldar "''Fusion Cannon''" proper looks like. But if one were to guess, it wouldn't have a long barrel for a start.

Strangely enough, the equivalent weapon by the Imperium's side, the Thermal Cannon, has better stats than this, though we can certainly attribute that to lighter weight and the fact that the Inferno Lance is cheaper as well.
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InfernoLance.png|<center>Alternate View</center>
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{{40k-Eldar-Weapons}}

== Dark Eldar Melta Weapons ==

===Heat Lance===
[[File:Heat_Lance.png|200px|right|thumb|Heat Lance]]
''For additional information, see here: [[Eldar Laser Weapons#Heat Lance|Heat Lance]]''

The Heat Lance is a rare occurrence of a two-in-one 40k weapon that is actually something more than two different (''or the same'') kind of weapons soldered together.

A rather mysterious weapon lacking in detail beyond that brief description, all we know for sure about the Heat Lance is that it is a one-of-a-kind combination of Las and Melta. This hot rod obliterates any vehicle that gets too close. In a sense, instead of dispersing the obscene heat that most Melta weapons should in order to cover as much as area as possible, the Heat Lance actually focuses the discharged super-heated gas into a point like a Las weapon. This intensifies its armor penetration capability to puncture even the toughest of armor.

As with every melta weapon, the heat lance has short range but is extremely devastating. Considering that the Heat Lance is the only Melta weapon available to the [[Dark Eldar]] so far, there is a possibility that the Heat Lance is a modification of a Las weapon. Another modification candidate is a weapon of the Fire Dragons Exarch, the Fire Pike – in fact, both weapons have remarkably similar stat lines. Unlike those Craftworlders, Heat Lances are not carried by pyromaniacs. Possibly due to being light in weight, some [[Scourges]] carry one over their fly-bys. With possibly the same logic, the [[Reaver Jetbike|Reavers]] may also have one attached on the Jetbike. The most bulky... thing that carries the Heat Lance is the [[Talos Pain Engine]], specifically two by the end of the tail.

As stated, the Heat Lance is essentially the Dark Eldar's [[Melta#Fire_Pike|Fire Pike]] that compensates the shorter range from shorter length with Laser technology.
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ScourgeHeatLance.png|<center>Scourge</center>
HeatLanceReaver.jpg|<center>Reaver Jetbike</center>
HeatLanceTalos.jpg|<center>Talos Pain Engine</center>
HeatLancePict.jpg|<center>Sketch</center>
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{{Template:40k-DEldar-Weapons}}

== Necron Melta Weapons ==
Yep that's right, even the [[Necrons]] have Melta-Weapons in the form of the Heat Ray that can be used either as a focused beam (two shots at STR8 AP1) or as a heavy flamer (AP4 STR5) is used exclusively by the [[Triarch Stalker]], and the short-ranged but very destructive Heat Cannon used by Sentry Pylons.

===Thermal Cutting Beam===
[[File:AcanthriteThermalCutting.png|200px|right|thumb|Cutting Beam]]
The Thermal Cutting Beam is a Necron weapon only utilized by the insect-like constructs known as [[Canoptek Acanthrite|Canoptek Acanthrites]].

This Cutting Beam mounted within the Acanthrite's thorax is capable of firing a short range, highly concentrated shaft of thermic energy ray that is able to slice apart the toughest of materials, dissecting steel, stone and flesh with equal ease and precision of a surgeon’s scalpel blade. Canoptek Acanthrites often use their Cutting Beams for the destruction of armored vehicles and troops, as well as the systematic and rapid dismemberment of bunkers and fortifications. Of note, unlike the similarly focused Fire Pike and Heat Lance of the Eldar, the Cutting Beam of the Necrons is much more similar to that of a standard Meltagun, save for being far more focused and prolonged. This distinction doesn't make their effectiveness any better, though, because the Cutting Beam is more or less the same as any Meltagun out there. We may infer this similarity to the supposed function of these Canoptek constructs.

Acanthrites are deployed in swarms for the purpose of systematic disintegration of enemy fortifications and pretty much anything else that just has to be in their way. This means that the Cutting Beam is more akin to that of a precision tool for Necron mass demolitions job that just happens to be good at killing combatants who are encased in armor like a tank.

In battle, this weapon-worthy quality translates to the Acanthrites, being vanguard units, using them to soften up the enemy defenses for the following main forces to easily engage.
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CuttingBeamSketch.jpg|<center>Sketch</center>
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===Heat Ray===
[[File:NecronHeatRaySide.jpg|200px|right|thumb|Heat Ray]]
This here is a weapon ripped straight out of H.G. Wells '''''War of the Worlds''''' in both name and possibly function.

A Heat Ray is a multi-purpose Necron fusion weapon – that is, Melta – and it is most commonly mounted on [[Triarch Stalker|Triarch Stalkers]] whose role is to engage heavy armor and provide close fire support. Heat Rays are potent weapons in that they are capable of firing in two different modes just like those of the Orks'. Unlike the Burnas, however, the Necrons' "''cuttin flame''" actually goes well beyond melee range. If an enemy tank stalls the main Necron attack, a single Focused blast from the Heat Ray is sufficient to end the threat. Similarly, if dug-in infantry are hampering an advance, a Triarch Stalker can break the deadlock by setting the Heat Ray to fire a Dispersed beam, sending a wide cone of scorching plasma swirling into every crevasse to boil the enemy alive (it's essentially a <s>supped-up</s> ''standard'' [[Star Trek]] Phaser).

Whereas a focused beam is akin to a Melta Weapon with a significant range comparable to a Multi-Melta, the Dispersed beam is more similar to a Heavy Flamer in terms of the potential damage it can inflict. Of note, this ability of changing between Dispersed and Focused firing modes is remarkably similar to another weapon of the Salamanders, the Pyroclast Flame Projector. It seems Vulkan had been tinkering with Necron tech prior to the Horus Heresy, or that both him and the cannon found inspiration from the novel.

Or he might have found inspiration from the Orks instead. Fluff-wise, the Burna of the Orks is likely inspired by the Heat Ray of the Necrons – and hopefully not the other way around.
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Heat_Ray.jpg|<center>Front View</center>
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===Heat Cannon===
[[File:SentryPylonHeatCannonSide.jpg|200px|right|thumb|Heat Cannon]]
What we see here is the Heat Ray's bigger brother. But since it is big enough to mount on a turret, it is now a cannon.

The Heat Cannon is a Necron thermal energy weapon with qualities from appearance to destructive capability similar to that of the smaller Heat Ray, only much bigger, and it is one of the three primary weapon choices for a [[Sentry Pylon]]. Unlike the Heat Ray, however, it does not have a Dispersed firing mode, and there really isn't any big reason to equip a static weapons platform with a flame cannon unless the feature is complimentary.

The Heat Cannon is a weapon of extraordinary power. This giant ray gun can reduce the most heavily-armored tanks into piles of molten slag and burn its way through the most heavily-protected fortifications at relatively great distances. With every beam it fires, it is capable of vaporizing everything in an area with a small blast, and its rate of fire allows it to continually bombard an area with impunity. By its capabilities, it is equivalent to the Thermal Cannon sported by the Questoris Knights of the Imperium of Man. Speaking of which, their possible rendition of the Knight Errant is an interesting prospect, though since it is the Necrons we're talking about, the construct in question will probably have at least six legs and not two. Well, there are the Bone Giants, but that's their Tomb Kings incarnation over Warhammer Fantasy.

However, like two other two cannons of total destruction, the Heat Cannon might actually require a lot of power and space supported by the frame of a Sentry Pylon in order to operate.
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SentryPylonHeatCannon.png|<center>Model</center>
Heat_Cannon.jpg|<center>Sketch</center>
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{{40k-Necron-Weapons}}

== Tau Melta Weapons ==

===Fusion Blaster===
[[File:FusionBlasterSide.jpg|200px|right|thumb|Fusion Blaster]]
While the Imperium probably has been using Melta ever since the Emperor kick-started it, the Tau Empire probably invented Melta by themselves at some point. That's cute.

The primary Melta weapon of the [[Tau]] is the Fusion Blaster, an equivalent to the standard Imperial Meltagun, only with a slightly longer range because the thing is about as bulky as a Multi-Melta, though not as powerful. Like all Melta weapons, the Fusion Blaster agitates the sub-atomic particles of the target, causing a massive build-up of heat in the same manner as our microwave oven. Living targets are often completely vaporized, and non-living targets, even the most heavily armored vehicles and fortifications, can be reduced to slag in the blink of an eye with its nuclear-fusion-powered blast. The Fusion Blaster is most commonly utilized as a weapons system on standard Battlesuits because the size is about just right. Even Commander Shadowsun dual-wields the damn thing, getting into close combat and cutting armor left and right like a Fruit Ninja. Bigger Battlesuits may choose to attach a couple of Fusion Blasters as side weaponry, or might as well use a couple of them on one arm as another weapon. Outside the area of Battlesuits, Piranha skimmers may also take it as primary weapon if it just so happens to be more appropriate for the upcoming battle with lots of tanks than the Burst Cannon.

The necessity to engage hostile armored units the rest of the galaxy has to offer should force the Tau Empire to expand even further in this field.
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CrisisFusionBlaster.png|<center>XV8 Crisis Battlesuit</center>
StealthsuitFusionBlaster.jpg|<center>XV25 Stealth Battlesuit</center>
PiranhaFusionBlaster.jpg|<center>TX4 Piranha</center>
GhostkeelFusionBlaster.jpg|<center>XV95 Ghostkeel Battlesuit</center>
RiptideFusionBlaster.jpg|<center>XV104 Riptide Battlesuit</center>
ShadowsunFusionBlaster.jpg|<center>Commander Shadowsun</center>
Fusion_Blaster.jpg|<center>Sketch</center>
ShadowsunFusionBlasterPict.jpg|<center>Pict Capture</center>
ShadowsunFusionBlasterPict2.jpg|<center>Pict Capture</center>
ShadowsunFusionBlasterPict3.jpg|<center>Pict Capture</center>
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===''Fusion Blades''===
[[File:FarsightFusionBlasterSide.jpg|200px|right|thumb|''Fusion Blades'' (''Placeholder'')]]
The closest thing the Tau Empire has gotten to a Lightsaber.

This is a deadly Fusion Blaster modification exclusively deployed by the Farsight Enclaves as an alternative if the Battlesuit in question happens to have at least two Fusion Blasters installed comes in a pair. Collectively called ''Fusion Blades'', while it is more or less the same pair of Fusion Blasters when fired at range and possibly appearance, when activated for melee in exchange for a huge power drain, the volatile stream of Melta supposedly shortens and concentrates, resembling a blade in both form and function. The modification was first requested by Commander Brightsword III. This thing was so badass that Commander Brightsword VII went full-on Jedi Knight on the Tyranids with the thing. This weapon has been continually refined over the decades by Farsight's own Earth caste division. They'll eventually figure out how to reduce the severe power drain, probably. There remains a possibility that the ''Fusion Blades'' is viable for larger Fusion Weapons as well. But since they still haven't figured this current one out just yet, Lightsabers the size of a [[Chain_Weapon#Reaper_Chainsword|Reaper Chainsword]] remains a fantasy. Given enough time, we might get to see more than one Farsight Battlesuit with lightsabers. For now, only one presumably field-testing prototype is available to the Farsight Enclaves for installation on one of their Battlesuits.

If GW decides that the Tau in general needs some more close combat action, this is the weapon they would probably turn to.
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=== Fusion Cascade ===
[[File:FusionCascadeSide.jpg|200px|right|thumb|Fusion Cascade]]
Although the appearance is drastically different, the Fusion Cascade is a modification of the Fusion Blaster possibly tailor-made just for the [[Battlesuit#XV9_Hazard_Battlesuit|XV9 "Hazard" Battlesuits]].

An experimental Battlesuits should also use experimental weapons, and the Fusion Cascade is one of the options the XV9 has in store. Indeed, the weapon is simply a (''likely heavily'') modified version of the standard Fusion Blaster which trades raw power in exchange for a vastly improved rate of fire – basically, a Melta machine gun. Since the barrel is conveniently cylindrical, it opens up the possibility that it spins like a Gatling. This will make the Fusion Cascade a '''''Melta Minigun'''''. Designed to be used with the XV9 Hazard Suits whose operational keyword is "Close Support," the Fusion Cascade unleashes a blistering torrent of energy that punches holes in armor with ease and transforms everything else in its path to swirling ash. Of course, in exchange for the microwave Dakka, the Fusion Cascade has a rather short effective range equivalent to that of the common Imperial Meltagun. This forces the possibly foolhardy pilot of the XV9 equipped with this to engage the enemy at an uncomfortably close range. Do remember, this is the Tau we're talking about here. By effectiveness, interestingly enough, the Fusion Cascade is at about the same level as the Thermal Spear fitted on Armiger Knights, though our Warglaives can afford more than double the range of this tube.

So if you want some rapid-firing Melta cannons in your army for the Greater Good, you must get the XV9.
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===Fusion Collider===
[[File:Fusion_Collider.jpg|200px|right|thumb|Fusion Collider]]
By merit of being a bigger Battlesuit, the XV95 gets its own collection of weapons developed including this Melta cannon.

The XV95 Ghostkeel Battlesuit may be armed with a Fusion Collider, one of the foremost tank-busting weapons in the Tau arsenal by being really big and also due to the tactics deployed by its users. Fitted with power dispersal exchangers which might be some fancy coolant systems, this weapon can fire a searing blaze of energy capable of destroying the most heavily armored foe like what a Melta should be able to. This particular one, however, has no risk of detection by enemy imaging, which might be the fancy coolant doing its thing. The Fusion Collider's comparatively short range at the about same distance as the normal Fusion Blaster is seen as little impediment to the Ghostkeel's Shas'vre pilot – that is, Fire Caste Level 4 who is also a Stealthsuit veteran – for the Battlesuit has been specifically engineered to enter close range without harm. Frequently, the detection part is off the table for these big ninjas. Often the first sign of a Ghostkeel's presence is the mushroom cloud explosion of a choice target detonating from within, flames rippling across the XV95's stealth field as it withdraws into the gloom within the relative safety of that same stealth field once more. This is a weapon to take up if you, the Ghostkeel pilot, are in the mood to backstab tank columns.

The Fusion Collider is functionally a Fusion Blaster with a D3 shots, allowing it to destroy tightly packed TEQ's and Vehicles.
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===Fusion Cannon===
[[File:FusionCannonModel.jpg|200px|right|thumb|Fusion Cannon]]
This is basically the Fusion Blaster, but bigger and most notably longer.

Indeed, the Fusion Cannon is essentially a larger version of the Battlesuit-mounted Fusion Blaster above. The Fusion Cannon has an extended range compared to a Fusion Blaster, comparable to the Imperium's Multi-Melta in that respect and destructive capabilities in fact. A larger blast radius allows it to fire and destroy closely packed groups of enemy vehicles and heavy infantry. [[Hammerhead Gunship|Hammerhead Gunships]] are the only Tau unit armed with Fusion Cannons, as they may be mounted as a twin-linked primary turret weapons system in place of a more common Railgun or Ion Cannon. You'd think something rather basic like this would find more usage in their armies. The Fusion Cannon is one of the experimental weapons systems that were first deployed (''i.e. field-tested'') against the Imperium during the Taros Campaign. Judging from its rarity, either the Earth Caste engineers or the Fire Caste soldiers were probably not too keen about this particular one. Since the only specimen that uses this uses in a pair, it opens up a possibility for the Farsight Enclaves to implement their Fusion Blades system on the much larger Fusion Cannons, although this application would be most likely very limited since Fusion Blades work so well with Battlesuits precisely because arms are flexible – turrets are not flexible.

[[Forge World]] used to produce a variant turret for the Hammerhead Gunship for the twin-linked Fusion Cannon, which is the equivalent of the [[Devil Dog]]'s Melta Cannon, but with two shots instead of D3. But since it "used to," your only choices of getting one are either finding people who sell it, whipping out your conversion expertise, or the [[Proxy|universal solution]].
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HammerheadFusionCannon.png|<center>Hammerhead Gunship</center>
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===Fusion Eradicator===
[[File:FusionEradicatorSide.jpg|200px|right|thumb|Fusion Eradicator]]
Frankly, the Tau might have gone overboard with making the next size in their array of Melta weaponry.

While the ''gorillas'' made their Melta Cannons huge in size with similarly huge blasts, the Tau took a different approach and basically created a gatling Multi-Melta that definitely wasn't inspired by a one Cyclonic Melta Lance. Designed as a radical solution to the limitations of current Tau Fusion/Melta weapons technology, the Fusion Eradicator combines a battery of multiple synchronized firing chambers, ten to be exact. By appearance, it looks like the Earth Caste engineers have figured out a design paradigm behind the Imperial weapons, and they applied that theory accordingly by strapping not two, not three, but five Fusion Cascades together. This ridiculous weapon creates a blast of energy so potent that solid matter caught in its path is torn apart at a molecular level by brute thermal force, and no physical material yet known to the Tau can survive its destructive power save perhaps their plot armor. The cost in materials and expertise to create a single Fusion Eradicator is immense, and the natural endurance of each weapon is limited often to a single battle. Each Fusion Eradicator is then discarded and must be replaced. This is different from Imperial technology where every fucking thing over there lasts for a heck of a long time. However, as the Imperial Knights lead the Imperium's counter-attack to retake the Damocles Gulf, a weapon capable of reliably one-shotting them is worth any price.

The Fusion Eradicator on tabletop is a Titanic weapon that can be mounted on the Tau KX139 Ta’unar Supremacy Armor. The weapon itself is a five-shot Fusion Blaster with an extra 6" range. Once you realize that each Fusion Blaster is a 1D6 damage weapon, you'll know that it's gonna do a lot of hurt.
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{{40k-Tau-Weapons}}

[[Category:Chaos]][[Category:Necrons]]

Power Armour

2021-02-04T04:34:21Z

2001:4930:172:25:AC3D:E498:C7A1:2583:

[[File:Power_Armor.PNG|thumb|right|400px|The first eight marks of Space Marine Power Armour.]]
{{Topquote|Feels like you can take on the world in there, doesn't it?|Danse, [[Fallout|Fallout 4]]}}
'''Power Armour''', also known as Power Armor to Americans, is a science fiction concept of mechanized armor which increases the strength, speed, and reflexes of those who wear it. It is featured heavily in science fiction/fantasy settings such as Iron Man or [[Warhammer 40,000]]. The idea of Powered Armor was invented by E.E. Smith and [[Starship Troopers|ripped off]] or borrowed and refined by other writers.

=Starship Troopers=
Like so many military science-fiction concepts, the modern idea of powered armor dates back to the Mobile Infantry of Heinlein's ''[[Starship Troopers]]''. The "Marauder" suit is bulky, with integrated thrusters and heavy weapons (including nuclear weapons and heavy explosives, carried as easily as a human soldier carries grenades). Their primary purpose is not to destroy indiscriminately (though they certainly can), but to "make war as personal as a punch on the nose" -- to [[Drop Pod|drop in]] and destroy with precision, in order to break the enemy in exactly the right way. In other words, it's much like Crisis [[Battlesuit|battlesuits]] with less [[Tau|weeaboo]] and more [[Humanity Fuck Yeah|humanity fuck yeah]] inside.

Heinlein never discusses [[pauldrons]], but the [[Space Marines]] certainly take after the Mobile Infantry's other aspects.The dudes from the book not the movie. That was a parody anyway.

* '''Marauder:''' The basis infantry suit. Can carry more weapons than vintage [[Doom|Doomguy]]. Basic equipment includes radar and multi-spectrum vision aids.
* '''Scout:''' Lean on weapons, heavy on jump fuel. Much more mobile than the standard model.
* '''Command:''' Scout suit with more comm gear and gyros for inertial dead reckoning navigation. Command suits in comm range of each other can compare their DR nav data to determine relative position without any battlefield nav aids.

So how many weapons we looking at here? Well, in the first chapter of the book, Rico is participating in a quick raid on an alien city. Their objective was to smash and run, inflicting as much damage as possible but avoiding engagement with defense forces. For this missions he dropped into battle with: a rifle, a heavy flamer, a handheld flamer, an automatic grenade launcher (called a Y-rack) and multiple reloads, conventional thrown grenades, incendiary micro grenades (called firepills), and one psy-ops grenade (a talking timebomb). And topping it off since Rico was a non-com working on the flank, he was issued a rocket launcher with four low-yield nuclear rockets.

=Warhammer 40,000=
Because 40k has a huge hard on for Space Marines, and because no super soldier worth his genetic enhancements will go into battle without super armaments, 40k has developed nearly as large a hard on for power armor.

==Human Power Armour==

Virtually identical to Space Marine power armor (More can be read below), these suits of armor are scaled down to fit regular humans (notice that this is the reverse of what it would have been 10,000 years ago). Human power armour is relatively quite rare, since it occurred to somebody that making good protection being an affordable and wide-spread asset would severely impinge on the current state of [[grimdark]], not to mention expensive.

Without the extra room and black carapace interface Marine armor provides, many suits of human power armor don't offer the same degree of protection, as much strength enhancement, or as many subsystems found in Marine armor. Still, the wearer will still be stronger, better protected, and better equipped than the [[Tau|guy in cardboard]]. There are a few variants, including a lighter suit and one for Chaos-fighting Inquisitors. Because these things are still super-rare, usually only [[Rogue Trader|people rolling in money]], [[Adeptus Mechanicus|tech fetishists]], and [[Inquisition|those able to declare not giving them power armor is]] [[heresy]], will have any.

===Ignatus Pattern Armour===
[[File:InquisitorIgnatus.png|200px|right|thumb|Imperials always show off the guns.]]
The most 'common' type of non-Astartes and non-Sororitas Power Armour.

The Ignatus pattern power armours are all fine examples of Mechanicus artisans. Each of them are individuality crafted only for representatives of the [[Inquisition]]. Of course not as durable as Adeptus Astartes power armours, the Ignatus-pattern is far better designed than those sold to nobles, rogue traders and other agents of the Imperium.

Like every other power armour variant, Ignatus armour is made of thick ceramite armour plates and incorporated electro-muscles so the user can even use the power armour in the first place. The optional helmet protects the wearer from toxic gasses,allows the wearer to breathe underwater, and even survive in vacuum as long as the suit has power. The helmet has photo-visors so the user can see in the dark and an automatically closing visor renders blind-grenades useless against the wearer. They also have micro-beads and an integral auspex which can be controlled by speaking to the armour’s machine spirit, or the wearer could commune with his armour directly if they have a cerebral plug, MIU, or similar device. It is also possible to use a backpack for the suit which acts as external power-source. With this power-backpack the wearer can use his armour for five continuous days in battle conditions.

Because the Inquisition often has to deal with Ruinous Powers and other heretical forces, Ignatus suits are commonly inlaid with hexagrammic wards.

<gallery>
Inquisitor_PA.JPG|<center>Inquisitor</center>
Ordo_Xenos_PA.JPG|<center>Ordo Xenos</center>
Ignatus-pattern_power_armour.jpg
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{{clear}}

===Delphis Mk.II: Ironclad===
[[File:IroncladArmor.jpg|200px|right|thumb|You thought it was a Space Marine Power Armor didn't you?]]
A power armour that looks like something an Astartes would wear.

The Delphis Mk.II "Ironclad" Heavy Power Armour is a variant of standard non-Astartes power armour. It features increased personal protection at the cost of agility, with huge plates of Plasteel covering the flatter areas of the body. Exposed servo-mechanisms run along the legs and arms and elaborate bracing runs across the spine.

The helmet is small by comparison and the gauntlets are unwieldy to the point where basic actions beyond wielding a weapon is impossible. The power cell system in the rear has several thermal ﬁns protruding to shed away excess heat. Ranks of power cells mounted on the rear provide 12 hours of continuous operation before recharging is needed, but require a day of recharging after each prolonged use. The suit is also a fully enclosed void suit and incorporates an inbuilt auspex, good craftsmanship photo-visors, an incorporated vox, and a pair of recoil gloves. If the suit becomes unpowered, vents open automatically in the helmet to ensure the wearer does not suffocate.

Each suit is a personal heirloom item, colourful paintwork and elaborate scrolls delineating the history of the various users cover the surface; some users have also added additional ornamental shields to indicate their personal heraldry. The more ostentatious suits may also include large retractable poles for ﬂying more elaborate personal banners and their vessel’s blazons.

Because of all the layered protection, the Delphis Mk.II is the toughest and most 'powerful' of the non-Astartes power armours.

{{clear}}

===Sisters of Battle Armour===
[[File:BattleSisterArmor.png|200px|right|thumb|Shaped for pragmatism I bet...]]
Less bulky than the Space Marine armour, as they're designed for normal sized humans. Despite Astartes & Sororitas armour both giving 3+ saves on the tabletops, in actuality the power armour of the Orders Militant of the [[Adepta Sororitas]] provides less ballistic protection than Space Marine armour does. (The identical in-game protection is mostly because saves in 40k are decided on numbers between 2-6, so there aren't as many gradients in-between.)

This armour also does not provide the same level of strength enhancement, but it gives enough to carry [[Heavy_Bolter#Heavy_Bolter|heavy bolter]]s and ammunition into combat, and fire them without a sister shattering her arms. Sororitas armor has noticeably smaller [[pauldrons]]. The leading theory behind why they chose this design feature is that smaller pauldrons cut back the material cost it takes to create this variant, without having to sacrifice the pair of perky, globular breasts.

Helmets (Thereby known as [[NSFW|Panty Helms]], seriously, look at the damned thing) are ''not'' included as standard either, mostly because the majority of Sororitas models have <s>spent hours doing their hair</s> distinctive haircuts. But also because (according to [[Dark Heresy]]), the Sisters of Battle do not receive their helms until about halfway through their careers (how the sisters of battle are expected to fight in environments hostile to human life then is anyone's guess). This makes them inverse of the tradition held by the Astartes, where higher ranking officers are more likely to ditch their helmets instead.
The advantage of Sororitas power armour, though, when compared to other human-scales of power amour, is that it runs off of the same fusion reactor that Astartes armour does, and therefore can run indefinitely, rather than for a few hours at a time. Another advantage is that it is not as bulky so it does not turn the wearer into a big giant target either.
<gallery>
Battle_Sister_w_Melta.jpg|Dominion Battle Sister with half-mask.
SeraphimSq.JPG|Seraphim with power armour and jetpack.
SoB_Panty_Helm.JPG|What is seen cannot be unseen...
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===Vratine Armour===
[[File:VratineArmorZoomed.png|200px|right|thumb|... Since it has historical precedent.]]
Exclusive to the [[Sisters of Silence]], this is what the Null-ladies get to wear after finishing their training. The '''Vratine Armour''' is ''the armour of oath'', containing designs akin to Space Marine Power Armour and possibly a local pattern from Luna ('''''Selenite void-mail'''; Selene being a goddess of the Moon in <strike>Greek</strike> ROMAN mythology''). Considering that the suit does not come environmentally-sealed like how Power Armour usually do (''as you can see that the "helmet" is actually a full-faced mask'') – though additional gear can be equipped to operate in a hostile environment – this armour that these Sisters wear is possibly the closest thing the Imperium has to the Mark I, which is also a Power Armour pattern that is not sealed.

On the other hand, the Sisters of Silence might have been a later addition to the Imperium over the course of the Great Crusade, and the design elements of the Astartes Power Armor is actually derived from a later pattern such as the standard Mark II, or maybe even up to Mark VI, assuming that the armour, like the Space Marines', has several renditions of itself. This is likely since the Vratine is designed with agility in mind, and the protection factor is also definitely not compromised for that.

As a side note, it doesn't have a noticeable reactor (much like Custodes armour) and is not called "power armour" anywhere in the FW books, but it is later identified as a form of power armour in the 8th Edition Sisters of Silence Codex.
<gallery>
99120108007_WitchseekerSquad01.jpg|Witchseekers in Vratine Armour without the helmet.
Vigilator.jpg|Vigilator with half-mask.
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===Dragon Scale Armour===
[[image:MilitantEnginseer.jpg|200px|right|thumb|Like walking around in an armored Deep Blue computer.]]
Dragon scale armor is basically Mechanicum power armour, commonly used by militant Enginseers of Imperial Guard and Myrmidon [[Paladin|warrior priests]] of the Ordo Secutor. It does not have an external power source, as it derives power from Mechanicus implants (and therefore cannot be used by anyone outside the tech-priesthood or high-ranking [[Skitarii]]). As such, it is more accurate to call it an augmentation than true 'armour'.

Not as thick as Astartes power armour, it sports many more inbuilt devices and sensors and gets further pimped by the Techpriest wearing it as he progresses through the ranks of the [[Adeptus Mechanicus]] to the point where it's hard to tell where the armour ends and its wearer begins. It is in some ways, similar to Iron Man's armor, but more steampunk. Some wonder if it is connected to the [[Void Dragon]].

Each set of dragon scale is individually hand-forged from adamantine and ceramite plating depending on how much the Adept likes his style, and are woven with prayers of permanence and micro-etched with fractal incantations of defence. In a sense, Dragon Scale Armour provides a higher form of customizability and versatility due to the wearer's vast and extensive augmentations.

So if the wearer wants to be more agile, thinner pieces are used to offer lighter weight whilst implementing stronger servo-muscles for quick bursts of speed; if he/she wants to be a walking tank than the opposite happens as they are bulked up in thicker plates whilst the muscles are reinforced to provide durability and strength.

<gallery>
MyrmidonDragonScale.png|<center>Myrmidon Secutor</center>
MyrmidonDestroyer.jpg|<center>Myrmidon Destroyer</center>
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{{clear}}

==Squat Power Armour==
===Exo-Armour===
[[File:SquatExo.jpg|200px|right|thumb|All aboard the Walking Easter Egg with Guns.]]
Our [[Squats|SPEHSS DORFS]] too, have their own power armour.

The humorously egg-shaped Exo-Armour is a type of heavy armour, comparable to Terminator Armour, used by the Squats. It is built by the Squat Engineers Guild. The extensive protection it provides is especially useful when fighting in confined spaces where movement is restricted and it is difficult to avoid concentrated enemy fire. Exo-armour is thus greatly valued by Squats, who often find themselves in combat in subterranean tunnels.

Exo-armour also serves as an all-enclosing hostile environment suit. The development of Exo-armour was spurred by the inhospitable nature common to the Squat homeworlds.

Exo-armour incorporates an integrated power axe and boltgun. Squat armourers are adept at forging magnificent exo armour, embellished with the visage of a Squat Ancestor Spirit. The armour is handed down from father to son and is probably the proudest symbols of status of the Squat military aristocracy.

The standard weapons fitted into suits of exo-armour are often upgraded to heavy or combi-weapons by wealthy Squat warriors. They are almost exclusively worn by the elite [[Hearthguard|Hearthguards,]] although wealthy or prominent Squats such as [[Squat Warlord|Warlords]] and [[Living Ancestor]]s are known to wear one too.
<gallery>
SquatExoArmour.jpg
</gallery>

==Space Marine Power Armour==
The most iconic users of power armour in 40k are the [[Space Marines]] and the [[Chaos Space Marines]]. Made of ceramite layers upon plates of plasteel and adamantium/[[C.S.Goto|adamantite]] which will deflect all but the most powerful of weapons, Power Armour possess many life support systems designed to keep the Space Marine inside alive, even in the worst and most extreme of battlefield conditions. Has physical properties that has lead some material scientists (who clearly also do Warhammer) to speculate whether Space Marine armour is in fact an extraordinarily tough ceramic compound (ignoring all this easily trademarkable sci-fi bullshit about plasteel and adamantium/tite), which would make sense given that the Emperor actually invented very little new stuff when making the Marines' battle gear, instead just scaling up and making it bigger/louder/harder/better/faster/stronger etc.

The Black Carapace, one of the [[Gene-Seed]] organs, is specially designed to allow a space marine to interface his nervous system with his armour and is the last organ implanted in [[Codex Astartes|Codex]] Chapters. Amongst its features, power armour possess auto-senses to supplement the Marine's already considerable senses, auspex arrays to create minimaps and transmit data between squad members and commanders, painkiller delivery systems in the event of severe bodily damage, and waste recyclers to keep the Marine going for up to fifty days without fresh food or water. Or, for that matter, taking a shit. The connection between the two being one of the rather less dignified aspects of Astartesdom. The power source is a backpack mounted generator which needs initializing, but after that can take solar energy to keep itself going. According to GW, the backpacks themselves were inspired by the bedrolls (actually greatcoats in reality) carried by soldiers in the Napoleonic era. The "roll" on the backpack contains oxygen for use whenever the environment demands (like space combat) and the balls on the sides are either jet engines for manoeuvring in space or heat vents. Some early art showed they are more likely jet engines, and can lift a Space Marine for extra battlefield maneuverability, though presumably nowhere near as good as a Jump Pack. Running throughout the suit is a notoriously wilful machine spirit that maintains the armour and assists with the interfaces.

There are <s>eight</s> ten (technically nine because one has never been shown) types or '''Marks''' of Power Armour used by the Astartes. Regardless of their type, they all have massive [[Pauldrons]], under which the Marine's ammunition is stored. Pictures can be found in the gallery at the bottom of the page.

{{clear}}

===Mark I: Thunder Armour===
[[File:ThunderWarriorZoomed.png|200px|thumb|right|Your move, techno-creep.]]
The first type of Power Armour was designed for the [[Thunder Warriors]] and worn by many of the techno-barbarians of [[Earth|Terra]]. They provided basic protection against weapons and enhancements to upper-body strength, but that is all - the suit was incapable of supporting its own weight and basic variant did not provide any significant protection to the legs. Which seems like a bizarre and terrible idea given that as any person who moves furniture often can tell you; you should do most of your lifting with your legs unless you want to give yourself a hernia, and as most soldiers can tell you, having to carry a lot of extra gear with the weight distributed onto your shoulders sucks and is exhausting, and being fatigued significantly hurts combat effectiveness. But perhaps this was intentional as the Emperor intended to replace the Thunder Warriors anyway. Since they were only used on Terra, there was no need to protect them against the void. Though the lack of life support systems and much lesser degree of protection make them essentially useless in the 41st millennium (this doesn't seem to stop people from pestering Forge World to make models for it though, even though they've said that they won't for exactly this reason), several Chapters retain sets of Thunder Armour for ceremonial purposes. If you were to field one now, it would probably count as carapace armour (4+ save) with a slight bonus to strength but a penalty to initiative.

In [[Deathwatch_(RPG)|Deathwatch]], you can actually get your hands on some. Be forewarned: it's noisy, doesn't offer as much protection, doesn't work with a Marine's Black Carapace, and actually might not be a whole suit of armour depending on its state of (dis)repair. Overall, it's kind of shitty, but it's a surviving artifact linked to the days of the living [[Emperor]] and early Imperium, and that impresses other Marines and those Ecclesiarchy schlubs. Take it for formal occasions.

<gallery>
image:IronHandsMarkI.jpg
OldPowerArmorMark1.jpg
Thunder Warrior 1.jpg
Thunder Warrior 2.jpg
Thunder Warrior 3.jpg
</gallery>
{{clear}}

===Mark II: Crusade Armour===
[[File:CrusadeArmorZoomed.jpg|200px|thumb|right|The Facegrill, v1]]
Designed by the [[Adeptus Mechanicus]] with the [[Great Crusade]] in mind, the Mark II armour was fully enclosed and contained all the life support and auxiliary systems now common among Astartes power armour, like a waste recycling unit and automated medical equipment. Much of these newer additions were made possible by a more efficient cooling system, which allowed a considerable reduction in the size of the power pack. For example, the chest coils, which were kept on the outside of the armour plating on Mark 1 armour for cooling purposes, have now been placed on the inside of the chest plates, so that they are better protected, thanks to more efficient cooling mechanisms. However, this design could not be copied over to the new powered leg armour, which resulted in [[Derp|exposed cabling on the backs of the lower legs.]]

The helmet also came with a bunch of enhanced sensory equipment, with the wearer is also able to see in the infra-red and ultra-violet spectrums, images can be zoomed in and magnified while noises can be enhanced. Overall protection and flexibility was much improved, especially since the legs were now enclosed in armoured hoops and came with their own servomotor, although with the caveat that the overlapping hooped armour plates being difficult to repair. Unlike the Mark I suit, the design is still sufficiently sound to remain in active, albeit extremely limited, use well into the 41st millennium.

Early depictions of this armour often featured a fixed helmet, similar to old-school diving suits. While [[Forge World]] completely [[Retcon|retconned]] this away for the sake of compatibility with other Marine kits, there had been depictions of Mark II suits with movable helmets since the [[Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader|Rogue Trader]] days, so it's not like GW were ever consistent about it anyway.

<gallery>
image:IronHandsMarkII.jpg
OldPowerArmorMark2.jpg|Older version of the armour
MK2Squad.jpg
881ee11d4d5deee89611414658e77e9f--space-wolves-space-marine.jpg|<center>The armour that carried out the [[Great Crusade]]</center>
</gallery>
{{clear}}

===Mark III: Iron Armour===
[[File:Mk3IronArmor.png|200px|right|thumb|The Facegrill, v2]]
Mark III armour was first conceived for <s>the [[Squat]] campaigns</s> boarding actions of the Great Crusade. It was pretty much a modified Mark II designed to provide better frontal protection for close-quarters combat, essentially fulfilling the same role that [[Terminator]] armour would later fulfil. It should be noted that the Mark III was never intended to replace the previous Mark but to act as an optional suit specialised for the above-aforementioned situations. Because of this, no Legion was ever fully equipped with the Mark III. While successful in the conditions it was designed for, the armour was too clumsy and uncomfortable for conventional fighting.

By the time of the Horus Heresy, the Mark III was slowly being phased out and replaced by Terminator armour, but it's still fairly common among the Traitor Legions. In fact, several of the more traditional Legions were reluctant to phase out Mark III because it was the most brutally iconic mark of power armour in their day, so there was talk of keeping it for honour guards or spear tip operations.

Of course, since it was good enough that it did Terminator armour's job well enough to become "iconic" despite the Mark II being the primary issue at the time, then maybe they should've kept using it to augment Terminator forces when numbers were needed. Even into M41, the helmet or faceplate is still popular. It appears as a DLC armour in [[Last Stand - Captain|The Last Stand]] for the Space Marine Captain, where it increases the force of his melee strikes.

<gallery>
image:IronHandsMarkIII.jpg
OldPowerArmorMark3.jpg
MK3Squad.jpg
EC Legionary Mk III.jpg|<center>Heresy era [[Emperor's Children]] legionnaire</center>
MarkIIITacticalSquad.png|<center>Ultramarines</center>
</gallery>
{{clear}}

===Mark IV: Maximus Armour===
[[File:MarkIVMaximus.png|200px|right|thumb|So cool, they brought the helmet back for the Primaris boys!]]
Now having access to more [[Standard Template Construct]]s, the Mechanicum was able to further refine power armour internal systems. In addition to having more advanced visual sensors, the helmet was now capable of easier movement. The suit was also made a whole lot lighter than before while only marginally reducing Mark II's protective capabilities. Bears mentioning it had much, much more superior manufacturability compared to MkII and was easier to repair due to its nature of having no interlocking armour plates and whatnot.

Although the chest power cables were once again relocated to the outside of the plating, they were given an armoured sheath to protect them from damage (since the gaps between armour are actually made of plasteel, that was likely used on the cables, as plasteel gives Terminator armour its legendary durability). [[Horus|Horus Lupercal]] manipulated the Mechanicum's supply lines to ensure that the Legions that were planning to side with him in the Heresy would be fully equipped with Maximus Armour in time for the Heresy; as a result of this, Mark IV was usually reserved for Chapter Masters and senior Captains of the Loyalist Legions. As the Legions were either fully or partially re-equipped with these suits by the time the [[Horus Heresy]] began, Mark IV is one of the most prevalent types of armour among the Chaos Space Marines.

It's a little strange that the Imperium didn't build more of them after the Horus Heresy, though, since it's far easier to produce and repair than the current Mark VII but not notably inferior. Seeing as they're always short on everything, you'd think these features would be the most important thing to consider for them (Apparently the [[Red Scorpions]] and [[Iron Hands]] are the only loyal chapters who still know how to produce them, and presumably won't share the STC for the same reason the [[Blood Angels]] won't tell people how to put [[Librarian Dreadnought|Librarians into Dreadnoughts]]).

Some Chapters/Legions also made their own sub-patterns of Maximus power armour, such as the Ultramarines' Praetor pattern and the Thousand Sons' Achean pattern.

<gallery>
image:IronHandsMarkIV.jpg
OldPowerArmorMark4.jpg
MK4Squad.jpg
Angels Revenant colour scheme.jpg|<center>As a relic of the [[Angels Revenant]] chapter</center>
MarkIVTacticalSquad.png|<center>Tactical Squad</center>
</gallery>
{{clear}}

===Mark V: Heresy Armour===
[[File:Mk5HeresyArmour.png|200px|right|thumb|What a stud.]]
In between production of the Mark IV and what would be the Mark VI, both Loyalist and Traitor Legions found that they were running out of replacement parts for damaged systems. This would result in several Legions taking parts from older Marks and inadvertently making a brand new Mark of Power Armour. Although appearances varied widely as a result of its ad hoc nature, some form of standardization was achieved. One of the most notable was the introduction of molecular bonding studs on the left pauldron and both greaves (the famous "rivets"), which made them look totally Metal - these were actually originally designed to field-patch busted vehicle armour before they could be repaired properly. Probably one of the most common suits of armour in service among the Traitor Legions, since this was what most of them were wearing when they retreated to the Eye of Terror.

For a while, the Horus Heresy [[Fluff|novels]] and [[Crunch|black books]] outright [[Retcon|retconned]] Mark V armour into a catch-all term for any improvised or prototype suits that existed outside of the main Mark series, yet weren't advanced enough to be considered artificer armour (likely so Forge World wouldn't get nagged to make variants of all their Mark III and IV squads in Mark V as well). However, they ended up backpedalling on this a bit in [[Horus_Heresy#Retribution|Retribution]]. The classic "studs and cables" version shown here is now apparently considered the "production" model of Mark V armour (presumably an [[Adeptus Mechanicus]]-sanctioned version that went into mass production), while the more variable, improvised suits it was based on are "non-production" models. Presumably, Forge World realised that the retcon didn't make much sense, since all known art and models of the armour up to that point were no less visually consistent than any of the other Marks (and arguably ''more'' consistent than a couple of them).

<gallery>
image:IronHandsMarkV.jpg
OldPowerArmorMark5.jpg
MK5Squad.jpg
Carcharodons Battle-Brother.jpg|<center>The [[Space Sharks|Carcharodons]] favourite armour pattern</center>
</gallery>
{{clear}}
===Mark VI: Corvus Armour===
[[File:Mk6CorvusArmor.png|200px|right|thumb|Hate the Xeno. Ca-caw.]]
The much-beloved [[Beakie]] armour. Designed during the latter years of Great Crusade, this one was initially field-tested by Salamanders and Iron Warriors to become a proper Mk V. While the former's reaction is unknown, [[Perturabo]] despised the idea of reducing the protection of his <s>cannon fodder</s> sons. He arranged the next test to be conducted by the [[Raven Guard]], and so [[Corax]], whose tactics Perturabo despised, received a lot of Mk VIs and was sent on the galactic fringe to fight Eldar. To Iron Lord's surprise, the test was such a smashing success that the suit received the XIXth Primarch's name, and Beakie armour became a common sight in his legion even before it was actually accepted for service in wider Imperium. It anticipated some of the lately developed Mark VII features, producing a suit of armour that is in many ways equal to its descendants, if being a little bit specialized.

Although it offered the worst protection compared to all other proper marks, Mark VI armour was the first to feature a redundant power system and parts that are largely interchangeable with those of other marks, particularly with Mark VII. Somehow, it also manages to be lighter and fit together more smoothly than the current Mark VII Aquila, allowing for quieter movement, while the helmet includes further improved sensor systems in its, um, "beak". Due to the design's inherent stealthiness and legacy, it still remains the preferred armour among the sons of Corax, who tend to be saddled with older equipment anyhow. For reasons nobody can seem to explain, it was also sporadically used by the [[Alpha Legion]] around the time of the Horus Heresy even though it was never actually [[Blood Ravens|issued]] to them. Then again, it's the Alpha Legion so who knows.

<gallery>
image:IronHandsMarkVI.jpg
OldPowerArmorMark6.jpg
MK6Squad.jpg
20191026 181625.jpg|<center>A [[White Scars]] legion tactical marine</center>
ImperialSpaceMarine.jpg
</gallery>
{{clear}}

===Mark VII: Aquila/Imperator Armour===
[[File:Mk7AquilaImperator.png|200px|right|thumb|All said, this face really does say "disgust" better.]]

You know'em, you love'em. The most iconic Power Armor design in the franchise and also the oldest Mark to be in production. Whilst other older Marks (With the exception of the Beakie Armour) was eventually phased out in the two centuries of the [[Great Crusade]] and [[Horus Heresy]], the Mark VII chugged along for 10,000 years because the AdMech hit a [[Derp]] and couldn't be assed to make a new Mark until the return of [[Roboute Guilliman|Papa Smurf]]. [[That Guy|Those lazy fucks.]] (Or more realistically, the Mechanicus didn't see enough significant reasons to replace the Mark 7, who was already pretty good as is. Extensive R&D, re-tooling entire Forgeworlds to meet new demand, and retrofitting existing suits with new parts aren't cheap, and that's on top of their 'Innovation is the Devil!' dogma.)

The most common Mark of Power Armour among loyalist Space Marines, Mark VII armour was still being designed when the Traitor Legions reached the Sol System and seized [[Mars]]. When this fact became all too foreseeable, [[Rogal Dorn]] ordered the design teams transferred to Terra to prevent the Traitors from seizing it. Mark VII featured completely covered chest and arm cabling, a distinct helmet that provided more protection, a high level of compatibility with previous Marks, and also bore the Imperial Aquila on the chest, which was first used there to provide quick identification of the Loyalist Marines during the chaos of the Siege of Terra.

Moreover, this Mark abandons the studded shoulder armour plate and replaces the helmet. As Mark 7 is a development of Mark 6, both have a great deal in common, and parts from one Mark are readily interchangeable with parts from the other, like the helmet. According to GeeDubs, the design of the helmet was meant to resemble a human skull, but you [[Space Wolves|must be drunk from Mjord]] [[Derp|in order to see that resemblance.]] The Mark VII also contains its own back-up power supply and a solar array to recharge this, so the suit can operate even without its backpack though only a short time.

<gallery>
image:IronHandsMarkVII.jpg
OldPowerArmorMark7.jpg
Lamenters Battle-Brother.jpg|<center>The most iconic pattern</center>
</gallery>
{{clear}}

===Mark VIII: Errant Armour===
[[File:Mk8Errant.png|200px|right|thumb|MY THROAT IS INVINCIBLE]]
[[Jes Goodwin]] [http://wh40k.lexicanum.com/wiki/File:MkVIII_Errant.jpg originally] designed it with awesome [[Power Fist]]-style hands, a modified helmet, a streamlined power pack, and a more flexible leg-and-ankle joint. Games Workshop only bothered with using the altered breastplate, [[Fail|so the overall design looks like a regular Mark VII with a collar.]] That said, the more recent models for Space Marine Devastators have a flexible, ball-like ankle joint more in line with the original artwork. Deathwatch models have this ball-joint and the modified helmet, and Primaris models also have this ankle joint, presumably inspired by the Mk VIII like the breastplate collar is. Said collar is described as being brought into use due to an alarming pattern being noticed; namely, that bullets would deflect off the top of the breastplate and up into the bottom of the marine's helmet, killing him, or would pass in-between the bottom of the helmet and the top of the chest plate, into the marine's throat, killing him (similar to a problem found on the gun mantlet of Nazi Germany's Panzer V Panther D & A tanks in WW2, in which the rounded mantlet would send shells straight into the hull roof. Later Panther G models would have a "chin" to prevent this).

This was only really a problem with bolt shells due to plasteel armour protecting joints. But, when most of your enemies use bolts of some size or against Traitor Marines, this is really damn bad. Breaking the trend of reverse-compatibility between newer and older marks, this Mark can only accommodate the helmet designed for it, which kind of becomes a moot point when reserving it for officers, since everyone higher up than a Battle-Brother will never wear his helmet. The specialist design, or the [[Adeptus Mechanicus]]'s head-up-own-arse tendencies around distributing new technology are thought to be the probable reasons why it has yet to be widely adopted among Space Marine chapters. Because of its rarity, the armour is generally restricted for use by senior officers only, and even then they'll usually only be able to wear the breastplate. The Munitorium series from GW, however, shows that it's fully compatible with Mk7, so Veterans will sometimes receive a part of Mk8 to replace analogue from their Mk7 for some heroic deed, meaning if some Veteran is equipped with full Errant pattern, he is a serious badass and likely expects promotion. The [[Minotaurs]] and [[Deathwatch]] chapters appear to be the exceptions here, as almost all of their Battle-Brothers have access to full suits, the former because they suck the High Lords' dicks and the latter because the Deathwatch is a special operations group made up of veterans of all chapters.

It should be noted that, while Artificer armour (at least in the art) looks like a pimped out Mk.VIII, regular Mk.VIII [[Crunch|doesn't actually improve armour save]]. But Fantasy Flight [[Deathwatch_(RPG)|gave it some love]] with an extra armour point all around, and the ability to deflect some headshots to the chest, greatly improving its protection and explained why so many officers using it tend to not wear a helmet (not to mention that the collar helps protect the neck from shrapnel or shots hitting it).

<gallery>
image:IronHandsMarkVIII.jpg
DeathwatchKillTeam1.jpg|The Errant Armour comes as a standard...
DeathwatchKillTeam2.jpg|in the Deathwatch, apparently...
Minotaurs Tact. Marine.jpg|<center>The most complete depiction in official artwork to date</center>
</gallery>
{{clear}}

===Mark IX Armour===
Who knows, really. This mark was skipped over when Mk10 was introduced, and no details were made available. It could either be an Mk5 treatment, with any Mk7 or 8 suits made with improvised parts or even contemporary Artificer Armour [[Proxy|counted as the Mk9]]. Another possibility is that the Mk9 might be part of [[Roboute Guilliman|Guilliman]]'s new job of [[Gets stuff done|actually getting stuff done]] and gets a new mark rolled out for the Classic Marines. Nothing's really known at this point, and there's still no word over three years after Primaris were announced. Why GW don't make a new set of models and saying that this Mark is used to bring Veteran Marines physical capabilities to Primaris level is a mystery for the ages. Then again, it could just be that Mk 10 sounds way cooler than Mk 9 (iPhone X and Windows 10, anyone?), although [[Games Workshop|Geedubs]] did allude to its existence when Primaris armour was revealed to be numbered as 10.

If it helps, it has been suggested in forums and such, that Mark 9 power armour was that 'variant' which was used by pre-Primaris Librarians. Still, it is annoying that nothing official is there to be found. This could, of course, be nothing more than wishful thinking or plain old nonsense, as Librarians have been shown in various armour Marks, and some sources have shown their psychic hoods as a detachable add-ons rather than built-in.

===Mark X Armour System===
A new form of Power Armor introduced in 8th Edition, worn primarily by the Primaris. Unlike all previous marks, the Mk. X was built with internal modularity in mind, and all their pieces can be swapped into another that make a single set or armour change its battlefield role. If the next mission is more [[Infiltrator|stealth oriented]], you don't need to ask for a new armour, just change the pieces into the ones of the Phobos; or if you're [[Aggressor|going to take heat]], change it into a Gravis. It's basically kitbashing on an armour level. But this also lets you to [[Your Dudes|create your own armour configurations]].

There are several configurations that are currently in use:

====Tacticus====
[[File:TacitusIntercessorZoomed.png|200px|right|thumb|Getting huger, and all without Terminator Armor]]
The "default" form of the Mark X, the Tacticus configuration combines aspects of previous armour patterns, such as the Mk8 collar and the Mk4 helmet being the obvious bits, and [[Fluff|all the latest technology of the Imperium in the 42nd Millennium]]. ([[Crunch|Still doesn't affect armour save]].)

So far it's only been shown on the Primaris Space Marines, it is unknown if the scruffy old obsolete Space Marines will get it. The vambraces are noted to have built-in cogitator systems, which can be used for a variety of purposes depending on the user's role, whereas the knee plates have its guard raised, protecting the joints. Other improvements include the [[Pauldron]]s which now incorporate a second armour layer, reactive armour and curvature which increases the armour's protection potential as well as a reinforced undersuit. Moreover, the armour also has socket ports for stim-injectors and diagnostic data-links, which makes the life of an [[Apothecary]] a whole load more easier.

On the other hand, the MkX backpack now has reinforced armour plates which offer better protection to the vulnerable fusion reactor. Like all MkX armour the Tacticus class is highly customizable, for example, the librarian has a Gravis style plated belly. Other changes can be seen across the range, such as the form-fitting greaves on the Chaplain, and the occasional addition of tassets to the hips (especially common on [[Hellblaster]]s).

Due to the modular system of ceramite plating, maintenance cost is actually higher than older Marks of Power Armour. That and it's bigger too, which means more material cost on average (Although the high customization actually cheapens the overall cost of a Chapter's armoury due to the increased standardisation).

<gallery>
image:PrimarisApothecary.jpg|<center>Primaris Apothecary</center>
image:Primaris Chaplain.jpg|<center>Primaris Chaplain</center>
image:PrimarisLibrarian.jpg|<center>Primaris Librarian.</center>
</gallery>
{{clear}}

====Gravis====
[[File:GravisCaptain.png|200px|right|thumb|I. AM. ULTRASMURF.]]
The heavy configuration, the equivalent of Terminator Armour that grants +1 Toughness and +1 Wound as well as more mobility and flexibility. Yay. (Rumours that 8th Edition was being designed to make future video projects easier to code remain unfounded.)

Gravis armour is worn by the Captain included in the Warhammer 8th Edition Boxed Set. The example captain had both a master crafted power sword ''(that does two wounds nowadays)'' AND a brand new '''Boltstorm Gauntlet''' which combines the functionality of a power fist with a bolt pistol capable of firing at triple rate -- Marneus Calgar approves. Said armour design appears to take some leanings from... Iron Man (a noted early proponent for the founding of the Mechanicus, as such a most blessed servant of the Omnissiah), <s>or perhaps the T'a</s> {{BLAM}} {{BLAM|'''HERESY!'''}}, or Terminators, with what appears to be augments on the legs, an enhanced ribcage, and an enclosed armoured hoodie for good measure.

Gravis Armour (like all Mk. X) is highly variable; for example the Inceptors have a Tacticus-style bodyplate and a retractable face-shield.

Gravis Armour is also worn by the Inceptor Squads, granting them the toughness boost as well. Their version also comes with built-in jump packs, replacing the normal backpack-worn type, and shutter style face visors. Another variant is worn by Aggressor Squads, which can come with Fragstorm Grenade Launchers.

Models in Gravis Armour are [http://steppingbetweengames.com/new-8th-edition-40k-models-size-comparison/ fucking big] even compared to even the NuMarines, so... Primaris Centurion Armor.

Seems to be the most [[Skub|contentious]] of all the Mark X variants, by far. It really seems like you either love or hate this one.

<gallery>
image:PrimarisAggressor.jpg|<center>Primaris Aggressor</center>
image:PrimarisInceptor.jpg|<center>Primaris Inceptor</center>
</gallery>
{{clear}}

====Phobos====
[[File:Mk10Phobos.png|200px|right|thumb|Modern. Aerodynamic. [[Nighthaunt|Spoopy]].]]
Another Mark X configuration worn by [[Reiver|Reivers]], [[Vanguard Lieutenant|Vanguard Lieutenants]], and [[Incursor]] Primaris forces, the Phobos can be compared to the Mark VI ''Corvus'' Armour due to similar associations with recon troops.

Like the Mark VI, the armour is designed for silent infiltrations and drop assaults – and by "drop," it is sneakily by Grav-chutes, and not flashy like Jump Packs – and in the same way the older mark was pioneered by the [[Raven Guard]], Phobos Armour was pioneered by the [[Original character, do not steal|Primaris]] [[Night Lords|Reivers]]. Since Reivers from time to time enter the battlefield via air drop, the armour's power pack sometimes sports a pair of fins for the occasion. These fins are used to direct flight as the Reivers' Grav-chutes slow their descent. Whether or not those fins are the Grav-chutes themselves is arguable – probably unlikely because aside from [[Jokaero|Digital Weapons]], Imperium tech does not shine really bright in the field of miniaturization; that is to say, their style choices usually go big or go home. Most of the Vanguard Marines seem to lack these fins, which supports the assumption that they're not the Grav-chutes themselves (Actually, only the Lieutenant in Phobos Armour has the Grav-Chutes ability out of the Vanguard, and he has the fins. Other Vanguard are just sneaky, and have Concealed Position instead). The [[Infiltrator]]s' power packs instead sport a bunch of antennas, which make up an omni-scrambler system designed to conceal them from enemy auspex scans, while [[Incursor]]s instead have a visor system mounted, allowing them to see through any obstructions to their sight.

The standard Phobos helmet seems to come in a couple of different shapes, which resemble either a Mk X Tacitus helmet or a Mk 7 helmet (both of which sport what seem to be some kind of rebreather system). The Reivers instead rock a Night Lords inspired skull-helmet instead of a Raven Guard Beakie, which [[Skub|may or may not be awesome]], and it [[Banshee|amps up their voice to insane levels of sound]].

<gallery>
PrimarisReiver2.jpg|<center>Mask-only Style</center>
PhobosArmorFins.jpg|<center>Grav-chute Fins</center>
HelixAdept.jpg|<center>[[Helix Adept]]</center>
VanguardEliminatorMini.jpg|<center>[[Eliminator]]</center>
SalamandersIncursorMini.jpg|<center>Incursor</center>
Vanguard-Librarian.jpg|<center>[[Vanguard Librarian]]</center>
</gallery>

====Omnis====
[[FIle:Omnis_Armour.JPG|200px|right|thumb|Well, you see, when an [[Inceptor]] and a [[Devastator Squad|Devastator]] love each other [[Rape|very much]]...]]
Worn by [[Suppressor|Vanguard Suppressor Squads]]. It's basically just Tacticus configuration with Inceptor shock absorber boots, Reiver-style Grav-chutes and gorget/collar, a miniaturised jump pack (which looks like a second pair of backpack exhausts with little tail stabilisers), and a new helmet visor design. [[Skub|May or may not]] offer a middle road between the Gravis and Tacticus configuration in terms of defence.

On the whole, the Omnis is lighter than the standard Gravis configuration due to the implementation of the above equipment. Of course, how it is made lighter, we do not know, as unless these armour pieces are intentionally made of a different material or structured differently, they look exactly the same as the rest of its contemproaries.

The models have been the subject of a fair bit of [[Skub|"debate"]] since their debut in the Shadowspear box, although that's likely got little to do with the armour they're wearing, and more to do with those ridiculously oversized [[Autogun#Accelerator_Autocannon|accelerator autocannons]] that they're toting.

<gallery>
File:Vanguard_Suppressors.jpg|<center>Vanguard Suppressors in Omnis.</center>
</gallery>

===Artificer Armour===
[[File:BloodAngelArtificerArmorZoomed.png|200px|right|thumb|A typical Blood Angels Nipple Pattern artificer armour.]]
Pimped out and individualized versions of regular suits, often enough to be considered one-off derivations in their own right. Artificer Armour can be formed from any older mark of Power Armour (perhaps barring Mk.I plate possibly excepting Thunder Warrior officers) by adding extra or upgraded protection. The upgraded and individualized suits mean that they require a lot of maintenance and needs techs to work around the clock to make sure they stay functional. In time suits become encrusted with unique decorations and individual upgrades and becomes known as Artificer Armour. Because of these heavy modifications, Artificer Armour is often highly superior to newer suits of standard-issue Power Armour, and afford much better protection.

So in simple terms, the [[Adeptus Custodes|more blinged-out the armour, the better it is stat-wise.]] With little to no standardisation, meaning that no two Artificer Armours are the same, design-wise. Standard issue for [[Techmarines]], the [[Sanguinary Guard]] and optional for [[Brother-Captain|officers]], pairing Artificer Armour with an Iron Halo can offer better protection than Terminator armour with none of the drawbacks, yet with only some of the benefits.

During the [[Great Crusade]] and [[Horus Heresy]] Space Marine Sergeants, the various [[Honour Guard]]s (if they don't have the option of [[Terminator|Terminator Armour]]) and even unaugmented officers of the [[Solar Auxilia]] could go into battle wearing Artificer Armor. Just another example in a long list that shows how the Imperium is a shadow of its former self. Yes, this means that every squad in 30k tabletop can have someone with a 2+ save in the pre-8th edition armor rules. Yes, it is hell.

<gallery>
image:TechmarineArmor.png|<center>Techmarine</center>
</gallery>
{{clear}}

===Aegis Armour===
[[File:GreyKnightAegis.png|200px|right|thumb|It's all holy smokes and mirrors from here.]]
The Power Armour of the [[Grey Knights]], Aegis Armour is master-crafted on the forges of Titan and inscribed with prayers and [[Matt Ward|wards]] to prevent [[Daemon]]s from possessing it. [[Khornate Knights|Early fluff insinuated that several psykers were burned alive to be sacrificed as part of the machine-spirit of the armour, but this aspect has been downplayed massively in later revisions]]. (Considering the Golden Throne [[Grimdark|burns an ungodly number of psykers every day to keep]] [[The Emperor|Him]] [[Astronomican|alive]], this isn't too farfetched; [[Skub|opinions nonetheless vary]] on whether this is true, and if so, whether it is [[Grimdark]] or [[Grimderp]].)

Based on parts from Marks VI, VII, and VIII, within the breastplate of each set is a copy of the Liber Daemonica. It frequently bears a Stormbolter on its left forearm, keeping both hands of the wearer free to use. There is an Aegis/Grey Knight version of Terminator and Dreadnought armours, too. Just remember to keep any observations that Aegis Armour look in anyway similar to Tau [[Battlesuit]]s to yourself.{{BLAM}}

Could also be the aforementioned Mark 9, since the Inquisition scrubbing it from records if that were the case would explain why we know “nothing” about it.
<gallery>
image:GreyKnightArmor1.jpg|<center>Variant 1</center>
image:GreyKnightArmor2.jpg|<center>Variant 2</center>
image:GreyKnightArmorCrowe.jpg|<center>''[[Castellan Crowe|Castellan Garren Crowe]]''</center>
</gallery>

===Auramite Armour===
[[File:CustodianAuramite.png|200px|right|thumb|Banana Armor.]]
The most common power armour within the [[Adeptus Custodes]], it is straight up in the top 3 power armours of the Imperium, its other contenders being the Aquilon & Allarus Terminator armours. The material used for its construction is known as, you guessed right, Auramite (which is ceramite, except even [[Cheese|better]]): The first samples and tech to make it was brought back from the depths of [[Terra]]. Another interesting fact is that the servos and motors of the Custodes armour are nearly completely silent. Turning a Custodes into a [[Raven Guard|sneaky marine.]] [[Derp|A very ''shiny'' sneaky marine.]]

Custodes power armour also includes a built-in Grav-chute and internal air supply (But let's be honest, the Grav-chute is all but pointless since we never see it...well...[[Derp|''anywhere'']]). Each suit's helmet includes an internal vox, an altimeter, ambient neutralisers, and hololithic schematic overlay map.

The armour itself is even better than Artificer armour and includes a refractor field, essentially giving it the same properties in-game as Terminator armour. It can even get a teleportation transponder as well as an Arae-shrike: a nasty (so nasty the Mechanicum declared it blasphemous) piece of archeotech that fucks up nearby cogitators. The only ones allowed to make it, like all Custodes-grade weapons, are Emperor-chosen clans of Terra. Probably the only people the Mechanicus won't fuck with for fear of the golden bois getting...[[Rage|inconvenienced]].
<gallery>
Sagittarum.jpg|<center>Sagittarum Guard</center>
ShieldCaptainFW.jpg|<center>Shield Captain</center>
WardenMini.jpg|<center>Custodian Warden</center>
</gallery>
{{clear}}

==Terminator Armour==

[[Terminator]] armor, or Tactical Dreadnought armor, are set aside for space marine veterans who are exemplars of toughness, martial ability, and wonky proportions. This power armor provides the best personal protection available. Terminator suits have an outer shell of ceramite-bonded plates powered by electrically-motivated fibre bundles. Plates of heavy plasteel further armour the ceramite sections, especially on the front of the suit. This extra armouring provides a level of protection that is far superior to normal Marine armour; not even a Krak missile will penetrate the suit's breastplate (Which one wonders why Imperial tanks aren't coated with this stuff). Moreover, external adamantium layered ribs help support this weight, while the inclusion of suspensors help the suit carry heavier support weapons, not to mention those indestructible [[pauldrons]], a suit of Terminator armor is built to steamroll nearly everything and gives a fighting chance against everything else, which are the things that gives anybody else a fighting chance against Terminators. Standard loadout for Terminators are [[Power Fist|power fists]] and [[Storm Bolter|storm bolters]], or [[Power weapon]]s and [[Twin-Linked|twin linked]] bolters for the Chaos Terminators; but these are often and changed up with other heavy weapons systems, other killtastic melee weapons, and the a squad is sometimes augmented with a shoulder-mounted missile racks. Since most suits are about at least as old as the chapter that owns them, and that the pauldron allegedly contains a tiny fragment of the Emperor's own power armor, these suits are holy relics as well as top shelf wargear.

Despite all the pain they lay down (and keep away), Terminator armor has a few serious drawbacks. First thing is that it is seriously hard to make. Seriously. Most chapters have only a handful that they can distribute amongst their veterans and officers, and any lost suits are damn near impossible to replace. Second thing is that they lack mobility. They counter this mostly since Terminator armor can be safely teleported from orbit into the thick of it, and judicious use of teleport homers can put them right where you need them, and a heavy transport such as a [[Land Raider]] can carry small squads. Beyond that, Terminators are otherwise going to be footslogging since they're too fucking huge to hitch a ride on anything smaller than a house. Better plan on not moving them too far once they hit the ground.

There are other patterns mentioned in the fluff but not yet seen on the tabletop, or available elsewhere in such small numbers they can be counted as unique variants.

The [[Minotaurs]] have widespread access to a rare type of Terminator armour, known as the '''Arkonak Pattern'''. However, every official illustration of a Minotaurs Terminator to date has them wearing either Indomitus or Tartaros armour, including [[Asterion Moloc|their Chapter Master]] (the original Tartaros Terminator model).

The [[Dark Angels|First Legion's]] [[Ironwing]] supposedly owned the greatest concentration of Terminator suits out of any of the First Founding Legions, and included a number (plural) of experimental patterns that were unknown anywhere else. Though Forge World [[Fail|neglected to describe or provide rules for any of them.]] So as far as we know they are just functionally identical suits of normal terminator armour [[Proxy|that come in different shapes]] [[Your Dudes|and colours]].

Whereas '''Extermination''' claims the [[Alpha Legion]] used five patterns of Terminator armour during the Invasion of Paramar, suggesting that other patterns are yet to be revealed. Or, you know, the Alpha Legion being what it is could mean that their in house artificers are straight up [[Heresy|inventing new technology]] or their infiltrators were [[Blood Ravens|stealing technology from other Legions.]]

Nevertheless, Terminator Armor has 3 major designs: the Cataphractii pattern, the Tartaros pattern, and the Indomitus pattern. As well as a few more lesser known but still prominent designs. More of which can be read below.
===Cataphractii Pattern Terminator Armour===

[[File:CataphractiiTerminator.png|200px|thumb|right|"My Pauldrons Can Support Hive Cities!"]]

The oldest design bar a few prototypes and the first pattern to enter mass-production, developed during the [[Great Crusade]] and based on fusion-reactor maintenance suits. The Cataphractii pattern had Roman-esque, slab-like [[pauldrons]] (which apparently held shield generators), which enabled greater protection at the cost of preventing the wearer from moving with any sort of speed. It was the Mechanicus' intention to retrofit [[awesome|all 18 Legions down to the last Marine]] with Terminator armor at first, but it proved to be unfeasible as crafting those required far too many resources. In the end they were adopted for use in [[Zone Mortalis|those situations where even Breacher squads struggled yet heavy ordnance was too difficult to deploy]], typically boarding actions but not only.

After the Horus Heresy, Cataphractii pattern had eventually fallen out of general use. This may have been because the last of that armor was either lost in the fighting and [[Adeptus Mechanicus|the pattern became another lost technology]] in the following years. Or because production was ceased in favor of later patterns, and most suits were either cannibalized or became a relic that was the chapter's equivalent of fine china: makes a nice display piece, but practically useless due to enforced disuse. These relics wouldn't see field use again until the day GW released the Angels of Death supplement (no doubt because they'd sell more copies of ''[[Betrayal at Calth]]'' if both 30K and 40K Marine players could use it).

In crunch terms, this translates to a higher invulnerable save than the Indominus/Tartaros armor at the expense of losing the abilities make run moves or overwatch. In 8th edition, Cataphractii have reduced movement compared to the other versions as well as halved advanced distances, but get a couple alternate weapon options and retain their boosted invulnerable saves.

9E combined Cataphractii and Tartaros Terminators into a joint datasheet called Relic Terminators. While this bumps Cataphractii terminators up to a more standard 5" movement, it also drops their invuln save back down to a standard Terminator invuln save. They have a much more specialized loadout than regular terminators, so if you are looking for a more ranged variant of terminators, you'll probably want to look elsewhere.

<gallery>
image:CataphractiiPict.jpg|<center>Pict Captures</center>
image:CataphractiiUltramarines.jpg|<center>Ultramarines</center>
image:CataphractiiWordBearers.jpg|<center>Word Bearers</center>
image:CataphractiiFists.jpg|<center>Imperial Fists</center>
</gallery>

===Tartaros Pattern Terminator Armour===
[[File:TartarosTerminator.png|200px|thumb|right|Claws? Check. Prosperine Script? Check. Aerodynamic Pauldrons? Check. Time to ruin some Loyalist's day.]]

The Hulk Suit.

The most advanced pattern, using systems developed for the Mark IV "Maximus"-pattern [[powered armor]]. Tartaros Armor delivers the same level of protection as the Indomitus pattern but is much more mobile, with sensibly-sized [[pauldrons]] and an upright stance. Due to the advances in Pauldron Technology, Terminator Squads in Tartaros Armor can Sweeping Advance, unlike the others encased lesser models. It is however the rarest of models, since it was a very resource-unfriendly model to craft back at the time of the Heresy. In the 41st Millenium, any remaining Tartaros-pattern suit is a hallowed relic for whoever is lucky to still have one in functioning order.

In 8E's crunch, Tartaros Terminators move at the same speed as regular infantry in Power Armor (Which is pretty dang important if you're set up like an Assault Terminator) and also get a couple alternate weapon options, such as a grenade launcher and a Volkite Charger.

[[Derp|9E rolled Tartaros and Caraphractii terminators into a single datasheet referred to as Relic Terminators]]. Functionally, they're identical to the standard Terminator Squad with a minor difference in loadout options, namely the ability to take Plasma Blasters on their sergeants. Kind of a shitty fate for a unique set of models when GW is more than willing to make separate datasheets for every conceivable Primaris Marine they crap out.

<gallery>
image:TartarosPict.jpg|<center>Pict Capture</center>
image:TartarosUltramarines.jpg|<center>Ultramarines</center>
image:TartarosThousandSons.jpg|<center>Thousand Sons</center>
</gallery>

===Indomitus Pattern Terminator Armour===

[[File:TerminatorArmorModel.png|200px|right|thumb|His head must be all mushed in there...]]

The '''Indomitus Pattern''' is the current pattern of Terminator armor (though the Forge World books make it clear that it was common at the time of the Heresy, perhaps more so than Tartaros and Cataphractii), sharing similarities with the Tartaros pattern in terms of functionality whilst being cheaper to manufacture.

As a later development that sacrificed a little protection for increased mobility and was (comparatively) easier to produce as previously mentioned, this was considered the Indomitus pattern go-to marketing ploy. This is the most commonly produced pattern, as Cataphractii armour was said to be in declining use due to its limitations and Tartaros armour was even more resource intensive to craft, placing Indomitus in a comfortable medium of "good enough". It has the familiar hunchbacked-bulldog/horse appearance, as seen in the majority of [[Games Workshop]] Terminator kits (although they now produce plastic kits for the other major patterns too).

Though inferior to the Cataphractii pattern in protection, and inferior to Tartaros pattern in mobility, the Indomitus pattern has quite advanced auto-sense systems that are unavailable in normal suits of power armour, and have not been entirely made evident from portrayals of the other types. These senses allow the user to track unseen targets and to know the precise location and condition of their squadmates at all times (while this is evident in the video games as a passive mechanic it can't really come up on the tabletop since the player sees everything anyway ''[except for "blips" in Space Hulk]''). But these systems are noted in the RPG and various novels such as ''Master of Sanctity'' where the new user has to get used to a whole new suite of tactical information on top of actually learning how just to walk in the armour itself ''(hint: it's difficult)''.

A more interesting note is that this pattern also gave rise to the experimental Gorgon pattern (More of which can be read below), a design that was being tested during the Heresy by the [[Iron Hands]] Legion. There are also human-sized suits of Terminator armor, but the tiny amount of them that still exist are used exclusively by the Inquisition; even then, they aren't quite as potent as the versions used by Space Marines, due to lacking a [[Gene-seed|Black Carapace]].

<gallery>
DeathwingTerminatorHammer.png|<center>The Deathwing is here. And it's very angry.</center>
image:TerminatorSquad.jpg|<center>Ultramarines</center>
image:TerminatorSquadCQC.jpg|<center>Close Combat</center>
image:BloodAngelsTerminators.jpg|<center>Blood Angels</center>
</gallery>

===Gorgon Pattern Terminator Armour===
[[File:Gorgon_Terminator.JPG|200px|right|thumb|Loyalist Fleshmetal Armour. Just don't mention this to a living Iron Hand, [[RIP AND TEAR|for obvious reasons.]]]]
The aforementioned armour set. The [[Iron Hands]] also developed their own variant on the Indomitus armour, called the '''Gorgon Pattern'''. This armour was bonded to its wearer in a painful cybernetic connection, so he could never remove it (Kind of like a loyalist Fleshmetal Armour), but also meant he was even more resistant to injury, and it had a unique field effect that caused blinding bright flashes whenever it was struck.

Part of the reason why this armour pattern is so cybernetically-intensive is the fact that (Other than stroking the Iron Hands' technophiliac tendencies) the heat and electrochemical toxins bleeding from the suit limited the armour's agility, and its effects required a high level of cybernetic modifications for its wearer to endure.

This pattern is nowhere to be found after the Heresy, likely because [[Ferrus Manus]] didn't live long enough to work out the kinks in the design. Although, considering how similar it looks compared to the present Indomitus, it is a possibility that the Iron Hands had a hand in the creation of that pattern, whether as the designers themselves, or some Tech-priests (or Techmarines) managed to acquire the design and tinkered with it to make cheap Terminator Armour that could actually be taken off if needed.

<gallery>
Image:GorgonTerminator.jpg|<center>Gorgon Pattern alternate view.</center>
</gallery>
===Saturnine Pattern Terminator Armour===
[[File:Saturnine_Armour.JPG|200px|right|thumb|Only the BIGGEST of [[Pauldron|PAULDRON]]S!]]
Ah...the much famous egg-shaped Terminator armour which seemed to have been [[Blood Ravens|'gifted']] from the [[Squat]]s Exo-Armour.

This was one of the most incredibly elusive pattern of Terminator armour, called '''Saturnine'''. It's got the biggest [[Pauldron|pauldrons]] one can get before moving into walkers category and was famous for it's extreme bulk, durability, cumbersomeness and difficulty of piloting - basically everything good and bad about Cataphractii turned to eleven. It never went out of field testing phase, since new smaller Castraferum Dreadnoughts could do everything Saturnine was designed for (boarding actions and indoor/tunnel fighting) better and without it's numerous drawbacks except for needing a half-dead Astartes. Some legions still had their batches of test suits when Horus Heresy hit and used them to gain whatever edge over their opponents they could, but they were never seen after the Heresy.

Nevertheless, the '''Saturnine''' pattern has occasionally been given a passing mention in Forge World's Horus Heresy rulebooks from time to time, where it was mentioned as being similar to the Indomitus and Tartaros patterns in function (if not design). However, some people have speculated that it is a revamp of an old Rogue Trader-era version of Terminator armor, as such a suit was recently shown in interior illustrations for the novella ''Meduson''. From the pictures, this pattern looks like it is intended as a heavy fire platform, like a less [[meme|Xzibit]]-friendly version of 40K-era [[Centurion Squad|Centurion Devastators]]. Which is awesome. However, this specialisation, and the fact that the armour was described as a custom job devised by [[Vulkan]] rather than a general-issue design, goes against it being the Saturnine pattern.

<gallery>
Image:Terminator_mini_MK1.jpg|<center>Truly old school.</center>
Image:OldTermies.jpg|<center>Note the unique back-mounted weapon attatchment.</center>
</gallery>

===Aegis Pattern Terminator Armour===
[[File:GKTermieArmour.JPG|200px|right|thumb|I HAVE THE POOOWEEEEEEERRRRRR!!!]]

Just as how the [[Grey Knights]] have access to the normal Aegis Power Armour, the Silver Sues also gain access to the '''Aegis Pattern''' of Terminator armours, where the ''Aegis'' part essentially means the armor has its own psychic shield (''inscriptions, holy water, all that blessing stuff'') to deflect whatever Daemons or Psykers throw at it. Who does it anyway? <s>Psyker Tech-priests?</s> Nah, probably just their Techmarines.

In a sense, the Aegis Terminator Armour functions like a combination of the normal Aegis Power Armour and the Terminator Armour, creating a formidable defensive set piece against the most powerful of Chaos Daemons. These chaps are used when fighting the most clusterfuckery of Chaos invasions up to and including, a [[Angron|certain Daemon Primarch going on his happy murder spree on]] [[Armageddon]].

They provide one of the best protection out of any armour piece save for the [[Adeptus Custodes|golden boys]] of course.

In 8th Edition, this pattern of Terminator Armour works like standard. However, with 2CP, you could use its Aegis abillity, which like in the [[Fluff]], can be used in the psychic phase before a friendly GREY KNIGHTS unit attempts to deny the witch. They could then roll 3d6, picking the two highest when attempting to deny. Some Grey Knight veterans are still rather sore this is no longer part of the Special Rules which made them overpowered in 5th Edition.

<gallery>
Image:GreyKnightTerminator.jpg|<center>Aegis Pattern alternate view.</center>
</gallery>

===Aquilon Pattern Terminator Armour===
[[File:AquilonTerminator.jpg|200px|right|thumb|The Aquilon Pattern. The first set of the [[Rape|golden rape train.]]]]
The [[Adeptus Custodes]] have [[Aquilon Terminator|Aquilon Terminators]] which is, no surprise, tied with the Allarus as one of the best armour sets in the Imperium. Period. The Custodes Terminators' armour was said to be Cataphractii pattern in the short story ''Hands of the Emperor'', years before they got actual tabletop rules; this is technically still true (at least for 30K), depending on how you look at it, as Forge World made a point of describing the Aquilon pattern as a spin-off of Cataphractii armour when it debuted in ''[[Horus Heresy#Inferno|Inferno]]'', but with far greater power capacity and customized neuro-fibre uplinks, it is said, redesigned by the mind of the Emperor himself.

Aquilon Pattern Terminator Armour was said to have adjusted for the enhanced physique of the Custodes, who were capable of bearing more weight and strain than even Space Marines. This allowed it to be fitted with additional power systems and capacitors, increasing its durability and manoeuvrability. Aquilon Pattern Terminators were given more advanced weaponry than their Astartes counterparts, wielding weapons such as [[Lastrum Storm Bolter]]s, [[Power weapon#Solerite Power Gauntlet|Solerite Power Gauntlets and Power Talons]], [[Infernus Firepike]]s, and twin-linked [[Adrathic Destructor]]. Like their lesser Auramite cousins, the Aquilon was clad in Auramite rather than Ceramite.

Within the ranks of the Custodes, Aquilon Pattern Terminator Armour was deployed by the Tharanatoi Caste.

As expected, it has rules different from (read: better than) the Space Marine version. Much like Tartaros it can fire Overwatch and make Sweeping Advances. Aquilons have better weapons and equipment than what Astartes of both flavours get.
{{Clear}}

===Allarus Pattern Terminator Armour===
[[Image:AllarusCustodian.png|200px|right|thumb|The second set of the [[Rape|golden rape train]] (Someone's looking faaaabulous!).]]
You think the Golden Custards just stopped at the Aquilon? Yeah no, they also have a second pattern called '''Allarus Terminator Armour''' for their 40K-era squads, which according to their community lore section on Terminator Armour was made the product of 10k years worth of research and development, and it shows. Lorewise Allarus Terminator Armour has greater durability than normal terminator armour, but none of the downsides, offering total freedom of movement.

Driven by magnatomic generator-shrines, articulated with leonus-class actuators, and fashioned from layered auramite and adamantium, Allarus armour is a marvel of craftsmanship. It provides its wearer with an exceptional range of movement and near-unencumbered speed, augmented strength and resilience. According to GW, it has the survivability to [[Wat|stride unharmed from the blast]] of a [[Macrocannon]] shell. Which we call [[Bullshit]] on that claim, since even the small ones from an [[Aquila Strongpoint]] is launching Schwerer Gustav-sized shells, no way in hell that the armour set, let alone the Custodes himself is capable of surviving a direct impact from ''that'', so we could put it as more of GW shitty flowery language and hyperbole.

Going back on topic, the armour is also coupled with the protective blessings of the Emperor, Allarus Terminator plate is arguably the most effective man-portable combat armour in the entire Imperium. These expertly crafted suits are each individually worth entire worlds.

Crunchwise, in 9th Edition, these armour sets gifts the Allarus Terminators with four wounds each and equipped with [[Balistus Grenade Launcher]]s in addition to their guardian spear/castellan axe...and can deep strike without needing the Stratagem to do so. [[Anal circumference|Ouch.]] [[Awesome|They're designated character killers,]] with Slayers of Tyrants allowing them to move up to 3" towards the nearest character when piling in and consolidating even if the character isn't the nearest enemy model. On the other hand, a [[Shield-Captain]] with the Allarus hass the same stat line but with an extra Wound, nevertheless, you also get the signature [[Balistus Grenade Launcher]] and From Golden Light special rule from the Allarus Terminators (for only 10 points more than the vanilla version at 109 points). You lose the Sentinel blade/Storm shield option, but the Eagle's Eye can fill in for it without making you give up any offensive capability. (Here's the humongous golden terminator daddy you've always wanted.)

{{clear}}

==Centurion Armour==
[[File:CenturionSuit.png|200px|right|thumb|HELP ME I'VE GOT A TINY MAN INSIDE ME]]

The (in)famous 'Power Armor inside of a Power Armor' set piece.

Since somebody at GW forgot that the [[meme|Xzibit meme]] wasn't funny anymore, Space Marines now have [[Centurion_Squad|centurion armour]] that they equip like a miniature walker vehicle, more like a mini-mech, a cute little dreadnought preparing space marines for their life after living. Centurion armour is "worn" over regular power armor, giving better protection (like terminator armor without the invul save but with an additional wound, along with +1 to both S and T) and comes in two flavors: assault and devastator. Assault centurions are heavy assault units equipped with drills and meltas or flamers, meant to get in close to enemy strongpoints and fortifications and wreck shit. Devastator units are heavy fire support units with hurricane bolters and twin-linked heavy weapons, which, in practice, provide less fire power than regular [[Devastator Squad]]s, but higher resilience and mobility, as the suits have Slow and Purposeful.

Fluffwise, the machine spirits on this thing is advanced, almost on par with the [[Land Raider]]'s. There has been once instance where a group of Salamander Centurions were deployed to clear out a Dark Eldar incursion. The Dark Eldar released a toxin that [[grimdark|liquefied people into soup]] and the marines wearing the armor eventually perished after their suits took damage and the toxin leaked through the cracks. [[Rage|A bit miffed after the loss of their pilots]], the Centurion suits' machine spirits continued to fight on, even after their pilots were just fleshy goop at this point. They were eventually disabled, but not after killing scores more Dark Eldar during their rampage.
{{clear}}
==Paragon Warsuit==
[[File:Paragon Warsuit.jpg|200px|right|thumb|Every anon's fever dream of the [[Dreadknight]] coming to life. ''Again''.]]
''For more information, see here: [[Paragon Warsuit]]''

This [[Derp|derpy]] piece of contraption is the [[Sisters of Battle]]'s new form of heavy armoured walking suit that straddles the line between power armour to a walker.

The Paragon Warsuit follows a similar mechanic as the Centurion Armour, which is essentially a [[Meme|power armour over power armour so you can shoot whilst you shoot.]] More seriously though, it is nothing more than a frame that allows the user to easily carry around heavy weapons with ease whilst also increasing its defensive capabilities.

It differs from the Centurion however, in that the Paragon Warsuit is more than just a mainframe overlay. It actually has working mechanical legs and limb joints and the user controls it in the same way as the [[Dreadknight]], just on a much smaller scale. So in a sense, it is basically the Sisters' equivelent of a [[Tau]] [[Battlesuit]] hilariously enough.

Unfortunately, some Sisters seem to suffer from 'open head syndrome' where they ditch their helmet to look cool, at the expanse on making the entire point of the Warsuit (Added protection) redundant.

==Chaos Power Armour==
[[File:ChaosAstartesArmor.png|200px|right|thumb|[[rape|I'm horny and you corpse-worshippers' got the butts I CRAAAAVE]]]]
While many Traitor Marines are equipped with Marks IV or earlier (at least in the lore; if you go buy the models, almost all of them seem to have Mark VII armour with Mark VI legs), Chaos power armor is often a mix-and-match setup. About the only unified feature of Chaos power armour is a distinct power pack with stabilizers on long curved fins, that still runs on solar converter core instead of fusion reactor of modern loyalist power packs. Because Chaos Marines often have to go long periods with no access to proper industrial facilities, proper maintenance and replacement parts became an issue. Because of that, many subsystems in each suit of armor don't work and replacement parts come in the form of whatever they can dig up from plunder and take off of corpses after [[Orks|raiding and looting]]. Furthermore, Chaos Marines like to customize their armor with devotional iconography and personal trophies, making sure that virtually every suit of armor is personalized and none are exactly alike. Where things get even weirder is when the armor gets too steeped in Chaos and begins to twist, mutate, and turn partially organic, or had a daemon replace its machine spirit. It's quite likely that the parts of armor that don't work get replaced with warp magic, daemonic influence, or Dark Mechanicus tech-heresy.

Recent editions and artwork show senior Chaos marines with a sinister and more organic-looking power armour of Mark III through V, a look they pick up after a while either deliberately or due to the Warp's influence changing their outside look to match their corrupted souls. In the Rogue Trader Era, Chaos Power armor ''was'' organic, so this is actually a pleasant return to the old days. The Chosen models from the Dark Vengeance box set are commonly referred to as the harbringers of this new style, while the new Raptors/Warp Talons set incorporate this design, alongside the regular Raptors, whose design seems like being "metal-guilded armour, that's begun to blend together and form spikes and weird shapes", hinting of what's to come for the aging Chaos Space Marine range.

As of 2016, the non-[[Terminator armour|Terminator-armoured]] [[Thousand Sons]] are now fully equipped with modified, ornate suits of Mark IV armour, in the style of the original [[Jes Goodwin]] Thousand Son model and concept art that established their aesthetic back in the [[Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader|old days]]. Since most of them [[Rubric Marines|aren't really capable]] of changing out of their armour anymore, this makes their current models their most lore-friendly--and least [[neckbeard]]-[[Rage|enraging]]--incarnation yet.

And then, in 2017, GW started releasing new Death Guard Space Marines. The ugly bastards pretty much relive the original style from the old Forge World Death Guard upgrade pack (itself a throwback to Jes Goodwin's [[Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader|Rogue Trader-era]] Death Guard concept), decked out in rotted, space-AIDS-riddled suits of Mark 3 armour, with most sporting the classic reinforced belly plate to hold in their bloated guts and intestines.

2019 finally saw a major update to the main Chaos Space Marine line, including two new kits for the basic Chaos Marine squad (a fully monopose, set-loadout one in the Shadowspear box, and a semi-monopose standalone version with more head and weapon options a few weeks after). The new sculpts are like a less ornate version of the Dark Vengeance Chosen, mixed with the old-Mark-heavy look of the 2nd edition CSM metals, and with better proportions than both. The new Chaos Havoc kit extends this style further by adding recoil-dampening talon mutations on the boots, as well as Mk III-inspired reinforced frontal plating (although the actual suits seem to be based on Mks V and later).
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===Warp-Forged Armour===
[[File:AspiringChampionFleshmetal.png|200px|right|thumb|Through the fires of Hell, my [[Pauldron|pauldrons]] have mouths!]]
Warp-Forged Armour is a type of armour worn by the warriors of Chaos. It is, as its name implies, forged from the Hell Forges of the Forces of [[Chaos]]. As such, these armour are partially daemonic and, given the lack of supplies from the Traitor side, it sort of [[Count as|counts as]] a form of homegrown power armour. Warp-Forged Armour is often made by either the [[Dark Mechanicus]] or the [[Iron Warriors]], as these chaps are the only ones with the know-how in how to create and maintain these things. These armour pieces are mutated and possessed by a Neverborn and often worked in-tandem with their wearer.

One major advantage of these armour pieces is the fact that being partially daemonic, Warp-Forged Armour could heal over time, which eases the maintenance cost by a whole lot, and given that CSMs are in constant need for a diaper change, this means A LOT.

This daemonic armour is laden with unholy runes, allowing Champions of Chaos or Daemons wearing it to be all but immune to the blows of enemy mortals. In part of its nature, Warp-Forged Armour can be considered as the Chaos equivalent of the [[Grey Knights]] Aegis Armour. Chaos Champions and Chaos Lords who adorn these armour pieces could gain the added benefit of their armour regenerating due to it being partially daemonic.

They offer the middle ground between normal Chaos Powered Armour and Fleshmetal Armour.

<gallery>
File:Chaos_Chosens_Armour.JPG|<center>Chaos Chosens in Warp-Forged Armour</center>
</gallery>
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==Chaos Terminator Armour==

Just like their loyalist counterparts, Chaos too has its own pattern of Terminator Armours. Most of which are of the older Cataphractii and Tartaros Patterns since Chaos aren't known for its high maintenance standards, so by the 41st Millennium, some factions have kitbashed entirely new patterns for their Terminators.

[[Chaos Terminators]] as such, come in a variety of colours and flavours just like their loyalist counterparts. This is seen in the following:

===Chaos Cataphractii Pattern Terminator Armour===

[[File:CSM_Cataphractii_Librarian.JPG|200px|right|thumb|What's scarier than a Chaos Sorceror? One in Cataphractii Armour.]]
During the Horus Heresy the Traitor Legions fielded units clad in Cataphractii armour just like their loyal brothers. They offer the most protection and are thus the toughest of the Terminator suits and are able to take immense punishment before suffering mass systems failure. They were armed with [[Combi-Bolter]]s, [[powerfist]]s and [[Grenade Harness|Grenade Harnesses,]] but also had access to [[Chain Weapon#Chainfist|Chainfists,]] [[Power weapon#Lightning Claw|Lightning Claws,]] [[heavy flamer]]s and [[power sword]]s.

Like their Tartaros cousins, they aren't as twisted as the Indomitus due to their rarity and lack of exposure from the Warp. Whatever is left of these tainted Cataphractii are now irreplaceable relics since Chaos can't maintain for shit. So they are usually of much inferior quality as a whole. On the bright side, Chaos Space Marines could be blessed with the Four Chaos Gods for additional quirks.

Crunchwise, they behave similarly to their loyalist counterparts, with the addition of having Chaos-aligned special rules and CP. In a nutshell, they are tanky, tough and has access to the favours of the Chaos Gods which makes them more individualised than their loyalist counterparts.

<gallery>
Traitor_Cataphractii_Terminators.jpg|<center>Chaos Cataphractii Terminators.</center>
</gallery>
===Chaos Tartaros Pattern Terminator Armour===

[[File:CSM_Tartaros.JPG|200px|right|thumb|Millennia of disrepair has made this armour seen better days.]]
During the Horus Heresy the Traitor Legions fielded units clad in Tartaros pattern Terminator Armour, just like their loyal brothers. The most advanced and most mobile of Terminator suits, the Tartaros are surprisingly fast and can initiate a brief but surprising burst of speed to catch their enemies off guard. They are armed with [[Combi-Bolter]]s and [[powerfist]]s, but have also access to [[Lightning claw]]s, [[Chainfist]]s, [[Reaper Autocannon]]s, [[Plasma Blaster]]s, [[Heavy Flamer]]s, [[Grenade Harness|Grenade Harnesses]] and [[Volkite Charger]]s. Like their Cataphractii cousins, they aren't as twisted as the Indomitus due to their rarity and lack of exposure from the Warp.

Like their Cataphractii cousins, they aren't as twisted as the Indomitus due to their rarity and lack of exposure from the Warp. Whatever is left of these tainted Tartaros are now irreplaceable relics since Chaos can't maintain for shit. So they are usually of much inferior quality as a whole. On the bright side, Chaos Space Marines could be blessed with the Four Chaos Gods for additional quirks.

Crunchwise, they behave similarly to their loyalist counterparts, with the addition of having Chaos-aligned special rules and CP. In a nutshell, they are nimble, tough and has access to the favours of the Chaos Gods which makes them more individualised than their loyalist counterparts.

<gallery>
Traitor_Tartaros_Terminators.jpg|<center>Chaos Tartaros Terminators.</center>
</gallery>

===Chaos Indomitus Pattern Terminator Armour===

[[File:CSM_Indomitus.JPG|200px|right|thumb|The famous elephant armour.]]
The most common and widespread Chaos Terminators and the most obvious. Similar to their loyalist counterparts, they are the most adaptable of the Terminators and are by far the most twisted looking due to the majority of Chaos Terminators wearing this particular piece of armor. Chaos Elephant Terminators are known for their notable tusks which has become an icon for Chaos Terminators. This is where the nicknames come from.

Now that the Horus Heresy fluff has been expanded, it is rather bizarre that these are the most common Chaos Terminators, as Indomitus Armor only became widespread '''after''' the Heresy, so most Chaos Legion Terminators should be wearing Cataphractii or Tartaros. Then again millennia of warfare and degradation has probably resulted in Cataphractii and Tartaros armour becoming quite rare due to the increasing difficulty in repairing it.

On the tabletop, these armour gives Chaos Terminators 2 wounds per model, making them as tanky as their loyalist counterparts with the addition on gaining access to the favours of the Chaos Gods which makes them more individualised.
<gallery>
99120102097 CSMTerminators01.jpg|<center>Chaos Indomitus Terminators.</center>
</gallery>

===Scarab Occult Pattern Terminator Armour===

''See Main Page: [[Rubric Terminators]]''
[[File:CSM_Scarab_Occult.JPG|200px|right|thumb|The Nerdinator Armour.]]
AKA Rubric Terminators or the Sekhmet. Scarab Occult Terminators were once the finest psykers in the [[Thousand Sons]], bodyguards to [[Magnus the Red]] himself. Like their brothers, they were affected by the Rubric of Ahriman spell and turned into dust. Now they stride into battle at side of their sorcerous masters. Clad in ornate armor, they are armed with Khopesh blades and Inferno Combi-Bolters. The unit has also access to [[Heavy Warpflamer]]s, [[Soulreaper Cannon]]s and [[Hellfyre Missile Rack]]s. The Sorcerer leading his unit also wields a Force staff.

Compared to most CSM Legions and Warbands, the Thousand Sons actually maintain their equipment quite well. While some may accuse them of excessive Nerdom, it may just be a manner of common sense which is a rare commodity in Chaos.

Strangely, the Sekhmet were the finest psykers of the Sons, so it is strange that they were rubric'd. However, the Sekhmet were rather emotionless and lacking in ambition, which doesn't fit well with Tzeentch's ideal sorcerers. Thus, rubric.

On the tabletop, due to being inanimate automatons, they get 2+/4++ saves as well as Fearless. What is surprising is that they lack the Slow and Purposeful rule, which actually makes them quite nimble for a bunch of walking trash bins. However, they still share in the Rubric Marines other traditional weaknesses. Such as general [[Derp|idiocy without a Sorceror]] and the lack of options to negate cover saves is a particular issue as the targets you'd want to use them against the most.

<gallery>
99120102066_ThousandSonsTerminators02.jpg|<center>Scarab Occult Terminators.</center>
Sekhmet.JPG|<center>The Sekhmet Scarab Occult, pre-Rubric'ed.</center>
</gallery>

===Blightlord Pattern Terminator Armour===

''See Main Page: [[Blightlord Terminator|Blightlord Terminators]]''
[[File:Blightlord_CSM.JPG|200px|right|thumb|Imagine the stench of this guy.]]
Blightlord Terminators serve as the disease-ridden elite of the [[Death Guard]]. They are bloated with disease and a myriad of parasitic organisms that spread a miasma of death and decay around them. They are so bloated with filth that their mobility has crawled to a snails pace; even regular [[Plague Marines]] can outwalk them. Despite this, they are orders of magnitude tougher then even regular Chaos Terminators and their status of being below a [[Deathshroud]] in rank is not to be underestimated.

Due to their level of mutation, they are forever fused with their mutated suits of Cataphractii Armour (A bit like Fleshmetal but more smelly), Blightlord Terminators combine diseased resilience with the protection and firepower of a standard Terminator. In battle, they serve as the elite shock troops of the Death Guard and are present in most warbands of the Legion and are essentially a neigh-unstoppable rape train.

Compared to the Thousand Sons' Scarab Occult Terminators, the Death Guard are the direct opposite when it comes to maintenance, [[Nurgle|for obvious reasons.]] Seriously, forget about even scavenging their equipment. Look at the damned thing.

Crunchwise, since they have Cataphractii armour, they are naturally a bit tougher than the standard Terminator. Since they are [[Nurgle]]'s boys, they also get the standard +1 toughness and 5+ Disgustingly Resilient that regular Plague Marines get. All in all, a tough bastard to crack

<gallery>
Blightlords_Terminators.jpg|<center>Blightlord Terminators.</center>
</gallery>

==Fleshmetal Armour==
[[File:Fleshmetal.JPG|300px|right|thumb|The one known exception to [[Iron Hands|"The Flesh is Weak"]].]]
Essentially the Chaos Marine's take on Artificer armor, given only to champions favored by the Chaos Gods, although it would be much more accurate to call it as a type of Terminator Armour.

A blast from the past editions, Fleshmetal Armour is how it sounds. After spending gods knows how long in the Warp and centuries of combat under chaos, it eventually caused a chaos marine's power armor to fuse with their own flesh, forming an incredibly hard, organic carapace, tempered by ceramite and reinforced with warpfuckery.

Once a marine receives this gift, they're now more literal weapons than ever, as the armor cannot be removed anymore (since its now their second skin), condemning them to an eternity of unending war. Of course, since Chaos Marines live for that kind of thing, its more of an encouragement than anything. The only exception to this are [[Helbrute|Helbrutes]], who are driven mad by the process.

Like Warp-Forged Armour, Fleshmetal Armour could heal over time due to being partially daemonic. This eases up on maintenance as wearers of this piece of equipment aren't desperate to scavenge for bits and pieces if one of their servo-motors stopped functioning. The one major downside is...well...you can't take it off now can ya?

Just about any Chaos special unit or veteran has fleshmetal armour, like [[Obliterator]]s and [[Chaos Chosen]].
<gallery>
File:Obliterators-2019.jpg|<center>Obliterators in Fleshmetal</center>
File:ChaosMutilatorsModels.jpg|<center>Mutilators in Fleshmetal</center>
</gallery>
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== Tau Battlesuits ==
''Main Article: [[Battlesuit]]

[[image:XV22 CommanderShadowSun.jpg|The blueberry's battlequeen with her XV22|200px|right|thumb]]

The Tau's take on "power armor" is a bit more diverse compared to the Imperium, that it encompasses both personal protection suits, like stealth suits, and giant weapons platforms, like Riptides. Essentially, the Tau put everything from a simple flight suit to Imperial Knight / Titan-Class mechs as "Battlesuits". In proportion to their size: Tau battlesuits generally have lower raw protective capabilities than their Imperial counterparts due to their emphasis on mobility, but makes up for it by having a slew of advanced tech to give them a leg-up on their foes.

The battlesuits that are more along with the other factions idea of personal "armour" instead of "combat walker"-type mechs or "a very fancy flight suit", are the: XV15 Stealthsuit, XV22 Command/StealthSuit, and XV25 Stealthsuit. The stealthsuits rely primarily on just not being seen (obviously), because you don't have to worry if your armour will stop a bolter round, if the enemy never knows you are there to be shot at.

<gallery>
XV15 black.jpg|XV15
XV22 Shadowsun.jpg|XV22
XV25 White.jpg|XV25
</gallery>
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== Eldar Armour ==
''Main Article: [[Mesh Armour]], [[Aspect Armour]], [[Aspect_Armour#Exarch_Armour|Exarch Armour]], [[Phoenix Armour]] and [[Rune Armour]]
[[image:GuardianMeshArmor.png|200px|right|thumb|A Guardian in Mesh Armour.]]
The Eldar use Mesh Armor technology to supplant their powered armor suits, said armor is made out of a combination of wraithbone and thermoplas, all woven together to make a futuristic mail armored suit. The suit is psychically attuned to the wearer's mind, so it is capable of tailoring its fit and use to the wearer's style.

There are currently a couple variants:
*Mesh Armor - Standard armor worn by guardian squads. Its also equipped with life-support functions and sensory equipment.
*Aspect Armor - Aspect armor are worn by [[Aspect Warrior]]s. Each aspect shrine has their own take on Aspect Armor depending on their role, so Swooping Hawks and Howling Banshees have lighter armor, while Dark Reapers and Fire Dragons have heavier armor (although "heavy" is subjective as it still allows the wearer to be nimble like every other Eldar warrior). The main thing in common they have though, is that they're much more durable and flashier than standard mesh armor.
**Exarch Armor - Aspect armor worn by Exarchs. Because of the Exarch's seniority and experience; the armor is typically much more blinged out than the standard variant, offering the wearer more protection and other equipment options. Exarch armor is also adorned with the spirit stones of deceased Exarchs, bestowing the wearer with literally millennia of combat experience from past heroes.
**Phoenix Armor - The armor worn by the Phoenix Lords. Is so expertly made that it can withstand all but the most powerful and/or luckiest of hits, even after thousands of years. Phoenix Armor also stores the consciousness and memories of the original wearer, so in the event a Phoenix Lord falls in battle, he will be instantly revived when another living Eldar dons the armor again (although it has the questionable effect of completely overriding the future wearer's mind, with the Lord effectively making the unfortunate recipient a flesh puppet.).
*Rune Armor - Mesh armor worn by warlocks and farseers. Along with standard mesh armor tech, the suit is also inscribed with several runes that afford the wearer a greater deal of protection from damage, and also to better attune them to psychic energy. It also comes with an extra layer of wraithbone for more protection.

==Dark Eldar Armour==
''Main Article: [[Kabalite Armour]], [[Wychsuit ]], [[Incubus Warsuit]] and [[Ghostplate Armour]]
[[image:Archon7th.jpg|200px|right|thumb|An Archon wearing Ghostplate armour]]
The Dark Eldar's armor is similar to their Craftworld cousins, although even lighter to accommodate the Dark Eldar's penchant for coke-fueled speed. Skimpier in the case of Wyches, who's career require them to show skin. They're also adorned with a plethora of spikes and blades, to the point that realistically: all those pointy sticks ''must'' affect unit cohesion and personal movement while in combat.

The few variants they have are:
*Kabalite Armour - The combat armor worn by just about every lowly kabalite that isn't going in naked. To further aid in movement: Kabalite armor is typically just a bodysuit, with armor plates attached where appropriate. They function similarly to mesh armor, in that the bodysuit hardens on neural impulse to deflect damage more effectively, and pressurized to allow the wearer to fight in hostile environments. Its also very, ''very'' spiky.
*Wychsuit - Not really "armor" per se, as a lack of one, but included for the sake of reference. Wych suits are flexible body gloves, cut away at certain places to show the Wych's good sides to the crowd while fighting in arenas or in the field. It offers very little protection due to the latter fact, as it's role is more for entertainment, than pure combat.
*Incubus Warsuit - The closest thing the Dark Eldar have to traditional power armor. It affords similar protection to that of Imperial power armor, whilst being so expertly manufactured that it doesn't inhibit the wearer's reflexes and agility in the slightest. The warsuit is completely exclusive to the Incubi, and not even Archons can pay/intimidate their way into getting a personal warsuit.
*Ghostplate Armour - Armor used by the poncier gits in Dark Eldar society, most notably Archons. The armor offers much better protection than bog-standard kabalite armor, whilst having a built-in forcefield generator. It also doesn't compromise on agility, as the resins used in it's construction are lighter and tougher.

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== Ork Armour ==
''Main Article: [[Mega Armour]]
[[File:MeganobZoomed.png|200px|right|thumb|I'S WEARIN A TANK YEH GITZ]]

The only known variety of Ork power armour is Ork mega-armour, a direct Orkoid equivalent to Astartes Tactical Dreadnought armor. It basically looks like a chunk of metal or vehicle parts strapped together and called 'armour'. Or a miniature power lifter, whatever fits your definition.

Its weight (a ton or more) and complexity make it difficult to move and slow down its user, but it can withstand insane amounts of punishment, almost as much as Imperial Terminator Armour. Piston-enchased metal limbs of mega armour give the wearer phenomenal strength, and it incorporates fearsome weapons: a Power Klaw and Kombi-Weapon or twin-linked Shootaz. It often involves the use of built-in bionics and is very complex, which makes it very hard to manufacture, so it is a rare sight in Ork armies. Usually only Nobs (who like to call themselves "Meganobs" after acquiring Mega Armour) and Warbosses can afford such armour.

<gallery>
7e-bigmek-tellyportblasta.jpg|Big Mek
7e-bigmek-kff.jpg|Ditto
Ocg5-es.jpg|Warboss
</gallery>
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{{40k-Armor}}

=Fallout Power Armor=
[[File:T-60.png|thumb|right|300px|The newest iteration of atom-powered tin-can, the T-60 Power Armor.]]

Unlike Warhammer 40,000, [[Fallout]] powered armor is Fluff-wise more "power" than "armor". It was originally made to allow troops to use heavy weapons on the move and with increased weight limit it was obvious to put some extra armor on the exo-suit. Even while it turns you into a nearly-indestructible walking tank, there is no shortage of stupidly powerful and/or armour-piercing weapons in Fallout, so sneaking and camouflage are always considered better protection than armor, so the main reason people use it is strength and radiation resistance bonuses. It is also possibly the most realistic armor here, strangely. Around Fallout 1 and 2, power armor was an almost cheat button up to the endgame, with an obscene bonus of +3 STR and near immunity to all small arms fire up to energy and heavy weapons(and Gauss in Fallout 2)

Afterwards came Fallout 3, where a leather jacketed character high on morphine could soak more damage than a sober power armored dude and mow him down with a cheap Chinese assault rifle. It had become a glorified metal full plate, met with [[RAGE]] until New Vegas came with some decent power armor, though it still got overshadowed by a badass riot armor that didn't need training(Lonesome Road DLC) or a clingy female AI driven stealth suit(Old World Blues DLC).

Power armor got a massive overhaul in ''Fallout 4'', turning them into basically an infantry fighting vehicle rather than just better armor. The crafting system extends to upgrades and new systems for the armor, including neat stuff like a stealth field and a jet pack. On one hand Fallout 4 is one of the few games where power armour feels like actual power armour and not just the best armour you can get, but on the other, it was so strong they couldn't help but give it to you right at the start of the game (because working towards rewards requires an attention span they don't think we have, apparently) and had to [[Retcon|change the fact power armour comes with an internal battery so you could only use it until you ran out of fusion cores. Which you never did as they were cheap to buy.]]

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==Power Armor Frame==
[[File:Power Armor Frame.png|thumb|right|200px|The power part of power armor.]]
Developed sometime after Alaska, the Army showed worry in maintaining the suits of armor they already had during a possible Chinese invasion. With multiple varieties currently in use, and more being developed, a version designed for ease of maintenance was going to be required. Instead, this was developed. Basically all the wires and joints of the armor without the actual armor, one can easily slap individual power armor sections onto the frame allowing for bits of damaged armor to be used to form up a singular complete suit. Think the Heresy armor from 40k above. With the internal workings bare it also made modifying and maintaining the armor a total breeze, though did come at a cost. All American armor post T-45 used a internal reactor allowing for centuries of use before requiring a recharge. Since every armor variety used a different level of power, putting in a reactor would have resulted in a situation of either too much or too little power being produced, resulting at best a sluggish barely working suit and at worst a nuclear explosion. Instead commonly used fusion core batteries were used as the power source. While these cores did hold much more power then the Microfusion packs of the T-45, they still didn't last long when used.

Fluffwise, a fusion core battery lasted around 10 hours on full charge, and that's just moving on a brisk pace, no sprinting or doing fast combat maneuvers, which would drain the battery even faster. While realistically this seems horrible to have to deal with during extended operations beyond friendly lines and a logistical and engineering nightmare to deal with in the middle of a conflict, there are ways to greatly extend the battery's lifespan (and/or optimize the armor's power consumption) through character skills and perks, so we'd assume that pre-armageddon, there were already ways to make the armor last much longer in the field, but these improvements weren't standardized for all suits yet by the time the bombs fell (since power armored troops stateside wouldn't have to worry about running out of fusion cores on their home turf, compared to the soldiers stationed overseas). That or Bethesda didn't think this concept all the way through and really shouldn't have overcomplicated the armor's power source in FO4, whichever makes more sense to you.

The frame was used extensively in the eastern region of America, but none were deployed to the West by the time the bombs dropped. For the record:
*T-45, T-49, T-51, X-01, X-02, X-03, and Horned Power Armor all have interal reactor versions (or Microfusion in the T-45 case).
*T-60, T-65 and EX-17 were built exclusively with the frame in mind.
*The original C-00 model no longer exists, so it's frame only for that guy.
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==T-45 Powered Armor==
[[File:t-45.png|thumb|right|200px|More of a 'proof of concept' than an effective piece of military hardware.]]
The first generation of power armor to go into the field, the T-45 series was rushed into service to hold back the invading Chinese from taking over Alaska. It worked and contained the invasion, but had a lot of problems. Later used on the homefront. The T-45d is most commonly seen in the Capital Wasteland.
[[File:big_willie.jpg|thumb|left|200px|The T-45 prototype.]]
After Bethesda got the rights to make ''Fallout 3'', they were like "Guys, guys, let's make a SHITTY POWER ARMOR!" and they went through with it. The result was <s>far from shitty</s> a [[skub|mixed bag]]. Sure, it has -2 AGL, less radiation resistance, and makes you move around like the [[/co/|Comic Book Guy]] from ''The Simpsons'', but it looks '''''BAD-ASS!!!''''' Noted for using Microfusion packs and batteries to power the suit like a RC car, which made recharging quick but ran out of power often. As of Fallout 76, we have what could be considered a more canon representation than Fallout 4's. T-45 has the most common spawns of all the military armors and the lowest base spawn level. When compared to an at level suit the it has worse protection than any military suit, but is much cheaper to build and repair and is lighter.

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===NCR Salvaged Powered Armour===
[[File:scrap-armor.png|thumb|right|200px|The BOS equivalent of killing Jesus and wearing his skin.]]
This is the 'zombie' version of the T-45d. After the Battle of HELIOS One, the NCR recovered many suits of T-45d from fallen Brotherhood Paladins. However, either because the NCR do not have the capability to manufacture spare parts, lack the actual knowledge to use and maintain power armor, or a bit of both, the "power" part of the armor was stripped, so its just...armor.

The servomotors that augments the wearers' strength have been removed along with a good chunk of the extra plating, and the back-mounted rad scrubbers were replaced with a cheap air conditioner so the wearer doesn't die from heat stroke while using it (and lords help you if you're patrolling in the middle of the desert with heavy metal plates all over your body). As its not "true" power armor, it does not require special training, or vulnerable to electric-based attacks, so just about any mook with some measure of brawn can be fitted into it and send him off. The result is, for a lack of a better term, plate armor with an AC strapped to the back. It has less protective qualities than the armor it's based on, has no built-in rad protection, and has no mechanical assistance to carry all this weight since it was ripped out, so its cumbersome as all hell.

Its use is less for practicality and more as a moral and political tool, basically letting the NCR brag "See? We got power armored troops too!" without actually having the knowledge and technology to build and maintain said troops, which goes with the central theme of Fallout: people of the future attempting to recreate the past, without having a firm grip on what it actually is.

Crunch-wise....what you see is what you get. It has a -2 AGI penalty with no +2 STR bonus to offset the 40kg weight of the armor, or rad protection to help you wade through heavily irradiated areas, with some pretty alright DT if you have the full set. Due to the infinitely better late-game options for personal protection (either just as good with less penalties or full-on upgrades), the salvaged armor only becomes useful if: A. you want to cosplay in power armor, without wanting to bother getting the perk to actually use it (as there are only two ways to get them, both of which are difficult and late in the game). B. scrap material to repair actual suits of power armor with. C. You're ''really'' desperate for high-DT armor.

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==T-49 Powered Armor==
[[File:t-49.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Let me tell you a tale...]]

Best well known for being worn by the titular Storyteller (a fan-made lore project that became so big Bethesda actors were appearing on its show and is practically just short of canon now) the T-49 was a prototype originally expected to succeed the T-45d by improving a number of engineering shortcomings while lowering the power cost to keep the suit running. It even came with an optional modification to make the suit solar-powered, only draining its fusion core when not in direct sunlight. Probably the most notable thing about the suit was exchanging the short lived microfusion cells for industrial grade fusion batteries inspiring the same feature in the future power armor frame. Only a small number were produced however since the inbuilt fusion reactor of the T51b armor made most of its power-based features obsolete. Only a couple of suits have survived to the modern-day and are more considered collector items then military equipment.

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==T-51 Powered Armor==
[[File:FNV T51b Armour.png|thumb|right|200px|The T-51b Power Armor. By far the most popular variant, though it's certainly not because if the doughboy look of NPCs in New Vegas...]]

The second generation of power armor, the T-51 series managed to get all the kinks ironed out. Used to kick the Chinese out of Alaska and invade China. The quintessential Fallout power armor suit. The T-51b variant is common among the West Coast Brotherhood of Steel. Two suits are known to be in the Capital Wasteland.

This armor only has +1 STR for some reason. What's even stranger is that the hunk of metal that you put on your head (AKA the helmet, but who calls it that?) gives you a +1 CHR bonus (probably because it's heavily featured in old world propaganda, but yet again, so was the T-45d variant). We really should be wearing around hunks of metal on our heads these days. After all, this armor be pullin' all dem bitches...

T-51b is the most advanced power armor that existed in the world before the Great War. Some confusion came with the introduction of the T-60 by Bethesda, who never bothered to tell anyone that this new armor was for the rank and file soldier while the T-51b was used by veteran squads. For record, yes it is still the best and no the T-60 did not replace it.

Used as the standard armor for Paladins, the suit has become an icon (both in universe and real life) for the Brotherhood of Steel.

Due to a developer error that Bethesda never bothered patching, the Winterized variant that you receive as a reward for completing Fallout 3's ''Operation: Anchorage'' DLC is actually the version meant to be worn by NPCs in the Anchorage simulation, so it's [[Awesome|functionally indestructible, with a whopping 999,100 HP]] (the version you were meant to get has only 100). However, the vanilla game's suit was involved in a rather difficult fetch quest (where you were hired to retrieve it for a ghoul called Crowley), and the NPC version of the winterized armour still has that version's quest script assigned to it, so taking it will [[Fail|prematurely mark that quest as completed by making the game think you stole the vanilla suit for yourself]], locking you out forever. However, anyone in their right mind would have stolen the suit instead of giving it to Crowley anyway, it's not all bad.

==X-01 Power Armor==
[[File:x-01.png|thumb|right|200px|The original, the best.]]

Developed as a prototype before the war, the X-01 was later improved drastically by the Enclave into the technologically sophisticated Advanced Power Armor. Crunch wise both versions are the same though fluff wise the later is MUCH better then the former, even if they both look identical. Standard issue for the Enclave pre-Enclave War (IE at the peak of their power) the Advanced varity of the X-01 to this day still outclasses all other power armor by a wide margin, utilizing secret underground engineering centres and factories to use the most advanced materials for construction. These things were BAD ASS, with the Enclave eventually losing the war thanks to A: the player blowing up all that shit used to make them and B: NCR using zerg tactics. Sadly (for the Enclave) these arn't produced anymore thanks to the losses in manpower and resources during the Enclave War, forcing the Enclave to develope and produce shittier armors instead. A neet little trick these armor had was a optional addition of tesla coils. In game this is just better armor, in universe it uses small zaps of electrictiy to hit incoming projectiles melting bullets and detonating explosives before they can deliver their payload directly into the target.

Just remember the difference between the Prototype and Advanced versions, the former tends to have more balanced stats (4, 76) while the later tends to be OP (Fallout 2, New Vegas).

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==X-02 Power Armor==
[[File:x-02.png|thumb|left|200px|The shitty 'urban' version]]

Developed by the Enclave Department of the Army after the Enclave's loss of the Oil Rig back in FO2. Produced in their base in Raven Rock, the X-02 was suppose to be a step-up from the previous X-01 series, utilizing lighter-weight ceramic plates that granted better mobility without compromising defense, a segmented armor pattern to better absorb damage, removal of the hump and replacing it with more traditional armored pauldrons, and redesigned helmet that provides a more menacing but reduced head profile. They were apparently produced in enough numbers that the Enclave managed to phase out the older X-01 suits for these. Along with the black coloration and sinister helmet design, Brotherhood soldiers dubbed it the "Black Devil" power armor.

Crunchwise....well it sucks. Atleast in FO3. Its barely an upgrade over the T-45 armor (you know, the first armor the US ever fielded back in the Great War) and is completely inferior to the Brotherhood's T-51b armors, ''despite it being hundreds of years old''.

It returns in FO4 as creation club content, where it now gets better representation as having the same stats as the X-01 suit (which is already a clear-cut upgrade over the more common T-51 and T-60 suits), but better energy weapon resistance.
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==X-03 Power Armor==
[[File:hellfire.png|thumb|right|200px|Hellfire armor, the compromise between X-01 and X-02]]
Also known as Hellfire, the armor was produced near the end of the Enclave-Brotherhood war on the East coast. Basically an attempt to use more recent discoveries in robotics of all things, the armor is remarkably tough for something that costs only slightly more resources then the X-02 along with a huge increase in heat resistance, hence the name. Originally used by flame troopers, it has since become standard issue for the Enclave. As far as power armor goes it's above average, certainly the Enclave troops appreciate the upgrade! It's only issue is the heat resistance seems to mess around with the tesla coil systems no longer giving it the option without extensive modifications.

The armor becomes usable in FO4, and much like all Enclave-issue armors, is one of the best armors in the game in terms of pure protection stats.
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==T-60 Power Armor==
[[File:t-602.png|thumb|right|200px|"Can never have enough pauldrons." - Bethesda]]

A new addition to the series in Fallout 4, introduced as the another-best Power Armor. The T-60c was designed to supplement the T-51. With a more cannon stat base in Fallout 76 it has inferior protection levels than the T-51b. But it is much cheaper to build and repair, making it better suited to mass production and deployment. This frees up the superior T-51 for deployment in elite units, which also explains the T-51's prominence among the Brotherhood of Steel until they set up for mass deployment in Fallout 4. It draws many of its design elements from the T-45 as that allows it to use many of the same internal components as the earlier models. The double pauldrons look is still silly.

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==T-65 Power Armor==
[[File:T-65.png|thumb|right|200px|Rarest of the rare.]]

While this is yet another prototype armor, this variety wasn't even past the late concept phase, with only blueprints remaining. Developed by the Secret Service of all people, it was an attempt to fix one of the biggest weaknesses power armor had. Like old school armor the power variety had a number of 'weak points' mostly joints and the neck area allowing high powered snipers to disable the user (a common chinese tactic in Alaska was hit the knee with a Guass Rifle, then finish with a neck shot). Their answer was segmented armor, allowing for substantially better coverage at the cost of increased cost. Like, HUGELY increased costs. This shit was made for exclusive use by the President's bodyguards for crying out loud. More solid gold Nintendo cartriages would have been built then this thing, and thats BEFORE the war. Even the Enclave at the height of their power looked at this thing and said "Fuck that". Still, a couple were eventually constructed post war, but only in extreme small numbers and for a extremely short period of time.

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==EX-17 Excavator suit==
[[File:Excavator.png|thumb|right|200px|The most power loader of the power loaders.]]

Developed by Garrahan Mining Co., the basic idea was pretty obvious. If it gives the user strength and protection, why not use power armor for mining? Not many models were produced outside the company since by the time it was fully developed, manufactured and deployed, Robots had already taken over for the human workers. [[Fail|Woops.]]

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==C-00==
[[File:C-00.png|thumb|right|200px|Perfectly represents chinese engineering.]]

China had shown no interest in the concept of power armor originally, instead focusing heavily on the use of long term stealth fields (at the time stealth fields struggled to last more then a few minutes). While they succeeded with their stealth suits, the introduction of power armor by the American's really showed the biggest flaw in the chinese technological focus. Sure being invisable helps in a straight up firefight, but when trying to hold a location against artillery, tanks and aircraft, more durability tends to have the advantage. Plus the fact the fields weren't perfect also didn't help. By the time China got around to doing their own research they were years behind at LEAST, plus with the invasion of China the product was rushed to the front. If you read the t-45 section above you know where this is going.

It sucks. Badly. At this time America had been using internal reactors in all their models for awhile, yet the chinese version was still using the old microfusion cell method seen in the T-45 (read the frame section if this sounds confusing to a 4/76 fan) resulting in a very short combat period, especially bad considering they were first mass deployed in a AIRBORNE operation! Most of their veterans were also accustomed in using the stealth suit which could not be more different, resulting in China lacking any experienced users. Despite how bad it ultimately was, it should be noted that it didn't matter much as by the time it saw serious combat, the bombs had dropped. The only major thing of note was the idea alone of chinese power armor made American Intelligence sit right the fuck up, resulting in the research and eventual productions of a number of electromagnetic and pulse weapons which can be found in the wasteland to this day.

Voice lines are kinda cool though.

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==Horned Power Armor==
[[File:horned_armor.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Don't piss off Rudolph.]]

Used in the semi-canonical (due to New Vegas, Fallout 4) Fallout Tactics (Bethesda's offical stance is that the major events are canon, but many fans choose to believe that either the whole thing is canon or isn't canon) the Horned Power Armor is used by the Midwestern Brotherhood of Steel with it's defining feature being, you guessed it, horns. The Midwestern Brotherhood stands out as fully incorporating itself into wasteland life, offering protection to tribes and towns in return for resources, recruits and information. This in turn is shown in the design of the armor, being the only suit designed from scratch by a Brotherhood faction since the war. Designed for mass production over protection (similar to the more recent Enclave designs) the armor still incorporates many mechanical elements from the T-51b such as a internal reactor. It's also slimmer and less bulky than other armor designs (though not on the same level of the newer Enclave designs).

Overall the armor is a compromise between mass production and protection, with heavy modification possible due to the more scrappy way it is produced unlike the more industrial Enclave. While it is numerous enough to equip all of their Paladins (keeping in mind their numbers are MUCH larger then other chapters) it still leaves more of the lower ranking infantry to use more traditional protection.

The armour's horned helmet, greaves, and slimmer design are reminiscent of the Enclave's Mk. II advanced power armour (or X-02), which may imply that they're connected. One of the complaints about the original Tactics armour design was that it didn't look retro enough for Fallout, so it's possible that it's actually scavenged or stolen Enclave armour (which wouldn't be a stretch, since the Enclave are also known to have been active in Chicago), and the design was just "retrofied" for its reappearance in Fallout 3. Alternatively, it's possible that the X-02 was made by hybridising elements of this armour with the earlier Enclave X-01. Bethesda haven't said anything about the similarity though, possibly due to Tactics' weird place in Fallout canon.

==Raider Power Armor==
[[File:raider_armor.png|thumb|right|100px|If the T-51b was a Tiger tank, this is an armored car.]]

Raiders in the Commonwealth and beyond have managed to refurbish power armor frames, and by cobbling together scraps of T-45 and T-51 armored suits and scrap parts, this.....thing, was made. Raider power armor is the least versatile & weakest of all the armor types. It's complete shit against anything that has a caliber above 38. and laser pistols can kill the user within 4-5 shots. Turns out a bunch of drugged-out vindictive assholes who shun society are not the best engineers. [[Orks|Still looks metal as hell though.]]

Despite how it looks however, it ''is'' functioning power armor. Its not very good power armor, but its power armor. Its fully sealed so it has some measure of environmental protection, the servos work to an extent, and meshes in standard power armor frames. Yes, this means that a couple of crack-addled junkies are capable of making and maintaining functioning suits of power armor, but an large nation state with an established technology-base can't. This either highlights the incompetence of the NCR's military minds (who's only solution to this was to strip all the good stuff and slap an AC in the back), or Bethesda's "abilities" as storytellers.

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==Vault Tech Power Armor==
[[File:Vault Tech Power Armor.png|thumb|right|100px|The only good thing in it's own game.]]
Power armor seen in the totally not canon universally viled Fallout: Brotherhood of Steel (not to be confused with Tactics which uses a similar name on the title). So why the fuck is this thing here? It's actually pretty well liked by the Fallout community. So much so it's popped up in all sorts of fan works and mods. The armor was developed by Vault Tech using the T-51b as a base (which was probably done behind West Tech's back) for security stationed at Vault monitoring outposts and other installations with a actual purpose rather then to see what happens if you lock 30 people in a bunker with a panther. Similar to the original design complete with internal reactor, a lot of the frame seems to use types of hardened plastic and silicone to cover more vunerable areas. This would have made the armor much lighter and flexable, but offering below average protection.

=Rifts Power Armor=
The RPG [[Rifts]] has sooo much power armor, there's entire books devoted to listing different models of the things. Perhaps the most notable and iconic is the Glitterboy, named for it's shiny reflective armor, but most famous for the Boom Gun, a huge railgun so powerful it has to anchor itself to the ground with extendable pylons to keep from being knocked on it's ass every time it's fire, and which produces a sonic boom loud enough to deafen even superhuman foes wearing enclosed armor.

The main armor of the Coalition States is the flying SAMAS armor, which is cool and all and has mini plasma missiles but lacks a gigantic boom gun. Even though the CS views the design as their sole property, since it's based on a pre-cataclysm design a couple groups have their own.

Less common power armors include Centaur armor in case you want some extra horse legs, dinosaur power armor, the [[Angron|Angrar]] armor which is actually a pissed off demon who tries to corrupt you, and Chipwell armor, which cuts out all the super advanced alloys everything else uses and replaces them with something approximating tinfoil, for your bargain-basement power armor needs.

=StarCraft Power Armor=
[[File:Terran marine.jpg|200px|thumb|right|Incredibly unoriginal, rip off of space marine armor. But still fucking cool looking.]]
In [[StarCraft]], the Confederate Marine Corps Power Armor, more simply called the CMC power armor, is the standard powered armor suit used by all military factions within the Koprulu sector. Despite the fact that each armored suit comprises a complex array of sensors and other advanced combat technologies, life-support systems, and its own independent power supply that appears to be a portable fusion reactor, it seems to be dirt-cheap as hell to manufacture, given that every armed force within the Koprulu sector can give one of these suits to every Terran marine worth a damn. Unfortunately, that technology doesn't seem to grant much actual protection; the marines are usually unceremoniously wiped out by the <s>dozens</s> hundreds during an engagement.

The main purpose of Armor for the Terran Confederacy and likely the Dominion is the armor protects the user from the vacuum of space first, seal the wearer inside it like a mobile prison and finally serve as combat armor. Umoja, on the other hand, values their all-volunteer forces but hasn't made many in-game appearances. The CMC armor is incapable of reliably protecting the wearer from projectiles, ruptures, or chemical attacks (apart from the passive hazards found in NBC environments), in both fluff and crunch, considering that it cannot hope hold out against: zergling claws, roach acid, the Marines' own gauss guns (hell, it can't even deflect the pistol rounds from their sidearms), fire and/or plasma, hydralisk spines, Mutalisk wurms, Psi attacks, Protoss photon guns, and really just about anything. Then again even tanks, huge giant robots and battlecruisers could not hold against said attacks en masse - this might say more about how nasty are weapons in StarCraft universe rather than how shitty is armor there, or more likely it's how real-world armor works. In fact, some of the fluff describes it as existing more to protect the wearer from the recoil of the [[Gauss]] than anything else. In addition, Starcraft armor is primarily ablative - no armor in the game renders anything in the game immune to damage. However, it should be noted: Fluff stated at certain points people got blunt force trauma'ed to death by the gauss fire, even inside the suits. Besides that, acid, if applied to joins in the suit, burns through those and not the armor. Since mind attacks are, well, mind-based, armor ain't gonna do shit. It's really just Spess Suit first, prison second, and body armor third.

Other variants exist, based on specialized functions. Medics wear a light armor that isn't designed for combat, but which carries advanced field surgical equipment and even some minor cybernetic construction equipment, allowing them to patch up wounded troopers and fix their busted armor. More visually distinctive is a model of power armor worn by Firebats. The armor is much bulkier than the standard armor, which, keep in mind, was already similar in size to terminator armor, especially in Starcraft II, where the thing's arms and pauldrons are bigger than its legs. Since the armor's bulk makes it thicker, it can take far more abuse than the regular armor. As the name of the unit might indicate, the armor uses a pair of built-in flamethrowers. The armor worn by Marauders in Starcraft II looks almost identical apart from a change in color, and has the same durability, but in place of flamethrowers uses grenade launchers that are best used against armor. The visual similarity between the two is neatly explained by the fact Marauder armor is rebuilt and re-purposed Firebat armor. Despite the armors' size (and concomitantly longer legs), the guys using them are just as slow as regular marines (oh come off it, the legs aren't much longer. they're lucky to not be slower). A third type of armor is made for Reapers, which looks similar to [[Assault Marines]] except their jetpacks are bigger.

Less well known, but still present, is the armor worn by the Protoss. This advanced alien armor, although considerably more "ceremonial-looking" than Terran armors, is actually significantly more durable. Not only is it comprised of more resilient materials, but it contains built-in devices that convert the bearer's psionic energy into a forcefield; though this is depleted by absorbing damage, it will eventually regenerate, if the user survives. Presumably, it also provides environmental protection, though that may have something to do with the fact that the Protoss' alien biology makes them hardier than humans, even without armor they can take more abuse than any Terran CMC armor variant. The common "Zealot" armor also has wrist-mounted devices that can focus psionic energy into energy-blades, which they use to rip 'n' tear shit. Dark Templars use similar devices to create "void blades", whose alien energies are one of the few things that can permanently kill "ruler" type Zerg such as Cerebrates.

Starcraft armor is often mocked for looking fat and bulbous, something which grew more pronounced in Starcraft 2. This is also worsened by Starcraft suffering from "elephant seal-itis" much like Warcraft, where the men tend to be so big in comparison to female models that you wonder how anyone has heterosexual sex without breaking female half of the equation. The pre-rendered CGI models aren't too bad about this although they certainly are on the fat side of armor design when the general trend in sci-fi aesthetics has been to make things sleeker and slimmer, but the in-game models are pretty awful about this. The Starcraft 2 Firebat and Marauder look tubbier than the god damn Centurion. The very fact that Starcraft's power armor manages to make Space Marine armor look slim and sexy is the source of a tremendous deal of derision from Warhammer fans.

=Metroid Power Armor=
AKA the "Power Suit" or "Chozo Power Suit", and one of the most powerful armors on this list. Like Starcraft, pretty much every scrub gets a power suit in Metroid (especially if you're with the Galactic Federation), but the main character's suit is the one you probably want to know about. [[Samus Aran]]'s armor is like a wearable, form fitting [[Titan (Warhammer 40,000)|Titan]], designed by [[Lord of Change|magic bird people]] who took Samus in after her parents were killed. It completely kicks the shit out of basically ''all'' other technology in the Metroid universe; while a Federation plasma cannon is as powerful as a charged shot of Samus's Plasma Beam (which slices through aliens like a knife through warm butter), it's also nearly as big as a person, takes several minutes to charge, and requires a heavy power pack, while the proper Plasma Beam is integrated with all of Samus's other weaponry into her forearm-sized cannon, takes ''seconds'' to charge, absorbs ambient atmospheric energy to function, and is so energy-efficient it doesn't dip into her suit's resources whatsoever.

But that's not all, it's ridiculously modular and can accept pretty much any piece of technology ever and turn it into an upgrade, even if the Chozo had never once encountered the technology in question! Samus doesn't have any idea of how this works either [[Derp|but more or less all she knows about the suit and its functions is that it works.]]

When fully upgraded to end-game status, the Chozo suit is an unstoppable engine of destruction that's not only ludicrously durable but also incredibly fast and amazingly well armed. The only real flaw in its design is that it is stupid easy to knock all of its power ups and reset to default -- Samus never manages to hold onto her upgrades between games, though it could be because as we know that power ups can be destroyed (from metroid prime), she decides to just store them somewhere safe when she doesn't need them since most of her power ups are relics made by a species no one has seen a living example of in years. Like all Power Armours worth their name it also has [[pauldrons]]; the default pauldrons are actually pretty small, but add a Varia upgrade (where some materials have listed the pauldrons as a cooling system associated with the upgrade) and she can shame even the most ridiculous Space Marine. However as Metroid has grown older, Samus' suit has become sleeker and more form fitting. In the transition from Prime 1 to Prime 2, her varia suit became considerably sleeker, with the most notable changes being that her visor went from a T to a Y and that her pauldrons went from going to a bit above her brows to being low enough to offer her full peripheral vision. This suit design was kept as the official one (super smash brothers brawl's preference of the 2-D style "straight visor" suit notwithstanding) until Other M.

Until other M, the sleekest and slimmest power suit was the light suit, where the pauldrons were downright tiny and looked like something that would allow a full range of motion, meant to emphasize just how advanced and glorious the fusion of chozo and luminoth technology was. Then Other M came and essentially made the Light Suit's proportions the standard, with the pauldrons now being at most going up to her chin if not shorter. Whereas her older suits were bulky and androgynous, right now her default armor is pretty obviously worn by a woman even if it lacks anything egregious like boobplate or high heeled boots thanks to its pronounced hour glass figure. While not subject to as much criticism as the Zero Suit this redesign certainly has a lot of people who aren't really much of a fan of it. Whether it's out of simply disliking the aesthetics or that Nintendo's preference for it seems to be them showing favoritism for the extremely contentious Other M game over the almost universally beloved Prime trilogy is dependent on who you ask. To be fair, there's as much criticism of the Zero suit for looking like impractical fetish gear as there is criticism for it overshadowing what should be Samus' default appearance in marketing in an attempt to appeal to waifu seeking weebs.

In Metroid, Power Armor seems to be a ubiquitous and easy to manufacture technology. Basically the entirety of the Federation military, both Marines and Army are equipped with it. All of the hunters in prime hunters could outfit themselves with shields comparable to Samus' own suit, and one of the hunters; Sylux (Metroid's resident ensemble dark horse and probable pretty boy given Nintendo's recent male character design) has a suit of power armor that's basically equally matched to Samus' when both have a similar level of upgrades in every way. Notably Sylux's armor is said to most likely be a stolen federation prototype from a black ops research base that was destroyed some time ago, as is his ship. So clearly the Federation was aware of the massive gap in capability between their troops and Samus Aran and was trying to rectify it until whomever Sylux is stole it and totaled all of their research on the project. However by Metroid Fusion it seems the Federation at least has the ability to replicate the software portions of Samus' technology, which has some disturbing implications given that Fusion exposed the rot at the Federation's core.

As for how Federation grunt power armor performs. Federation Marines seem to be generally evenly matched with Space Pirates who seem to be greatly physically superior to the average human based on the athletics they constantly do. Whether or not it's shielded is unknown, but twenty or so marines made a pretty decent last stand against a hugely numerically superior force of Ing possessed Splinters (dog sized predators who seem to be aether's equivalent of wolves and who become much more durable when possessed by the Ing) before being inevitably overwhelmed by their enemy's sheer numbers. The Demolition troopers whom you have to escort in the last leg of the pirate homeworld's arc of Metroid Prime 3 to destroy a gate blocking the way to the phazon leviathan can also more than pull their own weight against the unending hordes of Space Pirates the Pirates will throw at you the moment they realize that you're on your way to destroy their leviathan. And their armor is actually noted as somewhat weaker than is standard for Federation marine armor (which...doesn't make a terrible deal of sense for soldiers whose job it is to handle explosives in the face of heavy enemy fire, that's a kind of job where you would want as much armor as you can get away with having) which makes it even more impressive.

There's also Federation Force's clunky Golem project Mini-Mecha but the less we speak of Federation Farce the better.

=Halo Power Armor=
[[File:Spartan.jpg|200px|thumb|right|Spartan MJOLNIR Mark IV armour]]
Most people think of the Spartan power armor when they are asked about Halo. These suits cost as much as a UNSC ship and have the decency to protect the wearer from [[What|multiple Fuel Rod shots, despite being penetrated by a single pistol shot]]...inconsistency aside the Spartan power armor is in between the strengths of Astartes power armor and the Terran power armor. Unlike most other armors, the enhanced speed and strength given by these things is too much for an ordinary human; anybody other than the Spartans, who underwent genetic enhancements, and had a large wire stuck into their brain, ends up [[Grimdark |getting mutilated in the armor just by trying to move in it]]. Other power armor in Halo includes both the Brute and Elite combat harness which boosts their already insane strength (twice that of a human of the same mass for elites, about two or so tons for a Brute) and reaction time (although Brutes tend to be a bit more sluggish than humans).

The energy shields in the power armor are probably the suit's most vital asset, as without them no human, genetically modified or not, could possibly survive eating at least 10,000 rounds in a single battle. Besides this, later games add a number of armor upgrades that radically augment the suit's features, such as a jetpack, bubble shield, EMP blast, etc. Sprint used to be an add-on, for... some reason, but fortunately became a standard feature.

More noteworthy perhaps for the fact it does not cost as much as a spacecraft, does not have pauldrons the size of the user's head and is implied to be halfway to efficient or practical (but if you took away its active ingredient, the shield generator it becomes as useful as wet tissue paper) and is used by the SAS in SPEHSS is the ODST armor, which has both better data analyst equipment than the MJOLNIR and suspiciously similar play style to the piece of junk used in halo 1.

Of course there are the Forerunner Combat-Skins, which the books hype but the games tend to show much less impressive technology that makes the books make very little sense trying to reconcile the two. Whether it is used to dumb down the difficulty to make the game playable or pull out some ill-contrived [[Bullshit|bullshit excuse]] to explain why the Forerunner tech can be taken down by the magic of 7.62 NATO rounds is often [[Skub|a point of contention.]] For example, the books describe mini-mecha suits that can command a million drones or level city blocks but how you can reconcile this with the British B1 battle droids as designed by Apple that make up the bulk of the Prometheans in Halo 5 is anyone's guess. Whilst 343i tried to explain that the Prometheans were the byproduct of a madmen not giving a damn about quality control, it immediately contradicts itself when we see those same Prometheans suddenly [[Derp|blowing up Forerunner starships with the same weapons that many of us considered as 'meh' in the game itself.]] One also has to remember that Sentinels and Prometheans still have to be close enough to the suits in power to be relevant on the same battlefield before you run into the question that plagues many a superhero team, the age old "how is Hawkeye relevant on a team with Thor and the Silver Surfer?" It certainly doesn't make much sense when the Boredom Eternal/He of the endless recycled boss fights can [[Wat|take on a ludicrous amount of direct tank shots but can be taken apart with a combat knife]] and is supposed to be some badass guard figure. Then again, Halo isn't really known for its plot consistency and rivals WH40K on how unreliable the sources are.

It is also worth noting that Forerunner armor comes in mini-mecha and form-fitting varieties. Most of the above is for the mini-mecha, while form-fitting armor seems to be substantially less impressive. This is probably reconcilable by the people working on the Games having a completely different vision of the Halo universe than Greg Bear who likely recycled some concepts he had from unfinished books for the Forerunner trilogy. In the mean time, 343 took whatever it saw as having interest for its game ideas (namely the Ur-Didact and Librarian characters) and largely ignored the rest. And of course, Halo 5 had a completely different writer than Halo 4 and Halo 5 is so far regarded as having by far the worst writing in the entire series out of any of the games. Where everyone is out of character, the people who aren't out of character are so boring you won't remember a thing about them after finishing, several plot holes that was pulled out of everyone's asses and absolutely everyone is an idiot and all eight of the main characters are so superfluous to the plot that you could remove them all and not a single thing would change.

While Halo Spartans used to be pretty top of the line impressive for visual scifi; as the Genre has matured the genre has also become full of far, far more over the top settings as it becomes more and more possible to display over the top stunts. Much like how Superman's initial power level quickly ended up being eclipsed by various golden age competitors, a lot of what MJOLNIR armor can do has become so bog standard in science fiction (especially because a lot of its touted in game features are now standard for every FPS protagonist; apparently the first world war was fought by a bunch of wolverine clones, who knew?) that it's lost a great deal of its luster. To its credit Halo has avoided the route Superman underwent back in the Golden Age where he just kept on getting more powerful to one up his competition like Captain Marvel in the comic book superpower arms race; but if you're used to playing Warframe or something like that you can come into Halo wondering why Master Chief is supposed to be special. In which case congratulations for missing the entire point of the Spartans and the Master Chief. They are special because despite the power of their enemies they still manage to win through a combination of dumb luck and mind-boggling courage and tenacity that is intended (and succeeds in) engendering respect and admiration in the audience/player.

=Marathon Power Armor=

Halo's grand-daddy has one or two examples:

One (maybe) is a human standard issue Battle Armor designed to allow the wearer to fight in hard vacuum (and underwater). While designed as a space suit with several minutes of pressurized oxygen first and as armor second, it also has an energy shield that consumes suit power when protecting against combat and extreme environments, wholly dependent on external power supply to be recharged. It also has a suite of sensors and helmet HUD readouts including Halo/Aliens-style motion sensor, automapping with IFF transponder tracking, cameras with transmitter and optional "hypervision", and voice comms. Although the only guy seen wearing one is the protagonist, whose… inherent capabilities make it difficult to judge whether the Battle Armor offers any additional benefits to strength and speed.

The other is the Pfhor "Hunter" armor worn by the local Elite-equivalents, who serve as Heavy Infantry and dedicated slave hunters. Aside from vacuum capability, it has an integral shoulder-mounted plasma cannon in keeping with its blatant Predator/Yautja trappings, and also comes in a 1.5x bigger mini-mecha version.

=Metal Gear Exoskeletons=
Exosuits have featured throughout the ''Metal Gear'' series. While not very /tg/-ish, they do deserve a spot on this list for being either [[Indrick Boreale|balls-out wacky]] or [[Gabriel Seth|complete awesome]].

==Solidus's Powered armor==
The powered armor suit worn by Solidus Snake during his rebellion. It uses artificial muscles that grant him vastly increased strength and reflexes (to the point he could parry concentrated machine gun fire with just his swords) and an accelerator that acted like a booster to allow him to travel great distances in the blink of an eye. The suit could "Hulk up", the artificial musculature bulking out for even greater strength enhancement. It was also equipped with an extra pair of limbs called "Snake Arms", very strong robotic tentacles mounted on the shoulders that could also shoot "plasma" missiles. However that works. They probably meant to say Plasma Bolts.

==The Octosuit==
Solid Snake's signature suit in MGS4, it was made of artificial muscles like Solidus' suit. Because he'd turn into an old fart at this point, the octosuit was less of a performance-enhancing set of power armor as it was a full-body prosthetic. Still, it allowed him to fight as well as his younger self, with the added bonus of the Octosuit passively copying his surroundings to allow him to blend in better. With the added facemask, he could even fully disguise himself to remain totally inconspicuous in public - doesn't work on murderous robots at abandoned military facilities, however it does give him enough strength to knock them over. Of course, the player should have Snake shooting those damn things instead. As rolling into Gekko successfully is basically up to the RNGs.

==Cyborg Exosuits==
After the fall of the Patriots, cyborg technology was released into the world. With CNT muscle fiber being as cheap to produce as plastic, just about every mercenary insane enough opted to be augmented and encased in one of these things. This armor enhances the wearer's strength, agility, and durability to absurd levels, basically turning them into [[Eversor|unstoppable murder machines that will completely wreck the shit out of anything they face]].

The caveat to this is that majority of cyborgs are not mentally sound for a variety of reasons. While some accepted augmentation willingly to enhance their abilities or restore lost functionality (and are thus able to come to terms with their new life), there are many who were forced to undergo cyborg transformation, either through force or grave necessity (a lot of cases were that they were former soldiers couldn't find jobs, either because their home country was in civil war, their country's economy was floored by the post-SOP recession, or they're disabled. So it was either sign up with a PMC to armor up or you and your family starves to death). Those recipients can be injected with fear-inhibiting nanomachines that will force them to fight, regardless of the circumstances, [[grimdark|all while their inner self is trapped, screaming, in their mind and is unable to stop themselves]].

Some of the more notable examples include [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K7Hgg4C92IU Gray Fox, the Patriots' first Cyborg Ninja], who was resurrected and became a guinea pig for further genetic experimentation. His exoskeleton was grafted to his own skeleton to allow him to safely utilize its strength-enhancing features, such as incredible strength and reflexes. However, he wasn't alright in the head. Fox was forcibly brought back from the dead and put into the project against his will, due to this his only ambition in his life is to have one final duel with Solid Snake before finally being given eternal rest.

Raiden was captured by the Patriots and turned into a cyborg in Area 51. Everything from the jaw down was removed and his mandible-less skull and dangling spinal cord were attached to a cyborg body. The increased strength allowed him to [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R61cCBUWNQM break dance with 10-foot walkers attached to his legs and have a stabbing match with a bisexual flamenco-dancing vampire] and [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RypphRK14t8 duel and throw a Metal Gear RAY into the air]. A later body, built exclusively for combat, gave him the facilities to [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KzfYcwo7Wtw fight and ''suplex'' a Metal Gear the size of a Warhound Titan, then tear off one of its arms to engage it in a duel and destroy it]. The hyper-specialization for combat meant that this body couldn't have a self-repair unit; instead, Raiden had to take fuel cells from other military-grade cyborgs to repair any damage he might sustain and replenish his fuel, [[Rip and Tear|by forcefully yanking it out from them and consuming it on the spot]].

==Sam's Powered Armor==
Defying all semblances of coherency; Jetstream Sam, a Brazilian samurai and Raiden's eventual rival, used nothing more than an exoskeleton to give him abilities that not only completely outclassed Raiden's original cyborg body (who, mind you, is able to lift a 30-foot mech and throw it into the air), but be able to go toe-to-toe with Raiden's later custom built body (who is able to bodyslam a Metal Gear the size of a Warhound Titan). By nothing more, we mean he had little-to-no cybernetic enhancements (his only real one is a cyborg arm after losing his sword arm, and even then he was capable of dueling a Metal Gear RAY UG all on his own before getting it).

It did just about everything Raiden's body could do, from repairing itself by ripping out people's spines, grant him unreasonably high strength, and give him fast-enough reflexes to slow down time, deflect bullets using nothing more than a sword. and reliably catch his sword after launching it out of his scabbard at high speed using an explosive quick-draw system. One wonders if cyborg tech is even necessary at this point considering Sam can do all this bullshit without getting his arms and legs amputated. Just like Armstrong he was quite loaded. [[Flash_Gitz|So he most likely wasted his family fortune on upgrading his weapon and power armor.]]

=Marvel=
Marvel comics has the most famous examples of Powered Armor. From the minds of Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, Larry Lieber and Don Heck to the printing press from movies to video games.

==Iron Man suits==

{{spoilers}}

Probably the most well known Power Armor suit in fiction, popularized by the Superhero whose power is that he has power armor. Tony has built a lot of suits, some meant for a specific purpose, some just a stronger version of older iterations. At the high end, Iron man's suit is flat out superior to anything in nonserialized science fiction short of a few cheese builds from role playing games (but hey, comic books), even allowing him to fight Odinforce Thor, who mind you, has the power of a being who can destroy galaxies as the side effect of his fights. Sure his standard suits may be beaten by weaker stuff, but if he really sets his mind to it, the things Tony can build are essentially magic contained in metal and [[Get shit done|get shit done!]]

His armor has been constantly getting exponentially better in recent years. First was the Extremis armor that let him use technopathy in tandem with a super soldier enhancement. Then was the bleeding edge armor which could basically form weapons as Tony needed them from nowhere from living metal. Then was the Endo-sym armor which was not only able to do that but drain energy from anything and output so much energy that it can hurt even energy absorbers. And now he has the Model-Prime armor which can not only do all that but also automatically transform into any other kind of armor he needs whether it's a bulky hulkbuster suit for raw strength or Samurai esque armor when Tony feels the need to express his inner weeaboo. Since the older Bleeding Edge armor is low Herald level(as in Herald of Galactus) he should be able to fight the gods of monotheistic settings and win against most of them! It should also be possible for Mark L Tony in the MCU to defeat them too. As anyone who lasted more than three minutes in a fight with against Thanos when he has at least four Infinity Stone or more for longer than three minutes has at least Solar System level damage output and durability. His latest nanotech armour also allows him to wield all six infinity stones for a short while at the end of Endgame's big CGI punch-up when he steals the stones out of Thanos' gauntlet, and also allows him to channel their power to dust-ify big boi grape and his army, although it can't prevent the power from killing Tony in the process.

==Destroyer Armor==
Perhaps the snazziest and most powerful armor in fiction. This creation of Odin (Marvel Universe version) cannot be damaged by anything less powerful than Odin himself (characters who can smash planets to pieces have tried and failed) and can destroy just about anything weaker than Odin in a single hit. Forerunner suit, Starktech? HAH. This is made by gods who actually feel godlike. Crafted by someone who could eradicate entire galaxies as a side effect of his fights to battle even more powerful beings. Accept no substitutes, this is the finest power armor you'll ever find that does not ascend you to Celestial wonkyness. Even if it does run on magic.

Humorously, the [[C'Tan|Celestials]] this armor was designed to fight show up in the story and immediately one-shot it. In a bizarre turn of events the armor has become intelligent and now serves Galactus as a herald.

Comic books are ''weird.''

=Strike Legion=
[[Strike Legion]] has teraton pistols, Uzis that can outgun all of WH40K and planet busting grenades. You can survive those in one of these babies. Even the weakest ones have built in shield generators and flight capabilities. That is really all that needs to be said. They are also mass produced. Like, standard issue level mass produced.

=X-COM=
[[File:NXCom.jpg|right|200px|thumb|XCOM operatives in Titan armor]]
[[File:MEC.png|right|200px|thumb|A trio of MEC troopers with kinetic pilebunker fists and minigun. Yes, you can make your own [[Terminator]] squad using MEC upgrades, or get the mod.]]
[[X-COM]] always had high-tech armor, including actual power armored suits in the first game. The first one is the "Titan" armored suit, a heavy personal powered armor suit composed of alien alloys. These could drastically reduce damage, give the wearer increased strength and stamina. The other is the "Archangel" armor, while less durable, it instead sported a personal jetpack that allowed the user to hover and fly for limited amounts of time until they ran out of fuel. Finally, there is "Ghost" suit, which get more emphasis on power part of power armor, granting increased mobility and maneuverability, while only being slightly more durable than carapace armor, and as the name suggests, it spotted both passive camouflage systems and active cloaking. They're all fully sealed from the outside-environment and had an array life-support systems, so the wearer was immune to poison, fire, and getting choked to death.

However, in the ''Enemy Within'' expansion to the 2012 remake. This came in the form '''M'''echanized '''E'''xoskeletal '''C'''ybersuit troopers, or "MECs" for short. Departing from the usual type of armor, these require a considerable amount of cybernetic enhancements through the use of the game's Meld resource to use. The pay-off for that is enormous, however. Unlike other low ranking soldiers in X-COM, the MEC troopers are extremely durable (to compensate for their size meaning they can't use cover.), and can use the most powerful guns in the game, that only the MEC's strength and durability allows them to use. Additionally, subsequent rank-up abilities and suit upgrades will further make MECs much more killy, and can improve the small ammo clip of the main gun.

However, while MECs are incredibly powerful, they are not invincible. They are like XCOM's equivalent of tanks, and much like tanks, they tend to draw the biggest amount of enemy fire in the map (This is made more problematic by the fact that even the aliens' basic plasma pistol can be a threat to MECs and the enemy AI will usually prioritize anyone not in cover), very limited ammunition stores which force frequent reloads, and just generally tend to lose against numbers where they're simply [[Imperial Guard|drowned by the sheer amount of attacks that come their way]]. Thus, relying completely on MECs isn't the best strategy, and it is always best to supplement MECs with some infantry for support. Another in-universe drawback to turning your soldiers into MEC troopers is that [[Dreadnought|they have to have all of their limbs amputated to interface with the suit]], though a number of Gene Mod upgrades available in Enemy Within would logically simplify the process of storing and reattaching their limbs at a later date.

Since the technology for the MEC troopers is taken from the alien invaders, they unsurprisingly have their own version called the Mectoid. The Mectoid is one of their basic troopers, the Sectoid, in their own MEC suit. By the sequel they have phased these out and instead have Advent MECs, which, like the sectopod, are fully autonomous and have no living pilot. The Advent MECs are equipped with giant mag cannons and triple shot grenade launchers. And can jump 30+ feet. Failure to incapacitate (or hack) one as soon as it's encountered will end in much [[Rage|rage]]. unless you have [[Rip and Tear|end game weapons]]

In XCOM 2 power amour takes 3 forms:
*The Wraith suit, which is similar to ghost armor in that it trades some protecting power for increased maneuverability and dodging ability. Trades ghost mode for wraith mode, which lets you walk through all obstacles for two turns. Also comes with a grappling hook.
*Basic power armour called the warden suit.
*And the "Hey guys let's strap a even more powerful Exosuit power thing on to power armor and slap a thermonuclear weapon onto the wrist and see what happens" WAR suit.

It also can have WH40k armor and weapons. As there are now several 40k mods on the Steam Workshop.

=Warmachine=
[[File:PIP33007 500.jpeg|200px|thumb|right|A Khador Man-O-War Shocktrooper]]
[[Warmachine]] has had a number of different armors that technically qualify as power armor (almost all warcaster armor, for instance, includes enhancements to the wearer's strength and speed fueled by their magic), but probably the closest (and likely most famous) thing it has to traditional power armor is [[Khador]]'s Man-O-War armor. Designed because Khador found it the lack of materials to make cortexes for its [[Warjack]]s meant even with the effort it put into building its jacks to last, it had a problem with still having a lot of resources it wasn't using and its lack of any cheaper jacks meant the jacks it had tended to be too badly outnumbered. To compensate for these problems, they designed huge suits of armor that would allow the wearers to function almost like pseudo-Warjacks. The Man-O-War functions the same way Khador's jacks do: it's slow, heavily armored, and hits really hard when it gets in close. [[Fluff]] wise there's a problem with the built in boilers releasing steam where it shouldn't go and killing the wearer, but this doesn't show up in gameplay since it would make them too unreliable (plus it only happens when they're damaged enough, depending on the addition to the game). Not that they care as they gladly DIE IN STEAM!! Since the armor is still expensive to manufacture, Khador only allows its veteran troops to wear it, meaning they possess high skill with melee weapons.

While the Man-O-War is an industrialized solution to lacking mechanical brains for light warjack-production, they are not the only power armors in the [[Iron Kingdoms]]: Some very eccentric mechaniks actually build their own armor called "Ironhead armour". Though the Man-O-War-armour is big and scary, these tend to be even larger and impractical, and are usually built so only the bearer can use it properly. The use for these is everything from mechaniks-work to warfare, as proved by Captain Dominic Darius of Cygnar, who actually build himself a small, wearable light 'jack which in turn creates new miniature 'jacks called Halfjacks as long as he activates the thing. The thing is a four-ton heavy machine, that births smaller machines at all times. I couldn't make this shit up.

Also, the [[Iron Kingdoms]] RPG allows players to own these armors - The Gods, Nations and Kings expansion allows for the use of Man-O-War armour and career, and the 52# issue of [[No Quarter]] has rules for your own custom-build murdermachine of steel and awesome.

= Star Wars =
The [[Star Wars]] Expanded Universe has had some minor power armor use. The iconic Stormtrooper armor is unpowered, but certain specialized variants like the Hazard Trooper and the zero-G assault Stormtrooper ("Spacetrooper") do use power armor. Dark Trooper armor itself was bigger and had strength enhancing and protective systems, but the mobile factory ship the project was based on was destroyed by Rebel agent Kyle Katarn. It incorporates a set of thrusters and other integrated weapons. Visually, it looks a bit like a cross of [[Terminator]] armor and NASA's Manned Maneuvering Unit, with a goofy, oversized Stormtrooper helmet. The less common Phase III Dark Troopers, which functioned as both automated robot infantry or could be worn as Power Armor, and were pretty much 40K Terminator Armor that wasn't hunched over(Soloing tank columns,anyone?), and had a built-in jetpack along with fun stuff like micromissiles. Sadly, like all cool things in the Star Wars universe, it shows up for just a couple games and books, then gets immediately destroyed and you never use it.

Ultimately, power armor isn't used as much, since some sources indicate that the materials used in regular armor can hardly stand up to small arms like the ubiquitous blaster, nor the much rarer but much more asskicking lightsaber. This is maintained in RPGs and video games where power armor is merely more effective footsoldier armor with some enhanced muscles, rather than immunity to small arms a proper armored vehicle has. Ultimately, power armor is practically useless in the universe when compared to [[Plot armor]].

= S.T.A.L.K.E.R. =
The S.T.A.L.K.E.R. series features powered exoskeletons. They were only produced in limit quantity and are fairly rare, only obtainable by salvaging. These exoskeletons aren’t overly fantastical, consisting of an armored radiation suit under under an external frame that boosts the user’s strength at the cost of not letting the user run at full speed (though upgrades can fix that). The most fantastic aspect of the suit is its power, and if the Gauss Rifle’s description is any indication, it’s powered by fantastical super science artifacts from The Zone that defy modern science.

=Wolfenstein=
From Wolfenstein 3D onwards, Wolfenstein has pretty much always featured some sort of power armor being used by the Nazis. The first game had Hitler's power suit which comes at you with quadruple gatling guns, though when his health was depleted the suit would be destroyed and he'd jump out and keep on fighting you with dual wielded gatling guns (and somehow have more damage per second this way) and later games generally give special elite Nazis suits of dieselpunk power armor. Unfortunately for the Nazis, they're going up against motherfucking Captain B.J Blazkcowicz so all the power armor in the universe isn't going to save them from him showing the world what you do with Nazi scum. In the latest game, the new order; Deathshead gets into a mini-mecha suit that's essentially an update of Hitler's power armor from Wolfenstein 3D, most notably featuring four gatling guns as Strasse tries to kill you in the moon baⁿse while ranting about he's the actual good guy here. Which is of course just him being a deluded Nazi bastard because by this point you've had twenty hours to see how very much of an awful person he is. You ALSO get power armor, more specifically suits from the Da'at Yichud. It's remarkably inconsistent, as in get zapped by laser beams, shot by bullets and rockets, unbreakable unless you run out of armor, but getting punched in the chest twice deactivated it. Also, guys with crowbars pry it off. Somehow. Probably it has to do with the fact that it was made less as a practical weapon of war than as a thought experiment by a bunch of peaceful jewish guys trying to work out god's plans through engineering.

=[[Doom]] (2016 + Eternal)=
Yes, even the most famous of FPS now has powered armor. Like any other franchise, they appear in different forms.

The original games don't have any power armor of the sort, instead just giving boring old protective body armor to absorb damage but not totally nullify it. Doom 3 similarly has basic body armor that isn't quite power armor but has similar ablative properties and the added benefit of environmental sealing with an air supply (in order to traverse the outside of Mars for about a minute) and (with the help of mods/BFG Edition) a suit-mounted flashlight.

== Praetor Suit (aka Doom Guy's armor) ==
The armor worn by the Doom Slayer. Confirmed to be a custom suit upgraded and modified by the Doom Slayer over the centuries. The Doom Slayer is already strong enough to kill zombies with his bare hands, so the Praetor Suit just makes him even faster, stronger, and tougher than he already is. It allows him to carry several weapons and tear limbs off even the largest of demons after doing enough damage to stagger them. The suit is able to absorb Argent Energy, which is literally harvested from Hell itself, and seems to be able to run solely off that if it runs on anything aside from its wearer's intense overwhelming hatred. It can also install upgrades with no physical alterations at all (with the exception of jump boots) and interface with both UAC technology and demonic runes without difficulty. It can even receive voice communications from his own space station in Earth orbit as out as Mars and through other dimensions. The Praetor Suit is pretty much Doom's equivalent to the Power Suit from Metroid. [[Awesome|Making the Doom Slayer the male version of Samus.]]

By the second game, it seems to have been altered further, with a Predator(aka Yautja) style left shoulder-mounted cannon and blade mounted on the wrist. [[kharn|The Vambraces also seem to have been damaged, missing from the suit completely and exposing parts of the Slayer's arms.]] Most of the armor on the left arm and shoulder are replaced with what looks like to be a patch job in order to mount the blade and cannon.

== UAC ==
The Union Aerospace Corporation seems to have wised up and started using their own Powered Armor for working in the inhospitable environment of Mars and the bowels of Hell. How good it actually is unknown because we only get to see in action during Doom 2016's multiplayer. So any claims about how strong it is are dubious at best.

=== Elite Guard ===
The armor of UAC's elite guard. It didn't do them much good against the Lazarus Wave unleashed by Olivia Pierce or the kill-switch that she activated, and they are definitely nowhere as good as Samuel Hayden's cybernetic body as he was the only one from the UAC to make it back from Hell. One can assume it is superior to the standard armor used by the UAC. As several dead Elite Guards are seen throughout Hell and even the unexplored Necropolis region.

== Night Sentinels ==
Has a design based on two different types of Renaissance-era armor. The only real indication that it is Powered Armor at all is because like the other types there are no gaps that allow for air or eyeballs. So we must assume that has the same functions as the kind used by the UAC. They also have some pretty snazzy looking swords. Since Marauders are corrupted Night Sentinels who were pieces of their old armor. It is seen that it is more or less on par with the Praetor Suit. With a built in shield that blocks most weapons in game. If the armor provides his enhanced movement like it does for Doomguy or because of their new status as Demons is up in the air. However, its defenses are not good enough to protect Marauders from being staggered. Maybe if they wore a full set it could provide them better protection.

= Real Life =
[[File:Powered Exoskeleton.jpg|thumb|right|250px|DARPA exoskeleton going through its paces in a rather literal sense.]]
[[File:Lockhead Martin Onyx Exoskeleton.jpeg|thumb|left|250px|Onyx Exoskeleton designed to reduce fatigue and knee injuries.]]
While they are still some ways off from producing a fully functional power suit, there is interest in the idea. Some people are now looking into making functional powered exoskeletons, this includes some guys in Japan and the US government. While it's initially going to be used to help do heavy lifting where heavy equipment is impractical/inadvisable, along with helping the disabled to walk once more, using it for military applications is in the works. Hell, just look at the images. The basic idea works well enough, but there are still in the experimental phases and while they got the basics of the "power" part down they have yet to add the armor. Currently the primary focus is to reduce fatigue and leg injury rather than superhuman strength, which makes sense given what the modern infantry doctrine is about. Given the desire for modularity and practicality, body armor and exoskeletons will likely come separate.

That said, they still have a fair bit to go since most early versions will be restricted by a power tether or run on batteries that have at most a few hours of juice. Still, the first airplane's flight only was about 35 meters and it took less then two decades to go from that to the first transatlantic flight.

But don't start holding your breath just yet. Though asymmetric war makes all kinds of spectacularly idiotic war toys possible, power armor will face a redundancy/nesting doll issue by placing a humanoid automata... inside of a humanoid automata. Since the goal is to protect the former "automata", why place it inside the latter? Direct piloting, as opposed to remote, will likely have little affect on the frames overall combat effectiveness. However neither are mutually exclusive to each other so exoskeleton equipped troops may become a thing if it's treated in the same sense body armor is: Something that helps, not as a crutch.

Because they're obviously run by idiots. USSOCOM has canned their Telos Exoskeleton program. Ceding ground to Russia and China.

=Fantasy in General=
Depending on who you ask, any magic armor that increases your speed and strength and has spells that counteract encumbrance bound to it could be considered a form of power armor, especially if it's full plate armor and particularly if it has some system to keep out nasty shit like drowning, poison gas, or the vacuum of space.

It is armor, and it is using a power source in the form of magic to enhance the wielder. More traditional power armor can also be found in fantasy; particularly in settings that are at least to a clockpunk level of technological development, often using magic or just not caring enough about physics to allow power suits to function with technology like steam boilers, clockwork gears, and diesel engines or simply running off of magical energy.

This particular trend has started to become more common as more and more fantasy writers have started to rebel against the concept of medieval stasis and even in settings that don't just outright abandon the faux-medieval trappings of fantasy try to incorporate more in the ways of technological development or practical magic. In warhammer fantasy perhaps the most famous suit of power armor belongs to Ikit Claw, an ingenious device that is powered by warp stone and comes complete with an arm cannon to fire off warp lightning.

It is not an uncommon fantasy trope, and typically shows up to show that the fantasy world is 'advanced'.

= Gallery =

<gallery>
File:99810101076 ArmourThroughAgesNEW01.jpg|The first five Marks through the ages.
File:Power Armour Components.png|Diagram of Aquila armour components.
File:Newsletter vision study.jpg|Eternal Crusade concept art. Again, fitting real snugly.
File:Terran marine cutout.jpg|It actually fits! Still a bit unsure about those hips though.
File:SST_PA_J.jpg|Japan's take on the Marauder Suit.

</gallery>

[[Category: Weapons]]

[[Category: Armour]]

[[Category: Warhammer 40,000]]

[[Category: Imperial]]

[[Category: Sisters of Battle]]

[[Category: Space Marines]]

[[Category: Official Space Marine Chapters]]

[[Category: Blood Angels]]

[[Category: Dark Angels]]

[[Category: Space Wolves]]

[[Category: Deathwatch]]

[[Category: Grey Knights]]

{{MedievalWeaponry}}