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Only War

2018-08-15T09:46:51Z

2001:8003:3895:3A00:35BC:13AB:9433:31A2: /* Why you suck */ Some custom regiments in the book have more than one drawback.

{{Game Infobox
|name = Only War
|picture = [[Image:only-war.jpg|200px]]
|type = RPG
|system = d%
|playno = 3+
|time = 10+ minutes (because you might die in 10 min)
|publisher = Fantasy Flight Games
|authors = Andrew Fischer, Mack Martin, Sam Stewart
|year = 2012
|books = ''Only War Core Rulebook''
<div class="mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" style="width:175px">
*''The Game Master's Kit''
*''Final Testament''
*''Hammer of the Emperor''
*''Enemies of the Imperium''
*''Shield of Humanity''</div>
}}
'''FFG has lost the license for 40k table top games. The 40k RPG license has since been acquired by Ulisses North America. The new 40k RPG, '''[[Wrath And Glory]]''', is due for release in 2018.'''

{{topquote|...in the [[grimdark|grim, dark]] future, only war there is.|[[Star Wars|Yoda]]}}
{{topquote|How come we play war and not peace?"<br>"Too few role models.|Bill Watterson, ''Calvin and Hobbes''}}

The last first edition entry in [[Fantasy Flight Games]]'s [[Warhammer 40,000 Roleplay]] product line, in which players take the role of [[Imperial Guard|Imperial Guardsmen]]. The first edition of the core rulebook, and two splats have been released (Hammer of the Emperor which gives new regiments and [[Rough Riders|rough rider]] rules, and Enemies of the Imperium, which gives more information about the various foes Guardman are likely to face and information on how to make a regiment that serves the traitorous Severan Dominate).

Players create Guardsmen from different disciplines within the Guard - heavy weapons specialists, pilots/drivers, [[Techpriest|techpriests]], [[Commissars]], and so on. Each player also gets one or more background NPC helpers, referred to as Comrades. These Comrades serve as extra hands, ablative wounds or even something for the Commissar to BLAM. Don't get too attached to your Comrades. They. Will. Die.

That aside, beside the trolls who like to post about how the mehrines are unappreciated, /tg/ has always been in love the idea of an anonymous everyman fighting in the 41st millennium. You know, the one who signed up to go fight in a big galaxy, where one needs to be pretty ballsy just to step off his homeplanet and into a festering, flaming hell where one will likely get swatted into a paste by an indifferent [[carnifex]], axed in the spine by a guffawing [[ork]], or have your legs liquefied into drugs that a Slaaneshi cultist will hope to snort off of some daemonette's ass while you watch. The one armed only with his [[Lasgun|flashlight]] and his faith in the Emperor to fend off the grim darkness of the galaxy. Some fa/tg/uys are probably all over this one already.

As a bonus, Only War has a large amount of high quality female guardsmen artwork which makes sense considering the fact that the Imperium always needs more soldiers and without them they'd be halving their recruitment pool. Now GW just needs to reflect that in the models by adding a few female heads. It's not hard.

/tg/ has since created a fan regiment called the [[1st Membranes]] using the regiment creation rules. They are made primarily from [[Psyker]] stock, and as a result are a regiment of gibbering, schizophrenic and/or awesome troopers who, when confronted with Orks, [[Derp|will either scream at the things coming out of the walls]] [[Ahriman|or mow down hordes of greenskins with mind bullets.]]

==Ruleset==
Like [[Black Crusade (RPG)|Black Crusade]], Only War uses a level-free system of improving your characters, making all options free from the beginning as long as certain prerequisite skills/talents have already been bought and that there is enough XP available to buy the option.

That means you can quite quickly get [[C.S. Goto|back-flipping]] Ogryns, Ratling wrestlers, ninja enginseers (in power armour) and any other combination of bizarre skills that your players want to have for their characters, only hindered by their stats and the cost of the upgrade; which is dependent upon the "aptitudes" that the PC has which are determined by class and by their regiment. So players will find upgrading certain things about their characters more easily (such as Ratling Snipers) but that does not necessarily prevent them from taking other options.

Players can also change their character's class (and therefore their aptitudes) at certain milestones in their career, keeping everything they earned up until that point and giving them an easier time of buying different options if they prefer. This would be like changing alignment in Black Crusade, just without any downsides, though it can only be performed at the set milestones, and it also changes your character's standard issue gear in order to perform his new chosen role more effectively. So your Heavy Gunner has to give up that Missile Launcher if he wants to become a Tank Ace.

While talking about gear, Only War has one of the most convoluted systems of acquiring gear amongst all of the FFG settings: Like the [[Deathwatch (RPG)]] you receive your issued gear prior to the start of a mission, though in this case, your mission load-out is preset by your commanding officer, who expects you to go collect your gear from the army quartermaster... this is where it becomes a ball-ache courtesy of the bureaucratic clusterfuck that is the Departmento Munitorum. Your group has a collective logistics rating depending upon their rank and veteran status, which can modify how much the quartermaster likes you, so he can mess up your order and give you a stack of cigarettes instead of the smoke grenades you need, for example, or give you everything you were meant to get plus relic gear that he "found in the back". This is also the time to make any special requests too, so the group can attempt to get any gear from the book using their logistics rating. All modified by the state of the warzone and how well the army is doing, which itself depends on your GM's mood. So if you're always getting shitty jobs in losing warzones, don't expect to get any nice gear - or even all of your standard issue gear if you're especially unlucky. You could try to trade for gear with others in your regiment, but if the Commissar finds out you can expect to be on the business end of his bolt pistol. On the other hand, sometimes you might accidentally get given gear you technically aren't supposed to have - and due to Departmento Munitorum incompetence, they don't know it was ever given out to you, so you can keep it.

===Regiment Creation===
You start with 12 points, spend wisely. This can be raised up to a maximum of 19 (see below).

====Why you suck====
You can take Regimental Drawbacks, which grant extra points for regimental creation at the expense of a variety of penalties. Generally, the more points the drawback grants, the more crippling the penalties will be - having a ton of new points to spend on gear doesn't really help you when you can't burn Fate Points to survive fatal injuries. You can choose from:

<ol>
<li value="2">
*Regimental Rivalry (This regiment and another regiment really hate each other. As in, they're willing to murder your regiment if they think they can get away with it.)
</li>
<li>
*Cloud of Suspicion (An organization such as the Inquisition or Arbites don't like them. Expect them to come down hard when they fuck up)
*Cult of Chivalry (People in the regiment are honest to a fault and have trouble telling or detecting lies.)
*Dishonored (The regiment got BTFO in the past and everyone is real bothered about it. Being forced to retreat or give up an objective runs the risk of accumulating Insanity)
*Mistrusted (Everyone related to the Guard knows that these guys are douchebags)
*Conscripts (Members of your regiment really don't want to be here. Even less than normal that is.)
*Iconoclasts (This regiment has an odd way of showing its love for the Emperor. The Ecclesiarchy is not amused.)
*Tainted (Corruption is drawn to the regiment like tech-priests to archeotech.)
</li>
<li>
*Honor Bound (The people of your regiment brook no insult and will get in fights if someone slights their honor.)
*Scarred By Loss (Everyone has PTSD. Beware of flashbacks at inappropriate times.)
*Poorly Provisioned (The regiment doesn't get as much ammo or food, and your equipment also tends to be crap.)
*Warp-Delayed (The regiment was, you guessed it, delayed in the Warp. Logistical problems are the most obvious effect, but probably the least of your worries)
</li>
<li>
*The Few (The regiment has manpower problems. Take care of comrades, they might not be replaceable.)
*Incompetent Leadership (Self-explanatory. Makes it harder to play a face since everyone in a leadership role is assumed to be incompetent, and Comrade Orders are also affected)
*Lost Homeworld (Their homeworld is gone. Mechanically functions as a mix of The Few and Scarred by Loss, with the added twist that some replacement comrades might not be from the same regiment as your own.)
*Primitive (Has trouble using or maintaining weapons that aren't Low-Tech.)
*Traitors (Exactly what it sounds like. For playing campaigns as Severan Dominate or Lost and the Damned.)
</li>
<li>
*Condemned (Mistrusted turned up to 11. People in the Imperial Guard want you dead at least as much as the enemy. Expect only the nastiest missions with minimal support.)
</li>
<li>
*Doomed (You can't burn fate to avoid death and your logistics tests are harder. Don't take this)
</li>
</ol>

====Who you are====
Choose exactly one Homeworld and exactly one Commander.

=====Homeworld=====
#
#*Imperial
#
#*Penal Colony
#
#*Agri
#*Death
#*Feudal
#*Fortress
#*Highborn (Nobles)
#*Hive
#*Mining Colony
#*Penitent
#*Post-cataclysmic
#*Ratling
#*Schola Progenium
#*Shrine
#*Void-born
#
#*Feral
#*Forge
#*Frontier
#*Lathe
#
#*Ogryn

=====Commander=====
#
#*Fixed ("Just keep moving.")
#*Phlegmatic ("Tell alpha they should face NW and expect overwhelming fire.")
#*Supine ("These are our orders, have faith!")
#
#*Bilious ("You would have been dead if I had been an enemy. Commissar, execute this stuttering fool!")
#*Choleric ("Drive me closer, for the EMPRAH!")
#*Circumspect ("There, see how they wait to advance!")
#*Maverick ("I can't very well tell you to do something I wouldn't do myself.")
#*Melancholic ("Oh, um, well...")
#*Sanguine ("It's up to us, men!")

====What you do====
Next you get to choose your Regiment Type and Doctrines. You must have exactly one Regiment Type, and can have 0-2 Doctrines.

=====Regiment Types=====
<ol>
<li value="2">
*Line Infantry (the basic infantry-based regiment)
*Siege Infantry (think the Death Korps)
*Light Infantry (lightly equipped skirmishers)
</li>
</li>
<li>
*Reconnaissance Regiment (scouts, obviously)
*Drop Troops (like the Elysian Drop Troops)
*Hunter-Killers (light vehicle specialists who can begin with a Hellhound in the squad)
*Mechanized Infantry (infantry that emphasizes the use of Chimeras)
*Close Assault Regiment (close-quarters fighters and melee experts)
*Mechanized Reconnaissance Regiment (squad gets a free Salamander recon tank)
*Salvage and Recovery Regiment (good at fixing broken vehicles and squads start with an Atlas recovery tank)
</li>
<li>
*Armored Regiment (every squad begins with a Leman Russ)
*Artillery Regiment (a free Basilisk for every squad or a mortar for every two players)
*Guerrilla (sneaky and good at ambushes)
*Grenadiers (better armor, as well as plenty of grenades and grenade launchers)
</li>
<li>
*Rough Rider Regiments (focuses on mounted combat like the Attilan Rough Riders)
<li value="7">
*Super-Heavy Armored Regiment (BANEBLADES!)
</li>
<li>
*Heavy Reconnaissance Regiment (everyone in the squad gets a Sentinel)
*Rapid Reconnaissance Regiment (everyone in the squad gets a Tauros)
</li>
</ol>

=====Regiment Doctrines=====
These come in two types - Training Doctrines and Special Equipment Doctrines.

======Training Doctrines======
<ol>
<li value="2">
*Close Order Drill ("First rank! Fire! Reload! Second rank! Fire! Reload!")
*Hardened Fighters ("FIX BAYONETS! CHAAAAARGE!")
*Snipers ("By the emperor! A triple!")
*Defenders of the Faith ("IMPERATOR VULT!")
</li>
<li>
*Die Hard ("'tis but a flesh wound! Fight on!")
*Iron Discipline ("Every man of us is prepared to march to the gates of hell for you, sir!")
*Favored Foe ("If it bleeds, we can kill it.")
*Sappers ("Break out the nine-70s, boys! We've got work to do.")
*Crusaders ("IMPERIAL ARTILLERY IS GUIDED BY GOD!")
*Defenders of the Omnissiah ("YEAH! Suck on my... SERVITOR PUNCH.")
</li>
<li>
*Anti-Aircraft ("Kip up lads! Ork cabbage crates coming over the briney.")
*Anti-Armor ("Tanks are no match!")
*Demolitionists ("Got a present for you.")
*Infiltrators ("War... has changed.")
*Sharpshooters ("That ork! Range Fifteen hundred yards. Bring him down, would you?")
*Skirmishers ("The cavalry! The cavalry is coming!")
*Survivalists ("Fill your hat with cheese, fill your boots with soup.")
</li>
<li>
*Close Quarter Battle ("Don't fire 'til you see the whites of their eyes!")
*Heavy Lancers ("Ride for ruin, and the red dawn!")
</li>
</ol>

======Special Equipment Doctrines======
#*Ogryn Weapons
#*Reliquary
#
#*Automated Artillery
#*Augmetics
#*Breachers
#*Combat Drugs
#*Servitor Accompaniment
#
#*Bonded to The Machine Cult
#*Chameleonine
#*Cyber-enhanced
#*Demolitions
#*Sabre Batteries
#*Scavengers
#*Warrior Weapons
#*Well Provisioned
#
#*Electro-Vox Warfare
#*Forward Observation
#
#*Cavalry Mounts
#*Covert Strike
#
#*Vanguard

====Universal Standard Kit====
Any remaining points can be spent giving your regiment extra stuff!

Everybody knows that every guardsman gets the same regulation toiletries, utensils, and blankets; however, each regiment has thirty points worth of extra items (with two extra for each unused Regiment Creation point), from a piping hot cup of Recaf to a Refractor Field, to give to each of their guardsman as a part of their Universal Standard Kit. I'm sorry, did I just hear you say I can give a Refractor Field to EVERY guardsman in my regiment? Because that seems a little bananas. That's right kiddies, at the GM's discretion you can almost make your IG regiment almost noblebright by equipping every guardsman in that regiment with three Poor Craftsmanship Disposable Krak Missile Launchers, a salvo of which will fuck the day of just about anything if they don't just explode in your face. Of course, getting the GM to actually agree to it is another story. Also the fact that the weapon's profile is VEHICLE might be a small impediment to most Infantry based regiments (i.e. the vast majority of them since being a vehicle-based regiment means you wouldn't have enough points to get the missiles in the first place).

==Classes==
===Guardsmen===
Guardsmen are normal soldiers and have access to comrades. They start off with double the starting XP of Support Specialties.
*Heavy Gunner - Big, strong, and tough, these Guardsmen wield any heavy weapons that are given to the Squad.
*Medic - Dodging deadly weapons-fire and explosions, these Guardsmen risk everything to keep their squad-mates alive.
*Operator - A bit less leery of the strange technology that the Imperial Guard often employs than their compatriots, these Guardsmen are often entrusted with piloting the Squad’s transport or other vehicles. They also die very, very easily.
*Sergeant - Every Squad needs a strong commander to lead the charge into combat. The Sergeant keeps his men motivated and coordinated through the toughest battles.
*Weapon Specialist - The “average” Guardsman, these men and women perfect the use of the lasgun or other weapons, bringing death to the enemies of the Imperium.

===Specialists===
Most specialists are tied to specific roles. Some do not have access to comrades.
*[[Commissar]] - These men and women enforce morale over the rank-and-file troops with an iron fist and the occasional summary execution. Fortunately, the latter is reserved for Comrades and not other PCs. At least, not without good reason.
*Ministorum Priest - Bringing the light of the God-Emperor to the battlefield, Ministorum Priests inspire the troops around them, not just with their preaching, but by fighting their foes with their massive Evicerator chainswords.
*[[Ogryn]] - These immense Abhumans are built like rocks (and are about as intelligent as rocks too), and act as some of the Imperial Guard’s most effective shock troops and will obey their superiors with doglike devotion. Just don't expect them to get into a Chimera- they're claustrophobic. Try to get your DM to let you buy "ogryn-proof" versions of other weapons at higher levels, or you'll be stuck using the same Mono two-handed weapon for the rest of the game. Also good for a drop regiment so he can use a RPG or autocannon, assuming you can convince him to get into the Valkyrie. Hammer of the Emperor has the rules you need to make any ranged or melee weapon Ogryn-proof, under 'variant equipment patterns'.
**The other way to make an Ogryn is to be a Guardsman from an Ogryn world, allowing you to play an Ogryn with a Guardsmen class.
*[[Ratling]] - Short and rotund, these small abhumans are used as infiltrators and snipers. They're also notorious for their sticky fingers, so don't bring anything valuable with you if one's assigned to your squad.
**The other way to make a Ratling is to be a Guardsman from a Ratling world, allowing you to play a Ratling with a Guardsmen class.
*Sanctioned Psyker - Feared by their enemies and allies alike, the Psykers of the Imperium are capable of bending the roiling power of the Warp to their will - until that power breaks them.
*Storm Trooper - The best part about being an OPERATOR isn't operating operationally. It's showing all those pesky grunts you did, and how bad they're at it in comparison.
*Tech-priest Enginseer - Enginseers wade into battle clad in thick armour, tending to the machine spirits of the Imperial Guard’s many war machines. Gets the most Aptitudes and is able to get his hands on some of the most effective gear the game has to offer before it even starts, so one can make a fair case for this buckethead being the most powerful of the bunch (though the Psyker might mutter some words of dissent into his non-existent beard once he's made it through the first couple of sessions).

===Advanced Specialties===
Added with the Hammer of the Emperor splatbook, advanced specialties allow characters to expand their abilities, or simply add more dakka. Guardsmen may also switch from one Guardsmen class to another (e.g. from Heavy Gunner to Sergeant, though not to Ratling). Alternately, characters can stick to their current class and gain a +5 bonus to a characteristic they have a matching aptitude for. The book suggests making this option available to players once for every 2500 XP their characters earn.
====Guardsmen Advanced Specialties====
*Brawler - A melee fighter, for players who are sick of being told Guardsmen can only beat Fire Warriors in close combat.
*Breacher - An explosives specialist, the recommended class for black Scottish cyclopes. Seriously, they even paraphrased the demoman right under the word "Breacher" on the class page. Great for blowing up any-and-everything.
*Commander - A Sergeant on steroids, Commanders are leaders forged in combat. They can take up to four additional comrades and use them (and the rest of the squad's comrades) to maximum effect, essentially acting as a one-man party.
*Field Chirurgeon - When keeping your squad mates "alive" simply won't cut it, Field Chirurgeons are soldiers who are meant to keep men fighting. Not quite as medically skillful as a true medic, but better than trying to tape your own arm back on.
*Master of Ordnance - This class gives your comrade a mortar and gives you the responsibility of calling targets. Also allows for artillery strikes from orbital ships or basilisks once per encounter. Very useful if you're not in a building or voidship. Just try not to call it down too close to your position.
*Scout - Guardsmen who navigate dangerous terrain, operate where they can't be seen, and act as... well, scouts. Scouts also make for silent knife kills of sentries.
*Sentry - When not being stabbed by scouts, sentries are masters of defense. Effectively a one man heavy weapon squad, sentries dig in and can hold against hordes of enemies that would wipe out a less entrenched position.
*Sharpshooter - Snipers without being Ratlings, Sharpshooters are masters of fighting at extreme ranges.
*Tank Ace - Effectively a Sergeant for tank crews, Tank Aces can turn a Leman Russ into even more of a killing machine.

====Specialist Advanced Specialties====
Do note that while Support Specialists are technically eligible to switch to an advanced specialty as well, Hammer of the Emperor only contained options for Guardsman-class characters. Shield of Humanity changed this by adding the following exclusive options for Tech-Priests, Ogryns, Ratlings, and Priests. Commissars, Storm Troopers, and Sanctioned Psykers can go fuck themselves, apparently.

*Enginseer
**Architectus Magnus - A techpriest treadhead, specializes in driving, repairing and boosting an armoured vehicle.
**Crimson Exemplar - An elite Mechanicus warrior with a shit-ton of integrated weapons. Just in case the regular techpriest wasn't broken enough for you.
**Enginseer Prime - Lazy fucks that fight by proxy through a horde of servitors.
*Ogryn
**Bone'ead - Ogryn sergeant, not really a fine strategist but good enough to impress his fellow lunkheads. Gets to use smaller basic weapons without the Ogryn-Proof trait, making him a very versatile soldier.
**Bulwark - The closest you'll ever come to playing an ogre barbarian in Only War.
**Gun Lugger - The closest you'll ever come to playing the Heavy from Team Fortress in Only War. Gets to use Heavy weapons without the Ogryn-Proof trait, turning him into a one man killing machine with the right weapon.
*Ratling
**Fixer - Obligatory 'face' class, a smug as fuck space halfling with a silver tongue and loads of friends. Pair him up with a Commissar to ensure [[blam|hilarity]].
**Longshooter - Specialized sniper, because if you're playing a ratling you might as well fit the stereotype to an S.
**Trailblazer - Ratling infiltrator and survivalist. By that I of course mean '[[kender|thieving bastard]]'.
*Priest
**Incinerant Priest - [[rip and tear|Scourge and Purge your guts! You are a heretic! That means your guts are unclean! Scourge and Purge!]]
**Praecentor of Penance - Zealous preacher always accompanied by a mob of <s>meatshields</s> penitents in search of absolution.
**Prelate-at-Arms - The classic paladin with charisma out of the ass and intelligence as a dump stat, now in Future Middle Ages flavour.
**Rector Erudite - A scholar that wandered on the battlefield by mistake. As long as he's there, he can help the squad with his formal education and wealth of knowledge.

==Splatbooks==
*''The Game Master's Kit'' - Pretty standard GM kit, comes with a GM screen that has Only War art on one side, and useful bit of info on the other.
*''Final Testament'' - A hundred-ish page mini-campaign adventure splat that takes the IG to a planet named Hevara to bring the planet back into the light of the Imperium, only to fight Orks and traitors for one of the legendary [[Ordinatus]] superweapons. The non-combat sections are at least as dangerous as the combat sections.
*''Hammer of the Emperor'' - Only War's first actual supplement, it has all types of new things for OW players. It includes rules for new regiment creation and mixed regiments, and features some of the finest of the IG, including the Attilan Rough Riders and the Tanith First-and-Only. Also has new advanced specialties and more armoury options.
*''Enemies of the Imperium'' - OW's monster book, lists all the worst enemies of the Imperium that call the Spinward Front their home. Has rules for formations, which enhance squad-level combat, and more resources for characters that have to stand against these beasties. Also has information on how to play as a Severan Dominate regiment, for people who want to play as treasonous filth without going full Chaos in the process.
*''No Surrender'' - Hundred-ish page mini-campaign. Centers around the IG going to take back the Lycurgos star fort from filthy Severan Dominate secessionists. Remember, nothing nice ever happens to the Imperium.
*''Shield of Humanity'' - A player supplement. Adds new options for specialists (Ratlings, Ogryns, Enginseers and Ministorum Priests), as well as new regiment options and advancement options, mostly support specialist advancements.
*''Eleventh Hour'' - small adventure. Released for free for Free RPG day and free download on their website. "I can assure you that almost all units of the Scintillan 17th have been withdrawn from the target zones and we will be ready to commence orbital strikes on the Ork vanguard shortly. I also realize that significant elements of the Catachan 223rd have not reached the safe zone. This was always an anticipated risk, and I think I speak for many here when I say: really, who will miss them?” –Commander-General Pailus, Scintillan 4th Army Group. Are you a bad enough dude to escape the blast zone?

==Your Adventures in Only War==
[[File:DHCharacteristicsTable.png|300px|thumb|right|The characteristics benchmark table from Dark Heresy, which sadly isn't included in Only War.]]
*''The Line Infantry Campaign'' - This is probably the first thing your GM is going to be able to think of while staring lovingly at his IG minis before the group shows up. Expect to stand around volleying fire with enemies for a while until he invariably runs out of ways to describe "and that guy got shot and is dead now". The game will almost invariably quickly evolve into...
*''The Scout Campaign'' - Ah, this is the stuff. Scouting missions are ideal fodder for adventures because they're about as close as a logical military unit (or the Imperial Guard) will get to stock heroics. Just make sure you're reasonably far away from whatever you're scouting before you send the coordinates to that Scintillan Master of Ordinance that seemed to be sneering at you all through the briefing.
*''The Light Infantry Campaign'' - This is a campaign based on being even more lightly armed and armored, and marching around a lot, with possibility of being misused in any other type of campaign, be it scout, siege (good for reenacting Hamburger Hill) etc. Starting in the scout-ish mode usually makes the most sense. The reduced amount of armor plus some gadgetry can make for some interesting problem solving. While it can be somewhat hard to convince players to actually play it, those that do, ''if'' they survive, usually come out with a great sense of accomplishment.
*''The Armored Campaign'' - You get to drive a Leman Russ. If that concept or the mere structure of the sentence doesn't cause your proverbial meltagun to warm up, why are you playing this? Entertainingly this can rapidly become somehow more tedious than the line infantry campaign because now everyone except the driver is just shooting without even having to think about cover. Luckily there's a lot more variety of things you can tackle while driving the Emperor's Ridged Cock on Treads over foot-slogging. Make sure to name your new chariot something fittingly badass or, failing that, name it after a member of the GM's family for plot protection. In a disturbing yet characteristic turn of events, each squad is only issued one Leman Russ so there's a very good chance some-to-all of your comrades are going to be jogging. For added fun, work your GM on the cohesion rules until you have comrades throwing themselves in front of small arms fire to protect the paint job. Just don't squander all the little buggers because you will eventually end up having to get out of it for some stupid bunker assault. It's like a law or something.
*''The Roughrider Campaign'' - Pretty much the armored campaign with slightly more places you can bring your gimmick. The rulebook that added roughriders also added rules for riding a grox into battle and the chance to ride a lizard-cow in the name of the Emperor should not be squandered. Bring a pair of coconut halves for a joke that the GM will find funny once and infuriating forever after.
*''The Siege Campaign'' - The line infantry campaign's identical twin. Stand around, get shot. Every siege campaign ends with rushing a wall to plant a bomb on it. Every. Campaign.
*''The Paratrooper Campaign'' - Literally just drop them into the fight at the beginning of the campaign and use it as an excuse for why they can't get anything bigger than a lasgun. Be prepared for arguments over how much cybernetics weigh, and whether or not Sentinels use the same grav-chute units as Guardsmen.
*''The Mechanized Campaign'' - Your best bet for a campaign with some variety. Use the chimera or other transport to jump from setpiece to setpiece and let your players get the occasional enjoyment of an armored campaign by crashing through walls and using mounted weaponry. You can spontaneously move them from offense to defense, defense to raiding, and raiding to sieging all within the space of a single session if you want. If you get tired of the PCs running the chimera through walls or decide you want them to actually clear the building rather than just ventilating it with the mounted autocannon, just have a landmine destroy one of the treads and make'em walk.

==See Also==
*[http://goo.gl/FRe86H Character Folio] - Keep track of all your shiz, yo
* [http://www.mediafire.com/file/es0mi94ujboyc6a/Trisdekan_Primer_1.5.pdf/file] - A splatbook made by a fa/tg/uy. Includes rules for bagpipers, greedy merchants, Psyker, Stormtrooper and Commissar variants, gas warfare, and expanded chargen and gear options.
*[[All Guardsmen Party|The All Guardsmen Party]] - A storytime which starts with an impressive Only War session
*[https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCm9WFeqTgvRvyRoGD8jVFVA? Music of 40k], a YouTube channel with curated grimdark music for your gaming pleasure.

{{40k-FFG}}

Abhuman

2018-08-15T09:27:42Z

2001:8003:3895:3A00:35BC:13AB:9433:31A2: /* Squats */

[[File:Sharkabs.jpg|300px|thumb|right|They call them "Ab"humans for a reason.]]

'''Abhuman''' (from ''ab-'', "of, from, away from," ''human'') is a term used in the [[Imperium of Man]] to refer to a stable-breeding subspecies of [[humanity]]. Although their physiology and mentality would be so different that they should technically be classified as a whole different species, all together. Officially, they are not considered [[mutant]]s by virtue of their breed stability, but they are generally not treated the same way as "normal" humans. Civilian abhumans are almost always an underclass on other worlds, and when [[Imperial Guard]] regiments are raised from abhuman worlds as part of the Imperial Tithe they tend to be broken up into individual companies, platoons, or squads that are then attached to other regiments as auxiliary troops. Though, this is usually because most abhumans that qualify for Guard service are either [[ogryn|too stupid]], [[Beastmen (40k)|too undisciplined]], [[ratling|too specialized]], or aren't numerous enough to maintain their own independent regiments.

So far as is known, none of the abhuman strains below are compatible with [[Space Marine]] implants, while all are compatible with the Psyker gene. Space Marines themselves are considered dubiously human in some circles, but since they don't breed,their inhumanity is the result of postnatal modifications, and they're all 7 foot tall killing machines that carry automatic grenade launchers, they don't count as abhumans.

== Origins ==
Humanity's characteristics are influenced by the conditions in which it grew up, including gravity, climate, and diet. If a population were isolated in a different environment for a long enough time, their distant descendants would be adapted to those new conditions.

During the [[Dark Age of Technology]], humanity spread to the stars, first with slower-than-light colony ships, and then with [[Warp]] drives after the discovery of the [[Navigator]]s. Some of their destination planets were very different from Earth, and when humanity entered the [[Age of Strife]], the inhabitants of these worlds were cut off from other colonies; when contact was restored during the [[Great Crusade]] (or even later), their gene pools had diverged so far from the baseline that they could almost be classified as separate species. The Imperium spared them, though, because while they were clearly not pure humans, they were useful and no more prone to mutation than any other human. As humanity had ready access to genetic engineering in that era, it can be difficult to distinguish natural evolution from artificial enhancement in many cases, as Games Workshop does not usually reveal the necessary details.

The Horus Heresy novels mentioned that even during the high point of abhuman tolerance, formerly human populations have been purged due to achieving certain (high) levels of genetic "deviancy". The natives of Davin were shaggy creatures that were close to it, though Chaos may have had a hand in that, unbeknown to the Imperials.

Abhumans can be loosely categorized by the nature of their origin.

==Definitely Artificial==

These abhumans are definitively known to have been manufactured at some point. In the case of the Afriel Strain and Gland War Veterans, though, their actual status as true abhumans is a bit iffy, as it's unclear just how many of their augmented traits (if any) are genetically transferrable, and their populations are closer to (dwindling) engineered batches rather than self-sustaining breeds.

=== [[Navigator]]s ===
''Homo navigo''

Navigators are a three-eyed, specialized group of psykers that helps guide Imperial Ships through the Warp (in fact, they were developed to enable Warp travel); although essentially vital for the Imperium's survival, some radical groups in the Imperium declare them to be heretical mutants. These guys are so different from the mainstream human, that they are actually classified as another species of the Human genus, and not a human subspecies, hence their scientific name. They also get their own house in the Houses of Terra within the Terran Administratum, which provides a large modicum of independent political clout within the Imperium and prevents them from being sacrificed to the Golden Throne.

Navigators are never any other kind of psyker (including being a [[Blank]]).

=== [[Afriel Strain]]s ===
''Homo sapiens superior'' (Presumed)

Afriel Strains were the byproduct of the Imperium trying to create the <u>[[Mary Sue|'Ultimate Human']]</u> via a shadowy experimental process which used genetic material from a number of the Imperium's greatest heroes to, [[Fabius Bile|in effect, make clones of them.]] While this may sound [[Awesome]] in theory, the Strains themselves...[[Lamenters|seem to suffer a severe case of bad luck.]] The amount of genetic tempering has effectively made the Afriel Strain a new sub-species of human. Whether they are allowed to do their [[/d/|'business']] and see whether the genes can pass on is unknown.

Despite this, the Afriel Strain project is still approved by the Imperium, by and large, and is still undergoing improvements to fix the...issue.

=== [[Gland War Veteran]]s ===
''Homo sapiens tyranicavenatorus'' (Presumed)

Similar to the Afriel Strains, Gland War Veterans were humans that underwent severe genetic tempering to effectively combat and out-adapt the [[Tyranids]]. The term 'Gland War Veterans' is sometimes shortened to Glandies or Gland Warriors; they were made by the [[Mechanicus]] of the [[Magos|Biologis Magi]] in order to create a new human sub-species to effectively kill Tyranids without needing to waste more human lives.

While still in its experimental phase, the [[Techpriest|Tech Priests]] in charge are already looking forward in making more of them and further improving on their combat effectiveness.

==Probably Natural==

These abhumans are extremely adapted for one specific world, which is how evolution works; one would expect the [[Dark Age of Technology]] to be capable of far more versatile adaptations. Typically, the only details we are given about them is their planet of origin.

=== [[Felinid]]s ===
''Homo sapiens hirsutus''

Thanks to 6th Edition, Imperial [[catgirl|catgirls]] are canon! They're found only on the planet [[Carlos McConnell]] and we know absolutely nothing about them whatsoever... Which is quite disappointing really. Judging by the Latin name, they are likely [[furry|furries]].

=== Troths ===
''Homo sapiens verdantus''

Only found on the world of [[Verdant]]; no other details known other than some claiming that they may be [[Wood Elves (Warhammer Fantasy)|plant people.]]

=== Neandors ===
''Homo sapiens hyannothus''

Only found on the world of [[Hyannoth IV]]; no other details known other than their names, which maybe a blatant reference to the extinct Neanderthals and thus, are basically space cavemen.

=== [[Scalies]] ===
''Homo sauromimus'' (Presumed)

Scalies are what happens when you mix an Ogryn with a Crocodile and launch the abomination down the deepest toilet hole. They often populate the underhive of Hive Worlds and are frequent bodyguards of [[Scavvies]] which are just poor hobos. They are so genetically unstable that their vox boxes have essentially twisted beyond proper human speech, only communicating via grunts or growls. Seriously, they are so far from the norm that they barely register as human, let alone a separate genetic caste.

They are like Killer Croc from Batman. Each of them can regenerate their limbs like a reptile if it is chopped off. They aren't fielded by the Imperial Guard due to their inability to effectively communicate and somewhat heretical mutations.

While they are found on many, distinct planets, they are only found in Hives, all of whom probably produce very similar waste, which the Scalies live in; combined with their ''lack'' of "stability" (i.e. having Scalies from different planets reliably breed true), they are what one would expect of natural evolution in an artificially similar environment.

==Probably Artificial==

These abhumans are adapted for a wide variety of worlds, and, critically, were found on multiple, distinct worlds; as evolution has an astronomically poor chance of producing results like this, odds are far better that the native population, in order to deal with problems brought about by the [[Age of Strife]], genetically tampered with themselves to survive, explaining why populations on similar but distant worlds would arrive at identical (or very similar) solutions.

=== Longshanks ===
''Homo sapiens longatus''

Longshanks are adapted for very low or zero gravity, such as would be expected on a damaged [[Imperial Navy|voidship]]. In appearance, the Longshanks are [[Indrick Boreale|bald]] with very pronounced eyes and have unnaturally long legs, when compared with baseline humans. May be an entire race of gingers if their name is any indication. Recently reappeared in the canon to be taken captive by orks and then summarily executed by their space marine rescuers for being mutants.

=== [[Ogryn]] ===
''Homo sapiens gigantus'' (sapiens being used in the loosest sense of the word) [[File:40k_ogryn.jpg|144px|thumb|right|Ogryn]]

Ogryn are transparently based on the archetypal fantasy [[ogre]]: big, strong, and dumb. They are useful as [[Imperial Guard]] shock troops because they are big enough to wreck the enemy and dumb enough to charge on command. They are resolutely loyal to their immediate superior officer, but this also makes it extremely easy to turn them to serving Chaos, as they will perform any command given to them if their commanders are persuasive enough, though their childlike faith in the God Emperor makes outright corrupting them harder.

Ogryn hail from high gravity worlds, where their large size is a major limiting factor (smaller creatures are much, much better at lifting more weight relative to their own, and everything is heavier on a high-gravity planet, including an organism's own body). As even a relatively small amount of time to genetically drift would realistically cause them to [[Ratling|shrink]] due to extreme selection for minimizing height and become more intelligent, the implication is that someone or [[Games Workshop|some thing]] (such as the guard population or planetary AI) has been inducing their large size and low intelligence [[grimdark|to help keep them contained]]. Their adaptations make them naturally suitable for cold, low-gravity worlds, although their low intelligence makes them unlikely to thrive in any environment where they are responsible for feeding, sheltering, and/or clothing themselves.

=== [[Ratling]]s ===
''Homo sapiens minimus''

Ratlings used to be space [[halfling]]s, but the latest edition miniatures give them hairy bare feet, making them look more like space [[hobbits]] (though both archetypes have a fair amount of overlap). They are also noted kleptomaniacs, so they've got some space [[kender]] in them, too. Their good eyesight and small size make them useful as snipers, but they are otherwise useless in a fight and their personal characteristics make them less than endearing to [[Imperial Guard]] leadership, though the Guardsmen themselves usually don't mind. Many Guarsdmen are perfectly fine with trading with Ratlings for some [[Dakka|special equipment]] or extra rations, and they're well-known as the sorts of field cooks that can make three old rats, a handful of sawdust, and a stolen muddy boot taste downright '''edible'''. Also, they tend to [[Slaanesh|shag like bunnies]].

Taken together, their adaptations make them excellent at surviving on hot, high-gravity worlds with scarce access to food, particularly a damaged [[Imperial Navy|voidship]], where they would also be adapted to tight living quarters.

=== [[Squat]]s ===
''Homo sapiens rotundus''

Squats grew up on high-gravity mineral-rich worlds near the core of the galaxy, and became adapted to be short, robustly built, and adept miners. If this sounds familiar, it's because they were intentionally designed to be the space-equivalent of [[Dwarfs (Warhammer Fantasy Battle)|Dwarfs]] from [[Warhammer Fantasy Battle]].

They were introduced in the [[Rogue Trader (Sourcebook)|First Edition]] of [[Warhammer 40,000]] as a separate army to the various Imperial forces (being fiercely independent), and were mentioned sparingly thereafter, until they were written out of the background (hence the term "squatted"), but the [[Warhammer 40,000 6th edition|sixth edition]] rulebook has written them back in again and in Necromunda they actual have a model.

They are morphologically very similar to Ratlings but have the inferior eyesight one would expect of a race adapted to low-light and/or interior conditions (where nothing to be looked at is ever very far away), as well as the increased [[Catachan Jungle Fighters|musculature]] and robustness to be expected of an environment harsher than Terra. Where Squats seem to be more adapted to hunting and gathering, Ratlings are more adapted to farming.

=== [[Nightsider]]s ===
''Homo sapiens nocturnus'' (Presumed)

Nightsiders are abhumans adapted to live in the dark; not much else is known about them. They may have any of the adaptations one might expect in a low-light environment, such as [[Anime|overly large eyes]] to gather as much light as possible or vestigial eyes that have given up on sight altogether, and/or enhanced alternative senses to cope, such as sonar. As almost all dark environments are also cold, odds are very good they have some solution for this as well although this could be anything from thick, [[Nurgle||insulating fat]] and/or hair to having natural access to the Psyker discipline of Pyromancy, similar to how Navigators are stable psykers.

=== Pelagers ===
''Homo sapiens oceanus''

Abhumans adapted for Ocean Worlds; possibly an attempt to bring back the [[Saharduin]], like the Demiurg are an attempt to bring back the [[Squats]].

==Unknown==

=== [[Beastmen (40k)|Beastmen]] ===
''Homo sapiens variatus''

Beastmen are on their way to being declared [[mutant]]s; as it is, the [[Adeptus Arbites]] has basically declared them an underclass, preventing them from traveling to most planets and excluding them from the [[Imperial Guard]] unless they're willing to be cannon fodder- something which many of them view as their chance to atone for the [[Grimdark|crime of being born as mutants]]. This will probably be for the best, since their [[Warhammer Fantasy Battle]] counterparts are one of the major parts of the armies of [[Chaos]], but one wonders if the 40K beastmen would be less likely to fall to Chaos if the Imperium made them feel just a little welcome.

All Beastmen which have not been mutated by Chaos are morphologically similar, having a basic human body type modified to have the head and lower legs of a [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bovidae cloven-hoofed, ruminant mammal from Earth]; one can assume they also possess internal changes, such as a 4-chambered stomach. However, they exhibit widespread diversity within that category, leading to their common consideration of being [[mutant]]s. As these adaptations "merely" adapt the organism to being better at running and jumping while sacrificing proficiency at climbing and being able to digest cellulose, but Beastmen are found on many worlds throughout the Imperium, they would seem to be artificial if not for the fact that one would expect far better of the [[Dark Age of Technology]] than, for example, needing to include horns in order to accomplish digesting grass. Their most likely origin is being artificial but not for the standard reason (like Ogryn seem to be), in particular due to possible interference by nonhumans, such as [[Chaos]] or [[Dark Eldar]], both of whom are notorious for genetically tampering with human populations for their [[Troll|own ends]].

== DIY Abhumans ==
Rather surprisingly (considering how much creative freedom 40k typically offers), options for making your own abhuman breeds are actually quite limited, almost to the point of hardly being allowed at all. To recap, in the Imperium there are only 73 officially recognized abhuman breeds. 46 of those are declared extinct, and 12 more are believed extinct due to lack of contact. Only 15 abhuman breeds are officially alive and active in the Imperium of 40k, and 12 of those are named: Navigators, Beastmen, Ogryn, Ratlings, Squats, Nightsiders, Troths, Longshanks, Pelagers, Felinids, Scalies, and Neandors. That leaves ''only 3'' officially open slots for DIY abhumans.

Now, you could quibble on which breeds belong where on the list, or even if some should or shouldn't be on it all, and how many free slots there actually are, but the end result still leaves little to no wiggle room for converters and fan-fluff writers that want to make their own thing while sticking to the lore.

Then again, you could always just say "fuck it" and go ahead with a fan-creation, regardless of the official numbers, on the assumption that the [[Games Workshop|administratum]] just got their paperwork wrong. [[Squats|It's not like that hasn't happened before]].

{{Imperium}}
{{Template:Important Species in 40k}}
[[Category:Warhammer 40,000]][[Category:Imperial]]

Nork Deddog

2018-08-15T09:25:49Z

2001:8003:3895:3A00:35BC:13AB:9433:31A2:

[[File:99120105053 NorkDeddog360.jpg|300xpx|thumb|Nork's [[skub|new]] model]]Nork Deddog is an [[Ogryn]] and slab o' sweaty meat par excellence in the [[Imperial Guard]] who has enhanced brain and muscles and the loyalty of a [[Commissar]] (read: if he just BLAM!s Nork's officer, Nork immediately reduces the Commissar to paste). He can: write his name ("N is fer Nork"), count up to four, and even talk in full sentences. Considering most other [[Ogryn|Ogryns]] have an IQ rivalling that of a wet puddle, that's a real feat. He was taken out of combat to have his brain enhanced MOAR and trained with a special unit. He now works for Colonel Greiss of the 2nd Catachan as his bodyguard. Nork has saved Greiss's ass many times and has earned a LOT of shiny medals... A bling truly not undeserved, as this freak will literally throw himself on an enemy grenade (and on the poor soul who threw it) to save the life of Greiss -without even noticing his wounds afterward. Fluffwise, this guy is the absolute, perfect meatshield. What else, except that he can Instant Kill an [[Ork]] Big Boss [[Fist of the North Star|WITH A SINGLE HEADBUTT]]!

==On the Tabletop==
Nork Deddog is the ultimate meatshield. He autopasses Look out Sir! attempts (a godsend against the new Assassins dataslate since Assassins no longer ignore LOS), has Hammer of Wrath, grants the Command Squad Stubborn, comes with the typical Ripper Gun, Carapace Armor, and Feel No Pain combined with T5. The only downside to all of this is that he's pretty pricey, he costs more than a barebones Command Squad. Take Nork if survival for your Commander is a top priority. His Rippergun and Hammer of Wrath hits are very nice, but his primary purpose is a meatshield. Which, fluffwise, he doesn't mind!
If you're feeling ballsy/expensive take him with Straken. Yeowch.

==Quotations==
*"Da Sergeant Major asked me what my job was an' [[Chris-Chan|I said it was to, uh,]] do what I was told. He said I was a [[Creed|genius]] and gave me another medal. I likes da Imperial Guard!"
*"Da medikit was in da carrier, surr." - Nork, explaining why he hauled a wrecked Chimera out of a ravine and all the way across a battlefield to his wounded sharge.

==Writefaggotry!==
{{story}}

'''Why having a high leadership is important for Imperial Guard Orders'''

Jarran Kell rolled in order to hide beneath the covers of the bushes, outside of the measured range of the traitors' multilaser. The traitorous fleeing captain's chimera was trying to gun him down with his men, so as to free the way just long enough so that they could escape the ambush. On the other side of the path, 30m or so, the best Ogryn in the galaxy had started his progression to join his commanding officer, hidden behind a tree near Kell. Ursakar E. Creed, the Castellan of Cadia, was overlooking the situation with a superhuman focus. Screaming, the deserting captain was ordering the pilot of his chimera to go backward... he was desperate to escape the encounter. Luckily enough, the number of special characters on the loyalist side was granting the traitors some chances to escape better than if they had brought a shitload of squads with lascanon and melta bombs; but even so, he was too affraid to actually try to take Creed's head. The documents he was escaping with, after all, were his top priority.

"Kell!" The Castellan called, "Deddog. Tree. Uproot. Now!"

"Sir, yes Sir!" answered before shouting to Nork the Castellan's orders. "NORK! OPERATION UPROOTING: POINT TWO FOUR GOLF ALPHA XRAY HEIGHT YANKEE TWO !! GO!GO!GO!!!"

That Ogryn was smart, and he knew his job well: to obey orders. And as such, he renounce joining Creed and Kell, and instead ran with all his might to tackle the big tree, bigger than a Space Marine's neck; and weighting on it with all his strength; and faster than how much time you need to write it, Deddog broke it in twain, causing the tree to fall before the chimera had time to pass and causing the ground to tremble even more so than with the Ogryn's race.

After the embush had ended, the Cadian officer was rallying his troops.

"You did good job there, Nork, buddy. You accomplished your job with zeal & selflesness," praised Jarran Kell with patience and benevolence. "But, the next time... try to make the tree fall on the right side: the one where the road is."

The Ogryn frowned, puzzled.

"On the right side...?"

Indeed, that was because he made the tree fall on the RIGHT side, not on the LEFT one. Nork was not dumb enough to not know the difference between his right and left sides; and so, he was suspiscious, thinking that maybe his friend was trying to pull a joke.

"Yep, the right side; the good side. The one where the ennemy's vehicle is trying to go in order to flee.

"... Where they are trying to flee...? Ah!" Everything was becoming clearer.

"Yes!" He nodded, seeing the bright flash of understanding in the Ogryn's eyes. "They were deserters, and we didn't want them to desert."

And indeed, both the cigar comping mouth and the gunslinging fist of Creed, the taciturn general, were clenched strongly; his bust was slightly leaning forward; and his face was reddened by the fast palpitations and circulation of his blood into his whole body, while the nerves on his face # appeared clearly on his skin.

"Ah... Oky, Kell, surr."

"You understood everything?"

"Surr, yeahss surr."

"Smart one," Kell praised him while giving a friendly accolade on his massive shoulder. Nork gave him a wide and bright smile.

Kell turned to face Creed.

"Sir, is there any need to be angry? Did you not Tacical Geniused a reaver titan o'er there...?"

Yes... it was the back up plan. But Creed didn't want to use it in the first place.

"Even if these are important data on eldar biology, can't we just have some magos cut up some space elf corpse and remake it or something...?"

Of course not. Those were highly confidential, rare type of Slaaneshi fap materials. Without invulnerable save or anything like that, it was impossible for the data to survive super-heavy fire power.

{{IG-Characters}}

Ogryn

2018-08-15T09:05:16Z

2001:8003:3895:3A00:35BC:13AB:9433:31A2: /* Bullgryns */

[[File:20111023161556!Ogryn_&_Ripper_Gun.jpg|300px|thumb|right|Those big, lovable and huggable Ogryns]]
Back in the days before the [[Age of Strife]], humanity had whole planets dedicated to housing criminals, a fair number of them were barely habitable heavy gravity worlds (called scientifically "Super Earths") for some reason. Then the [[Eldar]] started creating Slaanesh and [[Age of Strife|society fell apart]] and these prisons were left isolated. The convicts then got out as things broke down and proceeded to go nuts in orgies of violence and sex. For the next few thousand years these louts ate food and drank water and moonshine with large amounts of mercury and lead in them, were subject to unhealthy doses of radiation, engaged in plenty of incest, and leadership (and the ability to acquire mates and spread one's genes which goes with it) was determined by who was the best at beating others with lead pipes. As no Ogryn has ever been recorded that was intelligent enough to farm or hunt, let alone distill, exactly where their food, water, and moonshine came from is an open question. By the time the [[Emperor]] got around to reunifying human civilization, there were dozens of planets full of dim-witted, durable, strong, three-meter tall dudes called Ogryn, in defiance of both evolution's tendency to diverge and how it tends to solve problems related to gravity (whales are big and heavy because they don't need to fight as much gravity - much bigger and heavier than flying birds, for whom gravity is a constant concern).

==Ogryns in the Imperium==
[[File:99120105053_Bullgryns1360.jpg|200px|left|thumb|Bullgryns. [[Rage|Despite the name, it is still best to not wave a red flag next to him.]]]]
Though the [[Imperium of Man]] typically destroys anything too divergent from the human form, the Ogryns' DNA were considered stable enough to classify as a new evolution, or [[Abhuman]]. The [[Imperial Guard]] has been using Ogryn as heavy shock troopers for millennia, helped by the Ogryns' massive strength, iron-hard loyalty to the Emperor, and literal mindlessness. Perhaps the most appealing aspect of commanding Ogryn is that their loyalty to the Emperor of Mankind is firmer than that of a [[Space Marine]]. The Ogryns believe that the Emperor has personally issued them every order ''(being worked down from the chain of command)'' and as a result they will follow orders without question to the best of their ability. Technically this is already Imperial Guard policy to some degree, but only Ogryns actually believe it's literally true. The only reason that they aren't used even more is that they don't take well to transports - on top of their size, they have a tendency to get claustrophobic and aren't likely to willingly enter cramped, dark spaces (e.g. the inside of a [[Chimera]]).
[[File:Bullgryns.jpg|300px|thumb|right|Yes, those are tank treads.]]
Ogryns are usually used as close quarters soldiers; due to their physical dimensions it is very difficult for Ogryns operate human-sized weapons and equipment, even if they could understand it's operation, and are prone to becoming over enthusiastic or frustrated with equipment they are given, meaning that they tend to use objects in a brutal manner. Therefore they are issued heavily built, automatic shotguns that are essentially "Ogryn-Proof" and can be used as a club if the Ogryn ever runs out of ammunition, as well as oversized grenades. Since they are stronger they can also wear more armor than a regular human guardsman, but, this being the Imperium, under no circumstances are they given sophisticated or expensive equipment, let alone [[Power weapon#Power Fist|the sort of close combat weaponry they would excel with]]. While your average guardsman may not be too hot in hand to hand combat with an [[Ork]], an Ogryn can crush Orks into pulp and their feats of strength typically surpass even those of Space Marines, in game terms their strength, toughness, and wounds [[Awesome|stats are all on par]] with members of the [[Adeptus Custodes]].

Particularly intelligent Ogryn are given genetic enhancements called '''B'''io '''O'''gryn '''N'''eural '''E'''nhancement (BONE) and become BONE'EADs, effectively squad sergeants. These enhancements make the Ogryns even more intelligent, being able to remember names, count on their fingers and make tactical decisions beyond "KILL IT!". Thankfully, other Ogryns accustomise to them quite easily, and rather than having to force their way into command by beating up the alpha male of the pack, other Ogryns will follow the BONE'EADS because "they know best". Hilariously, some Bone'eads take the title to heart, and use the metal plated cybernetic implants as an improvised weapon; thankfully, as with all things made for Ogryn, the implants are manufactured to take a bashing.

===Bullgryns===
Some Ogryns are instead given Ogryn-sized tower shields made from barricade walls and custom-built carapace armor which incorporates loose tank tracks; known as "Bullgryns" (copyrightable shorthand for bulwark ogryns), these Ogryns serve as living, mobile bunker walls on the battlefield. The idea is that all of that armor, behind a huge-ass shield designed to be interlocked with the neighboring shields, and with a big strong Ogryn inside of it, will soak up bullets, lasers, and other incoming nastiness that might hit more important things. It's a pretty sound theory. Each Bullgryn also carries an arm-mounted grenade launcher for fighting back with (though, being Ogryn-sized, it performs more like a handheld ''mortar''). Instead of slabshields and grenade gauntlets, some Bullgryns are instead issued with power mauls and deflector bucklers (which generate invulnerable saves in the form of force fields) that double up as a makeshift bludgeon; <s>this being the Imperium, no Bullgryn is ever issued a maul and a slabshield,</s> as of 8e Bullgryns may now be equipped with slabshields and mauls, slabshields and grenade gauntlets, deflector bucklers and mauls, or bucklers and gauntlets; however they may not take two mauls at once. And issuing both a slabshield and a deflector buckler to the guy whose only job is to stay alive while getting shot is [[heresy]], while issuing a Grenadier Gauntlet and Maul before telling them to go ham is also [[heresy]].

===Ogryn Charonites===
[[File:Ogryn_Charonites.jpg|300px|right|thumb|By the [[Emprah]]...this [[Heresy]]...]]
Ogryn Charonites are a type of heavy assault Ogryn troops used by the Solar Auxilia during the [[Great Crusade]] and [[Horus Heresy]]. Charonite squads have been biochemically and cybernetically altered using ancient technologies, [[Heresy|possibly of xenos origin,]] that have been deemed unholy by the Adeptus Mechanicus. Because of this they are highly controversial among both the [[Inquisition]] and [[Mechanicus]] as they thread a fine line between loyalty and out right [[Heresy]]. With the Ogryns' hands and forearms replaced by a brutal collection of mechanisms known as Charonite claws, which amplify their already fearsome strength, Ogryn Charonite squads can rip through armor plating with ease, devastating their foes in the brutal confines of boarding actions.

===Ogryn Formations===
Generally speaking, Ogryns are Auxilia forces to the Imperial Guard; having regiments on paper, but usually getting broken up and assigned to other Guard regiments on a squad-by-squad basis. But the Imperium ''does'' occasionally utilize entire formations of Ogryns: On the smaller scale, a '''Rampant Detachment''' is a platoon-sized formation of Bulgryns which can be trusted to hold the line and break up enemy assaults and is assigned its own dedicated junior officer to command them.

Other detachments that get deployed from place to place include "Abhuman Penal Suppression Detachments", which is a long-winded way of saying prison wardens or riot police. For example, the 51st detachment is made up of those Ogryns deemed "unfit" for frontline duties ''(either by injury or due to lack of intelligence even by Ogryn standards)'', and have been assigned positions on Imperial Naval vessels keeping troublemakers in line. The practice has since been taken up across other vessels and Imperial Guard bases where they have been used to quell riots among the local populations.

At the larger end of the scale, whole Regiments of Ogryns have been deployed in their entirety, with the '''Monglor Auxilia''' being deployed to [[Armageddon]], which comparatively were considered "less brutal" than the Ogryns from '''Krourk''', though only one Monglor regiment remains in active service since the [[Eldar]] caused their homeworld to turn renegade.

One other regiment includes the [[Only War|Orcan Stonecrushers]] which were enthusiastically integrated into the Imperium, but since their world had such oppressively high gravity it was turned into a Penal World and the Ogryns were permitted to be the custodians.

==Additional Material==
[[Gav and Bob]] - A story about some of the best Ogryns that gave their lives for the Emprah.

==See Also==
*[[Nork Deddog]] - THE most famous of Ogryns

{{Template:Imperial-Guard}}
[[Category:Warhammer 40,000]]
[[Category:Imperial]]
{{Template:Imperium}}

Knights Inductor

2018-08-15T08:39:09Z

2001:8003:3895:3A00:35BC:13AB:9433:31A2: Undo revision 511691 by 2A02:587:3A12:6900:997:67E1:242F:3AD (talk)

{{Infobox Spess Mahreen Chapter
|Name = Knights Inductor
|Heraldry = [[Image:Knights_Inductor_pauldron_left.png|center|140px]]
|Number = 314
|Battle Cry = Ex Tenebra Lux
|Founding = [[21st Founding| 21st (ca. M36)]]
|Successors of = [[CLASSIFIED]]
|Successor Chapters = None
|Chapter Master = Lord Arbiter Zakis Randi
|Primarch = [[CLASSIFIED]]
|Homeworld = [[Aprior]]
|Specialty = Conflict Resolution, Covert Warfare
|Strength = ~800 (previously over ~2000)
|Allegiance = [[Imperium]]
|Colours = Azure on Ceramite, Adaptive Camouflage
}}
{{Topquote|Always forgive your enemies; nothing annoys them so much.|Oscar Wilde}}
The '''Knights Inductor''' chapter is a fairly detailed attempt to create a viable chapter of [[Reasonable Marines]]. The first tale of the Knights Inductor was penned by an Anon known only as LongPoster, telling the story of one Inquisitor Rightina Immam and her visit to the Aprior Sector, hoping to investigate them for [[heresy]]. She found it in large quantities. They've since taken on a bit of a life of their own (though not to the extent of, say, the [[Angry Marines]]), with other writers chiming in and a completed [[Codex - Knights Inductor|fandex]]. Unfortunately, the tale was left unfinished, and the Knights Inductor were all but forgotten, until another Anon, creatively calling himself "Not LongPoster," continued their story. However due to this, the Chapter has attracted no small amount of controversy, especially with the "Return of the Reasonable Marines" tale which included a large number of improbable and heretical elements. It would be wise to read such stories with a large amount of skepticism, as their contents have almost certainly either been falsified or exaggerated by untoward elements of the Inquisition.

==Index Astartes: Knights Inductor==

===Origins===
''"Our progenitors despised us, and our leadership didn't understand us. We were lost, until Captain Norys helped us find ourselves."'' - Chapter Master Zakis Randi

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[CONTENT REDACTED: Purged by Inquisitorial Order, Contents May Prove To Be Inaccurate
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Of all of the Space Marine Chapters, none are so legendary in their hatred of the enemies of Man as the [[Desert Fangs]], now known only as the "[[Angry Marines]]" since the [[Horus Heresy]]. The Angry Marines were also renowned for their resilience against the corruptions of [[Chaos]]. This was believed to be their rage shielding them from Chaos' whispers, but in M36, a heretical Magos Biologis by the name of Jakobus Hamundr discovered ancient records on the Angry Marines' [[gene-seed]]. The information was incomplete, but it whispered that the [[Rachnus Rageous|Primarch of the Second Legion]] was potentially a Null of phenomenal power, and that his anti-psychic nature had imprinted itself on his Legion's gene-seed. The effect had been suppressed for unclear reasons, and supplemented with the burning hatred which earned the Angry Marines their name. Hamundr was convinced that he could restore it in order to create a Chapter with the same if not greater Warp-resistance as the Angry Marines, but without the instability of the Angry Marines' berserk rage. The Adeptus Indignatus would not cooperate with a successor less angry than they, so Hamundr had to ask the [[Doom Eagles]] to lend a leadership team to instill a proper [[Codex Astartes|Codex-compliant]] nature into the inductees of the new chapter. Hamundr shortly disappeared after the gene-seed's creation, supposedly silenced by the Inquisition, though for unknown reasons the gene-seed made it to the Founding.

The next Founding turned out to be the [[21st Founding|Cursed 21st]], and Hamundr's plan soon went awry. The Warp-resistance was almost non-existent, with an abnormally high gene-seed rejection rate, especially within those of even the smallest psychic potential, causing them to suffer excruciating soul-pain before eventually expiring. While the Knights were not afflicted by the iconic berserk rage of their progenitors, neither did they exhibit the proper disdain for or hatred of Mankind's enemies; it seemed that the altered gene-seed had failed to carry over the vehement hatred that the Space Marines are so feared and admired for, instead encouraging an implacable if not dour state of mind. Most crucially however, post-implant recruits proved extremely resistant to the mental conditioning used to train inductees in other Chapters in the art of war, greatly increasing the amount of training a recruit had to undergo and leaving the Chapter vulnerable to human fears. The chapter's leadership decided that a crusade would harden the Knights' hearts with the fires of war, and so the Knights Inductor set off for the nearby war-torn world of Kronos VI.

====Crusade on Kronos VI====

Kronos VI was a Hive World home to several munitions manufactora, where the working class had suffered for generations under the yoke of their planetary leadership, until they realized that they outnumbered their rulers by about six orders of magnitude. The Munitorum demanded that order be restored by any means possible, and the standard practice for such situations was that the rebellion be annihilated.

The [[Salamanders]] had also sent a detachment to Kronos VI, under the command of one Captain Carolus Norys. Where the Angry Marines shunned the Knights for their dispassion, and their leadership pushed them in a direction they did not truly desire, Norys gladly took the fledgling Chapter under his wing, and the Knights soon saw him as their [[spiritual liege]]. He instilled in them a sense of guardianship: that their purpose was to protect the [[Imperium]] first, and only to exercise force in the service of that purpose, and even then, to minimize collateral damage while doing so. Rather than destroying the rebellion, the Salamanders and Knights Inductor worked to address the populace's demands for better living conditions and a government more responsive to their grievances, overseeing the revitalization of the primary hive city. Their solution took longer than a simple extermination campaign would have, but it resulted in a stable government, better living conditions for the Kronans, and a more productive, stable world in the long run. The Knights Inductor knew that they had found their purpose at last: to seek troubled systems, repair them, and leave them better off than before.

''For information on what the Knights Inductor did after pacifying Kronos, and other events pertaining to the Knights Inductor and the Aprior Sector, see the [[Aprior Sector Timeline]].''
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The Knight Inductor's origins, despite being relatively recent circa M36 have been shrouded through interference and intrigue. There are some claims to their being descendants of a Founding Legion but out of all the current Founding Chapters none have records pertaining to the Successor Chapter known as the Knights Inductor. Attempts to procure the source of their gene-stock results in Inquisitorial interference. All that is known for sure is that they were part of the [[21st Founding|Cursed 21st]] Founding and had their gene-seed tampered in such a way as to produce a Warp-resistant strain as a counter to Chaos. There are a few Chapters of Adeptus Astartes that are known for Chaos resistance, such as the venerable Grey Knights and the extreme Exorcists, both using differing methods with positive results but never before had the gene-seed been directly modified to do so.

The results were mixed at best. While the average Knights Inductor indeed proved to be more resistant to the wiles of Chaos, they did not show any particularly significant benefits or advantages in engaging the forces of Chaos over the aforementioned Grey Knights and Exorcists. In larger groups they had the potential to stifle the effects of the Warp to an extent but nowhere anywhere near the effectiveness of a Culexus or equivalent Grey Knight force. This mild benefit was matched with a higher than normal rejection rate, particularly within those that exhibited Warp-sensitivity or Psyker potential. The resulting rejection grew all the more excruciating to those who could become Psykers, forcing the Knights Inductor to pre-screen candidates for psychic potential and recruiting them without implantation, depriving the Chapter of regular Librarians. With this as the last straw the Ordos Malleus declared the testing of the Chapter for their use as a dedicated anti-Chaos force a failure.

On top of all this, initiates proved to be equally resistant to hypnotherapy training and typical indoctrination procedures, lengthening the amount of required to train initiates up to combat standards. Without the mental conditioning of Space Marines, they came to be regarded with disdain as pseudo-Marines and their naturally calm and dour state of mind lacking righteous fury as potentially detrimental to their faith in the Emperor. To some in the Inquisition these side-effects weren't enough to deter them from attempting to replicate the Warp-resistance effects but the original research data was already long lost.

====Crusade on Kronos====
After initial testing by the Inquisition of their anti-Warp traits and subsequent declarations as failures in that regard, they were given under the leadership of the [[Doom Eagles]] in order to instill a Codex-compliant nature into the still raw Knight Inductor Chapter. The chapter's leadership decided that a crusade would harden the Knights' hearts with the fires of war, and so the Knights Inductor set off for the nearby war-torn world of Kronos VI.

Kronos VI was a Hive World home to several munitions manufactora, where the working class had suffered for generations under the yoke of their planetary leadership, until they realized that they outnumbered their rulers by about six orders of magnitude. The Munitorum demanded that order be restored by any means possible, and the standard practice for such situations was that the rebellion be annihilated.

The [[Salamanders]] had also sent a detachment to Kronos VI, under the command of one Captain Carolus Norys. Where most Chapters shunned the Knights for their dispassion, and their leadership pushed them in a direction they did not truly desire, Norys gladly took the fledgling Chapter under his wing, and the Knights soon saw him as their [[spiritual liege]]. He instilled in them a sense of guardianship: that their purpose was to protect the [[Imperium]] first, and only to exercise force in the service of that purpose, and even then, to minimize collateral damage while doing so. Rather than destroying the rebellion, the Salamanders and Knights Inductor worked to address the populace's demands for better living conditions and a government more responsive to their grievances, overseeing the revitalization of the primary hive city. Their solution took longer than a simple extermination campaign would have, but it resulted in a stable government, better living conditions for the Kronans, and a more productive, stable world in the long run. The Knights Inductor knew that they had found their purpose at last: to seek troubled systems, repair them, and leave them better off than before.

===Homeworld===

''"The only creature I've ever met with a more callous disregard for life than yours was a [[Dark Eldar]] Archon, and at least he had the courtesy not to proclaim his devotion to virtue while he murdered billions."'' - Chapter Master Jakob Morridus, shortly before executing Canoness Sarah Azaniel

At first, the Knights Inductor were a fleet-based Chapter, having dedicated themselves to repairing the Imperium world by world. Eventually, their crusade took them out to the Eastern Fringe, where the Astronomican's light pushes against the intergalactic calm in the Warp, setting up a great turbulence. In M40, the turbulence erupted into a full Warp Storm, enclosing the sector which the Knights Inductor were pacifying. With no means of leaving, the Knights decided to put down roots and push their skills to their limit in improving the sector.

[[Aprior]] was the most populated system in the sector, and was riven by internal division and external threats, so the Knights decided to improve that system first. They appeared to the fractious Apriori, and offered a deal: cooperate with us, and we will build a [[Noblebright|noble, bright]] future together. The Apriori were skeptical at first, having been disunited for so long, and several factions objected to the idea of unity or cooperation with their former enemies. The Aprior Commandery of the [[Sisters of Battle|Order of the Sacred Rose]] was the most outspoken of these factions, especially when they learned that the Knights Inductor were willing to tolerate trade with [[xenos]] or attempt to rehabilitate heretics in the pursuit of peace. When their objections failed to attract popular support or produce results, they deemed the sector heretical, and sought to put it to the torch, starting with their home system of Marion. The Knights Inductor were able to stop the Sisters on the world of Dvi-Marion by incapacitating the Sisters' orbital assets, trapping them on the ground. The Knights tried and convicted the Sisters of crimes against humanity for the brutal tactics they employed, and offered a choice: use their expertise to help the Apriori, or be executed. The Sororitas who accepted were reformed into the more scholarly and defense-focused Order of Reason's Light, in line with what the Knights Inductor felt was a more reasonable interpretation of the Decree Passive.

Once the Knights extinguished the immediate threat of rebellion and started to implement their social policies, quality of life started to improve for those Apriori who cooperated with them, and support for the Knights grew rapidly. The Apriori banded together and set to work fortifying their world, and then spread, first to nearby stars, and then to the whole sector, driving back the threats of the cosmos and advancing the Knights' social programs as they went. The worlds of the Aprior Sector are varied, but their societies have several common policies dating to this era: citizens are regularly screened for genetic mutation, starting before birth, and extensive public education programs include civil defense training to ensure that all Apriori citizens can contribute to their worlds' defensive efforts.

The Knights Inductor use these programs to identify children who are compatible with their [[gene-seed]] and have the potential for combat aptitude. Because Aprior is largely composed of Civilized Worlds as opposed to Feral or Death Worlds, there is not an easy way to identify which of these children are truly Space Marine material without actually putting them through training, so the Knights simply train them all: when flagged children reach age twelve, their parents are contacted and offered the opportunity to allow their child to go through training. There is no penalty for refusal, but having a child in the Knights Inductor is a high honor, and even those who do not become Knights are skilled enough to excel in the Chapter Staff, the Apriori Armed Forces, or almost any other technical or military career field, so most parents accept.

As the Knights Inductor were the leaders of the fleets which settled the [[Aprior Sector]], they have the option to directly rule every planet therein. They have temporarily exercised this power on worlds in a dire state of emergency, but otherwise, they leave the systems outside of the Aprior Subsector to govern themselves, so long as they meet certain standards of economic viability, self-sufficiency, and protection of the rights of citizens.

===Beliefs===

''"As we proceed in our duties, consider the [[God-Emperor of Mankind|Emperor of Man]]. Despite his genius and continuing honorable courage, he made a number of avoidable mistakes, even from the foundation of the Imperium. Even with the greatest ability, and noblest goals, mistakes happen. Therefore, let us admit to our own errors, that we may refine our ways."'' - Knights Inductor Invocation

Like most [[Space Marine Chapter]]s, the Emperor is not worshiped as a god among the Knights Inductor, but as a man: and even then, although the Knights Inductor believe that he is powerful, worthy of admiration, and in many ways the best that mankind has to offer, they also believe (though they would say that it is not so much "belief" as ''awareness'') that he is not perfect. They are scrupulously careful to avoid blind devotion, because doing so would blind them to their own imperfections. A significant part of the Chaplains' sessions with the Space Marines is spent in reflection, to recognize and learn from their failures and shortcomings and improve going forward; reminding themselves that even the Emperor of Mankind can make mistakes helps keep them humble.

The Knights Inductor's practice of recruiting from the worlds they pacify has given them a personal understanding of and respect for the diversity present in the Imperium, not to mention several millennia of experience in forging a viable alliance out of many disparate members, within and beyond the subsector. They believe, from personal experience, that every Imperial world and citizen is able to contribute to the Imperium and is worth protecting; and that protecting the Imperium, rather than seeking and destroying the Imperium's enemies, is their primary purpose.

===Combat Doctrine===

''"Any Space Marine can apply force and destroy a target. The true measure of a Chapter is how it can achieve victory without force."'' - Captain Roland Darren, Third Company

Knights Inductor [[gene-seed]] makes them steadier but not as quick, relative to other Space Marine Chapters, and they use tactics to play to their strengths. Rather than making [[Rip and tear|high-visibility close-quarters assaults]], they use [[Raptors|camouflage]] and more exotic stealth techniques to mask their deployments and strike from long range, usually with heavy mechanized support thanks to the Aprior Sector's thriving industrial base and growing manufacturing capacity. The Knights Inductor amplify this advantage through advanced electronic and psychological warfare, tricking enemies into reacting to forces which aren't really there, or even forcing them into surrendering in the face of apparently overwhelming opposition. Then, while the enemy is jumping at shadows, they employ surgically-precise strikes to eliminate enemy leadership or destroy enemy linchpins.

The most peculiar "combat doctrines" of the Knights Inductor have to do with their preference to limit or even avoid combat if it is reasonable to do so; they have found that a nonviolent resolution is preferable to a bloody war, and that, by not exterminating the enemy, prisoners taken can supply information and be used as bargaining chips, or even defect entirely. They may also leave a detachment behind after major combat operations are complete to help establish stability, rather than perpetuating needless and wasteful conflict and leaving the locals to clean up the mess by themselves. These practices have earned the Knights Inductor the moniker of "[[Reasonable Marines]]" among Imperial citizens.

Sometimes, this involves [[Heresy|tolerating or cooperating with people]] (human or otherwise) whom more puritanical chapters or Imperial authorities would have [[Exterminatus|exterminated]]; the Knights Inductor (and Apriori in general) are not picky about their allies, so long as they behave. When the encroaching [[Tyranids]] and [[Necrons]] calmed the Warp storms surrounding the Aprior Sector, Inquisitor Rightina Immam was sent to identify any deviations which had developed over the thirteen hundred years of isolation, and she was alarmed to find such tolerance; she immediately called an Inquisitorial Council to examine the Knights and judge them (see Report "[[An Investigation into the Heresy of the Reasonable Marines]]").

Radical [[Inquisitor]]s, exemplified by Johannes Krieger of the [[Ordo Hereticus]], advocated cautious acceptance of the Knights Inductor. Krieger acknowledged their deviations, but argued that their experience made them useful to have in the Imperium, and that their Warp-resistance and, in extreme cases, Warp-nullifying effect is especially valuable to the Inquisition. As a Recongregator, he also suggested to his like-minded colleagues that some "deviations" might be put to good use in the Imperium, such the Apriori genetic screening and public education policies. On the other hand, the more Puritanical Inquisitors, led by staunch Monodominant Inquisitor Lord Avius Damnos, claimed that no utility can justify the degree of Apriori deviation. He and his colleagues in the [[Ordo Malleus]] tried to rouse the Imperium in a Crusade against the Aprior Sector.

The Radicals gained the upper hand, if only through bureaucratic inertia: the Aprior Sector did not appear to be threatening enough to expend the effort to initiate a Crusade and the costs of eliminating an experienced and firmly-entrenched foe, especially when more immediate threats are always all around, though Inquisitor Rightina was dispatched to monitor the Aprior Sector as a concession to the Puritans.

====Teron I====

Captain Darren has earned the honorific "Master of the Deal" for his successes in defusing conflicts without bloodshed; the "Non-War of Teron I" is one of his more famous accomplishments. When a [[Tau]] strike force claimed to own the Imperial world of Teron I, the local [[Imperial Guard Regiment]]s were provoked to mobilize, which would invite a weightier response from the Tau Empire, and could only escalate from there. A long meat-grinder war was in the making, but cooler heads within the [[Administratum]] realized that the regiments were needed to fight the [[Tyranids]], and that driving out the Tau would leave them dangerously under-strength for such a deployment. Fortunately, Darren's [[Battle Barge]] was in the vicinity, and the Administratum asked him to handle the situation.

Rather than preemptively striking the Tau, as the IG force commander suggested, Darren established a defensive perimeter against a sudden Tau attack, and used some technological trickery to give the appearance of having many more Marines deployed than he actually had on hand. When he engaged the Tau diplomatically, he was able to convince them that the resources required to take the world by force would be better spent colonizing non-Imperial worlds, playing on the fact that the Tau desired expansion more than bloodshed.

In the debriefing session thereafter, Darren was asked what he would have done had he not convinced the Tau to leave without a fight. For his answer, Darren whistled, and twelve [[Terminator]]s deactivated cloaking devices, appearing as if from thin air. After the flustered leadership calmed down, Darren assured them that he was "well prepared for a hostile reception."

====The Glove Comes Off====

A full-out battle fought by the Knights Inductor is always representative of a last resort effort to contain and subdue the enemy before the threat grows too large. For every battle fought in this manner is a dozen more resolved peacefully and with a lot less collateral damage. However there is always a line that can be crossed to cause the Knights to show their true martial strength. Perhaps negotiation wasn't an option, such as it often is with [[Tyranids]], [[Orks]], [[Chaos]], and [[Necrons]]. But sometimes the Knights are forced into a form of preventative self defense by unreasonably hostile aggression by even fellow Imperial forces.

When the efforts of even the best diplomats of the Knights Inductor fail, then the glove comes off, and the advanced technological might of the Knights is unleashed to minimize damage sustained. This kind of conflict is highly distasteful to the Knights and they fight all the harder to resolve things quickly.

===Organization===

''"There is no specific regulation to the number of Marines in a chapter."'' - Sergeant (later Captain) Aeron Sacres, Fourth Squad, Fifth Company

For the most part, the Knights Inductor operate under the [[Codex Astartes]] as taught by the [[Doom Eagles]] who first led the Chapter, but in the millennia since their founding, they have diverged to adapt to changing circumstances.

In order to be flexible, the Knights tend to separate their forces. It is very rare for a whole Company to fight together; they frequently fight as individual Squads, in fairly separated battles -- on many occasions, a Company has found itself split across multiple fronts of warfare. To ensure that each detachment has enough Marines to fight effectively, the Knights gradually increased their standard squad size from ten to its present (and likely final) value of twenty-four. A squad of this size can divide itself two, three, or even four ways depending on the tactical needs of a particular mission; thus, even a squad that finds itself alone can instantly become a four-fold threat. This organizational change has the additional effect of allowing the Knights to increase their numbers without technically violating the Codex Astartes, though this was not their original intent.

The Third Company takes this division to the extreme, loaning individual squads (sometimes with support from the Chapter Armory and Reserve Companies) to Imperial forces in need of Astartes assistance. While lending their support, the squads gather intelligence on the tactics and technology of their allies and enemies; often, they will be supported in these efforts by a [[Techmarine]] or [[Librarian]]. After the conclusion of the campaign, the squad returns home with an impressive record of victory, battle experience, and information to be shared among and dissected by their battle-brothers. This practice is highly regarded as the biggest source of combat information for the greater Chapter and may even be adopted by other Companies to increase the intake of knowledge.

Following the Zeist Campaign, the greatest tacticians of the Knights Inductor pieced together an adaptive-reactive battle plan called the Macharius Strategem, named after the great Lord Solar Macharius whose victories were practically assured, from a local to stellar scale. It is heavily based upon intense study and scrutiny of Macharius' campaigns, as well as integrated information from Third Company and other sources. While those few who can see it in practice in battle hail it as a battle plan without flaw, the more shrewd commanders and tacticians of the Knights Inductor are careful not to over rely on a single strategy, and regularly revise it as new, brilliant tactics are invented and assimilated.

==== Joint Force Operations ====

''"By the word of the Emperor, the Astartes are His bulwark against the Terror, the defenders of humanity. Whatever alliances they need to make to fulfill this great task they should make, and the Knights Inductor, at least, will do so." - Captain David Connor, Aprior 24th Mechanized Regiment, Imperial Guard''

For all their ability, Space Marines cannot win wars alone; only the vast legions of the [[Imperial Guard]] have enough boots and guns to take, hold or defend large territories. The Knights Inductor quickly learned that they were more effective as part of a combined, diverse force than they were alone, and the first step taken by any detachment of Knights entering a new conflict is to identify and join such a coalition, or attempt to found one if none exist. This is usually straightforward, as almost every Imperial world has some armed forces that the Knights can augment, but integration takes time, while [[Space Marines]] are at their best in rapid deployments, and many threats to the Imperium are extremely time-sensitive.

When the Knights Inductor came to rule the [[Aprior Sector]], they decided to ensure that their Sector's armed forces were built from the ground up with joint operation in mind. Every [[Imperial Guard|Guardsman]], [[Imperial Navy|Voidsman]], [[Scout]], and (eventually) [[Sisters of Battle|Novice]] in the Sector is taken through several standard, cross-service courses during training, with extensive time devoted to joint training exercises. The result is a set of highly competent armed services, capable of seamlessly integrating into one unified force as circumstances require.

This grants the Aprior Sector a substantial advantage over invaders, compared to the rest of the Imperium, as all facets of their defenses are trained to fight together for maximum effect, but it also serves them well on offensive campaigns, because it requires next to no time at all for an Apriori Joint Force to establish an optimal plan of action. The cross-training also helps each respective service integrate cohesively with their counterparts from other worlds. For this reason, detachments of Knights Inductor bound for high-conflict zones, such as the [[Damocles Gulf Campaign]], are often accompanied by a Battlegroup from Battlefleet Aprior and several Guard Regiments. The reverse also applies; large Navy or Guard forces will often have a detachment of Knights Inductor for support.

The most common example of joint operations between the Knights Inductor and the Apriori Guardsmen is the inclusion of young, skilled, and highly motivated troopers in the Scout Company of the Chapter. While they are outmatched physically they have the potential to yet become Knights should they pass secondary screening tests and proving themselves in combat alongside neophyte Scouts.

=== Gene-seed ===

''"Our Primarch is lost. All that remains of him is our [[gene-seed]], and through that, he is always with us."'' - Apothecary Stephan Aigle

Like their parent Chapter and Legion, Knights Inductor gene-seed has mutations in the organs that affect the brain. These mutations enhance the abilities of Nulls to the point that they can manipulate the shape and strength of their "null aura" to some degree, while [[psyker]]s' abilities are severely blunted, if not outright deadened. All Knights Inductor receive significant mental resistance to Warp powers and emotional stabilization, allowing them to keep a cool head under all circumstances and resist corruption. It also seems that the psychic resistance makes the gene-seed itself less vulnerable to further mutation. These traits endear the Knights Inductor to the [[Inquisition]], especially the [[Deathwatch]], encouraging them (and thus the other Imperial factions) to turn a blind eye to the Knights' more deviant practices and beliefs. This resilience comes at a cost: the Catalepsean Node has been rendered ineffective, training takes up to a decade longer as the Neophytes are less susceptible to hypnotherapy, and a Knight's reaction time is about 15 percent longer than that of the average Space Marine.

The Knights Inductor still need psykers for [[astropath]]ic communication, so Neophytes who happen to be psykers are trained and armored without implants, though this leaves them less capable in combat than their counterparts in other Chapters. The Knights Inductor also need Blanks to become full Marines to ensure they have proper psychic warfare units, so their recruitment program places special emphasis on identifying Blanks for the Librarius; thanks to this program, they have about as many "Silencers" as most Chapters have [[Librarian]]s.

Their gene-seed banks are regularly screened for signs of any deviation; they are of the opinion that the resistance to corruption doesn't replace caution in any measure. There are three major gene-banks throughout the Aprior Sector, though the locations are highly classified, and the number stored in each is an even more tightly-held secret. The Knights Inductor know well the value of their Pariah gene factor within their gene-seed and take great lengths to insure that even if the whole Sector was destroyed, the gene-seed would live on.

====Null Knights====

The mutations in Knights' Inductor gene-seed make them all but immune to Chaotic corruption, but have left them open to other fates. The [[Necron]]s originally planted the Pariah gene in humanity, and when the [[Desert Fangs]] encountered the tomb on [[Voralia]], the Necrons were pleased to see how much their plan had matured. Knights Inductor are already much stronger and faster than a normal human being; their potential power after upgrading was nearly limitless. Over the years, some three dozen Knights Inductor have been captured, augmented with Necron technology, and conditioned to see all life as essentially chaotic; they now serve the Necrons, reborn as Null Knights.

These Null Knights have caused a good deal of grief to the Knights Inductor, as they superficially appear to be Knights in a remarkable likeness and wreak havoc where ever they tread. Nominally it is elements of 6th Company that is tasked with tracking down and eliminating their cursed Necron counter-parts. However the galaxy is vast and clues to the Null Knights' whereabouts scarce, and over the millennia only approximately a third of the Null Knights have been successfully eliminated. Attempts at containment and rehabilitation of the Null Knights themselves have proved to be unfeasible, to the cost of two whole Tactical squads of the 6th Company.

Each encounter with the Null Knights is seemingly always marked with gruesome violence upon the discovery of one. They are invariably found in high positions of power, having achieved their status through intimidation and manipulation. The cost of apprehending a discovered Null Knight is depressingly high, but the costs of an undiscovered one wreaking havoc are much, much higher. Upon discovery, a Null Knight will not attempt to flee until it has done maximum damage to the subsector or planet they are in, even if doing so increases its chance of capture. It is unknown as to why they do this, though amongst the 6th Company hunters it is attributed to the Null Knight's programming that causes them to inflict massive chaos.

Should the Hunters fail or falter in their duty, the greater Imperium's doom would be assured as the Null Knights leave countless planets ripe for Necron awakening or incursions, and possibly threatening Holy Terra itself.

===Battle-Cry===

The Knights Inductors' motto is "Ex Tenebra, Lux" ("From Darkness, Light"); usually, commanders render it in Low Gothic as "Light up the night!" or "Ignite them!" when they are confronting a foe with force. The cry is also often whispered instead before the opening shots are taken.

==Deathwatch Rules==
;Chapter Purpose: Counter to [[Chaos]]
;Chapter History: [[21st Founding]] (M36)
;Chapter Progenitor: [[Desert Fangs]]
;Gene-Stock Purity: A New Generation
;Chapter Demeanor: "See, But Don't be Seen."
;[[Gene-Seed]] Deficiency: Missing Catalepsean Node
;Chapter Flaw: We Stand Alone
;Chapter Characteristic Modifiers: +5 Willpower, +5 Ballistic Skill
;Figure of Legend: Captain Carolus Norys, [[Salamanders]] Second Company
;Deed of Legend: Early mentor and [[spiritual liege]] to the Chapter
;Chapter Home World: [[Aprior | Aprior Regius (Civilized)]]
;Chapter Home World Terrain: Varies
;Home World Relationship: Stewardship (most worlds in the Aprior Sector have representative governments, like most worlds the Knights pacified while fleet-based)
;Organization: Codex, with squads of 24 rather than 10.
;Combat Doctrine: Codex
;Solo Mode Ability: Mental Fortress (JTF Ars Tactica)
;Squad Mode Attack Pattern: Fire for Effect
;Squad Mode Defensive Stance: Regroup
;Specialty Restriction: Cannot be [[Librarian]]s (Knights Inductor do not posses Librarians as portrayed in the [[Deathwatch]] Core Rulebook, though a Silencer could be used as [[fluff]] to justify use of Librarian [[crunch]].)
;Special Equipment: Customized Technology (their long isolation has resulted in technological adaptation, without the Mechanicus to keep their techmarines under control)
;Chapter Belief: The [[God-Emperor of Mankind| Emperor]] Above All (more accurately, The [[Imperium]] Above All)
;Chapter Status: Over Strength (~3000, looking to found a Successor at the next Founding)
;Chapter Friends: Apriori PDF and Guard, [[Salamanders]] (and successors), Tyranids of Hive Fleet Draco (after its link to the Hive Mind was severed due to assimilating the Pariah gene, causing the Norn Queen of the Hive Fleet to become self-aware in the process), [[Exodite]] Eldar of Lida, [[Tau]] of the [[Farsight]] Enclaves, some Radical Inquisitors
;Chapter Relics: None
;Chapter Enemies: [[Dark Eldar]] (esp. the Kabal of the Hand of Fate), [[Inquisition]] (Monodominant)
;Battle Cry: "Light up the night!"
;Heraldry: Scale
;Livery: Camouflage (in combat), or Azure on Ceramite (ceremonial)
;Custom Chapter Advances: Death From Afar

==Tabletop==
True Reasonable Marines would be pretty broken on the tabletop, but Knights Inductor can be used in [[Epic]] and [[Apocalypse]] games as a fluff reason to have many different armies cooperating -- the Knights Inductor aren't picky about their allies, so long as they behave.

A playable, awesome, and balanced [[codex]] is in the works, with unique units such as '''Silencers''' and '''Silent-Hand Veteran Squads''' units. It WILL be made of [[awesome]]. Check. It. Out. At >[[Codex - Knights Inductor]], give critique, comments, and suggestions (try to refrain from directly editing the main codex without posting the idea on the talk page first).

The Codex features unique rules setting it apart from Vanilla Marines, and emphasizes their unique Chapter traits and style of warfare. The average Knight however is more costly than a comparable Marine simply for the wargear that they have, and making the most of special equipment and abilities is of utmost importance

NOTE: If you want to represent Knights Inductor legally using the Vanilla codex, you could use the Iron hand Chapter tactics to represent their nanomite booster power armor (granting FNP) and nanomite vehicle repair systems, or Salamanders to represent their spiritual lineage coming from Salamanders and their propensity for high quality advanced wargear. You could also easily do Raven Chapter Tactics to represent their potent stealth tactics, Ultramarine for tactical flexibility, Fists for their better then average range skills, and really, the only chapter tactic that does not work for the Knights are the Black Templars.

[[Aprior Sector]] Internal Security also has an [[User:Voidsman|in-progress army list]], and the various navies of the Sector also have some [[User:Blackjack217|lists in progress]] for [[Battlefleet Gothic]].

==Gallery==
<gallery>
File:Knights_Inductor_pauldron_left.png|A depiction of a Knight's left [[pauldron]], painted azure for a ceremonial occasion.
File:Reasonable_marine.JPG|Knights Inductor are known for their preference for stealth over high-visibility close-quarters assaults.
File:Reasonablemarine.png|Typical Knights Inductor camouflage for desert or scrubland operations.
File:DAoT.jpg|What a typical major city in the Aprior Sector looks like.
File:KI_Color.jpeg|The formal colors of the Knights Inductor Veteran of the 3rd Company
</gallery>

==Writefaggotry==
'''"Ex Tenebra Lux - From the Darkness, comes a Light"'''

Even when all the world around you seems grim and dark

Reason blazes a light through the void

Understanding saves relationships, lives, time and resources

Hate narrows the future ahead

Understanding opens a thousand paths

When men are losing their reason and understanding around you

Hold fast to reason

To sanity

To the thing that makes us more than beasts

A few say sanity is for the weak

Some say reason leads to despair

And more say understanding ourselves and others is impossible

They all are wrong

For even in a place of grim darkness

Can come a light

That will lead the way

Going through the darkness

So stand strong

Never surrender

Because

Ex Tenebra Lux

-Codicier Park

===Null Knight 01 - Xerxes===

Xavion pried the boltgun from the rigid fingers of a fallen brother, the trigger finger having held on through the death spasms. Small impact craters pockmarked the walls along with the scorch marks from the lasguns of the dismembered security teams. He could still hear the screams far, far down the corridor thanks to his enhanced hearing. The whine of lasguns was dying down far too quickly, punctuated by the sound of bolters fired on full auto. The monster that did this couldn't be far.

He took off sprinting down the long corridor.

The sight of a boot disappearing around a corner a hundred meters away goaded him on, and despite the cries of wounded men and the groans of his broken brothers around him he knew that he had to take that -thing- down. It was very likely he would simply be slain like the rest of Phoenix Tactical Squad, but he needed to do this.

"Xerxes!" The Null Knight didn't even spare a glance to the lone Knight that appeared at the hangar doors, instead unpinning two stolen fragmentation grenades from his belt and flung them with tremendous force at Xavion across the length of the entire hangar, forcing him to roll to the side or risk being blasted by the shrapnel in the open. The Null Knight leaped for the Valkyrie as it took off, grabbing on to a handhold near the side hatch on the assault craft. Former Sergeant Xerxes shaped his hand into a rough blade and punched straight through straight through the hull in an attempt to rip off the entire hatch.and gain access inside.

"XERXES!!" Xavion trusted his hand to guide the barrel of the bolter up despite his sorrow and anger. He trusted his eye to make the miniscule adjustments needed to take in the atmospheric current differences from inside the hangar to the blustering winds just outside. He trusted the machine spirit of the bolter to be able to react to the trigger pull exactly when needed. But there were so many factors, too many, the target's movements alone combined with that of the Valkyrie made for a challenging shot. His helmet had been torn off earlier in the one-sided battle outside the containment cell; he couldn't even rely on the help of auto-sense for this shot.

Now this time the Null Knight looked back, perhaps to gloat, perhaps to confirm the position of another target. The eyes of the Knight were glowing a sickly green and they looked on dispassionately as the bolter in Xavion's hands flashed a brief orange. The enhanced mind within calculated that the bolt would miss, even if it was an upgraded Kraken bolt with a stronger propellant charge. It had already projected the flight path within Xerxe's twisted mind, and he began to turn to go into the hole he'd just made in the Valkyrie, confident that he could murder the crewmen within and pilot the ship to an escape point before reinforcements arrived.

The bolt was already losing kinetic velocity by the time it reached the end of the hangar, though it had been kept on its path thanks to the gyroscopic stabilization etchings on the bolt. As Xerxes had predicted, it was off target. It would most likely hit the lower hull of the Valkyire, or at worst be deflected off the Knight's power armored right leg.

The wind outside buffeted the flying bolt, changing it's trajectory to fly up and to the right. Shortly after a power armored figure was seen plummeting from the entrance of Hanger 0-12 at the rehabilitation and containment facility.

47 Knights had fallen that day. Over 230 security and scientific personnel had also been slain during the lone Knight's rampage. Many more would have perished if the Null Knight had managed to escape. But there were still more like him out there...

"Captain Xavion?" The pilot of the Thunderhawk sounded tinny through the floating servo-skull's external speakers, "we are arriving at the Necron tomb that Null Knight Vasilis most likely escaped to. Prepare for a hot drop, elements of the 22nd Aprior Shock Trooper regiments report contacts on several fronts." The corresponding points filed across Xavion's line of sight as the information came through the JNET Tactical grid.

"Understood." He checked the adjustments on his personal Stalker pattern bolter for the umpteenth time during the flight as he strode to the front of the Thunderhawk to address the veterans under him. It was time to free his estranged brother from the Necron taint.

The servo-skull of Xerxes followed him close behind.

== See Also ==

Several stories and other pieces of fiction have been written about the Knights Inductor, including:

*[[An Investigation into the Heresy of the Reasonable Marines]], the first story written about them, by the original LongPoster.
*[[Return of the Reasonable Marines]], the sequel to the above, written by a [[writefag]] calling himself [[User:Not LongPoster Again | Not LongPoster]].
*[[Apriori Public Service Announcements]], a sort of Apriori equivalent of "The [[Imperial Infantryman's Uplifting Primer]]" and "[[Imperial Munitorum Manual]]": an in-universe piece of writing meant to convey the feel of the setting.
*[[Tales from the Aprior Sector]], short stories in the [[Aprior Sector]] that aren't long enough to stand alone.
*[[Aprior Sector Timeline]], a timeline of all events pertaining to the Knights Inductor and the Aprior Sector.
*[[Aprior Sector]], a guide to the Knights' home, including brief descriptions of all planets, organizations, characters, and technologies featured in the other stories.
*[[The Twin Crusades: The Black Crusade on Marion]], written by one ''Not'' Not LongPoster, which focuses on a [[Chaos]] warfleet attacking the homeworld of the Order of Reason's Light.
*[[Codex - Knights Inductor]], designed mostly by Remoon101, this is their codex.

==External Links==
*[http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive/2803229/#2803229 First Thread], in which the Knights Inductor are introduced.
*[http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive/14710019/#14710019 Second Thread], in which Index Astartes: Knights Inductor and the first chapters of [[Return of the Reasonable Marines]] are written.
*[http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive/15148501/#15148501 Third Thread], in which Return of the Reasonable Marines is continued.
*[http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive/16191331/#16191331 Fourth Thread], in which Return of the Reasonable Marines is concluded, and the [[Aprior Sector Timeline]] is written.
**[http://archive.easymodo.net/tg/thread/16573997 Four-and-a-halfth Thread], in which discussion is had, and a new [[writefag]] promises to have new writing coming soon.
*[http://archive.easymodo.net/tg/thread/16583590 Fifth Thread], in which said writefag (calling himself Not Not LongPoster) delivers the prologue and first chapter of [[The Twin Crusades: The Black Crusade on Marion]].
**[http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive/16909600#16909600 Five-and-a-halfth Thread], in which Not Not LongPoster revises the above.

[[Category:Knights Inductor]]
[[Category:Imperial]]
[[Category:Space Marines]]
[[Category:Warhammer 40,000]]
[[Category:/tg/ 40,000]]

Burning of Prospero

2018-08-15T08:37:46Z

2001:8003:3895:3A00:35BC:13AB:9433:31A2: Not PDF

{{Infobox 40k Campaign
|title=The Battle of Prospero
|image=
|attacker= Imperial Censure Host
|defender= Thousand Sons
|commander1= The [[Primarch]] [[Leman Russ]], Constantine Valdor, Jenetia Krole
|commander2= The [[Primarch]] [[Magnus the Red]], [[Ahriman]]
|date=004.M31
|scale=Planetary
|theatre=[[Horus Heresy]]
|strength1= ~73,200 [[Space Wolves]], 5000 [[Sons of Horus]], 982 Custodians, 3000 [[Sisters of Silence]], over 54,000 human infantry from various regiments, 12 Battle Titans, 5 Psi-Titans, over 2000 Mechanicum Secutarii and Tech Adept staff.
|strength2= ~62,200 [[Thousand Sons]], the [[Prospero Spireguard|Prosperine Guard]] ''(~85,000 soldiers)'', Zhao-Arkhad Taghmata ''(~8000 warriors & automata)'', 12 Battle Titans, millions of citizen reservists
|casualties1= 49,000 total. 23,000 Space Wolves KIA and 23,000 Imperial Army KIA. Severe Custodes and Sisters of Silence casualties
|casualties2= Very heavy. 90% of the Thousand Sons KIA. 30 million Prosperine Spireguard and civilians wiped out
|status= Pyrrhic Space Wolf victory
|outcome= Razing of Prospero, withdrawal of the Thousand Sons to Sortiarius and the sundering of Magnus the Red.
}}

[[File:Prospero.jpg|500px|thumb|left|Russ and his legion cleanse Prospero.]]

{{40k-Timeline}}