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Gland War Veteran

2017-05-31T04:41:19Z

2600:8800:7885:4800:ACB9:8EEC:FD7C:9803: /* On The Tabletop */

[[File:GlandWar.2.jpg|300px|right|thumb|What they will most likely look like. Roided up Tyranid Hunters.]]
Gland War Veterans (Called Glandies or Gland Warriors for short by some in [[/tg/]]) were a specialized, genetically modified force of [[Militarum Veteran Squad|Imperial Guard Veteran]] designed to battle the [[Tyranids]]. They are considered by the [[Mechanicus]] as a far more successful and stable compared to the [[Afriel Strain|Afriel Strains]].

==Origin & Development==
After the Forge World of Dantris III became heavily infested and polluted by Tyranid forces, under orders from radical Inquisitor-Lord Varius; the Techpriests of the planet modified several companies of the Lostock 23rd to fight in the hellish conditions.

They had many organs and drug-secreting glands implanted in their bodies so that they could survive unprotected in hazardous environments. New additions such as organs that would secrete stims, painkillers, and various medical drugs; more powerful natural air filters via a modified lung; enhanced bio-musculature structure for increased strength and reflexes. Their genetic tempering and augmentation has made them a distinct [[Abhuman]], although whether they can breed and successfully pass on their genetic coding and new augmented organs is unknown. Their combat abilities and aggressiveness were also further increased in order to deal with the myriad of threats from the varied Tyranid forces.

Heck, the Gland War Veterans was so successful and super-anal retentive that even the [[Hive Mind]] thought they were crazy as fuck and that; despite the heavy losses they took, was able to ensure the successful defence of Dantis III. Only three Gland Warriors are believed to have survived, which were taken by the Inquisition for study and "debriefing".

At least one of them ended up in an Inquisitor's retinue so apparently "debriefing" doesn't always mean "dissected" or "killed with fire."

With that being said, the original pioneer for Glandies: Inquisitor-Lord Varius, has been placed under investigation by the [[Ordo Hereticus]] for exceeding his Inquisitorial mandate by intentionally sabotaging a Tyranid research facility, and then allowing the force sent to investigate to be suffer heavy losses and with the exception of the Red Scorpions, be entirely wiped out just to demonstrate how powerful/intelligent the Tyranids could be (don't worry, he performed Exterminatus afterwards to wipe them out). The data on Gland Warriors is held as evidence of his own damnation, however while they've drawn it up, his death warrant remains unsigned because the Glandies are so useful to the Imperium (in effect, until the Tyranids are wiped out they're not going to do a thing to hinder him).

Gland War Veterans look almost indistinguishable from the average Human especially if he/she is in armour. Although they may be differentiated with increased muscle mass, heavier skeletal structure or a constantly heightened state of agitation or hyper-aggression.

However the augmentations that they recieve can often have drawbacks: The early Lostok Gland Warriors could push their bodies significantly higher in feats of endurance than normal humans, but occasionally were at constant risk of metabolic breakdown, other Glandies risked temporarily shorting out their secretion glands if they were overused, but without any fatal flaws. Thankfully later developments in the D-99 regiment had no drawbacks at all.

Later refinements to the Gland Warriors capabilities attempted to increase their effectiveness against other xenos breeds such as Orks, Tau or Eldar; but never had the same successes as those Gland Warriors sanctioned by Inquisitor Varius against the Tyranids. These new Glandies would always have some kind of drawback. They could increase muscle mass and aggressiveness at a cost of over calcifying their bones and joints making it difficult for them to move, or increase their levels of aggression to make it nearly impossible for them to follow complex orders in battle.

==Difference between Gland Warriors and Space Marines==
You may wonder what makes Glandies so different from Space Marines despite sharing what appears to be similar biological enhancements. The answer could be that Space Marines use artificial organs to help "augment" their body in new and interesting ways that are simply not possible without them. However, Space Marines are still considered Human due to very little genetic tempering and if you somehow removed those organs ''(without causing utter biological system failure to the patient)'' there would be little to differentiate between what was left and a regular human with a bad attitude.

On the other hand, Glandies are not only supplemented with new organs, but draw from a completely altered DNA strand that may completely alter the genetic make up of the original owner. However, in every incarnation of the rules, whether it be on the tabletop or in RPGs, Gland Warriors retain an ultimately "human" statline with only a few minor alterations; typically higher Weapon Skill and Initiative. This is because their biological upgrades are somewhat more subtle, with the actual "glands" of their Lostok Augmentations secreting drugs and hormones into their bloodstreams, increasing the strength and agility of their natural-born muscles and then filtering these chemicals before they become a drawback and cause the body to crash, while also making them resistant to many external chemicals and pathogens too.

With that being said, the procedures undertaken to become a Gland Warrior are not as time intensive as with an Astartes, Who by necessity have to take their candidates at a very young age ''(usually between 8-12 years)'' and the process of implantation takes about a decade or more as the applicant passes through his Chapter's 10th company. By contrast; the surgeries that gland warriors get are considered: ''"somewhat short, it takes many months for the recipient to learn how to properly utilize their new biological additions"''. So that means that the Imperium can generate gland warrior super-soldiers much more quickly.

And that's not to say that Gland Warriors cannot be further augmented with any of a variety of commonplace military upgrades such as vat-grown muscle fibres, subdermal armour and minor cybernetic enhancements, because if you're going to the extent of [[Heresy|introducing foreign DNA to the human genome]], you might as well protect your investment.

==Stable Sub-Species==
While we may not have enough evidence of this in fluff, in order for the Glandies to become a sub-species of the mainstay Human, they must:
#have a different but stable DNA code
#have conditions that enable them to adapt to a particular scenario
#be able to procreate with their own kind and breed true.

For the Glandies, they were given special organs to better adapt in fighting Tyranids which is far more specialized than the average 'Jack-Of-All-Trades' [[gene-seed]] enhancements given to the Space Marines.

The high specialization and the complete overhaul to make these men more able to compete with a Tyranid organism would be enough to classify them as distinct from Humans. Furthermore, Gland Warriors have their DNA mixed with a Mechanicus improved DNA base which will be replicated through cell division. This further elevates the Glandies from conventional Humans and further differentiate themselves from the Astartes who do not directly undergo DNA tempering to their human genome, but have it swimming through their blood symbiotically.

The subject of being a stable "sub-species" is never really broached by GW, even though they usually lump Gland Warriors in to the "Abhuman" category along with other human strains like [[Ratlings]] and [[Ogryn]]s. This might be because GW failed at high school levels of biology ''(especially when they continually insist that Astartes are genetically modified)'' Having different and stable DNA is one thing; being able to procreate and pass on those genetic traits is another. Since most of the organs are surgically implanted rather than being grown within the body, it is uncertain whether a mommy and a daddy glandie could have a baby glandie or if they would produce a whole new type of human being with the genetic markers of a gland warrior, but without any of the implants.

What is known is that small communities of Gland Warriors ''do exist'' both within and without the Imperium, though the level of tolerance towards these communities appears to be the same as the tolerance of any other mutants or abhumans populations, for example, the '''Red Night Brotherhood''' was destroyed by the [[Ordo Hereticus]], while other warrior lodges seem to be the subject of speculation and little hard evidence.

In any case, "Official fluff" ''(i.e excluding FFG)'' puts their creation alongside the invasion of [[Hive Fleet Kraken]], which means that they are only a few decades old at best, so the Imperium might not have had enough time to properly categorize them, or for a sufficiently large population to arise before it actually becomes a cause for concern.

==On The Tabletop==
Due to their success, Gland War Veterans are getting increasing attention to the Imperial Guard and has been nagging the Mechanicus like a housewife to give them some of these augmented Abhumans.

The original [[Chapter Approved]] rules for them "upgrade" a guard infantry squad for 15 points to give them the ''Fleet'' special rule, however this came with the drawback where if you ever rolled a 6 on the fleet (run) move, you lost a model in the squad. Suffice to say this was shit.

If you want to field them today and be entirely legal, use the D-99 Army List in the Imperial Armour 4: The Anphelion Project, who are a further refined version of Gland Warriors after being inducted into the service of the Inquisition and used against Tyranids. Giving them all +1 WS and I, as well as ''Preferred Enemy (Tyranids)'' and ''Stubborn''. Though the army list could also be used to represent "experimental detachments" geno-enhanced to combat other xenos species at a risk of creating unstable gland warriors.

==See Also==
*[[Warhammer_40,000/Tactics/D-99(7E)]] - The Tyrannic War Veterans of Elysian 99th Regiment, gene-augmented and inducted into the Inquisition.

[[Category:Warhammer 40,000]][[Category:Imperial]][[Category:Imperial Guard]]
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Blank

2017-05-31T04:18:37Z

2600:8800:7885:4800:ACB9:8EEC:FD7C:9803: /* Hope for the Necrons, or the Possibility of Pariahs Returning...MAYBE */

[[File:PeKhadt.jpg|300px|right|thumb|Blanks can be [[/d/|smexy too...]]]]
'''Blanks''' are a extremely rare breed of human [[psyker]], even in the explosive populations of the [[Imperium]], and average about 1 or 2 on the average planet of 10 billion inhabitants. Because of their nature, most tend to die at a young age due to social ostracism or lynching. They function as anti-psykers, having no [[warp]] presence of their own. This makes them seem unnatural to ordinary people in an indescribable way, and anathema to psykers because they shut off their powers and warp sense. This unfortunately has an effect on some people more susceptible to the warp, causing pangs of sickness and confusion. Blanks are supposedly seeded into humanity by the Deceiver, a [[C'tan]] god, as a way to counter the powers of the warp in the future. However, this was the pre-5th edition Necron fluff; with the release of the 6th edition's TOMB KINGS IN SPEHSS fluff, this is now pretty dubious since humanity hadn't even evolved yet during the age of the Necrontyr. Though, like with all oldcron fluff, it could be easily explained by the results of an ''escaped'' Deceiver shard, or even mega-shard (a few shards merged together). The more recent fluff gives an alternate spin on this, with some characters suggesting that humanity was unique in that blanks occurred naturally as a part of their race. Whether those characters (in universe) knew about the oldcron pariah gene is up in the air.

==Sisters of Silence==
The [[Sisters of Silence]] were one of the most prominent users of blanks in the entirety of the Imperium. They were formed by [[Malcador the Sigillite]] during the early days of the Great Crusade to aid the forces of the Imperium against some now unknown xenos races who had psykers of their own and used them against them.

During the [[Horus Heresy]] the Sisters of Silence proved instrumental in defeating the [[Traitor Legions]] and their large groups of psykers. They were present during the Burning of Prospero and were vital in silencing the legions' ranks of psykers. They did however suffer heavy losses, and in the chaos that followed, the Heresy lost a lot of momentum. It is unknown now whether the organisation still exists or not. A shame, because they could be very valuable against the enemies of the Imperium now.

The ultimate fate of most Blanks is to either be picked up by the [[Black Ships]] and turned into [[Culexus|Culexus Assassins]], to get killed by the overzealous citizens of the Imperium due to their rampant phobia of anything vaguely inhuman, or to be fed to the [[Kroot]] by the [[Tau]] so they can have anti-psykers of their own. They also used to be turned into Necron Pariahs if ever the Necrons managed to capture a blank. However, with the fluff re-write, this apparently is no longer the case. [[Asdrubael Vect]], however, had kidnapped a few Blanks (called Nulls in the source for some reason) from an Inquisitor stronghold. Apparently, ''Something'' deep underneath his city is trying to get out, and he believes that creatures disruptive to the Warp can help if connected to the proper devices.

==Hope for the Necrons, or the Possibility of Pariahs Returning...MAYBE==
{{MattWard}}
In the current [[Necron]] fluff starting from the 7th Edition Codex, Illuminor Szeras managed to capture a Culexus Temple Assassin during a surprise incursion against a world held by Chaos (see "993.M41: A Dark Experiment" in the current Codex) and trolls the [[High Lords of Terra]] into sending more of them (the old farts respond by sending an entire Assassin Execution Force, though it's not specified if those were composed of Culexus Assassins or other types of Assassins).

This may be something of a good thing, since a lot of people actually liked Pariahs and were upset after [[Matt Ward]] removed them in favor of the [[Lychguard]].

Reminder: Necron Pariahs were once Blanks that were converted by the 'Crons as anti-psyker cyborg shocktroopers armed with Warscythes and somewhat as a retinue for Necron Lords. Pariahs were introduced in the 3rd Edition Codex Necrons as an Elite Choice, but were removed in the 5th Edition Codex.

The above incident with Szeras and the Culexus may even be made into a new Pariah Origin Story. Even back in the times when [[Games Workshop|GeeDubs]] were still cool and their site was still more than a catalogue and had hobby ideas and many more, there was a scenario telling the origin story of how Necron Pariahs came into being as the Necrons had to escort to safety a prototype Pariah (who was de-facto a converted Culexus Assassin who had capabilities of both Culexus AND Pariah and kept his assassin wargear in addition of getting a Warscythe) while protecting him from an Inquisitor and his army.

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[[Category:Warhammer 40,000]]