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Spook

2020-10-07T20:00:00Z

2A02:1811:5180:A200:79FD:DFEB:4F18:6D48: /* Users */

[[File:Typical_spook_user.jpg|550px|thumb|right|Typical consequences of moderate spook abuse. Background: Preparations for a ceremony by a suspected Slaaneshi coven. Not pictured: Slaanesh preparing to dine on the young man's soul.]]
{{Topquote|Spook for the spook God!|Probably [http://www.dead.net/fanphotos/fast-eddie this motherfucker], associate of an [https://www.dead.net/ infamous Slaaneshi] <s>war</s>[[Noise Marines|band]] but also alleged [https://www.dea.gov/ inquisitorial] field agent.}}
'''Spook''' is a highly illegal warp-infused psychoactive [[drug]] in the Warhammer 40k universe, in most fluff originating in [[Necromunda]], the exact type of substance it is derived from being inconsistent, perhaps because [[House Orlock|Orlock]] doesn't want you to know—ranging from [[Nurgle|decayed corpse starch]] to [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psilocybe_cubensis a fungus] growing, both found deep in the Underhive. The different sources agree on it's ultimate origin being something that harvested (and thus a resource connected to territory controlled by gangs) rather than made from scratch or synthesized, though, meaning limited supply and big demand meaning good money for the organizations supplying it. [[House Orlock]] is mentioned as controlling a lot of the trade but there are hints that there is a sort of spook cartel that goes all the way up to the upper hive spires.

Spook is often but not always described as addictive, and is as you might expect dangerous due to it's connection with the [[warp|sea of souls]] and with [[chaos]]. It can do anything from [[Psyker|heighten psych]]<s>edel</s>[[Psyker|ic abilities]] to [[Chaos Spawn|turn one into a flibertigibbet-thingamajig]]. It is nonetheless popular, however, both as a recreational drug and a tool for upping a wyrd's [[Meme|powerlevel]]—it can give a boost to unsanctioned psykers but at the cost of increased chance of [[Chaos Spawn|things]] going very [[Not as Planned|wrong]]. [[Anal circumference|Very, very wrong]]. It's also a lucrative smuggled good, and the business apparently going from very low to very high on the Necromundan socioeconomic totem pole.

Depending on which source you're reading it is found as a "speck," fungus, lichen, or powder, harvested somehow, and generally described (when it is described at all) as a liquid.

Low doses give users a feeling of ''connection to the [[Warp|universe]], maaaan''. Higher more dangerous doses, which do much the same, only more so, and are likely to attract the attention of [[daemons|others]], are also sometimes used by rogue psykers going into battle or as a part of cult rituals or generally in search [[Anal circumference|deeper]] [[rape|embrace]] with [[warp]]ish and [[chaos|chaotic]] [[daemons|things]]. Navigators have been known to use them for both divination and recreation. This, as mentioned before, might reasonably be expected to go [[FAIL|poorly]].

It seems that, while open usage might very well get the [[Inquisition]] involved given the risks, every strata of Necromundan society is permeated with the stuff. Lowly scavvies find it in the wild, underhive gangs (particularly those associated with the Orlocks, apparently) cultivate it on an organized basis, crime syndicates distribute it and ship it off world, [[Slaanesh|hedonistic]] and indolent uphivers enjoy it's dubious pleasures, Chaos cults promote and practice it's use, ordinary Joes seek some distraction from 20 hour workdays and constant violence, and so on down the line.

Even House [[Helmawr]], rulers of Hive Primus and the very world itself, are rumored to have a hand in the trade; some go so far as to say the trade may be essential to maintaining their stranglehold on power. Regardless, both on-planet and in the rest of Imperial space, the stuff is in high demand which seems to be met with high volume, and it can present a significant problem where it pops up.

==Users==
Spook apparently is native to [[Necromunda]] but is said to be exported and available throughout the Imperium but it's prevalence very likely varies depending on place and time. This necessarily implies that the amount available on Necromunda is huge, or that it is not, in fact, unique to Necromunda. If the sources which connect it with dead bodies are true, this not only provides a suitably [[Grimdark]] explanation for it's fairly easy availability—one reminiscent of Hunter S. Thompson's totally fictional accounts of abusing "adrenochrome" (a real substance, but without any psychoactive activity, but which Thompson alleges he abused as a drug that was obtained from someone somewhere down the line who extracted it from a corpse)—but would explain it's connection with the Warp: the Warp being the raw stuff of souls and all, it is not unreasonable to imagine that distilled essences of [[zombie|brains]] and suchlike might carry a bit (think of some of the less pleasant superpowers of the Space Marines.) Leads one to ponder if spook is derived from the brain, and what would happen if the guy you hit up for your spook fix had just pulped some α+ psyker tier cortex. Nothing good, probably, but you might at least get an interesting light show on the way out.

Spook abusers may be found in all strata of [[Necromunda|Necromundan]] society, as it offers an escape from a [[Grimdark|bleak reality]], if only for a little while (2-4 hours according to most fluff. It doesn't seem to leave the user with an immediate craving for more of the horrible stuff like, say, crack, nor to lead to actual withdrawal symptoms as such like heroin—which has a direct 40K equivalent, [[drugs#Obscura|obscura]]—''but'', most likely, the spook comedown leads to that the-world-is-hollow-and-I-have-touched-the-sky feeling that leads modern day bourgeois college students to stop combing their hair
and going to class and start hanging out in dark corners of concert venue parking lots after going to a music festival or two during summer break. Problem being, 40k being 40k, it's more [[Noise Marines|Marius Vairosean]] and less Jerry Garcia.)

One assumes the quality of the spook involved varies from uphive to downhive. Whether this alters the risks of becoming daemon chown, something "[[chaos spawn|spooky]]" or [[possessed|playing host]] to a Warp being who lets you explore your [[Chaos|newfound powers]] before raping your soul to death is unclear, but <s>it probably does</s>who am I kidding Chaos is probably just a bit more clever when it winnows its way into a more useful vessel...and even [[Slaanesh]] can be subtle in these ways, just like their IRL equivalent, hippies—you'll go to a concert, just to check out the music, God knows slonking <s>marijuana</s>gangweed's pretty socially acceptable, and some (mostly 60s relics and the kind of professors that sleep with their students) pseudo-intellectual types like to talk about tripping to expand your mind, so, yeah, get together and put on a record of the <s>Maharashi</s>''Maraviglia'' and tune in, turn on, drop out!

===So, who takes this horrible stuff?===
* Various cults, not just Slaaneshi hedonists, but Tzeentch-worshipping sorcerers looking for a power boost, too, and your general [[Chaos Undivided|capital-C Chaos freaks]], for the connection to the warp and all. It doesn't seem like the kind of thing for [[Khorne]] (who's too straightforward for trippy shit, plus there's some shit literally named Slaught and too many combat stimms to name ... Spook isn't a [[RIP AND TEAR]] drug in any sense other than what it's doing to your consciousness, and, well, don't get too far out their, maaaaaan) [[Nurgle]] either...too apathetic, he's probably more of a gladstone and obscura type guy.

* Guardsmen aplenty, it seems, to [[Blam|expected results]]. One would think that only war in the grim darkness of the far future would be a pretty bad "set and setting" as the nice couple over at Erowid would put it, but remind yourself that taking acid was a big thing in '[[Catachan Jungle Fighters|Nam]]', and that the Imperial Guard actually has a fair bit of downtime when not getting krumped/nommed/shooteyed/whatever...Abnett goes into a decent bit about the black market in war zones and in transit for the IG in his ''Gaunt's Ghosts'' books, it's easy to imagine spook on offer there (although he doesn't mention it—Necromunda ''is'' on the other side of the galaxy though.) Speaking of transit, needless to say, use during warp travel is likely to have [[Anal circumference|unforeseen consequences]], even ''with'' the Gellar field on.

===/tg/-notable Spook enthusiasts===
* Dominique, of [[TTS]] fame, despite being an inquisitorial scribe, apparently indulged, comparing a surreal situation do "doing the spook."

* Probably [[Cultist-chan]]. She wants to hang out and thripp owwt whith yhoo for kay-oss.

==Dangers==
Spook, however, is pretty serious business as it runs the risk of, as IRL hippies would put it, allowing [[daemon|spiritual entities]] a way in to [[RIP AND TEAR|spread enlightenment]] in the hive. There is one story about a down-on-his-luck bounty hunter sent by a powerful ganger to whom he owes money to poison some "scavvy king"—unfortunately for him, the poison is [[spook]], he has to partake, and winds up getting possessed for his trouble. At least he gets to [[RIP AND TEAR]] both the degenerate mutants and the gangers who were trying to put the squeeze on him for his trouble. But damn.

===Spook IRL===
[[File:SpookIRL.jpg|250px|thumb|right|Common storage device for Spook on Terra, ca. 980.M2 to early M3.]] Spook is generally imagined as a sort of warp infused super-LSD or 'shrooms (which have IRL connection to plants and fungi) or perhaps Ayahuasca or it's derivative [https://erowid.org/experiences/subs/exp_DMT.shtml| DMT] (which, even more than the other two, can make you feel as if you have [[warp]] [[Psyker|powers]].) All three can lead you to act [[Chaos|batshit insane]] on occasion both acutely and chronically. Being distributed by chaos cults is pretty true to real life, except for instead of doing strange Lovecraftian rituals in dark places they typically found dancing to [[Noise Marines|strange music]] outdoors. Slaanesh would probably still approve though. There are really stories of [[Board-tans/x|very weird stuff happening]] when people get into situations with occult shit going on and using these drugs, particularly off in the woods at hardcore hippie festivals or even in the jungles of Peru. This is actually not at all a joke or something to be taken light-heartedly; although somewhat less grimdark than in 40K, our version of spook can cause real psychological and spiritual problems. Some people actually believe that they are in contact with something not unlike the [[warp]], but usually less grimdark, until it isn't. Their usual destination is wandering around from festival to festival begging for a swill of your beer, or the mental hospital, or prison.

More reasonable amounts of and approaches to these of these kinds of drugs in real life is probably more common amongst fa/tg/uys than the general population, as among creative types in general, but is not generally considered a topic for general polite discussion in /tg/-related circles. In the 80's D&D moral panic era there was definitely an association between D&D and drug use (especially <s>gangweed</s>marijuana.)

There is more information about this kind of stuff online than you could ever want to know, most of it overwhelmingly biased in favor of praising it's virtues and downplaying the risks. Caveat emptor.

It is also worth noting how edgy talking about drugs in a fictional sci-fi setting for a game was in 1995. None other than [[Rick Priestley]] talks about this [https://yaktribe.games/article/the_loaded_dice_table_talks.4/ here].

====As Source Material====
If you're running a ''[[Dark Heresy]]'' campaign or something and want to get into this territory, check out some of the obvious: Hunter S. Thompson, Philip K. Dick, some of the more wild stuff would include Terrence McKenna for one, people involved with the ayahuasca and DMT scenes, enthusiasts of so-called "research chemicals" and just random shit you read online (there's a whole subculture out there that posts painstakingly detailed accounts of their drug experiences for others to read. [http://www.erowid.org/ Erowid] and [http://www.bluelight.org/ Bluelight] are probably the most prestigious and prolific. Alarmingly so...) And ask anyone you know who goes to hippie concerts about the creepiest people they've met there. If you aren't familiar with the scene, parts of it are actually really, really grimdark. And one of those few things that you can't really read a whole lot about online. It's a strange, insular, kind of cult-like world that if you know about could actually really inspire a good backdrop for a campaign in more than one RPG; turning it into a Slaaneshi coven for Dark Heresy is only the most obvious example.

==See Also==
* [[Drugs]]
* There are a number of other [[warp]]-infused drugs going around, including ''flects'', which play a key plot point in the [[Ravenor]] books while the titular inquisitor is running acting like a grimdark DEA agent at the time (these particular recreations being so dangerous as to warrant bypassing the local authorities and Arbites ... and, as we learn in the novels, for good reason.) Similar but distinct is the seemingly milder ''gladstones''. Gladstones are described as "psycho-reactive" and kind of like maybe taking half a roll and listening to some chill trance music; flects on the other hand are literally imbued with a re''flect''ion of the [[Eye of Terror]] and are probably the equivalent of a [https://www.bluelight.org/ one-year intake by a poster on Bluelight]. They are described as either pure joy or abject terror with a chance of daemons, and make spook look soft. All of these, however, due to their connection with the Warp, are likely to attract the attention of the Man (even the [[Inquisition|Man behind the Man]]) far quicker than that of more mundane intoxicants such as [[grinweed]] or [[obscura]].
* Another rather disturbing another drug harvested on [[Necromunda]] is <b>''icrotic slime''</b>, which is apparently actually some sort of brain eating amoeba that beyond some point of no return will basically reduce you into a [[zombie]], and you'll be too blissed out to unplug (better bring a trip sitter!) Whether this has anything to do with the Warp isn't really clear (but [[Nurgle|you can probably make some assumptions]]), but it's suitably Grimdark.

AMX Auf1

2020-10-07T12:57:18Z

2A02:1811:5180:A200:79FD:DFEB:4F18:6D48:

[[File:TFRAB1-14.jpg|right|300px|thumb|Metal bawks. With big gun.]]
{{topquote| Ultima Ratio Regum - The last argument of kings|motto engraved on the cannons of King Louis XIV}}
The ''Canon de 155 Automoteur Modèle F1'' to give its it full name, is as its name implies a self-propelled artillery gun, based on the AMX-30 chassis. Around the time where the Colg War gets hot in Team Yankee, the French were in the process of updating their park of SPG's to 'NBC' standard, and starting from an already proven design was cheaper and efficienter than strarting over from scratch.

==In Team Yankee==
[[File:TFRAB1-33.jpg|left|300px|thumb|Les Stats Monsieur]]

The AUF1 is the divisional artillery unit for the French Army and totes the 155mm gun, in line with the 'totally coincidental' NATO standardizations in caliber going on at the time. You can buy a battery of 3 or 4 AUF1s for 3 points per vehicle or 5 for 16 points which gives you a unit of killing artillery; terrible for smoke and overcosted for pinning infantry but excellent at mashing BMP/BTR companies. 2+ firepower ensures that most things that are hit, die. Infantry can take a few salvos but should expect light casualties from a single salvo.

Interestingly, AUF1s come with autoloaders which reduces the score to hit by one. This means that there is literally no reason to take 4 AUF1s when 3 will perform the same job equally well, hitting enemies with a -1 modifier to hit (3+ to hit becomes 2+ to hit!). At 9 points for 3 guns hitting with a -1 modifier, it is the most cost-effective 2+ FP artillery piece if you only wish to shell the enemy without bothering about fancy warheads that those silly Americans have. It is a very dangerous gun to ignore, and is guaranteed to vaporize chunks of your enemy's BMP/BTR blobs. Infantry? Not so much.

Statlines are similar to most other French units, meaning the AUF1 is capable of assaulting enemy units with assault 4+ and counterattack 4+ if you decided your artillery should fix bayonets and charge. They also come with skill 3+, comboing nicely with 'shoot and scoot' orders if you would like to break line of sight without losing your firepower.

The AUF1 competes with the AMX-30 and AMX-10s for the light anti-armour role. Even worse, it is the only artillery unit for the French at the moment. It is suitable for defensive and infantry lists, with infantry holding the line while AUF1s gradually pound out sections of the enemy. Armoured lists should take other units, however: you are better off spending your points on utility like air defence and recon.

==IRL==
[[File:AuF1 of Saudi Arabia.JPEG|300px|right|thumb|A Saudi metal bawks, inspiring Games Workshop designers worldwide.]]
It looks like a box on top of a tank chassis and...thats literally what it is. The designers took a page from German and Soviet WWII design and glued a 155mm cannon to the turret ring of an AMX-30 MBT, and gave it some bullet-resistant armor to protect the crew and ammo from shrapnel and small arms fire; birthing a design that belongs in a Big Mek's werkshop and not an actual military.

Derpy looks aside, the AUF1 was actually a reliable artillery piece for the Cold War. While it lacked the more advanced warheads of other well-funded militaries, with about 25km of maximum range and the ability to lower its gun and fire at things directly if needed its 155mm shell were guaranteed to ruin almost anybody's day when used correctly.

{{French Forces in Team Yankee}}
{{Iraqi Forces in Team Yankee}}

[[Category:Vehicles]]

VAB Mephisto

2020-10-07T08:33:34Z

2A02:1811:5180:A200:79FD:DFEB:4F18:6D48:

{{Topquote|Les pompiers du champ de bataille sont la!|The French nicknamed the MEPHISTO 'the battlefield's firemen', due to being held in reserve to be sent at the 'hottest' point once contact was made.}}
If there is one thing the Burgers, the Limeys, the Krauts and the Baguettes have in common, is that when they get their hands on a good design they tend to make umphteen variants of it. Soul brother to the [[M113 Armored Personnel Carrier|M113]] and the [[FV430 Series|FV 430]], the French 'VAB' ('Vehicule de l'Avant Blindé', or 'vanguard armored vehicle') has seen multiple declinaisons and usages. The MEPHISTO variant is an ATGM-carrier variant meant to be a mobile, fast-reaction counter to any enemy armor breakthrough.

[[File:TFBX04-04.jpg|right|300px|thumb|]]

==In Team Yankee==
[[File:TFBX04-13.jpg|left|300px|thumb|La Stats Monsieur]]
One of the few French vehicles that actually has a true AT weapon.

While AT23 is, of course, nothing to sneeze at, you'll undoubtedly have brought your fair share of French Milans (and probably a smattering of APILASs), which can kill most tanks just as well, so AT shouldn't be much of a problem. That said, certain especially heavy vehicles, such as the Abrams IPA1 and Merkava 2 (read: anything with frontal armour 19), are going to cause trouble even for your Milans. This is where that AT23 comes in ''very'' handy.

Mephistos have the obvious advantage of speed over infantry Milans, allowing for quick repositioning to adapt to unexpected enemy tank formations. However, the French have many vehicles that can mount those infantry Milans on their turrets, so even there the Mephisto hardly shines.

All of this makes the Mephisto a situational unit, really only justifiable if you are near certain of facing the heaviest MBTs in the game. Ironically, these are fielded by nations allied to France.

==IRL==
[[File:Vab hot anti-tank missile wheeled armoured vehicle France Army french 002.jpg|300px|right|thumb|]]
Not much to add here. With the French army's focus on mobility it is unsurprising they embraced the IFV concept, and the VAB has proven its worth in the conflicts it participated in. As an anecdote, MEPHISTO is an acronym for 'Module Élévateur Panoramique Hot Installé Sur Tourelle Orientable', or 'retractable, turret-mounted, panoramic HOT-launcher'.

{{French Forces in Team Yankee}}

[[Category:Vehicles]]