Editing Nobledark Imperium Imperial Forces

TO DO:
*Finish arguments over how the military is structured
== Imperial Guard ==

=== Standard Imperial Tactics ===

Standard Imperial infantry composition is to field a battalion of Imperial Guardsmen combined with a detachment of Eldar Guardians as auxiliaries. Unlike previous mixed-forces regiments throughout galactic history this arrangement tends to work rather well, because unlike these previous combined regiments both sides feel fairly safe that the other side isn't going to shoot them in the back. Both groups can and do fight on their own, but work spectacularly together. In theory, the regiment structure works by Imperial Guard forces taking the brunt of the enemy fire, and the Eldar acting as flankers. In practice, the more fragile, but heavier-hitting Eldar like this arrangement because it means they won't be the primary targets of enemy fire, whereas the Imperial Guard like this arrangement because even though they start out taking brunt of the blow, the Eldar auxiliaries will tear through enemy forces fast enough that they never become the targets of focus fire. As with everything in the Imperium, this varies from world to world. Specialist forces like Catachans, Kriegers, Harlequins, or Aspect Warriors function differently, and follow their own rules.

If there is any weakness to this arrangement, it's that Eldar and humans tend to only take orders from their respective species, which causes there to be two people in charge of a given regiment. If the two commanders can't come to an agreement, the army sputters, which can lead to one or the other going in alone.

After the Tau Empire was absorbed into the Imperium, Imperial commanders were eager to try to incorporate Tau Fire Warriors into this formation. The Imperium had seen how effective the Tau were at long-ranged combat, and saw great potential in their ability. In theory, the idea was to have a third group of Tau Fire Warriors providing long-range support fire from behind the Guardsman infantry, and if all worked as planned then half of the enemy army wouldn’t even be able to show up to the battle in the first place. However, in practice, this did not work for several reasons. First, the Tau were essentially a combined-arms force already (save for close combat), and didn’t appreciate being shoehorned into a long-range only role, even if they were talented at it. Secondly, much like Eldar and humans, Tau like to be commanded by Tau, so in an Eldar-Tau-human battalion you end up having three arguing commanders instead of just two. Third, and perhaps most importantly, Eldar and humans have worked together long enough to trust that one is not going to shoot the other in the back. This is not true of the Tau, especially given their attitude towards the Imperium for much of their history. When you factor in that in this arrangement the Tau are supposed to be in the back of the formation and thus in the perfect position to potentially shoot their allies in the back, the other soldiers start to get paranoid and morale drops. Eventually, it was decided to keep Tau divisions as their own separate forces, called in particularly for any enemy that has started to work out a viable counter, however soft, to the traditional Guardian+Guard one-two.

Eldar opinions on human weapons, like just about everything else in the Imperium, vary from Craftworld to Craftworld. Craftworlds like Alaitoc would sneer if offered human weapon as a sidearm, whereas Ulthwé Eldar would take two in addition to their own weapon and then ask if you have any more. Most Eldar see human weapons like modern soldiers do knives. Crude, simple, and inelegant compared to their primary weapon, but if you're stuck in the trenches in a do or die moment, it's better to have the other guy get shot than you. Therefore, Eldar that use human weapons use them as a sidearm or last resort weapon, if at all. It helps that many human-made weapons are based on STC designs and therefore easily replaceable and about as fragile as a brick (being designed for maximum durability), in contrast to the more delicate, precision-made (though still pretty tough) weapons of the Eldar. Therefore, an Eldar can be less careful with their sidearm and make sure their primary weapon is at maximum efficiency.

=== Imperial Infantry Command Structure ===

Due to the fact the Imperial Guard does not enforce specific organization for anything below battalion level, the vast different cultures and traditions that exist in the Imperium changes the size of the smaller units as they see fit. Terra did set minimum sizes on how large units must be before it could be recognized as said self-declared units by the wider Imperial Guard. 

The lowest level of the Imperial Guard is the squad size. Guardsmen often operate in pairs for specialized tasks to keep confusion as low as possible between other in the same squad. The smallest recognized size for these squads is 10 soldiers per squad further broken into 5 pairs, although a command squad might only have 6 men. At least 4 squads form into a platoon with one of the squads being a command squad bringing the total amount of men in platoon to at least 36 Guardsmen. Examples like the Kriegers use 7 squads in a platoon bring their size to 76 Guardsmen.

Eldar squads attached to Guardsman platoons come in the smallest size of 5 Eldar per squad but their size can be bigger depending on their world of origin. Notably the Maiden world Eldar tends to be organized into larger sizes as they experience more attacks on their homes compared to the Craftworlds. 

For the platoons to form into a company there must be at least 4 platoons with a company command squad, thus bringing the number to at least 150 men. The Cadian Shock Troops often deploy around 300 per company. The Kriegers use 10 platoons per company then adding the Company HQ with at least 1 Grenadier squad totaling in at least 704 Guardsmen, not counting transports which they are often deployed with.

The smallest size battalion uses at least 2 companies and battalion HQ before being deployed, bringing the numbers to 306 Guardsmen per battalion. The expected regiment holds at least 3 battalions and 1 support platoon which have 7 squads and 1 HQ totaling to 1.000 men. More often than not regiments like the Vostroyans use 3 infantry battalions and 2 standardized (organized not by 7 squad and HQ but like the infantry 3 squad with 1 HQ) support battalions coming up to 1.536 men. The Krieger regiments far pass these expectations by using 4 standardized support battalions and 6 infantry battalions jumping their numbers to 14.146 men including the regimental HQ.

The Corps used to garrison a world often use the smallest size with only 5 regiments totaling to at least 5.000 Guardsmen and these troops are used to raise PDF than to actually keep the peace. If there are still insurgents who disrupt the peace and not accept the Imperial Truth, these garrison corps can double or triple in regiments. This puts the tripled Corp to at least a small 15.000 to a gigantic 200.000 Guardsmen. The PDF used to aid the garrison Corp would be raised to around a low 400.000 and up to millions at a time like on hive worlds. 

On the more peaceful systems the lax Guardsmen army deployed to ‘guard’ the place would only be using the tinniest size, thus only have 20.000 at any one time if a majority of it on reserve. At the more active systems the numbers would go up to around 40.000 to 60.000 troops in garrisoning systems not too far from a front. When the Imperial Guard does deploy an army to the frontline the commanders always request at least 100.000 for the more daring but normally uses 180.000 if they are luck.

 - Additional info in thread XI, including number of troops in each Segmentum. Actual number of troops never agreed upon, left here as placeholder.

=== Forces of the Imperial Guard ===

==== Cadian Shock Troopers ====

[[File:Cadian.jpg|300px|thumb|right|Typical Cadian combat uniform.]]

Most “Cadian” Regiments are in fact not from Cadia or even have a drop of Cadian blood in them. “So why name them Cadian?” I hear you say. The Cadians were one of the few who proved themselves in the Great Crusade as the most versatile and adaptable troops the Imperial Army can deploy on most fronts. The organizational structure and equipment used by the Cadians were introduced to many different worlds as the original Cadian regiments toured the modern Imperium and beyond in the Crusade Era. The 200 year expansion period saw diverse traditions of regiments being used all over the galaxy as newly integrated worlds threw their armed forces to join the Imperial Army, and be sent to the far-flung reaches of the Imperium. The War of the Beast saw almost all Cadian regiments be recalled to the defense of Cadia or Terra if they were close enough. With the absence of many regiments from Ultima Segmentum and Segmentum Tempestus the worlds in these places were forced to raise totally new regiments from scratch for self-defense or as requisition to be deployed to the fronts. 

Many of the Forge, Argi, and Feudal worlds used traditional local organization and equipment for planetary elite troops to form their own Guardsmen regiment at that time. Imperial, Hive and Fortress worlds on the other hand, saw the effectiveness in Cadian regiments as they fought against or with the Cadians during the Great Crusade. The industrial capability to manufacture standard Cadian equipment was already present on many Imperial worlds, but the Forge worlds refused to form Cadian regiments as these worlds dismiss the lack of artillery and armored vehicles and rather form the Skitarii armies. Argi and Feudal worlds lack the industry to produce and equip a Cadian regiment.

The adoption of Cadian regiments on so many different worlds shows the versatility and efficiency of the Cadian doctrine. After the War of the Beast, the original Cadian regiments would be sent to refortify the Cadian Gate. Many of the displaced Cadian civilian people would be reorganized to colonist groups leaving their homeworld. The same adaptable traditions carried over to colonize and frontier worlds when they raised their own Cadian regiments. 

Cadian infantry regiments from Cadia are known as “Cadian Shock Troops” while off world or imitation regiments are known as “Cadian Foot Troops.” These Cadian Shock Troops would often have at least two detachments from other branches of the Imperial Guard, for example the 203rd Cadian Shock Troop has self-propelled heavy artillery and armored detachments. The Cadian Foot Troops often don’t follow this rule and only deploy with one detachment. 

In a Cadian infantry regiment, a squad is made of 10 people that operate in 5 pairs. The Sergeant keeps up moral and plans out tactics with the Lieutenant who can operate as a vox-caster; they can also be equipped with melee weapons. The heavy weapon team is included to allow long range suppressive fire on the battlefield usually with a heavy stubber. The Medic works to keep the soldiers in fighting condition with the help of their underling that tags along into battles. The rest of the squad is made up of two pairs of weapon specialists normally being Lasgunners.

The Sargent is equipped with a chainsword and las-pistol for leading charges or CQC. Alternatively the Sargent can be armed like the Lieutenant who is given a las-carbine for self-defense. The heavy weapon team normally uses an offensive heavy stubber that fires 12.7mm rounds or a lighter defensive stubber firing 7.92 rounds. In the heavy weapons team the first member carries and fire the weapon while the other member feeds ammo, spots targets, guards the gunner, and act as a makeshift bipod. Both members are also equipped with a Lasgun and a las-pistol. The medic fights with a Lasgun and heals with the medikit which comes with medical drugs, chemicals, surgical tools, sedatives, injectors, bandages and a medical cogitator which can detect almost every known aliments. To help the Medic is the underling who carries extra supplies, guard the Medic, or help in surgery depending on the conditions. The weapon specialists mostly carry Lasguns although one or two of the four might have flamers instead. These specialists can really be armed with any weapon that can be held by two regular human arms, some can also serve the dual role of vox-caster as well. The specialist act as either a flanking force while the heavy weapon team suppressed the enemy or the center line that lay down fire.

==== Fenrisian Line Regiments ====

Seeing the effectiveness of Cadian troops after encountering them in battle during the Great Crusade, Fenris adopted the Cadian Doctrine and deployed Cadian Foot Troops to the front. Yet the War of the Beast changed the outlook of the Fenrisians on the Cadian Doctrine with the lack of mortal manpower when faced with the Ork threat. During the war, several Cadian Foot Troops were entirely wiped out within the first week. The Death world breed heroes for the Space Wolves, not infinite manpower for many Foot Troops. Fenrisians abandoned the Cadian Doctrine after the war and switched to the Fusilier Doctrine that the famous Mordian, Praetorian, and Scintillan use. Sacrificing quantity for quality, the Fenrisians can always request Space Wolves regiments to merge with a Line Regiment. The Flak Armor for the Fenrisian Line Guardsmen uses extra metal plates compared to Cadians. The infantry under the Fusilier Doctrine would stand shoulder to shoulder forming into lines facing the enemy before firing. The Fenrisian Line Regiments took this tactic and expand it with the introduction of self-propelled artillery to provide mobile defense and keep up with infantry on attacks. In these regiments the Fenrisians officers are encouraged to outgun the enemy via volley fire and if that fails just charge them. Fenrisian line infantry are better trained than Cadians in melee combat with some even wielding swords into charges.

Fenrisian Line Regiments often differ in tactics depending on whether they come from one of the Fenrisian colony worlds or Fenris itself. Old World Fenrisians are more wild and less coordinated in their approach, and typically operate in 5-10 man squads for the best kill-to-loss ratio. New World Fenrisians are more ordered and coordinated though they are still wilder than anyone outside your average Death Worlder. The two groups work best together, with New Worlder regiments holding the line and securing targets and Old Worlders scouting ahead and harrying supply lines.

=== Weapons of the Imperial Guard ===

==== Laz-guns ====

The first instances of las-weapon technology came from Terra itself. It is thought to be a recreational weapon used in mock battles during the Dark Age of Technology. At that time these las-weapons beams had the power of 4mm stubber pellets where even thick cloth was effective armor against it. These relics were present on Terra and other worlds during the Warlord Era but it was the Emperor who reshaped it to become a lethal weapon. The Emperor’s scouts had presented him with some prototype weapons when preparing for the unification with Mars. One such weapon was the proto-Lascarbine that was superior to stubber carbines in all but firepower. The Las beams still had the power of a 4mm stubber pallet thus the Emperor in his intelligence recrafted the weapon so that it fired with the power of an 8mm stubber round. The Lascarbine first saw service as the replacement for the Autorifles which was the standard weapon for the Imperial Army in the unification of the Sol system. Next was the Laspistols which were design to replace the stubber pistols. The mass use of Las-weapons saw that the Lascarbine barrels started to warp after 5.000 shots and the Laspistol barrels warped after 2.000 shots. When these barrels warped, what would have been unmodified hitscan fire devolved to lose of accuracy where Guardsmen had to fire two or more times in the same place to get a hit. Even worst, when the Laspistol barrels warped soldiers had to fire at point-blank range to get hits.

The Imperial Army Handheld Weapons Development Bureau would develop the Lasgun which had a longer barrel and limited the power to 7.9mm stubber round strength. Then changed the iron sights of the weapon to allow attachable optics and added a stock for increase accuracy. The first Lasguns were deployed to the front during the Hunting Era where it was noted that these weapons had effectively the firepower as the Lascarbines but the barrels didn’t warp until after 10.000 shots. When the Apostasy Era started Guardsmen on both sides reported the Lascarbines and Lasguns in night-time fighting left noticeable muzzle flashes thus making the shooter an easy target. The Weapons Development Bureau would again work on the Lasgun and Lascarbine just after the Apostasy Era, to create the attachable flash suppressor for better night-time combat. Then they also created the light attachable stock for the Lascarbine.

==== Flak Armor ====

There was no such thing as a standardized armor used by the Imperial Army during the Great Crusade. The closes thing to such a concept came in the form of the Solar Pattern Void Armor used widely by the Solar Auxilia but that was a carapace-reinforced void suite rather than Flak Armor as we know it today. The first documented instances of what could be considered Flak Armor was when Cadian Shock Troops started equipping troopers on mass with light anti-shrapnel armor near the end of the Great Crusade. Cadian officers found out on the battlefield when Cadian Guardsmen attacked entrenched positions most of their losses sustained were from artillery or random bits of debris thrown into the air by artillery. The different regiments from Cadia phased out the traditional metal plate armor for Flak Armor, all future campaigns used Flak Armor once manufactorums switched production lines right before the War of the Beast.

The breastplate, shoulder pauldrons, knee plates, and greaves all used the same material and layering as each other. The helmet has considerable more armor and the fabric connecting the armor is much weaker or lacks any sort of plating. Most of the actual armor in Flak Armor uses an inner layer of shock absorbent gel with metal plating between the gal and outer ceramic layer. All three of these layers are connected and interwoven with carbon-fiber, metal-fabric, and nylon strings forcing the layers to stay together under most conditions. The ceramic plate was designed to deflect shrapnel or at least cause it to be stuck in the plate. The metal layer was placed to stop lasbolts or stubber rounds from fully penetrating through the armor in case if the shot passed the ceramic plate. The gal is there as either the last ditch effort to stop shrapnel from fully penetrating the armor or prevent internal bleeding from receiving a direct hit. Flak Armor fabric is made from different carbon-fiber, metal fabrics, and thick cloths to prevent shrapnel from cutting through or a blade from ripping it. Flak Armor helmet tend to have extra metal plating to ensure that not all shots to the head are fetal or random falling debris didn’t kill the Guardsman.

The first major combat test of Flak Armor was seen in the War of the Beast. On the frontlines Flak Armor proved to be basically ineffective in protecting against Ork weaponry. The Orks had used unusually large stubber rounds up to but not limited to 10 or 12mm that would slice right through Flak plating. What would be considered dangerous Ork rockets would often miss even with flam ammo, Flak armor was more than enough protection against most Ork rocketry short of city block leveling size. Crone Eldar and Dark Eldar weapons of both Saw and Splinter ammo had difficult times penetrating Flak plating unless there was concentrated fire where even the Flak plating can only protect against so much. When the Fallen first turned on Imperial Army elements, blosters were used for the first time against Flak Armor. The bolter rounds would often penetrate Flak plating to only cleanly exit out on the other side then explode, if the Guardsman was lucky they would still be alive. When a Guardsman was even luckier the bolter shell would be deflected off of Flak plating and explodes prematurely in mid-air, unless the explosion was in their face the shrapnel would be mostly harmless. The flexibility, simplicity, and cheapness to produce Flak Armor instead of Void suits led to many Imperial worlds adopting the Flak Armor, quotas and resources were limited in the total economic mobilization that happened in the War of the Beast made Flak Armor even more popular.

During the Apostasy, Imperial Guard regiments openly fought against one another and this saw the first use of Flak Armor against massed artillery. Regiments would launch massive formations to charge at entrenched Guardsmen who were well prepared for such an attack. The defenders would fire blinding volleys of artillery shells to delay the charge. Flak Armor proved a Guardsman could survive an artillery barrage short of a direct hit right next to their feet they would be fine, if the shockwave from the explosion didn’t destroy the body’s organs that is. Artillery barrages could now only slow down attacks from Guardsmen thanks to Flak Armor. Field modifications noted to be used by regiments during the Apostasy was extra cloth being to prevent shrapnel from easily slicing the joints. Thicker ceramic plates are used by veteran Guardsmen against Orks to at least survive glancing shots from Ork stubbers. Regiments constantly facing Crone or Dark Eldar is deployed with extra metal layered Flak Armor to prevent enemy fire from penetrating Flak plating.

=== Beastmen and Ogyrn ===

As the Imperium spread its borders past the boundaries of Sol, it rapidly began to encounter new strains of abhumans. Some of these strains were familiar, including Navigators and additional tribes of Void Born. Others such as the Ratlings, Felinids, and Nightsiders were novel, but genetically stable, having evolved through Dark Age of Technology genetic engineering and natural evolution, a testament to humanity's hardiness and ability to survive on almost any world.
 
For the most part, the Steward was unconcerned with admitting these abhuman variants into the Imperium. He already had one abhuman primarch, another nearly so, and he himself was only human in the loosest sense of the word. To him the abhumans were just one more drop of variation in the great sea of humanity.
 
However, then the Imperium discovered the Ogryn. And the Beastmen.
 
Each race presented its own problems for the Imperium. The previous abhuman species were all genetically stable and essentially comparable to baseline humans in intelligence. The Ogryn were clearly of subhuman intelligence, being comparable to a mentally handicapped human at best, and behaved and looked like shaved apes more than people, fighting each other with their enlarged canine tusks.
 
The Beastmen were slightly more intelligent, but more in the manner of an extremely cunning predator than a civilized being, completely ruled by their instincts, and prone to additional mutations. When the Beastmen were discovered by the Imperium, their lives were brutish, nasty, and short.
 
Such was the Steward’s concern that he brought in his highest ranked geneticists and gene-wrights to consult on this matter. At this point in time the Steward’s various groups of genetic engineers had been merged into Adeptus Biologis, but had not yet adopted the trappings of the Mechanicum of Mars. The nominal head of the Biologis, a former genesmith, suggested the Ogryn and Beastmen were so unsalvageable that the Steward’s best options were either to wipe them out immediately and resettle the planet with humans of other stock or to sterilize them and then resettle the planets in 60 years or so after they had all died out, something that caused considerable consternation among other schools of thought in the Biologis.
 
The Steward made it abundantly clear that the suggestion of summary genocide on a world under the Imperium’s protection would not be tolerated and anyone found doing so without the Steward’s knowledge is grounds for immediate execution without appeal. The Steward argued the Ogryn and Beastmen were humans. Afflicted humans, but humans all the same. Their ancestors were no different than any other group that Earth but were merely dealt a bad hand by the universe through no fault of their own. Eventually, the Steward and the various factions of the Adeptus Biologis released an agreement. The Biologis would release carefully tailored mutations into the genepools of the Ogryn and Beastmen over thousands of years until the devolution in intelligence and sanity caused by the Age of Strife could be undone.
 
As of M41 Ogryn and Beastmen can be split into two broad categories: Primeval and Nova. Primeval Ogryn and Beastmen are rare, existing only on planets that have been just recently rediscovered by the Imperium. They are little different from the Ogryn and Beastmen first encountered by the Imperium in M30. Nova Ogryn and Beastmen vary in intelligence from little better than their Primeval ancestors to levels deemed acceptable to the Imperium (generally human intelligence or close to it).
 
Nova Ogryn have lost some of the strength and durability of their ancestors, but in general are much more intelligent (though less so than human on average). Combined with external artificial augmentations such as Biochemical Ogryn Neural Enhancement or “Bonehead Procedure”, some Ogryn officers are actually comparable to humans in intelligence.
 
Nova Beastmen are one of the greatest success stories of the Biologis, along with the Astartes and Necromundan eco-engineering. Out of all the strains of abhuman, the Beastmen benefited the most from genetic engineering, mostly because of how bad they had it to begin with. Some have theorized that the Beastmen were created via crude methods of genetic engineering by splicing in large amounts of non-human DNA (even moreso than other abhumans) during the Dark Age of Technology. When society collapsed during the Age of Strife, there was no way to correct the myriad mutations and glitches that cropped up over the following 10,000 years. Indeed, when the Beastmen were first discovered by the Imperium they were not even recognized as human-descended at first.
 
Although the Beastmen started off much worse than the Ogryn, their uplifting progressed much faster. The same shoddy genetic engineering that made the Beastmen prone to mutation in the first place meant that the new, stabler genes introduced by the Adeptus Biologis became established across the population very quickly. All Nova Beastmen as of M41 are essentially if human intelligence. Any Primeval Beastmen in M41 are all from very recently discovered worlds. Nevertheless, despite their dramatically more stable genome, Beastmen still suffer a slightly higher rate of mutation than the rest of the Imperium. No one is sure if the tendency towards mutations is due to the Biologis trying a little too hard to correct the flaws in the Beastmen genome or the Ruinous Powers trying to taint any long-term victory on the part of the Imperium.
 
The Adeptus Biologicus might have gone a little overboard in trying to keep the instincts of the Beastmen in check. As opposed to their Primeval brethren, Nova Beastmen tend to be rather solemn and dour, though this may be because they know how far they have climbed and how deep the pit they were lifted out of was. Their sense of duty and debt is second only to that of Krieg, but thankfully for the Imperium’s sake the Beastmen are much less suicidal. Promethean beliefs tend to be widespread among the Beastmen. However, the Nova Beastmen have not lost all of the bestial instincts of their kin. Beastmen often speak of a “Weakness of the Beast” to refer to any behavior that seems to be driven by instinct or base desire, one of the few societal ideas they may have picked up from the Adeptus Biologicus. Nova Beastmen in general also tend to have much sharper senses than baseline humans, and are valued even in otherwise all-baseline regiments as scouts and trackers.

== Adeptus Astartes (Space Marines) ==

===The Breaking of the Legions===

During the Great Crusade, the Adeptus Astartes were organized into twenty distinct legions each composed of thousands of Space Marines. However, by M41, the Adeptus Astartes have been divided into many distinct chapters about 1000-1200 strong, each descended at least in part from one of the eighteen legions that survived the War of the Beast. The reason for this change in organization is complicated. Many lay students of history often claim that the impetus for this change was Roboute Guilliman's Codex Astartes, published in 243.M31. However, like much of Guilliman's work, the Codex Astartes was meant to be a thought exercise in how the Adeptus Astartes could be more efficiently organized in a post-Great Crusade environment, and Guilliman would never have tried to shove his ideas down his fellow primarch's throats.

In truth, all of the legions split up for different reasons, and at different times.

Several of the legions survived virtually as is for a little while longer under new leaders, who would have probably been considered primarchs in their own right if they hadn't had to stand in their predecessor's shadow. Kharn found himself essentially taking over more and more of his legions duties as Angron's health deteriorated. Abbadon was ambitious and charismatic enough to keep the Void Wolves in one piece for at least another generation. Leman Russ told Bjorn during a moment of mutual drunkenness to "look after the place while I step out for a minute". The next morning they realized Russ was gone and to make matters worse everyone had been just sober enough to remember what Russ had said the night before.

Other legions split up following the death of their primarch, or for simple matters of practicality. Old Man Khan called a meeting of the yabgu, despite not being dead yet, to make sure that whoever succeeded him would be competent enough not to run the legion into the ground. In a rare moment of humility, the yabgu compared themselves to Khan and realized that none of them could claim to have accomplished what Khan had accomplished by their age, and so the legion was split up. The descendants of the Thousand Sons such as the Grey Knights were already split up before their primarch's death (with the exception of the Blood Ravens), given that all were created to perform quite different, specialized tasks. The Imperial Fists found themselves splitting apart to fortify and garrison agri-worlds after the War of the Beast, on the basis that you cannot rebuild an empire if everyone is starving, and gradually drifted apart over the centuries. The same is true with the Iron Warriors and hive worlds and Iron Hands and forgeworlds. In these cases, Guilliman's Codex Astartes was seen as a natural framework for how to rework the legions into more autonomous units (though each legion implemented the Codex in their own way).

The Dark Angels are rather infamous for having split up before Guilliman ever wrote the Codex Astartes, after two-thirds of their number turned traitor during the War of the Beast. The Lion split the remaining loyalists into knightly orders and instituted the rank of Watcher to ensure that no one individual could ever subvert the entire legion. Guilliman may have actually been thinking of the Dark Angels when he wrote some parts of the Codex.

The Death Guard never really split up, even with the death of their primarch. Unlike the other legions they have never truly stopped marching to war.

There were two real deathknells for the concepts of a legion as a whole. The first was when Belarius the Abdicator refused to take up command of the full host of the Blood Angels after the death of Sanguinus, knowing full well that his entire reign would be spent in the shadow of the Martyr Angel. Instead he took command of a much more reasonable sized contingent of Blood Angels, nearly all survivors of the War of the Beast, with Belarius giving the most competent of the remaining Blood Angels command of their own groups. This set the precedent for most legions of breaking up into chapters after the death of their Primarch.

The other was the “Iron Cage” incident that happened to Fulgrim sometime in early M31. Fulgrim had always been a micro-manager, and was one of the strongest opponents of breaking the legions into chapters. However, after the War of the Beast, the sheer number of small-scale conflicts across the rebuilding Imperium and lack of local autonomy meant that the Empire’s Sons were ground down to about half the size of their prime merely by attrition alone despite being one of the biggest recruiters of new Astartes. The breaking point for the legion was when the Empire’s Sons got caught in a trap set up by a Tzeentch-worshipping Big Wyrd. The Wyrdboy was never caught, and by the end of it Fulgrim was left with enough marines to scrape into a little less than three chapters. After that point, even the strongest detractors of the Codex Astartes (with the exception of some particularly stubborn cases like the Death Guard) had to admit that Guilliman had a point.

== Oficios and Adepta ==

=== The Assassins ===


<div class="toccolours mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" style="100%"> '''''Monsters Of Our Own Making:'''''

The Officio Assassinorum was one of the oldest arms of the Imperial Government, and its roots date back to the barbarity and cruelty of the Old Night. Perhaps it was fitting that, as the Warlord became the Steward and the Unification became the Great Crusade, the ancient orders of assassins were finally brought to heel and integrated into the Imperium proper.

<div class="mw-collapsible-content">

The Rebuke at Mount Vengeance is the common story of the Officio Assassinorum's founding. In those days, the young Imperium was mired in battles far and wide, but one particular front was facing opposition that none seemed able to counter. Here, commanding officers and vital figures were dying at an alarming rate, even in the safety of their rear areas; and although they were suspected to be the work of the enemy all of the deaths seemed to be of natural causes. The Warlord simply appointed new generals and ordered veteran bodyguards for the ones already in theatre, but in response his loathsome foes only grew bolder. Ever-more evidence of their activities was left behind, seemingly taunting the Imperium for their inability to protect their own; clean killings becoming vicious slaughters of officers and civilians alike. Commanders were found butchered in their headquarters with a single bodyguard left alive, usually little more than traumatised wrecks stammering about technological sorcery beyond that of the Warlord's Mechanicus allies.

Incensed at the atrocities inflicted upon his people, the Warlord made war on the Assassin Temples of the Salt Spires. Little is known about the Spires or mercenary, heartless Masters, for many archives of their history were lost in the anarchy of the War of the Beast (although this may well have been Vangorich's objective all along). The Warlord did the best to spread his own view - that the assassins were little but cowardly shadows who though they could behead the Imperium - but even his presence and words did little to bolster armies so plagued by fear and paranoia, and so he began using the antithesis of their own doctrine to plot their downfall. There were no grand offensives, no bold strikes, nothing that seemed major enough to warrant the assassins moving against it; yet suddenly they found their supplies of everything from ammunition to promethium - and most importantly, water - were perilously low. In their weakened state, the Temples knew they could not face the Warlord's forces, and so they came before him to seek treaty.


At Mount Vengeance, the Temple Masters met to offer peace to the Warlord.
At Mount Vengeance, they received his full scorn.
The Warlord was not content with their mere offer of fealty. For the atrocities the Masters inflicted on his people, for the lives they had taken, the Warlord would not be content with a glorified armistice. He gave them an offer of his own: total surrender, or total annihilation. That was their only choice.

Some of the Temple Masters, emboldened by hubris, unwisely struck the Warlord. They died. Some fled. They died, later. But on the mountain and around it - for many assassins had followed their Masters, perhaps out of loyalty or some morbid curiosity - others remained, bowing in total capitulation to the Warlord and the futility of resisting this god amongst men. For his part, the Warlord acted rather appropriately in that role, passing judgement on each Master and their assassins. Some were found guilty of crimes beyond forgiveness and were slain, often by their peers as a test of loyalty; others were granted the "clemency" of banishment into the salt wastes. Only one was judged pure enough to be worthy of leadership - and, as the new Grandmaster of Assassins, he was assured that the temples that surrendered would remain intact, albeit in service of the Imperium under the watchful eye of Malcador.

Thus was formed the Officio Assassinorum. Malcador was pleased with the Warlord's mercy; for it showed no amount of fury would blind him to true talent. A few thousand years later, the assassins proved that such talent brought risk, especially from those as secretive as the assassins.


In 546.M32, the Grandmaster of the Officio Assassinorum attempted to assassinate the High Lords of Terra. The Beheading, as it has since come to be know, was shrouded in mystery; with events restricted to the Imperial Palace, motive, means, and for some figures even identity have been lost to the shrouds of time. All that has survived to this day is that the Inquisitorial Representative, the Master of the Astronomicon, the Paternal Envoy of the Navigators, and the Fabricator-General of the Adeptus Mechanicus were all killed before the Steward was able to stop Grandmaster Vangorich's terror.

Naturally, many asked how Vangorich was able to get as far as he did. Perhaps the sheer scale of the events already taking place at the time (especially the rising threat of the Beast) was responsible, since it was the few periods in Imperial history where the High Lords were forced to abandon their usual backstabbing and power plays - that kept the Officios and Adepta in check - in favour of (relative) unity. However, others believe planning and preparation had taken decades, the timing an unfortunate consequence of Vangorich demanding so much care be taken to make the deaths of his fellow High Lords look like accidents.

All sources agree, however, that once his treachery was revealed Vangorich unleashed the assassins on the entire palace. The halls ran with blood of the highest Lords and the most lowly of servitors alike, yet there was one figure the assassins would not touch, ''could'' not touch, out of fear of what he had done to their forefathers: the Steward, who had vowed to personally put a stop to the killing spree desecrating the home of the Golden Throne. Vangorich, infuriated at the apparent incompetence of his underlings, took it upon himself to do the job they would not, attempting to slay the Steward with a vortex grenade as he emerged from his personal transport.

This went about as well as one would expect.

Even less is known about the outcome. Historians have waxed poetically about the Grandmaster facing an agonizing death, eternal torture, exile into the depths of the Webway with nothing but the clothes on his back, or any other number of tall tales. The most reliable account , however - attributed to the Captain-General of the Adeptus Custodes - states that the Steward simply broke Vangorich's neck as comfortably as one would a twig mere moments after his ill-advised attempt on the Steward's life.

For their part, the assassins were right to be fearful; for unlike their predecessors on Mount Vengeance the Steward gazed upon them with ''disappointment'' as well as fury. The Beheading had been undertaken by Vangorich, but the Steward noted with no small distaste that his orders had not been questioned by any under him. Malcador had managed to maintain the delicate balancing act between accountability and unflinching loyalty necessary in an organisation such as the Assassinorum, and without him it seemed the assassins were falling back on their bad habits.

Any other time he would have dismantled the Assassinorum's there and then, but the Steward was more concerned with reinforcing the wider Imperium against the coming onslaught of the Beast. In a time when every second was precious, the Steward could only set aside a day to scour the assassins' much-reduced ranks. Those found wanting of moral character were incinerated where they stood if they had acted on Vangorich's orders or pressed into a penal legion if they had not. One assassin that the Steward found was of solid loyalty and aided him in his purge of the temples, and they were declared new Grandmaster. The first decree they were to issue, however, was a warning - a warning to be spread through every temple, to every assassin from the depths of the Imperial Palace to frontline fighting against the Orks. A warning that, if the Steward was ever forced to intervene again, he would simply dissolve the Assassinorum instead of wasting more time on leniency.

Four thousand years later, the Steward was once again forced to intervene - although this time it was because of a crisis of his own making.


To her credit, the Grandmaster the Steward had put in place had served honorably, loyally, and carefully. Within the temples, long overdue reforms were undertaken, training formalised, and generations of assassins raised to revere the Imperium as a whole more than their temple. The Grandmaster, when she felt her time came, passed the title on to one she felt she could trust; and he continued her work, standardising material provisions and improving survivability. When he was lost in a warpstorm, his successor was well chosen, and worked to streamline chain of command and requisition. This continued, the Officio slowly evolving into an organisation capable of keeping up with the rapid changes of the galaxy, until the reign of Goge Vandire. Emperor Goge Vandire.

Goge Vandire was, initially, the ideal servant of the Imperium. Intelligent yet humble, decisive yet wise, he was familiar with all the intricacies of every part of the imperial government - save the assassins. Naturally, he was curious. At his first meeting with the High Lords of Terra, they each took their own oaths of loyalty and explained their roles. The, on the other hand, explained the history of the Beheading to the new Emperor, and explained why since then the Assassinorum always chose to swear loyalty to the wider Imperium instead of a particular individual. An explanation that would end up nearly tearing it apart.

"...hence, our loyalty is to the Golden Throne and its guardians rather than the one sitting upon it. A mere technicality, of course-" The Grandmaster offering a thin smile at this point, "-since I personally doubt we will ever receive liquidation orders from the archaeotech itself... but still."

The other High Lords had long ago learned not to question inner workings of the Assassinorum, while Emperor Vandire merely gave a hearty chuckle. They moved onto other, more pressing matters, and it appeared that that was the end of that. And it was, for the most part, but there was a small corner of Emperor Vandire's mind where those words echoed endlessly. "The Golden Throne and ''its guardians''," the Grandmaster had said, but it seemed clear to him that there was only one guardian that mattered; the one who had appointed him to the position in the first place. Over the years of Emperor Vandire's reign - too many hard decisions, too many threats to the Imperium from within and without, perhaps too many treatments of juvenat - the echo rose in his mind until it was deafening, a mild irritation over semantics growing into full-blown paranoia.

Of course they were faithful to the Imperium, but the hypocrites chose the Steward to venerate as a figurehead! Even in the Palace, his own home, all the oaths in the galaxy would not change the fact that each soul's allegiance lay with the Steward rather than himself. They only trusted him because the Steward trusted him, had appointed him. Oh, yes, his reign and countless years of selfless service were all very good and well appreciated, but they were all nought against those of that living god. Everything he did was overshadowed by that ''guardian;'' his words judged against the Steward's, his actions compared to those of the Steward, the ''Steward'', the '''''Steward''''', who was never more than a moment away from the lips of Vandire's own people; as if he had been usurped before he was ever appointed to the throne.


Still, Vandire was still as talented as he always was, and soon managed to find an assassin willing to aid him; a callidus by the name of Tziz Jarek. By that point he was in direct control of every aspect of the Imperium thanks to a thousand emergency powers and Imperial edicts; yet frustratingly, the Grandmaster remained steadfastly insistent on the stance that had tormented Vandire since their first meeting. Jarek, on the other hand, was simply angry with the Assassinorum's reforms, and made sure to stay well out of range of Vandire's spittle and foam when he began to rant - although over time she found herself believing in more and more of his firey rhetoric.

The assassination was textbook perfection; the Grandmaster's long list of security measures outdone by Jarek's longer-still list of fallbacks and contingencies. However, the lifeless corpse that was quietly fed into a plasma generator was only a body double of the Grandmaster - even as Jarek disguised herself with polymorphine and assumed the seat of Grandmaster of Assassins - had already made her getaway, rallying those loyal to her from Terra and beyond. With the Assassinorum now firmly under his thumb, Vandire used the shadowy assassins as another weapon with which to prosecute what was rapidly becoming a reign of terror; opponents political and military alike disappearing or found butchered in cruel and unusual manners.

When the reign of Emperor Vandire was coming to an end, he began to use his assassins more openly against rebel forces - and it was at that moment, when they emerged from the shadows, that the true Grandmaster struck. Jarek had used the forces of the Assassinorum masterfully, always knowing which figures to ''liquidate'' to maximise disorder and panic - yet she had no experience of the same tactics being used against her, and could do little but order her own assassins to focus on the new threat.

The resulting battles were devastating. Assassins loyal to Vandire and to the Grandmaster both used long-forgotten, forbidden technologies on the other side, for each was (rightly) convinced that the victory of the other would see them exterminated to the last. Gene-sympathetic nerve gases, neutronic warheads, entropic broadcasters, pan-chronal disruptors, and other terrors were all used; some dating back to the nightmare of the Old Night. These were the Wars of Vindication, and they would be repeated again and again from Terra to the furthest reaches of the Imperium as assassin turned against assassin to purge the ones they saw as traitors.

When the Steward finally returned to Terra from his self-imposted exile, the Temples were little more than smoking, hellish ruin. The palace, too, was scarred by battle; and there he found the Grandmaster - who pointed to her lifeless doppelganger and declared that the traitor was dead.

The Steward was unamused.


The Grandmaster offered her life by way of apology, and begged the Officio Assassinorum be spared. She knew all too well of the warning passed down from each Grandmaster to the next, and of the possibility of her and her own suddenly being abandoned by an Imperium that had no other place for them. For his part, the Steward was bitterly disappointed with Emperor Vandire's descent into madness - yet this time he could not truly fault what had historically been the most troublesome of the High Lords' domains. One Grandmaster had fought with unwavering loyalty for the Imperium, while the other had done so in the name of the Emperor. Perhaps he was a little ashamed of his own poor judgement, for he was merciful; the Grandmaster was allowed to disappear into exile, and the remnants of the Assassinorum were to return to Terra for their final judgment.

The Steward of the Golden Throne retreated into the Imperial Palace for the last time, and when the Emperor of Mankind emerged, first and final orders to the ancient Officio Assassinorum were as follows:

*All assassins were to be granted a window of clemency, where an amnesty would be offered regardless of allegiance. They were misled, but had still fought with ferocious loyalty to their superiors - against some of the best in the Imperium, no less. Any who ignored this opportunity would be declared outlaws of the Imperium of the Golden Throne, for both the Grandmaster and her doppelganger had kept close eyes on their respective assassins (lest they defect). Huge bounties were offered, of course, but the most sought-after reward was the opportunity for the hunter to take the place of the assassin they defeated, becoming one of the Imperium's shadowy elite.

*After the grace period, the Officio Assassinorum would be completely and utterly dissolved. The Temples would remain, but only as individual institutions with no power and little role; all masters would stripped of formal office and all survivors either absorbed into the reborn order: the Officio Tactitum. No more secret handshakes or shadowy meetings lit by incense, no unaccountable Grandmasters operating without question. Civilian control would slow the Tactitum, perhaps even hamstring it, but this was the price to be paid to avoid the mistakes of the past.

*Perhaps most importantly, the Ordo Securitas of the Inquisition would be formed to monitor not only the assassins but the other highest echelons of the Imperium. These Inquisitors would be the guardians of the guardians, watching each Officio and Adeptus for corruption and abuse, wary of another Vangorich or Vandire emerging.

*However, due to their power to render judgment of even the highest figures of the Imperium, the Sicarius were only permitted to advise and regulate, never taking direction - at least, in theory. In reality, many Securitas Inquisitors found rather...creative ways to circumvent the decree that they may not maintain "men under arms".


The Emperor had spoken, and these were his commands.


The Officio Tacitum is a far more modern organization nowadays. Though it primarily is still famed for its assassins, it also produces operatives specialised in sabotage and covert warfare far from home. They are often assigned to the command of the Astra Militarum or individual Inquisitors; and each lone assassin is still a finely honed killing machine, but they now serve as spectacular force multipliers rather as ends in themselves. The Ordo Sicarius is satisfied with this arrangement, as it avoids the high risk and cost of the traditional lone wolf operations, and allows them to keep an eye on any assassins deployed.

The Temples? They are far less superstitious and shadowy than they once were, although the name of "Temple" has stuck in defiance of every reform that has been attempted. Each of them has diversified yet maintained their core roots in their quest to perfect the art of murder.

Temple Vindicare, who reach out far longer than all but the highest of psykers to deliver their kiss of death.

Temple Venenum, who can find a thousand toxins to kill a man from the gentlest of paradise worlds, each one exquisite to the palette in their own unique way.

Temple Eversor, who can scythe through men, orks, eldar and even Astartes with the horrifying ease of a power sword through flak armour.

Temples Culexus - who hunt down their prey with soulless eyes - and Callidus, who have no face to call their own.

Temple Vanus, which according to popular belief ha[EXPUNGED]oes not exist. The Ordo Sicarius has confirmed this, and will not allow any dispute.


The primary headquarters of the Tacticum, including the Temples, lie on Terra, although across each segmentum there are localised, lesser temples that train assassins, liason with other Imperial Forces, and seek recruits from outside the Schola the Temples traditionally draw from. The Ordo Sicarius also work closely with segmentum command to permit proper coordination if Tacitum assets are needed, although on a smaller level they are surprisingly good at scouting talented assassin candidates. With proper Inquisitorial oversight, the assassins are kept well in check, and well out of politics.


The High Lords of Terra still has a seat for the Grandmaster of Assassins, but it has been left vacant ever since the reign of Emperor Vandire. Few imagine it will ever be filled again.

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== Adeptus Mechanicus and its branches ==

=== Adeptus Biologis ===

<div class="toccolours mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" style="100%"> '''''Gene-wrights of M41:'''''

"Without metal man is a beast. Without flesh man is a tool."
-- Motto of the Adeptus Biologis

Despite being seen as just another branch of the Adeptus Mechanicus, the Adeptus Biologis actually has very different origins from the rest of the Mechanicus. Instead of being derived from the Martian Mechanicum, the Biologis were originally formed from the various geneticists and biotechnologists living in the territories that the Warlord conquered, including the gene-hippie conclaves of western Merika, the genesmiths of Ducht Jemanic, and the genewrights of Luna. The Biologis were eventually folded into the Mechanicus proper, and centuries of cultural and philosophical exchange have greatly reduced the differences between the two, but the group still retains its own unique quirks.

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Today, the Adeptus Biologis performs a multitude of services throughout the Imperium. They travel to newly pacified worlds to make catalogs and studies of native flora and fauna. They study diseases and synthesize new medications to constantly try to beat back the plagues of Nurgle. They try to engineer more efficient versions of crops to feed the burgeoning Imperium. They often oversee augmentations of Space Marines and Sisters of Battle.

Perhaps the biggest difference between the Adeptus Biologis and most other divisions of the Adeptus Mechanicus is their stance on innovation. According to the Biologis, the Mechanicus’ prohibition on invention and innovation only applies to technology, not nature, a loophole the Biologis are happy to exploit. As a result, the Adeptus Biologis are much more willing to try new techniques than the Mechanicus proper, which is one reason why things like rejuvenant drugs and augmentation have improved over the centuries, even if it is only at a glacial pace. Of course, given that all of their equipment comes from the Mechanicus proper, the Biologis are often unable to build the kind of equipment they would like to use.

Another major difference between the Biologis and the rest of the Mechanicus involve physical augmentations. The Biologis are just as augment-happy as their brethren within the AdMech, but tend to prefer artificially engineered organs and genetically modified tissues over cybernetic implants. Even those Magos Biologis who do have mechanical implants often strive for a balance between flesh and metal, seeking to perfect the flesh before they involve the machine.

Like virtually every organization in the Imperium, the Adeptus Biologis can be broken up into a number of factions. The old rivalry between the gene-hippies and genesmiths is still there, only under different names. The Emergentists believe that artificial biological designs must be “balanced” as part of an integrated whole much like natural designs, and that the greatest parts of a design often emerge via interactions that are not forseen. By contrast, the Utilitarians believe the body is analogous to a machine, and must be treated as such. Any deviation from the perceived purity of a design is something not to be tolerated.

The Mechanicum, that is, the actual Mars-based organization who make up the majority of the Adeptus Mechanicus and primarily work with technology, do not like the Adeptus Biologis very much. They see the Adeptus Biologis as pretenders who do not even deserve the red robes they dress in. They see the aversion of the Biologis to cybernetic augmentations as an affront to the Credo Omnissiah. Nevertheless, they begrudgingly the Biologicus despite seeing them as lesser, much in the way scholars of the “hard sciences” looked down on biology prior to the Age of Strife.

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