Only War

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Grimdark to a whole new level

"...in the grim, dark future there is." -Yoda

The latest entry in Fantasy Flight Games's Warhammer 40,000 Roleplay product line, in which players take the role of Imperial Guardsmen. The first edition of the core rulebook and the GM's screen has been released, with an upcoming Rites Of Battle-style splatbook that promises more regiment creation options.

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

The vehicle rules look promising, and seem more streamlined than Rogue Trader's.

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

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

Classes

Guardsmen

Guardsmen are normal soldiers and have access to comrades. They start off with double the starting XP of Specialists.

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

Specialists

Most specialists are tied to specific roles. Some do not have access to comrades.

• Commissar - These men and women enforce morale over the rank-and-file troops with an iron fist and the occasional summary execution. Not as badass as you'd think.
• Ministorum Priest - Bringing the light of the God-Emperor to the battlefield, Ministorum Priests inspire the troops around them, not just with their preaching, but by fighting their foes with their massive Evicerator chainswords.
• Ogryn - These immense Abhumans tend to be a bit dimwitted, but act as some of the Imperial Guard’s most effective shock troops.
• Ratling - Short and rotund, these small abhumans are used as infiltrators and snipers.
• Sanctioned Psyker - Feared by their enemies and allies alike, the Psykers of the Imperium are capable of bending the roiling power of the Warp to their will - until that power breaks them.
• Storm Trooper - These elite soldiers are trained alongside the Commissars in the Schola Progenium. Equipped with some of the best armour and weapons in the Imperium, they are deadly fighters.
• Tech-priest Engineseer - Engineseers wade into battle clad in thick armour, tending to the machine spirits of the Imperial Guard’s many war machines.