In other words, if you're interested in the lore like me, you're better off just getting the Age of Darkness rulebook. The Libers are more for rules and detachments. Oh, well. I guess that makes sense. Most of the lore was in the black books that have the campaigns, and the Journal Tactica had a lot of lore. The red rulebooks that compiled all the different faction rules didn't have much lore, if I remember correctly. I don't need to remember, I literally own the Mechanicum red book from 1st edition and have it right next to me, and yeah...not much lore.
Anyway, some interesting details that aren't in the Libers. The Excertus Imperialis is the vast organization of the Imperial military, comprising of billions of troops, functionaries, laborers, void crew, logisticicians, almoners, a depts, and staff officers. It also includes the astronomical quantities of weapons, equipment, war machines (tanks and walkers), void conveyances and warships. Theoretically under the Officio Militaris on Terra, they're in practice commanded by the Primarchs, Navigator Houses, Planetary Governors, and other principal agents of the Great Crusade. They're more akin to a logistics organization than an actual military, something like the Departmento Munitorum of the 41st Millennium.
Forming the vast bulk of the Excertus Imperialis, the Imperialis Auxilia - colloquially known as the Imperial Army - is the actual military of the Imperium. Around 25% of the Imperial Army constitutes the frontline echelon, composed of thousands of Solar Auxilia regiments and the Terran Old One Hundred regiments. You know, the first 100 regiments of the Imperial Army who fought alongside the Emperor during the Unification Wars. The Geno Chiliads, the Lucifer Blacks, the Kushtun Naganda, the Catharti Arraigners, etc.
Before you say the Lucifer Blacks aren't the Old One Hundred (Timewalkerauthor mentioned in his/her Wordpress blog that there's no "official" mention that they're the Old One Hundred, and also based that on the wiki page, and it's been brought up by several Redditors as well), well, they are mentioned as one of the Old One Hundred in the old black book from Horus Heresy 1st edition, #5: Tempest. Page 177.
There, the list in the small section covering the Old One Hundred under the Imperialis Militia & Cults Army List chapter includes:
Geno Chiliads
Confed Gun Brotherhoods
Thorosian Voltigeurs
Lucifer Blacks
Ouranti Draks
The Lucifer Blacks and Ouranti Draks, in particular, are mentioned to be tasked with a ceaseless crusade, and unlike many of the other Old One Hundred regiments, did not obtain the settlement rights on worlds they had conquered to produce second generation of militia regiments from whose ranks the best would be conscripted into the Imperial Army to fight in the Great Crusade.
There's your official source. Rely on the black books and published material. The wiki is very useful, but it's made by fans, and sometimes there might be gaps.
Anyway, I digress. The frontline, after victory, will move on to the next warzone. The next in line is the second line reserve formations of Imperial Army, comprised of specialized formations equipped and organized in a variety of patterns to conduct long term Compliance operations, consolidating and reinforcing those victories won by the first line. Once a human world is declared fully Compliant, these second line formations will move on or be stood down, and many will form a cadre for a newly raised third line, the many and diverse planetary militias. These third line planetary militias are basically our Imperialis Militia.
Oh, and we have a name for the Horus Heresy era Imperial Navy now. It's the Armada Imperialis.
I don't think we need to talk about Saturnye Ordo and the highly militarized tech-enclaves of Saturn whose expertise in void warfare formed the template of the Solar Auxilia, or the Mars-Solar pattern Leman Russ tanks, or tercios.
Rather, what I found more interesting is the Mechanicum stuff. Particularly the Autokrator. "The Autokrator concerned itself with marshalling the ground armor and artillery trains of the Mechanicum, as well as liaising with seconded Skitarii tech-guard within the Taghmata."
Oh? That's interesting. We know we're getting plastic Skitarii for the Horus Heresy, their official names being the Skitarii Battle Pilgryms. They're being led by a Battle-Pilgrym Marshal. Very interesting. Though Warhammer Community mentions that we can bring them as an allied detachment or field them as an independent force as part of the Skitarii Conclaves army list, I wonder if you can fold them into Taghmata lists directly as Troops choice or something. It also hints that the Skitarii Conclaves army list doesn't just include the Vultarax Strato-automata, but might also encompass the the Autokrator stuff, meaning Krios tanks, Krios Venators, Karacnos and other ground armor or artillery. I don't know if they'll get access to the Mechanicum Legacies stuff (e.g. Tarantula batteries or Macrocarid Explorator), but it will be cool if they do. I doubt it, though. I think you'll have to go around it by taking a Tech-priest to unlock those units in the Taghmata list and ally them with Skitarii.
Also, I was wondering why they renamed Titan Legions into Titan Orders in the Liber Questoris. Well, that's answered in the Age of Darkness rulebook. Originally, the creation of three Orders named the Triad Ferrum Morgulus led to the formation of the Collegia Titanica. The Titan Orders grew and eventually became the Titan Legios, or the Titan Legions. Ancient Orders that were part of Explorator fleets and grew on distant forge worlds were recovered into the fold of the Imperium, and added to the Collegia Titanica, also becoming Titan Legios in their own right.
...so they are Titan Legions, not Orders, right? ...right?
No comments:
Post a Comment