More Skitarii!

 So I built a bunch of new Skitarii. Now I can play Skitarii as a horde army! The point was to build a 20-men Skitarii Ranger squad, which was why I bought so many Skitarii Rangers. And I needed to equip them all with galvanic rifles, so...yeah. Why? I don't know. Galvanic Volley Fire, perhaps? Just wanted to try it out, because it seemed fun.

If I don't like it, I'll revert to my usual multiple small units, each armed with a special weapon, but I think Mars suits that playstyle more, and I'm more of a Ryza guy. Draconis IV is supposed to be the second Ryza, after all. We stole their plasma technology and now we're following their dogma of getting up close and personal. Sort of like how I play my Imperial Knights, heh. Though I'll have to admit that the new rules about special weapons hit me hard. Ugh. That's why I ended up buying more Skitarii models, to ensure my squads follow the one special weapon per squad rule. Am I annoyed by it? Very. Who the hell thought it was a good idea to change that? Because the box only sells one of each special weapon? Frak that! The Omnissiah provides! Also, we swap bits with friends, so it's not as if it's extremely difficult for us to get all the plasma calivers or arc rifles we needed. Who decided to do that nonsense? Ugh.

Anyway...here's a bonus short story.

As the Draconian 42nd Cohort prepared to descend onto the renegade forge world of Titus, Skitarii Alpha Theta 812-Sigma noticed an aberration.

<Rho 46-Mu,> he blurted through the noospheric sphere. <You're carrying an arc rifle. Epsilon 27-Delta is already armed with an arc rifle. We are exceeding the number of permitted special weapons per squad.>

<So?> Rho 46-Mu blurted back. <Isn't that better? That means our maniple is more well equipped. The more special weapons, the better.>

<It is not permissible for each squad of 10 or less to carry 2 or more special weapons of th same type.>

<Why not?> Rho 46-Mu sounded exasperated, despite being a cyborg who was more machine than man. <It's not as if the Omnissiah forbade it. It's not tech-heresy or something.>

<The Codex Skitarii does not support this action.>

Rho 46-Mu proceessed this information for a few seconds, the cogitators wired into the mess that was his formerly human brain whirring. Then he finally blurted.

<Inloading data from the noosphere. The only mention of a "codex" is the guidelines penned by Lord Commander Roboute Guilliman, the son of the Omnissiah. There is no record of any "Codex Skitarii" in existence.>

Skitarii Alpha Theta 812-Sigma shrugged, his red cloak and golden armor rippling. <I have a printed copy of Codex Skitarii on my shelf. It's a vintage book, supposedly from the dark days of 7th edition. Correction. The dark days of the Dark Age of Technology.>

<But that codex allowed a 5-man squad to take 2 special weapons of any type! So did the 8th edition codex!>

<Everything changed when the 9th edition codex dropped,> Theta 812-Sigma intoned ominously. <Now put away that arc rifle and grab your galvanic rifle instead. The Omnissiah has specified as such in the latest codex, therefore it must be so. We do not question the wisdom of the Machine God.>

<Fine,> Rho 46-Mu grumbled, placing the arc rifle back in the rack where several dozen shiny, polished exotic weapons lay. Instead, he went to the near-empty rack where only a couple of well worn galvanic rifles were left and retrieved them.

<Look on the bright side,> Skitarii Alpha Theta 812-Sigma assured him. <We have Tech-priest Manipulus Macin Tosh of the Artisan Holy Order fighting alongside us. His galvanic field ability will improve the range and armor penetration of our galvanic rifles, and his advanced protocols will enhance the strength of our ranged weapons. It will make our...uh, galvanic volley fire much deadlier.>

<If you say so, Alpha Theta 812-Sigma,> Rho 46-Mu replied sullenly, casting one last look at his beloved arc rifle. He sighed into his rebreather, his eyes hidden behind occular augmetics. Even if his face had not been concealed by his hood, it was impossible to see his expression. Nonetheless, the Skitarius would do as duty dictates. <To obey the tenets of the Machine God without question is our sacred duty.>

That said, he couldn't help but question the wisdom of those who penned the new Adeptus Mechanicus codex. To take away their special weapons...yeah, that was the height of folly, if they asked him.

But nobody asked a lowly Skitarius like him for his opinion, and so he trudged wearily toward the waiting Skorpius Dunerider in the dropship, praying to the Omnissiah that the lack of special weapons wouldn't cost them their lives. If they ended up runnning into enemy tanks and vehicles, they would regret not having that extra arc rifle.

One of these days, they should throw one of the tech-priests into the battlefield and see if a firsthand perspective would influence the kind of data he or she collated...