I had an idea about doing a video, like Arbitor Ian or Luetin09 or Oculus Imperia, but I don't think anyone wants to listen to my horrible voice. So I'll spare everyone the suffering of having to listen to me ramble and instead provide a written article on what we know about the Excertus Imperialis. Logistics aside, we probably want to look at the main military arms that are under the Excertus Imperialis: The Solar Auxilia and the Imperialis Auxilia, or Imperial Army. The Imperialis Militia, also known as Imperial Militia, are part of the Imperialis Auxilia, but they form the lowest and most common run of the wider Imperial Army. They are, in effect, the counterpart to the modern 41st millennium's Planetary Defense Force.
However, in reality, there is very little to distinguish between the better armed or more culturally warlike Imperialis Militias from the supposedly superior Imperialis Auxilia. Much like the 41st millennium, each Imperial world offers up a tithe, so a proportion of their militia regiments to serve in the starfaring Imperial Army, but otherwise, their wargear, weapons, equipment and vehicles are largely the same. Until you see the Third Line rule and the restrictions of taking only a single Leman Russ tank per slot instead of the option of taking squadrons (unless you take the Industrial Stronghold Provenance), and roll your eyes. Damn.
As for the Imperial Army, you probably would have heard of the Old One Hundred. The first mention of them stemmed from Dan Abnett's Legion, and Dan Abnett - being known for his signature Gaunt's Ghosts series - developed a narrative stemming from the more human perspective of the Horus Heresy, focusing on the men of the Imperial Army. Legion proved to be divisive, but I personally think it's a great book. It was also where we first heard about the Old One Hundred, with the novel featuring the Geno Chiliads and the Lucifer Blacks, who become a mainstay in Imperium lore, often guarding the Imperial Palace alongside the Palatine Sentinels (who, strangely enough, aren't Old One Hundred, and are instead employed by the Adeptus Custodes). Lucifer Blacks are among the Imperial Army regiments who have transformed into an Imperial Guard regiment in the modern 41st millennium, though the fate of so many others remain unknown. The Lucifer Blacks are known to serve both during the War of the Beast in the 32nd millennium, as well as defending the palace during the Khornate invasion at Lion's Gate shortly before Roboute Guilliman's return.
Old One Hundred regiments include:
Luficer Blacks
Geno Chiliad
ConFed Gun Brotherhoods
Thorosian Voltigeurs
Ouranti Draks
Angkorian Dragoons
Antioch Miles Vesperi
Catharti Arraigners
Cordesh Cavalry
Golden Hegara
Inferallti Hussars
Kimmerine Corps Bellum
Kushtun Naganda
Qui-Helic Guard
Tupelov Lancers
The Old One Hundred were among the very first human armies who served alongside the Emperor and his Thunder Warrior regiments during the Unification Wars. Upon the Emperor's victory and the unification of Terra, the survivors of these human armies formed the core of the newly formed Imperial Army, and they were regarded very highly.
Other Imperial Army regiments include the Prosperine Spireguard, whose loyalty remained to the Thousand Sons Legion during the Horus Heresy, and continued to serve them even into the 32nd millennium. The Calth Irregulars and Calth Infantry formed part of the Ultramar Auxilia, serving alongside the Ultramarines Legion. The Byzant Janizars appear to be loyal to the Luna Wolves, and the Caliban Jaegers fought beside the Dark Angels to defend Caliban during the Horus Heresy. The Fasadian Heavy Infantry remained loyal to the Emperor and fought during the Titandeath event in Beta-Garmon. The Veridan Korracts were known to fight alongside the Iron Hands, who viewed them with disdain because they were...uh, flesh and thus weak. Don't ask. The Charonid Sentinels and Terranic Auxilia served alongside the Space Wolves during the burning of Prospero, clashing against the Prosperine Spireguard as the VIth Legion hunted the Sorcerers of the Thousand Sons.
The Imperial Militia, to sum it up, are planetary defense forces raised to put down rebellions and insurrections, and defend against xenos raiders. Each regiment is specific to their homeworld, and there is a vast variety in the way they are equipped or dressed. While, in lore, this is down to the sheer number of worlds throughout the Imperium (a million worlds) and how each is basically isolated from each other by unimaginable distances, which means each world has developed its own culture, history, patterns of uniform, equipment, technology, armor, weapons, vehicles, etc., in the tabletop, it's up to the player to kitbash and customize their own Imperial Army regiment. The rules...are not great, especially with Third Line, but the idea is probably to field lots of cheap, low quality troops and vehicles. But that's where the Provenances come in, allowing you to kitbash anything from elite grenadiers wielding volkite weapons to lots of Third Line tanks to entire phalanxes of cavalry riding horses or bikes and wielding spears. The sky's the limit, as they say.
On the other hand, for a more uniform experience, you have the Solar Auxilia. At the point of the Horus Heresy, the elite Solar Auxilia make up 25% of the Imperial Army. Probably to justify why there's so many Solar Auxilia armies running around on the tabletop as opposed to, say, Imperial Militia or Imperial Army armies. Based off the revered Saturnine Hoplites...uh, actually, based off the Void Hoplites of the Saturnye Order and organized into cohorts (with the first ten cohorts known collectively as the Saturnye Rams), they form the bulk of the first line armies.
They're mostly recognizable because of their Solar Pattern Void Armor, which is basically an environmentally sealed carapace armor that allows them to fight in the void. Yeah, they are also meant to serve as armsmen aboard voidcraft and spacefaring vessels. The precursor to Imperial Navy Breachers of the modern 41st millennium. Their vehicles and tanks are mostly specialized, enclosed armor that allow them to operate in any environment, including the void. Mars-Solar pattern Leman Russ tanks, for example, have radiological shielding, and can operate in hostile environments. They also have super-heavy tanks. Yay.
Now, the thing about the Solar Auxilia is that...well, we all know how varied the Imperial Army can be, right? With a million worlds, and at least just as many different Imperial Army regiments, it's hard to have a uniform model line where anyone can pick up and not wonder, "Hey, why do all these Imperial Army regiments look the same when they're from different worlds?" Especially for those hobbyists who are less interested in kitbashing, customizing and more interested in playing, and love the idea of fielding mortal human armies instead of the same old transhuman Astartes. So you need a line of army to cater to that huge group of players who don't have the time or interest to kitbash and come up with their homebrewed Imperial Army regiment.
Enter the Solar Auxilia.
The Solar Auxilia is a great solution, really, because it's more of a pattern of army regiment than anything. You can have a myriad of worlds adopt the Solar Auxilia Cohorts, void armor, training, formations, and even vehicles, because they are just that effective, and thus everyone wants to emulate these elite soldiers of the Imperial Army. And yet, you don't need them to all come from Terra or Saturn. You have the Cthonian Headhunters who accompany the Luna Wolves or Sons of Horus, and are feral. Paint them however you want, and say they are raised from your own homebrewed planet. Though the model range is uniform, there's still room for some customization, such as paintjobs and stuff. At the same time, it explains why there's so many of them. All these different worlds see how effective they are on the battlefield, so they try to adopt the same doctrines, and field the same kind of void carapace armor, equipment and weapons. There you go. No need to think about why your Solar Auxilia army from your homebrewed planet looks like your friend's Solar Auxilia army from another world. But because they're from different worlds, they naturally have different paintjobs and colors, probably as allegiances to their planetary governors or as camouflage for that specific planet's environment.
However, after Forge World released the model range for Solar Auxilia, back after Black book #4: Conquest was published with new rules, they also had to cater for those players who did want to kitbash. Those who are willing to invest lots of effort into creating their homebrewed Imperial Army regiments by kitbashing and going wild with whatever bits they can find from the Citadel range. Hence, in Black book #5: Tempest, the rules for Imperial Militia and Cults were released, allowing hobbyists who did have the time and desire to customize their own unique Imperial Army regiments. Let their imagination go wild! You know, like those crazy human armies that had Dark Age of Technology weapons who attempted to resist the Legiones Astartes during the Great Crusade? How would it be like to create an army like that, huh? Or those who agreed to Compliance, and later wielded their Old Night arsenal against the Traitors who attempt to conquer their worlds to seize their weapons for the Warmaster?
Hordes of conscripts back with artillery, like those serving alongside the Iron Warriors? You got it. Squats? Okay. Rough Riders on horseback wielding lances? Sure. Abhumans, ogryns, beasts and mutants? Certainly. Chaos spawn, warp cultists and monsters? Go for it. Cyborg soldiers that are not quite Skitarii but have close ties to the Mechanicum? Hell, yeah! Elite soldiers wielding weapons from the Dark Age of Technology and riding Rhinos or Land Raiders? Enjoy!
Provenances
Speaking of which, I thought I should compare the Provenances of 1.0 and 2.0 and see what's the difference.
1.0
Warrior Elite: +1 to Leadership, and Militia Levy become Support squads.
Gene-crafted: +1 to Strength, but no Feel No Pain.
Cyber-augmetics: 6++ invulnerable save or +1 bonus to an invulnerable save to a max of 3++. Reduce Run and Sweeping Advance rolls by -1. Can't take with Gene-crafted.
Alchem-jackers: Stubborn during Assault, and if they fail morale, they are pinned instead of Falling Back. Taking Frenzon gives them Rage and forces them to make Sweeping Advances.
Survivors of the Dark Age: +1 to their armor save to a max of 3+. Must take Grenadiers as Troops, and Inducted Levy becomes Support squads. Can't take with Cult Horde or Tainted Flesh. Taking Advanced Weapons gives +1 Strength to las weapons and rotor cannons for Grenadiers and command squads, and they can also take Rhinos or Land Raiders as Dedicated Transports.
Feral Warriors: +1 to weapon skill to a max of 4, while Ogryns get +1 Attack. Can't take more vehicles than infantry. Taking Blade and Fury gives non-Ogryns +1 Attack.
Abhuman Helots: +1 to Toughness but -1 to Initiative. Taking Discipline Collars gives them Stubborn, but failing a morale check with double 6s kills them (probably blow off their heads). Attached Characters can Fall Back.
Traitor only - Cult Horde: Gain Zealot, but must charge an enemy if able, even if they fire rapid fire or heavy weapons (not Relentless, so you still make snap shots with heavy weapons). Actually, you make snap shots with all shooting attacks and can't go to ground. Can't take Grenadiers, and can't take with Survivors of the Dark Age.
Traitor only - Tainted Flesh: Gain Fear and Feel No Pain (6+), and close combat attacks gain Rending. Must take Levy squads as Troops, and can't take more infantry units than Levy squads, with the exception of HQ choices, which are restricted to Force Commander and Rogue Psyker. Can take Mutant Spawn as Heavy Support, and can't take with Survivors of the Dark Age, Gene-Crafted or Alchem-jackers.
2.0
Warrior Elite: +1 Leadership, Levy squads become Support squads, and Grenadiers lose Support squads. Grenadiers the only real change here, aside from them naturally becoming Support squads.
Legacy of the Great Crusade: Grenadiers, Command squads and Discipline Masters get BS4 (they got nerfed to BS3 in 2.0), and Force Commander has Initiative 5.
Clanfolk Levy: Cavalry taken as Compulsory Troops get +1 Leadership (but can't take them as non-Compulsory Troops), and you get 4 additional Fast Attack slots - all for Cavalry only.
Gene-crafted: Completely changed to getting something on a dice roll for each unit at the start of the battle. A 1 means the unit starts the battle pinned. 2-5 gives them one of the following: Fleet (2), move Through Cover or Night Vision. 6 gives them all of those, or you can choose one: Relentless, Stubborn, and Adamantium Will (6+). Uh...I prefer the old +1 Strength.
Cyber-augmetics: Gets Feel No Pain (6+) and Slow and Purposeful. Can't take with Gene-crafted. Basically, the invulnerable save is changed to Feel No Pain, but you do get to fire heavy weapons without Snap Shots.
Alchem-jacker: Stubborn during Assault, and Pinned if they fail morale during shooting phase if they still have over half their models left. Taking Frenzon gives them Furious Charge (1). I guess they changed the Pinned thing to only shooting phase and needing more than half to survive (probably because they overcompensated for Fearless mobs in 1.0), and Frenzon now gives them Furious Charge instead of Rage.
Survivors of the Dark Age: Grenadiers and Command squads can take Rhinos, Termite Assault Drills or Land Raiders as Dedicated Transport, but they become Third Line and BS3. Can take Voidjumpers that make them jet pack infantry with 2 pistols each. Other than the Rhinos and Land Raiders as Dedicated Transport, it's completely changed.
Armory of Old Night: Upgrade lasguns to lasrifles for free. Grenadiers and Command squads can take volkite serpentas, volkite chargers and volkite culverins or needle pistols, assault needlers, needle vulnus and needle cannons, while the Force Commander has access to paragon blade and archeotech pistol. The other half of the old Survivors of the Dark Age, but better than the previous +1 Strength to las weapons. Volkite, dudes! Volkite! Woohoo!
Feral Warriors: +1 to Weapon Skill, and must charge. Can take chainaxes. Seems better for Ogryns, otherwise, it's the same, except that you get chainaxes instead of +1 attack.
Kinfolk Helots: +1 to Toughness and -1 to Movement and Initiative. Characters get Battlesmith (6+) or (5+) if they are Independent. Can't take with Ogryn Conscripts. Abhuman Helots without Discipline Collars, and now Kin (or Squats). Space Dwarves. Whatever. Good riddance, the Discipline Collars were dumb.
Abhuman Muster: +1 Strength, -1 BS, become Bulky (2), get Hammer of Wrath (1) or (2) if they're Independent Characters or Monstrous. Can't take with Ogryn Conscripts. I guess this is where Gene-crafted went...no more Discipline Collars. Yay.
Debased Rabble: Must be Traitor. Gain Crusader and Hatred, but must charge. Can't take Grenadiers or with Survivors of the Dark Age. Basically the old Cult Horde, but Crusader and Hatred instead of Zealot. At least you don't have to worry about snap shots when shooting.
Tainted Flesh: Fear (1) and Furious Charge (1), but must take Levy squads, and can't take more infantry units than Levy squads, except HQ choices, which can only be Force Commander and Rogue Psyker. Can't take with Survivors of the Dark Age, Gene-Crafted, Ogryn Conscripts or Alchem-jackers. Same as 1.0 except that Feel No Pain is replaced by Furious Charge, and no more Rending.
Ogryn Conscripts: Ogryns are Troops, and get Line if they are Compulsory Troops. Characters can now join Ogryn squads even though they are Monstrous.
Industrial Stronghold: Gain 2 extra Heavy Support slots for Leman Russ tanks, and you can take up to 6 in each slot. Can't take with Unending Horde, Debased Rabble, Tainted Flesh or Ogryn Conscripts, for obvious reasons. Basically, they nerfed our ability to take lots of vehicles and made it a Provenance.
Unending Horde: Infantry and Levy squads get to "revive" on a 4+ whenever they get wiped out (well, they are "new" reserve units), but attached Characters stay dead. Grenadiers become Elite.
Arms of the Omnissiah: Upgrade lasguns to lasrifles for free. Grenadiers and command squads can take laslocks and arc rifles, while the Force Commander can take a corposant stave and radium pistol (making him a Skitarii Marshal). He can also take a servo-arm, so if you want a Tech-priest...there you go. Can't take with Armory of Old Night. Funnily enough, you're still not sworn brothers with the Mechanicum like you would be if you take Cyber-augmetics (for both 1.0 and 2.0). What were they thinking? Pretty much the Mechanicum version of Armory of Old Night.
Augmented Levy: Levy squads get +1 Leadership, Stubborn, Rite of Pure Thought, and must be Compulsory Troops. Again, you can't have more Infantry units than Levy squads, except HQ choices, and Discipline Masters can't join Levy squads. Can't take Abhuman Muster, Tainted Flesh, Gene-crafted, Unending Hordes, Feral Warriors or Ogryn Conscripts. Almost an alternative version of Tainted Flesh, but with Tech-Thralls as your main troops.
Forge Remnants: Grenadiers and Command squads can take Triaros Armored Conveyors as Dedicated Transport, and you get 3 additional Heavy Support slots, but they must be Krios squadrons. Obviously, they become Third Line and BS3. Can't take with Survivors of the Dark Age or Clanfolk Levy. The Mechanicum version of Survivors of the Dark Age, in other words.
Well, the point of the Provenances is to demonstrate just how varied your Imperial Militia or Cult army can be, given that there are a million worlds, and there's room for you to customize them however you want. The addition of the Mechanicum-like Provenances is supposedly to allow you to assemble a Skitarii army when there's no Skitarii rules in Horus Heresy (seriously?). So you use Imperial Militia to assemble Skitarii, which is...uh, not exactly a satisfactory stopgap measure. But it's a fun kitbashing project, especially with arc rifles and laslocks. Probably use Skitarii Rangers with their galvanic rifles as Grenadiers with laslocks, and a couple of arc rifle gunners thrown into the mix, and there you go. Force Commander as a Skitarii Marshal, and with Warrior Elite, you have a pseudo Skitarii army right there. Hell, kitbash a single Onager Dunecrawler and call it your "Leman Russ" tank with gravis autocannon (replace the missile pod with a heavy bolter or lascannon). Or use a Skorpius Dunerider in place of a Cargo-8 Hauler, complete with the heavy stubbers that you always intended to equip it with.
For me, personally, my Imperialis Militia are Household Militia for my Questoris Knight Household, and as such, they have better gear and weapons than the common Imperial Army soldier. Since Knights are relics from the Dark Age of Technology, wonders dating back to before Old Night and the Age of Strife, it's feasible that Draconis III - a Knight World - has an extensive armory dating back to Old Night that came along with the Knights.
Hence the arsenal of volkite weapons at their disposal. Unfortunately, they separated the Armory of Old Night Provenance from the old Survivors of the Dark Age Provenance, or I would be putting them in Rhinos or even Land Raiders. Oh, well. Anyway, I would like to think that Household Militia are basically part of the Excertus Imperialis. Just as how the Cthonian Headhunters fought alongside the Luna Wolves and were loyal to the Sons of Horus, or the Prosperine Spireguard were subordinated to the Thousand Sons, or the Calth Irregulars and Infantry were part of the greater Ultramar Auxilia that served the Ultramarines, Knight Household Militia were also categorized as under the Excertus Imperialis, as part of the greater body of the Imperialis Auxilia.
Go wild, my friends, and let your imagination flow!
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