Soft "Retcon" of Legio Cybernetica

Okay, I'm sounding increasingly like Chapter Master Valrak (which isn't a bad thing, actually), with all these weird titles. Anyway, after rewatching a few of Arbitor Ian's videos because I need to learn from him, I realized something very interesting about the history of the Horus Heresy. It's something often brought up in forums and Reddit when people discuss the difference between 30K Mechanicum and 40K Adeptus Mechanicus, and why modern Mechanicus doesn't get the cool toys and robots from 30K, especially Legio Cybernetica.

One of the reasons is that apparently, the "majority" of the Legio Cybernetica turned traitor, and now the modern Adeptus Mechanicus banned the old automata for fear of corruption. In fact, you can find this line in the 7th edition Adeptus Mechanicus codex, which explains why only Kastelan robots are used, and not the Heresy era (or Great Crusade era) automata.

Basically, they are tainted by association with the Dark Mechanicum, and by renegade Tech-priests who attempted to imbue their automata with Silica Animus or artificial intelligence, or daemons.

Way back in 1988, in both the White Dwarf issue 104, and Realms of Chaos: Slaves to Darkness, "many" Legio Cybernetica cohorts rebelled under the leadership of Warmaster Horus, and that parts of the Legio Cybernetica had been the first to declare for the Warmaster. The dishonored Legio Cybernetica Cohorts also fled to the Eye of Terror along with the Traitor Legions, and...as you remember, the whole "Legio Cybernetica has pledged itself anew to the Imperium and take binding oaths of loyalty more terrible than any Marine Chapter oaths." Funnily enough, in contrast to 7th edition, they have apparently regained the respect and admiration of everyone.

That's kind of hilarious, when you think about it. The lore keeps on changing. Anyway, why do fans think that the majority of the Legio Cybernetica turned? Back in the 1988 Realms of Chaos: Slaves to Darkness, there's a little tidbit of information that says this:

So more than half of the Adeptus Mechanicus, including many units of Legio Cybernetica, turned traitor. Hence, it is assumed that the majority of Legio Cybernetica cohorts turned traitor, and thus we have less 30K automata today. But take note that this nascent background lore has been changed and retconned over the years. In the past, "only those on Terra" remained loyal for the Collegia Titanica. That is no longer true, obviously, if you've been keeping up on Heresy lore and the Adeptus Titanicus or Legions Imperialis game. Roughly half of the Imperium's Titan Legions remained loyal, so that we can have more even games. Legio Atarus, for example, or Legio Astraman, Legio Crucius and Legio Fortis, do not originate from Terra. So yeah. The game lore has developed greatly since.

However, this was changed a little as the lore on robots developed. In 2012, when Horus Heresy was developed as a game by Forge World and the mythology was expanded upon, they no longer had "more than half" or the majority. Hell, the Adeptus Mechanicus was changed to the "Mechanicum" during the Heresy, and only became the Adeptus Mechanicus after the Binary Succession.

Again, this was to explain that the Loyalists are not necessarily outnumbered, and anyone can be a Loyalist, including Legio Cybernetica. Of course, it is undeniable that many cohorts turned Traitor and declared for the Warmaster, but there were at least equally many that did not.

However, it has always been assumed that those who turned Traitor outnumbered the Loyalists, despite the changes in lore. I mean, that's not a wrong assumption, and judging from how it has developed from the 1980s, I think originally, that was intended to be the case.

Then The Rise of the Dark Mechanicum came.

What is interesting, in terms of rules, is that you cannot take any automata units in a Dark Mechanicum army. This is deliberately intended. I believe this is made to help differentiate Loyalists and Traitors further. This is not to say that if you're of Traitor allegiance, you're completely barred from using automata - far from it - but you're discouraged from using them and relying more on Stalkers to have that visual distinction between Loyalist and Traitor.

Right from the outset, we have this clash between Stalker Constructus and Loyalist Cybernetica automata.

If you remember, the Silica Animus was banned because AI and the Men of Iron and the Crimson Accords of Mars. The Emperor forbade research and construction of artificial intelligence. This was the reason why so many Cybernetica Tech-priests turned to the Warmaster - they wanted to see these restrictions lifted.

At the same time, Animus Inimica is a very telling name - Inimica, as in inimical. Something that is utterly hostile and dangerous toward Animus, which means mind or spirit. Don't ask me why they use silica (which means hard stone or flint) for artificial because Silica Animus is supposed to mean artificial mind/spirit (but it roughly translates to hard stone spirit/mind in Latin). Maybe it's short form for Simulacra? Would make more sense, really. Anyway, I believe the word Inimica is used intentionally, to serve as a contrast against the automata. Of course, this isn't the official name of the Stalker constructs. They are known as Silica Mutus, which I'll get into later. Mutus, by the way, relating to "mutate" or "mutatis mutandis," which is a reference to mutation or change - hence hard stone mutant in Latin. Roughly. Don't ask me who came up with these pseudo-Latin names. Anyway, Anima Inimica is used to describe the passage or scene where the Stalker constructs confront the Cybernetica automata for the first time.

Basically, Dark Mechanicum Stalker constructs are inimical toward Mechanicum automata. And this, I believe, is Games Workshop's attempt to distinguish between Loyalist Mechanicum and Dark Mechanicum, but at the same time not invalidating the already existing Traitor Cybernetica cohorts that fans own or in the lore. So yes, you can still run automata if you're Traitor, but you're given more incentives to run a Dark Mechanicum force of Stalkers without automata, and you're encouraged to have automata as Loyalist - thematically speaking. This has nothing to do with balance or gameplay, so you don't get bonuses for running automata as Loyalists. Instead, you're less restricted, whereas if you play Dark Mechanicum, you are restricted to taking automata as part of your 30% limit of allies. Basically, you've to take an allied Mechanicum detachment, so you're discouraged but not banned from taking automata.

Lorewise, it's also worth noting that the Stalker constructs are so hostile toward automata that they actively seek them out to eliminate them, breaking off from Legio Mortis's main advance toward Magma City, just so they can engage and exterminate Macro-cohort Exsomnis, a war host of Legio Cybernetica.

The Stalker constructs, rather than being known as Silica Animus, is officially categorized as Silica Mutus.

Long story short, they are utilized by those Forge Worlds who lack ties to the Legio Cybernetica, to shore up their weaknesses and lack of heavy war engines. There is a major shift in the militant base of the Traitor Mechanicum, as they manufactured Stalker constructs in favor of the more ancient and closely guarded automata of the Legio Cybernetica, which remains under the close purview of that militant arm, with their own loyalties and agendas, and requiring political favors and other oaths or bonds from those requesting for Cybernetica assistance. In contrast, the blueprints for the Stalker constructs were disseminated freely, allowing these Forge Worlds without ties to the Legio Cybernetica, to construct their own war engines without relying on political favors and goodwill.

These are different from daemon engines. Rather, Stalker constructs appear to be produced by combining the techniques of Legio Cybernetica with aurum nerve bundles that mimicked synapse clusters found within higher mammals, creating a lesser synthetic life that is more advanced and less restrained than traditional battle-automata.

So Stalkers are effectively meant to replace Cybernetica automata in Dark Mechanicum lists. Again, that doesn't mean you can't field Cybernetica automata if you're Traitor, it just means you're more restricted in doing so, as they're meant to contrast each other and visually distinguish the Loyalist from the Traitor. Sort of like Thousand Sons versus Space Wolves, where you can play either faction as Loyalist or Traitor, but from a glance, a third party can tell apart the two armies (even though they're both Legiones Astartes). Also, they're meant to hate each other with a burning passion (you'll never see them allied thematically, unless there's a Barabas Dantioch and Alexis Pollux moment), so again, you'd hardly see them in the same army unless allied Magi bring their two separate detachments together. But I imagine they would have to rein in their automata from attacking each other outright. This is probably speculation for now, but I believe the machine-spirits of the Cybernetica automata are hostile toward the ravenous Stalker constructs, and would seek to destroy them if it were not for their Magi holding them back.

I'm not sure if what I'm saying makes sense?

Anyway, I'm not sure if this counts as a soft "retcon" of existing Cybernetica lore, but evidently, the Cybernetica automata is gradually being marked as a symbol or representation for Loyalists in the face of Stalker constructs for the Traitor Dark Mechanicum. This, obviously, only applies to Legions Imperialis at the moment because we don't have any plastic Stalker construct models for 28mm scale Horus Heresy. We'll be getting them eventually, far down the future, as plastic production techniques, CAD and manufacturing technology improve, but for now, aside from Legions Imperialis, automata remain firmly in the province of both camps.

That said, I'm detecting a gradual shift - a soft "recton," as I put it - toward distinguishing Cybernetica automata for Loyalists as a foil against the Dark Mechanicum Stalker constructs. Of course, you can still play Traitor Mechanicum with lots of automata, perhaps as Legiones Auxiliary Cybernetica or alongside Traitor Knight Houses and Titan Legions, but they would be Traitor Mechanicum as opposed to being Traitor Dark Mechanicum. This is to represent those Magi who have sworn to Horus's banner, but haven't gone down the road of constructing Stalkers - not that they need to because they already have Cybernetica automata for that role.

4th Armored Sentinel

I procured and assembled a 4th Armored Sentinel! Now I can field 2 squadrons of two! Yay!

As I said the other day, I eventually plan to build a Krieg army. No, nothing impressive. I intend to only buy one box per new unit - the Krieg command squad, the Engineers, the Death Rider and maybe the Lord Marshal. We'll see. Then I will combine them with my Ryuusei Katana tanks. They would literally become a combined arms detachment. Heh.

The alternative is to go all in on Hammer of the Emperor, so that means a couple of Taurox and maybe a 2nd Rogal Dorn. We will see. I haven't decided, apart from the Krieg stuff. Anyway, the Sentinels are a start!

Plastic Mechanicum Knights for Legions Imperialis

You thought Horus Heresy was left out of Adepticon? Well, apparently we have more news! Yes, this is for Legions Imperialis and not 28mm scale Horus Heresy, but it's from the same team. For those of you who don't know, the different game systems under the umbrella of Games Workshop are handled by different teams (or different studios). So one team does the 40K stuff, and another handles Horus Heresy. And Horus Heresy is not just 28mm scale - the same team also takes care of Legions Imperialis.

I've seen people complain that Legions Imperialis is a "dead game" and they should focus all assets and attention on 28mm scale instead, but c'mon...not going to argue with them, let's just agree to disagree. Anyway, back to the topic at hand.

We finally have Cerastus Knights Atrapos in plastic. After I've already gotten them in resin. Oh, well.

They will be sold in boxes of 4. Interesting.

We're also getting the Acastus Knights Asterius in plastic, and they'll be sold in boxes of 2.

Again, I already have one in resin, and don't intend to pick up a plastic one unless I lose my resin guy.

All I can say is that they look really cool, and really...rad. Get it? Rad. Heh. Never mind...

Anyway, I have my Knight Household ready. The only thing I'm missing are Armigers, and I believe plastic Armigers for Legions Imperialis will come soon. How soon, I don't know, but I believe in the Omnissiah. So yeah. This should make up for the disappointment of no Horus Heresy in Adepticon. If not, well...let's see what awaits us next week!

If you believe Valrak, there's a 3rd edition of Horus Heresy on the horizon, so I'd remain optimistic. If you don't, well...I guess we can just wait and see what the future brings. Either way, continue gaming and having fun!

Secutarii Axiarch

I finally assembled my Secutarii Axiarch! Yay! This time, I used the Army Painter super glue, which I managed to procure from Rogue Trader in Singapore. Thank the God-Emperor that somewhere in Singapore sells Army Painter super glue. Even Amazon doesn't sell Army Painter super glue, surprisingly enough. I'll have to make a trip to Tiong Bahru (Lower Delta Road) one day if I ever run out of Army Painter super glue, but that's something I'll worry about in the future. I'm never using Zap again.

Now he gets to lead either 2 squads of 10 Secutarii Hoplites or a combined squad of 20. Hell, yeah! My Secutarii Hoplites now have a Leader! Or an Independent Character to Lead them! So basically they get Stubborn and Binaric Stratagems. The latter means they have a choice of 5+++ Feel No Pain, Move Through Cover, Wrecker or Preferred Enemy (Infantry). Give them rad grenades and they can Instant Death, uh, Solar Auxilia, Imperial Militia and Cultists. But I'll want them to be hammering vehicles with their Disruption arc lances anyway, so never mind. They're not going to win a fight against Astartes Legionnaires, sadly.

There's also a Triaros Armored Conveyor on the way to transport the 21-man blob to wherever they need to go. Sneak up on a Spartan, maybe, charge it, and then poke it to death. Heh. Anyway, we'll find out.

Oh, and one more thing. I watched the live stream of the Warhammer 40,000 Adepticon today! I wanted to write an article earlier, but I was on duty (I'm currently working as a relief teacher), so I didn't have time to write anything once my break was over. By the God-Emperor's grace, the stream coincided with my break, so I was able to watch it live, and I was rewarded.

Now, I know there are a few Thousand Sons players who aren't fond of this model The Sekhatar Robots. Honestly? I think they're too skinny or too lean. They need to be bulkier. Obviously, I'm not expecting them to give us a replica of the Castellax-Achea battle-automata. That's Horus Heresy, and I doubt they'll simply copy/paste or port Horus Heresy miniatures over to the 40K line.

However, I love robots, and I love the weapons. They have the Thousand Sons aesthetic, that's a plus, and the Hellfyre missile rack plus what seems like heavy warpflamer or twin soulreaper cannons and a melta cannon are awesome. Our Heavy Support option! Yay!

Can't wait to get my hands on the new Thousand Sons codex!

The important thing is that we now have rules for robots. So if you don't like the look of the Sekhatar Robots, my proposal is to kitbash! I've an idea of combining the Sekhatar Robots with the new plastic Castellax battle-automata, though I'll just build a couple normally before I experiment with kitbashing. You know, for fun. I'm not sure how it'll turn out, though. But we'll see. I might not even bother kitbashing because I don't have the money to buy multiple kits, and I'm also collecting Horus Heresy and Legions Imperialis at the same time. And...Imperial Guard. Eventually. I want several Krieg models.

There's also these guys! Technoarcheologist is, well...something, we already have, so not very impressed with that one. But the Servitor Underseer, he looks really cool. Not gonna lie, I want one. He looks amazing.

Servitors, though, uh...I'm not a fan of Servitors. I'm more of a Skitarii and Cybernetica guy, and the Cult Mechanicus side doesn't appeal to me. That's why you don't see Kataphron battle-servitors or Electro-priests in my army. But the Servitors look cool, and I'm sure there will be many who like them. My Cult Mechanicus colleagues, in particular.

I mean, a Servitor with a heavy arc rifle!!! How cool is that?!

Won't lie, the Breacher Servitor also looks amazing. I swear to the Omnissiah, the guy is carrying a mini las-impulsor. You know the laser cutter on a Knight Preceptor? I'm sure that's the miniature, man portable version. Time to...breach!!!

By the way, I'm pretty sure you can kitbash these guys with Adsecularis Tech-thralls if you don't like the shambling zombie aesthetic and want something...fleshier. Lots of potential!

Anyway, I'll focus on my Secutarii and Skitarii and Cybernetica for my Mechanicus/Mechanicum armies for now. Waiting for my Triaros and a couple more Castellax, and then...I'll wait for the Domitar and Arlatax to be released in plastic. In the meantime, I'll collect the Thousand Sons stuff, and if I still have money for my hobby afterward, then it's KRIEG!

Oh, one last thing.

I'm so getting this book. Maybe it'll coincide with my collection of Krieg. We'll see. Till then!

Krios

 I assembled a Krios Venator! Yay! Always wanted one of these, but I hate working with resin, and he was too expensive. Now that it's in plastic, he's more affordable and he's easier to assemble. Not to mention, he came in the Mechanicum Heavy Support Force box with the Thanatar Calix. Great deal!

I can alternatively field it as a normal Krios battle tank! I didn't glue the main armament, so I can swap it out for whichever role I want it to fulfill. This is so cool!

Next, I will acquire a Triaros armored conveyor for my Secutarii Hoplites. I can't wait!

Thanatar Calix Siege-automata

I assembled my Thanatar Calix Siege-automata! Yay!

After, uh, the disaster that was my Secutarii Axiarch, I proceeded to the much better plastic models that are the Mechanicum heavy support box. I really hate working with resin, ugh. This went much better, and now my Thanatar Calix is complete. Phew! That's a relief. I'll proceed to assemble the Krios Venator (I'll see if I can leave the weapon interchangeable) soon. How soon, I've no idea. I've a way of procrastinating. So, yeah.

So what will I do with this fella? Generally, he's for Horus Heresy, but he's also joining my Legio Cybernetica army in the modern 41st millennium.

During the hypertechnological war between the Adeptus Mechanicus and Necron Dynasties in the region known as the Pariah Nexus, the weapons unleashed were not limited to those vast in scale. Many Tech-priests and Adepts brought along priceless relics and ancient assets that date back to the Great Crusade.

Archmagos Theta-Rho orchestrated his battle-automata as they marched relentlessly across Kuroishi, engaging the Necrons that had crawled out of the woodwork. His pair of Thanatar siege-automata stepped forward, their mauler bolt cannons barking thudnerously and mauling the poor Necron warriors that advanced silently, shattering their metallic forms.

The first Thanatar unleashed a superheated salvo from its Hellex plasma mortar, engulfing a horde of skeletal warriors. The Necron warriors continued marching, despite their eerily gleaming forms melting into sludge. Though eldritch energies crackled around their convulsing forms as they attempted to repair the molten warriors, the smoldering crater remained inimical to all forms of life, and they phased out eventually after melting and reforming several times.

A Doomsday Ark detonated as an immense beam speared it, fired from the shoulder-mounted Sollex heavy lascannon. Even as its hull knitted together, the living metal that composed it attempting to repair it, the Thantar Calix lumbered forward and rammed it with its graviton ram, crushing it with gravitic forces.

Gauss beams lanced toward it, deflected by the atomantic deflector that shrouded the massive automata. A phalanx of tomb blades streaked across their skies, swerving toward the pair of Thanatar.

However, a pulsing beam of black light struck one of the hover-bikes and unmade it at the molecular level. A Castellax battle-automata, anchored to the ground, swiveled its Darkfire cannon and fired again, disintegrating a second tomb blade. The survivors pulled up and withdrew.

Lychguard charged Theta-Rho, believing him to be vulnerable, but they skidded to a stop, raising their shields and locking them. Their maneuver didn't save them. Melta rays blasted through their crackling shields, the multi-melta wielding Castellax battle-automata closing ranks to protect their master. Their power blades whirred, crackling in disruptive fields, as they sliced through the dense formation of Lychguard. Mass reactives hammered into their glyph-ridden breastplates and detonated ferociously, the Castellax automata shooting pointblank into their foes.

Theta-Rho raised his head, his auto-senses detecting a spike in energies. Behind the Lychguard, he spotted a single Necron overlord, raising its staff and unleashing a temporal burst that accelerated the aging of one of his Skitarii protectors. The cyborg shuddered, metallic joints rusting and all flesh decaying in an instant, before collapsing.

The archmagos raised his volkite blaster, unleashing a thermal ray in reply. The crimson beam slammed into the overlord and immolated it, causing the xenos to shriek in an undignified manner. Theta-Rho watched, fascinated, as the overlord disappeared, only ro recompose itself several meters away, free of the flames that ravaged its previous body.

The overlord turned its skeletal face toward the tech-priest, its eyes blazing verdant with ghostly fury. It leveled its unmaker staff at him, but before it could decompose its target, a graviton hammer fell upon it and pulverized the foul xenos.

<Conqueror Protocol,> Theta-Rho blurted in binharic, directing his newly arrived Domitar battle-automata to smash their way through the reeling Lychguard from behind. His Castellax had fallen under the weight of their insidious weapons, but Theta-Rho reckoned he could repair them once he brought them back to his Ark Mechanicus.

First, though, he had a war to win. With the prized assets of his Legio Cybernetica - composed of priceless automata dating back to the Great Crusade - unleashed, he was sure victory was within his grasp. Unlike his reckless colleagues, he had no intention of escalating the hypertechnological war and razing entire worlds.

No, he would instead place his faith in the glorious days of the Great Crusade, of the golden age of the Imperium before it was riven by civil war. At their height, there was no xenos empire that could challenge the burgeoning Imperium of Man. Witnessing the might of machines derived from that period of enlightenment, Theta-Rho's confidence blossomed.

He would eradicate the enemies of the Omnissiah.

Several systems away, Vashtorr the Arkifane stirred and laughed, reveling in the emotions that flowed through the sub-sector. The pride...the arrogance...the complacency that filled those foolish "innovators" who thought they had mastery over their technology. He could literally taste the turmoil of technological and the rush that filled those who thought themselves masters in the air, and he reveled in it.

Soon, the Silent King's contra-immaterial nodal matrix, the invention he took so much pride in, would belong to Vashtorr, and fuel his ascension to godhood.

Zap CA isn't...good.

 So I tried assembling this guy today.

I washed him beforehand to get rid of the chemical or whatever it is they use to non-stick resin, but still, zap CA didn't work. At all.

I thought maybe I didn't wash the parts enough, but when I tried repairing my other models that have already been assembled...well, zap CA still did not work.

For now, I've given up, and I've ordered Army Painter super glue instead. I used that in the US for resin models, and it worked (even if it was tedious and took a long time, but at least it works). I have no faith in zap CA, so I'm just gonna toss it or leave it to one side for now and wait for the new glue. To makes matter worse, zap CA made a mess on my computer, the desk and the floor. All for nothing because it's only good at making messes and suck at actually sticking resin parts together, old or new.

I can understand it if I somehow didn't wash the parts properly and it doesn't stick, but you're telling me my old Secutarii Hoplites and Carnodon tank models can't be repaired with zap? Hell, no. Army Painter super glue it is.

Plastic Mechanicum Knights

We now have the Mechanicum Knights in plastic for Legions Imperialis!

I already have the resin versions, so...I dunno. Probably don't need them, but since I'm a Knight guy, obviously I'll write about this. Anyway, more Knights are cool, even if I'm gonna stick with my resin ones and have no need to buy the plastic ones.

But this might mean plastic Armigers for Legions Imperialis in the future, so I'll be keeping an eye out for those! Yay!

Heresy Heavy Support

My little Mechanicum force is slowly building up, yay.

I have acquired a Mechanicum Heavy Support Force, along with my Secutarii Axiarch to lead my Seuctarii Hoplites. I intend to get a Triaros Armored Conveyor eventually, and round out the force with two more Castellax battle-automata, and I think that's pretty much it, until they release the Arlatax battle-automata and Domitar battle-automata. That will be cool, and I'll construct a Legio Cybernetica army.

Not sure what to do with the Karacnos Assault tank, though. Does anyone want it? It'll be easier if you're in Singapore, though. Oh, well. Maybe I'll just assemble it for now...but ideally, I would love to trade him for a Triaros Armored Conveyor. We'll see...

Nachmund Gauntlet

And so we're back here in the Nachmund Gauntlet. Well, I don't really have much of a vested interest in it because none of my forces are fighting in the Nachmund Gunatlet, whether Vigilus or Sangua Terra. My Knights of House Yato, Draconian Skitarii maniples and Ryuusei Katana Imperial Guard regiments are practically halfway across the galaxy, fighting in Segmentum Ultima and in the Pariah Nexus, or guarding the Draconis sector from Thousand Sons incursions from the nearby Prospero system. Either that, or we were fighting in Terra when the Great Rift happened, against the hordes of Khorne daemons. Maybe. I dunno.

But hey, we have a Crusade supplement for the Nachmund Gauntlet, and I'm definitely down for Crusade. I love Crusade. The narrative aspect is my favorite part of the hobby. So I'll do my little tradition where I give spoilers about the Crusade books I buy. Maybe I'll be able to run a nice little Crusade campaign one day, if I ever find a group in Singapore willing to give it a go. Anyway, let's break down the events of Crusade: Nachmund Gauntlet.

Obviously, there will be spoilers ahead. You have been warned.

We open with our pal Haarken Worldclaimer in the aftermath of his victory over the Jestine system, having burned a path through the Nachmund Gauntlet with his immense armada. The fortress of Nonavore was also smashed. Yikes. Abaddon contacts Haarken and asks him about his progress, which seems to be good, with the latter just about to head to the Gorandahl sub-sector now. Abaddon, on the other hand, appears confident that Vigilus will be his. Soon. Then he gives Haarken the Planet Killer. Oh, boy. The Imperium is frakked.

The main setting is Sangua Terra, a fortress world in the Sanguis system. By the way, nearby is the Imperial Knight world of Okomeia and Felhart Domain, a Black Templars recruiting world. Cool! The systems of the Nachmund Gauntlet are often blighted by warp events such as gravitic fluctuations and palls of obscuring radiation, insanity and mutation, and the ever present threat of the Chaos Knights from Dharrovar. Along with Sanguis System's sister systems of Jaghaal, Coryxx and Lenoid, they make up the Gordandahl sub-sector and the form a cordon known as the Sanctus Wall.

The Sanguis Flare occurred when a warp flare engulfed the Sanguis System from the Great Rift, causing mutations and large parts of the planet to turn, uh, daemonic. To make matters worse, Sangua Terra's moon, Sigil, is turned into a daemon moon. No kidding.

Soon after that, the war on Vigilus happened, and I think I don't have to repeat what occurred. Abaddon was forced to retreat when Marneus Calgar deployed a Deathstrike missile to threaten the Vengeful Spirit, and Vigilus earned a reprieve. However, if you recall the Rift War campaign book back from 9th edition, battles continued to rage, Calgar is hailed as a Saint for some reason though he's not actually dead (but the Vigilus people don't know that), miracles manifest and they are able to throw the hosts of Chaos back by wrecking a Noctilith Crown.

Oh, and the Imperials attempted to assault Dharrovar, but the Chaos Knights of House Mandrakor defend their homeworld. Haarken shows up and shatters the Imperial forces between his armada and the Knights of House Mandrakor, forcing them to retreat. Yikes. There was a naval battle, led by Lord Admiral Prisca, who fought against the Chaos armada with brilliant strategies to buy the Imperial reinforcements time to reach the Sanguis System. However, the Chaos fleet is simply too large and it destroys Prisca's mismatched fleet.

Celestine apparently shows up on Vigilus as well, and after fighting three Daemon lords and killing two of them, she vanishes as the area burns. Only Inquisitor Cartavolnus, the dude responsible for wrecking the Noctolith Crowns, escapes with his forces, and he rushes to Sangua Terra. He is joined by Junith Eruita and a War of Faith, a long with lots of Adepta Sororitas. The Sanctus Wall then prepares for Haarken's assault.

Since I'm a Knight guy, I'll just lay this out. We have 4 lances from House Terryn, 2 lances from House Dorath, 5 lances from House Krast, 3 lances from House Minotos, 6 lances from House Taranis and 3 lances from Hosue Oko'norest, plus 14 Freedblades or so. That's like 23 lances. Against them stand 103 Chaos Knights divided into 8 dread lances, accompanied by 16 household brigades of Mandrakorian Bonds with armored support and 944 Idolators with servo-clades, logistical and aerial support. Interesting.

Though the Imperials placed patrols near the Mandeville points to intercept the emergence of Chaos ships and report back as soon as possible, Haarken was able to take them by surprise by using captured Loyalist vessels as decoys, then bam! A bunch of battleships and line ships smash past the poor captured vessels to wipe out the patrol fleets. A couple of them maanged to escape and report back, though.

With Prisca out of action, Rear Admiral Borqil - who escaped from the destruction of the command bastion of Nanovore - took command of the Imperial Navy, and he singled out a single heretic fleet group to destroy. Led by Captain Fulvian of the Sons of Medusa, a small battle group wiped them out before leaving when Haarken sent 57 heretic ships to reinforce them, forcing them to run. The rest of Haarken's armada closed in on poor Sangua Terra.

As an aside, the Daemon lord ruling over Sigil is Tchorr'kan. He seems to be Tzeentchian, I think? He likes mutated stuff, crystals and labyrinthine plans, so I assume he's Tzeentch. Anyway, once Haarken takes up orbit over Sangua Terra, he struck a deal with Tchorr'kan and in exchange for his daemonic aid, a bunch of lords under the Worldclaimer's command gained the dude's sigil. They are then sent to the most dangerous warzones in Sangua Terra. They are all the most capriciuous and divisive warlords, which made the other commanders under Haarken annoyed, but c'mon, you can't be that stupid, can you? Accepting a sigil from a Daemon definitely means there's a price to be paid. I bet it can't be good, even if they get some power in exchange for the short term.

The main battle focuses on the capital of Sangua Tera, the Urbanosprawl Alpha. Haarken Worldclaimer's Gloomtalons lead the assault, along with Szerhan Nethar's Fear Rakers and Torian Kommodar's dread lance of Chaos Knights. For f's sake, they all have edgy nicknames. Haarken is known as the Herald of the Apocalypse (pfft, really?!), Nethtar is the Chainflayer (Oh, so scary), and Torian Kommodar is Dharrovar's Talon. Who came up with these nicknames? Chuunibyou edgelords?

Anyway, Haarken's Gloomtalons target the Accrandor Spaceport, which fall in short order because he's the main villain, and there's really no significant characters there to protect it, then he heads for the Praefectus Bastion where Junith Eruita and her command staff plus Adepta Sororitas await. The Fear Rakers head for the Tower of Murmuration (an Astropath tower), which is defended by our good friend, Inquisitor Cartavolnus and his Black Iconoclasts, elite inquisitorial stormtroopers, along with requisitioned regiments of Imperial Guardsmen. The Knights of House Mandrakor target the guns of the Emperor's Voice Grand Battery, which is defended by Master Nahrdeth and his Guardians of the Covenant. Dark Angels successors. Oh, and the three Legio Tempestor Titans. Yay!

Unfortunately, the Night Lords (Fear Rakers) launch some dread missile that caused all the poor guardsmen protecting the Tower Murmuration to go insane with fear or something. Even Cartavolnus is wounded. Yikes. By the way, Cartavolnus has concluded that he needs to close the Nachmund Gauntlet, though how he intends to do so, I have no clue. We'll find out, and I suspect he'll succeed as some pyrrhic victory for the Imperium yet again. But that doesn't happen in this book, so let's move on.

Long story short, the Fear Rakers overrun the poor Guardsmen at the Tower of Murmuration, and Inquisitor Cartavolnus and his elite Black Iconoclasts are forced to retreat. The Guardians of Covenant put up a good fight, taking out a bunch of Chaos Knights, but they are unable to stop Kommodar  and House Mandrakor from destroying the big guns of the Grand Battery. Legio Tempestor also obliterated a bunch of Knights with their big guns, but they got bogged down by daemons. Oh, and Baron Kommodar is accompanied by Countess Kaliganus, who is fifth in line to succeed the High Queen of Dharrovar. The high queen doesn't trust the ambitious baron, you see, because he wants to expand Dharrovar's territory and conquer the Imperial systems surrounding their system or something. However, being a distant heir, Kaliganus ends up listening to Kommodar's honeyed words.

Ahem. Anyway, Haarken moved toward the Praefectus Bastion, and Eruita musters her Adepta Sororitas and all her reserves to meet him in battle. The Imperials are overwhelmed, but Celestine shows up to save them! She's accompanied by lots of Seraphim and Zephyrim. Celestine slays lots of Raptors and Warp Talons, reaches Eruita, and then informs her, "Hey, girl, the Emperor wants you to live and fight another day, not die in Martyrdom for f-ing nothing." Eruita swallows her pride and listens, calling for dropship extraction.

Also having failed his mission to defend the Grand Battery, Nahdrdeth and the Guardians of the Covenant coordinate with Eruita to evacuate via dropships and Thunderhawks or gunships, but the poor Titans are left behind, overwhelmed by both Tchorr'Kan's endless hordes of daemons and the Knights of Hosue Mandrakor, who had both reaped a toll on the beleaguered Guardians of the Convenant and sustained heavy casualties of their own. A Bloodthirster leaps and starts hacking his way into the helm of the Warlord Titan, so Princeps Drentor detonates the Titan's core. Celestine serves as the rearguard and is the last to board the final dropship that takes the Imperial survivors away from the fallen Praefectus Bastion.

Haarken has his prize, the capital of Sangua Terra and the Officio Militarum fortress that was formerly Junith Eruita's command chamber. Oh, and he reveals that all the warlords who received the sigil from Tchorr'Kan are dead, having overextended with their ambition and going against the Warmaster's orders, and uses this as a warning to cow the other Chaos commanders. I doubt it'll work, but y'know. Grimdark. Meanwhile, as even more of a grimdark, it appears that Haarken has captured poor Prisca - the heroic Lord Admiral who tried to lead the naval battle against his overwhelming armada to buy time for Imperial reinforcements to arrive. She's melded into a machine in hideous fashion, and almost insane, but Haarken keeps her alive because he wants the knowledge inside her, such as cyphers, mnemo-codes, names, numbers and plans.

Truly grimdark. I don't know what to say. Sangua Terra is on the verge of falling, but it hasn't fallen just yet. The Imperial defenders have mostly survived and relocated to other non-capital parts of the planet to continue fighting. Just like Pariah Nexus, it sort of ends on a cliffhanger, with the status quo being maintained. For now. Hopefully, they move the narrative forward...soon, but I don't know when. We'll see.

Though I suspect our good friend Cartavolnus will do something extreme and close the Nachmund Gauntlet for a pyrrhic victory. This has that written all over it. But what do I know?

Regimental Organization of the Astra Militarum

Now that I've covered the Imperial Army, the next will be the Imperial Guard. Yes, we're the Imperial Guard, not the Astra Mili...what?

Anyway, the regiments of the Astra Militarum are officially known as the Militarum Regiment. This refers not to a single "regiment" but pretty much all the regiments that come from a single world (or system or sector or even voidborn, depending on how the "Militarum Regiment" is organized or how they recruit).

Each Militarum Regiment comprises multiple regiments, all of whom come from the same planet. For example, all Guardsmen from Cadia as belonging to the Cadian Regiment, or all Guardsmen from Ryuusei as belonging to the Ryuusei Regiment. On their home worlds, the forces who serve to defend the planet may be split into battalions, divisions, cohorts, militia groups, geno-corps and other formations, but in the Imperial Guard, they are all simply referred to as different types of regiments.

Each Astra Militarum Regiment typically follows a core composition - for example, infantry regiments will obviously be mostly infantry with very little artillery, whereas tank regiments won't have much infantry (apparently, in the 41st Millennium, armor infantry - otherwise known as mechanized infantry, have their own classification instead of being under armor regiments). This was laid down by the then Lord Commander Militant of the Imperium, in the aftermath of the Horus Heresy to prevent any one commander from having access to diverse assets to wage war against the Emperor and the Imperium like what happened during the 31st Millennium.

Typically, this means that when waging war, several different regiments have to work together. Unlike the Space Marine Chapters, which are self-contained forces capable of executing a campaign by themselves without necessarily requiring support, the Imperial Guard must muster diverse assets from various regiments, combining infantry, tanks and artillery from ideally different worlds to prevent any sort of politically grouping. And once that campaign is over, the different regiments are broken up and shipped to different warzones, so as to once again prevent any long-lasting alliances or ties of loyalty from forming between these regiments. So if one regiment turns traitor, the damage will be minimized, and the resources the turncoat commander has will be very limited.

The Gaunt's Ghosts novel series demonstrate the deployment of multiple regiments for a campaign. Dan Abnett's Necropolis, for example, sees the combination of the recon-focused Tanith First and Only light infantry regiment, the aristorcatic and heavy infantry of the 50th Royal Volpone and the tenacious light infantry of the Roane Deepers and the tank regiment of the 1st Narmenian Armored defend Vervunhive on Verghast from the traitorous Zoicans, waves of millions of infantry supported by artillery.

In the subsequent campaign, the Tanith is then deployed alongside the Eighth Pardus Armored to journey to the Shrine of Saint Sabbat on Hagia to evacuate the remains of the Saint, and then they worked together to defend the Shrine from the Infardi. In both cases, infantry and tank regiments cooperate for the campaign before being shipped off to different warzones, and this is typical of most Imperial Guard deployments.

Regiments are typically raised with a strength of several thousand soldiers, with Valhallan infantry regiments numbering over 120,000 men, but there are many differences. The Tanith, for example, only number between four and five thousand men. In contrast, a Vostroyan armored regiment might only have less than 1,500 tank crewmen. Regiments of super-heavy tanks, such as Baneblades and Shadowswords, rarely consist of more than a dozen of these armored behemoths. For example, the 7th Paragonian Super-heavy Tank Company consists of four super-heavy tanks, 40 crewmen, and their associated staff and support personnel that add up to about 160 more men, which also includes Atlas recovery tanks. Given that a tank regiment is normally composed of 3 companies, that means 12 super-heavy tanks for a single Paragonian Super-heavy Tank Regiment. Sounds about right. The point, though, is that though grossly oversimplifying, the Departmento Munitorum classifies regiments based on an equivalent fighting strength or combat effectiveness, though how they measure that is a bit ambiguous. Theoretically, this means 12 super-heavy tanks are equivalent to 120,000 infantry.

Imperial Guard regiments are divided into several companies according to the Tactica Imperium. Depending on the type and size, a regiment may consist of between three and twenty. The Tanith First and Only, for example, has A Company all the way to S, I think? Someone correct me if I'm wrong. Most infantry companies are organized into platoons, typically between three and six. Platoons are usually comprised of a platoon command squad and several ten-men infantry squads, or perhaps twenty-men infantry squads. These are then supported by heavy weapons platoons, perhaps Sentinels and other specialist units.

Non-infantry assets, such as battle tanks, artillery and abhuman squads, may be attached to an infantry company for a battle or the duration of an entire campaign. These aren't permanent additions and are attached as necessary by regimental commanders. Sometimes, armored and artillery regiments are broken down into companies to be seconded to infantry forces, granting heavy firepower to platoons whilst providing meatshields...ahem, troop support for the vehicles.

When an army is assembled, the Departmento Munitorum draws regiments from many different planets, resulting in a conglomeration of uniforms and combat skills instead of a single homogenous force. Again, Dan Abnett's Gaunt's Ghost series often showcase the diverse regiments from multiple worlds working together for single or extended campaigns.

Often, casualties will reduce the overall strength of fighting forces, and while the Departmento Munitorum and the logistics staff of the homeworld will often send new recruits and reinforcements to the depleted regiment, often many of these regiments are fighting so far away from home and have no way of returning or having the fresh recruits reach them, say, in a hotly contested warzone that's being blockaded by the enemy armada. In such cases, the Departmento Munitorum will merge half-strength regiments. For example, the Tanith are often amalgamated with other regiments, such as recruits from Verghast or merged with the Belladon regiment whenever they become understrength. Of course, the Departmento Munitorum will, in such situations, do their best to combine regiments from the same world, such as the 597th Valhallan Ice Warriors, which was formed from combining the 301st Valhallan - all-male specialized planetary assault shock troops - and the 296th rear echelon HQ security and all-female units.

Separate to the regiments from diverse worlds, the Schola Progenium is a more uniform (ha ha, uniform, get it?) program that nurtures orphans of Imperial officials all over the galaxy and train them into becoming Commissars of the Officio Prefectus, elite Tempestus Scion companies of the Militarum Tempestus - or storm-troopers in low Gothic - and the Adepta Sororitas for most of the girls.

As can be seen, a typical infantry company is usually led by a company commander and command squad, and consists of five platoons. Each platoon will have its own platoon commander and command squad, and consists of five infantry squads, though the numbers will inevitably vary according to regiment. They will also have their own transports, though usually limited unless it's a mechanized infantry regiment like the Armageddon Steel Legion, where every single squad will have their own dedicated transport.

Additionally, each platoon may include up to three special weapon squads, five heavy weapon squads and one Conscripts squad, though Conscripts appear to have been fazed out by the 42nd Millennium.

In contrast, a standard Armored Company (and there are a lot of tank companies that don't follow the standard) is composed of a Tank Commander and three or more squadrons of Leman Russ tanks. Again, depending on the world, they might have access to different type of tanks, such as Malcador tanks, Valdor Tank Destroyers, Macharius, Carnodon tanks, and even super-heavy tanks such as Baneblades, Shadowswords and Stormblades.

Other attaches include the preachers of the Adeptus Ministorum, Mechanicus covenants of Tech-priest Enginseers that tend to the tanks and vehicles, abhuman squads from the Militarum Auxilla such as Ogryns and Ratlings, and the Scholastica Psykana's battle psykers, who are the equivalent of a Space Marine's Librarius.

For example, in this infantry regiment, you have a colonel in overall command, and his command squad and presumably support staff forming the command company. Under them, you have 3 infantry companies. The 1st company would have its own company command squad and company commander, typically a captain. Under him would be three platoons, each platoon led by a Lieutenant and his command squad, and consisting of at least three 10-men infantry squads. The 1st platoon would be the veterans, the 2nd platoon also frontline fighters, while the 3rd platoon seems to be tactical reserves and fire support for the other two. The regiment is supplemented by 18 Commissars under a single senior Commissar from the Officio Prefectus, 3 Ogryn squads from the Militarum Auxillia, 83 Preachers and 101 menials hailing from the Adeptus Ministorum and 9 psykers from the Scholastic Psykana.

An armored company is different - the command company is a colonel in a Leman Russ tank (or Rogal Dorn), though he can choose to ride a command Chimera instead or even a Baneblade or super-heavy tank. Under him are three tank companies, each consisting of 10 tanks - a single tank commander leading three squadrons of three Leman Russ tanks. Or Rogal Dorn tanks, given we have that now, or whatever poor tanks that have been banished to Legends after the advent of the 10th Edition Astra Militarum codex and the utter gutting of Imperial Armor units. Supplementing them is a single Baneblade, a "Heavy" company. The armored regiment is supported by a recon squadron of 3 Sentinels and an anti-aircraft squadron of 3 Hydras, assigned to them by overall command.

Terms and naming conventions vary from regiment to regiment, so while the regimental commander is normally a colonel, the military culture from which they're drawn from might use an entirely different term, such as Knight Commander, Chief Hetman, Taisa, etc. Generals could be known as Lord Militants or Shoguns. But despite the varied naming conventions, the ranks are roughly equivalent throughout the regiments.

Often, regiments are combined into combined arms forces where infantry are supported by armor and artillery, but there will be occasions where the mustered forces are ogranized into highly specialized armies designed to meet very specific tactical challenges. For example, a battle group might consist of mechanized infantry and artillery for lightning-fast armored breakthroughs, or an entire Sentinel company assisting light infantry in jungle warfare, or an entirely armored battle group drawing multiple tank and artillery squadrons. Like in the Battle for Tallarn during the Heresy. Or Super-heavy tank squadrons with tank regiment support against Titans.

If necessary, several battle groups will be combined into a huge, operational-level force known as an army group, led by high-ranking commanders such as generals and high marshals. An example of this would be the Sabbat Worlds Crusade in Dan Abnett's Gaunt's Ghosts series, Lord Solar Macharius's conquest of a thousand worlds in 7 years, or even the Indomitus Crusade fleets in current Warhammer 40,000 lore. Millions, even billions of men move at the Warmaster's command, conquering entire sectors.

On the surface, there isn't much to separate the organization of the Astra Militrarum from the Excertus Imperialis, aside from the complete separation of naval assets from Guard forces. Perhaps the Imperial Guard rarely conduct boarding actions and void warfare, but just like the Imperial Army of old, they are divided into specialized regiments (or cohorts) such as recon, infantry, siege or armored. They are commanded by a lord marshal or lord general when mustered in massive battle groups for a campaign, and fight alongside numerous other regiments from disparate worlds. Like Cadians fighting alongside Valhallans and Mordians or the Tanith cooperating with the Vitrian Dragoons and Narmenian Armored in a campaign, the Saturyne Rams and Jovian Grenadiers would battle side by side with Arkadian Janissaries and Lucifer Blacks during the Heresy or Great Crusade.

Maybe another difference would be that the disparate cohorts of an expeditionary fleet will fight together for many years, this becoming a much more unified force than would be the case for the Imperial Guard, whose battle group will be broken up to their individual regiments, each shipped off to a different warzone to prevent the same scenario. Owing to the nature of expeditionary fleets sent to far flung, remote corners of the Galaxy without supply lines or any hopes of reinforcement or reassignment, these cohorts are far more united and loyal to their overall commander than modern regiments, making it difficult for them to consolidate power and establish their own personal armies, to prevent a rebellion on the scale of the Heresy. Furthermore, the distinct separation of the Armada Imperialis from Excertus Imperialis into the Aeronautica Imperialis and Astra Militrarum will deny ambitious generals the resources they need for a coup. Theoretically, anyway, but there are lord commanders and planetary governors who manage to persuade both Guard and Navy forces over to their cause throughout the 10 millennia. Even so, it is incredibly difficult for them to do so within the current structure, and he military assets they have access to are often severely limited.

Also, unlike the Legiones Auxilia of old, modern Imperial Guard regiments do not owe fealty to any Space Marine Chapter, with a few exceptions, such as the Ultramar Auxilia or standing serf armies, or even the Sabbatine forces for the White Consuls. This is to prevent any Astartes Chapter from growing too powerful and becoming a legion again. When the Astral Claws attempted to build their own auxiliary army, they were branded as traitors and ended up leading to a civil war in the Badab Sector.