Games Workshop Warhammer 40k - Codex V.9 Astra Militarum

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Techno-barbarian warlords and their warrior hordes continuously fought over Humanity's home planet, which had become little more than a massive battleground for their wars of attrition. They made use of chemical, biological and even thermonuclear weapons of mass destruction, and slowly transformed the cradle of Mankind into a battered, post-apocalyptic wasteland across most of its scarred surface.

One of my favourite parts is the optional fold-down step for the external gunner. In the past some real-life tanks mounted an external machine gun to deter warplanes, so it’s another narrative element you can add as well as being an extra gun. Besides, isn’t it so very Imperial to have a huge armoured vehicle bristling with weapons, and then have an expendable Guardsman standing vulnerably on the outside? A battle may see the deployment of millions, yet time and again it is a single heroic company who carry their charge to secure a crucial gatehouse or pivotal objective. Squads of desperate men and women battle impossible odds, with nothing but their courage and faith driving them to hold the line while their valuable betters are evacuated to safety. Every day that the Imperium endures, guardsmen stand in the face of beasts more hellish than their worst nightmares. Despite the long odds and horrors that regularly assault them, the soldiers of the Imperial Guard have emerged triumphant time and again Upon their initial founding, regiments are identified by the name of their homeworld and a number -- for example, the Cadian 144th is the one hundred and forty-fourth regiment to have been raised on the lost Fortress World of Cadia. It is not uncommon for a regiment's number to be recycled following its destruction, a new raising taking the designation of their predecessor. In this way the regiment is re-founded, the new recruits tasked with upholding its honour and traditions. Indeed, the Vintor 823rd serve the Emperor to this day, despite having been wiped out on more than nine different occasions in the span of a single solar decade. In addition, regiments are often given unofficial names, either inherited and therefore part of tradition, or else earned on the field of battle. For example, the Catachan VII "Catachan Devils" Regiment take the name of the apex predator from the lethal jungles of their foetid Death World, whereas the 8th Cadian, "The Lord Castellan's Own," honour the exploits of their former commanding officer, Lord Castellan Ursarkar E. Creed. After being raised, the regiment is shipped to its posting; they receive their training during the voyage. Their posting can be directly into the heart of a warzone, or it may be to garrison or outpost duty. [Needs Citation]Every Imperial Commander in the Imperium, also known as a Planetary Lord or Imperial Governor, is responsible for the defence of their world. This is crucial, as a planet may need to defend itself against the predations of myriad nefarious enemies for many solar months, or even standard years, before reinforcements arrive. To this end, they are duty bound to recruit, equip, train and maintain a fighting force. On some planets this may take the form of an official military or a garrison force like a standard Planetary Defence Force. On other worlds the duty to defend their world may fall to dozens of separate armies, tribes and hive city gangs, some of which may even be warring factions who unite to oppose an invading foe. In any case, these forces are unlikely to ever leave the confines of their homeworld. The sword itself is a keen weapon in the hands of skilled officers, and its glorious presence ensures the morale of your Whiteshields – often their Achilles heel – will be more resolute than ever. This sword is just one of several relics available to Cadian commanders, while there are also plenty of suitably obdurate Warlord Traits.

Note: All dates from this point forward are provisional due to errors in the Imperial Calendar, meaning these events could actually have occurred at any time from the early 41st Millennium to the early 42nd Millennium. M41 Crimson Ridge Atrocity - Angron, blasphemous Daemon Primarch of the World Eaters Legion, descends on the Hive World of Armageddon at the head of a mighty Chaos host during the often-forgotten First War for Armageddon. The subcontinent of Armageddon Prime falls swiftly, yet Armageddon Secundus' battle lines hold strong, newly drafted regiments of Armageddon Steel Legion rallying around the stubborn defence of the Space Wolves Astartes. Ultimately Armageddon is saved and Angron banished, but millions of Imperial Guardsmen have already lost their lives. The cost of victory spirals higher as the Inquisition instigates a series of brutal purges to contain the knowledge of what has transpired from the wider Imperial population. Massed regiments are sterilised and confined to Imperial labour camps, and whole planets are exterminated to ensure the silence of some regiments. Segmentum Command are put to death en masse by their own Commissarial advisors, who then voluntarily submit themselves for Inquisitorial mindwipe. The final tally of lives lost during the First War for Armageddon is never disclosed, but defies easy calculation. The Emperor required more manpower to ensure the momentum of the Great Crusade did not falter, and so the Imperial Army was created, known in High Gothic as the Imperialis Auxilia.Edge of Silence • War Zone Charadon ( Act I • Act II) • War Zone Octarius ( Book I • Book II) • War Zone Nachmund ( Vigilus Alone • Rift War) • Crusade ( Beyond the Veil • Plague Purge • Amidst the Ashes • Containment • Catastrophe • Wars of Faith) • Arks of Omen ( Abaddon • Angron • Vashtorr • Farsight • The Lion)

When raising an army group, the Departmento Munitorum is responsible for munitions, supplies, recruitment, training, and support both medical and technical. The methods by which Imperial forces accumulate are haphazard at best; many thousands of troops from dozens of regiments across several worlds are raised and directed to the appropriate war zone. The unpredictable nature of the Warp and the inherent dangers of interstellar travel are such that it is not unusual for entire regiments to be lost or even destroyed in transit. Some may be delayed by the ravages of Warp Storms or appear from the Immaterium many thousands of light years from their destination. That sufficient troops and equipment arrive at a crisis point is only because of the sheer mass of manpower, weapons and vehicles despatched by the Departmento Munitorum in the first place. Rules for Crusade campaigns and narrative games that allow you to embark on tours of duty and win official commendations Support units, such as heavy weapons platoons and much-valued specialist units, such as battle tanks, artillery, Rough Riders and Abhuman squads, may be attached to a company for a single battle or the entire duration of a campaign. These are rarely permanent additions and are attached as needed by the regimental commanders. It is a common practice, especially amongst armoured and artillery regiments, to break down several companies and second them to infantry forces, granting heavy firepower to the platoons whilst providing troop support for the vehicles. If serving together for extended durations, attached units tend to adopt their foster-regiment's uniform and unit markings. This not only helps to avoid friendly-fire incidents, but also aids in promoting comradeship with the soldiers they will be fighting and dying alongside.Leadership at company and regimental level is a duty assigned to officers recruited from the same world, and normally from the same founding, as the regiment they lead. This practice ensures that local planetary nobles are placed in charge of those culturally disposed to offer them deference; officers stay with the troopers they have spent solar months or Terran years training, and disruption to regimental morale is minimised. These officers will be supported and observed by regimental Commissars, attached during their founding by the Munitorum. These men and women must look to their regiment's morale and loyalty above all else, and will take any measure -- no matter how extreme -- to ensure the troops do not disgrace themselves, whether on or off the field of battle. Bastonne isn’t the only hero of Cadia, and senior officers aspire to the tactical genius of arguably the most famous Cadian ever to live – Lord Castellan Ursarkar E. Creed . His ability to sneak even massive war machines behind enemy lines was legendary, and capable commanders frequently employ his strategies to rapidly redeploy their forces. There are those who raise their voices in anguish and sorrow for the plight of Mankind. Such faithless folk wail of an end to all days, of a final damnation for us all. I say to you, these fools are wrong! Liars, I name them, heretics and sayers of doom. Listen not to such heathens my brothers, for these are glorious days. Rejoice, for all may stand and fight for a truly righteous cause and any man -- no matter how humble -- can earn everlasting glory through martyrdom in the Emperor's sight." The triumphs and tragedies of a single segmentum's armies during the Age of the Imperium would occupy several hundred lifetimes of an army of scribes and historitors to collate. To present a cogent history of the Astra Militarum's exploits, then, is impossible. Yet there are noteworthy conflicts in which its massed rans played a pivotal role. After the Horus Heresy, Astra Militarum armies waged retributive campaigns as part of the Great Scouring against the fleeing Heretics that had assailed Terra, driving many into the depths of the Eye of Terror. The Cadian System, and its Fortress World of Cadia, became a bastion against heretical and Warp-spawned invasions of Imperial space out of the Eye.

Matt: The crew were designed to have a more generic Imperial uniform, rather than making them explicitly Cadian, so you can use them as whatever Astra Militarum regiment you have. They, and the stowage, are designed to make the tank look like it’s lived in, so there’s tools, ropes, and spare wheels scattered around. Formed during the savage continental wars that had engulfed Terra in the Age of Strife, the genetically-enhanced warriors known as "Genos" comprised the first units of the force that would become the Imperial Army and would serve as the prototypes for the later development of the proto-Space Marines called the Thunder Warriors. Among the most well-known of the regiments composed of Genos were the so-called Strife Epoch regiments raised by the Emperor to initiate the Unification Wars intended to reunite all the warring peoples of Terra beneath His benevolent rule. Return to the blasted wastes of Armageddon in this incredible special edition of Aaron Dembski-Bowden’s eponymous anthology. Collecting the seminal novels Helsreach and Blood and Fire , with an introduction from the author, this tome is the definitive collection of Chaplain Grimaldus’ adventures in the hellish wars consuming Armageddon. The uniforms and specific armaments of the different Militarum Regimentos change dramatically from world to world. Upon their raising, each regiment is equipped in the manner of their homeworld, each newly inducted Imperial Guardsmen issued with the same style of uniform and weapons as those of their fellow soldiers. Troopers may go to war in full battle-dress or little more than primitive armour and tribal tattoos. The only universal piece of equipment common throughout the entirety of the Astra Militarum is the Lasgun. This weapon is cheap and easy to manufacture, extremely reliable and simple to maintain. The Lasgun is therefore ideally suited to arm the massed armies of the Astra Militarum. Vigilus Defiant • Vigilus Ablaze • Shadowspear • Psychic Awakening ( Phoenix Rising • Faith and Fury • Blood of Baal • Ritual of the Damned • The Greater Good • Saga of the Beast • Engine War • War of the Spider • Pariah)Men, we are the first, last and often only line of defence the Imperium has against what is out there. You and that fine piece of Imperial weaponry you hold in your hands is all that is keeping humanity alive. Most of you will probably not live to see your second year in the Guard and most of you will probably never see your homeworlds again, but I can guarantee you that when you do fall, with a prayer to the most high and mighty God-Emperor on your lips, you will have earned the right to call yourself a man!"