Building the Tabula Imperialis

[Brother Tyler]

Okay, I've begun building the Tabula Imperialis, which is the index of Imperial Guard organizations in the same way that the Tabula Astartes is an index of Adeptus Astartes organizations and the Tabula Sororitas is an index of Adepta Sororitas organizations.

 

I'm moving my unintentional hijacks of the Index Regimentus outline and the a growing resource (database of DIY IG regiments) discussions into a separate topic so that those efforts can continue without further impediment.

 

The purpose of the tabula is to identify all of the known organizations, whether official or homegrown, and to provide the most basic information on the organization. In addition, each entry also provides a link to a location where more detailed information on the organization can be found (if such a location exists). Ideally we would want to link to articles, blogs, or discussions here at the Bolter & Chainsword, but that isn't an absolute requirement (especially for DIYs). The tabula does not replace either of the efforts I cited above, and it actually complements them.

 

As for the tabula, building these things is fairly intensive. While I'm building upon the lessons learned from the Tabula Astartes and Tabula Sororitas, the Imperial Guard bring their own unique requirements. Ideally, I'd like to plan for those on the front end so that I don't go back and have to re-work things later. For that I definitely need input from other players that are familiar with the Imperial Guard and/or who have the resources to research things. I'm no slouch in either category, but I'd be a fool to think that I have all of the answers necessary.

 

The core question right now is "how should the tabula be organized?"

 

With Space Marines the index was organized along three main lines. First was the Chapter/legion/warband name (i.e., alphabetical order); second was the Legion/Primarch from which the Chapter/legion/warband is descended ("gene-line"); and third was the founding in which the Chapter/legion/warband was created. I've also added a few special entries for Chapters that fall into special categories such as the Astartes Praeses (Chapters specifically tasked with guarding the Eye of Terror) and the Judged (a group of Chapters sent on a penitent crusade into the Eye of Terror, most of which fell to Chaos as a result); and these special categories will be expanded (I'm building an entry for Chapters that have been lost and I plan on building one for the Maelstrom Warders - Chapters specifically tasked with guarding the Maelstrom).

 

With the Adepta Sororitas the index was organized along two main lines. First was the order name and second was the order type (e.g., militant, hospitaller, etc.).

 

What I'm looking at for the Imperial Guard is two main lines of organization (though this can easily changed based on input). First is alphabetical by the planet of origin and second is the regiment type.

 

Generally speaking, an Imperial Guard regiment taxonomy will include four basic elements. The first is a number, followed by the planet of origin, with a regiment type (e.g., "heavy" or "drop troops"), and occasionally a nickname. The one that is practically universal is the planet of origin, which is why I'm using that as the basic entry. Regiment numbers are the second most common, differentiating various regiments from the same planet. Here are some examples drawn from official sources (which I've cited in parenthesis):

 

Mordant 303rd "Acid Dogs" (Codex: Eye of Terror)

Necromundan 8th "The Spiders" (Codex: Eye of Terror)

Savlar Chem-Dogs ("Historical Actions of the Imperial Guard" article in White Dwarf, Armageddon campaign)

Death Korps of Krieg (as above, also in Siege of Vraks campaign books from Forge World)

13th MOrdant "Lucky 13" (Tactica Imperialis book from Black Library)

 

Note that one thing I considered and discarded was having an entry for each planet (e.g., Cadia, Necromunda). The reason for this is that new planets are being identified all the time and it would be impossible to update this tabula and have all of the planets appear in alphabetical order. Now an option is to have a single index listing all planets in alphabetical order (or a series of alphabetical listings for each planet starting with "A," "B," etc.), with each planet appearing as a separate entry in whatever order they are added.

 

I'm considering numbers as another option, but the range of numbers is vast (612 regiments of the Cadians fought in the 13th Black Crusade of Abaddon the Despoiler), so any numerical listing would be limited to the first digit (i.e., any "1st" regiment would be included with any regiment numbering in the 100s, 1,000s, etc; any "2nd" regiment would be included with any regiment numbering in the 20s, 200s, etc.).

 

Planetary/regimental nicknames are also a potential option. Someone might remember "The Spiders," but not remember the planet of origin.

 

The category I know that will be included is the regiment type. I'm scouring sources to find the various types, but input from other players would be helpful.

 

So what I'm looking for from you, the Imperial Guard faithful, is input on how you'd like to see the tabula organized, as well as help in fleshing out the various categories. I'm already working on building the basic structure, so your input will help out greatly in getting the tabula finished, populated, and organized in a way that is useful to you.

 

Thanks in advance.

[Bigger-than-Jesus]

Maybe a list of the 'famous' planets, so, Cadia, Necromunda, Vostroya, Armageddon, etc., with  famous regiment numbers beside them (Cadain 8th, Cadian 122nd, etc.) Then after that a list of less famous planets, such as the additional ones in the 5th ed. rulebook, with no more detail there.

 

Or go by campaign? So EoT, Armageddons 1-3, that sort of thing?

[*Furyou Miko]

When building a database, and listing things numerically, you need to precede low digits with zeros to ensure simple tabulation.

 

For example;

 

001 Tanith

021 Cadian

301 Mordant

[Brother Tyler]

This isn't a database, though. It's all text- and forum-based with painful manual entry. I've considered a database construct, but haven't invested the time into creating one. Also, database expertise is difficult to come by, so sticking to the text-/forum-based construct allows for others to update the tabula as needed - simply requiring the member (mods and admins) to edit the relevant replies instead of having to access a database.

 

I don't know that campaigns would be a primary organizational method, but we might include them in a manner similar to how the Astartes Praeses were included as a secondary index for the Tabula Astartes.

[Azekai]

As far as fleshing out the entries, we could hark back to the old 'doctrines' idea. Not use them specifically, per say, but doctrines were a pretty good indicator of troop composition. Having a convenient list of non-standard 'specialties' could be useful. Is your regiment known for lots of rough riders? Does it make heavy use of ogryn auxiliaries? Is each and every trooper a chem-head? That sort of thing.

As far as ordering the regiments goes, numerically probably wouldn't work, since we could potentially see a lot of same-number conflict; if we do choose to list it that way, dibs on the number 49. :P

[Beachymike123]

you could list them by segmentum they originate from? sort of like:

segmentum obscurus, cadian 8th, 'the castellan's own', standard. 

other than that, i think the listing of famous campaigns would probably be a good idea. or going by what has been previously said along the doctrines line, you could do it by warzone type:

desert, tallarn 6th, 'wind's claw', light infantry. the only thing is though with that method is that it could get repetitive and predictable. 

[Brother Lorien]

I think we should do the listing planet name or system name based by alphabet.

A lot of people create armies of thier own with whole stories behind them on a distant planet somewhere far away not listed in fluff,

I also think that doing it number wise isn't such a good idea: what if there are 2 tanith 1st or 20 cadian 8th?

 

Just do it like the astartes way: chapter, primarch etc , but for the imperial guard the Planet is thier chapter and the colors of thier regiment thier primarch (colors read number of the regiment) and nickname of the regiment is thier founding.

[Brother Tyler]

We're going to go with three main types for now:

 

1.  Alphabetical - This will be an overall listing with the descriptor for the planets (e.g., Cadian, Vostroyan, Mordian, etc.). These will link to the Planet entries.

 

2. Planet - Each planet will have its own entry, with all of the regiments raised on that planet listed there in numerical order. So where the Alphabetical listing will have the Cadians listed among all of the other planets whose names start with the letter C, the Planet series will have a single link for "Cadia" and all of the various Cadian regiments will be listed within. Any of those that have articles, whether official or homegrown/DIY, will be linked to those articles.

 

3. Type - This will be a listing of the various regiments by type (e.g., Infantry, Drop-Troops, Artillery, etc.).

 

I think that the order I presented above will be modified in that the Planet listing will be last. The Alphabetical and Type indices probably won't expand. Okay, the main listing won't because that's A-Z and special characters. The Type series might expand if Games Workshop/Forge World give us either new types or change the existing types. That's easily accommodated by having a few invisible placeholders ready.

 

The Planet series will be ever-growing as new planets/regiments are introduced in the official material and as players develop their own planets/regiments. I don't think I'll even attempt to put these in any order, simply allowing members to navigate them through the Alphabetical, Main listing.

 

There is also a very strong chance that I'll create another tabula for major campaigns/operations. This will include listings of all the participants from the various military organizations of the Imperium (and its enemies). That's a project for later, though, and has some larger implications (i.e., timeline).

 

I've already built the structure of the Alphabetical listing, so now I'm going to build the structure of the Planet and Type listings. Once I get those done, I'll conduct an initial population of the listings based on the materials I have (which are many, so it may take awhile and will largely depend upon how much free time I have). Once I get the initial build done, I'll make the tabula accessible for members to review and further populate.

[Brother Tyler]

Okay, I found some interesting types. The 3rd edition codex is jam-packed with interesting little nuggets, including a page that presents what is supposed to be something along the lines of a force generation system where the Departmento Munitorium user selects the formation type, formation size, and warzone type, theoretically selecting the appropriate force for a campaign. The first category is formation type and it presents the following:

 

Aeronautical

Ancillary

Anti-tank

Armoured Fist

Auxilia

Battle Tank

Breakthrough

Cavalry

Command

Conquest

Crusade

Cybernetika

Engineer

Exotic (includes Abhuman formations and non-standard equipped troops)

Foot Reconnaissance

Fortress Artillery

Garrison

Heavy Tank

Independent Support

Infantry

Internal Security

Irregular Native

Mobile Artillery

Mobile Infantry

Motorised

Reconnaissance

Mounted Recon

Pioneer

Scout Tank

Shock

Siege

Storm Trooper

Super Heavy Tank

Trench

Walker

Walker Recon

 

The implication is that each of the above defines the various types of formations that may be selected, and combined formation types are created simply by creating all types of capabilities desired.

 

Now many of these are easy to define and to associate with known Imperial Guard regiment types. Some of them look they should probably be specialist types within a main type, however. Examples of this include Breakthrough (which is more a type of operation than a type of formation) and Trench (which is generally a type of static warfare rather than a formation type, but I suppose there might be formations that specialize trench warfare).

 

What I'm really looking for here is a rational look at whether the above list looks complete; if any might be obsolete or rendered irrelevant by subsequent evolution of the lore; and how each might be defined (I intend to provide a brief description of each type in the tabula). We can skip validation and definition of the obviously easy ones such as infantry, aeronaut, cavalry, reconnaissance, ~ tank, engineer, etc. I really just need help with the more obscure ones.

[*Furyou Miko]

Hmm, well, I'll drop out the obvious ones. This is only the opinion of an airpower nerd with google, though;

Ancillary
These guys are the logistical support. They handle the food, supplies and so on. Effectively the Munitorium's household regiments.

Armoured Fist
Armoured Fist squads are mechanised support infantry for tank regiments, I believe.

Auxilia
Historically these are civilians pressed into military service rather than professional troops, so I'd think that in Guard terms this would be things like penal legions, conscript platoons and the like.

Breakthrough
The name implies a rapid assault intended to punch through enemy lines, so I'm going to go with heavy mechanised troops with fast-moving heavy weapon support like Sentinels rather than slower-moving tanks like Leman Russ variants or artillery. Lots of Chimeras, lots of Hellhounds, lots of Armoured Sentinels.

Cavalry
In the context of the rest of the list, I'm gonna go with Rough Riders rather than the more modern definitions of cavalry, although this could also refer to units like the Harakoni Warhawks ("Air Cav")

Command
Not just generals and tactitians, things like Capitol Imperialis and Leviathans.

Conquest
Sounds like a super-group that makes selecting forces easier. Probably consists of Foot Recon, Engineer, Fortress Artillery and Infantry units.

Crusade
I think this is the "Request Sororitas Aid" button. ^^;

Cybernetika
Presumably this is the "Request Mechanicum Aid" button.

Foot Reconnaissance
Light Infantry - Tanith Ghosts, etc. Obvious realy.

Fortress Artillery
Fixed gun emplacements rather than mobile batteries like Basilisks. Bigger, heavier guns.

Garrison
Another super-group, I think - probably contains primarily Infantry with a higher than normal ratio of heavy weapons, with a small number of Engineer units.

Independent Support
This one's hard to pin down. I think it probably refers to geurilla units that can operate in the field without backup for a while.

Internal Security
Commissariat comes to mind.

Irregular Native
Not sure how obvious this one is, but I'd say basically a shorthand for "We lack resources, scare up the locals to fight."

Mobile Infantry
A super-group, probably, for Motorised units, Mounted Recon, maybe including Cavalry and Air Cav as well.

Motorised
Infantry with lots of ground transports. *shrug*

Mounted Recon
Like Recon, only with Scout Sentinels and Salamanders rather than just ranger units.

Pioneer
Not sure. This is basically the same as Engineer. Morotised engineer units maybe?

Shock
Heavy infantry geared towards assault roles.

Siege
Demolishers. Lots and lots of Demolishers. Probably a combined Heavy Tank/Artillery super group.

Trench
Super-group for Engineers and Infantry, presumable with a heavier slant towards Engineers than the Garrison or Conquest super-groups.

Walker
Sentinels, plus whatever other non-standard walkers the Guard might use. "borrowed" AdMech stalk tanks?

Walker Recon
Just a Scout Sentinel unit I suspect.

I can't really think of anything missing except a definitive "Air Cav" group that's separate from general cavalry.

[Uaronain]

 What about chemical warfare? Like the hellhound variants with fire/chemical weapons specialty?

[SevenExxes]

I would say that Independent Support would be Stormtroopers and, to a lesser extent, Veterans as they are both independent of the Platoon and work in a supporting role.

Where as Irregular Natives are natives of a planet that use irregular fighting techniques ie: geurilla warfare.

[*Furyou Miko]

Militarily, "Irregulars" is used to refer to units that aren't trained soldiers but are made up of militias and people with some other fighting skill such as martial artists, sports shooters, trappers and the like.

[Brother Tyler]

I'm inclined to err on the side of caution here and provide definitions/explanations only for those types that are clearly supported in the rules/lore, leaving others open to interpretation. Part of me thinks that the various "types" might imply focused army lists, but I'm not sure. The standard army list is definitely for an infantry regiment (though it includes units from other types) and we've seen other army lists for armoured fist regiments, tank regiments, etc. Since we don't have army lists for all of the different types, however, and since the other types are available in the units we do have, my gut feeling is not in any way authoritative.

 

So I'm going to get to work on building the Types portion.

 

After that, I'm going to build the Planets portion. I'll use all of the planets that have been named in the various official sources. These sources include all of the IG codices, all of the Imperial Armour books, the official campaigns (Eye of Terror, Armageddon, Fall of Medusa, Tactica Imperialis, The Sabbat Worlds Crusade, and Crusade of Fire come immediately to mind, but I'm fairly certain there are others). Each of those Planet listings will include a brief description of the character/nature of the planet and its regiments. If anyone wants to provide names for planets/regiments on the front end, that would definitely help me to make the initial list alphabetized (even though it's certain that the planets we add later will not be in alphabetical order as they'll be added in the order that we find them).

[Honda]

I'm a little late to this race, but I think when it comes to "type", you might consider using the old IG equivalent that the SM had with Traits. A good sampling of regiment types can be found on that Imperial Regiment site as I'm not completely sold on the list above. I can support it, but don't think it's doing what you really want it to. The reason I bring this up is that as FM pointed out, my army (Elysian) doesn't really fit into any of the above categories, but has been represented many times in many campaigns, not the least of which is Armageddon. The other thing to look at when you are considering categorization is look at the extremes. In your above listing, where would the Phantine (IG regiments of flyers) fit in? In the old IG trait system, there was a type for Drop Troop. That needs to be an option. My two yen.

[Brother Tyler]

Okay, I've been sitting on this project for far too long. It's not complete, but I figured it's time to make it available for everyone else to see so that we might get it fully operational in a more collaborative manner. You can see the tabula pinned on page 1 of this forum (here).

 

I don't think the PDF were mentioned before, but we're going to include these forces in the tabula imperialis. This includes similar organizations such as the Ultramar Defense Auxilia. So PDF will become a new type in the listing.

 

I have no illusions about being able to provide an alphabetical listing of the planets as GW, FW, FFG, etc. add to these all of the time. So at this point I just want to start collecting a listing of all of the planets known to provide IG/PDF units. We'll flesh out the basic descriptions of the planets. Once we have those (or at least the initial group) done, we'll start listing the various regiments associated with those planets.