IM - Mortal Armies of the Insurrection

[bluntblade]

Could it be a thing to introduce regiment-specific rules for Army units, or are we waiting for FW to address that?

[Sigismund229]

They already have, kind of. Don't remember what they're called but they're rules for things like regiments from feral worlds

[Demus Ragnok]

They are called Provenances for the Militia and Cults armys.

[simison]

Could it be a thing to introduce regiment-specific rules for Army units, or are we waiting for FW to address that?

 

The provenances represent one side of the spectrum. The Solar Auxilia represent the other end, where entire rule lists are created. We'll have the Heredes occupying a middle ground with a few specialized units and a character or two. 

 

What were you thinking, Blunt?

[bluntblade]

Didn't realise a question was hanging all this time.

 

Allies matrix, special rites of war, possibly characters and other units.

[bluntblade]

I need to add Material Strength and some details:

 

House Blinstrubas

A relatively young House, as the Knights measure such things, Blinstrubas emerged approximately two centuries before the Unification of Terra. Their origins are lost with so much of Tricendia’s history, but they rose steadily through the years to stand as one of the planet’s most powerful Houses, albeit one with deadly enemies. Their history from this point onwards is bound up with the tale of Daer'dd Niimkiikaa, but it is worth noting here that in his wars for Tricendia, Blinstrubas and its vassals were ever at the forefront.

 

By the time that the Emperor found Tricendia, Blinstrubas was one of a handful of Houses which had endured and grown stronger. Absorbing the broken remnants of their fellows, they had reaped great dividends from the newborn Realm and their household leaders were prominent among the Bear’s generals. The reunion of the Primarch with his Legion would do nothing to alter this. House Blinstrubas would march into the fires of the Great Crusade beside their Lord, and behind that, they would be forced to weather the Insurrection in his absence.

 

House Blinstrubas were still recognised by Daer'dd as his own kin, and so when the VIth Legion was first divided after the reunion, it was Blinstrubas that remained with him while House August followed Damon Redd. Over the following decades their roll of honour grew to rival the ancient Houses of Mars, though they were dogged by whispers of dependence on the Legion’s commanders. They built links with several fellow houses, including the famed House Taranis of Mars and House Zivich, sworn to the Halcyon Wardens, some of these cemented by inter-House marriages. Others, particularly those who prized their independence or were especially devout vassals of the Mechanicum, considered such close ties to the Iron Bears to be unseemly.

 

Daer'dd's power ensured that such resentments were rarely voiced in public, much less acted on, and Blinstrubas’ large and growing reel of victories served to silence most of their remaining detractors. Nonetheless there were still those who believed that Blinstrubas had allowed Daer'dd to appropriate glory meant for the Mechanicum. Even their role in such victories as the Iron Citadel and Craftworld Melanaath was not enough to stop the whispers.

 

The House’s finest hour of the Crusade came with the pursuit of the Wraekan Dreor, a Knight House which had turned to a reaver’s existence in the north-eastern fringes. The Imperium, pressing outward, had suffered the loss of both colonies and small expeditionary fleets, their technology seize and their people enslaved. While the Qarith Crusade, Koloss Syntheticide and other campaigns had delayed any meaningful response, with the Emperor’s withdrawal Daer’dd vowed to end their depredations. Resisting calls from the Mechanicus to bring them into the fold, he made clear his intention to defeat them in battle, and House Blinstrubas were to be his main instrument in the prosecution of the conflict. He would not deliver such marauders into Imperial service, but he would seize their sacred armours.

 

Accompanied by the Scions Hospitalier’s Second Battalion and a detachment of House Toho, the First Grand Wartribe engaged the Wraekan Dreor across a swathe of worlds. Without fail the grim, ebon-clad walkers singled out the proud armours of Blinstrubas and Toho as singularly worthy foes, but while they fought with fiendish zeal, their slave armies were a telling weakness. Supported by the Iron Bears and their powerful armoured companies, Blinstrubas prevailed time and again despite the brutality of these battles.

 

It swiftly emerged that the enemy were not a unified force, but a collection of bands who vied with one another for glory and resources. Daer’dd exploited this to the hilt, carefully dividing his forces so that continuous advances would leave the Wraekan Dreor reeling. The broken remnants of their homeworld were identified, and with this came the suspicion that if it could be conquered, it would break the spirit or reason of the defenders.

 

Daer’dd’s main force, comprising three Clans of the First Wartribe, a Demi-Legio of the Winter Wardens and two Army regiments, as well as a hundred and twenty Knights of Blinstrubas, broke the veil and scoured the shards of the world. Knowing that the Wraekan Dreor would likely withdraw if confronted with Titans, eighty of the Knights were required to form the first wave. Deploying with the Iron Bears’ mightiest armoured companies, they weathered a gruelling battle against a foe which, while less well-equipped and lacking their cohesion, more than matched them for numbers and had the advantage of fighting on home ground.

 

Surrounded by the bandit-Knights and hordes of slave-soldiers, the Astartes and Knights endured, giving ground reluctantly and suffering heavy casualties. Finally, with the enemy converging almost completely on their position, the first wave was joined by the second: the rest of their kindred, Daer'dd's elite companies and the Titans of the Legio Auris, falling like an executioner’s axe upon an exposed neck. Whatever cohesion the Wraekan Dreor had possessed was broken, and they fled their domain in disarray. The Imperials finished the hunt with remorseless fury. A year later the Wraekan Dreor were pronounced destroyed, their salvageable walkers gifted to the Mechanicum or appropriated by Blinstrubas and Toho.

 

In a grimly ironic postscript, Kelbor Hal would issue these sacred armours to his own vassal Houses, including the dreaded House Morbidia, who duly followed him into rebellion. It is entirely possible that in the Schism of Mars, the valiant Knights of Blinstrubas gave battle against machines they had cast down once before, Daer’dd’s gift to the Mechanicum turned against his warriors.

[simison]

Posting this idea because I want to:

 

The Meri-Katan Regiments

 

Discovered during the twilight years of the Great Crusade among the Ghoul Stars. Ancient human colony that had survived the Age of Strife. Reluctantly joined the Imperium. First regiments recruited 1 month before the Day of Revelation. [Deployed to the Eastern Front; Segmentum Atlanticus]

 

Organization

• Unit size - Commanding Rank - Number of sub-units/Standard number of infantry
• Squad - Sergeant - [N/A]/10 Troopers
• Platoon - Lieutenant - 5 Squads/50 Troopers
• Company - Captain - 2 Platoons/100 Troopers
• Battalion - Major - 10 Companies/1,000 Troopers
• Brigade - Lieutenant Colonel - 10 Battalions/10,000 Troopers
• Regiment - Colonel - 10 Brigades/100,000 Troopers
• Corps - General - 10 Regiments/1,000,000 Troopers

 

First CO of the Meri-Katan First Muster: General Edward Arlee

[simison]

The Regiments of Meri-Kata

 

Even as a few strategists and military planners began to declare the end of the Great Crusade was within sight, the Imperial war machine continued to expand its strength. This growth was a combination of the growing numbers of famed forces who were there when the Emperor declared the Great Crusade standing side-by-side by last minute additions from newly-Compliant worlds. 

 

One such latecomer army to join the Great Crusade were the regiments of the Meri-Kata system. The Meri-Kata system existed deep on the Eastern Fringe, it's discovery only possible thanks to the recently invented beacons which reflected a fraction of the Astronomicon's light. Although it is unknown how our ancestors were able to colonize so far from the homeworld, a detachment of Iron Bears discovered a robust and martial branch of humanity. The Meri-Katans had been isolated since the onset of Long Night, but their isolation had protected from its worst ravages. Unfortunately, several centuries before the coming of the Imperium, civil war exploded across the system. With two evenly matched sides, the Meri-Katans had remained at war all of the way up until their discovery. 

 

The war came to a quick cease-fire as both sides investigated the newcomers. Displaying a deep suspicion of the Iron Bears, [Chief Wadie] was only able to avoid combat through a thorough weapons demonstration that cowed the Meri-Katans aggressive urges. Given their peaceful transition into the Imperium, the new Imperial governor worked quickly to integrate the Meri-Katans' armed forces into the Imperial Army. Less than three years after initial contact, the Meri-Katans' sent their first regiments to the Macragge muster point. 

[simison]

The worlds had been reduced to the Iron Age during Old Night and had only recently worked themselves back to the Steel Age. As such, they were on the cusp of automatic weapons and accurate personal arms when the Imperium arrived in system. Therefore, their military tactics were based primarily on large blocks of infantry out-manuevering each other or slugging against each other on a battle line. While the martial technology of the Imperium suggested such age-old tactics were obsolete, the Meri-Katans' military command could not simply abandon tactics that had been ingrained into them since birth. 

 

Thus, when the Administratum demanded the tithe for the Imperial Army, the Meri-Katans sent bodies, bodies, and more bodies. Five million Meri-Katans who now bore the double-headed eagle of the Imperium moved to Macragge. The average Meri-Katan had traded his inaccurate, single-shot stubber for modern lasgun, tripling their lethality several-fold. The process of arming each of these soldiers was the primary delay before the regiments could be considered 'combat-capable', requiring several years of assembling and shipping the new weapons to the remote Meri-Kata system. Even then, the time was actually half of what was originally predicted, thanks in no small part to a number of private Meri-Katan investors and the previous Meri-Katan government funding additional shipments with their own money, eager to test out the new weapon technology and display the supremacy of the Meri-Katan soldier. 

 

The other massive change to the Meri-Katan infantry was the inclusion of body armour. Despite their wholesale enthusiasm adoption of the reliable lasgun, the Meri-Katans nearly reacted violently to the idea of increasing their physical protection under the belief that it compromised 'fighting spirit' and 'courage'. Long had the Meri-Katan military enshrined the indomitable fighting will into their soldiers as demonstrated for standing fast with no other protection than simple cloth to avert bullets. Additionally, the Meri-Katans attached great sentimentality and weight to their 'handsome' uniforms. Yet, the Meri-Katans were loathed to simply ignore progress and received repeated warnings of just how virulent the enemies of Mankind could be.

 

In the end, a compromise was brokered. Roughly half of the enlisted ranks would adopt the standard pattern flak armour and uniform and 'test' them in open warfare for two campaigns. All such uniforms were to display Meri-Katan 'proper colors' as their only modification. The other half of the enlisted would continue wearing the traditional Meri-Katan uniform, but one that incorporated flak armour in some manner, whether the armour was placed over the uniform, sewn into the uniform, or be limited to a few pieces of minor armour such as knee or elbow pads. Officers were given the choice of either or to not include any flak armour if they so chose. The few penal regiments and any other soldier found to be guilty of 'dishonorable conduct' were not given the option for any flak armour. 

 

Outside of infantry, the Meri-Katans had little to offer to the Imperial Army. All artillery units were simply too obsolete to merit deployment outside the new PDF regiments. The difficulties of ensuring adequate logistical support prevented any of the Meri-Katans' cavalry units from leaving the system as well, except for the few wealthy officers who were willing to spend their personal money on their units. There would be enough effort to see several cavalry battalions travel to Macragge, but these would be rare among the countless infantry units that would form the bulk of the tithe. 

 

Properly equipped (in most cases) for war, the first Meri-Katan regiments took to the void on troop transports that were requisitioned from elsewhere. It was intended that they would continue the war effort to claim the entirety of the Eastern Fringe under the domain of the Imperium. Fate would waylay these original intentions. The Meri-Katan infantry would instead face against an opponent that no Imperial Army veteran could have prepared them for: the Traitor Astartes. 

[bluntblade]

Jotting down ideas for Sermezan Harriers - I'm thinking something along the lines of a mercenary background - something for which there is a basis thanks to the Kill Division regiments from canon (with one featuring in Prospero Burns). Definitely going for an Italian flavour, but mixed with paratrooper and ODST elements.

 

Aiming to have them present on Revan along with the Medusan Steelshod and Kadisian Hounds.

[Darkcommander]

Cracked out the Solar Auxilia AA tank, for your consideration:

 

Solar Auxilia - Sphinx - Self Propelled AA Gun

 

Description

Built as a pure anti-air platform, the Sphinx represented the peak of mass production during the early days of the Great Crusade, and shows just how proliferate technology was during these halcyon days. Using the already well proven chassis of the Nemean a Laser Destroyer Array alongside several highly aggressive cogitator arrays allowed early Imperial forces to dominate the skies. Being relatively simple in design the Sphinx would normally be grouped up into a squadron of 3, the Sphinx would follow up a frontline force or be placed defensively around an important asset. With dozer blade and good old elbow grease they can create defensive fortifications for themselves that mean even a hardened assault will have trouble dislodging.

 

History

Created alongside a slew of other tanks and vehicles made specifically for the Solar Auxilia, the Sphinx uses the tried and tested chassis of the Nemean, as it's base specifically requisitioned to fill the key role of air defence. Where xenos field strange and esoteric flyers capable to devastating power the Sphinx was created to lace the sky with withering lascannon fire that would allow their comrades to advance unimpeded. Unleashed along with the rest of the Solar auxilia once the home system was taken the Sphinx had already made a name for itself on the Jovian moons, cutting down hunter drones and kill-satellites of the Jovians as Imperial forces took their labyrinthine underground bases.

Helping with compliance with innumerate lost human worlds the Sphinx became a staple of the Solar Auxilias armouries. It gained such a reputation for it's effectiveness that other Imperial Guard regiments frequently petitioned Mars for their own. Such requests were rarely honoured, as the Martian production was solely designed to supply the Solar Auxilia and a surplus was rare.

As a minor note it has been noticed by many crews that the machine spirit of the Sphinx is particularly aggressive, resulting in some friendly fire incidents by inexperienced crews. The aggression can be controlled and used properly, but requires intensive training for the crew, particularly the gunner and commander to make sure it doesn't get out of hand.

 

Design

the Sphinx uses a Nemean chassis, whereupon it mounts several systems that turn it into a formidable anti-air platform. With no sponson mounts the only secondary weapon is a heavy bolter mounted on the front of the vehicle, and any pintle-mounted weaponry available to the crew. The main turret houses both the laser destroyer system, offset to right while the left hand side is occupied by the phased auger array, standing out as a panel of emitters and receiver attached to the leading edge. With several internal cogitators for targeting aerial units they machine-spirit of the Sphinx has been notoriously aggressive which has proven problematic, but with a good gunner and commander at the controls it has only proven to be a boon for Imperial crews.

 

Armament

The main armament for the Sphinx are 4 Hell-Hammer pattern lascannons, common to the Imperial guard, arranged into a Laser Destroyer Array. The lascannon is the perfect anti-vehicle weapon, but coupled with the Phased auger array and aggressive machine spirit makes it the perfect for it's role. Able to be fire individually, at once or in a salvo the array can alter it's engagements to face different foe. While highly effective lascannons are also known for their monstrous energy consumption, and the heat generated by such high-intensity lasers, to solve this the Mechanicus devised a quick-release system. After a certain amount of shots fired the barrels and the focusing lenses will heat up and require replacement. To solve this each of the barrels can be taken off individually, by non-Mechanicus personnel, with ease of pressing several buttons in the commanders console. The relevant barrel is disengaged, and rolls off the mounting with minimal effort. Spare barrels carried on the vehicle itself, or by logistical transports can then be installed, only requiring 2 people to manoeuvre into place and lock into the mounting, ready for firing.

 

Defences

Much of the standard upgrades to Nemean chassis is available to the Solar Auxilia, including extra armour plating and smoke launchers. Something unique to the Sphinx is the chaff launchers. In place of normal smoke launchers, crews equip the tank with chaff launchers, specifically designed to interfere with targeting systems by launching hundreds of small reflective decoys and jamming transmitters. Each of these launchers is limited to 4 per vehicle due to their bulk but they had proven themselves many times over against guided weaponry.

 

Miscellaneous

To assist with it's task of air defence, most crews choose to dig their tank into the earth. While a lot of this can be achieved by good old elbow grease and the sweat of several troopers, the Sphinx can be outfitted with a dozer blade to assist. Useful as both extra armour and for it's digging capability, a dozer blade is equipped when available and appropriate to planetary conditions allow for it.

 

Technical Specifications

Type: Self-Propelled Anti-Aircraft Gun

Vehicle Name: Sphinx

Forge World of Origin: Mars

Crew: 1 Commander, 2 Gunners, 1 Driver

Powerplant: HL230 V12 Multi-Fuel

Weight: 55 tonnes

Length: 7.1m

Height: 4.5m

Width: 4.9m

Range: 430km

Max Speed:

On Road: 58km/h (36mph)

Off Road: 45km/h (28mph)

Turret Traverse: 360°

Turret Elevation: -12° to +82°

Main Armament: Laser Destructor Array

Secondary Armament: Heavy Bolter

Main Ammunition: Unlimited

Secondary Ammunition: 600 Rounds

Armour:

Hull: 150mm

Superstructure: 180mm

Turret: 200mm

 

Edit: Updated 0705am 17/5/19

[bluntblade]

The Leman Russ is the Nemean tank in our continuity.

[Darkcommander]

Altered the original text and the wiki page appropriately. I did wonder what you meant when you mentioned the Nemean on discord. Any thoughts otherwise?

[simison]

Would 'elbow grease' be a term found in 40k?

 

"Helping on compliance" [This should be "helping with compliance"]

 

What do the chaff launchers protect against?

 

Do lascannons have infinite ammo?

[Darkcommander]

-I can always try to come up with an Imperial equivelant, seems like one of those phrases that mabye needs a edgier counterpart for 40k

 

-Fixed in original and wiki entry

 

-Chaff is mainly used against guided munitions, such as air-to-ground missiles that aircraft would have. While they're no use against dumfire/fire-and-forget weapons, the best way for gunships/aircraft attempting to make a strike against anti-air forces is either guided munitions, or bombing from high altitude. While it doesn't protect against the latter (You would use fighters against a badly manouvrable bomber) it's great against the former, such as hunter killer missiles or other unnamed missile that have any form of targeting guidance. 

    Whil smoke can achieve the same goal of breaking line-of-sight with an enemy missile, it does not protect against thermal imaging, and is best used when a vehicle is on the move, whereas the Sphinx will most likley be in a tank dugout and be very limited in it's ability to move. This means the missile simply has to remember the last place you were and even while blinded it can still hit you. 

 

-I would say as long as the vehicle generator was runninng and being fed fuel, then yeah. That's where I tried to limit the 'unlimited ammoy' situation by having barrels overheat and warp, needing replacing. Meaning that any the commander has the constant question of 'kill the enemy but burn out the barrel, and possibly run out of spares, or let the barrels cool a little, risk getting hit but remain in good condition and not use up resources. 

[simison]

I had pictured chaff to be a strictly aerial tool, but I can see how it can be used in other ways. 

 

Fair enough on the other points.

[Darkcommander]

Chaff can be used on a variety of platforms, I heard of it being used when I was going through naval training. They showed us these metre and a half long tubes stuffed with reflective chaff, a large transmitter for radar signal spoofing and flares to distract incoming anti-ship missiles. While something of that size wouldn't fit on a normal tank a scaled down version could be produced. Even if it is expensive, putting it on the Anti-air forces would be a first priority considering their natural opponents are air-to-ground missiles. 

 

And on the note of ammo again I drew up a super-rough idea for the firing control panel. The idea being individual barrels can be selected or deselected and used in any configuration. I ended up spending a little bit in paint to put this together:     https://i.imgur.com/TUmeWRp.jpg

 

Edit: As clarification for the firing modes, if the gun is switched to 'All' or 'Cycle' they will only use the barrels that have been activated. This allows barrels that are in danger of overheating or mechanically inoperable to be left out of any firing modes, to either cool down or not pose a danger as energy would be sent to them while they are in an unstable state.

[simison]

Thought about making a new thread, but I think it fits here as a sub-topic. Subject matter: abhumans. 

 

Since we've decided the Squats and the Demiurg are the same species, one being the derogatory nickname for the other, I believe that means we've established the Demiurg as an abhuman species. As such, I'd like to discuss ideas on how to better define the BotL Demiurg since GW and FW have not been inclined to do so. 

 

First, the foundation given is that the Demiurg are vaguely migratory and concerned with commerce as their highest objective. Supposedly, they invest a lot of tech and power in their ships because of how highly valued they are compared to other species. In Warhammer Fantasy, one of the big themes of the Dwarfs there is the grudges. I'm wondering if we could draw on that basis with having the Demiurgs place a heavy emphasis on contracts. An example could be levels of trust have to be officially codified on paper, maybe spin it as a social evolution to ensure stability after a previous age of anarchy. 

 

Applying to the story I'm currently writing, I'm wondering if even access to Demiurg public facilities are governed by strict regulations and require either payments or completed tasks for foreigners to access them. 

 

 

In addition to the Demiurg, I want to address another abhuman strain I've mentioned on Discord and has also been ignored by GW/FW: Felinids. They're already canon, but I'd like to make some suggestions on what we could do with them. I'd like for their homeworld to be located in the Crimson Lions' Dominion. Given the Ratlings, Ogryns, and the Squats, I'd suggest their features would tend to be closer to the human than they would be to the feline. 

 

Also, 1d4Chan just introduced me to another strain of abhumans: Afriel Strain. Apparently, someone, somewhere got the brilliant idea to make a Regiment of clones from notable heroes with Macharius given as the prime example and attempted to create the 'Ultimate Human'. It worked...to a degree. The Afriels are genetically improved upon to possess improved combat capabilities over your standard guardsman but below a space marine. But, for whatever reason, bad luck likes to just blindside them and wipe them out. Not sure about that, but a more interesting aspect is that the process seems to wreck their sense of empathy and social senses. Two examples show up in a one of the Last Chancer's novel, so this might have to be put on reserved for 40k, but it's something to keep in mind. 

[Beren]

Wait, are we definitively diverging from canon at this point? I swear the Demiurg were confirmned to be stone skinned xenos, especially as we have actual Squats again now. They kind of seemed to me to be what the Hrud are to the Skaven i.e inheriting base concepts but being very different in finality.

 

Edit: I have very firm convictions on this matter, and I don't believe that it would require any change other than swapping the name. That said, I am unwilling to argue the point extensively unless pressed.

[simison]

I'm not sure how firm the convinctions are on combining the two. I would ask why you feel very strongly about this. Squats and Demiurgs may have enjoyed some screen time recently, but not very significant as far as I can tell. There's seem to be little push to actual develop them as opposed to throwing a bone or two.

[Beren]

Because we are using a term that may well be objectively wrong, instead of one that can only be objectively right. I don't really see what the benefit is of calling them Demiurg rather than Squats is in the first place.

 

As far as I am aware, there have never been any instances of the race aiding the Tau being called Squats or the abhuman species of the Imperium being called the Demiurg. Nor is there ever any indication that either is recognised as such.

 

If you look closely at the single Jes Goodwin sketch for the Demiurg, you can see that the figure shown is heavily scaled, something not shown in the most recent artwork for Squats. Which is why Demiurg fan art typically shows them as having either a crystalline or stony skin.

 

In RL, I was under the impression that the Demiurg were created during a time in which the Squats were non-canon because GW wanted to get away from the Fantasy Dwarves in Space while still use dwarven themes, in which case they were intended to be different things from the outset. The re-introduction of Squats as a canon abhuman species hasn't done anything to change this.

[Doctor Perils]

Oh I absolutely agree with Beren on this one, they're absolutely 100% confirmed different species in 40k canon - something that I pointed out near the beginning of the project, and the answer i pretty much got was "Demiurg sounds cooler", which is true but doesn't actually change the fact that it's conflicting with canon...

 

And while I have no certainty on the matter, I'm somewhat hoping GW brings out a supplement for Tau Empire auxiliary races which would flesh out the kroot vespid and demiurg a lot more, which would hammer home the difference...

 

 

That said... it may well be too late to change that name, as the "Demiurg" have been known to appear relatively frequently in IB stories

[simison]

I'm not sure how frequent though. 

 

What do other people think?

[bluntblade]

I think we can make the change

[Nomus Sardauk]

Don't suppose we could email GW for their official stance on things?