vizn3r/warhammer40k-lore huggingface dataset:
Attack Bike - Attack Bike: The Attack Bike, also known as the Space Marine Attack Bike, is a variant of the standard Assault Bike used by the Space Marines of the Adeptus Astartes.The Attack Bike is the most common variant of the Assault Bike and has been used by the Space Marines since the early years of the Great Crusade.The Attack Bike and Assault Bike were used by both sides in the Imperial civil war known as the Horus Heresy.In the years following the Heresy, the usage of the Attack Bike by the Traitor Legions, now led by Abaddon the Despoiler, decreased, although they still make use of the standard Assault Bike.The Attack Bike differs from the standard Assault Bike in that it adds a sidecar to the left-side of the vehicle which is equipped with a heavy weapon such as a Heavy Bolter.Another Space Marine rides in the sidecar to fire the heavy weapon. The Attack Bike is used as heavy, yet mobile fire-support for Space Marine Bike Squads and infantry squads.The power and speed of the Attack Bike is so potent that many Space Marine Chapters field entire squads of Attack Bikes in place of Assault Bikes.
Attack Bike - History: The Attack Bike, along with its Assault Bike variant, have been used by the Adeptus Astartes since the dawn of the Imperium. The Space Marine Legions that fought during the Great Crusade maintained deployed entire companies of Attack and Assault Bikes to use for lightning fast attacks on their enemies.These vehicles were deployed during the Horus Heresy by both Loyalist and Traitor Legions alike. During the Heresy many Bike Squads were used by the Traitor Legions to hunt down Loyalist survivors of the virus-bombing of Istvaan III, and the Drop Site Massacre on Istvaan V.At the Siege of Terra the White Scars Legion and their expert use of Assault and Attack Bikes helped keep the Traitor Legions from the walls of the Imperial Palace, and after the walls were breached they were successful in capturing the Lion's Gate Starport and denying the Traitors many of their reinforcements as a result.Following the death of the Arch-traitor Horus, the Traitor Legions made a hasty retreat from Terra into the Eye of Terror, all the while being harried from world to world by White Scars Bike Squads.
Attack Bike - Armament: The standard Attack Bike used by the Adeptus Astartes and sometimes by the Chaos Space Marines is armed with Twin-linked Bolters that are attached to the bike's forward armour cowling, fixed to fire in the direction of travel.The sheer amount of Bolter shells that can be brought to bear at whatever target that might stand in the way is often enough to make the enemy break and run before a Bike has even reached them. The Attack Bike mounts a heavy weapon on the vehicle's sidecar to be used by its passenger. This weapon can be either a Heavy Bolter or a Multi-Melta.While the Attack Bike itself is only lightly armed and armoured by most Space Marine vehicle standards, the vehicle's real firepower comes from its riders, who are always equipped with Frag Grenades, and can also employ Krak Grenades.The riders are usually also equipped with a Bolt Pistol and a Chainsword, and can optionally make use of Flamers, Meltaguns, Grav-Guns and Plasma Guns.Bike Squad Sergeants, and sometimes regular Battle-Brothers from very well-equipped Chapters, may also possess Plasma Pistols, Grav-Pistols, Power Swords, Powerfists, Combi-weapons, and Melta Bombs.During the Great Crusade and Horus Heresy eras of the late 30th and early 31st Millennia, Attack Bikes could be equipped with weapons that are no longer commonly used by the Adeptus Astartes in the late 41st Millennium, such as an Autocannon that replaced the vehicle's standard Heavy Bolter.
Attack Bike - Unit Composition: 1-3 Space Marine Bikers on Attack Bikes
Attack Bike - Wargear: Each Biker in a Space Marine Bike Squad is armed and equipped with:Bolt PistolFrag GrenadesKrak GrenadesTwin-linked Bolters (Attack Bike)Heavy Bolter (Attack Bike)An Attack Bike may replace its side car-mounted Heavy Bolter with the following:Multi-Melta
Attack Bike - Formations: Ravenwing Attack Squadron - The Ravenwing Attack Squadron consists of one Ravenwing Assault Bike Squadron or one Ravenwing Attack Bike Squadron and one Ravenwing Land Speeder Squadron or a single Land Speeder Vengeance. Dust clouds billow behind the Ravenwing Attack Squadron as it hurtles into battle. Striking swiftly, the 2nd Company huntsmen drive hard into the midst of the enemy, many foes falling before they even realise their danger. With massed firepower, the Attack Squadron mow their victims down in huge numbers. They plough a bloody furrow through the heart of battle, bursting from the foe's rear ranks before wheeling about and diving back into the fray once more. It is these high-speed attacks for which the Ravenwing are rightly feared, yet this is not the only trick they have to play. Should some vital quarry be sighted, or a mighty enemy strongpoint need to be purged, the hunters activate their Teleport Homers and -- amid a crackling storm of light -- summon the merciless warriors of the Deathwing to join the fight.
Attack Bike - Notable Users of the Attack Bike: The Assault Bike has been in use by the Adeptus Astartes since the Great Crusade, and the Traitor Legions took theirs with them after the Horus Heresy. In the 41st Millennium most, if not all, Space Marine Chapters make use of the Assault Bike in some fashion or another. Below are some of the more notable users of the Assault Bike:White Scars - The White Scars Space Marine Chapter make the most widespread use of Space Marine Bikes of all variants. The White Scars' homeworld of Chorgoris is comprised of large, wind-swept steppes and grasslands. The Astartes of the Chapter who are recruited from Chorgoris are taken from the savage horse riders of the steppes, and thus the entire Chapter is already adept at mounted warfare. The White Scars deploy Assault and Attack Bikes during nearly all of their campaigns.Dark Angels - The Dark Angels Chapter make heavy use of Attack Bikes in their 2nd Company, the Ravenwing. The Ravenwing is a highly specialised unit that is intended to make use of mobility and speed to defeat the enemy rather than heavy firepower. The Ravenwing is made up of Attack and Assault Bikes, along with Land Speeders.Space Wolves - The Space Wolves Chapter gives the use of bikes over to their Blood Claws Neophytes. These Blood Claws, known as Swift Claws, make use of Attack and Assault Bikes in lightning fast hit-and-run attacks. Since Blood Claws are considered very headstrong, the use of an Attack Bike allows them to give vent to their need for wild, head-on assaults at breakneck speed.Ultramarines - The Ultramarines Chapter makes use of Assault and Attack Bikes for the purposes and in the manner dictated by the Codex Astartes.Black TemplarsSalamandersRaven GuardEmperor's ChildrenWorld EatersWord BearersDeath Guard
Attack Bike - Adeptus Mechanicus Technical Specifications: Technical specifications for this vehicle have not been released by the Adeptus Mechanicus.
Attack Bike - Sources: Codex: Ultramarines (2nd Edition), pg. 70Codex: Blood Angels (3rd Edition), pg. 9Codex: Dark Angels (3rd Edition), pp. 8, 10Codex: Dark Angels (6th Edition), pg. 47Codex Adeptus Astartes - Dark Angels (7th Edition) (Digital Edition), "Ravenwing Attack Bike Squad (Datasheet), "Ravenwing Attack Squadron (Formation)"Codex Adeptus Astartes - Dark Angels (8th Edition), pp. 43, 45, 109Codex: Space Wolves (3rd Edition), pg. 11Codex: Black Templars (4th Edition), pp. 40, 59Codex: Dark Angels (4th Edition), pp. 17, 26-27, 66-67, 85Codex: Space Marines (3rd Edition), pp. 12-13, 19, 28-29Codex: Space Marines (4th Edition), pg. 37Codex: Space Marines (5th Edition), pp. 68, 117, 140Codex: Space Marines (6th Edition), pp. 84, 174Codex Adeptus Astartes - Space Marines (7th Edition) (Digital Edition), "Space Marine Bikes", "Attack Bike Squads"Codex Adeptus Astartes - Space Marines (8th Edition), pp. 74, 168, 170Codex: Blood Angels (5th Edition), pp. 30, 76, 93Codex Space Wolves (5th Edition), pp. 33, 60, 90Codex: Chaos Space Marines (3rd Edition, 1st Codex), pp. 15, 24Codex: Chaos Space Marines (3rd Edition, 2st Codex), pg. 33Codex: Chaos Space Marines (4th Edition), pg. 27White Dwarf 331 (UK) "Blood Angels Official Codex: Part II", pg. 22Warhammer 40,000: Apocalypse (6th Edition) (Digital Edition), pg. 173The Horus Heresy: Collected Visions (Background Book), pp. 22, 352Imperial Armour - The Horus Heresy: Betrayal - Book One, pp. 212, 237
Attack Craft - Attack Craft: Attack Craft is a catch-all term used for the small spacecraft and aircraft that are deployed from larger starships' launch bays in support of naval warfleets during combat operations. They are divided into five general categories depending on their size and role:Fighters - Fighters, along with Interceptors, are the smallest Attack Craft, using their speed and firepower to intercept and destroy other enemy Attack Craft and ordnance.Bombers - Bombers are lumbering spacecraft that lack the speed of fighters, but carry enough firepower to threaten capital ships.Assault Boats - Assault Boats are small, spaceborne transports designed to pierce the hull of an enemy starship and deposit a single or multiple squads of soldiers for a quick hit-and-run attack.Aeronautica - Aeronautica includes all small crafts that are designed to support planetary military operations, including atmospheric fighters, interceptors, and bombers along with troop transports and military cargo transports and drop ships.Support Craft - Support Craft are small spacecraft designed to support diplomatic and mercantile operations either on a planet's surface or for transport between different starships.The most notable Attack Craft of all the major starfaring species in the galaxy are listed below.
Attack Craft - Imperial Navy: Fury InterceptorFaustus InterceptorStarhawk BomberShark Assault BoatMarauder BomberLightning Air Superiority FighterThunderbolt Heavy FighterAquila LanderArvus LighterBoarding TorpedoDevourer DropshipScapula-class Deep Space Fighter
Attack Craft - Space Marines: Thunderhawk GunshipStorm Eagle GunshipStormraven GunshipStormbird GunshipStormtalon GunshipThunderhawk TransporterFire Raptor GunshipFire Raptor DestroyerBoarding TorpedoAstartes Landing CraftEagle-class ShuttleArgo-class Dropship
Attack Craft - Chaos Attack Craft: Swiftdeath FighterDoomfire BomberHell BladeHell TalonDreadclaw Assault BoatHarbinger Super-Heavy BomberHeldrake Daemon EngineBoarding TorpedoDoom Wing Daemon EngineFire Lord Daemon Engine
Attack Craft - Dark Eldar Attack Craft: Raptor FighterRazorwing BomberSlavebringer Assault BoatImpaler Assault Module
Attack Craft - Eldar Attack Craft: Darkstar FighterEagle Bomber
Attack Craft - Necron Attack Craft: Doom ScytheNight ScytheNight ShroudTomb Blade (older variant modified for spaceflight)
Attack Craft - Ork Attack Craft: Fighta-BommerOrk Assault Boat
Attack Craft - Tau: Barracuda FighterTiger SharkTiger Shark AX-1-0Manta Missile DestroyerRazorsharkSun Shark
Attack Craft - Tau Allies: Demiurg Attack Craft
Attack Craft - Tyranid Attack Craft: The Tyranids use a wide variety of organisms that are roughly equivalent to the other starfaring species' fighters and assault boats, but their vast diversity defies categorisation into distinct classes.
Attack Moon - Attack Moon: An Attack Moon was the Imperial designation given to a class of massive Ork vessels that were encountered by the Imperium of Man during the War of the Beast from 544-546.M32. These massive voidcraft served as the flagships of the group of giant Ork Warlords who were each known as The Beast.An Attack Moon were capable of almost instantaneous travel through a hyperdimensional realm known as "subspace" and was outfitted with a powerful gravitic weapon known as a "Gravity Whip" that was capable of ripping apart even the largest of Battleships or even other planets.
Attack Moon - Construction: Ork Attack Moons, like the much smaller Roks, were constructed from a core that included the hollowed-out remains of large asteroids and small planetoids or moons. At the height of The Beast's reign of terror in the mid-32nd Millennium, the Orks were capable of using technology that surpassed even that available to the Imperium of Man. The Attack Moons were capable of Faster-Than-Light travel over large distances without the use of the Warp, which made possible instantaneous interstellar travel for Ork forces from one location to another, and were outfitted with immensely powerful gravity-based weapons capable of destroying entire planets.The hollowed-out moons were covered in a vast pattern of fused wreckage and interconnected metal plates, thick enough that kinetic or directed energy attacks against the moon's surface were completely ineffective. The Attack Moon's most obvious external surface feature was that of adjustable plating capable of moving, shutters the size of inland seas and raised portions the size of entire mountain ranges that were capable of forming the stylised image of an Ork face, and could move in time with the words spoken by the Great Beast. The vast and monstrous tusked maw could stretch open wide, allowing Ork warships and transports to travel outwards from the core of the Attack Moon. The eyes burned with the magmatic light of the moon's core.An Attack Moon was capable of appearing through subspace closer to a planet than the laws of physics allowed, causing immense destruction upon the world it visited as its gravity field was completely disrupted by the tidal forces generated by the sudden arrival of the massive Ork planetoid. When an Attack Moon appeared over a target world, it emerged from subspace close enough that the sound from its titanic, Ork-shaped maw was capable of travelling to the planet's surface, heralding the arrival of the Great Beast.
Attack Moon - Function: Attack Moons were capable of FTL travel through the creation of what were known to the Adeptus Mechanicus as "subspace" corridors, a hyperdimensional realm that existed "in-between" the Materium and the Immaterium. A safer method of travel than through the Warp, subspace travel nonetheless was not entirely instantaneous and did require some travel time, with the arrival of the Attack Moon at its destination in realspace heralded by strange gravitational phenomenon, culminating with the moon flickering in and out of existence until it fully materialised. While transitioning from one planet to another the receiving planet would be subjected to greater and greater gravitational and tidal stress, resulting in sudden climate change, earthquakes and other geological catastrophes.In truth, an Attack Moon was neither a true planetary sphere nor an independently operating voidcraft. It was actually just the terminus for the Ork subspace tunnel dubbed a "WAAAGH! Gate" by the Greenskins. This allowed it to deploy endless waves of Orks warships and landing craft from the origin point.Once the Attack Moon arrived in-system, usually impossibly close to its target, the moon would disgorge an endless stream of Ork warships to protect itself and Assault Craft to begin planetary invasion. Once a world was completely under the control of the Orks, a special gravitic nexus facility would be constructed on the planet's surface, a match to an existing facility on the moon's surface. Once constructed and activated, the gravitic nexus would begin the slow process of tearing the planet apart, with massive chunks the size of mountains being lifted into the maw of the Attack Moon, eventually to become part of the moon itself, expanding it and growing it over time.The Attack Moons of the Great Beast were not just simply massive transport vessels or war machines, but instead they were advanced prototypes, as the Orks sought to perfect their gravitic planetoid concept. The ultimate version of the design, known as an "Attack Planet," was to be finished at The Beast's homeworld of Ullanor, and was intended to attack Terra itself while the smaller Attack Moons served as mere beacons to guide its travel.The Orks built an unknown number of Attack Moons during the War of the Beast, and several were destroyed by Imperial forces during the war at great cost. Imperial records of that era do not indicate what became of the remaining Attack Moons after the Orks' ultimate defeat at the Third Battle of Ullanor. It is believed that those that remained were hunted down and destroyed by Imperial forces or were ultimately abandoned as the surviving Orks inevitably fragmented and their lessened WAAAGH! energy led to the loss of the technical knowledge needed to build and maintain the Attack Moons.
Attack Moon - Armament: In addition to the Attack Moon's ability to destroy a world by merely translating into realspace too near the destination planet, it also possessed immense tractor beam emitters capable of tearing a world to pieces, the Attack Moon boasted a considerable arsenal of surface weapons and powerful Void Shields even more powerful than that found on most Battleship-class vessels.The Attack Moon's primary weapon was a "Gravitic Whip," a massively powerful gravity weapon that took the form of a green tentacle-like whip of energy that struck out towards its target and either tore it apart near instantaneously or wrapped around it and slowly crush it as the gravitic shear intensified. The weapon drew upon the great Ork energy sources buried deep within the vessel, and could be seen visibly charging for attack as coils of green energy coruscated up the pylons that directed the flow of Gravitic Whip energy to its target.A Gravity Whip was capable of fending off entire fleets on its own, with each flail of the energy whip tearing apart Cruisers with ease, destroying entire wings of Attack Craft and causing untold destruction against larger voidships. Fortunately for the Imperium in the 32nd Millennium, the weapon required a truly massive amount of energy to activate and needed to recharge itself between attacks. This gave Imperial Navy battlefleets enough time to close and engage the moon directly before they could be entirely crushed by the action of the Gravity Whip.
Attila - Attila: Attila is a Feudal World of the Imperium of Man located in the Ultima Segmentum that maintains a late Iron Age civilisation and almost no advanced Imperial technology. This barbaric world is also the homeworld of the famed Rough Riders of Attila mounted regiments of the Astra Militarum.
Attilan Rough Riders - Attilan Rough Riders: The Attilan Rough Riders, also referred to as the Rough Riders of Attila, are an elite Astra Militarum mounted regiment whose members have been recruited from the Feudal World of Attila, an ancient human colony located in the Ultima Segmentum.The ancient Attilan Rough Riders are one of the most famous Imperial Guard regiments, alongside the likes of the doughty Cadian Shock Troops, the intractable Valhallan Ice Warriors, and the stoic Death Korps of Krieg.The Imperium of Man recruits some of its most ferocious mounted warriors from this barbaric world. These specialised mounted cavalry regiments have a bloodthirsty reputation and they fight all over the galaxy in the name of the Emperor of Mankind.
Attilan Rough Riders - Regimental History: On Feudal Worlds such as Attila, where it is normal for warriors to fight from horseback, the Imperium recruits mounted regiments of Imperial Guardsmen known as Rough Riders. The Attilan Rough Riders are recruited from such a world, where fierce nomadic tribes and warrior horse-lodges have perfected the art of cavalry techniques through thousands of Terran years of bloodshed.It is said that Attilans are born in the saddle, for they are amongst the greatest horsemen in the galaxy. The Attilan breed of horses they prefer are thick-set beasts, ill-tempered and likely to bite or kick anyone unwise enough to give them the chance to do so.Such mounts are bred for power and strength, and many are given bio-chemical treatments intended to enhance their combat potential. Trained for a life of battle, these warhorses do not shy away from the enemy or panic easily. The riders depend upon their mounts a great deal, and value them more highly than any treasure.In adverse conditions a warrior will draw off some of the animal's blood and drink it to sustain himself, enabling the Attilans to survive without food or water for many days. This gives them the ability to operate behind enemy lines without supplies.
Attilan Rough Riders - The Spinward Front: Attilan Rough Rider regiments operating in the Spinward Front of the Calixis Sector's Periphery Sub-Sector have been used to shockingly good effect by Lord Marshal Ghanzorik. Recognizing their aptitude for guerrilla fighting and both anti-infantry and anti-armour warfare, the Lord Marshal has deployed the Attilans under the command of the implacable Commander Tenzing, a protégé of the famous Attilan war chief Mogul Khamir.Under the leadership of Tenzing, the Attilans have spent most of their time in theatre battling Orks and the human Separatists of the Severan Dominate, using their knowledge of skirmish warfare to cut a swath through the Ork and human forces alike, and sowing much discord throughout their enemies’ armies.Of particular note in the Spinward Front is the 264th Attilan Rough Riders, a regiment that have won some note in the Spinward Front battling the various Renegades and marauders who have struck at the flanks of Imperial supply lines and worlds left vulnerable by the major push against the Severan Dominate. Although they have participated in few of the major operations against the Separatists in the Spinward Front, the populations of several Imperial worlds owe their continued existence to the swift reactions of the 264th. Commander Khutulun, one of Tenzing’s most prominent pupils, has led the 264th on the worlds of Sisk, Sinophia, and Oriad, using the mobility of her force to harry and intercept groups of raiders as they land and before they can strike at vulnerable targets. Currently, the 264th is on the world of Cepyrsk, where it has been assigned with purging a larger group of Renegades who have entrenched themselves in Garhive, the world’s main hive city.Unfortunately, in recent months, the campaign has ground to a halt thanks to a number of aircraft possessed by the Renegades of the Dominate. Without a dedicated core of anti-aircraft weapons, the Attilans, and Krieg Guardsmen stationed on Cepyrsk have been forced to fight a defensive battle, holding on until the proper support arrives. Commander Khutulun and her Attilans have been particularly aggravated by this turn of events. The Attilan Rough Riders favour the offence, using swift Rough Riders to throw the enemy into confusion before decisively crushing them with the bulk of their forces. As such, Khutulun has made targeting the airfields a priority, and hopes to rout the renegades defending these key locations with a set of rapid, aggressive strikes by her vanguard units while the aircraft engage the rest of the Imperial Guard at Garhive.
Attilan Rough Riders - Regimental Organisation: The world of Attila is primitive, having reverted to a pre-industrial way of life during the Long Night of the Age of Strife. On such a barbaric world, the horse is the most important type of transport, and horses are found throughout human space having been brought by early colonists during the Dark Age of Technology. Even the Imperial Guard, with its legions of machinery and armoured vehicles, has a place for mounted warriors. Regiments of Rough Riders are sometimes deployed wholesale, especially where terrain is unsuitable for tracked vehicles.A squad of skilled mounted cavalry can be used as an effective assault and skirmishing force, able to move rapidly over the broken ground, climb steep slopes and gallop along narrow ravines. However, it is more common to divide mounted regiments and allocate Rough Rider squads to fight alongside conventional infantry regiments, thereby spreading the horsemen over a wide battlefield.They can then act in the roles of scouts, patrols and fast response troops. Rough Riders are also used to operate out on their own beyond the reach of normal lines of communication, deep within enemy territory. Because of their use of living mounts rather than machines, they need neither fuel nor maintenance and, unlike vehicles, they cannot be easily traced with Auspex or scanner. This enables them to harass enemy troop movements by using guerrilla tactics.
Attilan Rough Riders - Regimental Tactics: For the most part, the Attilan Rough Riders are raiders and skirmishers. They use guerrilla tactics honed over thousands of standard years of tribal warfare. They specialise in using terrain features and light cover to hide their movements, appearing suddenly over a rise or from behind a ridge and riding quickly down on their enemies, lances levelled and screaming all the while. This shocking spectacle rarely fails to shake enemies and scatter their formations.Once the initial charge is over, the Attilans wheel their mounts around and charge back into the thick of the enemy, using their sidearms and sabres with shocking efficiency to cut the enemy to ribbons. In the middle of these melees, the horses themselves also prove devastating weapons, biting, kicking, and trampling everything around them. The Attilans are also well trained in fast attack anti-armour tactics where their speed, agility, and pinpoint accuracy with the hunting lance can disable all but the most powerful armoured vehicles.
Attilan Rough Riders - Regimental Appearance: The Rough Riders of Attila's uniforms consist of personal armour made of scale or lamellar, leather or hide greatcoats, leather riding gloves, boots and a traditional and distinctive Attilan wide-brimmed fur riding hat. Every squad of Attilan Rough Riders chooses a distinctive Astra Militarum skull motif which is branded onto each of their horses. Apart from this and the other Imperial Guard icon on their shoulder armour, they wear little or no insignia.The Attilans present a barbaric appearance, especially with the ritual scarification upon their cheeks -- long knife cuts of white tissue which stand out against each man's weather-beaten skin. These marks are cut into a rider's cheeks as a young man, and ashes from the camp fire are rubbed into the wounds so that they leave deep and prominent scars. The Attilans also are known to make extensive use of tribal tattoos as well.Attilans tend to wear their hair in long, unkempt braids, or long and matted. They do not wash themselves or clean their clothes, believing that to do so would affront the spirits of water that they superstitiously believe people their land. This tradition has proven hard to break, despite considerable effort on the part of the Adeptus Ministorum preachers in the barely-tolerated Imperial mission in the Attilan capital city of Khanasan. Indeed, it is said that the stench of an Attilan is as powerful a weapon as his hunting lance.
Attilan Rough Riders - Notable Attilan Rough Rider Regiments: 264th Attilan Rough Riders - The 264th Attilan Rough Riders are a regiment that have won some note in the Spinward Front in the Calixis Sector's Periphery Sub-sector, battling the various Renegades and marauders who have struck at the flanks of Imperial supply lines and worlds left vulnerable by the major push of the Imperial Guard against the forces of the Severan Dominate. Although they have participated in few of the major operations against the Separatists in the Spinward Front, the populations of several Imperial worlds owe their continued existence to the swift reactions of the 264th.
Attilan Rough Riders - Notable Attilan Rough Riders: Mogul Kamir - Mogul Kamir is the fiercest mounted warrior of the Attilan Rough Riders. He rose to take control of his tribe at a young age. As a fierce warrior and natural leader, Kamir easily rose to a position of leadership over his own squadron of Rough Riders. Mogul Kamir's squadron has carried out some of the Khanasan's fiercest mounted charges within all of the Imperial Guard's Rough Riders regiments. His headstrong attitude often sees him recklessly charging the enemy. Kamir's body is a testament to pain and a lifetime of battle, riddled with scar-tissue and other signs of uncounted notable endeavours in the heat of battle. Many a warlord's skull adorns his massive hunting-lance, both a testament to his courage and a proclamation of his skills as Attila's greatest warrior. Like his fellow Attilan tribesmen, Kamir is proud and aloof except in battle, when he turns into a snarling daredevil oblivious to mortal danger. His lust for combat is a matter of pride amongst the Attilans and only the fiercest and most skilled of warriors are allowed to ride with him. Kamir is a cunning ally who has the ability to turn the tide of battle with a single charge.Commander Tenzing - Tenzing is a a protégé of the famous Attilan war chief Mogul Khamir. Utilising Attilan Rough Rider regiments in the Spinward Front, they have been used to shockingly good effect by Lord Marshal Ghanzorik. Recognizing their aptitude for guerrilla fighting and both anti-infantry and anti-armour warfare, the Lord Marshal has deployed the Attilans under the command of the implacable Commander Tenzing.Commander Khutulun - Commander Khutulun, one of Tenzing's most prominent pupils, has led the 264th Attilan Rough Riders on the worlds of Sisk, Sinophia, and Oriad in the Spinward Front, using the mobility of her force to harry and intercept groups of raiders as they land and before they can strike at vulnerable targets. Currently, the 264th is on the world of Cepyrsk, where it has been assigned with purging a larger group of Renegades who have entrenched themselves in Garhive, the world's main hive city. Unfortunately, in recent months, the campaign has ground to a halt thanks to a number of aircraft possessed by the Renegades. Without a dedicated core of anti-aircraft weapons, the Attilans and Death Korps of Krieg Guardsmen stationed on Cepyrsk have been forced to fight a defensive battle, holding on until the proper support arrives. Commander Khutulun and her Attilans have been particularly aggravated by this turn of events. The Attilan Rough Riders favour the offence, using swift Rough Riders to throw the enemy into confusion before decisively crushing them with the bulk of their forces. As such, Khutulun has made targeting the airfields as a priority, and hopes to rout the Renegades defending these key locations with a set of rapid, aggressive strikes by her vanguard units while the aircraft engage the rest of the Imperial Guard at Garhive.
Attilan Rough Riders - Trivia: The Attilan Imperial Guard regiments are largely based on the Hun and Mongol nomadic hordes that rampaged across the Eurasian continent in the 5th and 13th centuries AD, respectively. Their name derives from the nickname of the 1st United States Volunteer Cavalry's during the 1898 Spanish-American War. The Attilans' practice of "drinking the blood of their mounts" is in fact a reference to one of the more common practices of the Huns, Mongols, and other Eurasian steppe nomads.
Attilan Rough Riders - Source: Codex: Imeprial Guard (5th Edition), pp. 21, 44, 66Codex: Imperial Guard (2nd Edition), pp. 17, 40-41, 90Only War: Hammer of the Emperor (RPG), pp. 12-16, 119-120, 133, 136
Atum Sum - Atum Sum: Atum Sum is a prodigiously skilled Chaos Sorcerer of the Thousand Sons Traitor Legion who has been active in the Jericho Reach. Indeed, he is even known to the Inquisition as an acolyte of Ahriman, one of the Legion's greatest sorcerers. He also bears the Mark of Tzeentch, carved beneath the flesh of his cranium.Sum is steeped in the power of the Warp, and a known master of the daemonic. It is said that the daemonic servants of Tzeentch attend him as lesser men command the loyalty of stooping servants, though the veracity of this claim seems unlikely to those versed in the ways of the God of Change.Furthermore, he appears to have an uncanny mastery of the ebb and flow of possibility, manipulating the shifting tides of the Warp to appear at any time and place he desires. It is doubtless true that Atum Sum is a dire threat to the Imperium, for his appearance is often seen to precipitate daemonic incursions of the most destructive kind.Needless to say, Atum Sum's appearance in the Jericho Reach is a cause for dread, and several groups within the Inquisition have already set in motion plans to discern his purpose and if possible, oppose it.To date, the sorcerer has been encountered in the warzones surrounding the Hadex Anomaly, leading some to suspect that he is involved in some grand scheme to utilise the weird energies streaming from it.Some have even claimed that Atum Sum has conversed with the Anomaly, or with some vast, unknowable intelligence deep inside and beyond it.Whatever the truth, several Inquisitor Lords of the Ordo Chronos were known to be mustering a coalition to stymie his plans when they disappeared, suggesting that his powers are an order of magnitude greater than any had dared believe.
Atum Sum - Abilities: Because Atum Sum has the ability to perceive the ebb and flow of the Warp, he can predict and to a degree manipulate the chaotic passage of time within it.He can use this power to disrupt the normal process of cause and effect in realspace, seemingly cheating death as he explores one branch of probability to its ultimate conclusion, before backtracking to a previous branch of a possible outcome.To this end, his foes find that time and again they believe Atum Sum to have been killed, only for him to reappear at another point in space and time to continue his unknowable mission.Further compounding the issue is his mastery of a power known as "Warp Time." To those who know it, the timeless nature of the Warp grants them the means to defy the normal limits of time, hastening his movements and reflexes such that his enemies appear to be moving in slow motion.This manifests as the sorcerer surrounding himself with a field of dimensional instability, warping the passage of time. The greater his mastery, the more devastating his combat abilities, speed, and aversion to harm.
Auger - Auger: An Auger, also sometimes known as an Auger Array, is the Imperium of Man's High Gothic name for the standard high-powered suite of active and passive scanners used by starships, vehicles and some ground-based facilities.These scanners can include radar, infrared detection, ultraviolet detection, lidar, chemical assays, sonar, spectroscopy, and other technologies, all intended to detect and analyse sources of energy and other phenomenon on planets or in the void of space.Augers are most useful for detecting incoming enemy spacecraft, unmasking vital installations on hostile worlds, and for carrying out detailed scans of spatial and planetary discoveries.
Aun'El Shi'Ores - Aun'El Shi'Ores: Aun'El Shi'Ores was a member of the Ethereal Caste of the T'au Empire. He served as the commander of the T'au forces sent to secure and hold the world of Kronus. He, along with Shas'O Kais, was the leader of the Fire Caste forces sent by the T'au to protect their colony on that world and bring the wayward planet back into the T'au Empire's fold. He was a faction leader in the PC game Dawn of War - Dark Crusade.In the non-canonical ending where the T'au won the campaign the Imperium of Man came to call the Dark Crusade, Aun'El Shi'Ores, with the help of his Fire Caste commander Shas'O Kais, expels the 6 other races' forces from Kronus and brings the planet into the T'au Empire. He makes the world a full Sept of the T'au's Third Sphere Expansion in this ending.But in the canon outcome, during the invasion of the city of Or'es Tash'n, the Ethereal was quickly targeted by the Imperial forces of the Blood Ravens Space Marine Chapter who sought to deal a harsh blow to T'au morale.Given that the Blood Ravens' ending is the canonical version of events on Kronus, Aun'el Shi'ores was killed in the assault on Or'es Tasn'n, despite being heavily guarded within the T'au citadel and surrounded by his elite bodyguards. His corpse was recovered by Shas'O Kais, who was emotionally shattered by the Ethereal's death, before it could be seized by the victorious Space Marines and taken back to T'au for burial as the crumbling T'au forces fled the planet.
Aun'La Tsua'Malor Viorla - Aun'La Tsua'Malor Viorla: Aun'La Tsua'Malor Viorla, or simply Aun'La, is a supposedly low-ranking member of the Ethereal Caste of the T'au Empire.Currently, he resides in captivity within the Deathwatch's Watch Fortress Erioch in the Jericho Reach where he is considered to represent threat level infrared.Many among the watch fortress' leadership believe that Aun'La may in fact not be an Ethereal at all, but an attempt at misdirection and misinformation by the T'au in the Reach.
Aun'La Tsua'Malor Viorla - History: Aun'La was captured by a Deathwatch kill-team on a T'au courier craft in transit. In an exceptionally difficult operation undertaken by Battle-Brother Pellas, the Gladius-class Frigate Thunder's Word slipped deep into T'au-controlled space and intercepted the Aun's craft as it passed through an uninhabited star system.Precision weapons fire crippled the smaller ship's drives and a boarding party easily overpowered the xenos inside. The courier craft was rigged to suffer a catastrophic drive failure and the Thunder's Word disappeared into the void without sighting any other T'au ships.As far as is known, the T'au are unaware that the Aun has been captured and believe him to have been killed in the accidental explosion of his ship.Some in the Ordo Xenos in the Jericho Reach have cast doubts on the operation, however. Everything went a little too smoothly for wary Inquisitors to entirely trust the prize that seems to have fallen into their laps.From the incautious transmissions that first alerted the Deathwatch to the Ethereal's travel, to the route taken and the absence of T'au fleet units in the area when the capture attempt was made, they see a set-up.The T'au are fanatically loyal to their ruling caste and to put even such a low-ranking Ethereal at risk seems an act of uncharacteristic negligence.Sensorium and augur scanning of the Aun'La have revealed no notable deviations from standard T'au morphology. There are no signs of extra cranial nodes that might implicate psychic control, no pheromone glands, no sub-sonic augmentations.The conclusion being drawn is that this supposed "Ethereal" is nothing of the sort and has been purposefully given up to misdirect the enemies of the T'au.All xenos are routinely examined down to a molecular level for concealed weapons and explosives before being brought to Watch Fortress Erioch, and the Aun'La is thought to pose no threat at present.Nevertheless he is carefully watched at all times and kept fully quarantined from the other T'au prisoners of Magenta sector while the watch fortress' governing Chamber of Vigilance ponders his fate.Some are moving for a full vivisection to settle matters once and for all while others are content to watch and wait for any underlying T'au scheme to reveal itself. The matter stands unresolved.
Aun'shi - Aun'shi: Aun'Shi is a member of the T'au Ethereal Caste. A modest T'au hero of many battles, Aun'Shi longs for peace but is bound by duty to his comrades to wage war.Lionised by the Fire Caste as everything they believe a T'au leader should be, he is seen as a good luck charm by those Fire Warriors who have served with him. Aun'Shi is more comfortable in the company of Fire Warriors than many members of the Ethereal Caste and will frequently accompany a squad into battle.Hailing from the proud martial Sept of Vior'la, Aun'Shi is an indomitable Ethereal whose iron will has steeled the resolve of multitudes of T'au across many frontiers. A dedicated student of the fighting arts for virtually all his life, he has a level of expertise with the Honour Blade that few T'au can match.Thanks to his long career and many exploits, Aun'Shi is also seen by the Fire Caste as a sure sign of victory, and he is greeted everywhere he travels with many salutes and deep, respectful bows.
Aun'shi - History: At the time of the battle that catapulted Aun'Shi to the position of a full-scale hero of the T'au Empire, he was already nearing the age when an Ethereal can choose to retire to a life of contemplation within the Temple-domes of their caste.Due to his many successes, Aun'Shi was entitled to spend his last years on the paradise world of the Au'taal -- an honour accorded to only those who have excelled in their drive for the Greater Good. Aun'Shi's last assignment was to bolster a new T'au colony named Kel'tyr.Established on a planet that turned out to be infested with Orks, the colony's progress had been slow, but with the arrival of reinforcements and Aun'Shi's canny alien-fighting guidance, the Fire Warriors were soon able to clear the main continent. This allowed the Earth Caste to construct great cities and better establish the exploitation of Kel'tyr's natural resources.On his final inspection tour, however, Aun'Shi became trapped in the settlement of Fio'vash when a horde of Orks surrounded the compound. With their Shas'vre beheaded by the Ork Warboss, the Fire Warriors began to panic. Leaping to action, Aun'Shi used his famed Honour Blade to cut the Ork leader in two, planting the weapon's haft between the shorn halves of the twitching corpse. Heartened, the Fire Warriors steadied their firing line.Again and again the Orks were repelled from the ever constricting perimeter. Despite the growing mounds of dead, the Greenskins hurtled forwards and everywhere they reached the T'au lines, Aun'Shi was there to meet them. Tirelessly he chopped the savages down, but always, they returned.As the Orks finally closed for the kill, a relief force arrived. When they reached the only building that remained standing in Fio'vash, they were surprised to find Aun'Shi still standing guard over the few survivors, his blade dripping with Ork ichor.News of Aun'Shi's deeds travelled fast. Aun'Va knew well that the T'au must have new heroes, and here was an Ethereal, a living legend amongst the Fire caste and the saviour of Fio'vash. Rather than allow such a valuable warrior to fade away, it was decreed that Aun'Shi should continue in his duties and lead fresh expeditions.Known as the "Aged Wonder," Aun'Shi continues to bring great fortune to the Fire Caste, leading them to yet more victories from the forefront of the Third Sphere of Expansion.At an unknown point in time, Aun'shi was captured by the Drukhari whilst investigating Commander Farsight's past on the world of Arthas Moloch.At present, Aun'Shi is reported to be leading a T'au expedition to reclaim the Farsight Enclaves for the empire.
Aun'shi - Wargear: Honour BladeEMP GrenadesPhoton GrenadesShield Generator
Aun'Va - Aun'Va: Aun'Va was the ethereal supreme of the T'au Ethereal Caste and Aun'o or head of state of the T'au Empire. He was an almost religious figure of awe for the T'au and was also known as the "Master of the Undying Spirit" to his people.Replacing the aging Aun'wei as the leader of the T'au Empire's governing Ethereal Council, he was said to be the oldest of the current Ethereals and it was easy to see his effect on the rapid expansion of the T'au Empire in the 41st Millennium.He sat upon the highest councils governing not just each of the T'au Septs but also the entire empire as a whole in his capacity as the T'au head of state or Aun'o.He has counseled the greatest leaders of the T'au for longer than any can recall, and his hand can be seen at work behind much of recent T'au history, particularly the Second and Third Sphere Expansions.He was the most senior Ethereal upon the T'au's homeworld and capital of T'au. His word was heeded by every member of his caste, for his counsel had ever proven wise and true.But Aun'Va was not merely a spiritual leader, for in T'au history there are many instances of him leading the T'au expansion from the very beginning of their conquests. His presence gave the Fire Caste the will to rid the Si'coa System of the hateful aliens known as the Reek, his words sending them into a righteous rage.Upon the flanks of Mount Scion he pronounced the fate of the Orks of WAAAGH! Grognik — a sentence that was efficiently enacted by ten thousand Fire Warriors.Aun'Va stood and died as supreme Ethereal within the newly won Septs of the Third Sphere Expansion, Commander Shadowsun ever loyal at his side.Across half a dozen new worlds recently brought into the service of the T'au Empire and the Greater Good alike, a million Fire Warriors and many more colonists stood ready to sacrifice all upon a single word of their beloved Ethereal, the Master of the Undying Spirit -- Aun'o'T'au'Acaya'Va'Denta.
Aun'Va - Ethereal Supreme: After a long rule, the ethereal supreme, Aun'Wei, knew it was time for his Last Walk, the ceremony when an ancient member of that secretive caste disappears forever within one of their mysterious temple-domes.Before departing, however, it is tradition that he nominate his successor as head of the Ethereal Council.So it was that Aun'Va assumed the role of the Great Leader of his people, assuming the title that translates best as "Master of the Undying Spirit" - or, he that directs the Greater Good.This choice was long ordained, for from his beginning, Aun'Va displayed skills that made him a master of his caste. Even without technological aids, he was able to inspire those nearby to impossible acts or bend their wills to comply with his wishes.When his natural talents were boosted through artificial means, Aun'Va could implant powerful auto-suggestions that would last a lifetime and instill unbreakable loyalty.It is whispered by others of the High Council that when Aun'Va asked a question, he would already give the responder the answer.So natural was his skill, so powerful were his methods, that those who agreed with his counsel are never sure if it was ever their idea to do so in the first place.In all his long life, there has only been one T'au who was able to defy Aun'Va, and all know that it is best to not mention his name.Upon waking from cryogenic sleep, O'Shassera was debriefed by Aun'Va alone. Never was the tale of Farsight's betrayal more skillfully told, and the story of his disregard for the Greater Good caused the young commander to shake with rage.Since that day, Aun'Va has had no further fears for the loyalty of the Fire Caste and has set his concentration fully on the expansion of the T'au Empire.