vizn3r/warhammer40k-lore huggingface dataset:
Imperial Truth - Space Marine Legions: The Imperial Fists Legion is thought to have also been subtly employed by the Emperor to combat daemonology. The nature of the Imperial Fists is one of stoic adherence to duty, a zealous loyalty engineered into the core of their genetic code, steeling them against corruption. Though they are known to be His consummate defenders, their purpose may have been to defend more than His walls, but also the soul of the Imperium.For much of the Great Crusade, the Emperor kept the VIIth Legion and their primarch, Rogal Dorn, close to His side. Unlike his brother Magnus the Red, Dorn could not be easily swayed to seek knowledge for its own sake, instead he was trusted to exercise restraint and caution in his studies.For this reason, it is rumoured that the Emperor, over a period of solar decades, shared secrets with Rogal Dorn which but a few individuals were privy to; allowing the Praetorian of Terra to better understand the need for the Imperial Truth and the urgency with which the true enemy must be combatted.During the Great Crusade, the Imperial Fists came to uphold the Imperial Truth with a passionate zeal. As they encountered sorcerers and preachers of the profane, they understood and were able to identify their enemy's weaknesses, pioneering the use of an arsenal of psyarkana devices capable of combating the influence of the Warp.Throughout the course of the Great Crusade, Rogal Dorn accumulated one of the Imperium's greatest repositories of the arcane within the vast vaults of Phalanx, a valuable resource kept hidden from his primarch brothers which, though he was reticent to employ it, was of great use during the Siege of Terra.The Death Guard Legion too played a role in enforcing the Imperial Truth. Mortarion, in his hatred of the Daemonic and its sorcery earned during his life on Barbarus, actively sought out worlds tainted by what he perceived to be the foul influence of the Warp. On these worlds he acted not as the Liberator of Barbarus, but as a Reaper, the Death Lord come at the head of a host of the XIVth Legion's Destroyers to harvest the souls of those he saw as diseased.Mortarion's warriors were among the first to make widespread use of the Bale Flamer and so-called psyk-out or psi-reactive munitions. The taint of Warp magick was to Mortarion the most terminal and incurable of contagions, and was a sickening blight, relentlessly in need of eradication.
Imperial Truth - Other Enforcers: Other Imperial organisations also directly or inadvertently upheld the Imperial Truth. The technophages of the Malagra, the ancient Mechanicum's internal function of cleansing, for a time acted to maliciously hinder the works of any magi tinkering with the dangerously cryptic.Within the Mechanicum, the adherents of the Malagra doctrines sought to maintain the purity of the inner workings of the cults of the Omnissiah. They were the hunters of Heretek magi, and were known to declare dormant whole forges if any spoor of the highest forbidden heretechnical orders of damnation were found within, such as the curse of artificial general intelligence, the melding of xenos technology with the blessed machine, or the drawing of energy from the Warp directly.Among the Chartist Captains and Rogue Traders too, certain precautions were taken against the threat of the Warp. Operating at the distant borders of the galaxy and frequently traversing the Immaterium, these starship captains encountered arcane phenomenon beyond description; sights and sensations which drove men and women mad with but a fleeting glance.Often, they would operate independently, away from Imperial scrutiny, where they could take their own measures to ensure the safety and security of their vessels.When threatened by the xenos or the Daemon, such captains, many scarcely more than buccaneers, would have had the means prepared with which to respond with force and resourcefulness in kind, though they might never dare to declare such within the bounds of the Imperium.
Imperial Vehicles - Imperial Vehicles: The Imperium of Man is composed of several different military forces, from the basic infantrymen of the Imperial Guard to the massive Titans and starships that represent the most potent manifestations of the Emperor of Mankind's might.These armed forces each have their own specific vehicles, but they also field several vehicles common to more than one branch, such as the Rhino. These separate armed forces are represented by different armies, and the organisation of this list reflects this reality.The armed forces of the Imperium include, but are not limited to, the Space Marines, the Astra Militarum, the Adeptus Mechanicus including the Titan Legions, the Inquisition, the Imperial Knights, the Adeptus Arbites and the Orders Militant of the Adepta Sororitas.In addition, owing to their nature as the former Space Marine Legions of the Imperium, the Heretic Astartes of the Traitor Legions use many of the same vehicles as the Loyalist Space Marines of the Imperium.
Imperial Vehicles - Space Marine Vehicles: The vehicles of the Space Marines are suited to their role as a rapid-strike planetary assault force, focusing more on speed and mobility rather than protection or sheer destructive potential. The vehicles used by the Chapters of the Adeptus Astartes include the:RhinoRazorbackPredator DestructorPredator AnnihilatorBaal PredatorDeimos RhinoDeimos Predator DestructorDeimos Predator AnnihilatorDeimos Predator ExecutionerDeimos Predator InfernusLand SpeederLand Speeder TornadoLand Speeder TyphoonLand Speeder TempestLand Speeder StormLand Speeder Vengeance (Ravenwing)Ravenwing Darkshroud (Ravenwing)Javelin Attack SpeederLand Raider PhobosLand Raider CrusaderLand Raider HeliosLand Raider PrometheusLand Raider AchillesLand Raider ProteusLand Raider RedeemerLand Raider AresLand Raider Terminus UltraLand Raider TartarusSpartan Assault TankTyphon Heavy Siege TankCerberus Heavy Tank DestroyerSicaran Battle TankSicaran VenatorMastodonAssault BikeAttack BikeScout BikeJetbikeWhirlwindWhirlwind HyperiosDeimos WhirlwindDeimos Whirlwind ScorpiusHunterStalkerVindicatorDeimos VindicatorFellbladeGlaiveFalchionThunderhawkThunderhawk TransporterStorm EagleFire RaptorStormbirdStorm TalonStormcrowStormhawkHawkwingVoid RavenStormravenNephilim Jetfighter (Ravenwing)Ravenwing Dark Talon (Ravenwing)DreadnoughtAegis Dreadnought (Grey Knights)Chaplain DreadnoughtDeath Company DreadnoughtFurioso DreadnoughtHellfire DreadnoughtIronclad DreadnoughtLibrarian DreadnoughtMortis DreadnoughtSiege DreadnoughtVenerable DreadnoughtContemptor DreadnoughtNemesis Dreadknight (Grey Knights)Rhino AdvancerDamocles Command RhinoGrav-Rhino (Adeptus Custodes)Drop PodsKharybdis Assault ClawThunderfire CannonThunderstrikeRapierOutrider Gun-CartSabre Tank HunterCaestus Assault RamArgo Drop ShipEagle-class Shuttle
Imperial Vehicles - Imperial Guard Vehicles: Imperial Guard Vehicles include main battle tanks, armoured transports, artillery pieces, and super-heavy tanks capable of running-over normal sized tanks with ease and even successfully destroying certain Titans. Please see their separate page for more information.
Imperial Vehicles - Adeptus Mechanicus Vehicles: The Adeptus Mechanicus is the primary supplier of all forms of advanced technology, including vehicles and spacecraft, to the Imperium of Man. The Mechanicus does not use normal tanks and vehicles during battle like the other Imperial armed forces, and instead make use of massed regiments of modified human cyborg Skitarii, Combat Servitors, battle robots and massive Titan war engines along with other, more specialised weaponry. The main military force of the Mechanicus includes the following:
Imperial Vehicles - Knights: A Knight is a walking, humanoid war machine first used by the Mechanicus on its affiliated Knight Worlds. The Knight is crewed by a single pilot and while they are larger than most other Imperial vehicles, they are smaller than even the smallest class of Scout Titan. There are several different types of Knight walkers in use, including the:Knight Warden - Knight Wardens are armed with long-ranged, heavy weapons and are well-armoured. They are used as defensive weapons against enemy attackers.Knight Paladin - The Paladin Knight is armed with both ranged and close-combat weapons. They are commonly equipped with Battle Cannons and large Reaper Chainswords.Knight Lancer - The Lancer Knight is a scout unit, armed with a single Battle Cannon and a Power Lance though it is capable of achieving much higher overland speeds than the other pattern of Knights. These Knights are commonly used to outflank enemy units during a battle.Knight Crusader - The Crusader Knight is armed with heavy weapons intended to be effective against enemy armoured vehicles. A Crusader Knight is usually armed with Lascannons and have increased armour to better withstand the assaults of potent armoured vehicles. They are the slowest and least nimble of all the patterns of Knight.Knight Castellan - The Castellan Knight is the tactical opposite of the Crusader Knight and is armed with weapons effective primarily against enemy infantry, such as a multi-barreled Autocannon.Knight Errant - The Knight Errant is armed with heavy weaponry and is the most potent of the Knight patterns, capable of fighting enemy super-heavy vehicles and even Titan-sized foes such as Ork Gargants.Knight Baron - The Knight Baron is piloted by a superior warrior with razor-sharp combat and Knight-handling skills. A Baron Knight usually leads a Knight squadron into battle. As a sign of their command status, every Baron uses a Knight custom built to their exact specifications. These Knights are usually armed with rapid-firing Battle Cannons and a Power Lance.
Imperial Vehicles - Robots: Imperial robots are non-sentient, mechanical automatons used for labour and combat. All robots fall under the jurisdiction of an obscure branch of the Adeptus Mechanicus known as the Legio Cybernetica. Three to five robots, plus their attending Tech-adept, are organised into a single unit known as a maniple, which are then combined into a unit known as a cohort comprising less than a hundred maniples. During the Great Crusade and the following Horus Heresy, entire cohorts of robots were used alongside the regiments of the Imperial Army and the Space Marine Legions. On several occasions, robots were made honorary members of a Space Marine Legion or Chapter for their exemplary service in defence of their human masters.The known types of Imperial combat robots include:Castellan-class robot - The Castellan is armed with twin Power Fists and a Heavy Bolter.Cataphract-class robot  - The Cataphract is armed with a Heavy Bolter, arm-mounted Flamers and a back-mounted weapon.Colossus-class robot  - The Colossus is armed with a Heavy Bolter, arm-mounted Siege Hammers and a back-mounted weapon.Conqueror-class robot  - The Conqueror is armed with a Power Fist, an arm-mounted Autocannon and a back-mounted Heavy Bolter.Crusader-class robot  - The Crusader is armed with twin Power Swords and a back-mounted Lascannon.
Imperial Vehicles - Titans: Titans are gigantic humanoid combat walkers used by the Adeptus Mechanicus' Titan Legions. The smallest Titan, the Warhound-class Scout Titan, stands as a high as a small building while the largest, the Imperator-class Emperor Titan, can stand hundreds of metres high. A single Titan has the ability to level a city and can single-handedly destroy entire armies of lesser foes, for these war engines are essentially walking Battleships. The armament of a Titan is flexible and many weapon combinations are possible. There are four classes of Titan currently in use by the Collegia Titanica of the Mechanicus:Warhound-class Titan - The Warhound is the smallest of the Titans, known as a Scout Titan, and is usually used as a scout for the larger classes of Titans ina Battle Group. Warhounds are more animal-like in appearance than their humanoid counterparts and are deployed in small squadrons limited to only two Scout Titans.Reaver-class Titan - The Reaver is larger than the Warhound, and is considered a true Battle Titan. The Reaver is the smaller of the two classes of Battle Titans in use by the Imperium and it is the most common type of Titan deployed onto Imperial battlefields.Warlord-class Titan - The Warlord is the largest of the Battle Titans deployed by the Imperium. The Warlord is usually the largest Titan many people will ever see in combat, as the only larger type of Titan, the extraordinarily rare Emperor Titans, are no longer constructed by the Mechanicus and are deployed to meet only the most horrific of threats to the God-Emperor's realm.Imperator-class Titan - The Emperor Titans are the largest Titans built by the Mechanicus, standing hundreds of metres tall and carrying an entire Imperial fortress into combat on their backs. There are several classes of Emperor Titan in existence but the most common is known as the Imperator-class, from which all Emperor Titans got their designation. These Titans are extremely rare and very few Titan Legions still possess one amongst their ranks. These war machines are considered to be avatars of the Machine God by the Tech-priests of the Cult Mechanicus.
Imperial Vehicles - Imperial Navy Aircraft and Spacecraft: The Imperial Navy controls the use and distribution of both atmospheric aircraft and spacecraft in the Imperium, from the smallest interceptor to the largest Battleships and Cruisers. The following are known aircraft and spacecraft of the Imperial Navy:
Imperial Vehicles - Aquila Lander: The Aquila Lander is a light shuttle typically used by the Imperial Navy as a transport to carry officers and other important persons either from orbit or to another starship.
Imperial Vehicles - Arvus Lighter: The Arvus Lighter is a small atmospheric landing craft typically used by the Imperial Navy to transport cargo to and from the surface of a planet to orbit. The Arvus can also be pushed into combat when needed.
Imperial Vehicles - Lightning: The Lightning is used by the Imperial Navy to establish air superiority during a battle due to its increased speed and maneuverability over the Thunderbolt fighter. It can be seen and heard plummeting from orbit or being scrambled from Imperial naval air bases.
Imperial Vehicles - Marauder Bomber: The Marauder is the primary bomber used during in-atmosphere planetary bombing raids by the Imperial Navy. It was at one point used also as the primary space bomber of the Imperial Navy, but has been replaced with the heavier Starhawk bomber for all exo-atmospheric bombing runs. The Marauder has several variants that are in use by the Imperium.
Imperial Vehicles - Variants: Marauder Destroyer - This variant of the Marauder bomber is equipped with more weapons and is mostly used as a night-attack heavy bomber, this variant was first developed during the Third War for Armageddon in order to combat the Orks who had air superiority.Marauder Colossus - This variant of the Marauder was designed as a heavy ordinance bomber capable of destroying heavily fortified structures and strong-points.Marauder Vigilant - This non-combat variant of the Marauder Bomber is equipped with sophisticated and powerful surveillance equipment in order to carry out aerial reconnaissance and signal intelligence intercepts on enemy forces.
Imperial Vehicles - Thunderbolt: The Thunderbolt heavy fighter is one of the two main fighter aircraft patterns used by the Imperial Navy, the other of which is the Lightning air superiority fighter. The Thunderbolt is the mainstay weapon system of Imperial Navy fighter wings and is a rugged, well-armed and armoured heavy fighter with all-around capabilities, a good maximum speed and above-average maneuverability, powerful nose-mounted weapons and hard points located on the wings for missile or bomb load-outs. It is an aircraft that is well-liked by those who fly and service it and it has served the cause of the Emperor for many centuries.
Imperial Vehicles - Valkyrie: The Valkyrie is an Imperial Vertical Takeoff and Landing (VTOL) airborne assault carrier used primarily by the Imperial Guard as both a gunship and a transport for airborne infantry combat units like Storm Trooper Squads and the regiments of the Elysian Drop Troops. The Valkyrie's primary armament is a Multi-Laser or a Lascannon that is mounted just to the side of the cockpit. There are several known variants of the Valkyrie, used for different tasks.
Imperial Vehicles - Variants: Valkyrie Sky Talon - This variant of the Valkyrie is used to transport light vehicles intended as heavy support for drop-infantry, such as the Elysian Drop Troops.Vendetta - Unlike the Sky Talon variant of the Valkyrie, the Vendetta is heavily armed and is used as a tank hunter. The Vendetta will stay in the drop zone after unleashing its lethal human cargo to act as heavy air support for ground infantry.
Imperial Vehicles - Vulture: The Vulture is a gunship of the Imperial Navy that is capable of vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL). It is used as a heavy air support vehicle for Imperial Guard ground units and the Valkyrie transport. The Vulture is very similar in appearance to the Valkyrie, but pursues a drastically different role on the battlefield. The Vulture is capable of equipping a large variety of weapons and is able to engage both infantry and armoured units, and can effectively attack fortified enemy structures and bunkers.
Imperial Vehicles - Avenger: The Avenger is a strike aircraft of the Imperial Navy that is dedicated to ground attack missions on behalf of the regiments of the Imperial Guard. The Avenger is a dedicated strike fighter, intended to conduct high-speed, low-level attacks on ground targets, with armoured vehicle formations and high-value strategic assets such as munitions dumps forming its principal prey. The Avenger Strike Fighter boasts firepower that exceeds most other Imperial aircraft of its size, and its particular reputation as a tank-killer is due to the potent Avenger Bolt Cannon it carries. A rapid-firing Gatling Bolter weapon, the Avenger Bolt Cannon is known to be a highly effective tank-killer.
Imperial Vehicles - Spacecraft: The main purpose of the Imperial Navy is the command and control of all forms of Imperial combat spacecraft and capital warships. The Imperium's size alone means the Imperial Navy needs millions or even billions of void-capable spacecraft and starships of every shape and size. The known types and variants of the Imperial Navy's starships and strike craft are as follows:Apocalypse-class BattleshipOberon-class BattleshipFirestorm-class CruiserCobra-class DestroyerCastellan-class Shield ShipStalwart-class Escort ShipDominator-class CruiserGoliath-class Factory ShipGalaxy-class Troop TransportEmperor-class BattleshipRetribution-class BattleshipVengeance-class Grand CruiserExorcist-class Grand CruiserAvenger-class Grand CruiserMars-class BattlecruiserOverlord-class BattlecruiserArmageddon-class BattlecruiserLunar-class CruiserTyrant-class CruiserDominator-class CruiserGothic-class CruiserDictator-class CruiserDauntless-class Light CruiserDefiant-class Light CruiserEndeavour-class Light CruiserEndurance-class Light CruiserSword-class FrigateFirestorm-class FrigateFalchion-class DestroyerFury InterceptorStarhawk BomberShark Assault BoatFire ShipDefence Monitor
Imperial Vehicles - Inquisition Vehicles: The three major Ordos of the Inquisition have three Chambers Militant, including the Ordo Malleus' Grey Knights Space Marine Chapter, the Ordo Xenos' Deathwatch Space Marines, and the Ordo Hereticus, which is partnered with the Sisters of Battle, the Orders Militant of the Adepta Sororitas, though in fact any Inquisitor can requisition any member of the Imperial armed forces at any time (though such demands are phrased as requests to the Adeptus Astartes rather than orders).Many of the vehicles in use by Inquisition forces are simply modified versions of the vehicles used by the Imperial Guard and the Space Marines. Known vehicles of the Inquisition and the Chambers Militant include, but are not limited, to the following:
Imperial Vehicles - Chimera: While the Chimera is the standard armoured personnel carrier of the Imperial Guard, the Inquisition has their own specially outfitted Chimeras that are used by their Inquisitorial Storm Troopers and other units seconded to their purpose.
Imperial Vehicles - Land Raider: The Land Raider, the heavily-armoured super-heavy main battle tank and personnel transport of the Space Marines, can also be used by the forces of the Inquisition. These vehicles are used to carry large numbers of Inquisitorial Storm Troopers and Deathwatch or Grey Knights Space Marines into battle.
Imperial Vehicles - Penitent Engine: The Penitent Engine is a combat walker similar to a Dreadnought fielded by the Ordo Hereticus and Sisters of Battle. The machine itself is a large, semi-humanoid combat walker, with two long arms tipped in buzz saws. The pilot, a repentant zealot of the Imperial Cult or the Adepta Sororitas determined to become a martyr in the fires of battle for whatever real or imagined sins they may have committed, is strapped to the unarmoured front of the war engine. In addition to its cutting implements, the Penitent Engine is also armed with two Flamers attached to each arm. Penitent Engines are an awe-inspiring sight to any who walk into battle alongside it as they are potent reminders of the fate of Heretics. Many times Penitent Engines are used by the Ecclesiarchy as a form of punishment or reward for repentant sinners and criminals, though it is not strictly necessary for the individual in question to have actually committed any true sin against the God-Emperor or His Imperium before they are installed in the machine. The pilot is cybernetically, and painfully, hard-wired into the frame of the engine and is pumped full of drugs and stimulants that drives him or her into a frenzied state in combat. The Penitent is then pointed in the general direction of the enemy and unleashed, whereupon they charge out of control at the nearest enemy, ripping them open with the Penitent Engine's Dreadnought-sized close-combat weapons or incinerating them with its built-in Flamers until either the foe, or more likely, the Penitent, is dead.
Imperial Vehicles - Rhino: The Rhino, while best known as a Space Marine armoured personnel transport, can also be used to transport Inquisitors and their retinues on a battlefield. Entire squads of Inquisitorial Storm Troopers can also be transported in a Rhino if its improved armour is needed rather than the standard Chimera.
Imperial Vehicles - Sisters of Battle Vehicles: The Sisters of Battle, officially known as the Orders Militant of the Adepta Sororitas, serve as the Chamber Militant of the Inquisition's Ordo Hereticus, who are colloquially better known as the Imperium's Witch Hunters. The Sisters of Battle also serve as the armed forces of the Adeptus Ministorum. They share some of the same vehicles as the Space Marines as well as make use of several vehicles unique to their forces, such as the:
Imperial Vehicles - Rhino: While the Rhino Armoured Personnel Carrier (APC) is the standard transport of the Space Marines, it is also in wide use amongst the Orders Militant of the Adepta Sororitas. Rhinos are fielded as transports for most troops of the Sisters of Battle. These Rhinos are identical to the ones fielded by the Astartes, however, they are usually adorned with the various sigils and iconography preferred by the Sisters of Battle.
Imperial Vehicles - Exorcist: The Exorcist is a specialized mobile artillery platform utilised by the Sisters of Battle. The vehicle has a single weapon, the armour-piercing Exorcist Launcher. The Exorcist's main weapon can be shaped like an organ that fires its missiles skyward or as a normal Missile Launcher similar in appearance to the Space Marine Whirlwind vehicle. Exorcists are incapable of being manufactured in the 41st Millennium, and thus they are rare vehicles and are regarded as works of art, as much a symbol of the Emperor's divine justice as a provider of long-range fire support. As the STC data for the Exorcist has been lost by the Mechanicus, fewer and fewer Forge Worlds are capable of conducting repairs and maintaining the Exorcists that remain. As a result, those Exorcists still in service are rather unpredictable in operation.
Imperial Vehicles - Immolator: The Immolator is a specialised infantry assault transport vehicle used by the Sisters of Battle. It carries small squads of Battle-Sisters into the thick of combat. The Immolator is a simple variant of the Razorback armoured transport commonly used by the Space Marines. Like the Razorback, the Immolator uses the same body as the Rhino armoured personnel carrier and is equipped with a top-mounted weapons system. Like the Razorback, it has half the personnel transport capacity of a Rhino, due to the ammunition for the top weapon taking up cargo space within the hold. The Immolator can be armed with either Twin-linked Heavy Flamers, Twin-linked Multi-meltas, or Twin-linked Heavy Bolters.
Imperial Vehicles - Incarcerator: The Incarcerator is a specialised, non-combat vehicle occasionally used by the Inquisitors of the Ordo Hereticus and the Sisters of Battle. It is essentially a combination of a holding cell and execution chamber mounted on the chassis of a Rhino armoured transport.
Imperial Vehicles - Repressor: The Repressor is a specialised armoured assault transport used primarily by the Sisters of Battle when they need to enter a heavily crowded area. Armed with a Storm Bolter and a Pintle-mounted Heavy Flamer, the Repressor is used for crowd-suppression and general anti-infantry work. In addition, the expanded passenger compartment has six firing slots so that its passengers can fire out from the vehicle with their personal weaponry. The tank is primarily used in an anti-insurgency and mob-suppression role, and is also with outfitted with a front dozer blade for battering through gates and mobs of people.
Imperialis - Imperialis: The Imperialis symbol, a winged skull, dates back to the Horus Heresy when it was used by the Loyalist Space Marine Legions and the Imperial Army troopers in recognition of bravery and loss. Later, it became a badge of honour borne by Loyalist units during the Heresy. Now, in the late 41st Millennium, it is used more to symbolise the righteous victory of the Imperium of Man over its many enemies in general and is awarded to Space Marines as a badge of honour following a victorious battle. Rather than being presented as a medal it is often carved into the chest armour plate of a Space Marine's Power Armour, replacing the standard Aquila symbol, although it also appears on Space Marine weapons, banners and finials. The Imperialis, especially when incorporated into a suit of Power Armour's chest plate, is often made from precious metal or some other rare substance inlaid into the surface of the armour so that it stands out to a greater degree.The wings of the skull represent the wings of the Aquila, the double-headed eagle that is the official symbol of the Imperium, while the skull is a common motif in Imperial iconography which represents the sacrifice of the Emperor of Mankind for humanity's salvation. An ancient symbol with its origins in the Horus Heresy, the Imperialis was first used by the Loyalist Space Marine Legions as an army badge, denoting their continued devotion to the Emperor in the wake of their brethren's treachery. Since then, it has come to stand as a symbol of the loyalty a Space Marine has toward his Chapter and the Emperor, and is usually only worn by those that have sworn and completed numerous oaths of devotion to the Emperor to prove themselves. These Space Marines are favoured by their peers in matters of importance and trust. Chapter Masters also usually only recognise a Battle-Brother’s right to bear the Imperialis if they have overcome some form of temptation and had their loyalty tested, surviving the experience with their faith in the Emperor, the Imperium and their Chapter unbroken.As a result of the corruptive influence of Chaos or xenos to which even the Adeptus Astartes are not immune, Space Marines who have been awarded this honour are often selected by their Chapter to hunt down such foes, such as powerful Chaos Sorcerers or alien psykers. Even when the chance of subversion is negligible, many Space Marine commanders choose such Battle-Brothers for special missions, as they have complete faith that those who earned the Imperialis will always carry out their duty. Some of the more sinister of the Imperium's foes also recognise what bearing the symbol of the Imperialis means for a Space Marine, and it can mark a Battle-Brother for special treatment by xenos or the Forces of Chaos.
Imperialis Militia - Imperialis Militia: The Imperialis Militia served as an auxiliary military force to the much larger regular Imperial Army, known as the Excertus Imperialis in High Gothic, and was a part of the early Imperial military division known as the Imperialis Auxilia. It was comprised of normal men and women and was the direct ancestor of the Planetary Defence Forces of the 41st Millennium.The primary duties of the Imperialis Militia were to serve as a second-line reserve force and to secure and hold those worlds brought into Imperial Compliance as their garrisons, by acting in various capacities such as providing security for newly-installed Imperial officials or serving as the planet's local law enforcement officers and its standing military force. This freed up regular troops from those duties so they could serve on the battleline with the expeditionary fleets of the Great Crusade.The Imperialis Militia was the bulwark against recidivism and disorder on newly Compliant Imperial worlds. In times of emergency, local Imperialis Militia forces were often called up to bolster the front line forces, swell the numbers of a regular Imperial Army force or serve as part of a sector-wide force tasked with defending against a specific threat.
Imperialis Militia - Old One Hundred: Amongst the very first irregular forces raised by the Imperium, and considered the forerunners of the Imperialis Militia, were those of Old Earth who served alongside the Emperor and His Thunder Warrior regiments in the long Unification Wars of Terra, or in some cases contested them in battle.When these wars finally ended and the Great Crusade began, the surviving irregulars and militias were integrated into the newly constituted Imperial Army, forming the core of the Imperialis Auxilia, and in time they came to be known as the "Old One Hundred".These much-storied regiments, including the Geno Chiliads, the ConFed Gun Brotherhoods and the Thorosian Voltigeurs, gained numerous battle honours as the Great Crusade pressed ever outwards, and many of the Old One Hundred were in time granted settlement rights on worlds they had conquered, which would eventually produce a second generation of militia regiments from whose ranks the best would be conscripted into the Imperial Army to fight in the Emperor's ongoing wars.Some regiments however, such as the Lucifer Blacks and the Ouranti Draks, were, for a variety of reasons, judged in some way not deserving of such rights and were tasked with a ceaseless crusade across the stars.These itinerant armies strove to replace their losses by press-ganging from worlds they liberated in an ad hoc manner, transforming over time often into a pale shadow of their former strength.Others, whose service was ultimately indentured rather than given freely, were denied even this mode of recruitment. Such regiments effectively died a slow death of a thousand cuts on a hundred battlefields, and by the time of the Horus Heresy were no more than legends.
Imperialis Militia - Great Crusade: During the time of the Great Crusade, across the entire Imperium, it fell to the Imperialis Militia to secure and to hold those worlds brought to Compliance by the expeditionary fleets of the Great Crusade.Part of the vast, sprawling body of the Imperium's regular military and its support structure, known collectively as the Excertus Imperialis, they formed what was in effect the lowest and most common run of the wider Imperial Army, or the Imperialis Auxilia as it was more precisely known.Once a world was declared Compliant and under the full control of an appointed and independent Imperial Commander, part of that commander's principal duty was the raising of an Imperialis Militia to protect their domain and sustain their control.It was the duty of this militia to act in no small part as the enforcers of the Imperial Truth if needed, and its protectors should the Iterators and cadres of administrators of all stripes who were left behind to oversee the long transition to full concordance with the Imperium become threatened or meet resistance.When the Great Crusade hosts departed, such worlds stood alone once more. Should rebellion ignite, the world's own militia was to crush it. Should xenos raiders or outcasts attack from without, the world's own militia was to hold until help arrived.The Imperialis Militia were therefore the first, and in many cases, the only bulwark against recidivism and disorder, and its forces, whether they were raised as conscripts from a hive city's teeming masses, the yeomancy of a feudal order or tribal levies, stood guard as watchmen against the return of the disorder of the Age of Strife.Since the earliest days of the Great Crusade, it was common for the local forces of conquered or Compliant worlds to also provide forces to strengthen the crusade armies themselves as they progressed. These provided auxiliary or support troops to the Legiones Astartes raised from the Sol System.Other than their disconnection from the world which gave them birth, there was in effect very little to distinguish these Imperialis Auxilia units from the better armed or more culturally warlike divisions of the militias.The distinctions between the two often blurred, particularly in times of emergency when local Imperialis Militias were called up to bolster front lines, swell an invasion army or form a sector-wide defence force against a specific threat.Such was the case at the muster at Calth where numerous Imperialis Militia regiments from the Five Hundred Worlds of Ultramar served as the core reserve for the huge army being raised to attack the Orks at Ghaslakh.Additional regiments of the same type were also in attendance in the retinue of the Word Bearers, but these concealed their degeneration into what amounted to little more than armed Warp Cults, subordinate to their Legion's occult designs.
Imperialis Militia - Standard Issued Weaponry: Such was the vast diversity in origin and supply of the Imperialis Militia that no attempt to fully standardise their weapons and wargear had ever been attempted before the Horus Heresy, nor was it entirely warranted. Instead the Officio Militaris, the organisation which was the forerunner of the Departmento Munitorum and was given the unenviable task of overseeing the unknown billions of armed men and women flung across the Imperium, instead required only that certain minimum standards of muster and weaponry were met.The metric for such personal arms was the Mars-Tellurian Pattern Mark II-III Lascarbine -- having a registered mortality rate of 70% when striking an unarmoured Human in the central body mass with a single strength discharge in optimum firing conditions, and mounting a rechargeable liquid metal core magazine able to fire eighty discharges before reloading was needed.Such weapons had been mass-produced in the tens of millions by centralised Forge Worlds, but even this was but a drop in the ocean to the logistical demands of the Imperialis Militia, particularly as such Forge Worlds had calls upon their attention of far greater importance by forces ranging from the Imperialis Armada to the Space Marine Legions.Aside from certain elite formations and the bodyguard regiments of wealthy Imperial nobles and high-ranking generals -- who had access to a higher standard of weaponry up to and including bolter types in some cases to meet this shortfall -- it had long been the practice for militia weapons to be largely locally supplied where possible.Many worlds with advanced manufacturing capacity did manage to meet or even exceed the expected metric, either with las weaponry of their own or with a variety of high-velocity, chemically propelled-slug Autoguns functionally identical in firepower if not durability and capacity.A great many however, were forced to make do with more primitive arms, be they low-powered charge lasers, "numo" flechette guns, hand-actuated stub rifles, and in the most extreme cases of ferals and regressives inducted into the armies of the Imperium, even black powder and crossbow weapons were not unknown.These weapons were gathered under the broad designation of "Auxilia Arms", and while still lethal, especially in skilled hands, they were found time and again wanting in power to combat the frontline enemies of the Great Crusade, being far from effective against Ork xenoforms, and against rarer though infinitely more dangerous creatures such as the nightmarish Khrave, they were effectively useless.With the advent of the brutal civil war of the Heresy, what had proved true against the most dangerous alien life was to prove cruelly also true against the transhuman Legiones Astartes, both Traitor and Loyalist alike.In such battles, Human militia, cult troops and local levies found themselves woefully under-armed to fight Space Marines which, after all, was perhaps also intended, given the role of the Legiones Astartes as destroyers of rebellion as well as conquerors of the stars.
Imperium Nihilus - Imperium Nihilus: The Imperium Nihilus (pronounced NAI-hill-us), also known as the Dark Imperium in Low Gothic, was the name given to the half of the Imperium of Man isolated from Terra after the formation of the Great Rift, the so-called Cicatrix Maledictum, during the climax of the 13th Black Crusade in 999.M41.The Imperium Nihilus encompasses most of the Segmentum Obscurus and Segmentum Ultima in the northern and eastern reaches of the galaxy, and was a defining feature of the astrography of the Milky Way Galaxy during the period known as the Era Indomitus.The Dark Imperium was well-named, for beyond the Great Rift, the light of the Astronomican was obscured to the sight of Navigators and the Immaterium was roiled by the waxing might of the Ruinous Powers, making faster-than-light travel and astropathic communication extremely difficult, if not impossible.The other half of Imperial space, where the light of the Astronomican was restored relatively soon after the end of the Noctis Aeterna, and was stabilised by the efforts of the first phase of Roboute Guilliman's Indomitus Crusade, was known as the Imperium Sanctus.
Imperium Nihilus - Notable Sectors of the Imperium Nihilus: Gothic SectorAskellon SectorCalixis SectorFinial SectorIxaniad SectorKoronus ExpanseScarus SectorScreaming Vortex
Imperium Nihilus - Notable Worlds of the Imperium Nihilus: AgripinaaAlaric PrimeAttilaBaalBelis CoronaCypra MundiDimmamarKar DuniashMordianPiscinaValhallaVigilus
Imperium Nihilus - Also See: 13th Black CrusadeGreat RiftUltramar CampaignTerran CrusadeRoboute GuillimanIndomitus Crusade
Imperium of Man - History: The road the Human species has walked through history stretches long and bloody at their collective heels. Its origins are hidden by the swirling dust of aeons, its present wreathed in the flames of war and ahead the future yawns like a dark and forbidding pit.Still, Imperial historitors do what they can to preserve the truth of Humanity's journey, even if none may survive to read it.Beneath the Imperial Palace complex on Terra lie thousands of kilometres of catacombs, hushed vaults and scroll-stuffed libraries. They are protected by rune-sealed bulkheads so formidable they could endure sustained orbital bombardment.Their guardians are shadowy terrors, unsleeping, ever vigilant. So vast is their sprawl that predatory things have evolved amidst the shadows and the dust, ruling over trammelled ecosystems of pallid troglodyte vermin.The knowledge kept here under lock and key spans the great ages of Humanity. Even this ultimate repository is mouldering and much eroded by entropy's inescapable touch, yet just those fragmented records that remain would take many lifetimes to study, and contain secrets enough to blast the reader's sanity or bring the entire Imperium crashing down.It is well, perhaps, that few even know of the endless archives' existence. Fewer still are permitted beyond their doors.The Imperium of Man was founded by the Emperor of Mankind, also called "The God-Emperor" and the "Master of Mankind", at the end of the Age of Strife, in the 30th Millennium AD. The Emperor, an immortal being born around the year 8,000 BC in central Anatolia on Old Earth, was the collective reincarnation of all the Human shamans who possessed true psychic abilities during the Paleolithic and Neolithic Ages.Imbued with their combined psychic, physical and intellectual power, the Emperor was born an immortal being, a Perpetual, of unparalleled physical strength, psychic ability, charisma and intellect. The Emperor helped Humanity as a whole survive and prosper through the long millennia.In various eras of Human history He intervened through various personas, some of them well-known historical personages, to guide Mankind, though such interventions were always brief and shrouded in legend and historical mystery.At the end of the Age of Strife in the 29th Millennium, the man who would become the Emperor finally took a direct, public, and permanent role in shaping the future of Humanity, believing that the damage done to the Human species by 5,000 years of terror, isolation and violence could not be reversed unless He openly guided Humanity as its leader.As such, He shed all His prior identities and simply revealed Himself in the late 29th Millennium on Terra as the "the Emperor," determined to unite the entire species under His stern but benevolent rule. He intended to replace superstition, fear, poverty and intolerance with reason, science, progress and hope.
Imperium of Man - Age of Terra, M1-M15: No record now remains of Humanity's first, faltering steps into the interstellar void during the period remembered as the Age of Terra. Yet step they did, their confidence and skill increasing until steps became strides, became bounding leaps through space.Ancient Earth became the shining hub of a powerful interstellar Human realm with Mars, the first world terraformed by Humanity, standing proud as a bastion of technological innovation and scientific learning.Humanity's first encounters with alien races are not directly detailed, though fragments suggest that accords were struck with some, while wars were fought against others, most notably the ever-belligerent Orks.Little more can be said of this long-lost age of adventure and hope. Glimpses and echoes are all that survive.
Imperium of Man - Horus Heresy, M31: The Horus Heresy was fought across the galaxy for more than nine Terran years, beginning in ca. 005.M31 with the terrible Istvaan III Atrocity where Horus cleansed four of the Traitor Legions under his command of their remaining Loyalist elements and the Drop Site Massacre of Istvaan V, where Horus and his Traitor Legions nearly decimated three entire Loyalist Space Marine Legions through the most base of treacheries.Horus sought to achieve a swift and decisive victory over the Emperor after pledging his soul to the service of the Ruinous Powers of the Warp, leading his Traitor forces directly to Terra seven standard years after the battles in the Isstvan System, slaughtering tens of billions of people and destroying much of what the Emperor had built over the last two centuries.In a final decisive battle between the Emperor and Horus at the end of the great Siege of Terra in 014.M31, the Warmaster was slain, leading to the end of the rebellion when the forces of Chaos naturally began to turn on one another without Horus' ambition, titanic charisma and influence to keep them united in pursuit of a single goal.Over the next several years, the Traitor Legions and their Chaos allies slowly withdrew from Human space, eventually fleeing Imperial pursuit into the great Warp rift in the Segmentum Obscurus known as the Eye of Terror.However, the Master of Mankind was Himself mortally wounded during the battle, which took place on Horus' Chaos-twisted Battle Barge, the Vengeful Spirit, in orbit above Terra. The Emperor's body was recovered by the Primarch Rogal Dorn of the Imperial Fists Legion and according to His last instructions, the Emperor was placed on the life-preserving Golden Throne, an arcane artefact dating from the Dark Age of Technology that served as both a psychic amplifier and a potent cybernetic life-support system that the Emperor had originally intended to use to create his portal into the Webway.For over 10,000 Terran years now, the Emperor has remained immobile on the Golden Throne. Though physically a broken, dying carcass incapable of movement and unable to communicate normally with the outside world save through the rare telepathic contact and the Emperor's Tarot, the Emperor's psychic will, almost omnipotent, extends through the Immaterium across the million worlds of the Imperium.It produces the psychic beacon of the Astronomican that is used by all Imperial starships to travel through the Warp, soul-binds weaker psychic Humans to make them useful Sanctioned Psykers of the Imperium while leeching the lives from 1,000 other psykers every solar day to sustain His psychic presence, and struggles against the encroaching Daemons of the Warp, protecting Mankind from their realspace predations.In all this, the Emperor endures the constant agony of His dying body only through a sheer exercise of will, and the sustenance that the life forces of the sacrificed psykers provide. Yet the masses of Humanity worship the Emperor as both a god and their only saviour. It is an article of faith in the Imperial Cult that against all the threats faced by the Human species, only the Emperor protects...