Ork armies have a number of characteristics to interest players. Individual Orks are exceptionally cheap in terms of points and come in squads of up to 30, and this allows players to build a large horde of models which can outnumber a more elite opponent several times over. Orks are relatively tough, and gain a high number of attacks in close-combat. The basic playstyle promotes a swarming rush across the battlefield, in order for the Ork player to reach assault range as quickly as possible.

Ork armies are also very customizable, both in terms of modelling and army strategies. The huge variety of units available to an Ork player allows them to develop almost any style of play imaginable, from a shooty horde to a hyper-elite close combat specialist force to a mechanised army mounted in a variety of ramshackle vehicles. Orks are easily converted, with a large number of kits having a wealth of interchangeable plastic parts. On top of this, their general appearance is crude, and many of their vehicles are constructed of little more than scrap, allowing an endless variety of parts to be incorporated into the range.

Considering this, the Orks are far less conventional than most of the other forces available in the Warhammer 40,000 universe. The unique (and often humorous) nature of the Orks contrasts sharply with the dark or tragic tone of other armies. Orks are defined by their cheerful, hearty approach to exceptional brutality, and as such may appeal to players who prefer a lighter edge on Warhammer 40,000's endless 'grim darkness.'

A commonly-cited Ork quote states that "Orkses never lose a battle. If we win we win, if we die we die fightin so it don't count. If we runs for it we don't die neither, cos we can come back for annuver go, see!".[1] Many Ork players take this to heart, and this relaxed approach to the game can translate into a more enjoyable experience for both players.

[edit] Development
Orks first appeared in the Rogue Trader rulebook and the Space Orks boxed set, containing eighteen metal models. These Orks were squat, powerfully muscled humanoids, wielding crude ballistic weaponry (usually blackpowder or other explosive projectile-based equivalent) and large "stikkbombz" or stick grenades. They also wore helmets and other paraphernalia, and the model range was reminiscent of German equipment from World War I.

Additional rules, cultural details, and painting guidelines were given in the later expansions Waaagh! Da Orks, 'Ere We Go! and Freebooterz (the first being a fluff-only background volume with some painting guide hints, the second and third providing detailed army lists for each major orkish klan as well for a host of colorful and bizarre collection of mercenary orkish units, from ork space pirates to renegade chaos worshippers, from motor-addicted speed freaks to ork-genestealer hybrids). An explanation for the combination of brutal stupidity with relatively high technology was now found: Orks had been created, in times long past, as a warrior race by the long-vanished Brain Boyz.

Orks are genetically engineered to be muscular, aggressive, and none too bright; their technology is maintained by Mekboyz who have are genetically predisposed to working with machinery. Mekboyz require very little (if any) training in their function, since they understand mechanical principles at an instinctive level. This understanding was encoded into their genes by the mysterious Brain Boyz. Mekboyz are part of a larger Orkish subtype known as Oddboyz. Other Oddboy types included Painboyz Runtherdz Weirdboyz (respectively, Orkish doctors, slave trainers and traders and psychic shamans).

[edit] Current Edition
The current Codex: Orks was released at the tail-end of 4th Edition, on the 12th of January 2008.[2]. Despite the release date, most players view the Codex (alongside Codex: Chaos Daemons) as having been written with 5th Edition in mind. The Codex was accompanied by the release of a number of new models for the Ork range, including redesigned Trukks and Warbikes. The Codex also added units and equipment to the Ork army, many of which had been featured in the 2nd edition and removed for the 3rd. This includes the Shokk Attack Gun and the Weirdboy.

Modern Orks are still green-skinned, but they are much taller and more ape-like than the squat Orks of Rogue Trader. They have also lost much of the Prussian imagery, and the more recent models wear a variety of leather and crude armour plates. The basic armament of an Ork is either a slugga (a large pistol) and a choppa, or a shoota (a large, loud automatic weapon).

A second wave of Ork models was released in January 2009. This include plastic Ork Nobz, Gretchin, Stormboyz and the Battlewagon; as well as metal special character figures for Kaptin Badrukk, Boss Snikrot, and Boss Zagstruk.

[edit] Physiology
Orks are green-skinned, a side effect of their blending on a genetic level with fungi (explained in more detail below). Orks are genetically engineered for combat, and quite efficiently so. They are extremely strong, and their squat bodies can withstand immense punishment. This is fortunate since the Painboyz operate on a generally nineteenth-century level of "surjikul" knowledge; unlike humans, though, Orks are quite capable of having limbs (or even heads) freely chopped and swapped onto a different body, and surviving the experience to fight again.

They eat fungi of all kinds as well as meat. A particularly favoured ingredient in their diet are Squigs, short for 'Squiggly beasts' - a variety of symbiotic races about the size of a cat but only possessing a set of lower legs or no legs at all. In earlier editions, Squigs were said to be a form of Tyranid with Ork genes. These include the "Eatin' Squig", a limbless blob which feeds on fungus, the "Growler Squig", a legged variety used as a sheepdog for Gretchin (in third and fourth editions referred to as a "Squighound" and available as an item of wargear), the "Attack Squig" a powerfully voracious little beast available as an item of wargear, and the "Face-eater Squig", a ferociously toothed variety used both as a weapon and for entries in face-eating contests. (The Ork and the Squig both open their mouths and bite, in a parody of a kiss. If the Ork eats the Squig, he wins. If he keels over backwards, he loses.) There is also a larger sub-species of Squig, called a Squiggoth, that ranges in size from about that of an elephant to a 60-plus-foot monstrosity capable of stomping buildings into rubble. Squiggoths are used as pack animals and in combat as the carriers of mobile fortresses. Another species of Squig is the "Hair-Squig" which the Orks do not eat, but wear on their heads as a form of decoration, as Orks are naturally hairless. Orks are known for pitying Humans (humies) for their lack of proper Hair squigs of varying colors.

Orks grow all through their lives, though the average Ork stands around the same height as the average man. The Ork would be far taller if he were only to stand up straight. In their normal walking and standing pose Orks hide about a foot in height; when standing normally in their pose they look similar to a gorilla. Orks growth rates can vary, however. The effect is notable in extremely aggressive Orks. As the Ork survives combat and wins trophies, the respect of other Orks will produce in him an effect somewhat similar to adolescence in the human male: he puts on muscle, becomes more aggressive and assertive, and generally throws his weight around. If he wins the ensuing challenges to single combat, he may become a Nob (short for "noble," but pronounced "knob"), a leader of Orks, noticeably larger, tougher, and of a darker green than the average. Once he begins to grow, an Ork will generally keep getting bigger, stronger, and greener until he is beaten by a bigger or more cunning Ork. Warbosses and Warlords, the rulers of continents and empires, are very large Orks indeed, often standing over three meters (10') tall or higher. Ghazghkull himself is a towering 6 meters (19'6") in height.

Assuming they aren't killed in combat, a buggy accident or by a rival, an Ork will live indefinitely. Orks seem to live longer the more powerful they are, such as with Ghazghkull possibly being hundreds of years old. It seems Ork warbosses live a similarly long time unless a rival or enemy does them in first. The process causing this is unknown, but most likely another legacy of the Old Ones' genetic manipulation, designed to create a more permanent leadership base for the Orks.

Orks' brutish behavior and choice to always use a direct approach in combat stems from their lack of a fear of death.

[edit] The Waaagh!
Ork behavior is dominated by the Waaagh!, a gestalt psychic field they generate that affects the Ork psyche, as it allows Orks to instinctively recognize who is 'bigga' and therefore in charge. All Orks generate this field, and it grows stronger as the Orks enjoy themselves, generally while fighting. The Waaagh! helps give momentum (and the name) to the Orks' planet-crushing Waaagh!s. These Waaagh!s are a cross between a mass migration, holy war, looting party and pub crawl, with a bit of genocide thrown in for good measure. Millions of Orks will gather together, drawn to the power of a single dominant Ork called a Warboss, who is larger and more intelligent than the Orks around him. Then the Orks will set off to find an enemy to fight - any enemy. Ork Waaagh!s will sweep whole planetary systems away and destroy armies and fleets in tides of bloodlust and carnage, and only once the Orks have killed every available enemy will they start to fight amongst themselves again. In some cases, Warlords eventually forge their Waaagh! into an empire, although very different to the Imperium. The most famous is Charadon, which has been ruled for centuries by successive emperors called 'Arch Arsonist,' while the Octarius empire is run by the Overfiend ("Overfiend" being a title used as a nickname for Andy Chambers, a former high-level Games Workshop Games Developer). Apparently no non-Ork can accurately produce this battle-cry as it has be described that humans can not shout 'WAAAGH!' with anywere near enough volume or phelgm to recreate it.

The Waaagh! is also used to refer to an Ork Warboss' army.

[edit] Biology
Orks consist of two symbiotic organisms: one comparable to a terrestrial animal and the other to an alga or fungus living in the first's bloodstream. The animal cells carry the genetic information of only the individual's subspecies, but the alga has genetic information for all the varieties of Orkoid, as well as the different Oddboyz. The alga also helps heal wounds quickly. If an Ork loses an arm, and has it stitched back on, the wound will be healed enough to go smash some heads within a day. Ork biology lends itself well to combat; they are extraordinarily strong and tough and are naturally good fighters, always looking for a scrap.

[edit] Origin
Orks draw their heritage and unique biology from genetic modification by a now extinct master race, referred to in Ork legends as "Brain Boyz".

In the first edition of the game, Brain Boyz were the ancestors to the Snotlings. The Brain Boyz soared to intelligence upon eating a particular species of mushroom and spread across the galaxy with the help of their less intelligent Ork slaves, but whose empire fell apart when the Orks consumed all traces of the mushroom which only grew on their home planet. Before the Brain Boyz regressed into the permanently juvenile Snotlings, they genetically engineered the Orks' DNA to include a 'techno gene'. This gene developed in Orks as they grew, influencing their minds and releasing encoded knowledge; in a similar way that a human baby will reflexively hold its breath under water or a horse can walk half an hour after being born, an Ork's techno gene gave it information on how to fight, operate weapons, and speak his language. Ork specialists, such as Mekboyz and Painboyz, are the mechanics and surgeons of Ork society, and receive their knowledge through these techno genes. It seems this was a deliberate measure to ensure that the Orkoid race would survive in a hostile universe.

After the release of Gorkamorka and the revision to the Ork reproductive system presented therein, the Orks' heritage was revised to match the prominent role of the Old Ones in the game background of later 40k releases. The current story is that Brain Boyz were servants of the Old Ones, and the Orks are the descendants of the green-skinned Krork, created as a survivor race by the Old Ones in their wars against the Necrontyr. However, when the war was over it didn't take long for the krork to rebel. To ensure their masters' creations would not be wiped out they encoded the various techno genes into them and thus as a short time went by they regressed into snotlings and their legacy as well as the old ones was wiped from history.

[edit] Reproduction
In previous editions of 40k, Orks reproduced when they got old; wandering into the wilderness to die, with new Orks budding off the corpse. Later, this was retconned so that the old Orks would gestate a litter of Orks in a marsupial-like pouch, raising the young orks in orky kulture. In 'Gorkamorka', this was retconned again into the current version, which follows:

"Orks have not only survived, they have prospered and are more numerous than humanity. This at least is due in part to how they reproduce. Orks reproduce through the release of spores, which grow into a plant-like womb underground that nourishes the bodies of the various Orkoid species. This is the entire basis of the Orkoid ecosystem, producing first Squigs, then Snotlings who cultivate the Squigs and fungus, then Gretchin to build the settlements, and finally the Orks themselves. This means the Orks, where ever they go, will have an abundance of food, slaves and other resources, a moving ecosystem that supports them as they go on their Waaaghs!"

This also makes it extremely difficult to rid a planet of Orks, even if the initial invasion is defeated. Orks release spores throughout their lives, but they mass-release them at the moment of death; to prevent this you must burn the bodies shortly after killing them (within, as said in the Fifteen Hours novel, around seven hours, as the battle took around five hours, and Bulaven mentioned they would start walking around again in two hours) and then burn their bodies and heads. Without a nearby population of Orks, the fungus will eventually start the Ork life cycle anew. Decades after weathering an Ork Waaagh!, settlements on a planet can find themselves faced with an unexpected attack from feral Ork tribes coming out of the wilderness.

[edit] Orkoid subspecies
Gretchin are the Orks' slaves. Small, grasping, green creatures with the overall demeanor of a whipped dog, gretchin are at the wrong end of everything, including the food chain. Gretchin are used to clear minefields, distract the enemy in combat, assist Oddboyz, are often used as meat shields and act as a living carpet for larger Orks to cross difficult ground. A rule for this (Gretchin providing cover for Ork units) existed until the most recent Codex (In the 5th edition rules, Gretchin still provide cover, but the ability is not unique to them as all units provide cover for those behind them). In fact, it has been joked by some hobbyists that if Gretchin do anything correctly, they will either be injured, or die. They are overall similar to the Warhammer Fantasy goblins. Snotlings are weaker still and form the bottom rung of Ork society. They originally were used in swarms like in Warhammer Fantasy and could even be fired out of a shokk attack gun. In the current version they are no longer available in actual combat but are again used in the shokk attack gun, though they are not represented by models.

More unusual are the squigs. Squigs are animals that share the same general algae-based biology of the Orks and gretchin, and are used as food, clothing, weapons and even hair, being trained as guard squigs and attack squigs, as well as super-massive squiggoths.

In the first and second editions of the game, squigs were the result of Tyranid manipulation of Orkish gene-matter and could be present in either army. Orks were said to have discovered the first squigs aboard a Tyranid bio-ship and recognized them as being "Orky", subsequently taking the little creatures home. Squigs then spread throughout Ork space. However, since this conflicts with the more recent descriptions of the Orkoid ecosystem, this has been dropped. Squigs are now exclusively orky, with ripper swarms replacing them in the Tyranid list.

[edit] Oddboyz
Although a standard Ork's genetically encoded knowledge allows him to survive at a basic level, keep his weapons in working order and fight in battle, there is always a need for specialists who can do things most can't. Some Orks possess knowledge of very specific and often extremely complicated things far beyond a regular Ork's mental capacity. These Orks are known as Oddboyz. These innate talents are believed to have been purposely written into the genetic code of the Orks by the Brain boyz to ensure that the race could not only survive without their masters but also flourish and expand across the galaxy. Although there are probably countless different Oddboyz to fill all the necessary roles in Ork society only a handful are fully recognized and respected by Orks, probably due to their crucial roles in Ork warfare as well as lifestyle.

Mad Doks (also known as 'Painboyz') are responsible for fixing injuries that even the Ork physiology can't repair, such as severed limbs and brain damage. An Ork will only go to the Dok when he has no other choice, as these Oddboyz are infamous for trying out experimental procedures on patients while they are under anesthesia (known as "concussion" to other races). Doks are responsible for attaching bioniks, although sometimes they aren't paying attention and replace the wrong part of the patient's body. (For example, Dok Blag's Mk I Exploding Leg.) High-ranking Doks are known as 'painbosses' and are known to be accompanied by cybork bodyguards.

Yellerz are Orks which have been naturally gifted with an incredibly loud voice. These Orks' usefulness is nowhere near as important as the majority of the other Oddboyz and they make appearances on top of the new gargants/stompas in the 40K tabletop game. They do appear in the specialist game Epic where they sit on top of Ork titans, known as gargants/stompas. These are huge lumbering constructions built in the image of the Ork gods by Mekboyz. Using an amplifier to further increase their voices' volume, they shout communications to other Orks and Gargants and in return they themselves receive communications and orders from other Yellerz. Off the battlefield Yellerz also act as priests in Ork society, preaching to their brethren with their supernatural voices.

Mekboyz (also known as 'Mekaniaks' or just 'Meks') are Ork engineers, who build all the gunz, vehicles, and other machines used by Orks. They are especially important to Speed Freeks. Important meks are known as 'Big Meks'. Their main cause of death would be officially listed as 'eksperiment (sic) gone wrong' if Orks bothered with all that sort of thing. In the current edition of Codex: Orks, Mekboyz can lead mobs of "Burna Boyz" or "Lootas" as well as repair vehicles using their equipment "Mekboy's tools." In the 5th edition main rules, Big Meks can also be used to lead an Ork army.

Pigdoks are an odd combination of Dok and Mek, although not as skilled as either individually. They are found in feral Ork tribes, tending the boars that are ridden to battle by the primitives. Their main use in battle is to provide 'doping' to increase the ferocity of the various beasts that feral Orks take to war, as well as some of the Orks themselves. Skilled pigdoks have been known to "swap" the hind legs with a single track/wheel and a big loud engine.

Slavers (also known as 'Runtherdz') are the Orks who have the patience to take care of gretchin, squigs and any other slaves or creatures the Orks may have captured. Their trademark weapons are the whip and grabba stikk.

Weirdboyz are Ork psykers. One major difference between them and the psykers of other races is that, instead of drawing upon the power of The Warp, a dangerous realm full of daemons, wyrdboyz draw on the power of the Waaagh! When drawing on the power of the Waaagh! Ork wyrdboyz are not in any less danger: if they soak up too much of this power, their heads explode. This is much like a catastrophic mistake for a Warhammer Fantasy greenskin shaman. In addition to the wyrdboy'z head exploding, the powerful psychic backlash that is unleashed can cause other Orks' heads to explode as well. Naturally, wyrdboyz avoid combat as much as possible, but the ability to gout green flame capable of melting armor and shoot bolts of lightning is too great for most warbosses to resist, and they get dragged into combat anyway. Some wyrdboyz actually become addicted to battle as most other Orks and seek out battles; these exceptionally dangerous individuals are known as Warpheads. Wyrdboys have made a comeback in the revised 4th edition Ork codex.

Smartboyz were first seen in the graphic novel Deff Skwadron, which featured the name Smartboyz several times, most often for the character Gimzod, a co-pilot. Judging by Gimzod's role, Smartboyz seems to be the name for normal fighter type Orks who are oddly intelligent, and who often find themselves used to help bigger Bosses on their missions in several things that the Boss might forget, like reminding them of their actual mission. Gimzod in particular was able to spell many words with an "h" in them, and often had a clear overview on the current situation. It is unclear where exactly a Smartboy stands in the Ork hierarchy. However, Gimzod's Boss once said: "There's a difference between bein' smartboy an' bein' a smart git.", indicating that Gimzod is only useful to him as long as he knows his place. It is also possible that Smartboyz are only tolerated in the Blood Axe clan and would be killed in other Clans because of being too "un-Orky" ('ez too tellagit!).

Stormboyz are those young orks who, tired of being told they can do whatever they want, whenever they want, separate themselves from Ork society and join Stormboy squadrons where they are taught the merits of rank, file, and bodily hygiene. They are viewed as strange, a little crazy, and generally "un-orky". However, their battlefield use is undeniable by any warboss, flying into battle with ramshackle jet packs in order to get to the enemy first. Unfortunately for the Stormboys, the Meks generally find it hilarious when a jet pack malfunctions, sending the Stormboy off in the wrong direction, and have been known to purposely sabotage their own creations.

Other oddboyz include Sumboyz (bankers/accountants), Minderz (Bodyguards for Weirdboyz), Flyboyz (Pilots of aircraft and some spacecraft), Diggerz (Miners and tunnelers), and Brewboyz (alcohol manufacturers), all of whom have an important role in ork society (although not necessarily on the battlefield).

Kommandos These are the kunnin of the kunnin, and Mork personified... err "orkified". Kommandos are looked down upon by most of the orkish society, believing that "all dat sneaky round stuff just aint what da orks do". But no warboss in his right mind would refuse their services. Kommandos are orks that put on camouflage and hide around in cover, using stealth, espionage, guerrilla warfare, and other methods of stealth combat to kill their foes. Most famous of all Kommandos is Boss Snikrot, who after being left on Armageddon after the 2nd invasion, hid in the jungle with other orks, and started sneaking around and ambushing Imperial forces in the forests.

Tankbustas One thing an ork loves is watching something explode. Something an ork loves even more is watching something bigger than he is, and that belongs to an enemy, blow up -- especially if they had a hand in it. Orks obsessed with destroying vehicles become tankbustas. They are so obsessed with destroying vehicles that they will run past and ignore enemy infantry without regard for themselves just to get the glory of destroying a vehicle. They may attach a number of tankbusta bombs to a squig and send it off running toward the nearest enemy tank. Sometimes this doesn't work too well for the orks, and the squig runs straight for the nearest ork vehicle.

There are also many other oddboy varieties whose role in Ork society is either barely noticed or of no use in most battles, and are therefore never given much attention. Their talents are essential to Orks all the same, though, and some dedicated players have been known to invent them to add more character to their Ork armies and Ork background in general. Kaptins are warbosses who create and lead the mobs known as Freebooterz. These orks resemble pirates from the age of sail and act as such: raiding and pillaging to fulfill their need for violence. They also hire themselves out to alien races or even other orks. Though they are considered to be 'un-orky,' their lifestyle does result in them being better-armed and combat experienced then most other orks. Some of the famous ones are Kaptin Badrukk of the Flash Gitz and Kaptin Zagstruk of Da Vulchas.

In the 1st edition of Warhammer 40,000 an Ork Navigator made an appearance. This is the only mention of such a character and no explanation has since been offered for how the Orks navigate through Warp-space. It should be noted that this character was a psyker and, as the term "Weirdboy" was not yet in use back then, it is possible that Weirdboyz now fulfill this function in the current background.

[edit] Society
Orks gather into various levels of organization. The first is the mob, a squad-level unit of Orks with similar ideas of how to act on the battlefield, generally led by a Nob (a person - Ork, in this case - of wealth or social importance. It is short for "noble," but is pronounced "knob"). A number of mobs will gather together into a warband, which is roughly equivalent to an Imperial Guard company (although with a greater variation in size), led by a warboss. The largest organizational unit is the tribe, a group of numerous warbands all under the command of a warboss. Different tribes can be united by a powerful warlord when he raises a Waaagh!.

[edit] Language
The Orks speak the same language that most humans do, although due to possessing tusks they can't pronounce words in the same way. For example, they seem unable to voice some letters, such as the letter "h", or "er". Therefore, they pronounce words such as "hunter" as "'Unta", "head" as "'Ead". (note: while this is usually the case, it is not always so. In the Ork Codex 2007, there is listed a famous Ork: "The Mighty Mangler". It seems honorifics, notably those of the Orcs of Warhammer Fantasy, are not limited in orkish speech) Shooter becomes shoota, and so forth. Their speech seems largely based on a Cockney or Estuary English accent, although it is important to note that English is only used to represent the Imperial language so we can understand it; humans actually speak Low Gothic and High Gothic which are descended from today's languages but almost certainly unintelligible to us. In Dawn of War: Dark Crusade the Orks may shout Up yours! or Sod off! when you give them an order. In the game's 2nd edition (and repeated with additions and modifications in the game Gorkamorka), the orks have a runic/glyphic language, with simple symbols used to carry the meaning of certain words (generally battlefield/mechanical concepts) with glyphs capable of spelling words without a specific symbol. While this has not been carried into the 3rd edition codex, your average ork warband will still be covered in these glyphs, often painted in clan colours. According Inquisitor Amberly Vail, the Orkish lanuage is easy for a human to speak, but unpleasent because it contains a large amount of punching and head-butts.

Orks seem incapable of making the "th" sound with tongue and tooth, therefore they simply spit out an "f" sound, producing words like "teef", "fings", and "fink" as opposed to "teeth", "things", and "think".

In addition, they do not pluralise in the same fashion as humans, preferring the harsh buzzing of 'z' to the soft hissing of 's.' So, the term for multiple Orks armed with sluggas and choppas is Slugga Boyz, and so on for Mekboyz, Grotz, Mad Dokz, etc.

When (and if) an ork spells something in glyphic, it should be done "Fohnetikalee" (phonetically).

[edit] Religion
Orks believe in two gods - Gork and Mork - of which Gork is "Brutal but kunnin'" (the god of cunning brutality), this means he hits you REALLY hard when you're looking at him, and Mork is "Kunnin' but brutal" (the god of brutal cunning), this means he hits you when you're not looking at him. There is a different mythology sometimes portrayed in which Gork and Mork are the gods of Defense and Attack. Orks can't agree which god plays which role, and debates about this topic often erupt into fighting (Although generally Gork is considered the more brutal by players, and Mork the more cunning, possibly due to their roles in gorkamorka, in which a Gorker was better at fighting, and a Morker better at driving). The priesthood of these gods has no in-game representation, although the infamous Goff Warlord Ghazghkull Mag Uruk Thraka claims to be receiving visions from both. Also, there has been some mention of Yellerz (the ork version of a priest) although they are not seen ingame. In earlier versions a third god, Bork, appeared, but has since been dropped. Orks generally tend to distinguish between Gork and Mork as one being mean, and the other being meaner. Some divisions lie in determining who is meaner; another factor preventing Orks from being united. It is doubtful if the distinction between Gork and Mork means anything in Ork culture, as long as it allows them to bash something. Perhaps Gork and Mork are actually one god.

In the specialist game Gorkamorka, the surviving Orks of a space hulk crash on a desert planet and desperately try to rebuild a spacecraft from the ruins of their previous one so that they may leave the planet and rejoin the Waaagh! There are many theories about how this new spacecraft would do this, including the notion that it is really an enormous teleportation device which will transport all the Orks on to a passing spacehulk or friendly Ork craft. Another theory is that the monstrosity will simply take off into space with all the Orks aboard. However as the new space craft grew in size it began to gain a similarity to one of the Ork gods just as Ork Gargants do. This of course immediately led to a violent debate erupting between all the Orks present as to which god it looks like. Those that believe it looked more like Gork called themselves Gorkers and those who thought it to be Mork called themselves Morkers and the society was split in two. The rivalry between the two sides became the biggest obstacle to the Orks ever leaving the planet because as soon as they stopped concentrating on finding a way off the planet and started fighting each other, construction on the new space craft slowed to a practical halt and the battle between the two sides practically destroyed it. The Meks then decided to call the figure Gorkamorka to stop any future fighting and allowed any Ork to believe it was either Gork or Mork. This is just another example of how the Orks' built-in animosity has held back their progress severely and how their religion can inspire their violent tendencies. Perhaps this character flaw was purposely built into Ork personality by their ancient creators in order to prevent them from ever growing too powerful.

[edit] Currency
Orks use their teef ("teeth") as currency. This is quite a natural solution to inflation and income support, as orks go through teeth in a similar manner to sharks, replacing them quite frequently, and they degrade over time, so it is impossible to hoard them. This keeps prices constant, ensures all orks have access to money, and allows constant values to be placed on commodities. A toof will buy a good squig pie and a tankard of fungus beer, while a bag of teef will buy a cheap buggy. A big flash battlewagon could cost a warboss hundreds of teef (though they need not all be his). In some stories there are references to cap

Before The Fall the Eldar were a technologically advanced race, generally considered one of the most powerful races in the entire Galaxy. Their technology had advanced so far that little or no work was required by individual Eldar, and as a result, at some point around the 24th or 25th millennia, groups of Eldar began forming cults dedicated to the pursuit of experiencing everything that life had to offer.

The Eldar mind is capable of a far deeper level of emotion and imagination than that of a human; therefore although they are capable of experiencing the greatest joys and creating the most beautiful pieces of art and music they are also capable of experiencing the deepest hate and ugliest depravities. These pursuits became more extreme and depraved as time went on. Torture and murder came to be seen as artforms every bit as worthy as music and drama. The Eldar were extremely long-lived, never suffered from senility or disease, and their superior intellect allowed them to perfect their skills to a degree far beyond that of even the most talented humans. The Eldar were able to devise cunning new ways of torturing and killing their fellows at rates never imagined.

Despite the prediction of the reclusive Eldar Seers that warned of impending doom if the Eldar did not change their ways, government within the Eldar Empire soon collapsed and the moral degeneration of their homeworlds and colonies continued unimpeded. As the pursuit of ever more extreme experiences reached its height, death reigned in the streets of Eldar cities, hunter and hunted each being part of a twisted ritual of destruction which consumed thousands. Some Eldar were able to see that their now-corrupt society was destroying itself, and fled in disgust; these refugees would settle in the distant colonies of their Empire, and would later be known as the Exodites.

Upon dying, the soul of the deceased traverse the bounds of the physical realm and go to rest within the warp. As more and more Eldar died, the souls began to somehow coalesce into a larger entity, a living representation of the corruption that had taken their lives. This collection of souls gained sentience sometime in the early 30th millennium, creating the being known as the Chaos god Slaanesh. When Slaanesh came to be, an ethereal explosion occurred, with the epicentre being the Eldar homeworld. All Eldar caught in the immense blast were instantly killed, their souls consumed by Slaanesh. Most of the remaining Eldar gods were destroyed by Slaanesh. Kaela Mensha Khaine attempted to combat the new being, but Khaine's form was shattered and exiled to the mortal realm in the form of great statues called "Avatars", which rest in the hearts of the various Craftworlds. The other Eldar gods to survive the Fall were the trickster god Cegorach (also called the Laughing God), who hid himself within the Webway, and Isha, whom was ripped from the jaws of Slaanesh by Nurgle, who now keeps her as a slave (though she does spread knowledge of cures for Nurgle's poxes to mortals).

The Fall destroyed the Eldar Empire, leaving scattered bands of Eldar fighting for survival. Before the Fall, vast space-borne vessels called Craftworlds were constructed, enabling those wishing to escape the degeneration to flee. When the Fall occurred, the various Craftworlds rode out the ethereal shockwave, some being destroyed in the process. The Exodite worlds, far from the epicentre of the catastrophe, were largely untouched. In order to prevent the events of The Fall from ever recurring, the Eldar devised the Path system.

[edit] The Eldar Paths
The Eldar are forever wary of falling into the same traps which led them to the Fall. In order to avoid slipping into such debauchery and wanton disregard for life and law, most Craftworld Eldar take an extremely focused view on life. Rather than dabbling in various skills and occupations, they will choose a single skill and dedicate themselves to mastering it. Upon doing so, they are then free to choose a new occupation. Their long lives mean that a single Eldar will often master several skills or Paths in the course of their life, pursuing each until they feel they have reached their potential and then choosing a new one.

This view of life is not without its pitfalls, however. Occasionally, an Eldar will suffer what is considered a great curse- the inability to leave their current Path. While these Eldar are respected as the foremost practitioners of their Path, they are also viewed with a great deal of pity, as they exhibit the same failings that brought about the Fall.

[edit] The Path of the Warrior

A squad of Biel-Tan Eldar GuardiansEldar are known to pursue any task they set out to do with an intensity that makes human efforts pale in comparison. When an Eldar feels called to the path of the Warrior, he or she will join an Aspect Shrine, a cult of warriors who train themselves to embody some aspect of the Eldar War God Khaine or ancient Eldar myths and legends. All Craftworlds have some Aspect Shrines, although some, notably Biel-tan, have more than others and place a greater emphasis on the Path of the Warrior.

Each Aspect Shrine is led by an Exarch(s), an Eldar fallen to the curse of inability to leave the Path of the Warrior. These Exarchs are powerful warriors, doomed to die on the battlefield. Exarchs are the high priests and armourers of Khaine, living in and tending to the Aspect shrine. The first or founder of an Aspect Shrine is called a Phoenix Lord, since they are the original Exarchs of each respective discipline, and never truly "die", being reborn many times. When an Aspect warrior becomes an Exarch, they will don one of the ancient suits of Exarch armour that belong to that shrine, when they do the spiritstones of all the Exarch's before them (already in the armor) will merge with the spirit of the current user of the armor (in the same manner as with the Phoenix lords), giving them prowess and skill beyond their brethren. Each Exarch is an ancient hero, whose legend can continue in this manner.

Eldar joining the Path of the Warrior are terrified of losing themselves to their bloodlust, as such they create new personae that take over when they go to war, which separate their warrior and civilian lives so that they can freely live as a warrior without fear of losing themselves to madness. The only exception is the Exarch, who are warriors until death, their only impulse being to wage war. This has serious consequences, since all other feelings and desires are subordinated to that one desire.

Once an Eldar warrior finishes his time as an Aspect Warrior, they move on to other occupations, as per the convention of the Eldar Path. Since the population of the Eldar race is low, all Eldar are expected to serve if called to fight. Thus, if the Craftworld subsequently goes to war, these former Aspects will frequently be called upon to serve as Guardians, a type of militia serving to defend the Craftworld. Every civilian in an Eldar populace can bear arms, whatever their discipline, to boost the less numerous Aspect Warriors.

Here are some of the most common Aspects. The list is by no means exhaustive, but these are the most common ones, which are seen in more than one or two Craftworlds. The Phoenix Lords are not known for every Aspect; however, since each Aspect Shrine is founded by one, it is not unreasonable to believe that there is (or was) a Phoenix Lord for every Aspect.

[edit] Dire Avengers
The Dire Avengers are the oldest and most numerous of the Aspects Warriors, and embody a more traditional view of war. They embody Khaine as the noble warrior. They take to the battlefield as well-rounded infantry, armed with the traditional weapons of the Eldar, the shuriken catapult, although they are improved, with a greater range than conventional models. The Dire Avenger Exarch is able to equip a Diresword and Shuriken Pistol in exchange for his standard wargear, Dual Catapults for extra fire power, or a Shimmershield and power weapon for additional close combat defence. The Phoenix Lord of the Dire Avengers is Asurmen, the Hand of Asur. He was the first of the Phoenix Lords; it was he who instructed all the other founding Phoenix Lords in the skills of combat. Dire Avengers are mostly used as the core unit of troops of an Eldar army. With shuriken weapons and the Blade Storm ability, Dire Avengers excel at taking down large hordes of lightly armored infantry, although the sheer number of shots they can fire make them effective against any kind of infantry, they are also an effective counter assault unit with the defend ability and a shimmershield. It is rare to see an Eldar warhost without a core of these noble warriors at its heart.

[edit] Dark Reapers
The Dark Reapers represent Khaine in his aspect as a destroyer, callously striking down foes from afar. They specialize in long range fire-power. In battle they appear as menacing, black armoured troops wielding rapid-firing miniature missile launchers called "reaper launchers", which they use to destroy great numbers of enemy infantry. Dark reapers excel at taking down large numbers of heavily armoured infantry. The Dark Reaper Exarch can also be equipped with a Missile Launcher or a Tempest Launcher, as well. The Phoenix Lord of the Dark Reapers is Maugan Ra, the Harvester of Souls, who comes from the Altansar Craftworld, which he helped to escape from inside the Eye of Terror during Abaddon's 13th Black Crusade. Maugan Ra teaches that the mightiest weapon can be wielded with the precision of a scalpel.

[edit] Fire Dragons
The Fire Dragons, named after their mystic serpents of lore, embody the fiery wrath of Khaine, and as such, generally wear red or orange armor, and wield short-ranged, heat-based weaponry known as 'fusion guns' (similar to the Imperium's Melta Guns, although more refined and stable). Their weapons and training allow them to focus on destroying enemy tanks and heavily-armored infantry. Fire Dragons are aggressive and destructive, seeking nothing less than the total annihilation of their foes. The Exarch can be armed with a powerful Dragon's Breath flamer, which lets them deal with hordes of lighter infantry as well. The Exarch can also be equipped with a Fire Pike, a longer-ranged fusion (melta) weapon. It is said that when the battle lust is upon them, Exarchs generate their own corona of flame around themselves. The Phoenix Lord of the Fire Dragons is Feugan, The Burning Fist.

[edit] Howling Banshees
The Howling Banshees are a corps of generally female Eldar warriors who embody spirits from Eldar legend, and are meant to bring swift death to their foes. It is said that the Crone Goddess, Morai-Heg, sent her daughters to haunt Khaine, until he performed a deed for her. Upon completion of said deed, Morai-Heg granted Khaine the Aspect of the Banshee. They are famous for wearing warmasks which emit piercing psychically-charged shrieks as the warriors attack; these shrieks disorient the Banshees' victims, making them easier to slay. Banshees specialize in mobility (at the expense of durability), and use power weapons, which can easily carve through heavy armor, even Terminator armor. The Banshee Exarch is even more deadly with Mirrorblades or the powerful Executioner. The Phoenix Lord of the Howling Banshees is Jain Zar, the Storm of Silence. Jain Zar is the most devoted to her Shrines out of the Phoenix Lords, and the Banshees maintain an eternal vigil for their deadly mistress.

[edit] Shining Spears
The relatively rare Shining Spears embody the Spear of Khaine, an invincible weapon wielded by the god of war, said to be able to kill any foe with a single blow. They are unique in that they are the only major Aspect to ride sleek jetbikes- essentially incredibly fast motorcycle-like vehicles which hover just above the ground by using technology similar to the Grav tanks. They also wield specially designed lances, known as Laser Lances, which are able to shoot powerful short-ranged lasers. In this way, they are meant to operate in a manner similar to heavy medieval cavalry, like knights, in a manner similar to the duelling Dragon Knights of the Exodite worlds. At this time, there is no known Phoenix Lord for the Shining Spears.

[edit] Striking Scorpions
The Striking Scorpions are another close combat Aspect, representing a more hard-hitting, durable side of hand to hand combat. They are slower than Howling Banshees, but are stronger and wear heavier armor, similar to that of a space marine. Also, rather than wearing the disorienting masks like the Banshees, the Scorpions wear head-mounted guns called 'mandi-blasters'; having them head-mounted frees up the warrior's hands for other close combat weapons, most notably a chainsword, although the Exarch often uses a Scorpion's Claw, a Biting Blade or dual chainsabres. Tactically, they specialize in ambush and overwhelming more numerous enemy light infantry rather than quickly slicing through heavily-armored infantry as Banshees do. This focus on surprise attacks has emphasized stealth as well as great prowess at close quarters; their training ensures a superhuman ability to creep around obstacles and through difficult terrain, blending to the shadows before falling on an unsuspecting foe like the wrath of Khaine.

The Phoenix Lord of the Striking Scorpions is Karandras, the Shadow Hunter. However, it should be noted that Karandras is not the original Phoenix Lord. The original was named Ahra, Father of Scorpions, and is the only Phoenix Lord to leave the Eldar and his Shrine completely. Many theories link him with the mysterious "Dark Father" of the Incubi, a Dark Eldar warrior cult who bear many similarities to the Striking Scorpions. Arhra was said to have 'turned to the Shadows away from the light', also "the fallen phoenix, who burns with the dark light of chaos", and is known to have fled into the Webway (where the Dark Eldar dwell) after going berserk and destroying his first Aspect shrine. It's also heavily implied in Codex: Dark Eldar that the Incubi are "fallen" Striking Scorpions, drawn from Exarch Koradhil's comments when he encounters a squad of those warriors. Karandras has tempered the murderous nature of his predecessor with that of the patient hunter, being supernaturally stealthy, even more so than his disciples. His signature weapon is The Scorpion's Bite, a set of mandiblasters many times more powerful than the standard set.

[edit] Swooping Hawks
The Swooping Hawks are a highly mobile aspect, representing the hawks from Eldar legend, who would hover above murderers as a sign of guilt. They wear complex sets of wings made from many hundreds of vibrating plates which allow them to enter the battlefield at critical points and lend firepower support. Like the Banshees, the Hawks sacrifice durability for greater mobility. Their lasblasters make them excellent harassment units against light infantry (such as Imperial Guard or Orks). Also of note, they wield cleverly designed grenade launchers on their legs, which allow them to bomb enemy units as they fly into the battle. The swooping hawks are also equipped with haywire grenades which are very effective at disabling any vehicle making swooping hawks a great anti-armour choice as well. The Phoenix Lord of the Swooping Hawks is known as Baharroth, The Cry of the Wind. Baharroth is the most youthful of the Phoenix Lords, and is a brother to Maugan Ra, as the sun is to the moon.

[edit] Warp Spiders
The Warp Spiders are modeled after the tiny spiders which guard the Infinity Circuit. These spiders have the ability to teleport anywhere inside the wraithbone structure, and use this ability to hunt down and repel any daemonic entities which attempt to infiltrate the Circuit, much like an immune system. The Warp Spiders operate similarly, epitomizing the doctrine of aggressive defense; they wear suits of heavy armor which incorporate a warp jump generator that allows them to teleport across the battlefield, appearing without warning to strike and then teleport away before the enemy can respond. Using their warp-jump technology is risky as Eldar using them can be claimed by the warp itself. As a precaution for this, their armor also have warp-resistant spells cast on them. Because they risk not only their lives, but their souls, Warp spiders are considered to be the bravest of aspect warriors. In battle, they wield short-ranged weapons called "Deathspinners", which are able to easily slay enemy infantry, especially those who wear little or no armor because the Deathspinners fire clouds of monofilament wires, which decompress, and shred flesh but are easily withstood by armor. Warp Spider Exarchs have some anti-armour ability, being able to take powerblades that slice through flesh and armour with ease, and also the mighty spinneret rifle, a gun that shoots a rigid strand of monofilament that punches through armour and uncoils in the target. Alternatively, they can take two deathspinners, mounted on their backpack, freeing their hands. At this time, there is no known Phoenix Lord for the Warp Spiders. It is rumored that the Lhykosidae is the Phoenix Lord of the Warp Spiders, but there is no proof of this.

[edit] Autarch
The Autarch (the path of command) is a very demanding path. To become an Autarch, an Eldar needs to travel multiple Paths of the Warrior, and still be able to retain themselves from getting lost on the path and becoming an Exarch. The Autarchs of a craftworld are the commanders of their armies, the military foils to the Farseers' wisdom. They are able to use a wide variety of wargear, reflective of his or her experience with all aspects of warfare. They can use almost any piece of weaponry that the other aspects can, although not artifacts exclusive to the Exarchs.

The Autarch originally appeared in the Specialist Game Epic Armageddon with a slightly different background. The Epic description of the Autarch states that the Autarch followed the Path of the Warrior and was lost on it, becoming an Exarch. However, unlike most Exarchs who stay within their given shrine or aspect (Dire Avenger, Shining Spear, etc...), the Autarch traveled from aspect to aspect, becoming an Exarch in many different shrines. This background was ret-conned with the release of the 4th Edition Codex: Eldar in 2006.

Autarchs are second only to Phoenix Lords in terms of skill and reflexes; from directing the Eldar warhost to duelling with enemy commanders, Autarchs have the skill and wargear to cover multiple requirements. While not as strong as some other enemy commanders in hand to hand, their melee might should not be overlooked.

Autarchs co-ordinate the Eldar warhost with the skill and precision of a conductor conducting a symphony. The Autarchs are obsessed with the Path of Command, having a wide area of expertise and greater understanding of the entirety of the theater of war, that an Exarch, focused upon one facet of war, could ever hope to achieve.

[edit] The Path of the Seer
Aspects are responsible for the defense of the Eldar, in the same way the Seers are responsible for leading them. Seers that are lost to the path forever become Farseers, similar to the way an Exarch attains his status by following the path of the warrior. Also, like the Exarch, they are very powerful, some of the most powerful psykers in the universe. A council of the most powerful Seers generally govern a Craftworld. Seers come in a wide variety with divination being the most common skill. Warlocks and Spirit Seers are two other types of Seers represented in Warhammer 40,000. Warlocks are Seers who follow the path of the Seer but have not been lost to it, and have previously traveled the path of the warrior. They use their powers to assist other Eldar in battle, shielding them from harm and attacking their enemies. Spirit Seers are Seers who specialize in communication with the dead; unsurprisingly, they are most prevalent within Iyanden and sometimes lead squads of Wraithguard in combat.

The role of the Seers is to look into the future and discern the best path for the Eldar to take. This is done through the casting of runestones, fragments of Wraithbone, and other psychosensitive materials that react to the convoluted, probabilistic skeins of space-time. By reading the throw of these stones, the Seers can often determine what will be the most beneficial course of action, although it is rare that they can discern true results very far into the future. On occasion a powerful Seer will receive a portent of some calamitous event and be able to steer the Eldar away from disaster and doom. With so few Eldar remaining, the Seers attempt to preserve every Eldar life they can.

However, this ability to see the future and react upon what is seen has caused the Eldar to be distrusted by other races. Occasionally, a Seer will see that by attacking a certain world, fleet, or base, Eldar lives will be somehow saved from a future event; Eldar forces will then suddenly attack unannounced, and quickly withdraw as soon as their goal has been accomplished. This, along with the Eldar tendency to view all other races as inferior, has led other races to deem them as fickle, aloof, and untrustworthy. Also, the most powerful Farseers have even shown the ability to steer future events so that other races fight each other rather than the Eldar- one of the greatest examples being when the famed Farseer Eldrad Ulthran of Ulthwé (a Craftworld which places greater emphasis on the Path of the Seer) secretly facilitated the rise of an obscure Ork warlord named Ghazghkull Mag Uruk Thraka, who would eventually become a significant enemy of the Imperium of Man.

The Farseers lead in times of war as well as peace. On the battlefield their powers of precognition allow them to foresee the enemy's attacks and movements and warn their comrades against imminent changes on the field of battle. While less capable of foreseeing events in such harried conditions, the Warlocks, especially those who have already tread the Path of an Aspect Warrior, will often serve as officers in battle, leading units of other Eldar, and helping to coordinate the overall battle, as well as to lend support by utilizing their considerable psychic powers.

As many Farseers age however, their bodies slowly turn to a form of psychically active crystal, a transformation caused by their constant exposure to the chaotic energies of the Warp. When the time has come, they will go to the Dome of the Crystal Seers and join the crystalline bodies of the Farseers that came before them.

In times of peace, rare as they may be for the Eldar, Farseers serve as political leaders, using their predictive abilities to guide the day-to-day activities of their Craftworlds in order to safeguard their racial survival.

[edit] Other Paths
While the Seer and the Warrior are two of the most visible Paths, there are hundreds of others. Many Eldar will choose the study of an instrument or art form as their Path, while others might devote themselves to the development of a science or the refinement of some technology. These Paths, while equally important to the survival of the Eldar, tend to be far more varied and far less consuming than the Seer and the Warrior. Notable among the other Paths is that of the Bonesinger; the title given to those that maintain and repair the psycho-active wraithbone components of the Eldar worlds. Also notable is the Path of the Mariner, the Path followed by those who devote themselves to crewing spacecraft.

By far the most common of the paths among the Eldar, though, is the Path of the Artisan. Whether it be crafting works of art or composing plays or symphonies all Eldar love the arts and the path of the artisan is walked by almost all Eldar at some point in their lives.

[edit] Divergent factions

[edit] Dark Eldar
Main article: Dark Eldar
The Dark Eldar are a Kindred of the Eldar that revel in piracy, enslavement and torture, and are sadistic in the extreme. They are the remnants of the pleasure cultists that brought about the birth of Slaanesh, and believe that killing "lesser" races can forestall the effect of Slaanesh on their souls. They use the Webway to traverse the galaxy safely and far more quickly than most races are able to with their Warp jumps, launching raids against other species. Their entire philosophy can be summed up in the phrase, "better you than me"[citation needed].

[edit] Harlequins
Main article: Eldar Harlequins
The Harlequins are the keepers of the Black Library and serve the Laughing God. They see themselves as a unifying force for the Eldar, dedicated to preserving their race, and often acting as mediators and coordinators between the various Eldar factions. The other Eldar view the Harlequins with a mixture of awe, fear and respect. Harlequins are rare but respected warriors and, if seen at all, will usually be heading an assault on tougher units such as Terminators, Tyranid Warriors, Ork Nobs, or Tau battle suits.

[edit] Exodites
During the Fall, the degeneration of the Eldar did not occur wholly without resistance. Some Eldar, the more far-sighted, began to openly criticise the laxity of their fellow citizens, and to warn against the birth of the hedonistic and savage pleasure cults. These individuals were mostly ignored or else treated as narrow-minded fools and puritanical fanatics. Eventually the general collapse of Eldar society just before the birth of Slaanesh convinced even the most resolute amongst them that there would be no end to the reign of death and depravity. Some decided to leave the Eldar worlds, and settle new planets free of the creeping corruption. They were the ones still untainted by the depravity that had claimed their fellow citizens, and by the time just before the Fall they were very few. These Eldar are known today as the Exodites because they made an Exodus from the now lost homeworlds of the Eldar Empire before it was too late.

The Exodite worlds are generally considered backward and rustic compared to the rest of the space-roaming Eldar, although they still possess a good deal of the Eldar's advanced technology. One piece of technology the Exodites have maintained is the Infinity Circuit. On Exodite planets, Infinity Circuits are known as "World Spirits" and exist as grids of stone menhirs, obelisks, and stone circles all crafted from psychoactive Eldritch crystal. This World Spirit performs the same function that the Infinity Circuit does on Eldar Craftworlds. Some Outcasts will find refuge among these generally more accepting Eldar.

Exodites often find themselves coming into conflict with other races like humans or Orks, who try to settle their planet. Some Craftworlds, especially Biel-Tan, are notorious for fiercely aiding their Exodite brethren. Many a time the Imperium has tried to settle an Exodite-owned planet only to find themselves up against the harsh wrath of the swordwind of Biel-Tan.

Although no Exodite models exist (the group appearing only in the 40k background information), a number of players have converted their own Exodite armies.

[edit] Notable Characters
This is a list of notable characters and heroes of the Eldar race in the Warhammer 40,000 fictional setting.

[edit] Eldrad Ulthran

Eldrad UlthranEldrad Ulthran was the mightiest and most ancient of the Farseers of the Eldar Craftworld of Ulthwé. Among Eldrad's accomplishments are supposedly igniting the Second War for Armageddon so as to spare the lives of ten thousand Eldar[1], the Sanapan Scouring, the Mortis Annihilation and the Third Coming of Orian, as well as warning Fulgrim, Primarch of the Emperor's Children of Horus's treachery[2] (though he failed, realising only too late that Fulgrim had already been corrupted by Slaanesh) and warning Iyanden of the coming of the Tyranids[1]. The veracity of these accomplishments are often debated, as they are usually derived from work by Inquisitor Czevak (which he himself admits strays into the realm of paranoia) and the rantings of a tortured Eldar Ranger. It should also be noted that, of these battles, only the Second War for Armageddon is ever described in detail. It is also noted, that he is one of the few individuals, perhaps the only, to fight in hand-to-hand combat with Abaddon the Despoiler himself and live to tell the tale. He also enacted the Coven of Isha, which required the Imperium to help the Eldar in some way in return for information on the Chaos legions.

Eldrad perished during the Eye of Terror campaign[3], when he was caught upon a Blackstone Fortress, or Talisman of Vaul, that he was trying to stop from destroying the Imperial world of Cadia. As he attempted to commune with the spirit of the Fortress, the Farseer learned it had been corrupted, and not by any random power. The machine had been corrupted by Slaanesh. Eldrad desperately tried to disengage, but his efforts came too late: his soul was dragged screaming into the Talisman's corrupted core for all eternity. The Talisman's current whereabouts are unknown but is likely to be somewhere in the warp. [4]

[edit] Eldrad's Fate
Prior to the 13th Black Crusade, Eldrad had fragmented his consciousness into hundreds of waystones, for the use of battlefield leaders. In the closing stage of the war, he led an assault on the surviving Talisman of Vaul in a desperate attempt to rescue its soul, saving the planet of Cadia in the process. He spirit-linked with the Talisman's core, only to realise that all Eldar traces within the fortress had been devoured, replaced by the vile power of Slaanesh.

The new Codex: Eldar (November 2006) features Eldrad as a historical special character. His background material, however, ends with a flicker of hope. It states that after Eldrad's soul was lost most but not all of the waystones, into which he had divided his consciousness before handing to his commanders, became lifeless and dull. So long as one stone retains its spark, Eldrad's soul endures[5].

[edit] Prince Yriel

Prince YrielPrince Yriel, Autarch of Iyanden, was a brilliant if reckless commander in Iyanden's fleet. He is not of pure Iyanden blood but is honored as one of the greatest defenders of Iyanden. He was originally exiled when he led a successful and pre-emptive attack on a Chaos fleet that left the Craftworld open to attack. He and his crew formed a corsair fleet, the Eldritch Raiders, and had become infamous throughout the galaxy in only a few decades, a testament to Yriel's skill[5].

He and his fleet saved Iyanden at its time of greatest need, at the height of the Tyranid invasion by the Hive Fleet Kraken. As the Craftworld was about to fall, Yriel and his Eldritch Raiders blew a sizeable hole in the Tyranid's fleet and reinforced Iyanden's forces. Yriel himself slew the leader of the hordes, a supposedly invincible creature, with the Spear of Twilight, a cursed artifact that contains the power of a Supernova. Yriel was then instated as an Autarch of Iyanden, and is currently searching for a way to restore his craftworld to glory before the spear kills him.

Yriel first appeared in early first edition as the "self-styled 'Lord Prince Yriel,'" where it is mentioned that Imperium-fostered rivalries between Yriel and other pirate companies resulted in factional fighting; his conquest and absorption of two of these rival groups (Xian's Black Raiders and the Scarlet Command) making him the single most powerful Eldar pirate operating in the galaxy.

[edit] The Spear of Twilight
The Spear of Twilight was a legendary artifact of power kept in the Shrine of Ulthanash in the Craftworld Iyaden. The weapon was "so powerful it would burn the bearer's soul"[5]. The spear, unlike other weapons, could not be removed by the owner and thus Yriel, when he used the powerful spear to kill the leader of the Hive Fleet Kraken, was bound by its curse.

The spear's curse operates by draining Yriel's energy, which is represented by him taking a wound at the end of each battle he fights in, his forceshield allaying the worst effects of the weapon. The spear is a singing spear, the psychic weapons used by Eldar Warlocks, and each wound is able to ignore the armour saves of its enemies[5].

[edit] Phoenix Lords
Phoenix Lords are the greatest warriors of the Eldar in the universe of Warhammer 40,000. Each of them founded one of the aspect shrines of the Eldar, and are the embodiment of that aspect. They have transcended the bounds of normal mortality, in a fashion. The spirit of the original

The origins of the Dark Eldar begins with the fall of the Eldar. The pleasure cults of the Eldar eventually birthed the Chaos God Slaanesh. Slaanesh's birth cries destroyed all of the Eldar not stationed on the fringes of their empire, as the Eldar on the edges of the empire did not indulge in the pleasure cults. Those Eldar fell into two camps on how to deal with the possible extinction of their race. The first and much more numerous group decided that to survive, they must use spirit stones, resist temptations, and live a life of frugality. The other much less numerous group decided, that to fend off Slaanesh, they would have to wreak havoc across the galaxy so Slaanesh would eventually become bored in the Eldar race and choose another race as playthings. The former group became the Eldar as we know them today, while the latter is now known as the Dark Eldar.

The Dark Eldar, as well as the Eldar, fear Slaanesh; because of the hand they had in his creation any Eldar that die have their souls consumed by the dark god. While the Eldar chose to trap their souls within the Soul Stones to escape this fate the Dark Eldar formed Commoragh, a large dark city within the webway, safe from invaders and, being separated from normal Warp space, protected from Slaanesh. From it, they launch their slave raids in order to capture more prisoners which are tortured and worked to the point of death; their souls are then harvested and fed upon by the Dark Eldar thus increasing their lifespan and keeping their souls from being devoured by Slaanesh.

Commorragh is the planet belonging to the Dark Eldar race. It is said to be impossible for outsiders to find, and anarchy and terrorism are a well-established way of life for its debased inhabitants. It is widely believed to be hidden deep within an inter-dimensional labyrinth known as the Webway, described by the Eldar as a "dark stain" growing within their holy pathways. It is a city known to have "wandering shadows that tear apart the unwary" and is bathed in a crimson half-light.

During the final weeks of the Eye of Terror campaign, which followed the 13th Black Crusade of Warmaster Abaddon the Despoiler, the Eldar collapsed several Webway portals leading to Commorragh, isolating it from much of the Webway. Given the mutable nature of the Webway however, the Dark Eldar can still use artificial Webway portals to create temporary tunnels, and thus are largely unaffected.

In the short story by Gav Thorpe, The Torturer's Tale, Asdrubael Vect, Lord of the Kabal of the Black Heart, relates to the torture slave, Gideon, how the Dark Eldar arose and how Commorragh came to exist. In this story, Vect makes it clear that Commorragh exists within the Webway:

"It seemed there was but one way of escaping Her and that was to flee their homes and leave the physical world behind forever. We came here, into the realm between worlds that we created to traverse the galaxy safe from harm. Here, the Great Enemy's grip is weakened, yet to our Lord's horror it was not wholly broken. He had bought his people time, a little instant of time but nothing more. Others followed him, each choosing a place for themselves, building new shrines and around them great palaces. Here, where you sit now, is one of the chambers of the original Temple of the Black Heart. You are very privileged, you know. Not many survive to get this far. Most of them break before they even reach the second level."

In the game, many of the Dark Eldar units bear some similarity to the units used by the Eldar army, but twisted to fit in with the darker nature of the Dark Eldar. The Eldar have a diverse selection of craftworld armies with unique rules and in general, like the Dark Eldar, Eldar armies are relatively fragile compared to forces like that of the Space Marines. However, this is where the similarities end. Unlike the Dark Eldar, Eldar armies have a wider array of heavy weapons and fast attack platforms and have constantly received additions in regards to miniature line development and additional supplemental rules. Also, due to the age of the codex, there are very few decent builds and some units are much weaker than others.

Dark Eldar are lightly armoured and rely more on speed than brute force. In capable hands the Dark Eldar are a more than effective force. However beginners may find Dark Eldar difficult to use, as many of the tactics condusive to a Dark Eldar victory require patience, cunning, and even a little daring. Experience is also important for a Dark Eldar general. A beginner might be tempted to forego subtlety and simply attack the enemy, yet the relatively low troop numbers and light armor of the Dark Eldar will almost always result in a defeat in this scenario. Instead, experienced players use flanking manoeuvres, screening, and the like to achieve victory. If deployed and commanded to take advantage of their strengths - speed, close-combat prowess, and hard-hitting firepower - the Dark Eldar can indeed be a difficult army to defeat.

The Dark Eldar codex suffers from being over a decade old, something which is felt during the duration of a game.

Since the 3rd edition release of Codex: Dark Eldar in 1998, no new army book has been published. However, the new army codex (for Dark Eldar) is expected to be released in 2009-10, along with a batch of new miniatures. This is backed up by a statement that Rick Priestley made in White Dwarf 343 (US issue 342) saying, "I think it's time that the Dark Eldar, Space Wolves and a few others have their time in the spotlight again..." The Dark Eldar are also included in the Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War computer game expansion, Soulstorm. In addition, the 5th edition of the Warhammer 40,000 rule book still includes the Dark Eldar as a major race in the 40,000 universe. This, along with the updated artwork and pictures of Dark Eldar further signify that a new edition will be released in the future.

To understand Chaos, which is in itself impossible, one must first understand the warp. The warp is a dimension adjacent to ours, in which emotions and thoughts can become living things, which can manipulate the warp and indeed the minds of mortals. These creatures are sustained by the thoughts of mortals, and seek more and more of these thoughts. For these creatures to gain this, specifically thoughts which taste fine to them, mortals must worship them, and in return those who worship a certain god are gifted with abilities and powers beyond imagination, for instance those gifted by Tzeentch are granted powers over sorcery and arcane knowledge, while those gifted by Nurgle are granted viral based mutations, such as extra limbs or other such things. It should be known, however, that too many blessings can often result in the person becoming a warp spawn, forever mindless and feral.

"Khorne is the Blood God, Lord of War, God of Eternal Hatred, Taker of Skulls. He is wrath incarnate, filled with a never-ending lust to dominate and destroy, to conquer and kill. The Blood God is broad and muscular, with the face of a savage snarling dog. Khorne wears heavy overlapping plates of armour fashioned from brass and blackened iron. His every word is a growl of endless fury and these roars of ire echo out across his land. Upon a throne of brass, Khorne sits atop a mountainous dais made of the skulls of his champions and their defeated opponents. Beside him rests a great two-handed sword, capable of laying waste to worlds with a single blow. This fell blade is known by various names, including Woebringer, Warmaker, the End of all Things and Bloodfeeder."

The backbone of Khorne's army are the legions of Khorne's Bloodletters and Flesh Hounds. Slim, muscular, and humanoid in shape demons, which look the most like the cliché demons of western society. Their skin is the color of red-gore. The strength of their long sinewy limbs is infamous, as is the ferocity of their charges and the grim battle lust with which they tear apart anybody who stands before them. They use their sharp claws and their mighty hellblades to exterminate their foes. Next are the Flesh Hounds of Khorne. The Flesh Hounds of Khorne are savage beasts that relentlessly hunt down the enemies of Khorne. They are reptilian in appearance and their skin is also the color red-gore. They roam the lands of Khorne in the endless fields of bone and the edges of the seas of blood. They hunt in packs, numbering in the hundreds and are a threat to anyone who roams in their territory, even Bloodletters must tread with caution in these lands. Maybe their most recognizable features are their collars. Gifts from Khorne himself, these collars does not only protect them physically but also ward them from spells and psychic attacks. These collars make them the bane of any sorcerer or psyker. Another famous creature of Khorne are the Juggernauts of Khorne. These fusions of machine and demon are dangerous to anyone who stands in their way. They have the shape of a bull but are covered with powerful armor all over. The helmet they wear has a huge blade which resembles a horn, making them resemble rhinos. They are mounted by the strongest daemons and the strongest of chaos space marines who follow Khorne. At first the beast is as dangerous to the rider as it is to the enemy but once the rider masters the Juggernaut, it becomes the most dangerous war-mount anyone can dream of riding. The last of the most notable demons of Khorne are his Greater Daemons, the Bloodthirsters. These bear resemblence to the Bloodletters, but are much larger. Their bodies are covered with horns and have huge wings on their backs. They command the armies of Khorne and have an unmatchable lust for blood and slaughter. Their bodies are covered in their ancient and war-torn brass and iron armor which protects them from ranged attacks and melee together. Once someone is in melee combat with a Bloodthirster, their fate is as good as sealed. Not even the other greater daemons of the rival gods can stand against a bloodthirster. Only the absolute mightiest of heros can even hope to stand a chance against war personified.

Slay without pity; triumph without remorse. You are the legions of Khorne, his favorite warriors. You shall bring defeat and death to His enemies. You shall crush their worlds under your heel. To battle! Let blood flow in His name! Rorath'rath the skullwearer

Slaanesh is the dark prince, the deified manifestation of the ideas of ecstasy, debauchery, hedonism, and pleasure in all things. He is known to show himself as a hermaphroditic or androgynous human of irresistible beauty, taking on the guise of whatever the mortal he/she visits finds most tempting.

Slaanesh was created by what was called the Fall by the Eldar, when their civilization began seeking whatever pleasures they desired, following a hedonistic lifestyle of masochism, sadism, and debauchery. And, due to their long lives and vast intelligence, they could seek more inventive ways to gain their pleasure. However, eventually their negative thoughts and actions created Slaanesh, and at his birth he let out a scream causing a massive tear in the fabric of reality, what is now called the Eye of Terror. The Fall also split the Eldar in two, creating the Dark Eldar, who refused to give up their debauchery and hedonism. However both the Dark Eldar and the Eldar are enemies of Slaanesh.

Slaanesh's followers usually begin to find pleasure in all things, even simple things: pain, healing, life, death. They live in a lifestyle of exorbitance and as though they are in an inescapable high.

The followers of Slaanesh are known as Daemonettes who seek pain and pleasure in attacking enemies. Like their god they are androgynous beings that emanate an aura of unnatural beauty. In place of hands they have crab-like claws which offer agonizing pleasure to those who are struck by them.

Occasionally, daemonettes will ride steeds of Slaanesh, graceful beasts that run like the wind. When daemonettes take to battle on these creatures they are known to their foe as Seekers of Slaanesh.

While the mortal realm is laid waste by blight and pestilence, the lands of nurgle thrive on disease and corruption. Tended by the dark lord of decay, this unwholesome realm is home to every pox and affliction imaginable and foetid with the stench of rot." Chaos daemon codex

Nurgle, lord of decay and disease. His huge body and frame is made up entirely of slime, rotting corpses and garbage as well as any other unpleasant things you can imagine.

An oddity of chaos, Nurgle is almost jovial in his spreading of plagues, seeing them as "gifts" to those infected. With his millions of viral toxins available, he sees them as almost an evolution, seemingly striving to better those who would follow him by poisoning them over vast periods of time. As such, has gained the nickname "Grandfather Nurgle" by his followers.

The followers of Nurgle are the plaguebearers. Small versions of Nurgle or bits broken off him grown into Nurglings, festering growths wrought with teeth, claws and pestilence.

Among his agents, the most vile and disgusting are the Great Unclean Ones. Armed with a plague sword dipped in the fetid pools beneath Nurgle himself, and massive girth and durability from aeons of infection, they are the living embodiment of Nurgle on the battle field. Being greater daemons, they are very capable of not only spreading Nurgle's plagues, but striking fear in the most stalwart of commanders due the sheer size and power they possess.

'"All things must wither and die. Let root rot and bower blight, to feed the pestilence of abandoned hope"Aghalhor, the bringer of poxes

Tzeentch is the god of change, mutation, and hope, and the master of sorcery. His realm is woven from the raw fabric of magic, threaded upon deceit and conspiracy. Of all the outlandish landscapes of the realm of chaos, Tzeentch's Domain is the most bizarre and incomprehensible. Tzeentch himself takes many forms, and his plots and deceits are unimaginably complex, so large that no mortal can possibly discern his final goal. Mortal followers of Tzeentch are often gifted with grotesque mutations that grant them superior strength, agility, or even heightened mental faculties. Of all Chaos Sorcerers, followers of Tzeentch are the most adept bending the fabric of reality to their whim, wielding the many-colored 'Fires' of Tzeentch to terrifying effect.

Tzeentch's minions come on a broad Spectrum of shapes, sizes, and colors. Screamers are aethereal, Manta-ray like daemons who float gracefully through the air, while Horrors are gibbering tangles of mouths, arms, and horns. Flamers are living conduits for the fires of Tzeentch, long, hollow tubes of flesh with mouths at every end. The greatest and most terrifying creature of Tzeentch, however, is the Lord of Change, a majestically bizarre Daemon that looks part man, part vulture, covered in iridescent scales and wearing flowing robes.

Curiosity begets knowledge, Knowledge begets curiosity, Only great Tzeentch sates both The teachings of Tz'Kul'Anak

The background shown in both Codex: Space Marines (Haines and McNeill, 2004) and Codex: Chaos Space Marines (Chambers et al., 2002) states that the Chaos Marine Legions were nine of the twenty original "First Founding" Legions of Space Marines who fought in the Great Crusade for the Imperium of Man. At this time the Primarch Horus and the Luna Wolves were corrupted by Chaos and instigated the galaxy-wide civil war known as the Horus Heresy.

Further background to the Chaos Space Marines is explored in detail in the 'Horus Heresy' series. After the death of Horus and the end of the Heresy, the remnants of the nine Legions along with the other Imperial forces that had joined Horus escaped into an area of the galaxy known as the Eye of Terror. Due to the nature of Chaos, and the temporal instability of the Warp, the very same Chaos Marines who revolted against the Emperor continue to fight against the Imperium.

The Legions have kept their old names, with the exception of the Sons of Horus who were renamed the Black Legion by their new leader, Abaddon the Despoiler. Besides Horus, two other Chaos Primarchs were believed to have been killed during or shortly after the Heresy (Alpharius of the Alpha Legion and Night Haunter of the Night Lords). (Alpharius is believed to still be alive, possibly through his brother-primarch, Omegon) The six surviving Primarchs have since become Daemon Princes. These daemonic Primarchs rarely take part in the affairs of their Legions or any part of the Warhammer 40,000 universe. Angron however, led an invasion force which was to become the First War of Armageddon, where he was banished for 100 years by a group of 100 Grey Knights lead by Brother-Captain Aurellian. Some of the Legions have pledged a particular loyalty to one of the four Great Chaos powers. The closest thing to a leader that has appeared among them is Abaddon the Despoiler. Abaddon is the only Chaos Marine since Horus to be able to command the loyalty of all nine Traitor Legions, and has led thirteen Black Crusades against the Imperium of Man.

The Chaos Space Marines have the same origins as the Space Marines. Due to their allegiance to Chaos, Chaos Marines can be mutated or willingly possessed, thus making themselves into monsters, faster or otherwise superior to the Space Marines and other inhabitants of the Warhammer 40k universe. Chaos Marines have extended lifespans due to the time-warping effects of the Eye of Terror, and their millennia of experience gives them levels of mastery with more advanced skills and tactics that Loyalist Space Marines do not have. Regular Chaos Marines have also lost the "they know no fear" ability. However, Regular Chaos Marines are still extremely hard to break due to their newfound loyalty in the pantheon of chaos, and some of the more veteran or bloodthirsty Chaos Marines are more fearless than their loyalist brethren.

They are equipped with the power armour and weapons they had when they initially betrayed the Imperium, which are broadly the same as those used by Space Marines (although differences now exist with jump packs etc). The current setting of the Warhammer 40,000 game is about 10,000 years after the Horus Heresy, and, while the Imperium has made some technological advancements, Chaos Marines have far more limited access to the handful of new inventions that have appeared on the galactic scene. In general, anything developed since the Heresy is unavailable to them unless it has been captured; for example, Iron Warriors are known for capturing and using Imperial tanks. While Chaos Space Marines have therefore mostly older technology, they compensate for this by having access to daemons and daemonic technology.

Each of the Chaos Space Marine Legions fights using a different style of warfare; also, four of the nine are dedicated to one of the four major Chaos Gods. Codex: Chaos Space Marines (Chambers et al., 2002) includes the current rules for fielding a Chaos Space Marine army in a game of Warhammer 40,000; it also includes rules for fielding the troops of the specific legions that are dedicated to any of the Chaos Gods, with rules for the other legions being removed in the 4th edition Codex.

The nine Chaos Marine Legions are (in order of founding) Emperor's Children, Iron Warriors, Night Lords, World Eaters, Death Guard, Thousand Sons, Black Legion, Word Bearers, Alpha Legion.

The Emperor's Children has a number of notable members, those include Lucius the Eternal, Saul Tarvitz, Fabius Bile, Gaius Caphen, and Charmosian. The legions are often featured in short stories and novels. For example, The Night Lords appeared in the short story Chains of Command and also "Lord of the Night", a story that follows the Raptor lord Zso Sahaal in his struggle to regain his dead Primarchs stolen legacy, adding an entirely different view and depth to a legion that had previously little attention. Another appearance is made in the Space Wolves story "Sons of Fenris", where a group of Night Lords are fighting against Wolf Lord Ragnar Blackmane and his cadre of Wolfguard. They also appeared in the Eldar stronghold mission of Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War: Dark Crusade (it is said that they were lured by the Eldar as a distraction). The Iron Warriors have appeared in the novel "storm of Iron" and favour siege warfare.

In addition, since the Horus Heresy, several Space Marine Chapters have been corrupted in one way or another by Chaos. Very little background information has been provided about these Chapters, and no specific rules exist for them, allowing players to adapt other rules to represent their forces.

According to the records of Ordo Malleus approximately 50 chapters have turned renegade after the Horus Heresy, however the accuracy of this number is doubtful. Examples of given space marine chapters include the Sons of Malice, the Damned Company of Lord Caustos, the Violators, the Steel Cobras, the Thunder Barons, and the Astral Claws (known as the Red Corsairs since their rebellion). Their numbers are even harder to gauge, as usually when a chapter succumbs to Chaos there will be marines who remain loyal to the Emperor. One example is the Battle-Captain of the Death Guard's 7th Company, Nathaniel Garro, who rallied his company and escaped with other surviving loyalists from Isstavan III, returning to Terra and warning them of Horus's betrayal. Another example is Iacton Qruze, the only member of the Sons of Horus to remain loyal to the Emperor and survive the Horus Heresy (both of these marines are rumored to have formed the core of what would become the Imperial Inquisition). However, these loyalist survivors are rare, as they are usually outnumbered and slaughtered by their corrupted brethren. However, the few loyalists that do survive when a chapter falls are amongst the most skilled warriors in the Imperium.

In the fictional universe of Warhammer 40,000, the Sisters of Battle, also known as the Adepta Sororitas, are female warriors belonging to the "Ecclesiarchy", the religious arm of the Imperial government. The Sisters devotedly serve the Emperor of Mankind. They enforce the Imperial religion, seeking out and destroying heretics that defy the Emperor's Will.

They were officially founded in 36th Millennium by the Ecclesiarch Alexis XXII as Ordes Militant.[1] In the 2nd edition of the game they were a standalone army, but, like the Grey Knights, the 3rd edition codices saw them joined to an Inquisitorial force. They now comprise the Chamber Militant of the Ordo Hereticus, "Witch Hunters", which is tasked with hunting down and destroying heretics and unsanctioned psychics (commonly known as "rogue psykers" or "witches"). As such, the Sisters are found within Codex: Witch Hunters.[2] The Sisters of Battle are also a playable race in the Dawn of War real-time strategy game, as part of the Soulstorm expansion.

Though not surgically enhanced or cybernetically upgraded like the Space Marines, they do wear similar power armor and have the same general unit set-up, although they tend to prefer heat- and flame-based weapons, because of the 'purifying' effect of fire, inspired mainly by the popular portrayal of the Emperor as a cleansing fire. This creates an interesting situation as the sororitas lean towards two extremes of weapon types: melta weapons for anti-tank and flame weapons for anti-infantry, both of which being heat based guns. Also, like their male counter-parts, they wear the marking determined by their designation, which are Orders instead of Chapters.

As they lack the extensive biological/technological upgrades that turn an ordinary human male into a superhuman Space Marine, they cannot be considered to be in the same class of "supersoldier" in terms of combat ability and endurance, though their armor and weapons are well beyond those of other "normal" humans, such as the Imperial Guard. They also gain powerful faith-based abilities to help them combat their foes.

Along with physical changes, each order has its own specific color scheme and symbols:[2]

The Sisters of Battle were introduced as a playable army in 1997, having only been seen before in pictures. They have recently been given a minor facelift and their army list has been expanded and incorporated into Codex Witch Hunters. Due to their similarities to the Adeptus Astartes, they are afforded much equipment similar to their male counterparts'. They are, however, less resilient than the Space Marines but cost less to compensate. Their organization is also quite similar to the Astartes, being led by a commander, and having many varied tactical based squads.[2]

As members of the Witch Hunters, the Sisters of Battle are able to field either an Inquisitor or an Adepta Sororitas Heroine. The Heroines are faithful characters (Canoness adds two faith points, Palatine adds one) and are able to be joined with a retinue of Celestians.

They are allowed to bring Priests (HQ characters that don't count as a choice), Arco-flagellants (Elite choice heretics who have been "brain scrubbed" and re-programmed for combat), Celestians (Elite choice veterans that contribute a faith point), Sisters Repentia (Elite choice Sisters trying to redeem "slights" of faith) or Assassins of the Officio Assassinorum (elites).

Battle Sisters make up the bulk of a Sisters of Battle Army. However, since they are connected to Witch Hunters, they may field Inquisitorial Storm Troopers, Inducted Imperial Guardsmen, or Grey Knights using the "by the authority of the Immortal Emperor of Mankind" rule.[2][3]

Their Fast Attack units are the Seraphim, and Dominion squads. The Seraphim are stronger sisters who are given jump packs and represent an angelic presence in battle (giving bonuses to allies and a faith point). The Dominion Squads are an additional Fast Attack unit that rides a transport into combat.[4]

The Retributor squads are Sisters of Battle armed with heavy weapons.

The Sisters of Battle have access to the widespread Rhino transport. However, they do not have access to other Marine vehicles such as Bikes, Land Speeders, Land Raiders, Razorbacks, Predators, Vindicators or Whirlwinds.

Sisters have two unique Rhino variants. The first known as the Immolator, which is similar to the Razorback in reducing transport capacity for additional weaponry, but the Immolator is armed with twin-linked heavy flamers, twin-linked heavy bolters, or twin-linked multi-meltas. The Sisters' other variant is the Exorcist, similar in some ways to the Space Marines' Whirlwind; the Exorcist is a multiple missile-launching platform that fires deadly salvos of Exorcist Missiles. The Exorcist, however, requires line of sight and is much more suitable for destroying enemy vehicles due to the high strength of its missiles and the variable number of shots. Along with its increased front armour, this renders the vehicle more suited to the role taken by the Predator in Space Marine armies - its similarity to the Whirlwind is purely cosmetic.

Dreadnoughts are also unavailable, but with the help of a priest the Sisters of Battle can request the use of Penitent Engines, Dreadnought-esque machines that are cheaper but weaker than their space marine counterparts. Penitent engines are also just as uncontrollable as Chaos Dreadnoughts.

They also lack the heavy armoured tanks of the Space Marines: such vehicles like the Whirlwind and Vindicator have no direct tactical equivalent, while the nigh supreme Land Raider is almost completely forgotten, unless taken as a dedicated transport for an inquisitor. However, Rough Riders and Leman Russ Battle Tanks may be added if their equivalent inducted force is added using the "by the authority of the Immortal Emperor of Mankind" rule. If no actual Sisters units are included in the army, Predators, Whirlwinds, Dreadnoughts, Bikes, Land Speeders and Land Raiders may be added to the army as allies using the same rule.[2]

The Adepta Sororitas has its origins on the world of San Leor. An order known as the Daughters of the Emperor, an all-female cult dedicated to worship of the Emperor, had been discovered there by members of the Ecclesiarchy. Goge Vandire, the High Lord of the Administratum (and also Ecclesiarch of the Adeptus Ministorum), decided to pay a visit to San Leor and recruit the Daughters into his own private army. The Daughters, at first, refused to accept his authority. Vandire decided to show them that he was blessed by the Emperor - he instructed a soldier in his entourage to shoot him, which after a brief hesitation, he did. However, thanks to the protective field generated by the Rosarius of the Ecclesiarch (which no one but Vandire himself was aware of), Vandire was not harmed. The Daughters took this to be a sign, and swore allegiance to Vandire virtually on the spot. They became the Brides of the Emperor, and were Vandire's most loyal followers.[2]

During the Siege of the Ecclesiarchal Palace, the Adeptus Custodes, the praetorians of the Emperor himself, tried to approach the Brides and convince them of Vandire's treachery. In a last ditch effort to convince them, the Custodes took Alicia Dominica, leader of the Brides, and her chosen bodyguards deep into the Imperial Palace where they stood before the Emperor himself. What happened there remains unknown - Dominica and her companions were sworn to secrecy - but it became clear that the Brides, who reverted to the title of Daughters of the Emperor, had been awakened to the evil that Vandire represented. Marching into his audience chamber, Dominica paused only to condemn Vandire for his crimes before she beheaded the power-crazed dictator.[5] Reportedly, Vandire's final words were "I don't have time to die - I'm too busy!"

After this episode, the Decree Passive was proclaimed by newly appointed Ecclesiarch Sebastian Thor, forbidding the Ecclesiarchy from having any men under arms. Under the literal interpretation of the decree however, the Adepta Sororitas were not obligated to disband because the decree made no mention of "women under arms." Thor, recognizing the need for the Ecclesiarchy to have some kind of force and internal regulator, allowed them to remain, even if the spirit of the decree was rather blatantly disregarded.[2]

When Thor first took over, there were only 4,000 Daughters of the Emperor, but this quickly expanded to over 10,000 after the Adepta Sororitas (Sisters of Battle) was founded. It was his successor, Alexis the XII, who divided the Sisters into two home worlds and four Orders Militant led by Alicia Dominica and three of her companions who wanted to lead their sisters into battle. The last two major Orders Militant were created two and a half Millennia later in honor of the last of Alicia Dominica's companions. Their Orders were later expanded to hold more than 15,000 Sisters, but their current standing places each Order with no more than 7,000 members.[1]

Today, the Sisters of Battle are spread across the galaxy in their various conflicts; however, two locations (Terra and Ophelia VII) are held as more sacred than all others and are home to most of the Orders' convents. Ophelia VII is the Oldest Cardinal World and home of the Synod Ministra. As Terra is covered with administrative buildings, Ophelia VII is covered with Cathedrals and places of worship. Beneath these buildings are vast prisons that hold heretics ready to confess and repent for their sins.[5]

A few of the Orders fought at the Third Armageddon War, but it was the Order of our Martyred Lady who largely represented the Sisters of Battle in the Armageddon sector. It was they who were the sole protectors of the Ecclesiarchy and the faithful of Hive Tempestora during the Third Armageddon War. Their base of operations was the Sanctorum of St. Katherine in Hive Tempestora, which became the centre for Ecclesiarchal activities on Armageddon and thus, refuge of the faithful from invaders.[6]

Hive Tempestora was assaulted during the Third Armageddon war by a surprise assault of Orks emerging from the Boiling Sea. The Sisters were the defense for Hive Tempestora, but the surprise and size of the Ork attack caught the Imperial forces unawares. This allowed the Orks to quickly steal control from the Sisters.

The Sisters were forced further into tunnels of the Hive with each attack by the Orks. When the Orks reached the heart of the Hive, the Imperial command structure began to break down as the hordes rapidly pushed on. Several units were dispatched to defend areas which had already been overrun and the few Hive militia they could rally proved to be ineffective against the Orks. They fought a losing battle until they were eventually forced against the great armoured doors of the Sanctorum.[6]

Here, the Sisters could not retreat any further and it was their duty to defend their sanctuary with their lives. The Order rallied against the Orks and called for every member of the Ecclesiarchy to fight and die in defense of Armageddon's most holy site. It was a battle of attrition and with the sheer weight of numbers the Orks gradually overwhelmed the Sisters. It was a charge by Warboss Nargrim and his elite Nobz that caused the Sister's line to crumble. The lines of Sisters, broken and scattered, attempted to form up again but were readily cut down by the huge tide of Orks. After just hours since the initial invasion by the Orks, no human was left alive inside Hive Tempestora and corpses stained the sacred ground.

With the massive destruction at Tempestora, reminiscent of the Tyranids' destruction of the Ultramarines at Ultramar, the Order of Our Martyred Lady was devastated and left with less than three companies upon Armageddon. The loss of Tempestora's Sanctorum devastated the morale of the Sisterhood, and they fought to recover from such a dishonor. Though they lost greatly at the beginning of the campaign, their aid was essential in the final defense of the planet.[6]

On the other side of Armageddon, the Order of the Argent Shroud, with its five companies under the leadership of Canoness Carmina, were used by General Kurov in the Fire Deserts during the war. They later joined with their fellow Sisters to retake the Holy Sanctorum and restore their lost honor.

In the beginning, there were only four Orders Militant created by Sister Alicia Dominica and her three fellow Crusading Sisters: Sister Silvana, Sister Lucia, and Sister Katherine.[2][1]

Then mid 38th Millennium, two Orders were added by Ecclesiarch Deacis VI. The Order of the Bloody Rose was created to honor Sister Mina and the Order of the Sacred Rose was created to honor Sister Arabella. Although neither Sister Mina or Sister Arabella led their fellow Sisters into battle, they were martyred just the same and honored as such.

Later, Orders were created to deal with non-combatant roles. They were the Orders Hospitaller (dealing with medical aid and purification of the body), Orders Famulous (dealing with law, diplomacy and relations between the Ecclesiarchy and the Imperium), and Orders Dialogous (dealing with research, preaching, and communication). Blind also makes references to Orders Pronatus (dealing with the recovery of holy relics). These are very small Orders, with the only Order Pronatus mentioned being the Order of the Eternal Gate.

These six sisters are Alicia Dominica and her faithful companions who joined her in witnessing the Truth of the Golden Throne. They are the founders of the Sisters of Battle and are the most sacred Saints of the Adepta Sororitas.[1]

After Vandire's Reign of Blood, Alicia continued battling against heresy along with Sister Silvana, Sister Mina, Sister Lucia, Sister Katherine and Sister Arabella, her loyal Sisters from before the Golden Throne incident.[2]

It was under her command that the Sororitas was formed as a Chamber Militant and later joined with the Witch Hunters. She, along with her loyal Sisters (the previous listed Silvana, Mina, Lucia, Katherine and Arabella) were named Living Saints and headed an order of their own.

After several centuries, Alicia finally fell in battle. However, it was recorded that she was shot hundreds of times before a lasgun finally found a weakness in her armor. The symbol of Dominica's Order is the ebon skull chalice that was part of her vision from her experience at the Golden Throne, but few beyond those original Sisters know what the symbol actually means.[4]

Saint Katherine was Alicia Dominica's Second in Command and founded the Order of the Fiery Heart. The Order was named based on her fierce personality and her intense desire to destroy heretics. She led her Sisters across the Galaxy spreading the Imperial faith, and eventually visited the world of Sanctus Lys where she hid her golden power armor and The Ardent Blade that was later recovered by Saint Celestine. When Katherine was martyred by a cult of heretics, her order was renamed as the Order of Our Martyred Lady due the deep mourning of her fellow Sisters.[4]
Sister Silvana

Saint Silvana was the leader of the Order of the Argent Shroud. She was one of the first Sisters to lead crusades in the name of the Emperor. Her death came at the hand of an assassin, but her body mysteriously vanished. In its place was a silver duplication of her bones which became the most sacred symbol to the Order of the Argent Shroud and its namesake.[4]
Sister Mina

Saint Mina had a reputation for being fierce, mysterious, and deadly in battle. She was murdered by a blood cult, whose agents had attacked her while praying. Her body was found along with the shrine, covered in the blood and the corpses of twenty of her attackers. Her symbol, the red rose, represents her strong character and her final death. Thus, the Order of the Bloody Rose was created to honor her spirit and her martyrdom.[4]
Sister Lucia

Saint Lucia bravely led the Order of the Valorous Heart. She was the youngest of Alicia Dominica's companion. She was martyred after her capture by a cult that tortured her before her death. Without Lucia's knowledge, a group of her fellow sisters were also captured, but not one of them gave into the pain. Their silence, along with Lucia's, who was under the greatest torture, gave the order their name.
Lucia is commonly depicted with a drop of blood running down her cheek. Sometimes, she is represented with Vandire's severed head, that they received after Dominica executed him. All of this reinforces her image of the ideal Battle Sister.[4]
Sister Arabella

Sister Arabella was later Martyred and the Order of the Sacred Rose was made in her honor. There is not much information about Arabella or the situation surrounding her Martyrdom.[4]

Saint Celestine

Saint Celestine, the Hieromartyr of the Palatine Crusade, was a Sister Repentia serving the Order of Our Martyred Lady. During fighting at the capital of Eurytion, an apostate world involved in the Palatine Crusade, she fought with great valor, but later was struck down. As the fighting was ended and lost, her body was recovered and taken back with the other Sisters. According to witnesses, "she accounted for over one hundred schismatics during the assault, her Eviscerator cleaving them into ragged chunks as she and her sisters screamed for absolution".[2] The next day, Celestine rose from apparent death and was apparently unharmed. Under her lead, the capital fell that day and the Crusade was soon continued with new vigor.
Before attacking the Palatine's capital world, Celestine went to the world of Sanctus Lys and entered into a place called the Shrine of the Fiery Heart. When she returned, she was armored in golden artificer armor (Armour of Saint Katherine) and carried a bright blade (the Ardent Blade). Her new appearance, combined with the other miracles, caused Lord Ansgar and other Thorians to declare her as a Living Saint. This would not last, because she was assumed to be destroyed when the renegade Warmaster Forrax caused the explosion of his palace after coming under attack by the Adepta Sororitas.
Saint Praxedes

Saint Praxedes of Ophelia VII, former Canoness in the Order of Our Martyred Lady fought in the Second Tyrannic War (against the Hive Fleet Kraken) on the Cardinal World of Okassis. She led the Caladenian Imperial Guardsmen with her Sisters into battle and singlehandedly defeated a Hive Tyrant. After buying enough time to allow those of the world to escape, all contact was lost and she was honored as a Martyr for her valiant effort.[1]
Helena the Virtuous

Although not a Saint, Helena is renowned among the Adepta Sororitas and, as a Prioress, is a member of each of the Orders Militants. She began as a member of the Order of the Key and rose to the position of Canoness. Because of her remarkable faith and her calm demeanor, she is revered among the Sisters and the Ecclesiarchy as a great leader.[1]
Saint Anais

Saint Anais was the saint that fought alongside the Sisters of Battle in the RTS-game Soulstorm. She appeared only when an opposing faction attacked the Adepta Sororitas headquarter.

Ephrael is the main character of Daemonifuge, a graphic novel by Kev Walker. She was a Seraphim ranked Sister for the Order of Our Martyred Lady. Mysteriously, she was the sole survivor out of 1,200 that was sent to the planet Parnis. Inquisitor Silas Hand originally was sent to identify if she was tainted by Chaos. This led to no conclusion, and Hand was forced to return with her to the planet Parnis. During the return, their vessel's navigator was possessed by Chaos and destroyed their ship, the Hammer of Thor. Escaping, both Hand and Stern were able to land upon the surface. However, they soon confronted the Daemon Asteroth. Only Stern managed to live through the battle, and she is now hunted by the Ordo Malleus.[7]

Celestian Miriya is the main character of Faith and Fire, a novel by James Swallow.[8] She is a member of the Order of the Martyred Lady. It was her duty to transport a psyker, Torris Vaun, after he was captured. Nevertheless, mid-transport of the prisoner aboard the ship Mercutio, they were attacked by traitors on the ship. Vaun was freed and Miriya's fellow Sister, Lethe Catena, was killed.

Continuing onto her destination of Neva, Miriya was forced the capital Noroc to account for failure of delivering the prisoner by Lord Deacon Viktor LaHayn. LaHayn demanded Miriya to suffer for her actions. It would be her duty to find Vaun. After much searching, Vaun later made himself known when he, leading a group of criminals, attacked and kidnapped the Governor, Emmel. It was Miriya who later allowed him to escape as Vaun's allies destroyed everything they could, including the Nova's Cathedral.

When the Chaos finally settled, it was apparent that LaHayn was not all he claimed to be. After much research, Miriya's allies unraveled the plot that involved the freeing of Vaun and the connection to LaHayn. With accusations flying, the planet erupted into war and the Sisters of Battle were brought in full force. After much destruction and warfare, Miriya finally managed to capture Vaun. It was with his interrogation that a greater plot was revealed; Vaun was a product of experimentation on psykers.

Miriya, Verity (her vital assistant), and the fellow Sisters Cassandra and Isabel uncovered and destroyed this plot, ending such heretical influences; however, because of the methods used by Miriya and of the original ordeal with Vaun, she was relieved of her position as a Celestian elite and was reduced to a line rank Sister of Battle by Canoness Galatea. It is not known what has happened to her since.

Sister Julien is a veteran Celistian in charge of the Sororitas novitiates in the schola progenium on Perlia and a colleague and friend of commisar Ciaphas Cain, in Cain's Last Stand. She was a skilled and experienced card player as well as a warrior, and a Battle sister who did know how to enjoy herself by enjoying drinking and had a lover, for the Sororitas does not actually ask its member to remain celibate

The Sisters bear a resemblance to several knightly orders from Medieval Europe, and have a strong Gothic feel. Many of their heroines have the personae and attitude of Joan of Arc (especially in Martyrdom and Sainthood). Being an elite army of female zealots, they also bear some resemblance to the Fish Speakers from Frank Herbert's Dune universe, although they notably lack the superhuman speed and training that the Fish Speakers are known for.

The design of the models themselves have a strong fire motif, which may have came from the fact that fire has been seen as something that can cleanse the impure. They also take the Gothic appearance of the Imperium to the extreme: the Exorcist tank is shaped like an organ on treads. Forge World produces alternate versions of their tanks, which have a more "military" and less gothic look.

In the fictional universe of Warhammer 40,000, the Imperial Navy is one of the armed forces of the Imperium of Man.

Despite a relative inferiority in technology compared to many alien navies in the Warhammer 40K universe (notably the Eldar Craftworld's and the Necron Tomb Fleets) the Imperial Navy's large numbers and complex organizational infrastructure allow it to compete with the many alien races which threaten the Imperium.

While the Imperial Guard is responsible for the Imperium's ground forces, the Imperial Navy is responsible for the fleets of starships that are tasked with the defence of worlds, protection and escort of shipping routes, the transport of the Imperial Guard and the engagement of hostile ships (through fleet actions) and worlds (through bombardment and/or Exterminatus).

During the Great Crusade, both the Guard and Navy were originally a single organization: the Imperial Army. Normally each Imperial Cruiser would have a single Guard Regiment assigned to it. Commanding Officers held command over both their regiment and the warship assigned to them, making a single warship tactically flexible and minimizing the losses in the event of the loss of a spaceship in the Warp.

During the Horus Heresy, however, it appeared that some regiments used the power at their disposal in order to forge empires for themselves in the fire of anarchy. This led to the eventual split between Guard and Navy, as Roboute Guilliman, Primarch of the Ultramarines Legion, wrote the Codex Astartes which ordered that spaceships will no longer be commanded by officers of the former Imperial Army (now Imperial Guard

Fleets of the Imperial Navy are made up of multiple vessels that can be divided into three broad categories: battleships and grand cruisers, cruisers and light cruisers, and escorts (frigates, destroyers, etc). The actual size of starships in the Warhammer 40,000 universe is debated; however it is worth noting that the upper size of an Imperial Escort mentioned is 30 kilometers from the Black Library story Wolf Pack by Gordon Rennie, though the HDMS Lord Solar Macharius from Rennie's novel Execution Hour is noted to be just 3 kilometers long. The general consensus in many novels is that escort vessels are anywhere between 750 meters and 2 kilometers in length, light and standard cruisers are anywhere between 2500 and 3500 meters, grand cruisers anywhere between 3000 and 4500 meters, and battleships range from 4500 to 6000 meters, with certain rare vessels exceeding this range. (An example would be Warmaster Horus' flagship, which was noted in the Horus Heresy series as being nearly 15 km long.) The general aspect ratio of standard imperial ships of cruiser or greater size average 1/6th (prow) to 1/5th (stern) of the total length of the vessel in height. This excludes the large number of prominences such as sensor arrays and additional decking which tend to exceed this height amidships. Overall, a 6 km long grand cruiser would have an average height of approximately 1 km.

Battleship
Battleships are huge starships, with enormous numbers of weapons and shields, and usually serve as the flagship for the Admiral of the Fleet, though this is not always necessarily the case. Although very powerful, battleships are slow to maneuver. Battlefleet Gothic employs two main classes

Other Segmentae battlefleets may rely on yet other classes, but the Emperor and more recent Retribution are by far the most common in the Imperial Navy. Imperial battleships can have crews of anywhere between 25,000 to 3,000,000 or more depending on sources, including large numbers of Imperial Navy armsmen (marines in modern parlance) to defend against enemy boarding assaults. Battleships can be up to 8 kilometers from prow to stern and displace billions of tons. Because they represent such a vast expenditure of resources and require a fairly advanced technical base, these are typically constructed only in the largest shipyards above the major Adeptus Mechanicus forge worlds. These vessels are precious assets and are carefully husbanded, usually employed in only larger fleet formations.

Grand Cruiser
Grand cruisers are smaller than battleships, yet larger than cruisers. These vessels are usually much older in design and do not incorporate many of the features that are typical in current Imperial Navy vessels, like the armored prow, and are not quite compatible with current navy tactical doctrine. As such, many are retired from active duty, but are still used by reserve fleets.

The Avenger, with its powerful broadside firepower, is one such example.
There are also some modernized versions of grand cruisers in service, but since these are much larger and more heavily-armed than their predecessors, they are more often classed as battleships. These kinds of vessels are usually purpose-built or modified from battlecruiser hulls and are not commonly encountered in the Imperial Navy.

Cruiser
Cruisers make up the majority of a fleet. Though not as powerful as a battleship, cruisers are much faster and can still deliver a deadly blow as well as carrying regiments of Imperial Guard. There are multiple classes of cruiser, most based on the same general hull design but incorporating different combinations of broadside batteries, lance turrets and starfighter hangars. Examples include:

Cruisers can carry a crew complement of anywhere between 10,000-1,000,000 (including Imperial Navy armsmen and military police squads), depending on sources. While cruisers are still particularly complex, it is not uncommon for them to be constructed on smaller forge worlds or any civilized world that has a shipyard suitable for constructing vessels of their size. Of particular note was the Lunar cruiser Lord Daros, constructed in orbit above the feral world of Unloth in eleven years by relying on the forced labor of most of that planet's population for materials.

A note on Imperial ship classes - while naval warships can be defined along a fairly limited number of classes based on weapon configurations approved by the Adeptus Mechanicus, the form these vessels take varies widely throughout the Imperium. For example, a Lunar cruiser constructed above Cypra Mundi in Segmentum Obscuras may bear little resemblance to a Lunar cruiser constructed above Kar Durniash in Ultima Segmentum and even less so to a Lunar constructed among the vast shipyards of Mars. Nonetheless, they will all have roughly the same operating characteristics and weapons configuration, and thus can be easily serviced by any orbital facility throughout Imperial space.

Note there are also classes of battlecruisers. Although based on a hull-design that is similar to the regular cruisers, these ships are generally somewhat larger and more heavily armed, incorporating more advanced power distribution systems capable of supporting battleship-grade weaponry in a cruiser hull. A notable example is the Mars-class battlecruiser, with its fighter bays, broadside batteries, dorsal lance turrets and an immense, prow-mounted Nova Cannon capable of attacking targets at extremely long range.

A subset of the cruiser category are the light cruisers. These ships fall in size between cruisers and escorts, mixing the firepower and durability of the former with the speed and maneuverability of the latter. The Dauntless is a very common light cruiser class in the Imperial Navy. Extremely self-sufficient, it is fast and has enough firepower to be a threat to both escorts and capital ships. There are other classes in common use in the Imperial Navy, most notably the Endeavour class, which serves in varied forms and hull types throughout the Imperium. Light cruisers are a fairly common ship class, for they are relatively simple to construct for being a capital ship, and they are uniquely suited for reconnaissance patrols and for making a presence where their speed and maneuverability are an advantage, and where having a larger number of smaller hulls allows the Navy to monitor a wider area of space.

Ironclad
Ironclads, much like their contemporary counterparts, are vast 8-kilometer vessels which lack the void shielding of their counterparts in favor of meters of adamantium plate armor. These ships, built before the advent of void-screen technology, have since been phased out of production, for the main part, to be replaced by more modern designs. However, those remaining in service have been recommissioned for a variety of purposes; various pattern ironclads may be retrofitted with gargantuan, ship-, station- and even planet-killer cannon running the entire length of the ship's keel, linked directly to the stern fusion reactors; others may simply be braced and reinforced for the purpose of ramming into - and through - enemy vessels. These ships are rare in the Imperial Navy, due to their archaic design and the lack of facilities still capable of repairing, let alone producing them.

Escort ship
Escort ships are the smallest type of ship in the Imperial Navy fleets, found in two distinct sub-classes. The larger of the two are frigates, which are better armed and more heavily armored. Destroyers are generally smaller, but they are by far the fastest and most maneuverable interstellar warships employed by the Imperial Navy. They are usually organized in squadrons of 2 to 6 vessels and will always operate as a group. The main task of the escort ships is to serve as a screen for capital ships against enemy torpedoes and attack crafts so that they can get into position more quickly and safely. They are also employed behind the gun line to finish off enemy cruisers that have been damaged so that the larger vessels can concentrate on the most important threats in an enemy formation. Most escort classes specialize in a certain role, such as:

A Battlebarge is a Space Marine ship that is dedicated to the transportation of a chapter's warriors. Battlebarges are outfitted for orbital assaults and establishing a foot hold on the planet for the Space Marine forces. Because of this, much of their deck space is taken up by living quarters for Space Marines and storage of drop pods and vehicles. Although primarily geared towards planetary invasion support, the Battlebarge is also formidable in space battles, where it uses its numerous torpedo tubes to great advantage.

The Imperium is divided into five "Segmenta": Solar, Obscurus, Pacificus, Tempestus and Ultima. Every ship of the Imperial Navy is assigned to one of these Segmenta, and falls under the command of the respective Lord High Admiral.

In turn, each Segmentum is divided into "sectors", regions of space that are generally cube-shaped and contain 8 million cubic light years of space. These sectors contain multiple sub-sectors, collections of star systems no more than twenty light years in radius. The ships of each Segmentum are divided amongst the sectors. These Battlefleets are assigned the task of safeguarding the sector they are assigned to, each Battlefleet is generally named after the sector it is assigned to (Battlefleet Gothic is located in the Gothic sector, Battlefleet Cadia is located in the Cadian sector, etc).

Each Battlefleet is assigned a number of cruisers and battleships, usually between fifty and seventy-five vessels. The Battlefleets are also assigned multiple squadrons of escort starships, and is also in command of a large number of transports, messenger craft, orbital defenses, space platforms and system patrol vessels. The ships of a Battlefleet must constantly patrol their sector and fulfill a variety of roles; protect merchant shipping from pirates, transport Imperial Guard regiments to warzones, escort Adeptus Mechanicus Explorator fleets and provide orbital support for invading or defending armies.

Because of the vast space that requires policing, the Battlefleet is normally split into detachments consisting of one or two cruisers, accompanied by a squadron of escorts. If a particular situation is more than a detachment can handle, additional detachments are called in to reinforce.

On occasion, a Battlefleet can be formed to operate in a smaller area. Battlefleet Armageddon is assigned solely to the Armageddon sub-sector, and, prior to the Third War for Armageddon, was made up of four battleships, twenty-seven cruisers and thirty six squadrons of escorts. Battlefleet Solar is assigned specifically to the Solar System, and is primarily charged with defending the two holy worlds of Terra and Mars.

Many Imperial Navy capital starships are capable of carrying starfighter squadrons. These are used in a variety of roles, from small fighters providing defense against torpedo salvos and attacks from other fighters, to heavy bombers packing anti-ship ordnance. The largest battleships and heavy cruisers are known to have launch bay capacities of up to 2,000 fighter craft, bombers and dropships.

The Fury Interceptor is the most common starfighter used by the Imperial Navy for space combat. With some variants reaching 60 to 70 meters in length, the Fury is significantly larger than most atmospheric fighters, and carries a pilot, navigator and gunner. On occasion, an Astropath psyker will also be aboard, to provide greater communications capability. The Fury's reinforced hull contains an extensive network of circuitry and life-support systems, and even has a small chemical toilet and sleeping compartment for the crew. Furies are normally equipped with multiple forward-firing banks of lascannons and anti-starfighter missiles. An average carrier can carry two thousand Furies (although most will carry less as to increase their capacity to carry more Starhawks and Atmospheric craft), split into fighter wings of roughly 15 interceptors each.

Starhawk bombers are larger, slower craft, designed to carry a heavy payload of plasma bombs and armor-piercing missiles for use against enemy capital ships. Crewed by a pilot, co-pilot, tech-priest (plus acolytes), various turret gunners and a logistics officer, a standard Starhawk features limited sleeping quarters, chemical toilets and even an automated medical unit inside its hull. Armed with a multitude of short-range turret-mounted defense weapons, used to fend off enemy starfighters, a lone Starhawk can wreak havoc among enemy fighter squadrons before swooping in to deliver a crippling missile strike on an enemy capital ship. On rare occasions, Starhawks can be modified to carry and launch a very small number of anti-starship torpedoes. A standard Carrier can carry between one and two thousand Starhawks, split into bomber wings of about 10 starbombers each.

As part of the post-Heresy reorganization, all aviation capability was assigned to the Imperial Navy and the imperial guard regiments that were important enough. No Imperial Guard regiment (with the exception of the Phantine Air Corps and possibly others) has access to atmospheric fightercraft, and the assistance of the Imperial Navy is required when air support is needed for a campaign.

For atmospheric fighter combat, the two workhorses of the Imperial Navy are the Lightning strike fighters and the Thunderbolt heavy fighter. The Lightning is the faster and more maneuverable of the two, but cannot carry as many weapons as the Thunderbolt, and are considerably more lightly armored. Lightnings are often used as reconnaissance aircraft and interceptors, while Thunderbolts are mainly assigned to an air superiority role. Both are equipped with vector-thrust capability. As well as being a atmospheric fighter, the Lightning is also used as a space interceptor. Capable of far better maneuvering and speed than the Fury, it is still mostly inferior to its larger cousin since it (due to its size) lacks the number of weapons as well as the staying power of the Fury.

Marauder bombers are huge aircraft, capable of carrying 10,000 kilograms of ordnance. Each Marauder possesses a massive bomb bay and missile racks along the wings, along with a pair of lascannons and two pairs of heavy bolters for defense against enemy fighters. Marauders were the Imperial Navy's original space-borne bomber craft before their replacement by the equally large, but more advanced and heavily armed Starhawk bomber. The Marauder is also equipped with vector-thrust.

For close support, the Imperial Navy has access to Valkyrie transports and the Vulture gunship. These aircraft are not true flight craft, instead using vectored thrust to travel quickly at low altitudes. Unlike most Navy aircraft, they are sometimes directly assigned to specialized Imperial Guard regiments, such as the Elysian Drop Troopers.

Weapons Batteries usually are the primary armament for most warships. Since each battery consists of numerous banks of individual weapons, whole sections of the ship's hull can be covered by gun ports, launcher systems, turrets and weapon housings. The weapons employed vary immensely: plasma projectors, close-range missile launchers, laser cannons, rail guns, fusion beamers and graviton pulsars have been found on Imperial ships. These batteries fire in coordinated salvos, to increase the chances to hit and amount of damage done to a target.

Lances are energy weapons of extreme power. Usually mounted in large and heavily armored turrets, lances use triple or even quad energy projectors to focus its energy into a concentrated beam, capable of burning through even the most armored hull and cutting smaller vessels in half. These batteries have been described in various sources as being able to "level continents."

Torpedoes are long-range missiles carried by many Imperial Navy vessels. From ~60 feet (on destroyers) to ~200 feet (on cruisers) to ~300 feet (on battleships) in length, these weapons are powered by a plasma reactor which also doubles as its warhead. Once launched, the plasma drive propels the torpedo towards its target, whilst starting an energy build-up that will detonate the projectile once it reaches its target.

Most torpedoes only have limited detection capabilities and will not track and engage its target unless its passes within a few thousand kilometers of the target vessel. Unlike weapons batteries and lances, torpedoes cannot be deflected by a ship's shields - most shields intercept incoming fire based on its speed. Torpedoes travel slow enough (relatively speaking) that shields will not intercept them and they can pass through these powerful energy barriers unimpeded.

Nova Cannons are huge weapons. Normally mounted in the prow of the ship so that the ship's engines can compensate for the recoil, these guns use gravimetric impellers to propel a projectile close to the speed of light. After reaching a preset distance, the projectile implodes with a force potent enough to cripple most vessels and/or damage several at once.

Every Navy vessel is covered with defensive turrets designed specifically to destroy incoming bombers and torpedoes.

Shields are protective energy barriers that allow ships to survive the hostile environment that is space. Shields form an invisible band of energy around the vessel, a variable layer of force that can absorb radiation, interstellar dust, particle showers and weapons hits. Shields have a maximum tolerance and can be overloaded by sustained fire, forcing the generators to shut down to vent off excess energy.

Every spacefaring vessel is equipped with a certain amount of armor, capable of deflecting impacts on the ships' hull. The strength and thickness of the armor varies depending on the ship's size and type - a tiny escort ship will have a ribbed outer hull maybe a foot thick or less, while an 8-kilometer-long Imperial battleship will have three separate, heavily reinforced adamantium hull layers, with a total thickness of dozens of meters. Common among all the ships of the Imperial Navy ranging from frigate to Battleship size is the armored prow, which is massively reinforced and can be hundreds of metres thick on the largest ships as it is also used as a ram prow. It is capable of deflecting all but the most powerful of frontal hits.

Every Imperial ship is equipped with a plasma drive for normal propulsion through the depths of space. Running up to a third of the ship's length, the aft section is a mass of drive tubes, engine compartments and plasma reactors.

Most Navy ships employ warp drives to breach the barrier that separates realspace from the Immaterium and allow for interstellar travel. Implosion of these drives can lead to the creation of a warp rift.

Within the literature of the Warhammer 40k universe the Imperial Navy is often referred to as The Holy Fleet. The Ecclesiarchy preach that the fleet is an extension of the Emperor and is therefore holy. This is due to the intimate relationship between the Navigators who are able to guide the fleet through the warp using the beacon emanating from the Golden Throne and the Astronomican. Whether or not the title applies to all vessels in the Imperium is unclear. The Adeptus Mechanicus would also no doubt consider the vessels themselves holy. However, this is due to their own techno-theological beliefs.

The Imperial Guard are a specific army or faction in the Warhammer 40,000 and Epic tabletop games and universe. The army itself is characterised by being capable of fielding a multitude of lightly-armoured, average infantry in combination with some of the toughest and most powerful tanks in the game.[1] In the game universe, the Imperial Guard is a colossal military organisation consisting of billions of men and women from thousands of different worlds and systems within the Imperium of Man.[2]

The Imperial Guard was first introduced to the game in White Dwarf 109. In May 2009 a new codex was released for the 5th Edition of the game, along with a number of new plastic kits. One such new model is the Valkyrie.

The Imperial Guard (previously the Imperial Army) is a colossal military organisation, consisting of many individual armies throughout the Imperium, and forming the vast bulk of the Imperium's military machine.

Each Imperial Guard regiment is raised from a single world and numbers between five hundred and ten thousand fighting soldiers, supported by a huge array of light and heavy armoured vehicles. Each regiment also has its own entourage, consisting of support staff, camp followers, suppliers, tech-priests, doctors, religious leaders and the like.

Regiments are drawn from all types of planets of the Imperium from Holy Terra to Feral and Medieval worlds, and the contributions of some planets over the ten thousand years of the Imperium runs into the billions, if not more. The Imperial Guard are constantly at war, freeing worlds from Chaotic or alien influence, or defending them from the same. The Imperial Guard rely upon the Imperial Navy for transport to and from warzones.

The first edition of Warhammer 40,000 included rules for a force known as the "Army". Later their name was changed to "Imperial Guard".

The Imperial Guard was initially bound by a series of rules relating to its command structure. Squads of units formed platoons under a command squad. Units that were separated from the command squad were more limited in action. The initial Imperial Army could include, besides the basic squads, Rough Riders (a form of mounted trooper), penal troops, human bombs and Abhumans (see below). Vehicles were limited to Rhinos, and Land Speeders.

The first incarnation of the Imperial Guard as a fully-supported army was in 1995, with the release of the Codex: Imperial Guard sourcebook for the second edition of Warhammer 40,000. This was the first time that the army itself had specific army rules collected in their own sourcebook.[3] With the release of the third edition of the game, almost all the Warhammer 40,000 armies eventually had new codices compatible with the new edition. In line with this, Codex: Imperial Guard was released in 1999,[4] followed by Codex: Catachans in 2001. This was a smaller sourcebook (or mini-dex/mini-codex) that was meant to be used in conjunction with the "parent" Codex: Imperial Guard. The mini-dex itself provided even more specific rules for fielding one of the more popular Imperial Guard sub-armies, the Catachan Jungle Fighters, for which plastic models were available.[5] In 2003, Games Workshop conducted the Eye of Terror worldwide campaign and released a corresponding sourcebook, Codex: Eye of Terror. This campaign sourcebook contained various rules, including a specific army list for another one of the Imperial Guard's notable sub-armies, the Cadian Shock Troops.[6] Soon after the campaign ended, the changes in the Cadian Shock Troops army list were integrated into the Imperial Guard rules, and Games Workshop released a second, revamped version of Codex: Imperial Guard.[1] Following various rumours, White Dwarf 351 confirmed that an updated Imperial Guard codex was being released, along with new rules and miniatures (including the Valkyrie airborne assault carrier, a new Cadian and Catachan command squad and a new sentinel) and was released on May 2 2009.[citation needed]

[edit] Overview

Cadian Shock TroopersBecause of the low in-game points cost of each individual Imperial Guardsman, Imperial Guard armies are capable of fielding a much larger number of troops than most other armies. In addition, they have access to various vehicles, such as the Leman Russ main battle tank, Basilisk mobile artillery, Chimera armoured troop transport and the Sentinel scout (or war) walker.

In the latest Codex, the Imperial Guard "doctrines" were removed, replaced by the "orders" system. Units designated by the "order" must be in a specific distance radius from either a Platoon Officer or an HQ Officer. Benefits are given if the squad has a vox-caster.

In addition to humans, the Imperial Guard also contains several types of abhumans-species evolved from humans that differ markedly from the norm. The two species most commonly found are the Ogryns (the counterpart of the Warhammer Fantasy setting ogres) and the Ratlings (a sub-human that resembles the halfling/hobbit).

One of the more distinctive aspects of the Imperial Guard army is its Commissars. They are represented as akin to the ruthless, obedient political commissars of the Soviet Union.

The Imperial Commissar, as described by many Warhammer novelists, is given complete jurisdiction to judge the actions of any trooper or officer and to act accordingly. An Imperial Commissar's word is immutable law and his visage is one of grim authority that is to be respected and rightly feared, reporting to the Commissariat personally. Many novels also hint that a good portion of the Commissars slain in battle are "accidentally" hit by "friendly fire." There are hints that some Commissars have taken to the tactic of inspiring troops by heroic example, hoping to emulate the "heroic" Commissar Ciaphas Cain.

Main article: Vehicles of the Imperial Guard (Warhammer 40,000)
Some of the major strengths of the Imperial Guard army are their vehicles. From the fragile Sentinel to the devastatingly destructive Leman Russ Demolisher, and many of its new variants released in the new codex, the vehicles of the Imperial Guard can significantly add to their effectiveness as an army.The Imperial Guard are said to have the best tanks in the game; while individual tanks from other armies (such as the Necrons) may sport more firepower or armor than those of the Imperial Guard, but, overall, the Guard has the most powerful armored force. New plastic kits for the hellhounds, leman russ' and basilisks are rumoured to be in production for an august 2009 release.

[edit] Notable regiments
There are around a million worlds contributing Imperial Guard regiments to the Imperium's defence, each world having its own methods of training, its own unique equipment, and its own specialisations. Even so, the regiments of certain worlds stand out, and are renowned throughout the Imperium for their deeds, strengths and methods of combat.

Some examples of exceptional regiments are:

Cadian Shock Troops: Cadians are notable as being the only regiment of the Imperial Guard which is not directly based on a real world historical army. In appearance, Cadians are science fiction rather than historical, and represent the standard Imperial Guard regiments. Cadia, a strategically important planet as it guards the one major stable route through the Eye of Terror, has developed into a heavily fortified world as it must constantly guard against invasions of Chaos forces. Cadian society is heavily militarised, every civilian a trained soldier, with roughly 75% of the planet's population under arms at any one point. The Cadians, to an extent, resemble the Mobile Infantry from the 1997 film Starship Troopers albiet vastly superior.

Mordian Iron Guard: The Mordian Iron Guard are disputably the most ruthlessly efficient Imperial Guard army in the Imperium. Mordian, the Iron Guard homeworld, is known as the World of Eternal Night; due to its slow axial rotation, one half of the planet is constantly burned by sunlight, while the other remains in darkness. The dark half is very densely populated, and food and supplies must be strictly rationed and recycled to allow the populace to survive, although with severe impoverishment. Because of this, the Mordian Iron Guard are often fighting rebellions, quelling uprisings and policing the planet's civilians. The Mordian Iron Guard is highly disciplined and believe in swift precision and are constantly drilling. The Mordian Iron Guard are known for their bright, immaculate, battle dress uniform. Their trappings, combined with their drills and marches, make the Mordian Iron Guard comparable to tin soldiers. The Iron Guard's uniform is comparable to the Prussian uniform of the 19th century, or modern United States Navy formal dress. Because of their appearance, many opponents have made the fatal mistake of underestimating the Mordian Iron Guard, but few live to regret it.

Valhallan Ice Warriors: The Valhallan soldiers are known for their grim resolve and seeming indifference to even the most appalling casualties. Valhalla, the Ice Warrior homeworld, was once a verdant paradise before being struck by a meteor. The meteor did not destroy the planet, but turned it into a harsh world of endless glaciers. The Valhallan Ice Warriors now defend their scarce resources against the rampaging Ork warbands that are eager to steal what little the Valhallan settlers are able to maintain. The Ice Warriors' appearance and character is reminiscent of the Soviet Union soldiers during World War II, and the planet Valhalla and its soldiers are a homage to the ice planet Hoth from the Star Wars franchise.

Tallarn Desert Raiders: The Tallarn Desert Raiders are superb desert strategists, and cunning practitioners of guerrilla warfare. Known and feared for their weapon accuracy, the Tallarn Desert Raiders are just as deadly with swords and daggers as they are with a rifle. The Tallarn are comparable to desert bandits of ancient Arabia, but also soldiers in the North African campaigns of WWII.

Armageddon Steel Legions: Representative of the Imperial Guard's more advanced formations, The Armageddon Steel Legions fight as mechanized infantry within Chimera APCs. Armageddon, a planet blighted and poisoned after centuries of industry, is a manufacturing centre and a constant battlesite between the Steel Legions and countless Ork hordes. The soldiers of the Steel Legions require gas masks and trenchcoats to protect them from their toxic homeworld, but equally require a uniform which emphasizes the technologically advanced society which produced them, and thus have a uniform which is a composite of many elements. Parts of the uniform are drawn from British Infantry uniform in WW1 (coats are modelled on the British 1914 Utility Tunic and Gasmasks are of the 1916 Box-Respirator type) & German Paratroops ( Fallschirmjäger )of WWII (helmet designs). This is contrasted with Steel Legion weapons, which are all much more high tech and more portable than comparable Imperial designs - for example, their rifles are 1/2 the size of Cadian weapons, and have folding wire stocks.

Death Korps of Krieg: Krieg, home of the Death Korps, was once torn apart by a long and bloody rebellion. The planet's governors overthrew the rebels, but only after 500 years of atomic cleansing. The Death Korps are fearless soldiers, fighting the Imperium's enemies forever in order to atone for their planet's past rebellion. The Death Korps are grim fighters, specializing in trench warfare and attrition; they see death as the ultimate penance and a redemption in the eyes of the Emperor. The Korps are share elements with the Steel Legion in terms of appearance (e.g. Gasmasks), but have a repeating skull motif in their equipment that matches their morbid personalities. Their uniforms and equipment draw influences from many combatants in World War I , predominately the French and German armies.

Catachan Jungle Fighters: Experts in jungle warfare and camouflage, the Catachans are the best hunters in the human forces of the Imperium of Man. The Catachans are tough and hostile, even to fellow Imperials. Many Catachan regiments also have a strong dislike of authority; many Commissars dispatched to Catachan units almost never return. The Catachans are based on the US forces in the Vietnam War, and a homage to several movies like Predator and Commando. One Catachan special character, Sly Marbo, is based on Sylvester Stallone's Rambo character.

Praetorians: The Praetorians are brave and disciplined, famous for their unwavering resolution in the darkest times. Praetoria is a world of squalid hive cities, populated by slaves and tyrannical lords. Crimes, no matter how minor, are fiercely punished and so the Praetorian infantry are trained to follow orders without hesitation. Many of the battles involving the Praetorians end with bloody massacres, like the Battle of Big Toof River, but the Praetorians are always remembered for their fighting spirit when all is lost. The Praetorians are reminiscent of colonial forces of the British Empire in the 19th century, and the Battle of Big Toof River is an homage to the film Zulu.

Vostroyan First-born The Vostroyans are one of the oldest Imperial Guard regiments, able to trace their regimental histories back to the Horus Heresy. The Vostroyans have a tradition that the firstborn son of every household will serve in the Vostroyan regiments, hence the name of the Regiments. Vostroyan soldiers and officers retain a very archaic appearance compared to the rest of Imperial Guard. Their weapons are passed down from from firstborn to firstborn and are usually worth more than the guardsmen who carry them. The Firstborn are based in appearance on the real world 18th century Russian Cossacks. Firstborn use long and very ornate rifles, usually with wooden stocks. Officers bear lasguns integrated with axes. Thus, the Vostroyans are probably the regiment most evocative of the "retro-tech" background of Warhammer 40,000, and were originally based on concept sketches by celebrated artist John Blanche.

Tanith First and Only The jungle world of Tanith fostered three Imperial Guard regiments shortly before it was destroyed by Chaos; only a third of these units, primarily their light infantry escaped. As a result, the Tanith First and Only has an extreme hatred for Chaos. The unit was famed for its ability to use camouflage, conduct recon missions, and ambushing their enemies. They were also known by another name based upon the last name of their commander (Colonel-Commissar Ibram Gaunt): Gaunt's Ghosts. Following a siege on the hive world of Verghast, they adopted the survivors of the besieged hive into the First and Only, much to the annoyance of both factions; the original Ghosts didn't care for the new members, and the Verghast felt unappreciated. However, after much work from the senior officers of both and Gaunt, they have been integrated into a full company successfully.

[edit] Video games

Squad of Imperial Guardsmen led by a Commissar in the game Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of WarThe Imperial Guard make several appearances in many of the video games that occur in the Warhammer 40,000 universe.

The Imperial Guard make a guest appearance in the single player campaign of Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War led by Colonel Carus Brom as NPCs and playable units in some missions . They have since been expanded into a playable faction in the expansion pack Winter Assault, with the Cadian 412th Regiment under the command of General Sturnn in the Order Campaign.[7] Additionally, in Dark Crusade, the second expansion pack, the Imperial Guard makes an appearance as the 1st Kronus regiment, "The Liberators", led by Governor-Militant Lukas Alexander with their home territory based out of "Victory Bay."[8]
The Imperial Guard were part of the Imperium's force in Final Liberation: Warhammer Epic 40,000, the other two parts consisting of the Space Marines and the Adeptus Mechanicus Titan legions.[9]
The Imperial Guard also make appearances as opposition in the Warhammer 40,000: Fire Warrior first-person shooter. Among the possible opponents, there are lasgun and autogun-wielding guardsmen, officers with chainswords and a Valkrie Dropship as a boss.[10]
The Imperial Guard has made appearance also in the computer game Warhammer 40,000: Rites of War. Usually used alongside Space Marine forces (much like in the Final Liberation.)
Much like in the original Dawn of War the Imperial Guard (more specifically stormtroopers) make a guest appearance as NPCs in Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War II during several campaign battles, including the ending mission against the Tyranid Hive Tyrant.

In the fictional Warhammer 40,000 setting created by Games Workshop, the Space Marines (or Adeptus Astartes) are elite human soldiers enhanced to superhuman levels through genetic therapy, surgical modifications, and hypnotic indoctrination. The standard Space Marine is the Imperial Space Marine, but several variations exist, such as corrupted Chaos Space Marines and the elite Grey Knights.

Space Marines feature in the table-top wargame, its spin-off games such as Epic and Inquisitor, the computer games including Dawn of War and Fire Warrior, and the novels based on the setting produced by Black Library. Over the years the Space Marine has become an iconic image of the Warhammer 40,000 universe.

Space Marines wear Power Armour, a bulky suit which includes large, rounded shoulder plates, a backpack with side vents, and a full-face helmet. This armour is painted in a variety of different colours, depending on which Chapter a Space Marine belongs to. The Space Marine Codex displays around 30 different official Chapter colour schemes, and the Games Workshop website lists several more[1], but players are not restricted to these and are free to create their own. Common colour schemes include the blue-and-gold Ultramarines, green-and-black Salamanders and red-and-black Blood Angels.

As well as power armour, Space Marines carry weapons known as boltguns or bolters. The other iconic weapon of the army is the chainsword, a weapon which, as its name suggests, incorporates a chainsaw blade into a sword. The majority of Space Marine close combat specialists utilise chainswords as their basic weapon.

Space Marines are a flexible, versatile force, often described as a jack-of-all-trades, master-of-none. They have a solid, all-round statline which makes them better than the average but not exceptional in any one area, except perhaps toughness. The basic unit is the Tactical Marine, armed with the rapid-firing bolter. Space Marine specialist units, such as the Assault or Devastator squads, are distinguished by their weaponry rather than by a change in their statistics - Assault squads are equipped with bolt pistols and chainswords, whilst Devastators carry a number of heavy weapons. The army specialises in close-range firefights with vehicle support, utilising the Rhino APC and its more heavily-armed variants. These elements combine into a flowing, combined-arms style which grants the player a number of tactical choices during gameplay. Even standard Space Marines are armed with relatively good weapons, a selection of grenades and Power Armour, making even the basic Space Marine unit very well equipped even compared to the elite choices in other armies. It is not uncommon for a Space Marine player to be outnumbered due to the relatively high cost of their units, the idea being that one Space Marine is equal to multiple models of almost any other army.

During the Great Crusade, twenty superhuman Primarchs were made by the God-Emperor, using his own genetic material. Before the project was complete, however, the Primarchs were scattered across the galaxy. It is suggested that the Ruinous Powers of Chaos were responsible for this. Each Primarch landed on a different world. Some, such as Horus, were relatively close to Terra (Earth) whilst others ended up far across the galaxy. As the Great Crusade progressed, the Emperor discovered each of the Primarchs in turn. They had universally grown to become heroes on their native planets, and many had adopted local cultural practices. Two of the Primarchs are variously described as having had "tragic accidents" or as simply never having been found; no single official explanation has been published. Each of the rediscovered Primarchs was appointed command of the Space Marine Legion whose members matched their genetic code.

Eventually the Primarch Horus, who had been the Emperor's favoured son and appointed Warmaster when the Emperor retired from the Great Crusade in order to consolidate the rapidly expanding Imperium, was turned to Chaos. This event sparked the Horus Heresy, wherein fully half of the Imperium's forces (including 9 of the Space Marine Legions, described below) joined Horus in a civil war against the Emperor.

After a number of bloody battles, Horus was defeated at the Siege of the Emperor's Palace, and the Emperor consigned to the Golden Throne from which he rules the Imperium to this day. With Horus defeated and the Emperor effectively dead, the Primarch of the Ultramarines, Roboute Guilliman pushed for the adoption of his Codex Astartes as the primary document organising the Space Marines. The remaining loyal Legions were divided into smaller "Chapters" of 1,000 Marines each, in order to prevent a single commander from having as much power as Warmaster Horus. The first Chapter of each of the old Legions retains the name of the founding Legion. All subsequent Chapters gain their own names and are referred to as Successor

The narratives leave two additional unnamed and undescribed First Founding Legions, Legions II and XI. In some literature the missing Primarchs and their Legions are listed as being "Deleted from Imperial records".[1][2] The only information Games Workshop has ever released that directly addresses them, can be found in False Gods, Mechanicum and The Lightning Tower (Dan Abnett).

In the Horus Heresy novel series, Horus, in a Chaos-induced dream sequence, apparently goes back in time and sees the cracked incubation capsule of Primarch XI before the Primarchs are scattered to the warp. He places his hand on XI's capsule and feels "the untapped glories that might have lain ahead for what grew within, but knowing that they would never come to pass."

In the Mechanicum novel, another book in the Horus Heresy series, Rogal Dorn (Primarch of the Imperial Fists Legion) and the Imperial Governor speak of the lost legions, with the Governor telling Dorn "Do not even think of it brother, they are lost to us forever", but provides no further information.

In the audio book The Lightning Tower by Dan Abnett, Primarch Rogal Dorn while constructing the defenses of the Imperial Palace on Earth in preparation for the coming attack by the Traitor Marines is walking through the palace and comes across a corridor showing statues of all 20 Primarchs. The audio book states that 'an accident befell them that may somehow be a precursor of what happened to Horus'.

In the Soul Drinkers series of novels, the Soul Drinkers Chapter is corrupted by Chaos but cannot be counted amongst the Chaos Legions. The Chapter defies and strikes against Chaos but despises the Imperium for its cruelty. The Soul Drinkers consider Chaos to be their primary foe, but the forces of the Imperium will attack them on sight.

However, Games Workshop has explained the game play purpose for these "deleted" Legions: they are available to help those who wish to develop their own, custom Legions. The basic idea is that since there were 20 Legions, and half went to Chaos but half stayed loyal, these two lost Legions would represent the same for "do-it-yourself" forces.

A Space Marine Chapter is described as having a nominal fighting strength of 1,000 Marines, with several times that number of support staff (most of which are normal humans or servitors, rather than actual Space Marines) and initiates in training (which form the 10th 'Scout' Company). A Chapter is divided into 10 semi-autonomous companies made up of roughly 100 men, with each company led by a "Brother-Captain". The First Company is the Veteran Company, composed of 10 squads of 10 Veterans. Companies 2 through 5 are the Battle Companies, composed of 6 10-man Tactical Squads, 2 10-man Devastator Squads, and 2 10-man Assault Squads. The 6th-9th Companies are the Reserve Companies; the 6th and 7th are comprised entirely of Tactical Marines, the 8th of Assault Marines, and the 9th of Devastators. The 10th Company is known as the Scout Company and its numbers vary depending on the number of available initiates.[3] It should be noted that this applies only to those Chapters which follow the tenets of the Codex Astartes. Some Chapters, particularly the Space Wolves, Salamanders and Black Templars, have different organisational practices.

In subsequent millennia, the Imperium has also created new Chapters of Space Marines, there are now roughly one thousand Chapters. These later chapters have appeared in various tie-in products produced by Games Workshop, as well as in works of fiction from The Black Library and the Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War series such as the Blood Ravens.

From an out-of-universe perspective, the numerous undocumented later chapters provide room for official development of the fiction, as well as allowing players to create their own chapters without contradicting established canon.

Inquisitors have been a part of the Warhammer 40,000 universe since the first edition of the game, Rogue Trader. However, they have had a higher profile since the release of the 54 mm miniatures game Inquisitor, which is a narrative game based around warbands which often comprise of an Inquisitor and his henchmen. The creation of Inquisitor was followed by a great deal of information about the Inquisition, and the organization attracted the interest of fans. This led to the creation of Codex: Daemonhunters and Codex: Witch Hunters, both based around armies led by Inquisitors (of the Ordo Malleus and the Ordo Hereticus, respectively). In addition there are online rules for using Deathwatch, the militant arm of the Ordo Xenos and one such Ordo Xenos Inquisitor has been released by Forge World.

In early editions of Warhammer 40,000, the Inquisition was a single, undivided organization, with a single inner order, the Ordo Malleus. The stated purpose of the Ordo was to police the Inquisition itself, but in reality it also existed to combat the threat of Chaos, then a secret hidden from most forces of the Imperium, including non-Malleus Inquisitors.

There were originally only two Orders within the Inquisition, but a third (the Ordo Hereticus) was added after the events of the Age of Apostasy.[1] A further fourth the Ordo Sicarius was formed following the Wars of Vindication.[2]

Within the narrative provided by source books and other media, a number of Inquisitors are considered to be famous. Those include Gideon Ravenor, Ario Barzano who is featured in the book Night Bringer by Graham McNeill, Jaq Draco, the main character in the Inquisition War series, written by Ian Watson, and Gregor Eisenhorn. In the graphic novel Daemonifuge, a graphic novel by Kev Walker, the character Silas Hand features prominently [3].

The development of other characters alludes to important literature works. Fydor Karamazov, Fyodor is known as the Pyrophant Judge of Salem Proctor. This is a reference to Arthur Miller's The Crucible, Proctor being the name of one convicted, yet innocent, witch; and Salem being the puritan township he lived in. His name is a reference to Russian authors Fyodor Dostoevsky's book entitled The Brothers Karamazov whose main characther is named Fyodor Karamazov and, included in the book, is a poem titled The Grand Inquisitor. [4]

[edit] Notable members

[edit] Silas Hand
A heavily armed and armored former psyker, from the graphic novel Daemonfuge, whose clash with the chaos entity Ashteroth composed the climax of the book.

[edit] Gideon Ravenor
Ravenor was a member of the Imperial Inquisition and part of the Ordo Xenos, tasked with keeping humanity safe from unwanted alien influences, although he would eventually find himself collaborating with the Eldar against greater threats to the galaxy. Ravenor's body was woefully crippled, whilst he was still an Interrogator, during the atrocity of the Holy Novena on Thracian Primaris. He suffered 100% burns to his body among other injuries and the only way that medicaes could insert life-support equipment was to slice a hole in Ravenor's flesh where his mouth should have been. He was an apprentice of the infamous Gregor Eisenhorn.

[edit] Gregor Eisenhorn
Inquisitor Gregor Eisenhorn was one of the original characters created for the game. To coincide with the release of the Inquisitor game the Black Library, part of Games Workshop's publishing arm, released a three-volume account of Eisenhorn's life written by successful author, Dan Abnett. The trilogy consisted of the books Xenos (Abnett, 2001a), Malleus (Abnett, 2001b) and Hereticus (Abnett, 2002). The books are named after the three major divisions of the Inquisition, the Ordo Xenos, the Ordo Malleus and the Ordo Hereticus, and the titles also played off the themes of the books themselves.

In the introduction to the Eisenhorn trilogy, Abnett describes how he had become interested in the idea of such a story after seeing early concept art from the Inquisitor game (in particular a piece named "Inquisitor Tannenberg" by the artist John Blanche) and went on to write what many regard as the Black Library's standout series.

The end of the Eisenhorn books was designed to bring the character to the point at which he is described in the Inquisitor rulebook, so that players can then create his further exploits for themselves if they wish. The trilogy has since been re-released as a single compendium volume (Abnett, 2004), complete with the three novels, two connecting short stories, and a foreword by the author.

Although many readers have asked for more Eisenhorn stories, for the moment Abnett is continuing with a spinoff series about Inquisitor Gideon Ravenor, a crippled psychic genius who appeared as a secondary character in the Eisenhorn books. Ravenor does have some contact with Eisenhorn, however, in the short story Thorn Wishes Talon which is found as part of a collection in the book What Price Victory.

[edit] Notes
^ Priestley, Rick (2004). Warhammer 40,000 (4th Edition ed.). Nottingham: Games Workshop. ISBN 1-84154-468-X.
^ Exterminatus Issue 8, Bringers of Death Page 22
^ Walker, Kev (1999). Daemonifuge (1st Edition ed.). Nottingham: Black Library. ISBN 1-84154-117-6.
^ McNeil, Graham; Hoare, Andy, and Haines, Pete (2003). Warhammer 40,000 Codex: Witchhunters (1st Edition ed.). Nottingham: Games Workshop. ISBN 1-84154-485-X.

[edit] References
Abnett, Dan (2001). Malleus. Nottingham: Black Library. ISBN 1-84154-204-0.
Abnett, Dan (2001a). Xenos. Nottingham: Black Library. ISBN 0-7434-1169-2.
Abnett, Dan (2002). Hereticus. Nottingham: Black Library. ISBN 1-84154-236-9.
Abnett, Dan (2004). Eisenhorn. Nottingham: Black Library. ISBN 1-84416-156-0.
Abnett, Dan (2005). Ravenor. Nottingham: Black Library. ISBN 1-84416-073-4.
Abnett, Dan (2005). Ravenor Returned. Nottingham: Black Library. ISBN 1-84416-184-6.
Abnett, Dan (2007). Ravenor Rogue. Nottingham: Black Library. ISBN 1-84416-460-8.
Thorpe, Gav (1999). Warhammer 40,000 Codex: Assassins. Nottingham: Games Workshop. ISBN 1-84154-019-6.
Thorpe, Gav. "Inquistor Rulebook" (PDF). Games Workshop. http://www.specialist-games.com/inquis itor/rulebook.asp. Retrieved on 2006-03-01.
Thorpe, Gav. "The Thorians: Faction Sourcebook" (PDF). Inquistor Rulebook. Games Workshop. http://www.specialist-games.com/inquis itor/rulebook.asp. Retrieved on 2006-03-28.
Watson, Ian (2004). The Inquisition War (1st Omnibus Edition ed.). Nottingham: Black Library. ISBN 1-84416-138-2.