Combined Core Rulebook, Hammer of the Emperor, Shield of Humanity, and my own Homebrew.
When creating a regiment you have 12 points to spend; though you can earn points back from drawbacks.
You must take a Homeworld, Commander. You may then take any combination of Regiment Type, Training Doctrine, and Special Equipment Doctrine. You may only take up to three of the optional doctrines, but are not forced to take any. You can also take a regimental drawback for a creation point refund.
Once all of those options have been selected you choose a Favoured Basic Weapon, and a Favoured Heavy Weapon. Next you pick out Additional Standard Kit from the list, getting 30 points to spend, with an extra 2 points per creation point left over.
Every regiment gets the following as standard basic kit:
1 set of field gear (poor weather gear, rucksack, mess kit and water canteen, blanket and sleep bag, rechargeable lamp–pack, grooming kit, dog tags, Imperial Infantryman’s Uplifting Primer, 2 weeks’ rations) per Player Character
Homeworld or Origins
Home World or Origin | Cost |
---|---|
Agri-World | 3 |
Death World | 3 |
Feral World | 4 |
Feudal World | 3 |
Forge World | 4 |
Fortress World | 3 |
Frontier World | 4 |
Highborn | 3 |
Hive World | 3 |
Imperial World | 1 |
Mining Colony | 3 |
Ogryn World | 5 |
Penal Colony | 2 |
Penitent | 3 |
Post-Cataclysmic World | 3 |
Ratling World | 3 |
Schola Progenium | 3 |
Shrine World | 3 |
The Lathe Worlds | 4 |
Void Born | 3 |
Agri-World
Agri-worlds are the breadbasket of the Calixis Sector. These verdant planets are given over almost entirely to industrialscale agriculture, and are home to massive, city-sized farms and ranches controlled by sector wide agriculture business concerns. They produce the bulk of the Sector’s food, as well as many plant and animal-based products such as oils, medicines, building materials, and textiles. While some of these worlds are fully automated, home only to a handful of technicians and overseers keeping tabs on ancient cultivating apparatus and armies of servitors, most are home to millions of Imperial citizens, both cosmopolitan, business-minded merchants and agents in the port cities and the many hardy homesteaders and labourers who do the actual work of tilling fields and breeding beasts. While agri-worlders have a reputation as honest, strong, and hard working, they are also viewed, unfairly or not, as unsophisticated yokels and easy marks for confidence men, grifters, and other predators.
Many agri-worlders serve with distinction as infantrymen in the Imperial Guard, and there are quite a few armoured and mechanised regiments where these Guardsmen have put their skills operating heavy machinery to more martial uses.
Cost: 3
Characteristic Modifiers: +3 to any two of the following Characteristics—Fellowship, Strength, Toughness.
Skills: All agri-world characters start with Linguistics (Low Gothic), Operate (Surface), and Scholastic Lore (Beasts).
One With the Land: The regiment was raised from a world steeped in agricultural tradition, raising crops and food animals for the teeming billions of the Calixis Sector. Men and women who grow up on these pastoral worlds gain a deep understanding of both flora and fauna, and can use those skills on the field of battle to their advantage and to the advantage of their comrades. These characters can get food to grow in even the harshest conditions, and are an incredible asset to regiments embroiled in long, planet-bound campaigns.
Agri-world characters gain a +10 bonus to any Knowledge, Survival, or Trade Tests made to identify or otherwise interact with domesticated beasts or those with potential to be domesticated. They also gain a +10 bonus to any Knowledge, Survival, or Trade Tests made to identify, harvest, or cultivate food crops.
Blind to the Horror: Those men and women raised on bucolic and backwater agricultural worlds have little to no experience with Imperial society at large. Most have never left their village or city, let alone their home world, and those that have possess even less awareness of the wider realm of the
Imperium than most of their counterparts. These innocents make easy marks for grifters, con-men, and others who take advantage of the confused and ignorant.
Agri-world characters suffer a –10 penalty to Scrutiny when using it to Oppose the Deceive Skill. Additionally, the first time an Agri-world character gains Insanity Points, he gains twice the normal amount instead.
Starting Wounds: Agri-world characters begin play with +2 starting Wounds.
Death World
“Few born upon such inhospitable worlds will readily trust those who have not endured what they have. Instilling appropriate discipline is a difficulty faced by many Commissars, but the difficulties are regarded as acceptable, given the matchless survival instincts and natural resilience of such peoples.”
–Extract from the Tactica Imperialis
Characters from death world regiments have left behind the danger and ferocity of their home world. They are rugged, uncomplicated individuals for the most part, at ease with the hazards of the battlefield and the dangers posed by alien monstrosities. However, death worlders are slow to trust off-worlders, who cannot understand the hardships they have faced, and they often lack discipline, which gives them a reputation for unreliability in the eyes of more strictly-trained regiments. Death worlders are renowned for their ability to endure the worst the galaxy can throw at them, and exemplify the concept of survival of the fittest.
Cost: 3 points.
Characteristic Modifiers: +3 to any two of the following Characteristics—Perception, Strength, Toughness.
Skills: All death world characters are Trained in Survival.
Fluency: While death worlders have learned to speak Low Gothic, they do not have time in their violent lives to learn how to read or write the universal language of the Imperium. Because of this, death worlders do not start with the Linguistics (Low Gothic) Skill at creation, however they are still capable of engaging in any verbal communication in Low Gothic that does not require a Skill Test.
Hardened: Death worlders are accustomed to violence, and many death worlds contain a variety of deadly, venomous creatures. They must be continually prepared and wary of danger from a young age if they are to survive, and those instincts do not easily fade. Death worlders start with one of the following Talents: Light Sleeper, Lightning Reflexes, or Resistance (Poisons).
Wary of Outsiders: Death worlders tend to be slow to put their faith in anyone other than themselves and their comrades, and they chafe at the expectations and strictures of more civilised society. They suffer a –10 penalty on all Interaction Skill Tests made in formal surroundings, and similarly impose a –10 penalty on any Interaction Skill Tests made on them by any non-death worlders. These penalties can be waived at the GM’s discretion if the death worlders are dealing with those who have earned their trust.
Starting Wounds: Death world characters begin play with +2 starting Wounds.
Feral World
Lawless and terrifying, feral worlds are realms of unrepentant violence, where power begins and ends with the sword. Feral worlds frequently house deadly environments, from boiling seas and blistering winters to deadly rad-zones that swallow entire continents to the broken shells of long-forgotten hives still spewing toxins into the choked skies. However, unlike death worlds, the greatest dangers of feral worlds lie not in the shifting earth or polluted skies, but in one’s fellow humans. Some feral worlds are dominated by reaver tribes who clash over hunting grounds or the small tracts of arable land, while others are dominated by massive gangs of transient warriors who travel on technological mounts their ancestors forgot how to build or maintain long ages ago.
Feral worlds are the source of many of the most violent and dangerous warriors across the Imperium, and some contribute to regiments of the Imperial Guard. Though soldiers from many other regiments tend not to trust feral worlders for their violent and opportunistic tendencies, these same traits can make feral worlders incredibly dedicated and lethal warriors for the God-Emperor of Mankind.
Cost: 4
Characteristic Modifiers: +3 to any two of the following Characteristics—Agility, Strength, and Weapon Skill.
Skills: All feral world characters start with Awareness, Parry, and Intimidate or Sleight of Hand.
Fluency: Feral worlders’ lives tend to be like their tempers: short and unpleasant. While some do survive to old age, few do so by spending time on scholarly pursuits. Feral world characters do not start with the Linguistics (Low Gothic) Skill at character creation, although they are still capable of engaging in any verbal communication in Low Gothic that does not require a Skill Test.
Brutal Warrior: By the very nature of their planet, feral worlders are rapidly taught that strength—and strength alone—determines one’s right to survival. Of course, strength can come in many forms, and feral worlders are no strangers to using stealth and subterfuge to gain the edge when raw ferocity and might alone cannot solve a problem. Feral world characters can choose to start with one of the following Talents: Ambush or Frenzy.
Violence Answers All: Many feral worlders see the universe in extremely simple terms: comrades must be protected, foes must be vanquished, and both of these goals must be accomplished at all costs. Feral world regiments tend to be close-knit, violent bands where disputes both internal and with outsiders are settled in blood.
When faced with the opportunity to crush a foe utterly, even if there is great risk involved, feral world characters must pass a Routine (+20) Intelligence or Willpower Test to pass up the chance. At the Game Master’s discretion, this Test can be waived when dealing with minor disputes or when the valour of discretion is overwhelmingly obvious.
Suspicious of Machine Spirits: On most feral worlds where any technology remains, the few artefacts that persist are treated not just as sacred objects, but as terrifying and dangerous magic to be avoided by all but the strongest: weapons of legend wielded by the most powerful warlords and killers whose strength becomes synonymous with that of their weapons. The Cult Mechanicus is a foreign concept to such warriors, and even if the two share a reverence for technology, the feral worlders’ viewpoint is often tinged by dread, and the suspicion that such power might not be a divine blessing, but a dark gift from ancient and capricious powers that demand a price for their gifts.
Feral world characters suffer an additional –10 penalty on Common Lore (Tech), Medicae, and Tech-Use Skill Tests unless they are trained in that Skill.
Starting Wounds: Feral world characters begin play with +2 starting Wounds.
Feudal World
Woefully primitive by Imperial standards, feudal worlds are home to low-technology, largely pre-gun powder societies with a population made up largely of peasants and serfs ruled over by warrior aristocracies. While nominally part of the Imperium, they are generally of little use to the Adeptus Terra due to their lack of technical acumen, their isolation, and their often heterodox beliefs. They do, however, pay tithes to the Imperium, and due to their largely agricultural society they are often converted into agri-worlds. Despite the fact that the sword, the spear, and the crossbow are considered state of the art weapons on most feudal worlds, regiments are occasionally raised on these worlds. In fact, one of the best known feudal worlds, Attila, is home to the vaunted Attilan Rough Riders. Guardsmen hailing from feudal worlds are known for their honour, their courage in battle, and their tendency to challenge others to bloody duels at the slightest provocation, a trait that the Departmento Munitorum has been unable to train out of them.
Cost: 3
Characteristic Modifiers: +3 to any two of the following Characteristics—Weapon Skill, Strength, Toughness.
Skills: All feudal world characters start with Athletics and Common Lore (War).
Fluency: Few feudal worlders take the time to learn to read and write, consumed as their lives are by toil and warfare, with written language largely the domain of scribes and other specialists. Because of this, feudal world characters do not start with the Linguistics (Low Gothic) Skill at character creation, although they are still capable of engaging in any verbal communication in Low Gothic that does not require a Skill Test.
Fealty: The majority of feudal world troopers are brought up in a society with a very clear separation between nobles and the commoners. These societies have strict rules of etiquette surrounding how the aristocracy interacts with their inferiors and vice versa. Regiments raised from feudal worlds are led by officers drawn from the local nobility and the common men and women in the enlisted ranks tend to revere their officers as not just their leaders but as their betters. Nobles and their chosen favourites often reinforce this belief with impressive skills in single combat, while most enlisted warriors hone their ability to fight in groups, spurred on by the prowess of their lords. Feudal world characters gain the Champion or Double Team Talent.
Suspicious of Machine Spirits: The beliefs and general understanding of the galaxy possessed by the average feudal worlder seems woefully backward and benighted to many other Guardsmen. While most believe in the God-Emperor as the saviour of Man and his church as the one true religion, especially those that have been visited by Ecclesiarchy missionaries, many have other, more esoteric beliefs that are tolerated only thanks to their battlefield prowess. In addition, feudal worlds are by their nature millennia behind many worlds that provide soldiers to the Imperial Guard when it comes to technological advancement, and their wars are still fought with sword and shield, longbow and catapult. Feudal world characters suffer an additional –10 penalty to Common Lore (Tech), Medicae, and Tech-Use Skill Tests unless they are trained in that Skill.
Starting Wounds: Feudal world characters begin play with +1 starting Wound.
Forge World
Characters drawn from the Adeptus Mechanicus’ forge worlds tend to be highly intelligent, clear-minded technomats who have an innate talent for using and caring for the mysteries of technology and who seem to relate to machines more easily than to their flesh and blood comrades. Steeped in the dogma of the Cult of the Machine God, these craftsmen, engineers, and technicians bring an immense font of knowledge to the
Imperial Guard and form the backbone of its engineering and technical abilities. Forge world characters tend and soothe the countless machine spirits that inhabit the Imperial Guard’s equipment and war machines. They pilot the tanks and infantry fighting vehicles, they raise fortifications, dig trenches, build and destroy infrastructure, and even bring the devastating power of the ancient Titans to bear on the enemies of the Imperium. While such regiments are certainly not revered by their counterparts in other Imperial Guard regiments, they are unparalleled in their ability to keeping the weapons working and the tanks running. However, their ties with the Cult of the Machine God make many outsiders, especially the more pious among the rank and file of the Imperial Guard, look upon their strange ways with suspicion.
Cost: 4
Characteristic Modifiers: +3 to any two of the following Characteristics–Intelligence, Perception, Toughness.
Skills: All forge world characters start with Common Lore (Adeptus Mechanicus), Common Lore (Tech), Linguistics (Low Gothic), Linguistics (Techna Lingua), and Logic.
Blessed of the Omnissiah: The Omnissiah grants many blessings upon his favoured subjects, and many mysteries of technology are revealed to those so blessed. Forge world characters start with the Peer (Adeptus Mechanicus) Talent.
Rites of Rewiring: Where most Imperial citizens see a machine as a singular and mysterious entity, those from a forge world view machines as a collection of discreet, sacred components, each with a uniquely important purpose. They are highly prized by armoured, mechanised, and siege regiments for their ability to both keep friendly machines running in the worst conditions and to efficiently dismantle enemy equipment. Forge world characters can choose to start with one of the following Talents: Technical Knock or Weapons Tech.
Isolated by Machines: Life on an Imperial forge world is an experience unlike that of any other world in the galaxy. Forge worlders are surrounded by the wonders of the Machine God and the teachings of the Priesthood of Mars from birth, and the mysteries and wonders of technology are as common to them as a herd of Grox to an agri-worlder. While this makes these relatively tech-savvy Guardsmen well suited for more technological occupations in the Imperial Guard, such as Operators and Tech-Priest Enginseers, it also has a tendency to produce insular, awkward troopers not fit for polite company. Forge world natives often relate to machines and servitors more readily than their flesh and blood counterparts, and have a sad tendency toward jargon and filling their conversations of long strings of Techna Lingua that are nearly unintelligible to the average trooper. Forge world characters suffer a –10 penalty to any Interaction Tests made to interact with characters who are not also from a forge world or initiates of the Adeptus Mechanicus.
Starting Wounds: Forge world characters begin play with –1 starting Wounds.
Fortress World
“Fortress worlds are a fine source of soldiers, owing to necessarily large defence forces, which are typically trained and equipped to the high standards of the Imperial Guard. Fortress Worlds are a valuable asset not only because of their significance as strategic bastions, but also because they can serve as a readily available source of skilled, disciplined fighting men, and it is a rare fortress world that does not raise its armies with the expectation that they may be called upon to serve the Imperial Guard.”
–Extract from the Tactica Imperialis
Characters from fortress worlds have been raised to serve in war, and by the time they reach maturity, they are wellversed in the arts of war and the doctrines of the Tactica Imperialis. Each has been long trained to destroy the enemies of the Imperium, particularly those whose threat forced their world to be fortified in the first place. Fortress worlders are disciplined, honourable, loyal, and with the highest regard for integrity, and each is already a proficient combatant long before they are taken to serve in the Imperial Guard.
Cost: 3 points.
Characteristic Modifiers: +3 to any two of the following Characteristics—Ballistic Skill, Willpower, Toughness.
Skills: All fortress world characters start with Common Lore (War), Common Lore (Imperium), Common Lore (Imperial Guard), and Linguistics (Low Gothic).
Hated Enemy: A fortress world often stands opposed to a single threat, and they are taught to hate that particular foe and eliminate it on sight. All fortress world characters gain a single Hatred Talent, where the group chosen is the enemy the fortress world has been established to defend against. However, this hatred is often so strong as to overwhelm reason and sound judgement, and all fortress world characters may be required, at the GM’s discretion, to attempt an Ordinary (+10) Willpower Test in order to restrain themselves from attacking without mercy when that enemy is sighted.
Combat Doctrine: Because of the intensive training that each fortress worlder goes through from childhood, including extensive live-fire drills and gruelling mock battles, all fortress worlders start with one of the following Talents: Nerves of Steel or Sprint.
Bred for War: Fortress worlders possess an entirely justified siege mentality, a natural result of daily lives shaped by the need for perpetual vigilance against an enemy that could strike at any time, and the discipline required to respond to that threat swiftly and effectively. Fortress worlders are loyal almost to a fault, and reluctant to disobey orders even with good reason, lacking personal initiative, and becoming inflexible as a result. A fortress worlder must attempt a Challenging (+0) Willpower Test in order to go against the rules and regulations of the Imperial Guard.
Starting Wounds: Fortress world characters generate starting Wounds normally.
Frontier World
Frontier worlders are rugged survivalists, and many frontier worlds are chosen for the founding of Imperial Guard regiments because of the relentless drive to endure and practical ingenuity that their harsh home worlds breed.
Cost: 4
Characteristic Modifiers: +3 to any two of the following Characteristics—Agility, Ballistic Skill, and Perception.
Skills: All frontier world characters start with Awareness, Linguistics (Low Gothic), Navigate (Surface), and Survival.
Life on the Verge: While frontier worlders are sometimes less refined that members of other regiments, their skills in the field are undeniably useful. Frontier world characters gain the Combat Sense or Quick Draw Talent.
Independent Operation: Frontier worlders are more accustomed to working far from others than many of their counterparts in other regiments. Their activities on their home planet often call for them to range far and wide, often alone, and as a result they develop a sense of confidence in this solace. On the battlefield, this frequently translates into a willingness to strike out beyond the sight of allies, confident that their compatriots will react swiftly to danger. The Comrades of a frontier world character count as being within Cohesion so long as they are within 15 metres of their Player Character.
Distrustful of Authority: Though they are valued for their ability to act independently, frontier worlders can also be difficult to control thanks to this tendency. This can be particularly problematic for newly raised regiments placed under the command of officers from outside, or for regiments merged with others after suffering losses. However, with time and patience, this friction can be overcome by outsiders who prove that they can stand on their own and contribute to the regiment.
Frontier world characters tend to distrust outsiders, especially those handing out orders. They suffer a –20 penalty to Interaction Skill Tests made to interact with unfamiliar figures of authority (such as new Commissars, officers from other regiments. Senior members of the Ecclesiarchy and Adeptus Mechanicus, and other such individuals) and impose the same penalty on Interaction Skill Tests made on them by those people. These penalties can be waived at the GM’s discretion, if the frontier world characters are dealing with individuals who have earned their trust.
Starting Wounds: Frontier world characters generate their starting Wounds normally.
Highborn
“Those born to wealth and power are born to lead, and it is not unusual for the command staff of a regiment to be drawn from the noble classes of a world, where their natural authority can be put to best use. On other worlds, the military arts are the preserve of the ruling classes only; this produces highborn regiments, whose wealth and prestige find them wellequipped, and placed on the front lines of many a battlefield.”
–Extract from the Tactica Imperialis
Highborn characters were born into wealth and privilege, shaped by tutors and the heavy burdens of dutiful tradition and dynastic obligation. Many highborn bloodlines have long and proud traditions of military service, viewing the arts of warfare as the obligation and honour of the wealthy, the powerful, and the influential. They are born to rule, and most highborn who serve in the Imperial Guard aspire to command and high office, seeing such authority as their right.
Cost: 3 points.
Characteristic Modifiers: +3 to any two of the following Characteristics—Fellowship, Intelligence, Weapon Skill.
Skills: All highborn start with Common Lore (Administratum), Inquiry, and Linguistics (High Gothic).
Fluency: While Highborn characters have learned to speak Low Gothic, they have no reason to learn to read and write the language of the lowly masses. Because of this, Highborn characters do not start with the Linguistics (Low Gothic) Skill at creation, although they are still capable of engaging in any verbal communication in Low Gothic that does not require a Skill Test.
Duty and Honour: The highborn hold themselves to standards of behaviour and etiquette, their upbringing distinguishing them from the low-born troopers that make up the common bulk of the Imperial Guard. Highborn characters suffer a –10 penalty on all Charm, Inquiry, and Deceive Tests made to interact with characters who are not highborn. However, they gain a +10 bonus on all those same Skill Tests when dealing with the nobility and other high authority in formal situations.
Abundant Resources: Highborn are almost universally wealthy and well-connected, able to draw upon considerable resources when seeking new equipment. A squad from a highborn regiment starts with 10 extra Logistics Rating.
The Finest Tutors: Years of study under a wide range of military instructors, and traditional connections to other military dynasties, have prepared each and every highborn for a life in the Imperial Guard. Highborn characters start with one of the following Talents: Air of Authority or Peer (Nobility).
Starting Wounds: Highborn characters begin play with –1 starting Wound.
Hive Worlds
“The immense populations of hive worlds, and the often harsh conditions found upon them, make them valuable recruiting grounds for new regiments, and many hive worlds serve to manufacture vast quantities of commonly-used materiel, making it far simpler to equip regiments. As a result, a single muster from a hive world can produce potentially millions of Guardsmen, forming thousands or even tens of thousands of regiments within a relatively short span of time.”
–Extract from the Tactica Imperialis
Characters from hive world regiments are one amongst many. Due to the colossal populations of hive worlds, musters from them tend to be large, sometimes numbering over a thousand regiments at a time, each of which may number as many as ten thousand men. In many areas of a hive world—not just the twisted depths of the underhive—murder, rioting, and gang warfare are rife. Constantly having to avoid (or take part in) such dangers turns the people into capable warriors and survivors, made nimble by the tangle of urban decay, wary by the dangers in the darkness, and gregarious by the mass of humanity that has always surrounded them. Due to the suitability of hive worlders as Imperial Guardsmen, and the sheer quantity of people on each hive world, there are a vast number of hive world regiments in the Imperial Guard at any one time.
Cost: 3 points.
Characteristic Modifiers: +3 to any two of the following Characteristics—Agility, Fellowship, and Perception.
Skills: All hive world characters start with Common Lore (Imperium), Deceive, and Linguistics (Low Gothic).
Accustomed to Crowds: Hive worlders grow up surrounded by crowds, and they are used to weaving through even the densest mobs with ease. Crowds do not count as Difficult Terrain for hive worlders, and when Running or Charging through a dense crowd, hive worlders take no penalty to Agility Tests to keep their feet.
Hivebound: Hive worlders seldom endure the horrors of the open sky or suffer the indignities of the great outdoors. Whilst outside of an enclosed or artificial environment (such as a hive city, starship or similar), they suffer a –10 penalty to all Survival Tests, due to their continued unfamiliarity with such places.
Urban Violence: Hive worlders are constantly alert for the first hint of trouble, be it a hivequake, a gang shoot-out, or a hab riot, allowing them to quickly detect danger and elude it, if need be. Hive worlders start with one of the following Talents: Heightened Senses (Hearing), Paranoia, or Unremarkable.
Starting Wounds: Hive world characters begin play with –1 starting Wound.
Imperial World
“While many worlds may be required to provide resources, materials, and other such goods as part of their tithe, their primary obligation to the Imperium is in the form of manpower. It is only with rare exception that a planet not be required to provide men to the Imperial Guard, and if a world is found to be neglecting this portion of their tithe, they will be subject to extreme punishment.”
–Extract from the Tactica Imperialis
Characters from Imperial world regiments represent best the greatest mass of humanity. Their minds are shaped by faith and humble duty, their bodies honed by toil. While lacking the tenacity of death worlders, the unyielding discipline of a fortress worlder, or the unthinking zeal of the penitent, Imperial worlders are faithful, loyal, and adaptable, unconstrained by the focus of specialisation.
Cost: 1 point.
Characteristic Modifiers: +3 to Willpower and +3 to any one other Characteristic.
Skills: All Imperial world characters start with Common Lore (Imperial Creed), Common Lore (Imperium), and Linguistics (Low Gothic).
Blessed Ignorance: Imperial citizens know that the proper ways of living are those tried and tested by the generations that have gone before. Horror, pain, and death are the just rewards of curiosity, for those that look too deeply into the mysteries of the universe are all too likely to find malefic beings looking back at them. Their wise blindness imposes a –5 penalty on all Forbidden Lore (Int) Tests.
Kill the Mutant: The general citizens of the Imperium are trained from birth to fear mutation, for it heralds the taint of Chaos. All Imperial world characters start with Hatred (Mutants).
Starting Wounds: Imperial world characters generate their starting wounds normally.
Mining Colony
Characters hailing from one of the Calixis Sector’s many mining colonies are a hardy breed, much used to the kind of privation and hard living found deep within the bowels of a planet. Their bodies and minds have adapted to a life of living underground and heavy toil, and the constant threat of accident and sudden death has sharpened their senses to a preternatural degree. These Guardsmen have an innate sense of direction, are accomplished in demolitions and the operation of heavy equipment, and have built up a resistance to the natural dangers found in mines. Regiments raised from mining colonies are typically Siege Infantry regiments.
Cost: 3
Characteristic Modifiers: +3 to any two of the following Characteristics–Agility, Perception, and Toughness.
Skills: All mining colony characters start with Awareness, Common Lore (Tech), Linguistics (Low Gothic), and Tech-Use.
Acclimated to Darkness: Life below ground is incredibly dangerous, and those who make their living in the bowels of their worlds are a hardy lot indeed. Aside from the common industrial style accidents and the ever present threat of caveins, there are also dangerous extremes of temperature, deadly clouds of invisible toxic gasses, and the constant, oppressive gloom to deal with. Regiments raised from a mining colony are full of men and women who have grown accustomed to this strange and gruelling way of life, and whose bodies have adapted to their environments.
Mining colony characters can choose to start with one of the following Talents: Heightened Senses (Hearing) and Resistance (Cold) or Resistance (Heat) or Resistance (Poisons).
Tunnel Rat: Navigating the twisting warren of tunnels, shafts, and chambers that make up an average mine requires a good attention to detail and a well-developed sense of direction. Mining colony characters gain a +10 to Awareness and Navigation (Surface) when underground.
Unaccustomed to Light: Unfortunately, their subterranean lifestyle makes them incredibly sensitive to bright light, and they suffer a –10 penalty to all Perception and Awareness Tests made in full daylight or bright artificial light. This penalty can be mitigated with goggles or other types of eye protection at the Game Master’s discretion.
Starting Wounds: Mining colony characters begin play with +1 starting Wound.
Ogryn World
Ogryn worlds are those planets that are home to the hulking abhumans commonly known as Ogryns. Although the Adeptus Administratum officially classifies seven distinct types of Ogryn, the differences between these strains are minuscule in comparison to those between Ogryns and baseline humanity. Ogryns are massive, and superhumanly strong and resilient. Even the smallest Ogryns tower over the largest and most physically intimidating of normal humans. However, Ogryns are also universally dim-witted. Even those Ogryns displaying exceptional intellect must undergo additional surgical enhancement before they can be trusted to carry out tasks and instructions without direct supervision.
Unlike other origins, characters from Ogryn worlds are defined by their physical and genetic traits, rather than by their environment or culture. However, most Ogryn worlds do have certain features in common. Ogryns have evolved primarily on barren, inhospitable worlds with higher gravity than Earth. In order to survive and thrive on such planets, Ogryns require the masses of muscle which lend them such exceptional strength under normal gravity conditions. Because Ogryns are so intellectually stunted, Ogryn worlds tend toward the primitive side. Ogryns are unable to make technological advances on their own, and due to the changes in their morphology, are unable to utilise equipment inherited from their human ancestors, even were they to grasp the basic principles required to do so. In some cases, an Ogryn world might also be home to regular humans. In these cases, it usually means that human colonists have settled the world in the days since the Great Crusade, living alongside the abhumans who are descended from the original colonists. Because Ogryn worlds are so adverse to human life, such human inhabitants are more likely to be members of one or more of the Imperial Adepta, depending on what utility the world has to the Imperium.
Cost: 5 points
Characteristic Modifiers: +10 Strength, +10 Toughness, –15 Intelligence, –10 Agility, and an additional +3 to either Strength or Toughness
Starting Skills: All Ogryn world characters come from conditions so inhospitable as to be fatal to ordinary humans. Ogryn world characters start with Survival and Intimidate.
Toughened: Ogryns are notoriously resilient to injury, fighting on despite their wounds either through determination, sheer toughness, or simple incomprehension of their severity. Ogryn world characters gain the Die Hard or Iron Jaw Talent.
Fluency: Though they are likely to speak a debased version of their ancestral language, or else learn to upon their induction into the Imperial Guard, Ogryn world characters lack the intellectual capacity to learn how to read or write the universal language of the Imperium. Because of this, Ogryn world characters do not start with the Linguistics (Low Gothic) Skill at creation. They are still capable of engaging in any verbal communication in Low Gothic that does not require a Skill Test. However, even Ogryns who have undergone Bone ’ead surgery still speak and comprehend slowly, and verbal communication with humans who lack experience dealing with Ogryns is prone to some difficulty, at least until they come to an understanding of the Ogryns’ primitive use of the language.
Ogryn: Ogryns are clearly identifiable as abhumans thanks to their massive bulk and monumental strength. Ogryns are capable of flipping a vehicle with their bare hands and all but ignoring wounds that would cripple or kill a normal human. Yet, these fearsome creatures are almost universally scared of dark, enclosed spaces. Ogryn characters gain the Auto-Stabilised, Size (5), Sturdy, Unnatural Strength (+2), and Unnatural Toughness (+2) Traits, as well as the Clumsy and But it Dark in Dere! Traits (see page 91 of the Only War Core Rulebook).
Abhumans: Ogryn world characters have a very specific origin. Unlike hive-worlders or death-worlders, who can pass on some of their skills and abilities, there is just no way for Support Specialists to adapt to be more like Ogryns! Therefore, Ogryn world characters cannot be Support Specialists; they can only choose from the Guardsmen Specialities. To include Support Specialists alongside Guardsmen from an Ogryn world, players should use the rules for Mixed Regiments presented in the Only War supplement, Hammer of the Emperor.
Narrow Focus: Due to the restriction on Support Specialists, Ogryn world characters have fewer options when selecting a Speciality. However, unlike a lone Ogryn operating in a Squad from another regiment, Ogryns fighting alongside others of their own kind often more quickly adapt to the traditional roles of their home world. A Character from this regiment always count as both an Ogryn and a Guardsman for the purposes of prerequisites, regardless of his current Speciality or Advanced Speciality.
Wounds: Ogryn characters gain +15 starting wounds.
Penal Colony
“While swift and merciless retribution is the just and proper fate of all sinners and criminals, it can be effective to determine other punishments for them. Transit to distant worlds for the purpose of menial labour, or volunteering for military absolution are two such alternatives. Isolated penal colonies populated by these convicts produce vicious, hardy individuals, albeit ones who require nothing less than the harshest discipline to function in battle. However, these benighted souls can be regarded as more readily expendable than most units, for as sinners, their lives are already forfeit.”
–Extract from the Tactica Imperialis
Characters from penal colonies tend to be ruthless, opportunistic individuals, the desperate conditions of their origin making them eager for any opportunity to survive for just a little longer, or profit just a little more from a situation. While ill-disciplined and commonly impious, the expendable, vicious nature of convicts makes them quite useful in the Emperor’s wars. The resultant Penal Legions can be found in the harshest warzones, undertaking the most dangerous missions, with the promise of salvation in death, after which the survivors are imprisoned once more until the next battle.
In time, the few hardened veterans, survivors of a dozen or more would-be suicide missions, become amongst the most dangerous and unorthodox units in the Imperial Guard, deployed to achieve the impossible or die trying.
Cost: 2 points.
Characteristic Modifiers: +3 to any two of the following Characteristics—Agility, Strength, Toughness.
Skills: All penal colony characters start with Intimidate and Linguistics (Low Gothic).
Honour Amongst Thieves: Penal colonists, whether criminals themselves, or the descendants of the previous generation’s scum, know well the way criminal societies operate, understanding the nuances of deception, loyalty, intimidation, and violence that characterise the criminal classes. Penal colonist characters start with one of the following Talents: Peer (Underworld) or Street Fighting.
Larcenous: Hailing from worlds where the black market is the only market, penal colonists are skilled at obtaining illicit items, whether to sell, on or for their own purposes. Penal colony characters add a +10 to all Logistics Tests made to acquire illegal or contraband items.
Scum and Villainy: Penal colonists are ill-regarded by just about everyone else in the Imperial Guard, and tend to be viewed more as expendable fodder than as worthwhile soldiers. As a result, they are seldom afforded more than the most basic of equipment. Penal colony regiments have only 15 points when determining Standard Regimental Kit.
Starting Wounds: Penal colony characters begin play with +1 starting Wound.
Penitent
“Many worlds are dominated by particular zeal and piety, beyond even the devotions expected by the Adeptus Ministorum. Such worlds can produce exceptional soldiers, who are willing to sacrifice all they have for the Emperor, particularly where the recruits are those who aspire towards martyrdom, in order to prove their faith or absolve their world of some ancestral sin. As valuable as devotion can be in a soldier, rigorous discipline is required to ensure that their zeal does not become an uncontrolled frenzy.”
–Extract from the Tactica Imperialis
The penitent are not those born of a single type of world, but rather those of a particular mind-set. While all the Imperium lives in the Emperor’s service, the penitent are those who eagerly give their deaths as well. Willing martyrs all, the penitent fight to demonstrate their zeal or to show their contrition for the sins of the past. The penitent may be from Shrine Worlds, or the masses of pilgrims who cross the Imperium, while others hail from worlds where some ancient crime demands countless generations of absolution. In all cases, the penitent are savagely pious, seeking to bring death in the Emperor’s name, or die trying.
Cost: 3 points.
Characteristic Modifiers: +3 to any two of the following Characteristics—Fellowship, Toughness, Willpower.
Skills: All penitent characters start with Common Lore (Ecclesiarchy), Common Lore (Imperial Creed), Intimidate, and Linguistics (Low Gothic).
The Blood of Martyrs: The penitent do not regard death in the Emperor’s service as anything to fear, and face the prospect of righteous sacrifice gladly. Penitent characters start with one of the following Talents: Nerves of Steel, Orthoproxy, or Unshakeable Faith.
Only One Life to Give: So driven to martyrdom are the penitent, that it can drive them to take unnecessary risks, lamenting that they can only sacrifice themselves once. Penitent characters must pass an Ordinary (+10) Willpower Test in order to retreat from combat or otherwise act in the
interests of self-preservation.
Untempered Zeal: The pious spirit of the penitent is almost unmatched in its ferocity, and while their faith is closer to the violent ardour of the fanatic than the divine clarity of the Adepta Sororitas, it is nonetheless inspiring to behold. Penitent characters may re-roll any failed Charm Test to inspire religious fervour or righteous hatred in others.
Starting Wounds: Penitent characters increase their starting Wounds by +2.
Post-Cataclysmic World
Across the length and breadth of the Imperium, many worlds lie in ruins, testifying to some great cataclysmic event in their past. Such worlds are often little different from feral worlds or even death worlds, depending on the nature of the cataclysm. Some might even be classified as dead worlds, Imperial survey teams having failed to detect the minuscule human population living in the ruins or even beneath the planet’s surface. The inhabitants of such worlds tend to focus their entire society around the past, even if their myths and stories hold only a tenuous connection to reality. It is just as common for inhabitants of post-cataclysmic worlds to shun the ruins of their ancestors’ cities as cursed as it is for them to squat amongst the ruins of their forebears’ accomplishments. The societies of post-cataclysmic worlds vary, from marauding techno-barbarians roving the wastes to forlorn survivors hiding in vaults underground, awaiting the day when the surface is once again safe for habitation.
Characters from these worlds tend to utilise technology, but lack any capacity for manufacture, instead maintaining and repairing the equipment left over from the time before. Because such worlds lack infrastructure and are usually too irradiated to even provide foodstuffs, their only meaningful tithe to the Imperium is in manpower, although even this is a limited resource. In some cases, only a single founding is made from such a world, its entire remaining population drafted into the Imperial Guard, leaving only an empty and dead world behind. For the individuals drafted in such events, leaving their birth world behind to fight the Emperor’s wars is likely seen as a blessing.
Cost: 3 points
Characteristic Modifiers: +3 to any two of the following
Characteristics: Ballistic Skill, Weapon Skill, Perception
Starting Skills: Post-cataclysmic world characters start with Awareness, Linguistics (Low Gothic), and Survival.
Resourceful: Characters from post-cataclysmic worlds are used to getting by with whatever is at hand—scavenging food, equipment, and whatever else they might need. Postcataclysmic world Characters gain a +10 bonus to Survival Tests to obtain potable food and water, and to Tech-Use Tests to jury-rig or repair equipment that is not overly advanced, as determined by the GM.
Horrors of the Past: Whether it occurred in living memory or far in the distant past, all post-cataclysmic world characters are scarred mentally, and perhaps physically, by the event that scoured their planet; yet those who survive in such an environment gain strength from this adversity. Post-cataclysmic world Characters start with 1d5 Insanity Points and either the Resistance (Cold), Resistance (Radiation), or Resistance (Fear) Talent.
Wounds: Post-cataclysmic world characters generate their starting Wounds normally.
Ratling World
Ratling worlds are those worlds home to the abhuman strain known as Ratlings. This home world is not defined by its environment, but by its population. Ratlings are short and rotund, known for their gregarious personalities, skill in marksmanship, and gluttony. Ratlings enjoy food, drink, and company, and loathe hard work. Unlike other origins, characters from Ratling worlds are defined by their physical and genetic traits, rather than by their environment or culture. However, most Ratling worlds do have certain features in common. The lifestyle that Ratlings prefer would not be possible on most worlds of the Imperium, requiring a distinct lack of danger or industrialisation. Most Ratling worlds are rather idyllic, featuring plentiful vegetation, at least in those areas home to the native population. The Imperium classifies many Ratling home worlds as either pleasure worlds or agriworlds— although Ratlings are so resistant to hard work that a successful agri-world usually requires either the importation of ordinary human workers or a substantial force of overseers to ensure compliance by the native Ratlings. Because Ratling home worlds typically lack significant production or population, their Imperial tithe consists primarily of manpower. Ratling regiments are most commonly light infantry or reconnaissance regiments, which make use of the Ratlings’ propensity for stealth and marksmanship. Because Ratlings lack the physical and mental fortitude that makes for good soldiers, it is rare for the Departmento Munitorum to deploy them on their own, typically detaching individual squads for deployment alongside other regiments.
Cost: 3 points
Characteristic Modifiers: +10 to Perception, +5 to Fellowship, +5 Agility, –5 Strength, –10 Toughness, and an additional +3 to either Perception, Fellowship, or Agility
Starting Skills: All Ratling world characters start with Awareness or Stealth, Deceive, Linguistics (Low Gothic), and Trade (Cook).
Natural Marksman: Despite their preferred leisurely lifestyle, most Ratlings possess a coordination that makes them naturally adept at marksmanship. Ratling world characters begin play with the Deadeye Shot Talent.
Ratling: Ratlings are defined by their diminutive stature, which clearly sets them apart from ordinary Humanity. Ratling characters gain the Size (Weedy) Trait and the Heightened Senses (Sight, Smell, Taste) Talents.
Abhumans: Ratling world characters come from a very specific origin. Unlike hive-worlders or death-worlders, who can pass on some of their skills and abilities, there is no way for Support Specialists to become more like Ratlings. Therefore, Ratling world characters cannot be Support Specialists; they can only choose from the Guardsmen Specialities. To include Support Specialists alongside Guardsmen from a Ratling World, players should use the rules for Mixed Regiments presented in the Only War supplement, Hammer of the Emperor.
Narrow Focus: Due to the restriction on Support Specialists, Ratling world characters have fewer options when selecting a Speciality. However, unlike a lone Ratling operating in a Squad from another regiment, Ratlings fighting alongside others of their own kind often more quickly adapt to the traditional roles of their homeworld. A Character from this regiment always count as both a Ratling and a Guardsman for the purposes of prerequisites, regardless of his current Speciality or Advanced Speciality.
Wounds: Ratling world characters begin play with –3 starting Wounds.
Schola Progenium
“The Storm Trooper regiments and the Commissariat are all raised under the care of drill abbots of the Schola Progenium. Progena are amongst the truest servants of the Imperium you are ever likely to encounter, and Progena of a militant inclination are soldiers of unwavering loyalty and discipline, raised to defend the Emperor’s realm from a young age. While their numbers are few and in high demand, the orphans of the Schola Progenium make for outstanding Guardsmen.”
–Extract from the Tactica Imperialis
The creations of the Schola Progenium are trained to be of unyielding will, of decisive action, and of swift mind. Service to the Imperium is an expectation, one their lives have been directed towards for the years of their tutelage. The harsh mental and physical discipline of the Schola Progenium produces fine officers and soldiers, none finer than the Storm Trooper regiment, which recruit only from the finest Schola Progenium graduates.
Cost: 3 points.
Characteristic Modifiers: +3 to Willpower, and +3 to either Weapon Skill or Ballistic Skill.
Skills: All Progena characters are Trained in Common Lore (Imperial Guard), Common Lore (Imperium), Common Lore (War), and Linguistics (High Gothic, Low Gothic).
Only In Death Does Duty End: Those that pass through the Schola Progenium are drilled each and every day by hardened drill abbots, and all are expected to defend the Emperor’s domain with their lives if necessary. All Progena characters start with one of the following Talents: Air of Authority or Unshakeable Faith.
Starting Wounds: Progena characters begin play with +1 starting Wound.
Shrine World
In the Imperium of Man, entire worlds are often given over to a single purpose: manufacturing, agriculture, toil, and war, for instance. Just as important to humanity’s survival however, is faith. The Adeptus Ministorum, known also as the Ecclesiarchy, is the church of the Emperor and of all Mankind. Immensely powerful, the Ecclesiarchy stands independent of the Adeptus Terra, although all work for the Imperium has a strong spiritual element, so these separate branches of Imperial power work closely together. Entire worlds, known as shrine worlds, are gifted to the Ecclesiarchy for the furtherance of the Imperial Cult. Shrine worlds vary from planet-sized cemeteries for the final rest of the devout, to massive, continent-spanning temple complexes. Under ancient decree, the Adeptus Ministorum is barred from raising men-under-arms, but many citizens of shrine worlds nonetheless find their place serving the Emperor on the field of battle, in the armies of the Imperial Guard.
Cost: 3 points
Characteristic Modifiers: +3 to Fellowship, and +3 to Weapon Skill or Willpower
Starting Skills: All shrine world characters start with Common Lore (Ecclesiarchy), Common Lore (Imperial Creed), Linguistics (Low Gothic).
Fluency: Characters from Shrine Worlds have been raised amidst the word of the Emperor and the splendours of the Ecclesiarchy. The lives of saints and the verses of creed are as familiar as breathing. Even for people born to such a world who are not blessed enough to be inducted into the ranks of the clergy, being constantly surrounded by hymnals, scripture, and the works of the Ecclesiarchy breeds a familiarity with High Gothic. Shrine-worlders are capable of engaging in any verbal communication or reading of High Gothic that does not require a Skill Test.
Virtuous Ignorance: The citizens of shrine worlds learn many lessons in virtue from the pious sermons and teachings of the Ecclesiarchy. Amongst these is the lesson that ignorance is a virtue not easily disdained by the wise. Heresy, blasphemy, and death are the just rewards of curiosity, for those who look beyond the teachings of the Adeptus Ministorum for knowledge walk a dangerous path. Due to their wise and wilful narrowness of mind, shrine world characters suffer a –10 penalty on all Forbidden Lore Tests.
The Gift of Hate: Shrine-worlders are accustomed to the Ecclesiarchy’s teaching that hatred is amongst the Emperor’s greatest gifts to mankind. Though the priests of the Adeptus Ministorum preach hatred against many various enemies of humanity, often, a particular sermon leaves an indelible impression on a shrine-worlder. Shrine world characters begin with one of the following Hatred Talents of their choice—Heretics, Mutants, or Psykers.
Armour of Faith: Once per session, when a shrine world character gains any number of Corruption Points, the character may spend a Fate Point to instead gain no Corruption Points from that source.
Wounds: Shrine world characters generate their starting wounds normally.
The Lathe Worlds
The Adeptus Mechanicus enjoys unparalleled independence within the Imperium, an empire within an empire. The primary forge worlds of the Calixis Sector, the so-called Lathe Worlds, do not tithe manpower or raise regiments for the Imperial Guard. Instead, the Lathe Worlds select their citizens suited for military service for use in their own armed forces, including the Skitarii and the elite Crimson Guard of the Venatorii. While these forces are often tasked with defending the Lathe Worlds from attack or insurrection, they also accompany the Emperor’s armies to battle, alongside the Titan Legions, Tech-Priest Enginseers, and other militant forces of the Adeptus Mechanicus. While such units are not truly Imperial Guard, they often work alongside Imperial Guard forces. In most cases, the masters of the Adeptus Mechanicus see fit to coordinate their own efforts with the Departmento Munitorum, and such Lathe Worlds Regiments can be found fighting alongside Imperial Guard forces on the battlefields of the Spinward Front. Such forces might even accept orders and missions directly from the General Staff, so long as they do not interfere with the wishes of their Tech-Priest overlords. What truly sets the elite Lathe Worlds Regiments apart from their counterparts in the Imperial Guard is not only their training and culture, but the unique cybernetic enhancements that they bear. These implants are fundamentally similar to those of Tech-Priests, but with special modifications toward military applications.
Cost: 4 points
Characteristic Modifiers: +3 to Intelligence and +3 to either Perception or Ballistic Skill
Starting Skills: All Lathe Worlds characters start with Common Lore (Adeptus Mechanicus), Common Lore (Tech), Linguistics (Low Gothic), Linguistics (Techna-Lingua), and Logic, and are Trained in Tech-Use.
The True Flesh: Lathe Worlds characters possess the Mechanicus Implants Trait. In addition, their potentia coil is specifically enhanced to meet the high energy needs of integrated weapons.
Isolated by Machines: Lathe Worlds characters are selected for a life of war at a young age, dedicating their lives to the defence of the Adeptus Mechanicus’ interests in the Calixis Sector. The warriors of the Crimson Guard and other Lathe Worlds forces are unforgiving, blunt, and seem harsh to those unfamiliar with the cold, logical way the Adeptus Mechanicus operates. Lathe Worlds characters often relate to machines and servitors more readily than their flesh and blood counterparts, and have a tendency toward jargon and filling their conversations with long strings of Techna-Lingua that are nearly unintelligible to the average trooper. Lathe Worlds characters suffer a –10 penalty to any Interaction Tests made to interact with characters who are not also from a Lathe World, forge world, or are initiates of the Adeptus Mechanicus.
Soldiers of the Omnissiah: The Lathe Worlds Home World represents a uniquely specific origin for a regiment. Such forces are not truly Imperial Guard regiments at all, and so do not include the Support Specialists associated with Imperial Guard regiments. Lathe Worlds characters cannot select the Commissar, Ministorum Priest, Ogryn, Ratling, Sanctioned Psyker, or Storm Trooper Specialities (they can select the Tech-Priest Enginseer Speciality). A Character from this regiment always count as both a Tech-Priest Enginseer and a Guardsman for the purposes of prerequisites, regardless of his current Speciality or Advanced Speciality. If a group wishes to include Support Specialists other than Tech-Priest Enginseers in a Lathe Worlds Squad, players should use the rules for Mixed Regiments presented in the Only War supplement, Hammer of the Emperor.
Wounds: Lathe Worlds characters generate their starting Wounds normally.
Void Born
Many worlds in the Imperium feature orbital stations that fulfil a variety of purposes, from agri-domes and trading hubs to defence stations. Considering how heavily regimented and structured life is for most Imperial subjects, it is no surprise that many individuals born to serve aboard such facilities spend their entire lives space-bound, never setting foot on a world’s surface, unless, that is, they are chosen to serve in the Imperial Guard. Because regiments are most often raised from the ranks of planetary defence forces, most such void born regiments spent time serving aboard a defence orbital. Such troopers have trained extensively in artificial and even zero-gravity environments, becoming especially adept at operating in such environments under normal conditions and in emergency situations. Void born regiments are relatively rare, and are often highly valued by the general staff for their unique skills in what are often some of the most vital and hard-fought warzones.
Cost: 3 points
Characteristic Modifiers: +3 to Willpower and +3 to either Agility or Perception
Starting Skills: All void born characters start with Common Lore (Tech), Linguistics (Low Gothic), Navigate (Stellar), Operate (Aeronautica), and Tech-Use.
Charmed: It is said that the void born, even those confined to a stationary orbital station, are touched by their proximity to the stars and to the Warp. Such tales attribute unnatural luck to the void born, and misfortune for others. Whenever a void born character spends a Fate Point (but not burns a Fate Point), he rolls 1d10. On a roll of 9 or 10, the Fate Point does not count as being spent, even though the character gains the chosen benefit.
Ill-Omened: Characters born aboard void stations often seem unusual to those from the firm ground of a planet. Life amongst the machinery and cramped corridors of a void station is quite different to life beneath an open sky, and is confining even by the standards of a hive world. Additionally, void born characters are often appear unnaturally pale and gaunt. This unwholesome air, combined with the insular, clannish ways of many void born, often causes difficulties when interacting with non-void born regiments. Void born characters suffer a –10 penalty to Interaction Tests made to interact with characters who are not also void born.
Void Accustomed: Void born characters have experience moving about in zero-gravity environments, whether by dint of special training, mechanical failures, or the simple necessities of life on an orbital station. Void born characters do not treat zero gravity as Difficult Terrain. In addition, the Agility Test to stay on-target when making a Charge or Run Action in zero gravity is only Difficult (–10) for void born characters.
Wounds: Void born characters begin play with –1 starting Wound.
Commanding Officer
Personality | Cost |
---|---|
Bilious | 2 |
Circumspect | 2 |
Choleric | 2 |
Fixed | 1 |
Maverick | 2 |
Melancholic | 2 |
Phlegmatic | 1 |
Sanguine | 2 |
Supine | 1 |
Bilious
The regiment’s commander is ill-tempered and paranoid, eternally suspicious of betrayal, and watchful of enemies and allies alike. He regards vigilance as the greatest of virtues, and encourages suspicion and watchfulness amongst his men.
Cost: 2 points
Starting Talents: Paranoia
Circumspect
The regiment’s commander is balanced in his attitudes and careful in his decision-making, yet often overly cautious. His demeanour encourages his men to similarly consider situations before they strike, observing the battlefield before acting.
Cost: 2 points
Starting Talents: Foresight
Choleric
The regiment’s commander is decisive and leads from the front, taking charge of situations personally, and never afraid to do what he orders his men to do. However, he is quick to anger, and can often be drawn into foolish actions. His men are ever ready for action, and familiar with the rigours of battle.
Cost: 2 points
Starting Talents: Rapid Reaction
Fixed
The regiment’s commander is decisive and unyielding, and once set on a course of action he seldom changes his mind. While this is invaluable during many actions his regiment undertakes, it leaves his forces inflexible in the face of changing battlefields.
Cost: 1 points
Starting Skills: Command
Maverick
The regiment’s commander is something of a rebel, regarded as ill-disciplined and unpredictable by his peers, but his attitude and his daring make him beloved by his men, who see their leader as one of them, rather than one of “the officers.” So long as he leads, they will follow him anywhere.
Cost: 2 points
Starting Talents: Resistance (Fear)
Melancholic
The regiment’s commander is careful and introspective, but his will is not what it once was, having suffered greatly in the crucible of war. While loyal, his leadership is hampered by hesitation and pessimism, and his warriors are often forced to rely more on their own initiative in battle, taking charge themselves when their superiors falter.
Cost: 2 points
Starting Talents: Air of Authority
Phlegmatic
The regiment’s commander is quiet and contemplative, a man of few words. When he does speak, it is with great and solemn purpose, to give commands that have been considered in exacting detail. He does not command loyalty through rhetoric or heroics, but through quiet competence, and his men have learnt to trust in his skill and rely on the chain of command.
Cost: 1 points
Starting Skills: Common Lore (Imperial Guard), Common Lore (War)
Sanguine
The regiment’s commander is confident and optimistic, though sometimes too caught up in dreams of glory and triumph. While inspirational to his men with grandiose speeches and heroism, his ambition has often seen them faced with impossible odds, caught up in their commander’s quest for glory, and they must battle hard to survive.
Cost: 2 points
Starting Talents: Die Hard
Supine
The regiment’s commander is a devout man, absolutely loyal to the Imperium, but lacking in his own initiative. Incapable of the imagination and daring that gets an officer noticed by his superiors, he serves as little more than their mouthpiece, accepting their commands and passing them on flawlessly to his own men. Bereft of any true command, the men must have faith if they are to survive in the fury of war.
Cost: 1 points
Starting Skills: Common Lore (Ecclesiarchy), Common Lore (Imperial Creed)
Regiment Type
Regiment Type | Cost |
---|---|
Armoured Regiment | 4 |
Artillery Regiment | 4 |
Close Assault | 3 |
Drop Troops | 3 |
Guerrilla | 4 |
Grenadiers | 4 |
Heavy Reconnaissance | 8 |
Hunter-Killer | 3 |
Light Infantry | 2 |
Line Infantry | 2 |
Mechanised Infantry | 3 |
Rapid Reconnaissance (Tauros) | 8 |
Mechanised Reconnaissance (Salamander) | 3 |
Reconnaissance | 3 |
Rough Rider | 5 |
Salvage and Recovery | 3 |
Siege Infantry | 2 |
Super Heavy Armoured | 7 |
Armoured Regiment
Alongside the serried ranks of infantry and the humble lasgun, little is as emblematic of the wars of the Imperial Guard as the armoured might of its tanks. Rugged, resilient, and capable of unleashing staggering amounts of firepower, there is little that can stand before the fury of companies of Leman Russ battle tanks, let alone the terrible and wondrous power of the Baneblade. The crews of these mighty behemoths are justifiably proud of their status, and the accomplishments of their steel charges.
Cost: 4 points
Characteristics: –3 Weapon Skill, +3 Intelligence
Starting Skills: Operate (Surface)
Starting Talents: Technical Knock
Standard Kit: One Leman Russ battle tank (or variant, at GM’s discretion) per Squad, and one anointed maintenance toolkit per Player Character.
Artillery Regiment
Artillerymen operate the numerous towed and self-propelled artillery pieces fielded by the Imperial Guard such as the Basilisk, the Medusa Siege Gun, and the Griffon Heavy Mortar Platform. Whether stationed well behind the front lines in a Basilisk battalion or operating in a mortar section in support of an offensive push, Imperial artillery supplies precision, medium and long-range indirect fire in support of infantry and armoured regiments. Artillery units also operate the Guard’s anti-aircraft weapons, including the Hydra flak tank and the Deathstrike missile launcher vehicle. Infantry regiments tend to have somewhat adversarial but nonetheless codependent relationships with the artillery regiments who support them. Even if indirect fire has a tendency to be whimsically inaccurate at times, despite the presence of forward observers and orbital telemetry, most Guardsmen owe their lives at least once to a well timed artillery barrage, and thus treat artillerymen with grudging respect.
Cost: 4 points
Characteristics: +3 Ballistic Skill, –3 Toughness
Starting Skills: Operate (Surface)
Starting Talents: Bombardier
Standard Kit: 1 lascarbine (Main Weapon) and four charge packs per Player Character, 1 Basilisk per Squad or 1 mortar per every two Player Characters, 1 pair of magnoculars per Player Character, 1 vox-caster per Squad.
Close Assault Regiment
While comparatively rare compared to other types of infantry regiment, the Imperial Guard does raise and maintain regiments dedicated to close-quarters combat and brutal assaults. Such regiments typically come from technologically primitive worlds, where melee combat is the order of the day, but might also come from the ranks of hive gangs, post-cataclysmic worlds, or anywhere else where the inhabitants display a propensity for melee combat or close-range fire-fights. In some cases, these regiments are equipped with a transport vehicle to get them close to the enemy as quickly as possible while protecting them from enemy fire. Others, particularly those from primitive origins, are instead assigned to warzones that utilise their talents without the need to cross open terrain, such as the depths of hives, the ruins of cities, mining tunnels, or dense jungle.
Cost: 3 points
Characteristics: +3 Weapon Skill, –3 Intelligence
Starting Skills: Dodge or Parry
Starting Talents: Lightning Reflexes
Standard Regimental Kit: One combat shotgun and four reloads or one great weapon or two one-handed low-tech weapons per Player Character (Main Weapon), one suit of Imperial Guard flak armour per Player Character, three frag grenades and two krak grenades per Player Character.
Special: At a cost of an additional 2 Regiment Creation points, the regiment can add a Chimera Armoured Transport or other transport vehicle (at the GM’s discretion) per Squad to its Standard Regimental Kit.
Drop Troops
A rare type of regiment, drop troops are extremely specialised infantry, trained for rapid strikes from airborne transports. Employing grav-chutes and attached Imperial Navy Valkyrie assault carriers to perform raids deep behind enemy lines, drop troops provide an uncommon, but potent resource to generals. Largely regarded by other Imperial Guardsmen as insane for choosing to leap out of a perfectly good aircraft in mid-flight, they are nonetheless required to be daring and courageous to dive into enemy territory, and away from the comfort of supply lines and heavy support. However, their habit of operating alone without support tends to make them somewhat distant and cold to those outside their ranks.
Cost: 3 points
Characteristics: +3 Agility, –3 Fellowship
Starting Skills: Operate (Aeronautica)
Starting Talents: Catfall
Standard Kit: One lascarbine and four charge packs per Player Character (Main Weapon), one suit of Imperial Guard flak armour per Player Character, one respirator per Player Character, one grav-chute per Player Character, two frag grenades and two smoke grenades per Player Character.
Guerrilla Regiment
These Guardsmen are light infantry units trained in covert warfare tactics and deployed against the Imperium’s enemies as infiltrators, assassins, and saboteurs. Stealthy and dangerous, these soldiers spend much of their time well behind enemy lines carrying out clandestine, top-secret missions behind enemy lines or even on worlds entirely held by foes. They tend to show more initiative and creative thinking in the field than the average Guardsman. Indeed, it is this ability to think on their feet and adapt to quickly changing tactical situations that keeps them alive and allows them to carry out their dangerous missions successfully.
Experts at asymmetric warfare, their missions typically include killing or capturing enemy leaders, interrogation, and deep infiltration strikes via grav chute or other aeronautica against enemy installations and infrastructure.
Cost: 4 points
Characteristics: +3 Perception, –3 Fellowship
Starting Skill: Stealth
Starting Talents: Ambush
Standard Regimental Kit: 1 lascarbine (Main Weapon) and four charge packs per Player Character, 2 blind grenades per Player Character, 2 stun grenades per Player Character, 2 frag grenades per Player Character.
Grenadiers
These Guardsmen are highly trained heavy infantry specialists trained in the use of grenades, grenade launchers, and the other numerous types of deployable explosive devices used by the Imperial Guard. These heavy-hitting soldiers work either in their own units as powerful heavy shock troopers or in mixed infantry units as heavy support troopers, using their heavy weapons to deny areas, defend their comrades, destroy lightly armoured fighting vehicles, and shatter close-packed groups of enemy infantry.
Cost: 4 points
Characteristics: +3 Ballistic Skill, +3 Toughness, –3 Perception.
Starting Skills: Tech-Use
Starting Talents: Bombardier
Standard Kit: 1 auxiliary grenade launcher weapon upgrade per Player Character, 1 additional krak and frag grenade per Player Character, 1 suit of light carapace armour per Player Character, 1 deadspace earpiece per Player Character, 2 grenade launchers per Squad.
Heavy Reconnaissance Regiment
While most regiments dedicated to forward scouting are equipped as normal forward infantry supported by no more than a single Sentinel walker, some rare regiments are formed entirely of soldiers dedicated to piloting and maintaining these light walkers. Though some commanders view such formations as gratuitous use of heavy machinery in the field, the effect of several walkers stomping out of the foliage or across a hilltop at breakneck pace, tearing apart any light vehicles or structures in their path to clear the way for their force’s advance is undeniable.
Cost: 8 points
Characteristics: +6 Agility, –6 Toughness
Starting Skills: Operate (Surface), Tech-Use
Starting Talents: Push the Limit, Tank Hunter
Standard Kit: 1 Sentinel scout walker per Player Character, 1 set of magnoculars per Player Character.
Hunter-Killer
Being used as the linchpin units in many grand strategies, hunter-killer units use light vehicles with deceptively heavy firepower to linger behind the front lines until called upon, then pushing forward quickly to strike down priority targets in support of the rank-and-file. Many hunter-killer units develop a hero mentality from their exploits, dealing the killing blow to enemy after enemy, and so outsiders tend to regard them as glory-seeking mavericks.
Cost: 3 points
Characteristics: +3 Ballistic Skill, –3 Strength
Starting Skills: Operate (Surface)
Starting Talents: Resistance (Fear)
Standard Kit: One Sentinel Scout Walker or one Hellhound Support Tank (or variant) per Squad.
Light Infantry
Lightly-equipped infantry units are key to the complex tactical manoeuvres required on the battlefields of the 41st Millennium. Lacking the firepower to effectively fight on the front lines, their talents are better employed in dense terrain, where they can lay ambushes and engage in shortlived skirmishes.
Cost: 2 points
Characteristics: +3 Agility, –3 Toughness
Starting Skills: Navigate (Surface)
Starting Talents: Sprint
Standard Kit: One lascarbine and four charge packs per Player Character (Main Weapon), one flak vest and flak helmet per Player Character, two frag grenades and two smoke grenades per Player Character.
Line Infantry
The backbone of the Imperial Guard, line infantry form the bulk of every battle line, the core of every assault, and the heart of every defence. The humble, doughty, and loyal infantryman is the subject of countless propaganda picts and inspirational murals across the Imperium. They form the iconic image of the Imperial Guard for most Imperial citizens, and for good reason. It is a rare battlefield that is not graced by the presence of line infantry.
Cost: 2 point
Characteristics: +3 Strength, –3 Intelligence
Starting Skills: Athletics
Starting Talents: Rapid Reload
Standard Kit: One M36 lasgun and four charge packs per Player Character (Main Weapon), one suit of Imperial Guard flak armour per Player Character, two frag grenades and two krak grenades per Player Character.
Mechanised Infantry
Less common than line infantry, mechanised infantry serve as a fast-moving, hard-hitting force, pairing the utility of infantry with the speed and firepower of armoured vehicles. The availability of Chimera transports is the main limiting factor to the number of mechanised infantry units in any given warzone, and this rarity means that many mechanised infantry regiments are divided into a number of smaller Armoured Fist groups—single squads or platoons—attached to armoured regiments (to provide infantry support) and line infantry regiments (to provide a fast reserve or armoured vanguard).
Cost: 3 points
Characteristics: +3 Agility, –3 Perception
Starting Skills: Operate (Surface)
Starting Talents: Rapid Reload
Standard Kit: One M36 lasgun and four charge packs per Player Character (Main Weapon), one suit of Imperial Guard flak armour per Player Character, two frag grenades and two krak grenades per Player Character, one Chimera Armoured Transport per Squad.
Mechanised Reconnaissance Regiment
While Sentinel walkers are the favoured vehicle of most reconnaissance regiments, some regiments or squads prefer to give up the all-terrain capabilities of the Sentinel in favour of armour to survive a protracted engagement and the speed to escape it. Salamander Reconnaissance Tanks are swift vehicles based on the reliable Chimera chassis. These open topped vehicles are perfectly suited to reconnaissance work, and have the speed to scout ahead of a formation and return with invaluable intelligence in short order.
Cost: 3 points
Characteristics: +3 Perception, –3 Toughness
Starting Skills: Awareness
Starting Talents: Lightning Reflexes
Standard Regimental Kit: One Salamander Reconnaissance Tank (or variant, at the GM’s discretion) per Squad, and one set of magnoculars per Player Character.
Rapid Reconnaissance Regiment
Most associated with the regiments of Elysia, the Tauros rapid assault vehicle is comparatively rare amongst the Imperial Guard, its use requiring special dispensation from the Adeptus Mechanicus. Regiments able to obtain these vehicles, however, find a dependable and swift vehicle, able to traverse nearly any terrain at speed. It is for these qualities that some reconnaissance regiments favour Tauros over the more common Sentinels. While more limited in what terrain they can negotiate, these vehicles’ speed makes up for the limitation in many environments.
Cost: 8 points
Characteristics: +3 Agility, –3 Toughness
Starting Skills: Operate (Surface), Tech-Use
Starting Talents: Combat Sense or Accelerated Repairs
Standard Regimental Kit: One Tauros rapid assault vehicle and one set of Magnoculars per Player Character. At the GM’s discretion, two Player Characters may exchange their individual vehicles for a single Tauros Venator.
Rough Rider Regiment
While they might seem a strange anachronism in a military force that fields enough firepower both on the ground and in space to annihilate an entire planet, the Imperial Guard’s Rough Riders are as dangerous as any armoured or mechanised regiment. Possessed of a flexibility and speed nearly unrivalled among the numerous regiments of the Guard, different groups of Rough Riders ride a myriad of different beasts, from hardy, war-hardened common horses to lumbering grox to creatures even more exotic like small carnosaurs or winged felines. Rough Riders are typically raised from low technology level feral and feudal worlds where nomadic or cavalry centric societies are the norm, though some, like the Death Riders of Krieg hail from more developed worlds.
Rough Riders are lightly armed and armoured, drilled in close-range combat and anti-armour tactics. They wear light flak armour and carry their unique, multi-purpose hunting lances, laspistols, a handful of grenades, and precious little else. While their mounts grant the troopers great speed and manoeuvrability, they also limit the type and amount of equipment that can be carried in the field.
Due to this, most Rough Riders are accomplished at fieldcraft and survival, able to live, if not comfortably, then at least reasonably off the land in nearly any environment. In theatre, they are deployed as scouts, skirmishers, and guerrilla fighters, in squads of four to nine troopers led by a sergeant. Their mounts allow them to move quickly and stealthily far from Imperial supply lines and through terrain difficult or impossible to cross for heavy mechanised and armoured units. This makes them hard for enemies to counter, and Rough Riders use this to their advantage in their unique hit-and-run style of combat.
Cost: 5 points
Characteristics: +3 Agility, –3 Ballistic Skill
Starting Skills: Survival
Starting Talents: Catfall
Standard Kit: 1 hunting lance (Main Weapon) per Player Character, 1 laspistol and four charge packs per Player Character, 1 flak jacket and flak helmet per Player Character, 1 riding beast per Player Character (see Mount Profiles on page 138 for some examples), 1 saddle per Player Character, 2 saddlebags per Player Character, 1 set of riding tack (reins, harness, etc) per Player Character.
Salvage and Recovery Regiment
In the battles it wages against the Imperium’s foes, it is unavoidable that the mighty tanks and vehicles of the Imperial Guard fall in battle alongside the soldiers themselves, despite their mighty armour. However, such is the fortitude of the Imperial Guard’s tanks, that they are rarely destroyed outright—such an event occurring only if the enemy is fortunate enough to detonate fuel or ammunition stores with a lucky shot. When a battle tank or even a Chimera transport is left damaged on the field of battle, it is important to recover it as quickly as possible, before errant shots or vindictive enemies damage the wrecked vehicle beyond repair. It is up to the salvage and recovery regiments to perform this task, braving the battlefield to tow the crippled war machines to safety. This allows the Tech-Priest Enginseers to soothe the vehicles’ machine spirits and repair the damage, that they might roar into battle once more.
Cost: 3 points
Characteristics: +3 Intelligence, –3 Strength
Starting Skills: Operate (Surface)
Starting Talents: Nerves of Steel or Battlefield Tech-Wright
Standard Regimental Kit: One Atlas recovery tank per Squad, and one anointed maintenance toolkit per Player Character.
Siege Infantry
Similar to line infantry, siege infantry form a solid mass of troops, specifically trained to serve in protracted sieges. A siege regiment may be deployed in a single location for years at a time, moving only infrequently to a new front line, often only a few hundred metres from the last one. Each line usually consists of newlydug trenches and earthworks, swiftly and precisely excavated by thousands of troopers. It is said that the finest siege regiments can establish a solid defence line with nothing but shovels, flakboard, and sandbags, within half an hour of deployment.
Cost: 2 points
Characteristics: +3 Toughness, –3 Intelligence
Starting Skills: Tech-Use
Starting Talents: Nerves of Steel
Standard Kit: One M36 lasgun and six charge packs per Player Character (Main Weapon), one suit of Imperial Guard flak armour per Player Character, one respirator per Player Character, four empty sandbags and one entrenching tool per Player Character, two frag grenades and two photon flash grenades per Player Character.
Super-Heavy Armoured Regiment
To be entrusted with the care of a hallowed superheavy tank is one of the greatest honours that might befall a squad. Super-heavy armoured regiments are rare in comparison to other types of armoured regiments, and tend to come only from worlds with close ties to the Adeptus Mechanicus. While an honour, the duty of shepherding a super-heavy tank comes with great weight of responsibility. These mighty engines of war are no mere vehicles, but divine instruments of Omnissiah’s wrath. The crew of these vehicles must always respect the fearsome machine spirits within. Such regiments must also strive to protect these mighty adamantine beasts from harm; no small feat, seeing as super-heavy tanks such as Baneblades, Stormlords, and Shadowswords are likely to be deployed in the thickest and most dangerous fighting.
Cost: 7 points
Characteristics: –3 Weapon Skill, +3 Willpower
Starting Skills: Operate (Surface)
Starting Talents: Technical Knock
Standard Regimental Kit: One Baneblade super-heavy tank (or variant, at the GM’s discretion) per Squad, and one anointed maintenance toolkit per Player Character.
Training Doctrines
Training Doctrine | Cost |
---|---|
Anti-Aircraft | 4 |
Anti-Armour | 4 |
Close Order Drill | 2 |
Close Quarters Battle | 5 |
Crusaders | 3 |
Defenders of the Faith | 2 |
Defenders of the Omnissiah | 3 |
Demolitionists | 4 |
Die-Hards | 3 |
Favoured Foe | 3 |
Hardened Fighters | 2 |
Heavy Lancers | 5 |
Infiltrators | 4 |
Iron Discipline | 3 |
Sappers | 3 |
Sharpshooters | 4 |
Skirmishers | 4 |
Snipers | 2 |
Survivalists | 4 |
Anti-Aircraft
Using man-portable surface to air launchers, dedicated antiaircraft emplacements, and armoured vehicles like the Hydra flak tank, these eagle eyed Guardsmen keep the skies clear of enemy aerospace craft and flying beasts of all varieties. Whether assigned to a static anti-air battery protecting a field command centre or aboard a Hydra protecting an infantry regiment from the wanton depredations of Ork fightas, antiaircraft regiments are a very important part of the Imperial Guard’s order of battle.
Cost: 4
Starting Aptitude: Ballistic Skill
Starting Talent: Storm of Iron
Special: Members of Anti-Aircraft regiments gain an additional +10 bonus to their Ballistic Skill to hit airborne targets such as aircraft, ships, and flying creatures.
Anti-Armour
This regiment specialises in disabling and destroying enemy armoured vehicles. Typically composed of light or line infantry, they are instilled with an encyclopaedic knowledge of enemy armour and equipped with rocket and missile launchers, anti-tank mines, melta guns, and other destructive devices. These Guardsmen are frequently deployed on foot or mounted in a Chimera and can cripple an enemy’s armoured advance or mechanised units with nothing but a few well placed missiles.
Cost: 4 points
Starting Skill: Common Lore (Tech)
Starting Talent: Tank Hunter
Special: Due to their special training and their encyclopaedic knowledge of enemy armoured vehicles and their strengths and weaknesses, Anti-Armour regiments are unparalleled tankkillers. Members of Anti-Armour regiments add an additional amount to the Penetration of their weapons equal to their Degrees of Success on the attack roll when attacking vehicles.
Close Order Drill
The regiment has trained long and hard to operate in close formations, fighting shoulder-to-shoulder with their comrades. These close formations can respond quickly with overwhelming force, moving as a single entity, rather than a group of individuals.
Cost: 2 points
Talents: Combat Formation or Double Team
Close-Quarters Battle
The deadly, winding underhive of Scintilla, endless mine shafts and tunnels deep below a planet’s surface, and the narrow corridors of a towering hab block: these are just a few examples of the environs where a close quarters battle regiment shines. Lightly armoured and armed with carbines, bullpups, and other short-barrelled weapons along with numerous deadly melee weapons, close quarters specialists are trained to move and fight effectively in confined spaces. These Guardsmen tend to be reckless enough to fight the vicious enemies of the Imperium up close, and perceptive and skilled enough to survive doing so—until their luck runs out, at least.
Cost: 5
Starting Talent: Double Team or Combat Master
Standard Regimental Kit: 1 lascarbine (Main Weapon) with four charge packs and the Compact modification per Player Character, 1 mono knife per Player Character, 1 suit of light carapace armour per Player Character.
Special: Members of regiments that specialise in Close Quarters Battle gain an additional +10 bonus to all Ballistic Skill Tests made at Point-Blank Range.
Crusaders
While all Imperial Guardsmen are faithful to the Emperor, this is more true for some than others. The most zealous adherents to the Imperial Creed see their duty as soldiers of the Imperial Guard not only taking up arms to defend the Imperium, but as part of a holy crusade to cleanse these enemies from the very stars. Such regiments are invariably accompanied by Ministorum priests, preachers, and confessors, these fiery priests exalting the soldiers to ever greater feats in the Emperor’s holy name.
Cost: 3 points
Characteristics: +2 Weapon Skill
Starting Talents: Frenzy and Hatred (Choose one) or Peer (Ecclesiarchy)
Defenders of the Faith
This regiment is closely tied to the Adeptus Ministorum, the galaxy-spanning Ecclesiarchy that teaches the Imperial Truth and leads the worship of the Most Holy Emperor. This regiment is particularly pious in its devotions, and is sure to be accompanied by preachers, confessors, and other warriors representing the Ecclesiarchy. In battle, the soldiers of this regiment fight valiantly under the watchful eyes of the Ecclesiarchy and, should they be so blessed, the Emperor Himself.
Cost: 2
Characteristics: +3 Willpower
Starting Skills: Common Lore (Ecclesiarchy), Common Lore (Imperial Creed)
Starting Talents: Unshakeable Faith
Defenders of the Omnissiah
This regiment is closely associated with the Adeptus Mechanicus. It might hail from a technologically advanced hive world or orbital station, or even one of the Lathe Worlds of the Calixis sector. Due to their lifelong exposure, soldiers from this regiment are much more comfortable with technology than most regiments would consider healthy, and quickly adapt to new technologies given the opportunity.
Cost: 3 points
Starting Aptitude: Tech
Demolitionists
This regiment specialises in demolitions work, relying on powerful explosives and their precise application to bring down enemy fortifications or even to destroy vehicles or infantry formations. This doctrine could represent specialised siege training, or adapted skills from a mining background. Demolitionists often earn a reputation for recklessness, but usually maintain that their success and continued time amongst the living shows that they are, in fact, quite cautious and methodical in their work.
Cost: 4 points
Characteristics: +2 Intelligence
Starting Skills: Tech-Use, Operate (Surface)
Starting Talents: Nerves of Steel
Standard Regimental Kit: One Cyclops demolition vehicle per Squad, and one respirator and one-kg demolition charge per Squad Member.
Special: Due to their training and experience, characters from a demolitionists regiment gain an additional +10 bonuses to Tech-Use Tests made for the Demolitions special use of the Skill.
Die-Hards
The regiment is unyielding in the face of adversity, and will not falter amidst the fury of battle, no matter the horrors arrayed against them.
Cost: 3 points
Starting Aptitude: Toughness
Favoured Foe
The regiment’s home world has long been assailed by one of the myriad enemies of Mankind, and its troops have learned the hard way the most effective ways to slay that enemy. Without mercy and without fear, they relish opportunities to bring death to their traditional foe.
Cost: 3 points
Starting Skills: Forbidden Lore (choose one†)
Starting Talents: Hatred (choose one†)
†When selecting this doctrine, a single enemy of the Imperium must be selected. The choice of Forbidden Lore speciality and Hatred must both reflect this choice of enemy.
Hardened Fighters
The regiment’s warriors are vicious up close, deadly in melee as well as at range. Armed with the tools of their grim trade, they are not afraid to face their enemies in single combat, and feel the hot blood of the freshly-slain on their skin.
Cost: 2 points
Characteristics: +2 Weapon Skill
Starting Talents: Street Fighting
Standard Regimental Kit: The regiment can either replace its standard melee weapon with a Common (or more available) Low-Tech Weapon, or apply the mono upgrade to its standard melee weapon.
Heavy Lancers
These soldiers are powerful units usually mounted on massive, powerful, fleet-footed beasts bred for the charge. Heavily armed and armoured, even the beasts they ride frequently wear thick protective plates to turn aside the blasts, bolts, and blades of the enemy. Such warriors specialise in breaking infantry lines, destroying vehicles, and demoralising nearly any foe. A terror to behold with their hunting lances levelled at full tilt, a lance charge ranks as one of the most awe-inspiring sights on the battlefield.
Cost: 5
Aptitude: Weapon Skill
Starting Talent: Unstoppable Charge
Standard Regimental Kit: 1 mono great spear (a great weapon) or 1 hunting lance per Player Character.
Special: Heavy Lancers excel at the charge and train extensively for this purpose. Members of a Heavy Lancer regiment increase the distance their Mounts can move as part of a Crushing Charge Mounted Special Action by a number of metres equal to twice the Mount’s Agility Bonus (see page 132).
Infiltrators
This regiment uses stealth, cunning, and every ruse de guerre known to military science to sow fear and havoc among the enemies of the Imperium. Well versed in clandestine warfare, infiltrators carry out missions that most hardened Storm Troopers would not undertake lightly.
Cost: 4
Starting Skill: Stealth
Starting Talents: Blind Fighting
Special: Infiltrators are extremely adept at slipping past the enemy, and use every distraction and dirty trick in the book to this end. When two or more characters from a Squad with this Doctrine are called upon to make a Stealth Test, one of the characters making the Test may choose to make his Test at a –10 penalty. If he succeeds, one other character making the Test may use the first character’s Agility Characteristic for the Test instead of his own. The characters must be within 10 metres of one another to use this ability.
Iron Discipline
The regiment is well-known for its unyielding devotion to duty and absolute loyalty to superiors. No man will hesitate to act when ordered, nor will they falter when carrying out those orders. The expectations of the common infantryman, however, are such that shouldering the burden of command is to take on a great and solemn responsibility, and only the humblest and most serious-minded of officers can be entrusted with warriors so devoted.
Cost: 3 points
Starting Aptitude: Willpower
Sappers
This regiment specialises in combat engineer duties, including erecting fortifications, building bridges and other structures, demolitions work, setting or clearing minefields, and tunnelling under enemy emplacements. While the soldiers lack the knowledge and ability of Tech-Priest Enginseers, they are trained to construct, build, and fortify, although they perform such tasks almost purely by rote. The Imperial Guard utilised many prefabricated structures, designed to be erected and emplaced with minimal time and skill.
Sappers often go beyond the theoretical limits of their duties and abilities, learning to use whatever is to hand when resources become scarce. While such actions might violate Departmento Munitorum edicts, they are often overlooked by officers so long as the results are worthwhile.
Cost: 3 points
Characteristics: +2 Intelligence
Starting Skills: Security, Tech-Use, Trade (Technomat)
Starting Talents: Technical Knock
Standard Regimental Kit: One lascutter per Player Character.
Special: Sappers are trained to both build and disassemble fortifications, undermine walls, and similar duties. Characters from this regiment gain a +10 bonus to Tech- Use and Trade (Technomat) Tests to construct or disassemble a structure.
Sharpshooters
The regiment has a well-earned reputation for producing deadly marksmen, and every soldier is expected to be able to demonstrate great proficiency with a lasgun, at the very least. Such regiments commonly produce some of the finest snipers in the Imperial Guard, and even the common soldier can be relied upon to fell foe after foe with a storm of precise shots.
Cost: 4 points
Starting Aptitude: Ballistic Skill
Starting Talents: Deadeye Shot
Skirmishers
Typically mounted on small, fierce, agile creatures, some regiments are specialise in using cover, terrain, weather, and darkness to shroud their movements. Skirmishers are trained to use every advantage to stealthily approach their quarry then overwhelm them in a single cascading assault. Once they strike, they disappear as quickly as they arrive, leaving shattered and confused enemy troops in their wake.
Cost: 4
Starting Aptitude: Agility
Starting Talent: Skilled Rider or Ambush
Special: Skirmishers are adept at using terrain and the speed of their mounts to devastating effect, and are masters of strikeand- fade tactics. When member of a Skirmisher regiment hits a Surprised or Unaware target as part of a Strike and Fade Mounted Special Action, he increases the distance his Mount can move after the attack by a number of metres equal to his Mount’s Agility Bonus (see page 134).
Snipers
Some light infantry or reconnaissance regiments specialise in eliminating their enemies from a distance. Utilising the long las or sniper rifle, the soldiers of this regiment hone their abilities to strike at range, preferably neutralising their targets without ever revealing their own presence. Regiments raised from Ratling home worlds are almost invariably trained and equipped as snipers rather than with the lasguns of normal infantry regiments.
Cost: 2
Characteristics: +2 Ballistic Skill
Starting Talents: Marksman
Standard Regimental Kit: One long las and 4 charge packs or one sniper rifle and four clips per Player Character (Main Weapon).
Survivalists
The regiment is skilled at surviving in the wilderness, and its soldiers are masters of operating in a particular kind of terrain, normally the one in which they’ve grown up and trained extensively. Hunters and trackers almost without peer, there are few who can escape their pursuit.
Cost: 4 points
Starting Aptitude: Agility
Special: When selecting this doctrine, nominate a single type of terrain—Desert, Jungle, Tundra, Ash Wastes, Urban Ruins, etc. When operating in that kind of terrain, characters from a regiment with this Doctrine can re-roll failed Survival and Navigate (Surface) Skill Tests.
Special Equipment Doctrine
Special Equipment Doctrine | Cost |
---|---|
Augmetics | 2 |
Automated Artillery | 2 |
Bonded to the Machine Cult | 3 |
Breachers | 2 |
Cavalry Mounts | 5 |
Chameleoline | 3 |
Combat Drugs | 2 |
Covert Strike | 5 |
Cyber-Enhanced | 3 |
Demolitions | 3 |
Electro-Vox Warfare | 4 |
Forward Observation | 4 |
Ogryn Weapons | 1 |
Reliquary | 1 |
Sabre Battery | 3 |
Scavengers | 3 |
Servitor Accompaniment | 2 |
Vanguard | 6 |
Warrior Weapons | 3 |
Well-Provisioned | 3 |
Augmetics
The regiment has had long ties with the Adeptus Mechanicus, and though not privy to the many secrets of that organisation, they willingly accept the wisdom of the Priests of Mars. As a testament to this unity, the regiment’s warriors sport many more bionics and augmetics than is typically the case, with veterans often sporting bionics to replace organs and limbs lost to the horrors of war.
Cost: 2 points
Standard Regimental Kit: The regiment gains an additional +10 on all Logistics Tests made to obtain bionic replacements and implants.
Automated Artillery
A wide variety of regiments make use of Tarantula Sentry Guns, using these automated artillery pieces to supplement their own offensive capabilities or to provide additional defence. While sentry guns are especially prized by regiments that are understrength or engaged in seemingly endless wars of attrition or urban campaigns, they also find use supplementing manual artillery pieces or fortifying a drop-trooper beachhead.
Cost: 2 points
Standard Regimental Kit: One Tarantula Sentry Gun per Squad.
Bonded to the Machine Cult
This regiment is bonded to the Tech-Priesthood of Mars by ancient decree. The regiment’s home world maintains close ties with the Adeptus Mechanicus, producing advanced weaponry that is usually the purview only of the forge worlds. Consequently, the regiment is able to obtain such weapons more easily either from their home world or even directly from the Adeptus Mechanicus.
Cost: 3 points
Standard Regimental Kit: The regiment gains an additional +10 on all Logistics Tests to obtain Plasma, Melta, and Power weapons, and other items of advanced technology at the GM’s discretion.
Breachers
A variety of specialised equipment is available for use by siege regiments and other Imperial Guard forces assigned to attack enemy fortifications. Some specialized combat engineer, sappers, or assault units are granted the use of a Hades Breaching Drill to tunnel under enemy lines or undermine existing, enemy-held tunnels or fortifications. Such work can be extremely dangerous, both for the desperate close-quarters fighting that inevitably results and for the lack of structural stability of such tunnels.
Cost: 2 points
Standard Regimental Kit: One Hades Breaching Drill per Squad.
Cavalry Mounts
Each member of the regiment has a personal mount such as a horse, Grox, or other riding beast (see Mount Profiles on page 138). Along with the mount, the trooper has all the necessary equipment or “tack” required for riding and fighting from their mount, items such as saddles, saddlebags, hobbles, bit and bridle, harnesses, armour, and the like. Troopers are responsible for the care and feeding of their mounts, and typically form a bond with their animal as deep and lasting as between other types of Guardsmen and their squad mates.
Cost: 5
Standard Regimental Kit: 1 riding beast per Player Character, 1 saddle per Player Character, 1 saddle blanket per Player Character, 1 set of bit and bridle (or equivalent) per Player Character, 2 saddle bags per Player Character, 2 weeks’ rations for the mount. Any barding or other mount armour varies by regiment.
Chameleoline
The regiment’s duties require them to move unseen across the battlefield, and for this reason, they have been equipped with colour-shifting chameleoline, which helps them blend in with their surroundings.
Cost: 3 points
Standard Regimental Kit: The regiment is equipped with either chameleoline cloaks or chameleoline-coated armour.
Combat Drugs
Commonly given to Penal Legions and other units whomay require additional encouragement to fight their hardest, combat drugs can provide the additional psychological or physical kick needed to spur a unit to action.
Cost: 2 points
Standard Regimental Kit: The regiment adds an injector or inhaler and three doses of frenzon or five doses of stimm. Additional doses must be obtained through requisition or additional standard kit items.
Covert Strike
This regiment’s missions require them to operate well behind enemy lines, often amongst the enemy soldiers themselves, and their equipment reflects their need for speed, stealth, and flexibility.
Cost: 5
Standard Regimental Kit: 1 suit of synskin per Player Character, 1 set of preysense goggles per Player Character.
Special: Members of this regiment gain a +10 bonus to all Logistics Tests made to acquire chameleoline cloaks or armour, clip/drop harnesses, rebreathers, survival suits, auspex/scanners, demolitions charges, grav chutes, multikeys, multicompasses, stummers, static generators, and any other such equipment designed for stealth and infiltration. The Logistics bonus also covers the following stealth weapons: needle rifles, needle pistols, and sniper rifles, as well as the Silencer and Tox Dispenser upgrades.
Cyber-Enhanced
This regiment has very close ties with the Adeptus Mechanicus, or perhaps is even of the Lathe Worlds. In either case, the regiment believes in the superiority of the machine over flesh, and its members gladly accept the blessings of the Omnissiah to replace their biological parts. From bionic limbs to enhanced senses, these cybernetic enhancements serve to increase the regiment’s abilities in battle.
Cost: 3 points
Standard Regimental Kit: All characters in this regiment begin with two Common-Craftsmanship cybernetics or one Good-Craftsmanship cybernetic (the specific cybernetics are subject to the GM’s approval).
Demolitions
Destruction is the unit’s calling, and they are equipped and trained to follow that calling, with access to a variety of explosive munitions.
Cost: 3 points
Standard Regimental Kit: The regiment gains a +10 bonus on all Logistics Tests made to obtain grenades, missiles, explosives, and special tank ammunition.
Electro-Vox Warfare
Requiring an in-depth knowledge of the ins and outs of battlefield communication such as broadcast frequencies, electronic attack, cryptography, power generation, maintenance, and the dizzying array of communications gear fielded across the galaxy, electronic warfare is typically the purview of Operators, Tech-Priest Enginseers, and the occasional astute and tech-savvy Guardsman. No matter where they fight, these Guardsmen are equipped with some of the most sophisticated listening and broadcasting equipment issued by the Departmento Munitorum.
Cost: 4
Standard Regimental Kit: 1 data-slate per Player Character, 1 micro-bead per Player Character, 1 anointed electronics toolkit per Player Character, 2 auspex/scanners per Squad, 2 static generators per Squad, 1 vox-caster per Squad, 1 signal jammer per Squad.
Forward Observation
Forward Observers use stealth, speed, and knowledge of navigation and survival to observe the enemy and call in air strikes, orbital bombardment, or artillery barrages. This unit excels in directing indirect fire, and their special load-out helps them ensure their colleagues in the air and behind the lines hit what they are aiming for.
Cost: 4
Standard Regimental Kit: 1 pair of magnoculars per Player Character, 1 chameleoline cloak per Player Character, 1 handheld targeter per Player Character, and 2 pict recorders per Squad.
Ogryn Weapons
For regiments raised from Ogryn home worlds, or regiments that include a sizeable contingent of Ogryn auxilia amongst their number, it is vital that these hulking abhumans have access to appropriate weapons. Such regiments often attempt to reach a special understanding with the Departmento Munitorum so as to assure the availability of weapons suitable for use by Ogryns.
Cost: 1 point
Standard Regimental Kit: The regiment gains an additional +10 on all Logistics Tests to obtain items with the Ogryn- Proof Weapon Quality. In addition, Ogryn characters in the regiment may add a Common Craftsmanship ripper gun and two clips (Main Weapon) to their kit, if it does not already include one.
Reliquary
For truly pious regiments, there is no greater honour than to carry a holy reliquary into battle. While most often seen amongst shrine world regiments, Ecclesiarchy support elements attached to other regiments might sometimes arrange for the presence of a reliquary to inspire the troops or in recognition of their righteousness on the battlefield.
Cost: 1 point
Standard Regimental Kit: One reliquary per squad. The reliquary might take any number of forms, from a simple wooden box to an elaborate triptych or golden sarcophagus. What is important however, is the reliquary’s contents—either some portion of the bodily remains of a saint or another object of great religious significance for the worshipers of the Emperor. Depending on the reliquary’s size, it might take only a single person to carry, or five or more, but typically two characters (including Comrades) must carry it. As long as the reliquary remains in the Squad’s possession, all Squad Members gain a +10 bonus to Willpower Tests and count as possessing the Unshakeable Faith Talent. In addition, the Player Characters reduce all Corruption Points gained by 1 to a minimum of 1.
Sabre Battery
A favorite of line infantry regiments, regiments specializing in anti-aircraft work, and elite regiments with low numbers, Sabre Defence Platforms allow a single Guardsman to man two or more heavy weapons, and even engage aerial targets. Such platforms are also sometimes used by artillery regiments, siege regiments, and others likely to remain stationary, as the platforms are immobile once set up, and dismantling them is a time-consuming affair. This lack of mobility means that Guardsmen issued with Sabres are expected to defend key objectives, holding their ground against all odds with no option for retreat. In these cases, the issuing of Sabre Defence Platforms is seen not so much as a blessing as a death sentence.
Cost: 3 points
Standard Regimental Kit: One Sabre Defence Platform per Player Character.
Scavengers
Some regard the strict rationing, draconian regulations, and complex bureaucracy of the Departmento Munitorum as needless restrictions upon the capabilities of the Imperial Guard. Others seek personal gain, or simply steal out of habit or necessity. Whatever the reason, the regiment is populated with those who steal and scavenge additional equipment from the battlefield.
Cost: 3 points
Standard Regimental Kit: The regiment may choose to gain a +10 bonus on any Logistics Test. However, on any test where this bonus is used, if any doubles are rolled (22, 33, 44, etc.) whether the Test was a success or a failure, then the scavenging and stealing attracts unwanted attention from higher authorities within the Imperial Guard or the Departmento Munitorum.
Servitor Accompaniment
Regiments with close ties to the Adeptus Mechanicus are sometimes known to make extensive use of servitors, bolstering squads with these hardy and fearless soldiers. Such regiments might also rely on their Tech-Priest Enginseers to ensure that mortally wounded Guardsmen continue to fight on in the Emperor’s name, although fighting alongside a lobotomised cyborg with the face of a former friend can inevitably cause morale problems.
Cost: 2 points
Standard Regimental Kit: Characters in this regiment may select Servitor Comrades (see page 121) for their Comrades.
Vanguard
Considered elite among siege regiments, these regiments combine the deadly combat prowess of elite infantry with the cunning and technical acumen of siege engineers. Where the average siege engineer’s mission is more defensive, digging trenches, breaching walls, and building fortifications, a vanguard unit’s mission is more focused on offence and mayhem. These Guardsmen travel deep behind enemy lines, either on foot or mounted in well-equipped Chimeras, to destroy infrastructure, sabotage logistical and communication lines, and cause as many problems for the enemy as they can. Many of their missions are highly classified, and are often carried out in cooperation with Storm Trooper units.
Cost: 6
Standard Regimental Kit: 1 lascarbine (Main Weapon) with four charge packs or 1 combat shotgun (Main Weapon) with four clips per Player Character, 1 combi-tool per Player Character, 1 data-slate per Player Character, 1 9-70 entrenching tool per Player Character, 1 anointed toolkit per Player Character, 1 lascutter per Squad, 6 demolitions charges per Squad, 1 siege auspex per Squad, and a single Chimera armoured transport per Squad armed with a turretmounted autocannon, a hull-mounted heavy flamer, and a pintle-mounted heavy stubber, as well as a dozer blade and camouflage netting.
Warrior Weapons
Warriors from primitive worlds are often ill-suited to serve on firing lines, their savage demeanour making them a poor choice to wield a lasgun. Such warriors often serve the Imperial Guard in other ways, armed with swords, axes, and mauls, to cut the enemy apart in close quarters.
Cost: 3 points
Starting Skills: Parry
Standard Regimental Kit: The regiment exchanges their Main Weapon for a Common (or more available) Low-Tech weapon and a laspistol with two charge packs.
Well-Provisioned
The regiment has been marked as a supply priority by the Munitorum, keeping them well-supplied with ammunition, food, medical equipment, and other consumables. Wellprovisioned regiments tend to be those expected to face the worst of the fighting, with regular resupply to allow them to remain at fighting strength for far longer.
Cost: 3 points
Standard Regimental Kit: The regiment increases the number of clips for their main ranged weapon and the number of weeks’ rations they carry as standard by +2, and gain an additional grenade of each type in their standard kit (if applicable). If the regiment contains vehicles, this also grants a +10 bonus on all Logistics tests to obtain fuel and parts for repairing and maintaining those vehicles.
Regimental Drawbacks
Regimental Drawback | Extra Points |
---|---|
Cloud of Suspicion | 3 |
Condemned | 6 |
Conscripts | 3 |
Cult of Chivalry | 3 |
Dishonoured | 3 |
Doomed | 7 |
Honour Bound | 4 |
Iconoclasts | 3 |
Incompetent Leadership | 5 |
Lost Home World | 5 |
Mistrusted | 3 |
Poorly Provisioned | 4 |
Primitive | 5 |
Regimental Rivalry | 2 |
Scarred by Loss | 4 |
Tainted | 3 |
The Few | 5 |
Traitors | 5 |
Warp-Delayed | 4 |
Cloud of Suspicion
Whether justified or not, this regiment as come under close scrutiny. The members of this regiment know that their movements are being watched by someone, and that the someone does not like them. A siege mentality has spread throughout the regiment, along with paranoia and anxiety. Officers see spies and informants everywhere and newly conscripted guardsmen are viewed with deep suspicion and hostility as their new squad mates assume they are undercover agents with sinister purposes.
Regiment Points: 3
Talents: Enemy (Adeptus Arbites) or Enemy (Inquisition) or Enemy (Other), Paranoia.
Untimely Inquiries: Whenever this regiment fails in an operation or the Squad fails to complete a mission or achieve a critical objective, the power with a worrisome interest in the regiment rears its ugly head, at the Game Master’s discretion. When such an investigation takes place, even on a regimental level, every member of the regiment suffers a –5 penalty to Willpower Tests until the interference concludes due to the stress that it causes.
Condemned
Either due to pernicious acts unbefitting a chosen soldier of the Imperial Guard, incompetence and failure, cowardice in the face of the enemy, unfair accusations, or simple, terrible luck, this regiment has been condemned to die on the battlefield as penance for its sins. Though many regiments seek death on the battlefield, these soldiers are not merely sent into incredibly dangerous situations but are placed against outright suicidal odds, even if there is little to be gained from their deaths besides the semihonourable and convenient disposal of troops who cannot be trusted or forgiven. Departmento Munitorum support for such regiments is token at best, and they receive the most dangerous missions that command can concoct for them.
Regiment Points: 6
Beyond Redemption: Members of this regiment suffer a –20 penalty to all Fellowship-based Tests made when interacting with members of other Imperial Guard regiments, their own officers, the Departmento Munitorum, and other officials both local and Imperial who would have likely heard of the regiment’s reputation. Additionally, its members suffer –20 penalty to all Logistics Tests. Further, this group is always assigned to the most dangerous missions on a given battlefront, and is rarely given respites between its missions to recuperate and reorganise at the Game Master’s discretion.
Finally, at the Game Master’s discretion, any given Squad from a regiment with this Drawback might be assigned an Imperial Guard Commissar (see page 374 of the Only War Core Rulebook) to oversee its actions.
At the GM’s discretion, this Drawback can be applied to a regiment or even a single Squad within a regiment after creation, as a punishment for crimes or incompetence. If a regiment or Squad receives this Drawback after creation, it does not receive the additional Regiment Creation Points that it would normally provides, but instead receives the Weapon Skill Aptitude (regiments and Squads that select this Drawback at creation do not gain this Aptitude).
Talents: Choose one of the following: Berserk Charge, Cold Hearted, Frenzy, or Paranoia.
Conscripts
While most Imperial Guardsmen are proud to serve their Emperor on the field of battle and gladly go to war, this is not always the case. On some worlds that lack proud martial traditions, their tithe of manpower must be forcibly conscripted. Commissars attached to such regiments have an unenviable task, ensuring that these unwilling soldiers fulfil their duties and obey the orders of their officers, who typically are much more inclined to serve. Although few regiments can truly be considered volunteers, this Drawback represents a regiment that truly opposed being drafted into service.
Regiment Points: 3 points
Unwilling: This regiment was forcibly conscripted, perhaps at gun point, and its members serve the Imperial Guard only grudgingly. Characters from this regiment suffer a –10 penalty to all Willpower Tests, and all Command Tests to influence members of this regiment (including Comrades) suffer a –10 penalty.
Cult of Chivalry
This regiment holds itself to an aggressive standard, believing firmly that work done in the name of the God-Emperor must be undertaken in a certain way or it is not work in His name at all. To members of such regiments, certain lines must never be crossed, even in war, and certain tactics are never acceptable. Such warriors see deception as synonymous with dishonour, and try to avoid it at all costs, even to their own detriment.
Regiment Points: 3
Code of Honour: A member of this regiment must pass a Difficult (–10) Willpower Test before attempting to use the Deceive Skill (even on an enemy); if he fails, he must either tell the truth or remain silent. Members of such regiments can still lie by omission, though such tactics are almost invariably frowned upon. Further, due to their tendency to deal honestly with others, members of regiments with this Drawback suffer a –10 penalty to Scrutiny Tests Opposing the Deceive Skill.
Dishonoured
This regiment suffered a humiliating defeat or otherwise had its reputation tarnished by a failure of some kind. Although it has suffered no direct sanctions or punishments as a result, each member of the regiment still feels the sting of stumbling when put to the test. As such, they are driven to succeed at all costs, that they might rid themselves of the shame of failing the God-Emperor.
Regiment Points: 3
Seeking Redemption: While engaged in battle, a member of this regiment must pass a Difficult (–10) Willpower Test when ordered to give ground, withdraw, or otherwise relinquish something of importance to the mission. If the character fails this Test, he can still choose to follow the order to act against his desires, but he gains 1d5–2 (to a minimum of 1) Insanity Points from the mental stress of enduring this further disgrace.
Doomed
Luck is a fickle mistress, and for some unknown reason she seems to have turned her back on this regiment. Nothing ever seems to go right for these hard-luck troopers, and they are the very definition of the old military aphorism, “Every plan is a good plan until first contact with the God- Emperor’s foes.” Much needed materiel and reinforcements arrive late, incorrect, or not at all, orders are incomplete, intelligence is nearly always wrong and battlefield conditions are worse than expected, and there are a higher number of accidents and foul-ups while in the field.
Regiment Points: 7
Dead Soldiers Walking: Members of this regiment cannot Burn Fate Points to survive fatal injuries (see Burning Fate on page 33 of the Only War Core Rulebook). In addition, members of the regiment suffer a –10 penalty on Logistics Tests, and whenever the Squad rolls on Table 6–5: Random Issue Gear (see page 167 of the Only War Core Rulebook), they apply a –20 penalty to the roll. The Game Master should also take this Regimental Drawback into account when designing missions, and he should plan the number of Complications that spring up during the execution of the mission accordingly.
Honour Bound
A man or woman’s honour is every bit as important to the members of this regiment as food, water, and oxygen—perhaps even more so. Various regiments across the galaxy believe that no slight to one’s honour can go unanswered. Often, as is the case with unintentional slights or insults, a simple apology or retraction is enough to satisfy the individual whose honour was impugned, but occasionally the insult is so grave or an accusation so unanswerable that the parties involved can only satisfy their honour through a duel. Duelling among the officers and enlisted men of such regiments is common, and their members often earn a deserved reputation as hot-headed and quick to anger.
Regiment Points: 4
Pride Over Life: Members of this regiment must pass a Difficult (–10) Willpower Test to refuse any formal challenge or ignore any other major slight to their honour. If a character from this regiment succeeds on the Test, he sees the bigger picture and ignores the challenge or attempt to goad him into action. If he fails on the Test, however, he must engage the individual in question (either in a duel to settle matters in a formal and stylised fashion or simply in a brawl to express himself with his fists) or suffer a –10 penalty to Willpower Tests for the remainder of the session. This penalty is cumulative should he refuse multiple challenges to his dignity over the course of a single session. The Game Master can modify the difficulty of the Test—and the scale of the effects of failing it—as he deems appropriate to the situation.
Iconoclasts
The Adeptus Ministorum, commonly known as the Ecclesiarchy, brings the word of the Emperor to the millions of worlds of the Imperium. In a religion that spans the galaxy, it is unavoidable that there are differences in worship and belief. This, the Ecclesiarchy accommodates; in fact, on many worlds the form that veneration of the Emperor takes is adapted from the traditions of the planet’s indigenous culture. Many drastically different beliefs are sanctioned by the Ecclesiarchy in order to ensure compliance and professed faith in the Imperial Creed; what the citizens of one world might consider blasphemy is a matter of inviolable doctrine on another. Yet in spite of this, there are those communities, cultures, and worlds that do not meet the Ecclesiarchy’s criteria for faithfulness. This could be due to minor divergences of theology that put the local faith at odds with the sector synod, or could be a cultural aversion to or rejection of the Imperial Creed.
Such is most often the case on those worlds with limited Imperial contact, and few societies openly reject the Imperial faith, for to do so is to invite retribution from the Adeptus Ministorum or worse still, the Inquisition. However, a world’s native population might pay lip service to the Imperial Creed while secretly worshiping the gods of their ancestors, or might slowly subvert the teachings of the Ecclesiarchy, bringing their ceremonies further and further from the Imperial Truth. For whatever reasons, the Adeptus Ministorum views this regiment as dangerously far from the proper faith, either due to a lack of spirituality or a mode of worship too far from the accepted norm.
Depending on the current state of affairs, the Ecclesiarchy might take extra measures to ensure obedience and piety with numerous priests, confessors, and other forces attached to the regiment (possibly against the wishes of its own commanding officers), or it might distance itself, weighing options or working behind the scenes to ensure the regiment is properly martyred to the Imperial Cult before it can spread its dangerous beliefs to others.
Regiment Points: 3 points
In the Shadows of the Ecclesiarchy’s Light: Rightfully or no, the Ecclesiarchy views this regiment with suspicion, seeing their religious practices (or lack thereof ) as dangerously iconoclastic. Characters from this regiment suffer a –10 penalty to all interaction tests with the representatives of the Ecclesiarchy. For such regiments, it is common for the Adeptus Ministorum to attach additional Priests, Confessors, and other representatives, particularly if they feel the regiment is not yet beyond salvation.
However, such forces are sure to experience problems dealing with the regiment. Player Characters with the Ministorum Priest Speciality suffer a –10 penalty when interacting with NPC members of this regiment, including Comrades, but excluding the Ministorum Priest’s own Comrade (it is assumed that his Comrade is either one of the few in the regiment loyal to the Ecclesiarchy’s teachings, or is also an outsider). At his discretion, the GM might additionally apply this penalty to other PCs with ties to the Ecclesiarchy.
The GM is encouraged to introduce additional narrative complications based on the specific nature of the regiment’s relationship with the Adeptus Ministorum.
Incompetent Leadership
This regiment is a disaster from the top down, affecting the regiment’s morale and causing an excess of grief and frustration among the enlisted men. Incompetent leadership could take the form of ignorant and inexperienced field officers, general officers more interested in their own personal political goals, indolent, permissive, or particularly savage squad leaders, thieving logistics officers, or any combination thereof. No matter its root cause, or causes as is often the case, the end result is always the same—loss of efficiency and combat effectiveness, muddled orders, poor communications, higher than usual casualties, and even mutiny and desertion.
Regiment Points: 5
Orders of Fools: Members of this regiment suffer a –10 penalty to Command Tests made during combat, either due to they themselves being incompetent or, in the case of most Player Characters, because they are saddled with unruly and sullen subordinates who have grown embittered by the poor decisions raining down from the ranks above.
Further, members of this regiment must make a Routine (+20) Command or Intimidate Test as part of any Comrade Order that does not already require a Command Test; if the character fails the Test, the Comrade refuses the order due to a learned distrust for authority or fouls it up. Finally, the foolishness of this regiment’s leaders should have a noticeable effect upon the lives of the Player Characters (hurling them needlessly into danger, deploying unwise tactics against the enemy, falling for obvious traps, mistaking enemies for allies or allies for enemies, and other such blunders) at the Game Master’s discretion.
Lost Home World
It is a common aphorism among Guardsmen that the Imperial Guard is the only home they have. For those men and women from lost home worlds, this is a sad and literal truth. In an age when swarms of slavering life forms from beyond the galaxy consume whole star systems unopposed, and when a middling fleet of voidships commands enough destructive power to reduce a planet to cinders in the blink of an eye, the loss of a single planet in a sector is unremarkable. Unremarkable, that is, except to the men and women who called the world home. Some are consumed by Tyranids or Chaos forces, some are burned in the holy fires of Exterminatus or laid waste with virus bombs, and others simply succumb to the death of their star or some other freak celestial accident. Whatever the case, this regiment is among the last survivors of a dead world, a fact that marks the survivors indelibly. Regiments
from lost home worlds become of the Imperial Guard, keeping a handful of traditions but accepting the battlefields of the galaxy as their home instead of the world upon which they were born. There is little commonality among these regiments, save for a haunted look and a tendency to suffer from crushing survivor’s guilt.
Survivor’s Guilt: Being one of a handful of survivors of a disaster that snuffed out the lives of teeming millions or billions has a deleterious effect on the human psyche. Survivors of such a cataclysmic loss tend to suffer numerous grief, loss, and stress-related maladies that complicate the already stressful life of an Imperial Guardsman. Members of this regiment begin play with 2d10 Insanity Points.
Last Survivors: Whenever a member of this regiment falls, it represents an irreplaceable loss to the group, which can no longer pull reinforcements from its annihilated place of origin. The Departmento Munitorum often assigns members of other devastated regiments to join the survivors to bring the regiment back to strength, which can create considerable friction between two groups embittered by loss—of course, this assumes that there are reinforcements to be had at all in the battlefront, and sometimes there are simply no more soldiers to join regiments devastated by such loss.
Each time a Squad from this regiment requests replacement members (to replace lost Comrades), the Game Master rolls 1d10 instead of having the recruits come from the original core of the regiment. On a result of 3–4, the recruits come from the original survivors of the regiment, members of other Squads within the regiment who also lost members.
On a result of 5–10, they come from another regiment that has recently suffered terrible losses and happens to be near enough for the Departmento Munitorum to group the two regiments together. On a result of 1–2, however, the Squad receives no reinforcements at all, and must soldier on until its members can put in another request for troop support. Depending on how many members of the original regiment remain, the Game Master can decide whether or not replacement Player Characters should be members of the original regiment or generate their characters from the other recruits (using the rules for Mixed Regiments on page 48).
Regiment Points: 5
Talents: Hatred (Choose one†)
†When selecting this Regimental Drawback, the regiment chooses the group responsible for the destruction of its home world. This Talent applies to that group.
Mistrusted
This regiment has a bad reputation throughout the Imperial Guard. Similar to the Cloud of Suspicion, the reasons for the mistrust might be legitimate—incompetence among officers or laziness among the enlisted are two sure-fire ways to ruin a regiment’s reputation—or could be the product of over-active imaginations or the mendaciousness of rivals. Mistrusted regiments are viewed with a deep suspicion and disapprobation when they appear on a battlefield. Many commanders flatly refuse orders to work with regiments possessed of a particularly scabrous reputation. As such, mistrusted regiments are commonly given the worst missions, those that involve extremely distasteful or dangerous work, or are shuffled off to garrison duty on some unpleasant or out of the way world where they can cause little trouble.
Regiment Points: 3
Bad Reputation: Members of this regiment suffer a –10 penalty to all Fellowship-based Skill Tests made when interacting with members of other Imperial Guard regiments, the Departmento Munitorum, and other officials both local and Imperial who would have likely heard of the regiment’s reputation. Additionally, its members add 1d5 additional Degrees of Failure to all failed Logistics and Commerce Tests.
Poorly Provisioned
While the officials in the Departmento Munitorum are known far and wide for their fecklessness and capriciousness, and while every unit that has ever born arms in the Emperor’s service has suffered supply shortages and incorrect shipments at their hands, the poorly provisioned regiment is worse off than most. Perhaps the regiment is stationed on a planet far off the normal resupply lines, or they have been embroiled in their campaign for so long and at so great a cost that they are reduced to throwing chunks of rockcrete at their enemies and messing on grass and boiled boot leather. Whatever the case, this regiment has precious little of what it needs to operate in theatre and what equipment they do possess is in a sad state of disrepair. Poorly provisioned regiments can rarely, if ever, get resupplied in any meaningful way, suffer a loss of morale and combat effectiveness due to hunger and lack of working equipment, and many turn to thieving and raiding to fill their bellies and their empty weapon magazines.
Regiment Points: 4
Overworked and Underfed: Poorly provisioned units receive half the usual number of clips or charge packs for their main weapons and half the number of rations that their regiment rules would normally provide. If the regiment includes vehicles, its members suffer a –10 Penalty on all Logistics Tests made to acquire fuel, ammunition, and spare parts for their vehicles. If it is a Rough Rider regiment, its members suffer the same penalty to acquire materiel related to the care and feeding of their mounts. In addition, whenever a member of a Poorly Provisioned regiment successfully acquires equipment, the Game Master rolls 1d10; on a result of 4 or lower, the equipment that they receive is of Poor Craftsmanship, regardless of what its Craftsmanship would otherwise have been.
Special: This Drawback cannot be taken by regiments with the Well-Provisioned Doctrine.
Primitive
Some regiments drawn from primitive worlds, for all the Departmento Munitorum’s efforts, resist the imperative to adapt to the technology handed them. Eventually, the Tech- Priests’ objections to the Guardsmen using lasguns as clubs can result in a loss of further supplies, leaving the regiment to fend for itself, relying on the primitive weapons and tools its members have experience constructing on their home worlds. These regiments generally come from Feral or Feudal Worlds, although some Death Worlds distinctly lack any meaningful technological presence.
Regiment Points: 5 points
Hopelessly Primitive: No matter how long they fight in the Imperial Guard, the warriors of this regiment just cannot overcome their primitive ways and adapt to the advanced weaponry of the Imperial Guard. Characters from this regiment suffer a –5 penalty to Ballistic Skill and Weapon Skill Tests when using any weapon that is not from the Low-Tech weapons group, even if they possess the proper Talent to wield the weapon.
Waste of Resources: Due to flagrant misuse or neglect of whatever equipment it issues them, the Departmento Munitorum is loathe to assign any but the bare minimum of gear to this regiment. All Logistics Tests other than those made to obtain Low-Tech weapons suffer a –20 penalty.
Special: This Drawback cannot be taken by Mechanised Infantry, Armoured Regiments, or any other Regiment that includes a vehicle in its Standard Regimental Kit.
Regimental Rivalry
Rivalries exist between nearly all units in the Imperial Guard. On the whole, these are mainly friendly rivalries between brothers-in-arms that express themselves in drinking contests, braggadocio, contests of escalation, and even the occasional good-natured brawl. Unfortunately, some regimental rivalries are carried too far and become less a friendly rivalry and more a seething hatred accompanied by an increasingly bitter series of confrontations and betrayals. Regimental rivalries can exist between discreet units within larger regiments such as squads or platoons, or can encompass entire regiments from the Regimental Commander all the way down to the greenest conscript. Regimental rivals take any opportunity to undermine or sabotage one another, stealing supplies, tampering with orders, duelling, spreading lies, and framing opponents for crimes. These rivalries can even, as was the case with the deadly rivalry between the Tanith 1st Light Infantry regiment and the Jantine Patricians during parts of the Sabbat Worlds Crusade, go so far as outright betrayal and murder.
Regiment Points: 2
Talents: Hatred (Choose one†) and Enemy (Choose one†)
†When selecting this Regimental Drawback, a single Imperial Guard regiment must be chosen. The Hatred and Enemy choices must be the same regiment, and cannot be another unit from the Player Character’s own regiment.
Scarred by Loss
This regiment has suffered extreme casualty rates in recent memory, and a large portion of its active troopers are survivors of terrible battles that caused its numbers to dwindle dangerously low. Even if it has been reinforced by a new founding or by being combined with another understrength regiment, the physical and mental scars of the losses remain in its troopers. Soldiers from such regiments often find themselves irritable, distracted from sleep and war alike by memories unbidden.
Regiment Points: 2
Mental Trauma: Members of this regiment begin play with 1d10 Insanity Points. Any time that a member of this regiment fails a Willpower-based Test by three or more Degrees of Failure, he becomes lost in traumatic recollection, and is Stunned until the end of his next Turn.
Tainted
The men and women of the Imperial Guard must all too often face incomprehensible horrors from beyond the veil of reality. After facing the denizens of the Warp or their mortal followers, regiments are often subject to extreme measures to ensure they are free of corruption, which may mean every soldier receiving the Emperor’s Mercy. Whether due to seeming purity, ignorance of just what they actually faced, or an oversight by the Departmento Munitorum, some regiments are reassigned despite bearing spiritual scars from their brush with the ruinous powers. In other cases, a regiment might begin to manifest signs of taint with no apparent explanation, while still others enlist bringing with them some taint from their home world, unknown to the Departmento Munitorum. Regardless of the nature and origin of its corruption, such a regiment must hide its dark secret lest it be purged by other Imperial forces.
Regiment Points: 3 points
The Touch of the Warp: For whatever reason, the soldiers of this regiment carry a spiritual and physical corruption, which manifests in horrific ways. Characters from this regiment begin play with 1d10 Corruption Points. In addition, characters from this regiment suffer an additional –10 penalty to Malignancy Tests and Tests to avoid gaining Mutations (see page 309 of the Only War Core Rulebook).
The Few
This regiment is surprisingly small, whether because of its specialist doctrines, its harsh training methods, a dearth of potential soldiers on its founding world, or grievous battlefield losses. Whatever the reason, it continues to operate despite having far fewer soldiers than many other regiments, and thus cannot rely on the brute force tactics for which many great regiments are so renowned. Instead of assaulting in massive, overwhelming waves of soldiers, this regiment’s troopers must strike in smaller units. Each soldier must rely on the competence of close squad mates rather than the raw might of the regiment itself.
Regiment Points: 5
Limited Numbers: When a Squad from this regiment requests reinforcements (to replace fallen Comrades), it must make a Hard (–20) Logistics Test if most of the regiment is actively deployed or an Ordinary (+10) Logistics Test if a significant portion of the regiment is not currently in the field (these Tests already include situational modifiers except those added at the GM’s discretion). If it fails, the regiment simply has no reinforcements it can spare for the Squad, and its members must soldier on until its members can put in another request for troop support.
Traitors
It is a sad fact that the men and women trained and equipped by the Departmento Munitorum frequently turn their weapons and training against the Imperium. Though knowledge of such treachery might be suppressed, misrepresented, or used as a propaganda tool depending on circumstances, it is an unavoidable fact that squads, platoons, and even entire regiments of the Imperial Guard can and do betray the Imperium. This regiment has done just that—forsaking its vows to defend the Imperium and turning against all it swore to protect. Whether due to some misguided sense of justice, devotion to the Ruinous Powers, or a tragic misunderstanding, this regiment has been declared traitorous by the Imperium, found guilty of the unforgivable sin. The regiment can never again turn to the Departmento Munitorum for aid or supplies, and is now hunted by the very army it once served. This drawback can also represent a treacherous planetary defence force, such as those which form the bulk of the Severan Dominate’s forces on the Spinward Front. GMs and players should think carefully when selecting this Regimental Drawback, as it fundamentally changes the nature of an Only War campaign. Rather than fighting alongside the Imperial Guard, the regiment will fight against the Imperium. The exact form of the regiment’s battles depends on what allegiance they do hold, if any.
At the GM’s discretion, he can apply this Regimental Drawback to a regiment or even a single Squad within a regiment after creation, representing in-game events. In this case, the regiment does not receive additional Regiment Creation points.
Regiment Points: 5 points
Enemies of the Imperium: This regiment cannot turn to the Departmento Munitorum for supplies. To represent the added difficulties of scrounging, stealing, or obtaining supplies through whatever treacherous organisation to which the regiment now belongs, the regiment begins with a Logistics Rating of 0 and suffers a –10 penalty to Logistics Tests. The GM may, at his discretion, modify this value to represent the resources of any group to which the regiment has sworn allegiance. In addition, characters from this regiment cannot purchase the Munitorum Influence Talent, although the GM may, at his discretion, make a functionally equivalent Talent available in its place (such as Severan Dominate Influence).
Starting Talents: Enemy (Imperial Guard) plus one Peer Talent appropriate to the regiment’s situation.
Warp-Delayed
While Warp travel is the only method by which the forces of the Imperium can traverse the distance between stars, it is dangerous and notoriously unreliable. Though the Departmento Munitorum and Imperial Navy make every attempt to compensate for the vagaries and unpredictable nature of Warp travel, some voyages face such delays that no manner of preparation can offset the damage done. It is not unknown for troop ships to arrive decades, centuries, or even millennia later than anticipated. In such cases, regiments might arrive to find the battle for which they were despatched either won or lost, resulting in confusion, the possibility of mistakenly attacking friendly forces, or facing overwhelming odds. Such a regiment might also find the Departmento Munitorum has declared them dead, missing in action, or even deserters. Such a situation can present all number of difficulties, and simply obtaining new orders can be a challenge for a regiment that has not been on the roster for generations.
Regiment Points: 4 points
Officially Nonexistent: Whenever a unit from this regiment rolls doubles on a Logistics Test, the Test counts as failed, even if the score would normally have been successful, as the Departmento Munitorum denies the request from a nonexistent regiment or freezes it in bureaucratic tape.
In addition, the GM should include additional Mission Complications in most missions to represent the confusion caused by the regiment’s unusual status.
Lost Time: Arriving at one’s destination to learn that all of one’s relatives and friends beyond the confines of the troop transport are long dead is a traumatic experience, to say nothing of what horrors might confront the soldiers should their destination warzone have fallen to the enemy in the intervening time. Characters from a Warp-delayed regiment begin play with 1d5 Insanity Points.
Additional Standard Kit Items
Regimental creation gives you 30 points to allocate as extra gear, with an extra 2 for unused point left.Item or Upgrade | Cost | Limitations |
---|---|---|
Improve a single item of standard kit wargear from Common Craftsmanship to Good Craftsmanship | 5 | |
Improve a single item of standard kit wargear from Common Craftsmanship to Best Craftsmanship | 10 | |
Replace laspistol (Main Weapon) with lascarbine (Main Weapon) | 5 | |
Replace lascarbine (Main Weapon) with M36 lasgun (Main Weapon) | 5 | |
Add an additional knife | 2 | |
Add a laspistol and 2 charge packs as a sidearm | 5 | May only be taken once |
Add an autopistol and 2 clips as a sidearm | 8 | May only be taken once |
Add a stub automatic and 2 clips as a sidearm | 8 | May only be taken once |
Add a stub revolver and 12 bullets as a sidearm | 3 | May only be taken once |
Add an additional frag grenade to standard kit | 5 | May only be taken twice |
Add an additional smoke grenade to standard kit | 5 | May only be taken twice |
Add an additional krak grenade to standard kit | 15 | May only be taken twice |
Replace a M36 lasgun (Main Weapon) or lascarbine (Main Weapon) with a combat shotgun (Main Weapon) and 4 clips | 10 | Line Infantry, Light Infantry, Siege Infantry or Drop Infantry |
Add a chrono to standard kit | 2 | |
Add a clip/drop harness to standard kit | 5 | |
Add an additional uniform for field use to standard kit | 2 | |
Add an additional uniform for dress or parade use to standard kit | 5 | |
Add filtration plugs to standard kit | 5 | |
Add the Munitorum Manual to standard kit | 3 | |
Add a photo-visor or set of photo-contacts to standard kit | 8 | |
Add preysense goggles to standard kit | 15 | |
Add purity seals to standard kit | 8 | Penitent regiments |
Add respirator or gas mask to standard kit | 8 | |
Add survival suit to standard kit | 8 | |
Add 1 dose of de-tox and an injector to standard kit | 15 | |
Add a single advanced medikit to the squad as standard kit | 15 | May only be taken once |
Add 2 weeks’ worth of additional ration packs to standard kit | 3 | |
Add 1 dose of slaught to standard kit | 10 | Combat Drugs doctrine |
Add 1 dose of frenzon to standard kit | 20 | Combat Drugs doctrine |
Add 1 dose of stimm and an injector to standard kit | 8 | |
Add a single auspex or scanner to the squad as standard kit | 10 | May only be taken once |
Add a grapnel to standard kit | 5 | |
Add magnoculars to standard kit | 8 | |
Add a micro-bead to standard kit | 8 | |
Add a pict recorder to standard kit | 8 | |
Add screamers (one box of 6) to the squad as standard kit | 10 | |
Add a single stummer to standard kit | 8 | |
Add a targeter to standard kit | 10 | Sharpshooters doctrine |
Add an additional item of Ubiquitous availability to standard kit | 1 | GM’s Discretion |
Add an additional item of Abundant availability to standard kit | 2 | GM’s Discretion |
Add an additional item of Plentiful availability to standard kit | 3 | GM’s Discretion |
Add an additional item of Common availability to standard kit | 5 | GM’s Discretion |
Add an additional item of Average availability to standard kit | 8 | GM’s Discretion |
Add an additional item of Scarce availability to standard kit | 10 | GM’s Discretion |
Add an additional item of Rare availability to standard kit | 15 | GM’s Discretion |
Add an additional item of Very Rare availability to standard kit | 20 | GM’s Discretion |
Add one Favoured Basic Weapon | 10 | May only be taken once. |
Add one Favoured Heavy Weapon | 15 | May only be taken once. |