Games Workshop Warhammer 40k - Codex V.9 Astra Militarum

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Space Marines • Necrons • Death Guard • Drukhari • Adeptus Mechanicus • Adepta Sororitas • Orks • Grey Knights • Thousand Sons • Adeptus Custodes • Genestealer Cults • T'au Empire • Aeldari • Tyranids • Imperial Knights • Chaos Knights • Chaos Space Marines • Chaos Daemons • Leagues of Votann • Astra Militarum • World Eaters The triumphs and tragedies of a single segmentum's armies during the Age of the Imperium would occupy several hundred lifetimes of an army of scribes and historitors to collate. To present a cogent history of the Astra Militarum's exploits, then, is impossible. Yet there are noteworthy conflicts in which its massed rans played a pivotal role. After the Horus Heresy, Astra Militarum armies waged retributive campaigns as part of the Great Scouring against the fleeing Heretics that had assailed Terra, driving many into the depths of the Eye of Terror. The Cadian System, and its Fortress World of Cadia, became a bastion against heretical and Warp-spawned invasions of Imperial space out of the Eye.

Everywhere, it seemed to the overburdened staff officers and lords general of the Astra Militarum, war zone commanders demanded urgent logistical support and mountains of additional ammunition, cried out for desperately needed reserves or, worse, fell omninously silent. Tithes were increased on already suffering worlds. Vicious conscription drives emptied entire hive cities. Heightened output needs pushed Forge Worlds and Industrial Worlds to their limits in desperate attempts to make up production shortfalls. Each Militarum Regimentum -- the total armed forces of a given world that fall under the remit of the Astra Militarum's tithe -- was stretched to breaking point, their individual regiments needed as never before. Unknown Date.M42 Call of the Forge - A fragmented message reaches the astropathic choirs on Vostroya. Though it appears to have been sent by the Adeptus Mechanicus, calling for aid on Canoptis II, the nature of the threat facing the Tech-priests is unclear. Nevertheless, the Vostroyan Firstborn 22nd "Riders of Dawn," the 99th "Only Sons" and the 331st "True Shots" set out to answer the call, hoping that their Navigators will be able to traverse the now lightless stars. We really feel like the Rogal Dorn isn’t just a box with a gun – the model can tell a story. There’s even a pile of spent casings from the heavy stubber that you can put on the turret. From the greatest crusading armada to the smallest watch-tower garrison, Imperial Guard armies are composed of a mixture of distinct regiments. These basic units of organisation have not changed since the aftermath of the Horus Heresy. Each regiment is raised from a single world, its personnel bringing with them their native dialects, uniforms, customs and loyalties. However, any indigenous military structure is exchanged for the Munitorum-enforced standard. Internal politics, grudges or debts are -- for the most part -- ignored and allowed to fester so long as the morale and performance of the regiment is not affected. That said, the regiment's attached Commissars will gun down without compunction any who put their own personal vendettas before the wider cause of the Imperium's wars. The Octarian War calls upon the Cadians to defend the Imperium once again, and they’ll be fighting harder than ever thanks to the new Codex Supplement: Cadia found in the upcoming War Zone Octarius Book 1: Rising Tide.The primary combat tactic of the Astra Militarum is to overwhelm the enemy with their endless numbers, while at the same time hammer them into submission with devastating artillery and crush them with powerful main battle tanks. As a result, the Astra Militarum is often referred to as the "Hammer of the Emperor" -- the sheer amount of force that the Imperial Guard can bring to bear on the enemy is devastating, but is not as direct or as precise as their Space Marine allies in the Adeptus Astartes, who are described as the "Scalpel of the Emperor" and specialise in planetary assaults, special operations and decapitation strikes. As the popular Imperial saying goes, “The planet broke before the Cadians did”,** and this tenacity is very real. By shrugging off minor injuries and refusing to yield under storms of enemy fire, units of otherwise-fragile infantry become immovable objects that are capable of absorbing lascannon fire twice as often as before. The rallying cry of "Cadia Stands!" was taken up by Imperial Guardsmen and heard amongst the fortified kasrs of Cadia and elsewhere -- the term "kasr" being applied to both Cadia's own militariised cities and to some of its fortress-like sister planets in the wider Cadian System. This band of six resin miniatures can ally with any faction with ties to the Corpse Guild, or strike out on their own into the wastes to form an Outcasts Delegation Gang. Rex Spires and Estus Jet There are countless thousands of regiments spread throughout the galaxy. Some are garrisoning worlds, others are part of campaigns or crusades and some have even been forgotten about by the Departmento Munitorum and Administratum. As such there has never been and never will be an absolutely complete list of regiments available for combat. [Needs Citation]

In the wake of the resultant bloodshed of the Horus Heresy, during the reformation of the Imperium by the Primarch and Imperial Regent Roboute Guilliman in the Time of Rebirth of the early 31st Millennium, measures were implemented to ensure treason on such a scale could never again occur. The Imperial Army ceased to exist and the link between the fleet of the Armada Imperialis and the army it had served was permanently severed. War in the depth of space would be the responsibility of the Navis Imperialis -- the Imperial Navy -- now a separate force with its own hierarchy and political agenda, while any and all operations conducted on planetary surfaces would fall to the Imperial Guard.Certain members of regiments have become famous throughout a region, or sometimes the entire Imperium. They are often the officers or commanders rather than individual guardsmen and they are remembered as saviours of humanity, seen spreading the light of the Emperor far and wide, or protecting it from the ravages of Xenos, mutants and heretics. Some of these figures are listed below. [Needs Citation] In the aftermath of this so-called Horus Heresy, the organisational structure of the forces of the Imperium were revised significantly. To prevent the possibility of large-scale rebellion occurring again within the Imperial armed forces, the titanic armies of the Imperium were divided. Of nearly a billion souls who had stood to defend Cadia in the name of the Emperor, scarcely three million were evacuated off-world. Lord Castellan Ursarkar E. Creed and the remnants of the Cadian 8th -- the "Lord Castellan's Own" -- were not among them.

Despite their formidable battle prowess, the forces of the Space Marines were not limitless, and the relentless demands of building a galactic empire pushed the Legions further apart. Separated by countless thousands of light years, their presence became ever more scattered and dilute.The armies of the Imperium are stretched near to breaking point after the Redemption Crusades. Innumerable worlds fall to xenos invasions, Chaos insurgency and internal strife. As entire star systems are consumed by anarchy, the Mordian Iron Guard implement stringent and merciless rule throughout their home system, eradicating nine separate uprisings of Tzeentchian Chaos Cults.