The

TRISDEKAN PRIMER

Volume 1: Backwaters of the Imperium

Version 2.1 - Konigstein, 2017-2020
1
 The Nivan Tech-Serfs ................................ 51
Contents Auxiliary Maniple 931 ....................................... 53
.......................................... 3 The Junkers ......................................................... 55
Volume 1: Backwaters of the Imperium... 3 Katyush .................................................................57
A note on Playtesting .................................... 3 The People of Katyush ...............................57
Acknowledgements ........................................ 3 Tsiolkovsky..................................................... 59
Patron Roll of Honour: ................................ 3 Vernadskygrad .............................................. 60
Changelog ............................................................ 4 Fyodorovets .................................................... 61
Subsector Trisdeka .............................................7 The Imperial Creed on Katyush .............. 61
Subsector Trisdeka in Brief .........................7 The Sputniki Gvardiya Stran'polk ............. 62
Bellagia ...................................................................9 Equipment and Tactics .............................. 62
Bellagia in Brief .............................................10 Minor Trisdekan Worlds ............................... 67
The Miracle of Bellagia ..............................10 96-B24: Kamalinka ...................................... 67
Bellagian Society........................................... 11 Kamalinka Genus Flora .............................. 68
The Imperial Creed on Bellagia .............. 13 Pteria: The Meatworld ............................... 69
Holy Relics of the Temple-Casinos....... 13 ................................. 70
The Gold Line Races .................................. 15 Mor/0 Pattern Park Servitor .................... 70
The Bellagian Low Rollers ............................ 18 Appendix I: Cold-Weather Combat ...........71
Dolcatero ............................................................. 21 How to Use this Appendix ........................71
Dolcatero in Brief ........................................ 22 Temperature Levels .....................................71
The People of Dolcatero ........................... 23 Temperature Level: Cold ......................... 72
Major Dolcaterran Nations ....................... 25 Temperature Level: Freezing ................. 72
The Imperial Creed on Dolcatero ......... 26 Temperature Level: Glacial ..................... 74
The Brumeran Korpogardistos ................... 27 Environment Modifiers ..............................75
Edelweiss ..............................................................30 ................................ 77
Edelweiss in Brief ......................................... 31
A Manufactured World............................... 32
The People of Edelweiss ............................ 33
Directed Evolution on Edelweiss ............34
Faith and Equestrianism on Edelweiss .. 35
The Edelweiss Kurassiers ............................... 36
Tennanlowe ........................................................ 39
Tennanlowe in Brief ................................... 40
The People of Tennanlowe .......................41
The Imperial Creed on Tennanlowe ......43
The Collegia Haplotica ..............................43
The Tennanlowe Skyboarders ......................45
Troubles in Paradise ....................................45
Niva Gustav.........................................................48
Niva Gustav in Brief ................................... 49
................. 49
2
 his Book A note on Playtesting

Welcome to the Trisdekan Primer! This is a There is vastly more material in these
(currently) 3-volume series of expansions to volumes than I could ever have time to
Only War playtest- though most of it has been used in
roleplaying game. a limited fashion at least once in a game or
two. If you feel that any of my rules are
The Primer aims to fill in many of the gaps broken or nonsensical, please drop me a
line at windowsfullofglass@gmail.com.
advanced options for many classes which
did not receive them, and provide a Acknowledgements
plethora of rules and content to expand the
depth of any variety of campaign. This document has been a labour of love,

means complete, and I hope to keep

monolith- by using rules from one part of tweaking it as I go. Special thanks are
absolutely in order to the good folks at
rules from all of them. The goal is to allow Roll for Heresy, Ordo Discordia, to the
you, the GM or player, to pick and choose ca/tg/irls and fa/tg/uys, to Swekky for
what you want or need to expand on your kickass playtesting, HMJ for the field
campaign. toilets, Messiahcide for his kickass
subsector map and work on the Chemical
Happy campaigning! damage, Akklonia for the art, and to the
-Konigstein, 2019 good folks of Open Skies, Coffee and
Explosions, The Raid on Cadorna Peak, Pour
Volume 1: Backwaters of the Imperium L'Empereur and Space Resistance! for inspiring
the documents that would become this one.
This first volume of the Primer serves as a
setting gazeteer for Trisdeka, an industrial Fantasy Flight Games
subsector on the very edge of Imperial a wonderful series of TTRPGs. Really
-down and out-of-the-way sorry you lost the license.
place that hides a dark secret or two, but is
mostly concerned with making money and If you like my work, and want to consider
not breaking its tithe commitments too checking out some of my other projects or
much. You contributing any of your hard-earned
Imperial Guard regiments of Trisdeka, as shekels, check out my Patreon. Yeah, I
well as some of their habits and know. I gotta make money off my hobbies
peculiarities. somehow.

For further character creation options and Patron Roll of Honour:

an armoury, see volumes 2 and 3 of this Extraordinarily special thanks to Alex H,
series, respectively. Patrick M and Miss Mae for their support.

3
Changelog 18/04/2017: Version 0.8. Added Psyker
07/02/2017: Version 0.2. Overall spelling Advanced Specialties.
and grammar and formatting fixes. Made
the tables look prettier. Added new several 20/04/2017: Version 0.8.1 Added one
new Talents and reorganized the Talents Talent, gear for Psyker Advanced
section. Added one new Weapon and two Specialties, minor formatting fixes
new Mounts.
24/04/2017: Version 0.8.2 Added more
14/02/2017: Version 0.3. Another Tennanlower, Edelweiss and Nivan fluff,
proofreading/editing pass. Improved added the True Nivans regiment option
formatting and added a sweet map by and several pieces of True Nivan gear, as
Messiahcide. Added several new pieces of well as a single Edelweiss vehicle
Wargear and rewrote various Talents and
Weapon Qualities. 26/05/2017: Version 0.8.3. Added Commissar
Advanced Specialties courtesy of
22/02/2017: Version 0.4. Yet more Commander Beef, as well as rules for Ski
proofreading, added a bunch of new art, a Troops and Bicycle Troops, reworked the
new Vehicle, and yet more wargear and True Nivan/Nivan Junker fluff
weapons.
12/06/2017: Version 0.8.4. More formatting
26/02/2017: Version 0.4.1. Big pass for fixes, a bit more Bellagian fluff, added
content readability, a little bit more art, one some new weapons to the Armoury
new Talent, one new Weapon, added
changelog 16/06/2017: Version 0.8.5. Image
compression fixes to cut filesize.
16/03/2017: Version 0.5. Formatting Standardized formatting for Regimental
overhaul now that I actually know how to statblocks. Added one new piece of
use Libreoffice Wargear, 3 new Talents, made many small
tweaks to Talents and Armoury equipment.
17/03/2017: Version 0.5.1. Minor formatting Added slightly more Dolcaterran fluff.
fixes, added missing gear weights
12/09/2017: Version 0.8.6. Some minor
10/04/2017: Version 0.6. Tweaked a few formatting changes for legibility.
Talents, added several new pieces of Rearranged the Armory section so it makes
weaponry and gear, added Regimental more sense. Many more balance/content
Archetypes tweaks. Added a couple new pieces of art.

15/04/2017: Version 0.7. Added a new 12/10/2017: Version 0.9. Added

Homeworld Option, added Expanded Gear Stormtrooper Advanced Specialties,
Variants, began the Minor Worlds of the Vehicle Variants, and one new vehicle.
Cluster section Filled out the Melee weapons section
slightly. Added five Exotic Weapons.

4
Added two new Talents, including Many many many bits of editing, mostly on
MARTIAL ARTS ACTION. bits of gear and vehicles.

19/10/2017: Version 0.9.1 Added Pleasure 31/07/18 Version 1.5.

World Homeworld, two pieces of art, did
some formatting fixes. • Updated and resorted the Armoury
sections, adding Plasma
26/10/2017: Version 1.0! The Make it Pretty Ammunition, Flamer
Edition! Reformatted the entire document Customizations, Rifle Grenades,
from scratch, added a ton of new images, and some balance changes.
did a ton of content editing and typo fixes. • Added quick-reference rarity tables
• Added a variety of sidebars on
useful things
08/11/2017: Version 1.1. Fixed most of the • Made some minor balance changes
formatting issues left over from 1.0, added to Regimental Archetypes, various
Vehicle Customization. Added a couple Talents and several Specialties
weapon upgrades, one melee weapon, and • New background image, new art by
made some rewrites/expansions to the myself and Messiahcide, many new
Minor Worlds, Kurassiers and Skyboarders images
sections
11/24/2018: Version 1.6. The Sidebar and
19/11/2017: Version 1.2! The Trench Fluff Update. Added numerous adventure
Warfare Edition! Added rules for field guns hooks for each planet, as well as a few
and heavy bombardments, chemical images. Added some cultural detail for the
weapons, and the Chemical Damage Type. soldiers of each regiment to make RPing
Added in the Aerosani that I totally forgot them more interesting. Slightly expanded
to add ages ago. Also, the new Sutler the fluff for Dolcatero. Various balance
Support Specialty, and some Unusual fixes to the Sutler. Slight balance changes
Ammunition options for lasguns. to Nerve Gas. Expanded Ammunition
04/01/2018: Version 1.3. Added in quite a section. Slightly reorganized the Vehicles
few Talents inspired by XCOM. Slightly and Mounts section. Changed table
modified some art- thanks Lamerus. Made formatting to be a little prettier.
general edits, a few minor changes to some
Support Specialties. 27/01/2019: Version 1.7

04/02/2018: talent so it actually makes sense for use with

Flamers. Added new Sight weapon
Update. Balance pass on Advance customizations.
Specialties and the Sutler to bring them a Added 9 new planet-specific Talents.
Added a sidebar on regiment fluff creation.
rules. Added four Advanced Specialties for Added a ton of new art by yours truly.
the Sutler, and one new piece of Artillery.

5
26/02/2019: Version 1.8: The Cavalry and 05/06/2020: Version 2.1: The Chilly Archery
Children Update Update
• Added a couple more new Talents • Volume 1:
• Added the Old Guard Advanced o Added the Cold-Weather
Specialty Warfare section, as requested
• Added rules for Child Soldiers by patron Alex H.
• Added Barding o Added planet art by Evil
• Added stats for camels, mules and Windly
elephants o Edited and tweaked several
sections for clarity and
• Did tons of minor editing and
continuity
rebalancing in all sections
• Added a crap-ton of images • Volume 2:
o Added the Arbalist, Yeoman
and Trick Archery Talents.
20/12/2019: Version 2.0: The Volume Split
Tweaked the balance of
• Divided the Trisdekan Primer into a
several older Talents.
setting, character-building and
o Reorganized Regiment
armoury book to make editing
Creation Options,
easier. Added a kickass piece of
Regimental Archetypes,
cover art by Akklonia
Battle Honours, Advanced
• Volume 1: Tweaked and clarified the
Specialties, Orders and
Korpogardistos regiment rules
Combat Actions
• Volume 2: Added Battle Honours, o Added one new Battle
new Regimental Drawbacks, and Honour
Habermann Soldiers. Made some o Slightly buffed the Battle
balance tweaks on Actions, added Song action
three new Talents and two new
• Volume 3:
Orders. Added Plasma Ammunition
o Added Longbows, Horn
Bows, Asymmetrical Bows,
• Volume 3: Separated Low-Tech and and Compound Bows
Blackpowder Weapons. Added o Added several new Weapon
seven new Blackpowder weapons Upgrades
and Duplex Bullets. Tweaked o Added Bodkin Arrows, Blunt
several weapon statblocks for more Arrows, Whistling Arrows
variety. Converted the 4-pounder and Fire Arrows.
into an artillery piece, rather than a o Added Crampons and Snow
weapon. Added 2 new Blackpowder Goggles
artillery pieces o Tweaked some weapon stats.
o Reorganized several sections
for clarity and ease of use

6
Subsector Trisdeka cluster had not been explored until more
than 2000 years later, in M37.
dangerously unstable yokels, and I thank the
The Cluster is composed of 82 discrete star
systems, of which 6 are tithed members of
-Calixis Sector Governor Marius Hax the Imperium of Man. These six systems,
namely Coin, Suno, Astera/Nahp,
The Synerge Cluster of stars lies in the Victory/Morality, Niva and Voshkhod,
great void between the Ixaniad and Calixis comprise the Imperial Subsector Trisdeka,
Sectors on the edge of the Segmentum under the control of the Sector
Obscurus, and has remained a sleepy Government of Ixaniad. Coin, and its
backwater for much of its time under primary planet Bellagia, is designated as
Imperial control. The reasons for this are subsector capital, but because of the
twofold; firstly, its great distance from
other Imperial territories, and second, the presence of the Adeptus Mechanicus on
many of its inhabited planets, Trisdeka
Strange spatial mass fluctuations are functions as an effectively self-governing
present in nearly all charted areas of the region in the larger Sector, with minimal
cluster, often taking the form of unusually oversight except in the case of Sector or
strong tidal effects at system Lagrange Segmentum-wide military concerns. Its
points, but more dramatic spatial history is fairly unremarkable; largely
alterations, like the Gold Bank of the untouched by war save for the occasional
Bellagian system, are not unheard of. These pirate raid and Dark Eldar incursion, the
two factors combined to make early citizens of Trisdeka were largely peaceful,
Imperial exploration of the system come at least until the Meritech Wars of M40. As
slowly and piecemeal; while the one of the closest Imperial holdings to the
Tennanlowe system had contact with the Mercates Cluster, Trisdeka became a
Imperium as early as M35, most of the valuable secondary staging ground; while
most Imperial forces were brought in from

Subsector Trisdeka in Brief

Subsector Population: 157.39 billion
Subsector Capital:
Ecclesiarchal Seat:
Administratum Head Offices: Helvenstadt, Edelweiss
Scholastica Psykana Temple: Hopesprings City, Tennanlowe
Primary Naval Base: Eiger Orbital, Eiger
Subsector Militarum Command: Schloss Alpheim, Edelweiss
Adeptus Mechanicus Templum Prime: Forge Ship Watchful Eyes, Niva Gustav orbit
Arbites Precinct Fortress:
Primary Exports: Light industrial products, devotional goods, Promethium
Primary Imports: Foodstuffs, low-grade luxury goods

7
Calixis, a significant portion of Battlefleet
Ixaniad was stationed in the Cluster, are uncolonized and lifeless, though they
braving the gravity disturbances in have been charted by various Imperial
exchange for a more direct striking path missions, and active Imperial listening posts
against the Meritech Clans. The economic are still scattered throughout the cluster, a
benefits to the subsector were substantial, defence against any further movement by
and the tradition of militarism established pirates through the subsector in the
during the Meritech Wars has continued criminal power vacuum following the
largely into M41 in some form or another. Meritech Wars.

Trisdeka is primarily an industrial

subsector, and most of its trade goods are Using Trisdeka in Other Settings
destined for Forge Worlds and commercial Trisdeka as a subsector was originally
interests in Ixaniad. Trisdeka possesses a written to fit in nicely with Only War,
substantial Promethium reserve from Dark Heresy and Rogue Trader games
Katyush in the Voshkhod system and the set in the Spinward Front, the Calixis
somewhat finicky manufacturing might of Sector and the Koronus Expanse. That
the Niva system planet Gustav, making it being said, it was also written to be
well-supplied in terms of industrial unimportant and isolated enough to
resources and manufactured goods, though not interfere too much with those
gravely lacking in foodstuffs. Under areas.
different circumstances both Edelweiss of
Astera and Tennanlowe of It stands to reason, then; if for some
Victory/Morality would be major food reason you want to use Trisdekan
suppliers. Edelweiss nearly borders on content in another part of the
Agri-World status in terms of food output, Warhammer 40k universe, and the
but t
circumstances have restricted non-military move the whole Subsector. As long as it
exports. is placed in an out-of-the way
backwater
Trade in Trisdeka is nowhere near the level internal logic should tick along just
it would be for a larger and more fine. It could be an outpost on the edge
prosperous subsector, but the one great of the Damocles Gulf that has thus far
source of cash flow that benefits the entire not fallen prey to the Tau, or an area
region is pilgrimages to Coin to visit the near the Segmentum Solar which has
church-casinos of Bellagia. Many newly- become complacent from years of
minted Bellagians remain behind, trapped peace and economic stability.
by circumstance or ill fortune, and their
wealth has allowed a slow but respectable
trickle into the coffers of the other
Trisdekan worlds.

8
 instabilities more than capable of ripping a
Bellagia starship apart. Their most common effect
on encroaching matter is to rapidly
on Earth, blessed be his Grace and Fortune, I accelerate it into the outer solar system,
where collisions with asteroids and ship
-Traditional prayer of the Cult of the hulks frequently finishes the job the

anomalies shift constantly in a semi-random

The bright star Coin, so named for its pattern, and there are numerous gaps
golden-yellow radiance, lies on the between them large enough for a talented,
coreward side of the Synerge Cluster, and is or perhaps lucky, pilot to slip through
one of the easiest star system to access from totally unscathed. The Bank also shares a
the rest of the Ixaniad Sector. For many close orbit with Sloane Station, the orbital
centuries the system was little more than a settlement established by the Bellagians as a
way point and stopover for starships going stopping-point for spacecraft damaged by
elsewhere, however, for actually accessing their transit through the Bank.
its inner reaches is incredibly difficult. Most
of the outer system is littered with a thick Beyond the Bank are the worlds of the
and asteroid-filled dust cloud, with the Coin system, the twin planets of Luxx and
occasional wreck of a badly-battered Bellagia. These two worlds orbit on
spacecraft hinting and the unusual spatial opposite sides of Coin, with Luxx
disturbances that lie further in. occupying the L3 Lagrange point of the
Bellagia-Coin system. Luxx is a small and
The true oddity of the Coin System is the low-density world dominated by volcanoes.
Gold Bank, a system-wide spherical Thanks to a peculiar quirk of geology its
gravitational anomaly that lies just beyond surface is composed almost entirely of
the orbit of the planet Bellagia. The Bank is reflective black volcanic glass. The entire
so named because of its curious lensing world has a distinct lustre from orbit, and
effects on the light of Coin itself; empty its glass is a popular ornamental and trade
space within the bank glitters with a good in the rest of the Subsector.
yellow-gold light, like the lustre of newly-
minted coinage. Those enticed by its glow, Bellagia is a large dry world on the inner
however, quickly find themselves drawn border
into a series of vicious gravitational of wide deserts and high, rocky mesas, it

9
boasts little surface water, few major local Bellagia in Brief
lifeforms, and a thin atmosphere.
Temperatures year-round hover between 30
and 50 degrees, and rainfall is functionally
nonexistent. Huge underground aquifers
provide the only water sources, and
accessing them is a difficult task at the best
of times. Those few areas where the
aquifers break the surface are natural oases,
blooming with what little plant life survives
in the area. Individual oases are often so
separated by burning desert that their local
plant species are entirely unique, tiny
pocket ecosystems that exist nowhere else.

Bellagia has a single small moon, dubbed Classification: Shrine/Hive World

Nugget by the locals. This small, airless Population: 50 Billion
lumpy of dirt and rock would be Tithe Grade: Exactus Median
Geography: Majority of surface is hot,
highest deposits of gold in the entire sector. dry desert. Polar regions are natural
Its surface is scarred by large-scale gravel deserts. Southern hemisphere
industrial mining, all of it from the years boasts significant underground
aquifers, little surface water save oases.
Government Type: Oligarchic theocracy
The Miracle of Bellagia Planetary Governor: Bettor-Cardinal
Guillaume Scaramanza
The Coin system was originally mapped in Planetary Capital:
mid-M36 by Rogue Trader and financier Adept Presence: Adeptus Terra,
Bellage de Luxx, who lived up to the spirit Administratum (Bellagian Central
of his noble profession by naming both Administrative Bank), Adeptus
planets in the system after himself. After Ministorum (Bellagian Ecclesiarchy),
probes sent through the Bank discovered Adeptus Astra Telepathica (Bellagian
the gold deposits on the moon de Luxx Astropathic Relay, Nova Makau),
would come to call Nugget, his fleet forced Adeptus Arbites (Trisdekan Precinct
its way through the anomaly, suffering
grievous losses in the process, and quickly Notable Cities: Nova Makau, Atlantia
established a mining operation. Military: Bellagian Dominion
Unfortunately, this did not lead to Armoured Police (anti-insurrectionist
permanent settlement, as the mining base, internal security force, based at

collapsed as a result of an unfortunate orgy Primary Exports: Low Roller regiments,

accident several years later. Until M38 ornamental metals, medicinal-grade
xenoflora
10
Bellagia and Luxx were little more than What happened next is literally the stuff of
curiosities, occasionally studied by Imperial legend, though a legend confirmed by
research teams or used as minor bases by the numerous sources, many surprisingly
more foolhardy or desperate pirates of the trustworthy.
region.
The skies opened
Everything
changed in head, and he was
M38, when bathed in a shaft
con-man, of golden light. A
impersonator, booming voice
heister and proclaimed that
all-around while Seigel had
criminal profited from his
mastermind risk-taking and
Benemus good fortune, all
Seigel fled to would be
Coin with forgiven if he
Art from here.
half of the repented his
Ixaniad Arbites on his tail. Seigel had risen
like a meteor through the ranks of the
which guides all Mankind come whatever
for millions of Thrones, and controlling a trials and torments. The aftermath of this
network of illegal gambling-houses, drug- miracle is largely unrecorded- the
smuggling rings and money-launderers Inquisition especially seems to have gone
stretching across the Segmentum. out of their way to both obfuscate records
and simultaneously spread the word of the
The coordinated Imperial campaign to
bring him down brought in all three
branches of the Inquisition plus thousands Bellagian Society

finally fled towards the Calixis Sector, By the beginning of M39, Bellagia had
apparently seeking to lose his pursuit become a popular pilgrimage site and de
somewhere in the Expanse, the fleet facto subsector capital, eclipsing Old
following him numbered hundreds of ships. Tennanlowe as the most developed and
Why Seigel stopped at Coin and broke populous civilized world in the region, and
through the Bank is unclear, but he was Benemus Seigel had transformed himself
cornered by the armies of the Inquisition from criminal mastermind to the Bettor-
on a high mesa overlooking an arid river Cardinal of the Bellagian Diocese. Though
he passed on in 033.M39, he left behind a
lasting legacy. Every year, millions of
pilgrims, rich and poor, flock to Bellagia to

11
embrace the risks and rewards of the in the casinos grants religious authority,
and such wealth inevitably leads to official
- appointments from the pla
casinos, but the very few who demonstrate of gambler-priests.
truly blessed luck, or the skills to make
their own luck, find themselves wielding The Bellagians form an incredibly disparate
power and influence beyond their wildest population, incorporating hundreds of
dreams. cultures from human planets spread all over
the galaxy, but they are united by their
Bellagia is well on its way to becoming a fanatical belief in the power of Chance, and
how that chance might be influenced by
Fortune Temple-Casino and Pilgrimage prayer. Gambling and betting form the
Site, built atop the very mesa where Seigel basis for almost all financial transactions in
first encountered its miracle, boasting more Bellagian society, and many children learn
than 150 million souls alone. Lesser sites all simple games of chance before they are
over the planet pay tribute to his good taught to read. Despite the emphasis on
works, and bear collections of holy relics
demonstrating the luck of the faithful- society where the rule of law is paramount,
Uplifting Primers that have stopped Ork
slugga rounds for instance. Bellagia has a support from Ecclesiarchical casino
nominal Administratum government, authorities in rooting out cheaters who do
appointed from off-world, but in practice not demonstrate legitimate divine
the immense wealth of the religious inspiration in their craft. It is often said that
authorities on the planet give them huge Bellagia is the only planet in the universe
influence, and the government bows to the where there is one gambler to every bookie,

Art by Telmand.

Ecclesiarchy in almost all things. Winning and it is true that the work of keeping the

12
books is a well-respected one and often who have failed or are down on their luck
considered a solid foundation for a later have the chance to redeem themselves and
career in the temple-casinos.
good graces. The most famous among these
The Imperial Creed on Bellagia failures are the Bellagian Low Rollers, the
ry tithe to the Imperial
The Cult of Guard.

most blessed trait is not their form or their Holy Relics of the Temple-Casinos
intelligence, but their luck.
The Bellagian Ecclesiarchy makes a point
s Fortune, of not strictly defining what is or is not
is received directly from the Emperor by
each human being who worships Him on
Earth. a more Darwinian approach. They are
willing to accept any lucky artefact, but
only if it has proven itself to be truly
the ability to make their own luck- anyone infused with luck- a brick used to kill a
clever enough to cheat the system without Chaos Space Marine with a lucky lob is
getting caught is deserving of whatever hardly worthy of consideration, but a
they have earned, because they were using mundane combat knife that was able to
whatever the Emperor gave them. bring down dozens of Daemons is
something else entirely.
-
sided coin; while risk-taking earns rewards, The buying and selling of potential relics is
a lucrative cottage industry, and many
blessing to turn fickle as punishment for Bellagian citizens carry dozens of small
their hubris does not deserve the luck they trinkets of curious provenance about their
have been given. person, eager to discover which they can
spin off into more money for the
While this is an unusual creed, and one that cause.
is oft-debated for its legitimacy elsewhere
in the sector, it cannot be denied that the

incredibly effective in attracting new

devotees. For one, it is a remarkably
optimistic form of worship- anyone can, in
theory, make their own luck and become a
true devotee of their emperor. For another,
being a good worshipper also means

Bellagia, filthy stinking rich. Even those

13
The Blessed Bones of Seigel: Possibly the during a social visit to the casino,
holiest object on Bellagia, the bones of the whereupon he and his entire retinue of
Bettor-Cardinal were gold-plated as part several hundred high-ranking priests and
of his final will and testament, and are on ministers spontaneously combusted. That

Fortune Temple-Casino. Any passer-by Adventure Hook- the Blessed Bones

can, in theory, simply reach out and take
the bones from their display stand, but they assigned to escort the Skull of Seigel to
are left wholly untouched, for they bear a the Spin
strange blessing, or perhaps a curse upon
the unrighteous- anyone who removes the the stalemate there. Along the way,
bones from their resting place without the

agonizing death. Dozens have attempted it, The Bellagian escorts start turning up
and all have turned up dead, whether killed dead, killed in accidents too
by the security adepts of the Temple-
Casino or found beaten to death in the captain has become obsessed with
back-alleys of the surrounding slums. The games of chance. Even the Commissars
offworld Ecclesiarchy had doubts as to the have taken luck into their hands,
authenticity of the so- deciding executions by the flip of a
Ixaniad Cardinal Vosk Bellemore coin. Is the Skull a genuine miracle, or
attempted to remove the skeleton as a joke is something more sinister at work?

14
several members of the retinue in orbit were Totally non-functional replicas of the
subsequently found garroted is a seldom- original (equally non-functional) weapon
remembered fact that has only added to the are carried by many Bellagians, and
mysteries of the legend. rumours still persist that, in the hour of
darkest need, Bronze Pistols will protect
On a few rare occasions, knuckle and their wielders with terrible force.
finger-bones have been deliberately
detached from the skeleton with great The Neon Ruin: The twisted remains of a
ceremony by members of the Bellagian
Ecclesiarchy, and issued to various Imperial decorate the tawdrier establishments in the
Guard or Inquisitorial task forces for outer ring of the Temple-Casino became a
inspiration in times of desperate combat- sensation overnight when fifteen different
their actual effects on the success or failure vehicles, including several mass conveyors,
of said combats have varied, but the bones an Aquila-class lander carrying an
themselves have always found their way Administratum tax agent, and a single
back to the rest of the skeleton, by means bicycle operated by a Soylens Viridiens
unclear even to the Ecclesiarchs. deliveryman crashed into it-
simultaneously.
The Bronze Pistol: A ceremonial single-
shot bronze pistol issued on some long- The shop was instantly destroyed, and the
forgotten formal occasion, this small sheer unlikeliness of the event immediately
weapon is revered by the more militant attracted the interest of the Ecclesiarchy.
Following years of careful study, it was
announced that the zone of ground upon
any time. During an Orkish Freeboota which the untouched ruin stood simply
attack on Bellagia not long after the made vehicles crash- even voidships in orbit
Temple-Cas above were more likely to suffer accidents
pistol was used by a young layman, name when they passed through the area of space
unknown, who pointed it at the Kaptin directly aligned with the Ruin. Today, the
leading the raiding party and shouted site is constantly packed with scavengers,
hoping to steal goods from the passing
not this was the result of a fit of divine
inspiration or temporary madness, but all strange influence- or due to long-running
can agree that, in front of hundreds of insurance scams based around its
reasonably trustworthy witnesses, the supposedly supernatural properties.
weapon projected a beam of golden light
that decapitated the Ork in question. The The Gold Line Races
layman was torn to shreds by the remaining
Orks, frenzied by the death of their leader, Probably the most popular annual event on
but the attack was eventually driven off and Bellagia, the Gold Line is a spectacle of
the colony saved. speed, skill and luck. Young and old,
anyone with the wealth or influence to

15
Adventure Hook- Good Fellows gambling debts without penalty, but the
Several regiments of Bellagian drop true competition lies in the informal but
troops have been deployed to reinforce tolerated underground gambling rings
the line near the Regiment, and their formed up on the side, and the ferocious
near-suicidal bravery helps turn the trickery they resort to to make sure the
tide. Almost immediately, though, they 'right people' win.

black-market luxuries trade, restricting Officially, setting traps or misleading racers

the supply of booze and lho-sticks to on the part of spectators is strictly
an intolerable degree. The officers are forbidden, but 500 kilometers of barren
too busy preparing for an inspection desert is a great deal of territory, and so
from Segmentum command to do every year many racers simply disappear
anything about it, and with time before reaching the finish line, swallowed
running out, can the Squad take back
their turf? Adventure Hook- Riding the Line
The regiment is in dire straits. The
procure a vehicle, or anyone foolhardy or Quartermaster has disappeared while
brave enough to sell themselves as race- on shore leave on Bellagia, taking the
serfs, competes in dozens of different entire regimental treasury with him.
competitions of vehicular skill. The Only a winning entry into the
shortest and least dangerous of these might Bellagian Gold Line race can make
be simple go-kart competitions between enough cash quickly enough to repay
children for a handful of Thrones or a pair the mounting debt. To make things
of devotional dice, rising through worth, a rival regiment has decided to
increasing levels of complication and
danger to the Gold Line proper.
up by the emptiness of the Bellagian
Attempted by only the truly skillful, lucky landmass. Dozens more of the hundreds
or stupid, the treacherous Gold Line course who apply die on the start line through
crosses 500 kilometers of desert badlands, mysterious sabotage, or are 'persuaded
several salt flats and a small mountain range. their competition to back out. Still, even
The rules are simple; one pilot and competing in the Gold Line presents a
navigator per vehicle, first vehicle to cross heady allure for many aspiring or down-
the finish line with at least one crew on-their-luck Bellagians, as a finish within
member alive wins. Projectile weapons, even the top 50 of the hundreds of racers
servitor-assistance and vehicles capable of present can get one noticed and attract the
unaided flight are prohibited, and so the attention of powerful patrons.
racing vehicles are an eclectic bunch,
varying from year to year. The winner of In recent years, the most famous of the
the race receives a massive cash prize Gold Line champions was Barnard Flasch,
subsidized by the Bellagian Ecclesiarchy, as 5-time winner. His daring skill on the
well as permission to default on all their course, combined with his somewhat

16
histrionic personality and penchant for
showmanship, made him a fan favorite,
though many questioned the validity of his
wins. Growing controversy over accusations
of race-fixing was cut short in 995 M.41,
when he vanished mysteriously during the

Rumours of Bellagian drop regiments

stealing downed xenos vessels and reverse-
engineering their components for racing
purposes when back on the homeworld are
firmly quashed by the Commissariat.
Further rumours that some Bellagian drop
regiments have managed to purchase Eldar
jetbikes from marauding Corsairs are, of
course, utterly ridiculous.

17
The Bellagian Low Rollers luckier still. Those who manage to regroup
with a unit are the rarest of all, and they,
gonna hit anywhere near us, praise the E- picked for their fortune or ability to cheat
-Final recorded transmission, death, are the true Bellagian Low
Rollers, given in-field combat training
and organized into proper Drop
When a resident of Bellagia Regiments along the lines laid out in
defaults on their gambling the Tactica Imperialis.
debts, or is caught cheating in
a way not worthy of the Though their tactical doctrine is
ey are fairly standard, the overall
given two choices. First, strategic usage of the Low
immediate lobotomization Rollers is unusual, because
and conversion into a Servitor they are one of the few
on Niva Gustav. Second, if they truly fixed-term armies
are in good enough shape and in the Astra Militarum. If
truly believe, they can be a Bellagian trooper can survive a
immediately enrolled into five-year term of service, they
the ranks of the Low will be collected by the
Rollers, the umbrella term Ecclesiarchy, demobilized, and
for one of the most sent back to Bellagia itself,
peculiar Drop Regiments where their debts are forgiven
in the entire Imperium. and they are allowed to rejoin
the gambling population
The Low Rollers are with whatever spoils they
issued shabby second or gained in combat to
third-hand Flak armour, support themselves. Of course, if
the deliberately unstable they fall into penury again, they may
Gambler-Pattern well end up back in the ranks once
lasgun, a suite of combat
drugs distilled from the generally far better at surviving a full
adrenal glands of their fallen comrades, and tour than their contemporaries.
a parachute. Then, with minimal training
beyond the basic operation of their While the Low Rollers are officially a penal
regiment, and treated as such by the
offworld in huge numbers and literally Munitorum and other regiments, the title is
dropped at random over battlefields where not entirely apt, for the Bellagians
reinforcements are needed. Those who themselves are quite unified, driven by their
survive the trip to the ground are lucky.
Those who manage to last on the ground protection. Their tenacity and willingness
with sub-par equipment and little to use bribery, underhanded tactics,
knowledge of what they are doing are subterfuge and outright backstabbing to

18
win their battles has made them a favourite of the finest gamblers, and they deploy a
nightmarish assortment of customized,
to be used when a battle absolutely must be stolen and hyper-modified weaponry
won, even if the victory results in massive
casualties, heavy collateral damage, or Additionally, they show no compunction
entire regiments enrolling in criminal about continuing their remarkably heavy
organizations. Some have argued that the drug use, and many regiments will maintain
Low Rollers should themselves be treated unofficial specialists whose sole task it is to
as a criminal organization- high casualty produce unusual new chem products for use
rates among officers means that a in the field, often made from products
regiment's chain of command may have
little to do with who is actually in charge.
Certain Bellagian families even deliberately The watchful eyes and deep pockets of the
enroll their children in the Low Rollers to Bellagian Ecclesiarchy have kept the Low
keep their familial influence alive in distant Rollers supplied through thick and thin,
warzones. and though their numbers fluctuate wildly
as entire regiments of more than 5000 men
All of this changes, of course, on the few are destroyed at a time and then reformed,
occasions where Old Roller regiments see they continue to barter, gamble and sleaze
combat; their troops stride through their way through the battlefields of the
withering hails of fire with the confidence Spinward Front.

19
Bellagian Low Rollers
Characteristics: +6 Agility, +3 Toughness, -3 Fellowship
Starting Aptitude: Willpower
Starting Skills: Intimidate, Linguistics (Low Gothic), Operate (Aeronautica)
Starting Talents: Peer (Underworld), Die Hard, Catfall
Other:
Wheeling and Dealing: Bellagian troopers are infamous for their ability to acquire items that have no right to
be on any Imperial battlefield, and their near-supernatural ability to locate the most spectacularly valuable
loot from amongst the ruins of combat. The Bellagian Ecclesiarchy, unfortunately for the Low Rollers, is
quite aware of this, and restricts their supply lines accordingly, preferring to let them find their own
equipment rather than bum it off the Munitorum. Low Roller characters receive a -10 penalty to all
Logistics Tests and a -20 penalty to all Random Issue Gear rolls. However, they also receive a +10 to any
Logistics Tests to acquire contraband materials or items that one would not expect.

must be prepared to face the end. Low Roller characters cannot burn Fate Points to resist death, though
they can otherwise gain and spend them as normal.
Starting Wounds: Penal Colony characters begin play with 1 extra Starting Wound.
Favoured Weapons: Lucius-Pattern Lasgun, Tread-Fether
Starting Kit: Gambler-Pattern Lasgun, 4 x Charge Packs, Suit of Flak Armour, Respirator, Parachute, 3 x
Frag Grenade, 2 x Smoke Grenade, Inhaler, 4 x Dose of Frenzon, Uniform, Set of Poor-Weather Gear,
Knife, Rucksack, Set of Basic Tools, Mess Kit and Canteen, Blanket, Sleeping Bag, Lamp Pack,
Grooming Kit, Set of Cognomen Tags, Combat Primer, 14 x Day's Combat Rations
The rules for Low Rollers use the following Only War doctrines.
Homeworld: Penal Colony /Commanding Officer: Sanguine /Regiment Type: Drop Troops / Doctrines: Iron
Discipline, Combat Drugs /Drawbacks: Doomed

20
Dolcatero combined with the natural gravitational
anomalies already present in the Sunnon
institution with such scurrilous talk. There is no system have made the presence of any rocky
real scientific evidence of life on other worlds. planets at all truly remarkable.
Now, if we could abandon this nonsense and get
back to the far more important subject of winning Magna has three significantly-sized moons,
three minor ones, and countless hundreds
-Extract from the minutes of the Brumeran of orbiting asteroid, as well as a sparse and
Imperial Science Academy dusty ring system. The smaller moons have
as yet not been detected by the
Suno is a blue-white star in the upper natives and thus lack names, so they are
ranges of the Main Sequence, isolated generally referred to by the names
in empty space on the spinward side of the originally assigned to them by the
Synerge Cluster. Its bright Nivans during their first
glow illuminates a system exploration- URM-1, 2 and 3.
composed mainly of
scattered asteroids and The two uninhabited
dust clouds, a major moons,
constantly- Sferablanka and
churning mass Sferabluo
of respectively, are
gravitational slated for
distortions imminent
and colliding Imperial
space rocks. development,
Suno and have long
possesses only been the subject
one major of a bitter
planet- Magna, bidding war
the largest gas between Ixaniad
giant in the Rogue Traders over
Subsector. mineral extraction
rights. Sferablanka is the
Magna occupies the only area in the solar larger of the two, a frozen ball of
system swept clear of orbital debris, and carbon dioxide ice where surface
there is some evidence that it is the cause of temperatures average around -70 degrees
the rest of the system being planetless. Celsius. Its crust bears significant deposits
Closer examination of the asteroid fields of a wide variety of industrial, ornamental
reveals that they were likely collapsed and radioactive metals and mineral
planetoids destroyed in the process of products, though the extraordinarily cold
forming by the immense tidal stresses from temperatures would make any extraction
efforts difficult at the best of times.

21
Battlefleet Ixaniad is particularly
concerned about Sferablanka, and has left a Dolcatero in Brief
listening post on its surface, because of the
remains of massive Orkish constructions of
the surface, including the debris trail left by
at least one major Rok. Though no living
Orks have ever been detected on the planet,
and the Dolcaterans have no record of
Orkish incursion on their world, fears
abound that a sudden climactic shift could
cause millions of Orkish spores, left over
from whatever killed the last batch of Orks,
to activate and precipitate a major Waaagh.
Classification: Feudal/Imperial World
Population: 1 Billion
Adventure Hook- Réconquete Tithe Grade: Solutio Tertius
The Imperial Navy listening post on Geography: Cold-Temperate, three
Sferablanka has suddenly fallen silent, major continents and four minor.
and Orkish vox transmissions have Significant levels of surface water,
been detected all across its surface. small deserts in equatorial regions.
Landforms dominated by monthly
massive levy of troops conscripted freeze-thaw cycle due to unusual
from all across Dolcaterro, stands planetary orbit
between the Orks and total conquest of Government Type: Despotic Monarchy
the unprepared Subsector Trisdeka. Planetary Governor: Mihaelo III el
Can the Squad lead a massed charge of Brumera
brave but disunified musketeers to Planetary Capital: Lutece
victory against whatever it is the Orks Adept Presence: Minimal. Adeptus
Administratum (Dolcaterran
surface? Integration Comission, Lutece),
Adeptus Ministorum (Limited
missionary network worldwide)
Sferabluo is a rare watery moon, its entire
Notable Cities: Navein, Vacmos,
surface submerged between a planetary
Kaerlud, Erblin, Bharatabad, Kingpe
saltwater ocean. While its atmosphere is
Military: All independent nations
oxygen-based and reasonably pure and
maintain standing armies of various
thick, its surface temperatures are
sizes. Ref: Brumeran Chasseurs,
somewhat elevated due to a rather unusual
Langeter Mauvecoats, Siasru
phenomenon, namely the presence of
Freedmen, Kaisergart of Tarusia
extraordinarily level of atomically unstable
Primary Exports: Currently none.
elements
Predicted: Textiles, raw minerals, base
geothermal vents letting off heat from
industrial metals. agricultural products
thousands of naturally-occurring nuclear

22
reactors still in an active state- while The People of Dolcatero
radiation levels above water are reasonable,
beneath the surface any lifeforms larger The Sunnon system was mapped by the
than the hardy local bacteria would be Nivans in M38, and its primitive inhabitants
fatally irradiated in seconds. Even this has noted as a potential source of Servitor
not deterred Imperial mining concerns, for materials, but it was largely left alone until
whatever curious natural process generated M40, when the needs of the Meritech Wars
saw Imperial forces re-map the entire
crust ripe with an abundance of heavy subsector in search of local resources, both
metals, chief among them platinum and economic and otherwise. Though the
iridium. Dolcaterans were once again passed over by
the Imperial forces as being insufficiently
The only inhabited planet in the Sunnon developed to be worth the time and effort
system is also its smallest major moon, to civilize, listening posts and probes were
Dolcatero. A roughly Earth-sized rocky left in orbit until such time as its people
world with an oxygen-nitrogen were ready to be contacted. As of M41, the
atmosphere, Dolcatero is slightly colder Dolcaterans have finally been contacted, to
and has a slightly thicker atmosphere than a certain degree.

temperatures are largely brought about by Dolcatero is a semi-industrial Feudal world

its peculiar orbital situation- the governed by several warring imperial states.
Dolcateran year is only about two months The largest of these, the military
dictatorship of Brumera, seems likeliest to
outer atmosphere, but almost half of that
have already begun a tentative tithe of
to no light on the surface. manpower to the Imperial Guard.
However, the existence of the larger
Dolcatero is wholly inhabitable by human Imperium is generally unknown in the
beings and has been for at least six populace, which is in a constant state of war
thousand years. With its temperate zones
covered by thick forests, small deserts at its
equator and several large mountain ranges technologically-advanced nation, have
stretching across its three major continents, developed simple steam engines, basic
Dolcatero is an almost textbook example of scientific theory and are beginning to
a classical Imperial world; it lacks the experiment with electricity, but their
bounteous plant life of an agri-world, the philosophical advancement far outstrips any
excessive mineral or promethium resources technology they might actually possess.
of a mining world and the idyllic surface
conditions of a Paradise World, but is more The average Brumeran is slightly better-
than capable of supporting a much larger educated than many Imperial citizens,
human population than it already possesses. being capable of reading and writing the
Brumeran language, though their learning

23
is limited. The people of Dolcatero are in every 29 local days, the gas giant Magna
the midst of a scientific revolution in blocks nearly all sunlight from hitting the
parallel to their many military struggles; surface, creating a prolonged state of
Brumerans have recently begun colonizing twilight lit only by a constant planet-wide
other continents, and scientific discovery aurora, the result of charged gasses from
and learning are in vogue the world over.
Dolcaterran atmosphere.
The Brumerans are simultaneously curious
and war-hardened; they seek out new During the subsequent 29-day dark season,
knowledge, but their patriotism drives them which locals refer to as the magnes, local
to apply that knowledge in service to the plant and animal life begins a short
State. However, they are still largely hibernation cycle to protect it from the
ignorant as to their situation in the intense temperature drops which soon
Imperium, or even that a wider Imperium follow. The constant faint radiance of the
exists. The Emperor of Brumera, His planetary atmosphere means there is little
Highness Mihaelo III el Brumera, and most difference between night and day during
of his inner court have been made aware this time, and Dolcaterran humans seem to
that their planet lies within a fief of a much have naturally adapted a more flexible
larger stellar realm, and have quite sensibly internal biological clock which makes them
decided to bend the knee in exchange for immune to the disorientation and sleep loss
the right to rule their own planet as they see this would normally cause. While the magnes
fit. no longer holds much religious value for

Though Brumera does not yet rule all of feverish work, as crops and livestock need
Dolcatero, they are confident that, within a to be protected against the cold, and
few decades, and with a little bit of Imperial buildings reinforced against the tumultuous
aid behind the scenes, the planet will soon winter weather.

By contrast, the return of Dolcaterro to the

despotism. light of Suno, which is known as the sunes, is
seen as a time
Dolcateran of new
society, possibilities
regardless of and new
country of endeavours; it
origin, has is traditional
adapted to the in nearly all
Dolcaterran
annual nations to be
light/dark married on
cycle; the first day
approximately

24
of a sunes, or to start new business ventures. heavy government spending, has become
the de facto planetary currency.
The few Brumerans who have survived for
any length of time offworld have had The Grand Duchy of Tarusia: A marshy
varying reactions to the mind-blowing lowland kingdom to Brumera's west, a
revelation of how truly gigantic the relatively new political body formed by the
universe really is. Many simply go mad at brutal conquest of several local bishoprics
the realization, throwing themselves into and princely states. Tarusia had an
whatever work they have undertaken or underequipped but blooded army that
been forced into until they die. A small could not compete with the advanced
minority have taken to their new situation weaponry of the Brumerans. Infamous for
with élan and dedication, taking the work its political isolationism before the start of
ethic of a small imperialist power dedicated hostilities, Tarusia joined a Triple Alliance
to conquering its world and applying it to with Siasru and Langeter, and was quickly
the larger galaxy. These Brumerans are punished for its diplomatic hubris. It is now
determined to prove to themselves and the a client state of Brumera following the
wider universe that they are worthy of siege of its capital Navein and the Battle of
being recognized as Imperial citizens, and Ziusarlet, a crushing Brumeran victory.
have risen beyond whatever judgments have
been imposed upon them due to their
somewhat primitive origins. Adventure Hook- Arms Race

Major Dolcaterran Nations he would wish, and he desperately

needs outside support from the
As an uncivilized, decentralized world, Imperium to finally crush Langeter.
Dolcatero is naturally host to dozens of The squad is assigned as a team of
small nation-states, though a few of them
stand out from the rest, especially as far as superior training spearheading new
the Brumerans are concerned. Brumeran offensives. Navigating
Brumeran society is a social minefield,
The Empire of Brumera: Brumera was a however, and to make matters worse
somewhat fractious monarchy until the late dead Langeter soldiers are turning up
700s M.41, when the nations unified under with weapons of Dark Eldar
Mihaelo I and embarked on a campaign of
continental conquest of unparalleled
success. Its capital, Lutetia, has grown rich The Siasru Republic: A sprawling desert
and prosperous thanks to the massive kingdom to the southwest of Brumera,
wealth flowing in from occupied territories, known as a hub of international art and
though inhabitants in the less well-to-do culture. Formerly a member of the Triple
provinces are beginning to grumble about Alliance, it became a client state of Brumera
the cost in lives. The Brumeran Livre, following the sack of its capital, Vacmos,
though somewhat devalued due to years of and the famous Summer Campaign led by

25
an up-and-coming officer named few other deviant or debased religions exist
Bonesolvo. in small numbers, but Imperial covert
investigations performed with the aid of the
The Langeter Empire: The landlocked Brumeran government have confirmed
despotic monarchy directly to Brumera's them to be non-Chaotic in nature.
south. A militaristic, brutal and uncultured
place known for its large army of conscript The Cefists are clearly a descendant of the
soldiers. Currently the only independent Imperial faith; they believe that long ago,
member of the Triple Alliance, and the last in a far-off land now lost to time, a man
remaining state near Brumera not under named Savo Cef was born who was the
their control. Though the Langeters human incarnation of a single unnamed
suffered a harsh blow at the Battle of deity. Though Cef was betrayed by his
Garraltaf, their forces endure and have closest disciple, he promised that one day
gone on the defensive in preparation for he would return and bring about a golden
yet more Brumeran attacks. Langeter's age for all humanity, and that in the
capital is Kaerlud, a filthy city of meantime humans should prepare for his
smokestacks and burgeoning coal industry. coming.
The Ixaniad Ecclesiarchy
Holy Uressp: A Adventure Hook- Second Coming anticipates no major
pacifistic Cefist The Regiment is engaged in a holding difficulty in integrating
bishopric on an action to assist in the withdrawal of a Cefism back into the fold of
isolated island off Brumeran regiment from a salient, but the Imperial Cult, but there
Brumera's western they refuse to withdraw. A low-level are some worries that
coast, the pious officer has announced that he is the Dolcatero could become a
citizens of Uressp resurrection of Savo Cef, and the religious battleground in the
are master seafarers regiment hears his word as law. If they constant power struggles
but had little stay for too long, the whole salient will that always wrack the more
stomach for be encircled and cut off, but removing distant arms of the
warfare. The Ecclesiarchy.
Uresspine entire regiment into violent mutiny.
government signed Can the squad turn him to reason The Bellagian Cult of the
a treaty of peace before the whole front collapses?
with Brumera, but interested in attracting new
rebel elements continue a struggle against converts and enriching itself, and Dolcatero
the march of Brumeran progress. presents a prize of willing converts ready to
hear the Good Word. Already a battle of
The Imperial Creed on Dolcatero words has begun between the Ixaniad
Ecclesiarchy, who argue that the
Dolcatero has no central church body, Dolcaterans fall under their direct
though the majority of the planetary jurisdiction, and the Bellagians, who hold
population follows some version of a that as the closest Shrine World it is only
monotheistic religion known as Cefism. A logical that they should have oversight.

26
The Brumeran Korpogardistos The Korpogardistos are heavy line infantry
in the traditional sense, fighting shoulder-
to-shoulder in ranks and making heavy use
-Colonel Napoles Bonesolvo, 1st Brumeran of continuous volley fire. Their signature
Korpogardistos tactic, once they have closed to a reasonable
distance with the enemy, is to throw a
The Korpogardisto volley of hand grenades and then charge
most elite regiments, composed of the into hand-to-hand combat in the
finest and longest-serving soldiers from aftermath.
other units. Their musketry is regarded as
some of the finest on the planet, and none Bonesolvo has pioneered the use of hand
can doubt their skills with bayonet and shot. grenades on his homeworld, and though
Plucked from Brumera as part of many of his soldiers still prefer to use their
its first tithe of men to the simple and familiar black-powder weapons,
Imperium, the Korpogardistos he is using every mental and social resource
have been forced to improvise at his disposal to have his men outfitted
to survive in a wider galaxy with more modern gear. Many of the
they cannot hope to Brumerans, being intensely proud veteran
understand. Fortunately, they soldiers, object to having to bow and scrape
find themselves ably led by their way across the warzones of the 41st
Colonel Napoles
Bonesolvo, a solid
tactician whose true
expertise lies in the millennium, but
realm of logistics. they know that Bonesolvo
By training his has a plan for them, even if he
men in the will never willingly reveal it.
maintenance and
care of their own Various native
weapons, encouraging subspecies of the
scavenging when the common horse are found
on Dolcatero, and the
and simultaneously building Korpogardistos use them
connections with those same as beasts of burden and
authorities, he has been able mounts for officers,
to arrange a series of fairly though they are not a
easy postings that, though cavalry-focused
they have left his men regiment. For a
champing at the bit to see common soldier

succeeded in keeping most

of the regiment alive.

27
Brumeran Korpogardistos
Characteristics: +3 Strength, -3 Intelligence, +5 Weapon Skill, +3 Willpower
Starting Aptitude: Willpower
Starting Skills: Athletics +10, Common Lore (War), Command, Linguistics (High Gothic)
Starting Talents: Rapid Reload, Street Fighting, Any two of Duelist, Double Team or Combat Formation
Other:
Enlightenment: Brumera is nothing if not a traditionalist state, and its local dialect is derived from High,
rather than Low, Gothic. Brumeran characters begin play with Linguistics (High Gothic), but are
otherwise unable to read or speak Low Gothic.
Age of Reason: Lore, Operate, Tech-Use and Medicae skills used by Brumeran characters only apply to
technology or knowledge known in the early to mid 1800s on earth- they can suture a wound, drive a
carriage and operate a clock, for instance, but electricity is a scientific novelty, steam engines are still
unfamiliar and disinfectants are wholly unknown.
Military Science: Dolcateran characters cannot take the Operator Specialty, though they are free to switch
in to them at higher ranks. Further, they cannot purchase or receive any Weapon Training talents other
than Blackpowder and Low-Tech until they have gained at least enough XP to change Specialties for the
first time.
Additionally, newly-created Dolcateran characters replace the starting gear from their Specialties, and
replace several of their starting Talents:
Heavy Weapons: Replace Las/Solid Projectile Training with Blackpowder, replace extra Weapon Training
with Haze of War. Gear: 2 x extra Black Powder grenades and 1 x Common-quality Hand Mortar, or 1 x
Common-quality Seven-Barrel Gun and 35 x extra Paper Cartridges
Medic: Replace Las/Solid Projectile Training with Blackpowder. Gear:
Sergeant: Replace Las/Solid Projectile Training with Blackpowder, replace Chain Weapon Training with
Evasive. Gear: Good-Craftsmanship Flintlock Pistol, Horse (See Hammer of the Emperor p. 139)
Weapons Specialist:
Gear: 30 extra Paper Cartridges, 1 x extra Black Powder Grenade

Starting Wounds: Early Modern World characters increase their starting Wounds by 1.
Pride Over Life: The Korpogardistos are the finest their planet can muster, and they have immense pride in
themselves, their country, and their regiment. 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
(usually in a formal duel) 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.
Favored Weapons: Blunderbuss, Hand Mortar

Starting Kit: Good-Craftsmanship Musket with Melee Attachment, 50 x Paper Cartridges, 2 x Black
Powder Grenades, Good-Craftsmanship Sword, Good-Craftsmanship Padded Uniform, Good-
Craftsmanship Reinforced Shako, Woolen Cloak, Good-Craftsmanship Powdered Wig, Good-
Craftsmanship Knife, Rucksack, Set of Basic Tools, Mess Kit, Canteen, Oil Lamp, Set of Flint and
Tinder, Grooming Kit, Set of Dog
Rations (Hard tack and salt beef), Bottle of Standard-Distribution Infantry Rum
The rules for Korpogardistos use the following Only War doctrines
Homeworld: Early Modern World /Commanding Officer: Fixed /Regiment Type: Line Infantry /Doctrines:
Hardened Fighters, Iron Discipline, Close-Order Drill /Drawbacks: Honour-Bound

28
to be awarded a horse as a gift is an The Brumerans have yet to master the art
uncommon prize, and a symbol of great of rifling as anything but a craftsman's
achievement on the battlefield or a curiosity, but their gunnery is no less
significant favour rendered to a superior deadly for its primitiveness. Indeed, many
officer. officers choose to go into combat bearing a
variety of exotic flintlock prototypes,
Brumeran artillery is among their world's multi-barrel and multi-shot weapons that
finest, being the first to be truly mass- are lethal, unstable, and lethally unstable.
produced with machine tooling. Many
Brumerans regiments make use of massed Following long years of combat alongside
artillery, and their basic standardization of the conventional Imperial Guard, the
calibre ensures that supply line problems Inquisitorial records around the
are minimal. Light cannons are fielded in Korpogardistos have come to note one
small batteries among the infantry, ready to extremely suspicious fact: psykers and
support against the masses of enemy Commissars who serve alongside them
soldiers with solid shot or canister rounds, consistently die in freak accidents. There
while much larger siege guns, often firing has never been any evidence of foul play
cannonballs that weigh dozens of involved, but questions have been raised in
kilograms, sit well behind the lines, lobbing Ixaniad about the reliability of the
inaccurate but deadly fire into enemy Brumeran soldiery, or some other malign
fortifications. influence at work.

29
Edelweiss This body, Dom, has a curious orbital
, peace pattern seen almost nowhere else in the
Galaxy- not only is it tidally locked with
-Edelweiss expression Erica, which is itself tidally locked with
Astera/Nahp, it also orbits in what is
The Astera/Nahp binary system is one essentially a naturally-occurring
of the largest, and certainly the geosynchronous orbit. This means that
brightest, in the Synerge cluster. Both Dom is always directly between Erica's
Astera and Nahp are gigantic blue- surface and the suns, creating a permanent
white stars, and their radiance is eclipse on Erica's surface.
visible in the night sky through most
of the Subsector. Due to their great Edelweiss, the third planet and
mass, it is unsurprising that their system capital, would under
system is a large one, and in fact has normal circumstances be an
the most major rocky planets of Edenic place: its
the entire region- five in total. atmosphere is balmy,
Astera/Nahp has one of the its soil fertile, its local
lowest incidences of lifeforms easily-
gravitational distortion in the tameable.
region, and it is this that has
made it a comparatively well- Unfortunately, it has
travelled and well-mapped several peculiarities
region by Trisdekan standards. that make it stand out
from other such
The inner end of the Imperial paradise worlds.
habitable zone of For one, Edelweiss
Astera/Nahp plays appears to have been
host to a small asteroid deliberately constructed;
belt, likely the remains of a the entire planet is composed
seventh planet torn apart by of a series of identical alpine
the gravitational pull of the twin stars, valleys, each with an identically-
and two mining worlds, Arnica and shaped lake at its center, each with
Erica. the exact same area of arable farmland
and the exact same forests growing in the
Both are punishingly hot, possessing of exact same locations. Further, its
unpleasantly superheated atmospheres, and atmosphere appears to have been enhanced
rich in a variety of mineral resources, Erica at some time in the past, seeded with an as-
especially. Beyond their small mining yet-unidentifiable chemical compound that
settlements, buried deep in the planetary induces extremely high fertility and
crust to avoid the heat, the only oddity in multiple birth rates in human beings.
the area is Erica's lone moon, a dwarf planet
barely large enough to avoid asteroid status.

30
On the outer edge of the habitable zone is Edelweiss in Brief
Astera/Nahp's fourth rocky world, frozen
Gentian. It is a planet of rolling, rocky hills,
half-buried in thick water ice. In addition
to yet more mining colonies, Gentian and
its large moon Alphubel are home to several
expeditions of local treasure seekers and
Magii of the Adeptus Mechanicus, for they
are covered with dozens of ruins of cities of
unknown, but clearly xenos, origin. No
remains of their actual inhabitants have ever
been discovered, and what few artefacts
have been chipped out of the ice have been
apparently non-functional, but efforts Classification: Fortress World
continue to unlock the mysteries of these Population: 1.05 Billion
cold, ruined worlds. Tithe Grade: Exactus Extremis
Geography: Highly mountainous, with
Primulaca, the fifth planet and only gas repeated valleys and glacier river
giant in the system, is remarkably small, systems. Drier climate near planetary
barely larger than its single moon Moench. equator, heavy glaciation on both
While both have small Edelweiss planetary poles. No natural saltwater bodies.
colonies in orbit and on the ground, their Government Type: Diet of elected nobles
lack of major natural resources makes them Planetary Governor: Duke Schwartzmann
von Matricks VI of Helvenland
Adventure Hook- Asphyxia Planetary Capital: Helvenstadt
Dark Eldar raids on Moench have Adept Presence: Adeptus Terra,
increased to an unacceptable degree, Administratum (Subsector Planning
Office, Helvenstadt), Astra Miliatrum
assigned there to bolster the Edelweiss (Edelweiss Central Mustering Office.
Schloss Aplheim), Adeptus
superb environment for vehicular Ministorum, Adeptus Mechanicus
combat, and the defensive forces are (Edelweiss Wehrtechnische
heavily dependent on oxygen- Supervising Bureau, Helvenstadt),
extracting plants that pull air out of the Adeptus Astra Telepathica (Edelweiss
Astropathic Relay, Rampionstadt),
Adeptus Arbites
the archeotech power generator Notable Cities: Rampionstadt,
running the largest plant on the Eyebrecht, Yarrowsburg, Pasque,
planet- with air running out, the only Helvenna, Campanulle
solution is a desperate search-and- Military: Substantial. All major nations
recapture mission against the elusive maintain professional standing armies,
Eldar. air forces and in-system space navies
Primary Exports: Industrial and space
31 machinery, Weapons, Imperial Guard
regiments
 unlikely to grow any larger. Moench has frozen moon Eiger are host to significant
seen fairly recent military activity, with port facilities, minor shipyards and fuelling
reliable sightings of Dark Eldar spacecraft stations, a natural waystation for the
operating on and near its airless surface. constant flow of both inter and intra-
Why the alien raiders would be drawn to a system voidships, especially the huge troop
planet full of so much nothing is unclear, ships used to transport the Kurassier
but the Edelweiss System Defence Force regiments from Edelweiss.
has greatly increased the numbers of its
garrison there. A Manufactured World

Far out in the dark edge of Astera/Nahp's The geological structure of Edelweiss has
Oort Cloud is the final rocky world of the been studied by the Mechanicus, and local
system, the low-density iceball Pulsatilla. authorities, for centuries, with no progress
So cold that liquid nitrogen often falls to its made towards understanding its mysteries.
surface as rain, it is a bleak, forbidding Many initially suspected it to be an Eldar
rock, with little of value aside from its Maiden World, but the absence of xenos
strategic position on the edge of the artefacts, and the total lack of any military
system. Both Pulsatilla and its equally action from the Eldar post-colonization
seem to disprove that theory. Some in the
Mechanicus have posited that it might be
an inevitable result of the fundamentally
random process of planetary formation,
and that Edelweiss might actually be a
natural formation. The true mystery,
however, is the composition of the

Adventure Hook- Fatal Affray

During an overlong void transit, the
Squad is approached by their
regimental Commissar on the down-
low. The Edelweiss infantry regiments
in the next crew hold over have started
some kind of illegal fighting ring, and

regimental Commissars are involved.

The Squad must infiltrate the latest
tournament bracket and fight their way
to the top to figure out how deep the
corruption runs. The Edelweiss are
tough customers, though, and soon
regimental honour is as much on the
The intensely mountainous scenery typical of Edelweiss, in a rare landscape painting line as discipline is.
from that world that does not also depict military action.

32
planetary atmosphere; whatever chemicals thousands more ready to take their place.
seeded there defy analysis, and the fertility The Edelweiss governments have been
boosting is clearly an induced effect: given free reign over their system, with
Edelweiss natives taken offworld have small military bases from the various
ordinary numbers of offspring, then return nations that have independently developed
to elevated birth rates when returned to or purchased spacecraft almost as common
their homeworld. The Mechanicus still as the many, many mining colonies.
maintains a small research presence on
Edelweiss, a few scattered teams of Magos The Edelweiss people themselves are
remarkably warlike, for indeed war has
crust, searching for answers they may never been bred into them, and there is never a
find. time on Edelweiss where a fight isn't going
on somewhere, but also remarkably even-
The People of Edelweiss tempered and level-headed. Conflict is such
a common idea to them that they actually
When first rediscovered by the Imperium in become uncomfortable when away from the
M37, the planet had a medieval technology sounds of distant battle. While the
level, a population in the billions, and was stereotype of the average Edelweiss citizen
divided into thousands of feudal kingdoms, as a twitchy, knife-wielding maniac is far
each squabbling over control of the alpine from fair, it is true that the vast majority of
valleys. The Imperium suppressed the the planet's citizens go armed- usually with
population of Edelweiss through political their signature Apashe folding pistols.
manoeuvring, and eventually the planet Edelweiss society is divided along lines of
came under control of a parliament of
major nobility which still rules it to this day. Adventure Hook- All Quiet?
However, the parliament is just a front for a
far more sinister rulership headed by the enjoys a lull in combat in a siege
Imperial Inquisition: they believe that against a secessionist city. Both sides
Edelweiss is the perfect breeding ground are taking their time to lick their
for a eugenically-engineered race of wounds and call up reinforcements.
supersoldiers. Everyone, except the two Edelweiss
cavalry regiments stationed behind the
Today, the many sub-kingdoms of line as a breakthrough division, who
Edelweiss are kept in a deliberately- have taken it upon themselves to raid
maintained state of warfare with each other, the outskirts of the city for loot and
entertainment. Blame for the situation
population (which now exceeds 100 billion) falls on the Squad, somehow, and as the
is composed of soldiers of some kind or wrath of the Commissariat gathers
another. The best of these soldiers, those against them, so too do the guns of the
whose bloodlines have proved the most apt, secessionists- can the party find
are removed from Edelweiss and enrolled as evidence proving their innocence
cavalry regiments, with hundreds of before the front explodes?

33
loyalty to one's individual kingdom, Kingdoms that spent too much time
republic, or monarchy first, but things tend forming alliances or working towards peace
to break down from there. Individual would be overthrown in bloody, unstable
mountain valleys have so many different coups, further encouraging the spread of
forms of government, societal structure and warfare and creating a need for yet more
culture that two citizens from neighbouring soldiers.
regions of the planet can speak almost
wholly different dialects, wear vastly Now, the Inquisition have managed to
different clothing, and violently hate each create such a perfect cultural context for
other as their families and clans have for conflict that they no longer need to
thousands of years. encourage the conflict themselves. The
notion that soldiers breed finer children is
While roughly half of Edelweiss' so deeply ingrained in the cultural
population is under arms, it is not strictly consciousness that almost all families will
correct to call it a planet of soldiers. Almost choose to send their children to war, in
all of the kingdoms and states of the valleys order to better their marriage prospects
maintain standing armies and militias, but later.
they are not always in the field. Most
citizens receive some modicum of self- Pacifism in all forms is inextricably linked
defence training, and street fights among with concepts of weakness, sedition and
youth gangs are considered a healthy way heresy, creating social environments where
to vent negative emotions and build a sense proponents of peace are functionally non-
of comradeship. Mercenaries are not existent, or so powerless they might as well
uncommon as well, and many states (heavily not exist.
encouraged by the Inquisition's agents)
actually sponsor the formation of official The rampaging Edelweiss military-
mercenary bands as a way to keep citizens industrial complex further incentivizes
in fighting shape and make a bit of extra military production and total warfare,
money on the side during times of peace. making those states which are the most
warlike the most prosperous. In cases where
Directed Evolution on Edelweiss wars have overly devastated the population
of a region, the planetary parliament has
The influence of the Imperial Inquisition enacted an extremely successful program of
on the many conflicts between the immigration, recruiting peoples from
Edelweiss states is incredibly subtle and warrior cultures of many foreign worlds and
tenuous, so well have they succeeded in giving them significant tracts of land to
encourage them to settle down. This
culture. In the past, this centuries-long profusion of foreign cultures further
breeding program was far more overt, with exacerbates the pre-existing tensions
the Edelweiss planetary parliament issuing between small kingdoms, destabilizing the
strict rules on reproductive rights, only political situation and adding yet more fuel
allowing blooded soldiers to procreate. to the flames of war.

34
Faith and Equestrianism on Edelweiss

The only two common points that

unite the disparate peoples of
Edelweiss are their unified worship of
the God-Emperor and the planetary
obsession with riding. The former
results from a centuries-long
program of cultural programming
and memetic inoculation by the
Inquisition, who have drilled the
Imperial Creed so thoroughly into
the collective Edelweiss mindset, such
that it is, that heresy is almost wholly
unthinkable to many citizens.

The Edelweiss Creed is extremely

orthodox, and is little different from
the centralized forms of worship
found on many civilized planets on
the coreward side of the Segmentum
Obscurus. Naturally, many of the
more militant priests of the Imperial
Cult in Trisdeka come from
Edelweiss.

The Edelweiss obsession with

equestrianism stems from the planet's most excellent mounts, have a natural sense for
important lifeform, a semi-quadrupedal rough terrain, and can carry huge loads-
herbivore known as the Querl. Though larger breeds outweigh the lighter Leman
there are dozens of different breeds and Russ variants. Most Edelweiss citizens learn
subspecies, all Querl follow roughly the to ride Querls in their childhood, and the
same body plan- they have two powerful animals are used as beasts of burden in most
main legs, used for running and jumping, a places where the steep terrain makes
secondary set of legs that grows from the ordinary ground vehicles or skimmers
same joint, used for climbing and gripping, impractical. As an added bonus, Querls
a long tail that aids in balance, and a head breed quickly and reliably, meaning that
covered by a boxy exoskeletal crown that even the poorest of Edelweiss citizens can
they use to batter down trees and thick afford an animal to ride and make a living
plants to eat the pulp and nectar inside. from.
Almost all species of Querl are semi-docile
and easily tameable, but they make

35
The Edelweiss Kurassiers superior their fighting skills are, even at the
cost of their own lives.
merely doing what all Guardsmen ought-
trampling upo Most Kurassiers are classified as Rough
-Trooper Laslov Bercseni following the Riders by the Munitorum, but this is not
Charge at Iron Ridge strictly speaking true. Almost all Edelweiss
regiments are indeed mounted, but more
As a cavalry-centric society, it comes as no often than not they are dragoons, and not
surprise that the Edelweiss contribute expected to fight from Querlback. The
nothing but mounted regiments as their smaller, lighter Querl breeds used by these
primary Imperial tithe. These Kurassier regiments often trade fortitude for
regiments are selected from the finest mobility, and not all share the violent
soldiers the planet can muster- temperament that would make them
regiments of local troops suitable for, say, charges against
nominate their best and brightest, enemy lines. Many are classic lancers,
who are then tested by the running down enemy troops in
planet's Inquisitorial presence thunderous
for their suitability, subjected to massed
low-level brain-washing
techniques to

charges,
but yet
smooth over any more are
differences of what the
opinion soldiers Edelweiss
from rival refer to as
countries superheavy cavalry, riding
might have, and sent into battle. Querls large enough to haul an
The troops born of this selection are a entire gun emplacement with the necessary
gallant bunch of fighting men and women, crew at considerable speeds. These
full of fighting spirit though prone to regiments behave more like conventional
aggression and offensive tactics. Edelweiss tank units, using their high-mobility
soldiers know they are the cream of the firepower to break through enemy armies
crop- that much is inculcated in them in and destroy their supply lines, or harass
their training- and they are determined to columns at short ranges.
let the rest of the universe know how

36
A rare few Edelweiss units fight as pure vehicles out with grapnels and heavily
footslogging assault infantry. Though they cleated treads, perfect for scaling sheer
are somewhat looked down upon by their mountainsides.
mounted counterparts, an infantry posting
is often seen as an added challenge, the Combat psykers are not uncommon on
proof of a truly great fighter. The only their front line, and while the warlike
commonality between the many Edelweiss Edelweiss respect any force multiplier, they
regiments is their aggressiveness, and love are religiously orthodox enough to be leery
of closing to knife-fight range to let their of any mutation. This same orthodoxy sees
melee weapons do the talking. many Munitorum priests deployed on the
frontlines, though only the toughest and
Edelweiss ranged weaponry is mostly local most devoted foreign religious official can
variants of more broadly available Imperial keep up with the sheer passion for battle
weaponry, the humble Lascarbine that their local counterparts possess.
especially, though tuned for maximum
damage output at short ranges. Though the
Mechanicus might not approve of some of Mountain Guns
the more unusual Kurassier modifications, Some who have served alongside
the Inquisition's influence is enough to Edelweiss units dismiss them as insane
keep accusations of tech-heresy at bay. glory-hounds with no appreciation for
the finer points of military tactics, but
The vast profusion of local industrial this is not entirely justified. It is true
concerns in Astera/Nahp has provided an that many Kurassier regiments wholly
excellent opportunity for the Ixaniad forgo the use of standard fixed artillery
Mechanicus to capitalize on the profits of weapons, but their reasoning is cultural
consultation work, and hundreds of and not tactical; on Edelweiss, it is only
different Edelweiss variants on standard the weak soldiers who man the support
Mechanicus-pattern vehicles, machine tools weapons in the rear lines. Real fighting
and industrial products can be found men close to where they can see their
throughout the Kurassier regiments. enemies bleed.

In other regards, Kurassiers employ many Edelweiss troops know how to operate
of the same tactical aids and strategic alongside artillery, they just generally
support available to Imperial Guard prefer not to.
regiments all over the Galaxy. Edelweiss
armoured divisions field most of the
standard variations on the Leman Russ, and
small numbers of Annihilators are produced
in sanctioned forges on the planet. The
popular Edelweiss-Pattern Chimera

Armoured Fist regiments to fit their

37
Edelweiss Kurassiers
Characteristics: +3 Willpower, Toughness and Agility
Starting Aptitude: Weapon Skill
Starting Skills: Common Lore (War), Common Lore (Imperium), Common Lore (Imperial Guard),
Linguistics (Low Gothic), Survival
Starting Talents: Hatred (Dark Eldar), Rapid Reaction, Catfall, Unstoppable Charge, Nerves of Steel or
Sprint
Other:
Hated Enemy: The Edelweiss cavalry units have frequently deployed against the Dark Eldar raiders, in
situations where their mobility can counter that of the dread Xenos. Stories of countless battles against the
Eldar have made their way back to the homeworld, and many young Edelweiss soldiers dream of blooding
themselves against the sinister raiders. Edelweiss characters must attempt an Ordinary (+10) Willpower
Test in order to stop themselves from attacking Dark Eldar on sight.
Bred for War: The rules and regulations of combat are drilled in to Edelweiss citizens almost from birth,
and they have difficulty disobeying authority figures. An Edelweiss character must attempt a Challenging
(+0) Willpower Test to go against the rules and regulations of the Imperial Guard.
Lancers: Increase distance Mounts move as part of a Crushing Charge by a number of meters equal to twice

Cult of Chivalry
those who are in the regiments feel they must hold themselves, and other Guardsmen, to an extremely high
standard of behaviour and professionalism. Edelweiss Kurassiers must roll a Difficult (-10) Willpower Test
to use the Deceive Skill, and take a -10 on Scrutiny tests to oppose the Deceive skill.
Starting Wounds: Edelweiss characters generate their Starting Wounds normally.
Favored Weapons: Faucon, Lasbarde
Starting Kit: Good-Quality Mono Cavalry Spear, Hunting Lance, Lasarque, 3 x Charge Pack, Good-
Quality Apashe, 4 x Apashe Charge Packs, Flak Jacket, Flak Helmet, Camargue Querl Mount, Saddle, 2 x
Saddlebags, Set of Riding Tack, Uniform, Set of Poor-Weather Gear, Sling Bag, Set of Basic Tools, Mess
Kit, Canteen, Blanket, Sleeping Bag, Lamp Pack, Grooming Kit, Set of Cognomen Tags, Uplifting
Pr
The rules for Kurassiers use the following Only War doctrines.
Homeworld: Fortress World /Commanding Officer: Choleric /Regiment Type: Rough Rider Regiment
/Doctrines: Heavy Lancers /Drawbacks: Cult of Chivalry

38
Tennanlowe Next in the system lies an anomaly, a rare
blot on the good name of the
Tennanlowers, and a curiosity that has
-Message issued by the Tennalowe attracted outside attention for centuries;
Provisional Government in the aftermath of the remains of a second planet, its solar
the Blight Lagrange points filled with the ancient and
picked-over debris of unidentifiable
The binary star system of starships. The planet itself,
Victory and Morality shines which is never named on
bright with the yellow- Tennanlower star
white glow of two charts but which
healthy main- some refer to as
sequence stars, and Whithead, has
yet their light has a been literally
distinctly sinister cracked in half
pall. The by repeated
Victory/Morality and prolonged
system is no orbital
friendly home for bombardment
Humanity, far in excess of
though it once was. what would be
Often labelled as necessary to
Tennanlowe (with the commit
Exterminatus on even
appended), this system was the the most heavily-
first in the Synerge Cluster to be populated world. The only
properly mapped and figures on the oldest
charts of the region. Adventure Hook- Ruins
With very little warning, the
In the depths of the system lies the red-hot Regiment, and a half-dozen others, are
world of Indaan, baked to a crisp by its reassigned to Whithead under
close proximity to the two suns. The suspicious circumstances. For months,
Tennanlowers have attempted the they garrison airless, ruined cities, what
occasional settlement buried beneath its might be ancient Imperial architecture
surface, for it is rich in base metals, but the marred by strange symbols that look a
difficult of navigating the intense solar little like a mechanical dragon, a little
gravity well, combined with the like a many-toothed mouth, and a little
unbelievable heat, have left it largely like a clever bird with its wings
uninhabited save for a few scattered mining unfurled.
colonies. Tensions are riding high, and something
is out there, picking off the sentries

39
outsiders the few remaining authorities on
Tennanlowe itself permit access are the Tennanlowe in Brief
occasional Inquisitor, who naturally do not
divulge what, if anything, they find on the
airless and broken planet-remnant. For all
others visiting the system, Whithead
remains an enigma, conspicuous in its total
absence from any official or even unofficial
Tennanlower records.

The third and fourth planets, Felro and

Albri, orbit a common centre of mass,

The former is a cold boreal world, with a

Classification: Imperial World
thick atmosphere that has locked the planet
Population: 30 Million
in a global ice age. Unfortunately for any
Tithe Grade: Decuma Particular
Tennanlower attempts at settlement, the
Geography: No solid land masses.
Human-habitable zone 27km deep
and not water. While the planet has a
occupies all areas below 5 degrees
thriving biosphere composed of large
longitude from polar storm regions
winter-adapted mammalians and robust
Government Type: Military junta
plants, carbon dioxide appears to have
appointed by democratic cities
somehow developed as the primary
Planetary Governor: General Morales
chemical means for life, and almost all
Belolo, Tennanlowe Atmospheric
organic matter on the planet is generally
Defence Forces
incompatible with human needs.
Planetary Capital: Chrineil
Adept Presence: Adeptus Terra,
The Magos Biologis of the Adeptus
Administratum, Adeptus Sororitas
Mechanicus from Niva Gustav maintain a
(Hospitaller Aid Team, Order of Our
series of surface research and orbital bases
Thermite Shroud), Scholastica Psykana
here, mainly studying the unusual
(Trisdekan Central Temple,
ecosystems that have developed on this
Hopesprings City), Adeptus
nearly-hospitable world. Its moon Albri is
Ministorum, Adeptus Arbites (Sky
fairly large and close, but even more
Fortress Mongo)
inimical to life- it appears to have once
Notable Cities: Greeley, Great Hague,
been a garden world, but its thick
High Stent, Nilesville, Hopesprings
atmosphere for its small size trapped
City
atmosphere and has rendered it a corrosive,
Military: Fragmentary Atmospheric
overheated world not dissimilar to Venus.
Defence Forces operated by major
cities, currently employed alongside
Tennanlowe, the outermost and largest
Arbites to maintain order
planet in the system, is a rarity among
Primary Exports: Hydrogen plasma
fuels, antigravity devices, refugees
40
Imperial planets: a populated gas giant.
Though not particularly big by the biosphere seems prepared to push them
standards of gas giants, it possesses an back.
ultra-dense core that have led many to
theorize that it is in fact a brown dwarf that The People of Tennanlowe
failed in the very early stages of becoming a
star, though what happened to its
atmosphere is unknown. Several kilometres earliest days of Human settlement in the
below its gaseous and roiling red-purple Galaxy, possibly even before the Dark Age
surface is a band of breathable oxygen- of Technology. Few can agree on exactly
nitrogen air currents, at a temperature that, how long there have been Humans living in
while uncomfortably warm, is still enough r that the
to support human habitation. planet is the longest-settled of the Synerge
Cluster. Until M37, Tennanlowe was what
The planet has a half-dozen small
rocky moons, a gigantic ring system
that has not yet been swept clear by its

satellites. Pett is the largest of these

bodies, devoid of atmosphere but rich
in various mineral compounds and
hydrogen locked into its dusty
regolith. Sho is large and may in fact
be a rogue planet swept up in

possesses a semi-breathable
atmosphere and even the beginnings
of early microbial life, its high gravity
and surface air pressure make any
prospects of colonization meagre
ones.

Bois is yet another world that is close,

but not quite there; its moderate
gravity, comfortable atmospheric
temperatures and high oxygen
content would make it ideal, except
that all the local plant life is virulently
toxic to human tissues; many
Tennanlowers do live on Bois, but
theirs is an existence like those of
deathworlders; for each step forward

41
passed for the subsector capital, with a floating cities that did survive were battered
population of billions living in hundreds of and irradiated, riding the bow-wave of the
floating settlements, held aloft by balloons, planetary shockwave as it continued to
long wings, or the anti-gravity technology circle the globe endlessly.

There are still tens of millions of

They made a lucrative trade of selling a Tennanlowers left, but their position
variety of chemical compounds extracted becomes yet more precarious with every
from their atmosphere, especially year. Un-irradiated food is a luxury, and
extremely pure hydrogen useful for what little water can still be extracted safely
starship plasma engine fuel. The billions of from the atmosphere is a precious resource.
Tennanlowers lived in luxury, for their The great floating cities are limping wrecks
planet, though wracked by storms, was of what they once were, forced on a
abundant in water vapour, and had a variety constant pilgrimage westward along the
of airborne local plant and animal life that before the
bred quickly and made for suitable human passage of the Blight that the radiation
food products. The great floating cities levels are the lowest. Some who eke out a
were prosperous and well-maintained, with living among the crumbling spires are
thousands of locals flitting between the determined to rebuild their planet to its
shining spires on their traditional former greatness, and the democratic
skyboards, and great starships docking with governments of each city are generally still
huge floating gantries built into the thin intact and trying to maintain order and
upper atmosphere. All that changed when
the great Blight radiation storms erupted in Adventure Hook- Disaster Duty
872.M38. The floating Tennanlower metropolis
of Greeley has been struck hard by
What caused the Blight on Tennanlowe is storms, and is slowly sinking into the
still unclear- it might have been a natural
climatological anomaly, or a spatial is in the area to refuel, and is called
disturbance, or even the atmosphere miners upon to assist the evacuation.

dense core and unleashing something long- The city is in a state of near-total
forgotten. Regardless, the result was a anarchy, with raiding parties from
massive plume of extremely radioactive dust neighbouring cities pouring in to strip
bursting forth from a point along the useful resources from the heart of the
dying grav-platform. To make matters
upwelling of superheated air. The resulting worse, a group of Nivan techpriests
radioactive shockwave, which for unknown have shown up, determined to rip out
reasons was primarily focused on a westerly -gravity core for the
glory of the Omnissiah- even if it kills
everyone in the city.
of major human habitation. Those few

42
good government, but too much damage seek a new home among the stars.
has been done, and many look to offworld Ferocious conflicts have erupted time and
for their salvation. time again between the Abasers, those who
believe that Tennanlowe society needs to
The Imperial Creed on Tennanlowe be reduced to a simpler level, and the
Ultrists, who are convinced that the
The Tennanlowers have, for as long as Emperor desires all his servants on
Imperial memory records, been faithful Tennanlowe to abandon their home planet
servants of the Imperial Cult in the and build something better elsewhere. The
traditional mould, and their worship does Ultrists are currently dominant, given their
not deviate much from what is practised on more uplifting message, and have inspired
a thousand other Imperial worlds, with the many thousands of the Tennanlowers to
exception of a deep strain of join the Imperial Guard in the hopes of
apocalypticism, understandable after the earning the right to settle other planets.
great calamity their world has endured.
The Collegia Haplotica
Many locals feel that the Emperor has
punished their society for growing above its Deep within the warm depths of the
station, but yet more are convinced that the equatorial wind currents, the Collegia
Blight is a sign that it is time for them to Haplotica was a curious institution: a school
of Sanctioned Psykers, backed by the
Adventure Hook- Howl of the Deep Psykana, with the final goal of developing
The final transmission from the and refining an entirely new school of
Collegia was not a death-scream, but a psychic thought: the Haplotic Way.
warning, and the ghosts of the long- Founded midway through the Great
dead Haplotists still struggle to hold Crusade by a semi-legendary agent of the
back whatever terrible force caused the Adeptus Astra Telepathica named Xavier
Blight. Yurishima, the Collegia taught Psykers a
stra form of ascetic meditation, self-denial and
Telepathica research team sent to inner focus that would allow them to
attempt to recover the Collegia. They deliberately restrict all but a small number
have requested the aid of the Militarum of their manifested psychic abilities.
to help defend their atmospheric
bathysphere against whatever is still This, the Haplotists believed, would create
down there. The research team pilot psychic pressure within the mind of the
the ship deeper and deeper, maddened Adept, pressure which could then be
by their obsession with the Collegia. redirected to make their few functional
Can the Squad retake the ship before powers immensely more powerful. The
Way was long, difficult and quite often
worse- before they actually find resulted in madness or death, but the few
survivors were undoubtedly extremely
powerful and stable psykers, though

43
naturally limited in the abilities they could dead Yurishima were unsavory at the very
best, outright heretical at their worst. The
Una Mens ad Unius soon spread through Ixaniad Inquisition did note that the rates
the many libraries and archives of the of Psyker deaths to daemonic possession
Psykana, and many of the Astra were slightly higher among the Haplotists
in their sector, but dismissed this as a mere
study his works during their training, statistical anomaly.
though few have the physical fortitude or
iron willpower to actually follow a Way. When the Blight came to Tennanlowe, the
Collegia was one of the first destroyed, as it
During its millennia-long period of activity was almost directly above the upwelling of
on Tennanlowe, the Collegia was occupied radioactive gasses that caused the radiation
by no more than a few thousand students at storm. Many students and instructors of the
any one time, carefully watched by Collegia escaped, to carry on the Haplotist
supervisory personnel and Blanks from the legacy elsewhere, but many on Tennanlowe
still hold that it was the nightmarish evils of
silver spires were bedecked with dozens of the Haplotists who brought doom to their
meditation platforms, on which students of world.
the Ways tested their mettle against roaring
winds and the baking, cloying heat of the Conspiracy theorists and Puritan inquisitors
thick atmosphere outside. point to the final vox transmissions from
the doomed school, a series of incoherent
Few ordinary Tennanlowers were truly electronic screeches apparently composed
aware of the nature of the Collegia, but of thousands of different voices,
dark rumours abounded about the nature of simultaneously screaming in pain.
the work there, and even some in the
Psykana suspected that the studies
undertaken by the disciples of the long-

44
The Tennanlowe Skyboarders await reinforcements or hold their
rld is ours! Dive my objective.
Hawkmen
-Colonel Briareus Vultan, 8th Tennanlowe The Skyboarders have understandably
gained somewhat of a reputation for being
mavericks and risk-takers even among
Unsurprisingly for a world of endless skies, other drop troops- if a Skyboarder is
the Imperial Guard regiments of knocked off his board, after all, he has no
Tennanlowe are primarily drop troops, other means to slow his fall- and their
using their distinctive grav-assist Skyboards attitude towards other regiments in battle
and long many-coloured lances for has left them with somewhat of an
swooping attacks on their enemies. unsavoury mien. The Tennanlowers,
Skyboarding began as a hunting method on Ultrists especially, are desperate to
the homeworld, a fast and skillful way to ingratiate themselves with any planet that
catch a variety of airborne food animals, will take them in, and will go to great
but later evolved into a competitive sport efforts to ape the customs of regiments
and a tool of war between scavenger they serve alongside. The greatest goal of
settlements following the Blight. any Tennanlower is to earn land to cultivate
Painted in bright and for their own, and so they throw themselves
clashing colours to into combat with almost
distort their silhouettes, reckless abandon,
the Skyboarders drop unafraid of enemy
from transport aircraft, threats, driven by rage
rapidly penetrating and grief at the memories
enemy airspace with a of what their world once
great deal more control was, passed down from
and precision than would generation to generation.
normally be expected from Where they are truly terrifying,
troops with grav-chutes, for however, is against those who reject
instance. Their specialty is pinpoint Imperial authority; all any
insertions, concentrating a mass of Tennanlower wants to be is part of
troops in an unexpected area of a prosperous greater Imperium,
the battlefield to draw enemy and the thought of deliberately
fire and disrupt supply lines
as they go. During their holy government fills them
descent, Skyboarders will with pious anger and bitter
harass enemy ground units at jealousy.
low altitude, causing the
maximum amount of havoc Troubles in Paradise
before dismounting their
boards and digging in to Unfortunately, while
their insertion tactics

45
are second to none, the reputation of the
Skyboarders as actual ground troops have
suffered over the years. Their frantic
aggressiveness and fairly sub-standard
conventional weapons training clearly
prove their limitations in prolonged
ground combat, and many Skyboarder
combat actions include wildly successful
captures of objectives, followed by
immediate retreat as the lightly-armed
soldiers are unable to hold ground
particularly well. The Tennanlower high
command is aware of this, and in recent
years efforts have been undertaken to
better-equip their troops with some of the
heavier drop weapons used by regiments
like the Elysians. However, materials
shortages and the desperate financial straits
on Tennanlowe have made this a slow
process at the best of times.

The Telepathica and Collegia Psykana

have also had much to complain about
when it comes to the Tennanlowers, for it

destruction by psychic corruption have

made the Skyboarders more than a little ill-
disposed towards Psykers. Those few
Tennanlowers who do demonstrate psychic
aptitude tend to die on-world before they
can be collected by the Black Ships, and
offworld Psykers assigned to Skyboarder
regiments are just as frequently killed by
friendly fire as they are by the difficulties
of properly operating Tennanlower gear.

46
Tennanlowe Skyboarders
Characteristics: +7 Weapon Skill, +3 Perception and Agility, -3 Fellowship
Starting Skills: Awareness, Linguistics (Low Gothic), Survival, Operate (Aeronautica)
Starting Talents: Resistance (Radiation), Catfall, Die Hard, Street Fighting, Frenzy, Hatred (Secessionists)
Other:
Resourceful: The vast majority of the Tennanlower homeworld is a blasted radioactive sky-waste, and their
cities are little better. Tennanlowers grow up fast and knowing how to make the best of limited resources,
rvival tests to obtain potable
food and water, and +10 to Tech-Use tests to jury-rig or repair equipment that is not technologically
advanced, Skyboards included.
Blighted Existence: Even a sheltered and protected upbringing on Tennanlowe is hideously dangerous by
the standards of other worlds, and their grim attitude towards the future of their home planet leaves a
mark. Tennanlower characters begin play with 1d10 + 1d5 Insanity Points. Any time they fail a Willpower
test by more than 3 degrees, they are Stunned until the end of their next turn.
Starting Wounds: Tennanlower characters generate their starting Wounds normally.
Favored Weapons: Shotgun, Downpour
Starting Kit: Lascarbine, 4 x Lascarbine Charge Packs, Suit of Flak Armour, Respirator, Tennanlowe
Skyboard, 2 x Frag Grenade, 2 x Smoke Grenade, Good-Quality Mono-Polearm, Uniform, Set of Poor-
Weather Gear, Survival Suit, Micro-Bead, Sling Bag, Set of Basic Tools, Mess Kit, Canteen, Blanket,
Sleeping Bag, Lamp Pack, Grooming Kit, Set of Cognomen Tags, Uplifting Primer,
Rations
The rules for Skyboarders use the following Only War doctrines.
Homeworld: Post-Cataclysmic World /Commanding Officer: Sanguine /Regiment Type: Drop Troops /Doctrines:
Hardened Fighters, Crusaders /Drawbacks: Scarred by Loss

47
Niva Gustav though this is not wholly true; passers-by
at the are free to land, but landing on Karl is not
energies might- wait. Oh, shi- dissimilar to landing in the middle of an
-Extract from security active firing range and carries with it
recordings recovered from obvious dangers.
the ruins of Gustav
Manufactoria 182-B
second planet, is small, cold
Buried in the heart of and rocky; though it does
the Synerge Cluster, possess a remarkably pure
the star Niva is a dim oxygen-nitrogen
red dwarf near the end atmosphere, it does not have
of its life cycle, putting any major plant life and
out a wan red-brown temperatures year-round tend to
light and the occasional hover just above the freezing point
spike of weak radiation. It has of water. Its surface is dominated by
two planets, namely the dozens of small continents in a
Forge World Niva Gustav series of shallow salt-water seas
and the sparsely-inhabited where naturally-evolving life has
not yet begun to stir. It has few
Niva Karl. The Nivan natural mineral resources, with
system has thick outer most being mined in the Nivan
asteroid rings and shows asteroid belts in the outer system.
many of the same The planet is surrounded by
gravitational anomalies orbiting clouds of metallic debris,
present in the rest of the Cluster, making including the hulks of various prototype
stellar navigation into and out of it difficult
at the best of times. Adventure Hook- Kaaaaaaaaarl!
Someone on Niva Gustav pulled
Niva Karl is an average-sized world near to
its sun. Surface temperatures are regiment be reassigned to Niva Karl to
comfortably temperate, but the thick field-test new weapons prototypes.
carbon-dioxide atmosphere, high gravity They are treated with the utmost
and dangerous surface winds make it luxury, and fitted out with high-tech
impractical for anything but the barest kit beyond their wildest fantasies.
Their enemies; an army of pathetically
surface is coated with tens of thousands of weak training servitors.
craters, scorch marks, blast patterns, and Except suddenly all that gear is
debris, the remnants of the endlessly
answering their calls. And are those
inhabitants. Niva Karl is generally classified
as a forbidden world on Imperial charts,

48
starships, weapons and engine testbeds, and
the detritus of a planet of dangerously
inventive minds. Niva Gustav has never been a particularly
successful Forge World, not in the least
because it is a dumping ground for the

Niva Gustav in Brief

practice is unclear, but it is widely

Techpriests, almost all brought in from

offworld, are those too considered too
intractable, ingenious or lacking in
common sense to succeed on their
homeworlds.

Over the years, the Nivans have, by dint of

overambition, stupidity, recklessness or
brilliance managed to produce a wide range
of new STC-derived designs, some horribly
Classification: Forge World unsuccessful, others quite clever. The wider
Population: 10 million Techpriests, 3 Mechanicus deliberately keeps the Nivans
billion Tech-Serfs
Tithe Grade: None and far between, and the only major visits
Geography: 38 minor continents, cold-
temperate climate, island chains Adventure Hook- Dangerous Game
formed of long-extinct volcanoes, The Regimental Colonel has agreed to
shallow saltwater seas go on a hunting trip with the leader of
Government Type: Adeptus Mechanicus Maniple 931- apparently some of the
Planetary Governor: Archmagos more dangerous rampant servitors on
Deraclius Lestron Niva Gustav make for excellent
Planetary Capital: Forge Complex trophies. Of course, a Squad or two
Salsbury might just be assigned to come along as
Adept Presence: Adeptus Mechanicus scouts and porters.
Notable Cities: Manufactoria 11-G, At first the hunt goes well, and the
Manufactoria 20-A, Forge Complex Squad bags some excellent trophies,
Bullweigh before finding the Big One. The one
Military: Provisionarily-assembled the hunting stories talk about. The one
Tech-serf militias, Ixaniad Mechanicus
Auxiliary Maniple 931 and can regenerate itself. The One that
Primary Exports: Questionable weapons, gives the imp
flak armour, military-grade plasteel you.
and adamantium, ultralight flak
plating, second-hand voidships, But how the heck did it get here?
kitchenware
49
to the system by Explorator Fleets and materials science; centuries of forced self-
otherwise are generally to slap down any sufficiently have made them remarkably
locals whose projects are getting too creative with the minerals they can
ambit scrounge for, beg or dig up within their
concepts that seem valuable, and drop off own system, and their alloy production and
more troublesome Techpriests. Nivans are forging methods are second to none,
not actually Hereteks, and indeed tech- competing even with some of the metal
heresy is brutally stamped out by the products of the Lathe Worlds.

almost all of them fall under the The industrialization of Niva Gustav has
categorization of Maleteks, which many in left its mark, and almost none of the

improvement.
scrapyards, interspersed with towering
The Magii in charge of Niva Gustav are a industrial stacks and manufactoria. Gigantic
loose-knit and poorly-organized bunch, recycling servitors wander the cold scrap
given their disparate background, and many savanna, breaking down the ruins of
have called the planet a high-functioning abandoned projects for reuse in new forms.
anarchy which only survives because of its Surprisingly, the planet has a biosphere,
inhabitants naturally mechanical almost entirely imported from offworld.
dispositions. Dozens of different cliques, The scrap savanna deserves its name, for it
cadres, semi-secret societies and scientific is a dry grassland, thanks to the presence of
orders compete for production line space, a variety of incredibly hardy grass and scrub
an unfortunate fact which is largely tree species, the by-product of years of
genetic modification. Semi-feral Grox
industrial output. The one area in which the wander the low bushes, hunted by packs of
Nivans generally seem to actually excel is wild dogs, and around those few chilly lakes

50
that still dot the surface exist small fortified Though Niva Gustav does not field any
villages of tech-serfs, protected by their Skitarii, its inhabitants have not hesitated to
walls against the occasional malfunctioning take up their disparate and monstrously
servitor that wanders by. unpredictable arms to defend themselves
against pirates, raiders and rebellion,
Official Nivan records list two major whatever the species or origin, and their
overzealous and often collateral-damage-
meme-virii or out-of-control upgrade earned the ire
programs spread through the planetary data of the Ixaniad Mechanicus. As a result,
network, causing servitors to go insane and offworld Imperial Guard forces have been
attack everything nearby. Unofficially, this stationed on their world- ostensibly for
has happened dozens of times and is still to their protection, but truthfully to keep the
a certain degree happening in the Nivans from straying too far off the beaten
wilderness away from the industrial stacks path of the Omnissiah.
or at the bottom of the seas, making
moving overland on Gustav a risky The Nivan Tech-Serfs
proposition. The Nivans seems to have
accepted this as a fact of life- they have The descendants of the original tech-serf
every reason to be blasé, for servitors are population who came with the first
nothing if not easily replaced. Techpriests to settle Niva Gustav long ago
have evolved their own strange tribal
Nivan techpriests are understandably more society, one largely held together by their
than a little irritated that they have been utter disdain for their supposed masters.
put into exile, and tend to be hostile to
outsiders almost to a fault. Many simply Adventure Hook- Unification
want to be left alone to work on their own The Tech-serfs of Niva Gustav have
pet projects, while still others strive unified under a single leader, and
desperately to earn their way back into the formed a military force powerful
wider Mechanicum. They have earned a enough to drive nearly all of Maniple
chequered reputation with the rest of the 931 off the planet. The Regiment is
Subsector and the Sector in general- some dispatched in aid of the one remaining
come to the Nivans in search of a more Maniple company, trapped in a tiny
open-minded attitude towards unorthodox supply outpost surrounded by millions
technologies, while they have been outright of furious Tech-Serfs.
banned from many conservative planets. - the Junkers
The political machinations that underlie have occupied orbital defence
Nivan government are fiendishly platforms and dominate most of the
complicated, but one thing is generally planet, and the Nivans seem oddly
clear; the few times the Nivans have been blasé about losing their whole world.
united by an outside threat, the results have The Techpriests keep muttering about
been utterly terrifying.
what that means.

51
The Magii of the Nivan manufactoria are Their tribal society, divided up into dozens
largely content to draw on servitor-based of tiny clans, is led by individuals known as
labour at almost all times, as servitors are Machine-Talkers. Many of these are
less likely to ask inconvenient questions or former techpriests who have abandoned the
resist highly dangerous experimental fractious society of their fellow Mech-
procedures, so the majority of the tech- Adepts, choosing instead the simple, if
serfs are left to themselves amongst the somewhat dangerous, life of the tech-serf
instead.
surface.
When they are not harvesting the tech-serfs
They see themselves as the true worshippers for spare servitor components, the Nivan
of the Omnissiah on the planet, and reject Techpriests will occasionally deign to use
the random experimentation and them as a military force in aid of their
heterodoxy of the Techpriests. These
Junker Nivans see themselves as the weapons are somewhat primitive, the
custodians of the ruined infrastructure on Junkers are excellent hunters, trackers and
Niva Gustav, the ones who come in and tidy scouts, perfectly at home in the mechanical
wilderness of a besieged Forge World or
the ruins of a Space Hulk. Those few who
Equipping themselves with scavenged make it back from their enforced military
equipment and cast-offs, they wage a service alive and in one piece have nothing
constant shadow war against the stupidity but terrible things to say about the
of their masters, shutting down particularly incompetence of their masters, and over the
dangerous weapons tests, performing generations the rage of the tech-serfs has
essential maintenance on neglected or slowly grown to the boiling point. When
forgotten equipment, and generally they will rise up and attempt to reclaim
working behind the scenes to keep Nivan Niva Gustav from the incompetency of
machinery running. their rulers remains to be seen, but the
conflict will be terrible when it happens.

52
Auxiliary Maniple 931 of the 931st worry that their troops are
falling prey to the dangerously political and
unorthodox environment of the planet that
is their home for the foreseeable future.
-Anonymous Maniple 931 Trooper Still, their distinctive blue helmets and
white tanks are a fixture on Niva Gustav.
A team of Imperial Guard auxiliaries and Though officially a wholly armoured
low-level Skitarii assembled from various
Forgeworlds across the Ixaniad Sector, semi-mounted infantry, often dismounting
Maniple 931 is still a relatively new and from their tanks to accompany them on
unproven force, though they bear foot. All across Niva Gustav, blue-helmeted
significant Adeptus Mechanicus weaponry. foot patrols can be found, defusing
They play the role of supervisory wardens tensions among the Junkers and destroying
to the techpriests of Niva Gustav- assigned the more unstable creations of the
both to defend the planet from harm, but Techpriests.
also keep its many wayward enginseers and
magii in line. Their troops are lightly armoured but
heavily armed, allowing them to bring their
If necessary, Maniple 931 is equipped heavy firepower to bear on targets with
with enough heavy firepower to remarkable speed. The almost universal
destroy all significant industry on presence of augmetics, and the vast
Niva Gustav, and have been reserve of literal spare body parts they
issued their own voidships maintain in their regimental
should the planet need to be headquarters at Gustav
rapidly evacuated. The 931st Manufactoria 20-A, makes their
have mostly been occupied soldiers much tougher than one
putting down servitor expected, and they place a great
rampancies on Niva Gustav deal of trust in their
itself, but their few offworld regimental chirurgeons
campaigns have been and augmeticists.
extremely successful due to
their expertise in combined One signature of their
arms and mechanized combat, aside from their
warfare. With normal massed plasma volleys, is their
attrition over time, however, adoption of the Nivablaster
they have begun to
increasingly rely on weapon. The first sign that
equipment procured from the Maniple is approaching is
the Nivans, with often sporadic but highly
predictably inconsistent accurate plasma fire as the
results. Many of those
in the command ranks

53
 foolhardy soldiers use these powerful but servitors are available to them. That is the
cantankerous weapons. official story, at least. Unofficially, the
Maniple 931 has, as is so often the case with Maniple has sent a vast amount of time
Mechanicus forces, avoided fielding fighting against servitors that have run
combat psykers, and they see Abhuman
recruits as unnecessary when larger combat sooner trust to their infantrymen and tanks.

Auxiliary Maniple 931

Characteristics: +3 to any two of Intelligence, Perception and Toughness, +3 Intelligence, -3 Weapon Skill
Starting Skills: Common Lore (Adeptus Mechanicus), Common Lore (Tech), Linguistics (Low Gothic), Linguistics
(Techna Lingua), Logic, Operate (Surface)
Starting Talents: Peer (Adeptus Mechanicus), Paranoia, Technical Knock, Weapons Tech
Other:
Isolated by Machines: -10 to all Interaction Tests made to interact with characters not from Forge Worlds or the
Adeptus Mechanicus
Bad Reputation: The Nivans are more than a little irritated that a full Maniple has been sent to breathe down the

throughout the subsector. Members of Maniple 931 receive a -10 to all Fellowship-based Skill Tests when dealing
with soldiers from other regiments and members of the Munitorum, and take 1d5 extra degrees of failure on failed
Commerce and Logistics tests.
Augmetics: +10 on all Logistics Tests to obtain bionic replacements and implants.
Starting Wounds: Forge World characters begin play with 1 less Starting Wound.
Favored Weapons: Nivablaster, Nivablotter-H
Starting Kit: Good-Craftsmanship Cybernetic, Good-Craftsmanship Plasma Gun, 3 x Plasma Flasks, Good-
Craftsmanship Laspistol, 2 x Charge Packs, Uniform, Set of Poor Weather Gear, Knife, Flak Vest, Flak Helmet,
Rucksack, Anointed Maintenance Kit, Set of Basic Tools, Mess Kit, Canteen, Blanket, Sleeping Bag, Lamp Pack,

Squad Kit: 1 x Leman Russ Demolisher per Squad, May take Servitors as Comrades
The rules for the Maniple use the following Only War doctrines.
Homeworld: Forge World /Commanding Officer: Bilious /Regiment Type: Armoured Regiment /Doctrines: Cyber-
Enhanced, Augmetics /Drawbacks: Mistrusted

54
The Junkers
The Nivans mostly go into combat
Magii teaches those yet living to hate a little unarmoured save for their traditional tribal
dress and a light flak vest- their attitude is
-Machine-Talker Mandla, Junker that not being noticed is the best armour of
Deployment Wave 37 all. As their tactics are mostly offensive in
nature, they go heavily armed- all bear the
The Junker techserf-soldiers are a disparate long spears and bows of their people in
band of servitor-hunters, scouts and guides, addition to the lasguns and grenades
used by the Techpriests of Niva Gustav in provided by the Nivan Techpriests.
the direst emergencies. Press-ganged en Riddling their enemies with jagged arrows
masse into combat service, the Junkers make and lasbolts, they slowly circle their way in
for unhappy, disloyal soldiers, for their to the kill.
assignments are often a death sentence.

They have lived their lives in the industrial

ruin that is Niva Gustav, and honed their
skills against all manner of mutated wildlife
and maddened machinery. In combat, they
fight as individuals, their formations ever-

Though their weapons appear primitive,

they are incredibly well-designed when it
comes to taking down armoured vehicles,
and especially mechanically-enhanced foes.

Casualties amongst the Junker soldiers are

often extremely high, largely due in part to
the incompetence of their Mechanicus
leadership, but their capacity for individual
initiative and strong tribal traditions have
ensured them success even when the odds
were stacked against them. That said,
however, their odd tribal superstitions and
predilection towards the occasional act of
utterly heinous savagery against their
enemies have soured their reputation
elsewhere in the Subsector. Junkers are
great soldiers, it is said, but they unleash
their pent-up hatred of the Mechanicus
against their opponents on the battlefield
with utterly merciless and inhuman cruelty.

55
Nivan Junkers
Characteristics: +3 Intelligence, Perception and Agility, -3 Toughness and Fellowship
Starting Skills: Stealth, Tech-Use, Trade (Technomat), Survival, Linguistics (Techna-Lingua), Linguistics
(Low Gothic), Navigate (Surface)
Starting Talents: Ambush, Paranoia, Initiated Maintenance and Hardy or Hatred (Machines and Servitors)
Starting Aptitudes: Agility, Tech
Other:
Industrial Contaminants: The environments in which the Nivans live are barely conducive to life, much less
permanent human habitation. Toxic chemicals and runoff seep into the soil and groundwater, and
generation upon generation of heavy metal poisoning or carcinogen exposure takes its toll- some Nivans
simply live with their twisted forms, while others choose to replace them with crude machinery. A character
from Niva Gustav begins play with either a randomly-selected Minor Mutation or one Common-Quality
cybernetic limb of their choice.
Aberrant Machine-Worshippers: The Nivans have mixed feelings about their planetary overlords and show
little love for the red-robed servants of the Cult Mechanicus. Unfortunately, the feeling is mutual. Nivans
receive a -10 penalty to any Interaction test with members of the Adeptus Mechanicus or the citizens of
other Forge Worlds.
Machine Survivalists: Characters from Niva Gustav receive a +5 bonus to any Test to make in-field repairs
of mechanisms, or make unorthodox and illicit custom modifications to their weapons and gear, and can
re-roll failed Survival and Navigate (Surface) tests in industrial environments like factories and
manufactoria.
The Junkers are treated as cannon fodder, and they know it. They suffer a 10 penalty
to Command Tests made during combat. 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 Order fails as well.
Starting Wounds: Scrap World characters begin play with one less Starting Wound.
Favored Weapons: Nivablaster Plasma Coilgun, Nivablaster-H
Starting Kit: M36 Lasgun with 4 charge-packs, 2 x Blind Grenades, 2 x Stun Grenades, 2 x Frag Grenades, 1
x Microwave Pot Grenade, Nivan Scrap Bow, 12 Scrap Arrows, Nivan Shock Spear, 2 Knives, Flak Vest, set
of tribal robes, rain-cloak, bindle, set of traditional tools, mess kit, canteen, hand-woven blankets, lamp
pack, traditional war paints, tribal identification marker, holy Omnissian
The rules for the Junkers use the following Only War doctrines.
Homeworld: Scrap World /Commanding Officer: Bilious /Regiment Type: Guerilla Regiment /Doctrines:
Survivalists, Defenders of the Omnissiah /Drawbacks: Incompetent Leadership

56
Katyush The planet's atmosphere is a fairly dense
- the standard oxygen-nitrogen mix, though
world, set a-blazing! My oxygen levels are somewhat lower than
Imperial standard. Notable quantities of
-final words of Urika Gagarina atmospheric pollutants are present in areas
of settlement, although the low population
The main-sequence star Voshkhod is density have made climactic effects
located on the outer edge of negligible. Katyush possesses few
Subsector Trisdeka in the macroscopic native life forms,
Ixaniad Sector, not far and what remains of its
from the coreward biosphere is primarily
border of the Calixis dominated by hardy,
Sector. Its solar system is fast-growing lichen and
fairly unremarkable, fungus-like plant forms.
featuring a thin outer
asteroid belt, the two The People of Katyush
medium-sized gas
giants Utromush and Katyush has been a
Nocmush, and the tithed member of the
innermost planet, an Imperium since late
Imperial M34, when its
Promethium mining mercantile city-states
world known to its first encountered
inhabitants as Katyush. Mechanicus Explorator
vessels during the early days of
Katyush is small, dark, cold, and
extraordinarily rich in biochemical Adventure Hook- Lost in the Belt
resources. Its upper atmosphere blanketed A regimental higher-up has become
by a thick dust cloud and dense asteroid convinced that orbital combat training
field, its surface receives very little sunlight is the hot new thing for Imperial
and temperatures remain well below Guard regiments, and the Squad has
freezing year-round. Astrogators theorize been assigned to the asteroid fields of
the planet was once a verdant jungle world- Katyush. Of course, it took all of five
hence its immense natural petrochemical minutes for them to lose their bearings,
resources- which subsequently froze after and now t
the collapse of a moon or large satellite. going to take a lot of creativity and
The planet had continents, shallow seas and lateral thinking to survive in the
tropical island chains long ago, but now nightmare maze of the Katyushan Belt.
they are frozen beneath a planet-wide sheet And who knows, they might even
of pack ice. encounter some relics of Katyushan
space history that could prove quite
valuable on the ground.

57
Katyushan space exploration. Imperial government's long ties to the Mechanicus
surveys and analysis of local records and healthy fuel-export economy. While
revealed that the planet was probably their primary Imperial tithe is promethium-
settled during the Dark Age of based fuels, they also contribute small
Technology, and appeared to have been numbers of reasonably well-equipped
some sort of aerospace and propulsion Imperial Guard regiments. Katyushan cities
technology research base, though never a tend to be compact and subterranean and
large one. As a result, the Mechanicus living quarters are frequently cramped. At
maintains a small but significant presence the same time, however, public gathering-
on the planet, mounting exploratory places are an important element of the
expeditions beneath the ice in search of lost planet's social culture, and no self-
cities. respecting settlement on the planet lacks a

Katyush is governed by a loose planetary normally with a prominent public hearth-

association of the ruling bodies of shrine.
individual cities-
population lives in urban areas, The Katyushan mindset is one that
conventional nation-states simply did not emphasizes a slow but calculated
- unhurriedness, perhaps a natural reaction to
called Katyushan Cities Coalition a world where an unplanned stay on the
Directorate, or KCCD, provides surface can lead to death by freezing in a
recommendations and support to the matter of minutes. This, combined with
Supreme Director of the Katyushan their gregarious nature and love of debate,
Peoples, who is elected from amongst leads to the classic stereotype of the
senior members of the Directorate. Each
individual city-state is run via slightly time and energy griping about the
different means, and while the Supreme execution of a task than they do actually
Director is the unquestioned
decider of planet-wide policy
related to defence and tithes,
individual city-states are
generally left to their own
devices. Also prominent on
the Directorate is the Primate
of the Great Hearth, the local
title for the Ecclesiarchal
Cardinal of the Voshkhod
Diocese.

The planet's 9 million

inhabitants are a hardy bunch,
prosperous thanks to their planetary Katyushan scenery on a bright, clear day.

58
 Katyushans are interested in other planets
and their inhabitants, but always maintain
the given fact that the Katyushan ways are
best.

Tsiolkovsky

The second-largest city on Katyush proper,

Tsiolkovsky boasts a population of a little
under a million souls and a bustling
mercantile spirit. The equatorial lowlands
in which it lies are resource-poor but warm-
temperatures have risen above the freezing
point multiple times in recorded history-
making it one of the few places on the
planet where limited surface agriculture is
possible. This, combined with the low ice
levels on the surrounding plain, made it a
natural breadbasket, though its food output
is meagre by most Imperial standards.
While most foodstuffs are now
manufactured underground or imported
from offworld, Tsiolkovsky is still the
economic hub for the rest of the planet, as
its comparatively stable weather makes it an
ideal spaceport. As planetary capital, the
city is the only properly fortified location
-
on the planet- never having been attacked,
the Katyushan PDF generally maintains
fairly light fixed defenses, preferring to
executing it. It is seen as the height of folly retreat into the frozen wastes if pressed. To
to embark on any project without having the more affluent promethium miners,
first discussed it to great lengths with one's these fortifications make it a popular
friends and colleagues, the more the better. tourist attraction; visitors come for the
Despite their penchant for grumbling, sheer novelty of a city at least partially built
Katyushans are naturally optimistic, veering aboveground. Tsiolkovskiites are
towards overconfidence- so convinced are cosmopolitan and often regard themselves
they that their way of doing things will turn as more civilized than other Katyushans,
out best in the end that they can be blind to though they share the same love of
the consequences of their actions. This argument and complaining.
confidence also manifests as a cultural
superiority complex and milk xenophobia;

59
Vernadskygrad harrowing and ill-fated adventure of Urika
Gagarina made it a pilgrimage site.
With a population just shy of 1.1 million, Gagarina was a novice transport pilot on
Vernadskygrad is the industrial heart of her first solo run transporting promethium
Katyush, and with good reason. It lies at the over the Pole, when an electrical short in
heart of the massive Vernadsk promethium her cargo bay literally blew the wreck of her
fields in the southern hemisphere, the vessel into orbit, making her the first
richest single concentration of Katyushan since the Dark Age of
petrochemical resources in the entire Technology to reach space.
subsector. The city is dotted with the
towering spires of cooling stacks and The sturdy aircraft's pressurized hull
refineries, as well as buildings bearing the somehow survived decompression and she
markings of the Mechanicum, for it is here orbited the world for a week, relaying her
that the Adepts of Mars have their own take on the situation to a stunned
strongest presence. It is only natural that populace. As time went on oxygen
Vernadskygrad is a major manufacturing
hub, and vehicles from the Soyuz Tractor Adventure Hook-
Works are exported from here to all parts Not -do-well and adventurer
of the globe- and beyond. Vernadskiites are
combative and laid-back even by Katyushan solid evidence of a society living
standards, with an unfortunate reputation
for sleaze and criminality that comes with managed to convince a regiment of
an industrial city. No one will deny their Imperial Guard troops on leave, or
mechanical talents, however. maybe just the Squad, to come with
e really
Ogongorod people down there, he says. Strange
people with strange ways. Very
Buried in the heart of the northern polar convincing people. People who just
mountain chain, Ogongorod was originally
an unnamed air station on the circumpolar family. And the paterfamilias is just
rocketplane transport route until the dying to meet you.

Tsiolkovsky Planetary Fortress. The petrochemical beacon at its peak has stayed continuously lit for nearly 300 years.
60
deprivation took its toll, however, and in an The Imperial Creed on Katyush
almost suicidally insane escape plan she
detonated her emergency fuel reserves to Katyushan religious worship has always
de-orbit, dying after her ship fell from centred around the hearth and the open
orbit and crashed in the mountains near flame, for these are the sources of light and
Ogongorod. Still a popular tragic hero, life in the unforgiving darkness of the
many Katyushans also revere her as a saint glacial moraine. Most Katyushans maintain
of the Imperial Creed, holding that some of small shrines in the kitchens of their homes,
her incoherent radio messages just before even if few still use an open flame to cook
the crash were some sort of prophecy of the their food. By the time of Imperial contact,
first contact that occurred not long after. the animist religions of Katyush had settled
Ogonorodites are dour and pale, with the in to two uneasy camps- one that believed
kind of iron will and fanatical zeal needed divinity came from the spirit of the flame,
to thrive in an unusually cold, dark and and the other that believed that divinity
desolate mountain town. emanated from the stars, those faint points
of light occasionally visible through the
Fyodorovets shifting blackness of the night sky. Early
spacefaring provoked profound religious
Long an unremarkable mining settlement controversy, made worse by the arrival of
on the edge of the northern hemisphere's the Adeptus Mechanicus and contact with
Chizhev Highlands, in recent years the larger Imperium. The first two
Fyodorovets has exploded into a veritable centuries under Imperial rule were fraught
hive of Adeptus Mechanicus activity with with religious civil conflict, never quite
the discovery of a massive buried city deep breaking out into open civil war. From this
beneath the icy hills of the town. With all fractious period emerged a new religious
the semi-lawless aura of a city in the middle creed, a reordering of the old ways which
of a gold rush, Fyodorovets plays host to as sees the light of the Emperor in the
many legitimate agents of the Mechanicum glowing of the flames and of the stars.
as it does fraudsters, thieves, offworld While most contemporary Katyushans are
adventurers and merchants interested in the not the most devout of citizens, a deep
untold riches of ancient technology frozen traditionalism and respect for the old
away in the depths. Few who venture into superstitions underpins all of their worship.
the warren of old mineshafts in the hills
return, however, and rumors persist about
ancient defensive systems or tribes of
degenerated mutants living amongst the
ruins. Regardless, the city's population is as
diverse and unpredictable as one might
expect, and its criminal element is often
press-ganged into Katyushan military
service.

61
The Sputniki Gvardiya than 2000 men under arms
at full strength, though
Stran'polk
sizes do vary) and
disproportionately heavy
ton of gaseous Promethium on it. Our
armament, Katyushan
trench was being warm for next
regiments are designed to be
easily divisible, such that each
-Artillery Sergeant,
unit can act independently when
Katyushan 11th Sputniki
seconded to another planet's
command. As such, their
regiments are organized around
The somewhat unwieldy
three divisions of four companies
Katyushan moniker for their
each, with each division commanded by
Imperial Guard
a regimental Triarkh who shares
regiments loosely
Colonel-level command
translates to
responsibilities with the other two
Companion Guard
Triarkhs. All other logistical and
Wanderer Regiment.
support roles are undertaken at the
With manpower levels
divisional level, ensuring that each
too low to reasonably
Stran'polk is in fact a collection of
supply line infantry or assault
twelve separate smaller combat
troops, the Katyushans based
units.
their armies on the Streltsy
warriors of the medieval city-
states, nomadic groups of hunter- Equipment and Tactics
mercenaries who fought from afar
by bow and would be attached to Katyushans have a cultural
peasant levies to provide fire obsession with rocketry
support. and fire- it is the glow of the rocket, after
all, that has allowed them to escape their
The guiding principle behind their military cold and dismal home-world and explore
is that Katyushan soldiers should always act the glory of the stars.
in support of larger units better able to deal
with the hideous losses of war. To that end, It is no surprise, then, that their weapons
all Katyushan regiments are generally systems are almost entirely rocket-based,
either siege and trench infantry specialists from the ubiquitous bolt-action Strela
with a focus on artillery and anti-tank rocket rifle to their huge number of
weaponry, or dedicated mechanized Manticore MRLS vehicles. Many of their
artillery regiments. The world maintains rocket weapons are quite exotic, the
one permanent tank regiment, the much- descendants of ancient Dark Age
vaunted 1st Stran'polk Kozak 'Free Riders'. propulsion systems recovered in times gone
Due to their small numbers (it is not by.
uncommon for a Stran'polk to have less
62
Katyushan Infantry
Characteristics: +3 Perception, +6 Toughness, -3 Intelligence
Starting Aptitude: Ballistic Skill
Starting Skills: Awareness, Common Lore (Tech), Linguistics (Low Gothic), Tech-Use (+10)
Starting Talents: Heightened Senses (Hearing) or Resistance (Cold), Nerves of Steel, Foresight, Deadeye
Shot
Other:
Tunnel Dwellers: Most Katyushans spend a significant part of their lives underground, and their cultural
obsession with fire means that most are more used to flickering firelight than bright electric arcs. Katyushan
characters gain a +10 to Awareness and Navigation (Surface) Tests when underground, but a -10 to
Perception and Awareness Tests in bright light, which can be mitigated by wearing darkened goggles.
Munitorum Squabbling: Katyushans know full-well that the Munitorum disapproves of thei
on home-made equipment, and often choose to circumvent regular supply lines or manufacture what they
need in the field. Katyushan characters can choose to take +10 to any Logistics test. On doubles rolls, or
rolls 95 or above, they attract attention from Munitorum authorities as their plans are found out.
Starting Wounds: Katyushan characters begin play with one extra Starting Wound.
Favored Weapons: Zhuzh Boost Projector, Autostrela
Starting Kit: Strela, 45 x Gyrojet Rounds, 15 x Man-Stopper Rounds, 15 x Tracer Rounds, Krug Gyrojet
Pistol, Ulu Knife, Suit of Flak Armour, Uniform, Suit of Poor Weather Gear, Good-quality Magnoculars,
Chrono, Respirator, 4 x Empty sandbag, Entrenching tool, 2 x Frag grenade, 2 x Photon flash grenade,
Rucksack, Set of basic tools, Mess Kit/ Canteen, Blanket/sleeping bag, Rechargeable lamp, Grooming kit,

The rules for infantry regiments use the following Only War doctrines.
Homeworld: Mining Colony /Commanding Officer: Circumspect /Regiment Type: Siege Infantry /Doctrines:
Sharpshooters, Scavengers /Drawbacks: The Few

In fitting with their doctrine of support at deployed in both artillery and anti-air
extreme ranges, their armaments tend to roles, and the somewhat unusual
emphasize accuracy at distance over rate of Laykhodok assault tank, primary vehicle of
fire, though they make heavy use of flame the Katyushan 1st. While classified by
weaponry when the need arises. All locals as a homegrown tank design, the
Katyushan regiments are motorized to Laykhodok is simply a Destroyer tank
some degree or another, though generally hunter chassis equipped with a standard
the vehicles themselves are not designed for Battle Cannon and a locally-made indirect-
combat. Katyush has long run into conflict fire rocket rack mounted on the rear of the
with the Imperial Munitorum over the hull. Non-local designs deployed on
stubborn insistence of local authorities to Katyush tend to be modified with
equip their forces with as many home- significantly scaled-down or outright
grown weapon designs as possible, though removed cooling systems, due to the
they seem to have earned the tacit approval uniformly frigid weather, and all manner of
of the Mechanicus. heating gear to keep their crews functional.

The two major armoured vehicles fielded In battle, Katyushan forces will make heavy
on Katyush are the classic Manticore, use of field engineers to establish lines of

63
Katyushan Advance Spotters
Characteristics: +3 Perception, +6 Toughness, -3 Intelligence
Starting Aptitude: Ballistic Skill
Starting Skills: Awareness, Common Lore (Tech), Linguistics (Low Gothic), Tech-Use (+10)
Starting Talents: Heightened Senses (Hearing) or Resistance (Cold), Nerves of Steel, Foresight, Deadeye
Shot
Other:
Tunnel Dwellers: Most Katyushans spend a significant part of their lives underground, and their cultural
obsession with fire means that most are more used to flickering firelight than bright electric arcs.
Katyushan characters gain a +10 to Awareness and Navigation (Surface) Tests when underground, but a -10
to Perception and Awareness Tests in bright light, which can be mitigated by wearing darkened goggles.
Munitorum Squabbling: Katyushans know full-
on home-made equipment, and often choose to circumvent regular supply lines or manufacture what they
need in the field. Katyushan characters can choose to take +10 to any Logistics test. On doubles rolls, or
rolls 95 or above, they attract attention from Munitorum authorities as their plans are found out.
Starting Wounds: Katyushan characters begin play with one extra Starting Wound.
Favored Weapons: Zhuzh Boost Projector, Autostrela
Starting Kit: Strela Gyrojet Rifle, 45 x Gyrojet Rounds, 15 x Man-Stopper Rounds, 15 x Tracer Rounds,
Krug Gyrojet Pistol, Ulu Knife, Suit of Flak Armour, Uniform, Suit of Poor Weather Gear, Good-quality
Magnoculars, Chrono, Respirator, 4 x Empty sandbag, Entrenching tool, 2 x Frag grenade, 2 x Photon
flash grenade, Rucksack, Set of basic tools, Mess Kit/ Canteen, Blanket/sleeping bag, Rechargeable lamp,

The rules for Advance Spotters use the following Only War doctrines.
Homeworld: Mining Colony /Commanding Officer: Circumspect /Regiment Type: Light Infantry /Doctrines:
Infiltrators, Forward Observation /Drawbacks: The Few
trenches and fortified strongpoints, before feeding a steady flow of firing solutions
settling in to slowly wear their enemies back to divisional batteries. Advance
down with precision bombardment at long Spotter units are considered Katyush's
ranges. Relatively few Support Armies are military elite, though their unusually
composed entirely of Field Engineers; offensive tactics frequently cause them to
while their combat utility is paramount, the be regarded as suicidal glory-hogs or
disproportionately high losses such units daredevils. On occasions of desperate need,
tend to suffer are difficult to support. the Advance Spotters of several Support
Armies are sometimes rolled into a single
unit to provide regiment and even army-
can last for months at a time, with millions scale spotting and scouting for a much
of heavy rocket rounds and incendiaries larger Imperial force, though this is a
expended against enemy strongpoints. temporary expedient.
While most of the infantry are never
expected to leave their defensive
emplacements except in the case of a front-
wide advance, small units of Advanced
Spotters make regular aggressive
reconnaissance along the enemy lines,

64
Katyushan Field Engineers

Characteristics: +3 Perception, +6 Toughness, +1 Intelligence

Starting Skills: Awareness, Common Lore (Tech), Linguistics (Low Gothic), Tech-Use (+30), Security,
Trade (Technomat), Operate (Surface)
Starting Talents: Heightened Senses (Hearing) or Resistance (Cold), Foresight, Nerves of Steel, Technical
Knock
Other:
Tunnel Dwellers: Most Katyushans spend a significant part of their lives underground, and their cultural
obsession with fire means that most are more used to flickering firelight than bright electric arcs.
Katyushan characters gain a +10 to Awareness and Navigation (Surface) Tests when underground, but a -10
to Perception and Awareness Tests in bright light, which can be mitigated by wearing darkened goggles.
Field Fortifications: Katyushan strategic doctrine necessitates the presence of significant in-field defences to
protect besieging troops, and the Field Engineers have the dirty task of building them. Field Engineers
gain a +10 to Tech-Use and Trade (Technomat) Tests to build or disassemble structures, as well as a +10 to
the Demolitions special skill for Tech-Use.
Starting Wounds: Katyushan characters begin play with one extra Starting Wound.
Favored Weapons: Gul Hand Projector, Dymar Rocket Cart
Starting Kit:
Strela Rifle, 40 x Gyrojet Rounds, Krug Pistol, Suit of Flak Armour, Respirator, 4 x Sandbags,
Entrenching Tool, 2 x Frag Grenade, 2 x Photon Flash Grenade, Lascutter, Demolition Charge, Ulu
Knife, Rucksack, Set of basic tools, Mess Kit/ Canteen, Blanket/sleeping bag, Rechargeable lamp,

Squad Kit: Cyclops

The rules for Field Engineers use the following Only War doctrines.
Homeworld: Mining Colony /Commanding Officer: Circumspect /Regiment Type: Siege Infantry /Doctrines:
Sappers, Demolitions /Drawbacks: The Few

Military discipline in Katyushan units tends Produced as an industrial mining by-

to be fairly relaxed. Soldiers and officers product, this incredibly volatile oxidant
alike plan their attacks painstakingly, which explodes on contact with very nearly
has led to a perhaps somewhat deserved everything, and the resulting chemical
reputation for, if not outright cowardice, a reaction produces vast clouds of
general disinclination to open battle. The superheated acid that can easily chew their
classic image of the Katyushan infantryman way through concrete. Regiments only
is one who will obey orders with great deploy their terrifying Black Promethium
personal skill and attention to detail, but weapons in the direst emergencies, often
only after hours of grumbling, and with massive losses to their own forces due
painfully long prep time. to the sheer instability of the chemical.

In cases of true desperation, the Katyushan Few Katyushans are natural psykers, and
mindset naturally becomes somewhat the planet's comparatively small and close-
fatalistic, and nothing embodies this better knit population means that rogue or
than their weapon of last resort, the undocumented psykers are almost entirely
dreaded Chernygaz, or Black Promethium. unheard of. Those few who integrate to a
65
certain degree in Katyushan society are Most Katyushans feel uncomfortable
regarded with superstitious awe, seen as around the supernatural, and even the most
somewhat untrustworthy manifestations of jaded or cosmopolitan will turn to half-
the strange and forgotten things that lurk forgotten ancient myths and superstitions
on the dark ice wastes of Katyush. they learned as children when confronted
with Warp manifestations or psychic
powers.
Katyushan 1st Armored
Characteristics: -3 WS, +3 Perception, +6 Toughness, +3 Intelligence
Starting Skills: Awareness, Common Lore (Tech) +10, Linguistics (Low Gothic), Tech-Use, Operate
(Surface)
Starting Talents: Heightened Senses (Hearing) or Resistance (Cold, Fear), Technical Knock, Tank Hunter
Other:
Tunnel Dwellers: Most Katyushans spend a significant part of their lives underground, and their cultural
obsession with fire means that most are more used to flickering firelight than bright electric arcs.
Katyushan characters gain a +10 to Awareness and Navigation (Surface) Tests when underground, but a -10
to Perception and Awareness Tests in bright light, which can be mitigated by wearing darkened goggles.
Beast Killers: Katyushan 1st characters add a Penetration bonus equal to their Degrees of Success on any
successful attack against vehicles.
aximum priority list when it comes to logistical
matters, especially when it comes to fuel. They gain a +10 to any Logistics Tests to obtain vehicle fuel or
spare parts for their tanks.
Starting Wounds: Katyushan characters begin play with one extra Starting Wound.
Favored Weapons: Reyder Autostrela, Igla-pattern Missile Launcher
Starting Kit: Good-Craftsmanship Krug K37 Carbine, 15 x Gyrojet Rounds, Krug Pistol, 2 x Frag Grenade,
Uniform, Dress Uniform, Flak Vest, Anointed maintenance kit, Good-quality Magnoculars, Ulu Knife,
Poor Weather Gear, Rucksack, Set of basic tools, Mess Kit/ Canteen, Blanket/sleeping bag, Rechargeable

Squad Kit: Leman Russ Laykhodok

The rules for the Katyushan 1st use the following Only War doctrines.
Homeworld: Mining Colony /Commanding Officer: Maverick /Regiment Type: Armoured Regiment /Doctrines:
Anti-Armour, Well-Provisioned /Drawbacks: The Few

66
Minor Trisdekan Worlds xenochemicals merchants, and the
y of the nightmare jungles of Kamalinka soon
yielded positive results. The mixture of
-Bettor-Cardinal Benemus Seigel several plant extracts from the local flora
yielded a liquor called bludka, a heady and
The 76 uninhabited systems of the Synerge flowery-tasting intoxicant that rapidly
Cluster are, for the most part, barren and became popular amongst subsector
empty of anything of particular use. A few nobility.
bear primitive ecosystems, or evidence that
they once did, but for the most part the Such is the demand for bludka that
citizenry of Subsector Trisdeka stick to harvesting teams regularly risk their lives to
their homeworlds, leaving the empty void collect the sap and stamens from the native
of the minor worlds for the occasional Kamalinka flora to procure the products
pirate, wanderer or prospector. that make the refined intoxicant. The
purple-hued flora of Kamalinka are
96-B24: Kamalinka carnivorous, attracting prey by producing
an almost musical choir of clicks, rattles,
An unremarkable white star on the and ambient noises when winds blow
spinward side of the Cluster, 96-B24 was through their branches. Recordings of
not deemed worthy of a title by the these sounds proved surprisingly popular
Mechanicus explorator fleet that charted it, amongst sector musicians, and the strange
and went largely untouched until a melodic tunes have been used by the
Katyushan mining survey party gave it a Trisdekan masses as part of their cultural
second look in late M.39. Their newer
charts confirmed the presence of 96-B24-I, origins often confuse the flora as playing
a large nitrogen-helium gas giant, and their sectorial anthems.
several small moons. One of these tiny
planetoids caught their attention- while it Today, Kamalinka is host to a large
had been marked as possessing a biosphere, orbiting space-station, Voidstation
they were amazed to discover it was a jungle Purpure, a tangled mess of temporary
world, ripe with life so thick and overgrown modules cobbled together by dozens of
its purple hue was visible from orbit. different competing bludka-harvesting
concerns from all over the Cluster. The
Three-quarters of the expeditionary party entire system has a reputation for void-
landed on the newly- piracy and semi-anarchy, as different
surface were dead within 15 minutes of corporate interests, Rogue Traders among
disembarking from their shuttlecraft. The them, wage tiny trade wars for control over
shaken survivors retreated to orbit, flagged the lucrative bludka supply.
Kamalinka as a deathworld, and hastily left.
The stories they told of singing trees and
plants that spat explosive fireballs did little
to deter curious adventurers and

67
Kamalinka Genus Flora its leaves, or to expel its sap. The sap itself
is flammable and when used aggressively,
The Kamalinka Genus typically feast upon the Kamalinka plant combines it with a
the remains of the planet's vermin-analogs, xenos element that quickly sets a victim
keeping the burgeoning population of ablaze, eagerly consuming the remains of
rodents and amphibians low. Ancient the creature soon afterwards.
specimens that grow to reach truly massive
sizes, however, have been known to lure Haunting Song: Any character who enters
and capture even the largest of apex earshot of a Kamalinka Flora must pass a
predators on Kamalinka. While most of the Challenging (+0) Willpower Test or waste a
creatures on the world are lethal and Full Action unconsciously moving towards
dangerous, few are capable of resisting the the plant as they are drawn in by its eerie
call of these carrion trees. tinkling sounds.

WS BS STR T Ag Int Per WP Fel

Characteristic 10 10 - 30 - 18 36 60 -

Bonus 2 0 4 3 5 2 4 2 1

Traits: Size (Weedy for Immature,

Average for Mature, Hulking for
Ancient), Strange Physiology
Wounds: 30 AP: -
Attacks: Flammable Sap (Thrown | 5m
| S/-/- | 1d10 + 3 E | Pen 0 | 1 | 3 Full |
Blast (2), Flame), Adhesive Grasp
(Melee | 1d5 + 1 R | Primitive (5),
Toxic (3))

Variable Age: The profile above

indicates an average Kamalinka
Genus Flora. Reduce the toughness
by -10 for an immature specimen,
and decrease its wounds by 20. For an
ancient specimen, add +20 wounds
and add +30 toughness.

Limited Actions: The only Actions a

Kamalinka Genus Flora may perform
is either an attempt to latch on to a
victim within half a meter of one of

68
Pteria: The Meatworld the Meatworld, a potentially valuable
commodity given the Subsector's paucity of
Pteria is a dull red star on the deep agricultural production. While canned,
Rimward edge of the sector, charted by freeze-dried and salted Meatworld Meat
Imperial Navy forces waylaid by engine can be found in most food dispensaries and
troubles during the Meritech Wars. It markets the subsector over, it is an
boasts a few scattered asteroid clusters, the unpopular dish. It is quite inexpensive, but
strong gravitational anomalies common to exhibits little in the way of flavor, and many
the rest of Trisdeka, and one of the most are rightfully suspicious about its unknown
bizarre flukes of biology in the known origins. Pterian Meat can be found with an
universe, a massive ball of edible proteins availability of Plentiful on any Trisdekan
and sugars known as the Meatworld. This world except Dolcatero.
stellar body is not a true planet, barely large
enough to classify as a dwarf, but the fact Pteria maintains no permanent Imperial
remains that its porous, semi-frozen surface presence, but small mining vessels can often
and interior are composed entirely out of be found landed on the Meatworld,
the partial remains of some long-dead scraping and sawing off hunks of protein-
voidfaring xenos creature, which either rich xenosflesh in a meagre mercantile
died or was killed in low orbit about Pteria. existence.

Mechanicus elements of the Imperial

presence in-system conducted long
investigations of the Meatworld,
fearing the possibility that it might
be some kind of dormant Tyranid
bioweapon, left by a long-lost
Hive Fleet splinter, but found little
of note except that the planetary
crust, when thawed and cooked,
was quite edible for human beings
and indeed contained most of the
dietary nutrients required for day-
to-day consumption. It was flagged
as an interesting curiosity in
Subsector archives but essentially
left untouched, a vast sphere of
meat drifting in a dim sunbeam.

Over the decades since the end of

the Meritech Wars, many
enterprising Trisdekan traders have
attempted to capitalize on the presence of

69
Japar: Tat
Mor/0 Pattern Park Servitor
A main-sequence stellar body midway These surprisingly sturdy bipedal servitors,
characterized by the deep blue plasteel of
illuminates four rocky dwarf planets, their domed hulls, are optimized for basic
devoid of serious mineral resources or much repair work and biological identification,
of interest. The second of these two bodies, and can be found at work in Biologis
Japar-II, bears the remains of a monument installations all over Trisdeka. Though not
to hubris unparalleled in the subsector. particularly dextrous or fast-moving, they
Nivan Magos Biologis Mor/0 Tatsuki have a remarkable ability to traverse even
sought to create an idyllic pleasure planet the roughest of ground.
that was also the ultimate testing lab for his
research on abhumans and genetic WS BS STR T Ag Int Per WP Fel
enhancement. Tatsuki was initially ignored
Characteristic 10 10 20 40 20 25 30 - 10
by the rest of the subsector, for idiotic
Techpriests with ludicrous ideas are Bonus 1 1 2 4 2 2 3 - 1
Throne-a-dozen in Trisdeka, but when he
Traits: Size (Weedy), Crawler, Machine (2),
failed to report back in to a monthly supply
Unnatural Senses (Sight/Hearing)
patrol it was discovered that he, and all his
Wounds: 10 AP: 2 (all)
test subjects, had vanished from the world,
Talents: Total Recall
taking a warp-capable voidship with them
Skills: Scholastic Lore (Beasts) +30,
and departing for who knows where.
Awareness (+10), Tech-Use (+10), Survival
(+10), Navigate (Surface) +20
No one truly understand what Tatsuki did
Attacks: Slam (Melee, 1d5 +1 I)
in his pleasure park on Japar-II;
reconstruction of his notes reveals he was
trying to artificially create abhumans for
use as servants of some kind, but what is left
is truly surreal. Under a vast artificial dome
on Japar-II sits an idyllic game reserve, full
of dozens of rare animal species and rich
wildlife. Most of the park infrastructure is
only barely functional, held together by a
fleet of
design. It is little more than a curiosity, too
distant to be worth visiting by all but the
most inquisitive, but all who have explored
report that it is both oddly
surreal and strangely calming, a tiny, ruined
slice of Eden in the darkness of space.

70
Appendix I: Cold-Weather Combat
players- the GM should take them into
land, remember this: dig in. Dig in and you might account for allied and enemy NPCs as well.
s
-Triarkh Atsul Ohsavin, Memoires of the Temperature Levels
Cadorna Campaign
Most of the time, the average Guardsman
Trisdeka is a subsector which, for the large on the ground will have little idea of the
part, is dominated by cold planets. While
Tennanlowe has its warm winds and
Bellagia its scorching deserts, fighting in officers and supervising personnel will
the subsector is far more likely to occur on usually have some access to thermometers
the mountain peaks of Edelweiss, the icy or auspexes that can provide temperature
tunnels of Katyush, the snowy forests of
Dolcatero or the frozen wastes of Gentian. for a character to always know what
temperature it is.
This optional appendix to the Trisdekan
Primer provides a set of additional rules and To that end, this Appendix does not
modifiers designed to expand combat and involve tracking specific air temperatures as
roleplaying options in extremely cold a numerical value, and instead uses three
conditions. They are modular, and can be abstract Temperature Levels to generalize
applied to any Only War campaign set in the air temperature in a combat area. The
unusually cold weather, regardless of effects of a Temperature Level always
location or planet. apply so long as a character is exposed to
cold; one would not need to apply
How to Use this Appendix Temperature Level modifiers to a character
who is huddled under a pile of blankets
This Appendix contains a series of next to a fire inside a cozy cottage, for
modifiers, which apply a variety of stat instance.
penalties, benefits and special rules to
characters operating under cold conditions. Each Temperature Level carries with it
several sub-sections:
Using this Appendix involves first • Approximate Temperature: indicates
determining the general degree of cold that
applies to the campaign area (simplified as level represents.
its Temperature Level), and then applying • Exposed Conditions: a set of events or
any number of relevant Environment conditions which must be true for a
Modifiers, which reflect specific climactic, character to be considered Exposed.
environmental or weather conditions which Exposure represents a character
might affect characters based. These suffering the most from the
modifiers are not intended solely to affect

71
 Temperature Level due to a lack of This damage ignores Armour but not
adequate protective equipment. Toughness.
• Exposed Effects: What happens to If an Exposed character has the Survival
characters who are Exposed during skill, they can choose to make a Routine
this Temperature Level. (+20) Survival Skill Test instead of the
• Other Effects: Modifiers that are not Toughness Test. If they succeed by more
character-specific caused by the than two Degrees of Success, they can
Temperature Level. choose to allow one ally or comrade to
benefit from their success as well.
Temperature Levels also require the
presence of an atmosphere, generally Temperature Level: Freezing
speaking. For simulating the cold of open As the temperature continues to drop, its
space, or a planet with little to no air to effects on the body worsen. At this degree
speak of, it generally makes more sense to of cold, frostbite becomes increasingly
likely, and the symptoms of low-stage
hypothermia, like numbness and
Temperature Level: Cold clumsiness, become evident. At such
Prolonged exposure to mild cold is unlikely temperatures, the function of simple
to kill anyone, but the resultant muscular machines becomes impaired.
stiffness, drippy nose and shivering is an
unpleasant distraction. Generally speaking,
a minimum of cold-weather gear is needed Staying Dry
to protect against such temperatures, and
characters performing strenuous physical In cold weather, dry clothing can mean the
labour are unlikely to notice the cold at all. difference between life or death. Water conducts
heat, and wet clothing can freeze and stick to the
skin, causing further injuries. A character wearing
Approximate Temperature: 5 to -5 C
wet clothing suffers several different effects from
Exposed Conditions: Character has at least one Freezing and Glacial cold.
hit location that is not covered in some kind • They take a -20 penalty to all tests to
of cold-protective clothing. Characters resists the effects of Exposure.
undertaking strenuous exercise such as • They take 1 extra Fatigue from failed
running, marching or heavy lifting ignore Exposure tests, or 2 extra damage.
this condition. Generally speaking, wet clothing takes
Exposure Effects: An Exposed character must approximately 8 hours to dry under normal
pass an Ordinary (+10) Toughness Test conditions, so long as it is hung up or aired out in
every four hours of in-game time they suitable dry conditions. This time may be decreased
remain Exposed, or gain one level of by proximity to, for instance, a heat source or wind.
Fatigue. If they fail by more than two A piece of clothing almost never takes less than two
to three hours to fully dry under optimal conditions,
Degrees of Failure, they suffer 1d5-1
while heavier or more primitive clothing, such as furs
Energy Damage to one randomly- or poor-craftsmanship Survival Suits, might take
determined hit location that is not covered longer.
with insulated or cold-protective clothing.

72
 On Thin Ice

Approximate Temperature: - - C It often becomes necessary for characters to cross frozen

Exposed Conditions: Character has at least bodies of water, which may or may not be covered by
one hit location that is not covered in some sheets of ice thick enough to support their weight. Ice
kind of cold-protective clothing. A thickness varies depending on the Temperature Level and
location covered with Poor craftsmanship a huge variety of environmental conditions.
clothing is considered Exposed after the
General Conditions
character has spent a number of hours
A character struck by a weapon with the Blast, Flame,
equal to their Toughness Bonus in the
Melta or Concussive qualities while on ice must test
cold. Characters undertaking strenuous Agility or fall through.
exercise such as running, marching or Characters who have fallen through the ice take 1d5+1
heavy lifting ignore this condition for up energy damage to the Body each round, not reduced by
to one hour. armour or toughness. Extracting a character from cold
Exposure Effects: An Exposed character must water requires outside assistance, but it is up to the GM if
pass a Challenging (+0) Toughness Test doing so requires a Test.
every hour of in-game time, or gain one
level of Fatigue. If they fail by more than Cold
two Degrees of Failure, they suffer 1d5+1 If ice is present, which is unlikely, any time a character
moves across it, roll 1d100. On a roll of 50 or higher, the
Energy Damage to one randomly-
character falls through. If they are Size (4), they fall
determined hit location that is not covered
through on a roll of 60 or higher. If they are Size (5), have
with insulated or cold-protective clothing. the Mechanicus Implants or Machine Trait, or are
This damage ignores Armour but not carrying a Heavy Weapon, they fall through on a roll of
Toughness. 40 or higher.
If an Exposed character has the Survival Vehicles will automatically fall through ice at this
skill, they can choose to make a Temperature Level.
Challenging (+0) Survival Skill Test instead
of the Toughness Test. If they succeed by Freezing
more than two Degrees of Success, they Any time a character moves across ice, roll 1d100. On a roll
can choose to allow one ally or comrade to of 60 or higher, the character falls through. If they are
Size (4), they fall through on a roll of 70 or higher. If they
benefit from their success as well.
are Size (5), have the Mechanicus Implants or Machine
Other Effects:
Trait, or are carrying a Heavy Weapon, they fall through
• Weapons with the Overheats on a roll of 50 or higher.
quality are 1% less likely to Jam, Vehicles fall through the ice if they roll over 60 5 x their
while weapons with the Unreliable Size.
quality are 5% more likely to Jam.
• If a character, even one who is not Freezing
Exposed, remains immobile for Any time a character moves across ice, roll 1d100. On a roll
more than an hour at this of 80 or higher, the character falls through. If they are Size
(4), they fall through on a roll of 90 or higher. If they are
temperature (such as, for instance,
Size (5), have the Mechanicus Implants or Machine Trait,
falling asleep), they take a -10
or are carrying a Heavy Weapon, they fall through on a
penalty to all Agility tests for the roll of 70 or higher.
first hour of movement after their Vehicles fall through the ice if they roll over 90 5 x their
period of immobility. Size.

73
 Characters with the Survival Skill can
Temperature Level: Glacial choose to make a Difficult (-10) Survival
The vision blurs, the skin stings, and one Skill Test instead. If they succeed by more
can feel the inside of their nose freezing. than two Degrees of Success, they can
This Temperature Level is where the cold choose to allow one ally or comrade to
actively becomes a danger to survival, where benefit from their success as well.
frostbite and hypothermia are not merely a Other Effects:
possibility, but guaranteed. • Weapons with the Overheats quality
are 10% less likely to Jam, while
Approximate Temperature: - and colder weapons with the Unreliable quality
Exposed Conditions: Character has at least one are 20% more likely to Jam, and
hit location that is not covered in some kind weapons without the Reliable
of cold-protective clothing. A location quality are 5% more likely to Jam.
covered with Poor craftsmanship clothing is • If a character, even one who is not
considered Exposed. exposed, remains immobile for more
Exposure Effects: An Exposed character must than one hour at this temperature,
pass a Hard (-20) Toughness Test every they take 1 Fatigue and a -15 penalty
hour of in-game time, or gain 1d5 levels of to all Agility tests for the first hour
Fatigue. If they fail by more than two of movement after their period of
Degrees of Failure, they suffer 1d10 Energy immobility.
Damage to one randomly-determined hit • Characters at this Temperature
location that is not covered with insulated Level take a -20 penalty to all scent-
or cold-protective clothing. This damage based Perception tests, and a -10
ignores Armour but not Toughness. penalty to all vision-based
Perception tests.

74
Environment Modifiers take a -10 penalty. Thrown weapons scatter
an extra 1d5 meters on Sheets of Ice. Any
As anyone who has ever lived near an ocean area affected by a weapon that does Blast
will tell you, damp cold weather feels very damage is no longer considered to be under
different than dry cold weather. the effect of this modifier.
Environment Modifiers exist to reflect such Incompatible With: Slush
local climactic variations: small situational
Sticky Snow
Temperature Level. These modifiers are At warmer temperatures, snow forms large,
designed to be combined, and the GM may sticky flakes, which melt and adhere to just
choose to apply as many Environment about anything.
Modifiers as they deem necessary. Effect: Characters moving through Sticky
Snow take a cumulative -1 to all Tests
For instance, to simulate blizzard related to fine movement and the operation
conditions, or a severe snowstorm, one of equipment for each hour they spend in
might apply the High Winds, Whiteout and the snowy environment, to a maximum of -
Deep Snow modifiers to the Freezing 10.
temperature level. In the event that two Incompatible with: Packed Snow, Blowing
different modifiers affect the same stat, the Powder
modifiers stack.
Packed Snow
Deep Snow Over time, and under the effect of cold and
Deep, fluffy snow is soft, absorbs sound, wind, snow compacts and hardens, creating
and is comfortable to sit in, but not at all a dense surface that is easy to walk on, but
easy to move through. makes a great deal of noise.
Effect: All characters moving through Deep Effect: Characters moving through Packed
Snow treat their Agility Bonus as being Snow take a -20 penalty to Stealth tests, as
reduced by 1 for the purposes of calculating the snow creaks and crunches under their
movement. They also take a -10 penalty to feet.
all movement-related Agility-based tests Incompatible With: Sticky Snow, Slush
while doing so. All hearing-based
Perception tests made in deep snow take a - Slush
10 penalty. As snow melts or is contaminated, it forms
thick, watery slush, which soaks through
Sheets of Ice just about any protective layer.
Slick and slippery, an icy battlefield is Effect: Any character moving through Slush
difficult to move across. who does not have insulated or cold-
Effect: To move on Sheets of Ice, a protective clothing on their Legs takes a -
character must pass a Challenging (+0) 10 penalty to any Test to resist the effects
Agility Test. If they fail, they fall Prone of the current Temperature Level.
and take 1d5 points of Impact damage to Incompatible With: Sheets of Ice, Packed
the Body. All Agility tests on Sheets of Ice Snow, Blowing Powder

75
 sunlight from snow and ice causes
Sleet temporary, but very painful, vision damage.
If snowflakes pass through layers of warm Effect: For every 8 hours they spend outside
and cold air before hitting the ground, they during daylight, characters must pass a
melt and re-freeze into slushy pellets, Challenging (+0) Toughness Test, modified
which strike the ground with an audible by any bonuses or immunities they might
tapping sound. have to resist bright lights. If they fail, they
Effect: All Ballistic Skill Tests made at long become Blinded for the next 24 hours, and
ranges, as well as vision and sound-based are wracked with crippling headaches,
Perception Tests, take a -10 penalty. giving them three levels of Fatigue which
Incompatible With: Hail, Snow Blindness wear off as normal.
Incompatible With: Sleet, Whiteout
Hail
A peculiar ice formation that generally High Winds
occurs at higher temperatures, hail takes Windy weather, sometimes called wind-
the form of large, heavy chunks of ice chill, has the effect of wicking away heat
raining from the sky. from skin, making the air feel colder than it
Effect: Any character who is not under a actually is.
roof or protective covering during Hail Effect: While under the effects of High
takes 1d5-1 points of Impact damage with a Winds, any damage a character might take
penetration of 0 to the Head location every from the Temperature Level is increased by
Turn. Delicate equipment and gear left in 1, and they take a -10 penalty to Toughness
the open is likely to be broken or damaged Tests to resist the effects of the
by hail impacts. Temperature Level. This damage is
Any sound-based Perception tests during increased by a further +1 if the character is
Hail take a -20 penalty. riding in an Open-Topped vehicle.
Incompatible With: Temperature Levels Ballistic Skill Tests, as well as sound and
other than Cold, Sleet scent-based Perception Tests during High
Winds take a -10 penalty. This penalty
Blowing Powder increases to -20 for tests to use Thrown
Light, granular powder snow is easily lifted Weapons.
by the wind, creating stinging clouds of ice.
Effect: Characters not wearing eye Damp Cold
protection take a -10 penalty to Weapon Damp, humid air is an effective conductor
Skill, Ballistic Skill, vision-based of thermal energy, making even mild cold
Perception Tests, and any other Test which temperature feel colder.
requires intense concentration. Effect: The first time within a 24-hour
Incompatible With: Slush, Sticky Snow period a character under the effects of
Damp Cold would gain Fatigue, they gain
Snow Blindness one additional level of Fatigue.
Snow blindness is a deeply unpleasant
medical condition in which reflected

76
Whiteout Freezing Rain
Constant winds, heavy snowfall, or low- Warm rain which falls through a layer of
level fog in snowy conditions can reduce cold air flash-freezes on impact with the
visibility to nearly nothing, as the ground, ground, creating a thin and glassy layer of
sky and horizon become the same shade of surface ice that slowly builds and builds.
white. Effect: Tests to operate any kind of
Effect: Characters under the effect of equipment or weaponry that lacks internal
Whiteout conditions take the same heat sources (such as Lasgun power cells, or
penalties as if they were under the effects of Chain weapons) take a cumulative -1
Smoke. Additionally, any damage a penalty for each hour they are exposed to
character might take from the Temperature Freezing Rain, to a maximum of -20. At the
Level is increased by 1, increased by a
further +1 if the character is riding in an been in a state of Freezing Rain for more
Open-Topped vehicle. than 8 hours may be switched over to Sheets
Incompatible With: Snow Blindness of Ice instead.

77
-Konigstein

Looking to expand your Warhammer 40k RPG experience even further? Want to drown your
players in like eight different homebrew PDFs by me? Well look no further!

POTENTIAM GIGANTIO
This three-
The entire Imperial non-Titan motor pool, plus the entire Eldar, Dark Eldar and Harlequin
motor pool, plus a ton of homebrew.
Volume 1 | Volume 2 | Volume 3

IMPERIAL ATOMICA
When the entire galaxy is full of Grim Darkness, sometimes the only light source is gamma
radiation. This book introduces expands on radiation, atomic weapons and nuclear power in
the 41st Millenium, adding a variety of character and item options for both editions of Dark
Heresy, Rogue Trader and Only War.
Imperial Atomica 1.1

MILITARUM AIR-MOBILE CHIRURGICAL HOSPICES (MACH)

When your character burns a fate point to end up in hospital, who exactly fixes them? How do
you go about extracting Splinter Rifle bolts from a wound? What is a gallglabber, and why
does it need removing? All these questions and more are answered in MACH, a book about the

MACH 1.1

THE HERETICAL MUSEUM OF V.A. BEAU

Deep in the heart of the Koronus Expanse, an Inquisitorial investigation team have taken
possession of the massive private armoury of V.A. Beau, noted cultural degenerate and Rogue

Stand Battle in Rogue Trader? This book is for you. Ganbatte!

The Heretical Museum of V.A. Beau 0.4

78