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I was wondering how the Apocalypse units fit in with the rest of the Imperium. I know fliers are a part of the Imperial Navy, and have read reference to the `Titan Legions' before (so they seem to be their own independent force), but what about the super heavy tanks?

Sorry, here comes a long string on questions. Are companies of super heavy tanks an independent force, or are they a part of the Imperial Guard? If they are a part of the Guard, are they their own sub-division within (ie you have the Imperial Guard of Krieg, the Imperial Guard of Mordia, the Super Heavy Tanks of the Imperial Guard), or are they like other companies and associated with a regiment (ie Cadian Infantry Companu, Cadian Tank Company, Cadiant Super Heavy Tank Company)? If Super Heavy Companies are just like Infantry Companies (only a hell of a lot rarer), would all major regiments have some (eg Cadia, Vostroya, Armageddon... probably Catachan is out of the question), or are they so rare only the absolute worst hot-spots have them? Finally, I know that the Sisters can get support from the local Guard, and would imagine this would extend to super heavy tanks in extreme situations. Could it be possible for an Order Majoris to have a super heavy indefinitely assigned to them, or would they never be taken from their regular duties for more than a single battle?

Thanks for putting up with the brain-dump this long!

Elric of Grans wrote:I was wondering how the Apocalypse units fit in with the rest of the Imperium. I know fliers are a part of the Imperial Navy, and have read reference to the `Titan Legions' before (so they seem to be their own independent force), but what about the super heavy tanks?

Sorry, here comes a long string on questions. Are companies of super heavy tanks an independent force, or are they a part of the Imperial Guard? If they are a part of the Guard, are they their own sub-division within (ie you have the Imperial Guard of Krieg, the Imperial Guard of Mordia, the Super Heavy Tanks of the Imperial Guard), or are they like other companies and associated with a regiment (ie Cadian Infantry Companu, Cadian Tank Company, Cadiant Super Heavy Tank Company)? If Super Heavy Companies are just like Infantry Companies (only a hell of a lot rarer), would all major regiments have some (eg Cadia, Vostroya, Armageddon... probably Catachan is out of the question), or are they so rare only the absolute worst hot-spots have them? Finally, I know that the Sisters can get support from the local Guard, and would imagine this would extend to super heavy tanks in extreme situations. Could it be possible for an Order Majoris to have a super heavy indefinitely assigned to them, or would they never be taken from their regular duties for more than a single battle?

Thanks for putting up with the brain-dump this long!

1) any vehicle under the " imperial guard" header in a GW publication is part of the IG.

2) SHT may be not part of a IG standard company, they're too big so maybe part of a IG regiment.

3) Only pure tank/artillery/infantry formations are called regiment. So a mixed formation would be a bataillon. Next step would be the division then.

4) regiment consists of several companys. A SHT regiment may consist of several SHT companys, but those SHT are rare,so most SHT are distributed to other regiments.

5) some SHT seem to be used as single vehicle to support tank-companies, sometimes also infantry-companies.

6) sisters per se may not have IG tanks. As i see it, they field rhino-based vehicles. So maybe not common to add IG vehicles, but sisters are part of the ordo hereticus
military forces and could get a SHT from an Inquisitor.

7) OTOH the sisters could recover a lost vehicle and claim it. To repurify a corrupted vehicle does not seem to happen.
But still 40k/apoc so allies y benefit from IG options. Still doubt any sisters/space marines as owners of IG SHT.

I wouldn't expect that the SHTs occur in large enough number to be effectively deployed as their own companies (though, technically they may be numerated as such) and are probably assigned to existing armor and infantry groups ala the German Tiger I/IIs in WW2. I would also guess that it would be very rare, though possible, to assign one to assist an allied force. The Ecclesiarchy could probably throw enough weight around to get them (and may have a few dedicated to them), but SMs probably wouldn't see them unless it was part of a larger support/relief force. The only exception is UMs who are actively involved in the PDFs of their system and several others. It seems likely that they would have SHTs that they could commandeer. Such a situation would be very unlikely, though, given codex doctrine and the chapter would probably use Thunderhawk gunships for a similar role instead.

Thanks for the comments. Just a few more questions about Guard, as I have picked up that I misunderstood some details.

Many human planets have a force they provide the Guard (eg Cadia). Is there a collective term for these forces (ie the collective forces of Cadia, or the collective forces of Krieg)?

Below this, it seems like the next level is the regiment? Eg The Catachan collective is broken into the Catachan 1st Regiment, the Catachan 22nd Regiment, etc. Is a regiment a mix of infantry and tank companies, or just one or the other? Is there a standard number of companies to a regiment?

Companies appear to be split into infantry and armoured (and artillery?). Is there a standard break-down for how these are structured (eg an infantry company has 7 officers, 6 platoons and a commissar; an armoured company has three squads of four tanks)?

I have come across references to structure within companies, and associated markings (eg a band of stripes that indicates the first tank of the third squad of the fifth company), but no explanation for what this is all about, or how it all works. I also assume such structure is common across both armoured and infantry companies. Can anyone direct me to where I could find more information on these things?

I understand that there would be differences between one force and the next, but I am just looking for the general rule of thumb. You come across these sorts of details for Marines all the time, but I have never read any such details for the Guard.

Structure of military forces ( used in 40k by IG):

From lowest level up:

-platoon,
-company/battery, formed from multiple platoons.
-Regiment/battalion, formed from multiple companys/batteries.
-Division ( not sure if GW used this), formed from multiple regiments/battalions.
-Army/crusade force. Sometimes mentioned in GW/BL publications, size may be various and depending on the "theatre of war".

1) platoon consists of multiple squads, new codex may change things, so we'll have to wait until May for exact info.
2) company / battery ( artillery used to be a battery, but size equals company), seems to be pure infantry/mech infantry/armored/artillery.
3) regiment/battalion. regiments are pure infantry/mech infantry/armored/artillery. Battalions are a mix of infantry/mech infantry/armored/artillery.
4) Division and above may be always a mix of different troops.



Examples for SHV, taken from apoc datasheet:

-steelfury baneblade company = 3+ baneblade class SHV
-baneblade company = 3x baneblade, 3x comany = regiment
-shadowsword comapny = 3x shadowsword, 3x comapnys + 2x lead shadowsword = regiment.
-lonely shadowsword + 0-6 russes+0-2 hydras+0-6 sentinels = ? force (not sure about english name for it).

5) crusade: may consist of every available imperial faction, mutlpile forces from small officio assasinorum detachments to whole chapters of SM.

Thanks again. It seems like I am beginning to get the idea.