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I've been accumulating Adeptus Arbite figures for many years, and I am finally getting around to painting them and getting them on the table. I've been thinking a lot about their role in the 40K verse. One of the things I wonder about is Arbites in riot gear. Is there a reason why they would deploy such troops?

I would start by saying that the Arbites are essentially Judges from the 2000 A.D. serial Judge Dredd. Some of them are equipped with riot gear and the concept has bled into their 40K incarnation.

Their first official army list entry in 40K, as part of the Grey Knights in Slaves to Darkness, allowed Arbites webbers and shields- implying they could fulfill a role similar to a modern police force, particularly non-lethal crowd dispersal or containment. Like many things in those days the role/jurisdiction of the Arbites wasn't particularly clear. A couple years later Mike McVey made an amazing riot control Chimera conversion for Necromunda, along with some Arbites with riot shields and power mauls. This also implied that they were a police force with a role not entirely unlike that of modern day law enforcement.

Recently, there has been increased distinction between Arbites as instruments of Imperial Law, and planetary police (often referred to as Enforcers, or Magistratum thanks to Abnett) which enforce the laws set by their particular world. This leads me to my question... under what circumstances would an Arbite need to be used in a riot control capacity? I can totally see Magistratum using riot gear, depending on how they want to be perceived by their populace. The Necromunda Enforcers have riot gear of course, and I believe it was stated clearly that they're not Arbites. Adeptus Arbites on the other hand aren't about 'policing' in that way, they are the hammer that comes down on those who would defy Imperial Law, and if they're getting involved with the locals it wouldn't be pretty. Nothing soft like tear gas, rubber bullets or water cannons- they would be using absolutely lethal force and wouldn't care a bit.

Some case for Arbites as riot control might be when they're also the Magistratum (I'm sure it can or has happened) and have directives to bring perpetrators in alive, or when they need to press-gang some unfortunates into Imperial Navy service as happened in Execution Hour (although I think that role would be a 'tithe' of sorts that the governor would need to provide, relying on his police and not Arbites).

What I plan to do when I get around to designing the force is painting the core of Arbites, with planetary government 'Enforcers' as auxiliaries, although I'm very curious about what others think about the role of Arbites in a riot situation. I just can't see them caring about keeping civvies alive if they've got the jurisdiction to get involved militarily... pretty much meaning treason against the Imperium on the part of the governor (death sentence), trafficking with aliens (death sentence) or harboring psykers (death, with a secondary goal of bringing them in for sanctioning or being fed to the throne?)

I know it's probably outdated, but in the Jaq Draco book Chaos Child there's a scene where the Arbites Courthouse (read; fortress ) is surrounded by pilgrims and it all kicks off for some reasons I can't remember. The gates open, the Repressors come out firing water cannons and the Arbites move in with their shields and break faces with the shock mauls. I definitely remember something about pilgrims being crushed by the tracks of the tanks because they didn't get out of the way fast enough. (The account here may be slightly innaccurate, it's been a long time since I read it but that's how it seemed to go down.)

All the fluff I have read on the Courthouses and Arbites in general is that they aren't commonly seen except in matters of Imperial justice and the laws of the Imperium as a whole. The normal police forces (The Enforcers being one example) take care of everything else. One way you could sort this in an army might be to have Arbites as Commissars and maybe Command squads (I'm thinking in terms of the Guard codex here, as that is one I'm familiar with) and using Enforcers and other police "grunts" as everyone else. signifying the Arbites are leading the show and that the matter is one of Imperial Law. To show the Governor's compliance the planetary police forces are drafted in to assist. If the Governor refuses to send his men to assist, things will turn out badly for him.

I think Arbites would use "non-lethal" weaponry (like water cannons and web pistols) if they're dealing with a simple riot or have specific needs to capture suspects alive, but this isn't likely as normal Enforcers would do this. If the rioters are armed, which is a situation Arbites are more likely to get into, then they'll probably break out the shotguns and woe-betide anyone that gets in their way. Unlike police today they don't give a feth if they kill anyone, so they wouldn't shy away from bashing them repeatedly in the face with a shock maul Afterall, as you say, raising your hand to Imperial Law is death.

Also if you're planning an Arbites army I will point you to this thread by ArbitorIan. A rather nice looking army

Anyway, a little rambly but that's my £0.02p

A riot of sufficient magnitude that it causes the planet's production output to drop, thus decreasing the planet's ability to meet its Tithe Grade, would be cause for the Arbites to get involved. If the planet, or a piece of it, seems ready to revolt, the Arbites will get involved.

If a Chaos or Xeno threat is believed to be at the root of unrest, the Arbites are going to be the most-populous group on hand for an Inquisitor to call upon... and as Arbites are never stationed on the planet of their birth, they can be reasonably certain to remain untainted, and have no ties to anyone involved in the riots.

Thanks for the link Tibbsy, quite a few of the ideas in that thread are similar to what I'm working on.

I agree with your thoughts guys, thanks. I imagine a wise person rebelling against a planetary governor would be very careful to indicate that they weren't also rebelling against the Imperium. There could be some complicated politics involved I imagine...

What do you think caries the death sentence in the grim-dark future of 40k?

Treason?
Striking an Arbites?
Heresy?
Unlawful assembly?
Speaking out against Imperial authority, or representatives?
Resisting arrest?
Jaywalking?

Justice must be swift, and absolute. The Arbites are judge, jury, and executioner. If you've done something to attract their interest, you've probably committed a capital crime.

(I don't have any lore references, just going off the feel of the universe here.)

Nevelon wrote:What do you think caries the death sentence in the grim-dark future of 40k?

Treason?
Striking an Arbites?
Heresy?
Unlawful assembly?
Speaking out against Imperial authority, or representatives?
Resisting arrest?
Jaywalking?

All of the above and more...

Hell, you'll probably get bashed with a shock maul at the very least if you even look at them funny

I think that OP's perception concerning a change of direction of the Arbites is quite correct. One might argue that they even owning riot gear doesn't make much sense anymore when they'd only ever be employed to deal with Imperial officials as some sources claim. On the other hand, the "batons" they carry are powered and quite able to kill rather than stun, whereas the shields could be used merely to provide a piece of mobile armoured cover for an advancing Arbites team rather than blocking off hordes of civvies. Often, we hear about Arbites Fortress-Precincts being the last holdouts of Imperial Rule on a planet, so the Arbites inside may well be geared to deal with large scale uprisings. I've also once read that the Arbites assist the Adepta Sororitas in performing their so-called purity control sweeps, by cordoning off sections of the populace until the Sisters have finished sampling its genetic material to decide whether they are allowed to live, or their genes are so tainted that they must be put to death on the spot. One might argue that the Arbites could be called to help by any Imperial organization, which would fit the description in Execution Hour. Whilst I agree with Dr Mathias that it sounds a bit weird to have the Arbites do recruitment for the Navy, I suppose that it may well happen from time to time if the Arbites have nothing better to do and the officer in charge has a good relationship with the Navy. For the standard, my interpretation of the setting follows Andy Chambers' short story Ancient History, where it is described that the Navy sends its own press-gangs down onto a planet to catch unlucky civilians. Which is pretty much how the British Navy (and others) did it back then during the Age of Sail.
Of course we have to remember that there is no canon in 40k and any consistency, especially between outsourced products such as novels or RPGs, is purely coincidental. We can only try to cherrypick and stick to the sources we like best.

Personally, I don't think that a distinction between Arbites and Enforcers was ever necessary. Although it serves to separate the Arbites from normal police duties and local penny-ante stuff, thus stressing their role as an Imperium-wide agency, they are still "there" in any case and it'd be weird to just have them sit around and ignore ordinary crime. After all, they still have Enforcer-type riot control squads, not just special agents dealing solely with corrupt governors and other officials. But perhaps the Arbites still do engage in normal police duties just so that they have something to do (a form of training) and are able to keep tabs about what is going on? Instead of bothering to bring in a suspect alive like the local Enforcers may do, however, their justice would be swift and deadly, befitting the Judge-Dredd-style from which they are obviously inspired. The graphic novel Daemonifuge had an Arbites team hunting down supposedly heretic preachers in the lower levels of a Hive, for example.

Lynata wrote:I've also once read that the Arbites assist the Adepta Sororitas in performing their so-called purity control sweeps, by cordoning off sections of the populace until the Sisters have finished sampling its genetic material to decide whether they are allowed to live, or their genes are so tainted that they must be put to death on the spot.

That's a good case for having shields and mauls as an option. Protection aside, something about a shield just says "Don't bother trying to get by me". I'll have to try to track down that reference- do you know where you may have encountered that? I have about everything game-related published on the Sororitas as well as Arbites and it does sound familiar... I am missing some Black Library stuff though. I have the Enforcer trilogy but haven't read it yet.

I was hoping you would chime in Lynata- as always, an interesting post!

Dr Mathias wrote:do you know where you may have encountered that?

Uhh... I know for sure that I've got it in that "fluff bible" thing that was collected in the old Sisters yahoo!-group (the one Andy Hoare used to be a part of), but I'm unsure where it was sourced exactly. Gimme some time and I will dig through my books once I get home from work.

Here's some more stuff I was able to find online just now, tho - the following paragraph came after a section on how the Arbites deal with crooked Governors, Navy Admirals and other IoM officials, and explains their more mundane tasks and daily activities. Seems to be in line with my theory earlier:

"The Arbitrators belong to a complex organisation - an army divided into many ranks and specialised roles. Its individual Precincts stretch across the galaxy. On many worlds, the Arbitrators' fortified Courthouse is the only point of contact between that planet and the Imperium. Each Precinct is the base for an army, complete unto itself, led by Marshals of Court and supported by an array of highly trained warriors of justice. Patrol groups prowl the underways of city hives, shock troops break up the vicious queue wars which develop outside governmental buildings, execution teams hound the guilty through barren wastes and labyrinthine tunnels, and detectives sift the holo-records, tracking cyber-criminals through the computer matrix of the Administratum."
-- from the Codex Imperialis

Breaking up queue wars in front of Administratum towers? Feth yeah.

-- and something from the Sisters' 2E Codex:
"Preachers frequently aid the Judges and their Adeptus Arbites in local purges, and their familiarity with the citizenry makes them useful for intelligence gathering by higher officials and the Inquisition."
"Across the entire Imperium, psykers are sought out by the Inquisition, Ecclesiarchy, and Adeptus Arbites."

Dr Mathias wrote:I have about everything game-related published on the Sororitas

That's a bold statement! I've managed to get my hands on a couple of old issues of White Dwarf and the Citadel Magazine with unique Sisters fluff and short stories not printed anywhere else, but still I'm sure I haven't seen everything just yet.
I suppose the same would be true for the Arbites as well. It's really not easy for the likes of us that what little fluff there is on these groups has been scattered throughout numerous publications.

Lynata wrote:

Dr Mathias wrote:I have about everything game-related published on the Sororitas

That's a bold statement! I've managed to get my hands on a couple of old issues of White Dwarf and the Citadel Magazine with unique Sisters fluff and short stories not printed anywhere else, but still I'm sure I haven't seen everything just yet.

Yes, probably too bold. I'm likely missing some fluff bits, especially where Sisters come out on the bad side.

"You don't know what you don't know" as they say

Lynata wrote:parate the Arbites from normal police duties and local penny-ante stuff, thus stressing their role as an Imperium-wide agency, they are still "there" in any case and it'd be weird to just have them sit around and ignore ordinary crime. After all, they still have Enforcer-type riot control squads, not just special agents dealing solely with corrupt governors and other officials.

The Shira Calpurnia novels are quite good source material on this. The Arbites enfore the Lex Imperia, but that doesn't mean that they just deal with governement ofiicials, etc. I think it was pointed out that a gang war in an underhive, damaging property and killing civilians, would only merit the attention of the local Enforcers.

However, if that same gang war disrupted work patterns at a Munitorum plant, or blocked off a convoy of Adnimistratum scribes, then it suddenly becomes an Imperial matter and the Arbites come down on it with massive force, as well as the local Enforcers. The Arbites deal with all types of citizen and civilian, but their jurisdiction is anything that disrupts the functioning of the Imperium.

However, they're still an instrument of Justice. They still have to be seen to be just, and do care about not killing innocents if they can avoid it. Power Mauls and Suppression Shields are lethal weapons, but useful because they can be set to NOT be lethal if needs be.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

Tibbsy wrote:Also if you're planning an Arbites army I will point you to this thread by ArbitorIan. A rather nice looking army

Thanks for the plug!

Lynata wrote:It's really not easy for the likes of us that what little fluff there is on these groups has been scattered throughout numerous publications.

I agree. It would be a big job, but it would be great if someone could collect up all the fluff for each race and then have a directory. Still, the one thing I'm sure of is that I'm not going to be doing it.


Anyway, my main reason for posting is to discuss what crime would be met with what punishment. This could be wrong, but I imagined that the most common crime would simply be not working hard enough, as no-one has time for any other crimes anyway. This would probably lead to whipping, as killing someone for not working hard enough isn't going to increase that person's productivity. However, if someone did have the time for any other crime, such as stealing a coin from someone who no-one cares about (practically everyone, then), would lead to death without a trial: a trial would simply waste time.

p_gray99 wrote:Anyway, my main reason for posting is to discuss what crime would be met with what punishment.

Uhh, tricky one - chiefly because (or so I think) the only publications dealing with this level of detail are non-studio sources, and they pretty much make stuff up as they go without caring for consistency too much.
On the upside, we can cherrypick what we like most. Doesn't FFG's Book of Judgment have a list of punishments? I vaguely remember it being advertised... Or we can even come up with our own ideas!

p_gray99 wrote:This could be wrong, but I imagined that the most common crime would simply be not working hard enough, as no-one has time for any other crimes anyway.

I actually think you'd be spot-on there - though I wouldn't say that this is a crime that the Arbites would get involved in. The way I'm interpreting the setting, every manufactorium, every officium, every adeptus probably has its own foremen and enforcers who control the workers, and each of them would have their own set of rules and penances ranging from "you didn't meet the quota, you don't get to eat" to a proper beating all the way to stuff like being exiled to the hostile surface or lower levels, all depending on the local habits and environment.

Laws for crimes not affecting the Imperium per se (including its religion) probably differ by planet, influenced by culture and civilization level. The IoM doesn't interfere much with such trivial matters, after all. They don't even care if a planet is at civil war, as long as somebody is paying the tithe.

As for actual punishments, the 2E SoB Codex goes into a bit of detail concerning what the priests can do - they have a surprisingly wide range of privileges and jurisdiction, too. I wouldn't be surprised at all if they and the Arbites are messing with each other as often as they help each other. The Imperium is a nightmare bureaucracy, and half its cogs are spinning the wrong way.

But yeah, if some random citizen feths with the Arbites, I would expect a rather quick and harsh sentence, as you say. They don't have the rank of "Judge" for nothing, and again we can look to where their idea originally came from. I vaguely recall some source mentioning that Imperial officials are the only criminals actually having the right to a trial - everyone else just gets dealt with on the spot.

I remember a scene from Daemonifuge where the Arbites "helped" clearing a plaza from pilgrims as the sheer mass of people gathering for a sermon passed a critical point. They used shotguns, firing into the crowd to have it disperse. Their actions were described as "brutally and efficiently".

p_gray99 wrote:a trial would simply waste time.

"A plea of innocence is guilty of wasting my time!"

Sorry, had to.

[edit] Okay, I've flipped through the rulebooks and found some more info - it's not much, but it paints a pretty grim(dark) picture!

"There is still an important role for a universal law-enforcing agency, and the Judges fill that role ruthlessly. Their duties usually fall between those of assassins, who may be obliged to deal with a single troublemaker, and the army, which would be called into wage outright war. Without mercy and utterly dedicated, the Judges are feared throughout the galaxy - for they are the agents of harsh law, where failure and incompetence are crimes, and the only punishment is death. Judges are empowered to act as judge, jury and executioner. Citizens have no rights, only members of the priesthood or Inquisition could claim anything so elaborate as a trial."
-- 1E Rulebook (sidenote: here, "priesthood" refers to the Adeptus Terra - the term is still in use in later editions, but due to its rarity I wanted to stress that this means all Imperial officials, not just members of the Ecclesiarchy)

"While such organisations exist to teach the will of the Emperor and, in theory, facilitate the governance of his realm, there are many organisations that exist purely to enforce that will by force of arms. Sometimes, this will be the blunt instrument of the Imperial Guard, but there exist others that are more subtle, more secretive and more deadly. The Adeptus Arbites are grim-faced men and women, enforcers of the harsh Imperial Law, where failure and incompetence are crimes, and the only punishment is death. Drawn from the most ruthless children of the Schola Progenium and stationed far from their homeworlds, the brooding presence of an Adeptus Arbites fortress-precinct has been enough to deter many an Imperial Commander from foolishly plotting treasin and heresy against the Imperium."
-- 4E Rulebook

"In the streets outside the hab-blocks and manufactorums, the Arbitrators enforce their unforgiving rule upon the desperate and the homeless."
-- 5E Rulebook

Also, I noticed something in the Force Disposition Chart from the 3rd War of Armageddon:

Notice the Precincts and Punitive Battalions?

Lynata wrote:

p_gray99 wrote:This could be wrong, but I imagined that the most common crime would simply be not working hard enough, as no-one has time for any other crimes anyway.

But yeah, if some random citizen feths with the Arbites, I would expect a rather quick and harsh sentence, as you say. They don't have the rank of "Judge" for nothing, and again we can look to where their idea originally came from. I vaguely recall some source mentioning that Imperial officials are the only criminals actually having the right to a trial - everyone else just gets dealt with on the spot.

The Enforcer series seemed to regard trials as desired but not mandatory. Proper trials are useful to make the criminals and the Arbites see things clearly, but if someone's not coming alive then execution on the spot is normally fine.

An Arbites Senioris does seem to have a lot of power when it comes to crimes against the Empire. One scene from Enforcer was the aftermath of an attempted escape from Church custody:

Interesting Force Disposition Chart, I forgot about that one. Thanks for posting it!

Wandering off topic, I see 'Officio Sabatorum' listed on the chart... I don't recall encountering them in the fluff. Peculiar. After a little visit to the Lexicanum they pretty much do what I would expect them to based on the name. It would be interesting to come up with a little scenario using agents from that officio.