Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you: No adverts like this in the forums anymore. Times and dates in your local timezone. Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance. Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely. Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net. If you are already a member then feel free to login now.

Hey guys. You might remember me the potential (nearly so) Matt Ward who posted his fallout inspired Imperial Guard idea back in January. After hearing much considerate opinions of more experienced members of 40k, I have rewritten the background for the Novacian (now Nihilum) guards. I hope I haven't screwed up TOO much.

As I did not favor thread necromancy, I decided to create a new post, in which I will talk about rule conversions, and my own personal addition to this non-canon IG regiment.

So, here goes.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Nihilum Guard Codex
Customized Fluff:
The Wasteland survivors of Nihilum (changed from Novac, to avoid blatant reference to area of the same name in Fallout: New Vegas)
Army: Imperial Guard, inspired by wasteland fiction like Fallout, The Road, and Armored Trooper: VOTOMS, Fist of the North Star (will get to that later), Desert Punk

Specialization:
Stealth troops (Infiltration)
Light infantry (Scarce to no armored vehicles)
Raiding, flanking and harrassment
Desert Warfare, or subtle manipulations of terrain to make it akin to the Nihilum environment.

Background:
The planet of Novac was colonized relatively recently, in the 39th Millennium in Segmentum Tempestus. While the men and women of the imperium expected a lush and habitable planet, they were met with only a desolate wasteland.

While not completely hostile like the death world of Catachan, it was impossible to grow large quantities of vegetation in Nihilum, or support a wide variety of life. The Imperial settlers were not geared towards this type of hardcore colonization, and suffered grim outlooks. It also happened to be that a sizable war band of Orks had already habituated the planet. With no regiment of Imperial Guard to help them in their time of need, the three million colonists had to survive with only the bountiful supply of surplus autoguns and other light weaponry.

A few factors did indeed aid these unfortunate colonists to prevail. The most notable was that the group of Orks were far from organized (even less so than usual), with no warboss for the Ork Boyz to rally under. The vast desert environment also allowed the colonists to mostly avoid the blunt of brutal CQC against the physically superior orks. Due to the strong resolves and resourcefulness of the colonists proved to possess, these colonists survived, and named their newly found planet Nihilum. However, this was done at a heavy cost, with only three thousand colonists surviving from the Nihilum wars.

Due to the ever present dearth of any resource whatsoever, the citizens of Nihilum failed to create a metropolis, and the majority of its citizens either settle down in small agriculture-centric towns, or become marauders, raiders, mercenaries, bounty hunters, or simple explorers, continuously squabbling amongst each other for food, resources, and ruins of Ork war machines to turn into bullets and more autoguns.

By the time the Imperium finally came to aid the colonizers, the men were changed inside out, in ways that differed significantly from humans across the Imperium, some of which both harmed and benefitted these men when they were inducted into the Imperial Guards. As the population of Nihilum is small at best, compared to other hive worlds, Nihilum sends in an elite and extremely unorthodox guardsmen regiment to serve the God emperor (whom they have not felt fanaticism for, but still revere. Note that the plague of unbelief have occurred in Nihilum in multiple occasions, thus rooting out the weaker minded and potentially heretical citizens of Nihilum) with:

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Quirks
-Although not outright heretics, “Nihils” are not strong believers of the God Emperor, and do not trust in authority figures in general. Even the elite few who could be considered as “commanders” are often not leaders, but sheriffs, marauder captains, bandits, or lone wanderers. Even individual soldiers are outright individualists, and do not accept the idea of dying for the God-Emperor. Because of this, even with their strong hearts (which have higher leadership values than regular guardsmen), the Nihils do not take orders, and do mutiny against commissars. It should be noted, however, that Nihils are infamous for quickly regaining lost morale and regrouping quickly, when other Imperial Guard regiments may have similarly panicked, then promptly retreated until they were executed for treason.

Unfortunately, many less experienced commanders and Imperial Authority have not recognized this more favorable, second aspect of the Nihils, and have often labeled them as cowards and traitors, summarily executing the Nihil Guardsmen before they could quickly regroup for another raid.

(Any squad of the Nihil Guard which fails the leadership check can return to normal after the turn, and squads that lose more than half their men can regroup with any other squad without taking a leadership test. As said before, Nihil Guards do not take orders).

-Due to said lack of strong conviction to the God Emperor, Nihils cannot ally with Sisters of Battle, who were known on occasions to sporadically and rather baselessly charge and attack Nihil Guardsmen for being heretics. After the first few “engagements”, the Imperial Bureaucracy made sure that these two factions will never be joined up with in any conflict, no matter the circumstance.

-The “civilian” backgrounds of the Nihils never gave them the chance to ever have tanks or specialized gear or troops. That being said, all Nihils who have survived their fifteenth birthday are all very experienced in brutal and relentless warfare.

(Nihils cannot take air support, and vehicles will cost 100pts more to bring, as these vehicles are all borrowed from more funded IG regiments. All special weapons, aside from grenades, will cost 10pts more. Also, Nihils cannot bring abhumans, psykers, commissars, storm troopers, penal legions, conscripts and Ecclisiary members into their regiment).

-While the lack of specialized gear and troops may seem restricting, all regular Nihil Guardsmen are considered as veterans, have three free krak grenades, and have the rules MOVE THROUGH COVER and HIT AND RUN, all deriving from the nature of battles fought during the Nihiliun wars and local squabbles. Also, all infantry of the Nihil Guardsmen can deploy one sand carrier (will be elaborated later).

(Free MOVE THROUGH COVER and HIT AND RUN for all infantry. All infantry gets free three Krak Grenades. Special weapons options will be later elaborated)

Well the only things that i can see "wrong" with this is the leaderlessness of the orks..... orks always have a leader but what i could see you doing is making him especially stupid and unable to adapt to hit and run.

Also the anti- vehicle part... exept for perhaps chimeras IG do not usually have their own vehicles and almost never are in control of air support (elysians are the only ive seen), the reason for this you have already listed... most people dont have the training. heavy support is delegated by the administratum during a campaign from dedicated tank (or what have you) regiment as needed. Perhaps you could modify your fluff to say that your units move too quickly and invisibly for the tank crews to keep track of?

So here's my take on the variation of troop choices in this army, and how it may differ from standard Imperial guard regiments. A part of me erks at the possible OPness of some factors, but here goes:
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Variance in Troop Choices not stated in quirks:
-All Nihilum Guard Infantry Squads are considered as “veterans”, and cost 60 points, instead of 70. That being said, regular infantry, penal, and conscripts are not available.
In order to accomodate HIT AND RUN, Nihilum infantry gets an initiative of 4, instead of the standard 3. Leadership value is 8, instead of 7. Up to two guardsmen can be equipped with a grenade launcher for free. In the case in which any number of grenade launchers are taken, up to five guardsmen can carry krak grenades for free. In the case in which no guardsman carries a grenade launcher, all members of the platoon can carry krak grenades. Other addition of war gear costs 5 points more than usual.

-All of the troop choices can use the rule INFILTRATE and SCOUT.

-For Special Weapons and Heavy weapons teams, initial cost is increased by 15. The additional allocation of points for additional war gear stays identical.

-All Troop Choices (Vet, Special & Heavy Weapons) can take one “Sand Carrier”, an unarmed guardsman carrying smoke screen equipment, for 10 points. When the squad engages in long range combat, roll a D6. If D6 rolls 4 or less, the wound is allocated to the Sand Carrier, and forgoes armor and cover saves. For two turns, the remaining platoon receives cover saves within 5’ of the now deceased sand carrier, regardless of terrain. Also, if desired, the platoon leader can shoot the Sand Carrier, in order to force this process at the player’s leisure. Opponent and allied models do not benefit from the cover saves within this area.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

I will sooner or later post my ideas on elite choices. Some will be filler lore for existing models with a different name and fluff. Others will be completely different from elite choices in the Imperial Guard, as Ogryns, Ratlings, and Kaskrins are no longer available.

Also, I will talk in the same post about the Nihilum Guards' relationship with other factions of the Imperium.

Due to my personal interests for fluff over rule making, I have written a brief outline about the Nihilum Guards' relationships with other members of the Imperium. Again, suggestions and criticism is very appreciated.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Notable relationships with other members of the Imperium

Adeptus Mechanicus
The Nihilum Guards are absolutely despised by the Adeptus Mechanicus, and reasonably so. A good majority of the Nihilum Guard arsenal is made out of the scrap metal left behind by the ork war band that was defeated in the Nihilum wars, and because of this, the Adeptus Mechanicus consider the guardsmen to be willingly be using “tainted weaponry” that mocks the Omnisiah by disguising as an imperial weapon. Also, the innovations/improvisation of technology the Nihilum guards have created (such as the dreaded sand carriers) have labeled the unfortunate guardsmen as also hereteks. Due to these factors, the Adeptus Mechanicus have often tried to mass execute these “traitor” guardsmen on numerous occasions, and have succeeded in killing off regiments on rare occasions.

The Nihilum Guard, still rather unfamiliar with the influences and authority of the Adeptus Mechanicus, have largely chosen to rebut and at times outright ignored the shrill warnings of the “cog boys”. The Nihilum Guards had no choice in using ork steel in creating weapons, as that was the only source of minerals left on Nihilum even when they first landed on the planet. To stop using the ork steel for weapon manufacture is equal to immediate death for these soldiers, so they see no difference in requisitioning their weapons to avoid heresy, or being executed for it. Regarding the tech heresy, the Nihilum guards have remained largely silent, as the Mechanicus is quite right in this aspect. However, the bold few who have tried to argue with the Mechanicus (and died for it) have often stated that, being ignorant of the principles of such advanced technologies, it is impossible to become hereteks.

On the other hand, however, the Wanderers of Nihilum have managed to build a positive relationship with the Explorators, as the wanderers are attracted to the call of adventure and discovery, while the Explorators appreciate their skills, intelligence, bravery, and the relatively small cost to employ such accomplished adventurers. This may be part of the reason why the Adeptus Mechanicus was unable to perform an exterminatus against Nihilum, as many Explorators have often rooted for the survival of the planet for the resourcefulness of its wanderers. The wanderers, through their travels with the Explorators, have been trying to find the STC blueprint that demonstrates their planet’s innocence concerning tech heresy.

Ordo Hereticus and Adeptas Sororitas
While those knowledgeable of the Nihilum culture are aware of the aloof but still devout nature of Nihilum concerning the god emperor, the Ordo Hereticus have declared the inhabitants of the Nihilum as heretics, as they fail to show the fanaticism required by the Imperium. So, whenever the Witch Hunters and the Sisters of Battle encounter the Nihilum Guards, it is not uncommon for them to mercilessly slaughter the unfortunate guardsmen.

The stubborn Nihilum Guards, despite knowing the dangers of their lack of fanaticism, have not changed their perspectives concerning the God Emperor, that he abandoned their forefathers at their times of need, and that the prayers they do on a daily basis is simply one sided, designed to sharpen their resolves to survive the brutish battlefields of no end.

“I would rather be enslaved to the bastard space elves than to meet those god damned Witch Hunters”
Anonymous Nihilum Guardsman


Ordo Xenos and Rogue Traders
Similar to the situation with the Explorators of the Adeptus Mechanicus, the Ordo Xenos and the Rogue Traders have become fond of Nihilum, or to be more specific, the Wanderers. Among Xeno hunters and Rogue Traders who frequent Segmentum Tempestus, it is not uncommon to see a Nihilum Wanderer among their permanent group of retinue.

While the number of Inquisitors, Techpriests, Explorators and Rogue Traders concerned with the complicated situation of Nihilum is small, the intensity it produces among them is quite significant, to the point that the fate of Nihilum has often swayed from prosperity and outright extermination as a result of their "discussions". It is of no surprise that all inhabitants of Nihilum have gone their way of being extremely hospitable (if not downright flattering) to these individuals, which hold the fragile strings of their existence, regardless of the fact that they are in actuality at the upper echelon of the Imperial Bureaucracy they hate.

Death Korps of Krieg
Although not frequent, there have often been cases in which the Nihilum Guards have sporadically insulted and assaulted members of Death Korps of Krieg, and, reflecting upon their history, it is of no surprise whatsoever.

During the 39th millennium, when the colonists were at an intense war against the local ork war band, a regiment of the Death Korps was very close by, and, if they had come to intervene in the conflict, the Nihilum colonists would have won an easy victory, with much smaller casualties. However, the Death Korps regiment saw the conflict to be “too insignificant” to intervene in, and decided to ignore the planet’s plight. Even after nearly two millennium, the sons of Nihilum have continued to hold a deep grudge towards Krieg to this day. The emotions are, however, one sided, as Krieg Guardsmen sees the troopers of Nihilum with ambivalence, not caring about the fate of a disturbingly unorganized and disloyal bafoons.

Other Members of the Imperial Guard
As a general guideline, most of the “organized” regiments that follow the traditions of the Cadian Shock Troops, Vostrayan First Borns, and Armageddon Steel Legion tends to see the Nihilum guards as utter filth. The more unorthodox guards have either been neutral or favorable towards this strange group of Imperial Guards. However, regardless of personal opinions, the Imperial Guard has come to respect and appreciate the Nihilum Guard’s aptitude as raiders and skirmishers.

As similar desert warfare specialists, the Nihilum Guards and Tallaran Desert Warriors have come to share a close friendship, and maintain an intense, but friendly competition that has benefitted both parties in question.

As I'd barred the Nihilum guards of any sort of standard elite troop choices, I was obligated to create my own, in order to add flavor to my fluff.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Nihilum Elites
Wanderers
The wanderers of Nihilum cover a broad range of men, from brash youngsters trying to make a name for themselves, to educated survivors and conquerors of deadly environments, and even the infamous maverick gunslingers. Whatever the case may be, accomplished Wanderers are all a part of the Nihilum’s Undertaker Guild, which employs and recognizes qualified men, and assist them in getting customers based on their expertise. Whether it be a need for some thrills of conquering another unforgiving environment, or a simple “employment” arranged by the guild, it is not uncommon for Wanderers to become members of the Imperial guard, in which they provide a series of versatile roles befitting of their abilities.

The open minded nature of the Wanderers of Nihilum suits them for becoming retinue for the Ordo Xenos, and Exploraotors, or even members of a Rogue Trader’s crew, and it is not an outlandish claim to say that it is for these skilled individuals that Nihilum has not yet gone through an exterminatus.

Wanderers are independent characters, whom the player can customize to their liking, from characteristics to weapon selection.

The bikers of the Claire Twins
Even with the dearth of resources so apparent in the desert world of Nihilum, many individuals are able to flourish, and the blessed few are somehow able to surpass their situations completely. The bikers of the Claire Twins are just this, as they use heavy bikes to quickly flank enemy lines with their autocannons, and take advantage of their mobility to pillage before they could be caught. Using the vehicle's relatively low height and astounding speed, the bikers of the Claire Twins move from cover to cover with their autoguns blazing, as the riders pray to the emperor that their enemies do not hit them, as even lasguns have been known to drop the lightly armored operators with ease.

Death Wishers
During the Nihilum wars, the imperial colonists soon came to realize that sole reliance on range weaponry was suicidal when fighting against orks; while hit and run tactics did allow them to have the first shots, only death awaited when the orks managed to close the gap, which, due to the resilience of the orks, happened more often than desired. After several ambushes against unsuspecting orks failed for this very reason, the colonists had sworn to mitigate this problem by creating a dedicated close quarters unit; the Death Wishers. As dedicated melee troops, the Death Wishers carried no ranged weaponry, and used a “shot-fist”, or, to put in comprehensible terms, a fist with five powerful sawed off shotguns attached, which made quick work of a good majority of the orkboyz. In order to take down larger foes, the Death Wishers carried a specialized charged explosive, which they could use as a suicide bomb with a quick jab against their opponents.

Of course, when the soldiers of Nihilum were inducted into the imperial guard, the Death Wishers had their shot-fists replaced with the standard power fists given to officers of other Imperial Guard; something possible only because other guardsmen (except for a small portion of the wanderers) were willing to not carry any close quarters weapons so that their dedicated close quarters unit could have the best equipment possible. This demonstrated how these group of former mercenaries were both feared and respected by the rest of the planet's inhabitants.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Due to my lack of experience in actually playing the game in person, I am not sure what would be balanced stats for Elite models, so I wish for some cooperation when it comes to individual stats.

I think I will write about individual characters and HQ choices, when I've managed to read enough fluff to know what to write

I would clarify one of the sentences in your opening post there.

As the population of Nihilum is small at best, compared to other hive worlds, Nihilum sends in an elite and extremely unorthodox guardsmen regiment to serve the God emperor (whom they have not felt fanaticism for, but still revere. Note that the plague of unbelief have occurred in Nihilum in multiple occasions, thus rooting out the weaker minded and potentially heretical citizens of Nihilum) with:

Nothing about the world here suggests, even remotely, that it's a Hive World. What you have here is a Frontier World, perhaps even an Imperial World, if it has some form of modern (as in, 20th-century-like) cities of a few hundred thousand people. Hives have, at the least, millions of residents.

Also.... the shot-fist? That's... not a very good idea. I'd cut that bit and just have them CQC specialists with standard CCW, maybe powerswords cobbled together from the various colonization equipment first brought to the world, or modified vapor-farming tools or something.

I'd also avoid giving the Wanderers carte blanche to write their own stat-lines ("10s! In everything! This is the Greatest Human Aliiiiiive!") and provide a baseline IG+1 sort of deal, with perhaps a selection of 1d3 Special Abilities that are rolled for, either before a battle or once ever for the character (in campaign-style games).

Thank you for your reply. Thinking back at the shot-fists, it does sound rather stupid. If Orks cannot be stopped by lasguns, there would be no way that simple shotguns would take them down...

Anyways, this is a rewriting of the first Independent character I had written for the Novacian Guard, Anselm Venables the Armor Hunter, with similar abilities, but different background.

I modified Anselm Venables' stats from Guardsman Marbo, representing him as one of the finest the Imperium Guard had ever possessed in their arsenal.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Anselm Venables 65 points
ws: 3
bs: 5
s: 3
t: 3
w: 2
I: 5
A: 3
L:8
Sv: 5+

Weapons:
-Master Crafted Grenade Launcher
-Demolition Charge
-Close Quarters Weapon

Armor
-Flak Jacket (Can improve to Carapace armor for +5 points)
-Camo Cloak for +5 points

Characteristics
Loner
Stealth
Hit and Run
Outflank
Move Through Cover
Tank Hunter

Lore:
Anselm Venables is a medium ranking wanderer of the Undertaker’s guild with a famed reputation as the “Armor Hunter”, having neutralizing countless number of armored targets over the course of his career. While quite amiable and talkative outside of combat, Venables was a distinct loner and individualist while in the heat of combat, prioritizing his survival above everythig else. In his first deployment in the Damocles Gulf Crusade, he sacrificed his whole platoon to take down two Hazard battle suits. When questioned about his behavior Venables was known to have ambivalently stated to have “sacrificed his comrades as bait” for the much larger targets. This event nearly had Venables executed, but the Imperial authority at the time decided it was best to deploy Venables alone as penance for his actions. Anselm Venables not only managed to survive, but thrived in reconnaissance duties and armor hunting. His experiences in this niche of warfare was recorded in a memoir he wrote in between battles, and was particularly popular among light infantry regiments who are not able to field anti-armor vehicles so openly.

Venables in combat carries no conventional imperial firearms with him, trusting in his master crafted grenade launcher (handed down from his legendary ancestors) and demolition charges to do his work. After destroying approximately three hundred battle suits over the course of his tour of duty (M41 742-745) in the Damocles Gulf Campaign, an unnamed Rogue Trader took notice of his skills and took him under his wing as a part of his crew. With his new master, Anselm Venables travelled to the far reaches of the Tau territory, chosen for his sheer intimidation value against Tau Battle suit operators whom he had taken many of their fellow brothers in arms.

Isn't a GL s6? Pretty ineffective. Seems like a waste of points to be honest. Not a threat to anything other than light armor.

Well, I might be wrong, but that is why Anselm has outflank and demo charges. I added the grenade launcher to be an after action weapon, and id doesn't matter too much after he blew up some heavy armor with the demo charge, and perhaps take out a few infantry or transport after that, as you had just said.

But 65 points may be too much, even with that. How about 50 points? Would that be a reasonable cost for an elite guardsman?

Should also note that Rogue Traders don't, generally speaking, follow the IN around to war-zone planets, and so an RT that takes on a IG soldier is basically stealing that soldier from the Guard, and then heading off into the wild frontiers of space.

Migrating this thread to Proposed Rules.

Should also note that Rogue Traders don't, generally speaking, follow the IN around to war-zone planets, and so an RT that takes on a IG soldier is basically stealing that soldier from the Guard, and then heading off into the wild frontiers of space.

The Clair Twins, leaders of the Storm Initiate Bikers (300 Points)
Stats:

WS: 4

BS: 4

S: 3
T: 4 (Bikers, so gets +1 toughness value)
W: 4 (Total of the two models)
I: 6
A: 2
Ld: 9
Sv.: 5

Composition:

-2 Models, consider as one independent Character.


Characteristics:
-
Jink
-Hammer of Wrath
-Relentless
-Fearless Charge
Hit and Run 

War Gear
-Heavy Stubber
-Krak Grenades
-Chainsword

Armor
-Flak Jacket
Heavy Motorcycle (consider the Clair Twins as bikers).

-Let Not Even Death Stop You
Before every mission, the Clair Twins have been known to give those under them a certain chem that has the mystical property of extending one’s will onto their bodies after their doom. Whenever a Infantry or Biker model is killed, it can still go through one more movement and shooting phase before it is finally pronounced dead with +1 value to BS and WS. If Instant death is applied, the chem is nullified. 

This trait can applied for 5pts for every squad.

Lore:
The Bikers of the Storm Initiate choose their recruits through their periodic raids, kidnapping the children of the parents they have murdered. The Clair twins were adopted under this rather typical circumstances along with countless number of other children, and ran through the harsh and bitter training necessary to prepare them for a lifetime of moral-depraved work. As the nature of the Storm Initiates do not care for anything but martial prowess, the Clair twins rose through the ranks of these bikers with vigor, their heavy stubbers always blazing.

Unfortunately, excessive talent brought unwanted attention and violence. Despite their undying loyalty to the boss, the twins’ charisma and their specially concocted chem created schisms among the raiders who were eager to either put the Clair twins as their leaders, or maintain status quo. The boss and the twins, still under friendly terms, came to an understanding that it would be best that the twins and their supporters were exiled. With this decision in mind, the Twins voluntarily inducted themselves to the Imperial Guard, never to come back to their home planet again. Only to face the horrors of war with their lightly armored bikes. Storm Initiate bikers’ experiences in hit and run tactics came into good use in their battles against the Ork War bands, which the Nihilum Guards specialize against.

The Clair Twins and their followers were last seen in the Damocles Gulf Crusade and were most certainly wiped out by the Tau; as skillful as a rider the Storm Initiates were, their bikes were unsuitable against the unflinchingly accurate sniper drones and pulse rifles. That being said, the bodies of the Clair Twins have never been found, and they have currently been proclaimed as MIA.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Also, I've put the full version of Anselm Venables in another thread, so, here's the link:
http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/2130/430896.page

Final Installment for the Nihilum Guards. This is another HQ choice alternative which allows the Nihilum Guard to focus on melee combat at the cost of range proficiency. Enjoy, and, as usual, critique is appreciated...

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Stiegius, grandmaster of the Death Wishers 300pts (HQ choice)

WS: 6
BS: 1
S: 4
T: 4
W: 3
I: 6
A: 4
Ld: 10
Sv.: 4

Composition:
-Stigius with two Deathwisher bodyguards

Characteristics
-All rules associated with Nihilum guard Infantry.
-Monster Hunter
-Rage
-Relentless
-Stubborn

-CQC specialists
When using Stiegius as your HQ choice, all infantry models gain -1 BS skills and +1 WS.



-Bloodlust
All Death Wisher elite infantry gains +1 A when using Stiegius.

Wargear
Master crafted Chainsword
No ranged weapons. Can add a las pistol for +5 points.

Lore:
After the Orks had finally been vanquished, the elite Death Wishers was left without purpose; there was no more great foe to kill, and there were no settlements that were willing to pay the high fee required to be under the protection of the Death Wishers. This had eventually strayed the Death Wishers’ original purpose as righteous defenders of the needy and the weak, and turned them into another petty group of raiders. This unfortunate circumstance prolonged throughout the 39th and 40th millennium until Nihilum finally came into contact with the Imperium of Mankind.

Stiegius found this to be the perfect opportunity to regain the fabled and much beloved former reputations of the Death Wishers, so he voluntarily (and quite enthusiastically) brought all of his Death Wishers into a quest for glory and redemption. Because of his ambitions, Stiegius has maintained an absolutely spotless discipline and fanaticism for the God-Emperor among his elite soldiers- a characteristics that has allowed his soldiers to avoid too much animosity amongst Sisters of Battle and the Witch Hunters.

The Death Wishers survived the Damocles Crusades with flying colors, and, with the ambitious Stiegius still leading them to glory, are fighting bitter wars against the Tyrannids, standing their ground even as they are often overrun. While this had brought severe casualties amongst the Death Wishers, many Imperial Guard regiments respect such selfless actions and have held the grandmaster of the Death Wishers as a hero and Imperial citizen; a reputation very few individuals of the Nihilum Guard have come to hold.