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Made in gg
Hurr! Ogryn Bone 'Ead!




Hi

I have recently gotten back into 40k (you can read my intro here http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/711383.page ). And have decided to create an Imperial Guard Army.

I have always loved the idea of a Guard Army from a hive world ever since Necromunda came out. I have started writing a 'codex' for the army and thought it would be good to post the WIP codex here for others to see, comment on and offer suggestions. Since I haven't played since 3rd Edition and haven't read the rules for the current edition, I thought this would be a good way of creating a fluffy army rather than a competitive one.

One of the first problems I encountered was there is very little consistency in how large an Imperial Guard Regiment is. I know that a regiment is 3-20 Companies, each company divided into 3-6 Platoons, each platoon divided into 2-6 Squads, each squad being 1 Sergeant and 9 Guardsmen. In theory that should make it reasonably easy to work out the numbers in the regiment (I was able to max it out to 22500 men, but that was pushing it into grey areas).

However, the Imperial Tithe is 10% of the PDF (or men under arms). I worked it out this equates to about 1% of the population. Hive world populations can be in the 100s of billions. It has been written that a hive world can raise multiple regiments at a time (great I thought) - this still equates to thousands (might have been millions, cant remember the number I worked out) of regiments at a single raising. Far to many for my liking - So I have come up with a solution for my Hive Regiment.

It all comes down to a mistranslation of this world Tactica Imperialas, specifically the use of the word 'Company' The version they translated theirs from stated that a regiment is 3-20 Companies, each company divided into 3-6 Platoons, each platoon divided into 2-6 Squads. It did not say however what a squad was - presumably whoever copied the one that this worlds was translated from didn't see the need to specify that, or missed it out entirely (I'm going to go with the former, the writer probably thought 'everyone knows what a squad is.' On the hive world, a company refers to a large business run by one of the Noble Families, and as such is a much larger organisation than the military company (my interpretation puts it at around the size of an Imperial Army Group). They used this interpretation of the word Company to determine the size of a regiment, a platoon and a squad.

The Hives of the world are no longer separate having joined as they have grown, but did at one point have 20 separate Hives. The world still considers it to have 20 Hives, but today these are political boarders rather than physical. Each Hive is ruled by a corporation, under which there are several companies (might include an extra layer of mega corporation above these two, not sure yet). Each corporation is known for the production of certain things (even though all the corporations produce there version of almost every product).

The population is born into a corporation and are almost fanatically loyal to ones corporation. This is no accident, the corporations use a variety of methods, both obvious and subtle. From Banners to posters with the Corporation's Logo all over its territory down to the logo on every product produced. It is common practice (but unknown by most of the population) that corporations deliberately produce inferior products and stamp it with a rival hive's logo and distribute these to the population of their hive. In the drinking dens of the Underhive Prooccaws for loud debates over whether it is better to have the longer range of a Henslerd Lasgun, the stopping power of a Votlill Lasgun or the ammo capacity of a Ranrence Lasgun is better, but will all agree that a Prooccaws Lasgun is far better in all aspects and you are truly lucky to own one. This deliberate production of inferior products happens with every product from hive top to hive bottom.


That's where I am at at the moment, or though have lots of scribbled notes and ideas and will either edit or add posts as I work out more details - any suggestions, comments or ideas are welcome. At the moment I haven't got a name for the Hive World, so if you want to suggest one, feel free. If I get several suggestions I like I may put it to the vote for you to decide.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Ok,

I have the names of the Hives and their specialty (in very broad terms).

A note on naming - Hive and Corporation are used interchangeably. Hive Sleeddaw and The Sleeddaw Corporation are one and the same As a rule, at the top of the Hive they are referred to as Corporations, but the further down the hive you go, the more often they will be referred to as Hives. The Underhives are The 'Hive Name' Underhives, eg The Sleeddaw Underhives.

When the Hives were separate they were named after their ruling families. As such, Hive names have changed in the past as ruling families changed. Since becoming corporations should the ruling family change, the new ruling family takes the name of the Corporation. There have been times when a Corporation/Hive changed its name if the ruling family disgraced themselves too severely, and so the name changed to remove all associations. There is an Inquisitorial presence of some form on the Hive world, quite possibly Ordo Hereticus, but at the moment is a vague idea (lots of Wyrdvane Squads, lots of Primaris Psykers, lots of commissars and some form of inquisitorial storm troopers - The actual names are still being written and re-written). Any suggestions for what these squads might be called (as opposed to storm troopers, wyrdvanes and commissars) is welcome.

Anyways, Hive Names:

Ranrence - Infantry
Votlill - Infantry
Prooccaws - Infantry
Nannaim - Infantry
Henslerd - Infantry

Gregvan - Infantry
Petkett - Infantry
Collstein - Infantry
Graivsu - Infantry
Urdni - Infantry

Sleeddaw - Tank
Shanfax - Tank
Rulbrou - Tank
Zubsul - Artillery
Nondoows - Artillery

Branrence - Artillery
Ivseam - Recon (Funny description for a regiment of Hellhounds)
Elbrild - Recon
Veargong - Recon
Tuytait - Flyers

Edit: Thanks to http://fantasynamegenerators.com for the names
Edit 2: Restructured the Regiment types based on later comments

This message was edited 5 times. Last update was at 2017/05/19 17:18:36


 
   
Made in gg
Hurr! Ogryn Bone 'Ead!




Ok, for the next instalment I have worked out the organisation of the first 5 Regiments (Each hive produces a full Regiment). The first 5 are infantry/mechanised infantry, not sure what it would actually be classified as, since not everyone is in a transport.

Rather than dividing it into Squad, Platoon, Company, I have divided it into Shifts, Sectors, Level, Zone (Platoon), Company, Corporation (Regiment). Remember, they are using the term Company as their basis of size.

A shift is just that, Day Shift, Night Shift, something along those lines (or though what passes for day and night in a hive is anyone's guess). Each Level of a Hive would be divided into sections (think like on a ship Section, each one a specific distance along the level), hence the terms Sections and Levels. Zones would be several Levels under a single Control Level). A Company would control/own several zones. Finally companies would be subsidiary companies under an 'umbrella' Corporation.

Shift
1 Stubjack (Platoon Command Squad)
5 Gangs (Infantry Squad)
5 Heavies (Heavy Weapons Squad)
3 Scummers (Special Weapons Squad)
50 Juves (Conscripts)
1 Bounty Hunter (Commissar)
6 Wagons (Chimera)

The bounty hunter isn't a real Commissar, but will play like one for rules purposes - not sure what would happen fluff wise if an actual commissar saw a bounty hunter execute someone - would probably depend on the situation.

Sector
6 Shifts
1 Guilders (Command Squad, Guild Boss)
3 Preachers (Priests)
3 Techs (Enginseers)
1 Guilder Caravan (Chimera)

Shifts and Sectors have pretty much been rounded up from the Underhive. The Guilders and Guild Bosses have the most influence with the leaders of the various gangs simply because they control the supplies into the Underhive, so they have been put in charge of all the gangs and other Underhive 'rabble' that has been rounded up.

Level
6 Sectors
1 Guilder Crew
(Command Squad, Guild Leader)
6 Guild Enforcer Crews
(Veterans)
3 Missionaries (Priests)
3 Enginseers
7 Guilder Caravans (Chimera)

This is where we start to see a noticeable change. Levels tend to come from the lower end of Hive City. So entire guilds are volunteered to join the ranks. It is also where you see the first semblance of an organised fighting force in the terms of the Guild Enforcers who protect the Guild Caravans during their journeys into the Underhive. Being packed with valuable merchandise, Guilder Caravans are tempting targets for the gangs of the Underhive, and as such the enforcers have seen their fair of fighting defending the caravan. This has taught them how to work together as a group. Also, being part of the guilder caravan gives the access to better equipment than most of the gangs of the Underhive.

Zones
6 Levels
6 Sectors
1 Noble Squad (Command Squad, Noble, Pre-Spyre Trials)
6 House Hold Guard (Veterans)
3 Honour Guard (Rough Riders)
1 Commissioned Officer (Commissar)
3 Confessors (Priests)
3 Tech Priests (Enginseers)
7 Carraiges (Chimera)

This is where the noticeable change happens. This is led by young nobles who have not taken part in the Spyre Trials yet. The Spyre Trials are a right of passage where young nobles form into small teams and go into the Underhive and are not to return until they have completed a specific objective, usually kill a certain number of underhivers, Survive for a certain period of time (such as a year), or bring their suit to full activation. Obviously these young nobles aren't sent in defenceless - they have highly advanced, and very ritualised hunting suits. Most of the suits systems are dormant and start to activate the more it is used. From a tech level it is somewhere between high end carapace armour and power armour. Some of the suits are designed for stealth, others ranged combat, brute force or speed.

Before young nobles take part in the Spyre Trials they are free of a lot of responsibilities, often making minor deals with Influential guild bosses or smaller guild leaders. It makes the young nobles feel important, yet not having any real impact. For the Guild Bosses and Guild Leaders they deal with, it gives them a small measure of influence with the Noble families, if a particular young noble's fortunes rise, so might the guilders. Not to mention that the deals done are often small by the nobles standards, but are still substantial by the guilders standards.

These Young Nobles are given 6 sectors of their own to lead directly, usually of guild bosses that they have had dealings with in the past. This is done more to allow the young nobles to feel important and 'play' at being general. It also prevents the inevitable 'whining of why does that Guild Leader have a bigger force than me, I'm more important than him.'

The House Hold Guard are just that, a portion of the families personal guard meant to keep their precious son or daughter safe.

The Honour Guard is nothing more than the families showing off, able to afford horses from off world. The riders are often dressed in overly ornate armour made from semi precious materials and studded with shining stones and colourful feathered plumes and pennants.

The Carriage is a Chimera but the interior will be furnished with soft seats covered in expensive and exotic fabrics, maybe a small drinks cabernet and a painting of some glorious battle and will also often have highly ornate engravings on the exterior and flying the flag of their family and the corporation.

Company
6 Zones
6 Levels
1 Spyre Team (Command Squad, Noble, Post Spyre Trials)
1 Astropath, Officer of the Fleet & Master of Ordnance
3 Ogryn Squads
3 Honour Guard (Rough Riders)
6 Mercenary Squads
(Veterans geared for CC)
1 Commissar
3 Pontifices (Priest)
3 Artisans (Enginseers)
6 Chimeras
4 Armoured Trucks

The Company is led by a Noble who has been through the Spyre Trials. They have also received extensive tutoring on strategy and tactics, as many military strategies and tactics can be applied to business, and vice versa. They are given 6 Levels to command personally, but unlike with the young nobles, this is to give the Nobles an effective fighting force that they can direct personally and quickly as the tactical and strategic situation changes. It is at this stage that the nobles have access to fleet and artillery bombardments and access to command so they may be kept abreast of the current situation and adapt accordingly

The Nobles will take to the field in their Spire Trial Suits. The suits are all designed for close ranged combat, even the long range suits are relatively short range on the battlefield, as the Underhive usually only allows for short range fire fights. The Mercenaries have been hired from a Rogue Trader who plies the space lanes near the hive world. All of these troops have seen active combat, either as part of the imperial guard, or fighting in boarding actions on behalf of the rogue traders.

The Ogryn Squads are partly for showing off by the families, but have the added benefit of being extremely loyal and very effective in a fight.

The Honour Guard serves the same purpose as previously, the only exception is that the mounts are likely to be more exotic.

The veterans deploy in good, solid chimera's, nothing flashy, just practical.

The Armoured Trucks are just that, as they are used to transport the Ogryns, they need to be exceptionally sturdy and durable, to survive both the enemy and the ogryns.

Corproation
20 Companies
1 Command Squad (Ranking Noble)
1 Astropath, Officer of the Fleet & Master of Ordnance
3 Household Staff
(Ratlings - Chefs, Concierge, personal 'shoppers')
3 Messengers Squads
(Rough Riders)
1 Commissar Lord
6 Mercenary Squads
(Veterans, but probably Xeno's, hired from the Rogue Trader)
3 Magos (Enginseers)
3 Deacons (Priests)
6 Chimeras (may look into something like rhino's or even xenos transports)
1 Valkyrie

Finally we have a Corporation. This is led by the highest ranking Noble. Unlike with the previous Nobles, he doesn't have direct command of his own force. He doesn't need to feel important, he knows he is. Besides, he is far more concerned about the overall strategy rather than reacting to small changes in the enemy lines, that's what his subordinates are there for. He is able to call on large amounts of orbital and artillery support, as well as redeploy uncounted numbers as needed. All nobles retain a large number of personal staff. For those that can afford it, ratlings are an ideal choice as they tend to be excellent chefs, very good at finding rare items and snooping around in other peoples business, such as their rivals.

The mercenaries are the elite of the rogue traders troops, and xenos. At first glance, this may be seen as simple showing off, but the noble realises that he can learn a lot about a xenos species from these mercenaries, and could provide invaluable intelligence and insight should he face their species in battle.

Yikes, that was longer than I intended - I actually have some more to add, but want to get it clear in my head, so expect either another post or an edit in the next day or so.



Edit: Changed Junior Grade Commissar to a Commissioned Officer

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2017/01/07 14:51:52


 
   
Made in gb
Keeper of the Holy Orb of Antioch





avoiding the lorax on Crion

Keep it up...

Its certainly interesting.

Sgt. Vanden - OOC Hey, that was your doing. I didn't choose to fly in the "Dongerprise'.

"May the odds be ever in your favour"

Hybrid Son Of Oxayotl wrote:
I have no clue how Dakka's moderation work. I expect it involves throwing a lot of d100 and looking at many random tables.

FudgeDumper - It could be that you are just so uncomfortable with the idea of your chapters primarch having his way with a docile tyranid spore cyst, that you must deny they have any feelings at all.  
   
Made in us
Thunderhawk Pilot Dropping From Orbit




AZ

Sounds neat!!!!

Keep it up!!!



 
   
Made in gg
Hurr! Ogryn Bone 'Ead!




Thanks for the support

Nothing new today as I am still trying to get my head around the armoured regiments with both names, numbers and should there really be baneblades (answer, yes, they will be shadowswords, the urban warfare one, but they aren't real shadowswords, but rather Ash Waste Haulers - large enough to be a shadowsword, and decked out with weapons, but most definitely inferior to a real shadowsword, I doubt I will ever use one in my army, but wanted to figure out if they could have one).

I did do some number crunching though.

The regiment described above consists of 109,206,300 troops and 47,127 Transports. Multiplied across 20 Hives and this is a fraction of their tithe requirement (they would need to produce 200 regiments of the size mentioned above to meet the tithe requirement). As such, I have decided that the equipment produced for these 20 regiments represents a single days production in relation to military equipment supplied to the Imperium. Given that a 'normal' regiment is around 3000 troops (got this from HH fluff where a single troop transport held an imperial army regiment, 3000 troops and equipment), the current numbers seem to back this up, or though there are large variations. Even Regiments from a fortress world would be unlikely to produce a regiment larger than 18,500.

This means that the Hive World is producing enough equipment to supply between 5,903 and 36,335 regiments a day in order to supply the tithe that is normal for a hive world of its size.

Thought it would be interesting to put it in perspective for you guys, just how big the imperium is and how many regiments there are.

Hopefully be able to post the organisation of the armoured regiments tomorrow, if not I will give you some information on the inquisitor that's in the background - its why the infantry regiment has a lack of elites and commissars.

Oh, the Corporation level mercenaries, they are Eldar Rangers. I did toy with the idea of some Ork freebooters, but the combat style isn't right for a commander who is more likely to be behind the lines working on the grand strategy. Haven't ruled them out for other regiments though, especially the recon (hellhound) regiments.

Currently working on a Hive World Imperial Guard 'Codex' - You can find the WIP here: http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/711392.page

'My Sword'
'Where did you leave it'
'In the back of a Primarch'

Cookie if you can remind me who said that 
   
Made in gg
Hurr! Ogryn Bone 'Ead!




Hey all

Finally got the organisation of the armoured regiment sorted (still a couple of things I'm not sure about, so may be changes at a later date). As before, I have divided them into Shifts, Sectors, Levels, Zones, Company's and Corporation. The social class from where each of the recruits are drawn from are pretty much the same, or though the reasoning slightly different. The main thing to note is that from a man power perspective, these regiments are substantially smaller, but that is because of the increased level of equipment supplied – so as far as the tithe is concerned, they are pretty much equal.

I was unsure how to go about naming these vehicles until I remembered that the first tanks were often called landships, from there names started to fall into place, or though it still took me a while to come up with a way to differentiate between the social classes until I thought about having light, medium and heavy versions of the same tank. Think I dropped the name medium (assuming that is the standard). In game terms this will be represented by gear added – I light ship is straight off the production line, where as medium may have dozer blades or heavy stubbers and heavies would have extra armour.

Shift
1 Frigate (Leman Russ Exterminator)
5 Light Cruisers (Leman Russ Battle Tank)
5 Line Breakers (Leman Russ Demolisher)
3 Light Destroyers (Leman Russ Vanquisher)
5 Gun Boats (Leman Russ Punisher)

This pretty much follows imperial doctrine in that 1 squad = 1 tank. Obviously, those from the Underhive will never have seen a tank before, however, I think that as the tanks all share the same chassis, imagine that they are constructed in lower hive city – the weapons not being added until further up the Hive. This is for two reasons. Comparatively it is easier to construct the chassis than the weapon, so those who have the skills to do so are slightly more valuable and live slightly further up hive city – in truth, it makes little difference to the workers, but should a noble wish to see one of the weapon construction facilities, he doesn't want to trek down to the bottom ends of hive city to do so. There is also a couple of practical purposes, there are areas of the lower hive city that a turreted tank just wont fit through, but the chassis does. The second reason is that the nobles don't want the gangers getting their hands on such heavy weapons – they have no problem with small arms, but the big guns could actually put them at risk.

Because the chassis are built in the lower hive city, most of the gangs have at the very least heard of them, and many actually use the chassis they can obtain as armoured hab units, and for those that have a working engine, mobile hideout/bases. As resources are scarce, the ability to move your entire base from one location to another is a great advantage.

Initially, it would seem that underhive gangs who have had very limited contact with these vehicles, let alone know how to control the weapons on them, would be a poor choice to crew them, and generally, they are. However, the nobles realised that the work force has value, losing a huge segment of that causes problems in production and reduces profits. As such, rounding up the gangs is an ideal way of crewing the tanks, whilst keeping the skilled workforce, and gets rid of trouble makers. This does often result in high casualties for the armoured regiment upon their initial deployment, but this isn't too much of a problem, most of the tanks can be repaired, those that cant can be cannibalised for their parts. As for the crews, many are not fatally wounded, so they are just cycled back into tanks needing crews. Those crews (and those from other regiments) who are injured beyond the point of saving are turned into servitors and wired into tanks as needed. This has the odd effect of convincing tank crews to become far better in an unexpectedly short amount of time. Something motivational about your former gunner that you grew up with being brought back and wired into that same gun.

The Juves are assigned to the gunboats as their enthusiasm matches the overwhelming fire power, without their lack of accuracy and fire discipline being of too much risk to the other tanks.

As time goes by weapons for the tanks become harder to find, as such, its not uncommon to remove the sponsors entirely, freeing up the crew member/servitor for another tank. Should a tank lose its primary gun with no way of repairing or replacing it, the tank will be stripped of all it useful parts and the chassis turned into mobile command bunkers.

Sectors
6 Shifts
1 Light Command Cruiser (Tank Commander, Leman Russ Battle Tank, Guilder Boss)
3 Techs (Enginseers)

Surprisingly, Guilder bosses are actually quite good at commanding tanks. This comes from them often having been part of a guilder caravan convoy, and as such has learnt the very basics of manoeuvring a vehicle for best protection. Or though the tactics they employ are crude at best, and non existent at worse, its better than most of the gangs who will have had no experience with armoured vehicles at all.

A note on techs. They are not adepts of the mechanicus. They are individuals who have learnt the basics of machines work through taking them apart and putting them back together. They may not understand how a crystal in a lasgun works, but know that it how it has to be placed in relation to other parts in the gun in order to work.

These are the people gangers go to when they want their weapon customised or repaired. Some of the more experienced techs will be responsible for making 'one in a million' weapons – often superior weapons than are available from the corporations, two weapons combined or in extremely rare cases, a master crafted weapon. As much as the tech adepts hate these individuals, there are simply not enough adepts to go around, and in truth, the adepts have no wish to be fixing endless numbers of lasguns. It is quite likely that should these techs fall in battle, they will be turned into servitors for the Enginseer's personal work force.

Level
6 Sectors
1 Siege Breaker (Tank Commander, Leman Russ Demolisher, Guild Leader)
6 Cruisers (Leman Russ Battle Tank, Dozer Blades)
3 Enginseers

Guild Leaders have usually had a reasonable amount of experience in commanding a several guild caravans in a convoy, and have learnt how to use them together. Admittedly, his experience has never been on this scale before, at most having a dozen caravans, but its still more than anyone below him has had.

I had some trouble with coming up with the names for the Line Breaker and Siege Breaker. As the Line Breakers were replacing heavy squads, it just didn't feel right calling them Light Siege Breakers or Light Line Breakers. I also wanted the frigate to be the only 'non light' tank in the shift.

Zone
6 Levels
6 Sectors
1 Capital Cruiser (Tank Commander, Leman Russ Executioner, Extra Amour, Pre Spyre Trial Noble)
6 Escorts (Leman Russ Exterminators, Heavy Stubber Household Guard)
3 Heavy Siege Breakers (Leman Russ Demolisher, Extra Armour)
3 Tech Priests (Enginseers)

As with the Infantry regiment previously, this is where we see a distinct change in naming. Calling the tank a Capital Cruiser is more to make the young noble feel important. It should also be noted that or though it will play as a Leman Russ Executioner, the Executioner cannon is actually a knock off version of the real thing (as they are ancient relics). From a damage point of view the weapons are comparable, the differences come with the energy efficiency, recharge rate, cooling efficiency and other such non game things. This is the first point (but not the last) that we start seeing knock offs of Imperial designs that are next to impossible to get on a large scale

The escorts are some of the household guard of the nobles. They have been renamed from Frigates to Escorts more to appease the young noble rather than any actual difference. After all, the young noble has no problem with some escorts to keep them safe and do the fetching and carrying, but she doesn't want to be surrounded by some dirty frigates. The Escorts themselves will often have large pieces of artwork painted onto their sides, A banner bearing the log of the family and the corporation hanging from its barrels, long pennants streaming from the turrets.

The Heavy Siege Breakers, much like the honour guard of the infantry is about showing off. The Extra armour on both the Capital Cruiser and the Heavy Siege Breakers are in fact large sculptures made out of Marble, Onyx or other precious stone, usually displaying a glorious tank battle or the Emperor. As such, the benefit of the use of these materials are just a side effect and cause no end of frustration for both the young nobles and the enginseers when they are damaged.

]Company
6 Zones
6 Levels
1 Dreadnought (Stormsword, post Spyre Trials Noble)
3 Heavy Escorts (Leman Russ Exterminators)
3 Capital Class Cruisers (Leman Russ Executioners)
6 Vanquisher Mercenaries (Offworlders)
3 Artisans (Tech Priests)

The Dreadnought isn't an actual Stormsword, but will play as one for rules purposes. It is a heavily modified Ash Waste Trawler. Large vehicles that travels the Ash Wastes outside of the hives (technically on the surface of hive city), scouring for any useful materials. The large cargo holds of these vehicles have been converted to hold all the equipment required to mount a large array of weapons. It does have a (very) small office for the Noble so they can study data slates of troop movements and deployments.

All the tanks under the Nobles command contain Auger Arrays allowing them to deploy additional troops quickly and precisely.

The Heavy Escorts are again household guard, with tanks overly embellished with sculptures using all manner of precious materials.

3 Capital Cruisers are just that, usually commanded by a ranking member of the household guard, again, with much of the usual extravagant ornamentation. The main difference is the attitude of the Noble when it gets damaged and needs replacing – they are usually more accepting of having something practical over pretty - usually, but not always.

The Vanquishers are mercenaries hired from the Rogue Trader, all of whom are tank aces. There vehicles are unadorned and unpainted, beyond whatever was painted on previously. They show signs of battle damage, but a keen eye will see that the damage is only superficial.

Corporation
20 Companies
1 Flagship (Stormlord, Ranking Noble)
3 Heavy Cruisers (Leman Russ Battle Tanks, Extra Armour, Dozer Blades, Camo Netting)
3 Vendettas
1 Commissar Tank (Tank Commander, Demolisher)
6 Messengers (These are Xenos Mercenaries on Jetbikes)
3 Magos

The Flagship is the closest thing to a real baneblade variant that the Corporation gets, in so far as the chassis is the real thing. It has been bought from the Rogue Trader. I still haven't decided how he acquired them, but I am thinking along the lines of him having discovered an old Great Crusade/Horus Heresy era battle site. Given the age, nothing of them actually worked, but the Rogue Trader knew enough to know that they still had value. Rather than being used to transport troops, the space has been converted into a mobile command centre with an operations table showing real time movements of troops and collating all data sent from the tanks with auger arrays.

The Heavy Cruisers are placed there simply for protection should the need arise, but the truth is it is unlikely the ranking noble will find himself close to the front lines.

The vendettas are there to provide fast precision strikes and provide air cover for the Flagship.

As with the Infantry Regiment, the noble employs messengers, but in this instance they are Eldar on Jetbikes (am considering vipers instead) and are often used as outriders and scouts as well. Again, the Xenos will have been hired from the Rogue Trader.

The Commissar tank is commanded by a Commissar Lord who is either too old or (more likely) been too injured to lead troops on foot. Or though being under the Corporation part of the organisation, he will often be with other areas leading from the front. I am toying with the idea that he could be connected with the Inquisitor in some way, which would allow him to remain with the corporation element without shooting the xenos or the Noble.

Yikes, that was another long post. The next one will be the organisation of the Artillery Hives. As things stand, I don't think there will be too many name changes there.

As always, please let me know what you think, any suggestions you have etc.

Currently working on a Hive World Imperial Guard 'Codex' - You can find the WIP here: http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/711392.page

'My Sword'
'Where did you leave it'
'In the back of a Primarch'

Cookie if you can remind me who said that 
   
Made in gg
Hurr! Ogryn Bone 'Ead!




Ok

Now the Holidays are over, here is my next update.

I am going to deal with my Inquisitor and his involvement in all of this. He is a relatively minor Inquisitor (and without a name at this time) as far as Inquisitors go, but still has pretty much unlimited power with regards to my Hive World, it would be a foolish Planetary Governor to refuse the wishes of someone bearing the Inquisitorial Seal.

The Inquisitor is a Radical of the Ordo Hereticus, and the ideology he follows lies somewhere between the Xanthite and Isstvanian. He believes that the Psyker is the next obvious step along the path of human evolution and that their powers need to be harnessed. He also believes that conflict makes the Imperium stronger, and that conflict will breed stronger Psykers.

He knows and tolerates the Xenos Mercenaries employed by the planetary rulers of the Hive World, knowing that when the time comes, he can use them as a source for xenophobia.

His base of operations is a heavily modified Emperor Class Battleship. It is designed to help the Psykers to control and hide their powers. The upper crew decks are all lavishly furnished and designed to put the psykers onboard at ease with many areas for relaxation, meditation chambers and impressive artworks. Every crew member, from the Ships captain to the lowliest gun crewman has been hand picked specifically for their small (even by human standards) warp presence.

Currently he has rounded up every wyrd he can find on the planet. Unlike many, he treats these psykers with respect. As such, they enjoy far more comfortable lives than they could have ever thought possible, many of whom were either living hiding their powers in the cramped Hive City, or having had to flee to the Underhive. Some may have been taken in by the various gangs if their talents were useful, but many eaked out a living on the scraps of the Underhive. Now they are among their fellows and have at the very least comfortable shared quarters, and the more powerful of their kind being treated to their own private rooms and luxuries they had never dreamed of before.

The Inquisitor is no fool however (or though many may debate that), and realises that all psykers come with inherent dangers and as such has a full regiment of Militarum Tempestus and an Order Minoris onboard. The Militarum Tempestus Regiment is also made up of those who have a small warp presence. The Order Minoris members are either full or partial parriors (I gave up trying to spell that). It is also likely that some of the members of the Militarum Tempestus fall into this category. It is also interesting to note that the instinctual dislike of psykers is not present in these two groups, or though there is still plenty of indoctrinated hatred to go around. The primary role of these two groups is to prevent the psykers powers going seriously array, and if needs be, execute one and in a worst case scenario combat any demon that might come through.

Or though both these units are primarily stationed aboard the Emperor Class Battleship of the Inquisitor, they also each have their own ship, supplied by the Inquisitor, part of the agreement to allow him to create the Order Minoris and the Militarum Tempestus Regiment. Or though both could have been done purely on his authority, the Inquisitor is not blind to the politics involved.

The ship of the Order Minoris is a Cardinal Class Heavy Cruiser and the ship of the Militarum Tempestus is a Dictator Class Crusier. The Cardinal Class is a mobile cathedral to the Emperors Greatness with multiple shrines, vaulted archways. However, it also contains training areas for the Adeptus Sororitis. The Dictator is has numerous flight decks to aid in the deployment of the regiment and has also got multiple environments for training in. It is not uncommon for the Adeptus Sororitis to also use these training facilities and for the two groups to train together for improved battlefield performance. The Equipment for the regiment has been supplied entirely by the Hive World as part of its tithe.

The current regimental raising is on the Inquisitors orders. That is why all 20 Hives are raising a regiment simultaneously. Ordinarily such raisings would happen at staggered intervals due to the logistics of transporting so many troops in one go.

I have chosen to use Sisters of Battle instead of Sisters of Silence due to the current fluff. If it gets retconed in the future, I will have a look at the numbers and consider changing it. I also liked the idea of partial nulls, people who have the ability to 'activate' a psychic disruption field, it could even be a minor psychic power and the individuals don't actually realise they are psykers. Something nice and ironic about that.

The actual organisation of both the Sisters of Battle and the Storm Troopers will be along the lines of their own orders, but to give an idea of the hierarchy (and to keep a level of conformity) I will use the Sector, Level, Zone, Company, Corporation system I have been using.

Sector
20 Commissars
60 Wyrdvane Choir
60 Wyrds (lvl 1 Primaris Psykers)
60 Boxes (Chimaras)

The commissars are just that, relatively new to the role and are given a small number of these minor Wyrds to watch over and train for their battlefield role.

The Wyrdvane squads at this level are mostly made up of individuals who had been able to keep their powers hidden, or were so minor they were of no real benefit to those of the Underhive. The simple truth is that they most likely wouldn't have manifested any real power, nor been of any danger and only as a group do they possess a modicum of real potential.

The Wyrds fall into one of two categories. Either they are underhive wyrds who had powers that were significant enough that they could hire themselves out to the various gangs, or they are former members of Wyrdspark Choirs who through training have developed their powers enough to no longer need their Choir. This can have a couple of effects on the choir. If the Choir is strong enough, it will still be considered a Wyrdspark Choir, those choirs that are no longer strong enough are downgraded to Wyrdvanes. This can sometimes leave a bitter taste as they loose access to some of the privileges they may have become accustomed too. Others still remember what there lives were like before and realise that they are still far better off than they were.

The Chimeras are known as boxes by the wyrds as they are inscribed with various runes that dampen their psychic powers, or though not painful, it is disconcerting for them.

Level
6 Sectors
20 Commissars
60 Wyrdspark Chiors
60 Battle Wyrds (lvl 1 Primaris Psyker)
60 Boxes

The Commissars at this level have usually had battle experience with another regiment, most likely one that has been destroyed.

The wyrdsparks are those wyrds who didn't have particularly useful powers in the Underhive, but were able to use them to entertain underhivers with their can-trips. Some of them show the potential to become independent psykers.

The Battle Wyrds are Underhive Wyrds who had powers that were useful in the frequent gang wars of the Underhive and have seen combat and have some ability to fight and defend themselves.

Zone
6 Levels
20 Commissar Lords
60 Storm Trooper Platoons
60 Primaris Psykers (lvl 2)
240 Valkyries

The Commissar Lords are either ranking officers of the Storm Trooper Regiment or Agents of the Inquisitor

The Storm Trooper Regiment is described above and the Valkyries come from their Cruiser.

The Primaris Psykers have gone through the various rituals and past the assorted tests and would be considered sanctioned psykers.

Company
6 Zones
60 Battle Psykers
60 Sisters of Battle Squads
60 Rhinos

The Battle Psykers are Primaris Psykers who have seen combat.

I haven't decided on the specific make up of the Sister of Battle Squads yet, I may well mix and match a little to give them tactical flexibility in their own right or I might keep them as standard battle sisters to give my Imperial guard a solid anchor.

Corporation
20 Company's
1 Inquisitor
1 Canoness
60 Celestian Squads
60 War Psykers
60 Rhinos

I haven't put any thought into the canoness or the order beyond what is mentioned above, so any suggestions or ideas would be welcome.

The War Psykers are psykers who have been in multiple battles and have been with the Inquisitor since before the current raising.

Well, that's it for now, as always, comments, suggestions or ideas are always welcome.

I'll try and get around to the Artillery Regiments tomorrow. Proving a little bit more difficult than I thought as in where to put the different things, what to include, what not to include etc.

Currently working on a Hive World Imperial Guard 'Codex' - You can find the WIP here: http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/711392.page

'My Sword'
'Where did you leave it'
'In the back of a Primarch'

Cookie if you can remind me who said that 
   
Made in gg
Hurr! Ogryn Bone 'Ead!




Heya

Time for my next instalment. This time I will be detailing the organisation of the 5 Artillery Hives. Now, Artillery isn't something you would normally associate with a Hive World, especially one like this who's entire surface (and sub-surface) is covered with what is effectively a single Hive. However, Artillery are produced on this world for two purposes.

Firstly, it is to provide defence against sub-orbital raiders, this is of course highly uncommon given the high production levels, there are always hundreds of ships in orbit, mostly freighters or transports, but there are enough ships, whether small escorts needing rearmament, or the occasional ship of the line needing new crew and parts that it deters most raiders from hitting the planet itself, but non the less, the planet maintains these defences. The posting to a gun battery is one of the more coveted positions, and those in Hive City with some modicum of wealth or influence will often pay for a commission in the PDF, who's primary role is to man these batteries, its a better position than working in the endless manufactorums.

The second reason for producing these weapons is to arm the various ships of the Imperium. Though the weapons produced here are nothing compared to the huge broadside batteries produced on the Forge Worlds, the weapons from here are often used for the turrets on all manner of craft, from freighters to Ships of the Line. These weapons are simply put onto tracks and deployed as mobile artillery pieces.

Because the majority of these weapons go off world to the Imperium, they have maintained the common imperial names for them and have not earned any common names within the Hives.

Shift
1 Manticore
5 Hydras
5 Basilisks
3 Wyvern
5 Loader Teams (Sentinel Squad)

Because of the shear number of personnel required to load and fire these massive weapons, they are rounded up from the various gangs and other inhabitants of the Underhive. Many of them will never have seen weapons of this size, fortunately, due to their harsh environments and lives, they are stronger than those of Hive City, which is the major requirement for loading these weapons. As such, early on these artillery pieces are usually inefficient.

The Loader teams are sentinels designed for lifting and carrying and are normally crewed by Juves, who do not have the strength of the Gangers. Or though termed loaders, they tend to only move large amounts of ammo from one location to another rather than actually load the guns. These lifters can easily be fitted with a weapon when needed.

Sector
6 Shifts
1 Gun Commander (Company Command Squad)
3 Techs (Enginseers)
3 Preachers (Ministorum Priests)
1 Officer of the Fleet
1 Master of Ordnance
1 Mobile Bunker

The Gun Commander is a Company Command Squad. Many Guilders have bought commissions in the PDF as officers. This allows them to conduct their guilder business with only minimal commitments of time to the PDF. This does however make them the perfect choice (on a data slate at least) to lead those rounded up from the Underhive. They have no significant standing within the Hive Nobles, and its a chance to get more bribes from guilders to fill the vacant posts.

An Officer of the Fleet is assigned to these commands as they are more familiar with the weapons being employed, as they are used aboard their ships as defence turrets. Now, these officers are not the crisp, smartly dressed officers that many would imagine. More often they are foul mouthed and foul tempered leaders of ship gun crews. This allows them to fit in surprisingly well with Gangs of the Underhive.

Level
6 Sectors
1 Battery Commander (Company Command Squad)
3 Hydra's
3 Basilisks
3 Enginseers
3 Missonaries (Ministorum Priests)
1 Officer of the Fleet
1 Master of Ordnance
1 Mobile Command Bunker (Chimera)

The Battery Commander are Guild Leaders who had bought themselves higher ranks in the PDF. The Officer of the Fleet would most likely be a Turret Commander. As such he would wear the uniform of a Navy Officer, but it is likely to be worn casually and be grease and oil stained.

Zone
6 Levels
6 Sectors
1 Artillery Commander (Company Command Squad, Noble, pre spyre trial)
6 Wyverns
3 Manticores
3 Tech Priests
3 Confessors
1 Officer of the Fleet
1 Master of Ordnance
1 Carriage (chimera)

Strangely enough, what to put in the zone caused me the most trouble. I had considered putting Death Strike Missiles in at this point. After re reading the description of them several times and going back and fourth about whether to put them in, I finally decided not to and have Wyverns instead. Ultimately my decision came down to 'would you really put a bunch of teenage 'rich kids' in charge of an intercontinental ballistic missile.'

The crewmen for the artillery pieces at this level are all members of the PDF who had paid for their commissions to this particular young noble. Looks like their easy life in the PDF is over. Given that the vehicles are PDF they sport the colours of the Hive they protect, but do not have any excessive decoration.

The Officer of the Fleet is a young junior officer, most likely a noble from another planet who only holds an officers rank because of his noble status. As such, this often results in the two nobles getting along reasonably well. The Master of Ordnance is a tutor in mathematics.

Company
6 Zones
6 Levels
1 Lance (Shadowsword)
3 Deathstrike Missile Launchers
3 Hydras
6 Manticores
3 Artisans

Once again, the Shadowsword isn't the real deal. It is an Ash Wastes Hauler but with a ship lance weapon (the smaller ones, but still oversized for any tank). It was at this level I decided to put the Deathstrikes in. The Hydras and the Manticores are there primarily there to protect the Shadowsword. It is likely that the Hydras were part of the household guards defences, and as such are overly ornate with carvings and moulded weapon barrels. The Manticores are mercenaries hired from the Rogue Trader and display their battle scars proudly.

I would note that all the Mercenaries from the rogue trader will share the colours of their mercenary company. Since all the Xenos Mercenaries so far are Eldar, I will most likely have them as a single craftworld or exodite world. The same will be true for both the Sisters of Battle and the Storm Troopers.

I have decided that this will all be part of a new 'grand crusade' into the Halo Stars to the West of the Imperium (as the maps I have seen are pretty empty meaning there shouldn't be too much lore about them. I am toying with the Idea of putting an Eldar 'Ghost' Craftworld out there somewhere, where almost all of its population are Wrathguard etc. I know ts been done with one of the cannon craftworlds, but I would like to put my own spin on it – plus I just finished reading Angel Exterminatus, so that may have something to do with it.

Corporation
20 Company's
1 Heavy Lance (Shadowword, Ranking Noble)
3 Death Strike Missile Launchers
3 Vendettas
1 Commissar Lord
6 Vypers (Xeno Mercenaries)
3 Magos

The Shadowsword here uses a genuine frame acquired from the Rogue Trader, but its main weapon is that of a Lance from a warship.

I haven't decided or certain yet, but I suspect the Commissar Lord here will be an Agent of the Inquisitor, or though he may have also held the rank of commissar as well.

I decided to leave any priests out at the last two levels because there are Sisters of Battle with the Inquisitor and they would have a large number of priests that aren't combat orientated, but tend to the shrines on the Cardinal Class Heavy Cruiser, and so the nobles would most likely seek these individuals out.

Not quite as long as previous posts, but still a good chunk of the organisation done. The next instalment will be the Recon Hives. I will be having 4 ground recon – the hellhounds, and 1 airborne. The Hellhounds are a little annoying as I am working out various hive names for them.

As always, suggestions, comments, ideas or questions are always welcome.

Currently working on a Hive World Imperial Guard 'Codex' - You can find the WIP here: http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/711392.page

'My Sword'
'Where did you leave it'
'In the back of a Primarch'

Cookie if you can remind me who said that 
   
Made in gg
Hurr! Ogryn Bone 'Ead!




Sorry for no updates in the past few days, Bought myself the computer game Battlefleet Gothic Armada, so that's taken up some of my time and since I use TTS, I have been playing around with it to see if I can 'paint' the 3D digital models - I can, but its going to take some practice, just like real miniature painting does.

If I do start 'painting' the 3D digital models, and people are interested, I will turn this into a blog and post pictures.

So please, let me know if its something you would be interested in seeing.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Uhm, think someone moved this by mistake - was in 40k background, and then moved it to proposed rules - I suspect they were intending to move it to the Blogs Forum - any mods able to help?

This message was edited 2 times. Last update was at 2017/01/04 21:10:53


Currently working on a Hive World Imperial Guard 'Codex' - You can find the WIP here: http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/711392.page

'My Sword'
'Where did you leave it'
'In the back of a Primarch'

Cookie if you can remind me who said that 
   
Made in us
Bonkers Buggy Driver with Rockets






Hive world regiments, hive-spanning corporations, chimeras with drinks cabinets, ratling chefs, Eldar mercenaries, disarmed tanks used as housing and mobile bases of operations for gangs, 63 deathstrikes per corp, construction vehicles refitted as superheavy tanks, my god this gives me so many ideas for an IG army and a DH campaign. You've done a great job with the scale involved too. Keep up the great worldbuilding. Some things:

It seems odd to mount conventional ground IG artillery to spaceships given the range of most of it. It also seems kind of strange given what you've said about the artillery regiments to have as many of them as you do tank companies and infantry companies. And are the artillery ground-space defense shifts spread out across the entire planet, or contained within their corporation's boundaries? What about the infantry patrols?

When you say "60 wyrdvane choir", are you saying "a group of 60 wyrdvane psykers that collectively form a choir, or are you saying "60 choirs, each containing any number of individual wyrdvane psykers?

The inquisitor should have at least one astropath and master of the fleet, probably at the corporation level. Also, he has way too many everything under his command. Psykers are very rare and often hard to find, and ones powerful enough to work without a choir even more so. The inquisitor would either bankrupt himself or (more likely) bankrupt the entire sector if he wants to treat his psykers well. As far as commissars go you gave the inquisitor 100,800 of them. Seriously, that's absurd, and it doesn't even factor in the 2400 lord commissars. Other soldiers can be found on a budget, but commissars don't grow on trees. And he has 7200 entire platoons of storm troopers. I understand that he has unlimited power over the world, but there comes a point where the pool of skilled professionals like psykers, stormtroopers, and commissars is emptied, and no amount of money can get it to replentish faster than it already is doing. Also, his troop's motor pool is so big that he may need a separate cruiser to carry it all. What I think you should do is remove the "sector" grouping from the inquisitor's regiment/corp entirely, remove the "6 sectors" part of the level grouping, and divide the number of each type of unit in the level category by two. After all, inexperienced commissars are not a good way to keep your psykers at ease, and if you need to muster so many wyrdvanes together to form a choir, and then need to have a commissar watch them and use a specially-prepared transport, then they don't seem like very practical troops if he already has so many independent psykers. You could also rename the level grouping the bulkhead grouping, as they are on a spaceship. Another way to cut down on the size of the inquisitor's entourage is to make the number of sectors/levels/zones/companies/corporations in his organization the minimum size for the IG equivalents instead of the maximum as you did for the regular corporate regiments.

On the topic of recon hives, where exactly are they doing recon? Off-world? The underhives?

Apart from the underhive gangs, who have these regiments seen action against? This world seems like a genestealer catastrophe of massive proportions just waiting to happen, so maybe you could work on something from that angle.

I would be happy to see this turn into a blog. You may also want to copy+paste all this lore into a single document for accessibility and more effective editing capability.

40k drinking game: take a shot everytime a book references Skitarii using transports.
 
   
Made in gg
Hurr! Ogryn Bone 'Ead!




First off, I would like to say that this is an awesome response and exactly what I was looking for, so thank you.

 gnome_idea_what wrote:
Hive world regiments, hive-spanning corporations, chimeras with drinks cabinets, ratling chefs, Eldar mercenaries, disarmed tanks used as housing and mobile bases of operations for gangs, 63 deathstrikes per corp, construction vehicles refitted as superheavy tanks, my god this gives me so many ideas for an IG army and a DH campaign. You've done a great job with the scale involved too. Keep up the great worldbuilding.


Feel free to use any parts you want. I'm more of a fluff bunny, so a lot of the ideas wont come to life in model form if left to me.



Some things:

It seems odd to mount conventional ground IG artillery to spaceships given the range of most of it. It also seems kind of strange given what you've said about the artillery regiments to have as many of them as you do tank companies and infantry companies. And are the artillery ground-space defense shifts spread out across the entire planet, or contained within their corporation's boundaries? What about the infantry patrols?


The way I saw it is that the hives were producing weapons for small (in 40k terms) ships such as transports, private ships and occasionally point defence turrets for larger ships. These are the sort of weapons used to shoot down incoming torpedoes, fighters and bombers, not the huge ship to ship weapons. Because the Hives are producing these items anyway for the ships, they have then mounted them on tracks, as opposed to them taking the weapons from the tracks and putting them on ships.

The artillery is spread out across the entire planet and either sold or rented to the hives that don't produce them. Rented makes more sense as it creates a continual source of income for the hive producing them. I have no doubt that this will have caused more than a little tension between the corporations and quite possibly both covert and open warfare at times.

When you say "60 wyrdvane choir", are you saying "a group of 60 wyrdvane psykers that collectively form a choir, or are you saying "60 choirs, each containing any number of individual wyrdvane psykers?


I was intending it to be 60 Wyrdvane squads

The inquisitor should have at least one astropath and master of the fleet, probably at the corporation level.


I agree with this, probably mystics as well

Also, he has way too many everything under his command. Psykers are very rare and often hard to find, and ones powerful enough to work without a choir even more so


Actually, I took the view that they weren't that rare, the reason being is the sheer number being sacrificed for the astranomicon on a daily basis. What is rare is for them to be about in the galaxy - at least that is how I looked at it, so an inquisitor diverting a small number of those psykers would be a viable possibility.

The inquisitor would either bankrupt himself or (more likely) bankrupt the entire sector if he wants to treat his psykers well.


I hadn't thought about this - when I wrote it what I meant was relative to how they had been treated and living, think the difference between living homeless and having a room.

As far as commissars go you gave the inquisitor 100,800 of them. Seriously, that's absurd, and it doesn't even factor in the 2400 lord commissars.


ok, cant argue with this, I hadn't crunched the numbers on this, even considering that many of them are inquisitor agents, this is too many.

Other soldiers can be found on a budget, but commissars don't grow on trees. And he has 7200 entire platoons of storm troopers.


Yep, this is too many - the idea was that he would have a Regiment of Storm troopers at his disposal. I also haven't determined how much direct control he has over them, they will have been assigned to his command, but ultimately they would have their own command structure. This goes for the Sisters as well.

I may also look into putting faux arbites into the general regiments. This is an idea I had before I put the Inquisitor into the mix, using the storm troopers rules to create a sort of Arbite Force for the planet. They wouldn't be real Arbites fluff wise, but the hives would have modelled their police force on the Imperial Arbites. The Imperial Arbites let this go as it doesn't hurt for the population to be seeing 'arbites' patrolling the streets watching them. It would also create an interesting political situation as to where the loyalties of these 'arbites' lay - with the imperial arbites or the planetary governor.


I understand that he has unlimited power over the world, but there comes a point where the pool of skilled professionals like psykers, stormtroopers, and commissars is emptied, and no amount of money can get it to replentish faster than it already is doing. Also, his troop's motor pool is so big that he may need a separate cruiser to carry it all. What I think you should do is remove the "sector" grouping from the inquisitor's regiment/corp entirely, remove the "6 sectors" part of the level grouping, and divide the number of each type of unit in the level category by two. After all, inexperienced commissars are not a good way to keep your psykers at ease, and if you need to muster so many wyrdvanes together to form a choir, and then need to have a commissar watch them and use a specially-prepared transport, then they don't seem like very practical troops if he already has so many independent psykers. You could also rename the level grouping the bulkhead grouping, as they are on a spaceship.


I like the idea of the Bulkhead grouping, it makes far more sense.

Another way to cut down on the size of the inquisitor's entourage is to make the number of sectors/levels/zones/companies/corporations in his organization the minimum size for the IG equivalents instead of the maximum as you did for the regular corporate regiments.


This, I like this, I think this is the route I will go down. Ultimately, the Inquisitorial group became a place to put things that didn't have a place in the regular guard regiment structure, which is why it doesn't gel as well as the other parts. Also, the Inquisitor involvement was a late addition due to the high number of wyrds included. This area definitely needs more work, so any further suggestions or comments would be welcome

On the topic of recon hives, where exactly are they doing recon? Off-world? The underhives?


The term recon was used by the Hive Nobles to give the group an Imperial Classification. The actual plan for why hellhounds is that these hives primary production is life support systems for both ships and the hives, so air vents pumping air through the ships, fire suppression systems and such like, all of which has been repurposed to force gases and chemicals through their systems rather than air/fire suppressive foam or liquids.

Apart from the underhive gangs, who have these regiments seen action against? This world seems like a genestealer catastrophe of massive proportions just waiting to happen, so maybe you could work on something from that angle.


So far, the only ones to have seen any action would be the Underhive gangs against each other, the Guilders also against the Underhive gangs whilst protecting their caravans and the Post Spyre Trial Nobles (against pretty much any of the underhive inhabitants, whether gangs or guilders). These regiments are freshly raised. This accounts for the high number of conscripts in freshly raised regiments. A large number of them are Hive City Workers and so have very little, if any, combat knowledge. The rest are juves who may have only seen one or two gang fights.

I hadn't planned anything with Genestealers given the location of the world is the other side of the galaxy of where the Tyrinids are (and stealer cults generally proceed hive fleets. Given their proximity to the eye of terror however, chaos cults could be an issue.

Once again, thanks for your comments, this has given me plenty to think about. As always, please keep the comments, suggestions and ideas coming.

Currently working on a Hive World Imperial Guard 'Codex' - You can find the WIP here: http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/711392.page

'My Sword'
'Where did you leave it'
'In the back of a Primarch'

Cookie if you can remind me who said that 
   
Made in gg
Hurr! Ogryn Bone 'Ead!




Ok

Having thought about the comments regarding the Inquisitor detachment (cant think of a better way to describe it at the moment as corporation just doesn't fit), I'm going to do a heavy redo of it - unfortunately this detachment became a place to put things that didn't feel right in the Hive Regiments, and has resulted with problems with numbers and the way it just doesn't gel properly.

Firstly, the Storm Troopers will be organised into their own regiment, with their own command structure, colours, etc. They will be in a position to act as an independent regiment. The Regiment will still be considered large, but well within what would be considered normal for an Imperial Guard Regiment (unlike the Hive Regiments which would be considered unusually large/massive by guard standards).

The Sisters of Battle will also be getting their own organisation. I haven't got much in the way of details thought out with this yet, but it will be around 1000 sisters.

I'm still debating what to do with the Psykers - I am currently thinking 1 wyrd (single wyrdvane squad member) per storm trooper and 1 Primaris Psyker per squad of Sisters of Battle.

I am also thinking about bringing back the faux arbites that I was planning on having before the Storm Trooper Regiment became a major part of the force. One of the comments about foot patrols made me realise that my Hives didn't have much of a police force, beyond house guards and guilders who would maintain order in the Underhive (so long as it served their business interests to do so). But there was no where near a large enough force should there be riots in hive city, to ensure that underhivers stayed in the Underhive, to keep the rabble out of the spires etc.

I am thinking of using the Storm trooper rules for the Arbites, but impose certain restrictions on myself. No deep striking and by taking them from the IG book rather than the Scions book I can give them Chimeras. I will also pick equipment reflecting they are arbites rather than storm troopers. I will have a closer look at the veterans and use those rules instead (I know veterans used to be able to be armed with shotguns, so want to check if that is still the case).

As the Xenos Mercenaries are all Eldar, they will be from a single craftworld that is located in the area that this new crusade will heading too, and they have found out about this. They are joining in as much to gather information as to keep their craftworld out of the path of the crusade. As for the craftworld, it is very much a ghost craftworld, but with a twist. Around the fall many of the Aspect Warriors went so far down the path that they became Exarch's. Since the fall these Exarch suits have found their way across the Galaxy and aboard many different craftworlds. As such, when threatened, their fighting force is bolstered by squads of Aspect Warriors, led by an Exarch wearing one of these suits, heading the call of the first wearer of the suit to return to the craftworld to defend it. Now, this would normally happen on a relatively small scale, only a few squads. But I see no reason why this couldn't happen on a much larger scale if the need was great enough - in effect you would have two armies, the Ghost army and then the Aspect Warrior Army. Now, my Eldar fluff knowledge is very rusty and possibly out of date, so does anyone see any major fluff issues with this?

With the Human Mercenaries I will have to check the numbers, but again they will get their own organisation and command structure - I suspect it will be a very loose, rough and ready version of a guard regiment, but I haven't thought too much about it.

In the Crusade I have mentioned I am also planning on creating a space marine chapter to join the fun. The details of the chapter are very rough ideas at the moment. It will be a 'cookie cutter' chapter organised as laid out in the Codex Astates, the geneseed will be from either Ultramarine stock or one of their successors. The Chapter itself will be relatively new founding, and this Crusade will be the first time that they can call their own, prior to this they will have been operating in support of other chapters in order to learn and gain battle experience. Most of these support roles would have been hitting supply lines, defending supply lines and reinforcing the main line as needed. All valuable roles, but not the sort that would gain huge amounts of honours for the Chapter. This Crusade will be the first time they can truly make their mark as an independent chapter. It will be interesting to see what this eagerness to prove themselves will have on them, as will their previous experience in the necessary roles of warfare such as convoy duty.

Also in the crusade will be the Mechanicum, along with the Skitari - now, I have given next to no thought towards this, beyond that they will be there and if their are any titans, this is where they will be placed.

The reason that this Crusade has been ordered has a little to with the Baneblade Chassis that the Rogue Trader has discovered. This, along with other evidence suggests that there were several engagements during either the Great Crusade or the Horus Heresy which were previously unknown (for whatever reason it is no longer in imperial records), The Mechanicum are interested because who knows what other tech they may find. There will also be elements within the Imperium that are suggesting that there could be lost human planets in this area of space - after all these battles were fought there for a reason. My Inquisitor sees this as a chance for conflict (he may have more of an agenda than this, but I don't know about this yet). Given all the various pieces of evidence and political pressure from various elements of the Imperium, the High Lords have authorised an exploratory crusade, the purpose of which will be to locate and recover any lost technology, bring back any human worlds to the Emperors divine light, and to neutralise any potential xenos threat. The forces I am putting together fluff on will be the initial Exploratory Force. Should things start being discovered, more may be drawn into it (as usually happens).

Ok, that ended up being longer than I expected

Currently working on a Hive World Imperial Guard 'Codex' - You can find the WIP here: http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/711392.page

'My Sword'
'Where did you leave it'
'In the back of a Primarch'

Cookie if you can remind me who said that 
   
Made in ca
Freaky Flayed One





Holy hell this is one hell of a read, that's for damn sure.

I'm still not finished, got a few more posts to go through but damn you've put in quite the effort on this one. You've got extensive fluff, exceptional reasoning; too much math and overall a solid force here.

Granted there's obvious criticism that can be given but it's easily overlooked. The Imperium is spanning across the galaxy, expanding into millions of worlds- plenty is possible. I'm not going to be the one to harp on you for potential lore breaking elements. The Imperium is vast, and well you've put in a whoooole lot of work.... You're actually inspiring me to open up my old non-sense.

Once I'm done reading through this huge thread I'll jot down somethings on my own regiment and maybe we can compare notes.

Looking forward to more updates and don't think about stopping.
   
Made in gg
Hurr! Ogryn Bone 'Ead!




I am curious about the potential lore breaking elements. I thought I had stuck pretty close to the lore, and where I didn't, there were explanations for it.

I do realise that the flier regiment would technically be Navy rather than guard, but there will be reasoning behind that - on paper they may actually be Navy, but in practice are Guard.

I'm still working on it - need to do a redo on the Inquisitorial section and my Hellhounds Regiment still need to be done.

Once the organisation is done and fairly fixed, then I will be going into the details of each hive/corporation.

Currently working on a Hive World Imperial Guard 'Codex' - You can find the WIP here: http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/711392.page

'My Sword'
'Where did you leave it'
'In the back of a Primarch'

Cookie if you can remind me who said that 
   
Made in ca
Freaky Flayed One





From what I understand, that's a lot of freaking armor you're bringing to the field. You see manufacturing tanks and even vehicles isn't done like we do so here. There's a sort of religious aspect to these manufacturing processes that's changed drastically since the Horus Heresy series. This isn't to say you wouldn't be fielding that much but considering the materials needed and Mechanicus involvement, it doesn't seem incredibly plausible.

Forge worlds typically do the heavy manufacturing of such weapons and armaments. Unless this is a fortress/forge/hive world or some sort of variant it doesn't seem entirely accurate. Again, this is entirely forgivable considering just how huge the Imperium is. If there's a major crusade going on, a collection of war worlds surrounding this said world, or a good reason to garner such militant priority I couldn't give a damn. If not, well I still can't be bothered. You've written a clear cut narrative but I need to stress that the Imperium is pretty freaking huge. For all we know there could be tiny empires springing about in need of some humbling.

Navy thing got me but I chalked that up to PDF installments then anything. A Planetary Defense Force can't simple have only boots on the ground, that would be too silly even for 40K.

Buddy above me covered the other stuff about the pool of elites and such non-sense.

Either way, I wouldn't think too too hard on it unless you're that intent on being to the letter. Given the bureaucratic stagnation on a galactic scale, especially being in the Halo Stars, you should be relatively fine. People barely venture there let alone give a feth what comes out of there. Either the Orks north of the Eye, Necrons, or the Eye of Terror itself will usually clean up any ambitious ya-hoos... Or so I keep telling myself- the galaxy is big enough for anyone to hide.
   
Made in gg
Hurr! Ogryn Bone 'Ead!




 Benny Badmen wrote:
From what I understand, that's a lot of freaking armor you're bringing to the field. You see manufacturing tanks and even vehicles isn't done like we do so here. There's a sort of religious aspect to these manufacturing processes that's changed drastically since the Horus Heresy series. This isn't to say you wouldn't be fielding that much but considering the materials needed and Mechanicus involvement, it doesn't seem incredibly plausible.


The reason for the amount of armour is that those Hives primary export to the Imperium, so they aren't specifically raising them for their regiments, but as they are producing them (in vast numbers), it made sense for them for their own regiments as well. Also, as there is a certain element of skill required to make these machines, I figured the Hives would rather give the vehicles than their skilled labour force.

Forge worlds typically do the heavy manufacturing of such weapons and armaments. Unless this is a fortress/forge/hive world or some sort of variant it doesn't seem entirely accurate. Again, this is entirely forgivable considering just how huge the Imperium is.


This is a Hive world, and this one is huge, even by hive world standards. The two primary exports of any Hive world (as I understand it) are manufactured items and people (either for the guard or the navy)


Navy thing got me but I chalked that up to PDF installments then anything. A Planetary Defense Force can't simple have only boots on the ground, that would be too silly even for 40K.


Actually, boots on the ground makes sense as Hives are generally enclosed structures.

The reason for the flyer regiment is that the Hive provides all the surface to ship cargo transport (some very shrewd dealings in the past to get the Monopoly on this). Rather than being actual Valkyries/Vendettas they are converted from Cargo Lifters/Landers and small Passenger Shuttles. Given the large amount of cargo imported and exported each day, I would imagine the world would have a huge number of short range cargo/passenger shuttles and it is these that have been converted (most likely while on route to the warzone after transporting all the troops, armour and supplies).

Hope that makes things a little clearer?

Currently working on a Hive World Imperial Guard 'Codex' - You can find the WIP here: http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/711392.page

'My Sword'
'Where did you leave it'
'In the back of a Primarch'

Cookie if you can remind me who said that 
   
Made in gg
Hurr! Ogryn Bone 'Ead!




Actually, the more I look at it, the more I am thinking you may be right about the amount of armour. Maybe for ratio purposes I should have half the hives providing infantry and then split the tanks, Hell Hounds and Artillery between the remaining 10 Hives - 3 Hives each plus the flyer regiment.

Currently working on a Hive World Imperial Guard 'Codex' - You can find the WIP here: http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/711392.page

'My Sword'
'Where did you leave it'
'In the back of a Primarch'

Cookie if you can remind me who said that 
   
Made in gg
Hurr! Ogryn Bone 'Ead!




Ok, another change I have made regarding the number of commissars - the Junior Grade Commissar is now going to be a commissioned officer, but will play as a commissar for rules purposes. The original idea behind this person was that the pre spyre noble was young and inexperienced and would need someone to act as an advisor, and who would have a level of authority so that the noble would listen to them. A Stubjack or Guild Boss would have the experience, but I cant imagine a young noble with their attitude would listen to them. As such, I think a retired commissioned officer would work - maybe someone who held the rank of Lieutenant or Captain. Such an individual would still be in way over their heads given the numbers of troops under the nobles command, but he would have more practical experience than the noble.

Currently working on a Hive World Imperial Guard 'Codex' - You can find the WIP here: http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/711392.page

'My Sword'
'Where did you leave it'
'In the back of a Primarch'

Cookie if you can remind me who said that 
   
Made in ca
Freaky Flayed One





Maybe it's a miscommunication thing. From what I've read it's typically Forge Worlds and the variants who manufacture armor while Hives cities make, at best, Chimera's, Las-guns, and the smaller toys. So when I read about mounting freaking naval cruiser guns on chimera chasis and such it becomes a little difficult to wrap my mind around. Again, possibly miscommunication. Personally I like to sub-scribe to the fact that where the Imperium is so unfathomably large almost anything is possible.

Oh, and all the training needed for said vehicles. It's always been my impression that the Cult Mechanicus have always had this tight leash when it comes to the Imperium's machinery.

I've been revising my own regiments for awhile now and it seems this one Hive world trumps my entire system. In my defense, my guys are working with Agri and Civilized Worlds. Dear old Hive Worlds have gone to hell in a hand basket. You manufacture your corporate weapons, we'll be pumping out the finest cigars this part of the Segmentum has ever tasted! Lolz

.... Really? Air support is nothing but an advantage even with a gak ton of boots on the ground. I'm very relieved you mentioned the retro-fitting of cargo freighters cause I felt the need to dig out my old war books and drop a lesson on the advantages of air superiority. When I read that first line I just paused and prayed to Gork, Khorne, whoever the hell is listening there was more to this. Lolz

An idea here; how about dedicating an abandoned hive entirely towards training facilities. You know, have your guys and gals be notorious Urban fighters, so much so Armageddon has them on speed-dial. It's a nifty idea.

Hate to make it about myself but add a bit of substance to how the infantry regiments operate. My revised 'Mongrel' regiments file their teeth down and grow their nails out in case gak goes that far south. It's a grim dark, unforgiving universe so there's plenty to work with. Hehe
   
Made in gg
Hurr! Ogryn Bone 'Ead!




 Benny Badmen wrote:
Maybe it's a miscommunication thing. From what I've read it's typically Forge Worlds and the variants who manufacture armor while Hives cities make, at best, Chimera's, Las-guns, and the smaller toys. So when I read about mounting freaking naval cruiser guns on chimera chasis and such it becomes a little difficult to wrap my mind around. Again, possibly miscommunication. Personally I like to sub-scribe to the fact that where the Imperium is so unfathomably large almost anything is possible.


The problem I have with this is that there just aren't enough forge world to produce the quantities that would be required. Because of this I view it as any of the more common small vehicles (if you can call a leman russ battle tank small) would be produced on high manufacturing worlds (and Hive Worlds in my opinion fall into this category), and forge worlds would produce and maintain the rarer versions, the super heavies, Titans, Naval Ship to Ship Weapons, not to mention producing all the equipment for the Space Marines and other imperial organisations using elite equipment. Its why, for the most part, when we get to the rarer versions in my regiments, they tend to be knock offs rather than the real thing, and comparatively few in number.

Oh, and all the training needed for said vehicles. It's always been my impression that the Cult Mechanicus have always had this tight leash when it comes to the Imperium's machinery.


True, but there has to come a point that the Mechanicus just cant handle the volume required. As such, I imagine that what the Mechanicus consider mundane, they have taught to some Imperial Words how to do this. I imagine the mechanicus see the labourers on these worlds as one step up from servitors, they can teach the humans how to do the simple stuff, and they will deal with the rituals and more complex stuff. You'll note that my Hive World does have an awful lot of Adepts of the Mechanicus within its ranks.

I've been revising my own regiments for awhile now and it seems this one Hive world trumps my entire system. In my defense, my guys are working with Agri and Civilized Worlds. Dear old Hive Worlds have gone to hell in a hand basket. You manufacture your corporate weapons, we'll be pumping out the finest cigars this part of the Segmentum has ever tasted! Lolz


My hive world loves agri worlds, without them we would starve. I imagine a lot of the trade my world does is with Agri Worlds, we trade our weapons for your food - that way we can eat and you can equip your pdf and IG regiments.

.... Really? Air support is nothing but an advantage even with a gak ton of boots on the ground. I'm very relieved you mentioned the retro-fitting of cargo freighters cause I felt the need to dig out my old war books and drop a lesson on the advantages of air superiority. When I read that first line I just paused and prayed to Gork, Khorne, whoever the hell is listening there was more to this. Lolz


You forgot Mork, and now he is upset. I am beginning to think we have different views on what a hive is. I'm basing my view on Necromunda (or though my world is Necromunda on steroids). You literally cant step outside a hive because the atmosphere is so toxic (think nuclear fallout/winter bad). Hive City takes up the middle third of the hive. Most levels of a Hive City (at least as I imagine it) are 9-10 feet (approx. 3 meters) from floor to ceiling. You then have you major transport arteries that take up more than one level in its height, same with the manufactorums. Hive Spire takes up the top third of the Hive. In the Hive Spire (Where the Nobility live) things get far more roomy, but I still don't imagine that there is enough room to fly around in. The Underhive takes up the bottom third of a hive and is mostly underneath what is now the surface due to all the ash and solidified chemicals. Its layout is similar to that of Hive City, except it has been left to rot and collapse. In this area, the only real law is found at the end of a gun. Since most of my Imperial Guard are 'recruited' from the Underhive, they would be experts at urban warfare. Its also why there is distinct class divides in my Guard Army.

I hope that helps explain my image of a Hive World. If you want I can PM you an excerpt from my copy of Only War (40k RPG game) which describes a Hive World

An idea here; how about dedicating an abandoned hive entirely towards training facilities. You know, have your guys and gals be notorious Urban fighters, so much so Armageddon has them on speed-dial. It's a nifty idea.


Given the nature of the Underhive, which has been abandoned by any productive member of the Hive World, an abandoned hive isn't needed, and Armageddon probably does have us on speed dial

Hate to make it about myself but add a bit of substance to how the infantry regiments operate. My revised 'Mongrel' regiments file their teeth down and grow their nails out in case gak goes that far south. It's a grim dark, unforgiving universe so there's plenty to work with. Hehe


This will be coming later when I go into detail on each of the Hives. At the moment I am focusing purely on the organisation of the Regiments. Once that is nailed down, I will go into more detail about the world and its place in the Imperium, along with its history, the Corporations and hopefully do some short stories.

Currently working on a Hive World Imperial Guard 'Codex' - You can find the WIP here: http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/711392.page

'My Sword'
'Where did you leave it'
'In the back of a Primarch'

Cookie if you can remind me who said that 
   
Made in gg
Hurr! Ogryn Bone 'Ead!




Ok, for anyone who might be interested, I have worked out the points cost of Hive Ranrence - please note this is only Hive Ranvence, NOT any of the other Hives, Storm Trooper, Sisters of Battle, Wyrdvanes, or Inquisitor stuff.

Note that the primary produced weapon in regards to special and heavy weapons in Hive Ranvence is the Sniper Rifle and the Heavy Bolter - therefor, if a squad has a heavy or special weapon, it will be one of these.

So, the grand total of Hive Ranvence is:

61,609,611 points

I also worked out what the model count would be: 6,674,914 models
That works out and average of 9.23 points per model!!!

This message was edited 2 times. Last update was at 2017/01/07 19:45:24


Currently working on a Hive World Imperial Guard 'Codex' - You can find the WIP here: http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/711392.page

'My Sword'
'Where did you leave it'
'In the back of a Primarch'

Cookie if you can remind me who said that 
   
Made in ca
Freaky Flayed One





Sorry it took so long. Internet access is here and there. Between work and life I could be a day or so before replying back. I'm still following everything your doing but in portions.

I honestly believe there's a lot more Forge Worlds then most might think. Considering the Imperium, especially in the 41st Millennium, is in a constant state of war the Mechanicus might be pressed to get their asses in gear. Throughout the grand expanse that is our galaxy there could be asteroids to be mined, artificial habitats, lost alien civilizations, volcanic planets; the list goes on. What I'm saying is that there's plenty of opportunities to build a forge temple here and there.
To reference another example, look at the Titanicus novel. Essentially a hive world/forge world with one too many Titans. So I wouldn't underestimate the number of Forge Worlds just yet. Personally I'd love it for you to have your own Machine Cult presence on your militarized Hive World. Have an entire Hive be converted and become a dedicated Forge Temple. Use the criminals as slave labor for said Forge Temple and those who step beyond the line- make'em a Servitor.... FOOD FOR THOUGHT, GOOD SIR!

Again, the training could be easily answered by having a Forge Temple. And since you mention the adepts it adds more plausibility to an actual Forge Temple being somewhere on the planet. It covers a lot of bases and, another fun idea; your Hive World have its own corporate politics while adding a Mechanicus flare. Small divisions of Tech Priests using the resources of said corporations to impress the local fabricator while feeding the trade fueds happening between the corporations... Might complicate things but could potentially be worked into a future story but again, food for thought.

I'm pm'ing you a briefing on my system and possibly narrative we could create together... Maybe attempting to rebound from a failed crusade. Your Hive World does seem like it's in the position to capture a few worlds and asserts its dominance as The Alpha World.

That's probably the beauty of 40K as a whole; there's room for ridiculous amounts of interpretations while each one potentially being as accurate as the next. My own view of Hive Worlds are immense mega cities spanning about a continent or so with the rest being a barring, industrial wasteland. Abandoned factorums, hab sectors; small civilized sections from a lost era that eventually receded into this massive overcompensating city. So yes, we have different views but each one has its own plausibility of existing.
I could easily see yours existing considering the sheer military presence and amount of production the world seems to produce. Regardless of all that, I do believe some form of air support is needed. Whether everything is underground or housed in various complexes a form of air superiority would be necessary. You obviously have a great deal of trade and air traffic so protecting those valuable assets would be necessary... And bombing the fools who try and dip their hands in whatever corporate pockets. Hehe

You're right on that one. Your world being as productive as it is would probably cannibalize said abandoned hive. I doubt the corporate bosses would willingly cooperate that extensively for training exercises or even share training details; it is an arms race, after all. Underhives do make a lot more sense, so I see your reason on that one.
Maybe have certain sanctioned training zones filled to the brim with gangs and criminals who simply won't leave. So if that's the case they'll be target practice. Cheers!

I look forward to the darker, grimmer details of your world. 40K is never a realm of straight prosperity, and if it is, there's something nefarious lurker beneath the surface.

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2017/01/09 17:19:46


 
   
Made in gg
Hurr! Ogryn Bone 'Ead!




How big are Forge Temples - I am thinking along the lines of maybe each Hive having its own Forge Temple/Forge Stronghold or similar sort of presence.

The training of the guard is actually pretty limited. The Majority of the troops and crews are rounded up from the Gangs of the Underhive. As such, they all know how to fight (or though not usually as a formation). The Guild Enforcers do have experience working together to repel raids by desperate/foolish gangs which is why, along with their access to slightly better equipment, classed them as veterans.

With regards to Air superiority, I imagine the walls of the Hives would be bristling with large guns (hence why they can field so many artillery pieces), so I don't know how close fliers could actually get. I know in the modern day air superiority is a massive element, but if every country had anti aircraft guns every mile across the entire country, then the use of fliers would be reduced as the moment one got close to enemy territory it would be shot down. Now we don't live in that sort of world, but the way I imagine it is that each hive would have that many guns. The closest I can think is WW1. Before that, cavalry charges would break enemy lines, so every army had cavalry, then along came the machine gun, it slaughtered the cavalry to the point that post ww2 no one used cavalry (ok, I know older generals still tried it in WW2, but that was as much about them being stuck in the way wars used to be fought)

Currently working on a Hive World Imperial Guard 'Codex' - You can find the WIP here: http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/711392.page

'My Sword'
'Where did you leave it'
'In the back of a Primarch'

Cookie if you can remind me who said that 
   
Made in gg
Hurr! Ogryn Bone 'Ead!




Sorry for no significant updates in the last few days. Did get in a couple of games though and have done some tweaking and a lot of note scribbling, so hopefully more in the next few days.

One of the tweaks I have made is the Hive ratio for Infantry/Armour/Artillery/Recon has changed. Its now 10 Infantry Hives, 3 Armour Hives, 3 Artillery Hives, 3 Recon Hives and 1 Flier Hive (more on that in a future post). These changes have come about from some of the comments and discussions regarding the amount of armour and artillery O originally had.

I have also now given each of the Infantry Hives Fortifications at the Company and Corporation Level. With the other Hives getting super heavies (knock off or otherwise), I felt that the rulers of the Infantry Hives wouldn't be outdone and as such produce large quantities of pre-fab fortifications that they supply to the Imperium (also, otherwise all they were producing were huge amounts of small arms and flak armour. Their own will have the same prefab construction, but will be filled to a much more luxurious standard - think soft feather beds, plush rugs, maybe even wooden (or faux wood) panelling on the interior, good sized dining table - if you have ever seen the inside of some of the large English country estate buildings, you get the look I am going for.

Now, the actual reason for this post:

From the comments and discussions I have had, not everyone has the same view of what a Hive is, so I wanted to show you all how I imagine my Hive world.

This image is the one from the Necromunda Rulebook, and where I took my inspiration from.



The next image is a crudely drawn modification showing how each of my Hives are linked to each other (I used MS paint, you cant get much cruder)



I did realise after making the drawing that given the curvature of the planet, the New Effective Surface would curve the other way, but hopefully you guys can see how I imagine my Hives. The only parts of the hive that would be above the New Effective Surface would be the Hive Spires.

Currently working on a Hive World Imperial Guard 'Codex' - You can find the WIP here: http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/711392.page

'My Sword'
'Where did you leave it'
'In the back of a Primarch'

Cookie if you can remind me who said that 
   
Made in us
Bonkers Buggy Driver with Rockets






Thank you for posting that image of how you imagine the hive cities linking together. It does help understand what you're envisioning.

If the atmosphere outside is unbreathable like in the example hive, the how do the hives deal with that?

40k drinking game: take a shot everytime a book references Skitarii using transports.
 
   
Made in us
Inspiring SDF-1 Bridge Officer





Mississippi

I hope you don't mind, after reviewing the information you presented here, I wanted to add some input as to the holistic (non-military) structure of the world.

I didn't see you had a name for the homeworld, so after consulting a random name generator, I came up with YULFAERTH for the planet name. Inhabitants would refer to themselves as The Yulf.

--------------------------------------------
THE PLANET

Yulfaerth is the fifth planet of a binary star system. It is approximately 1½ times the size of the Earth. It originally had thirteen satellites, of which eight remain intact – the others have been mined to oblivion, or in one case, remain only as a collection of depleted asteroids held adrift in the planet’s gravitational field. One of the moons is used for combat training and testing, while the other moons are used as resources to maintain the hive cities on the planet below.

On Yulfaerth’s surface, there are twenty-one interconnected hive cities. The hives are interconnected in such a way that they comprise five massive mountain-like chains that criss-cross the planet’s surface. The barren, pipe-laden chasms between the mountainous chains is known as the Barrens – a bare, smog-chocked badland inhabited by criminals or other desperate individuals who have fled the crowded tiers of the hive cities.

Each hive city – save the capital of Tethys, is controlled by one of Yulfaerth’s omnicorporations. Within the boundaries of the hive, the Corporate Authorities rule supreme, but interact and answer to the current President of Tethys (a dictator in all but name), who in turn answers to the imperial-appointed Inquisitor.

CORPORATIONS

Ranrence – one of the oldest and most noble of the corporations. Ranrence is known for its opulence among the corporate masters. Its troops are well-trained and drilled, but often lack the savage nature of the other corporations

Votlill – the Votlill are known for their pharmacuiticals. Their spyres are heavily laden with the aromas of incense. Votlill’s troops are fanatical devotees to their hive, kept on a short leash by their addiction to the combat drugs used to train them.

Procraws – This mercenary corporation is supposedly the planet’s “backup” and reserve force. It is unusual in that it requires its young adult population to join one of the many street gangs that prowl its hive as its “boot camp” for military duty. The troublesome individuals are levied out to other corporations to replace losses or act as security forces for the grand hives. Many Procraws are, in truth, spies for their home hive, secretly gathering dirty secrets on the other nobles in order to keep the Procraws corporation from being absorbed into the other corporations.

Nanoheim – the nanoheim covet secret stores of ancient biomechanical secrets. They have large numbers of mechanized troops, including many augmented by bionics or even weapons surgically implanted into their flesh

Henslerd – Controlling the largest of the vast agricultural quarries not only in their own spyre but within many subsidiary Hives across the homeworld, the Henslerd exert an unusual amount of power almost on par with their greatest “rival”, the Ranrence Hive. Despite their attempts to keep up with Ranrence opulence, many of their Corporate strategists are secretly mocked for their rustic ways

Gregvan – the produce many of the material systems the other Hives of Yulfaerth employ in keeping their Hives operational. Sometimes referred to as “plumbers”, when their forces are not engaged elsewhere at combat zones their forces monitor and patrol the pipes and conduitways of the various hives, rooting out toxic rats, mutants and other creatures of the Hive pipelines.

Petkett – The Petkett corporation are purveyors of wild and exotic beasts. Their own hive is a vast and complex network of ranches and slaughterhouses used to distribute meat products to the various Hive cities. They are also the sole Hive that is capable of training and fielding the Rough Rider legions of the world.

Colstein – Masters of shipping, the Colsteins regulate shipping and commerce across Yulfaerth. There is not a crate or package that moves through the various Hives without falling under the watchful eye of the “Collectors”. When not in battle, Colstein security groups accompany various convoys, protecting them from sedicious bandits and robbers who ply the vast networks of the hypertubes threading the Barrens that connect the various Hive cities.

Graivesu – Consummate undertakers, it is the duty of the Graivesu to honor and protect the dead of the Hive world. Graivesu is itself a vast mausoleum dedicated as the final resting place of many ancient noble families and their wealthy vaults. Unfortunately, the fate of the common Yulf is not interment in the noble estates of Graivesu, but as fuel for the Ash incinerators that supply power to the various Hives. Its military forces are greatly feared, for its from these security forces that the heartless assassins and “Deadmakers” of Yulfaerth are spawned.

Urdni – The Urdni are among the oddest of the Hive cities of the Yulf. The Urdni survive as the supplies of entertainment and various distractions upon the planet. Their very hive is used by other nobles as a sort of recreational getaway. The Urdni resent the Imperial tithe, supplying their required share in auxillary staff and medics as their main contribution.

Sleedaw – first among the factory Hives on Yulfaerth, the Sleedaw are well-known for their production of the most prestigious landships. They are the only licensed Hive allowed to create the famous faux imperial Baneblades utilized by the Colstein convoys when transporting goods through the Fallen sectors between hives.

Shanfax - One of the most specialized factory Hives on Yulfaerth, they produce one commodity that they export – Shadowbane tanks. They are extremely xenophobic about even allowing visitors from other Hives into their own spyres – even denying the Rulbrou to examine or repair the created machines.

Rulbrou – The Rulbrou are exceptional craftsmen who produce a wide variety of landships for the Yulfaerth forces. Rulbrou also provides mechanics who are assigned to many of the other non-factory Hives to keep various mechanical vehicles in working order.

Zubsul - Zubsul Corporation is mainly known for its luxury land and sea-based pleasure cruisers, but also produces a small tithe of military vehicles for use by local forces, such as Hydras, Baskilisks and Wyverns. They also supply the crews to man these vehicles in the field.

Nondowns – A smaller Hive city, the Nondowns produce a variety of walker-based vehicles used for industry as well as military applications.

Branrence – An offshoot and often-rival of Renrence, this factorium produces quality anti-grav vehicles for civilian, commercial and military use. Most of their military works are exported for marine use, but they retain a few specimens of land speeders and other light military vessels for use by noble commanders as a means of rapid battlefield transport.

Ivseam – The chemical factories of Ivseam burn day and night, producing much-needed chemicals and pharmaceuticals for Yulfaerth and beyond. Their major planetary client is Procraws, with whom it supplies the various combat drugs (and black market drugs) that the Hive depends upon. Ivseam also produces the various Hellhound variants used by the Yulfaerth armed forces.

Elbrild – Riddled with mutations due to various failed fusion reactors within its hive, many of Elbrild’s levels are too irradiated to support life. Despite this issue, Elbrild also provides some of the strongest psyckers on the planet. Though the Inquistitor has thus far been unable to root out the human-sacrificing Rad Cult that secrets itself in the bowels of the Hive, its Wyrdvane and Primaris psyckers are highly prized by the current Inquisitor (as are its abhuman quotas) and thus an extensive purging of the Hive has been so far averted. It seems its psychic noble house has managed to stay at least one step ahead of being absorbed by being in the right place at the right time due to the high number of psychic Diviners among its leadership.

Veargong – Communications capital of Yulfearth, the Veargong provide not only various communications equipment planet-wide, but intelligence specialists who monitor the complex arrays of transceiver channels and com-beams that criss-cross the planet. Veargong vox operators are highly prized in the military, and they also train some of the best saboteurs on the planet.

Tuytait – This Hive is among the most beautiful structures on Yulfaerth, with its mighty hangars that stretch into the clouds. Tuytait specializes in the creation of all aerial craft and most space craft on Yulfearth. Its lower Hive levels are riddled with shadowports operating in secret in violation with agreements with Colstein, but the aerial transports of the shadowports are simply too swift to be captured by slower Colstein bulk dropships.

TETHYS

The capital of Tethys lies at the planet’s North pole. Unlike the other hive cities, Tethys began as a quarry digging into the planet’s depths. It now consists of a ring of five-kilometer wide metal rings about a central hole that delves deep into the planet’s strata. The outer walls of these hubs comprise the dwellings and businesses that ply Tethys, with long-abandoned mine shafts stretching outward from the hubs all along the underworld of the planet.

Further, massive decorative walkways span the interior of the hub like a silken spider web. These walkways are interrupted by geodesic globes containing mansions, shopping centers and recreational areas for the nearby inhabitants, giving the massive weave the appearance of drops of dew among the spidery strands.

In the center of this vast mazework, stretching from the gloomy depths of the Tethys pit rises a great space elevator that rises to the Presidential mansion far above. The entire mansion has been constructed from the detritus of former planetary mining and stretches a breathtaking 120 kilometers from tip to tip, and is five kilometers thick at its centerpoint.

The Presidential mansion not only acts as a gathering point for the Corporate Board of the twenty corporations, but it is also the planet’s secondary spaceport, only surpassed by the facilities at Colstein. It is the favored spaceport for civilian travel – especially Corporate Masters who are receiving off-world guests or personal materials.

It should be noted that the Presidential mansion contains a secondary temple utilized by the local Sisters of Battle, where they keep a watchful eye over the sometimes heretical actions of the Corporate Board and its minions.

THE INQUISITOR
A relatively young newcomer to Yulfaerth, the imperial agent known simply as “The Inquisitor” is known by many conflicting names among the myriad Hives. It is believed this is because the inquisitor prefers to keep his real name and agenda a secret as he plays the various Corporations against each other to keep his imperial position strong. It is known that the current Inquisitor has only been at his post for the last fifty years, after rising to the position from being the apprentice to the former inquisitor posted to Yulfaerth. The inquisitor prefers to interact with the corporations from his Emperor class starship that remains in orbit above the capital Hive city of Tethys, often “entertaining” Corporate Masters aboard his personal ship when engaging in Imperial business.

SISTERS OF BATTLE
An ancient temple-hive exists on Yulfearth, under the auspices of the militant Sisters of Battle. The sisters are primarily former individuals from the various Corporations who gave up their materialistic ways to join the order. In a few rare cases, some of the “sisters” did not even start out as sisters, and only by means of biological surgery and faithful acts of contrition are they allowed to join the true sisterhood.

XENOS
During the Age of Strife, Yulfearth had freely engaged in unsanctioned industrial relations with a nearby Eldar craftworld. This continued despite the planet’s return to the Imperium during the Great Crusade and lasted unfettered up until the end of the Horus Heresy. As the Imperium stretched forth its hand to crack down on alien interference that they felt had been the root cause of the corruption of Horus, Yulfearth came under scrutiny for its Eldar ties. An inquisitional force, supported by a precursor to the Sisters of Battle arrived at the planet and planned to execute the Corporate Board for its heretical ways.

However, the Corporate Board’s mercenary Eldar bodyguards managed to blunt the purge. Imperial oversight was erected over the planet, the most corrupt Board members were executed as an example and the Eldar were allowed to continue to receive “non-essential” supplies from Yulfearth in return for an oath of fealty to the Imperium and a levy of mercenary troops to supplement the planetary forces.

It never ends well 
   
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Hurr! Ogryn Bone 'Ead!




 gnome_idea_what wrote:
Thank you for posting that image of how you imagine the hive cities linking together. It does help understand what you're envisioning.

If the atmosphere outside is unbreathable like in the example hive, the how do the hives deal with that?


The Hives themselves are fully enclosed. The outer 'shell' of the Hive are solid, metre thick walls of ceremite and rockcrete. The effective surface level is actually the ceiling/roof/top (depending on what term you want to use) of Hive City.

The only way to go outside a hive is to travel in fully enclosed vehicles with its own life support systems. The only exits to the Hives are the numerous shuttle bays used to transport goods to transport ships in orbit or the long tunnels at the ceiling level used by the Ash Waste Haulers. Both the Hangers and the tunnels use an airlock system, much like you would find on space going vessels.

The effective surface level is covered in a thick layer of ash from the solidified chemicals pumped into the atmosphere by the Hives from all its production plants. The Ash waste Haulers travel these wastes gathering up the ash which can be reused by the various industries. This also prevents the ceiling from collapsing under the weight of the ash, or though breaches still happen.

Currently working on a Hive World Imperial Guard 'Codex' - You can find the WIP here: http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/711392.page

'My Sword'
'Where did you leave it'
'In the back of a Primarch'

Cookie if you can remind me who said that 
   
Made in gg
Hurr! Ogryn Bone 'Ead!




@Stormonu

Copied and saved for future pilfering.

I will say that I hate the name of the planet, but that can be changed.

I will be doing an in depth look at each of the Hives at a later time, but wanted to get the regimental organisation nailed down first. I have a side project that I want to work on, but cant start until I have sorted out the regimental structure (see my post about random armies - http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/713641.page) to see what I am thinking ).

I like where you are coming from with the Inquisitor being known as The Inquisitor. This fits well with my idea of him being a shadowy figure. I have actually been toying with the idea that no one from the corporations have actually even met him, only his Agents.

One of the area's I don't think you realise is just how reliant the world is on trade with other planets in the imperium, especially Agri Worlds. They import almost everything needed to survive, food, water and even oxygen. The Hives are very good at recycling, but it is not at 100%, meaning it still requires continuous supplies. If the supplies stopped coming for any reason, all human life on the planet would cease in a relatively short amount of time (I just don't know if it would be from suffocation or starvation).

I noticed the similarities between the names Ranrence and Branrence even though they were randomly generated names. I was thinking the similarities would be along the lines that Branrence was once the ruling corporation but due to a fall from grace in the past were overthrown by another Corporation who then took a similar name to keep the idea of similarities, but also indicating that there is no actual connection.

Loved the description of Tethys, will definitely be using that description in some way. Thinking about it, I quite like the name Tethys for the planets name.

Loved the description for Hive Colstein, the only catch is that it is the guilds responsible for the shipping, so will be applying your description to them instead.

The other thing is, I imagined that the mounts for the rough riders, ratlings and Ogryns are brought in from offworld - a way of the ruling nobles showing off their wealth. I still like the idea of a hive suffering from heavy mutations though (more so than is common in the other hives), will definitely think more on that.

I'll post a description on the Underhive from the Necromunda Books later, that way you can see where I am getting my inspiration from.

Mind if I tap your creative juices a bit more. I am working on ideas of how a Faux Arbite force would fit into the power structure, and just how large a force it would be, where such a forces loyalties would lie. I imagine the faux arbites would have connections to the Imperial Arbites in some way, even though the Imperial arbites are only using the faux force to create the image of a large presence, even though they may only have a comparatively small presence on the world (perhaps a single fortress precinct.

There has also been mention of forge temples by another commenter. This is something I hadn't even considered, any suggestions on how they might fit in, and again in what sort of numbers and influence.

I suspect I will regularly dipping into your descriptions.

Thanks, you have given me a bunch of things to think about and a bunch more ideas to explore.

Feel free to throw more at me.

Currently working on a Hive World Imperial Guard 'Codex' - You can find the WIP here: http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/711392.page

'My Sword'
'Where did you leave it'
'In the back of a Primarch'

Cookie if you can remind me who said that 
   
Made in us
Inspiring SDF-1 Bridge Officer





Mississippi

Heh, I tried to pull a planet name you wouldn't like on purpose, so it'd get you thinking of a proper name .

I have access to the old Rogue Trader book (and Necromunda), so you don't have to repost that info for my benefit.

I do understand that the Hives would be highly dependant on Imperial tithes from other worlds (plus any bargains they themselves make), but it is unlikely they would be a world that simply consumes without giving something back - whether that be bodies and bullets for the Imperium or thransforming raw goods into trade items, there should be something they export (that's why I noted at least two major spaceports - one at Tethys (probably similiar to Hamburg), the other in Colstein (think New York), possibly a third at Tuytait (like Los Angeles?) - and each hive probably has a minor port at least as well.

I'm working on some ideas for the Forges and Arbites, will post them later. You are aware that Arbites are based on Judge Dredd, right?

It never ends well 
   
Made in gg
Hurr! Ogryn Bone 'Ead!




Yes re the Arbites, a bit difficult to miss lol.

I don't know if you remember me saying that all the weapons, equipment, ammo and everything else for the Hive Regiments (which would be equivalent to approx. 200 normal sized regiments) was a single days production, so there major output would be weapons and equipment of war for other regiments, pdf forces not to mention all the wars currently being fought by the guard. The hive world is basically one huge production plant, raw materials in, finished goods out - but I do like a lot of your ideas and have saved it into the notes file I have - I suspect I will be delving into your descriptions and ideas regularly.

One of the key things with the Arbites is that they aren't the real deal, so it would be interesting to hear your thoughts on how they may fit in.

Currently working on a Hive World Imperial Guard 'Codex' - You can find the WIP here: http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/711392.page

'My Sword'
'Where did you leave it'
'In the back of a Primarch'

Cookie if you can remind me who said that 
   
 
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