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Post by Kage2020 on Nov 1, 2004 21:13:51 GMT -5
Well, it was... erm... strongly suggested that I check out this thread again. I'd completely forgotten about it since nothing really sprang to mind about the schools... Makes it sound like 'physics', in which case this is a highly restrictive grouping of sodalica. Reference to 'optice' reminds me of the Time Machine, though... Not entirely sure that you need this division since it would normally come under 'physics'... of course that works off the premise that there is some founding logic to the warp. It's consistent with your descriptions, though. Why only analytical and organic chemistry? What about inorganic? Also don't forget such things as geochemistry, biogeochemistry, etc., etc. Science has a rather annoying way of crossing boundaries. That doesn't mean, of course, that categorisation should not be attempted. Which is of course what you're doing. Fair snuff. Or, perhaps, collegium xenos. Fairy snuff. Reinforces the idea of cross-over between the various collegia and sodalica which should be referred to. Which stands on the toes of the adeptus administratum, which is hw it should be for an 'independent' organisation... Sounds like it should crossover with the Chemistry... Again, that should more than likely (i.e. it should) be xenos not 'alienus'. In many ways some would argue that this is the most important as you kinda say. Reminds me that there should be something that is responsible for manufacturing, not just study. There...
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Post by CELS on Dec 18, 2004 7:12:14 GMT -5
3.3 The Tech Guard In the ancient pacts formed by the Emperor and the Cult Mechanicus following the Age of Strife, the Emperor granted the Cult Mechanicus the freedom to raise its own armies to defend its fleets and forgeworlds. The Martian Skitarii Tech Guard was given the task of defending the Mechanicus sovereign, including forgeworlds, knight worlds and fleets. Its highly defensive role has been set in stone after the Horus Heresy, and the Tech Guard has all but ceased to participate in Crusades and offensive campaigns. In desperate times, the Skitarii may be supported by battle servitors, knight walkers, explorators and even Titan legions to destroy nearby threats that cannot be given the chance to attack. These sort of actions happen with and without the permission of the Adeptus Terra.
Though the Tech Guard predates the Imperial Guard by millennia, the two are organised in a similar manner. A standard Tech Guard infantry regiment consists of Hypaspist squads, similar to a squad of Imperial Guardsmen, though normally better equipped and augmented with bionic implants that allow greater interaction with their weapons, scanners and communication gear. Heavy weapon support squads are called Sagitars or Sagitarii, and have a slightly higher rank than Hypaspist infantry due to their greater expertise and more advanced augmentations. The tank crews of the Skitarii tech guard are quite different from the tank crews of the Imperial Guard. They are elite warriors, venerated even by Tech Guard officers, and perhaps the most adept tank crews in the Imperium. Their education begins in childhood and after a decade of hard training, psycho-conditioning and bionic augmentations, they mount their assigned vehicles for life, giving up their humanity for unity with their machine. These tank crews are called Cataphracts or Cataphractarii, and crew most vehicles used by the Tech Guard, including tanks, speeders and walkers. The last and smallest of the units within the Tech Guard is the Ballistas or Ballisterarii. Given the task of operating artillery vehicles, the Ballista crews are highly educated in order to understand their machines, which are often experimental or highly unreliable.
3.4 The Praetorians Descended from the legendary Mechanicum Protectors from before the Age of the Imperium, the Praetorians are the terror troops of the Adeptus Mechanicus. Though they are most often seen as honour guards, intended to remind the galaxy of the power of the Adeptus Mechanicus, they are just as often used for critical surgical strikes in great offensives. Parallels can be drawn to the Space Marines of the Adeptus Astartes, but there are several notable differences. While Space Marines are recruited from children that are biologically enhanced throughout puberty, the Praetorians are vat-grown men created in the most secret laboratories of ancient forgeworlds, knowing no life outside the service of the Machine God and the Omnissiah.
The Praetorians are normally given the most advanced equipment available to the Adeptus Mechanicus and extreme resources are spent on their creation. With power armour individually designed and master-crafted by artisan Magi, weapons based on experimental fusion technology or long lost plasma technology and personal power fields, the Praetorians are amongst the most powerful infantry formations in the galaxy. Organ implants, mind impulse units and alloy-reinforced skeletons are standard, and after years of intense combat training and psycho conditioning, the Praetorians become fearsome weapons even without their weapons and armour.
In battle, the Praetorians are a fearsome sight. Deploying via teleport, they appear suddenly in the midst of their enemies, utterly silent, wearing black armour without any designations or markings but the badge of the Cult Mechanicus. They then move effortlessly and ruthlessly towards their objective before extracting via teleport once their objectives have been reached. When serving as honour guards, they upgrade their sleek black armour with ornate ceremonial armour modules, decorated with the banners of their company. Like living statues, they guard their objective with devotion second to none.
Note: I know that this isn't a whole lot of information, but my main goal with this article is to give an overview of the Adeptus Mechanicus as an organisation, not a detailed description of the fighting units of the Adeptus Mechanicus.
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Post by Dazo on Dec 18, 2004 7:22:08 GMT -5
I thought praetorians were the massive machines like the hellbore heavy mole and that huge transporter thing, you know its got a plasma cannon on the front...its name escapes me, Capitol imperialis, thats the fellow.
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Post by CELS on Dec 18, 2004 7:37:09 GMT -5
There are several units in the Imperium that are named Praetorians or Praetorns, but the fluff bible and the Liber Mechanicus state that Praetorians are "biologically and bionicly enhanced warriors, with brain stem implants, neural linked processors and alloy reinforced skeletons. Unlike Space Marines who are genetically altered from an early age, the Praetorians are fully grown men who act as walking test beds for the rediscovered technologies of the Imperium. They are fearsome fighters whose devotion to the Machine-God makes them zealous combatants willing to fight to the death. They are the terror troops of the Adeptus Mechanicus, enforcing the will of the Machine God wherever they are deployed" The units you describe could be Ordinati, but it does ring a bell when you call them Praetorians too. As I said above though, there are several units in the Imperium called Praetorians. There are even Praetorian combat servitors
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Post by Dazo on Dec 18, 2004 7:44:12 GMT -5
Yes your probably right, I mean it was along time ago so names have probably been changed, there was also the leviathan, and that came out about the time of the other ordinatus(I think was the name at the time).
Or they might be placed in with the titans, they were about the same size, and the ordo malleus used them aswell I think, they had a different name.
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Post by CELS on Dec 18, 2004 7:46:24 GMT -5
3.5 The Explorators The Explorators form the most mysterious fighting unit of the Adeptus Mechanicus. Though they have many grand armies and powerful fleets, the Explorators are almost never used in pitched battle. To the Imperium, the Explorators are naught but questing scouts, seeking new or lost knowledge. This is only part of a more sinister truth. In reality, the purpose of the Explorators is similar to that of the Imperial Inquisition. Not only concerned with seeking knowledge, the Explorators also track down and eliminate those who perform heretical research, both within and without the Adeptus Mechanicus. In addition, the Explorators are given the extremely risky task of capturing artefacts held by the enemy or even other organisations in the Imperium. In the case of the latter, stealth is obviously of utmost importance, as a failure to hide their identity can result in great conflicts with the rest of the Imperium.
The Explorators are divided into highly independent Cohorts, with each forgeworld having at least one such Cohort. The organisation of each Cohort can differ wildly from one to another, depending on origins and their intended purpose. On ancient forgeworlds with several Cohorts, one Cohort may be dedicated entirely to monitoring the forgeworld itself and will thus be bound to its home, while another Cohort may be given a fleet and travel the stars ceaselessly, with little apparent connection to its homeworld.
Following the events of the Horus Heresy, the Imperium does not allow the Explorator Cohorts to maintain enough weapons to function as an offensive unit. Their ships are allowed to carry soldiers and warmachines to protects the ships from boarding and to protect their tech priests during expeditions on alien worlds, and are also allowed some defensive armaments to keep enemy ships at a distance to secure their escape. To achieve their secret objectives, of course, the Explorators sometimes need to bring concealed, forbidden weapons. An Explorator ship that appears almost completely unarmed at first can often transform to reveal rows of hidden weapon batteries and various experimental or arcane weapons. The Explorator Cohorts have a multitude of different personnel, from tech priests and arch magi to soldiers and warrior priests, or even assassins, spies and saboteurs in disguise.
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Post by CELS on Dec 18, 2004 7:49:22 GMT -5
Oh, and by the way... This is from the Liber Mechanicus.
"One example of this is Ordinatus Priam. This huge tunneling machine was assembled during the siege of Priam, a city overrun by the traitor forces in the Horus Heresy. The immense creation was designed to tunnel through the planet’s crust and then navigate through the white-hot mantle underneath. This rendered it undetectable to Priam’s defenses and allowed four companies of elite Imperial Guard troops to storm the city’s Generatum Vulcanis, breaking the siege. However, the Ordinatus Priam was irrevocably damaged in the attack as parts of its shielding have way to the heat of the molten rock"
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Post by CELS on Dec 18, 2004 11:03:31 GMT -5
4.0 The Knight Worlds As the Cult Mechanicus of Mars began colonisation around the galaxy, its distant and largely isolated forgeworlds were often very vulnerable and dependent on other worlds for food, minerals, workers or soldiers. Eventually, many of these forgeworlds united nearby human worlds with the sovereign of the Cult Mechanicus, establishing them as colonies of Mars. Some of these lost human worlds had descended into barbarism and anarchy, and all of them lived in fear of alien attacks. As the Cult Mechanicus offered knowledge, guidance and protection, the tech priests of Mars were usually met with open arms.
On these new colony worlds, the Cult Mechanicus had a policy of establishing a new government to secure stability, harmony and loyalty. A Monarch was put on the throne by the tech priests, normally a member of the Cult Mechanicus or a local hero, hand-picked by the Cult Mechanicus. Warrior priests of the Cult Mechanicus were then given the position of Knights on the new colony worlds, supposed to assist the Monarch with government, while giving leadership to the people and ensuring the popularity of the Cult Mechanicus. The Knights were given much wealth and military resources in order to accomplish this, most notably the common Knight walkers designed by the Cult Mechanicus. Though inferior to the Titans of Mars, these Knight walkers were powerful warmachines and became the symbol of the might of the Cult Mechanicus on many worlds.
Millennia later, when the Emperor formed an alliance with the Cult Mechanicus, it was agreed that these would remain the sovereign of Mars without needing to tithe to Terra as other Imperial worlds, but that the Adeptus Mechanicus would not be able to found new Knight worlds. The term ‘Knight world’ was adopted throughout the Imperium, thanks in part to the legendary Rogue Trader Jeffers who discovered three Knight worlds in Segmentum Solar and claimed to have coined the term.
There are several hundred Knight worlds around the galaxy, all of which were colonised by the Cult Mechanicus before the Horus Heresy. The majority of these are found within the borders of the Segmentum Solar, where the concentration of ancient forgeworlds is greatest. Further from the Segmentum Solar, most forgeworlds were colonised after the Great Crusade, when the Adeptus Mechanicus was no longer allowed to found new Knight worlds. Still, the colonisation fleets from Mars that travelled the galaxy during the Age of Technology and Age of Strife sometimes reached far into the galaxy, and there is even a handful of Knight worlds to be found in the Eastern fringe.
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Post by Kage2020 on Dec 18, 2004 11:56:34 GMT -5
Incidentally, I don't suppose you managed to fix the 'cludge' that is the history of the adeptus mechanicus? I know that how I interpret it works, but have you done something other than it states in the 'fluff'? E.g. technology failed on Mars so, quickly, everyone began to worship technology?
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Post by CELS on Dec 18, 2004 12:08:36 GMT -5
I've only barely begun writing history, but I haven't thought of anything clever. How do you 'interpret' it? Obviously, I want to make the fluff work if possible, but if it's just insane (like the fluff on Knight worlds), then I have to consider changing it.
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Post by Zholud on Dec 21, 2004 7:10:59 GMT -5
While the truth about emperor and Mechanicus relationship is not clear, I’d prefer the view hinted by the Horus Heresy card-game and art-book by the BL. There it seems Mars viewed Terra during the Age of Strife just as Greeks viewed barbarians, i.e. clearly inferior beings, which can be enslaved, robbed, etc – the thing impossible for even lowest citizen of the polis. Thus Tech-priests seized materials, people, including navigators, knowledge. From what I think, the Emperor threatened Mechanicus that if they do not parley, he’ll just attack or allow mere people to attack Mars… after all he already had some genetically modified troops From this passage is unclear that Adeptus Ministorum lost man in arms only in M36, after the Thor’s reformation. While technically it is still after the Horus Heresy, I guess it is too early in this paragraph to notify about Decree Passive. Recall that during the Vandire’s reign huge armies of fanatics, not only Imperial Guard were used. More later… p.s. good work.
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Post by CELS on Dec 21, 2004 7:24:03 GMT -5
While the truth about emperor and Mechanicus relationship is not clear, I’d prefer the view hinted by the Horus Heresy card-game and art-book by the BL. There it seems Mars viewed Terra during the Age of Strife just as Greeks viewed barbarians, i.e. clearly inferior beings, which can be enslaved, robbed, etc – the thing impossible for even lowest citizen of the polis. Thus Tech-priests seized materials, people, including navigators, knowledge. From what I think, the Emperor threatened Mechanicus that if they do not parley, he’ll just attack or allow mere people to attack Mars… after all he already had some genetically modified troops Hm, didn't read that. Interesting. Still, it is clear that the Emperor didn't just boss Mars around, since they maintain some pretty exclusive privileges compared to other organisations in the Adeptus Terra. I was very aware of this, though I agree that I should have mentioned that the Decree Passive was in M36, and not right after the Heresy. Bad wording on my part. Why did you put "man in arms" in italics, by the way? I'm pretty sure it's "men at arms"... Thanks a lot!
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Post by Zholud on Dec 21, 2004 8:57:01 GMT -5
Hm, didn't read that. Interesting. Still, it is clear that the Emperor didn't just boss Mars around, since they maintain some pretty exclusive privileges compared to other organisations in the Adeptus Terra. On reading – I may suggest you to seek Google for Horus Heresy redemption cards, because I’ve lost my link to them… or wait till I get scanner and enough free time with BL artbook on it I agree that the Emperor does not toy the AM around, but I suggest that he had power to destroy them and they knew that… thus they joined the Crusade not-too-willingly, which can be played out later I was very aware of this, though I agree that I should have mentioned that the Decree Passive was in M36, and not right after the Heresy. Bad wording on my part. OK, no problem I guess. Why did you put "man in arms" in italics, by the way? I'm pretty sure it's "men at arms"... its men, you’re correct, I mistyped. As for italics, I just wanted to point on women in arms…
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Post by Kage2020 on Dec 21, 2004 18:40:03 GMT -5
The fact that the adeptus mechanicus has the liberty to think of Terra as 'barbarians', or something similar, again raises the thorny issue of the very premise of the Cult of the Machinne...
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Post by Zholud on Dec 22, 2004 12:01:37 GMT -5
Back to the Essay discussion. - Names of hierarchy – for me senior novice sounds strange… maybe another term, like acolyte or pupil? Not the best ones too, I have to admit.
- Top hierarchal guys, starting from regional heads – I guess those are administrative positions and they are not really higher than ordinary Magos. Plus I guess some Magos Errant, in eternal quest for the STC are more honoured than some sectoral boss, who seat in their backward sector. Biggest toads in their small pools… also link to the next point
- Mechanicum – relatively new invention of GW, mentioned in HH CCG. Something akin to council/senate/parliament. This institution IMHO appoints on administrative positions. Thus maybe even Fabricator-General is representative and not top of pyramid. Maybe speaker of this parliament. Collective/dispersed mind of Mechanicum is more fascinating IMHO that big boss approach.
- Side note – don’t you yellow, please. I read text in print version (Thus I get all pages in one, which I save for reading on my spare time) and cannot see it
- Collegium Arcanum – I guess history is more in hands of Inquisition, Ecclesiarchy and private collages advocated by Kage… and I agree with him. General idea – while Mechanicus seek for any kind of data, I’d prefer to limit them with more ‘natural sciences’, leaving humanities and esotericism mostly to others.
Maybe more later…
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