User blog:TechCaptain/What Not to do with Astra Militarum Regiments

Things NOT to Do When Creating a Homebrew Regiment
Here are a few finally things you should NOT do when writing a Homebrew Astra Militarum Regiment:

Do NOT claim your Regiment fills a specialty that another Imperial Organization does
Astra Militarum are foremost amongst the defenders of humanity, the most numerous of the Emperor of Mankind's warriors. They are human all, but The High Lords and other organizations have placed severe limitations on formations and units since the heresy.

Support units, such as heavy weapons platoons and much-valued specialist units, such as battle tanks, artillery, Rough Riders and Abhuman squads, may be attached to a company for a single battle or the entire duration of a campaign. These are rarely permanent additions and are attached as needed by the regimental commanders. It is a common practice, especially amongst armoured and artillery regiments, to break down several companies and second them to infantry forces, granting heavy firepower to the platoons whilst providing troop support for the vehicles. If serving together for extended durations, attached units tend to adopt their foster-regiment's uniform and unit markings. This not only helps to avoid friendly-fire incidents, but also aids in promoting comradeship with the soldiers they will be fighting and dying alongside.

Aeronautica Imperialis
The Aeronautica Imperialis is the branch of the Imperial Navy that is dedicated to atmospheric combat aviation. The Aeronautica Imperialis usually works in conjunction with the Astra Militarum to provide combat transportation and tactical and strategic air support for its ground forces. Squadrons of Valkyries, and their sister gunships the Vendettas, operate in much closer cohesion with the Astra Militarum.

Only a rare few get an exception to have these pilots to be apart of their Regiments and these are usually the Integrated Elements like Harakoni and Elysia. Even Rarer are those that solely fly these vehicles and are considered guard like Phantine. These are the exceptions not the rule.

Adeptus Astra Telepathica
There are those whose value to the Astra Militarum and the wider Imperium itself outweighs the rabid moral repugnance they evoke. Most notable amongst these are the Warp-sensitive psykers of the Scholastica Psykana. The untrained psyker is a beacon to the daemons of the Warp, his lack of control and improper absence of self-loathing presenting a deadly danger to all.

Some of the psykers recruited into the Adeptus Astra Telepathica are trained to serve within the Astra Militarum as Sanctioned Psykers rather than as Astropaths. These psykers may draw upon the power of the Warp, unleashing it upon their enemies as a weapon. They are also called upon to advise high-ranking Imperial Guard officers, though with varying degrees of success. These are the psykers used in the guard, there are not going to be entire regiments of psykers as they are considered too dangerous and the Telepathica 'owns' them.

Militarum Auxilla
The Militarum Auxilla is a specialist division of the Astra Militarum that contains most of the Abhuman units of the Imperial Guard. As the nascent Imperium regained contact with the rest of Humanity during the Great Crusade, its servants discovered populations that had developed into true human sub-species.

Most of these Abhumans were killed, but some, such as the Ratlings and Ogryns, proved their worth as specialists in the Militarum Auxilla. Indoctrinated in the Imperial Creed, they are taught self-loathing, and watched closely by the Commissars and Priests of the Adeptus Ministorum.

The small numbers and specialised abilities of Abhuman soldiers mean that Ogryn and Ratling regiments are almost always split for distribution to more conventional Astra Militarum formations. Abhumans evoke revulsion in their genetic cousins, for whom the degenerate inhumanity of their forms is only a step from the heresy of mutation. They must be constantly watched by Commissars and Priests alike for any signs of excess deviancy, and are taught self-disgust and a desire to atone for their failures of birth through honest toil in the Emperor's name. However, these squads have proven their worth time and again. Such units as Magogg's Ratling Rifles in the Damocles Crusade, and the Anark Zeta 88th Bullgryn regiment who carried the breach during the siege of Gregoria, have won great fame.

As such mixed Abhuman and Human Regiments are reality Regiments with attached sections or detachments from this separate branch of the military.

Preacher
A Preacher is the lowest ranking member of the Imperial clergy within the Ecclesiarchy. They are known as the Defenders of the Faith. Often individual regiments of the Imperial Guard and vessels of the Imperial Navy are accompanied by dozens of Preachers, many of whom regard it as their duty to personally take the field of battle and provide religious inspiration to those in their care. A Preacher is also the rank of Ministorum priest who is given a parish of his own to run which is centred on an Imperial shrine. A Preacher is the priest of the Imperial Cult who will have the most day-to-day contact with ordinary worshipers. Especially vigorous and charismatic Preachers may be lucky enough to be promoted to become Confessors.

Due to the Age of Apostasy the Ecclesiarchy are to have no 'men' under arms. Preachers are attached and belong to the regiment tehy belong to. Regiments of Emperor Worshipers is fine, Regiments of Preachers are not. Look to the Sisters of Battle for the Combat arm of the Ecclesiarchy.

Adeptus Mechanicus
The soldiers of the Astra Militarum are not the only element of the Imperial war machine that requires the ministrations of a priesthood. The Adeptus Mechanicus are masters of arcane automation and technological mysticism, who look to the provision and well-being of the Imperial Guard's countless engines of war. Without these lore-keepers of high technology there would be no voidships to carry the Imperial Guard between worlds, and no weapons with which to hold back the countless foes that seek to overwhelm Mankind.

By virtue of the ancient Treaty of Mars, many Enginseers are attached to the Astra Militarum and Imperial Navy, maintaining and repairing the Imperium's vehicles, aircraft, starships, and other wargear and ensuring that the warriors who prosecute the Emperor's wars always have the means to do so. These cybernetic holy men stand aloof from the Imperial Guardsmen, concerned only with tending to the Machine Spirits of their foster regiment's many vehicles and weaponry.

Having Guard Regiments of Engiseers or admech violates the Treaty of Mars. Having Technical Savvy Operators or of specific equipment is fine, having them have access to the secrets of technology is not. The Skitarii is the Guard of Admech, and such the Astra Militarum does not get unrestricted access to Forge Worlds and the like.

Do NOT make combined arms Tactical Regiments
Although there are many different classes of Astra Militarum regiment, each one is largely uniform in its tactical composition. Infantry regiments, for example, are unlikely to contain much or any heavy artillery, whilst tank regiments contain little or no infantry. Success requires Astra Militarum regiments to work together. Whilst this interdependence may at first seem like an inherent weakness, it is a necessary precaution. Should a regiment rebel against the Emperor, the Traitors will not have access to the supporting units needed to prosecute a full-scale war. When the Ocanan 15th declared its allegiance to the Ruinous Powers of Chaos it had little in the way of either heavy armour or artillery support and was unable to compete against the "combined arms" forces of the Cadian 17th Armoured and Elysian 110th Drop-Troop Regiments sent to eliminate them.

Each Militarum Regimentum comprises multiple regiments, all of which come from the same planet. Because of the shared culture and fighting styles of regiments sourced from a single world, soldiers, officers and even officials of the Departmento Munitorum often interchange the term "Militarum Regimentum" and "regiment," referring to all Guardsmen from Cadia as being from the "Cadian Regiment." On their homeworlds, the forces who serve to defend the planet may have been split into battalions, divisions, cohorts, militia groups, geno-corps and a host of other formation names and compositions, but in the Astra Militarum these are all different types of regiment.

Some planets are able to raise a variety of regiments. Cadia or Armageddon, for example, are huge worlds embroiled in seemingly endless wars whose populace are given ample opportunity to train in various aspects of warfare. By comparison, other worlds take great and often justifiable pride in their reputation for training a specific kind of regiment to exceptional standards.

There are exceptions to this in very specific and small ways of how various leadership has gotten around this rule. But this should be carefully considered on how and why one is doing this.