Imperium (Warhammer 40,000)

In the XXII century, humanity colonized Mars and began to send expeditions to other stars. But the expansion of human civilization went slowly until the opening of a parallel space - the warp, which allows traveling at superluminal speeds. For ten thousand years, people spread through space and met with other races. It was then that the first wars began - with the Eldar , the orcs, and between the people themselves. After five millennia, the one who was destined to become the head of humanity - the Emperor of humanity appeared. A new empire of people arose during the sacred crusade. The troops, led by the emperor and his primarch sons, brought to mankind the dictates of the emperor. Primarchs ( English Primarch ) - genetically enhanced people, created from the DNA of the Emperor in the genetic laboratories of Saint Terra as vassals of the Emperor, who planned to make them his support in the future crusade and expansion of humanity ^[1] .

The expansion of the newborn empire ended in a civil war known as the Heresy of Horus ^{[2] [3]} . In order to continue the crusade with the aim of returning all the planets of humanity to the bosom of the Imperium, the Emperor of humanity appointed the primarch Horus the Warlord - commander of the troops. This decision has displeased a number of Space Marine leaders. The primarch of the XVII Legion of Word Bearers, Lorgar worshiped the Emperor as a god, which the latter did not like, and the Emperor ordered the Ultradesan to destroy Lorgar's favorite planet, the Monarchy. The primarch of the XVII Legion fell into a depression, from which the First Chaplain Erebus helped, who spoke about the Gods of Chaos. Lorgar swore allegiance to the Destructive Forces and ordered the seduction of Horus. Erebus stole Anathema - the Sword of Nurgle, and planted it on the governor on Davine. Horus was mortally wounded, and during a coma, Demon Tzinch, tempting Horus, sent a picture of the future where the Warmaster would be forgotten and the Emperor revered as a single deity. Horus took the oath to the forces of Chaos, guided, as he thought, by good intentions - the salvation of the inhabitants of the Imperium from the coming authoritarian theocracy. Turning against the Emperor, Horus inclined seven primarchs to his side, putting an end to the Emperor’s Great Crusade ^[4] . In the attack on Terra, Horus was killed by the Emperor, and the Emperor was seriously injured. However, the Emperor did not die, but was imprisoned in the Golden Throne, continuously supporting his life, and the breakaway legions retreated into the ranks of Chaos . As with the irony of “Fantastic World,” the vision sent by the gods of Chaos came true thanks to the actions of Horus ^[5] .

In this situation, and begins to unfold the action of Warhammer 40,000. The empire is immersed in a continuous war with countless enemies of humanity: adherents of Chaos , tyranids , orcs and dark eldar . Thousands of years after the Heresy of Horus, new enemies appeared: the newborn Tau empire and the necrons .

The God-Emperor of humanity is a man endowed with godlike power, uniting all of humanity with his name. Being the mighty ruler of the empire of people, the God-Emperor of Mankind was crippled during the events of the Heresy of Horus, and from that time remains imprisoned in the Golden Throne, not being either completely alive or dead.

The Supreme Lords of Terra are the twelve supreme rulers of Terra, the organ of collegial governance of the Imperium. The first twelve lords were elected by the Emperor shortly before he stopped communicating with his subjects. Higher lords have absolute personal immunity ^[6] . De jure, all twelve High Lords are only governors and representatives of the Emperor, ruling on his behalf ^[7] . You can become a Higher Lord only as a result of complex intrigues within your organization, and often these intrigues include secret murders, blackmail and bribery. ^{[8] [9]} . High Lord Gogh Vandir, Ecclesiarch Adeptus Ministorum, introduced the Imperium into the Era of the Apostasy in the 36th millennium ^[4] .

The Adeptus Terra , also known as the Clergy of the Earth, is the central organization of the Empire of the people; most of the other official departments and organizations belong to it. Only the Ecclesiarchy and the Inquisition are not formally part of the Adeptus Terra. The Adeptus Terra is rather a nominal union, and not an organization as such, since each of its subdivisions operates mostly completely autonomously.

Ecclesiarchy

The Ecclesiarchy (Adeptus Ministorum) is a part of the Imperium, which is a church that preaches the worship of the Divine Emperor ^[10] . The Ecclesiarchy governs several planets. Such planets are called sacred worlds, they are places of mass pilgrimages. Remaining the center of power of the Ecclesiarchy, and a target for countless pilgrims, they also serve as military bases for the operations of the orders of the Sisters of Battle - the troops protecting the sacred planets. The church is headed by an ecclesiarch ^[4] . The Sisters of Battle and the missionaries of Missionionus Galaxy, which follow the pilgrimage, obey the Ecclesiarch. ^[4] The Ecclesiarchy divides the galaxy into parishes led by deacons; higher level formed dioceses, headed by archdeacons and cardinals. The church is headed by two synods - on Sacred Terra and on Ophelia IV, it is they who choose Ecclesiarch. Cardinals belonging to the Holy Synods are divided into three ranks, depending on what diocese they come from ^[4] .

Inquisition

The Inquisition acts as the secret police of the Imperium, fighting any enemies and dangers, external or internal, that could threaten it. Inquisitors, as a rule, are endowed with extraordinary powers to act directly on behalf of the God the Emperor and in themselves personify the law of the Imperium. In the literature, they are described, as a rule, as people extremely powerful, intelligent and gifted. For combat operations, the Inquisition has its own troops - the Death Guard at Ordo Xenos, the Sisters of Battle at Ordo Hereticus, the Order of the Space Marine “Gray Knights” at Ordo Malleus, and some others. In addition, the powers of the Inquisitors include the ability to demand the help and assistance of any organizations of the Imperium - the Imperial Guard and the fleet, orders of the Space Marine, planetary administrations, etc. ^[11]

In Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War computer games, the Inquisition was mentioned more than once as a force opposing Chaos. Some of its units are available to play for different races. Basically, in the games of this series, when selecting the Space Assault as the playing side, the player can access the Gray Knights squad from Ordo Malleus: they are effective both in close and remote combat, especially against the chaos demons. With a sufficiently large distance from the enemy, they can accelerate and attack the enemy at high speed, with a high degree of probability destroying the fighters of his squadron or knocking down survivors. They can also use their psyker abilities to create a storm in a certain area, causing damage to everyone in the zone of its action. Game Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War - Soulstorm included in the list of races available to the player, and the Sisters of the battle of the Ordo Hereticus. The player is available to manage the various groups of sisters, groups of penitent sisters and armored units. As commanders, the missionaries, the Confessor, and the Canoness are available to the player with their own unique abilities. Numerous custom modifications are available for Dawn of War, introducing the Inquisition unit as a separate race. The main heroine of the game Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War II - Retribution in the campaign for the Imperial Guard is the Lady Inquisitor Adrastia of Ordo Hereticus, who is sent to Aurelius's sub-sector to destroy the former Chaos-sold Master of the Blood Ravens Azariah Cuirass.

Sisters of Battle

Sisters of Battle ( eng. Sisters of Battle ), or Adepta Sororitas (distorted. Lat. Adepta Sororitas ) is a military-religious women's organization. They are a fighting unit of the state church and at the same time part of the Inquisition of the Imperium.

Imperial Guard

Imperial Guard ( eng. Imperial Guard ), since 2014 known as Astra Militarum ( born Astra Militarum ), abbreviated as the IG or IG - the armed forces of the Imperium, consisting of infantry and armored regiments. The Imperial Guard is a gigantic military organization made up of trillions of men and women, supported by millions of armored vehicles from thousands of different planets and star systems ^[12] . In general, the Imperial Guard consists mainly of infantry regiments, armed and protected easily (although there are special units equipped with heavy weapons and well-protected), as well as armor regiments equipped with the most powerful tanks and armored personnel carriers ^[13] .

The imperial guard was first introduced in board games as a playable side in the White Dwarf magazine (issue 109, January 1989). In April 2014, after the sixth edition of the game, the Imperial Guard appeared in an updated form, receiving its modern name "Astra Militarum". With the release of the Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War series of computer games and subsequent additions to it, Guard’s popularity began to grow, as they could play a full-fledged game for the Guard. The prototype of almost every Imperial Guard regiment mentioned in board or computer games was the historical army of a particular era.

The Imperial Guard was a faction in the computer strategies of the Dawn of War series (from DoW Winter Assault to DoW II Retribution ) and Warhammer 40,000: Gladius - Relics of War .

Space landing

Space Marines (also known as Space Marines ), also known as Adeptus Astartes ( Adeptus Astartes ), among the fans are also called Space Marines or Space Marines - an organization of genetically modified super-soldiers elected to serve humanity. Space Marines are the protagonists in each edition of the Warhammer 40,000 board games, in a variety of books on this universe and in all Warhammer 40,000 computer games, and the Dawn of War and Dawn of War II games have brought special fame. The image of space marines was largely inspired by earlier works of science fiction, such as the mobile infantry from Robert Heinlein ’s Star Trekking, the Sardukah from Dune and, in particular, the Laserburn board game, the earlier creation of the entire setting, Brian Ansella . It is believed that the image of Space Marines had an impact on the StarCraft series of games.

Warhammer 40,000 board games always feature Space Marines ^[14] . Due to their individual strength at various limits, the Space Marines army always turns out to be small in number, so a player can hold a batch with a small but effective squad. Individual units are not strictly specialized and can replace each other to correct mistakes. However, their protection reduces their maneuverability compared to other races. In general, they are ideal for beginners ^[15] .

As a rule, a Space Marine due to its popularity within the universe is often criticized ^{[16] [17]} . So, from a logical point of view, tactics and weapons of warriors are questioned, and from a scientific and technical point of view, the effectiveness of weapons with jet ammunition and the very possibility of supplementing and modifying the human body ^[16] . As the embodiment of medieval religious standards, they also fall under criticism from both Orthodox ^[17] and Muslim theologians (who mistakenly even attribute the Space Marines to medieval knight orders ^[18] ). However, journalists note the innovation in the creation and implementation of details ^[19] .

Baneblade ( eng. Baneblade ) - super-heavy tank, which is in service with the Imperial Guard ^[20] . In addition to the Warhammer 40,000 and Epic board games, the tank appears as combat units available to the player in the Warhammer Epic 40,000: Final Liberation computer game , as well as in the Warhammer 40,000 games: Dawn of War - Winter Assault , Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War - Dark Crusade and Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War - Soulstorm . In a fictional universe, a tank is presented as a multi-purpose vehicle capable of effectively fighting infantry, lightly armored and heavily armored targets, fortifications, and low-flying air targets ^{[21] [22]} . On the basis of the tank chassis , a large number of machines for various purposes are produced, and based on the design and individual components, some completely new developments of a similar class ^{[20] [23]} .

The “Rhinoceros” armored personnel carrier ( English Rhino ) is a multipurpose modular vehicle used throughout the Imperium, but is most common as a Space Marine transport. The chassis of the machine is the base for many samples of military equipment of the Imperium. Armored personnel carrier "Rhino" became a mascot and one of the central figures of the advertising campaign of the publishing house THQ to promote the computer game Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War II . The publishing house deployed and implemented a project to create an FV432 armored personnel carrier FV432 based on a copy of the full-scale “Rhinoceros” undercarriage, which was demonstrated to the general public on September 14, 2008 at the Games Workshop Games Day 2008 exhibition ^{[24] [25] [26] [27]} ; later, a mock passability comparable to the base machine was also separately demonstrated ^{[28] [29]} .

The tank "Lehman Russ" , in other translations also known as Lehman Russ, is the most replicated tank of the military forces of the Imperium, named after the primarch of the sixth legion of space landing, Space Volkov. The tank was distinguished by powerful armor (especially on the frontal part of the hull), high firepower, and also rather high mobility. The tank is very stable, durable, reliable and unpretentious (Lehman Russ engines were able to work on almost any fuel). On the basis of the design of this tank created a whole series of combat vehicles.

The “Typhon” tank is a heavy siege tank used by a spaceman in the years of the Great Crusade and the Heresy of Horus. It was named after the ancient Greek giant, the son of Gaia and Tartarus, who had a hundred dragon heads, a human body, and snakes instead of legs. It was designed by the mechanics of Mars with Perturabo, the primarch of the fourth legion of the space marines, the Iron Warriors. Among the Iron Warriors "Typhon" and received the greatest popularity. It was a tracked siege weapon equipped with the “Hammer of Terror” cannon, the huge fire power of which could easily destroy even the most durable walls of the fortress. After the Heresy of Horus, the technology of creating "Tifonov" was probably lost.

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