Imperial Armour 3 and 4 discussion thread.

[Black Admiral]

From what I can gather, the writing staff over at Forge World just likes to have the Imperium lose horridly for stupid reasons; excepting Vraks, which hardly counts given the outcome (and could have been improved had they not also been stupid there), have they ever had the Imperium succeed in a campaign?

Actually, yes - in IAs 9 & 10 (but then, since the Imperial/loyalist victory in the Badab War was already canon, I'm not convinced they should get credit for that). And, yes, Vraks really shouldn't count as a success, considering that a better result could've been achieved by just bombing the shit out of the place (which would've taken maybe a few weeks at most, and would've just returned Vraks to the Imperium a blasted shithole - which is a marked improvement on a toxic blasted shithole with randomly appearing Warp Rifts as part of the local weather, after two decades of effort and the pointless expenditure of more than 500 Astartes and on the order of 20 million Guardsmen).

[Rogue 9]

Yeah, well we'll see how IA11 goes.

As for Vraks, they likely could have retrieved much of the stores intact had they commenced an immediate bombing campaign rather than pretending it was World War I for fifteen years.

[Alkaloid]

You are actually wrong about the logistic aspect, Cain's main regiment has either a quarter or a fifth of their numbers in a none combat support company. They are still required to carry a Lasgun but in most cases they don't have to do anything with it since it is a defensive weapon.

There is a support company, yeah, but they are a combat support company, they don't do logistics. There are engineseers assigned to the regiment to take care of the vehicles and equipment, and the 5th company assist them in that, but they never count engineseers as guardsmen. Most of the 5th companies job seems to be manning HQ and I think at one point they mention the cooks are part of it as well, but logistics seems largely to be done by the local government or the navy.

Yeah, well we'll see how IA11 goes.

IA11 has Elysians in it, so whatever campaign they conduct will be retarded. I actually think someone at forge world hates them and deliberately kills them all off as often as possible.

[Rogue 9]

Which is just too damn bad, since I like the Elysian drop troop list, despite the fact that they fucking neutered command squads. Not that I play it, since regular Imperial Guard is already expensive enough without blowing even more money on Forge World aircraft models.

[Simon_Jester]

You are actually wrong about the logistic aspect, Cain's main regiment has either a quarter or a fifth of their numbers in a none combat support company. They are still required to carry a Lasgun but in most cases they don't have to do anything with it since it is a defensive weapon.

Sorchus, that is nowhere near the number of men you'd expect to need in order to support an armored cavalry regiment like the Valhallan 597th. There's got to be a substantial logistics tail involved- many of them not necessarily on the planet the regiment operates out of, but when you factor in all the people responsible for keeping them supplied and up to strength in manpower, they've got to be a much bigger organization than their rifle strength would indicate.

[Black Admiral]

Sorchus, that is nowhere near the number of men you'd expect to need in order to support an armored cavalry regiment like the Valhallan 597th.

As a minor correction (which ultimately has no real effect on the overall point), the Valhallan 597th are armoured role/mechanised infantry, not armoured cav (i.e. tanks). The events of the Cain series would've been rather different if they were a tank regiment.

[Rogue 9]

From what I can gather, the writing staff over at Forge World just likes to have the Imperium lose horridly for stupid reasons; excepting Vraks, which hardly counts given the outcome (and could have been improved had they not also been stupid there), have they ever had the Imperium succeed in a campaign?

Actually, yes - in IAs 9 & 10 (but then, since the Imperial/loyalist victory in the Badab War was already canon, I'm not convinced they should get credit for that).

Thinking about it, wasn't the outcome of the Kastorel-Novem raid also already canon? The Ork campaign in question is illustrated in a chart in the main rulebook.

Which doesn't excuse the loss being retarded, but still.

[Connor MacLeod]

It's easy for the Imperium to be picked as the loser simply because most battles, especially those in a Forge World novel, can afford to lose without dramatically upsetting the status quo. The Imperium is supposed to be losing hundreds, or thousands of planets all the time at the same time it gains new ones. I suspect that's one reason why so many non-Imperial novels still heavily feature the Imperium (the Eldar Path series, Storm of Iron or the Night Lords novels, etc.)

I would also point out that it's not the Imperium so much as a whole that gets shafted as it is anyone who isn't a Space Marine (or at least a well liked Space Marine Chapter.)

Now what DOESN'T make sense is why the Eldar constantly get shafted even against the Imperium (or at least against Space Marines.)

[Connor MacLeod]

As a minor correction (which ultimately has no real effect on the overall point), the Valhallan 597th are armoured role/mechanised infantry, not armoured cav (i.e. tanks). The events of the Cain series would've been rather different if they were a tank regiment.

I always figured they needed someone to carry their extra supplies and shit to extend their oprerational range. (Of course given Leman Russes having a 1500 km range at their shit-tastic speeds already...) That would explain why some forces bother with Trojans and shit, I suppose.

With regards to the whole 'reserve' angle, there are two major arguments against that:

1.) the time at or around the 13th Black Crusade sees the Imperium being threatened, and that includes on the Eastern fringe. There is a good possibility (and this is borne out by the way the situation is presented in Taros - apparently things are a madhouse due to the foretold Black Crusade.)

2.) More pertinent is the fact that if the forces deployed to Taros had been a reserve or a Garrison force of any kind, they shouldn't have had to scrape them up to begin with. The whole point of a Garrison force or a reserve is to have military troops on hand whose locations you are aware of (as well as providing additional security). Unless the Imperium has every single planet on the eastern fringe completely in a massive war, there should be at least some military forces available. Indeed, given that Taros has been asked to raise relatively few regiments in its entire existence.) it seems likely that the Taros region is a relatively peaceful one, and thus other planets adjacent should be relatively untouched (EG huge chunks of its PDF or civilian population torn out to feed into some other conflict.)

In any case, the fact they needed to hunt around to find existing regiments (some of hwich were committed to other campaigns and were under strength) and spent over a year doing it and moving it to where you need was probably the worst way to handle it - in that time they could have taken completely civilian conscripts in the worst case scenario (and probably found far more of them) and had them trained/equipped up to desired standards within a year. Or, even better, do this in conjunction to what they actually sent to Taros (which would have given them far more options.)

cf: "number of regiments" - as Black Admiral notes, regimental sizes aren't fixed, so this means that number of regiments can be misleading. Regiments could be a few thousand (or even less) for specialists or small planetary tithes up to tens or hundreds of thousands of troops per regiment for large infantry foundings

[Simon_Jester]

As a minor correction (which ultimately has no real effect on the overall point), the Valhallan 597th are armoured role/mechanised infantry, not armoured cav (i.e. tanks). The events of the Cain series would've been rather different if they were a tank regiment.

I'm sorry, I got it backwards. I thought armored cav was 'light' and thus more likely to be APC-heavy at the expense of tanks.

Although the 597th does have at least a few tanks kicking around; I remember seeing a Leman Russ in at least one of the novels. Then again, it might have belonged to the enemy- I can't remember.

It's easy for the Imperium to be picked as the loser simply because most battles, especially those in a Forge World novel, can afford to lose without dramatically upsetting the status quo. The Imperium is supposed to be losing hundreds, or thousands of planets all the time at the same time it gains new ones. I suspect that's one reason why so many non-Imperial novels still heavily feature the Imperium (the Eldar Path series, Storm of Iron or the Night Lords novels, etc.)

I would also point out that it's not the Imperium so much as a whole that gets shafted as it is anyone who isn't a Space Marine (or at least a well liked Space Marine Chapter.)

Also, the Imperium is the biggest thing in the galaxy- except, perhaps, for the orks, and the orks are often selected as something to get beaten up in the novels for much the same reason. So you can logically put Imperial assets anywhere in the setting, and they're a fairly well known quantity for someone else to test themselves against.

Now what DOESN'T make sense is why the Eldar constantly get shafted even against the Imperium (or at least against Space Marines.)

Because they make good morally ambiguous villains, for one. Chaos or Necrons or whatever, they are definitely the bad guys no matter what, and you would never sympathize with them or want them to win. But Eldar have perfectly logical reasons to do things that make them the enemies of human civilization, without becoming hateful to the reader.

Also because their civilization is explicitly in decline and has been for fifteen thousand years, even more so than the Imperium of Man. In the great struggle for galactic power, they already lost with the creation of Slaanesh.

[Black Admiral]

As a minor correction (which ultimately has no real effect on the overall point), the Valhallan 597th are armoured role/mechanised infantry, not armoured cav (i.e. tanks). The events of the Cain series would've been rather different if they were a tank regiment.

I'm sorry, I got it backwards. I thought armored cav was 'light' and thus more likely to be APC-heavy at the expense of tanks.

Although the 597th does have at least a few tanks kicking around; I remember seeing a Leman Russ in at least one of the novels. Then again, it might have belonged to the enemy- I can't remember.

Tanks do show up from time to time, but they're never part of the 597th; in fact I don't think the 597th have ever worked with an allied tank unit, at least not that we've seen. A Chaos one turns up in The Traitor's Hand, as do a couple of PDF ones in Death Or Glory, but that's it. Closest they've got to tanks in their own SO&E is their Salamanders, and even being exceptionally charitable those are equivalents to the CVR(T) family, not full-up battle tanks.

From what I can gather, the writing staff over at Forge World just likes to have the Imperium lose horridly for stupid reasons; excepting Vraks, which hardly counts given the outcome (and could have been improved had they not also been stupid there), have they ever had the Imperium succeed in a campaign?

Actually, yes - in IAs 9 & 10 (but then, since the Imperial/loyalist victory in the Badab War was already canon, I'm not convinced they should get credit for that).

Thinking about it, wasn't the outcome of the Kastorel-Novem raid also already canon? The Ork campaign in question is illustrated in a chart in the main rulebook.

Which doesn't excuse the loss being retarded, but still.

My problem is less with the fact of the Imperium losing that one - although being a Raven Guard fan I'd obviously rather they not be involved in such a debacle - than the utterly idiotic way it occurs (like by making Shadow-Captain Korvydae an idiot who screws up his mission at every turn, without even the vague excuses used elsewhere - literally every decision the colossal muppet makes is wrong, based on the information that he has in making. And I'm still not sure how he fumbled calling in the one fire mission he does from his strike cruiser).

[Connor MacLeod]

A great deal of the IA stuff's problems comes less from the fact the Imperium loses than it does the way they lose. IA3 and IA8 both suffer from this problem. You know from the get go that its going to be a loss for the Imperium (The tau because the Imperium can't crush another Big Name Seller, and the Orks because it was foreordained.) - the manner of the loss happens in the most pants-on-head bizarre manner possible.

I've also come to understand people dislike IA5 for what they did to Krieg, but that's hardly unusual. Forgeworld alway takes fluff and tries to put its own spin on it, and like alot of sources they conflict (EG there being actual people from Krieg with names, faces, and personaltiies beyond simple meat droids.)

I've also heard the Kriegers are supposed to be cloned but TBH I can't say I drew that conclusion from IA5, and I havent read Dead Men Walking yet in any detail.

[Rogue 9]

Thinking about it, wasn't the outcome of the Kastorel-Novem raid also already canon? The Ork campaign in question is illustrated in a chart in the main rulebook.

Which doesn't excuse the loss being retarded, but still.

My problem is less with the fact of the Imperium losing that one - although being a Raven Guard fan I'd obviously rather they not be involved in such a debacle - than the utterly idiotic way it occurs (like by making Shadow-Captain Korvydae an idiot who screws up his mission at every turn, without even the vague excuses used elsewhere - literally every decision the colossal muppet makes is wrong, based on the information that he has in making. And I'm still not sure how he fumbled calling in the one fire mission he does from his strike cruiser).

Yeah. Which is also too damn bad, considering. One of the regular players around here has about ten thousand points of Orks and uses Zhadsnark da Rippa when he plays Apocalypse with them, so I got a look at Korvydae when he brought his book to an Apocalypse game we had earlier this year. Jump pack/thunderhammer and assault squads as Troops? What's not to like? Too bad the character attached to those stats is a colossal idiot.

[Connor MacLeod]

Next IA3 update. Like the Eisenhonr one, it's a 'dedication' thread. We witness the opening stages of the Invasion, with one of the few showings of competency brought in (big surprise) by Space MArines. And we get the final wrangling over tactics and details before the actual clusterfuck begins.




Page 45

After three weeks navigating the fickle tides of warp space the Righteous Power disengaged its warp engines and fell back through the mantel of reality, out of the Immateirum.

- 3 weeks to get to Taros through the Warp. We dont know the exact distance from where, though.



Page 45

The War Talon and her escort were the first to arrive in low orbit...

..

They [Rapotrs] were to make sure that a planetary defence missile silo, the only one identified in a position to threaten the invasion fleet in geo-stationary orbit above the landing zone, was destroyed.

...

Missile base Decima was part of a network fo such faiclities, built by the by the Imperium as Taros' main defence against hostile aliens. If left unhindered, the silos could engage the vulnerable troop transports in orbit.

...


The target area was to be subjected to a heavy bombardment by 250 rounds frrom the War Talon's bombadment cannons, but the danger of even a single operational silos surviving, and then scoring a successful hit on a troop transport, meant that a unit had to be assigned to making sure no silos were abel to fire on the invasion fleet..

The first and one of the few uses of the Space Marines, knocking out part of the planetary defence network.

Strike cruisers also carry at least 250 rounds for the bombardment cannons (plural, wheras the Vae Victus had only one.) Presumably used at reduced yield, like in Nightbringer.

This kind of makes me wonder why, if they can punch a hole in the defense grid at any point, why they don't do it closer to the city. I know they said there was threat from the city's guns (defenses) as well as the enemy holding and heavily defending the Ithsmus. As long as they are out of line of sight of the city, there shouldn't be a problem, and I doubt Tarokeen city is a huge hive world bigger than Necromunda's hive primus, and nothing short of defence lasers or a deathstrike should have continental range. What's more, if they were that big an issue, I'd imagine they'd be a significant threat in the ground war. Overall it seems more like De Stael's caution is overriding common sense again.

What's more is that we see them execute plans which run counter to what they know they have to do- they need to take a starport quickly (they don't, so I guess that ceases to become an issue ffor some reason.) Liekwise they know they need to secure a supply of water. But, they don' make that a priority. Instead they make a slow-ass 1500 km slog.

Page 46

The underground silos were designed to withstand the heaviest bombardments, even the fearsome weaponry of the War Talon might not be able to destroy the missiles within.

Presumably they had to balance the yields they might use with not wanting to fuck over the planet (if that didnt matter they wouldn't waste time with invasion now would they.)

Curiously, they never consider flattening the city once, even thought he Avenging Sons commander considered this an option. Politics again, perhaps?

Page 46

It gave detials of what the site contained. two underground missile silos, a command bunker, two personnel shelters, enough for a hundred strong silo crew and security staff. External defence works, including a minefield, ditch and razorwire, and an anti-aircraft position, equipped with a hydra turret, as well as other vehicle shelters and stores. Most of these would be below ground, making them very difficult to destroy with conventional artillery, even the War Talon's bombardment cannons might not reach deep enough.

Silos described. Whether these constintute the majority of the defenses or if there are others (EG Defnece lasers of some kind) we don't know.

Page 46

What if the regime or the Tau had upgraded the defences or increased the size or the number of silos?

Probably. I mean they did waste a year in preparations.

Page 46

These would be high priority targets, because the loss of a Thunderhawk gunship full of 30 battle brothers could put the whole mission in jeopardy.

Normally I'd agree, but they don't use the Marines for the bulk of the mission so...

Page 46

A single assault squad would be committed to attack the Hydra emplacement. They would be the first wave, led by Veteran Sergeant Igis and deploying from Thunderhawk gunship at high altitude. Such deployments [assault squad from thundrehawks] are usually made from low atltitude, to avoid the worst effects of any ground fire, but given the nature of the target, Orelius commanded that the Thundedrhawk stay above the maximum known range of the Hydras autocannons.
..

The risk of brothers being hit whilst in free fall was judged far less than that of a Thunderhawk being destroyed or so badly damaged it woudl be forced to abandon its mission.

Going by defintions of high altitude (~3 km as per here) that sets smething of a broad upper limit on Hydra range. Whether its "direct hit" range or indirect (proximity damage) range isn't specified, but its nothing dramatic range wise (many WW2 AA guns used bursting rounds that could reach up to 8-10 km eaisly)


Page 47

Adeptus Astartes Tactical weapons loadout:

MArk 7 Power armour, settings optimised for desert envirments.

1 Mark IV "Macragge" Pattenr boltgun

4 x 20 bolt sickle ammunition magazines

1 Carbon composite combat knife

2 type 14 general purpose fragmentation hand grrenades

2 Type 7 anti-tank "krak" hand grernades

1 shaped demolition charge (2 per squad)



Assautl weapons load

same power armour

1 Mark 2 'Macragge' pattern bolt pistol

4 x 10 bolt straight ammunition magazines

1 Mark IIIb chainsword

1 carbon composite combat knife

2 type 14 general purpose fragmentation hand grenades

2 Type 5c melta charges

1 'Phaeton' pattern multi-directionla, twin retro thrust jump pack.

Loadout of a Raptors Marine. I'll admit I kinda like the drawings of Space Marines in power armor in the IA books because they come across as less chunky/bulky than the codex artwork.

Page 47

With the vanguard of the invasion fleet now approaching Taros, the War Talon quickly manoeuvred into its bombardment position in a geo-stationary low orbit. Its target location locked in, the bombardment cannons and lance turrets prepared to open fire as the planet's rotation slowly brought the target area into the battle barge's line of fire.

"geo stationary low orbit?" I presume that means it went into an artifically maintained position above the missile silo whilst in low orbit.

Note the use of both lance turrets AND bombardment cannon by the battle barge.

Page 48

This Space Marine wears a suit of Mark VII power armour, sometimes referred to as 'Armorum Impetor or "Eagle Armour", although on this particular set of armour the Chapter Artificers have replaced the breastplate with one converted from an older Mark V suit, witht eh re-instigation of the chest eagle and the power cables relocated on the interior.

A nod to the older fluff on Space Marine Power armour, with mention of a mark 5 suit.

Page 48

All marks of Space Marine armour have many variants. Some do not contain all the original features, others, as in this case, utilise parts from different marks of armour.

It also mentions that Space Marine armour can have many variants, and that suits or parts of suits can be reused many times.

Page 48

Like all power armour this suit contains an exoskeletal array of actuators and fibre bundles which replicate muscular commands via a neurone interface that literally plugs into the wearer's spinal column, (via his black carapace), to his motor-nervous system. Through this interface, the heavy armour becomes part of the wear and responds to his mvoements and mind-impulse controls without adding any encumberance, despite the suit's weight hwen inert. Whilst appearing heavy and unwieldy, this Space Marine will experience little weight gain and retains almost his full array of movements and agility.

The msucle fibre bundles and actuators actually increase the (already considerable) strength of the wearer, allowing him to lift heavier loads or jump greater distances than when not wearing the suit.

Standard space marine power armor design fluff. Note the absence of any funky mass lightening gear.

Page 48

The outer, armoured layer of this powered armour consists of shaped adamanitum and plasteel plates, encase in a ceramite ablative layter. The armour is shaped to deflecte as well as absorb the energy of incoming blows. The shoulder pads of this suit contain small, auto-responsive plates which burst outwards in a micro-explosion to counteract the energy of an incoming attack ad prevent peentration.

Earlier sources suggested that power armor had an inch/several cm of ceramite.. which suggests power armour might be several inches thick - at least for some plates. Shoulder pads use reactive armour as well. I presume that only the shoulder pads use it so as to help protect the head in certain stances.

Page 48

The armour contains numerous life support systems. The lower back holds a liquid high-protein food store, which when combined with the Space MArine's genetically enhanced metabolism produces no waste and keeps a Space Marine's bod functioning without the need for any other nourishment. During battle there is no need for this Space Marine to stop to eat or drink as the suit provides all his nutrition.

A useful survival system.

Page 48

The suit also has its own back up power suppply and solar array to recharge this supply, meaning the suit can operate for a short time without its backpack.

Another useful feature, at least if cut away from supply lines. Although if a marine is separated from that he has other problems.

Page 48

The suit also contains a de-tox injector with five dosesThe injector can be used for stimulants and (in contravention of Codex Astartes guidelines), some Chapters have used it to administer combat drugs.

A feature in armor not often mentioned, save in some novels, but useful.

Page 48

The palm of the gauntlets contain sensors to read information from weapons held in the hands, and to pass genetic identification codes to the weapons. Without the proper code, this Space Marine's boltgun will not function.

Useful security measure for bolters.

Page 48

The soles of the boots are magnetic, as well as being constructed of a micropore adherent compound, meaning a Space Marine will not slip on even the slickest surfaces. The magnetic function can be turned on or off as needed.

Seen in other novels and short stories.

Page 48

The main power source for the suit is situated in the backpack. This highly efficient sub-atomic core provides the power for all the internal systems. The suit does contain a reserve supply and a back-up micro-solar panel array in case of emergencies. The reserve power source can be recharged via the solar panel, and when fully charged should be enough to last a month (with all non-vital systems disabled)w ithout the need for major maintenance or resupplying.)

Some power armor runs on fusion power, or batteries, or something else. It's rather interesting that their armor runs on that but they'll still run vehicles (even Space Marine ones. Evne Dreadnoughts) on fossil fuels.

PAge 48

Thermal waste dissipators form the characteristic nozzles on the backpack. This thermal waste can be used as limited manoeuvring thrusters in zero-gravity.

I'm honestly a bit interested what sort of cooling system it uses. Does it vent waste gasses out, or does it use radiators? UIsing nozzels with radiators doesnt seem to make sense, but we never see/hear of Power armor venting gasses either.

Page 48

The backpack also contains this suit's oxygen supply and air purification system that allows the wearer to breathe in toxic enviroments. Combined with a Space Marine's multi lung implant, the wearer can operate undhindered in any atmosphere, as well as underwater and in hard vacuum. Air intakes are also situated on the backpack.

NBC protection basically.

Page 48

The lower part of the backpack is the temperature regulating system. In combat, with the suit functioning at maximum capacity, heat can build up rapidly. Settings for heat control can be adjusted depending upon what enviroment the suit is operating in, obviously retaining more heat in cold conditions or in the -278 centigrrade of deep space than in hot conditions. On Taros this suit will be optimised for the planet's mean average temperature. Within the armour, the wearer will experience only minor temperature fluctuations as the suit maintains the correct temperature to keep the Space Marine operating at peak physical efficiency.

envitormental/temperature parameters of power armor.

PAge 50

All of these helmet [combat] systems are referred to by one title - auto-senses. Features include the primary, thought-activated, comms link. This space MArine's helmet also has an additional comms-booster and scrambler attachment, to block enemy attempts to listen in to communications channels. The right eye also includes range-finder, targeter and target recognition friend or foe upgrades to the helmet's basic set. Such equipment is more common in Devastator squads, but not limited to them.

The visor displays tactical information. This includes maps, waypoint markers, compass, as well as calling up weapon-data, passed through the weapon's grip and the palm of the glove. Primarily this would be an ammunition counter display, but also gives emerrgency warnings about overheating and jams. This helmet also incorporates visual magnification up to x4, which when combined with the wearers occulobe implant means a Space Marine sees very well in most condition. The visor also includes basic infra-red scanning.

Through his auto-senses, the Space Marine can acceess full diagnosis of the armour's operating status adn realy information about the extenral enviromen, such as atmorpsheric composition, barometric pressure, the presecne of harmful chemiclas and toxins, etc. Daignostic sensors are positioned in various places on the suit to scan for such information.

The helmet can also display biological information abou tthe Space Marine himself, heart rate (for both hearts), blood pressure, toxin levels, the workings of the larrramans's organ or Oolitic kidney, to assess iinternal damage.. Thes bio-status read-outs can also be broadcast to Space Marine command units for monitoring during battle and training.

Computerized and sensory ststems in the Space Marine helmet. Note that a targeter and a rangefinder are separate gear by this source, as is infrared stuff.

Page 50

..the helmet's ear pieces screens the wearer from sonic attacks and includes amplifiers to the Space Marine's Lyman's ear, giving sharper hearing and allowing the Space Marine to filter out or enhance specific sounds. The Lyman's Ear also means a Space Marine is unlikely to become dizzy or disoriented, even when hit by strong blast waves.

The grill on the helmet contains a microphone to talk normally through the helmet or amplify his voice over a short distance...
..

If the atmosphere allows, the grill can open to allow the wearer to breath the atmospher rather than use the r purification equipment or internal air supply.

probably also count as"auto senses".

PAge 50

Finally, the helmet visor incorporates an auto-reactive photochromatic visor, that protects the weaer from light level changes, or blacking out completely should the weare be exposed ot sudden, dazzlign light.

Meaning its hard to blind Marines with flashbangs.

PAge 50

This weapon is a standard mark IV [boltgun] with a sickle magazine containing twenty bolts. Each bolt is a rocket-propelled, armour-piercing, mass-reactive explosive round. Bolts explode after penetrating a target, and are capable of destroying small vehicles, as well as having horrific effects on infantry. The weapon has single shot and semi-automatic setting, firing a burst of three bolts in quick succession. The botlgun also includes a palm print sensor for genetic identification coding.

The good old bolter. Note the 3 round burst mode. Also note that Bolters have some effectivness against vehicles.

PAge 50

Other equipment mentioned includes 2 frag grenades, 3 spare magazine pouches, and krak grendaes and a backup bolt pistol (secondary weapon.)

Page 50

The Space Marine's last weapon, and his only close combat weapon, is his combat knife. This is a highly ornate piece, bearing a dedicational eagle crossguard, heavy pommel and at 50cm, blade is almost a short sword.

Probably not monomol here.

Page 51

His [Astartes] power armou suits was calibrated for desert enviroments, 99% effiicent water recycling and maximum heat dissipation

Features of power armor are adapable. The Raven Guard are known to have done this with power armor, so it may not be surprising that the Raptors do. Whether or not other Marines can is up for debate.

PAge 51

The pod made planetfall safely and the scouts moved out across the sun-scorched surface, disguised by their cameleoline cloaks and carry heavy surveillance equipment as well as their sniper rifles.

Once in position, the squad set up their equipment and began beaming a secure transmission back to the War Talon's operations room.

Scout deployment.

Page 52

Huge clouds of smoke and dust were thrown up in the desert as the flashes of lance beams and great explosions rent Taros' surface. It lasted exactly 30 minutes, as an area for 5 kilometres around the site was smothered in heavy explosions.

a 5-10 km diameter (depending on if 5 km is radius or diameter) bobmardment for 30 minutes probalby means it was sub-nuclear "per shot", although its hard to calc this lacking nay obvious effects.

Page 52

The first thunderhawk to pass through the heat of atmospheric entry was that carrying Strike Force A.

...

Its nose still red hot from the stress of atmospheric entry, the forward hold's rear ramp was lower, blasting all inside with a rush of air.

This would seem to suggest they deployed shortly after entering the atmosphere.


Page 52

As the forces of gravity pulled the assault troops downwards, their jump pack motors began to work. At a mere 100 metres above the ground, the thrusters ignited to slow the plunging descent. The braking power of the jump pack exerting huge gravitational pressure on the troopers, pressure that could crush a normal man, but protected within his power armour and by his genetically enhanced physique each assault troopers could overcome the lethal Gs, orient himself to the landing zone, and control the direction of his descent. Using the jump packs thruster controls he could guide ihmself directly onto the target to a safe landing.

Acceleration was "lethal" suggesting it was in excess of 10 gees. Considering proable free fall velocities, this isnt exactly surprising since at 100 m they would have less than a second or so to come down safely.

Page 52

From jump to planetfall, the descent took no more than sixty seconds.

On page 46 it was mentioned that the Space marines would be in free fall (The risk of brothers being hit whislt in free fall was judged far less than that of a Thunderhawk being destroyed..) This helps establish parameters of the Hydrra Emplacement's range. Given that the Space Marines would want to keep their jump packs orietned towards the ground they probably are not in a "belly to ground" position, so terminal velocity would be reached at some 90-100 m/s or so (Taros is only slightly less gravity than earth) and shoudl reach 50% in 3 seconds and 99% in 15... range up would be ~4-5 km or so roughly.. which is within the range I estimated earlier, and refining the possible upper limit on Hydra gun batteries.


Page 52

The area was scarred with smoking impact craters, but the bombardment had scored no direct hits. The craters would be vital cover for following the assault, Veteran Sergeant Igis found himself in one such crater.

..

Gathering the men immediately around him, Sergeant Igis ordered them to move fowards, before launching himself over the crater rim.

One of the craters seems big enough to hold an entire assault squad, implying it might be 10+ meters in diameter. Equivlaent to tons of TNT easily, but not much more than that. Further evidence of a "sub nuclear" bombardment. I doubt much in the way of melting or vaporization went on, given the lack of lava-like conditions.

Page 52

As the assault marines rushed forwards several more were hit, the force of the rounds knocking each man clean off his feet.

Earlier its mentioned that they come under assualt form the Hydra emplacement. Each Hydra round appears to have enough force to knock an Astaretes off his feet (considering that a Space Marine might mass upwards of half a ton.. thats alot of momentum) but it doesnt seem to penetrate the armor. Perhaps 1000+ kg*m/s worth of momentum per shot?

I should note I find this rather interesting. It's not unknonw for Space Marine armour to resist autocannon (although it depends on the author, and probably on the calibre) but I dont recall very often that they resist Hydras, considering they're meant to shoot down planes and can kill light vehicles. It's possible this is referring to the explosive force of the rounds, rathr than kinetic (and that would make sense given other examples like from Fallen Angels.) Hell if Astartes could endure autocannon fire, bolters should do absolutely squat.


Page 53

In all, three assault brothers had been seriously wounded in the headlong attack. The others who had been hit were not seriously wounded, each had been saved by the adamantium shell of his armour, they would continue the fight.

I find myself a bit perplexed. The Hydra rounds don't seem to threaten the Astartes all that much despite direct hits, yet they were a danger to the Thunderhawk. One possibility is they somehow or for some reason changed ammo, since normally Hydra rounds are.. explosive but were using solid slugs against the MArines. Or more likely the 'force' mentioned was explosive effects.

Page 53

..the silo's security platoon, who had survived the orbital bombardment in their underground shelter, began to emerge.

The shetlters must have been some depth below the ground.

Page 53

The shaped explosions of the demolition charges splintered the reinforced plascrete silo roofs, causing it to collapse.

Demo charges that are shaped (charge?) explosives.

Page 54

Raptor Chapter Unit Organization

Fleet: 1x battle barge, 1x Gladius Escort, 8 thunderhawks, 12 thunderhawk transporters, 42 drop pods.

Extra: 1 Codicer (Librarian), 4x Apothecary and 1x Rhino (Apothecarion)

Armory: 4 Land Raider, 4x Predator destructor, 2x predator annihlator, 2x razorback w/ heavy bolter, 1 vindicator, 6x Whirlwind, x1 Hyperios.

Capt Orelius, 3rd company (with normal Rhino and Damocles)

3rd Company: 1 Chaplain, 60x Tactical marines, 20x Assault marines, 20x Devastators, 8x Rhinos, 2x Dreadnoughts, 2x Razorback w/ lascannon, 2x Razorback with heavy boltes.

6th Company - Captain Kaedes, 1 Chaplain, 100x Tactical marines, 10x Rhino, x3 Dreadnought, x2 Razorback w/ lascannon, 2x Razorback w/ Heavy bolters, 8x Land Speeder (Tornado variant?)

Page 55

Instead the fleet had enough landing craft for just one regiment.

1/3 the originally called for numbers in other words. Yet more indication of logistics screwing over the Taros invasion. And we've not even begun the actual war yet.

Though given the time they waste in preparations and intend to in an overland march, this is perhaps one of the least troublesome aspects, and they can still do alot considering 1 'regiment' means 10K soldiers.



Page 55

Onboard the sister transports Imperius Javalin, Gauntlet and Anvil, in excess of 10,000 men of 17th Tallarn regiment were being transfered from their berths to the landing craft. The men destined for the first wave were equipped with full combat loads; armour, grenades, extra ammunition, rations and water supplies had been issued to the leading infantry companies./

- The Tallarn 17th is 10,000 men. Presumably the other Tallarn infantry regiments were similar, for 20-30 thousand men total. The Cadians and Elysians contribute another 7,000 or so, the Armored companies.. 6-7000 total assuming armour complements are similar(Krieg and two Tallarn armoured) plus however many the Dragoons were meant to be., but we might figure around 40-50 thousand men on Taros all told, not including the Astartes or AdMech. Of course they maybe only have 2/3 of that available given the absnece of one regiment (The Krieg never show), the loss of another during deployment, and the fact one was grossly under-strength.


Page 55

Aboard several of the landing craft were Imperial Navy shore parties, led by Navy officers from the Righteous Power. They were there to act as liason between the Imperial Guard and the fleet, and as fire control teams should resistance be strong enough for the Righteous Power's guns to be needed.

Which they never did use. Considering battlecruisers and battleships can deliver sub-nuclear yields per shot, and often have hundreds if not thousands of guns... why not use them for bombardment support?

Page 56

Already water supplies were a problem, but the tanker Empress of Svedeg was now in orbit and unloading 1,000 tonnes of water a day. At this rate it would still take twenty days to fully unload.

- the tanker is unloading 1000 tons of water a day, and take twenty days to fully unload. 20,000 tons of water to carry around. Again you wonder why they haven't made taking the hydro farms more of a priority.

Page 56

In all it took nearly two weeks to move everything down to the planet's surface.

..

After being on standby for three days the Raptors Space Marines were withdrawn back to their battle barge.

A long time to unload, and the last of the Raptors we'll see for awhile. I have no fucking clue why this is, or why the Raptors weren't out there scouting or attempting to uncover more intel. I mean, the text indicates they knew there were traces of Tau activity out in the deserts. I wonder what some other leader might have accomplished in two weeks if he had focused ona ctually USING his forces. Like with the Raptors, it's inexplicable that they do absolutely dick when they should be moving - in part if not in whole. And with the fucking Astartes.

We might ascribe this to the limited transport capacity, but as I recall that was mostly for deploying troops, not cargo. (of course why can't they convert the cargo craft to carrying troops? It's not as if 'converting' vehicles like that is foreign to them.)

Page 56

It was two weeks of intense unloading activity. Two weeks in which the enemy made no sign of attacking. For the men on the front line it was two weeks of waiting. The men started referring to the TAros invasion as the 'Clerk's war' both a comment on De Stael's nickname and the fact that the supply clerks were the busiest men in the army.

Again two weeks of doing absolutely dick. I find the troops names for De Stael hilariously appropriate, and echoing my comments about a 'bureaucrat's war'.



Page 57

The 23rd Elysian Drop Troop regiment arrived and started the long process of transferring their three thousand men and one hundred and eighty aircraft to the surface.

- Elysian units are deployed... 3000 men and 180 aircraft. We won't see them for awhile either.

PAge 57

The eastern end of the Iracunda Isthmus was very narrow (less than 15 kms) and represented a dangerous bottleneck for the Imperial Guard. Tau forces could easily block this route of advance and force a stalemate. With no room to manoeuvre, only costly direct assaults would breaktrhough to the city beyond, and De Stael did not believe he had the men required for such brutal, attrtional warfare.

Well, at least you have to give De Stael credit for not trying attrition warfare right off the bat. It shows they will try other options (depending on commander), but on the other hand he doesn't do enough in this regard either. He hamstrings his vehicles by tying them do the marching pace of infantry, with the slow, methodical bombardments, and this all just plays into tau hands over the 1500 km to Tarokeen. With such caution there's no way in hell they can hope to deal with the tau with the numbers and lack of support that they have and they just give the Tau time and a target, both of which they use to maximum effect.

In De Stael's case I will also note he opted for a direct assault early in, but for whatever reason deemed it 'impossible'. I'm strongly suspecting his cautious nature is at fault here again.

That said he's fucking up here yet again regarding the eastern approach. While he is correct that the tau can block them from that direction - they have a mobility advantage over the Imperium and so can place themselves to halt an advance - actually stopping the Imperials requires them to concentrate out in the open, and they leave themselves open to the threat of orbital bombardment.

What is hilarious is that the tau even realize this (which in part dictates how they face the Imperium on Taros) but apparently De Stael doesn't even realize that. It's not even like it's that complicated - enemy out in open = can be bombed.



Page 58

Orelius' Ratpors would be required again, this time to launch a powerful armoured strike from the landing zone eastwards, cirlcing aorund the south of the southern sea. The Space Marine's objective would be to draw Tau forces to tehm, and dfenders to the eastern end of the Iracunda Isthsmus.

..

Captain Orelius and his fellow officers strongly disagreed. His batlte brothers were not being usefully employed if they were to act as a mere diversion force! Unhappy with the plan for his forces, Captain Orelius declined the mission, buty did offer to include his forces alongside the main advance, even to form the spearhead of the first armoured thrust...

As dickish as the Space Marines sound, I realy don't blame them for not wanting to be diversionary force. They might draw the tau out, but they'd be much better placed (as later shown) on the offensive - which is what Orelius precisely offers. For whatever reason we cannot fathom, De Stael nor Gustavus take him up on this, and the Astartes spend most of their time out of this conflict. I will be much belaboring the under-utilization of the Astartes in this conflict because of how incredibly silly it is.



Page 58

Instead of the Space Marines making the diversionary eastward thrust, it would fall to the raw 331st Tallarn regiment...

..

The objective would remain the same as for the Space Marines, but the advance, being mostly on foot, would be somewhat slower. Still, the whole of the regiment's men and tanks marching through the desert should draw Tau forces to them and out of the path of hte main advance.

- the 331st Tallarn, a newly raised regiment, is equipped with both men and tanks. They actually make more sense in the diversionary force, although I would have detached the mobile elements and used them elsewhere (like for the main attack.) This actually makes sense, at least as a diversion, although you'd think they'd have better use for the tanks.



Page 58

Rather than concentrate all his combat power, De Stael elected to spread it out. This would seem to go against the teachings of the Tactica Imperialis, but so far all De STael's intelligence reports suggested the Tau forces would nto be numerous enouhg to stop him everywhere.

..

A broad advance with the Tallarn regiments side by side would make for steady gains. De Stael's offensive timetable called ofr the Tallan regiments to make an ambitious twenty kms a day, but he expected that in some sectors along the fornt the Tau would stand and fight, and this secotr would naturally be slowed down or halted by combat.

..

De Stael's staff believs an average of twenty kms a day should be sustainable..

- it was expected for the Tallarn regiments to make an advance of "20 km a day",a nd this was considered "ambitious." This is of course with men on foot, since evidently they don't have an other mobile forces. You'd think they could come up with trucks or something - the DGC forces apparently could. Or failing that, hitching rides on tanks, APCs, or even the munitorum supply haulers. Use the dropships/shuttles and Valkyries. They HAD that shit for mobility purposes, yet they never use it, instead intending to walk all the way there. And leave themselves as slow, big targets for the Tau to whittle down at their leisure.

Or failing that, set several infantry regiments (with aritllery) to the east as a distraction, and then mobilize the Elysians, Cadians, and what mechanized and armoured Tallarn forces that aren't part of the distraction and send them off (with the Astartes) to advance and take the hydro farm. That would have been an ideal base to operate from - far closer, and it would have ended the water problems neatly. They could mass troops later once they had gotten in place to assault.

Plus, remember how the IG planning staff were aware of the Tau's mobility advantage? Well, this is where they appear to forgt about it. Now De Stael apparently thinks they can't be 'everywhere' to challenge him so he's spreading out. Except... that he's only in two locations, and as he already knows, they have a mobility advantage, so they can concentrate and choose form what direction to assault. This just seems like a bad idea all around.


Page 58

It [the advance] would involve the Tallarn Infantry regiments advancing, using their own Armoured companies and artillery to support the lead infantry platoons. The 12th Tallarn Armoured regiment would be on the right flank and the 3rd Armoured regiment would be kept behind the front line as the corp reserves, for deployment only if the offensive started to stall.

Arrayed from west to east the X Corp formation would be : 17th Tallarn regiment on the left, 89th Tallarn regiment in the centre, 12th Armoured regiment on the right. Behind would follow the third Armoured reigment. Striking eastwards would be the 331st Tallarn regiment.
..

The difficult attack on the eastern end of the Iracunda Isthmus would be spearheaded by the Raptors Space Marines, witht he Warhound Titans of Legio Ignatum (when they arrived) and the Tallarn tanks in support.

..
.. their artillery would constnatly move up to keep the front lines in range. The Imperial Navy would be flying combat air patrols and bombing raids from their newly established airbases.

[/quote]

Again, marching all the way to Taros city from such a huge fucking distance away (practically a whole continent) seems like the least ideal way to go about doing this. It simply gives the tau too much time and too big a target to deal with. And again theSpace Marines are being largely wasted. And no mention of any orbital bombardment support whatsoever.

[Black Admiral]

Page 52

Huge clouds of smoke and dust were thrown up in the desert as the flashes of lance beams and great explosions rent Taros' surface. It lasted exactly 30 minutes, as an area for 5 kilometres around the site was smothered in heavy explosions.

a 5-10 km diameter (depending on if 5 km is radius or diameter) bobmardment for 30 minutes probalby means it was sub-nuclear "per shot", although its hard to calc this lacking nay obvious effects.

Also, it mentions lance strikes, which indicates that the War-Talon isn't fitted out as a standard battlebarge (which lack lance arrays), what with it being the only vessel firing on the missile silo.

Page 52

The area was scarred with smoking impact craters, but the bombardment had scored no direct hits. The craters would be vital cover for following the assault, Veteran Sergeant Igis found himself in one such crater.

..

Gathering the men immediately around him, Sergeant Igis ordered them to move fowards, before launching himself over the crater rim.

One of the craters seems big enough to hold an entire assault squad, implying it might be 10+ meters in diameter. Equivlaent to tons of TNT easily, but not much more than that. Further evidence of a "sub nuclear" bombardment. I doubt much in the way of melting or vaporization went on, given the lack of lava-like conditions.

That's pretty much the wimpiest bombardment from a battlebarge I know of, even assuming the Assault Squad were at tactical dispersion (e.g. at least 5 metres between each of them). By contrast, in The Purging of Kadillus, the battlebarge Unrelenting Fury, when launching a danger-close fire mission in support of the defenders of Koth Ridge (and placing her shots as close as safely possible to the ridge) reduces an area half a kilometre across to a pair of glass-walled craters (as she fired two shells).

Page 54

Raptor Chapter Unit Organization

Fleet: 1x battle barge, 1x Gladius Escort, 8 thunderhawks, 12 thunderhawk transporters, 42 drop pods.

Extra: 1 Codicer (Librarian), 4x Apothecary and 1x Rhino (Apothecarion)

Armory: 4 Land Raider, 4x Predator destructor, 2x predator annihlator, 2x razorback w/ heavy bolter, 1 vindicator, 6x Whirlwind, x1 Hyperios.

Capt Orelius, 3rd company (with normal Rhino and Damocles)

3rd Company: 1 Chaplain, 60x Tactical marines, 20x Assault marines, 20x Devastators, 8x Rhinos, 2x Dreadnoughts, 2x Razorback w/ lascannon, 2x Razorback with heavy boltes.

6th Company - Captain Kaedes, 1 Chaplain, 100x Tactical marines, 10x Rhino, x3 Dreadnought, x2 Razorback w/ lascannon, 2x Razorback w/ Heavy bolters, 8x Land Speeder (Tornado variant?)

I really wonder why there's only one Gladius-class around. That rather leaves the War-Talon as the ship doing the escorting - of its own damn escort. Also the drawn out deployment time necessitated by the lack of T-hawk Transporters seen earlier shows up again.

Page 55

Onboard the sister transports Imperius Javalin, Gauntlet and Anvil, in excess of 10,000 men of 17th Tallarn regiment were being transfered from their berths to the landing craft. The men destined for the first wave were equipped with full combat loads; armour, grenades, extra ammunition, rations and water supplies had been issued to the leading infantry companies./

- The Tallarn 17th is 10,000 men. Presumably the other Tallarn infantry regiments were similar, for 20-30 thousand men total. The Cadians and Elysians contribute another 7,000 or so, the Armored companies.. 6-7000 total assuming armour complements are similar(Krieg and two Tallarn armoured) plus however many the Dragoons were meant to be., but we might figure around 40-50 thousand men on Taros all told, not including the Astartes or AdMech. Of course they maybe only have 2/3 of that available given the absnece of one regiment (The Krieg never show), the loss of another during deployment, and the fact one was grossly under-strength.

According to the TO&E on pg. 266, the Cadian 114th comes out to just under 4,000 all ranks (3,947 to be exact), so coupled with the Elysian 23rd's a bit under 3,000 all ranks (2,877 (pg. 264)), ~7,000 is right for those two regiments, and I think we can reasonably assume the Brimlock Dragoons (being a similar regiment type to the Cadians) were organised roughly the same as the 114th.

Page 55

Aboard several of the landing craft were Imperial Navy shore parties, led by Navy officers from the Righteous Power. They were there to act as liason between the Imperial Guard and the fleet, and as fire control teams should resistance be strong enough for the Righteous Power's guns to be needed.

Which they never did use. Considering battlecruisers and battleships can deliver sub-nuclear yields per shot, and often have hundreds if not thousands of guns... why not use them for bombardment support?

Hells, they could have one of the escorts drop into the atmosphere and show the Tau what real close air support looks like.

Page 58

Orelius' Ratpors would be required again, this time to launch a powerful armoured strike from the landing zone eastwards, cirlcing aorund the south of the southern sea. The Space Marine's objective would be to draw Tau forces to tehm, and dfenders to the eastern end of the Iracunda Isthsmus.

..

Captain Orelius and his fellow officers strongly disagreed. His batlte brothers were not being usefully employed if they were to act as a mere diversion force! Unhappy with the plan for his forces, Captain Orelius declined the mission, buty did offer to include his forces alongside the main advance, even to form the spearhead of the first armoured thrust...

As dickish as the Space Marines sound, I realy don't blame them for not wanting to be diversionary force. They might draw the tau out, but they'd be much better placed (as later shown) on the offensive - which is what Orelius precisely offers. For whatever reason we cannot fathom, De Stael nor Gustavus take him up on this, and the Astartes spend most of their time out of this conflict. I will be much belaboring the under-utilization of the Astartes in this conflict because of how incredibly silly it is.

Orelius honestly took it a lot better than many Astartes officers would have. A lot would've withdrawn their forces from the campaign in anger at being insulted so; others would quite possibly have killed someone in response. Doesn't excuse his subsequent inactivity, though.

Page 58

It [the advance] would involve the Tallarn Infantry regiments advancing, using their own Armoured companies and artillery to support the lead infantry platoons. The 12th Tallarn Armoured regiment would be on the right flank and the 3rd Armoured regiment would be kept behind the front line as the corp reserves, for deployment only if the offensive started to stall.

Arrayed from west to east the X Corp formation would be : 17th Tallarn regiment on the left, 89th Tallarn regiment in the centre, 12th Armoured regiment on the right. Behind would follow the third Armoured reigment. Striking eastwards would be the 331st Tallarn regiment.
..

The difficult attack on the eastern end of the Iracunda Isthmus would be spearheaded by the Raptors Space Marines, witht he Warhound Titans of Legio Ignatum (when they arrived) and the Tallarn tanks in support.

..
.. their artillery would constnatly move up to keep the front lines in range. The Imperial Navy would be flying combat air patrols and bombing raids from their newly established airbases.

Again, marching all the way to Taros city from such a huge fucking distance away (practically a whole continent) seems like the least ideal way to go about doing this. It simply gives the tau too much time and too big a target to deal with. And again theSpace Marines are being largely wasted. And no mention of any orbital bombardment support whatsoever.

Even if the Guard couldn't call in fire from the fleet, the Raptors not only could, but would, and the Navy quite possibly would as well (depending on what Battlefleet Ultima's doctrine there is - we know from Ghostmaker that Battlefleet Pacificus doctrine is that, unless absolutely necessary, once troops are landed surface attacks become the responsibility of the fleet aerospace wing, rather than shipboard weapons).

[andrewgpaul]

Did you skip the space campaign, did I miss it, or does it come later in the book?

[Connor MacLeod]

Another IA update. I need to keep these things up fairly regularly due to smaller size and need to re-update-update otherwise I'll fall behind. I won't have time to do Eisenhorn just yet.. probably in a few days or so I'll do another mini-update or something. So this time it will be Savage Scars and IA3, so I can keep focusing on clearing out some old junk so I can move onto newer stuff (MODERNIZING YOUR SCI FI ANALYSIS FOR BETTER RESPONSIVENESS!)

Anyhow, IA3.. the beginning of the offensive at last. And what an underwhelming, fail-filled assault it is. Also we end with some Kroot stuff.




Page 58

The offensive began with a sustained rolling artillery bombardment all along the front line. Mortars, battle cannons, Earthshaker cannons and Griffons began an intense barrage.

This suggests that battle cannon can have similar range to mortars and Earthshakers, at least when it comes to general bombardment (not neccesarily against a fixed target.) Artillery bombardment of a few km wouldn't be much use, really. Of course they're not really targeting *anything* specifically, so this doesn't tell us much except 'the cannons can reach that far' - might be useful for lobbing shells at the target, but it doesnt tell us anything about the accuracy of such hits. Heck its quite possible any tank could do this in theory.

What does it tell us then? It would tell us effective range is dependent upon other factors (the shell, the targeting system, the target, etc.)

Page 59

17th Tallarn Desert Raiders Regiment:

regimental command: HQ staff, Med company, signals company, Recon Squad, attacched commissars, priests, techpriests.

1st Brgiade, 1st-9th infantry companies. 1st Company mechanised.

2nd Brigade 10-18th infantry companies.

3rd Brgiade: 19-27th infantry companies, 27th training and replacement.

Non Brigaded Regimental assets: 28-30th Rough Rider company, 31st-33rd Sentinel Company

1st-3rd Armoured company.

4th (Artillery) Brigade: 1st-4th artillery (Basilisks) 5th Artillery company (Bombards), 6th Heavy mortar company (griffon), 7th and 8th anti-aircraft company (Hydras)

31 Attached Munitorum supply columns

One of the regiments in the western assault. Note that contrary to what the IG Codex says, the regiments assigned to Taros (and indeed the other regiments, even the infantry ones like the 331st) aren't composed of one kind of force. They have a fair bit of mechanised, armour, artillrey, etc. attached. Why this is we don't know (ad hoc formations that never formally broke up, etc.) but its not wholly impossible. As I've said before, regiments are an administrative simplification and nothing more, so it technically is possible for a regiment to go against 'theory' as outlined in the IG Codex. It doesn't say anything about frequency, just that it happens.

It's also quite possible that when it comes to 'named' regiments (veteran or experienced troops, as opposed to newly raised, conscript or other 'novice' forces) they bend the rules more (given that the vets tend to get better equipment and training, this wouldn't be surprising.)

Page 59

Some of the Tallarn regiment's Rough Rider squadrons ride large xenos-mounts, called Mukaali.

..

They (Mukaali) have multiple stomachs, which can process most vegitation.

..

A Mukaali can survive for long periods on very small amounts of food and water. Conversely, they have very poor protection against cold climates and die quickly when exposed to sub-zero temperatures for any length of time.

A Mukaali's main advantage over a horse is its exceptional endurance and load bearing ability. In the driest of hot desert conditions they can keep going for days, even without food or water, and will long out live a horse or a human rider. They can carry heavy loads, and are sometimes used for trnasporting supplies or towing other equipment. A Mukaali-mounted Rough Rider squadron can range further afield and carry more equipment than a horse-mounted squadron.

A Muukali's feet are adatped to move over sand at speed. LArge soft pads help spread their weight ot avoid sinking in sot sand.

..

They make superb riding beasts and beasts of burden in aird climates, but will not fight. Even bull males show little aggression, and faced with danger an unmounted Mukaali always flees!

Tallarn Rough Rider mounts, uses, and advantages. Note they are not being used in lance charges, which is how they often are thought of. What is also interesting is how they willingly use a 'xenos' mount - aliens have their uses aside from target practice!

The Mukaali is good for scouting and recon but sucks for war.

PAge 59

By nightfall on the first day the forward units had covered the required twenty kilometres. As darkness fell the artillery pieces hooked up to their Trojan tows and began to move forwards into new firing positions. Already the advance had outstripped the guns ranges, even the long Earthshaker cannons were at the extreme edge of their range. It was a night-long task to drive or drag the weapons forwards, dig new firing positions and prepare for tomorrow...

This implies that the Earthshakers might have reached out to (approximately ) 20 km range, but it's not guaranteed. It could cover the already established 15-16 km range at least - it depends entirely on how far they outstripped the guns. It still says much about the 'general bobmardment' like ranges of the Russ though. Not that it's of much use.

It goes without saying that, again, why they are bothering with such insane arillery fire when they know the Tau are highly mobile is beyond me, especially since they haven't even SEEN the tau. It just wastes time and resources.

Page 60-61

Their Pathfinder squads and Stealthsuit units had already scored a significant success before a shot was fired, by observing the locations of Imperial Guard units and alerting the Hunter Cadre commanders as to the likely routes of advance for the Imperial Guard's armour.

..

The Hunter Cadres were formidably equipped for mobile desert warfare with its wide open battlefields and engagements which commonly took place at longr anges, most notably with railguns and seeker missiles. Twenty four hours before the offensive was set in motion, crack stealthsuit teams, operating in darkness and evading Imperial Guard patrols, had noted the build-up of equipment and stores, and forecast that the Imperium's forces were readying for an attack. The Tau had left no formations within artillery range, but their mechanized Hunter Cadres were well supplied with Devilfish transports, they could move forwards and react quickly and decisively..
..

Attacks should be swift, keeping the enemy at a distance. They needed to inflict casualites then withdraw back into the Desert. Hopefully the Imperial Guard would pursue. The next day they would be hit again.

Tau forces engaged in brief long-range firefights all along the front on the second day.

..

... the Tau struck in force with Hammerheads and seeker missiles.

And.. the Tau predictably score first blood against the Imperials. Here we see that intel has favoured the Tau (not hard to do since the Imperium seems to make no real efforts at intel gathering...). This establishes the pattern for most of the Taros campaign, sadly. Perfect intel, perfect counters, and the Imperium just flails about like a drunken hobo in response.

It goes without saying that the fact that were the Imperium not making a sluggish foot advance, waste time with pointless bombardment, and generally avoid doing anything remotely effective, this would not be nearly the problem it will become.



Page 61

Lacking Chimeras the advance would be at walking pace.

Or maybe they could leave some of the foot traffic behind, have some of them hitch a ride on the Chimeras and Trojans they do have, and move out a whole HELL of alot faster?? Hell they have those drop ships too, they could be using those to airlift troops along with the valkyries and whatnot. Or they could have brought trucks like they did in Damocles gulf. Or hitch a ride on the Munitorum supply lines. Or hell, even just had them RIDE the tanks and transports. I admit that desant (as Black Admiral pointed out to me) is not the best idea for infantry, and I admit this, but they are no less exposed on the tanks than they are out in the open on a march. And they're a HELL of alot faster and less exposed to said gunfire. Indeed, this is a tactic mentioned both in (I think the book is) Planetstrike, as WELL as was done in Damocles Gulf. The slow, tedious march is one thing that gives the tau time and opportunity to snipe the hell out of the Imperium here, and they don't even seem to realize or CARE!

Or maybe they should have grown balls and NOT deployed their troops out from half a continent away. I mean really, what sort of weapon could hit a drop ship that requires the Guard to deploy that far away? We still aren't given a good reason why they dropped the landing zone so far fucking out in the desert. The best guess I ever came up with was 'under therat of guns from enemy forces closer in to the city' but this seems silly. They would be able to see large concentrations of tau preparing to resist, out in the open (and subject them to bombardment.), and the only possible weapons that oculd reach out a few hundred km or more would be Deathstrikes or planetary defense weapons (defence lasers, torpedoes, etc.) And if the Tau had the ability to use those on the Landing zone forces (to nuke them, like in Storm of Iron) they would have used that long ago (1500-2000 km won't matter much to weapons with ICBM-plus ranges.) Indeed, as we see later both the Elysians and the Cadians are able to advance to a point much closer to the city (The hydro farms) without encountering significant resistance early on (and had the Imperials had better air cover, its likely the Elysians wouldn't have had any trouble.) The only possible excuse is De Stael is being overly cautious yet again, and is a fucking moron as a result.

This is why this entire book is so frustrating for me, I think. not so much that 'tau win, Imperium sucks', although that could be grating to some, but they could have had the Imperium lose in a much less ham-fisted, pants on head retarded manner. It doesn't say much for the tau if they have to be given every advantage (even to the point of crippling logistics and making the opposition complete idiots like this was a Honor Harrington novel.) just to pull off a major engagement. This doesn't make the tau a fearsome and impressive enemy, it just proves that yet again they're too small and weak to be an effective player on the big galactic stage.

Page 61

A hunter Cadre had moved forwards into engagement range. These forces had sped to intercept the Imperium's tank spearheads, guided by Pathfinder teams which were already observing the Imperial Guard's advance from a distance.

..

The Leman Russ opened fire with its battle cannon. Using their Markerlights and Seeker missiles, the Tau's return fire immediately knocked out the Leman Russ...

Again we see that the Info war was won by the Tau and won early. The big question you have to ask is: why the hell isn't the Imperium aware of shit like this? Are the tau like invisible to ships in orbit and ground based sensors and if so why? They didn't have trouble observing the tau from orbit in Damocles gulf. Or maybe they should have asked the Space Marines to deploy ahead of them to prevent shit like this from happening.

Of course given how poorly planned and executd this entire engagement was, I'd be willing to bet they simply didn't issue any auspexes to the ground troops, and I bet all teh vehicles mysteriosuyl have no sensor capability at all (10-20+ km auspex like we see in other novels would be damn useful here!)


Page 62

The Shemagh [headscarf] acts as a protection against the worse effects of the suns rays, and in the hottest conditions is sometimes worn after being soaked in water, to help reduce body temperature and prevent sunstroke. The scarf also doubles as a dust mask, wrapped across the face to prevent inhaling dust and sand. Combined with goggles, this provides good protection agianst the worst effects of sandstorsm.

...

They [Tallarn Goggles] provide protection against wind-blown sand and dust, most irritant gases and the dazzling effects of strong sunlight. They are not photo-chromatic, and only offer minimal protection against sudden flashes such as photon grenade explosions.

some of the more distinguishing Tallarn gear.

Page 62

The officer still wears his No. 38 Mark III plasteel shoulder pads.

...

The shoulder pads attach via small buckles to the webbing. A front and rear plasteel chest and back plate can also be attached to complete the armour. These solid blocks of plasteel are regarded as too heavy by most men and are rarely used.

Well they do have armor, they just dont seem to like it. Presumably like other regiments they have flak jackets or coats or an analogue alongside the hard shell stuff. The uplifting primer at least implies they should.


Page 62

The distinctive curved knives, known on Tallarn as the 'Khalig', comes in many shapes and sizes and is preferred by natives of Tallarn over standard issue knives or bayonets. For most Tallarn Guardsmen it is their only close combat weapon.
..

The size of a Khalig can vary from that of a small belt knife to those the size of a sword.

Tallarn blades.

Page 64

It was felt that Vanquishers and Earthshaker cannons scattered throughout the leading companies provided an instant response to the dominance of the Tau's railguns.

I'm not sure if it's range, power or what. I think they were using the Earthshaker's as assault guns. Rather interesting considering those battle cannons were used to perform bombardments alongside the Earthshaker's before. In any case it suggests Earthshaker's and Vanquishers compare to the railguns in some fashion.

Page 65

... Vanquisher and battle cannon matched against railguns in a deadly long-range duel.

It does seem to suggest battle cannon were not wholly outmatched, at least when they were uspported by Vanquishers. Of course this could mean say "3.5-4 km for battle cannon as opposed to 5 km for railguns".

Page 65

The men of 1st platoon, 2nd company advanced towards the outskirts of Tungusta Station only to encounter Fire Warriors supported by Devilfish troop carriers.

..

overrun and annihilate dby ocunter-attacking Crisis Battlesuits.

..

without close armoured support the Tallarn plattoon was heavilly outgunned.
..

The arrival of more tau reinforcements and a low flying Barracuda strafing the battleifeld, decsively swung the figh tin the Tau's favor.

Out matched, 1st platoon fell back with heavy losses, despite the timely arrival of the Storm Trooper rienforcements, speeding to the fight in their Chimeras.

Once more, the Tau beat out the Imperium due to superior mobility and intel and De Stael's complete willingness to employ tactics tailored to benefit the tau. And a bit of luck (as I recall they only arrived shortly befor the Imperium, but oh well.)

Page 65

Railguns proved highly effective weapons in the open deserts, outperforming the Imperial Guard's own battle cannons, and giving the Tau the decisive edge in tank verses tank combat.

Self explanatory. Vanquishers though seemed to be able to match them, and Earthshakres in assault gun (direct firing?) mode outranged the railguns. Of course not all battle cannon are made the same...

Page 66

The Hammerheads and Broadsides, with their railguns and mobility, excelled in these [desert] conditions. Unbroken fields of fire allowed them to target the Leman Russ first, before manoeuvring to avoid return fire. Once the tanks were destroyed, the Chimeras carrying infantry support were powerless to respond. Crews had to rely upon the weight of the Leman Russ armour for survival, but against the fearsome railguns it was not always enough.

- Yet again, range and mobility in the open desert plains favored the Tau. Of course, how hard can it be to out-manouevre and out-range a slow march?

Page 66

The tau's weaponry (railgun) seemed to slice through armour at any range. The magnetically-driven, hyper-sonic passage of each round heated the air so it seemed to fizz and crackle. The speed was such that infantry men stood too close would find the air sucked from their lungs as it passed overhead. The slipstream of each round would raise the sand, forming a speeding, swirling trail of dust which cut across the desert faster than the eye could track. With little cover to hide from teh railguns, the desert war was costly in equipment.

"hypersonic" implies that the rounds travel at least at mach 5, but it doesnt neccesarily set an upper limit (unless you consider "hypersonic but not hyper-velocity" an upper limit. Of course hypervelocity isn't always precise)

As we know now, other sources (Deathwatch and Savage scars) rate them at closer to 2-4 km/s.

Page 66

After five days of advancing, the 12th Armoured regiment had lost 50% of its tank strength amongst the forward deployed companies. They had inflicted some damage on the enemy, but it was an uneven exchange.

Not good, and they have 55 days more to go. Remind me again why "walking pace" was such a brilliant idea, De Stael?

Page 66

..recognising that his Tank companies needed the extra support, deployed the Basilisks of his first Artillery regiment forward, to act as assault guns rather than conventional artillery. His artillery was proving ineffective agianst very mobile targets. It was a shrewd move, by utilising their Earthshaker cannons longer range, the artillery helped level the playing field (Against Tau railguns.)

Railguns seem to lack the range of direct-firing Earthshaker guns.  Also the Clerk finally figures out his static artillery barrages did shit. A bit too late now.


PAge 66

In those first days of desert war, a typical tank engagement might run something like this. The lead infantry platoons would be advancing in line abreast, directly supported by a Leman Russ. Lying in wait for them would be a single small pathfinder team, well hidden amongst rocks. They would target the Leman Russ with their Markerlights, and far to the rear a volley of Seeker misiles would be launched, locking onto the target tank. The first the Imperial Guard would know about the attack would be the sudden destruction of the tank under multiple missile impacts. Other tanks would move to reinforce, only to come under long range fire from railguns as Hammerheads skimmed forwards into range. A long range exchange of fire would take place between the armoured vehicles, whilst the Imperial Guard infantry pressed forwards. The infantry would be counterattacked by Fire Warrior units racing forwards in Devilfish transports, dismounting and again engaging at long range with pulse rifles. The Imperial Guardsmen were outgunned in the infantry firefight, although their squad snipers did achieve some kills with their longer ranged weapons. As the Guardsmen pressed forwards, ,casualties mounting, they might be able to bring their heavy weapon squads, mortar batteries or, if a forward observer was present, their heavy artillery to bear. As Tallarn fire built the Tau would board their transport vehicles and withdraw rapidly, to be followed by their Hammerheads.

Self explanatory. The Imperium marches slowly forward, out in the open, and the tau (well hidden) paste them with missiles from long range in hit and run tactics. And like with the tanks, the basic weapons of the Tallarn seemed to suck against the Tau (although the snipers did a good job of countering.) Recall as well that the Tallarn are supposed to be masters of hit and run mobile warfare like the tau are engaged in (at least as per the 5th edition stuff) and yet they simply march forward into the guns of the enemy. Slowly.

Once again, the Space Marines could have been useful here. As could some actual effort at recon/intel. I should also note that these sorts of tactics were utilized against the Imperium at Damocles Gulf (pathfinders remain hidden, paint the target with markerlights, and missile barrages paste the target.) so you would think they'd know and anticipate this beforehand.

Page 66-67

Lord Marshal De Stael's staff began to analyse and understand the tactics the Tau had adopted and looked to counter them. First of all, the Pathfinder teams needed to be hunted down more vigorously. Reconnaisance squads were reinforced with more Sentinel units to aid them in this new mission. Neutralise the Tau scouts and the long range ambushes would be harder to achieve.
..

The light Sentinels still proved to be vulneralbe to the Tau's weaponry and many were lost...

..

each clash of scout patrols meant hte fornt line behind would be free from the Seeker missile ambushes. The loss in Sentinels was compensated for by the saving in tanks and men...

- Not only are the Imperial commanders on Taros recognizing the advantages of the Tau (and the importance of mobility in countering them if they can), they also recognize the tactics the Tau employed on the first major engagement and sought to counter them. One could say 'better late than never' but they were asking for this by sheer lack of preparation and stupid tactics.

In the end, this is wasted effort because the countermeasures were totally ineffective in the long run. Furthermore, nothing was done to address the logistics problem looming ahead when the tau really hit their stride, and those were preventable problems.

Page 67

As a response force [to Tau mobility] he turned ot the Imperial Navy.

..

Air patrols over the fornt line would be increased, with pilots given licesnse to roam, locate and engage targets of opporunity. Squadrons were put on stanby to scramble....
..

The Tau's response was to commit its own air forces in increasing numbers.

..

This [air war] drew the Imperial Navy's resources away from its ground attack role, and once again the Hunter Cadres were freed up for their probing counter attacks.

Nice idea, but it's impact is limited as the Tau deployed their own air forces in response. You'd think they'd anticipate the Tau deploying their own air force eventually, but I guess not.

One has to wonder at this point why De Stael refused to include the Space Marines and the Elysians in his efforts to counter mobility. To say nothing of making more aggressive use of his mechanised units as well. It should have been obvous by now that keeping the assault to the pace of the foot troops was simply giving the Tau time to whittle his forces down. Or moved the foot troops some other way (on Munitorum transports, drop ships/shuttles, etc.) they have and don't bother with.

Page 67

All regiments were reporting problems with their supply lines. Convoys were not making it to the front line, days past whilst there was not enough fuel for all the vehicles.

And the logistics problem hits home! Thus marks the actual slide into defeat of the Imperial forces on Taros, and they're still far off from Taros city. Again this is stuff that could have been anticipated and prevented by an intelligent officer, but I guess De Stael can't figure this out.


Page 68

The Master Shaper [Kroot] was clever enough to know that in the dense rocky terrain his ferocious kindreds and hounds would be at an advantage. Once spotted, his forces would become thet argets of heavy shelling.

..

Out of the hills, in the open desert, his forces would stand little chance against the enemy's firepower. If the TAllanr advance was to be stopped, it would have to be here.

Kroot basically stopped the advance by holding rocky high ground and forcing the Tallarn to bombard it to drive them out. Ultimately they force the Tallarn to capture worthless desert simply to advance and also managing to tie up one whole Regiment. As if the Guard weren't in enough trouble already.



Page 68

Admist the heavy diesel stink and creaking tracks of armoured vehicles...
..

A cloud of dust hung over the desert as the tanks passed by, followed close behind by Chimera carriers and Basilisks. As ever the Tau were waiting, picking off tanks with railguns before falling back again.

Tallarn vehicles are using diesel fuel, rather than promethium. In any case this would dispel the notion that diesel and promethium (or gasoline and promethium for that matter) are the same thing just under different names.



Page 69

The Veteran Tallarn General made this clear during a briefing onboard De Stael's Leviathan.

The ground forces on Taros at least had one Leviathan. Amazing that they can deploy this, but not sufficient ground vehicles to transport all their infantry (rather than having them move on foot) or enough drop ships.


Page 69

In the dawn light, Earthshaker and mortar explosions blossomed.

..

Two Tank companies would envelope the mines...

..

When the tank vanguards had met, the mine would be surrounded and cut off from reinforcements. Then the infantry would move in, racing forwards in Chimeras behind a rolling barrage of artillery fire, before dismounting and closing the last few hundred yeards on foot.

We at last see the Chimeras used in a somewhat more intelligent role. It won't make much good however, as this is more time-wasting and contributes nothing to the Imperial victory.

Page 69

It would be the dismounted infantry that would roust the Tau from their hidden positions in close quarters fighting, under the covering fire of their transports.

...

With two hundred yards left, the artillery screen lifted and men dismounted to dash forwards and seize the objective. As the infantry closed in the Tau opened fire, flaying the dismounted Tallarns with pulse rifle fire. The Tau had created a killing zone in front of their position with interlocking fields of fire. The leading Tallarn infantry were now caught in it, and men started to fall one after the other. As they attempted to advance, the Men of Tallarn were dusty tan shapes running, falling, crawling, firing, rising again and falling again, wounded and writing.

The Tallarn were supported by the Chimera weapons (and presumably tanks, as they were mentioned..) 200 meters or so out.

The tau spent days basically sniping at the Tallarn from range before withdrawing. Again, this demonstrates that, when things DO go the Tau's way, they can do well (in this case.. they have ample space to manuver in, without being pinned or trapped. They apparently have no supply problems, and they have ample time to execute plans and spend time grinding down the Imperial forces from a safe distance.


Page 70

His first assault defeated, General Ras-Aziz ordered a fresh Armoured Fist company forwards. This time it would be third company's turn. Again muzzle flashes erupted from the defender's lines, scouring the desert with pulse rounds. Chimeras moved fowards to lend their fire, multi-lasers whining, heavy bolters chattering return fire. Leading the attack was Captain Hadid. His own Chimera was hit thirty five times by pulse rounds, eventually penetrating the front armour and killing his driver.

...

The weight of Chimera fire and the platoon's supporting mortars was having an effect, suppressing the defenders as the first Tallarn platoons reached the edge of Giadamak. Now the fighting would become close and personal. With knives and grenades in hand, squads were stalking through the billowing smoke and rusting machinery, hunting down the entrenched defenders.

...
Fighting amongst the quarries was more like street fighting than desert warfare.

..

For three hours the battle was a brawl fought with grenades, knives, and sometimes bare fists. The Tau had little stomach for such combat. The Hunter Cadre commander had called for an evacuation. He had inflicted his damage here, it was now time to cut-and-run before his force was annihilated.

The Orcas swooped in, burst cannons raking the sand and the Fire Warrior teams withdrew under the covering fire of their sacrificial rearguard.

..

In all sixty-three prisoners were taken. The 3rd Tallarn regiment's losses stood at 322 killed or wounded and eleven vehicles destrroyed. That evening, sixty eight Tau bodies were piled in a single mass grave and bulldozed over.

On the previous page its noted that the first assault left behind a hundred dead, setting the lower limit on the casualty figure. This probably qualifies as a tau defeat, although quite a pyrrhic one for the Imperium and costly in terms of time and resources. Ultimatley, it is a meaningless victory as it does little to hamper the Tau's ability to cripple the Imperium.

Chimeras getting hit by thirty five pulse rounds before the armor is penetrated is interesting, and perhaps a testament to the power of Tau pulse rifles, although ti doesnt tell us where they are hitting.


Page 70

After fourteen days of advancing, faced by daily Tau sniping, the front line, led by Battlegroup A, had closed ot within fifty kilometres of the objective, but they too were now running out of tanks, fuel and water.

..

With so many units committed to the rear echelon raids, the Tau commander might no longer have enough Hunter Cadres to stop the offensive, but the Imperial Guard was slowly running out of momentum due to its own logistical needs.

Seems like despite the success of the guerilla raids on the supply lines the Imperium ALMOST made it. Luck however is still favoring the Tau. That and intel, and the general stupidity of the Imperial forces.

Edit: You know, it occurs to me that if they had been carrying troops on the tanks, this would have been an ideal time to drop some of them off to take this objective while the main armoured advanced continued onwards. They could have even used artillery here to back them up.

Page 70

Operating mainly at night, Tau Fire Warrior, Pathfinder, and Stealth teams dropped via ORca into the desert and fanned out in search of targets. Night after night, Orcas flew secret transport missions to drop more teams, seeding the Imperial Guard's rear area with raiding parties, under orders to identify supply routes and dumps, headquarters and airfields. Once located, then action would be planned. Teams were only sanctioned to conduct ambushes on supply routes. Other Pathfinder teams were dropped with Tetra speeders, allowing them to move with great speed to each new target.

Tau intel and mobility again save the day. This of course also marks the decline of one of the two arms of this entire venture that proves competent and effective (consistently) against the tau (the other being the Marines.) And this despite being outnumbered.

And still, no attempt to bring any orbital support into this at all.


PAge 72

An average Kroot stands 2.3m tall with a lean wiry build, which conceals an immense strength.

...

Kroot have no ears or nose but instead have evolved spine sensors, from which they get much of their sensory data. These spines grow from the back of their head and pass information directly to the brain. Their sensitive spines make it difficult to hide from a Kroot, also making them excellent sentries.

Kroot Physiology.

Page 72

They have evolved to absorb a meals DNA into their own body, hence a Kroot can, over time, take on the characteristics of its meals. This is the Shaper's main roel within the kindred: to direct their evolutionray development by selective feeding.

Kroot genetic adaptability.

PAge 72

Kroot seem impervious to climate changes, operating in sub-zero ice worlds, to humid jungles to parched deserts. EXtremes of climate do not seem to bother the Kroot. In fact their diet-based evolution has allowed them to adapt quickly One kindred has been identified that have adapted themselves to breathing in a toxic chlorine atmosphere.

Its also mentioned Kroot can enter hibertnation cycles, but they seem highly adaptable to enviroments like many races (Tyranid, Ork, etc.)


Page 72

The Kroot's main weapon is the Kroot long rifle. This is an essentially primitive rifle, using a chemical propellant to fire a projectile, but until encountering the Tau it was the peak of the Kroot's technologicla achievement. It seems that the Tau have taken it upon themselves to assist their allies by altering these weapons to fire a charged pulse round, which they supply in vast quantities to Kroot kindreds in service with Tau forcecs. The Kroot rifle is a single shot breech-loading weapon. It must be reloaded after each shot, making its rate of fire slow.

Presumably it might be akin to an chem propelled weapon, but maybe using slightly more exotic propellant (ETC maybe?) along with a pulse round (plasma bullet?) This also suggests pulse rifles are projectile weapons more like than true energy weapons.

[Connor MacLeod]

Did you skip the space campaign, did I miss it, or does it come later in the book?

It gets later, and its no less painful because it introduces its own brand of stupidity. Like letting the tau destroy an entire regiment (a mechanized one in all probability, no less, since its the Brimlock) in orbit.

[PainRack]

I would like to point out that the water tanker simply doesn't supply enough water to meet combat operations, period.
http://www.armystudyguide.com/content/a ... -ope.shtml

Even at bare minium of 1 liter a day, 20 thousand tons would last 20 thousand soldiers 1 thousand days, and this is assuming all water is used for consumption. And would still place soldiers at severe risk of heat illnesses and dehydration. Once you scale it up to include the size of the IG contingent and supporting elements like enginseers, cooling systems, medical requirements.........

There must have been additional stores, brought on the transports and etc.

[Connor MacLeod]

You know I'd like to believe there were more supplies but.... the entire conflict is nothing but a poorly conceived clusterfuck from beginning to end, so I wouldn't be surprised if the Adminsitratum or Munitorum completely fucked up allotment of water. It's not like they haven't fucked everything else up, and I've gottne barely a third of the way through the stuff I've wanted to cover (nevermind a synopsis I'll have to rewrite at some point.) The worst part is this isn't an isolated case. Imperial armour 8 suffers from similar levels of absurd stupidity (both on Astartes and IG forces) and I think even IA5 has some of that (of course its trench warfare so you expect stupid.. I'm sure Black Admiral can point out plenty of examples in both of those cases.)

I have this sneaking suspicion they still expected to take hydro farms along the way to supplement water supplies. If they couldn't get more troop reinforcements and aircraft/fighters allocated to support them, or evne fucking trucks to haul these troops around in, I doubt they could get more water.

The sad part is...none of that should be the case.

The Tau Empire continues its third phase of expansion into the Imperium. All nearby worlds ordered to increaes their military tithe contributions to at least twenty percent.

Now on the page this is provided, the timeframe is given as 998.M41. And like noted before, the Taros campaign started life on 998.M41, after a year or so of preparation which means.. there should have been a reserve of troops available... in and around the Tau empire... specifically dedicated to countering the threat of the Third Sphere expansion. Which, in theory, should include Taros if it were as vital an Imperial world as indicated. They shouldn't have had trouble scraping up troops - hell they should have been able to reinforce Taros with troops and supplies from those nearby worlds (and quite probably more air support) The fact that they didn't only highlights either the political fuckery of the situation (someone wanted them to fail), the fact this wasn't an officially sanctioned attack and was more of a private venture between the AdMech and the Administratum (which wouldn't be the first time such has happened.), or that the Administratum is just full of fucking retards who can't figure out how to properly execute a war. And none of those are mutually exclusive.

To be fair to Forge World, they had no way of predicting the exact facts pertaining to DGC or the 5th edition IG codex, so they can't be blamed for not accounting for those particular details.... but certain things like the way the IG goes about waging wars and invasions has been known for a long time now (such as raising the response to an invasion from the closest worlds and then expanding outwards) and they could and should have dealt with that.

[Connor MacLeod]

Damn I can't believe I forgot about this. I need to pay attention better.

(I've been thinking of working through the Cain novels like Connor does, but think that Cain is just not the best place to look for stuff, and I think Connor has covered some of them anyway.)

There isn't anything wrong with the Cain stuff by itself. The fact that its written for hilarity does not make it any more or less consistent than any other source. You just have to remember that no particular novel or series by itself represents the 'standard'. That's why my analysis has become so lucricrously comprehensive. It's not just the good examples, but the bad examples.. all examples really. We show what is possible, and then work out waht is likely (hopefully) from the evidence present.

And if you want to cover Cain? Be my guest. It's going to be awhile before I get to the books, and I'm woefully out of touch with that. So I fully encourage other people to delve into the sources themselves rather than just rely on me to do it. 40K analysis should not be defined solely by my take on things on this board, but I'd be happy if what I do inspires other people to take a stab at it. Hell if someone wants to dive into Gaunt's Ghosts, Horus Heresy, or anything else like that, I say go for it. The more the merrier, and I'd be happy to see more people throwing their own take into 40K analysis. The more we discuss it, the better it is.

Besides, its not like I have a monopoly on 40K analysis

[PainRack]

Seriously... if we were to compare the IG forces to the US army recommended water guidelines, that's what? 8 liters of water a day for each soldier. That's 320 thousand liters a day just for drinking purposes alone.

That means that the water ration is less than 100 days of survival. Assuming the tanker water is primarily for consumption, one still needs water to cook food, and the lack of hot food can potentially cripple morale.

Each of the transports must carry enough water stores, recycling equipment to sustain troops assigned to it for months at least. That's a potential source right there.

I know how bad it looks, because the forgeworld authors didn't conceive such operations with any grounding in reality but it is possible to retcon and tweak some of the idiocy out.....

For example, terrain might have played a factor in why a closer assault wasn't planned. sandstorms, unsuitable landing grounds near the city could have damaged the vulnerable dropships/shuttles, or they're were too close to possible mined sites, or within the range of hostile artillery or extant air defence networks that were harder to disable than the single, hard "site" for the planetary defence gun the Raptors did disable......

[Black Admiral]

Taros's air defence network evidently isn't the issue - either it's non-existent or so pitiful as to not even be worth mentioning even once; all the traitor air defence equipment beyond the immediate defences of the defence missile silos is Tau in origin (and there's not really all that much of it) - and if the weather was an issue, then they should be landing closer to the capital, not further away (since Tarokeen's in the heart of the most temperate area on the planet). While I agree the rationalisations you've put forward are possible, they mean assuming that the text isn't mentioning important details about the reasoning involved.

[Simon_Jester]

Seriously... if we were to compare the IG forces to the US army recommended water guidelines, that's what? 8 liters of water a day for each soldier. That's 320 thousand liters a day just for drinking purposes alone.

Armies have screwed this up before... the Germans tried to enforce a ration of one liter per day on the Afrika Corps for a while. It did not go well:

In the North African Desert, the allocation of water per man was between two and three gallons with about a quarter of that for drinking. The German Army actually tried to enforce a ration of one liter per day which is below the minimum needed to sustain life under those conditions, the result being that troops were suffering from extreme dehydration, poioning from drinking water contaiminated with gasoline or diesel and parasitic infestations from drinking water contaminated with worms or flukes. The reason for the low ration was that the German high Command thought that the troops would get acclimatized to low water availability The Italians were a lot smarter, they knew how much water troops needed even if they couldn't supply it.

[Connor MacLeod]

New IA3 update. We get some of the space war as well as an evaluation of the war on the tau side of things. And Imperial competence (such as it is) in this engagement takes another severe beating and we get to laugh at De Stael and Gustavus yet again.


Page 74

Subsequent analysis of the campaign on Taros, through a study of events, interrogation of captured combatants, signals intercept data and other (classified) sources have revealed much of how the Tau planned to defend Taros.

- the Imperium captured "signals intercept" data from the Tau on Taros. Amazing how they were able to, after the fact, figure out what the Tau intended to do, yet somehow they could not do it DURING the conflict. Along with their utter inability to conduct anything resembling aerial or orbital observation/scanning, proper utilization of forces and resources (EG the complete absence of the Space Marines on the ground.) and so on.


Page 74

After being invited to help defend Taros, their subsequent swift conquest meant they had more new territory than they could effectively defend. The entire planet was at their mercy, ,but ti also meant that if/when the Imperium reacted and counter-attacked, how could they hope to stop them? The Tau could not occupy every inch of the planet, and therefore the Imperium could land just about anywhere and get a strong foothold on the surface. The size of an expected Imperial attack was also a cocnern. Would they have enough troops to stop a full invasion?

The Tau, like the Imperium, realized some of the problems the Tau faced in defending their new territory. Unlike the Imperium, they act intelligently upon this realization. It's frankly hilarious that none of this occured to De Stael at all.

It also goes without saying that had the conquest of Taros been conducted in a more 'normal' fashion (EG raising and deploying troops form nearby worlds.) they probably would have had numbers and logistics to steamroll the Tau.

Thirdly, note that the tau apparently don't think the Taros city defenses create some sort of impenetrable barrier that prevents them from getting no closer than 1500 km away. I don't blame the Imperials for not having perfect knowledge of what the tau are doing, they control the terrain and are on the defensive, and they have good stealth capabilities. But anything other than small, rapid skirmishes would require massing large numbers of troops (especially to block or oppose the Imperial advance) and even if they aren't able to intercept communications during the battle (although this implies they *could*) they should at least see something from up above. They can't be stupid enough to recognize the tau mobilizing to halt them in force from up in space if the tau were actually going to do that.

Page 74

To aid their manpower problems it had been ascertained tha tthe Tau arranged to induct as many of the old Planetary Defnce Forces as they could. The tau were already well used to using such 'foreign' troops, and rather than waste them as cannon fodder, actually respected their fighting qualities and treated them fairly and well. After time in Tau service, many such traitor units became keen to aid the so-called "GreateR Good" and fought well for their new alien commanders.

This is interesting in light of later events (That the tau didnt want them armed, and that many of the auxiliaries knew they woudl be seen as traitors anyhow) but its not neccesarily untrue. Some Tau are assholes, but this leeader Ry'mr seems rather decent.

Page 74

Many councilors argued that in order for the conquest of Taros to be successful any Imperial invasion must be immediately hurled back, causing maximum damage. Such a heavy defeat would persuade the Imperium of Man never to try and invade again. On the ground, and in space, the Tau should match force with force. THese commanders also argued that by the time the Imperium could organise another invasion attempt the situation on the Empire's frontier would have moved on. The next planet would already have been tageted, and the Imperium's focus would ahve to shift to its defence; Taros would be forgotten.

Given what we subsequently learn, we could consider these to be the Tau's own moron contingent in its military structure. Lucky for the Tau they didn't have any input on the actual campaign, isn't it?

Page 74

Shas'o'R'Myr believed that to try and defeat the Imperium in open battle was a mistake. He had little doubt his forces could achieve vicotry this way, but only at a heavy cost - perhaps a greater cost than the Empire should pay for the conquest of Taros.

If it came to pitched battle, the Imperium would send more forces and the battle would escalate. More ships, more men, more tanks would follow the first, and the Tau might destroy them, but victory would not be quick and the cost in lives would be great.

R'myr has a point. It probably WOULD be costly for the Tau in direct combat, even with their firepower and mobility advantage. They HAVE to defend Taros, and that invariably means a static war at some point, which they aren't as good at. Luckily, the tau have De Stael on their side.

On the other hand, this does tend to highlight the unusual nature of the conflict on Taros - the tau could not face the Imperium in a conventional fight, nor could they risk the Imperium deciding to reinforce the invasion fleet. This tells me that had the Imperium responded to the tau incursion in a more normal manner, things would have gone much differently.

Page 74

Worse still, O'R'myr was concerned that the Tau fleet was not capable of inflicting a decisive defeat on the Imperium's ships if it came to a fleet engagement. The vast firepower of Imperial ships owuld always give them the advantage in a straight fight. To his mind the Tau fleet was not a war fleet but a colonisation fleet.

Tau still don't seem to have gotten an advantage against the Navy yet. Their ground tech is better than their space tech it would seem.

PAge 74

...Shas'o R'myr was using the Tau doctrine of Kauyon - "Patient Hunter."

..

They should allow the Imperium onto Taros, draw them deeper into the deserts before striking and cutting of fthe Imperium's lifeline of supplies. This was the Imperium's weakness. Their soldiers would need food, ammunition, and water to fight, and if his forcecs could target those supplies he believed it would bring rapid success.

A rather successful tactic as it turns out. Even more successful given how consistently De Stael's own cautious planning played right into those plans. But even if things hadn't gone completely for the Tau, this approach would likely have meant the Tau would be facing a hampered, weakened Imperial opponent, and they still would have defender's advantage. The Taros situation suffered from more than just the problems on the ground.


Page 74

First, having used the absence of troops as a lure to draw the Imperial forces into the open, out of their defensive positions and into the deserts, O'R'myr woudl strike, targeting the forward Imperial units with long range firepower of his Hammerheads and Broadsides. Rapid stirkes by mobile armoured hunter Cadres, hitting the Imperial forcecs hard then quickly withdrawing and dispersing would slow any advance and sap Imperial manpower and morale. In the open desert he would be maximising his advantage in range and avoiding expensive close quarters battle. He would give ground before the advance, never standing to fight for more than a localised counter-attack. This way he would be stretching Imperial supply lines whilst making them pay daily in manpower and fighting machines. When the Imperium's attack was over extended and weary from weeks of combat the second phase would commence.

...

Next, using Mantas and ORcas, O'R'myr would launch a series of stealthy, fast Hunter Cadres deep behind enemy lines, to attack rear installations and supply columns.

...


Making use of Stealthsuits, Pathfinders, and aircraft, the teams would locate and attack supply dumps and convoys, airbases and headquarters, sowing confusion and denying the front line security for its supply lines. Combined with new fleet operations in the system, specifically targeting the Imperial transport vessels he hoped to cut off the Imperial Guard's lifeline of supplies, support and reinforcements, leaving them stranded in the desert. The Imperium's weakness was its huge logistical tail, that would be the place for the Shas'el to concentrate their efforts.

Once more it's lucky the tau had R'myr in charge. This plan basically plays to all the Tau's strengths and the Imperium's weaknesses, the effects of which are further amplified (again) by the way De Stael plays right into R'Myr's hands (luck maybe.)

As I said before, Taros was msotly a foregone conclusion for the Imperium due to logistics and intel. The Imperium had no knoweldge of the Tau and had immense logistical problems facing it, whilst the Tau

Of course, a fair bit of luck also played a role (the Tau got lucky on quite a few occasions) but war is like that, and you can't help that for game balance things would be contrived to favor the Tau and "balance it out". The Imperium can suffer a loss like this with more minor consequences on the galactic scale than the Tau could and GW loves its status quo.

***

Page 74

...it is now known that many Tau Hunter Cadre commanders in the Shas'ar'tol thought the plan was overly defensive and too easily handed the initiative to the Imperium. The Imperium would be at its weakest during its planetary landings, smash them with a large counter-attack and the war would be over before it started. Do not give the Imperium war machine a chance to start moving, becasue with their seemingly endless resources it might become unstoppable.

This theory was sound enough, but in practice, given the planet's size and the Imperium's perceived dominance of the space lanes, how could O'R'myr stop an invasion? Try to anticipate the possible landing site, or sites? Once in low orbit the Imperium would have the entire planet to choose from. Certain areas could be ignored, like the inhospitable deserts and mountains, but the area to be defended was still vast. Only by spreading their forces thinly would their be any liklihood of forcees being available for an immediate counter-attack, and thinly spread forces would mean not enough firepower to overrun the landign zones. They could concentrate forces and take a guess at the most likely landing site, but it would only be a guess. Concentrating forces too early would present the Imperium with a good target for its heaviest weapons, orbital bombardment. This would be a huge risk, because sustained orbital bombardment might tear Tau forces aparrt before battle even started.

Again R'myr recognizes the problems the Imperium had, and correctly managed to plan around that, all the while avoiding the problems of orbital supremacy that would face him (had the Tau tried direct cobmat orbital bombardment would have been a huge problem.)

And once again you have to wonder why noone on the Imperial side of things realized any of this.


Page 75

Pathfinder and Stealth teams operated in unison to attack Imperial Guard supply columsn of Trojans towing trailers full of water, fuel, and ammunition. Rear area security was mainly being conducted by Sentinel and Rough Rider squadrons, and these proved ineffective agianst the small, well-armed Tau teams. Day after Dday, convoy after convoy was ambushed. The Pathfinders inflicting rapid losses before withdrawing back into the desert.

..

Security was increased. Armoured Fist squads were withdrawn from frontline duty to help defend the vulnerable convoys, but the Tau attacks continued.

More logistics problems.

Page 75

Far to the south, the 331st regiment had advanced to the southern shores of the Em-sai and was now digging in, but the Tau had not fallen for the feint.

Way to go, Gustavus. This is perhaps the one thing you can't blame on De Stael. And honestly, I'm not sure you can totally blame Gustavus. If there had been more forces present on Taros they might have made a more credible assault.

PAge 75

Up until now the air war over Taros had continued daily, an evenly matched duel, with both sides struggling to gain superiority. The Tau had the edge in numbers, but the Imperium had the ege in experience. It was a battle neither side could afford to lose. Unless the Tau dominated the skies, ,their defensive strategy would be facing a major problem. If their Barracudes could no longer protect the Hunter Cadres then the Imperial forces would have an advantage in the ground war. The Hunter Cadres would be exposed to repeated air attacks, and forced to rely on their Sky Rays for defence, ,which were proving themselves a potent weapon against ground targets when used in conjunction with thier small Pathfinder teams. Also Barracudes and Tiger Sharks were playing a big part in the second phase of the campaign, strafing supply convoys. The Imperial Navy was still putting up an alarming fight, and at this time it was the main threat to Shas'o R'myr's campaign plan.

Much like with the Naval superiroity, the Imperium still had aerial superiority, in the short term. Sadly, like most of the Taros invasion, this was not to last. It goes without saying that had the Guard used any approach other than 'slow walk towards the objective from a long ways off' this would not have been a crippling disadvantage.

Page 75

Small Stealthuit teams had alreay infiltrated the Imperial Guard rear area. Operating only at night, their mission was to find and report the location of Imperial supply dumps and convoy routes.

..

When a patrolling Stealth team reported the location of a forward airbase...

..

In a daring raid,a single Orca loaded with troops would fly low over the desert and pass directly ove rthe airstrip. The Fire Warrior teams and their support units would jump out, and under the covering fire of drones and Crisis battlesuits, destroy all the grounded aircraft with EMP grenades.

You have to wonder what the hell they were guarding those bases with that the Tau could get close and attack, from the air, completely unopposed. Again, lack of orbital support or observation.


Page 77

The Orca, equipped with blacksun filters and a disruption pod to make it difficult to track..

Stealth transport.

Page 77

On its final approach to the target, the Orca attracted the attention of the airbase' anti-aircraft defences and sustained several hits as the Hydra flak guns opened fire.

Orcas can take at least several direct Hydra hits.

Page 77

The Shas'el's Crisis battlesuits leapt towards the Hydra platforms, silencing them with multipel hits from plasma rifles and missile pods.
..
an emplaced multi-laser guarding the perimeter fence found its range, destroying a battlesuit, which exploded in a shower of sparks.

Fixed mutli-laser platform, or perhaps a Tarantula?

Page 78 -

Six aircraft lay as smouldering wrecks, along with the Hydra turrets, battlesuits, and the gutted Orca.

..

The Imperial Navy had suffered the loss of its aircraft and the airbase was out of action until the debris could be cleared. The tau had lost their entire raiding force in the strike.

..

The attack pm tje aorbase was not the end of the raids. More supply dumps would be located and then targeted by Pathfindsers. Convoys continued to be ambushed by stealth teams or strafed by Barracudas. It wsa a plan designed to cripple the frontline reigments by reducing their supplies to a trickle, and it was working.

the Tau attack on an airbase destroyed 6 thunderbolts and several hydra flak platforms. However, they los tthe Fire Warriors and BAttlesuits (dead or captured) and the ORca. raiding of the IG supply lines, nonetheless, continued.

6 Thunderhawks may not seem like alot, but as we learn the Imperium was not only outnumbered, but they had percisely ZERO reinfrocement and replacement (again that pesky logistics) for both pilots and planes lost. So ultimately the air battle was one of attrition, and one the Tau invariably could win due to numerical advantage (and logistics) When you consider that the Navla air forces are far weaker than we whoudl expect for the Carrier they have, the losses become significant.

Page 79

Also worrying for De Stael was the Tau's growing air superiority. The Tau had obvious established a network of good airfields on Taros, with smaller foward bases hidden in the deserts and larger facilities closer to Tarokeen. The Tau had assembled an unknonw quantity of aircraft, but Air Marshal Denvelt was estimating at least ten squadron-sized groups, maybe 120 Barracudas and 40 tiger Sharks. Despite losses inflicted by Imperial Navy Fighter squadrons the Tau were airborne relentlessly. The situation had not been helped by the Tau raid against one of Denvelt's forward airbases and the loss of six fighter aircraft in one night. In all the Imperial Navy had four fighter wings, two bomber wings and one tactical wing committed to the Taros campaign. AT the peak of its strength (The starrt of the campaign) Air Marshal Denvelt commanded 78 fighters, of which the vast majority were Thunderbolts, ,24 Marauder bombers, and 18 VAlkyrie transports (not including those of the 23rd Elysians Droop Troop Regiment.) Since the campaign had startted, ,he had received exactly zero replacements, despite repeated requests.

We see the fruits of a stable logistics base and time to prepare further aiding the Tau, we also see how the Tau had a virtual 2:1 advantage against the Imperium. Despite being so horribly outnumbered, it is quite possible they could have at least stalled the Tau air forces if they'd gotten replacements. Had they been better equipped or even had close to parity, there's a good chance the Imperium would have been able to press the Tau bettera nd offset the mobility advantage.

But, as I said, logistics (and everything else) favored the Tau, not the Imperium, so the Imperium was destined to fail.



Page 79
[]quote]
As well as aircraft and aircrew losses, the fuel situation was not good, and air dropped munitions were running low. Imperial airbases were mostly situated far to the rear, close to the original landing zone, where Departmento Munitorum Engineer and Labour corp had been instructed to construct them. AS the front advanced, this left the aircraft further and further behind, with longer mission times, and hence less time in the air over the battlefield.[/quote]

More of the ever-growing logistical problems facing the Imperium, and the situation grows even worse. I have to wonder why they are even FACING a logistics problem - seems like those limitless resources the Imperium supposedly has have mysteriously vanished. Hell, we never get a satisfactory reason why no worlds near Taros can provide any sort of assistance to this force whatsoever.

Page 79

The bomber squadrons had hammered Tarokeen and the Iracunda Isthmus with repeated air raids, pounding the city and suspected Tau bases. It seemed to be having little effect on the Tau. Attempts to hit Tau hunter Cadres in the deserts seemed to expend a disproportionate amount of munitions for slim results, and bomber losses to the ever-present Barracudas had been alarming: five in the first two days. In summary, the air war was (much like the ground war), slowly slipping away form the Emperor's forces.

Big surprise. What's more, they're pounding the fucking city. If they're willing to carpet bomb Taros City with bombers, what's preventing the Space Marines (or the Imperium itself) from using orbital bombardment?

PAge 79

Because of this, the Imperial Guardsmen on the ground faced the ever-present danger of low-level Barracuda attacks. The Tau aircraft slipped along low over the desert, hugging valleys and ridge lines, only to rise suddenly in a whirl of ion cannon fire, missiles, and burst cannons that raked the sand and sent everybody diving for the nearest cover. Supply convoys were a priority target and suffered heavy losses. Without reinforcements the Imperial Navy was struggling to defend them.

Again, big surprise.

Page 79

By the time Operation Comet was launched, Air Marshal Denvelt commanded just thirty-seven fighters, twelve bombers and thirteen Valkyries. Still no replacements had reached him, and none ever would.

Again, logistics hurting the Imperium in the most effective components of this debacale, which in turn fucks up the entire venture even further. Hardly a surprise by now, is it?

Page 80

His [Fire Warrior] body armour is constructed in two layers. The outer face is a hard, ultra-dense nanocrystalline metal, bonded to an inner layer of high-performance, thermo-set molecular polyethene. The inner layer acts as an energy-absorbent pading for energy dispersal. This helps prevent blunt trauma effects from high-velocity impacts. The highly advanced materials used in its construction are very resilient to penetration and lightweight compared to more conventional materials such as plasteel. The construction techqniues are unknown as the ADeptus Mechancius are forbidden from investigateing dangerous alien technology by the Ordo Xenos.

The elongated and thickened left shoulder pad acts as an additional protective shield, especially when the Fire Warrior is kneeling with the weapon at his shoulder, covering that side of the warriors' body with extra armour.

Aside from the usual AdMech "no Xenos tech" ruling 9this time blamed on Ordo Xenos") we get a description of Tau body armor. In theory its supposed to be superior to Imperial flak armor, in practice it varies (in the Fire Warrior novel and the "Kill Team" novel, Tau body armor does not seem to perform dramatically better than Imperial armour does, at least when Imperial armor has its plate inserts/hardshell bits, while sources like the Deathwatch RPG and Savage Scars suggest it can be.) We might rationalize this the same way we do with flak - it's customizable to trade mobility and comfort and weight for protection and coverage. Fire Warriors are supposed to be flexible and adaptable, and it makes sense they might vary armour coverage with requirements. We know Pathfinders and their scout/recon light elements tend to have lighter armour than the main line warriors (IIRC Fire Warrior and other sources correctly)

Of course, with their emphasis on range and mobility, heavy armor would be encumbering to a Fire Warrior, so it need not be designed to be super protective given their usual doctrine.

Page 80

It is thought that the distinctive domed Tau combat helmet includes many systems. communications equipment, night vision sensors, targeting and range-finder information, and access to the command network. It is believed that the hlemet includes some form of visual relay, but this is unconfirmed.

Generally, Tau have consistently better helmet gear than the Imperium does, although not always. The tau can manage this due to shorter and generally more reliable logistics chains and restricting the use of the 'high end' gear strictly to tau-only forces. (We haven't yet seen human troops equipped as a fire warrior, for example.) It isn't impossible for the IG to match this (worst case being on storm troopers and grenadiers), but it always depends on the specific regiment and the battlezone (and what kind of logistics they have, if any.)

Additionally, Fire Warriors also have the visual data relays, at least going by Fire Warrior again.



Page 80

The weapon generates an induction field which is used to propel a particle. The particle reacts to the field by breakign down into a plasma state (referred to as a pulse). Power is provided by a powercell, which must be replaced after 50 shots. Tau powercells are a standard fit for all weapons. A pulse carbine includes an under slung photon grenade launcher as standard. The single-shot grenade launcher fires a stnadard issue photon grenade over a short distance. The pulse carbine also mounts a remote thermic sight, which combine with the weapons advanced stabilisers and reocil reduction make it highly accurate during aimed fire.

Pulse weaponry described. No obvious ammo aside from the powercell (despite being basically a projectile weapon), which as same ammo/charge capacity as a lasgun. Grenade launchers use non-lethal non damaging weapons. Why don't the tau use frag grenades?


Page 80

From his belt hangs a sensor unit. The purpose of this device is unknown, although commonly issued to team leaders it is thought to be some form of of sensor and tracking equipment..

This might be a markerlight thingies, although nothing prevents the tau from deploying with their own sensor gear.

Page 80

Hanging from the webbing braces are two pouches for additional pulse powercells, and two smaller signal flare pellets.

..

...are believed to be used for visual communication or as bakc-up to standad communications for marking his team's location.

The standard issue webbing belt contains pouches for extra powercells and a container for photon grenades. These can be armed and thrown by hand or loaded into the grenade launcher.

Tau grenades are versatile in that they can be thrown or fired, something I think can be true for Imperials as well (dependign on the grenade.) They also hav eflares and seem to carry alot of extra ammo.

Page 80

A photon grenade is primarily a defensive weapon, detonating with a powerful sonic blast and multi-spectrum light which dazzles and disorientates the enemy Although non-lethal the effects can be severa nd long lasting.

He has also been issued with EMP grenades. These wepaons emit a brief but powerful elector-magnetic pulse which overloads circuitry, causing meltdowns and malfunctions. EMP grenades cannot be fired from the grenade launcher.

Photon and EMP grenades described.

Page 80

The fire warrior's one-piece coveralls are constructed of a composite nanocular thread, which has a microscopic, super-dense mass of fibres that help prevent projectile punctures and slashing penetrations, whilst remaining flexible. The material the fatigues are constructed from is also chemically treated to retard flames and the effects of most irritant gases or chemicals. The fatigues are hardwearing and suitable for most enviroments...

Sounds a bit like a combination of soft flak and Imperial guard uniforms. Then again quite a few sources indicate that IG uniforms and greatcoats (at least the soft parts) are ALSO flak, so...

Page 80

A Tau's physical capabilities to resist the effects of dehydraiton are unknown, but believed to be far in excess of human norms.

Would make sense in explaining why they want Taros.

Page 83

Admiral Kotto's invasion fleet had busied themselves iwth protecting the unloading operations and supply convoys...

..

The Righteous Power remained in geo-stationary orbit over the landing zone, whilst the three cruisers were stationed in the outer reaches, positioned to provide a secure perimeter with maximum sensor coverage and the fastest reaction time for a cruiser to respond to any surprise tau moves. The two light cruisers and most of the escorts provided close convoy protection...

..

..the War talon had withdrawn and began patrolling the system as a rapid reaction force, ready to speed to wherever she was needed, or back to orbit should a fresh planetfall operaton be called for.

Novem squadron's Firestorm frigates provided the outer piquet line, patrolling deep space as an early warning against Tau raiders.

You seriously have to wonder why they leave the navy ships (the best suited to providing a response force against tau aggression) to watch over the planet, and kept the AStartes Battle barge (which is designd for providing planetary assault support) away from the planet. It's almost as if they're determined to do this in the least efficient way possible.

About the only thing they may have done right is the convoy protection, although a cruiser or two would have helped there. Unfortunatley they simply don't have enough resources to be everywhere, so they have to prioritize, which is risky because it leaves the tau free to snipe at them (although as we see in Fire Warrior, it can be very hard to bring the tau to bear if they don't want you to, so hunting them down is risky no matter what.)




Page 83

The Tau fleet slipped into the Taros system unnoticed at first, disengaging etherdrives in deep spacec and creeping in system on the tail of the Imeprial convoys.

Could this suggest Tau etherdrive can emerge in system closer to a planet (safely) than Warp can? Warp isn't predictable like this, but it does seem to suggest that. Which would make hunting them down even more of a pain in the ass, since they can just hyper out then hyper in when and where they chose.

Page 83

The Tau fleet was centred around its latest vessels, a Custodian class carrier A'Rho, and the twin Protector class starships Io' Tar and Io'Phi supported by four Castellans and Wardens. In all, it was a fleet of twenty six vessels, but in as traight fight it could not hope ot match the Entire Imperial Fleet arrayed against it. Instead, the tau would hit and run, targeting the convoys and trying to split the Imperial fleet into smaller forces..

- the Tau had 26 vessels in their space fleet at Taros. Wehther that is all warship or includes transports, we don't know.

- a Custodian class carrier, 2 protector class starships, and 4 squadrons of Castellans and Wardens.

Depending on how many escorts the Imperium had, the Tau may or may not have a slight edge in numbers but they seem to lack in the heavy warship department (the bulk seem to be escorts or perhaps evne nomilitary) It goes without saying that the Imperials still seem superiro to the Tau when it comes to naval force, although that margin has decreased since the DGC. whether this is individual superiority or numerical or whatever, we don't quite know.

It also goes without saying that the tau weren't about to engage the Imperium head on, which could have played to Imperial advantage had they thought about it.

Page 83

..the first Protector-led Tau attack group sped towards the troop convoy Alpha-four, a small line astern of four transports...

...

The Imperius Javelin, Anvil and Gauntlet and the Prince Maud were well guarded by their convoy leader, the Dauntletss light cruiser Cerbverus and Errrant squadorn consisteng of four sword class frigates. Convoy Alpha-four was trnasporting part of XI Corp, the entire 8th Brimlock Dragoons reigment and their supplies..

The start of the first raiding attack. Assuming 4 escorts per squadron for all the frigates, we might figure 12 frigates and maybe 4-6 additional destroyers. And there is the single Gladius class frigate the Raptors brought, which makes you wonder why they brought only one to begin with.


Page 84

The Imperius Anvil was hit amidst ships as one Catellan swept over her, a gravitic launched missile smashed through the thin side armour and into the packed holds. The massive explosion inside the cramped interor tore men apart, tossing bodies about asd setting fires raging throught he lower decks. In that first impact hundreds died, the fires would claim hundreds more.

Yes, its as bad as it sounds. Truthfully the desturctive effects dont seem that severe, but there are alot of unknowns too even if it is just a transport.

Page 84

The Black Duke was still some hours away, and would only arrive in time to begin rescue operations.

The "nearest" cruiser, sadly. Probably doesnt say much for acceleration (certainly cant be thousands of gees since it's unlikely they are across the system in this case. Perhaps they weren't running at max power and it takes time to reallocate.)

PAge 84

.. the destruction of the entire 8th Brimlock Dragoons cuased Lord Commander Gustavus even greater concern.
..

He immediately oredered the transportation of any other Imperial Guard regiments to Taros to cease.

..

the 19th Kriegs Armoured reigment has just begun embarking for Taros, and that operation was halted.

..

Gustavus' order to the 19th Kriegs regiment was never rescinded and the regiment never made it to Taros. De Stael's XI Corp was left with only three regiments: the Sarennians, the Elysians, and the Cadians.

Logistics and the lack thereof strikes again. They lose one whole regiment and the second is effectively denied due ot Tau wolfpack tactics, when troops were precisely what they needed.
This also means only 8 regiments ever engaged on Taros - 5 Tallarn, 1 Elysian, 1 Sarennian, and 1 Cadian. Raiding attacks on the supply lines further weakened Imperial resources and threatened to end the war.

I actually just noticed that despite earlier noting only TEN regiments being deployed, they actually had 8 there. The Krieg never made it, the 12th Mannanan was under, strength, and the Brimlock were destroyed before they could land. So they somehow agreed on ten regiments and got eleven. Plus 2 companies of Storm troopers.

Page 84

The A'Rho was on the run, leading tow Imperial capital ships on a long chase across the solar system. IT was not until reaching the inner flare zone that she would be finally brought to battle.

"inner flare zone." A battlefleet gothic reference

Page 84

During the attack on convoy Epsilon Six the super-heavy tanker Empress of Svedeg was crippled by drone missiles, along with her valuable cargo of water and fuel.

..

Every convoy now ran the guantlet; some made it through, others arrived after being damaged, some transprots were destroyed all together. Each time a ship was lost more vital supplies were lost.

Logistics become even worse. The Imperium became basically so obsessed with hunting down the tau (who lead them a merry chase through the system) that they neglected convoy escort, and the tau were able to destroy vital supplies further crippling the war on the ground.

PAge 84-85

She [A'Rho] had led her pursuers on a fourteen day dance around the system. Eventually the renegade Tau starship and her escorts pressed in close to the system's dazzling yellow sun, through the mercurial zone and deeper into the thickening radiation clouds. For the Imperium's ships, tracking their target here would be difficult, and although out-classed by two Imperial captial ships, the big Tau vessel would have her best fighting chance in here. The fleet action around Taros was approaching its climax amidst the thick, irradiated dust clouds and coruscating solar flares which shimmered pink, yellow and purple in dense skeins throughout the inner flare zone.

Solar flares.. of weird colors. WE dont know how close they get, aside from the "mecurial zone" (as close as mercury is to our sun? Closer?)

We also know it took fourteen days "around" the system, presumably not in a straight line course. And the Imperium let the tau's lead them around by the nose.


Page 85

After three days of relentless pursuit directly into the inner flare zone, where temperatures soaring and scanner equipment burning out. Officers in shirt sleeves order and topless men sweated on every deck as the sun loomed ever larger and anrger in the view screens. Eventually it filled the screens with a blinding glare that the reactive photo-chromatic view ports struggled to keep out. The vessels were all bathed in a bright light as they rumbled deeper and deeper into the gas clouds.

...
With the sun's huge glare directly in their faces their scanner eqipment was malfunctioning, the Tau vessels became ghostly images dancing upon the sensor screens. Shooting the small escorts and bombers woudl be like trying to hit a flying sparrow with a boulder.

Again we dont know how close to the sun they got, but.. very damn close. Presumably it implies it toko them within a day or so to cross within 1 AU of a planet or so - single digit gees perhaps and/or low velocites (3-4% of c tops?). Th whole 'sun messing with sensors' stuff also fucking with sensors, although they're apparently so close they're making men sweat onboard a starship. How close that is, I don't know.

Page 85

The Hammer of Thrace followed her flagship in, shells and plasma bolts flying thick and fat from her broadside guns.
..

Attacks by the Mantas had silenced her lanced batteries...

Armament of a Lunar class cruiser - plasma and macro cannons, plus lances.

Page 85

For two hours the great starships eyed each other and drifted on through the thickenting radiation.

two hour delay between fights.

Page 85

No longer able to avoid the incoming missiles the Hammer of Thrace was hit again, this time several missiles piled through her starboard flank before exploding within.

The Imperium ends up losing the Hammer and 3 Firestorm frigates for the single Castellan. Which pretty much ends the advantage of the Navy agianst the tau forces at Taros. Again note the absence of the Space Marines. They have a fucking battleship analogue in the system which is supposed to be helping deal with the tau naval assets, and it can't even be asked to show up to help. If you're not going to use the fucking Space Marines in the way they are best at, then at the very least you could have them make a showing in the space battle.