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As I have started writing these posts I realize how much lore I know and have been thinking about how to present the information in a way that makes sense, especially since I have gained my knowledge through the books and game and not in any sort of structured manner.  It’s kind of like trying to teach world history to an alien who has no frame of reference, with that said, this weeks entry.

The Institutions of the Empire of Man

Let’s start with the government.  Now remember, in theory, the Empire is ruled by the Emperor, but he has been in stasis for over ten thousand years sucking up psychic power from the people daily sacrificed in his name.  The sacrifices do serve a purpose, they keep him alive, and allows him to act as a beacon used in navigation for all space travel.  I will get into that more when I cover the history.  To see the Emperor you would have to get through his Custodes, who are the most powerful Space Marines in the galaxy.  Below the Emperor are the Lords of Terra, not all of their identities are know due to all of the Lords being assassinated in the past.  But they are drawn from the most powerful individuals of the Empire, the Ecclesiarchy known as the Adeptus Ministorum, the official church of the Empire (which worships the Emperor as God), the Inquisition (all 4 orders – Ordo Xenos (alien hunters), Ordo Malleus (Daemonhunters), Ordos Hereticus (witch hunters) and Ordo Chronos (in charge of the history of the Empire, what to hide, what to change, what to allow), the military (Departmento Munitorum with the Navis Imperium in charge of the space navy and the planet based Astra Militarum) and the bureaucracy (Byzantine to the extreme – it is after all ten thousand years old).  They are responsible for the day to day running of the Empire.

The galaxy is divided into segments with a Governor, the segments are divided into sectors and the sectors are made up of the individual systems and then to the planetary level, with each level having it’s own governor.  All levels are noblility and are constantly scheming against each other for more power and wealth.

Next is the Adeptus Ministorum, basically the religious power of the Empire.  They have their own troops besides the priests which are expected to fight as part of the armies, (the Adeptus Sororitas, think warrior nuns who can actually do miracles) and basically control the common people of the Empire.  The Ecclesiarchy is very much like the Catholic Church during the 1400s, being a huge part of the governmental process and riding herd on the populace with an iron hand.  One of the main reasons for their iron control of the populace is that there actually are cults that are trying to destroy the Empire: Mutants, Psykers, Chaos, Aliens, Demonic, and Genestealers (you gonna love these guys).  A charge of heresy is basically a death sentence or at least being changed into a servitor (basically they take your parts of your brain and turn you into a cyborg).  There are saints, miracles, crusades, and inquisitions, gonna worship like it is 1450 AD.

Then there is the military, the space navy (Navis Imperium) is absolutely huge and responsible for all military logistics spaceside as well as protecting all planets and space assets.  The planet side forces, Astra Militarum, are enormous and varied, due to new legions being raised entirely from one world which is responsible for replenishment of forces, the legions weapons, food, and uniforms.  This is done because each legion may have needs specific based on the world on which they were raised (food, equipment, weapons).  Each legion reflects particular aspects of their world and their history.  A fascinating one is the Death Korps of Kreig, who are never seen with out their gas masks and are incredibly adept at fighting underground or in trenches, due to their world have a civil war spanning centuries in which both sides used atomic weaponry and trench warfare.

Then there is Mars and the Adeptus Mechanicus otherwise known as Tech Priests.  The Mechanicus worships the Omnissiah, which is basically the spirit of the machine (personally I think these are AIs from the Dark Age of Technology which have found a way to hide in the machines to keep from being deleted).  Most of the technological information of past ages has been lost or is heavily restricted and what is still known is hoarded jealously.  There is no more research, trying to expand scientific knowledge is considered heresy and of course heresy is death or worse.  The Tech Priests are responsible for crafting and maintaining the weapons of the Empire and are more machine than human themselves.

And finally we have the Adeptus Astartes, the Emperor’s Angels of Death, the space marines, more than 7ft tall, genetically engineered and heavily augmented with both biological and mechanical upgrades.  The Astartes are divided into chapters, with each chapter being created from the gene seed of one of the 6 loyalist Primarchs (remember there was a civil war 10k years ago).  Each chapter has a home world or has a base somewhere in space where new members are “created” and the chapters gene seeds are stored.  To become an Astartes is an incredibly horrifying process, beginning with the selection process which very few survive, even fewer survive the upgrade process.  New chapters are created through a founding which will see several chapters being created at the same time.  Each chapter is unique and has some defining characteristics, either physical or in specific areas of warfare/combat.  For example the Raven Guard is known for stealth, patience in their hunting of chaos, and very through planning before actually engaging in combat, while the Iron Hands are direct are more of a hammer in combat.  Some do also show physical changes due to their slight mutations in their gene seed, such as the Carcharodons which as they age take on more and more physical aspects of sharks, not surprisingly they excel in underwater combat.

Next week I will go over the foes of the Empire of Man – Necrons, Orks, Eldar, Drukhari, Tyranids, and T’au.

I hope you guys are enjoying this and welcome input as to what parts of Warhammer you are most interested in hearing more about.  Also, if interested I can suggest some really fun books to read about the setting.