Word Bearers series analysis thread

[Connor MacLeod]

This thread will ultimately cover any of the Word Bearers novels, but for the moment covers just the three books done by Anthony Reynolds. Like Storm of Iron, they mostly fit into a 'liked better the first time around'. For me, Chaos Space Marines are even worse than Regular Space MArines as characters because they dont' seem to do much than kill Imperials and shout praise to the Great Gods of Chaos they serve. I mean regular Space Marines can have that problem too, but they also have that 'heroic defender of humanity' angle you can play off regular folk (Helsreach) and there are always the Chapters that have some other specialization or outlet (Space Wolves have the whole Space Viking thing going on, Blood Angels have artwork, Imperial Fists have their pain obsession and scrimshaw, etc.) But Chaos... the most you can say is they kill, plunder, enslave, kill, and politick amongst themselves (which usually involves more killing) and worship (again, killing.)

So it can be hard to pull off a decent CSM novel that isn't repetitive. The Word Bearer trilogy has some potential for that - it had a 'self contained' story element and a larger, over-arcing plot (invloving the Necrons and taking the war to the Imperium in true Crusade fashion) and it had infighting. It also has what I call the 'false hope' theme. Basically you have the usual 'Imperium vs Chaos' story, mostly from the Chaos POV.. and you don't really know whether or not the Imperial forces will ultimately win or lose. Sometimes they do win and sometimes they lose bad. Letting the CSM protagonists stay villains and the reader cheering for the 'good guys' can create that sense of false hope, and leave the reader wondering who will really win. That's all you can really hope for, although the inclusion of aliens (necrons here) does put a twist on that - they can 'win' against one side but end up losing to the other, or vice versa.

The Word Bearers series is a bit of a hit and miss. It makes its potential in some ways (really coming into its own in the third novel) but falls short in alot of other ways. It has the politicking and infighting (which is hit and miss) and it has that 'false hope' in a number of novels. It even has that 'showcase' aspect where you are introduced to various aspects of the 40K universe (Tyranids, Dark Eldar, etc.).. but those are the high points, and they tend to be interspersed with alot of boring, repetitive bits of just how killtatsic CSM can be. Dark Apostle is particularily plagued by this. AFter reading for the sixth time how the MIGHTY word bearers have slaughtered huge numbers of IG, you start to get bored, and it even starts to undermine that 'false hope' aspect. The book picks up towards the end, but the slogging through the battle tends to wear you down to the point you want it to be OVER and just move on.

Still as the start of the series it tends to be one of the weakest of the three. It's not a GREAT series, but its not horrible either. Might be something if you like CSM and can pick it up cheap.

The first book will be split into 3 parts, posted all at once.

Page 15-16

The arena of worship, located deep within the heart of the strike cruiser Infidus Diabolus, was large enough to allow the recently swollen ranks of the entire Host to stand in attendance. Its curved ceiling stretched impossibly high, and immense skeletal ribbed supports met hundreds of metres above.
...
The processional corridor that ran down the middle of the nave remained clear as the cavaedium filled. Almost half a kilometre long and laid with black, immaculate carpet consecrated in the blood of thousand...

Minimum height of a Strike cruiser. This is just one chamber, but it suggests a minimum length of a kilometre. Minimum length of the Strike cruiser.

Page 17

Almost two thousand warriors of the Word Bearers stood in absolute silence, and Kol Badar stalked back and forth along their ranks.

Two thousand was a particularly large number of warrior-brothers for a single Host. The ranks of the Host had swollen a century past, when the warriors of another
Dark Apostle had been amalgamated into its ranks after their holy leader had been slain in battle.
...
When, and if, the First Acolyte became worthy of the title of Dark Apostle, then Jarulek would split the Host once more into two.

Size of a Word Bearers Host.

Page 22

Lieutenant Varnus levelled and fired his combat issue shotgun at the heavy locking mechanism of the rusted door. The sound of the weapon echoed deafeningly, and a fist-sized hole was punched through the metal.

fist sized hole blown through a heavy lock via a shotgun. Probably a slug. Should be able to do easily the same to a human head.

If we assumed a laser was doing this (remember lasgun have effect similar to a bullet or 'small shell' and a single pulse, we might be talking 100-150 kj. Powerful, but not very penetrative, and easily stopped by anything getting in the way (laser equivalent of a shotgun, in fact. Which is how some lasguns work)

Page 23

The other raised an autopistol, face twisted in hatred, and raking fire spat from the end of the stub-nosed weapon. Varnus’s shotgun barked, even as the bullets from the pistol ripped across his chest, and the man’s head exploded in a splatter of gore.

Varnus fell back from the impact of the projectiles on his carapace armour.

Autopistols stopped by Enforcer carapace, and shotgun blows head apart. Again lasgun could probably do similar damage (high single or low double digit kj?)

Page 46

Looking up through the transparent dome-top, he could see the mighty walls of the bastion fortress, beyond which stood the palace proper. Those walls were
immensely thick, some fifteen metres worth of reinforced plascrete. He could see half a dozen massive turrets, huge batteries of heavy calibre cannon pointing towards theheavens.

Arbites fortress precinct.

Page 46

It was a city within a city. And built far beneath all of this were the giant plasma reactors that powered all of Shinar.

Plasma reactors powering the city.

Page 53

.."Such a conjunction will occur in less than three months time."

Important later, but sets an upper limit on timeframe.

Page 56

The autopistol barked loudly. Three rounds punched through Flenske’s forehead and the back of his head exploded. His body was thrown backwards to the ground as his chair overturned beneath him.

3 autopistol rounds explode skull. Laspistol could probably do the same, although the weapon was described as 'large'.

Page 61

The estimate was somewhere in the realm of fifteen thousand enemy troops slain, and around five hundred tanks, aircraft and support vehicles destroyed.

PDF troop and vehicle losses so far

Page 62

The night was lit up as thousands of weapons fired, and Kol Badar could see the immense enemy bulwark stretching from horizon to horizon. Tens of thousands of uniformed PDF troopers stood along the defensive line, and hundreds of tanks and armoured units added cannon fire to the barrage.

Tens of thousands of troops and hundreds of tanks/armoured units. Also may imply the firing range is 'on the horizon' but its not definite.

Page 73

The lights of the entire palace turned off as the potent plasma reactors beneath it went dead. A fifty-block radius around the palace went black instantly, swiftly followed by the rest of the city

Plasma reactors go dead. City without power, including air defenses. 'fifty block radius' implies the city is perhaps 10 km in radius (assuming a ~200 m block)

Page 79

A blast from a lasrifle struck Marduk’s helmet, and his head was jerked to the side. Snarling, he turned to face the attacker that had dared to shoot him.

Varnus swore as he waited for the las-lock to re-power. Though they fired powerful single bursts of energy, the weapons were painfully slow between firing.
...
Varnus was in no way a small man, but he barely came halfway up the beast’s chest. With a hum, the las-lock re-powered and he fired again at the huge Chaos Space Marine. The shot was taken in haste and was not on target. Nevertheless, it struck the beast in his wrist, and his accursed bolt pistol dropped from his hands.

Laslock. Slow rof, but it carries alot of kinetic impact but little explosive effect (The marine still has a hand). The slow ROF makes them sort of bolt action rifles (again like Krieger guns), but it also suggests they are trading off rate of fire for increased firepower, which some lasweapons do in fact do.

Page 82

Marduk raised his bolt pistol and shot the man in the face. Pieces of skull, brain matter and blood splattered over the remaining kneeling cultists.

Bolt pistol headsplosion.

Page 91

Varnus had watched as an area somewhere in the region of a hundred city blocks was levelled by heavy siege ordnance. In a short flurry of brutal devastation, hundreds of buildings had been demolished with ground shaking force. Dust had rushed across the landscape for hundreds of kilometres all around, Varnus guessed.

Word Bearers artillery. We dont kno whow many vehicles it is.

Page 91

His hands had bled, and chirurgeons moving through the lines of chained Imperials had sprayed them with a dark, synthetic coating, stemming the
bleeding, but not the pain.

Chaos medical care.

Page 92

Monstrous, polluting factories, foundries and forges were constructed, vast, vile places filled with acrid black smoke, heat and the screams of those being “encouraged” by the overseers and their needle hands. Titanic vats of superheated, molten rock were fed with the rubble of the demolished buildings, and what looked like bricks, though bricks on an insanely large scale, were being created in gigantic, black, metal moulds.
...
Other worker teams were busy in the centre of the vast open space that had been cleared, working with smoke-belching machinery, drilling down into the earth, creating a vast hole over a kilometre wide that sank lower into the planet’s crust with every passing day.

Scale and complexity of the Industry the Word Bearers are establishing.

Page 95

For the past weeks he had been engaged against various PDF armies far from the city, ensuring that there was no military power upon the planet with the strength to
launch a counter-attack against the Word Bearers

Weeks past since the initial engagement and the crushing of all significant resistance. Also measures the approximate time of response of the Elysian/Admech force.

Page 97

“I bring with me near to five hundred thousand additional slaves to aid in the construction.”
..
“He brought in well over a million slaves from his attacks against the cities in the north, you know,”

At least a population of 1.5 million across the planet. Probably much more than that.


Page 103

Bleary images flickered across the viewer of massed bulk carriers sinking slowly through the atmosphere of Tanakreg, with escorts of gunships flying in figure-of-eight patterns around them. It was hard to make out, but Havorn had seen scores of similar landings, and he could see exactly what was occurring in his mind’s eye.

Imperial Navy attack craft, a variety of interceptors, fighters and assault boats, would have swarmed from their launch bays aboard the twin Dictator Cruisers, the Vigilance and the Fortitude, like a cloud of angry insects. As the first of the mass transports detached from the cruisers and began sinking slowly through the atmosphere, it was these Imperial Navy craft that were its first line of defence.

As the atmosphere was broken, vast bay doors on the descending transports would retract, and flights of Valkyries would emerge like circling buzzards, descending towards the surface of the planet in advance of the wallowing mass transport ship. Thunderbolts and Lightning fighters would scream from the stilldescending transport to ensure air superiority. The Valkyries would sweep low over the ground and the first Elysians to step foot on the world would rappel swiftly from the gunships to secure the landing zone.
...

More troops would rappel to the surface and smaller, breakaway transports would detach from the massive bulk of the main ships on the descent, dropping in heavier
support to bolster the perimeter defences: rapidly moving Sentinel walkers and Chimera infantry transports bearing cargos of specialist Elysians. Havorn had no doubt that the landing was proceeding smoothly and as planned, and a glance at the data-slates being updated every few seconds with fresh information confirmed this. The perimeter had been established well within the usual expected time-frame, and Sentinels were already scouting beyond the landing zone, seeking out possible threats invisible from the air.

Elysian forces deploying on planet.

Page 105

The Space Marines, were the most elite warriors of the Imperium, each genetically modified to become giants among men, perfect machines of death with bodies created to withstand wounds that would kill a lesser man ten times over.

Astartes durability.

Page 106

It was just that Havorn knew that this world must be of some hidden importance for the 133rd and the 72nd, in their entireties, to have been drawn off from the Ghandas Crusade to retake it: important, but not important enough, it seemed, to have drawn one of the loyalist Space Marine Chapters to the world.

Two regiments of Elysians being involved

PAge 106

The Planetary Defence Forces had been overwhelmed contemptuously quickly, a fighting force of two hundred thousand soldiers, defeated within days by a force that could not have been more than three thousand.

PDF forces on Tanakreg.

Page 116-117

He drew the four intersecting lines that formed the Chaos star in its most basic form across the Coryphaus’s brow with his thumb. The huge warrior then closed his yellow, hate-filled eyes, and Marduk placed a bloody thumb mark on each eyelid.
...
Over the course of the next hour, Jarulek slashed the throats of hundreds of slaves, their sacrifice offered up to the glory of the gods of Chaos..
...
He walked towards Marduk, and the Dark Apostle raised the First Acolyte’s head with gentle pressure under his chin. Jarulek drew the lines of the Chaos star upon Marduk’s forehead and placed his bloody thumbprints against the skin of his eyelids.

His skin burned where the blood was smeared, pulsing with energy and potency.

Opening his eyes, he saw that colours appeared more vivid than before, and he could clearly see a shimmering aura, the power of Chaos, surrounding the Dark Apostle like a ghostly, gossamer shroud. That power could always be felt when in Jarulek’s presence, but it was rarely seen.

more evidence, if we needed it, that in 40K rituals and belief can have power.

Page 118

Biting claws gripped the skin, holding it taught as the black robed figure sliced through Jarulek’s pale flesh, cutting a neat strip from first one cheek, then the other. Blood ran freely from the wounds, before its flow was staunched by the tainted cells within its make up.
...
Already the red-raw rectangles on his cheeks were healing. Within a day the skin would be smooth and unmarked: two small patches of pale skin amidst a sea of scripture.
...
...the skin of his left cheek was cut away by the chirurgeon.

Speaking a blessing, Jarulek placed the scripture carved from his own skin upon the wound. There was a tingling, painful sensation as the flesh of the Dark Apostle knitted to his own.

Astartes healing from (minor) cuts. The interesting thing is how readily the graft was accepted (not rejected) and grew into the skin as part of that healing effect. Of course these are CSM so the warp cant be ruled out either.

Page 119

Clearing over three metres with each step, the walkers were making good progress.
...
He had no concern about being spotted. A mere human eye would be unable to pick him out at such a distance, and the rocky terrain and gale force winds would
make the crude sensors of the sentinels almost completely ineffective.

“Shall we gun the fools down?” asked Burias. “The havocs of the VI Coterie have lascannons trained on them.”

STride length of Sentinels. Implied range of lascannon of perhaps a kilometre or two (at least?) , based on esitmated Astartes vision range vs human vision range.

Page 124

He could feel the power of the warp opening up, its strength pulsing through his hands into the boiling brain of the man beneath him, but Karalos made not a sound, silently welcoming the beast that was emerging within his flesh.
...

“Karalos is no more,” spoke Marduk. “He gave up his mortal vessel selflessly that this katharte might come into existence.”
...
“Well,” said Marduk to the daemon clawing at the floor in front of him, licking itself with a long, barbed tongue, “call the flock.” The men in the room fell to the ground as one, blood running from their eyes and ears, and they began to convulse.

Quik-E mass summoning of some sort of lesser flying daemonic creatures. Baiscally Marduk puts his hands on the guys head, speaks some daemon words or rituals (to probably draw the attention of a particular spirit to this mortal host and his soul connection to the warp) and the summoning appears. The daemon then summons his brethern, presumably in a similar manner. And voila 100 daemons.

Page 125-126

“It’s the job of the other regiments to grind mindlessly up the centre. We are the elite, fast in and fast out.”
...
“But you know what I mean, sir. We don’t have the sheer number of men or tanks to fight a conventional frontal assault, not against this enemy.”

“Who said we would be fighting a conventional frontal assault? The brigadier general is not a damn fool.”

“I know that he is not, sir, but… I still don’t know why we didn’t just drop on Shinar and have this whole thing over with as soon as possible.”

“We do that and the entire damn regiment would be slaughtered. The air defences of Shinar are strong. Don’t be thickheaded, Elias.”
...
"We must secure those highlands. The brigadier-general says the enemy may be up there already. If that’s the case, then without artillery support to make the bastards keep their heads down, we will be weathering the storm trying to land. If they are up there, it is not going to be easy to take it off them.”

Discussion of Elysian tactics and leadership.

Page 127-128

From others came more of the pale fleshed tech-guard soldiers, marching in perfect, rectangular phalanx blocks, ten deep and a hundred wide.

From a distance, they might have been mistaken for regular Imperial Guard infantry platoons, though an observant onlooker would see that they were far too still to be completely human. They stood in serried ranks with lasguns held motionless over their chests, and many of their faces were all but obscured by deep visored helmets.

On closer inspection, many of the tech-guard soldiers looked less like Imperial Guardsmen and more like semi-mechanical servitors.

Servitors existed in every facet of Imperial life, fulfilling all manner of menial, dangerous tasks, but to see so many of them gathered together in one place for the sole purpose of war was highly disturbing to the Elysians. Servitors were neither truly alive nor truly dead. They had been human once, but all vestiges of that humanity had been long lost. Their frontal lobes had been surgically removed and their weak flesh improved upon with the addition of mechanics. These varied depending on the task that they were required to perform. They might have had their arms removed and replaced with power lifters or diamond-tipped drills the size of a man’s leg to work in one of the millions of manufactorums across the Imperium, or
be hard-wired into the logic engines of battle cruisers to maintain the ships’ support functions.

The tech-guard soldiers arrayed upon the plains were created specifically for the arena of war. Amputated arms had been replaced with heavy weaponry, and targeting sensors and arrays filled the sockets where fleshy eyeballs had been plucked. Power generators were built onto the shoulders of some, and they stood immobile beside gun-servitors, cables and wiring trailing between the pair. Others had single, large servo-arms replacing one or more of their removed limbs, giving them an ungainly, limping gait as servos straggled under the weight. These mechanical arms were as easily capable of ripping a man’s head from his shoulders as lifting heavy equipment, and some bore oversized rotary blades or power drills that could cut or punch through the heaviest of armour.

Tech guard. We've seen a wide vareity and definition of 'tech guard' - level of augmentation and armament. Some are little more than partly cyborged humans while some are little more than battle servitors. These seem to be a bit of both perhaps.

Also note of the usage of servitors in the Imperium, including in industry and aboard starship.

Page 128-129

Amongst the phalanxes were smaller contingents of heavier, tracked servitor units. The lower bodies of these servitors had been removed so that they had become one with their means of conveyance. These bore heavier payloads of ammunition that spooled into the large, multiple barrelled cannons that replaced the organic right arms of the servitors.

Support troops. I imagine these are the TEch Gaurd heavy weapons troops

Page 129

In between the ranks of Martian foot soldiers were tracked crawlers, one for every phalanx. They were Ordinatus Minoris crawlers, and each was the length of three Leman Russ battle tanks. They had two, wide track units, one at the front and one at the rear, and between these was supported the mass of the war machine. Heavy girders and steel struts supported huge weapons, and each crawler had dozens of redrobed adepts and servitors as crew. Steel ladders rose to the control cabins that were offset from the main guns. Laron did not recognise the weapons that these behemoths of steel and bronze bore, but the massive, steaming couplings and humming generators upon their backs spoke of immense contained power.

The Ordinatus Minoris.

Page 129-130

It rolled forward on what must have been sixteen tracked crawler units, led by a stream of tech-priests. The size of the smaller tracked crawlers were rendered insignificant next to the immense vastness of the Ordinatus machine.

It was the size of a city block and was protected with thick layers of armoured plating. More than ten storeys of platforms rose up around the massive central
weapon that the Ordinatus supported, a weapon the size of a small cruiser that ran down the entire length of the immense machine. Criss-crossing lattice works of steel supported gantries running around the circumference of the weapon, and a pair of quad-barrelled anti-aircraft guns rotated atop the control cabin above the highest deck level. Giant, claw-like, spiked arms were held aloft on either side of the Ordinatus, and Laron guessed that the huge piston engines behind them would drive them into the ground when the Ordinatus was readying to fire, to give the machine additional stability. That a thing that size needed stabilising legs was testament to the awesome power that it could unleash.

An Ordinatus platform.

Page 135-136

The night was lit up with hundreds of lancing beams of lascannons and super-heated streams of plasma. Flames coughed from the barrels of autocannons, and fast burning missiles hissed across the sky, leaving spirals of smoke in their wake.
...
Massive, eight-legged daemon engines strained at the chained restraints locking them in place, each infernal machine overseen by a dozen attendants. They roared
into the night sky, metallic tendons bulging, and blazing comets of deep red fire burst from the daemonic hell-cannons built into their carapaces, screaming up towards the Imperial aircraft as they strafed in once more.
...
Lascannons speared up through the darkness. Flames burst over one of the lowflying Imperial fighters as a wing was shorn off...
...
The cover of night did nothing to hamper the warriorbrothers of the Legion, nor the daemons that infused their deadly war machines. The darkness was pierced equally well, whether it was due to genetic modification and acute auto-senses or daemonic witch sight.

Daemonic AAA defense.

Page 136

While the enemy occupied Marduk’s forces, holding the high ground with strafing runs and bombing attacks, other aircraft had hovered briefly beyond the range of the Word Bearer’s fire and disgorged their human cargoes. With his targeters at full zoom, Marduk had seen the Guardsmen rappel from these hovering aircraft, disembarking onto the rough ground.

Power armour targeters and zoom function. also the Elysians deploying.

Page 136

Doubtless, hundreds of similar aircraft had dropped their cargoes of Guardsmen all along the rough ground behind the ridges occupied by his warriors, and were even now climbing up.

Scope of the Elysian deployment. Might imply many thousands, tens of thousands of troops.

Page 139-140

Bryant merely laughed. “Thirteen five to target.”

The navigatius operator leant up against the side window of the cockpit and whistled in awe. “Damn, I’m glad I’m not down there in that mess. I haven’t seen a firefight like this since Khavoris IV, and the Guard units there suffered something like eighty percent casualties. The whole mountain range is lit up.”

“It happens in times of war, Bryant,” said Pyrshank. “I can’t see a damned thing out here.”

“Just use the nav-screens. You don’t need to see a damn thing. Ten five to target.”

Marauder bomber. Covers ~3 km in a matter of seconds (duration of conversations) and the fact you can use nav screens to navigate by instead of human eyesight, especially at night.

Page 141

He saw motion behind him and turned his head to see Bryant, a laspistol in his hand. Before he could shout, the navigatius operator fired, and a neat hole was seared through the window and into the creature.
...
..Pyrshank saw that the horrifying creature had inserted a long, bloody talon into the neat hole.

Laspistol drills finger-wide hole in Marauder cockpit window. This confirms the diameter lasguns inflict on targets, but assuming half an inch to an inch thick of something anallgous to transparent aluminum armour (and assuming it has properties on the order of regular aluminum) we might figure at least ~5 kj per shot, going by Luke Campbell's Laser Deathray calculator (and assuming a lasweapon is an actual laser..)

Page 142

He looked up into the heavens to see hundreds of dark shapes dropping like stones. He raised his bolt pistol and began to fire.

Marduk fires on free-falling Storm troopers

Page 142

Forty-two thousand, nine hundred and twenty-seven drops, and over three hundred combat drops, the most of any Guardsman within the 72nd.

Number of drops the commander of the 72nd REgiment has made. I've heard osme argue that this is impossible or an exaggerated number (in trying to discount the whole scene), but no definition of waht a 'drop' qualifies as (practice included) Assuming 5-6 drops a day over a 20-25 year Guard career (not impossible for a long-career officer in charge of a regiment) they could easily cover that, especially if one factors in practice and training. Remember only 300 of those are actually 'in action'


PAge 142-144

Colonel Boerl held his arms clasped tightly to his side as he plummeted through the darkness out of the storm clouds towards the flashes of gunfire marking the target
ridge below.
...
He and the other drop-troopers had launched themselves from their Valkyries at extreme high atmosphere, around forty kilometres above the ground, higher even than Marauder bombers operated when unleashing their deadly payloads. It was necessary to jump from such a height in order to avoid detection. Breathing through respirators, their bodies enclosed in tight-fitting jumpsuits beneath their reinforced carapace armour, the storm troopers had been free-falling for well over five minutes, reaching terminal velocity within the first thirty seconds of the drop, and leaving the cracking sounds of sonic booms in their wake as they hurtled towards the ground at phenomenal speed.

The ground was rising up with astounding swiftness and Boerl made ready. The arms of the grav-chute were automatically timed to unfold and engage at the last possible moment, and he watched the click counter in his visor drop as he neared the ground.

Pulling his arms out and splaying his legs suddenly, he slowed his descent fractionally and spun himself expertly in the air. The grav-chute engaged, barely five metres above the ground, and his descent dropped in an instant to a safe speed.

40 km drop assault. Valkyries have that altitude (or at least some designs do) given that Imperial armour 1 lists it as having a 13 km altitude. More than that, Boerl seems to think Marauders can't operate at that altitude even though IA1 says they have a ceiling of ~41 km. Perhaps they don't bomb at that altitude, but they can reach it. Moreover, space-capable Marauders can enter and exit the atmosphere at will, so they technically HAVE to altitude limit. Likely this reflects some difference in designs (engine types,e tc.)

Also, grav chute operation. I don't put much stock in 'sonic booms' given that they mention free fall and reaching terminal velocity shortly. For a human plunging straight down with arms pulled to the side they can reach over a hundred m/s to 133 m/s or so. That fits with 40 km in ~5 minutes.

Technically the first link suggests faster speeds are possible, but we're still not reaching supersonic. Likely what is described is some sort of air displacement from a large mass passing through the air at great speeds (cars and trains can exhibit something to that effect without neccesarily breaking the sound barrier.)

Also within the last 5 metres (so within 1/20th of a second or so) the velocity of the chute reaches a managable speed (say a few m/s) to lose over over 100 m/s in under a second requires many tens or even hundreds of gravities of deceleration, which gives us an indicator of what suspensor/jump chutes can achieve (at least in extreme circumstances.) I would assume this is not routine, because they don't always drop this way (they didn't in Taros, for example.)

It does also show us what Imperial inertial damping/AG effects can achieve.

Page 144

The micro-bead in his ear confirmed this expectation and he made his commands, short and clipped, as he ordered the platoons to converge.
..
Tearing the respirator mask from his face, it retracted automatically into the chest unit of his carapace armour.

As Imperial armour indicates, all Elysians seem to have micro-beads. Officer is wearing carapace and his respirator retracts automatically.

Page 145-146

A blast of las-fire struck his knee joint and Boerl heard a deep, rambling growl of anger as the Chaos Marine’s leg gave out beneath him. Swinging his bolt pistol around, the traitor fired and a storm trooper was killed instantly as the bolt-round exploded in his chest cavity.
...
..he surged forwards, slashing his shimmering blade across the warrior’s chest, cutting through ceramite easily and scoring a deep wound.
...
Frantically, he thrust with his power sword, the blade entering the warrior’s gut, sliding easily through his body and emerging from his back. Still the warrior continued to fight, and Boerl began to see stars before his eyes. He managed to raise his hellpistol, pushing it into the Chaos Marine’s neck, slipping it between armour plates, and he fired once, twice. Hot blood spurted from the wound, spraying Boerl’s face, his skin burning.
...
Still the warrior was not dead, and he raised his bolt pistol. Gathering as much strength as he could muster, Boerl swung his power sword into the warrior’s armoured head, the humming blade embedding deep in his skull. At last the warrior fell, the power sword slipping easily from the wound, blood spitting as it boiled on the superheated blade.

hellgun shot penetrates weak point in joint of leg/knee armour and cripples marine. Marine bolt penetrates armour and kills stormie.

Also effort needed to kill a single Word bearer, even with a hellpistol and power sword. Note power sword is a distinctly thermal effect weapon.

Page 147

Boerl carved his power sword through the warrior’s leg as he barrelled past, neatly severing the limb at the thigh. Still the warrior did not drop its weapons,
despite the horrendous wound, and it fired as it fell, bolt-rounds thudding into the storm trooper beside Boerl, exploding his chest.

A shot smacked into Langer’s leg and he screamed in pain as he fell, his leg shattered.

More word bearer durability.. despite losing leg it can still kill troops. Also note a storm trooper actually manages not to have his limb blown off by a bolt round. I guess they can mitigate Astartes fire even if only a bit.

Page 149

Colonel Boerl was spared this fate as a platoon of Elysians swept into the area, las-fire pounding into the Chaos Marines. It took dozens of shots before any of the traitors fell, and they exacted a heavy toll on the Guardsmen, killing more than ten for each one of their own that succumbed to the weight of fire.

Kill ratio for Elysians vs Word bearers. with dozens of shots to drop one traitor with lasguns.. and 10:1.. that's actually damn impressive and makes some sense. (figure 2-4 shots per trooper to down the Bearer roughly.)

On the other hand if these are like IA elysians they have semi-automatic lasguns rather than fully automatic or burst fire, meaning they have a slower ROF. a squad with a higher ROF lasguns (or hell, storm troopers with hellguns) would probably do better. And hot shotted powerpacks should be able to do better.

Of course this depends on how many 'dozens'. at least 24 but probably fewer than 100. Of course if that's a squad's worth of fire it might also suggest these Elysians do in fact have burst/automatic fire on their weapons.

Also, if luck were on their side (HAH not likely when this is a Word Bearers novel) and if that rate of attrition could have been kept up, the Elysians could have demolished the Bearers on their own. Nevermind the Admech forces. Sadly, this won't be the case.

Page 149

“Facing heavy resistance,” came Captain Laron’s voice through Boerl’s microbead.

The captain had led one of the other assaults, targeting an area some five kilometres away.

5 km range on Elysian Microbeads.

Page 154

Gritting his teeth, he flicked the activation switch of the deadly melta-bomb and hurled it onto the armoured bulk of the machine. It struck a pitted and inscribed armoured shoulder plate above the heavy bolters that continued to roar, flames spitting from the barrels. It clanked loudly as it stuck fast, the powerful electro-magnets stuck fast to the metal.
...
..his heart sank as the Dreadnought picked the grenade off its armoured bulk and flicked it away with its surprisingly dextrous power claw.

Bad luck, and perhaps rather unusual - armoured marines usualyl don't have that kind of fine control and I've rarely if ever heard of powerclaws having it. Then again fi the melta charge's shaped blast had detonated sooner it might not have happened either.

Page 154-155

Boerl scrambled to his feet just as the Dreadnought swung its heavy bolters around to bear, and dozens of shots ripped through his armour. The Dreadnought continued to pump shot after shot into the colonel long after he was dead, keeping his body dancing in the air for a moment. Colonel Boerl’s body was finally torn completely in half, and it fell to the ground, bloody and unrecognizable.

Implied ROF of dreadnought heavy bolter ' dozens' of bolts in a matter of seconds, and the barrage is neough to tear the carapace armoured colonel in half. Doesn't seem especially powerful in this caes.

Page 160-161

“I ought to have the lot of you executed on the spot, care of Commissar Kheler here,” he said gesturing to a black-clad officer behind him. Laron flicked a glance towards the commissar. The man returned his stare coldly.

“But I will not, as I find the 72nd has a sudden lack of officers,” said Havorn.
...
“I am assigning Commissar Kheler to keep watch over you. He has been a trusted advisor of mine for over a decade. His grasp of tactics and morale is strong. If there is ever a moment when it looks as if your arrogance or your pride are going to make you do something stupid that will get good men killed, the good commissar here will take steps to rectify the situation, with a bullet through your head."

Wow a decent Commissar who seems to have a good working relationship with the general he's in charge of watching. I also can't help but think this is partly show to put some backbone into the officers.

At least he's not blamming the troops as if it were their fault.

Page 166

Some amongst them were almost human, though even these were hard-wired into the weapon systems they bore, their brain stems augmented with mechanics and sensors.

Some Skitarii are 'almost human'.

Page 169-170

A thick beam of white energy surged out of the gloom, cutting through the ranks of slaves. Their bodies burst into blue and white flames that rose fiercely, melting the chains binding the wretches to dripping liquid. A millisecond later, the flames all but died away, leaving piles of white ash in the shapes of the victims. A second later the morbid statues crumbled as they were trampled by the press of bodies that filled the sudden gap in the ranks.

As if the shot was the clarion call announcing the commencement of battle, the gloom was suddenly ripped apart as the guns of the Adeptus Mechanicus spoke. Blasts of plasma screamed through the air, massive rotating assault cannons upon the back of tracked units roared as they began to spin, and salvoes of hellfire missiles were launched.

The slaves surged through the inferno of death, hundreds of them slaughtered within the first second of the barrage.
...
A barking roar was unleashed as the Skitarii fired. Heavy bolters tore through the flesh of the slaves, and flashes from thousands of lasguns streaked through the rain...

A white beam of unknown nature fires from the Mechanicum ranks, burning many human-sized slaves to ash in a microsecond (hundreds to thousands of megajoules easily, meaning hundreds of gigawatts to several terawatts total power.) and the Mechanicus tech guard open fire with all their weapons.

Page 171-172

The front rank of the foe consisted of heavily augmented servitor warriors with massive shields built into their mechanical arms. These shields shimmered with power as they deflected bolter shots, protecting them and those in the ranks behind. They advanced slowly step by lumbering step, a walking barricade, firing their lasguns through the slaves and into the advancing Word Bearers. The top right corner of each shield was cut down to allow the larger guns of those behind to fire.

...
The shield-servitors were slow and lumbering, though they took a lot of punishment before they stopped moving. Kol Badar saw several of them fighting on, even with limbs hacked off and bolt having removed parts of their skulls.

Shield servitors - the vanguard forces of the Skitarii army, designed to provide protection with some sort of large storm-shield like device (shield plus forcefield enhancement) to the troops behind. Which actually makes sense if you're going to be assaulting an enemy directly like this.

Page 172

These were softer targets. They had been augmented in lesser ways, not taking them fully down the path to becoming mindless servitors. Targeting sensors had replaced their left eyes, and the left halves of their heads were a mass of wiring and mechanics, but their bodies were easily torn apart by the bolter fire of the advancing Word Bearers.
...
At a distance, they would be dangerous foes, for many of them carried heavier armaments than a humble Guardsman would be able to bear, but up close they were slaughtered by the brute force and speed of the Word Bearers.
...
It mattered not to these elite killers that the enemy fought on after having sustained wounds that would drop a regular human.

Skitarii behind the shield servitors. the 'softer' and more human ones probably. Even though these 'soft' troops are vastly tougher and more heavily armed than a human they're still no match for Astartes. At least, these Skitarii aren't.

Page 173

...punching the whirling chainblade that served as a bayonet upon his combi-bolter...

Oh dear.. chainsaw bayonets.

Page 173

Heavily armoured servitors moved to the fore, stalking forwards between the ordered ranks of the lesser warriors...
...
Around the height of a regular Chaos Space Marine, these were heavily armoured in thick, dark, metal armour. The mechanics of their left arms ended in spinning cannons that roared as they pumped fire from their multiple barrels. Ammo-feeds smoked as fresh bullets were fed to the guns from heavy integrated backpacks.

Concentrated bursts from the weapons were carving through power armour...
...

He fired his combi-bolter, blasting the gun-arm from a warrior in a shower of sparks, but it kept coming at him swinging its other arm towards him in a murderous thrust as the drill-arm began to spin. Metallic tentacles attached to the Skitarii’s spinal column reached forwards to ensnare him....

HEavier combat servitors.. superior to the skitarrii guards.

Page 178

Pilots and technicians hard-wired into the control room were built into the walls, their forms almost hidden amongst the mass of coiling pipes that engulfed them. Insulated wiring entered the fused hemispheres of their brains through eye sockets, nostrils and ears. They manipulated controls through cables that plugged into the remnants of flesh that remained of their mortal bodies, and from each fingertip spread a spider web of intricate cables, attaching them directly into the holy machine that they were a part of.

[/quote]

Darioq's flagship's crew. Not quite servitors, but not really human either.

[Connor MacLeod]

Part 2 of Dark Apostle



Page 178-179

Hovering fifty metres in the air, the bloated airship that served as Darioq’s command centre was as stable as the ground...
...
..endless feeds of information flooded through the multiple logic engines within his construction, filing through the domed hemispheres of his “true” brain, which then filtered relevant data out into the charged liquid housing domes that enclosed his secondary brain units.
..
He could see through the augmetic eyes of these lesser minions and feel the twitch of their vatborn muscles.

Darioq's airship command vessel. Note that he has 'secondary' brains as well as a primary brain. Whether they are natural or artifiical... He also has extensive links to his lesser crews and minions - what they see and other data, suggesting some fairly good command and control.

Page 180

“The losses of the servitors and Skitarii units is acceptable, Brigadier-General Ishmael Havorn. The Hypaspists and the Sagitarii units are replaceable. The Praetorians’ destruction was necessary to conduct the falling back of the cohorts. The loss of several of the Ordinatus Minoris machines of the Ballisterarii is regrettable, but predicted by my cogitator engine."
..
“The Exemplis advances, Brigadier-General Ishmael Havorn, and a larger concentration of cohort units advances beneath its hallowed shadow. My Cataphractarii lead the holy procession.”

The Admech apparently runs its wars with these forces in much the same way the Kriegers do in Siege of Vraks. Except that unlike in VRaks, the AdMech have the technology to fight it more intelligently (heavily shielded troops in front of the advance, heavier weapons and vehicles backing them up, an ability to easily replace losses in the field, etc. They also seem to run on a more mathmetical 'predictive' ability as well.

I'm guessing the Hypaspists are the shield servitors. The Praetorians were the much more heavily armed servitors with the drills and rotary guns. We see the Sagitarii later, which seem to be the tracked units. The Cataphractarii? Some sort of heavy cavalry unit I'd guess.

Also note the vairous names and types of Skitarii/servitor units mentioned.

Page 184

The cliff faces were almost sheer and fell into a series of deep undersea valleys, thousands of metres beneath the ocean. He zoomed closer, focusing on one particularly deep, abyssal chasm.

The point of the planetary defense is thousands of metres below the surface.. admittedly underwater.

Page 184-185

Experimental weaponry of the Adeptus Mechanicus crackled and roared, ripping apart traitor vehicles and Dreadnoughts...
...
Coalescing arcs of energy streamed from the weapons borne upon the backs of tracked crawlers that inched forward through the mire of bodies and rain water. Kol Badar had seen some of those weapons before. Many were weapons developed to be borne by the colossal war machines of the Titan Legions. Without the technology to continue to construct these behemoths of war, many of which were over a hundred metres in height, the Adeptus Mechanicus had clearly deemed it fit to mount these artillery pieces upon tracked crawler units, but the effectiveness of the weapons remained awesome.

Apparently the Ordinatus minoris are simply artillery/armour platforms to house and support titan weapons from fallen titans, allowing the weapons/technologies ot still be used in battle. This is rather funny on sevreal levels - for one thing it implies Titans are lost tech and no longer being built (which is debatable given what is mentioned and shown in several novels - not only can they rebuild retrieved titans, they can apparently build new ones.) but also the Ordinatus Minoris basically are... super heavy tanks like Shadoswords or stormblades or such. Or those new Macharius variants that mount plasma blastguns Forge world put out. Yes that's right, these super Admech 'mini ordinatus' are basically IG superheavies.. only... who the fuck nows.

Also note some titans are over 100 m tall.

Page 185

Missiles streamed through the rain, exploding in white-hot blasts of super-heated energy. The ground was ripped apart in deep furrows that were instantly engulfed with water as other esoteric batteries fired, throwing warriors and vehicles aside as if they weighed nothing at all. Giant gouts of liquid flame roared through the darkness, engulfing scores of soldiers on both sides and heating the streaming waters of the valley to boiling point.

Effects of the Ordinatus minoris weaponry I gather... scores of soldiers and watter surrounding them heated to boiling point.. high MJ/low GJ range probably?

Page 185

Casualties were rising, though the Imperials were losing scores of warriors for every Word Bearer that fell...
...
...they drove their forces ever onwards in a grinding battle of attrition, desperate it seemed to push the Legion back.

The Skitarii, despite their advanced tech and fancy vehicles, actually seem to be doing worse than the Elysians in this regard.

Page 186-187

Chimera APCs spat sharp bursts of las-fire from their turret mounted multi-lasers, and strong waves were created as they ploughed through the deeper rivers that flowed across the battlefield. Easily as capable in the deep water as on land, the vehicles churned through the corpse-strewn mire to unload their cargoes of Guardsmen. Smoke-launchers fired, cloaking the battlefield behind white smoke that blocked even the auto-sensors and targeting arrays of the Word Bearers,

Amphibious natures of chimeras and the use of blind grenades to affect targeters nad autosesnes.

Page 187

A formation of tracked units advanced through the gunfire, bolter fire pinging off their armoured forms. Humanoid upper bodies were integrated into the mechanised units and cannons protruded from the stumps of their arms. Marduk hacked through the metallic torso of a servitor warrior, spraying oil and blood, and broke into a loping run towards the strange, centaur-like creatures.

..
Their movements jerky, the tracked centaur units fired controlled bursts from their rotating cannons as they rolled forwards. Their bodies were a mass of augmetic, metal body plating, and their heads were almost completely hidden in dark metal encasings, the only exception being the dead, staring left eyes that peered out from white flesh.

The lead unit turned its head jerkily in Marduk’s direction and he felt the warning buzz from his auto-sensors as the mass of targeters arrayed over the servitor’s right eye fixed on him.

more combat servitors. I'm guessing these are the sagitarii.

Page 190

He stumbled suddenly as a las-bolt pierced the armour of his thigh, searing the muscle beneath. He shot another man in the chest, his ribs exploding outwards as the explosive bolt detonated within.

Lasbolt pierces word bearer power armour and injures the thigh. Assuming a finger sized wound and a fairly deep penetrating burn (say 5x5 cm diameter) we could be talking 5-25 kj for the burn depending on severity, and maybe several tens or several hundreds of kj to penetrate through the armor. Might be a hellgun though, or striking a weak spot, so that should be taken with a grain of salt.

Botl round by contrast blosws out the chest of a Guardsmen.

Page 192-193

The mountains shook to their foundations as thousands of tonnes of metal slammed into the hard, salt packed earth of the flooding valley with each titanic step.

Those legs alone were mighty bastion fortresses, complete with battle cannon batteries and crenellated walls from which soldiers could pour fire into the foe.

Within each leg was a demi-cohort consisting of Hypaspists and the elite biologically and mechanically enhanced Praetorians. But the leg bastions were the least of the weapons of the Exemplis.

Heaving some of the most powerful weapons ever conceived by the Adeptus Mechanicus, entire traitorous planets had surrendered at the mere appearance of the Exemplis. With weaponry the size of towering building blocks, each capable of demolishing cities and laying rain to armies, the Exemplis had been in operational use by the Fire Wasps of Legio Ignatum since the time of the Great Crusade.

The plasma reactor, burning with the contained energy of a sun, roared with terrifying power as a fraction of its energy was siphoned into the giant weaponry of the god-machine.

The Exemplis was one of the last remaining Imperator Titans of Legio Ignatum of Mars and was worshipped by the adepts of the Cult Mechanicus as an avatar of the
Omnissiah.

They brought.. one titan with them. Admittedly its an Imperator but still.. if they could bring all these super bad combat servitors and skitarii, and a fucking ordinatus platform.. why the hell did they bring only ONE titan? Why not a demi legion, or a whole damn legion? I'm pretty sure a single ordinatus platform is much more valuable and effective than even an Imperator titan, yet this novel seems to act as if the opposite were true.

Anyhow Imperator titan, thosuands of tons, avatar of the Omnissiah, city-demolishing (individually!) weapons....

But there is the plasma reactor. IF we took it literally that means the thing has the energy capacity of a star of some kind. What kind of star we don't know, but note I said ENERGY, not power. We're talking total capacity and not the sustained rate of output, which is almost certainly going to be vastly lower. What it means is that the Plasma reactor is bound to have a ludicrously long lifespan. Considering they are treated as 'self fuelling' and the lifespan hinted at the 'peta watt plasma ioniser' in 3rd edition... something liable to outrage someone since I dared that 'interpretation'.

Page 196

All told, he estimated that there must have been a million slave workers toiling over the construction at any one time.

A million per shift? This would suggest the population is on the fairly low side. a few million assuming 2-3 shifts. Whether this represents the majority of the population or the minority (remaining) we don't know.

Page 198

A block of stone, one of the millions that made up the growing tower, was being lowered into position...
....
A hundred tonnes of rock, it tumbled end over end..

The tower masses some hundreds of millions of tonnes at least, built up in a matter of weeks or months by a million or so slaves and some pretty hefty machinery, especially later on.

Page 203

Within that metallic cranium sat the Princeps and his Moderati, psychically linked to the Titan. They felt its pain as their own and experienced savage joy as the behemoth laid waste to everything before it.

Titan is 'psychically linked' to its crew, which is not unlike what we witnessed in HEreticus.

Page 203

A multi-towered bastion the size of a walled stronghold sat atop its massive, armoured carapace shell. Siege ordnance and battle cannons, of such size that a small tank could drive through the barrels, were housed within this massive structure..

The bastion/church cannons on the back/top of the Imperator. I'm guessing it is a fairly small tank (centaur sized) to fit any number of shells that size in. Or its exaggeration.

Page 204

The plasma annihilator cannon flared with the power of a contained sun and a gout of white-hot energy roared from its barrel, engulfing a handful of tanks that were instantly returned to their molten base elements.

Plasm annihilator melts a 'handfu' of tanks, which I assume to mean Predators and/or Land Raiders. this could mean as few as 2 predators (~88 tonnes) to maybe half a dozen land raiders (which mass 70-80 tonnes themselves depending on exact source, which could mean 480 tonnes.) Assuming iron composition, we get between 105-575 gigajoules at a minimum. More probably, allowing for difference in material quality (EG if we go by IA stuff the Space Marine stuff could be at least 5x better than modern steel) or inefficiencies we could say high GJ to low TJ for that blast, which should fit reasonably well with 'city destroying' capability.

PAge 205

Stabbing beams of energy flashed from the mountainside as the lascannons of the havoc squads positioned there targeted the Imperator. The powerful blasts looked like little more than pin-pricks of light as they strobed towards the Titan. Scores of predator tanks, Land Raiders, Dreadnoughts and daemon engines added their fire to that of the havoc squads as they directed their heavy weapons fire towards the towering behemoth. Missiles, lascannon beams, heavy ordnance shells and streaming plasma speared towards the Titan. Its void shields flashed as they absorbed the incoming firepower, leaving the deadly machine unscathed, and it returned fire with dozens of battle cannons situated in the leg bastions.
...
There was just not enough firepower to take down the Imperator’s shields, let alone damage the Titan, not while they were already engaged with the Guard and Skitarii forces.

Firepower resisted by the Imperator's voids. ITs implied that they would need the full host's firepower - their vehicles and the daemon engines accompanying them, and probably the heretics allied with them - to have a chance of downing the voids. Of course what kind of voids (deflectors, or warp displacement?) and how they manage to get around it matter, as does the duration (even if they batter it down eventually with the full host's firepower, what casualties do they take in the process?)

Leg bastions on Imperator have doens of battle cannons. The Word bearers have at least scores of vehicles.

Page 210

Ground-hugging, eight-legged machines skittered forward from the Chaos Space Marine lines. They were smaller than the towering defilers, and operated by beings that had once been lowly humans. Now they were forever linked to the machines through mechanical hard-wiring and black sorcery, the corrupted flesh of their bodies contained within domed, liquid-filled, blister-like eyes at the front of the constructions.

The bloated abdomens of the machines pulsed as circular mines were excreted from their rears,...

Chaos minelayers.

Page 213

Teams of Elysians bearing heavy arrays of detection sensors inched forward, removing thousands of landmines from the ground. They were far slower than the bizarre minesweeper vehicles of the Adeptus Mechanicus that fanned the ground with great sweeps of mechanical analysis arms.

Elysian and AdMech minesweeping.

Page 213-214

Under the shadow of the stationary Imperator class Titan Exemplis, the adepts of the Mechanicus swarmed over wrecked Imperial vehicles, salvaging precious machineries and supplicating the dead or dying spirits of the vehicles
...
The adepts swiftly stripped weapon systems from tanks and Ordinatus Minoris crawlers with focused energy, and loaded them alongside working engines, track-works and control systems onto the backs of hulking hauler vehicles for reuse.

Industrious servitors worked tirelessly, hefting heavy pieces of equipment with servo-arms and harnesses under the watchful eyes of the adepts, and the fallen Skitarii were likewise gathered up and taken to rolling factories that followed in the wake of the main army. There they were dropped onto mass conveyer belts and taken inside for recycling. Havorn was unsure what that entailed. He imagined that the weapons of the tech-guard warriors were torn from the dead flesh of their hosts, but he did not know the fate of the dead flesh. Only when the Techno-Magos Darioq had made a cold entreaty to him had he learnt what happened to those desecrated bodies.

AdMech batltefield reclamation., Even the bodies are 'recycled' in some manner.

Page 214-215

“It is my understanding that the flesh bodies of your inactive soldiers are being gathered. Are they to be taken to the reprocessing factorum units of your regiment? I was not aware of the presence of such facilities within your expedition force.”
...
“The dead flesh husks are burned? That is illogical. It is a waste of resources, both of promethium and of the flesh husks. And what of your flesh units that have been rendered inoperative but not yet fully nonfunctional?"
...
“It is illogical and irrational to dispose of your nonfunctional flesh units as you do. I would ask that upon the conclusion of your priestly rituals, that the flesh husks are collected for reprocessing by my adepts.”

“Reprocessing into what?”

“Into a semi-liquid, protein based nutrient paste.”
...
"You… you wish to turn the bodies of honoured Elysian soldiers who have fallen in battle against the enemy into paste.”

“It is a logical use of limited resources. My Skitarii cohorts are well fuelled, but a replenishment of feed levels would be advantageous.”

'dead' bodies are recycled into nutrient paste. I assume this means tht the bodies so badly damaged that they cannot be easily made into servitors or skitarii on the battlefield, since serivtors are by nature made from dead bodies (we even see this later. LOL)

Also the Skitarii seem to work on nutrient pastes. Not unlike the 'corpse starch' and similiar 'soylent-green' type instances popping up into 40K. The elysian general's response is rather interesting, although the Magos seems to suggest that it wouldn't be unusual for other organizations like the Guard to have them, which is vaguely creepy,

Page 218

“It is a good place for it. The twisting valley is at its narrowest there. There is not a straight line of fire longer than a kilometre, rendering our ordnance of limited use, but their warriors will excel. It means that the Exemplis will have to get close to them to engage, rather than blasting them from five clicks out. It is a cunning place to make their stand. But it could be a ruse. Have you scouted for ambush points ahead of this position?”

Implies ordnances ranges of at least 1 km, and possibly 5 km - at least for the Imperator (and we know those can be much longer ranged than that.) Presumably 'ordnance' includes their tanks.

May also imply ranges for at least their heaviest weapons, but could possibly include small arms fire.

Page 218-219

"The valley thins some ten kilometres further up, here. It shrinks to a width of less than a hundred metres at several points; that’s a tight fit for the Imperator."

The Imperator seems to be close to 100 metres wide.

Page 219

"Scanner teams are accompanying the flame units, sweeping the area for life-signs and poweroutputs.”

Elysian scanner teams

Page 219-220

Keen auto-sensors alerted Kol Badar to the questing machine-spirit of an enemy auspex, and the last systems of his Terminator armour were automatically shut down.

He was barely breathing, and his twin hearts beat but once per minute. He had long ago shut off his air-recycling units, and the massive weight of his armour hung upon him as the last of the servos were deactivated.
...
...he stood immobile in his state of semi-suspended animation.

It was not the deep slumber that the Legion was capable of, for that would require the attentions of the chirurgeons to reawaken him, and would not allow him to remain at least partially alert for the signal that his prey was near. It was however a deep enough state that any auspex sweep of the enemy should not detect his life signals, particularly while he was shielded behind the thick, insulating plates of his sacred armour.

The Terminator-based version of 'running silent' seems to work mostly well against basic sensors the Elysians have.

Page 220

His heartbeat increased as he registered the brightness of the promethium-based conflagration lapping over him and the sharp rise in temperature. The heat was almost unbearable, the inbuilt heat regulators of the suit having been shut down along with all its other functions, so as not to give off any tell-tale signs of radiation.

These particular power armour suits would seem to rely on 'heat regulator' systems to help resist the effects of flamers on the occupant within. Without which I gather its possible for them to cook inside thea rmor

Page 221

..He saw the external ribbed piping of one warrior-brother’s early mark Terminator suit flare brightly as it melted, and the warrior pitched backwards to the cavern floor, his lungs undoubtedly on fire.

I guess without the internal heat regulators, termie armour is more vulnerable to attack - or at least the guy inside is - the suit certainly isnt melting.

Page 221

The half-sphere of the heavy auspex disc was a weight in his arms. Trust him to get stuck doing the lifting rather than the easy job of keeping an eye on the data-screen on the attached feedback unit.

Elysian sensor units.

Page 223

Still, this was the only chance the Legion had of destroying the Imperator class Titan without the loss of hundreds of warrior-brothers. It was a risky venture, but Kol Badar found a glimmer of excitement at the prospect.

They intend to bring the mountainside down and board the Titan, rather than try to duel it out straight up and suffer horrific losses.

Page 225

From behind, he could see many of the oiled workings of the god-machine, as its rear was not as well armoured as its front. Pistons the size of buildings rose and fell as the behemoth lifted its huge, bastion legs, and eddies of super-heated smoke and steam blasted from the exhausts in its back.

unless this thing is optimised for long range bombardment, this seems pretty damn stupid, as Titan combat we have often seen (in or around cities) relies on mobility and Titans can get around or behind each other.

Page 225

The Chimera was outfitted with an array of sensors and powerful vox-units to allow the brigadier-general’s commands to be conveyed to his captains, and tall aerials and dishes rose from the rear of the APC.

“I’m picking up faint radiation from the cliff face, sir. The exact position is unclear.”

Command Chimera sensors and their capabilities

Page 226

The diminishing width of the pass had forced the Imperial regiments to spread out in a long, unwieldy convoy.
...
"And order the Chimeras to close formation. Tell the commanders to be ready for action.”
...
The Chimeras behind his command tank revved their engines and advanced, drawing level with his own. There was not room in the ravine for even twenty of the vehicles to advance alongside one another.

The elysians have their own Chimera units, and quite a few of them it seems.

Page 227

“It would seem so, sir. They have rounded the bend here,” said Rachius, pointing to a data-slate with a simplified overhead map that glimmered with points of light that indicated troop formations.

Dataslates providing troop formations and mapping.

Page 228-229

..the Titan’s legs planted firmly, and support pinions locking into place as it readied its weapons.
...
He saw the Imperator Titan plant its feet as the cultists drew within range of its weaponry, just as Kol Badar had predicted.

Titan locking down into a static position for firing. Some sort of 'heavy bombardment' mode I'd gather.


Page 232

In the distance, the Titan’s guns flared brightly as they were unleashed, followed half a second later by the cacophony of the barrage as it echoed up the narrow ravine. Hundreds of cultists were instantly slain in the devastation.

Half a km to a km or so roughly, given that the raveine was narrow enough to limit the ranges to less than a km, but they're still not within any sort of small arms fire range (which can be half a km to a km depending on sources and weapons.) 300 m at a minimum, meaning titan ordnance has a vleocity of at least 600 m/s and possibly as high as several km/s. This may or may not apply to the plasma weapon as well

Page 233

One sizeable chunk of rock smashed onto the front of his Chimera, denting the thick armoured plate, and others smashed harmlessly against one of the massive feet of the Exemplis, no more than thirty metres from the explosion. At such a range its void shields were useless. They were only effective from a certain distance, and anything within them would be able to attack the godmachine directly.

Limits of void shielding. One reason why titans could walk through them and engage at melee without problem.

Pag 234

The defensive batteries built into the Titan’s leg bastion unleashed their wrath, engulfing the advancing Anointed, ripping through even mighty Terminator armour with the force of their detonations. Air bursting shells exploded overhead, scattering red-hot, scything shards of shrapnel down onto the warrior-brothers and Kol Badar hissed as a shard the length of a man’s hand slammed into his helmet, cutting through his armour and piercing one of his eyes.

Whatever wepaons they have, the defensive bastions antipersonnel weapons have neough firepower to pierce even Terminator armour. Kol Badar takes a hand-long bit of shrapnel through the head. We dont know velocity but its presumably at least supersonic, possibly as high as a km/s or so if we go by certain sources for shrapnel vleocity (albeit the larger size may result in lower speed.. unless it scales up.)

Page 235

Bolter shells struck Kol Badar, knocking him back a step, and he snarled and squeezed a burst of fire from his combi-bolter at the figure manning the pintlemounted weapon..

Chimera pintle mount.. doesnt breach Terminator armour.

Page 236

High above, steam and smoke was expelled sharply from pistons and locking mechanisms ground as they were released. Kol Badar recognised the signs of the Titan preparing to move.

bombardment mode - locking/bracing mechanisms again.

Page 236

The Chimera slewed to the side as it took heavy incoming fire and one of its tracks was ripped to tatters. Armour piercing rounds tore through the shell of the APC and two officers within slumped in their seats, their blood splashing the interior.

Possible indicator of Chimera durability - it stands up to limited Armour piercing rounds from some weapon - my guess is a reaper autocannon since they're not exploding. I'm not sure if the rounds are actually stopping the momentum of the tank or if this is the reaction of the crew to the hits and their own deaths.. it could go either way. Admittedly the idea that a 30 (or later 60!) ton chimera could be knocked back in such a short time from a weapon meant ot be carried by Astartes. Even allowing for chaos mutations and suspensors - its not like these are Obliterators. Then again 'slewed to the side' does not neccesarily mean the barrage is imparting a significant push it could just divert the tank slightly, which could perhaps require moving the tank only a fraction of distance,

Page 236-237

Havorn’s ogryn bodyguard emerged from the confines of the Chimera and breathed deeply, its eyes narrowing. It stepped protectively in front of the brigadiergeneral, shielding him from fire with its muscled bulk.
...
The ogryn raised its heavy ripper gun, a thick finger pulling the trigger. Empty shells scattered in its wake. It did not roar or bellow as it charged. Such base,
animalistic behaviours had been erased from its simple brainpan, but no amount of augmetics could improve the aim of the ogryn and the bullets from its ripper gun sprayed the area, hitting nothing.

Ogryn bodyguard

Page 237

Havorn snapped off a shot with his pistol, the streaming blue-white bolt of plasma dropping one of the Terminators.

Officer's plasma pistol drops a Terminator.

Page 237-238

Bolter fire raked towards him, striking the hulking abhuman, who grimaced in pain. Chunks of flesh were torn from its arms and chest, but the three metre creature that dwarfed even the Terminators did not slow. It lowered a shoulder and smashed into one of the enemy, knocking it from its feet. Raising the butt of its heavy ripper gun, the ogryn began caving in the helmet of the fallen warrior, smashing it down onto the prone traitor again and again.

Ogryn strong neough to down a Termie via brute force, and is resistant to storm bolter hits due to sheer size/bulk.

Page 239

Inbuilt defence turrets were stationed at every second level, their hard-wired servitor controllers built into the heavy wall panels of the interior staircase..

Internal defenses of the Titan.

Page 240

Ammunition was running low, and with a blast of fiery promethium directed down over the open stairwell to melt the exposed flesh of a dozen enemy machine-warriors, the last of the heavy flamer reloads was expended.

Depending on how we take 'melt' (somewhere between severel third degree scald/burns and boiling I am guessing) but my old energy weapons thread mentions melting temps for flesh of ~300C. I figure boiling works fine for an order of magnitude estimate either way. If its just severe burning we're probably talking double digit MJ total at least, and more like triple (or more) for a dozen bodies (assuming 70 kg of flesh)

Page 241

At Kol Badar’s direction, blinking demolition melta-charges were attached to bulkheads where he indicated, as scattered gunfire roared up from below, shearing through the metal stairs. Scores of charges were placed, four times the amount that were used to blast away the mountainside. Kol Badar was taking no chances.

4x the firepower needed to 'brng down a mountainside' was used to merely cripple the titan. how many charges this works out to or effects is har,d but its damn impressive sounding.

Pgae 242

A series of internal explosions suddenly burst out around its knee-joint. Flames and smoke erupted from the mechanical joint, a mass of detonation within ripping through the thick, reinforced metal. The bastion foot touched down on the floor of the ravine and a secondary flash of timed demolition charges erupted. For a moment it looked as though they had had no effect, until the knee joint gave way beneath the immense weight of the Titan and it lurched to one side as if in slow motion, thousands of tonnes of metal teetering over the battlefield.

And the effect. Again note the Imperator is 'thousands of tonnes.'



Page 247-248

A day had passed and the giant Ordinatus Magentus rumbled towards the valley. It was so massive that it was barely able to fit through the ravine and there was no possible way that it would be able pass the fallen Titan. It came to a halt some kilometres back, where the valley was wider.

A dozen, giant, spiked stabiliser legs unfolded to either side of the titanic vehicle, steam hissing out into the hot air as their mechanics were engaged. They reached out to either side of the massive structure and drove down into the ground.

The air tingled with power as giant energy cores were readied and the massive ribbed cone of the Ordinatus’s main gun was raised. A sound like a thousand jet engines began to whine, soon reaching a screaming intensity that reverberated through the earth. Elysians within a kilometre of the giant machine clutched hands to their ears as the giant creature made ready to unleash its power
...
A deafening, sharp crack like the sound of a planet ripped in two resounded through the valley. Pre-warned, all the Elysians in the vicinity had engaged the sound mufflers within their helmets, but even so the blast of sound was deafening, making Havorn’s eardrums vibrate painfully. An ungodly silence followed as if all noise had been sucked out of the valley by the focused blast of sonic energy, and the air between the gun and the valley wall wavered and reverberated.

The effect was astounding. Where the centre of the focused beam of sound struck the wall the rock was turned to dust, exploding outwards in a massive blast as it was shattered down to the molecular level. A wave seemed to spread from the epicentre and the rock rippled as if it were liquid, huge cracks appearing in its wake. Vibrating and shattered, the entire rock face broke apart and fell to the valley floor with a crash that rumbled along the entire mountain range. A huge cloud of salt dust rose up into the air.

The Ordinatus fires. Magic sonic weapon. Also has a range of at least 2-3 kilometers, although it could be as high as 10 as they mention that distance earlier WRT this region.

Also elysian helmets have sound dampeners built in.

Page 249

Within five days, the ravine had been levelled by the sheer power of the Ordinatus machine. Its sonic disruptor had reverberated through the mountains, shattering stone to powder and causing vast avalanches that could be felt halfway across the continent.
...
The steep cliff walls had been reduced to dust and the valleys were filled with crumbled salt rock, creating a vast expanse that the Imperial Guard and Mechanicus forces rolled across. The going was difficult, but with the steep ravine walls reduced to nothing, they were able to attack on a wide front.

Effect of the Ordinatus again. Basically brute force landscaping, doing in days what it takes their geoforming machines months, I'd gather.

Page 249

Tens of thousands of Imperial troopers had been slaughtered..

losses (total) of the IG/AdMech force to this point

Page 250

Laron had capitalised on this and had ordered hundreds of Valkyries ahead of the main Imperial entourage.

Hundreds of Valkyries agian

Page 250

Vast lines of siege tanks ground inexorably forward behind the infantry, pounding the enemy with ordnance outranging anything they had.

Siege tanks (demolishers? Or something the AdMech has) outrange Word Bearers vehicles and weapons, suggesting they're engaging from greater than 2 km away (knonw range of lascannon from several sources, such as Inferno Magazine's Demolisher entry, Fallen Angels, etc.)

If they're demolishers (which we see later) then this might mean the other Russes have greater range yet (3+ km)

Page 251

It was not the type of war that Laron liked, for it was more suited to the style, or lack of it, of other Imperial Guard regiments. His soldiers of the 72nd were droptroopers, and in this war of attrition, the unique skills and talents of his units were not being utilised to their full capacity.

Elysians units views on how they are being used currently vs how they are best used.

Page 251-253

The sheer number of casualties amongst the tech-guard had been staggering, but ever more of the mindless tech-soldiers marched from the vast factorum crawlers that ground over the earth in the wake of the army.

Laron had seen the mechanised enhancements and weapons of fallen tech-guard servitors being recovered as the Imperials pushed ever forward and he knew that they were used to create more lobotomised, unfeeling soldiers. Brigadier-General Havorn had spoken of what became of the flesh of the fallen tech-guard and Laron had been horrified.

It was like some archaic necromancy, he thought, to reuse the flesh and armaments of the dead to create new soldiers to throw thoughtlessly at the enemy. It was morbid and repugnant, and he tried as best he could to keep his men away from them. What was it that the magos called them? Skitarii? They were unnatural and they made his men uneasy. Hell, they made him uneasy. Soldiers that had no notion of fear or self-preservation, he was certain they would all march straight off a cliff to their doom at a word from the magos.
...
He had been fascinated and horrified in equal measures when he had first seen inside one of the mobile factorum crawlers. The motionless shapes of pale-fleshed humans were held in vast aisles of bubbling vat-tanks, kept in a dormant state. That single factorum must have held ten thousand inert bodies, or “flesh units” as the magos called them. Darioq had coldly explained that while the Mechanicus was capable of creating its own vat-grown host bodies, it was time consuming and resource heavy, so most of these soldiers were from the other Imperial Guard units within the Crusade. They had suffered grave injuries, leaving them alive, but braindead. Others were criminals and deserters, and the punishment for their crimes was to be turned over to the Mechanicus.

They were destined to become battle servitors, all semblances of their former selves erased with mind-wipes and the removal of their frontal lobes. Indeed, Darioq had stated, the entire right hemisphere of the brain was removed from all but a few, those used as shock-troops and specialists, where a certain degree of adaptability and autonomous decision making, albeit severely limited in nature, was required.

Nature of the Servitor/Skitarii forces of the admech. Interesting points include: they re-use the flesh and components of dead troopers (up to a point presumably - the body has to be at least partly intact) to rebuild their forces, as well as recovering dead bodies off the field or using bodies already in storage (as noted) to build new troops. This gives them a certain in built redundancy not unlike Orks or Tyranids, able to replace losses quickly and fairly efficiently. Again this also makes them superior to Krieg meatdroids.

AdMech can create vat grown bodies, but its cheaper/easier to use already grown dead ones.

Also servitors including battle servitors can have variable degrees of.. 'awareness/sentience' or whtaver.. some can actually be adaptable or autonoamous, although most are fully lobotomised.

[Connor MacLeod]

Page 253

Such concepts as creativity were clearly frowned upon within the Mechanicus and Laron had found this galling, for it was anathema to the way that the Elysians operated. Adaptability, being able to react to changing directives, objectives and situations, and the ability to operate effectively deep behind enemy lines with little or no direction from the upper echelons of command, were all favoured skills in the ranks of the Elysians. Those same traits were deplored as dangerous and heretical amongst the adepts of the Machine-God.

Elysian vs AdMech tactics. It s hows the Guard does have some 'adaptive' forces, and it also reflects that the AdMech's reason for building 'mindless' servitors rather than the adaptive ones may be more one of doctrine and choice rather than necessity.

Page 254-255

“Survived another day without getting shot then, acting colonel?”

“The day isn’t over yet, Kheler.”

The commissar chuckled. It was insulting and belittling to have the man watching over him and the threat of his presence was obvious. His uniform demanded respect, yet he was a canny warrior and a highly capable officer.

The swiftness and the severity of his judgement was shocking. The commissar had been smiling and talking with one of Laron’s men, but had executed that same man without a thought not an hour later when the trooper had turned to flee because his lasgun’s powercell had run dry. A laspistol blast in the man’s head had shown all the troopers that cowardice of any kind would not be tolerated.

“You do not flee the enemy under any circumstances!” he had roared. “The Emperor watches over you! If your power cell runs dry, you pick up the weapon of a fallen comrade. If that runs out of ammunition, you draw your pistol. If you have no pistol, you fight with your knife. If your knife breaks, you fight with your bare hands. And if your hands are cut off, still you do not flee, you attack the enemy with any weapon that you have. You bite their damned kneecaps off if that’s all you can do!”

That had got a scattered laugh and Laron had marvelled at the commissar’s skill. The man had just killed one of their comrades and he had got them to laugh.

“But you do not flee!” Kheler had shouted severely, his eyes wide and threatening. “Or I promise you, as the Emperor is my witness, I will gun you down
like traitorous dogs.”

“Motivation,” the commissar had explained to Laron. “That is what I provide to the regiment. The threat of a bullet in the back of the head is good motivation not to turn tail and run.”

The man switched from jocular comrade to ruthless executioner in a second. Even knowing this, Laron found it hard to dislike the man.

I like this passage, both for the nature of the banter (a bit of joking) as well as a Commissar who, despite being capable of executing people if needed, is more interested in morale and inspiration than simply blasting people. He's a likeable, but cold bastard. HE doesn't just intimidate troops - he realizes fear and intimidation are part of his tools, but only to be used when absolutely neccessary, and he works far more to inspire and impress.

I should note that while shooting people is NOT the best way to do things even then, sometimes in 40K at least it's not neccesary. When youh ave enemies like Chaos, Orks, or Tyranids who can instill psychic fear/terror or otherwise fuck with the minds of regular humans, you need to provide some sort of counter. And like all other 'magic' aspects of 40K, there could be a belief/symbolic aspect at work here. Commissars are after all as much symbols as Sisters of Battle or Astartes are, and in the 40K universe the Warp makes symbols potent - sometimes at least.

Page 255

“Hot, acting colonel? Yes, I am damn hot, but do you think I would look such a commanding figure if I were stripped down to my undergarments? And besides, I look damn good in black. Dashing is a word that springs to mind.”

Again I like this Commissar.

Page 256

The Imperial battle force was spread out beneath him. Lines of tanks rolled towards the front and tens of thousands of men marched in snaking columns over the rough ground below.

Scope of the Imperial assault. Whether this is just Elysians or the combined Elysian Admech force we dont know.

Page 257-258

"You think the enemy is truly retreating, colonel?” asked the commissar, though Laron knew that he already knew the answer. This was for the benefit of the men around them. He noted that in the presence of other members of the 72nd the commissar left out the acting part of his title. No doubt that was something else to do with motivation. He was a clever bastard.

“It’s been hard and we have lost a lot of good men, but the enemy are falling back. I just want to see the traitors fleeing with my own eyes. The Emperor is with us! We will make them pay for the deaths of the men of the 72nd.”

He saw a slight smile in the eyes of the commissar as he played along.

“Motivation is vitally important,” the commissar had said earlier, “whether it comes from the threat of a bullet, the impassioned speech of an officer, or propaganda from the mouth of a commissar, it doesn’t matter. All that matters is that your soldiers fight and that they have fire in the bellies. For some that comes from faith, for others it is from outrage. It doesn’t matter. But you must never miss an opportunity to inspire your men. It’s not much, but a word here and there goes a long way with the common soldiers.”

These conversations with the commissar had been playing on his mind and he had begun to wonder if that was another reason why Havorn had attached the commissar to his staff, to teach him the power of motivation in all its forms.

The commissar in action again. He's no Gaunt or Cain of course, but he's a damn sight better than the 'shoot them and scream' type that you get from time to time as well, and it shows - in my mind - what is meant to be the 'ideal' for a Commissar - the symbol they truly are.

Page 267

It was hard to believe it was over a thousand kilometres away. It had to be destroyed. Five days, he thought.

5 days to cross 'over a thousand km' for the Guard forces.

Page 273-274

The Imperial Dictator class cruiser Vigilance moved soundlessly through the void of space as it rounded the war-torn planet, dropping into close orbit. The calculations had to be absolutely precise and the logic engines housed within the bridge had been working constantly to provide the complex algorithms calculating the exact moment for the barrage to be unleashed.
...
All sensory equipment was rendered useless as soon as they entered the zone. Even the astropaths were unable to pierce the gloom projected up from the planet’s surface. Once within the field, the Vigilance was utterly cut off from the outside world.
...
Nevertheless, to launch an orbital bombardment essentially blind was highly unorthodox and the risks were high. However, the Admiral had been insistent and the cogitators had been consulted to predict the exact mathematics required to plan such an endeavour.

The approach of the cruiser was painstakingly enacted. If it were but a fraction of a degree off its angle of approach, if its speed was slightly out and the tip of the massive cruiser off by the smallest fraction then the bombardment would miss the planet altogether, or would fall far from the target . Worse, it could fall upon the Imperial Guard on the planet’s surface far below.

With its holo-screens blank and its sensor arrays rendered inoperative, the Dictator cruiser advanced into position. Muttering prayers to the Emperor that the algorithms he had been provided with were accurate and that his team of logisticians had coordinated them exactly, the ship’s flag-captain breathed out slowly as the gunnery master initiated the launch sequence. The port battery, housing hundreds of massive weapons that could cripple a battle cruiser, were activated. Thousands of indentured workers slaved to match the exact range and trajectory initiated by the gunnery crew as they readied to fire. The gunnery captain prayed that his barrage would fall against the target.

Orbital bombardment preparations without the aid of sensors. The computers can do it apparently, but it requires far greater precision. It kinda shows what is capable of orbital bobmarmdents at least in the right circumstances and how variables can throw it off for Imperial ships.

Also shows a bit of the ship's gunnery systems, and that it has hundreds of guns of unknown type. Actually since this is a Dictator-clas cruiser (EG a carrier type) its likely to have macro cannon and probably lasers at least (or maybe plasma cannons) - I dont remebmer the Macharius' exact armament. In any case being a hybrid design its not as heavily armed as dedicated combat cruisers (like Lunars) since part of its decks are taken up by hangars (and even a Lunar has lance decks occupying some of that mass.)

Page 279

“They have more ordnance than we.”

“There is no sign of that Ordinatus machine, though.”

“No. Its range is not as great as their artillery’s. If it advanced ahead of the main battle line, it would sustain damage. The methodology of the Adeptus Mechanicus is rigid. They deviate not at all from their ritual tenets and the modes of behaviour programmed into their mechanical heads. They will not risk damage to the machine.”

Comment on the ordinatus and AdMech Doctrine. The Artillery/ordnance unsurprisingly has more range - although we've seen precious little actual artillery and just batlte tanks and siege tanks and the oridnatus minoris, which seems to be what they're referring to. In any case we know the Ordinatus has a range of at least several km which means the 'ordnance/artillery' has at least that range and greater as well.

Page 281

..Marduk marvelled at how the Imperial city had been transformed. From a bustling city of millions, it had been rendered into a wasteland of industry. Every building had been levelled and the fires of the Chaos factorums blazed in the dim light, spewing fumes and smog into the roiling sky. The ground was black with oil and pollution, and lines of slaves, each a thousand strong or more, wound through the black detritus and slag piles like multilegged insects. Huge pistons drove up and down, conveyor belts piled with rock and bodies fed into hissing, steaming vaults and furnaces, and chains with links larger than battle tanks wound around immense wheels, turning the machineries of Chaos.

Industry around the Chaos idl. Again this is impressive for its compelxity and the speed of building. Considering how fucking huge the thing gets at the end this is damn impressive.

Also the city started out in the millions, implying roughly the size of the population of the planet itself.

Page 287

The Gehemehnet rose almost fifty kilometres into the atmosphere.

Size of the Chaos construct.

Page 292-293

The enemy’s pitiful shells could not harm him and he stood motionless in the midst of the bombardment, surveying the battlefield coldly.
...
The Dreadnought’s augmetic senses pierced the fire and smoke that surrounded the first line, and he saw a series of detonations erupt further out along the salt plains, several kilometres away.
...
Not even the pitiful gunners of the Imperial Guard could be so inaccurate with their fire. A second line of explosions ran out along the salt plains, this time two hundred metres closer to the Word Bearers’ lines. His senses could not pierce the vast clouds of smoke that rose from the detonations.

“Kol Badar, the enemies of the Warmaster are on the approach. They mask their advance with ordnance and blind grenades.”

Bombardment range of at least 'several kilometres' and apparently this includes weaponry that the Dreadnought thinks can do him no harm. Also blind grenades and munitions are being used, and can even be launched by artillrey.

Page 296

He could make no sense of the garbled nonsense being broadcast through the vox system. His sensor arrays had turned to darkness minutes earlier and he was flying completely without their assistance.

Valkyrie sensor arrays.

Page 297

He could dimly make out only the closest tanks, but he knew that there were scores of vehicles spread out on each wing.
...
He knew that being a tank commander within the Elysian ranks was regarded as a dubious honour; all good Elysians dreamt of attacking via drop-ship, for that was the rhetoric drilled into the soldiers from day one. But tanks had always been Walyon’s true love and he had accepted the post with relish. The tank company within the 133rd was regarded as little more than a joke; few Elysian regiments even had a tank company. The other officers regarded the position as a dead end...

Elysian armoured companies (at least) exist, but they arne't common and considreed something of a joke amongst other Elysians. Since they can't be dropped by Valkyrie and would require separate drop ships. we know some regiments have them (EG off the old 3rd Armageddon site: remember Elysians are also good at zero gee ops) but apparently they are uncommon. But they are an integrated part of the regiment at the same time, it seems.

Also, the size of the company apparently includes 'scores' of tanks.

Which is interesting because they apparently have some sort of siege artillery platforms and chimeras, and these don't seem to count. Can they have some sort of 'air lift' Chimera variant? Maybe a modified Trojan?

OF course given the implied sizes of thse Elysian Regiments (they seem to be much bigger than the IA versions of Elysians) they may have dedicated dropships for landing ops as well as Vultures/Valkyries.


Page 300

A battle cannon shell detonated on the flank of the Land Raider’s hull, spinning the behemoth to the side, its momentum lost.

Battle cannon shell impact stops forward momentum of the tank and send it skidding sideways. A bit more impressive than the examples in honour Guard or Gunheads, although 'detonated' implies its an explosive rather than kinetic impact. I kind of doubt they'd use regular HE against Land Raiders, given their extreme durability and that HE is not anti tank, so e might figure something more like a krak or shaped charge shell (which we know exist and can be employed). It makes sense of course, but it could also be that they fired a HE shell at the Land Raider. Or maybe it was an accidental hit (although the Raiders have already engaged the Russ line by then, so it seems likely they would be shooting to kill.)

Page 301

Bunching his legs beneath him, he leapt through the air, landing atop the Demolisher tank.

Demolishers are present

Page 301

Larger than even a Land Raider, a super-heavy Gorgon transport vehicle loomed out of the smoke. A giant, angled assault ram of thick metal protected its front, and the gunfire of the coterie pinged off its surface. The metal turned molten beneath the touch of melta weaponry, but even that was not enough to penetrate the thick armour.

Chattering gunfire ripped up the ground around the Coterie and a spray of autocannon shells smashed Burias back a step. He felt his anger grow. Lascannons from the Land Raider pierced the metal side of the massive super-heavy vehicle, but it did not slow, and Burias once again tensed his leg muscles, making ready to spring.

The AdMech are using Gorgons now.


Page 301

A second later, the Gorgon slammed into the wreckage of the Demolisher, smashing the battle tank aside with contemptible ease, nearly crushing Burias.

Gorgon smashes aside the Demolisher.

Page 302-303

The vehicle was open-topped and he snarled in pleasure as he saw the score of heavy battle servitors packed within. Several were borne upon large tracked units, while others were bipedal, easily as large as a Space Marine, held in place by large clamps around their waists. Autocannon fire slammed into one of Burias’s arms, shattering the ceramite, and he lost his grip momentarily, sliding precariously. With a roar he pulled himself up and, kicking off with one foot, he descended into the midst of the heavy Praetorian battle servitors.
..
.He ripped the augmented head from the shoulders of one of the warriors as he landed, and protein rich, sickly, white synth-blood, sucrosol, sprayed out,
mixing with spurting oil and Burias-Drak’shal’s sizzling, scarlet vital fluids.

The Gorgons are full of Praetorian Servitors. Also the synthblood mixture. Must be what feeds the Servitors

Page 303

The Praetorians were the most highly advanced servitors created by the Adeptus Mechanicus, fitted with neuro-linked targeting processors and enhanced combat brain-stem implants, as well as heavy weaponry and powerfully armoured shells. They were easily a match for an Astartes warrior-brother.

Capabilities of the Praetorian servitors.

Page 303

..the Praetorian levelled its cannon towards the Word Bearer’s helmet, which was torn to shreds beneath the power of the burst of fire it unleashed. The headless corpse twitched as it died.

Praetorian gunfire headsplodes/decapitates Word bearer.

Page 304-305

A withered servitor was revealed, hard-wired into the cabin of the vehicle, its sightless eyes staring forward and its arms connected directly to the gearshift and steering column of the tank.

Gorgons are also servitor-piloted.

Page 307

The Warmonger stepped heavily to the side, into the path of the tank. As it breached the top of the battlement, its front lifting up into the air, the Dreadnought reached up with its massive power claw and brought the vehicle to a screaming halt.

Word Bearer Dreadnought strong enough to bring a moving Russ to a halt and hold it upright against its engines, possibly due to denying it much traction.

Page 308

Bodies fell all around Kol Badar. Many of them were already dead, though their timed grav-chutes were in operation and slowed their descent mere metres above the ground. Still, thousands of living drop-troopers were landing all along the second tier and the open space behind the first...

Despite casualties there's still thousands of droop troops, nevermind those deployed on the ground or in chimeras or whatever. Again much bigger regiment than IA sized, it would seem.

also their drop chutes still activate mere metres from the ground, suggesting the tens+ gees estimate from earlier, assuming terminal velocity.

Page 309

The haemonculus attached to Techno-Magos Darioq via aqueduct cables flooded his system with suppressants and holy vital fluids, filtering his veins and cables for viruses. Red robes hid the tumorous, cancer-ridden flesh of the stunted creature that had been bred in the nutrient tanks of Mars. It diverted the diseases and weaknesses
of the flesh into itself so that they did not afflict him; such was its purpose in life.

Some sort of sacrificial, life support servitor that takes disease and bad shit onto itself, I guess. Kinda vampiric.

PAge 309-310

It showed his report to the Fabricator Tianamek Primus, dated over two thousand years earlier, though his current brain units had no record of him having scribed them.

Access to primary expeditionary focus/purpose denied. Magos Metallurgicus Annonus unable to determine material make-up of structure. Impervious. Logis cogitator augurs recommended path—terraform c6.7.32 and dissemble discovery. Magos Technicus Darioq to fabricate auditory station, and post watch over c6.7.32.

That was the source of the alien emotions of tension and trepidation that he had felt in the past two millennia. None had sought out that which he had been unable to breach, yet here was a powerful enemy of the Omnissiah on c6.7.32.

Magos Darioq, the commander of the Skitarii forces onplanet, is over 2000 years old, making him perhaps one of the oldest named AdMech, although he's not

Also the AdMech can (sort of) terraform a planet it would seem, as they did so here to hide whatever secret was there. At least, they could 2K years ago.

Also 'powerful enemy of the Omnissiah' on the planet. Given what we learn later this will be interesting.

Page 311

He shut off the receptors and synapses that synched his right brain hemisphere and the uncomfortable feelings instantly vanished.

Darioq can voluntarily shut off part sof his right brain half.

Page 311

His mechadendrites plugged into the central control column and, connected as he was to the delicate sensors on the outside of the hull, he registered the field of disruption that spread out in a cone from the enemy’s tower. At his impulse, the command ship was lowered towards the ground. It was imperative for him to maintain contact and hence control over his thousands of Skitarii warriors. If he were cut off from them and his adepts then his entire army would grind to a halt.

A rather hefty flaw in the AdMech means of warmaking. without the MAgos, the Skitarii forces would cease entirely.

Page 313-313

Held within a long shelf were over a dozen carefully stored bell jars. Within each jar was a blessed brain hemisphere held in static charged null-liquid.
...
Another servo-arm folded down and grasped the top of one of the bell jars protruding from the massive power generator he bore, and as he muttered the required intonations of supplication, mechadendrites whirred as he loosened the cogshaped bolts fixing the bell jar to him. Needle-like incision spikes clicked out of the centres of other mechadendrite tentacles and were carefully inserted into the cogshaped holes revealed with the removed bolts. They turned and with a hissing sound the bell jar was lifted clear. He felt the loss of information and processing power of the brain unit like a vague emptiness within him.

Swiftly and precisely he placed this brain unit within the gap in the hiemalis unit and attached the new bell jar to his core systems. Fresh information that he had not accessed for many centuries flooded through him, including memories and algorithms that had departed from him completely when he had disconnected the brain unit.

Much of the content of this brain unit would have been classed as heretical by some of the priesthood of Mars, but Darioq had felt driven to re-synch with the hemispheres within the bell jar. This was the unit that he had utilised when he had been part of the explorator team that had first investigated planet c6.7.32, and it had none of the synapse burns that altered and neutered many of the right brain functions.

This was a creative brain unit. Only a few secretive and covert members of the priesthood would dare to access such a component. The knowledge of the ancients stands beyond question, the tenets said, and for him to utilise a creative thinking brain unit to make adaptations and improvisations to mechanics, as he had done in the past when wired into this particular bell jar, was at best the height of hubris and, at worst, heresy of the worst kind.

His devotion to the Machine-God, Deus Mechanicus, and its conduit manifestation, the Omnissiah, was unwavering. To deny the effectiveness of such a creative drive when prescribed methodology would fail was abject foolishness, but even as these thoughts ran through his mind, he recognised the danger inherent within them. He must not utilise this brain unit for long periods, or he risked his whole being. Such dogmatism is folly, he thought. I must retain my dogmatism, he thought. The conflicting impulses gave him pause, but the new addition was the more dominant presence.

Darioq and his plug and play brains. Apparently the guy can literally swap out brains (or parts of brains) for ones that better adapt him or suit his purposes in a given case. In this case he can swap out one for a creative brain unit, which is considreed 'heretical'. And yet he still does it. It just shows how, at least for particular magos, the ideas and credos of the AdMech (like any religion or pseudo religion) can be as malleable as the situation or the individual want them or need them to be. If the AdMech needs/wants creativity, it will justify it, even fo itself.

Page 313-314

“Tech-priests, go forth and ready the plasma reactors of the Ordinatus. And bring the void shields up to full power.”
...
His cogitator units had judged the potency of the weapons of the enemy and calculated the likelihood of damage to the blessed Ordinatus.
...
If the energy of the rear void shields was redirected to the frontal arc then the probability of success rose exponentially the more power that he diverted there. Such a thing may be deemed heresy, for the STC explicitly stated the correct shield levels and to alter them was to ignore the teachings of the elders. But if his mission on planet c6.7.32 was compromised then it would be of no matter. He deemed the minor heresy a lesser evil than what would occur if the enemy breached the walls of the xenos structure, and he began the complex calculations necessary to adapt the systems of the Ordinatus to his will.

The Ordinatus has at least 2 shield arcs, and power can be redistributed form one to reinforce the other, although this is deemed 'heretical'.


Page 314-315

Scores of Valkyries were being ripped apart by the relentless anti-aircraft fire that speared up through the roiling black clouds. Thousands of the Elysians drop-troopers were slaughtered as they plummeted down through the atmosphere at terminal velocity, but still others survived and Laron prayed that the other storm trooper platoons were amongst them.
...
They had launched from their Valkyrie above the tower and he had been falling past it for the last few minutes.

recall that the structure is nearly 50 km tall, so we'r talking a deployment from close to 50 km up this time. and despite a few minutes passing they're still in the air.. That sets an upper limit of between 280-417 m/s on descent, but I'm rulling out the upper end regardless because that would exceed 'terminal velocity' by too great a margin. (as the links note you could 'sort of' justify near-supersonic, but not actually supersonic.)

Also thousands dying in the assault, yet the (bulk) still seem to be assaulting.

Page 320

His ornate plasma pistol appeared in his other hand and he fired it into the chest of a second enemy warrior, the screaming plasma searing through ceramite, flesh and bone.
..
Storm troopers were landing all around him, laying down a withering hail of fire from their overcharged, gyro-stabilised hellguns.

Stormies seem to be doing better this time around with their hellguns, and gain an officer's plasma pistol penetrates/injures/kills Marine.

Page 320

Thousands of drop-troopers were descending through the hellish clouds above and falling along the ridge of the second enemy embankment

Thousands lost, thousands more descending. And this is just in this fight.

Page 321

While Laron’s squad laid down a protective curtain of fire, one of his men knelt and stuck a melta charge to the thick door of the bunker. “Clear,” yelled the man, stepping back, and the charge detonated inwards, melting the thick metal to liquid.

Storm trooper entry of a bunker. We dont know how much the door was melted, so not going to bother calcing.

Page 321

The walls were scorched black from the flames and the advanced auto-sensor systems in Laron’s helmet adjusted to the gloom instantly. He fired both his pistols into the massive shape of the first Chaos Marine and his soldiers’ hellguns shot down the next, even as the enemy swung their weapons to bear.

Laron downs one Marine with his plasma and hellpistol, the other gets taken down by his other troopers (8-9 Stormtroopers)

Also at least the officer's stormy helmets have 'auto-sensor' systems for night vision.

Page 321-322

Laron ducked beneath the huge slashing knife of the first and fired his plasma pistol into the giant Chaos Marine’s groin, followed by a sharp double-tap from his hellgun into the traitor’s head as he fell back. Four hellgun shots slammed into the second enemy warrior, but it did not slow him.
...
Raising both his pistols from his prone position, he fired into the chest of the Chaos Marine, who twitched and fell.

Laron pushed himself to his feet to see the last traitor fall to his knees. Even as the Chaos Marine died, he broke the neck of a storm trooper, before a trio of hellgun shots took him in the head.

Four of Laron’s men were dead, but the bunker had been neutralised.

4 hellgun shots do not stop a Marine, though Laron drops yet another with his dual pistol mode. 3 shots to the head does for another, and Laron takes out another. We're tlaking at least 4-5 marines taken for 4 dead Stormies. That's a good exchange rate.

Page 323

..huge assault ramps were dropped and the heavy battle servitors within surged out, chainguns spinning and multi-meltas hissing.

Praetorians have chainguns and multimeltas.

Page 323

The Kataphractoi followed in the wake of the Gorgons, Skitarii warriors hard-wired into tracked units. They roared forward, heavy bolters barking and missile pods sending streams of self-propelled explosives towards the Word Bearers.

A new kind of battle servitor,.. I suspect these are the Cataphractarii mentioend before, the name simply changed (error?)

Page 326

Laron’s eyes flashed to the timer counting down in the corner of the head-up display in his helmet and he swore. The second wave of drop-troopers was about to be launched and the anti-aircraft fire from the palace had not yet been silenced.

This was just the first wave, and Laron's helmet has a HUD with timer

Page 327

Brigadier-General Havorn cursed as the pict-screen before him flickered, the detailed map-schematic shorting out.

the command Chimera has a pic-screen map.

Page 329

These were the regular troopers of the Adeptus Mechanicus, indentured warriors who had only minor augmetic enhancements: eye-piece targeters, altered neural pathways, enhanced lungs and such, and they died easily beneath the fury of the possessed warrior and his battle-brothers.

'Regular' Admech troopers with minor augmentations. These things would be storm trooper or Lostock Gland Warrior grade in the Guard I think.

Page 332

Techno-Magos Darioq stood impassively upon the secondary gantry deck of the Ordinatus as heavy-calibre anti-aircraft batteries directed fire towards the Thunderhawk. The enemy’s barrages had been as nothing to the Ordinatus, the incoming ordnance soaked up by flashing void shields, and its return fire darkened the air, overloading the gunship’s shielding with ease.

A shielded Thunderhawk. Powerfields perhaps? It does show small craft can be shielded, at least.

Page 334

Plasma pierced the reinforced plasteel plating of his Terminator armour and heavy bolt-rounds tore through his chest plate.

hEavy weapons fire penetrates Terminator armour.

Page 334-335

As the inferno dissipated, Bokkar could see that the flames had washed harmlessly over a bubble of protective energy surrounding the cursed Mechanicus priest, and he powered forwards, intent on smashing the magos apart with the force of his chain-fist.
...
The blow never landed, as one of the servo-arms, hanging over the magos’s shoulder like the barbed tail of a scorpion, snapped out and grabbed his arm, halting it mid-swing.

The servo-arm over the other shoulder grabbed his other arm, and he felt his blessed Terminator armour crack beneath the immense pressure that the whining arms exerted. The servo arms pulled out to each side sharply and both of Bokkar’s arms were ripped from his body, spraying blood out in both directions.

dArioq is shielded (resistant to heavy flamer) and his augmetics give him greater strength than Terminator armour.

Page 341-342

The Chimera slammed into Burias-Drak’shal with shocking force, sending him flying out in front of the armoured personnel carrier. As he tried to rise to his feet it slammed into him again, and he disappeared beneath its whirling tracks, sixty tonnes of Imperial tank rolling over him.

Apparently the Command Chimera is much heavier than normal chimeras, if it masses 60 tonnes.

Page 345

Clearly recognising the threat that the Ordinatus posed, the Chaos Marines hammered thousands of rounds of fire into its void shields, overriding them completely several times. Little damage was sustained by the behemoth before dutiful Tech-Priests and the army of servitors that swarmed over the machine restored the shields and it continued its relentless advance.

Thousands of rounds of fire of unknown type to briefly drop Ordinatus void shields, but still not enough to cripple the vehicle. Interestingly enough is that at the end of the book the Ordinatus' own fire overloaded its voids and crippled the vehicle without killing it, so this suggests 'thousands' of rounds equates to some magnitude of the Ordinatus' own weapon. Considering that the Ordinatus is stated to be able to level mountains, this is a significant amount of firepower. Either the Beares are using very powerful weapons, or firing a good many rounds (more than a few thousand.. more like hundreds of thousands) or both.

Page 360

He jammed his melta-pistol into the daemon’s mouth and pulled the trigger. The thing was lit up from the inside before it broke up into a million tiny pieces of ash and was blown out of the aircraft.

Laron grimaced as he spat the foul ash from his mouth..

This would imply Laron cremated a daemon, but its a daemon and it may not be made of real flesh (Depends on if it is incarnating idrecly from the warp or if it has a host body.) There is also the quesiton of how jamming it in its mouth would lead to the entire body being cremated, and the absensce of any water vapour.

And how Laron's plasma weapon became a melta weapon, unless he's inherited a massive arsenal from the previous commander.

Page 366

The Ordinatus fired upon the Gehemehnet, enormous amounts of energy focused into a deadly frequency that held the power to shatter mountains and crash bones to powder. The air shimmered as the ultra-high and ultra-low frequencies screamed over the top of the chaotic battle and roared towards the fifty kilometre high structure..

The ORdinatus possesses mountain-destroying firepower. And again the tower is 50 km tall. Assuming the thing is betwene solid stone and 90% empty, we're looking at anywhere from 9 to 90 billion tonnes of construction made and built up (as well as tons of ironmongery wreathed around it) using millions in slave labor and 3 months, with the industry to support this construction assembled and built in that same time.

Page 366

Impossibly, the tower still stood, despite the lack of integrity holding it together, for it was no longer bound by the rules of geometry or gravity. The tower was a gateway to the warp beyond,...

The physics-defying nature of the Warp.

Page 367-368

The Ordinatus machine fired again, but this time the force of its attack seemed to rebound from the tower and it hurtled back towards the behemoth, smashing into its void shields and ripping them apart, the fury of its own power turned against it. The void shields crumbled one by one beneath the onslaught, robbing the energy of its force, but still enough power hurtled into the Ordinatus to rip it apart.

The Ordinatus was rocked by the force of its own weapon, though even this was not enough to destroy it completely.
...
The great weapon housed upon its back, greater than even those of a mighty Titan...

Ordinatus's shields done in by its own blast, and cripples (but not destroys it.) Ordinatus weapon is, unsurprisingly, vsatly more powerful than even Imperator Titan weapons.

Page 369-370

At the top of the Gehemehnet, the Daemonschage bell tolled as the twelve planets of the Dalar system drew into line and the energies of the ten thousand daemons contained within the tower were propelled down the shaft into the core of the planet.The dense rock that formed the mantle surrounding the absolute centre of Tanakreg was ripped apart by the unholy power and the land above was shattered.

Massive fault lines ripped up the continents as tectonic plates shifted and smashed into each other. New mountains were instantly formed as shifting rock plates collided and were thrown up into the sky, and existing mountain ranges disappeared as they sank into the vast chasm opening up beneath them.

Earthquakes rolled across the planet, throwing up giant tidal waves that roared across the earth, destroying everything in their path and creating new oceans as plains were overrun with the deluge. New continents were formed as the oceans roiled and great upthrusts of rock climbed into the sky.

Volcanoes spewed lava and ash into the atmosphere, and acidic seas boiled away as they were exposed to rising streams of liquid iron from the planet’s core. Deep, subterrane an avalanches at the core mantle boundary, far below the planet’s surface, disrupted the planet’s magnetic field, and the integrity of the planet as a whole wavered. The gravitational pull of Korsis strained at the weakness of the planet and Tanakreg was tipped off its axis, sending a new shockwave through it, and triggering a second wave of earthquakes.

Great cracks appeared across the Shinar peninsula and the mountains to the east were lost to oblivion as the continental plate sank. The peninsula was lifted up into the air, throwing the Gehemehnet off at an oblique angle, though it still stood. Water rushed across the plains as it vacated the seas below the peninsula, boiling and rising into scalding steam as it touched the rising lava spilling up through the cracks in the earth.

The Word Bearer's ritual. Shoot daemons into the core of the planet, causing the planet to undergo tectonic disruption and literally reshape the face of the planet, destroying the world (effectively) in the process.

Page 371

And there below the peninsula where the Gehemehnet had been built, deep in an abyssal channel that just moments before had been hidden beneath kilometres of inky black, acidic waters, was a structure.

It was a black-sided pyramid, its sides perfectly smooth and gleaming.

reshaping a planet just to expose a Necron Tomb world entrance.

Page 378

..he spun to see a towering shape looming out of the gloom, something that did not register on any of his heat or life sensors. Even with his advanced vision and the keen autosenses of his helmet, the shape was still little more than a shadow

Sensor systems of Word Bearer armour.

Page 380

One warrior, walking resolutely backwards, his reaper autocannon roaring, caught one of the shadowy creatures in a blast of heavy fire and it was ripped apart by the awesome force of the weapon.

Reaper autocannon decimates necron.

Page 384-385

The first were smashed apart by the guns of the Anointed, falling silently to the floor where they were stepped over by others of their mechanical kind.
...
On and on they came, walking slowly into the torrent of gunfire laid down by the Anointed, and still they did not raise their weapons. Marduk saw one of the fallen creatures, its head shattered by autocannon rounds, begin to rise to its feet once more, its eyes, which were black moments before, glowing once again. The damage done to its cranium repaired before his eyes, the metal knitting back into shape. Its skull was smooth and immaculate, and it stepped back into line with its companions.

Liquid promethium from heavy flamers roared as it was unleashed, as the walking corpse-machines drew ever nearer to the Terminators, but the flames did nothing to halt their progress.

Terminator weaponry vs Necron Warriors. It puts them down, does damage, but they recover. Flamers do fuck-all.

Page 393

Their glistening carapaces were dark and the smallest of them was no larger than a grain of sand.

Marduk bent and grasped one of the larger, scuttling beetle creatures..

Scarabs. Some are sand sized.

Page 396

“Open and close the portals to the netherworld?”

“That’s right, my First Acolyte,” laughed Jarulek. “Entire systems could have the warp closed off to them, allowing nothing to pass in or out of the region. Imagine it: systems unable to receive reinforcements, communications, supplies, munitions.

Imagine, if you will, if this were activated near ancient Terra,” said Jarulek, an evil grin upon his face. “Terra itself, closed to the warp, the cursed light of the False Emperor effectively kept in shadow, his ships, blind and lost in the turmoil of the Immaterium…”

“This could bring about the end of the Imperium.”

Power of hte Nexus Arrangement - basically acts as an interdiction field for warp access - not unlike the Cadian Pylons and similar devices the Necrons have constructed as part of their Great Warding.


Page 397

It was the size of grown man’s heart and he cradled it in his hands like a newborn child.

Size of the Nexus Arrangement

Page 397-399

The shape was roughly humanoid, though it was covered in thousands of the metallic scarabs, or more correctly it was formed from them. They skittered over the humanoid torso, rising slowly and silently from the pit, their body mass creating the shape of a man.
...
...the skittering bugs came to rest as they aligned in their appropriate positions, and their bodies merged, like droplets of water that were sucked together to form a greater mass. Thousands of metallic insects blurred together, their individual shapes and limbs moulding like liquid metal to form the immaculate and perfect form of a skeletal torso, gleaming silver.

Black, carapaced scarabs gave up their physical uniqueness, forming a black chest-plate over the silver ribs of the cadaverous, ancient lord rising up out of the light below.
...
A long-hafted weapon was formed in the creature’s metallic hands, as hundreds of scarabs gripped each other with claw and mandible to form a solid shape. They blurred as they melted together...

Necron Lord, forming itself from the bodies of thousands of merged scarabs. One of the benefits of Living Metal, I suppose. It's weapon too is formed from Scarabs

Page 398-399

Bolts smashed into its gleaming, silver skull, blasting chunks of metal away, and others caused chips of black stone to crack from its chest-plate.

These pieces of metal and stone landed on the black, glossy surface of the floor and immediately returned to their metallic scarab forms. They skittered about for a second before launching themselves into the air, wafer-thin metallic wings clicking out. They hovered over the deathly machine before settling on the damage done by the guns of the holy Word Bearer warriors. The metallic insects disappeared as they melted into the metal body of their master, leaving no appearance of the damage that had been caused.

Necron Lord Scarab-based self-repair.


Page 399

A scarab with a gleaming, golden carapace skittered over the skull of the forming creature, and it melted to become a shining circlet upon its forehead...
...
Swarms of smaller insects, some barely large enough for the eye to discern, glided over the silver bones of the creature and blurred together, forming a semiopaque, wafer-thin, billowing shroud that whipped around the skeletal form. This cloak had a dark, metallic sheen as if it had been woven of infinitely fine mesh, and it shimmered like liquid metal. It fluttered as if caught in a breeze,...

Even the Lord's garments are made from Scarabs.

Page 402

A searing beam of green light slammed into the back of the Dark Apostle and ripped through him, boring a fist-sized hole from abdomen to lower back.

Necron Lord weapon punches fist sized hole straight through the Dark Apostle.

Page 410

At Marduk’s psychic call, the Infidus Diabolus returned to the shattered wreck of Tanakreg, tearing a rift in reality as it emerged from the warp to meet the Thunderhawks, Stormbirds and other landing craft streaming up from the planet’s surface.

Apparently the Word Bearer's ship can enter/exit the warp close to the planet. Possibly a side effect of the ritual they enacted or the presence of so much warp energy in the system.

Page 414-415

“It would seem that it has some kind of protective field generator around it,” Kol Badar had explained when the magos had first been discovered amongst the wreckage of the crashed airship.

“I would presume that this is what enabled it to survive the crash,”
...
The Coryphaus had fired a burst of fire from his combi-bolter towards the magos and an energy bubble surrounding the priest of the Machine-God shimmered as it absorbed the momentum from the incoming bolt-rounds, slowing them enough for them to fall harmlessly at the magos’s feet.

Darioq's protective shield gave him defense from the crash (impacts) as well as bolter fire - it apparently can provide a counter-force to slow down projectils without stopping them, which may also be its protection against collisions (as well as bracing for the magos so he isnt sent flying, presumably.)

[Connor MacLeod]

Next up, Dark Disciple. The weakest of the three books I think, mainyl because.. not much goes on compared to the other two books. World being evacuated to escape tyranid menace, Dark Eldar raiding, Word Bearers show up looking for info and end up kililng Eldar. IT's really just a bridge between 1 and 3, and sets up much of what is to come.

Two parts, in one update:


Page 13

Ten expressionless skitarii warriors marched in a protective cordon around him, hellguns hard-wired into their brainstems held at the ready in black-gloved,
augmetic hands.

Skitarri with brain-linked hellguns.

Page 14

A series of red glow-globes began to strobe, and to the sound of wailing klaxons, heavy-duty plasteel blast doors, half a metre thick and containing a sandwiched core of interlaced adamantine, slammed down from the ceiling in front of the procurator and his entourage. Secondary layers of reinforced ceramite dropped down on either side of the main blast doors with a crash, and tertiary armoured plates of thirtycentimetre thermaplas slid from wall recesses, slamming together with titanic force. Pistons wheezed as arcane locking mechanisms rotated and clinched shut, sealing off the sole entrance into the installation of Kharion IV. Not even half a kiloton of military grade explosive would be able to penetrate those doors without destroying half of the asteroid that the installation was embedded within.

Interesting largely for the implications of the resilience for layered armor/hull materials. 500 tonnes of 'military grade explosive' cannot breach it, which is impressive to say the least, considering its maybe a metre or two thick. To put it another way.. half a kiloton of explosive could perhaps blast a 40-50 metre crater in solid iron, or a hundred forty meter crater in solid rock.

The interesting thing here as wel is whether 'half a tonne' refers to the explosive yield OR the quantity of explosive. If the latter case it could be considerably more powerful, depending on the explosives. What's more, the fact that the door could not be breached without blowing away half the asteroid facility. We don't know how BIG the asteorid facility is but even at a few hundred metres we could be talking many kilotons to blow away half of it, possibly even megatons. although at that poitn we're talking fairly 'exotic' explosives. Then again there are meltabombs, plasma grenades and similar and they might qualify as explosives too, so its not impossible. There were also the explosives used in the Ultramarines short story leviathan which wer 10x more powerful than conventional explosives (or smething to that effect.)



Page 17

The procurator’s eyes flicked left and right, and his mouth moved soundlessly as the internal processors built into the left hemisphere of his brain-unit registered and recorded the flow of data.

Cerebral augmentation.

Page 18

Robes were thrown aside and archaic bolters raised, and before the skitarii warriors’ targeting arrays registered a threat...

skitarii also have targeting arrays.

Page 18

The remaining skitarii brought their hellguns to bear, energy capacitors humming as the weapons surged into life. Electric-blue las-beams stabbed from the barrels of their guns, knocking one of the towering warriors back a step, searing holes through his robe and leaving smoking black impacts on his armour.

Hellguns have a brief chargeup time before firing. This may suggest there is a delay between shots or volleys as the capacitor recharges up to full, which can have implications for rate of fire. Possibly the weapons are designed for greater output at the cost of fire rate.


Page 18

Two more of the skitarii were cut down, one of them spinning as a bolt slammed into his shoulder and exploded, severing its arm and leaving a gory head-sized hole in its torso. A bolt round detonated in the brainpan of the other and its head exploded, spraying blood, brain matter and splinters of skull in all directions.

Bolt fire effects - head sided holes, blowing off limbs, headsploding, etc. The holes in torso probably explain things like 'blowing out chests' and such. Overall the damage is roughly comparable.

Page 21

"“and initiated the self-destruct mechanism, so that our presence will not be transmitted to the god-cogitators of Mars.”

Mars is ruled by 'god cogitators?' does this mean that the rulers of Mars are no longer humanoid bodies but some sort of cybernetic computer not unlike the Magos who ran Hydra Cordatus? Not impossible, as that would be in line with AdMech doctrine.

I also wonder how they keep contact. someone stumbling along it and sending a warning, or are they worriyng about an astropath?


Page 23

No reason for the evacuation had been issued from the guildmaster general’s office, and the twenty-three million strong population of the moon had been in shock.

Population of the moon being evacuated in this novel. One of several such places.

Page 24

An armoured Catalan-class squad vehicle moved slowly along one of the platforms, its white, high-compound plasteel chassis gleaming beneath the humming strip-lights overhead.
...
The winged emblem of the mercenary force was resplendent across the broad grill on the front of the heavy vehicle, and a pair of armoured soldiers stood in its dual turret at the rear, swinging the massive twin-linked heavy bolters left and right.

Some sort of police/military vehicle. I'd guess its analogous to a Tauros or Tauros Venator.

Page 24

For twenty-five generations, Perdus Skylla had employed the Skyllan Interdiction, an outside mercenary agency funded by the wealthy mining guild conglomerates. They served as the military force protecting the guilds’ assets in lieu of a Planetary Defence Force, while simultaneously acting as local law enforcement. Better trained and equipped than most Imperial Guard regiments, the hiring of the Skyllan Interdiction Forces had allowed the mining guilds to concentrate on their
endeavours without having to draw away any of its skilled workforce to form a PDF.

Use of a merc force instead of a PDF. I wonder if the Imperium tithes the mercs when they need troops?

Page 25

A creature of shadow clung to the ceiling of the corridor, virtually undetectable to the naked eye or the sophisticated targeting matrices built into the helmets of the Skyllan Interdiction Force.
...
Skyllan Interdiction Forces tapped their helmets as their communications went down, as if jammed by interference.

The Mercs have some fancy targeting headgear and helmet comms. They also use laslocks.

Page 30

The three sleek shapes sped through the inferno unscathed and gunned their engines, hurtling once more up the tunnel into the darkness, travelling hundreds of metres in seconds.

DE craft of some kind covering hundreds of metres in 'seconds'

Page 30

Blackened holes the size of fists showed where the vehicle had been struck by dark-matter weapons.

Some sort of conveyance vehicle bombarded by DE Dark lances.

Page 31

..Admiral Rutger Augustine looked out over the vast length of his flagship vessel, the mighty Retribution-class battleship Hammer of Righteousness.
...
Six kilometres from stern to prow, hundreds of spires ran along her length, joined together by flying buttresses and archways, and she bristled with the finest weapon systems that the Imperial Navy could boast.

Size and class of a REtribution class battleship. This is a bit small, considering Rogue Trader cruisers can be 5 km or even 8 km or so, battlecruisers are a big bigger, and Grand Cruisers can be anywhere from 7 to 12 km long. Hell the biggest escorts get 4 km long.

I'm inclined to think that perhaps size is not the sole - or even main - factor in Imperial ship classification. There is clearyl a certain degree of overlap, but I'd guess classification is ruled more by how the ship is designed/outfitted and the role it carries out, which itself can encompass several variations.

At the basic you have escorts and capital ships. Destroyers and frigates are the primary escorts, whilst cruisers and Battleships are the cap ships. Beyond that you can break down even further.

Destroyers/Raiders for example seem to be specialized designs - usually for speed, scouting, and extreme firepower. Frigates are more general purpose - designed to balance speed, durability, range, and firepower. This pattern also is replicated in capital ships - battleships are 'specialized' towards fighting, whilst cruisers are more multi-purpose. You can still get other 'variants' (Corvettes and sloops for escorts, or light cruisers and battlecruisers in capital ships) and specialization can go other ways (Escorts that might optimize for heavy armour and firepower at short range, in trade for speed and operational endurance, for example. One such firgate was in SAlvation's reach IIRC. Hell system defence monitors are basically that!)

Beyond that it might even allow for vessels of the same type and class/'pattern' to be of different sizes yet have similar roles. Such as a particular 'kind' of cruiser (Eg Lunar class) ranging from 3 km to 5 km and even to 8 km.

There are some tradeoffs to this. A 6 km battleship woudl still be better at fighting than a 8 km cruiser arguably because of its specialization, but it would be easier to build than a 8 km battleship would.

Page 31-32

Hundreds of close-range turrets were set across her armoured hull, each the size of four super-heavy battle tanks, and a dozen torpedo tubes, each gaping almost forty metres wide, were inset into her sweeping, massively armoured prow. It was in her broadside batteries, however, that the Hammer of Righteousness’s true power lay.

Running almost the complete length of the battleship, the starboard and port batteries were capable of unleashing an incredible amount of firepower, easily enough to cripple even the largest warship with a single barrage, or lay waste to entire continents if she entered the upper atmosphere of a rebellious planet.

Armament and capabiilities of the battleship. Interesting in how it carries more torpedo tubes than normal - 12 instead of six. Also they must be damn big torpedoes. Also hundreds of defense turrets far bigger than superheavy tanks, which probably means they're bigger than the guns they mount, and bigge rthan titan scale.

Also of course the obligatory demolish continent with braodside. Presumably, given the context, its a single barrage, but it doesn't really make that clear. It would be consistent with the ability of Grand Cruisers (which can be around 7 km) to raze continents in a single volley, however, and would imply roughly gigaton to teraton range broadsides.

Page 32

Tens of thousands of indentured workers and servitors slaved within the confined gun decks to load and ready the batteries for firing, and Admiral Augustine was proud to know that his gunnery crew, under the stern guidance of his master gunner and master of ordnance, were amongst the most efficient in all of Battlefleet Tempestus.

Tens of thousands of crew just for the gundecks. Also we're in Segmentum Tempestus. I think someone got confused about what battlefleets are.. this might be the sector battlefleet rather than a segmentum, but then we might also figure these were deployed from a segmentum.

Page 32

Constructed in the Adeptus Mechanicus shipyard moons of Gryphonne IV over a period of a thousand years, Hammer of Righteousness had been in commission, defending Imperial space for nigh-on eight thousand years.

1000 years to build a 6 km long starship. Which seems long givne the implied construction times for other battleship scale vessels (nevermind cruiser scale!) but this assumes it was operating at maximum efficiency, no stoppages, etc. We know from BFG that sometimes battleships may be delayed or stopped in construction for various reasons. Or it may just reflect the practices/techniques/useless religious crap that the world in question practices in building it. Sort of like what happens with Titans.

Page 33

He had held the rank of admiral for forty-two years, and at the age of one hundred and sixty-two..
...
Only two other ships assigned to Battlefleet Tempestus were of comparable size, and they were facing off against the xenos menace in distant sectors of the segmentum.

Age of the Admiral. Also again they must be sector rather than segmentum battlefleet, or else dispatched from some segmentum reserve, because we know bigger battleships can and do exist (Emperor class), nevermind that a segmentum would have far more than a mere 3 battleships for the entire area. 3 battleships would also be roughly consistent for a single sector.

Pge 33

He could not see the enemy with the naked eye, for they were still millions of kilometres away, but he knew that they were out there and closing on them inexorably.

Distance of the fleet from the Tyranids.

Page 33

having destroyed two dozen hive-ships for no losses....
...
The losses they had suffered made no discernible impact on the vast tyranid hive-fleet.

2 dozen hive ships destroyed, no losses, still a drop in the bucket.

Page 34

Four years previously a new hive-fleet had been identified, dubbed Hive Fleet Leviathan. It was a fitting name. Already billions had lost their lives to its insatiable hunger.

Hive fleet Leviathan first made an appearance around 997.M41, which means that this book is taking place in M42, allowing for time dilation.

PAge 34

By Lord Inquisitor Kryptman’s order a galactic cordon stretching before the encroaching xenos fleet was formed. The band of worlds directly in front of the cordon were evacuated, and many of them utterly destroyed, in order to deny the hive fleet raw organic matter. Any world already under tyranid invasion was to suffer Exterminatus—the theory being that the xenos would expend much energy in claiming a world, only to have all living things on the world exterminated. The inquisitor believed that by stalling the hive fleet’s advance, it would eventually turn aside, towards more lucrative killing grounds, and thus save the Imperium from devastation. However, it was a cruel and callous strategy, and not one that sat well with Admiral Augustine, even if it was humanity’s only hope of stalling the hive fleet. Billions of Imperial citizens had already been evacuated, their home worlds destroyed, and hundreds of millions had perished, killed by orbital barrages and virus bombs launched by those sworn to protect them.

They've already evacuated billions of citizens from the hundreds of worlds they intend to exterminatus within that four years. Billions vs hundreds of millions is still impressive, even by Imperial terms. Both in terms of transport capacity and in timeframe.

I also like how the Admiral isn't happy with it despite obeying orders. By 40K terms that makes him downright humanitarian. He takes his role seriously.

Also implication of the use of both virus bombs and orbital barrage to execute the Exterminatus.

Page 35-36

He took a moment to study the formations. Most of the fleet, seventy-two vessels of escort class and higher, had formed a bulwark spreading across the system with the Hammer of Righteousness at its centre. The cruiser Valkyrie, accompanied by three squadrons of smaller frigates and destroyers
...
Two other cruisers with squadrons of smaller escorts clustered in front of other populated worlds, the agri-world Perse..

72 cruisers and escorts in this part of the fleet. ASsuming the escorts are roughly comparable to the other two battleshps, we're talking hundreds of ships as part of 'battlefleet Tempestus.'

The vast majority must be escorts though, there's maybe 3 or so cruisers.

Page 35

Augustine moved to the holo-table positioned within a sunken recess in the floor, stepping down to look upon the position of his fleet. The table was crisscrossed with a grid of glowing green lines, indicating spatial parameters, and scale models of the entire fleet were positioned across its smooth expanse

...
The bio-mechanical amalgamations had no lower torso or legs. Their upper bodies, replete with wires and cables protruding from their pallid flesh, were attached to multi-jointed mechanical armatures that whirred and hissed as they extended and retracted, accurately moving and placing the fleets, accordingly, as fresh data was transmitted into them.

Holotable displaying the system battle. apparently the models are real.. a jab perhaps at the modelling/wargaming aspect of the universe.

Page 36

Small, featureless scale models, representing a host of transports and carriers engaged in the evacuation efforts, were positioned touching the inhabited worlds. Several other models representing similar transports were positioned en route to the blockade. Almost two hundred million people were being evacuated from this system alone.

they're attempting to evacuate 200 million from this system. Whethr they manage...

Assuming 200 million is 'average' system population for the Imperium, that means 200 trillion people total. This is obviously rather low, since Hive worlds ALONE (nevermind the systmes they're in) can encompass quadrillions on their own, but we're in the right approximate magnitude. Don't forget another 'minor' system in Emperor's mercy had over 19 billion, so this may not be 'standard'.

Of course if we go with the 'billions' of worlds/systems in the Imperium interpretation, we can get well into the quadrillions. :Mrgreen:

Page 45

Warp travel allowed the Infidus Diabolus to travel vast distances in months or years rather than decades or more, but Marduk would allow none of his battlebrothers to enter stasis while on these journeys...

Warp travel. Seems ab it slower for the word bearers, hence I gather the stasis capability if they used it.

Page 50

His flesh was wasted and pallid, though most of his body had long been replaced with mechanical augmentations. His entire lower body had been replaced with heavy-duty bionic replacements, immensely powerful leg-units with inbuilt gyro-stabilisers that enabled the magos to bear almost two metric tonnes of weight upon his frame.

This was necessary, for with a fully activated servo-harness, the magos weighed as much as a small tank.
...
Augmetic telescopic braces were fused to his spine for stability and strength, but the distinction between mechanical augmentation and flesh was blurring.

Former Magos Darioq, now corrupted, masses two metric tons, or a 'small tank'. They actually have two tonne tanks? If so then this means the cannon shells of some of the smaller guns on the Imperator Titan from Dakr Apostle might have weighed in at around 2 tonnes, making them (roughly) batlteship-scale guns.

Page 56

Guildmaster Polio was a realist. He did not delude himself into thinking that he ever had even half a chance of getting more than perhaps twenty per cent of the population of Perdus Skylla off-world; there were just not enough ships to facilitate the evacuation.

No more than 4-5 million can be evacuated due to shortage of transports, at least from this planet. Not optimsitic for the system as a whole, but one cannot generalize from a single moon.

Page 57

..focusing on the wealth of sub-system information being picked up by the daemonic sensor-arrays protruding from the prow of the Infidus Diabolus. They saw
the conglomeration of Imperial vessels forming an unbroken line across the system and the flickering waves of warp-energy that marked jump-points, and located the
position of the target: the moon the Imperials called Perdus Skylla.

Sensor systems of Word Bearers strike cruiser are daemonic. Note the multiple 'jump points' that can be detected and they apparently are scattered across the system, rather than being fixed. Whether they are 'safe' or not is up for debate.

Page 58

“Sir, Battle Group Orion has picked up a warp-echo emanating from jump-point XIV. It has been verified by our own Navigatorii.”
..
“No sir. Initial sweeps indicate a vessel of cruiser mass, but it is not an organic entity.”

Word Beares ship is detected. One wonders why they oculdn't locate it sooner. Interference from the tyranids? If so how can they communicate FTL or detect anything? For that matter, how the hell are the Word Bearers getting into the system (or starships getting out??)



Page 59

..plasma-core engines burning blue-white as it closed towards the vast red giant sun around which the solar system rotated. Solar flares a million kilometres in height burst from the daemonic red corona...
...
The sun was dying. Five billion years earlier it was less than one hundredth of its current size, though it had burnt over ten times as hot. Having exhausted its gaseous core, it had expanded exponentially, engulfing its nearest planets. Even as it grew in size, it was diminished in mass, and the outer planets circling it began to pull further away, its gravitational hold over them weakening. Now it burnt the colour of hell itself, but in another billion years it would be no more.

The Infidus Diabolus dropped closer to the hellish, glowing corona, buffeted by solar winds. There, with intense spikes of radiation spilling around her hull, she drew anchor.

The Strike Cruiser is lurking in the corona of a red giant star. According to here and here it could be between 1000 or 10000+ t times more luminous/energetic than our star but are considerably bigger. Figure hundreds of kilowatts to several megawatts per square meter at least, depending on exact parameters.

Page 72

The three Firestorm-class frigates of Battle Group Orion sent their sweeps out in front of them, searching in vain for the suspected Astartes vessel. Every scan came back negative, and attempts to locate the ship through astrotelepathic means proved equally fruitless. It was as if the ship had never existed.

“It could be a ghost-image from a jump a thousand years ago,”

Detection of the Word Beares ships fails even by psychic detection.

PAge 72

Unseen and invisible in the radiation field of the red giant, an Imperial-class transport vessel blasted from the hangar decks of the Infidus Diabolus and began to make its way across the gulf of space, heading towards the Imperial blockade and the moon of Perdus Skylla beyond.

Word bearer shuttle leaves the ship and survives (Brief) contact around the corona of the star. This is a carried ship capable of planetary landing by the way.

Page 73

He could see dozens of ships, ranging in size from immense battleships bristling with weapons to small civilian transports.

Ships in orbit around the afroementioned moon being evacuated. Each evacuee ship (I assume that is the majority) must be capable of carrying tens or hundreds of thousands of people.

Page 73

The shields of the transport vessel were enough to protect it from showers of small meteors and other space-born debris, but a single broadside from even the
smaller battle cruisers would easily overpower them, and the ship would be ripped apart.

The transport craft the word Bearers are using is shielded, not unlike the thunderhawk in dArk Apsotle. Its an imperial transport and it isnt recognized as being distinctively astartes or Chaos, so its probably not a rare or unusual design either or else it would grab notice.

Page 83

The activated electromagnets within his heavy, augmented boots kept him locked to the floor, and his four mechanical servo-arms were braced between two bulkheads. Weighing well over a metric tonne, nothing was going to move the techno-magos.

Darios is now over a metric tonne

Page 85

The enhanced auto-sensors in his helmet allowed his sight to pierce the raging blizzard, though mere mortal eyes would have seen nothing but a blinding sheet of white.
...
As usual, he did not deign to wear his helmet; his witch-sight easily the match of any automated sensors.

Autosenses in word bearer armor can pierce snowstorm with 100 kph winds. So can daemon sight.

Page 88-89

Marduk froze, pushing himself flat to the ground as his keen auto-senses flashed a warning before his eyes. The massive gates of the bastion began to open..
...
They were non-standard template vehicles protected by thick plates of whitepainted armour. Marduk’s targeting arrays locked onto the foremost vehicle, and a flood of data streamed in front of his eyes. A heavy weapons sponson unfolded from behind the main engine block, sliding forward and locking into place, and the weapon panned left and right. They were light vehicles, roughly the size of Rhino APCs, and they were clearly built for traversing the ice flows, with heavy, thick tracks at the rear and a single upwards flaring ski as broad as the tank at the front.

Nonstandard snow vehicles with weapons and the size of Rhinos (presumably similar tonnage). They're also tracked. Obviously not chimeras.

Also Word bearer armour has targeting array and data capabilities.


Page 89

The long, insulated barrels of defence lasers rose up behind the aquila structure, angled towards the heavens. He knew that the vast power source for the formidable weapons would be located deep within the rock below. They were weapons of awesome potency, though useless against an enemy that had already landed.

Defence lasers seem to be quite large, with a fair bit of their stuff buried underground. Also, unlike some of the smaller defence lasers we know of, completely incapable of hitting ground targets, which makes them dedicatd anti ship ones (not unlike those at Macragge.)


PAge 90

His gleaming, black, reflective eyepieces panned upwards, targeters locking onto autocannon turrets and demolisher cannons built into the sides of the rock face. Had the weather been less severe, the static defences would have taken a heavy toll on the Host as it approached.

Close in antipersonnel/antivehicle defenses.

Page 91

Two twin-linked autocannon turrets guarded the approach to the bastion gates, and they panned back and forth across the open ground before them.
..
Heavier siege cannons protruded from the rock face above the gates, but they were of less interest to Marduk, for he was below their arc of trajectory. They were designed to fire upon enemy two hundred metres and further out, not at a foe already at the base of the bastion.

More details about the ground defenses. Demolisher siege cannons apaprently have an arc problem that limits them to 200 metres or more range. Autocannons don't have that problem. Oh and they're automated with no obvious servitor guidance. Machine spirit perhaps.

Page 91

...he opened up a visual feed with Kol Badar, allowing the Coryphaus to see what he did..

Ability ot share visual feeds between Word Bearers.

Page 94

Imperial sweeps arced across the ice three times, and the Word Bearers froze each time, instantly cutting relay feeds and vox-transmissions to make themselves all but invisible.

Vox and relays seem to be a constant 'sharing' between the Word Bearers, unless they want to avoid detection. Of course how they can when their armour must be radiating heat like a motherfucker...

Page 94-95

The distance to the closest turret was no more than twenty metres, and the bastion gate was less than forty.
...
...warning sensors flashed in Marduk’s helmet. Without the interference of the billowing ice-crystals in the air, the turrets swung towards the Word Bearers and opened fire.

A fraction of a second before the autocannons unleashed their fury, Marduk rolled to the side and high-calibre rounds ripped up the ground where he had lain.


One of the Havoc Space Marines was hit by the opening salvo, his helmet smashing apart beneath the heavy weapons fire, staining the snow with his blood.

Turrets open fire at under 50 metres. Salvo of autocannon fire of unknown quanittiy blows apart Word Bearer helmet. The fact Marduk is trying to avoid fire (rather than ignoring it like they usually do for lasweapons) suggests that they are of at least some danger (sustained fire can penetrat,e perhaps.)

Page 95

A stream of white-hot plasma engulfed another turret, and plasteel and rockcrete ran like liquid as it was destroyed.

Supersoaker plasma gun melts turret. If we assume around 5-10 kilos melted, we might get anywhere from 5 to 20-30 MJ for the 'blast', but thats just a guess. Its at least single digit MJ for sure for melting at least a few kg of something.

Page 95-96

One of Namar-sin’s coterie was caught in a fusillade from two directions, and fell to one knee as his body was pierced a dozen times. Still, he refused to fall, and pushing himself back to his feet, he ran on towards the bastion gates.

Bullets glanced off Marduk’s shoulder plates, and a round caught him in the chest, knocking him back a step, though it did not penetrate his thick ceramite armour.

Another Havoc marine having his armour penetrated by autocannon fire, although it doens't put him down. Must not be explosive rounds.

Autocannon fire glances and is stopped by Marduk's armour. Of course he's not a line trooper so that may make a difference. Again single rounds or glancing hits seem to be no concern, but sustained fire may be another story.

Page 96

...champion Namar-sin staggered into the protection beneath the gateway, smoking bullet craters across his armour. His left arm was gone, blown clear by autocannon fire, and his armour was awash with blood.

Autocannon damage to word bearers again.

Page 97

The melta-bombs detonated, and the metre-thick gates buckled inwards. The force of the super-heated explosions was directed inwards, searing through the reinforced metal barrier. It was not fully breached, but as he lowered the arm that shielded his face, Marduk recognised instantly that its integrity was compromised.

Meltabombs have a penetration of around a metre for the doors to breach their integrity, but do not melt or otherwise severly damage them. We dont know what material the door is made of though. Still the penetration is damn impressive.

Page 98

...the hiss of lasguns and the whine as they re-powered..

The Mercs use laslocks, so it probably explains why the lasguns have to recharge. They use laslock and lasgun interchangably in this novel. Again a sign of probably trading off fire rate for increased 'per shot' power - their gear is not exactly low quality or low end so it can't be blamed on shitty equipment.

Page 99

..he swung his bolt pistol around and fired. A troop of white-armoured soldiers ran at him, and his first rounds took one of them in the chest. He fell with a strangled cry as his ribcage was shattered. A second enemy dropped as his head exploded, and Marduk pumped another pair of shots into the body of a third warrior.

The soldiers halted, those in front dropping to one knee as they raised their lasguns. Others sought cover against the pipes protruding into the corridor, and they fired as their sergeant shouted an order.

Las-rounds impacted with Marduk’s chest and shoulder pads, knocking him back half a step. They left blackened scorch marks on his armoured plates, and Marduk
snarled in fury as he leapt forwards, his chainsword roaring.

Bolt fire against humans, more chest shattering and headsploding. Lasgun fire from what is probably a squad (lead by a sergeant) does not penetrate but knocks him back 'half a step' which probably means at least a metre. The lasrounds imparted significant momentum. Assuming explosive vaporization of the surface and a 2000 m/s gas velocity. If Marduk weighs 300 kg (reasonable, although one could argue he might mass as much as 500 kilos since other CSM do, like in the Bastion Wars novels or Deathwatch) we're talking 300 kj of KE injected into Marduk at least, and 150 grams of material vaporized (If made of silicion like material it might be 1.8 MJ total, if iron we're talking 1.1 MJ) That works out to between 30-180 kj per 'shot', which is not impossible for a laslock with a delayed 'recharge' of at least a few seconds.

page 100

Marduk blew the arm off one of them with his bolt pistol fired at close range...

Bolt pistol roudn blows off human arm.

Page 100

He fired his bolt pistol, and another enemy was slammed backwards into its comrades as the back of its head exploded outwards.

Only partial head-sploding this time. I should note though these troops are helmeted and armoured, so this effect might be ascribed to the armour providing partial protection rathr than completely failing (resistance or failure is not 100% even with real life body armour.)

Page 102

Three of the light armoured vehicles of the enemy were thrown upwards as a lascannon ignited fuel cells,..

The Merc vehicles seem to run off fuel cells of some kind.

Page 103

One of the Anointed swung the heavy twin barrels of his reaper autocannon before him like a scythe, laying down a withering hail of high-calibre fire that ripped everything apart indiscriminately: armour, men, vehicles and rockcrete.

Reaper autocannon again tearing everything apart.


Page 103

..he snapped off a shot with his pistol in response, sending a man flying five metres backwards, a crater exploding from his back.

Momentum imparted (supposedly) from bolt round. Whether that is from explosive effect or impact we dont know.

Page 115

The crawler was immense, over fifty metres long and almost twenty metres high. Its wedge-shaped hull sat upon eight sets of tracks, each more than five metres wide and powered by massive engines.

some sort of crawler, albeit a damn huge one - fucking superheavy really. As big as a leviathan or a titan in fact. Must weigh easily thousands of tons.

PAge 126

Normally, a crawler’s engineer maintained enough heat in the boilers that no snow would settle.

The crawlers seem to use boilers - steam power.

Page 126-127

A hole had been blasted through the side of the immense transport, roughly the size of a man’s head, scorch marks surrounding the
strike.
...
Several holes had been punched through the front chassis of the crawler, and Solon marvelled at the immense power of the blasts. The front of the crawlers were heavily armoured, allowing them to push through ice, rock and snow if necessary, and he had been led to believe that even a lascannon would be unable to pierce its reinforced layers.

DE dark matter weapons again probably. Head sized hole and they're vastly more powerful than lascannon

Page 127

Splinters of barbed metal were embedded in the steel rim off the wheel.

He peered closely at one of the splinters. It was viciously barbed, and he winced at its cruel design. Had it been embedded in a living body, the flesh would be torn to shreds in attempting to pull it free.

DE splinter rounds. remember these things (as per Path of the Renegade) can be hypervelocity.

Page 136

“The mining facility is located on the ocean floor. It is over ten thousand metres below the surface of the ice.”

Location of adMech mining facility.

Page 146

Burias plucked a long, barbed splinter from the corpse’s neck, and studied it with interest. It was half the length of a finger, and so thin that if he turned it sideways it was all but invisible. He lifted it carefully to his lips, and his tongue flashed out to sample the serrated tip.

The taste was acrid, and he registered unknown toxic agents upon the splinter. He tasted blood as the barbed shard sliced his tongue.

Xenos toxins entered his bloodstream, and his limbs began to shudder. A slight sweat broke out on his brow, and he lifted a shaking hand in front of his eyes,
attempting to keep it steady, but failing.

He felt the unknown serum coursing its way towards his twin hearts, but remained unconcerned. Indeed, as soon as the venom had entered his bloodstream, his bio-engineered defences had activated, and were even now isolating and breaking down the xenos poison. His heart rate increased as his body combated the threat, pumping his blood swiftly through his oolitic kidney implant, cleansing it of the deadly serum.

After less than a minute, Burias’s heart rate had returned to normal and the shaking sickness had left him.

DE splinter. They seem to reflect shuriken weapons in this case, maybe 4-5 cm long, incredibly thin on one edge (monoedge crap probably, which likely means micrometer thicknesses or less) and wide enough they can be plucked and held (around a cm or so wide, perhaps?) Assuming one micrometer thick, 1 cm wide and 4 cm long the splinter MIGHT be between 1-3 grams depending on density (something between rock and iron is what I assumed.) In my mind its probalby more towards the lesser end of the scale - a gram or less, but probably not much smaller than that by an OoM, making DE weapons not unlike a flechette-firing rifle or shotgun on steroids.

Also the poison has no effect on the possessed Space Marine's biology. Context implies its just his space marine physique doing it, but the two are so linked its hard to be sure otherwise.

Page 147

Khalaxis and his coterie were caught in the open, and before they could even raise their weapons to fire, three of their number were cut down beneath a hail of barbed projectiles.

Splinter fire downs word bearers

Page 147

One of the Anointed unleashed the fury of his reaper autocannon, and hundreds of high calibre rounds chased the jetbikes as they banked around in a wide circle, passing behind the wreckage of the derailed carriages of the rail conveyance.

The autocannon tore through the carriages of the train and ripped out great chunks from the rockcrete walls, but even the enhanced targeting sensors built into the Anointed’s Terminator armour could not match the speed of the enemy.

Termie with Reaper autocannon. Implies hundreds of shells in a very short period of time (seconds probably, far less than a minute.)

[Connor MacLeod]

Page 152

Fifteen hundred people do not just disappear.

Carrying capacity of those huge crawlers.

Page 155

Folches leant around the corner of the crawler, peering through the sight of his weapon. The scope rendered the landscape in shades of green, and though it lit up the darkness as if it were day, the fury of the storm was such that he could see no more than twenty metres ahead.

Merc's laslock scope can see at night, but can't pierce the snowstorm (unlike Astartes autosenses.)

Page 158-159

A fist-sized hole had burned through the side window of the cabin and driven through the drive-mechanics on the wall opposite, leaving a smoking hole that dripped with molten metal. The driver was slumped back in his seat, half his head missing, the devastating blast having clearly passed through him when it had struck.

Solon gagged at the stink of burnt flesh, but moved into the cabin, trying not to look at the corpse, and failing. There was no blood. Whatever had struck him had cauterised the wound completely, forming a blackened crust. The blast had hit him in the temple, and everything in front of the line drawn between his ears was missing, down to his mouth, which was drawn in an almost comical expression of shock.

Dark Lance again. Seems to be implied to be thermal in this case. We dont know the size of the hole, but assuming it burnt a hole as deep as its diameter (10 cm x 10 cm) and melted and a density of iron about 6.2 kg would be affected.. about 7-8 MJ to melt.

If the 'head sized' hole mentioned earlier was also a dark lance and we assume a 15 cm diameter, 15 cm deep hole... 21 kg would be affected, and 25 MJ total.

Bear in mind this assumes they are thermal weapons. It was debatable evne before 5th edition whether that was the case (consistently) and IIRC the 5th edition DE codex made them more magical. They could 'melt' things but purely as a side effect (meaning the edges are molten but the actual volume drilled out was disintegrated or disappeared or whatever.) which means far less energy is released and even then largely as a side effect. The way in which the driver's head was blasted could also confirm this (lack of explosive effects or collateral damage aside from cauterization for one thing.)

Page 159

A beam of solid darkness punched through the side of the control cabin, destroying the console in a shower of sparks. Cables and wires were fused by the lance strike and flames exploded outwards with immense force, shattering the already ruptured plasglass windows of the cabin and hurling Solon backwards through the cabin door.

Thrown backwards down the stairs leading to the cabin, the flesh of his face and arms blistering from the heat, Solon hit the deck hard. Frantically, he fought to rip his thermal undershirt off, for the synthetic material was melting onto his skin.

The Dark lance again.

Page 164

Splinters of rapidly propelled metal hissed through the open hatch and sliced through the steel exhausts as if they were made of synth-paper.

Penetration from DE shuriken pistol.

Page 165

The spiked, overlaying plates of armour flexed as easily as synth-fabric, moulding to the contours and muscles of the figure’s legs.

DE armour. even the plates are flexible.

Page 167

Marduk grunted as a line of splinters struck his left shoulder plate, embedding deep into the ceramite-plasteel alloy, but not penetrating.

Word bearers armour (at least Marduk's) stops splinter fire this time

Page 168

...two of the accelerating bikes were taken down, one as a gout of hot plasma turned its elongated faring molten, and another as heavy bolter rounds ripped through its drive mechanics. The bike struck by the heavy plasma gun struck the floor, nose first, and flipped end over end, sending its rider flying.

Heavy weapons vs DE bikes.

Page 168

A shower of splinter-fire raced along the floor and peppered one of the Anointed, but the Terminator-armoured warrior brother stood against the fire pelting him like a man bracing himself against the wind. His twinlinked bolters roared, ripping head-sized chunks from the front of one of the bikes, but it did not fall..

Terminators vs DE bikers.

Page 168

One of Sabtec’s warriors was caught in the fire of two bikes, and though the splinters could not fully penetrate his thick armour, dozens of the cruel barbs sank through the gaps between the plates of his Mark IV armour, and he fell without a sound. Splinters had pierced the small gap between his breastplate and his helmet, filling his throat with slivers of metal, and two other splinters shattered his left eye lens, driving into his brain.

Possible indication of how splinter fire takes down Marines - through sheer volume.

Page 168

..and
Marduk blew the head off another rider with a carefully aimed shot of his bolt pistol.

The headless rider was ripped from the saddle of his bike and hurled backwards..

DE headsplosion.

Page 169

A flurry of splinters struck him in the back, and Marduk was knocked forwards as he rose.

More failure of splinter weapons to penetrate DE armour.

Page 170-171

With his witch-sight, he registered a shadowy shape in the corner of his vision, and then twisted away as a blade stabbed towards him once again, putting some space between him and his nigh-on invisible assailant.

His eyes narrowed as they locked on a lean, ghostlike figure. It became visible for a second, taunting him, and he saw a slim figure, its skin as black as pitch, with arcane sigils cut into its flesh. Its eyes were milky white, with no pupils, and it snarled at him, exposing a maw filled with tiny, barbed teeth.

Then the figure was nothing more than a shadow again, a vague ghostly shape that surged towards him in a blur of motion.
...
Then it was gone, disappearing into thin air as if a veil had been drawn over it.
...
The creature had seemed at once familiar and alien. He thought he had scented the power of the warp within its being, but the creature had been no daemon, nor truly one of the possessed.

Mandrake I think. This was pre-5th I believe, so whether or not this applies, or whether we have to conclude differnet kinds of MAndrake exist, I dont know. Maybe its a category for a type of being rather than a specific sort (you can become a mandrake in different ways, and the ycan have differnet abilities or properties through that creation, but they're roughly similar.)

Page 172

One-bolt round detonated in the shoulder of one of the eldar figures, ripping its arm clear in a spray of blood, and another was torn in two as a burst of fire caught it in its slender midsection.

A spray of splinters embedded themselves in Marduk’s chest plate, but he did not slow his charge, and pumped another burst of shots towards a pair of eldar raiders.

Displaying inhuman speed, they darted to the side and his shots went wide, ripping chunks out of the wall.
...
...slashed a groove across Marduk’s thigh with the curving bayonet blade beneath the barrel of its rifle.

The blade bit into his flesh...

DE vs Word Bearers, which is fairly predictable. They're good at evading gunfire but if they take hits they're screwed - at least against Astartes grade weapons.

And DE ranged weapons seem to do dick against Marduk again. Melee weapons are another story.

Page 174

The black armour was curiously soft and pliable beneath his foot, but as he exerted more pressure he felt it strengthen and grow rigid, resisting him.

DE body armour. Probably explains the mobility - they seem to be made of the eldar mesh stuff that grows rigid on impact - even the plating I gather.

Page 174

Three members of the 13th were down, one of them not moving as blood poured from a wound to his head, too severe for the potent larraman cells of his Astartes make-up to seal. Two members of Khalaxis’s 17th coterie were dead, two more injured. Nine eldar had been slain, and three more had been injured and callously abandoned by their brethren.

aftermath. Either the severity of the injury by DE weapons or the toxins they used neutralized the clotting ability.

Page 177

Hundreds of inhabited worlds were being abandoned. Countless millions had already perished, either consumed to feed the insatiable hunger of the xenos hive fleet, or utterly destroyed by the zealous policy of Exterminatus employed by the Imperium. Any world not fully evacuated before the tyranid ground invasion began was stricken from the Imperial records and bombarded from high orbit.

Already a score of colonised planets had been put to the sword, every living thing—tyranid, human, animal, vegetable—utterly consumed in purifying flame.

Hundreds of worlds being evacuated. That could mean many tens or hundreds of billions of people in the path. A score of worlds in the path at the same population level as this system (200 million) could imply upwards of four billion in danger currently. If only 'millions' have died (even if we take that up to hundreds of millions.) far more possibly have gotten out than were left there, as noted before.

Also again, exterminatus, this time exectued from high orbit and killing all life.

Also note that worlds destroyed are 'stricken from Imperial records' as lost. This may explain why some worlds that get stripped of all resources (like in that crap short story Mortal fuel) get stricken from records - they are considered 'dead' to all intents and purposes even if there are living people on them. Without access or aid from the Imperium it is unlikely they can survive long anyhow if the Imperium has fucked up the planet. Bureacratic dickery, basically.

Page 183

Marduk shot an Imperial soldier in the face, and the back of the man’s head exploded outwards, spraying blood and brain matter across the wall.

Page 185-186

...accompanied by sentry guns with servitors hard-wired into their targeting systems...
...
The Coryphaus smashed the scorpion-legged rapier sentry-guns aside with backhand blows of his power talons..

Rapier sentry guns with servitor gunners, and also seem to be mobile.

PAge 192

Ja’harael materialised out of the shadows next to him, darkness clinging to him like a shroud. His milky eyes stared into Keelan’s for a moment, and the sybarite recoiled at the half-breed’s presence.

...
The mandrake’s skin was as black as pitch, and sigils were cut into his flesh, marking his damnation. The mandrakes were shadow-creatures. Once, they had been eldar, but they had long ago given themselves up to darkness, inviting the foul presence of others into their souls. Now they were something altogether different, living apart from the eldar race, preying on their own in the darkness of Commoragh and the webway. They existed in three planes—the real, the webway, and the warp— and were able to slip between the realms at will.

The Mandrakes. guess I was right.

Page 196

...the lift was like a massive bead through which the thick cable was threaded, and its interior, though the ceiling was low, was large enough to house half a tank company. Its sides were thickly armoured to withstand the intense pressure of deep sea.

A lift from teh surface down to the mining colony 10 km belowground.

Page 199

Its serrated tip emerged from the front of his throat, the monomolecular blade sliding through his gorget as if it were made of paper.

DE monomolecular knife.

Page 201

One of the black-skinned eldar warriors made a slashing motion with its hand that parted the substance of the air, cutting aside the veil between real space and beyond. In an instant, the fallen warrior was bundled through the rent in reality, which sealed up behind him as if it had never been.

Mandrakes can make portals into the warp. Or perhaps into the webway.

Page 205

Marduk stared through the thirty-centimetre thick porthole into the inky blackness beyond...
...
The lift strained and creaked alarmingly as the building pressure of the water outside pressed in. The thick metal plates of the hull, supported by countless brackets and thick bolted girders, flexed inwards, groaning like a beast in torment.
...
They were some four thousand metres below the surface, nearing halfway to the ocean floor.

The lift agian. It's quite possible for modern technology to achieve similar. The deepest dive ever done was in 1953 to a depth of 11 km. Other modern vehicles however tend to go more towards 5-7 km. This isn't impressive so much for the depth (although there is some of that) but how incredibly routine for the Imperium it is to achieve this - this is just for economic/mining purposes.

PAge 216

“I believe these people are held in the sway of xenos creatures,” he stated. “A tyranid vanguard species, perhaps. I feel that there is some form of psychic control over these miners that draws the hive fleet like a lure. These deluded fools are worshipping a xenos creature, or a host of them, that will be the death of them.”

Marduk and his bunch don't know about Genestealers. Also the irony of them looking down on Genestealer/Tyranid worship as being 'the death of them' is incredibly ironic.

Page 217

Marduk peered at the small view-screen. The submersible had no viewing portal; it was built to traverse the deepest abyssal channels of the ocean floor, and at extreme depths even the most heavily reinforced window would crumple beneath the tremendous pressure. In its stead, the grainy, black and white pict screen fed visual information from the sensor arrays on the exterior of the deep-sea vessel.

Submersibles capable of functioning over 10 km underwater. Again this isn't unheard of, but this isn't a research vehicle. Its a freaking mining vehicle. It also has a power claw and drill for mining, I gather.

Page 219

The chasm must have been over two kilometres in width, and it dropped away into utter darkness.
...
The Dvorak-class freighter was wedged between the walls of the chasm, its prow and stem ground into the sheer walls of the drop-off, bridging the bottomless gap.

approximately 2 km long freighter. And it is relatively intact underwater (it survived descent throught the atmosphere, collision with the ocean, and sinking.) And that was thousands of years ago.

Page 223

The ship was over two kilometres in length and consisted of almost fifty deck levels, depending on where within the ship one was located.

Again the ship is over 2 km long.

Page 227

Marduk’s shots took the creature in the back of the head, and its forehead exploded like a ruptured egg, spraying brain matter, blood and shards of skull, and it fell to the ground, dead, a tangle of alien limbs.

Multiple bolt rounds to shatter Genestealer's head.

Page 234

The reaper autocannnon of the Anointed warrior brother, Akkar, roared into life, the flame of the mighty weapon’s muzzle flash lighting up the dark room as if it were daylight. Hundreds of shell casings poured from the heavy weapon as it unleashed its full power, and a constant stream of high calibre rounds ripped up the length of the corridor, shredding everything that they struck.

Scores of the aliens were ripped apart as the shells tore through them, the highpitched screams of the dying aliens all but lost beneath the roaring of the autocannon’s twin barrels.

Hundreds of shells unleasehd in apparently seconds, decimating scores of Genestealers.

Page 237-238

He quickly erected his survival tent, pulling it loose from his thigh-pocket and unravelling it before turning it into the wind, which expanded it like a balloon. He dragged Dios’s lifeless body into the cramped interior and ran a finger down the tentflap, sealing it...
...
The temperature in the tent had risen sharply from their body-heat, and condensation had formed on its translucent walls.

Solon had set up his water distiller, and the trickle of purified water was now constant. He had filled both his water flasks, and the taste of the cold, fresh water on his tongue was like divine nectar.

Survival gear. The interesting thing is apparently the heat-retaining properties of the tent, given this place is suppsoed to be damn inhospitable to normal life (They earlier mention at least 40 below zero, and possibly negative 70 with windchill, and 100 km per hour storm winds.

Page 239

Another wave of enemy creatures surged down the corridor, leaping the shattered remains of their kind, and Akkar depressed the thumb trigger of his heavy reaper autocannon once more, sending hundreds of high-calibre rounds into their line, ripping them apart without remorse.

Again with single burst (or sustained burst at least) hundreds of shells unleashed on target.

Page 255

Such summoned daemons had only a finite existence in the material plane. If their physical bodies were not killed, they might last a day before their substance unravelled.

Lesser daemons like bloodletters can last a day once summoned. At least when summoned by someone like MArduk.

Page 258

The corrupted magos, with his full servo-harness and plasma-core generator attached to his back, weighed almost twice as much as one of the Terminatorarmoured Anointed warriors...

Darioq is 2x the mass of a Terminator. which could mean 500-1000 kg, depending ont he source you go by (he's either a metric tone, or two metric tonnes.)

Page 264-265

“And you say this… implant attack that Rhamel has suffered is altering his genetic coding?” asked Marduk.

“That is correct, master.”
...
“The machine is not wrong, brother,” said Rhamel. “I can feel it working within me, changing me."

Genestealer implanting attacks work even on Space MArines.

PAge 266

Then the bolt pistol bucked in Khalaxis’s hand, and the back of Rhamel’s head was obliterated, exploding outwards in a shower of gore.

Bolt pistol headsploding CSM.

Page 275

Marduk blasted the head of another creature into pulp and tracked his pistol skywards as one of the xenos creatures leapt high into the air.
...
The bolt took the creature in the chest, passing through its chitinous exoskeleton before detonating, creating a headsized crater of mined flesh. Still it fell towards him, its brain not yet registering that it was dead, its every instinct willing it on to kill.

A probable Gargoyle having a head sized hole blown in its chest. Another (probable) hormagaunt has its head pulped.

Page 276

Their bio-weapons pulsed, the fleshy projectile tubes contracting sharply with peristalsis. Marduk felt something splatter across his left arm plates, and hissed in pain.

Looking down, he saw a mass of fleshy grubs boring through his ceramite vambrace and into his flesh, and he swatted frantically at them, trying to dislodge them. He squashed dozens of them as they scrabbled for purchase on his armour, but several of them were already too deep for him to easily remove, burrowing into the muscle of his forearm, squirming within his body as they feasted on his flesh.
...
He saw one of the 13th coterie fall to the ground, screaming in agony as a mass of writhing flesh-worms burrowed through his helmet, clogging his respirator and boring through the lenses covering his eyes, gnawing their way through his skull and into his brain.

Fleshborers penetrate and kill Astartes through their armour.

Page 279

The larger tyranid creatures they had seen clawing their way free of their sporepod were stalking towards the Land Raiders, their tails thrashing. Each pair of upper arms ended in scything blades, and their secondary pairs of arms moulded into longbarrelled bio-cannons
...
Lascannon beams made the air crackle with electrical energy as the twin-linked side-sponsons of the mighty Land Raiders fired, and one of the large tyranid creatures was vaporised.

4 landraiders vaporize one Tyrnaid warrior. 6.3 GJ for 8 beams perhaps, assuming literla vaporization. If not literal... well.. its 2.4 Metres tall. Assuming it's width is 1/4 that (60 cm) at 400 j per sq cm for 'flaying flesh off bone' flash burns' we might get ~11-12 MJ at least for up to 8 beams. figure it falls somewhere in that very extreme low end and the literal end of things.

Page 285

The incubi at Drazjaer’s side levelled their glaives at the pair, and runes flickered with witch-light upon the blasters built into their sweeping tormentor helms. The potent weapons were neurally linked to the incubi’s brain waves, and could be fired with a mere thought, leaving the warrior’s hands free to wield their punisher glaives.

Incubi armament. The blasters resemble mandiblasters to some degree, don't they?

PAge 287

The two figures were immense, as tall as eldar, but easily three times the weight, their bodies bulked out with thick slabs of muscle.

Unarmored astartes are as tall as Dark Eldar, but 3x as bulky. This might suggest 180-200 kg in weight, and that DE can reach 7-8 feet in height.

Page 288

“Living, and strong, my lord dracon. The potency of its soul-essence is worth a hundred, a thousand of the lesser mon-keigh breed.”

A CSM (or possibly Astartes) soul is worth 100-1000 lesser human souls, at least to Dark Eldar.

Page 292

They must have picked up the blinking distress beacon in Solon’s exposure suit that he had activated..

Distress beacons ins ome sort of cold weather Hostile Envrioment suit.

Page 293

Solon pushed himself wearily to his feet and checked the digi-compass beneath a flap of canvas on his left arm, realigning himself with the direction of the Phorcys starport..

the suit also has a compass.

PAge 301

They were the Emperor’s chosen, biologically enhanced warriors that were as strong as ten men, armed with the most advanced weaponry the Adeptus Mechanicus could provide, and armoured in heavy plate that could withstand a direct hit from a Leman Russ battle tank, so it was said.

The bit about a direct hit from a Russ is unlikely (unless we're talking Termie armour and perhaps its lascannon) but the ten times stronger isn't unheard of. That was what was stated in Angels of Darkness.

Page 304

A beam of pure darkness stabbed through the air and slammed into the daemon’s body, smashing it to the ice, and it roared in fury and pain.

The daemon writhed on the ground. A searing hole had punched through its side just above the hip, passing clean through its body, and as it thrashed around, hot blood splashed across the ice and snow, causing steam to rise where it landed.
...
Another lance of dark light stabbed from one of the vehicles, striking one of the daemonic Space Marines’ battle tanks, which exploded spectacularly, the immense fireball throwing the shattered vehicle high into the air.

Dark lance fire. Burias comes off better in the exchange.

Page 304-305

The shot had gone clear through him, passing between his hip and the base of his fused ribcage, leaving a gaping aperture of weeping flesh and internal organs exposed to the air. Already his enhanced, daemonically infused physiology was sealing the wound, his blood flow clotting and his flesh beginning to re-knit, but it would take some time before he was fully healed, and no amount of healing could repair his sundered power armour.

Healing abilities of the possessed CSM

Page 305

That the creature was of eldar origin was clear, for its frame was tall and slight, its limbs long and elegant, but that was where the similarities ended. Its skin was as black as the night, and runes of twisted eldar design were inscribed into its flesh. These runes glowed with cold light, pulsing brightly as the creature entered fully into the material realm.

Burias-Drak’shal felt the power of the warp within the creature, but it was not possessed in the same manner as he was. It was almost as if the daemon within the eldar shade was at once there and not there, its will and individuality gone, but its strength tapped.

The Mandrakes again.

PAge 310

Squeezing the trigger, the eldar’s head disappeared in a mist of blood.

MArduk's bolt pistol again.

PAge 311

He spun,
targeting matrices lighting up around him, and saw another of the wyches..

Targeting systems in the armour.

Page 315

A line of the fine shards struck Marduk across the side of his helmet, their tips just penetrating far enough to graze his cheek.

Splinter fire penetrates Marduk's helm, albeit barely.

Page 331-333

Most of the enemy hive ships were still tens of thousands of kilometres away, but he could see them: immense, sentient creatures kilometres long with skin thick enough to endure living in deep space, their vile bodies armoured in segmented carapace easily as strong as the hull of the mighty Retribution-class battleship he stood in. It almost defied logic that creatures as large as this could exist in the universe. The largest of the bio-ships was easily a match for the Hammer of Righteousness, and rivalled her for size, and there were hundreds of smaller living ships that shoaled around the largest organisms. The smaller creatures ranged from the size of light cruisers all the way down to the size of attack craft and interceptors.

The smallest bio-ships flew in dense clouds around the large hive ships, like swarms of angry bees around their mother-hive, and several Cobra-class escorts had already been destroyed by them when they had ventured too close.

The tyranid fleet was a terrifying prospect to face at close range, and Augustine had decreed that no Imperial vessel approach within six thousand kilometres of it.

Even so, the xenos bio-ships were capable of startling bursts of speed that had at first taken the Imperials by surprise, and Augustine had lost the light cruiser Dominae Noctus and its entourage of frigates and escorts due to this unexpected trait.

Range of the hive fleet. The hive fleet's sizes. 6,000 km qualifies as 'close range' in space combat.

Page 332-333

Augustine had no intention of losing any more of his fleet to the xenos fleet, and the Imperials were engaging the tyranids only at medium to long range.

The Hammer of Righteousness’s dorsal lance batteries had taken a heavy toll on the advancing tyranid fleet, but the xenos ships continued on relentlessly, absorbing the casualties they suffered and pushing ever forwards. The bio-ships mortally wounded by the long distance barrages were devoured by the other hive-ships, who would doubtless use the genetic material to spawn more of their foul kind.

Augustine felt a shudder beneath his feet as the prow torpedo tubes fired, and he watched with satisfaction as the six immense, plasma-core projectiles, each almost eighty metres long, powered through the gulf of space towards the largest of the hive organisms.

Lance batteries from the rest of the fleet stabbed into the closest bio-ships, and other torpedoes impacted with fleshy bodies several kilometres in length. Tentacles flailed in death-spasms, and thousands of tiny organisms flew into the mighty wounds in the hides of the immense beasts, latching onto flesh and each other and excreting a cement-like substance over themselves to form a living bandage, sealing up wounds even as they were caused.

Lance and torpedo 'long range' fire against the Tyranids, which in thise case seems somewhere in the tens of thosuands of km range. Torpedoes are 80 m long and 40 m tall. Assuming 250 kg*m^3 (the density used for Honorverse ships during the Great Resizing) the torpedoes would be 25,000 tonnes. Even assuming thye were only as dense as air they'd still mass over 100 tonnes, and they gotta be way heavier than that.

Note also the Tyranid self healing capability.

Page 334-335

He had already ordered the destruction of six inhabited Imperial worlds in this sector, but at least those worlds had been successfully evacuated before he had been forced to order their destruction.

Trying to give the citizens of the two moons as much time to evacuate as possible, Augustine had moved the blockade forward, so that the fleet could hold back the tyranid advance for as long as possible.
...
“Percentage of the populations evacuated?” he asked, already dreading the answer.

It had been estimated that the twin moons of Perdus Skylla and Perdus Kharybdis would require three journeys of the bulk transport ships available, at the minimum, for a complete evacuation. As far as he was aware, only one journey had been completed.

“Less than thirty per cent,”
...
“On Perdus Kharybdis, around eighty million,” said Gideon in a quiet voice. “Eighty million,” said Admiral Augustine in a weary voice, “and Perdus Skylla?”
“No more than twenty million.”
...
“One hundred million loyal souls, and we are going to eradicate them, like that,” said Augustine, clicking his fingers together.

Evacuation efforts. Interesting that they say only thirty percent, when they have to evacuate no more than 100 million out of a nearly 200 million population, that's over half. More than half after the last evac. Considering they evaced six planets before that that is something, especially by Imperial standards.

It's also interesting that they are sacrificing 'valuable' and 'ancient' starships to save mere humans, which if you believed some propoganda crap was the most prolific resource in the Imperium. Why not just exterminate the planets as the Tyranids attack? That's the whole point of biomass denial.

Page 335-336

The Idolator banked and jinked from side to side as hundreds of mycetic spores, fired by the hive fleet still some ten thousand kilometres from Perdus Skylla streamed down towards the surface of the moon.
..
Each of the spores was the size of a Rhino transport vehicle, and a direct hit would cause tremendous damage to the unshielded Idolator.

Mycetic spore bombardment at 10K km from the planet. depending on exact velocity (10-20 km/s) we might figure the Pods (if they mass as much as a Rhino) to hit with anything betwen 500 tonnes and sevreal kilotons of KE.

Page 339

He was gazing into them, prodding and poking around the area where one of his progenoid glands, those sacred glands that contained the essence of his enhanced gene-seed, had been surgically removed thousands of years previously.

Marduk had had his progenoids removed before death, long ago.

PAge 353

A single cruiser with a host of escorts had formed a rearguard behind the bulk of the cordon, though it had made no hostile move towards them as yet.
...
Indeed, there was only one ship nearing weapon range, but the blinking screens relayed that this was nothing more than a passenger freighter, and scans had come back negative for weapon sweeps.
...
“Jump on my mark,” said Kol Badar, instructing the daemon-symbiotes that acted as the strike cruiser’s command personnel.
...
“Marduk,” gasped Burias. “He is alive!”

“Where?” growled Kol Badar.

Burias’s eyes settled on the insignificant Imperial freighter.

“There,” he said, stabbing a finger towards the blip.
...
“Bring us to heading L4.86,” said the Coryphaus, holding the gaze of the icon bearer. “Order the starboard gunnery crew to prepare weapons for firing."

The Dark Eldar ship (masked as a freighter) is nearing weapons range and they intend to fire on it.

Also before that they're deep in-system and yet again intend to jump into the warp.

Page 362

..relying on the mimic engines and shadow fields of his slave-ship to confuse the mon-keigh scanners, while his warriors raided the evacuating populations. Within visual range, the mimic engines would no longer be able to fool even the pitiful scanners of the mon-keigh, but still his ship would be almost impossible to pinpoint, thanks to the shadow fields that cloaked its presence, and it was easy to keep out of the visual range of the lumbering mon-keigh ships.
...
The mimic engines would not fool the hive-mind.

Dark Eldar stealth defenses, which can be penetrated at 'visual' range.

Nids, however are not fooled.

Page 369

...a hundred weapons fired, as if his words had snapped his warriors from their horrified paralysis.

The air was filled with thousands of barbed splinters, lances of dark matter and coruscating arcs of energy.

A hundred DE wepaons fire, and thousands of shots fill the air. Gives an approximate idea of ROF (which is well in the tens of shots per second for every weapon, average.)

Page 375-377

The Imperial vessel that Marduk was located aboard had moved swiftly as the Infidus Diabolus had swung towards it, altering its trajectory with a speed and manoeuvrability that seemed far beyond that of a simple freighter; indeed it came about to a new heading with a swiftness that was far beyond any Imperial ship.

Despite its surprising swiftness, the sudden movement of the Infidus Diabolus would surely allow at least one barrage upon it before it slipped out of range.

“Targeting matrices locked on,” croaked seven daemon-servitor symbiotes in unison..

“Fire,” barked Kol Badar.

A moment later, Burias felt the reverberations through the Infidus Diabolus as a full broadside salvo was launched upon the curious Imperial freighter.
...
The eldar vessel veered to starboard as hundreds of cannon batteries unleashed their devastating fusillade, displaying a speed of manoeuvrability that a strike craft a tenth of its size would have envied. That brutal salvo would have torn through the void shields of any Imperial ship in seconds, and smashed apart its hull armour within moments, but the bulk of the shots went screaming past the shadowy outline of the dark eldar ship. Its mimic engines projected an outline that was vastly different to its actual proportions, fooling the targeting arrays of the Infidus Diabolus, and hundreds of tonnes of heavy duty ordnance roared past the ship, screaming wide of the mark.

Even with the naked eye, its exact position was impossible to discern thanks to it shadow fields, all light refracting and curving around its hull so that it seemed barely there at all.

Still, the weight of cannon fire was heavy and indiscriminate, and it tore through the bladed membranes of the back-swept vanes that rose like a ridge across the back of the dark eldar ship. Several barrages also slammed into its hull proper, wreaking terrible damage.

Even as the ship dived away from the Infidus Diabolus, slicing through the void like a knife, it returned fire, and stabbing lances of dark matter slammed into the Word Bearers’ strike cruiser.

A dozen broadside cannon batteries were destroyed instantly, and tens of hundreds of indentured slaves, chained together in long worker gangs, whose sole existence was to load and prepare the mighty weapons for firing...
...
The Astartes cruiser fired again, correcting its aim now that the mimic engines of the dark eldar vessel had been nullified.

Dark Eldar Cruiser and AStartes Strike cruiser duke it out. Evidence before (and following) points to the ship being at long range - close to the maximum range of the guns (300,000 km as per Nightbringer, which fits with cruiser ranges and other engagement ranges like from Execution Hour and such.) and the obvious duration is fairly short.. seconds or moments stated to hit and penetrate both shields and armour, which is reinforced by the fact the broadsides reach the target and hit before the DE ship can even fire back (which returns fire even as it evades.) so we're talking well under a minute - seconds more likely (which fits with the displayed manuverability in 13th Legion and other novels for DE ships, and with the minimal accelerative abilities of Eldar ships in general even by FFG standards.) That means projectile velocities well into the thousands, if not tens of thousands of km/s - which you would need to score even a few hits against Dark Eldar at long range.

Also hundreds of guns for the strike cruiser. Strike cruisers are heavily armed for their size (mainyl due to bombardment cannon) but they also tend to be the size of light cruisers, so they might represent light cruiser/cruiser grade armament.

Also 'hundreds' of tonnes of ordnance fired in that salvo. If we take it as literally, that means hundreds of guns fired hundreds of tonnes of ordnance total.. which is between 200 and 1000 tonnes. Maybe 2000 tonnes. That seems like a little, but bear in mind that not all broadsides are uniform weapons - some can be two or even three kinds (laser, plasma, etc.) If it is uniform, its also not unheared of for shells of a few tonnes to be fired either, which coudl be represented here.. meaning 400-600 tonne broadsides at least. And its also possible it is NOT literal (it could be thousands or even just a few thousand tonnes rather than literally hundreds.)

In any caes, hundreds of tonnes at thousands of km/s at least (assume 2000 km/s) is about ~96 MT of KE. If it were 400-600 tonnes it woudl be 2-3x greater. Even if we assume it stirkes only at 'hundreds' of km/s (despite the fact torpedoes, which mostly ignore voids, can easily reach this speed as well - even boarding torpedoes which are slower than normal toprs) we're still talking at least single or double digit mts of KE

Further, assuming each shell has a 1-5 Mt per tonne 'yield ot weight ratio we're talking hundreds or thousands of megatons of explosive power (assuming little better than modern nukes, of course.)

On the Dark Eldar size, we get that DE craft are 10x more manuverable than an (Imperial) craft of equivalent size, giving us an idea of the mobility disparity, as well as the way their mimic/shadowfields work for defensive purposes. Note that they clearly aren't at 'visual' range since they still had trouble breaching it, so they should be at least tens of thousands of km away, at a very minimum.

PAge 378-379

Marduk stumbled as the entire xenos ship was rocked by a second series of impacts, and he cursed. He had to get off the ship.

He saw the female, flame-haired wych that had captured him cartwheel through the melee, her whip crackling through the air behind her, and three of the daemonettes screamed in fury as their earthly bodies were slain, disappearing into mist.

Another daemonette reared up behind her and rammed its claws through her slender, tattooed body. Marduk plunged his blade into the wych’s face, spitting her head on its length. Face to face with the daemonette, Marduk grinned. The daemon licked its teeth at him in response, and ripping its claws from the wych’s body, it spun lightly on its heel, claws singing through the air to decapitate another eldar, sending its head flying.

Marduk whipped the blade free, spraying blood in a wide arc and spun to his right, slashing it across the helmet of another warrior, the slender xenos limb slicing through the armour with consummate ease.

Another barrage struck the eldar ship and Marduk stumbled again, cursing.

Again indication of broadsides striking in short proximity to each other - matter of seconds in the midst of a battle (long enough for Marduk to stand and think in the midst of said battle.) EG: He's not standing there for minutes on end.


PAge 379

Marduk stood half a head taller than the slender warrior, and over twice his weight, but the eldar was swift, despite its heavy armour.

Marduk without his arour is 2x the weight of an armoured Eldar. Maybe.. 120-150 kg?

PAge 391

..the flock of Fury interceptors and Starhawk bombers being disgorged by the closing Imperial Dictator-class cruiser.

Dictator cruiser.

Page 392

The eldar ship was slipping out of range of the Infidus Diabolus’s batteries, and Kol Badar reluctantly ordered the Word Bearers’ ship to pull off its pursuit...

DE ship pulls out of range again. Once more we get confirmation that the damnthing would have to be sitting just at long range/the maximum range of a strike cruiser's broadside guns. which we know from Nightbringer is over 300,000 km. Hell we know weapons ranges on cruisers in Execution Hour and such is hundreds of thousands of km, and the same ranges crop up in Dark Creed too.

PAge 396

Above the living carpet of the enemy, trails of fire were roaring down from the sky, as if the burning tears of the Emperor were falling from the heavens to smite the never-ending xenos horde.

The cyclonic torpedoes, fired by more than a score of battleships in high orbit, slammed into the surface of Perdus Skylla, and the moon was instantly engulfed in flames.

Solon and all those who had not managed to secure passage off-world died instantly, and more than eight million tyranid organisms perished in the hellish conflagration.

“The Emperor’s will be done,” said Admiral Rutger Augustine as he watched the moon ignite from the bridge of the Hammer of Righteousness.

The Exterminatus enacted.

Page 408

Long had it been since he had marched to war with the immense forms of titans striding behind him, each step covering fifty metres of ground, and their weapons laying waste to entire Imperial cities.

[/quote]

Titan stride length and the devastating capabilities of their weapons.

[Lost Soal]

Page 50

His flesh was wasted and pallid, though most of his body had long been replaced with mechanical augmentations. His entire lower body had been replaced with heavy-duty bionic replacements, immensely powerful leg-units with inbuilt gyro-stabilisers that enabled the magos to bear almost two metric tonnes of weight upon his frame.

This was necessary, for with a fully activated servo-harness, the magos weighed as much as a small tank.
...
Augmetic telescopic braces were fused to his spine for stability and strength, but the distinction between mechanical augmentation and flesh was blurring.

Former Magos Darioq, now corrupted, masses two metric tons, or a 'small tank'. They actually have two tonne tanks? If so then this means the cannon shells of some of the smaller guns on the Imperator Titan from Dakr Apostle might have weighed in at around 2 tonnes, making them (roughly) batlteship-scale guns.

Page 83

The activated electromagnets within his heavy, augmented boots kept him locked to the floor, and his four mechanical servo-arms were braced between two bulkheads. Weighing well over a metric tonne, nothing was going to move the techno-magos.

Darios is now over a metric tonne

Darios frame has been augmented so that he can support 2 metric tonnes however the magos himself masses over 1 tonne, likely between 1 & 1.5 tonnes. A good portion of that is likely to be his legs bringing down how much weight he's actually supporting so he can probably carry upto 1 tonne without breaking his back.

[Connor MacLeod]

Lost Soal: Good point. Dammit you better not be keeping a scorecard of all the times you point out my mistakes like that *shakes a fist*

Anyhow we go to Dark Creed, the last, and in my humble opinion, best of the Word Bearers novels. It's more a 'Point of view' novel in the vein of Storm of Iron, but with better scale, idea of defenses (there's a battle in space!) and generally better handling of the characters on both sides. It also seems to spend less time than the previous two novels on 'CSM killing and are badass' type stuff, although that might be subjective since the scale of the battle gets glossed over (including the Space Marine crap.) to some extents.

Since the delay and I want to finish this so I can start HH and some other stuff. I'm going to put this out all at once, in three separate parts. This is part one


Page 9-10

Thirteen immense battleships hung in low orbit overhead, motionless and menacing; five complete Hosts, ready to embark upon a dark crusade against the hated Imperium. His ship, the Infidus Diabolus, was amongst the deadly shoal, her flanks bristling with cannons and launch bays, steeples and shrine towers rising above her armoured hull.

Thirteen 'battleships', and yet we know from earlier sources the Infidus Diabolus is also called a strike cruiser. The terms may be more loosely applied or not mutually exclusive for CSM ships, but its also 'battleship' is not used in a precise 'ship class' term in this case as well.

In any case 13 ships are going off on a little crusade..

Page 15

An Infernus-class battleship, one of the largest vessels to have fought in the Great Crusade, the Crucius Maledictus was the flagship of the Dark Apostle Ekodas. The battleship had suffered calamitous damage fighting against the fleets of the Khan in the last days before Horus’ fall, but had managed to limp to the safety of the Maelstrom. Extensively repaired, modified and re-armed upon the daemonic forge-world of Ghalmek, it now ranked amongst the most heavily armed and armoured battleships in the Word Bearers arsenal, rivalling even Kor Phaeron’s Infidus Imperator.

Infernus-class battleship. I guess this means that there is at least one genuine Battleship in the fleet.

Also the Word Bearers are stationed in the Maelstrom now rather than the eye. It could be due to the weird nature of the warp they cna exist in both places at once, or they may have territory and resources in both regions. Whether they are actually in the Eye now is up for debat.e At the end of Dark Disciple the Necrons were heading towards the Eye, anyhow.

Page 24

Sirenus Principal was a gleaming bastion-city of white marble and manicured arboretums, and it stretched beyond the horizon in every direction. Home to more than eighty million citizens, all of whom willingly served at least a single five-year term in the Guard or PDF, it was one of the great cities of Boros Prime, and indeed of the entire Boros Gate sub-sector.

Size of the capital's population on Boros Prime, Boros Gate subsector. Alot of this novel has some interesting population figures.

Page 25

Thousands of ordered PDF units marched across the tops of the walls, sunlight glinting off helmets and lascarbines. Their blue cloaks, the same as those worn by all members of the Boros PDF and Guard, were bright upon the pristine white stone. In all, Sirenus Principal boasted nearly fifteen million active soldiers; one in six inhabitants was a Guardsman, and it was the same all across Boros Prime. Few Imperial systems had such numbers.

Boros prime military forces. Probably a bit less than 15 million but more than 14 million, and that means the population is a bit mor ethan 80 million given the ratio. It also reflects perhaps the recruitment ratios in and around the Eye for troops and such, as well as garrison sizes. It probably refelcts more of an upper limit in other places (on the fringes of the Eastern edge of Ultima segemntum, for example, the PDF recruitment was 1 in 10 in Rogue Star, so we seem to be close to the actual figure within an Order of magnitude.)

Given 1/6 or 1/10th of quadrillions of people, we're looking at hundreds of trillions of potential troops (PDF and/or Guard), although the quality of such is going to be variable to put it nicely (and cracp conscript grade to put it not so nicely.)

It's also worth noting the recruitment ratios may be for guardsmen alone or they may be pdf and guard both. Hard to say.

Page 26

As potent as all the ground defences of Boros Prime were, its true strength lay in the immense star fort orbiting overhead.
Bristling with weaponry and the size of a small moon, Kronos was the largest space station in Segmenta Obscurus.
...
...it was the seat of the system’s governorship: the Consuls.

the White Consuls use a star fort as their 'monastery' so to speak

Page 26

The White Consuls ruled with a benevolent hand, and the citizens of the Boros system—all eighteen inhabited planets and two-dozen colonised moons and asteroids—were afforded liberties and a quality of life undreamed of in many regions of the Imperium. Civil unrest was all but unheard of.

Size of the Boros system. This makes it one of the more heavily industrialized/populated systems in the Imperium. Around 40 'inhabited' worlds. This isn't a bad thing, as it could help explain the discrepancy between numbers (scores of worlds per system, a million systems in the Imperium, for example.)

That said its a densely populated and sizeable system so it probably does not represent an average in any way, but its not neccesarily unique either.

Also the place is generally all peace and knowledge and education and wonder, not unlike Rynn's world or the Ultramarine ruled or governed type worlds. Considering the White consuls are Guilliman descended, this probably isn't surprising. What is surprising is how free and wonderful it implies - no grimdark (although that will change once the Word Bearers arrive) and its implied to not even be unique - uncommon certainly, but hardly from unheard of.

Indeed, given the number of Smurf-descended chapters supposedly in existence, and the number of worlds Space Marines typpically are supposed to watch over or administer (subsetors, hundred or more worlds, sectors, etc.) its quite possible to argue a small yet significant percentage of the Imperium is goverened in this way. Perhaps about the only positive implication to ever come from the 'Scions of Gulliman/Spiritual liege' crap I can think of, unless you get someone like Sicarius ruling you.

Page 26

Two Consuls ruled Boros—the Proconsul Ostorius, and his Coadjutor, Aquilius. The highest authority in all matters military and political..

The consuls have two Chapter masters and dual rulership. Not unheard of (The Iron Hands use a council IIRC.)

Page 26

The Proconsul and his Coadjutor were responsible for somewhere in the realm of four hundred billion Imperial citizens, as well as the security of the vital Boros Gate subsector itself.

It's not sure whether this is the population of the entire subsector, or just the system, but it could go either way. Either way its damn impressive, and suggests at least trillions of people in the sector itself (assuming 6-8 subsectors per sector.) If the recruitment ratios were similar we'd be looking at some 67 billion troops in the subsector, and around 400-500 billion for the sector as a whole. Again, something of an upper limit and may or may not reflect PDF as well as Guard forces.

Page 27

..agile Lightning fighters...
...
As the scream of the Lightnings subsided, it was replaced with the resonant drone of bigger engines. A minute passed and a pair of Vulture gunships hove into view, their wings heavy with tubular rocket pods and autocannons.

the Boros forces have both Vultures and Lightnings.

PAge 29

“A quote from Sueton,” said the Space Marine.
...
“In Nominae Glorifidae. Seventh act?”
“Ninth,” said the Legatus.
...
A discussion on classical literature was the last thing that Verenus had expected.

Nor had I. At least some of the White Consuls seem to have time and interest in far more than warfare.

Page 29

“Legatus Cato Merula, 232nd Regiment, Boros Prime Imperial Guard, rotated from battlefront Ixxus IX of the Thraxian campaign, under Lord Commander Tibult Horacio,”
...
“One month resupply, re-indoctrination and recruitment before return to frontline duties."

an IG regiment originating from Boros returning to the planet to recruit and resupply. It must be a relatively local conflict, or the Boros Gate wormholes facilitate such unusual behaviour (Explained later.)

Page 30-31

“I am humbled to be in the presence of such noble soldiers as yourselves,” said the Coadjutor.

“You have given all that I could have asked of you, and more, and I have faith that you shall continue to do so. I salute you, men and women of the illustrious 232nd.”
...
“It was with great sadness and regret that I learnt of the loss of the 232nd’s standard during the Daxus Offensive on Thraxian Minor,” said the Coadjutor. “I had my own personal artificers construct this replacement. May it serve your regiment faithfully.”
...
Verenus had not known exactly what to expect when meeting one of the revered Consuls face to face, but seeing such humility in one so far above the humble ranks of Guardsmen such as he was certainly not it.

Again, I am shocked as well. To find a Space Marine - one descended of the so called 'Scions of Guilliman' - acting with such humility and respect to mere humans is impressive and worthy of awe and admiration. This is how the fucking 'Scions of Guilliman' should act, not like pompous assholes we're told we should worship just cuz. And not like that glory hound Sicarus.

Page 32

Aquilius could see a dozen Imperial Navy vessels of Destroyer-class and higher docked there. Even the two battlecruisers of Battlegroup Hexus, Via Lucis and Via Crucis, each more than three kilometres in length, were dwarfed by Kronos.

Naval battlegroup stationed at the Consuls Star Fort. A dozen vessels including twl battlecruisers.

The battlecruisers are 3 km long, which puts them on the same scope as Lunar/Dictator and similar cruisers, which echoes the scaling conventions outlined in FFG (except they put them at 5 km and BCs are slightly bigger.)

PAge 33

...having been inducted into the White Consuls three hundred and thirty-four years earlier.

Assuming he's taken around age 10-15, the guy must be right around 345-350 years old.

Page 36

"Nine more regiments returning from the Thaxian Cluster are due in over the next two hours—six infantry, two armoured, one artillery"

Nine more regiments from the same conflict as before coming for presumable recruitment and resupply, which means they're probably Boros regiments. This also means Boros puts out quite a variety of regiments of its own, not just infantry.

Page 41

The octagonal Sanctum Corpus chamber was a vertical shaft that dropped away into darkness. Over a kilometre from top to bottom, it bored right through the centre of the mighty battleship.

Given a 'height' of at least a km, we might figure the batlteship is 5 to 6 km long.

Page 47

Between them, the four Dark Apostles commanded the loyalty of over five and a half thousand Astartes warriors. Together with the might of Ekodas’ Grand Host, that number swelled to over nine thousand. Add onto that the battle-tanks, Dreadnoughts, daemon-engines and assault craft of the five Hosts and the number was swollen further.

Over a million fanatical cultists of the Word accompanied the Hosts...
...
Of little tactical worth, they would be herded into the guns of the enemy, across minefields and sacrificed by their Astartes masters, and they would do it willingly.

Ground forces of the Crusade

Page 47

Last of all, the fleet was accompanied by a single bulk-transporter of Legio Vulturus, a grim vessel twice the size of the Crucius Maledictus. Within its cavernous stasis hold resided a full demi- Legion of god-machines: twelve of the most potent war engines ever constructed on the forgeworlds of the Mechanicum

Titan legion and transport. Battleship scale.

Page 51-52

In the open space between the Apostles’ pulpits hung a three-dimensional hololithic projection of a binary solar system: the target of the crusade’s wrath. The image flickered with intermittent static, and flashes of warp interference occasionally overlapped the visual feed, showing screaming daemons and other horrific images.
...
...the binary system slowly orbiting each other, revolving lazily around the two suns at its heart. One was a massive red giant in its last few billion years of life and the other, its killer, a small parasite that burned with white-hot intensity.

Twenty-nine planets circled the two suns, as well as a handful of large moons. Streams of data scrolled down the screen of Marduk’s lectern, relaying geography, population, defences and industry for each of the planets as he tapped its surface. Eighteen of the planets were inhabited.

Three of those were naturally conducive to carbon-based life forms, while others had been terraformed to create atmospheres suitable for human habitation. The populations of the other inhabited moons and planets existed within domes large enough to have their own weather systems, within hermetically sealed stations pumped with recycled air or labyrinthine subterranean complexes.

An asteroid belt a thousand kilometres thick formed a ring within the solar system, dividing it into the inner core worlds and those beyond. The inner core worlds constituted the bulk of the inhabited planets, with only a few isolated mining and industrial facilities located on those celestial bodies in the cold outer reaches.
..
The information regarding the system and its defences was as accurate as could be obtained by the small, shielded drones that had been dropped out of warp-orbit into the outer reaches of the enemy system. Almost invisible to conventional scans and relay sweeps, they were currently hugging the system’s thick asteroid belt and sending back steady streams of valuable information. It was a delicate process: too much data-flow and the enemy would register the feed and be ready for them; too little and they would be blindly entering one of the Imperium’s best defended regions of space—only the Cadian Gate was more fiercely guarded.

Surveillance of the system and its data, conducted by warp capable drones transmitting their data into the ships sitting in the warp, which is (to sya the least) an incredibly useful capability.

Also the details of the planet: 29 planets, 11 inhabited at least. It also seems to be realtime, although w dont know the distances to really discuss that.

Also the defenses of the Cadian Gate are bigger than Boros (and probably Terra.)

Page 53

The system was not particularly rich in mining deposits, nor was it an agri-hub that fed other systems. No sacred shrineworlds existed within it that needed defending, nor did it house any forges vital to the Imperium’s ongoing existence. It was heavily populated and very rich, certainly, but that in itself was not enough to warrant such protection...
...
The key to the importance of the system was its wormholes. They were the sole reason it was so hotly defended..

The reason for the scale of Boros' defenses. It might suggest such similar locales are just as heavily defended

Page 53

Even for the Legions dedicated to Chaos, the warp-routes through the immaterium were often convoluted and difficult to navigate. Thousands of overlapping routes existed through the warp, twisting and turning in constant flux. There were fast moving streams that wound their way through the immaterium, allowing remarkably swift passage from one area of realspace to another, but also stagnant areas of null-time where a fleet could become becalmed for years or decades at a time.

Skilful Navigators were able to predict and read the warp like a living map. The best of them were able to remain fluid, adapting to the changeable flow of the immaterium and making the most of its fluctuating ways. Often, a fleet would be forced to slip sidewards across several streams, being buffeted to and fro, pulled months off-course by the malign forces that dwelt there before slipping into the warp-route that would take them to their destination.

Warp travel

Page 53-54

However, there were some rare warp-routes that remained stable and unchanging through all the passing centuries and millennia. Highly prized, and violently defended at their egress points, the most favoured of these stable wormholes allowed entire fleets to be shifted from warzone to warzone almost instantaneously, utilising the routes like mass transit highways that bridged the gaps between distant sub-sectors. The Imperial system that the crusade was soon to descend upon was the hub of one such cluster of wormholes.

In essence, the system was a transportation hub, a waypoint that allowed impossibly swift transference between almost two-dozen other, vastly distant locations. Anyone who controlled it would be capable of practically instantaneous travel to positions millions of light years away.

One such location was only a relatively short jump from Terra, the birthplace of mankind and the centre of the Imperium itself.

The 'wormhole' idea and the fixed 'tunnels' idea suggests something more along the lines of the webway, but naturally occuring (or perhaps something like the Jericho Reach gate.) However the implication later and here is that the ships are actually travelling through the warp unprotected, its just much faster.

More specifically, the route is so fast because time and space (relative to realspace) is manipulated to the poitn of being virtually instantaneous (what it is inside the warp can be different.) In that respect its the opposite of 'slow' warp travel, where more time passes in realspace than passes in the warp.

The military and economic advantages of such transits are obvious, as it enables the transit of resources and people and material over great distances throughout the galaxy (or across segmentums) in a relatively stable and predictable manner.

It implies practically 'instantaneous' transit over huge distances, but i would take that more in a general rather than precise sense (and ['instant' is probably relative.)

Page 54

..seventeen Hosts of the XVII Legion had been thrown against this system over the past centuries, and all had been wiped out. The Black Legion had lost double that number trying to find a way around the heavily guarded Cadian Gate.

tens of thousands of Wod Bearars failed to take the Boros Gate, and twice that number of Black Legion.

Page 55

A substantial fleet was docked at a devastatingly powerful space bastion orbiting the system’s capital planet. That bastion alone had enough firepower to destroy half the Word Bearers crusade, but it was neither the fleet nor the bastion that was the system’s most formidable defence. Nor were the standing armies that protected each of the inner core worlds, nor their fortress-like cities, warded by potent defence lasers, cannons and orbital battery arrays.

Scope of Boros defenses. note that the Fort has firepower equal to six or seven cruisers/battleship scale vessels.

Page 55

Allowing practically instant transportation between a score of other systems, they also allowed the full might of the Imperium to marshal at a moment’s notice. As soon as the system registered that an enemy fleet was attempting to breach from the warp, an alarm call would be sent out. Hours after an enemy fleet made realisation into the binary system’s outer reaches, an Imperial armada of truly titanic size would emerge from the wormholes to combat the threat.
...
To go against this region was not merely to go against one system’s defences and its Astartes guardians, but rather to go against the fleet of an entire subsector. It was to go against the entire force of the Astartes Praeses—an order of Space Marine Chapters that permanently patrolled the flanks of the Eye of Terror...
..
Utilising the wormholes of this region, the Adeptus Praeses were a thorn in the side of the Chaos Legions, able to quickly manoeuvre their companies to wherever they were needed.

The wormholes are the key to containing and responding to Chaos forces in/around the Eye of Terror, and probably explains a great deal why they can actually barricade a 10,000 LY wide area.

The implication is that the Boros system is connected to dozens of other systems around the eye, which suggests distances of thousands or tens of thousands of LY covered in a matter of hours via the wormholes.

Also note that the Astartes Praeses and the defenses against Boros likened to an 'entire subsector' - which I take to mean those forces garrisoning each of those score of systems around the Eye (like Boros) - a Subsector being score (dozens) of worlds, and dozens of ships and billions (if not trillions) of troops.

Again the wormholes aren't common, but they aren't unique either (And there probably are locales like this of varying quality and capability.) which does add another qualifier to the deployment of forces throughout the Imperium as well as oddities in warp travel speeds.

PAge 57

“We take these planets in turn,” Kol Harekh said, indicating the outlying planets of the system.

“Once they have fallen—it should not take longer than a month—then we converge here.”

They anticipate a month to claim the entire system.

Page 57

“The Kronos star fort?” he asked.

“A relic of the Dark Age of Technology,” said Kol Harekh with a nod. “Its size and firepower is prodigious. It serves as the docking station for the system’s battleships."

Age and probable rarity of the Star Fort. I shoudl note that this encounter took place some time before the 13th Black Crusade.

Page 60-61

“Just tell me what you saw.”

The words tumbled from him in a torrent, and while only perhaps every tenth word was decipherable, they painted a clear picture: death was coming to Boros Prime.
...
“What did the astropath foresee?”

“Chaos,”

Astropathic early warning system. Interesting in that they didn't detect the warp transit per se, but it was more a non-Tarot (dream?) precognitive warming of impending attack. They had about half an hour to an hour's warning at least.

Page 67

“The power the device harbours is like nothing recalled in any Mechanicus data record,”
...
"Darioq-Grendh’al is only able to tap into the smallest fraction of its power— no more than 8.304452349 per cent of its attainable output—and yet even so it can achieve much.”

the corrupted AdMech can tap less than 10% of the Nexus Arrangement's total potential.

Page 70-71

“A vortex grenade?” he said in wonder. The most powerful man-portable weapon ever conceived by the Imperium of Man, a vortex grenade was a priceless artefact capable of destroying anything—anything—that it touched.
...
“You would dare bring such an item aboard my ship without my knowledge?” said Marduk, holding the vortex grenade under the sorcerer’s nose.
...
“Secure this,” said Marduk, handing the vortex grenade to Kol Badar. The Coryphaus took it gingerly.

One can only imagine that the Vortex grenade onboard the ship is.. dangerous for some reason.

Page 71

Of course, the Black Legion’s strength was unparalleled—their ranks outnumbered those of the Word Bearers almost ten to one

Sizes of Word beares vs Black Legion. This implies the BL has at least hundreds of thousands to the word bearers tens.

Page 73-74

The walls of the room had been raised, hiding the view beyond from sight, and their photo-chromatic panels had been dimmed; in direct sunlight, the hololithic figures arranged around the room were difficult to see.

There were over forty figures standing on the circular steps, the higher-ranked individuals positioned on the lowest tiers. Only ten of those figures were physically in the room....
..
The other thirty figures standing on various tiers around the room were all hololiths, the monochromatic projections of those that could not be present because of their distance. There were many gaps upon the tiers; those gathered were only the ones that were available at such short notice, and all were high-ranking individuals. There were admirals and lord high commanders, all positioned only a step or two from the floor, and high-grade officers of the commissariat and Ecclesiarchy positioned higher up.

Some of the images were clearer than others. At a glance, some appeared completely solid, excepting their monochrome colouring. Others were like ghosts, transparent and incorporeal, while others were thick with static and jerky with time-lapse, their mouths out of synch with their speech.

Upon the lowest tier were Adeptus Astartes, the Emperor’s angels of death. All belonged to the Adeptus Praeses, the fraternity of Chapters that had been created for the sole purpose of guarding against incursions from within the Eye of Terror.

They dont' come out and say it (right now) but the forces all involved are in other systems, and are communicating through/because of the wormhole via astrotelepathy. Apparently the stability faciiltates reliable, near-instantaneous communication. Moreover they can do holographic transmissions.

Also mention of the ADeptus PRaeses, the Guardians of the Eye of Terror.

Page 74

Once there had been twenty Chapters of the Adeptus Praeses; now there were eighteen. The Archenemy had annihilated one Chapter and, more shocking still, another had been branded Excommunicatus Traitorus.

The Black Consuls were wiped out (as mentioned later) the other is the Relictors

The ones mentioned are Marines Exemplar, Iron Talons, Brohters Penitent, Knights Unyielding, Crimson Scythes, so only part of the PRaeses forces are present. (or at least mention.)

Page 75

Unusually amongst the Adeptus Astartes, the White Consuls had not one but two Chapter Masters. While one patrolled the fringes of the Eye of Terror or partook in holy warfare, the other was located back at the Chapter’s home world, Sabatine, governing the Chapter from its fortressmonastery high in the mountains. The Consuls were spread far and wide, battle-brothers and companies located across more than fifty systems at any one time...

Dual leadership of the Consuls: one in military and one at home. It also seems the Chapter is responsible for/involved in upwards of fifty or so worlds, which may reflect the territory they guard/protect.

Page 75

Cymar Xydias, who had reigned as Chapter Master for almost twelve hundred years, and currently oversaw the Chapter’s movements from Sabatine,...

1200 year old chapter master. I've heard some people complain at the idea of someone (supposedly) older than Dante, but Dante isn't known/famous solely for his age - he's known for being the leader of a First Founding Chapter and former legion, as well as being one of the foremost military leaders in the Imperium. That there are other Marines who might be able to reach old ages like this is neither impossible nor unprecedented.

PAge 77-78

“Honoured brethren,” said Ostorius in a loud clear voice, addressing the gathered personages.

“Twenty-three minutes ago a considerable Chaos fleet was detected transferring from the warp. It is predicted that it will realise in thirty-five minutes’ time, emerging on the dark side of the Trajan Belt. I request the aid of the Adeptus Praeses to defeat this threat.”

The Word Bearers fleet has appeared in between half an hour to an hour.. thats a minimum timeframe in warning response.

Page 78

“From the incoming information, I see that this fleet consists of between eleven and fifteen warships of cruiser size or larger...

The wormholes allow for transmission of other data too, obviously. also 11-15 warships of cruiser size or greater. Also other people can see/hear what is said in this conference.

Page 78-79

The first, the battlecruiser Righteous Might, which disappeared from Imperial records in 473.M32.
...
“A positive match on an Infernus-class battleship,” said the commodore, which caused an outbreak of muttering and consternation. “One of only seven ever launched from the forge docks of Balthasar XIX. An inefficient design. Monstrously powerful, though. We have matched the callsignature of this Infernus to that of the Flame of Purity."
...
“It has since been redubbed the Crucius Maledictus.”

Composition of Word Beare's fleet.. a Battleship and one battlecruiser. Also the Infernus class was one of seven ever built, powerful but 'inefficient' in some manner.

Page 79

“Between eleven and fifteen battleships."
...
“From the number of ships we are reading, I would hazard that there are around five or six Word Bearers Hosts bearing down on Boros,”
...
“If that is true, we may be facing anywhere between five and fifteen thousand Word Brother zealots,”

11-15 battleships means between 5-6 hosts, and 5-15 thousand Word Bearers. This means a Host may have anywhere from between 2-3 ships per host and 1-3 thousand Astartes. With at least 34 hosts that means anywhere from 34-102,000 Word Bearers total (at least), and 70-100 warships of cruiser to battleship size.

Page 80

“I need not remind you all of the importance of the Boros Gate. If the enemy were to claim it, then they would have an open path into Segmentum Solar and the heart of the Imperium."
..
"The only warriors of our Chapter who shall not answer this call are those officiating as Proconsuls and Coadjutors of our protectorate systems, and the Praetorian squads of Sabatine itself."

'Protectorate systems' seem to be those fifty or so worlds mentioned before.

Page 80-81

"The White Consuls were a fleet-heavy Chapter with three immense battle-barges and more than a dozen strike cruisers at their disposal. Fully two-thirds of the fleet was always scouring the fringes of the Eye of Terror, ever vigilant for incursion."

Scope of the White consuls fleet. 3 Battle barges and a dozen cruisers is considered 'fleet heavy'

Page 81

“When can Boros expect the first of these reinforcements, noble lords?” said Ostorius. “I have already mobilised the defence fleet, and it is closing on the expected warp translation location of the enemy fleet even now. If the enemy attempts to push through towards the core worlds, my fleet could engage as it emerges from the Trajan Belt, but it will not last long in a full engagement without support.”

“We are relatively close, Proconsul. With time adjustment, we will be there in approximately…” the co-Chapter Master’s voice trailed off as he received information off-screen. He snorted and shook his head in wonderment. “Truly the Boros Gate wormholes are a marvel. We will be there within the hour, Boros realtime. It will take us seven weeks of warp travel once we have mobilised, yet it will take less than an hour in real-space until seven full White Consuls companies make transference.”

Mobilized the defence forces to meet the word bearers. At least an hour or so (given above) to travel sof ar, and perhaps another one for the reinforcements to read through the gate.

Also the gate takes an hour to translate the forces in realspace, but takes seven weeks in the warp to arrive. That actually supports the idea I mentioned earlier about 'inverse time dilation' - that is time in the warp passes faster than it does in realspace in this particular case, which is an asset in response time (but still has drawbacks - such as fuel consumtion and maintenance/strain on the ships.)
The dilation is about 1200x faster in realspace than in warp which is extreme dilation either way. If other 'routes' similarily exist they may be less fast but more common (which agian can explain differences in speed.)

We dont know the distances involved, unfortunatley, but guessing its out of sector (200-400 LY at least) to several thousand LY we're looking at millions to tens of millions of c easily at least. In realspace that is.

Page 82

"They know of its defences. They know that even now we will be moving against them. They will be obliterated before they get within hours of the core planet, and yet still they come.”

Implies 'hours' within the planet.. it takes much longer than a few hours to reach the planet, at least.

Page 83

The Adeptus Praeses Chapters swore their oaths of support, pledging what companies they could. Battle-fleet Gorgon was to be re-directed to bolster their strength...
...
The Boros Defence Fleet, bolstered now by the strike cruisers of the White Consuls 2nd and 5th Companies, was already ploughing at full speed towards the thick band of asteroids, the Trajan Belt, which divided the Boros Gate system. The enemy were expected to make translocation through a warp exit beyond the belt. If the enemy did not attempt to breach the Trajan Belt, then the Boros fleet would wait for the bulk of the Astartes Praeses fleets, and the devastating power of the Darkstar fortress that accompanied Battlefleet Gorgon, before pushing through to engage. If the Word Bearers attempted to breach the Trajan Belt, which was riddled with mines and defence installations, then the Boros Defence Fleet would engage, punishing them as they emerged piecemeal through the notoriously hazardous asteroid band.

The enemy were expected to make translocation through a warp exit beyond the belt. If the enemy did not attempt to breach the Trajan Belt, then the Boros fleet would wait for the bulk of the Astartes Praeses fleets, and the devastating power of the Darkstar fortress that accompanied Battlefleet Gorgon, before pushing through to engage. If the Word Bearers attempted to breach the Trajan Belt, which was riddled with mines and defence installations, then the Boros Defence Fleet would engage, punishing them as they emerged piecemeal through the notoriously hazardous asteroid band.

The warp wormholes seem to emerge some distance on the inner side of the Trajan belt (closer to the inner system than the outer.) Also they planned to coordinate the arrival of the reinforcements with the arrival of the defense fleet being engaged by the Word Bearers. If we knew more of the involved we might be able to make some more estimates.

Page 85

...a chunk of twisted metal the size of a hab-block glanced off the prow of the ship with an unnerving squeal of the forward shields.

Collision stopped by void shields. It either suggests that these voids have a much lower 'velocity' threshold than usual (less than tens of km/s) or it suggests that the debris was faster than a torpedo (tens or hundreds of km/s)

Assuming a cylindrical piece of debris some 40x40x200 m with an average density of 250 kg*m^3 (great resizing average hull denseity for HV ships as well as estimated from RL warship densities) we have an 80,000 tonne piece of debris impacting. If the velocity were 20 km/s the debris has a momentum of 1.6e12 kg*m/s and 3.8 MT. At 200 km/s it goes up to 382 MT. Bear in mind that it only gives a very rough idea of what the debris had when it hit - it doesnt mean the shields absorbed that much because it clearly is deflected away, and thus only part of the total energy was absorbed. This isn't bad, since deflection is easier than absorption. Besides if these are 'warp-voids' then the displacement may not be brute force. And there is always the other alternative (that the debris moved slower than 20 km/s and the voids were configured to stop it.)



Page 86

“We were meant to realise two hundred thousand kilometres from the asteroid belt.”

Warp translation distance from Asteroid belt.

Page 89

“I’m reading heat discharge from the cannons and torpedo tubes of the Crucius Maledictus and \the Anarchus,”

CSM starship weapons give off detectible heat traces

[Connor MacLeod]

Part 2

Page 89

“There is an Imperial fleet moving towards our position from co-ordinates X3.75 by 9 from the inside the asteroid belt. Advancing at engagement speed.”

Position of the defence fleet. I'm not sure whether it means they're in th ebelt or advacning from the inner facing.

Page 90-92

"combat speed…”
...
The ships of the Word Bearers fleet began to advance, engines burning with the white-hot intensity as they moved towards the asteroid belt in the distance.
...
“The engagement is beginning,” said the Black Legion sorcerer. He was staring through the viewing portal. Marduk followed his gaze.
...
A thousand kilometres in front, the lead elements of the Word Bearers fleet had reached the immense wall of asteroids. The hulking slave ships were expelling vast clouds of smaller craft, poorly armed shuttles and transports for the most part.

The word bearers are ordered to advance on the asteroid field at 'combat speed' About fifteen separate responses occur in this time implying perhaps that no more than a few minutes pass in the entire time. Assuming an average of 10-15 seconds per reply we get between 884 and 1300 km/s average velocity and would be worth thousands of gees with several minutes of accel.

If we go the other way, and base off FFG accel values (assume 2 gees) it would take 1.8 hours of accel to reach the belt and a max velocity of aorund 60 km/s (Average velocity is 30 km/s.)

If we split the difference between the extremes we get around 600-700 km/s average speed.

Page 92-93

From within the asteroid belt, scores of self-powered mines accelerated towards the intruders, drawn to their heat-signatures like flies to a corpse. Each was half the size of a Thunderhawk gunship and easily capable of inflicting catastrophic damage to even a well-armoured ship. They attached themselves to the hulls of the cult ships before detonating with catastrophic effect, coronas of red fire flaring across the battlefront. The larger slave hulks were ripped apart as dozens of mines clamped onto them.

Cannon batteries erupted, targeting incoming mines as the slave ships continued to plough ever deeper into the asteroid belt. Scores of mines detonated prematurely, their explosions prickling the darkness, but others weathered the storm of incoming fire, zoning in on the invading ships and blasting them into oblivion.

Lance batteries hidden within the hollowed out centre of the largest asteroids began to fire, concentrated beams searing through shields and cutting slave hulks in two.

Asteroids exploded into dust and scores of ships were ripped apart as more white-hot beams of light speared through the mayhem, and more explosions deeper into the asteroid belt erupted as the ships pushing ahead drew more mines to them.

Thousands died in the first moments of the fusillade. Tens of thousands died in the next.

Asteroid field defenses. 'half the size' of a thunderhawk might impliy around 60 tonnes if we go by Forgeworld stats for Thunderrhawks (Whereas BFG implied Thunderhawks were bigger than other fighters, whcih might suggests hundreds of tonnes. Assuming 1-5 megatons per ton (the weight to yield ratio for modern nukes) and a 60 tonne mine we're talking between 60 and 300 megatons yield. That's roughly within the magnitude of the 700+ MT Assassin class mines of Imperial Armour IX/X, and the 'dozen megaton' warheads presumably from torpedoes in Deliverance lost. Not quite Space Hulk nuke size, but we can't have everything and if the payload is different (closer to antimatter-range yields) it could be higher

The interesting thing about the mines is that like, in BFG, seem to bypass shields (but unlike FFG) as they attach to the hull before detonating. More, the slave ships (mostly nonmilitary vessels as noted before) require doznes to destroy a ship, suggesting a lower limit on what is needed to destroy them. Again this could have implications for the aforementioned sources. AT the very least it could imply that even nonmilitary ships need hundreds if not thousands of megatons poetntially to 'destroy' them, although this still doesn't account for hit locations and such.

The other defenses of course include lance batteries and cannon batteries - basically weapons platforms. Interesting that the lances singly seem to be able to match (roughly) the destructive effects of dozens of mines - of course they slice through ships rather than blasting them apart so its not 100% comparable.

The Word bearers open fire in the next moment or so, so we can establish a possible upper limit. Two fusillades of 'moments' suggests 4 seconds to cross 1000 km. That possibly implies an upper limit of 250 km/s average velocity.

Page 95-96

The Chaos fleet contracted its width as it entered the asteroid belt, moving into the breach it had created with the force of its bombardment.
..
...repelled by flickering void shields as the battleships of the dark crusade passed through the breach without slowing.

...
“Clear of the belt in ninety seconds,”

1000 km or so in no less than 90 seconds. This suggests a speed of 10 km/s or less, at least by the time they reached the field. All this really says is that speed hasn't been constant from the point they translated, and generally rules out any extreme velocities (Eg thousands of km/s.) Of course accel values also play a role here too.

Page 96

“The enemy is advancing at combat speed to engage"
...
“Transfer power to the forward shields,”

Shields seem 'sectional' as well as being layered, suggesting there are a great many void arrays on a ship

Also the Imperial forces are advancing at 'combat speed'

Page 98

All contact with the incoming ships of the Adeptus Praeses, Battlefleet Gorgon and the battlebarge of the Grey Knights had been cut, so as to give the enemy as little forewarning as possible. Most of the reinforcements were ready for transference, anchored just beyond the veil of reality. They merely waited the order to come through, and fall upon the enemy.

This suggests the fleets are in the warp simply waiting, probably some distance from the system.

Page 99

The Imperial fleet swung towards one of the advancing wings of the XVII Legion battleships so as not to advance into the centre of their formation, and the first shots of the engagement were fired.

Massive torpedoes were launched from cavernous tubes sunk into the armoured prow of the Imperial vessels, the missiles speeding through the emptiness of space towards the Crucius Maledictus. The Chaos battleships responded in kind, launching torpedoes of their own as the right arm of its force swung around in a wide arc to engulf the enemy.

Hundreds of thousands of kilometres separated the fleets, yet prow-mounted laser batteries opened up, stabbing lances that shredded dozens of cult vessels. Several more exploded in blinding detonations as they advanced into the paths of incoming torpedoes.

The barrage of fire intensified as the Imperial fleet split into two and unleashed the power of its broadsides upon the slave vessels caught stranded between them. Within minutes of ferocious firing, immense cannon batteries laying down an impenetrable blanket of fire, the cult ships were gone.
..
The fleets banked and turned, altering their trajectory as they reacted to the torpedoes and the movement of the enemy. Within minutes the symmetrical lines of the fleets were disrupted as the battleship commanders manoeuvred their ships into the best attack position.

The engagement. Note the range of hundreds of thousands of km, suggesting a minimum range of 200,000 km. Probably closer to 300,000 given ranges of lances and bombardment weapons from other sources (like Nightbringer.)

Torpedoes and cannon batteries take 'minutes' to reach the target, although cannon fire reaches 'minutes' before, suggesting they're at least twice as fast as Torpedoes - hell they're striking long befor the torpedoes arrive.

Assuming 'minutes' means an hour' for torpedoes and the range is only 200 thousand km, average torpedo velocity is at least 56 km/s. If 'minutes' means 4 minutes (two minutes for the broadsides and minutes for their own torpedoes) we're talking 833 km/s.

Cannon batteries would be faster than that. They cannot be ANY less than torpedoes, and in fact must be many times faster. If we assume 2 minutes for the cannon batteries over roughly similar range. 2 minutes is abouy 1670 km/s average velocity for shells, suggesting a velocity of thousands of km/s. This only assumes a single broadside, so multiple broadsides could be similarily faster.

This might actually be conservative. In real life, extreme weapon ranges like in WW2 ship bombardment via cannons was under a minute:. The longest range gunfire hit in WW2 was around 26-27 km. For the weapons mentioned the flight time at around 20-30 km is between [url=http://www.navweaps.com/Weapons/WNGER_15-52_skc34.htm]32 and 56 seconds) call it 45 seconds. At 200,000 km that would be ~4500 km/s.

Starship velocities aren't addressed but I dont consider it a big difference as far as ranges go. As earlier mentioned 'combat speed' does not seem terribly fast in this case - tens or hundreds of km/s. If velocities increased noticably then the engagement times would go down, so it probably balances out. Moreover, the faster ships travel, the faster the projectiles have to go (many times faster to actually reach their targets before the engagements, and allow multiple broadsides.) And given as I already noted the cannon fire is much faster than torpedoes - which have to be faster than the ships, it probably would mean projectile velocities at least in the thousands of km/s again. On the balance, it probably all owrks out unless you assume very specific conditions apply.

Actually another consideration is that fighters are also invovled, and they're faster than the ships in this case (which probably means the fighters should be faster than the fighters since they engage first) and that's another consideration.

Page 98

A handful found their mark, exploding upon the monstrous battleship’s forward shields.

Torpedoes blocked by shields. Why that is we don't know. The velocity threshold may be different, or some voids may be better suited to blocking slow moving attacks. Or it may be dependent upon the kind of velocity, (Eg absolute vs relative velocity or combined velocities may affect penetration.) It may even be that penetration isn't absolute outside of game mechanics.

Page 101

..bank upon bank of cannon unleashed their salvos, their firepower growing ever more destructive as the fleets closed.
..
The two strike cruisers of the White Consuls veered off from the Imperial line to target the Dies Mortis, Dark Apostle Belagosa’s ship. They started stripping its void shields with concentrated bombardments.

[/quote]

2 Strike cruisers overwhelm Word bEarers' shsip. Whether it sa strike cruiser or battle barge we don't know.

Page 101

The nova cannon of the Crucius Maledictus roared like an angry god, and a massive blaze of light comparable to the output of a small sun surrounded its barrel as it fired. The beam of blinding light tore through the Imperial line, engulfing two cruisers and an escort, ripping them apart with seeming disdain.

Nova cannon seems to be an energy weapon (direct fire) and can destroy two cruisers and an escort in a single hit. IT's 'output' is comparable to a 'small sun', which is no doubt going to enrage someone becuase I am going to (again) suggest we're talking its power output (which I am supposed to not take literally for some bizarre reason.) 'small sun' is relative, but I would gather it refers to something on the smaller end of a scale - a white dwarf or red dwarf which is many thousands/tens of thousands (possibly even hundreds of thousands) of fainter than our own Star. That might imply the nova cannon is firing hundreds or thousands of gigatons (at least) in a single shot. Not impossible, but recall that the output is not 'instantaneous' it takes time to recharge, which could be minutes (upwards of half an hour.)

Incidentally, the ship and its 'nova cannon' make an appearance in 'Know No Fear', and in that case its called an 'exo-laser'. It seems that 'nova cannon' has become a catch-all term for any sort of spinal, prow-mounted weapon. This leads to some interesting possibilities (can you do single mounts alone, or multiple mounts?)

Page 100-101

The Imperial fleet consisted of a single Retribution-class battleship, the Dawn Eternal, four Lunar-class cruisers and a host of escorts, and was bolstered by the two strike cruisers of the White Consuls. The enemy still heavily outgunned them. Regardless, it unleashed its fury into the face of the Chaos fleet, stripping void shields and crippling one battleship, the Dominus Violatus of Ekodas’ Host.

Size/composition of defense fleet.

PAge 102-103

“The enemy fleet is making transference,”
...
“There are thirty-two vessels zoning in!”
...
“Enemy fleet realisation in progress,”
...
“Re-calculated estimate: the device will be active in 1.234937276091780 minutes. Clarification: this is an estimated supposition only, and has a variance of 0.00000234 seconds.”
...
“Too long,” said Kol Badar, shaking his head. “The Imperial fleet could be ten times its size by then...

The Imperial fleet will arrive in under a minute from its distance.

Page 105

Five new enemy blips appeared on the holo-screens. “First realisation complete. Astartes vessels. Two battle-barges, three cruisers. More inbound.”

Some astartes vessels actually make it.

Page 105

“We have been target-acquired by the Crucius Maledictus,” said Kol Badar, his voice a warning growl. “Its nova cannon is re-energising.”

Implies recharge rate of the nova cannon is under a minute.

Page 106-107

A ripple in realspace burst from the Nexus Arrangement and expanded outwards, gathering speed exponentially as it grew. It exploded outwards from the Infidus Diabolus and engulfed both warring fleets, knocking out communications and scanning relays aboard every vessel in an explosion of sparks and fire. All those with even a modicum of psychic ability fell to their knees, lesser minds bursting with aneurisms and clots, those of stronger stuff suffering intense pain and temporary blindness. Those who had been peering into the warp, notably the astropaths of the Imperial fleet, fell into sub-catatonic states, their minds wiped of all notable activity, collapsing at
their posts.

The ripple continued to expand, engulfing nearby planets and moons. Within seconds it had spread across the entire solar system. Only when it reached neighbouring solar systems, over four light years away, did its strength waver.

Nexus Arrangement activates. In seconds it covers a radius of 4 ligth years.

IF the fleet was at least 4 light years out, that gives a wormhole transit speeds of at least 240 LY in an hour, and probably faster.

It also implies (oddly) that Imperial sensors might have been psychic based, given the arrangement's effects.

Page 107

“Open up a link with the Crucius Maledictus,” said Marduk.
“Warp-link down. Switching to conventional hail.”

'Warp link' communications. Astropaths probably.

Page 108

..the hololith display and all the data-slates bearing incoming fleet transmissions went dead. With a strangled cry the astropath maintaining the link collapsed to the ground.
...
“Repair the links now!”
...
“Try harder! I need an astropath!”

“None are responding, my lord,” said an exasperated comms-technician.
Ostorius looked down at the twitching astropath on the floor of the chamber.

“Communications?”

“Sir, it… it is as if the entire system has been cut off.”

“What?”

“There are no transmission-links into or out of the Boros Gate, Proconsul,” said the man, paling.

“We are alone.”

FTL comms in the system and outside it (through the Boros gate) have been cut off. Again realtime FTL (at least out to 4 LY) implied, suggesting very high astropathic transmission speeds (thousands/tens of thousands of LY/hr communication speed at least.)

Also in-system there was realtime communication and sensor data. The source of the sensor data isn't known, but its clearly tied to the astropath (either relays from other ships or some sort of scrying.)

Page109

With the astropaths down, communications were limited to standard transmissions—at a sluggish light speed. He cursed. Transmitting at that speed, he would not hear word from the fleet regarding the outcome of the battle out on the Trajan Belt for over three hours.

The enemy forces translated more than 3 Light hours (22 AU) away from Boros Prime. That corresponds to some billions of km easily, which is consistent with other warp-translation examples.

It also means (quite probably) that the Defense fleet covered 3 Light hours in under a day. Assuming 12-24 hours we're talking somewhere in the vicinity of hundreds to a few thousand light years and max velocities somewher between one quarter and one half light speed or thereabouts. It could get as high as Sabbat Martyr stuff if its a few hours (which is possible from context) For example ~5 hours works out to 8000 gees and .91c. This gets.. problematic given the aformentioned ranges (the ships couldnt have been travelling at much more than a few thousand km/s at the end due to engagement times) but its not wholly unworkable (but it w ould require looser interpretations.)

Note that things get wonky on the other end of the scale. if we go with Rogue TRader accelerations over that distance (2 gees) it takes like 10 days to cover that distance, and even then the velocity is something like 2.7% of lightspeed. so the approach speed of the Imperial fleet seems quite likely to be hundreds or thousands of km/s. I'd bank closer to hundreds being a limit, but its possible. This also means torps (and cannon fire) travelled many times faster.

Page 109

Half a galaxy away, an immense black ship suddenly altered its trajectory. It began to accelerate at an exponential rate, swiftly reaching, then surpassing, the speed of light. Impossibly, its momentum continued to increase.

It streaked through the cold darkness of the universe, guided by inhuman will. It passed through dazzling solar systems in the blink of eye and crossed vast empty tracts of space in seconds. On and on it hurtled, moving faster than any Imperial tracking station could follow.

Necron FTL. It detects the gate acitvation quite accurately and rapidly over that vast distance, which gives som einteretsing implications about necron detection of its own tech (or comms.) IT also can cross a star system in an 'eyeblink' which is about a second. Assuming a 5-10 light hour 'distance' we're talking a speed well into tens of thousands of c, at least.

Now I am sure people are going to argue '5th Edition says Necrons have no FTL' except that isn't quite true. What it says is that they do not have WARP drive, and so they must rely on Dolmen gates for rapid long distance travel. Con;text matters. We know (for example) they have wormholes, and they allow them very fast transit between Necron Tomb worlds. But that speed is limited to places within the Necron Empire, and they have to be active or at least activated (or know where to send them - eg a beacon.) So that has limits . We also know that Flayers can appear and disappear at will on different planets without ships, which hints at FTL travel.

Likewise, any FTL they can and do have would have to logically be slower than warp (at least in the sense of theoretical maximums.) This means that Warp speeds are much faster (hundreds of thousands of c perhaps?) Which fits with existing warp speed figures. I'd guess at least an order of magnitude faster.

On the other hand, we know from Hammer and Anvil that the Stormlord's ships are sublight. It could also be that Necrons, being a fragmented race and not fully awakened, do not ALL have FTL travel - only some lords do . The new Necrons are not exaclty unified and were prone to squabbling and infighting, so if some FTL was discovered or created, only some lords may have it and others don't. Hell some lords might have evoled different kinds.

So, this is not neccesarily contradictory. IT could be the old 'inertialess' drive however.

Page 113

The battle of the Trajan Belt was short and brutal, the furious exchange seeing a dozen cruisers and battleships crippled within the space of ten minutes, yet to those involved it seemed to last an age.

Length of the battle.

Page 114

The battleship Sanctus Diabolica was ripped apart between the concentrated fire of the two Space Marine battle-barges, and another Chaos ship, the Dominus Violatus, was rendered defenceless by the combined weight of fire of the Chapter’s strike cruisers and frigates.

The monstrously powerful Crucius Maledictus annihilated the light cruiser Scythe of Faith, and a further four Boros Defence Fleet cruisers and frigates were destroyed as they tried to disengage..

Engagement and damage inflicted, mostly important for establishing the sorts of punishment and firepower being directed at specific targets and the vessels involved.

Page 115

The Pride of Redolus, a truly ancient Avenger-class grand cruiser, was surrounded by three Chaos ships that circled it like sharks. They pounded it into submission as it attempted to disengage.

Grand cruiser part of the defensive fleet as well. Overwhelmed by other chaos ships.

Page 116

As the survivors of the Boros Defence Fleet pulled away, finally extricating themselves from the slower vessels of the XVII Legion, the Chaos fleet vented its fury upon the White Consuls, enveloping them and pounding them with thousands of tonnes of ordnance.

The Chaos fleet fires 'thousands' of tonnes of ordnance at the enemy. Whether this is torpedoes, or cannonades or both we don't know. Also depends on how many thousands of tonnes of ordnance, and the exact kinds of guns (broadsides, bow, etc.) and the status of the ships. 4 'battleships (which means true battleships and cruisers) were destroyed or crippled to this point, leaving 8 remaining, and a number of those are badly damaged. Assuming only 2000 'tonnes' of ordnance fired, that is an average of 250 tonnes per ship at least.250.. At a velocity of around 400-500 km/s (at least) we're talking betwee 20 and 30 thousand TJ of energy per ship per salvo for KE. At 1-5 MT per ton (nuclear yield to weight ratio fo rmodern weapons) we get between 250 and 1250 MT of explosive power.

Page 121

The Chapter serfs that served aboard the Sword of Truth were bigger, stronger and more disciplined than regular men, and had arms and armour equivalent to Imperial Guard storm-troopers.
...
Automated defence turrets emerged from the battle-barge’s decks and autocannons began to scream, shredding the armour of several Word Bearers, misting the air with blood.

Battle barge internal defenses. The Serfs are storm trooper grade (including carapace) and they have internal autocannons that can easily penetrate Word Bearer armour

Page 122

From the deck floor rose thick armoured barriers, angled shields of dense ceramite, adamantium and rockcrete designed to aid in repelling boarding actions.

Defensive barriers inside Battle Barge.

Page 122

In a microsecond he had noted their number and position...

Mental observation/processing time of Word Bearer.

Page 122

...four heavy bolter-toting Space Marine...
...
..heavy bolter fire began to rake across the battle line...
...
Three of Khalaxis’ Coterie were ripped apart, torn limb from limb by the annihilating rate of fire unleashed upon them.

4 heavy bolters take down multiple Word Bearers. Quite messily in fact.

Page 123

...one of his brethren was felled as a burst of plasma caught him in the head, turning his horned helmet molten.

Plasma bolt of unknown type (pistol, rifle or cannon?) melts astartes helmet at least. Given we know from Flesh and Iron that CSM helmets were 20 kg of cermaite, we might figure tens of megajoules (40-50 MJ) to melt through it at least.

Page 123-124

The White Consul fired a plasma pistol blast square into the chest of another of Khalaxis’ Coterie as the blood-crazed champion staggered, sending the warrior brother flying backwards, his armour a molten ruin.

Plasma pistol blast reduces chest armour some degree to molten ruin. ASsuming a 10x10 cm, 2 cm deep and made of iron we migth be talking ~2 megajoules. It migth also be this was the weapon that melted the helmet above.

Page 124

It took three shots to penetrate the thick power armour and the bonded ribcage of the White Consul, but the fourth detonated within the warrior’s chest cavity, pulping the organs within. Still, the Consul was Astartes, and did not die.

3 bolt pistol rounds to penetrate armour and the fused ribcage, 4th does internal damage (but not fatal.)

Page 130

A pistol raised to blow his head apart fired over the top of his helmet harmlessly..

Bolt pistol head explosion. Probably.

Page 137

...a blinding lascannon beam struck, punching a cauterised hole straight through one of his Anointed brethren. Even mighty Terminator armour afforded little protection against such a weapon.

Lascannon bolt vs Termiantor armour.

Page 138

The enemy fell back before them, taking cover behind barricades that rose from the corridor floor.
...
The thick ceramite and adamantium plating of the Anointed’s Terminator armour could withstand easily as much incoming fire as the barricades themselves.

Protection level of the internal barricades

Page 138

A stabbing lascannon beam struck down one of his warriors, and another lost an arm to a plasma gun
..
A dozen target markers were blinking red before his eyes as the head-up targeting display of his quad-tusked helmet identified threats, and he selected the lascannon-wielding enemy Space Marine with a blink.
...
...allocating the target to one of his Anointed squads.

“Target confirmed,”

Target allocation and blink targeting in the heads up targeting display. Also Terminator armour resilience agains heavy energy weapons

Page 138-139

..a Reaper autocannon began to scream, the heavy underslung cannon swinging towards the allocated target.
...
..the deck floor around the Terminator was showered with countless hundreds of spent shell casings in seconds.

Reaper autocannon unleashes hundreds of rounds in seconds.

Page 139

The two enemies in the lead both carried melta guns, potent weapons easily capable of liquefying even Terminator armour.

power of meltaweapons. Assuming 400-1000 kg Terminator armour and iron composition wer'e talking hundreds or thousands of mJ.

Page 140

The Tarantula sentry guns had been deployed and were now online, and the White Consuls were falling back towards the bridge under the cover of the automated turrets..
..
One of the turrets was destroyed as Reaper autocannon fire shredded its armour and ignited its ammunition store...

Tarantula

Page 142

The turret began to walk backwards, its movements stilted and jerky, and Kol Badar knew that it was being remotely operated by the White Consuls Techmarine...
...
The Tarantula turned and unleashed its cannons into one Anointed brethren who was within metres of it now, the powerful weapon tearing his armour apart at such close range.

Tarantula can move, and its gunfire can tear apart Termie armour at close range.

Page 144

A red target-laser appeared on his chest plate and he saw the White Consuls Techmarine with his ornate bolter a fraction of a second before he fired...
...
..a breach in his exo-skeleton’s integrity. The Techmarine was using non-standard anti-armour shells, their explosive tips replaced with melta-charges.

specialized anti armour melta shells that can breach Terminator armour. Also red dot laser sight.

Page 144

A sniper round impacted with the wall scant centimetres from his head, gouging a heart-sized crater out of the smooth plascrete surface.

Sniper round (scout?) punches fist/heart sized hole in wall. Probably laser or needle round. If its a laser call it 10-15 kj for a single shot if made of concrete.

Page 144

a missile screamed towards the sorcerer but he merely flicked a hand dismissively as it neared him and it was deflected into the ceiling....

Black Legion sorcerer deflects missile using magic.

Page 154-155

The torso of one warrior, a battle-scared veteran who had fought as part of the Host since its inception, simply disappeared in a cloud of bloody vapour as a multi-melta blast struck him square on. The superheated mist of blood splattered across Marduk...
...

Another warrior was melted beneath the intense heat of the other Dreadnought’s multi-melta, fusing him to the thick armoured blast-doors.

Dreaddie Multimelta melts trooper.. hundreds of MJ maybe for the second caes.

Page 160

...another [Word Bearer] died as the back of his head exploded, a bolt fired at close range detonating inside his helmet.

Bolt partial headsplosion.

Page 163

A feral grin cracked Marduk’s face as he realised that the sorcerer had brought forth a minor warp-rift into existence, a link to the holy aether itself. Bolts and plasma fire disappeared in small puffs of smoke as they struck the ethereal wall, transported to the gods only knew where.

One of the White Consuls attempted to push through the insubstantial barrier, and his body was instantly the focus of frantic movement within the mist. Smoky claws and tentacles latched onto the warrior’s armour, which began to run like melted wax. The warrior’s battle-brothers tried to drag him back, but this merely ensnared them as well, and they were all dragged into the hellish warprift.

Sorceror spawned warp rift.

Page 186

An ancient Stormbird was crouched before him like an immense, predatory beast. Its assault ramps were lowered, and a score of warheads were being carefully emptied from its hold...
...
Just one of those warheads would have crippled the Infidus Diabolus. Dozens more had already been stowed away within the ship, delivered to them by a score of separate shuttle runs.

Atomic warheads.. there's scores, probably hundreds (if the numbers in this trip are the same as the other, upwards of 400) stored onboard the battle barge. REcall that the Diabolus is a Strike cruiser. Of course the context of crippling isnt known either - it could be internal or external.

Page 188

More than twenty-five kilometres from side to side and octagonal in shape, it was the largest construction of its kind in the entire sector. Hundreds of shuttles and transports darted over its superstructure like tiny bees around their hive. Docking arms extended outwards around the orbital fortress, coupled to more than a score of battlecruisers and heavily armoured mass transports.

The White Consuls star fortress size. Also a 'score' of bttlecruisers, whatever that means.

Page 192

Protected as it was with immense armour and copious layers of void shields, Kronos was virtually impenetrable, and with such potent defences, nothing short of an entire battlefleet would pose a threat.

Power/durability of the Star Fort.

Page 194

“What damage could the Sword of Truth do to this installation if it rammed it?” said Decimus.

“That would bypass our shields, wouldn’t it?”

“The damage would be negligible,” said one of the Kronos officers.

“Scan the Sword of Truth for evidence of atomic warheads,” said Chapter Master Valens.

“The scan reads negative,”

Ramming ignores voids, at least at the velocity the ship is moving (which isnt stellar.. hundreds of m/s, maybe thousands if lucky, probably not.) given implied range/velocity stuff. Also atomic warheads seem to be a concern, although how many and of what kind we dont know



Page 195

“The Sword of Truth is within firing range,” came a warning report.

Funny enough the range has to be somewhere between 1100 and 500 km.

Page 198

“One kilometre!”

“Sir! We are reading… Throne! Sir! Massive readings of atomic warheads aboard the Sword of Truth!”

“Guilliman’s blood, they’ve teleported them across,” said Ostorius, the colour draining from his face.

“Is such a thing even possible?”

“Apparently so.”

“Five hundred metres and closing!”

Its possible to teleport atomics (at least) across to another target. Something like this was also done by the Deathwatch to divert hive fleets at KRyptmann's insistence.

Also again note the completely unspectacular implied speed of the battle barge.

Page 198

..the Sword of Truth ploughed into the side of the Kronos star fort. The timed warheads that had been teleported across into her holds detonated and the battle-barge’s plasma core exploded in a blinding corona

Apparently its atomics plus the reactor exploding.

PAge 199

....another detonation exploded in the heart of the star fort, larger than any other so far.
“Plasma reactor,” said Kol Badar.

When the flame cleared, Marduk could see a massive gaping wound in the flank of the mighty star fort...
..
The orbital bastion was still operational, but it had been dealt a terrible, near fatal blow, and it would be long minutes before it would be able to rotate to bring its undamaged weapons to bear on the advancing Chaos fleet.

Damage inflicted on the star fort, including from its own plasma reactors.

Also it takes 'minutes' for the fort to rotate around to bombard. Given context of Necron deployment later, we're probably talking longer than 10 minutes.

Page 204

In all, a well-coordinated attack could be launched in minutes, giving the beleaguered ground forces little time to react. It was part of the reason why the Astartes were so devastating—they might be outnumbered a million to one, but the sheer force that could be brought to bear on one location, and the speed of its deployment, was almost impossible to counter.

Again minutes deployment time, and the number disparity. The Astartes mobility seems to give them an advantage in concentrated power gives them an (initial) edge. I assume 'million to one' is a ratio between Word BEarers and the forces on the planet.

Page 206

"I understand Astartes, but of these unaugmented men of Boros, its Guardsmen, its officials, I know little. I cannot relate to their short lives, nor their fears and mundane concerns. I know that once I was the same as them, but I can remember little of that time. It is as if they are a breed apart.” He snorted. “Whereas in truth it is we who are the breed apart, are we not?”

“Did you never think that perhaps it was to learn empathy for these people that I posted you here? They share our blood,” said the Chapter Master. “They are as important, nay, more important than we. We exist merely to protect them. They are our reason for being. We are warriors, yes, but we must be more than that, Ostorius.”
...
“Aquilius understands them better than I,” he said, finally. “It is right for him to lead them upon Boros Prime. Forgive me, Chapter Master, I realise that I have performed my duties here poorly.”

Again I like this novel for the fact the Astartes defending the place are not assholes. They're decent guys.

Page 207

“There are close to five billion trained Guardsmen on Boros Prime..."
...
“And there might be as many as fifteen thousand of them. Even by conservative estimates, there will be at least five, six thousand. Imagine it. That is the same as five or six loyal Chapters descending in their entirety upon one world. Nothing could stand against that—not five billion Guardsmen, not even ten."

I find it interesting that they think that the IG have utterly NO chance against the Word Bearers, even though in practical terms they can down them even with a squad's worth of fire (not unlike the Elysians in Dark Apostle.) The problems with this is engaging them in sufficient nubmers to avoid their ability to concentrate, and to keep them at range (once they get in things get much bloodier.)

Also 5 billion guardsmen on planet, Assuming the 1 in 6 ratio from before this might imply there are upwards of 30 billion population on planet (although sources later imply a smaller number.) This may or may not include PDF.

Page 208-209

...the Dreadclaw reached terminal velocity..
...
The assault pod screamed down through the upper atmosphere, hurtling towards the planet’s surface...
...
G-forces pulled at the ten warriors ensconced within the armoured shell; any unaugmented human would have long succumbed to them and blacked out.
...
“Impact thirty seconds,” croaked the infernal, mechanised voice of the Dreadclaw through voxgrilles.
...
Down through the intensifying barrage being directed up at them from the ground the Dreadclaw screamed...

The ground defences are firing on the Word Bearers as they descend 'from the upper atmosphere.' The actual distance is up for debate. Upper atmosphere implies perhaps closer to tens or even a hundred plus km (Depending how high and which atmosphere we're talking.. the dense stuff alone or does it include the thinner atmosphere?)

At the veray least we're talking a few km - the drop pod is at 'terminal velocity' (and for a human that would be ~100 m/s.. we know later that 100 m/s is the launch speed of drop pods) so in 30 seconds it would be 3 km. But that is grossly conservative. At the Imperial armour 'descent' speeds (12000 kph) we're talking an average velocity of 3.3 km/s, which would be ~100 km roughly. I'd call it tens of km is probable for the defenses.

Page 209

Scores of other Dreadclaws hurtled planetwards like meteors, their undersides glowing with heat and burning contrails streaking behind them. Tracer fire stitched across the skies, strafing up from below, thousands of kilotonnes of ammunition being fired indiscriminately heavenwards in a desperate attempt to destroy the Dreadclaws before they struck home. Retina-searing defence laser beams stabbed upwards, and a Dreadclaw no more than ten metres away simply evaporated as it was engulfed in one of these beams, every devoted warrior brother within perishing instantly.

Scope of the defensive fire being thrown up to stop the Word bearers assault. 'thousands of kilotonnes' of ammo thronw up against a mere 'scores' of drop pods, and that doesnt include the defence lasers.

'thousands of kilotonnes' can be taken one of several ways. On one hand it could refer to thousands of kiloton-range shells, or it might refer to millions of tonnes worth of ammo being tossed up into the air. Eitehr way its a considerable amount of firepower - megatons of firepower devoted solely to point defense. (IF millions of tonnes and the shells are travelling at least at 1 km/s we're looking at 1000 TJ of KE, for example, and probably has to travel faster to reach up into upper atmosphere.

Also a defence laser vaporizes a drop pod. ASsuming a Dreadclaw is about the same mass as a regular drop pod (call it between 15-20 tonns) we're looking at hundreds of gigajoules to vaporize (assuming iron or silicon.) Wha tkinds of defence lasers are firing we don't know - but I doubt the big, 50 meter long ones on the ground are capaable of targeting drop pods, so we're probably looking at smaller, anti-aircraft defensive lasers.

PAge 212-213

The gigantic, broad-based tower squatted at the north end of the square, replete with statuary and bas-relief of famous White Consuls battles. Fifty-metre-high lance battery barrels protruded from its gleaming, golden dome, and dozens of flak-cannon turrets and missile racks bristled down its sides. The weight of fire from this tower was immense, and Marduk saw several Dreadclaws ripped apart.

There were a dozen such towers within the landing zone, and each of them was marked as priority targets for the assaulting Chaos Legion.

...
A beam of pure light stabbed upwards towards the distant Word Bearers fleet in high orbit. Concentrated fire from lance batteries could cripple even the largest battleships; neutralising them was of paramount importance.

The scope of the defensive fire facing them in the zone they are assaulting. With a dozen defence lasers with dozens of flak guns each we're talking a few hundred to a few thousand defence towers, which would put it (within an order of magntidue) in the defensive capabilities of a battleship or a single squadron's point defense.

Also again note the anti-ship lance batteries and their ability to target to high orbit. In context I've heard this described as anythign above geostationary, but an upper limit of ~97,000 km has been implied in other sources (as I noted in Wolf's Honour.)

Page 213

Lasfire stabbed from the buildings...
...
Marduk hissed in anger as one of the shots struck him, scorching his shoulder plate black and causing several of the devotional oath papers nailed there to burst into flame, the scripture reduced to ash.

Lasfire. It's hard to judge accuratley, but assuming a single shot can ignite paper suggests at least 125 J per square cm (for flash burns) and these are distinctly thermal weapons. Assuming a 5x5 cm area burnt we're talking at least 3 kj of energy. Something larger (10x10cm) might be 12.5 kj.

Page 213

One of his brethren stumbled and fell as he was struck by a dozen white-hot las-beams, penetrating and igniting the external cabling and tubing of his power armour. None of the Word Bearers deigned to stop to help their fallen brother..

A dozen lasbeams down a Word Bearer. Again if you can keep them at range and concentrate your fire, they can be killed.

Page 214

Burias was struck a glancing blow across the side of his skull, taking off his left ear and leaving a cauterised burn down the side of his head.

Assuming the las shot is at least 2 cm wide and 10 cm across, we're looking at 20 sq cm. Assuming between 125 j (remember igniting stuff) and 1000 j per sq cm (blowtorch scale flash burns - sure to leave a scar) we'd be talking between 2.5 and 20 kj. If we go by ear that its more like 5 cm across and 20 cm wide we're talking 100 sq cm and it would be between 12.5 and 100 kj.

Page 214

Autocannon fire from armoured turrets upon the immense defence tower began to rip across the square, tearing up chunks of marble and smashing XVII Legion warriors from their feet. The sacred power armour of the Word Bearers caught in the enfilades was torn to shreds and their flesh riddled with bullets

Autocannon obviously have much better luck against Word Bearer armour.

Page 215-216

..an immense breaching drill, studded with adamantine teeth capable of tearing through even the most heavily fortified bastion. The apex of the fearsome weapon was formed of a dozen separate, rotating adamantine cones, studded with coral-like teeth.
...
Anything struck by the breaching drill, be it a reinforced rockcrete bunker, a front-line battle tank or the leg of a Titan, would be torn apart. Underslung beneath the potent weapon, a twin-linked meltagun protruded.
...
The golden doors were wide enough for a superheavy tank, and over thirty metres in height.
...
Lascutters and meltashears built into the drill carved through the door.

Dreadnought siege doomdrill. Also note the door. assuming a baneblade hull we're talking ~8-9 m across.

Page 216

Soldiers wearing blue tabards over grey carapace armour were waiting for them, arrayed in overlapping serried ranks, lasguns lowered, and they unleashed a barrage that saw several Word Bearers fall. Another one dropped, his chest plate melted beneath a searing plasma blast.

IG vs Word Beares again. Again they manage to take down a few with what is probably platoon levle fire (several ranks probably, and the ranks would be no more than 15-20 across). Again if the range were greater they probably would do better, but the Word Beares gtting close up is a massacre.

[Connor MacLeod]

Part 3, and I'm done with the series for now!

Page 217-218

Five kilometres to the north-east, Kol Badar broke the spine...
...
In the space of ten minutes it had been turned into hell, but Kol Badar felt no particular satisfaction.
...
Each of the defence lasers designated as the prime targets should fall silent within the next five minutes, creating a safe corridor for the heavier mass transports to descend. Still, they should have been silenced already.
...
“The enemy star fort has almost completed its rotation, faster than predicted. Our ships in high orbit will be coming under heavy fire within five minutes, and must pull back. Mass transporters en route."
...
Marduk swore as he received Kol Badar’s update..

5 km range between Marduk and Kol BAdar's comms. Also the encounter has been at least 15 min (possibly twenty given ~5 minutes to drop pod descent at given speeds.) Call it 24-25 minutes for the STar fort to rotate.

Page 221

With all of the defence towers silenced within the fifty-kilometre radius he had designated as the landing zone, few of the Host’s shuttles were shot down on the descent.

the 'safe zone' corridor for deployment against the anti-air defenses of the planet. Those dozen defence laser sites, again.

Page 222

“It is hard to lock onto them,” said the warrior. “They are coming in fast, below our scans, and they are actively jamming our signal, but you can see their ghost presence sporadically… there.”

Sensor jamming.

Page 229

Before the warrior could respond, his head was pulped by a shotgun blast fired at close range.

'
Word bearer gets his head pulped by Scout shotgun blast.

Page 234

...just as the warrior’s finger squeezed the trigger he jerked backwards, the back of his head blown out.

“Sniper!” roared Sabtec..

Sniper manages to blow out the back of a a Devastator/HAvoc marine's head. The actual weapon isnt known (probably from a scout with a sniper rifle) - which usualyl means needler or las weapon, but it could be projectile.

Page 235

He hefted the lascannon onto his shoulder and flicked out its optical sight. He did not unhook the heavy power generator from his fallen brother’s back—he did not have time—and the insulated cables connecting the bulky weapon hummed as he linked to its targeting systems.

The enemy tanks had fired smoke and blind grenades; broad-spectrum electro-magnetic radiation blinding both sensors and scans as well as blocking conventional sight. Sabtec swore.

He aimed the lascannon into the thick smoke that confused his auto-sensors.
...
The shot glanced off the Predator’s angled fore-armour. Sabtec gritted his teeth in frustration as the weapon began to power up again, venting steam.

Lascannon shot deflected off Predator armour, the recharge rate for the gun, and Smokeblind grenades.

Page 235

The turret of the battle tank turned molten, dripping down over its hull like wax as a plasma cannon found its mark.

Assuming a 2 m long, 1 m wide, half metre tall turret and that the hull is ~3 cm thick we might figure it masses a ton or so. Call it a gigajoule to melt if made of iron.

Page 236

..a warrior dropped without a sound as a result of sniper fire, half his helmet blowing out in a blossoming cloud of blood.

Another AStartes sniper headshotting a Word bearer.

Page 239

..grunted in pain as a bolt hit him in the wrist. The explosive round took his hand clear off.

Bolt round removes a Word Bearer's hand.

Page 243

..shearing a devastating wound up its side and destroying one of its mass stabilisers in an explosion of fire and sparks. They were the largest drop-ships..
...
... the mass transport begin to accelerate towards the ground, tipping to one side as it came down, its stabilisers unbalanced.
...
The container struck the surface of Boros Prime fifteen kilometres away. A section of the city five hundred metres in diameter was crushed beneath its weight.

Mass stabilizers. Might have something about balance in handling the bulk of the drop ships, but maybe mass lightening. Also implied that the transporters are carrying titans, and are close to 500 m across perhaps./

Page 245

One had been destroyed and another was plummeting to the ground, but that still left three untouched.

They descended to the ground seemingly in violation of the laws of gravity, coming down slowly and steadily, grav-motors, stabilisers and thrusters bearing them sedately towards the surface of Boros Prime.

More Titan transporters. That probably means 75% of the Demi legion makes it to the ground.

Notice the 'grav motor, stabilisers nad thrusters' to help them approach.

Page 245

Worse, they had unleashed terrors of such power entire cities would be razed to the ground.
..
They stood as tall as a five-storey building, and though he knew these were but the smallest of the enemy Titans—corrupted Warhounds..

5 storey (call it 10 feet - 50 feet) Warhounds. Also the usual 'titans can raze cities' firepower implication.

PAge 250

...the man wore a breastplate of the Boros Guard; once, mere weeks or days past perhaps, this man had given praise to the Emperor of Mankind and fought alongside him. What had the enemy done to him to make him fall so low?

The Word bearers are relying on corruption and weakness to recurit cultists to their cause. Probably explains why they didn't bother bringing troops of their own, they figured they'd recruit on the fly.

Page 250

He reversed his grip on his weapon and shot the man in the chest. The traitor collapsed with a gargled sigh, a searing black hole burnt through his chest. The stink of melting plastek and charred flesh stung Verenus’ nostrils.

Lasgun shot to the cultist'ss chest. Assuming it punches a 15 cm deep, 3 cm diameter hole (bout finger wide) you might take 5 kj to do that. If we go by flash burns (again recall 125 j per sq cm to set stuff on fire) we might be talking ~50 kj

Page 251

It had been two months since the enemy had first descended upon Boros Prime..

Two months since the start of the conflict.,

Page 251

Every citizen of Boros Prime of eligible age, no matter his or her standing or profession, underwent years of military training. Every able man, woman and child had been issued with a lasgun and formed into auxiliary units to support the PDF and Guard units.

not unlike CAdia/

Page 252

Verenus had not had a decent night’s sleep since the enemy’s arrival, plagued with violent nightmares filled with blood and malevolent, skinless daemons that had him awake and screaming minutes after closing his eyes. It was the same with everyone and Verenus knew that these were no normal dreams—they were an insidious weapon of the enemy, designed to sow terror and despair amongst the regiments.

Another Chaos weapon turned against the populace. Probably one reason that so many cultists emerge.

Page 252

...suicides had already accounted for one man in twenty within the Guard units, a staggering total when one considered how many soldiers were fighting here on Boros.

More psychologicla warfare.

Page 253

..An even worse sound accompanied them—a hellish blare of insanity that made Verenus’ flesh crawl. It felt as though something was scratching painfully behind his eardrums, penetrating his head and reverberating within his mind. It made him feel sick, and his gorge rose.

The infernal chanting was deeply unnerving, and he had already seen more than a dozen soldiers succumb to its madness, men that the commissars were forced to put down as insanity claimed them.

Even more psychological warfare.

Page 254-255

..each of those cursed giants was easily the equivalent of thirty or forty of his own battle-hardened veteran Guardsmen, or more than a hundred auxiliary draftees.

Qualities of Word Bearers vs the Guard and militai troops.

Page 255

He had been engaged with the enemy in constant battle for the past two months...
...
Tank companies and hundreds of millions of soldiers fought the enemy toe-to-toe, day in day out, and it had become an exercise of military logistics, a constant rotation of regiments to and from the front in order to maintain pressure. The Word Bearers could not keep up this pace forever...

Long term advantage- Imperial Guard! Of course its mentioend the planet may not be worth anything by the end...

Page 256

Another heretic appeared, his face contorted with hatred and loathing, his blackened cheeks streaked with tears. He too was shot down, smoking burns riddling his chest and face.
...
..His lasgun beam struck the immense warrior in the chest, to little effect. From all around, dozens of blue lasbeams...

How many shots we don't know, but assuming 20x20 cm + 30x30 cm at 125 j per sq cm we're talking 162.5 kj roughly. Assuming between 20-100 shots we're talking 1.6-8 kj per shot. Dozens probably implies closer to the lower end of things.

Page 257

One of the enemy went down, peppered with bullet craters and covered in lasburns.

Again given dozens of lasbeams that that might help, although the autocannons contributed too.

Page 259

The daemons, for they could have been nothing else, descended in a screeching rash, leathery wings tightly furled as they dropped towards the ground. They were horrific creatures, their glistening exposed musculature a perverted mockery of humanity. Lipless mouths were twisted into feral grins, exposing needle-like fangs, and barbed, serpentine tails of wet muscle trailed behind them as they hurtled towards the horrified soldiers below.

In addition to making cultists out of the native populace (either on planet or form nearby worlds I'd guess) they summon tons of daemons to fight the troops.

Page 260

A wild shot from Verenus hit one of the creatures in its skinless head. Its flesh, the colour of raw liver, turned grey and black as it cooked...

Assuming a 10x10 or 15x15 cm area, we're talking 100-225 sq cm. At 125 j per sq cm (I use that alot don't I? LOL) we're again talking 12-28 kj. If the head were 20x20 cm it might go as high as 50 kj.

Page 261

From the ground, Verenus looked up to see an imposing figure surrounded in a halo of light, a holy aura that made his breath catch in his throat. For a moment it was as if time stood still. Verenus was not alone in witnessing this divine vision; all the soldiers of Boros Prime nearby saw it, this holy figure bathed in seraphic light.

The glowing nimbus lasted just a fraction of a second, and while the rational part of Verenus’ mind insisted it was nothing but a momentary trick of the light reflecting off alabaster armour plates, the impression was indelible.

The halo bathing the figure dissipated, and the immense figure of a White Consul stood there, defiant and unwavering.

Brother Aquilius, as we learn, is regarded a something of a talisman and a champion by the Guardsmen he fights along, and it's likely that at the very least, their focused devotion and belief (even worship) can turn him 'holy' in a sense - the warp does work that way after all. It may even be possible that the Emperor uses him as a champion of sorts - a pawn to fight against Chaos in this key conlfict.

Page 262

Verenus snatched up a lasgun from a fallen Guardsman and began firing on full auto, all fear evaporated. Other soldiers of the Boros 232nd fell in around Aquilius and Verenus, forming a tight knot of defiance anchored around the holy Astartes warrior.
...
In the aftermath of battle he felt exultant, invigorated and inspired. He had felt the presence of the Emperor in that battle, and he saw the same glow of belief reflected in the eyes of his soldiers.

“We are going to win this war, aren’t we?” said one of his men.

“We are,” said Verenus, for the first time actually believing it. He turned his gaze towards Aquilius, talking softly with some of his soldiers. “The White Angel is with us.”

The Imperial equivlanet of psyschological warfare - or at least the counter to the Word BEarer's efforts. Thus, however good or bad it might be, symbolism and champions like this can have a significant impact (both offensively and defensively) on troopers and how they fight - at lest when it comes to enemies who can also use the warp as a weapon.

Page 263

Marduk and Kol Badar were communing over a closed vox-channel, their words heard by none but each other. The Coryphaus was located over a hundred kilometres away..

100 km comms range.

PAge 264

“Casualties?” he said over his shoulder.
“Two,”
...
“The enemy?”
...
Two hundred, give or take.”

100:1 kill ratio. AS horrible as it sounds, that sort of attirtion can favor the Guard here.

PAge 265

The world was changing, and it would never again be the same. Like a worm wriggling its way through the core of an apple, the taint of Chaos was now rooted in the very substance of Boros Prime. Even if the Word Bearers were to leave, the Imperium would be forced to abandon it.

Possibly another reason for the increase in cultists.

Page 265

..Each was more than a match for fifty or a hundred lesser mortals.
...
A demi-Legion of Titans marched behind them, laying waste to entire cities.
...
..the number of XVII Legion warrior brothers fighting upon the surface of Boros Prime numbered less than seven thousand all told...

Chaos (elite) forces onplanet and quality.

Page 266

Boros Prime was home to more than twelve billion, and almost another two billion had been evacuated to the relative safety of the planet from its surrounding planets and moons. More than half of that number served in its armed forces, or had been drafted into service. Every citizen of eligible age served a tenure in the Guard—even the bureaucrats and public servants knew their way around a lasgun and basic small-unit tactics. By Marduk’s reckoning, the five thousand warriors of Lorgar faced off against nigh on ten billion soldiers. Added to the mix were the White Consuls, and while there were no more than three companies engaged here on Boros—three hundred loyalist Astartes— their mere presence bolstered the resolve of the Guardsmen...

The military side of Boros, 10 billion troops plus auxiliaries, and more to call if need be. Boros has a population of 12 billion. And like CAdia there are a high percentage ofmilita.

Also the Consuls have an impact far out of proportion to their numbers

Page 266

Industrious forge-hives located towards the poles spewed out a constant stream of weapons and armour, and the smoking plains outside the world’s sprawling cities were dominated by massive tank formations. The Titans of Legio Vultums had stalked out to meet one of these grand tank companies, and had notched up a kill-tally numbering in the thousands. Nevertheless, these confirmed kills were rendered insignificant against the sheer number of tanks taking the field. Four Titans, ancient war engines that had stalked across battlefields for ten thousand years, were brought down and three others suffered crippling damage as their void shields and armoured carapaces were hammered by ordnance and focused battle cannon fire. One of the Titans, one hulking Warlord-class engine, now a daemonically infested monster, was laid low by a devastating barrage from super heavy Shadowswords.

The Titans aren't doing too well either, despite inflicting horrendous losses. Apparently within two months the polar 'forge hives' have built tens or perhaps hundreds of thousands of tanks. Assuming a similar ratio for most industrial/civilized planets (call it a million or so within an order of magnitude) we're talking billions if not trillions of armoured vehicles a year, easily.

PAge 267

Every day tens of thousands of enemy soldiers perished, but every day scores of Word Bearers fell, and their loss was felt keenly.

More kill ratios

Page 267

Like clockwork, every hour the star fort would unleash its barrage upon the world below, decimating everything within a threekilometre radius of its target. The constant need for Marduk’s Host to shift its battlefront to avoid annihilation was growing tiresome
...
If the star fort had fallen, then the Chaos fleet would have been able to move into high orbit and commence a devastating bombardment upon the planet below that would have quickly changed the tide of the war. As it was, no Chaos warship was able to move into position without coming under fire from the Imperial star fort.

The fort provides support as well. kiloton-megaton range bombardments perhpas depending on the kind of weapons and attacks givne the radius, and the advantages it provides. Likewise the fort denies Chaos the ability to attack the planet.

Page 273

Kronos had held out for two months now..

Again two months.

PAge 279-280

The taint of Chaos had taken hold of Boros Prime, and he despaired as to what would be left here, even if they were victorious. A week ago, one in ten thousand had been identified as exhibiting some unnatural taint, planetwide—tens of millions of citizens and soldiers. All had been removed from their units and habs and transported under guard to the quarantine sanitation camps—death camps by any other name.

The number of the afflicted had risen sharply in the last days, and it was judged that the taint was now affecting one in five thousand, and rising daily.

Again Word Bearere psych warp warfare. It provides them potential recruits and saps the morale and resolve of the defenders.

Page 280

...daily screening and purity testing for all soldiers, to be conducted in the presence of a superior officer. Any individual exhibiting any taint was removed from their unit.

Commissars prowled the ranks, and each day Aquilius read depressing communiqués tallying the numbers of soldiers executed for exhibiting hostile effects of taint, or for concealing and avoiding screens.

Again grim, like the death camps, but what can you do when there is chaos taint? That's part of the horror and the nastiness of fighting Chaos.. even when you win the costs can be horrific, and the psych warfare plays to the Chaos Space Marine's advnatages.

Page 281-282

He did not feel worthy of their adoration, but it didn’t matter. It was Chapter Master Valens who had made him realise that, and his respect for the warrior had grown immeasurably.

“This is not about you,” Chapter Master Valens had said. “This is not about what you need, or what you deserve. This is about what those soldiers need. They need hope, Aquilius. The White Angel is that hope. The men must hold until the veil over the Boros Gate is lifted.”

Amidst the horror and darkness of this escalating, planet-wide war, the White Angel had become a beacon of hope.
...
He faced the dangers they faced, and was ever at the forefront of the most intense battles, and he—or rather the fiction that was the

White Angel—had become a legend.

The Imperial propaganda machine was in full swing. Printed leaflets were distributed amongst the ranks speaking of the White Angel’s exploits, all highly exaggerated, and how the enemy was being slowly repelled. It made him intensely uncomfortable, but he could see the positive effect it was having on the men. Spirits lifted wherever he went, and soldiers that had been about to break redoubled their resolve in his presence.

He understood his role here now, and had come to accept its burden. It was his job to ensure that the Guard and the PDF, the tank companies and the auxiliary regiments were operating at their peak, that their morale held, and that their will to fight was not eroded by the insidious tools of the enemy.

If that meant that he must become their talisman, their White Angel, then so be it.

The soldiers and citizenry of Boros Prime saw the White Angel as their saviour, their divine protector. While Aquilius stood, there was hope. And despite everything, that ray of hope was burning brighter with every day that passed, with every day that victory was denied the enemy.

Again given all the weird psychic and warp shit they're forced to face, this can be the best defense against it - a symbol to tap into their beliefs and faiths and hope and use that as a shield against the nasty shit the Word BEarers throw at them. It isn't just morale - it can have a tangible, psychic effect. As I said, for good or for bad, symbols like this can have a potent effect, and that is something that cannot be totally discounted.

It's also one of those aspects I like about this book - all the grimdark fuckery of Word Bearers killing and killing gets dull, but there's always this positive 'hope' pushing through, resisting, and generally ocuntering the repeititive killfest this novel would otherwise be (and what the previous two novels were.) It also shows how great the White consuls are presented in this book. Aquilus may not like or be comfortable wiht his role, but he'll act it out for other people if they need it.

Page 283

The vox-bead in his ear clicked.
...
It was Chapter Master Titus Valens, located halfway around the world, engaged in the frozen north.

If they have the relays, apparently vox bead range can reach quite far.

Page 294

Heavily armed Warlord- and Reaver-class engines laid waste to entire city blocks with the power of their ordnance.

firepower of Reaver/Warlords

Page 294

Unnervingly stealthy for engines four storeys high, they stalked through the mayhem of battle..

40 foot tall warhounds.

Page 311

The White Consul was easily three times the Icon Bearer’s weight...

Terminator is 3x power armoured marine's weight. Fits roughly within the 500-1000 kg benchmark, depending on exact mass you figure for power armoured marine.

Page 321-322

At first, Marduk thought perhaps it was a battle-cruiser crashing down to earth, a casualty of the ongoing war in orbit above Boros, but he saw that this shape was bigger than that, larger even than Ekodas’ flagship, the immense Crucius Maledictus. The star fort itself?
...
It was the underside of a vessel so vast as to put the largest battlecruiser to shame, yet Marduk knew instantly that this was not the falling Kronos star fort. Whatever this vessel was, it had destroyed the orbital bastion, utterly and completely.
...
It must have been easily fifteen kilometres across, and it cast its shadow over the entire city.

The Necron warship has arrived. It effortlessly destroys the (badly damaged) Star fort and approaches the planet. Marduk thinks it might be at least 15 km across or more (close in size to the Star Fort) and any ship he knows of (or at least is present at this battle) is far smaller, even the GRand Apostle's flagship with its nova cannon (suggesting smaller than 15-25 km.)

What's more recall that about 2 months have passed, and the Necron starship started out 'half a galaxy' away from Boros Prime (where the Nexu Arrangement.)

Given 50-60 K LY we're talking 300-360,000c average travel speed. And whats more if we go by 5th edition (again).. warp travel is yet faster!

Part of me wonders if perhaps the reason they were able to FTL so quickly was because the Arrangement acted as a beacon. Something to consider, and might highlight the reasons why dolmen gates are useful - just because their ships HAVE FTL doesn't mean they're always effective. It could just be a varaition of the 'wormhole' transit, and thus needing a beacon. *shrugs*

Page 322-323

Something so large should not have been able to descend so close to the planet’s surface without being dragged down by the planet’s gravity, no matter how powerful its engines were.
...
The energy it must have been exerting to resist the pull of gravity and keep its immense bulk from crashing to earth was beyond imagining, far in excess of anything that could be fathomed by a human mind. Nevertheless, while the fierce downwind continued to buffet the city below, they were hardly of the scale that Marduk would have imagined necessary to keep such a structure aloft.

Indeed, there appeared to be no blazing engines burning with the heat of a thousand suns upon the vessel’s underside at all.

Marduk contemplates the power needed to keep the ship aloft. Whether 'suns' should be taken literally or not in this case I leave up to personal interpretation. Bear in mind this is Marduk's assessment/opinion, and even then his cotext makes it likely this is far beyond anything the Imperium knows.. and since he admits to not knowing it doesn't mean the Necrons actually HAVE that power (but its the magnitude of power they'd be implied to have in an Imperail equivalent vessel so..)

Again matter of opinion

Page 327

On Tanakreg, a xenos pyramid of ancient, inhuman design had sat deep within an abyssal trench located far beneath the acidic oceans of that backwater planet.
...
Its location had been revealed after the oceans had been boiled away by the actions of the 34th Host...

The tomb (ship) had only been revealed when the oceans had 'boiled' away. I'll leave that open to inteprretation, since the planetary-scale fuckery could support that but it was pretty messed up all around.

PAge 331-332

In its place was a slowly spinning flat-topped pyramid roughly the size of a super-heavy tank, hovering ten metres above the ground.
...
A massive dark green crystal, easily three metres in height, rose up from within the prism until it was hanging unsupported within this hollow cage-like formation.

A Necron monolith appears.

Page 333-334

Missiles detonated ineffectively upon the structure’s sheer, black surfaces, and he watched as autocannon rounds stitched across its sides. The heavy-calibre shells ricocheted harmlessly off the dark stone, causing not so much as a crack in its surface. Lascannon beams struck its angled sides, yet the energy was merely absorbed into the alien structure, making its hieroglyphs momentarily glow brighter.

Word Bearer fire on monolith ineffective. For the Monolith's part, its weapons pretty much obliterate Predators and other tanks pretty easily.

Page 334

Several of them were felled by concentrated Word Bearers fire, but many of the undead warriors simply rose back to their feet seconds later, the damage they had sustained repairing itself seamlessly. Severed limbs reattached themselves and craters caused by detonating bolt rounds in heads and chests disappeared as if they had never been.

Durability/repair speed of Necron Warriors against bolter fire.

Page 335

Spider-like robotic constructs the size of Dreadnoughts appeared, looming above the Word Bearers, their arachnid, metal legs clicking beneath them

Tomb spiders. Necron Destroyers also make an appearance.

Page 337

..Verenus’ head disintegrated, ripped apart molecule by molecule as an arc of green energy struck it.

...
...the xenos constructs fired again, and a head-sized chunk of the battlements disintegrated...

Necron flayer weapons. Probably Destroyers

Page 337

Its leering skull face was replaced with a molten crater as the white hot burst of plasma struck it, and it dropped out of sight, falling to the ground thirty metres below the wall.
...
Aquilius glanced back over his shoulder to see the fallen construct rising from the ground, its skull reforming before his eyes.

Destroyer tanks a 30 m fall and having its head melted.

PAge 340

The scarabs, most no larger than the palm of a hand, some so small as to be almost invisible..

Necron scarab sizes. They can burrow through power armour effectively. Flamers obliterate them though.

Page 341

..he saw a Reaver Titan of Legio Vulturus surrounded by six of the monoliths. The fire-blackened forms of two Warhounds lay twitching in smoking heaps nearby, buildings crushed beneath their carcasses. Arcs of energy struck the Reaver repeatedly. It brought one of the pyramids down with a concentrated burst of missiles launched from the pod upon its shoulders. Another was swatted aside by the Reaver’s immense chainfist, the blow tearing the alien prism in half and sending it smashing into a fortified tower, bringing it crashing down. But even the mighty Reaver could not last against the monoliths, and one by one its flickering void shields were brought down by the relentless barrage it was sustaining from all sides.
...
..arcs of green electricity ripping one arm away and tearing into its black carapace. It was finally brought down, and its ululating death cry rang out across the city.

Titans vs Monoliths.

Page 343

...the immense, crescent-shaped vessel of the enemy xenos-constructs.

It was truly massive, larger than any ship that Marduk had ever laid eyes on. It rivalled the bulk of a Darkstar fortress.

Size of the Necron STarship again

Page 344

Blinding pillars of light beamed from the ship’s underside down onto the city below, deploying its inhuman armies across the city in a spread of more than fifteen kilometres. Marduk shook his head in wonder. Less than ten minutes after first appearing in the upper atmosphere, the enemy had deployed tens of thousands of its troops and established complete dominion within the city below.

Not even Astartes were able to deploy in such force at a speed to match that feat.

Necron deployment vs Astartes Deployment.

PAge 344

“How did they make translocation?”
...
“Has your precious Nexus Arrangement failed? Are the gates to the warp open?”
...
"Nothing could have entered the system through the aether.”

“Well, it came from somewhere,” said Kol Badar.

“Perhaps it does not need the warp at all,”

Again the Necron ship can travel FTL, but not using the warp.

Page 345

“That pyramid,” said Marduk, stabbing a finger onto the transparent, ice-cold surface of the port window. “We have been inside it, Kol Badar.”
..
“Only its tip was exposed,” said Kol Badar. “The rest of the ship was hidden beneath the ocean floor.”

The Ship was buried on Tanakreg before as noted again. That was what they broke into in Dark Apostle. Which means it was buried 10+km belowground (effectively) and it survived the massive tectonic upheaval, ocean boiling, etc. that fucked up the planet with little harm.

Page 350

“Previously inert beta power levels surging beyond charted magnifiers, peaking at 99.224952 gamma-parsecs, expanding exponentially, outside source unknown, controlling mechanisms failing to compensate, capacitors levelling out, gone, failure, dead,”

The Nexus arrangement is at full power now

Page 351-352

The silver orb punched its way clear of the Crucius Maledictus, moving at tremendous speed, tearing clean through metre-thick bulkheads and countless levels of decking. It ripped straight through everything in its path, causing untold damage. It rent a gaping hole through the engine decks, coming within scant centimetres of penetrating the plasma core.
...
Down it plunged, until finally it tore out through the thick armour plates of the immense ship’s underhull. Over a hundred slave-proselytes were slain as they were sucked out the fist-sized hole before bulkheads slammed shut, isolating the integrity breach.
...
With a streaking tail of fire arcing out behind it, the silver sphere hurtled down through the atmosphere of Boros Prime like a shooting star.

Moving at such velocity, were it to strike the surface of Boros Prime it would cause a crater tens of kilometres wide, but before it struck it came to a sudden halt, its velocity arrested instantly.

Glowing with pale light, it hovered between the Undying One’s outstretched hands.

An indication of the power of the Nexus ARrangement, and the possible damage it inflicted on the battleship punching through (although whether it did equivalent damage punching out we dont know for sure.)

Assuming a 20 km diameter crater we're talking at least a gigaton of KE, probably more. It's still an interesting comment on the capabilities of the Necrons, and the implied capabilities vs other races.

Page 354

A billion new suns had been born since the time of its imprisonment, and tens of thousands had burnt out..
..
Everywhere, it saw the taint of the Old Ones. Their engineered Young Races were spread across the universe in a verminous tide. Hatred, cold and ancient, burnt within its cavernous heart.

Now released, it would take up the old fight, and finish what had been started millions of years earlier.

Implies that the Undying One might be much older than the bulk of Necron forces. Perhaps why he's more powerful/unusual? HE doesnt seem to have a tomb world per se.

Page 357

...the Infidus Diabolus shuddered as if it had been struck with cyclonic torpedoes. It listed heavily to one side, its hull groaning in protest as the daemons that had infused its essence since before the outbreak of the Horus Heresy were banished. The strike cruiser’s central processing cogitator units sputtered and died. Reliant on the daemon essences bound into its mainframe, the ship’s thinking computers and hard-wired servitors were unable to function as the malicious spirits were driven out. The ship threatened to come apart at the seams, so intrinsic was the warp to its very existence.

chaos starship design and maintenance, and how it suffers under the Nexus Arrangement (which has in the hands of the Necrons completely cut off the warp.)

Also note the implication of cyclonic torpedoes being used against starships again (like in Bleeding halice.)

PAge 362

The necrons were incredibly difficult to put down, each one soaking up enough fire to drop an Astartes before their implacable advance was halted. Even then, many simply rose back to their feet moments later, all evidence of the damage they had sustained gone.

Aquilius saw one of the necron warriors stoop and pick up its own arm, which had been blown off with a melta gun blast. Sparks spat from the robotic xenos’ shattered shoulder, but as the severed limb was placed back against the joint the sparks stopped. Metal ran like quicksilver as the joint reformed. Within the space of a heartbeat the limb was reattached, and the necron continued its relentless advance, climbing the stairs towards them.

Necron durability and self repair capacity.

Page 371

Those weapons proved utterly deadly, shearing through Terminator armour with ease.
...
The energised necron weapon continued on into the body of the veteran Word Bearer, slicing him open from neck to sternum.

Having witnessed the shocking power of the warscythes...

Warscythe capabilities.

Page 376

On the Warmonger came, roaring incoherently as it pounded forward, a ten-tonne behemoth of metal and brutality.

Dreadnought mass.

Page 381

the melta gun in his hands levelled squarely at Marduk. The weapon was designed as an anti-tank weapon. At such range, even Terminator armour would offer little protection.

Meltaguns can penetrate Terminator armour close up.

Page 385

"But before you die, know that the Keeper of the Faith, Kor Phaeron himself, is the one that has raised the Brotherhood once more.”
...
“More than twenty Hosts have sworn their allegiance to the Brotherhood,” said Ashkanez. “Dozens more will join before Erebus has any idea of the danger he is in.”
...
“Erebus’ perversion of the Council draws to an end. Under Kor Phaeron’s leadership, the Legion shall be guided back to Lorgar’s true teachings.”

SEems without Lorgar around, Erebus and Kor Phaeron fight even more openly for control of the Legion, which has certain drawbacks on the military front obviously.

Also implied there are at least 44-54 Hosts, which suggests 40-50K word bearers at least, and upwards of 120-150K. This also means the Black Legion has hundreds of thousands if not millions.

Page 390

Ashkanez refused to scream out, even as the searing blast turned his armour and flesh molten, his bones to ash.

Melta effects on armour and flesh of a leg.

Page 399

The psychic pressure that Ekodas exerted was building, and Marduk could feel dark tendrils plundering the depths of his mind, writhing like razor-worms.
...
Marduk cut visual feed and stood clutching at his command podium as the barbed claws of
Ekodas’ mind were forced to retract.

Apparently visual contact is important to such things.


Page 403-404

“The xenos vessel is moving,” came Sabtec’s voice from the bridge. “Accelerating fast. It will be upon us within minutes.”
..
Accompanied by Kol Badar and twenty of the Anointed, he had spent the last two hours isolating each warrior that had been identified as Brotherhood.
...
It had been a close-run thing, and at full burn the Infidus Diabolus had only barely managed to keep out of range of the Chaos fleet’s weapons.
...
The Infidus Diabolus speared inexorably towards the Trajan Belt, the thick ring of asteroids that divided the Boros Gate system into inner and outer worlds.

Implied 'minutes' for the Xenos ship to reach the Word bearers, wheras it took two hours or so for the vessel to reach. Either the oribts have shifted to let the Chaos fleet get further away, or it took longer than 2 hours, since we noted earlier the distance between the belt and Boros was 3 LH.

Either way the Necron ship is literally orders of magntidue faster. Again hundreds to thousands of gees for hours (within a day.) But even if it took a week we're llooking at at least a good 4 gravities, and probably more closer to double digit gees at least.

Note that at 2 hours and 1 AU we're still looking at 10% of c and 600+ gees. Hell even at 2.5 million km from the planet we're still looking at a few percentage of lightspeed and over 20 gees accel. At tens of millions of km, we're back to hundreds of gees.

Page 406

Half a second later, the assault pod fired, shooting down the launch tube at high speed.

Spiralling like a bullet, the drop-pod screamed down the fifty metres of tube before launching out into space, engines roaring.
...
Three seconds later, the vortex grenade detonated.

A sphere of absolute darkness appeared, swallowing all light as the vortex grenade created a miniature black hole three hundred metres off the starboard bow. Its hemisphere touched a twisted mess of space debris half the length of the Infidus Diabolus, and it was instantly consumed.

Vortex grenade detonation - mini black hole this time. Also note that 300 m in 3 seconds for drop pod launch - 100 m/s, out of a 50 metere tube in half a second.

Page 408

Dozens of enemy ships were making transference now, materialising all around the Crucius Maledictus and its beleaguered fleet. He saw a massive starship, a Darkstar fortress, emerge directly in front of his own hulking flagship.

Apparently those Darkstar forts are mobile and warp capable.

Page 412

“I do not understand, master,” said Marduk. Erebus smiled.

“The Keeper of the Faith and I have known each other for a very long time,” he said. Every Word Bearer knew that Erebus and Kor Phaeron were the first and closest comrades of their lord primarch, Lorgar. “It has always been like this between us. Our little straggles against each other mean nothing.”

Nice to know that thousands of dead are considered acceptable losses in a little game between Kor and Erebus isnt it?