Attention Institute personnel. This investigation marks the release Templin
2.0. To celebrate, anyone pledged to our Patreon
Page at $10 and above before November 30th will receive an exclusive and limited edition
Operation: Thundershark Patch. There’s been a ton of changes to the Templin
Institute, so stick around after this episode for more details. The Emperor wills it, and you shall obey. In the grim darkness of the far future, the
Age of the Imperium is over. Across the universe, a death knell has sounded
for the Time of Ending has begun. Tyranid Hive Fleets move inexorably towards
the guiding light of the Astronomicon. Orks in the trillions gather around the banners
of the warlord Ghazghkull Thraka. Necron tombs, silent for millennia, now awaken,
and a warp storm of unprecedented fury has torn the galaxy in two; the final prelude,
it is whispered, to the ultimate victory of the ruinous powers. The fate of humanity rests with the myriad
of forces at the Imperium’s command. A single shot fired by the Officio Assassinorum
can end a rebellion before it begins. The Collegia Titanica can grind entire worlds
to powder. The Adepta Sororitas can cast the holy word
of the Emperor to even the darkest corners of the galaxy. But of all the armies to have ever raised
their weapons and banners in the defense of mankind, there is one above all through which
the destiny of the Imperium will be decided. Each day on a million worlds, women and men,
ordinary citizens of the Imperium, depart their homes, often never to return. They are sent to the frontlines of wars beyond
number and against eldritch creatures, immortal warriors, and the powers of hell itself, expected
to hold the line. They are slaughtered in the ruins of once
proud cities, in the depths of forgotten battlefields, and to the laughter of thirsting gods, but
for ten-thousand years that line has held. For ten thousand years one force in the galaxy
has stood against the enemies of the Imperium and spoken to them in the language of fire. Each day on a million worlds, women and men,
ordinary citizens of the Imperium, depart their homes so they might fight for humanity
as soldiers in the Astra Militarum, the Imperial Guard. The scale and complexity of the Imperial Guard
rivals that of the Imperium itself. It is the largest coordinated fighting force
in the galaxy, serving as the first and often only line of defense against the innumerable
powers that threaten the continued existence of mankind. While it is famous for the vast numbers of
tanks, aircraft, and artillery under its command, at its core, it is comprised of countless
billions of mortal soldiers, organized into hundreds of thousands of regiments. The recruitment of these regiments is among
the most pivotal duties assigned to every Imperial Commander, Planetary Lord, or Imperial
Governor. According to the law of the Imperium, every
world under its authority must maintain a standing army to preserve the planetary government
and deter any form of internal insurrection or foreign invasion. Each of these Planetary Defense Forces exist
as their own individual bodies, free to defend their own world and enforce their own standards
as they see fit, provided they contribute a fraction of their number to serve the wider
Imperium, and join the Imperial Guard. The method by which these troops are recruited
varies significantly from sector to sector and planet to planet. The Defense Forces of many worlds are little
more than rival gangs, nomadic tribesmen, or condemned criminals, and selection for
service within the Imperial Guard is often done under threat of summary execution. Other planets might have well established,
professional standing armies who view recruitment into the Imperial Guard as a noble, heroic
pursuit. However the individuals and units selected
to join the Imperial Guard are chosen, their quality reflects on that world’s ruler. Should a regiment provided to the Imperial
Guard be of insufficient quality, the life of even a Planetary Governor is immediately
forfeit. For this reason, the soldiers selected for
the Astra Militarum tend to be drawn from the elite troops of any Planetary Defense
Force. Even so, the composition and number of regiments
drawn from each planet is wildly diverse. A highly industrialized hive world with a
trillion Imperial Citizens might be required to provide hundreds of millions of soldiers,
tens of millions of tanks, and other mechanized equipment. These would be supplemented by professional
uniforms, munitions, replacement parts, and every manner of material required to outfit
and sustain a force of that size. An agricultural or feudal world, by contrast,
might have a significantly lower military tribute, providing as little as a million
men and a hundred thousand cavalry. Such soldiers may lack even the most rudimentary
equipment, and possess little experience handling anything more complex than a windmill. This enormous disparity within the Imperial
Guard makes any attempt at standardization impossible. Every regiment is equipped in the manner of
their homeworld, and many such worlds have grown famous for the conduct of their soldiers. Prized by even the Adeptus Terra as the epitome
of the Astra Militarum are the Cadian Shock Troops. The regiments of Cadia are equipped with the
highest standards of gear available and the martial culture of their homeworld has imbued
every soldier with a natural affinity for life in military service. Cadia itself is but a memory, destroyed during
the 13th Black Crusade of Abaddon the Despoiler, but that memory has served the Imperium as
much in death as in life. Factory worlds across the galaxy produce equipment
for the Imperial Guard to Cadian specifications, and countless regiments are trained and deployed
in the fashion of their Cadian brethren. Equally legendary, if less ubiquitous regiments
are raised on worlds spanning the breadth of the Imperium. The Ice Warriors of Valhalla are said to be
as inexorable as the winter itself, ruthless as the bitter frost and as certain as death. They have acquired an infamous reputation
for their thundering artillery barrages combined with waves of charging infantry. Valhallans are the masters of arctic warfare,
viewed by outsiders as somehow impervious to harsh conditions, or the value of human
life. Fueled by the forges of their hiveworld and
millennia of warfare, are the regiments of the Armageddon Steel Legion. Highly mechanized and mobile, the Steel Legion
has an unequalled number of tanks and armoured personnel carriers in their service, and time
and time again have charged across the wastelands of Armageddon supported in the skies above
by gunships and fighter aircraft. The Mordian Iron Guard are widely derided
for their stiff and unforgiving demeanor, ridiculed as more troubled with maintaining
their brightly colored uniforms and marching in perfect formation than the more pragmatic
concerns of soldiery. Such discipline is an absolute necessity on
their strictly-rationed homeworld however, and in battle their iron resolve makes them
cold-blooded killers. They will hold their ground at any cost, laying
waste to the enemy with perfectly disciplined fire. The Desert Raiders of Tallarn by contrast
are unequalled within the Guard for their guerilla tactics. Evasive and opportunistic, they have perfected
the doctrine of hit and run warfare, harassing their opponents without mercy before disappearing
into the dust kicked up by their rugged mounts. Every regiment in the Astra Militarum, regardless
of their homeworld, posses some level of fatalism, but none can match the notoriously grim warriors
of the Death Korps of Krieg. Once a prosperous Hive World, Krieg today
is an atomic wasteland, the result of a rebellion against the Imperium for which its soldiers
must now atone. They are synonymous with their heavy greatcoats
and sinister gas masks, rarely removing them, even to eat or drink. They specialize in wars of attrition, where
their willingness to die for the Emperor exceeds any other consideration. But in the minds of many across the Imperium,
Catachan alone is a worthy successor to Cadia. It is a death world of unrelenting butchery,
where every plant, animal and insect are hostile to human life. Catachans have a well-deserved reputation
as the deadliest jungle-warfare experts in the galaxy, as even the bloodiest battle might
be a favorable reprieve compared to life on their homeworld. Close combat is their particular specialty,
along with extensive use of traps, mines, and improvised weaponry. With no other resources, knowledge, or worth,
regiments of Jungle Fighters are the sole export of Catachan and used to devastating
effect. There are countless other regiments of renown
within the Astra Militarum, the Vostroyan Firstborn, the Attilan Rough Riders, the Elysian
Drop Troops or the Tanith First and Only, but for every world or regiment honored for
the heroism and dedication of its soldiers, a thousand more remain unsung and forgotten,
save by the Emperor himself. Regardless of their origin, every regiment
is subordinate to the Lord Commander Militant. In theory this individual passes on the dictates
of the High Lords of Terra to the Lord Commander of each Segmentum, who in turn hold authority
and responsibility for vast swaths of the galaxy. In practice, the Lord Commander Militant is
primarily a political position, more concerned with overseeing the bureaucracy of the Departmento
Munitorum and devoted to the general administration, personnel assignment, supply, and military
logistics of the Imperial Guard, rather than any direct orders to its armies. In the rare instances in which centralized
command has been imposed over far-flung Imperial regiments, the results are often disastrous. The unpredictable realities of faster than
light travel mean that communiques and orders arrive years or decades after they were meant
to, or in a single garbled transmission impossible to understand. Entire wars have been lost when dogmatic commanders
have stubbornly implemented nonsensical orders to their subordinates. The practicalities of the galaxy and of command
instead dictate that authority over the Imperial Guard falls to the officer of the highest
rank in any given theater of war. While such a command structure is plagued
by overlapping regions of authority, competing commanders issuing conflicting orders, and
needless complexity, it is the only method by which the Astra Militarum can remain flexible
enough to remain operationally effective. Individual commanders vary tremendously in
their approach. Some command from miles behind the frontlines,
or from the relative safety of low orbit. Others are present where the fighting is thickest,
leading their soldiers through example. In other cases, Astra Militarum forces are
subordinate to other branches of the Imperial military. It is not uncommon for Imperial Guard regiments
to supplement the Space Marines of the Adeptus Astartes, the Skitarii of the Adeptus Mechanicus
or any other force as required. In rare instances, such as during an Imperial
Crusade or an extraordinary threat to the entire Imperium, a commander within the Astra
Militarum might be granted the title of Warmaster. This individual is second only to the Lord
Commander Militant, and the supreme authority over every Imperial military force within
their area of operations. There is rarely more than one Warmaster within
the Imperium at any one time, and many who are granted it prefer to instead be known
as a “High Solar” rather than be associated with the very first Imperial Warmaster, the
traitor Horus. The organizational structures of the Astra
Militarum are defined by the ancient text known as the Tactica Imperium. Its knowledge stretches back into antiquity
and many of its teachings predate the rule of the Emperor, the Dark Age of Technology,
and the unification of ancient Terra. At its most basic tenets, the Tactica Imperium
groups squads together based on their specialization. Infantry platoons comprise infantry companies,
which in turn make up infantry regiments. Tank, cavalry, artillery, and support regiments
are structured in this same manner. Regiments together, therefore, compliment
each other’s strengths and weaknesses, ensuring that the army as a whole is greater than the
sum of its parts. Like every other facet of the Imperial Guard,
the composition of its regiments again varies wildly. When facing the massed numbers of a Tyranid
Swarm or the hit and fade tactics of the Drukhari, the standardized methods of organization lose
their effectiveness and entire armies must be restructured to best combat these threats. More varied and versatile deployments are
often favored by local commanders. Amongst the more exotic forces utilized by
the Astra Militarum are the warp-sensitive psykers of Scholastica Psykana. Their value to the Imperial Guard outweighs
the moral repugnance they evoke, unleashing warp-fuelled devastation equal to an entire
company of heavy guns. Less unusual but still uncommon within the
Imperial Guard are the varieties of abhumans within the Militarum Auxilla. Millenia of mutations and extreme environmental
conditions have shaped sub-races of hulking Ogryns and Keen-eyed Ratlings who have found
great success as shock troopers and scouts respectively. A common saying is that the only true standardized
piece of Imperial equipment issued to every regiment is a Commissar. Such a thing would never be said within their
presence, however, for it is the task of these political officers to maintain the morale
and loyalty of their troops, doing so typically at gunpoint. A Commissar has the authority to overrule
even the commanding officer of a regiment and can inspire their charges to accomplish
what might have seemed impossible. Even the unassuming lasgun, the most widely
used weapon of the Imperial Guard, exists in a thousand models and variations. It can be constructed out of wood and plastic,
metal and composites, emblazoned with golden sigils, or garish, improvised improvements. It can function as a sniper rifle or pistol,
a lightweight weapon easier to handle and aim or illegally modified to deliver more
energy per shot. It can be built in advanced assembly lines,
or by hastily trained peasants. It functions even when covered in dust, mud,
or drenched in water. Neither blazing heat or frigid cold impedes
its effectiveness. It is simple and reliable, a perfect metaphor
for the Imperial Guard. The modern Astra Militarum began as the Imperial
Army. The force was first used by the Emperor of
Man during the Wars of Unification on Earth, and later to support the advances of the Space
Marine Legions during the Great Crusade. During this time, the Imperial Army commanded
land, air, and space assets, with no differentiation between the space-based and ground-based branches
of the service. The betrayal by the Warmaster Horus and the
subsequent civil war he unleashed, forever tarnished the reputation of the Imperial Army. Unnumbered regiments joined the traitor legions,
spreading death and corruption across the Imperium. When it was reformed as the Astra Militarum,
all naval assets were stripped from its command and organized into the complementary Imperial
Navy. With neither force able to mount a campaign
without the support of the other, the threat of another large-scale rebellion was, in theory,
removed. In all the ages since, the Imperial Guard
has remained the backbone of the Imperium’s defense. Its forces have fought across every battlefield
against every foe, enduring the stain of defeat and seizing the exaltation of victory. Its greatest commanders have entered the highest
pantheon of Imperial Heroes, with names like Ciaphas Cain, Sly Marbo, Ibram Gaunt, Lord
Solar Macharius, Sebastian Yarrick, and Ursarkar Creed known across the entire galaxy. It is the name Ollanius Pius however that
is revered above all others. The extent of his deeds and whether such a
man ever existed at all has been lost to antiquity. But according to legend, at the height of
the Horus Heresy, as the Imperial Palace and all Terra burned beneath the might of the
ruinous powers, a single man placed himself between the Emperor of Mankind and the Arch-Traitor
Horus Lupercal, Warmaster and Chosen of the Four Gods of Chaos. Some accounts claim it was a Terminator of
the Adeptus Astartes, or a warrior of the Legio Custodes, but every guardsman knows
with certainty that he was nothing more than an ordinary man. A mortal soldier who faced down the greatest
terror all reality had to offer and died standing. Alien tyrants, immortal intelligences, the
Dark Gods, and the universe itself make mockery of human life, for against the terrible foes
of mankind, a single guardsman alone can do nothing. But a guardsman is never alone. They are deployed into battle alongside their
fireteams, their squads and sections, their platoons, companies, and regiments. Their armies cover entire continents, entire
worlds. Behind them roar the engines of battle tanks
bearing the names of immortal heroes, formations of war machines of such scale and power that
entire mountains might be ground to dust beneath their treads. Overhead, the skies are filled with gunships
and attack craft, unleashing such fury that the sun itself is concealed behind the black
smoke of rocket propellent. At night, entire horizons are lit with the
fires of heavy guns, a declaration to the enemies of the Imperium that they have come
here to die. But should every world fall, every fortress
be overrun, and the Gates of Terra defended by the last guardsman in the Imperium, they
will still not stand alone. The Spirit of the Emperor is with all who
fight in his name, and while no army is big enough to conquer the galaxy, faith alone
can overturn the universe. As mentioned at the start
of this investigation, we have completely overhauled the visual style of the Templin
Institute as part of what we’re calling Templin 2.0. You might have noticed this episode looked
a little different compared to our previous ones, but the changes don’t stop there. Join us immediately, as in right now, on Twitch,
where we’re celebrating Templin 2.0 with a game of Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War. We’ve also redesigned our Twitch interface,
so check it out. But if you’re watching this in the grim
darkness of the far future, you can find all our streams on the Templin Archives channel. On top of the visual changes introduced as
part of Templin 2.0, we’ve also completely redesigned the Templin Commissary. If you’d like to get yourself a Templin
Institute hat, pillow, or maybe a flag imported from the Greater Terran Union, use offer code
THUNDERSHARK for a 10% discount until November 30th. Templin 2.0 introduced a ton new changes,
way more than we can hope to list in this quick notice, so for all the details, check
out the link in the description. And as always, thanks for your support.
