"Naval infantry, really?"
I've had this discussion online myself, and it often comes up in all kinds of fan forums. WH40K fans assert that the Imperial Navy have no infantry. Yes, the lore does state that. It also states that the Imperial Guard have no flyers, and yet most of the tabletop Navy models have long been filed under "Imperial Guard". Increasingly, Games Workshop has made clearer distinctions. For example, in the 8th edition Imperial Agents codex, Valkyries and Officers of the Fleet are under a strict Imperial Navy section. Is this an indication of future expansion?
But let's get back to the fluff. So, the whole point of the division of the Imperial Army after the Horus Heresy into the guard and the navy meant that neither could have power in the other sphere of warfare i.e. the navy can't fight on planets, the guard can't have their own ships. However, the old stubborn reasoning for saying "there can be no naval infantry in WH40k" is wrong. Firstly, any game set in an industrial setting, something like Space Hulk, can easily motivate naval boarding parties, or any kind of game played out on a port station or world. Regardless, there is very early fluff, from White Dwarf in 2000 that argues clearly that naval infantry on planets are a thing. The logic is indisputable and should silence all neckbeard critics of the idea, the following is transcribed from an article penned by the Games Workshop staff themselves. So clearly they want(ed) to encourage players to innovate and be creative although there are clear fluff statements about the division of warfare between the guard and the navy. Yes, generally speaking the navy have no place on the ground- but... there is this from White Dwarf issue 240, January 2000, pp.98-99.
"A respectful response to Inquisitor Malaketh's treatise "The maintenance of purity and sanity amongst ship crews." By the hand of Fleet Admiral Vox-Canard, commander of battlegroup 'Vigilance', Zoraith Sector, Segmentum Obscures. 14th of Merethiel, IR 11,892.
Sirs, I read with interest the recently circulated report of Inquisitor Malaketh, on his experiences relating to the corruption and infestation of ships' crews, and the likelihood of said baneful influences spreading to a vessel's ports of call. While I am all in favour of the requisite purifications and exorcisms of individuals, engines, mechanisms, and so forth being undertaken with alacrity and perserverance, I find that I must set forth a counter-argument as to the use of landing parties and the strict necessity of shipmen leaving the vessel at certain times. Tempting as it is to entertain the noble Inquisitor's proposition of simply welding the hatches shut once the crew are aboard, I fear this commendably airtight solution stands somewhat short of reality.
Imperial Navy landing parties are a common sight across the Imperium. Indeed to some isolated worlds they represent the only tangible proof of the continuing rule of the Emperor of Mankind from one decade to the next. In this alone the Imperial Navy performs and invaluable role on behalf of the Adepts Terra- that of demonstrating the continuing power of His Divine Majesty across the stars. Who else can impress this upon the million or so worlds of Mankind's Benefice with any regularity? The Adeptus Arbites on their investigative patrols? The Inquisitorial Black Ships coming once in a generation? No, even the most isolated anchorite recognises that when the bright ship-star appears in the night sky, the servants of the Emperor will come.
Apart from the obvious benefits of maintaining the Pax Imperium, landing parties may also be dispatched to provide assistance to a planetary governor. On the Captain's cognisance, bodies of Ratings and Tech Priests may be dispatched either to render technical and engineering expertise (often sadly lacking in the fringe worlds) or to provide extra armed forces in an emergency. Though the noble Inquisitor is deprecating of the validity of such bodies, it should be remembered that the crew of a capital ship is substantial (typically in excess of ten thousand souls) and on a sparsely populated world a few hundred armed shipmen can make a critical difference. The armoured pressure suits commonly worn by landing parties are all but impervious to primitive weapons and they are well-armed with shotguns, shock-mauls, and slug throwers. Admittedly these weapons are generally short ranged and of limited power but the lower weapons more commonly employed in planetary conflicts are restricted to use by officers aboard ships, due to the fire risks inherent in using energy weapons.
If heavy hand-to-hand or siege combat is expected, the party can also include a number of las-cutters, phase field generators, and fusion torches drawn from the vessel's machine shops. While many of these tools are awkward and heavy to wield, their effect at close quarters is devastating (this was ably demonstrated in the recent siege of Majornus, when three maniples of shipmen repelled a dozen attacks by traitor forces). The junior officer commanding the party also has the facility to petition for direct gunfire support from their parent vessel (with a deal more accuracy than your average planet dweller!) or bring down dismounted tertiary weaponry such as plasma projectors or las-nets for emplacement. While it is true that landing parties lack specific combat training for planetary fighting, they more than compensate for this through sheer determination and a bloody-minded refusal to let down the proud traditions of the Imperial Navy.
The most terming failure of the noble Inquisitor's text is in in its lack of appreciation of the necessities of using landing parties to gain resupply. A typical warship undertaking patrol activities will require additional intakes of foodstuffs, reaction mass, and replacement crewmen, every four to six weeks subjective time. True, this can be extended for up to a year by imposing the most austere conditions and accepting the lowering of efficiency due to crew fatalities. However any form of combat is liable to incur additional casualties which must be made good to ensure continued operation. Most commonly Navy personnel only make planetfall to restock their ship by recruiting new crew members or collecting provisions. This can be a risky business, for while most autochthonous populations are happy to give up men and supplies for the Emperor's Navy, other have to be reminded of their duties with appropriate measures.
No captain takes sending his precious shipmen down to a planet lightly. All too often hostile lifeforms or treacherous natives will try to take their toll, and if things of wrong the landing party will be str4anded far from help and may have to be abandoned to their fate. This unfortunate circumstance was visited most famously upon a party from the Bellerophon, who were marooned on the fourth moon of Hornsburgh III when a renegade cruiser surprised and crippled their parent vessel, forcing it to disengage. In a commendable show of spaceman ship, Second Lieutenant Muller navigated the party's tiny shuttle to an abandoned outpost on the most hospitable world of Hornsburgh II. The party were recovered some three year later, having lost just four of their number.
To summarise then, Naval landing parties perform a number of essential and irreplaceable duties. To prevent them functioning as befits tradition is to deny the ship its lifeblood and the Imperium its only presence on uncounted worlds. While rigorous purity testing of returning shipmen and new recruits needs to be undertaken with undimmed vigilance, the necessity of their functions must preclude any abandonment of their activities, Yours in Faith, Fleet Admiral Vox-Canard." (White Dwarf issue 240, January 2000, pp.98-99).
But let's get back to the fluff. So, the whole point of the division of the Imperial Army after the Horus Heresy into the guard and the navy meant that neither could have power in the other sphere of warfare i.e. the navy can't fight on planets, the guard can't have their own ships. However, the old stubborn reasoning for saying "there can be no naval infantry in WH40k" is wrong. Firstly, any game set in an industrial setting, something like Space Hulk, can easily motivate naval boarding parties, or any kind of game played out on a port station or world. Regardless, there is very early fluff, from White Dwarf in 2000 that argues clearly that naval infantry on planets are a thing. The logic is indisputable and should silence all neckbeard critics of the idea, the following is transcribed from an article penned by the Games Workshop staff themselves. So clearly they want(ed) to encourage players to innovate and be creative although there are clear fluff statements about the division of warfare between the guard and the navy. Yes, generally speaking the navy have no place on the ground- but... there is this from White Dwarf issue 240, January 2000, pp.98-99.
Sirs, I read with interest the recently circulated report of Inquisitor Malaketh, on his experiences relating to the corruption and infestation of ships' crews, and the likelihood of said baneful influences spreading to a vessel's ports of call. While I am all in favour of the requisite purifications and exorcisms of individuals, engines, mechanisms, and so forth being undertaken with alacrity and perserverance, I find that I must set forth a counter-argument as to the use of landing parties and the strict necessity of shipmen leaving the vessel at certain times. Tempting as it is to entertain the noble Inquisitor's proposition of simply welding the hatches shut once the crew are aboard, I fear this commendably airtight solution stands somewhat short of reality.
Imperial Navy landing parties are a common sight across the Imperium. Indeed to some isolated worlds they represent the only tangible proof of the continuing rule of the Emperor of Mankind from one decade to the next. In this alone the Imperial Navy performs and invaluable role on behalf of the Adepts Terra- that of demonstrating the continuing power of His Divine Majesty across the stars. Who else can impress this upon the million or so worlds of Mankind's Benefice with any regularity? The Adeptus Arbites on their investigative patrols? The Inquisitorial Black Ships coming once in a generation? No, even the most isolated anchorite recognises that when the bright ship-star appears in the night sky, the servants of the Emperor will come.
Apart from the obvious benefits of maintaining the Pax Imperium, landing parties may also be dispatched to provide assistance to a planetary governor. On the Captain's cognisance, bodies of Ratings and Tech Priests may be dispatched either to render technical and engineering expertise (often sadly lacking in the fringe worlds) or to provide extra armed forces in an emergency. Though the noble Inquisitor is deprecating of the validity of such bodies, it should be remembered that the crew of a capital ship is substantial (typically in excess of ten thousand souls) and on a sparsely populated world a few hundred armed shipmen can make a critical difference. The armoured pressure suits commonly worn by landing parties are all but impervious to primitive weapons and they are well-armed with shotguns, shock-mauls, and slug throwers. Admittedly these weapons are generally short ranged and of limited power but the lower weapons more commonly employed in planetary conflicts are restricted to use by officers aboard ships, due to the fire risks inherent in using energy weapons. If heavy hand-to-hand or siege combat is expected, the party can also include a number of las-cutters, phase field generators, and fusion torches drawn from the vessel's machine shops. While many of these tools are awkward and heavy to wield, their effect at close quarters is devastating (this was ably demonstrated in the recent siege of Majornus, when three maniples of shipmen repelled a dozen attacks by traitor forces). The junior officer commanding the party also has the facility to petition for direct gunfire support from their parent vessel (with a deal more accuracy than your average planet dweller!) or bring down dismounted tertiary weaponry such as plasma projectors or las-nets for emplacement. While it is true that landing parties lack specific combat training for planetary fighting, they more than compensate for this through sheer determination and a bloody-minded refusal to let down the proud traditions of the Imperial Navy.
The most terming failure of the noble Inquisitor's text is in in its lack of appreciation of the necessities of using landing parties to gain resupply. A typical warship undertaking patrol activities will require additional intakes of foodstuffs, reaction mass, and replacement crewmen, every four to six weeks subjective time. True, this can be extended for up to a year by imposing the most austere conditions and accepting the lowering of efficiency due to crew fatalities. However any form of combat is liable to incur additional casualties which must be made good to ensure continued operation. Most commonly Navy personnel only make planetfall to restock their ship by recruiting new crew members or collecting provisions. This can be a risky business, for while most autochthonous populations are happy to give up men and supplies for the Emperor's Navy, other have to be reminded of their duties with appropriate measures.
No captain takes sending his precious shipmen down to a planet lightly. All too often hostile lifeforms or treacherous natives will try to take their toll, and if things of wrong the landing party will be str4anded far from help and may have to be abandoned to their fate. This unfortunate circumstance was visited most famously upon a party from the Bellerophon, who were marooned on the fourth moon of Hornsburgh III when a renegade cruiser surprised and crippled their parent vessel, forcing it to disengage. In a commendable show of spaceman ship, Second Lieutenant Muller navigated the party's tiny shuttle to an abandoned outpost on the most hospitable world of Hornsburgh II. The party were recovered some three year later, having lost just four of their number.
To summarise then, Naval landing parties perform a number of essential and irreplaceable duties. To prevent them functioning as befits tradition is to deny the ship its lifeblood and the Imperium its only presence on uncounted worlds. While rigorous purity testing of returning shipmen and new recruits needs to be undertaken with undimmed vigilance, the necessity of their functions must preclude any abandonment of their activities, Yours in Faith, Fleet Admiral Vox-Canard." (White Dwarf issue 240, January 2000, pp.98-99).
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