Skitarii

From Lexicanum

The Skitarii are the warriors of the Adeptus Mechanicus. They generally have more advanced weaponry and equipment than their Imperial Guard equivalents, due to the technological expertise of their Techpriest masters. Bionics are quite common and devices such as weapon links and sensory feeds are also common amongst them.

They are also the bodyguards of the Adeptus Mechanicus Survey teams. They were present at the First Encounter with the Eldar. The Eldar of the Biel-tan craftworld slaughtered the Skitarii present and only one ship was able to escape, though the crew died from lack of food and oxygen.

Skitarii is the Adeptus Mechanicus' official term for all military forces under its command (except for the Titan Legions). It is a term equivalent to 'the Imperial Guard' as it generally includes almost all combat personnel and armour that the Mechanicus possess. Skitarii are also known as Tech-Guard (or Tech Guard) to outsiders, and the singular form of Skitarii is Skitarius. "Skitarii" however is often also used in published background to reference only the augmented infantry¹ (known as Hypaspists).

Skitarii, though mostly armed with the same equipment as Imperial guard, do have better quality equipment due to being directly supplied by their Forge World.

When analysed in detail, there are several types of Skitarii. They are:

Hypaspists: These are the basic tech-guard infantry, and are armed with lasguns. They are more augmented than the normal Imperial Guardsman, and may have received emotional-suppression surgery.

Sagitarii: These are the heavy weapon operatives. These only include dedicated heavy weapons squads, as heavy weapons attached to Hypaspist squads are still called Hypastpists.

Balisteria: These are the artillery units. The range of artillery goes from Thudd guns to the massive Ordinatus pieces. This includes both the vehicle/machine, as well as the crews manning them.

Cataphractii: These are the armour units. The range of armour goes from small transports to heavy walkers and superheavy tanks such as Baneblades.

Praetorians: These are the elite of the Skitarii. They are super-enhanced (bionically/cybernetically/chemically/genetically etc) humans who are augmented with a huge array of cybernetics and heavy weapons. They are, essentially, a sort of counterpart to Obliterators.

Many old sources also suggest that Praetorians are instead an elite Skitarii type following the fashion of Imperial Guard storm trooper units, but with slightly more augmentations, putting them somewhere between storm troopers and Space Marines.

In the short story Deux es Mechanicus Praetorians are in fact servitors, rather than living humans. They move on tank treads and are armed with powerful weaponry, such as plasma cannons*³.

Tribunes: These are the Skitarii officers. Though all skitarii bow to the authority of Adeptus Mechanicus Magi and Archmagi, these are all personnel of high ranking roles. The skitarii have low-level leadership roles, and these are filled by the tribunes.

A different type of Skitarii investigated the dead world of Tarsis Ultra. They were seen to be wearing something similar in both function and design to Terminator armour.²

Sources

• ¹:Warhammer 40,000 4th Edition Rulebook
• Citadel Journal, issue 21, Adeptus Mechanicus Detachments: Skitarii Tech-Guard of the Forge Worlds (1997)
• ²:Planetkill (Anthology)
• ³ Deux es Mechanicus from Let the Galaxy Burn