Solar Auxilia
Solar Auxilia | |
Parent Agency | Imperial Army |
Headquarters | Terra |
Leader | Lord Solar/Lord Militant[12] |
Established | Early Great Crusade[2b] |
The Solar Auxilia was an elite fighting force within the Imperialis Auxilia during the Great Crusade and Horus Heresy originating from the Segmentum Solar. Of the myriad regiments and battalions of the Imperialis Auxilia (known in Low Gothic as the Imperial Army) the Solar Auxilia were amongst the most elite, disciplined and well-equipped fighting forces, widely considered by many second only to the superhuman Legiones Astartes in their military effectiveness in battle.[1] Solar Auxilia soldiers were not only trained as infantrymen but also for space combat, combat engineering, planetary exploration, and Death World survival missions.[2b]
By the second century of the Great Crusade, the Solar Auxilia made up between 20-25% of the Imperial Army.[2b] Some 2/3rds of this force oversaw garrisoning duties while the rest accompanied Crusade Expeditionary Fleets.[12]
Contents
History
The Solar Auxillia was founded in the early days of the Great Crusade as the forces of the Emperor required fleet-based armies capable of dealing with "petty wars" and colonial suppression while the Legiones Astartes handled grander campaigns. Imitating the Void Hoplites of the Saturnyne Ordo, the Solar Auxilia were trained, armed, and deployed in the same fashion and were issued with the same Saturnine Void Armour. Their doctrine emphasized discipline, coherence, aggressive defense, and concentrated firepower, making them highly effective soldiers. The first ten Regiments of the Solar Auxilia were known as the Saturnyne Rams and were more or less the Void Hoplites of the Saturnyne Order. Soon, more regiments were raised from Terra and Luna in addition to Saturn. As the Great Crusade ground on, the Sol System could no longer provide enough manpower for the much-demanded Solar Auxilia forces, so recruits were drawn from elsewhere.[2b] These new recruits were mostly typically drawn from regions with a strong privateer and naval tradition.[9]
During the Crusade, the most common mission for Solar Auxilia units was to serve alongside Rogue Traders and Expeditionary Fleets as aggressors and explorers. Once a fleet had achieved compliance and moved on, it usually fell to the Solar Auxilia and its assigned warships to guard those worlds and systems from outside threats as well as rebellion. Only when Compliance was guaranteed beyond a doubt would the Solar Auxilia oversee the creation of locally-raised Imperialis Militia forces and redeploy elsewhere.[9]
During the ensuing Horus Heresy, the Solar Auxilia became a key asset of loyalist forces. However while they were overall strongly loyal, they nonetheless had several examples of rebellion against Imperial rule. Most notable amongst these were the Cthonian Headhunters, which had close connections to Warmaster Horus. In other cases, Solar Auxilia Regments incited rebellions within their own garrison Systems for their own petty reasons.[12]
Notable Campaigns
Great Crusade
Horus Heresy
- Burning of Prospero[16]
- First Siege of Hydra Cordatus[19]
- Battle of the Coronid Deeps.[2b]
- Thramas Crusade[18]
- Battle of Bodt[21a]
- Battle of Vannaheim[20]
- Mezoan Campaign[21]
- Burning of Ohmn-Mat
- Battle of Tallarn[15]
- Carnage of Morox
- Liberation of Saronican[25]
- War for Argarops[12a]
- Siege of Cthonia[24]
- Fall of Tenzebar[12a]
- Battle of Beta-Garmon[13]
- Solar War[14]
- Siege of Terra[14]
Organization
The base operating unit of the Solar Auxilia on the strategic level was the Regiment, comprising about 5,300 soldiers and staff. However as the Great Crusade expanded in size, much larger Solar Cohorts were established of 120,000 personnel under the command of a Marshal Solar. These would be broken into a number of sub-cohorts, each with a nominal strength of 1,200 under a Legate Commander, Commander, or Sub-Commander depending on its particular type.[2b]
On the tactical level, the building block of the Solar Cohort was a Tercio, itself made up of three sections whose nature was defined by their weaponry and battlefield role. The most commonly deployed Tercio formation consisted of three sections each comprising 20 armored Lasrifle-equipped troops. Veteran Veletaris Tercios usually consisted of three squads of ten veteran troops equipped with more advanced short-range weaponry such as the Volkite Charger or Flamer. Fire Support Tercios commanded three batteries of crew-served weapons platforms, most commonly the Rapier.[2b]
The elite of the Solar Auxilia were the Veletaris Storm Sections. These warriors were second only to the Legiones Astartes in combat ability[4]. The Solar Auxilia were also accompanied by Medicaes, who were tasked with treating combat injuries in the heat of battle. They were well-equiped and were trained to the Imperium's highest standards, which allowed the Medicaes to keep even grievously wounded Auxilia in the fight.[8]
Known Ranks[11][12]
- Lord Solar/Lord Militant - Commander of the Solar Auxilia[12]
- Strategic Command
- Lord Marshal[12]
- Cohort Marshal
- Legate Marshal
- Cohort
- Tribune
- Lord Castellan - Oversaw a Battlegroup[12]
- Marshal
- Legate Commander
- Sub-Cohort
- Sub-Commander
- Captain
- Lieutenant
- Sub-Lieutenant
- Ensign
- Declurion
- Tercio
- Troop Master/Primus
- Void Sergeant
- Vexillarii
- Adjutant
- Auxiliary
- Sub-Auxiliary
- Voidsman
Troop Types[12]
- Command Section
- Medicae Section
- Auxilia Companion Section
- Veletaris Tercio - Including Command, Storm, and Vanguard Sections
- Charonite Ogryn Section
- Veteran Section
- Lasifle Section
- Specialist Weapon Section
- Ogryn Charonite
Equipment
The most iconic piece of the Solar Auxilia was its Solar Pattern Void Armour, a carapace-reinforced full environmental combat body suit with fully integrated life support units. The most commonly issued weapon was the Kalibrav V-1 pattern Lasrifle, a higher-quality Laser firearm superior to a standard Lasgun. Support weapons included Flamers, Volkite Weapons, Plasma Weapons, Rotor Cannons, and Meltaguns. The Solar Auxilia also had its own units of Ogryn Charonites for infantry support.[2b]
The Solar Auxilia made use of a wide array of vehicles, most notably the Dracosan Armoured Transport, Hermes Light Sentinel, Aethon Heavy Sentinel, and Aurox. The Arvus Lighter was most frequently used for airborne landing operations. The most common heavy support vehicles were the Leman Russ Battle Tank, Malcador Heavy Battle Tank, Basilisk, Medusa, Valdor, Malcador, and a variety of Super Heavy Tanks that included the Baneblade, Stormhammer, Stormblade, Stormsword, and Shadowsword.[2b] Rapiers were widely used field artillery pieces.[12]
The Auxilia operated its own air units which included Thunderbolts, Lightings, Avengers[12], Marauders[12], and Arvus Lighters. For boarding operations in space, the Shark Assault Boat was most commonly employed.[2b]
The Solar Auxilia Cohorts used a wide array of standards, banners and icons, collectively known as Vexillas.[2c]
Notable Cohorts
- 1st to 10th Solar Auxilia Cohorts, collectively named the Saturnine Rams[2a]
- 87th Cohort - Star Reavers[26]
- 142nd Solar Auxilia Cohort from Cthonia (one of the multiple Chtonian Head-hunter)[2a]
- 204th Solar Auxilia Cohort from the Manachean Commonwealth (except the main worlds of Commonweralth in Cohort also were included soldiers from Sagathi and Subinus).[2a] This Cohort took part in the Bardall Prosecution.[3]
- 225th Cohort - Calth High Guard[6]
- 477th Cohort - Atlantian Sciritae[26]
- 542nd Cohort - Boremanite Devils. Took part in the Battle of Beta-Garmon.[26]
- 589th Cohort - Theta-Garmon Deathless.[27]
- 905th Solar Auxilia Cohort - Ash Scorpions[2a]
- 1128th Cohort - Necromundan Coursers[26]
- 1349th Solar Auxilia Cohort (Magnathan Thunder Lords) - Mechanized Infantry Specialists, defeated the Night Lords on Aramek IV.[12]
- 1522nd Solar Auxilia Cohort (The Lord Marshal's Own) from Agathon and other worlds: Othion, Legatus, Zarnov and Subinus[2a]
- Calth Wardens[26]
- Chalchidean Grenadiers
- Highborn Wardens
- Inwit Phalangites[26]
- Arkadian Janissaries - Traitors[26]
- Cthonian Headhunters - Traitors
- Selucid Thorakite - Traitors[26]
- Phoenician's Chosen - Traitors[26]
- Securran Janissaries - Traitors who joined with the Alpha Legion[10]
- Lepsinite Score - Traitors[26]
Notable Members
See also
Images
Games Workshop Miniatures
Forge World Miniatures
Lasrifle Section[7]
Veterans with Volkite Chargers[7]
Veletaris Troops
Auxilia Medicae[8]
Solar Auxilia Command Squad with Lord Marshal, Strategos, Proclaimator vox-caster, Vexilarius Standard Bearer, and 2 Veterans
Sources
- 1: Forge World
- 2: The Horus Heresy Book Four - Conquest
- 3: Warhammer: Visions 20, pg. 47 — Forge World
- 4: Forge World
- 5: The Horus Heresy Book Nine - Crusade, pg. 205
- 6: The Horus Heresy Book Five - Tempest, pg. 23
- 7: Forgeworld Solar Auxilia Strike Force (last accessed 10/31/2020)
- 8: Warhammer: Visions 30, pg. 49 — Forge World
- 9: The Horus Heresy: Age of Darkness Rulebook, pgs. 119-121
- 10: White Dwarf 478, pg. 107
- 11: Liber Imperium, pg. 76-
- 12: Legions Imperialis Rulebook, pg. 172-197
- 12a: pg. 26-27
- 13: Adeptus Titanicus: Titandeath - War for Beta-Garmon Timeline
- 14: The Solar War (Novel) - Chapters 20-22
- 15: Steam Webstore: The Horus Heresy Battle of Tallarn (last accessed 2/25/2020)
- 16: The Horus Heresy Book Seven - Inferno, pgs. 22-32
- 17: The Horus Heresy Book Four, pg. 72
- 18: The Horus Heresy Book Nine - Crusade, pgs. 32-40
- 19: Warhammer Community: Prove That the Iron Warriors Are the True Masters of Siege Warfare in This Horus Heresy Exemplary Battle (Posted on 02/11/2021) - The Siege of Hydra Cordatus: Sundering of the Cadmean Citadel PDF, pgs. 2-4 (Last accessed on 2 November 2021)
- 20: Horus Heresy: Aeronautica Imperialis, pgs. 40-55
- 21: The Horus Heresy Book Six - Retribution, pgs. 38–44
- 21a: pgs. 105-106
- 22: The Regimental Standard - Field Dressing a Lasgun Wound (archived 17 March 2019)
- 23: The Horus Heresy Book Nine - Crusade, pgs. 118-120
- 24: Campaigns of the Age of Darkness: The Siege of Cthonia pgs. 58-69
- 25: White Dwarf 478, pg. 105
- 26: Warhammer Community: The Solar Auxilia Cohorts of the Horus Heresy Studio on Parade (Posted on 01/03/2024) (Last accessed on 01/03/2024)
- 27: Legions Imperialis: The Great Slaughter, pg. 60