+ inload: Anatomy of Empire II: The Nova Terran Imperium +

+ Anatomy of Empire II: The Nova Terran Imperium +

+ Principal domains of Nova Terra +

+ Segmentum Pacficus +

After decades of discontent with the machinations of the Adeptus Munitorum and Ministorum, the majority of the systems in this Segmentum declared for Nova Terra over the course of some thirty years. 

• Constantium/Nova Terra  The seat of the Ur-Council; Constantium has long been known as Nova Terra owing to its influence across the galaxy. The term became official during the Declaration of Secession. It is a large, beautiful and well-connected world, massively well-defended both politically and militarily. The system enjoys protection from attack by peculiarities in the nearby warp that prevent the rapid approach of voidcraft.
• Chalcedon  Seat of the Patriarch of the Reformed Ophelian Church, Chalcedon became a major Shrineworld and site of pilgrimage during this period. Previously dotted with palaces, the Mendicant Order saw these fall into carefully-organised ruin.
• Galatat  A primary Forge World, Galatat was tacitly endorsed and supported by Mars, who sought to brace and bridge both rival Imperial forces without favour. 
• Port Thrace  As the naval forces of the Nova Terran Imperium strengthened and increased in number, the civilised world of Port Thrace was pressed into service to lessen the load on the ancient naval seat of Hydraphur.
• Barbaras  Seat both of the Nova Terran Army's High Command, and of the Ancient and Proper Inquisitorial Palace.
• Trimundi  A bustling hiveworld on the contested border of the Segmentum, Trimundi was brought near to ruin several times during the later period of open warfare.

Galatian Armoured and Super-heavy Armoured Companies for the Nova Terran Army.

+ Segmentum Obscurus +

• Khios  On the borders of the Laanah Rifts, this world churns out sturdy and reliable Regiments for the Nova Terrans.
• Avignor  Stronghold and Forgeworld of Archmagos Veneratos Zion.
• Jin Gi  One of the many fiercely independent frontier worlds that joined the Nova Terran Imperium after the Secession; seeing the Nova Terrans, rightly or wrongly, as more malleable to compromise than that of Ancient Terra.

+ Ultima Segmentum +

Throngsman of the Ymir League

• Formund  Nova Terran stronghold; site of the iconoclastic Truth movement.
• Vacuna  Fortress world and birthplace of Hos Chu.
• Tellaria  Infamous as the principal proponent of the Xenos Accords, which aimed to non-humans inducted into the Army of the Nova Terrans.
• Ymir League  Many amongst the abhumans of the coreworlds had ties to Nova Terran interests, or felt oathbound to throw in their lot with the secessionists. The Ymir League was the most famous of the large Leagues to declare.
• Dargon  A minor squat stronghold, Dargon was to have a terrible fate.

+ Segmentum Tempestus +

• Salvation-Gamma  The shrineworld of Salvation-Gamma is seen by many Old Imperials as the southernmost reach of the Nova Terra Ur-Council; a bastion of faith in a faithless empire.

+ Segmentum Solar +

• Sarmatia   Home of the Lesser Imperial Synopticon.
• Moirae  Forge World; seat of the Moirae Schismatics.

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+ Forces loyal to Nova Terra +

+ Nova Terran Army +

7th Division NVA; wearing desert fatigues for combat on Ryll

The Nova Terran Army, usually shortened to the NTA, was the pride of the Ur-Council. An elite force somewhat equivalent to the Tempestus Scions or Naval Armsmen, it formed a corps of highly motivated and well-equipped professional soldiery able to respond quickly to threats or uprisings. Circumventing the ancient split of Navy and Guard, the Nova Terran Army remained officially separated from Naval forces by becoming the militant wing of the Munitorum; which accounts for their unusual naming practices.

Separated from the Guard, the Nova Terran Army were showered with support, equipment and materiel by the Nova Terran Munitorum. As a result, many Divisios were able to resurrect the pre-Crusade use of the Rhino as transport, in addition to a limited number of Predator cavalry tanks.

Most of the Army's members were ex-guard or PDF volunteers and religiously motivated, favouring the hardline doctrines of the Reformed Ophelian Church, which emphasised self-reliance and clear thinking. The Army was as effective a propaganda tool as a military force; becoming a by-word for reliability. Looting – then commonplace amongst Guard regiments – was heavily punished, and the solider encouraged to be 'Clene in thort, werde and dede.' 

Initially intended as a meritocratic organisation where proficiency, rather than social standing, determined rank and progress, the Nova Terran Army inevitably failed to fully realise this ideal. However, the zeitgeist of Nova Terra did mean that a number of low-born volunteers achieved high acclaim. 

The Nova Terran Army earned a number of derogatory names from their Ancient Imperial counterparts. The  'Neevees', 'Firstfalls' and 'Rotten Army' being amongst the more publishable.

+ Notable Divisions +

• 1st Division 'Proficients' – a double strength division, the Proficients held the line at Ghaud and scattered the Eldar of Shi-Rei.
• 5th Division – The first to fight the forces of the Ancient Imperium, captured members had their hands removed ritually before being returned. In response, the regiment adopted a practise of tattooing their hands to show camaraderie with their fellows and contempt for their enemy.
• 17th Division 'Coldcurs' – The most decorated armoured divison of the Nova Terran Army, this Divisio boasted an entire company of Predator-pattern battle tanks, fresh from the forges of Galatat.
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+ Nova Terran Guard +

While the NVA was intended as a long-term replacement for the PDF and Imperial Guard, logistics meant that they were only ever a figurehead force, numbering barely 500,000 across the entire corps. The bulk of existing Imperial structure remained, meaning that the extant Guard regiments and PDF of nearly quarter of a million worlds remained active.

+ Notable Regiments +

Free-soldiers of the Hydraphur 707th

• Chirosian Cavalry – In truth, a group of small, rival bodyguard forces conglomerated into a single regiment, the Chirosian Cavalry were part of the laity of the world. They fought bravely against Eldar pirate forces on a number of theatres, becoming something of a specialist anti-Eldar force.
• Verghast 41st Armour – Led the Nine-Hundred Mile march against the ork gargants of Charadon. 
• Hydraphur 707th – The Primary port for the Segmentum's forces, the world also produced a number of highly-motivated Imperial Guard regiments in support of the submerged Cities of Int on Prama XI, against Hrud assaults.
• 2nd Alban Rifles – Suffered catastrophic damage during campaigns against the K'thark homeworlds and were subsequently cycled out in favour of a regiment of jungle warfare specialists.
• Barbaran Hammers – Decked out in ritual armour and subject to limited genhancement, the Hammers were the Honour Guard for the Ur-Council. 
• Tekarn Iron Fists – Supplementing their training with an unusual form of unarmed combat, the Iron Fists were surprisingly effective during urban warfare against the orks of the Braccian Theatre.
• Guizho Armoured – Notable for their distinctive headwear and layered raingear; essential for this agri-world's cycle of torrential rains and blistering sunshine.
• Jakart Light Rifles – An entirely infantry force, the Light Rifles proved highly effective against the Kroot invasion of Cessida.
• Adobe 1st PDF – Suffered notable recruitment issues; requiring the Commissars to begin the draft no less than three times to ensure a sufficient quality was produced.
• Vega Rams – An abhuman regiment ceded from the Ymir League
• Praximundi Honoured – One of the many Feral World regiments drafted following a successful series of religious Missions.
• Los Grabia 888th – The forcibly conscripted hivegangs that made up the 888th were noted to be amongst the most obedient forces from this world; rumours of loboindoctrination are rife.
• Jangtze Siao – Heavy infantry, notable for their Dark Age polearm/lasrifle weapons.
• Sinopian 94th –
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+ Frateris Constantium +

The principal military force of the Nova Terran branch of the Adeptus Ministorum, the Frateris Constantium formed an Ecclesiarchical mirror to the Nova Terran Army. Both were precociously well armed and equipped by their Adeptus backers, but where the NTA attracted the more puritanical, the Frateris Templar were swelled by those who sought ritual and reliability in a world of swiftly-changing fortunes.

[+appendnote+: A number of ancient texts indicate that the organisation of the Frateris Constantium was the direct inspiration for the later Frateris Templar, under the infamous Eccleisarchs of later Millennia – +authorident: Unfortunus Veck+ +] 

Despite the name, the Frateris Constantium recruited both men and women; both serving in lockstep on the frontlines of Faith. Backed by the increasingly influential regional Ecclesiarchy Constantius, which was starting to mine its prodigiously wealthy coffers, many elements of the Frateris Constantium bore exceptionally expensive equipment, up to and including power armour.

Some of the more daring – or power-crazed – War-Bishops and Canon-Martials elevated to command these groupings chose to ape the largely-absent or withdrawn forces of the Astartes – cladding their warriors in power armour and boltguns. Their opulent equipment created a startling and baroque spectacle that, while falling behind true Astartes force in martial effectiveness, nevertheless proved to be hugely effective against the forces of Ancient Terra, and the numerous Xenos species to which the Frateris Constantium typically found themselves opposed.

+ Notable Militant Orders +

• Order of the Emperor's Arm – The militant branch of a emergent cult declared non-heretical by the Nova Terran Ministorum, the Order of the Emperor's Arm was vastly wealthy, and was able to equip the men and women under its command with power armour and boltguns as standard.
• Ancient Order of the Free Thinkers – Dedicated to the concept of the Imperial Truth, the Free Thinkers were amongst the most hidebound and ritualistic of the Militant Orders; launching several religious wars against regions within the sector. 
• Chapter Constantine – Clad in gold and black, and decked about with star-chased robes, the so-called Chapter Constantine openly mimicked the traditions of the Astartes – or at least as well as its commander, the eccentric 'Cleric Superlative Tosc', understood the second-hand accounts of the Astartes he could lay his hands upon. He restricted their numbers to 1,000 men and 1,000 women; cladding all in opulent power armour and boltguns. Such was the ruinous expense of maintaining such equipment, the 'Chapter' was short-lived, collapsing to a tiny Honour Guard remnant after seven decades. 
• Order of the Chalice – Established by order of the Nova Terran Ministorum, the Order of the Chalice was famous for its policing of the Nova Terran Army, much to the NTA and Munitorum's opprobium.
• Order of Disgust – Decked in lustrous green plate, the Ordo Fastidium were instrumental in launching counter-campaigns against a number of xeno invasions. So-named for their fanatical hatred of non-humans and abhumans.
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+ Tempestus Scions (Nova Terran) +

Being doctrinally separated from the Imperial military, small forces of the Tempestus Scions declared for Nova Terra; regarding it as the Emperor's true vision. Regiments in the region adopted the silver flashes on their uniform to mark them as part of the younger Imperium. However, their loyalty remained to the Scions above all; and there are a number of recorded instances when opposing Scion forces retired rather than engage their comrades.

+ Neomechanicus forces +

Identifying as the 'United Neomechanicus forces of Segmentum Pacificus', the Adeptus Mechanicus remained politically aloof from the split in the Imperium; regarding its role as simply to supply equipment and materiel to the Imperium's fighting forces, as laid out in the Treaty of Olympus Mons (The Treaty of Mars) five thousand years previously. That they were not supplying arms to both sides of a tense codl war was of little practical interest.

Avignan Balisterai

This belies the Adeptus Mechanicus' political insights and nous, and in practise, the highest echelons of the Mechanicus were split between those keen to exploit the rift, and those who sought to close it – the broad schools of the Mechascendants and the Concilatori. [See Anatomy of Empire VII and IX, later in this datascreed.] As a result, only those forces explicitly ceded to the Ur-Council are considered below.

• Legio Caudax  – Defenders of Avignor
• Avignan Skitarii – Twelve full regiments were assigned in support of Caudax.
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+ Principal Astartes domains and forces of Segmentum Pacificus +

Silver Star 

As across the rest of the Imperium, the Astartes of this Segmentum were deliberately reticent to intervene in Imperial politics, and so the following are not to be considered sympathetic to the Nova Terran Cause except explicitly stated. Where active, they ignored pickets and borders established by the rival Imperial forces. Mostly, but not always, they were allowed to pass as non-combatants...

• Iron Knights Chapter Astartes Entire – Studiedly neutral; the Iron Knights cut off contact entirely, and launched a dual xenocidal campaign against the Eldar Craftworlds of Yme-Loc and Kaelor.
• White Consuls Chapter Astartes Entire – The twin Chapter Masters of the White Consuls determined to restrict their forces to purely defensive warfare during this period; protecting shipping lanes for supply shuttles within the Segementum. This brought the Chapter into conflict with both Terran and Nova Terran forces.
• Crimson Fists Company-strength Strike Force
• Void Revenants Chapter Astartes Entire– Still rebuilding after the events of the Mag Karan Assaults, the remnants of the Void Revenants played a limited role in the Alien Wars. 
• Night Reapers Chapter Astartes Entire – For the early part of the Interregnum, the Night Reapers were engaged in executing simultaneous xenocidal campaigns against the hellgrammite species and ork pirates within the Laanath Rifts, a border region on the North-west of Segmentum Pacificus. The withdrawing forces were attacked by Terran forces assaulting the Shrineworld of Salvation-Gamma, and the Chapter subsequently declared for Nova Terra.
• Silver Guard Chapter Astartes Entire – notable for their actions in the Janii Theatre War, and the prosecution of the first ork empire of Kalverna.
• Dark Sons Chapter Astartes Entire – Their homeworld sat on the northern fringes of the Segmentum, and was instrumental in defending Khios against punitive forces of the Greater Imperium.
• Silver Star Chapter Astartes Entire – [REDACTED]
• Chapter Castellan Chapter Astartes Entire – The 8th Founding, during which this Chapter was established, was within living memory for many of its members. Declaring for Nova Terra, the Chapter was all but wiped-out by the Halo Brethren and the Imperial Fists within the early years of the war. Their homeworld, Banish, was subsequently claimed by the Inquisition, and the Chapter exiled to the Eastern Imperium on a Penitent Crusade.
• Red Templars Company-strength Strike Force – Initially declaring for Ancient Terra, a change of leadership saw the Red Templars execute a shift in allegiance, leaving them open to declarations of heresy from the Terran Inquisition. This prompted the Second War of Trimundi.
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+ Do you have a force you'd like added, or do you fancy having a go at painting a member of these forces (because let's face it, this page would look a lot nicer with some pictures to illustrate)? Let me know in the comments. +