Laying Down The Lore: 40K

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Meles Astorum Lore Pt1 | Warhammer 40K Lore Nov 19, 2025

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In our Warhammer 40K lore dive episode 51, we pick up the story of the Meles Astorum after their supposed destruction at Uras’drekh. Far from gone, the Star Badgers dragged the wreck of Luna’s Vigil to the surface of their death world, Samarkand, and went underground – literally. For centuries they became a whisper, sustained only by scraps of relic-tech and a trickle of recruits from the planet’s cavern tribes and the return of their Deathwatch Heroes. We explore Samarkand and its inhabitants and what life looked like for the shadow-chapter: no more than two hundred warriors at a time, most little more than scouts, fighting xenos incursions and tribal wars with the tenacity of predators in the dark. This is the Badgers at their most mythic, isolationist, secretive, and driven by survival, their culture hardening into ritual silence and devotion.

Cover art by Modyer, inspired by the original Rogue Trader artwork.

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Intro to Meles Astorum | Warhammer 40K Lore Nov 05, 2025

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In our Warhammer 40K lore dive episode 50, we dive into the Meles Astorum, better known as the Star Badgers, a fleet-based Chapter first whispered about during the early millennia of the Imperium. We track their rise from brutal boarding specialists in the Jarnhost Reaving, through their reputation for tunnel warfare at Gaulus Red, to the infamous Howling Iron Pact that nearly broke them with questions of purity and trust. Along the way, we highlight their odd blend of feral assault doctrine and proto-Space Wolf ritualism, plus some of the darker moments like the Fangblood trials. All of it builds to their doomed final stand during the Fall of Uras’drekh in M39, when they gambled everything to crush a Necron dynasty before it could awaken fully, and paid the ultimate price. It’s a tale of ferocity, stubborn survival, and a Chapter remembered more for how it fell than how it lived.

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Adeptus Astartes: Vehicles | Warhammer 40K Lore Oct 15, 2025

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In our Warhammer 40K lore dive episode 49, we turn our attention to the armoured fist of the Adeptus Astartes: their vehicles. We open with the towering Dreadnoughts, half-hero, half-sarcophagus, entombing fallen warriors who continue the fight in adamantium shells. From there, the heavy rumble of tanks follows, with predators, vindicators, and their brutal kin forming the iron heart of an armoured column. Taking to the skies, we explore the Chapter’s formidable aircraft, both gunships and transports, before bombarding the enemy lines with dedicated support and artillery pieces. We close by winding back to the Horus Heresy, tracing how these machines of war have devolved from the Age of Darkness to the current Imperium highlighting that the technological echoes of a golden era that has long since rusted away.

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Adeptus Astartes: Command | Warhammer 40K Lore Oct 01, 2025

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In our Warhammer 40K lore dive episode 48, we turn the auspex squarely on its commanders. We start off with the Chapter Master, an Avatar of the chapter's spirit and master of its terrifying resources, before turning to the Captains who direct entire companies with the aid of their Lieutenants We then shift to the Librarians, Psykers who wield the immaterium as both weapon and shield. Both lads coo with excitement as Chaplains stride across the field as voices of unshakable faith, while the Apothecaries provide the genetic lifeblood to ensure the Chapter’s survival from battle to battle. Rounding things out, we tinker with the role of the Techmarines, the iron-handed link between the machine cult and the sons of the Emperor.

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Adeptus Astartes: Primaris Squads | Warhammer 40K Lore Sep 17, 2025

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In our Warhammer 40K lore dive episode 47, we take a look at the ridiculous number of squads one can field as part of a Primaris Chapter. We start with a brief look at the Ultima Founding that leads to the Indomitus Crusade, a mission to reunite the fractured Imperium of Man. We note the distinct changes in the revised Codex Astartes, mostly all squad members use the same type of weapon and the 10th company is now a Vanguard company that is now also a scout company. We look at both the numerous Fire support and close support options together with associated Primaris versions of bikes and Landspeeder. We pause briefly to admire the Mario Kart Invader before closing out the episode with a look at the options available for both Battleline and Veteran Primaris squads.

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Adeptus Astartes: First Born Squads | Warhammer 40K Lore Sep 04, 2025

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In our Warhammer 40K lore dive episode 46, we take a look at all of the squad types found in a codex compliant space marine chapter. Working our way from Newly minted scout we track the path a marine takes through the chapter. Starting with the scouts and their vehicles we move to a marine’s true ascension to becoming a Devastator marine. Once they have mastered the heavier weapons of the chapter they progress to the role of an Assault marine mastering not only melee combat but also the fast assault vehicles such as bikes and landspeeders. We progress forward with a look at the all-rounder role of the Tactical marine, a role that dominates the chapter, and their dedicated transports. We close out the episode with a look at the Veteran and terminator squads that comprise the 1st company. Phew… that's a lot of images for an audio medium.

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Adeptus Astartes: Making a Marine | Warhammer 40K Lore Aug 20, 2025

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In our Warhammer 40K lore dive episode 45, we take a look at the gene-seed implants required to elevate a recruit to a neophyte within Chapters. We explore the use of Progenoid Glands, located in the throat and chest of each Astartes which mature after 5 and 10 years. We look at the process used to create all implants from the Gene-seed and the rough timescales involved and, in dire circumstances, the use of male criminals kept in artificial gestation chambers used to accelerate gene-seed production. We then take a deep dive into all 22 implants and look at the differences between Firstborn and Primaris marines as well as some of the mutations that have arisen in certain Chapters over the years.

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Adeptus Astartes: Recruitment | Warhammer 40K Lore Aug 06, 2025

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In our Warhammer 40K lore dive episode 44, we take a look at the meticulously structured process for Space Marine recruitment. We look at how Chapters select recruits from specific homeworlds or regions, seeking individuals who demonstrate exceptional strength and unwavering loyalty. We explore preferred recruitment worlds such as Feral and Hive Worlds, known for producing robust and aggressive candidates. We look at the mythic aura around the various types of selection trials, from the straight-forward mass duels to the death to the psychically induced acid trip of the more esoteric chapters. We close out with what it means to fail in the trials together with cultural impacts for those societies who produce a worthy candidate.

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Adeptus Astartes: The Legiones Astartes | Warhammer 40K Lore Jul 16, 2025

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In our Warhammer 40K lore dive episode 43, we start at the launch of the great crusade and the generic Order of Battle used by the 20 legions before experience and the rediscovery of their primarch changed them. We touch on the schism between those astartes recruited on Terra and those who came after their Primarch was rediscovered. We look at the structure of a Chapter, a central organisational block of each legion and the assets available to it. Touching briefly on the size and disposition of the Legiones astartes we skip to the end of the Horus Heresy examining what the Imperium was forced to abandon to survive, including the very Imperial Truth that rationalised the great crusade. We examine the changes wrought by Roboute Guilliman on the Astartes and wider military organisations and the central reason for its necessity.

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Adeptus Astartes Origins Part 4: The Primarch Project | Warhammer 40K Lore Jul 02, 2025

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In our Warhammer 40K lore dive episode 42, we start with the creation of the Primarchs, the reasons that led the Emperor to command their creation and the mysterious Erda who aided him. We look at how the Emperor's own genome was used and altered and the other “biological material” mixed in… gross. After they mysteriously disappeared their genomes were then used to create the first round of Space Marines even as the Thunder Warriors were conquering Terra For the Emperor. Unleashed upon the world the Astartes finished Unifying the planet before being sent out into the wider galaxy. Along the way we give examples of their effectiveness during the later years of the Unification War at the fall of Orioc and destruction of Vhnori.

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