History TabletopGame / OnlyWar

* GasMaskMooks: The Death Korp of Krieg regiments operating in the Spinward Front, which means potentially ''the players'' if they play as part of a Krieg regiment. The Krieg deliberately [[InvokedTrope invoke]] this trope through their training and doctrine, so that the soldiers are stripped of any individual identity, their faces perpetually hidden behind their masks, and even forbidden from using any names, [[YouAreNumberSix relying on their serial numbers and rank/position to refer to each other]].

* BoringButPractical: UsefulNotes/JosefStalin famously said "quantity has a quality all its own", and that goes for TheSquad's equipment. Often the most effective squads are those that can do amazing things with the most accessible of equipment. [[EasyLogistics There is a reason]] the Imperial Guard uses so many easily manufactured lasguns and flak armor, and the Logistics system reflects that some things grunts in the field just have more dependable access to.

** ''Only War'' also expands on some ''TabletopGame/DarkHeresy'' fluff material by introducing the Maccabian Janissaries, an Imperial Guard regiment raised from the Shrine World of Maccabeus Quintus, obsessed with the worship of Saint Drusus, the hero of the Angevin Crusades that founded the Calixis Sector. They are explicitly described as primarily consisting of pilgrims who came to Maccabeus out of religious fervour, couldn't afford the transit fees home, and chose to band together as a formal Guard regiment and take holy Drusus' fight to the stars. Although they use the same ranks and terminology as the rest of the Guard, they stand out even amongst the Imperium as being particularly keen on the whole holy war thing.

* ClosestThingWeGot: Happens often when the squad needs certain skills and has trouble finding a good match among the members. Even more than to character skills, it applies double to bad logistics rolls. The squad will rarely get everything they want, but they will be expected to make-do and find a way to make what they do have work. One example would be using an Operator specialist as a technical expert: while an Engineseer might be more appropriate, an Operator might have enough necessary familiarity with common tech-rites to take a stab at technical problems.

*** The 13th Penal Legion, also known as "Literature/TheLastChancers".

* PlausibleDeniability: Duke Severus' deal with the Dark Eldar of the Children of Thorns Kabal is not something he can freely admit to, obviously. Thus, there is very little direct contact between them. If the Dark Eldar provide aid to him militarily, it is always done indirectly, hitting Imperial targets at [[ContrivedCoincidence just the right time]] to royally screw up action they see against the Dominate's regular forces. In turn, they raid some of the Dominate's less strategically critical worlds, which Severus again denies and publicly decries, despite condoning it. For the Dark Eldar's part, they find this of no bother, [[DeadlyDecadentCourt the politics of Commorragh]] having gotten them used to [[TakeOurWordForIt much worse]].

* PragmaticVillainy: Duke Severus was the scion of a generation-spanning grudge against the Administratum for "cheating" his family out of control of the Periphery sub-sector, but he also knew open succession from the Imperium was almost [[StupidEvil guaranteed to backfire on anyone who tried]]. Thus he planned to consolidate control of the sub-sector by [[CutLexLuthorACheck working within the system, and proved quite good at it]]. However, when the Orks invaded and he could not repel them, he had to call to the wider Imperium for aid lest the green tide sweep away all his hard-won gains. Unfortunately for him, the amount of central control he had been gathering was both obvious and unacceptable and would have resulted in his removal. His actual formal declaration of independence was [[GodzillaThreshold an act of desperation on his part]].

* [[PsychoForHire Psychos For Hire]]: Severus made his power play for an independent fiefdom by making deals with Dark Eldar. He let them raid some unimportant outlying colonies for pain-slaves while under-equipping their defenders and delaying relief forces, and in turn they provided him discrete assassins and saboteurs to quietly dispose of his political enemies. The Ork invasion of the region forced him to move his plans forward ahead of schedule and declare open rebellion. Now the Dark Eldar escalate to hitting Imperial military targets to give Severus' forces a battlefield advantage, but in turn they no longer limit themselves to raiding just the Dominate's fringes as they follow their own inscrutable motives.

* VillainWithGoodPublicity: Duke Severus, within his own domain at least. He spent decades carefully pruning out people of influence who would not be receptive to him, while inserting figures he could count on as confidants. Using this network of influence, he was able to control what information went in and out of the Periphery. He slowly began increasing levies on worlds under the guise of increased Imperial tithes, while simultaneously blocking critical imports from coming in from outside the subsector, and making a pact for the Dark Eldar to begin attacking in a FalseFlagOperation with no relief to come. When the predictable civil unrest started, he blamed the Imperium for demanding too much of these worlds while giving back too little and failing to defend them. He brought back all the supplies he had carefully secreted away, being seen as a hero for using effective emergency measures. It was not much from there to AstroTurf the worlds into supporting succession from the Imperium, with Severus himself as the obvious choice of "benevolent" leader. Little do his own citizens know that he was the one who nearly brought their worlds to ruin for his own power, the additional freedoms they were promised are largely an illusion, and the promises he made to other powers to secure their support for the revolution would leave the region economically devastated for millennia to come.

** As stated in the book however, savvier Characters can take advantage of the unreliable bureaucracy by stockpiling items in the event of major logisticial blunders and/or even use them to trade with other squads.
** Even then, a savvy squad or Character can make great use of certain items. As mentioned, there's the obvious 'trade value' of items such as a crate of hundreds of packets of cigarettes or bottles of decent alcohol, but what if you get 'assigned' a barrel full of [[KillItWithFire promethium]], a drum of [[HollywoodAcid concentrated acid]], a [[ThrowDownTheBomblet crate full of grenades]], or a [[StuffBlowingUp box of demolition charges]]? Oh the ''possibilities''!

* [[YourTerroristsAreOurFreedomFighters Your Rebels Are Our Freedom Fighters]]: The forces of the Severan Dominate are nominally still faithful to the Emperor, some even fanatically so. However, they have been lead to believe (via Severus' PropagandaMachine and CultOfPersonality) that Severus is rightfully entitled to the fiefdom of those worlds they claim, and the Administratum claims dominance of them illegitimately. Of course to the High Lords of Terra, rebellion against the Administratum is rebellion against the Emperor, something to which the Dominate forces violently disagree.

* TheBrigadier: The regiment's commanding officer fills this roll, though exactly how straight they play it will depend on what their [[CharacterAlignment temperament]] is. The specifics will have a strong effect on the practices and attitude of the regiment as a whole.

* AscendedMeme: The meme of "Commissar Dan"[[note]](A commissar who uses a Basilisk artillery platform as a frontline tank to charge the enemy)[[/note]] is given a nod in the ''Enemies of the Imperium'' supplement with a quote by one "Commissar Daniel Sterne" ordering a Basilisk artillery platform to ram the enemy.[[note]](The enemy was inside the Earthshaker cannon's firing arc and [[RammingAlwaysWorks ramming seemed like the best option]] at that point.)[[/note]]

* AmazonianBeauty: The character art for the Heavy Gunner class shows a towering Catachan woman wielding a large backpack-fed flamer. Given that people from Catachan are all tall, have {{Heroic Build}}s, and wear tanktops that bear their arms and shoulders, including the women, this is presumably true of any female character from a Catachan regiment.

->''The men and women of the Imperial Guard sacrifice more and gain less than perhaps any other arm of the Imperial Armed Forces.''
-> –[[Literature/GauntsGhosts Commissar Ibram Gaunt]]

* EasyLogistics: Thoroughly {{averted|Trope}}. The Logistics system is used to determine how easy it is for TheSquad to access equipment. Depending on circumstances, they might find things that they were depending on having not arriving on time, or even getting equipment orders mixed up. This is {{justified|Trope}} for a few reasons, including the standard vagaries of war (supply convoys being raided, resources required for higher priorities elsewhere, the unpredictability of warp travel, etc) but additionally things like Severan Dominant {{Agent Provocateur}}s posing as warehouse workers behind Imperial lines and doing things as simple as swapping shipping labels on containers.

* NoCampaignForTheWicked: {{Averted|Trope}}, but only just. ''Hammer of the Emperor'' contains a sample regiment from the Severan Dominant, for those player groups who would rather fight against Imperial authority. However, virtually all official material beyond this assumes the player characters are in a loyalist regiment.

* PlausibleDeniability: Duke Severus' deal with the Dark Eldar of the Children of Thorns Kabal is not something he can freely admit to, obviously. Thus, there is very little direct contact between them. If the Dark Eldar provide aid to him militarily, it is always done indirectly, hitting Imperial targets at [[ContrivedCoincidence just the right time]] to royally screw up action they see against the Dominant's regular forces. In turn, they raid some of the Dominant's less strategically critical worlds, which Severus again denies and publicly decries, despite condoning it. For the Dark Eldar's part, they find this of no bother, [[DeadlyDecadentCourt the politics of Commorragh]] having gotten them used to [[TakeOurWordForIt much worse]].

** EvilCounterpart: Ducal Legates, the political officers enforcing the ideals of the Severan Dominant.

* [[PsychoForHire Psychos For Hire]]: Severus made his power play for an independent fiefdom by making deals with Dark Eldar. He let them raid some unimportant outlying colonies for pain-slaves while under-equipping their defenders and delaying relief forces, and in turn they provided him discrete assassins and saboteurs to quietly dispose of his political enemies. The Ork invasion of the region forced him to move his plans forward ahead of schedule and declare open rebellion. Now the Dark Eldar escalate to hitting Imperial military targets to give Severus' forces a battlefield advantage, but in turn they no longer limit themselves to raiding just the Dominant's fringes as they follow their own inscrutable motives.

* SpaceRomans: The Severan Dominant have this as something of a motif, with the flak armor of the Dominant legionaries having Romanesque helmet fringes and pteruges hung from their hips.

* StoneWall: The Severan Dominant has adopted this as a strategic doctrine, with Dominant forces directed to dig-in and fortify the most defensible position they can find. They adopt this strategy because they know that there is no way they can compete with the Imperium's [[WeHaveReserves immense resource advantage]], but given the threats the Imperium faces on nearby fronts they may be able to hold out by [[GradualGrinder wearing down the local Imperial forces long enough]] for the Imperial higher-ups to decide there are higher priorities to fight. This does mean that the Dominant sacrifices much of its offensive initiative, but also means any Dominant forces TheSquad is likely to run into [[HomeFieldAdvantage will be in a position of defensive strength]].
* StormingTheCastle: The Lycurgos Star Fort, a huge and heavily armed [[OlderIsBetter ancient]] SpaceStation orbiting one of the Severan Dominant's primary agri-worlds, is located at a strategic position on several warp lanes and is one of the only facilities in the Spinward Front capable of servicing and refitting what limited naval assets the Dominant has. Control of this station is essential to control of the world below it and both are a boon to the supply-lines for whichever power controls it. The adventure ''No Surrender'' focuses on the Imperial Guard attempting to storm and capture this [[RecycledInSpace space-born]] fortress.

* StoneWall: The Severan Dominant has adopted this as a strategic doctrine, with Dominant forces directed to dig-in and fortify the most defensible position they can find. They adopt this strategy because they know that there is no way they can compete with the Imperium's [[WeHaveReserves immense resource advantage]], but given the threats the Imperium faces on nearby fronts they may be able to hold out by [[GradualGrinder wearing down the local Imperial forces long enough]] for the Imperial higher-ups to decide there are higher priorities to fight. This does mean that the Dominant sacrifices much of its offensive initiative, but also means any Dominant forces TheSquad is likely to run into will be in a position of defensive strength.

* ClosestThingWeGot: Happens often when the squad needs certain skills and has trouble finding a good match among the members. Even more than to character skills, it applies double to bad logistics rolls. The squad will rarely get everything they want, but they will be expected to make-do and find a way to make what they do have work.

** [[Literature/CiaphasCain Colonel Regina Kasteen of the Valhallan 597th]] provides the flavour quote for Valhallan regiments

* PragmaticVillainy: Duke Severus was the scion of a generation-spanning grudge against the Administratum for "cheating" his family out of control of the Periphery sub-sector, but he also knew open succession from the Imperium was almost [[StupidEvil guaranteed to backfire on anyone who tried]]. Thus he planned to consolidate control of the sub-sector by [[CutLexLuthorACheck working within the system, and proved quite good at it]]. However, when the Orks invaded and he could not repel them, he had to call to the wider Imperium for aid lest the green tide sweep away all his hard-won gains. Unfortunately for him, the amount of central control he had been gathering was both obvious and unacceptable and would have resulted in his removal. His actual formal declaration of independence was an act of desperation on his part.

* CoveredInScars: Brontian Longknives come from a prize world settled long ago by retiring Guard regiments, and they maintain their memory of this by engaging in tradition of ceremonial mock-warfare conducted exclusively with blades where a fighter is "out" at first blood. Scars on the front of the body are considered a sign of valor and a source of pride, scars on the back are considered a sign of cowardice and a source of shame. Many Brontians intentionally wear [[WalkingShirtlessScene little to no cloths over their torsos]] to better show these off.

* AscendedExtra: One options that Game Masters sometimes use in the event a PlayerCharacter gets killed off is to take their comrade and [[PromotedToPlayable Promote Them To Player Character Status]], with the player of the killed character taking control of them. This has the advantage of the character already being established within the group, and the fact that they worked with the other player character within their group role means they can step up and take that role themselves without much difficulty.

* VillainWithGoodPublicity: Duke Severus, within his own domain at least. He spent decades carefully pruning out people of influence who would not be receptive to him, while inserting figures he could count on as confidants. Using this network of influence, he was able to control what information went in and out of the Periphery. He slowly began increasing levies on worlds under the guise of increased Imperial tithes, while simultaneously blocking critical imports from coming in from outside the subsector, and making a pact for the Dark Eldar to begin attacking in a FalseFlagOperation with no relief to come. When the predictable civil unrest started, he blamed the Imperium for demanding too much of these worlds while giving back too little and failing to defend them. He brought back all the supplies he had carefully secreted away, being seen as a hero for using effective emergency measures. It was not much from there to goad the worlds into supporting succession from the Imperium, with Severus himself as the obvious choice of "benevolent" leader. Little do his own citizens know that he was the one who nearly brought their worlds to ruin for his own power, the additional freedoms they were promised are largely an illusion, and the promises he made to other powers to secure their support for the revolution would leave the region economically devastated for millennia to come.