The exceptional men and women of the French Resistance were fiercely patriotic citizens who risked everything to fight back against the occupying German Forces. From sowing disinformation or assassinating German personnel and collaborators, to direct attacks on German infrastructure, they prevented thousands of German troops from fighting the Allies on the frontlines.
Germany’s occupation of France was resisted by the Maquis – the famous French Resistance. Led by ex-officers or charismatic local leaders, these brave men and women fought desperate guerilla actions which were pivotal in disrupting German forces during the Battle for Normandy. The members of the French Resistance risked everything for a chance to fight back against their Nazi oppressors.
The French army started World War II as the most powerful army in the world. Well-equipped, with excellent tanks and artillery, the infantry divisions were numerous and confident of fighting off the hated Boche as they had twenty two years before. This was not the same war though, and the French infantrymen found themselves all too often fighting off German armoured units which had outmanoeuvred them as the Blitzkrieg rolled across Europe.
The French army started World War II as the most powerful army in the world. Well-equipped, with excellent tanks and artillery, the infantry divisions were numerous and confident of fighting off the hated Boche as they had twenty two years before. This was not the same war though, and the French infantrymen found themselves all too often fighting off German armoured units which had outmanoeuvred them as the Blitzkrieg rolled across Europe.
Upgrading the Char B1, the Char B1 bis had thicker armour and an APX4 turret with a longer-barrelled (L/32) 47 mm SA 35 gun, giving it more anti-tank capacity alongside the 75mm hull-mounted howitzer. French experiences during The Great War influenced their belief a breakthrough tank would be needed in future conflicts, hence the design of the heavy Char B1 and B1 bis.
The Aeldari once ruled the galaxy, before their civilisation collapsed beneath the weight of its own hedonism. Now the Asuryani sail the stars aboard massive vessels called craftworlds, their citizens keeping to highly disciplined Paths to avoid drowning in the same decadent madness as their ancestors. Each craftworld's Guardians take up arms to defend their dying race, wielding deadly shuriken catapults or power blades, or shredding foes atop their swift Windrider jetbikes.
Aeldari mythology is replete with noble heroes at one with their steeds, and in the Shining Spears, the glories of legend are made manifest. These Aspect Warriors live to joust, which they do at breathtaking speeds upon their jetbike mounts. Their chosen weapon is the long and formidable laser lance, which uses a powerful energy blast to burn an opening in the target – instants before the bulk of the weapon slams home with devastating, piercing force.
The Rangers are Outcast warriors, wanderers who left the regimented lives of the craftworlds behind them. Adepts in the arts of stealth warfare, marksmanship, and tracking enemies through harsh terrain, the Rangers aid their brethren as scouts and snipers. Veiled by cameleoline cloaks and gloom field generators, they can hide from their foes even in plain sight as they pick them off one by one from extreme range.
Autarchs are renowned for their strategic brilliance, sublime martial skill and indomitable strength of will. Long have they trodden the Path of the Warrior, wearing the ritual masks of countless Aspect Warriors and yet never once slipping into the trap of obsession. Instead, these peerless leaders now walk the Path of Command. Wielding a dizzying variety of wargear and tactics mastered across millennia of battle, they apply all that they have learned to their command of the Asuryani warhosts.
An Avatar of Khaine is an ancient deity incarnate – a burning shard of Khaela Mensha Khaine, the Bloody-Handed God of the Aeldari. Awakened for battle, he marches through enemy fire without breaking stride, laughing cruelly as his weapon – the Wailing Doom – cleaves flesh and tastes the blood of his foes with each strike.
Streaking into battle at speeds that render them barely visible to human eyes, Shroud Runners effortlessly outmanoeuvre their enemies while harassing them with pinpoint sniper fire. Each jetbike acts as the mount for a pair of skilled Aeldari Rangers, the pillion rider often entering a marksman’s trance so as to aim and fire while travelling at incredible velocity.
Looming ghost warriors many times larger than even the mighty Wraithlords, the war machines known as Wraithknights are still dextrous enough to run through the ruin of a shattered city, leaping from pillar to spar as their arcane weapons bring oblivion to the enemies of the Aeldari.