Adeptus Ridiculous - TECHMARINES - AND WHY IT SUCKS TO BE ONE | Warhammer 40k Lore

Episode Date: February 19, 2025

https://www.patreon.com/AdeptusRidiculoushttps://www.adeptusridiculous.com/https://twitter.com/AdRidiculoushttps://orchideight.com/collections/adeptus-ridiculousA Techmarine (known as a Frater Astrotechnicus in High Gothic) is a Firstborn or Primaris Space Marine technician and engineer as well as a full Astartes battle-brother of his Chapter. They are fully initiated members of both the Cult Mechanicus and their Chapter.Prospective Techmarines are chosen from the ranks of the Space Marine Chapters for their affinity with technology. They learn how to divine the runes of engineering and study the liturgy of maintenance. This great body of lore must be committed to memory and understood by the novice Techmarine. They are taught how to "feel" the pain of a damaged machine and heal it. When they come back they serve the same role in their Chapter as a Tech-priest Enginseer in the Astra Militarum. Without the passing on of such ancient lore, the Space Marines would eventually grind to a complete halt, unable to make war. Thus does every Chapter’s might hinge upon the esoteric knowledge of its Techmarines. Support the show

episode of the Adeptus Ridiculous podcast. My name is D.K. Diamantis, his name is Bricky. And if you enjoy today's episode of the podcast and maybe you want to support us, head over to patreon.com slash Adeptus Ridiculous, where you can get access to the Discord, bloopers if they happen, $15 tier, get you access to all of our posters in crispy, digital, HD format. It's great. They're great.

Ooh, check it out. Patreon.com slash adeptus ridiculous. Bricky is going to tell you about merch and books and stuff. Yay, merch and books and stuff. So I know we've been a little lax on the Galaxy and Flames. We're going to read it, I swear. I believe we have that slated for next weekend. So make sure you read that.

Also, don't forget to go to Orchidate.com. Link in the description where you can get all kinds of great merch stuff. Great stuff, posters, dice, objective markers, desk mats, little guys stuff, hoodies, shirts, etc. It's all available. Check it out at Orcate.com. Eventually, I'm going to get a redirect, and then we can just like send it over

to be a lot easier. But maybe we'll do that for next week. Yibby. Yeah. Yibby. Yibby. I actually have the physical copy of Galaxy and Flames.

Oh, no shit. Mm-hmm. Any particular reason why you do? Um, I have started to enjoy actually having, like, physical books and just having, like, cozy lounge time with the cats and a book.

Very stereotypical cozy time with animals and yeah. All right. All right. I feel that. You know, honestly, if my house was a little bit more cozy core, I would probably do the same. I need to get a bit more. I need that IKEA lamp that everyone has.

It looks like a big orange donut. I don't think I know that IKEA lamp. It is great looking. I love it. Hell yeah. Hell yeah. But anyway, way. No, I get that. I actually, I kind of have a rule where if I buy the book, or if I read the book, like on Audible or whatever, read on Audible, you know what I mean. And I really like it. I will tend to buy the physical version as more of like a, I want to own only physical books that I have read. Right. And you know you like as well. You don't want to buy a bunch of books that like, I hate this book. And I didn't know it. And I don't know it. Now I'm stuck with it. I, I bought a collector set of the, uh, the nightlords trilogy. Hell yeah. Also, yeah, that's the light.

That's the light shy, the big donut. Wow, I've never seen that. It's very cozy. It is, especially if you, like, had a dimly lit room and you just had one little orange corner. I could see that. A nice, well-worn leather, like, lounger chair. I get it.

DK, what kind of interior design do you like? I've been on, I've been recommended interior design YouTube as of recently, and I've been on a big kick. Oh, what kind of interior? you're like, I don't know, because I don't really interior design much because I rent. So there's not a whole lot I can really do to my place. That is fair. I think I meant more so related to like, like, are you kind of like a rustic person?

Do you be like a mid-century modern kind of person? Do you know what these words mean? I feel like for interior design, I'm more, I'm, I feel like I'm more like a little more modern where like I would probably. probably want just like a kind of a dimly lit place with like lots of like bright like lights hanging around. So it's kind of that cozy bright lights, uh, vibe. I don't know if that's like an aesthetic, but yeah. Sure, sure. I see, I see shy is currently, um, she is currently single man coring, uh, where, uh, we have the nice white room with TV, TV and mattress.

Fantastic. I mean, it looks nice. See, I've always been a big fan of industrial. I'm a really big fan of like rustic industrial like loft style, the tall ceiling, the exposed brick, no pun intended. You know, like metal, like a little bit of metal beams. But I feel like you got to add a lot of color to that. So it's not too like dark and like overly masculine.

Like I'm going to add some like pinks and reds. And when it comes down, to industrial. That's the most important part when we think about, the Imperium of Mam is... Of course. It's the industrial machine that grinds you down into nothing.

Exactly. And with the industry of the Imperium of Man, the first thing you tend to think about is weaponry, death and the destruction that can come from it. And therefore, your quote, sir, is,

yours is to heed the machine as others heed their kin. tend to the war spirits all about, but do so in the knowledge that you do the emperor's duty. Without your administrations, no bolt may be fired and no enemy slain. Oh, this feels very mechanicum-coded. This feels very ad-met-coded, because they're always the ones working on like the machines, and there's the machine spirit, and bless my gun, and bless the spirit inside my gun, bless the, you know,

but what admec thing would we be doing? So you are correct, but I will say it's not admec. Is it like a specific admec person? You're getting closer, but again, not admec.

Then it's like, then it feels like it's got to be some sort of like I don't know if there's a person, it's like, oh yeah, I bless your gun with the blah, blah, blah, the emperor and Emperor bless your gun I don't know

Tell me what we are doing It's fine We are actually doing an episode On Tech Marines Oh Okay Okay Okay

You kind of see what I mean It's not ad meck But it is Yeah But it's very ad mech adjacent Yeah The Tech Marine My personal favorite

Of these space marines In the lovely Video Game Of Dawn of War II in which I would set up tarantula turrets everywhere and be what, as they call, an asshole. It's not the tarantula turrets that make you that. But yeah, sure. I vaguely remember seeing a bunch of pictures of tech marines,

and shy just posted a picture of one. Anytime you got those like pseudo mechodendrites with like big honking weapons and stuff, I'm in. I'm totally in on these like sort of the spider vibe, this techie. spider vibe. Yeah, tech marines. Tech Marines are fun. Because when, you know, when you think about old school 40K, like, there's two kinds of people who think about 40K. There's the modern and the old. And they're both, they're both valid in their own ways. The modern look, looks a lot more like that photo that shy posted, extremely

gross and gritty and very like, like hardcore and kind of disgusting to go along with the weirdness of Warhammer. And then the people who think about an old school tech marine, we're talking John Blanche. We're talking that 80s, hardcore over the top shenanigans. Oh. Also, of course, the old school tech marine with the big wrench. What a mini. What a mini.

Yeah, it was a different time when that tech marine came out. But, yeah, different worlds. But then you, of course, so you have the old school and the John Blanche, but the John Blanche style artwork always reminds you of like the super over the top machinery that aid space Marines, you know, land raiders, thunder hawks, attack bikes. But, you know, who fixes the check engine light in the middle of combat? Oh, be the tech marine, I would assume with their big ass wrench. I mean, basically, the tech marine is the main. that finds this fun little middle ground between space marine and tech priests. You know,

who is the one driving the dang thunder hawk? You know? True. It would be the tech marine because you can't always bring an ad mech with you. And I'm sure the ad mec don't always want to go on, you know, a horrible campaign of bloodshed and violence. And oh, yeah, I swear, we'll protect you. Better to have a tech marine that can actually, like, defend themselves,

can actually use all their little mechadendrites. They can use it when they, they're not fixing stuff and they can also, you know, just fix stuff. Yeah. A tech marine, like, you think about it quite often, yes, we don't just kidnap Corrians and make them do the hard work. You can't actually kidnap quarians from the flotill anymore because of woke. Oh, no.

Oh, no. But. I'm a tallymancer. You can't just say that. You're offending my fictional race of people. Yes. You're offending my fictional wifu, Bricky, and I don't like it. That's all right.

She's me getting the five-star tally pole in Genshin Impact. She was real to me. She was real to me. What a great, what a great line. Anyway, yes, so the Tech Marines, also known as the Frador Astro Technicus, are, you know, like you people, that's like, who fixes the stuff, who blesses the items. And you find that in between, between the Marine and the, the A-Mex. So, to talk about the Tech Marine. Hell yeah.

So a brief and important reminder about the old unification of Terra and Mars, which trivia, D.K. What is the symbol that it represents the Treaty of Terra and Mars? Ah, that's the Aquila. The twin-headed eagle is the unification of Tara and Mars. He's done it. He has done it. Now, obviously, way back at the tail end of the unification wars, Big E was prepping for the Great Crusade to reunite humanity. Mars was a machine worshipping hellscape.

And while the emperor may have been able to take the planet by force, it's very costly, detrimental. And let's be honest, even though they were a bunch of crazy Martians, they could have a huge benefit. Oh, yeah. Totally not worth it to, the expenditure needed to take over Mars, just not worth it. Easier to make a treaty. And manufacturing on good old, like, on Terra was rough because post-unification wars, everything was screwed. Yep. So, you know, he kind of showed off a little bit and showed himself to be basically the Omnisiah from the Mechanicum.

And it was the Treaty of Olympus Mons. That was what was signed. It basically allowed the Mechanicum to act autonomously across the galaxy, gave them the freedom to worship the machine god without being viewed as heretics, and were provided with the means to pursue their quest for knowledge. The trade-off is that the Imperium would be provided all the machinery necessary for the Great Crusade, as well as technicians to provide the upkeep, which is why the Imperial Quilla has the two heads, one for Terra, one for Mars.

Blessed be the Holy Pigeon. Yes, yes, they all. Holy Pigeon. We do love that holy pigeon. Damn straight, we do. So, the main key part of the treaty is to do with the upkeep of the machines and the weapons. Things made by the Mechanicum usually had full control by the Mechanicum. And because the technology was so lost, you know, the Imperium really didn't want to have to do a lot of that interest. So they basically was like, you handle this as much as you can, ADMEC.

Though granted this time it was the Mechanicum, not the Admec. because admec means adeptus mechanicus and that was a future situation. That's a different Boloax. Yeah. Totally different. However, of course, Mechanicum are busy with their own politicking and goals away from the Imperium. And obviously, you know, they, it'd be the idea that it can be there the job of a

half for every legion of space marines is a bit of a stretch. So because of that, you would often have, you know, a presence there on like a battle barge or a larger station. They can't often be in the same areas as space Marines. Like, you don't just throw a jump pack on a tech priest and just send them out there, right? Yeah, you probably, probably not. Like, especially if it's like, oh, yeah, we're sending our space Marines to a planet that is completely infested with Nids. It's like, oh, you're just going to, you're just going to send your tech priest down with them.

You're just going to send a little, little ad mek doodad onto a world covered in Nids, huh? Yeah. How's that going to work? out. Yeah. I mean, I mean, he's the nids will, they won't ignore him, but they certainly won't, uh, eat him first. Yeah.

Good luck. Good luck. But obviously, uh, this led to the situation in which space marines, tech marines were created for that compromise. Uh, it is a space marine with the knowledge of the mechanicum and therefore they can stand their ground with their legion to make sure things go off without a hitch. Mm-hmm. And they're not an easy target because I am.

I'm assuming we're going to talk about this, but I'm assuming a tech marine is just as beefy and hearty and battle-born as your regular Astardis, but can also fix yo shit. Arguably more so at times, because they're full of, you know, like tons of mechanics. True, true, all those crazy arms. I'm sure this is going to be asked you, but are they as good as having just... an ad mech tech priest with you. Is there any, like, downside to a tech priest?

Uh, they're annoying. All right. I mean, I'm not like, I'm, I'm, I'm joking,

but I'm, I'm not really. Um, I'm genuinely not really. The tech priests are, uh, tech priests are annoying, but they're also,

I mean, they're squishy. You know, they're made of all. I mean, okay, they can be squishy. The tech priests.

Tech priest is entirely related to what the writer needs. Does the writer need like a doomsday weapon hidden underneath a bunch of robes? Then they get that. Do they need like a little fat, wobbly dude to run away like a big bell like in Day of Ascension? Then they need that as well. It depends on what they need. But tech marines normally, yes, are very hardy. I mean, they are a space marine covered in mechadendrites, various extra weapons, claws,

and normally have some more biotics than the average person does. So if their leg gets blown off, they might not bleed to death. Cool. So they do look cool with all those extra megadendrites and stuff. They do. Plus, you get some really cool ones. Like, I really like the Grey Knight Brotherhood Tech Marine, which I think Shai posted a little bit up there a bit.

It's literally like a psychic Grey Knight, but it is a Tech Marine. It is so awesome. I love it to death. Oh, let's go. I think it's so cool. Also, I think I don't play gray nights, but I honestly might if I could run three tech Marines, because they have, like, way more guns than they have any right to. And it's just kind of funny, or way more melee than they have any right to?

It's kind of funny. Is it because they have all those mechadendrites that the game's like, of course, they should get more meleys. They've got all of the Spider-Man arms. They've got the, the medandrites. They should get more. Pretty much. Also, there is, um, also there's the, there's the chaos version.

version, but we might talk about that later. So the concept of the tech marine has been in the game since the first edition, which is back in like the rogue traitor era, specifically in November of 1988, or as you, Bricky would say, late 90s or early 2000s. Thank you, editor. Let's go.

Now Brickie's getting future sniped. Editor aside, quote, millennials will agree that the 80s are and will perpetually be like 25 years ago. quote, like 25 years ago. So he's not wrong, but I am going to, um, to, to take offense to this. Oh, are we going to have the art at this point shot? Yeah, let's do that. Um, so, uh, some of the viewers were like, we should get the researcher in, on the, on the art.

And so we did exactly that. Um, first things of first, of course, we have the art done by Ted, which is fantastic. Naturally. I, when shy found our, uh, our researcher, uh, we, I saw the image that they used for their Discord profile, and it was literally a possum with glasses reading a book that said lore. And I'm like, that's the guy. That's the one.

It must be you. That's the one right there. But yeah, yeah, let's do it. Let's do a little introduction, shy. That might be a pretty good time because there's so many soul reads in the script. Yeah, yeah. And if you watch the last episode of. of Realm of Ridiculous, they looked over the fantasy episode too and gave me a ton of context

and corrections and stuff to make it so much easier. Yippee, as they say. Yeah, quite poggers. Perfect. They are. Viewers can just call them possum. Their name is, their name shall be possum. That is the name.

Researcher, possum, possum man, however it needs to be said. etc. Hell yeah. And they do good work. Yeah, absolutely. Thank you again. Possum. The artwork probably is done, so they're probably doing some fun stuff currently on the, in the video, or on the background, so good timing. Hell yeah. Hell yeah. Anyway, uh, originally the Tech Marines were released as metal miniatures, like most of them at the time. Uh, and they were released in the three per pack blister packs, uh, aka the first real mystery boxes. Also, yes, that is, first edition ad mech uh that image right there things have changed that's what the yeah things are ever so slightly different yes uh now at the time of course the ad mech were a thing that was known in the first edition but they were not fleshed out really not until a little bit

later on it was mainly not until they got the flesh out but they were expanded upon a lot more in the further codexes. The Codex Imperialis supplement book for the second edition, which came out in the strike through late 90s, early 2000s, 1993. God, they're getting, they're getting too comfortable. We need to stop them. We need to bring them down a little bit.

We need to quell this fire before it gets out of control. Oh, no. But for the most part, Their influence and aesthetic were a lot more in the major part of the second edition minis. And so while they didn't, the ad mech didn't actually have their first full army until seventh edition. I remember actually when I first started playing they didn't have an army. Their influence was still obviously all over the place, much like how dark meck doesn't have an army, but they're clearly everywhere. Everywhere, yeah.

Because dark mech is a, is an obvious faction. Yeah. So, how tech Marines came to be. for the most part. There's a, there's a big, a big question of like how that kind of lore really. Started. Started, I guess. Yeah.

Yeah. I guess that makes sense. But back, uh, in the way back lore for what it comes to the tech Marines, uh, it is a generalized prospect that a space marine chapter has to go through a super dangerous process to become a space marine to begin with. As you've seen. Mm-hmm. Um, those who become tech Marines are not from the mechanicum themselves, but our

instead selected from within the space marine companies. So you don't, the ad mec doesn't find a guy and turn them into a space marine, a space marine becomes a tech marine. Oh, okay. I guess a part of me thought that like the ad mec would pick someone, be like, oh, yes, you are worthy, but it's more just like an Astardis is like, boy, I sure am good at repairing stuff. I should become a tech marine.

They definitely do have them, like they do pick. Don't get me wrong, but they pick a already, a space man's already established and just seems to be really interested in the inner workings of tech. They find, they find the guy with the, um, with the, the technology and, and mathematics autism instead of the,

uh, excessive murder chaos autism. And then they, they, they pick him instead. Just like how I didn't get these, uh, smart and intelligence autism and I got the expensive hobby autism. Hmm. I feel that. I, you know, I got the expensive, uh,

gotcha game. That unfortunately. So, I get it. I get it. Hell yeah, brother. So not too many space wolf tech Marines? No, I mean, there are Space Wolf Tech Marines.

Don't get me wrong. They have to have them. Not as many as say the Ultramarines or something. I mean, the Iron Hands, man. Oh, of course, the Iron Hands. That's fair. Yeah, the Space Wholes got plenty of Tech Marines, but obviously it's that whole bit. Now, the Space Marines chosen are sent to Mars to train under the eye of the Mechanicus.

the training experience of a tech marine prospect is really grueling and extremely isolating. This training and aspirin goes through is 30 years in technical terms a full brickie. You've been full bricked in your training session? Okay, okay. And this isn't a fun co-op training experience where they get to use all the machines and how they work. you know, they use a, oh, what is this? A GM trainer while training in the Earth Federation forces or forced frontline training like get in the robot Shinji.

Editor's note, if D.K. finds the Evangelian reference too basic of an anime reference, send them a picture of Hideo Kojima pointing at the screen with the word otaku in big, bold letters on it. I think the getting the mech Shinji is a proper one that like most people know. and it's a good anime reference to like throw out there. That's, that's a good one. Everybody gets that one. You get that one.

Everybody in chat gets that one. You know, that's a good one. Perfect. Good to note. Instead, the training of the Tech Marine is essentially learning each and every single one of the maintenance hymns.

Oh wow, shy had that on. On, she had a cued up. She had that queued. Holy. She just sent that instantaneously. Instantaneously. Snap of a finger. They need to be able

to communicate with the machine spirit and calm it in an almost effortless manner, knowing all the hymns and rights by heart. The training of the tech marine is basically essential for the ties between Terra and Mars, because without the knowledge bestowed upon by a tech marine, the war machine of Terra in active combat would fail. And if that fails, the Treaty of Olympus Mons fails. So the training needs to be perfect, and the resulting Tech Marine needs to represent the unity of both planets.

perfectly. In a sense, the training of a tech marine is a reformation of the Treaty of Olympus Mons, the Space Marine, the Champion of Humanity working closely with the Mechanicum or the Admec at this point. Oh, that's true. They are like the living embodiment of the Treaty, of the Aquila, of like the unification of man and Admec and Mars and Earth. You get it. That's cool. That's cool. I like that. That is the most important part. Now, when you think of a generic tech priest, you think of the tendrils, the claws, appendages, and all the different kinds of modifications to make an ease of work and, you know, things that your biological hands just couldn't do.

Yeah, give them the clamps. Give them the, give them the claw. Yeah, give them the claw. Yeah, did you ever, um, did you ever watch the, the Matthew Broderick? Inspector Gadget film Oh, nope. No? I know it exists,

never watched it though. It wasn't very good. I'll let you know that one right there. That's why I didn't watch it because it looks terrible. I used to rent that at a Hollywood video like every week because I was like seven and I thought it was the coolest thing in the world. It pains me to say that as a very small, very small D.K. I remember actually watching the cartoon on TV and loving it.

Oh, fantastic. Go, go, go, gadget. Broken hip. Go, go, go, go, go gadgets. But, oh, what time was those were? So where the hell was I? There we go. So they obviously have modifications as well to the nature and training of their work,

but not to the same level out of the Mechanicum, who have strived to remove the weakness of the flesh. You know, you have your run-of-the-mill bionic enhancements and the light degrees of mechadendrites, of course, but the most striking visual is the gigantic clunky servo arms on their backpacks or their power packs. Due to the size and stature of a tech marine, they're able to wield them as servo harnesses. And they have multiple servo arms with different purposes. Sometimes they have bolters, they have plasma cutters. a flamer, their power armor is modified for better efficiency and those large add-ons to their

physical stature. They also have been known to have their fingers or hands removed or fully augmented so they can serve as an extension of those servo arms in an unobstructive way. You know, you want metal hands to fully communicate with the machine spirit. The machine spirit, yeah, to better do the work that you've been trained to do. Mm-hmm, absolutely. Okay, okay, okay. They are very admet coded, but as well, they should be.

Yeah, I mean, obviously they will be, right? Yeah. In regard, of course, with those devices, they also will have the arm with lighter weaponry, like a sidearm. But of course, the most striking weapon that they will have is the omniscient axe. Very much similarly to the occult mechanicus as well. And those will vary in size depending on, you know, the size of the space marine, right. that is pretty cool to see a space marine with the Omnisayan axe because usually I

I've really only seen those with an ad mech dude I don't see a ton of space marines with that axe so it's kind of it's kind of sick to see that big old chunky axe on like a space marine and also has mechidendrits it's like that's a vibe I must admit I played rogue traitor recently and I think they um they changed up something about how Pascal uses the axe because now he kind of like slices people, but before whenever he would hit someone, he would just do this

giant like carthunk and this huge lightning slam. And it was almost like, it was almost farcical because it just felt like he was doing it in a sort of, like, base boosted like by the Omnisai as will, boom. I mean, that thing is heavy enough. It should have a little base boost when you hit someone with it. Well, Amasai an axe is very often like a power axe. so it has a field around it and does a good like curse lamb.

Yeah. But it's pretty cool. Now, in regards to the actual power armor of the Tech Marine, it's not only modified to obviously handle the array of tools, but it's also aesthetically unique. The armor is a lot more personalized color,

and they include a lot of red in their color scheme for the iconography of Mars, the machina opus to show they've completed their training. But obviously, despite customizing their armor to balance, the iconography of Mars and their chapter. It should be known that they cannot obscure the colors of their chapter, nor can they not have the machina opus on their armor.

Both must be displayed in their unity. So the machina opus is the classic, I believe that's like the skull cog look. And then the other shoulder pad will have their iconography, Ultramarines, you know, Imperial Fists. Whatever, whatever chapter they're from, yeah. In a sense, it's the unity, right? It's the unity between the two.

Yeah, you got to have both because you are literally the union. You are the living embodiment of the union between Earth and Terra, so you got to have, you got to have both of them. You got to have your heraldry. And obviously, because outside their arsenal, they're very familiar with the classic priests of Mars, which include things like servoskulls, servitors, mech spiders, all the other items that can generally just go ahead and make it a little bit easier for the Tech Marine to do its job. And, you know, things to focus more on direct aid to their comrades, making sure their machines are working.

In a sense, some like their dags, but some like caravans more. Do you like dags? Like dags? Dags. Degs. What? What? Oh, dogs.

Oh, dogs. I like dags. Yeah, I like dags. Like caravans more. What a great, what a great film. A great movie. Wonderful movie. So, tech Marines, what do they do? Obviously, as we've alluded to it, the tech marine, what they obviously do involves everything the ad mech tends to do.

But sometimes it's a lot more specific. One could say that they're like a field mechanic for the chapter, but that is like a huge understatement. They are an extension to any and all tech used by their chapter, whether it is a bolter or literally, the whole of the battle barge. The tech marine is responsible for assuring that everything is working and stays working. Naturally. As previously mentioned, weapons of the Imperium are blessed before being sent out to those who use them. And tech marines are able to pass on the blessings as well.

In the field of battle, the tech marines are solely responsible to make sure that everything stays in working order. And their implementation of the teachings that admec have helped assure their victory specifically all the time. Mastering the machine spirit is crucial because maybe your rhino gets a Las Canon in the chest and he needs to fix that up

because you need to run away real quick because chaos cultists are running you down with plasma guns. And there's a lot of them. Does the training for a tech marine change depending on what chapter they come from? Because like some chapters are going to have maybe more tech stuff, right?

Like an iron hands or something is maybe going to have more need of a more adept tech marine than say, like, I don't know, the thousand sons, but all the thousand sons right now wouldn't need it. But like, you know, like, does it change depending on where you come from? It do. And actually, we'll have a little bit of a chat about that later in the episode. Oh, okay. Okay. It do.

It do. Now, obviously, between all of that, they mash the machine spirits and are able to generally interface with a lot more of the complex weapons and the ships to determine technical. issues by feeling the pain or anger of the machine. As an aside, it has been discussed before here on the podcast, but conversations about tech Marines reinforce the idea and kind of make it painfully obvious that the machine spirit is some form of AI. Oh, yeah. So, uh, it has to be right.

Tech Marines range from the holy jiffy loob mechanic to a holy bit defender antivirus plus installer mechanic. Oh, boy, that is quite the, that is quite the, that is quite the scope. Ooh. Yeah. So, like that being said, I like, they say, I'd like to drop a quote here describing one of the kinds of machine spirits that Tech Marine may have to deal with. Also because it was one of the more absurd things while reading a book and co-as for the episode is what the, was what Mr. Possum says.

For context, this Tech Marine is a part of the Imperial Fists. Bastion called out Tech Marine Corgan. We are at war. Who demanded the machine spirit? Is it the enemy? It synthesized voice filled the data core of the bashing inviolate. The spirit was known to be curt and crude, constantly angry about something. The iron warriors replied the tech marine.

The servo arm on his armor's backpack inserted data probe into the socket on a crystal wall behind Corgum. Inputting the data, the Star Fort's sensorium collected on the enemy's ship. The Ferrius Malice, known to be the flagship of warsmiths Sean Dome. to less than half an hour ago it emerged in real space within striking distance of us. Filth-licking dogs spat the machine spirit. Would that I had hands to ring their necks? Would that I had bowels that I might void them on their corpses? Wow.

So the imperial fist machine spirit was like, I would shit on you if I could. Damn, if only I had hands to choke you and a bowel so I could have a movement all over your face. Damn. Says the machines, says the computer. Says the computer. Yeah. Holy. AI is outlawed. Remember this? Yeah, totally.

So, yeah, shenanigans, but pretty funny. Mm-hmm. Hell yeah. Tech Marines, also, those who are mostly trading and known as the vitiates, will often be pilots. So the tech marines themselves are pretty few and far between. There's a degree of versatility

there. Some space marines that are Not tech Marines will receive training when it comes to piloting and usage of various vehicles. You know, like some things are solely operated by a spaceman, like an assault bike or something. Yeah. But the bigger vehicles are needed to be operated by the tech marines specifically. Some of the larger stuff as opposed to just being hanging out of the ship. A Thunderhawk, right, for example. Yeah.

A lander rate. Yeah. Mm-hmm. Sometimes the machine spirit and the servitor will pilot it, but, um, not the big stuff that the Thunderhog most definitely not. So earlier we talked about the training of the Tech Marine and how it was mysterious for a very good reason. And that good reason is how they are viewed when they return to their chapter and how they were viewed for the existence in their chapter. So imagine hanging out with your friend.

And one friend says, hey, I'm going to go to a technical school. And three decades later, he comes back looking and acting like a borg. Oh boy, school changed you, huh? It's a bit weird, right? Unlike his old chapter brothers who have built up a camaraderie for the last 30 years, the Tech Marine studied the rigorous sacred text and the Mechanicus and devoted his life into serving as an analog of his faith. When they return to the chapter, they're distant, isolationist,

and they tend to find solace in their teachings and their work. Combine that with the all-regnatured, very apparent distrust for the ad mech that many space marines have, and tech marines are viewed often as a bit of an oddity. Oh, I didn't even think about that because if you played Space Marine too, you know how the Astardis feel about the ad mech and their shenanigans. And true, if your old Space Marine buddy came back and suddenly he's very admec-c-coded, you'd be very suspicious of him, he's acting weird,

he's acting isolated. He doesn't really talk as much anymore. That, yeah, that would cause some questions and some concerns and maybe some, you know, it's also. It's also weird, too, because, like, they wear a lot of the cult mechanicus stuff on their sleeves, less so. I mean, they still have their chapter heraldry, but it is like, you know, it's a little bit back and forth with that. Yeah. It is also, you know, a little bit of a strange mixture, though, because begrudgingly, a lot of the space marines have to hold the tech Marines in a very high regard because basic functionalities would be nigh impossible without them.

But it doesn't really mean they have to like them. So, you know, they find themselves just being a little bit like, like tech Marines will hang out with other tech Marines. And they don't have to always enjoy their time. Yeah, so it's that boss that you really don't like, but you have to respect because they're your boss and they do so much for the company that you, the company can't exist without them. But God, they're so annoying and, yeah. This is a little, a little bit of that kind of stuff that goes along with it, yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

Now, moving from that, so like, side of things, obviously when it comes to the ad mech, their feelings are actually similar towards tech Marines. on the whole the tech marine is viewed by the admec as a necessary component to their treaty with terra and carrying out the machina opus but they are able and they are able to go to mars and have you know access to a more run-of-mill space marine but by design the tech marines transformation to something like a tech priest is incomplete not all the secrets of the cult are taught to them because that would nullify the need of the admec you know you don't give them all of the business acumen you need to still get paid Yeah, of course not. You don't want to train someone so well that you nullify the need for you. Right. And they're not viewed as in a equal with any members of the cult Mechanicus. And some devout members of the cult might even see the existence of the Tech Marine as a bit of tech heresy. You know, it's a new, you know, like a non-admac cult member being taught the secrets of the cult.

And then, you know, using it. for not the Omnisiah, or no, not the machine god. Yeah, good old Hereticol, right? Yeah. Now, so you might be wondering, where in the hell is the Tech Marine going to find some sort of acceptance? And ironically, it comes from the place you might not expect, which is the Death Watch.

Huh. As you know. Right, I would not expect that. No, absolutely not. Like the Inquisitional force, the Death Watch, that's a little bit weird. But as you know, the Death Watch act as an extension of the Ordo Xenos, and they serve their long vigil against the Zenos threat. And they're made of elite members of each chapter.

As Tech Marines aren't really abundant, losing one would be an immense loss for their chapter. And their unique background and studies may result in them opting to go directly from training on Mars to the Death Watch itself, as opposed to leaving their chapter. due to the nature of kill teams and the missions that's the death watch go on a tech marine is an insanely helpful asset because their knowledge of machines and weaponry makes them very unique and fit to analyze xenos artifacts and weapons salvage when they're reclaimed i mean that that that is that is fair also i don't know why as soon as we're like oh yeah they find solace in the death watch i'm like man when can i when can i when can i play as a tech marine in space marine two or rogue traitor or something i want to tech marine i play as a tech marine all the time in dawn of war too that was that was the tech marine game for me i loved that one damn man that was the good times um but obviously from from there uh the it mean like knowing being able to like analyze alien weaponry because because the death watch

are a lot more um what's the word i'm looking for pragmatic with their stuff i mean as far i'm pretty sure some death mar the Death Watch guys, they like use alien weapons, like the Xenophase blade, for example. Oh, sure. I would imagine that's about right. Yeah. They use weird. Yeah, there's like literally a towel gun right there.

Like, they are a lot more pragmatic with that kind of stuff and that knowledge is important. Therefore, the tech Marines can actually, you know, it may not be a lot of good company, but everyone from the Death Watch is out of their element because it's a kill team full of all kinds of people from different chapters. Yeah. That makes sense if you're open to Zeno stuff. You're open to using like a tow gun and all that.

Then sure you'd be open to a Tech Marine and you wouldn't be as suspicious of them. You'd be more welcoming. They're useful. You know, that's what you need as a Death Watch. You just need useful tools. Absolutely. There's also something that's called the Master of the Forge, which is basically, you know, once you study the versus the Colt Mechanicus, it doesn't end once Tech Marine leaves.

They'll continue their studies after leaving Mars, obviously. and those who gain seniority as a tech marine are known as masters of the forge. They are like, you know, you have librarians, you have chief librarians. These are, that's like the higher level. Okay. It just means that their expertise and masters of the teachings of Mars make them as close to a non-Marsian tech priest as they possibly can. And often can go like walk up to a machine and be like, oh yeah, I know what's wrong with it. And just just instantly.

Are there a lot of master of forges? because that sounds like quite the tall order to get to even for a tech marine. I mean, no, not really. It's like the main chief of that part of the tech priest area. I mean, they're mainly like, I think there's only one, but I may be wrong on that one. It's kind of like there's a chief library that's like a, you know, there's like a certain amount of like this one chapter master. Oh, right, right. Okay.

Like it's like the leader per chapter. Okay. Got you, got you. It's not like you're just like, oh, yeah, all of these guys have trained really well. They're all Master of the Forge status. It's just, okay, there's just the one per chapter that's like, yep, I oversee everything. It's also, because they are a little borderline fanatical with their teachings, most Masters of the Forge are primarily relegated to the Forge. And Space Marines might be a little bit uneasy about Tech Marines, but Master of the Forge is even more so.

There is basically no reason to ever talk with one because they are isolated in the Forge the whole time. and most of the forge have zero reason to speak with or the time to talk with people if they feel like talking to begin with. They're too busy with their studies and their work. That's fair. That's fair. So they also often may end up being the important factor in activating the old relics of the chapter,

maybe some relic weapons or, you know, awakening an interred dreadnought. Of course. Who else would be better than the chapter? the master of the forge for that. They know all the stuff. Yep, yep, yep, yep. A quick little brief note about engine seers. Besides some of the special chapter specific tech marines, there is a non-Astardi's

version of them, also known as engine seers. They are the Imperial Guard version ones. They are kind of the same variant where they use it again for tanks and other machinery as well. They're lesser in prestige than space marines, obviously, so they don't have full autonomy me over their tech devices, especially in battle. The guard, that is. Therefore, the engine seers come in to do so.

Oh, so even the guard kind of get their little tech repair guy. Yeah, they're kind of like an in-between between a guardsman and a tech priest. They're trained in the ways of the cult mechanic is in a similar way. But due to the quote-unquote shorter life of this standard human to a space marine, it's not as arduous of training. Because it can't be. You can't spend 30 years of a human lifespan training because then, you know, you go in at 30 years old, you come out at 60 and it's like, well, you're not going into a fight. Right. And so obviously, there are a lot of times with a guard will have to do

on the fly modifications to weapons or repair mid-combat. And because guardsmen are a horde army, you would need a reasonable amount of engine seers to maintain everything and it's borderline impossible, which makes the engine seers not very happy about that, because John Guardsman having to do on the fly repairs for his Lasgun is not, doesn't make them feel very good. Yeah, yeah. Also, whenever I, all these pictures of the engine seers, I'm just like, oh, yeah, they just look like Admec if they weren't so hell bent on ridding themselves of the flesh.

Yeah, a little guardsman kind of combination there. Mm-hmm. Even that guy on the first picture has a last pistol. Mm-hmm. You know. Now, guardsmen, for the same, like, space marines, they regret, they either like them sometimes because, like, thank God, you fixed our stuff, but also they're weird. And so the guardsmen don't love them for the same reason. But they don't have the rights that space marines do.

So they kind of just, like, deal with it. Okay. So. You still got to respect the repair, man, right? Like, a little bit. Uh, yeah, I mean, like, you know, it's, if your chimera's broken down, you, you'd definitely need someone to help you out with that one. But you're not having a beer with them.

No, no, I would not recommend that. And they probably would be like, beer removes my cognitive function. They probably, you know, yeah, yeah, the snooty one is like, yeah, beer is no fun and reduces. Yeah, yeah, yeah, he's like a reddeter. Mm-hmm. Uh, as a result of their overwhelmingly practical knowledge, they, they are often viewed. viewed as lowly but necessary cogs in the workings of the machine god's order. So because they are not religious nuts and actual blue collar workers,

they get no respect from the real ad me. Unsurprising to me. Yeah, I was going to say, that sounds pretty on brand for 40K and the ad mech. Yeah. They are, uh, they are, they are, they are dicks at times. Often times, most of the time. Oftentimes. Yeah.

So you mentioned specific chapter space marines. Obviously, tech marines are viewed in a more absolutist manner, and they are often suspicious from other space marines. You know, like the episode of SpongeBob where Mr. Crabs was a robot and saying, B-boop, B-boobob. Ah, yes. I, yep. Mm-hmm.

Editor's note, sorry, D.K., no layup anime reference, still salty about the Orion thing. Just watch Lower Dex and I'll accept an apology at a later date. Oh, yeah. I did not realize that the, I guess I like the, the, the, the, the blue people in Star Wars or the Orion's. And then apparently it was, it was flabbergasting to people that I didn't know. Oh, green, sorry. Yeah, they're green, sorry.

It was flabbergasting to people that I did not know that. I won't lie. I am not a Star Wars lore nerd, so I would be, you said Star Wars, didn't you? Did I? Oh, dear. We're all... Oh, boy. Oh, dear. We've lost the plot. Star Trek. Star Trek. That's what I meant chat.

It was an early morning today. Yeah, I meant Star Trek. I love how even when we're filming a podcast, we're still calling them chat. Yeah, well, there's the live chat that's probably furious right now, so it's fine. That's probably true. Also, apparently kids nowadays are saying chat. Oh. Yeah, probably. It's just a catch-all when, yeah. Yeah, yeah. Hmm. There's a world that we're in and where the problems. Yeah, that's, yeah.

Anyway, obviously for chapter specific tech Marines, they can be a little bit different in terms of their personality, you know. Chapters like the quote, Prators of Orpheus, a second founding ultramarine chapter, really embrace ancient technology. So they're welcoming and honoring of tech Marines. Iron hands, of course, embrace it in an excessive and obsessive manner. where the master of the forge is held in a higher regard than the other matches of the chapter. As for variants, the iron hands are a great place to start, obviously. Okay. Yeah, yeah.

Unlike the state of Tech Marine in other chapters, the iron hands have the Iron Fathers, and they are basically a combination of the chaplain and a Tech Marine. They serve on the Iron Council, which is a relic from the Great Crusade, where they're basically the Medusin tech fanatics, and they toiled over all the dark age tech on the planet. You know, basically they're a combination of like chaplain and tech priest. But the Iron Father, for the most part, many of them were tech marines, but plenty more have become like chaplains, apothecaries, Battlebrothers, like, lots of that stuff.

Yeah, Shai posted a picture of one and God, that picture goes so hard. it's pretty cool, right? The Iron Hand Tech Marines are, like they are the ones, you know? Yeah. If you're going to have the most badass tech marine, it's got to be for them, right? It is that,

I like that genuine style. Of course, the title of the most over-the-top tech marine is the iron priest of the space wolves because it's how space wolves are. Iron hands are not. beating more lame iron warrior allegations. I don't know.

Iron hands do look pretty cool at times. I do like them. Yeah, they're pretty cool. That's a Terminator tech man. Dude's got an orc skull on his, fucking tabard, a tear in it ahead. Yeah, he's seen some shit. He has.

But the iron priests of the space wolves are, of course, recruited from Fenris. And so those that are aspirants work as the smiths, on the planet. So they have one of the best background when it comes to becoming a tech adept. And those Smiths on Fenris worship the Fenrisian gods of iron. And those that are even more devout will find themselves pilgrimage to the boiling sea where the gods are said to call home.

If they make the pilgrimage, pilgrimage, they do intend to meet the gods, but they aren't actually gods. They're more like, you know, other members of tech iron priests and stuff. Yeah. They will have the gods, quote, test their might. and they are, you know, space wolf tests. The tests of the iron gauntlet, aka they are commanded to wear gauntlets of iron

and forced to craft increasingly more difficult and powerful weapons in the lava-filled forges of these islands, which is always very interesting to then follow down the path of the tech marine and brought through with like their quest. those that fail unfortunately get a second place prize being turning into a servitor I was going to say there's when when it comes to space marine training there is no second place you either become it or I assume you die yeah they're also yeah their logo is badass as hell oh yes it is also does there tech marine is it is it is it mechadendrite is it

in the shape of a wolfhead it do look like it They also carry a something called a tempest hammer. They carry a big ass hammer instead. It's super cool. Damn. I honestly thought that like for some reason, I guess because, you know,

space wolves are so Viking-coated. Oh, we've got mead that makes even space marines drunk. I was just like, oh, they probably, they probably don't fuck with tech marines because like, that's just not their thing.

But God, their versions of tech marines. Their priests are really dope. They're very, very, cool, agreed. Now, hilariously, once they finish their tech marine training on Mars, they will return back to the forges they

did in the test of the iron gauntlet, and they must make a sacrifice to the iron wolf, which is placing their right hand directly into the lava of the forge. That hand is then replaced with a biotic hand, and the task

of becoming an iron priest is complete. Well, I mean, to be fair, like we said earlier, they They do love removing an arm and having it replaced to better make stuff and commune. So I guess that's, yeah, that makes sense. Air quotes, sense. A Mr. Possum edit here, there is no instance in Norse mythology where someone specifically loses their right hand to a wolf.

This is a unique piece of lore written by Games Workshop. And if you believe otherwise and you're mad about this statement, just know that your tears mean nothing to me. Wow. Possum is, bam, that seems very, uh,

see, that's the thing. I don't know anything about that, like, Nordic mythology stuff. I do not know about tear losing his hand or something. And I don't,

I don't either. Just the way it's written is like, oh, so there must be a big part where it's like, yup, that's very, you know. This is why this is extremely helpful.

to have someone who knows what they're talking about with some of the background history. Yeah, definitely, definitely. But the Iron Priest then, of course, serve as forges, or serve the forges in the machines of the fang. And when battle comes, they're responsible for all the machines, the usual, you know? Yeah, it's really, sure. The masters of the forge also have a unique variant that's a bit more dourer.

This is the dark angel that has the rare ability to offer a promotion to the master of the forge known as the master of the forge, known as the Master of the Rock, which is a great work from home position for the Master of the Forge. So before chat kills us, it's tear losing his arms at Fenrir to imprison the wolf because it causes Ragnarok.

Cool. Tears. I know that the viewers got the reference, even if we didn't. Yeah, definitely. But the Master of the Rock, specifically is permanently hardwired into the rock itself with the inability to exist outside of the data centers of the rock.

Here's a question here. Much like the hybrids that control the base stars in Battlestar Galactica reboot. Oh, I never got into Battlestar Galactica, so I can't even get this reference wrong and make everybody mad. I just don't know. Well, it says reboot is a generous description for a TV show over 20 years old. but hey. Oh, reboot.

If and when the master of the rock atrophies and dies, don't worry. They just leave him plugged in. And despite the fact that his body is dying, the tech is still working. Then they just take whatever is left of his corpse and they put it on display in the rock's alcoves of honor and hook a new one up in his place. Lovely. Love that. Wow.

So respectful. Thanks, Dark Angels. you once again have won the award for Holy shit. What is wrong with you? What is wrong with you people? Dark angels will do anything to avoid going to therapy.

Dark angels will literally connect themselves to the hive mind of a planet to avoid going to therapy. That's funny. Jesus. Now, of course, you might ask, hey, what about chaos tech Marines? What about chaos?

tech Marines, Bricky? Yeah. So are there tech Marines in the Trader Legions? And the answer is convoluted and can be summed up with, well, there were.

Oh, no. Obviously, when it comes to the ruinous power's influence on K.S. Space Marines, their tech is already some kind of Kronenberg-esque body horror. As we've established previously, creations of the dark mechanicum

are freaking sweet, lowest, man-made horror is beyond my comprehension. Yep. Unlike the admec, there are no glorious halls of Mars where Chaos Space Marines can go and rebooks all day about how to fix a computer that is feeling a bit down in the dumps. As opposed to a literary fusion of technology and biology, the Dark Mechanicum are far more literal. In the arsenal of the Chaos Space Marine is, of course, the obliterator, the end result of the obliterator virus. Origins, not 100% confirmed, are likely from the Dark Mechanic. Mechanicum themselves.

It takes your messed up chaos space marine, turns them into a biomechanical monstrosity in the style of Tetsuo Iron Man, a completely normal film I promise you. Oh, I have seen that one. It's, it is, it's. Yeah. Thayerian warrior Conan. Yes. But there is a catch. Only a few members of any given chaos marine force.

So you think about it, which member of a given Space Marine chapter would be perfectly ripe for a virus? that is designated to turn you into a half-man, half-machine monstrosity. Well, that's, that's, that's, that's, that's, that's, that's, that's, that's, that's, that's, that's, that's, that's, that's, that's, that's, that's, that's, it's, so the omnisia mod-wise, like megadendrites and whatnot. So they are a perfect host for an obliterator virus. In addition to this, the obliterators and the presence of the virus itself seems to have emerged specifically from the iron warriors first, which of course, used by onics as a means, to curb mutations due to their hatred of mutations. So in a classic sense, a tech marine doesn't exist in the Chaos Legion

the same way they do in non-C Chaos Legions because of a lack of real necessity of them, considering that most of their attack is, you know, alive. Yeah. But they do still have a form of a physical presence in the Chaos Space Marine Brothers. Either they have turned into a horrifying obliterator monstrosity, Or, and this is fair, there are warp smiths as well, which is a more classic version of a tech marine, but it is not a tech marine. It is a warp smith. Yeah, a warp smith does not do the same things a tech marine does, right?

They are completely, I don't want to say opposite to the spectrum, but they're a little different. Now, obviously, if you were playing on a tabletop, if your warp smith and your tech marine are basically the exact. same unit. Like, oh, the Space Marine tech Marine, you know, you put it next to a vehicle and it gives, regens wounds and makes it fight better. Also, you know, if it's next to the vehicle,

it gets the lone operative ability and it has funny little tendrils of weapons. What's the warpsmith do? Literally the exact same thing. Same thing, yeah. As you may notice, their minis look very identical as well. Even they have a giant axe. Yeah. All of the cast one

looks so much cooler. Yeah, the damn straight it does. Mm-hmm, as it usually does. Warpsmiths are badass. But yeah, a warp smith is a little bit more like, I'm going to enrage the machine spirits, or I'm going to talk to the demon currently inhabiting this tank. That we shoved in there because, ha-ha. Mm-hmm.

Naturally. The machine god is dead. Long live the machine god, warp smith Arturian. That's a great quote. Put that on a shirt. The, uh, Warpsmiths are, you know, they're funny. They're definitely like Chaos Space Marine, tech Marines, basically, but they do operate different.

Yeah, definitely. I love that quote. I love this other quote. On the fifth day, the bastions fell. Those accursed techno monsters enter the northern Hab districts. The screams haunt me still. Excerped from the statement of Corporal Vegdrondor prior to his execution for dereliction of duty.

Of course. There is also, flesh and bone are weak and mutable, and yet the demonic is ultimately insubstantial and impotent. To be a master of both matter and energy and blend this mastery with ultimate control of one's consciousness is to achieve true immortality, neither confined by the material nor divorce from it. Yeah, Warpsmiths are the guys that capture demons and shove them into me. machines.

Oh, okay. And then say, then go chop, chop. Go murder everyone. Yep. The, the demon engines, right? Yeah. Yeah, demon engines. Mm-hmm.

Normally, there's some, there's some fun ones. But, uh, but yeah, that's mainly tech Marines, man. They're, uh, they're not like that much different than what you think they are. Yeah. But it's, it's cool. I, I love the fact that they are the living manifestation. of the union between Terra and Mars. I think that's really cool.

And obviously, if you give me a space marine that just has a bunch of big old mechadendrites on it and give him a big, cool axe, like, who's not going to love that? Yeah. I mean, it's, yeah, it's, what if I want space marines but tech? Because people are like,

okay, what if I want space marines but like knights of the roundtable? You play dark angels. What do I want space marines that are, like, Nordic? You play space wolves. What if I want space marines But tech? There you go.

You got your tech marines. If you were running an ad meck army on the tabletop, would you be able to run tech Marines with it? I would assume so, right? No, I mean, not really. Because they're tech marines or space marines. So you would run them with space marines. True.

But like you can mix and match like Empirium factions, can't you? No, not really anymore. Oh, okay. There are things called agents of the Inquisition or Imperial agents. That's basically like you can add things like Death Watch or maybe like a sister's squad or some inquisitesitesers or assassins. But that's about it. Besides that, no, you mainly, like you can run like a knight, for example.

But you can't, no, you can't like mix the two of them together. Oh, okay. They have, that has since been removed since 10th edition. and I personally am okay with it. I think that very often the biggest problem that ran into was people would be like, well, you know, what's the biggest weakness of this army? This, so I'll just bring 500 points of this army that has that as their biggest strength, and then I'm done.

Fair. And then you make sort of a, you're just hardcore metamadmin maxing your army a little bit too much. Yeah, it can happen a little bit. So I try to go not too, not too much into that. Fair, fair. Anyway, that is the tech marines. No one really likes them. Is it just because they're just so isolated now and they come back so weird?

And it's just like, you know, just, ah, just fix the tank, George. It's, it's really, it's really funny. It's just like, they're just weirdos that stay alone and, like, read books. And then they work on the machines and they don't like to socialize and people don't want to socialize with them. And, yeah, considering how Admec talked about, or, how the space spring sent about ad mech and space marine two yeah yeah that's fair okay

it's pretty it's pretty funny but mm-hmm mm-hmm you know anyway that's uh that's pretty good with me that's all I got hell yeah brother they bought Bob in the background fixing the Thunderhog being like why fuck me for

Ha ha.