In the military there are a LOT of acronyms. Oscar Mike for on the move, RTB for return for base and so on. The idea with this thread (forces guys help us out here) is to correlate a list of terms so we can have the guards men talk "right" and how to say this in "space marine".

According to the corebook marines talk in a grandiose manner.

Return to Base would be - Brothers return to the fortress keep.

On the move - We are onwards to glory.

Lay down suppressive fire - Unleash the fury of your weapons brothers, so that the enemy may not observe us.

These are bad examples, but it was what I could come up with.

- Arkie

UncleArkie said:

Cool idea. I really like "We are onwards to glory." Could shorten it to "Onwards to glory!" if you wanted.

Some more ideas, not that I know anything about military lingo.

Take that location - "Claim it in the name of the Emperor!"

Fire at will - "Show them your zeal Brothers!"

Area Secured - "Cleansed and purified."

Aerial Assualt (Jumppacks) - "Death from above!"

And so on. My players will love this. It'll help them get into the feel of the game.

Also, thank you Dawn of War games.

Cool, that was what I was looking for, anyone else wanna join in on the one liners?

The 3rd Edition IG Codex for the TT game had a glossary of terms in the back of it.

Fantastic idea. I really need to dig out the "Spacer's Jargon" that was started over at Anargo, though that would be more useful to RT players (if they even liked it).

Kage

Good thought there Peace.

The problem is, that as space marines (and at times the IG) Spend most of their time in ships traveling around in space they would use more naval terms. Yes I can see some more zealot chapters, like Black Templars, using your terms. Those like the Space wolves most likely use naval terms, as even on their planet most of the tribes men spend alot of time on boats.

So:

Floor= Deck

Wall= Bulkhead

Front of the ship = Bow

etc.

but for the more zealot chapters I will stick to your wordings. I like it better.

Mix the two up maybe for a space wolves, have them talk like something out of the sagas. Boasting was a huge part of norse culture so it would be fitting that they would talk in a self aggrandizing manner.

"And brothers I say, I stood at the prow of the strike force, a sea of enemies before me, their arms open like a krakens embrace. In the name the all father I slew them all, sending them back to the dark pit unto which they came"

Dunno.

Imo military orders should be short and precise. Seperating a guardsmans orders from those of a space marine would imo be a barking tone and maybe a healthy amount of curses, while the marines orders would be spoken much more calmly and with rock solid determination.

Such heroic speechcraft is more appropriate in special and dramatical moments and when the type of command is unmistakeably clear.

Chaaaarge Brothers!! None shall stand against the emperors finest!! Would be appropriate when exceptionally heavy resistance is to be expected. Otherwise such heroic phrases are just wasted. Those kind of phrases tend to lose their "magic" when they´re used too often. Use em sparsely and they add a lot of flavour, use em too often and they´ll start sounding shallow and dull quite fast.

Just my 2 cents.

The Dawn of War games give a good idea of how marines should talk. Soulstorm notwithstanding.

One possibility, depicted in the novel Hunt for Voldorius (and backed up by the presence of the "Ciphers (Chapter Runes) Skill every Battle Brother starts with), is Chapter-specific battle cant, unique code-languages that serve to convey orders in a way that's quick, not easily deciphered by outsiders, and taps into the common origins and traditions of the Chapter. I've long imagined a similar approach used by Eldar forces, employing short phrases that evoke cultural and mythological imagery to convey specific meaning quickly (particularly to hypno-indoctrinated Space Marines taught to understand them from a young age), but it's no less appropriate for the insular warrior-brotherhoods of the Astartes. I imagine, if a Chapter recruits only from one homeworld, the use of a common non-Gothic language (for example, Fenrisian) may be included in this.

With the Deathwatch, it could cause some issues - the Space Wolves' code phrase for "disengage and regroup" is likely to be largely meaningless to a Black Templar or Ultramarine, and Chapters are typically unwilling to share their secrets with one another anyway - so a specific set of Deathwatch cant-phrases are likely to have developed to ease the matter along (represented by the Ciphers (Deathwatch) Skill).

Might I remind people of the possibility of using bad latin?

A Marine might call 'Fortifico!' instead of 'Dig in!' or 'State!' instead of 'Stand Fast!'

(This post brought to you by google translate)

N0-1_H3r3 said:

Thank you for mentioning this specific point! I was going to post it myself. In fact, in Hunt for Voldorius, the White Scars Scout Sergeant has to deliberately refrain from using Chogorian terms when communicating tactical maneuvers to the Raven Guard. Whether the Deathwatch develops their own tactical lingo, or simply uses the straightforward Gothic terminology, isn't clear, but even using standard Codex terminology might confuse the Space Wolves and Black Templars among the Deathwatch.

My favorite from the original Space Hulk computer game:

Open fire/fire at will: LET THE SLAUGHTER COMMENCE

The problem with this whole concept when applied across the whole galaxy is, as has already been stated, every Chapter will have its own battle cant/acronyms. The same will be true of Guard/PDF forces from individual worlds, and to some extent there will be variation between individual regiments. Look at the British armed forces as an example: the Royal Marines and the Army use different words to describe forced marching: yomping and tabbing respectively.

However, what's more likely is that combined-arms forces like Marines and Guardsmen in specific theatres would develop a sort of hybrid/creole/pidgin battle cant that takes the most memorable phrases from each of the forces present.

This kind of thing happened in WWII where British and American forces trended towards using the same type of phrases and acronyms, and I'm sure it's happening in places like Afghanistan too. (Though one assumes the converse may be true as well, and out of national pride some national armies stubbornly stick to using their own phrases.) Of course, I haven't been to Afghanistan, so I guess I should defer to those on these boards who have!

But assuming I'm onto something here, in the Jericho Reach, to come up with a proper list like this, you'd have to look at the forces involved and think what sort of Chapters/Regiments are present. The Storm Wardens and the Deathwatch seem to be the major Marine forces present. The Storm Wardens seem very Celtic/Pictish, so you'd need some sort of phrases that reflect this.

You'd also need to think about what sort of enemies they face and the prevailing conditions. The Jericho Reach forces aren't going to have 500 phrases for Dark Eldar weapons and technology, as the Dark Eldar are not opposing the crusade (as far as we know.) The Crusade would have lots of acronyms for Tyranid, Tau and Chaos forces, together with lots of phrases about failure, military setbacks and disaster...

How about these as Jericho Reach specific examples:-

LOCUSTS- Loss Of Contact, Universally Suspected Tyranid Supremacy - Term used by High command to describe worlds consumed by Hive Fleet Dagon

Nidded - Term used by Guardsmen to describe worlds consumed by Hive Fleet Dagon

'Nids - Guardsman term for Tyranids - universally used informally by other Imperial forces

CSH (Canis Salient Hostiles) - Term primly used by high command to describe Tau forces in official correspondence.

Tauie/Beebies (BBs = blue bastards) / Bravo Bravo - Guardsmen terms for Tau

Geebies (GBs = Green Bastards) / Nibblers / Lankies - Guardsmen terms for Kroot

Effbies (FBs = Flying bastards) /buzzers/ wasps - Guardsmen terms for Vespid

AE forces - High command acronym for Chaos (Archenemy) forces

Greyhelled - To be sent to the Greyhell front, a universal euphemism for a death sentence/demotion

Orbital/Get Orbital/OS (Orbital Strike) - To call in a bombardment from orbiting Navy vessels

Our Beebies/the Wardens - Guardsmen slang for Storm Warden forces

AOSFU (pronounced "Owzfoo".)- term wearily used by the Imperial Guard to describe the prosection of the front against the Tyranids: "Another Orpheus Salient F*** Up." When faced with adversity or incompetence that cannot be avoided, Guardsmen will simply say this word, shake their heads, and try to muddle through.

The Klick - Guardsman abbreviation for "Calixis." Many of the IG forces in the Jericho reach hail from the Calixis Sector, and a major part of their limited free time is spent recounting wistful tales of what they will do when they get back to "The Klick." Very few will get the chance.

Shaker/calling in the shaker/shake 'em up a bit - Guard term for artillery (Earthshaker cannon)

Karlack FOB (Forward operating base) - Dismissive term used to describe Jericho Reach High command. Based on the fortress world of Karlack, the High Command is assumed (like every high command in history) by the Guardsmen at the front to be distant, out of touch, irrational, housed in luxury, cowardly, possibly insane and lazy. By describing them as operating from Karlack Forward Operating Base, a term used to describe a frontline facility, when Karlack is in fact several dozen light years from the front line, the Guardsmen are exercising possibly treasonous sarcasm.

Another thought is the alphabet.

NATO miltaries use the NATO phonetic alphabet:presumably Imperial forces would do something similar, but I bet they don't use the NATO coding. Assuming Low Gothic = a 26 letter alphabet (a big and probably inaccurate assumption), and assigning letters based partially upon the Greek Alphabet and schoolboy "rule of cool" latin, we end up with something like this:-

THE LOW GOTHIC VOX PROTOCOL ALPHABET

A Alpha

B Beta

C Cruxus

D Delta

E Epsilon

F Furor

G Gamma

H Hostis ("Enemy of the state" in Latin. Seemed 40k ish!)

I Imperator (Iota seemed a bit boring)

J Justicar

K Kappa

L Lamda

M Maximus

N Nex (I seem to recall reading once that "Nex" means violent death in either latin or Greek, which makes it cooler than "Nu" "November" or "Noble")

O Omega

P Perterreo (Pi would have worked but I recall a forge world book where the symbol "Pi" was used on a tank and was described as an "unknown symbol, so...)

Q Quadrum

R Reluctor

S Sigma

T Tau (Hmmm.... would the Imperium name a letter of their alphabet after the Tau? Or the other way around? Maybe Terra instead...)

U Ultra

V Veritas

W War (There don't seem to be any cool-sounding latin/greek works that start with W,X,Y or Z. So I'm struggling here!)

X Exterminatus (I know, I know. It doesn't begin with "X." But for vox-protocol purposes, it would work.)

Y (I'm stuck here. You could go with "Yarrick" here, but I don't like that, especially as Yarrick was born quite late in the Imperium's history. "Yankee" seems to lack some requisite 40k grimdarkness.)

Z (Stuck here too. Maybe "Zulu" from the NATO alphabet? The only one that makes it through to 40k?)

AluminiumWolf said:

But latin is used as high gothic in the setting plenty of places, just take holy terra

I like ABC

Probably a mix, even though illogical, of all the approaches will work best.

-The long credos for dramatic scenes

-The short, abbreviations for horde encounters

-The acronyms for mission statements and such (OMG, the "LOCUST" acronym is a strike of a linguistic genius, **** I wish I had made it up).

-Maybe 40K-latin for the short sentences/battle tongue communications. I liked the "state" for hold fast....

It's for immersion, remember, so it doesn't have to make nowadays-military sense.

btw, "Starfire shall devour your black soul" is my all-time favorite, along with "A gift- from the emperor" (tosses grenade).

Chaos Gate, if only you were remade....

borithan said:

German, I believe that the last language to be crammed into High Gothic was German.