So reading the announcements more in depth - as opposed to my quick skim over. I notice that my wish of splatless is seeming less likely. I just hope it is possible to get some crossover in them. Just because you start out as a Heavy Weapons sort shouldn't mean you are stuck in that role, I'd like if you could work your way up to a leader type.

So What sort of specialties are we gonna have? They say there will be 12... Time to start the list!

Mentioned in the announcements so far we've got:

Sergeant

Sanctioned Psyker

Heavy Weapons

Stormtrooper

Enginseer

Medic

Ministorum Priest

Commissar

So far we've seen 8 mentioned that I've found. So what do you all think the rest will be?

I'm guessing Sniper seems likely.

Probably some sort of basic trooper tree?

Some sort of Penal Legionairre?

And maybe Artillery/Tank types?

Possibly Commissioned Officer?

Gotta ask, what do you mean by splat ?

In normal RPG slang a splat is a thin, softback book that covers a narrow subject.

I run a homebrewed setting with the following 'specialty' options:

Squad Commander

Signaller (vox/auspex operator)

Sapper (demolitions expert)

Heavy Support (heavy weapons user)

Stormtrooper

Grenadier

Medic

Recon (sniper)

Most of those have effectively already been noted in their list, but perhaps Grenadier and Sniper? Maybe something else from tabletop? I forget the names of them, but there is that artillery spotter (master of ordinance or something like that?) So maybe you're right on that one?

I would say..

the 8 listed

Regular Trooper

Ogryn

Ratling

Squat.

Making only War the most racially diverse book in the W40k line, apart from creatures books!

/joking

Seriously, I would say some Armoured specialist, regular lasgunman, Perhaps some Munitorium Castor type (for the political intrigue), and perhaps a Vox-specialist (someone needs to call for the tanks/artillery/help)

ItsUncertainWho said:

Wrong, that's a splatbook. Splat is the groups in general. Used for factional 'classes' or groups or whatever.

Like in Exalted. Dragonblooded are a 'splat' - their book is a splatbook. Or internally, Water Aspect is a Dragonblooded splat, in 1e the "Castebook: Air" was a splatbook. Obviously these get shorthanded. But in general the splat is the group, the book about them is the splatbook.

Dulahan said:

Never heard of a class or race refered to as a splat in nearly thrity years of gaming.

ItsUncertainWho said:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Splat

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Splat book

There you go, The Wiki etymology of the issue.

EDIT: And I'm surprised, Splat is used all the time to refer to groups like I've been on RPGnet and other message boards I'm on.

My best guess for the remaining classes:

Scout/Sniper
Officer
Combat Engineer
Pilot/Driver

I would bet Ogryn will be kept back for the handbook supplement.

Yup, Ogryn/Ratling sounds like prime compendium fodder, most likely to be found in the equivalent to Into The Storm.

Other than that, the book's cover already shows quite a few characters. I'd say from front to back we've got a sniper, some generic trooper (possibly stormtrooper), the girl with the flamer, a commissar, a sanctioned psyker and a tank driver.

Dulahan said:

Hmmm, honestly based on my interpration of the lore, the Guard are the only organization in at least the Imperium that could be considered a "real" military organization. Thus from the Guard books and other military sci-fi I've read...

Sergeant- The comment about their speciality tells me this will predominantly be a squad-level game though I would not be surprised if the rules include something about how sergeants can earn a commission.

Sanctioned Psyker- Every 40k RPG needs at least one "Wizard" class, nuff said.

Heavy Weapons- The parallels to the Devastator class from DW are obvious though I can see this guy also functioning as an adept vehicle gunner.

Stormtrooper- Will this be the primary assault class or will there also be a career path for regular line infantry?

Enginseer- Like every other game in the line, the presence of the Adeptus Mechanicus is practically a given in this game. Though given the images of Guardsmen servicing their own gear floating around, I wonder how that will be handled in game.

Medic- Apoth for Guardsmen. Curious to see if this will be the "Adept/Sage" of Only War and what will make him different from the Priest.

Ministorum Priest- While I'm not surprised to see this class, I am surprised to see him seperate from the Medic. Usually most of the first aid skills are handed off to this guy to give him something to do other then talk and swing a chainsword around.

Commissar- Honestly, Cain aside, I would make this solely an NPC class. Cain and Gaunt may challenge the perception of the Commissar but the fact remains they have an authority that would be too much of a griefing tool for some players.

Possible unrevealed classes-

Scout/Skirmisher: For several particularly noteworthy recruitment worlds, this IS the line infantry. Yet even the "default" Guardsman world of Cadia maintains recon units and sniper teams.

Tanker: It's the Guard... unless there is a big reason why they're deployed without vehicles, there will at least be Chimeras. And those Chimeras aren't going to drive themselves.

Pioneer/Combat Engineer: Not sure if this could be folded into the Enginseer career tree, but would cover the guy who buries the mines, digs the trenches, and sets up the rockcrete bunkers. Nothing tech heavy but he would be the guy most likely to get the keys to the Trojans and Atlases.

Vox Caster/Signalman: Unsure how useful he would be to an overall campaign but there are a number of individual situations where a radioman is nice to have...

Thinking about it. With 12 specialties, it sounds like it almost might be going too far afield. Though this is just a very early guess and I have some faith in FFG at least!

Though what I mean, that is very diverse, which is good. But it makes the unit weird. One group could easily have all weird stuff... 4 players: Psyker, Commissar, Enginseer, and Ministorum Priest.

That'll be a VERY different sort of dynamic than if you had: Sergeant, Heavy Weapons, Stormtrooper, and Medic. Arguably, not even the same sort of game or approach to missions.

So this will be interesting to see how they handle it. Will any roles be essential? For instance...

Most likely would be...

Sniper
Scout
Demolitions Expert
either a regular trooper or a flame trooper, it depends on if stormtrooper is meant to be the default all rounder.

Perhaps it will include a rogue-like class too, such as the scum in Dark Heresy: if so, it's likely the penal legionnaire will do.

I agree with the above posters who pointed out a commissar class would be too much: they could be an alternate high rank for a CO/NCO career though.

From my own experiance as a Marine Corps Infantryman, I could see a demo guy, comm, sniper, and an arty foward observer. I could also see an intel bubba as well.

ItsUncertainWho said:

I can see it already:

Ogryns and Ratlings, coming Q1 in Abhuman Auxilia supplement. Or something like that.

I guess the other posters have the likely candidates but I really want Rough Rider in there, if it has it I'll buy the book, otherwise its a maybe.

Leogun_91 said:

If they do a Rough Rider I would bet it would be in a suppliment and not a core book.

ItsUncertainWho said:

One possible "Splat" would be a Space Marine "Scout" (Or Bloodclaw or whatever your chapter does with beginners). Only war would be the right place to put these non-veteran type Sm's. I think the game system will sooner or later have to address the Astartes since warfare is what they are all about!

I disagree. Space Marines of all kinds, colours, stages and specializations should stay in DW, as that is the Space Marine system. I didn't like Grey Knights being handled in Daemon Hunter either.

Radwraith said:

Leogun_91 said:

Maybe, maybe not. Mathmatically, a DW Marine is 13000 xp character which equates to a lvl 8 (On the high end) DH character. Useing the fluff from 40k suggests that in the standard (Codex) progression of Devastator, Assault, and Tactical Marines would fill the 5th, 6th and 7th lvls respectively. That puts the Scout (The first level of "Actual" SM) at about level 4 and an "Initiate" (Someone who has been selected to attempt the trials, similar to a selectee in Delta force.) at about 3rd lvl. If OW starts at the lvl 1 of DH (Like myself and many of us hope) then SM would ba an excellent "branch" of the advancement tree (Similar to the "Assault veteran" branch in DH but obviously a lot more involved!).

^ only problem is that space marine chapters pick there initates when there between 9-13ish. kinda hard to hard a fifth grader in the guard me thinks.( not saying it is impossible, just really unlikly)

htsmithium said:

Some do. Not all. The Space wolves draw from combat casualties among the tribes on Fenris. Ragnar Blackmane was somewhere between 17 and 20 when he was selected. Also, Many Space marine chapters recruit from Feral worlds where the age of Majority is about 13. (As recently as the american civil war the minimum age to join the army was something like 12!) The other thing is that almost ALL chapters chose recruits with the "Proven heart of a hero" (To quote one particular piece of fluff from 40k). My point is: It's fair to assume that on worlds the SM's recruit from (Which could be ANY world in the case of the Black templars) it is safe to assume that the Chaplains watch the ranks of Guardsman (Or whatever type of soldier happens to be present) for potential recruits for the chapter. (Kaavan Shrike would most correctly have been a DH ganger 'Scum' character as he led his pursuers on a bloody Cat and mouse chase across the Hives of Deliverance before he was "selected'. The whole time he was being secretly observed by the Chaplains of the Raven guard!). It is after all, one of their primary duties when their Chapter/Company is not actively involved in combat.

I kinda dig the idea of having a Marine Scout as a PC, and could see it as an alternate rank or what have you, but I think it might be best to simply make an exclusively Marine Scout progression in some 2nd book or what have you. Whether OW starts at DH level, RT level etc, the Marine Scout could start at a level appropriate for itself, at DH level 4 or 5.

The concern I have about mixing Marine and Guard together (having not played BC yet) is the point where the scout becomes more than a man, then levels into the DW levels with armor and storm bolters etc. Also, having not read too many novels yet or too much on the Marines (I enjoy stories of mortals with frailties more than the angels of the Imperium), I wonder how a Marine Scout would fit into a unit of IG, or how long they would stay.