Home › Units › Astra Militarum › Ratlings
1 / 4 · Click to enlargeLore & origins
Ratlings are a small abhuman strain, about half the height of a normal human. They are not strong and generally not brave, but they have keen eyesight and a natural talent for stealth. The Astra Militarum uses them as snipers and scouts. Their size helps them slip past sentries and settle into hidden firing positions.
Off the battlefield Ratlings are known as cooks. Some serve the Munitorum or Administratum entirely in support roles, turning dull rations and local wildlife into meals that soldiers actually want to eat. They also have a reputation for petty theft, trading and black-market dealing, and officers tolerate some missing stores in return for their cooking.
Ratling units are attached to Guard regiments. They are much loved by the troops, even if few would trust them with their rations.
Ratlings are a small abhuman strain. Their ancestors settled certain worlds in the distant past, and their size and character changed over the generations. They are short, fond of food and drink, and notorious for trading, gambling and 'acquiring' supplies. Wherever Ratlings are attached to a regiment, a black market tends to appear. Their gift is marksmanship. Their eyesight and patience make them among the best snipers in the Imperial Guard, and that is why they are tolerated. They have been part of the setting since the Rogue Trader era and have appeared in nearly every Imperial Guard codex.
Ratling snipers often decorate their rifles with trophies from notable kills, kill markings, inscribed prayers and filigree, making each rifle a reflection of its owner. Their success at near-impossible shots is so high that comrades sometimes see it as supernatural, or as proof of the Emperor's intervention. Off the battlefield, many Ratlings act as "Fixers," acquiring supplies through charm, diplomacy and quick wits. This can cause trouble for any supply officer in their way, but it earns them their comrades' loyalty.
Appearance & wargear
Ratlings wear cut-down flak armour and camouflage cloaks. They carry long sniper rifles fitted with targeting scopes, and laspistols or knives as backup. Many decorate their gear with souvenirs and pouches of food.
Ratlings are childlike in height, with large ears and eyes, and wear camouflage cloaks. They carry long-barrelled sniper rifles with scopes, plus knives, pistols and pockets full of contraband.
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Battlefield role & tactics
Ratlings infiltrate ahead of the army and pick off officers, heavy-weapon crews and other key targets from range. When the enemy closes in, they usually slip away rather than fight.
Ratlings infiltrate forward to pick off officers, heavy weapons crews and specialists, and they slip away before the enemy can respond. They are fragile and seldom brave in melee, but they are easy to underestimate and very hard to dig out of cover.
Ratlings are stealthy snipers. They pick off characters, heavy-weapon crews and specialists from cover, then relocate before the enemy can respond. They are very fragile and cannot hold up in melee.
Munitorum & Ordo Xenos Technical Dossier
Classified under Ordo and Departmento Munitorum threat-index protocols as a primary Ratlings infiltrate ahead of the army and pick off officers, heavy-weapon crews and other key targets from range. When the enemy closes in, they usually slip away rather than fight. asset of Astra Militarum, Ratlings relies on a tightly coupled symbiosis between operator conditioning and primary armament. Field maintenance and biological recovery logs indicate that extended deployment without liturgical recalibration or bio-stasis rest degrades targeting and metabolic stability by less than 4% per solar week—far outperforming standard sector baselines—while post-engagement recovery teams prioritize the immediate extraction of their core wargear, neural/gene-seed components, or machine-spirit memory cores before enemy scavengers can exploit them.
Notable battles & users
- Spinward Front: Cadian Shock Troop formations arrived with their own abhuman detachments, including Ratlings and Ogryns.
- War Zone Damocles: Ratling snipers faced the T'au, who had to commit Stealth Teams to stop them.
- Ornsworld: a Ratling world invaded by Chaos forces seeking the Eye of Night, an ancient statue the Ratlings worshipped as a god.
Related
No profiled character is closely tied to this unit type yet.
