Home › Units › Astra Militarum › Tempestus Scions
1 / 4 · Click to enlargeLore & origins
Tempestus Scions, often called Storm Troopers, are among the best unaugmented soldiers in the Imperium. They fight alongside the Astra Militarum and the Inquisition, but officially belong to the Militarum Tempestus, a branch of the Adeptus Administratum. Unlike ordinary Guardsmen, they are not raised by planetary tithe. They come from the orphans of the Schola Progenium, the same institution that trains commissars, and they are drilled in war from childhood.
Their training at the Ordo Tempestus makes them experts in special operations. They learn to use advanced wargear such as targeters and grav-chutes, and they are taught the rites that keep their gear's machine spirits content. Scion regiments are deployed sparingly, sent where a mission must not fail: assassinating enemy commanders, seizing objectives behind the lines or securing important people and artefacts.
Because they have no home world, Scions have no loyalty except to the Emperor and their regiment. That makes them very hard to corrupt, and Imperial commanders trust them with tasks that might strain the loyalty of planetary regiments.
The Militarum Tempestus is the elite of the Astra Militarum. It was formerly known as Storm Troopers and recast as Tempestus Scions in the sixth-edition codex. Recruits are orphans of Imperial servants raised in the Schola Progenium, which means they have no ties to any home world. They are trained into fiercely loyal, disciplined soldiers. Regiments are named after Greek letters and an animal or image, such as the Kappic Eagles or Lambdan Lions. Tempestor Primes lead them, and they report directly to the High Command, or to the Inquisition when seconded to it.
Appearance & wargear
Scions wear carapace armour with enclosed helmets and rebreathers, in regimental colours. Their standard weapon is the hot-shot lasgun, powered by a backpack. Squads carry plasma guns, melta guns, flamers, hot-shot volley guns and grenade launchers, and their Tempestors carry power weapons and command rods. They often deploy from Taurox Prime transports or Valkyries.
Scions wear carapace armour with fully enclosed helmets and rebreathers. They carry hot-shot lasguns, volley guns and laspistols, along with special weapons such as meltaguns, plasma guns and grenade launchers. Each regiment has its own livery.
Weapons & Vehicles
The rugged, ubiquitous directed-energy laser rifle of the Astra Militarum—modest on its own, but capable of felling any foe in the gala…
A volatile directed-energy rifle that hurls bolts of miniature sun-hot plasma capable of vaporising Terminator plate and tank armour—at…
A short-ranged thermal sub-molecular agitation weapon that flash-melts battle tank armour, bunker doors and heavy walkers into bubbling…
A volatile liquid-promethium projector that floods bunkers, trenches and xenos swarms in clinging, self-oxidising gouts of cleansing ch…
An oversized servo-assisted armoured gauntlet sheathed in a matter-shredding energy field, capable of tearing open tank hulls and crush…
A master-crafted blade sheathed in a crackling molecular disruption field that parts ceramite, bone and steel with effortless lethality…
A troop-carrying gunship of the Imperial Navy that carries airborne regiments and Scions into battle and supports them from the air.
Explore all 48 entries in the Weapons & Vehicles armoury.
Battlefield role & tactics
Scions strike precise targets. They can drop from the sky by grav-chute, appear behind enemy lines and use their hot-shot weapons against armoured foes. Commanders use them for deep strikes, assassinations and objective raids, often from Valkyries.
Scions are deep strike shock troops. They deploy by grav-chute from Valkyries, or from Taurox Primes. They hit high-value targets, seize objectives and support Inquisitors. They are excellent for surgical strikes, but they are expensive for their durability and not suited to wars of attrition.
Field Modifications, Sub-Faction Doctrines & Operational Idiosyncrasies
Within the strategic threat-indices of the Departmento Munitorum, the Ordo Xenos, and the high command savants of Astra Militarum, Tempestus Scions are classified as a premier elites asset whose battlefield effectiveness stems from the tight integration of operator conditioning and specialized wargear. Governed by Departmento Munitorum siege tables, Commissariat summary discipline, and interlocking vox-net fire coordinates, Astra Militarum regiments offset human fragility with overlapping fields of las-fire, heavy ordnance, and unyielding trench grit. In active campaign theatres, Scions wear carapace armour with enclosed helmets and rebreathers, in regimental colours. Their standard weapon is the hot-shot lasgun, powered by a backpack.
Veteran formations of Tempestus Scions develop distinct sub-faction doctrines and field modifications over decades of continuous deployment. Scions were given a codex of their own, Codex: Militarum Tempestus, in the 6th edition, separate from the main Imperial Guard book, which shows how distinct they are from the tithe-raised Guard. Whether fighting in void-ship boarding actions, ash-waste tank duels, or ruined hive-city basilicas, experienced crews and squad leaders strip away parade-ground redundancies to maximize ammunition feed reliability, target-acquisition speed, and close-quarters survivability under extreme suppression.
Field maintenance and biological or machine-spirit recovery logs confirm that sustained combat exacts a heavy toll on both wargear and flesh, yet Tempestus Scions maintain operational cohesion long after standard line units would collapse. Following every major engagement, recovery teams prioritize the immediate extraction of their core panoply, veterancy honors, and consecrated components so that the lineage and lethal institutional memory of the formation endure into the next warzone.
Heraldry, Battle-Damage & Community Artistry
Across the Warhammer 40,000 illustration, Golden Demon painting, and display-diorama community, Tempestus Scions stand out as one of the most rewarding subjects in the Astra Militarum range. Artists and miniature painters focus intently on their signature visual hallmarks: mud-spattered Cadian olive flak-plate or Krieg trench-coat drab, stenciled white regimental numbers across chipped steel helmets and tank glacis plates, oil-stained tracks, and ruby-red las-fire highlights. Combined with the distinct silhouette described in field sightings—Scions wear carapace armour with enclosed helmets and rebreathers, in regimental colours—every model and canvas painting offers a rich interplay of texture between rigid armour plates, weathered cloth or chitin, and gleaming weapon assemblies.
When depicting Tempestus Scions at the height of battle, community artists and painters push contrast through sponge-chipped battle damage, directional mud and ash pigments across the lower greaves or hull tracks, and vivid Object Source Lighting (OSL) cast by active lenses, energy coils, or muzzle flashes. Sub-faction heraldry, campaign badges, and trophy details allow hobbyists to anchor each miniature or illustration in a specific canonical warzone—celebrating both the grimdark complexity of the Forty-First Millennium and the craftsmanship of the community that brings Astra Militarum to life.
Notable battles & users
- Inquisitorial operations: Scion units frequently serve as the strike troops of Inquisitors.
- Taurox Prime raids: many Scion regiments name their Taurox Primes after victories they have won.
Related
Characters (1)
Ibram Gaunt · Colonel-Commissar of the Tanith First and Only
