On Ancestors

Yesterday/this morning i touched on the squat ancestor cult and the evolution of Living Ancestors from Spiritlords to Ancestor Lords.

By the time I got there, the post was already getting long, so I decided not to keep up the diatribe.

What follows refers to old school profiles, when all stats was the higher the better, and movement rates hadn't been standardised to 6" uniformly, and humans, marines, etc., had a move of 4, and a run or charge of 8".

First edition's Living Ancestors had profiles that were those of faltering, geriatric crones, for the most part. Compared to a standard squat, their movement was 2 rather than 3, WS 3 rather than 4, BS2 rather than 3, and the same Wounds, Initiative and Attacks. They did have a Toughness of 6, higher than any other squat, and the mental characteristics of a Major Hero (the normal racial cap in first), to make up for it, but at 190, even as Level 4 psykers with medipacks, it seems steep, especially with only a force field and knife for kit.

Come second, they became a single Ancestor Lord. Where in first they were doddery old men, that had all changed. No more were they slow moving, but their movement matched the other squats. Their WS of 8 outstripped anything squats could put forward, and meant they would be the favourite in close combat against anything short of the more assault oriented greater daemons, the Avatar of Khaine and a Hive Tyrant, and, with Initiative of 5 and 4 attacks, they were combat monsters, especially with an inhuman Strength of 5. BS 6, their retention of T6, something then otherwise only found on greater daemons, the Avatar, and the biggest tyranids, and the 4 wounds common to big imposing characters, like the highest echelons of the marines, Primaris Psyker Lords (the really tough Sanctioned Psykers), Inquisitor Lords and Genestealer Patriarchs round the profile out, making it one of the best characters in the game at the time.

...and the cost for this monstrous warrior, including Carapace armour, a laspistol and grenades? A comparatively reasonable 113 points, plus 25 per psychic power, up to a maximum of 4. Compared to the Living Ancestors of the previous edition, the Ancestor Lord was a steal. In fact, compared to most units of the time, it was a real bargain. It was, essentially, an Inquisitor Lord, like Coteaz, but better equipped.

This is a huge swing. Old men who struggle to walk and can barely fight suddenly became Action Heroes, with so much more equipment, as you'd expect for someone stepping straight out of The Expendables. We could put this down to what it was: a grassroots redesign of the character class to try to actually sell models, but it could be explained as follows, and this is just a suggestion, and i have no references to argue my case:

Without warning the tyranids fell upon the Homeworlds. Epecting only the disorganised attacks of the orks, the fleeting strikes of the eldar, or the slow, lumbering attacks of the Imperial Guard or Chaos Cults, the Strongholds and the Leagues were totally unprepared for the total war of a tyranid attack. Whatever forces could be recalled, were recalled, bringing their attached priests with them. As was the duty of all Living Ancestors, they held their temples for as long as they could, with significant casualties. After weeks of prayer, coupled with unimaginable slaughter, the few Spiritlords that survived were transformed, imbued with rage, patched up with forgotten, even forbidden technology, and now acting as living avatars of the fledgling warp entities that were the fallen of their Strongholds.

While new Living Ancestors were arising in the scattered survivors, and becoming new Spiritlords, they are but priests, able to inspire their flock to great deeds, and channel their sacrifice into stoic resolve and further sacrifice. The Ancestor-Spirits, now raging rather than placid, mean that these young pups among the Living Ancestors no longer have the calm required for field medicine, and so that role has returned to the Hearthguard, especially those trained during service in the Imperial Guard (thus the squat medics in the Compendium). The older Living Ancestors, now Ancestor Lords, find themselves too damaged by past trauma to live peaceably, are permanently on the front lines, seeking an honourable death, so they can join their fellows.

The whispering voices of the dead, in the Codex Imperialis entry, thus become PTSD flashbacks, not airy-fairy mysticism. The endurance and battlefield prowess, a combination of no longer caring if they live or die, and the inurement to suffering from years of non-stop battle. Like Judge Joe Dredd, or Frank Castle, they can't stop, because they no longer know how to do anything else, including how to die.