Squatburgers...

To go back to the topic of Sunday's post, I'll explain some of what I mean about the tyranids eating the Homeworlds making the squats make a lot more sense. Beyond the basic thing of dwarfs needing to be a people who are struggling against the odds, pining for past glories, and overcoming some great tragedy, squat culture, heraldry, etc., all make more sense this way. I'll explain it in stages, for ease.

The material I'm referencing is all very old, coming from the Warhammer 40,000 Compendium (1989), Codex lmperialis (1993) and White Dwarfs from 1987-1998. This stuff is all hard to come by in its original formats, so I'm not going to cite references. A number of specialist sites have transcriptions of some or all the relevant texts, for those that are iterested.

Then Leagues, Strongholds, Guild and Brotherhoods.

In first edition 40k, the Brotherhoods, traditionally, would supply a force to their Stronghold equivalent to a platoon, consisting a Warlord and Hearthguard, 3 or 4 squads, up to 3 Living Ancestors, and up to 2 artillery pieces. The Guild, meanwhile worked in blocks of 2-4 bike squads, up to 2 heavy weapons trikes, a Guildmaster and an optional Living Ancestor. In Epic, these formations were a lot bigger, often 2-4 times the size.

This discrepancy can be justified by the tyranids, and can be argued either way. The tyranids wiping out the Homeworlds would mean a lot of angry refugees, mostly trained soldiers, providing larger forces. Alternatively, the loss of the Homeworlds could be why the basic detachments were so small, as they were desperate to try to minimise casualties.

In second edition, around the time that the tyranids would have struck by modern lore, the squats got a stand in list in what is often termed The Black Codex. This list drastically changed the force's organisation. Warlords went from platoon leaders to a one-per-army general, Hearthguard became characters that could form bodyguards or act as unit leaders, exactly like Wolf Guard in the, then very recently differentiated, Space Wolves, while Guildmasters and Living Ancestors also became incredibly rare, of the 0-1 level. Also, squads went from 8 models strong to 5 models strong. All of this could be explained as forces being recalled to the Homeworlds to face the ravening hordes (the title of the WHFB second edition army list book and the 6th edition's equivalent of the Black Codex, for those who like random reminders or trivia).

Of course, this is purely suppositional justification for inconsistencies that have entirely other real reasons.

Restrictions on military service

The original squat background had exemption from joining the Brotherhood's War-Brehren, service was for 30-70 years, but only after they had raised 2 sons to maturity, which is the age of 70, meaning that they'd be in the region of 140+ before basic training. Of course, as space dwarfs, they had long lives, but the life expectancy of 300-ish would make the soldiers middle aged, possibly serving until old age would force retirement from active service.

Few nations favour middle-aged soldiers over young ones. In conscription, it's generally young adults that become soldiers, not middle-aged family men. The most logical reason for this restriction would be to try to restore population after a genocide. Again, the tyranids fit the bill nicely.

Ancestors

Squat religion was always written as focused around ancestor worship. These are generally referred to as essentially deities. It is noted that Commissars claim that the God-Emperor watches over the Ancestor-Spirits, to get squats involved in the Imperial Cult.

Beyond that, squats who live past the age of 400, a century older than the average life expectancy, they become Living Ancestors, living representatives of the Ancestor-Spirits. At that age they surrendered their names and possessions, and a funeral is held for them, effectively surrendering their life role to their heirs. At that point they become priests, Spirit Lords, and join the Stronghold's church. At 500, they become psychic. All of this suggests that age is very important, perhaps beyond what normal societal factors could account for.

Thirdly, in Epic at least, squats would decorate their vehicles with icons of the Ancestors, to beseech them for their protection and imbue the vehicle with the strength of the same.

Looking at actual ancestor cults, the idea of them being deities seems over simplified. Imagining the Ancestors to instead be manifestations or fetishes based on an idea of a conscience collective (Claude Levi Strauss), would fit well. Thus, and I'll take names from the dwarven gods from Fantasy, Grimnir may represent an intrinsic militarism or violence in the psyche, Vallaya, the sense of unity, Grungni, the work ethic, etc.

In fact, the second edition replacement of numerous Living Ancestors with a single Ancestor Lord hints towards such, from an anthropological perspective. The Codex Imperialis' entry on such included the following: "All the wisdom of the ages is his to command... The spirits of dead ancestors gather around him ... whispering of ages past. To his people he becomes a revered manifestation of the ancestors, a link between the material world and the warp..." With the same volume, the old Realms of Chaos books, and modern canon essentially saying that the Chaos gods are, essentially, manifestations of the emotions of the real world, that feed on the spirits of the dead (hence eldar spiritstones and the recent birth of a new eldar god, a god of death and rebirth), it all seems to fit that the Ancestors may be warp entities for the squats, so, like Khaine and Ynnari, they may be gods in the making. Perhaps they are tied, somehow, to the Star Child, and the Emperor's looming divinity.

Taking all of that, a cataclysm, such as the tyranids, would be something that would strengthen the idea of ancestral spirits having an influence on everyday life. The fetishes and icons may be more than religious icons. If we imagine a massive loss of life, those faces go from being pictures of the holy figures to, at least potentially, being remembrances of fallen friends and family. Look at the walls covered in requests for information and help, books of remembrance and such after any disaster. Suddenly, we're not just praying to St.Anthony and St.Jude for help, but remembering Bill, Jim and Mary from school, and pledging to avenge them.

A pause

Ok, I've been rambling and wittering on for a long bit. I've a lot more to say, but that can wait. This isn't the last time I'll be ranting about how a much lamented fallen faction becoming lunch for the Four-Armed Emperor, as my ancient Genestealer Cult called my subsequent army, the tyranids, was the shot in the arm they needed. The point I've been trying to make is that itdefinitely fits the extant canon, and can be woven through the evolution of the canon over the years.

Like any great saga, to be continued...