Taghmata Omnissiah
The Taghmata Omnissiah (translated from Lingua Technis as that which is divinely ordered for war) was a type of military operational force of the Adeptus Mechanicus during the Great Crusade and Horus Heresy.[1a]
Overview
The "third arm" of the Mechanicum armed forces alongside the Collegia Titanica and Skitarii, the Taghmata Omnissiah was a type of feudal military organisation enacted in times of war and urgency as Forge Worlds at this time did not maintain their own large standing armies. Rather, the Titan Legions were spread across the Great Crusade and sworn to a variety of other Imperial polities, while the Skitarii had their own secretive oaths to the Fabricator-General of Mars.[3] The Taghmata represented the feudal power structure that each Forge World could muster in times of battle. This type of feudalized command was necessary, as at the time of the Heresy the Forge Worlds of the Mechanicum were each a kingdom in and of itself with their own complex hierarchies and traditions.[1a]
The Taghmata Omnissiah was made up of individual "Taghmas", each of which was ruled over by a Magos and their own personal armies and retainers. When the ruling power(s) of a Forge World called a Taghmata into being, it was the sworn duty of each Magos to provide such troops and assets as was demanded of them. In practice this meant a Taghmata could be greatly varying in size, dispostion, and scope. Before the Horus Heresy, they were primarily only mustered for purely defensive reasons.[3]
Once mobilized, a Taghmata included militant Tech-Priests, Cybernetica, Knights, Combat Servitors, Thallax, Myrmidons, Tech-Thralls, Ordinatus engines, and a wide variety of other miscellaneous forces at a Forge World's disposal.[1a] The Taghma controlled directly by the ruling Archmagos was known as the Prime Taghma, while those below it in rank were known as Lesser Taghma.[3]
Cult Mechanicus Battle Congregations, or Covenants[1b], may be organised by Tech-Priests to lead portions of the Taghmata Omnissiah.[2]
Organisation
Military forces and organisations that fall under the purview of the Taghmata Omnissiah include:[1a]
- Magos Militant
- Legio Cybernetica
- Knight Houses
- Centurio Ordinatus
- Ordo Reductor
- Auxilia Myrmidon
- Autokrator - Ground armour (including the Krios and Triaros), mobile artillery, and pioneer units.
- Macrotechnia - Included Enginseers and Tech-Thralls
- Munitoria Logis - Providers of wargear, equipment, Lexmechanics, and Servitors[1a]
- Lacrymaerta - Included indentured servants
- Malagra - Enforcers of the Synod of Mars.[3]
Sources
- 1: The Horus Heresy Book Three - Extermination,
- 2: Codex: Cult Mechanicus (7th Edition) - Cult Mechanicus Battle Congregations
- 3: Liber Mechanicum (3rd Edition), pg. 6
