Hearthkyn Warriors

The Hearthkyn Warriors of an Oathband of the Greater Thurian League lay down a steady hail of firepower against the foe.

Hearthkyn Warriors are the soldiers of the line and the primary infantry of the Leagues of Votann. Well-armoured in void armour and equipped with an array of powerful and advanced Kin weaponry, Hearthkyn Warriors form the backbone of most Oathbands and Kinhosts.

Led by their theyns or squad leaders, squads of Hearthkyn lay down hails of firepower, shrugging off the enemy's return volleys before storming in to shatter their wavering foes for good.

Role

The colours of the various Hearthkyn soldiers of the line for the major leagues of the Leagues of Votann. The numerical glyphs shown here are used by many Kindreds on the left shoulder plate of the void armour to denote squad number within the Kinhost. Other Kindreds may use them to show membership in a particular Oathband.

A Kinhost of a Leagues of Votann Kindred is usually built around a solid core of what the Kin call "soldiers of the line." The most prevalent of these are the Hearthkyn -- stoic and dependable bands of Kin soldiers who form the main infantry battle line in combat. Hearthkyn are technically citizen soldiers, in that many of them have side trades and other professional interests they focus on during peacetime. However, as members of the Kinhost, they are trained as frequently and rigorously as the elite warriors of many other starfaring races.

These soldiers of the line are drawn from the populace of the Leagues' holds and disregard all distinctions of gender, occupation, or social role. Additionally, the intelligent machines known as Ironkin often serve among the Hearthkyn Warriors and are accepted as full equals by the organic Kin. In battle, the Ironkin will fight besides the organic Kin and will often accompany Brôkhyr Iron-masters as assistants, serving alongside the Kin's non-self-aware COG robots, offering their technical support and entering combat themselves when their organic comrades find themselves in a pinch.

As Kin do not engage in anything unless they are willing to do it to the best of their abilities, Hearthkyn boast excellent discipline and prodigious martial skill. Indeed, a trainee Kin warrior may not join a band of Hearthkyn until they are able to pass a rigorous series of tests to prove their endurance, marksmanship, aggression, tactical acumen and courage.

An Ironkin Hearthkyn of the Greater Thurian League

Those Kin who aspire to become Hearthkyn -- or indeed other designations of soldiers of the line -- typically boast cloneskeins well-suited to their ambition. They may be especially resilient, swift of thought and action, able to rapidly heal physical injuries, see in low light conditions, and so on. As with the personnel of the Cthonian Mining Guilds, the Kinhost also invests in cybernetically augmenting its personnel -- many Hearthkyn benefit from augmetic organs or limbs, cerebral communication chips, ocular targeting implants and various other useful additions.

Each Kindred's Forge prioritises arming and equipping their Kinhost soldiery above all other priorities but the most essential duties of hold maintenance and voidship construction. The Hearthkyn are no exception to this, and thus go to battle clad in hardened void armour, wielding an array of potent weaponry from Autoch Pattern Bolters and Ion Blasters to HYLas Auto Rifles.

No Kin soldier of the line is considered expendable, despite serving as their race's infantry rank-and-file. Rather, every Kin warrior is seen as a valuable combat asset, not to mention family members and scions of the Ancestors. Field medics are common amongst their ranks. These Kin are provided with exhaustive training in first aid under fire, as well as limited engineering tuition that enables them to provide the required level of care to damaged Ironkin soldiers.

Kinhost military doctrine emphasises the intelligent use of lives and materiel by Hearthkyn and their comrades, never wasting either in the name of anger or vainglory. Strong bonds of loyalty bind the individuals of each Hearthkyn squad together and ensure the comradeship of one squad to the next, meshing Kinhost formations beneath the trusted leadership of their heroic leaders.

Hearthkyn Warriors of the Kronus Hegemony are known to be unusually fierce and aggressive in battle even for Kin.

Those Kin soldiers of the line who show sufficient aptitude are given additional training in order to wield specialist weaponry -- such as L7 Missile Launchers or EtaCarn Plasma Beamers -- or to serve their comrades as scanner operators and communications officers. If a Kin shows particular drive and aptitude toward leadership, they will be nominated by their superiors or comrades to be promoted to the rank of "theyn" -- which roughly translates to squad leader. This is a great honour and responsibility both, which most theyns strive to live up to.

Kin who truly excel at war may be selected to become members of the elite Einhyr formations, or else to ascend to the rank of "kâhl." Treading one of these paths does not preclude following the other at a later date, and some Kin have even belonged to both elite circles at once. Most commonly, however, the kâhls stand apart as war leaders and generals, while the warriors of the Einhyr fulfil roles such as elite strike troops, bodyguards, voidship boarding parties and the like.

Unit Composition

• 9-19 Hearthkyn Warriors
• 1 Theyn

Wargear

Hearthkyn Warriors

• Void Armour

• Autoch Pattern Bolt Pistol

• Autoch Pattern Bolter

• Gravitic Concussion Grenades

• Ion Blaster (As replacement for Autoch Pattern Bolter)

• HYLas Auto Rifle (As replacement for Autoch Pattern Bolter or Ion Blaster for up to 4-8 Hearthkyn of a squad)

• L7 Missile Launcher (As replacement for Autoch Pattern Bolter or Ion Blaster for up to 4-8 Hearthkyn of a squad)

• EtaCarn Plasma Beamer (As replacement for Autoch Pattern Bolter or Ion Blaster for up to 4-8 Hearthkyn of a squad)

• Magna Rail Rifle (As replacement for Autoch Pattern Bolter or Ion Blaster for up to 4-8 Hearthkyn of a squad)

• Medipack (One Hearthkyn in a squad can carry this.)

• Multiwave Comms Array (One Hearthkyn in a squad can carry this.)

• Pan Spectral Scanner (One Hearthkyn in a squad can carry this.)

Theyn

• Void armour

• Weavefield Crest

• Autoch Pattern Bolt Pistol

• Ion Pistol (As replacement for Autoch Pattern Bolt Pistol)

• EtaCarn Plasma Pistol (As replacement for Autoch Pattern Bolt Pistol)

• Autoch Pattern Bolter

• Ion Blaster (As replacement for Autoch Pattern Bolter)

• Concussion Gauntlet (As replacement for Autoch Pattern Bolter or Ion Blaster)

• Plasma Axe (As replacement for Autoch Pattern Bolter or Ion Blaster)

• Plasma Sword (As replacement for Autoch Pattern Bolter or Ion Blaster)

• Gravitic Concussion Grenades

• Eye of the Ancestors

Sources

• Codex: Leagues of Votann (9th Edition), pp. 20, 93