Army Combat Veteran Reacts to Every single Warhammer 40k WH40k Faction Explained by Bricky PART 4
Вставка
- Опубліковано 23 сер 2024
- Original Video is here: • Every single Warhammer...
Be sure to like and subscribe for more videos!
********
Merch! bit.ly/3slNSKZ
**********
Second Channel: bit.ly/3g0Lo1R
**********
Instagram: bit.ly/2OGwMtw
*******
Patreon: / combatveteranreacts
*Copyright Disclaimer Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing. Non-profit, educational or personal use tips the balance in favor of fair use. No copyright infringement intended. ALL RIGHTS BELONG TO THEIR RESPECTIVE OWNERS
*Disclaimers: all opinions are my own, sponsors are acknowledged. Not financial advice, for entertainment purposes only.
The Custodes don't just influence the High Lords, their Captain General IS one of the High Lords.
Yeah but im pretty sure its close to being considered purely ceremonial
You mean "kitten"?
@@hawke1017 Nope, after the return of Guilliman the Custodes were kind of forced to take sides. It's either the "Watchers of the Throne" or "Vaults of Terra" series by Chris Wraight.
@@1Maklak My favourite gold bro :D
Little Kitten you must squat more
"If you wonder what it would be like to be stuck in a dreadnought"
"EVEN IN DEATH I STILL SERVE"
It is better to die for the emperor, than to live for yourself.
though in serious ness it would probably be like being a parapalegic aka you cant feel your limbs though with the neural connection to the armour they can move it kinda similar to some modern attempts at exoskeletons for the injured but MASSIVLY more advanced and ment for war
Given that a 'reasonable' scenario that would put you in a Dreadnought in the first place would involve almost dying a gory and glorious death....this seems understandable.
EVEN IN DEBT I STILL SERVE
TANKRED ENDURES!
TWINS THEY WERE
Custodes have beyond-genius level intellects. They are mini-Primarchs essentially. So even without psychic powers being involved, it's not a stretch to assume that they can calculate and figure out by themselves whether an individual human is going to become a legend.
Or the tried and true method following competent people over power hungry idiot's.
It could also be argued that the person became important because of the support of the Custodes though.
I'm sure the emperor has something to do with it as he talks with his custodians often even on the golden throne
Except when Custodes are written by ADB. In which case they are clueless idiots.
@Tonya Patrick Yea, but he almost writes Chaos so good it might be heretical. Damn I love the Night Lords series. Awesome books.
Regarding bipedal walkers in 40k, the eldar and knights (and to a lesser degree orks) are, through one way or another, sort of rigged into the nervous system of the pilot, so bipedal walkers provide the easiest and most natural motion for the pilot. I'm aware that isn't quite how it works for wraithbone mechs, and I may be misremembering for imperium. Also they do have the theme of "humans are the best" so there's a thematic reason to make them bipedal from a lore perspective
yes ancient lore from the 80s says they tried on all fours but the human brain couldnt do it
Meanwhile in stompas:
Warboss shouts in a tube and hopes that the grots manning the engine or guns or whatever hear him at least partly.
i didnt scroll down enough to see you already posted this but yeah what they said lol
Actually, the eldar walker isn't rigged into the nervous system of the pilot. The pilot is the disembodied soul of an Eldar contained in a soul stone... essentially, the pilot and the walker are one and the same, until the soul stone is removed.
@@SpearM3064 "I'm aware that isn't quite how it works for wraithbone mechs"
I could have explained it in detail, but that seemed irrelevant at the moment. And also I'm typing on my phone
For the Custodes it's more like they are peak human and are NOT psykers. So when they predict someone will do something great in the future it's like they can see the small behavior differences and see potential. Kind of like a master chess player knowing what a good chess player will do after watching their early moves, even before the good chess player knows what he wants to do.
Not just peak human, trans human, arcane genetic alchemy.
Ever heard of Emperors tarot?
I've read somewhere that they also get visons, could be wrong; not any sort of lore freak, just remember a yt comment saying it like a year ago...
@@thenecromorpher Partially, not completely. There's no definitive answer other than Big E was the man in 40k. I chalk up most of the Custodes actions to the individual and not like Big E is micro'ing them. Kinda goes against the predicament if he did, he can only nudge at best. Not specific instructions.
@@peternash7104 After posting my comment, saw another comment say that they have to meditate on the images they get from Big E, but he doesn't actually give actual commands on who they should go protect; also remember some yt comment saying that he hasn't given these sorts of visions lately.
The Custodians aren't psychic, but they have genius levels of intelligent and are surrounded by anti-psychic people and psychic people.
Ah ok
@@CombatVeteranReacts Unironic Gigabrain.
They also have access to kinds of technology that make the passage of time irrelevant, at least on a micro scale. so between psyker prophets saying "this person is important" and Ancient alien tech showing them HOW they may be important, they can fulfill that mission until it is done
"It's a Batman factory"
Well played
But he guessed it wrong
There is a card game in the Imperium called the Emperor's Tarot. These cards were created by the Emperor himself and are linked to his psyche. It is used as a form of divination by the Imperium.
and there are custodes whose entire job is to play the Tarot and interpret the forecast of the cards, of which they can actually do because they are made from a psychic crystal. Which is why the one shieldhost randomly shows up to protect people
I did not know anything about this emperor tarot
Imperial Tarot create by Lorgar
The custodious are literally one of the Emperor's only true friends. They were made to be scholars as well and the Emperor cared for them greatly, probably more than his "sons". The Emperor and Cust. dynamic is one of my favorite in the lore. There is A LOT one can get into with the AC and Big E. There was a major battle where the Big E fought with the AC and three of them died, so the Big E carved their names into his own armor. He loves his golden boys. Which this friendship is probably one of the ways he had reinforced loyalty beyond the whole crafted to be unwavering loyal.
Also they are not psychic. But the Big E sometimes communicates with them via dreams. Which they take SUUUUUUUUUUUPER seriously if they have any dreams.
And emperors tarot is another way for people to communicate with the emperor. the only son we know for sure the emperor cared for was horus
Knight houses are divided into Questor Imperialis and Questor Mechanicus.
Questor Imperialis are the houses that are in direct service to Imperium. Questor Mechanicus serve AdMech.
Freeblades are knights without allegiance to house, their pilots may be e.g. last survivors of their houses.
Knight houses usually own planets or are the planet elites.
Conflicts between houses can be reasons for duels, battles or even part of politics on bigger scale.
I particularly liked how they were at each other's throats during the Horus Heresy.
There are male blanks, but it’s just that finding blanks is extremely difficult due to how rare they are. I believe it’s 1 out of every billion or 10 billion people have the blank gene. While the Imperium is getting better at finding them, there are certainly cases where a blank is born and the mother takes the newly born blank and kills them, just from the discomforting aura they give off.
The Culexus assassin temple is entirely made up of blanks because they’re extremely useful in taking out crazed psykers. However, because there is such a short supply of blanks, they had The Adeptus Mechanicus clone previously killed assassins. On paper it’s said to have stopped, but there’s always those rumors that it’s still going on. The demand for these kinds of assassins has only gotten up as the years went on.
and the blanck gene is not hereditary, it just pops up sometimes like a psiker (but more rare), doesnt comes form a family of psykers
@@fernandotrevinocastro1018 I never said it was hereditary. Or mean to imply it.
In the Eisenhorn/Ravenor novels by Dan Abnett. Inquisitor Eisenhorn forms The Distaff. A recruitment and training team of "Untouchables" (Blanks) which he uses to fight things like demons and psykers. Some blanks even emit a psi-dampening field that protects those around them from things like mental attacks.
@@bighara sounds like a blank. Untouchable by warp magic and can’t be perceived by demons. Unless you’re a super powerful psyker like Magnus the Red. At which point you send someone overwhelming powerful to wipe them the fuck out like Grey Knights.
In the awesome books about commissar Ciaphas Cain, his personal aid Jurgen is a blank. Everyone is uncomfortable around him, but as Jurgen also have multiple different skin conditions, plus as he is a Valhallan he tends to sweat a lot in normal temperatures, he has an aura of bad smell around him at all times. So that probably was one of the reasons it took so long for anyone to figure out what he truly was.
His anti-psysic aura have saved his and Cain's life many times, completely shutting down powerful psykers, hurting greater deamons, preventing Tyranids from finding them and even made a squad of Necrons avoid their hiding spot.
The custodes are basically a mix of the honor guard, praetorian guard, navy seals and the secret service(mostly secret service as they are first and foremost bodyguards, not soldiers)
And most of them have shiny, oily and brown skin.
@@ls200076 That's heretical.
@@wulferikgebhardt5312 jealous kitten?
@@lovebattleforge Perhaps.
I'd also throw in Swiss Guard and Varangian Guard. Both are good examples of elite guard units that (I'm pretty sure) have never been corrupted, and were also effective in combat and not just flair.
When the government of humanity before the empire fell, many planets became isolated and in caos. These knights and their houses became leaders of the planets and their regions in order to protect them from alien wildlife, alien empires and insurgencies. When the emperor arrived to those planets later in the great crusade, many imperial knights swore allegiance to the emperor to fight for him from eons to come.
Ah ok. Makes sense
The custodes are called the brotherhood of Demi gods for a reason
Huh custodians use youtube too, have you seen/heard of kitten? What is he doing these days?
@@Hiihtopipa Not in good condition I’m afraid
For the Calledus temple, they use some type of injections that makes them polymorph and change/mold their faces and body, and the substance they inject is more compatible with the womens body (they can take more of it without dying) and the few males that are there cannot shape shift in the same way. They are basically shape shifters and have infiltrated Tau, chaos and eldar (altough very few)
The captain general of the custodes actually have a seat on the high lords however he rarely actually uses his position.
Yeah they dont really view themselves as part of the Imperium since they predate it. To them it's just another one of the emperors projects so they humour it out of respect. To participate in it is to endorse it and that is not their purpose infact some see it as a threat because of the age of apostasy.
They supported Guilleman against the High Lords in the attempted coup though.
@@vortex_1336 Well, Guilliman is the Emperor's son. The High Lords are just... guys... With no relation whatsoever to the Emperor other than they rule in His name. So, if the two get to fight each other, the Custodes, with their loyalty being to the Emperor, will side with the one most close to Him. Aka, His son.
"So let's talk about what he means by 'houses'...buildings where people live. Let's continue on."
Thank you, leslie nielsen and mel brooks.
"This woman needs to go to a hospital."
"A hospital? What is it?"
" it's a big building with patients, but that's not important right now."
(From the movie Airplane!)
@@thedragon133 really ? XD
@@thedragon133 "who are you and how did you get in here?!"
"I'm a locksmith and I'm a locksmith"
There are more than four temples for the Officio Assassinorum but the other temples are even more niche. The Venenum Temple is all about poisoners, The Vanus Temple is less assassins more of manipulating other people to kill the target for you or the target to die to an "accident". The four main ones are more active in their kills so are more known/popular.
There are seven temples formely eight, we dont talk about that one temple which does not exist anymore, things that scare khornate berserkers into calm obedience may be good assasins but even inquisition has limits on the amount of bullshit that they will tolerate.
On the subject of Knights, there are a lot of interesting conflicts with the Knight loyalties.
Imperial Knights are divided into two factions, based on who they pledged loyalty to during the Horus Heresy. Some are loyal directly to the Emperor and His Imperial Household, but others are loyal to the Adeptus Mechanicus (or the Mechanicum of Mars, as they were known). This can result in them having very different priorities and remits of operation, as they would answer to different branches of the Imperial government - Mechanicus Knights are ultimately subservient to the Fabricator General of Mars, while it isn't clear who exactly commands the Imperial Knights, if anyone at all truly has the right to do so.
Interesting
Adeptus Custodes are just super dedicated and loyal guard to the Emperor. Their only duty is to guard the Golden Throne. The only time when they mixed in Imperial bussiness is when Goge Vandire became a Master of Administratum. He became a tyrant and Imperium was in civil war. He had his personal guard called Brides of the Emperor. So when Space Marines tried to assassinate Vandire, Brides stood by his side and defended him with zeal since they believed that he was blessed by the Emperor (a trick that Vandire pulled on them). And when the Imperial Palace was in uproar, Custodes led the Brides into Sanctum Imperialis to see the Emperor. No one knows what happened but after they came out, Brides renounced Vandire and executed him. Those members of Brides of the Emperor later became founders of Sisters of Battle Covenants. And that was the only time that Custodes had any interference with politics of Imperium.
Row boat girly man took some of those golden demi gods with him on the Dark Imperium crussade.
Wasn't Vandire's last words something like "I don't have time to be killed, I am too busy"?
@@kriysixvector4552 I mean, yeah. They were demi Primarch to normal Space Marines and to Imperium, they were demigods. Having Custodes speak, it's like hearing the Emperor due to their position as his bodyguards. Ten thousand years of faithful service and not falling to Chaos is a good reference that their words carry something.
@@Runeclaw Yeah. Even his Rosarius (which he used to deceive Brides of the Emperor into service) failed him at that moment and that was taken as a sign that the Emperor wasn't with him anymore.
The custodes gold armor is because it's made of an incredibly strong material called Auramite, which is gold in color. The Sisters of Slence and the Emperors own armor was made of this material.
If I remember correctly, Custodes candidates are taken from infancy, or very young children, and altered through alchemical, and some say psychic processes to transform them into the super beings that they are.
Custodes are more than just guardians of the Emperor. They are supposed to represent everything great about humanity. They are more than just warriors, they are scholars, philosophers, artisans, ect. They are tasked by the Emperor to master, or atleast become incredibly skilled at, essentially every human enterprise.
The infants that are taken in as new recruits are from the elite noble houses of Terra. To have your child recruited this way is one of the very highest honours that can happen to a noble family. It also ensures extra loyalty from the family, knowing their own blood stands guard over the Emperor.
Few of the infants survive the process, but no nobles are informed if their child made it or not. This gives them hope, does not stain their honour and strengthen their bonds to the Imperium.
Also, while Astartes are mass-produced after a fashion each Custode is hand crafted.
Which also explains how the Custodes are superior in quality to Space Marines and Thunder Warriors despite being made earlier.
"Are they psychic?"
No, but some of their "chambers," will, through meditation and communion with the emperor, learn to interpret dreams that they believe to receive from him. They use this information to warn groups, protect individuals, or take actions to prevent things that haven't happened yet. The emperor, as the greatest "living," psyker possesses probably the most powerful foresight of anyone in the 40k universe.
A couple of things that will probably get clearer the next video.
Blanks are not exclusively female, but the sisters of silence are. As part of the Adepta Sororitas only women can join their ranks. Men will often become Culexus Assassins, which Bricky will probably talk about next video.
Calidus Assassins don't use disguises as we use today. They use a drug called polymorphine that allows them to actually transform their body and take the shape of any human or humanoid alien.
Those are not exclusively women, but the lore states that women are often more adept at using polymorphine.
The Custodes are involved in politics. Leader of Custodes the Captain-General is also one of the High Lords of Terra. They are only ones to remember when Eperor walked amongs them so they sort of represent Emperores own values and ideas as they rmember them but their biggest concern is the security of the Emperor, of the Imperial Palace and of the Terra.
Custodians sometimes play this training game in which one of the Custodians plays assasin and has to infiltrate the Imperial Palace and kill Emperor. They play it for real with live rounds and everything but none ever got to the Emperor and they are so swift that they can stop full force killing blow inch from the other Custodian neck
They are more Individualistic then Astartease. More focused on security and dueling. Each one new nam added for every famous deed they do, the most experience The Custodes got names that are long as an Phonebook.
" We were never soldiers......but we were his companions once, we were the ones in whom he confided, we were his councilors, his artisans, we were the first glimpse of what the species could become If shepherded right and unshacled from It's vicious weaknesses....of course we were thaught to fight, he knew that war would come, it was the necessary part of the ascesion though It was never destined to last for ethernity, we were the Guardians of the new age and had to be strong enough to keep it secure. We failed in that and now wear mark of that failiture in the black robes that cover our auramite" (Quote from the:" Watchers of the Throne: The Emperor's Legion")
Custodies are more like the queens guard. The best soldiers who are unmoving unflinching no mater what happens unless there is a threat, then they move...
Fast
I have never seen in my entire youTube history a soldier,historian,reactionary channel,so you defenetely deserve a sub and a like.I hope your channel grows successfully!
Peachbutt23 does reactionary content in a similar vein for 40k and the SCP universe, if you find yourself wanting more of this style of content
@@zackarieneifert7014 Thank you for informing me!I will see them!
He gets close to warhammer lore but he doesnt know. I have being playing since first edit I know alot and still not everything. But for what I know he's close but not right
Knights back in the Golden Age were actually just giant Farming machines that were adapted for war by STCs
Well also wildlife pacification
Similar situation to terminator armour. The suite was originally used to refule ships
I heard that Rhino where effectively tractors.
Baneblades were light tanks.
@@Minimoz yup when humans first colonised a planet the STC would study the environment then usually churn out rhino's or variations. This was a time when the imperial guard used land raiders as APC's I think it was papa smurf who took them off the guard but can't fully remember it was the 90's
I think that the walkers are bipedal so that the pilots of them already have a concept of moving in them. They neurally link with the machine and having them bipedal already gives them a familiarity with our own anatomy with the machine that does not require specialist training. The training to become one of these pilots are already sky high and you don’t want to add even more strain on mind of the mind of the pilot learning 2 ways to move. Also there might be a chance that the conditioning required would make some pilots walk on 4s out of machine instinctively so there is that.
honestly short answer it looks cool
@@Methyll Yup, the main drive of 40K
The custodies are guided by the emperor. He probably points out their goals and who to protect.
About the titans and the thing about balance, that is exactly why they have to train a shit ton to pilot one of them and why they are connected to the machine spirit.
Yea, it would take a ton of coordination to stay upright, and even then it would probably struggle on rough muddy/sandy terrain
The tomb of the unknown soldier has three soldiers buried at it and it has on soldier from WW1, WW2, and I believe the Korean war. There was actually a fourth one for Vietnam but his body was later identified.
My head cannon for why the imperial knights and titans sort of resemble human anatomy is because it is easier for a princeps, the person who controls a titan, to link to and control the titan if their anatomy is more similar to the titan’s anatomy
That is the main reason for the Dreadnoughts at least. In the Horus Heresy book "Betrayer" the tech priest Vel-Kheredar says ‘We fashion them with heads, to focus their awareness forwards. It helps create an impression within the corpse’s neurological sensory input/ output that it is still alive, for it sees just as it saw in life: from a human perspective. Taller, though. Oh, yes. Much taller.’
And as the princep that ultimately controls a Titan is mentally connected to it and sees with both his/her eyes plus the Titan's sensors, it probably is the same thinking there.
Or for example Eldar Wraithknights. They are piloted through the Soul Stone of an Eldar. So rather than being piloted they are basically inhabited by the soul of the pilot. So the mech being shaped like a giant Eldar helps make the transition and control easier.
Biological wheels
Tyranids: Write that down! Write that down!
C'mon, Tyranids can't write
@@CombatVeteranReacts They can, you know. Genestealer cults use the written language. As it is, the Tyranids wouldn't need to write it down, they'd just eat your brains and assimilate all the knowledge to pass through the hive mind. (Yeah Gads - I feel the neckbeard in this comment but fk it)
These are probably the most educational reaction videos I've ever seen.
Unless I'm remembering wrong, I think the top Custodian is actually one of the High Lords of Terra? Someone else probably knows for sure.
He is but only ever takes his seat in times of existential crisis and only then to protect the Emperor.
I believe his name is Constantin Valdor
and he left a long time ago to the webway to find out the true name of the emperor, he only has recently returned.
yes indeed some of them have already taken a seat among the high lords like constantin valdor and trajann valoris
The Custodes technically have a seat among the high lords of Terra. I think it was in the book "Watchers of the throne" where they were asked to break a tie between the other 12 high lords."We are not a part of your Imperium,’ I said. ‘We involve ourselves within it only if we deem His will demands it." How do they know his will, and how does the Aquilan shield know who to protect? Answer is we don't really know.
In that same book one of the Custodes had a dream, which is very rare and always turns out to have great significance. It is implied Big E sends messages somehow.
A recent attack on Terra itself has kicked them into gear though as they can't really protect the emperor by idleness, and are out in the imperium fighting with other forces, it's always fun to read your normal guardsman reaction to them. A woman was made a saint because she saw two of them, they are beyond mythical beings for most humans.
I have no sources on this so take it with a shovel of salt, but i remember hearing about custodes originally were supposed to have male and female models, but in the first printing there was a mistake and they got double the amount of male models and they just went with it.
The source is actually in that book. They have two philosophies and schools of thought within the Custodes. The school that tries to interpret the emperors will by what he has done and spoken and school that tries interpret his will through visions and dreams.
The reason why the imperium might chose to make their knights two legged is probably due to the fact that they see humans as the ultimate being, so they chose to make their biggest and hardest hitting land war machines in that image. Even in the books they say that the best way to take out walkers is to knock them over, but they also have some of the best recovery in standing back when they are knocked down.
Also since Knights and Titans are connected to the pilots (or the Princeps) rather than piloted traditionally being bipedal like the human pilot makes it easier to control.
*Discretely lifts Imperium of Man cup into frame*
As the Emperor depends on the energy of 1000 psykers a day, so I depend on the energy of 1000 beans of coffee to keep the light of this channel shining across UA-cam
On Bipedal mechs, both Battletech/Mechwarrior and Warhammer both rely on a mental link between machine and pilot. Especially in Warhammer where a Knight or Titan pilot practically becomes one with the machine. The design makes sense because the human shape is the easiest for us to control. Also with the Castodes, it's implied Big E tells them to search out particular figures he think might be important. There are male Nulls they are used by the Assassinorum the sex divide is to try and stave off Slaanesh from what I know.
yes was in the very earliest adaptus titanicus lore
As far as blanks are concerned both male and female blanks are possible. Many blanks don't survive childhood because they are literally soulless unemotional, cold, and strange. Their presence makes people uncomfortable because it interferes with the connection to the warp that most beings need to function and feel emotion.
The Sisters of silence are all female because of an ancient tradition (possibly) older than the Imperium itself. Further details as to why are scarce. The Adepta Sororitas was originally and all female religious cult that was later elevated to its position for its actions during Siege of the Ecclesiarchal Palace in the Age of Apostasy.
All Custodes (and Space Marines too) are male because noone ever engineered a female coded version of the serums, bio-implants, and gene-therapies used to convert human infants and children into super soldiers. Additionally, much of the information in the genetic templates that Custodes and marines are based on comes from the Emperor himself (or from his Primarchs for space marines), and as such creating a female version that retains all the desirable traits from these templates is widely regarded as prohibitively difficult if not impossible.
While Callidus Assassins are usually depicted as female their specialty is shapeshifting. They use a drug called polymorphine supplemented with surgery to allow them selves to pass as members of any gender, race, or species. Polymorphine is most effective in females and as such the Callidus temple prefers to recruit females whenever possible.
Knights are usually piloted by a hereditary line, but the Knight itself has some influence in that because a key part of 40k is that the machines have a level of agency by themselves. Even something as simple as a Guardsman's lasgun might explode if taken up by a Chaos Heretic without being subjugated properly before use, just as a Heretic Guardsman's lasgun might work insidiously to influence a loyal Guardsman if they attempt to use it. If a Knight's Machine Spirit does not accept a new Princeps when they first link with it, it will subsume their mind and make them essentially braindead. A Princeps who dies while piloting a Knight will have a sort of echo of their mind left within the Machine Spirit, which usually helps to influence that Knight to accept a hereditary descendant as the new Princeps. Sometimes a Knight Princeps will have a single son or daughter and he or she will not be accepted by the Knight for any number of reasons, which tends to make the House search high and low for a new Princeps. They'll then adopt this new person as the defacto leader of the House, even if they are not biologically related, after a period of assimilating them and probably marrying them into the line. There are also minor Houses under the umbrella of the Knightly House who take hereditary roles such as mechanics and administrative personnel descended, directly or indirectly (through an apprenticeship), from the Mechanicus and Administratum officials who originally fulfilled those roles. Each Knight has a bunch of various people who keep it combat ready, and each Knightly House is largely self-reliant while maintaining conformity with the overarching Imperial and Mechanicus guidelines. Even just the lowly Serfs who work with the Knights can often trace their lineage back many generations in service to the same machine, to the point where their family might have been responsible for something as simple as making the bearing grease for the same machine over millennia, and they have their own secret recipe and rituals that are subtly unique to their line.
The Callidus Temple, has male operatives, its just that GW favor using the female form as the model for this Temple, same goes for the other temples, able bodied male and female are all considered possible candidates. Albiet the Culexus Temple has more males since I think most females blanks are generally recruited by the sister of silence instead
The reason why knights (and titans for that matter) are bipedal is mostly cause they are piloted thru direct connections called mind impulse units. when the pilot them, they become the knight in a sense. so having human form makes it more natural to pilot. In an audio book on titans, the pilot (princeps in this case) said she refused to get a bionic leg to replace her crippled one because it would make connecting with her titan more complicated.
The first Legion the Dark Angels have a similar organization, after they found their dad in Caliban which was a feudal type planet.
Makes sense
We definitely see more of how the Imperium puts a lot of effort into its military resources... then makes some curious decisions. But that's part of the fluff--the Imperium can be its own worst enemy at times. Bureaucratic inefficiency, archaic superstitions, state-sanctioned paranoia, and almost blind devotion all affect how they recruit, structure, and deploy their assets.
The female assassins are selected because of body elasticity (to crawl through air vents and such) and better adaptability to polymorphine (a substance that allows you to transform your body on command to copy someone else's form, even an alien's)
Wheels suck for neural linking and wheels suck in mountains or very odd terrain. Two legs helps when you are going everywhere in many different worlds and weathers. Also they don't mass produce them, they fill a niche.
Just to hit on your last point, the Callidus assassins: they aren’t exclusively female, just tend to be. They have some hand-wavey space-magic ability (that’s implied to work more easily with female biology) to actively change their appearance like a shapeshifter, so a Callidus asssasin can take on the form of say your commanding officer and work from there.
7.17 minute mark;
Yes, they do. If I am correct, as early as the Horus Heresy, Imperial Knight houses DO have conflicts with one another.
There's even a game entirely around Imperial Knight combat; Adeptus Titanicus
Particularly if there are multiple houses on the same planet. Nobility gets bored easily.
Another thing that Bricky didn't mention about the Knight Houses is that at least half of them ( correct me if I'm wrong, lore masters) have oaths of fealty to Mars( the Adeptus Mechanicus), not Terra. It's not usually a problem, but...
Sister of silence only recruit female blanks there are male blanks as well they are often taken to be calexus assassins. The sisters of silence also work on black ships space vessels designed to take psykers to feed big E or be trained as psykers if there powerful enough.
I guess if we want to discuss why walkers are bipedal, we should talk about the advantages of being bipedal.
1: height. Being bipedal allows for an expansion of the field of view without needing much mass (like elephants) or specialized body structures (like giraffes) to see both over a large area and over obstacles.
2: ease of storage. Being bidpedal, we dont take up too much 2d space. Take humans, and an animal with equal mass yet is quadrapedal, and you would be able to fill 2 same size rooms with more humans than with the animal (if you didnt stack them).
3: transversing verticle obstacles. A quadrapedal animal would have a harder time moving around in a space with many tall vertical objects due to their length, where a bipedal creature such as humans would have less of an issue.
So, lets translate this to titans.
Being gigantic and tall, they would have a supreme view of the battlefield beaten only by airbourne or orbit-bound vessels. This would allow them to use their arsenal to the fullest extent without assistance.
While few in number, the size of titans means that every square inch of storage space for them during transport is valuable.
And finally, bipedal titans would have an easier time transversing inner city layouts without beging hindered by their size nearly as much if they were quadrapedal.
All good points. I guess it comes down to what will work in the situations on the battlefield
He doesn't really go into the background for the knights and that makes me sad, as they are one of my favorite factions (imperial and chaos alike). The basic gist of the knights, is that before the rise of the emperor in the 30th millenium, in the "Dark Age of Technology" (a stretch of time between the 15th and 23rd millenium) when humanity first spread it's influence across the stars, the human colonizers travelled to inhabitable worlds in self contained factory/ships that were intended to land, and then be disassembled and reassembled into a factory to produce STC (Standard Template Constructs), as well as to be used as the materials for those STC. These STC include, but are not limited to, shelters, farming/industrial equipment, and the first Knight armors. These knight armors were designed as the means for the colonial humans to protect themselves from any hostile local fauna or flora.
The pilots of Knights were carefully preselected, as exposure to the Throne Mechanicum, the neural uplink through which the pilot controls the knight can in the weak-minded and unprepared cause death via aneurysm. The knight houses formed around the families of these selected individuals, one on each Knight world. The knight armor itself through it's Throne Mechanicum absorbs a small amount of the pilot's tactical knowledge, training, and personality, so the passing of a knight armor from a parent to a child is considered to be a huge honor, as that inheritance gives the chosen heir a direct mental link to the imprint of the experiences, and glory of thousands of years of their ancestors. Because of this, each individual knight armor gains a legacy all it's own separate from the current pilot, and is immeasurably valuable.
The age of strife occurred, which was a glut of warp storms that prevented interstellar travel for ~5k years.
When the emperor united mankind under his banner around the tail end of the 29kth millennium, and the warp storms of the age of strife died down, the Emperor of man began the great crusade, the campaign for the emperor to return the lost primarchs to the fold (they are young adults at this point, they were lost because chaos gods scattered them, across the stars as infants), and to reclaim the human worlds that lost contact with Terra during the age of strife. I won't go into great detail about the crusade, but it's a super important event in the lore. During the Crusade, the knight worlds are discovered one by one, and they swear allegiance to Big E, but maintain their autonomy and way of life. They are called upon in times of need, and honor bound will send knights on quests, to assist in the war effort whenever needed.
Technically some Knightly Houses are the vassals of the Mechanicum rather than the Imperium, but yes.
So the idea of Titans and Knights being bipedal is obviously to help the pilot be more used to moving, as they essentially become one with the machine once they interface with it, to the point where they actually feel what the Titan does, but there's another reason. Titans are often referred to as 'god-machines', and that is because they tend to have a supernatural energy about them, and the working theory is that the Titan acts as an effigy that channels the power of one of the various gods, be it the Emperor, the Omnissiah, Gork and Mork, one of the Chaos Gods, or some other deity. The exception to this are the Tau, who's Titan equivalents are more grounded in science, and the Tyranid Bio-Titans, which are giant monsters. It should also be noted that Titans generally operate as ultra-heavy mobile weapons platforms; you typically deploy a Titan against a city, an entire army, or other Titan-scale war machines, and Titans with dedicated melee weapons are generally reserved for that last role.
The reason for the bipedal walkers in any scifi franchise is simple: it is the most familiar to the humans who operate it. They don't need to think about how to move and act, it's just instinctual, as opposed to even something as simple as riding a bike where we always need to be conscious of how we move and compensate in ways we don't need to while walking. Making a walker bipedal is just that much simpler for the operator, one less thing to worry about in warfare. Especially if you end up in melee combat. And this really shines in 40k, because the pilots are hooked up to the machine and control it by mind instead of handheld controls like a tank or fighter jet.
Fair point.
@@CombatVeteranReacts Thank you. I do agree that a mech is massively flawed and more easily damaged while being bipedal though.
@@CombatVeteranReacts Also, sorry for late replies, i ended up needing to finish this video in two sittings due to work, but I also wanted to mention that the art of sniping is very tough and that you did a very good job explaining how hard it is. I've got a cousin who was a sniper in viet nam, my father in law served as a sniper as well, and because I grew up in the woods hunting I was almost tapped to be one myself (when I went through training, I was national guard, so they couldn't order me to be one, and by the time I switched to active duty it was too late... Big regret there) but there is a lot of intense training to become one, and it's a lot more than just "shoot and scoot" that people who idolize snipers seem to think. I think you hit the nail on the head when you were talking about Carlos Hathcock and how he had to sit still for days, undetected, until he got his perfect shot, and then exfil undetected after taking it, because everybody hates a sniper unless they're on your side.
Also, fun-fact about the custodians, they are not only the best soldiers in the entire imperium, but also really good Philosophers, economcists, and I think adminstrators, because Big E wanted someone to talk to about such things other then his primarchs.
Make your own friends lol
@@CombatVeteranReacts Also, part 5 when?
About assasins in Imperium; Empire not necessarily fighting only xenos. They're also fighting chaos cultist, people who are humans but pray to chaos Gods or any Gods other than the Emperor. So there is lots of in fighting since over the fall of the Emperor, there seems to be people who forgot about the Emperor or changed the story so much, it came to the point of heresy.
Also very realistic: incorrectly worshipping the correct god
Imperial knights are old tech and were usually given to colonists on new worlds. They can fight in any terrain and heavily armed and armored so they made good defenders for colonies.
Over hundreds and thousands of years the old families of original pilots would be kind of like nobility and so every walker is kind of unique. Plus whoever had an imperial knight would have a major advantage in any kind of early civil war so the people piloting them had huge influence and people begging them to aid their faction.
Also how the Mechanicus would absorb some of them into Titan Legions.
The imperium of man has anti gravity tech and can make things like 50 story tall walkers possible, and mainly since they have regenerating force field tech (void shields) they don't really need to worry about having a low profile since a higher one gives better over watch and you can tank hits and get to cover if need be. Also having a bipedal work is good for close quarters since it gives them better agility to fight other similar sized enemy walkers, as well as giving them the ability to travers all terrain.
The Knight Suits, where originally working machines for deforesting and construction, there legs where designed too move them in areas that dont have much smooth surface too work with, like taking giant steps trough rivers and over cliffs or such, where more legs would just make the placement more complicated or difficult too find the places too set them.
They where later adapted too fight against gigantic wildlife on newly settled planets, thus becoming nobles protecting the civillians and then houses and warmachines
The Sisters of Silence also crew the Black Ships, which are responsible for collecting all unsanctioned psykers for processing. These psykers will then either become members of various factions or used as fuel for the light of the Astronomicon. The Black Ships are also very important as they help prevent daemonic incursions and despotic psykers from enslaving entire systems to their will.
They're also horrific experiences, up there with slave ships. But with more psychic screaming and wanting to tear your own eyes out from that horrifying aura the Sisters exude.
One reason why knights are bipedal is that they are piloted, not by pushing buttons, but neural interface. So if you're plugging your brain into a giant warmachine, then it's easier and intuitive to have the warmachine mimic the general movement of the pilot.
So Aquilan Shields, mostly act as bodyguards for currently important personages. But, once in a great while the Emperor pokes one in the brain with a dream. Now Custodes don't really sleep, like whales they can put half their brain to sleep while the other half keeps on. So they don't dream normally, when they do its a message from their throne bound master. Aquilan Shields will sometimes see a person, get a location to meet them and hear the Emperor's voice say 'Protect'.
To give some examples of the other Hosts of Custodians there is the Dread Host, a group of Custodians that engage in extremely brutal and explosive terror tactics. And then there's also the Shadowkeepers, a group of black armored Custodians who will go out for the capture and acquisition of EXTREMELY dangerous individuals, creatures and technologies believed that they should never fall into the hands of humanity or anyone else and so upon capture are brought back to the deepest; darkest vaults of the Imperial palace where the Shadowkeepers will stand guard over these vaults to ensure none of what they capture ever escapes.
Also when Bricky says that the Custodians are small; its mostly because the induction process and training for creating new Custodians is so extremely difficult that its believed that the total number of warriors within the Adeptus Custodes will NEVER exceed 10,000 and coming from someone who has actually faced the Custodians on tabletop Bricky definitely isn't kidding on that either lol. A Custodian may be outnumbered but never once are they ever outgunned and thats what makes them horrifying to go against.
One of the reasons for 2 legged walkers is that many of them are not piloted in the traditional way but instead the pilot and the machine are neurally connected.
Since humans (and Tau and Eldar and Orks) are bipedal their mechs are bipedal as well to ease the pilot's control.
In response to your Custodes question, to my knowledge, the Custodes only get involved with the Imperium's politics if the High Lords literally all have strokes at the same time, or flat out lose their minds... ALL AT ONCE. If one High Lord goes crazy, the others kill and replace him, and the Custodes don't say or do anything. However, I think they do sometimes tell the High Lords to SHUT THE HELL UP when they start sabotaging the Imperium because they are incompetent.
Regarding the Callidus, I believe it wasd stated somewhere that females simply respond much better to the required body modifications, similar to space marines being male only.
It should be stated that Callidus Assassins are nearly as superhuman as astartes, although very differently.
There was a scene in the "Night Lords" trilogy where a Callidus fights against Chaos marines, and the marines openly state that without dirty tricks they stand NO chance against her in a one-on-one.
"Batman Factory" might be the greatest concept I've ever heard of.
The input around the walkers was very interesting and makes me think of Metal Gear Excelsus every time when that point is brought up that bipedal mechs don't make much sense.. That thing is a monstrosity and I love the shit out of it. I wish more mechs looked like it.
Imperial Knights were bipedal because their controls are basically direct mental control. They were the early Dark Ages answer to the childlike simplicity you asked about in regards to guard conscripts. The Knights date back to very first human colonists who set out from Terra to colonize the galaxy, they were primarily construction equipment that could clear forests and assemble buildings with the pilot just operating it the same way they'd operate their own body. And if you happened to run into unfriendly locals or giant aggressive animals you could strap a cannon to it and also help to protect the colony.
They've become more dedicated war machines over the years because the baseline low level AI of the suits actually ends up absorbing the memories and emotions of past pilots with those impressions being passed on the future operators, and given how violent the 40K universe is the suits often get pushed into combat roles which ends up as a feedback loop of the pilots emotions of aggression and hyper-defensiveness for their colony imprinting on the AI< which then imprints those emotions onto the next pilot, who strengthens those emotions in the AI, and so on.
I've seen some of the robotic walkers that are being developed currently and most of them are often 4 or 6 legged to make them more stable and able to move over different types of terrain. But you need to remember that in 40K the walkers are controlled by a person that interfaces with the machine and I don't know how well you could translates that control to a multi legged walker.
The funny thing about knights is that they aren't even the largest walkers of the imperium and adeptus mechanicus. This goes to the titans. They are also known as God engines. The smallest titan varient is bigger than the standard knight. The three "standard" Typs of titans that are fielded by the legios of the collegia titanica are the warhound("scout titan"), Reaver (battle titan, medium sized with heavy weapons, head sticks at roughly 25 meters) and the Warlord(battle titan, armed with weapons that level city blogs, head is placed at 35 meters). The weapons range from multi lasers to quake canons,vulcano canons, plasma annihilator, apocalypse rocket launchers. The weapons of the battle titans can ruin a hole city block. The warhound scout titan is mostly used against Infantry and light armourd vehicles. They use weapons like flame throwers that bath the battle field with burning promethium or Vulcan Mega bolsters. A Form of assault Canon that shoots Bolter shells that create a three meter crater on contact. And they fire like 1000 of them in a minute . They are called rightfully gods of War. Even larger than the warlord is the emperor class titan. They are twice the size of a warlord. They are deployed when the war gets to apocalyptic levels. They ARE the wrath of the omnissiah. They are the largest field units. Even with one step they crush a battalion. Some of the more unique titans are the nemesis warbringer(battle titan, equipped with a quake Canon, basically a titan hunter) and the psy titan fielded by the ordo sinister of the collegia titanica. This bizarre titan uses warp powers to annihilate the enemy.
So Imperial Knights have a backstory that sorta makes sense. When the Slannesh is born and the warp storms stop warp travel for centuries, the worlds the Imperial Knights come from were like all others cut off. At the time the walkers were industrial equipment. Essentially turning a person into a 20-50 meter tall giant to do massive but delicate work, with the benefit that they linked directly into the nervous system of the pilot so the response time was very fast and they could work virtually anywhere without roads. Once cut off, fighting off Ork and soon Drukari raids and invasions became a priority they started weaponizing the walkers. Over time they started losing the equipment and knowledge of how to reset the near-intelligent systems so the descendants of a previous pilot had to be the next pilot of each walker. Someone not of a knightly house line trying to hook into the walker is killed by the systems. This evolved into a feudal system where the Knightly Houses protected the ordinary people. The 'machine spirit' IE the quasi-intelligent software that turns the pilots will into actions have gone more than a little feral and its sometimes a struggle for the pilot to control. This is not helped that the neural imprint of previous pilots is still in the system and sometimes invade the pilot's mind with intrusive thoughts.
You should check out more 40k videos by Leutin09....he also has a lot of information and goes into even more detail on wh40k
Callidus Assassins (the female ones) use a drug called polymorphine which basically melts you into a malleable goo. You then reform yourself into the desired shape using your mind powers, so not quite but close to psykers. This gets you to most basic human forms but if you need something more the assassin undergoes surgery to better emulate the desired species.
I believe the reason they are all female is that they originated from a female master assassin and it lore wise the drug reacts better to the female body. Bit weird.
Most terrifying use of a Callidus I know of is when one entered a home after replacing a noble's maid then stole a child by engulfing it into her body before walking out. They later used the child as blackmail ammunition.
They are not all female, they are just majority female.
Polymorphine does react better with Female body than the male for some reason.
There is a vore joke to make about that story but I don't want to.
The Custodes have never fallen to chaos. Their Captain-General is a high lord if I remember correctly. One of the only times I’ve heard the Custodes getting involved in affairs other than guarding Emps is when Goge Vandire was leading the Ecclesiarchy.
At 18:26: It is alluded to in the novel Shadow of the Throne. A event called Hexarchy Crisis where 6 high lords , tried to depose the other 6 and the regent of Terra (a returned Primarch). And one other time was in the Age of Apostasy. But never a direct action. Always from the shadows. Also the they can vote on things that High Lords debate, but never do.
Hey man, if you want to watch a video or two you can provide strategic commentary on for 40k, watch the videos "How the Tau Empire Defends Itself In a Big 40k Galaxy" and "How the Imperium Reacts to Invaders." Both videos are made by a channel called Arch.
Note about the Knights, and might as well add in Titans, the stability aspect is actually covered by Machine Spirits, which is actually almost a drawback at the same time.
Knights are, by far, the most mobile of the Walkers of the Imperium, running around at blazing speeds... relatively speaking in Titans. They are interesting in the idea that they are piloted by 1 man, a Precept, who is a decendant of other Knights who actually were sent out to assist in building up settlements. Yeah, those Knights you use are either original from the old days or copies of them on worlds by the Mechanicus. Titans are basically big Knights, and almost always manned by hundreds- or in case of the Imperator Class Titans thousands- of mechanicus adepts and has a garrison of hundreds to thousands of Guardsmen to avoid boarding actions, which happen quite often.
You should also see the weapons on these guys, there is a gun EVERYWHERE.
Yes, Custodians have in the past fought against the higher ups of the Imperium, or otherwise help convince the leaders guards to kill him (as they didn't want to kill misguided warriors, especially as devout as they were, and guess who they are now? The Adepta Sorroritas). They've also sides with Guilliman against the High Lords of Terra.
Another name for the Custodes is actually the Praetorian Guard.
There was once a Vindicare Sniper who spent 5-10 years hunting a target, most of which living on a statue for years waiting for their target to show up.
There exists Blanks of all genders, it just so happens the Sisters of Silence are all female. Adepta Sorroritas is the Ecclesiarchy's way of having a military might. It just so happens they are sectioned off by Gender. There is also Female Guardsmen regiments, but they are segregated by Gender as, if I recall correctly, mixed units are less effective than pure units (male at most effective due to genetics, no exaggeration, it's just biology, then female, woth mixed at the bottom (something about males taking more risks that didn't pay off to protect their team if I recall)).
The reason females are mostly within the Culluxes Temple is because they are genetically able to shift their body with less drawbacks. And they will use their sexuality to get closervto targets if needed. Culluxes take the cake for longest to do the job, but they are also the most desecret of the Temples (followed by Vindicare, the guy got shot by a gun... who has a gun in the 41st millennium? Basically everyone. It's the most natural assassination method to say 'Hey. Stop that.' And if it doesn't work... just kill the next guy who doesn't change the ways.)
In case of the Sororitas (everything happend in the 36th Millennium) the reason is Goge Vandire he was high ranking member of the Ecclesiarchy also a Master of the Administratum (forgot which one think something around the 350st or so). He was a mad man did a tone of terrible things "in the name of the emperor" of course and once he found a zealous group of women (most people thought he would order to kill them as heretics or something) but he tricked them with a void shield to believe in him. So they become his personal guard and got the best weapons and armor available. Later some Space Marine Chapters and other decided its time to end Vandire madness and attacked him in his Palace on Terra (most of the Guard did not attack directly but also did not try to stop any attacker). To everyone surprise those "Brides of the Emperor" as he called them hold their ground even against Space Marines. It toke month but then a Adeptus Custodes ask Alicia Dominica to come and see the golden throne. No one said what happend there but after that she went and killed Vandire (there is a famous quote what she said but its to long to remember for me -.-). Since they were tricked and found innocent of any kind of heresy or betray the brides were allowed to live. After that Sebastian Thor become the Ecclesiarch and he instigate the decree passive that wont allow to have men under arms in the future for the Adeptus Ministorum (Ecclesiarchy Military Force) . So now that he did not have any kind of military strength there was an opportunity, the former Brides of the Emperor. So the Ecclesiarchy recruited them since they are no men and did have an army again without breaking the decree. They were renamed Adeptus Sororitas and basically split in a lot orders. Like the Sister of Battle (Orders Militant) but also other who take care of the sick and wounded (Orders Hospitaller) with sub orders. There are a lot but i dont know their names without looking it up (sorry xD), some have to do with language, artefact restauration, choirs, even maid work to check for corruption in the noble houses. That should be a "small" overview why they are all female and some other extras. I did it without using google or wikipedia, (kind of a nerd here) so if numbers are not 100% correct or i dont add every detail 100% correctly i am sorry but not perfect. It is a very interesting but also long story i would recommend if you like to know more details to watch a lore video about "The Age of Apostasy" on youtube.
Bipedal is the most natural state for the human minds that are linked into the machine. Interestingly, only the knights are one pilot systems. The bigger bipedal combat walkers, called titans, have two or more pilots, called priceps for the main pilot and moderati for the assistants that do the boring stuff like walk, reload, manage weapons... the princeps does the fun stuff, like FIRING the weapons :D
Major knight house conflict is rare but not unheard of among imperial houses but there is definitely rivalries
The costodies are on terra and have access to the imperial household which can claim use of the psykers.
Blanks are most prominently appearing in girls but not exclusively a 8 outa 10 ratio about
So here's the thing about Blanks: everyone's soul has a presence on the Warp, Psykers tend to have a very strong presence. Blanks have an inverted presence. Describing them as without souls is a reasonable description since their Souls aren't like those of everyone else. But yeah, they tend to die early due to the sheer feelings of unease they cause in normal people. Psykers tend to get it rough already, but they don't have a *cannot be* field due to having inverted souls.
Fun fact in lore a custodes could probably kill 10 space marines before they could even react to what's happening, it would only take a squad or two to most likely be able to take on most primarchs and overhaul are just insanely powerful.
WAlkers exist cause of 2 reasons:
1- it looks cool as fuck
2- Thos emachines are piloted by Neural link to their pilotes, since most Humanoids are bipedal, it is easier to have a relatable "anatomy".
The Only "Walkers" Machines that are not Bipedal or piloted by...Pilots are Tyranids Large Organisms, like Bio-Titans cause...living giant creatures
And Chaos Daemonc Engines, cause they have a Daemon Bound inside of it that takes control of it and doesn't really care about "Anatomy" etc...
So Chaos Engines has like 6-8 legs, mechancical tentacles, Wings, anything goes.
Another legendary sniper would be Simo Häyä, aka The White Death. That absolute lad would sit covered in snow for hours waiting for soviets to pass, picking them off one by one as they couldn't find him since he camouflaged himself near perfectly. And that with only using iron sights, which he preferred over telescopic sights for various reasons.
18:22 2 instance when it comes to mind.
1 was the Age of Apostasy when an Achlisiarc gained way too much power and frankly went insane over time(he was an asshole before it too). The Custodes didn't do much for a long time but when everyone was at their door step they heared them out and decided that "Ok. This guy needs to go." So they took the leaders of the privat guard that this guy had, called the "Daughters of the emparor" which later renamed the Sisters of battle. And pretty much explained the situation and let them see the emparor (something that rarely happenes), we don't know what happened there but after it they were pretty on bord axing the echlisiarch.
Than they pretty much ellected another guy in hes place, who were much more fit for the position.
.
Also the leader of the Custods is actualy a high lord in terms of title as well.
7:25 By all account they can. Infact there are several minor civil war where 1 system is fighting with another over petty reasosns (territory, resources, presonal grudges) within the imperium.
During the age of strife worlds were cut off and technology and knowledge was lost, but some of it was remembered through ritual, and just because stc technology is usually very long lasting with little maintenance. So you ended up with works that were basically medieval for most of the population, but they had a few pieces of technology, like a few mech walkers, and the elite nobles might have some power armor and weapons they pass down through generations, making them godlike in power compared to the peasantry. They were called feudal worlds and this happened on quite a few human worlds. Planets could stay stable like this for many centuries before they were rediscovered by the imperium during the great crusade, the knights would defend the world against outside xeno threats.
Couple of answers for you from a semi-hardcore lore nerd.
-Custodes aren't Psykers, but the Imperium's highest echelons will have powerful sanctioned psykers all over the place. If one of them gets a premonition that Guardsman Joey McTwofingers is going to be instrumental to resurrecting a Primarch or will stave off a Tyranid Hive Fleet, the Aquilan Shield will be sent out to protect them from all threats until that task is done.
-Quote from the wiki: "As the doomscryers of the Imperial Palace sift the tides of the empyrean for warnings of disaster, they also take note of those who - through example, thought or deed - are likely to avert such catastrophes before they threaten the Golden Throne. These fated individuals are honoured with the protection of the Aquilan Shield, for in this way a small band of Custodians can ensure a significant martial or spiritual asset survives to act in the Emperor's defence."
-The Blank Gene is not gender-specific, just the Sisters are all female, you must remember that despite the Emperor's best efforts, the Imperium is up to the gills in quasi-religious symbolism, and just as much of these practices serve no practical purpose as those who do. There may be a specific reason for them to be all female, due to their nature of fighting daemons as they do, or there could not, the Imperium likely knows as much of the details as us and is just throwing shit at the wall to see what works.
-Key thing about Callidus Assassins, is Bricky said they "appear" female. Callidus Assassins use a drug known as "Polymorphine" to allow them to change their body at will, and considering the fact that in at least one instance, a Callidus Assassin used this power to swallow an official's baby whole while disguised as their nanny to kidnap the child and hold them as leverage over the governor (this is canon, and it can be inferred they've used this power in other instances as well we haven't heard of), whats to say the Callidus don't just use it to appear female when they are actually male, or may not even remember their gender, as a way of maintaining anonymity.
As efficient as wheeled, or even tracked vehicles are, they can't get everywhere. A combat walkers give you the potential to get the firepower and protection of a vehicle in environments where it is currently not possible. We are already experimenting with using 4-legged robots to carry equipment.
Bipedal dinosaurs and ostriches might also be considered when thinking about the knights, but yeah bipedal looking like a human mecha is kinda of easy to tip over.
I think a strong point in why the titans have 2 legs is in the name "Imperium of Man" the same way they use servo skulls and seem to focus on human biology.
It could possibly be for religious reasons the walkers look how they do.
Another advantage for humans to be on two legs is sight/lookout options (still not as good as a Giraff)
For what i know. The custodians are not king makers. They seldomly even exit the throne room.
Ironically it was a Vindicar Assassin that Guilliman used to end the coup. The assassin took all three traitors in one shot by waiting until they were perfectly lined up from his position.
Recommend Luetin09 Dark Beginnings which should help explain some of your questions of warp, setting ect.
Also since you like death Korps of Krieg, Arch has a good video telling their full backstory
Cool!
13:50 The main advantage to two leg mechs is that you get a thinner profile and more terrain movability than you can get with wheels or four legs. If there were four legs any attempt to cross high terrain will leave a unprotected underbelly and the inability to respond to incoming fire while two legs will just lift its legs vertically while keeping a somewhat stable platform.
The Callidus Temple uses a drug called Polymorphine that lets them change their shape with surgical implants allowing for more radical changes. This includes Xenos as there was a short story of one infiltrating a Genestealer Cult as another Genestealer. I remember but cannot find a source currently that women can use it better than men so that is why it is at least predominately a female assassin temple in the lore. I think the real reason is Games Workshop didn't want to pay someone to make an alternate model for a unit that already existed.
Shapeshifters - They can change their bodies to mimic other races. And Honeypots as well
Hell, much as I love Battletech (been playing Mech Commander and Mechwarrior 2 since I was a wee lad and do so to this day,) it seems something that heavy on legs would often just sink into the ground anyhow. "Crawlers" at least have a relatively evenly spread mass combined with our modern tank treads which are quite versatile in their own right. Walkers are awesome, but seem highly inefficient overall as far as modern tech goes.
Also, love your content, cool to hear what someone with knowledge and experience in terms of military procedure, tactics and general reality etc. is like. Certainly helps in crafting a believable story for the RPG campaigns aside from being interesting!