1 00:00:03,279 --> 00:00:05,600 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff to Blow Your Mind, a production of 2 00:00:05,640 --> 00:00:10,480 Speaker 1: My Heart Radio. Hi, my name is Robert Lamb and 3 00:00:10,520 --> 00:00:13,920 Speaker 1: this is the Monster Fact, a short form series from 4 00:00:13,960 --> 00:00:17,960 Speaker 1: Stuff to Blow Your Mind, focusing in on mythical creatures, ideas, 5 00:00:18,000 --> 00:00:26,080 Speaker 1: and monsters in time. Last week on the Monster Fact, 6 00:00:26,560 --> 00:00:30,000 Speaker 1: I discussed the tyrannits of the fictional war Hammer forty 7 00:00:30,080 --> 00:00:35,279 Speaker 1: K universe, an extra galactic invasion fleet of biological horror 8 00:00:35,320 --> 00:00:39,040 Speaker 1: and hunger that seems posed to consume all the biomass 9 00:00:39,080 --> 00:00:42,640 Speaker 1: in the Milky Way galaxy. Indeed, this might well be 10 00:00:42,760 --> 00:00:46,519 Speaker 1: the ultimate doom awaiting the various civilizations in forty K. 11 00:00:47,120 --> 00:00:49,400 Speaker 1: But that doesn't mean they're going to go down without 12 00:00:49,440 --> 00:00:53,479 Speaker 1: a fight. Heck, as Games Workshop is quick to remind us, quote, 13 00:00:53,479 --> 00:00:56,360 Speaker 1: in the grim darkness of the far future, there is 14 00:00:56,440 --> 00:01:01,520 Speaker 1: only war. The imperium of man especially well suited for 15 00:01:01,560 --> 00:01:06,119 Speaker 1: such a conflict. This interstellar human empire covers a great 16 00:01:06,160 --> 00:01:09,080 Speaker 1: deal of territory in the Milky Way and commands vast 17 00:01:09,280 --> 00:01:13,960 Speaker 1: legions of military might, the Imperial Guard, a powerful imperial 18 00:01:14,080 --> 00:01:18,400 Speaker 1: navy of starships, the Almighty Space Marines, and various other 19 00:01:18,520 --> 00:01:22,679 Speaker 1: militant orders and planetary defense forces. By the time of 20 00:01:22,680 --> 00:01:25,680 Speaker 1: the forty K game setting, the Imperium has fended off 21 00:01:25,680 --> 00:01:29,200 Speaker 1: two separate high fleet incursions and are struggling with a third. 22 00:01:30,560 --> 00:01:34,280 Speaker 1: The Imperium's tactics are worth discussing here, especially as they 23 00:01:34,319 --> 00:01:39,319 Speaker 1: reference real world military tactics and scenarios. Both examples I'm 24 00:01:39,319 --> 00:01:42,039 Speaker 1: going to discuss here involve according to the forty K 25 00:01:42,240 --> 00:01:45,640 Speaker 1: lore in Games Workshops ninth Editions here in its codex 26 00:01:45,920 --> 00:01:51,200 Speaker 1: The Machinations of Imperial Inquisitor Fightus Kryptmann during the Third 27 00:01:51,320 --> 00:01:56,440 Speaker 1: Tyrannic War against high Fleet Leviathan. The authors of the 28 00:01:56,440 --> 00:02:00,360 Speaker 1: codex tell us that Kryptmann, understanding the knee needs and 29 00:02:00,480 --> 00:02:04,360 Speaker 1: aims of the Tyrannids, devised a horrific means of slowing 30 00:02:04,400 --> 00:02:08,640 Speaker 1: them down and weakening their invasion fleet. Since the Tyrannids 31 00:02:08,680 --> 00:02:12,919 Speaker 1: required living worlds to harvest in their path of conquest, 32 00:02:13,360 --> 00:02:18,280 Speaker 1: Kryptmann ordered the eradication of life on multiple occupied planets 33 00:02:18,520 --> 00:02:22,120 Speaker 1: in the enemy fleet's path. If the Imperium was able 34 00:02:22,160 --> 00:02:26,520 Speaker 1: to keep these planets devoid of biomass, Kryptomann realized the 35 00:02:26,600 --> 00:02:29,080 Speaker 1: enemy would have nothing to grow on and no fresh 36 00:02:29,200 --> 00:02:32,640 Speaker 1: biomass out of which to rebuild its forces. But of 37 00:02:32,680 --> 00:02:36,200 Speaker 1: course this strategy doomed trillions of innocent people on those 38 00:02:36,280 --> 00:02:40,440 Speaker 1: unlucky worlds. It was apparently even too harsh for the Imperium, 39 00:02:40,480 --> 00:02:46,280 Speaker 1: resulting in Kryptmann's excommunication. The Tyrannids, again, are entirely organic, 40 00:02:46,320 --> 00:02:49,880 Speaker 1: and while they seem to boast amazing hibernation abilities, their 41 00:02:49,960 --> 00:02:53,320 Speaker 1: voyages across the intergalactic void must leave them in a 42 00:02:53,400 --> 00:02:57,040 Speaker 1: hungry state upon arrival in the Milky Way. Even if, 43 00:02:57,080 --> 00:02:59,600 Speaker 1: according to the lore, they benefit from some manner of 44 00:02:59,639 --> 00:03:04,240 Speaker 1: space folding travel during intergalactic travel, they're still traveling at 45 00:03:04,240 --> 00:03:07,120 Speaker 1: the very least tens of thousands of light years to 46 00:03:07,160 --> 00:03:10,560 Speaker 1: get here, and then tens of thousands more within the 47 00:03:10,600 --> 00:03:14,040 Speaker 1: galaxy proper without the aid of space folding or faster 48 00:03:14,120 --> 00:03:18,320 Speaker 1: than light travel. One is reminded of real world accounts 49 00:03:18,320 --> 00:03:21,760 Speaker 1: of invading Western ships during the Age of Sales. Upon 50 00:03:21,840 --> 00:03:25,919 Speaker 1: arrival in new Lands and the New World, nourishment might 51 00:03:25,960 --> 00:03:29,320 Speaker 1: not be forthcoming, and even if it could be stolen, scavenged, 52 00:03:29,440 --> 00:03:32,600 Speaker 1: or bartered, for it was likely somewhat different from what 53 00:03:32,680 --> 00:03:36,960 Speaker 1: they were accustomed to. While the concept of eradicating worlds 54 00:03:37,000 --> 00:03:39,720 Speaker 1: ahead of the tyran At advance is a whole new 55 00:03:39,840 --> 00:03:43,800 Speaker 1: sort of horror. The basic scorched earth strategy here has 56 00:03:43,800 --> 00:03:46,800 Speaker 1: been used throughout the history of war. In general, it 57 00:03:46,880 --> 00:03:50,279 Speaker 1: is the punitive destruction of enemy resources, and in particular 58 00:03:50,560 --> 00:03:54,040 Speaker 1: it generally entails something like the wholesale destruction of agriculture, 59 00:03:54,360 --> 00:03:58,360 Speaker 1: the destruction of homes, and the poisoning of wells. Anything 60 00:03:58,440 --> 00:04:02,680 Speaker 1: to prevent an advancing army from successfully foraging for resources, 61 00:04:03,080 --> 00:04:06,720 Speaker 1: even if it means decimating your own territory in the process. 62 00:04:07,520 --> 00:04:10,560 Speaker 1: The Gauls used this tactic against the Romans during the 63 00:04:10,600 --> 00:04:13,920 Speaker 1: Great Gallic War, and the Romans used this tactic against 64 00:04:14,040 --> 00:04:18,560 Speaker 1: the Carthaginians during the Second Punic War. As ancient warfare 65 00:04:18,600 --> 00:04:22,400 Speaker 1: expert Dr Brett Devereaux discusses on his excellent A Collection 66 00:04:22,520 --> 00:04:26,800 Speaker 1: of Unmitigated Pedantry blog the availability of food and water 67 00:04:27,000 --> 00:04:31,200 Speaker 1: greatly influenced where pre industrial armies could go and how 68 00:04:31,279 --> 00:04:34,359 Speaker 1: long they could carry in a given region. He also 69 00:04:34,400 --> 00:04:37,279 Speaker 1: points out that while an army famously marches on its stomach, 70 00:04:37,560 --> 00:04:40,680 Speaker 1: other resources were sought after as well, including fodder for 71 00:04:40,760 --> 00:04:45,400 Speaker 1: animals and firewood. Timber might also be desired in general 72 00:04:45,440 --> 00:04:50,279 Speaker 1: in order to construct siege machinery. Upon reaching a fortified destination, 73 00:04:50,880 --> 00:04:54,520 Speaker 1: deny the advancing army this timber, and you might deny 74 00:04:54,640 --> 00:04:59,680 Speaker 1: them their more ferocious siege engines. For the Tyrannids, biomass 75 00:04:59,720 --> 00:05:03,520 Speaker 1: provid sides everything their sustenance, as well as the material 76 00:05:03,600 --> 00:05:07,320 Speaker 1: out of which their living war engines are born. Within 77 00:05:07,360 --> 00:05:11,919 Speaker 1: the narrative of warhammer Ford k. Krippman's choice was horrifying, 78 00:05:12,240 --> 00:05:16,719 Speaker 1: but perhaps strategically sound. Prevent an army, even a weird 79 00:05:16,839 --> 00:05:20,440 Speaker 1: extra galactic one, from feeding and fueling itself, and you 80 00:05:20,560 --> 00:05:25,320 Speaker 1: limit where and if it can go. Still. While the 81 00:05:25,320 --> 00:05:29,080 Speaker 1: Tyrant high Fleet slowed, we are told it kept coming. 82 00:05:29,600 --> 00:05:33,760 Speaker 1: Kripman's excommunication didn't stop him from fighting the war. According 83 00:05:33,800 --> 00:05:36,279 Speaker 1: to the Codex, his next act was to intentionally seed 84 00:05:36,400 --> 00:05:40,200 Speaker 1: a Tyrannid presence in Orc occupied space, drawing the Tyrannids 85 00:05:40,200 --> 00:05:43,920 Speaker 1: into what would be known as the Octarous War. This 86 00:05:44,040 --> 00:05:46,440 Speaker 1: was also a decision that at best only bought the 87 00:05:46,480 --> 00:05:50,760 Speaker 1: Imperium time and at worst made both enemies, the Orcs 88 00:05:50,760 --> 00:05:56,040 Speaker 1: and the Tyrannis, stronger due to quirks of their individual biologies. Now, 89 00:05:56,080 --> 00:05:58,640 Speaker 1: since the Imperium did not actually aid the Orcs in 90 00:05:58,680 --> 00:06:01,640 Speaker 1: their war with the Tyrannids, I don't think this would 91 00:06:01,680 --> 00:06:05,120 Speaker 1: constitute a true proxy war, but there do seem to 92 00:06:05,120 --> 00:06:07,960 Speaker 1: be examples from Warhammer fiction in which orcs and say 93 00:06:08,000 --> 00:06:11,800 Speaker 1: the Imperial Guard find themselves in a shaky alliance against 94 00:06:11,800 --> 00:06:17,680 Speaker 1: the Tyrannids. So perhaps either way, the octarious war eventually 95 00:06:17,720 --> 00:06:20,920 Speaker 1: overflows and drags in armies of the Imperium and other 96 00:06:21,040 --> 00:06:26,880 Speaker 1: enemy factions. It is, after all, a dark millennium. In closing, 97 00:06:26,960 --> 00:06:29,800 Speaker 1: I think the Third Tyrannic War is a very smartly 98 00:06:29,839 --> 00:06:34,240 Speaker 1: constructed sci fi military scenario. I do appreciate it when 99 00:06:34,240 --> 00:06:38,680 Speaker 1: an author takes a fantastic warfare scenario seriously, and as 100 00:06:38,720 --> 00:06:42,320 Speaker 1: long as they involve monsters, I would be happy to 101 00:06:42,320 --> 00:06:47,240 Speaker 1: discuss them on future episodes of The Monster Fact. We 102 00:06:47,320 --> 00:06:50,840 Speaker 1: have one more episode next week dealing with the Tyrannids 103 00:06:50,839 --> 00:06:53,440 Speaker 1: on the Monster Facts, so tune in for that. Also, 104 00:06:53,800 --> 00:06:56,200 Speaker 1: if you want to hear Brett Devereaux weigh in on 105 00:06:56,240 --> 00:06:59,400 Speaker 1: the imperium of Man itself, he was a guest on 106 00:06:59,440 --> 00:07:05,440 Speaker 1: the February episode of Chapter Tactics number one, how the 107 00:07:05,480 --> 00:07:09,320 Speaker 1: Imperium of Man compares to other empires in history. Uh. 108 00:07:09,680 --> 00:07:11,679 Speaker 1: This is a fun podcast. It's quite a good listen 109 00:07:11,920 --> 00:07:15,960 Speaker 1: if you are into either ancient warfare or Warhammer forty. 110 00:07:17,200 --> 00:07:19,400 Speaker 1: As always, feel free to reach out. I'd love to 111 00:07:19,440 --> 00:07:21,520 Speaker 1: hear from You'd love to hear thoughts on this topic. 112 00:07:21,800 --> 00:07:24,480 Speaker 1: You can email us at contact at stuff to Blow 113 00:07:24,520 --> 00:07:34,800 Speaker 1: your Mind dot com. Stuff to Blow Your Mind is 114 00:07:34,840 --> 00:07:37,520 Speaker 1: a production of I Heart Radio. For more podcasts from 115 00:07:37,520 --> 00:07:40,560 Speaker 1: my heart Radio, visit the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, 116 00:07:40,600 --> 00:07:42,400 Speaker 1: or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.