ADEPTUS ARBITES

The Adeptus Arbites are the keepers of the Imperium's laws and watchdogs of the far-flung empire of humanity. The Imperium is an organisation where rebellion and defiance of the Imperial will are Crimes Against Humanity. The Arbitrators are the grim and uncompromising reminder of the Imperium's presence which no planetary governor can ignore. They cannot be bought off or threatened or corrupted or negotiated with. Indeed the Adeptus Arbites goes to a great lengths to ensure that those recruited into their ranks do not serve on their own homeworlds nor anywhere within a dozen light years of home. They do not communicate with the citizenry unless absolutely necessary and only leave their great fortress-precincts on official business.

Should a planet revolt against the Imperium the Arbitrators will be the first to go into battle against the traitors. More often than not a rebellious governor will order the destruction of the Adeptus Arbites precinct on his planet as his first treachery and a great battle will break out between rebel planetary defence forces and the besieged Arbites. The one-sided struggle of a few hundred against an entire world should not last long and the result would seem inevitable but the Judges are well trained in their task and always ready.

During the rebellion of Ichar IV the Arbitrators held their precinct for twenty seven days before finally escaping via a secret tunnel and capturing four of the hive's power generators. These they held for a further six days before destroying them as the last of the judge's positions was overrun. When the Ultramarines Chapter of Space Marines arrived to crush the rebellion they found twenty percent of the planets ground defences inoperative and successfully staged a drop directly into the core hive, shortening the whole campaign by two months.

In truth the Arbitrators need only to hold out until their astropath has transmitted a message summoning help. Mobile fleets of Arbitrators stand in constant readiness to answer the call of their precincts and bring retribution upon the transgressors of the Emperors laws. Beyond them the entire might of the Imperium can be called upon with Space Marine Chapters and the Imperial Guard prepared to quell the fiercest rebellion.

Equally the Arbitrators stand ready to fight against the foes of humanity in the case of Genestealer infestation, Chaos incursion or alien attack. The well armed and rigorously trained Arbitrators make excellent troops and Squads of Judges can add vital backbone to the planetary defence forces. It is ironic that planetary governors who may have plotted against the Imperium for years are always the first to squeal for help when the Orks arrive.

ARBITES TROOPS ON THE BATTLEFIELD

The forces of the Adeptus Arbites are deliberately better equipped than those of either Planetary Defence forces or the Imperial Guard to discourage attack. Every Arbitrator is equipped with a complete suit of carapace armour. All Arbitrators also carry a bolt pistol as their standard side arm.

Beyond this basic equipment the specific armament of Arbitrator squads varies according to their mission. The most common armament for patrol groups, execution teams and snatch squads is either standard boltguns or the specially designed Arbites Combat Shotgun. Arbites shock troops are frequently deployed as heavy assault troops and carry the much feared Power maul and Suppression shield.

One member of the five man Arbitrator squad is usually armed with a special weapon drawn from the extensive precinct armouries. The most common choice is a grenade launcher as this offers the greatest tactical flexibility. Arbites squads also have access to a range of special grenade types such as photon flash, scare and choke, which are invaluable for crowd suppression and the capture of criminals, these have also proved very potent against poorly equipped opponents such as Orks and Gretchin, Chaos cultists and Genestealer broodbrothers.

Because of their heavy armour and (if armed with Arbites Combat Shotguns) their potent short ranged firepower Arbites squads are most useful at short ranges in dense terrain, either attacking enemy held positions or defending key points. They excel in street fighting where their small squad size enables them to make best use of available cover. Arbites squads are very hard to shift at the best of times and they can fight off the fiercest assaults with sufficient heavy weapons support.