Squats in Specialist Games Rules and Magazines, Promotional Items, and Novels: Historia Squataticus Appendices 5 Through 10

Squats in Epic 40K Rule Books, Codexes, and Boxes

Historia Squataticus : Appendix 5

Adeptus Titanicus Box (Epic 40K 1^st Edition)

Included basic rules for battles with Titans and plastic Warlord Titans. I am not sure if any Squats material was included since there were no Epic-scale Squats miniatures available at the time.

Space Marine Box (Epic 40K 1.5 Edition)

Added basic rules for infantry and vehicle use. It also included Infantry and Transport vehicle sprues from the 3 available Epic Armies – Imperial, Eldar, and Orks. These were the boring sprues with basic troops and transports, Space Marines troopers with Rhinos and Land Raiders, Ork Boyz and Battlewagons, Eldar Guardians and Falcons (though this was the first appearance of the Eldar Falcon). 

 

At this point, I don't believe that any Squats-specific materials were included. But by this point the various Imperial Tunneling vehicles were available, so there may be some Squats related fluff comments.

Big Old Epic Armies Boxes

The earliest infantry sprue supplements were large boxes of what today would be an inconceivable bargain and variety in one set.

The Epic Armies Battle Group box contained 20 sprues.

5 of the second Space Marines sprue, with Command, Land Speeder, Assault Troops and other troop types.

5 of the Imperial Guard sprues, from when Beastmen were part of the gang and Guardsmen could fly like Space Marines. And Robots for both Marines and Guard.

5 for the Eldar, Aspect Warriors, Warlocks, Scouts, Harlequins. And in another case of Epic being the vanguard, the first rendition of the Eldar Support Weapon (labeled Grav-Mounted Vibro Cannons on the box) and Vyper (labeled Assault Jet Bikes).

And finally, 5 Chaos sprues, from when Chaos was wise enough to field many Chaos Squats in Power Armor with Bolters (5 per sprue) yet dumb enough to include Trolls and Minotaurs. Yep, Space Trolls. Why not some lesser daemons instead? We will never know.

Both Chaos and the Imperial Guard fielded Beastmen at this time, both of the boring Goat-Man type. IG Beastmen used Space Halberds or the popular Las Pistol and Space Sword combo that lasts to this very day. Chaos Beastmen used a Space Axe and a Space Shield.

The Epic Armies Attack Force, also containing 20 sprues, was a replay of the sprues in the Space Marine set, 5 Ork Boyz and Battlewagons, 5 Eldar and Falcons, and 10 Space Marines, 5 each of the Rhino and Land Raider sprue variations.

The Epic Armies War Horde box (20 sprues too) included the newer Ork sprue, featuring Command, various Odd Boys, Gretchen, Boar Boyz and the like. The Stompers sprues were also included, with their Mole Mortars. This box also included the Squats sprue, full of Battle Brothers, Thudd Guns, Bikers, and other masters of the battlefield.

All of the Army Boxes featured advertisements for the all of the Army Boxes, as did the Epic Battle Titans box. Thus the Epic Armies Battle Group, Attack Force, and War Horde Sets all show or mention Squats on the bottom half, as did the Battle Titans box.

In the early 1990s, there were large boxes of 10 sprues for the existing Epic armies, with some armies getting two (So there was an Eldar Legion box of Guardians and Falcons and an Eldar War Host box of Aspect Warriors and Support Weapons, but no Tyranid sprue was available at the time).

These boxes advertised the other boxes on their bottom halves, so the Squats Army, Chaos Horde, and Stompers are shown on the Eldar Legion box and the others. These boxes varied in color, with the Squats Warriors box being red.

At this point, the going name was Space Marine, maybe, as the Space Marine box itself was also advertised as “the core game of the Epic Hobby”.

Codex Titanicus: This book contained all of the supplementary rules that had been published in White Dwarf since the release of the Space Marine boxed set. I don't think there was any new material in here. This was the trend at the time, similar to the Warhammer 40K Compendium and Compilation books, as well as the 3 Orks books (Waaargh! The Orks!, 'Ere We Go!, and Freebooterz (Yes, beardlings, there was a time when Orky kultcha was so varied and detailed that 3 full books of material existed (5 different army lists!). Even an angry Squat will shed a tear in his beer at the horrible degradation the Orks have experienced since the turn of the century. Almost better to have been dropped from the game than turned into green gorillas with no sense of the value of a good set of teef.).).

If you believe the cover of this volume, this game with little men and many names was known as Epic Battles at this point. One must suspect that the Epic Naming Committee had been stuffed with representatives from the Tzeentch faction.

Epic 40K: Early 1990s Rules Supplements

Soon enough, the already scattered rules of the game-of-many-names were replaced by boxed sets full of rules, army cards, special power and weapon cards, counters and other cardboard critters designed for specific pairs of armies.

First released was the Armies of the Imperium Rules box, which included rules for the Squat-sourced Termite, Mole, Thudd Gun, Mole Mortar, and Hellbore. There were undoubtedly a plethora of comments about the Squats in here, but I do not own the set to provide the details.
The Ork and Squats Warlords box included rules and cards for all Squats troops and vehicles available at the time.
The Renegades (Eldar and Chaos) box featured rules and cards for Chaos Squats. More specifically:

Page 8 notes that allies are permitted, with Squats among potential allies of the Eldar.

Page 45 is a full-color battle scene pitting Chaos against Eldar, with Chaos Squats present on the high ground. Page 48 displays A Mighty Army of Chaos, including again our Chaos Squats, as well as some traitor Imperial Guard.

Page 66 supplies rules for the Chaos Android, more-or-less the first incarnation of the Necrons, but more-than-less a direct grab from the Terminator film.

The Chaos Android's “cunning construction is a secret known only to certain tainted Squat fabricators” working with Chaos Sorcerers, resulting in “a tiny bound daemon, [as] an animating spirit imprisoned within its plasteel shell [which] hates being trapped in this way and will do anything to escape”.

Page 69 details the critical role of the Chaos Squats within the Armies of Chaos:

“Chaos Squats are the armourers and artificers of the armies of Chaos. With devilish cunning they construct weapons and engines of war which defy sanity. Each new creation is magnificently built to evoke the correct aura of terror and majesty. It is thought that the Chaos Squats are responsible for the maintenance and construction of Chaos Titans and the fearsome Daemon Engines of Khorne.”

In addition to the technological masterpieces, “Chaos Squats also fight with unparalleled ferocity in the field of battle, favouring heavy fire power to slaughter their foes.”

Page 72 disperses the mystery, reporting that “the Cannons of Khorne are one of the most hideous engines of destruction created for the Blood God Khorne by the Chaos Squats.”

The back page provides the data sheet for Chaos Armies, including the stats for the Chaos Squats and their war machines.

The Tyranids Hive War box was the last released. I have not seen it, so can't comment on the contents. Though I'd bet my beard that it doesn't say anything about over-abundant snacking upon Squats.

Titan Legions (Epic 40K 2nd Edition (sort of))

This is another item I don't have. These rules were designed to be compatible with the existing Army Rules Supplements sets, so there is most likely an assortment of Squats content. The Titan Legion box included Imperial and Ork sprues and Titans.

Sometime around this point, the boxes of infantry sprues for the various armies were reduced to 5 sprues each, with the boxes featuring only information on the army inside. The Squats box is now orange, like the Super-heavy Vehicle boxes.

Additionally, in the early to mid-1990s, Epic 40K blister packs included color inserts featuring assembled and painted examples of the models on the front and brief black & white assembly diagrams on the back side. The borders to the color side of the inserts were the same orange color as the Epic Squats boxed items. The blister card backs were the mid-90s Citadel generic style - a Red back for new releases and a Blue back for older models.

I am not sure when the Squats blister packs and boxes were removed from the shelves and available only by mail order, but they were most likely off the shelves by the time the Epic 40,000 box of rules and miniatures appeared in the late 1990s.

Epic 40,000 (Epic 40K 3^rd Ed)

Published in 1997, this edition contains only wisps of Squat possibilities.

Page 41 of the Rule Book contains a picture of a Khorne War Machine with a strong Squat-like appearance.

 Coincidence or Evidence?

Sure, he's converted, but look at those faces

The Battles Book page 112 provides a brief history of the Epic-scale gaming saga, noting the grotesque complication that had been erected by the many supplement, with the mighty tower of rules becoming too impossible to maintain under the weight of the Titan Legions edition. The saga mentions the Squats Warlords rules supplement in its retelling.

The Armies Book contains much vague implication. Pages 24-25 provide the details for the Adeptus Ordinatus machines. These are known to have been supplied by the Squats to the Adeptus Mechanicus. Specific reference is made to Ordinatus Golgotha, named for the Squats Homeworld it was first deployed upon against the green hordes of Ghazghkull Thraka. Page 43 reports that Imperial data reports that Thraka was killed during the Armageddon campaign were false, as Thraka reappeared to continue his battle on Golgotha.

The Tyranids are described as “so utterly apocalyptic that nobody is safe, whether they are human, Ork, Eldar, or any other race” (page 95, emphasis added).

The book ends with encouragement to players to innovate: “if there's some troop type or army choice not in this book you should have a go and send it in [to White Dwarf]!” (page 111).

The wait for Squats rules would not be long, with an army list appearing in Citadel Journal issue 20, from Spring 1997, mere months following the release of the Epic 40,000 game. As reported “the demand from ardent Squat players was overwhelming” (pages 32-46, quote from page 35).

Squats in Space Fleet and Battlefleet Gothic Rule Books, Codexes, and Boxes

Historia Squataticus: Appendix 6

Space Fleet Box: Nothing in the very brief rules pamphlets. There were no specific space ships released for the Squats.

Battlefleet Gothic Box: I don't have BFG but it is most likely Squats-free. The same is likely true for the Armada, Invasion, Planet Killer, or Warp Storm supplements, as well as BFG Magazine.

Squats in Other GW Boxed Games

Historia Squataticus: Appendix 7

There have been numerous boxed games released by Games Workshop's, particularly between around 1985 to 1995. Many of these were under license (Judge Dredd) and are irrelevant for our purposes - though it is easy to imagine some Chaos Squats constructing a Radioactive Materials Mining, Manufacturing, and Mutation Facility in the Cursed Earth. Many others were based on the Warhammer Fantasy World (Oi! Dat's My Leg!) and would also require some warping of the space-time-cardboard continuum to involve any Squats.

Other games based on the Warhammer 40K Universe may have some Squats content, but none included Squats as a major feature.

Most prominent were Space Hulk and its supplements - Deathwing, Genestealer, Space Hulk Campaigns, Tyranid Attack – and Space Crusade and its supplements – Advanced Space Crusade, Mission Dreadnought, Eldar Attack. These games featured combat inside of space ships between Space Marines and an assortment of foes, most commonly Tyranids, but also Eldar, Orks, and Chaos. 
 

It is possible that Chaos Squats played some role in these games. Fluff-wise, the Chaos Dreadnoughts that were released for the games would have been engineered by Chaos Squats.

Smaller games include Battle for Armageddon (and supplement Chaos Attack), Bommerz Over Da Sulfur River, Doom of the Eldar, Lost Patrol, and Ultra Marines. Again, the most likely way that Squats may have made an appearance is as part of a Chaos force.

Squats in Specialist Games Magazines

Historia Squataticus: Appendix 8

If a publication or issue is not listed here, then I don't have it. But there is little reason to expect Squats material in Necromunda's Gang War, Battlefleet Gothic Magazine, or Fanatic.

Epic 40,000 Firepower

Issue 4 (2000): Termites, Moles, Hellebore rules p. 34-36. Letter on p. 38 refers to Squat Army List appearing in Epic Firepower 1.

There were only 4 issues of Epic Firepower before the change to Epic 40,000 Magazine occurred.

Epic 40,000 Magazine

Issue 2 (2000), p. 18-22: Rules for Super-heavy Vehicles, including the Leviathan.

p. 44: Index of issues indicates that the Squat Army List appeared in Epic Firepower Issue 1.

p. 48: Mini catalog with pricing includes Squat metal models – Leviathan (8 GDP/15 USD), Colossus (9 GDP/15 USD), Thunderfire Cannon (2.50 GDP/3.50 USD), Cyclops (10 GDP/17.50 USD), Land Train (7 GDP/12 USD)and Berzerker, Dragon, Bomb, and Mortar Battle Cars (1 GDP/2 USD each, that's a big gap between that Land Train price and its Battlecars), Goliath Mega Cannon (6 GDP/10 USD), Overlord Armoured Airship (6 GDP/10 USD), Iron Eagle Gyrocopter (1.75 GDP/3.50 USD). No indication as to whether both variants of the Land Train Engines and Battle Cars are available.

Issue 3 (2001), p. 16-17: Reader letter hoping for Squat Army List and production of Squat Titans. Jervis Johnson reports that Squat Titans are something he “can't see us ever doing”.

p. 19: Index of issues indicates that the Squat Army List appeared in Epic Firepower Issue 1.

p. 24: Mini catalog with pricing includes Squat metal models – Leviathan (8 GDP/15 USD), Colossus (9 GDP/15 USD), Thunderfire Cannon (2.50 GDP/3.50 USD), Cyclops (10 GDP/17.50 USD), Land Train (7 GDP/12 USD)and Berzerker, Dragon, Bomb, and Mortar Battle Cars (1 GDP/2 USD each, that's a big gap between that Land Train price and its Battlecars), Goliath Mega Cannon (6 GDP/10 USD), Overlord Armoured Airship (6 GDP/10 USD), Iron Eagle Gyrocopter (1.75 GDP/3.50 USD). No indication as to whether both variants of the Land Train Engines and Battle Cars are available.

Necromunda Gang War

Gang War Issue 2 (1999) Reprints optional rules for Squats in Van Saar Gangs from Citadel Journal 19, on p. 18-23.

Gang War Issue 4 (Jan 2000) p. 4-12. “Hi-Ho! Squats Miner Gangs” as Outlanders, featuring Prospector/Leader, Miners/Gangers, and Slaggers/Juves. Special Equipment includes Mining Demolition Charges, Chainjack, Mattock, Shovel, Lascutter, Rock Drill, Sonic Cleaser, Miner's Map; also Outlaws Trade Chart.

Squats in Games Day, Golden Daemon, and Promotional Items

 Historia Squataticus: Appendix 9

None of the items below have any Squats material. If a publication is not listed here, then I don't have it.

UK Games Day and Golden Demon Programmes: for 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2003, 2010 - No Squats.
White Dwarf Presents Golden Demon Winners: for 2003, 2005, and 2006 – No Squats.
Skulz Collector's Cards: UK 2000, North America 2001 – No Squats.
Forge World Catalogs – Nope. But the Mole Mortar and Thudd Gun have made symbolic returns in the Imperial Guard Death Korps of Krieg army.

Squats in GW Novels, Graphic and Otherwise

Historia Squataticus: Appendix 10

 

I have not read any novels, and only a couple of graphic novels. Since they were largely produced after the Squats were dropped from the ranks of playable armies, there are most likely only a few brief references.

For example, the Warhammer 40K Lexicanium provides an article on Planet Golgotha, which notes that the novel Gunheads, by Steve Parker makes reference to “curious artistic depictions in ancient ruins” on pages 228 and 234.

http://wh40k.lexicanum.com/wiki/Golgotha#.TuLLBfL6NdR

 

This dubious retconning parallels the cover-up of the Endor Holocaust in the Star Wars Universe (look it up, beardlings).