Leagues of Votann army rules, detachment abilities, stratagems and lore for Warhammer 40k, with links to the full unit datasheet table.
The Leagues of Votann are the collective confederations of the species of squat but powerfully-built Abhuman clones who refer to themselves as the "Kin". They are sometimes pejoratively called "Squats" by the Humans of the Imperium. The Kin are an advanced, starfaring species who possess highly advanced technology and live amid the extreme environments that mark the resource-rich worlds of the galactic core. The Kin share their lives with self-aware, robotic constructs called Ironkin, which they treat as full societal equals in every way.
The Kin have sometimes been misidentified by Humans and xenos species alike as different Abhuman or alien species than their true identity. For instance, the Kin have been mistakenly known to both the T'au and Humans as the "Demiurg", to the Aeldari as the "Heliosi Ancients", and to various other peoples as the "Gnostari", the "Grome" or the "Kreg", among others.
The Kin vary in their classification by the Imperium between a sanctioned Abhuman sub-species of Humanity or a xenos species. However, the Kin's earliest surviving records do establish an ancient link between their Ancestors who settled the galactic core and the sublight, generational Long March mining fleets sent out by pre-Imperial Old Earth, thus making the Abhuman designation the correct one. For their part, the Kin care little what others think of them.
Each of the Leagues of Votann are divided up into groupings similar to clans or nation-states known as "Kindreds", and are ultimately led by a self-aware machine intelligence called a Votann or "Ancestor Core". The Votann are treated as objects of near-worship by the Kin, and when they die, each Kin and Ironkin has their cerebral data uploaded into their Kindred's Votann, a semi-mystical practice referred to as "returning to the Ancestors."
Few intelligent species in the galaxy are as redoubtable, courageous or determined as the Kin who comprise the Leagues of Votann. Nor are many as ruthless when it comes to the risk-and-reward calculus of war. To face them in battle is to stand before an armoured avalanche that crushes all in its path. It is to be appraised and then brusquely dealt with by attackers who see any foe as little more than an obstruction, or else as a hated nemesis whose annihilation is worth any cost.
To those they fight alongside or trade with, the Kin are invaluable allies. However, those they deem a risk to their people's survival they destroy with the same relentless rigour that the Kin apply to harvesting black hole accretion discs, manufacturing their incredible technologies or, indeed, anything else they set their minds to.
The Leagues of Votann are huge and formidable stellar empires, united by a shared history, genetic kinship and culture. As the emergence of the Great Rift sends ripples of upheaval through the galactic core and beyond, they are coming into violent collision with the other starfaring races more than ever before.
For thousands of Terran years the Leagues of Votann have exploited the riches of the galactic core and overcome the perils of that tumultuous region. Over the millennia they have battled many of the galaxy's starfaring species, and sometimes traded with or fought as mercenaries for others. Now, as the galaxy convulses in the grip of the Great Rift in the Era Indomitus, they face new challenges, and new wars.
The Kin are squat, powerfully-built humanoids. They dwell in vast numbers within the galactic core, being not so populous as the teeming Humans, but far better established than the nascent T'au or dwindling Aeldari. They are a clone species; each generation of new Kin emerges from artificial womb machines known as "crucibles," which draw upon vast banks of genomic data to produce a stable and varied populace. Their numbers are further augmented by the Ironkin, self-aware, machine intelligences clad in mechanical bodies that are dedicated to aiding their flesh-and-blood fellows. To the Kin, the Ironkin are equal and valuable members of their star-faring society, both in times of peace and war.
Few species in the galaxy can match the Kin for resilience of body, mind and spirit. They are indefatigable, but also highly conservative. It takes a great deal to change their minds once their course is set, and those not of their species stand little chance of doing so. This makes the Kin implacable enemies. It also makes them valuable allies, but securing their aid is no easy matter. The Kin look to their own familial duties and obligations first, and ultimately to the survival of their people. If they deem the motivations of others to go against these particular interests, then they are more likely to become foes than friends.
As a people whose earliest origins lie aboard void-borne mining fleets, the Kin have an unforgiving moral code. A filter changed late; a weak seam missed; a water tank left leaking: these and a million other minor lapses can spell disaster when voyaging through the inimical void. Equally, to overlook valuable resources locked away within a stellar body, asteroid field or particulate belt can leave a voidship without the raw materials required to effect repairs or to fuel systems.
When waste, laziness or even simple error can spell death for all aboard, these become the worst of sins. From painful experience has emerged the rugged survivalist culture of the Kin, who find strength and unity in the endless quest to acquire the resources their Kindreds need to endure. It is this apparent acquisitiveness that has caused many other intelligent species to judge the Kin -- often harshly -- as selfish hoarders.
It is possible that the Ancestor Cores retain records of all Kin history since their earliest days. If such information survives, however, it is likely buried beyond recovery. Accordingly, even the perennially thorough and practical Kin have been forced to accept that -- after a certain point -- their ancient histories blur into myth and legend.
The Leagues of Votann are named in honour of Votann itself, who is also known variously as the "Primal Ancestor," the "Gilded One" or the "Stonemind," amongst others. In some Kin myths, Votann was not one being but many, and is sometimes depicted as a group of gleaming golden figures or a wheel of graven stone faces. In other myths, Votann fashioned the first crucibles, then raised the Kin up and sent them sailing into the dark void -- before oceans of fire and flesh rose to swallow them.
The Leagues of Votann are the largest socio-political polities of the Kin, akin to close-knit alliances or confederations among their member Kindred. As noted above, the first leagues were forged by those Kindreds that directly owned their own Ancestor Cores. The leagues initially existed only as military alliances intended to ensure the member Kindreds' precious Votann were defended, and they sprang naturally out of the already extant bonds that had existed among the original sublight Human Long March mining fleets that had settled the galactic core. Soon enough, the leagues evolved into mutually beneficial confederations comparable in their differing cultural values and territorial scope to true stellar nations.
Each league possesses sole claim to the ancient heraldic colours and logos of one of those original Long March mining fleets. Every Kindred that belongs to a league is thus entitled to display these colour schemes and sigils in whatever fashion they see fit, providing it is suitably respectful to the Ancestors. Over the Terran millennia, the territories claimed by each league within the space of the galactic core have become relatively set, while shared prevailing cultures, economic specialties and outlooks have come to dominate within their member Kindreds.
Typically, a League of Votann is comprised of six to twenty Kindreds, but this number varies greatly among the leagues. A powerful league will oversee vast swathes of space within the galactic core, controlling not only whole Hold Worlds and Mining Worlds, but also void stations, Kin flotillas, and other assets.
As the Kin possess no centralised administrative body for the entirety of their species, no one knows precisely how many Leagues of Votann there are. This troubles the Kin not at all. For them, it is enough to know that they are many and strong, and that every league -- no matter their differences -- strives for the furtherance of their race.
The traditions and customs of each league typically grow from those of its founding Kindred. They are also informed by the lore offered up by the league's Votann and -- on rare occasions -- by the unusual predilections or rudimentary personalities affected by these same Ancestor Cores. In typical conservative Kin fashion, what begins as a ratified charter or unofficial verbal agreement between allies, soon solidifies into traditions that all of a league's Kindreds are expected to uphold.
While some of the Leagues of Votann might appear homogeneous to outside observers -- barring only their heraldic colours and league insignia -- in truth, most are quite different culturally from one another. Many factors impact the nature of each league. Should its territories border an especially hazardous region rife with alien threats, that league is likely to adopt a more militaristic outlook. A league whose Kindreds are renowned for their Cthonian Mining Guilds or interstellar trade might possess a more cosmopolitan and exploratory culture. Conversely, the perils of Far-space may have rendered particular Kindreds cynical, insular and aggressive.
Some leagues pride themselves particularly upon their voidfaring capabilities, the forthcoming knowledge and comparative clarity of their Votann, or on their reputation as adventurers and tellers of grand tales. Moreover, every Kindred within a league has its own way of keeping its customs, and may choose to focus on one particular aspect of its league's overarching traditions.
Amongst the Trans-Hyperian Alliance, for example, the folk of the Kindred of Liminus Crag are famed as shipwrights of the swiftest voidcraft and atmospheric gunships, while Ukûlak's Kindred chose instead to honour their league's traditions by having every last one of their Kin serve at least a Terran decade as Hernkyn during their early years.
Lore excerpt from Warhammer 40k Wiki on Fandom, available under CC BY-SA 3.0.
22 Leagues of Votann datasheets on the current roster, each with its points, model statistics, keywords and abilities.