Commissar Yarrick
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Commissar Sebastian Yarrick is a fictional character from the tabletop miniature wargame Warhammer 40,000. To the people of the world Armageddon he is a hero, saving the world not once, but twice from the Ork Warlord Ghazghkull Mag Uruk Thraka.
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[edit] Early life
Like most Imperial Commissars, Yarrick was taken from his parents at birth to be raised and indoctrinated by the Schola Progenium. He learned the Ork language while fighting them on V'run. Since that time, he has extensively studied the Ork mind, and is considered one of the Imperium's leading experts on Orks.
His years with the Imperial Guard were eventful ones, serving in over a dozen warzones and with regiments from Necromunda, Luther McInytre, and Armageddon. His final assignment before retirement was to run the recruitment program for the rebuilding of the 4th Armageddon Regiment.
[edit] The Second Armageddon War
Fulfilling his duties on Armageddon during the Second War for Armageddon, Yarrick rose to fame defending Hades Hive from the Ork Waaagh. He had been exiled to the Hive after conflicts with the planet's governor, Herman von Strab, a move said by some to be von Strab's only beneficial decision during the whole war.
While the forces of Armageddon were devastated by both the savage Ork advance and von Strab's sheer inability to command, the forces at Hades Hive were able to halt the Orks, stopped by the well ordered defences hastily erected under Yarrick's order. Even so, the initial Ork attack, led by Warlord Ugulhard would have succeeded if not for Commissar Yarrick's presence.
[edit] Warlord Ugulhard
During the first assault on Hades Hive, the Ork Warlord drove the bulk of his forces towards Yarrick's position, and was able to engage the elderly Commissar in single combat. Ugulhard quickly used his Power Klaw to sever Yarrick's right arm at the elbow. The Warlord's victory was cut short, as Yarrick, fighting the pain and shock like no mortal man, swung his chainsword and severed the Ork's head.
Yarrick was said to have picked up and brandished the Ork Warlord's Power Klaw, inspiring fear in the Orks and prompting the Imperial defenders to surge forward and leap upon the aliens. Battlefield legend has it that only after the Ork assault was routed from Hades Hive did Yarrick "allow himself the luxury of passing out."
News of this incident spread like wildfire amongst the Orks, and wherever Yarrick fought, the aliens would flee in terror. Yarrick exploited this to the full, having Ugulhard's Klaw modified to suit him as a prosthetic limb. After losing his left eye to a laser shot, he had a pulse laser bio-implanted, playing on the Orks' superstition that he had an 'evil eye', and could kill with a glance.
[edit] The Siege of Hades Hive
For six months following the first assault, the defenders of Hades Hive held out against further attacks. Although recollections of the siege vary, it was almost unanimously considered that Yarrick was the man who made it all possible; he was the one who held the defenders together, the one who brought them back from the brink of defeat countless times, and the one whose belief gave others the strength to go on.
The time he bought at Hades Hive, tying up a vast portion of the Ork Waaagh and distracting Ghazghkull himself from his ultimate goal, made all the difference, allowing time for the reinforcing Imperial Guard and Space Marines to muster and launch a counter attack.
Yarrick was one of the few survivors of the final battle for Hades Hive, and it took many months for him to recover from the injuries he sustained during that final assault. He accepted nominal retirement, along with a training post on Armageddon. However, the knowledge that an Ork like Ghazghkull was still at large proved too much of a distraction, and only months later he reported back for active duty, vowing that he would not rest until Ghazghkull was hunted down and killed.
[edit] Golgotha
The tables were turned on Yarrick during the battle for the planet Golgotha. Ghazghkull devastated the Squads with such ferocity that even the Commissar himself could not stand against it. Yarrick was defeated and captured by Ghazghkull, who later released him, saying "Good enemies iz 'ard to find." Yarrick left the planet, but soon returned with a force from the Adeptus Mechanicus and the massive Ordinatus Golgotha, and routed the Orks from the world. Ghazghkull again escaped to fight another day.
[edit] The Third Armageddon War
Fifty years to the day of the previous invasion, Ghazghkull led another Ork Waaagh to Armageddon. Yarrick, following the trail of his nemesis, returned to Armageddon, and was granted supreme command over all Imperial forces stationed to fight the aliens.
During what came to be known as the Third War for Armageddon, billions lost their lives in a gruelling war of attrition. Ghazghkull was repulsed by the Imperium, and Yarrick was last seen chasing after the Ork Warlord, aided by an entire Crusade of the Black Templars Chapter led by High Marshal Helbrecht, the Black Templars' supreme commander.
[edit] In Game Terms
Commissar Yarrick's first appearance as a character was in the Battle for Armageddon boardgame, based around the events of the Second War for Armageddon, featured opposite Ghazghkull. Inspired by the game's backstory, Jervis Johnson wrote up special rules for the two characters' use in Warhammer 40,000 and Epic 40,000 games, making Yarrick one of the first two 'special characters' released by Games Workshop for the Warhammer 40,000 universe.
The most recent incarnation of the rules for Commissar Yarrick are available in Warhammer 40,000 Codex: Imperial Guard (Chambers, Haines and Hoare, 2003), the second Imperial Guard Codex for the third edition of Warhammer 40,000. The rules have received only minor modifications to make the character compliant with new rules and game structures since Johnson wrote the first rules for the second edition of the game. The character of Yarrick is portrayed at a point immediately prior to the Third War for Armageddon, and has so far received two separate miniatures.
[edit] References
- Chambers, Andy, Johnson, Jervis, and Thorpe, Gav (2000). Warhammer 40,000 Codex: Armageddon, 1st Edition, Nottingham: Games Workshop. ISBN 1-84154-045-5.
- Chambers, Andy, Haines, Pete, and Hoare, Andy (2003). Warhammer 40,000 Codex: Imperial Guard, 4th Edition, Nottingham: Games Workshop. ISBN 1-84154-410-8.
- (September 2000) "Best of Enemies". White Dwarf: Australian Edition (249). ISSN 0265-8712.
- (December 1999) "Defence of Missile Silo 51". White Dwarf: Australian Edition (240). ISSN 0265-8712.
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