XV8 Configuration Naming Conventions
German translation, available here! Produced by minamoto and cross.mountain. Our thanks.

One Weapon Suits
One weapon suits mount a single twinlinked weapon and a support system (or occasionally another weapon) in the third hardpoint.

Sunforge (SF): Twinlinked Fusion Blaster
Deathrain (DR): Twinlinked Missile Pod
Burning Eye (BE): Twinlinked Plasma Rifle
Heatwave (HW): Twinlinked Flamer

Target Array
If the support system chosen to fill the 3rd hardpoint is a Target Array, a '+' is added to the standard config name. A suit with Twinlinked Missile Pods and a Target Array is referred to as a Deathrain+.


Two Weapon Suits
Two weapon suits mount two weapons and a Multitracker. These suit names were developed from the following rough pattern:

Plasma Rifle: "Knife/Blade"
Missile Pod: "Fire"
Fusion Blaster: "Forge"
Burst Cannon: "Storm"
Airbursting Fragmentation Projector: "Thunder"
Cyclic Ion Blaster: "Ion"

A few common examples include:

Fireknife (FK): Plasma Rifle + Missile Pod
Helios: Plasma Rifle + Fusion Blaster
Bladestorm / Blinding Spear / Aurora: Plasma Rifle + Burst Cannon
Fireforge: Missile Pod + Fusion Blaster
Firestorm: Missile Pod + Burst Cannon
Stormforge: Burst Cannon + Fusion Blaster
Thunderstorm: Shas'Vre Burst Cannon + Airbursting Fragmentation Projector
Ion Knife: Cyclic Ion Blaster + Plasma Rifle
Ion Storm: Cyclic Ion Blaster + Burst Cannon

Twinlinking
A teamleader or Commander can twinlink one of his weapons and hardwire his Multitracker. In this case, a numeric suffix is added to the standard config name denoting the strength of the weapon that is twinlinked. A suit with a Plasma Rifle, Twinlinked Fusion Blaster, and Hardwired Multitracker is referred to as a Helios-8 since the weapon that is twinlinked has a strength of 8.

Target Array
A '+' is added to the standard config name denoting the addition of a Target Array. A suit with a Plasma Rifle, Burst Cannon, Target Array, and Hardwired Multitracker is referred to as a Bladestorm+.


Three Weapon Suits
Three weapon suits mount three weapons and a Hardwired Multitracker.

Sunfire: Plasma Rifle + Missile Pod + Fusion Blaster


Other Unique Configurations
Ninja'O: Shas'O with VRT, Stim Injectors, 2 weapons of your choice and a HW Multitracker. Designed to assault into close combat, tie up shooty units during the opponent's turn, and then jump out to allow them to be shot at during your turn.
Centurion: Shas'El with Plasma, CIB, Target Array and HW Multitracker. Name derived from his even 100 point cost.


Troops and Vehicles

BASS: Broadside with Advanced Stabilisation System
DF or 'Fish: Devilfish
'El: Shas'El, Firewarrior rank
FW or FCW: Firewarrior or Fire Caste Warrior
GD: Gun drones
HH: Hammerhead
IC: Independent Character (not to be confused with Ion Cannon)
Ionhead or IH: Ion cannon-armed Hammerhead
KH: Kroot Hounds
'La: Shas'La, Firewarrior rank
'O: Shas'O, Firewarrior rank
P-BASS: Broadside with TL PR and Advanced Stabilisation System
PF: Pathfinders
Railhead or RH: Railgun-armed Hammerhead
SDT: Sniper Drone Team
SS or Stealths: Stealth Suits
SMT: Stealth Marker Team: specialised use of Stealth teams with T-Ldr having a Markerlight and team members in general taking Marker Drones
TL or TmLd: Team Leader
'Ui: Shas'Ui, Firewarrior rank
'Vre: Shas'Vre, Firewarrior rank
Warfish or Smartfish: 120 point Devilfish armed with Multitracker, Decoy Launchers, SMS and Target Array


Weapons and Vehicle Wargear

AFP: Airbursting Fragmentation Projector
ASS: Advanced Stabilisation System
BC: Burst Cannon
BK: Bonding Knife (wargear item has replaced general 'bonding')
BSF: Black Sun Filter
CIB: Cyclic Ion Blaster
DC: Drone Controller
DL: Decoy Launcher
DP: Disruption Pod
DPod: Disruption Pod
EMP: EMP grenades
ES: Ejection System
FB: Fusion Blaster
FC: Fusion Cascade
FD: Flechette Discharger (vehicle only)
FD: Failsafe Detonator (crisis only)
FL: Flamer
Flmr: Flamer
HW: Hard-Wired system prefix, BSF, DC, MT and TL
HYMP: High-Yield Missile Pod
IA: Iridium Armour
IC: Ion Cannon
MD: Marker Drones
ML: Markerlight
MP: Missile Pod
MT: Multitracker
PG: Photon Grenades
PIG: Phased Ion Gun
PosRel: Positional Relay
PR: Plasma Rifle
PSR: Pulse Submunition Rifle
RG: Railgun
RR: Rail Rifle
SD: Shield Drones
SG: Shield Generator
SI/Stims: Stimulant Injector
SMS: Smart Missile System
SS: Sensor Spines
TA or '+' symbol: Targetting Array
DL: Decoy Launcher
TL: Twin-linked, or target lock (should be obvious in the context, or you can use a colon to show the TL weapon--TL:PR)
T-L: Twin-linked, or Team Leader (should be obvious in the context)
TLHRR or TL-HRR: Twin-linked Heavy Rail Rifle
VRT: Vectored retro thrusters


Other Tau and 40k Abbreviations

40k: The shorthand of Warhammer 40,000.
ATSKNF: 'And They Shall Know No Fear.' A Space Marine special rule that allows broken marine units to automatically rally at the beginning of their next turn,
BRB: 'Big Rule Book' or 'Basic Rule Book', the book containing the rules to Warhammer 40.000.
In previous editions also known as : BRB 'Big Red Book', BBB 'Big Black Book' and/or BGB 'Big Grey Book' are nicknames for the 40k rulebook. The BRB is the 5th ed (current) version. The BBB is the 3rd ed one (though people call the 4th ed book this) and the BGB is the 4th ed one.
Historical note: there was a 'Little Black Book' in 2nd edition, but it was the temporary, pre-codex update army list book (similar to those in the BBB), rather than a rulebook.
BG: BodyGuard
BtB: Base to Base. Describes models whose bases are actually touching in Close Combat.
CC: Close combat. Another name for the fighting in the assault phase.
'Crons: Necrons.
CSM: Chaos Space Marines.
DoG: Death or Glory.
CoD: 'Cities Of Death' a supplement to the 40k rulebook for City Fighting in 40k.
FoF: Not 'fleet of foot,' rather a tactic called 'Fish of Fury.' See here for more info.
FSE: FarSight Enclave: An army led by Commander O'Shovah (Commander Farsight)
Geq or GEQ: 'Guard EQuivalent' Slang for troops with a 5+ save and toughness 3, such as Imperial Guard).
HtH: Hand to Hand (assaulting)
IG: Imperial Guard.
JSJ/J-S-J: 'Jump-Shoot-Jump'--the classic Tau move by crisis and stealth suits (and some drones) afforded by Tau jetpacks. Jump in the movement phase, shoot in the shooting phase, and jump again in the assault phase. This is often done into and out of line of sight.
LOS: Line of sight.
Meq or MEQ: 'Marine EQuivalent' Slang for troops with a 3+ save and toughness 4, such as marines, Chaos marines and Necrons. Most common variable in weapon comparison statistics.
Nids: Tyranids.
RAI: 'Rules As Intended". The 'common sense' interpretation of the rules, as opposed to RAW. See next entry.
RAW: 'Rules As Written.' The extremely literal interpretation of any ambiguous rules, often opposed to the 'common sense' interpretation of the rules. For instance, 'RAW' states that terminators don't have terminator armour, as it isn't listed in their wargear, whilst 'common sense' states that they do.
SM: Space Marines.
TAD: 'Transports Alternate Dimension': The place your models go when they enter a transport, and are therefore 'no longer on the table.'
TEq: Terminator Equivalent: 2+ save, Toughness 4
TLOS: True Line Of Sight: A method adopted in 5th Edition 40k for ascertaining if a model can see their target. "If you can see it , you can shoot it". There are specifics to be considered, all of which are explained in the relevant section of the main 40k Rulebook.
VDR: Vehicle Design Rules. A set of optional rules that allow you to design or modify vehicles. These were introduced during the early stages of the 4th Edition of Warhammer 40k, thus are somewhat outdated.
WAAC: 'Win at all costs.'
WBB: 'We'll be back.' The name of the wonderful regenerative powers that Necrons have.
WIP: Work in Progress. Usually relates to army lists, conversions or paint jobs that aren't finished yet.


Classic Internet Abbreviations

FTW: 'For the win'
FYI: For Your Information
IIRC: If I recall correctly
IMO/IMHO: In my opinion/in my humble opinion
LOL: Laughing out loud/lots of laughs
OP: Original Poster. The person who started the particular topic.
OT: Off Topic
TBH: To Be Honest
WTF!?: What's that, Fred!?
WYSIWYG: What you see is what you get: The requirement for any weapon/wargear upgrades taken to be modelled on the figure or vehicle. There are some exceptions to this rule: grenades, Hard-wired wargear, etc.