- Field-Major Decker


Of all the fighting men and women that make up the 14th Xanderian Infantry Regiment, Field-Major Lexus Decker is perhaps the most revered and admired; a hard, weathered man, forged by the searing heat, black deserts and lethal wildlife of his home world, Xanderia.

He first rose to prominence during the siege of Bahr Primaris, a small but important mining planet under threat from an impending Tyranid invasion by rogue, outlying elements of Hive Fleet Leviathan. Already regarded by his superiors as a relatively competent, if untested commander, Decker (then a Captain) was deployed along with the rest of the 14th to Bahr's only settlement: the industrial city of Taniir. There they hoped to reinforce the existing PDF garrison, and hold any Tyranid invaders at bay until reinforcements from a nearby Naval battle group could arrive.
Though able to deploy successfully before any Tyranid organisms could make landfall, Xanderian commanders and planetary authorities were later left stunned when the true magnitude of the enemy force they faced was finally revealed. Millions upon millions of creatures had descended to the planet's surface, choking the skies with mycetic spores, and blotting out the light from their sun. Troops on the ground were gripped by terror, invaded on a scale that they had never been prepared for, let alone able to repel.

Tacticians calculated that available ammunition would run out before the fifth day, that defences and emplacements were inadequate, that food, water and medical supplies were insufficient, and that ultimately the garrison could not hold until reinforcements arrived.
With no hope of victory for the defenders of Bahr Primaris, all seemed lost. Many deserted or fled the city into the surrounding deserts and wastelands, only to be slaughtered by lictors or other vile alien vanguards. Others, civilian men, women and children alike, formed makeshift militias and made ready to defend their homes to the last. All were sure that they, along with the planet, were doomed.

It was then that Bravo Company began its famous march from Taniir; a last-ditch gambit conceived by Decker and supported by the regiment and it's senior officers, to manoeuvre around the approaching force and attack it from the rear, destroying whichever foul hive-consciousness commanded the assault.

With all Imperial orbital craft driven away by the Tyranid fleet, no air support able to function within the spore-clouds tainting the air, and without transport vehicles that could be relied upon to traverse the fierce sands of Bahr, most considered it a suicide mission, a suicide march. Kilometres untold into a barren desert occupied by millions of vicious alien monstrosities, out of communications range, without any form of vehicular support whatsoever. Many argued that no such feat was possible, and that to attempt the offensive would be a major waste of what little manpower they had at their disposal. Ultimately however, it was decided that the march would go ahead, in the hope that if successful, the Tyranid siege might fail.
A force of over two-hundred men led by Captain Decker set out from Taniir, farewelled by citizens on the streets, and equipped with generous provisions of food and water for the journey ahead.
Less than two days later, the city was besieged.

Defences on all fronts held out for three days.

On the fourth day, Taniir's Northern outer walls were breached, and fierce fighting erupted throughout the outlying streets and suburbs of the city.

By sunrise on the fifth day, almost half a million of Taniir's defenders lay dead.
Those still alive fought a desperate, city-wide retreat through twisted roads and burning buildings towards a walled-in fall-back position within Taniir's centre districts. Soldiers at the front held the terrifying enemy at bay with their last reserves of promethium, and requisitioned emergency danger-close artillery barrages to stem the overwhelming tide of alien flesh, hoping to buy time for others to reach the inner defences.
By nightfall, non-energy based ammunition reserves within the inner city walls were expended. Unable to recharge their lasguns rapidly enough to effectively repel the constant assault, many resorted to prayer. Others to suicide. Some of the more ingenuous threw flaming sacra bottles at the Tyranid hordes instead, dropped mines, primed artillery shells and improvised bombs into their midst, or poured fuel, oil, and other flammable liquids onto those too large or well-armoured to kill with lasguns or explosives alone. Men and women rotated to and from the walls, some sleeping or eating whilst others outside maintained the unrelenting defence. Meanwhile, children replenished weapon charges, and helped to carry the wounded away from the front, where overworked medics and civilian doctors extracted burrowing alien insects and treated horrific acid burns to the best of their ability. All had hoped for a miracle.

It was then that the hive-presence on Bahr had been suddenly extinguished, almost a hundred kilometres to the north.

Upon hearing the psychic death-cry of their leader, the besieging Tyranid hordes faltered, and began to lose cohesion. Confused and afraid, many aliens reverted to more primitive, instinctual behaviour, fleeing in panic, attacking one another and even feeding upon their own dead.
With the enemy forces in utter disarray, those inside the city took advantage of the reprieve, reinforcing barricades, helping the injured, and most importantly of all, recharging their weaponry. Strengthened by new resolve and a fierce determination to succeed and survive, the few troops and civilians remaining within Taniir pushed the enemy away from the inner walls, and managed to clear the immediate city area of xeno corpses.

After Imperial officials aboard the supercarrier Pride of Altan and its battle group arrived in orbit over Bahr Primaris, and eventually managed to drive off the large number of Tyranid vessels above the planet, they were amazed to discover that the garrison at Taniir still held. Communicating with the Astropaths aboard the Imperial fleet, ground commanders managed to coordinate, organise and carry out a mass landing of almost fifty-thousand Imperial troops, who then set about the task of exterminating every living alien upon the planet's surface. Attack ships strafed the city with barrages of gunfire and gouts of flame, systematically purging the outer streets of any alien organisms that remained there.
Beyond the city's walls were almost a million scattered Tyranid survivors, an enormous host of glistening, swarming alien bodies that stretched on for almost fifty kilometres across the sand. Targeted orbital bombardments from above annihilated their ranks, killing hundreds of thousands in a matter of minutes. Dozens of Guard regiments followed up the attack, sweeping across the desert towards the city, supported by armoured vehicles and gunships.

Over the course of the next twelve hours, the Tyranid hordes, broken and panicked, were slowly destroyed. Further bombardments and the massive infantry offensive into their ranks left them powerless to fight back, and by sunset, Taniir was declared safe once more.
Of the city's original population of five million, only one-and-a-half million survived the slaughter.

A day after the siege ended, a series of aerial transports were deployed to the approximate designated location of Bravo Company, guided by advanced sensory equipment aboard the orbiting battleship Darian's Revelation.
Once found, they were transported to the safety of Taniir, and welcomed as heroes by the soldiers and civilians within the city.
Over two-hundred had left. Forty returned, those missing lost to the desert, or killed in combat against whatever horrific monstrosity had led the Tyranid armies. None who fought the creature ever spoke of it to others, and were forever changed by their ordeal.

Decker, perhaps the most changed of all, was immediately declared a Hero of Bahr, decorated with the highest honours the planet had to offer, and was promoted to Major for his role in breaking the siege (although at his own request, he was permitted to remain the field-commander of Bravo Company). As a further gesture of thanks on behalf of Taniir's grateful citizens, a committee of the city's most skilled weaponsmiths presented Decker with a unique las-rifle, custom tailored for his use alone, and crafted with the finest workmanship and materials the mining settlement of Taniir had to offer.

As a result of their stoic actions on Bahr, the 14th Xanderian Infantry Regiment have become famous within Xanderian military culture. Even amongst their fellow sand-dwelling brethren, the 14th "Desert Rifles" are notoriously skilled at conducting operations within desert theatres of war.

To this very day, Field-Major Decker remains in command of Bravo Company, or the "Fighting Sandmen". Those under his command often refer to themselves as "Decker's Lot", or simply as "Sandmen", prestigious titles that they wear with pride and distinction.
Decker himself is a reserved, but quietly-intense man, a solemn officer who leads by example, and who isn't afraid to get stuck into the thick of a fight alongside his troops. He cares about preserving the men and women under his command, as any good officer does, but knows from experience that each must be expendable, that sacrifices are often necessary in order to achieve overall victory, and that ultimately a costly or even pyrrhic victory is still a victory. He shares this bleak mentality openly with those around him, and although many find his frank outlook on warfare confronting or unnerving, all accept the reality of life within the company, trust him implicitly for his honest nature, and are unquestioningly loyal to their legendary commander.
Where many officers would rely on discipline and order to carry their charges in battle, Decker instead believes in the power of ideas, and encourages free, independent thought within his ranks. He promotes those with initiative, leadership and resourcefulness, eschewing to a large degree the traditional values of blind and submissive obedience. Above all other disciplines he emphasises decisiveness and patience, preferring a steady, methodical and careful approach over the rushed and often costly tactics all too typical of his peers.
Because of this, Bravo Company (and to a certain degree, the 14th Xanderian Infantry Regiment as a whole) is a dynamic and often unpredictable force on the battlefield.

Forever scarred by his experiences on Bahr Primaris, Field-Major Decker has vowed to keep Xanderia safe from Tyranid infestation, and along with the rest of the 14th Desert Rifles, his Fighting Sandmen are often deployed to arid battlefields across their sub-sector as part of the Imperium's endless campaign against the outlying forces of Hive Fleet Leviathan.
All amongst the regiment are already veterans of such warfare on Xanderia, where monstrous lizards and insidious creatures rule the Black Wastes, and most of the Surviving Forty still serve under Decker's command. With such a wealth of experience at their disposal, the Field-Major and his Fighting Sandmen are invaluable to their commanders, and will never relent in their war against the Tyranid threat.

Under Decker's leadership, they will fight and die for the safety of their beloved home planet... until either the Company is wiped out, or the Tyranid invaders are.

One Company Command Squad may replace it's Company Commander with Field-Major Decker.



STATS:



Profile:

WS..... 4
BS...... 4
S........ 3
T........ 3
W....... 3
I......... 4
A........ 3
Ld...... 10
Sv...... 5+/5+



Wargear:

- Flak Armour
- Refractor Field
- Bahrian Lascarbine
- Bolt Pistol
- Frag Grenades
- Krak Grenades



Special Rules:



------ Experienced Officer: Decker may issue up to three orders per turn, and has a command radius of 12". He can issue the Bring it Down!, Fire on my Target!, Get Back in the Fight!, Incoming! and Move! Move! Move! orders, as well as the following unique order:

- Advance!: At Decker's command his troops press onwards, carefully and methodically, maintaining fire on enemy positions to cover their movement.

If successfully issued, for the duration of the controlling player's shooting phase any models within the ordered unit that choose to fire a Rapid-Fire weapon count as having been stationary in the previous Movement phase (for shooting purposes only), and their weapons count as Pinning.


------ Sworn Enemy of the Hive Mind: Both Decker and his Company Command Squad have the Preferred Enemy special rule (Tyranids).


------ Advocate of Independent Thought: Any non-vehicle units within Decker's company that are led by a requisite "Leader" model (either a Platoon Commander, Sergeant, Veteran Sergeant, Storm Trooper Sergeant, Rough Rider Sergeant, special character* that has replaced one such model, or of course, Decker himself) may always re-roll a single die when taking Morale tests (whether successful or not).

Additionally, any such unit within Decker's company that is issued an order (by any officer within Decker's company) may choose to undergo an Initiative test in lieu of a standard Leadership test (using the Initiative value of their Leader model).
Note that choosing to undergo an Initiative test prevents the rolling of Incompetent Command or Inspired Tactics die results.

Squads that lose their Leader may not use the above abilities, although these rules still apply should Decker be killed.

* These rules may never apply to the following special characters:

- Lord Castellan Creed
- Colonel "Iron Hand" Straken
- Commander Chenkov


------ Lateral Thinker: Whilst Decker is alive, any D6 test to determine whether an Outflanking, non-vehicle unit (or Infantry Platoon) from within Decker's company may enter from reserve can be re-rolled (whether successful or not).


------ Of Unshakeable Mettle: Field-Major Decker is a truly inspiring figure on the battlefield, rousing his men to courageous deeds from the frontlines, and imbuing those around him with a steady, determined resolve to succeed, whatever the odds.

All friendly units within 6" of Decker gain the Stubborn USR.

- The Black Guards


A Company Command Squad that includes Field-Major Decker may replace any existing Bodyguard with a Black Guard.

Hailing from a unique, elite regiment of only one-hundred soldiers, Black Guards are impeccably-trained, superbly-equipped Xanderian troops assigned only to the most important high-ranking field officers. Tasked with both assisting their assignment in combat and protecting him or her with their own bodies if necessary, the professional dedication and fearsome skills possessed by Black Guards have turned the tide of many a pitched battle.



STATS:



Profile:

WS..... 4
BS...... 4
S........ 3
T........ 3
W....... 1
I......... 3
A........ 2
Ld....... 9
Sv...... 4+



Wargear:

- Carapace Armour
- Hot-Shot Lasgun + Underslung Grenade Launcher
- Hot-Shot Laspistol
- Close Combat Weapon
- Frag Grenades
- Krak Grenades



Special Rules:



------ Look Out - Arghh!:

Bahrian Lascarbine:

Gifted to Decker by a committee of senior Bahrian weaponsmiths in recognition of his actions during the siege of Taniir, this unusual weapon is a work of impeccable craftsmanship, light, powerful and unfalteringly reliable in the field. Of special note is the carbine's bayonet: crafted from an incredibly strong metal alloy exclusive to the forges of Bahr Primaris, it's leading edge and tip are astoundingly sharp, and the long, curved blade is mounted in a way that allows the weapon to double as a lethal two-handed sabre or spear when fighting hand-to-hand with an opponent.

It has served Decker well, and his skills with the remarkable weapon are the stuff of legend within the 14th Xanderian Infantry Regiment.

Range... 24"
Str........ 4
AP......... -
Type...... Heavy 3 or Assault 2*

*Close combat attacks with this weapon count as Rending.




Underslung Grenade Launcher:

Mounted beneath a rifle's forestock, an Underslung Grenade Launcher allows it's user to address a wide variety of battlefield threats at a moment's notice. Though rare, wealthy worlds such as Xanderia have access to small caches of such weaponry.

NOTE: Though similar in principle to an SM Auxiliary Grenade Launcher, an Underslung Grenade Launcher may NOT be fired in tandem with another weapon. Though listed as a separate weapon, for all intents and purposes it counts as an upgrade that enables the weapon it's mounted on to use the following firing modes in addition to it's default profile:


Frag:

Range... 18"
Str........ 3
AP......... 6
Type...... Assault 1, Blast


Krak:

Range... 18"
Str........ 6
AP......... 4
Type...... Assault 1