Crazed Spirit of the Defiler
Austin, TX, USA
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10th Friedland Armored Cavalry Regiment
Planet of Origin: Friedland
Planetary History:
Friedland is a Ganymede-sized moon orbiting the only planet of trinary star system HD 188753 in the Cygnus sector of the galaxy. The planet is a “hot Jupiter” gas giant, with seven satellites of varying degrees of habitability. Friedland is fortunate in being the furthest one from the gas giant, with a rotational orbit so slow that the gas giant shields Friedland from the bulk of the radiation transmitted by the three dwarf suns. Existing in the shadow of the gas giant, dubbed “Umbra”, Friedland was initially discovered by a pre-Explorator mission dating back to the Dark Age of Technology. Discovering Friedland to be a repository of rich veins of heavy metals and radioactives, a massive terraforming project was initiated, with several centuries devoted to stabilizing the climate for human habitation. A nearly-lifeless and nearly-barren planetoid was systematically altered into a world with oceans and three continents’ worth of arable landmass. The project succeeded even as the Dark Age entered into the Age of Strife, as humanity withdrew back towards its home system in the face of terrifying civil war and a descent into anarchy, and Friedland was left to fend for itself.
Rediscovered through Astronomican-guided luck, the Imperium regained contact with the descendants of the original project 8,000 years later. Friedland had retained just enough technical know-how to maintain their massive terraforming stations and hold the excessive solar radiation at bay, but the systems had been breaking down for centuries and it was becoming harder and harder to continue upkeep on the great machines; the planetary mean temperature had risen by nearly twenty degrees in the last 350 years, and many on Friedland had determined that it was their fate to be boiled away along with what was left of their artificial oceans. Adeptus Mechanicus and Adeptus Ministorum aid was requested by the Imperial Navy to determine whether or not the inhabitants, kept in the dark for millennia, could be brought into the Imperium without the need to fusion bomb pre-Heresy technology. As it turned out, the inhabitants of Friedland welcomed the Imperium as a Second Coming, a miracle apparently spoken of as local prophesy as the last vessel had departed their system so long ago. Friedland was determined to be well within the bounds of the Emperor’s Blessing, and was welcomed into the fold wholeheartedly.
The Adeptus Mechanicus, giddy with the amount of knowledge they could unravel from just what was left functioning, promptly laid claim to Friedland and was granted it by the Senatorum Imperialis on the condition that it be made into a Forge World with an Imperial governorship placed in power over the system. For the last 2,000 years, Friedland has become not only a massive Imperial arms factory, but also an exporter of heavy ores and radioactive minerals to countless less-fortunate planets. Adeptus Mechanicus probes have visited several of the other moons around Umbra and discovered in their crusts a seemingly endless supply of essential raw materials. Umbra is spoken of as being the first discovered Forge System in the making, as plans have been put forward to begin colonizing the other moons once the Cult of the Machine learns to replicate the ancient terraforming technology that granted Friedland life. Their efforts have thus far managed to stabilize Friedland’s climate to within reasonable tolerances again, though the secrets of how to increase the radiation shielding to bring the planetary temperature back down are still mysteries.
Imperial History:
Friedland has reaped many rewards for its service to the Imperium, and its inhabitants are counted as almost fanatic in their loyalty to the Throne, rivaling even the fervency of Fortress Worlds like Cadia in their zeal to maintain Humanity’s domination of the galaxy. Since the arrival of the Imperium, however, Friedland has also been blessed with a noticeable lack of xeno contact within the system. Prior to about 200 years ago, the last recorded xeno contact within ten light years of HD 188753 was an Eldar Craftworld that passed nearby and departed without incident. Friedland had been deemed safe enough that only a minimal defense force, primarily Adeptus Mechanicus, had been sanctioned to defend the world, while its indigenous populace was trained to be tithe Regiments into the Imperial Guard; one Regiment even took part in the Macharian Crusade, serving with honor in the Lord Solar’s Sixth Army and earning distinction on Thoth. Within the past 200 years, there have been a pair of xenos-related incidents that have truly brought to light the dangers of life in the Imperium.
One hundred and eighty Terran years ago, an Ork space hulk crash-landed on Friedland’s northern continent, a leftover from a Waagh! from a different system entirely. Friedland’s small self-defense force was overwhelmed by the Orkish onslaught, and it was only by the grace of the Legio Delenda Titan Legion and a planetary-scale militia mustered over the succeeding 20 years that drove the Orks away from the gates of Neu Koenigsburg, the capital city itself. After the Waagh! was put down to the last Ork, Friedland’s fifteen-man governing council, with Adeptus Mechanicus advisors present, convened over a period of three weeks and hammered out the new and improved Friedland self defense forces. The next 100 years and countless expenses later, HD 188753 was transformed into a gauntlet system, and Friedland itself boasts nearly as many orbital defense fortresses and satellites as Mars. The Imperial Navy maintains a sector base within Umbra’s shadow, and Fleet Tri-Star maintains vigil over most of the Cygnus quadrant. A mandatory school of warfare was instituted into Friedland’s curriculum; thanks in part to the amount of war material provided by Adeptus Mechanicus, this school specializes in armored and mechanized warfare.
The second event occurred less than 50 years ago, and that was the arrival of Hive Fleet Leviathan from beneath the galactic plane. The tendril that reached HD 188753 was virtually obliterated by the system defense net, at great cost in manpower and resources to Fleet Tri-Star and the orbital defense stations. In spite of their best efforts, several thousand spores managed to pierce the atmosphere and touch down on the southern continent. In a matter of weeks, the Tyranids had swept the southern continent of habitant and defender, and the continent was quarantined to prevent any further spread of the extragalactic organisms across the planetary surface. Fleet Tri-Star regrouped and took the battle to the Hive Fleet’s tendril, smashing it to the last hive ship, effectively stranding the Tyranid host on Friedland. Other Tyranid mycenic spores were known to have dispersed throughout the Umbra planetary system, and it is assumed that while several may have survived, they are of no consequence while stranded on lifeless and barren moons.
Current History:
Friedland stands as a planet besieged within itself. The might of their naval forces maintain a constant blockade of the Australia-sized southern continent, allowing no Tyranid organism the ability to leave the land mass, while daily aerial and orbital bombardments stave off the Tyranid spore chimney developments and all attempts to convert the terrain into biomass or digestion pools. In effect, the Tyranids are confined to a zoo made of a cage of water and fire, for while the Friedlanders lack the resources to scour the continent clean of Tyranid life without risking damage to the southern continent’s terraforming stations or spending decades tracking down each and every Ripper, neither do the Tyranids have the strength to break the blockade. The terraforming stations under Tyranid control have strangely been left unmolested by the xenomorphs, giving rise to rumors and fright stories of pockets of Friedlanders trapped within them, surrounded on all sides by monstrosities, awaiting rescue even as the planet itself did during the Age of Strife. The governors have quelled such talk as being defeatist and improbable.
Friedland does maintain a singular applied use for the southern continent: training grounds. Friedland’s production of armored warfare specialists and units has not abated since the 13th Black Crusade, and their love of the Imperium and all-too-evident hatred for xenos have allowed them to begin parceling out units to other systems, equipped with the best the Adeptus Mechanicus can provide within Departmento Munitorum specs. What is not common knowledge is that in order for a Regiment to be considered ready for combat in any location within the Imperium’s Segmentums, it must first spend a half of a Terran year engaged in combat operations on the southern continent against the Tyranids. Friedland prides itself on producing some of the best tactical minds, strategic prodigies, and hardened veteran xeno-fighters for the Imperium, and those not able to conduct successful mechanized operations against the Tyranids for six months deserve to be biomass. Aware that the continued Tyranid presence on Friedland will inevitably draw more Tyranids to HD 188753, the system continues to upgrade and increase its defensive capabilities, even as the Imperial Navy lobbies to dedicate more and more task forces to Fleet Tri-Star to possibly use as a counterstrike to whatever tendril of whatever Hive Fleet penetrates into the galactic plane again. Life goes on for Friedland, twice found, twice blessed, and steadfast in their conviction that as the prototype for the Forge System it is up to them to show that the Imperium, like the Emperor, is immortal, inviolable, and capable beyond a shadow of a doubt that the Tyranid advance can be turned away and the Hive Mind driven back to the darkness from whence it came.
Regimental History:
The 10th Friedland Armored Cavalry is exactly what is says it is: the tenth Regiment of Friedland’s armored offerings to the Imperium. Composed of a 4-battalion unit structure, it exemplifies the traditional Armor trifecta of speed, shock, and effectiveness, combining armored force with mechanized infantry flexibility in a self-sustaining, self-supporting Cavalry formation. Backing the maneuver battalions up are a battalion of field artillery, a squadron of air defense assets, and a company’s worth of Adeptus Mechanicus field maintenance and technical support. Fleet Tri-Star has task-organized a flotilla of transports for the immense logistical needs of the Regiment, bringing the 10th FAC to wherever the Imperium needs them to fight. Most recently, the Regiment has been task-organized into Task Force Serpent, committing to battle on Medusa V, Rorian IX, and Gracia.
Command Group: COL von Mellenthin, Dietrich, Regimental CO
CSM Hauser, Paul, Regimental CSM
LTC von Seydlitz, Reinhardt, Regimental XO
MAJ Banton, Lewis Regimental S-3
1st Battalion (AR) – LTC Marbrand, Phineas, CO
CSM Schultetus, Fritz-Ryan
2nd Battalion (Mech) – LTC Eckhardt, Cedric, CO
CSM La Vesta, Wolfram
3rd Battalion (AR) – LTC de la Somme, Antares, CO
CSM Ogun, Inaba
4th Battalion (Mech) – LTC Roberts, John, CO
CSM Gyar, Juergen
5th Battalion (FSE) – LTC McEvoy, Kenzie, CO
CSM Stauch, Horus
Genetics: the first inhabitants were primarily Germanic stock, and have maintained a very basic sense of that throughout the millennia. Post-Imperium, the gene-stock has widened considerably due to the influx of new inhabitants from all across the Empire, but the core of the indigenous population remains Germanic, and the governing council takes great pains to ensure that it stays that way, arguing that only a Friedlander and the Emperor Himself know what’s good for Friedland.
Unit motto: Show No Mercy
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2000 points 