Switch Theme:

The Reclamation Crusade: Only War regiments and character ideas and short stories  [RSS] Share on facebook Share on Twitter Submit to Reddit
»
Author Message
Advert


Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you:
  • No adverts like this in the forums anymore.
  • Times and dates in your local timezone.
  • Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance.
  • Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely.
  • Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net.
If you are already a member then feel free to login now.




Made in ca
Longtime Dakkanaut




Wakined Wardens

World: Wakined used to be a little quiet jungle world on the periphery of the Rarken cluster. It's an agriworld of rather average size dominated by vast and deep ocean that allow the planet to maintain a very stable and warm climate. Most of the land mass is covered in vast fluvial plains, dense jungles and high plateaus. Wakined is extraordinarily eco-diverse. There is such an abundance of plant and wild life that even 2500 years after its colonisation by the remnants of 2 Catashan regiments liberated for their heroism, most of them haven’t been discovered yet. Wakinedans aren’t very numerous. There is around 75 million of them spread in numerous small towns and villages in fluvial plains and even within its jungle. Its only major city is its capital Darassela who houses 4 million persons. This peaceful and bucolic planet still sits in an important zone. It's close to the Ork Empire of the Arch Arsonist and has been threaten numerous time of invasion by migrating Orks. Fortunately for the planet, only four minor incursion happened on Wakined thanks to the much more tempting targets that are Cerisa and Gaern. This has lead Wakined to never require a formal standing military to protect itself and made it more prosperous than most planet of the Imperium. Its export of grains, fruits, vegetable, high quality timber and medicinal products are vital to most of the planets of the cluster. During the Hunger War, Wakinedans joined Sastar forces when immense food supplies were required from the planet has tithe, menacing future harvests. Due to its strategic importance since its close to Gaern and hold a door to Ork territory, it was amongst the first world to be attacked and reclaimed almost without combat by the Reclamation Crusade. The local governor, his family as well as several other leaders were executed for their betrayal, sending some of their close supporter in the wild to hide. The rest of the population return to the fold of the Imperium who has treated them strangely nicely. Imperial sentiment when a massive Ork forces arrived on Wakined with the intent of joining the action. The Orks have accepted bribes from the Free Realm to focus their attacks on the Imperium, transforming this once peaceful planet into the third most important warzone in the Free Realm. A few regiments of the Free Realms Danatusian Dragoons and Krasuan Lions were deployed on the planet to make sure the Orks mercenary hold their end of the bargain and protect the local population from these very untrustworthy allies.

Wakinedans are a rather homogenous group of easily recognisable people. Their Catashan ancestry is still very visible, but much easier living conditions have lessened them. The vast majority of the population is very dark skinned, but some have lighter shades of dark skin and a small minority has golden skin. Their eyes and hairs are also similarly dark. Both men and women keep their hairs at shoulder length, but sometime even longer and fashion them most often in dreads or cornrows. Some will prefer to shave their hairs off, especially those working extensively in fields where shadow is rare and the sun can be quite burning. Like their Catashan ancestors, Wakinedans are extremely tall and muscular. The average man measures around 6 ft 3 inches and weight almost 200 lb. Women are slightly smaller but significantly lighter. Wakinedans are laconic people and tend to have pretty tough manners even if they are at heart generous and fiercely protective of their own. Despite this, their appearance and manners have frequently brought them the epithet of dim witted brutes, giant simpleton and potentially dangerous people. Of course, those who know them better know they are far from these stereotypes. Wakinedans are actually well educated, but value action more than speech, for the later should be used only to say meaningful things, not drown the world in constant blabbering of idiots and pedants. This trait is common amongst all classes of the Wakined society. Clothing on the planet is extremely diverse but the good old army pants and light shirt Catashan fashion remains one of the most popular even amongst the higher class who could afford much better. Wakinedans are simply much more liberal when it comes to color and camouflage design. Education on the planet is mandatory for all children aged between 6 and 16 years old and focus on mathematic, literacy, religious study, liberal arts and zoology. The education system of them planet favors a lot community work and practical exercises. It’s not rare to see students in field trips for days at a time and spend little time within the walls of their schools. After their mandatory schooling, most of the children will search a job in agriculture, but other will go to more advanced schools to work in more complex domains. Lord governors and provincial governors are elected by all adults over 30 years every 8 years. Wakinedans have the reputation to be honest, earnest people who know much more than they let show and that one should not underestimate to quickly. This proved to be true for their first permanent military forces, created a mere five years ago.

Wakined Wardens: For its entire history Wakined was defended by a militia called the Wardens. Militia training isn’t mandatory but is highly recommended and open for all men of over 20 years old who meet basic fitness requirement that pretty much all men slightly more in shape than the norm can achieve. The training used to last 9 weeks and covered basic combat training and field craft. The first Wardens were well known to serve as conservationists, pathfinders, guards and police officers in remote regions and jungles. They were those in charge of culling dangerous predators and rescue people in distress in case of natural disaster. They did saw combat on a few occasion but never outside the planet. The Imperium never judged a necessity for Wakined to give a tithe in soldiers, preferring to extract more food from the planet. They did fight Orks on several occasions in the past. They proved to be capable of dealing with them by throwing them in ambushes, picking them off with snipers and assaulting them with the help of a few scout sentinels. This militia would be pivotal in Wakined overthrowing Imperial Rule during the Hunger War. Reclamation of food was so harsh on Wakined that several granaries were completely emptied, leaving numerous isolated rural zone to be completely without food despite the fact the planet is incredibly lush. Food riots and mass migrations were inevitable as was resistance to further tithing. Since rural zones had larger militia, the Wardens became to rebel and defeat the small Imperial forces who were attempting to enforce the tithe. The Lord Governor rallied Sastar and Wakined became part of the Free Realm of Rarken, only two provinces remained loyal to the Imperium but no important combat broke out between the two groups. That was until the Reclamation Crusade forces landed on Wakined; resistance from the militia loyal to Sastar was quick to be vanquished. Most of the population rallied the Imperium in the final days of the invasion and helped capture their Lord Governor who was executed. Some rebellious elements fled in the jungle to continue the fight. Meanwhile, the Imperium allowed the return of Wakined without much purges in exchange of it providing military forces to the Crusade. The Wardens became a permanent military force and several regiment were tithed to Imperial Guard. It became even more important when Wakined was transformed in a massive warzone when Ork mercenaries invaded it. Now, the once peaceful planet is plunged in the horror of wars and its soldiers engaged in brutal jungle fighting against more and more numerous enemies. The Wakined Wardens can look up to their allies for support, experience and training in exchange of which they can provide their local knowledge.

Training for the current Wakined Wardens has been increased to meet the more rigorous requirements of the Imperial Guard, but also to adapt to the danger of the war on the planet itself. Yet, they couldn’t make it last years like it’s the case on some other planets due to express needs for more troops. It lasts 12 weeks and is open to all men above the age of 20. Recruits are usually volunteers, but a few were forced to be enlisted, but such a measure is exceptional as conscript are not very well seen within Wakined Warden units. Training is rather intensive and focus on military discipline, combat training, pathfinding and basic tactics. All these elements are thought more or less in that order. Recruits train in various military base, camps and barracks in which they also live. Like for everything else on the planet, training focuses on practice more than anything else. Some targets on shooting ranges are actual live gretchins or orks that were captured. Most of the training is given, as per usual, by veteran Wardens, but since they are also expected to produce guardsmen, Imperial Commissars were dispatched in good numbers to ensure that in those 12 weeks’ recruits would have the proper instruction to fight the horror of a galaxy torn apart by war, a sight that was long forgotten on the formerly peaceful and tranquil Wakined. Other advisors were also brought in, amongst them Catashan jungle fighters who were more than willing to share their experience with the descendant of brave Catashans, but were disappointed to see that their warrior spirit didn’t survive 2000 years of peace. Training evaluation ends with a single week of deployment in a battleground of Wakined under heavy supervision. Should the regiment hold its own, they will be considered proper guardsmen. Thanks to their natural aptitudes and good level of motivation, Wakined Wardens are much more tenacious foes than one might expect and are a very resourceful light infantry, but their performance seems to drop when they are fighting outside of their homeworld which happened to a four regiment so far. High Command sees them as reasonably performant cannon fodder and will used them as such. Their high ranking officers are not trusted to command without close supervision from a Commissar yet, but several units were decorated for their courage and their cleverness. They are starting to earn the respect of highly praised regiments like the Arglanic Slayers and the Cerisan Wolves.

The standard equipment for a Wakined Warden is pretty simple and light as its befitting for a light infantry regiment. It cost almost nothing to produce and even less to repair. The entire kit is known to be rugged and efficient. They wear cargo pants in green camouflage colors, solid boots and a short armored sleeveless vest of matching color. Wardens don’t have helmets much like their Catashan ancestor. They prefer to wear a black beret with the sigil of the warden, a male grox. Veteran units wear a green beret. Their lasgun is a classic Catashan design with an wooden stock. Their sole close combat weapon is a mono-edge knife. Their kit is relatively small and includes a few traditional tools for pathfinding. They do not carry in form of devotional trinket as to not be located by the shine of jewelry.

«The Firsts»: The Wakined Warden 1st has been created five years ago from an already blooded regiment of militia that participated in the pro-Imperium resistance. Its troops, unlike most other Wardens have extensive experience of combat and are by far and large their very best unit. They have earned several commendations for their operations against Orks, but also for their steadfast support to the Imperium. Their most recent operation has seen them serving as scouts for a few other Wardens regiments in a long trek in the most dangerous part of the jungle of their southern province to launch a surprise assault against an Ork encampment. The Firsts then assaulted their squig pen and released a massive armored beast who ran hammock through the Ork base, killing hundred of them and even destroying a pair of massive dreadnoughts. The attack was an enormous success and could have proven to be deadly blow to the invader if they didn’t receive important reinforcements in the shape of an exiled Blood Axe Klan. Later, the Firsts got involved in the ferocious battle for Hill 22, a nameless mount close to an important hydroelectric dam. Isolated on top of the hill, they fought against a massive Ork forces supported by artillery from the Krasuan Lions. They held their position for 9 days without reinforcement and supplies, scavenging for ammunition and simply holding firm. Finally, the Arglanic Slayers arrived at their rescue and routed the enemy. Its during this engagement that Morgan Thornbull rose to the rank of colonel after the death of the former. He is very well known and loved by the 4000 men under his command. He is also the most decorated soldier on Wakined and is suspected to be raised further in ranks as he was evaluated very positively by Commissars who now trust him to command without any form of supervision, a first for a Wakined regiment, but a thing that will probably much more frequent as many officers seek to emulate the “Black Panther” as he was nicknamed.

Moto: I believe in hope. I believe in the Emperor. I believe in victory.

Type: Frontier World (+3 agility, +3 perception, Combat Sense), Light Infantry (+3 agility, -3 fellowship, Sprint), Maverick (resistance fear), Survivalist (Jungle), Die Hard (Toughness), Conscript Favorite Weapons (flamer, autocanon)

This message was edited 5 times. Last update was at 2018/04/25 16:41:21


 
   
Made in ca
Longtime Dakkanaut




Mishkar Marines

World: Mishkar is a habitable moon of an enormous gas giant named Bahelal. It's an extremely old world colonised during the Age of Strife by a relatively small population fleeing the installations of Bahelal. Of them, only husks inhabited by what looks to be mutants or maybe hybrid tyranid monstrosities remain. Mishkar itself is an extremely lush and temperate planet dominated by vast seas, with a single rather small continent surrounded by islands of various sizes. While Mishkar is an ancient planet, its population remains relatively small at around 200 million inhabitants. It also has a high level of technological knowledge that allows it to be very self sufficient and clean. Living condition on the moon are thus excellent. The vast majority of the population live within cities the largest of which occupy the entire surface of a small island complete with gardens and waterfalls. Life on Mishkar is pretty peaceful and the tithe rather low. The major product of exportation is white marble, salt and fish. Mishkar isn’t required to send a tithe of soldier to the Imperium, but a few regiments have volunteered to leave the planet in support to others. Mishkar fell in a loophole in the Administratum and was never touched by the increase in tithe that triggered the Hunger War. As such, it never rebelled fully against the Imperium, but some elements on the planet were willing to join the Free Realm. When the Imperium launched the Reclamation Crusade and used Mishkar as a rest station for injured and exhausted regiments, pro-Imperial sentiment got on the rise, this helped convince Mishkar to accept a higher tithe, including in soldiers from their palace guard, the “famous” Mishkar Marines.

Mishkari are a very homogenous group. It’s believed the entire population of the planet are descendant of only 50 to 60 different couples. All of them a have fair skin with very little blemish thanks to good living conditions. A minority of them do have a coppery skin. Most Mishkari have dark strait hairs with black being the most common with deep brown. There is a small minority of blonde hair people. They are of average size with men standing around 5 ft 9 while women are around 3 inches smaller. Due to a rather light diet, mostly made of fish and vegetable they tend to be rather light with an average weight of 150 lb for men. Clothing on Mishkar can be rather diverse and varies enormously between men and women. There is no significant difference between rich and poor citizen, but those with more means will have clothes of higher quality and wear jewelry. Men usually wear simple pants or short with shirts of matching color, over them, they will wear a sash sometime decorated by medallions or buckle that surround their hips and wrap around one of their shoulder and wear heavy sandals. Temperature is relatively high all year around in the most populated area, but in more northern latitude the sash is frequently replaced by a coat of similar design and the sandals by heavy socks. Women prefer to wear short dresses with sandals that wrap around their legs up to the knees. Both sexes will wear jewelry if they have the means to afford it. Rings and bracelets are particularly popular amongst men while women prefer hearings and pendants. Member of the aristocracy, the leaders of the planet, will wear a circlet to indicate their rank that will sometime bear a discrete family crest to show their position. The planet is ruled by a senate that regroup one representative, the patrician, of each major aristocratic house and who themselves have full autonomy over one of their territory. Only one women sits in the senate as a representative of their military. Mishkari are well educated with mandatory schooling for all children of age 7 to 18 years old. Schools they attend to focus on literacy, mathematic, rhetoric, religious and philosophical studies, natural sciences after this period of study, the young adults can move to study in an academy to learn particular trade or find a low qualification job as a fisherman or low level bureaucrat for example. Mishkari society is rather patriarchal and give less opportunities for women to study or achieve high position, but a few exceptions exist. For most young women, one of the best way to get any rank and status is to be selected to become a Mishkar Marines, the bodyguards and police force of the various patricians of the planet.

Mishkar Marines: The history and formation of the Mishkar Marines is shrouded in mystery and myth, but can be traced back to millennia in the past. In fact, the first Marines pre-date the Great Crusade and some of them have fought shoulder to shoulder with Ultramarines and Guilliman himself. Mishkar Marines always were exclusively female which might strike to be odd in a patriarchal society. The very first Mishkar Marines would have been three sisters who were the daughters of a former security officer on Bahelal. They were responsible for saving the fledgling colony by killing a band of monster who had followed them from their former home world by ambushing them a cutting them down with precise las fire. Another event talks about an angry mob attacking a patrician estate that was pushed back by a few dozens of women, amongst them his daughters, nieces and mistresses. One of his mistresses would even have sacrificed her life by taking the poison blade of an assassin before shooting him at point blank range with her scavenged pistol. These story built up the myth of warrior women as protector and ultimately loyal bodyguards. Yet, the most historically testified genesis of the Mishkar Marines placed them shortly after the Horus Heresy. A cult of Slaanesh had emerged on the planet by subjugating two patricians and throwing them at war against one another and the population. The first ones to rise against these monster was an isolated community of women, mostly ex prisoners, wives or bride to be fleeing unhappy marriage or simply anti-conformists living on a small island close to the main continent. The cultists proved to be incapable of corrupting them and even failed to destroy them despite their small numbers. Armed only with a few lasguns, shields, pistols and swords, they pushed back the Chaos cultists and took the fight to the enemy on the continent. They managed to make a successful amphibious assault and seize a weapon depot of the palace guard of a corrupted patrician and armed themselves better. Their leader, “commander” Artemis knew that a few hundred women, even if well armed and motivated could not end the war on Mishkar, but she new that by seizing the astropathic tower of the capital of Aera, she could send a distress signal to Maccrage and hope for help. She did manage to seize the tower thanks to a daring drop and fierce combat, liberating the remaining astropaths and could send her distress signal which was heard. The war would last two more years, but with two full company of Ultramarines at their side, led by their Primarch, victory was inevitable. Artemis was personally rewarded by Guilliman for her bravery and initiative. She is almost considered a Saint on Mishkar today. After this event, it was decided that Mishkar would have a single military under the, symbolic, command of each patrician who could use them to ensure the security of his own domain all of which supervised by the High Commander, the real leader of the Mishkar Marines and sole women in the Senate. By tradition, all Mishkar Marines are women and they serve mostly as palace guards or security officers during important events or around their private domains. They remain well armed and reasonably well trained, but lack proper combat experience. Today Mishkar Marines are recruited amongst extremely beautiful young women of college age. This led this forces to be more well known for their magazine pictures which are extremely popular amongst many guardsmen. With the war in the Free Realm intensifying, the Mishkar Marines stated to see active combat again and a permanent tithe of solider was imposed on the planet.

Recruitment requirements for the Mishkar Marines is a bit peculiar when compared to that of other planets. They are recruited from volunteer women between the age of 18 to 26 years old. To help make volunteer more numerous, these will be offered a tuition in any academy of their choice, even those that are technically closed to women. They must meet a strict series of physical requirements that gets very technical and aim to recruit only very tall and extremely beautiful women. Should they accept the offer presented to them, they will be moved to special academy, the same for all them no matter where they are going to serve afterward which is situated on the same island on which Artemis herself grew up. Training last for 15 weeks and focus mostly on physical conditioning, combat training, bodyguard training, anti rioting tactics, ceremonial duties and aerial or amphibious assault which are frequently used during spectacles to show-off their skills and the power of a patrician. Training is given by former Mishkar Marines, but also foreign specialists, mostly from the world of Ulthanis and Lirin and is very intensive, difficult and taken extremely seriously by both trainers and recruits. Mishkar Marines are mostly used as a propaganda tool, using their finely cultivated good look and capable military capacities to give an aura of power to the patrician they are serving. Some were recruited to serve as personal guards for other high ranking officials like bishops, cardinals and other planetary governor for the same reason. They are extremely popular on their homeworld with a magazine dedicated to their training, certain stronger personality amongst them and their various operations. Mishkar Marines did saw some combat before the Reclamation Crusade one of their cohort, a regiment, even rebelled and attacked the Senate with the intention of overthrowing the government and join the Free Realm of Rarken. The coup failed as other cohorts rallied and push them back, surrounded them and forced them to surrender. A few elements managed to escape and formed a resistance group which gained some support amongst other Marine’s cohorts, but they were almost completely destroyed after the arrival of the Reclamation Crusade forces. To support the Crusade, training of the Mishkar Marines has been reinforced under the supervisions of Imperial Commissars and now last 20 weeks and covers a little bit more tactical acumen. Four cohorts, each 800 strong, were recruited for service in the Crusade. One serves as a ceremonial bodyguard regiments for High Command and the three others have been sent to Wakined where they made a pretty grand entry by dropping from the sky to liberate an Ork slave camp where numerous Wakinedans were worked to death. They managed to return those men and women to safety killing around thrice their numbers in Orks thanks to the effect of surprise. The Mishkar Marines have a mixed reputation within High Command who likes them for the positive effect they have on moral of the troops and civilians of occupied zones, but also their unexpectedly good performance in situation of Crisis. Yet, they are considered as being slightly too undertrained in combat and tactical acumen to be given a proper role as drop troopers, a type of regiment that requires an elite training in both.

The standard equipment of the Mishkar Marines is designed to provide a reasonable amount of protection while enhancing the assets of the women wearing it as its expected from mostly ceremonial bodyguards. They wear a synth-skin armored suits over their body reinforced by finely polished and very form fitting segmented plastron that covers their mid torso. Their forearms and shins are similarly protected. They wear a light helmet that protect well their head decorated by a crest of various color, but leave their face uncovered. The helmet is rarely used in combat though. Overall, the armor provides about as much protection as standard flak armor if in an unequal fashion. They are armed with a sophisticated lasgun of Elysian design, but also have a robust mono-edge sword, laspistol and armored shield in their kit. Mishkar Marines field kit, unlike that of most other drop trooper regiment is rather limited as they rarely see long active combat duty. Efforts have been made to palliate to this situation and make it as light and ergonomic as possible. It’s common for Mishkar Marines to carry a few devotional or lucky trinkets. All Mishkar Marines are trained in first aid, and many of them have or will study part time in medicine after their training, thus all of them have a small but very efficient first aid kit.

«Mishkar’s Angels»: The Mishkar Marines 2nd has been founded three years ago to serve as reinforcements to the Reclamation Crusade in company of three other cohorts and about 12 more in waiting. They were in the first wave of Mishkari soldiers who have received the enhanced training. The 2nd cohort was also recognised as the one with the best commanding officer in Athena Caspios who proved to be an extremely quick student and a natural born field commander. While the 1st became ceremonial bodyguards for the high command staff of the Reclamation Crusade, the 2nd became their lead combat unit. They were quickly deployed on Wakined to serve as minor reinforcement provide this warzone with at least a few drop trooper units, a thing that they were lacking. The 2nd was at the helm of the very first major military operation of a Mishkar Marines cohort since the aftermath of the Horus Heresy. Their first operation was a rescue mission in enemy territory, the Mishkar Marines would launch an air drop assault on a slave camp held by Orks and free the several thousands of Wakined civilian and soldiers held there. It was a smashing success. Not only did they performed well during the attack, but they managed to liberate all prisoners with very little casualties on their side. Athena even killed the Big Mek in charge of the camp and the production of more heavy weapons for the Orks, dealing a severe blow to their fighting capacities. For their ability to save them and their incredibly good look, the 2nd was nicknamed Mishkar’s Angels by those they liberated. The name was quickly adopted by Imperial propaganda. Currently, the Mishkar’s Angels and their sister cohorts are fighting hit and run battles against the Orks and the Krasuan to slow down their advance and disorganise them. While very few in numbers, their presence has proven to be an exceptional boon to the Wakined moral and fighting spirit while providing the front with much needed tactical flexibility. High Command hope that the next wave of Mishkar Marine will prove to just as successful when they are going to lend on Telka.

Moto: Aegis of Mishkar.

Type: Imperial World (+3 Agility, +3 Willpower), Drop Trooper (+3 Agility, -3 Strength, Cat-fall), Maverick (resistance fear), Close Order Drill (Double Team), Scarred of Losses, Favorite Weapons (Power Sword, Plasma Gun), Special Equipment: mono-edge sword and shield.

This message was edited 5 times. Last update was at 2018/04/25 16:07:54


 
   
Made in ca
Longtime Dakkanaut




Special thanks to Cyrixiinus for the creation of this particular regiment.

Dartasan Holdfasts

World: Dartas is perhaps a symbol of human resilience in the face of corruption or perhaps a symbol of how far humanity could fall. Dartas was once an imperial hive world, one among thousands. But it was caught near a fringe of a Tyranid hive fleet. Later the taint was traced to a single shuttlecraft bearing the insignia of the noble house Hekarlith, whose world had earlier been destroyed by the Tyranid onslaught. It is believed the shuttle bypassed the orbital quarantine via a contact with one of the local noble houses using a private landing pad. From there a terrible infection spread. Genestealers had landed on the planet and would see its ruin. When the infiltration was discovered, 70 years on, the Cult had not yet solidified its control. Nevertheless, the uprising began. Two Dartas hive cities were left untouched by the Genestealer infestation. Elsewhere, four armed xenos tore through ranks of pdf, cultists wielding autoguns swarmed imperial bases, makeshift assault vehicles swept through the streets. Throughout Imperial history there have been many reactions to cultist uprisings. There has been chaos and downfall, devastating ordonnance unleashed and drawn out guerrilla wars. On Dartas survivors banded together, formed convoys and safe zones. They bunkered, fortified themselves and waited for deliverance. An isolated outpost in a barren wasteland, a single sealed of building, an administrative centre, all became safe houses and stockades for refugees from the insanity that claimed much of the planet. A local Arbites detachment, in a single suicidal engagement, destroyed the cults Patriarch and ruling hierarchy causing the cult to shatter into fragments that allowed the surviving holdouts to survive. Each one of them became an isolated fortress sealed off from the outside world, meticulously screened for any hint of contamination. As time went by and the Genestealers proved incapable of overrunning the now well defended barricades and bastions, but supplies began to run short. The survivors began communicating with each other. The two surviving cities used air drops to supply many of these survivor enclaves which grew gradually more confident of repulsing weekly assaults and began to sally forth in vehicle convoys, salvaging supplies, relocating the more secure areas and even purging cult convergences. Some where ambushed and overwhelmed, others succeeded. The Imperium had long had more pressing issues attracting its attention in the local area, but as the Tyranid menace abated explorers’ ships were sent out to survey the planets that had lost contact. Upon arrival on Dartas members of the Ordo Xenos discovered that the Genestealer infestation there had itself become tainted by an unknown bio-agent, hence shy the loss of its Patriarch had crippled it so much earlier. There was no psychic link, pure Genestealers were not in evidence and all that was left was a group of devolved bands with minimal cohesion. In the long term, the planet was safe, but now doted with a much more dangerous ecosystem.

The enclave communities of Dartas are in general paranoid and isolated, while they communicate and arrange equipment exchanges, they will hardly ever see a member of a separate hold in the flesh. The only exception to this is when multiple holds are overburdened with people, some of which will then be sent out in convoys to rendezvous and form new holds. The term central government when applied to this planet is almost laughable. The closest thing to it is the remaining two minor cities who communicate with every individual stockade to determine its supply needs. Otherwise every individual compound has a laws of its own with the member with the most general approval being assigned leader ship. Inside an outpost everyone knows everyone else, and there is a strong tendency to keep an eye on and look out for each other. One curious custom is that on the rare occasion where members of separate holdings meet they must keep their faces in clear view until the meeting is over. Dartasan are by second nature always securing every possible approach and entrance to their position, making one almost impossible to surprise. Despite the Genestealer degradation their remnants are still a pervasive threat and often seek to raid an enclave, as such the locals are always on the lookout for potential attacks and those approached not sealed of entirely are watched and fortified. Foreigners are only allowed to the two capitals. In fact, their security measures have become so absolute it has become a challenge between various factions of who can infiltrate a stockade first.

The Dartasan Holdfasts: With not much to offer other than its already hardened populace, soon after the planets re-admittance to the Imperium the Administratum was quick to come knocking for a tithe in soldiers. Unfortunately, actually recruiting these regiments proved somewhat of a difficult logistical problem. On one hand every single person on the planet above 8 years could man a defensive barricade, on the other there was no centralized network to recruit from and stripping individual stockades of eligible candidates would weaken them severely due to their population being too small. In what was probably considered a divine flash of inspiration it was decided to strip 10 or so members from each individual colony, and replace them with Imperial Guard retirees, and so collecting tithe and preventing genetic regression on the planet. This of course caused its own set of problems, which were promptly ignored. There is a long list of commendations to the Holdfasts, however the fact that they are often seen as being relegated to garrison duties has hurt their reputation, despite them being the only regiments that could have pulled these garrison duties off without reinforcements or significant casualties.

There are three different types of regiment recruited from Dartas, salvage companies, mechanized infantry and siege infantry; these make up the majority. Training is mostly informal as all Dartasans are learn how to fight, set up patrols and defensive perimeter, scavenge for resources and repair its equipment. By the time of their majority, they are very well trained soldiers. Dartasans generally fare best in defensive engagements, bizarrely the more cut off they are from support the more they stand out in comparison to other regiments as their isolationist tendency drives them to work poorly with regiments with vastly different doctrines and traditions. However, while they are experienced in repulsing constant infantry assaults and are nigh impossible to infiltrate, they have difficulty stopping anything as strong as a fully armoured assault. Their only saving grace here is that they have never been known to retreat without orders and are known to be clever and capable of improvisation. This is not a matter of extreme bravery or discipline, rather they are unused to the concept of actually having somewhere to retreat to. Holdfasts have shown themselves to be particularly adept at remaining entrenched on planets suffering from insurgencies, maintaining cordons around loyalist population centres and regions of industrial importance. This means that their regiments are often used as a stopgap method of keeping a planets industry functional while lacking the manpower to pacify the planet completely. In some rare cases where a genuine rebel insurgency is involved uneasy truces have developed, with neither side wanting to attack the other. In addition, the Holdfasts seem to scorn standard bayonets, preferring to swing their rifles two with two hands like clubs in melee to the point that the rifles are specifically modified for it. All in all, the Dartasan Holdfast have a very good reputation amongst High Command for their capacity to secure with minimal resources large stretches of territory. In any invasion or pacification operation they are a key asset for which there is very little equivalence. Ironically, those regiments who have been granted colonisation rights over a savage planet have proven to be excellent colonist capable of setting up a very defensible and productive colony in a very short amount of time.

Equipment wise, Holdfasts are usually clad in the Imperial guard standard flak armor copied on the very commonly seen Cadian Pattern with a few notable exceptions. Their flak armor is colored for urban camouflage. Their helmets are completely transparent and feature a visor that cover their face completely, but that can be lifted up. Their Lasguns are of a unique design. They are designed mostly for long range shooting and are slightly more powerful, but with a slower rate of fire than the most common design. They have their stocks shod in plasteel and weighted with mercury to suit their melee purpose. There is even a series of blades that can be attached to that end of the rifle transforming them in dangerous close combat weapons. Furthermore, sabres batteries and auspexes used to secure perimeters are common sight. Their uniforms have several hidden identification codes that are painted or sewn in some places and changed regularly as an additional safety precaution against spies and infiltrators.

The Tide Breakers: The Tide Breakers are a veteran regiment that has spent the last 6 years tying up feral ork raiding parties on Shodddenus until the local PDF could be trained up to scratch. They earned their nickname after pushing back no less than 12 massive Ork assault that saw tens of thousand of greenskins killed. They were assigned recently to the Free Realms re-conquest in the belief that that once Gaern was conquered they would temporarily garrison the planet against insurgents and prevent it from falling back into Sastar’s hands. With the collapse of the war on that front they are now set up on Telka where their defensive strategies and knowledge is the most useful at the moment. Following a landing mistake, they were deployed in the least active section of territory still held by the Imperium on Telka and only had to content with a few reconnaissance unit probing the defenses. Under current consensus they are lead by Colonel Deltan Tasslee, a commanding officer who dislikes working with allies who can never be bothered to secure their perimeters correctly. That said by the standards of her and her kin means practically building forts at every place you camp. Their lack of interaction with others has resulted in them being seen with some suspicion however with many officers arguing how can you trust a force that fortifies itself from its allies. The fact that she is surrounded b disorganised scrap regiments and hastily deployed soldiers of the reserve, as led to further her discontent. At least, she can pride herself in not have let any of those reconnaissance unit slip by her area.

moto: Nothing shall pass (Literally nothing, this has often caused problems when applied to other Imperials)

Type: Feral World (+3 ballistic skills, +3 perception, quick draw), Siege infantry (+3 toughness, -3 intelligence, Nerves of Steel), Bilious (paranoia), Sabre battery, Auspex, Dartan pattern lasgun (counts as warhammer or axe in melee), Favoured weapons: flamer, heavy bolter.

This message was edited 2 times. Last update was at 2017/12/08 19:04:00


 
   
Made in ca
Longtime Dakkanaut




Special thanks to Cyrixiinus for the creation of this particular regiment.

Drasdin Ship-Wardens

World: Drasdin is not a planet known for its agriculture. It's not a planet known for its arts and sophistication. Neither is it a planet known for its soldiers. It's a bleak planet, not that the majority of its population would be in a position to tell you this. It’s known for its ships. The planet itself is rather uninteresting, covered in arid landscape devoid of resources and terrestrial. Despite this, its system is filled with multiple asteroid rings, every one of them rich in metals. It was because of a decision to capitalize on this when the planet was colonized four millennia ago that a shipyard was built in the planets orbit. Now it’s ringed in a halo of shipbuilding facilities that supply the planets tithe and generate its wealth. Because of this valuable resource, there is always a minor imperial navy contingent present (most of which have never left the system from the day it was built) backing up its own sizeable monitor fleet. The ship building facilities are always placed as close to the planet as possible to be best protected in the case of attacks. Towards the planet itself the smaller vessels are constructed, whereas it is on the rim of the assortment of stations where the largest and thereby most prestigious ships are constructed. The reason for this is that as Drasdin's orbital industry expanded, it expanded outwards. This is somewhat of a security concern as during the event of an attack, it is these rim ward construction facilities that will be the most vulnerable.

In essence there are two peoples of Drasdin. There is the administration, the bureaucrats and clerks on the surface of the planet responsible for the overseeing of the shipyards. Most of these have never left the surface of their home planet. By far the largest portion of the population is the one that is born in space, works in space, an dies in space. The workers who build an repair ships number in the billions. Their lives are certainly easier than some within the Imperium, but nothing like those living on the planet proper. The facilities controllers spend the entire day looking at statistics with no knowledge of how it might affect their counterparts. Despite this the orbital workers view their efforts with some pride, seeing each completed ship as their testimony. Communities often keep tabs on a completed ships status and endeavors, a loss of one is marked by a day of mourning among its builders. Drasdin workers tend to be short and strong, at the same time showing a great degree of caution regarding the hostile environment the work and live in. The habitation sections on their stations have been over time continually modified for generations, now they are practically the most secure sections, always insulated on multiple levels against the void with each section capable of being sealed of at a moments notice. Some are even capable of acting as self contained and powered life boats.

Drasdin Ship Wardens: On one particular year an Administratum mix up saw that, instead of requesting ships to fill the planets tithe, several Imperial guard regiments were to be raised. How the planet on the other hand of this mix up fared is unknown, but to Drasdin land based bureaucracy the answer was simple. Strip several thousand people from across the shipyards. Namely, several thousand starship construction engineers with no particular inclination to leave. For the first time in history major riots boke out in orbit and there was nobody to stop them. After 4 months of disruption to ship building operations an Arbites task force arrived to restore order. Their efforts were continually hampered because workers would don their void suits, exit an airlock, and appear behind the search cordon. Nevertheless, after a protracted period of time and the aid of Imperial Navy press gangers present in system enough of the population was captured to form the requested regiments. It as now been seven years since the event, and the minds of those who were forced into conscription seethes with a burning hatred of their planetside rulers, despite the fact that they continue their prided constructions. Usually such an environment would be an ideal breeding ground for chaos cults, but newcomers with a suspected affiliation to this have promptly suffered ‘accidents'. It is a commonly held belief that upon the return of the drafted regiments, preferably after having made some friends among the imperial guard, they will be able to enact an authorized coup and conscript the administration into a regiment. Since the orbital populace is already well aware of the numbers involved in supplying themselves in such an act would most likely be successful, and as long as ships continue to churn out the Imperium is unlikely to care.

Training was not a number one priorities to the nobilities spread sheets when the regiments were conscripted, and as a result they neglected to give them any. Fortunately, the inhabitants of Drasdin orbital edifices know what are the strategic targets of their facilities and accordingly every one of them knew how to use a gun, albeit with little skills, and their environment to their advantage. Unfortunately, the first battles they participated in were land based and resulted in horrendous casualties for them, resulting in three regiments being merged and one being annihilated entirely by orks. When the entire campaign collapsed however an ork boarding party made the mistake of targeting the transport the Drasdins and were repulsed after taking heavy casualties by soldiers who knew how to use the environment to their advantage, earning them the name Ship Wardens. Since then, they have been assigned to a plethora of void combat operations. While they never make a secret of the fact, except in front of their Commissars, that they don't fight willingly they have with experience become well skilled at what they do. In order to offset what is often superior enemy numbers or quality, kill zones are created in confined areas with tarantula sentry guns and sometimes use the void to outmaneuver their enemies. They are also much better able to adapt to unexpected situations in an environment where such an event should normally be fatal. They also have limited expertise in defending supply lines and minor outposts on the ground, although these are best suited to repulsing raids and will crumple under a major assault.

All ship sentinels are equipped with a good quality void suit, a form of carapace armour modified to interact with this better (only obtained after the need of it was evidently shown, the armour fits onto the outside of the void armour and is painted pitch black, the void suit is usually kept on during combat circumstances.) a shotgun and a cable gun.

The Void Watchers: The Void Watchers have a history much the same as its counterparts, but specialize in attacking orbital defense stations. Bizarrely, despite constant overuse and the hazardous nature of its duties, has not seemed to shrink at all during its years of service. While obviously part of this is due to high levels of combat efficiency the total lack of attrition suffered by the regiment seems to be none-existent, which should be impossible. The regiment is lead by a Karl Hatler whose cautious nature verging on paranoid sees him take every possible precaution possible. It is also the regiment with the most contact with its home as it regularly seems to come into contact with ships originating from there. Precursory to the assault on Gaern, the Void Watchers were given the task of taking and holding several station monitoring posts in the Lukar system, which was undertook efficiently and successfully. However, these were soon after subjugated to a series of repeated counterassaults that attempted to use ‘back doors' built into the station to infiltrate and retake them. Fortunately, the Void Watchers paranoid commander had already had the stations structure swept for exactly those kind of ‘structural aberrations' and there were kill zones set up outside every one. After their situation was recognized as untenable in the long term they were given the order to withdraw, but not before rigging the posts to self destruct. The regiment seems to have been recently reinforced by crew members from the Emperor's Gaze and the Ember Star, ships newly arrived to the conflict, despite said crew members not being listed upon the ship crew rosters.

Moto: Rather any ship than a fortress.

Type: Void Born (+3 willpower, +3 perception) Light infantry (+3 agility, -3 toughness, Sprint), Bilious (paranoia), Close Quarter Battle (double team), sabre battery, Conscripts, favored weapons: melta gun, heavy flamer, special equipment: Good craftsmanship void suit, grappling hook, magboots

This message was edited 2 times. Last update was at 2017/12/08 19:05:00


 
   
Made in ca
Longtime Dakkanaut




Special thanks to Cyrixiinus for the creation of this particular regiment.

Telksanis Guild Members


World: Telksanis is a world of golden glittering spires built upon a bedrock of suffering and poverty. The exact consistency of the planetoids surface in centuries past is now a purely academic matter, the surface is now buried in steel and shadow. Telksanis is, as all hive worlds are, a hive of manufacture. Great chambers hidden out of sight harbour endless production lines churning out a ceaseless tide of materiel. However, it is not that that funds Telksanis's wealth, or its substantial upper class. Rather the planet also functions as a trading hub. Each year billions of thrones worth in substances and black market goods pass through Telksanis's hives and the social stratification is maintained. It is said that any (non-heretical) item you want can be found there, albeit for exorbitant prices. There is never a time where radical inquisitors, rogue traders and smugglers are not swarming all over the planet which can result in unfortunate accidents.

The planets populace is divided into three distinct social classes. The underhivers who work the planets machinery are at the bottom, and are barely acknowledged by upper classes. The only reason they have enough food to eat and places to sleep. Although they should technically be the least educated people on the planet they actually know far more regarding machinery and the hives themselves than those living above them. They are often sought out as skilled workers and fulfill their own contracts. Above them are the ‘given' each sworn to a specific noble house they are the overseers, administrators and private armies. They know very little of what goes on above or below them. Supposedly at the very top is the aristocracy. Made up entirely of people who specialize in the lucrative trade deals Telksanis is known for to the exclusion of all else they spend the majority of their time designing the most outrageously expensive outfits possible and bragging about the latest deal they've made. Power among the spire class is difficult to ascertain from the outside as a constant political game of undermining, alliances, intrigues and betrayals. A simple hand gesture or who you chose to speak to first can convey a dire insult or grudging proposal. Outsiders are treated with contempt which has lead to a number of unfortunate incidents regarding Inquisitors, Arch-Magos, etc. In between the spires silent wars are waged, and given the number of mortal insults exchanged each day the only thing that keeps open war from breaking out is that there is a far more quiet and efficient avenue to take. In practice it is the Shadestalker Guild who run Telksanis. They keep the nobility in check and prevent their wars from swallowing the planet and dispense justice in the lower levels. They are also known to have suppressed two Tzeenchian cults that arose among the aristocracy and have taken numerous black markets ‘out of circulation'. Some members of the Guild are well known to their friends, others might be discussing matters over a meal in the court in front of you and you would never know. As far as it has been possible to determine the Guild is grouped into a number of clans with mutually aligned interests as well as a few sanctioned individuals who operate alone. Guild wars have been known to happen but are silent, deadly affairs and never cause collateral damage. Often there is no evidence they have occurred at all.

Telksanis Guild Members: Three centuries ago an upstart noble decided he wanted to be free of the constraints places upon him by the guild and notified the Adeptus Arbites of the situation. Upon arrival, they found their contact dead, but nevertheless remained determined to dispense justice. The Guild did not attack them. It did not threaten them. In fact, they did nothing at all. The assassins simply carried out their usual mandates whilst treating the Arbites presence with a contemptuous indifference. Recognizing a situation that could rapidly degrade into a worthless war with no benefit at the other end a local inquisitor sought an audience with the clans and made an offer. Their domains would be left alone under the condition that they commit specialist regiments to the Astra Militarum. Since then the Shadestalkers have plied their deadly trade across the stars.

Once assigned to their warzone the Guild Members simply fade away, infiltrating target cities. Their job is to assassinate commanders, leaders, symbols, psykers, tech-experts and any single individual that could aid the enemy. Each regiment is usually spread out across multiple cities acting as separate clans. In the field they operate alone, ore occasionally in small squads. Each one is trusted to react to new situations as they see fit. Occasionally when other regiments undertake stealth missions Guild members are assigned to them to act as vanguards and snipers. When seen in an actual battle they are tasked with taking out commanders and artillery manners. Attempting to employ them as a front line unit is utterly futile for a number of reasons. Firstly, it would require cajoling them all into the same location, an occurrence most likely unique in the guilds history. Secondly, the assassins have a honed instinct impelling them to flit away from danger. Thirdly, even if you could get them into place and keep them there, a combination of a lack of armour, training and experience in such a field they would be nigh immediately over run. Fortunately getting the Shadestalkers into such a position requires a competency that any general foolish enough to propose this lacks. Some of the regiments hailing from more martial cultures regard them as cowards, other regiments give their thanks for not facing a competent general.

The Shadestalkers are extremely secretive when it comes to their recruitment and training methods. From what can be gathered or deducted, they recruit from street orphans of all the hive levels, picking those who stand out a for their cunning or another special quality. All of them are relatively young and never much older than 18 years old. They are trained by a mentor in small teams of two to five, but sometime individually. They are always given a new name or at least a nickname to go by. Their training is extensive as it must cover, linguistic, espionage, sabotage and personal combat. They are supposed to become expert snipers and martial artists. There is very little way in which a man can be killed that these assassins don’t master. In addition to this combat training, they must also learn more “mundane” skills that are necessary to navigate society incognito like accounting, basic repair of machines, marketing technics or arts. In the end, it produces deadly soldiers. Despite this, they have a poor reputation in High Command due to their unorthodox organisation, hyper-specialisation and little respect for formal military hierarchy. They do have a good reputation with other regiments with similar tasks like the Shadow Hawks or the Zentic Tigers.

They are specifically equipped for the tasks they are known for. Synth skin augments their already honed stealth skills whilst the famed needle weapons are used for their quietness and lethality. In addition, many amongst the guild favour knives for silence and close quarters, and as such are armed with a variety of throwing and mono-knives. They will usually wear clothes of the region over their armors to appear less suspicious and usually because its well adapted to the weather. They carry very little signs of fealty to the Imperium, but are known to have suicide pills in their effects. It’s almost unknown for one to be taken alive for this reason.

The Night Stalkers: Active for an unverified amount of time and having taken part in an unverified number of engagements the Night Stalkers gained their name during the purging of a hive on Castrus seven, hunting down and eliminating a number of insidious cults, including high profile members that had infiltrated the very pinnacle of imperial society there. Like most of the operations conducted by the Telksanis natives would have gone relatively un-noted. However, when rumours of the Night Stalkers filtered through to Imperial authorities from the underhives this cognomen was confused with terminology associated with the Night Lords traitor legion, resulting in the forces of a space marine chapter and four imperial guard regiments being called in to surround the hive, much to the guilder’s mortification. For a group that specializes in secrecy this was quite possibly the most embarrassing event in the history of the Telksanis guild members, especially when their attached name still causes notaries to start when reading it. Their leader throughout their operation has been referred to as Jackal, though the identify and whether or not it has remained the same is information privy to only the regiments members. Although they have definitely been assigned to the Rarken warzone there is some confusion about their current location. Rumors has it they are attempting to infiltrate the heart and soul of the Free Realm, the hive world of Danatus.

Moto: No official or unofficial moto

Type: Hive world (+3 agility, +3 perception), Fixed, Guerrilla regiment, Infiltrators, Covert strike, The Few, Favorite Weapons (power sword, plasma pistol), Special Equipment: Synth skin, Two mono-knives, two throwing knives, needle rifle, needle pistol.

This message was edited 3 times. Last update was at 2017/12/08 19:06:00


 
   
Made in ca
Longtime Dakkanaut




Tyrian Patricians, Shadow Corps, Press Gangers and Twisted

World: Tyris is an important Hive World sitting close at the edge of the Rarken Cluster, but not part of the sector. With Vartarn and Janus, it serves as a bridge between the Cluster and the Realm of Ultramar and other sectors of the Segmentum Ultima. Tyris is a younger world than old and proud Vartarn or the hallowed Janus. It was first colonised 4500 years ago and has grown tremendously fast. Tyris was founded by multiple colonist group and refugees whose world were overrun or destroyed during the Reign of Blood. It used to have massive resources both in term of water and food, but its ecosystems were completely destroyed by massive overpopulation and industries. The planet population now numbers over 150 billion inhabitants living in a massive cityscape that covers 70% of the planet. The remaining 30% are what’s left of the vast ocean of Tyris and a few mountain ranges on which nothing has been built yet. The spires of Tyris are dominated by the palace, gardens, green houses and castles of the nobility who lives in opulence above the fog of pollution and stormy clouds. To live there is a bit like living in heaven. In the shadow of those spires are the housing, barracks and light industries of the middle class, those who can afford relatively good living conditions by offering their skills and services directly to those noble. Further bellow, in perpetual darkness and oppressive pollution are living the majority of the world population, the proletarians who toil in its industries and mines, working dangerous jobs for a meager ration and a small cage to call home. Finally, deep bellow the surface of the planet, living in abandoned mines and catacombs are abhumens, mostly ratlings who were not given any better place to live and are expected to die.

Tyrians are an extremely diverse group of people which isn’t that surprising considering the size of its population and its colonising history. There is also a massive discrepancy between classes of people in their appearance, values, clothing and education. The strongly regulated hives allow for very little social mobility and thus very entrenched cultural divides. The people of the high spires are generally tall and extremely healthy. When young, most look fit and very attractive. They wear relatively simple clothing, but in expensive, comfortable materials and of very bright colors. Men usually wear pants, vest and coats while women prefer dresses and capes. Older residents of the spire have such wealth they have a great tendency to grow fat, if not extremely fat with time and have easy access to rejuvenat drugs. These people value power and prestige over everything else. They considerer martial prowess as extremely important and a quick way to authority, but also in trade and politics. Many of them will mix all three in a dangerous and violent game of influence. Murder and combat between nobles of the spires are rare. Most duels are to first blood and aren’t that common. The most common victims of such violence are those living beneath them. Society in the high spires is extremely patriarchal. Luxury and nobility as relegated women to the position of mothers and charitable souls. They are at best assistant to husbands, brothers and fathers and at worst a fancy decoration on someone arms. Bellow them are the shadow folk. They live at the step of those massive palace spires. Since they live in relatively clean areas and have the luxury of having, albeit small, personal habitation, they look rather good. Reputation has it that their women are particularly attractive probably due to the fact many nobles have found courtesans, servants and female bodyguards amongst them. The shadow folk earned their name for living straight beneath the high spires, thus in perpetual semi darkness since they can at least see the sky. They are discrete and disciplined people. They are the first victims of the noble’s excess as many amongst their numbers work for them. They are relatively well educated and trained. Most of them work as artisans, teachers, clerks, servants and soldiers. Unlike the nobles, men and women enjoy pretty much an equal status, but due to the fact that significantly more women are recruited to work directly in the higher spire, they benefit from more resources and more dangerous positions. Bellow the shadow folk, you fall under the perpetual night and fog, which can be toxic, of the underhive. There, lives the vast majority of the population of Tyris. These people are known to be rather small, dirty and unhealthy thanks to poor living conditions. Extended families and gangs must share everything. They live in close proximity to massive factories and power plants where noise and pollution makes living difficult and that’s without counting the fact that these underhives are under control of numerous warring gangs. The underhivers are people with little access to education ruled by their own community councils. Underhivers are extremely diverse. Outside of work, they dress in an heteroclite fashion and seem to love colourful tattoos, piercings, clan markings, dyed hairs. This look is enhanced by the fact that many uses this to hide injuries, scars or blemishes. Due to the dangers of their daily lives, many also have crude or jury-rigged bionics. Even bellow them, lives a substantial population of mutants who have found refuge deep in abandoned mines and catacombs. They live miserable lives in fear of purges and famine. Most of them look like sun deprived ratlings. They seldom work, unless its for jobs that are so dangerous than even prisoners would not due without revolt. Some are even conscripted at gun point in exchange of which their population receive some food from the higher levels and is left alone. A few brave missionaries have evangelised those abhumens and dregs. Of all the citizen of Tyris, they are probably the most faithful, for they have nothing but the hope that the Emperor will forgive their deformities after their death and be offered a reward in the afterlife by the protector of mankind. Tyrians are a very diverse group with varied opinions. Their nobles are known to be skilled and power hungry, the shadow folk to be quiet and dependable, the underhivers original and vicious and the abhumens to be zealots and penitents.

The Tyrian Patricians, Shadow Corp, Press Gangers and Twisted: The Tyrian Patricians are an extremely old military force who rose shortly after the establishment of the Tyrian nobility. From the earliest days of the planet colonisation, its nobility has always been composed of soldiers and commanders. Today, military experience and exploits are pretty much mandatory to retain a position of prestige and power on Tyris. As such, the nobles of the planet are behind the creation of its most renowned military force, the Patricians. They select amongst the young men of the nobility who have parents and ancestors who illustrated themselves as heroes in battle, those who have no such ancestry must have at least two noble houses vouching for them to be inducted. The loss in prestige for those who would vouch for cowards or inept soldiers is important as is producing a scion unworthy of his ancestors. Of course they must also meet basic physical requirement in terms of size, at least 5 feet 10 inches tall, and physical might and endurance; they must be capable of lifting their own weight above their head, drag four times that weight, run for an hour at 10 kilometers per hour with a load of 40 kilos on their back. Tyrian Patricians training is extremely complete and difficult. It starts at age 16 and ends six years later. Recruits start training with psychological indoctrination where they learn to take pride in their history, see themselves as the supreme human warriors, never shy away from violence and combat and maintain a perfect discipline. This indoctrination is punctuated with physical conditioning and basic weapon training. To prove their worth at the end of this period, each Patrician is put to the test. He will have to fight a loosing battle against seven trainers who will pummel him into submission. If he fights with valor to the limit of his strength, he can pass to the next stage of training, advance combat training. There, he will perfect his knowledge and skill with his weapons and armor, but also learn various form of tactical combat from storming building to counter guerilla technique and siege tactics. They will also learn how to operate in squads and company during this period and be tested regularly against combat servitors or even criminals and dregs ‘’hired’’ from the lower hive. Finally, the last part of their training is dedicated to regimental operations, battle simulations, specialist weapon training and protocol. Tyrian Patrician regiments are heavy infantry and frequently mechanised, moving across the battlefield in expensive Taurox. They have a stunning reputation amongst high command for their strength, confidence, skill and discipline, but are hated by many line regiment not from noble descent due to their just as well known arrogance and vainglorious ways.

If the Tyrian Patrician are the hammer and the crown jewel of the military of Tyris, the Shadow Corp are its anti-thesis. They are nimble, lightly armed and armored soldiers of a discrete nature that serves as scouts and reconnaissance units. They are recruited from the Shadow folk and draw their origin from a peculiar incident. A group of combat nurses attached to the Tyrian Patrician 101st were stranded in enemy territory after a chaotic retreat from imperial forces. Left to fend for themselves with several grievously injured soldiers at their charge, they were forced to pick up arms to defend themselves. Lightly armed and armored, they resorted to ambush tactics and guerilla warfare to prevent capture and arm the enemy forces. When the Imperial forces recovered, the Tyrian Nurses were still active behind enemy line and were ideally positioned to provide crucial information on the enemy defensive position and reserves. They help guide and support the counter attacking Imperial forces and gain victory. The surviving combat nurses were the very fist Shadow Corp. Since then, many others were founded as the Tyrian military realised that the heavy Patrician would benefit strongly from having good reconnaissance units and auxiliaries to provide counter guerilla expertise and equipment. To be recruited amongst the Shadow Corp is an excellent opportunity for the shadow folk since veterans and their direct family are well treated by the nobles above them. The recruits are selected by high ranking officers of the Tyrian Patricians amongst the basin of shadow folk volunteers. They are supposed to base their selection on the following criteria: loyalty to the nobility, agility, perceptibility, intelligence and endurance, but favoritism plays a large part of it since the metrics of those criteria aren’t clearly defined and left to the judgement of each recruitment officer. Its not rare to see Patricians recruit lovers or mistresses since Shadow Corp soldiers and Patrician work together. Despite this source of bias, the Shadow Corp handle its own training regimen which is of high quality and last 3 years. It first physically trains the recruits to make them expert at stealth, infiltration, assassination, sniper duty and scouting. The exercises are rigorous and require a high level of motivation and composure as the Shadow Corp recruits will be simultaneously trained to react properly to terror tactics by exposing them to threats and intimidation. The following steps will see them train in combat tactic and especially in guerrilla and counter guerilla warfare with a strong emphasis in reconnaissance and inter-arm tactics. Finally, the last step will see them be deployed on of Tyris wild moon to participate in various war games and survival training. The Shadow Corp have an excellent reputation as a reconnaissance unit with good motivation and excellent skills. Their obedience and humility makes them easier to work with than Patricians which is one of the reason why many even go as far as qualifying them as a superior force, but never in front of the former.

The Press Gangs of Tyris are about as old as the Patrician themselves. When war called for numbers that the Patrician couldn’t provide alone or for thankless tasks or suicidal operation needed to be mounted Tyris could always count on its militia and conscripted force recruited amongst its largest basin of population: the underhivers. Its difficult to record exactly when or hoe their first militia was created, but armed gangs have been a common thing in the poverty ridden underhives since their creations. Most of them are local protection groups designed to provide minimal security and order since Arbites and local law enforcement tend to be slim when its not downright oppressive. They are constituted of a heteroclite mix of self appointed vigilantes, power hungry bullies and community leaders that decided to band together to be more efficient. They have very little discipline or formal training, but great first experience in street combat and at least a common symbol, usually a tattoo and some dedicated colors to make themselves easy to identify, some vigilantes, even go as far as making themselves known by pseudonym and wear themed costumes. The second largest group is composed of criminal organisation enforcers. These are the muscles employ to make sure racketeering goes fine, that drugs get distributed, prostitute turn their pay to their pimps, black markets are secured and law enforcement gets their bribes or kindly leave before getting killed. Only Arbites or full squads of Patrician can make them back down without a fight. Much like the “protection groups” organised crime enforcers can be recognised by some symbols and colors that ties them to their parent organisations. They tend to be much more efficient than people give them credit for when it comes to teamwork and a life of violence is just as good as a form of training than any sort of military instruction at least when it comes to the basic. Plus, being linked to surprisingly rich organisations can guaranty them decent equipment and even bionic replacement. The third and smallest group are the revolutionary fighter, those who wish to topple the largely corrupted and autocratic ruling cast of Tyris. While they are designed to operate like an army, some of them even being former or current members of the Shadow Corp, they possess little weapons and only a basic military training. Further damaging, they are profoundly divided in a multitude of groups with conflicting ideologies from radical feminist, communist groups to theocratic blood cults of the Emperor passing by actual Chaos cultists searching to destroy the planet. The last ones a of course the least numerous thanks to Arbites and Inquisitorial vigilance, while the others are kept down by pretty much by every other armed group in the underhive be they native of it or not. When these militia groups are recruited, its in large mandatory drafts sometime at gun point, but many groups are willingly going to enlist, especially if propaganda efforts are important, the recruitment drives are supported by the Ecclesiarchy and the pay is better than that of the factory and slave mills of the underhive; which is frequently the case. They are given a mandatory uniform and standard pattern weapons and around 9 weeks of training before being deployed. Most of the training is basic military drill and tactics since most militia men and women are considered proficient enough in armed combat for their task. The only exception being specialised mechanised, artillery and heavy armor units of press gangers who receive an extra three weeks to familiarise themselves with their new task and weapons. Training can be brutal and is usually given by private contracted professional bodyguards of the Spire and by Imperial Commissar, usually washed up ones who are too old or injured to lead in combat. Press Gangers of Tyris have the reputation amongst high command for being good soldiers if relatively ill disciplined and with mediocre moral, but they get the job done when its needed and can by relied upon to fight and die like proper bloody Guardsmen.

Bellow the underhives, in the complete darkness of the planet’s crust the denizens of the catacomb try to scratch a living. In this place of abject poverty and hazards live a large population of mutant and abhumens that live in fear of purges. Due to imperial edicts against mutants, they cannot find work legally, but some have been employed to work as quasi slaves in the toxic basin of some industries or other similarly deadly jobs. Some turn to the worship of the Gods of Chaos, but most remain strongly faithful to the Imperium, hoping to be struck by a miracle that would return them to the state of normal human being. Despite the disgust they inspire in all Tyrians, or perhaps because of it, those abhumens are frequently recruited by higher authority to form conscript regiments. Most of the denizen of the catacombs would kill their loved ones for a chance to join one of those regiments since even the nightmare that is war seems preferable to the agony of their daily lives. Only the most stable abhumens of the catacombs are recruited the others are usually killed, but some might be released if they seemed to be correctly faithful and subservient. Those abhumens, almost all ratlings or something close to them in form, are then sent to a training facility in the underhives for their instruction. Training last around 15 weeks and covers basic physical conditioning, a most needed training due to the poor conditions of the recruits, basic combat tactics and sharpshooting. The training is given by former veterans of the Press Gangs, supervised by priests of the Ecclesiarchy and Imperial Commissars. Many recruits die or are simply executed by their trainers for being too poor, but the survivor receive the honor of serving in the Imperial Guard in quality of skirmishers and snipers. They fight under the insignia of the Twisted as a reminder of their ugly nature, but for them it’s a badge of honor that shows that even the lowest of all human can find grace in the eye of the God-Emperor thanks to his or her valor. The Twisted, while not exceptional soldiers due to their poor discipline and the tension and revulsion they inspire in many of their fellow guardsmen, are known for their incredible sense of self sacrifice, their opportunism and clever use of non conventional strategies and their sharp eye accustomed to a world of perpetual darkness. As far as abhumens regiments are concerned, high commend consider the Twisted of Tyris as a prime example of efficiency. Several of their members became “legendary” within their ranks thanks to the decorations they received.

The traditional equipment of the Tyrian Patrician is composed of a solid, good quality and fully enclosed suit of carapace armor. Its systematically painted dark grey, almost black with some golden, silver or copper trim depending on the trooper rank and decorated shoulder pads. All troopers also weak a sash and a short cloak of deep purple over their shoulder. Their fully enclosed helmets are reminiscent of medieval helmets and are adorn with a horizontal crest of plume of deep purple. The helmet themselves are equipped with targeting aids and various visual enhancement. Patricians also possess data slates on their left arm for communication and medical monitoring purpose. On their hip they all have short swords with broad blades of high quality. These can be fixed on their hot-shot lasguns which are sturdily built and belt fed to allow longer and more powerful burst of fire, but are nonetheless heavy weapons. The field kits of the Patricians are pretty extensive in terms of rations and explosives, but since they operate mostly in mechanised groups it doesn’t slow them down much.

The standard equipment of the Shadow Corp trooper is composed of a pretty bland black uniform that provides very little protection from enemy fire, but remains comfortable. All Shadow Corp troopers also drape their shoulders in a long chameleoline cloak. While they do are equipped with light helmets, most Shadow Corp don’t wear them outside of heavier engagement. Their standard weapon is a standard sniper usually draped in cloth as a disguise. They are also armed with laser pistols and long straight knives that can serve as bayonet, but are more often used on their own in combat. Shadow Corp troopers also have binoculars and other observation devices in their field kits which are designed to be well furnished in tools, but very compact when it comes to supply.

The Press Gangers have a relatively heteroclite equipment that can hardly be qualified as “standard”, but at least of traditional. All of them are required to wear a common grey uniform with a plastron, shoulder pads and a solid helmet in plasteel. They are usually armed with a pretty common Cadian Pattern lasgun, but sometime Mordian or even Catashan one’s are used. These armor are frequently painted or decorated with various symbols that reflect previous allegiances. Press Gangers aren’t given any sidearm or close combat weapon beside a standard bayonet, but are allowed to carry a personal sidearm should they possess one. Its thus not rare to see some of them sport a variety of close combat weapon or pistols. Their field kits are extremely reduced and they possess relatively little tools beside the most basic ones. Press Gangers don’t even universally have gas mask. The varied appearance these soldiers can seem a bit strange, but this makes them easier to handle by experienced commanders from Tyris as they can prevent groups of Press Gangers who used to be enemy from entering in direct conflict and thus weaken the overall war effort. This explains this lenience toward non standard equipment.

The Twisted are easy to recognised thanks to their ash grey uniforms that look almost like working cloths if it wasn’t for the camouflage patterns. They aren’t equipped with helmets, but are provided a mandatory bandana with their unit number imprinted on it. They are equipped with compact lasguns of Cadian origin well adapted to their smaller size, but many are armed with needle rifles for which ratlings are infamous. They aren’t furnished with any sidearm or close combat weapon, but many of them have transformed their trench shovels into vicious close combat weapon. Their field kits are stripped to the very bare minimum and of the poorest quality imaginable. The Twisted aren’t expected to survive and some commander will ensure that as few of them as possible will indeed make it back to camp alive as they are perceived almost as well as penal troopers due to their abhumen status. They are also amongst the very few soldiers of the God-Emperor that aren’t authorised to bear or possess holy symbols, but are still allowed to receive ministration from priests and missionary.

«The Kataphraktoi»: The 9054th Tyrian Patrician is a recent founding after an expansion of the recruitment following the Hunger War in the Rarken sector. While they participated in relatively few campaign, especially next to other regiments which have centuries of existence behind them, the Kataphraktoi have already acquired a fearsome reputation. During the last days of the Hunger War, they were deployed on Ferucia where they managed to defeat handily a more numerous and more experimented regiment of the Steel Legion, despite being on the enemy favored territory. The clash between the two heavily armored and mechanised unit was particularly brutal and swift, but involved only a 10% of casualty in the Patrician side versus 37% in the Ferucian one. The superior weaponry and greater application of force of the Patrician proving to be a major part in their success. Later, they were involved in a large space battle over Telka where they managed to seize a battle cruiser from the Free Realm and important stash of documents and transmissions for which they were heavily commanded and rewarded. In all their engagements, the 9054th has demonstrated the efficiency of its heavily armored mechanise infantry and their ruthless efficiency. Their rapid rise to fame and the commendation that came with it allowed them to be granted the honor to test a new variant of heavy carapace armor called the Kataphraktoi that provides more protection than a standard stormtrooper armor, but also increase the strength of its wearer. The name of the armor became their nickname and were a smashing success when they were deployed in the major offensive of the Reclamation Crusade on Telka. The Kataphraktoi were not deployed on the surprise assault on Gaern which turned to massacre, but were instead deployed as reinforcement on Wakined where their commander, General Yanis Garro, a fixed and proud full officer has assumed command of the entire battlefront. So far, the Tyrian Patrician have proved to be slow to assume complete control over the regiment deployed on the planet and are yet to achieve any major success, but high command considers that the presence of only one regiment of Patrician will certainly help turn the tide in favor of the Imperial forces. Yet, the noble Patrician demeanor and pride has rubbed several units of Wakined, Arglanic Slayers and Cerisan in the wrong way.

«The Hawkeyes»: The 1222nd Tyrian Shadow Corp is a rather old regiment founded around three centuries ago. Despite this, it saw very little action; only a few small engagements to repress worker revolt and pirate activities in the Tyrian system. The current iteration of the 1222nd is a recent founding formed explicitly to serve in the Reclamation Crusade. Its troops are veterans of the campaign since it starts. They have operated on numerous dangerous operation where they were used as elite reconnaissance units. Their most dangerous engagements were certainly during the first battle of Telka where they were task with clearing the way to its capital. In the multicolored woods surrounding the city, the Shadow Corp was faced against the elite of the Telkan Ranger in a deadly math of ambush. Thanks to good training and a great foresight from their commander, major Roy Seamster, they earned their nickname of Hawkeyes for their uncanny ability to spot traps set up by the enemy. Their efforts paved the way for a major victory in a shorter time than predicted for the Imperial forces. In the following months, they remained on Telka to hunt down the last pocket of resistance and help take back the remaining cities and facilities still under control of the Free Realm forces. The Hawkeyes were also sent ahead the main landing force during the Gaern operation. While their first reconnaissance confirmed erroneously that the enemy wasn’t prepared for a massive assault. During the assault proper the Hawkeyes were mostly powerless to prevent the massacre of the Imperial Forces. Most of their numbers were also assaulted and left stranded on Gaern where they mixed up with the remains of a Zentic regiment to form a resistance, holding in the wilderness of Gaern for another assault and hoping to survive against the expertly trained hunter killer units of the fortress world.

«The Pink Scorpions»: The Press Gangers 1M756K226 is a very recent founding expressly for what would have been the third stage of the Reclamation Crusade that should have debuted with the assault of Gaern. They were all recruited from the same hive complex, New-Tempestra Hive, and the 15 000 members of the regiment belong only to three different gangs which shows the terrible lawlessness in New Tempestra, but also the power of those organisation. This has the side effect of making the regiment more discipline and with fewer rivalry problems. The Pink Scorpion owe their name to their commander, a famous gladiator and vigilante of the underhive named Liara Fynn who goes by that nickname and has taken as a crest. Young, beautiful, charismatic and extremely talented in combat, she was a good choice for an officer and she did pass through her officer class with flying colors. Now, most members of the regiment have styled their hairs neon pink or at least have a tattoo or symbol of a pink scorpion somewhere on their uniform as a sign of respect and also unity. During their training, this unity and high moral distinguished them from their fellow Press Gangers regiments and they were awarded with more strategically important mission. It would seal their fate for the worst. The assault on Gaern was to be their very first operation. There, they were tasked to assault a massive military base where grenadiers were trained with three other regiments. The base was ready for them and when the Pink Scorpions lost their tank support, destroyed during their descent in atmosphere, they knew they were going to lose. The battle turned into a battle for survival where they showed the extent of their cleverness, but also excellent discipline during their retreat toward the evacuation zone. There the Press Gangers managed to slow down the Gaern Guard long enough for their fellow guardsmen to escape but at great personal cost. Over half the 20 000 strong regiment were killed or captured. Fynn herself lost an arm to an enemy officer, but took his life in return. She managed to lead her troop to safety and still commands them on Telka where their severely depleted regiment was merged with two other Press Gangers regiment.

«The Toothless»: The Twisted 22nd is a recent founding. The regiment who used to bear the number 22nd was destroyed almost 9 centuries earlier on a distant planet fighting against an ill known xenos specie named the Vyrkanyi. They had a terrible reputation as many of their numbers defected to the Vyrkanyi in the hope of being sparred and have a better life, which they did received. As the Reclamation Crusade was grinding to a halt, reinforcements were required and Tyris, with its enormous population and need for a abhumen purge was more than willing to provide additional Twisted regiments to the war effort. In an act of pure disgust, the three most reviled regiments in the history if the Twisted were founded anew. Those who would become the new 22nd didn’t illustrate themselves in any particular fashion beside being heavily afflicted by scurvy and thus a massive number of them have lost their teeth and saw their gum turn black and putrid. Thanks to some medical attention, they were easily cured, but damage was already done and thus they earned their nickname. After a murderous regime of training, the Toothless were deployed on the most murderous and dangerous front in the Rarken sector: the mines of Lukar and were tasked to serve as fire support for several regiments faced against the dreaded Lukaran Legionnaires. There they faced several loosing battles or draws mostly to no fault of their own, but that costed them three of their commanders. The current one, master marksmen Snill, is a vicious and very capable marksman, but ill trusted by his troop as he seems more concerned with himself than their wellbeing. Then again, the Lukaran Legion systematically target officers with their elite Murder Squads to be killed in the most efficient and gruesome fashion. In the same circumstances, many have faltered before. Despite all of this, the 22nd can at least claim to have exceeded the low bar that was set for them and regained the lost honor of the precedent 22nd. At least, they can claim that their commissars didn’t perform more field execution in their ranks than the average of the Imperial Guard.

Moto of the Patrician: Honor to our ancestor, glory to our name

Moto of the Shadow Corp: A hawk sight and a hawk talon.

Moto of the Press Gangers: Sign here to receive food and death. (unofficial moto); no official moto

Moto of the Twisted: No official and unofficial moto.

Tyrian Patrician Type: Highborn (+3 weapon skills, +3 fellowship), Fixed, Grenadier (+3 ballistic skills, +3 toughness, -3 perception, bombardier), Iron Discipline, Vanguard, the Few, Regimental Rivalry (Ferucian Steel Legion), favored weapons (plasma gun, heavy bolter), special equipment: kataphraktoi armor (best quality stormtrooper carapace armor that provides a bonus of +5 in strength), good quality hot-shot lasgun.

Shadow Corp. Type: Hive World (+3 agility, +3 perception, heighten sense), Foresight, Mechanised Reconnaissance Regiment (+3 perception, -3 toughness, lightning reflex), snipers (+2 ballistic skills, marksmen), Chameleonine, Forward Observation, favored weapons (meltagun, autocanon)

Press Gangers Type: Hive World (+3 agility, fellowship, paranoia), Choleric (rapid reaction), Line Infantry (+3 strength, -3 intelligence, rapid reload), hardened fighter (+2 weapon skills, street fighting), combat drugs, mistrusted (Adeptus Arbites), favored weapons (flamer, lascanon)

Twisted Type: Hive World (+3 agility, +3 perception, heighten sense), Bilious (paranoia), Reconnaissance Regiment (+3 perception, -3 willpower), sharpshooters (deadeye shot), abhumen (-5 strength, -5 toughness, -5 fellowship, +5 agility, +5 perception), poorly provisionned, favored weapon (sniper, heavy flamer)

This message was edited 3 times. Last update was at 2017/12/12 22:02:29


 
   
Made in ca
Longtime Dakkanaut




The High Command of the Reclamation Crusade

Lord Solar General Ignacius Gracio of Mordia

Leader and master strategist of the Reclamation Crusade, Ignacius Gracio is 144 years old, but looks in his early 50’s thanks to rejuvenat treatment. He is a rather unremarkable man physically speaking. He is of average size and looks fit for a man of his age. He has thin grey hairs and a light blue eyes. He did suffer a terrible injury early in his carrier that needed extensive facial reconstruction. His face is crisscrossed by scars, but it’s not so uncommon amongst old soldiers. He almost never wears his dress uniform and can even be seen in the command center in bathrobes. While he was born on Mordia amongst the high nobility, he spent most of his life close to the Damocles Gulf fighting, Taus and Orks. He started his career as a field officer, a colonel, amongst an armored regiment of Mordia, but later made the transition to a mechanised unit of palace guard, the elite of the Mordian military. He was decorated multiple times for his bravery, his resilience and his commanding qualities. Ignacius command style is pretty classic and fixed. He rarely deviates from his battle plan which are pulled from true and tested strategies. He heavily favors overwhelming assault to destabilise his enemy and on the grand strategic scale high force concentration and aggression to keep the enemy off balance and force him to constantly reroute his supply lines. He rose to the rank of Lord Solar General thanks to his impressive tally of victory and good connection within the Rarken Cluster. Vego Sastar was his protégé for a little while. As such, he was all designated to be the leader of the Crusade and easily won the approval of the High Lords of Terra. This makes Gracio the highest ranking officer from Mordia and the only one who achieved such a rank without a major victory against the forces of Chaos. On a personal level, Ignacius Gracio is a very stern and phlegmatic person who doesn’t show much emotion. He does have the reputation of being a generous man, using is fame and fortune for several charities. He was married twice. His first wife was a woman from a high born family from Mordia who died of an unspecified illness at age 56. The couple had three children who currently all live on Mordia. His second spouse is much younger than him and was his former adjutant. She is currently living onboard the Flag Ship of Ignacius.


Inquisitor Ronald Gamasius of Ordo Hereticus

Ronald Gamasius is the most senior member of the Inquisition in the Rarken Sector and is currently handling several responsibilities. During the Hunger War, he was monitoring activities of pirates and cultists in the region, before that was hunting witch’s cults and hereteks with a small band of operative. Now, he oversees all findings of Imperial Intelligence and renders important judgement on how to treat enemy deserters, prisoners and population. Has such, he has a massive influence in the overall strategy of the Reclamation Crusade. His greatest fear is to see a collapse of Imperial faith and a rise of Chaos cultist within the Rarken sector that could transform the war and have massive consequences. As such, he advocated for clemency for the Free Realm soldiers and citizens. Ronald is not an inquisitor with a great reputation on the terrain, even if his 400 century long career has been filled with vital arrest of agitators and assassins. He prevented two daemonic invasions on the Nexus and Lukar respectively and foiled an assassination attempt on the Segmentum Lord Commander, but its as a grand strategist and investigator that he is the most well known. His analysis of macro data and his ability to predict and detect shifts in strategies by the various cults and forces of Chaos made him famous. He successfully predicted that the Asteran Witch’s Cult would re-emerge in the Free Realm as would the pirate ship of Alexandra Sek. He is a small and decrepit man after centuries of war against Chaos. He lost both of his leg and one hand to the arch-enemy. He moves around painfully on bionic legs and looks like he survives purely on willpower and the moment it will waver, he will crumble to dust. His voice is surprisingly soft and soothing and unlike what many would think he is or without humor and humility. His most stunning trait is his intelligence and observation skills. His power of deduction coupled with a wealth of knowledge on various science and a fine method of observation makes him seems like a mind reader or a prophet. Ronald Gamasius never married but had a son who died centuries ago. He and Ignacius Gracio are friendly acquaintance and can be seen playing regicide or cards together once in while. Despite this, they do have their disagreement on several subjects.


Lord General Wilhelm von Krauss of Vartarn

Lord General Wilhelm von Krauss is the second in command and the quarter master, the supreme authority in all matters of logistic of the Reclamation Crusade. At the age of 64 years old, he is one of the youngest member of the HQ of the Reclamation Crusade. Born from a prestigious family of high ranking and decorated officers of Vartarn, Wilhelm was set for a long and great carrier within the Red Coats. Selected during training to become an officer in no small thanks to the reputation of the von Krauss family, but also thanks to his extremely high level of discipline, he first saw action as a lieutenant in the line infantry regiments of the Red Coat, the heart of the Vartarn military. There he illustrated himself for his strict command style, the iron discipline he imposed to his troops and his fine management of their supplies and lives. This led him to rise quickly and rank up to the rank of colonel at age 36, general at 41 and lord general at age 48, almost a record for a Vartarn officer. Vartarn being close to the Rarken sector and one of the most important recruitment base for good quality Imperial Guardsmen in the entire Imperium, Gracio needed the full support of the Vartarn military to succeed in his Crusade. Both Gracio and von Krauss share a lot of common on paper. Both are specialist in logistics, have fought most of their career against the same enemies and ascribe to the same sort of fixed strategies and approach to war. The only major difference between the two is the more prudent and meticulous approach of von Krauss who favors a continuous strategy of assaults on multiple front and a solid defense to grind the enemy to submission. As such he and his superior had their conflict, especially surrounding the first assault on Telka which resulted in an impressive imperial victory and the similar operation on Gaern which ended in disaster. Wilhelm is also opposed to the strategy of clemency proposed by Gamasius and upheld by Gracio. To him traitors are traitors that they claim to remain faithful to the God-Emperor is pointless. He opposes all efforts to solve the conflict through negotiation, but suspect that some lines are opening in his back.


Admiral Ferdinand Meroving of Macharia

Admiral Ferdinand Meroving is the highest ranking navy officer of the Reclamation Crusade and officially the new Battlefleet supreme commander of the Rarken sector after the demotion of Commodore Giovanni Basilsi following is failure to prevent the uprising of the Free Realm. Relatively young and unexperienced in large scale space battles for an admiral, the nomination of Meroving is rather heavily contested both by Basilsi, but also by other members of the fleet. Meroving was named by the lord solar general due to his extremely bold and heavy use of surprise assault and for his great experience in planetary strike. Meroving was decorated several times for leading navy troops in planetary strikes to stop piracy acts or supress revolts. His great understanding of planetary strike and assaults were deemed more precious and important to the overall aggressive strategy of Gracio than an intimate knowledge of space battles. The Imperial forces disposing of a larger fleet don’t need to be as careful or efficient with them as the Free Realm who have in the person of admiral Drake Hummel, one of the most gifted specialist in that type of warfare. Thus fighting fire with fire seemed counter productive. Meroving himself looks more like a maverick Rogue Trader than an admiral. Numerous rejuvenat treatment makes him look in his early forties despite him nearing a century old and his strong built, great self confidence makes him a very handsome man despite a few battle scars. He remains very close to his men and is well known amongst the Imperial Guard to be the sort of admiral ready to risk his ships and his men to get them out of a tight spot or assist them on the ground. Meroving, much like his idol Macharius, has a fiery temper which caused friction with other members of the Crusade HQ, most notably the very uncompromising Commissar Lord Macharius.


Lord General Tarrik Al Numsi of Tallarn

Lord General Tarrik Al Numsi is the highest ranking field officer and the one in charge of the application of Lord Solar General Gracio grand strategy. Born on Tallarn a century and a half ago, Al Numsi is almost a legend over there for his impressive tally of victory against the forces of Chaos. Amongst the HQ of the Crusade, he is the only officer who has extensive experience of war against the forces of Chaos. He is the most trusted officer by Lord Inquisitor Gamasius. Al Numsi is a massive and old man that needs a cane to walk around, but who can still lead into combat from the hull of his Baneblade: Eternal Arrogance, a machine that fought in the Second Siege of Terra. Battle worn after decades of front line operations, he relies extensively on bionics to keep himself going. Very supine, his quarters are known to be full of liturgical writings and icons some of which he personally recovered from damaged churches and holy sites during his various campaigns. As such, he developed a strong bond with Cardinal Olphean who gave him numerous books and icons related to the life and story of Saint Janus. Al Numsi passed most of his carrier as an armored regiment commander. As such, he is especially well known for his ability to direct tanks into battle. During the first battle of Telka, his aggressive use of fast tanks to overrun the Free Realm positions is in no small part responsible for many victories. On Lukar, his concentrated use of heavy tanks like the powerful Leman Russ Demolisher allowed the Imperium to maintain an effective siege and consistently lock the enemy in vicious combat. While Al Numsi has a great reputation as a tank commander, he proved to have difficulties with light infantry which led to issues on the Wakined front, but also in the organisation of the defense for the second battle of Telka. The fiasco of Gaern is frequently dropped on his shoulders and if he fails to restore the situation, its probable Commissar Lord Macharius will require him to be replaced. Al Numsi, as a field officer hasn't been informed of the secret attempts at solving the conflict through negociation. It's feared it would reduce his willingness to achieve victory by all means necessary or force him to undue prudence. On a personnal note, such an action would be unthinkable to the supine and ferociously loyal Tallarn officer.


Commissar Lord Eric Macharius

Commissar Lord Eric Macharius is the most senior officer of the Officio Prefectus in the Reclamation Crusade. By Imperial edict no Imperial force can go without supervision from the officers of the Officio Prefectus: the commissars. Eric Macharius, like all commissar, was trained in one of the scholam and later Prefectus academy where he distinguished himself for his surprising leadership capacity. Macharius has spent almost two centuries in various combat zone where he served with some of the worst Imperial Guard regiment at his request in the hope of whipping them back into shape or killing them himself. Macharius isn’t only an excellent tactician, honoring his namesake, he was quickly known as the butcher for his extremely high level of field executions. Injured several times over, Eric Macharius is now more akin to a skitarii than a normal human being, but that only added to his aura of terror. As a commissar lord, he no longer joins the battlefield on a regular basis, but supervise High Command for any signs of incompetence or heresy. So far, he has provided counsels to keep the Lukar front in place despite the brutality of the combat over there and the constant terror tactics deployed by the Lukaran Legionnaire who can also count on a home field advantage. As Commissar Lord, he is in direct command of three regiment of Tempestus Scions who serve as reserve units or for some special operation. None of them were committed to the first stage assault on Gaern and thus have sufferred only minimal casualties. He and von Krauss have grown on each other and have a good working relationship but both Al Numsi and Meroving are weary of him as their recent failures on Gaern have tarnished their stars. Both of them know that Macharius will not hesitate to execute them should he come to be too displeased. Perhaps due to the fact that they are outside of his jurisdiction, Inquisitor Lord Gamasius and Grand Master Loki both have very good relationship with the man behind the coat, but very little his known of him to others. The commissar remains the commissar, a dark figure of authority that commands obedience and respect above all. As a Commissar Lord, he officially refused to sanctionned any form of negociation with the enemy to solve the conflict, but would accept their redition. Unofficially, he suspect such negociation to take place and doesn't actively attempt to stop them.


Grand Master Loki of the Vanus Temple

Grand Master Loki is the highest member of the Officio Assassinorum attached to the Crusade and the highest ranking member of its intelligence services. He, officially, reports diretly only to Inquisitor Lord Gamasius, but has been authorised to give informations directly to the entire staff of High Command. Loki himself is a rather affable if difficult to approach character. True to his specialisation as a Vanus assassin, he is perpetually plunged in immense quantity of data he attempt to sort and make sense off. He enjoys doing puzzles and riddles while he works to keep his mind sharp, some even gave him a reputation as a trickster due to the rumor of him missplacing knowingly the personal effect of other members of High Command or downright searching their private quarters. Loki is a small rather unremarkable man who looks in his mid to late thirties, but whose real age is unknown to all, he has black hair and a light golden skin and almost alien purple eyes. Due to his position, Loki is never seen on the terrain, but does keep close a close tab on his team. The precise number of assassins he has under his command is only known from Gamasius and Gracio. These are engaged in various sector of the Free Realm to spy on ennemy communications, but are also tasked with killing any high ranking member of the Free Realm at the exception of the King himself whom it is feared the death could through his supporters in the arms of the Servants of Chaos. Currently, Loki is piloting assassinnation attempt against the highest ranking field commander and tactician of the Free Realm, the mind behind their massive victory on Gaern and the Gaern Guard supreme Commander: Camellia Arabella. Unfortunately, she has proven to be a difficult target even for the two Vindicares deployed to kill her. At the same time, he must also content with the enemy attempt to spy on the Reclamation Crusade plans. There are numerous potential spies in all corners considering the Imperial position. One of them even managed to leak the plans for the assault on Gaern as well asa full list of incomming reinforcement and future deployment comming in the sector. Loki did managed to elliminate the leak for this instence, a Mishkar Marine officer imposter. His tightening of security though had the drawback of slowing down communication and proved to be a disadvantage when attempting coordination and organisation effort for the upcomming second battle of Telka.


Cardinal Olphean Saronus of Janus

Cardinal Olphean Saronus of Janus is not officially a member of the High Command of the Reclamation. Yet, due to his high ranking position in the Ecclesiarchy, he does hold a seat at the table. No Crusade in the Imperium can operate without the support of the Ecclesiarchy and one of its high ranking member. As a Cardinal, Saronus is one of the ten highest ranking member of the Ecclesarchy in the entire Segmentum and thanks to his position on Janus and is great popularity, he might even claim to be amongst the 100 most influencial member of the Ecclesiarchy. For him, a victory in the Reclamation Crusade might make him a potential candidate to become the next Grand Ecclesiarch. The support of Saronus to the Crusade is more than simply an affair of convention and moral support. As cardinal he is one of the richest person in the segmentum. He has invested a considerable fortune in the Reclamation Crusade to insure himself a certain influence, but also in the hope of seeing his partner in trade benefit from the normalisation of the situation in the Rarken sector. The support of Olphean also brought to the Crusade an important influx of troops from Janus itself, but also Artesian Crusaders and of course the authorisation for the deployment of Sisters of Battle. Olphean Saronus himself is an extremely charismatic and cunning man; a real political animal. His passionnate stance on faith, a proud product of his education and life on Janus, makes him a very proactive member of the Ecclesiarchy. Despite his high ranks, he is frequently paying visit to the front line to encourage soldiers and make sure they remain faithful and strong. His charisma is undeniable and his presence in difficult times has helped raise moral, but his constant preaching and his perticular views on faith has made him unpopular amongst certain guardsmen who follow different religious traditions like the Zentic Tigers for example. Others remember him for his pronounced taste of luxury, evident by his numerous entourage and reinforced by rumors of him indulging once in while in feasts in "pleasent company". Such rumors are of course punishable by death should they be heard by the wrong hears, but the Free Realm propaganda does portray him as a corrupted priest. Due to his position and constant movement, Olphean has very few personnal friends amongst High Command, but very good working relationship with Gracio who appreciate his support and the services he has provided on securing a majority of the popular support on Ferucia and Mishkar. Saronus is rather easy to recognise due to his Ecclesiarchical robes, but also to his personal guard, red robed pontifex crusaders, who never leave his sides. Saronus is unaware of Gracio and Gamasius to solve the Free Realm War by negociation, but has suggested that he would support such a move should a serious opportunity arise.


Canoness Stephania of the Order of the Ebon Chalice

Canoness Stephania is the highest ranking member of the Adeptas Sororitas within the Reclamation Crusade and the leader of its sole strike force. Due to the fact that the Free Realm haven't joined the forces of Chaos and are still considered to be following the teachings of the God-Emperor, the Sisterhood weren't called in large numbers to lead a Faith War. For a good portion of the Crusade, there were no Sister of Battle on the Rarken front, but the emergence of Chaos aligned pirates and especially the re-emergence of the Witch Cult of Astera changed that. The Holy Order of the Ebon Chalice was petitionned by Gracio to send a preceptory worth of troops to assist him and Cardinal Saronus sanctionned their deployment. Canoness Stephania is an experimented leader who fought against the forces of Chaos and heretics for a full century and won several exceptional victories, most notably against the Witch Cult of Astera and Red Corsair Chaos Space Marines. She is known to be a very quiet and reserved person who prefers to lead by example. Amongst her fellow Sister she is known of course for her indomitable faith, but especially for her brilliant mind when it comes to tactic, but also linguistic. Due to her talent in the domain, she was tempted to become a Dialogous, but her aptitude as a warrior would have been wasted there. Stephania certainly has the full confidence and admiration of her fellow Sister who are more than ready to follow her no matter the odds. Within High Command, she is mostly quiet and reserve, leaving to the Cardinal the work of representing the interests of the Ecclesiarchy. Due to her reputation and experience, Lord Solar General Gracio do seek her imput in matters of strategy and seem to have managed to grow at least frendly to the reserved Sister. Within the regular Guardsmen, the Canoness is a relatively well known figure, especially amongst the Traxian with whom she fought side-by-side and the Janusian. Those who have seen her Sister lead her flexible battle formation of Celestian know that her leading an attack almost certainly mean a harsh battle that will end in victory. Some, more supersticious, even lend her some miraculous powers like that of healing wounded guardsmen fighting near her or sapping all of the enemy willpower by a single glance.


Chapter Master Ollianus Caspien of the Blue Sun Chapter

Chapter Master Ollianus Caspien of the Blue Sun Chapter is the most senior member of the Adeptus Astartes participating in the Reclamation Crusade. While Space Marines aren't directly under the command of Imperial Guard commanders, there chain of command needs to be integrated as to facilitate interarm cooperation. There are forces from no less than five Space Marine Chapters serving on the Rarken front. Only the Blue Sun Chapter is deployed at Chapter strength in the sector and Ollianus Caspien is the only one with the rank of Chapter Master. Thus, he was recognised by the other Chapters as the most senior member of the Adeptus Astartes and recognised him as their representative at the Lord Solar General table. The fact that all of them are descendant of Guilliman geneseed facilitate cooperation between them, but they do hold their own reunion. Caspien himself is a tall and strong Space Marine easy to recognise even amongst his peers thanks to his majestic light blue and silver artificier armor. He never depart of his helmet, neither could he, after he suffered a severe injury fighting Taus. Caspien involvement in the Reclamation Crusade is relatively new as he was mostly procecuting war against Chaos renegades and pirates commanded by what might be the remnant of the traitorous Sable Scimtar Space Marines. Amongst the Adeptus Astartes, he holds a great reputation as a dedicated leader, a masterful strategist with a profound knowldge of the Codex Astartes that rivals that of the very best Ultramarines. Over three century of combat, he has killed more enemy champion than its pertinent to count. He is most well known to have faced the wrath of daemon prince alone and stood triumphant at the end of their fight. Despite his high rank and prestige amongst the Astartes, Caspien remains very respectful of simple mortals and guardsmen. While many Space Marines commanders are known to be dismissive or even contemptful of normal humans, he consider them almost as peers despite their weaknesses. This particular trait is the product of numerous cooperation between the Blue Sun Chapter and the Imperial Guard and the heroic sacrifice of a nameless Traxian White Owl who saved Caspien's life at the cost of her own. On the battlefield, he is a force to be reckonned with. He has yet to lose a battle in the Rarken Cluster and while is Chapter is focused on dealing with Chaos worshiper, he tasked two company worth of his own to releave the Imperial defenders of Telka. Caspien is also a supporter of a pacific resolution of the conflict since he consider the war as a waste of good souls better spent fighting xenos or Chaos.


Tech Priest Dominus Entabor Colg

The Adeptus Mechanicus is strongly involved in the Free Realm War and the Reclamation Crusade. If no Crusade can start without the backing of the Ecclesiarchy, none can be successful without the support of the priesthood of Mars. The Mechanicus has strong interests in the Free Realm. The Nexus, the Free Realm capital is an ancient space station whose technology date back from the Dark Age of technology and its astropathic amplificator are a marvel of the golden age of the Imperium; long lost technology that might be vital to maintain communication while the light of the Astrominican dims. Krasus and Ulthan both harbor their own technological marvels that the Church of Mars would love to seize for its exclusive use. Finally, there is the case of Zoron X, a rebellious forge world that supplies in advanced weapons and technical knowledge the Free Realm, but that also study xeno technology. This marked them as almost as heretek to their rivals from Ferucia and beyond. Them aligning with Sastar gave the perfect excuse to purge them. In exchange for the Mechanicus full support in the Reclamation Crusade, Lord Solar General Gracio was forced to promess his full support to a radical change in leadership on Zoron X and the preservation of the Nexus. Tech Priest Dominus Entabor Colg was chosen to lead the forces of Mars within the Crusade and ensure their interests. At the lead of a Skitarii Macroclade and commanding a Titan Legion, he controls an enormous military force. Like most techpriest, Colg is more machine than man. He has a profound distaste for normal humen due to their weaknesses and will cooperate with them as long as it serves his personnal interests. He frequently excuse himself from High Command meetings, preferring to delegate that duty to a subordinate at Gracio great displeasure. Colg was involved in the assault on Gaern and lost thousands of his Skitarii who were tasked in taking the greatest fortress of the planet. The techpriest blames the poor conduct of Imperial Guardsmen for that defeat. Of all the members of the Crusade High Command, he is certainly the least popular and the hardest to work with. While he provides the Crusade with a necessary expertise and a massive boon in terms of troops. Von Krauss seems to be the only member of High Command who has a correct working relationship with the techpriest. This as led to Vartarn troops being sent in support to Skitarii more often than any other forces. Colg seemed to have appreciated that recent change. Currently, Colg has been tasked to open a new front to releive pressure on Telka, Lukar and Wakined. He as decided to launch a surprise assault with his forces on a tactically important, yet small mining colony named Beacon close to the much more important fortress of Vanyr.

This message was edited 11 times. Last update was at 2018/12/25 22:34:29


 
   
Made in ca
Longtime Dakkanaut




The Free Realm of Rarken Forces



Telkan Rangers

World: Telka is an important planet in the Rarken sector colonised three and half thousand years ago after being wrestled away from the grasp of the Kroots who had a colony in the region. The first wave of colonist was formed of veteran Elysian Imperial Guards who were granted colonisation rights. Later, the colonists would be pulled from the middle class of neighbouring hive world like Danatus or Krasus. Telka is a slightly larger planet than average that is mostly covered by red sand deserts, rocky badlands and vast forest of multicolored coral like forests, but seas do cover a little under 50% of the planet. It houses a population of around 13 billion inhabitants who overwhelmingly live in cities of glass and steel buildings. Telka rough terrain, razor forest of razor sharp and rock hard trees and arid temperature makes it rather inhospitable and thus food dependant, it does possess important resources. Telka has immense reserves of high quality promethium and even higher quality gemstone used to craft laser weapons and precise cutting tools. Considering its high level of technology and large population, the planet is also exporting a lot of technology, most notably advance cogitators, laser weaponry and tools as well as fast attack tanks like the hellhound. Telkans are optimistic and hard working people with a taste for fashion and good aptitudes.

Telkans are a quite divers group of people due to their numbers and the fact that they are themselves descendant of Elysians who are also rather diverse in appearance compared to other society in the Imperium. Telkans usually have a burnished gold skin tone that sometime turns darker and, more rarely lighter. Despite the fact that Telka is a harsh place to live in, the high level technology the population has access to allows them to make a rather comfortable living and maintain themselves in good health. As such, Telkan can be of good size, with men measuring close to six feet tall on average and look rather healthy. Of course, women tend to be shorter and lighter. Telkans usually have dark hairs, but a mutation probably caused by the mysterious Telkan trees has appeared amongst people living close to forest with hairs turning a strange blue or green. This genetic deviancy has been considered by the Ordo Hereticus as innocuous and has been tolerated. Telkan psykers almost systematically have this mutation making them easy to recognise and survey, a great quality for the administrator of Telka, but a source of problem and prejudice for those who have the mutation, but aren’t psykers at all. Men usually keep their hair short, usually with the side buzzed as it’s the fashion while women keep them long. The most popular and typical types of clothing on the planet are full body suits made of synthetic leather derived from the local promethium mixed in with plant fibers. They are usually of bright color, each one of them representing a specific occupation for example deep blue for promethium refiners and extractors, pale green for administrator, white for nurses and teachers, etc. While the bod suits are kept close to the body, they are usually relatively thick and sometimes reinforced or decorated in certain areas making them less revealing than one might think. Telkans to have a fondness for tattoos and temporary body paint. Its not rare to see people with tinted hair or a variety of cosmetic, even amongst the lower class who, thanks to the riches of Telka, can afford a few luxury and hobbies. To live on Telka is to live in society that requires a measure of skill to work and process its natural resources. As such, schooling is mandatory and pretty complete. It starts at age 8 and end at the minimal age of 17, but many, especially those wishing to become administrator, engineers or chemists will go to various universities and train under some magos. While there is a rather strict division between classes with people on the top of the pyramid being almost the only to be able to afford to send their children to universities and thus maintain a high position, there is a certain mobility and cultural uniformity within the Telkan culture. To maintain themselves in place, governors are used to make sure a certain amount of wealth is transferred to the working class to keep them satisfied, loyal and, especially, productive. Telkans are known to be hard working, open handed, trusting and optimistic people by nature. They integrate well with other Imperial cultures and are quick to integrate foreigners amongst them. This also hold true for their soldiers who are known to possess a high moral and a lot of initiative.

Telka was one of the first world to join the Free Realm of Rarken following the Hunger Wars. The increase in tithe, especially for food resources, on the nearby agriworld struck it very hard. Telka, due to its harsh climate and poor rocky soil cannot produce enough food to feed over ten billion inhabitants. In fact, Telka can barely produce enough food to feed about a tenth of its total population. With the increase in tithe, famine became inevitable as twice less food could reach their spaceports. Reserves would allow them to keep on going more or less normally for three to five years, but the population was clearly aware of their dire situation at that starvation and death would come very quickly. With the increase work payload due to the tithe and a particularly important founding of Imperial Guard regiments, the situation became volatile. During a riot in the capital of Danos, the governor had the Telkan Ranger shoot on the population. This was to be the spark that light the fuel of conflict. In Mirage a rebellious government was raised with at its head a colonel of the Telkan Ranger who had refused to give the order to shoot during the Danos Riots which led him to face a court martial. He easily escaped custody by rallying his jailor to his cause. He then declared the independence of Telka and refused to pay any further tithe in soldiers and promethium to the Imperium without an increase in its food importation. Civil war ravaged to the planet, but the rebels were more numerous and held the most important promethium refineries and exploitation sites. Their control of Mirage and of large stretches of Danos assured them a winning position against the loyalist even if they had more troops under their command. The finishing blow came when ships from the newly liberated Danatus came into orbit with food and hundred of thousand of soldiers. Colonel Rikarus Hango accepted the help of Sastar and his forces to pacify the planet and integrate the Free Realm, knowing that with the support of several other worlds, the immediate future of Telka was guarantied. Hango was raised to the rank of Grand General and became the new governor of Telka where loyalists were completely crushed, all of them beside a few thousand of extremists rallied the new governor. Telka than prepared its defense against the inevitable counter attack of the Imperium. On Telka, while the regime of Sastar was well loved, most of the population hoped for a negotiation of the new tithe and a quick return to the Imperium fold, fearing a possible extermination from jealous masters. Hango was openly hoping for the Crusade to lack support and quickly stall, thus opening a real chance for negotiation, but his hopes were disappointed. Nevertheless, Telkans defended tooth and nail their planet against the invaders and while it finally fell back into Imperial hands, several regiments of Rangers and a few cities remained under their control. These regiments and pockets of resistance proved to be fundamental following the Gaern crushing victory when Hango returned on his world to lead its liberation. Now, tables have turned once again with Imperials on the run and desperately holding on to a few pockets of resistance with little hopes of victory.

The Rangers: The foundation of the very first Rangers is strongly linked with the exploration of the planet to found new resources. When Telka was officially declared a civilised world of the Imperium, most of the planet was still left unexplored from the ground, its resources hidden and most of the wild still refuge to bands of Kroots. It wasn’t rare for imperial installations and even city to fall under attack from the treacherous and extremely adaptable xenos. While it was quickly known by the Imperium that Telka was rich in high quality promethium, more than any other world in the sector and maybe even the entire Segmentum, the extend and the exact localisation of those deposits, be they in liquid, gaseous or even solid form were still mostly unknown. The various trading companies in charge of exploiting those resources quickly and naturally got into a mad dash to secure those deposits to ensure their prosperity. To pass through the wilderness of Telka, purge the remaining Kroots who were sure to attack outposts and deter the competition, those company created specialised security forces, trained and armed like proper soldiers. If each company issued its own equipment and produced its own training and recruitment method and standards, most of them ended up with a similar end product, a competent security enforcer armed with Guard standard flak armor and lasgun. At first, those Company Rangers were of dubious efficiency. If they did manage to cross the land relatively easily and to set outposts and find new resources close to which new cities could be built, they were struggling to exterminate the Kroots skirmishes between Company Rangers were also relatively common, diminishing their overall efficiency when pitted against a common enemy. This inner division and trader born rivalry culminated in a massive defeat when Kroots found themselves a new Master Shaper who united them and allowed them to march against Telka second largest city, Mirage, and conquer it. Humiliated, the governor and his family were executed by Imperial official. The new governor, a nobleman from Krasus, was tasked to retake the city, kill the Master Shaper and ensure stability. He had all Company Rangers conscripted and finally formed the first official PDF of Telka. They were retrained under a single method, armed in a uniform fashion, equipped with heavier weapons and indoctrinated to be loyal to Telka itself instead of the payroll of some trading company. The newly founded Telkan Rangers won a great victory against the Kroots in the following year and proceeded to exterminate them on the entire surface of the planet. Today only a handful of them remain, struggling to evade the Rangers who continue to purge them regularly.

Recruitment for the Telkan rangers is on a purely voluntary basis. Only in the most desperate times, like during the Hunger War and the subsequent conflict did conscription was ordered. To become a Telkan Ranger, one must be a man or a woman of at least 18 years old, have a clean bill of health from a physician, possess at least a slightly above average score in academic and athletic classes after their mandatory schooling. Thus the process starts with a pretty regular job interview given by a veteran who is now a trained recruiter. Successful candidates will be sent to one of the thousands of military bases and training camp of the Telkan Rangers doted across the planet. There, they will begin a three years long training program under the supervision of veteran Rangers, Imperial Commissar and sometimes foreign advisors mostly from the Nexus, Gaern or Vartarn. The training program is divided in six sessions at the end of which recruits who underperform are expelled following corporal punishment. The first six months are dedicated to basic military drill and physical conditioning. If the entry requirements are relatively easy to attain, recruits are pushed extremely hard during training to increase their physical endurance, their speed and their agility. A good Ranger must be an excellent rock climber, swimmer and endurance runner. Sports-like competition are held at the end of the session to assess the progress of the recruits. The next session is dedicated to combat training with a special focus on marksmanship and close combat both unarmed, with extensive lesson on Pugilae and Pankras, but also with staves, knives and spears. Combat against trainers or even captured Kroots isn’t that rare and so are injuries. The third session is mostly composed of application of the newly acquired skills in the wilderness of Telka. There, they learn first hand how to survive and how to apply their basic skills. At their return, the fourth session will focus on tactical training and group operation. There they will learn how to operate more complex military manoeuvres and how to counter enemy strategies. The fifth session focus mostly on psychological indoctrination to enhance their loyalty to the Imperium and allow them to resist the horrors of war outside Telka as well as specialised training with a wide variety of heavy and special weapons. Rangers need to be adaptable and take upon the roles of one another. Finally, at the last session, they will participate in various war games, fake assaults and inter-arm operation. The result is a highly mobile, versatile and finely equipped force capable of dealing with numerous enemy types even in harsh terrain. Most of the Telkan Rangers integrated in the Imperial Guard will do so as hunter-killer units or as light and line infantry. They used to have an excellent reputation amongst High Command for their reliability and high moral and its still the case for the regiments still loyal to the Imperium. In the Free Realm, they are invaluable and represent probably the best fast attack units available to Sastar forces. They proved to be very loyal to him thanks to his good leadership during the Hunger War.

The traditional equipment of the Telkan Rangers consists in a solid flak armor designed like a reinforced long coat with close fitting trousers and solid high quality mountain boots. The armor is designed to serve as camouflage on the planet. As such it has the same color than the coral-like trees, a mix of deep blue, electric blue, light and dark green with a pinch of red and brown here and there. They are equipped with a slightly conic helmets with a nose guard of the same color. There lasgun is a bullpup lasgun locally produced, but based on an Elysian designed. All of them also carry a survival ad exploration kit composed of a grappling hook, ropes, compass, water filter, survival knife and magnesium torch. They also all carry a telescopic spear designed for close combat, but also very useful to setup traps and survival purpose. This makes their equipment pretty heavy, especially for a regiment designed to move fast, but it does have the advantage of making them extremely easy to maintain in combat zone for extended period of time. Today, it's not rare to see them wear the Golden Bell, the symbol of the Free Realm in addition of the Aquila, the symbol of their faith.

«The Turtles»: The Telkan Ranger 44th is a very old regiment that has been founded numerous time over its almost two millennia of history. The current 44th has been founded right before the Hunger War following the increase in tithe, but never left the planet. The regiment was under the command of a veteran colonel named Rikarus Hango and were thus amongst the first to turn their coat led the rebellion. During the Hunger War, the 44th proved to be the most highly motivated and efficient military unit on Telka thanks to a strong leadership at all level of command. They earned their nickname thanks to their impervious defense of the city of Mirage during the war where they routed three loyalist regiment of Rangers by themselves and their willingness to participate in dangerous defensive operation to evacuate citizens and material from warzone. The Turtles were also those who seized the governor palace and installed their commanding officer in office. They became his praetorian guard. During the assault of the planet by Imperial forces, the Turtles were sent in combat under a new colonel, Miradna Telis, with the objective of preventing the enemy to access the capital. Opposed to superior forces both in number and equipment, the Turtles were faced with defeat, but both their new colonel and themselves managed to gain a lot of time for forces to evacuate, amongst them Hango and his staff. Telis, thanks to a good foresight and a lot of courage managed to secure the retreat of her men in the last days of combat, avoiding capture from the dangerously brutal Kirdan Penal Troopers and gain a secured military base in the wilderness. There, they fought a guerrilla warfare, attacking repair facilities for Imperial tanks and artillery, new recruitment facilities for new loyalists Rangers, sabotaged refineries and pipelines as well as conducting assaults against the garrison. Despite their precarious position, they even managed to recruit, train and arm properly new Rangers in the wait for deliverance. When the Free Realm forces counter-attacked with at their command Governor-general Hango, the Turtles were ready to spring back into action and lead the Free Realm to another victory.

Moto: No mountain high enough; no river deep enough; no enemy strong enough

Type: Imperial World (+3 agility, +3 willpower), Hunter Killer Regiment (+3 Ballistic Skill, -3 Strength, Resistance Fear), circumspect (foresight), survivalist (mountains, deserts and forests), favored weapons (flamer, heavy flamer), special equipment: collapsible mono-spear, grappling hook, mono-edge knife, incendiary grenades

This message was edited 2 times. Last update was at 2017/12/14 16:07:53


 
   
Made in ca
Longtime Dakkanaut




Gaern Guards

World: Gaern is an old fortress world founded in the aftermath of the Reign of Blood when the Rarken Sector was in full expansion. The planet benefits from a very calm and temperate climate thanks to its large cool seas and healthy grasslands and forests. Gaern, a former agriworld, had been taken over by pirates and heretics who used the planet excellent position within the Rarken Cluster to threaten the Nexus, Danatus, Lukar, Krasus, Ceris and Zoron X. An important force of Imperial Guardsmen, Sister of Battle and a few company of Ultramarine all of which led by none other than Saint Arabella attacked the planet and seized it with remarkable ease despite its heavy fortification. While Arabella and her forces marched on against other enemies, several regiments of guardsmen from Cadia were left behind as well as two regiments of Tempestus Scions. They were to become the new colonist of Gaern. They proceeded to repair the fortresses and make the planet a highly efficient and impenetrable fortress. While not directly at the front of an imminent threat, Gaern is central nod from which assaults can be launched on the most important planets of the Rarken cluster. As such, if it were to fall, the entire cluster would be at risk of invasion and destruction. It also houses a Scholam and a Tempestus Academy. Since the time of Arabella, Gaern has been assaulted by Orks and Lost and Damned numerous times, but was never taken. Thanks to its excellent climate, Gaern is completely food independent, able to feed its half a billion strong population, and can even help feed some planets of the Rarken cluster. Its largest export remains its soldiers, the Gaern Guard, as well as weapons, tanks and even airplanes. The Gaernians are known to be extremely disciplined and intelligent people with Spartan tastes.

Gaern is a well maintained fortress world with a high level of technology and a lush temperate climate. The population is thus extremely healthy and it shows in their general appearance. Gaernians have the reputation for being tall, strong and beautiful people. Due to their colonisation history, the population is very homogenous in term of appearance, unlike many other planets of the Rarken Cluster. Being derived from Cadians they have very fair skin with almost no blemishes and usually dark brown hairs, but around 25% of the population is blond hair. Their eyes are usually of a light color with blue being the most common followed by brown and green. A minority of Gaernians still have the famous purple eyes of the Cadian, but they are extremely rare. Most of those who do are known to exhibit psychic powers or are associated with other abnormal phenomenon like great intellect or great beauty. The average size for a man of Gaern is of 6 feet 2 inches for a weight of 190 pounds. Of course, extremely rigorous mandatory training forces them to be very athletics. Women are naturally a bit shorter but no less physically apt since they to are submitted to their own punishingly intense mandatory training. While both men and women are required to have their hairs shaved during their training period, once they join the Gaern Guard or one of its sister organisation like the White Shields who provide medical and education services, the Steel Guard who work in logistic and weapon production in addition of serving as militia or the Leaf Guard which mans the farms and other food producing institutions, they can adopt any hairstyle of their choice provided they maintain a high level of hygiene. Men thus tend to wear their hair short while women keep them slightly longer, but neither of them have any elaborate haircuts. Their clothing are always uniforms and even when not on official duty they will wear clothes that look suspiciously like military uniforms. Camouflage patterns in dark green, brown, grey or black are extremely common. Its not rare to see Gaernian carry lasguns or laspistols in their daily lives. Schooling is mandatory on Gaern and on a fortress world like this one, its synonymous with military training. Gaern follows an extremely harsh and efficient regime of training inspired and developed from standard Cadian doctrine, but also from Schola Progenium. It starts at age 8 and end at age 18 upon which cadets are assigned to one of military or paramilitary organisation of Gaern. It covers all military discipline as well as basic education in linguistic, mathematic, Imperial history, religious study and biological science. At age 18, all Gaernians are trained enough to become proper guardsmen, but most will pass through more training to truly become some of the best warrior in the sector.

Gaern is one of the three first world to have rebelled against the Imperium and who started the Hunger War. To many this came as a surprise due to the fact Gaern was a well known fortress world where loyalty was taught as a supreme value, but even the most loyal of soldiers can have doubts when faced with incredibly negligent and dangerous politics and so it was for the tithe increase. Gaern was to see its tithe in soldier quadruple and its tithe in food and weapons triple. There was simple no way for the planet to maintain a form of stability with such a drastic increase. At first, Gaern complied for it was their duty and they weren’t going to be the first one to protest. This led the entire planet to fall in chaos. A whole generation of cadets had to be shipped to service in the Imperial Guard, fortresses were left without garrison and entire arsenal emptied. There were not enough members of the Leaf Guard and Steel Guard remaining on the planet to keep its production at an acceptable level, Gaern became unable to feed its troops and insure protection to the Rarken sector. When a further increase of tithe was rumored, the leadership of the planet flatly refused to provide as they were struggling to prevent anarchy or the dissolution of the fortress world. Yet, there would be some resistance for the governor himself, the Castellan, was ready to sacrifice Gaern and the security of the sector to guaranty his survival. He did manage to keep loyal a good number of Gaern Guard and prepared himself to enforce a new tithe by force. He faced against much more numerous rebels under the command of Camellia Arabella, a former Tempestor Prime who was forced into retirement following a spinal injury that prevented her to keep on fighting with her peers. Camellia believed that the Imperium was pursuing a scorched earth policy with its new tithe, willingly destroying dozens of prosperous world to save a few others from destruction. She believed that form of incompetence wasn’t to be tolerated and that the Rarken sector was worth more to Imperium than the scant few worlds they were trying to protect. In the end, her loyalty was to humanity not the High Lords of Terra. Thanks to her tactical knowledge and charisma, she easily overthrown the Castellan and took his title. Following her victory, she rallied Vego Sastar who had come to the same conclusion than her. The new king named her as his highest field officer and counted on Gaern to ensure to provide the Free Realm with elite soldiers. Castellan Arabella proved to be by far the best officer of the Free Realm swinging several planets into the hands of Sastar. Her greatest victory remains her perfectly executed counter-attack on Gaern itself where the Imperial Guard, despite aligning some of its best regiments, was crushed. Many believe that as long she lives and Gaern stands, the Free Realm can endure. Lord Solar General Gracio agrees on that point and has put impressive resources for her assassination.

The Gaern Guard: The Gaern Guard had a very quick development in the history of the planet. The entire contingent of colonists were former elite soldiers, some of them even belonging to the famed Ordo Tempestus. It quickly became a priority for those colonists to restore the fortresses of Gaern and insure its security and by extension the security of the Rarken Cluster. This was a clear objective given unto them. Accomplishing this wouldn’t be exactly easy. They were left with very little supplies and had only a basic form of knowledge on non-war related subject like agriculture. Furthermore, if the Chaos worshipers and pirates had been defeated and largely exterminated, pockets of resistance still remained and needed to be cleansed. This would prove to be the first duty of the Gaern Guard. The troops left on the planet were quickly separated in various paramilitary organisation each of which would have to tackle a specific problem linked to the survival of the whole group and their objective of making Gaern an autonomous and highly defensible fortress world. Those troops who would become the first Gaern Guard were those who were found to have little talent beside war, no special ability in engineering, medical care, logistic support, agriculture, etc. Many of these were former Scions. They would the ones to assault the remaining enemy forces on the planet and respond to any attack or call for aid. Pooling the best armor, weapons and vehicle repainted with a single identification they set out for their task. Victory was relatively easy due to the extreme training and vast experience those soldiers had. In a few years, the last pockets of resistance were destroyed and Gaern gully under Imperial control. The system of separation of tasks would continue in the history of the planet with all citizen required to train to elite guardsmen status before being sent to practice a specialisation. As Gaern became more and more fortified and efficient in terms of food and weapons production, more and more citizen could join the Gaern Guard on the walls of the fortresses or in space under the Imperial Guard. Almost half of the planet population is now either a veteran or an active member of the Gaern Guard. Their tally of victory and their sight is very common in the Rarken sector, the Realm of Ultramar and even the Damocles Gulf.

Training for the Gaern Guard officially starts at the age of 18. Recruits are selected after their years as cadets from those with the highest military aptitudes, but also amongst those who didn’t show any particular skills in other area of importance where they could have been employed. At the end of cadet training, all recruits are already experimented in pretty much all aspects of warfare. Those who were physically or intellectually too meek were either killed, transformed into servitor or even sent into exile. The selection of recruits for the Gaern Guard is made by veterans who are now too old to be in active service, but who know how to recognise a fellow soldier from a highly trained militia man or woman. Future regiments of Gaern Guards are immediately formed from the raw recruits. Their size may vary depending on their function, but the staple of the Gaern Guard, is that of mechanised heavy infantry, each regiment being 2000 strong at full strength. On Gaern, the practice of mixed gender regiment isn’t popular. While a few do exist, usually following merging or due to demographic lapses, most regiments are either exclusively made of men or women. Training does differ a little bit between men and women due to physiological differences and for the sake of greater adaptability and efficiency; for example, women will train more extensively in Sarissa, while men will learn Technika, a local martial art based on armored combat; in the end, both training regimen remain extremely similar both in term of duration and in term of end results. Official training in the Gaern Guard last for four full years and is mostly intended to enhance the recruits’ performances. Most of the training time is thus dedicated to enhance hand-to-hand combat, special operations (air drops, amphibious assault, assassination, checkpoint protection, etc.) urban combat and tactical training; in other words, all the military skill that require extensive tie and training to achieve to high level. Training is regularly interrupted for group exercises like battle simulations or war games in which recruits are pitted against their peers, but also fully fledged regiments of the Gaern Guard and even against some regiments of the para-military organisation who must maintain combat readiness too. At any point, a recruit can be submitted to severe punishment if he or she fails to meet her mark and expectation. If after four years, recruits perform well, their regiment will be officially formed and receive its banner and official number, frequently that of an old founding to avoid absurdly large numbers. The Gaern Guards are considered to be the very best soldiers in the Rarken sector by High Command. The high quality of their weapons, their high moral, their exceptional skills and great tactical acumen has been recognised for millennia. In the Free Realm, they serve as shock troopers and garrison for the most important fortresses. Their crushing victory over the Imperial forced has led them to achieve a great reputation and anywhere where they are deployed in mass is considered a sign of victory.

The standard equipment for a Gaern Guard consist of a full body carapace armor very similar in design to that used by Tempestus Scions. Its accompanied by a full helm with a black tinted T visor of high quality that allow troopers to access tactical information. Their standard weapon is a Cadian pattern lasgun with an auxiliary grenade launcher. This makes them dangerous against a wide variety of enemy. Both the armor and the weapon are painted a dark, dull green for camouflage purpose in the environment of their native world. All Gaern Guard are also expected to carry with them a mono-edge knife that can be used in close combat. Its designed and use is very reminiscent of Catashan knives, most of them trust that knife more than their own lasgun in a tough fight with some reason thanks to its great quality. Since the Gaern Guard is heavily mechanised, their field kits are relatively small in terms of provision, but their high chances to operate in urban combat forced them to carry a lot of demolition and siege tools to insure their success. Gaern Guards must maintain their kit in perfect order in a systematic fashion and are unauthorised to modify it in any way. The Gaern Guard is one of the few military organisations of the Free Realm that doesn’t carry its symbol in their kits.

«The Bastion»: The Gaern Guard 6th is a very old regiment with an illustrious history. They fought in numerous engagement of high importance in Imperial history, participating in five Crusades including the Damocles Gulf Crusade and earned accolades from Sisters of Battle Holy Orders, two different Space Marine Chapters and had the honor of seeing their regimental banner being added to the Halls of Heroes on Terra. This current iteration still carries on proudly this history of courage, skill and determination, but this time against the forces of the Imperium. The Bastion is a very old nickname for the regiment that they receive in honor of their base of operation an otherwise nameless set of fortification overlooking the coast close to the city of Whitetower. Re- founded shortly after the beginning of the Reclamation Crusade, the Gaern Guard 6th was quickly deployed as a space-born regiment tasked with invading enemy ships and disabling them. Their success at capturing enemy ships earned them the highest commendation both from their Castellan and from the king himself. Their commander, Henrik O’Hare, became the second in command of the Gaern Guard and Camellia’s successor should she perish. The regiment, like all other Gaern Guard regiment was recalled in time to defend their homeworld against invasion. On Gaern, they were faced with a difficult task: break through the lines of the Traxian White Owls 11th and seize the enemy evacuation ground. Unfortunately, the Traxian did manage to rob them from this victory by holding on to their position long enough for the evacuation to be completed and escape capture themselves. After this battle, the 6th received some reinforcement and are now being deployed in the counter attack on Telka with the objective of disabling the Imperium elite troops, in that case, it would be the feared Black Coats 8000th.

Moto: Forever vigilant.

Type: Fortress World (+3 ballistic skills, +3 willpower, nerves of steel), Fixed, Grenadier (+3 ballistic skills, +3 toughness, -3 perception, bombardier), Hardened fighter (+2 weapon skills, unarmed master), Close quarter battle (combat master), Vanguard, the Few, favored weapons (meltagun, autocanon), special equipment: stormtrooper carapace armor, best craftsmanship mono-edge knife.

This message was edited 2 times. Last update was at 2018/12/12 02:56:22


 
   
Made in ca
Longtime Dakkanaut




Lukaran Legion

World: Lukar is an ancient and massive telluric planet colonised during the Age of Strife by desperate people fleeing civil war on the nearby Danatus. It’s a terrible planet to live almost perpetually in semi darkness, wracked by storms and almost completely devoid of life, while gravity isn’t so intense it makes it difficult for human to live, it does require a period of adaptation. The first colonists had to hide in the numerous cave complex of Lukar where they were safe from the surface storms and had access to the few water sources of the planet. For millennia, the colonist scratched a difficult living on the harsh land of Lukar, but they endured and became numerous and prosperous enough to create a functional, but brutal society. When the Imperium arrived, the Lukarans finally got relief in the form of supply and much more advanced technology. In exchange, the Imperium wanted resources from the bleak planet. Lukar was a large planet, with great mineral resources from mundane iron too rare and exotic adamantium. The population of Lukar, strengthen by the harsh condition of the planet and its numerous intestine conflict also provided the planet with dangerously murderous, but disciplined troops who made the joy of Kurze and his Legion before they turned traitor. Since then, Lukar has been transformed into a mining world that produce an obscene amount of raw and transformed minerals vital for any sustained war effort. Lukarans themselves are sombre, rough people with no qualms about cruelty and violence, but a desire to do good.

Lukaran are pallid people who rarely see if ever the light of the sun. Lukar has a harsher gravity than Terra and it has an influence on the appearance of the population. They tend to be short but rather stocky people. Despite difficult living condition, Lukarans remain healthy overall despite clear signs of overworking and frequent scars from industrial accident or combat. The average size of a Lukaran men is of around 5 foot 8 inches for a weight of 190 pounds. Women are only an inch shorter but weight around 150 pounds on average. Both men and women wear their hairs brutally short if they work in the mines, which is the case for most of the population, others, most of them soldiers or pilots will prefer the more eccentric style of the hive gangers and a small minority of higher level administrator, officers an elite soldiers prefer to keep them at shoulder length and in a slick fashion as to appear more sophisticated. Clothing is equally unisex and Spartan with all black working clothes in rough tissue, leather and sometime reinforced with plasteel pieces, fancy silver buttons on the uniforms and extra pockets are the sign of higher rank. Cultural differences can be rather pronounced between the extractors, the transporter and the administrators, but all of them share few points in common. They all view life as an extremely cheap commodity and luck and happiness something to be seized every time it present itself. Violence and death is a part of their daily either due to their mandatory military service which is immensely difficult for a simple militia or due to the hazardous and dangerous mining duties the Lukarans have to pass through to pay their tithe to the Imperium. Extractors are the bleakest of all the citizens of Lukar. Their immense work load and its risks makes them extremely pessimistic. Living in close quarters to one another in dormitories or in transits also makes them sulky and prone to violent outburst, but forces to be quick to forgive. You can’t keep grudges for long in their environment. Transporters form a certain middle class and are those who seem to be the best natured and adventurous. Their position of command aboard their ships and relative independence makes them a tad bit rebellious and sometime underhand. Administrator have the reputation to be falsely affable and sophisticated, but are mostly simply sadistic and self centered. Education is mandatory on Lukar, but remains relatively basic and based on skills that can be applied to the future duties of a citizen. It starts at age 5 and end at age 15, afterward, all education is on a voluntary basis and if someone can afford it. Military service in the Lukaran Legion reserve for two years. Their training there is exactly as harsh as those who would make carrier in it.

Lukar was one of the first worlds to go in full revolt against the Imperium following the increase in tithe. The revolt on Lukar wasn’t motivated by food shortage, but by an important increase in their tithe of soldiers. This increase led to a shortage of able body worker to absorb the higher quotas of mineral exploitation. Everybody was forced to commit to more hours of work on their already maxed out level of workload. Accidents became more frequent and more lethal. After a massive cave in caused by a failure in communication and evaluation of the trajectory of a meteor, a relatively common occurrence on Lukar, thousands of workers were killed. Many people working in this mines, including some mid level administrator required a relaxation of the work schedules and inquiry on the incident, but they were turned down. A strike was declared, but the Lukaran Legionnaires were sent to crush it. This would prove to be the breaking point. The Legionnaires refused to fire on the crowd and joined it. Rebellion was underway. Other mining facilities and docks joined the early rebels, led by an otherwise completely unknown extractor named Phoebus, a simple, gloomy worker in his early thirties. Under his leadership, the rebels proved to be spectacularly efficient. Military bases fell in the hands one by one with little combat. He anticipated all operations conducted by Murder Squads, the elite of the Lukar Legion, against him and even managed to turn some of them against the governor. Soon, Phoebus found himself of a larger force than that of the governor and full access to long range ballistic missile facilities equipped with Deathstrike warhead. He ordered a tactical launch of a heavy plasma warhead on the Ebony Spire, the central node of government on Lukar and its mightiest fortress. While the shielding systems of the fortress were sufficient to protect it from the blast, it short-circuited them. Minutes after, thousands of saboteurs and rebels took the blinded fortress and seized it. The governor and his allies were flayed, skinned and branded over the course of a week, before being cut to pieces and fed to starving insane criminals held in the donjons of the fortress. Lukar was in the hands of a new master who would not pay the increased tithe. While he was purging his ranks from the remaining loyalists to the Imperium, Phoebus received notes from Danatus where the rebellion had put into power a man with a grander design for the Rarken Cluster. Sastar came with in help in the form of manufactured goods and even some food reserves and ships. He had a vast army, but needed a larger one still to help the entire Cluster too free itself from the Imperium. Impressed by the ideals and the plan of Sastar, Phoebus joined him and became the general in charge of Logistic. He carries with him a dreadful reputation to be a pitiless commander who does bring results. Lukar and its numerous moons are currently embroiled in a massive battle. This is probably the most stable and brutal warzone in the Rarken Sector and for now, the advantage remains slightly in the hands of the Lukaran thanks to their knowledge of the terrain and their high motivation, but the enemy is strong and the deployment of specialised units of Eltrada and Varadanis might bode for rapid changes.

The Legion: The history of the Lukaran Legion dates back from the very foundation of the colony from the refugees fleeing war on Danatus during the Age of Strife. The refugees were pursued by the Chaos worshiping warriors of Danatus who controlled the planet before the Imperium conquered the world. They were also quickly found and had to defend their camps and compound from their raids and assaults. With nowhere else to go, they had to fight and they learn to fight like cornered rats, viciously. With time, the population managed to grow and with the extra supplies brought by the invading raiding parties, the Lukarans gained access to a good number of weapons and armor. The fact that they were sitting on massive deposits of high quality ore also allowed them to manufacture weapons quickly. With time, mandatory enlistment in the Lukaran fighting force became mandatory and this self defense force evolved into a full blown military which developed a great expertise in close quarter firefight in the tunnels and mines of Lukar, but also in urban combat, guerilla and counter guerilla tactics. From their enemy their learned the value of uncompromising actions and also of brutality. The violence of the Lukaran lives was transferred to their military where terror tactics are frequently used to demoralised the opponent, but also strengthen the resolve and loyalty of the Legionnaires themselves. Torture is actively thought within the Lukaran Legion as a way to weed out moral compunctions from recruits, but also for their personal use should they seize prisoners. Most enemies would rather fight to the death than fall in the hands of the Lukaran Legion. When the Imperium arrived it was under the guise of a fleet of the Night Lords, this is a little known fact on Lukar due to the Horus Heresy, but numerous are the Lukaran who joined the Night Lords as auxiliaries during their conquest. Unlike them though, Lukar and its soldiers remained loyal to the Emperor during those dark days and afterward, avoiding the destruction of their world in the process. The Lukan Legion was fundamental in creation and the protection of the Rarken Sector. Their numerous, heavily armored and ruthless soldiers were used on pretty much all battlefields of the Sector and many others in the entire Segmentum. The terror they inspire made them excellent assets to quash rebellions or deal with separatists. Its with great irony that they are now counting amongst them.

Training for the Lukaran Legion starts with mandatory military services. All Lukaran must join the Legion for at least two full years once they complete their schooling and before they reach the age of 30 for men or 25 for women. Depending on the status of the conscript, Lukarans might be affected to a different type of unit or with a different type of position. The vast majority of them though will join one of the line infantry unit of the Lukaran Legion under the rank of simple soldier or low level sub-officers. Training under the Lukaran Legion has been described by others as hellish, cruel and mind breaking, but it does produces high quality soldiers. During two years, conscripts are drilled for intense physical activity, combat in claustrophobic conditions and are forced to follow a rigorous and dehumanising discipline. Corporal punishment is common, as are injuries in training. Most of the combat training revolves around close range firefights or close combat. Lukaran Legionnaires aren’t trained in any specific martial art, but in a mix of various technic and training designed to kill, disarm and cripple repeated ad nauseam. Training exercise are mostly done at squad or platoon level. The beating of failed conscripts or those breaking discipline is handled by other conscripts. The torture or execution of prisoners and criminals also falls on them to allow them to practice various types of corpse mutilation. Training is interrupted by patrols and services amongst the population on a semi-regular basis. Those who performed the best during their period of mandatory enlistment will be transferred full time in the Lukaran Legion where they will have another extra year of training. They cannot refuse the call to arms, but those who performed the best were usually so because of their enthusiasm in the first place. Refusal will send you in the worst mines as forced worker. Rumors has it that Phoebus himself was one such person. The extra year of training is mostly a continuation of the last one with a few changes. Exercises are now conducted in larger groups going up to regimental level. A longer amount of time is passed on tactical instruction as well on special tactics. Finally, all Lukaran Legionnaires in formation will have to be blooded before they can receive their insignia officially. The most common way is to have them conduct a mutant purge or a routine smuggler hunt in between Lukar, Lukar Secundus, the neighboring planet under the same jurisdiction and their dozens of moons and asteroid fields. These almost always hide a few smugglers or pirates who search to make quick riches by seizing the numerous freighting vessels incoming from and the Lukaran System. Before they turned their coat, the Lukaran Legion had a good reputation in High Command due to their good training, extremely high moral and superior equipment. The only thing they were reproached for was their brutality which sometimes extend to allied civilian population and is viewed as distasteful by many other guardsmen, leading to some friction between regiments. This still holds true for the Free Realm High Command.

The classical equipment for a Lukaran Legionnaire is composed of a carapace armor with a full helm with black lenses. The bracers, gauntlets and boots of the armor are studded with spikes and blades to make them dangerous close combat weapons. Officers will wear a black cloak made of fire proof and blade proof materials that many uses in close combat to disarm their foes. Their standard weapon is a heavy combat shotgun, usually equipped with explosive rounds to maximise the damage done. It’s a short and robust weapon without stock that requires little training to be deadly. In addition to this shotgun, all Lukaran Legionnaires are given a chainsword that they also use to butcher the corpse of their enemies when needed. Lukaran Legionnaires are known for their use combat stimulant to give themselves an edge in the brutally fast close quarter engagement they are specialised in. Their field kit is pretty standard for that of a line infantry unit and will usually but they do carry an extra load of grenades. Lukaran frequently decorate their completely black armors with squad or regimental insignias, nobles sometime put their family crest on it, but many simply personalised them to their own taste. It’s considered completely acceptable, especially if it makes them look more threatening. The number of Lukarans who paint their armors with enemy blood is thus rather high. Unlike most guardsmen regiment, they only rarely carry the Aquila on themselves, but it can be found on their regimental banners. Several do wear the Free Realm of Rarken symbol though.

«The Fangs and Claws»: The Lukaran 888th is a special regiment. It’s an elite regiment composed strictly of Murder Squads. These are normally found dispersed on all regiments and are stealth specialists, the very elite of the Lukaran Legion, trained more extensively in close combat and short range firefight to take down enemy leaders, sabotage key targets, take down ships bridges crew and terrorise enemy units. They all have passed through an extra 6 month of training to do so and were selected from the very best available. Rare are the regiments composed exclusively from Murder Squads, but the constant warfare in the Rarken Sector in the past two decades has allowed much more soldiers to acquire a lot of experience and the invasion of Lukar created the need for more elite units, especially to defeat units like the nearly superhuman Eltradan Rifleman or the ultra-specialised Artesian Crusaders. The 888th, despite being twice smaller than a traditional regiment at 3000 strong, is a new founding, but from experimented troops. They are commanded by general Drall Darkul, a cruel and almost paranoid commander with a long list of victory and a lot of blood on his hands. The regiment as yet to see a lot of action, but as already gained a reputation. Their assault on Imperial on an imperial barrack which left hundreds of flayed and dismembered cadavers made them famous, especially since none of them were seen on the scene. Their sabotage of a supply ship was also a severe blow to the defense of one installation and the pitiless execution of a contingent of wounded being evacuated to more secure hospital that included the medical personnel and two priests cemented their place as dangerous murderer. Their killing of priests was sanctioned by Sastar who ordered his troops to spare priests and non-militant Sisters whenever possible. General Phoebus didn’t carry out the sanction and claimed military necessity. He also, behind Sastar’s back, approved operations for Drall and his men to kill with extreme brutality Cardinal Saronus, thinking it could break the moral of many troopers from Janus to see their leader butchered. Both officers have sworn that, should they carry out this mission successfully, they would accept to stand trial for heresy.

Moto: Scream, scream in the dark and help me find you (always muttered, unofficial moto); In the darkest pits, in the shadow of the night, fear my light (official)

Type: Mining Colony (+3 toughness, +3 perception, resistance radiation) Bilious (paranoia), Line Infantry (+3 strength, -3 intelligence), Close Quarter fighting (double team), Combat drugs, Survival (caves), Mistrusted (Imperial Guard), Favored Weapon (plasma gun, heavy flamer) Special Equipment: good quality shotgun, chainsword, explosive rounds
   
Made in ca
Longtime Dakkanaut




Special thanks to Cyrixiinus for the original concept of this regiment


Cardonan Diplomatic Corp


World: Cardona is a world on the extreme galactic south edge of the Rarken Cluster colonised shortly after the War of the Beast. It’s a world of average size dominated by immense seas of great depth. Its land mass is a fragmented mass of archipelagoes and island continents pasted over the surface. Unlike numerous other imperial planets, Cardona has no specialisation, occupations varying from isle to isle, leading to it being classified under the broad and ill define term of civilised planet. Shaft sunk mines supply the workshops of artisans’ half way across the planet. Aquatics and soil based farms stretches in conjunction with fortified strong points across the planetary surface making the world a net exporter in quality food. The gleaming spires of traders and bureaucrats sit across channels from industrialised land masses where a wide variety of sophisticated goods are produced from advanced laser tools, to vehicles passing by electronics and plastics. The upside of this is that the population is self sufficient whilst still producing a wide variety of goods, the downside is that half the planets supplies go into supporting the local infrastructure, and an unfortunate headache for whatever Administratum clerks who are assigned to oversee planetary tithe which takes the form of an equally wide array of resources which include soldiers. Cardonans have the reputation to be people of contradiction being both adaptable, but prudent and above all intelligent.

The fragmented geographical features of Cardona are responsible for most of the social and factional divisions across the planet. The central government, if such a term could be used to describe it, is composed at any one time of an more or less formal assembly of noble houses, important traders, military commanders and other hegemonic groups, each one of them is mostly independent from one another for most decisions and refer to their assembly only for planetary decisions and interacting with the wider Imperium. This political division also reflect itself on the population which is extremely diverse in term of cultural habits and appearance, though an archetypical Cardonan might be best described as a fair skinned, healthy, fit person in simple practical clothes. This division has also led to the number of alliances, treaties and agreements between various peoples at any one time to be only surpassed by the number of small scale wars, feuds and skirmishes as separate factions vie for the most advantageous positions on contested territory. Because this unrest, is not fundamentally of anti-imperial nature and has never impacted the tithe to the imperium, thus it has done little to intervene. However, the structure of these conflicts is near unique. Rather than the age-long blood feuds with no discernable cause that have shown a tendency to proliferate amongst similarly structured civilizations, the political situation is more characterised by an ever shifting morass of allegiances, betrayals and shifting interests with very little long standing alliances and peace. This in itself is not remarkable, there are many places in the Imperium characterized by such types of conflicts. The difference here is that Cardonans seem to have reached a point of constant equilibrium where those conflict, who have raged for millennia never threatened the safety of the planet neither attracted the attention of the Imperium. It can be explained by the fact that the population and their leader seems not to care what disagreements they may have had in the past if they can help each other now, and vice versa. It’s a supremely pragmatic way to view conflict. Likewise, despite the vast cultural disparity war conduct is cleaner than most places in the Imperium. Particularly brutal regimes have been long since destroyed since they were turned on by practically everyone else. This has even frustrated raiders who, seeing a divided planet, thought it would be an easy target only to see former enemies stopping immediately the hostilities and turn with marvelous coordination on the common threat before returning to their personal conflict afterward. This has been previously illustrated as the “ally yesterday, enemy today, ally tomorrow” attitude. The success of Cardona to maintain such an equilibrium and strong defense can certainly be attributed to the standards of its elite military, the strangely named Diplomatic Corp.

Cardona is a rather strange planet. Of all the world who joined the Free Realm of Rarken, it’s the only one who never suffered from the Hunger War. The Administratum clerks in charge of the tithe of Cardona didn’t increase it, probably to save themselves the headache of having to change their fragile tithe system to match the Imperium broad demand from the sector. Thus, while numerous world around them were faced with famine, overworked citizens, mass exodus and the crumbling of their infrastructures, Cardona kept on going without an inch of a problem. When Sastar forces reached the planet, a delegation was sent to convince the assembly of leaders to join the Free Realm and to the surprise of Sastar and his supporter, the Cardonans agreed despite having almost nothing to gain from it and a lot to lose, due to a dislike for central and remote power like Terra. They saw in the Free Realm a better alternative that can still guaranty their prosperity. To acquire their support, the Free Realm had to grant a certain number of privileges like the guaranty their tithe would not be higher than under the Imperium, that their trade agreement with all planets, including those who didn’t joined the Free Realm would stand and that an embassy would be created for them on Danatus, the Nexus and Gaern. They were granted those privileges without much debate. A famous military commander of Cardona even joined the High Command of the Free Realm to be at the head of its intelligence and diplomatic services a young woman who would answer only to the name of Captain Liana. As the central nodes for Sastar intelligence and diplomatic services, the Cardonans were assigned to a particularly dangerous and sensitive secret mission. Seeing the destruction of the Free Realm as an inevitability, Sastar decided to open diplomatic channels to ensure the continuing survival and prosperity of the worlds under his control by negotiating an honorable surrender under which the Free Realm world would be spared of both the self destructive tithe that was imposed on them and any other form of retribution. On a small planetoid, the Cardonans have set up an outpost and an embassy under heavy guard from the highly reputable Diplomatic Corp protection to begin the process of negotiation.

The Diplomatic Corps: One of the largest impediments and most critical enterprise for any group in power on Cardona is the of delicate negotiations that have to take place between parties be it for negotiating alliances, ceasefires, armistices or trade agreements. In early times in particular, these were characterised by ambushes, assassinations, fake outs, traps or someone just panicking and letting off a gun at the wrong time due to an real or imagined threat. As such many mutually beneficial conversations degenerated into unnecessary violence, many alliances were sabotaged and leaders assassinated. Gradually and largely unintentionally, the various military forces and militia of the various sovereign territories of the planet began to refine the guards sent on these vitally important missions. A selection for the most disciplined, level headed and calm soldiers appeared. Accidental misfires began to decrease as calmer heads were appointed. Better equipment, training and experience began to rebuff attacks and ambushes on diplomatic delegations. Over time, the guards even became immune to more insidious methods of disruption, every man and woman serving in them were implanted with memorance biotics in order to record deliberations and attackers to the finest detail, thus providing a way to make sure meetings would go correctly. These guards became a norm and were also extremely useful for law enforcement due to their diplomatic behavior and constant recording as well as for peace mission where several, normally rival groups send guards to cooperate to restore order in a destabilised territory. In modern times, the now aptly named diplomatic corp. are a common sight in each sovereign territory of the planet, forming the core of their permanent military and their elite. It’s from them that the planet’s tithe in soldier is payed. It took a few founding for the Imperium to realised that soldiers tithed from Cardona were recruited from ambassadorial guards and a few more to realise they had a high potential for delicate occupation and negotiation mission. Once this was found out, their already great value was further increased.

Diplomatic Corpsmen are entirely focused on their goal of protection. The relevant training is first given to them when they are seconded to their respective island or sovereign territory’s armed force. By the time they are inducted into the Diplomatic Corp., they will have a minimum of two years of services and training in such a matters. In addition to the cultural tradition of Cardonan to let bygones be bygones to an extreme degree, allowing them to work well with almost anyone or anything, an universal level headedness is added along with an instinct for danger. The supplementary training of the Diplomatic Corp. is thus very similar to that of bodyguard training as well as in etiquette. Their experience in diplomatic procedures allows them an instinct to read and react to negotiations and while they will never open fire without a clear and displayed threat they are quick to react to one, typically exploiting the skill of prudently withdrawing swiftly and safely with their charge before risking any counter attack. Should retreat be cut off or too risky, they will counter attack with speed and precision with remarkable discipline to disable the enemy capacity to immobilise and pursue them. Diplomatic Corpsmen makes poor assault forces even if they can adapt to such a role, but they will certainly raise the point of their creation to any officer who would order them to do so. Their line of duty often results in them being at the head of expedition fleets, mediating inter-Imperial conflicts, bringing rebels or newly discovered human colonies back into the fold peacefully, and even being used reliably in the rare occasion a temporary truce is required with xenos civilizations. Diplomatic Corpsmen were involved in negotiation with Tau, Kroots, Eldars, Vyrkanyi and several others. Despite this apparent specialization High Command has found other actions also suited to their skills. Perhaps the most important of these is that Cardonan regiment can enable anything short of the most hostile of regiments to work together. This has been exploited upon numerous occasions as the Diplomatic Corpsmen can literally hold entire battle lines together by upping the amount of compliance between differing regiments. Furthermore, they have also been placed in charge of retreats, their experience in extraction methods and ability to calmly organize everybody has resulted in millions of guardsmen and their equipment being saved thanks to a well executed rearguard action and retreat. These skills would be put to good use by the Free Realm once they rallied its cause.

Each Cardonan member of the imperial guard equipped with the best equipment their artisans’ could produce. Carapace armour and hot shot lasguns are a common fare. Even more specialized in nature, are the memorance implants usually bequeathed to Imperial scribes and Magus borne within each of their heads. This specialized piece of equipment allows every thing witnessed to be recorded so that if a negotiation goes wrong, and even if the bearer does not survive to speak of it, what happened, where and how can be retrospectively analysed and the culprits, concealed or not can be identified. Prior information about people appearances of preferences can also be uploaded in them to instantaneously brief the soldiers. Unusually, their armours have not a single mark of imperial iconography or any squad or regimental identification. The only thing they will possess on their pearl armors are a temporary painting of their sovereign territory symbol on the left shoulder pad and the temporary painting of the sovereign territory they are dealing with on the right shoulder pad. Their fully enclosed helmets are rarely used during negotiation to allow other troopers to see their face and scan it to see if they match that of the delegation they are supposed to meet. With the exception of the light blue coloured visor of the helmet, both the helmet, the armor and the weapons are painted in an alabaster white, both as a signifier of peace.

«The Embassy»: The 34th Cardonan Diplomatic Corp. is, all in all, a typical regiment in terms of number and training. It’s a rather recent re-founding, but it as already gained a certain experience. Their very first mission, as it were, was a mediation between the Crimson Husks and the Ember Blades Astartes chapters on the eve of the Hunger War. Although it may seem laughable for such giants to be warded over by simple guardsmen, their presence as neutral observers and mediators allowed the two rival Chapters to cooperate in the destruction of a dangerous Space Hulk and its population of mutant pirates. More recently they were part of delegations of the Free Realm to acquire the support of other rebelling planets to Sastar growing dominion. The negotiations were conducted successfully despite an attempted assassination attempt by a local death cult, after which it is rumoured that the corpsmen rendered their own diplomat unconscious and proceeded with the negotiations in his stead. Their current deployment in the Rarken warzone is at the personal behest of Inquisitor Ronald Gamasius who contacted by unknown means Liana and Sastar to open a negotiation all of this without the knowledge of Lord General von Krauss whose personal attitudes towards past wrongs could not be further from the Cardonans own on the Imperial side and from General Phoebus from the Rarken side. Currently the regiment has been deployed wholescale to a neutral outpost on the airless planetoid designated T-3434G. The covert negotiations undergoing there between certain elements of the Imperium and of the Free Realm of Rarken are believed by Inquisitor Gamasius to be key to ending parts of the war before the Free Realm can be contaminated by Chaos. It is to the safeguarding of ambassadors from both sides and of the negotiations as a whole that the Diplomatic Corps of Cardonan have been assigned. As the only armed force allowed on the planetoid, this responsibility is theirs alone and they will protect the proceedings with their lives against any source of external interference that could jeopardize them, be it Free Subjects, Imperial or something else entirely.

Moto: Never fire the first shot, always fire the last.

Types: Imperial World (+3 intelligence, +3 willpower), Circumspect (foresight), Diplomatic Envoy (+3 fellowship, +3 perception, awareness, +15 to all social tests), Iron Discipline, Cult of chivalry, favored weapons (longlas, lascanon), Special equipment: good quality light carapace armour, Hot-shot lasgun, memorance implant, good quality shock sword.
   
Made in ca
Longtime Dakkanaut




Sepcial thanks to Cyrixiinus for the original concept of this regiment


D'aerns Free Companies


Origin and Organisation: D'aerns Free Companies is a band of mercenary, sell-swords, who have been in operation within the Segmentum Ultima for approximately 80 years now. Originally the armed compliment of Rogue Trader K'aeldra Trevalta's ship Blood Lynx, they seized control of it after their employer's assassination by an unknown agency. Led by Tarn D’aerns, hence their future name, they quickly decided to evacuate the Traders home system, although not without liquidising a portion of Trevalta's assets first giving them a small fortune to start with. Since then, they have served as unusually honourable soldiers on some occasions and entirely untrustworthy in others, maintaining a strict policy of: “if you pay, you have the guns; if you don’t you get the bullets”. As a result, there is some debates amongst Imperial authorities as to how to treat them. The only reason they have remained unprosecuted so far is their strict adherence to the letter of a strict contracting agreement signed by both party. Over time they have served as gun runners, intimidation for Imperial Governors, Rogue Traders or Traders, explorers for the account of the Church of Mars, deniable attack forces and stopgap defense forces in many murky conflict. They have even been accused of acting in collaboration with xenos, although this remains largely unproven. In addition, they have sometimes been payed by the Administratum to fill temporarily fill gaps in Imperial battle lines, especially beside green regiments with little experience of galactic scale warfare. Total strength has been known to vary between ten to seventeen thousand as they generally recruit whoever wants to come onboard, provided that they are checked over for chaos taint, the one thing the D’aerns mercenaries don’t want. However, it is rare for this many of them to be on an assignment at once, more often being spread over a planet completing various nobs that don't require their full strength. It’s are day when a Trader needs an army capable of seizing a city to solve his problems. This does risk companies and bands being stranded on a planet for indeterminable amounts of time as they only have one ship, albeit a large one, but it’s generally found to be more profitable, and safer, to do this than constantly throwing themselves into the nearest warzone. The most recent leader of the company is Tandra Selkins following the retirement from active duty of D’aerns due to war wounds and old age even with a few rejuvenat treatments. In reality, she acts most often to mediate disputes amongst the various company and band leaders and cannot order them to do something they don't wish to, especially not without the backing of Ol’ D’aerns. This is conveyed largely through a group of councillors, one for each band, the minimum sized group assigned to any one contract, whose responsibility is to hold the Captain to account and prevent bad decisions.

Recruitment and Operation: As previously stated the mercenaries have no single point of origin. The largest portion is made up of hive city gangs and frontiersmen with absolutely no presence of nobility even though there are rumors surrounding one or two members. There is also a large number of various abhumens regarded with equanimity throughout the Corp. A member’s reasons for signing up are their own, although in most cases it’s to escape their birthplace, because have a taste for adventure and violence that exceeds their judgement or because they were in trouble of some kind, either with Imperial authorities or someone else. Some are even guardsmen who were left stranded on a world after the war ended and for which the ships never came back, a known occurrence within the Imperial Guard. Trouble with the Inquisition is perhaps the only trouble they won’t take on board no matter what. The one thing they have in common is that they are all fighters. Regardless of whether or not they like each other in combat situations they will always protect one another. As a result, there is a common saying amongst the veterans “always an even trade”. The company is also not known to hold grudges as an enemy one day could be an ally on the next, but are still holding some prudence when dealings with former enemies as to avoid vengeance. As a result, they have been used by the Imperium in the very rare cases that co-operation is required with xenos species, firstly because they can work together successfully and secondly no taint is suffered by actual Imperial armies. The Company maintains its reputation by following a very specific contract assigning them usually for a set amount of time or specific action, although pay by the day contracts are also sometimes used. There are terms on which the mercenaries can opt out of a contract, namely if they are misled or used as cannon fodder which does happen once in while. They have, however managed to roughly standardise their equipment. Every single member has access to flak armour and las weaponry, which are usually supplemented by some form of chainweapon. Tanks and vehicles are generally lacking as they are considered too much trouble to maintain and retrieve as, unlike some Imperial Guard regiments, they are very much attached to staying alive. Still, they can still align a few chimeras and half a dozen Leman Russ if required. They rely primarily on missile launchers for their anti-armour capabilities, as their portability suits the mercenaries adequately if not supremely, mortars and heavy stubbers for infantry suppression. Some of the most veteran units have access to better equipment, even carapace armour and hot-shot las weaponry or even xenos weapons. These veterans are usually dispersed amongst the various small company or bands. More specialized groups are also equipped with grav-chutes to allow for rapid deployment raids. These are never used if there is any chance of the local conflict becoming protracted as this would mean having to abandon their equipment, something generally against Free Company policy.

Tactically Free Company members are known to be excellent at raids and extraction missions, poor at frontal assaults and a very bad idea to use as a long term garrison due to costs. They favour tactics which have minimum personal risk and are often improvised in the midst of battle. Whilst this lends to a certain flexibility that also applies to orders. As such it’s important to give them an objective rather than a specific battle plan, and co-ordinating attacks with standard regiments tends to be difficult. When the Free Realms rebellion broke out the Free Company was already amongst the rebelling systems fulfilling various contracts which, in hindsight, may have been devised so that they were present at the time. The were immediately solicited by the Free Realms administration for service, and given that they faced a very real threat of being attacked if they didn't comply the group as a whole assented. Since then various bands have been split up and deployed as far away from each other as possible, thus making it difficult for them to withdraw. Despite this, they have held to their word, combatting Imperial Forces in several locations. It’s probable that upon resolution of the conflict, they will attempt to put as much distance between themselves and the Rarken Sector as possible. Due to the diffusion of their forces they have not been thrown into mass assaults but have often been tasked with taking and holding points of minor strategic importance, freeing up the Free Realm forces proper for other duties. Amongst Rarken’s High Command they are regarded as unreliable, but less so than cultist forces whom the mercenaries themselves have an avid dislike to. Nevertheless, special care is taken not to break contract to them which would cause immediate defections and leaks of high priority information. They have also been used as suppression forces against pro-Imperial groups and thus limiting the contact between loyalist and rebel citizens. This also means that should such actions get out of hand the mercenaries can easily be disassociated with the rebel cause and punished. In addition, they have been used as go between the Free Realm subjects and parties such as ork freebooters.

Quails band: Lead by an abhumen of unspecified type Quails group was one of several Free Company bands dispersed to fight Imperial forces. Unlike others this group was targeted into Free Realm territory, in order to attack and destroy Imperial sympathizers. Unfortunately, during one such attack a local temple harbouring such a coven was revealed to be, beneath layers of moss, built out of some kind of crystal that reflected their energy weapons shots back at them, a trait which proved devastating in the opening barrages and close range firefights within the temple. In some cases, where mercenaries had already been pinned down with autogun fire remained unaware of this and maintained constant fire against an enemy that wasn't actually there. Despite being eventually successful, heavy casualties were taken during the terrifying engagement and las-weapons were universally discarded in favour of autoguns looted from within the temple which went no more than a week before being altered by a heretek within the group. These have been enhanced to have a better accuracy and penetration using some form of xenos alloy. Unfortunately, due to a design flaw regarding the bullets, shock waves within the barrel of the weapons have, upon occasion, blown up in their users faces. This does not seem to be enough to dissuade members of Quails band from using them though. Quail himself is reported missing and as such the group intends to rejoin its comrades as soon as possible regardless of what their superiors might have to say about the matter.

Moto: Get in, get the money, and get out.

Types: Mercenaries (+ 3 toughness, + 3 ballistic skills, nerves of steel), Sanguine (Die Hard), Line infantry (+3 strength, -3 intelligence, rapid reload), Sharpshooters, Scarred by loss, favored weapon (heavy stubber, missile launcher), special equipment: additional two weeks rations, Dromon pattern autogun (high impact, piercing, lethal, heating issues, unreliable)

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2017/12/10 17:42:17


 
   
Made in ca
Longtime Dakkanaut




Special Thans to Cyrixiinus for the creation of this particular regiment


Mandakor Prison Legions

World: Mandakor is a decaying hive world. The planet itself is vast, with the weather usually being cold and perpetually raining. Sprawling hive cities cover two thirds of the planets surface, squashed, rusty edifices that seem to swallow up humanity and spit its worst portions back out. The central districts are the best off and are constantly sporting some new facility or gallery built with donations from the wealthy who generously give to institutions that serve their self interests. The rest is in a constant state of disrepair with only major gang nexuses showing any signs of regular maintenance, mainly re-fortification and steady supply in food stock. Mandakor has never been a prosperous planet, serving primarily as a dumping ground for the dregs and undesirables of overpopulated hive worlds like the nearby Tyris. As a result, it’s packed with what is almost the worst of humanity, killers, thieves, vagrants, strange cultists, con artists and bounty hunters. Since the beginning of the Astra Militarum tithings in soldiers on the Mandakor, the situation has stabilised somewhat. Many criminal dens were left empty by the various founding, but the remaining ones are growing more belligerent as very little of the planet is adequately monitored and controlled. There is minimal legitimate trade within the planet as merchants are victim to extortion, racket and intimidation. That’s not counting at least three separate breakout attempts off what is essentially now a penal planet without strong governance and various riots for food, supplies or simply evacuate some anger at a terrible situation.

The Imperial official or anybody trying to make sense of Mandakor situation, two unofficial modes of government exists besides what can be considered as the legitimate government of the planet. The underworld, responsible for most of the violence and drug use on the planet, is the first of these two. It’s made up of various gangs, competing against each other to control the most money venues and territories. This is no different really from most gangs in hive worlds except for the sheer amount of power they control and their size. Methods of control are brutal, and with the exception of a few compounds held by the legitimate authority of Mandakor and a few Imperial ones, like the Arbites fortress, or scattered refugee hold outs, they control the majority of the planet’s surface. Second, is what has been named by official authorities as the overworld, a web of connections of favors and acquaintances and favors that riddle the police forces and emanates from semi-legitimate trading houses and government officials. The few unorthodox officers not in the pocket of gangs cannot commit to a single investigation that brushes the tendrils of this domain without their commissioners suddenly reviewing them and posting them to isolated and often dangerous positions. There is perhaps only ten percent of the planetary law enforcement and PDF that can actually be trusted to do their jobs. Attempted occupations by Arbites forces have temporarily turned cities into battlegrounds. The enclaves of imperial government are essentially eternally under siege and are forced to rely on their own loyal bands of enforcement officers handpicked from the trustworthy among the standard police and PDF regiments. Mandakorians themselves are hard to differentiate from other lower hive inhabitants. They live miserable, short and brutal lives in a polluted environment. The only difference is that these ones aren’t deathly afraid of a higher authority and have been described by Imperial Commissars as having more mouth than brain and more guts than discipline. In terms of ethnic background, the planet is a big patchwork since many come from off world, refugees or sent there since the planetary government, to attract some money, have officially transformed entire continents in detention area. Some still display typically cultural traits from Krasus in clothing and appearance or in sheer cruelty when it comes to Lukarans for example. Mandakorians are people any good Imperial citizen should keep away from, but despite their violence, they know when to stick together and even show sympathy, especially if they think you could become a lifesaver later. Due to this, they are most often compared to street dogs: dangerous, untrustworthy, filthy, but somehow cute and sympathetic.

The Prison Legions: Because Mandakor an illegal and unregistered imperial colony born in the tumultuous Horus Heresy were many new colonies simply slipped in the crack of the system, there were no initial tithe attributed to the planet, neither was there any form of classification for it. For centuries, this was a grateful gift to those belatedly attempting to control the planet as no infrastructure was present capable of producing any goods of value to the Imperium. However, when the labyrinthine organization of the Administratum finally assigned them one an opportunity was seen. Thousands of the murderers and robbers were rounded up by the loyalist enforcers and herded into transports under the watchful glare of commissars who instantaneously knew they were given gak and were supposed to turn it into gold. In addition, much of the corrupt infrastructure that made up the overworld was also swept in to serve as officers or more “elite troops”. It was a risky gambit for the de facto governor of Mandakor. Should the Astra Millitarum be dissatisfied of his soldier tithe, he would be replaced and killed in the process most certainly. To reduce his personal risk, he elected to send much more than required to appease potential problem, but also because he could completely afford it. Finally, some of the governance's own troops, loyal and reasonably well trained police officers and soldiers, were sent along as well. Combined with the oversized detachment of Commissars attributed to the founding this was deemed sufficient enough to keep the new penal regiments in check and the Astra Millitarum satisfied with the quality of the troop. After all, they were mostly going to be used as mobile sandbags anyway, thus had very little hype to live up to. Considering training for the normal Prison Legionnaire is almost null, consisting only of the most basic military instruction and tactics, its also very cost efficient. Since their weapons are very simple to use and maintain the, three weeks and a half of training they are given before muster is sufficient to make them capable of going into a fight without killing each others, at least by accident.

Tactically, the use of the Prison Legions varies over the lifetime of a regiment. Initially, unit formations are varied as much as possible in between deployments in order to prevent the forming of groups or little clans within the troop. In particular the forces drawn from corrupt policing agencies are kept in isolation from the penal groups to prevent the passing of information and bribes. Incidents of full blown criminal enterprise within the Prison Legions were recorded before this policy was put into place with at least one incidence of criminal enterprise so sophisticated it involved elements from other planets and grave consequences. In early battles and campaigns, the convict groups are used as expendable cannon fodder, albeit one that at times suffers almost as much casualties from internal strife than external threats, especially if they are poorly garrisoned for a long time. Once the gang companies are expended the regiment begins to function more in line with common standards, the now redundant commissars, if there were any or special drill sergeant are reassigned to another, fresher regiment. The former police are now the Legion main infantry source whilst the elite wardens form the command core. Further complicating the issue is the matter that since Mandakor authorities were essentially given free reign over the formation of these regiments there is no actual definition of whether or not these components make up an individual regiment or several. Officially they are labelled under a single regiment, but any general who has received only the briefest briefing on Mandakor Prion Legions know they can operate as three separate entities very easily. Thus, they are sometime broken into pieces. Early on in it’s existence any Mandakor assault, or defense, will begin with wave after wave of poorly armed prisoners. Despite their use as cannon fodder and poor armament these groups have often been found to be frustratingly resilient to the foe, using unpredictable tactics and looted weapons along with honed savagery to stay alive. Compared to this the standard infantry of prison legions are often lacklustre, being more accustomed to taking bribes than any actual fighting. Nevertheless, they are disciplined enough to take advantage of the chaos caused by the preceding assault waves and seize victory and all the glory. Following on from these are the “untouchables”, quite possibly the only people in the entire army an Imperial commander can actually trust. Mechanised and heavily armoured they are called upon to hold a faltering line or weather particularly heavy fire to storm an objective.

Equipment wise, the Prison Legions are a logistical nightmare, the penal convicts are armed with the worst weapons possible and the upper wardens with some of the best. Convicts are typically armed with autoguns and mono-knives and are barely armoured, although on the battlefield this is soon augmented by whatever they can get their hands on. They use only the simplest specialised equipment to deal with harder foes. The Hive Guard, the corrupted police officers, are slightly better off, having standard flak armour and shot guns. Many maintain a dusky blue uniform from their previous occupations, along with a somewhat superfluous shock baton since they both lack the training and the skills to make the best use of it. Some even have the silver etched ceremonial versions, but they sell it frequently for extra supply or pleasant company. Contrastingly warden units are extremely well equipped, armed with assault shotguns and clad in carapace armour augmented by suppression shields and operating out of a host of mobile vehicles, all in order to either act as bulwarks for their regiment or suppress internal uprisings. Trinkets of religious nature are rather common. Those who turned their coat on the Imperium commonly wear symbol of allegiance to the Free Realm. Vego Sastar is surprisingly a very popular figure on Mandakor, outside of hear shot of the Imperial authorities of course, this might explain the defection of some regiments of the Prison Legion to his cause.

The Escapees: The newly minted 3rd reincarnation of the Mandakorian Prison Legion 23rd was at full strength prior to its commitment to the ongoing war in the Rarken sector. Unfortunately, a misreading of it as two separate regiments saw the vast and resourceful repository of deported criminals posted to an entirely different region than their wardens. Before the Wardens could rectify this the penal soldiers broke loose from their Drill Sergeant and Commissars in the midst of battle, and promptly defected to the rebels. Despite these refugees having good reason to war against the Imperium the hierarchy of the Free Realm has little trust for the defectors. Why trust a traitor not to betray you? This is a justified sentiment because more than half of these are currently spread throughout the Free Realms establishing underworld contacts, feeding black markets and even blood cults. However, despite their newfound haven, the Mandakorian escapees may be in a tighter corner than they think. Not only are they under a miasma of distrust from their allies but many of their discreet contacts in Danatus have begun to fall ominously silent, and word is that on the frontline their former wardens and captors are seeking them with a vengeance. Their de facto commander Leeroy Nine-Fingers, is currently attempting to make a good showing in the hope that the veil of suspicion will disappear and with it his chances of getting killed in an horrible manner.

Mandakor convict Moto: Survival means not being here. (unofficial, no official moto)

Mandakor Hive Guard Moto: Survival means not getting shot by your betters. (unofficial, no official moto)

Mandakor Enforcement Wardens Moto: Integrity above all. (unofficial, no official moto)

Convict Trooper Type: Penal Colony (+3 agility, +3 toughness, street fighting), Bilious (paranoia), Condemned (cold hearted), light infantry (+3 agility, -3 toughness, sprint), hardened fighters (+2 weapon skills, mono knife), Favored weapon (flamer, autocanon), special equipment: autogun, autopistol.

Hive Guard Trooper Type: Imperial World (+3 willpower, +3 fellowship), fixed, Line infantry (+3 strength, -3 intelligence, rapid reload), close order drill (double team) Incompetent leadership, favored weapon (grenade launcher, autocanon) special equipment: combat shotgun, shock baton.

Enforcement Warden Type: Schola Progenium (+3 ballistic skills, +3 willpower, air of authority), fixed, mechanised infantry (+3 agility, -3 perception, operate ground vehicle), close quarters combat (combat master), hardened fighter (+2 weapon skills, takedown) the few, favoured weapons (flamer, autocanon), special equipment: suppression shield, carapace armor, good quality assault shotgun with man stopper rounds

   
Made in ca
Longtime Dakkanaut




Danatusian Dragoons

World: Danatus is an old world and the most important and populous planet in the Rarken Cluster. It was colonised ages ago during the Age of Strife by colonists of unknown origin. These were servants of Chaos, worshipers of Khorn to be more precise, under the leadership of the Order of the Blood Knights, an order of mounted elite warriors. They were the master of this slightly larger than average planet’s land. On it they built vast castles to house themselves and their servants from which they fought their rivals and extended their dominion. The reign of the Order of the Blood Knights would continue until the Great Crusade when the Ultramarine Legion arrived and fought a long and more difficult battle than expected. The worshipers of Chaos were defeated, the few remaining Blood Knights disappeared in unknown place, those who would not, their rivals and their servants were exterminated. Only a small portion of the original population, those who were sound of mind and body and rallied the Imperium, were spared. New colony ships from Terra would repopulated quickly the world and transform it into the vast Hive World it is now. Over 75% of the planet is covered in hives of rockcrete and metal housing a population of a 125 billion persons. The remaining 15% are left open water and seas too deep to build aquatic farming complex on. Originally, Danatus was covered in large and rich seas and today the hydroponic culture allows to feed about 25% of the population and provides enough fresh water for all of it. Danatus is immensely productive when it comes to the production of simple tools pieces of machinery or transformation of raw material. It feeds in basic component the Forge World of Zenon X all the while having enough left overs to produce a large amount of combat vehicles and artillery pieces. The Basilisk tank of Danatus are well known in the sector for their efficiency. The population of Danatus is known to be busy at work, well organised and generally uplifting. Unlike many other Hive World of its size, all Danatusians have access to at least a decent lifestyle and wealth disparities, while important is much smaller there than on Tyris or Ordrem for example.

Danatusians are relatively small and lightly built people with an average height of 5 foot 8 for men while women are about three inches shorter. They are also rather light with men averaging at 145 pounds while women average at 20 pound less. While skin color does vary quite a lot within Danatusians a short majority of them have a light golden skin and almond shaped eyes. Dark hairs are much more common amongst the population with dark brown being the most common. Despite the fact Danatus is a hive world and as such prone to foul weather and very polluted, most of the population is healthy looking though teeth problems are common in the poorer population due to the low quality of the drinkable water they have access too. Most Danatusian keep their hairs at shoulder length, but will style them differently depending on the gender with women preferring ponytails or buns while men keep them loose or in a top-knot. Some have started to wear them short, especially after the rise to power of Vego Sastar who does have short hairs. Clothing on Danatus is simple and practical. In many regards, it has similitudes with fashion on Vartarn, but is much more unisex. Both men and women wear tight pants and supple shirts usually of pale color covered by a long coat usually of wool of another color. Some colors betray a sign of status or of a specific occupation. Factory workers wear dark grey while greenhouse and hydroponic plants worker wear mud brown or soldiers, navy blue. Fashion choices are pretty similar no matter the level of money a person has access to. The only major differences between classes is the types of material or colors of the coats. This similitude is also perceptible outside of details like clothing or hair fashion style. Danatusian share pretty much the same fundamental values of rugged individualism, self reliance, spirit of enterprise, faith in the God-Emperor and belief in predestination. Danatusians believe that wealth is a sign of the God-Emperor favor and that only through hard personal work and determination can they gain value in His eyes. This make Danatusians very enterprising and competitive, but would also be the cause for important social issues like crime and extreme poverty if it wasn’t for the actions of a powerful central government that insures all citizens to basic amenities, a way to avoid rebellions and civil dissention. To the solidly entrenched higher class, this was a small price to pay to keep an absolute power. Danatus can be described as some sort of parliamentary monarchy with an hereditary governor who rule with the support of a House of Lords, a parliament of elected aristocrats and bourgeois. Only rich owners, who represent less than one percent of the adult population, can vote and present themselves during those elections which are held every six years. On Danatus, education isn’t mandatory and the central government has no control over schools or universities. They of course do exist, but are privately owned and their cursus may vary wildly. Poorer citizen can ill afford to send their children to receive quality education, preferring to send them to artisan schools and count on the Ecclesiarchy to give them a chance at higher learning. The only exception are the military schools where the officers of the Danatusian military are trained. A military carrier is thus very attracting for those who wish to escape poverty if they have the skills for and aren’t afraid of risking their lives as Danatusian Dragoons.

If one wanted pinpoint the birthplace of the Hunger War and of the Free Realm of Rarken, it would be Danatus and more precisely in Phelenis Hive; in the 7th of its 50 districts, in front of the main administration building; under a cracked and antique lamppost nicknamed Grand-Father Gold; at noon, when a recently honorably discharged sergeant of the Danatusian Dragoons, named Kim Shun, got up on an empty distribution crate and pronounced the dreaded words: “They got my leg; they got my wife; they got my house; they are not getting my kid”. The crowd who was there to listen to the new wave of Imperial Tithe requirement, amongst them conscription, from the district officials on public broadcast roared in approval. In one second, Kim Shun passed from unknown citizen in a mass of billions to riot leader. The crowd assembled got agitated and restless. A young woman wearing the insignia of the local marshal cadets mentioned further food requisition in the district’s distributions center; a massive one. Shun made a call, a human call: “We can’t let them starve us to death!”. While the sun was setting around five hours later, mobs of tired, scared and rage filled people, simple people, store clerks, proletarians, artisans, small business man, street cooks, nurses, teachers, were assaulting the distribution centers to seize food stocks and daily uses goods before they were whisked away by marshals and soldiers. At the same time, other groups were attacking the administration center to seize reclamation documents, surveillance footages and communications and burned them in streets. In the first light of the morning, the rioters were numbered in the hundreds of thousand, had spread to six other districts. Entire sections of Phelenis were now cut off and in the hands of the mob. During the second night, marshals launched a counter attack to reclaim back the administration building who housed secret weapon caches. The attack was a failure. The mob knew about the caches. An improvised militia was formed under the nominal command of a crippled sergeant on whom the lord of Phelenis was struggling to find any information beside platitudes about an ordinary military service and a law abiding habits. The rebels repelled the hastily prepared marshals and spilled further in the streets. On the morning of the third days, it was mass day, the lord of Phelenis was hoping for the riots to pause when the bells of the Grand Cathedral would call for worship. Fate struck. While the entire hive was holding its breath, waiting to see how they themselves would react to this call for order and obedience from those who are the Voice and Hand of the God-Emperor. The great bell of the Grand Cathedral rang once, before its chains snapped and it crashed through the main tower down to the steps in a monstrous, thunderous roar of broken metal and marble. The dozens of hawks and eagles who resided on the august towers of the cathedral took fright and soared in the grey sky above. For the mob, it was a sign, the hour wasn’t to the God-Emperor, it was to mankind. Nobody knows, even years later, exactly what happened with the great bell, some have talked about sabotage from the rebels. Others have proposed the neglect due to hasty repairs on the old bell due to an overworked force following the Tithe increase. Most, like to think it was the hand of the Emperor who decided, for once, to side with the oppressed, the hungry, the fearful, the hopeful, the humans. Seven days and nights after the Fall of the Bell, the lord of Phelenis was in flight. In the streets of the hive city, the atmosphere was surreal. Pyres were burning records and orders. People were dancing, eating, chanting, praying and kissing. For a moment from the humblest to the richest, all were equal in celebration. They had defeated injustice and death. They were master of their own fate for a few more days. Phelenis wasn’t alone, almost all hives were seized by riots and protest sparked by the original brazier of Phelenis itself. The governor had to get the situation back under control. He tasked his right hand man, the commander of the PDF of Danatus, Vego Sastar, to march the Danatusian Dragoons, lead them in person in the retaking of the lost hive and punish the instigators of the revolt with severity. Sastar was a man of honor and tradition born in a modest household of the capital, Danas. He had sacrificed much to get this far and he obeyed. When he arrived before the defense bastions of Phelenis, he saw a city in chaos, plumes of smoke rising in the sky and the disordered sound of the churches’ bells. On the walls, a throng of citizen, militia, soldiers and lawmen who had defected. He never gave the order to shoot on them with his massed artillery. He turned to his lieutenants and ordered them to provide supply to the people of Phelenis. None of them hesitated and they all obeyed. Two days later, Sastar, at the head of now twice larger force was marching on the governor’s palace. He couldn’t escape. Sastar’s friends and allies were at the lead of a mutiny of the docks in orbit. His personal guard refused to defend him. He surrendered to Sastar who, under the huzzas of the crowd and of his men, took the badge of governor and pronounced Danatus a Free Realm. The new king quickly turned his gaze to the stars; ready to do what he felt was his divinely commanded mission: save the Rarken Sector from death and ruin at the hand of the Imperium who was suppose to protect it. And so history was made. Light years away from Danatus, the strangest of things happened. Lord Solar General Ignacius Gracio, an exalted hero of the Imperial Guard, victor of a thousand battle, mentioned the humblest of all words before the High Lords of Terra: “…started by a crippled sergeant named Shun, bellow a lamppost, on Danatus.”. That day, a small bit of mankind reached the hears of the gods. They chose to squash it.

The Dragoons: The creation of the Danatusian Dragoons is linked to the war for compliance in Danatus itself. When the Imperium launched its assault on Danatus in the 30th millennium, the rulers of the planet were disciple of Khorn. The most powerful of them were the Order of the Blood Knights. They were heavily, trained, armored lancers and cavalry. In the vast grass fields in between the hives and fortress at the time, they were dominant. The only non-Chaos worshipers on the planet were tracked down as the favored sacrifice to Khorn. They could only count on a few elements of fast cavalry to protect themselves. These knew better than to try to take on the worshipers of Khorn in close combat and relied on their short laslocks and laspistols to push them back and retreat before they were destroyed. It was a difficult life for these people, forced to be constantly on the move as to not be found, encircled and destroyed. When the Imperium arrived and started to attack their oppressors, these errant Danatusians were quick to rally the newcomers and swear allegiance to their distant Emperor. Thanks to the support of the Imperium they gained access to large stockpiles of weapons. Soon laslocks were replaced with lasguns and specialised weapons. Their cavalry now had access to tanks to provide them with armored support. With each hive liberated, the Imperials grew in numbers. Soon, entire battlefield sectors were under their exclusive command. They even managed to gain their first victory of any importance against the Blood Knights by overwhelming them with superior numbers, flanking them and setting up multiple overlapping crossfires where even their high quality, Chaos infused carapace armor could protect them. This strategy of encirclement and rapid deployment of firing lines would become the most easily recognisable trait of the Dragoons in the future. When the Crusaders finally drove into exile the remaining Blood Knights and other cultist leaders, the officers of the errant Danatusians inherited the planet and became its leaders. Danatus grew quickly and became a very important planet in the sector thanks to its vast population, large productivity and strong military. Danatusian Dragoons, its newly formed military, became operational very quickly and were seen on numerous battlefield in the Rarken Sector and beyond where their fast paced and large formation supported by mobile artillery have become famous of its efficiency even when faced with heavy casualties. They are the most far ranging of all Imperial Guard regiments recruited from the Free Realm. In the days of the Reclamation Crusade, the Danatusian Dragoons are operating on pretty much all battlefronts and remain under the direct command of King Vego Sastar. Their largest contingent is operating on the counter attack on Telka, but another large wave is preparing to launch an assault on Ferucia from Hintenberg.

Training for the Danatusian Dragoons is relatively short, but intensive. It lasts only six months which is rather low compared to others, the average length of training for Imperial Guard regiments being of shortly over a year long. All person between the age of 15 and 60 can demand to join their ranks provided they have a clean bill of health and are capable to mount a horse. Conscription is only demanded in situation of emergency, but Sastar himself as yet to require it and many suspect he never will. Due to low requirements, recruitment is extremely easy. Once their contract of enlistment filled out, recruits are sent to one of the few training facilities of the Dragoons, one for each of the 50 hives that cover most of the planet surface. These facilities are home to some of the last prairies of the planet where training exercise can be done more easily and where the genetically engineered horses used by the Dragoons can be kept and fed more easily. Training is given by veteran elite Dragoons, but some foreign advisors can also be seen, most famous and ruthless of all the Atillans even if most of them are rather from Gaern, Korryl, before the Hunger War, Vartarn. The first three months of training is dedicated to infantry tactics and deployment. The Dragoons as their name might imply aren’t fully dedicated cavalry unit, they are more accurately described as mounted infantry. Thus they will have a rigorous training to make them proper line infantry. This means endurance training, trench warfare and bunker assault tactics, urban combat drills and numerous firing exercises designed to make them capable of seizing and holding objectives even when faced with superior foes either in number or more probably in quality. Recruits who cannot keep up in training are simple discharged and sent back home, sometime with a demand for them to reimbursed the cost of their equipment, food and lodging. It can mount to crippling debt rather fast. At the end of the first three months, a series of battle simulations are held to determine the efficiency of the training. The simulations aren’t held under lethal fires, but severe injuries have happened, most of them caused by air-pressured bomb and low powered lasers to eyes, face and neck. The next two months are dedicated to cavalry training. Dragoons will accustom themselves to their powerful, but small, agile and fearless steeds. They will learn how to negotiate and fight on broken terrain, but also in an urban environment with them. It’s during this period that they will learn their signature fast deployment technics and surrounding strategy. It’s also when they will have their first taste of formal close combat fighting both with rifle and bayonet, but also in hand to hand by learning some knockout and fencing with sharp and light curved sabers. At the end of this period of training, the Dragoons will be faced with another series of battle simulation intended to cover all of their tactics and training. The most efficient lauded Dragoon regiments, each 30 000 strong, were then marked for service in the Imperial Guard, prolonging their contract of enlistment indefinitely, but assuring their relatives a rent for service given to the Imperium. Today, the best Dragoons join their expeditionary corp. under almost identical circumstances. Back in the days of Imperial command, Danatusian Dragoons had the reputation to be capable line infantry units and if they were well supported by artillery could become invaluable thanks to their speed and numbers. In the Free Realm, they are the archetypical soldiers and the one on which all other compare themselves. While not as heavily trained or armed as other, their tactical flexibility, coordination and high moral makes them fearsome foes to face. Under the command of a strategical prodigy like Sastar, they are extremely difficult to defeat.

The standard equipment for a Danatusian Dragoon consist of a standard flak armor that’s composed of mud brown cavalry pants, a double layered shirt all of which covered by a reinforced long coat of navy blue color with layers of steel colored buttons. Their weapons and ammunitions are held in leather bags attached to their belts. The all wear a steel grey helmet that protect their head, neck and even cheeks thanks, but leave their ears exposed. Their standard weapon is a Lascarabin with a stock in fake wood and a pistol grip for a steadier aim, especially when mounted on a horse. They all have access to a laspistol as a side arm, a mono-edge bayonet for their Lascarabin and a mono-edge curved cavalry saber with a brass colored hilt. Danatusian warhorses are very fast, agile and powerful, but are also rather small, making them easier to control with your legs and more sure footed, especially in urban environment. These horses have been bread for millennia for bravery, speed and strength. They are almost fearless and are very loyal to their riders. Their saddles are made to be comfortable for long rides, but aren’t made for jousting charges. They to wear flak armor on their flank and head to make themselves more resilient to enemy fire and fragmentation grenades. It matches their riders coat. The standard kits of the Dragoons are rather extensive with rations for both men and horses. Fortunately for the soldiers themselves, these are mostly carried by their horses. All Danatusian Dragoon are expected to carry a blessed Aquila Pendant and another one embroiled in gold on their saddle for protection against Chaos. Since the Hunger War, all Danatusian Dragoon carry a Gold Bell, the symbol of the Free Realm of Rarken.

The Freedom Riders: The Danatusian Dragoon 77th was the very first regiment of Dragoon trained and deployed after Sastar’s rise to power. They took back the regimental designation of a long time massacred regiment who were abandoned by the Imperium while fighting Biel-Tan Eldars. The new 77th participated in many battles during the Hunger War and have been active for over 20 years now. They had to be reinforced with younger soldiers a few times, but their impressive tally of victories. They participated in the liberation of numerous world from the Imperial regime, amongst then Hintenberg, Krasus, Ordrem and Yuzenagi. They have also fought and lost on Telka during the first battle, but are eager to return to that front. Their participation in such a large number of planetary liberation gave them the nickname of Freedom Riders as their swift advance in allowed numerous victory. The soldiers themselves are known to be irreducible supporters of Vego Sastar whom they worship almost like a Living Saint. Many officers of the Freedom Riders have been known for their capacity to rise the local population to join the Free Realm and to increase the moral of all Realm Guardsmen fighting side by side with them. Their highest ranking officer, Colonel Bennet Chow, is a newly appointed one. His predecessor Colonel Hiro was killed by sniper fire during the first battle of Telka, the culprit was a stealth dropped Lirinian Shadow Hawk. Chow is rather different from the cool headed Hiro who was the sort of man who tempered his men. His replacement is more of a maverick and a very charismatic leader who doesn’t recoil in the face of danger. So far, good fortune, the extremely high moral and good tactical acumen have allowed him to make his proofs. Unlike what they first thought, the Freedom Riders are to be part of a new front in the war. They are set to attack from Hintenberg the world of Ferucia, capital in the provisioning of the Imperial forces both on Telka and Lukar. Should the heavily fortified and armed industrial planet fall in their hands like so many other before, Imperial forces might be completely routed and the Free Realm saved. Chow swore he would be victorious or he would die trying and so have many of his men.

Moto: Heart and soul of the Free Realm (new moto); As swift as the Emperor’s vengeance (former moto)

Type: Hive World (+3 agility, +3 fellowship, heighten senses), Maverick (resistance fear), Line Infantry (+3 strength, -3 intelligence, rapid reload), Skirmishers (Skilled Riders), Cavalry Mounts, favored weapons (Longlas, Lascanon), special equipment: mono-edge sword, Lascarabin.
   
Made in ca
Longtime Dakkanaut




Krasuan Lions

World: Krasus is an old world colonised during the Dark Age of Technology of mankind. It’s a planet slightly smaller than Terra and just like it mostly covered in seas, but with several large continental mass concentrated around the equator. Krasus was founded on an ancient xenos colony, a long dead specie exterminated by the first humans who colonised Krasus. They were called the Kahal and were master of energy fields and transfers. In their ruin, the humans found energy generator of almost limitless reserves and incredible power, the cities of the planet were founded around those generators which allowed their quick and massive growth. Unlike nearby Danatus which was a world held by Chaos worshipers, Krasus didn’t suffered such a fate and managed to repulse invaders during the trouble time of the Age of Strife thanks in no small part to their continued access to large energy reserves that could fuel their development. When the Imperium arrived, it discovered an advanced society of prosperous human being with a high level of technology capable of limited warp travel. The Krasuan were easily convinced to join the Imperium thanks to a rousing speech in its favor given by Guilliman. Festivities were held to celebrate their reunion with Terra and the arrival of allies in their war against the forces of Chaos. Krasus mysterious xenos technology quickly became a point of contentious. By Imperial decree, humans were forbidden to treat with xenos specie or use their technology. The Kahal being long exterminated and the generator being impossible to move and immensely dangerous to destroyed were sufficiently modified to be considered tolerable if Magos of Mars were allowed to study them. The Krasuan accepted, but due to the Horus Heresy, very little Magos had the chance to see those devices, now deeply buried in the catacombs of various hives. What could be brought back as knowledge only strengthen the appetite of the Mechanicus. To this day, the possession by Krasus of such technology is an object of lust by the Church of Mars who counts on the Reclamation Crusade to seize the world and transform it into a Forge World even if it would require the destruction of the Hives and the exile of around 90 billion inhabitants.

Krasuan people aren’t like most hive world inhabitants. While most hive world are extremely polluted and offer poor amenities to most of its population, Krasus technology is extremely clean. Despite half the planet land mass and around 20% of the oceans being covered by hive cities, there is enough place for wildlife to exist in good quantity and help preserve a good environment to live in. Krasus is theoretically food independent thanks to its greenhouses and hydroponic culture, but to avoid severe rationing it still import a large quantity of food from nearby agriworld and frontier worlds. Thanks to access to plenty of varied food, clean environment, high technology and a warm tropical climate in most of the hive, the Krasuans are extremely healthy looking and rather powerfully built. They generally have burnished skin-tones with some going toward light golden like the Danatusians or fair skinned like the Lukarans. Men measure close to 6 foot in height on average while women are three or four inches shorter. Men also weight on average 180 pounds while women are about 20 pounds lighter. Most Krasuans have dark and slightly curly hairs, dark brown being the most common. Fair skinned and pale hair people are considered as meeker than others and prone to diseases. They are frequently discriminated, relegated to the function of night workers, slaves and, especially in the case of women, sex workers. Beauty standards in Krasus differs from those of most Imperial world where fit and thin people are considered more handsome. On Krasus, men and women are encouraged to get fat, but not to the point of obesity. Clothing on Krasus is extremely diverse a there is a massive fashion industry accompanied by a strong cult to beauty. Thus trends tend to cycle much faster than on most planet and clothing to be much less particle or comfortable. The most stable fashion apparel on Krasus remains the toga with motifs. It’s comfortable can be modified easily and offers a lot of opportunity for motifs and various color mixes. The men and women togas are rather similar but each of them are designed to enhance the attributes of men and women respectively. Education is mandatory for all Krasuans between the age of 6 to 16 years old of course, further education is possible, but not mandatory. Classes focus mostly on basic language skills, arithmetic, science and astronomy, religious study and, a rarity amongst the Imperium artistic expression. Boys and young men are heavily encouraged to practice sports, especially contact sports like calcio, or knockout, while girls and young women are directed toward gymnastic and circus discipline, which can include sword fighting. Sports, even violent and brutal sports, are a very popular form of entertainment. There is no mandatory military service under normal circumstances, but men, who are the only one’s allowed in the army on Krasus, are heavily encouraged to passed through one once their studies are over. Krasuans have the reputation to be very sanguine people, quick to rise to anger, but quick to forgive and forget. They are very expressive and value highly eloquence and knowledge. Some would call them a bit vain and very macho, which isn’t so surprising when taking into account their cult of beauty and the lower status of women. While there is a very high cultural homogeneity on Krasus, there is enormous wealth disparities between rich and poor, slavery and racial discrimination.

Unlike many other worlds in the Free Realm, Krasus was mostly pushed into the rebel’s dominion instead of joining it following revolts. Civil war did occur on the planet following the increase of the Tithe, but many consider the government would have never been toppled without the support of Danatusian Dragoons and Lukaran Legionnaires. Ironically, for a population that was thrusted by foreign involvement into rebellion, Krasuans are amongst the most loyal and steadfast defenders of the Free Realm so much so, that detention facilities for Imperial Guard prisoners have been built on Krasus. Unlike many other places, the massed revolt and the Hunger War started in a rather idiotic fashion following a severe misstep from the local government and the Imperial authorities. Like all other planets of the Rarken Sector, Krasus was struck by a severe increase in Tithe, which was accompanied by severe privation and a large draft was to announced to increase the number of Krasuan Lions to be sent in service to the Imperial Guard. Moral was low, the poorer members of society were nervous about food privation and crushed by particularly long working hours. The only venue to lower this stress and those fears were the final rounds of the planetary cup of calcio, a huge event on Krasus. During the semi-finals, a group of Arbites interrupted the match to drag away six players of hive Tropa, the capital of the planet. It turns out that those players were drafted in the Krasuan Lions which shouldn’t come as a surprise considering their physical performances. An administrative error had them drafted a month too early, before the end of the completion. The players themselves weren’t aware of this error and never presented themselves to their recruiter in time. They were reported by them as deserters, the local Arbites thus dispatched a platoon to arrest them. They didn’t care for the match and seized the players. This enraged to crowd who spilled on the terrain to defend the confused and panicking players. The Arbites open fire on the crowd killing around a hundred person, including one of the player and creating a panic that killed and injured hundreds more. This riots and its poor handling sparked a series of protest against the government who was accused of incompetence; fear of further privations and anger toward the very unequal current rationing only enhanced them. Soon there were movement of protests in all the major hives and a significant number of deserters provided the rebels with a significant number of armed and trained troops. A general named Gregory Nallian was at the lead of the rebellion. He had lost his young son during the riot of the calcio game and was already a vocal critique of the Tithe increase before. The greatest trouble for the rebels on Krasus that while they had the support of a majority of the population and disposed of a sizeable army in defectors from the Krasuan Lions, the government held tight control over the power supplies of the hives and most of the strong points. The rebels simply couldn’t crack the fortresses of the hive’s spires and were losing steam as they were not able to manufacture ammunition fast enough. In a few years of time, they would have been forced to abandon the cause and surrender to the swift and merciless justice of the Imperium. That’s when Sastar’s ship came into orbit with a 100 regiment of Danatusian Dragoon tightly packed in cavernous transport ships. With this supplementary troop of experienced, well armed and highly motivated soldiers accompanied by heavy artillery, the war swung back into Nallian’s favor. The heroic surprise assault of the “Freedom Riders” on the governor while he was transferring from his palace to a more secured location led to his capture and the abrupt fall of the Imperial government. Only the Arbites fortress would hold on for another month before falling into rebels control after a betrayal. Nallian was installed as governor and was quick to swear allegiance to Sastar. The highly motivated Krasuans, still basking in the glory of their victory, were quick to send expeditionary forces of to other distant worlds to help them free themselves. Krasus is rather remote from the current active warzone in the Free Realm and thus serves both as one of its main weapon and ammunition planet, especially for its Leman Russ production, but also as the home of the detention center of various captured Imperial Guards. These camps are also designed to produce turn coats. Success as been minimal on that side, but some guardsmen are open to hear the arguments of the Free Realm subject on that matter.

The Lions: The need for Krasus to develop an army was brought by the danger represented by their close neighbour on Danatus and beyond, Chaos cultists and pirates who lived for pillage and war. Krasus was a tempting target for it housed billions and was rich in numerous resources. Pirate raids and invasions were thus a common occurrence during the Age of Strife. The need to defend the planet from these events triggered the creation of a powerful military and a pervasive military culture. The soldiers of Krasus modelled themselves after a powerful symbol, the lion, an animal introduced from genetic archives of Old Terra and introduced in the ecology of Krasus. They would fight fire with fire. Their most common enemy being fearsome and powerful warriors of Khorn, theirs would be larger and more fearsome still, but wold not be the cruel barbarians that are the invaders, but the noble and regal protector of the planet. Krasuan military traditions and equipment hasn’t changed much since that time of trouble. It’s blunt and relies on overwhelming strength, firepower and a devastating charge to clean the enemy up. Retreat is never an option. To differentiate themselves from the invaders who came in all form and shape, the Krasuan elected that their soldiers would only come from the strongest and most noble sons of good families. To compensate for their lack of numbers, they would rely on superior equipment, technology and powerful armored vehicles. Their strategy proved to be efficient. The cultists and devout of Khorn would throw themselves at their lines time and again to be whittle down by las and plasma fire before being crushed under thread, boots or axed down. In time, the recruitment basin of the Krasuan Lions was extended to all men, but those deemed with a genetic tar like pale skin, red hairs or any visible mutations without consideration for family history and money. In modern time, the Krasuan Lions are relatively common in the Rarken Sector and the Realm of Ultramar and have served several times against the Orks of the Arch-arsonist Empire and earned great laurels of victory against them. Their forward and aggressive tactics held almost to the point of dogma made them much less efficient against the Tau whose superior firepower proved to be a major problem yet they still scored a few victories against them thanks to their determination and their skills in close combat.

Training for the Krasuan Lions last three years. Recruits are volunteer men who must be at least 21 years old and be perfectly healthy. Those designated as mutants, abhumens or lower races aren’t allowed to join this august organisation. The again, they are allowed practically nothing in the first place. There used to be a severe height and weight requirement to become a Lion, but these have been relaxed over time. Still each recruit must measure over 6 feet tall and weigh over 190 pounds. After receiving the blessing of a priests or monks, the recruits are sent to their respective training facilities the Pride’s Fortresses. There are hundreds of these doted on the surface of Krasus, at various strategic locations. The most famous ones contain at its base a giant hydro-electric dam and is known as the Roaring Gorge Fortress. There recruits will begin their training which starts in a brutal fashion. They are dropped 30 kilometers away from their destination, unarmed and unarmored, in the wild if possible or in the lower section of the hives if not. They must make the journey to the fortress in 3 days, while newly minted Krasuan Lions dressed in civilians and paid agitators will attempt to stop them using any means at their disposal short of deadly force to stop them or delay them. Those who arrive late will be severely punished for their lack of strength. Some will fail so badly they will simply abandon or be so severely injured they will be unable to continue. They are considered as acceptable casualties; some injured recruits will attempt to succeed another time. Once in the fortresses ground, the recruits will pass through a long period of physical training and bodybuilding. The goal is to produce exceptionally strong and fast soldiers capable of developing a lot of power and effort in more or less short burst. Krasuan Lions don’t believe in long endurance training even if they do expect their soldiers to be capable of such efforts. Their equipment makes it so that most regiments are either armored, mechanised or at least have easy access to bulk transporter if they are line infantry. This makes the need for troops with high stamina less vital. During this training, close combat is thought to the recruits as it’s a good for them to develop physically while learning a basic trade of war. Krasuan learn Pankras much like their Ferucian rivals, but also practice a bit of knockout, some who are lucky enough to have a Vartarn combat trainer might be initiated to the more efficient Pugilae. Recruits are also introduced with their most emblematic weapon: the great axe. All Lions are expected to be capable of cutting a man in armor in half with one swing of those large mono-edge battle axe. Since they used to fight in close combat against Khorn cultists with these and triumph, they have a reputation as being particularly dangerous with those. The next year of training shift its focus mostly on modern warfare training, with an emphasis on urban and open field warfare against infantry. Even simple troopers get a solid grasp of tactic and strategy in case of a need for field promotion. Competitions against other fortresses and regiments are common with many joined training exercise being held. The last year is more theoretical, Krasuan Lions learn about xenos tactics and weaknesses and follow a rigorous training of religious indoctrination. During this period, Krasuan Lions will patrol the streets of the Hives as law enforcement and participate in at least one large scale battle simulation, sometimes even against regiments from other worlds. Their most famous rival being the similarly trained Ferucians or Danatusians. For some reason, they avoid challenging the Gaern Guard, perhaps due to fear of being humiliated. The Krasuan view these simulations in a very competitive manner with victories being cause for celebration and defeat cause for punishment or worse, mockery. Never was a victory more glorious the day a newly minted regiment of Krasuan Lion defeated hands down are more experimented regiment of Ferucian and never was a defeat more humiliating the day they were trounced by Mishkar Marines. The Krasuan Lions used to have an excellent reputation within high command as highly skilled heavy line infantry and armored regiments with extremely high moral, despite what some might qualified as a lack of tactical flexibility due to pride. Within the Free Realm, the Krasuan Lions form a very common group of soldiers, more numerous, but not as infamous as the Lukaran Legion. They are particularly active on Lukar and Wakined, but have at least a few regiments, each 5000 strong, on every battlefield of the Free Realm of Rarken.

The standard equipment for Krasuan Lions is composed of a carapace armor of polished plasteel that looks like a banded mail suit of armor accompanied with solid bracers and shin guards. On their hips is a pteruges designed more as a decoration or for intimidation than anything else. Their full helmet covers all the head and the back of the neck but leaves eyes, portion of the nose and mouth exposed to the air. The officer have theirs decorated with a more or less large golden mane. On their shoulders, all Krasuan Lions will have the pelt of an actual lion. These are blessed and are considered a powerful charm against the power of the Warp or misfortune. Their lasguns are based on a slightly sturdier and heavier version of the Cadian one’s. On their back, they have their famous battle axe at the ready. The also have a long dagger and carry a good number of grenades on them. Krasuan Lions are known to very pious, they always carry golden Aquila pendant on their person. Since they turned against the Imperium, they also have a Golden Bell engraved on their belt buckle. Officers will wear a cape usually in blood red, royal blue, bright yellow or dark green depending on the continent they were trained and come from. Their field kits are relatively small since most of their provision are expected to follow them in vehicles.

The Golden Champions: The Krasuan Lion 1200th is a very recent founding. The precedent 1200th had long disappeared from all record after being drafted in the Imperial Guard 6 centuries prior and sent to the Warp anomaly called the Wound near Sardokar. Since they were never heard of again, probably for the best, a new regiment took their designation and banner to carry on their legacy and that regiment had a great reputation. It was reputably the very best Krasuan Lion regiment produced since the start of the Hunger War. The scores of the recruits were very high and several of its officers and sub-officers were veterans from a destroyed regiment, giving the new recruits a core of experimented soldiers in charge. They earned their title of Golden Champion for winning every single competitions and challenges they faced during their training. They gained a particularly impressive victory against a regiment of Danatusian Dragoons with whom they were going to be deployed. When they arrived on Wakined, their theatre of operation they quickly gained a few impressive victories against the Wakined Wardens and even managed to force the fearsome Arglanic Slayers to retreat, a very rare occurrence considering the reputation of the Slayers, after a short fusillade. Their commander, general Krono Dabrond, could thus wash away the shame of his defeat on Lukar and the loss of his regiment to the Eltradan Riflemen. The only defeat that tarnishes the otherwise spotless record of the Golden Champion has been dubbed the curse of the 1200. The Mishkar Marines forced them into full retreat after an assault against their command center, seizing important strategical documents in the action. It’s referred to as the curse due to the fact that the precedent 1200th was the very regiment who lost a battle simulation against them, the only face off between the two forces. To avenge their tarnished star, the Golden Champions swore on their honor they would know no rest until the Mishkari bow before them in defeat and the enemy battle plans are seized from them. For the Lion, the hunt is on.

Moto: Flee before me or face my pride (official moto); can they even lift my axe? (unofficial moto and popular quote and joke amongst the troop)

Type: Hive World (+3 strength, +3 fellowship, heighten sense), fixed, Line Infantry (+3 strength, -3 intelligence, rapid reload), close order drill (double team), Favored Foe (Hatred Chaos Cultists), Hardened Fighter (+2 weapon skills, Takedown), regimental rivalry (Danatusian Dragoons), favored weapon (plasma gun, plasma canon), special equipment: light carapace armor, good quality mono-edge two handed axe, mono edge knife
   
Made in ca
Longtime Dakkanaut




Ulthan Drop Troopers

World: Ulthan is a paradisiac world completely covered in ocean barring a few tropical volcanic island here and there. It’s a rich blue world of ocean and sky as far as the eye can see. It’s an old planet. While it was colonised during the Age of Strife by a murderous cult to Khorn known as the Crimson Sun, they were exterminated and driven off the planet by the Imperium and the Ultramarine Legion during the Great Crusade and never returned. Colonists from the Segmentum Solar established themselves on floating cities and have prospered since then. Ulthan has an exceptionally rich global ocean. There is so much marine life, some new species of fish, medusa, squids and even marine reptiles and mammals are still discovered to this day. The corals and kelp forests of these oceans harbor rich ecosystem capable of sustaining a myriad of lifeforms so are the shores of the thousand of small archipelagos that dot the surface and on the sea floor close to gas vents. Those resources are the main export of Ulthan. Besides sea product, Ulthan also produce highly sophisticated products from shuttles to small ships either on its floating city or on its space docks. Luxurious goods like fine clothing, data slates, pict recorder and other are also produced on Ulthan. Due to its numerous export and natural beauty, Ulthan is a regular stop for all Traders in the Rarken Cluster. Numerous are the nobles and rich trading houses who have a palace on one of the island of the planet or on their floating cities of ivory towers and bridges. The 4 billion inhabitants of the planet are known to be enthusiastic people with a lot of energy, an open heart for travelers and a certain taste for adventure. Many have great interest in stellar navigation and frequently end up aboard trading ships or on battleships unless they join their elite military the Ulthan Drop Troopers.

Ulthanians are people who are born on a planet that could almost be described as paradise. It’s rich, clean, full of natural wonder, with exceptional living conditions, probably the best in the entire Rarken Sector. As such, they exhibit all the traits normally associated with such people. They are tall, look very healthy and fit and are generally considered comely. While there is a certain diversity on the planet on that aspect, the overwhelming majority of the population has fair skin, usually with a tan, especially amongst men, but more rarely amongst women due to beauty standards. The average men on Ulthan measures around 5 foot 9 while women are around 5 foot 6. While they can appear very strong thanks to their love of aquatic sports, they are built rather thin for an average weight of 145 pounds for men and 120 for women. Most of the population has light brown hairs with many older adults having them lightened by sun exposure and sea salt. People with frizzy hairs are considered unlucky and many, especially when they are children, will suffer from intimidation and discrimination because of that. Haircuts are extremely varied and diverse, but its common for both men and women to keep their hairs loose and at shoulder length. Clothing is also rather varied, but by far the most popular and common trend is for men and women to wear sleeveless shirts close to their body in a comfortable fabric like silk or cotton. Both will also wear rather loose pants that stop at mid calf. Richer people will add some details to these basic cloths like decorative buttons, better fabric and motifs, etc. Vibrant colors are usually only worn outside of work or during festivities, else, people are required to wear sober colors like white, grey, black or dull beige, navy blue and dark brown. On Ulthan, religious ceremonies for the God-Emperor are very different than those seen on most Imperial planet. Masses are festive events where people will wear bright colors and flower neckless. They will sing songs, dance and eat good food prepared by the entire congregation. People will drop little cards with compliments and thanks to the God-Emperor at the bottom of his statues or representation. Sea birds are released in mass. Funerals look rather similar. The idea is that those celebrations must be as fun looking as possible to represent the love and respect for the departed. Ulthan has very little classism. While there are bourgeois and rich people, there is no nobility or slavery on the planet and the wealth gap is fairly low. Mandatory education does exist and starts from age 7 to age 17. It covers basic subjects like linguistic, mathematics, oceanography, navigation, religious study and basic physic and chemistry. It’s possible for a person to pursue this education further. There is a mandatory military service on Ulthan which last for 6 months and targets all those who are aged 18 or more. Strangely, recruitment in the Drop Troopers, the actual military and security forces on the planet isn’t linked to this military service.

Ulthan is one of the few worlds who joined the Fee Realm of Rarken, not because of immense revolts or revolution during the Hunger War, but by solidarity for those who did. When the tithe was severely increased in the sector, Ulthan wasn’t so hardly touched. As a Garden World, its tithe was always low and its resources so abundant that the increase of tithe was manageable if unpleasant to most. Ulthanians thought it was their duty to comply to this increase as to help the Imperium as a whole. Loyalty to the God-Emperor and hard work were not so foreign to them as to make them rebel at the first sign of it. Dissention came when news from neighboring planet arrived on Ulthan: the famine on Telka, the workers riots on Lukar, the enlistment of Gaern’s cadet, the hunger of Danatus and so many more like these. At first, Ulthanians wanted to increase their food production to come to the aid of those who suffered, but it was announced that any increase in production would be seized by the Imperium and expected as tithe in the next cycle. Simultaneously, the population learned that some of their PDF, the Drop Troopers, but also the militia, would be temporarily tithed to serve as revolt breakers on worlds embattled. The story these men and women brought back triggered an outrage on Ulthan. They simply couldn’t believe the cruelty at place on worlds like Lukar, Danatus or Krasus. Even the dictatorial governor of Ulthan and highest commander of the Drop Troopers, Drake Hummel, was shocked and outrage by the callousness and incompetence of Imperial authorities in the Rarken Sector and especially in the Cluster. He recalled his troops, defying Imperial orders. He kept obeying to the increased tithe though. As the Hunger War progressed though, the population sympathy was clearly aligned to the rebels led by Vego Sastar. Soon, Hummel refused to send the tithe and started to lend his help to the nascent Free Realm. Volunteers could enlist under the flags and uniforms of foreign military if they wished too and pass their training. Thus, some Ulthan found themselves amongst the Danatusian Dragoons, the Telkan Rangers, the Krasuan Lions and even in the Lukaran Legion. Then, finally, Hummel officially declared Ulthan a world of the Free Realm. The Drop Troopers started to be deployed on several fronts and especially on board ships of the Free Realm as security guards and boarding crew. Hummel himself, a specialist in space warfare, was named Grand Admiral of the Free Realm fleet where is expertise allowed for several victories and the capture of several Imperial ships. The resources and vitality of Ulthan also help boost the economic capacities of the Free Realm and provided it with a highly productive shipyard for void capable fighter-bombers and small escort ships.

The Drop Troopers: The Drop Troopers are a late creation on Ulthan. While the planet was wrestled out of Khorn cultists during the Great Crusade after several battles that turned to complete butchery as the cultists would fight to the very last, the formal development of an Imperial Guard worthy military force would have to wait the Reign of Blood. Before, the planet was protected by a citizen militia with a two months long training formation, nothing to very serious, but enough to give the most very basic instruction. Being a Garden World more valued for its resources in food and its skilled workers, the Imperium didn’t need such soldiers from the watery world. Yet, during the Reign of Blood the Imperium was living through a time of crisis unseen since the Horus Heresy. This civil war shattered the Imperium in pieces on which xenos invader were quick to prey on. The Rarken Sector itself was in jeopardy as Orks and Chaos cultists of all sorts were invading poorly defended Imperial World. To survive, Ulthan had to create a new military corp. A fast moving army who, despite their reduced numbers could be deployed anywhere on their planet via aerial drops, having no land mass to cross. Volunteers were recruited and soon the Drop Troopers were operational, armed with lightweight, but powerful weapons and expertly trained for fast assaults. Ulthanians were afraid of any force landing in mass on their planet, with the navy forces embroiled in battles or simply destroyed, they had no other choice but to create their own protection fleet. Merchant ships and small escort vessels were armed to protect their world and on their boards would be found Drop Troopers, ready to serve as boarding parties and security details. Knowing that unity and numbers insured their protection, the Ulthanians used their Planetary Defense Fleet and the Drop Troopers to come to the rescue of their embattled neighbors on Danatus, Krasus and other words of the region. The Drop Troopers became quickly known for their daring assaults on enemy position, their maverick and high risk, high reward battle plans, their optimism and skills and their capacity to adapt to all sorts of environment. Even their armored regiments gained the reputation for being highly mobile and their mechanised units specialised in naval and amphibious combat on board of their Chimeras. These traits they kept until present days. After the end of the Reign of Blood, Ulthan kept sending a regular tithe of Drop Troopers to the Imperial Guard even though their tithe level doesn’t request it. They form the core of the Free Realm battlefleet and very common sight on all battlefield despite their modest numbers next to those of other more populous planets.

The training of Drop Troopers is remarkably short for units of that sort who usually require lengthy training as their specialised tactics usually place them in the role of commandos and elite combat units. The Ulthan Drop Troopers compensate by being trained very intensely for 30 weeks with the support of renowned drop troopers like the Elysians or even members of the Tempestus Scions. Recruits are volunteers who have successfully passed through their period of mandatory enlistment in the planetary militia. There are no restrictions for gender or height, but there is a restriction on weight. Troopers cannot exceed 165 pounds to avoid overloading the Grav Chute. Training in the Drop Troopers is held on a single artificial island similar to the cities in which the rest of the population lives. It also happens to be a point of garrison for them, the site of office of the Governor and of some of his closest aids. It’s a gathering point for Ulthanians from all over the planet who are going to be mixed and matched together in regiments irrespective of their city of origin and their rivalries. There are no clear stages in those 30 weeks of training that will mix physical conditioning supplemented by long swimming races that are sure to build up the endurance and the strength of the troopers, firing exercises with a special interest for combat in tight corridors and urban environment, close combat mostly based on Lupine from Cerisa due to its efficiency even with lightweight combatant and lower training requirements than Sarissa which is considered too technical and tactical acumen classes which are heavily theoretical and requires excellent knowledge of geography and climate sciences. Training is given by healthy mix of Elysians Drop Troopers instructors, Veteran Ulthan Drop Troopers, but also with a few other foreign advisors like Cerisan Wolves for close combat or Vartarn in classrooms. At several point, the Ulthan Drop Troopers are called for jump tests in various condition or stealth amphibious assaults simulation for which they are well known. At the end of their training they will participate in a major battle simulation with a drop assault or an infiltration scenario that will require the muster of all their skills. At the end of training, regiments, all 5000 strong, are minted and ready to be deployed. They are then setup for a full year on garrison on the planet or within the Planetary Defense Fleet. Only those who were the most highly regarded were sent in the Imperial Guard or now within the Free Realm Expeditionary Corp. Ulthan Drop Troopers enjoyed a great reputation amongst High Command for their excellent quality as drop troopers and boarding crew. They were seen as reliable and very well equipped. Of course, many suggested that they could use a more extensive training formation covering more deeply and practicing with more rigor their various tasks and missions, but these are usually officers well known for their trust only in the most well known and prestigious regiments. Within the Free Realm, they are an invaluable source of soldiers for the fleet and for special operations. In that regard they perform very well and are completely irreplaceable.

The standard equipment of the Ulthan Drop Troopers is composed of a light carapace armor of light grey color over a standard sky blue uniform. It’s light a very form fitting to allow the maximum mobility without sacrificing protection. It’s also accompanied by a helmet that envelops the head, but leave the face exposed. Both the helmet and the armor are painted with a chameleoline paint that makes these units naturally very stealthy. During high altitude drops, they will add a respiratory mask that can also double as a gas mask if necessary. Their standard weapon is a short Carabine well is very compact and well adapted to drop troopers who are limited in space and bound to fight at closer range. Nevertheless, these las weapon are all equipped with a flash suppressor and a short range scope for enhance precision and discretion. It’s also very common for Drop Troopers to use double capacity magazine as they like to be able to maintain very long firing bursts and avoid reloading as much as possible. They don’t carry any specialised close combat weapon beside a simple knife in ceramic that’s not designed to pierce armors. Drop Troopers count on their hand to hand ability to triumph over their foes in close combat. Officers will carry shock or power swords when possible. The field kits of the Drop Troopers can be quite extensive since they frequently operate behind enemy lines. Their geo-localisation tools must always be well kept and are vital. All their troopers carry tarnished golden Aquila and, since the Hunger War, a Golden Bell. All jewelry must be tarnished for stealth reason, some to polish them for religious services or parade ground.

The Albatross: The Ulthan Drop Trooper 55th is an old regiment formed over three thousand years ago and has been in constant activity since then, returning once every decade or so to get reinforcement and send old soldiers home. Their nickname is based on a far ranging bird specie from ancient Terra that also evolved naturally on Ulthan thanks to convergent evolutionary forces. In three thousand years of constant activities, the Albatross has earned numerous decoration and participated successfully in thousand of battles. Despite this, they are yet to earn their place in the Hall of Heroes on Terra. With their rebellion, it seems unlikely they ever will, but there is a place for them in the Memorial to Freedom on the Nexus where the name of their dead are inscribed under the banner of their regiment. The Albatross has participated extensively to the Hunger War, helping liberate numerous world from the Imperial regime. Yet, during the Hunger War, they became mostly known for securing convoys of food and water from pirates supported by the loyalists who were quick to seize these and ransom them at high price. The Albatross acquired great fame by hunting those pirates down and eliminating them in a series of space battle. Now, they still serve inboard of a fast and powerful Frigate named the Blue Nose as security detail, boarding party and Drop Troopers. They are currently deploying on Telka to make ready for the full blown invasion of the world by the Free Realm. Their track record against the Imperium is excellent which shouldn’t come as a surprise considering the number of veterans serving under the 55th. Its commanding officer Mara Sollis is a recent promotion to the rank of colonel following the retirement of her predecessor and is known to be a risk taker. Her experience in combat with the same men for four and a half decades gives her great confidence and has made the risks taken well calculated. Few other officer can boast to have this level of experience as a field commander within the same regiment.

Moto: From the sea to the stars in your face (unofficial moto); From the sea to the starts to victory (official moto)

Type: Imperial World (+3 agility, +3 fellowship), Maverick (fear resistance), drop trooper (+3 agility, -3 fellowship, catfall), close quarter battles (combat master), chameleoline, covert strike, favored weapons (needle rifle, autocanon).
   
Made in ca
Longtime Dakkanaut




Special thnaks to Sgt_Smudge for the creation of this particular regiment


Hintenberg Knights

World: Hintenberg is a relatively ancient planet colonised, like many other in the Rarken Sector during the aftermath of the Reign of Blood. This temperate planet mostly covered in oceans has four continents, two of which are constantly under massive ice caps. It used to belong to a famous and dreaded Chaos cult in the Rarken Cluster: The Blood Knights. After being expelled from Danatus by Guilliman and his Ultramarines, the last few Blood Knights found refuge on Hintenberg where they built new fortresses and used the massive grasslands and hills that covered most of the continents to help in the rebuilding of their forces. The Order of knightly Khorn worshiper would keep on threatening sporadically the region and even managed to launch a few successful assaults on their former dominion during the Reign of Blood when they lived their new golden age. Then, retribution came. Saint Arabella and Mina assaulted the planet with at their heels, dozens of Imperial Guard regiments from various zone of the Imperium., most of them for the world of Rarken itself. Once again, the Blood Knights were exterminated, leaving only a handful few to escape into the void toward the last few strongholds of Chaos in the region. Hintenberg is now a civilised world with a healthy population of around 6 billion inhabitants, most of them living in villages, but with a significant minority living in fortified castle like cities. It’s an austere and a severe planet where people take faith, duty and diligence as chief virtues. It became known for its honest and earnest traders, food production, metal work and its highly traditional, but renowned soldiers: The Hintenberg Knights. Those same virtues would be at the core of their revolt against the Imperium, not a revolution against authority, but one against incompetence and lack of clarity of purpose.

The people of Hintenberg are all descendants of a few thousand Guardsmen who were granted colonisation rights. Most of them were coming from the already decaying world of Rarken. As such, the population of this planet is much more homogenous than that of Lukar or Danatus for example. The overwhelming majority of them have fair skin, dark hairs and pale eyes. The most common colour being jet black for the hairs and deep blue for the eyes. While not especially small, they are certainly shorter than most people from an agri-world and Imperial World with high standards of living. The average man measures around 5 foot 8 while the average woman is 5 foot 6. They have an average respective weight of 150 pounds and 125 pounds. Nobles have a tendency to be slightly taller and heavier thanks to better living condition and rigorous training from infancy. Clothing for the peasant class is pretty simple and rather unisex. Its composed of a loose shirt and a loose pair of pants held by a sturdy belt. They also wear thick boots and in winter or when the temperature gets cold, a cloak with a hood in tissue. Colors are from cheap dye, most often beige, cream, dark brown, grey or dark green. They are made to be tough, but comfortable for field work or in workshops. Nobles wear close fitting pants and shirts with smaller belts and straps. Once they reach the age of 12, they start to wear armor over that, usually simple leather or flak armor with the symbol of their house or of a suzerain. Some will add an auto-quill, a data pad or a dagger to their clothes to show off their wealth or the importance of their position. In winter, long fur cloaks are worn with men favoring bear pelts while women prefer wolf pelts. In that fashion, Hintenbergers are very similar to Korrylians, but add some technology to their fashion, and to the Cerisans on which they diminish the warrior apparel for more practical ones. Only the very most basic education is mandatory for peasants and starts from age 9 to age 15. It covers basic reading and writing skills, a bit of mathematics, copious amounts of religious study, a bit of history and philosophy. It’s only designed to give them a base of knowledge to learn further by themselves by practicing a profession, most likely, artisan or farmer. It’s possible for peasant to pursue their studies in academies to become scholars, master artisans, lawyer and administrators, but few can afford it. Nobles live under a very different regime. Education is mandatory for them until adulthood at 20 years old. Up until the age of 12, it’s done at home by tutors and parents. It covers very similar notions than that of peasant, but in a more developed fashion. When they reach 12, all noble children are sent to boarding schools who will seek to transform them in top administrators, scholars or warriors. It lasts until their 20 years old. Some are so gifted they will be sent to universities to continue their formation and become the philosopher, theologian, mathematician, architect and artists of tomorrow. Others, will pursue the dream of most of them: becoming a Hintenberg Knight, the standing army of their homeworld and a well known fighting force in their sector for its traditions and quality.

Hintenberg rebellion came as a surprise to many in Segmentum administration, but this shows the deeper lack of knowledge about the individual worlds of the Rarken Sector of those who order the tithe increase in such a fashion. Hintenberg is a world loyal to tradition and the God-Emperor, not to the whims and caprice of a sometime corrupted and all to often incompetent administration. Hintenbergers are people of sound rational minds with strong opinions and values. When the Imperium asked for its increase in tithe both in terms of soldiers, but also grain and metal, many nobles thought it was the height of absurdity. Trying to pay out would ravage half the country side, by depleting important sector of its vitality and in unrest caused by famine. Luther Martel, the governor of the planet, Supreme Master of the Hintenberg Knights sent a message to reconsider a more reasonable and sustainable increase and was met with a refusal and immediate rebuke. Imperial Guard troops from Vartarn would be sent to Hintenberg to dethrone him and insure by all means necessary the tithe. The inability of Segmentum Command to compromise cost them the planet. Martel announced the Imperium decision and was almost unanimously supported by the nobles and even the priesthood of the planet. Preparation were made for invasion. At the same time, news of other planet revolting and overthrowing the Imperial rule were flooding the castles and cities of the planet. There was hope for them to triumph yet if they could defeat the highly reputable Red Coats of Vartarn. This planet was one of those on which Imperial Guard regiment were sent to help curb the revolts during the Hunger War, but these were less numerous than expected, except on Hintenberg. While the crippling majority of the planet’s military was in support of resistance and sedition following the failure of the negotiations, it was going to be an uphill battle for survival against the impressive detachment of Red Coats attacking the planet. It proved to be impossible to prevent them from gaining a foothold in the farmland where they chose to lend. Their leader, general Von Tropp, was an experimented commander and his troops well supported by superior artillery. On the battlefield, the Knights and Red Coats were a close match. The Knights might have armor and superior skill on their side, but their opposition had superior equipment and better support. The deadlock was finally broken in the favor of the defenders, when Sastar’s forces, supported by elements of the Gaern Guard arrived in orbit with an offer of alliance. It was what Martel was waiting for. He accepted the offer and with the support of new troops, could defeat the Vartarn and forced them to an humiliating surrender. Von Tropp killed himself right after giving the order to surrender as did several members of his headquarter. Hintenberg is an important world in the war effort of the Free Realm thanks to its high production of food and raw resources. It’s also home to some of its most reputable soldiers and well fortified. Luther Martel is currently at the lead of a large army composed of Hintenberg Knights, but also of Krasuan Lions, Gaern Guard and Danatusian Dragoon with the objective of assaulting the world of Ferucia. Should the old general, nicknamed the Dire Wolf by his name, succeed, the Reclamation Crusade might completely collapse on itself.

The Knights: Unknown to most, the very first Hintenberg Knights draw their origin from the dreaded Blood Knights. They were formed by converts, members of the Order who turned away from Khorn and embraced the God-Emperor as their new patron when they saw his splendor and power incarnate in the form of the Sisters of Battle and their leader Saint Arabella. The converts were allowed to gain repentance and redemption only if they could defeat their former Sisters. Thus, a new Knightly Order was founded on the planet from these miraculous converts. They operated much like the Blood Knights themselves, as a heavily armored cavalry fighting in close combat with spears, swords and axes. They proved to be a source of invaluable information about the defense of various castles held by the enemy, but also of insight about their leader tactics. As time passed, civilians and few other converted knights wanted to join the Hintenberg Knights. Having access to no horses to call their own, they served as heavy infantry wielding well built laslock and operated as an anchor around which the Knights would fight. Their iron discipline and drills inspired by those of the Sisters themselves as well as that of the Imperial Guard proved to very efficient at pushing back the enemy force at close range and finishing them off in a grand charge. Unlike the Blood Knights who counted only women within their order, Hintenberg recruited from both gender to guaranty a higher number of troops on their side, but also as a distinction from their enemy. The martial pride and lust for personal challenge of the Hintenberg Knights remained a core component of their attitude even after their victory over the Blood Knights who were once against thrown in exile. In the modern days of the Imperium, the Hintenberg Knights are known to be harshly trained from infancy to become peerless warriors be it on horse or on foot. They are extremely good shot, favoring the old adage of quality over quantity. Very few guardsmen can achieve their precision and even less with the fire rhythm they maintain on their laslock that, per tradition, they refused to exchange for stronger weapons. They swordsmanship can also be commanded as precise, clean and of great efficiency. Tradition of duelling are still very common amongst the Knights due to their hot-blooded nature, but also drive for excellence. It can take the form of fencing duels or, more and more common, pistol duels. One to many foreign officer has seen himself provoked in duel after offending a Knight. The wisest one present their apologies for very guardsmen can match in personal combat an Hintenberg Knight under such condition.

Training to become an Hintenberg Knight starts in certain fashion when noble children reach the age of 12, but very few will have what is needed to become a Knight when their education is completed at age 20 and have the privilege to start their initiation, which last 2 more years. It’s open for both men and women and there are no size or weight requirements. Only talent, skills and willpower are considered as valuable indicator of the quality of a Knight. When noble children are sent to boarding schools, they are expected to become the elite of a society that prides itself of in its high skill and scholarship and a fiercely competitive attitude. Their teachers are under a mission to produce such a result. In school, these young teenagers are expected to learn all basic academic skills, but they also learn invaluable skills for becoming Knights. They have their first initiation to marksmanship with both laslock and laspistol. They also learn two types of fencing, one with a short light sword and another for a longsword. They pass through a regime of physical fitness with many exercise made in heavy armor to enhance strength and endurance build up, but also to get them used to moving around in armor. All Hintengerb nobles are also expected to be excellent horseman only if a handful of them will join the Knights in a mounted unit. Duels and combat training exercise are common during schooling to ensure each one of them is combative. Once their education is completed, those who wish so can attempt to join the Hintenberg Knights. There is no shortage of volunteers due to the prestige such a position can afford to any noble. Thus, only those with the best reputation and the highest scores are selected for the two-year long initiation process. The initiates, called squires, have to prove that they are a cut above the average noble when it comes to willpower and combat skills. Their first few months consists mostly of a series of tasks, some of them are mundane and humiliating like carrying stones, digging trenches, cleaning up stables and latrines. They have the side effect of teaching to the recruits the importance of those tasks in life in any organised army as well as test their resolve. The life of a Hintenberg Knight isn’t all glory, far from there. Other tests, are duels or group combat against other squires or even confirmed Knight. It’s not even rare for a Grand Master to challenge a particularly promising or meek squire to better judge a promotion. Once they have proven their commitment, each squire will be given a mentor who will teach him his skills, focusing especially on his capacity hit a coin at over a hundred meter with his or her laslock and fight in close combat against multiple foes without loosing track of its surrounding. Each squire might change of mentor two or three times to benefit from different expertise and point of view. The last part of their training will see them train to fight in formation with their peers and mentor. They must be well coordinated and perfectly disciplined. It’s not unlikely for a squire to be thrown in real combat during the last third of his or her formation if the need arises. Hintenberg Knights have the reputation to be highly skilled combatant with great discipline and tenacity if sometime a bit unruly due to their code of honor. In the Free Realm, they represent a steady supply of high quality heavy infantry especially well adapted to siege and open field combat.

The traditional equipment of an Hintenberg Knight is composed of a Mastercrafted full plate armor in plasteel that looks identical too late 15th, early 16th century full plate armor. They are polished to a silvery shine, extremely efficient and lighter than one would expect. Their main weapon is a marvellously well built laslock that shine for its power, beauty and precision. One their back, Hintenberg Knights carry a pack that contains hundreds of individual power cells for their weapon which feeds them in a bag at their waist. They are also all armed with a duelling laspistol which are much more powerful and precise than standard laspistol, but only have two shots. Finally, they are all armed with a short sword used for fencing and duels. Their kits are pretty extensive when you take into account the quantity of ammunition they carry personally. It’s not rare for their units to be mechanised to carry even more ammunition and the rest of their supply. All Hintenberg Knights are expected to be pious, thus carry blessed sash with the Aquila sewed in golden threads. Since the foundation of the Free Realm, most of them, but not all will wear the Golden Bell on their left shoulder pad.

The Paladins: The Hintenberg Knight 11th is one of the very first regiment of the planet. It had seen over 4000 years of continuous existence, fighting against the forces of Chaos, the Orks and recently the Tau. They have earned hundreds of commendation, the mark of Space Marines Chapters like the Novamarines and the commendation of Sisters of Battle of the Sacred Rose. They even fought under Saint Lucia d’Argent and were one of the few to make it back from the wild space where the Traxian Saint died expanding and protecting the Imperium. The Paladins earned their nickname for their chivalrous demeanor, their habit of never retreating in panic and winning battles against all odds. Amongst all the Hintenberg Knights, they are considered some of the finest example. Only the best squires can hope to be, one day, part of such a fantastic regiment. During the Hunger War, the Paladins were at the fore of the most brutal battles against the Red Coat, defeating them several times despite being subjected to intense enemy fire. This heroism did cost the lives of numerous Knights, amongst them their Grand Master. This gave the opportunity for the rise of the youngest of all Grand Masters. Helena Darque, a young orphaned noblewoman had a meteoric rise through the ranks of the Hintenberg Knights thanks to a mix of boldness and peerless duelist skills. She soared to high ranks through pure skills of arm. Her natural aptitude in tactics and strategy and her ability to surround herself with veteran officers allowed her to tame the mighty regiment and impose her leadership. Despite her young age and the dashing way she achieved her position, she is well respected by her men, yet she aims higher and consider her victories with the Paladins as a stepping stone to take the place of Luther Martel himself. Currently, she prepares her regiment for the invasion of Ferucia where she hopes to attain her objective.

Moto: The mark of a true warrior are his skills

Type: Highborn (+3 weapon skills, +3 intelligence, air of authority), sanguine (Die Hard), Mechanised Infantry (+3 agility, -3 perception, Operate Ground Vehicle), Crusader (+2 weapon skills, hatred Chaos), Sharpshooter (deadeye shot), the Few, favored weapons (longlas, Missile Launcher), special equipment: Stormtrooper carapace armor, best quality laslock, duelling pistol, good quality mono edge sword
   
Made in ca
Longtime Dakkanaut




Nexus Flame Warden

World: The Nexus, formally known as the Azure Ring, is an ancient space station built at the height of humanity’s technological advancement during the Dark Age of Technology. It orbits a blue gas giant that looks like an immense sea. The station itself was built as a space port and repair ring around the gas giant. It’s extremely large and houses millions of people on a permanent basis and is almost entirely self sufficient in food and water thanks to a near perfect recycling system for water and numerous and very productive greenhouses doted around the space station. Its population joined the Imperium without combat during the Great Crusade and the Nexus as since then been extensively modified for the needs of the Imperium. It has earned its new name thanks to the fact that pretty much all space traffic needed to take a rest or repair time to this space station for repair. The Nexus also houses an astropathic choir enhanced by a mysterious device built during the Dark Age of Technology that enhance astropathic signals tenfold, making communication fast and reliable in the entire Rarken Sector. It also generates a psychic beacon that helps for local warp travel and calms the few small warp anomalies in the sector. The device, simply referred as the Beacon, was studied by Magos of Mars and the Adeptus Telepathica to understand its working, but all attempt to replicate it elsewhere have failed. This makes this station one of the most strategically important one in the entire Imperium and is responsible for the prosperity and health of the Rarken Sector. It houses a hundred million permanent residents, most them dock workers, traders and administration members as well as security force. Since the Free Realm made the Nexus its capital, the population has almost doubled, the station has been reinforced with even more formidable defense systems and got its own elite security forces, the personal guard of Sastar himself, the Flame Wardens.

The inhabitants of the Nexus are extremely divers, most of them were not born or raised on the space station itself but in the various worlds of the Rarken Sector or even beyond. Thus the population is extremely diverse and reflect it in the appearance of the people living there. There is a small number of native inhabitant of the Nexus. Most of them are born from people installed on station for work and will frequently leave it when adults, but some go on to work there themselves and thus create a stable basin of population who never saw other worlds than the station itself. Much like their parents, their appearance can be extremely varied, but they will be restricted in terms of fashion to what they can acquire on the Nexus itself. This resulted in many of them to wear clothing very reminiscent to the fashion of Danatus which is both nearby, cheap and practical. There isn’t much a Nexus culture. Even those born and raise for more than two generations on the space station still consider themselves to be part of the culture of their ancestors and will attempt to emulate it as much as possible both in terms of fashion and in terms of attitude. Since many children are born or brought on the station, there is schools open for all of them. Classes cover basic subject like language, mathematics and religious studies, but also have particular interest in stellar navigation, astronomy, engineering. All these are skills necessary to make a good living on the Nexus. Classes are given by teachers hired from outside the Nexus for the most part thus each brings its own perspective on these subjects. In general, this is considered an excellent education since teachers are of superior quality, with many of them having pursue advance scholarships in universities and synods. Some are even attached to the small Schola Progenium installed on the Nexus shortly after the Reign of Blood which is known to produce peerless seneschals and ship captains for the local Battlefleet. Despite this, schooling isn’t mandatory, but rare are the parents who prefer to strictly rely on homeschooling, not that many possibly could in the first place. The Nexus is thus an microcosm of the Rarken Sector in many aspects. Those who lived there for a while or grew up there a used to this heteroclite mix of culture and influence and have learned to navigate it pretty easily. Thus, many inhabitants and workers of the Nexus are considered very open minded and innovative for citizens of the Imperium. Since the creation of the Free Realm and their alliance with some xenos, a few of them have set up embassy in the Nexus, allowing a rare occasion where a normal human civilian, faithful to the God-Emperor can have contact with non-humans. This led to tensed scene, but also strange exchanges like children beating a poor hapless gretchin while its ork master cheered them on and gave them tricks to proper club it and offering them a beer once the whelp was half dead.

The Nexus was such a vital installation in the Rarken Sector that the increased tithe didn’t touch it. Even the Segmentum administration knew that ordering an increased tithe to the Nexus might reduced its productivity and its security. They even ordered the defense of the space station to be bolstered by ordering regiments from Gaern to garrison it in case of attack. It’s true that the Nexus was sometime targeted by xenos pirates thanks to its heavy traffic and by Orks Looters in search of a good fight. When news of the Hunger Wars started to finally leak inside the space station, the situation became quickly chaotic. Many workers on the docs and traders learned that their friends and family had rebelled against Imperial rule and that their worlds were seized in civil war. Many wanted to leave the Nexus to return to their own, but the contracts to work on the station stipulate that one’s must stay until it comes to an end no matter what. Unrest were repressed without much violence by the garrison of Gaern Guard on station there, until they heard the news that their world had declared independence from the Imperium and had a new Castellan. The Danatusian Dragoons and Ulthan Drop Troopers stationed there soon heard the exact same story. For a while, the Nexus was in a haze with its governor trying to figure out what to do. His troops loyalty wasn’t assured to him as much as it was assured to the governors of other planets on which the Nexus depended for the majority of its workforce. Negotiations were held between the Nexus governor and the various commanders of the PDF stationed there to have them agree on continuing the normal function of the Nexus and keep on enforcing Imperial rule within the workforce. While the commanders did come to agree with the Nexus governor for simplicity sake and to simply insure a semblance of order on the station, the agreement didn’t last very long for one of the first order of business of Sastar after joining forces with Phoebus and Camellia was to send his newly acquired battlefleet to take control of the Nexus. At the sight of Sastar's fleets and after receiving the formal orders of their commanders to surrender and join arms with them, the Nexus garrison turned coat, the governor was deposed and sent back to Danatus where he came from and became one of Sastar supporter a few years later. Thus the Nexus passed into the Free Realm hands and became its capital. Under Sastar command, the station was transformed in a mighty fortress and the home base of his fleet. It continues to provide repairs and new battleships to it and is now defended by its own troops, the Flame Wardens, an elite group of soldiers long in the making and operational for around 10 years now.

The Flame Wardens: The Flame Wardens are a very new military, whose creation started during the Hunger War and has started to yield fully trained regiments at the beginning of the Reclamation Crusade. The goal intended behind their creation was to produce regiments capable of fighting toe to toe against Tempestus Scions or even Space Marines and Sisters of Battle should the need arise. They were also intended to provide a native security force to the Nexus which normally depended on regiments from other planets to be deployed there. Finally, with Sastar proclaimed King of the Free Realm of Rarken and the beginning of the Reclamation Crusade, treats of assassination against him became clear and pressing. Thus, creating highly trained and loyal regiments to guard his own life became a necessity. Since their creation, Flame Wardens have seen combat on a few occasions. They participated in the First Battle of Telka, fought in the mines of Lukar, defended the Nexus of a raid from the forces of Chaos, participated in the defense of Gaern and are now being deployed in small numbers on Telka for the Second Battle. During their short history, the Flame Wardens have shown both to the Imperial forces and that of the Free Realm that they were a success. They won almost every single engagement they fought. They managed to hold their own against the very best Imperial Guard regiments available to Lord Solar General Gracio and even fought to a standstill a company of Space Marines during the First Battle of Telka. Such results would have been impossible without the resources poured into their training and equipment which were extremely important. The fact that they are fanatically loyal to their charismatic leader is also an admirable trait. In fact, the Flame Wardens are such a success that the Reclamation Crusade high command consider keeping them in place once the war is over and the sector back into imperial hands, provided everything ends in their favor. Their most impressive displays of skills occur in mid and close range combat where their discipline, heavy armor and powerful weapons are most useful. This has made them expert in boarding actions, but also urban combat, drop assaults and sieges, all appropriate distinction for a royal guard and the defense force of a space station.

Training to become a Flame Warden starts in infancy. Like for Tempestus Scions themselves, all Flame Wardens are originally orphans. There are no requirements for them to be sons and daughters of a noble family or a family of hero. Any healthy orphan can do provided they show willpower and a measure of intelligence. Recruitment is made through a number of organisations from the PDF Veteran Bureau who takes care of former PDF members and their family, the local Ecclesiarchy or a specialised organisation designed by Sastar to take care of war orphans. To be a recruit, the orphan must be at least 8 years old and no older than 16 and agree to become a soldier of the Free Realm. Of course, recruiters are very good at convincing such a demographic that they should agree to such an enlistment which will last for all their lives with no possibility of opting out. Training itself last 12 years and will also cover their education. Flame Wardens have to be well learned in basic domains in addition to the military one to produce sound and potentially innovative minds. This education is also an excellent way to cement their loyalty to the Free Realm and Sastar himself who is almost revered as a Saint amongst the Flame Wardens. Faith in the Emperor is also exalted and everything the Free Realm do is considered to have the support of the God-Emperor fighting back against those who would usurp his name while sitting on Terra. Thus, all Flame Wardens strongly believe they are engaged in fight to restore the God-Emperor loyal people to the command of the Imperium and push back against the usurpers. The military training itself is a long winded and holistic training programs who is very similar to that of the Tempestus Scions in terms of cursus. Recruits are pushed to the boundaries of human speed, strength, agility and endurance through series of exercises from climbing vertical surfaces in heavy armor to navigating and fighting in hand to hand combat in zero gravity environments. Exercises in group and tests are numerous and frequent. Recruits who fail to succeed are frequently injured or killed during those tests, but casualties are fairly low as trainers, all experienced Gaern Guard trainers or former Scions themselves, know how to properly set the bar and prepare their pupils. Flame Wardens even have the chance to receive a small period of mentoring in tactic and assault from the only Space Marine Chapter who joined the Free Realm, the Red Fox, after they, themselves were impacted by the increase in tithe. Those succeed all the tests and all the challenge can now be called Flame Wardens. During their graduation ceremonials, they will pass through the Pyre of the Realm, a perpetual flame built as a symbol of hope and fighting spirit for the Free Realm and personally swear allegiance to Vego Sastar who always makes some time to assist in person to the creation of a new regiment of Flame Wardens, each 1500 strong. Calling them the very best troops of the Free Realm wouldn’t be a lie or an exaggeration. Their presence on the battlefield is considered a sign of a difficult battle, but also of high chance of victory.

The Flame Wardens are equipped with the very best material available from the Free Realm of Rarken. Most of their weapons and armors can be traced back to Zoron X which provides equipment of exceptional quality and beauty. Their armor is fully enclosed carapace armor with mild strength enhancement to help support its weight that provides almost as much defense as a full suit of power armor. It’s silver colored but with strong highlights of fiery orange and blue as if the metal was still cooling. Their weapons are highly performant and compact hot-shot lasguns fed by a power back pack. All them also carry a mono-edge spear that can be collapsed to make it easier to carry or to be used as a short sword. Flame Wardens are incredibly well trained to fight with those weapons. They also carry a good number of grenades, favoring the phosphor grenades for its holy virtues. The field kits of the Flame Wardens are pretty standard in terms of autonomy, but is much more compact and of much higher quality than the standard ones. All of them carry golden Aquila pendant that have been individually blessed in sacred oil in the main cathedral of Rarken itself. They also carry a Golden Bell symbol on their right shoulder pad made out of the smelted metal of the Great Bell of the cathedral of Phelenis Hive. Of course, as a royal guard they are expected to keep their equipment in pristine condition at all time.

The Rex Guard: The Flame Warden 1st is, like all Flame Warden regiment, a new founding. They were first deployed 7 years ago, at the very start of the Reclamation Crusade to serve as the Royal Guard of Vego Sastar, hence their nickname. They follow king Sastar everywhere he goes and are expected to provide him with all the protection and support he needs. Sastar himself is their commander, but they do have an official Captain who would lead them personally in combat should the need arise. She is a brilliant officers born on Danatus named Yin Mara. She earned her rank thanks to her quick mind, sharp eye for danger and incredible talent when it comes to close combat with her power spear. Rumor has it that she and Sastar have grown “very close”, but remains to the level of rumors. The Rex Guard has participated in combat against a group of Chaos cultists under the banner of the Crimson Sun, who were once thought to be completely destroyed, who attacked the Nexus, thinking they could decapitate the Free Realm leadership and throw it in the arms of the Gods of Chaos. They were massacred by the Rex Guard in short order. They later repelled two assassination attempts from Imperial Deathcults who acted without support from the Crusade High Command. They also participated in the battle of Gaern as a reserve unit, this time with the mission of protecting the command center of Camellia Arabella which they did with success. They have now left Gaern and are back at Sastar side in the Nexus, ready to be deployed in their next assignment.

Moto: Keeping the flame of the Free Realm alive.

Type: Schola Progenium (+3 Ballistic Skills, +3 Willpower, Unshakeable Faith), Circumspect (foresight), Grenadier (+3 Ballistic Skills, +3 Toughness, -3 Perception, Bombardier), Close Quarter Fighting (Combat Master), Close Order Drill (Double Team), Crusader (+2 Weapon Skills, Hatred Chaos), Vanguard, The Few, favored weapons (meltagun, Multimelta), special equipment: Warden Armor (best quality stormtrooper carapace armor that provides +5 in strength), good quality hot-shot lasgun with auxiliary grenade launcher, best quality mono-edge collapsible spear, 4 phosphor grenades

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2019/04/08 06:34:22


 
   
Made in ca
Longtime Dakkanaut




Condellian Replicae Troopers

World: Condella is an ancient planet colonised in the aftermath of the Horus Heresy. Its situated close the Nexus and in very close proximity to a stable Warp anomaly named the Crux due to its shape. It emanates a strange form of radiation that seems to have a positive effect on life with people living longer and healthier when bathed in them for a long period of time. The planet was first colonised by humans during the Dark Age of Technology, but the first population was completely destroyed by virus bombing during the Horus Heresy, burning out its atmosphere and making the planet completely barren. The new colonists were there strictly for research reasons, trying to study the Crux and monitoring the region for pirates who are numerous there due to its rich asteroid fields. The research station on Condella is large and largely self sufficient thanks to asteroid mining for water and extremely productive greenhouses. It houses around 15 million people, most of them working the maintenance of the research station, with another large contingent insuring security. Only a minority are actually affected to research. Due to the difficulty to make regular contact with Condella due to its pirate, the research station resorted to cloning, creating replicae, to serve as their defense forces and maintenance. With time and following a series of attack, the entire research team composed of magos and other scholars were all lost and never replaced. The replicae are now the only human being on Condella and remained like so for over 3000 years. They pursued the monitoring duty of the Crux without pause and kept tithing a portion of their troops to the Imperial Guard like they used too. While the idea of a planet inhabited only by replicae, thus on equal standing with any Imperial citizen, would otherwise be seen as almost heretical, but results and lack of will to enforce Imperial laws on clones allowed Condella to keep operating without disturbance before the Hunger War.

Condella is a planet inhabited by around 15 million clones, or replicae by their official designation. All them have been cloned from the same source making the entire population perfectly identical twins. The cloning facilities of Condella are a marvel from the golden age of the Imperium shortly after the Horus Heresy. It’s thus much more reliable than other similar facilities which frequently produce insane or mutated clones as often as perfect ones. Some theorised that the radiation produced by the Crux might also help keep the clones building normally. The fact that they pass through the entire growing and learning process of a normal human being is also reducing the chances of degradation. There has been four generation of different types of clones, coming from four different sources, but the first three didn’t last. The fourth ones as produced all the clones of Condella since the end of the Reign of Blood. Nobody knows exactly who was the donors, it’s agreed that the original donor must have been an heroin of the Imperium simply due to the quality of clones. Some have even suggested the donor might have been Saint Arabella due to the first appearance of the 4th generation clones matching her arrival in the Rarken Sector and a certain resemblance between Condellians and her according to the few damaged portraits there is of the Saint. The fact that all Condellians display a high interest for knowledge and war as well as a very religious temperament gives credence to the rumor, but it remains pure conjecture. Since the entire population of Condella is composed of 4th generation clones for over 3000 years, they are very easy to recognise to foreigner, if hard to differentiate one from another. All Condellians are women. They measure 5 foot 10 with about an inch or two of variance depending on their age or physical condition. They have raven dark hairs and dark green eyes. Their skin is fair and without blemish thanks to their excellent living conditions. All Condellians maintain a healthy regime of physical conditioning to keep themselves ready in case of major assault. They usually keep their hairs a bit lower than shoulder length, but tie them up at the back of their head if necessary. Unlike many other clones, they are born in vats, but will age normally. They thus require to be raised and taken for in an environment adapted for raising children. All new clones are attributed to a foster mother who will raise them like their very own children. Some will even go as far as bearing them and giving birth to avoid damaging or over using the cloning equipment. Schooling is mandatory for all clones on Condella from age 6 to 16. During this period, they learn basic academic skills, but with the addition of biology, first aid, astronomy and self defense training. It’s after this period of mandatory education that they will be assigned to new training cursus based on their abilities. Those who are the most physically fit, courageous, quick thinking and skilled in self defense will be sent to a military academy where they will be trained to become Replicae Troopers. Condellians in general have the reputation to be calm and poised, studious and polite, courageous and caring. This makes them well appreciated even if the only ones an Imperial Citizen is likely to meet is a soldier.

The threat that lead to Condella to joining the Free Realm of Rarken is entirely different than the ones of other planets. When the increased tithed was ordered on the Rarken Sector, the Imperium decided to completely put an end to the Condellian experiment, claim the entire population within the fighting age of 12 to 50 and purge the rest of the clones. A new was of savants and magos was even prepared to take over the facility with the project of changing the clone template for one that would be more docile as it was believed the current ones were too humanlike to be tolerable. The Imperial authorities didn’t expect the Condellians to balk at the notion of seeing all their children and elders, the pillars of their research facility, being exterminated. The acting head of the station sent a message asking for clemency being granted to the young ones as well as to the elders and to reconsider the complete termination of their line. The message was left with no replies. A choice had to be made for the clones. They could either accept their fate and disappear for the alleged good of the Imperium or they could resist. They chose the later, but it wasn’t an easy choice for they truly desired what was best for the Imperium and be right by the God-Emperor. Yet, they felt their lives were worth more than the scorn the Administratum was offering them. When the Imperial authorities arrived to claim their prize, Condella was ready for a fight. The Replicae Troopers were deployed and ready to strike should the receive the order to do so. A last message for negotiation was sent toward the small fleet, but met with no answer. The Replicae Troopers thus launched the assault and easily seized the ships. The Ordrem Sewer Rats who were sent to enforce the tithe were not fans of the idea when they learned what they were there for and offered only minimal resistance before surrendering. The ships were forced back toward the Nexus with the lead Magos executed for good measure. Condella had won its rebellion and was the first world of the Rarken Cluster to emerge victorious and independent during the Hunger War. A few years later, years where they still sent their normal tithe incurring severe administration problems, the forces of Sastar contacted the Condellians to propose them to join the Free Realm where they would be guarantied full rights and the recognition of their humanity. Of course, they accepted and since then, the Replicae Troopers have turned to the service of the Free Realm, lending their incredible skills to the defense of those who granted them what 3000 years of dedication and loyalty should have.

The Replicae Troopers: The Replicae Troopers were first created as a security forces to defend the research station of Condella. They always were formed of cloned human and were considered as little more than advanced servitors for the most part. Yet, the constant threat of attacks from pirates and the extremely sensitive nature of the research station made necessary the creation of a highly competent fighting force. This was the main reason behind the choice of using clones instead of servitors to form a fighting force and using the genetic materials of heroes of the Imperium instead of that of a random healthy specimen of human being. It was believed that a portion of a donor talents and traits would be passed down in the cloning process even the clones would grow and mature normally. The first three generations of Condellian Replicae Troopers were a success. The large majority of them were born without defect and performed admirably well against the almost constant raids of the research station. They illustrated themselves particularly in boarding actions and in defense strategy. Their great discipline, training and quick thinking abilities allowed them to protect Condellian installations from invaders without needing to resort to large numbers and without causing a lot of damage. Surgical operations became their specialty. Those who were tithed to the Imperium quickly built themselves an exceptional reputation as drop troopers and hunter-killer units. The fourth generation would exceed them all both in terms of efficiency and reliability. The fourth generation started in nebulous circumstances while the Imperium was recovering from the Reign of Blood. The Condellian facilities were severely under staffed, thus there was need for more brilliant clones instead of those of the third generation, copies of a Catashan lieutenant mostly known for his impressive physical capacities. The most likely donor for the fourth generation clone would have been a Daughter of the Emperor serving under Saint Arabella, some suspect from Arabella herself. The fourth generation improved drastically the capacity of the clones to work outside of simple menial tasks all the while retaining high physical performances. The Replicae Trooper saw their performance increase across the board thanks to higher average tactical acumen and a more level headed demeanor. Little by little, they became the sole remaining humans on Condella and enacted a series of small changes that would further improve their troops by doing the counter intuitive action of granting themselves more humanity, thus more ingenuity and stronger motivation to fight and train.

Training for the Replicae Troopers starts technically practically at birth, but truly only quicks in at age 16 and last, officially, 5 years. Before their official training starts, all future Replicae Troopers have necessarily passed through a period of mandatory training that started when they were as young as 6 years old. During that mandatory training, they did learn the basics of combat. More particularly, they learned how to operate las weapons and how to repair them. They were trained to be physically fit. They had to learn by heart the corridor patterns of dozens of ships and typical Imperial bastions and they were trained rather extensively in hand to hand combat through the practice of Sarissa and Lupine. The students who have performed the most in those area will necessarily be assigned to Replicae training unless they possess such varied skills it would be better to simply let the choose between their various options. In all cases, Replicae Troopers are sufficiently well regarded that it’s a popular choice of career amongst Condellians. Once selected the period of five years of training can start a new. In the first months, the recruits will be bombarded with theoretical information on Imperial weapons, their designation, their strengths, their weaknesses, etc. They will also have to learn large quantity of information about common pirate’s ships and xenos technology. Then, they are quickly sent to practice this recently acquired knowledge in various military combat simulations either in special gymnasium or holographic chambers. Some cohorts will even have the chance of fighting captured pirates and xenos to test their new knowledge and skills. Once their theoretical knowledge reinforced and their skills developed through raw practice, more advance training can start with trainers, all of them former Replicae Troopers with sometime the addition of an Imperial Commissar. They will use the results of the week of raw practices to improve the future troopers’ tactics and strategy, while forcing them to develop further physically and learning more complex martial art technics. All training will be conducted around the clock and is extremely exhausting. Injuries are frequent, but the excellent medical facilities of Condella allow for quick healing. Toward the end of the training, units will be formed and will join a fully trained regiment for mentoring and receive a first experience of local space patrol and, almost inevitably, combat. Once done, a new Replicae Trooper regiment will be founded, usually 2000 strong, and be either sent as tithe or will remain alongside two dozen others on the planet as PDF. Replicae Troopers are extremely performant and very well equipped units, especially well known for their speed of learning, faithful demeanor and finely polished skills. Yet, many members of High Command didn’t like to fight alongside clones. This isn’t such a problem anymore as their reputation amongst elite battlefleet troops in the Free Realm is assured.

The standard equipment for a Replicae trooper is composed of a chrome polished light carapace armor designed to be highly efficient at turning away laser weapons all the while being extremely light. It comes with a full helmet, but most trooper won’t wear it unless they fight in vacuum by tradition, preferring to count on their armor’s collar for protection. Their weapon is a compact by high quality Lascarabin that has been equipped with both flash suppressor and Targetter to make it more accurate. Its jet black color makes it contrast heavily with the armor. All Replicae Troopers are armed with a mono-edged sword with which they are extremely performant and highly trained with some of them even having the honor to bear power swords as special weapons. Outside of combat, and sometime even within, Replicae wear short black cloak for ceremonial reasons. On their wrists are mounted data-pads on which they can review battlefield information rather quickly. When Replicae Troopers are deployed on planets, they are frequently tasked to survey old pirate installations, thus their kits are well furnished as they are expected to serve both as scout and first combat units. Replicae Troopers now wear holy symbol very frequently due to their highly religious nature, but have yet to include a symbol of the Free Realm in their personal effect.

The Immortals: The Replicae Trooper 26th is a very old regiment that has been in continuous operation in the Rarken Sector, especially around the Nexus, Gaern and Cerisa. It has seen millennia of combat where it illustrated itself greatly, but never won the greatest accolade due to the nature of its troops. Amongst its most famous operation, it disabled an Ork Kill Cruiser through sabotage, successfully repelled the boarding action of a Genestealer Cult troops with less than 15% casualty, found, seized and destroy several Chaos Cult pirate bases in the edge of the Rarken Sector. Their nickname comes from the fact that all of its troops are clones and are, by tradition, all styling their airs in the exact same fashion and their equipment kept pristine. This makes them so similar it’s impossible to make the difference between individual troopers even for those who have seen them frequently. Thanks to steady reinforcement, they have maintained their numbers pretty steady throughout their long history. Thus, came the myth that each trooper is actually immortal and will always return should they look to be killed. For an outsider, the regiment never changes face and never changes in numbers. During the Hunger Wars, the Immortal were responsible for the taking of the bridge of the Imperial tithing fleet thus earning a certain fame amongst the Free Realm. This fame and long tradition of victory saw them deployed onboard the same ship as Admiral Drake Hummel of Ulthan to serve as elite boarding and reconnaissance units where once again they have demonstrated their remarkable skills and a lot of affinity with the Ulthanians combat doctrines and skills. The Immortal CO, Commander Fiona, has developed and excellent working relationship with Hummel and has even become some sort of confident for the man.

Moto: A vigil’s duty never ends.

Type: Dead World (+3 weapon skills, +3 ballistic skills, resistance radiation), Supine, Hunter-Killer (+3 ballistic skills, -3 strength, resistance fear), Hardened fighter (+2 weapon skills, unarmed master), sharpshooter (deadeye shot), survivalist (low gravity environments), Mistrusted (Ecclesiarchy), favored weapons (power swords, lascanon), Special Equipment: Good quality light carapace armor, Lascarabin with flash suppressor and Targetter, good quality mono-edge sword
   
Made in ca
Longtime Dakkanaut




Korrylian Questing Knights

World: Korryl is world accidentally colonised in the aftermath of the Horus Heresy. The colony ship that would become the population of Korryl were originally intended to live on Ulthan, but their ship was attacked by cultists of the Crimson Sun and was forced to make a crash lending on a small lush planet covered in enormous forests, high savage mountains and cold seas. Since then, the lost colonists have formed an entirely new society. Korryl is a feudal world where humanity has achieved and stabilised itself in a medieval society reminiscent of that of the legends of Ancient Terra. Korrylian lives in the fluvial plains and at the steps of the mountain in countless farms and villages protected by castles where the nobility of the planet rules and protect the planets from the dangers lurking in the woods: savage orks, dangerous beasts, lost Blood Knights and fairies. The planet surface remains largely unexplored by the half a billion strong population and filled with mysteries. Courageous Korrylian Knights sometimes go on quests to explore the unknown and fight dangerous beasts. There they bring back news of mysterious countries and fantastic perils. Others talk about fey portals that can bring them to mysterious new lands. Korryl is a lush temperate planet that provides a lot of food to its neighbors in exchange for modern alloy for their knights’ armors and weapons. The Korrylian Knights have a reputation to be almost fearless and amongst the most highly skilled horseman and swordsman in the entire Segmentum. These men and women are the pride of their homeworld. Due to the story brought back by Questing Knights, the Inquisition has started to gain an interests in Korryl and set some of its agents undercover to see if there were more than tall tales in the mysterious woodlands of the knight’s domain.

Korrylian people are almost all fair skinned and look relatively healthy. Even the peasants, which are frequently at the mercy of food shortage remain in relatively good shape since the Korrylian nobility has the reputation of being fair, just and pretty good administrators. Besides this they are rather typical for inhabitant from the feudal worlds. The peasants who constitute the vast majority of the population are rather small due to difficulties inherent to having a rich and varied diet. The average size for a man is around 5 foot 5 for a weight of around 140 pounds. Peasant women are slightly shorter and about as heavy. Noble men are significantly taller with an average of 5 foot 8 for a weight 150 pounds. Noble women are slightly smaller and lighter. No matter the status, dark hairs and eyes are the most common. Men tend to wear their hairs short, but nobles have theirs finely trimmed, while peasants one’s will look unkempt. Women like to keep their hairs long, but most peasant women struggle to keep their hairs looking healthy and strong while noble women are known to sport lustrous long hairs that they braid to fit in their helmets when on the battlefield. Clothing amongst the peasant class is relatively simple and made out of cheap cloth like rough wool or linen. Earthly colors are favored. For men its mostly composed of a shirt, a pair of pants, solid boots and sometime a smock. Women replace the pants for a long skirt and the smock by an apron. Nobles favors more colorful and close fitting clothes in finer fabrics like fine wool, cotton or even silk in certain region. There is little difference between men and women clothing in terms of general style amongst nobles, but each are adapted to different mensuration. Schooling isn’t mandatory for peasant children, most will learn their trade from their parents, but there are schools where they can send them to learn how to read, write, count, play music and, most importantly, receive a religious education. It’s most often manned by monks, nuns and priests. Some will go on to learn from a master to practice more complex trade. For nobles, education is complex and geared to make them warriors, the only ones on the planet. From age 7 to 13, boys and girls will learn basic academic skills under a mentor to give them some basic knowledge, but from 14 to 20, they will serve as squires, apprentice, under a full fledge knight who will teach them how to fight with spear, short, long and great sword, in hand to hand combat. They will also perfect their horsemanship, something they should have practiced since birth. Then, they will be ready to prove their worth. Korrylians are known as honorable, courageous and fair people. They work hard, have a merry heart and a strong sense of justice. Their knights and especially the Questing Knights have garnered the respect and admiration of numerous other planets in the Rarken Sector and beyond.

Like in many other planets vulnerable to localised food shortage, the increase in tithe triggered severe unrest on Korryl which weren’t made smaller by a pre-existing internal conflict over the title of King of Korryl. King Charles the Stern had no children and married very late in his life. His wife was a young knight from a good family known for her sense of justice and honor as well as fine blade, but she was young and when the king died of old age she became the next heir to throne. Only married to the king for a year, her claim was weak and a cousin to King Charles the Stern, Ben the Fox, made a claim to the throne. Most nobles rallied before him for he was a powerful duke and while he might have been regarded as a man of low virtue, he could guaranty a certain stability. Queen Elena refused to kneel before Ben and announced she would challenge his claim for the sake of the child she was bearing and of the people living under him. The stories of mistreatment and corruption from his domain were no stranger to her and she wouldn’t bow before a king that was only king due to power alone. She managed to gain several allies and raised an army to defend her claim to the throne. The situation was made worse by the new tithe. King Ben administered it harshly and offered no way out for his serfs and vassals. Famine struck in his lands and when the Elena and Ben had their first skirmishes, he was thoroughly trounced. This humiliation would not be easily forgiven. In a rare move treachery from a Korrylian nobleman, Ben attacked the farmlands of Elena to seize grain stock and terrorise them into submission. His enemy unprepared for such a tactic, he, at first, enjoyed several successes, but these were pyrrhic victories. Many of his allies deserted him for doing such an action and Elena’s relief efforts to the afflicted serfs clearly established as the morally superior leader. This moral superiority was further reinforced by a tactical superiority when she launched in early summer an offensive to break Ben’s army. Despite inferior numbers, she won a crushing victory in which she severely injured her rival in a duel despite his cheating attempt. Soon the entire countryside was rallying behind her. One by one, nobles deserted Ben’s cause and he was thrown in exile. Some even think he sought alliance with the Blood Knights living on Korryl, but even they wouldn’t ally with an already defeated man. Elena refused to pay the increased tithe and set out to rebuilt her domain. She died in early age from a mysterious disease, but remains in the mind of many Korrylians as one of their greatest leader. Her son would be the one to rally the Free Realm when Sastar sought all the help he could muster. Since Elena had already refused to pay the tithe of the Imperium, it was an easy decision. Since then, the banners of the Korrylian Questing Knights can be seen alongside the ranks of the Free Realm forces.

The Questing Knights: The military of Korryl is dominated by its nobility which fight as armored knights. Peasants and serfs sometimes join on the battlefield where they will man siege instrument, become skirmishers, scouts, bowmen or support infantry armed with polearms and shields, but it would be a strange day when one of them could best alone even the least of the knights. Trained from infancy to be warriors without peers who laugh at the face of death and danger, the Korrylian knights have the reputation to be amongst the best warriors of the Rarken Cluster and are certainly its best heavy cavalry. While most knights remain on their domain, hunting bandits, monsters and beasts, waiting for a general call to arm to gather for war, there are those who will stay in place. These are the ones who have been visited by visions of the Emperor or one of his Saint and been invested with a mission, a quest, that will inevitably lead them in the dark and unexplored corner of their planets. Questing Knights set aside their lance, their family, their land and their duty in the pursuit of this quest. Each Questing Knight has its own objectives, but all of them are not simply achieved by killing a certain foe or getting to a certain place. They are more about discovering something about themselves, becoming the paragon of a virtue or atone for a wrong done in the past. For many of them, the quest is a lonely and dangerous road that they travel alone, but other will find companions with which to share their burden. When the Imperium request a tithe in soldiers from Korryl, Questing Knights flock in vast numbers to the founding fields certain that its in the vastness of the stars, fighting the enemy of the Imperium that they will find what they are searching for and inscribe their name in the legends of their world and of others. Others might even be inspired and take upon the Quest themselves. Korrylian Questing Knights have made their mark on many battlefields against all of the Imperium major enemies and even some more minor ones. While strongly anachronistic, many guardsmen see in them legends from a long lost time and saw their courage bolstered by the presence of these almost fearless knights known for their clever use of their skills and weapons. Rare are the forces who can push back a well orchestrated charge for the flower of Korryl knighthood.

Training to become a Questing Knights starts at age 13 when young boys and girls are starting their formal period of education with a veteran knight who will show them the skills and the virtues necessary to become a peer. For 7 years, these young squires will work almost day and night, mastering the fine art of horsemanship with supple and agile mounts, but also powerful and temperamental chargers; bounding with and caring for those steeds. Their master also teaches them swordsmanship first with small dueling blades, then, the versatile longswords and finely the two-handed sword that requires ability and balance to master and which can be used efficiently from horseback. Injuries and defeat are common occurrence, but a knight must be persistent and brave in face of dangers. Once squires are proficient with swords and horses, it’s time for them to learn the more difficult discipline of hand to hand combat and mounted lancing. Knights don’t practice archery but should be handy with throwing daggers and javelins. When their formation finally reaches its end, squires start to accompany their masters on patrols, battlefields and tournament where they will assist him in combat or, perhaps, even have the honor of championing for them. No squire will ever be granted the title of knight without defeating at least three enemies in personal combat, but once they achieve this minimum and gain their master approbation, they will finely receive land, title and duty. Only confirmed knights can take upon the Quest and very few squires immediately become Questing Knights, most choosing to pass a few years on their lands before going in such adventure. A knight is expected to maintain himself in a state of preparedness at all time and train in constant fashion. They will also serve outside of their domain at least 40 days per year, helping other defend their lands and scattering threat too large for a handful of knights, but enough to raise an army. When Questing Knight join the Imperial Guard, they aren’t further trained, but must passed through several weeks of acclimation to modern technology and the scope of battles in the 41st millennium. Fortunately, most of them are already equipped with modern weapons and armors thanks to steady supplies of modern alloy to their planets in exchange of food. The Questing Knights have a great reputation as a cavalry regiment thanks to the extensive training of each individual knight and their excellent equipment. In the Free Realm, their reputation has only improved thanks to the moral boost they provide to the beleaguered populations.

The traditional equipment of a Questing Knight is a long chainmail of plasteel that covers the entire body with some extra protection plates on the forearms, the legs, the shoulders and, of course, a full helm to protect the head. The helm is frequently decorated with a coiffe or something similar. Over their armor, all of them wear a tabard with their emblem on it. Their horses are large and similarly armored and also covered by long tabards. Questing Knights are armed with two handed swords of great craftsmanship, longswords and shields should they need to. Some will carry javelins and throwing daggers, but unlike what others might do, they never carry spears as those are considered to be the tools of resident knights. Some Korrylian Questing Knights have started to wield them since the Hunger Wars though and might become more common. The classic exception to this rule in the past was for the banner bearers, who used the spear to carry the said banners which are numerous amongst Questing Knights. All Questing Knights are expected to carry all they need to survive in the wilderness without help. This goes for javelins, slings and hunting spears, pots and kettles, changes of clothes, water and bedrolls. Many will carry small instruments like lyres, violins, flutes and guitars too. This makes them look a bit more ragged than normal knights and would be difficult to carry for long journey without the help of their horses.

The Wolf and the Rose: The Wolf and the Rose is the name given to the newly founded Korrylian Questing Knight 455th. The regiment is a new founding made on the eve of the Reclamation Crusade. These Knights have participated on a few battles in the war since then. They were particularly active during the First Battle for Telka where they scattered more than once the Imperium light infantry. The tally of victims they reaped from Kirdan and Tyrian troops is pretty impressive. Without their action, Telka could have fallen faster than it did and allowed the Imperium to completely prevent any attempt of the Free Realm to organise a second line of defense. Their banner bearing the wolf’s head of their leader, Sir Lucas d’Agnon, and the rose of his second in command, the niece of the king himself Lady Vivienne. Both of them have the reputation amongst their rank to be daring, virtuous and gifted knights well worth of the admiration of their troop. Their gallant conduct in battle even earned them the respect of several Imperial Guard regiments and many other to fear at the sight of their banner floating in a misty morning. After the retreat on Telka, they were temporarily relocated to Gaern where they participated in the defense of the planet, being one of the few unit not native from Gaern to do so. Their presence and charge completely took by surprise the Exoran Janissars who were forced to retreat when they descended on them from one of their flank. For their heroism, they received the highest decoration from the Gaern Castellan. Currently, the Korrylian Questing Knights of the Wolf and Rose are expected to join back with their peers on Hintenberg and prepare themselves for the assault on Ferucia where a swift and powerful cavalry might prove the be invaluable in the inevitable battles surrounding the planet’s forges and hives. Yet, Sastar also insinuated that he might deploy them again on Telka as he found that having them where the enemy doesn’t expect cavalry of their sort tends to be advantageous.

Moto: For God, King and People!

Type: Feudal World (+3 weapon skills, +3 strength, combat master), Maverick (resistance fear), Close Combat Regiment (+3 weapon skills, -3 intelligence, lightning reflex), Crusader (+2 weapon skills, unshakable faith), Heavy Lancer, Hardened Fighter (+2 weapon skills, street fighting), Cavalry Mounts, favored weapon (power sword, hunting lance), Special Equipment: light carapace armor, good quality two-handed mono-edge sword, good quality mono-edge sword, Shield
   
Made in ca
Longtime Dakkanaut




Ordrem Sewer Rats and Spire Hawks

World: Ordrem is a small planet near the core of the Rarken Cluster, close to Danatus and Rarken itself. It’s a planet that used to be covered in swamps, flood prone plains, massive lakes and small hills. There is very little seismic activity on the planet. It was colonised during the age of Strife by Chaos Cultists who were preying on the population of Rarken and others. Ordrem was the domain of Nurgle and the Censor Bearers, a massive congregation of semi nomadic zealots practicing mortification in honor of the Father of Plagues. In the vast swamps of the planet, they built massive cathedrals and cities. From there, they sent massive pilgrims and crusaders ships to bring Nurgle’s gifts. The Censor Bearers quickly became amongst the most feared cultists in the entire region, exceeding in numbers and might the Blood Knights and in quality the Crimson Sun warriors. Ordrem, was cleansed from these monsters during the Great Crusade when the planet was washed from the taint covering it by Ultramarines and their cohorts of soldiers. Once all their filth burned down and their few remaining ships scattered, new colonists started to install themselves. They built their own cities and temples over the ruins of the Censor Bearer fortresses and quickly turned the small planet into a giant hive city of towering spires and deep catacombs in which there is far more dangerous than simple rats for in the catacombs still lies mutants, undeads and cultists. Ordrem is a factory world producing a lot of machinery pieces for the industry of Danatus and preparing some materials for the forges of Zoron X. It’s particularly well known for its plastics produced from the massive reserves of poor quality promethium of the planet. Citizens of Ordrem are known to be either impoverished people living in unsanitary conditions or incredibly rich people living in the spire from the commerce they make of the industrial products made in Ordrem. People from Ordrem are known to be poor and miserable, living oppressed under the feet of a bourgeoisie that lives in wealth and privilege. That was until the Hunger War and their inclusion in the Free Realm of Rarken.

Ordremians are a rather diverse group of people thanks to the varied source of their colonists, but over time they did developed typical Ordrem traits. While skin color varies tremendously with a short majority of the population having pallid skin, the vast majority of people have their skin damaged by acid rains and noxious gases. Only the inhabitants of the spires can avoid such issues by living above the clouds of pollution. Of course this extreme exposure to pollution has other ramifications and impact on the population overall appearance and is sadly the most notorious traits of people from Ordrem. As such, the average height for poor male citizens is of 5 foot 5, while its 3 to 4 inches smaller for women. People in higher spire measure around 3 inches taller thanks to abundant food and good living conditions. They also tend to be heavier too and overweight is an endemic problem in the population, especially amongst men who don’t suffer as much social shame for such a condition due to relaxed beauty standards compared to women. Most Ordremians have dark hairs, dark brown being the most common color, and are known to have them rather frizzy or curly. Those living in the lower quarters, the vast majority of the population, usually have to shave their head for they lose their hairs to acid rain and pollution when it isn’t to malnutrition. Nobles and bourgeois prefer to keep theirs long and well kept to show their status. It’s even common amongst noble women to never cut their hairs and try to keep them as long as possible. Fashion has an even sharper divide between the nobility and the vast majority of the population. The poor and downtrodden of Ordrem are forced to wear jumpsuits and body gloves made of cheap materials practical for working or protecting a bit from the noxious fumes in which they live, but extremely uncomfortable and uniquely ugly looking. There is very little difference between masculine and feminine fashion in the lower quarters nor are women and men easy to tell apart. Nobles are dressed in a radically different way, trying to emulate and follow the fashion trends of Salamar, Janus or Danatus in an effort to gain respectability next to the scions of these powerful and influential planets. There is no mandatory education on Ordrem and all schools are open to those who can afford their prices. People of the lower classes can ill afford good education. If they are in luck, they will be able to send their children in a school manned by the Sisterhood who offers excellent and free education to little girls and, more rarely for children of both sexes. Others will have to the inferior, but still competent schools of missionaries, while the rest will have the “privilege” of attending working schools which struggle to teach basic literacy and numeracy while preparing children for a short life of work. Nobles are taught in academies, colleges or thanks to private tutors allowing them to pursue careers in many domain, but most are actually rather ignorant and incompetent due to an emphasis on style over substance that plagues the entire nobility of the planet and would see to the success of the revolt during the Hunger Wars.

Ordrem was one of the world the most seriously affected by the increase in tithe that would lead to the Hunger Wars. As an heavily industrialised and polluted Hive World, Ordrem was very dependant on the importation of food to feed its population and responsible for the production of cheap product for exportation in exchange. With the new tithe, famine, already an endemic problem in certain sectors of Ordrem, was inevitable. The current elite of the planet and its rulers were struck by a crisis of influence which led to no unified effort to solve or at least mitigate the crisis. Instead, various noble houses entered in conflict to take for themselves the rank of governor. Assassinations were numerous amongst the elite and led to a partial crumbling of the administration. Political backbiting and vengeance festered to such a point that armed conflict erupted between the governor house and that of over twelve competitors each using their financial resources to buy off a portion of the high city military: The Spire Hawks. While the upper city was fighting against each other over power, the lower city was left to strive on its own. In the bowels of the impoverished underhive, a revolution was brewing. A colonel of the Ordrem Sewer Rats, the military of the lower quarters, who had risen through the ranks by his valor alone would be the one to lead it. Colonel Budd Moran never had much love for the nobility. He was a small, tough and gruff man with a no nonsense attitude about life. When it was clear pretty much all of Ordrem would die of hunger before long and that the nobles were too busy fighting against each other for petty things, he decided to mount an attack on the spaceport of the capital and thus guaranty that at least some food and fertiliser for green houses would reach the lower quarters. The Spire Hawks defending the spaceport didn’t oppose their battle brothers of the lower quarters. Both fighting forces were recruited from the lower quarters and even start their training together. Moran had very little difficulty to convince his counterparty to follow his lead and, very quickly, the entire military force of Ordrem turned against the ruling elite. The revolution was brutal and bloody. Centuries of abuse and poor leadership resulted in an genocide. The high spires of Ordrem were burned down by their own PDF. Nobles who had their own personal guards managed to held on for several months in their fortified mansions and palaces, but ultimately, no private palace guard had the arsenal or number to triumph over a PDF. Ordrem fell in the hands of its proletariat and nobles were pitilessly executed. The planet was about to fall completely to anarchy as the entire administration was decapitated and its bureaucracy demolished. Sastar and his forces swept on the planet and helped Moran and his allies establish a semi-functional proto-government. Currently, Ordrem is still a chaotic place with many sector of the planet under the control of gangster and various military officers. Despite this disunity, the cause of the Free Realm and Sastar himself are popular figures. The planet remains an important recruiting ground for cannon-fodder troops and cheap industrial goods. It also produces surprisingly good agent provocateur, spies and saboteurs for the Free Realms.

The Spire Hawks and the Sewer Rats: Both armed group of the PDF of Ordrem evolved from the troops who were left stationed on the planet following its conquest. Fighting was always perceived as an ignoble trade unfit for the elite of a society which should focus on higher callings like trade, science, law or faith. As such, service in an armed force, was perceived more as a form of punishment. Early PDF troops were frequently ex-cons who were forced to undertake military service to prove they were readapted to society. Later, it turned into a mandatory trade for all underhivers. The main source of danger on the planet was of course the remaining cultist of the Censor Bearer, ghoulish mutants and, from time to time, heavily armed gangsters. The first soldiers of Ordrem then known as the Sweepers were poorly armed and poorly trained and it’s only following the Reign of Blood that Ordrem required higher quality soldiers with a proper equipment. During that time, the Censor Bearers and Ork allies made a return on the planet and sieged it. Attacking it both from above and from bellow thanks to their remaining allies. That’s when the troops were split in two groups. One would fight exclusively in the spires of the nobles and the other would sweep the catacombs and the underhive. Each armed group would receive a different equipment and training, but would be recruited from the same base stock of soldiers. Those who would fight in the spires would receive a more advance equipment and training to handle drop troop duties while the other would keep a more basic equipment and training as there was few needs for better. Thus were born the Spire Hawks and the Sewer Rats, both named after their totem animal and most common deployment. While apart geographically, both combat units are drawn from the poor quarters and remain loyal to each other making them effective fighting force with great unity despite their differences in equipment and training. It’s this unity that allowed the defenders of Ordrem to prevail alone against the invaders and repulse the Censor Bearers who expected a rather easy victory. Since that time, both forces still stand and are regularly recruited by the Imperium in the Imperial Guard as tithe.

Training for both armed corp. start with conscription. A certain number of men and women aged between 15 to 17 are called to muster to become soldiers. Only underhivers are subject to such form of conscription. They will be moved to fortresses to start a four weeks training basic training program designed to assess their talent and physical condition. Training can be rather intensive, but only cover the most basic trades of war from manipulating a lasgun safely, shooting strait, listening to orders and saluting with enough decorum not to get shot by a commissar. Those who are clearly unfit due to physical reasons are expelled and those who refuse to cooperate are simply executed. Those recruits showing more talent or interest for combat and who clean up nicely will be sent to become Spire Hawks. Training in the more elite corp. of soldiers from Ordrem takes 20 weeks and is rather intensive. Instructors are of good quality, some of them hailing from planets famous for their soldiers like Gaern or Lirin. Spire Hawks are trained as drop troopers and mechanised units. They thus start their training with intensive close range combat training. They will learn the basic the Traxian of Sarissa and train intensively in it to be capable of handling themselves in close combat. After they gain some basis in hand to hand combat, they will develop their marksmanship and their knowledge of more advanced weapons like the plasma guns and canons they are known to use in good quantity. Then, they will start to practice very regularly their air deployment from Valkyries or from their Chimeras. Spire Hawks are known to move fast and deploy very effectively from their vehicles. It’s through intensive and frequent practice of such scenario that they earned such a reputation. During their training, they are known to practice their basic literacy skills and proper enunciation to avoid shocking nobles with their manners, but this was removed and replaced by better classes on tactical acumen following the Hunger War. Very few Spire Hawks are purged during their training and those who are mostly removed due to illegal behavior more than for performance reasons. Those who present no specific talent for combat or inferior physical characteristics, especially small stature and ugliness, will be sent to become Sewer Rats. Training to become a Sewer Rat only last 8 weeks, but it’s a murderous training regimen. Since it’s very short, it cuts only to the most important parts: marksmanship at close range with lasguns and shotguns, demolition, physical conditioning and proper military discipline. The battleground and the most common enemies of the Sewer Rats are ugly and terrifying and the drill sergeants of the Sewer rats are similar. They are brutal men and women who survived for decades in the sewers and catacombs of Ordrem’s hives fighting against mutants, plague zombies, cultists and daemons. Messing around with them is a direct way to the morgue. The equipment of the Sewer Rats is very basic and simple to use. They heavily favor flamers and explosive to fight and are rather apt at making bombs with scraps and left over power cells. While an individual Sewer Rat might not have a lot of training and capacity, their veteran units are known to be rugged and deadly and its them who carried their world to independence. Before Ordrem joined the free Realm, the Spire Hawks had a respectable reputation amongst high command for swift and efficient troops if a little bit undertrained considering their role and equipment. Sewer Rats were considered as disposable and of poor quality, barely better than penal legionnaires and sometime even worse. Since they joined the Free Realm, the Spire Hawks gained in reputation as very capable assault units and while Sewer Rats still are treated much like disposable assets, their fighting spirit has dramatically improved and so did their tally of victories. The fact that both corps. Are now only composed of volunteers helped tremendously.

The standard equipment of a Spire Hawk consists of a sky blue colored flak armor with some reinforced parts like the shoulder pads and the upper torso armor in moulded plasteel and painted gold. Their helmet is fairly similar to that of the Cadian, but comes with a respirator. Their lasgun is of rather standard design but is stockless and has an additional pistol grip to make it easier to use. They all carry a shock baton for close combat purpose. They carry a good number of grenades of all types. Their kits are rather extensive with good quality rations, one of the most popular perk of being a Spire Hawk with the chance of breathing fresh air and showering regularly. They also possess an Aquila pendant and, since they joined the Free Realm a Golden Bell graved on their breastplate.

The Sewer Rats standard flack armor is of dull brown color and generally described as muck colored. It’s made of a water and chemical resistant material that happens to be extremely uncomfortable, but still invaluable in the sewers and catacombs of Ordrem. It provides a reasonable level of protection too, but marginally inferior to that of the Spire Hawks. Their lasguns are completely standard lasgun of Cadian design with a waterproof power cell for usage at shallow depth. They carry no official close combat weapon beside a bayonet that also doubles as a combat knife, but many carry their personal improvised weapons like sharpen trench shovels, flails and telescopic spears. Their kits are extremely reduced for reasons of economy and their ration surprisingly bad. Since Ordrem joined the Free Realm, a balance has been struck at that point between them and the Spire Hawks. They carry no symbols or trinkets, but they do have the symbol of the Free Realm painted on their helmets.

The Cloud Guards: The Free Spire Hawk 12th is a recent creation after the Spire Hawk corp. was reformed following the Hunger War. The elite fighting force of Ordrem is no longer the sole beneficiary of Ordrem’s best weapons and is no longer at the service of a slothful and greedy nobility. The 12th were formed using new trainers hailing mostly from Ulthanis and Danatus. They proved to be capable, but not outstanding except when it came to their loyalty toward the Free Realm which they admire profoundly. They earned their nickname thanks to their current deployment in the mountains of Telka where they were task to secure an important promethium refinery situated on a high peek. To seize the facility from Exoran Janissars, they launched an important air assault. The battle against the Janissars proved to be a ferocious one as the Exoran warriors, despite being in inferior numbers were resolute to hold at all cost. The situation was even harder for the Spire Hawks as they could use their air support to bomb the Janissars into submission without damaging the precious infrastructure. The battle had to be won up close and personal where the forces of the Imperium held a significant advantage in term of training. Nevertheless, the Spire Hawk colonel Jebson Karl managed to wrestle a victory thanks to a clever use of the facility security systems. Since then, the Cloud Guards protect the facility and have already repulsed one raid from the Imperial forces who still cling to Telka. Their strategical position could allow the Free Realm forces to encircle completely the last remaining pocket of resistance on the planet.

The Bastards: The Free Sewer Rat 1222th is a new founding following the reformation of the Sewer Rat Corp. Thanks to a more even distribution of resources, these Sewer Rats benefit from better war material and more specialised equipment even if the soldiers are mostly happy about the better food. The Bastard earned their nickname very early during their training as they were struck with bad luck on numerous occasion, their colonel, a reputable and veteran officer of the Hunger War fell seriously ill and had to go to early retirement. He was replaced by a fresh faced and dashing officer who was shot dead by one of his drunken men by accident. The third, one, Colonel Rick “replacement” Tagger still hold the position, but has been injured three times so far. During their training, their military camp was subjected to a raid from Chaos Cultists within Ordrem itself and its against them that they were blooded. Once their training and intervention against the cultists over, they were quickly sent to Telka to support the efforts of liberation of the planet from Imperial rule following the crushing victory on Gaern. Yet, misfortune struck once again. Their unit was deployed on the wrong front where they were forced to fight against a Vartarn Old Guard regiment who was attempting to evacuate the zone. They were inflicted massive casualty in their ranks. Shortly after, a clerical error prevented them from receiving supplies that kept them out of operation for longer than necessary. Finally, the “Bastards” finally had a break and were able to reposition, receive reinforcement and prepare to lead a first raid against the remaining Imperial enclave on Telka with the objective of testing some of their defense and infiltrate their lines. The Sewer Rats, being specialist of tunnel warfare are expected to fare well against the Survivor regiments who suffer from massive communication and logistical problems.

Spire Hawk Moto: Defending civilisation (now largely abandoned)

Sewer Rat Moto: Defending your gak (unofficial), no official moto

Spire Hawks Type: Hive World (+3 agility, +3 fellowship, heighten sense), Drop Troopers (+3 agility, -3 fellowship, catfall), fixed, well provisioned, favored weapons (Plasma Gun and Plasma Cannon), special equipment: good craftsmanship flak armor, stun baton

Sewer Rats Type: Hive World (+3 agility, +3 perception, heighten sense), Line Infantry (+3 strength, -3 intelligence, rapid reload), Bilious (paranoia), Close Order Drill (double team), Combat Drugs, favored weapons (flamer, heavy flamer)
   
Made in ca
Longtime Dakkanaut




Special thanks to Cyrixiinus for the creation of this particular regiment.

The Caridos Faithful

World: Caridos is an arid world. Inland and away from the coast rainfall is rare and plants sparse. While it is not a true desert it offers few resources and the inhabitants of this badlands are reliant on subsistence farming and limited to small herds to survive. The only true city was a coastal starport, manned largely by members of the various Adepts organizations, their family and a limited defense force mostly composed of a few Arbites. From here the shipping of Caridos' meagre tithes is orchestrated. Despite this colony being centuries old it has seen only limited expansion or population growth. The paucity of resources prevented any sort of massive development and some even suspected that the world would be abandoned. Two decades ago, this changed. Prior to the onset of the Hunger Wars, the preacher Anto Conalario had gained a large following as he travelled across the sector. His message often decried the lack of faith in the wider Imperium and predicted the return of Sebastian Thor to sweep clean the Ecclesiarchy of its sin. Eventually he and his followers settled on Caridos, where his preaching attracted thousands of followers. Rather than inhabit the planetary capital his followers flocked to newly established settlements in the badlands, where the harsh environment was deemed worthy of a penitent life. These settlements soon outnumbered the starport’s population and would provide the drive for secession on the planet in the coming years.

Caridos' original population could be divided into two groups. The inhabitants of the starport and shipping facility, for the most part personnel who were either awaiting transfer or whose families had worked there for centuries, were in general sombre and work devoted, often seeing themselves as inherently superior to the planet’s newer immigrants who were perceived as beggars and the local living in the badlands. The scattered populace of the badlands, however, were nomadic and bitter in part due to their paucity, but mostly due to theological disputes. They had limited organization of any kind, with no official education or compensation system. They gained most of their thrones through trade with the starport city. The only thing that united them in any way was a fervent faith in the Imperial Creed, even though the Ecclesiarchy had a limited official presence there. This was a factor in the preacher Conalario's decision to settle there. This event caused a turbulent upheaval in the social structure on Caridos. Waves of immigrants caused the badlands settlements populations to skyrocket. The locals, already embittered with their increased tithes and meagre resources were all too willing to receive the preachers message. The new religious settlers came from many different worlds and cultures, but all were invited in following Conalario's reformed Imperial Creed. Each community would answer to a cult leader who answered in turn to Conalario, and the original badlanders quickly taught them methods of surviving in their chosen home. Consequentially, the city born populace began to feel increasingly under threat from the newcomers. This would lead to an early conflict as the Hunger Wars spread across the planet's neighbours.

The consolidation of the badlanders more militantly minded members into an armed force fighting for the cause of the Free Realms might well have been avoided altogether if not for ill-advised attempts to suppress rebellion before it took place at all. As news of the uprisings and growing influence of Conalario spread the city-bound population. Within the city, many remained loyal to the wider Imperium, but feared that their counterparts would not. Tensions were already high due to a supposed disagreement regarding a shipment of raw materials that had been promised to the settlers. With a rebellion in full swing it was believed that the 'mad preacher' would whip his followers into a frenzy and induce them to storm the city to seize supply by force or simply use the chaos generated by the increase in tithe to realise his ambitions. Already having taken the action of cutting communications to impede the passage of the news, they dispatched a force of 100 PDF troops in order to detain Anto Conalario. Less than 20 returned. For the various Faithful, as they had begun to dub themselves, this was the final proof of the unworthiness and corruption in the wider Imperium. Five more expeditions would depart from the starport in attempts to capture the religious leader. Each time increasing numbers of PDF infantry, vehicles, arbitrary and small pieces of artillery were assigned to the effort. In each case, they were driven back following violent skirmishes, the majority of the equipment of the PDF was captured in the process as well. The tattered remnants of those who had departed lauded as heroes would stagger back to their city in disjointed groups, and each was a blow to the morale of the starport populace. When General Sastar, having heard of the situation and hoping to secure a further source of manpower arrived in orbit the city surrendered almost immediately. With it secured, the General and newly proclaimed king of the Free Realm sent a message to Conalario offering him a chance to sweep away the tide of sin propagated by the Imperium. After five days of silence, a reply returned. The Caridos Faithful would fight for the Free Realms.

The Caridos Faithfull: When the initial word reached the scattered pilgrim communities of the impending attack upon their beloved leader, the initial response consisted of anybody equipped with a weapon ganging up together and forming a ragtag militia. There was at that time no clear leadership or coordination, various bands would simply set forth, attack the enemy and withdraw under a nominal natural leader and, more rarely, one of Conalario’s inner circle. The most effective of these were typically made up of Caridons who had travelled and fought within the badlands prior to the influx of the cultists but now fought under their banner. Hiding within dense thickets or hastily dug depressions along hill crests they rained fire down upon their opponents from every angle and often left them unsure as to the source of the attack. On the rare occasion that the source could be identified, and an armed response deployed, these sharpshooters would simply withdraw. More often than not, PDF forces would charge up hillsides glittering with gunfire only to find the makeshift fortifications abandoned. The constant and ever present nature if these attracts combined with an inability to come to grasp with them slowly wore away the morale of the intruders. Final with their morale at breaking point they would make to withdraw only to find themselves outnumbered and set upon by forces that closed to melee and turned retreat into bloodstained rout. As expeditions were defeated the immigrant members of the Faithful adopted these tactics as well and began to fall under charismatic or particularly successful leaders. These bands have now been dispatched across the Telkan warzone, acting as guerilla soldiers with the duty to slow down and cripple sustained attacks from the remaining entrenched Imperial forces.

As far as can be determined, the only requirement to join the ranks of a Faithful warbands is that one shares the faith and be ready to gives his or her life for it. They have even been known to recruit from their warzones and defectors of Imperial regiments provided they accept Conalario. Even children have been found in the ranks of the Faithful, the youngest ones were around 10 years old. While this is technically illegal within the Free Realm to send soldiers younger than 16 to the battlefront. The situation has yet to be addressed if its even known by the leadership outside the Faithful. Levels of training typically vary from group to group, but in each case experienced veterans will be given the task of explaining their tactics and giving newcomers practice. Needless to say the training is extremely rudimentary and can fit in less a few days at most, allowing the regiment to grow in size extremely fast at the cost of quality. These recruits are often dispatched in small bands of their own with more experienced leaders to harass or distract soft targets, but are seldom opposed to experienced and organised regiments. Early attrition rates are high as the unfit and unlucky are weeded out. Entire groups of these training bands may be wiped out by a particularly rapid response unit or even a well trained defense force. Rough riders in particular have been the bane of these groups. The survivors will eventually be amalgamated into the body of more experienced troops tasked with opposition of active military offensives.

Almost the entirety of the Faithfull's armament is looted from Imperial sources and thus will vary not only from group to group but from individual soldier. Typically, light flak armour is favoured over standard, and boots are among the most commonly looted equipment. Chameleoline equipment is valued but rare and only handed out to elite individuals. Often long ranged super rifles and long-las will be utilised alongside cheap machine-guns, although native Caridonans often favour simple autoguns, but in truth they will utilise any gun at hand. The only truly universal pieces of gear are religious trinkets, some form of melee weapon and water canteens. The light artillery pieces captured during the conflict on Caridos have also been pressed into service and are often treated as holy symbols of the Faithful's strength, manned by the warriors who captured them.

The Jagutars: Lead by one of Conalario’s closest friend named Sayvan Tarik, the Jagutars, named after a local ambush predator similar to a panther, are composed of a mixture of Caridos natives and the cultists brought there by Conalario. They were among the first to strike against the intruders during the Hunger Wars and have subsequently gained both experience and looted good supplies making their troop a little bit more homogenous and more professional. They are currently in transit to the frontline of Telka after spending a few weeks hunting for pockets of Imperial resistance in officially liberated zones. Their exact deployment has yet to be decided but will most likely in one of the zones where the Imperials are launching the most raids to prevent them from gaining some steam and position to launch a proper counterattack.

Moto: Our faith will sting them like a thousand wasps, and when they turn to flee we shall smite them to the ground.

Type: Frontier World (+3 agility, +3 ballistic skills, combat sense), Supine, Light Infantry Regiment (+3 agility, -3 toughness, sprint), Defenders of the Faith, Sharpshooters (deadeye shot), survivalists (hills and badlands), Favoured Weapon (Long Las and Heavy Stubber) Special Equipment: Autogun, Primitive Sword or War Hammer, Additional Water Canteen, Magnoculars
   
Made in no
Terrifying Doombull





Hefnaheim

You have Sardukars and Ulthan, lable me intrested. Also it was a Nice read, you cleary have taken your time With it. Well done
   
Made in ca
Longtime Dakkanaut




Yuzenagian Lineman

World: Yuzenagi is a very old planet colonised during the Dark Age of Technology which quickly rose to great power before devolving into a chaotic mess of feuding warlords during the Age of Strife. Some of these warlords were Chaos worshipers like the Censor Bearers or the Crimson Son cults, but others were of a more mundane type. One of them would rise during this period of constant warfare and devolving social and technological achievements to return Yuzenagi to a state of order and prosperity. He would become its first emperor and go on to give the entire planet his name. Yuzenagi was a very powerful psyker, a mighty warrior and a wise philosopher. His writing would profoundly reshape the society he lived in from its administration, its army to its literature and architectural style. When the Ultramarine would come to his land and ask its compliance, a long war would start against the Legion. Negotiations would put an end to the conflict and see Yuzenagi recognise the God-Emperor rule. In exchange, Yuzenai would remain the steward of his planet and act as its first Governor, his dynasty would continue until present days. In the 41st millennium, Yuzenagi is a very populous hive world if backwater in terms of technology. Most of its surface is covered in oceans but it does possess three large continents, but only about half of it has a significant human population. It houses a population close to the 40 billions most of which live in tightly packed city of wood and stone. A sizeable portion does live in smaller towns in mountainous regions or in vast farms. The planet is known to be a large agricultural center and is completely independent in terms of food and water. A rare thing for a hive world, it even exports some food product, mostly rice and fish slurry, the base of its alimentation. It also produces manufactured goods mostly cloth, dies and simple tools. The planet is well known for its high number of psykers and mutants, most of which are a purged, but the planet still provides most of the astropaths and other sanctioned psyker of the region. The Imperial Family is known to be composed of extremely powerful and stable psykers who were exceptionally authorised to remain in power following their treaty with the 13th Legion. While most of the population suffers from dire poverty, the planet is still recognised as rather rich and produces soldiers known for their discipline and unity. On Yuzenagi, discipline, dedication and family are certainly chief values.

Yuzenagians are typically small people due to their nutrition which is very low in fat and protein. Most peasants and workers thus tend to be very small with men averaging at around 5 foot 5 and women at around 5 foot 2. Noblemen and noblewomen tend to be slightly taller and the members of the Imperial family are known to almost a foot taller than the rest of the population. Despite their harsh living conditions, even peasants and workers look generally healthy. Technology isn’t widely spread on the planet, thus the air isn’t massively polluted and neither are their water source which helps keep the population relatively healthy. Only malnutrition poses a hazard and even then, it isn’t that widespread. Most Yuzenagians have the same golden skin than the Danatusians, but there is quite a bit of variation on the planet. A sizeable minority has a copperier skin while others are paler. The overwhelming majority of the population has brown or black hair, but a small minority are red heads. The Imperial family is known for its completely white hair and those who display the same mutation are considered blessed and even adoptable within the Imperial clan. Hair style on Yuzenagi is reflective of one’s social position. Slaves, prisoners, ex-cons and monks are forced to shave their heads. Peasants keep their hairs long, but have to braid them. Nobles also keep theirs long while they can fashion them in many ways, usually in buns. Finally, workers, artisans and soldiers are required to keep theirs short. Hair fashion, much like fashion in general isn’t much different between men and women. Yuzenagi clothing is known to be simple, very comfortable and rather solid. The most used cloth is cotton, but nobles will have access to silk and much pricier dies. Traditional clothes are constituted of a pair of loose pants, a long folded over shirt with a belt and high supple leather or heavy cloth boots. Even nobles wear clothes of similar design only with better fabrics and extensive motifs. Women will sometime supplement the pants with a long skirt, but it’s more common for richer ones and those living in cities instead of more rural areas. Literacy, arithmetic and religious studies are mandatory for all children on the planet from age 8 to 12, but beyond that, all academic studies are optional and must be paid by those seeking it. It can cost a lot to get a tutor and even more to attend one of the Imperial Academy for the Advancement of Knowledge, but some particularly gifted young people can obtain a tuition from a noble family or the Imperial Clan itself. The lifestyle of Yuzenagi is very discipline and rigid with people expected to be very efficient and industrious. It leaves little place for failure or setbacks. This industrious nature is also linked to a high religiosity. Yuzenagi religion is peculiar. In it, the God-Emperor takes the place of the supreme celestial ruler, the Yuzenagi emperor is his adopted son and there is a host of local deity or pseudo-deity that offer councils. Opposed to them of course are the daemons and the Court of Shadow where the false emperor waits to steal the throne. In the days following the rebellion on Yuzenagi, Sastar ascended to the rank of adopted son of the God-Emperor and is openly revered as a minor deity associated with justice and oath keeping.

When the new tithe was levied on Yuzenagi, it immediately encountered severe opposition but not from the lower classes due to the privation they would bring to them, but from the Imperial Clan itself as it broke the old treaty that united the planet to the Imperium. No other tithe that which is prescribed could be imposed according to the sacred document which the central administration had completely forgotten and considered void. For once, the local Arbites were in front of a situation where the Lex Imperialis had no clear answer. A document signed by Roboute Guilliman himself is invaluable. Thus the local Arbites were forced to refuse to enforce the increased taxation. Guardsmen from Kirda were dispatched to enforce it in their stead and fighting immediately broke out. The Emperor of Yuzenagi declared that if the promise of a Primarch was void, then no longer would his world recognise the authority of the Imperium. Many planetary leaders had declared their independence from the Imperium in the past, but few could claim to possess a large, well trained and fanatically loyal army behind them. The Kirdan Brown Shirts proved to be incapable of forcing down the Yuzenagi Emperor who had the regiments massacred by his troops and the captured survivor executed in public in the various city of his homeworld. Yuzenagi, the Jade Empire, was once again independent, but not for very long. News of the Hunger Wars quickly spread and the emperor decided to give aid to others as a gesture of generosity, but also of power. Simultaneously, a message was sent to the Imperium: honor the words of the treaty and the emperor will bow once again to the Golden Throne. Very soon, numerous worlds were liberated from the shackles of the Imperium thanks to Sastar leadership. It’s in a surprise move that the emperor of Yuzenagi accepted to join Sastar Free Realm as long as he would honor Guilliman’s words. Sastar talent and popularity compared to the young and fresh faced emperor who just obtain the throne during the Hunger Wars, right after his elder declared secession were key in this decision. Due to the isolationist nature of Yuzenagi, the young emperor doesn’t have a position in Sastar council, but he is treated with reverence by respect for his homeworld and guaranty the support of its impressive military which weights heavily in the various expeditionnary forces of the Free Realm.

The Linemen: The Yuzenagi army is well known in the sector for its probably one of the most ancient. It carries an unbroken line of tradition and training since the Age of Strife and the first emperor. The unification of the Jade Empire was a momentous task. The planet is large and its population vast. It had passed through century of conflict between competing warlords and many were entrenched in massive fortresses and had stable domains and dynasties. A successful and durable unification of the planet, then known as Jugan, was a feet similar in scope to the unification of Terra under the leadership of the God-Emperor. To achieve it, the first Yuzenagi needed an army unlike any other. Unlike the God-Emperor on Terra around the same time, he didn’t possess the knowledge not the installations for the creation of superhuman soldiers. Yet, Yuzenagi was an administrator like none other on the planet. The success of his lands was largely due to its excessively good control and use of its production and what would make the success of the Linemen would be the careful organisation of their forces. Individually, the Linemen were not much different than any other soldier of the planet, but it’s by looking to their wider structure, their logistic, their finances and their recruitment strategy that they shinned. The Linemen strict organisation and professionalism was complemented by officers promoted for their charisma and their intelligence instead of familial bonds or for political reasons. The Linemen are a common sight in the sector since the dawn of the Imperium, but are very rarely seen outside the Rarken due to the same treaty that gave their local government more power than many others and a peculiar tithe level. A few did found their way to the Cadian Gate where their experience in working alongside sanctioned psykers allowed them to operate more efficiently than many other forces of the Imperial Guard. While Yuzenagi Linemen are mostly known for their line infantry, feared due to its iron discipline and relentless assaults, their artillery regiments also became quite famous as were their siege infantry units thanks to their excellent usage of explosive charges. Their few Rough Rider regiments are also known for their skills and very high moral. The Linemen, unlike most Imperial Guard regiments, work exceptionally well with auxiliary units. Currently, the Linemen are the glue of the Free Realm battle formation as they possess the necessary qualities to present a threat to reputable Imperial line infantry like the Vartarns and the Mordians.

Recruitment for the Linemen start in one of the 1000 prefectures of the Jade Empire. Every male passed the age 16 and all unmarried women passed the age of 22 must present themselves in the castle of their respective prefecture to have basic military instruction. It last five months and is done outside of harvest time to avoid lowering the food production of the surrounding area. That period of muster and training is unpaid, is mandatory under pain of death, but will see the family of the recruits provided with an allocation in rice to compensate for their absence. The recruit themselves will be housed and fed. Only the sickly, the lame, pregnant women or who had child outside of wedlock, a serious crime on Yuzenagi, are exempted of such military service. The training starts at dawn and end at sunset and revolves mostly on basic physical conditioning, marksmanship and close combat drills with spears or bayonets. All exercises are operated in large groups under the auspices of veteran officers of Yuzenagi. Imperial Commissars or Royal Marshalls, their equivalent in the Free Realm, are allowed to observe the training and train alongside them, but are forbidden to teach themselves to the recruits. After those five months, the recruits are divided on five progressively smaller ranks based on their competence. The lowest rank recruits are sent back home with their weapons and armors and the obligation to both perform a 200 days of forced work at their local lord discression and refund half the price of their equipment. The fourth rank recruits are sent back home with their weapons and armors and the obligation to refund half its price, but no forced work. The third rank recruits will be receive an engagement that will last at least 5 five years to serve in the Linemen as logistical and auxiliary personnel. This include a training that last two years to increase their skills in mathematics, healing arts, resources management, engineering, communication technology and military organisation. This become paid service and offers excellent opportunities for those in this tier to become skilled workers, overseers and mid ranking clerks afterward. The second rank recruits will be requested and engagement of at least 6 years to serve in the Linemen in the home defense units referred as the Keep Units. It’s associate with training of 2 years that focuses mostly in close combat both in hand to hand combat through one of the six martial discipline of Yuzenagi and with swords and spears; urban combat, raid tactics and police work are also covered. The first rank recruits will be asked an engagement that will last for life to become Linemen in the forward combat units also known as the Spear Units. They form the heart and soul of the Linemen. Only men can be recruited in this tier per tradition. Their engagement starts with two years of training mostly focused on close combat drill with bayonets and spears, marksmanship, trench warfare, bunker assaults and open field combat. All three first rank represents the Linemen themselves. Each rank being assigned to a fitting role with the first rank representing the core of the combat units with a few members of the second one in reserve or as specialist while the third operates behind the curtain to allow the army to work properly. The top 10% regiment, 50 000 strong including their attached logistical personnel, were tithed to the Imperium and now to the Free Realm as guardsmen. There they have a reputation to be extremely efficient, disciplined and unyielding. Their logistical personnel are known to be performant and trained for combat should the need arise as well. This makes their force always well provisioned and very autonomous. Its moral is high and they received several honors since their first creation.

The traditional equipment of a Lineman is composed of a long soft cotton tunic of navy blue color. Over it, soldiers wear a lamellar-like armor of plasteel that covers their torso, arms and legs. It’s of good craftsmanship and decorated with the symbols of their local prefecture as well as symbols of the Jade Empire and the Imperial Aquila. Their helmet is slightly coned shaped and in the same material and design. It covers their head, but leave their face exposed. They all have access to a veil of tissue to hide their traits should they feel the need to. Their weapon is a long lasgun with a wooden finish reminiscent of the Vostroyan Firstborn weapons. All them end in a polished and silvery bayonet. All Lineman also carry a laspistol of similar design and a tonfa. Officers are easy to recognise thanks to the plumes on their helmet and their fencing swords or robust saber, many of which are power weapons. Linemen never wear symbols of the Free Realm as they are not well established in tradition. The field kits are rather extensive and fairly compact. It always includes a small jade devotional statue to the emperor of Yuzenagi and a small golden statuette devoted to the God-Emperor.

The White Crane: The Prefecture 632 Yuzenagi Linemen 65th is an old regiment who has been in nearly continuous activity for around 7000 years. It was first founded and deployed to push back hordes of Lost and Damned who were attempting to break into the Rarken Sector and reclaim several important worlds like Cerisa. The 632nd prefecture of Yuzenagi is situated in one of the richest fluvial plain known for its extensive fen who are extremely fertile. It houses immense rice farms. Most of the population lives in villages and small towns and works on those fens. The region is also known for to be the birthplace of the most famous martial art of Yuzenagi: The Baô-Shin Way. This martial art is known for its fast speed, requirement for great agility and its precise strikes and flying kicks. The sigil of the area has always been the White Crane, but it became the nickname of the 65th following a spectacular victory of the regiment on their homeworld against the forces of Chaos. They managed to held for ten days the strategically vital town of Hefei against force far more numerous then them. Their leader of the time Sun Tao Shin even managed to kill the warlock leading their forces thanks to a power spear throw. Afterward, the emperor named them exemplar of their prefecture, modified slightly the heralding of the regiment and gave them officially the title of White Crane. Since then, the regiment has become a heralded institution within the Jade Empire. It specialised in defensive combat has proven on multiple occasion to be extremely determined and adaptable in such a setting. Its commanding officer General So Guan Matt, is a great champion of Baô-Shin and a gifted officer with great acumen, especially when it comes to utilising the terrain to his advantage. They are currently deployed on Lukar where they defend one of the key fortress nearly surrounded by the enemy, but which is still key for the war effort in the region. They have for now repulsed the assaults of the Ferucian against them.

Moto: Over fen and field; warrior assemble to fight; cold like snow and steel (never spoken, but written on all banners on the armors themselves.

Types: Imperial World (+3 intelligence, +3 willpower), Fixed, Line Infantry Regiment (+3 strength, -3 intelligence, rapid reload), Close Order Drill (combat formation), well provisioned, mistrusted (Ecclesiarchy), favored weapon (longlas, lascanon), special equipment: mono-edge bayonet, light carapace armor

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2019/05/13 07:09:59


 
   
Made in ca
Longtime Dakkanaut




 Trondheim wrote:
You have Sardukars and Ulthan, lable me intrested. Also it was a Nice read, you cleary have taken your time With it. Well done


Well thank you. If you have any questions or comments about the setting or some regiments don't hesitate to ask. If you want to participate, you can make suggestions whenever you want or submit me regiments (or characters) via PM like Cyrixiinus does.
   
Made in ca
Longtime Dakkanaut




Rarkenan Templars

World: Rarken is an old world that was to become the center of the cluster and even the sector before it fell in decrepitude following the rise of worlds like Janus, Vartarn, Danatus and Krasus. Its mostly covered in seas and only has one large, arid continent where most of the city stands. It houses a population around half a billion strong, but used to have ten times that population before the exodus. It was colonised during the Great Crusade by members of the Ultramarine Legion. While the sector was liberated by the forces of the Imperium, Rarken became the first fully Imperial World and the center of the Imperial administration in the area. After the Horus Heresy, the rise in religious sentiment and the birth of the Ecclesiarchy, saw the planet turn into a shrine world dedicated to the loyalist Primarch, first amongst them the late Sanguinous due to his heroic sacrifice. Huge castles and cathedral were built, but quickly, other more populous and vigorous planets like Janus started to attract more scholar and money for on Rarken the religious tithe was extremely low. Its transformation in a shrine world made it lose in military importance to world like Cerisa and in production capacity to planets like Danatus and Krasus. Its population quickly migrated to these worlds to find work and pay, deserting the castles. The Reign of the Blood aftermath allowed the planet to gain further in influence thanks to the passage of Saint Arabella and her Sisters of Battle who built a coven on the planet and gave it back a temporary renewed importance. Though it would not last. Now, the planet looks largely an abandoned planet where ruined cathedrals and fortresses look silently unto the sky. The remaining population still tend to the remaining cohorts of priests, pilgrims and the coven of Sisters. The declaration of the Free Realm independence gave Rarken an renewed importance at it became once again the religious center of the region.

The Rarkenans, at least those who remained on the planet, are relatively discrete people. They are of pretty average size with men averaging at 5 ft 9 and women being practically the same size thanks to a genetic flux brought by Cerisans. They have pale and healthy skin with very few blemish besides freckles which are very common amongst the population. Despite living in ruined and partially abandoned castles-like cities, the environment isn’t very polluted and the lower population allowed nature to recover easily from the period of intense activity of its early days. Most Rarkenans have light brown hairs and light brown eyes that makes them pretty ordinary looking when compared to other fair skinned individuals. Women tend to keep their hairs long and sometime ties them or braid them at the back of their head. Men either go for a tonsure or shaven heads. The most common clothing on the shrine world are of religious nature. Most people thus wear bures and monk’s robes as they belong to some monastic orders. Others will wear what looks like light leather armors over rough wool undergarments. These are those who work feeding the population in communal farms or in the few workshops of the planet. Even high ranking members of the Ecclesiarchy seldom wear clothes more luxurious than these as the school of thought dominant on Rarken is opposed to the display of riches and favors heavily charity and military service as show of faith. This was heavily inspired by Saint-Arabella and her Sisters of Battle whose quiet altruism and heroism are viewed as a perfect example to follow. This has lead to Rarken to become famous of the earnest faith of its population, a strong sense of duty, a great honesty and attention to knowledge, but also to be poor politicians and very traditional. Education on Rarken is mandatory as the entire population is expect to serve the Ecclesiarchy in a way or another. It lasts from age 5 to 18 and covers literacy, mathematics, religious study, art, engineering and combat. The best students will be offered position in various monastic and religious orders. Others will be attached to those organisations as farmers or engineers and architect whose duty is maintain the crumbling architecture of the castles of Rarken. A minority of them, particularly gifted in combat, will become Rarken Templars, its main PDF and militant order.

Rarken as a Shrine World was hardly affected by the increase in tithe, but this didn’t prevent the planet to be affected by the Hunger Wars in a severe fashion and almost the site of a battle. The planet at the time was already ruled by Bastien VII known to be particularly charitable, humble and empathic even by Rarkenan standards. When the news of the revolt and chaos caused by the increase in tithe reached him, he was wracked by pain for the downtrodden and petitioned the Ecclesiarchy to lower its own tithe, but to do so, he needed the support of the conclave of Janus which refused his plea for mercy arguing that the Ecclesiarchy needed those funds religious ceremonies to bless the growing army of the Imperium and honor its martyrs. Following that failure, Bastien VII deployed all his resources to send food relief and medical help on the worlds the most affected by the tithe. They offered those services without asking if they were loyalist or rebels. Its with stupor though that witness the events of the Fall of the Bell and later the success of the rebellion on Danatus, then Gaern and Lukar. Basil never thought the rebel could succeed and soon the Sisters of Battle of the Order of the Sacred Rose started to be curious about the situation and petitioned him to launch a War of Faith to restore order the planet, but he saw that the situation was more complex than that. No war would convince a population to starve to death. He ordered them to stand down and keep insuring the protection of the orders providing service to the population in those troubled time. Then, the inevitable happened. A fleet incoming from Danatus with a vast army and Sastar himself at the command landed on Rarken with the intend to capture the planet and its resources. Bastien VII assembled his military forces, the Templars and called back the Sisters of Battle back to the planet to defend it. Sastar wasn’t interested in seizing the planet by force, hoping to gain its support on a voluntary basis. Under the cannons of Sastar, negotiation between the two leaders started. Bastien always wanted to join the rebels which he saw has compatriots and good people, but couldn’t bring himself to turn against the Golden Throne so directly. Sastar managed to convince him by telling him the now famous story of the Fall of the Bell and various other more minor signs of the Emperor support. Even canoness Lupita was sympathetic to the cause, but was bound to obedience to the higher orders of the Ecclesiarchy and the Sisterhood itself. She retreated to her coven with her troops where she remains a neutral force, awaiting a message from an Abbess that will never come. Templars technically hold a mock siege to the coven while the bulk of their forces have joined the forces of the Free Realm. Rarken became the religious center of the Free Realm and received migrant workers in good numbers to exploit its fertile land and restore some of its defense, regenerating a bit the shrine world.

The Templar: The PDF of Rarken was created shortly after the colonisation of the planet during the Horus Heresy itself. Far from the main battleground of the Horus Heresy in their isolated still rather wild region of space, Rarken saw little actual combat, but as the Imperium was descending in complete chaos, the forces of Chaos who dominated the sector before the arrival of the Imperium attempted a return. A coalition of small cults targeted the planet with the intent of crumbling the fragile Imperial administration in the sector. Without any strong presence of the Imperial Army in the area and with the Space Marines busy with their fight, the population was left to fend for itself. It’s members of a cult of Emperor worshipper who would form the most motivated troops. Before the walls of their small temples, the most important battle was fought. The defenders, known under the name of Templars, managed to kill the warlock who was leading the forces of Chaos thanks to a well placed shotgun shell. In his death, he incinerated most of his forces. After the Horus Heresy, the Imperium was massively restructured and the Ecclesiarchy established. Rarken became a Shrine World and the Templar evolved into its PDF. At the time, the Ecclesiarchy was fully capable and even expected to maintain armed forces. The Templar revolted against the rule of the Ecclesiarchy during the Reign of Blood and promised support to Sebastian Thor. Of course, they were too far away from Terra to participate in the siege of the palace, but crusaded beside the Daughters of the Emperor to restore the Imperium. There they showed the strength of their faith and the quality of these monk-soldiers. To comply to the decree passive, the male members of the Templars would be released from martial duty and serve as trainers and in logistics and the Order became a woman only group. The Templars would become known as an excellent close combat regiment finely equipped and very well trained. They saw relatively few combat and their numbers is in severe decline since Rarken started its decrepitude. With the proclamation of the Free Realm of Rarken and the inclusion of the eponymous planet in its fold, the Templar had to pass through a recruitment drive and once again, men can join their ranks.

Recruitment to become a Templar starts from early infancy. The Templars only recruits from abandoned or orphaned children, girls only for about 5000 years but boys have been included recently. Rarken having a depleting population sees a lot of young children, especially girls, abandoned by their parents who can’t afford to pay for the transportation of their entire family to another planet or who simply think that giving up some of their children to the Ecclesiarchy as some form of offering will provide them with protection on their journey to new lands. The orphans recruited by the Templars can be of all extraction, but by respect for other institutions, will send the most gifted young girls to the Order of the Sacred Rose to be part of the Sisterhood and the best young boys to the Ecclesiarchy to become missionary or priest. The young girls and now boys who show a good measure of talent for combat and who express early a certain form of willpower and value for the lives of others have all the chance in the world to be brought to the Carmine Temple of Rarken, the fortress of the Templars. There, they will spend years of classical schooling under the attention of their masters. It’s a harder cursus then the regular one, with a greater emphasis on basic combat training and religious study. It’s also accompanied by work for the Templars. They will keep the temple clean, participate in guard duty, learn how to take care of their swords, shields, guns, armors and even vehicles. Once their mandatory period of instruction is completed when the recruits reach the age of 18, they will spend three extra years of purely military training under a mentor. Each mentor has up to three recruits who bear the title of squire. During this period of intensive training, they are expected to learn to become excellent swordsmen with the long blades emblematic of the Templars, but also excellent shots with their heavy assault shotguns. The Templars, unlike many other close combat regiment who hail from primitive world benefit from high quality range weapons and vehicles. Their Chimeras are known to be of excellent quality and the troops well trained in their offensive usage. The Templars are an excellent unit and armored fist of the Imperial Guard. Back in the days, they rarely saw combat, but were known for their high moral and good quality troops with an unwavering faith in the God-Emperor. The Templars were also strongly dedicated to the protection of the defenceless and were highly motivated to fight to protect the injured, civilians and pilgrims. Amongst the Free Realm, they can frequently be seen guarding hospitals, refugee camps and shrines. Their faith and good reputation does wonder for the moral of the troops fighting beside them.

The traditional equipment of the Templars consists of a steel colored carapace armor with a full helm looking very much like and ancient medieval helmet. Its covered by a long tabard of blood red color harboring the white cross of protection associated with their sect. Their main weapon is a double-barrelled pump action shotgun with a wooden stock designed to pour numerous heavy exploding shells on the enemy and sustain the rigor of close combat. All Templars also wear a large two-handed sword for the more violent melee combat. They are excellent swordsmen and swordswomen with a well deserved reputation for their precision with such large and powerful weapons. Their kits always include a sacred silver cross of their order, a golden Aquila on their belt and now a golden bell on their right shoulder pad. Their field kit is quite extensive and contains redundant elements as the Templar are expected to offer gifts and make acts of charity outside of the battlefield.

The Sanctum Guards: The 10th Templar is a very old regiment that can trace back its history to the Horus Heresy itself. It has remained in activity for all that time, making one of the oldest institution of the Imperium. It’s first commander Knight-Commander Evans Tarrius was the one who brought the victory to the forces of the Imperium during the battle against the Warlock Grifarcus. He was the one to place the killing blow. Since then, the 10th Templar is known as the very best regiment of Templars, each 2000 strong. Today, the regiment is almost exclusively feminine, but now counts about three dozen men with hundreds more set to come as casualty accumulate. Their leader Knight-Commander Vania Patience, is a very reputable and experimented officer who has spent six decades at the head of the regiment. During that time, she participated in several battle against mutants and orks as well as against forces of the Imperium during the Hunger War. She is sometime known as the Iron Crone of Rarken for her battle scared face and stoicism never fails to impress. Her devotion to the God-Emperor is absolute and she leads her troops with an iron hand despite her advanced age that the minimal rejuvenat treatment she received didn’t managed to alleviate completely. The Sanctum Guard got its nickname from the fact the regiment used to be guarding the innermost part of the Carmine Temple where their relics are stored. Now, they are deployed on Lukar to fight in claustrophobic condition, but where their close combat doctrine makes them dangerous opponents. They have faced off against some regiments of Janus also known to come from a Shrine World and for their faithfulness, but the two sides are diametrically opposed when it comes to theology. This lead to particularly furious combat where the better armed and trained Templars have kept the upper hand. They have yet to face the elite of Janus yet.

Moto: Protecting for the God-Emperor!

Type: Shrine World (+3 weapon skill, +3 fellowship, Unshakable Faith, hatred heretics), Supine, Close Combat Regiment (+3 weapon skill, -3 intelligence, lighting reflex), Close Quarter Battle (Combat Master), Crusader (+2 weapon skills, hatred psykers), the Few, Favored Weapons (Melta Gun, Multimelta), Special Equipment: good quality mono-edge two-handed sword, explosive shotgun shell

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2018/05/02 22:01:31


 
   
Made in no
Terrifying Doombull





Hefnaheim

A nice new addition to your sector, you have a very detialed style and I like it! Do you use these worlds in games or are they a untested page yet?
   
Made in ca
Longtime Dakkanaut




 Trondheim wrote:
A nice new addition to your sector, you have a very detialed style and I like it! Do you use these worlds in games or are they a untested page yet?


They have been used for three games of Only War (two of them diceless though, purely roleplaying and story telling). I also used some individual planets outside of the Reclamation Crusade saga for Rogue Traders and Dark Heresy games. The fact that my gaming group is really more interested in narrative and roleplaying is the main reason why I'm pretty open when it comes to the rules of each regiment. The idea is to represent them more faithfully in term of character.

The first game of Only War was the one that used dices. I was the game master and I had three players: a Kirdan Penal trooper who had the reputation of being a cannibal (not undeserved), a very young field promoted Vartarn Red Coat sergeant who just lost his father and uncle in battle and a big Overgon Hunter who also happen to be the glue that sticks the squad together. They were part of a scrap regiment assembled in panic with the left over of many others following the Gaern fiasco. While they were mildly successful in hteir various adventures, their side, the Imperial, lost the wider conflict and they managed to make it out of Telka alive.

The second Only War game used no dice and involved only one player and me as the game master. The player played a lost Sardokarian Shock Trooper who, having no squad to call his own, was integrated with a Traxian White Howl squad. They were fighting on one of the ice moon of Lukar and prevailed against the forces of the Free Realm. Despite several close call, an abusive medical officer and member of the administratum, the Sardokarian managed to gain the trust of the Traxian and learn enough humanity to gain an honorable discharge and passed the rest of his days on Trax where he married a squadmate and had two kids together.

The third game of Only War wasn't in the Raken sector, but was set on Pramius during which was under assault by the forces of Chaos. The two players were playing a couple of conscripted Pramian Grey Guard who decided they would do anything to survive which implied getting promoted to a disciplinary unit where they would be away from the front line and dishing out punishment and discipline. They walked all over the corps and the lives of their fellow Grey Guard to do so, but managed to do it. Think Ciaphas Cain if he was a complete sociopath. The game is technically still ongoing.

I have used Trax as the site of a murder and mystery for a Dark Heresy game. Salamar was used as a "deadly royal ball" scenario in Rogue Trader as well as a place of general intrigue. Vartarn was the site of a Chaos cult terrorism for a Dark Heresy and Cerisa was used as a technology salvage mission for Rogue Trader.

Do you want to use one or more for a game yourself?

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2018/05/10 01:03:07


 
   
Made in ca
Longtime Dakkanaut




Vanian Hussars

World: Vanyr is a relatively young planet being colonised around 1700 years ago by a mix of Gaern, Krasuan and Ulthan colonists. It’s of average size and mostly covered in water with 4 main land mass, most of which covered in prairies and hills. The planet is geologically fairly old and harbor interesting mineral resources, but it wasn’t destined to become a mining world. The planet is situated just outside the Rarken Cluster bordering wild space. Beyond it lies the remains of what used to be a Realm of Chaos that included the Rarken Cluster. As such, Vanyr is a very important world as it protects the cluster from invasion. Without surprise, the world was quickly transformed into a giant fortress. The vast majority of the half a billion strong population is destined to become soldiers. They live in large fortresses whose design is fairly similar to those of Gaern which are in turn inspired by those of Cadia itself. The rest works the mines of the planet, produce food in the rich grasslands. Thanks to its temperate climate and rich grassland, Vanyr produce a large quantity of meat. Those grasslands also allow Vanyr to produce its most well known “product”, the Vanian Hussars, its military is reputed for its excellent quality and great prestige. Beside its troops Vanyr exports little good, but is mostly self-sufficient when it comes to food and basic goods. Of course, its weapons are a product of the forges of Zoron X. This makes it a strangely prosperous fortress world where living conditions are excellent, much like Gaern too.

Vanian are very healthy people trained from early infancy to become soldiers of high caliber. Most of its population is coming from Gaern, Ulthan and Krasus and the local exhibit physical and cultural traits similar to all three of these planets. From Gaern, they inherited pale complexion, from Krasus a large size and curly dark hairs and from Ulthan clear eyes. In general, Vanians are thought as very elegant thanks to their typically Ulthanian open handedness and their Krasuan bravado. They aren’t just all show as they retained from their Gaern ancestry a sense of duty and a rigid code of honor. From their life on Vanyr, the Vanian have gotten excellent living condition that allows them to live long lives provided they aren’t cut down in combat. The vast wild expense of their planet also gave them a thirst for nature and an ease to navigate it, while being rather uncomfortable in the tight corridors of Underhives if left there for an extended period of time. Fashion varies between men and women; for a fortress world, Vanian have an excellent presentation. Women tend to keep their hair long and in a braided ponytail. They seldom wear any jewelry beside military decorations, but some will have devotional tattoos, but they are an exception. Their uniform is very similar to that of men, but their coat end in sharp tail and their sash is thinner. Men will keep their hairs rather short and are required to keep the mustache, but the beard is optional. Both must be well trimmed and groomed. Men never wear jewelry beside their decorations which are slightly different than women, favoring silver over gold and the rules on devotional tattoos also apply to them. Education on Vanyr is mandatory for all its inhabitant and is, of course, of military nature. It starts at age 6 when boys and girls are deemed old enough to start to learn how to read, write, count and manipulate weapons and the most important tool of any future Hussar, the warhorse. Basic instruction continues on these subjects until the children reach they age of 12 where they start to add fencing, religious study, tactics and engineering to their cursus. At age 18, their basic instruction is completed, making them well educated cadets. The recruits will then be assigned to a regiment which will continue their military training while they are in reserve units. There, they will learn how to operate in platoons and companies and learn advance tactics. It’s also their initiation into Hussar life. A life of long patrol, ferocious training and protocolaire duties. Vanian almost all become Hussars, sophisticated servitors take care of most of the other duties under the supervision and control of the few Vanian who have neither the skills nor the physical fitness to be part of the military. Vanians have the reputation to be excellent soldiers with a maverick streak and a sense of style and panache rarely seen in such reputable armed force.

Vanyr was one of the last planet to join the Free Realm of Rarken, but unlike most of them it didn’t joined on a voluntary basis. It was conquered by Sastar forces during the Hunger Wars before he could earn its loyalty and support. When Vanyr was struck by the increase tithe, it was passing through a period of surprising prosperity. Prior to that, harvests were excellent and a population boom had been planned as the planet still ample resources and space to support it. Thus, when the increased tithe was ordered, Vanyr was more capable of supporting it. The fortress world had enough troops, food and mineral resources to spare. Despite this, the increase tithe was extremely unpopular. Some higher ranking officers protested the fact that the increase in tithe forced the planet to send off hussars fresh off the cadet ranks with very little experience. They also were furious about the pillaging of their reserves and the abandonment of the expansion of the planet’s defensive fortresses. Dissidence grew in the fortresses that benefited less from the harvest and population boost, but it was quickly culled by the central authorities. The officers were arrested for treason, many quickly executed, while the troops that supported them were shipped off world into the guard. This would come back to haunt the central HQ of Vanyr has most of them were deployed to Danatus and Krasus to help quell the rebellion there. These troops turned coat and joined the rebellious the forces of Free Realm of Rarken forces. As the Hunger Wars progressed, Sastar sent an army composed of Danatusian Dragoons, Krasuan Lions, Gaern Guard and a few allied Vanian Hussars to take control of Vanyr as to not have a fortress world operating in his back. Thanks to the defector, the very few defensive weaknesses of Vanyr could be exploited and the landing of the ground forces was a success. A three years long war then started between the loyalist and the Free Realm forces, the longest conflict of the Hunger Wars with that on Ferucia. Bit by bit, the Free Realm forces started to gain terrain. Defectors from the Vanian Hussar became more numerous as Sastar offered to them very generous surrender conditions. The ill effect of the tithe was also strongly felt. The important reserves of the fortress in food and ammunition were reduced to a pity, not enough to fight off a numerous, well trained and provisioned enemy. Finally, the last fortress fell to rebellious Hussars who captured the central HQ which were imprisoned and deported. The occupation of the planet would be a bit difficult at first, with loyalist regiments fighting a guerilla and a few minor fortress still holding, but Sastar and his forces made an awesome effort to gain their support. Bastien VII and the various charities of Rarken were instrumental in swinging loyalty on the side of the Free Realm. About two years before the start of the Reclamation Crusade, Vanyr was completely pacified and its military fully supporting the Free Realm. Raids from the forces of Chaos on Vanyr helped strengthen the bond between the other rebels and them. Despite this and the fact that Vanyr produce a high number of elite troops, it doesn’t have a representative in the Council of the King, but this might change should Camellia Arabella of Gaern was to be killed as her second in command is a Vanian Hussar general named Francis Koen, the most highly ranked early rebel Vanian.

The Hussars: The Hussar creation was fairly simultaneous with the colonisation of the planet. It was always intended for the planet to serve as a bastion between the Rarken Cluster and the wild space that extend behind it, occupied by worshipers of the Ruinous Powers. Thus, the planet was immediately setup to become a fortress. It’s first city was nothing else but an impressive military fort built in prefab where troops could already be garrisoned. The vast extend of grassy plains, a characteristic of the area where the colony was first built allowed the early colonists to practice animal husbandry as a main source of food since it doesn’t require as much manpower than agriculture to be setup. It also furnished them with easy installations for the raising of warhorses who would prove both very useful in husbandry, but also to explore the continental mass of Vanyr. These warhorses were necessary in for the first troops of Vanyr which lacked heavier equipment to defend the planet and required a method to deploy themselves quickly for, in the early years of colonisation, they were not alone. Chaos worshipers belonging to the Crimson Sun cult were also interested in seizing the planet for their own needs. The engagement between them and the colonists, supported by the Gaern Guard and the Krasuan Lions, lasted for almost four centuries. As time past, the Vanian were capable of handling the threat more efficiently by themselves despite their lack of heavy armor. Against the lightly armored masses of infantry used by the Crimson Sun, their fast cavalry proved to be excellent and when faced by their armored divisions, their speed and daring tactics proved to be a winning combination. When Vanyr found itself definitely under control of the Imperium, the Vanian Hussars had fortresses on all continents and an impressive tally of victory at their name. As time moved forward, the Hussars retained their reputation as a peerless light cavalry regiment exceeding in quality the Dragoon regiments of Danatus and in tactical acumen the Questing Knights of Korryl. They Hussars are known to be expert marksmen when dismounted or shooting from their saddles, excellent swordsmen and lancers known for their speed and their multiple charge patterns designed to disorient a foe. They take enormous risks to get close swiftly with their enemies, using their vast tactical knowledge, every inch of cover and a deadly coordination to be capable of breaking apart enemy lines. While the Hussars do possess line infantry, artillery and armored regiment, the core of its forces and its most well trained troops remain its light cavalry and its them who are sent most often outside of the atmosphere of the planet to launch raids on the Realm of Chaos or to assist other planets of the Rarken Cluster. These days, its this light cavalry that Vanyr sends to the help of other worlds of the Free Realm.

Training to become a Vanian Hussars starts early. From age 6 to age 18, all Vanian children pass through a period of mandatory education and training that is designed to make them competent soldiers. During this period of their lives, they learn, in addition to basic knowledge classes, how to ride warhorses until it becomes just as natural as walking or running. They also learn the basic of marksmanship with Lascarabin, the use of grenades and of course fencing with their curved cavalry sabers and explosive tipped spears. While this would be more than enough to make any single cadet excellent soldiers, this isn’t viewed as enough for the Vanians who know they are the first line of defense against the hordes of Chaos and with very little hope to receive reinforcement in time. When the recruits reach the age of 18, they all face a challenging assessment test that forces them to display their full skills as soldiers in a massive wargame scenario under close supervision of senior trainers and Commissars. Each individual soldiers will see his affectation strongly affected by his or her performance in this final test. Those who can be considered as the first tier soldiers will be selected for the two years long training program that will see them become part of the Hussars cavalry regiment. Other types of regiments have slightly shorter trainings as they aren’t expected to be part of the elite of the planet’s defense force. The Hussar cavalry regiments’ training takes place in large part outside of the fortress of Vanyr and in its surrounding fields. Its part survival and campaign exercise punctuated with war games and field exercise focusing mostly in guerilla tactics, breaking charge, assault of armored columns and infiltration of enemy positions. Once in a while, the troop will be gathered to perfect their marksmanship in difficult situations like under rain or at night or their close combat skills, learning various tricks and tips for better fencing and more efficient hand to hand technics mostly inspired from Lupine. The two years’ end with a return of the regiment to its home fortress. Only the regiments who have earned the most honor during those two years are levied n the Imperial Guard or now the Free Realm Expeditionary Corps. The Vanian Hussars have an excellent reputation as elite forward units with very adaptable tactics and exceptional skills if a bit maverick and glory seeker tendencies. They rarely disappoint and can be considered amongst the best troops in the Rarken Cluster.

The standard equipment of the Vanian Hussars consists of a black long coat and pants reinforced with some plasteel charcoal grey bracers, shoulder and shin guards. The coat has two rows of golden buttons to close it and a deep red sash with a long tail holds it tight against the body. All Hussars wear tall leather boots with spurs in the shape of little Imperial eagles. They wear a finely crafted cap with embroiled holy symbol and a short feather of vibrant color. Their main weapon is a Lascarabin without stock and a pistol grip very practical for shooting from horseback. They also carry a saber with a brass colored guard, a small laspistol and a long black haft explosive tipped Spear. The horses themselves are lightly armored thanks to their dark red, black and golden cloth. All Vanian Hussars kits are extensive to allow them to operate for long periods of time without receiving any supplies amongst it there is a small barber kit to trim their famous mustache, but also a horse cleaning kit. They all carry at least one Aquila pendant.

The White Stallions: The Vanian Hussar 44th is a new re-founding that occurred shortly after the planet entered officially the Free Realm of Rarken. Its creation was a difficult thing and it was delayed twice both due to problems linked to its commanding officers who menaced to defect back to the Imperium. Finally, after two years of search, a retired colonel named Horace Wilde was pulled back into service and given command of the 44th. Wilde was well known on the planet for his tempestuous temperament and is love for duels. He fought over 60 duels against a single fellow officer over a question of love when both were vying for the same woman who so happened to die in combat well before the end of the last duel between the two. Despite the man’s strangeness, he was also known as a nearly fearless leader and, very importantly, an admirer of the younger Vego Sastar. His regiment hails from the fortress of Adrelsyn, known for the quality and the beauty of its horses, all of the purest of white. It’s from the color of their horses, but also for their nearly reckless conduct on the battlefield facing forces of Chaos attempting to disrupt the Free Realm that the 44th earned its nickname. The White Stallion covered itself in glory by pushing back the forces of the Lost and Damned that assaulted their homeworld during a battle close to a river passage. Around 7 thousand enemy troopers drowned after being thrown in the rushing waters by their charge. The White Stallions are now preparing themselves alongside several other regiments for an assault on Ferucia. Their moral is extremely high and many pleasant that their charge will be so fast and ferocious that it will only stop on the beaches of Mishkar.


Moto: We ride forth until the end of time! (always shouted)

Type: Fortress World (+3 ballistic skills, +3 willpower, nerves of steel), Rough Riders (+3 agility, -3 ballistic skills, catfall), Maverick (Resistance Fear), Heavy Lancer (unstoppable charge), Cavalry Mount, Well Provisioned, Mistrusted (Free Realm Guard), favored weapon (power spear, meltagun), Special equipment: mono-edge sword, good quality lascarabine, Guard flak
   
Made in ca
Longtime Dakkanaut




Hedrin Marshals and Hedrinius Auxiliaries

World: Hedrin is a frontier world neighbouring to Ceris. It’s a harsh arid land where fresh water is scarce and temperature scorching hot during summer and biting cold during the winter. It’s a land of bounty and freedom to many, where anybody can make has a chance for a good and better life, but its also a land of danger where many find only a violent death. Hedrin is a planet of average size separated roughly equally between land mass and oceans. Most of the surface of the planet is covered in more of less hospitable hills, dry plains and rocky mountain with very few fluvial plains and fertile valleys. The seas are relatively poor and extremely deep, but coastal regions, frequently touched by hurricanes and storms, can still feed a good portion of the population. Hedrin is mostly known for its mineral riches. It contains high quality deposits of various ores, but mostly in remote regions that are left to be exploited. In the mountain streams, many have found gold and platinum, making many colonist dream about finding some of it and escaping poverty forever. Hedrin has a population of around half a billion inhabitants sparsely distributed on its five continent, most of which are situated in the Northern hemisphere. Most of the population is rural or lives in small town as there is about only 4 cities with more than 200 000 inhabitants on the planet. Most of the population breed chattel, work in the fishery or exploit mineral ore, most of which goes for export. Hedrin, as a frontier world as a very weak central government and no Arbites compound. Leaders are democratically elected by the population who enjoys vast personal freedom, leading to them being frequently dubbed rough necks. Hedrin still houses a sizeable population of xenos native to the planet and found nowhere else. They are strikingly similar to humans and were even thought to be some form of abhumen until genetic research showed that their appearance was only the result of converging evolutionary forces. While they are set to be exterminated, the locals frequently negotiate and trade with them. The relations are so tight, despite being marked by vicious conflict, that some of their nations have gained the status of sanctioned xenos and are used as auxiliaries in the Imperial Guard and later by the Free Realm which has adopted a much more xenophile policy.

The people of Hedrin are extremely diverse in appearance and history. The first wave of colonist came from Gaern regiments being granted colonisation rights on the planet. While not very numerous, they proved to be industrious and well organised enough to survive the first few centuries of colonisation. They were quickly joined by similarly awarded Cerisan regiments and the two groups intermingled quickly. With time, Hedrin became a refuge for people in search of freedom, a chance to improve their lives and adventure. People from Danatus, Ulthan, Ordrem and even Lukar and Telka came to Hedrin transforming the frontier world in a melting pot of various culture and ethnicity all of which are tempered and transformed in contact with the environment of Hedrin. To be colonist on a frontier world like it, one must resourceful, hard working, self-reliant and courageous. These are the prime qualities of Hedrin people who commonly refer to themselves as the colonials. Because of this, power on the planet is very decentralised. Officially, there is no governor. The planet is ruled by a congress of elected deputies who select the leader of their political party or coalition to take on the mantle of governor until the end of the 6 years long term. Each region has its own county congress with its own leaders and it even goes down to law enforcement with each of the sheriffs, judges and provost elected by those living in their jurisdiction. There is no central form of schooling. Most Hedrin rely on their parents and sometime a communal school to learn the basics of science, grammar, history, theology and mathematics. In the few urban centers, there is indeed academies that teach the elites of the colonials. Fashion on Hedrin is practical first and foremost but there is a touch of local fashion and several influences from the various planet at the origin of the colonial population. It’s practically identical between men and women, though some women will freely replace pants for long skirts and wear dresses on special events. Its most easily recognisable pieces of clothing are a long duster coat that protect just as well from the rain, the sun and the cold night, a poncho of heavy wool that sometimes replaces it, tall boots of leather design for mountaineers, a Stetson hat sometimes replaced by a straw hat or a larger sombrero. It’s rare to see a colonial, especially a colonial man, without a sturdy belt and a survival knife. Some, will add to the knife a highly performant and powerful laspistol unique to the planet known as the colonial-las.

Hedrin is the homeworld of a population of xenos found nowhere else in the galaxy. Due to their appearance extremely close to that of humans, it was long believed that they were a stable genus of abhumens like ogryns of ratlings, but after genetic sampling of some of their dead, it was found that they were in fact a purely xeno race brought by a form of convergent evolution. Hedrinius as they were called by the magos who discovered their true nature are almost identical to humans with a few, but striking differences. The most obvious of them all is their horns. All Hedrinius have a pair of horns that starts on their forehead above their eyes and that curve back alongside their skull. Those horns are extremely tough and much thicker in males than females. Those of the females are much thinner and are twisted. Male Hedrinius are believed to have used in ancient times their horns for battle hence their robust appearance while their females used them for display hence their more eccentric look. The pupil of Hedrinius’ eyes are rectangular instead of round, but seem to have a vision comparable to humans. Their gum and tongue are a deep blue that almost looks black. Their ears are situated at the same place than human ears but they are cone shaped and mobile, giving them a very keen hearing. Their feet are also different then those of human and are slightly more flexible and prehensile. They also have a bone hook on their heel. These characteristics makes them excellent climbers which isn’t very surprising since their favored habitat seems to be in the mountainous regions. Beside these differences, they are identical to humans. Their skin is generally fair, but some have a copperier tone and their hairs goes from light brown to pitch black and strait. Both male and female usually keep their hair long and loose unless they are on a battlefield where they will braid it to tuck it in their helmet. Hedrinius live in tribes composed each composed of about 10 to 20 clans each composed of around 5 to 10 family units. They live of a mix of agriculture and hunting-gathering. They usually move their villages emplacement every decade or so except a rare few tribes who live particularly good climates and regions. Before the arrival of the Colonials, Hedrinius had a level of technology comparable to that of humans on a feudal world. They were quick to trade food and local knowledge against pieces of technology favoring advanced modern alloys for their weapons, armors and tools. Colonials rarely refer to them as Hedrinius preferring the first name employed to describe them, fauns, which also happened to sound similar to the name they gave themselves, fa’urns. Hedrinius males are known to be severe, protective and austere, never cracking a smile in front of strangers. They make for fierce warriors, but are also known as loving and caring fathers. Females are known to be joyful, determined and curious, always ready for a day of work and games. They make for good leader and teachers for their children.

For Hedrin the joining the Free Realm of Rarken was almost a formality. The people of Hedrin never had a strong imperial presence and many of the Colonials were people who were rubbed the wrong way by Imperial law, culture or society. While faithful to the God-Emperor, sometime to a zealot level, few had good relationship with the elite of the Imperial society. Life on a colonial world also forges fiercely independent characters who don’t take well to absolute authority and aristocracies. While frontier worlds aren’t tithed nearly as heavily as others, the tithe increase in soldiers was especially disliked since it exposed many settlements to attacks from the natives while at the same time the Imperium required the Colonials to purge a higher number of them, forcing them to break fragile peace treaties going to war with a weaker military. For those Colonials with xenophile views, it was an insulting plan and a wrench thrown on their project. Even for the most xenophobic ones, it was a bad plan coming at a bad time. Without surprise, the Congresses voted almost all unanimously in rejection of such a tithe increase and plan and without much of a bang, Hedrin became a rebellious frontier world. When the fauns heard of the situation, their relationship with the Colonials improved marginally. Xenophiles were trusted more and even the others were given more respect from them. This allow a decrease in the skirmishes between the two civilisations and an increase of the cooperation between them resulting in more prosperity for both. When the victorious forces of Sastar took wind of Hedrin’s rebellion they sent emissaries to invite the frontier world, rich in soldiers and valuable ore within the fold of the Free Realm with a special guaranty allowing them a greater autonomy than within the Imperium, especially when it comes to the management of their relationship with the fauns. Sastar’s embassy was a success and Hedrin joined the Free Realm. They quickly experimented a short boom in trade and in population as refugees who lost their homes in the Hunger Wars resettled on Hedrin where they were swiftly integrated in a society always in need of more helping hands. Recently, the highest Congress of the planet, with the full support of the Free Realm throne, declared the entire species of fauns as sanctioned xenos, lifting their extermination order and allowing the signature of a planet-wide ceasefire and peace treaty. Hedrin provides a good number of well trained soldiers and xeno auxiliary forces who became vital in the fight over Telka.

Hedrin Marshals and Hedrinius Auxiliaries: Hedrin is a dangerous planet colonised be descent of a fortress world. As such, it always had a military force to defend the planet from Ork freebooters, pirates and, especially against the Fauns who were largely hostile to the Colonials. Hedrin quickly developed its own military tradition from Gaern, especially after the arrival of the second and following colonisation waves that brought different military culture and training. The soldiers of Hedrin were at first mostly a militia that enlisted every able bodied men and women from the age of 18 to 45 for at least two years of service. With time, it was lengthened to three years, but reduced to only men as mandatory and women on a volunteer basis as the population became larger and laws and institutions were put in place to favor population growth. As decades passed and wars against the Fauns and raiders became more common, the need for a formal military was found, especially when their population grew large enough for the Imperium to require a tithe in soldiers. The militia would largely be disbanded and so would the mandatory enlistment unless in time of crisis or for law enforcement reasons. Hedrin Marshals, as their soldiers would be known, are recruited strictly from volunteers from either gender from age 16 and onward. They are required to provide their own weapon and armors or are offered one they nee to refund with their pay over time. Most Colonials own lasguns and colonial-las from the get go which doesn’t make equipment such a big barrier to enlistment. Special, heavy weapons and vehicles are paid for by tax levy and even donations from the richer portion of society. Beside a basic health check, there is no specific requirements to enlist in the Marshals. Training is fairly extensive and given by local veterans. Hedrin never had any foreign specialists, neither did they received any Commissarial supervision except for a period of 11 years 70 years prior to the Hunger Wars, but the lone Commissar was not replaced following his death following an avalanche. Despite this, the vast military experience of the local and their diverse nature has help them produce very competent and adaptable officers and seasoned soldiers as trainers. Training itself last 9 months and is fairly intense. It focuses on physical conditioning, military tactics, especially in scouting, recon and assault on entrenched positions. Marksmanship is considered a given for all adults on Hedrin and this isn’t far from truth. Even raw recruits have practiced hunting and many of them have been schooled by parents and teachers in the proper handling of light weapons. Despite their rugged appearance, Hedrin Marshals are disciplined soldiers with a good grasp or strategy and tactics. They obtained a solid reputation as hunter-killer units and light and line infantry. For the Free Realm High Command, they are invaluable and surprisingly common troops in the sector.

For the Fauns, war was always a thing. Before the arrival of humans on Hedrin, inter-tribe warfare was endemic wherever they lived. In some rare case, it could even involve alliances of several dozen tribes fighting against each other in battle that could involve thousand of warriors on each side. Before the arrival of humans on Hedrin, the Fauns had a level of technology comparable to that of feudal planets. Their warriors went to battle armored in chainmail armors sometime reinforced with metal plates and full helmets that let their horns free. Armed with metal darts, a shield, a long blade spear and sometime axes and riding giant horned mountain goats, named the Eh’Blah, capable carrying a rider in full armor and clearing a six-meter jump they fought in very mobile formations counting on precise dart throws followed by a deadly charge to defeat their enemies. Faun warriors, traditionally always males, trained for combat with their elders from their early teens, becoming excellent combatant when they reached early adulthood and could join war expedition. While it wasn’t rare for a female to master weapons, they seldom went to war unless the villages were directly attacked. The first Colonials, despite their solid advantage in terms of technology still had trouble handling those fierce warriors and their mount. As they started to scavenge modern alloy and trade for it, their armors became much more efficient at protecting them. Their spears quickly became explosive tipped to take out heavily armored infantry or light vehicles, especially Sentinels, darts were replaced progressively by explosive grenades and sometime laspistols. Females started to join males in the ranks of the warriors in greater number to compensate for casualties, but also to enhance or decrease numerical advantages. They adapted as their enemy adapted to their own tactics. Inter-tribe warfare became rarer as most of them had the tendency to unite in front of a common opposition even other tribes did allied with humans against a common enemy. These allied tribes became the first sanctioned xenos auxiliary units, recruited amongst volunteers of each tribe. These units became famous for their quality as excellent Rough Rider regiments with a good moral, an honorable disposition and an indomitable spirit. When their trust is earned, they seldom betray their words and their gallantry on the battlefield allowed them a measure from respect from Nobleborn regiments. The Free Realm of Rarken makes full use of them and is eager to provide them and their mother-tribe with material in exchange for their services. Hedrinius Auxiliary forces were known to be excellent Rough Riders regiment with good loyalty. They are rarely that detrimental to other guardsmen regiment as its easy to conceal their xeno nature thanks to their very human appearance. For the Free Realm, they represent yet another high quality cavalry forces that isn’t to be expanded lightly.

A traditional equipment for a Hedrin Marshal consist of a solid dark and dull green colored flak armor covered by a tan duster with reinforced shoulder plates. The duster can sometime be replaced by a poncho. Both the duster and the poncho are made in a materiel that is resistant to flames and offer some protection from blades. They all wear a Stetson hat which has been lightly reinforced with plasteel plates. They all wear combat boots that almost goes up to the knees. They are armed with lasguns of Vartarn design due, but also carry a large combat knife and a colonial-las on their belt. They carry a few explosives like grenades and are usually well stocked in ammunition, water and food since they are called to operate for extended period of time. There are no requirements for the trooper’s hairs, facial or otherwise, leaving them to adopt a variety of fashion style. Most Hedrins are relatively religious and will carry an Aquila pendant on them at all time. They rarely carry the symbol of the Free Realm, preferring to carry that of their homeworld military, a pair of crossing sabers.

The traditional equipment for a Hedrinius Auxiliary is practically identical to that of their distant ancestor. It’s composed of a carapace armor with a fully enclosed helmet that is very similar to those worn by Korryl Questing Knights but adapted for their horns and decorated with feathers, leaders having more impressive ones. They also carry small round shields of plasteel, an axe or a sword, an explosive tipped lance and a laspistol, usually a colonial-las though. They are all mounted on lightly armored Eh’Blahs whose horns have been decorated with talismans. To mark them as sanctioned xenos, all Hedrinius Auxiliaries have a tattoo on their forearm of the Aquila and an Aquila symbol placed on their breastplate. The fact that eagle and hawk-like birds are traditionally associated with death, rebirth and courage within their culture makes it a mark of great affection and significance even though its simply meant as to identify them as in service to the Imperium and not to be shot on sight. Hedrinius were granted the right to carry the Golden Bell of the Free Realm and many chose to do so when they learn of its significance. The Hedrinius kit isn’t very extensive as they are able to provide for themselves in nature and are still largely considered expendable even though this attitude is losing ground fast within the Free Realm.

The Watson Posse: The Hedrin Marshal 2200th is a new founding in the planet history, but an old regiment by Hedrin standards as it has been in constant operation and under the same leadership for 56 years. Its 6000 members were recruited from 12 different counties in a region known as the Deadman Badlands, a site of a particularly violent series of battle between Colonials and Fauns, then Colonials and Fauns against foreign raiders. The place is now firmly in the hands of the Colonials and remains a strategical location with two impressive forts built within it, one overseeing ore rich valleys and another along a major river in the area. The regiment was founded with at its head, legendary desperado, turned soldier Jack Jefferson Watson II, also known as the viper. The man has a more than well deserved reputation to be an expert gunslinger, a fearless warrior and a wicked card player. Colonel Watson is a hero on Hedrin. He has fought in dozens of battles and killed terrifying enemies from Faun Warchiefs to Ork Warboss passing by Lost and Damned commanders. Without surprise, he was always unanimously voted at the head of his regiment on all occasions. His legend and great military exploits afforded him good enough rejuvenat treatment to remain fully operational at the head of his unit despite having reached the 88 years old mark. Those under his orders understand what they have to prove if they want to impress the grizzled veteran and survive his sometime unconventional tactics. The Watson Posse is currently deployed on Telka, supporting the advance of the Free Realm forces. Their raids and deadeye snipers have proven to be invaluable in pushing back the remaining Imperial forces in their positions and keep adding to Watson’s legend.

Tranquil Fire Band: The Hedrinius 3rd is a recent re-founding of one the very first auxiliary regiment ever founded on Hedrin. It comes from the Water-side tribes situated alongside the western coast of the largest continent of the planet. These tribes were known to be the most open to trade with the Colonials and had better relationship with them as a result. The fact they lived in a small stretch of very fertile woodlands stuck between mountains and the sea made their land hard to reach avoiding direct competition between them and Colonials. They were thus amongst the first to actually ally with Colonials against fluvial raiders that assaulted them from the sea before following major water routes to attack Colonial settlements. The first incarnation of the 3rd itself was destroyed fighting back against a large scale invasion of those raiders who somehow founded themselves in league with Lost and Damned. Their heroic sacrifice allowed settlements to be evacuated and weakened the enemy enough to be defeated by the Colonial Militia. The new one was founded five years ago and like all the others before it took the name of its leader, a young female warchief named Tranquil Fire, thanks to her patience and meticulously prepared and devastating attacks. Tranquil Fire is a rare female Hedrinius to be found in their forces, but, like many of them she achieved a high level of command within her force. It’s not so much her talent as a warrior that earned her this position, even though she is a good warrior, but her talent for strategy. Of all the current warchief currently operating the Hedrinius Auxiliary regiments, she is probably the cleverest. She used to follow her father and grand-father, both great warchiefs too, from her most tender years and is believed to have learned from them in her. Tranquil Fire and her forces have already participated in a few battles on Telka where their sudden and well prepared charges, retreat, feint and harassment tactics have proven to be the bane of more then a few Imperial units.

Hedrin Marshal Moto: For the Emperor, the people’s Congress! (always shouted, usually before an assault

Hedrinius Auxiliaries Moto: No official or unofficial Moto (the Hedrinius are known to make their mounts bray together before charging)

Hedrin Marshal Type: Frontier World (+3 Ballistic Skills, +3 Perception, combat sense), Hunter-Killer Units (+3 Ballistic Skill, -3 Strength, Resistance Fear), Choleric (Rapid Reaction), Deadeye Shot, Survival (arid plains and mountains), favored weapon (longlas, Lascannon), Special Equipment: good quality Colonial-las (same as hand cannon, but with semi-auto function and energy damage), mono edge knife

Hedrinius Auxiliaries Type: Hedrinius (+5 Weapon Skill, +5 Agility, -5 Fellowship, Xenos -10 to fellowship tests with Imperials), Rough Rider Regiment (+3 agility, -3 Ballistic Skills, Catfall), Circumspect (Foresight), Survival, Hardened Fighter (+2 Weapons Skill, Unarmed Fighting), Warrior Weapon, Cavalry Mount, the Few, Cult of Chivalry, Mistrusted (Imperial Guard), Favored Weapon (Longlas, Power Spear), Special Equipment: Light Carapace Armor, Shield, mono edge sword.
   
 
Forum Index » Dakka Fiction
Go to: