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Just thought I'd share some fluff for my WIP Imperial Guard army
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Beginning as ad hoc raiding and interdiction parties in urban mega-sprawls of Hydraphur, this paramilitary unit was made up of handpicked naval armsmen and the guard garrison. Tasked with hunting down and exterminating deserters, contraband smugglers and pirates the unit gained an instant reputation as ’death squads’. Led by naval commander Mortengar Törren-Thund, the collaboration was supported by the Commisariat and the Adeptus Arbites but opposed by local Governors Militant. Survivors of piracy raids and the disturbing frequency of cut-throat mutinies became an ideal recruitment profile for the (Törren-Thund) Terror Hounds, and thus as a majority of veterans and NCOs they were already an elite and gritted force. It is noteworthy that even at this early stage several custom vehicle designs were named Avenger, Vengeance, Punishment etc. Equipment and vehicles were hybrids and bastardised, simply inherited from official units’ discards, cast-offs and spare parts that were then patched up and sent into the fight by innovative naval engineers. For this reason the Corps has a long tradition of simple, hardy industrial workhorses rather than the complex vehicles that require dependence on the Mechanicus.

With resources scant and this force tasked with an array of desperate and operations for which it was hopelessly under-equipped the Terror Hounds were seen as a fast strike force that could take on any mission. Basically a highly mobile forlorn hope, the would-be Corps gained brigade status in M38 under the Hydraphur Combined Command.

With the high rate of attrition, volunteers were eventually culled from Van Diemens World and the Savlar mines, under the supervision and advice of the Adeptus Arbites who felt that fighting renegades with the galaxy’s most hardened criminals would give the brigade (Corps) an edge in tracking down nests of corruption in the underhives and isolated celestial hide-outs. With the successful application of these instincts and insights, the trail of piracy and corruption eventually led to the highest ranks of the imperial families in and around Hydraphur. Yet the Arbites were thwarted at every turn to prove this rather sensitive series of allegations. The rogue traders, naval clans (both civil and imperial) were rife with internicine rivalry and their nefarious businesses were crippling the nearby systems and the very functioning of Hydraphur as a military base.

Once the Terror Hounds death squads became organised as the Hydraphur Combined Light Brigade it gave the local governors and aristocrats good ground –they felt- to criticise this basically illegal force. It became clear at this point that the local Arbites were dealing with an opposition of three mafia factions led by three local system governors; Baillebar, Neath and Sampson. After years of illegal shipping assets being seized and the clear continued rise of hive gang retinues to the merchant clans, the Hydraphur Combined Command began to realise that the Arbites’ investigations risked bringing huge political dangers to the star base and connecting systems. The stalemate continued for decades until finally the crime lords struck a decisive blow with Törren-Thund’s assassination.

In a final response the Command therefore resolved to call in the Inquisition, in turn the nobles placed blame for the assassination on the brigade units. The penal soldiers and veterans rallied around Törren-Thund’s name and simply went rogue, deciding to take the law into their own hands. In an extreme move, and with the secret support of Combined Command they struck out at the offices of Baillebar, Neath and Sampson in expertly coordinated raids. Rather than executing the accused, enough evidence was retrieved from the raids to incriminate the governors and their cronies. The Inquistion indicted and subsequently removed their clans from power. Impressed with the spartan resolve of the Terror Hounds, the unit was granted full regimental status within the Guard under Combined Command. This new corps given an officially approved unique role meant that they were de facto seconded to the Navy and Arbites and therefore could strike out with great speed all across the segmuntum. Thus the Hydraphur Terror Corps was born, relying on the navy and with the need for constant combat readiness the Corps continued its tradition as a light brigade by focusing on fast ground attack craft that could operate independently for extended periods- enhancing their adaptable nature.

Corps Organisation:
L.I.Brigade (light infantry) ”Death Squads”
Brigade i.2. (Interception & Interdiction) ”Terror Hounds”
ACREF Company (Advance to contact reconnaissance-in-force) ”The Zealous Scouts”
Armoured Support Wing "Mort's Hyenas"
Heavy Infantry Surface Support Battalion "HISS”
Orbital Support Echelon ”Thunder Echo”
Forward Response Artillery Echelon ”Lightning Echo”

Preferred Load-outs
Sniper rifles
Missile launchers
Assault Cannons

Unique Corps vehicles
Crocuta (hyena)
Thos (jackal)
Maera
Teumessian
Cadmean

The Terror Corps equate to a storm trooper level cadre, exclusively augmented with mobile weapons platforms and fast armoured personnel carriers.

Unique Corps Vehicles?

That literally wouldn't happen. In Mechanicus a woman is reported for tech-heresy for upgrading her cogitator, and here you have vehicles that are not based on STCs. They'd literally all be executed.

Other than that, pretty cool, though the German theme does seem overdone for IG units. Also Guard don't get assault cannons, other than the Punisher, which is it's own weapon.

It would have to be a pre-existing vehicle for the IG, possibly with a slightly different name because it's a locally-produced (but AM-approved) variant.

Like, maybe the local variant replaces the turret weapon of a Chimera with a toxin-sprayer (counts as heavy flamer), and they call it the "Hellcat". Legit vehicle, unique fluff.

Dude I totally forget about STDs

 BrotherOfBone wrote:
Unique Corps Vehicles?

That literally wouldn't happen. In Mechanicus a woman is reported for tech-heresy for upgrading her cogitator, and here you have vehicles that are not based on STCs. They'd literally all be executed.

Other than that, pretty cool, though the German theme does seem overdone for IG units. Also Guard don't get assault cannons, other than the Punisher, which is it's own weapon.

In one of the more recent books with Tau in it, the guard regiment is heavily based on the Confederate Army. Their commanders all run around in custom battlesuits that are not STCs nor mechanicus approved. They also use custom jump capable sentinels (to be fair, it was a pretty rubbish book, but non mechanicus altered machines do exist and don't get the regiments that use them sanctioned).

It certainly can happen.

Krieg developped its own trench tank during its rebellion, for that matter.

 Iron Wings wrote:
Dude I totally forget about STDs

So long as you wear a condom, you shouldn't need to worry about them.

Don't you mean a void-dom?

Thanks for the feedback guys, I think I will rewrite them to be more ...well... Terrifying, I think I will use chassis and hulls from bits sites and whack some chunky wheels under them. I really like the British jackal, which I don't feel the Tauros represents all that well.