Found this writing only recently, I'd been working a while back an idea for a new regiment. Basically I wanted to get a heavily-armoured 'Blue Blood' regiment across. The fluff is a
WIP, as is the regiment itself, but you're welcome to read what I worked on so far.
I'll be adding to this along the the way.
The Planet Anphal
The Feudal/Agri-World of Anphal is located to the Galactic North of Terra, within the Segmentum Obscurus. Aside from a mining community on the moon Calthrice, orbiting one of the several gas planets in the system, Anphal is the only habitable Imperial post in the system. The planet’s climate is perfect for raising crops, entire continents of verdant farmland span the planet, worked on from the scattering of towns and small, largely independent, city-states. The food raised on Anphal provides the sole source of sustenance for the whole of two neighbouring systems, as well as supplying exotic, if now processed, foods to more*.
*The food oil from Anphal is considered a delicacy on several worlds within the Cadian sector. Anphal is especially eager to trade with these worlds; their weaponry and armour are in great demand, and are considered prized possessions. So much is Cadian weaponry valued that once 15 years of the planet’s oil harvest were traded to secure a single shipment of plasma weaponry. Even though the number of plasma weapons sent in return was paltry, it still proved more than enough to equip the regiments of Anphal with them for generations.
Anphal Society
Matriarchy
Anphal is a matriarchy. Men are disallowed from owning land, running their own business, or holding any sort of governmental or clerical positions. Some organisations that are not native to Anphal, such as the Administratum, do admit male members, though they are viewed as an oddity. Since time immemorial, it has been mandated that men are suited to the realm of martial prowess and nothing more. The gender split even extends to the spiritual realm. Though Anphal still worships the Emperor, as a loyal subject of the Imperium is want to do, to the citizens of Anphal the Emperor was two perfect halves of a whole. The female citizenry worship his feminine aspect, the portion of the Emperor that allowed Him* to govern the Imperium so wisely, and rule his people so justly. Male Anphallians** worship his warlike masculine form, the martial warrior that not only carved out his galaxy spanning empire but defended it from threats both outside and within.
*Generally Anphallians refer to the Emperor in a gender-neutral manner, which explains a great deal why members of the Anphallix regiments find Ecclessiarchial and Commissariat rhetoric concerning ‘His’ will so confusing.
**Folk from Anphal are usually referred to as Anphallians. However at their founding, the regiments are always named as the Anphallix, rather than Anphallian. Although initially a minor point of confusion for Administratum scribes, the reason for this peculiar change in name has since been revealed. On Anphal the suffix of –ix means ‘male/war’ or, more precisely, ‘embodiment of male/war’. When Anphallix regiments are founded, being entirely comprised of warriors, Anphallians believe that the regiment embodies the warrior side of Anphal. Hence, the regiment, and the warriors that are part of it, are referred thereafter as Anphallix.
Class
Anphal also has an extremely rigid societal structure. All positions of authority, even relatively minor areas, are held by women of noble blood, as is the same with land. The serving class, or the
Hete as they are called, are also forbidden from touching any weaponry. For a Hete to carry a shiv or sword is inviting a beating. For one to even touch a modern Imperial weapon, such as a lasgun, is a death sentence. Such measures go a long way in preventing uprisings, but Anphal’s history is nonetheless rife with numerous accounts of rebellion, usually followed by brutal reprisals from the nobility. Since weaponry is taboo to the Hete, Anphal’s PDF and Imperial Guard draft is drawn entirely from the nobility.
The Regiment: New Blood and Old
Unlike most regiments of the Imperial Guard, the Anphallix regiments are reinforced with every tithe, keeping the regiments readily supplied and at optimal strength. A further oddity, for Guard regiments at least, is that service in the Guard is not considered to be for life. After serving in the Anphallix regiment for 25 years, the aging guardsman* is free to return home. It is not unusual for the chance to return to be turned down, those that refuse almost always go on to become the officers and senior commanders of the regiment. These men that stay behind are revered, viewed as the very avatar of war by the regiment, men who have willingly embraced the warrior’s way rather than returning to a life of relative peace.
*Anphallix privates are referred to as ‘Shield-Bearers’. Sergeants use the honorific ‘Praetor’, there are differing ranks beyond this, with the Company Commander recognised as ‘Legate’. Regimental commanders can generally take whatever title they please, though they are traditionally called ‘Consuls’.
For the vast majority that do accept the offer there is no stigma attached, and so they leave, usually on the same ship that brought the new recruits in. Those that return are held in high esteem, by both male and female alike. To strike or kill a veteran is a serious charge, not even the noblest of blood is proof from retribution. Generally, even for the wounded and crippled, an Anphallix veteran is able to find a secure household that will accept him. It is seen as an honour to house a veteran of an Anphallix regiment, some of the wealthier families house several, even dozens. The stories of these veterans are added to the matriarchal household’s history. Any children that he begets, especially sons, will be much prized.
PDF
The veteran’s duty does not end there however; they are expected to continue to conduct duties on Anphal that would normally be required of an armed warrior. This includes acting as honour guards for the ruling class of women as well as policing and keeping the general peace of the town or district. Veterans keep their armour and weaponry even after retirement, it’s the only official payment they ever actually receive, and to patrol the streets in anything less than one’s full battledress is to invite shame. The last, and doubtless most important, duty of the veteran is to train the younger noblemen, from boyhood till their induction into the guard, in the ways of the proper warrior. When they reach manhood at the age of 15, they are inducted into the guard, with great pomp and ceremony, on the next annual tithe. As a result, Anphal’s PDF is almost entirely comprised of young warriors-in-training and aging veterans.
Regimental Structure
A peculiarity in these feudal regiments is that the Anphallix are an entirely airborne regiment. Male Anphallians have always demonstrated a love of the skies never fully explained by Anphallian lore. It appears that, since women alone can rule the land and sea, the only realm where men can truly reign is the heavens. It’s unknown how Anphal secured the shipments of Valkyries and Vendettas, Anphallians claim the supply of the Gunships was a reward for the part the Anphallix regiments played in the defence of the Hive World Morox. Officials of the Administratum suspect a Rogue Trader or, worse, an unscrupulous Factorum owner, though all efforts to investigate have been stonewalled by Anphal’s aristocracy.
Although the Anphallix are never far from their beloved Gunships, they do not pilot or maintain them. Menial work not directly involved with war-making, such as the refitting of fuselage compared to cleaning a weapon, is alien to the Anphallix nobility*. To be a pilot, or even part of the maintenance crew, is the highest honour a Hete can aim for. Competitions for training places are fierce, often ending in blood, but the rewards are considered well worth it. Like the Anphallix, a Hete in the role of pilot, maintenance crew member or any regimental position of service that is suited to a Hete, is free to return to Anphal after 25 years. The returning crew and servants are treated with dignity on their return, though still considered second-class. The pilots however, have earned the greatest reward possible for a Hete. They are welcomed into the aristocracy, to be forever treated as any other Anphallix veteran. This welcome can only be inducted with a signed letter of approval, the Letters of Note, from the Regiment’s Consul, motivating Hete pilots to always distinguish themselves before the regiment.
*Female warriors are also alien to the Anphallix. In the few recorded cases where the Anphallix have fought alongside female or mixed regiments, there has always been bewilderment, followed by disgruntlement. When Sororitas members from the Order of the Bloody Rose were supported by the Anphallix 7th on the planet Ryix, Legate Iryllius urged his company to rush ahead with the attack, managing to storm the rebel defences while sustaining heavy casualties, before the Sisters could move in to engage. When Palatine Correa demanded to know from Iryillius why he had attacked before the Sisters could get into position, Iryllius replied that he could not abide “standing around waiting for women to do a man’s job.” The writings of Sister Correa, later canonised for her part in the death of the Arch-traitor Lexman, indicate that she came fairly close to having the Anphallix Legate executed there and then.
The Anphallix 7th
Following the disaster of the Dalle Campaign, the Anphallix 7th has become Anphal’s only standing regiment. The Anphallix 7th is a recently founded regiment, with only a mere 200 year history of service to the Imperium. Although proud and rightfully disdainful of the more common regiments from other planets, it was still the least illustrious of the Anphallix. The Anphallix 1st had records of its participation in campaigns dating back millennia, even to the Vandire heresy. The destruction of these older regiments, and their celebrated records, was a serious blow to Anphallix pride, not to mention the fact that almost the entirety of Anphal’s male generation was lost. Unheard of in Anphallian history, the veterans of these regiments on Anphal have stepped forward to train, and lead, the new generations and forge their old regiments anew through blood and fire. It will still be many years before these regiments are ready to serve the Imperium once again, and nothing can be done to recover the details of their history of service, nor the many honorifics that they earned.
The Campaigns of the Anphallix 7th
So it is that the Anphallix 7th alone bears the responsibility of representing Anphal in its service to the Imperium. Although still young, the Anphallix 7th already has a swathe of notable victories to its name. The Purgation of Ryix, the capture of the Gradus Bastion and the storming of the deamon-infested Hive Cantine are but a few of the triumphs, deeds and names over the centuries that are recorded in the Tome of Anphal, its writings and safety the personal responsibility of the Consul.
The Destruction of the Knights of the Ill Omen
One of the more recent victories was the part the Anphallix 7th had in the destruction of the renegade Astartes warband, the Knights of the Ill Omen. 4th Company in particular distinguished themselves, choking off the Chaos Lord Rarq’s escape route by rapidly redeploying and seizing the fallen fortresses’ West Gate. What followed was a brutal series of close-quarter fire fights and melees, the fleeing traitors desperately launching themselves at the Anphallix soldiers blocking their path to escape.
4th Company took heavy casualties in their heroic holding of the Gatehouse, Legate Persus himself was struck down by Lord Rarq as the battle raged, and many of the company’s Valkyries were blasted out of the sky as the fortress’s Air Defence Systems on the lower levels were recaptured and brought back to life. The efforts of the Knights of the Ill Omen were wasted however, as the pursuing Imperial Guard forces caught up with their quarry, trapping the remnants of the Knights against the still-shut gates and cutting them down.
The Men of the Anphallix 7th
Marnes Petronus; Pilot
Hete pilots are known for their determination to prove themselves before the eyes of the Anphallix Consul. As such, Hete pilots have garnered a reputation for recklessness, never hesitating to throw themselves into the thick of the fight to earn the prize of a place in Anphal's aristocracy.
The Turova Blitz
Lord General Marhketorv discovered this during the Turova Blitz of M41, 971. Though the reasons behind the vicious Dark Eldar attack can only be speculated at, but on the Day of Saint Marcus a fleet of small xenos ships appeared above the planet Turova, which was fortunate the Turova Blitz can be cto have been orbited by the Lunar Class Cruiser
Conviction. The lone cruiser amazingly withstood the initial strikes from the small, but lithe, ships, and even managed to beat them back. But it could do nothing to prevent the xenos from making planetfall above Hive Turova, and worse was to come, as further attackers spilled from stange portals that appeared just outside the Hive walls.
The Fall of Turova
The following battle can be considered both a defeat and a victory for the Imperium. Hive Turova itself was lost, millions of its inhabitants perishing in the flames, but the Dark Eldar attackers were almost completely destroyed by the same orbital bombardments that crushed the hive itself. When it became clear that the Dark Eldar were rapidly overruning the Imperial Guard positions the Lord General sounded for the evacuation of the Imperial Guard forces, the Anphallix 7th one amonsgt them, ordering the
Conviction to fire down onto the Hive itself, knowing obliteration was a far kinder fate than capture. The evacuation was a disaster, whole regiments were lost in the panic, either seperated and cut down by the xenos invaders, or held up from the shuttles by panicking refugees until it was too late to flee from the naval bombardment. Some of the more hard-bitten regiments were not so encumbered, several disclipined volleys of lasfire into one crowd from the Terrax 42nd quickly cleared the way to their shuttles, their salvation secured as the stepped over the limp bodies of Imperial citizens. Having their own Valkryies and Gunships available, those that hadn't been destroyed by swooping Raiders or Ravagers at least, the Anphallix fared better than most.
Merhketorv's Saviour
But Merhketorv's
HQ unit had not done so well, and had become seperated from the rest of the Imperial Guard forces in the evacuation, and Dark Eldar squads were closing in for the prize. Demonstrating brazen, almost suicidal, courage an Anphallix Valkyrie came flying through heavy sprays from Dark Eldar lance fire, dogding collasping spires to arrive and provide air support for Merhketorv's
HQ unit, guiding them to a landing pad which looked ready to collapsed. Without hesitation the pilot emptied his last shots from the rockect pods into the pursuing Dark Eldar warriors as he landed, Merhketorv blessing the Emperor as he and the few surviving members of his retinue boarded, before taking off and miraculously reaching the relative safety of the
Conviction. Below, Hive Turova continued to burn.
Merhketorv praised the unamed pilot lavishly, remarking to the Anphallix Consul at the time that he would like to pin the medals on the pilot's breast personally. The Consul silently took the display of awards, over a dozen medals and honorifics and promised to present them to the pilot 'in due time'.
A Just Reward
Eight years later the Hete pilot finished his years of service to the Anphallix. Upon his departure the Consul approached him, finally presenting him with the medals, and more, that would otherwise have been awarded eight years ago. The Hete pilot thanked his Consul humbly, his heart in his throat as the Consul reached for another item from his cloak, drawing out the Letters of Note and reverently giving them to the pilot. The Hete pilot could not keep the tears from his eyes as he unscrolled the item, his lifeline, and read the heading, the great handwritten paragraphs that described the Hete's efforts and why he deserved the Letters and how they commended him to the Anphal nobility and awarded him the standing of a noble like any other. His eyes were drawn to the bottom, between the ending paragraph and the Consul's signature he read a name. A new name. Now his name. Marnes Petronus.
Retirement
Since moving back to Anphal and making his home in one of the many accomodating households, far from his home origins, Marnes has fathered several children, three of which were sons. One is still being trained, too young for the draft, but there are now two warriors in the Anphallix 7th that go by the name of Petronus.
The name Marnes Petronus has been written down in the Tome of Anphal.
" -KingCracker
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