Synopsis
Hey guys, this is the start of a hobby/narrative blog about my gaurd. My local shop is starting a crusade league over the next few months and I felt like that was the perfect start to get my narrative going! And sense this is motivation to get me painting, I will share my mediocre progress with that as well haha. This is my first attempt at a blog so I am sure there will be plenty of bugs to work out, such as the formatting. Really no idea what I'm doing with this but were gonna figure it out as we go. If you are a narrative buff and notice any inconstancies with 40k lore as a whole please let me know! And any tips, comments, or conversation are entirely welcomed and encouraged!
Thanks for taking a look,
-NFD
The Story of Hell Raised Regiment Three
Introduction
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The Hell Raised were used to the unusual. Their death world, Llaxa IV, was notoriously dangerous, even by death world standards. The atmosphere was barely breathable, the gravitational forces at least double Terras, with alien beasts, the likes of which would make myths and legends on other worlds, roaming freely in all biomes. Extreme topography littered with skyscraping mountain ranges, poisonous oceans, and bottomless ravines left little room for human settlement, yet when the Imperium discovered the riches hidden underneath the surface of Llaxa IV in M41.0021, an inhabitation force was sent and the planet had been a vital resource for the imperium ever since. The Hell Raised were Llaxa IV's fighting force, Imperial Guard tasked with defending the system and helping nearby imperial colonies when under siege. For a thousand years, the Hell Raised maintained a sense of normalcy over the chaos. These veterans had fought off ork invasion after ork invasion, dealt with heresy and cultish uprisings, and an uncountable number of other deadly threats. That was their nature, what they were born to do.
Hell Raised Regiment Three was perhaps the most accomplished regiment of all the Hell Raised and had recently been tasked with defending a nearby star system from a cultish insurrection that had already claimed the system's two capital planets. The Hell Raised were successful in this campaign of course, shining the light of the Emperor deep into the darkness of the night. After Imperial rule was once again established, Hell Raised Regiment Three were ready to return home. But near the end of their warp travel, a single occurance would forever change the fate of Hell Raised Regiment Three. A sharp psychic scream suddenly burst through the warp, and every navigator across the regiment's fleet matched the scream in a long hellish note, before convulsing to the ground. The navigators who did not immediately perish either fell to raving madness or castrated silence, leaving behind only a hallow husk. Regardless of the means, the outcomes were the same. The navigators were gone, and with them the fleet's means of navigating the perilous warp. Colonel Heathen Paxten, leading the regiment, decided to immediately pull the fleet out of the warp. What awaited them was something that none of their previous horrors or victories could prepare them for. Colonel Paxten and the rest of the regiment saw the gaping grin of the Cicatrix Maledictum, the near galaxy wide series of warpstorms that split the galaxy in twain. Truly awesome in size and scale to behold, the wall of massive warp energy spread as far as the eye could see. There was no way around. After establishing their location through carto-maps and picto-graphs of nearby systems, the Hell Raised came upon the realization that Llaxa IV was on the opposite side of the great storm, in what would later be called "Imperium Nihilus". Hell Raised Regiment Three was entirely on their own.
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The 50 PL list I started the league out with looks like this;
Company Commander
Tank Commander (Blue)
Tank Commander (Grey)
4 Infantry squad with Plasma/Lacannon
Conscripts
3 Heavy Weapon Squads with Lascannons
Figured at the small PL people would be bringing tanks to eek out an advantage, and so I loaded up on Lascannons as an anti-meta call. Turns out.... There are very few big vehicles in the league. Oh well. On my team for the league is a Tau, Eldar, and Iron Hands player. Im thinking we have a good chance here.
-----Game 1 Narrative------
Today was a good day, Commander Reynar decided. Colonel Paxton had tasked Reynar's company with exploring the abandoned imperial moon world Hexxon III, and they had taken some damage on their way into the atmosphere, but it was only ammunition and supplies they lost. Their support cruiser Mulon XI had been raided by an unidentified enemy, and for the last few weeks his company had been dangerously low on supplies. Luckily, the Hell Raised Companies greatest weapon still had plenty of stock… warm bodies.
Yesterday the company received a vox transmission from an adeptus mechanicus coven also exploring Hexxon III, who had offered to help resupply the regiment. Today was the meeting day, and Reynar found himself eagerly anxious for the first time in months. He had decided to bring over 50 infantry and some heavy weapon squads to help with the requisition, and two leman russes to transport the supplies back to base. As the sun began to set, dust was seen rising from the distance, and he knew the mechanicus were coming. As his men arrived at the meeting point, an abandoned industrial complex, Reynar voxed over to his sergeants “Can you feel that men? In the air? Its hope. The Emperor is still looking over us!”. Reynar smirked, wondering how much of what he said he actually believed. But morality aside, his men needed hope as much as they needed the resupply.
As the mechanicus got closer, Reynar felt something.... wasn’t quite right. There was a transport, as he had been expecting, but he also saw multiple mechanicus kastelan bots, and a host of other combat units.
Reynar began rationalizing this occurrence, right up until the kastelans raised their cannons and opened fire. The iridescent laser fire that streamed out promptly began mowing his men to the ground. His forces were in complete disarray. He tried to issue orders to his units but was just as confused and betrayed as they were. The heavy weapons teams struggled to get their lascannons up and were promptly turned to pink mist as the kastelans turned their attention to them. The leman russes began to open fire, but as soon as the first shot was fired, Tank Commander Blue was vaporized in a concentration of super ionized plasma. As Reynar sat dumbfounded trying to make sense of it all, he saw a squad of mechanicus on horseback flanking to his right. By the time he realized they were there for him, it was too late. With a burst of pain Reynar fell and his vision began to fade. As he lay on the ground bleeding out, his vox crackled to life one final time. It was the tech magos Aquisitor Dava-Nixos who had organized the rendezvous, his mechanical voice clicking along in rythm "Your logic failed when you presumed to ally with the xenos", he clicked out in a cold, careless tone. "Now, you perish". With his last ounce of strength, Reynar rolled over to see his remaining few squads eradicated. As his life force left him, Reynar thought, "A good day ay? A good day to die as any I suppose".
-----Game 1 IRL-------
Wow, game 1 of the league went terribly for me. Facing up against Adeptus Mechanicus, his 50 PL involved 2 Kastelan bots, 6 Kataphon Breachers, 6 outriders, and various troops. We tried playing on the minimum table size, as I had not tried it yet. Turns out a small table size is incredibly disadvantageous to gunline guard. All of his short range guns were in range of my whole army from turn one, and my troops got obliterated by his bots. He went first and on turn one, blew up Tank Commander Blue, 7 of the 9 HVY weapon lascannons died, 15+ infantry dropped, and as the icing on the cake, his outriders sniped my Company Commander turn 1. Before it even got to my turn 1, I had lost almost half of my army. By turn two I was all but wiped. The game ended shortly after.
And you know what that means? After the game, I got to roll combat attrition tests for all my guys! 3 squads failed and took a battle scar. Not a great start for Hell Raised Regiment 3.
BUT game 1 was done, and that meant I could spend the requisition I had saved up! So... 20 PL was added to my force. This gave me a 9 man squad of bullgryn, and a vindicare assassin. In addition, the guy running the campaign informed us we can change out units on our battle roster, but they would lose any experience in doing so. With this new information, I decided to drop a Hvy Weapon Squad (3PL) and add in 3 special weapon squads (They are only 1PL each!!) for a sweet 9 plasma guns added to the roster, as a gift for all the marine players that plague our shop. ;)
This meant the roster now looked like this.....
Company Commander
Tank Commander (Blue)
Tank Commander (Grey)
4 Infantry squad with Plasma/Lacannon
Conscripts
3 Special Weapon Squads with Plasma Guns
9 Bullgryn
2 Heavy Weapon Squads with Lascannons
Overall feeling better about my list now and looking forward to seeing Hell Raised Regiment 3 back at it for game 2!
-----Narrative------
Paxton trusted in the Emperor for all his important decisions, and today was no different. After days of calculating inventory, timetables, projected outcomes, and running simulations for various scenarios, it was time to make a decision. What was regiment III's next move; to dive headfirst into the Cicatrix Maledictum, or to give up on ever returning home. Neither were very pleasant options. Paxton's council gave varied opinions, none of which offered a clear line of success. The storm was just too damn risky, especially without any navigators on board. And so, Paxton prayed. He was a devout man, believing all his victories and accomplishments attributed to the grace of the Emperor, and he hoped this would be no different.
When Paxton emerged from his chambers, he was resolute. And when his master of communications warned him of a distress signal from a nearby subsector, Paxton took it as a sign from the Emperor himself. His troops were valued pawns for the Emperor, and to throw them away in a chaos induced warp storm felt... blasphemous. So, with the blessing of the Emperor on his mind, Paxton ordered his fleet into position and began his journey to the signal.
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When the Hell Raised arrived at the system, a few things became clear. First, it was not just one distress call. In fact, the closer they got, the more the received, until the stream of distress signals became a torrent and flood of pleas for help and grace from the emperor and any of his servants from all over the sector. Second, this system was a shit show. Coming into the system, the Hell Raised picked up signs of conflict everywhere. Burning fields of space debris revealed it was not only imperial forces engaged in this conflict, and that the xenos had found interest here as well. Clearly the system was plagued by a severe insurrectionist uprising, as a feeble attempt at a space blockade by the rebels attempted to prevent Regiment 3 from entering the system. The block did not last long, as the strike cruisers made short work of the shoddy space station, but it did provide Paxton and his regiment information about the nature of the uprising. Chaos and its many servants were clearly guiding the rebels.
Paxton's first goal was to establish a defensible area within the system from which to house his regiment and its troops. Space itself felt much too dangerous, with the black abyss of space constantly alight from endless conflict. And besides, it had been months since his men had stepped foot on solid ground. He decided to send out a couple of the regiment's companies to test differing locations, starting with a few of the abandoned moons nearby.
With those preparations beginning, and the companies beginning their missions, all he had left to do was wait. Paxton rarely smoked, but he had been saving a 100 year old Marion cigar case for a special time, and decided this campaign was a good time to begin working on the case. Paxton entered his quarters, sat down on his chair, and immediately the hairs on his arms stood still. Paxton was entirely frozen, unable to move a muscle. As he came to realize this occurrence, a lithe figure stepped out of the shadows and introduced himself as the Eldar ranger known as Lathlaeril. "Listen here and listen close Mon'keigh. Your regiment has stumbled upon a grand scheme thousands of years in the making. The delicate balance of fate is not one to brutally attack, as you Mon'Keigh are so well known for, lest billions of souls suffer as consequence. The chaos gods have great interest in these occurrences, and have brought their pawns in great force to enact their will. They will not be easily stopped." The eldar paused, and looked down at Paxton. While his blood boiled at being held captive by xenos scum, Paxton understood that the only reason he was alive right now was because the Eldar needed him. Lathlaeril continued, "Furthermore, an ancient enemy is awakening within the system. The great dynasty Skorpeth of the necron race have risen to once again claim this system. They in turn present profuse danger for the system as well as the sector at large. They must be stopped. I hope even with your failing Mon'Keigh comprehension you can understand the peril this system is subject to." The Eldar stopped, and with a elegant hand gesture Paxton realized he could now speak. He calmed himself, before asking "And what would you have me to, you Xenos.", adding on a tone of thinly veiled contempt to the last word. The Eldar paused, and responded "To solely do what you must, and avoid what you must not. There exist many actors in this play, and the puppet masters make all dance in the end. Even I know not all, I only know what I know. But this I can give you, within this system exists three forces you MUST not interfere with. The Tau of the Farsite conclave, The Eldar of Craftworld Biel'Tan, and the Iron Hands chapter of Space Marines. These are your allies, and the only ones who do not have your destruction at heart. The rest, while either misguided or malevolent, will bend this system to dark masters. So dance little human, but I beg you to dance within the lines. The implications of our actions will echo in the aeons. I do hope you understand. And just like that, the Eldar disappeared back into the shadows. The colonel sat alone shooken, as he slowly began to understand the complex web of dangers he had brought his regiment into. After giving a small prayer of strength to the Emperor, Colonel Paxton called his council and began planning once more.
-----Game 2 Narrative------
Reynar woke up in a brilliant ecstasy of pain. He felt so beat and bruised all he could do was moan, but it was this moaning that brought his attendants rushing over to help assist. The companies medic, Raphie, was called and came into the tent in a rushed hurry. Raphie explained how Reynar was alive only due to his bodies pure tenacity, as the rescue team didn't arrive until hours after the engagement, and the bullet wound in his head would have killed any lesser man. This wound was fixed with a mechanical attachment that modified part of Reynar's skull with a form of metal, which seemed to be the source of the excruciating pain he was currently experiencing. Reynar took this in, wheezed out a "Thank the Emperor", and fell back into his coma.
-Three weeks later-
Reynar's pain had cooled into a dull throb, and now there was only one thing preoccupying his mind; revenge. It was all he could think about. The scheming tech magos had robbed them of not only their supplies, but their dignity to. Nobody slighted the Hell Raised without repercussions. His company's scouts had determined the location of the Adeptus Mechanicus Conclave, an old mining industrial complex. And it was time to strike.
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The mission was a complete success. The mechanicus coven were entirely unsuspecting of the assault, and the Hell Raised suffered extremely light casualties, with only around 30 men dying. By Reynar's standards, that was nothing. They were even able to take over their mining complex, and secure the much needed provisions to supply the rest of his company. And best of all, the insufferable Tech Magos Aquisitor Dava-Nixos was now prisoner aboard their strike cruiser and was being brought back to the main regiment command, to be deeply and thoroughly "interviewed" by Colonel Paxton and his dreaded pain-extractors. "Damn those creepy bastards" Reynar thought to himself, but knew that was exactly what the dirty Tech Magos deserved. As his men explored deeper into the mining complex, the more Reynar liked this position. This might be the exact location Paxton sent Reynar's company out to find. Reynar would report to Paxton this discovery early tomorrow morning, but for now it was time to celebrate their victory. His men had found an large crate of glow-cigs in an abandoned room, and with the companies commissar out of commission....Paxton figured his men could use the much needed relaxant. For in a guardsman's life, there is little time for reprieve.
-----Game 2 IRL------
Game 2 was once again against Ad Mech, the same player as game 1. It was a rematch, and this time the game was on a larger board and I got the first turn. It was the exact opposite of last game, this time by the time he had to leave early (start of 3rd) he was nearly wiped. Turns out the leman russes are no joke when they have range and LOS to shoot what they want. I also brought the bullgryn for this game, and they provided a much needed shield for the rest of my army, soaking up almost all his firepower on turn 1. And with that, the Hell Raised got their revenge on the Admech! Feelsgood.
The mission awarded 2 Req points upon victory also, so I added 10 PL to my army. With the 10 PL I added an astropath (to buff bulgryn), a vindicare assassin, and another Heavy Weapons Team. So the new roster looks like this.
Company Commander
Tank Commander (Blue)
Tank Commander (Grey)
4 Infantry squad with Plasma/Lacannon
Conscripts
3 Special Weapon Squads with Plasma Guns
9 Bullgryn
Astropath (Psychic Barrier)
3 Heavy Weapon Squads with Lascannons
Vindicare Assassin
Also due to agendas and marked for greatness I was able to buff the bullgryn after only one game to have a 6++ Feel no Pain. Thats no joke on a unit with 27 wounds of T5 2+ armor models. Lookin in a good spot for the next few games.
-----Game 3-5 Narrative------
