In Service to the Imperium: A Warhammer 40,000 Imperial Guard Roleplay
Revived as of 8/24/14 ! Applications are open once more!
Episode Five: Uprising on Pan Arcadia
A good soldier obeys without question. A good officer commands without doubt.-Tactica Imperium
Legital wrote:Okay. While I work on a post, here is the new map of our region we're heading to. Below will be a key to the parts numbered and colors and all that stuff.
Map of our approaching region with stuff
Key:
Yellow Dot: Fort Macharius
1. Route 1: This is one of two ways we could leave the Fort. Take a direct route to the highway and move straight in. Very quick, but possible we could be slowed by refugees or PDF.
2. Route 2: Slower route on some backroads to the city. Likely there will not be any or much PDF, but will take some time to approach.
3. Tan-ish segments are the Salt Flats. While not exactly composed of salt, the flats are nevertheless a barren wasteland surrounding the city. Chemical run off, waste, and dumped materials are left here. Crystal like substances often form in this area from a combination of chemicals and water, giving the impression that the crystals are salt, which they certainly are not. The Flats are more or less toxic in some areas.
4. Black segments. The city of Mourndrear itself, a vast industrial center akin to a miniature forge.
5. Red segments. The massive highway and rail system which snakes around Pan Arcadia.
6. Seldoc River. Terribly polluted down stream, cutting through the city. It is used as a source of power for many areas, powering the massive factories and manufactorums. Up river the Seldoc is much cleaner and safer to drink when properly treated, but no amount of treatment could allow the almost black sludge like river downstream to be drinkable.
7. Montaire, a small hab-block city.
http://s1106.photobucket.com/user/Deaths_Head921/media/W40Kmappart2_zps10577eeb.png.html?sort=3&o=1
The red and blue dots next to numbers is a simple way for people to say where they are when we reach the city. Make sure that when you view the map, you zoom in all the way (should be little + thing in the bottom right corner of the image). It's like 3000x4000 pixels so you can see the streets.
Hello and welcome to the next installment to the In Service to the Imperium series, where players take on the roles of an Imperial Guard company in a single regiment. From the first episode, the best way to fully explain what this roleplay is about is this:
The basic idea here, is that each RPer will assume the role of an individual company within a single Imperial Guard regiment. To ensure a decent degree of customization, players can create companies from any world they wish (within reason), including fan created worlds (also within reason). As you may or may not know, regiments that suffer extreme casualties, being reduced to a companies strength, are folded into a 'mother' or 'fold' regiment, therefore creating a regiment at full strength of mixed cultures and soldiers of specialty.
I would also like to keep persistent stats for the various companies, to add more realism to the whole thing. So if you are interested, fill out a company application and post it, and we'll see how it does. Obviously we can't have everyone be a tank company, or all of something else. There should be more infantry companies then other types, as we will be a Line Regiment.
With that in mind, players are given freedom to create a company with the specialty and homeworld of their choice. Whether this is a world already established in W40K lore or your creation, as long as it is within reason, it is allowed. An example could be Cadian Shock Troopers or Catachan Jungle Fighters.
-The Story So Far-
Welcome to Pan Arcadia, an Imperial world located in the Ultima Segmentum of the Imperium of Mankind. Pan Arcadia is a simple civilized world, one of countless many scattered across Imperial territory. With a population of eleven billion souls and land rich for agriculture and mining, it is certainly a planet of some status. However, due to the rather isolated location of space Pan Arcadia happens to be located in, it is up to a garrison of several Imperial Guard regiments to look after the planet along with the PDF and Adeptus Arbites.
You are a company attached to the Segmentian 557th. After sustaining losses of great nature, the Departmento Munitorum has seen to it that the remaining forces of your previous regiment were consolidated into a companies strength and attached to one of the many fold regiments of the Imperium, yours being the Segmentian 557th. While too little to throw away, but just enough to keep, you continue your service to the Imperium in a regiment made up of other Guardsmen from various different worlds and regiments which have been reduced to a mere company worth of men.
The Segmentian 557th is stationed in the capital city of Nova Prime, a sprawling urban center filled with industry and administrative buildings, with the surrounding outskirts home to vast stretching agricultural centers. The second and thrid largest cities are home to the two other Imperial Guard garrison regiments, with PDF forces stationed in most large cities.
However, all is not well on Pan Arcadia. Unknowingly to the loyal citizens and guardsmen, Chaos has had a hand in the future of Pan Arcadia for many years. An uprising of tremendous proportions is about to unleash all across the planet. Many lives will be lost, but it is up to the noble Imperial defenders to hold out.
You know not when or how the rebellion will start. You do not even know that a rebellion will happen. All you know is that you are on Pan Arcadia, and you expect a pleasant time in garrison. You are wrong.
When the IC starts, it will be the second day of your arrival on Pan Arcadia. This will allow you to have a basic idea of who your fellow guardsmen are before the fun happens.
-Segmentia and I will be the OPs for the duration of the roleplay.-
Rules:
1. No goddmodding. Take casualties. If you don't, I will make sure you suffer more than you need to.
2. This is Warhammer 40,000. If you have no knowledge of it, perhaps applying is not a good idea. But if you are interested, take a look here for information.
3. This is a relatively serious RP. Of course there may be some humorous things, but your company will not be carnival clowns from the Inquisition either.
4. No Space Marines. We are all Imperial Guard here.
5. Your personal number cannot exceed more than 900. Armor companies can have no more than fifty vehicles of Leman Russ chassis and/or Chimera chassis. Any super heavy tanks must be prior approved. They will more than likely not be accepted anyways, due to their nature. (Remember, you are in this new regiment because of severe losses to your previous regiment. Full stats may be denied.)
6. No commanding officers above the rank of Major. Your commanding officer may be a captain, or even a lieutenant depending on the severity of losses on the officer cadre.
7. Type of regiments (in this case, companies) can be seen here. You can be anything but a Drop or Siege specialty. Do keep in mind that Abhumans are accepted.
8. Returning players may use old companies. But remember, you took losses. If the homeworld of your choice happens to send new guardsmen to replenish you, that is fine, however it will not be much.
Application:
- Code: Select all
[b]Company name:[/b] Typically, there will be a number, name of origin, and type of company. Ex-(4th Cadain Armored).
[b]Home world:[/b] Can be pre-existing or fan created (Within reason).
[b]Type of Company:[/b]
[b]Commanding Officer:[/b]
[b]Number of Guardsmen:[/b]
[b]Support (Weapons, vehicles, etc):[/b] Armor and vehicle heavy regiments will have most detail here. Be reasonable on support weapons.
[b]Uniforms:[/b] Picture or detailed description.
[b]Miscellaneous info:[/b] Anything about culture, something extra about weapons, etc.
[b]-Company Commander info-[/b]
[b]Name:[/b]
[b]Age:[/b]
[b]Gender:[/b]
[b]Rank:[/b] Information above explained highest rank possible. Remember, your previous regiment took losses. You may just be a Lieutenant.
[b]Background:[/b]
[b]Physical description:[/b]
Segmentian 557th Company Roster List Part One
Segmentia wrote:Company name: 557th Segmentian Regiment
Home world: Segmentia
Type of Company: Infantry/Artillery mix
Commanding Officer: Colonel Asilis Victoria
Number of Guardsmen: 675 Guardsmen
Support (Weapons, vehicles, etc): 5 Earthshaker artillery pieces and tow-vehicles, 6 Chimeras with auto-cannons, 20 Heavy bolters, 6 Auto-cannons, 30 flamers, 18 mortars
Uniforms:(Image)
Miscellaneous info: Most Segmentian issue las-rifles are bolt-action clip fed weapons, though they do have a greater punch to them, and tend to be more accurate.
-Company Commander info-
Name: Asilis Victoria
Age: 45
Gender: Female
Rank: Colonel
Background: Born and orphaned within 6 months, Asilis was taken in by a distant uncle and raised by the house servants, Asilis was always a clever child, taking in and remembering even minute details. This cleverness, added with a sharp mind and tongue often saw her being in trouble, and at the age of 14 she was sent into the care of the local PDF-sponsored school. Like her mother before her she showed an aptitude for unit command, and was watched over by several PDF and local Imperial Guard officials. At the age of 18, the age when the school officially ends, Asilis was snatched up by the PDF and put into an official officer’s academy. At age 22 she graduated with a commission for 2nd Lieutenant and was sent to serve with a PDF infantry regiment, eventually ending up on one of Segmentia’s moons, infested with feral orks. She distinguished herself on the front line, earning the respect and trust of both her subordinates and superiors. She was soon promoted to 1st Lieutenant and after substantial losses, she was rotated to an open officers position in the regiments artillery company. After some serious studying and effort, she became quite the artillery officer, and when she returned to her infantry unit after its rear-line rotation, she put those new skills to use, calling in precise and devastating artillery support. After a few years of fighting several companies were elevated into the ranks of the Guard being sent to a nearby system to fight rebels, and cultists vying for control over a backwater Imperial world. After years of being sent from system to system, with companies being taken and added (Though more taken) over the years, the 557th eventually ended up on Pan Arcadia, with but a single understrength company left after losses and various company subtractions.
Physical description:(Image)
Company name: Higaran 92nd Infantry
Home world: Higara (Hi-gar-ra)
Type of Company: Infantry
Commanding Officer: Captain Gregory Dietrich Gustav
Number of Guardsmen: 421 Guardsmen
Support (Weapons, vehicles, etc):
-9 Chimeras for mechanized transport
-21 Infantry Mortars
-12 Infantry Heavy Bolters
-2 Lascannons
-8 Centaurs, pulling Heavy Mortars
Each squad of men is designated with a single trooper to utilize a missile launcher or flamer, as such, numbers are:
-18 Missile launchers
-19 Flamers
Uniforms: A Higaran Guardsmen in his uniform. Note his flak armor chest piece is removed for uniform view.
Miscellaneous info: Higaran infantry regiments are often known for their large use of mortars, following their standard doctrine. Infantry are to always have indirect fire support, and while artillery regiments are best for this procedure, it is not always possible for such a regiment to be readily available. Therefore, mortars are provided to infantry regiments, where heavy mortars can provide more powerful and farther range support than the standard infantry mortar, which is used at a squad level.
Higaran's are a very cultured people. A very noticeable aspect to this is that most men, especially Higaran guardsmen, boast styled handlebar-like mustaches or sideburns.
-Company Commander info-
Name: Gregory Dietrich Gustav
Age: 32
Gender: Male
Rank: Captain
Background: Gregory enrolled in an Imperial Guard junior officers school at the age of sixteen, prior to his completion of his main education, a luxury that few Imperial citizens receive. Proficient in mathematics, Gustav was selected for officer training in an artillery regiment. However, due to the already large number of artillery officers, Gustav, at his own accord, opted to become an infantry officer, more than capable at leading the contingent of mortars and, if he was lucky, earthshakers.
Though fate was not exceptionally kind, and Gustav was assigned as a platoon leader with no combat experience, always something that many men despised. But, thanks to his competence and trial by fire, Gustav was able to prove himself a solid line officer after several engagements. Serving a few years as a mainline infantry officer, Gustav's transfer to serve with the regiments artillery compliment was accepted, and he came to command an infantry mortar platoon due to his field experience. Content, he served this role for many more years until he eventually achieved the rank of First Lieutenant, coming to command half of the indirect fire support platoons with another first lieutenant, both under command of Major Fredrick, now deceased.
Nearly a year or more ago was the engagement which saw the 92nd nearly wiped out. Holding out against Tau forces while other guard regiments routed, the 92nd were able to repel the xenos at a costly price. Instead of earning time to recover, the now company force of men were placed under a new regiment to continue their service, the Cadian 1162nd, after they took on the remains of another decimated Higaran regiment. They were stationed on an ice world where they were fighting the Tau again as part of the sector crusade against them. What was forecasted to be a long campaign was thankfully much shorter. The Tau presence on the planet was lower than expected, and with an exceptional commander, the 1162nd was able to secure the planet from the Tau.
However, their time with the 1162nd was short. The regiment was soon disbanded and the remains of the Higaran 92nd were separated yet again and bound for another fold regiment. Yet again, another group of Higarans far from home of another decimated regiment were placed within the 92nd, bringing the company size group of men to almost four hundred individuals. While in transit, they were told they were being assigned to the Segmentian 557th on the planet Pan Arcadia as per garrison duty.
Physical description: Gustav is broad shouldered and stands at 5'10, not quite the model of an officer. Like most Higarans, he sports a brown mustache. Gustav has shrapnel scarring along the left side of his face from an exploded mortar shell, and he counts himself lucky to have not lost his eye. His eyes are green, and are set in a hard and grim gaze. His general facial features are naturally rather gaunt, with high cheekbones.
Home world: Higara (Hi-gar-ra)
Type of Company: Infantry
Commanding Officer: Captain Gregory Dietrich Gustav
Number of Guardsmen: 421 Guardsmen
Support (Weapons, vehicles, etc):
-9 Chimeras for mechanized transport
-21 Infantry Mortars
-12 Infantry Heavy Bolters
-2 Lascannons
-8 Centaurs, pulling Heavy Mortars
Each squad of men is designated with a single trooper to utilize a missile launcher or flamer, as such, numbers are:
-18 Missile launchers
-19 Flamers
Uniforms: A Higaran Guardsmen in his uniform. Note his flak armor chest piece is removed for uniform view.
Miscellaneous info: Higaran infantry regiments are often known for their large use of mortars, following their standard doctrine. Infantry are to always have indirect fire support, and while artillery regiments are best for this procedure, it is not always possible for such a regiment to be readily available. Therefore, mortars are provided to infantry regiments, where heavy mortars can provide more powerful and farther range support than the standard infantry mortar, which is used at a squad level.
Higaran's are a very cultured people. A very noticeable aspect to this is that most men, especially Higaran guardsmen, boast styled handlebar-like mustaches or sideburns.
-Company Commander info-
Name: Gregory Dietrich Gustav
Age: 32
Gender: Male
Rank: Captain
Background: Gregory enrolled in an Imperial Guard junior officers school at the age of sixteen, prior to his completion of his main education, a luxury that few Imperial citizens receive. Proficient in mathematics, Gustav was selected for officer training in an artillery regiment. However, due to the already large number of artillery officers, Gustav, at his own accord, opted to become an infantry officer, more than capable at leading the contingent of mortars and, if he was lucky, earthshakers.
Though fate was not exceptionally kind, and Gustav was assigned as a platoon leader with no combat experience, always something that many men despised. But, thanks to his competence and trial by fire, Gustav was able to prove himself a solid line officer after several engagements. Serving a few years as a mainline infantry officer, Gustav's transfer to serve with the regiments artillery compliment was accepted, and he came to command an infantry mortar platoon due to his field experience. Content, he served this role for many more years until he eventually achieved the rank of First Lieutenant, coming to command half of the indirect fire support platoons with another first lieutenant, both under command of Major Fredrick, now deceased.
Nearly a year or more ago was the engagement which saw the 92nd nearly wiped out. Holding out against Tau forces while other guard regiments routed, the 92nd were able to repel the xenos at a costly price. Instead of earning time to recover, the now company force of men were placed under a new regiment to continue their service, the Cadian 1162nd, after they took on the remains of another decimated Higaran regiment. They were stationed on an ice world where they were fighting the Tau again as part of the sector crusade against them. What was forecasted to be a long campaign was thankfully much shorter. The Tau presence on the planet was lower than expected, and with an exceptional commander, the 1162nd was able to secure the planet from the Tau.
However, their time with the 1162nd was short. The regiment was soon disbanded and the remains of the Higaran 92nd were separated yet again and bound for another fold regiment. Yet again, another group of Higarans far from home of another decimated regiment were placed within the 92nd, bringing the company size group of men to almost four hundred individuals. While in transit, they were told they were being assigned to the Segmentian 557th on the planet Pan Arcadia as per garrison duty.
Physical description: Gustav is broad shouldered and stands at 5'10, not quite the model of an officer. Like most Higarans, he sports a brown mustache. Gustav has shrapnel scarring along the left side of his face from an exploded mortar shell, and he counts himself lucky to have not lost his eye. His eyes are green, and are set in a hard and grim gaze. His general facial features are naturally rather gaunt, with high cheekbones.
Aelosia wrote:Company name: 6th Thermidor Logistics and Tacticae Company.
Home world: Thermidor. Scholam World. Formerly a Pleasure/Garden World, during the last millenia the planet Thermidor suffered a transformation after the founding of a Schola Progenium upon its surface by the Ecclesiarchy and the Adeptum Munitorum for high level orphans. Thermidor has 4 continents, two of which remain in a level similar to an agri-world, a third remains in a Pleasure World state for members of the Ecclesiarchy, and the fourth hosts the Academia, the massive sprawling city home of the Schola Progenium. Thermidor has traditionally produced cadres of officers for the Navy, the Imperial Guard, and the Commissariat, and high ranking graduates to the Adeptus Munitorum, but also many graduates have joined the Adeptus Mechanicum, the Adeptus Sororitas, and even the Sacred Ordos of the Inquisition in a few rare cases, but during the last two centuries it has also contributed with two formal regiments to the Guard, formed by remnant students commandered by graduates. As such, Thermidor has many good relationships with the most powerful entities of the Empire, and it is also known as the University World of the Imperium.
Type of Company: Formerly a mechanized artillery support company, the 4th Thermidor was transformed into a support and logistics company after suffering staggering losses in high quality war material that was not possible to replenish properly. As such, the Thermidorians now are a mesh of different platoons merged together to be used as force multipliers for the actions of other companies. It includes a rather high quality Medicae Corps, and also an efficient Recovery&Repair Corps in order to assist Armoured or Mechanized companies. The rest of the Company is composed of several platoons of mechanized infantry and the survivor vehicles of the original artillery batteries. Meanwhile it has the ability to support and even carry small anti-armor missions by their own, their appointed duty is to support other companies with communications, medical facilities and personnel, ammo supplying, mechanical maintenance, and tactical assessment and advise.
Commanding Officer: Gunnery Major Victoria Aleinne Isabeau Katherine Vanhayn Debois Castel.
Number of Guardsmen: 300
Support (Weapons, vehicles, etc): Detailed in the full order of battle below
Uniforms: Officers, NCOs, Gunners, Support Personnel, Medicae,Auxiliars.
Miscellaneous info: The 4th Thermidor Spitfire is a segregated regiment. It is entirely composed by women. In the Thermidorian regiments, formed by recently graduates or varsity-like students, it is extremely dishonorable for a male to man such a weapon as an artillery piece, (foppish nobles, the lot), but the tacticians of the world recognized the need to have support artillery regiments for the Thermidor male troops, specialized in siege assault warfare, but no recruit would willingly form part of an artillery complement. The answer was to employ women. All "support" companies raised in Thermidor are composed of women, as main line assaults are a privilege for men. The 4th Thermidor is the oldest all-female artillery support company, and have a reputation for discipline and dedication to duty. It is known as the "Thermidor Maidens" as legend says that once upon a time, the first women that formed the lines were all unmarried virgins, (given that the Thermidorian Scholam was founded by the Ecclesiarchy, and that many of the graduates go to join the church, it is likely they did impose this tradition upon the company at the founding. Other gossip says that the company's first members were actually rejected aspirants to novitiates of the Adeptus Sororitas). Truth or not, it is a tradition that all women recruited for the 4th must be single and have no children. The medicaes always perform surgical (yet reversible) procedures on the members of the company to ensure they do not get pregnant.
All officers of the company are supposed to be graduates of the Academia Schola Progenium, not just as military officers but also with civilian grades. Vanhayn, for example, is an engineer, specialized in telecommunications and ballistics, and also a Major, meanwhile all medicae officers are surgeon graduates from the Schola, which guarantees a rather high quality of skill from the thermidorian medical bay. The gunners (privates) and NCOs are students of the Scholam that failed to get the grades needed to graduate as officers, (and yet showed some promise), and thus were offered as tithes by their own mentors, teachers, or even classmates. New recruits, however, specially the handful of those drafted after Evisor, known inside the company as "auxiliars", or "trainees", lack that kind of specialization.
The original Thermidorians have suffered mild to medium casualties in the last four campaigns they participated into. At Evisor, and the Accatran Forge World, they suffered massive casualties that crippled the usefulness of the company as a mechanized artillery regiment. However, at both Epsilon Octarious and Kel'borshal they remained as rearguard, given their new forging as a Support Company, and hardly saw any action, but took the chances to replenish the number of privates using the orphans created by the conflicts in both worlds. Currently there are original Thermidorian Gunners that occupy officers' positions, and most of the Company's Gunners (privates), come from Evisor and Epsilon Octarious. In the case of the Evisorian privates, they are the only natives of the planet that remain alive after the Exterminatus cleansed its surface. The retraining has been possible thanks to the effort of the original thermidorian survivor officer cadre, and their former Universitas formation.
Tactics: The Thermidorians hardly are ever able to save the day all by themselves, and more than anyone else their Commander is the first one to remember it. The Company usually is not deployed to the front lines, or alone, and several platoons are stationary. However, the Thermidoarians usually stand as reserves and reinforce any part of the battlefield that needs their particular expertise. Moreover, the platoons are relatively independent and can work separated from each other. For example, three platoons of mechanized light infantry can outflank an enemy's group and win some time so the Medicae platoons evacuate the wounded and the Recovery Teams deal with any disabled and yet salvageable vehicle, as the long range batteries cover their advance to force the enemy to cower. The Thermidorians are at their best boosting the efforts of other companies, and have managed to get pretty adept at it, after their experience being merged in different regiments during the last 4 campaings.
-Company Commander info-
Name: Gunnery Major Victoria Aleinne Isabeau Katherine Vanhayn Debois Castel
Age: 39
Gender: Female
Rank: Gunnery Major. Former Lieutenant Colonel.
Background:Victoria Vanhayn have served in the 4th her entire military career. Victoria Aleinne Isabeau Katherine Vanhayn Debois Castel, second child and first daughter of the Vanhayn-Debois House, graduated with the highest honors from the engineering university of Thermidor, giving a surprise when she volunteered for the imperial tithe in place of a younger brother. Previous study in a Scholam Progenium, during which she was sought to be indoctrinated first as an ecclesiarchy Sister and then as a Commissar, but as her mentors found her lack of piety disturbing, she managed to graduate as an Imperial Officer, Second Lieutenant. Thanks to her advanced knowledge of mechanics and physics, even although she managed to displease most of her Adeptus Mechanicus teachers, she secured a post in the next founding as adjutant in the artillery companies. Her ascension through the ranks was progressive, passing as lieutenant, captain and finally major, the highest rank any Thermidor woman can attain in the armed forces. Her ascendance was also a bit slow, as usually is in artillery regiments, that suffer relatively lesser casualties both amongst troops and officers than other regiments, and by those reasons receive less promotions. Major Victoria Vanhayn is an experienced commander of artillery, and have retained her post for 6 years and four consecutive campaigns, and have learned many things about any way of waging warfare.
She learned a lot during the Evisor campaign, and she is now a more mature commander. Although protocol is still important to her, she does not label it as essential anymore, although she values discipline above everything else. Major Vanhayn is also an educated individual, that takes her job seriously as it is, a matter of life and death for the women under her command, and so she tries to learn as much as she can about warfare, both in theory and practice. She values a lot the life of her soldiers and would not sacrifice them under most circumstances. Recently, she has realized that her Company cannot make a difference in the battlefield only by itself, and have trained her troops to be adaptable for working alongside different companies. This has turned both Vanhayn and her company into a group that value teamwork and are open to professionally mingle with other companies.
Physical description: Tall, blonde, aloof and always perfectly groomed. Her uniform is usually flawless. She tends to speak little, and rarely barks or shouts commands, trying to support her words with arguments and reason. She is also polite, although not at all excessively courteous or sycophant. Her soldiers, however, seem to follow her orders quite easily, as they for the most part follow extremely logical ways of thought and reflect an acute common sense.
Physical description:Gunnery Major Victoria Aleinne Isabeau Katherine Vanhayn Debois Castel
Carcharhinidae primari wrote:Company name: Urdeshi 15/17th Armoured, 5/7th companies
Home world: Urdesh
Type of Company: Armoured (hellhounds)
Commanding Officer: Company Sergeant-Major Marik Alden (field promotion due to being the most senior sergeant surviving the Ark Reach Secundum debacle)
Number of Guardsmen: 75 (12 enginseers not included)
Support (Weapons, vehicles, etc): 9 Hellhounds (Graia-Pattern,fitted with Urdeshi pattern inferno cannons despite those require more maintenance then a 'pure' pattern), 1 Chimera (command version, Graia-pattern, outfitted with turreted heavy flamer, hull-mounted heavy bolter). standard equipment per vehicle is is one flamer (for the gunner) one lasgun (for the driver) 3 laspistols (gunner, driver and commander) and one vox headset (commander)
Uniforms: Dress uniform are a dark, rust-red colour, and appear quite spartan compared to the more common imperial guard uniforms. A less-obvious differentiation is the flame-retardant properties of the fabric, a factor which helped save many a driver's life in the fire-prone company.
Perhaps the most striking feature is the absence of any and all icons dedicated to the imperial cult, and the subsequent flourishing of Adeptus Mechanicus iconography, with cogwheels and the cybernetic skull integrated into many a badge or hellhound decoration.
Reason the company was folded into the 557th: The second time 5th platoon was integrated into a new regiment (the first leading to the designation 15/17th armoured), their arrival on Malbork came after a devastating campaign cleansing the planet Ark Reach Secumdum from a heretical uprising.
Though arriving late into the confict the Urdeshi 15/17th would face one of the highest casualty numbers of the entire war, with all but two companies completely whiped out and the two companies themselves folded together during the battle itself after falling below half-strength. Their deployment was supposed to be almost routine. a hot drop into a freshly-secured starport, followed by spreading out along the imperial lines to help cement the push into a heretic held city block.
Their initial deployment went smooth, with little to no enemy fire coming anywhere near the company-sized dropships shuttling them to the battlefront, but soon changed when the final landers were swinging in. as the fifth and seventh companies, both consisting of 4 hellhound squadrons and a command chimera, left the starport early to engage a large force of heavy infantry severely pressuring the lines closest to the star port, it suddenly became starkly clear just how far the treason had run.
Imperial investigators had long wondered how the enemy, with no known access to any orbital installations, was able to react to imperial movements with such speed. considerable time and manpower was spent to check each and every orbital station for signs of renegade activity, and the slow investigation never uncovered anyone who was compromised. their questions were answered in a spectacular way when station rho-17, the command module of the orbital auspex grid, suddenly fired it's retroburners and began to de-orbit. without word or signal the traitors that had apparently taken the station were intent on delivering a crushing blow to the imperial regiments by taking out their most valuable spaceport, the one closest to their lines. though vox warnings were sent the ionized air left by the station's superheated descent quickly made any communication between orbit and the spaceport impossible, and most of the regiment was caught directly under the descending structure.
The cloud of smoke and dust following the shockwave of this titanic impact swept the battlefield, and though both sides were caught up in it the heretics were clearly prepared. The following counterattack stretched the imperial lines to breaking point, and opened several breaches the two hellhound companies were barely able to contain. Eventually, after the command chimeras of both company were destroyed and over half of their hellhounds were also taken out, then-sergeant Marik Alden brought both companies together and continued to coordinate the remaining vehicles until reinforcement came in the form of a harakoni drop regiment braving the atmospheric turbulence and tipping the battle in imperial favour.
Miscellaneous info: created out of two companies, by chance both survivors of the 15th Urdeshi armoured, 5/7th company is a severely depleted and divided group. Both the former companies, though more then able to work together on the battlefield of Ark Reach Secundum, considered the other with strong rivalry. Always working to outdo one another or sneaking into quarters for practical jokes, the harmless rivalry has begun to spiral since the two companies have been recombined. With Company Sergeant-Major Alden being from the 5th, the remaining crews from the 7th have begun to resent having to take orders from a 'fifth' and discipline has become a problem. With the commisar attached to their regiment failing to survive and CSM Alden having no experience dealing with this kind of command it seems unlikely the problem would be solved internally.
Their one unifying aspect however, and probably the only reason keeping brawls and outright sabotage away, is the company's dedication to the Cult Mechanicus, an incredibly rare and generally frowned-upon trait amongst the countless billions that make up the guard. Whatever internal tensions they might foster, the fact that they are generally alone in their beliefs forces cooperation onto them.
-Company Commander info-
Name: Marik Alden
Age: 27
Gender: male
Rank: Company Sergeant-Major (senior NCO in a company, usually directly below a captain and considered above luitenant, despite being non-commissioned, further promotion has not occurred due to his inexperience with command.)
Background:Much of his early youth was spent in the middle-hives of Urdesh, his parents working in one of the munitions factory of the forge-world. Marik himself showed some aptitude for the machines, and was eventually inducted into the seminary for training. His subsequent dismissal from the seminary, after just over a year, is still a subject of debate as he refuses to confirm or deny any of the rumours going around. The most widely believed rumour claims that it was his fascination with pyrotechnics and the flow of burning promethium that led to his dismissal. Afterwards he soon found his true calling, joining one of the guard regiments Urdesh is uniquely obligated to raise.
Despite most forgeworlds being exempt from the Guard tithe Urdesh was obligated after it's liberation during the Sabbat worlds crusade to help support the crusade in any way possible, with supplies, armour and men all being tithed. Despite the nominal end of the crusade this arrangement continues.
So Marik joined the newly-reformed 15th Urdeshi armoured as a trainee hellhound gunner, and soon found himself leaving his home world as the 15th and 17th armoured were deployed to Cociaminus. Despite the Sabbat worlds crusade officially retaking the planet in 760.M41 Chaos partisans were never fully eradicated, and the world continues to require an active guard regiment to deal with the frequent hit-and-run strikes. over the next two years Marik received both an official promotion to corporal in charge of the hellhound 'Firedog' and later a field promotion to sergeant in charge of third squad during the sporadic fighting on the world. The high attrition rates of the world however soon depleted both regiments to 50% nominal strength, and the Munitorum replaced them with fresh troops. Subsequently the regiments were combined for the operation on Ark reach secundum, of which has been spoken earlier.
Physical description:A man of average height and build, Marik only really stands out because of the pale skincolour typical of Urdesh troopers, a consequence of the heavy smog cover over their world, and subsequently low levels of natural light. During his time at the seminar, though too brief for more extensive augmentation, his right eye was replaced with an augmetic implant later retuned to give some degree of vision through the dense smoke so typical of hellhound combat.
There is a certain bearing about him that, with time, could make him a competent officer. For now though his youth and relative inexperience commanding a greater force saps his confidence and effectiveness.
Duty roster
First platoon
command team: CSM Marik Alden, gunner Alrik Van Akolar, driver Pritos Henner
2 squads of three vehicle teams each, each squad led by a sergeant and a corporal each in charge of one of the vehicles, with a more experienced guardsman serving as commander in the 3rd vehicle.
1 squad of two vehicle teams due to the under-strength nature of the company.
nominal compliment: 27 out of 30
second platoon
Command team: lieutenant Agrikos Prodromou, gunner, driver
1 squad of three vehicle teams,
2 squads of two vehicle teams
nominal compliment: 24 out of 30
third platoon
Command team: lieutenant Yarlo Heron, gunner, driver.
1 squad of three vehicle teams
2 squads of two vehicle teams
nominal compliment: 24 out of 30
Morrdh wrote:Company name: 319th Battalion, Morridane Mirewatch ('The Bad Luck Boys')
Home world: Morrdh
Type of Company: Light Infantry (Scouts speciality)
Commanding Officer: Captain Artemis Stormwell
Number of Guardsmen: 5 Officers, 122 men (originally 845 all ranks but substained heavy losses in previous engagement)
Support: 9 Flamers, 9 Autocannons, 1 Leman Russ Vanquisher ('Poacher')
Uniforms: http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y81/mad_ruskkie/morrsoldier.jpg
Miscellaneous info: Info dump time, handily spoilered;
Morrdh
Morrdh is a frontier world in the Koronus Expanse and was discovered by Sebastian Winterscale very early in his career. A lost world of man, it was covered in extensive ruins and great Cyclopean cities long buried beneath millennia of dark forest and dank swamplands. The native population were examined and found wholesome despite their long separation from the light of the Emperor, but for reasons unknown colonists were brought from the Greater Imperium to resettle Morrdh. Natives who were slow to abandon their old beliefs and practices were pushed to the fringes, and even today those with Native blood are viewed with some suspicion.
The tantalising prospect of Archeotech brought representatives of the Adeptus Mechanicus to Morrdh, while the prospect of conversion brought representatives of the Ecclesiarchy. Colonists sought to rule themselves alone, while Winterscale wished to exploit the mysterious bounties of the world for himself and his burgeoning dynasty. Fractious squabbling between these factions brought down the wrath of the Inquisition, who brokered a settlement – Morrdh and its people would be led by a council representing each faction, a council headed by a leader chosen from the ranks of the new settlers.
Queen Lothwyn XIV is the current monarch of Morrdh and planetary governor, ruling from the capital city of Morrdun. Beneath her, a Magos Explorator, an Ecclesiarchical official and a memeber of the Winterscale sit as advisers. Each has their own agenda, and each not-so secretly longs to rule alone. Were it not for the obsidian tower of the Inquisitorial manse casting long shadows over the capital it is very likely that one would have made their move by now. For now, they are content to plot and intrigue and to quietly indulge in smuggling ancient artefacts offworld.
Recently, Queen Lothwyn has pushed for her world to become a Garrison world. Her reasons for doing so are unclear, as it would entail far higher tithes and far more Imperial oversight. Some suspect that she hopes to force a confrontation between the other factions, a confrontation she clearly believes will end successfully for her. Others believe that she knows of some dark threat looming on the horizon. Those allied to Rogue Traders fear that it is the first step towards Imperial annexation of what they see as their rightful domain.
Despite the intrigue ridden politics, Morrdh is one of the major sources of promethium in the Expanse and its lumber is valued by Imperial nobles in the Calixis Sector and beyond as are the relics found in the mire-bound ruins that dot the planet’s surface...
Promethium
The major export of Morrdh is a form of Promethium harvested from the leviathan-like creatures, that roam the ocean depths of the planet, by the whaling clans that own and operate fleets of whaling trawlers.
The oil from these creatures is highly volatile and was originally collected for use as an easily flammable material, it was only after it was discovered that through a special refinement process the oil could be turned into a specialized fuel source. This also turned the whaling industry from a marginal, supplementary one into the single most vital industry for Morrdh as well as turning the planet into a major source of fuel in the Expanse.
Morridane Mirewatch
Man is far from being the first inhabitants of Morrdh, ancient records state that not long after the planet was first colonized that contact was reported with a feral race of creatures simply called Wulvers'. These creatures were reported as being a race of wolf-like beasts. Over the centuries there have been many reports of Wulver raids, typically taking place at night, against many of Morrdh's outlaying settlements. A specialist military known as the Mirewatch was eventually formed to deal with the Wulvers, a unit that has been maintained and gained specialisation as sharpshooters and swamp fighters.
Today the Mirewatch forms the core of the Morrdh PDF, its recruits are those those that cannot live on the miserable payment of the whaling clans or who earn the wrath of one of the criminal gangs. The men and women of the Mirewatch have the thankless task of delving deep into the swamps and boggy marshes that make up the surface of Morrdh. Mirewatchers must learn a certain degree of self-sufficiency, as the swamps and other hazards can easily prevent the delivery of much-needed supplies. Those tithed to the Imperial Guard often ply these skills on the battlefield, making the best of available resources and finding creative uses for common equipment.
-Company Commander info-
Name: Artemis Stormwell
Age: 32
Gender: Male
Rank: Captain
Background: Like many who join the Mirewatch back on Morrdh, Artemis Stormwell had very little choice and managed to enlist before his former mates in a street gang he was with, for much of his childhood and early teens, caught up with him. His rebellious streak often got him into trouble during his basic training, but gradually overtime this trait was subdued. Over the decade that followed Artemis worked his way up through the ranks, first to Corporal and then Sergeant by the time the once a generation Imperial Tithe came around. It was his commanding officer in the Morrdh PDF who recommended him for an officer's commission, something that the Departmento Munitorum took under consideration and then approved for Artemis to be commissioned as a Lieutenant in the 319th Battalion.
The 319th Battalion's first posting was to the hive world of Benylin which had suffered an invasion by an Ork Waaagh! and would serve as the freshly raised unit's baptism of fire. Detailed to guard the Underhive of Benylin Primus, the 319th Battalion initially only saw skirmishes with local Hivers which it naturally bested. When the Orks finally broke through the outer defences, the Morridanes' 'cosy' assignment quickly came to an end and they were soon fighting close-quarters against the Greenskins. Artemis' own platoon was in action against Ork Kommandos through the Hive's service ducts in a running battle that lasted for over a month. But the Mirewatchers managed to check the Greenskins, thus allowing for Imperial inforcements to drive them from the Underhive altogether. But it had been a hard fought battle for the Morridanes with them suffering 85% casualties before they were finally pulled off the line.
As one of the few remaining officers, Artemis was promoted to the rank of Captain as the 319th Battalion's survivors was sent for some much needed R&R. Though their troopship was diverted to the world of Pan Arcadia and the Morridanes re-assigned as reinforcements for the Imperial forces fighting there.
Physical description: Average build, standing around 5'7" with dark hair and grey eyes. looks a little like this.
The Empire of Pretantia wrote:
Company name: Byronian 11th Infantry company
Home world: Byron(Mostly)
Type of Company: Armoured Infantry
Commanding Officer: Captain Kar Hawken
Number of Guardsmen: 470, an enginseer, and two commissars.
Support (Weapons, vehicles, etc): 1 Malcador Infernus, 4 malcador defender, 9 malcador, 3 Malcador Annihilator, 3 ragnarok, 2 Leman Russ, 2 Leman Russ Conquerer, 1 Leman Russ Exterminator, 9 centaur, 1 Thunderer, 4 chimeras
Assorted special and heavy weapons as described below in the spoilered section.
Uniforms: A hodgepodge, including colonial era uniforms of the Byronians, civil war coats of Forge, Grenadier uniforms of Vytoria, the typical Guard dress of the Bangalores and conscripts, and the unconventional dress of the Goda. However, they all wear red sashes to denote them as of the 11th.
Miscellaneous info: Let me begin from the beginning: Captain Oron's return to Morgoth. After the events on Kel'borshal Oron was to return to Morgoth, probably to die. However, karma kicked in, and he was fortunate enough to face the Big mek that stole his original baneblade atop a tower(It was a hive parking lot, BTW). Eventually he triumphed, routing the orks in the area and leading a counterattack that liberated the hive(Kinda, they now had a better foothold at the least). Oron was promoted to Colonel and given a regiment of his own, folded from the remains of various guard forces on the planet. However, he did not forget his old comrades from last episode and their lack of armor, and so he hastily formed a company of volunteers, volunteered, and commandeered PDF equipment to send to its new regiment.
Why does one company have two commissars? Simple: the regiment already had two others, so they decided to dump the two most "enthusiastic"(Read: suicidally fanatic) off with the 11th, and also to bug Hawken. The first, Commissar Palor, is in the command squad; the second, Junior Commissar Marco, commands the Malcador Infernus.
-Company Commander info-
Name:Captain Kar Hawken
Age:30
Gender:Male
Rank: Captain. Never forget the Captain part of his name.
Background: Now, where to begin? Ah yes! Born on Byron, he became a Guardsman(obviously), and was eventually promoted to an officer. Ask the captain what he's seen, and he'll say he's seen it all: served in infantry, fought Orks, served in armour, fought Necrons, served in artillery, fought Tau, served in infantry, fought rebels, served in Airborne, got stranded on an island for days, went a little coocoo, usual Guard stuff.
Now, how does a guy like this end up volunteering for the 11th? Simple, he was volunteered by popular vote. Although two other officers present(Cheb Ali and Pattonius Centurius) had fought alongside some of the companies the 11th would fold with, they knew what they would be getting into. The only one crazy enough was Hawken, and he had to be pressed and pleased into the position with a grenadier section, conscripts, proper transports for his heavy weapons, a Thunderer, and a hellpistol to his temple, courtesy of the Good Captain Ali.
Also, he comes from a line of former rogue traders and still has a letter of marque signed by the emperor himself, but that's not important at all at the moment.
Physical description: Johny Depp, except stuffed into an IG Officer's suit. Weapons include power sword and hellpistol. Expert drunkard.