Astra Militarum

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"Cadia Stands!"

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Background

The Astra Militarum, also known as the Imperial Guard in colloquial Low Gothic, is the largest coherent fighting force in the galaxy. They serve as the Imperium of Man 's primary combat force and first line of defence from the myriad threats which endanger the existence of the Human race in the 41st

Millennium. It is comprised of countless billions of men and women -- hundreds of thousands of different regiments, supported by a vast array of light and heavy armoured vehicles that provide the Guard's primary offensive punch. The Astra Militarum are usually the first Imperial force to respond to a threat if a world's Planetary Defence Force (PDF) fails to suppress it.
They also garrison major locations of strategic or cultural interest to the Imperium and are often found in defensive roles. Supported by legions of heavy armour and thundering artillery, the Imperial Guard fight a never-ending war for the survival of Mankind in an unrelentingly hostile universe.
The Astra Militarum is often referred to as the "Hammer of the Emperor" -- the sheer amount of force that the Imperial Guard can bring to bear on the enemy is devastating, but is not as direct or as precise as their Space Marine allies, who are described as the "Scalpel of the Emperor."
There is no universal uniform or regimental command hierarchy in the Astra Militarum, although it is compulsory for every regiment to have at least one commissar to maintain the discipline and morale of the troops while watching for any signs of corruption or heretical taint in the ranks.
However, it is worth noting that a number of worlds copy the uniform and equipment used by the regiments of the Cadian Shock Troops, who are viewed as being the most effective of the Astra Militarum's infantry units.

Organization

The regiment is the building block of the Astra Militarum, and the nature of each regiment defines how it is to fight, how it is to be equipped, and the

manner in which it is best employed. Regiments are raised either as part of the tithe that all worlds contribute to the Imperium, or as necessary from worlds within a particular distance of a newly-opened warzone. It is a rare world in the Imperium that has not raised at least one regiment of Imperial Guard, with the overwhelming majority of those being the tithe-exempt Forge Worlds of the Adeptus Mechanicus and the Chapter homeworlds of the Adeptus Astartes , both of which produce their own particular fighting forces.
Though regarded as such by many within the Departmento Munitorum, a regiment of the Imperial Guard is not a uniform mass of warriors, equal in might and utility to every other regiment. On the contrary, regiments vary immensely in size, structure, and purpose, from small, deadly, armoured regiments, to bewilderingly large regiments of siege infantry. In truth, the regiment is a difficult thing to define, but some might classify it thusly: a regiment is the operational unit of the Astra Militarum, a discrete formation of Imperial Guardsmen, all trained and equipped to operate in a single way, and all drawn from a single world and its dominant culture, the combined regiments forming the Militarum Regimentum -- all the regiments of that type raised from that world. All other factors are subject to local variation and prevailing logistical doctrine -- at times, all the fighting men and women taken from a single world at a single time have been classified as a single regiment, creating units of millions of men, while other periods and places have attempted to define a set number of warriors or an arbitrarily calculated fighting strength to determine a regiment.
Nonetheless, some elements remain consistent. At the top of every regiment in the Astra Militarum is a single commanding officer, commonly given the rank of Colonel, who serves as the frontline combat leader. Traditional expectations are that a Colonel takes to the field with his or her men, leading in person, and is often accompanied by advisors such as Imperial Navy  Aeronautica Imperialis liaisons to provide air support, Adeptus Ministorum preachers, psykers, Tech-priests, and the dreaded Commissars.
Each regiment is typically divided into several companies, each of which is commanded by a Captain or Major. A company normally consists of several hundred warriors, and can serve well as a fighting unit in its own right, with individual companies commonly split off to achieve distinct objectives pertaining to a regiment’s overall mission. Within each company, the unit is further divided. The exact term used varies by type of company, with vehicle companies divided into squadrons, infantry operating in platoons, and artillery operating in batteries. Each platoon, squadron, or battery is typically commanded by a Lieutenant, the most junior of officers, new to the service of the Imperial Guard.
The most basic building block of the regiment is the squad. In an infantry regiment, the squad is the smallest operational unit, overseen by a Sergeant. In an armored or artillery regiment, each squad is given a single vehicle or artillery piece to control, with different troopers serving as gunners, loaders, drivers, spotters, and a variety of other roles, as required by their duties.

Ranks

Officers

• Lord Commander Militant - Supreme Commander of the Astra Militarum and a High Lord of Terra
• Lord Commander - Supreme Commander of one of the five Imperial Segmentae
• Lord General Militant - Supreme military commander of a designated theater of operations
• Lord General - Various different titles for this rank exist depending upon cultural context, including Lord Castellan, Lord Marshal and Captain-General. This general officer commands an entire army group and is a member of the General Staff of the Astra Militarum.
• General - Various different titles for this rank exist depending upon cultural context. This general officer is the leader of multiple regiments in an army group or the commander of a single battlegroup and is a member of the General Staff of the Astra Militarum.
• Colonel - Various different titles for this rank exist depending upon cultural context. This officer is the commander of an entire regiment or equivalent formation.
• Major - Various different titles for this rank exist depending upon cultural context. This officer is usually the executive officer of an entire regiment or equivalent formation, or the commander of a regimental sub-formation incorporating multiple company-sized units.
• Captain - Various different titles for this rank exist depending upon cultural context. This officer is the commander of a company or equivalent-sized formation.
• Lieutenant - Various different titles for this rank exist depending upon cultural context. Commander of a platoon or equivalent-sized formation.

Non-Commissioned Officers

• Sergeant - Various different titles for this rank exist depending upon cultural context. This non-commissioned officer is the commander of a squad or equivalent-sized formation.
• Corporal - Various different titles for this rank exist depending upon cultural context. This non-commissioned officer can serve as the commander of a squad or equivalent-sized formation in the absence of a Sergeant.

Enlisted

• Trooper - A rank and file enlisted trooper.

Specialists

The Astra Militarum is assisted by a range of specialists who hold no official place in its military chain of command. These include Commissars, Priests of the Ecclesiarchy, Tech-priests, Enginseers, Sanctioned Psykers.

Commissariat

The Officio Prefectus, better known as the Commissariat, attaches one or more Commissars to each Imperial Guard regiment in order to ensure that

discipline and loyalty to the Emperor are maintained. A Commissar is a political officer and doctrinal enforcer who has no official rank within the Guard's hierarchy, but he or she has the supreme authority to punish or execute any soldier, whatever his rank, that he judges to have failed in his duties to the God-Emperor. Should the necessity arise, a Commissar can assume command of an Imperial Guard force for the duration of a battle, but he will relinquish it at the end of the fighting to a regular officer.

Elite Specialists

Tempestus Scions

The Tempestus Scions of the Militarum Tempestus, also known as Storm Troopers in Low Gothic, are considered superior to other Imperial Guardsmen

because of their additional training and indoctrination by the Schola Progenium, as well as their improved personal technology and equipment. They are often used in the vanguard of an assault or as infiltrating troops to carry out special objectives lesser Guardsmen would be unable to undertake. Storm Troopers are ruthless, proficient killers whose combat skills within the Imperial Guard are second-to-none. To complement their superior training, Storm Troopers are better armed and armoured than regular Guardsmen. Their bodies are protected by carapace armour composed of rigid arma-plas and reinforced ceramite plate, protecting them better than the standard issue Flak Armour. Storm Troopers also wield sophisticated Hot-Shot Lasguns and Hot-Shot Laspistols -- a more potent and lethal form of weapon than the standard issue Lasgun. However, the drawback of these weapons are that they are difficult to produce and maintain. These weapons are rarely issued to soldiers outside Storm Trooper companies, who are trained to look after and even rebuild these weapons if necessary. These elite units are constantly moving from one war zone to another and are amongst the most experienced units within the Imperial Guard. Storm Troopers are taught to perform covert operations, spearhead assaults into fortified positions and storm key installations.

Ogryn

Ogryn hail from high-gravity Imperial worlds, which led their ancestors to grow taller and much more muscular than most humans during the long

years of the Age of Strife before contact with the rest of humanity was reestablished during the Great Crusade. Often drafted into Astra Militarum regiments from the Militarum Auxilla's Ogryn Auxilia Legions, these mutant Abhuman offshoots of humanity are large, hulking, intellectually simple and very, very angry. Ogryns tend to be very loyal to anyone they consider a friend and have the same values, personal loyalties and determination as Guardsmen drawn from barbaric Feral World societies, so the two groups tend to get along very well. Of course, given their tendency for brute force and phenomenal melee power, Ogryns are extremely tough combatants and can serve as a powerful assault force, preventing the enemy from reaching the softer, inner core an Imperial army's standard Guardsmen. Ogryn troops of the Imperial Guard usually wield well-built Ripper Guns, which more often than not are used for bashing the enemy as a club, rather than shooting them. The weapon has a built-in burst limiter to prevent the Ogyrn from shooting off their entire ammunition drum at once, something that would be conceived as great fun to the simple mind of an Ogryn.

Ratlings

Ratlings are small mutant Abhumans who developed on low-gravity Imperial worlds and are unsuitable for use as close combat troops with the Militarum Auxilla. The Ratlings instead act as perhaps the Imperial Guard's most

skilled snipers, and many a regiment has been saved at the last moment only by the pinpoint accuracy of the tiny Abhumans. Ratlings are also great cooks, being able to make anything out of whatever they find (or pilfer). Ratlings are notorious crooks, organizing gambling rings or using their small size to steal whatever is laying around, whether it be a shiny bullet casing or the senior Commissar's peaked hat. Needless to say, Regimental commanders have noticed that rates of petty theft and drug-dealing invariably increase when a Ratlings squad is attached to the regiment. This tendency means the Ratlings make fine profits on the front-lines, where they smuggle in whatever the soldiers need or want - for a price.

Important Regiments in the Concordia Sub

There are currently thousands of Astra Militarum Regiments fighting across the Rift Warzone and Argos Cluster. Many planets were taken unawares by the opening of the Great Rift and sector command has struggled to move forces from the previous engagements fighting the Orks . Some of the regiments already fighting include the following:

• 158th Androsta Mechanized Regiment
• 61st Tavon Lancers
• 2nd Kepian Hussars
• 791st Sonvian Grenadiers "The Blackjaws"
• 94th Davas Fusiliers
• 1074th Cadian Shock
• 6th Ignad Penal Battalion

Androsta Prime has already begun founding 3 more regiments of Mechanized forces

Type

Military, Army