SKDT - Special Kasrkin Drop Troopers

“While swift and merciless retribution is the just and proper fate of all sinners and criminals, it can be effective to determine other punishments for them. Transit to distant worlds for the purpose of menial labour, or volunteering for military absolution are two such alternatives. Isolated penal colonies populated by these convicts produce vicious, hardy individuals, albeit ones who require nothing less than the harshest discipline to function in battle. However, these benighted souls can be regarded as more readily expendable than most units, for as sinners, their lives are already forfeit.” –Extract from the Tactica Imperialis

Penal Colony

Characters from penal colonies tend to be ruthless, opportunistic individuals, the desperate conditions of their origin making them eager for any opportunity to survive for just a little longer, or profit just a little more from a situation. While ill-disciplined and commonly impious, the expendable, vicious nature of convicts makes them quite useful in the Emperor’s wars. The resultant Penal Legions can be found in the harshest warzones, undertaking the most dangerous missions, with the promise of salvation in death, after which the survivors are imprisoned once more until the next battle.
In time, the few hardened veterans, survivors of a dozen or more would-be suicide missions, become amongst the most dangerous and unorthodox units in the Imperial Guard, deployed to achieve the impossible or die trying.
Cost: -2 points.
Characteristic Modifiers: +3 to any two of the following Characteristics—Agility, Strength, Toughness.
Skills: All penal colony characters start with Intimidate and Linguistics (Low Gothic).
Honour Amongst Thieves: Penal colonists, whether criminals themselves, or the descendants of the previous generation’s scum, know well the way criminal societies operate, understanding the nuances of deception, loyalty, intimidation, and violence that characterise the criminal classes. Penal colonist characters start with one of the following Talents: Peer (Underworld) or Street Fighting.
Larcenous: Hailing from worlds where the black market is the only market, penal colonists are skilled at obtaining illicit items, whether to sell, on or for their own purposes. Penal colony characters add a +10 to all Logistics Tests made to acquire illegal or contraband items.
Scum and Villainy: Penal colonists are ill-regarded by just about everyone else in the Imperial Guard, and tend to be viewed more as expendable fodder than as worthwhile soldiers. As a result, they are seldom afforded more than the most basic of equipment. Penal colony regiments have only 15 points when determining Standard Regimental Kit.
Starting Wounds: Penal colony characters begin play with +1 starting Wound.

Maverick

The regiment’s commander is something of a rebel, regarded as ill-disciplined and unpredictable by his peers, but his attitude and his daring make him beloved by his men, who see their leader as one of them, rather than one of “the officers.” So long as he leads, they will follow him anywhere.
Cost: -2 points
Starting Talents: Resistance (Fear)

Drop Troops

A rare type of regiment, drop troops are extremely specialised infantry, trained for rapid strikes from airborne transports. Employing grav-chutes and attached Imperial Navy Valkyrie assault carriers to perform raids deep behind enemy lines, drop troops provide an uncommon, but potent resource to generals. Largely regarded by other Imperial Guardsmen as insane for choosing to leap out of a perfectly good aircraft in mid-flight, they are nonetheless required to be daring and courageous to dive into enemy territory, and away from the comfort of supply lines and heavy support. However, their habit of operating alone without support tends to make them somewhat distant and cold to those outside their ranks.
Cost: -3 points
Characteristics: +3 Agility, –3 Fellowship
Starting Skills: Operate (Aeronautica)
Starting Talents: Catfall
Standard Kit: One lascarbine and four charge packs per Player Character (Main Weapon), one suit of Imperial Guard flak armour per Player Character, one respirator per Player Character, one grav-chute per Player Character, two frag grenades and two smoke grenades per Player Character.

Survivalists

The regiment is skilled at surviving in the wilderness, and its soldiers are masters of operating in a particular kind of terrain, normally the one in which they’ve grown up and trained extensively. Hunters and trackers almost without peer, there are few who can escape their pursuit.
Cost: -4 points
Starting Aptitude: Agility
Special: When selecting this doctrine, nominate a single type of terrain—Desert, Jungle, Tundra, Ash Wastes, Urban Ruins, etc. When operating in that kind of terrain, characters from a regiment with this Doctrine can re-roll failed Survival and Navigate (Surface) Skill Tests.

Covert Strike

This regiment’s missions require them to operate well behind enemy lines, often amongst the enemy soldiers themselves, and their equipment reflects their need for speed, stealth, and flexibility.
Cost: -5
Standard Regimental Kit: 1 suit of synskin per Player Character, 1 set of preysense goggles per Player Character.
Special: Members of this regiment gain a +10 bonus to all Logistics Tests made to acquire chameleoline cloaks or armour, clip/drop harnesses, rebreathers, survival suits, auspex/scanners, demolitions charges, grav chutes, multikeys, multicompasses, stummers, static generators, and any other such equipment designed for stealth and infiltration. The Logistics bonus also covers the following stealth weapons: needle rifles, needle pistols, and sniper rifles, as well as the Silencer and Tox Dispenser upgrades.

Honour Bound

A man or woman’s honour is every bit as important to the members of this regiment as food, water, and oxygen—perhaps even more so. Various regiments across the galaxy believe that no slight to one’s honour can go unanswered. Often, as is the case with unintentional slights or insults, a simple apology or retraction is enough to satisfy the individual whose honour was impugned, but occasionally the insult is so grave or an accusation so unanswerable that the parties involved can only satisfy their honour through a duel. Duelling among the officers and enlisted men of such regiments is common, and their members often earn a deserved reputation as hot-headed and quick to anger.
Regiment Points: +4
Pride Over Life: Members of this regiment must pass a Difficult (–10) Willpower Test to refuse any formal challenge or ignore any other major slight to their honour. If a character from this regiment succeeds on the Test, he sees the bigger picture and ignores the challenge or attempt to goad him into action. If he fails on the Test, however, he must engage the individual in question (either in a duel to settle matters in a formal and stylised fashion or simply in a brawl to express himself with his fists) or suffer a –10 penalty to Willpower Tests for the remainder of the session. This penalty is cumulative should he refuse multiple challenges to his dignity over the course of a single session. The Game Master can modify the difficulty of the Test—and the scale of the effects of failing it—as he deems appropriate to the situation.






Favoured Basic Weapon: 
Favoured Heavy Weapon: 


1 set of field gear
poor weather gear
rucksack
mess kit
water canteen
blanket
sleep bag
rechargeable lamp–pack
grooming kit
dog tags
Imperial Infantryman’s Uplifting Primer
2 weeks’ rations



Improve a single item of standard kit wargear from Common Craftsmanship to Best Craftsmanship (-10 points)
Add preysense goggles to standard kit (-15 points)
Add a grapnel to standard kit (-5 points)

Type

Special Forces