Setting:Cloudburst/Clegran

System
Galactic Position	Cloudburst Sector, Nauphry Subsector
System Overlord	None
Worlds in the system	Five, one inhabitable
World Type, Name	Civilized World: Clegran Tertius
Tropospheric Composition	Nitrogen 78%, Oxygen 21%, Krypton .2%, Water .7%, Carbon Dioxide 0.01%
Religion	Imperial Cult
Government type	Local Kingdoms
Planetary Governor	No
Adept Presence	Adeptus Ministorum, Adeptus Astra Telepathica, Adeptus Mechanicus, Adeptus Administratum, Adeptus Arbites
Climate	Broad, wet bands of thick clouds, punctuated by snowstorms and occasional yearlong hot streaks at the extremes
Geography	79.9 million mi² of surface and heavy plate tectonics
Gravity	1.08 Terran Gravity
Day Length	27 Terran Hours
Economy	Gelt Thrones and Silver Thrones
Principal Exports	Clay, Boron, Imperial Guardsmen
Principal Imports	Iron, Oil, Water Filters, Clothing and Shoes, Timber, Poultry, Ammunition, Weapons, Construction Equipment
Countries and Continents	Eleven local Kingdoms, all answering unofficially to the Minister of Industry for the Administratum. Four continents.
Military	Clegran Hunters (medium quality PDF and Guard)
Contact with other Systems	Frequent, as an Imperial Guard staging world
Tithe Grade	Decuma Particular
Population	1,209,290,000

Description

Clegrans enjoy isolation. This is a stereotype, but most Clegrans would see the point. Theirs is the only habitable body in the system, or indeed for fifteen light years in any direction. The planet is large as Terran worlds go, but it is resource-poor for its size. Though it has enough soil and water for its agricultural needs, it does not have sufficient iron for most Imperial-style basic manufacturing, and little petrochemical supply in the crust. It has no Imperial Governor nor System Overlord, though the Minister of Industry holds the titles de facto. Clegran’s vast plains house millions of Imperial citizens in tightly packed cities, to shelter from the ripping wind. Agriculture on the plains is difficult, to say the least. The winds whip any usable minerals from the topsoil, thick plant roots hold scraggly grasses in place to resist the wind and must be cut through, and the high winds prevent any large river convergences except near the coasts. Power is abundant despite the lack of oil, thanks to the wind turbines with which the Adeptus Mechanicus gifted the planet. Additionally, the high tectonic activity of the planet allows for common geothermal taps, and the clear, windy sky easily accommodates solar panels. Larger cities cannot be walled, and have their outer faces directed towards the wind; some large buildings make use of overlapping plates of synthetic rock and pressure-molded metal to prevent too much wind damage. Some buildings go the opposite way, and make use of highly flexible materials for walls, with elastic cables carrying power and internal communications from floor to floor. There have been suggestions regarding the use of the same deep-rooting trees of Cassie’s World to hold the topsoil in place here, but the water supply is too small and the dirt too hard and shallow for such a plant to grow in abundance.

Outside the cities, there is some agriculture in the rich valleys that cut through the hardpack dirt and gritty plants. Some valleys are shallower, with slower water movement, and tend to have rich soil along the banks. Others are nearly vertical and very deep, cut by thin, fast rivers. The former have some textile farming, but most employ grain and fruit vine farms. The vertical valleys generally have no agriculture, and are instead left intact for their water supply.

Hereditary Kingdoms rule the continents, with each King serving as a combination regional governor and Internal Tithemaster. Ecclesiarchal input for King selection is roundly ignored, though the Adeptus Ministorum does preside over many other affairs of state and soul. The Adeptus Arbites have at least one full-size Precinct Fortress in every city, complete with Rhinos, combat Servitors, and even Leman Russ tanks. This, plus the heavily centralized force of government in the Kingdoms, usually ensures a relatively low-crime environment despite the population density of the cities.

However, not all Imperial citizens on Clegran live in the cities. In fact, tens of millions eke out a living in the great mountains at the higher latitudes of the planet, or in the wind-farms of the plains. Additionally, there are dozens of military bases, including a landside Naval listening post connected to telescopes and sensor arrays in orbit. Nomadic tribes of barbarians on the plains used to be common features, but these tribes have gradually moved to the cities as time goes by.

Travelers from other worlds have dismissively described the Clegran system as a Frontier one, which would be fair if not for the reasonably high technology levels of the planet and its well-organized military. The Hunters are the Guard regiments of the Clegran system. They largely base their designs, tactics, and techniques on Septiim, though at a far smaller scale. They make use of both conscripts and volunteers. The Clegran Hunters specialize in the use of plains-warfare tactics, with line-of-sight guns and tanks being their preferred combat platforms. Flamers and plasma weapons are their favored non-conventional weapons. However, the scavenger conditions of their cities make for an odd quirk in combat: the Clegran practice of collecting random weapons. Clegran troops augment their wargear with whatever sanctified equipment they can find. There is no pattern to this. Clegran spotters may collect shotguns, an artillery crewer may take a liking to a sword, or a tank commander may affix a door breacher to his pistol. Though deemed permissible by the Adeptus Mechanicus, many of their number find this trait annoying, as it could be interpreted as an affront to the Machine God and the forges that produced the perfectly serviceable gear the troops are normally issued.

Clegrans also have one common formation that the more generalized Septiim regiments lack: Rough Riders. Whether on horseback or employing motorized mounts, Clegrans deploy a combination of Hotshot weapons and Explosive Lances to use while riding to corral enemies. A particularly effective combination they have discovered is that of the Mobile Grenadier and the Sturm-Werfer, as it is nicknamed by Clegran Artillery Masters. Small groups of Rough Riders with grenade launchers, rifle grenades, and flare guns encircle and harass enemy formations or fortresses, firing explosives and flares to mark the target and distract defenders, while spotters from the Mobile Artillery use those flares as target indicators for artillery batteries in the rear park. Though this tactic is obviously more useful for nighttime bombardments, it is excellent for shattering enemy morale and forcing them to either relocate or hunker down – both of which would open them up to other approaches. The Clegran artillery preferences trend towards mortars and rocket artillery, such as the Wyvern and Manticore batteries.

Clegrans avoid the use of paratroopers and gliders, but show surprising aptitude for trench and sapper war for a people of steppes and plateaus. The great flats of their worlds, dotted with close-built cities and threadbare industry, breed Clegrans tough and stocky, and more than able to hold their own in pits and trenches, perhaps somewhat less than Kriegers or Catachans. The venerable and battle-honored First Clegran Hunter Regiment has the rarest of prizes for a frontier planet: a Stormhammer Super-Heavy Assault Tank. Outfitted with the massive Stormhammer Cannon with coaxial multilaser, two Battle Cannons, six sponson multilasers, a pintle-mount heavy stubber, three hunter-killer missiles, and a fore-firing Lascannon, the tank is configured like those of the Solar Auxilia armies of old, and is outfitted specifically to engage and destroy huge Ork mobz. The regiment is currently leading the charge against the sudden Ork invasion of Oglith, where they are in the van of over two hundred other regiments from across the Sector and beyond.