Rosskan Strelky
"This means little to those who are dead, even less to us who wish to join them."
Vlatiskov, Strelky Sergeant upon being asked about recent victory
| Rosskan Strelky | ||
|---|---|---|
 |
||
| Homeworld | Rosskar | |
| Doctrine | Astartes Assistance Actions, Mechanized Infantry, Urban Warfare, Defensive Warfare | |
| Signature Equipment | Vityaz-pattern Power Armor, Rosskan-pattern Lasgun | |
| Colors | Grey, White, Dark Green | |
| Associated Legion | Fifteenth Legion | |
This page details people, events, and organisations from the /tg/ Heresy, a fan re-working of the Warhammer 40,000 Universe. See the /tg/ Heresy Timeline and Galaxy pages for more information on the Alternate Universe.
The Rosskan Strelky were the Legionary Auxilia of the Silver Cataphracts, the Fifteenth Space Marine Legion. Unlike their counterparts in the Imperial Army, the Strelky were a uniform outfit with standardized equipment. Initially established to defend Rosskar and surrounding worlds, the Strelky would come to encapsulate Rosskan ruthlessness evident in their harsh culture.
History
A massive surplus of equipment remained after the unification of the Rosskan worlds into the Imperial Fold. Rosskar, the ice gem of this collection of planets was facing a rising population crisis. Industry intended to deal with the issue was diverted to outfitting the rapidly expanding Silver Cataphracts Legion. To deal with this Alexandri outfitted the many of criminals in his state. However issues arose with a large core of fresh recruits began to mutate the culture of the Strelky. Alexandri realized this was a boon, and not a curse. Here the attitudes of the Strelky would be set. It was no longer a volunteer army, but a sentence.
Drawing forth from the discipline officers of the Silver Cataphracts, a core of Discipline Enforcers was trained. The Cataphracts had little to do while their strength grew, as Alexandri's ambitious plans would leave them retraining for some time anyways. One Marine would train ten officers, who would train ten more officers, until there was thousands of Discipline Enforcers. These men largely had little to do with the actual combat deployments of the Strelky. Instead they would focus primarily on retraining the new formations in a different style. Life was cheap, and it was time to spend it.
Other formations of the Imperial Army would fight alongside the Cataphracts, but more was expected from the Rosskan's least favorite sons. Due to their rigorous training, a fatalistic sense of self combined with utter dread of their superiors would drive them to feats of heroism not often seen in the days of the early Great Crusade. The Strelky would be entrusted of tasks thought impossible for normal humans to surmount. Due to a combination of handpicked leadership on the part of Alexandri, revolutionary tactics, and this diehard attitude would allow the Strelky to garner an infamous reputation as steadfast organization.
If not too disciplined. Despite their willingness to stand tall against uncountable odds, the Strelky normally devolved the moment the laser fire ended. This would lead to raiding, looting, and pillaging on human worlds. On Xenos planets, there didn't even need to be an order given to commit wholesale genocide. The Strelky would be begging for it already. Acts of savagery after combat were encouraged by officers, as a way to let the troops have an outlet for their aggression rather than have to punish it earlier.
Age of Konstantyn
Konstantyn was born in 872.M30, becoming administrator-aide to Supreme Commander of the Strelky at age thirteen. When he came to the age of thirty-five, he journeyed the Imperium for twenty years meeting with multiple figures of the Great Crusade. This would lead him to learn of the many Astartes Legions and Imperial Army regiments. He become a Commander of Rosskar twelve years after assuming his rank of Ensign in the Strelky. On the eve of 973.M30, exactly one hundred and one years after his birth, the current Supreme Commander died. Konstantyn immediately assumed command with the full backing of more than half the Strelky and the entirety of the Silver Cataphracts Legion. Never had such a assumption of command been with so much backing.
Great Crusade
The new Supreme Commander acted fast to increase his reach across the ranks of the Strelky. He reformed the training systems to be even more taxing in order to produce higher quality soldiers. The system of specialized regiments was put in place at this time as well. Unlike other Imperial Army regiments, Strelky regiments would have dedicated roles. Support, Artillery, Armour, Light Infantry, Heavy Infantry, Mechanized Infantry. His reworking of the entire battle philosophy led to an initial period of unease among the ranks as effectiveness began to decline. Within a decade however, they rose back up to eventually climb much higher than they were before.
On the world of Gelmni I, five Divisions of the Strelky were deployed to soften up the forces of the Human-Xenos Hybrid defenders. Thanks to the efforts of these forces, the Gelmnin abominations were stunned by their ferocity. The Strelky were able to secure several hives with their assault before the Silver Cataphracts even made planetfall. Reinforcements came from the Legion via deep strike, landing directly on the heads of the Gelmin. Panic ensued in the enemy ranks immediately as a result. The planet was placed under the care of several noteworthy commanders from the assaulting formations, who helped build it into a fortress world that would later supply untold amounts of battle ready troops to the Cataphracts.
Heresy
Great Scouring
Famous Formations and Members
Army Group 22, the "Blistering Fists".
This formation had the distinction of working closely with the Sons of Fire Space Marine Legion. For this reason, they become known as the 'Blistered'. Their Commander Karlimo Tuschev would lead from the frontlines wearing Vityaz patterned power armor. On more than one occasion, he would become burned by his own artillery fire for his love of getting in close as possible with the enemy. The Blistering Fists suffered more casualties than any other Army Group, but due to their connection with the Sons would be the most orderly of all Strelky formations. During the Great Scouring, they would use this intimate knowledge of the 4th Legion to great use.
Organizational Breakdown
- Squad, consisting of 15 men, led by a Sergeant
- Section, consisting of 50 men, led by an Ensign
- Platoon, consisting of 200 men, led by a Lieutenant
- Company, consisting of 1,000 men, led by a Captain
- Battalion, consisting of 10,000 men, led by a Major
- Regiment, consisting of 50,000 men, led by a Colonel
- Brigade, consisting of 200,000 men, led by a Brigadier
- Division, consisting of 1,000,000 men, led by a Brigadier General
- Corps, consisting of 5,000,000 men, led by a General
- Army, consisting of 20,000,000 men, led by a Marshal
- Army Group, consisting of 100,000,000 men, led by a Commander of Rosskar
Strategic Command Ranks
Commander of Rosskar
Marshal
General
Brigadier General
Brigadier
Colonel
Frontline Command Ranks(Commissioned)
Major
Captain(Senior or Junior)
Lieutenant(Senior or Junior)
Frontline Command Ranks(Non-Commissioned)
Ensign(Senior or Junior)
Sergeant
Soldiery Ranks
Specialist
Corporal
Veteran Recruit(Or Droog)
Recruit
Military Doctrine
Towards the end of the Great Crusade, and throughout the Hektor Heresy, the Strelky adopted the concept of specialized regimental structure. Some would be dedicated to fielding tanks crewed by the best men to offer for that role. Others would have engineers, who meditated day and night on explosives, construction, and maintenance. The idea was to create a functioning army with several unique parts that could not operate independent of one another but were stronger as a whole. Rather than having to gather up five regiments to field a multitude of guns, an artillery regiment would have the same amount if not more of batteries.
This was invaluable during the Hektor Heresy, as other Imperial Army formations could not withstand the well organized formations coming to bear against them. A result of the specialization led even equal exchanges of armour or infantry ending up on the Strelky's side. The Cataphracts benefited immensely from the modular regimental system, calling up assistance often for specific actions which required the approach offered by the practice. Light Infantry would be able to scout easily, or skirmish. Engineering companies could build defenses or tear down enemy fortifications in short order.
Field Armament
Vityaz
Rosskan-pattern Lasgun
The Strelky used a wide variety of weaponry throughout their existence, owing much to the rapid growth in the Heresy itself. After any campaign on a world, any weaponry that could be taken was. Vast swathes of the force used the Rosskan-pattern Lasgun even still, as it was the main weapon handed out to many of the forces. The severity of the shots were tweaked at a capacity of 10 shots per magazine, being highly deadly but not lasting for very long. Other versions of the weapon were known to have the same output with a bulkier magazine, that could hold up to 30 shots. It was prone to explosion at random times for seemingly no reason, leading for most soldiers to fear it unless they fought on the frontlines.
Training
Having to deal with the wastrels from compliant worlds, the prisons and slums of Hive Worlds emptied their human refuse to the Silver Cataphracts Expedition Fleets. Some worlds gave up even more volunteers, sometimes those who came of age after the tithe and could not wait for the next time their world was to give troops to the Imperial Army. Whatever the case, the training was the same. Sleeping on beds of ice, being shouted at by tall men in black armor all day and night, fed gruel from tubes and clothed in sacks of cloth. Training did not begin until the trainers themselves had both taught the recruit the Rosskan dialect to the point of fluency, and that they were sure they were entire loyal to Rosskar.
Recruits were trained in blocks of ten, sometimes with the tenth being a plant. They would go through every hardship the squad would suffer, listening in for any attempt at revolt or escape. Those who would speak up found themselves suffering under the whip the next day, or worse, having their head cleaned from their body. If one went with the training however silently, the harsh period would pass. Proper bedding would be given, the quality of food would improve dramatically, and far more fitting clothing would be received. This is the first step in the conditioning process. Disloyalty is punished without remorse, loyalty is rewarded heartily. After the weeding out of the weak, or the unwilling, came the actual education in soldiery.
Strelky Discipline Master
Tasked with both overseeing morale and loyalty, the Discipline Masters of the Strelky were drawn up from the Secret Police of Rosskar as well as those sent from Terra. Adept at mind breaking techniques and torture, the Masters used their skills to break down recruits before building them back up again as soldiers. The denial of food was a simple trick for any slight, but all punishments focused upon dehumanizing a subject. They would also be teacher, training them in firearms, accuracy, drills, and squad combat. Any sign of dissent was punished ridiculously, and when one who could not be broken was sensed, ruthlessly executed. The majority of fresh recruits did not have the iron resolve to deny the Discipline Masters, falling victim to their cruel methods like lambs to a butcher.
Culture
When the zenith of Strelky population soared at the end of the Heresy, to twenty billion. The already arising culture fully flourished in this time. As the Strelky moved into the Scouring, the Rosskan influences implanted upon them by their Taskmaster trainers combined with numerous other languages and ethnicities of the countless worlds Recruits were drawn from. The prisoners who had been taken up in droves before to supplement the Rosskan troops formed the basis of the Strelky's culture, including the use of tattoos and the philosophy towards their miserable lives in service to the Regent.
Tattos
No soldier, from the lowest Recruit to the highest officer, was allowed to wear battle honors. Alexandri despised the use of medals or ribbons, refusing to allow the Strelky to wear any livery at all. The spartan appearance of the Strelky uniform betrays the sophisticated artistry worn on the skin of every member. Since the tattoos were hidden unless their clothing was taken off, the Primarch either did not care or failed to notice the thriving system of symbols and signs in use by the Strelky to denote achievements and social status.