Argo Brigade

Founding	Lost to the Guard
Homeworld	Argos
Strength	7000 Guardsmen (per regiment)
Specialty	Counterinsurgency
Allegiance	Imperium
Colours	Azure, crimson, and charcoal.

An Imperial Guard regiment of brutally effective counterinsurgency operators who really, really enjoy crucifying dissidents, dissident sympathizers, and xenos upside down and/or sideways.

A Grimdark take on UN Peacekeepers.

Specialty[edit]

The Argo Brigade specializes in counter-insurgency operations, psychological warfare, and light reconnaissance tactics. They prefer anti-armor and flesh melting weapons. The regiment has the macabre tradition of crucifying captured xenos and traitors upside down or impaling several victims sideways upon massive metal pikes, which are well attended public events and do wonders for morale.

The Argo Brigade has several specialized duty positions within the unit, some familiar to the larger Astra Militarum, others wholly unique to the Argives. Standard infantry Guardsmen are known as Peacekeepers, the term relic of their time as a PDF. These Peacekeepers act both as standard fighting infantry and once a population is beginning to become appropriately pacified, assist the military police in returning the planet to Imperial control. As the Commissariat polices the guard, the Brigade Military Police work with intelligence guardsmen to police the populace and ensure that civilians still loyal to the Imperium remain that way under threat of torture and crucifixion, and seek to root out hidden rebels. When the tides have turned and the enemy has begun to be beat back, the Military Police will liaise with the Adeptus Arbites to restore pacified areas and return them to the Imperial Control. A hybrid of Military Police, Cavalry Scouts, and Peacekeepers, Special Task Forces are small platoon sized elements within each combined Intelligence and Military Police Company. Afforded exemplary equipment, dedicated Valkyrie transports, and loose mission parameters, STFs operate outside the normal doctrinal restrictions of Peacekeepers to take out high value targets and vital infrastructure.

The Argive Brigadiers are known for their efficiency in mostly everything they do. Their ability to adopt different campaign strategies with various variables in mind is famous across the Imperium of Man. There are few scenario that they have not thought of or haven't prepared for. Their intelligence apparatus, psychological operations and strategic planners work closely when making plans for the upcoming campaign to maximize damage upon the enemy while minimizing loss of life and logistical support. However campaigns requiring long, pitched battles or ones against a foe that knows not fear has historically been the bane of the Brigade. Even some rebellions have been too much for the Brigade to quell in full, requiring an outright culling of the planet.

Their efficiency can be seen in their arranged public mass executions called Parades. Their main focus is to raise morale of the troops and make local population be more compliant for the Brigade and Imperium of Man also demoralize enemies, but they also have secondary objective. For example these can be utilized to isolate certain areas to make "safe zones" for Brigade. These parades are often advertised events in which large swaths of the surrounding civilian populace (should any remain) are invited to an area such as a city square or mall with the promise of aide and succor. Often this also attracts covert traitors that wish to inflict harm upon the population and brigadiers, however the brigade will usually anticipate this and once the enemy shows their hand the unit will close off the parade grounds, turning into a killing field.

Once the enemy has been dealt with the true purpose of the parade is revealed; Peacekeepers roll out detainees and prisoners of war and begin to crucify them and impale them upon corpse pikes in a grand and grisly ceremony.

Standard regiments and more Peacekeeper regiments are also raised from Argo, well equipped due to its industrial capacity since being rebuilt, and the planet itself has become the home of the premier Arbitrators in the sectors nearby.

History and Homeworld[edit]

"A land of stark beauty, Argo is split by a great salt water sea that acts more as a great lake, most of the world's water residing in great subterranean aquifers. The sands that cover the majority of the planet are split by the equator, the sands around the equatorial belt are a deep azure, known to the Argives as the Dune Sea, while they take on a more golden hue until one reaches the frigid poles, where the sands are almost a blood red where the snow doesn't obscure them. Those areas are known as the Sea of Fire in the South and the Bloodtide in the northern regions. The waters of Argo are a glistening green. Along the great Kratoan Delta stands the great Sentinel of Argo, argent and stoic atop the sapphire sands. At his sandaled feet lay a field of the red Argoan flower of many names. The greater Imperium knows them most commonly as Argoan Gorepoppies, a name earned not only through their red coloration but the mechanism of their bloom. Common on the coasts and deltas, the flower will grow upon any source of moisture, but will grow in a stunning red shade when slaked on blood."

– Unknown Argos Poet

The metropolitan desert world of Argo VII, the beating mercantile heart of the the Illius X System, was a world rife with political subterfuge and underhanded maneuvering. So great were the sheer amount of political assassinations and proxy wars that the Administratum accidentally labeled the world as a Death World based on sheer regional death counts alone. Eventually, in an effort to appease the overly decadent upper class, the System Governor, Dantonius Validici LX, rallied the planetary governors under his banner and called to secede from the Imperium and to sell their Agri Worlds and Forge World to the highest bidder to purchase protection.

Before the mighty hammer of Imperial Wrath could be brought upon the system, the Steadfast arbiters of the Adeptus Arbites called into action the sole dissenting PDF, that of Argo VII itself. They did not need to appeal to any notion but their Emperor bound duty, and the Argoan PDF rallied to bring the planet to heel and the System Governor to his death. The PDF and the Arbites fought off nearly the entire planet and supplementary forces from across the system and even Dark Eldar and other Xenos mercenaries from across the subsector.

The Argoan PDF fought valiantly, but their losses were too great. Reduced to a single Brigade, the fighters were pressed into hiding were they formed a covert insurgency. Chemical Weapons and improvised explosives harried the planet for months to come, but their most potent weapon was their gruesome propaganda; the crucified bodies of opposition leaders and other fallen traitors. Nailed to single boarded crucifixes upside down, suspended by their feet, their hands bound below their heads or nailed at the base of the boards, these eerie monuments bathed the cities with carmine Argoan Gorepoppies, the red flower in stark contrast to the distended corpses of the fallen.

Eventually the will to fight the lone Brigade was broken, and the sparse loyalist civilian resistance left flocked to the Brigade, following the trail of crosses and tombstone-like displays. Bolstered by loyal servants of the Imperium, the Brigade felt no mercy, offered no respite, and left no survivors. Those that did not fight with them fought against them, and those that didn't fight bowed and cowed in fear of the Brigade. No traitors or those found in favor of the rebels were spared in the purging of the Hives, few were left alive in the great Phosphorous Flood of the Western Provinces, and all who surrendered in the Siege of the Validici Presidio were forced to crucify those that did not, the leaders and nobility stretched along the ferrocrete slabs torn from the System Governor's Palace and nailed to them, their bellies slashed and left to disgorge their contents. The endless waves of traitor guard were simply impaled in their formation ranks through their sides with great charnel pikes, then heaved into the air like victorious banners.

The surviving enemy were gathered into a long queue, stretching from the bloodied throne of Dantonius Validici LX and his chemically charred form (still alive to be saved for very last), to the pearlescent gates of the fabulous Presidio. There they were received by the grim detainees that made the wise choice to surrender to the merciless Brigade. The Lord Commissar would then issue one of two commands, dictating the prisoner's grim fate;

"UPSIDE DOWN!" "SIDEWAYS!"

The screams of the impalings and the wailing of those forced to commit them filled the air for three days, the Brigade working in shifts to oversee the workers who slaved tirelessly, the Lord Commissar himself only pausing his dirge of judgement for water and ration but never sleep.

On the dawning of the fourth day System Govenor Dantonius, dehydrated and dying but to his benefit still living, was dragged from his melting throne and brought before the remaining Lord Judge and was labeled Traitoris and sentenced to death. He was taken to the great balcony of his palace, and so all could see, nailed to the very walls of his monument to excess.

The other planets of Illius X were quelled, surrendering in their shock and horror in seeing what the Imperial force was willing to do to their own people, and perhaps lesser men would have accepted the victory. But the Argo Brigade are not lesser men. They took to the stars, and each Planetary Governor, every Hive lord, and every ranking Noble on the worlds that did not fight for their Emperor was set upon the slab, crucified before their people. Those that stood against them died in droves, their cities burned and their monuments destroyed.

Illius X was awash with blood and the choking fog of Argoan war. The victory of the lone brigade from the throne world Argo was complete and total. When the Inquisition responded a short few years later to the threats of confederacy they found the system marred by conquest. They questioned the loyal servants of the Imperium as to the status of the system, threats of Astartes response silently hung in the air.

To their shock, the fighters answered simply, "All is well. The Argo Brigade endures. For the Emperor."

Now the system is rife with grim labor and merciless justice. Many Regiments have been formed to meet Imperial Tithe in recompense for their crimes, but none can match the tactical acumen and psychological might of that of the storied of Argo's fighters, simply Known as the Argo Brigade. Small and efficient, the Brigade still dons dusty blue helms of the original Argo PDF, their rank and unit crest a furious red in honor of the dunes of Argo, still red with the solemn Gorepoppy fields.

Before the great Argoan Purge, Argo was a land as beautiful as it lavish, great palaces to the nobility embraced by shimmering golden dunes, crystalline river deltas feeding into cities grand and imperial, mighty highways that girdled the magnificent world.

To adamantium mined elsewhere in the system to vast array of trade contracts with several Rogue Trader Dynasties, the world of Argo was awash with wealth and luxury, which only enabled the nobilities games of court and courtship. Beyond the decadent palaces and sprawling cities of gold and silver, the armies of Argo where as much a status symbols as the famed Sentinel of Argo, a great statue of adamantium in the form of a mighty Terran hero, spear rested against a thick arm, hand sat upon a great circular Shield.

Though there was a well drilled PDF, the throne world had tithed a few dozen Armored Regiments, although they were simply as lip service to the greater Imperium.

The Argoan Armoured Regiments bore marvelous and esoteric armaments, from mighty Baneblades to steadfast Malcadors to the noble Macharius, which in those storied times was the most pedestrian vehicle amongst those honoured ranks.

Mere centuries after the brutality of the Heresy, the Magos of Vulcus Omega, the lavish forgeworld of the Illius X system, Kalimar Khan conspired to corrupt the System Govenor to leave the sundered Imperium. To his jubilation Dantonius Validici LX had already set in place his own seditious machinations.

What neither traitor had accounted for was the loyalists that would not accept such blind betrayal. While all have heard the tale of the ardent Brigade and their struggle against heresy, few outside of the Illius system acknowledge the loyalist warriors of the Vulcus Skitarii or the 7th Argoan Armoured Regiment, without both of which the Brigade would not have succeeded in their honourable campaign.

When the Argoan Purge began in earnest the Skitarii revolted against the Magos and the 7th Armoured, that most auspicious brotherhood, joined cannon and tread with the noble PDF. It was the Baneblades that watered the azure sands of the Erimos Desert with blood enough to grow a sea of Argoan Gorelilies. It was the Vanquishers that broke the supply lines of the Noble forces and drove back the traitor Armoured Regiments.

But the lone regiment could not hope to withstand the full weight of the rest of the armoured regiments, and so their numbers fell direly. Those that remained until the twilight of the Purge became some of the most skilled and relentless tank crews in the history of the Sub-sector, renowned tank duelists and masters of armoured warfare.

Almost all the Baneblades fell victim to the overwhelming force applied against them, although they did not go quietly. The lone surviving Baneblade is a storied and legendary vehicle, seen rarely in military parades and even more rarely during times of dire need. When the Purge finally ended in the favor of the loyalists, the few remaining tanks were inducted into the Brigade as the 701st Armoured Regiment.

Now the regiment consists of mainly of Leman Russ Vanquishers, fit to slay other tanks, however there are a few honoured survivors of the Argoan Purge; a Companies worth of Macharius Vanquishers, a platoon of Leman Russ Destroyers, five Malcador Annihilators, and a singluar Malcador Infernus. These wizened veterans of the Argoan Purge rarely see combat, but when they are called upon there is little in the known galaxy that can survive their combined might.

As Argo was rebuilt under a totalitarian regime of fanatical belief in the Imperial Cult and near complete intolerance of any deviation from the Lex Imperialis, more regiments continued to be raised in both standard infantry, armor, siege etc. and unique Peacekeeper variants, the latter taking the best of the best volunteers. Argo now prides itself on always overpaying its tithe as soon as possible and the Imperial governments in nearby sectors in turn considers its unique Peacekeeper regiments excellent tools of restoring the Emperor's light. The planet has since become home to many underground manufactora and is capable of fully equipping its regiments with gear beyond the standard Imperial supply, and its huge PDF is among the better equipped and better drilled in the nearby sectors, frequently volunteering for nearby duties to both gain experience and to free full Imperial Guard units for more important tasks, while the planetary enforcers are temporarily brought in to fill for the PDF to gain experience in mass combat drills and training in addition to their law enforcement duties. The Adeptus Arbites maintain many Precinct Fortresses on the world while its Schola Progenium is favored in the sector for its terrifyingly effective Arbitrators, frequently receiving temporary exchange progena for cross-training from across the sector and from neighboring sectors. The current Lord Marshal of the Adeptus Arbites in the sector, Lucrezia Belladona, the Red Hand of Justice, is Argoan by birth and is feared even by her fellow Lords Marshal of neighbor sectors. She holds no mercy in heart for those who shirk their duties to the Emperor and mankind, applying cruel punishments so that the scum may do their penance in this life for their souls may be saved. Such is her faith in the Master of Mankind it is joked, never in her presence, that the Adepta Sororitas missed one.

Forgeworld Vulcus Omega has also thrown off the shackles of Kalimar Khan's revolt, the traitor having been painfully executed for his crimes against Mankind and the Omnissiah. The Forge has become an icon of ruthless, brutal efficiency as the menial convicts sent from Argo's prisons and the cloned servitors manning the manufactora lines now produces advanced weapons, granting Argo's new armored regiments the might of the super heavy tanks available to the Imperium and allowing the veteran engines of the Argoan Purge to rest as treasured artifacts, regularly and exactly maintained. The Forgeworld has since also raised Titan legions and colonized the previously uninhabited system of Lasbos, a single short warp jump away, with it's twinned Gas Giant pair housing a newly built orbital dockyard serving the Sector battlefleet.

Armory of the Brigade[edit]

Standard kit

All infantry are equip with gas masks and re-breathers on account of all the toxic/poisonous gas they throw around. Basic infantry carry various gas grenades: choke, toxin, hallucinogen and scare grenades.

Special weapons

The backbone of the Argo Brigade used for both anti-armor attacks and also to melt the flesh of anyone who gets to upity, is the CHEM CANNON. Traditionally mounted on Bane Wolves it has been modified to be used by heavy gunner teams as well as mounted on Taurox. Meltas and flamers are also favored by the Brigade. They make use of mortars and missile launchers occasionally having Tiberius Pattern Anti-Armour rifles.

Tiberius Pattern Anti-Armour Rifle

The Tiberius Pattern Anti-Armour Rifle is a "man portable" stubber-like weapon. Bolt action and magazine fed, the meter and a half long weapon is meant to allow infantry Peacekeepers to combat enemy armor in the absence of Melta weaponry or allied armor. The rifle, nicknamed "the Bunkerbuster", is commonly issued to Recon scouts who may encounter armored resistance and therefore need to be prepared for such eventualities since the armaments on their vehicles are often not enough to combat heavy tanks and walkers such as Crisis Suits or monstrous creatures such as a Talos Pain Engine as well as breaching lighter bunker walls.

Due to the weapon system's overwhelming weight and the weight of the large calibre rounds, the weapon platform is sparingly issued to standard Peacekeepers.

The Mole Launcher

Used by the Brigade when assaulting fortified position, the common tactic is begin chemical/gas barrages on the enemy position. Once the enemy has begun to bunker down, the Brigade's teams of Mole Launcher operators will all coordinate their first salvo to take target the foundation of the enemy position in order to collapse the enemy's locations.

This tactic, known as the Call & Cull is often used on enemy positions of medium to light fortification, i.e. small towns, forts, cities not designed for prolonged sieges. The mole launchers are not effective against particularly strong or highly developed bunkers.

However, part of the effectiveness of this tactic is that it benefits from the Brigade's careful and viciously patient style of warfare. Their methods of intel gathering, along with coin and insurgency tactics often provide their assualts with more than ample tactical information to best make their strikes as devastating as possible.

Nailer

The Nailer, a pistol finding its origins in traditional nail guns used in construction is carried as a side arm by the pacification squads to assist in mass crucifixion. It fires a modified bolt the size and shape of a railroad spike.

Armour and other machinery

Story of "the Olde Armour of Argo" shows what type of tanks Argo Brigade uses but there are few other things Brigade uses often.

Argo Brigade favors the use of APCs such as Chinera and Taurox. Their main battle tanks is formed from Hellhounds and Bane Wolves. There arent many Leman Russes but the few they have have been speficly designed to take out enemy armour.

Argo Brigade holds various pieces of artillery. Basilisks and Wyverns are commonlh used for larger campaings. Deathstrike and Manticore missile systems are used in strikes that need more precision. All the artilleries are equipped with high explosive shells and gas shells.

Regimental Uniforms

These are the standard uniform for troop type, largely divided by what battlefield purpose they serve. That said, among the many, many different Brigades of Argo, there are minor variations and idiosyncrasies dispersed among them, each building the character of its men. In spite of that, these are all the standards, found on almost all guardsmen.

   Flametroops have the standard uniform, but with a face guard plate bolted to the chest plate of their flak vest, and the gas mask features a visor as opposed to the goggle eyes. The fatigues are naturally flame retarded via sewn in asbestos.

   Melta troops, as well as heavy flamer and the rare plasma troop always wear the Heavy uniform to prevent damage to the user through excess heat.

   Tankers and artillerymen have the standard uniform sans flak vest.

   Intelligence and Military Police sport visor gas masks similar to the Flamer Troops in infantry units, in reference to Arbites that laid the groundwork for their place in the Brigade. Their flak vests match their fatigues with red shoulder guards and a dark body. The helmet assembly is blue as is traditional.

   Cav Scout uniforms, as well as the Special Task Force embedded in MP units lack any blue in their informs, and the red symbolizing the fields of Gorepoppy on Argo is limited as well. Due to their operations occurring mainly at night the uniform is the same dark camo present in most other fatigues. Cav scouts generally wear the standard helmet and flak vest of rank and file Peacekeepers (infantrymen) to keep a low weight when dismounted so they can return with haste to their vehicle should the need arise. Special Task Force soldiers wear the Heavy uniform due to their usual insertion via Valkyrie gun ships and the quick and surgical nature of their missions. Cav Scouts and Special Task Force soldiers also make great use of improvised and issued ghillie suits as well as other camo cloaks meant to blend in with un-urban environments or daytime operations

   Engineers likewise have a standard uniform, save for extra equipment used in their projects such as construction tools and repair implements. EOD technicians wear the heavy uniform with a blast shield similar to flame troopers

   Argive Pilots wear jumpsuits in a similar camo pattern to the fatigues worn by Peacekeepers but with a blue back panel, with their flight helmets the same Brigadier Blue. Gloves are often red in a grim joke about the blood on their hands.

Organization structure of Argo Brigade[edit]

Organization

>>>>77th Argoan Peacekeeper Brigade (The Argo Brigade)

>>>177th Peacekeeper Battalion (221st/The Justicars)

>>Alpha Company (Aljernon's Ardent) Infantry >Six Platoons (Infantry, Mortar teams, medics, etc)

>>Bravo Company (Bia's Bastions) Infantry >Six Platoons

>>Charlie Company (Cairon's Chosen) Infantry >Six Platoons

>>Delta Company (Deimos's Defenders) Recon Cav Scouts and Air Cav >Six Platoons (Taurox, Bikes, Sentinels, Valkyries etc)

>>Echo Company (Epiphron's Endurers) Military Intelligence+Military Police >Three Intel Platoons (Human Intelligence, PsyOps, Signals Intelligence) >Three MP Platoons (Canine+EOD+Police, Commissariat, Special task force)

>>>277th Peacekeeper Battalion (The Punishers)

>>Alpha Company (Armageddon) Infantry >Six Platoons

>>Bravo Company (Braves) Infantry >Six Platoons

>>Charlie Company (Crucifiers) Infantry >Six Platoons

>>Delta Company (Deathdealers) Recon Cav Scouts and Air Cav >Six Platoons

>>Echo Company (Eviscerators) Military Intelligence+Military Police >Three Intel Platoons >Three MP Platoons

>>>377th PK Bat (Wildcats)

>>Alpha Company (Alligators)

>>Bravo Company (Bulls)

>>Charlie Company (Cobras)

>>Delta Company (Dingos)

>>Echo Company (Eagles)

>>>477th PK Bat

>>Alpha Company

>>Bravo Company

>>Charlie Company

>>Delta Company

>>Echo Company

>>>501st Fires Battalion

>>Artillery Company (Horns of Argo) Basilisks

>> Heavy Mortar Company (Organs of Argo) Wyverns

>> Surface to Surface Missile (STSM) Company (Whispers of Argo) Deathstrikes and Manticores

>>>502nd Fires Battalion

>>Artillery Company

>>Heavy Mortar Company

>>STSM Company

>>>503rd Fires

>>Artillery Company

>>Heavy Mortar Company

>>STSM Company

>>>601st Engineers

>>Alpha Company (Engineers, in charge of mass crucifixtions) >Two platoons (Engineers, ogryns, nailers)

>>Bravo Company >One platoon (Military police)

>>>602nd Engies

>>Alpha Company

>>Bravo Company

>>>603rd Engies

>>Alpha Company

>>Bravo Company

>>>701st Armoured Regiment (Tanks and other Armored vehicles like Taurox)

>>Alpha Company (Hammers of Bross) >Two platoons (Leman Russ Vanquishers + one Baneblade

>>Bravo Company (Shields of Bross) > Five Platoons (Chimeras, Taurox, other APCs)

>>Charlie Company (Armour of Bross) > Five Platoons (Chimeras, Taurox, other APCs)

>>Delta Company (Fire of Bross) > Six platoons (Hellhounds and Bane Wolves)

The Crunch[edit]

Homeworld: Argo VII, Illius X System

Colors: Sky Blue armour with white accents with Charcoal fatigues with Carmine accents.

Specialty: COIN Operations, anti armor, mass "pacification"

Tactical info: Shock troops/light infantry with artillery support

Battlecry: "Nail 'em up!" also "Upside down! Sideways!"

Special Weapons: The Chem cannon and Nailer Pistol and various gas grenades

Favorite Pastime: Crucifixion

Champions: The Bross Family Line

Loyalty: Fanatical

Allies: Adeptus Mechanicus, Adeptus Arbites, the Ecclesiarchy

Enemies: Traitors and Xenos, especially Tau and Dark Eldar.

Modus Operandi: Rapid insertion into war zones with extreme target prioritization of enemy armor or mass concentrations of infantry. This is followed by mass executions and chemical bombardment to pacify local populations, as well as using the brigade intelligence apparatus and special police teams to keep the civilian population in check and route out further insurgency.

Only War Statblock[edit]

Homeworld: Death World

Characteristic Modifiers: +3 to any two of the following Characteristics—Perception, Strength, Toughness.

Skills: All death world characters are Trained in Survival.

Fluency: While death worlders have learned to speak Low Gothic, they do not have time in their violent lives to learn how to read or write the universal language of the Imperium. Because of this, death worlders do not start with the Linguistics (Low Gothic) Skill at creation, however they are still capable of engaging in any verbal communication in Low Gothic that does not require a Skill Test.

Hardened: Death worlders are accustomed to violence, and many death worlds contain a variety of deadly, venomous creatures. They must be continually prepared and wary of danger from a young age if they are to survive, and those instincts do not easily fade. Death worlders start with one of the following >Talents: Light Sleeper, Lightning Reflexes, or Resistance (Poisons).

Wary of Outsiders: Death worlders tend to be slow to put their faith in anyone other than themselves and their comrades, and they chafe at the expectations and strictures of more civilised society. They suffer a –10 penalty on all Interaction Skill Tests made in formal surroundings, and similarly impose a –10 penalty on any Interaction Skill Tests made on them by any non-death worlders. These penalties can be waived at the GM’s discretion if the death worlders are dealing with those who have earned their trust.

Starting Wounds: Death world characters begin play with +2 starting Wounds.

Regimental Commander: Phlegmatic. The regiment’s commander is quiet and contemplative, a man of few words. When he does speak, it is with great and solemn purpose, to give commands that have been considered in exacting detail. He does not command loyalty through rhetoric or heroics, but through quiet competence, and his men have learnt to trust in his skill and rely on the chain of command.

Starting Skills: Common Lore (Imperial Guard), Common Lore (War)

Regiment Type: Reconnaissance

Characteristics: +3 Perception, –3 Willpower

Starting Skills: Awareness

Starting Talents: Combat Sense

Standard Kit: One Sentinel Scout Walker or one Chimera Armoured Transport per Squad, and one set of magnoculars per Player Character

Training Doctrine: Anti-Armor

Starting Skill: Common Lore (Tech)

Starting Talent: Tank Hunter

Special: Due to their special training and their encyclopaedic knowledge of enemy armoured vehicles and their strengths and weaknesses, Anti-Armour regiments are unparalleled tankkillers. Members of Anti-Armour regiments add an additional amount to the Penetration of their weapons equal to their Degrees of Success on the attack roll when attacking vehicles.

Special Equipment Doctrine: Well Provisioned. The regiment has been marked as a supply priority by the Munitorum, keeping them well-supplied with ammunition, food, medical equipment, and other consumables. Wellprovisioned regiments tend to be those expected to face the worst of the fighting, with regular resupply to allow them to remain at fighting strength for far longer.

Standard Regimental Kit: The regiment increases the number of clips for their main ranged weapon and the number of weeks’ rations they carry as standard by +2, and gain an additional grenade of each type in their standard kit (if applicable). If the regiment contains vehicles, this also grants a +10 bonus on all Logistics tests to obtain fuel and parts for repairing and maintaining those vehicles

Regimental Drawbacks: The Few. This regiment is surprisingly small, whether because of its specialist doctrines, its harsh training methods, a dearth of potential soldiers on its founding world, or grievous battlefield losses. Whatever the reason, it continues to operate despite having far fewer soldiers than many other regiments, and thus cannot rely on the brute force tactics for which many great regiments are so renowned. Instead of assaulting in massive, overwhelming waves of soldiers, this regiment’s troopers must strike in smaller units. Each soldier must rely on the competence of close squad mates rather than the raw might of the regiment itself.

Limited Numbers: When a Squad from this regiment requests reinforcements (to replace fallen Comrades), it must make a Hard (–20) Logistics Test if most of the regiment is actively deployed or an Ordinary (+10) Logistics Test if a significant portion of the regiment is not currently in the field (these Tests already include situational modifiers except those added at the GM’s discretion). If it fails, the regiment simply has no reinforcements it can spare for the Squad, and its members must soldier on until its members can put in another request for troop support.

Writefaggotry[edit]

Mercy Duty[edit]

How Young Guardsmen are Made Into Brigadiers

The actual work of the mercy duty is to mentally prepare the soldiers towards their way of war. It's not surprising that many men may have difficulty getting used to such brutal and terrible warfare.

When the newer soldiers have mercy duty they go through the crucified in squads of 5 per unit. Their first time they will have to see if there are any crucified who are still alive. They are duty bound to execute any they see with a swift stab of the bayonets and keep count.

The second time the do their duty they will be given new rules. They are allowed to talk to the victims and are allowed to judge whether or no to use the bayonet to end an enemies suffering.

The next time they will do the same except now they will only be able to use the bayonet on 10% of those they come across. Those they use the spear on, must first give their final testimony to the squad telling them their home, role in the forces of the enemy, if they have any family.

Finally the squad will be assigned one last time to do their duty, but this time they can only use the bayonet once.

While this special duty may seem counterintuitive to such a brutal regiment it makes the soldiers understand that all of these crucified were still enemies of the IoM.

Even those were cried and pleaded for mercy were still enemies who sought to destroy mankind's greatest edifice.

Indus' Fifth Compound[edit]

Story of Corpsman Indus

While resupplying on an Imperial world, the planet and Brigade came under attack by an Eldar raiding party of Craftworld Alaitoc for purposes arcane. During the attack, Corpsman Indus, who always had a bit of a mad scientist streak, flooded the corridors of the base with various compounds that he suspected were paralyzing to Eldar. Many defenders choked and died on his toxic substances, but his fifth compound changed the course of battle.

Just as the raiders prepared to extract the mon'keigh target as they had foretold, one of Indus' compounds hit upon the Eldar pain receptors, causing their bodies to be racked with seizures from the unending pain. The defenders were able to take quite a few living Eldar prisoners, paralyzed by the pain, for the Ordo Xenos.

Indus' Fifth Compound, as it is now called, is being studied on Eldar prisoners to determine just what makes it so effective.

Sergeant Bross[edit]

A Tale of Brigadiers at War

Dust swirled in the wartorn streets, the air filled with the shrill war cry of Valkyrie guns alight with fury, the soft crunch of heavy boots crumbling the rubble of what used to be homes and businesses. Tau propaganda hung from windows in tattered banners and shredded posters. Calling for surrender with false saccharine promises of a better life under their xenos oppression. Sergeant Bross curled his lip in disgust underneath his mask, corrosive fumes drifting about his boots like morning fog, the roaring engine of the immense Crassus transport crawling beside him drowning out all thoughts of xenocide. Well, not all. Even through his mask the stench of death filled his nostrils, that sickly sweet smell of corpses and the savory scent of auto weaponry.

His element proceeded before the Crassus, keen eyes on the ground to protect the precious cargo of their brethren from unseen attack, their black lifeless goggles scanning windows and rooftops, rifles held at a low ready. With little pretense a whistling crack from a nearby window, a sniper shot. The shot erupted Private Kraden's helmet in a shower of crimson and blue shrapnel. The squad called out the distance and direction of the shot in stern shouts, and began to encircle the transport for security. The massive doors of the Crassus groaned open and troops began to pour out and lay down fire while the heavy flamers of the vehicle belched flame into the building.

Return fire came not shortly after, the terrorists having sprinted to another adjacent building not engulfed in flame. The disembarking troops gave pursuit, falling into cover and bounding forward, the Flamer leading the way in a grim stride. A dangerous game, but nothing broke the will of inexperienced fighters like the sight of an Argoan Flametrooper. The Brigadiers surrounded the crumbling building, tossing in gas grenades and for those with shotguns or grenade launchers incendiary or nerve rounds. Auto Rifles, shotguns, las-rifles, even pulse rifles condemning their heresy were tossed from the windows and doors, as the insurgent scum fled from the building with their hands thrust skyward. Perhaps they expected mercy.

Flaming, chemically burned, shot, stabbed, the criminals were in pitiful condition. As they fled from battle like faithless curs they were greeted by steady volleys of las fire. Brigadier marksmanship ensured that they were not lethal wounds, no death in battle was not a right that cowards had. To die for one's cause was an honor that only true warriors could aspire to, even scum heretics. Lasfire met shins, splintering them, kneecaps, shredding them, and shoulders, splitting them. The dregs fell to the dirt, crying out in pain, for death, for their mothers who failed to instil faith and virtue in them, for their xenos slave lords, some even for the Emperor's mercy.

Wordlessly, Sergeant Bross's soldiers began to drag away the yet-living dead. It always pleased the grizzled soldier to see such ease with which his soldiers plied their craft after battle. Their movements were precise, practiced, and in some vague way religious, as if they were performing some ecclesiarchal rite.In many ways, it was, for in Justice there is no greater veneration of the Emperor. The medics made to the transport, no doubt to retrieve corpse-pikes and slabs, the singular thin sheets of light metal that the enemy would be pinned upon in lieu of true crucifixes. Sergeant Bross, stepped forth, placing a gloved hand on Corporal Daret's shoulder, "Don't waste slabs on these ones, just use the walls," He motioned to the flaming building, still alight with bless'd promethium, "We need to save up for Objective Lho, the city square should have more creeps." The medic nodded, "Roger that." Bross could feel the grim smile on the young medic's face as he motioned for his comrades to the charred walls.

"PLEASE, STOP! DON'T DO THIS! I'LL TELL YOU ANYTHING!" cried one of the wretches, as his flayed thigh gouted scarlet blood upon the dirt. Bross slung his rifle over his shoulder, and the trooper dragging the man by his crushed fingers stopped. Bross tore the man's fetid tunic and wrapped his dire wound painfully tight, earning him sour whimpers of pain. "Which of you had the sniper rifle?" the soldier asked smoothly, his gruff tones barely concealing seething fury. The vandal immediately nodded emphatically to one of their ragged number, the vagrant having lost his arm. The fireteam laughed at his eagerness, then laughed harder at the sniper's cries of protest and his cursing of his comrade at his immediate betrayal. Bross simply unsheathed his knifed secured to his breastplate and drove it through the snitch's temple, rewarding his compliance. Then he stalked over to the one armed sniper.

"That was a good shot there, killer," Bross said, unsecuring his gas mask from his helmet, letting it swing free from one side, acrid gas singeing his lungs and eliciting a cough. Bross cared little, cancer was already eating away at his lungs, it wouldn't be too much longer til fighting wasn't an option. He retrieved his pack of Lho sticks from underneath his armour, using his chin to open the pack and grabbing a loose stick with his lips, lighting it off his still hot barrel, "Shame about that arm, eh?" Bross inhaled deeply, the lho dulling his raging emotions, clearing his thoughts, they'd need to move quickly, it wasn't safe to indulge in business like this. The sniper just spat in his face. Bross politely retorted with a curt punch to his forehead, his knuckles rapping soundly off the bone. Bross took a deep drag before placing the stick in the creep's mouth, who began to puff gladly "I'll cut you deal, same deal I gave your friend over there. Talk and we won't put you to the cross or to the flame. Quick and clean. How's about it, slugger?"

The man nodded tiredly, "What do you want, Imperial." Bross nodded, satisfied, the sound of distant mortar fire and panicked screams music to his ears. The battle was going well. "Tasha Square, you know it?" The rebel nodded. "Good, that's great man, you're doing great. Now what defenses are there, we know the Blueberries moved in last night, what do they got there for us?" The sniper sighed, tears welling in his eyes, the shock of capture compelling him to speak, "They're using it as a Hammerhead depot, there's Stealthers there too. Th-that's all I know, I swear. N-now just do whatever you will." Bross chuckled, taking the lho stick from the detainee and taking one last puff before putting it out on the haggard man's head, "Oh I will, fucker. Trust me, I will. Nail 'im up, let's get this show on the road." "YOU SWORE! WE HAD A DEAL!" Bross shook his head, putting back on his mask, "I lied, heretic."

The soldiers dragged the screaming victims to the still smouldering walls, taking nailers, a side arm that found its origins as an industrial nail gun but since the Argoan Revolution has found use in the Emperor's service as a short range weapon and an effective tool for making an example of dissidents. Bross enjoyed his profession, but the sizzling of flesh, the cracking of bone and concrete as nails were driven through bound feet and wall, the hopeless wailing of the damned...there was no glory in this, but crucifixion is far more than tradition, it is a necessary to quell future dissent. The hiss and crack of the Nailers ceased, the fools now hung by their feet, the spreading flames licking their toes. The soldiers took their combat knives and drug them across the exposed bellies of the inverted, intestines pushing out like grotesque blooms of some exotic and macabre fruit, ripe and wriggling.

"Mount up boys, Bravo squad, you're up for walking, Alpha on me in the truck." The soldiers did as commanded and moved their fallen brother onto the transport, " Hurry the fuck up! We have to make objective and rendezvous with Charlie, those heretics won't pin themselves up!" The troops flooded into the transport, some popping off their masks to have a smoke, other checking their gear, some obviously falling fast asleep. The battlefield faded away within the confines of the Crassus as the doors closed them into the transport and the vehicle continued on to the nexus of violence. Sergeant Bross simply looked at the mangled corpse of his private, then joined his soldiers in rest as he closed his eyes, the sounds of roaring flame and hissing gas drowned out by the grumbling engine lulling him to sleep.

Extermination[edit]

A meeting between professionals

Middle Lieutenant Bie Lao of the 5th Hua Yuan Exterminators tapped his fingers absentmindedly to the beat of the music blaring through the internal comms of the Taurox Prime on the wide dashboard, bobbing his head as the convoy raced past the ruined landscape, rolling fogs of gas concealing fields and fields of ruined city. The 5th Exterminators had been deployed to assist in the retaking of Calidad 8 from the Tau Empire, who had used humans insurrectionists to gain a foothold in the planet. Due to the sheer size of the manufactorum planet and the spreading rebellion, the Munitorum saw fit to deploy a second regiment to augment the mission of the unit already planetside. Apparently they had things well in hand enough that calling upon an Astartes chapter would have been unnecessary and frankly wasteful, but the 5th was already passing through the system returning to Hua Yuan after purging a planet riddled with a Genestealer cult.

The unit in question was the 77th Argoan Peacekeeper Brigade, but everyone knew them simply as the Argo Brigade, because there wasn't any other in the known Imperium. Relentless, ruthless, and deadly, the small unit was already a quiet legend long before the Imperium had found Hua Yuan in all her festering glory. Small and well equipped, from what the young officer could tell the two units couldn't be any more different. While the Exterminators as a whole prefered to keep their operational tempo at a breakneck speed to deny the enemy time to react the Brigadiers had a patient and methodical approach to the enemy, rarely running missions back to back and almost always stopping to fortify claimed ground. Even in battle they seemed to have more in common with Necron than the Exterminators; the Exterminators sprint into enemy lines in a dazzling display of firepower and athletic coordination, disorienting and overwhelming the enemy.

The Argives by contrast would prefer to take cover and pelt the enemy with return fire while another element executes a swift flank. Such measures often produced more enemy casualties than confirmed kills, but after seeing them after combat...Bie Lao was convinced this was by design. Nothing separated the two units more than how they saw other humans. Sure, Gardeners by and large have tremendous pride in their homeland and tend to be a little brusque towards foreigners, but if you have good music and better drink you can buy the friendship with relative ease. The Argives on the other hand only really seemed to relax around their own number, even the non-Argive Brigadiers. Towards others they seemed...almost predatory, as if constantly looking for some hidden heresy to crucify you for. In the case of the Exterminators and their Xenon, they were all lucky that it was as close a secret as it is...

Perhaps that's what made the Lieutenant so uneasy around the Argives, not just because of their haughty attitudes or fine equipment, or even their excruciatingly boring approach to combat. It was the torture. It was almost like the Exterminator trophy hunting, Bie Lao thought as he stroked the gaunt skull fitted onto his shoulder, but it wasn't meant to show skill or status, it was to build fear. Fear and disgust. And it worked. The last thing Bie Lao wanted was to have to fight the Brigadiers and survive lest he end up upside down on a cross, or on his side with a spear lodged through his ribs. The convoy screeched to a halt as they neared a small traffic circle at the end of the dusty road. MLT Bie Lao, in the lead vehicle, hopped out of the garrish, trophy littered vehicle, hitting the ground with a hard thud. Awaiting him in the circle, where the Brigadiers.

The Brigadiers sat in their Taurox blocking the streets into the circle, the turrets of the light vehicles pointed down the roads leading to the circle, as the lieutenant jogged up to the halted brigadiers he saw that there were a few guns pointed his way, which made him none too comfortable. Only adding to his apprehension was their uniforms, which lacked any of the typical blue or red and instead were a uniform dark drab. As he neared the end of the street the vehicle at its mouth came to life with a purring engine. And a mounted weapon pointed straight at him. From the mounted turret came a single shout in Low Gothic, "Crimson!". The Lieutenant halted and shouted back, "Eagle!". He had been briefed the challenge and pass for the day over a secure vox channel in code briefed to him the day before, the verbal Vox cipher was meant to be changed weekly, if possible. Bie Lao pondered a unit such as large as any Hua Yuanese one utilizing so many security measures without something going wrong. He shuddered at the thought.

The Tauros pulled into the traffic circle, and one of the brigadiers dismounted from the vehicle, waving the convoy into into the circle. As the convoy rolled along the brigadier approached the lieutenant, "Captain Keterov, Delta Company Cav, 277th. Seems like you lot didn't die out there." Bie Lao, "Sorry to disappoint, Sir. Middle Lieutenant Bie Lao, 1st Company 505th." The Gardener offered his hand to the captain. It did not reciprocate. The Brigadier turned his back and walked back to his vehicle. "Your men better be good to go Lieutenant, we've been here far too long. You lot took your sweet fucking time." "We ran into some resistance, sir." "Is that an excuse, soldier? I thought the Exterminators were fighters." Bie Lao, grimaced, "No, sir." The Cav Scout regarded him with a soulless eye from his gas mask, "No that's not an excuse? Or no, you Exterminators aren't worth your collective weight in shit?'

Blue Grox Snowfall[edit]

A field report of a zealot

Mission entry of A. Black, Acolyte of the Holy Ordos:

Operation: Blue Grox Snowfall

"Having been attached to the Argo Brigade for well over 2 months now, I had found myself worrying about losing the trail of [redacted]. The regiment was, slow. The men and women of the regiment were consummate professionals, very capable and competent soldiers, utterly dedicated to the orders of the Emperor. However their way of waging war seems wanting to the untrained eye.

Since my attachment to the regiment they had gained all of 4 miles towards the target zone. While some would see such a slow pace as indicative of cowardice, soldiers simply trying to run out the clock before they need to be bloodied in the bathes of war, there was no fear in the Brigade. Rather the entire regiment takes a very methodical approach towards war.

The operations center of the regiment was well fortified and yet it seemed so very...impermanent? It was well established, yet it seemed as if at any moment the entire base could be dissassembled and the entire regiment could simply disappear into the ground.

It was only after a week had gone by that I had realized that the regiment had been very busy while they were supposedly holding still. Within the short time the Brigade had established this front, they had an extensive network of contacts, information sources, and locals.

The weeks have been punctuated by sporadic blooms of death in the distance, but no real action, until today.

The Cobi Mine Weighstation, the only supplied and viable node in the whole region between the Imperial front and the Heretical forces was considerable. Commanding a large space in the arid valley, it had been heavily supplied and fortified by the enemy. My early estimations calculated some considerable losses if the regiment was to stage an attack without any other support.

and yet they did stage an attack without any other imperial help.

Mission Entry of A. Black, Acolyte of the Holy Ordos, revisted: The entire regiment geared up and set out to take the WeighStation. Upon approach of the target the plan began to form. The regiment got into position and then there was just waiting.

finally the whistling of the wind was interrupted by the sound of gun-fire and explosions. Partisans who had become aligned with the regiment staged an "attack" on the settlement outside of the Weighstation. From our vantage point and high power magnoculars it was clear that the attack was certainly a spectacle. It was more impressive to see just how many of the archenemy began to stream out from the Weighstation.

I began to worry. It was clear that I had underestimated the numbers holding the target.

But before I could voice my concern over how costly an assault would be, I heard the heavens scream. The Argo Brigade began it's attack. A series of salvos from the heavy artillery announced the arrival of the Argo Brigade.

The artillery was launching gas and chemical shells. The striking aspect though, was that the shells were designed with certain features that caused the air rushing past them to scream. It was quite a sound to hear.

Within minutes large clouds of sickly yellow smoke were visible with the naked eye from our far off position. Through my magnocular I could see many of the enemy troops now hurrying towards their makeshift bastion as scores of their comrades began to fall.

Then the bastion built on the Weighstation collapsed. The regiment had deployed a number of heavy weapons teams utilizing mole launchers across the valley to close but hidden positions within range of the target.

in the weeks before the assault the regiment had acquired in-depth knowledge of the entire settlement and facility. When the first salvo of mole launchers went off, they hit the weakest parts of the structural foundation.

> After that it became a slaughter. They called the tactic, the Cull and Call

Shas'La Yun’a Kias first contact[edit]

Recordings from Tau central library

Shas'La Yun’a Kias checked the outlay for his pulse rifle for the sixth time in the last hour. Satisfied that it read the same digits as the last five times, he slotted the weapon back into the hold above his seat and crossed his arms, wary of the sudden drops and jerks the re-entry craft was making. Nervously, he used his inbuilt os to open a copy of the mission briefing his unit had been handed before boarding the transport and heading for the planet below.

[Classified] Received M999.XXX, XX/XX XX.XX.XX.XXX Quelling the populace here has been difficult. Use of XXXXX has been XXXXXXX. Casualties among XXXXXXX heavy, requesting reinforcements. Enemies units have XXXXXXX us. Lost contact with command. Warning: watch out for- Message end.

10 days ago their transport freighter had made an unscheduled detour, diverting the course it took by over 30 degrees and lowering its thrust. Neither Kias’ unit nor any other he had contact with had received any information on the reason for the detour, but nine days later 400 Tau of the Fire caste had been assembled in one of the transport hangers, told they were to aid in the pacification of the planet below (the name for which no Tau could correctly pronounce), forwarded their ‘briefing’, a document full of missing info and ambiguous in its meaning, and packed into the smaller re-entry craft like U’ina. Since then Kias had barely spoken a word to anytau, staring at the bulkhead above him and continuously rechecking his equipment. He had not bonded well with his squad, being fresh blood. The honours on the units file listed participation in over 30 active warzones, a feat he doubted he would ever match. Gruff, solemn and hard they had treated Kias more as a domestic drone then a fully fledged Fire Warrior in his own right. Kias dreamed of a day when they would see him as an equal, and drifted to unconsciousness with these thoughts on his mind.

Kias was broken out of his reverie when the re-entry craft suddenly dropped what felt like 90 metres, combined with a loud, high pitched squeal he recognized as the incoming fire alarm. Immediately adopting the brace position drilled into him in training, he gritted his teeth as the craft executed an upward climb, sending unstowed gear flying through the craft. With a solid thunk a drone tore free from its rack and went through the head of the sergeant next to Kias, firmly planting itself in the wall behind the nco’s head. A few seconds later Kias blacked out as a hole the size of a large bovine opened in the ship and the engines lost power.

The rookie soldier awakened to his corporal shaking him on his shoulder, calling him to action. Kias could not hear, but from gestures to the surrounding area and his tactical display the other soldier managed to convey that they had landed in the jungle surrounding the Shas’tia, or Military Centre of Command. Upon further examination of the terrain around him, Kias saw that the section of the craft they had been in had torn free, and kindly deposited the corporal, ten privates and himself in a small clearing. Of those ten privates four were dead, though the other six stood in a rough semicircle around the part of the ship they’d landed in. Moving groggily, Kias followed the nco into the jungle, heading for the destination their ship had been travelling before it was wrenched from the sky.

Four hours later the team came upon their first bodies. Nailed to the trees in imitation of crosses, over 50 tau corpses of varying stages of decay, along with a number of what he presumed to be Gue’vesa. Kias managed to stare for three seconds before removing his helmet and vomiting into a nearby bush. A number of privates looked in his direction, but most were to engrossed in the sight of so many crucifictions. One of the other privates trotted over to the corporal and bent his head toward him. ‘Ka-os?’, he muttered over the internal comms. The nco pointed at a sign hung around a tau’s neck and shook his head. Shrugging the private stepped back, while Kias pulled himself back together. The nco turned back, ordering them to form a line and advance. As Kias passed the sign the senior member had pointed at he noticed it was hung round the neck of a member of his unit, and was painted using tau blood.

"By the word of His Holiness the God-Emperor, Xenos are an abomination and do not deserve to live."

Fighting back the urge to be sick again, Kias followed the rest of the squad into the jungle.

It took their unit another 8 hours of trekking to reach the Shas’tia, and by then they had passed almost 500 crucified tau and an uncountable number of their auxiliary races. Kias hadn’t been sick, but his gut pulled weirdly when he thought on it. As they crested the final ridge, they saw what awaited them. The Shas’tia had been designed as an example of the modern Tau might: a gleaming 700ft tall pyramid surrounded with some of the fiercest security measures it’s designers could implement. The light yellow colour of it has been flawless, but even from a kilometre away Kias could barely tell it’s true colour. As far as they could see, every available space had been taken up by a crucified Tau, giving the pyramid a rotten blue colour that made Kias lightheaded. Two privates behind him fainted, while another just dropped his rifle and sobbed. The corporal turned to look at Kias, raising his weapon as he did. Kias stood stock still as he watched the nco’s head disappear into a blue-green puff of blood. He didn’t move as lasfire rained down on them, cutting the other privates to pieces. He didn’t move when the blue men walked to him and dragged him to a cage and he didn’t move when they truck the cage was in drove to the Shas’tia. He remained unmoving while they held his hands and feet against the plasteel of the building and nailed them in place. When the next batch of tau prisoners were dragged past his corpse two hours later he was in the same position he was placed in, and he remained like that till his flesh rotted away and his bones fell to the ground.

Gallery[edit]

An emblem of the Argo Brigade featuring both a human and xeno crucifixion.
A Guardsman of the Argo Brigade rendered by the Bolter and Chainsword Guardsman painter.
A Guardsman of the Argo Brigade edited with gasmask.
A Guardsman and Officer of the Brigade in regimental kit.
A Peacekeeper and a Grenadier.
A patrolling Commissar detached to the brigade.
A Flametrooper; a Peacekeeper equipped with a flamer.
Brigadiers having fun experimenting with crucifixion.