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Inspired by a pseudo-request in the painting thread, I figured I might as well introduce my heretics and invite others to do the same. I have numerous small armies (A guard army, even evil guard, is never complete. It merely explores new avenues of expansion), but two larger ones who comprise the bulk of my guardsmen, the Baavar Geneclade (Khorne worshippers), and the Orlean First Cohort. I'll share what background I've worked up below, and hope others will do the same for their regiments, cults, warbands, and other assorted formations. The Baavar Geneclade The Baavar Geneclade started life in the Baavar Clanwarrens, specifically in the warrens under the control of their Archgenetech. Obsessed with perfection of the human form, the Archgenetech and his followers in the clade believed themselves to be descended from a perfect common ancestor from the Dark Ages, an ancestor they believed held the perfect human form locked within its genes. Utilizing genecraft, eugenic breeding, and other long unspoken of techniques, the genetechs of Baavar spent generations trying to unlock this perfection. After unknown years and generations they achieved what they believed to be perfection in the form of the first genegineered members of their warrens, each infused with the genetic code of the Archgenetech themself. For again years unknown, the Archgenetech ruled over the entirety of the Clanwarrens, having quickly overthrown the other ruling Magos and quickly populating the warrens with his cohorts of genetically homogenous soldiers. The Archgenetech ruled as a living god in this fashion over a society built in his image, the society secure in their perfection until the coming of the Emperor of Mankind to the Baavar's warrens. Attempting a peaceful integration into the fledgling Empire the Emperor led a procession into the warrens, under the watchful gaze of thousands of pairs of eyes peering through thousands of targeting scopes. First came rank upon rank of barely controlled techno barbarians, followed by a cadre of hulking Thunder Warriors and, finally, the golden clad Custodians flanking The Emperor of Mankind himself. They wound for hours through the warrens’ tunnels, the cavalcade of military force on both sides refusing to be the one responsible for what could only be a massacre on both sides. Finally The Emperor found Himself in the Archgenetech’s amphitheatre, a tail of His army trailing thru the entire labyrinthine complex, the Archgenetech seated on his throne complex, massed ranks of his most impressive soldiery flanking for a full kilometer in all directions. For long moments the assembled troops stood. Unmoving, untalking, the Archgenetech the only soul daring to take action as two gods stared into each other and took one another's measure. The Archgenetech rose from his throne and cleared his throat. He barely uttered a single syllable, “Ki…”, before a flash of light pierced the cavern and the Archgenetech's throat and surrounding flesh were vaporized. Nobody dared move except the Baavar’s First Hand, positioned to the immediate right of the throne, who lowered his laslock rifle, its barrel still steaming and glowing faintly in the damp underground air. To a man the Baavar Geneclade took a knee to The Emperor. Tens of thousands of Baavar Genewrought knew that they were descended from the perfect human and they wept, having finally laid eyes on the man whom they knew embodied that perfect ideal, and would take his place on their throne from now on. The Genebrothers of the Baavar are a highly unusual Imperial Army regiment. Born of highly homogeneous breeding practices, each brother is nearly identical in appearance and mannerisms to the next. Being naturally born humans though, rather than clones, there is some small variance that crops up from time to time, accounting for some of the more specialized units the Baavar field. Each brother is tall for an unaugmented human, often passing two meters in height, and naturally slender of limb and torso. Generations of eugenic breeding has rendered the Baavar almost universally hairless and excessively pale of skin, even when environmental conditions should preclude it. Due to their long rule by the Archgenetech the Baavar hold the uncommon belief that they are not truly an individual until they have earned that right, living and fighting under rebreathers and masks until they have reached a position of note within their regiment. Even then, it is rare to see a Baavar fully unmasked, many having become accustomed to their rebreathers and whatever compounds the regimental Commissars have seen fit to add to improve regimental morale. This lack of self identity combined with a sense of superiority tends to annoy other forces alongside whom they take to the field, but none more than the Adeptus Astartes. Shortly after joining The Emperor's armies, the Baavar were genetested for compatibility with the Legiones Astartes. Being of such ubiquitous stock, almost the entirety of the Baavar were judged incompatible with the existing legions. A small numbers were however found compatible, and this gave rise to the peculiar and sometimes infuriating habit of addressing all Astartes as brothers ever since a scant three Baavar were found fit for Astartes training and enhancement. Not knowing which legions these Baavar eventually joined does not dissuade the rest of the Baavar from being immensely proud of this fact, and they remain sure that one of their number has been a part of every Legion they have fought beside. The only Legion of notable contrast are the brothers of the VIth, who seemed to be highly amused at the idea of their “little brothers” fighting alongside them. This habit aside, many other Legiones Astartes forces have developed a particular dislike for the Baavar simply due to their unorthodox approach to tactics, seeming to shift their plan of battle from a gunline to a bayonet charge and back on vague whims. It has been to many an allied commander's chagrin when these seemingly random movements seem to actually aid the battle, with more than one not knowing whether the Baavar were tactical geniuses, bloodthirsty madmen, or both. It is thankful then that the XIIth, a small number of which have joined the 2756th Expedition Fleet, find the chaos and irregularity of the Baavar endearing, and tend to almost dare the Baavar regiments to try to keep up with them on the battlefield. Unfortunately, neither the accompanying IIIrd nor the cohorts of the Orleans Basin appreciate these displays of wild unpredictability, and more than once the Baavar have found themselves being chastised and given the most boring field assignments by their Astartes fleet commanders. This, along with the wildly different philosophies of their respective upbringings, has led to a particular animosity between the Baavar and the Orlean First Cohort which has almost progressed into outright combat or friendly fire on more than a few occasions. Orlean Basin First Cohort The Orlean First Cohort hail from the upper hive spires of the Orlean Basin off of the Nord Merican conclaves. The regiment as a whole consists of over a dozen cohorts comprised of everyone from children of nobles to ganger scum, and the regiment practices strict segregation to foster competition and rivalry between the various cohorts. The Orlean First Cohort is comprised exclusively of the children of the upper hive spires, most usually the later sons of wealthy families or dispossessed nobles with no options left to them. The trappings of wealth and luxury are reflected in the armament and style of warfare of the Orlean First, with all members traditionally bringing their own equipment to service, rather than utilizing the normal arms and equipment supplied by the regimental quartermasters. Rejecting the usual flak armor of the Imperial Army the First is decked out almost completely in regal, if early design, powered armor with servo muscled arms and armored torsos. The First is also most commonly fitted with Boltguns instead of the usual munitorium issued lasgun, letting them lay down destructive power rarely welded by the linesmen of the Imperial Army and only uncommonly seen outside of the Legiones Astartes. Befitting their stature, the Orlean First were most commonly attached to the III Legion, their armor painted a deep purple in honor of their Astartes commanders. Striding the battlefield inside their RH1N0 armored transports, the Orlean First Cohort represent the best aspects of mankind's nobility and the most destructive firepower an armyman can bring to bear. For a long time, the bulk of the Orlean regiments were assigned to Expedition Fleet 2756, alongside a small force of the IIIrd Legion, a continent of the XIIth Legion acquired by happenstance as their dead vessel was intercepted by the crusade fleet, and various other regiments of the Imperial Army and Navy. The Orlean Cohorts served with distinction, the First Cohort using it's firepower to great effect to wipe out what xenos resistance couldn't be overrun by the massed ranks of conscripts from the lower Cohorts. This continued until the world of 2756-34, whose foul inhabitants took a large toll on human and post-human alike with witchcraft and weaponry the likes of which the Orleans didn't believe could exist, let alone expected to have to combat. It was only due to the Orlean First's commanding Centurion’s strict disregard for his troops’ lives that the xenos capital could finally be surrounded until a drop assault by the brothers of the IIIrd could end the xenos menace for good, albeit at the cost of over twenty complete lower cohorts. Following the final pacification of 2756-34, now called Nova Orlea in the regiment’s honor, the Orlean were gifted with a set of blades that were said to have been manufactured by the IIIrd Legion’s finest artificers. They were given six matching blades covered in strange runes and sheathed in a pale blue power field, and a seventh double bladed weapon to crown the set. First Centurion Jamnl was given the honor of weilding the double blade, christened Orlean’s Honour, as badge of office. The remaining six blades were gifted to the officers of highest familial stature, much to the anger of Third Centurion Tyrmni who was an accomplished soldier and strategist but who hailed from one of the relatively minor spire houses and was the only Centurion-grade officer to lack a blade as his mark of stature. This would go on to be the cause of much infighting among the First Cohort, with more than one duel of honor ending in maiming, disembowelment, or even worse debilitating injury and assignment to officership in the lower cohorts. The worst fate went to those crippled so severely in these duals that they were removed from service in the regiment and assigned to oversee the ongoing colonization and rebuilding of New Orlea into a productive member of the Imperial machine.