Liber Challenge III: Task Force 18 "Death Dealers"

[Gunmonkey88]

I, the high honorable Gunmonkey, vow in the name of the God-Emperor to create an Imperial Guard Regiment. This I shall vow or be forever damned!

 

There, now that that's taken care of, on to the fluff:

 

The Luban system consists of a single yellow star and is primarily orbited by 5 planets, 2 asteroid belts, and 2 planetoids that orbit each other. The system is located near Cadia and is a critical producer of raw resources and war material that supply the Cadian regiments and other defenders around the Eye of Terror. Because of its strategic value and its proximity to the Eye of Terror, it is frequently attacked and has a permanent Imperial Guard garrison stationed throughout the system. Both asteroid belts host massive mining operations primarily for raw metals although rarer elements are also sought.

 

The first planet is named Felix and is too close to the sun for easy habitation. There are a number of penal mines that operate under the surface extracting materials required for laser and fusion production.

 

The second planet is Augustus Prime and its surface consists entirely of manufactories and subsurface hives. Here is where the bulk of the production capability resides. Although it once had fresh air and a clear atmosphere, it is now so polluted that there is complete cloud cover and acid rain falls regularly. Any who travel the world outside of the manufactories and habitats without appropriate environmental suits risk painful lung damage at best and a slow and painful death from acid burns and inhaled toxins at worst. It is from here that the system is ruled and the tech legions of the garrison maintain their watch. The nobility and wealthy elite live in large, domed habitats with clean air, broad avenues, simulated daylight, and even real living trees. These domes are a far cry from the squalor and press of humanity that exists in the hives.

 

Octavian: A single moon orbits Augustus and contains some mining interests and habitats to support them but the majority of the surface and subsurface is given to the Tech Guard Legions. It is here that the majority of their training takes place, their equipment tested, their vehicles proven. They are able to deploy quickly to their primary concern which is the defence of Augustus itself. They are also able to deploy to other areas throughout the system with ease using the gravity of the planet to build speed to reinforce local garrisons against whatever threats they are facing.

 

Further from the sun are the two planetoids, Marcus and Justus. Too small to build manufactories or large-scale habitats and devoid of useful materials, the two planetoids were turned over to agriculture and produce enough to feed the system population and a small surplus that is used to produce ration packs for the Imperial Guard. When the Knightly House of Talos appealed to the system governor for asylum, they were granted control over both planetoids in return for service when needed.

 

House Talos: The original home of this house was swallowed by a Tyranid hive fleet and the survivors spent the following two decades exacting their revenge, eventually leading the final assault that destroyed the hive mind and scattered the fleet, ending the threat. While they were victorious, it came with a cost. Where once dozens of knights carried the house banner, there remained only three. The three knights set out to find a new home and a new reason to fight. After searching for several years, they came to the Luban system and were finally granted title over a new home. As the three set about rebuilding their house with the help of the manufactories of Augustus Primus, they also changed their colors and heraldry. The colors were now red, recognizing the blood lost and the blood willingly shed in defense of the Imperium, and white, representing purity both of honor and purpose. Their heraldry is a shield bisected with a black sword hanging point down. On the left is a field of red with two white skulls laid vertically and centered representing the willingness to defend Marcus and Justus to the death. On the right is a field of white with three tear drops of blood laid as an equilateral triangle and centered representing the three knights that survived the vengeance campaign and the blood of fallen brothers.

 

Beyond the planetoids are a vast asteroid belt and two gas giants, Cato and Philo. They are approximately of equal size and are both hundreds of times the size of Augustus. Their surface is dotted with gas mining stations and huge amounts of material is processed from their depths.

 

Farther from the sun lies the second asteroid belt and beyond that orbits Cyprian, an ice giant one quarter the size of the two gas giants. Dotted by mining operations, around it also orbits the massive battle station Ajax which serves as the base for the Imperial Fleet that protects the system.

 

There are over one hundred moons and millions of asteroids, many of whom are the focus of intense mining efforts and defensive fortifications and garrisons. These are constantly the target of raids and attacks by the Eldar, Dark Eldar, Orks, and Chaos Raiders. Occasionally, a larger force will muster and attempt to take a more heavily defended area such as the orbiting gas mines. The very largest of attacks are sometimes sufficient to breach all the way to Augustus itself resulting in massive fleet actions in its orbit while the Legions battle their way through hive and manufactory against the invaders on the surface below. All of these attacks cause significant damage and loss of life but, once the threat has passed, the people of Luban stoically rebuild, repair, and begin work anew.

 

My force:

 

Task Force 18 "Death Dealers," (callsign "Reaper"), 88th Regiment "Night Stalkers" (Guard), 27th Brigade (Guard), 3rd Legion "Rock of Taln" (Airborne), 19 Corps, 8th Army "Augustus"

 

Guard regiments are fairly independent organizations that are meant to be able to rapidly react to an enemy incursion in the system and deploy to counter it and wait for regular infantry reinforcements. The lowest level of organization that makes up a guard brigade is a task force, generally a company-sized element that is primarily made up by the elite infantry and storm troopers of the Imperial Guard garrisoning the system. Often, aircraft and tanks are attached in support of task force missions as needed. The organization of a task force is designed to be fairly fluid so they can quickly change their focus as the threat itself changes. The tactics employed by task forces can be characterized as swift, bold, and aggressive, relying on speed to seize objectives and apply maximum firepower at an enemy's weakest point. Because they specialize in action in close quarters, there is less emphasis on the typical Imperial Guard doctrine of strength through numbers and tanks and more placed on individual skill, equipment, and precise application of firepower. During large actions on relatively open ground, Guard regiments utilize airpower to seize momentum and engage in close quarters battle where their advantage lies.

 

Task Force 18 is a particularly renowned group that specializes in long-range operations that sometimes occur far from friendly support such as on individual mining stations and platforms. Because of this, they tend to rely more on air support and their own organic weaponry that they and their transports carry rather than on the massed armor and firepower of tanks. This tends to make them much faster than an opponent expects Imperial Guard to be able to move.

 

Major battles:

While forces are regularly called on to reinforce the Cadian Gate or to secure nearby positions, and serve in these areas with distinction, the greatest battle ever fought by the regiment came at the hands of Waaaagh Greatstompa. Having come from an area opposite the approach to the Cadian Gate, the massive fleet bypassed the system's main fleet and defenses. At the time of the attack, the regiment had just returned from a campaign against a genestealer cult in a neighboring system and was in the outer asteroid belts training replacements. This single regiment, along with the small Imperial Navy task force assisting with the training, was called on to fight a delaying action against the several million orks in the Waaaagh. Using their trademark tactics of fast movement and bold exploitation, they were able to harry and confuse the oks amongst the asteroids long enough for enough reinforcements to arrive to fight the Waaaagh to a standstill. The regiment paid for this victory at a high cost though, fully two thirds of the regiment was killed and many others were wounded. Those that survived unscathed though formed the core of what would become one of the most elite regiments in the Imperium.

 

Having never done this before, what else is necessary to complete the vow? What do you guys think of the fluff?

[WarriorFish]

Looks good to me, I think that's all you need for a vow completion but there's nothing stopping you adding a bit more or some pictures to liven it up a little :)