Index Imperialis: The Astra Militarum tithes of Karadanis.

[Beren]

So, the Algonquin Table project has persuaded me to to reinitiate work on a world I writ up for an Only War regiment inspired by the works of Steven Erikson. As part of the challenge I would like to reformat, edit and expand it. This is what I wrote previously.

 

Karadan Marines

 

World: Karadanis is a feudal world rediscovered two decades ago. Once consisting of numerous and City States, almost all of the planets population was brought under one ruler within the Daghadi Empire after three centuries of expansion and war. When the Imperium arrived they set in progress a series of events that would topple that Emperor. Within a month, before he had decided whether to reject or accept the Imperium’s Compliance Edict, he was murdered by his head of intelligence who then enacted a swift and brutal purge of the nobility. She quickly swore allegiance to the Imperium and converted to its creed herself to solidify her rule. Immediately, a score of City-States already on the verge of rebellion revolted and were suppressed in violent pogroms, supported by forces of the Imperium. However, the Imperial rule would not be accepted fully without a hitch, the most important one surrounding Karadan psykers. There are two things noticeable about them. First, they are unusually numerous and second, the vast majority displayed a perfect sanity and a high level of control over their powers. Somehow, they had created or discovered stable pockets of the warp to draw their powers from called Warrens. An unfortunate side effect of this was that, while such Warrens were not openly worshipped, they did have different aspects and abilities associated with using them. As a result, numerous skirmishes broke out between the natives, agents of the Ecclesiarchy and of the Astra Telepathica. Fortunately, before this could break out into open war an agreement was settled. Soon missionaries were preaching that all Warrens were aspects of the God-Emperor whilst the Astra Telepathica left the planet with a handful of the planet most powerful psyker to study them, but maintain a close vigil on the planet.

 

Unlike some planets within the Imperium, Karadanis has a wide range of cultures and ethnicities, making social structure and physical build irregular at best. Currently the new empress, recognised as planetary governor by the Imperium, has managed to stabilize the situation on her homeworld to a degree. So far, imperial institutions have yet to establish much of a hold on the planet due to their recent arrival. Psykers are well known and only feared if they garner a specific reputation to that effect. The planet lacks any embedded religion, although an exception to this was a particularly nasty blood cult that manifested during the conquests of the first emperor (*currently under Inquisitorial investigation*) only to be crushed by the nascent empire, but not without the loss of three cities first. There are several bitter blood feuds between several tribal groups and cities and it is these regions where most of the PDF garrison is stationed. The planet as a whole, including the empress actually has very little knowledge regarding the rest of the imperium. The most the minor cities knows is that ‘it's somewhere else and a lot bigger than us' whereas some isolated communities appear to know nothing about it at all leaving them to wonder “where did all these priests come from and what on Karadanis are they yelling about?”

 

The Karadan Marines: The army of the Daghadi Empire consists primarily of varying groups of infantry, with auxiliaries forming a cavalry. The PDF (although not a name used by it's members) utilises primarily medieval technology. The only exception to this is a large number of incendiary and explosive devices concocted by a people known as the Morani and mostly used by sappers. It also has a relatively open military hierarchy allowing soldiers to speak openly and question their superiors. This is in fact something of a necessity due to nobles purchasing commissions within the army. Few of these ever reach high rankings but the PDF is inundated with captains and lieutenants of whom only a minority is capable. One that has not proven himself and treats his subordinates with disdain is liable to end up with a dagger in his back.

 

 

Recruits are taken from any gender and any culture all over the empire. Typically recruits from one region are split up and folded into different regiments in an attempt to prevent regimental rivalries forming along cultural lines. As such they are generally widely accepting of other cultures, if not actual outsiders. Frictions and inner fighting are expected at first, but good officers can disarm the situation relatively quickly. A shared experience of hardship is also a very bonding agent. Tithes to join the Astra Millitarum are usually drawn from the marine units, trained with crossbows and in melee. Their steel armour is replaced with flack armour and cross bows with lasguns. Sappers are trained as combat engineers and learn how to use modern explosives and sapping tools. All regiments so far raised have proved themselves competent, if not extraordinary, and consist of a wide number of sappers and psykers. Any imperial commander of any competency should always assign them to operate with a more veteran unit. The reason for this is that though they may have seen action on their homeworld and have basic training appropriate to their combat tradition, they have next to no knowledge of warfare in the 41st millennium and even less on the plethora of enemies the Imperium faces. This is assuming they've gotten used to Imperial technology and doctrine of war first. These regiments have nearly no history behind them other than a few battles that verged between victory and disaster. The Karadan 2nds first encounter with hostile tanks lead to their lines breaking, the troopers scattering and Imperial lines recoiled of several miles. It took a momentous effort to restore order and cohesion and important act of sacrifice for the enemy vehicles to be destroyed mostly thanks to psykers and sappers’ actions. This led the foe vulnerable to a counterattack.

 

Karadan Marines are typically armoured in a plain looking assortment of ‘flak mail', leather boots and flak armbraces as well as a medieval fashioned full helm. They are equipped with a classic Cadian pattern lasgun, various grenades and usually a melee weapon, a short robust saber being the most popular. Furthermore, many squads have taken a liking to grenades, which are similar to but more stable and powerful than the minor explosives typically used by their PDF. Sappers are, as usual, weighed down with every kind of explosive imaginable.

 

«The Exile Wardens»: The very first tithe of Karadanis was not composed of their finest, or rather it was but wasn't tithed because of it. The elite army known as the Wardens were the first Emperor favourites, and one of the most renowned army group in the Empire, veterans one and all. Because of this, they needed to be removed fast and without it looking suspicious. So they were the first to be offered the ‘grand honour' of fighting amongst the stars. Every one of them saw it for what it was, death or exile at best. Since then, the regiment has turned to fatalism and gallows humour. None of them really expect to survive, and certainly not to return home. Despite this, many are determined to carve a legend for themselves, if only to spite their new Empress. This is something they have managed to achieve surprisingly well, at least locally. They are, however, somewhat distrusted among their superiors, mainly because every commissar assigned to them hasn't lasted fore more than a couple of months. According to the Wardens, this is because they haven't the slightest idea of how to behave around explosives, an pretty obvious lie considering commissar are amongst the deadliest and most heavily trained warrior in the Imperium that managed to hold only due to leniency from the Imperium and the unsafe nature of primitive explosives. The regiment is in fact a little difficult to handle. On the other hand, they are perfectly comfortable with high risk missions and sacrificing their lives for others. The are considerably less comfortable when someone else tries to sacrifice their lives. Most recently they were assigned to the assault on Gaern. Despite initially securing a breach into a minor city that was vastly better defended then they had been given cause to believe, they were cut off and surrounded. They most likely would have been destroyed entirely had it not been for the distraction provided by the Overgon Hunters. At the end of the battle, they were to less than 400 soldiers from over a 1000 at its beginning. They are currently under the command of Captain Parchan, the highest ranking surviving officer, who believes that someone higher up has just tried to kill them again and is likely to be quite unamenable to orders unless it’s explained otherwise.

 

Moto: Take the city, leave a ruin.

 

 

Other potential regiments:

Giant flying insect riders with rough rider lances and who like to drop explosives on your head.

Relatively intelligent but barbaric Ogryn.

Ratlings who have knack of getting into implausible places to attack psykers.

Psykers assassins.

Anti-psyker assassins.

 

Present Concerns:

Being overly snowflakey with the whole psyker and ministorum situation and in general.

Ratlings and Ogryns developing on the same planet.

How to handle the Inquisition potentially attempting to seize control of the Otaral dust(a material impervious to psykery which exists in the books)

[Tarvek Val]

I look forwards to seeing how you revise your work to fit into the Algonquin Table theme! 

[Beren]

First re-written section.

 

Munitorum Report: Karadanis Astra Militarum Potential

 

Homeworld: Karadanis has been only recently rediscovered by the Rogue Trader Jillian Taldren some two decades ago, who promptly sold information regarding it's location to every party willing to buy it. Because of this it is not yet fully integrated into the Imperium, a process that has been delayed due various issues.

 

According to records and their own history, the planet was made up of a multitude of disparate city-states only three centuries ago. Unification had only recently come to the planet in the form of the Daghadi Empire. As a matter of fact the emperor in ascension at the time of the Imperium's arrival had only just finished the orchestration of a campaign which crushed the last 'true' independent city states. Unfortunately for their emperor, his ruling philosophy was based around the overwhelming power of the Daghadi military. Compared to the might of the Imperium this was nonexistent. This lead to hesitation, and for a man whose strength was based on swift and often brutal action, this was fatal. Within a week of Imperial demands for compliance their emperor was dead, usurped by his own head of intelligence. A swift and brutal purge of those upper echelons still loyal to the memory of the old ruler was followed by an oath of allegiance to the Imperium and adherence to the Imperial Creed. City states already on the verge of rebellion erupted into bloody revolt only to be crushed within days through use of orbital strike craft. Despite this, those Imperial Navy fighter craft squadrons assigned to the pacification suffered wholly unexpected casualties due to a factor that to this day prevents attempts to fully integrated the planet into the Imperium. Psykers.

 

Not only were the Karadanian psykers far more numerous than they had any right to be, but they used methods and disciplines previously unseen. Congregations of psykers had in the past established the so called Warrens, stable pockets of warp space that not only allowed travel but gave relatively safe access to a psykers natural abilities. On Karadanis a psykers discipline is determined by which Warrens they have access to. Needless to say, this is unprecedented on such a large scale. It is most likely also accountable for the relative scarcity of rogue psykers. That is not to say that they do not exist, but even if they appear there are typically other psykers in proximity capable of eliminating them. By and large, these psykers are an accepted aspect of life on the planet and are particularly valued in the Daghadi army, where it is not unknown for some line squads to have a psyker each.

 

The first few Ministorum missionary expeditions outside the rulerships imperial palace often ended bloodily because of this: fiery zealots who attempted to purge what they saw as abominations often met their ends at the hands of the psykers friends, squad mates or the psykers themselves. The Astra Telepathica, which for obvious reasons holds a deep interest in Karadanis, is loathe to attempt to interfere in a system that is currently stable without sufficient manpower. They have even made attempts to block Ministorum interference, fearing that any sort of campaign directed at the psykers could prompt a planet wide catastrophe. Despite this the Inquisition is believed to be engaged in a number of research operations. This first is into the rise of a blood cult whose armies overwhelmed three cities before being crushed by a coalition between the nascent Daghadi Empire and several of their former enemies. It's forces are said to have contained both some form of daemonic flyers and another inhuman war beast. Strangely, while the second is described as being re-animated by sorcery instead of daemonic, there is no evidence as to the corpses origins. The second is into a desert rebellion led by a psyker that was supposedly led by a psyker who was supposedly an avatar of a god of destruction. This was apparently ended after a Daghadi general personally slew the psyker in single combat, something which has piqued the Inquisition's interest indeed.

 

Unlike some Imperial colonies that originate from settlers of a single culture, the city-states of Karadanis have wide variations in beliefs, legal systems and physical builds. Feuds between the old nations are responsible for tying down most of the Daghadi Legions as they struggle to counter brushfire wars.

Edited March 8, 2018 by Beren

[Beren]

The Karadanis Marines:

 

The professional army of the Daghadi Empire is made up primarily of infantry, relying on various tribes and clans as auxillaries to muster any size of mounted force. Theirtechnology base is considered to be a late feudal, although the utilization of surprisingly potent explosive devices has led to a somewhat generous estimation. These are also produced by an auxillary force, the insular and secretive people of the Morani, as as a result of their limited availability are restricted to use by sappers or the Morani themselves. In terms of military hierarchy they are comparatively open, with promotion based on merit and questioning one's superiors permitted and even encouraged. I recent years this has even increased as there is a proliferation of nobles who purchase rank and commission within the army. While a rare few among these prove their worth in battle, the majority never rise beyond their starting rank. Particularly arrogant and incompetent officers are prone to suffering unfortunate mishaps, whether or not they are actually engaged in combat.

 

Volunteers are drawn universally from across the Daghadi domain, with batches from a single region being split and folded into different regiments in order to prevent hostilities and rivalries forming along cultural lines. This lends regiments drawn from their military high levels of diversity and relative acceptance of outsiders, although tempered with a fierce loyalty to ones regiment.

 

The most common Karadanian regiments currently in service are drawn from the army groups known as Marines. A faction much lauded on Karadanis, they are trained in the use of unorthodox tactics, squad level operations and combined use of crossbows and melee weapons. In addition their roles as vanguards and saboteurs has resulted in a high proliferation of sappers. These soldiers are trained specifically in the use of the Morani munitions and are consider potentially unstable even by their fellow Marines. Because of this, these vanguard units are the best suited, and in many ways better suited than many feudal worlds, units of the Daghadi for Imperial style of warfare in the 41st millennium.

 

Often already experienced veterans, most pre-deployment training of newly tithed Guard Regiments focuses around their equipment. Steel mail becomes flak armour, and crossbows become lasguns. Sappers in particular are trained in the use of more modern explosives, and after early setbacks also how best to use these against armoured vehicles. So far all tithed regiments based on the Marines have proven themselves competent if not extraordinary. However hostility and distrust from other regiments is common, mainly due to their lack of knowledge regarding the Imperial Creed in addition to high numbers of psykers and pyromaniac demolitions experts.

 

Historically, if twenty years can be considered much of a history, the Karadanis Marines have adapted well to the more bizarre and fearsome foes that the Imperium faces only to be wholly unprepared to face face against opponents equipped with massed artillery or armour. Such engagements have varied between a surprising if unorthodox success to outright catastrophe. The Karadanis 2nds first encounter with tanks presumed in their entire flank dissolving into chaos. Exactly what occurred is difficult to tell as not a single assigned Commissar survived the affair, though the hostile spearhead was eventually brought to a halt through prodigious use of sappers and psykery. In more recent tithes this has been countered through specificly aimed training and the assignment of allied tank regiments.

 

Despite the upgrades in their equipment their new panoplies were specifically designed to harken back to their old uniforms, so as to ensure the transition from the Daghadi military to the Astra Militarum goes as smoothly as possible. Officially this consists of a flexible 'flak-mail' , a full faced feudal style flak helm and vambraces. Unofficially this varies almost immediately after assignment as troops customize their outfits. Likewise, the lasgun patterns equipped to them favour stopping power over firing rate in an attempt to replicate the tactics trained for use with crossbows. Varying melee weapons are also in effect, the most popular being a form of robust sabre. These Marines have also taken an understandable to grenades, being far more available and stable than the Morani munitions. Sappers in particular are loaded with every type of explosive device imaginable. It should be noted that several Karadanis regiments have been accused of unsanctioned tampering with these devices to increase their explosive yield in violent fashions.

 

One last note regarding the Karadanis regiment type known as the Marines is that many of their earliest formations were in fact drawn from staunch supporters of their old emperor, and in many ways still loyal to his memory. Their commitment to the Astra Militarum was a means of nullifying the last threats to the new Empress's reign that could not be overtly removed. Thus, while they have been exemplary findings, each and every one developed a sense of fatalism and gallows humour which in turn affected the next batches who shared their first cycles of retraining with these veteran's last. One infamous example of this morbidity occurred when a Marine Platoon was being butchered by a host of Tyranid Warriors and Carnifexes. As the Astra Militarum command , believing them to be beset by nothing more than Haunts, asked how long it would take for the assault to be over, the reply was nothing more than 'not long'. Because of this, by the time the situation had been identified and reinforcements dispatched almost the entire force had been slaughtered.

[Beren]

The Morani Wind Striders:

 

Despite numerous overtures from both the Daghadi Empress, it has been a drawn out and trying struggle to induct the forces of the Morani into Astra Militarum tithes; a situation not helped by the Empress' limited authority to them. The nature of the relationship between the Morani people's and the Daghadi is akin to that of the Adeptus Mechanicus and the greater Imperium: They supply their services and soldiers as allies rather than direct subjects. In truth the natives knowledge of Morani culture is scarcely any more detailed than our own, for they are an insular and secretive civilization. Their soldiers and couriers have never been seen outside their chitinous encompassing armour. Their means of conversance between one another are a barrage of incomprehensible clicking sounds. Despite this they have ever been staunch allies to the Daghadi and their presence on the battlefield is most commonly seen in their T'Quon mounted warriors.

 

The T'Quon are a four winged insectoid breed of creature, blessed with the strength for two riders and supplies, yet with an agility that outmatchedms many Imperial Craft. Compared to many of the more common mounts upon the planet they have some minimal intelligence, although exactly how much is unclear without further investigation. What is clear is that they have served the Morani well for centuries.

 

Sice the Morani have shown complete non-compliance when issued with any armour not of their own make, equipment issued to the Wind Striders is based purely around weaponry. Well ranged las-carbines, rough rider lances( seldom used) and numerous explosives are the standard fare, even though they have most commonly been relegated to support roles in the Imperial battle line.

 

The Morani and their T'Quon mounts may have had almost total command of the skies upon their homeworld, but the skies of other battlefields across the 41st millennium are an entirely different affair. The majority of aircraft, both Imperial and other, far surpass the T'Quon in both speed and armour. At the same time their firepower decimates Morani flyer formations caught out in the open. Ironically, the lack of opposing air force upon Karadanis resulted in them serving the same uses there as they do now that they are entirely outmatched in that arena. As couriers than can travel swiftly, and often without detection, as they convey orders and specific items between command posts. As scouts too, the Morani have now proven their worth. The Wind Striders now cling to the stealth that their biological steeds grant them, never venturing out except when shrouded by darkness and keeping low to the ground in order to avoid detection. They have even proven capable of carrying small forces of guerrilla soldiers within enemy territory. When they are committed to the assault, when the foe is confirmed to lack dedicated anti-aircraft equipment, they strike from the depths of night. Hails of munitions and las fire rain onto enemy positions and decimate exposed infantry while the rest scramble for cover. At the same time, hand picked Guard strike forces are deployed via T'Quon into the rear of enemy positions under instructions of causing as much havoc as possible. All this is bit a distraction, for even as explosives demolish hostile structures and T'Quon confound return fire with erratic leaps of movement the spearhead of an Imperial armoured assault draws ever closer. From ambush, the most brave or suicidal Morani have even opposed VTOL craft that linger overlong as they take off or deploy troops. Even if cannons shred a dozen Morani from a sky, a single explosive lance finds the cockpit.

Edited March 15, 2018 by Beren