Karrik, IX Legion
Karrik%20IX.png

Active Units

V Cohort, III Century:

Honoured Dead:

  • Legionnaire Sigismund
  • Legionnaire Aphesius
  • Legionnaire Patronius
  • Legionnaire Gilliam
  • Legionnaire Tristan
  • Legionnaire Ibram

Regiment Operations


Regiment

Karrik.JPG

History:
Karrik is an ice world in the Markayn Marches of the Calixus Sector. It's people are for the most part miners and agriculturalists, engaging in trade with it's more heavily modernised primary moon.
The event that led to the founding of the Karrik legions was the Waaaaagh of the Ork shaman Grimshock Firebreath. Diviners of the Inquisitorial Ordo Xenos had foreseen Grimshock to be the leader of an Ork warband that would ravage the system and halt the important agricultural output of the Pearl Moon. Assassins were quickly dispatched to quell this troublesome Ork but his foul magicks alerted him to their presence and the assets were lost. Eventually a force was dispatched to put down the Ork warlord. To this end the Ordo Xenos requisitioned a number of Imperial Guard units and a squad of Adeptus Astartes, veterans of a hundred battles against the Greenskin menace on the Eastern Fringe.
The war was short but bloody as the Orks were rooted out of their cold caves and glaciers by the efficiency of Imperial fury. Despite this success the Rok from which the Orks were emerging was never found, the thick ice denying any large scale scanning from taking place. Eventually assets were reassigned to more important fronts and only a squad of Inquisitorial Stormtroopers and a local militia force were left behind to continue the hunt. At the founding of this new Karrik regiment the sergeant of the Astartes bequeathed to the new regimental commander his secondary blade, a knife in an ancient style he called a "Gladius". He left with the commander instructions as to the formation and organisation of the regiment and departed.
From this honourable exchange the Karrik Legions were born. The large command fortress of the Karrik War became the training ground for these new regiments, trained by the Inquisitorial stormtroopers that had been left behind to hunt down the Rok. The Legions were raised as grenadiers, trained in both stealth and heavy assault to best combat the Ork menace on their frozen home world and eventually grew to such a size that they could begin to export units to help the Imperial war machine across the sector. Companies would still assist the Karrik PDF in hunting down and killing Orks but the vast majority of the Karrik Legionnaires were now deployed elsewhere.

Tactics and Outfitting:
From their original training as grenadiers the Karrik legions came to excel in pacification and urban assault roles, their heavy armour and abilities with both explosives and close quarters combat making them sought after allies for anti-infantry operations.
While different Legions have specialisations the majority of the Karrik forces serve as heavy infantry. Each rifleman is expected to achieve a high level of proficiency with both his rifle and his secondary Gladius, the regiment's symbol and signature weapon. This pairing forms the core of the Legion's fighting tactics.
As the regiment focuses primarily on anti-infantry engagement the typical battle plan revolves around the use of these auxiliary grenade launchers as well as support weapons to engage a hostile position before assaulting it directly, relying on their well crafted armour and skills at close quarters to finish off enemy units. Units have also been deployed as infiltrators and hit squads as the situation requires, making use of their harsh training in the steppes of Karrik.
Each rifleman is expected to achieve a high level of proficiency with both his M36 Lasgun as well as its auxiliary grenade launcher. He is also expected to be expertly trained with the regimental weapon, the short Gladius that is the regiment's symbol. In addition to riflemen each squad contains Legionnaires wielding specialised or heavy weapons as the situation requires, the most common of which are grenade or missile launchers. Occasionally squads are also outfitted with hot-shot lasguns. Higher ranks are rewarded with ceremonial weapons with Centurion positions and higher receiving increasingly powerful blades.

Legion Structure and Traditions:
The Karrik Legions have developed along the lines set out by the Astartes who helped pacify the planet. Each Legion contains 1000 fighting men, with support vehicles and staff as appropriate.
Legion [1000] > 10 Centuries [100] > 10 Cohorts [10].

  • Command Ranks:
    • Legatus: Legion Commander
    • Centurion: Leader of a company, or Century.
    • Optio: 2IC of a Century.
    • Decanus: Leader of a Cohort.
    • Legionary Primus: 2IC of a Cohort.

Positions within the Legion are traditionally assigned on the basis of merit, with veterans rewarded for valour and combat prowess as well as their ability to lead. The Decanus in particular is chosen from Legionnaires upon graduation for their ability with the Gladius and strength of will. Higher positions are noticeable only when in dress uniform, where the higher ranking officers wear large crests attached to their helmets in honour of the founder of the Legions. Officer's also wear their weapons of rank to distinguish them to the men. Due to the absence of any Platoon equivalent squad Decanus' are granted far more autonomy than in a normal Imperial Guard regiment. Squads are also expected to be almost self sufficient, each containing a legionnaire with basic medical and tech training.
To separate themselves from the barbarians they fight, many of the Legionnaires also chemically remove all hair from their bodies except for their eyebrows. Contrary to this tattoos are not uncommon amongst the lower ranking soldiers, almost always in the form of an Aquila across the chest as a lucky charm.
The Legion's also engage in archaic forms of punishment for failure or insubordination. Although the difficulty with training and finding new recruits dissuades most Commissar's from field executions, lashings are commonplace. Furthermore, if a Cohort is seen to have failed drastically a "decimation" takes place. In this occurrence a single member of a squad is chosen at random and executed by beating at the hands of their squadmates. That squad then serves their next campaign with 9 legionnaires not 10 as a mark of shame. Successful completion of the subsequent campaign earns the squad their 10th man.

Famous Engagements:
Cantiaci VI:
The Karrik VI, VII, VIII and XI Legions, under the command of Legate Plautius aid in the conquer of Cantiaci VI. Assisted by the Claudian 2nd Armoured the Karrik forces made landfall, hampered by the Pre-Imperial forces of the Catuvellauni Covenant. The Catuvellauni were based on the remnants of Imperial settlement some millennia earlier that had fallen into darkness without the guiding light of the Imperium. The Imperial advance was unyielding, but the wet forests of Cantiaci made for slow going. Eventually the Imperial advance is stalled by the Catuvellauni artillery and armour at a position designated "the Medway line". The Karrik XI infiltrated across the Medway and with the assistance of assigned Tech-Priests managed to destroy or sabotage the enemy tanks. The locals were surprised at the infiltration skills of the heavily armoured Karrik forces and caught flatfooted without their mechanised forces, easily swept aside by Legate Geta and the mobile infantry of the VII Legion.

Regiment Creation:

  • Home World: Scholar Progenium
  • Commander: Maverick
  • Doctrines:
    • Grenadiers
    • Hardened Fighters
    • Infiltrators
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