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This article, Heb Zealous Light Foot Regiments, was written by The Lost Ithacan. Please do not edit or 'acquire' this fiction without the writer's permission. |
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This article, Heb Zealous Light Foot Regiments, is currently under active construction. The author, The Lost Ithacan, apologizes for the inconvenience. |
Heb Zealous Light Foot Regiments are the elite Astra Militarum light infantry regiments that hail from the Holy War World of Heb, a loyalist bastion in the Levan Sub-Sector of the Mandavi Sector within Segmentum Ultima. It lies to galactic west of the Realm of Ultramar, slightly off the old trade routes to Segmentum Tempestus. It's tithe is paid entirely in these elite Regiments of the Imperial Guard. These Regiments are renowned across the Segmentum for their faith, their hatred of traitors and heretics, and their ability to hold a position against all odds.
Among the last words of Lord General Krelliué, before his death in the defense of the Industrial World of Druthia in 602.M40, were, "I'm going to personally take half the reserve and reinforce the the right flank. At least I don't have to worry about the left; nothing short of Titan will move those Heb bastards." It should be noted that when the traitor forces on Druthia revealed the presence of two Dark Mechanicum Ravager-class Titans, it was the Imperial right which broke.
History[]
Work in Progress[]
To be added
Regimental Organization[]
Newly Founded Regiments[]
Each Heb Zealous Light Foot Regiment has over 50,000 members at its founding. Each Regiment is divided into six Battalions each of which is commanded by a Major. Each Battalion is broken into 10 Companies, each led by a Captain, which are further divided into 12 Platoons overseen by Lieutenants. Each Platoon is then composed of five Squads, each containing 10 Guardsmen, two Corporals and a Sargent; which can then be split into two Fireteams. Additionally, there are two support companies which handle logistics and supply and dedicated Headquarters units at the Regimental, Battalion and Company levels.
Each Company has Chaplin, a Doctor, a dozen Nurses, an Erendani Enginseer and two Clerks from the Munitorum assigned to it. By regulation, a Regiment should have Junior Commissars for every Battalion, and a Cadet Commissar attached to every Company. However, in practice, the resources of the Officio Prefectus are always overstretched, and it is far from unheard of for a Heb Regiment to deploy with only it's Regimental Commissar attached.
At the head of the Regiment is the Colonel, he or she is typically the only Veteran Officer at a Regiment's founding, although Majors and Captains are lifers with years of PDF service. By ancient tradition, the Heb pull back a small cadre of Veterans from active Warzones to lead fresh Regiments, no matter the expense. Such men and women are called Zealots, and in addition to the Colonel, they include two of a Platoon’s six Sargents, along with all senior NCOs. The highest ranking of the Regiment's NCOs, also a Zealot, holds a rank unique to Heb: he or she is known as the Master of the Choirs Martial, generally shortened to the Master in daily usage, who serves at the Colonel's right hand. Supposedly, the title refers back to a specific (but unnamed) Choir Master who led resistance fighters alongside the Heb PDF in the city of Salubritas during the Killing Time. However, the ever pious Heb have breathed new meaning into the title, and to view a mass choral presentation of Imperial Hymns by 50,000 voices is a rare opportunity off Heb.
A Fresh Regiment[]
| The Regiment | |||
| Headquarters | The Sacred Band | Supply/Logistics Unit | Component Units |
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| The Battalion | |||
| Leadership | Component Units | ||
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| The Company | |||
| Leadership | Component Units | ||
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| The Platoon | |||
| Leadership | Component Units | ||
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| The Squad | |||
| Leadership | Component Units | ||
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| The Fireteam | |||
| Leadership | Component Units | ||
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Zealots and Veteran Regiments[]
Unlike many worlds, lost Cadia for instance, the Heb take their best troops, the Zealots, and feed them back into the ranks to stiffen the raw recruits and temper the Colonel's weapon. This means Heb Regiments generally lack a dedicated force of shock troopers, like the Kasrkins or Tempestus Scions. However, when faced with a particularly desperate situation, the Colonel may give an order to the Master to, “Assemble the Zealots”. This is always a dangerous gambit: the Zealots are the backbone of the Regiment, and raw Hab soldiers are liable to waver if they are suddenly withdrawn. However when deployed at the right moment, a force of 1,500 veterans, led by the Colonel, the Master, and the members of the Sacred Band (50 Zealots in Carapace Armor attached to the Headquarters unit) can turn the tide of a losing battle.
The Departmento Munitorum calculates the average life expectancy of a Guardsman on his first deployment to be 15 hours from the moment he enters combat. Many Regiments will be founded with 100,000 unruly Hive Gangers, only to have 90,000 of them die in their first deployment. This is acceptable to the Imperium, because the 10,000 hardened Guardsmen who emerge from that first Warzone will be of more use to the Imperium than all their dead peers combined. However, this statistic has never held true for worlds such as Cadia, Vostroya, or Heb. Worlds that train their soldiers relentlessly see lesser casualties, however there is still the expectation that the first deployment will separate the wheat from the chaff. Heb Regiments are designed to contract as they take loses. Platoons, Companies and whole Battalions will be disbanded or transferred after battle to create full strength units. A Heb Zealous Light Foot Regiment is considered combat ready as long as there are 5,000 men and women in its battleline. Bellow that level, the Colonel will request that the Departmento Munitorum merge the Regiment with another.
Recruitment[]
Heb considers itself a War World, and virtually every Heb is enlisted in the Planetary Defence Force at age 19. Of the over 1,500 Light Foot Regiments in PDF service at any given time, 20 are raised into the Imperial Guard each year and sent out into the Imperium to serve the God Emperor. The Heb consider this a holy duty to be striven for, and it is looked upon as an honor to serve in one of the Regiments selected for Guard Service.
At the age of 14 all Heb children, male and female, are enrolled in the Youth Auxilia to prepare them for their enlistment in the PDF. At 16, those who show promise are offered a place in the Collegia Martial, where they will be trained to serve as officers. Placements in the Collegia Martial are voluntary, and may be refused without shame. In particular, it has become customary for the children of Majors, Colonels, Commanders, and especially Holy Commanders to refuse placement and to instead serve in the line.
This is because the Heb have never lost their suspicion of those who receive power based upon the actions of their ancestors. The treason of the old Aristocracy left a deep mark upon the Heb psyche. In theory, all Heb are equal when they enter the Youth Auxilia; but in practice, the children of the those who who have achieved great things face the unusual burden of having to prove their normalcy. It is not uncommon for a prominent family to emerge upon Heb in which subsequent generations alternate between high ranking officers and senior noncommissioned officers. However, by the fifth or six generation, even this is seen as too aristocratic for the Heb. Eventually, the scions of such families will refuse even noncommissioned rank, or seek partial exemption from service by studying for the chaplaincy.
It is this trait which has, at times, caused friction between the Heb and the leadership of other Regiments of the Astra Militarum. There have been countless officers of low birth in the history of the Imperial Guard. There have been Warmasters born to Hive ganger mothers who neither knew nor cared who their fathers were. Likewise the chieftains and petty kings of Feral Worlds, who lead their warriors to join the God Emperor as he fights in the sky, are little more than savages who are looked down upon by the cultured nobles of Civilized and Hive Worlds.
Both these groups, the Hive gang officers and the Ferral officers may indeed sneer at the pretensions of true Aristocrats; but they do not truely challenge them. In fact, given a conquered world to settle, the grandchildren of such officers will invariably seek to emulate the upspire aristos and planetary nobles their grandfathers laughed at.
The Heb are different. Not only do they reject the right of the high born to rule, they question their competency to do so. Additionally, the frantic five-year program of the Collegia Martial not only prepares its students for the battlefield, but also for the drawing room. Graduates are expected to know how to administer a Company's provisions, how to plan and carry out a single envelopment, and which fork one uses for each course at a formal dinner. An officer of Heb is versed in the Tactica Imperialis, but can also quote and dissect The Spheres of Longing or In Nomine Gloriosa. In short, an officer of the Heb Zealous Light Foot Regiments is meant to meet an Aristocratic officer on his own ground and to be, not only his equal, but his superior.
Equipment[]
The Heb are proud of the fact that every Heb Guardsman is a foot soldier first and foremost. This dates from the early days of the Blue Hand Heresy when there were few military vehicles on Heb. While they generally eschew tracked or wheeled vehicles, beyond simple transports, the Heb have a noted fondness for walkers. In addition to the Zealous Light Foot Regiments, Heb also deploys a small number of Zealous Sentinel Scout Regiments, and nothing will raise a Heb Regiment’s moral faster than deploying alongside a Space Marine Dreadnought or any kind of Titan. The worshipful reverence the Heb shower upon the God-Machines of the Collegia Titanica, goes a long way to make up for the disdain they show for other forms of armor; at least in the eyes of their Mechanicus allies.
While the aristocratic families of the upper hives of Levan Prime will occasionally deploy small Regiments of tanks to accompany the Heb into service with the Guard; the Heb are more likely to be seen working with local Guard armor in their deployment zone, or seaking to make due without. Heb Zealous Light Foot Regiments carry a greater number of man-portable heavy weapons than most Regiments of equivalent size. These include both single-operator weapons, like Flamers and Meltaguns, but also crew served weapons such as Morters, Lascannons, Rocket Launchers and Heavy Bolters. All of these are provided by the Forges or Erendan, as are the Erendan Pattern Plasma Guns which take pride of place in the Heb arsenal. The Erendan Pattern is slower firing than most Plasma Guns, but is considerably less likely to overload, and every Heb Zealous Light Foot Regiment departs with 1,500 of them.
Heb battle dress is modeled after the standard Cadian pattern, with certain small enhancements provided by the by the Mechanicus. Heb fatigues are a dull gray, with vibrant blue camouflage patterns. Their Flak Armor is painted a dark turquoise; which along with their blue/grey camo scheme helps them blend in with the flora of Heb. Heb's atmosphere tends slightly towards yellow, and plants native to the world use phycocyanin in place of chlorophyll. This causes Heb landscapes to be rich in shades of blue, teal, and turquoise rather than green.
Every Heb soldier is also expected to maintain a pair of pure white fatigues, which he wears to worship services. These are held at least weekly, often more frequently, even if the company Chaplin must read the litanies through a gas mask, or lead the hymns while trotting double time on a forced march. Heb Regimental Colors feature the Aquila centrally, but also feature a small stylized Martian Cog, to represent the special relationship between Heb and Erendan. Such banners are generally white with gold fringes, white being the color of sanctity and death in Heb tradition.
Combat Doctrine[]
Heb Zealous Light Foot Regiments do two things exceptionally well: they march great distances at high speeds and they dig in and defend positions against all comers. The Heb can fight as part of a massed Infantry formation on open ground, and have on many occasions. However, doing so prevents them from taking advantage of their particular skills, and often leads to high casualties on the part of the Heb.
From the day a young Heb joins the Youth Auxilia, he or she is expected to walk, march, jog, and run. Heb PDF Regiments routinely carry out all day 40 km marches, and a Heb soldier thinks nothing of marching 30 km and going straight into combat. Many Imperial Commanders have been pleasantly surprised over the years to discover that Heb Regiments they assumed to be too far out of position to assist were, in fact, well within reach of the fighting.
Additionally, the Magi Biologis of Erendan have supplied the Heb with stimulants based upon those used in the Skitarii. While these are only used in the direst of circumstances, as unaugmented humans bodies take horrible damage from them, in a crisis they can turn the tide of a war. In one instance in Segmentum Tempestus, a Heb Zealous Lightfoot Regiment dosed with these stimulants ran 130 km at double time, spent eight hours digging trenches and foxholes, and then held them for 42 hours without sleep or food, until reinforcements arrived. Between the effects of the drugs and combat with the hostil Xenos, the Regiment had taken 92% effective casualties, but they held and the world was eventually restored to Imperial control.
After his or her aquila token, lasgun, and a good pair of boots, every Heb’s fourth most treasured possession is a type 3 entrenching tool. Each one is embossed with a Saint Amyntikós medallion, Amyntikós being the the patron Saint of earthen fortifications, trenches, and foxholes, and every Heb Guardsman is a devoted worshiper of the Saint. Given three hours to prepare, a Heb Regiment will have foxholes for every soldier and weapon. Given 12 hours they will have expanded that into a basic trench network. Given a week to dig in, the Heb will build a redoubt that will hold against anything short of Astartes.
Heb defenses bristle with fixed weapons emplacements. Heavy Bolters and Lascannons hold the enemy at bay while Mortars and Missile Launchers provide support from central firepoints. The Heb are likewise adept at fortifying cites, be they towering Hives, sprawling Civilized cities, or feudal bastions, the Heb will either hold them, or failing that, make the enemy pay for every house, hab, or hut.
Heb Ranks and Insignia[]
Ranks within the Heb Zealous Light Foot Regiments are divided, not only between Officers and Enlisted and Combat and Non-Combat roles, but also between those who are and are not Zealots. Zealots are Veterans of previous Heb Imperial Guard Regiments who are brought back to Heb to form the cores of fresh Regiments. At great expense, Corporals from a deployed Regiment, along with either a Captain or Major will be returned to Heb to become Veteran Sargent, Senior NCOs and the Colonel of a new Regiment, ready to deploy. With the exception of the High Chaplin, only Zealots are entitled to gold insignia. Any member of a regiment, in a combat role who, is not a Zealot will have a steel version of their rank's insignia.
Heb Enlisted Ranks[]
| Master of the Choirs Martial | ||
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| Sergeant Major | Color Sergeant | Veteran Sergeant |
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| Sergeant | Corporal | Guardsman/Guardswoman |
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Heb Officer Ranks[]
| High Commander | ||
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| Holy Commander | Commander | Colonel |
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| Major | Captain | Lieutenant |
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Heb Non-Combat Ranks[]
| Medicae Ranks
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| Medicae Captain | Medicae Lieutenant | Nurse Sergeant | Nurse Corporal |
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| Ministorum Ranks | Munitorum Ranks | ||
| High Chaplin | Chaplin | Senior Munitorum Clerk | Junior Munitorum Clerk |
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Regimental Traditions[]
Every year the Heb raise 20 Regiments into the Imperial Guard. On average, these Regiments last 15 years in service, with some destroyed much sooner, and a few mustering out, after 30 years, on a new colony or to whichever world they were last deployed to. The total number of Heb Zealous Light Foot Regiments ranges from slightly fewer than 200 to nearly 300, depending upon how quickly deployed Regiments are destroyed.
When word reaches Heb that a Regiment has been destroyed, disbanded, lost, or merged into another Regiment, its number is reassigned to a newly founded Regiment. This Regiment is considered the next iteration of the Regiment it replaced, and will be expected to live up to the traditions and accomplishments of previous iterations of the Regiment. Each Regiment raised, therefore, has a second number attached to it, representing how many iterations have come before it. However, this number is rarely used outside of historical documents.
As a Regiment fights, it obtains Battle Honors. These come in three varieties: Mortal Honors, Immortal Honors, and Appellatory Honors. A Regiment's Mortal Honors are a list of the battles and Campaigns it has engaged in. These are specific to each iteration of the Regiment, and while they remain in the full history of the Regiment upon Heb, they are rarely discussed in detail by future iterations.
However, certain events and achievements of a specific iteration may be so great as to merit inclusion in the Regiment's collective memory across iterations. This might be their key role in a particular Imperial victory, or the Regiment having fought alongside the Adeptus Astartes, or when a Regiment joined in an Imperial Crusade. When a Heb PDF Regiment is raised into the Imperial Guard, they are expected to learn the storied history of their Regiment, and strive to earn an Immortal Honor, so that they too will have a place in the memories of future iterations.
On very rare occasions, a Regiment may achieve something so extraordinary that the Council of the Holy Commanders of Heb will declare this to be an Appellatory Honor, by which the Regiment will be known from then on. For example, the 50th iteration of the 38th Heb Zellous Light Foot Regiment fought in engagements on Pellegrin Secundus, Vathia, and Druthia. The first two of these were Mortal Battle Honors of the 50th iteration of the Regiment. The war against traitors upon Druthia, however, was so significant that it was declared an Immortal Battle Honor which future iterations of the Regiment would be expected to learn about and carry with them. Furthermore, when the Heb 38th, along with what remained of two other Zealous Light Foot Regiments, defeated a Dark Mechanicum Titan on Druthia, this was seen as a defining moment in the Regiment's history. When the Martian Priesthood granted the Regiment the title of Titan Slayers, the Holy Commanders declared this to be an Appellatory Honor. From that day forth, all future iterations of the Heb 38th would be known as The Titan Slayers.
Notable Conflicts and Battle Honors[]
Hive World of Telepo[]
Date: 842.M39 Unit Involved: Heb 5th Zealous Light Foot Regiment, "The Omnissiah's Own"
Following the successful conclusion of the Blue Hand Heresy, the veteran Heb 5th was reinforced with elements of the decimated 8th and 3rd Regiments. The 5th had been declared "The Omnissiah's Own" by the Fabricator-General of Erendan for their heroic action at Node 601 during the relief of Forge Primus. Now at full strength, the unit was transferred out of the Levan Sub-Sector upon the Emperor’s business. After two small actions, the 5th was assigned to an Imperial Guard force enroute to suppress a secessionist movement in the Telepo system.
Colonel Cain Benad, in command of the 5th, had been a street fighter during the Killing Time on Heb. He had risen through the ranks and replaced the 5th's previous commander who died on Craw in one of the last actions of the Blue Hand Heresy. He remembered, personally, the treason of the old aristocracy, how they had sought to flee and leave the people to burn. Lord General David the Count du 'Arringtun was an upspire blue blood with a pedigree longer than his arm. Needless to say, the two got along swimmingly.
Following the initial round of strategic conferences during transit, Benad was the only regimental commander not invited to the second round. The senior Commissar assigned to du 'Aringtun cautioned him not to discount the resources the Departmento Munitorum had granted him. However the Lord General was adamant, he would not entrust combat duties to "an egalitarian rabble".
Instead, the 5th was kept in reserve in orbit, with detachments only allowed planetside to perform manual labor in secured areas. This continued until Count du 'Arringtun was killed during the secessionist counterattack in Hive Heffe. The Count's successor in command immediately deployed the Heb to stanch the bleeding. The Regiment would ultimately be praised for their effectiveness in the close urban combat of the Hive city.
Shrine World of Keter[]
Date: 946.M39 Unit Involved: Heb 62nd Zealous Light Foot Regiment, "The Blesséd"
The Heb 62nd was one of the 12 Holy Regiments which defended the Shrine World of Keter from the destruction at the hands of the Dark Apostle Jarulek. When Jarulek brought a portion of his host to Keter to defile the remains of Saint Amyntikós, only those 12 Guard Regiments were available to assist the holy militias of the Shrine World.
The Holy Regiments stood and fought upon the Sacred Fields of the First and Last against traitors, blasphemers, and much worse. As blood rained down from the skies, the 12 Holy Regiments fought to the last man and woman. In what would later be declared a miracle, as the last of the Guardsmen died, the skies parted and an entire Preceptory of the Order of the Valorous Heart descended upon Keter. The traitors were eventually routed and driven from the world.
Cardinal Bonnifant would later declare the 12 Regiments to be Holy Martyrs and grant the Regimental honor of “The Blesséd” to each of them and their successors. Furthermore, at all times, a single Sister of the Sacred Rose stands vigal upon the Sacred Fields of the First and Last over the Tombs of the Martyrs of the 12 Holy Regiments.
Industrial World of Druthia[]
Date: 602.M40 Unit Involved: Heb 38th Zealous Light Foot Regiment, "Titan Slayers"
The Heb 38th, 73rd and 130th Regiments were among the Imperial Guard forces mobilized to assist in the defense of the Industrial World of Druthia. Druthia was a key supply node for the Imperium’s defense against the Ork Empire of Charadon; it's loss would leave whole Sub-Sectors vulnerable. This is likely the reason that it was targeted by an unknown Chaos Space Marine Warband in 602.M40.
After drawing the defenders into open combat, the traitor Astartes revealed their trump card, two Ravager-class Titans, provided to them by the Dark Mechaniucm: the Perfidious Verba and the Bane of Stulti. While the surviving Guard armor regrouped and engaged the Bane of Stulti, the three under-strength Heb infantry Regiments prepared to draw the Perfidious Verba into a trap.
While the 73rd sacrificed itself to maneuver the Verba into position, the 38th and 130th set up impromptu defensive lines. Meanwhile, an Erendani Tech-Priest attached to the 130th concealed the heavy weapons squads of all three Regiments from the Titan's auspex in a nearby ravine. When the traitor Titan moved to assault the two loyal Regiments, it unknowingly maneuvered itself into a trap. Lascannons, missiles, and thousands of rounds of heavy bolter fire volleyed against the Titan from what was effectively point blank range. At the direction of the Tech-Priest, all fire was concentrated on a single joint in the daemon machine's leg. With what was described as a sickening crack, like breaking bone, the Perfidious Verba's leg gave way and the Titan fell. With the beast wounded and felled, morters joined in with the other heavy weapons, salvoing until they were sure the Verba would speak no more.
The survivors of the 73rd and 130th were reorganized into the 38th, and that Regiment would fight on for seven more months upon Druthia. The world was eventually cleared of traitors, and the Regimental honor of "Titan Slayers" was awarded to the Heb 38th by vote of the Martian Synod.
Unnamed Ork World, Octarius Sector[]
Date: 432.M41 Unit Involved: Heb 113th Zellous Light Foot Regiment, "The Dawn Breakers"
Following a daemonic incursion upon their previous battlefield, Inquisitor Alice Dodgson of the Ordo Malleus offered places in her Retinue to Colonel Gregory Benhia and a number of picked guardsmen of his Regiment. It was explained to Benhia that the rest of the 113th would have to be purged in order to maintain the secrecy of the existence of daemons.
Colonel Benhia rejected the Inquisitor's offer, and asked to be allowed to lead the 113th on a suicide mission so that they might die performing one last service to the God Emperor. The Inquisitor granted his request, and the Regiment was transferred under guard to an Ordo Xenos expeditionary force tasked with distracting the Overfiend of Octarius.
The Heb 113th Zellous Light Foot Regiment was to make an orbital insertion due west of the main Ork settlement on an unnamed planet in the Octarius Sector. The landing came at dawn, and was met with immediate and enthusiastic resistance from the local greenskins, who had not expected a fight to come to them. The Heb were, as expected, overwhelmed and butchered to a man. However, the Ork forces were so exuberant in their counterattack as to be drawn entirely out of position. This allowed the main force of the Imperials to land to the east of the Ork settlement and establish a base with minimal resistance.
While all Imperial forces on the planet were eventually wiped out, the Ordo Xenos considered the expedition a success, as it diverted forces which the Overfiend had been gathering for an assault on Imperial space and kicked off a round of infighting among the victorious greenskins. Commissariat propaganda sent back to Heb during the campaign referred to how the 113th had, "...broken the dawn of a new Imperial day..." upon the world. In recognition of this, the name "Dawn Breakers" was added to the 113th's Regimental honors.