, a force newly-founded specifically for Augustus' Crusade. Port Bromwic is a brooding fortress world. Owing to the planet's classification, it contributed a relatively paltry number to the Crusade's senior staff, as the local government forbade recruitment from posts with access to privileged classified information relating to the world's security or its status as Naval port. In contrast, the bustling underclasses of this hive world was drawn upon heavily for the Crusade, supplying forces to both the Navy and the Guard.
 |
| + Port Bromwic + |
The soldiers and sailors drawn from Port Bromwic gained a reputation for being generally dutiful and reliable, though the Commissariat noted that many nurtured a subversive streak, generally restricted to a black, fatalistic sense of humour. 'Brommics', as they became known, became familiar to many in the Crusade, filling vital posts across the war effort. Part of this was their sheer number – of the 500-odd Imperial Guard regiments that formed the Crusade, more than ten per cent were from Port Bromwic; and the proportion was even higher in the Navy. Secondly, Brommics had a peculiarly narrow phenotype register, making them physically very distinctive and recognisable.
The Port Bromwic 2219th saw their first deployment during the Yranus Landings, and – like all the forces there – were badly mauled. Their vehicle pool was heavily used to escort the stretched but vital fuel and ammunition supplies between Imperial encampments, a duty which saw significant degradation of the regiment's capabilities. The casualties sustained here were particularly sore, as Red Hand forces (both Cardinal Qi's own Yranian Volunteer Corps and the off-world Vrag-Rana elite) proved ruthlessly efficient at assassinating officers – leaving the already bottom-heavy regiment dangerously light in experienced commanders.
In contrast, the survivors of the
Lamb's World 88th were light infantry specialists, and veterans of a number of wars within their home Sector Anton Australis – a world in the distant
Segmentum Ultima. The regiment had originally been seconded to a local war, but mis-translation left them emerging in Wilderness space. Unable to effect their return, the flotilla limped towards Imperial space, emerging near
Sector Cetus-Scorpii, where – as Imperial efficiencies demanded – they found themselves reporting to Warmaster Augustus and seconded to the Third Army Group of his Crusade.
 |
| + Armour units from Port Promwic protect 88th infantry during the Ushen Moros retreat. + |
The Regiment was made part of the initial pathfinder deployment on Yranus, and found themselves tasked with capturing the city of Ushen Moros. Over the course of the campaign, the 88th were all but annihilated during the struggles for the city. Evacuated with three casualties to every soldier fit for active duty, it was clear the Lamb's Worlders would never serve as a meaningful independent force again.
+++
+ Rebirth +
 |
+ Manor-general Jil (dec.) +
[Pictcapture: Kordhal] |
With his underling Major-General Jil's body still to grow cold, Lord General Klottin – commander of the Crusade's Third Army Group – acted quickly. Placing the Yndrine system under blockade, he took personal command of the reintegration of such forces as could be salvaged, even while the Army Group pressed deeper into the Red Hand Region.
After a temporary light posting on the Crusade's staging post worlds, Mu-Scorpii and Slav-Mundi, Klottin made plans for a Regimental Re-founding, in an attempt to make the best of a bad situation. Taking pains to invest the event with pomp and circumstance, the soldiers were treated to a parade that was heavily reported in the Cetus-Scorpii Clarion, a hard-copy propaganda paper issued to all ranks across the Crusade (and, where possible, made available to the inhabitants of the Cetus-Scorpii).
The refounding was a success, though a qualified one. Alongside three fresh regiments press-ganged from Mu-Scorpii itself, five new regiments were created from the twelve that had been deployed to Yranus:
Galvinax/Elirian Combined
Mu-Scorpii 149ers
88th/2219th Lamb's World/Port Bromwic Consolidated
Ha'quari Combined Infantry
Baltan Reinforced Artillery 'The 8s and 11s'
Of these, the Ha'quari found their three depleted regiments simply combined into a single force. The cream of three Baltan Artillery regiments (the 8th, 10th and 11th) were similarly rendered into an over-sized Regiment – the so-called 'New Artillery', with the overspill integrated into the infamous Mu-Scorpii 149ers, a regiment of cut-throats and ne'er-do-wells that were widely rumoured to be made up of the worst of the soldiery from the Termeran IVth, Jedder's Rim Own, and Baltan 9th Artillery.
+++
+Integration +
 |
| + Lamb's World 88th vox-specialist + |
Discipline within the Imperial Guard is paramount, and the Commissariat pays particular attention to the behaviour of combined regiments. Particular attention was raised by Commissar Brand regarding the cultural mix between the uniform Brommics – nearly all of them stocky and well-built, with thick features, coarse hair and dark eyes – and the Lamb's Worlders. Most inhabitants of this distant world are short – the average height being just 5'8", and the 88th were particularly slight, being made up of soldiery hand-picked for their skills at infiltration. Not only that, but they were drawn from across the diverse range of ethnicities and cultures of the planet.
Discipline Officers brought in to ensure cooperation between the combined regiments paid attention to the cynical Brand's doom-saying, but the resulting force alloyed surprisingly smoothly in training. The Commanding Officers put this down to a strict training regimen that mixed the regiment at all levels from squad upwards; while the attached Ecclesiarchical representatives attributed it to a shared form of strictly-enforced orthodox worship. For their part, the soldiery's own views are not known, though a excerpted phrase from a marching song that sprang up shortly after the Regimental Refounding perhaps shines a more intimate light on their attitude:
'S**t on by the Bobbs*//and shovelled up by Tunts**//We'll never know a peace as deep//as rest in bunks//Oh sergeant-at-arms//Rock me to sleep//I'm knackered from the Runs//We don't get no stops except for treens***//where Auggy's Blaster**** don't clean, it rubs//[...]'
* Lamb's World term for discipline officers. Unknown derivation.
** Port Bromwic vulgar slang for the priesthood.*** Latrines**** 'Auggy's Blaster' was a common name across the Guard and Navy for the Cetus-Scorpii Clarion.
+++
+ Command staff +
 |
| + Undercaef Whittaker and Fidelis + |
What remained of the 88th Command staff was wiped out during the Yndrine campaign, while the 2219th were seen as having too little combat experience for command.
Klottin was nevertheless reluctant to bring in extra-regimental forces to oversee the combined regiment, instead opting for promotion from within. Iacobus Whittaker, a lief – a Lamb's World terms for a junior officer roughly equivalent to first lieutenant – was thus granted a brevet rank of Lieutenant-Colonel; or Undercaef, to use the Lamb's Worlder's own terms
The regiment was fortunate to have such a capable officer, as Whittaker quickly proved himself to be resourceful and authoritative while self-aware enough to prevent bad blood arising within the regiment.
He was notable for a particularly sardonic sense of humour, sallow complexion and his ever-present wardog cum mascot, Fidelis, who accompanied Whittaker both on and off the battlefield.
+++
 |
| + Commissar Brand + |
The Ordo Prefectus also deployed a significant number of Commissars to the regiment, all of whom operated under the purview of Commissar Rodolf Brand, a native of Tenstar who had been assigned as liaison officer to the 88th on their arrival in the Cetus-Scorpii system.
An archetypal, by-the-book Commissar, Brand was bleak, heartless and ready with a pistol. He was widely loathed and feared by both Brommics and Lamb's Worlders – a fact which served to bind the two very different regiments together.
While his methods were strict to the point of wilful cruelty, he served a vital counterpoint to Whittaker's more adaptive and lenient command.
+ Primary deployment during the Early Crusade period +
After redeployment, the combined Regiment resumed service in the
Third Army Group, taking part in the
Odessus and
Orison Campaigns that served as Klottin's primary objectives in the Early Crusade period.
With a secure foothold in place on the primary targets, three companies of the 88-2219ers remained on Odessus, while the bulk of the regiment formed part of the combined effort to invade the Bract, Polyandros and Ardent systems, alongside elements of the First Army Group.
+ Guardsmen of the 88-2219ers +
Holby ap Acre, a native of one of Lamb's World's primary settlements, Pant Y Gyrdl, is pictured with standard equipment intact. Cold-desert patten fatigues are overlaid with battle-green flak armour, manufactured directly on the Forge World of Braun.
Ostin Ostin, appears unhelmeted during the Bendaphur Campaign – this may be as a result of battlefield loss, or through lack of supplies. Certain elements of Lamb's Worlders' equipment, being sourced from a different Segmentum, was impossible to procure in Sector Cetus-Scorpii, let alone in the Red Hand Region. Fabric patterns were relatively simple to recreate, but hard materials, such as the recon-specialists' vox-integrated helms could not easily be replaced. As a result, the reformed 88/2219th Regiment quickly began to look hotch-potch.
Local replacements quickly began to flood in, as Cetus-Scorpii's
Forgeworld Nares Serpentine and its licensed manufactories across the Sector began to source potential replacements. By the time of the Orison Campaign, the troops of the former 2219th were mostly armed and equipped as per their seniors from the Lamb's World 88th, though variations – such as those shown above on Turny Damas, a Port Bromwic native – remained common with reserve forces. His battledress is a mix of cold desert camouflage and a simpler tan smock. His Serpentine-pattern flak armour and helm are also crude facsimiles of the Lamb's World Braun-pattern equipment. Lacking vox-links, its internal padding was made up of synthetics rather than ecwid-hair. Note also the use of a rear-line slug-throwing autorifle, rather than a lasgun.
Following the catastrophic 'beheading' in the Yranus Landings, the regiment's Command Staff thin on the ground. The 88-2219ers therefore developed and maintained a subtle system of identification, aimed primarily at making its officers difficult to identify amongst the troops. Simple geometric marks, usually in orange, grey or turquoise, were used in place on shoulder pads or regimental shields. +
Experienced frontline forces were prioritised for the increasingly rare equipment from Lamb's World's reserves. Donny Brackst, a Port Bromwic native who demonstrated skill and a cool head under fire during the Bendaphur campaign, is shown here equipped with a full vox-rig and augmented helm – note the additional external targeter. His lasrifle appears to be Cadian-pattern. This may be an inferior local copy, or it may be part of a diverted or mis-labelled shipment intended for the 144th – the so-called 'Cadian Last' – also operating in the Crusade. Such mis-shipments were unfortunately commonplace during the Early-Mid Crusade period, despite the Munitorum's best efforts.
Veteran soldiers were allowed leeway in their equipment, as shown by this warrior's shotgun and decidely non-standard choice of protective headgear.
The 88-2219ers were not above looting, and this non-standard autorifle is likely to have been 'liberated' from Red Hand forces during the Bendaphur campaign. Such weaponry would have remained grey-market, with the Officio Prefectus usually – but not always – turning an intentional blind eye following the weapon's reconsecration by an Enginseer; to ensure its machine-spirit would follow the will of its operator.
Braun-pattern mortars were in common use, and proved invaluable during the street-fighting on Odessa. Specialist teams operated in pairs or threes to deploy and re-deploy quickly.
+ Notable actions +
+ Early Crusade period +
- Yranus Landings
- Bendphur
- Odessa
- Orison
[+SPOOLING+]
