The Scylla Volunteers

Scylla Volunteers
Recruitment Zone: Scylla subsector
Beating Order: 328000M42
No. of Active Companies: na
No. of Battalions: 5
Class: Provincial Establishment
Commanding Officer: Colonel Kentus Nikephros
Battle Honours:
Kali (Scylla Crusade) 
Battle of the Pyramids (Scylla Crusade) 
Amun Tower (Kali Liberation) 
General Background 
During the 24th Agrippa War, commonly known as the Cathedral Wars, the Hive world of Hibernia encountered great success in raising the 24th Hibernia Guard Regiment. Initially on the provincial establishment with a tenure for the duration of the 24th Agrppa War, the 24th would live on to achieve capital establishment and several battle honours.
During the Cathedral Wars the regiment was unable to be brought against the enemy and the war ended prematurely due to the impressive efforts of the Imperial Navy. The hiveworld of Hibernia had gone to great expense to raise the regiment and would not except its disbanding after the wars end. In fact, the business of raising regiments had become so lucrative for the hiveworld of Hibernia that they were already well into raising a sister regiment aptly named the 25th Hibernia for the efforts against Gibsum's Waaagh in the Palatine.
Scylla Volunteers fortify a ruined temple during the Battle of the Pyramids on Kaliegh
Like the 24th The 25th Hibernia was schooled and led by officers chosen from the Corscan Nobility. A house Azores descendant Colonel Kentus Nikephros the son of an archduke of the Corscan province of Tempus was chosen for the command. However, unlike the massive 24th, his beating order was considerably smaller and only 5 battalions were raised.
This small regiment served with distinction at both Severus and Litha, but suffered hideous casualties at the latter, to the point where only half a battalion could muster. Despite pleas from Hibernia, the government at Blodsburg insisted on disbanding or amalgamating the regiment rather than go through the costly venture of re-raising the force. Hibernia chose to disband the 25th in honour of those that had fallen.
The remnants of this short lived but proud regiment was indeed disbanded. In an effort to rebuild the war torn area of the Palatine, most effected by Gibsum's Waaagh, some were offered bounties to settle in the sub sector. A few of the more wealthy opted to buy passage back to Hibernia, and an unfortunate few were pressed into the Navy. An even smaller handful accompanied Colonel Kentus to Corsca where they served as house Guards to the archduke of Tempus, but were to go on to form the nucleus of what was to become the Scylla Volunteers.
When Cardinal Duke Thrackos issued the Bull calling for the Scylla Crusade. A natural restless soldier, Colonel Kentus was eager to join and applied for a beating order to raise a small regiment to support the crusade. His request was denied prompting the Colonel to voyage to Blodsburg and appeal directly to high lord Admiral Goethe. After many hours of persuasion, the high lord finally came to an agreement where Colonel Kentus could only raise a regiment of volunteers with limitations on recruitment.
At great expenses he outfitted his house guard and used his own house fleet to book passage to the gathering forces at the jumping station at the planet Fenn. It was an extremely costly undertaking but Kentus was determined. Under strict recruiting guidelines his agents hit almost every civilized planet between Corsca and Blodsburg to call for volunteers. By the time he reached the capital system he had only one battalion. However, under the agreement with Goethe his recruiting agents would be free to raise whom ever within the Scylla sector. Kentus was confident he would raise more men once the crusade fleet had reached the mysterious lost worlds of the rediscovered Scylla.
Investing in enough arms and accouterments to outfit at least 5 battalions Kentus set off with High Lord Admiral Goethe for the Scylla and was delighted to almost immediately discover a Human populated world lost during the Age of Strife. After Goethe had surprised the rebellious populace of Equine and renamed the planet to Faustus, he cowed them into Imperial rule, Kentus was free to harvest the planet of its menfolk. Within months a third battalion was almost raised.
By this time Goethe had discovered a second Human world much more accepting of Imperial doctrine. The Planet Ex yielded another two battalions of Scylla volunteers bringing the regiment up to Kentus' goal of five or more.
At first the regiment was used to simply garrison and keep peace on the newly discovered Human worlds and Kentus seems to have been satisfied with this duty. Indeed most of his officer staff was Corscan noblemen suited to the pleasures of garrison amusements among the aristocracy of these newly discovered provincial planets. However, when High Lord Admiral Kitchener ordered the entire ten battalions of Fortuna's Own Guard to garrison a backwater world, the need for able-bodied replacement troops became dire.
It was an exciting time for Kentus who knew that rural guard and garrison duties would lead his regiment into the hostile frontier areas increasing the chances for action. His dream was obviously to reap glory for the regiment and have it put on Capital establishment.
The time to prove himself came when he was requested to take his best battalions and take command of the outpost at the frontier of Fort Goethe. Right on the fringe of hostile Eldar territory and the jumping point for High Lord Admiral Kitchener's relief force to the war torn planet of Kaliegh.
Kentus knew that his men would see action and eagerly began training those battalions at Fort Goethe in anti-Eldar combat tactics. Between training and construction duty, Fort Goethe was turned from a small outpost to a thriving industrial province capable of housing entire regiments of Imperial guard and fitting several navy fleets at once.
In addition to these impressive improvements, Military Governor Kentus also instituted a defense plan for the frontier including a small planetary defense militia from the labour gangs imported to the planet for construction efforts.
For his impressive erection of the facilities at Fort Goethe he was given a Blodsburg star and permitted to draw upon super heavy auxiliary support from the Fenn armour regiment.
When Admiral Kitchener arrived with the Kali relief force, he was so impressed with the new industrial facilities and dockyards that he requested that Kentus command one of his battalions in the effort against the Eldar on Kali.
Thus the Scylla volunteers saw their first action in the crusade and aside several small successful actions against Dark Eldar raiding parties, the regiment played a key roll in the victory at the Battle of the Pyramids in contributing to the artillery bombardment of both the Eldar Titan "Morningstar" and the main Dark Eldar thrust against Moltke's column.
Several companies continued to support the war effort on Kaliegh until the dramatic end at Amun Tower. After the effort against the Eldar ended. Kentus was ordered to garrison Fort Goethe and several worlds within Scylla where they presently stand ready to serve the Emperor.
Like their founding sister the Hibernia, the Scylla volunteers don similar scarlet tunics with white guazed pith helmet and small clothes. The armour of the regiment is codex gray as per standard Agrippa Sector regulations. 
The facing colour for the regiment is blue with yellow piping.
Variant companies were also formed in the desert campaign on Kaliegh who traded scarlet for brown kaki.
Category:Imperial Guard of Agrippa