Adyghan Guard

"*No one heard of them nor sang their laments. Their names were suppressed by battle cries and gunfires. They were forgotten. Lost in history. They became the erased digits of approximate numbers. Zeros. But neither did they complain nor care, for they have done their part and proved themselves fit among their ancestors; to ride, to dance, to sing and to feast among them for the rest of the eternity.*"
—Adygh honour code "Khabze".
    **Adyghan Guard** is the Imperial Guard regiment that is raised, trained, and stationed on the Maiden World of Adyghan Prime in Adyghan solar system. It is a world that lies in the galactic south-west borders of the Tau Empire and galactic northeast of Charadon Sector, which is an Orkish pocket empire. The world has eventually been targeted by many Ork warbands and barbaric alien invaders, violent battles waged upon its surface. The Adyghan Guard still deals with Orks which roam the vast forests of Adyghan Prime, and they are said to fight against them as efficiently as the Ork Hunters of Armageddon, with different methods.

The regiments are stationed in their own homeworld, they collect their personnel from the most formidable of the Planetary Defence Force of Adyghan Prime, who constantly battle feral ork bands and hordes of beastmen who roam the wilderness of their homeworld.

The Adyghan Guard troops are highly disciplined, highly agile, stern, and steady soldiers. They are motivated by their honour code of Khabze, almost as much as the Imperial Creed. Calling them fearless would be an overestimation; however, they are more afeared of being called cowards than anything that they might have to face. Therefore, they have a relatively low summary execution by commissar per platoon ratio compared to other Imperial Guard regiments. Also, names of those who desert are made sure to be informed to their houses and declared publicly to the society that they are a part of, tarnishing their good name and bringing shame upon their clan - a method very effective to deter about any Adygh guardsmen from deserting.

While they are easy to lead, they are observed to be noticeably distasteful being led by foreign officers who have not earned their respect. They are extremely effective in close combat as they are effective in ranged, carrying a specially forged traditional Adygh sabres called Sashkho, that they don't hesitate to get into close combat to use.

While about any Adygh is an exceptionally skilled horseman, the Adyghan Riders of the Adyghan Guard take the prowess of Adygh on horseback to wholly new level. They are arguably among the best light cavalries throughout the Imperium.

## Regiment History

Founded in **M23**, upon the colonisation of Adyghan Prime, though it went through several reforms throughout the time. Its military tradition is very old, dating back to **M2**.

First, they were the first guardians of their newly colonised homeworld, which was mainly made up of Adyghan Riders. Later on, as the colony expanded and industrial improvements achieved, mechanised regiments formed in the ranks.

After the first Orkish invasion in the late **M24**, funding on the military increased drastically, and the Orks who survived and fled to the forests after the invasion became the main targets of the Adyghan Guard military training. Thus, use of traditional Adygh melee weapons began in the military, advanced versions of such weapons have been made to combat tougher opponents.

During the Great Crusade of the Imperium, in **M30**, Adyghan Guard had to go through a major reform, during its assimilation into the Imperium. Khase ordered all the technology that the Imperium didn't have to be hidden away, and they adopted the Mechanicum-made military technology, which is superior to theirs in some of its aspects.

When Horus Heresy began, they stayed loyal to the Imperium. They had to fight against Traitor Legions such as Word Bearers and World Eaters with the assistance of Ultramarines and Blood Angels. Thus, once again Adyghan Guard had to reform the equipment of its soldiers. Melee weapons have been improved in such a way, that an Adyghan Guard may have a chance against a Traitor Space Marine, one on one. Adyghan Guard defended their homeworld against the invasion of Word Bearers on their own and got assisted by Loyalist Space Marines in the following invasion of World Eaters.

### Notable Campaigns

* **Defence Against Charadon Orks:**
* **First Defence Against Zul'gann:** In M26, a barbaric alien race those who called themselves "The Zul'gann", launched a full-scale invasion upon Adyghan Prime, but Adyghan Guard successfully defended their homeworld with the help of highly weaponized population, except for the casualties during the first wave of the invasion.
* **Zul'gann Siege:** Upon the recovery of Adyghan Prime, Khase ordered a counter-invasion, and with cooperation with Adyghan Navy, Adyghan Guard successfully invaded Zul'gann home planet, reducing the planet's technology to post-industrial level, to ensure that they won't try to attack again very soon.
* **First Defence Against Alsanta Orks:**
* **Defence Against World Bearers:**
* **Defence Against World Eaters:**
* **Defence Against Goge Vandire:** Age of Apostasy brought nothing but ruin to Adyghan Prime, which took place in M36, but relatively less than most Imperial Worlds. The church never had a strong presence on Adyghan Prime, and their effort to tax the population by dispatching troops to the planet resulted in them getting slaughtered by locals in a few days. But soon after when Goge Vandire took over the Imperium, a larger quantity of troops have been dispatched to Adyghan Prime, waging war against every single individual on the planet. They burned down settlements, killed without sparing women nor children, tearing embryos out of women's wombs. Khase responded quickly, and so violently for the first time in their history.

Upon the marches of Vandire's forces, they rained down the limbs of the troops upon them from the high-altitude stealth aircraft, which they have killed, collected and stored for similar purposes. This terrifies them as the limbs are seeming coming from nowhere but the empty sky, making them think that it is a punishment upon them from the heavens. Sometimes the fear that Vandire's forces are so intense, that they are reports telling about Commissars who flee into the forests in panic along with other troops, instead of disciplining them, to avoid the constant rain of limbs upon their heads. They have either been slaughtered by feral Orks who roam the forests, or the Adyghan Guardsmen who have prepared an ambush for them. Sometimes they would launch EMP mortars upon them, disabling their weapons, and crush the Vandire's forces under the stampede of Adyghan Riders like they were dead leaves and dry splints. But after such battles, the bodies of the dead have been collected and contained quickly, and the battlegrounds have been sanitised to prevent the spread of deadly plagues in Adyghan Prime.

* **War Against Goge Vandire:** As Sebastian Thor's rebellion gained fame and progressed, **Adyghan Guard** also dispatched forces to aid them. They fought alongside Thor's forces on many fronts, and even in the assault which took place on the Holy Terra.
* **Second Defence Against Alsanta Orks:**
* **Damocles Gulf Crusade:** Another notable event in the regiment history is the Damocles Gulf Crusade, where the Adyghan Guard has shown great promise and attracted the interest of Emperor's Holy Inquisition and Tau Empire's Ethereals.
* **Suppression of Blessing Rebellion:**
* **Georheim Necron Hunt:**

## Regiment Recruitment and Training

Adyghan Prime Planetary Defence Force has compulsory military service for all males on the planet who age 20, which lasts for three years. Depending on their prowess, they are taken into the conscriptability list of Adyghan Guard as soon as they complete a degree of required consistency, physical prowess and discipline. After their indoctrination to the Adyghan Guard is completed, each conscript is assigned into a sub-regiment and either get shipped off-world or stationed on Adyghan Prime to be shipped off-world shall the need arises.

Who serve the Adyghan Guard for life are the graduates of Adyghan Guard Military Academy, the people who have chosen the military service as their career.

In some occasions or during the times of crisis, all males who can stand up to fight can be enlisted, and they serve incredibly well compared to other civilians throughout the Imperial worlds, due to high weaponization rate and feudal lifestyle of average Adygh.

## Combat Doctrine

"*Hit hard. Vanish. Regroup. Repeat. This is how our ancestors endured hundreds of invading armies countless times greater than their numbers. And that is exactly how we will proceed until we come close to evening out the odds.*"
—Anonymous Adyghan Guard Commander
Tactics of Adyghan Guard highly depends on the phrase above, it is based upon crippling and tiring the enemy's forces until it faces the main army, highly demoralising the enemy and greatly reducing the friendly casualties. While normally guerilla warfare requires well-organised supply lines and intelligence support, Adyghan Guardsmen have trained to be able to keep on the fight without relying on anything but themselves. They are expert wilderness survivalists, they can go months without the support of the Adepta Munitorum. When they are cut off from their main command staff, they establish a new command among the units that they are still in touch with and utilise more primitive means of communication. Their night assault tactics are notably formidable especially in such cases where they are unable to utilise the wonders of Adeptus Mechanicus in the dead of night, such as using their blades as a reflector of the moonlight or artificial light from a las weapon concealed and projected onto the blade from a different position in order to convey intelligence.

It might seem like Adyghan Guard lacks enough heavy firepower due to their specialisation in guerilla warfare and utilisation of primitive technologies but this is but a mere speculation. They possess formidable mechanised forces; however, due to the uncertain dependability and availability of such units, they are highly trained in scattered, guerilla warfare, in addition to disciplined forms. Infantry is mostly assisted with high-altitude stealth aircraft, monitoring the battlefield and channelling the information to the allies below - and occasionally, long-range artillery support while they operate on the field with hard terrain, inaccessible by mechanised forces.

## Regimental Organisation

* **Adyghan Guard Tley**
* **Adyghan Guard Engineer**
* **Adyghan Guardsman**
* **Adyghan Rider**
* **Adyghan Guard Headsman**
* **Adyghan Guard Abrec**

## Regiment Appearance

To express the devotion to ancient traditions, Adyghan Guard has chosen the appearance of their ancestors from late **M2**. On their right shoulder pad, their sector and division are written, on the left one, their house symbol is displayed.

## Wargear

The citizens of Adyghan Prime are subtle and hard-working folk, and this is reflected in the weapons and equipment used by the Adyghan Guard, which tends to be both very utilitarian and flashy compared to other Imperial Guard regiments. Ultimately, however, the Adyghan Guards' wargear stands up well in any fight and helps the troops of these regiments accomplish their mission.

* **Mazet'u Pattern Assault Lasgun**
* **9** **Lasgun Charge Packs** - Charge packs are powerful batteries used almost exclusively by Imperial laser weapons. The charge pack varies depending on the class of the weapon. In all cases, it provides shots equal to the weapon's full clip value.
* **Flak Armour** - The most common type of armour used by Imperial Guard forces is Flak Armour, and it is standard-issue combat gear to the countless millions of Imperial Guardsmen who fight on the Emperor's behalf across the galaxy. Many layers of ablative and impact absorbent material go into making each suit, enough to deflect or negate most low-level attacks such as small arms, shrapnel, and proximity blasts. Solid hits from high impact weapons can generally negate it, but given that it is relatively lightweight, cheap to produce, and dependable in most combat situations, many veterans keep using it even when offered something better.
* **Sashkho** - The Saskho, is a traditional, 90-centimeter, extremely sharp, single-edged, slightly curved Adyghan sword, used by almost all Adyghan Guard troops. Its flexibility and speed of use are superior to many Imperial Guard swords. Its lack of sword guard may seem like it gets the hand into danger but provides relatively high mobility. Its hilt resembles the shape of a joint for the human palm, allowing the wielder to use the sword as it an extension of the body.
* **Qama** - The Qama, a 45-centimeter, one-handed melee implement, is the ubiquitous backup weapon for warriors of Adyghan solar system. It is shaped very similarly to Roman gladius, but has a rectangular handle, to make the grip more precise.
* **Adyghan Guard Uniform** - Based on traditional Adygh clothing, this uniform suits both cold and hot climates, depending on the quick modification sets done by the troop.
* **Rebreather**
* **4 Empty Sandbags**
* **M39 Entrenching Tool**
* **4 Frag Grenades** - Frag Grenades use a combustible charge and special fillers of shrapnel fragments which make them potent anti-personnel weapons. Imperial Frag Grenades are roughly the size of a clenched fist and covered with a heavily notched shell, both to increase the shrapnel produced and provide a more secure grip for throwing.
* **2 Photon Flash Grenades** - Photon Flash Grenades detonate like a small star, blinding anyone nearby and bright enough to overload primitive vision protection systems. Anyone within 15 metres of a photon flash grenade when it detonates will be temporarily blinded.
* **2 Smoke Grenades** - Smoke grenades release a dense smoke which only obscures basic eyesight and optical based systems. They do not block detection systems that use heat or other spectral bands outside of normal human eyesight but are much more widely available and easier to construct.
* **Vox-caster** - A Vox-caster is a standard and reliable radio wave communication device used to transmit over long distances, including to and from orbiting vessels. This allows communications with other Imperial personnel who possess Vox-casters. A Vox-caster's standard range is 100 kilometres, though better-crafted variants exist that have longer ranges
* **Micro-bead** - A Micro-bead or Comm-bead is a short-range radio wave communication device worn in the ear, good for communication out to about one kilometre (depending on weather conditions and intervening terrain). Each fits discretely in the ear, with higher craftsmanship models nearly undetectable in a casual inspection.
* **Chest equipment** - These pieces equipment vary on the choice of the troop, can be either medicine, supplement, food, morphine, or additional cartridges - stored inside cylindric pockets.
* **Poor Weather Gear**
* **Rucksack**
* **Basic Toolkit**
* **Mess Kit & Water Canteen**
* **2 weeks' Rations**
* **Survival Suit** - When working in harsh and extreme planetary weather conditions, survival suits are a must for Imperial Guard personnel. No matter if it is too hot or too cold, the suit can maintain proper body temperature and hydration via its excellent insulation capabilities. Using the differential between body temperature and outside temperature to drive thermoelectric power cells, the suit also has reclamation systems for turning sweat into drinking water. Most survival suits come complete with a hood, as well as goggles to protect the head and face. While it does not protect forever, for medium duration emergencies it can help sustain life until a rescue.
* **Blanket & Sleeping Bag**
* **Rechargeable Lamp Pack** - Sturdy and reliable, glow-globes illuminate many an Imperial paveway and cathedral. Most portable ones are roughly the size of a clenched fist and can shine strong, yellowish light a dozen or so metres in width, lasting roughly five hours before their power pack needs recharging or replacing.
* **Grooming Kit**
* **Dog Tags**

### Optional Wargear

Adyghan Guard units prefer to use Plasma guns and Autocannons as heavy weapons, but also have access to Mortars, Heavy Stubbers, Lascannons and Heavy Bolters. As with most Imperial Guardsmen, the Adyghan infantry's standard-issue individual weapon is the Lasgun and many also carry an additional Laspistol.

## Notable Adyghan Guard Regiments

* 54th Strike
* 77th Strike
* 87th Strike
* 90th Infantry
* 94th Infantry
* 95th Infantry
* 12nd Mechanized
* 15th Mechanized
* 37th Adyghan Riders
* 51st Adyghan Riders
* 63rd Adyghan Riders
* 66th Adyghan Riders
* 128th Abrecs
* 135th Abrecs
* 140th Abrecs

## Notable Guardsmen of the Adyghan Guard

* Anzawur Kuadzhe
* Astemyr Nekhu
* Berslan Tyghuzh
* Inal Kuadzhe
* Kazbeg Kodzheshaw
* Khyzbech Nach'e
* Marto Astovyr
* Nalbiy Kuadzhe
* Nurbyy Kalewubate
* Sawser Sshnakho
* Soslan Jambech
* Yinarmes Yemenshore
* General Vurgen Gjaardson

## Trivia

As with every Imperial Guard regiment, the Adyghan Guard is based upon a real-world military from human history, similar in uniform appearance and style to the Circassian Warriors of Russo-Caucasian War.

## Sources

* *Warhammer Gaming Rejects RP Community https//:www.warhammerrejects.forumc.net*