Casydman Tempest Guard

(To be added)

(To be added)

"*We are the Emperor's storm, His wrath, His justice! We fight for His Imperium and for those that cannot fight for themselves! Each of you volunteered for the Tempest Guard, each of you knew the risks! So show me what you swore to do for your god and for your fellow man!*"
— Commandant Veliko Vestramin, 127th Casydman Tempest Guard
Originating from the storm-wracked civilised/mining world of Casydmus, the **Casydman Tempest Guard** are an entirely volunteer force who swear an oath of loyalty to the Imperium and the God-Emperor that has not yet been broken by a single one of the four hundred and eleven Casydman regiments that have yet been formed. Disciplined and vicious, the Tempest Guard are skilled in both defense and, albeit in a stranger manner, offense.

When on the back foot, the Tempest Guard will retreat to an advantageous position that allows them to reap a bloody toll from their enemies before retreating once more, repeating until the advance runs out of steam or they are cornered; and when cornered, the Tempest Guard are relentless fighters willing and able to fight tooth and nail to bring as many of the enemy down as possible. When advancing, the Tempest Guard are relentless, killing any who oppose their advance and not stopping until their objective is complete, or continuing their assault is unfeasible. Mercy is acceptable to the Tempest Guard for some, such as secessionists and those they deem sufficiently ‘redeemable’ as they believe it is possible for them to right their errant ways and earn redemption.

The Casydmans are self-reliant and resilient folk who live on a world rocked by powerful and regular storms, and it is reflected in the quality of the regiments they produce. Tempest Guard are defiant to the last, often preferring to die rather than surrender; one common thing among the Tempest Guard is the ‘Storm Call’. It is effectively a hymn recognising a warrior’s impending death, asking for the strength of body and mind to fight to the very, bitter end.

## History

### The Early Imperium

The world of Casydmus lays within the Ormanus Sector of the Segmentum Ultima, near Nocturne, and was discovered originally by the Primarch Vulkan and the Salamanders during the Great Crusade. Their influence is still felt to this day; compassion is considered one of the greatest traits of a person, and exemplary Casydman craftsmanship is prized throughout the sector, selling for high prices to nobles and Imperial officials. Such compassion and attention to detail is reflected in the Tempest Guard, who maintain much of their own weapons and armour beyond the supervision of the Mechanicum, while avoiding the influence of the Mechanicus by housing the Greyiron clan consisting of some of the last surviving Squats and their last actual Squat hold in existence, though they play a support role for the Tempest Guard and have never been recorded to fight in the field.

Casydmus supplied troops for the Imperialis Auxilia throughout the Great Crusade and remained loyal through the Horus Heresy, suffering under a siege from turncoats of the Knight House Qarrokh and assorted Imperialis Auxilia traitors late in the civil war, though they would resist for several years until the forces of the Ultramarines and Imperial Fists arrived to cleanse the world of traitors during the Great Scouring. From then, they would support the Great Scouring and willing reintegrate into the Imperium, their forces aiding the Ultramarines and Imperial Fists in driving the traitor and the xenos from the systems claimed by Humankind.

The first Tempest Guard would be raised in 133.M31, forming the 1st 'Galebringers' Casydman Tempest Guard - which is nowadays comprised totally of the elite Storm Grenadiers and acts both as a permanent garrison and an Astra Militarum regiment that strikes out directly from Casydmus to nearby warzones. Their first major engagement of any note would be during the War of the Beast when the 6th, 7th, and 8th Tempest Guard would follow the Primarch Vulkan and Imperial Fists Captain Koorland to fight the forces of the Beast on Ullanor while dozens of other regiments would fight across the galaxy to fend off the green tide. The 6th and 8th would ultimately meet their demise on Ullanor, and the 7th, now known as the 'Lucky Sevens', would earn leave to return to Casydmus as war heroes and to retrain themselves, and the 6th and 8th.

In 453.M37, Casydman regiments would be deployed alongside forces of the Salamanders during a campaign on the hive world of Arkhalis. There the 15th Casydman Tempest Guard would entrench themselves and display their defensive capabilities to halt an advance by a warband of Khorne under the self-proclaimed ‘Red Matriarch’, reaping a heavy toll on her warband, the ‘Choir of Blood’. High Captain Vess said of the 15th that “they are determined to be the steel barrier that guards the people of the Imperium; I have reason to believe they might achieve that.” When a force under the personal command of the High Captain arrived to the 15th's lines they would be surprised to find the Casydmans faring much better than other regiments along the line, using the buildings and entrenched fortifications to create killzones and setting mines and traps out in the vast salt plains surrounding Arkhalis Magna in the dark of night, grinding down the Choir’s assaults before they reached their lines. Within months of the siege of Arkhalis Magna, several other regiments of the Tempest Guard would arrive and further blunt the Choir's attacks, though at a heavy cost.

### The Invasion of Casydmus

The greatest test of the Tempest Guard would come in 600.M38 however, when the forces of the Red Matriarch (who had been working their way through the forces who opposed her at Arkhalis and by extension denied her daemonhood) arrived above Casydmus. She sent a single transmission across the planet, gloating about her conquest of dozens of worlds who had opposed her invasion of Arkhalis and her righteous honour of daemonhood - said transmission was psychic in nature (originating from an enslaved band of astropaths) and drove the planet’s own astropathic choir mad or killed them outright after they finished shouting the message forced into their minds, cutting Casydmus off from the greater Imperium. The Choir’s invasion of Casydmus followed soon afterwards as her forces of 'Daughters of War' and their horde of crazed, bloodthirsty fodder.

The Gerent Assembly would hand emergency powers over to Lord-Commandant Supreme Marran Harkuul - for the duration of the conflict and would mobilise the Galebringers and the three in-training regiments as well as the local Casydman Citizen Army (CCA) and enacted battle plans centuries in the making, quickly consolidating their forces. At first, Casydman forces crumbled under the blitzkrieg assault as the Daughters of War proved a disciplined force of shock troopers and leaders of their lesser forces of slaves and conscripts pressed into servitude. Several cities fell within the first month while Casydman forces were made to retreat and fortify the larger continent of Tempus while abandoning the smaller continent on Casydmus, Varallus, to the Choir. From there they would establish effective fortifications and repel a series of larger attacks as more volunteers and eventually conscripts arrived to bolster the CCA and Tempest Guard.

Despite their best efforts, the Casydman forces under Commandant Harkuul were unable to stop the Choir’s advance entirely. Nearly two years into the war the Battle of Armian proved to be a disastrous defeat for the CCA and Tempest Guard and nearly a million troops would be surrounded, to be captured or killed. The Casydmans would succeed in slowing the advance considerably however, their defensive tactics grinding several million of the Choir’s troops - some broken and enslaved Casydmans - into dust before finally being forced back. Refugees clogged the cities and were sent to work in the factories, with tanks being made and hardly given their identifying markings before being sent to the front - from this came the tradition of Casydmans painting symbols into their tanks in lieu of official paint jobs. One such tank was the ‘Phantom Queen’, a basic Leman Russ bearing the name of an ancient Casydman mythological figure. The commander led the 32nd Casydman Tempest Guard Armoured Regiment (CTGAR) in the Battle of the Tatarin Hills and managed to crush an armoured division of the Choir and a still unnumbered amount of heretic infantry. Later, it would be martyred holding the gates of Leiron City while civilians and wounded soldiers were evacuated, leaving a field of broken bodies and burning tank shells before it. Now the 32nd CTGAR is called the ‘Phantom Regiment’ and paints their tanks black in honour of their fallen leader.

Three years into the war, and nearly half of Tempus had fallen to the Choir’s forces. However, it was at this time a small Imperial fleet arrived in the system for resupply after a prolonged patrol and recognised the conflict on the surface. An urgent message was sent to the commands of both the sector and Segmentum Ultima requesting aid for the beleaguered world. Then, the fleet would begin to harry the outlying elements of the Choir’s fleet and contact the ground forces inform them of the promise of reinforcement, revitalising the fighting spirit of the Casydmans. Five Casydman regiments heard of their homeworld’s plight and immediately requested reassignment to defend their home, all of which were accepted. Furthermore, three regiments of Cadian Shock Troops, one armoured regiment from Armageddon, a force of Vostroyan Firstborn, and nearly two dozen other regiments all in all amounting to about three million troops, fifty thousand tanks, and thirty thousand artillery pieces were redirected to defend Casydmus. With them came the bulk of Battlefleet Ormanus and a lance of House Aramos, and even a contingent of the Disgraced.

Seven months after the arrival of the patrol the Imperial reinforcements would arrive the day the Choir’s heavy guns began shelling Auran, the planetary capital, and less than one quarter of the planet remained in loyalist hands. The impact was immediate as Battlefleet Ormanus broke through the blockade and scattered the Choir’s fleet throughout the system and crippled their flagship, the Claret Feast. Forces of Astartes, Imperial Guard regiments, and Imperial Knights began landing and relieving the tired and bloodied defenders. Particularly impressive was the Cadian troops that came to the aid of the defenders trapped within Fort Karomus who had thought their fate sealed; with Cadian aid they were able to not only fend off the Choir’s assaults but actively pursue them out of the area and establish a secure perimeter. Within a year the forces of the Choir had been forced to retreat from their near conquest as losses became utterly unsustainable, even for a Khornate warband. Shamed once more, the Red Matriarch called for her forces to evacuate.

After the catastrophic conflict the Tempest Guard would adopt Cadian style arms and armour after seeing how effective they had been in battle and began rebuilding their world and their regiments - in total, nineteen regiments worth of Tempest Guard (including regiments raised during the war), and as much as 85% of the Galebringers, were destroyed; this amounted to some 207,750 casualties for the Tempest Guard, while the much larger CCA suffered approximately 63.2 million casualties. They would not found another regiment for just over one and a half centuries as, in total, nearly 163 million (including civilians) were killed during the Red Matriarch’s Invasion of Casydmus.

### Casydmus Resurgent

By 758.M38, the 99th through 116th Casydman Tempest Guard were formed in a single founding - the largest single founding of regiments for the Imperial Guard in Casydmus’ long history, containing in total 470,000 troops now trained and armed in the Cadian fashion and with military doctrine more in line with the heavily armoured, sustained 'bite and hold' assault that they are now known for, with two regiments consisting entirely of mechanised infantry and tanks, and with a greater number of armour and artillery attached to each of the regiments to provide combined arms capabilities in contrast to the infantry-based tactics of their predecessors. Older surviving regiments would be refit and retrained to fit this new mould, and previously lost regiments would be systematically refounded and over the next millennia alone Casydmus would produce nearly five million troops for the Imperial Guard.

Throughout their restructuring, the soldiers of Casydmus became more grim and serious but no less compassionate, offering secessionists the mercy of surrender though giving none if their offer was refused. The protection of non-combatants was and remains paramount for the Tempest Guard and many regiments have given their lives to protect civilians. One such example is the Siege of Kara Qarama, an agri-world under attack by Orks in 814.M40 where the 178th Casydman Tempest Guard would hold open a corridor that allowed for the evacuation of a nearby city before it could be totally overrun. The 178th made a fighting retreat before their last troopers fell at the banks of N'Hashi Bridge to cover the last civilian transports’ escape, holding the bridge until the Aeronautica could destroy it, and singing their Storm Call.

Since the Invasion of Casydmus, the Storm Grenadiers - now restructured to imitate the Tempestus Scions in their arms and armour - have become a more common sight within the Tempest Guard. Now many regiments have at least a single battalion consisting of Storm Grenadiers, though some have more. Some regiments like the Galebringers consist entirely of Storm Grenadiers and act as the elite of the elite within the Casydman army. As of 127.M42, roughly four hundred and eleven active regiments of Tempest Guard, plus forty armoured regiments, exist within the Imperium, numbering approximately 12 million men and women currently in service. Ten regiments fought with the forces of the Indomitus Crusade and many others fought throughout the Realm of Ultramar and the sectors around Casydmus. Recently, two regiments fought on Espandor but one was destroyed and the other crippled utterly and sent to Iax, being destroyed when the hospital world fell to the forces of Nurgle.

## Ranks, Organisation, Recruitment, & Appearance

### Ranks

##### Commissioned Officers (COs)

* Lord-Commandant Supreme - Supreme commander of all of the Casydman military, though primarily the CCA, though also present regiments of the Tempest Guard.
* Lord-Commandant - High ranking general, numbers of Lord-Commandant’s at any one time varies and they make up the Casydman War Council.
* Commandant-Major - In charge of a single army group consisting of multiple regiments; as per Casydman doctrine they often travel with multiple Tempest Guard regiments, including CTGAR.
* Commandant - Commands a single regiment of Tempest Guard, answers to a commandant-major
* Colonel - commands a section, answers to a commandant
* Commander - commands a brigade, answers to a colonel
* Lieutenant - commands a company, answers to a commander
* Captain - commands of a platoon, answers to a lieutenant
* Sergeant - commands a squad, answers to a captain

##### Non-Commissioned Officers (NCOs)

* Colonel-Major - advisor and second-in-command to a commandant-major
* Senior Commander - advisor and second-in-command to a colonel
* Lieutenant Commander - advisor and second-in-command to a commander
* Sub-Lieutenant - advisor and second-in-command to a lieutenant
* Corporal - advisor and second-in-command to a captain
* Junior-Sergeant - advisor and second-in-command to a sergeant

##### Enlisted

* Specialist - a specialist trooper such as a flamethrower trooper, a vox operator, a designated marksman, medic, etcetera.
* Trooper - rank-and-file trooper of the Imperial Guard

### Organisation

Regiments of the Tempest Guard can vary in size between 25,000-30,000 in most cases. Regiments containing 25,000 troopers are the standard; regiments of 30,000 are considered ‘Grenadier Regiments’ as they contain an entire section of Storm Grenadiers; lastly, CTGARs contain only 10,000 troops including tank crew and artillery teams while their heavy infantry acts as support and are known as Tempest Guard Fusiliers and tend to consist of less specialists as the armour/artillery already fits that role in some respects, and they always coordinate with other Tempest Guard regiments to provide specialist skills.

* Regiment - 25,000-30,000; sometimes 10,000; commanded by a sub-commandant
* Section - 5,000; commanded by a colonel
* Brigade - 1,000; commanded by a commander
* Company - 500; commanded by a lieutenant
* Platoon - 50; commanded by a captain
* Squad - 10; commanded by a sergeant

### Recruitment

The Tempest Guard recruit exclusively from their homeworld’s PDF, the Casydman Citizen Army, or CCA for short. While the Tempest Guard are an entirely volunteer force the CCA conscripts all able-bodied Casydmans once they turn eighteen for a five year term of service. The CCA is a skilled PDF as it is trained extensively by the Galebringers, who are the Casydman elite. Furthermore, they are equipped to the standards of the Tempest Guard.

### Storm Grenadiers

The Storm Grenadiers are the elite fighting force of the Tempest Guard, modelled after the Tempestus Scions and trained from as young as thirteen in military academies strewn across Casydmus. They excel at shock tactics and serve to cause disarray and panic in an enemy line, as well as longer missions behind enemy lines to disrupt supply lines and scout out hostile positions.

Most regiments contain a single brigade’s worth of Storm Grenadiers. However, one regiment, the 1st Casydman Tempest Guard, also known as the Galebringers, consists entirely of Storm Grenadiers and get the first pick of new recruits.

### Regimental Appearance

Most Casydman troops are styled after the famous Cadian Shock Troops, with dark green fatigues in honour of the Salamanders who brought them into the Imperium and the influence of their Promethean Cult as a side effect of the Ecclesiarchy’s strained relationship with Casydmus. Their flak armour is a dim bronze. They display their regiment number on their pauldrons with the parallel lightning bolts of the Tempest Guard beneath it, while their flak jacket has a small Imperial Aquila above their heart and their surname and identification number is written on their right breast.

Storm Grenadiers maintain the same colour scheme and identifying marks as their lesser comrades, but wear carapace armour and full helmets in imitation of the Tempestus Scions.

## Equipment

### Infantry Wargear

##### Standard trooper gear

* Triplex pattern lasgun with five charge packs
* Laspistol with two charge packs
* Combat knife
* Three frag grenades, three smoke grenades, or two krak grenades
* Uniform (includes fatigues, armour)
* Combat backpack
* Two weeks of rations
* Canteen
* Basic first aid kit
* Compactable entrenching tool
* Gas mask
* Imperial Infantryman’s Uplifting Primer (standard across all troopers regardless of role or rank)

##### Specialist trooper/officer gear

* Vox caster
* Long-las
* Advanced medical kit
* Engineers toolkit
* Bolt pistol
* Chain sword
* Heavy bolter
* Grenade launcher (Fusiliers only)
* Meltagun

##### Storm Grenadier gear

* Hotshot lasgun with seven charge packs
* Laspistol with two charge packs
* Two frag grenades, two smoke grenades, two krak grenades, or a melta charge
* Uniform (carapace armour and fatigues)
* In-built vox system
* One month’s rations
* Canteen
* First aid kit
* Engineers toolkit

### Vehicles & Armour

* Leman Russ battle tank and variants
* Chimera APC
* Macharius heavy tank and variant
* Sentinel scout walker
* Basilisk artillery
* Manticore weapons platform
* Hydra flak tank

## Notable Regiments

* **1st Casydman Tempest Guard, the ‘Galebringers’** - This regiment earned their fame for being the longest continually active Casydman regiment in existence, and for their status as being made up entirely of Storm Grenadiers. They are not known for any particular battles and are instead renowned for their vast array of accolades and victories, as well as the storied armies and personages they’ve fought alongside.
* **7th Casydman Tempest Guard, the ‘Lucky Sevens’** - Known for fighting alongside the Primarch Vulkan who the Casydman people especially venerate for his role in their place in the Imperium. They were the only Casydman regiment to survive the War of the Beast and went on to fight for nearly two thousand years before needing to be refounded.
* **32nd CTGAR, the ‘Phantom Regiment’** - An armoured regiment that paints their tanks and armour black in honour of their regimental heroes, the crew of a tank known as the ‘Phantom Queen’ who martyred itself during the Invasion of Casydmus. Since then, the 32nd CTGAR is considered something of an elite armoured regiment and receives the best equipment and troops Casydmus has to offer.
* **178th Casydman Tempest Guard, the ‘Callers’** - Known for their last stand on Kara Qaramara against Orks, this is a legend based on the reports of refugees who heard the 178th sing their Storm Call before the Ork forces arrived. The Callers have become synonymous to the Casydmans with the concept of self-sacrifice for the sake of others, and as an embodiment of what a Tempest Guard should be willing to do should there be a need.

## Notable Tempest Guard

* **Commandant-Major Farghus Armil** - Commander of the 44th Battlegroup, currently leading the forces of the Imperial Guard on Haamon V in the face of massive numbers and approaching Chaos warbands. Known for his steel will and tactical acumen, as well as his ability to inspire his troops.
* **Commandant Reyal Socaire of the Galebringers** - A skilled and veteran Storm Grenadier known for once taking the Ork Warboss Mathrakka in single combat and winning at the cost of her right arm and leg, which have been replaced by cybernetics. She, unlike most Storm Grenadiers, was taken into the 1st from another regiment, the 220th, which she is one of the few survivors of. It was her resilience in the battle that killed her regiment that earned her a place among the Galebringers.
* **Lieutenant Zoaren Karth** - A junior officer of the 55th Casydman Tempest Guard, 1st Section, 3rd Brigade, 1st Company. His troops call him the ‘Weeping Warrior’ for the tattoos of what appear to be teardrops beneath his eyes. Skilled in tactics and combat, he has led the 1st Company through what would otherwise be suicidal missions.
* **Captain Melain Karth** - A company commander of the of the 55th Casydman Tempest Guard, 1st Section, 3rd Brigade, 1st Company, 2nd Platoon. An exceptionally young officer out of the military academies of Casydmus and younger sister of Zoaren Karth. She is a skilled marksman and disciplined soldier, seeking to act as an example to her troops.
* **Commissar Valoren Amroy** - A commissar of the 55th Casydman Tempest Guard, currently assigned to maintain morale and loyalty within the regiment. He admired figures such as Ciaphas Cain and Ibram Gaunt and seeks to improve morale through his words and deeds, leading any charge and volunteering himself for the most daunting missions, hoping to inspire the troops.