Praetorian Guard - Notable Campaigns: Massacre at Big Toof River (987.M41) - When an ancient Space Hulk entered the Montar System, in Segmentum Tempestus, little notice was taken in its passing, that is, until it disgorged a massive Ork WAAAGH! led by the mighty Greenskin Warlord Bullgarg in a massive assault on the desolate world of Montar VII. Claiming it for his own, Bullgarg was determined to conquer every world within the Montar System and carve out his own Ork empire. The Ork landing did not go unnoticed, and soon the Planetary Governor Kinwa on Montar Prime urgently requested aid to deal with the Orks before they spread mayhem and destruction throughout the star system. Although preliminary reports indicated that the Ork tribe was of no great strength, Lord Kinwa simply did not have the forces to deal with them. The total human and Abhuman population of the entire Montar System numbered less than 700, and Lord Kinwa's Planetary Defence Force consisted of an under-strength platoon with only 3 heavy weapons and no armoured vehicles! Fortunately for Lord Kinwa, his appeal for help was received and acted upon very quickly, perhaps too quickly as things turned out. The Montar System lies in the Segmentum Tempestus close to the planet of Tallarn. Imperial Guard forces in this sector were under the control of Lord Commander Sherdan, who had recently completed a successful campaign against a renegade Aeldari pirate fleet. The campaign had been a long and bloody one, a running battle fought in half a dozen different star systems and on more than 30 worlds, which had ended with the destruction of the Aeldari renegades by the Imperial Navy. Reports of this final battle were coming in when Sherdan received the news of the Ork invasion of Montar VII, and it may be that his elation over the victory against the renegade Aeldari clouded his judgement about how he would deal with Warlord Bullgarg. Whatever the reason, Sherdan trusted the preliminary reconnaissance reports and decided to dispatch a small force to deal with the Orks as quickly as possible. The troops that he sent were the veterans of the campaign against the Drukhari, the XXIVth Praetorian Guard. The Praetorian XXIVth had lived up well to the traditions of the fighting reputation of their homeworld, but had suffered very heavy casualties in so doing. Of the 1,500 troops that had left Praetoria, only about 300 now remained. More importantly, all of the regiment's senior officers had been killed. The most senior officer left alive, and acting commander of the regiment, was 21-year-old Captain Gliene of C Company. To overcome these deficiencies for the campaign against Warlord Bullgarg, the XXIVth was hastily reinforced with the survivors of the 135th Tallarn Desert Raiders Regiment, which had been all but destroyed in the battles against the Aeldari renegades. Crucially, the commander of the Tallarns, Colonel Al' Ter-Ay, was put in overall command of the reinforced Praetorian XXIVth, even though the bulk of the troops in the regiment were Praetorians. It was a command structure that was to have disastrous consequences for the regiment. The XXIVth was dispatched immediately to Montar VII with orders from Lord Sherdan to act quickly to eliminate the Ork threat to the system. Information was still sketchy about the size and strength of the Ork tribe, but the common consensus was that they were fairly few in numbers, and lacking in any heavy support in the form of Gargants or Battle Fortresses. Ork Blood Axes mercenaries, hired as scouts by the regiment during the campaign, confirmed that although they had never actually met Warlord Bullgarg, the Imperials had nothing to worry about, for Bullgarg was considered a minor threat. Within an hour of first spotting a massive Ork camp, every single member of Forces Kaz-Ter and Force Gliene, with the exception of one of Company C's Blood Axe mercenaries, was dead. Warlord Bullgarg went on to found a successful Ork empire in the Montar System, but then disappeared along with most of his followers on board an Ork Space Hulk. It was assumed that the craft was destroyed in the Warp, but no one can be certain. Lord Sherdan recovered from the setback and went on to reconquer the Montar System from the Orks that had remained after Bullgarg had left. In the forefront of the campaign was the newly raised XXIVth Praetorian Guard.