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[adwarf]

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Run massed fire drills with the infantry squads, promote the best soldier in each squad to sergeant, have the veterans assist with the drilling.

Walk around and meet all the soldiers, have your personal guard offer tips to soldiers as we go.

"I'll have them begin massed fire drills, the veterans will assist in that and help me by picking all those who show the most skill in a squad for promotion to Sergeants. I'll make my rounds with the men throughout the trip, greeting and chatting with each battalion in turn so I can get to know the men, perhaps raise their morale while I'm at it. Besides that there is not much else that I can that needs doing, the men will get used to their equipment on their own, after all they have to put their lives on their gear working as they want it."

You reply to him as your lander starts to dock with the massive cruiser Night Raven, in response the commissar laughs, a deep hearty laugh that draws the looks of the other men aboard the lander. Leaning forward Commissar Kalman said,

"Those bastards on the Warmaster's Council may have accidentally chosen the best commander they possibly could have for the 3rd, but we'll have to wait and see. The place we're being deployed to isn't going to an easy first mission for you and your men, you just gotta do your best to insure its a victory ... and that your regiment comes out of it somewhat intact."

With that the cabin falls silent, and you lose track of time as the craft lands, your ushered off it, and the full workload of your position overtakes you. The month and a half it takes your voyage to end is long, and filled with constant work as you lead, even participate in firing drills and make your rounds of the regiment to ensure things are going well.

The fire drills have a dramatic effect on the infantry platoons, they quickly get the hang of the drills and within days are capable of coordinating excellent fire zones that can pin an enemy in and keep them in sustained fire. You take part in these sessions yourself, and by the end of the trip you find your marksmanship has made a marked improvement, you can now make every shot out of four in the best of conditions.

The rest of your trip is spent making your rounds throughout the regiment, those rounds are for the most part a resounding success, the troopers in your regiment quickly come to like you for the most part and your visits do well for the troops morale. Thanks to you the men seem to adjust well to the cramped living spaces, and entirely new aspects of the world they've been thrust into not to mention you get a good feel of how each battalion is faring morale wise.

However as the month ends your regiments short period of training, and relaxation comes to an end as Commissar-General Kalman walk into the troop bay the 3rd are housed in to deliver warning that your deployment would occur in the next two days. The Commissar-General calls you to a meeting in one of the Night Raven's war rooms where you find the commanders of the Volgar 1st, and 2nd along with a small detachment of Munitorum scribes, and even a few tacticians gathered around a hololithic display. Getting closer you see the display shows a section of the jungle moon Salix that lies in orbit around the hive world Galin Prime, this particularly region is a very rough terrain of jungle giving way to several valleys that lead to a canyon deep within the mountains.

Taking his place at the head of the display the Commissar-General starts up about the plan for the coming battle,

"Men of Volgar I know this will be your first taste of real action, and you must be prepared for the worst, this mission is of the utmost importance to victory for the forces of the Imperium in this sector. As you can see this is the Salix Major Installation, it is home to enough firepower to level half the Chaos fleet in the system within five minutes, however it suffered serious damage in the first wave of the enemy's assault on Salix.

Your jobs will be to get down there and buy the engineers time to get the installation back online, as you can see there are around four valleys that connect this installation to the forest beyond, and thus the enemy. However here at the largest valley there is the remnants of a fort dating back to the reclamation of this system, it is there that the 1st will be deployed to support the surviving four hundred of the 7th Salix Infantry who are called the 'Resolute Last'. General Sadra, I expect you and your men to hold that ground to the last, command doesn't want a inch of that fort lost no matter the cost.

Colonel Kurtz your men are being deployed in support of the Galin 21st Heavy Infanty holding the two western most valleys, your troops are to commit hit and run attacks, ambushes, drop assaults, and any other guerrilla tactic you can think of as the enemy forces move along the two valleys. If you can you are to also hit the Chaos supply stations we believe to hidden just inside of the cover of the forests near the mouth of the canyons, make every move you make count Kurtz.

Finally Colonel Castronova you have the most important task, this eastern most valley is known as the Pass of the Martyr, until now its been left unguarded as the forces of Chaos had focused the majority of their assault on the force. Recently however large groups of enemy forces have been seen moving towards it, you have a day maybe two to get down their with your men and fortify that pass.

Any questions, if not you are dismissed begin planning and enacting your deployments to the zones right away."

Spoiler: Colonel Mordecai Castronova (click to show/hide)

Possessions:
M35 M-Galaxy Short pattern Lasgun
Standard Issue Bayonet
Superb Longsword
Flak Armor
Standard Trooper Combat Webbing [Three Frags and a Krak Grenade]

Regiment Relationship: Somewhat Liked.

Skills:
Competent Leadership
Competent Swordsmanship
Average Thrower
Average Marksmanship
Terrible Technical Aptitude

Spoiler: Volgar 3rd Siege Regiment (click to show/hide)

Note: All squads of the Volgar 3rd have Excellent Melee Weapons. The 1st & 2nd Infantry Battalion are trained for effective massed fire.
Command Battalion
Morale: Excellent
Skill: Veteran
Command Chimera [Heavy Bolter, Medium Armor, Field HQ, Capacity: 0/2]
Personal Guard [Hotshot Lasguns, Carapace Armor, Frag Grenades (1/1), Krak Grenades (1/1)]
3 Veteran Infantry Squads [Hotshot Lasguns, Flak Armor, Frag Grenades (1/1), Krak Grenades (1/1)]

Scout Battalion
Morale: Excellent
Skill: Bloodied
4 Scout Units [Long-Las, Leather Armor, Camo-Cloaks, Motorized (Bikes), Frag Grenades (1/1)]

1st Infantry Battalion
Morale: Excellent
Skill: Bloodied
10 Infantry Squads [Lasguns, Flak Armor, Frag Grenades (1/1)]
10 Infantry Squads [Lasguns, Leather Armor, Frag Grenades (1/1)]
2 Anti-Tank Squads [Missile Launcher, Flak Armor, Krak Grenades (1/1)
3 Heavy Weapons Squads [Autocannons, Leather Armor, Frag Grenades (1/1)]

2nd Infantry Battalion
Morale: Excellent
Skill: Bloodied
10 Infantry Squads [Lasguns, Flak Armor, Frag Grenades (1/1)]
10 Infantry Squads [Lasguns, Leather Armor, Frag Grenades (1/1)]
2 Anti-Tank Squads [Missile Launcher, Flak Armor, Krak Grenades (1/1)]
3 Heavy Weapons Squads [Autocannons, Leather Armor, Frag Grenades (1/1)]

Heavy Weapons Battalion
Morale: Excellent
Skill: Bloodied
10 Infantry Squads [Lasguns, Flak Armor, Frag Grenades (1/1)]
2 Infantry Squads [Lasguns, Leather Armor, Frag Grenades (1/1)]
8 Heavy Weapons Squads [Autocannons, Flak Armor, Frag Grenades (1/1)]
4 Anti-Tank Squads [Missile Launcher, Leather Armor, Krak Grenades (1/1)]

Engineer Battalion
Morale: Good
Skill: Green
18 Engineer Squads [Entrenching Tools, Construction Units, Lasguns, Leather Armor]
4 Trojan Support Vehicles [Supply Vehicle, Towing Vehicle, Very Light Armor]

Artillery Battalion
Morale: Excellent

Skill: Green
8 Basilisks [Earthshaker Cannon, Medium Armor, Slow]
10 Centaurs [Heavy Stubber, Light Armor, Artillery Tow, Capacity: 0/1]
10 Heavy Mortars [Immobile, Artillery, Emplacements]
2 Hyrda Flak Tanks [Twin-linked Autocannons, Medium Armor, Anti-Air]

Skill: Bloodied
8 Infantry Squads [Lasguns, Flak Armor, Frag Grenades (1/1)]
3 Infantry Squads [Lasguns, Leather Armor, Frag Grenades (1/1)]

[stabbymcstabstab]

Have the first and second battalions dig in and hold our flanks have the heavy weapons hold the front and have our engineers build defense and then assist the Engineers in the bunker/space gun in fixing it, the artillery be in the back somewhere, and have us in the bunker/space gun to continue organizing our defenses and act as a fall back position.

[Rhyme]

Scout the valley and deploy the men on high ground. Tell the engineers to prepare improvised bunkers for the troops (specially the artillery). They must be hidden using camouflage so that the enemy scouts don't notice our forces. The first wave will be greeted with an ambush, and then we'll just defend the old fashioned way.

That is a general strategy, flexible enought to accept changes I believe. The whole idea is to make the enemy believe that no troops have deployed in the valley so they send a big group in the first wave. That way we can ambush them and eliminate most of their forces before they can even counterattack.

[stabbymcstabstab]

I like Rhyme's plan a lot more.

[Harbingerjm]

I don't think that's such a good idea. They know how important this place is, and they know we have to defend it. Even if they don't observe us moving into the valley, scouting and building bunkers (which is unlikely), they'll know we wouldn't just leave a way in undefended, and they'll be expecting an ambush. Given the kinds of tricks Chaos can pull, a counter-ambush may go very badly for us.
That and they may well just throw a bunch of expendables at us first, which would leave us in the position of having weaker defences in exchange for a one-shot chance to do very little to them.

[adwarf]

I don't think that's such a good idea. They know how important this place is, and they know we have to defend it. Even if they don't observe us moving into the valley, scouting and building bunkers (which is unlikely), they'll know we wouldn't just leave a way in undefended, and they'll be expecting an ambush. Given the kinds of tricks Chaos can pull, a counter-ambush may go very badly for us.

Just wanna point out everything may go very badly for you, its Chaos but it only might go bad. Ya never know if you don't try

[Alexandria]

Deploy the scout squads beyond the pass, they are to pick off commanding officers of the chaos forces at range then fall back on friendly position before the enemy comes into firing range to counter, while they are doing this have some engineer plant explosives along both sides of the valley, once they fall back blow them and collapse the mouth of the valley to slow down the enemy assault.

Have the engineers prepare 3 defensive lines as follows.
Trenches across the valley at the 3 narrowest points, place bunkers along the trenches and place redoubts on the flanks that are elevated above the trench line.

Deploy heavy weapons battalion and first battalion to the first trench, split the heavy weapons from heavy weapon battalion across the 2 redoubts to give elevated and clear lines of fire for massed fire, deploy infantry along the trench line, place first battalions heavy weapons in the bunkers.
Place 2 anti tank squads on each flank and 2 in the center.
Scouts are to join this line taking flanking positions on the redoubts to continue removing officers or champions.

Deploy second battalion to the second line in the same formation as above, when the enemy comes within effective firing range the first line is to be abandoned and the defensive line reformed in the second trench with the heavy weapons being pulled out first and the infantry falling back by battalion covering each others moves.

The artillery is to be dug in behind the third defensive line and is to provide concentrated barrages on the center and rear of the enemy forces to avoid friendly fire and is to provide heavy covering fire during retreats to new defensive positions.

Artillery infantry are to dig in around the artillery and all remaining forces are to fall back from the second to the third line if the enemy closes on the second line again under artillery cover, they are to hold this line at all costs with infantry from the artillery force moving in to support if the line begins to fail, engineers are to form a final defense around the artillery.

Veteran squads and personal guard are to form the middle of the defensive line with us present, the command chimera and 2 AA vehicles are to be placed behind the 3rd trench close enough to support.



I agree the ambush is a bad idea, our best shot is simply to fortify then bring massive firepower into play, they have to charge against heavy weapons, give them clear lines of fire and they'll rip enemy assaults to shreds, provide fall back points to avoid letting chaos forces engage in melee which they excel at until we have no choice and just use massed volleys to hold our ground with artillery cover.

The imperial guards strength is numbers and massed firepower, they are not overly tough though, chaos are smaller in number but significantly more powerful and in melee will rip guards to pieces so our best bet is a heavy defense and force them to run into our heavy weapons, we have them forced into a bottleneck, we need to use that advantage to limit the numbers they can hit us with and maximize the guns we can bring into play.

[adwarf]

Actually Chaos more often then not has the greater numbers in planetary wars, they turn entire hives consisting of hundreds of millions, even billions, of people to their cause and use them as cannon fodder to achieve their goals.

[Harbingerjm]

Actually Chaos more often then not has the greater numbers in planetary wars, they turn entire hives consisting of hundreds of millions, even billions, of people to their cause and use them as cannon fodder to achieve their goals.

Depends on the type of Chaos. they outnumber with recruited cultists and the like, sure, but they're cannon fodder. All the more reason to use walls and trenches to stop them, in fact, because if we simply elevate our troops on the side and rely on our firepower to stop them from running straight down the clear path through the middle, a fair number might well make it through to the objective just by human wave tactics.
And then we'll be cut off, which would be terrible.

[Ghazkull]

+1 to Alexandrias Plan.

Addendum: Place Minefields between the Defensive Lines and let the Engineers dig tunnels connecting the Defensive Lines. Prepare Explosive Charges in said tunnels to allow us to collapse them after our Units have retreated.

Thus in case we need to retreat from one defensive line our troops use the tunnels , we collapse them behind em and the enemy has to go through minefields.

Addendum 2: Booby Trap everything that cannot be moved in case of a retreat.

[Alexandria]

+1 to Alexandrias Plan.

Addendum: Place Minefields between the Defensive Lines and let the Engineers dig tunnels connecting the Defensive Lines. Prepare Explosive Charges in said tunnels to allow us to collapse them after our Units have retreated.

Thus in case we need to retreat from one defensive line our troops use the tunnels , we collapse them behind em and the enemy has to go through minefields.

Addendum 2: Booby Trap everything that cannot be moved in case of a retreat.

+1.

In true imperial guard style, were going to turn this valley into a wasteland, then blow it up.

I mainly meant true chaos marines, legions of cultists and corrupted people I'm not worried about, running into massed fire they'll be cut to shreds but chaos marines don't go down easily.

[Harbingerjm]

Recruit Dan Abnett! With him writing, we can't lose!
More seriously, +1 Ghazkull and Alexandria. Also, we should make some raised walls, possibly earth ramparts with the earth from the trench, it both gives an elevated firing position and cuts the ability of any heavier-than-air gas weapons to reach us. Preferably place enough explosives in the wall when building them that if the enemy capture them and try to use them against us, we can stop them. Stop them dead.
We shall make these filthy traitors and heretics rue the day they turned against Him!

[10ebbor10]

What kind of valley is this? A wide U valley, or something more like a canyon. If the latter, (and maybe also the former), we can try to weaken the flanks, and bring down a terrible rockslide when the enemy breaks through.

On a side note, I'd rather have one of our scout teams look for alternative ways to pass by this valley, and if found, destroy them. Don't want to do a 300, do we.

[Cheesecake]

+1 to all above suggestions. Also, have a speech for the God-Emperor. Maybe he'll bless our bullets today.

[Harbingerjm]

Oh, oh, oh.
We need to see about getting some priests attached to the regiment. They do wonders for fighting Chaos.