The Carlisian Shock Troops

This article is about an Imperial Army formation from the /tg/ Heresy project, a fan re-working of the Warhammer 40k universe.

Carlisian Shock Troops
Homeworld	Carlisar IV
Doctrine	Airland Battle
Signature Equipment	Solid Projectile Weapons, Drop Ships, Assault Gunships, Grav-Chutes, Heavy Stubbers
Colors	Pale and Dark Blue, Silver and Dark Metallics

The Carlisian Shock Troops are an Imperial Army force, notable for being the first extra-Solar Auxilia raised in the Great Crusade. They were justly renowned for their strictly drilled infantry and tank formations, elite drop troop squads, and deadly aircraft.

Doctrine

Carlisian regiments come from a proud and time honored military background. They focus on combined-arms tactics that have stood the test of history. Infantry and armor are supported by gunship strafing runs and bombings. Drop squads perform a particularly important role, carrying out raids behind enemy lines, defensive drops to prop up crumbling battle lines and flanking maneuvers.

The bulk of a Carlisian fighting force is infantry. Their formations are mostly autogun riflemen supported by infantry-borne heavy weapons such as heavy stubber machine guns and man-portable missile launchers. The infantry take the brunt of the enemy assault, and are used to dig in positions or smash enemy formations. Each regiment has one or more tank squadrons that act as mobile armored support. Carlisian officers are generally intelligent with their armor, not merely throwing the tanks at obvious threats but using these mobile forces to turn flanks and exploit their opponents' weaknesses. The final and most crucial part of the Carlisian order of battle is the air component, which includes both drop troops and assault craft.

Carlisian dropships can carry an absolute maximum of 25 soldiers and their gear. These craft are equipped with support weapons such as heavy bolters and frag missile launchers, and are designed with maneuverability and survivability as a priority. Dropships that have delivered their payload are capable of providing tactical fire support roles to cover the landing troops and have the ability to perform battlefield extractions. Carlisian drop troopers rightfully claim to be the best of the best, as they recruit from among the veterans of their regiments. These elite fighting men are deployed from low altitude into the areas where they can have the most impact. The nature of warfare imposes high attrition rates on drop troopers, but this is taken as a point of pride among Carlisian soldiers. Being transferred to the drop companies is a great honor.

The assault component contains a variety of aircraft. Some are dedicated dog-fighting craft armed with lascannons and guided missile systems. Specialised bombers a variety of explosive payloads and automatic weapons to pepper enemy ground formations. Carlisian pilots are a force to be reckoned with and increase the fighting potential of the regiment massively. Without their air element, Carlisian regiments are dependable but relatively static. Integral air support is what makes them into some of the best fighting forces in the Imperial Army. In addition to their role in planetary conflicts, the skill of Carlisian pilots has often been a difference-maker in void combat.

Homeworld and History

Carlisar IV
Segmentum	Solar
System	Carlisar

The Carlisar system lies in the Segmentum Solar, not so very far from ancient Terra. Carlisar IV is the primary habitable world of the Carlisar system. The date of its colonization is now lost to history, but humans have dwelt in its hives for many centuries, protected from occasional radioactive outbursts from Carlisar's mighty star. It is popular among Carlisians to blame their sun for the wretched state of the lands between Carlisar IV's hives, but in truth the ecological devastation was wrought by human hands. Although Carlisar IV was not devastated by the outbreak of the Age of Strife, the breakdown of interstellar trade threatened the hivers with mass starvation. A desperate program of agricultural colonization on Carlisar III ultimately resolved the food situation, but billions died as a result of famine - and on the new colony itself. Prior to the Age of Strife, Carlisar III had been considered too inhospitable for human settlement due to its vicious local flora and fauna, but in hard times hard decisions were made. At great cost of life, the death world was broken to the plow and in theory the Carlisar system was nearly self sufficient.

Unfortunately, the shortages on Carlisar IV had destabilized its once-popular government. Those who controlled subterranean farms leveraged their assets into aristocratic privilege, and then fell to fighting among themselves over who would reign the planet as monarch. After suffering under the yoke of many horrifically oppressive tyrants, one last bloody revolution took place, catalyzed by the arrival of WAAAGHH Blackgut. As ork roks crashed down around the planet, the cowardly ruling class opted to pull back the majority of the Calrisian armies to defend the governer's palace, leaving the planet to be razed by the vile greenskins. This caused massive dissent among the soldiers, most unwilling to sit by and watch their planet leveled. It was not long before an idealistic young captain by the name of Valmir Aschen defected with a huge portion of the armed forces to battle the xeno. All munition reserves were distributed among any in the populace willing to fight for their homeland, and a fierce war began. War raged on Carlisar IV for 20 years, and culminated in a massive battle in the capital city. It was in this fight that Valmir, grizzled after years of constant warfare, finally met Warboss Blackgut in single combat. The pair slew each other, Valmir beheading the ork even as his own entrails spilled on the plascrete. Seeing their warboss killed demoralised the orks, whilst Valmir's death galvanized the defenders. The remaining five years of the conflict were a systematic purge, with the greenskins all put to the sword and burned in great piles. The former ruling class was dragged kicking and screaming from the palace and publicly executed, a stern reminder to the price of decadence and cowardice. Carlisar rebuilt over the years, and when Imperial emissaries arrived to enact pacification Carlisar accepted, eager to prove their skill at arms in the Emperor's great crusade.

Notable Shock Troopers

Corporal Stewie Parker

• Corporal Stewart "Stewie" Parker, b. 969.M30 (Carlisar IV), d. 044.M31 (Carlisar IV). Enlisted men rarely rise to fame. Enlisted men who work in signals are even less likely to become prominent. Understanding that, it would be fair to say that unlikeliness was Stewie Parker's strong suit. He was born four weeks premature and given poor odds to survive, scraped his way through Carlisar IV's public education system and found himself with little opportunity but to enlist in the world's military. The enlistment officer predicted that he'd drop out within a day, one week tops. Instead, Parker served in the Shock Troops throughout the last two decades of the Great Crusade, the seven years of the Hektor Heresy, and the seven years of the Scouring, before accepting retirement at the age of 52. He was decorated several times for exemplary conduct, but rarely had to use his sidearm. Once back on Carlisar IV, he published his memoirs and helped to produce engaging vid-narratives based on his books. The humour and liveliness of Parker's experiences, combined with his ability to make the immense, galaxy-spanning events of the period immediately understandable to people, made him a sector-wide celebrity. Parker served several terms as a minor municipal figure on his homeworld and was awarded several honorary degrees from the universities of Carlisar. After Parker's death, time and the rigours of Imperial censorship slowly reduced the amount of his work available to the public. Nonetheless, even in the forty-first millenium it is not uncommon to find Imperial Guardsmen or Navymen spending their idle hours being entertained by the recollections of the irrepressible Corporal Parker.