114 Mech Coy.

114th (“Pentürug”) Company of the 77th Sturm Battalion/Krieg 28th Armoured Regiment

The 114th were originally raised as a rough rider (‘Waffenritter’) Regiment of five battalions of five companies. They conducted cavalry operations on a number of campaigns, being reinforced from Krieg with depressing regularity as casualties mounted.

They were despatched as part of an Imperial Army deployed to counter Abbadon’s Black Crusade, where they won their share of the glory as the shock troops of the Imperial Armies on many occasions. This gained them a reputation for holding onto territories and objectives gained by their famous blitzkrieg tactics.

Although hugely successful (in terms of the Krieg military idiom), the cavalry actions during the Black Crusade left the 114th Rough Rider Regiment hors de combat by the end of the campaign they were down to just under eight companies. They had also lost the majority of their cybernetically enhanced steeds. The remaining personnel were formed into an infantry company and for a long time it was almost certain that the company would be assigned as one battalion (complete) to one of the regiments of the 88th Siege Army. And the remaining three companies would be split out as platoons of Battle Casualty Replacements. It seemed as if the remains of the 114th Waffenritter Regiment were destined for the meat grinding hell of the Trenches of whichever place the DKK were laying siege to.

However fate intervened and the 114th were re-roled as Mechanised Infantry and sent to join the 28th Armoured Regiment as an over strength reinforced battalion. As a component of the 28th Armoured Regiment, the 114th (Pentürug) battalion fought on Armageddon. The Battalion’s first commanding officer was a Kolonel Pentürug and it is from him that the unit took its name. From Armageddon the 28th Armoured Regiment was moved to Radnar along with many other Krieg based units. Here the Armoured formations of the 28th were committed as heavy support in bitter city fighting and suffered heavy losses. At the conclusion of the ‘Cleansing of Radnar’ campaign, along with other barely viable armoured fist battalions, it was reorganised as a company.

Today it remains a part of the 28th Armoured Regiment’s order of battle. The 28th Armoured Regiment is currently commanded by Generalleutnant
(“Gruppenführer” to his regiment) Fothar Shur. The Regiment consists of various armoured and mechanised formations, formed into basic building blocks of company size. These are tank hunter, fast armoured Artillery, panzerkampfwagen and mechanised infantry (“armoured fist”). These are formed into ‘storm’ (assault) battalions. The 114th became a company of the 77th Sturmbattalion; an ad hoc formation from within 28th, based around one or more armoured fist companies.

The 114th company, along with the other Armoured Fist comapnies (see DKK 19 Armd Regt, IA 1), comes under the command of Kolonel Urbam Pentürug, a descendant of the General who led the 114th from Armageddon to face the forces of Chaos undivided. The current Kolonel Urbam Pentürug never served in the 114th himself but is suspected to be quietly pleased that the formation that bears his family name is a part of the formation he commands.

The ninth company now the senior company in the formation. When a company is rendered hors de combat, its colours, if retrievable, are laid up in the Korps’ Imperial shrine. Subsequently raised companies are issued designations following on from the most recently issued.

The 114th Company is currently commanded by Sturmbannführer
Erwin Boelcke. Unlike most other Kreig infantry battalions, Sturmbattalions normally deployed without preliminary artillery bombardment (the broken ground, whilst providing cover for infantry, also provides cover for the enemy and more importantly, slows the advance of the armoured vehicles) but with a dedicated troop (or troops) of Leman Russ panzers from the 12th company.

The ninth, eleventh, fourteenth and one hundred and fourteenth are normally sent forth in a diamond pattern with a squadron of the 12th company’s Leman Russ in the centre of each formation for maximum flexibility. The 12th company’s heavy section and their attached field artillery travel in the centre of the diamond formed by the four armoured fist companies. This diamond formation Sturm Battalion is expected to smash its way through any opposition. Typically they are used for ‘take and hold’ land grabs and would expect to be relieved in place by dismounted infantry and artillery formations.

(At the time that this was written, the 28 Armd Regt had the same TO&E as the DKK 19 Armd Regt (Imperial Armour Vol 1) hence the presence of Mech Inf within an Armd Regt)