I will put up a similar table for a Corps formation soon - this will follow the J1 to J5 format that some of you may be familiar with, however, this level of strategic command does not have that more usual organisation, rather, it reflects the peccadiloes of the overall commander, 4* Gen Zhukov; As the part of Devos IV that is in rebellion is contains the capitol and the (previously legitimate) government, he becomes the de facto Planetary Govenor.
He has appointed four Plenipotentiates (ie people who will act without constantly bothering him with trivial details). The appointment of a Sororitas Cannoness to the role of Head of Security is partially a sop to the Ordo Hereticus, who are the sponsors of the Devos IV campaign and partly reflect's 4* Gen Zhukov's own prejudices about psykers. The real purpose of her department is to protect 4* Gen Zhukov from his own officers and men, hence the presence of General Disduc, late of the Cadian Interior Guard. He has a much wider purview than the Canoness. They have been 'given' a battalion of Vostroyan infantry to enact their will directly.
Commissar Harris and Confessor Tule have more pressing problems than those facing the Canoness; they have to encourage and cajole the population of Acer and the Departmento Munitorium Labour and Construction Corps to fully support the war effort. This has to be managed through propaganda and strict discipline; all to encourage devotion to the Imperial Creed. They have also been given additional resources to aid them; their Vostroyan soldiers have been re-uniformed in white to show their purity.
The 'Chief of Land Warfare', General Sommonovic is a long time supporter of 4* Gen Zhukov; he know his leader well and is used to interpreting his directives and translating them into comprehendible orders. Conversely, he cannot or will not stand up to 4* Gen Zhukov or accept that his leader might be able to make a mistake.
Comptrollor Bellormus has the largest task of any of the imperial staff sent to Devos IV; he has to organise to receive and deploy effectively over half a million workers - the scribes and archivists who will report the progress of the war to the Officio Tacticae, the Construction Corps who will build roads, railways, building complexes and satisfy the infrastructure requirements for all others, the labour corps who will cook for, feed, water, wash, clothe, arm, clean, provision, entertain, convey, provision (again), fuel, service and account for not only 72 AG and its soldiers, but the entire war effort.
In this Comptrollor Bellormus is supported by the Marquis Hakysake, an industrial baron from the loyalist continent of Acer, who has made his bid for power by befriending 4* Gen Zhukov and now has his reward as Comptrollor Bellormus' deputy in the wartime cabinet.
Finally on this list are the Imperial Navy's close orbit command assets that are being retained under central control, to enable Orbital Commander Amodis to achieve concentration of force where required.
The table:
| 72nd Army Group | |
| 4* General Zhukov Commander of the Imperial Guard and de facto Planetary Govenor of Devos IV | |
| 2* Gen Mentunfor (Krieg) Chief of the Imperial General Staff | |
| Plenipotentiates | |
| Security | Cannoness Maria Pandoro (Order of the Ebon Challice) |
| 1* General Amar Disduc (Cadian Interior Guard) | |
| 8th Bn 157th (Vostroyan) First Born Supprt Regt | |
| Moral & Propaganda | Lord Commissar (~1* Gen) Harris (Dept Munitorium) |
| Confessor Tule (Eccesiasty) | |
| 7th Bn 157th (Vostroyan) First Born Supprt Regt | |
| High Command | 3* Gen Sommonovic (Vostroya) Chief of Land Warfare |
| 1* Gen Shunn (Cadia) GOC Acer | |
| 1* Gen Pascuba (Phantine) GOC Benq | |
| Total War | Comptroller General Bellormus (Dept Munitorium) |
| Marquis Hakisyke (Devos IV) minister for armarments | |
| 5th Bn 157th (Vostroyan) First Born Supprt Regt | |
| Imperial Navy | |
| Orbital Commander Amodis Imperial Navy | |
| Detatchments to each of three Army Korps: | 6 Sqns (of 6 airframes) Wulkyrie |
| 3 Sqns (of 6 airframes) Vulture | |
| Army Group Assets: | 6 Sqns (of 22 Airframes) Devastator strategic bombers |
| 6 Sqns (of 22 Airframes) Devastator Air Refuelling Tankers | |
| 4 Sqns (of 38 Airframes) Marauder tactial bombers | |
| 2 Sqns (of 14 Airframes) Marauder Destroyer close support | |
| 2 Sqns (of 14 Airframes) Marauder Wild Weasel/Vigilant EW | |
| 12 Sqns (of 22 Airframes) Thunderbolt MRCA | |
It is really cool to see it laid out like this. Most 40k players almost exclusively focus on Platoon to Regiment scale fluff. While FW does do it occasionally, what you have here is a far more believable chain of command in my opinion. Very impressive! If there is more of this I'd love to see it! :)
ReplyDeleteDitto the above. Very nice work (as ever). I've always been mindful of how intelligence is treated in 40K ... obviously it's the prerequisite to successful operations and I'd imagine there would be 'Planning Officers' or 'Cartographers' at a low level to plan Bn ops, below that (as is the case in real life, to a point) the Coy/Platoon commanders just deal with it themselves. At a higher level I suspect there'd be an inbuilt suspicion towards anyone whose job it was to gather knowledge. In the same way the traditional, professional intelligence elements of the German Army in WW2 found themselves ignored by the regime (especially at the top, ie Abwehr level), because the regime was inherently frightened of them.
ReplyDeleteYes, I think it's a little telling that the AG's set up is form of government, rather than what we would recognise as a warfighting organisation. Zhukov's set up is based on his own security and enforcing compliance from the AG, it's labour and construction corps and also the planetary population. Which may well be a tall order.
ReplyDeleteWhat we might think of as military intelligence (ISTAR) will be alive and well at Div and Regimental level, but then these levels of warfighting organisation won't be too concerned with the labour and construction corps and the planetary population.
Here's to Capt Aileus' new appointment !