Black Ops

Not all the units deployed to Devos IV are a part of the formal ORBAT, or even listed anywhere.

CO 11Bn 157th Firstborn

This is brevet Colonel Machalovski; CO of 11/157 (Firstborn) Infantry Regt.  And members of his command team, including his Adjutant, Kaptain Ilic.  Their Divisional commander, 3* General Tolstoy, rated Kaptain Ilic, to the extent of making him the first Imperial Guard Officer on Devos IV as part of Operation Tranquillity.

Body guard, Col Machalovski, Kaptain Ilic

The 157^th Firstborn was for a long time the only Vostroyan Regiment in 72AG.  As such, it’s 12 battalions were split up amongst various headquarters and formations in order to provide some commonality of Standard Operating Procedures for 72AG as a whole.   The first four battalions are now part of XVIII Corps 1^st Infantry Division. 

11^th Battalion was designated as HQ Bn for XVII Korps.  It’s Companies and platoons are deployed alongside their non-Vostroyan brothers in arms in order to provide understanding and interpretation  of information and instruction passing between the formations of XVII Korps.  Additionally, the designated close protection company for the Korps HQ is also under Col Machalovski’s command.

With the rest of the team (minus standard bearer)

Whilst not exactly an opportunity for eternal glory that being in the line would be, 157^th Regt’s role on Devos IV (battalions one to four excepted) offer an able officer a chance to position himself as available for a staff role, should such an opportunity arise during the campaign.  This would a coup for (substantive) Lt Col Machalovski who is not really entirely used to his new augmatic leg.

3* Gen Tolstoy, the Divisional commanders and indeed, Kaptain Ilic, have changed the way Col Machalovski approaches command of his regiment.  Doubtless he would revert to type in an instant, but then, it would likely be in his interests to do so.  His subordinates have no exposure to his new found pragmatism, being dispersed across the Korps, so his career within a Vostroyan formation remains safe and/or his opportunity to move into the wider command of Imperial forces is becoming available.  The future looks rosy and he is in good humour for a man who lost a leg less than a year ago[1].

Kaptain Ilic is keen to continue to perform well under 3* Gen Tolstoy.  Should the campaign be successful, doubtless there will junior staff opportunities.  If not, then a good write up in his annual appraisal will do no harm.  Kaptain Ilic continues to work hard.  He is learning more about SF Operations as they are largely planned and launched from Korps HQ.  He is learning more about the Inquisition as there is normally one or more Inquisitors passing through Korps HQ each day.  He is learning more about the workings of Divisional and Corps HQ as he sees more of them.  All this on top of his own job and the occasional date with Commissar Pymarett as well.

---

[1] Not even in combat.  He was run over by a cargo lifter in transit to this warzone. 

Mini in the box dot com

Hello Paypal.  I've been trying to track back four unexplained payments to someone calling themselves 'miniinthebox'. In order to do this, I've had to open an account on their website (after they've billed me for things I've not ordered !?).  This account still won't recognise me as a buyer or allow any query to be lodged.

As far as I know, their intention to permanently deprive me of my money by randomly billing me is theft.  Please look into it and let me know what you're going to do about it.

This is a transcript of the email I sent to them on the afternoon of Mon 09 Mar 15.  The auto reply to this e-mail is reproduced below that.

Hi,

My pay pal account shows four payments to you that I have no recollection at all of placing.   And they were made when I was on holiday.  And the URL attached to the pay pal invoices doesn't go to a proper web site.

So, what exactly do you think I've ordered ?

Invoice ID: Mini-1503080718651662
Mini-1503080618651545
Invoice ID: Mini-1503080618651513
Invoice ID: Mini-1503080618651453

Looking forward to hearing from you.

(I signed this and left my cellphone number)

Dear Customer,
We're sorry that this email address is no longer used because we need to record all communication messages in system to assure the service quality. Please contact us via opening a Ticket on our website according to the steps in the following link:
http://www.miniinthebox.com/knowledge-base/c1169/a2118.html
We appreciate your understanding and cooperation.
Sincerely,
MiniInTheBox

The road to Xyphonica starts here.

Fort Nuttar is the official designation for 72AGs staging ground half way across the prairies of central Benq.  The Nuttar is a small bird that feeds on the seed and flocks in great numbers in the vicinity.  You can imagine what the soldiers say.   Staff Officers at sub-ordinate headquarters shake their heads at the wisdom of their superiors.

The hiatus in the war gives time for re-organisation and reinforcement; even without combat, the journey across this relatively benign terrain is still taking its toll on serviceability of tanks and APCs.  Superheavies seem to wear out a little less, but when they do, they are off the road much longer.

Lager points for Divisions are set up radiating out from Corps locations, XVII Korps to the North, XVIII Corps to the South and XXXVIII Corps to the West.   Each is then like a spiders web of haul roads radiating out to the Division Lagers.  Military Provost troops have their time filled by recovered vehicles and stragglers rolling in over the two months and being directed to their appointed place.  For some units, this is the first time they have all been co-located since Operation Tranquillity, over a year ago.

There are some probing attacks by platoon sized formations of PDF Separatists, but nothing to really bother the whole Army Group.   Air assets are concentrated within the boundary of Fort Nuttar itself.  More soldiers jokes about birds of a feather flocking together.    The Navy’s mass conveyors ‘Castlemate’ and ‘Garden of Hiber’ land reinforcements for XXXVIII Corps – The Fantoma 313^rd and Harakoni 22^nd arrive and the 3^rd (Devos IV) Infantry Division becomes 3^rd Airmobile Division.   On one level this pleases 4*Gen Zukhov as he now appears to have a massively increased military capability.  But neither regiment arrives with its organic transport.  The problem, like so many others, is passed back to Comptroller Bellormus.

72AGs Headquarters ground appreciation deliberately placed the understrength XXXVIII Corps to the west, back along the route of the railroad.  Using the Airmobile assets that 1^st (Airmobile) Division does have, units are deployed to patrol the railroad and ensure security .

72AG Headquarters, half a world away on continental Acer, signs off the travel warrants allowing Ecclesastical and Inquisitorial representatives to travel to the front.   Sword Cardinal Pielaide leads the Synod of St Josephine and a contingent of confessors and lay preachers from the Tree of Man to the front.  Bishop Popper remains on Acer as a guest of Gen Zukhov.

After two months, XVIII Corps, with 23^rd Inf Div, led by General Robbeme (Cadia) in the van, prepare to resume the advance.  The route chosen by 3* Gen Romos (Macragge) is through a series of dry valleys running east to west.  These routes are pretty close to bedrock at on the valley floor, promising less dust and harder (ie better for armour) going than the prairie above; but are known to be defended, possibly in depth.  And the PDF has also had two months to reorganise and prepare. 

Inquisitorial Conclave of Dinterra Minor

The Conclave of Dinterra Minor is a subordinate branch of the Ordos Kelestor.  The Conclave is responsible for coordinating the activities of the Holy Ordos between Hydraphur and the Dinorwic Cluster, including administration of collecting the Emperor's Due including the Black Ships and the Gene Tithe of Space Marine Chapters based, stationed, operating or transiting their area of responsibility.

Following the heretical declaration of secession (and execution of Inquisitor Vincorum), provision of asylum for the known witch Apocrypha Quinelle, coup against the Imperial Governor (Maj Gen Marcus Firth III [Cadia]) and denial of the imperial creed*, the inquisition is anxious that the rot does not spread to the rest of the Dinowic Cluster.

Lady Inquisitrix Josephine Hellmwr's network of agents had already been watching Inquisitor Vincorum's pursuit of Apocrypha Quinelle.  The Lady Inquisitrix did not appreciate Inquisitor Vincorum's high handed unsubtle methods. His Mono-dominance is not a problem, but his bombastic style and inability to see anything beyond the obvious has wrecked more than a few ongoing clandestine investigations.

She has positioned this matter in the Conclave's order of business.  The consequence of this is that Conclave lent Inqusitorial support to the Imperial Guard's Kelestor Sub Sector Command's campaign to restore Devos IV to the Imperial fold.  One result of this has been that she has been instructed to take an interest in the campaign.  To this end the Conclave has commissioned the rouge trader Corinthian Summer, under its master, Amicus Falco Darke, and assembled an all volunteer force of Inquisitors to oversee the campaign.  Another has been the re-routing of a detachment of the Legio Astoria to the war zone.

ISTs.  Sixty of these took the statport.

Whilst the Corinthian Summer has been shuttling tank regiments from Agripinna to Devos IV, the Inquisitors have been assembling at Borin Majoris.  One of those coming along, Inquisitor Hallas Blingnor, has close ties to Castellion Brodeep of the Black Templars.  Independently and without letting anyone else know what he was doing, he has asked Castellion Brodeep to meet him at Devos IV. Inquisitor Blingnor was an Interrogator under Inquisitor Vincorum.

In all eight Inquisitors from all three major denominations of Holy Ordos join the Corinthian Summer at Borin Majoris, along with two ecclesiastic representatives. These are Sword Cardinal Pielaide who is a crusading missionary with a writ from the mother church to lead and assist the Synod of St Josephine and Bishop Popper of an order called the Tree of Man, the Ecclesiasty's official programme of religious support for 72AG.

*a catch all offence for anything from minor blasphemy to arson.

Commander in Chief of XVII Korps

3* General Tolstoy is a Vostroyan Officer from the usual base material of the Vostroyan officer corps.  However, unlike many, he didn't fight against being posted to non-Vostroyan appointments.  It is widely felt amongst the Vostroyan Officer corps that Vostroyan Officers often do not do well outside of (predominantly) Vostroyan formations.  Their particular style of leadership and cultural mores sometimes clash with people from other places.

Tolstoy is one of the more adventurous Vostroyans, confident of his own abilities and generous in his opinion of Imperial Guard of other ethnicities, he has served in appointments away from Vostroyan dominated areas (Klestor Sub Sector Command is currently headed up by a Vostroyan and therefore Vostroyan officers are doing rather well at the moment, probably a contributing factor to 4* General Zukhov's command of 72AG and General Pullamgowski's promotion for getting the Corbanian 1st almost wiped out.

Tolstoy gained his reputation campaigning on the rimward fringes of the Eye of Terror.  He commanded a Vostroyan Infantry Regiment (37th Firstborn) and then heavy tank regiment (12th Super Heavy First Born Armoured Regiment).  He then attended Staff College on Cadia.  He returned to the rimward fringe of the Eye of Terror to command the Vostroyan 44th Armoured Division.  By the end of the Smomery Campaign he was Divisional Commander of 14th Imperial Guard Division, a composite unit made up of remnants of many other formations who had begun the campaign.  

He then spent a tour as a tutor in Staff College on Agripinna before commanding a Division on Campaign putting down a rebellion based around promethium manufacture on the ice world of Stegen.  His Division was 17 Division.  When his headquarters was lifted from Stegen to become a Corps headquarters for 72AG, they kept the number of their old Division, as well as the remnants of the Necromundian 1st ("Deaths Head") Regt.  

Once on Devos IV and with the units for it's formations identified (even if some of them were still en route), 3* Gen Tolstoy demanded a number of officers from each of the units under his command and did most of the planning for the first year of the campaign with his Corps 'superteam' on the Ocean on their way to Benq. This is perhaps a major contributing factor to XVII Korps' success - all of the Divisional teams were aware of both the overall and the specifics of the other Divisional plans.

Tolstoy will get out to the front line and lead from the front when he can.  He knows that his place is to lead his Corps and that a major part of this is to defend his command from his Superior Officer, 4* General Zukhov.  He is under no illusion that if he and his fellow Corps Commanders allowed Zukhov to be more hands on, the campaign would be won, but the costs, one way or another, would be much higher. 

Bob Tolstoy has a Mykk Bush, a common enough house plant spread throughout the Endymion Cluster.  He takes care of this plant, taking it with him on campaign in its pot and feeding and watering it.  It has never flowered. 

His almost miniaturised twin linked storm bolter/lightening claw personal weapon system was created for him by the Ad Mech for managing to limit the amount of collateral damage on the refinaries at Stegen. 

You can see how PVP modified the minuture here

He is of course, a Vostroyan version of General Sturm from THQ's Dawn of War games. As well as that General Sturm, there' a historical German General Sturm and the notorious Noches Sturm from the Dan Abnett book "Traitor General".   

902 Divisional Commander & Staff

General Commandant Welbahnn (Armageddon) is the Divisional Commander of 902 Div.  4* General Zukhov did not want Welbahnn as one of his officers at all.  Zukhov is aware that Welbahnn and General Horpan ("Danny Bloodcoat" the commander of the Separatists) were in the same class at the Imperial Guard staff college on Agripinna.  Just what Zukhov is expecting is unclear.

Dry, punctilious, witty, musically gifted, Welbahnn drifts calmly around his headquarters like someone just taking the air.  Softly spoken (who needs to shout when you have a Division of the Imperial Guard to do your bidding ?) and spare with his gestures, the pace of activity seems to slow in his presence.

The majority of troops manning the headquarters are Necromundians and Cadians.  There is a Vostroyan Liaison Officer, Capt Adjernich, but his HQ is run by this small cadre of driven and trusted individuals.

At the outbreak of hostilities the Divisional Chief of Staff is Colonel Klunck, another Armageddon officer.  He lost his arm fighting Orks, but that was a long time ago and a long way away.  This war is to bring a world back into the Imperial fold.  Klunck is mission focussed, if a little whimsical in his private life.

He lost, as far as he knows, his extended family in Hades hive and will try to improve the lot of war orphans and children generally where ever he can. Klunck has a reoccurring dream where he is in a ballroom dancing competition and his partner is a shark.  The shark cannot live for very long out of water but will eat him if he takes it to water; if they loose the competition he will be executed for losing a ballroom dancing competition.  He has decided that this is some expression of survivor guilt, rather than evidence that he is a fruitcake.

After the final operation to secure the Nolag Heights (901 Cadian Inf Div), there is a general reshuffle of command positions.  Klunck is moved to Korps HQ where he becomes 3* General Tolstoy's Chief of Staff.  He is replaced in 902 Div by the Volscani Col Has.

The 902 Div Operations officer is Colonel Phandaal. He displays a phenomenal ability to absorb and process information. He probably has aspergers - he has very few friends, forces eye contact, lives for his job and has been very successful due to his ability to detect patterns in opposing forces' behaviour, giving his side a tactical advantage.

Once when he had to write up his own staff report, he wrote in that he was passionate about camouflage and misdirection.  This isn't untrue, but is only true because it was written about him fifteen years ago.

Major Nervensäge is Phandaal's staff assistant.  Phandaal is the only person who can put up with him. Nervensage is actually a pariah, a psychic blank, a null. He's only got as far as he has because he's a tough, hard to kill bastard.  But in order to have got where he has, he has accumulated a lot of useful experience and found ways to get results.  Which makes him useful.  The other officers of 19 Armd Regt are very pleased that he's representing them so well in the Headquarters. 

A junior officer once explained habius corpus to Major Nervensage.  Nervensage had him summarily executed as "almost certainly a heretic".  Good enough for the court martial; no further action was taken.