Doritan Mountaineers

"The Omnissiah is watching, ensure he is not ashamed!"

- Opening and closing line to the "Litany of the Machine" The Doritan Mountaineers is the name of the Astra Militarum regiments raised and drawn from the world of Doritan, an alpine ice world of the Eressa Sector within the Segmentum Pacificus. Recently liberated from Ork infestation with the aid of the Mechanicum forces under Archmagos Explorator Erridan Kraus, Doritan has pledged fealty to Kraus and, by extension, the Empire of Mars. The planet is now a world bustling with Mechanicum activity; mines being re-established or built anew, manufactories being raised, and the foundations being laid for the creation of a new Forge World. All the while, the natives of Doritan serve as soldiers in the Astra Militarum, marching into bulk transporters and shipped off-world to fight in the endless wars that plague the Imperium.

Doritan is a planet of harsh and long winters, recently liberated from Ork infestation, and has bred a hardy and proud human population making them perfect additions to the forces of the Imperium. Often seen as barbaric and backwards in their culture and traditions by other Guard Regiments, the Doritan Mountaineers are deceptively highly adept with technology and have access to numerous bionic enhancements, special weapons, and armored assets. This is due to their close ties to Explorator Fleet VX-7743.II and, by extension, the Forge World of Stygies VIII. These regiments are well versed in mountainous and winter warfare due to their homeworld being an alpine ice world. By extension, these regiments are adept in difficult terrain and are best able to use their hit and run tactics in such battlefields.

Unlike other regiments, the Doritan Mountaineers are not large front-line forces, but are usually assigned as supplementary skirmishing troops to other more heavily armored or less valuable formations. The small size of their regiments is in part due to the their planet's tithe being primarily paid for in minerals and industrial output as well as the fact that the is planet is under the direct authority of the Mechanicum rather than the Imperium of Man. This means that the regiments can more easily be given greater access to APCs as well as special and heavy weapons. Also, the majority of the Guardsmen of the Doritan Mountaineers have some bionics whereas the Grenadiers, known as Kissarites, raised upon the planet are more akin to Skitarii rather the Imperial Guardsmen. This has lent them the nickname of "Mech Dogs" by many Astra Militarum Regiments, but those who call them friend refer to these troopers as "Iron Striders" due to many guardsmen replacing their legs partially or entirely with bionics, allowing them to march tirelessly for many a mile when Chimera transport is unavailable or usage of such transports tactically unsound.

Relatively untested in the field of battle, the Guardsmen of the Doritan Mountaineers seek to show their newfound allies in the Astra Militarum and other military branches of the Imperium that they are a force to be reckoned with. Many of the newly raised regiments of Doritan are haughty and rash, striking hard and fast against their foes and showing particular skill against both Greenskin and insurgent rebel forces. However, against more disciplined, more heavily armed and/or armored foes such as the Eldar, Necrons, and Chaos forces, the Doritan Mountaineers have suffered grievous losses. They are quickly learning that they must be adaptable and cannot use the same strategies against mindless Orks or poorly equipped rebels and that of the more advanced and terrifying xenos and heretical forces.

Wargear
Able to draw upon the resources of their rapidly industrializing planet as well as the Mechanicum, the Guardsmen of the Doritan Mountaineers have a selection of wargear that mixes the 'barbaric' culture of Doritan and the advanced technology available to the Mechanicum.
 * Stygies Pattern Lasgun - The standard issue weapon of the Doritan Mountaineers is the Stygies Pattern Lasgun. Utilizing rediscovered technology found in a derelict space hulk and basing it off of the Lucius Pattern Lasgun, the Stygies variant is similar in appearance and function to that of the ancient Lasrifle. Kraus, leading the production of these weapons within his own forge upon the Stygies VIII, wanted to develop a more powerful and more efficient lasgun for his Skitarii forces and so spent many years testing all manner of variations and models of lasguns. The model that most closesly resembled what he was looking for was the Lucius Lasgun but the slow rate of fire and low shot capacity of the pattern left Kraus wanting more. It was the discovery of a large cache of lasrifles within Space Hulk Ephialtes gave Kraus enough models and information to begin manufacturing his own lasrifles......