Medici "St. Phygia Regiment"

History

The St. Phygia Regiment was named for a locally venerated Imperial Saint, a warrior who according to legend led the campaigns to destroy the beasts and monsters that threatened the first settlers on Medici. However most simply saw St. Phygia as being a legend. Like the rest of the Medici Imperial Guard they were founded in the 640s at the command of the Doge, under the command of Colonel Adriano Camerino. Their brigade received easy assignments protecting Medici trading partners in outlying systems against feral Orks and rebels tainted by Chaos. Most in the ranks saw their service as simply being a job, leading them to reckless behavior and lax discipline. That being said, their fighting skills were never in doubt. When faced with an actual challenge they became a solid almost unbreakable unit. They proved this time and again during the Tyranid invasion, buying time for the last civilian transports off Medici to escape they withdrew after more than 6 days during which they lost more than 70% of their number, the highest losses of the entire 1st brigade.

Structure

2010 men divided into

1. A Regimental command squad of 10 men

• The Colonel,

• Lt. Colonel

• 4 Majors who oversaw 2 companies each and

• 4 others as chosen by the Colonel. Commissars etc.)

2. 8 companies

• 1-5 infantry

• 6-7 Assault

• 8- Reserves (only committed when needed)

Each company (commanded by a captain) was

• 24 squads of 10 men

• A 10 man pathfinder squad(sniper/scouts) that carried a longlas

10 men per company served as medics and chose their own aides.

Equipment

Standard issue equipment included:

• Olive green flak armor(Brigade and Regimental Sigils on the L. shoulder Silver Aquila on the Right)

• An olive green long sleeved shirt(rank markers on the sleeves)

• Bloused trousers (same color) with gray puttees and black boots.

• Cadian pattern lasgun

• Medici pattern auto pistol (used as a sidearm) and 2 extra magazines.

• Bayonet/combat knife.

• 2 frag grenades 2 krak grenades (Assault troops were also issued various other explosives and demolition charges depending on the mission as well as their man portable lascannons and anti- armor weapons)

• All other equipment was carried in a standard issue pack, also olive green.

Note: other equipment included

• a bedroll

• 1 week of rations/ meal kit

• 2 extra charge packs

• Imperial Guardsman’s Uplifting primer

• medical supplies for the medics/medic’s aides

• Also issued greatcoats and insulated gloves for winter operations, same markings as the armor, and rank markers on sleeves.

Command officers were issued the same uniform but with the addition of • an olive green double breasted coat with the Imperial Aquila on the right side of the collar and the regimental sigil on the left with the rank pins on epaulettes

• Black leather gloves.

• Peaked hats the same color as their coats with the Imperial Aquila displayed in silver on the front.

• a laspistol and swept hilt chainsword instead of a lasgun and bayonet

Notable Members

Adriano Camerino

“I built the St. Phygia Regiment. I built the equipment for the whole brigade but the St. Phygia Regiment, I molded those men with my own hands.”

He was born in Indina, the son of a wealthy industrialist, with wealth and power but not a title (In fact he resented that out of a population of billions only a few hundred thousand nobles had any real power) when the order to form Imperial Guard Regiments came he and the factories he and his family owned built the equipment and vehicles used by the 1st Brigade. He never wanted to be an officer but found himself with a commission as the XO of the St. Phygia regiment, intended as a reward for his patriotism and efficiency in supplying their equipment. Realizing that it was an offer he would never be allowed to refuse no matter how hard he tried he tried to make the best of a bad situation and threw himself into every military text he could. He lead his men to victory after victory in simulated battles against other regiments, showing a level headed style of leadership and undying respect for his men, whom he credited with those victories. He was a natural choice to follow the first Colonel, a noble who had showed little interest in his regiment, thinking only of his estate and poor health. Camerino succeeded him when his health finally failed him. Under Camerino’s watch the St. Phygia’s became the best infantry regiment in the brigade and likely the Medici Imperial Guard as a whole, a title the regiment kept until the Tyranid invasion of Medici. Like any great man he too had his flaws his being wine and women.

Dianora Ranucci

“I was a Joygirl- Ironic that there was no joy in it for me. In this though I’ve found a joy in purpose. True I’ve traded a life of service for another but this service means something. I’m serving my homeworld and her people, not just providing shallow pleasures to the men who came to see me.”

She was born in Indina to a middle class family. They fell on hard times and asked for a loan from a nobleman. When they could not repay it, he took their daughter instead, putting her to work as a joygirl. Colonel Camerino was a frequent visitor to her workplace and always felt some sympathy for her, while the other women were there by choice she wasn’t. He was present the night she killed a man under his command, with his own fighting knife in a desperate bid to escape after several years of indentured service. Acting on his sympathies and seeing a chance to help her, He told her that he wouldn’t press charges if she would replace the man she had killed (he was likely to die under the bolt pistol of a Commissar anyway) when her employer protested he threatened to charge him as an accomplice. It was unlikely anything would come of it but he didn’t want to argue with a large group of armed men who hated nobles as much as their commander did. Ranucci left with them but so did every other joygirl working that night and most would make new lives on Xomia, the Brigade’s next deployment. Dianora Ranucci quickly proved she was worthy of her new commander’s trust. After 12 years she became a captain, ultimately dying when she led them against a group of criminals planning to steal a vessel from the Fabrica Majoris and turn to piracy.

Trivia
The story of Dianora Ranucci was inspired in part by both Samuel Baker http://www.badassoftheweek.com/index.cgi?id=805352112071 (who freed his second wife Florence from a slave market) and Empress Theodora