Asharas Yek Taxamada (Asharas first Army) was an Imperial Guard army (made up of eight "hosts"- equivalent to regiments) one of twenty raised from the planet Asharas. Its troops fought in the fabled Crusade for Nightshores and after the crusade gained the Right of Settlement on one of the conquered planets, even if battle had badly battered it.
These loyal subjects of the Imperium of Mankind became the future generations of the planet Ar Ishret within Iox Marches.
History and noteworthy Battles[]
- "Better to die a soldier than to live as a beggar"
- —an Asharas infantryman
The Asharas Yek Taxamada (meaning " first army') existed for only thirteen years, just long enough for them to fight in the Crusade for Nightshores taking place in the Iox sector from 028.M37 to 051.M37. But in the course of their brief existence they earned their people a homeworld.
Asharas, weakened by an outbreak of the Plague of Unbelief finally fell to Chaos rebels shortly before the crusade and vast convoys of refugees fled the doomed world to the Iox sector. Despite their ragged existence aboard overcrowded ships and tightly rationed food the twelve million survivors were still a proud people and when word of the coming crusade reached the ears of their leaders they chose to fight.
The civilians of Asharas scattered, living on the various worlds of the Iox Sector they remained a people apart, refusing to blend in with the locals in the stubborn belief that they would find a new home. Their love for the homeworld and way of life led them to carry certain Asharas animals with them aboard the evacuation fleet, including Zausaru (very similar to a Terran Rhino but with an extra pair of curled horns on either side of their heads) and the Roujan Mountain Hawk, named for the region where they were found.
They gave everything they had, sending a million men (the Yek Taxamada was the first of twenty Taxamadae) to the Crusade on the condition that they be given the Right of Settlement at the end of the conflict. Warmaster Carollon accepted this agreement and welcomed them into his army, leading them to a series of noteworthy battles.
Jerriko Moon[]
Jerriko was once an irradiated wasteland orbiting a sunbaked world but by M37 the radiation had approached much safer levels-but the mutants still remained, hulking beasts with subhuman intellect and all the savagery of wild animals. Framandar Dastan (Hero Sergeant) Razin Darabi led his men on a simple scouting party against a group of mutants outnumbering them three to one with zero losses or casualties. Their actions revealed that the system was not worth taking, and the mutant population was finished off with an orbital strike.
Ar Ishret[]
- "How bright shone the moon and Stars over Asharas - how evil they who took them from us.
- We must find a new moon and stars and shed blood for a homeland - ours or those who would deny us.''"
- —line from a Mourning Poem
When Emir Ozhan Seniar became aware of Ar Ishret he demanded a meeting with the Warmaster, one that led to an agreement. If they could take Ar Ishret within a year it was theirs. They planned and led the operation, with millions of Imperial Guard following them into battle against the city states who, while once enemies, united against them. However they found allies as well - primitive shepherds and herders who maintained a cargo cult toward objects from the Dark Age of Technology.
Driven by hatred towards the city states and the new knowledge of the Imperium they fought alongside the Crusade Army, all under the command of the Emir, and his prominent officers. This was a wise choice, the Asharas would win battle after battle but by their own request they and their native allies (who refused to follow anyone else) would fight alone in the final campaign, at a city named Nekhen.
Nekhen[]
The leading city state was home to the "Mad Queen" Iburet XXVII and a target for the Asharas Taxamadae. If Nekhen fell, all organized resistance would collapse. Iburet knew this as well and her city saw the fiercest fighting of the campaign. The forces of more than a dozen city states joined them there leaving the Asharas Taxamadae and their native allies outnumbered by roughly four to one. Despite the rest of the Imperial Guard units drawing the bulk of the Iburet's united army elsewhere, the fighting lasted for weeks.
Block by block and street by street and by the time the had taken the city, more than half of it was in ruins. Iburet took her own life rather than surrender but before she did she started a massive fire that was intended to deny her conquerors their prize. Her plan failed but did enough damage so the city could not be salvaged.
Right of Settlement[]
Undeterred by this the Asharas people simply built their new capital, An Qazava on the same site. Emir Seniar was declared the first governor, seated on Iburet's intact throne. The price had been high - only two thousand of the original fifty thousand men remained after thirteen years of hard fighting. However, these dead men bought a home for all other Asharas.
The Asharas regiments remained on Ar Ishret to safeguard the new influx of Asharas civilians claiming the Right of Settlement, the priests dispatched by the Ecclesiarchy to their new converts, and to train loyalist PDF to hold the world (their native allies would eventually assimilate into Asharas and Imperial culture). The new citizens of Ar Ishret, a world not unlike their first home, would never again raise an Imperial Guard unit.
Regimental Culture[]
They were a grim, driven people when in battle - their hope of finding their own world gave them many victories despite losses that would break most Imperial Guard units. They carried the dream of a reborn Asharas with them, knowing that only victory woud give them their goal. They suffered terribly for it, carrying losses that could not be replaced and those who survived bearing the title of “Dastan”, a hero. The fact that the Asharas Yek Taxamada was a multi regiment force means that the heroism of individual soldiers has been diluted and almost forgotten except by the families and descendants of those with the Dastan title.
However, when not in battle they were ordinary, perhaps even slightly boring men, enjoying fine tobacco and drinking tea, reading and writing poetry that mourned their lost home and commemorating their own deeds. A few of the more ambitious of them even attempted calligraphy and self portraits.
Perhaps as a means of preserving their own sanity they also tended to look for beauty on any world they fought on, remarking that "even the worst day has the capacity for joy".
Roujan Mountain Hawk[]
Long regarded as a status symbol amongst Asharas nobility and the wealthy and a symbol of freedom to the Roujan Mountain Clan, many would go into battle on their masters armored shoulders (throughout all of the Taxamadae), their restored flocks later taking flight in their new home once they won Ar Ishret.
These truly massive birds could weigh up to fourteen pounds and were held aloft by a wingspan of more than eight feet. A pair of extended feather tufts that drooped below their legs except in flight give them an almost V shaped tail, a shape that their enemies would learn to fear.
Where they saw the Hawk and heard the piercing shriek that was known to overload some comm systems, the Asharas would shortly follow. Their four inch talons could easily tear through leather and crush bone, as could their beaks. More than a few of the Asharas' enemies would be found with Hawks sitting on them, having crushed their ribs or torn out their throats. In these cases their normally golden brown and black plumage would be colored by blood producing the nickname "Asharas Blood Birds" and the second Host of the Asharas Yek Taxamada would later take this name for themselves.
Mountain Clans[]
self portrait of an unknown Mountain Clansman with a lascarbine
Asharas was not entirely a desert world, it was also home to rolling hills and plains, and rocky mountain crags and hills. These hills and mountains were home to a fiercely independent people, who disliked the authority projected by the city dwelling nobles and rulers, priding themselves on self-reliance and ingenuity preferring to keep to their nomadic lifestyle, following their flocks and herds of Zausaru or keeping to their villages and mountain cities.
In most cases they were simply content to complain and go about their lives, sometimes letting the feuds between the tribes and clans explode into brief outbursts of violence and bloodshed. This taught them fighting skills that would later see use in the crusade.
In some extreme cases some mountain clans waged regional guerilla wars against the Asharas’s rulers (who would later on form the high command of the Taxamadae) with their hatred of Imperial Authority it was only natural for them to turn to Chaos. This would prove to be their world’s undoing.
Those who stayed loyal to The Imperium would join the crusade armies - taking their skills with them, most of the time acting independently of the heavier infantry, serving as scouts, skirmishers and saboteurs, tending not to wear the heavy infantry armor issued to them except in dire need.
Structure[]
- 8 “Hosts” (equivalent to a Regiment) of 6250 men led by a Spahbad
Each Infantry Host consisted of:
- 10 Karae (Ka-Rye) (company) divided into
- 5 man command unit (A Pahdan and 4 lesser officers)
- 10 Anusiyae(Ah-noo-sai- ay) (Platoon) of 62 each commanded by a Framandar broken into
- 6 10 man squads commanded by a Bashi
- 10 Anusiyae(Ah-noo-sai- ay) (Platoon) of 62 each commanded by a Framandar broken into
- 5 man command unit (A Pahdan and 4 lesser officers)
At least two squads in each Anusiya were composed of mountain clan fighters though this varied some based on each Anusiya, and at least two were Heavy Weapons Teams with either lascannons or missile launchers.
Equipment[]
Asharas helmet/headwrap
Asharas flak armor/Fighting knife
- Asharas pattern flak armor/headwrap
- Asharas pattern Lasgun/6 charge packs.
- Asharas pattern lasgun sheath/cleaning kit
- Asharas pattern Lascannon
- Asharas pattern missile launcher
- Iron claw fighting knife
- Pack containing 8 days rations, a bedroll and one man tent
- Pipe/Tobacco- though not standard equipment- most carried it anyway.
- Imperial Infantryman’s Uplifting Primer
- Dog tags indicating name, rank, serial number and regiment
Typical Mountain Clan Equipment[]
- Asharas pattern flak armor/headwrap(seldom worn)
- Jezail- essentially imported longlas rifles customized to owner preference. (not standardized)
- Asharas Pattern lasgun
- Asharas pattern lasgun sheath/cleaning kit
- Asharas pattern Lascannon
- Asharas pattern missile launcher
- Iron claw fighting knife
- Mountain Claw shortsword
- Imperial Infantryman’s Uplifting Primer - often ignored, most were discarded on claiming the Right of Settlement
- Pipe/Tobacco- not standard issue but most carried it anyway
- “Techincal”- often built from discarded or captured civilian vehicles hulls by the mechanically talented clansmen these ramshackle vehicles were the next best thing to purpose built armor. Often mounting captured or refurbished Heavy Stubbers or carrying lascannons or missile launcher teams they provided valuable mobile fire support,or were simply makeshift APCs to carry men into battle. But they tended to fare poorly against actual enemy armored units.
Medals and Awards[]
- The Medallion Crimson
- The Ribbon Intrinsic
- Triple Skull (Imperial Guard)
All of these honors were earned to their heavy losses and the valor of their fallen.
Trivia[]
the quote above "Even the worst day..." is stolen from Castle- I loved it so much I had to use it- all credit where it's due.
Their use of animals similar to Rhinos as livestock back home comes from 300(in which the Persians are using War Rhinos- something no one in history has ever done)
While the basic infantry are Persian inspired the Mountain Clans are more closely based on the Kurdish Peshmerga