Otrillian Gubernatorial Guard - expanded Nov 29th

[smiffeehimself]

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Creeping back into 40k after a loooong break, finally busting out the dusty old guardsmen with WFB Empire helmets, enormous plumes and all.
Presenting some background for the formation, the primary PDF outfit of Otrillia Prime, The Gubernatorial Guard:

Otrillia Prime

Planetary Governor: Lord Governor, by the holy grace of the Immortal Emperor Of Mankind, Field-Marshal Markon Villier-Smythe-Walton III, DH,MC,SoT,DLC and Bar.

Segmentum Obscurus, Anatolum sub-sector capital world
Imperial designation: Agri/frontier
Planetary Capital: Markon Excelsus
Tithe: Exactus Epsilon
Primary industries: macro farming, mining, tourism.
Major exports: foodstuffs, livestock, fresh water, fine liquors
Major imports: Manpower, heavy industrial equipment, tourists/pilgrims
Population: 5.4bn registered Imperial citizens, est. 1bn unregistered residents, approx. 3m visitors

Planetary outline:
Otrillia Prime sits almost centrally in the Anatolum sub-sector, deep in the heart of Segmentum Obscurus, and was earmarked as a likely sector hub almost immediately after discovery and colonisation way back in early M29.
A large and verdant world with a stable atmospheric make-up and a gravity index roughly in line with Holy Terra, Otrillia boasts vast swathes of high-grade agricultural land, hemmed in by soaring mountainous spires and lush evergreen forest. To the outside eye it is a veritable paradise, and to the many millions of tourists who come to sample the skiing and crystal clear mountain lakes, it certainly is; life beyond the sealed resorts and their carefully managed luxury however, is a very different story.

Life under Villier-Smythe-Walton
Field Marshal Markon Villier-Smythe-Walton III, DH,MC,SoT,DLC and Bar, By the Holy Grace of The Immortal Emperor of Mankind Lord Governor of Otrillia Prime, (as he instists on being called) rose to power in early 544.M41 after the death of the long standing and highly popular Lord Governor Scull-Harvers in a landslide election at the Otrillian Senate. Within a decade however, he became a waking nightmare.
Swiftly abandoning the progressive and far-reaching policies that put him in office, Smythe-Walton III set about a reign of terror that saw the Senate dissolved, his cronies and supporters ensconced in high positions for life, a raft of “improvements” to the Governor’s residence and a complete re-design of the planetary capital, complete with a new name: Markon Excelsus.
What drove the man to such lengths, whether it was a new-found megalomania or a deep seated vanity that was simply waiting to surface remains unclear; what is known is that Smythe-Walton III isn’t going anywhere soon.

With the new leader came a harsh regime, demanding ever greater exports in order to afford the latest project, and a draconian penal code that punished the slightest transgression with death, and in many cases much worse – public skinning and other tortures becoming commonplace.
At the top of the heap sat the hated Lord Governor and his cronies, quite happy to spend their world’s riches on frivolous monuments and personal luxury, all the better to entertain visiting Imperial aristocracy in the spotless mountain resorts or the ever-expanding state palace.

It was in such a climate of hate and fear that the Lord Governor entertained a passing contingent of Mordian officers, and their appearance and bearing gave Smythe-Walton an idea…

The Otrellian Gubernatorial Guard.
Unsurprisingly, Markon’s regime had not sat well with the general populace – the new laws however were enforced by a rag-tag selection of mercenary outfits and other hired guns, encouraged by a particularly fire-and-brimstone sadist of an Arbites commander. The PDF, such as it was, were deprived of armaments early on, in an effort to quell the increasingly “dangerous and seditious” riots and rebellions. This state of affairs suited the Governor and his friends well, but the motley collection of kill-squads never sat quite right with them, until the arrival of Mordian Officers, that is.
So impressed was Markon with the men of the Iron Guard that he immediately set about a grand new project – a formation of superbly dressed and highly-drilled men to defend the honour of the planet and it’s ruling elite, to crush dissent and look marvellous on parade; commanded personally by the Lord Governor, of course.
Funnelling immense amounts of funding directly into his personal coffers, Markon immediately hired upwards of 20,000 men from outlying worlds (his regime being so unpopular, local volunteers were not forthcoming, despite several mass-executions).
Along with the sprawling barracks and training grounds being established globally came nice, shiny uniforms!
Taking personal command of all aspects of design, Markon re-tasked whole manufacturing districts to outfit his legendary regiment, importing only the finest scarlet cloth and white linen with which to run up fatigues and plating the standard flak armour with more and more chromium until they glinted just-so in the morning sunlight.
Onto this framework Markon delighted in adding real gold thread and gilt emblems, and re-designed the helmets endlessly until they diverged away from the Cadian style combat units into glittering silver helms, festooned with golden scrollwork and magnificent plumes.

Several billion credits later, they were ready.

The Otrillian Gubernatorial Guard were inaugurated with the highest level of pomp and ceremony in a lavish founding parade that took up every street of Markon Excelsus, the endless bands, fly overs and dedications taking almost 2 weeks to complete. The rapturous crowds held in place at bayonet-point, Markon donned his finest ceremonial armour and took command as Field-Marshal of The Guard, and is now never happier than when he takes the salute of his splendid men.

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Hope you like! Comments and ideas more than welcome, I have more in-depth fluff regarding the Gubernatorial organisation to follow, and will be posting the painted figs themselves soon.

- SmiffeeHimself

[smiffeehimself]

Structure of the Gubernatorial Guard

Commander In Chief - Lord Governor, by the holy grace of the Immortal Emperor Of Mankind, Field-Marshal Markon Villier-Smythe-Walton III, DH,MC,SoT,DLC and Bar.

Operational Divisions:
The Guard as a whole is comprised of a total of ten battalions, each of approximately 2000 active personnel and a varying number of support staff who, though serving within the Guard, are not themselves accorded the title of Guardsman, which is held as a high honour (though not to be confused with “guardsman” as used by the Imperial Guard, as the Gubernatorial Regiment is purely a planetary defence formation.)
The ten battalions are divided into 3 broad roles, rotating every standard year:




Sentinel Battalions:
Commanders: Master of the Household, Colonel Hayle-Royston
Gubernatorial Shield-Warden Major Everidge
3 Watch-Captains (rotating post)

These units are responsible for mounting the permanent protection for the Lord Governor, his staff and palaces, offices or other facilities.
To the eyes of visitors to Otrellia Prime, these units are the public face of the regiment, perfectly turned out and standing sentry at almost all public buildings, as well as the carefully manicured resorts.
Despite appearances, the sentinels are not merely decoration – the weapons are loaded and the bayonets sharp; and they stand in constant readiness to intervene and maintain order, such is the situation on Otrellia Prime that barely a week goes by without a sentinel somewhere being forced to discharge his weapon or run through an over-confident revolutionary.
As with the Gubernatorial regiment as a whole, and fitting in with their normal duties, the sentinels are primarily an infantry unit with their few vehicles mainly serving as command hubs and rapid response teams.
The sentinels tend to utilise the lion’s share of the regiment’s heavy weapons, which can be seen scanning from the rooftops of prominent buildings or the myriad defence blisters cunningly concealed about the Palace.

From the three battalions that form the Sentinel Divisions, one platoon of the bravest and most loyal souls are elevated to the position of Shieldbearer.
This elite unit comprise the close protection of the Lord Governor himself – standing regulations dictate that at no time is Markon to be more than 6 feet away from less than 5 shieldbearers.
The rank of shieldbearer is no mere affectation, each man carries a unique and hugely expensive shield which incorporates state of the art technology to absorb or deflect blows, hard munitions or energy bolts.
Small detachments of shieldbearers are also seen accompanying other dignitaries, and is the highest honour Lord Markon can bestow.

Enforcement Division
Well away from the public front, the real dirty work of the Gubernatorial Guard takes place.
The Enforcement Division is where the majority of the manpower is posted, and from several huge and ornate barracks scattered across Otrellia Prime the grim job of keeping productivity up and public dissent down is carried out.
The successors of the original rag-tag death squads that roamed the townships with impunity, the enforcement patrols descend on the unruly elements of the population like the righteous hand of The Emperor himself; Choke gas and live ammunition presage their arrival, putting down dissent with a ruthless and inhuman efficiency.
As befits their endless job of suppressing the general populace, the enforcement division is highly mobile, sporting a vast pool of aerial and ground vehicles, the better to respond to developing situations.
To the outside eye, the Enforcement units closely resemble a front line combat unit, mounted in armoured vehicles and gunships – despite their nominally civilian targets. (the average agri-commune can easily organise heavy industrial vehicles, powered tools and firearms)
Despite their grisly work, the division maintains the high standards of dress and drill throughout, striking a strange image – the glorious imperial heroes, resplendent in their livery and with glittering banners waving, fiercely beating, shooting and burning away at lowly citizens.

Service Division
The remaining manpower rests in Service Division, the formation responsible for all Gubernatorial administration, internal affairs, training and logistics.
Scattered throughout every Guard facility as well as maintaining separate complexes, Service Division keep the Guard running at peak efficiency, providing uniforms, rations, weapons, ammunition and maintenance, including the Gubernatorial Guard’s dedicated cadre of machine-adepts.
Training is provided primarily at the sprawling Villier Barracks, where new inductees are endlessly drilled and taught the fine art of “bulling” boots and keeping the oodles of chrome and gold flawless.
Also falling under the division’s jurisdiction are The Gubernatorial Marshals – a provost formation that have powers similar to that of an Imperial Commissar.
The Marshals (known as “Cabbage Caps” for their distinctive headgear) operate as a far-reaching internal affairs unit, sending small teams to oversee Guard operations and investigate instances of guardsmen overstepping the mark or found in dereliction of duty.


Uniform and Equipment

Uniform Regulations:
Boots – light brown in finest grox leather, shined to perfection
Fatigue trousers – white linen, pressed front and back
Fatigue Tunic – Scarlet, with gold piping and braid according to rank, gold fastenings with Gubernatorial crest.
Body Armour – standard Cadian pattern flak, chromium-plated and highly polished. Gold imperial and Gubernatorial embelems.
Webbing – white grox leather, kept spotless, golden buckles and clasps with imperial and Gubernatorial crests.
Helmets – Custom Otrellian flak helmets, highly chromed, bearing a variety of Gubernatorial or Imperial heraldry in gold, with golden furniture and large yellow plumes from the Otrellian Pheasant.

Equipment:
Weaponry – bodywork in scarlet with golden and chrome furniture, bayonets highly chromed with golden hilt and pommel.

Vehicles – varying patterns in Scarlet, Chromium and Gold, prominent Gubernatorial and Imperial embelems.

[mugshot]

Neat.