Give any man the power of a god, and you better hope he's got the wisdom and morals of a god to match. There's nothing feeble about my moral line. I value life. That is why I fight to protect it. I mourn every man I lose and every sacrifice I make. One life or a billion, they're all lives.
~Ibram Gaunt.
I've fought in this endless hateful war for eight months now, night and day. In that time I've aged a decade. My hair has turned grey, nearly all my squad have died, and I doubt I'll ever smile again. I've fought next to heroes and strangled men in their sleep. But I'm still alive and by the Emperor I plan to stay that way.~Captain HainesBe swift and silent - as the breeze that crosses the dunes without stirring a grain of sand.~Captain Al'rahem 
The Spinward Front is a warzone, a region of Imperial space where order has collapsed under the weight of alien aggression and human treachery, and only heavy application of force can hope to contain it. Though removed from the Calixis Sector by vast distance and many barren systems, its fate is no less vital to the Sector Lord than that of his own planets and peoples.
Should the Spinward Front fall, be it to the brutal expansion of the Orks or the subterfuge of its traitorous planetary lords and nobles, it would press in upon the Periphery and threaten the edges of the Calixis Sector. This is the nature of the Imperium, that no one part can stand completely on its own forever, and the rot of a neighbor can easily spread without quick and aggressive intervention.
With this shadow upon his mind, Lord Hax sends regiments of Imperial Guardsmen into the Spinward Front, throwing these men and women against the endless tides of howling Greenskin warriors or to face their own in wars of futile and hopeless rebellion. Other aliens also circle the fighting—Eldar raiders, Stryxis opportunists, and darker, shrouded forces all exploiting the chaos of war and the weakness of worlds fallen from the Imperium’s favour.
The Imperial Guard alone stands against this carnage and ruin, enacting the will of the God-Emperor and the lords of the Calixis Sector in a struggle for the very survival of the Spinward Front, its worlds, and its people.
The fighting has been intense across the entirety of the Spinward Front. So many worlds that were once (relatively) peaceful and loyal to the wider Imperium have now raised up arms in secession under the banner of the Severan Dominate. Now human must fight against human, even with the threats of Chaos, The Dark Eldar, and the Orks hanging over the system. All because some minor lord wanted to pretend he could make his own empire and make himself fatter and richer than he already was. A selfish decision that has cost the Imperium several worlds and countless lives, a decision that must be punished to the full extend of the Imperium's might.
The Imperial Guard has its work cut out for it. Dealing with insurrections is nothing new, yet their forces are stretched thin, as are the supply lines. They have so many different foes to contend with, that the fighting seems ready to go in favor of any side in the war. The first wave of attacks and invasions have been successful...if costly. Forces from nearby sectors and worlds that had never been deployed into larger conflicts or haven't done so in a long time were now being called up to replenish those casualties and keep up the pressure.
It didn't matter if their specialties didn't line up completely with the scale of the Spinward Front and the Severan Insurrection. They had lived comfortably on their worlds with little threat from Xenos and traitors thanks to the honored sacrifices of other Guard Regiments, it was now time to pay the piper. The Emperor had need of them and they would fill out the gaps left by the fallen guardsmen with their own corpses if need be.
Such is the case with the Heshian Hellhound Regiments. Originally tasked with anti piracy operations, they rarely ever engaged with Xenos. Their last (and maybe
only) fight with an actual Xenos force was a single engagement with an Eldar Corsair that raided some supply caravans. They specialized mostly in fighting boarding actions on pirate ships and raiding pirate holds in and around their home system. They still even primarily use autoguns instead of lasrifles. (Not that Lasguns aren't a thing, only that you will mostly see them wielding ballistic weaponry instead of energy weapons).
The Heshin people themselves came from a poisoned and polluted world that tainted their lungs. They can still breathe Terran Standard Oxygen, but it stings them on doing so now. When off their own world they tended to wear filters and gas masks that alleviated the sting brought upon by each breath, which made it all the easier for their soldiers to be able to engage in anti piracy actions as they could be trained to fight in the void, or even in places of poison gas. Those that saw them marching about in their masks tended to joke that they were the poor man's Death Korp of Krieg. Something which the Heshin don't enjoy, but can do little to really challenge and argue against, as they have so few true honors to their name.
The Heshian Hellhounds were primarily trained with boarding actions, but the rest of their training could at least allow them to have some cross training to be something akin to
Mechanized Infantry. It allowed a level of flexibility to them for two separate fields of battle that would benefit them and play to their strengths while lessening their weaknesses. The announcement from Segmentum command that they were to raise three regiments worth of guardsmen caused quite the stir and even the noble houses of Heshin Prime were forced to surrender some of their sons and daughters to the war effort. It was their time to shine and bring honor to their home system. Failure could not be allowed. Better every last Hellhound fall in battle than they be unable to pay the requested tithe in manpower.
The newly brought up soldiers are given a standard set of Heshian training for Void and Mechanized Infantry combat. It was the best that they could do, even if it didn't match up with the kind of training that Cadians, Krieg, Tallarn, or other more famous members of the Astra Millitarum received. Before being deployed, most were told that they would be involved in a planetary operation to retake an Agri World of some importance to the Imperium. Its valuable food stocks would help feed the Imperial Guard forces fighting against the Severan Dominate, as well as the wider Imperium once the hostilities were over. This sat just fine with the Heshian Hellhounds as it was their hope that they would primarily be stuck with the
impressive array of Armor that the Guard has at its disposal and help mitigate their issues with fighting in wide open fields.
Yet as they approach the target location there is a change of plans. Suddenly the Hellhounds are being given refresher courses on void training and fighting in the confined spaces of orbital ships and bases. They aren't told what is going on, until they are nearly at the new target. The Guard has reassigned the Hellhound regiments to be part of an operation against the Lycurgos star fort, a titanic orbital fortress used by the Severan Dominate in their war of secession from the Imperium of Man.
The Heshian Hellhounds will be working in concert with another smaller unit from a pleasure world known as Pascallia, and with elements of the Vostroyan Firstborn. Specifically, soldiers of the 1054th Vostroyan Void Shrikes. Trained for years specifically in low gravity situations, the regiment is specialised in breaching attacks and actions aboard space stations, star ships, and other isolated targets. A landing upon the station would certainly remain a significant challenge, particularly considering the impressive firepower of such a target. In spite of this restriction, the Vostroyan regiment remains the most viable option.
By reinforcing the Void Shrikes with other available Imperial forces (and one which might be at home fighting in the Star fort), High Command hopes that the combined units can weather the star fort’s defensive fire. Once inside, those who successfully make the landing must still have the wherewithal to overcome its defenders. From then on the rest is in the hands of the Guard, and in the Emperor.
The mission will either be one of success and finally bring honor to lesser known members of the Imperial Guard, or it will end in slaughter, with their names all being lost to history.
Among the Heshian Hellhounds, there are several members of what might be considered the nobility of their homeworld. Jessi Vissiro is the third daughter of a small noble house. The Vissiro only rose to prominence 400 years ago after figuring out how to farm a special type of fungus on their poisoned world that could be eaten and turned into a local penicillin substitute. It wasn't enough to raise them to the top of the Hive city, but their family lived comfortable and could sometimes play the great game of politics, or allowed itself to act on behalf of other families to ensure its survival. The Vissiro family only really had one other claim to fame, when Jessi's grandfather once served alongside the famed Commissar Holt during the engagement with the Elder Corsairs.
Her grandfather did well, earning himself a respectful letter from Holt (little more than a nice pat on the head), which the family cherished deeply. Perhaps that was why Jessi now found herself on the frontlines of this war. Sacrificed on the altar of the Imperium to bring some level of prestige to her family without them losing their first and second born heirs. Better to risk the spare than the important ones.
It wasn't as if she really had that many prospects anyway. Jessi spent all day and night reading the tales of great Imperial heroes like Holt, Cain, Yarrick and other great figures of humanity. She never much cared for politics, nor was she good at it, and was more likely to be married off to someone for political leverage if not just left as a spinster for her life. Yet none of that really brings her comfort in the days of constant marching and drilling. As the day for the invasion of the Lycurgos Star Fort draws nearer, she is afraid. She is just one of many grunts being sent to the meatgrinder and she can only pray her Autogun will do its duty when the time comes. Being a noble daughter of a small house has done little for her now, and as much as she dislikes being just another boot she's still happy to not have to shoulder the burden of command.
Perhaps the Emperor will bless her with a quick death and not curse her with the duty of rising in rank and being expected to survive yet more battles.
So this is a request for a game set in Only War, following the No Surrender sourcebook as a starter adventure. If the game lasts long enough then other adventures can be used, with the game following the war to defeat the Severan Dominate, and maybe even into adventures beyond that. I'm mostly looking to play as Jessi who might end up going on a Ciaphas Cain like journey of not wanting to lead, yet being placed in charge of other soldiers by virtue of surviving and knowing tactics beyond 'Mass Suicide Charge into enemy fire".
I've listened to games of Only War played out and know the 40K setting well enough (with the Guard being my favorite faction). But I'm not super knowledgeable on the game system and mechanics. So anyone playing with me might have to be patient and help teach me. That being said I am also perfectly fine with going for a more Rules Lite version to focus on the story. I like having dice rolls and how it changes things up with a spectrum of victory or loss, but I am looking for some story as well and not just constant rolling.
If you are interested please PM me and we can work something out.
Here is my attempt to stat the Hellhounds.
14/14 points. (2 were added to the standard 12 points from Regimental Drawback).
• Homeworld: Imperial World (Heshin Prime)
o Cost: 1 point.
o Characteristic Modifiers: +3 to Willpower and +3 to any one other Characteristic (Intelligence).
o Skills: All Imperial world characters start with Common Lore (Imperial Creed), Common Lore (Imperium), and Linguistics (Low Gothic).
o Blessed Ignorance: Imperial citizens know that the proper ways of living are those tried and tested by the generations that have gone before. Horror, pain, and death are the just rewards of curiosity, for those that look too deeply into the mysteries of the universe are all too likely to find malefic beings looking back at them. Their wise blindness imposes a –5 penalty on all Forbidden Lore (Int) Tests.
o Kill the Mutant: The general citizens of the Imperium are trained from birth to fear mutation, for it heralds the taint of Chaos. All Imperial world characters start with Hatred (Mutants).
o Starting Wounds: Imperial world characters generate their starting wounds normally.
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• Commander: Fixed
o Cost: 1 point
o Starting Skills: Command
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• Regiment: Mechanised Infantry
o Cost: 3 points
o Characteristics: +3 Agility, –3 Perception
o Starting Skills: Operate (Surface)
o Starting Talents: Rapid Reload
o Standard Kit: One M36 lasgun and four charge packs per Player Character (Main Weapon), one suit of Imperial Guard flak armour per Player Character, two frag grenades and two krak grenades per Player Character, one Chimera Armoured Transport per Squad.
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• Training Doctrine: Close Quarters Battle.
o Cost: 5
o Starting Talent: Double Team
o Standard Regimental Kit: 1 lascarbine (Main Weapon) with four charge packs and the Compact modification per Player Character, 1 mono knife per Player Character, 1 suit of light carapace armour per Player Character.
o Special: Members of regiments that specialise in Close Quarters Battle gain an additional +10 bonus to all Ballistic Skill Tests made at Point-Blank Range.
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• Special Equipment Doctrines: Breachers.
o Cost: 2 points
o Standard Regimental Kit: One Hades Breaching Drill per Squad.
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• Regimental Drawback: Burned Lungs (Homebrew)
o Regiment Points: +2
o Feeling Faint: -2 Agility when Gas-Mask is off or damaged.
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• Additional Standard Kit Items: (34 points total. Standard 30 + 4 from the extra 2 points left from Regiment creation).
o Munitorum Manual, (3 points)
o Single advanced medikit to the squad as standard kit (15 points)
o Favoured Weapon: Autogun (10 points)
o Spare rebreather (2 points)
o Chrono as part of standard kit (2 points)
o Additional uniform for field use to standard kit (2 points)
Here is my attempt at making Jessi Vissiro.
Name: Jessi Vissiro.
Homeworld: Heshin Prime.
Regiment: Heshian Hellhounds.
Specialty: Weapons Specialist: Autogun.
Gender: Female
Age:25
Wounds: 0/10.
Fate points: 2
Characteristics:
Weapon Skill 6 (+20) 26+5= 31
Ballistic Skill 15 (+20) 35
Strength 13 (+20) 33
Toughness 10 (+20) 30
Agility 20 (+20) 40 +3= 43
Intelligence 10 (+20) 30 +3= 33
Perception 7 (+20) 27 -3= 24
Willpower 6 (+20) 26 +3= 29
Fellowship 14 (+20) 34
Aptitudes:
Agility, Ballistic Skill, Fellowship, Fieldcraft, Finesse, Weapon Skill.
Skills:
Survival, Navigate (Surface), Common Lore (Imperial Guard, War).
Talents:
Lasgun Barrage
Specialist Equipment:
