Assault Kommandos
GUTS AND GEARS — THE BEASTS AND MACHINES OF THE IRON KINGDOMS
Not since the days of the Orgoth have the Iron Kingdoms undergone such a revolution in mechanika and warfare. The present wars of western Immoren have become a crucible of innovation where outdated weapons and tactics are mercilessly winnowed away. The escalating war between Cygnar and Khador has been a showcase of action and reaction, informing the military theories of both nations. Almost as soon as one army crafts a new tool of attack, its opponent develops a response. This deadly game of one-upmanship has gone on for centuries, but it was only in the invasion of Llael that it reached its current fever pitch.
When Khador invaded the nation of Llael in 604 AR, only a few members of the High Kommand recognized it was the dawning of a new age of warfare. The strategies and tactics theorized by Gurvaldt Irusk, who was then kommandant, were to be applied on a large scale for the first time. In less than a year Khador had annexed almost the entirety of Llael with an efficiency and ruthlessness that shocked even some members of the Khadoran army. Irusk’s doctrine of combined arms and innovative use of artillery proved shockingly effective. Even so, the Khadorans were occasionally surprised by the tenacity of defending troops. Although the Llaelese military rapidly fell apart during the first months of fighting, Cygnaran troops and even some warcasters were made available for the beleaguered nation’s defense. For the first time since the Battle of the Dragon’s Tongue, decades earlier, the armies of Cygnar and Khador met in open battle beyond the skirmishes common to their borders.
The improvised earthworks and tactics employed by Cygnaran trencher units proved to be one of the most serious impediments to a flawless Khadoran victory. Before the smoke had cleared from the final battles of the invasion, Irusk was already assessing how best to apply the lessons he had learned from his recent victories.
During the invasion, Irusk had made extensive use of the highly decorated warcaster Kommander Viktor Strakhov. Strakhov had proven to Irusk that he could carry out operations deep behind enemy lines with minimal or no support. Strakhov had been at the top of his class at the Druzhina Academy and was a peerless field commander. While he was a potent sorcerer with a powerful connection to his warjacks, he preferred to rely on his own wits and physical superiority whenever possible. He even went so far as to train in his unpowered warcaster armor and was more than capable of overcoming an opponent in hand-to-hand combat while encumbered by the tremendously heavy plates and furnace. Among Strakhov’s list of accomplishments during the war, many of which are still highly classified by the Prikaz Chancellery, were numerous actions against entrenched Cygnaran positions. So adept was he at clearing these earthworks that Irusk made a point of seeking him out while recuperating from severe wounds suffered during the last days of the campaign .
Strakhov was gratified to learn the kommandant valued his opinions, and with several conversations and a lengthy correspondence, the two began to formulate the vision of an ideal soldier. By this time, Irusk already knew his next great challenge would be against the Cygnaran fortress of Northguard. A vast no man’s land defined by entrenchments, forts and earthworks stretched between that fortress and the Khadoran fortress of Ravensguard. As Irusk and Strakhov’s conversation proceeded, both knew trenchers would be one of their greatest threats in the coming battle. Irusk directed his subordinates to assess the spoils of the Llaelese war for tools he might be able to leverage. One of the greatest windfalls of the war was the capture of Order of the Golden Crucible guildhouses and a number of their most gifted personnel. These alchemists were quickly put to work finding ways to counter the trenchers and their signature smoke bombs.
Within a year, Irusk had designed a training regimen to produce soldiers who would meet his new vision. These warriors would be handpicked volunteers from within the Winter Guard, committed to a lifetime of service to the Motherland. Their advanced training would emphasize survival, endurance, and a willingness to take actions at which their enemies would balk. Their role in combat would be purely offensive and focus on the breaching of entrenched positions via speed and surprise.
To this end the assault kommandos would be armed with the cutting edge of alchemical weaponry. Each would carry a Vislovski carbine made to Irusk’s exacting specifications. The weapon included a permanently affixed blade in place of a bayonet. Most importantly, the carbines were mounted with an integral underslung canister that fired specially crafted canisters filled with strangle gas, the fruits of the captured Golden Crucible’s labor. The bombs would explode on impact and release a powerful alchemical gas. Heavier than air, the gas would settle into the low trenches, choking and sickening all who breathed it.
The assault kommandos themselves were issued masks that represented another achievement in modern alchemy. These masks filtered poisons and pollutants, protecting their wearers from all manner of toxins, particularly the strangle gas the kommandos would employ. Furthermore, exacting alchemical techniques applied to the lenses of the masks allowed the human eye to pierce clouds of smoke, a deadly advantage against the trencher units the kommandos were created to counter. In addition, their armor was treated with cutting-edge alchemical mixtures that prevented even extreme temperatures or caustic alchemical agents from harming the wearers.
Finally, the kommandos were equipped with light but extremely resilient shields made of unique alchemical alloys. With these locked in place, the unit could approach an enemy emplacement and withstand intense punishment while returning fire through specially cut grooves in the shields.
Their training regimen was personally overseen by Strakhov, whom Irusk ordered to create perfect soldiers. Strakhov was eager to do so, and
the training regimen he created was punishing in the extreme. Of the
initial five hundred Winter Guard who volunteered for the mysterious program, only one hundred were selected, and less than fifty graduated. The training exercises included evaluations to determine that each assault kommando would be willing to take any action necessary to achieve victory without regard for their own lives or civilian casualties. Irusk himself was startled by the total commitment of these soldiers, and the Greylords Covenant sent observers to future classes with the intent of applying Strakhov’s techniques to their own training programs.
By mid-605 AR Strakhov and Irusk were satisfied with the first class of assault kommandos. The front between Ravensguard and Northguard had, as Irusk predicted, become the fulcrum of the Cygnaran-Khadoran conflict, and it was here they prepared to unleash their new soldiers. Shortly after nightfall on Donard 5th, Katesh 605 AR, four units of kommandos led by Strakhov himself assaulted the forward Cygnaran position. The soldiers crossed the ravaged no man’s land with quick strides, easily avoiding the barbed wire and barricades littering the field.
Mere feet from the first earthworks, the rearmost rank of kommandos fired canisters of strangle gas into the trench. Almost simultaneously the leading ranks threw themselves forward, shooting their carbines into the mass of choking trenchers and long gunners.
In less than three hours fewer than forty assault kommandos slaughtered almost sixty trenchers and associated Cygnaran soldiers but suffered only light casualties. This offensive granted the Khadorans valuable hours to further their own entrenchments. They gained almost two dozen yards, a shocking forward movement in the grinding trench warfare that had developed between the opposing fortresses.
The Cygnaran general staff was shocked. In a single engagement the Khadorans had exploited weaknesses and utilized frightening new technology to massacre some of their toughest veteran forces almost casually. It was only by the narrowest of margins and the commitment of multiple warcasters that the forces stationed at Northguard were able to repel Irusk’s first major assault on their fortress. Even anticipation of assault kommando tactics did not prevent serious casualties. Less than two years later, Irusk and Strakhov had perfected their tactics and Northguard fell beneath a tremendous assault, spearheaded by waves of then-veteran assault kommandos.
Since that time, the assault kommandos have continued to be a favored instrument of the High Kommand. However, the enemies of the Motherland have developed countertactics for kommando assaults, and the disparate casualties inflicted in the unit’s early days are no longer the norm. Because of this, the Khadoran Mechanics Assembly has been tasked with providing new weapons and options for the kommandos.
Some kommandos now carry the first production models of flamethrowers, another benefit of captured Golden Crucible alchemists. It is likely the High Kommand will continue to use the assault kommandos to test new breakthroughs in weaponry, as few other soldiers are as well equipped to adapt to the changing face of warfare.
2nd Army, 3rd Division, 8th Kompany
“Night Crawlers”
The 8th Kompany has been assigned to the new front along the Dragon’s Tongue River. They are responsible for guarding the newly erected fortifications along the northern bank opposite Point Bourne. As skirmishes and small battles have increased in intensity, the assault kommandos of the 8th have been used almost exclusively in night fights along the muddy banks of the river.
Fonte: No Quarter 29
KOMANDOS DE ASSALTO
A existência de komandos de assalto é o resultado de anos de guerra de trincheiras entre Khador e Cygnar. Cygnar há muito desfrutou de uma vantagem neste tipo de conflito por causa de suas unidades treinadas de soldados de trincheira, um desequilíbrio que foi nivelado desde que os primeiros komandos de assalto foram ao campo. Somente os novos recrutas mais resistentes se tornaram parte das fileiras dos komandos.
Fortemente armados e blindados, estas tropas aumentaram sua formação batalha com armamento alquímico avançado. Eles avançam em trincheiras inimigas e fortificações atrás de uma parede de escudos antes de abrir fogo com carabinas e lançadores de granadas de curto alcance que envenenam o ar com gás de asfixia. Os komandos de assalto são liderados pelo Komander conjurador de guerra Oleg Strakhov.
Praticamente todo o armamento carregado pelos komandos resultou do conhecimento alquímico apreendido da Ordem do Crisol Dourado em Llael. O gás estrangulador emitido por suas granadas é alquimicamente refinado para ser mais pesado do que o ar, de modo que ele se instalará em trincheiras onde não é facilmente dispersa pelo vento, e sua armadura é tratada para resistir ao fogo e ao ácido.
KOMANDER OLEG STRAKHOV
Poucos soldados da pátria são tão odiados e temidos quanto o Komander Oleg Strakhov. Strakhov serviu a Khador há quase duas décadas, mas os detalhes de seu serviço eram em grande parte desconhecidos, exceto para alguns poucos dentro do Alto Komando até a invasão de Llael, onde sua reputação não poderia mais ser contida. Strakhov passou as primeiras semanas da invasão, erradicando sistematicamente os comandantes e conjuradores de guerra mais competentes de Llael, incluindo o arquiduque Alreg Vladirov do antigo Ducado de Nova Umbrey e seu comando inteiro em uma única emboscada bem orquestrada. O desaparecimento do arquiduque no início da guerra foi um grande golpe para as forças Llaelêses, e seu destino permaneceu desconhecido até anos mais tarde, quando os agentes da Resistência encontraram seu anel de sinalização entre os restos em uma vala comum fora de Leryn.
Uma vez que a invasão de Llael passou de guerra para ocupação, Strakhov foi designado para ajudar a modernizar ainda mais o Exército Khadorano. Suas sugestões levaram à formação dos Komando de Assalto, a quem lideraria. Desde então, Strakhov e seus komandos executaram as missões mais perigosas do Alto Komando, e mostraram-se fundamentais na vitória Khadorana em Guarda Norte.
Um komando de assalto é membro de uma das mais bem treinadas e armadas forças de combate em Immoren ocidental. Estes soldados foram a ponta da espada de conquista khadorana e servem nas linhas de frente das batalhas, tirando os inimigos de suas trincheiras e quebrando sua vontade com eficiência fria e calculada. Cada komando de assalto recebe treinamento especializado em combate urbano e de trincheira e carrega consigo um pequeno arsenal de equipamento avançado e armas químicas.
Komando de assalto são armados com a última carabina Vislovski completa com uma lâmina de cano e lançador de granadas acoplado carregado com gás sufocante. Cada komando veste armaduras tradas alquímicamente projetadas para proteção completa contra todos os elementos do campo de batalha. Apesar de que komandos de assalto são uma força relativamente nova, as conquistas recentes de Khador deram a estes soldados muitas oportunidades de se tornar notórios entre os Reinos de Ferro. Marchando para a guerra atrás de seus escudos impenetráveis, eles são a face da guerra do futuro.
Fonte: King, Nations & Gods
