ВЕРНУТЬСЯ В РАЗДЕЛ

A large, barrel-chested, walrus of a man. originally hailing from Valhalla, Gustavus was granted supreme command of the Taros invasion after his successful command during the Vaust Schism. He has had a long and steady rise through the upper ranks of the Imperial Guard. In his youth, Gustavus first served as a Lieutenant commanding an armoured fist platoon, eventually rising to command his regiment, and then being promoted beyond field command into the ranks of the High Command staff. Wounded in action several times, and still proudly bearing the scars, his personal experience and bravery is undoubted. Gustavus is the head of the entire operation, he commands no actual forces, but he has the power to sanction or veto any plans his staff make.

Gustavus' rotund appearance and loud, bellicose manner hides a razor-keen political mind. These are the skills he will have to draw upon heavily in a combined operation such as this invasion. With a full entourage of aide-de­camps, staff officers, Commissars, Adeptus Mechanicus advisor, bureaucrats, etc, he will have to juggle their competing demands for supplies and favour, as well as make strategic decision that will send thousands of men into battle.

Gustavus' shadow and right-hand man, Van Horcic is tasked with making sure all the officers of Gustavus' army do their duty, or face summary justice! In this he is aided by a large cadre of Commissars attached to every Imperial Guard regiment and Imperial Navy vessel. Van Horcic is a fearful figure. Mutilated by a melta blast whilst leading an offensive in the Hellblade Mountains on Rynn's World, he now relies on bionics to keep him alive. Van Horcic is the ultimate arbitrator of justice amongst the invasion force and has the power of life and death over many Imperial servants (except the Space Marines and Adeptus Mechanicus). As a Commissar-General Van Horcic is empowered to take over command of any Imperial Guard regiment that is deemed to be failing and appoint a new commander or lead it personally. All Commissars in the invasion force report to Van Horcic, who in turn reports to and advises Lord High Commander Gustavus.

Venerated High Magos Volta sits upon the ruling council of Stygies VIII and is the highest ranking Adeptus Mechanicus representative on Gustavus' staff. He is the supreme commander of all the technical support for the invasion. Volta is the staff's main liaison between its commander and the rulers of the Stygies VIII forge world Volta has his own large entourage of Logis, Rune Preists Lexmechanics and servitors.

Fleet Admiral Kotto is the overall commander of the Imperial Invasion Fleet for the duration of the Taros campaign. He has sanction over any operations that take place outside of Taros' atmosphere. Kotto is a product of the Ultima Segmentum naval academy on Kar Duniash. Noble-borne and groomed for command since birth he has risen steady through the Navy ranks, commanding escorts light cruisers and cruisers before being promoted to Fleet Admiral. He is a veteran of campaigns against Orks pirates, Tyranids on the Eastern Rim and Chaos raiders. This will be his first command against the Tau. As well as overall command of the fleet in action, Kotto and his staff are charged with organising, mustering and supplying the invasion fleet ships for the duration of the campaign. A major problem for Kotto is the number of assault transports and landing craft available to him to get Lord Marshal De Stael's forces from orbit to the planet surface. During the planning stage Kotto and his staff struggled to get enough landing craft to simultaneously transport three Imperial Guard regiments, the minimum required by De Stael's invasion plan.

Confident that his fleet, aided by the Space Marine vessels, has enough firepower to fight their way into orbit against any defences that Taros or the Tau can muster the landings and subsequent flow of supplies are Kotto's primary concern when planning fleet operations. Once Imperial Guard troops are on the ground, reinforcing them and keeping all the forces supplied, especially with water becomes Kotto's top priority.

The overall commander of all Imperial Guard ground forces on Taros, all the Generals and Colonel of the Imperial Guard regiments report to De Stael and his staff. Although small in stature, De Stael has a keen strategic mind, born of past experience and detailed study of the Tactica Imperialis. A quiet, studious man, with an eye for detail, De Stael likes to plan carefully before committing any troops. His meticulous (some would say cautious), approach to campaigns and battles has caused frustration with more aggressive commanders in the past. De Stael realises that it is far easier to commit troops to battle than it is to disengage them. Behind his back other commanders have nicknamed him 'the Clerk', but De Stael's studious manner hides an inner ruthless streak and iron resolve. He is devoted to serving the Emperor.

De Stael is responsible for putting Gustavus' war plan into action on the ground. He is in overall commander of the 4621st Imperial Guard Army, constituting all of the Imperial Guard ground forces for the invasion of Taros. Space Marine Chapters and the Legio Ignatum forces are not part of De Stael's command and do not report to him, although it is his overall plan that other fighting arms will be aiding.

The highest ranking Space Marine officer in the invasion force. Orelius is a long-time servant of his Chapter, having fought in wars and crusades for the past 100 years. His entire company, and support units have been committed to the invasion by his Chapter Master. Although Gustavus is the supreme commander in actuality he has little control over the actions of Orelius and his men. Still, Orelius' experience and the reputation of the Adeptus Astartes makes him a valued member of the Command staff when planning operations. His forces will not be involved in a protracted ground campaign. Once their mission is complete the Space Marines will be withdrawn to their battle barge to prepare for their next deployment. As commander of 3rd Company and the more experienced man, Orelius holds seniority over Captain Kaedes although they share the same rank. As befits his Chapter's heritage, Orelius is an aggressive commander, who always seeks to take the battle to enemy and leads' from the front.

Kaedes, role is to provide support and battlefield replacements to Orelius' 3rd Company. As such he is sub-ordinate to Orelius. Should Orelius become a casualty Kaedes is fully able to step in and lead the Raptors battle brothers on the battlefield. Whilst not as experienced as Orelius, he is still a Space Marine Captain, and has all the respect that rank demands within Gustavus' staff.

The brilliant Colonel Scheja has been seconded from his regiment, the Valhallan 28th, to act as the top intelligence officer in Gustavus' High Command staff. His own staff officers study and collate information from all sources, Imperial Guard regiments in the field, Imperial Navy reports, scouting Titans, any and every source the Imperium has. He has an overview of the wider strategic situation, not just the fighting on the ground on Taros. He is Gustavus' spy-master, a secretive individual operating in the shadows, with a greater degree of independance than other commanders. Scheja has previously worked with Inquisitor Hector Rex, as part of his personal retinue during the Judgement of Hellanus, an operation which made the Colonel's reputation and catapulted him from a 'mere' prospect as the regimental commander of the Valhallan 28th into the upper ranks of the Imperial Guards command structure, despite still being only a Colonel.

A high-ranking bureaucrat from the Departmento Munitorum, Dree's job is to supply the invasion force with everything it needs, from replacement men, tanks and shells to water, food, tents etc. He has a small army of Departmento functionaries, clerks and prefects to assist him. He was granted his position on the staff after he requested it, following his investigation into events of Taros which have led up to the war. Although he commands no fighting forces, Dree is a vital member of Gustavus' staff.

It is Cardinal Astral Velas' whose diocese Taros lies in, along with many other scattered planets and systems on the Eastern Fringe. Although 'His Worshipfulness' can, by rights, command a place on the High Command staff, in fact after the first staff meeting he returned to his cardinal world and left a representative to deal with his responsibilities for the coming war. The Cardinal's envoy on the Command staff is Deacon Gotz, who is the highest ranking Adeptus Ministorum official involved in the campaign. Confessors and Priests attached to Imperial Guard and Imperial Navy units report to their Cardinal via Deacon Gotz.

Adeptus Mechanicus Divisio Militaris commander in the field, a servant of Legio Ignatum and commander of the Warhound Titan Advensis Primaris. Reporting to Magos Volta, Jernay is actually a servant of the Lords of Mars, and as such would be under their orders in any clash of interest, creating problems in the command structure, with the Titans not actually being directly controlled by the High Command staff.

A high-ranking Administratum official, Skel is the Command staff's link to the Administratum's extensive archives and all their ancient records about Taros.

Supreme Commander of all the Imperial Navy Fighter, Bomber and Tactical squadrons and their operations inside Taros' atmosphere. He is incharge of planning fighter cover, bomber strikes, transport missions and maintaining the Imperial Navy's logistical situation.

General Wassily - Quartermaster General 4621st Army

Staff Colonel Nafir - Chief of Operations, X Corp

Staff Colonel Mawhri - Chief of Operation, XI Corp

General Barim-Abas (17th Tallarn Regiment)

General Izra Omdurman (89th Tallarn Regiment)

Colonel Hamid (331th Tallarn Regiment)

General Hasso Raz-Aziz (3rd Tallarn Armoured Regiment)

Colonel Ahsa-Bilad (12th Tallarn Armoured Regiment)

General Syckava (23rd Elysian Drop Troop Regiment)

Colonel Horul (11th Sarennian Assault Engineers Battalion)

Colonel Stranski (114th Cadian Regiment - Mechanised)

Colonel Fouks (8th Brimlock Dragoons Regiment)

Colonel Weidemark (19th Kriegs Armoured Regiment)