Elysian Drop Troops

History
The Imperial Guard is the largest fighting force in the galaxy, and the largest military organisation in the long history of mankind. It is billions upon billions of men at arms and millions of tanks and artillery guns; ready to fight for the emperor. It is the Imperial Guard that must bear the brunt of the Imperiums wars. Wherever there is conflict, there is the Imperial Guard. The Manpower of such a vast fighting force is drawn from across the Imperium. They come from primitive Feral worlds, Hive worlds, Death Worlds and savage Penal Colonies. All must provide recruits for the Imperial Guard. Each planet owes Tithes to the Imperium and part of these tithes are taken as manpower.

Many units are formed as infantry regiments, with tens of thousands of men. But there are other more specialised regiments, such as those recruited from the world of Elysia. These are the famouse Drop Troops, highly movile airborne forces equipped with sophisticated aircraft, weaponry and grav-chutes for long range strikes deep into enemy lines.

Army
Elysian Drop Troops can be defined in two words; Air Power. Aircraft and high-tech elite soldiers plungeing from the skies directly into battle. This armies true advantage lies in its speed, unpredictability and unrivalled ability to attack anywhere on the battlefield, at any time. Useing Valkyries and Grav-Chutes, the Elysians can capture objectives rapidly by dint of overwhelming force and the close range firepower. Often relying on Demo-charges and Special weapons for tank-busting. Failing this, look to the skies. Vultures, Valkyries and Imperial Navy aircraft pack fearsome amounts of firepower, and swooping over the battlefield; they can target just about anything. Tactical flexibility is the Elysians true advantage over most other forces, and there are few situations the Elysians cannot counter quickly and effectively.

This is a very specialised force. Being drop troops, Elysians lack many of the heavy weapons needed to defeat the enemies heaviest equipment and vehicles. Only being armed with Lasguns means they arent a force that can afford to sit back and firefight with the enemy either. Elysian's do not engage the enemy in a conventional stand-up fight. Instead, they seek to take objectives by rapid hard-hitting attacks and then hold them with grim determination and selective targetting of enemy threats. Casualties will often be high, but that is the price Drop Troop regiments pay for their mobility.