Praetorian Guard

The Praetorian Guard are Astra Militarum (Imperial Guard) regiments raised from Praetoria, a heavily populated hive world of the Imperium. Praetoria lies in a star system close to the Imperial naval base at Bakka, within the Segmentum Tempestus. Its overcrowded hive cities are marked by squalor and hard labour, with the bulk of the population toiling in vast manufactoria complexes that have made the planet, and its ruling houses, among the wealthier holdings in the Imperium, supported by a large fleet of merchant voidcraft trading across the segmentum and beyond.

Regiments levied from Praetoria are recorded as noted for iron discipline and bravery under the most adverse odds, a temperament the planet’s lords attribute to harsh training and severe punishment of even minor infractions. Praetorian formations are said to maintain parade-ground order even amid battle, keeping ranks dressed and uniforms correctly fastened under fire. In combat doctrine the Praetorian Guard fight after the manner of the Mordian Iron Guard, forming disciplined firing lines and delivering coordinated volleys of las-fire, holding the line with a steadiness the tradition holds is rarely matched among other regiments. Uniform is recorded as a scarlet tunic with epaulettes and dark blue trousers bearing a scarlet leg stripe, worn with a pith helmet.

Among the regiment’s attested actions is the campaign against the Ork Warlord Bullgarg in the Montar System, a star system in the Segmentum Tempestus near Tallarn. The Orks, having arrived aboard a drifting space hulk, overran the world of Montar VII, prompting Lord Commander Sherdan to despatch the battle-worn XXIVth Praetorian Guard, then fresh from a long campaign against Aeldari (Eldar) raiders, reinforced by survivors of the 135th Tallarn Desert Raiders under Colonel Al’Ter-Ay. Acting on optimistic reconnaissance, the combined force under acting commander Captain Gliene was destroyed almost to a man in the encounter, and Bullgarg went on to found a short-lived Ork dominion in the system before his disappearance; Sherdan subsequently reconquered Montar with a newly raised XXIVth Praetorian Guard. Other Praetorian regiments, including the 5th and 35th, are recorded as having served during the Thirteenth Black Crusade, and further formations are attested in the Pariah Crusade, placing the regiment among the Astra Militarum forces engaged across several of the Imperium’s major wars, though comprehensive campaign records for the wider regiment are not preserved.