Today I'm starting an Only War campaign that I've been wanting to run for just over a year, so I'm a bit excited. I think I'm going to take some notes and keep a bit of a journal/log of the campaign here. To kick things off, I'm running a slightly altered version of Eleventh Hour for my players; the 7th Savlar is taking the place of the Catachans in that adventure, though the Scintillans remain. I've got 7 PC's, and hopefully the more hierarchical nature of an OW unit compared to the stereotypical itinerant band of adventurers will keep things moving smoothly. Here's the roster:

Sergeant Emil (Sergeant): A former Administratum clerk sent to Savlar for embezzlement. Not unintelligent, but more of a fast-talker than a mastermind. His time on Savlar has toughened him from a soft clerk to a hard-bitten prison ganger, but he can put a civilized air back on when negotiating if he has to.

Goggins (Weapons Specialist): A frontier worlder jailed for killing an Imperial tax collector. While Goggins is fervently devoted to the Imperial Faith, his respect for Imperial institutions is somewhat lacking. Would likely be suspected of possible secessionist sympathies if cross-examined extensively by a commissar. Extremely bigoted against voidborn. Friends with Emil from his prison days, and his right-hand enforcer from their ganger days.

Grud (Heavy Gunner): From a highly developed, civilized world, Grod nonetheless is known for being entirely classless, even among prison gangers. A solidly built fortress of a man, he is prone to wearing as little as possible when not in combat, to 'let everything breathe.' In excellent physical shape, it's rare he's not found at the practice range or working out. Though he's not quite believed by all of the inmates, he was imprisoned for public exposure and spitting (his player described his home planet as 'Space Singapore').

Artho Holt (Medic): Formerly a doctor employed by a noble family, while the details are unclear, what is clear is that he poisoned someone commended to his care. Only sent to Savlar because it was considered a fate worse than execution, his skills were in high demand among the prisoners due to the blase attitude the guards had due to their safety. Picked to join the ubiquitous Chem Dogs gang, while he doesn't seem physically impressive, his reputation as a cold and detached killer has led to the other inmates giving him wary respect.

Alex 'Lexi' (Operator): Former chauffeur and catamite in the service of a wealthy imperial functionary, he is in prison for murdering his cruel master. Quick both mentally and physically, and with a technical aptitude rare outside of the Machine Cult, but his exploits as a the 'prettiest' prisoner in the prison complex are more well known. Adapting surprisingly well to prison life, he nonetheless took the opportunity to get off planet by joining the Penal levy, citing the unofficial regimental motto of 'War is hell, but Savlar is worse.'

Bruisé (Ogryn): Proof that Ogryn are as diverse as humans in many ways, this Ogryn lacks the general good nature common to that subspecies. His assignment to the ogryn detachment deployed with the 7th Savlar is almost certainly a result of his inability to get along with both the other Ogryn of his unit and his handlers. His new comrades, however, have found that his unusual cunning (for an ogryn) and almost unreal stealth for someone of his size have made him a useful asset - anyone capable of staying silent and stealthy while toting heavy weapons has a place with the 7th Savlar.

Jones (Ratling): Tricky, lazy, and manipulative, Jones is certainly capable of receiving a better assignment, but the black-market economy that naturally thrives in a regiment like the 7th Savlar is perfect for someone of his skills. Recognizing in Emil someone of kindred spirit in the sense that they both have an eye for profit, in between conflicts he has tried to gain as much control of the economic undercurrent of the regiment as possible. War is good for business, as he is wont to say.

Regiment summary:

Homeworld: Penal Colony

Commanding Officer: Maverick

Regiment Type: Light Infantry

Doctrines: Infiltrators

Equipment: Scavengers, Combat Drugs

Drawback: Mistrusted

Definitely interested! More background on the 7th in particular and its' key members would be what I personally would like to see, and more in depth on the presented characters, but (naturally) the progression is your choice.

Some other regiment notes:

Before the first session I gave the players the option of rolling on the tables in Hammer of the Emperor for their regimental gear, not representing so much custom gear from their homeworld as them getting the random weird surplus gear that no one else wanted.

Their combat knife, though, was clearly going to be from Savlar. Somewhat impressively, they rolled Symbols of Duty and Incredibly Dense for their knives, with the Rare Model drawback. We fluffed this as these knives being crafted from high-density alloys on Savlar by prisoners in an illicit fashion, as a badge of office for those 'made' in the gang society. Carrying these knives reminds the characters that they are the baddest mothers that Savlar has to offer. It has a nice side effect of being an interesting surprise for any power weapon-wielding enemies.

For their lasgun, they received the Piercing and Rapid Clip Ejection benefits, but gained the Heating Issues and Corrupted Pattern drawbacks. I figured that, due to not being reliable and having a propensity to overheat, these weapons, while powerful, were avoided by any regiment with the ability to say no. The Savlar Penal Regiment ended up with them; it's not like the criminals are particularly undequipped. They have Heavy Bolters after all; high command definitely wants them to do some damage to the enemy, they just don't care how much damage the criminals take in return.

The officer in command of the regiment is Colonel Dorrance. Formerly a member of the 1st Savlar, he was granted his own regiment after he legendarily lead his troops in the defeat of the Chaos Warlord Vespert of the Night Lords legion. A giant of a man, a brilliant tactician, and a daring and valiant commander, he nonetheless lacks a propensity for high-level strategic thought. Legend has it that he was born on Savlar itself, though he is somewhat close-lipped about his origins.

Some other regiment notes:

Before the first session I gave the players the option of rolling on the tables in Hammer of the Emperor for their regimental gear, not representing so much custom gear from their homeworld as them getting the random weird surplus gear that no one else wanted.

Their combat knife, though, was clearly going to be from Savlar. Somewhat impressively, they rolled Symbols of Duty and Incredibly Dense for their knives, with the Rare Model drawback. We fluffed this as these knives being crafted from high-density alloys on Savlar by prisoners in an illicit fashion, as a badge of office for those 'made' in the gang society. Carrying these knives reminds the characters that they are the baddest mothers that Savlar has to offer. It has a nice side effect of being an interesting surprise for any power weapon-wielding enemies.

For their lasgun, they received the Piercing and Rapid Clip Ejection benefits, but gained the Heating Issues and Corrupted Pattern drawbacks. I figured that, due to not being reliable and having a propensity to overheat, these weapons, while powerful, were avoided by any regiment with the ability to say no. The Savlar Penal Regiment ended up with them; it's not like the criminals are particularly undequipped. They have Heavy Bolters after all; high command definitely wants them to do some damage to the enemy, they just don't care how much damage the criminals take in return.

The officer in command of the regiment is Colonel Dorrance. Formerly a member of the 1st Savlar, he was granted his own regiment after he legendarily lead his troops in the defeat of the Chaos Warlord Vespert of the Night Lords legion. A giant of a man, a brilliant tactician, and a daring and valiant commander, he nonetheless lacks a propensity for high-level strategic thought. Legend has it that he was born on Savlar itself, though he is somewhat close-lipped about his origins.

Interesting. Any other specialist equipment/ officers are of note? Also, are they fresh or veterans? If it's the latter, what battles have they already fought in?

They're 'fresh' in the sense that they've just joined the guard. None of them are strangers to violence, however.

They're 'fresh' in the sense that they've just joined the guard. None of them are strangers to violence, however.

Understandable given their backgrounds. (Go hyper violent criminals with explosive collars).