Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you: No adverts like this in the forums anymore. Times and dates in your local timezone. Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance. Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely. Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net. If you are already a member then feel free to login now.

Hello! This will be the blog for my new army - the Drade 117th Suicide Legion. Drade is only mentioned in Matthew Farrer's Shira Calpurnia series of novels as a particulary rough mining planet with a heavy Arbites presence. I took the idea and ran with it...

---------------------------------

Drade is a mining world in the Ultima Segmentum. An arid wasteland, it's only function is the mining of the ore and pumice flows that lie under it's surface. Life is hard in the labour force, and violence and rebellion are rife, but the merchant government of the planet have put this to good use. Almost every crime on Drade is punishable by the same sentence - enforced service in the penal legions, and it is from these legions that the planet's Imperial Guard tithe is taken. The suicide legionnaires of Drade are brutally treated, all trace of sedition and rebellion erased by a regime of hypno-indoctrination, psychic conditioning and suggestion, physique and loyalty-enhancing drugs and vicious close combat training.

The Drade Suicide Legions are famed for their fast and frenzied assaults, being thrown into the most dangerous parts of the line to effect a breakthrough. As a penal legion, they are completely expendable, but the suicide legions are also completely self-sufficient, each legionnaire carrying with him everything his short life will require. As such, they are often assigned dangerous sabotage, destruction or recon missions behind enemy lines. They travel light, only making use of fast vehicles and limited heavy weaponry, and utilising short las-carbines for ease in close assaults. As a penal legion, they're often assigned support that would disgust normal regiments, including xeno cavalry beasts, stunted choirs of witches, indentured astropaths, bound battle psykers and lumbering ogryns that even Drade's extensive labour gangs couldn't make use of.

---------------------------------

I'll be basing the army on (shock) NON-GW MODELS!!!! Ages ago, when making my Arbites army, I found that I-Kore's Void Junker models were the cheapest source of supression shields. I bought loads, always planning to use the models for something else. Now I've got my chance. I'll be replacing the shotguns with lascarbines, removing the shields, and making sure each model has a big sharp knife.



---------------------------------

I've been discussing possible army lists in the other forums at http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/256073.page and have had some good suggestions. However, I want to be able to build a few different lists with this, so my plan is to build all the units that have been mentioned, and swap out things as necessary. The list of models to build shall be....

Company Command Squad (Officer, Standard, Astropath)
Company Command Squad (Officer, 4 Meltaguns)
Primaris Psykers (2 Psykers)
Commissar Lord (1 Commissar with Powerfist)
Priests (3 with Eviscerators, 1 without)

Psychic Battle Squad (5 Psykers, 4 Guards, Overseer)
Psychic Battle Squad (5 Psykers, 4 Guards, Overseer)
Penal Ogryns (5 Ogryns, 1 Bone'ead, 1 pet Baggage Lizard)

Veterans Squad (Vet Sgt, 6 Vets with Shotguns, 3 Flamers, Heavy Flamer)
Veterans Squad (Vet Sgt, 6 Vets with Shotguns, 3 Meltaguns, Demo Charge)
Veterans Squad (Vet Sgt, 6 Vets with Shotguns, 3 Grenade Launchers, Demo Charge)
Veteran/CCS Options (2 Autocannon Teams, 2 Missile Launcher Teams)

Penal Legion Squad (9 Legionnaires, Custodian)
Penal Legion Squad (9 Legionnaires, Custodian)
Penal Legion Squad (9 Legionnaires, Custodian)
Penal Legion Squad (9 Legionnaires, Custodian)
Penal Legion Squad (9 Legionnaires, Custodian)

Rough Riders (Sergeant, 5 Hunting Lances, 1 Meltagun)

4 Scout Sentinels with Lascannon, Multilaser and Heavy Flamer options
2 Hellhounds
2 Salamanders (used as Chimeras)

Red are unpurchased
Yellow are sitting, unassembled in a bag or box
Green are assembled
Blue are painted

---------------------------------

That's it for now. I'm off back to Kent this afternoon to dig out the required models from my parents loft. I should get started with conversions and photos this evening!

Hi there, Will be watching with intrest and support mate !
looking forward to seeing your army come to flesh so to speak !

Looks like a blast. I love the Junker models and always wanted to pick some up.

I will be watching with interest.The base idea sounds like a good one.

Looks like fun. Are the rough riders for herding the penal legionnaires that stray?

Fanatical Roman Legionnary ish Imperial Guard - sounds cool.

So, I've collected the models, and I've assembled the first few.

These are the plastics, which I'll be using for the rank and file Penal Legionnaires, and as a source of conversion parts. They're a bit less bulky than the metal models shown above, and to be honest I prefer the metal ones, but these are a hell of a lot cheaper (£5 for 10 models) so they'll do for the grunts...I've got 45 of these to convert up. The lascarbines are Chimera port lasguns and junker shotgun barrels, and they've got a selection of different knives. They're missing backpacks at the mo, which should bulk them out a bit as well...

looks like this will be really cool

Is it just me, or does the model with the outstretched arm, just look.. i dont know - out of place? is there any way to change the direction of the arm to give some kinda of unqiueness to it? (i know changing ~45 would be painful but would look a lot cooler)

Heh... I just noticed something about the Junker models... they must all do a whole lot of inner thigh training to be able to consistently wander about in splits (I am a MAN, see how much I can spread my legs!)

I like the las-carbine concept. They look a lot like the original Guard lasguns from waaaaaay back.

Flinty wrote:Heh... I just noticed something about the Junker models... they must all do a whole lot of inner thigh training to be able to consistently wander about in splits (I am a MAN, see how much I can spread my legs!)

I like the las-carbine concept. They look a lot like the original Guard lasguns from waaaaaay back.

Thanks - yeah, those Chimera lasguns are quite old scuplts now, and quite spindly.

Here's a first squad.





And, although this is a bit premature, I wanted so see if a Meltagun conversion would work. I'm gonna add a handle on the top of the gun, but here he is so far




Automatically Appended Next Post:
Right, here's the assembled haul at the end of Day 1



We have the first metal veterans with the original shotguns, and their veteran sgt




And five meltagunners assembled so far



I'm now waiting on a bits deliver of Chimera lasguns so I can carry on with the rest of the penal legionnaires. I might start on the Sentinels tomorrow...

They're look good. I use the Chimera lasguns on my troops as well. Wouldn't mind facing these in the field of battle.

These are looking good it might be worth considering varying the Melta Gunner poses though.

Llamahead wrote:These are looking good it might be worth considering varying the Melta Gunner poses though.

Thanks - I tried a couple of options, but the plastic sets are a bit limited, and they look really odd carrying a melta in one hand. They have two sorts of left arm, so some are holding it securely close to their bodies, and some are pointing them at a target. Not perfect, but a bit of variety! I've got two more to build, if I use different meltas maybe I can do some one-handed poses...

On another note, I just bought a ton of these incredibly cheap things...



They're 39mm tall, which is almost exactly the same as a Chimera, so there'll be three down each side of each of the tanks. Obviously they're gonna need some work - I'm thinking good old Imperial rivets on the wheel facings, and spikes where the tyres would be...

Flinty wrote:I just noticed something about the Junker models... they must all do a whole lot of inner thigh training to be able to consistently wander about in splits (I am a MAN, see how much I can spread my legs!)

They're hardly doing the splits, Flinty. What else would you do all day if you're locked up in a prison cell apart from: push-ups, sit-ups (crunches), squats, pull-ups, leg stretches, bare fist fighting...

Keep up the good work, Ian!

this redefines awesome...

Very cool. I'll be following this.

Any chance you could show a pic of the component parts of these models, i.e. are the heads seperate, or part of the torso? Also, are the weapons separate (shotguns, shields, etc.)

Thanks! Can't wait to see more.

I'm so subscribing to this one.

Win!
Subscription - enabled.

Cruentus wrote:Very cool. I'll be following this.

Any chance you could show a pic of the component parts of these models, i.e. are the heads seperate, or part of the torso? Also, are the weapons separate (shotguns, shields, etc.)

Thanks! Can't wait to see more.

Thanks! Here's a photo of one of the sprues, which does two Junkers. Each model is comprised of 1 Legs, 1 Front Torso, 1 Back Torso, 2 Shoulder Pads, 2 Arms, 1 Head, 1 Backpack, 1 Shotgun, 1 Knife and 1 Shield. The sprue also has a spare unhelmeted head.

Scotia Grendel bought all the old Void stock from i-kore, and sell it at pretty reasonable rates. These sprues work out to £1 each. The rest of the range is metal. These sprues are at http://www.scotiagrendel.com/Products/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=59_64&sort=20a&page=3&zenid=8f6ba21137021975e159b36dca57099f

i just noticed some of your guys have backwards hands....

Looking good man! Perhaps you could add some Imperial Eagles on the armour?

Hurrah! Day two. My first mission was to go out and buy a dremel, so I could get cutting away on some of the more difficult metal conversions. We got a load more platic guys done, but here are the rest...

First up, a primaris psyker, using parts from the IG Tank sprue, an Empire Flagellant, and the Empire Militia sprue. He'll need some wires attacking to his skull, but I'll do all that sort of stuff together once all the other psykers are built!


Next the first priest, made sing an empire flagellant. His laspistol is one of the old 2ed ones, and looks a bit too big (even for 40k). I might dig out a Cadian one and swap. I also need to add some sort of power pack to his chain-glaive...


Right, another Sgt for the Vets is completed, from a Junker Praetorian...


And finally, the dremel meant that I could cut off the chaingunner's chainguns and convert them to big, bulky Grenade Launchers.


More to come, as always

I like the idea. I just feel that the models look too well armoured for penal legionarys, the imperium is sending them out to battle so as to use the miscreants, if they die its one less thing to worry about! so why give them armour.

They also need the exploding collars talked about in the codex entry.

Imperial Monkey wrote:I like the idea. I just feel that the models look too well armoured for penal legionarys, the imperium is sending them out to battle so as to use the miscreants, if they die its one less thing to worry about! so why give them armour.

They also need the exploding collars talked about in the codex entry.

An, but these are SPECIAL Penal Legionnaires....

I'm not really a fan of the 'exploding collar' idea, hence the concept of a hypno-indoctrination facility that makes these guys fanatically loyal (and therefore Stubborn). Round up the convicts, stick them in an indoctrination and training camp, then send them out to the most suicidal missions without any support...

As for armour, they're really only wearing some shoulderpads and a helmet. The rest is a jumpsuit. I think this comes across better on the metal models, though. The plastic ones are a bit catachan in their musculature!!

What do brutal-looking space convicts ride into battle?

Brutal-looking space lizards!!

Cool. Why do't they just reprint Arbites?

Great project Ian, I love armies that dredge up old and/or alternative models and get them fighting. Nice work so far, particularly with those 2-pose junkers.

Also, knives & shotguns ftw!

- Salvage

I've never really looked at the Void stuff before, but there are some interesting bits in there that may just make their way into my project

I do like the look of the lizards; looking forward to seeing how this progresses

When I read "space lizards" my heart sank. You really scared me! They're looking good, better than what my mind conjured up.