2000 point list: Cadian 11th Assault Regiment (Mechanized)

HQs (2)

• Commissar Yarrick
• Company Command Squad with Regimental Standard, Plasma Guns x3, Chimera with hull Heavy Bolter

Elites

• None

Troops (3)

• Veterans Squad, 3 Melta Guns and Demolitions, Chimera with Extra Armor and hull Heavy Bolter
• Veterans Squad, 3 Plasma Guns, Chimera with Extra Armor and hull Heavy Bolter
• Infantry Platoon
  • Command Squad with Grenade Launcher
  • Infantry Squad with Commissar (Bolt Pistol, Power Weapon), Grenade Launcher
  • Infantry Squad with Grenade Launcher
  • Infantry Squad with Grenade Launcher
  • Infantry Squad with Grenade Launcher
  • Infantry Squad with Grenade Launcher
  • Heavy Weapons Team with Autocannon x2, Lascannon
  • Heavy Weapons Team with Autocannon x3
  • Heavy Weapons Team with Autocannon x3

Fast Attack

• Vendetta

Heavy Support

• LR Exterminator with Knight Commander Pask, hull Heavy Bolter, sponson Heavy Bolters
• LR Demolisher with hull Heavy Bolter
• Manticore, hull Heavy Flamer

TOTAL: 2000 points

Full Army Photo

Unit Photos

Before you comment, keep in mind that I have not yet added washes or highlights to any models in this army. I am adding them over time but my main focus has been to get my whole army painted to a decent tabletop standard so I can test out the list. I'm fairly happy now with my list so I have begun detailing units and models.

My one hour paint job of Commissar Yarrick. He is new to my list. I was going to settle for a Lord Commissar but Yarrick is just too much fun.

My company command squad. Opinions vary on whether to go with four plasma guns or not. I prefer the regimental standard because it is crucial to my defensive strongpoint.

I use just one veterans squad with melta guns. In the past, I had as many as fifteen melta guns in my army but over time I realized that they just weren't needed and were not nearly as flexible as plasma guns. The squad also has Demolitions. The satchel in front of the models is the demolition charge. It is magnetized so it will stick to the base of the model that carries the charge. Then when I throw the charge I can use the satchel to represent my aim point.

My second veterans squad has three plasma guns.

The infantry platoon with command squad, five infantry squads, a commissar, and three heavy weapon squads. All special weapons are grenade launchers. The heavy weapons are autocannons except for one lascannon.

My Vendetta. It usually carries my melta veterans but occasionally carries my platoon command squad or a plain infantry squad.

A Manticore seems to be a good choice no matter what point value list I am using.

The Demolisher has also been a reliable choice. Terminators hate it and since I hate Terminators...

The Magnificent Bastard, Knight Commander Pask. He is very expensive point wise but I like to use him in a 2000 point or larger army.

Fluff

The 11th Cadian Assault Regiment, the "Golden Lions", was one of many Cadian units that were far away from their home system when Abbadon the Despoiler began his 13th dark crusade. As soon as the Lords of Terra realized the ramifications of the Chaos invasion, they rushed many imperial units to defend the Cadian system. The 11th Assault Regiment was among these reinforcements, and it arrived back on Cadia shortly after large forces of the enemy had already reached the surface of the planet. Accustomed to fighting Tau, the veteran but understrength units of the 11th Cadian were almost overwhelmed by the dark forces of Chaos. Given a short time to refit their battered remnants, the much wiser survivors of the regiment realized that their tactics and equipment did not match up well with the bloodthirsty demons, plague zombies, cultists, and chaos space marines which opposed them. While inprocessing, equipping, and training a large number of new replacements, the 11th Assault transitioned to a force heavy in melta guns, heavy weapons, tanks, and a few units of elite Kasrkin.

Following the Eye of Terror campaign the regiment was earmarked for redeployment to the outer rim. However, the orders were overridden by a member of the Inquisition. None of the regiment's officers understood exactly what their new orders were; only that they were to take those orders from the Inquisitors and their servants. In this capacity, the Cadian 11th Assault found itself fighting a wide variety of foes - even rogue imperial guard and space marine units.

On its next refit (a long stop at Armageddon), the regiment was reequipped as a mechanized unit in order to provide more sterling service to the Inquisition Malleus. The rechristened 11th Assault (Mechanized) Regiment spent a short time training at Armageddon before joining their Inquisition overlords on a classified mission. One year later the regiment reentered the rolls of the Imperial Administarium once again at Armageddon before returned to Cadia to refit. There are no open source records of the regiment's activities with the Ordo Malleus and the regiment itself has no recollection of the previous year's events.

After nine months in the Cadian system, the regiment joined Warmaster Felix Kreuselbohm's legions in the defense of the Gothic Sector. It earned one battle honor and several commendations in the daily posts. Over time the regiment lost a great number of its Chimeras. Replacements were slow to materialize. As a result, many of the infantry squads were forced to fight on foot.

Very recently, the regiment was recalled to Armageddon. Lately, that system had experienced many incursions of Greenskins. Given past experience, the Imperium decided to bolster defenses by moving more than fifty veteran units to the Armageddon system. Commissar Yarrick personally requested that units with past experience at Armageddon be earmarked for the transfer. This select group included the 11th Cadian Assault Regiment.

Why I Started This Army and Continue Working on It

I was not drawn back into 40K (I started with Orks when the 1st Edition - Rogue Trader - began in the 80s) until the new plastic Cadians were released in September of 2003 during the Eye of Terror Campaign. I sized up the new Codex and minis and realized that the new Cadians met all three of my army selection criteria: They were a horde, they were green, and the models were easy to convert! All of the guns and vehicles were just a bonus. So I finally made the broadjump out of purely fantasy games.

I have never won many battles with the Imperial Guard but I have greatly enjoyed all of the fights as well as the superb "fluff" that goes with the Imperial Guard. In a universe where every opponent is bigger, badder, scarier, and often spikier; it's nice to know that a soft squishy human can still stick his nose and laser flashlight where they don't belong. Yep, we're stupid and we've got guts! Guts that we'll spill on planets all over a hundred galaxies for a deified leader that is basically never going to wake up from his coma. Yeah, don't tell the commissars or the Inquisition that I said that.

While GW doesn't always make the smartest moves for their fans, they do make darn good models for the IG. As long as they keep that up, I'll continue collecting them. I might even keep buying the endless updates of codices and rulebooks but no promises on that.

The new IG codex is a lot of fun to use. The most noteworthy change from the last edition is that I can finally field a fully mechanized company, which was what I wanted back in the Eye of Terror campaign. After playing this force quite a bit, I'm not sure a fully mechanized force is as good as a mixed force. There are times when you just need a lot of guys with flashlights holding the ground around the objectives.