[I'm inserting a small edit here, as I turned my humble thread into a more ambitious Plog... I can see more & more Traitor guards armies around, and I'm pretty much happy with it, but I'll try to do something a bit different, I swear!!! Until then, enjoy!]
As I'm a bit bored with my Chaos Daemons, I've finally set myself to beginning a Traitor Guard Army...
I've been through a lot of conversion ideas, and finally settled on something which gave me that test mini :
I'm pretty happy with the result, but I'm not too fond of his left arm... I think I want something that's less "regular" Cadian...
Of course there is, this is the internet . I think you could make the cadian arm work if it was made to look less clean. Right now, it doens't dit the rest of th ermini. If you shave off the shoulder pad and add some patches tot he sleeve, it could work. If you don't feel like it, nr.6 also looks quite good
FoxPhoenix135 wrote:I like the forgeworld arm, the 2nd choice. I think that spike is wicked-bad.
I like it as well, and it would surely help linking the mini with the future other renegades that use FW stuff, but I feel the pose isn't quite right... But I cannot think of any position it would be better....
Any clue?
CommissarKhaine wrote: I think you could make the cadian arm work if it was made to look less clean.
Yeah, that was my point at first, that's too much like a "regular, plain-dumb" Cadian....
I like 6: it's got all the misshapen zombieness and none of the Happy Zombie Parade-ieness. Also, a big Nurgle symbol on the fuel pack would be sweet. Make it seem more like he's shooting a gout of festering puss than sweet, cleansing flame.
I like it as well, and it would surely help linking the mini with the future other renegades that use FW stuff, but I feel the pose isn't quite right... But I cannot think of any position it would be better....
Any clue?
If you put the flamer pointing down, have the spike pointing sideways/forward and make the head look in the direction of the spike, it could look as if he's urging his squadmates on (preferably right after he flamed whatever was in the way ). It would probably require that you replace the flamer hose, but that's pretty easy with any kind of wire.
I really wouldnt do any zombie hands. I mean, look at the hand, then the cadian hand holding the flamer, then back once again to the zombie hand....Its about three times bigger. 0.0
I think the FW armblade arm looks strange because it has no shoulder, whereas the cadian ones have gigantic pauldrons. if you do end up using it i would slap a fantasy marauder shoulder pad on it. i agree with what other people have said that a pointing pose would be more dynamic as well.
personally i would go with the cadian arm, but slice up the shoulder pad and do some rust/weathering effects on it.
comisarmilo wrote:I would get some green stuff and make a tentacle for a left arm. make it wrap around the gun so its like he holding it with that chaos tentacle.
Ok, I'm fond of this one but I don't want them to be that much mutated for now... They still need their hands for a while...
Kanluwen wrote:Or even better...separate the hand from the arm and have a zombified hand holding onto the flamer while he waves his arm around in shock
That one made me laugh, but it's not what I want to achieve lol!!! OMFG my wrist just split in two!?!
hungryp wrote:I like 6: it's got all the misshapen zombieness and none of the Happy Zombie Parade-ieness. Also, a big Nurgle symbol on the fuel pack would be sweet. Make it seem more like he's shooting a gout of festering puss than sweet, cleansing flame.
Ok for the symbols!!! But sculpting the "gout of festering puss" seems a bit hard for my skills...
CommissarKhaine wrote:
If you put the flamer pointing down, have the spike pointing sideways/forward and make the head look in the direction of the spike, it could look as if he's urging his squadmates on (preferably right after he flamed whatever was in the way ). It would probably require that you replace the flamer hose, but that's pretty easy with any kind of wire.
And, more important, it would require that I un-glue the flamer arm... Anyway, that was a nice suggestion dude, thanks... I'll probably keep this one for a later flamer!!
Ouze wrote:I like the waving arm. Hey, Larry, how you doin? Workin hard, or hardly working, amirite?
That was my point... I can keep the idea as well for a "funny" squad lol!
Maledictus wrote:I think the FW armblade arm looks strange because it has no shoulder, whereas the cadian ones have gigantic pauldrons. if you do end up using it i would slap a fantasy marauder shoulder pad on it. i agree with what other people have said that a pointing pose would be more dynamic as well.
personally i would go with the cadian arm, but slice up the shoulder pad and do some rust/weathering effects on it.
I don't have any small shoulder pads that I can think of...
Pointing poses are great, that's true, but I guess I'm too late since I already glued the flamer on...
As for those worried of the worn out effects, I'll of course GS the mini a bit, add a Nurgle triangle on one of the shoulder pads, etc...
...
...
...
Anyway, so many people seem to think of the zombie arms as out-of-place, I guess I'll have to go with the safer Cadian arm, with some weathering of course ...
Thanks alot to all who gave their opinion, I'll probably ask some more for the rest of the squad... I got an icon bearer, squad leader, grenadier, and vox operator coming in soon!!!!
I like #1 and #2 - can't really say how much work you'll need to put into adjusting it because I don't know what the other arm looks like. You'd want something somewhat symmetrical though.
The zombie arms look goofy and the autopistol looks terrible imho.
That's a Chaos Spawn bit, it could represent an atrophied or mutated arm... Something he can't use much anyway...
So, whaddya think? Does it look silly?
Anyway, since I couldn't decide what to do with my flamer, I begun another member of the squad : the icon bearer, a.k.a "platoon standard bearer" for you Imperial commanders ...
Of course he's a bit tainted... I definitely love those Flagellants heads & torsos...
As for the fluff, I'm not quite sure yet...
I'm thinking of a small planet, maybe on the fringe of the Imperial space, that came to face a yet-to-be-determined major crisis that threatened the whole colony. Of course, the citizens prayed to the Emperor for help... No one came to help them but a small and weird spaceship, whose masters appeared to be Chaos Space Marines!!!
The doomed citizens saw their saviours as angels send by the Holy Emperor, and as such gave their souls to these servants of the Ruinous Powers.
As for the army, I'm thinking of a Space Marine leading the Company Command Squad as a "counts as" Colonel Straken... See, he has large WS/BS/S, T4, Sv3+, and in HTH is a Monstrous Creature... That's kind of like a TruescaleSM!!!
The mixed Flagellant / Cadian guys would be the "regular" infantry, representing the local PDF overtaken by their new faith.
The ForgeWorld renegades would be the "Chosen", citizens and soldiers that have willfully embraced the Dark Powers and were granted a special status in the colony. In game terms they would be the "veteran" squad, plus the company command squad and additional characters (Commissars, Regimental advisors, penal troops squad leaders).
I'm also considering converting a few Ghouls with Sniper Rifles to count as Ratlings, plus a few vehicles to add a bit of punch (Leman Russ, Sentinels, Hellhound).
Ok, it's 2am by now, I guess it's time to go to bed...
Please let me know if you have any comment on what you saw or read...
The flamerr seems a tad heavy to always be wielded in one hand IMO; Maybe an arm with a claw? You could add a loop to the flamer bit where the handle usually goes and have that around his claw or mutated arm. Or maybe a good old tentacle?
It's even harder to make up my mind, now that I've got all these suggestions around....
I'm not sure that was the best thing to do uh...
Get used to that my friend! I have a wretched problem with making decisions like that. I found that having a confidant to show this stuff to really helps, because it limits the opinions to yourself and the other. I do this with my brother or a couple different friends who are interested enough to give me valid suggestions. This thread can go on for 30 pages of people approving of different arms!!
You could always make a poll, and use that to gauge the number of people who like certain versions. I'm personally for v1 or v4-6 (they're all nice)
As for the size of the zombie hand, I imagine that would actually happen to a some poor traitor. I mean, here you have a punch of cruel sadistic gods, and what are they going to do to a devoted follower with a flamethrower? Give him the ability to breathe fire at his opponents to better destroy them? No!!! Let's give him a hand bigger than his head! That way he'll end up burning it every time he uses his flamer! And CHAOS ensues....
Accolade wrote:
I found that having a confidant to show this stuff to really helps, because it limits the opinions to yourself and the other.
Ok, so I showed them all to my girlfriend, and guess what she said? (besides "Yuuuuck, awful!!!", of course )
Why does he have such a big hand?!?!?
So let's go the other part of your answer
Accolade wrote:
As for the size of the zombie hand, I imagine that would actually happen to a some poor traitor. I mean, here you have a punch of cruel sadistic gods, and what are they going to do to a devoted follower with a flamethrower? Let's give him a hand bigger than his head!
What?!? Mutants in a chaos-related bunch of guys?!? Why the hell couldn't he grow a big left hand???
Mutants aren't renowned for their perfect aesthetics, nor are the Chaos Gods for their rational gifts...
I was really fond of the two, but I had two concerns:
- the grenadier would be a "plain" guardsmen with no special weaponry;
- the comms specialist would be armed with a lasgun, which wouldn't allow his/her squad to charge in the assault phase should she fire her weapon beforehands - and I was planning to make my Platoon Command Squad assault-oriented!
So I thought of mixing the two concepts : Vox operator also know how to toss out grenades, don't they?!?
I'd ditch that terrible female resin torso and just use the flagellant body with a greenstuffed undershirt. Flagellants are already pretty buff so only use a tiny bit of GS to make the body female - realistic is way better than Lara Croft there.
@ MasterSlowPoke : the "huge" breast are due to the overlaying armour, or so was I thinking until you pointed that out to me... And I'm not that good with GS anyway... Maybe I'll try for another mini!! And I want them to have at least half Cadian parts so that they are clearly identified as soldiers, most probably the planet's PDF.
@CommissarKhaine:
I bought the resin torsos from a Dakkaite a few months ago, apparently it was a fan project... Some parts are a bit messy (chest eagle, cloth underneath the body armour, back "L" part to attach vox/backpacks) but they're good enough for me!
Cadian flac armor is bulky enough that you can't tell gender from just the breastplate. Not too long ago someone here posted a tutorial on making cadian female. While it was still fairly exaggerated (which honestly it should be a little in heroic scale), the look was pretty subtle and mixes better with GW parts than those torsos. I'll try and find it.
Automatically Appended Next Post: Found it, a little faster than I thought.
I like the zombie arms, I know how much smaller the Cadian hand is but that's the point isn't it? When you think ugly mutant the first thing that comes to mind is something asymmetrical so it's perfect! I would even go further and suggest modding one of his legs so that he looks more wrong.
Could you take another shot of the powerfist dude? It looks a little oversized but it could just be a perspective issue with him punching the camera there.
@ MasterSlowPoke : Actually he does look oversized... Both his arms & head come from CSM and Chaos Mutation sprues, respectively...
Still, pretty much in the same way I envisioned my mild mutants, this discrepancy in scale can help furthering the overall weirdness & uneasiness oozing from them...
And I have to thank ComputerGeek01 for that, it seems you agree utterly with my point of view, I'm relieved I'm not the only one out there lol
I'll try and post another pic of the Plasma pistol / Power fist leader, as well as yet another alternative for my flamer's left arm...
I prefer the zombie arms, they look a little out of proportion but that can be explained as a mutation. The waving zombie arm is my favorite, he's probably waving to his next target. Most traitor guard have a few screws loose, and the appearance that he is waving makes him look a little crazier than most.
Ok, so I think that's even better that the zombie arm... It's definitely jagged & crooked, a bit long maybe, but much more in scale with the rest of the mini, while being less "rough"...
May I consider this one the best one?!?
jbob5590 wrote: The waving zombie arm is my favorite, he's probably waving to his next target. Most traitor guard have a few screws loose, and the appearance that he is waving makes him look a little crazier than most.
You're soooooo right dude... I'm now convinced I have to make another Waving Zombie, if only for the fun of it all!!!
As for the squad leader, here are some other pics:
The CSM arms make him really bulky, but I love him that way nevertheless...
I'll strap a lot more of gear on him, anyhow : Cadian torso, HWT backpack, grenades, pouches... I hope it will offset the large size if its arms...
Still, I think it's better with both CSM arms: it sure looks too unbalanced with the Cadian plasma pistol, doesn't it?
Automatically Appended Next Post: As I'm planning to build a whole army, I've asked to move the thread to the P&M Blogs...
Don't expect huge leaps as I don't have much time for the hobby, but I'll try & update it, if not frequently, at least regularly!!!
I like the CSM gun and the Cadian arm. Do you have any Catachan arms? Using them and attaching the CSM gun and powerfist should make him look poweful like a heretic commander should, but tie his various parts together better.
I agree with Master on the catachan arms, they're huge and can really help in body proportion issues when it comes to large extremities.
I also really like the most recent iteration of the flamer traitor; those crypt ghoul arms look really nice! They provide a slightly corrupt, sinister look that isn't excessive (which I feel people thought was the case with zombie arm). Also, they make the model look less silly and more frightening, so I'm all for that new arm.
Keep updating at your pace, and get done what you can. I definitely understand the problem with getting models just the way you want them. I'll keep an eye out for your updates!
I've working a bit on my PCS these last evenings, just adding some gear & pouches... Coz most of the WH40k come out with too few equipment, IMHO... Indeed, what kind of soldier goes straight in hell's maw with just a lasgun, and SOMETIMES an extra magazine?
So, off we go with strapping as many pouches as we can!
So here they are!
All except the Platoon leader are ready to get painted... As for the officer, I'm waiting to find the perfect idea for his backpack...
Finally, I found some parts to add as a sort-of backpack... My aim was not to give him a regular rucksack; he's the commander after all, his minions can carry his gear! I want something more techy, maybe that can power his oversized weapons... So came up with this
Hey Yggs! Just landed on your blog. I don't know much about guard or chaos... but I can sit back and watch you work your magic, no problem! *grin*
My only "helpful" suggestion is that the bearded guy's head seems to be riding a little high and too far back. But then his is a chaos dude after all. Might also be the camera angle.
Yeah... Not many updates for summer... Laziness in taking pics, and it's so much easier to wander through the other threads than spend some time on my own!!
Though I have completely built-up the other 4 lasgun troopers from squad 1, and a complete penal legion squad!!!
I cannot get myself to paint them for lack of a good paint scheme... and I still don't know how to properly base them!
Still, I'll try and get pics for all of them... Tomorrow maybe? Argh, no, there's Bones on Thursday evening, and my GF won't forgive me if I miss it!!!
Ok, before the end of next week then...
Gitsplitta wrote:My only "helpful" suggestion is that the bearded guy's head seems to be riding a little high and too far back. But then his is a chaos dude after all. Might also be the camera angle.
Yes, one of my aim was to avoid having to greenstuff as much as possible, for my sculpting skills are far from wondrous... So I guess I chose to put the head a bit higher than necessary, to avoid cutting his hair and have to GS some others...
But it hasn't struck neither me nor my GF, who definitely has an annoying knack for finding out when a mini's out of proportion... And of course blatantly mention it!!! I guess that's the camera then...
Some_Call_Me_Tim? wrote:Albrecht has to be the coolest figure you have made! I can't wait to see them all painted up.
I agree... He was supposed to be the test mini for the standard troopers, but he ended up my favorite one in his squad!!! Well, almost... I'll show you later...
Anyway, thanks for the nice comments, maybe it'll force me into getting back to them! I cannot help but being sucked around by many other projects - Island of Blood painting contest, Tzeentch CSM, Gitsplitta's Marine Swap ... So much to do, so little time to spare... I sometimes wish I could go back to the school days - though at the time, I had more time than money to buy minis!!!
Darth Bob wrote:I think that the head with the tongue sticking out looks out of place and oversized. Other stuff looks cool though.
I do agree both his arms & head seem oversized... For they are!!!
Still, when it comes to Chaos, I guess you cannot really avoid some weird mutations... This one got a "Big 'Ead" uh!!
BLACKHAND wrote:Random question Yggs, where did the head from your female Vox operator come from?
That's a Slaaneshi Daemonette head...
Not very Nurglesque, I agree, but when I begun I was only thinking of mutants and corrupted guardsmen, so they could all get akin to different aspects of Chaos... As for now, I'm trying to figure a good reason for her to still be inside the horde... Maybe she acts as a liaison officer from a more Slaanesh-oriented part of the cult?
well you could just say she is the flower in the corupt garden of Nurgle. Or that she is the representive of Nurgle's little slave on who he test's his deseases how is she called again? i dunno there is some writen on her in the Daemon's armybook i dont know if its in the codex.
on another notice WHAT!?! WATER TROLLS ? IGNORANT 40K PLAYER. (calms down) they are river TROLLS (kicks you in the pit of death). just a joke man
fatty wrote:well you could just say she is the flower in the corupt garden of Nurgle. Or that she is the representive of Nurgle's little slave on who he test's his deseases how is she called again?
Isn't she Isha, one of the Elves' goddess?!?
Also, I like your idea of the "flower in the corrupt garden of Nurgle"... By coincidence, my Chaos Daemons army is being fluff-oriented towards the Putrid Garden... For my Daemon host I have settled on "Ygg'drah'thil the Errant, High Gardener of Nurgle & Keeper of the Blight Seeds"...
So maybe Slaanesh sent some envoys to this force?!?
fatty wrote:on another notice WHAT!?! WATER TROLLS ? IGNORANT 40K PLAYER. (calms down) they are river TROLLS (kicks you in the pit of death). just a joke man
Lol!!! Yup, sorry Dude, I do am a French, ignorant 40k-hobbyist... Though the first battle report I read, the one that sucked me up into the Hobby, was a WHFB-one, depicting a covenant of Pestilens Skavens & Nurgle Daemon being cast away by lizardmen in the Lustria jungles...
I have such fond memories of that WD issue...
Back on topic, my apologies to all Goblin fanatics out there, they're River Trolls!!!! I just want to mention, as a excuse, in France they are called "Trolls d'Eau", which translates into "Water Trolls", not "River Trolls"...
Anyway, they'll - eventually - get turned into renegade Ogryns, so probably "Swamp Ogryns" will fit them best!
Thanks for the notice anyway! Next time I won't breach Gobbos' Dutiful Etiquette (as if such thing might exist................)
Nice! The robes and torso armor go very well together. You've got a good sense of motion in your poses, too.
Must say that the one thing you could improve is matching skinnier crypt-ghoul arms with similarly skinny gunbearing arms. Cadian on one side, ghoul on the other doesn't really work.
Heh, I knew I'd seen that arm somewhere. Been meaning to pick up that quartermaster for a while, for that very reason It's just I know there's a bunch of other stuff on FW waiting to grab me by the wallet when I appear
Aaaaah.... FW... I spent nearly 400€ at last French GD... Way over the limit I had set myself, but, as I was pushing through the catalogue, I couldn't help but repeat to the FW vendor : "Oh, and one of this, and one of that, and 2 of those..."
As for updates, I forgot my camera at my sister's house, so we'll have to wait a bit for them...
Sorry guys, I admit I have been lazy updating it... These minis were built last summer, and I haven't worked on them since...
Still, here are the pics...
Penal Legion Squad:
Some may notice there are more than 10 guys (and one of them is missing lol), but when I went for my summer vacations, I just felt like giving like to each and every crazy idea I was having...
I wanted to get the feel of Schaeffer's Last Chancers, each with an strong personality & unique gear, which could cause problems with WYSIWYG, but hey, I hope my opponents will get the "those freakin' maniacs over there? Oh, no worries, they just have lasguns & a CCW..."
Some of them are quite... meh (?), so feel free to tell which of them you dislike... It'll help me in my choice for a colour scheme test mini lol!!!
Here they are :
"Himeros" :
Nicknamed after a Tranch hermaphrodite deity of sexual desire. The best-looking soldier in his company, successful with women, and filled with vanity and patronizing behaviour. He used to pray daily for always having "the chance to see a beautiful face a day", until the day nightmare was unleashed on Tranch. On that day, a playful Slaanesh daemon heard his prayers, and blessed his fervor by granting him the face of his favourite deity, Himeros, telling him that a simple mirror was all he would ever need to see a beautiful face. Branded as a mutant by his comrades, he was subsequently sentenced to serve in a penal legion.
"Willow" :
Infected by a vegetal lifeform on Lehyde Ten during a failed colonization mission, "Willow" is now kept under close scrutiny by a Mechanicum Magos Biologis, who is in charge of gathering data of the parasite that has taken over the subject's right arm, and is expanding towards his chest. The first analyses having proved a major increase in pain resistance in the subject, he was assigned to a penal legion, due to the extreme death rate, thus ensuring the secrecy of the study. One of the other visual side effects of the parasite is that he is constantly weeping. This was key to his baptism as "subject Weeping Willow", or "Willow".
"Butcher Jack" :
An esteemed and skillful combat medic from the 2nd Tranch Reserve Regiment, "The Jackals", Lt. Jack Arson got sentenced to death after an incident with the regiment's commanding officer. Caught in an ambush by mutant followers of Nurgle in the Adrax Swamp, the colonel had lost a chump of his left calf to a Nurgling bite. Without any suitable medical equipment left, "Doc Jack" had no choice but use both the officer's chainsword and cigar to respectively amputate his leg and cauterize the wound. He should have been lauded for his reaction, but the colonel was too proud to admit the Doc had saved his life, instead reporting him to the regimental commissar for "dubious enthusiasm in butchering his commanding officer". On the day after his assignment to the penal legion, the colonel's body was found in his command Chimera, chopped in seven parts. The investigation carried out by the commissars never found any clue as to who was the murderer.
"Mad Sarge" :
A maniac who has seen his whole squad slaughtered by an angry mob in Hive Gorgon. As their sergeant, he was at the company HQ for orders when his squad's position was overrun. Stricken with shame and grief for "forsaking his boys", he was quickly deemed unfit for service due to mental disorders, and assigned to the penal legions to allow him to end his duty with honour and glory. Dauntless and seemingly eager to die, he roams the battlefield bellowing orders to his long dead squadmates, issuing coordination elements over his ever-silent vox-net, and firing wildly to cover the ghosts of his heavy weapon team.
"ICBM" :
ICBM (Inter-Continental BowMan) likes to think he's the best bowman on all TRANCH - which may well be true, since he's probably the only human being still using a bow on this world. He earned his callsign (and legionnaire status) after a long night he spent drinking and bragging about how he had won the Tranch Intercontinental Archery Contest in 991M41, but failed to prove his skills when he unfortunately killed his sergeant with his bow.
"Bling" :
When a radical Inquisitor searched a battlefield medicae for wounded "volunteers" in the service of the Holy Inquisition, Pfc. Blingersky saw this as a perfect opportunity to climb the arduous ladder of merits faster than expected. His overconfidence and habit of showing off actually seemed to fit the Inquisitor's experiments : grafting an eldar gauntlet to a human being. The operation was a partial success : "Bling" did not die, and, over time, managed slowly move his arm and even control his fingers. Understanding he had been duped and that he had little chance to make it out alive, he escaped the Inquisitorial fortress, only to be captured soon after by a PDF squad, who had him reported as a "desertor". Unwilling to reveal his scheme and knowing the fate that awaited all "desertors", the Inquisitor watched from the shadows as his former "experience" was sent to the penal legions, which would undoubtedly lead to his death.
"Jugger" :
An ex-soldier from the Kreta Hive Peace Corps assault squadron, he thought his skills would be more useful if used against "the real enemies of the Imperium". Much to the awe of his former comrades, he volunteered for the Tranch Penal Legions, hoping this would lead him across the stars, in daunting battles against horrendous Xenos and filthy mutants. Ironically, his very skills in brutal assaults in urban environment were deemed too useful to be wasted, and he was assigned to the units fighting the growing rebellions on Tranch. His heavily modified assault armour and deadly shotgun "Dragonfire", as well as his reckless demeanour, both owned him his callsign "Juggernaught", or "Jugger"... Much to his liking.
"Dead Already" :
Every penal legion has a bunch of doomsayers and fanatics. They are of great use to the enforcers, who use them as they are : sentient bombs with suicidal tendencies. They have learned not to overlook the psychological effect caused by wailing madmen charging the enemy, packed with explosives and grenades.
"Frog" :
Little is known about "Frog", and that situation seems to suit him well. The fragmentary reports state that he was a member of an underwater-warfare unit, employed by the Adeptus Astartes on the Mortressa Death World. Even his enforcer, "Flayer", hasn't been made aware of the circumstances which led to his assignment to his squad, but his proficiency at killing with his bolt-rifle largely outweighs this.
"Tankbuster" :
Formerly known as Pfc. Trent, specialist in demolitions. While fighting a rebellion in Hive Tartarus, he got separated from his squad and managed to survive for two weeks on his own, inside the rebels' defensive layout, before rallying the loyal forces. Weak and feverish, he told his sergeant he had had a vision, where he was felling an Eldar Revenant Titan with a fusion bomb, whose serial number matched the one he had been issued a month ago. Knowing full well the effects of a harsh battle trauma, his squad leader cast aside his ramblings and handed him to the medics. Only during their next mission did he realize his trooper was clinging to his vision : Trent refused to "waste" his bomb to destroy a rebel Chimera, claiming he and the device had a higher destiny to fulfill. His disobedience indirectly caused the death of two of his squadmates; and, even though he later disabled the APC by lobbing a grenade in the pilot's hatch, he was sentenced to assignment in the penal legions for "cowardice in front of the enemy and jeopardy of his squad". Eversince, "Tankbuster" Trent has proven his his knack for anti-armour warfare on more than one occasion. His incredible feats include : destroying a Leman Russ tank by throwing an overheated lasgun charge pack into its exhaust pipes ; tearing open a Killa Kan hatch with his combat knife and slicing open the grot pilot's throat ; climbing a Sentinel's leg to blankpoint shoot the rebel pilot ; shattering a Fire Prism's crystal while it was charging up with a heavy stubber, resulting in a catastrophic chain reaction which destroyed two of the sleek Eldar crafts. Worthy of note is the fact that all this mayhem was wrought without Magdalena, his beloved fusion bomb, that he always keeps close to him and ready to complete their destiny.
"Banshee" :
Last member of a long lost Rogue Trader retinue, "Banshee" is rumoured to have singlehandedly avenged his master's death at the hands of an Eldar Exarch. His voice is seldom heard apart from when he's on the battlefield, where it is said his battle shriek can freeze the opponent's blood in his veins.
Lastly, Capt. Tybalt "Flayer" Gruul :
A grim, fearless enforcer, Capt. Tybalt GRUUL lost most of his face during a Necron attack on his company outpost, on the distant world of Ishmael. Refusing any augmetic implant, he instead gave the order to be grafted with the metallic face of the very Necron warrior that had maimed him, and whose skull he had painstakingly cut off with his bayonet. Considered a heretic, he then volunteered for the Penal Legion, to prove he could "turn these cowards and scumbags into warriors". Those insane enough not to run - and get shot - from him, undoubtedly found their place in the Penal Legion.
Pheww... I hadn't intended on transcribing all their fluff, but now that it's here...
Wow, that's great! Each model and all the fluffy bits about them. Is it just me or are a... most of the torsos are small, or rather, the heads too big. I'm not saying it's a bad thing, I think it actually works, it's just playing with my head.
Where are those torsos from? I figure they are from the fantasy line, but what?
@Good Green : yes, some of them seem to have weird proportions...
The torsos are the leftovers from the Flagellant bodies I cut in half to get the legs on my troopers... So I had a pile of unused torsos strapped with a heavy collar, and thought : what king of troops have collars? Yes, Penal Legion Squads and their explosive collars!!! I had found some use to those torsos!!!
UPDATES:
The remainder of the first squad (where you can see the lower half of the Flagellant bodies) :
I still have to model the Sergeant, the Weapon Specialist (I still have to determine which weapon he'll be wielding) and the Missile Launcher operator. Saving the best for last eh!
Some individual shots...
Trp. Abderus :
Yes, he's about to throw a grenade, and yes, he lost one of his fingers...
Trp. Anaxo :
Signals operator.
Trp. Krill :
Designator for the Missile Launcher.
And, my favourite of the bunch :
Cpl. Kretheus :
Yes, my guys love their grenades...
Haven't done much work regarding fluff, but I'm pretty happy with them... One day, I'll be painting them, I swear...
They look great Yggs... don't remember the last time I saw such creative building work with guardsmen based troops. Given how fine the work was you did on my marine... I'm really looking forward to seeing these boys start to get painted up!
Very nice stuff. I look forward to them being all finshed and painted.
Just a question: are they Nurgle followers? I see the 3 triangle dots everywhere, and they are very mutated, though you said that Willow was being watched by the Magos Biologist, which I believe is an Imperial Organisation.
I was wondering about the dots as well, is a very familiar symbol in an army that I'm working on...
Stunning work! I absolutely love "Guard Gone Wrong" armies. Takes me back to my Genestealer Cult days, and later on Necromunda and Chaos Cultists. No amount of conversion was too much, wargear was different from model to model, but a strong thematic thread tying them all together. It worked very well.
Again I am awed by the work you do. Really looking forward to seeing what you do next.
Stuning work! Also have to steal the conversion with the tau helmet on one dude. Looks alot like the masks the current dark eldar have, and it's awesome!
simply awesome nothing more nothing less...
love too see them getting some paint.
my own guard have bright green and dhebe stone/bleached bone armour. the vehicle (only one valkery) will get a bright green top and the same dhebe stone/bleached bone combo underneath kind of like snakes. an honouring too Jack the snake
Gitsplitta wrote:They look great Yggs... don't remember the last time I saw such creative building work with guardsmen based troops. Given how fine the work was you did on my marine... I'm really looking forward to seeing these boys start to get painted up!
Hyenajoe wrote:
Gitsplitta wrote:...don't remember the last time I saw such creative building work with guardsmen based troops.
I couldn't say it in a better way. Your models are a proof that guardsmen are more interesting than I thought. Great job, as usual!
BLACKHAND wrote:Really nice guard, loving the kitbashing. The army is going to look seriously dark and atmospheric when painted to your excellent standard
[plus all paint-related comments :]
Wow, wow, wow, you almost managed you have me blush guys!!! Oh, ok, you did it...
I hadn't planned on getting to paint them soon (I already have my Skaven & CSM to work on before), but if the community pressure gets too high, I might be tempted to give it a shot...
Some_Call_Me_Tim? wrote:I LOVE the modified Tau Helmet on "Frog". It looks really good. _Tim?
Rose_Mountainz wrote:Stuning work! Also have to steal the conversion with the tau helmet on one dude. Looks alot like the masks the current dark eldar have, and it's awesome!
Tau Helmet : yeah, I don't know how it manages not to look that Tau-ish... I didn't strap the antenna on, filed away the optics, added the 3 dots... maybe that's enough to break the Tau look... Anyway, feel free to steal this!!!
And, Rose_Mountainz : I've had my eyes on the DE masks as well for this army, I'm pretty sure they'd look good... I've ordered a few on the internet, we'll see when I get them!
Grimm wrote:Just a question: are they Nurgle followers? I see the 3 triangle dots everywhere, and they are very mutated, though you said that Willow was being watched by the Magos Biologist, which I believe is an Imperial Organisation.
Skalk Bloodaxe wrote:I was wondering about the dots as well, is a very familiar symbol in an army that I'm working on...
Again I am awed by the work you do. Really looking forward to seeing what you do next.
Erh... Yes, most of them fell to the loving clutch of Papa Nurgle...
I haven't written down anything here about the fluff of this army, for most of it is still whirling in my head.
The general background is on the Tranch world, in the Calixis sector (the setting of the Dark Heresy RPG). In the rulebook, Tranch in only described in a few words, where they only mention the planet is home to an everlasting civil war between the imperial loyalists and a rebellious uprising of mutants. In the Inquisitorial's handbook, there are also a few lines on Tranch, stating that imperial forces from all the sector are deployed on the planet, and those who survive their "tour" on the planet come back jaded & forever marked by what they saw and had to fight down there...
How much grimdark is that?
From this, I imagined that chaotic forces would also be attracted to Tranch to prove their worth to their dark masters, and that some of the mutants would have turned to one of the Ruinous Powers a long, long time ago...
I also have my idea about how the conflict escalated into an all-out war, but I'd like to keep it a surprise until I find a way to write it down properly.. with enough drama & grimdark infused in it!
As for the "imperial-sided" penal legion, it might be possible for some factions (even some Magos Biologis), to turn from their original beliefs & side with the enemy...
Some of the renegades also have more links with Slaanesh than Nurgle, as I want to show the complexity of the forces involved, and the different alignments within... (and, for those who caught the detail : "Himeros" ' gun is an old "Eldar lasgun"!!! What better link with Slaanesh ha ha ha?!?) Plus I love those Daemonette heads!
fatty wrote:my own guard have bright green and dhebe stone/bleached bone armour. the vehicle (only one valkery) will get a bright green top and the same dhebe stone/bleached bone combo underneath kind of like snakes. an honouring too Jack the snake
As in "Snake!!! Snake!?!? Snaaaaaaaaake!!!!" ???
As for the colours, I'm still debating on them as well...
The bone + red I used on my test Plague Marine seems quite nice :
But the bone + green also appeals to me, especially when I see some really nice minis such as :
[guys, I just hope you won't mind me showing your minis on my thread... It's for the Greater Good uh]
Nemissary's :
or lifeofshan's :
or maybe yours ? (feel free post a pic if you have some!!!)
Yggdrasil wrote: And, Rose_Mountainz : I've had my eyes on the DE masks as well for this army, I'm pretty sure they'd look good... I've ordered a few on the internet, we'll see when I get them!
Could you tell me where you've ordered them? (it's for my Emperor's children)
Thanks!
@ M.K. : Thanks! That name sprung unexpectedly to my mind, but it sounds too cool to forget it lol!
@ Perkustin : Thank you sir.
Actually, that's quite funny. Indeed, I may not have mentioned it but I (roughly) posted the troopers in each squad from least to most favourite (it's a bit hard to tell for some of them).
So, if you check again : - the one I like the least among the Penal Legionnaires is "Himeros"; - the one I prefer in the regular "Guardsmen" squad is "Kretheus".
In other words, YOU prefer both my least & most favourite models...
Am I the only one to think this is funny (in a "weird" kind of way)?
Blown away by the character in each penal legionnaire. I've also been using split torsos and legs from the flagellants for my chaos cultists and zombies in my nurgle traitor guard.
I'm assuming you'll be counting the different wargear as being all lasguns?
Your work is full of new inspiration for me Please continue and get painting!
Sure, I guess no one will object to them being all fitted with different stuff, that will all count as "lasguns"...
Not WYSIWYG, but GW's official Penal Legions (Schaeffer's Last Chancers) aren't either.
I'll have a look at you blog for sure...
Thanks for the kind comment... Each single one of them has cost me hours rampaging through my bitz boxes to find the one piece that would make it different from the others, so I'm pleased to see those people who notice!
samwellfrm wrote:Nice work. In my Dark Heresy campaign, we had a mission on Tranch. Your brief fluff is what pulled me in.
Nice to hear!
What part of the fluff did inspire you?
Llamahead wrote:Really good stuff here what parts did you use for "Jugger".
Erh... That was some time ago, but I think it is something like : - Tau Fire Warrior legs with VC Zombie feet, - Tau Fire Warrior torso, - Cadian Command Power fist, holding a Forge World Elysian flamer cut so as to look like a shotgun, - Forge World Renegades arm with blade, with the blade cut off and a shield made of a Tau Fire Warrior shoulder pad, - Cadian head with Cadian Command rebreather, - Bass strings, - Some Cadian gear (waterbottle / magazine pouch / knife), - erh, no... That's about all...
Yeah, should I do it once again, I'd probably go for larger feet (Catachan boots would seem good), for as it is now, there's quite a discrepancy between the upper & the lower part of the mini...
Thanks for the info on Tranch, it seems like a good place to start to build a planet and its contents. Trooper Krill is rather scary. and imo the green and bone looks the best. maybe a grimmer green though.
Automatically Appended Next Post: Thanks for the info on Tranch, it seems like a good place to start to build a planet and its contents. Trooper Krill is rather scary. and imo the green and bone looks the best. maybe a grimmer green though.
Awesome to see this thread bumped. Love it every time I see it. Any chance of an update? I know you have other projects going on, but this was one of the main inspirations for me to work on my own TG / CC army.
Ha, I'm glad some people like it, but unfortunately I don't have any Traitor guards material to work with in here... So next updates shouldn't be before... December, maybe?
Still, thanks for the support, guys... Much appreciated.
I simply love your penal legion, the detail you get into in the fluff really gives them character & makes them stand out - my favourite has to be Tankbuster, that's some interesting background. Roll on December!
Thanks mate!
Tankbuster is one of my favourites too, model-wise... Really simple, but it has an... Aura of some sort, I think...
Maybe that's why I was so inspired for a story?
As I am currently reviewing the fluff on the Tranch world in the Dark Heresy books, I am beginning to get concerned. Indeed, I was first really intrigued by that world, for it had only 2 lines of text in the Core Rulebook, enough to set up a background but leave me free to imagine all the rest, and by now it's been covered in The Inquisitor's Handbook, Disciples of the Dark Gods, and the Radical's Handbook... Giving excruciating details to some parts of the story that won't fit with my vision...
So I now have two options :
- get a new world from the Calixis Sector, that hasn't been covered in any of the DH books;
- or find another excuse for it to happen on Tranch nevertheless. Best thing I've had in mind : a "renegade" Inquisitor's testimony that the few horrors & events reported that "leaked" from the planet records, however unbearable, tainted & ominous they were (that's the Dark Heresy "canon" stuff), were in fact hiding an even darker truth (my stuff).
Do you think that would be possible?
Also, I should change the title to "project on modelling pause, musings on the background", shouldn't I?
Must agree with Tom. The strength of your thread isn't the fluff, it's the outstanding modeling and painting. Now if you need the fluff to be in order so you can DO the modeling and painting... that I understand. But this is seriously cool work, it should continue.
I would go into a new world and see what you can do with that, if you can't find any worlds suitable for you, then maybe try to find some way to twist the fluff around and have it fit for what you need. I personally don't like twisting the fluff up too much if i can help it, if i can't well... it is just fluff
MajorTom11 wrote:Dude, I don't care about the backstory, I want to see those great minis painted by you!
Can always do rewrites later
Well I do care about the backstory, and those models aren't here anyway, so I can only think about the fluff!
alarmingrick wrote:Fantastic work have going here!
Thx!
Gitsplitta wrote:Must agree with Tom. The strength of your thread isn't the fluff, it's the outstanding modeling and painting. Now if you need the fluff to be in order so you can DO the modeling and painting... that I understand. But this is seriously cool work, it should continue.
Hey, it's not meant to be left aside, but postponed until I can give them proper care... Oh, and I have to find a paint scheme for them too...
Sageheart wrote:I would go into a new world and see what you can do with that, if you can't find any worlds suitable for you, then maybe try to find some way to twist the fluff around and have it fit for what you need. I personally don't like twisting the fluff up too much if i can help it, if i can't well... it is just fluff
Well, something like 50% of the "DH-canon" fluff would match with my story... So I'm still struggling...
All in all, I'm also struggling to burrow through all the DH books I can put my hands on ATM, and filing all the planets / hives / geographical & political situations, locations, known organizations, etc... It's a scribe's fulltime job!!!
I bet in a few weeks I'll have to change my DCM rank to "DH Archivist Adept" lol!
Brown and grey! As if they don't have a standard uniform (since they are misfit rebels). To identify them as a cult or group, you could give them smearings of paint on their shoulders, chest, or face.
Just my thoughts. I see them as a dirty group of mutants who have very limited resources.
if i were you, yggs, i would make up a planet and a war on it so that you can fit your army in.
when you start a project, you must ask yourself this- am i building an army around the fluff or the fluff around the army?
since you already have all those epic models which cannot be undone and since fluff is very much mutable (GW has shown us that ) i believe that rewriting your location and removing the Tranch references is the way to go.
if you want i can think of fluff for you, or you can get another Dakkanaut to write it for you, i'm sure many people who write fluff as a hobby would be glad to help.
samwellfrm wrote:Brown and grey! As if they don't have a standard uniform (since they are misfit rebels). To identify them as a cult or group, you could give them smearings of paint on their shoulders, chest, or face.
Just my thoughts. I see them as a dirty group of mutants who have very limited resources.
Actually I had rather imagined them as a PDF or IG force that had turned badly... but for good reasons (at first).
So they would have had, at some point, access to a lot of resources, even swayed a hive or two and its manufactorums...
Blackhoof wrote:if i were you, yggs, i would make up a planet and a war on it so that you can fit your army in.
when you start a project, you must ask yourself this- am i building an army around the fluff or the fluff around the army?
since you already have all those epic models which cannot be undone and since fluff is very much mutable (GW has shown us that ) i believe that rewriting your location and removing the Tranch references is the way to go.
if you want i can think of fluff for you, or you can get another Dakkanaut to write it for you, i'm sure many people who write fluff as a hobby would be glad to help.
I guess I will have to see to that... I have been through Dark Heresy Core Rulebook, Disciples of the Dark Gods, Creatures Anathema.. I still have to finish The Inquisitor's Handbook, go through The Radical's Handbook, and those few Campaign Books (which often focus on one or two planets, so that should go easily). But there are so many planets !
Still, here is a piece of fluff regarding Tranch. It's the first of a three-parts story, and has no link whatsoever with my renegade IG army... If you have the strength to read through it, and give some comment / correct grammatical & spelling mistakes, that'd be great ! I struggled a lot with tenses, and changed from preterit to past perfect a few times, so there may still be discrepancies / mistakes !
Spoiler:
Tranch. A “compliant world”, according to the current Imperial situation reports. A “peacekeeping operation”, according to our mission briefing.
Gorgon Commando Platoon? We would rather say “deathpit” and “drop into hell”.
* * *
The Bog. Explosion. Crippled.
Calixis Sector, 789.M41 The Green Marsh, somewhere in the Soot Warrens, Tranch Hive world. Two months ago.
Gorgon Commando Platoon, the battlegroup’s ever-ready quick reaction force, had been assigned to yet another surveillance mission. They were the most hardened troops in the 15th Baraspinan, yet their skills were being wasted on baby-sitting Imperial adepts, sent to the surface to assess the sluggish reconstruction progress. After spending months in the thick of the fight against the mutant hordes, it was proving hard not to appear jaded at that type of mission. They had spread out in an eastward, fan-like formation around the complex where the Administratum emissaries were meeting the local Munitorum specialists. Their mission was simple: monitor the murky, decaying wood that bordered the eastern fringe of the complex – the only place where mutants could come from undetected. Two squads, Gorgon 10 and Gorgon 20, were tasked with defending the compound; the last one, Gorgon 30, had deployed on a forward outpost, deeper into the marsh. With no apparent danger, that routine mission quickly turned out into a “sit-and-wait”. Only two veterans from Gorgon 30 were painstakingly trying to peer through the stale mist that surrounded their position. The others each had their own occupation, a personal hobby that all guardsmen learn to develop shortly after they enlist, both to fight boredom and insanity. Catspaw was desperately trying to hone his non-existent psychic skills by shuffling a deck of the Emperor’s Tarot. Dynes was thoroughly sharpening his standard issue bayonet, almost turning the edge into a mono-blade. Hedgehog, as ever, was trying to convince Old Joe that he would buy a magnificent mansion on Quaddis, after his service in the Imperial Guard. Gunnar was kneeling, chanting with a low voice some psalms he had learned from the Credo Imperialis. Lieutenant Calvin, the squad leader, smiled as he set his piercing blue eyes on each of his trooper, and revelled in their mere presence. However boring that mission was, it still was better than a lifelong labour into a polluted sub-hive. So when a slightly hunched adept, clad in heavy layers of a stained, purple fabric, limped from the complex to the forward outpost, they barely registered his presence, thinking he was one of their charges, who wanted to feel the “thrill of the war”. They never had a chance to think over it. For the hunched figure was in fact a mutant, a member of the Pale Throng, the very cult that had sparked that harrowing conflict on the planet. Underneath his heavy robes, an explosive device had been crudely grafted to his chest. The mutant glanced around as he stepped inside the combat position, a baleful hatred twisting his already hideous features. The lackeys of the False Emperor are there as predicted, he grinned, before he triggered the murderous device, and died with a soul-chilling shriek that resonated alongside the lethal shockwave. Out of the ten hardened veterans who had taken position inside the outpost, six were instantly vaporized by the explosion. But worse than death, their essence was prevented from reaching the Emperor’s side, dissolved by the psychic anguish which had merged with the blast upon the mutant’s death. The remaining four survived, shielded from the worst of the explosion by their comrades – thought some say they actually were the unlucky ones. Their limbs had been pierced by deadly shrapnels; their lungs, charred after the heatwave coerced its way down their throat; their bones, shattered by a concussion that could have broken an Ogryn skull. The heat of the blast had caused las power packs to explode inside their webbings, adding acidic burns to the already horrendous wounds they were suffering from. One group had rushed in to evacuate the fallen, only to be caught in further explosions as grenades and heavy bolter rounds had eventually gone off in the blaze, dealing scores of other injuries to both the rescue party and the wounded. It had taken no less than three hours to complete the medevacs. A whole infantry company from 23rd Lindian, despatched as reinforcements, was ambushed on the attack site. A horde of mutants had emerged from the shallow marshes just as they had disembarked from their Chimera APCs. They had savagely thrown themselves, clawing and biting, against the horrified guardsmen, catching them off-guard. Their captain had quickly organised an efficient, if hasty, defence. The mutants had been repelled, but not without inflicting more injuries to the loyalist force. More than one third of proud Gorgon had been neutralized in that treacherous suicide attack. Deemed combat-ineffective, they were removed from the front lines, and sent to orbit to tend their wounds.
Rawson wrote:You, sir, must have quite the wonderous bits box to create all of these crazy guardsmen! Well done!
Keep it up!
Cheers,
Rawson
Thanks Rawson,
I actually have a lot of bits boxes, TBH... Well, I sometimes just buy whole kits for a few bits, and store the rest for a hypothetical future use.
Upside is I have a lot of bits, downside is it takes me ages to build models !
alabamaheretic wrote:sounds good yggs looking forward to more
Thanks mate... Second part is written too, I'm trying to figure out how to get myself out of the bog of the third part... And, more literally, how to get the Greyhounds out of the bog they're in too lol !
I'll probably post second part in a few days, when I can get to transfer the word file...
Calixis Sector, 789.M41
Fourth Group, Battlefleet Calixis
Acheron’s Pilgrim, Dauntless-class light cruiser, in orbit around Tranch.
Three days before drop.
So, that was finally it. He had waited a long time for that. He had enlisted as a mere guardsman, his family having none of the connections that could grant their only son a status of officer, nor even as a non-commissioned officer.
Not that it had bothered him, at the time. He had been happy to “climb up the Imperial ladder”, as he kept saying around when in company of his fellow officers. Now the years were starting to show, and he sometimes felt a pinch when he compared himself to the young lieutenants that were assigned to his regiment. So full of life, so eager to despatch the foes of Mankind and spread the Emperor’s light in the darkest coils of the Calixis Sector. His experience more than made up for their naive enthusiasm; his endurance, for their vitality. He was a faithful servant of the God-Emperor, a skilled leader and a ruthless soldier. But he was slowly growing weary of waging those dirty wars.
Three years ago, after a successful campaign in the Scarus sector, Sergeant Holly had been promoted to Lieutenant. Keeping true to his former regiment’s traditions, he then had volunteered for the 17th Baraspinan Regiment, and was selected to join the ranks of their elite unit: the Greyhound Commando Platoon. 17th Baraspinan was spread over the entire Fourth Group of Battlefleet Calixis, as independent assault engineer combat teams. Their specialized skills at engineer warfare were not that often useful in engagements, so they were mostly reduced to guard and reserve duty, much to his – and his men’s – dismay.
All had changed, when the Gorgon Commando Platoon, from 15th Baraspinan, had been crippled in a suicide attack in the Soot Warrens. Disregarding doctrinal differences and regimental rivalries in favour of combat effectiveness and homeworld coherency, battlegroup command had ordered one squad from the Greyhounds being sent to make up for their losses. Colonel Kref, Lord of 17th Baraspinan, had himself chosen Lieutenant Holly’s squad to fill in their ranks. So they had hastily been relocated to the 15th Baraspinan flagship, Acheron’s Pilgrim. The welcome had been cold - some uttered the word “icy”. After three weeks among the Gorgons, they were barely feeling amongst allies, and much less than comfortable. But the wounded had recovered, and the ramshackle platoon was now preparing for their return to Tranch’s surface. The cleansing of a mutant shantytown, dubbed Mabyan, was the objective. Intelligence expected low resistance from the assembled hordes in Mabyan, but there was a high risk of heavy reinforcements from the north-east. Two companies would tackle the main objective; Gorgon was to infiltrate through the marsh north of Mabyan, and prevent any reinforcement from reaching the mutant shelter.
Orders were given, weapons were blessed, prayers to the Emperor were spoken.
Yes, that was finally it.
Part 3 :
Spoiler:
* * *
Planetfall.
First Blood.
Evacuation.
Calixis Sector, 789.M41
Fourth Group, Battlefleet Calixis
Two kilometres north of Mabyan, Soot Warrens, Tranch.
One hour after drop.
The infiltration was proceeding smoothly. It was a hit-and-run raid on Mabyan, so they had left most of the heavy equipment inside the Valkyrie gunships.
Though he kept his voice low, Big D. was joking over the vox: “Hey, Dizzy, don’t you wish you had left your scorcher home? – Nope, said the heavy flamer specialist, I’d then be hard-pushed to grill the mutant ribs you ordered for lunch!”
There was a good feeling in the air, as Greyhound squad eventually had made planetfall on the dreaded Tranch. Still, the veteran guardsmen knew better than to let their guard down, and were advancing with extreme caution through the murky wood. Their final position was only five hundred meters away.
As they passed a patch of dry soil, they noticed some plasteel and rockrete slabs, reaching out from the depths of the marsh. There had been some buildings up here, now swallowed by the instable mud. As if the world itself was rebelling against the rightful presence of Mankind in that wretched place. Their progression was slowing more and more, as they burrowed through ever-thicker vegetation. They could not see farther than fifty meters ahead, and the suction sounds their boots were making as they struggled to move forward in the slimy soil prevented them from hearing anything else. Though the sun hadn’t shown up yet, the first rays of light were beginning to brighten the cloud-streaked dark sky. They had to hurry, if they wanted to reach their objective before daylight.
“Greyhound from Gorgon 10, we are twenty meters west from our objective, crackled the vox. Support layout is set, prepare to seize and hold your designated compound, fifty meters north. Report in ten minutes.”
Lt. Holly mustered his squad. “Ok, Greyhounds, you heard Gorgon 10? We’re supposed to be on target in less than ten minutes. Dizzy, you take point. Scorch everything that dares to show up. Big D, you provide support for him, no jokes. I’ll be third, the rest following behind. The Greyhounds don’t let the Gorgon down!”
They had had little time to get used to the fighting conditions in the Soot Warrens, hot, wet, and with an acrid scent of a long-burning world. Yet, close-quarter warfare was their specialty, so Holly was confident in his men’s ability to face the “heavy reinforcements” the intelligence officers had warned about. Pushing his men forward, he silently formed a prayer to the Emperor, and steeled himself for the coming fight.
Five minutes later, they reached the outer hedges that surrounded the compound, without any sign that they had been spotted. As Holly was about to give the command for seizing the building, ululating cries and inhuman roars broke out from all round them, denying them the satisfaction of a stealthy insertion. That pit was a set up! Unwilling to waste time thinking, Holly just kept true to his mission: “Greyhounds, run to the compound, now! Move, move!”
Just when he stood from behind his cover, hell unleashed upon them from all directions at once. As he was running towards the shelter of the compound, his trained mind registered the sharp whistling of lasguns, the hard clatter of autoguns, and even the deafening bark of a heavy bolter. “Get in here, quick!, he yelled at his troopers. Search the building for threats, then prepare to defend the site!” He then opened a link to Gorgon 10, calmly stating: “Greyhound, contact.” It was all that he needed to report for now. Not that he had anything else to add, anyway. Ten seconds later, they were rushing inside their makeshift shelter.
Hopefully, the compound had been deserted, and they swiftly got into firing positions. It was actually more of a large, rectangular courtyard, formed by eight-metre tall, one-metre thick walls and a small L-shaped living hab in one corner. The structure hadn’t been abandoned for more than one standard month, yet it looked like it was about to crumble on them.
Lieutenant Holly, once assured his squad was safe inside, took a moment to assess the situation. He hoped the compound would withstand the enemy assault. As for their foes, it was pretty clear they weren’t enemy reinforcements: they had been here all along! He needed to know more about them. “Grind, sitrep!” he asked his most trusted NCO. “All entries are covered, Sir! We have four men on the catwalk overlooking the surrounding wall, watching north, east and south. Three covering the ground doors. Enemy strength is estimated to a five-man team, including a heavy bolter, fifty meters north of our position, and a fifteen-strong group, a hundred meters to our east. We can’t see them for now, the vegetation’s too thick. Sanders took a gunshot in the leg, but the bleeding has been stopped. He can walk.” Holly reported those elements to Gorgon 10, and enquired about the main assault on Mabyan. “Everything is proceeding as planned, Greyhound”, came the reply. Holly could hear gunshots over Lieutenant Esteban’s unshaken voice. Esteban had been Gorgon’s platoon leader for two standard years now. He wasn’t the young, charismatic leader Holly had expected at the head of such a renowned unit. Instead, he had met an almost good-natured guardsman in his mid-thirties, resilient as an oak, but not the talkative kind. He preferred to keep his thoughts to himself, something his men were resenting him for. Losing six of his men in the suicide attack had been a hard blow to Gorgon though, but he had managed to keep the unit afloat. To an outsider like Holly, it seems he had since obtained the full support and respect from his subordinates. Yeah, I still consider myself as an outsider, thought Holly. Actually, both Greyhounds and Gorgons still felt awkward with each other: the former, awed by the Gorgons’ reputation, the latter, still feeling the loss of their third squad, hence being a bit harsh when dealing with the “newcomers”.
His thoughts were lingering on that issue, when the surrounding mutants opened fire at the compound. The Greyhound’s response was an impressive sight to behold, each of them unloading their guns with unmasked hatred. But they were shooting back at shadows and rustling leaves, not seeing any of their foes during the short engagement. Grind reported, “The mutants seem to have come closer, Sir! I do not think we’ve hurt, nor deterred them! I suggest we move to a more favourable position, maybe closer to the Gorgons? – Right, Holly replied, that compound doesn’t seem that great a defensive position. Greyhounds, prepare to mo –” The crack of thunder covered the rest of the Lieutenant’s order. An explosion burst out in the courtyard, hurling rocks, debris, and metal shards alike in deadly shrapnel that engulfed the Greyhounds. Lt. Holly tried to shout his men into taking cover, but the words never left his lips, instead ending in inaudible gargles in his throat. Slowly raising his hand to his neck, he felt the warm flow of blood, dripping down his fingers from a gaping wound under his chin. He felt his legs give in under him, and stumbled backwards before crashing down against the hab wall. The world went blurry around him, and he barely recognized the soldier who rushed to him, already trying to stop the dark blood from leaving his body. His mind barely registered Grind – or was it Vyper? – calling out for an emergency medevac, and his first thought went to his guardsmen. “Are any other wounded?”, he wanted to ask, but he couldn’t voice out his question, nor give further orders. Turning his head, he watched Dizzy swaddle Big D’s bleeding arm with bandages. He seemed to remain in fighting condition; Holly felt relieved. “Stop moving, Sir, said Grind, we need to stop the bleeding!” The pain wasn’t that strong, after all. Or maybe nerves had been cut by the shrapnel? Or were the painkillers quicker to numb his senses? He couldn’t tell for sure. What he was sure of, however, is that he was feeling terribly sleepy. It seemed the effect of adrenaline was wearing off, and suddenly all he wanted was to fall into the clutch of unconsciousness. You’ll give up when you’re dead, you dumbnuts! Those were the words of the drill-abbot back on Baraspine, fifteen years ago. He had shouted them at his men more than any other word, yet they somehow sounded hollow in here, in that moment. He tried to harness his will into standing up, tried to get the medic away from his wound, tried to fight away the dizziness; as if ignoring the wound would somehow erase it. All he managed to do was to accelerate the flow of blood, soaking up the third bandage that was around his neck.
Grind, the ruthless sergeant, was trying to set up a closer defence layout, while organizing the medevac. “Gorgon 10, we won’t be able to hold our position, we need some support to evacuate the lieutenant! We are still engaged with enemy forces, closing in on our position. We need some air support, and request a Valkyrie to get the wounded to safety!” Another two minutes passed before he got a reply from Lt. Esteban : “Greyhound, two Valks are en route to your position, ETA ten minutes. There’s a clearing one hundred metres south-west of your position. We are currently moving to that location, and securing it as a LZ for the medevac. Can you get the Greyhounds in there in ten minutes? – Wilco, Gorgon 10. Grind felt a wave of relief spread inside his head. We’ll make it five.” In good order, the Greyhounds disengaged from the compound, one fire team carrying the unconscious Holly in a makeshift stretcher, the other providing support fire from the mutants at their tail. In less than five minutes, they had reached the outer edge of the clearing. The Valkyries, too, arrived sooner than announced, their machine spirit whining with the stress put on their engines. The surrounding area was still bristling with las shots and tracer rounds, but the pilots showed no hesitation as they made their birds dive towards the smoke-signalled landing zone.
Holly rested a shaking hand on Grind’s arm. He knew his guys were safe now, they had linked with the other friendly forces, and had managed to get out of that deathtrap. Feeling at peace with himself, he gazed into his trusted sergeant with exhausted eyes, seeing him as the leader he was. He would take care of the Greyhounds, would lead them into mighty victories against His enemies. He no longer had the strength to fight, and he felt better as his mind collapsed, down into the warm embrace of eternal slumber.
Epilogue
Spoiler:
* * *
A Coffin.
Spilled Blood.
Gorgons.
Calixis Sector, 789.M41
Fourth Group, Battlefleet Calixis
Acheron’s Pilgrim, Dauntless-class light cruiser, in orbit around Tranch.
Sixteen hours after drop.
In the silent launch bay of the Acheron’s Pilgrim, the three squads forming the Gorgon were gathered around a single, plasteel coffin. Only a trained eye could notice that the Greyhounds were one step ahead of the rest of the platoon.
Lieutenant Esteban, proud in his ceremonial attire, was facing his men.
“Today, a hard battle was won. Though we had not been blessed with leading the main assault, we assuredly were tasked with the most dangerous mission. It is now confirmed that the enemy forces knew of the operation, which explains why we took the brunt of the enemy attack. But we didn’t waver, and you, Lieutenant Holly, didn’t falter either. We held our position against a mutant tide, ten times as numerous as Gorgons and Greyhounds altogether, and we allowed our main elements to carry out their mission unscathed.
Lieutenant Holly, you lead your men into the jaws of the mutants; fearless, unflinching, relentless. The Imperium has a great need of soldiers like you, and though our mission was a success, your loss is a great blow to the Gorgons, to the Calixis Sector, and to the Emperor. You had shown the unwavering will of a warrior, the cunning of a great tactician, and the heart of a great leader.
Lieutenant Grind, you are now in charge of the squad. From now, Greyhound squad will be addressed as Gorgon 30. You are Gorgons, brothers. Not by the blood received. But by the blood spilled.”
Hey Yggs, cheers for the read. Overall I quite enjoyed it but I guess what’s most useful to you is the criticism so I’ll point out a couple of things. Please feel free to completely disrergard!
The main one for me was it was at times hard to tell which squad was which. I don’t think it was particularly because they were similarly named, it was possibly because they were named in close proximity to each other often. The most obvious point was during the attack on the compound when I wasn’t sure which squad was inside it and which one was in support. Had to reread the previous paragraph or two a couple of times to get the picture clear. Seemed a bit bizarre that the squad in cover was wanting to get nearer to the guys who were exposed out in the open, but then I aint a strategist!
A particular point is the description of the compound when they first entered it. It’s a bit dry. Not saying that to be superior its just that it resonated with my own efforts at fluff/fiction. My characters always walk into a room “with a desk and a door off to one side”. Its one of my faults describing locations so I felt it was something I could point out to you clearly.
Lastly, I am 50/50 on the epilogue. Not sure if it adds to the tale or not. What it seems to me, after reading all four parts, is that this is the beginning of the story of a new regiment thrown together from the gorgons and greyhounds, that will be lead by Grint, and would then follow his and their career, rather than the tale of Holly and his heroism. I’d be interested to know if this was the intention.
As I said at the start it’s a good offering of fluff. I love it when people add narratives to their blogs, and these are merely my own observations.
Axlbush wrote:Hey Yggs, cheers for the read. Overall I quite enjoyed it but I guess what’s most useful to you is the criticism so I’ll point out a couple of things. Please feel free to completely disrergard!
Hey, at least you took some time to read AND comment, so I probably won't dismiss it that easily uh...
Axlbush wrote:The main one for me was it was at times hard to tell which squad was which. I don’t think it was particularly because they were similarly named, it was possibly because they were named in close proximity to each other often. The most obvious point was during the attack on the compound when I wasn’t sure which squad was inside it and which one was in support. Had to reread the previous paragraph or two a couple of times to get the picture clear. Seemed a bit bizarre that the squad in cover was wanting to get nearer to the guys who were exposed out in the open, but then I aint a strategist!
Well, I had a clear picture of it in my mind (having drawn sketches & all that), so one of my fears was that it wouldn't be clear enough, or confusing. I can see it is. Also, in my mind, while the Greyhounds squad got to the "secondary" compound (that is, the "secondary" for the in-story mission, but the main one from the narrative point of view) and got assaulted, the Gorgon squad would've seized their own compound/objective (the first one they stop in front of, before sending the Greyhounds to the other one).
And, when the Greyhounds realized their compound wouldn't protect them enough from the enemy firepower & numbers, and they had to get the wounded medevac'ed, the Gorgons went to secure a patch of ground where the Valkyries could land.
Does it make more sense ?
Should I re-write a few things ? Like, emphasizing the fact that they cannot hold their position for long, due to the wounded, those that try to tend the wounded, and the advancing horde of mutants, threatening to surround them ?
Emphasizing the fact that the pick-up point for the Valkyries had to be a bit farther from the fights, and being secured by the rest of Gorgon, they were safer in there (if only for the duration of the evacuation) than in the compound ?
That might prove to be necessary...
Axlbush wrote:A particular point is the description of the compound when they first entered it. It’s a bit dry. Not saying that to be superior its just that it resonated with my own efforts at fluff/fiction. My characters always walk into a room “with a desk and a door off to one side”. Its one of my faults describing locations so I felt it was something I could point out to you clearly.
Lol... Actually I wanted to keep it simple to avoid lengthy, useless descriptions, but I already have it pictured : an old tree, not unlike an oak, standing inside the courtyard, its massive leaves casting a deep shadow on the courtyard; a crumbling well in the middle of what looks like a garden, littered with scrawny vegetables and rotting bushes; a crudely-fashioned, wooden ladder that was the only way to get to the rooftop, the decaying wood threatening to give away at every steps the heavily-equipped soldier took, etc...
Do you think I should add that ?
Axlbush wrote:Lastly, I am 50/50 on the epilogue. Not sure if it adds to the tale or not. What it seems to me, after reading all four parts, is that this is the beginning of the story of a new regiment thrown together from the gorgons and greyhounds, that will be lead by Grint, and would then follow his and their career, rather than the tale of Holly and his heroism. I’d be interested to know if this was the intention.
Actually, the point in the story was to be self-contained, so yeah, that was part of the intention. We focus on Lt. Holly & his bravery (and unlucky lethal wound), but in the end, war rages on, and his unit has to keep on fighting.
Axlbush wrote:As I said at the start it’s a good offering of fluff. I love it when people add narratives to their blogs, and these are merely my own observations.
Well, thank you for reading it, and taking time to comment. That's really important to me, and it was something I had wanted to do for a long time. It is kind of a hard exercise, and I sometimes felt the outcome slip away from my reach, although I knew what I wanted, I was struggling to get there. So it is a bit longer than what I wanted, but I think it could've been worse.
Thanks !
[edit : I also moved the whole story in the Dakka fiction sub-forum in that thread.]
Wow Yggs, that was a harsh read. "Harsh" as in detailed, well structured, very descriptive, and highly emotive. Really felt the tension and the loss. Gives a great backstory to what you are going for.
