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2nd Thoth Askaris and Forgeworld Bagwa (page 7) @ 2019/07/04 13:14:18


Post by: Pyroalchi


Hi,

Here I would like to share some background I'm currently developing for my IG regiment. Maybe I will also post some pictures were it is appropiate. If you have any input or see anything that does not fit the Warhammer 40k fluff I would be happy for your feedback. It is fully intended, that the background is not really grimdark. I 'm looking forward to develop the story of a regiment with a really optimistic, idealistic view on the Imperium confronted with the reality of the 41st millenium.



2nd Thoth Askaris


Initial idea and short history of the planet and regiment:
Thoth is classified as desert world and was brought into the imperial fold during the Macharius crusade. Back then, the planet was mainly controlled by psykers and chaos worshippers. During the invasion the Tallarn desert raiders under their captain Al'Raheem made contact with indigenous tribes which called themselves the N'Go and who also struggled against the "evil witches" and their followers. These tribes held on to a deep spiritiual worship of the “great skyfather” and quickly accepted the imperial forces as emissaries and holy warriors of their god. Tribal warriors and imperial guardsmen fought side by side until finally the generals leading the crusade decided that more drastical methods were necessary. The Tallarn desert raiders and their N'Go allies were evacuated together with probes of flora and fauna and the planet was virus bombed. Afterwards both factions were allowed to resettle the desert world together. (So far the official Info on Thoth in the wiki)
During the Macharius heresy, Thoth remained loyal to the Imperium instead of any single general, which was helped by the fact that beeing only recently resettled and practically a barren desert, the planet was not really of great interest.

Being mostly forgotten some centuries passed before Thoth gained the attention of the Imperium again. The arrival of the imperial authorities was initially greeted not very enthusiastically, yet the population responded with faithful worship to the presence of Space Marines and Battle Sisters as well as preachings of the accompanying ecclesiarchy priests, quickly succumbing to the imperiums will. On the notion to solidify his position and get rid of some opposition, the appointed planetary governor quickly ordered the draft of Thoths first regiment by simply collecting almost every man and women in fighting age from the most opposing tribes and sending them off to fight the emperors wars instead of his own government. But they were not ready. Send off to fight a war which they did not understand under the leadership of astra militarum commanders they did not respect, disciplinary problems were manifold. This was not helped by the fact that the commissars controlling the regiment had some problems differentiating between a feinted retreat to prepare a trap and desertion leading to a great number of executions and a further drop in morale. In the end Thoths first regiment was destroyed on some far away world. While the authorities were underwhelmed by their performance and wanted to include further Thoth regiments only as cannon fodder, the ecclasiarchy priests and missionaries immediately realized the potential of Thoths religion and carefully steered it in a productive direction. The main force behind this was a missionary known by the name Hakeem who succeeded in calling in some favors at different positions of the administration on the promise to turn Thoth into a compliant loyal asset for the Imperium.

After the governor passed away due to an unfortunate snake bite, the old traditional council of tribes was reinstalled as government of the planet. Astropaths were send to Thoth and quickly rose to the position of revered oracles, priests visited the tribes and united them under "god send" commanders and Hakeem arranged to find more... patient commissars. The word spread that the evil witches of the old stories told at the fire place were still at large on other planets and that the first regiment drafted on Thoth had failed the skyfather when fighting them. But in his grace and forgiveness, their god granted them another chance to redeem their fallen brothers and repay their deeds. When finally the great skyships arrived again to collect "Terra's Due", they were greated by cheering and praying crowds. Lead by their Missionary now known as "Al'Abu" countless proud warriors of the tribes boarded the transports - the best and worthiest, that Thoth had to offer - eager to do the work of the skyfather and wash away the shame of their first regiments failure.


The planet Thoth

Type: Desert World
Geography: Originally being even more arid, Thoth was bombarded with a series of ice asteroids prior to resettling leading to the formation of two small oceans at the polar caps. These are surrounded by a stripe of coastal rainforest and further fertile grassland together covering about 15% of Thoths surface. The rest of the planet is made up of dry savannas and steps with a desert belt around the aequator covering about 50% of the surface.

Classification: Civilized World
After resettlement following the Macharius crusade Thoth was separated from the wider imperium for some centuries mostly due to lack of interest in the redeveloping world. Without a specific role to fill the settlement developed in a more or less self-sufficient system. The fertile polar regions are used for intensive agri- and aquaculture and harbor a huge number of cities of varying size. Three Megacities in the southern hemisphere are currently in a process of rapid growth and fusion and will most likely form Thoths first hive somewhere in the next century. Nonetheless the majority (~80%) of the population lives a life on a feudal or even feral development level in tribal communities spreading all over the planet. Since the complete annihilation of the planets chaos worshipers during the Macharius crusade, Thoth had the rare luck of not having encountered any threat – Xenos or Chaos – for centuries. While this allowed for a rather fast development of the refounded colony, the Thoth system is far from being adequately fortified. Should any of the countless enemies of the imperium attempt a serious push on the system it would hardly stand a chance without serious imperial reinforcements.

Population: ~ 500.000.000

Culture:
Even though Thoths industrial centers still possess the technology level of the 41st century Imperial Guard, generations of isolation have caused the Tallarn settlers to return to a more tribal lifestyle and adopt religious believes similar to their N’Go neighbours. These local cultures express a lot of similarity with a variety of Arabic and African cultures of ancient earth. Tribal identity is valued highly even in the more civilized regions and a large proportion of the inhabitants of the polar megacities have lived at least some years of their youth in tribal communities of their relatives as kind of “coming of age” ritual.
The N’Go have preserved a deep spiritual believe of the great sky father, his angles and oracles, which was further strengthened and rekindled by the events of the crusade. Fighting a hopeless fight against the overwhelming powers of the evil witches they had witnessed their prayers to the great skyfather being heard. They had seen mighty ships falling from the sky, their tribal tallarn brothers joining them in the hour of need and the power armored sons of their god walking amongst them. And when the skyfather had decided that the evilness of the witches was so strong, that the planet had to be cleansed, he had saved the faithful N'Go who had never strained from his path. Naturally, the ecclesiarchy holds a large mission and a great deal of influence on the planet that is formally ruled by a council of tribal elders.

Tithegrade: Decuma Prima

Thoths only relevant resource and tithe is… sand. Thoths wast deserts are rather rich in sands composed of korund and other aluminiumoxids. These are the base ingredients for armored and ceramic glasses and lenses for tanks and power armors which are produced locally in huge concentrated solar polar plants. They are furthermore valuable as additive for the production of high quality ferrocrete. On the contrary the planet is self-sufficient enough not to need much of the imperium besides every Tithe fleet towing some ice asteroids from the outer asteroid belt of the system to drop them into Thoths atmosphere to prevent it from slowly loosing humidity to solar winds.
Besides that, the tribes are a proud supplier of troops for the skyfathers holy armies, with their second tithe raising 5 million soldiers for the regimentum falling into 100 regiments. Indeed the draft of imperial regiments has had a rather stabilizing effect on Thoths society, since it keeps the population growth on a level that is sustainable for the natural resources of the planet. Furthermore the martial traditions of the tribes now have a clear enemy in form of the xenos and heretic foes of the imperium reducing clashes between the tribes to small skirmishes at best.







2nd Thoth Askaris and Forgeworld Bagwa (page 7) @ 2019/07/12 08:02:02


Post by: Pyroalchi


Recruitment

The vast majority of Thoths PDF forces consists of native warriors of the multitude of clans, tribes and coalitions, who, due to the martial traditions of the tribes, number around 10% of the population. Yet the quality of their training and equipment varies wildly, from feral hunters with obsidian knifes and wooden spears to professional warrior castes who from an early age are trained in the use of lasguns, grenade launchers and even light tanks and vehicles. Since being drafted for the tithe to the great skyfather is seen as a huge honour, the young warriors are keen to proof themselves to their tribal elders, since each chief decides who are the worthiest to go - worth beeing defined not only in strength and durability, but also in devotion to the skyfather.
In addition to that, the more civilized regions at the polar caps maintain some PDF devisions that are more or less indistinguishable from the Astra Militarum standard. Here every adult is conscripted for a year of basic military training. The most promising conscripts then usually remain as professional soldiers in the army with the selection process for the tithe draft being not very different then in the tribes.

While both sexes are treated as equal and a lot of women are also proud warriors, the tithe drafted for the emperor predominantly consisted of males. It's not that the women are forbidden from joining - and some thousands did - but the council of elders ruling the planet were aware that those send to the stars would most likely never return. The loss of a generation of males was harsch, but the population could recover from that easier than from losing a large share of their adult women. Of course this led to controversy, but in the end, the priest of the ecclesiarchy could ease the unrest by preaching that it was the will of the skyfather, that the daughters of Thoth will be the honoured guards of the planet.
Spoiler:
honestly: I wanted to try to include at least some explanation, why I only have male models in my army. I plan on including some female models from Victoria Miniatures but as long as I don't find any good female Tallarn heads or N'Go bodies, they will definitly not make up 50%




Equipment:

Besides the trusty lasgun, Thoths infantry battalions carry a large number of grenade launchers and flamers. Plasma and Meltaguns can only be produced in rather small numbers and are therefore reserved for veterans and specialists. Being more of a scouting regiment and therefore often lacking knowledge of the nature of the enemy, autoguns and missile launchers are often the heavy weapons of choice due to their flexibility. There might be more effective weapons for specific tasks, but at least you don't go totally wrong, if the tank you suspected to hide behind that rock turns out to be an infantry platoon.
The vehicle park of the regiment is obviously designed under similar considerations: speed, adaptability, sneakyness. Sentinels and different Tauros variants are included in every battalion, mostly accompanied by Hellhounds and Chimeras. Leman Russ tanks are quite rare compared to other regiments, but after a large stock of the smaller, faster Carnodon tanks was rediscovered on Tallarn, the desert raiders have arranged for some of them beeing transfered to Thoth who were welcomed eagerly. The weapons forges of Thoth have already inquired at the adeptus mechanicus, if there are any possibilities to reproduce them locally. The main weakness of the regiment is its near total lack of artillery, which is neither produced nor imported so far. Most of the 2nd Thoth commanders regard those heavy weapons as not appropriate for scouting troops, prefering to include more fast light and medium vehicles. Time will tell if this is a drastic miscalculation or indeed just the more effective approach.


2nd Thoth Askaris and Forgeworld Bagwa (page 7) @ 2019/07/12 22:44:56


Post by: theCrowe


Very nice. I like the idealism in the optimistic start. I'm looking forward to seeing some character and unit profiles. Maybe a bit of a story or two?
Pictures very welcome too. I'll be watching your progress.


2nd Thoth Askaris and Forgeworld Bagwa (page 7) @ 2019/08/12 20:11:19


Post by: Pyroalchi




Samira saba Jamila – The Oracle


Samira was born as daughter of shepherds on Tallarn and lived a simple, happy life until it became obvious that she was ridden with the dangerous burden of being a psyker. When she learned what that meant, she wept but was ultimately consoled by her family to remain strong and keep faith in the god emperor for after all, the emperor protects. And her faith she kept, from the maddening, panicking and overcrowded black ship to the frightening horrors awaiting the members of the black tithe during the selection process on Terra. Keeping on to her prayers she remained sane were other spirits broke and thus could count herself as one of the lucky few who were chosen to be stable enough to be brought before the golden throne and become an astropath.

As she spoke the language of her ancestors and was a stern follower of the imperial faith, she was selected to accompany a missionary of the Adeptus Galaxia who specifically requested for someone like her. The holy man, called Hakeem Al’Said was headed to the outer fringes of the segmentum pacificum, towards the desert world of Thoth. During the long travel, they talked a lot, about Tallarn, about her tribe, their shared religion… and about bringing the light of the imperial faith to a world of million souls hungry for spiritual guidance. And thus, Samira understood the role that was her destiny.

…..

Years have passed since these days long gone, as Samira wraps her cape around her shoulders against the cold breeze of the early morning on Thoth. Leaving the large tent, she calls her home, she slides through the tent flap and kneels down to pick up some of the dates and figs the tribesmen have left at her doorstep. Gifts of gratitude for their revered oracle, for predictions of weather and storm, of rich hunting grounds and lost livestock and the arrival of the skyships bringing trade and news from the great empire they were proud citizens of. At first she had felt very uncomfortable using the technology they had brought with them – satellites, meteorological devices and plain old radio to maintain her position as oracle, but Hakeem had eased her mind “It is for their own good. And the end will justify the means” … that was what he always said, and he was right. It had been years until she realized that at least the elders were aware of the root of her predictions always coming true, but that they really did not care. For the native N’Go and their once Tallarn brothers, the technology behind it was not different from holy divination and no less mystical and wondrous. The only thing that was important for them was that the fortunes she told them came true, and that they were the work of their great skyfather and not the evil witches of their old stories.

Lost in her memories, she feels the warm, welcoming touch of the bright sun rising over the horizon on her skin. Hears the soft ripple of the frogs in the pond that forms the center of the small oasis and the gentle rustle of the palm leaves above her. Tastes the sweetness of the dates and the fine dust of the sand brought with the wind from the vast desert planes. Things she never felt as intense back when her eyes still saw this world. Eyes closed, she “looks” to the sky, concentrating, listening to voices unheard of any of the people around her… and finally smiles. “What is it, Samira?” she hears a warm and familiar voice beside her, belonging to her old mentor. “It is time, Hakeem… they are coming.” She does not need eyes to know that behind his confident, sympathetic smile, he is concerned. Will it be enough? Will the tribes persist, where their ancestors failed the emperor? Will this great task that he put upon himself finally bear fruit, or will it all be in vain? She turns to him and plants a soft kiss on his cheek “Don’t doubt them, al’Abu. Believe in them, as they believe in you. And after all, the skyfather protects…”

And far above them, the imperial tithe fleet 423.F29 enters the system and cuts its path through the cold void of space towards a little sand coloured planet, forgotten by the unending tides of war. They will give, what’s Terras due… or suffer the consequences…



2nd Thoth Askaris and Forgeworld Bagwa (page 7) @ 2019/08/13 07:28:25


Post by: DeathKorp_Rider


Very nice backstory. It's fairly similar to one I came up with for my own custom regiment


2nd Thoth Askaris and Forgeworld Bagwa (page 7) @ 2019/08/28 13:21:11


Post by: Pyroalchi




This mini will be my Missionary Hakeem for now. To give him a more fitting look I tried to sculpt some turban out of greenstuff on the priest with chainsaw from GW. Needed some tries, but in the end it looked OK. I also really like the lava base which I made following this tutorial: https://prometianpainting.wordpress.com/2018/05/30/tutorial-lava-bases/
Regarding the paint job: I wish I could do better, especially since he is a vital part of my fluff, but at the moment that is what I'm capable of. I hope that when I improve from each model painted I can give him the great mini he deserves somewhere in the future.

I'm still working on some fluffy text for him like for Samira and will add it later.


2nd Thoth Askaris and Forgeworld Bagwa (page 7) @ 2019/09/08 19:53:20


Post by: Pyroalchi


Missionary Hakeem - Al'Abu

“So you are really serious? I mean, that’s a lot to ask for, even for the ecclesiarchy…” The old clerk of the Adeptus Administratum behind the massive mahogany desk looked puzzled at Hakeem
“It’s not for the ecclesiarchy… it’s the emperors work. And honestly, something personal. As far as I know you owe me, remember? That were your exact word back on Larsor when these heretics tried to cut your throat. ‘if you ever really need some help, whatever it is… remember, I owe you’” answered the priest in his typical calm, winning voice.
Sanginus shifted uncomfortably in his large, cushion stuffed chair thinking for some seconds and finally nodding “If you really want to cash in on that for… for this. Honestly back then I expected it would be something more in the line of a nice villa on a pleasure planet. Maybe some friendly girls for company… or boys if you prefer…”
The offer lingered in the air for some moments, yet Hakeem just asked, “Can it be done?”
Scrolling through the letter Sanginus pondered for some moments “I have seriously no idea… Switching some numbers and shuffling some schedules I might be able to give you a decade… maybe three, if you are lucky. But when the Tithefleet finally arrives, there better is a loyal planet waiting for them with a regiment eager to fight or else there will be a reckoning…” He looked again at the missionary before him. “I just wonder. Why? Why are you doing this? What is so special about this little desert rock and its savages?”
“Are you a religious man, Sanginus?”

The clerk fell silent, suddenly feeling that every word he said should better be chosen very carefully “Of course. As every loyal citizen should be.”
Hakeem just smiled “Those savages… I met them a year ago, during the siege of Opstacia. As you said, they were barely more than raw conscripts. Clad in some leftover flak armor, handed old jamming lasguns and thrown in the meat grinder. Most of them could not even understand the orders the generals were giving them. But they had faith… Much more than I have seen in any regiment I served under before. Not just the kind of faith that so many men have, when they are dying or fear to do so, but so much more. When their power packs failed, I saw them running against the enemy lines armed with stones and pointed sticks, armored and driven by the certainty that their ancestors and the skyfather they prayed to watched them proudly from the heavens.”
Sanginus looked concerned “The reports I read painted a quite different picture, you know. Desertion, refusal to obey orders, insubordination…
Both men shared a long moment of silence before Hakeem spoke again “For every man, the day comes, when he thinks about what he will leave behind in this world. What his legacy will be, if you will. After a life of service, there is still this one thing, I think I could do. Where others saw no more than unruly savages, I see a rough gem. Maybe I’m wrong, maybe they will fail again or brake in the process, but I believe that Thoth could be another jewel for the imperium and that its men and women deserve to see the light of the imperial faith. So, I beg you, help me to bring it to them.”
They shared another long eye contact before Sanginus emptied his winecup and – still a bit reluctant – signed the forms on his desked and handed them over. “I just hope I won’t regret this one day. Good luck, you will need all you can get.”
Hakeem took his papers smiling and bowed deeply to his old companion “You won’t regret it. Thank you Sanginus.” before taking his leave. It was only after he had passed along the long corridor of the administrastivum building and behind a corner in his long, confident strides that he let himself sink on a bench and exhale a long deep breath of relief. Kissing his rosarius he starred on the papers in his slightly shaking hands and whispered to himself “One done… ten to go.”


2nd Thoth Askaris and Forgeworld Bagwa (page 7) @ 2019/09/18 20:30:28


Post by: Pyroalchi


Here are some images I designed in the style of imperial recruitment/propaganda posters with Thoth Askaris as main theme.
Spoiler:







I furthermore did some editing in the texts above. First I want to call the Regimentum "Askaris" - a Suwaheli word meaning "Soldier" that was common for african colonial troops of different european countries. Secondly I realized that I severely overestimated the size of single regiments. Therefore the ~ 5 million soldiers raised for the second tithe should equal not one but more in the range of 100 regiments, even if they are rather large at 50.000 troops each.


2nd Thoth Askaris and Forgeworld Bagwa (page 7) @ 2019/10/01 12:02:40


Post by: Pyroalchi


Tribes and Soldiers of the Toth Askaris


Part I: The Maghrabian desert tribes

Following the Macharius crusade, the Tallarn colonists mainly settled down in the vast mountain and halfdesert regions around the aequator. The imperial technology brought by them proved crucial in surviving in this dry region, employing solar powered moisture collectors to fill huge subterran water zisterns. Were the ground was rocky enough to allow this, settlements were dug deep into the ground to escape the scorching heat of the desert and provide fungus farms to nourish the growing population. Still, a large proportion of the Maghrabians - as they now called themselves refering to their settled region - returned to a more traditional, nomadic, tribal lifestyle, following their lifestock and hunting prey from one meager grazing ground to the next. The descendants of Tallarn still maintain a higher level of technology than most tribes on Thoth and therefore provide the majority of tank crews and the technicians.
Here, the rank of a soldier is shown by his Shemagh. Common soldiers wear sandcoloured scarfs around their head to covers all but a small slit for the eyes against the frequent sandstorms. The most cunning and battleproven veterans earn the right to wear the purple extracted from an indigenous holy plant, while the few specialists instructed to handle the rare plasma- and melterguns proudly present their status through their turquoise headwear.

The regimental standard of these troops usually shows the holy, all seeing eye of the great skyfather, a Symbol most revered throughout all tribes on Thoth

Commanding officers form a different style of turban out of their headscarfes and proudly wear one red shoulder plate, offen with the common holy symbol of the skyfathers allseeing eye. Naturally the platoon and company commanders are drawn from the ranks of the veterans therefore also wearing purple instead of the sergants sandcoloured turbans. Amongst the most well known officers of the Maghrabians are Iskandar ben Fasil and Rasul al'Ankra. While Iskandar has shown an inspiring presence more than once, driving his warriors forward even in the face of terryfying Opposition with his blue power sword and plasma pistol, Rasul is known as a cunning and swift attacker, laying ambushes and feinting retreats before leading devestating surprise charges on his unsuspecting victimes. In battle he offen wields an ancient Scimitar said to be one of the blades once used by the legendary Captain Al'Raheem during his time on Tallarn. Both men share a long grown friendship and if finding themselves on the same battlefield usually act as platoon and company commander, suiting their chain of command according to the mission at hand.
Spoiler:

I intend on using only one of both as company commander and the other - if it all - as PC. My second Company Commander will visually be a N'Go. As you might have read I intend on giving both fixed traits and Rasul (the one with the black hat in the photos) will handle the "Claw of the desert tiger" if I take this heirloom.



The light Maghrabian tank squadrons are led by a tank commander only known under his battle name "the roaring Lion", leading his armoured columns riding in a local Leman Russ variant - the missile armed Leman Russ Decimator.



2nd Thoth Askaris and Forgeworld Bagwa (page 7) @ 2019/10/02 10:42:49


Post by: Pyroalchi


The N'Go people inhabiting Thoth before the Macharius Crusade - and resettling after the virus bombardment performed on their chaos worshipping oppressors - consist of a huge variety of tribes each with their distinctive culture, traditions and sometimes even language. The tribal warriors drafted for the imperial regiments are therefore usually formed into squads composed of one tribe each but mixed Clans thus easing their inclusion into the regiments Organisation and simultanously deepening the bond in between the clans. Lasguns are handed out to every soldier, yet some of the tribesmen prefer to also carry traditional close combat weaponry which is encouraged by the officers in charge. Shields build from a very hard, chitin-like wood are also very common and are often preferred as personal protection instead of flak armour.

Part II: Massani Clans

Settling in the dry Savannas of the southern hemisphere, the Massani are nomads, living of huge herds of local herbivors resembling horse-sized capybaras of old earth, roaming the wide planes of Thoth. While living their everyday live in a preindustrialized society, these tribes still retain a number of Sentinels and Chimeras. These are build and attended to in small cities located at the grazing grounds visited in the winter dry season.
They dress in a traditional attire colored in a deep red that represents their bond to the Massani tribe, while the clan is denoted by a large, colorful sash worn diagonally over the upper body. The soldiers are never seen without the Nkunda - a 5 feet long spear given to each hunter after being initiated to adulthood - or traditional, clublike weapons granted to the older, more experienced Squad leaders. While being mostly ceremonial alongside the regiments lasguns the N'Go are well known for being quite proficient in using these weapons even facing frightening Xenos. For protection a huge, almond-shaped shield out of the mentioned local hardwoods is used - a material similarly resistant than the chitinous hides of Tyranids. Each soldier paints his shield individually in the traditional colors black, red and white. The black represents the dark past under the oppression of the evil witches and reminds the warrior of their neverending schemes to taint his soul and his personal struggle against his dark desires. The white stands for the bright future they were gifted by the skyfather and shall inspire them to strife for personal purity and stay true to their faith. The brigth red stands for the hard and gruel challenges on the way between these two sides of life and driving the warrior onward to prove himself on the battlefield in the eyes of the skyfather and seek an honorable death - one that is worth to be remembered in the stories told at the campfire.


Part III: the N'kunda tribes

Living in the dense, coastal rainforests along the shore of Thoths northern polar ocean, the N'Kunda are dedicated hunters and pathfinders, used to follow their prey sometimes for days through the steaming jungle mists. Being more or less in the stone age, the N'Kunda usually only dress in a turquoise loincloth and a variety of brightly colored stripes of cloth and shimering feathers of paradise birds. The easy to handle guard lasguns are highly priced objects traded in from the coastal cities in exchange for food, plumages and pelts and passed down from grandparent to grandchild. Going to war each warrior traditionally protects himself with a "door shaped" wooden shield combined with a heavy, polished round flint stone club, After being deployed alongside a regiment of Krieg grenadiers, the tribesmen were so deeply impressed by those stern trenchwarriors that these clubs have been phased out for a newer design presenting a shovel-like blade at the opposing end and using iron instead of flintstone.


Part IV: the Pygmies

While the majority of rivers on Thoth flow directly towards one of the two oceans, some exeptions exist, with the most well known being the Lubagu river system on the northern hemisphere, originating from the Zinka mountains then heading southeast through steps and savannas before finally draining away somewhere in the half desert. The riversystem existed - in a smaller form - even before Thoth was bombarded with ice asteroids prior to the resettlement, including a major share of Thoths water. While it was once a lifeline of the old N'Go, its importance has since dwindeled, not to the disliking of its residents. Throughout the millenia, the rivers have cut a dystem of deep canyons in the sandy, rocky ground of Thoth. There the moisture of the river and the protection from sun and wind through the canyon walls have formed a unique microclimate and ecosystem, which could be more or less restored after the virus bombardment. The tribes settling in the crepuscule of the canyon jungles are short of statue, with proportions not unlike ratlings. Yet since they not show any of the other traits of those abhumans beside a talent for sharp-shooting the Adeptus Terra is not sure if they are a case of incomplete reintegration of ratlings into the normal human genepool or just a rather short-grown variation of the standard type. Be it as it may, the Pygmies have been introduced into Thoths regiments without significant problems and get along well with the other tribes. Living a live as hunter gatherers in simple loinclothes praying on very alert and skitish quarry, they are proficient infiltrators and scouts and have proven - after a short training period to acustom them to Longlasguns instead of bow and arrow - to be effective snipers.





2nd Thoth Askaris and Forgeworld Bagwa (page 7) @ 2019/10/14 13:03:02


Post by: Pyroalchi


Mo and Ma – the mystic twins

The small barge slowly drifted along the dense vegetation of the swampy river delta of the Lumangu as finally a handful of wooden sheds built on stilts came into view. Samira swatted another of the countless mosquitos buzzing through the air, as she felt her modest vehicle slow down and finally stop. The air was damp from the noon rains and thick with the smell of fish being smoked above small fireplaces. She had to bend down to enter the small hut she was led to, finding herself in a single, dimly lit room. The adults greeted her with the utmost respect, as it befitted an oracle of the skyfather. They handed her salt, sugar and hot tea, as it was custom around here for an honored guest, before leaving her with what she had come for. Even though she was blind, she could almost see the anxiety and nervousness on the faces of the two little girls. “My name is Samira and I’m happy to meet you two. What are your names?”
“Mo…” “Ma…” came the prompt answer and after a short pause they added “What is happening…” “… with us? Why do…” “… things move sometimes when…” “… we are thinking about it?” “And why do…” “… we hear each other’s thoughts?” Samira had heard of similar things before, at the Scholastia Psykana, not uncommon especially in twins. With as much hope and warmth as she could muster in her voice she answered, and explained them as simple as possible what burden they were carrying and why it was important to leave their families for their own protection to learn how to control these powers and not fall into darkness. Silently the two girls listened “We dreamed about a giant black bird…” “… gliding down from the sky…” “… in wings of fire. He was… “ “… coming to carry us away.” And again, Samira explained.
All of them had shed tears that night, but young as they were, they understood. Until the black ships came, Samira told her little protégés as much as she could, trying to prepare them for the horrors awaiting them, that you could not really prepare for and hoping they too would prove strong enough.

And they did. Years later they saw each other again, after Hakeem had pulled some strings as he used to. Both had grown up into dignified, silent women, blind but unbroken and still sharing their deep, intimate bond, hardly ever separating as no one else seemed to be able to tell one apart from the other. Together they joined Samira to serve as astropatic choir accompanying Thoths regiments on their journey to the stars.



Spoiler:
These two minis (from Cobblestone castings) are intended to be one psyker. They were significantly smaller than heroic scale, therefore I put them on a base with a sea lily made from clay to increase height a little bit. And being together they are also a bit wider. When I got them I just thought “these two look like some spooky twins finishing each other’s sentences”, and so I just went for it.


Otombo – the Shaman

After the blown up sand and dust of their landing place in the northern mountain range of Thoth finally settled, Hela and her Sisters stepped from the ramp of their shuttle, clad in power armor bearing the ensignia of the silent sisterhood. She was alert, as always when psykers were involved, yet the communications from the surface had been friendly, asking for coordinates to meet and complying with every precaution measure and change of plans they had submitted to prevent an ambush. As they approached, she could make out a group of some dozen people, sitting around a campfire, meditating to a slow, almost hypnotic drum beat. One of the figures stood up, a bulky, darkskinned man, clad in nothing more than a loincloth and some pelts, with golden bells at both his feet. Both hands open he approached, bowing down deeply as he closed in. As he looked her in the eyes again, she could see the pain her presence caused him in his tense face and how instincts urged him to flee or fight the abomination before him. Yet the psyker forced himself to remain calm and addressed her in a broken form of low gothic, quite obviously not being his native tongue. “I be Otombo. Shaman of Otambu tribe. You are here for me… for us. We had dream about you. About black ship coming. About the skyfather. We here to go” Hela quite frankly was surprised. Usually they had to search for their quarry or got them delivered by their fellow citizens frightened of the powers of the warp. It was something new to encounter Psykers looking forward to get to the black ships. “Are these all psykers of this region?” She could see that he did not understand her “Are more like you, around here?” she tried again, this time more successful “We all, from here to big river in south.” Knowing that there should have been more psykers born in the region, statistically she asked “Were are the others?” Her counterpart – already bleeding from the nose due to the incredible stress from her close proximity – answered only “When young shaman too weak, dark things come at night, through his dreams. When they are too weak, we find them, and we make an end before dark things can find a way in our world. We will never suffer the evil witches again. We will never be their slaves again!” She nodded approvingly, and led the small assembly into the shuttle.



Spoiler:
This mini is from Cobblestone Castings „Ngoni Chiefs and Witchdoctors“ set. Interestingly those are relatively big and bulky (I will post more later) and fit quite nicely with heroic scale minis. This guy somehow just screamed “Shaman” and fluff wise I thought that there might as well be psykers on feral worlds who figure out how to control their powers without turning to the chaos gods even before being trained by the Scholastia Psykana. So this was his background idea. The base is made from clay and intended to be a tree stump.



Edit: all three astropaths together for size comparison


2nd Thoth Askaris and Forgeworld Bagwa (page 7) @ 2019/10/14 17:32:35


Post by: theCrowe


It's really great to see such a deep dive into a homebrew 40k guards army. Great to see so many non GW conversions. Really refreshing and seems so full of potential for anything you can imagine. Great job!


2nd Thoth Askaris and Forgeworld Bagwa (page 7) @ 2019/10/14 20:25:36


Post by: Pyroalchi


Thanks a lot. It is a lot of fun to always find new ways for conversion and the background I got for the regiment allows (and almost forces) for so much diversity.

Here is another one:

King Bantu

Gnaarak let out an ear deafening roar, running after the fat little humie that had been such a pest for the last week. Stupid little git, thinking he could prey on the mighty Gnaarak. Dozends of times he had seen him and his pelt wearing bunch in the distance, watching him and his boyz from large trees or rocks in ghostly silence out of their painted skull eyes, vanishing as soon as they came after them. But one after the other, they had found them and hacked and blasted them to pieces, teaching the stupid fleshbags that Orks are hunters and not the other way around. Fair enough, they had lost Mad Eye Skonka in a spear trap… and his grots Staby and Sticky had been eaten by some kind of scaled swamp monstrosity led to their camp at night… and his biketires had been cut until they had to leave it behind… and than there had been the poisoned arrows… honestly the stupid humie had not been bad at what he was doing, Gnaarak had to grudgingly admit. But that did not matter anymore… He had caught the little bugger sneaking around the bushes and send him flying some yards with a single slap of his wrist, surely breaking some rips. Now it was only him and the fat little guy, reeking of sweat, blood and fear, trying to outrun him – which was futile. His long strides drew him closer and closer and he rejoiced in anticipation of cracking this little pests head with his bare hands. Running for his useless little live, the git dodged and ducked, sliping through the narrow gap under a fallen tree trunk – Gnaarack just bursted through it, sending the old wood into a cloud of flying debris with a hit of his big choppa not even slowing down – 10 meters… The humie ran over another small trunk, spanning over a small puddle looking suspiciously like quicksand – Gnaarack flexed his thick muscled legs and just jumped across – 7 meters left. His victim tried to twist and turn around thorned bushes and poisonous leafs – Gnaarack just walzed right through, barely feeling them scratch his thick, green skin – 4 meters. In a last, ridiculous attempt to avoid the inevitable, the git bend down a bunch of bambus rods to smash them into Gnaaraks face – he just let out a deep roaring laugh as they brushed against his brow reaching out to grab the humie who had jumped into the cover of a rock and turn him into pulp as he deserved it. His mind was full of the hot, searing rage of battle, the lust for fight and bloodshed, too full to even notice the small tripwire, he just set food on… and suddenly their was a deafening boom and the whole world seemed to turn into a thunder of blades and shrapnel. One of the last things he saw, as the dust of the claymore mine settled, was the swift cresecent of a swung power lance decapacitating him and the hunter, breathing at the top of his lungs, bleeding and barely holding upright as the fading adrenalin reminded him of his broken rips and exhaustion. He grabbed Gnaaraks severed head and rose it into the air celebrating the worth of his kill. T’was a good way to die…



Bantu, King of the Tabele people of the dry rainforests of the Kunda province is a living legend among the hunters of the N’Go. Having bested every dangerous beast he could find on Thoth, oftentimes only armed with a knife or even barehanded, the embellished stories told about him at the fireplaces remind a lot of Imperial Guardsmen talking about Sly Marbo. Secretly fearing to die weak of old age in bed, Bantu took the opportunity to lead his people to the stars when the tithefleet came – searching for the mighty beast that would finally be his match, kill it for the glory of the emperor, or die trying. Inspired by his rallying cry a hundred thousand warriors of the low land tribes gathered around his banner eager to proof themselves in the eyes of their idol and the skyfather. Bantu surrounds himself with an inner circle of proud warriors, marking their status by their white war paint covering the face with a skull image, symbolizing their search for a glorious dead. Having heard of the deaths of hundreds of his tribesmen in a fight against a monstrous tyranid creature offworld, Bantu has taken up the trace of the abomination. As a hunter he is patient, methodically collecting information about his nemesis to finally face the monstrosity and bury his old grudge.
The council of elders, witchdoctors and shamans of the N’Go granted Bantu a mighty power lance, said to be forged out of one of the revered Macharian blades beared by the generals of the imperial saint during his crusade – a weapon worthy for one of the greatest warriors of their people that ever lived.



When I saw his mini I was in awe thinking “this guy might have fat around the belly, but underneath, he is packed with muscles. This is not an old, tired chief of a backwater feral tribe, this is someone who has beaten every challenge his planet could muster and now he is out for blood – that of the emperors enemies or his own, as long as it flows in a glorious battle.” So here he is, in all his glory

As indicated: I intend Bantu to wear the blade of conquest or a power lance (depending on how adamant my opponent is on “what you see is what you get”. But I would insist, that “Blade of Conquest” might also include a blade mounted on a spear shaft.
Normally I would not take him as a warlord, since I like the Tallarn “swift attacker” more, but due to the backstory that somehow told itself, he will be my “old grudges” warlord, should I ever meet a Tyranids player. He will most likely die without making much damage, but he will definitely try to get into CC and smash some mandibles!

His Command squad is also from Cobblestone castings, the guys from the “Ngoni Chiefs and Witchdoctors” set, the medic from the “African princesses” pack and the standards from Wargames Foundries Aztec line. I’m not completely sold on the color scheme for the medics standard, but for now it will suffice. Since they are obviously armed for CC I will run them as Laspistol + Chainsword armed, if my opponent does not have to much of a problem with WSYIWYG




2nd Thoth Askaris and Forgeworld Bagwa (page 7) @ 2019/10/25 10:08:40


Post by: Pyroalchi


The Thoth System

The systems central star is called “Mawu” by its residents – referring to an ancient goddess of creation, sun and life. Being younger and about 50% bigger than sol, Mawu shines in a bright, white light and burns relatively steady. Flares and sun eruptions are less common and the solar winds are weaker than in the Terra system, yet the higher percentage of UV radiation in Mawus spectrum affords additional protection on the planets without a protecting ozone layer. The system is further composed of 3 rock planets, two gasgiants and a large asteroid belt. Due to the importance of its second planet, the system itself is commonly referred to as Thoth.

Thoth 1 – Bagwa
Classification: Industrial World (in construction)
Population:
992.M41 (before the night of a thousand rebellions) approximately 20.000 Adeptus Mechanicum personnel, 100.000 Servitors
50 M42: 40.000 AdMech personell, 300.000 Servitors, 200.000 Skitarii
100 M42: 100.000 AdMech, 600.000 Servitors, 400.000 Skitarii


Being a rock planet about 70% the size of Venus, Bagwas orbit around Mawu is tidally locked, separating the planet into one side of eternal night and one of neverending day. Its atmosphere is composed predominantly of nitrogen and carbondioxyde with only traces of water therefore lacking any presence of clouds. Together with its mineral composition being rich in silicium and rare earths the planet is incredibly suited for solar power generation. After the system was conquered by the Macharius Crusade, accompanying Adeptus Mechanicus forces established a small outpost on Bagwa, mostly consisting of Servitors and tasked with the construction of concentrated solar power plants and photovoltaic cells and facilities to produce those. Furthermore the infrastructure to support a yet to be founded industrial complex on the night side was planned to eventually turn Bagwa into another forgeworld. The refounded colony on Thoth was ordered to support this outpost to the best of their ability in anticipation to have a powergrid ready within one decade. Complying with this task everyone involved got to work even after the Segmentum Pacificus fell into the Macharian Heresy after the saints death. Being isolated again from the imperium, the Adeptus Mechanicum mission expected to make use of the finished power grid never arrived. Puzzled about what was expected from them and concerned about potentially being punished for not following imperial orders, the rulers of Thoth decided to just continue plastering Bagwa with power plants – and the Servitors did not contradict anyway. By the time contact to the Imperium was reestablished a century later, getting rid of the surplus power had already become a problem and the grid was on the brink of breaking down due to the enormous amount of created energy. The build-up was slowed down and the forgecomplex planned so long ago finally build, focusing on the production and charging of power cells and the armaments for Thoths regiment.
Older fluff:
Spoiler:
Yet the established power resources still exceeded the demand manyfold.
Nac1r - the Magos send to the Thoth system and given free hand to regulate the Adeptus Mechanicus affairs in the region saw a unique opportunity to still his curiosity on one of his long standing fields of interests: the effect of permanent Gellar field exposure on a population as well as potential advantages and disadvantages for the systems security. In any other circumstances the project alone would have been deemed a stupid waste of energy and unnecessary risk to a loyal system, but stilling his curiosity was surely more important than half a billion lifes on some backwater planet. At first some of the leaders of Thoths council of elders where suspicious of his intentions and the purpose of the giant force projectors the Servitors had started building on Bagwa. But handing out some gifts of gratitude to Thoths defence forces in the form of tanks and other valuable equipment they lacked, ultimatly silenced those voices in blissflull ignorance. By now the Gellar field expands well until the orbit of Ulambo and might finally be large enough to include the whole system within three decades.
Much to Nac1rs regret, the effects of the field upon activation have been quite underwhelming. Imperial ships have noted a 2.9% higher energy consumption necessary to enter the warp, but nothing “interesting” happened on Thoth besides from some weak clues about the population dreaming significantly fewer – if it all. Yet a sliver of hope formed, when he started to follow reports of the black fleet. Seemingly Thoths population responds less aggressive to the presence of the Silent Sisters - maybe due to acclimatization to forceful reality. Furthermore two psychic Nulls could be acquired as part of the black tithe within only ten years – while only one would have been expected in a generation. As it is the problem with incidents as rare as the birth of a Null, it will take centuries before anyone could even guess if this was just a random coincidence or has anything to do with the Gellar field, but Nac1r is patient and until then he will study his little labrats.
Thinking about Thoths system I found the idea of a tidally locked planet with massive solar power plants appealing, yet I did not really have a good use for all the energy in mind. I collected some ideas in another thread and came up with the giant gellar field. I seriously don’t know if that would have any effect at all, therefore I aimed for some very minor effects imaginable from “increased reality”. Regarding the birth of Nulls I wanted to play around a bit with the statistical problem of incredibly rare events. If something occurs only once some hundred million births, it would be quite hard to distinguish a lucky chance event from something really increasing the probability, even by 100%.


But as the established power resources still exceeded the demand manyfold, Nac1r - the Magos send to the Thoth system and given free hand to regulate the Adeptus Mechanicus affairs in the region decided to instead try his hand in an ambitious endevour to terraform the 3rd planet of the system, Oya. Even though most of the technology used in the dark age of technology to change planets in incredible ways to make them habitable for mankind was lost, leaving the Adeptus Mechanicus with such limited tools as century or even millenia spanning atmospheric changes to heat or cool them, Nac1rs calculations indicated that all the frozen world in the system needed was some “significantly hard punches”. This led to the construction of a series of giant Macrolasers on Bagwas night side, pointing towards the outer system, with the first being finished and starting firing only a couple of years before the night of the thousand rebellions. Should Nac1r succeed in his endeavor, the system might be completed by another fertile world, ready for colonization – not a small gift for a simple backwater system, but truth be told, the magos purely undergoes it for his own curiosity and ego, eager to count himself amongst the few that could claim to have achieved such a feat since the golden age of mankind.

Besides this rather glorious purpose of the machinery, it has not slipped the attention of Thoths rulers that the macrolasers could as well – with only slight modifications – could crack Thoths crust and devastate the systems capital planet, should they ever give the Adeptus Mechanicus reason to do so. Confronted about it, Nac1r pointed out that this is merely a possibility as a last act of defiance, should the system ever fall to the heretical forces of the arch enemy, but nonetheless it remains clear that Thoth is well advised to keep on their Forgeworlds good side…

Spoiler:
Thinking about Thoths system I found the idea of a tidally locked planet with massive solar power plants appealing, yet I did not really have a good use for all the energy in mind. I collected some ideas in another thread and came up with the giant gellar field. A later edited it when I read a bit about terraforming and wanted to include a terraforming project instead, see Oya down below


Thoth2 – Thoth
Classification: Civilized world
992.M41 (before the Night of a Thousand Rebellions): ~ 500.000.000
993.M41: 400.000.000
50 M42: 1.000.000.000
100 M42: 2.000.000.000
(rapid growth due to significantly improved access to medicine, water purifiers and agricultural machinery since the reestablishment of closer ties to the Imperium of Man)

(described above)
Spoiler:
Just out of “its something new” I want Thoth to have an uncommon (and maybe unjustified) very optimistic view of the imperium. Therefore I thought that for a system seriously lacking medical technology, the reestablished contact with the Imperium might have seemed like a miracle more than making up for the loss of people to the tithes


Thoth 2a – Sharu
Classification: Research Station/Mining Outpost
Population: ~ 3000

Thoth possesses a single, small moon, and is tidally locked to its orbit – instead of the other way around as Terra and Luna. This means that viewed from Thoth Sharu rotates but is always present over the same region, therefore never appearing on the other side of the planet. The gravitational influence is almost neglectible, yet the main space harbours on Thoth are on its “moon side”, since starting from there consumes a little bit less energy. Having no atmosphere to speak of, Sharu only houses some large telescopes and long range communication relays. After a recent discovery of a large tungsten deposit near the north pole, a small mining outpost is currently under construction to recover the valuable raw material.
Spoiler:
I want Thoth to be a rather peaceful system, but if at some point I want to spice it up, I might turn the tungsten deposit into a small subterran Necron outpost in stasis. So no Tomb world, but enough to be a concern for a single system and fitting the classic “but the dwarfs dug too deep…” motive.


Thoth 3 – Oya
Classification: Dead world (before 900.M41), Ice world (~0.M42), Agriworld(~100.M42)
Population: ~ 1.000.000 (100. M41)
Originally being a dead, cold planet, covered in ice and frozen nitrogen and methane, what little atmosphere it ever had blown away by solar winds, Oya has been the target of an ambitious terraforming project by Magos Nac1r from the Forgeworld of Bagwa. Even though completely unsuited for colonization on first sight, it possessed a variety of qualities that made this process mostly a problem of energy redistribution – a feat discovered after decade long calculations by the Cogitor arrays of the systems Forgeworld. Even though it did not express a magnetic field originally, the Adeptus Mechanicus sensors detected a large iron core in its center that would be able to induce one, if the planet could be tectonically activated. Therefore the process was started by a decade long series of intense Macrolaserbursts that cracked Oyas surface into separate continental plates, heating up and liquefying the mantle underneath. With the metal core set into motion again, a magnetic field developed that was strong enough to keep the thin atmosphere of carbondioxide and other gases erupting from the new volcanos and tectonic rifts from being blown away into the void. While most of these gases rained down and froze soon, they – together with the ongoing input of termal energy from the macrolasers – were sufficient to heat the planet above the critical value were its giant deposits of frozen Nitrogen, oxygen and methane melted and evaporated in a shattering, year long blowout. This lead to the foundation of a “real” and above all else even stable atmosphere. The starting greenhouse effect by the methane was speed up by the Adeptus Mechanicus mission constructing plants on the surface of the now reclassified ice world that emitted hexafluoride and other substances highly potent in this regard to support the heating. In the first decades of the 42nd millennium, temperatures finally passed the important treshhold of 0°C. With the formation of large bodies of liquid water, algae and funghi were imported from Ulambo in larges quantities and cultivated to enrich the atmosphere in Oxygen and stockpile biomass to support the scheduled large scale colonization


Spoiler:
I read a bit about terraforming and found the idea of a planet that technically only had to be punched hard enough to make habitable very



Thoth 4 - Kitakamba
Classification: Gasgiant
Population: < 500

A gasgiant 10 times the mass of Jupiter and surrounded by a large ringsystem, the deeply purple coloured Kitakamba can be seen by the naked eye from every other planet in the system. Due to its high mass and gravitation, Kitakamba is more of a protostar than a planet, only slightly short of being a brown dwarf and nuclear fusion has been detected within its inner core. Its resulting high temperature, intense radiation, massive tectonic and storm activity and gravitational pull made the construction of stations within its atmosphere so far impossible. Yet thanks to its warming effect, over a dozen of Kitakambas 40 moons are more or less habitable, even though far outside what is usually considered as habitable zone of a solar system. 4 of them are used as agriworlds and others harbore mining outposts for a variety of rare minerals and methane. Some noteworthy moons include:

Thoth 4a – Roawa
Classification: Mining world
Population: 50, ~1000 servitors
Extremely hot and bathed in deadly radiation due to its closeness to Kitakamba, Roawa would be of little interest where it not for a mineralogical oddity: its composition being dominated by aluminium but utterly devoid of silicium and oxygen it’s one of the rare places in the Segmentum were the light metal can be found in its pure elemental form – on top of that being molten on the side facing Kitakamba. Therefore an adeptus mechanicus orbital is positioned in a delicate position just in the shadow of the moon, where the equipment is protected from being melted by Kitakambas heat but the precius metal can be mined with incredible ease and speed. Nontheless the servitors manning the station are consumed within month – a price still deemed worthwile for the precious resource.

Thoth 4g – Ulambo
Classification: Agri-World
Population: ~ 250.000
About three quarters the size of Thoth, Ulambo is a paradise teeming with life – if you are a fungus or algae. Ulambo rotates fast in relation to its pseudo sun Kitakamba leading to a “daylenght” of only 6 hours, with even its night side lightened up by Thoths main sun. Being covered with a mix of warm, shallow oceans and nutrient rich wet lands, temperatures remain steady on a pleasant level between 10 and 30 degrees Celsius. Yet unfortunately Ulambos atmosphere contains different sulfurous and chloric gases and completely lacks an ozone layer, thus bathing the surface in Mawus and Kitakambas intense UV-radiation. The indigenous algeous and fungal species have adopted to use the UV light for efficient photosynthesis and seem to cover every inch of the surface. Luckily this thick biofilm can be converted into Prometium, high quality fertilizer or an edible, nutritious - if a bit weird tasting – paste and can be harvested in an enormous rate. Contrary to other developed systems Mawu is therefore more than capable of providing food for itself, even if Thoths population should raise to levels in the hundred of billions. For now this has also proven very valuable, as during the night of thousand rebellions Thoth – as one of few systems not revolting – was able to locally provide provisions for the remaining and arriving loyalist forces inspite of the loss of several Agri-Worlds.

Thoth 4p – Otampa
Classification: Ice World, Research station
Population: 100
The small moon Otampa houses a large, 100 mile deep low saline ocean making up almost half of its mass. It was calculated that if Otampa could be relocated into Thoths orbit and the water be transferred to the surface, Thoth could be terraformed into a significantly more habitable state almost resembling a paradise world. Yet it is unlike that the ressources for such an endeavor are accessible within the next decades at least.

Thoth 5 - Zaori
Classification: Gasgiant
Population: ~ 50.000 (on various space stations and docks, currently rapidly increasing)

Zaori is a relatively small gasgiant about half the size of Neptune. Being relatively close to the Mandeville point of Thoths system and having a large proportion of methane and other gases usable as fuel in its relatively calm atmosphere, about a dozen refueling stations and docks were build in its orbit an on 3 of its 8 moons. Prior to the night of a thousand rebellions, a small stationed fleet and some scores of defense batteries provided enough protection against occasional pirates or similar, yet being far under strength to push back should a serious threat to the system arise. During the uprising within the Segmentum Pacificus, Thoth became one of the staging areas of the remaining loyalist forces within the subsector. Since then the docks and refuel depots are working non stop at the brink of breaking down to supply the imperial ships arriving from the many battles in neighboring systems. To handle the demand, the existing stations are hastily expanded and new ones constructed, while high command has also ordered the forge complexes of Bagwa to bolster the local defenses.

Thoth 5b – Vanua
Classification: Agri-World
Population: ~ 10.000
While a small agri-moon with neglectible output compared to Ulambo, Vanua bears mentioning as having developed an unusual ecosystem. To far from the systems star for photosynthesis, the moons crust inherits large deposits of uranium and other radioactive materials leading to relatively moderate temperatures. The Ecosystem is therefore based on radiophagus funghi and “plants” using radiosynthesis instead of photosynthesis. While the resulting biomass is unsuitable for nutritional purposes, it can be used for the production of Acids and poisons needed for banewolfs and the like and – as kind of an off label use – can be cultivated on less radioactive planets to decontaminate those or at least lower the radiation on top of the biofilm to not immediately letal levels.


2nd Thoth Askaris and Forgeworld Bagwa (page 7) @ 2019/10/25 21:03:59


Post by: Pyroalchi


Tribes and soldiers of the Thoth Askaris
Part V: The Akita Matriarchies

Over 90% of children born to the tribes hailing from the endless Akita prairie planes of the northern hemisphere are female. The exact reason for this remains unclear but since clans relocating to other areas of the planet returned to a more balanced sex ratio the local Magos Biologis suspects something in the regional water or food supply to mess with the locals hormone balance. Be it as it may, the shortage of men has led to a strictly matriarchic culture that affects almost every aspect of life. The region is dominated by 4 powerful matriarchies which are in ever shifting coalitions with each other and various smaller clans. While most of Thoths tribes raise predominantly male battalions for the imperial regiments to not affect their birth rates, the matriachies obviously do not share this practice. Instead they possess a distinctive warrior caste within their society known as the “Akita Tigresses” after the top predator of the planes. Each Tigress is armed with a “chequer” hard wood shield and a large, traditional bush knife in addition to the common lasgun and a fierce professional fighter.



Some further pictures:
Close ups of my three favorite Akita warriors
Spoiler:

My special weapons operator:
Spoiler:

The flamer is from Victoria Miniatures, the Promethium canister is from the IG infantry sprue cut in half and fitted with some wire.


My Vox operator
Spoiler:
The Vox is from the IG Infantry sprue as well, just cut in half horizontally and vertically, shortened in either direction, flattened and with repositioned antenna, as the normal type was much to big for the female soldier






Regarding kitbashing size and scale some image and recommendations:

From left to right:
1. Victoriaminiatures + Puppetswar heads
2. Frostgrave Ghost Archipelago Tribals
3. Games Workshop + Puppetswar heads
4. Copplestone Castings Chiefs and Witchdoctors
5. Cooplestone Castings African Princesses.

- As you can see, Victoriaminatures has the perfect size and "bulkiness" to stand in for GW miniatures.
- Frostgrave Archipelago Tribals are a little bit shorter (which can be hidden by leaving their small plastic base and glueing it on the 25mm base thus winning about 1-2 mm). And they are also slightly slimer. The tribals specifically are less of a problem, since their offen extensive headgear and hairstyle balances out the slightly slimer heads. They can be fitted with Victoria Miniatures arms and weapons, but the arm pairs already holding weapons don't really fit perfectly. So either prepare yourself to fill in some gaps or just use the single arms + separate weapons if you want to combine parts from both companies. I did the latter and was really satisfied with the result.
- The "Chiefs and Witchdoctors" Set from Copplestone Castings looks really cool, and they are even slightly larger than classic GW Imperial Guard (but way within acceptable limits in my opinion). They are also notably bulkier than the Frostgrave Minis and therefore fit more smothly to GWs heroic scale.
- The African Princesses and Ngoni Female Archers sets I used for the Akita Matriarchies are a different story. They are not only significantly shorter, but also much slimer than heroic scale. You can cheat a bit with the hight by modifying the base a bit, but that does not change the slim proportions. Yet this does not really "spring into the eye" if you keep them all within the same infantry squad.
All in all as you can see, the size variation is quite acceptable.

Further tips:
- the Kromlech grenade launchers I used for my Massani Clans are rather big and bulky and don't look good together with Frostgrave miniatures let alone the Copplestone Females, but go smoothly with Copplestone Males and Victoria Miniatures
- Victoria Miniatures arms and weapons fit nicely to Frostgrave and GW Minis, just use separate arms for Frostgrave since their chest is a bit slimer
- Wargames Foundry shields and close combat weapons fit heroic style IG. The CC weapons are a bit large (see the Massani spears) but that fits the other IG stuff.
- Frostgrave Ghost Archipelago Minis are a real good value since they contain 40 heads (for 20 bodies) + 20 masks that also fit Victoria Miniatures and GW Minis
- Copplestone Castings Minis shown here are made out of metal. Yet with some patience, a bit of bending or cutting/glueing it is possible to change arm and hand positions. Minis holding bow and arrow can be modified to hold rifles even by a novice kitbasher like me



2nd Thoth Askaris and Forgeworld Bagwa (page 7) @ 2019/11/12 08:48:24


Post by: Pyroalchi


Some more progress on my regiments rough Riders. I already have some more in the pipeline, including a camel from the Lord of the rings line of GW. While the LoR horses are to small for WH40k, the camels look OK. I also bought some Mongolians from Fireforge Games since they look awesome and the Askaris have picked up some Attillan Rough Riders, that got separated from their Regiment.



I converted these following this tutorial: https://imgur.com/gallery/0mEJX and tried out some things like using contrast colors, practicing color transitions etc.Not everything went perfect, but I'm quite satisfied with the result and the dynamic poses. The "writing" on the flag is just some scribble I tried to make look like arabic. If parts of it make any real sense that would be purely by accident, fluff wise it will be some lucky charm praising the emperor.
The darker horses are painted with Cygor Brown contrast on Wraithbone and then highlighted a bit with Doombull Brown and Tuskor Fur. Pure Cygor comes around rather dark, as you can see.
The lighter horses were painted with a mix of 3:2 Cygor Brown and Skelleton Horde over Wraithbone and look better in my opinion.
The shirts of the riders are painted in Nazdreg Yellow over Wraithbone. As you can easily see, I need more practice using contrast, since my brush control still sucks at times. But so far I think they are a nice additional tool.
For the spear blades I also tried something new an made a transition from Naggaroth Night over Khorne Red and Mephiston Red to Evil Sunz Scarlet. The result is the best looking I managed so far

horses & arms: Games Workshop, Age of Sigmar Dark Riders
torsos, shoulder pads & heads: Anvil Industries
spear blades: Games Workshop WH40K Adeptus Mechanicus ruststalker transsonic blades.


2nd Thoth Askaris and Forgeworld Bagwa (page 7) @ 2019/12/05 13:04:02


Post by: Pyroalchi


I tried my luck at some piece of story. Not really sure about how it turned out so if you have some input feel free to comment:

The window

Hamid slowly opened his eyes, as the metallic rasping voice of the transport vessels radio called the beginning of a new day. He kept lying on his bed for a minute or two staring at the dorm ceiling before he finally forced himself up. He checked himself in the small mirror shard on the bedside and reached for his shaving knife, pushing away the question why he still even bothered. You had to keep some standards and more importantly – yourself occupied. He took his time and bantered a bit with his clansmen sharing his “bedroom”. Slipping into his kakis he decided to take a little stroll to one of the common rooms further down the enormous hull of the troop carrier to get some breakfast.
He passed some groups biding their time playing dice and cards or just sitting together around a water pipe and chatting, yet with each day he saw more people wandering up and down the corridors suffering the same restlessness that had started to take hold of him too. It had been over a month since they had been picked up and left their home planet. They were transferred to a battle zone - that was clear - and flying through the warp they had crossed the vast reach of space in weeks yet nobody seemed care to tell them when they would finally make planet fall. From the sound of the machinery they seemed to have already dropped out of warp, but he knew it would still take days to reach the systems planets - however they were called. And the waiting started to get until everybodies nerves – regardless of the horrors awaiting them at their destination.

Hamid reached the large hangar that served them as a common room. The air was thick with the heavy flavor of roasted mutton, vegetables and peppers as well as the sharp smell of promethium from the small gas cookers used to prepare them – much to the dismay of the navy crewmen who had given up on trying to talk their passengers out of it instead just switching off the sprinklers and putting more fire extinguishers in the common rooms. Accidents were still common, but as the ship was not endangered any more, nobody really cared enough to keep trying. Hamid aimed for some new faces a – as he tried to do every day for the past month – and took a seat between a group of ebony skinned, short grown N’go he had not seen before. As usual he forced himself to be chatty and start a conversation while filling his plate with a hand full of rice, meat and carrots. It had become quite tiring over time to suffer through the same questions of where he came from, what his craft was and if he had family so he had started to come up with some new and more creative stories every time he was asked. When he managed to make at least one guy laugh at the thought of him training squirrels to weave carpets, he knew he might have made his day. Some others had picked it up which had made at least this small part of the daily routine a bit more sufferable. His new companions seemed to hail from a reclusive tribe in some mountain forest they had never left up until two months ago. A story more or less shared by a large part of their battle brothers aboard the ship. They had tried their best to adapt to the situation and so far did admirably – even though Hamid suspected that they did not really understood much of what was going on, especially regarding what “travelling the warp” really meant and what was likely waiting for them at their destination. But that was quite likely for the best that way. They had their hearts at the right place and would undoubtedly be willing to fight and die for the honour of their tribe and the skyfather and that was all that was required for them.

He left with a piece of fruit in his hand for later and took a stroll through ships corridors – another part of his daily routine. Yet something was different now that they had dropped out of the warp. It had taken a while, but his suspicion that there would have to be some windows to look out somewhere in the ship’s hull he could get too had proven to be true. He had found it two weeks before, but taking a peek outside into the disturbing abyss the navigators where taking them through had been enough to keep his nightmares fuelled for months. Making his way through a crammed storage room and a couple of barely lit maintenance tunnels he squeezed himself through one last manhole before reaching the spacing in between the decks that was full of cables, tubes, roaring and humming engines. At some crossings he had to look for the markings he left and at some point he had to backtrack a bit after getting lost, but finally Hamid found himself in a small room with two port holes, each a feet wide. He did not really know what the machinery inside was for, but it seemed to have something to do with docking and therefore needed some way to look out of the hull and check the distance, if all instruments failed. Putting his face to the glass Hamid squeezed his eyes, trying to see something through the small hole into the outside world and finally let out a defeated sigh. It was no use; they were still too far away and their destination a diffuse speck in the black void. Resigning he pulled the small looking glass he had traded in from one of the navy crewmen out of his pocket and placed it on the thick glass plate of the spaceship. Still he had to search for minutes until he finally found what he was looking for. A blueish grey marble in the dark, orbited by a single small moon – and still days away flying at sub-light speed. He kept on looking, trying to make out the continents and thinking up what it would look like down there. Would there still be loyalists left when they arrived? How many? Why were they revolting? What even was the name of this contested world they were deployed to? Nobody seemed to know, at least none of his fellow Askaris – and the navy officers did not seem to care to tell them. Maybe they had their orders; maybe they just did not care. In the end he tried to tell himself, that knowing would not really change anything.

Instead he let his mind slip, dreaming up how this place would look like. Picturing strange colorful animals and exotic places in his mind… there was nothing better to do today anyway. Finally he pushed away from the small window and started to stroll back to the upper deck to the rest of his platoon. Again he had to almost crawl through the dark, narrow corridor in the ships intestines. The endless humming and hissing of the machines and hydraulics surrounding him was deafening and not for the first time he could not shake the feeling of being watched from something hiding in the deep shadows. For a moment he held still, as he thought he had heard something and a shiver of suspense ran over his neck. He slowly reached for his laspistol trying to tell himself that there was nothing. It was just some empty corridors and unused storage compartments. Just his mind playing tricks with him - He could almost convince himself, until he heard it again. A faint scratching like the claw of a predator lurking in the dark and closing in on it’s prey. He cursed silently, putting his pistol at the ready and slowly making his way forward while trying to put a wall to his back and keeping every direction in check. He was well aware of the absurdity of the situation as he was most likely only suffering from cabin fever, as he was inching his way back to the maintance hatch only a couple yards away. One last turn and he would reach it, and tomorrow he might laugh about his foolishness… He inhaled deeply, grapped the hilt of his weapon, sharply turned around … and sprang back screaming and sending a lasbolt into the ceiling as he stared directly into the face of a servitor.
The lowly servant of the machine god stopped for a moment, seemingly evaluating the relevance of the shot for his current objective before going about his business again in complete silence without any kind of reaction. All the while Hamid tried to not have a heart attack or wet his Kaki shorts. When he finally stopped shaking he started cussing and cursing the damned machine fighting the urge to slap it until he felt a bit better and continued to get back to his dormitory. He kept telling himself, that what he heard must have been the damned servitor, but he never felt the urge to look outside into the abyss again. Because you never know who – or what – is watching you while you do it.


And down in a dark corridor a clawed hand picked up the apple Hamid had dropped when he unholstered his pistol. It WAS biomass after all, wasn’t it?


2nd Thoth Askaris and Forgeworld Bagwa (page 7) @ 2019/12/10 20:36:43


Post by: Pyroalchi


And again some progress on infantry squad diversity:




During the painting I had a lot of moments were I thought "meeeh... those will suck." but I kept on pushing myself to try my best and in the end I'm really happy with the result.
Those Guardswomen (from Victoria Miniatures who like usual did some great work on the sculpts + the heads are from Statuesque Miniatures, since I liked them more with open hair) will be sprinkled in between their male colleagues instead of building their own squad like the Akita Lionesses.


2nd Thoth Askaris and Forgeworld Bagwa (page 7) @ 2019/12/10 20:43:42


Post by: theCrowe


Really beautiful work. You should be righty proud of these, they're superb. Such a lot of character, a real breath of fresh air for the 41st millennium.


2nd Thoth Askaris and Forgeworld Bagwa (page 7) @ 2019/12/14 09:18:10


Post by: OldMate


As I said before, I like the banner, looks like a firey coloured lotus flower from the top,

I like the story, I like the disconnect between the Askaris and the navy, and the issues the navy crew find themselves dealing with, that they likely had not imagined!

Looks like the nid has picked up on his habits, does not sound good for Hamid.


2nd Thoth Askaris and Forgeworld Bagwa (page 7) @ 2019/12/14 11:17:28


Post by: Pyroalchi


@banner: thanks, that's what I wanted to achieve. It is inspired from the coat of arms of one of my pen and paper characters. In his case it is a white lotus flower on black, but for my askaris I like a lot of yellow, red and gold


2nd Thoth Askaris and Forgeworld Bagwa (page 7) @ 2019/12/18 14:03:12


Post by: Pyroalchi


Planetfall

Akono turned his head away as Malembe beside him bulged over to give way for his breakfast – again. He tried his best to ignore the stench and hold on to his own stomach, which was no easy task sitting tight in the claustrophobic compartment of their lander that was bucking and jerking like a wild bull as it silently made its way towards the surface. “Lander” was also quite a stretch for their ride that was basically just a frame of metal pipes covered with light wood and canvas and held airborne by fragile glider wings and a modified Ogryn grav chute. And according to their fast descent if either of those failed they all would just drop down like stones. Also to call it “their” lander was a bit of a misconception. It was the lander of the 6 wheeled scout car that dominated the glider, while Akono and his battlebrothers where just there to fill in the void spaces in the cargo. They had named the marvelous vehicle “Makete” and Akono was still in awe of the impressive menacing pair of Lascannons in the swiveling mount on top. He ran his hands carefully above the length of his own lasgun he had been gifted by his tribe when he was honored to join the Askaris. Remembering the wounds of his prey when he first took it hunting he shuddered imagining what the incredibly bigger guns might be capable of.

He was shaken from his daydream as they hit another air pocket and banged his head at the framework behind him and for once he was happy about their rides light construction as it only hurt a bit instead of concussing him. As they approached the enemy lines he could see the tension on the face of their small, grumpy pilot rising. They were to penetrate behind those lines – preferably undetected, which was the sole reason they had been dropped from the lower atmosphere in these landers instead of continuing to the main star port still under loyalist control with the rest of the regimento. Lacking propulsion, the glider was quite silent, dark and cold but he was well aware that it was far from invisible. So far they had been lucky enough that the thick clouds above kept the light of both moons away, but the skyfather alone knew if this luck would hold. As he turned back to give Malembe a clap on the back encouraging him to get it all out, the pilot suddenly started cursing and shouting “Hold on and pray you unlucky dogs, here they come”. Akono did not understand at first, as looking out of the small porthole he could see that it was still pitch dark and he could barely make out the glider next to them. But the next moment he could hear it – the whining sound of an air-raid sirene rising before another joined in… and another and another. They had only moments before the first search light came up a mile to the south and started ranging the skies like a hungry wolf looking for lost lambs – and his pack soon followed. The lander lowered into a slight dive to gain speed and as the minutes passed, they dared to get their hopes up that this times the lambs might get lucky. That was when Akono heard the first dull thud from somewhere below and saw how the face of their pilot went paler. The first three time it was just this sound and a weired sensation of pressure on the ears. The next flak grenade did not went that short and knocked their whole vehicle to starboard while a shrapnel punched through the side canvas and missed sergant Okotos face by barely half an inch. Iboti wetted himself and started to panic before their grizzled seasoned leader shouted enough sense into him to stop screaming. He gestured at his comrades to come through to them despite the engulfing cacophony to take their iron wood shields and cover Maketes power generator. Malembe who was covering behind his shield trying to hide as much of himself as possible hesitated but submitted after a dead cold look of Okoto who was well aware that the Lascannons were far more important than a couple of Askaris. A bright column of light entered the cargo through the port hole as one of the other gliders beside them bursted in a spectacular explosion, his still burning remains falling quietly into the dark abyss below like flower petals in a summer nights breeze. Through all the terror of the situation… it was strangely beautiful.

They could make out two other gliders colliding as they tried to evade the enemies fire and from then on it was everyone for himself, as the landers tried to split up. Some tried to get out of the air too fast, not paying attention to the steepness of their dive and crashing into the ground. A lot of them were hit and went ablaze, but still about one third of the gliders seemed to make it through the lines and continued their approach – and Akonos was one of those lucky few. Iboto had a shard of shrapnel sticking through his left foot and was weeping silently while Tombo was bleeding at his temple after a some spare laspacks had come loose and hit him. But they were alive and more importantly, Makete seemed to have only gotten some scratches. He heard the pilot mumbling “A wood… trees… big woody, hard trees… ohhh skyfather, that’s a lot of trees. Trees, you have to be nice now...! Nice and soft…! BRACE!BRACE!BRACE!” by now he screamed at the top of his lungs. Akono curled himself into a ball, put his hands above his head as they had practiced and said his last prayers. Meanwhile the world turned into a deafening orchestra of splintering wood and ripping canvas that ended with the glider crashing – or by now rather scattering its remains and cargo - into a small clearing. A perfect landing, just as planned according to Astra Militarum standards.


2nd Thoth Askaris and Forgeworld Bagwa (page 7) @ 2019/12/20 08:57:11


Post by: OldMate


I like the description of the Makete, and them deploying via glider is really cool,
I have to ask if these soliders are N'go
Becasue if these soldiers are from a warrior culture they'd be possibly be more prepare and meditated over dying for the skyfather, or have a culture where they might shun outward showing of fear, hell thy might be on a bit of the battle brew and ready to take on anything,

The sergeant might even use a tribal warrior tradition, like a warrior's song, chant etc, (or like the Maori hakka) to put fire in his soldiers, to transform them from scared men, women, boys and girls into blood thirsty warriors.

On the other hand they might even be anxious and fearful of dying before having the opportunity to fight for the skyfather, before being able to prove themselves.
I guess there is a certain helpless terror when there's canvas between you and a plummeting death and flack shells are in the air!

It was a good story, I liked it a lot but I got a lot of fear from the soldiers, and while everyone would be afraid in those circumstances there would be other worries and anxieties, and possibly a traditional means of alleviating this, and drawing the group together to a single purpose.


2nd Thoth Askaris and Forgeworld Bagwa (page 7) @ 2019/12/20 09:17:59


Post by: Pyroalchi


Thanks for the input Oldmate. I have some ideas along that line, which I will include in further short stories. The battle chant/hakka is a cool point.
And yes, Akono and his brothers are intended to be N'Go. My image of them at the moment is that while they are quite courageous when it comes to fighting etc., things like flying are pretty scary to them as they never did something like that before.

Edit: and also I intend to describe them as - beside their human flaws and fears - not questioning their worth as seen from the Imperiums perspective. They know that they were just put in the glider because the Tauros Venator left a bit of space and that the scout car is much more valuable then themselves, but they don't mind. They don't mind either being send to death, as long as they can believe it's what the skyfather and their ancestors expect of them. They don't have any illusions of their life expectancy or of ever returning home, all they wish for is respect an honour - which might be hard to come by in light of their regiments poor reputation.


2nd Thoth Askaris and Forgeworld Bagwa (page 7) @ 2019/12/20 10:17:46


Post by: OldMate


Fair enough, I think it'd also be the helplessness of being in something so fragile, of not being able to do anything which wold be the worst, I can imagine the same sentiment under artillery fire.
I liked the part when the sergeant got them to protect the vehicle's energy pack with their shields, and I guess by exstension their bodies, he's really got his mind on the job!


2nd Thoth Askaris and Forgeworld Bagwa (page 7) @ 2019/12/20 13:16:42


Post by: Pyroalchi


So, another shoot at some piece of story. I'm not that sure at the moment of the described ambush makes total sense, as I have never been at war. I just tried to get the general idea out. Also I'm aware that Okoto and his peers got really lucky this time. As usual: if you have any criticism or tips to improve the storytelling they are very welcome.

The Ambush

Okoto pressed his head into the rotting foliage below the thorny bushwork again after taking a quick peek over the embankment into the bed of the small stream down below. The plants still looked weird and had an alien, musky smell to them but then again – he had barely ever seen a tenth of Thoths surface let alone another planet. Carefully he inched back considering his chances with what was left of his squad. Their pilot had been squashed into pulp as the glider crashed and crawling out of its remains they had found Kimba torn to pieces from shrapnel in the back of the wreckage. At least his body had shielded the irreplaceable transmission of Makete so his death had been worthy. Loso had been impaled by a two inch thick log through his belly and all that was left was giving him the skyfathers mercy. It took a while to find Malembe who had been flung into the trees at the end of the clearing and broke his neck – amongst other things. That left him with four – Akono, Pala, Tombo and Iboto the latter two being injured. Lacking any bandages they had packed Iboto up tightly into the small pilots jacket to try and keep him upright but he looked worse with every passing minute, paling and honestly starting to smell of death. They had given him enough moonshine from their pumpkin flasks to dull out the pain and adorned him with the skull white skull face mask denoting him as a holy warrior and thus sealing their pact. He was to spend his life and an act of blazing glory and it was there holy duty to help him find a worthy end in the name of the skyfather.

Okoto gestured with his hands what he had seen. An armored car and a dozen enemy soldiers on patrol. Or more likely on a mission to find the scattered remains of their landing attempt. While that was much more attention than he had wished for he send a short prayer to the skyfather to thank him as Ibotos time was running out. And not only that, as their own Tauros had lost two tires and broken a wheel. They managed to at least shove it into the shrubbery but right now unable to move it was nothing more than sitting duck waiting to get blown up – unless they managed to get a new wheel from somewhere. Sneaking through the thorny bushwork on their bare feet they followed their enemies along the riverbed they used as impromptu road through the dense vegetation. Finally the car was put to a halt. Right before them a couple of suspicious cylindrical metal objects stood stretched out in a line, connected by wires. The enemy soldiers sprang into alert, going into cover or huddling to the sides of their armored vehicle for protection while it retreated back some yards into relative safety. But nothing happened. After some long heartbeats their officer looking out of the scout cars hatch picked two of the soldiers and punched them forward with his rifle stock to investigate.

The unlucky pair carefully approached and picked up a long branch. Crawling on their bellies they tipped the first cylinder over, immediately putting their faces to the ground hoping their steel helmets would protect them from the blast. Lucky as they were, cans of beans and empty jerry cans usually don’t explode. After some brief moments of silence they burst into a healthy laugh and the rest of their squad soon fell in. The two forward scouts kicked the can of beans a healthy distance along the dried out stream joking who could make it further. Some of their peers joined in, just as their captain – not sharing the jolly mood – started to shout some sense into them. And as the third can flew, the spring mine Akono had placed under it came loose lifting itself to about breast height, turning five of the heretecs out of their miserable existence. Their comrades panicked and ran for cover again, as Akono and Tombo opened fire from their left side and Okoto and Pala started firing from the right to put them into crossfire. Okoto visibly fumbled with the big log they had taken and painted black with oil, hoping someone seeing him really could mistake it for a missile launcher in the distance and right so the scout car retreated a bit more to find a bit of cover behind the last turn of the riverbed. Now all they could hope for was that their distraction had everyone occupied, that it had given Iboto enough time to get into position and that there was still enough life left in him to honor his word and their ancestors. As the enemy vehicle opened fire on Akonos cover turning bushes and trees into a hail of splinters and sawdust Okoto could make out the white skull paint mask above the dark leather pilot jacket springing from the bushes and making a run for the scout’s rear. He was almost there, as one of the ambushed soldiers saw him and put a lasgun bolt through his leg sending him to the ground. Okotos heart filled with pride as he saw the young tribal warrior crawl further on his belly, his face filled with determination and the fire of the skyfathers wrath, the krak missiles warhead they had borrowed from Makete in his hand. Rolling down the tilted riverbed he clawed his way onwards slipping in between the scout cars wheels just as another heretic stormed onward and put a barrage of lasgun bolts through his belly. Screaming out his pain and rage, Iboto put the warhead to the escape hatch at the floor of the vehicle and pulled the impromptu trigger they had made out of a hand grenade. A lance of white hot fire shot through the scout blowing off its turret and thus, their pact was sealed.

That was, when the enemy broke. They still outnumbered Okoto and his battlebrothers two to one, but they panicked and without an officer, some started to run for their lives and that was all that it took. They finished off the last remaining in the killzone and then… went hunting.

Later that day they returned to the wreckage, lucky to find its reserve wheel still intact. Makete would still be slow on four tires, but his hunt would continue. Pala was dead, having gutted three of their foes with his machete before he went down. Akono had taken a clean shot through his arm leaving a flesh wound but this time they had managed to patch it up and put some medicine on it they found at one of the corpses. They gathered around the scout cars remains, put Palas body beside Iboto and paid tribute to their brave companions. Okoto felt dissatisfied as somehow he wished for their burial to be more… he searched for words and did not really found anything. Dignified? Worthy? That was when Akono started intonating one of the spirituals they sung back home to honor the skyfather, his servants and basically life itself. They joined in and before long they were singing at the top of their lungs, dancing and clapping, celebrating their god, graceful for the opportunity to prove themselves in his eyes.


2nd Thoth Askaris and Forgeworld Bagwa (page 7) @ 2019/12/21 08:52:04


Post by: OldMate


Very resourceful, I enjoyed this story a lot


2nd Thoth Askaris and Forgeworld Bagwa (page 7) @ 2019/12/23 18:41:39


Post by: Pyroalchi


And another model finished:



This one was really fun to paint and I could try out some new tools again. The body of the camel is just Casandora Yellow and Seraphim Sepia on Wraithbone. The "basketwork" armor was made with two layers of Skeleton Horde Contrast paint. A special mention to the cute little bug in the lower right image. I found his skeleton in my glas of sand I use for basing (filled at the baltic sea) and he has a nice green-metallic shimer to him. Now he makes that base just that little extra smashing ;-)

I'm not completely sure what I will use him for. Most likely he will be a rough rider sergeant (I have an eye on some arabian camel riders from Artizan designs). But as Rough Riders have sadly been moved to legends I consider running my cavalry as death riders, should this be a problem. In that case he might be promoted to Death Korps Rider Squadron Commander.


2nd Thoth Askaris and Forgeworld Bagwa (page 7) @ 2020/01/07 12:30:09


Post by: Pyroalchi


Lifeline




Sitting up in the sleeping bag they had shared for the night, Shari gratefully took the little clay mug Aaliya was handing her. She carefully blew away the thin cover of old yak butter as they had shown her before and took a small sip from the boiling hot tea inside. It was quite bitter but the warmth spreading through her body felt like heaven - contrary to her muscles that were still aching from yesterday. Her back reminded her that sleeping on the bare, cold rock of this shallow cave had also not really helped to make her feel better. Their hideout had kept the rain and the sharp howling winds away, but it was barely big enough for all of them to lie down stretched out. Not that big of a problem as they had started to spoon anyway a while ago to keep each other warm at night. Some of the others were already up breaking up the little bivouac or sitting around the fireplace drinking their tea and chatting in their throaty accent. A little kettle of thick porridge with dried figs was boiling and filled the air with the promise of a nice breakfast.
As Aaliya they all hailed from some small little maghrabian tribe somewhere in the mountain ranges bordering the large desert belt that had been settled by their Tallarn ancestors. Honoring those, the men still wore traditional shemaghs, colored in a light sand tone, while Aaliya was currently using a little ivory comb to put her auburn hair back into a tight bun. All of them looked a bit scrawny, but sinewy in their shaggy dust covered Kakis, with wind burnt, wrinkled skin and facial features sharp from a life of scarcity. “Goat herders” they were called back home in Nishasa, the megacity Shari had grown up, but to be honest a lot of the elite used to call them less friendly goat related things. By now she was quite ashamed of that, as she would not have made it that far without them. She herself was N’Go, with skin the color of dark chocolate, jet black curly hair and large enough to tower a head above all of them.

To be honest, most of their families indeed were herding goats on Thoth and quite proud about the size of their herds and vitality of their animals. All together their expedition numbered about three dozen heads, distributed in 4 squads. And each of these squads fell into climbing groups of 3 to four Askaris.
In her own there were Achmed and Omar, two out of a bunch of 13 brothers that had chosen a life as Askaris as they would never inherit any of their fathers’ goats and therefore hardly ever marry. Suleiman with his bushy brows, broad smiles and splendid twirled mustache loved poetry and sang in a surprisingly beautiful baritone. Nonetheless he was never ashamed to admit he had left to prevent his family from suffering a vendetta after beating two men to death over cheating at dice. His best friend was called Dastan, but nobody knew what his name really was as he was mute. Nonetheless Suleiman jokingly claimed the silent, skilled marksman and hunter was quite a blabbermouth and liked to gossip a lot when they chatted in sign language. Murat was a heavyset lumberjack with bow legs and arms so thick Sharis fingers did not touch when she grabbed them with both hands, as he had been eager to demonstrate her.
The second in command was Fazil, a veteran whose greatest possession was a marvelous scimitar forged out of damascene steel. It had belonged to his family for centuries back since the war against the evil witches and was said to have taken the head of hundreds of their heretic servants. He was quite a proficient and daring swordsman himself, but a bit dull to talk to, when the topic did not resolve around blades and battles.
Khamil was their Aga, their leader. An old geezer that had already started to shrink as old people often did, with a face wrinkled like a raisin and only a short grey frame of hair left to border his bald head. Back home he had been the elder of their little mountain valley, his word was law and his natural authority still inspired unquestioning respect from his tribesmen.
Aaliya was the last of their Squad and the only woman beside Shari herself. The two of them had gotten to like each other, as different as they were. The Maghrabian did her best to teach Shari the foreign pronunciation and figures of speech of her people. And Shari on the other hand tried her best to answer any of her countless questions about the technological wonders of civilization. Her companions had never bothered to ask why things like lasguns worked or how they were produced and mostly never bothered. It was new to meet someone like Shari who had been an electrician and radio operator before she joined the Askaris as engineer. On the other hand Aaliyas braveness and optimism was pleasantly catching. When Shari once asked her , she laughed and told her that a wise woman had once read in the palm of her hand that she would die as an old hag in a cushioned bed so the one thing she was afraid of were soft silk cushions.

Shari huddled deeper into the thick, dark red, lodden coat she had donned as they started their ascent and dared to take a look down the steep slope of the mountain range. Somewhere to the south she made out the narrow serpentine pass they had traversed together three days ago. Back then when they were still accompanied by the strange beasts of burden her companions used. Sturdy, short legged ungulates covered in a long shaggy fur, strong, slow, smelly and stubborn. Yet by now she wished they had not left them behind at the last camp they had passed. But it had been no use, as the narrow game trail her guides had discovered was much too small and steep even for them, barely enough for some kind of chamois. So they had chosen the bare necessities from the baggage and distributed them before starting the ascent while two Askaris led the small yak herd back into the valley to graze. Kneading her aching calves she cursed the devil that had ridden her to volunteer for this mission, proudly boasting about her climbing experience and not being afraid of a little height. Sure, she had been climbing since she was 8, and even competed in some tournaments but that was back home. She had scaled hundreds, maybe thousands of rocks and boulders ... up to 50 feet ... with standardized handles... in an air-conditioned hall...secured by a high performance rope over a thick mattress. Here the brittle stone crumbled away right under her hands and the only failsafe was a thin, suspicious looking hemp line. A line that might save your life as well as it might end it if the people tied to your fall and pull you with them.

Her impression must have given away her thoughts, as Khamil beside her turned his Shemagh and mustered her with that stern gaze of those grey-green eyes he shared with his tribesmen. Unwilling to lose her face she forced a smile and tried to look more confident as she felt. He offered her a small folded package of the strange dark violet herbs all of them were continuously chewing and this time she gave a damn about her vanity and just took it. It would turn her teeth a dirty amber as it did with theirs, but who cared, as long as it kept you going und dulled the feeling of exhaustion. He nodded in what must have been intended as encouraging approval and gifted her an honest - yet brownish- smile. It turned his leathery, sunburnt face into a labyrinth of wrinkles that really managed to cheer her up a bit. The herbs had a musky, smoky taste to them that was not as bad as she had imagined. Actually it was quite pleasant after you got used to it. Chewing she asked “How much longer?” trying her best to talk slow and clearly as they all had as hard of a time understanding her accent as she did with theirs. He looked outside for some time and wiggled his hand in a gesture of estimate “If the weather holds… Just two more days.” before kissing the little aquilla carved of rosewood hanging around his neck adding “Imshallam!”. If the skyfathers wants it… Yes indeed.

_________________
Judging by the sun it must have been way into the afternoon when they stopped again and Shari was wondering why they would set up camp now and not continue until dusk as usual. In front of their little expedition Khamil was arguing silently with Suleiman, who had been scouting the path ahead. The past few hours had been a torture again, but they had almost reached the summit which did its part in raising Sharis spirits at least a little bit. At the worst parts of their summit, their predecessors had hammered in hooks and ropes to pave the way but still she had lost her footing more than once. A quick and determined grab or push from her comrades had mostly been enough to keep her to the face of the mountain without having to put her life and faith into the hemp line that tied her to Aaliya and Murat. Others had been less lucky… Out of nowhere, a loose rock hat hit Fazil, smashing his head in and sending him downwards. The impact on their line had jagged Omar from the brittle rock, smashing him against the cliff. At least he was able to catch a half dead mountain pine on his way down keeping his brother Achmed frantically clutching to the rock above, while Fazils lifeless body dangled as dead weight under him. Heavily breathing he had taken out his knife to cut the corpse loose, before realizing that neither would the crippled little branch hold him long enough nor would he be more than an encumbrance for the others with his broken ribs. She could still hear Achmed screaming at him to stop as Omar told his little brother to stay strong – and started to cut the rope above him… They had taken a moment of silence for his sacrifice – it was all they could do. Then Khamil had cupped Achmeds face in his hands and again just said “Imshallam!”. And somehow, in some strange way, that had been enough for the young man to pull himself together. He had not said a word since, climbing in silent grief, but he kept on going. Shari doubted that she would have had that strength.
Shaking away the memory that would surely keep hunting her at night, she took her time to turn around and admire the marvelous panorama right in front of them. To the east and west, the peaks and ridges stretched as far as the eye could see, but to the north you could finally take a peek at the vast highland plains and valleys behind the mountains they had crossed, reaching far and wide until the horizon. It was a wild, sparsely populated part of the planet, covered by thorny bush land and dry forests and protected by a ten thousand feet high wall of rock and gravel. There were no cities, no resources to speak of, no way through the mountains for any heavy armor, nothing of any military worth – and therefore it was one of the few places in the frontline where you could slip through - if you were willing to sacrifice for it.

With a stern face, Khamil gave the sign to carry on and it was not before long, that Shari could see the reason for their unexpected halt. A rock slide had given way and taken a stretch of about a hundred feet of their path with them. Were a prepared line of hooks and grapples should have enabled them to make the last push for the summit, only a wall of plain, brittle rock remained. The Aga turned to his people and spoke again to them in a rather solemn voice. By now she had picked up enough of their accent to make out that he said something about battle brothers dying this very moment and about honoring those that had given their life to even get here. He broke up some long twigs from scrawny knobby shrub and broke them into straws, one shorter than the others. As Shari grasped what was happening, Achmed stepped forward and grabbed the short straw out of the Agas still open hand without any further comment. The others shared a glance and then nodded approvingly, as the young man began to put down his backpack and the rest of his equipment. Moments later, Achmed was out in the rock alone, clawing his fingertips in crevices at best half an inch deep, creeping forward like a spider. He was only armed with a small rock hammer, some climbing hooks and the longest rope they had. He put the first hook into the gravel, then another one and a third one. He eyeballed the wall for the next crevice to put his foot into and tried to get a bit of momentum to swing his leg over. He hit it, but the cleft in the rock was less deep than it had looked like, providing no foothold. Trying to find his balance again were he had started, gravity and inertia let his body swing like a door and pulled him down, falling heavily into his lifeline. Aaliya shuddered from the impact and started to slip forward, but stubby legged Murrat, with his arms thick from chooping down pines and spruce, held the line. Achmed found his footing again and managed to climb back up, fixing another climbing hook. By now his face was covered in sweat and you could see the exhaustion taking hold of him as his sinewy muscles where strained more and more. As he tried to hammer in the fifth hook, he fell down again and another time Murrat and Aaliya kept him dangling from the hemp line. He tried to get back to the wall again, holding to a short ledge with shaking hands, 4 yards below the hook line. Looking up he sighed, accepting that he was at his end. There would be no getting up any more, and they all knew it. He took a look down and swallowed as his courage began to falter, nonetheless loosening the knot of the security line. Facing his comrades again he shouted “Not like this… I don’t want to fall… Let me die like a warrior!”. Khamil gave him a respectful nod, before bringing his lasgun to bear – together with Suleyman and Dastan. As the lasbolts pierced Achmeds chest he died immediately, his body falling to an unremembered grave, but his soul rising up to his forefathers.

They took no more than some seconds of silence, before Khamil brought up the straws again. After Achmed, Omar and Fazil, there were 6 of them left. But there were only 5 straws in the clenched fist of their commander. Shari felt relieved and guilty at the same time, knowing that she would not have to draw, as bringing her up this god forsaken rock was the whole reason for their mission. The others did not show any sign of fear or hesitation – at least on the outside – and quickly grabbed their straw before presenting them one after the other. Murrat couldn’t help but smile relieved as he saw his long twig. Dastan just breathed out silently, but you could nonetheless see the tension in his body relax that it was not his turn either. Suleyman was awkwardly silent as he opened his hand to find another long straw. Shari turned pale as Aaliya held up a branch barely half an inch long. But her friend only sighed, smiled at her and said in an encouraging tone “Imschallam, habibi.”. Then she turned to the others laughing in their stern faces and tapping into the palm of her hand “Stop looking like little afraid children. I didn’t see no cushions down there, what’s the worst that can happen?”
And indeed, the wise woman that had read her fate from the lifelines on her hand still proved true, as Aaliya managed to reach the other side of the rockslide and fix the hooks and grapples that brought them all across.


____________________________

Finally they reached the little camp that had been built in front of another shallow cave using some tent flaps, sticks and stones. Inside a little brazier spread warmth and light, so they gathered around it warming their stiff fingers and limbs on the flames. But before they did so, every one of her companions ran his fingers lovingly through a dark brown shaggy pelt that was perched beside the entrance like an honorary guard. It was the fur of the buck that had led the scouts on the game trail that had enabled them to reach this place. And even if it had served them as dinner to celebrate their victory over the mountain, it was bad luck to not pay him respect.
They put down their backpacks and started to unpack. The dried beans and cans of oily fish were put to the others that had been brought up here – quite a luxury compared to the stuff a lot of guardsmen got to eat. But more importantly they carefully unpacked the many transistors, coils, circuits and other transmitter parts they had carried tightly cushioned in wood wool. They placed them like raw eggs to the other parts that had been brought up and stored here over the last weeks. Of course there had been some redundancy taken into account, but Shari only prayed that the components in Fazisl and Omars backpacks lost to the ascent were not irreplaceable. It would be quite a puzzle to bring the radio and transmitter to life, but that was what she was brought up here. That was the sole reason why she did not have to take a straw…
All the while Khamil went over to a little niche on the side of the cave, were a couple of burning incense sticks barely lit a kind of little shrine. The Aga arranged it a bit and put some other things there before taking some silent moments of contemplation. Then he turned around and gestured Shari to come closer, which she reluctantly did. The niche was padded by a prayer-rug and decorated with three dozen little black and white photos of Askaris – men and women – some of them together with dog tags or other little items: a filigree necklace of intertwined goldwires… an ancient wristwatch with greasy leather band… a shemagh embroidered with a personal favorite surah…
In front lay a prayer book with pages so thin you could almost see through them. It was opened in the back, where some space was left free for the reader’s thoughts. They were filled tightly with little passages, each headed by the name of an Askari and followed by some sentences about his life… and how he gave it at this mountain. “Can you write?” Khamil asked silently. She nodded. And one by one all of her companions came by give her a sentence for those that had died, a sentence to be remembered. None of them was afraid to shed some tears and share a hug as they finally said their goodbyes.
____________________________

Two days later the cave was full of buzzing and humming from the generators and transistors, as the countless diodes on the control panels sprang to live one by one like a beehive awaking from its slumber in the spring. It was the last of a couple of stations, crossing the mountains and finally it could reach out again to the imperials on the other side. And one by one they tied themselves to the thin lifeline bound to their brothers on the other side of the front. Just like that thin hemp line that had brought Shari up here, it would not save them alone, but it would give them a fighting chance against the darkness surrounding them.

A garrison under siege in an imperial bastion left behind as the front had rolled over them rejoiced as they could finally call out for a relief. It never came, but their enkindled fighting spirit kept them from breaking as they sold their stronghold bitterly to the final enemy attack.

A tank column bogged down in a narrow canyon they had been ambushed in could reach an artillery spotter with vital intel that guided them through a lossfull fighting retreat out of that deathtrap.

The fleeing supply column of an annihilated brigade was called south saving two companies in a trench all out of ammunition and about to make their final charge.

In a last stand, the only surviving member of a wiped out black ops team could radio the imperial navy that the general of the heretic forces on the highland planes was about to board an armoured shuttle heading to their capital. While the whole squadron of intercepting Lightings and Thunderbolts was eventually KIA by ground based air defence and escort fighters, two of them managed to ram the shuttles engines before going down. The following explosion not only brought down the general but his whole staff, decapitating the enemy command structure. The pilots as well as the black ops team were posthumously decorated with the golden aquilla for an operation labeled “the beheading of the serpent”.


2nd Thoth Askaris and Forgeworld Bagwa (page 7) @ 2020/01/09 11:09:40


Post by: OldMate


I like that last story, very in universe with the casualty rates and the just scraping victory from the jaws of an even more costly victory. At any cost.

Wasn't sure where it was going but the com-link was much more realistic than a daring all guns blazing with the last few survivors!

Liked the characters, nicely done Pyro.


2nd Thoth Askaris and Forgeworld Bagwa (page 7) @ 2020/01/09 11:21:46


Post by: Pyroalchi


Thanks, I was also trying to play around a bit with the multiple possible meanings of the title "lifeline" as in Aaliyas prophecy, the hemp rope and the line of radio transmitters reaching out to the guardsmen over the mountain side.


2nd Thoth Askaris and Forgeworld Bagwa (page 7) @ 2020/02/04 11:49:59


Post by: Pyroalchi


I was ill for some time, therefore the lack of updates, but here is some progress again:


Following the Night of a thousand rebellions in the Segmentum Pacificus, the Askaris fought alongside the imperial forces to stabilize their foothold in the region. During that campaign they picked up - amongst others - some Eskadrons of Attilan Rough Riders, whose regiment had been almost wiped out. Contrary to the other regiments in the area, hailing from developed worlds like Scintilia or Ventrilia, the Askaris did not mind the Attilans feral customs and both factions immediatly got along quite easily. Fortunatly the Administrativum clerk in charge had the rather simplified view, that soldiers from feral worlds are all the same anyway and approved the Askaris application to integrate the Attilans immediatly. On top of that he has since then decided that every "leftovers" from ferral and less developed feudal regiments are just send over to the Askaris. Furthermore Thoths regiment has earned the right and obligation to pick up and integrate the tithe of a dozend feral worlds in the region who by themselves can hardly send enough soldiers to form a regiment of their own - let alone a force with any use for the Imperial Guard. While other regimentos might see that ruling as an insult and ignorance towards their own proud tradition, the Askaris are quite happy about the constant reinforcements. Especially as they have a hard time getting anything from the administrativum, being a regimento with a bad standing amount the clerks, due to their short history in imperial service and lack of connections.



The models are Mongolian Heavy Cavalry from Fireforge games. I really liked the sculpts. They have a lot of detail and just look nice. I did them a bit colorful and maybe that's not everyones taste, but I like them that way. My little daughter helped me select the bushes, therefore we have some alien blue and pink around this time. I also tried a bit of Angrellan Earth instead of my usual sand bases, to have something new. All in all a nice addition to my collection.


2nd Thoth Askaris and Forgeworld Bagwa (page 7) @ 2020/02/16 17:45:37


Post by: Pyroalchi


Beasts of war


One of the species roaming the vast savannas on both hemispheres of Thoth are enormous, thick skinned animals with tusks and trunks, that were known on old earth as elephants. Without any natural predator and a hundred times larger habitat, there numbers are enormous. The tribes in the area have used them as beasts of burden for as long as they remember and in times of conflict have also trained some of the bulls for war. While elephants are naturally hard to control and tend to panick or flee when wounded, the native flora provides the N’Go shamans with the means to tackle these problems. The dark violet broth they feed their bulls turn them into strong, fierce and painless beasts of war. Armored in leather, mail and plates over their thick hide they are surprisingly hard to kill and between their long ebony tusks, stamping feet and the power lances of the N’Go warriors in the turrets on their back, even light vehicles – let alone mere mortals – fall prey to their wrath.

Spoiler:
The war elephant is from Warlord Games (very beautiful sculpt), the warriors are from Victoria Miniatures, the lance tips are Ruststalker Transsonic Blades. I tried something new in mixing the grey for the elephant from blue (Maccragea) and Orange (Troll Slayer), as I red that grey mixed from complementary colors looks more “alive” than from black and white.

I intend to use it as a Sentinel Power Lifter, as I wanted to include a unit of those, it has the perfect size and makes (in my opinion) even more sense as big CC unit than a civilian forklift. Here is a picture for size-comparison:


I also magnetized the back of the elephant and the floor of the turret, as I intend to build an alternative turret including the usual Scout Sentinel weaponry, so that I have an alternative use for it.




Lord Commissar Valeria Jacquard

Valeria was born on Scintilla and raised in a local schola progenium facility after her parents died fighting in one of the Imperiums countless wars. The young women proved to be exceptionally skilled in combat, disciplined, loyal, fearless – and thus was selected to serve the emperor in the commissariat. Her battle record was soon impressive – as was expected of such a gifted protegé. Yet she expressed a very limited ability, or rather willingness, to take into account the fine balanced political and diplomatic networks within the Scintillan Fusiliers and especially the heavy influence of the higher noble houses. What was first seen as a regrettable lack of tactfulness, began to be noticed as infamous stubbornness as she refused to respect the realities that not all Fusiliers were equal and thus some should be treated with more… patience than others. The last straw came in the form of the execution of the thirdborn son of a high-ranking member from house Arkelius for cowardice. While this action was justified and her status as commissar granted somewhat of protection, the infuriated noble did what he could to punish her for that insolence. And thus, she was “promoted” to the rank of lord commissar destined to supervise a new founded regiment in the Segmentum Pacificus. Valerias suspicion about this surprising promotion was soon confirmed, as she arrived at her new post at the Thoth Askaris and first inspected her new charges – many of them dressed in tribal garments with warpaint on their faces. What was intended as a punishment and humiliation was also perceived as such – at first. But in time, Valeria began to appreciate her new comrades. Here, there were no high politics, no nobles or patricians, just simple warriors and their tribes. Maybe they had some contact with the Kriegers living nearby their planet, maybe it was there own culture, but none of the guardsmen joining the Askaris expected to ever return alive. They saw themselves as already dead, just seeking a worthy one in the eyes of their revered skyfather and their ancestors. And thus, they seldom ever broke and one of them did, and she had to use her bolt pistol to reinstate morale, she learned that the N’Go and their allies had a harsh view on cowardice and did not take her actions amiss. Here she was not only feared, as she had been amongst the Scintillan Fusiliers, here she was respected as embodiment of the emperors will and as a fierce warrior.

Valeria had found, what she never even knew she was looking for.
Spoiler:
The mini is Victoria Miniatures Commissar Anika. I exchanged her power sword for a power fist from the IG command squad sprue. This is my first take on a power fist, but I quite like it. Nice model, relatively easy to paint and looks great.


Naqib Shaka Latu


Shaka is well known amongst the different N’Go tribes as veteran of many battles and even though not really old in years has fought in almost every engagement the Askaris have been deployed in. While this has granted him the rank of Naqib, roughly equaling an imperial guard captain, he prefers to fight alongside his Askaris as he always did instead of commanding from the rear.

Spoiler:
The model is Victoria miniatures “counts as Straken”. I currently consider running the N’Go part of my army (so all dark skinned soldiers with their CC weaponry) as separate detachment with some kind of melee approach, but I don’t like making them Catachan, even if that would be quite efficient. Instead I consider running them as Death Korps. It is quite a stretch optically, but it fits my fluff picture of the N’Go quite well. Fearless (Cult of Sacrifice), quite CC proficient (WS3+, Duty onto dead) and employing cavalry (Death riders or Rough Riders depending on what my opponent feels comfortable with.).
In that case he will likely be a Death Korps Field Officer, otherwise a Tallarn platoon commander.







2nd Thoth Askaris and Forgeworld Bagwa (page 7) @ 2020/02/18 07:44:55


Post by: OldMate


Nice war elephant, I can see that causing a bit of carnage among it's enemies

Nice Commissar and Shaka,
Nice to see your jungle themed bases, very cool to see


2nd Thoth Askaris and Forgeworld Bagwa (page 7) @ 2020/02/18 07:59:01


Post by: Pyroalchi


Thanks Oldmate.

By the way, the bases are from MicroArt Studio and I can really recommend them. I consider rebasing all my N'Go soldiers on those, especially to make the detachments better distinguishable.

Regarding the elephant: one minor criticism I have with the sculpt is that I'm pretty sure the neck of the elephant is too long. I think they did it, to make room for the rider that sits there in the original package (I did not use the macedonian looking guys that came with it) but if you look at pictures of african elephants they barely have a neck visible.


2nd Thoth Askaris and Forgeworld Bagwa (page 7) @ 2020/02/18 08:41:51


Post by: OldMate


@Elephant neck, really depends what the ears are doing (in this case fanned out to intimidate) and of course where it's head is being held,

On a side note if an elephant is angry/acting aggressive(especially as in charging) their tail will be held out almost horizontally
Got a good reference pic for you Pyro
Spoiler:


2nd Thoth Askaris and Forgeworld Bagwa (page 7) @ 2020/02/20 10:18:13


Post by: Trondheim


Very nice work with the elephant! And also your lore is on point. Keep it up


2nd Thoth Askaris and Forgeworld Bagwa (page 7) @ 2020/02/21 14:58:46


Post by: Pyroalchi


While a large proportion of the N'Go tribes of Thoth lack advanced technology or the capabilities to maintain a noteworthy motor pool, the endemic Fauna provides them with a variety of useful beasts they put to good use - be it for traveling, working or for war. A significant proportion of the endemic species are decendants of old earths fauna, yet a lot of them exibit a pronounced gigantism. There are no records if this is a product of natural selection or intentional bioengineering, either way, they have proven useful. The N'Kunda tribes for example use large Lemurs as steeds that - while less fast than a horse - are much more suited to traverse through the dense jungles they call their home and also quite capable to scale ruins or the walls of buildings.

The Pygmy tribes of the Lubago river on the other hand have tamed gigantic pangolins that are not only well protected by their thick hides but also able to burrow through unfortified walls with their long, hard claws.






I wanted to try something out to give my african themed Guardsmen a little more exotic steeds for their rough riders. The Lemur and the Pangolin are both from the company Schleich and as you can see in the lower pictures they are not that much bigger than a rider on horse.
The Lemur rider is a Ghost Archipelago tribal. I cut the legs a bit so that he fit on the back but I did a bit to much so he looks a bit stubby now. I tried to sculpt the saddle out of green stuff, but it got to big. Also the rider sits very tilted. Still, its a funny conversion and I consider doing another one, next time correcting the mistakes I made. The shield is from Wargames Foundry's dark africa line (which has a lot of beautiful shields.)

The Pangolin rider is a Pygmy from Wargames foundry and the howda he is standing in was glued together from a sliced chopstick.


2nd Thoth Askaris and Forgeworld Bagwa (page 7) @ 2020/02/22 12:59:57


Post by: OldMate


I can imagine the Lemur being quite effective as they are an extremely agile animal. You'd have to be a very skilled and fearless warrior to avoid plummeting to your death as well!


2nd Thoth Askaris and Forgeworld Bagwa (page 7) @ 2020/02/22 13:14:45


Post by: Pyroalchi


And the poor guy doesn't even have stirrups, because I forgot them

I could also see them being used with optional fitting rules. Like paying for them as deathriders but dropping augmented steed and vicious claws and give the lemurs the ability to access higher levels of ruins like infantry or charge vertically. The pangolin could get the ability to go through walls of buildings if he skips his shooting phase


2nd Thoth Askaris and Forgeworld Bagwa (page 7) @ 2020/02/26 10:59:08


Post by: Pyroalchi


Some nomenclature/explanations for further stories:

Maghrebians:
Maghrebians is a generic term for the decendants of Tallarn settlers. They mostly have tanned, light skin, dark eyes and hair that is usually worn open by women while men wear shemaghs. Their soldiers were kaki uniforms and flak vests resembling the imperial guard standard. Most Maghrebians live in feudal to early civilized societies, with a middling everyday technological level outside the production of military material. The Maghrebians provide the majority of the Askaris vehicle pool and tank crews.

Military ranks/designations
Serasker – General
Beg – Commander
Aga – Captain
Basdeli – Sergant
Hasseki – Veteran/Corporal
Müsellem/Sipahi – Rough Rider
Spoiler:
those are osmanian military ranks


N'Go:
The decendants of Thoths native population living in feral to feudal societies is referred to as N'Go. They have various shades of dark skin, with dark eyes and hair. Some tribes show pronounced short growth similar to ratlings, yet are still seen and treated as normal N'Go. While they have an overall very low technology level, they make excessive use of various beasts found on Thoth and other planets. Therefore they provide the Askaris with various forms of rough riders and beasts of burden. Furthermore the pronounced warrior culture of almost all tribes lead to the N'Go Askaris being quite capable in close combat. Due to the diverse tribal backgrounds they don't use any form of uniform instead wearing their traditional clothing together with characteristic shields identifying their tribe and unit. The N'Go have shown a great ability and willingness to integrate foreign feral guardsmen into their ranks and do so regularly as the Askaris have permission to recruit on a dozen feral worlds in the segmentum pacificus.

Military ranks/designations: various, but the most common being:
Mhadi - General
Aqid- Commander (usually the chief of a large and influental tribe or coalition)
Naqib/Chief - Captain
Raqib - Sergeant
Spoiler:
those are egyptian military ranks


N'Go'Ni
The population of the megacities is also predominantly of native origin, yet are referred to as N'Go'Ni due to their quite different culture. Regular exchange with their tribal brethren leads to them being phyiscally indistinguishable from the N'Go, yet their cultural and technological level is quite advanced the latter almost reaching that of the some most developed imperial planets. Due to that the N'Go'Ni provide the bulk of Thoths production capability, therefore focussing on employing their population in the workforce instead of sending them away to the Askaris. Yet those N'Go'Ni that join the regiment make up a large part of its engineers, radio eperators, field mechanics, medics and similar Workgroups.




2nd Thoth Askaris and Forgeworld Bagwa (page 7) @ 2020/02/27 21:19:38


Post by: Max Moray


Great thread, army idea and execution!

I love how this army represents the vast diversity of African cultures and warriors and how you included minis from a variety of sources under the common theme. Especially like the guard women, the lifter elefant and the Schleich rough riders (king Julian gave me a brief lol moment, he looks great). Bet they all look superb together on a fitting board.

I also enjoyed the very well written lore and the propaganda posters (which have to be on the board you know).

You probably already know them and they are expensive, but the "Warfaces2 - African Female" from Shapeways might be of interest for characters. Considering buying them myself.

Looking forward to how this project grows!

- Even a weak lion is not bitten by a dog - Nam proverb



2nd Thoth Askaris and Forgeworld Bagwa (page 7) @ 2020/02/28 08:50:24


Post by: Pyroalchi


Thanks for the kind words Max and especially for the Warfaces. I did not know them and am really greatful because I was looking for something like that for some time (just not on Shapeways). The female heads look awesome and will be much more fitting than just paint "european" faces dark. Luckily the price would still be OK for me.

And looking at the rest of their stuff: the asians look also quite tempting. Maybe the Askaris will pick up some warriors from an asian themed planet in the future


2nd Thoth Askaris and Forgeworld Bagwa (page 7) @ 2020/03/13 20:13:59


Post by: Pyroalchi


The equipment situation of the Thoth Askaris is... a difficult one.
Some regimentos hail from hiveworlds with intense production capabilities like Armageddon or are rich enough to import the best of the best like the Ventrillian Nobles. Others have a good standing with the Adeptus Mechanicus, being supported by the cogpriests forgeworlds. But most are in one or the other form dependent on the benovelence of the Adeptus Administratum. There are various reasons for a regimento to have a good standing with this institution - a long and impressive battle record like the Cadians or highly valued special abilities like the Elysian Drop forces. Other regimentos can count on friends in high places or guard high priority targets like fleet bases or worlds harbouring astropathic chores.

Unfortunately Thoth cannot claim to be anything of that. To make matters even worse, the failure of their first regimento still sticks to their reputation within the bueaucracy and the night of the thousand rebellions has not helped to increase the trust in the worlds of the Segmentum Pacificus, even if they remained loyal so far. The forges of Thoth and Bagwa do their best to provide at least the basic vehicles, ammunition and replacement parts for the newly founded regiments, but once deployed, shortages are constant companions.
Due to that the Askaris have long stopped to be picky in what they include into their motorpool. As a scouting regiment they quite often find themselves foraging in no mans land or even behind enemy lines where they often try to capture enemy vehicles or salvage fuel, ammunition and parts from wrecks found on the battlefield. While most regiments are reluctant to include foreign vehicles due to supply issues - spare parts for non-standard IG models are rarely provided by the Administrativum - the Askaris rather use one of those until it breaks than stick to the standard and wait for months until their applications for those may be considered. At least this has turned the Askari tankers and mechanics into masters of improvisation, tinkering enough life back into wrecks too at least see the next battle.

Furthermore a variety of outphased, outdated and really old vehicles can be seen within the Askaris ranks in a proportion that is unusually high compared to other regimentos. The reason for that is similar to the above. Dealing with the Administratums supply chains, Thoth commanders soon realized that they follow a specific hacking order. While prioritized regiments will most likely get what they applied for like, lets say, a Baneblade, other regiments will have to make due with a less powerful superheavy like a Macharius. Less important regiments will at least get a fully kit out Leman Russ tank and the least liked applicants can count themselves lucky, if they are handed over an oil leaking Malcador tank lacking a main gun, with jammed autocannon sponsons instead of the beast of war they hoped to get.
Nonetheless a risk-loving commander might try to trick the system by applying directly for one of the "inferior replacements". Since rarely anybody seems to really ASK FOR a Malcador or Carnodon Battle tank as its first choice, competition for these options is low enough that even a regiment like the Askaris might get lucky. Sometimes the production stamps on them even date back to the last days of the horus heresy, having survived after being mothballed in recently discovered, vacuum sealed storage facilities. The "flaws" leading to their replacement by the easier maintained, cheaper to produce and more versatile Leman Russ are often rather obvious. Yet the Askaris hold these proud warriors of old that fought for the imperium when the Primarchs still walked amongst mortals in highest regard, showing their utmost respect by providing them with the best fuel, crews and ammunition they can get and prioritizing them when repairs are necessary. And indeed the machine spirits - eager to prove their worth after being replaced by a glorified tractor - seem to respond favourably to this received respect, so that the older tank schemes perform a lot better with the Askaris than in other regiments.

Another oddity is their paint scheme or more specifically their lack of coherency in this regard. Usually newly founded regiments are assigned specific paint mixtures and application instructions for a destinct camo- or parade-scheme. Yet due to a filing error within the Administrativum, the Askaris never received that. The larger forges have found a consensus and predominantly apply a striped, three color camo to their vehicles - brown and sand colors for the the more motorized maghrebian desert tribes, green and sand colors for the rarer vehicles of the N'Go infantry devisions. Yet there is some diversity in the shape of these stripes and wether they are sprayed with diffuse or clear borders. On top of that tank crews in the field tend to modify that even further applying dotted and other camos or mixing and stretching their paint with local mud to better match their environments color.

Carnodon Battle Tank "Kinza"
Spoiler:
My take on the FW Carnodon. It was a real piece of work to paint, but the result looks smashing with all that bronze/gold. Tried my best to get some glow on the plasma generator in the back and the purple volkites. I also tried the first time to give the Lascannons a more heat worn look. The commander is from Maxminis Desert Dweller line. The white writing on the side of the turret is arabic for the name "Kinza", a female name meaning "hidden treasure". A fitting name as this Carnodon was produced at the end of the HH, then hidden away in a vaccuum sealed storage facility and only recently rediscovered. Now its machine spirit is eager to finally see battle...


Salamander Scout Tank "Niousha"
Spoiler:
A Models and MInis Agrius wheeled APC. While it seems to be intended as Chimera stand in, I want to use it as a turreted Salamander scout tank proxy. The hunter killer missile and the aquillas are from GWs tank upgrade sprue, the muzzle break are literally some pieces of sprue. The white writing on the side of the turret is arabic for "Niousha", a female name meaning something along the line of "the good listener" which seemed fitting for a scout.


Two harmless bushes...
Spoiler:


Leman Russ Decimator:
Spoiler:
no name so far... I'm working on it


Chimera "Ghazaaleh"
Spoiler:


Tauros Venator "Makete"
Spoiler:


Sentinel
Spoiler:



2nd Thoth Askaris and Forgeworld Bagwa (page 7) @ 2020/03/14 12:02:25


Post by: OldMate


Awesome to see your new work! Nice lore as well.


2nd Thoth Askaris and Forgeworld Bagwa (page 7) @ 2020/03/14 12:09:12


Post by: OldMate


Kinza and Niousha are finished beautifully. Very nice to see.


2nd Thoth Askaris and Forgeworld Bagwa (page 7) @ 2020/03/20 21:39:43


Post by: Pyroalchi


Ashanti - a N'Go name roughly meaning "huge, strong woman" - was a wildchild from an early age on. Soon she proved to be a skilled hunter and tracker, moving like a shadow through the long dry elephant grass of her tribal lands - as patient as she could be fierce and savage if it came down to life or death. At 16 - having bested a score of the best warriors of the Akita Matriarchies and a lot of would be grooms from neighboring tribes - she joined the elite Akita Lionesses in a campaign against traitoress forces. Countless battles and fights followed, forging the prodigy into a living legend amongst her tribe. When the great King Bantu rallied the warriors of the N'Go to his banner to join the Askaris rising up to the stars, Ashanti was at his side, having grown to be his trusted companion and bodyguard. And from all his chosen warriors, the one he trusted the most to take up his spear, once he was called at to the table of the skyfather...



The mini was a Bonus on a larger order at Victoria Miniatures and to be honest, I only picked her because I ran out of options I really wanted without really liking her originally. So when I started painting her to have some variation in between painting my tanks I intended her to be merely a sergant in an infantry squad or 08/15 veteran. But then she came along looking quite cool, so she has earned a promotion. I think she is intended as a Sly Marbo style lone warrior, but fluff wise I like her more as a bodyguard/proteé/heir of King Bantu. So she will get into his command squad and watch over him.


2nd Thoth Askaris and Forgeworld Bagwa (page 7) @ 2020/03/21 22:47:44


Post by: Pyroalchi


When the worlds of the Segmentum Pacificus went renegade one by one in the night of a thousand rebellions, few responded to the desperate calls of the remaining loyalists fighting for their life. But amongst those few were the stern soldiers of Krieg, immediately deploying their unrelenting regiments to help the surviving defenders to entrench and repell the traitors. The 856st Death Korps Infantry and 1012st Death Korps Siege regiments arrived in the Thoth system, just days before a significant invasion force of heretics made planetfall. Having lost almost all of spaceships of their small system defense flotilla in an earlier attack, the inhabitants of the system had made hasty preparations to make their last stand in the expected attack. To the battleproven Kriegers, their few prepared defense lines looked pitifull, but they found the whole population mobilized, every man, woman and child that could hold a weapon ready and willing to fight to their last breath. As they overtook control of the defenders, they were informed of large thermonuclear devices, hidden in the underbelly of Thoths Megacities and every major settling area – if the planet could not be held, it would rather burn than fall to the traitors. This found the Kriegers solemn approval and earned the N’Go and Maghrebians their trust.
Under the leadership of the Death Korps, the Defenses were strengthened one more time, and when the invaders finally came, they held the line, repelling wave after wave of crazed fanatics and rebells, lashed onwards by their demonic and possessed overseers. Nonetheless, the end seemed inevitable – until the Commonwealth arrived. A whole fleet of the imperiums allies, dropping out of the warp and driving back the traitors in orbit. And without their reinforcements and supplies, the heretecs on the planet were doomed…
In the following months, the Death Korps was tasked to oversee the training of the local regiments and their integration into the Astra Militarum. While the Askaris did not adapt the style of warfare of their gasmasked saviours, the Kriegers had a non-neglectable influence on their culture. Shovel shaped clubs gained popularity in a variety of tribes, as did warpaints and masks mimicking the skull shaped gasmasks of their unlikely new friends. Their devotion and death defying courage inspired the utmost respect into the tribesmen, and only strengthened their resolve to prove themselves worthy in the eyes of the skyfather the same way their brothers in arms in these troubling times had.
When the Death Korps were finally redeployed, they left behind a share of their vehicles as “missed in action”, knowing about the difficulties of the Askaris material procurement. Those tanks and APCs are held in greatest respect. One of these vehicles is Hami, a storm chimera used by the 23rd platoon of the 5st Askari Infantry regiment. The name given to it means something in the line of Defender or Protector, referring to its origin and the friendship with the silent warriors of the Death world. Blessed and sanctified by the witch doctors of the N'kunda tribes, Hami is adorned with the holy masks of the chiefs of four different clans, again highlighting his status and further strengthening the protection of the warriors riding within.



Spoiler:


My take on Victoria Miniatures Kangaroo APC and her Tank Commander. As usual with Victorias stuff an awesome model. I want to use it as Storm Chimera for my N'Go guardsmen that will run with Death Korps rules. Therefore I build a Autocannon/Heavy stubber combo from spare parts as main armament. First time I tried this green/beige color scheme and I think it looks quite nice. I added some parts from the GW tank upgrade sprue and some masks from the Frostgrave Ghost Archipelago Tribals for more character.


Edit: "Hami " is a suaheli name with the mentioned meaning. The letters I used are Osmaniya, a writibg system from east africa, for the somalian language. So a bit cheating, but I wanted to variate a bit and use non arabic writing


2nd Thoth Askaris and Forgeworld Bagwa (page 7) @ 2020/03/23 07:39:29


Post by: Max Moray


Great new tanks and background! Especially like Ashanti, lore and model that is.


2nd Thoth Askaris and Forgeworld Bagwa (page 7) @ 2020/04/02 10:18:12


Post by: Pyroalchi


After the recolonization during the Macharius Crusade, contact between Thoth and the Imperium was sporadic, leaving the colony mostly isolated for centuries. The reasons were manifold including lack of interest in the developing settlement, raging warp storms, disputes about sector borders and in one case a simple filing error that erased knowledge of Thoths position from imperial knowledge for a whole century. While the N’Go and Maghrebians returned to their more traditional, tribal lifestyles, the various N’GoNi cities on Thoth’s southern hemisphere thrived and grew, fusing together to form three Megacities – Nishasa, Ibotu and Kigali. Their population numbers in the tenth of millions and is still rapidly increasing, while their outskirts spread through the southern jungles like twines and have already met each other at various points. Within this vibrant conglomerate, the imperial knowledge and technology brought by the Tallarn settlers was preserved, but soon the city dwellers reached the limits of the fragmentary STC library brought from the desert world. Without the constant supervision of the servants of the Omnissiah, whose few non-lobotomized representatives were fully occupied with the development of Bagwa, the N’GoNi started to try and reconstruct damaged STCs from the library by studying the principles underlying those schematas, experimenting and – very carefully – adapting, modifying and improving them. The vast majority of the resulting “new” tech is composed of just refined, less rustical looking variants of widespread STCs and mostly comparable to products produced on worlds with more complete STC libraries. Yet due to the focus of Thoths production capabilities the technology around the collection of solar energy as well as the production of superior quality glasses and their employment in high performance optics can be counted amongst the most advanced within the Imperium. And even more importantly the N’GoNi engineers trained in the Megacities possess a level of understanding of these specific technologies that surpasses the mere reproduction of STCs – a feat rarely found even within the ranks of the servants of the machine god.

When Thoth was finally really reintegrated into the Imperium only some decades ago, they were lucky enough to not get into too much trouble with the Mechanicum, as they could present them with the fully developed power grid of Bagwa. Not being ungrateful Nac1r, the Magos in charge of the Machanicum affairs in the system declared after a short inspection that the technology on Thoth was no tech-heresy but merely an Omnissah inspired rediscovery of lost STCs. As there were no experts on the concerned fields within the whole sector that could disagree, this met with approval or rather widespread ignorance from the rest of the Imperium.

The mentioned advancements included the development of various vehicle types, mostly fast, wheeled recon and support vehicles like the Jackal Mark XI that are more practical for Thoths vast, wide-stretching savannas and half deserts due to their longer range and better fuel efficiency compared to imperial tracked vehicles. They are equipped with multiple sensor arrays including full colored night vision and wide-spectrum electromagnet detectors ranging far into the ultraviolet and infrared range. While expensive to build and maintain and prone to being damaged even by low caliber fire, these advanced optics have in various incidents been able to detect enemies hidden by camouflage or even less advanced stealth technology. Further improvements against the similar role Salamander Scout tank include a fully revolving turret, environmentally seales against ABC hazards, a more sophisticated power generator and modular weaponry packages including a plasma cannon or heavy flamethrowers.

Nonetheless, when Thoth reintegrated into the Imperium and was faced with the realities of the 42nd millennium, it soon became clear that the Jackal and their similar vehicles were utterly impractical for the use in the imperial guard regiments. While nice concepts, and maybe even superior 1:1 on a fitting battlefield like Thoth, they are just too complicated to produce, maintain and pilot compared to the classical Imperial types. For the price and time it takes to produce one Jackal, three Salamanders can be build who can be crewed by basically any Guardsmen without specific training as it is required for the Mark XI. The Jackals “Multifuel” engine can run on prometium, gasoline or diesel – much more limited than the Imperial types that can consume anything flammable, including wood. And finally supply and repair is indefinitely easier with standardized imperial schemata when a regiment has to fight a segmentum away from its homeworld. Thus the large scale production for the Askaris was switched back to the production of Salamanders, Chimeras and few Leman Russ, with only small numbers of the Jackal and its vehicle family still being build – mostly for use in the domestic PDF forces. Nonetheless the few N’GoNi joining the Askaris – the majority of this population group being put to better use as skilled workforce – still prefer those home-developed types and possess the education to really bring out their advantages in the field. Therefore one can still see them from time to time, sprinkled into the mobile motorized platoons of the Maghrebians.

One of those vehicles is “Timba”, a N’GoNi name meaning “lion hunter” that is also painted in the strange, geometrical Mandombe script used by them. It got this proud name after it saved one of the regiment’s command post from being ambushed by a tiger striped, stealthed tyranid creature, picking up an odd shift in the ultraviolet range in the last minute and killing it with a lucky shot hitting a vital neural node. Produced in Nishasa, it was painted in the strange, square blocked digital camo preferred in this region to disrupt the shape and hide weak spots of the vehicle.


This is 6x6 Rapid Assault Vehicle Secret Weapons Miniatures. It comes with 7 different main weapons
Spoiler:

In reading order: Flame Cannon, Plasma Cannon, High Velocity Cannon, Support Cannon, Twin-Autocannons, Quad-Machine gun, Multilaser, Size comparison to Leman Russ Vanquisher and Exterminator cannons. The Multilaser option might also be an alternative Quad Machinegun configuration. Note that while it seems that the options resemble the Leman Russ loadouts, they are much smaller and slimmer. The Hig Velocity Cannon looks more like a slim Autocannon and the Twin Autocannon more like a twin heavy stubber. But the Flame Cannon would make a very good Hellhound Inferno Cannon

I intended to use it as a Salamander scout tank, but the Flamecannon looks quite awesome, so it might be a Hellhound from time to time (or a Salamander with a Twin heavy flamer if my opponent is OK with that). I tried to practice and improve my lense-painting on this model, therefore the detail picture in the lower right. Also this time a digital camo scheme. The writing is Mandombe, an interesting african geometric writing system used – amongst others – for Swaheli, the language in which Timba means “lion hunter”.


2nd Thoth Askaris and Forgeworld Bagwa (page 7) @ 2020/04/02 12:25:39


Post by: OldMate


Very nice Pyro!


2nd Thoth Askaris and Forgeworld Bagwa (page 7) @ 2020/04/03 07:58:43


Post by: Pyroalchi


For the next story, Oldmate and I got together for a little collaboration. It is told out of two perspectives, so I divide them into paragraphs.

Unlikely Allies

Spoiler:
Hamid stood up in his Command Chimeras hatch, his face hidden within the violet shemagh exept a small slit for his eyes and took his binocular up. Finally he could make out the craggy yellowish rock formation they were looking for. About time, as the sun was about to set and it the light had already started to fade. Still they would even be a bit early for their arranged rendezvous with the commonwealth troops, some of which he could already see beside a large military truck with a tarpaulin over his cargo platform. He signaled the rest of his platoon to change course towards them and shouted down to Kamil to steer a little bit to the left. A metallic banging followed by fervent cursing was the response, as his driver knocked his head on something inside the crammed cabin of their transport. Room for the crew was sparse, as they were loaded to the brim with provisions, ammunition and other stuff they had foraged. He knew his friend long enough not to mind, Kamil was not really happy without a reason to curse. From back in the crew compartment he could hear the sonorous snoring of the other passengers, squeezing in some long overdue sleep regardless of the IFVs roaring engine.

The dry, warm wind above the plain had calmed down a bit and it was nothing like the raging sand storms on Thoth that could grind down the paint of a tank until it shone silver, but still the ockre colored fine dust it brought seemed to get into… well everywhere. Nonetheless he had little to complain about. They had been able to pick up quite some stuff slipping around the border between the no man’s land and the enemy lines on their way here and his platoon had not lost a single man so far. They had even found a barely damaged pick-up truck and somehow brought it back alive. So at the least he would not meet their allies barehanded. Speaking of which, he made eye-contact with one of the N’Go scouts on their large, ferocious looking bipedal avians they had brought as steeds and gestured him to fan out a bit, as the impressive, carnivorous terror birds tended to get… nervous… around people whose smell they did not know.

Reaching the small encampment he could make out about a score of soldiers, most of them sitting around a campfire, while some others were tinkering around a six-wheeled scout car. He held up his right hand to greet their commanding officer, who approached him, returning the friendly gesture and saying something. Hamid could not hear him over the engine sound and put his hand to his ear to underline that with a gesture. Putting his own hands to the mouth like a cone the captain shouted “Did you run in any trouble?” “No, all clear.” He shouted back, taking a small package of grubby, self-rolled cigarettes out of his pocket and fumbling for one. Meanwhile the rest of his platoon had also arrived, greeting their comrades and putting down their backpacks with relief, stretching their numb limbs after their long march. A couple of their new companions had stood up admiring the Askaris large birds speeding around in the distance to get some excitement out of their system before joining the others, while others gestured them to sit down at the fire and have some bits of roasted game. Hamid tapped his flak vest for a lighter for his smoke as the captain in front of him smiled and reached out his left hand with his own zippo shouting “I just asked because we left us waiting. Already thought the bogeymen got you…” Wondering what “bogeyman” could mean, Hamid returned the smile replying "What do you mean, I thought we were early?" and started to climb out of his turret, as he realized something… odd. He could not identify it in an instant, but something just seemed off. The chatter around him calmed down to an awkward silence, the smiles on some of the faces around the campfire seemed to cool down and freeze. He looked back to the captain and saw his gaze fixed on a point slightly under Hamid’s face, the smile faded completely and his right low-key reaching down. One foot still in the turret, the Askari aga’s hand reached up to his collar touching his medal of service – an imperial Aquilla in silver. He froze and the little cigarette stump fell out of his mouth. The quiet "click", as the captain opened his holster cut through the silence. But Hamid’s hand was already at the trigger of his heavy bolter. Screaming “F***! F***! F***!” he let himself drop down into his hatch, while the weapon roared into full auto turning the foreign captain and a dozen of his men into a bloody pulp before they could even bring their autoguns at the ready. Everyone else on their foot was punched around and deafened by the sheer momentum of the exploding bolts from barely 10 yards away. Some of the strangers dropped to the ground to find some cover, others tried to get their weapons ready, but the N’Go were at them with their spears, clubs and bush knives in the blink of an eye and - being trained in gruel melee from childhood on - made short process with their opponents. The rest of them broke and ran into the dusk or towards the rock formation. The Askaris were suspicious enough to not just blindly run after them immediatly but fanned out to encircle them.

The driver of the truck hit the gas to flee, letting the terror birds hunting instinct spring into action. They catapulted forward in pursuit of the unexpected prey that was quite unlikely to escape their blinding fast strides. Meanwhile the mechanic at the scout car was quick minded enough to button up its hatches and try to get its heavy stubber into action to suppress the Askaris. Instantly Kamil let the chimera’s engine spring into action, speeding right at the scout car to angle their best armored front hull towards the heavy machine gun to weather the small caliber bullets and shield their infantry. It tried to evade them by driving backwards but an inexperienced driver and unfortunate lack of a rear mirror haplessly stopped it on the side of the rock formation it had just moved out of. Hamid had barely enough time to brace for the impact before he was slammed around in his turret as their IFV rammed the smaller vehicle immobilizing it. Rubbing his aching… everything… he heard Kamil curse again and duck, as a lucky shot smashed through the armored glass in the vision slit of his hatch, grazing his arm. Hamid risked a look through his mirror optics and could make out his Askaris approaching the scout car from both sides of the chimera. While the chassis was seriously deformed, and thick black smoke started to rise from the engine compartment, the turret was still moving trying to keep the guardsmen away from approaching – to no avail. A moment later a determined N’Go had dodged her way forward and slammed the sharp, shovel like end of her club into the turret ring blocking its movement. Another one had grabbed a crowbar and was going to town on the hatch, while two others stood at attention with their lasguns and a grenade. Enemy or not, Hamid almost felt pity for the soldiers inside. It was one thing to die in a fight, but just sitting there, unable to do anything while waiting for the inevitable...

He could still hear shots outside, mainly coming from the rock formation – likely some left behind sentinels and survivors of their first attack but one by one, those fell silent. The loud bloodcurling screech of the terror birds, followed by the dying scream of a man told that the fleeing had not made it either. When finally all seemed clear he pulled himself up through his hatch to inspect the carnage. Fumbling for his cigarettes again, he realized his hands were shaking. He told himself that the other man had reached for his weapon first. That they definitely were not the commonwealth soldiers they were expected to meet, yet still the feeling of impending doom lingered. What would happen to them if they just killed an allied platoon? To be honest, he already knew it. Looking up to the stars in the clear night sky he send a prayer to the skyfather and his ancestors to watch over his men and don’t let them pay for his faults.


Spoiler:
Sergeant Harry inspected his troops. He had been summoned to the company command tent and Commisar Yarvov had accompanied him. The lieutenant, master sergeant Theas was there along with corporal Dunn and sergeant Urao was there and that was never a good sign. Half of the platoon was linking with allied troops. An imperial force of some description. The briefing both said not much. But his section was to act as recon to the force. Because, well the recon company was busy duking it out against militia forces to the south.

Wasn’t their job but their armoured cars could run down enemy cars and trucks on the rugged terrain more effectively than anything else. And of course Sergeant Harry of the 132nd Rifles had formerly been in a recon company in the 921st Fusiliers, and he was one of the most experienced trooper in the company still. It also went unsaid that it would be a good trial for the new commissar.

So Sergeant Harry was to command the recon detachment in front of the platoon’s movement. He had thirteen men and women under his command, and there was also Commisar Yarvov to consider. He had a marksman, a light machine gun and a machinegun team from platoon. For mobility he had two civilian trucks and a Gailen weapons mounted patrol vehicle. Klomn manufacture, Vasterol’s lion badge on the radiator. A non too small bolt of pride shot through Harry’s chest. That vehicle had been made in Sebam, his city. He owned one of these. Albeit without the mine plating, suspended seats and machineguns.

Harry liked being out for operations like this, never mind how the last one ended. It wasn’t something you dwelled on. You just enjoyed the wind on your face, the spirit de corps and the prospect of maybe getting to brass something up. His vehicle was the leader, one of the civilian vehicles, as he could sit next to his vox operator. The Galen, was behind, ready to spring out and give the enemy a storm bolter and heavy stubber for their troubles.

Yarvov sat opposite him holding a submachinegun. It was a little bit disappointing. Harry had hoped to have another bolter in his force, but the man carried a submachine gun and his issued las pistol. The Commisar didn’t look too confident with the Ardus manufacture submachinegun with it’s top mounted magazine and with the sights on the right hand side.
“Have you fired one of those?”
The commissar boy shook his head.
As weapons went it was counter intuitive for the uninitiated. It seemed like some bad joke that someone had thought to give him one. The KSR83 was about as intuitive as firearms went.
“You want the rifle?” Harry offered. The boy nodded. Harry handed it to him and unfastened his rifle pouches.
The Commisar handed him two mag pouches and the submachinegun.
Harry was happy. Hadn’t shot one of these things since a short stint on Cadia.

He wondered what the imperial forces he’d meet with were like, they’d deployed planet side fast enough and with the threat of a contested air and space. So either they were slick or they were keen. Someone had welded a steel plate to the bull bar to protect the engine on his lead vehicle, it’d stop a bit from small arms fire. They’d stencilled an imperial eagle onto it in white paint so their allies could recognise them.
The second civilian vehicle pulled off the road so the recon force had to turn over, a punctured tyre and that had to be changed. His soldiers didn’t have to be told to dismount and spread out.

Harry crouched under a tree. It was a shrub really and it’s narrow leaves didn’t really provide much shade. After a short while he could hear the sound of a bike engine approaching from the rear. A cursory glance told him it was a rider from the platoon that Command had sent up by bike, as they were under vox silence. The messenger advised him that one of the trucks carrying part of the platoon had also taken a staked tyre so they’d have to wait. It was what happened with civilian stuff.


Eventually the recon troop got mounted up and got back on the road.
It was getting dark by the time they came around the corner. He saw the Chimera’s turret pointing at his vehicle. He prayed to the emperor that whoever was in there wasn’t hostile.

And then he saw the blood. This part of the desert was yellow ochre, and the blood was easily spotted where it was the dampened soil clagged together. Harry swore. The situation was less than ideal. The other vehicles were fanning out behind him. They’d do damage, some would get away to warn the column if need be.

He halted the force. He’d likely be dead if it were the enemy. They’d been in constant contact with the Commonwealth Combined Corp so they’d recognise his uniform a mile off.. He dismounted and walked to the front of the vehicle then slung his weapon over his shoulder. The Commissar jumped from the back f the car and followed him.


Spoiler:
Hamid leaned against the side of his chimera, drinking careful, small sips of cardamom flavored tea from his canteen, watching three of his men working on the wreckage of the scout car. They had managed to put out the fire in time, yet the engine was too damaged to be of any use. Still his mechanic seemed to be able to salvage some of the parts that could prove useful later on. Meanwhile the other two were trying to remove the heavy machine gun from its turret to fix it on the improvised tripod welded on the pick-ups cargo. Watching them at least took his mind of things a bit.

Hamid looked up as he heard the characteristic mechanical sounds of Samehs kybernetic leg approaching. He was a couple of years older and arguably his most trusted Basdeli since they met during the fights of the night of a thousand rebellions. They had shared a foxwhole during the attack that had claimed Samehs leg – and would have killed him if Hamid hadn’t patched him up. “Sahib? We rounded up the last of them… even made prisoners…” “That’s… good. Have you found anything?” Hamid did not have to clarify what that “anything” was. To his dismay Sameh shook his head. “None of them had any tattoos or markings. And the two we caught claim stubbornly that they belong to an ardus militia and are no traitors.”
“… He reached for his pistol first, when he saw my Aquilla” Hamid answered solemly. His Basdeli held up his hands in a gesture of agreement “You don’t have to tell me, Sahib. I saw it in their eyes at the fireplace. Whoever those sons of hyenas were, you did the right thing.” the veteran looked up to something behind Hamid and nodded in that direction. “Problem is old friend, you don’t have to convince ME.”.

Following his gaze, Hamid stepped back from the chimera and also saw the approaching soldiers somewhat in the distance. He put up his binocular again… some vehicles, a couple of soldiers… and a black hat. “Great, just great…” he mumbled to himself. At least this time he could make out an Aquilla on one of the cars and since they did not shoot but instead seemed to slow down and wait when they saw the chimera, those were quite likely allies.

Putting down his glasses he felt Samehs hand on his shoulder, the other resting on the pommel of his long curved dagger. “You know Sahib… Just if there has been some… confusion… it might be better if there was only one story told about what has just happened.” the Basdeli raised an eyebrow and nodded in the direction of the two prisoners that were just led to them by the Sipahis on their birds, prodding them with their lances now and then. Hamid admittedly had already had this thought and considered it for another moment before shaking his head. “No. They might have some intel. And in the worst case… they can still fight for the emperor. I won’t rob him of two honest souls if we should have failed.” He took another look around his men and then ordered “I go over alone. Be on your toes, we are still on no-mans-land and have to be sure who these men are this time.” adding solemnly “And should things go the other way, tell the men to accept whatever verdict the Commissar renders in humility.” Both men saluted, before Hamid started to approach the waiting strangers.

When he reached them he saluted the commissar and the sergeant beside him and introduced himself “Aga Hamid ibn Salem, 2nd Thoth Askaris, 21st platoon. We had orders to rendezvous here with commonwealth troops.” He checked their reaction and continued his report “Upon arriving we met a force already present. When they realized we are imperials they drew their weapons, but we prevailed. My men are behind that dune over there awaiting further orders.” With that he finished, waiting for the commissars reaction and crossing his fingers hoping for the best.


Spoiler:
From his position further up the road Harry could see a burnt out scout car. Old model, Ardus militias and some PDF units still used them and plenty others were mothballed as replacements. The Commissar voiced his concern. “Looks like there was a bit of a fight here.”
There was a flash of movement above the dune where the Chimera was parked. . To his credit the boy didn’t exactly jump at the sight of the man but there was a subtle reaction.
“Easy.” Harry whispered.

A soldier with a purple shemagh and khaki uniform started to walk over to them.
As he approached the man Harry’s eyes crossed to the bodies that littered the ground. The stranger spoke in a dialect of low gothic that he knew, Tallarns on during the campaign on Mogathe Prime. The unsettling feeling in his stomach eased a little bit. But it wasn’t completely gone. Because well they had a chimera pointing his way and in five minutes half the platoon would be riding down the road in a soft skin.
Harry introduced the Commissar and himself.
He talked to the man, who turned out to be a captain. Harry introduced himself as a sergeant. But with a few years of campaigning, which the other man respected. He didn’t state that this was the Commissar’s first deployment. It was plain enough and there was no point in the indignity of saying it aloud. His soldiers formed a half picket and his allies did likewise.
As a point of pride he didn’t even need to prompt his soldiers for one to put a brew on. It was also a point of pride in seeing they didn’t stinge on the leaf.

The officer explained that he was part of a small imperial force. That the Commonwealth had once fought on his homeworld and saved it in one of it’s darkest hours.
That got under Harry’s skin, under his scalp. It was the first thing he learnt when he joined the regiment. 132nd Commonwealth Combined Rifles first on the ground during the war on Thoth. Straight into the attack, charging from assault transports as Urothrian gunboats and monitors flew above the field laying down a sheet of heavy fire and bombardment on the heretics. Made a hell of a painting.

It gave Harry hope. The legions had served on thousands of worlds in their service to the imperium. It felt like the Commonwealth had not been forgotten, like the Commonwealth was not alone.

He drank tea with the officer and told him that it was good that his unit was here. Of their shared history. He asked two men to check the bodies and asked the officer about the prisoners he had.
He had a sure-fire test if the men were traitors.
“Get Aarri and Kamiil.”
The commissar gave Harry sideways look.
“If they see you they will be afraid.” Harry explained.
Both riflemen were from the Gauel valley. Both wore scarves pulled up over their faces similar to Hamid’s shemagh. “These men are the emperor’s justice. If they are afraid they are guilty.” He explained. “If they are not guilty they will have nothing to fear. It is a custom.”

The men had intelligence use and would be sequestered to the rear to have their minds probed by the spooks before their summary execution.


2nd Thoth Askaris and Forgeworld Bagwa (page 7) @ 2020/05/07 20:00:13


Post by: Pyroalchi


Progress again, even if those took me faaaar longer than I would have expected:

First of, Victoria Miniatures heavy mortar (the supersized one) with some Ghost Archipelago Tribals as crew. I felt more on the mood to build the three guys with axes and a hammer, hacking down trees and lianas to make room for the mortar, therefore they do not really look like loading it. Also tried a new color scheme with the masks on the mortar (for good luck), I'm not yet really sure of. Shields are from Wargames Foundry, rifles from Victoria


Next of three heavy weapons teems with missile launchers. The soldiers are Ghost Archipelago tribals, the missile launchers and that cool flame effect from Anvil Industries, the rifles from Victoria Miniatures. They will get a jungle base in the future but I wanted to show them of a bit now. Sorry for the pretty dark photo, I did not manage better today. Edit: now it looks better


Those were built in parallel with three further heavy weapons teams with autocannons, that I will hopefully finish the next days. The Mortar is a really nice sculpt and Anvil also did a great job on the missile launcher arms.


2nd Thoth Askaris and Forgeworld Bagwa (page 7) @ 2020/05/08 20:07:46


Post by: Pyroalchi


And some more lockdown minis finished:
My Victoria Miniatures Autocannon teams.

Very nice sculpt but I forgot to test out the guns elevation on the intended base before glueing them together (which you really should do... my bad). So now they seem to target some low flyer. Also the gun handler (also from Victoria, but with GW Catachan Heavy weapons arms) could not really fit his hands anywhere sensible on the weapon. I improvised and cut the handle loose, therefore the awkward hand position on those. Maybe I will fix this later by giving them some kind of bullet they are handling. Also I had not enough minis left over to put two on every base. I will complete them when I cleared my backlog and order the next tome from Victoria. Muzzle flashes: Anvil Industry, shields and spears: Wargames Foundry, masks on the guns: Ghost Archipelago tribals.
Note that I drilled/filed down some parts of the base with a rotary tool, so that the wheels of the gun carriage have a kind of "sunk in" look. If you don't do this it looks a bit awkward as the heavy weapon seems to balance on some leafs and shrubbery.
Overall pretty satisfied with how they finished. But it took wayyy longer than I thought I would need for them.




And finally two more exotic rough riders for my "counts as Death Riders" cavalry that will count as Rider Command squad. They really look special amongst my horses. As I had two Pygmies left over I tried a "two seater" on the Pangolin, with the second guy having some poisened arrows (therefore the green tip). Should count as a Laspistol rules wise.

The racoon and the pangolin with the two riders are new and again from the company Schleich. The beautiful jungle bases from MicroArtsStudio, the Pygmies on the pangolin from Wargames Foundry and the racoon rider a mix of Victoria Miniatures and Ghost Archipelago tribals. I build the pangolin howda from some chop sticks and the improvised saddle on the racoon from green stuff. I can also wholeheartedly recommend Wargames Foundries Pygmies as Ratling proxies. They fit in size, are good value for their prize and are not that hard to kitbash into holding rifles.



2nd Thoth Askaris and Forgeworld Bagwa (page 7) @ 2020/05/09 08:38:58


Post by: OldMate


I love the rough riders, and those heavy weapons and artillery are really cool. Starting to think I might get some more auto-cannons! They look so good.


2nd Thoth Askaris and Forgeworld Bagwa (page 7) @ 2020/05/09 09:01:00


Post by: Pyroalchi


Thanks Oldmate. The Rough riders were again a lot of fun to build and look really cool amongst the army. It gives a kind of lighthearted touch. As I like it a bit less grimdark, that's quite my style. If someone liked to try similar stuff I can also recommend visiting the sites of Papo
https://www.papo-france.com/en/12-figures-and-accessories
Collecta
https://www.collecta-international.de
And Schleich
https://www.schleich-s.com/de/DE/

They all have nice animals


2nd Thoth Askaris and Forgeworld Bagwa (page 7) @ 2020/05/27 04:21:13


Post by: Firstwetakedc


While there is no way that I can read all of this, I am very impressed by your customized, fluffy force. I wish that more people did that around here! I am particularly intrigued by the Rough Riders, as I have some as well. They are Cavalrywomen riding Spielberg Raptors, and yes, the riders are from Victoria Miniatures. I love third-party minis, and I've used them for reasons of flavor (customization) and cost (Bold Action Guardsmen, Fox Box Sisters).

Great work!


2nd Thoth Askaris and Forgeworld Bagwa (page 7) @ 2020/05/27 06:27:27


Post by: Pyroalchi


Thanks for the kind words. Would love to see those raptors, do you have some pictures? I ordered some Age of Sigmar Seraphon Cold Ones for cheap that will join the riders too. And Warploque miniatures has some cool giant kiwis. So in the end I will likely have a whole cavalry section.


2nd Thoth Askaris and Forgeworld Bagwa (page 7) @ 2020/05/27 11:37:19


Post by: Pyroalchi


So, I got a bunch of new stuff to present. First of a group shoot of my army as it was two weeks ago:
Spoiler:

The idea for this kind of representation came from Oldmate and I think it's pretty cool to bring some order into the force from a lore perspective.

Next of: the quadcopter from Anvil Industry:

really cute mini. The camera on the left and gun on the right were in the set, the "bomb" in the mittle is a part of sprue filed in shape. The stone was placed to keep it from falling over. Luckily the piece of wire holding the drone is hidden pretty good by the high gras. I intend to use it either with the camera as Officer of the Fleet/Master of Ordnance or with the bomb as Cyclops demolition vehicle. I think it makes as much if not more sense to use a drone to call in airstrikes instead of a high ranking navy officer on the ground.

Next in line: a small ground based reccon/sniper drone:

The model is Anvils Sentry pod, which came with the cute camera (above) and a rifle mount. I did not really like the futuristic rifle it came with so fixed a long las sniper rifle from GW instead. Looks pretty cool hiding in those bushes and will serve as a ratling sniper. Or alternatively some kind of objective marker or reccon drone if I or GW come up with some funny rules.

Last but not least: the Muan Moustachioed Mongooses

My try for two squads of Tempestus Scions with Plasma Pistol on the sarge and two Hot Shot Volley guns each. The Minis are from Puppetswar, the heads, Hot Shot volley guns and their power packs (phase lance) from Anvil. had a bit of resin lumps here and there in between the arms that had to be removed. Painting them was fun, but reeeally took its time. Then when applying munitorum varnish it messed around a bit with some parts of the minis turning the red on some weapons a dull greyish tone. I did my best to fix it.

I'm not sold on the name yet, but the splendid moustaches on the sergants deserve praise, Mongooses (or Mungos? Mangustas?) fits their indian theme and so far I'm not aware of any Scions giving the humble mu the praise the letter deserves . The closest runner up so far is Xian Leopards... I don't know, any opions from the audience?
They will definitly get a short story or snippet in the future.


2nd Thoth Askaris and Forgeworld Bagwa (page 7) @ 2020/05/27 12:14:32


Post by: OldMate


Some nice additions Pyro, great conversion work and I can see those drones being employed heavily with the scion squad as part of the 'glory boys' always getting the good kit!


2nd Thoth Askaris and Forgeworld Bagwa (page 7) @ 2020/05/27 18:58:21


Post by: Firstwetakedc


Here you are! The riders are Guardswomen by Victoria Miniatures. The firearms are from Mad Robot and GW, and I think the melee weapons (not the lances, those are from Victoria) are as well. The mounts are cheap dinosaur toys from Toysmith (had I not found those, I was going to order Cold Ones), and the saddle packs and bases are Crayola Model Magic. I really love them, but I've had no luck with them on the battlefield, but that's been true for my Guard in general.




[Thumb - RRiders1.jpg]
[Thumb - RRiders2.jpg]
[Thumb - Rriders3.jpg]


2nd Thoth Askaris and Forgeworld Bagwa (page 7) @ 2020/05/27 20:26:35


Post by: Pyroalchi


Thanks for sharing. A really cool idea, I love them.
While I have a bunch of rough riders and plan on getting more I haven't played so far and don't expect them to peform excellent. Then again they remain ihr of my favourite units in the fluff


2nd Thoth Askaris and Forgeworld Bagwa (page 7) @ 2020/06/07 20:25:03


Post by: Pyroalchi


New stuff (yeah!):

First of a nice Tauros Venator proxy from Puppetswar:

I tried a sharded camo this time which looks pretty nice I think. Also a bit of an experiment with the decals on the turret sites.
I did a bit more variation for the armament (twin missile launcher, twin lascannon, twin multimelter, twin heavy bolter) all of which would be pretty nice on such a fast little scout.
The vehicles name is "Osuyiani", which is the Massai word for the african wild dog. I found it fitting since with the missile launchers it looks a bit like the wild dog with its big round ears.

The next one has an own short story snippet:
As she entered the hangar that currently served the regiment as garage and workshop, a N’GoNi mechanic that was just sitting in a corner with a cup of recaff sprang into attention and saluted snappily, announcing unnecessary loud “Good evening my LORD COMMISSAR JACQUARD! Would you like to join me on a nice cup of recaff in our break room? Some biskuits maybe?” In the back of the workshop she could hear a muffled “Dammit…” followed by the characteristic noise of someone trying to pull a tarpaulin over a large object without making a sound – a fruitless effort as always. It was obvious that something dodgy was going on here, yet her intuition told her that it was not rebellion brewing but more likely some of the usual mischief going on with the Askaris and their notorious ways of improving their equipment situation. The usual code of conduct taught at the Schola would have been as swift as it was violent, but out here it was her command and over the last months the Askaris had earned enough of her trust to have the benefit of the doubt. They might be very… unconventional, but their loyalty to the imperium seemed unquestioned. “I’ll take the recaff and a nice little tour to the back of your workshop. It’s always interesting what you pick up along the way…” She answered with a warning undertone that made clear that the uncommissarily patience she had shown with her bolter so far might run out soon if they tried to make a fool out of her. The N’GoNi looked a bit shaken and nodded, as they made their way to the darker corner of the hangar where another two Askaris stood suspiciously disinterested beside a scout car shaped tarpaulin.

The… thing in front of her looked like some madman had wielded, stapled and glued together whatever he had found lying around on a scrapyard, and the bright red color all over it completed her assumption about it’s origin. “Care to explain what you got there?” “It’s… umm… it might be… a militia vehicle? I mean, it certainly looks civilian doesn’t it?” She couldn’t help but smile and shake her head. “OK, I’ll bite. But how on earth did you bring it here? I though those don’t work without… you know…” Her question was answered by a high pitched little shriek from under the engine hood, that was quickly silenced by a healthy slap on the metal plate and a muffled “shut up!”. “We… errr… are trying to find …. a workaround?” The engineers looked to her pleadingly and added “In the end, it will likely explode itself or be blown up within the next 2 days anyway, we might as well use it to draw some fire, don’t you think?”

Meanwhile a couple of miles away an Orkboy was in the process of making a grots life really miserable “Stinky ya stupid snot!!! Some Gitt nikked our buggy! And whe da hell is Squeaky?”



An Ork Buggy from Puppetswar. I really like orky conversions of looted vehicles so I thought "why not looting back?" so here we have an ork vehicle that was "found", with some imperial eagles slapped on and will count as Tauros Assault vehicle. the red, yellow and green are contrast which made it pretty easy to paint. The weapons were kitbashed. Upper left and lower right are intended to be a heavy flamer (from a Chimera turret), the other two are the Tauros Grenade launcher (whose stats look like two infantry grenade launchers slapped together so that's what I did).



2nd Thoth Askaris and Forgeworld Bagwa (page 7) @ 2020/06/08 07:40:14


Post by: OldMate


Nice additions, there's a lot of contrast between them! Osuyiani so high tech it'd look great with your stormies. Twin grenade launcher just suits the re-looted orky one so well. And the imperial skull on the front makes a lot of sense becasue it might well stop friendly fire!


2nd Thoth Askaris and Forgeworld Bagwa (page 7) @ 2020/06/08 07:41:18


Post by: OldMate


Nice snippet, very funny.


2nd Thoth Askaris and Forgeworld Bagwa (page 7) @ 2020/06/20 16:18:15


Post by: Pyroalchi


Aoroatea IV is a rather beautiful planet, in the same subsector as Thoth and covered with a large ocean, shallow corall reefs and countless islands. Unfortunatly it also possesses a rather high gravity and thus is only settled by a comparatively huge Ogryn population decendant from Abhumans left behind after the Maccharian crusade. Often isolated on their separate archipelagos on their world, the Ogryns have devolped a variety of distinct cultures which often include a rich and highly complex ritualistic life. Tattoos and similar markings are widespread and connected to various achievements and innitation rituals, as are rather impressive and intimidating greeting ceremonies that often resemble feinted attacks.
When the imperium first made contact to Aoroatea IV this caused a misunderstanding with the imperial envoy opening fire on the suspected attacking Ogryns which in turn led to the untimely death of said imperial representative. When the Askaris were sent to retaliate for this attack, they instead realized similarities to parts of their own tribal culture and managed to react in a way that ultimately led to the compliance of the Abhuman world. Due to the strategic value of the giants the punitive mission was cancelled and the world instead integrated into the Askaris recruitment folder.





As described in another threat, my take on some Maori styled Bullgryns. The weapons are (from above to below): Nifo'oti (Samoan), Tewhatewha (Maori), Wahaiki (Maori). For the tattoos I looked at various pictures of traditional Maori, Samoan and Polynesian tattoos and tried to combine some of their shapes and patterns.
The feathers were a spontaneous idea by my wife, and I really like the additional flair they give the big boys. The beautiful beach bases are from Microartsstudio.


I tried to print out the "fiery lotos" on their backs and shields on decal paper for printers (first try with those) but my printer was not precise enough, so I did them freehand (the result is not too bad I think). But in general such decal paper seems to have potential, if you have some larger image you want to apply or if you have a really good printer.

I had some more tribal markings on the armor in mind, but I think it would be too much. Maybe on the next Maogryns I do. At most I might still add a little Tiki later on.


2nd Thoth Askaris and Forgeworld Bagwa (page 7) @ 2020/06/21 21:01:56


Post by: Max Moray


The Maogryns turned out really good. Weapons, Tats, Haka faces look great.


2nd Thoth Askaris and Forgeworld Bagwa (page 7) @ 2020/06/28 20:47:43


Post by: Pyroalchi


Junior Commissar Butch Baker



Butch was born and raised on Catachan and spend a good amount of his youth training in a local schola progenium facility. The unconventional way of his homeplanets soldiers had an obvious influence on his interpretation of his role as beacon of morale and his view towards the military chain of command and code of conduct, which led to some problems when the freshly graduated junior commissar was first deployed in a regular Astra Militarum regiment. While his exploits led to numerous complaints by the officers of his attached regiment, it also raised the interest of Lord Commissar Jacquard, as she was looking for fitting candidates to support her deployment to the Thoth Askaris. Being transfered to the newfounded regimento, Butch adjusted to his new comrades in no time and showed a talent for striking just the right tone to bring out the best out of his charges. Needless to say that there were multiple ways in which he managed to raise morale...
Spoiler:
Butch was a pretty nice model. I tried some new skintone on him and the pose is just funny. The head he is standing on is from Scibor



Sister Leonora

Sister Leonora is a veteran member of the Orders Sabine - dedicated to serve the Missionaria Galaxia and their quest to spread the imperial faith unto new discovered worlds. More of a fighter than a diplomat, she was oftern send to feudal and feral worlds, were the fighting monstrosities and demons surrounded by an angelic halo might serve the faith as well as careful counsel and rhetoric finesse on more developed planets. Her latest - and due to her age starting to show possibly last - mission send her to Thoth alongside Missionary Hakeem and another two lesser members of her order. While both - the Battlesister and the Priest - took a while to warm up to each other, they learned to appreciate and respect the others strengths and together became more than the sum of their parts. Where Hakeem became a spiritual icon and leader, she was soon known and respected as the personification ot the skyfathers vigilance and protection. Seeing Thoth not only return into the imperial fold but also stay loyal when so many worlds of the segmentum pacificus fell into anarchy during the night of the thousand rebellions felt like the greatest accomplishment and a worthy end to a long and fullfilled carrier. Thus Leonora decided to join the Askaris on their mission to redeem their ancestors.


Spoiler:

Leonora is the "Demon Huntress" from Anvil, the other two are their "Knights". I'm not completely sure what they will be on the tabletop.
Fluffwise Leonora is intended as Sister of the Order Sabine and the other two dudettes as her bodyguards. So maybe a Canoness with two Crusaders? Or a "counts as Gotfred de Montbard" or maybe a Missionary (but that would be quite a stretch with her equipment). Depending on who I play and how he feels about homebrew rules the best reflection might be a Canoness with two Palatines as in Sister Sidneys SoB rules:
https://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/787062.page#10763034
But since souping seems to be really discouraged in 9th edition they all might end up as 08/15 crusaders.
Anyway: beautiful minis and pretty fun to paint them up.



2nd Thoth Askaris and Forgeworld Bagwa (page 7) @ 2020/06/29 10:57:54


Post by: OldMate


Commisar is nicely painted, Butch has a real outdoor tan there!

Demon hunter Leonora- beautiful, just beautiful, really really nice job, and such a cool figure.

Knights- they suit with their commander so well. so badass and well what can I say? Love em, very well done, very cool.

I might have to add that Burning Rose attachment afterall...


2nd Thoth Askaris and Forgeworld Bagwa (page 7) @ 2020/07/10 18:14:12


Post by: Pyroalchi


Amongst the few reinforcements deployed to Thoth in reaction to the rebellions breaking out in the Segmentum Pacificus where two regiments of the Death Korps of Krieg, hastily dispatched to reinforce the systems defenses. These regiments stayed for years after the siege of the system was broken to serve as advisors – improving the training standard of the planets Imperial Guard and PDF forces and overseeing the construction of a planetary defense network. Even though the silent warriors of the death world rarely interacted with the population outside of their duties, their presence left its mark and various influences and traces of them can be found up to this day. While the Askaris do not share the Kriegers love to trench warfare and attrition, the Death Korps is held in high regards and often seen as an example of dedication to the emperor’s cause, with Thoth’s regiments often aspiring to show a similar stoicism in the face of death. Furthermore things like shovel or spade like clubs, leathery facemasks resembling gasmasks and skulls or makeshift trench coats have been observed in various tribes.

Amongst the most elite units within the N’Go tribal contingents are the Twafo, who were directly trained by the Kriegers and even served alongside the Deathkorps for a couple of campaigns. They returned to Thoth with an unmatched experience for warfare in trenches and similar confined spaces and brought back some of the weapons and traditional heavy trenchcoats of the death world as well. Being handed down from one fallen soldier to the next in a symbolic act of keeping the Kriegers heritage alive, these often resemble nothing more than rags, yet still mark the wearer as elite amongst his peers. In their spiritual belief, the Twafo see themselves as already having crossed the line between life and death, thus not being held back by any fear for their life which is symbolized by war paint resembling a white skull mask – a concept they at least aspire to achieve, even though they are still human. Contrary to the popular believe of outsiders the skulls that are often worn at the belt or armor are not trophies of slain foes but mementos of fallen comrades, accompanying their battle brothers and watching over them.




The Minis are from Puppetswar (Stalkers) with African heads of the same company and Anvil Industry Renegade shotguns. They are intended to either represent Death Korps Combat Engineers or Storm Grenadiers. I tried to achieve various things on the paintjob of these minis. I wanted the clothes to resemble the official paintscheme of the Deathkorps on the Forgeworld website (blueish-grey coats, sand/mud colored trousers), in a way how it would look if these coats have been given from one soldier to the next for quite some circles of fighting. I also choose this rather blueish grey as it is closer to the French WWI uniform than to the German grey, as the French had some African soldiers in the European trenches as far as I know.
Furthermore I wanted to mix in some bronze, as a lot of my N’Go soldiers and vehicles have golden armor plates, so I wanted to reference this “colorful metal” theme while shifting the color a bit. The green grenades should indicate the engineers acid grenades. And finally I wanted to do something else on the faces as I used these heads a few times on other minis. I first thought about some mask resembling a gasmask but tried some skull facepainting instead. I’m not completely convinced as of now, maybe one has to look at it a couple of times. Maybe I will repaint it. The future will tell.
“Twafo” was the title given to the “Advance guard” of the army of the African Ashanti Empire and seemed to me as fitting for some Trench-fighters.


2nd Thoth Askaris and Forgeworld Bagwa (page 7) @ 2020/07/13 21:02:23


Post by: Pyroalchi


Bobby almost felt relieved, as the rough shaking from their transport faded and gradually made room for a weird, slow paced rhythmic swaying. He stood up and put his head out of one of the free spaces on top of the large armored hull to see what was going on. The massive head – wearing the trophy of a scaled beast he had overpowered with his bare hands - startled one of the gunners manning the twin stubbers in the rear for a moment, but luckily the man was not trigger happy. Looking over the sides of the Gorgon, he saw that they had reached the shore of the large stream they had already seen yesterday, unable to cross it. The giant amphibious vehicle was already man deep in the water, towing a massive steel cable behind it to stabilize the Chimeras following up. Thick, red mud was blowing up everywhere around it and looked like dark clouds in the brownish water. He did not really understand all that was going on, but he knew that his friends were on this side and bad people were on the other one. It was important to get on the other side and chase them away, that was what King Bantu had told him in sign language. The current was strong and some of the larger waves even splashed a bit of water into his vessel, but 220 tons are not that easily turned over – that was what the Gorgon was built for after all. Bobby did not really know of that specifically, but he knew that Bantu had told him the large metal box would carry him and his little troop across, so there was no need to worry. As he heard some rumpling and shouting from below, he ducked back down into the rather dark confinement of the cargo hold. As big as it was – when you crammed a couple of Bullgryns inside a dark, closed room it could get pretty tight for the section of Askaris sharing it. It was Rua that was acting up again, screaming and banging at the large front ramp to get out and the others started to get nervous too, chearing him on to get the door open. The Askaris tried their best to stay out of the way and huddled in the back, but they were scared - you could smell it easily. If the idiot really managed to damage the ramp they would likely all find a very quick and very wet grave.
Bobby hunkered down a bit, straightening his back and pulling out his chest before he put on “the look”. The other Bullgryns immediately went dead silent – Tangaroa suddenly found interest in the clouds above them, Taonga remembered that he urgently had to polish his armor and Huatara abruptly showed an unmatched fascination with his shoelaces. Rua took a moment to realize it, looking puzzled at his comrades. He slowly turned around and met Bobbys gaze, but right now he was too worked up to really calm down, so he screamed at him instead. That was… a poor decision. Bobby stood up again, towering two heads above the Abhuman with the promise of impending doom in his eyes. Rua went pale… and silent. He turned his head to the ground and shuffled back to his seat. Bobby focused his troop of suddenly very disciplined Bullgryn for some more moments and relaxed again. After some seconds he sat down in front of them and put a giant hand on Ruas shoulder, who relaxed a bit more. It was still dark and crammed in here, but the swaying from the waves was… kind of relaxing. That changed when they closed in on the other side and they could hear bullets patter at the armored prow. Bobby did not have to use “the look” again, as his troop got up and formed a line of heavy slabshields at the front. They would take this shore and make Bantu proud.



Bobby is a giant Primate that King Bantu found within the deep jungle of Thoths northers rainforests when he was still a baby. His mother had died fighting of a large carnivore and the little ape would surely have joined her fate, but the N’Go warrior took him in and raised him by hand. Soon “Bobby” as he named him grew up into an impressive specimen even for his rather large species and accompanied his adoptive father everywhere, even learning to communicate with him by sign language. Fiercely protective and incredibly strong, he saved the King of the Jungle tribes multiple times and finally even found the beast that once slayed his mother, taking his trophy with him. When the Askaris started integrating Ogryns from Aoroatea IV, they realized that Bobby has a rather stabilizing effect on the Abhumans. He might not be able to use guns or understand as much as a Bonehead, but other than the usual Ogryn he is rather cool headed and quite aware of his strength, not accidently braking things. Furthermore he usually sees the Abhumans as kind of his troop – with him as the Alpha male naturally – and usually this position is not challenged… at least not for long. After that, a stare or a bit of showing of usually suffices in bringing them in line when they act up, which made their integration much more pleasant for the regiment.

The mini is from Reaper miniatures, namely the Avatar of Honor. It originally had a boneclub in each hand, but I modelled a shield instead. Its form and pattern is roughly inspired by massai shields. He shall serve as an Ogryn Bodyguard. Maybe even as Nork Dedogg (even though he has no gun). A kind of “Ogryn Commissar” raising morale of the abhumans with his gaze would also be very fitting.
Regarding the name: Bobby was the first Gorilla in the Berlin Zoo from 1926-1933 and pretty popular. He also was quite an impressive specimen at 262 kilogram. He is still an exponat in the museum of natural history, has a statue in the Zoo and even his own song from 1933 that was covered by various artists:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lY4awtGHwMg
As a kid I was pretty impressed from his dermoplastic and the statue so I wanted to name this mini as a little nod to this childhood memory.


2nd Thoth Askaris and Forgeworld Bagwa (page 7) @ 2020/07/14 15:24:55


Post by: Max Moray


Bobby is great. Nice read. Apparently, I also learned some real world history on Dakka.


2nd Thoth Askaris and Forgeworld Bagwa (page 7) @ 2020/07/14 20:13:10


Post by: Pyroalchi


something I have put on hold for quite some time: rebasing my N'Go soldiers to jungle bases.


On the left are twelve currently in process, on the right 30x25 mm for my Infantry Squads, 3 x 60mm for my Missile launcher Squads and 8 forest rider bases. All bases from Microartstudio.

The process will take quite some time and I know I will struggle with my motivation a bit, but I think it will be worth it. I want to make it easy to seperate between my two forces ("Tallarn" and the dark skinned N'Go "Death Korps") and I decided that sand rimmed desert vs. green rimmed jungle bases will be my way to go. To help me keep up my spirit I promised myself to finish all these before I go to the next models (some of which I really look forward too). This is a moment I'm thankful for contrast, even though I will add additional highlights and details conventionally.
Which me luck!


2nd Thoth Askaris and Forgeworld Bagwa (page 7) @ 2020/07/16 12:02:43


Post by: Pyroalchi


Storytime again! I did another collaboration with Oldmate, going back some years before the other stories into the Askaris home system during the night of the thousand rebellions. To put a bit of structure into what is happening I did a rough timeline in relation to the night of the uprising:
Spoiler:

Day -1: everything is pretty normal and boring in the Thoth system. Communication runs on daily to weekly basis with some neighbors, Segmentum Command is mostly only contacted to prepare for the arrival of the tithe fleets. Merchant vessels arrive roughly once a month to take shipments of industrial products.
Day 0: all of a sudden the comm-centers receive absolute silence from half the neighboring systems and frantic distress signals from the other half - that stop soon after. Optimistic that it is unlikely that such a large portion of the sector, let alone the segmentum suddenly went silent, Thoth assumes some warp anomaly is happening. A status report is send to segmentum command on Hydraphur that everything remains buisiness as usual on Thoth.
Day 1-3: The rebellions in other systems are in the process of overtrowing imperial order. Only fractured signals arrive at Thoth, but around day 3 they realize that the situation is grave. Segmentum Command is contacted that Thoth remains loyal to the Imperium and awaits further orders. The locals still believe those are localized rebellions and that their own system is in no immediate danger.
Unknown to them they are the last undisputed loyal system in their subsector. Since they also harbor the strategically important dock and refuel facilities on Zaori, two Krieg regiments about to head elsewhere are redirected to bolster Thoths defenses.
Day 5: A first, relatively small attack fleet of rebel-crewed imperial ships enters the system - still uncoordinated and hoping for some easy prey. They are no match for Thoths defense fleet and are destroyed. The loyalist ships return to the Gamma Shipyards for repairs, rearmament and refueling.
Day 7: A second, larger traitor fleet drops into the system, forcing the defense flotilla to engage before fully recovered from the first battle. They repell the attack on Zaori and manage to destroy the majority of troop transports, but cannot completely push the enemy out of the system. Their main battleship Assagai is crippled by a suicide attack and has to be left behind, while the rest of the flotilla returns to better defended positions near Gamma station. Meanwhile the Kriegers arrive and can use the distraction of the enemy to join the defenders on the ground. While the notorious Death Korps starts to dig, in the inhabitants of the planet Thoth prepare for an invasion. Bagwa activates its Skitarii legion.
A distress signal is send to Hydraphur that without reinforcements, the loyalists are in danger of losing control of the system. No answer is received. Thoths ruling council of elders lets secretely plant thermonuclear devices in all major cities and industrial complexes to let none fall in the hand of the enemy.
Day 8: The traitors capture surviving crewmen of the Assagai and broadcast their torture to provoke the remaining defense ships and damage morale. Some captains try a rescue mission, leading to the loss of more loyalist ships. Rebel reinforcements arrive in the system and establish a first bridgehead on Thoth.
Day 9: As more rebel transports arrive, the defense flotilla tries a breakout. While they manage to delay progress of the ground invasion for another precious day, the system fleet is reduced to two destroyers and a limping frigate. All ships and shuttles that can carry weapons or explosives are reconfigured to assist the defenses. Now having control of the space, the rebels ignore the remaining loyalist presence at the better defended Gamma station.
Day 10: Answer from Segmentum Command is received. All reinforcements were redirected to defend the capital on Hydraphur. Thoth is ordered to defend Zaoris docks at all costs and resist the traitor forces to the last man. Thoths defenders prepare for their last stand. Zaories secondary hubs are either sunk into the gas giant’s atmosphere for protection or rigged with explosives.
Day 11: As more reinforcements spill into the system, the traitors decide to attack and take Gamma Station once more...



Zaori Gamma Main hub – 11 days after the Night of a thousand rebellions

“I DON’T CARE IF YOU ARE TIRED! GET YOUR A** OUT THERE NOW AND FIX THAT ENERGY COUPLING!” Lubago grinded his teeth and felt his grip around the heavy wrench tighten, as Keke, his foreman shouted at him, roughly pulling him from the corner he had sunk down to rest a bit. For a moment both men stood in front of each other, eyes gleaming with rage, when he felt the touch of a hand on his shoulder. It was Oni who had also just finished her double shift with him. “Come on, I’ll help you with your void suit.” Her voice was soft, but he knew her well enough to hear the unspoken “before you do something stupid… again.” Keke mumbled under his breath but resolved to stroll away trying to keep one of the other station systems from failing under the heavy stress it was put under.

When the foreman was out of ears reach Lubago vented a bit “He still has no right to talk to me that way. None of us has slept in days…” Oni gave him and understanding, but somewhat sad look. “… His wife and son served on the Assagai… He’s grieving, and afraid to lose his daughter too.” Lubago felt a bit guilty and remorseful as he heard that and followed her along to the airlock to prepare himself.

The failing energy coupling was some 200 meters away, amongst the spindly, skeleton like superstructure that tied the pressurized and gravitized hubs of the space station together and made up the majority of its bulk. Under other circumstances he liked those little spacewalks - the silence in the suit and the incredible view of Zaoris purple stormy clouds and colorful ring system, with the occasional spaceship drifting through the endless void towards Gammas docks and refueling stations. Since he was a kid he had loved wasting around his free hours and days watching them and had learned their technical specifications with the same fervent enthusiasm other children had towards dinosaurs. He had always dreamed about one day joining the navy, see something from the universe, maybe even visit Terra, but somehow it had just… never come to it.

Speaking of missed chances he looked at Oni who was checking the pressure seals of his helmet while he did the same with the couplings of his gloves. They knew each other since… forever. They grew up on the station, worked with their parents as soon as they could hold a tool, and served the same shifts. The main Hub housed the most living quarters, yet still it was crewed by barely two hundred people, so you tended to stick together pretty close and those who did not leave tended to find their match sooner or later. Yet somehow they had never gotten the timing right… She must have felt him stare as she looked up and both shared a moment of silence and quite possibly the same thought – even if it remained unspoken. The silence was broken by the clanking of a hammer on the railing on the other end of the huge corridor, were Keke send them a grave stare to hurry up. Lubago nodded, somewhat calmed down and got up. “Take care out there; I don’t want to have to pull you back in.” Oni joked to lighten the mood a bit which made him smile “See you later.” he replied, concentrating on the task before him.

Lubago was almost finished fixing up the small energy coupling in front of him, as he felt the rig around him starting to vibrate again. He cursed knowing this meant that Gammas long ranged laser batteries were aligning themselves towards another target picked up by the scanners. He prepared for the rhythmic shaking from their firing aware that making a mistake or even losing a tool or machinery part right now would be devastating as dropping a screwdriver would quite likely send it on a long decent towards the swirling clouds of Zaori. In the silence of the void he could hear nothing except his own breath and the rustling of his suit which made it a bit easier to stay concentrated. But now and then the light flashes from the defense batteries shed some red light on his workstation forcefully reminding him that more enemies were approaching. “Stay focused!” he told himself again as he fumbled for a loose transistor, catching it just in time. Seconds later he let out a sigh of relief as the relays came back to live, diverting power to the secondary void shield generator to his left. Grasping the pipes of the framework to orient himself for his way back to the airlock he could feel it vibrate from the humming and buzzing machine that usually did its part in protecting Gamma from the dust and rock fragments orbiting the gas giant.

Even though it came with a queasy feeling he risked a look towards their approaching attackers. They were still only small specks within the void, but approaching fast. Nonetheless he could make out at least ten vessels in an ordered formation not really bothered by the long ranged, but underpowered defense lasers usually intended to vaporize micro meteoroids threatening the station. Another fleet including the troop transports had broken off towards Thoth, far out of reach of the remaining system defense.

It had been barely over a week since the Segmentum Pacificus had seemed to go mad all of a sudden. One moment the astropathic comms had been business as usual the next they broke into a cacophony of distress signals and calls for help before they went silent one by one. First they had hoped it had “just” been some kind of warp anomaly affecting the psykers of the subsector, but then a ragtag group of captured imperial ships and repurposed merchants had dropped out of warp and attacked. They had been no match for Thoths system defense fleet and Gammas long range batteries. Two days later, just during a small celebration for their victorious heroes, the second wave hit and forced the fleet to engage before properly being repaired and rearmed. They prevailed again, but the Assagai was hit by a suicidal ramming attack when her close defense batteries ran out of ammo, crippling the only light cruiser of the defense fleet. From there, things went downhill fast. These were not the occasional bands of pirates or raiders that Thoth could have stood a chance against. The bast**ds had left the Assagai out in the open, just outside the range of Gamma, with some hundred crewmen still alive inside the coffin-like remains of their ship, slowly watching their oxygen supply run out. They had defiled the comm channels with broadcasts of them torturing their captured, all to draw the defense fleet out – until the captains couldn’t take it anymore and tried… they lost half their destroyers with the rest barely limping their way back to Gamma station. Finally the astropaths reached Segmentum Command on Hydraphur… only to be told that no reinforcements could be spared because all remaining loyalist forces were to protect the Segmentum capital. The only sliver of hope had been a Krieg regiment sent to reinforce the systems main world Thoth, but everybody knew that when they lost control of the space those would barely delay what was coming for them.

All that was left was to prepare for the inevitable and at least make the enemy pay for it. They would make their last stand near Gamma station, were the strong void shields might give the Kopesh, Knobkerrie and Kpinga – their last frigate and two destroyers – a fighting chance. The other hubs had dived into Zaoris atmosphere to protect themselves as good as they could or were rigged with explosives to maybe take out a careless boarding ship. Meanwhile Thoth, Bagwa and Ulambo would have to face the enemy on the ground.

Lubago managed to take his mind of those dark thoughts, as he saw the still awe inspiring hull of the Khopesh drift out of the dry dock on his left. The frigate might be limping with half of her propulsion blown off, but her lance still packed a mean punch. On his right the two destroyers Knobkierre and Kpinga were also moving out, soon joined by a swarm of smaller craft – a hand full of fighters and torpedo bombers, but mainly repurposed transports, shuttles and repair drones, hastily rearmed or at least rigged with explosives. He moved his head as he saw another large shadow joining the ragtag flotilla flying towards their last stand and smiled. It was the massive shape of the “Tembo”, a giant ore-mining ship, build to break down asteroids. While slow and clumsy, it dwarved even the Khopesh and had shields and a hull thick enough to withstand a lot of punishment. They seemed to have managed to wire the burned and battered remains of the Tsonga below its prow – to exposed and damaged to survive a longer firefight if it could fire at all, but maybe enough to keep the enemy distracted and buy the other ships some time. He had a couple of friends on the ore miner and spoke a short prayer to the skyfather to watch over them while he started to make his way back through the complicated frame of Gamma. In front of him he could see Oni through the window of the airlock, looking up from some paperwork and smirking over to him, mouthing “took you long enough” in a mocking way. She seemed to hesitate a moment, then scribbled something on a slip of paper. She had blushed a little bit when she held it to the porthole “Dinner tonight? My quarter?” Lubago smiled and nodded.

Suddenly the room behind her lit up in a series of some strange, blueish-green flashes and she looked around as puzzled as Lubago. She walked away from the porthole to investigate and seconds later he saw her running back, gesturing him to stay away with a look of horror on her face before diving into cover. Behind her he could see another crewmember fleeing just to be ripped apart by a bolter shell in the back. His remains started to float around as the stations artificial gravity seemed to be failing. Lubago struggled to pull himself in cover just in time to not be seen by the shape of a power armored soldier walking by the porthole, slamming an axe into another unlucky voidwoman. Had he seen him? Was he coming outside? Lubago carefully turned towards the other side, just enough to see the hinges of the airlock while he slowly pushed himself to the underside of the station framework – always careful not to be seen. He had to find another entry before his oxygen ran out and then… what? It didn’t matter now. He would figure something out – at least that was what he tried to convince himself.


Orbit

Petyr checked over the capacitor and fuel cartridge for the plasma gun. It was a touchy weapon, it lit you up, made you a target and you’d never want to fire one after the exposed capacitor took any kind of damaged, but he’d not trade it for the world. The other Thryn void marines with their amped up las-guns would cover him like body guards, and when the opportunity was made he’d step forwards and strike with the power of a sun. Everything was in order, which was just as well because he didn’t feel like vaporising himself today.

Company command crackled into his helmet.
“All teams, station is still in Imperial hands.”
The shuttle rattled as small meteors bounced off it’s plating as it sped towards the besieged space station. It had been standard practice to have a company of void marines loaded and ready to deploy when warp jumping into possible enemy territory.

They’d been pulling apart the ruins of an insurgency, storming the last holdouts concealed in an asteroid belt, which. Which had been almost identical to the training yards back above Thryn.
Then the local administrator stopped broadcasting to their task force.
Next came enemy cruisers, which their ships played cat and mouse with. Until - and he’d always remember this with a smile - The legion arrived, pulled back together from the myriad of worlds it had been fighting on. The cruisers were suddenly facing a fleet of battleships and battlecruisers.

Another three days they fought their way through enemy. The Thryn marines in the vanguard ready to assault any defences blocking their path. And now with ever depleting stores they happened on a loyal system beset by traitors.
The station they were about to storm? Some of the ships require repairs, others just maintenance, but if the station was damaged the sector would likely not hold. And that was why the marines of Thryn, the finest voidsmen in the Commonwealth were being sent to defend it.

“All teams be advised, enemy threat is identified as traitor astartes.”
Petyr almost vomited in his void helmet. It was about the worst news he’d ever expected to hear. Fear threatened to get the better of him. The chaplain’s voice came over the coms. “Warriors of Thryn, we are his chosen tool. Let us go forth and bring honour to our ancestors and into our homes.” Petyr took a long breath. The shuttle rattled more, then something struck it. A shell he knew it by sound. Then another and another. Then the shells stopped.
“Prepare to breach.”
Petyr checked over his weapon and then checked over the life support man in front of him. Someone tapped his helmet and he tapped the one on the soldier in front of him.
The sergeant major walked through the lines of marines. He checked a buckle here checked a gun there. “Marines, prepare for combat.”
“Breaching in five.”
“Voidborn!” He addressed them.
“Blood of the Stars!” The marines screamed in reply.
“URAH!”
The shuttle shook and struck.

It was a soft landing; someone had opened an airlock and the shuttle had skidded in. Even so they stormed forwards into the hanger. Petyr kept in behind the leading fire team. Through windows in the wall of the station he could see the hulking form of an the allied frigate that had shielded them with it’s hull moving to aid her little flottilla. He could see the stricken allied battleship making its final stand as the enemy rushed to cut the station off from the strength of the Commonwealth fleet.

But that wasn’t his fight.
The platoon rushed forwards. They reached a door which had been locked and was still sealed. The marines took up breaching positions with Petyr on the left hand side of the door. He had a bad feeling and pressed his finger on the weapon’s trigger to build up power in the capacitor.
The door came open, there came a volley of las-fire and Petyr fired the bolt of plasma back towards the threat. He could hear someone screaming. A storm of lasfire poured on them and a marine was thrown against the wall with a ruined shoulder.

He charged another shot and hazarded a peek down the hallway. The enemy had set up a barricade, from whose cover they were firing. Petyr shot back against the wall as more rounds came their way, some rounds where his head had been. Petyr stepped out and fired. He didn’t wait to see if his round had any effect, he jumped back in cover and charged another shot keeping it buzzing with the trigger not fully depressed. There was no point in vaporising yourself. The fireteam pressed forwards. There came the sharp snap of their amped up las guns and the heavy crackle of the auto-laser.

Petyr stepped out when he heard the grenade detonate, he moved up. The enemies were certainly dead. Here and There were a few bodies dressed in poor quality civilian void suits and carrying varying patterns of las-guns. It was typical of what they’d seen, no section weapons, no support weapons – station crew most likely, gunned down while trying to defend their home.

Movement beyond a porthole caught his eye as he instinctively scanned the room. Petyr moved towards it to get a better look, if it was an enemy combatant they’d need to be neutralised before the element of surprise was lost. Behind him two more fire teams entered the wide hanger. He could hear lasgun fire from the far end as they cleared the room of traitors. There was a man outside the station, the same space suit that he’d seen on one of the bodies in the hanger they’d just entered.
The man noiselessly thumped the porthole and glanced over his shoulder; he pointed to one of the doors leading off the hanger then pulled a pencil and paper from a pocket. Awkwardly he held himself to the station with a clamp in one hand and scribbled onto the paper. He held up two fingers and put the drawing to the glass.
The drawing was crude, nothing more than a stick figure angel with Astartes shoulder plates surrounded by the ruinous mark. That sent a chill to Petyr’s spine.

“Enemy breachers inbound this door.” He screamed and pointed to the door. “Enemy Astartes!”
A platoon of marines rushed over. He looked over to his friend at the port hole as the soldiers took their positions. The man held five fingers up. A second later he lowered one. Petyr eased his finger onto the plasmagun’s trigger. He almost amped it up too fast.

They had two heavy bolters, a double melta and two las guns, four auto-lasers and dozens of riflemen. And a missile launcher. The man was holding two fingers up when the missile punctured the door and exploded beyond. A few bolt rounds flew back in the moment before everyone opened up.
The darkness and smoke swallowed the fire, until the melta fired it’s second shot. The station shook lightly, the smoke disappeared in an instant and Petyr heard that tell-tale whistle before the rupture repair system kicked in. A few bolt rounds came from the hall and were answered by every gun in the room. Even so three soldiers were dead and another two injured. And they’d had a platoon plus heavy weapons and the opening advantage on the Astartes.

Petyr moved up to the doorway and peeked down the extended byway. Down the hall he could see the underlings rushing to catch up with their masters. He looked over their heads and waited for the door to close behind them. He signalled and two soldiers moved up and leveled their auto-lasers down the extended corridor.
A maelstrom of lasbolts filled the hallway. There was nothing moving in the hall. That’s what happens when you all crowd into a corridor, no doubt expecting the Astartes to clear the way. But as it was they had nothing adequate to stop the auto-lasers and the lasbolts had come thick and fast, punching into the press of bodies.

Petyr’s fireteam pushed forwards cautiously. Slow is smooth, smooth is fast. The first two soldiers checked the bodies to make sure they were properly dead, to make sure no-one did anything stupid like activate a grenade when the fireteam pushed forwards, the autolaser and another marine watched the door ahead.
Petyr? He used the other marine as a shield and also covered the door with the plasmagun.
After what seemed like forever they moved clear of the byway.
The team reached a maintenance room, a connector to another two byways, they fanned out and took cover around the joining doors.

___________________________________________
Lubago tried to keep his calm to conserve what little was left of his oxygen reserve, while he watched the soldiers he just helped out approach to the next corridor. He had no real idea who these newcomers were, but their fleet had just dropped out of warp and attacked the heretics while leaving the defense fleets ships alone. Their vessels were no standard Imperial Navy type he knew of, but seemed at least a bit familiar, just as if they had the same predecessor. So at least for now, he assumed that was enough to call them allies. His generous decision was helped by the fact that the LEDs on his oxygen canister were flashing red and blinking fast indicating that he barely had a minute left before he would start to suffocate. Hastily he let himself drift to the airlock that led to a room right next to the one they were securing and knocked on one of the portholes to get their attention. Holding his block to the porthole he hoped they could read his scribbled “open!” and interpret his gesture to the control console on their left.
The air was getting thin while he waited at the airtight seal. Finally, a green light flashed up and the outer valve opened. He flung himself down into the airlock that closed behind him and flooded his confined little sanctuary with heavenly cold air. Lubago pulled his helmet off, coughing and panting fervently. His whole suit was drenched in sweat and he felt more exhausted than ever before, yet adrenaline pushed him back up – or at least on all fours. As the doors separating the airlock from the rest of the station opened, he held his hands in the air, careful to not get himself shot after he just cheated death.
Not really knowing what to say he introduced himself with an awkward salute “Lubago Kiotu. Voidman first class of the Gamma main hub, service number 013362” and immediately felt dumb realizing it sounded like something out of a bad war-movie. The sergeant in front of him – wearing a partly armor plated void suit – nodded “Praise the emperor, 5th Thrynn Marines Legion, we're securing this station for the emperor. Where's the control room?” and was decent enough to not aim his gun at him.
Lubago crawled out and turned towards the next maintenance panel “Help me get that off, so I can tap into our comm-channels.” He announced to no one in particular. On a better day he would have done it alone, but his hands were still shaken from the long space walk and the shock of what had been going down with his station. As the metallic cover hit the ground he grabbed inside the nest of cables behind it, pulled out the connector he needed and plugged in his void suits comm-link. The common channels were all dead or jammed, but a while back they had added a more… private system hidden in the diagnosis feeds for things you did not really want to have on the official recorded channels – a bit of black marketing here, a bit of slag about the bigheads in the high command there, and after all, crewmen got lonely too and you wouldn’t want to have those kind of videochats recorded by human resources.
Finally a grizzled image came up on the small screen in his helmet and he held it for the soldier beside him to see. It was the main control room and Lubago felt his spirits rise as he saw Oni, Keke and half a dozen other members of his crew – his family – still alive. They were fervently trying to barricade a blast door leading to the room with a bunch of heavy crates, tables and other junk while he could hear the muffled sound of shots and explosions coming from other rooms dangerously close by. “GUYS! It’s me! I have some friends with guns, tell us what to do!” he shouted in his microphone and after the second try seemed to get through, as Oni looked up and turned towards the console. “Lubago! Thank the skyfather! We lost control over housing and most of the power stations, but we still have central control and Shaka and some others are still fighting at the docks.” From behind he heard Keke shout “They are coming through! One of the big guys and at least a score of his underlings, just outside this blast door.” The screen crackled and the image split as Shaka tapped into the channel. His helmet camera was shaking as he sprinted for cover with lasbolts flashing over his head and he bled from a cut at his brow. “Don’t try the main corridor. They dug in there and have booby-trapped the doors, your pals would take too long. But it seems they haven’t found the maintenance shafts yet!” another screen appeared as Shaira – the girl apprentice of the engineer squad in life support tapped in. Her feed continuously changed from dark to completely black and it took Lubago a second to realize she was most probably hiding within some ventilation shaft. The kid looked scared to the bone, but tried her best to put on a brave face as she whispered “I might be able to mess with gravity and air if it helps you get the jump on them. But they will soon realize what is going on. So we have one try and it won’t work for more than a couple of seconds.”
While listening to them Lubao had already led the marines through a couple of corridors to the next access to the labyrinth of maintenance tunnels. “We are coming. Hang in there!” he tried to raise the hopes of his comrades before he turned to his new companions “Are you ready to do this?”


Petyr pulled himself forwards through the accessway, it wasn’t easy in full carapace armour, and he was as always overly protective of his weapon. As he squeezed forwards towards the exit point he felt the grav field give way. Someone ran into his boots and one moment he was squeezing himself forwards, the next he was shunted forwards sliding through the ventilation way. Petyr pressed his back up and his fingers and toes forwards to slow himself down. He heard a bang ahead and then the sharp crack of a marine’s las-gun. Another one joined in, and there was movement in the vent.
Petyr pulled himself forwards, soon the trooper in front of him was pulling himself from the vent. His gloves made enough purchase on the smooth metal. He pulled himself onwards and through the vent, gliding with the grace of a voidborn. The lead section was advancing, gliding forwards down the corridor. Petyr moved forwards, towards the control room navigating the floating corpses of the enemy rebels. More Thryn Marines poured from the vent behind him.

As Petyr reached a wall, he pushed off it and readied his weapon angling himself to push off the floor. An enemy gunner stepped out from a sideway and Petyr snapped a shot off. It wasn’t heavily charged but it was enough to kill the man.
He held his finger down for the second man but none came and he drifted past the entrance way with his weapon ready.

The marines consolidated and readied to breach. They were careful to get food hand grips first. The control room was ahead.
Petyr pressed his finger down of the trigger.
The door blasted inwards and they pressed on. More heretics were ahead and there came the rapid snaping of las fire but Petyr held his own for the right moment. The traitor astartes stepped out, his mag-boots allowing him to walk as if he was in a grav field. He fired once… and a voidsman died.
The other marines took cover and returned fire from all angles while the enemy fighters less versed in this warfare than the voidborn Thryn Marines had trouble staying in cover.
Petyr fired and there came a storm of las-fire on him. He readied a charge and gripped the floor in his other hand. He pushed from the floor with all his strength and twisted himself.
As he exited cover weapon and head first he saw the marine charging towards him. At the same moment he went to release, something stuck the plasmagun. Sparks flew from the containment field.
Petyr didn’t think twice, he hurled the weapon at the Astartes and pushed off a computer monitor.
There was the brief sound of a blast before it was sucked into the void, together with the atmosphere and everything else without a good hold the bodies - traitors and stationeers - first.
The station rocked, and he grabbed hold. The Astartes fired again and again. Petyr turned to see the traitor unharmed and unhurt. He turned his weapon towards Petyr, quite unhurried.
Something flew through the room, sucked by the yearning hole in the station. His stomach turned as he realised it was a marine and he was being sucked straight past the traitor Astartes. Petyr saw the energy field on Leuitenant Rochman’s power-sword arc to life a moment before he saw Rochman and the traitor’s helmet disappear into the void. His headless powerarmor kept standing for some odd moments before it fell over awkwardly.
The containment field reactivated. He saw a grid of energy close the hole and the pulling stopped. There was klaxons and a warning for the avaliable air pressure. But they had done it. The station was secured.


Moments later, gravity came back on and the survivors of the stations crew were all over the place, trying to keep the station going, take care of the wounded and some of them dropping out of the airlocks to try and save Rochman and the others that might have survived being sucked out through the whole. Outside the tide of battle was turning as the Legions Battleships pounded the Heretics to dust. Lubago kneeled down beside the plasmagunner he had met earlier and helped him up. “I don’t know where you come from, but we won’t forget what you did for us. Never!”


2nd Thoth Askaris and Forgeworld Bagwa (page 7) @ 2020/07/20 09:22:01


Post by: OldMate


Good luck on the big re-basing!


2nd Thoth Askaris and Forgeworld Bagwa (page 7) @ 2020/08/28 11:37:06


Post by: Pyroalchi


So, as it so often does, life happened. Went on holiday, then lots of other stuff kept me from or slowed down painting. But I got there eventually and put 31 of my desert based or unbased N'Go on painted jungle bases. It might seem a small achievement but I'm proud that I did it after avoiding it for quite some time



I also have some more jungle bases already finished for the next Batch of soldiers. The only ones still missing are one commander and 3 command squad for which I have something special in mind, that still needs some time.

So next of I plan on working on the Hypogryph again and some other stuff.


2nd Thoth Askaris and Forgeworld Bagwa (page 7) @ 2020/08/28 15:01:44


Post by: Eva_U


The amount of detail you put it to your army is phenomenal! Love the conversions and the direction you took with their background. great stuff


2nd Thoth Askaris and Forgeworld Bagwa (page 7) @ 2020/09/26 08:43:45


Post by: Pyroalchi


And some reinforcements again:


The model is the desert truck from Spellcrow (even though I seemed to have lost the side exaust along the way, but it looks well enough without). Really a nice and well-fitting model. The cockpit is a separate part, so that one can easily access everything during building and painting. The two grenade launchers are from Kromlech. It will serve as a proxy for a Centaur Carrier, as it should have roughly the right size and is also open topped, to carry around my company commander and his command squad. I also considered magnetizing them on their bases so that they can all 5 be put in the cargo space, but while it was technically possible, it looked much too crowded. As an alternative I realized that two 25mm bases fit there quite nicely, so when King Bantu and his squad hitch a ride, I will place him and one bodyguard inside.
I currently have no fitting driver, but he will be added later on.
“Negasi” is an ethiopian name (written here in Ethiopian script) and means something along the line of “he will wear a crown” or “he will become king”. The first seemed fitting enough for the personal vehicle of my King Bantu.


and the finished Hyppogryph:
I’m still experimenting with my wife to put some LEDs in there. But beside from that, I’m pretty satisfied.
For the name I used again the Mandombe script I liked before, this time the name spells Kiune (at least I hope it does), which is a suaheli name meaning something like “He came from nowhere”. A little reference to him being puzzled together from spare parts instead of really being delivered to the regiment.
And here are some final pictures:


more details:
Spoiler:


size comparisons:
Spoiler:




Aaaand some lore of course:

920.M41 Segmentum Pacificus capital Hydraphur, Departmento Munitorum Subdivision Iota: rimward systems
Administrator third class Calistos took a sip of his recaf and sighed, as Sparky, the office servitor slowly slouched into his office, almost vanishing from view under a huge stack of requisition files he was balancing before him. The lobotomized servant hauled a feet thick collection on each desk and turned away too collect more of the never ending flood of paperwork pouring in from all over the segmentum. His personal responsibility being mostly rimward backwater systems, his work was a bit dull and repetitive at times, but he liked it that way. He began shuffling his way through the uppermost files, glancing through them and working away with his stamp of approval and the dreadful red marker of denial, allocating resources like he saw fit according to the regulations and – undeniably – his personal gut feeling were those were unclear until he came upon a single sheet that caught his attention. Usually it would not be something special, a list of spare and replacement parts for various Imperial Guard vehicles, the problem being some tiny numerals in the upper right corner stating “page 2 of 2”. Calistos shuffled through the files again, looked on the top of the stack, beside his desk and on the part of floor the servitor had crossed, but much too his frustration, page 1 seemed to have been lost in the warp, or more likely had been swept away somewhere along the endless corridors of the administrativum building. Calistos groaned silently at the thought of having to sort this out when he glanced again at the single page and relieved as he noticed the requisitioning regiment. The Thoth Askaris… again. Well, at least it was no one important. And from their reputation within the Departmento Munitorum they should be content to get something at all. Calistos shrugged, threw the single page he had in the copier and approved two requisition pages as he should – they could sort this out themselves and if anyone asked he could just claim the application to have been consisted of two identical pages.

920.M41, Thoth, Spaceport Kigali
Enginseer Kassa Okoya approached the large hangar on the landing field that served the regiment as transient storage room while they picked up new recruits and material to fill up their losses. This morning a shuttle from the Departmento Munitorum had landed, so she was pretty thrilled to see what it had brought, when the Aqid had voxed her up to inspect it. Especially since the administrative drones in Segmentum Command very rarely responded to the Askaris requisitions at all, leaving the regimento hanging and reliant on whatever their homesystem could produce itself and what they could scavenge on the battlefield or nick wherever they could get away with it. The audible and intense cursing coming from the open hangar doors already told her that while they have gotten something, it might not really be as easy as they had hoped for.
Entering she saw a huge pile of boxes and crates but soon realized that there was an awful lack of actual trucks and chimeras, let alone tanks, she would have expected to be there. Aqid Riobu turned towards her, rubbing his face in a gesture of defeat and frustration. They knew each other since they were kids, before she had joined the cult of he machine and he the PDF and both had stayed close to their roots. She was still a relatively low member of the Mechanicus, with just a few augmetics and beside all her enthusiasm for machinery lacked the disdain for her flesh other members of her calling shared. So knowing she would never really climb through the ranks of her cult, she had joined with him, when Riobu was promoted into the regiment and had never regreted that decision.
“What’s the matter Riobu?”, “Take a look yourself, Kassa, does this look like Chimeras and Tauroxes? These idiots have sent us nothing than spare parts… with nothing to put them into.” As she knew all too well, they had lost their last Chimera of any of the official patterns a month ago, getting by on some Thoth produced Jackals and a couple of APCs they captured from a local militia. “What on earth should I do with that bunch of crap? Sure, we can footslog our way to the battlefield if it needs be, but without transports we won’t have anything in the way of supplies or heavy weapons… uhmm… Kassa? Are you listening at all?” the addressed enginseer had strolled over to some of the opened caches with a smirk on her face that Riobu knew all too well “You are ploting something again, don’t you?” “Relax Robu… I think we have enough stuff here, to build a Chimera and a Taurox… that’s a start at least. But I will need everyone that knows which way to point a wrench that you can get your hand too. And for the rest… Let’s say I have a theory I always wanted to prove…” was her answer, while she pulled a Taurox door out with her mechandrite and pushed it quizzically on the side of a Chimera hull deck.
Two days of relentless cobbeling later, her superior, Techpriest Zalazara entered the impromptu workshop taking sight of her creation with obvious surprise, followed by a hint of distain but mostly curiosity. “What in the Omnissahs name is… this thing, Enginseer Okaya? Explain yourself?” she asked in her ratling, mechanical tone and Kassa knew, that she had but one chance to convince her superior. Lucky enough she knew that Zalazara – as most of Bagwas priesthood – was extremely pragmatic and relatively unorthodox for a member of the Adeptus Mechanicus, as long as one delivered results. Bowing before the senior priest she answered “We call it the Hyppogryph. We… had to improvise a bit. And was it not the wisdom of the ancients to create the STCs in a way, that parts were interchangeable and designs adaptable to different environments? This here is merely… a little step further.”
Zalazara mustered her and her creation with a severe gaze before breaking into a chuckle that sounded like a sack full of loose screws and bolts. “I’m not even mad… that’s amazing – as long as it really starts up. And if it can also fire in a straight line, than it was most likely intended that way and just forgotten. Go on… convince me, or else…” She didn’t have to finish the sentence as Kassa knew damn well, that this was bordering tech heresy. So she climbed into the driver compartment and hit the key, only to be rewarded instantly with the humming and buzzing of the Leman Russ multifuel engine kicking his power through the chimera driveshaft into the four Taurox tracks carrying the vehicle. While she did not have a discernable mouth anymore, she could see in Zalazars remaining biological eye that she was smiling, as she rounded the compound and finally ordered her assistant to fire some practice shots with the Multilasers into a pile of scrap.
“OK… get on with it, on your own conscience. Test it in the field and if it is any use, we might as well call it Bagwa pattern Hyppogryph and claim it to be a rediscovered STC. Most likely it is, if it keeps working.” Zalazara finished and turned away, still chuckling silently. Kassa could barely wait to tell Riobu the good news…





2nd Thoth Askaris and Forgeworld Bagwa (page 7) @ 2020/09/27 08:43:39


Post by: Max Moray


Love the car! Reminds me a little of the Halo Warthog.

Also, the hippogryph is an inventive kitbash. I certainly don't envy the gunner once this thing starts firing. Looks great! Have fun with the LEDs.


2nd Thoth Askaris and Forgeworld Bagwa (page 7) @ 2020/09/27 22:55:03


Post by: OldMate


As always great name and story rounding off your vehicles, really cool projects.


2nd Thoth Askaris and Forgeworld Bagwa (page 7) @ 2020/10/06 08:59:02


Post by: Pyroalchi


And another one:

Jim inched closer to the window of the empty workshop he had taken cover in with the two survivors of his squad and glanced outside if there was any sign of the Orks that had stormed the city. He was pretty tensed and is was only after he was sure that they had no company, that he loosened the grip around his lasgun enough for his knuckles to loose their paleness. Reaching for his Amplivisor he looked down the long, broad avenue leading to the secret hideout of the revolutionary commitee and - not really surprised - found it surrounded by greenies and burning, the few inhabitants trying to fight back or at least run from the blaze being gunned down and chopped to pieces by the hulking Xenos. "So long with our glorious uprising against the oppressors" he muttered sarcastically. They had come too late and somehow the realization had a really sobering effect. In a strange way, it was a bit as if a mist covering his thoughts with certainty and purpose had suddenly been lifted, when they heard the gunfire and explosions. He checked for Beth again, who did her best to secure the room and Kyle who tried to not bleed out from the deep slash in his upper leg - he most certainly did not look good. And on their faces he could see the same sense of sudden confusion and puzzlement - arguably even more prononounced than in his case. "What now? What should we do?" Beths asked, her voice shaking with fear, "We have to avenge them, obviously!", Kyle coughed, throwing up a cloth of blood. It was nothing new, as Jim knew most of his comrades to be not the most questioning people used to think for themselves. Or most certainly it was the other way around and he was the odd one as he had always found it difficult to follow the revolutionary ideals as fervently as others and had often just tagged along because he had no better idea anyway. "You know what we have to do? We have to get the frak out of here!" He replied and met a puzzled look from both his comrades. "The commitee is dead, the government also... it's over and I'm out." Kyles eyes were glowing with hatred "traitor!" "As if... we are all traitors since you shot the Sarge and you know it damn well.". Kyle went silent, again the look of puzzlement on his greying face, as the memories came back through the haze, making him wonder why the certainty he had felt back then had suddenly vanished. Jim on the other hand grabed his Lasgun again and took another look to the amplivisor before he looked over to Becky "You comming? Because the Greenies will definitly sooner or later" and started to walk away before she even answered, deep down already knowing that she would stay.

It was two weeks of constant hide and seek later, that Jim suddenly found himself staring down a lasgun as he turned away from the shelf of an empty supermarket were he had scavanged some provisions. He cursed himself for not paying enough attention, but then again, hunger made you that careless. Then again, at least those were no Greenies and as they had not shot him on sight there might still be a chance. And indeed the squad of soldiers in front of him lowered their weapons as they saw his dirty, worn down PDF uniform. They were dressed in Kakis with Shemaghs around their head, not unlike the shawl he used to wrap around his own to protect against the dust of the roads. "Hey there soldier... Got separated from your unit I guess?" the leader inquired in a kind of friendly you-sure-are-no-deserter-or-else-we-would-have-to-shoot-you-right? manner. "They are dead. I... I was trying to reach our lines." he replied and felt stupid that he did not come up with anything better. Yet while his Counterpart obviously did not believe him, he also did not seem to mind "Want to tagg along and get a ride off this hellhole? We are being pulled out and the Navy is about to blow the Greenies to pulp." Jim did not have to be asked again "... umm... sure, sounds great." "Than welcome to the Askaris, recruit!"



This minis origin lies in the comment of my wife after seeing my bag of surplus cadian arms and heads "You should totally build some guys with 3 or 4 arms!". When I told her about GSC we had a good laugh and I had the idea of Jim, who survived the end of his revolutionary cult and - after being freed from the influence of his patriarch decided to make a run for it. Being found by my homebrew regiment he tries his best to be a normal guardsman and does certainly not want to get back with his old lot just to be nomnomed by the starchildren. And his performance record is outstanding! 150% of any of his pals!


2nd Thoth Askaris and Forgeworld Bagwa (page 7) @ 2020/10/07 09:35:21


Post by: OldMate


As usual excellent work and the story is great too certainly a unique character! Your unit's starting to be a bit of a mixed bag.


2nd Thoth Askaris and Forgeworld Bagwa (page 7) @ 2020/10/07 09:38:43


Post by: Pyroalchi


As it was always intended

I'm currently starting to work at some 19 woodland indians as conscript squad that will also join in.


2nd Thoth Askaris and Forgeworld Bagwa (page 7) @ 2020/10/07 11:06:09


Post by: OldMate


Great work.
Looking forwards to seeing them.


2nd Thoth Askaris and Forgeworld Bagwa (page 7) @ 2020/10/24 10:04:29


Post by: Pyroalchi


Tribes and soldiers of the Thoth Askaris
Part VI, the Haudenosaunee Federation

The world Makhá (Lakota for "earth") is the second planet of a small backwater system in the Segmentum Pacificus in the immediate neighborhood of Thoth. Covered with endless seeming forests and giant plains it is only sparsely populated by some hundreds thousand natives living in tribes following the herdes of large ungulates or hunting in the forests. These tribes only recently united into a Federation called Haudanosaunee, which roughly translates to "people of the long house" meaning that they will live together and help each other like one family under one roof, regardless of their differences. This coalition was formed in response to sporadeous raids by Dark eldar hunting parties, yet even united the tribes could do little to keep the far superior armed Xenos at bay.

Their pleads to the Munitorum were futile, as the system was deemed to unimportant to bother deploying a Guard regiment as those were sorely needed elsewhere. Yet in a twist of fate their prayers were answered indirectly as the clerk in charge of the Askaris decided to respond to their latest unnerving application for more heavy tanks and equipment they cannot produce themselves by offering them the recruitment rights of Makhá, if Thoths PDF forces restored imperial dominance in the system and took care of its defence, armament and training.

While that was far from what they applied for, the Askaris are not ones that would refuse any kind of gift they can get from the Administrativum and thus hastily repurposed some of their giant orehaulers and required half of their merchant and SDF fleet to ship a first wave of troops to Makhá.
Suddenly facing half a million derermined PDF soldiers and a couple of imperial destroyers instead of isolated tribes distributed over a whole planets surface the Dark Eldar were forced to retreat without their bounty and even suffered some unexpected losses. Meanwhile it could be said that while the Askaris are undoubtly not on par with the battle efficiency of most guard regiments, their PDF is almost on the same level, which is quite good for PDF.

Since then the Haudenosaunee have been spared further attacks and are trained and armed from a garison of Askaris remaining in the northern continent, supplying their new parent regiment with hundreds of competent scouts and skirmishers.





Those minis are woodland indians from Warlord Games (the metal ones). I tried out contrast skin colors (Darkoath Flesh) which were really great. Also nice that all 19 minis in the box hat unique poses


2nd Thoth Askaris and Forgeworld Bagwa (page 7) @ 2020/10/24 11:24:07


Post by: OldMate


Wow Pyro those guys look great, I love the war paint. How do they measure up?


2nd Thoth Askaris and Forgeworld Bagwa (page 7) @ 2020/10/24 19:28:10


Post by: Pyroalchi


Maybe 10% smaller and a bit slimer than Cadians, but well within tolerance for humans
Spoiler:


2nd Thoth Askaris and Forgeworld Bagwa (page 7) @ 2020/10/24 23:01:04


Post by: OldMate


I like to imagine your Askaris to have very loose fitting and airy fatigues (comfortable in desert warfare) rather than that being skin under there! The armour is going to bulk him up a bit, his base looks about half as tallso they look like they suit nicely.


2nd Thoth Askaris and Forgeworld Bagwa (page 7) @ 2020/10/27 17:55:42


Post by: theCrowe


Your rough riders are getting some Dakka front page love. Still looking great.


2nd Thoth Askaris and Forgeworld Bagwa (page 7) @ 2020/11/08 07:31:14


Post by: Pyroalchi


Next of some more rough riders (or Death Riders more likely). This time I got my hands on some Seraphon Cold ones. As riders I ordered Victrix Numidian Cavalry which - after a bit of leg bending and modifying the saddles a bit with greenstuff - fitted nicely on their backs. The nice shield transfers are from Little Big Men Studios.
I painted the cold ones mostly with contrast, starting with Iyanden Yellow over Gryph Hound Orange to Blood Angels red an finally Cygor Brown. The details were then done conventionelly. I also got really really fond of Darkoath Flesh and in this case two layers of Fireslayer Flesh for skin. The result really good compared to my usual approach and it is so much easier. I definitly recommend them and think the whole Contrast Color idea is a great tool to get nice results on your minis.
I also played around a bit with Tesseract glow which I also start to like a lot.

Last but not least: compared with the newer cold ones for example from the AoS dark elf sets I really like these old ones. They are just dorky cute.





2nd Thoth Askaris and Forgeworld Bagwa (page 7) @ 2020/11/08 09:44:34


Post by: Max Moray


Great new additions. Not only the skin looks very good with contrasts, the tunics do look superb, too.


2nd Thoth Askaris and Forgeworld Bagwa (page 7) @ 2020/11/09 05:45:40


Post by: OldMate


Nice painting again, I particularly like the colours you chose for the cold ones, they look great.


2nd Thoth Askaris and Forgeworld Bagwa (page 7) @ 2020/11/13 07:42:43


Post by: Pyroalchi


I got my Warlord Warelephant some buddies to play, this time from Victrix, that will also count as Sentinel Powerlifters:




The decals for the howda and turret are from Little Big Men Studios and look really cool in my opinion. Funny thing was that ordering the elephants I thought I was ordering one but the package contains two. And for that they are pretty good value. The parts fit easily and the sprue contain 2 different trunks and two different left sides, so one can build 4 different poses of them. Also a big plus for me personally: each elephant comes with a rider and 6 standing soldiers for the turret, 2 in tunics, 2 in chainmail and 2 in this kind of Linothorax armor. Also included are lots of different heads (open hair like the rider, different helmets in nubian/cartagian/macedonian style) and various arms pointing, holding javelins, swords or the lance. Also included are round and long shields. So now I have lots of spare parts to use elsewhere which is always welcome.

As you can see in the left pic in the middle, Genestealer Kyle here has what we call "a gakky day at work". I used him to experiment with contrast colors for another mini currently in the works, therefore this turquois paint scheme. The "Blood" is some water effect stuff mixed with Tesseract glow.
In the last pic you can see them alternativly used as Sentinels with ML/Autocannon, as the turret and shields are magnetized, so that they can be swapped. Just when I don't feel like using them as powerlifters and want Sentinels instead. The other side is magnetized too and will get a hunter killer missile option.

Two things I'm not yet sure of: the sand I glued on the base as usual looks a bit wet still, guess I used too much white glue or thinned it wrongly. Also I'm not sold on the color of the hunting lance blades. Currently they are painted with tesseract glow and then darkened a bit towards the handle with Biel-Tan Green and Warp Lightning


2nd Thoth Askaris and Forgeworld Bagwa (page 7) @ 2020/11/13 11:06:22


Post by: OldMate


Very cool, I like the idea of the magnetised weapon mounts on the side, very versatile. Really nice work.


2nd Thoth Askaris and Forgeworld Bagwa (page 7) @ 2020/11/14 09:44:03


Post by: Pyroalchi


And the next one is finished:


This one will count as a Commander for my various cavalry soldiers counting as Death Riders. The mount is from the AoS Seraphon Terradon box, but with some Ripperdactyl bits mixed in. The Rider is a mini from a Victrix Warelephant. The base was made with a Greenstuff World rolling pin, but I'm not yet 100% satisfied with it. I cut out the base from some Polystyrene Foam and covered it with some modelling clay before rolling the pin. Unfortunatly the modelling clay shrunk, so that the rim of the base Looks pretty irregular.
I experimented again with a lot of contrast colors, the Genestealer on the Warelephant base I showed earlier being a color test. The "Bomb" it is carrying is meant to be the demolotion charge the Death Rider Commander could take (don't know if he still can in the new FW book).

I call him Juba III., Juba being a name of some Numidian kings of ancient times and also having a nice ring to it. As one might see, he looks quite the dashing hero with his splendid armor and helmet. And whoever rides a flying dinosaur without a saddle or stirups definitly has some adamantium grade cochones.





2nd Thoth Askaris and Forgeworld Bagwa (page 7) @ 2020/11/14 10:15:10


Post by: OldMate


Wow liking those Selecuid/Greek troops. Pterodactyl is great.


2nd Thoth Askaris and Forgeworld Bagwa (page 7) @ 2020/11/14 14:36:00


Post by: Max Moray


Superb work on the new mounted warriors. Those decals look great, very stylish. The thing Juba III, the death rider commander, is riding certainly is a Kongamato. I've heard about them more than ten years ago, but I did not know they came this colorful. Nice thing!


2nd Thoth Askaris and Forgeworld Bagwa (page 7) @ 2020/11/14 15:21:38


Post by: Pyroalchi


In the grim darkness of the 41st millenium... you ride in style and bright and cheery colors to throw your enemy into confusion!

[Thumb - eviloverlord29.jpg]


2nd Thoth Askaris and Forgeworld Bagwa (page 7) @ 2020/11/15 04:09:01


Post by: OldMate


Life's too short and brutal for boring clothing.


2nd Thoth Askaris and Forgeworld Bagwa (page 7) @ 2020/11/15 04:09:44


Post by: OldMate


Life's too brutally short and grim for boring and drab clotheing!


2nd Thoth Askaris and Forgeworld Bagwa (page 7) @ 2020/11/15 04:59:25


Post by: OldMate


In the 41st millenia life is too grim and dark to wear boring clothing.


2nd Thoth Askaris and Forgeworld Bagwa (page 7) @ 2020/11/16 12:06:07


Post by: Pyroalchi


When I painted the woodland Indians in bright blue and red I also thought that seriously: this might be the best camo for their homeworld. It's very well possible that the Vegetation on an Alien planet is screaming bright and the earth lets say fluorescent pink, so that dull green-gray camo uniforms would stick out massivly.

And regarding the golden weapons I often paint for my tanks: it's to throw Deathskulls orks into confusion and bait them away from other, more valuable targets ...


2nd Thoth Askaris and Forgeworld Bagwa (page 7) @ 2020/12/18 15:44:45


Post by: Pyroalchi


Just a little teaser this time. I just got these in the mail:


7 Gryphone pattern chimera turrets in total (3 x twin heavy bolter, 2 x Autocannon, 2 x Multilaser) as well as a Hull Demolisher and Annihilator Twin Lascannon to build the Malcador Battletank I got from FW in a way to reflect all the Annihilator as well.

I plan to put two of the twin Heavy Bolter turrets on a bunker I plan to build from a Baneblade turret and upper hull. The rest are intended to go on the Chassis of an M5 Stuart and some Vickers light tanks to reflect some Siegfried light tanks.
But that's a long term plan


2nd Thoth Askaris and Forgeworld Bagwa (page 7) @ 2020/12/29 12:27:20


Post by: Pyroalchi


Finally finished my Mortian Ogres. I painted them in the same style as my Scions, imagining that they are some kind of elite force trained at the Schola Progenium to assist the Muan Mustachioed Mongooses as heavy shock troops. Imagine those Gravchuting right into the fray...

Enjoy:




and all the Ogryn weapons options:


2nd Thoth Askaris and Forgeworld Bagwa (page 7) @ 2020/12/29 14:06:22


Post by: Max Moray


Love the South Asian styled Bullgryns! Should fit very well with your Mongooses. Also great how many weapons options you made.


2nd Thoth Askaris and Forgeworld Bagwa (page 7) @ 2020/12/30 06:27:05


Post by: OldMate


Beautiful work. The lenses of the gasmasks look great, really cool.


2nd Thoth Askaris and Forgeworld Bagwa (page 7) @ 2021/01/02 22:12:22


Post by: Pyroalchi


Thanks Max Moray and OldMate.

Here are the next ones for the Techpriest Kassa Okoye that turned up in the story around the Hyppogryph and was responsible for its creation:


The mini is from Wyrds "the other side" line. But I added a servoarm I got in a B-grade bag from Anvils Black friday special. Not my best paintjob, but an interesting mini and almost the same size as GWs guardsmen. She has her Servitors as backup, all minis from Anvil. Two of them have some kind of energy weapon (Plasma or Melta, I don't know yet). As you can see Kassa prefers the "put the squishy parts in a box" approach to servitors, as they are more protected this way on the battlefield (and it is less creepy).
I tested out a color scheme I plan for some future Skitarii on these and really like it.


2nd Thoth Askaris and Forgeworld Bagwa (page 7) @ 2021/01/06 21:09:03


Post by: theCrowe


Fantastic work as always. Kassa Okoye is a great addition. Love the quadruped loader especially. Great work on the Ogryn heavy weapons too! Always the most interesting IG on Dakka.


2nd Thoth Askaris and Forgeworld Bagwa (page 7) @ 2021/01/09 09:03:37


Post by: Pyroalchi


Thanks theCrowe, I feel really flattered. I'm also quite happy with this project as it just keeps on giving nice ideas to paint. I've reached 4000 points of IG and the love is still there. So on to the next 1000 points

As one might have guessed from the Ogryns/Bullgryns in the color scheme of the Muan Mustachioed Mongooses I plan on extracting them from their Tallarn detachment into an own Scion detachment. Most probably with the Kappic Eagles doctrine, as they share the very mobile approach of Thots Magrebian Tribes.
Anyway here is their Tempestor Prime, Ranjid Kumar:

I build him from an Anvil Industry armored Commissar and a turban head of the same company cut in half. I'm really satisfied how the eyes and the powerfist turned out for my level of painting skills.

And here is his Command Squad, a group of Miasman Redcowls the Askaris picked up during a campaign:

Also Anvil Industry, with Flamers from the Burning Rose line and Arms from GW Cadians. Again: really satisfied how those came out.


The whole group deserves a story, but I haven't found time for it yet. I'm currently considering what ride they will get. I'm torn between a Valkyrie (most effective and quite logical choice, but I'm not a big fan of the model), an open topped Taurox Prime or this thing from Dragons Rest here as Arvus Lighter:

[Thumb - Grasshopper.jpg]


2nd Thoth Askaris and Forgeworld Bagwa (page 7) @ 2021/01/16 09:17:26


Post by: Max Moray


Wow, 4000 points is a lot, especially given that all is highly converted. Command squad and Tempestor Prime look great. I like your Indian themed part of the army a lot.

Also love Kassa Okoye and her machines.

And this bird looks very promising. Think, I might also need this or something similar!


2nd Thoth Askaris and Forgeworld Bagwa (page 7) @ 2021/01/22 20:52:35


Post by: Pyroalchi


Thanks Max Moray,

next model is part 1/3 of my christmas present to myself: a Hades Breaching Drill from Forgeworld.


I tried to paint him in the color scheme I used for my Servitors and plan for a future Skitarii detachment, as I imagine it being a gift from the developing forgeworld in my homebrew regiments system. Really cute model, but definitly not a cheap one. It is a bit fidly to put together and a pitty, that you can almost see nothing from the meltacutter inside, especially as I put quite some work in, to give it an orange glow effect at some spots.

It still needs a name though and I think I will go with Mandombe skript again. I just have to do some research on african names with a meaning and translate it. I can also imagine to later add some Adeptus Mechanicus decals to it. And of course some mud and debris. So in a way this is still a WIP, but for now it is "finished enough" to leave the pile of shame and join the glorious "fully painted" brotherhood.


2nd Thoth Askaris and Forgeworld Bagwa (page 7) @ 2021/01/23 10:54:21


Post by: OldMate


looking good Pyro!


2nd Thoth Askaris and Forgeworld Bagwa (page 7) @ 2021/01/26 21:06:30


Post by: Pyroalchi


Thanks Oldmate,

and another squad is finished: Always since I read about Wyrdvane Psykers (and their lackluster rules) I found the idea that there are Psykers who DON'T blow up due to perils pretty cool. Some might call them untalented or underpowered, but for the common soldier, the thought of a relatively stable psyker is kind of relaxing. As I started looking for tribal miniatures for my normal guardsmen I stumbled about some pretty cool looking shamans and witchdoctors from Wargames Foundry and when my wallets defense was broken again last Christmas, I placed a larger order, containing those. I also repurposed Okoto (formerly planned as Astropath) as he fits better with this lot:



Note the nice egyptian bases better visible in the lowest pick. They were made with a Greenstuff World rolling pin, which I can only wholeheartedly recommend. The results look gorgeous and its pretty easy to make your own cool bases for your dudes.
All in all it was pretty fun to paint the bunch and go wild with the colors. My favorite is "horny guy" in the uppermost picture on the left.


2nd Thoth Askaris and Forgeworld Bagwa (page 7) @ 2021/01/26 22:29:46


Post by: OldMate


As ever really cool work. I think i like the guy with the python and the stripey horns the most. Such a cool contingent of battle psychers. As they are rather stable and in control of their powers, maybe at the exspense of potency i thinkgiven Thoths lore and history thus far, it really fits.


2nd Thoth Askaris and Forgeworld Bagwa (page 7) @ 2021/02/05 14:49:19


Post by: Max Moray


Those witch doctors are awesome. My favorites are the one with the pot and the stick and the zombie like dude with the knife. The blue/white glow looks great on all of them.


2nd Thoth Askaris and Forgeworld Bagwa (page 7) @ 2021/02/27 10:18:47


Post by: Pyroalchi


Tribes and soldiers of the Thoth Askaris

Part VII: the Ruga Ruga Warbands

The Ruga Ruga are not really a consistent tribe but more a dynamic warband, composed of runaways, adventurers, fugitives from law or vendetta, dissatisfied tribesmen and all other sort of soldiers of fortune. These warbands vary vastly in size, depending on the charisma and assertiveness of their leader and are in continous flow - growing and dwindling away, breaking up and fusing together. It is also quite common for former Ruga Ruga to settle down later in life and reintegrate into one of the established tribes to found a family - which leads to the Ruga Ruga being predominantly composed of youngsters and young adults with few children and old. They are half nomadic and almost never settle for agriculture, instead making a living as big game hunters, mercenaries as well as brigands and by racketeering if the opportunity arises. During the times in history when Thoth was seperated (and ignored) by the wider imperium, the Ruga Ruga have at times be a burden for Thoth, with the unruly bunch putting pressure on smaller tribes and every other generation being involved in huge wars with the bigger ones, only to build up again after some years even if they could be dispersed. But with Thoths armies joining the imperium in its struggle for survival this has changed again. Regardless of their behaviour it is without a doubt that the Ruga Ruga have one of the highest percentages of capable warriors, surpassing even the most warlike tribes and as most of them strive for proving themselves, for fame and glory or just want to escape their former live, lots of them joined the Askaris with the rest training hard to be selected for the next tithe. This has made the life of on Thoth much easier in the last decades - a further point leading to the high standing (and a bit undeserved idealization) of the imperium on the planet.



A band of RugaRuga from Wargames Foundry. The shields are Massai shields from the same company with some greenstuff "fur". The knifes are from a bitstrade with SergeantSilver and from some CSM I think (? many thanks again, mate), the Grenade Launcher on the second guy in the lower line from Kromlech, Bases from Microartstudio. It was pretty fun to paint them that extremely colorful and the "tiger fur shields" were funny as well. Special mention for their "vox-operator" on the lower right. The skin color is Gor Grunta Fur on Wraitbone and gives a really nice middle-brown skin.


2nd Thoth Askaris and Forgeworld Bagwa (page 7) @ 2021/02/28 18:25:27


Post by: Pyroalchi


Tribes and soldiers of the Thoth Askaris

Part VIII: the Zaande Kingdoms

The Zaande are one of the larger tribal groups of Thoths northern Hemisphere and are divided into a number of kingdoms of varying size that are always in competition and fluctuating aliances with each other. Regardless of this concurrence they stand together whenever the interests of Azande people are threatened by other groups. Even more importantly they have strong ties to rich and powerful families and dynasties in the Megacity of Ibotu which traditionally send their children to foster some years within the tribal homelands. A fact that makes them one of the major powers among the tribes of Thoth, which differs a bit from other planets with such an extreme range of cultural development, that usually tend to be dominated by the most industrialized and developed parts of the population.




"Johnny"
Another mini from Wargames foundry. I really loved the pose and think he definitly has a strong "Jurgen" vibe going. Fits perfectly to my Commissar Butch Baker. Should I ever come up with good rules for Ciaphas Cain and Jurgen, I know what to do. Even though I don't see him having a melta, but the blanck rule would be funny.
I wasn't sure how to name him, especially since I might get ArtelWs Jurgen later, but my son saw him and said he looks like a Johnny, so that's his name.


2nd Thoth Askaris and Forgeworld Bagwa (page 7) @ 2021/03/01 22:27:30


Post by: OldMate


Nice work as always mate. I like the 'vox' horn that is really cool, as always such a bright and varied addition to your army, Johnny is quite the character, I'd have been tempted to sling a meltagun over his shoulder but unlike Ciaphas Cain I think Butch has this heroing business sorted.


2nd Thoth Askaris and Forgeworld Bagwa (page 7) @ 2021/03/02 07:19:45


Post by: Pyroalchi


Hi Oldmate,

the Zaande squad also has a drum as vox. I can easily imagine an imperial propaganda flyer in the line of

"GUARDSMEN,
we have heard that your deployment zone has suffered some reliability issues with its vox-equipment* due to atmospheric disturbances*. Count yourself lucky and praise the emperor, as your benovelent Administrativum has granted your superiors request and will provide a solution. Therefore any Vox operator will receive one (1)** horn, drum or trumpet as well as a codebook*** containing the most advanced encryption techniques known to the galaxy****! Which shows again that not only the emperor protects, but your caring Administrativum provides. Time for you to repay them in kind and crush that pesky little xenos "expansion sphere" in a glorious bajonet Charge! That will teach them to set their hooves on imperial soil!

Thought of the day: The world is only lend to us, but nobody said anything about giving it back!


* Rumors that the blue skinned xenos rubble you are ordered to drive of the planet don't suffer these malfunctions due to superior tech are completely unfounded. Further spred will lead to collective flogging of your unit.
** Depending on availability.
*** Keep in mind that failure to additionally carry the vox-backpack, regardless of functionality will be seen as neglection of Administrativum property and disrespect towards the Astra Militarum, punishable by summary execution
**** The codebook is of course compatibly with the long range communication setup discribed in your Imperial Guardsmen Primer, section "lighting fires and sending smoke signals"





@ Butch: The story that I have in my head on this character is roughly: The Askaris really bought the official story of Cain, the hero of the Imperium (I really like that character) and admire his courage and style. Knowing that, and the positive effect on their morale, Valeria Jacquard (the Lord commissar) has specifically selected butch, as he is quite good at presenting the image the Askaris expect and has a similar "caring for the simple guardsmen" attitude that Cain has. Of course he needed a sidekick to complete the act, therefore he has Johnny. The latter might not have a melta, but he too has a "robust" driving style and is very good at procuring what ever butch needs...


2nd Thoth Askaris and Forgeworld Bagwa (page 7) @ 2021/03/12 18:46:26


Post by: Pyroalchi


I edited the post with the system description a bit, mainly integrating some ideas and modifying some others.
mainly:
- another planet - Oya
- Bagwas energy is used for a terraforming said planet instead of the gellar field
- Ulambo is one of several Agri-moons orbiting Kitakamba
- a moon around Zaori with a radiophagus/radiosynthesis ecosystem
- Thoth itself got an exponential population growth in the century between the night of a thousand rebellions and the current timeline

Overall I try to describe a system that - while being nothing special in normal times - can provide everything an armygroup/fleet needs: loads of foot, fuel, energy, ammunition, repair facilities and (relativly many) soldiers. Thus Thoth becomes incredible important after the night of thousand rebellions as staging point for the imperial counterattack as it is amongst the few still loyal systems. Yet with every new system pacified its importance dwindles again just to become a backwater system without further importance again after the crisis is weathered. So if you see anything that is still "missing" or would best be modified to achieve the effect, that Thoth does not really enjoy the Attention of the imperial burocracy in peacetimes, feel free to tell me.

Spoiler:
 Pyroalchi wrote:
The Thoth System

The systems central star is called “Mawu” by its residents – referring to an ancient goddess of creation, sun and life. Being younger and about 50% bigger than sol, Mawu shines in a bright, white light and burns relatively steady. Flares and sun eruptions are less common and the solar winds are weaker than in the Terra system, yet the higher percentage of UV radiation in Mawus spectrum affords additional protection on the planets without a protecting ozone layer. The system is further composed of 3 rock planets, two gasgiants and a large asteroid belt. Due to the importance of its second planet, the system itself is commonly referred to as Thoth.

Thoth 1 – Bagwa
Classification: Industrial World (in construction)
Population: approximately 20.000 Adeptus Mechanicum personnel, 100.000 Servitors

Being a rock planet about 70% the size of Venus, Bagwas orbit around Mawu is tidally locked, separating the planet into one side of eternal night and one of neverending day. Its atmosphere is composed predominantly of nitrogen and carbondioxyde with only traces of water therefore lacking any presence of clouds. Together with its mineral composition being rich in silicium and rare earths the planet is incredibly suited for solar power generation. After the system was conquered by the Macharius Crusade, accompanying Adeptus Mechanicus forces established a small outpost on Bagwa, mostly consisting of Servitors and tasked with the construction of concentrated solar power plants and photovoltaic cells and facilities to produce those. Furthermore the infrastructure to support a yet to be founded industrial complex on the night side was planned to eventually turn Bagwa into another forgeworld. The refounded colony on Thoth was ordered to support this outpost to the best of their ability in anticipation to have a powergrid ready within one decade. Complying with this task everyone involved got to work even after the Segmentum Pacificus fell into the Macharian Heresy after the saints death. Being isolated again from the imperium, the Adeptus Mechanicum mission expected to make use of the finished power grid never arrived. Puzzled about what was expected from them and concerned about potentially being punished for not following imperial orders, the rulers of Thoth decided to just continue plastering Bagwa with power plants – and the Servitors did not contradict anyway. By the time contact to the Imperium was reestablished a century later, getting rid of the surplus power had already become a problem and the grid was on the brink of breaking down due to the enormous amount of created energy. The build-up was slowed down and the forgecomplex planned so long ago finally build, focusing on the production and charging of power cells and the armaments for Thoths regiment.
But as the established power resources still exceeded the demand manyfold, Nac1r - the Magos send to the Thoth system and given free hand to regulate the Adeptus Mechanicus affairs in the region decided to instead try his hand in an ambitious endevour to terraform the 3rd planet of the system, Oya. Even though most of the technology used in the dark age of technology to change planets in incredible ways to make them habitable for mankind was lost, leaving the Adeptus Mechanicus with such limited tools as century or even millenia spanning atmospheric changes to heat or cool them, Nac1rs calculations indicated that all the frozen world in the system needed was some “significantly hard punches”. This led to the construction of a series of giant Macrolasers on Bagwas night side, pointing towards the outer system, with the first being finished and starting firing only a couple of years before the night of the thousand rebellions. Should Nac1r succeed in his endeavor, the system might be completed by another fertile world, ready for colonization – not a small gift for a simple backwater system, but truth be told, the magos purely undergoes it for his own curiosity and ego, eager to count himself amongst the few that could claim to have achieved such a feat since the golden age of mankind.

Besides this rather glorious purpose of the machinery, it has not slipped the attention of Thoths rulers that the macrolasers could as well – with only slight modifications – could crack Thoths crust and devastate the systems capital planet, should they ever give the Adeptus Mechanicus reason to do so. Confronted about it, Nac1r pointed out that this is merely a possibility as a last act of defiance, should the system ever fall to the heretical forces of the arch enemy, but nonetheless it remains clear that Thoth is well advised to keep on their Forgeworlds good side…

[OT] Thinking about Thoths system I found the idea of a tidally locked planet with massive solar power plants appealing, yet I did not really have a good use for all the energy in mind. I collected some ideas in another thread and came up with the giant gellar field. A later edited it when I read a bit about terraforming and wanted to include a terraforming project instead, see Oya down below [OT]

Thoth2 – Thoth
Classification: Civilized world
992.M41 (before the Night of a Thousand Rebellions): ~ 500.000.000
993.M41: 400.000.000
50 M42: 1.000.000.000
100 M42: 2.000.000.000
(rapid growth due to significantly improved access to medicine, water purifiers and agricultural machinery since the reestablishment of closer ties to the Imperium of Man)

(described above)
[OT]Just out of “its something new” I want Thoth to have an uncommon (and maybe unjustified) very optimistic view of the imperium. Therefore I thought that for a system seriously lacking medical technology, the reestablished contact with the Imperium might have seemed like a miracle more than making up for the loss of people to the tithes [OT]

Thoth 2a – Sharu
Classification: Research Station/Mining Outpost
Population: ~ 3000

Thoth possesses a single, small moon, and is tidally locked to its orbit – instead of the other way around as Terra and Luna. This means that viewed from Thoth Sharu rotates but is always present over the same region, therefore never appearing on the other side of the planet. The gravitational influence is almost neglectible, yet the main space harbours on Thoth are on its “moon side”, since starting from there consumes a little bit less energy. Having no atmosphere to speak of, Sharu only houses some large telescopes and long range communication relays. After a recent discovery of a large tungsten deposit near the north pole, a small mining outpost is currently under construction to recover the valuable raw material.
[OT]I want Thoth to be a rather peaceful system, but if at some point I want to spice it up, I might turn the tungsten deposit into a small subterran Necron outpost in stasis. So no Tomb world, but enough to be a concern for a single system and fitting the classic “but the dwarfs dug too deep…” motive. [OT]

Thoth 3 – Oya
Classification: Dead world (before 900.M41), Ice world (~0.M42), Agriworld(~100.M42)
Population: ~ 1.000.000 (100. M41)
Originally being a dead, cold planet, covered in ice and frozen nitrogen and methane, what little atmosphere it ever had blown away by solar winds, Oya has been the target of an ambitious terraforming project by Magos Nac1r from the Forgeworld of Bagwa. Even though completely unsuited for colonization on first sight, it possessed a variety of qualities that made this process mostly a problem of energy redistribution – a feat discovered after decade long calculations by the Cogitor arrays of the systems Forgeworld. Even though it did not express a magnetic field originally, the Adeptus Mechanicus sensors detected a large iron core in its center that would be able to induce one, if the planet could be tectonically activated. Therefore the process was started by a decade long series of intense Macrolaserbursts that cracked Oyas surface into separate continental plates, heating up and liquefying the mantle underneath. With the metal core set into motion again, a magnetic field developed that was strong enough to keep the thin atmosphere of carbondioxide and other gases erupting from the new volcanos and tectonic rifts from being blown away into the void. While most of these gases rained down and froze soon, they – together with the ongoing input of termal energy from the macrolasers – were sufficient to heat the planet above the critical value were its giant deposits of frozen Nitrogen, oxygen and methane melted and evaporated in a shattering, year long blowout. This lead to the foundation of a “real” and above all else even stable atmosphere. The starting greenhouse effect by the methane was speed up by the Adeptus Mechanicus mission constructing plants on the surface of the now reclassified ice world that emitted hexafluoride and other substances highly potent in this regard to support the heating. In the first decades of the 42nd millennium, temperatures finally passed the important treshhold of 0°C. With the formation of large bodies of liquid water, algae and funghi were imported from Ulambo in larges quantities and cultivated to enrich the atmosphere in Oxygen and stockpile biomass to support the scheduled large scale colonization


[OT]I read a bit about terraforming and found the idea of a planet that technically only had to be punched hard enough to make habitable very [OT]


Thoth 4 - Kitakamba
Classification: Gasgiant
Population: < 500

A gasgiant 10 times the mass of Jupiter and surrounded by a large ringsystem, the deeply purple coloured Kitakamba can be seen by the naked eye from every other planet in the system. Due to its high mass and gravitation, Kitakamba is more of a protostar than a planet, only slightly short of being a brown dwarf and nuclear fusion has been detected within its inner core. Its resulting high temperature, intense radiation, massive tectonic and storm activity and gravitational pull made the construction of stations within its atmosphere so far impossible. Yet thanks to its warming effect, over a dozen of Kitakambas 40 moons are more or less habitable, even though far outside what is usually considered as habitable zone of a solar system. 4 of them are used as agriworlds and others harbore mining outposts for a variety of rare minerals and methane. Some noteworthy moons include:

Thoth 4a – Roawa
Classification: Mining world
Population: 50, ~1000 servitors
Extremely hot and bathed in deadly radiation due to its closeness to Kitakamba, Roawa would be of little interest where it not for a mineralogical oddity: its composition being dominated by aluminium but utterly devoid of silicium and oxygen it’s one of the rare places in the Segmentum were the light metal can be found in its pure elemental form – on top of that being molten on the side facing Kitakamba. Therefore an adeptus mechanicus orbital is positioned in a delicate position just in the shadow of the moon, where the equipment is protected from being melted by Kitakambas heat but the precius metal can be mined with incredible ease and speed. Nontheless the servitors manning the station are consumed within month – a price still deemed worthwile for the precious resource.

Thoth 4g – Ulambo
Classification: Agri-World
Population: ~ 250.000
About three quarters the size of Thoth, Ulambo is a paradise teeming with life – if you are a fungus or algae. Ulambo rotates fast in relation to its pseudo sun Kitakamba leading to a “daylenght” of only 6 hours, with even its night side lightened up by Thoths main sun. Being covered with a mix of warm, shallow oceans and nutrient rich wet lands, temperatures remain steady on a pleasant level between 10 and 30 degrees Celsius. Yet unfortunately Ulambos atmosphere contains different sulfurous and chloric gases and completely lacks an ozone layer, thus bathing the surface in Mawus and Kitakambas intense UV-radiation. The indigenous algeous and fungal species have adopted to use the UV light for efficient photosynthesis and seem to cover every inch of the surface. Luckily this thick biofilm can be converted into Prometium, high quality fertilizer or an edible, nutritious - if a bit weird tasting – paste and can be harvested in an enormous rate. Contrary to other developed systems Mawu is therefore more than capable of providing food for itself, even if Thoths population should raise to levels in the hundred of billions. For now this has also proven very valuable, as during the night of thousand rebellions Thoth – as one of few systems not revolting – was able to locally provide provisions for the remaining and arriving loyalist forces inspite of the loss of several Agri-Worlds.

Thoth 4p – Otampa
Classification: Ice World, Research station
Population: 100
The small moon Otampa houses a large, 100 mile deep low saline ocean making up almost half of its mass. It was calculated that if Otampa could be relocated into Thoths orbit and the water be transferred to the surface, Thoth could be terraformed into a significantly more habitable state almost resembling a paradise world. Yet it is unlike that the ressources for such an endeavor are accessible within the next decades at least.

Thoth 5 - Zaori
Classification: Gasgiant
Population: ~ 50.000 (on various space stations and docks, currently rapidly increasing)

Zaori is a relatively small gasgiant about half the size of Neptune. Being relatively close to the Mandeville point of Thoths system and having a large proportion of methane and other gases usable as fuel in its relatively calm atmosphere, about a dozen refueling stations and docks were build in its orbit an on 3 of its 8 moons. Prior to the night of a thousand rebellions, a small stationed fleet and some scores of defense batteries provided enough protection against occasional pirates or similar, yet being far under strength to push back should a serious threat to the system arise. During the uprising within the Segmentum Pacificus, Thoth became one of the staging areas of the remaining loyalist forces within the subsector. Since then the docks and refuel depots are working non stop at the brink of breaking down to supply the imperial ships arriving from the many battles in neighboring systems. To handle the demand, the existing stations are hastily expanded and new ones constructed, while high command has also ordered the forge complexes of Bagwa to bolster the local defenses.

Thoth 5b – Vanua
Classification: Agri-World
Population: ~ 10.000
While a small agri-moon with neglectible output compared to Ulambo, Vanua bears mentioning as having developed an unusual ecosystem. To far from the systems star for photosynthesis, the moons crust inherits large deposits of uranium and other radioactive materials leading to relatively moderate temperatures. The Ecosystem is therefore based on radiophagus funghi and “plants” using radiosynthesis instead of photosynthesis. While the resulting biomass is unsuitable for nutritional purposes, it can be used for the production of Acids and poisons needed for banewolfs and the like and – as kind of an off label use – can be cultivated on less radioactive planets to decontaminate those or at least lower the radiation on top of the biofilm to not immediately letal levels.



2nd Thoth Askaris and Forgeworld Bagwa (page 7) @ 2021/04/01 13:49:53


Post by: Pyroalchi


So, Oldmate and me put our heads together again and even if took its time here is a continuation of the deliverance of Thoth during the night of a thousand rebellions.
Formating ha been a bit fidly, I hope its good to read:



Ninshasa Favelas K27 – 13 days after the Night of a thousand rebellions


Tambo – the peacekeeper


As every day around mid-afternoon, the thick, darkened clouds covering the sky above the rainforest were about to break into the heavy daily rains, relieving man and nature alike from the damp, sultry hotness and wetness of the day. Tambo wiped some sweat from his brow with the sleeve of his peacekeeper uniform that was wet from sweat and helped himself to a large gulp of water from his flask. He was surrounded by the loud clamor of countless people digging what might – with luck – resemble a makeshift strongpoint somewhere in the future. Nobody had really ever done something like this before and the stern looking imperial soldiers that by the emperor’s grace had joined them to defend the megacity were too thinly stretched to really oversee their work. Either way, it did not really matter that much. At least it gave the people the illusion of doing something to protect their homes… their world… and keep them from panicking. A small girl, barely ten, almost vanishing under a sack full of calabashs passed him with a look of determination and handed out her water filled load to the workers raising up the earthworks. Part of him thought he should tell her to get lost and get to safety closer to the shore, but deep down he knew that there would not be anything resembling safety soon enough.


As the first relieving raindrops began to fall, turning the broken earth all around into mud, Tambo climbed out of the forming stretch of trenchline to make his way towards the small square that served as kind of a village centre and impromptu scrumball field for the inhabitants of K27. All around him were shabby dwellings, made from wood, corrugated steel and most often just random junk, crisscrossing and stacking on top of each other in gravity defying manner. In “better” times he would not have dared to enter the favelas without armored support but now with the enemy clearly approaching everyone knew what was at stake. It was hard to miss. Columns of smoke and the occasional sound of explosions rose everywhere from the deep, ever encroaching jungles to the north – smaller settlements being ravaged and burned by the invaders. There was nothing they could do for them, just hope that the heretics would take their time with slaughtering.


Still, as he crossed an alley shrouded in darkness by the buildings on each side arching over until they almost touched each other he had a queasy feeling, rooted deep into his bones. As much as he hoped to be wrong, he did not really trust the trenchline to hold of the invaders. But what he believed in right to the bone was that the favelas were a deathtrap. They would not hold back a determined, disciplined attacker for long and it would be a slaughter for the people living here, but everyone trying to get through would pay a heavy blood price. At least that was what he hoped for.
Finally he reached his destination and found it positively crowded. It had been declared the meeting point for what – lacking a better word for it – would be K27s “militia” force. He saw some dozen older men and women in ragged PDF clothing – at least they knew how to point a gun, but most were way past their sixties. Others were… ordinary people, just thinking they might as well die standing with a weapon in their hands. Apart from a hand full with personal guns, they were armed with machetes, knifes and bamboo spears. Under any other circumstances he would have send them home, but that was a luxury they could not afford. And then again, in one of the countless dark alleys of this hellhole a local with a knife knowing every corner and little hidey-hole might have a chance of standing up to a soldier with a gun.

And then there were those he simultaneously had feared and hoped the most would join in. A rabble of some score youngsters, tattooed, scared, some obviously drugged up and a lot of them armed heavier than anyone could feel comfortable with. They had autoguns, stubbers, explosives and as he knew too well some frakking missile launchers that had blown up Kappa squads APC a month ago, killing them all. And more than that, from the looks of it they had stashed away enough firearms to hand them out to everyone – if one could convince them to share. Tambo was pretty sure he had seen some of those faces in the arrest cells and sometimes bleeding below his truncheon. From the murder looming in their eyes they recognized him too. Nonetheless they kept their cool, if you wanted to call it that way, reined in by their leaders.
Both of them, a tall young woman with a long scar on the right side of her face disappearing under an eye patch and a stocky man with a demon skull tattooed on his bare chest greeted him with a barely noticeable nod before spitting in the dirt before him – raising some laughter and cheers from their posse. Tambo ignored it. They might be dregs, but they were willing to fight and might put their aggression to something productive for once in their life. Nonetheless as he was talking through the “tactics” of their coming deployment he couldn’t shake the thought that he would most likely be dead tomorrow, if not by the hand of the enemy than surely due to an unfortunate case of friendly fire…

Eola – the ganger

Eola peeked over the makeshift barricade they had piled up from some rubble and junk, gripping her sturdy autogun tight. While the sounds of gunfire and occasional explosions rang from everywhere around the frontline, it had been suspiciously calm over there for the last few minutes. The rough dozen of men they had shot down trying to run up through the muddy alleyway between the ramshackle huts had finally stopped wriggling and groaning, but there seemed to be movement again somewhere up ahead. “More of them comin’ boss.” she told Paku, the older gangmember in command of this part of their hood. The man turned round towards the rest of their little “defense force”, raising his long, razor-sharp machete and beating his other fist on his muscular barrel chest covered in tattoos. “Seem like some of those Frakheads still haven’t learned their lesson boys!” he laughed out loudly for all of them to hear “This is OUR turf! And if any sucker whose face I don’t like dares to set his foot on it, I throw him out again, and his stinking foot after him!” which granted him some answering hooting and a wild mix of shouted personal battle cries from her gang brothers and sisters, while he urged them on to be louder, rallying them and hyping them up with grandiose gestures and poses.

Eola had to chuckle too, feeling a strange mix of adrenalin, excitement and anticipation run through her veins – most likely boosted by some of the pills she had popped to keep the pain and fear away. That damn copper was just a stupid coward for being so anxious about this attack when they had met at the scrumball pitch. Maybe he and his cronies had forgotten how to fight and maybe those SoBs attacking thought they were worth their salt, but they sure as hell had not grown up in the slums like all of them here and would learn their lesson soon enough. Her posse was armed to the teeth and every one of them knew this labyrinth like the back of their hand and would not let anyone fool around with them. Her thought was interrupted by the deep rattling of the machine gun nest to her right opening fire at something. Risking another glance over the solid cover of a thrown over refrigerator she could make out roughly a score of enemies diving for cover from the hail of bullets, doing their best to return fire. They wore some rugged kind of uniform, adorned on their chest with the strange symbol some of them had even carved into their forehead, which hurt when you looked at it for too long. Fortunately it also made for a quite compelling target as she noted again putting a slug of her own through the torso of a bearded fanatic with sharp filed teeth trying to lob a grenade over the obstruction. A lucky shot in the best of senses, as the primed grenade peppered some of his friends with shrapnel leaving them wailing and spilling their blood in the reddening mud.

Yet this time they seemed to have brought some heavier stuff, as Eola heard engines roaring and the unmistakable crushing and breaking sound of something big waltzing its way through the huts. She barely had a glance at something looking like a military grade version of the boxy armored transport the Guardians sometimes used, before a staccato of Multilaser bolts punched through the gun shield of the machine gun emplacement, turning the gunners into a red mist. A moment later a whole section of barricade to her right crumbled and burst, blown to pieces by a series of explosions ringing in her ears. Shrapnel and junk flew all over the place and a shard of metal sped past so close that it would have quite literally “disarmed” her, if it had hit a couple of inches to closer. Struggling to get a grip again, she heard the sound of running footsteps on the battered pavement and realization hit that the foot soldiers tried to seize the opportunity and rush the barricade while its defenders where in disarray. So Eola legged it to the nearest side alley. Not a moment too soon, as the first men started pouring through the small opening the heavy bolter had created, led by a screaming and raging madman with a crude, two handed chainblade in hand. With a wide bone shattering swing, he cut down two of her gangbrothers that had not found their senses as fast as she had. Eola matched his gaze opening her arms “Come on! Get me if you can!” and retreated back into the alleyway, when he rushed towards her, foam and spittle in the corner of his mouth. She dodged his first attack, blocking the backhand swing with the butt of her autogun and kicking him in his groin – unfortunately without the amount of response she had hoped for - before retreating some more steps into the alley. In the main street behind him she could hear the remains of the barricade bursting under the impact of the Chimera ramming it to pieces to support its allies and being greeted by a hail of stubber rounds ricocheting of its armor plates before the collaps of a building somewhere to their west drowned out all other noises for some moments again. Meanwhile her adversery advanced after her, bloodlust in his crazy, wide open eyes but unfortunately adept at handling his two handed blade even in this relative confined space. Checking one last of his crushing blows, her trusty autogun broke in two, leaving her no other chance than to try and roll away in a desperate act of evasion. She came up in a hunched position, her long knife pulled out – not quite a fair match for the heavy blade. In that very moment the characteristic hissing of two missiles from the main alley was followed by an explosion mixed with the screaming sound of a large metal box rupturing like a safe in an uphive heist. The shockwave echoing through their narrow battlefield was deafening and pushed her attacker off balance for a moment, just enough for the teeth of his chainblade to bite into some crumbling rusty corrugated metal sheet and jam to a halt. Before he could even try to pull it out Eola was on him, forcing her own blade through his throat into his skull. To her horror he turned around, starring into her eyes with a look long devoid of any trace of sanity. Letting go of the Chainblades handle his hands closed around her throat, careless of his deadly wound. The next moment she could see his body shudder under an impact and be pushed away by a long bamboo spear hitting him in the chest. Laying on his back, trying to pull it out, he seemed more annoyed than aware of the situation, while his live dwindled away in an expanding puddle of blood.

Sinking to her knees and coughing she turned to see a wrinkly, grey haired old man, with sinewy muscles under his simple working gown and another bamboo spear hefted in his hands. He stared at the dying body looking shaken to the core before turning to her again. Noticing the flour covering his apron and arms, mixing with drops of blood, she remembered having seen him in one of the bakeries before. A face in the crowd, paying his protection money and trying to make a living as best as he could.

Eola rallied herself and got up, inspecting the broken remains of her gun with a bit of frustration before realizing that the sound of fighting seemed to have calm down again. Leaving the old man behind she returned to the main alley, where the enemies advance had been broken with the bulk of them retreating under fire where they came from, a hand full of survivors pinned behind broken remains of the barricade and about to take their last stand. Nonetheless a bunch of her gang brothers already shot their guns in the air celebrating their victory, the wreckage of the chimera crackling and burning in the background surrounded by the corpses of the would be attackers. Normally she would have joined in but this time… something felt wrong. She just couldn’t really put her finger on it. Turning around from the noise of gunfire she looked back into the narrow alleyway she had just come from and saw the old man looking to the sky with an impression of puzzlement. The next moment his eyes widened and he gestured something towards her that she did not understand before turning around and apparently running for shelter. Expectant she looked around, puzzled what the old geezer had seen, that made him loose his cool. It was almost too late to dive for cover when she realized the high pitched whistling of the approaching Earthshaker shells…

M’Baka – the baker

With a plucky jump, M’Baka threw himself down the steps leading to the basement of the brewery he had reached just in time. It was chiseled directly into the hard rock the building was standing on, meaning that it came as close to a good hideout as it came but also that he banged his back pretty badly in the process. Groaning he was just about to curse this stupid idea, when the first shell dropped and send a shockwave through the alley that pressed even in his little sanctuary. The next seconds the world around him turned into an apocalyptic storm of explosions, collapsing buildings and clouds of debris being thrown around. M’Baka cowered in his corner, covering his ears in vain against the raging destruction and trying to protect himself against the bricks, planks and shards of glass raining down on him from the shaking brewery.

He could not have said how long the bombardment had lasted, as what most likely had been minutes at best had felt like an eternity. Crawling out from the debris covering him he stood for a moment in eerie silence, all sounds muffled by thick clouds of ochre dust hanging heavy in the air blocking out the sun. Barely able to see more than 10 meters he started to stumble through the twilight trying to orient himself, but most of the huts and buildings had been flattened to heaps of rubble. Suddenly M’Baka became aware of a hushed groaning to his left as the whistling in his ears started to fade. Clueless what else to do he headed for the sound and soon found an arm sticking out under a heap of bricks, futile trying to wriggle its buried owner free. “I’m coming!” the old baker announced, as he pulled at the heavy rock on top of the heap, lifting it up on his shoulder, as he had countless of sacks of flour in his life. The face of the man under it was covered in dust looking like a ghost – M’Baka most likely looking the same – coughing and breazing heavily as he looked up at his savior, the seven pointed star on his forehead still visible. M’Baka hesitated only for a moment, before he lifted the boulder up above his head again and smashed it down on the heretic symbol with all his strength. The next moment he bent down and threw up heartily. When he felt a little better he raise up again, his legs still shaking. All his life he had never even fought in a bar brawl and now he had killed… twice. And what was even more upsetting was his realization that what they said was true: it was easier the second time…

A trickle of debris behind him made him turn around, only to see another survivor, her leg trapped under a collapsed wall together with the smashed remains of a fellow that did not have that much luck. Just when he was about to take up the bolder again he recognized her, it was the young woman that had fought in the alleyway with him. “Wait I’ll help you!” he said, stumbling over but trying to pull her out he achieved little more than a scream of pain “If that’s how you help, stop helping me you Frakhead! Get a lever or something!” Looking around he soon found a long iron bar that stood up to the task and managed to free the ganger. Her left foot was shattered and twisted, so he pulled her up to support her on his shoulder. As she got her first good look at him, she gave a rattling, pained laugh “You? What are you, my personal guardian angel? Hell of a job you are doing here.” M’Baka looked at her, lost for words, a long learned fear of getting cross with the gangs rooted deep in his bones. “Never mind. I’m Eola. What’s your name?” “M’Baka. I…” before he could say more, they were interrupted by a series of loud whistles, seemingly coming from all along a long line to their left. “What’s that?” he asked and with a grim look on her face the ganger answered “They are coming. And this time they are regulars.” Her words were underlined by the sound of countless footsteps in marching order underlined with the roaring of hundreds of engines being fired up.

Zantana - The Priestess

Yet another wave of dust clouds filled the plaza in front of the Skyfathers holy temple as the last remaining factorium bordering it gave in to the damage done by the shelling, collapsing like a dying behemoth succumbing to its wounds. The rumbling of falling bricks and screaming of metal beams bending and breaking like twigs drowned out the sounds of battle for a moment, but soon the crack of Lasgun fire and deep rumble of explosions returned. Seeing some more stragglers limping through the debris running from the traitors homing in on the house of him on earth, Zantana rallied a score of the remaining defenders to give them cover fire while she and a hand full of brave souls ran to meet them and bring them in.

The temple was more or less the last real building standing for half a mile around. Every shard of glass had been shattered and most of the roof had collapsed but the massive, meter thick rockcrete walls and pillars stood defiant of those that wanted to desecrate this world. What little was left of the PDF and militia had rallied here, to join her in protecting the holy ground, yet Zatana was well aware that most of them had come because they had nowhere else to hide, the noose of the attackers finally closing around this isle of loyalists and beginning to tighten by the minute. She had barely reached the all-over tattooed woman leaning heavily on the short, heavy set man making their way towards her, when the bullets started flying again. One of her companions went down in a spray of blood, a cry of agony on his lips, before the shooter was silenced by the snipers in the temples large belltower, driving the other assailants into cover. At least it bought enough time to bring everyone back into the safety provided by the sacred halls and the makeshift barricade made from the detritus that had fallen from above. Zantana was the last to jump to safety, hitting the ground beside the old paecekeeper leading the desperate defenders. He cracked of some shots with his bolt pistol – judging by his grudgingly satisfied look hitting someone who deserved it. He still looked like a ghost, pale from the shock and trauma, yet the lasbolts that had taken his left arm off had at least cauterized the wound and kept him from bleeding out. “Get those two a weapon!” he shouted to the children hurrying around with buckets of laspacks and ammo, nudging his head towards the two newcomers. A woman in a blood soaked PDF uniform came running from the northern portal reporting “That’s it. Cordon’s closed, they have us surrounded. Twenty men are down at north portal and the Eastern portal is still under artillery fire. And there is heavy fighting in the catacombs.” She tried to keep her voice down, yet still enough heard what was meant only for the Peacekeepers and her own ears. Then again, it didn’t really matter anymore, they all had eyes to see.

Zantana looked around her and had to admit that for every look of grim resolve she found two wavering on the brink of desperation. So she straightened herself again, unsheathed her chainsword and raised it high intonating the choral of Saint Sabat with all the might and conviction she could muster. It was just this moment that the heretics pushed the assault, the first two men over the barricade falling under the whining slashes of her blade. Inspired by her example, the fierce spirit of the Skyfather rose again in her companions, and the tattered remains of Ninshasas Defenders raised up one last time to make their final stand, lots of them falling in with the holy choral Zantana was still singing like a battlecry. It would be a slaughter, but they would not go down cowering in fear. They would stand their ground as long as they could, just like their ancestors against the evil witches of old - a thought that filled her with pride.
As Zantana jumped down the barricade with her comrades, they found themselves faced not only by swarms of screaming charging heretics, but also starring down the barrel of a battle tank, turning through the boulders of debris onto the plaza surrounding the temple. Just as the multibarreled gatling on the tank was about to spin into motion it disappeared in a hail of impacts from above, going out in a spectacular explosion. The pressure wave almost took her from her feet – just like the lunatic jumping out on her left with a rusty axe – but she found her footing quicker, taking of his head on a desperate backswing. Her ears rang from the explosion but still she could hear the roaring of impacts hammering the ground all around her. Puzzled what was going on, they witnessed the swat of heretics being turned into red mist and dust clouds around them as streams of fire and bolts of light rained down around them.

As they raised their eyes to the sky, tears filled Zantana eyes as she realized that him on earth had graced Thoth by hearing their prayers and sending their deliverance, just as he had done centuries ago…

Lieutenant Maurus – the navy officer

Second Lieutenant Maurus stood at the bridge of the Urothrian navy gunboat. It was one of the smaller vessels of the Urothrian navy detachment assigned to the 2nd Legion. But it was what he’d always wanted to captain. Ever since he’d seen a squadron of them coming low, cutting through the greasy clouds that encased the Sueiba hives on Urothria. The memory made his skin tingle and the skin on the back of his skull throb. He was captain of the Dimachaerus a fine vessel as any, and these past months it made his heart sick with pride.


There had been more than a few hairy scrapes since practically the entire sector had rebelled almost overnight and Dimachaerus had never let them down. She was battered and beaten but never in dock with the mother-ship for more than a day. She’d entered atmosphere and escorted the landers pulling Commonwealth troops off half a dozen planets and a handful of installations in the past week. She’d engaged and destroyed three enemy craft twice her class from the concealment of asteroid fields or debris.


He checked the watch his wife had given him. Lucky he had it. He slipped on his old coat, the one where the navy green was faded, where it was lightly scorched and even boasted light battle damage from a boarding action by pirates all those years ago. He ran his hand over his hair and replaced his cap upon his head then ran a finger over the face of his watch the way one might tenderly over their lover's cheek. This time it didn’t even warrant a glance from the crew. Everyone was doing their personal last minute good-luck rituals.

“All crews battle order.” He called.

“Vulcan is ready sir.” it was called up from down the centerline of the craft. Dimachaerus had already proven she could punch well above her draught.

“Auxiliary weapons ready sir.” 2nd Officer Hodji said. That meant the two automatic 6 inchers and the two punishers in their turrets.

“Void shields at full.”

On the command holofield he could see the battlecruisers Valiant and Adamant approach from reserve towards the enemy eager to bring vengeance to the traitors. The ships were fast, faster and harder hitting than anything the heretics had. Their sudden and violent turn of speed had caught the enemy unaware and they were scrambling to do something.


He rubbed at the stubs of hairs on his top lip. Hadn’t had access to a good razor in too long. Much like the combat situation his morning ritual had been reduced what one could consider a few hairy scrapes. The result was a perpetual itch. In truth the supply situation was direr than just dull razors. He didn’t want to think about how long rationing could go on. He’d not heard good things back at the hanger. This rock had loyalists, so perhaps their prayers had been answered and that was why they were doing this.



“Missile pods primed sir.” They’d been able to scrounge up the full complement this time. Nothing made Maurus happier than having the full complement and being underway. He saw the battlecruisers reach combat distances and the first few charged lance sots streak out across space. He’d liked to have seen the results of the strikes, he’d loved to have watched the battlecruisers and their escorts charge in and brush aside the weakened platform and the flotilla of auxiliary craft. That’s what they called an ore hauler or passenger ship when you put guns on it and took it to battle, an auxiliary. The command line opened up. And two words committed his crew to action.


Their mission was a city area in the planet’s polar ocean region. “Punching into atmosphere.” He said by way of acknowledgment then took the tiller. He slid Dimachaerus from her concealed position in the debris field and fifty small ships and the larger Centaur did the same. Centaur was a ship not designed for atmosphere, she was designed to act as an orbital logistical base or as now an aircraft carrier.

“All crews be advised this is Centaur, deploying rocket sleds now.”

The maneuver was meticulously drilled at the Naval academy. Maurus was careful to keep Dimachaerus on course as not to crush any of the tiny and fragile aircraft with her heavily armored and void-shielded bulk. Through a small optical aperture, he could see them formed up in Vs, the discardable rocket sleds harnessed to them burning bright in the void.

“This is Centaur to all crews. Disengaging and returning to fleet.” Maurus thought the pilot had signed off but the commlink came alive a moment later, “Give them hell.”
He had to smile at that, everyone did. This rock had loyalists and that was a damn good change. Their target wad directly below the now distracted enemy fleet. The holofield ahead of him displayed what the tiny and heavily reinforced direct optics could not and he adjusted accordingly. The ships came down in a great swoop, monitors and missileboats above and in front of the gunboats to carry out the first pass of bombardment, landing ships in behind.

“Enemy atmospheric craft moving to engage.” Came the voice of one of his officers.

“Airwings are moving into position to protect the transports.” The aircraft accompanying them would engage the enemy only after they were above the mission area and had jettisoned their rocket sleds. But they’d lay down much more gunfire should anything get in their way.

The monitors and gunboats would put up a wall of fire and flak to greet the enemy. But the mission was too important to chase the smaller and more agile craft.

Their escort consisted of M21 Bazas and A42 Comets. There was even a contingent of B432 Aurelians kitted out to fight as super heavy fighters, they were fast enough when you did away with the bomb load.

“All auxiliary weapons free.” He could see streams of liquid fire rushing out to meet the bursts of flak shells ahead of him and he tried to imagine being out there in a flimsy little airframe.

Dimachaerus had three thirty milimetre rotary cannons and a pair of six inchers. You’d not want to approach her from her firing arcs.

“Shields being struck. Holding.” They lowered their altitude coming in over the sea.

“Sir. The platform is entering atmosphere.” Said ensign Victoria. He was always shocked by her youth, fresh out of academy and thrust into this. But she’d put her head down like the rest of them. He looked through the aperture. Fire was raining from the sky. Millions of tiny meteors of ruin trailing down from the heavens filling the sky with fire and smoke. He found himself hoping it’d not fall on allied positions. Dimachaerus screamed closer to the coast and they could see columns of smoke and individual flashes of explosions. Suddenly they were above land and were slowing to make their pass onto the objective. Out of the aperture he saw the flight of Bazas dropping sleds and peeling off.

“Requesting permission to engage ground targets sir.”

“If you can identify them.” He replied. He turned the tiller towards the part of the city that the holofield identified as the landing zone. The map indicated that he was to hold position above a temple. He could see battle raging across the greater region on the holofield. Pockets of resistance still held to the west and south and were indicated with markers. The flash to his left caught his eye even through the void tinted aperture. A brilliant flash that carried over the horizon. One of the pockets disappeared and he watched it expand on the holofield like a ripple on a pond. Signatures disappeared in the vicinity rapidly, it could only mean one thing.

“A vraking nuclear strike?” Someone breathed.

No, someone did the last thing they could. He could see on one of the ships screens camera feed from punisher cannon two. Enemy trucks strung and trying to scatter on the main highway, being engaged by a troop of light tanks at close quarters. Gun two locked onto some enemy tanks that were moving to engage the allied vehicles and rattled off a few bursts of fire. Against the top armour of the vehicles the AP rounds would be devastating. One of the six inchers leant it’s firepower.

Two minutes later and gun two spotted what had been a running battle between allied remnants and a strong enemy force. It had been a losing battle to the loyalists. Gun two spooled up and sent a short hosing burst of liquid fire to the enemy.

Then they were over the rainforest, and almost suddenly the falling debris was ahead and above them, it loomed ahead and above them, smoke and fire in what seemed to be a continuous rain from the heavens.

“We’re going to enter that.” Ensign Victoria breathed.

We’re going to enter that.

“This is Zero actual. All aircraft decelerate and drop rocket sleds.” The leader of the operation’s voice came over the coms. “All voidcraft to your allotted landing zones.” The aircraft dropped back, to ditch a rocket sled at full speed was suicidal, they’d generally have to throttle back to almost a stall.

Dimacharus was assigned to ‘landing zone Quail’ in the favela district, which had been largely levelled by artillery fire and didn’t seem to have any buildings sturdy enough to resist a lander. Well aside from the temple. The artillery fire had stopped. A squadron of monitors was making a pass over the landing zone, their heavy guns pounded the enemy troops into the surface of the planet. He took Dimacharus in for her final approach. Both punishers were lighting up ground targets. He pointed her outwards and above his part of the district. He saw gunfire from the small and damaged temple. The punishers lay down a curtain of tracers that looked like molten gold flowing down to the enemy in streams.

“Sir we’ve got incoming Vendettas.” There came a volley of las-cannon fire that struck Dimacharus.

“Void shields holding”

He couldn’t shift from formation, if they got to the lander they could damage it. He wheeled her so that punisher one was on target but the pilot put his craft into an evasive maneuver. Dimacharus was much zippier in the void, as designed for atmosphere warfare that she was there was always a tradeoff.

Another volley struck them.

“Gun two is damaged. Bow shields are down, taking ground fire from anti-tank missile launchers.” For a moment he could feel it. The first Vendetta firing a volley, Dimacharus being pinned in place. Sometimes in an attack you lose a ship, it just happens, part of the job.

Punisher one was straining to get the first vendetta on target whilst punisher one was struck by ground fire and its housing damaged. It was like the bite of an ant and yet...

The Vendetta came around and he locked eyes on it through a direct vision port. It paused in the air a moment. He could see the energy building in its cannon batteries. The moment seemed to stretch out into forever.

Vrak it’s aiming for the bridge. This is a veteran pilot.

An instant later the Valykrie Vendetta was shredded. A heavy volley of automatic cannon fire instantly rendered the flyer into scrap metal. Despite this he had not forgotten the other enemy gunship, he turned his attention to it knowing he’d have maybe a second to deal with it before it could fire again. The last remaining six incher was jammed, a feeding issue which had been common enough with the shells they had been forced to use of late. He hauled the ship around to point the last remaining punisher. But a moment later the second Vendetta was struck this time by an air to air missile.

A shark mouthed B432 Aurelian barrel rolled past showing three pairs of smoking auto cannon barrels in a pod where the bomb bay was and sought more victims. Maurus took a deep breath in and let the feeling of pins and needles in his spine and the back of his head subside.

“Stoppage cleared. Gun operational.”

“Punisher one operational.” Called Demetrius, his wonder mechanic.

“Void shields at 100% on bow arc.”

“This is Odessa landing at Quail successful.”


Captain Brown – the army officer


Captain Brown led her troops from the hold of giant landing craft named the Odessa. The world was filled with the roaring of the carrier’s engines and swirling clouds of dust and smoke. She could hear the booming of the gunboat’s cannons up above like lightning in a bank of clouds. An entire battalion of the Klomn 252nd Line Regiment was landing.

Troops and light vehicles spread out to form a perimeter around the landing area. But her company’s objective was beyond ring of guns somewhere in the choking clouds of dust and smoke. And it was too vital to wait for the maelstrom to clear.

Not for the first time in a week, and probably not the last. She bit her lip, she hoped it was the last time, that this nightmare would be over and they’d realise they promoted the wrong person.

She hadn’t felt ready a month ago when they’d given her a platoon readying to go into action against the xenos on the sector’s fringe.

Then the war had come to them. It was like a riot first, and then, well it was the entire planet. And they’d gotten off that rock only by a miracle. But the legion was deployed across several systems, and it was hours before the Klomn 252nd Line Regiment was being deployed to secure the evacuation of the legion. And that was what it had become. Flight, from one sector to the next, landing and evacuating the remnants of the legion, hitting the supply hub a Druanis IV, just so the legion would not starve. That was where the body of her predecessor had been left. For every evacuation and for every raid there were bodies left behind. Even so her soldiers were keen as ever to fight.

She pushed towards the imperial shrine and gestured to her soldiers to follow. It looked like they’d landed in a scrapyard, the world was covered in half collapsed buildings of timber and iron. It had once been a shanty town but the concussion of heavy artillery had collapsed most of the buildings. It was like a kick in the stomach, there was meant to be allied troops operating in the area. Nothing moved in the scene of ruin. First second and third platoon were fanning out to in her sector leading with 2nd. Every inch of the ground was covered with debris.

The swirling clouds enveloped them completely; the company moved forwards for what felt like hours but could only have been a few minutes. They passed a body and then another. It felt like the world was holding its breathe in, it felt like any moment the world would explode in gunfire and muzzle flashes. The dust was greasy on her sweaty hands and face, the gripped the service rifle a bit tighter.

“We on point Captain?” Came master sergeant Rhys’s voice behind her. It was as ever a well-timed prompt. She paused and took a heading on the digital map, it was the only way they’d find the chapel in this.

There was a noise above the sound of the Odessa’s engines. She realized with horror that it was getting louder. Something big was pounding towards them. She could hear it clattering on the corrugated metal and drumming on the mud. Captain Brown pressed her fingers into the fore grip of the KSR83. Whatever it was it sounded like it was heading straight for her. The pounding of feet grew louder till it sounded like it was on top of her, it sounded like surely any moment something would erupt from the swirling dust and smoke.

Something struck her. The sheer familiarity of the pounding rhythm, in that moment she could almost imagine the creaking of leather harness.

The first thing she could see of it in the dust as that the horse was rider less. She leapt to the right and it thundered by at full gallop. She caught a flash of eyes wild with fear and foam at its mouth and flanks before it was gone again.

Captain Brown closed her eyes,took a deep breathe and cleaned the dust from her face and goggles.

“Sir, sir we have a live one!” A trooper called to her left.

She rushed over to the trooper as the corporal of his section did. He was lifting a heavy sheet of metal that had collapsed over the foxhole the wounded soldier had been in. Another Trooper dragged him out of the hole by his armpits. The man was covered in blood from a hundred small cuts and nicks, his legs were shredded with what seemed like shrapnel wounds, and were damp with blood. It looked like they’d reached him just in time. It wasn’t even a consideration. The legion had survived because no matter what you did not leave people behind.

“Medic!” Captain Brown screamed.

“Medi…” The word died on her tongue as she saw the tattoos on the man’s face; seeing the mark up close on his flesh was a perversion of the purity of terra and the emperor’s light, it was like a physical force had struck her. There came a gunshot next to her, she felt the blast up behind her eyes, the man’s head exploded and she caught the whiff of powder wafting up from the corporal’s rifle.

She looked down to see a grenade next to her foot. She gave it a soft kick, enough to send it skittling into the foxhole. Someone’s arm caught her around the waist, and she felt the ground rushing sideways to meet her. The impact knocked the wind out of her lungs and her helmet slammed into something hard. The grenade exploded and she felt it through the ground.

The corporal got off her and she climbed to her feet. She’d taken heavier tackles. The only difference was this time it wasn’t on the sports field and she hadn’t been holding the ball.

Master Sergeant Rhys walked over to her, he seemed completely at home. “Captain?” He sounded at least a little concerned. The tough NCO had somehow remained a model of calm pragmatism and discipline throughout the ordeal and his example had helped her as much as it helped the troopers. It was a curt reminder that she’d arrived with the legion only a month ago, Rhys had been in the Legion for years.

She checked the nav-point again and they pressed towards the imperial shrine. It was her company’s honour to secure the hallowed site.

“Medic! We’ve got a live imperial here.” A trooper called out. Their voice strange in the dust and smoke.

Outside of her com set she could hear nothing but the dulled rumbling of the guns above them and the blasts of the shells that were landing further and further away.

A burst of las-fire snapped out from ahead. Everyone dropped to the ground. She could feel a stinging sensation on the outside of her leg like someone had touched it hot iron.

She pulled herself to her feet. She somehow felt calmer than she’d been before. There was no room for fear, instead there was a cold rage, that like the legion the last weeks had bitten at her and that this time they were not at circumstance’s mercy, this time they’d take not one step backwards.

A figure came sprinting straight towards her with some kind of hatchet. Screaming, stripped to the waist and covered in tattoos of the mark. He looked absurd, like a caricature of a chaos warrior.

She put a round into the traitor and another as she stepped to the side. The hatchet came towards her but she parried with the receiver of the KSR83. She countered with a strike with the butt stock to the opponent’s chin. Even as they went backwards, she saw the hatchet coming around again to strike, in a figure of eight motion.

Captain Brown raised the rifle and caught the head of the axe near the arc of the swing so she kept it pinned above the adversaries’ head, so they were unable to retrieve it.
She could not kick, she’d end up arse-up in the mud in an instant with the axe wielding traitor raining blows on her.

The traitor glared at her. They lashed out with their other fist. It struck her in the face. She felt the blow deep in her skull, she felt her head snap back and she felt a brief weakening before something in her body held on.

She felt the next blow coming, fast and hard on the tail of the first, she knew it must come. Captain Brown lowered her head and felt the impact on the helmet. Strong enough to break bones, a small victory but it was a matter of time at this point; the traitor was still stronger.

She felt the opponent’s strength weaken suddenly. She looked up to get spattered with hot wet stuff. The traitors neck was snapped to the side, cracked bone showing where the entrenching tool had cut into the skull.

Master Sergeant Rhys turned and attacked another oncoming traitor with the other edge of the spade. Captain Brown stepped back and wiped the blood and brains from her face.

More gunshots rang out nearby. She ducked low and checked over the rifle, the receiver looked damaged from the hatchet strike but when she pulled the charging lever and a live round flew out and the next fed flawlessly.

She heard the chatter of automatic gunfire in the distance around her. Another figure was running from the dust, they caught a burst of gunfire but didn’t stop, she raised her rifle and fired into the traitor’s legs, a shin bone shattered and they crashed to the ground.

Somehow she heard footsteps coming from behind, she swivelled on her heel, the man was carrying a hefty machete, and had an aquila pendant around his neck.

For some reason. He raised his hands.

“Praise Aquila.”

A bullet snapped out of the smoke and struck the civilian through the collar. She could see the bone protruding and blood welling from the wound. She ran over to the injured man to give him aid but more shapes were darting in and out of the smoke and clouds.

She felt someone tugging at her pistol holster as she shot at a figure that was attempting to rush them. She could feel the blasts of the pistol beside her and the bursts from the master sergeant’s rifle.

One of her soldiers moved towards them, a round came out and hit him in the throat and he went down.

More figures rushed from the smoke. She put a burst into one and he dropped. The injured militiaman handed her the machete, another figure erupted was charging towards her, bayonet
raised. She felt absurd calm come over her, suddenly she was in uncle’s fencing class back in Sebam.

She advanced at the charging man and at the last moment took a half step to the right, she battered the bayonet away with the strong of the blade and with a simple turn of the hand brought it down in a slash to the back of the opponent’s neck. The machete was both heavy and sharp and it dug deep.

Someone fired a burst from a machine pistol at her but nothing struck and after a few rounds the weapon seized. She turned towards them. The traitor dropped the gun and went for a knife, but she was too close, she lunged and put a solid swing in, felt the power almost come up from the ground as seemingly every inch of her being twisted to put power in that strike.

The traitor’s arm came off below the elbow and beneath his chest plate his unarmored stomach was slit open. She twisted her arm and cut at his neck cutting through a few fingers that the opponent had put in the way. She turned to see one of her troopers clubbing someone with a chunk of rubble whilst the wounded militiaman aided him with what looked like a rock in a sock.

Captain Brown pushed the tip of the machete into the mud. She emptied the spent magazine from her rifle and grabbed a fresh one, but then dropped it quickly because someone was trying to kill her again. She parried a sabre cut with the receiver of the rifle. Bent at the knees and closed her hand around the handle of the machete.

She saw the next swing coming towards her neck, lowered her head and caught it on the helmet. Felt the blade switch and a drawing cut across the back of her neck but the gap was narrow between her helmet and shoulder plate. The sabre was sharp and she felt it like a hot razor on the back of her neck.

The traitor was readying for another strike when he turned and caught a dagger wielding militia man with a strike and a thrust she barely even saw. He turned back towards her. The traitor was good, he had the reach and speed and she regretted not having a proper sword, not having proper hand protection. She readied the rifle as an improvised shield.

The traitor officer was ripped apart in a hail of heavy gunfire. She turned to see specialist Tarrence crouched, firing his machinegun like a rifle. He swivelled on the spot putting a short burst into another two figures.

Another soldier was nearby laying down heavy fire with a light machinegun. The enemy were letting up. She ran over to the downed trooper. Captain Brown turned the body over. It was the corporal that had tackled her quite clear they were too late.

She put a new magazine into the rifle and made sure it was feeding correctly.



They pressed forwards and found what looked like a trench. She dropped into it then crouched and checked the nav-point. They were within a hundred meters of the chapel but they might as well have been on another planet.

“How far to go Captain?” Master Sergeant Rhys asked.

“It’s just over that way. We’ll be on the grounds s...” The world was filled with noise.

The roar of the Odessa’s engines droned out everything. The world became a swiring mess, she pushed herself against the edge of the trench, pushed her elbow over her face as the dust tore at it. She heard the Odessa accelerate, and came a strong breeze that ripped the dust and smoke from the air.

She stood up and wiped her goggles clean.

In the trench there was eight other soldiers. None of them were imperials. Behind them was what looked like an abandoned chimera.

Someone raised their weapon at her and pulled the trigger. Stoppage.

Captain Brown threw herself behind a jag in the trench. The trench was particularly well crafted, shored up with corrugated metal, zig zagged and with plentiful supply of grenade sumps and ammunition stowage points. Someone who knew their craft had overseen the construction.

Tarrence opened up. He shredded the first three of them. Someone got to cover.

A grenade landed nearby and she kicked it into a grenade sump. She heard the sharp cracking of a heavy multi-laser and the dull thud thud thudding of a heavy bolter. She could feel the concussion of the rounds exploding nearby.

She peeked out. The chimera was very much in action and the enemy troops were using its covering fire to press towards her. She fired a burst out and caught two. Someone threw another grenade and she managed to scoop it into the sump again.
There was a loud thud and the ground shook again.

It was too close for bayonets. Captain Brown pulled unclipped it from the rifle and held it reverse grip then got back to her feet.
Someone came around the corner. She lunged and the blade went up under their chin.

Tarrence rolled and fell into the trench next to her, she grabbed him to drag him into the cover of the trench. More rounds snapped towards them, enemy troops were flooding over the high ground towards them and the chimera had turned it’s multilaser to them.

A stream of fire came own from the heavens and cut through the vehicle from rear to front. A moment later a shell landed behind it and then another and another. A line of commonwealth soldiers dropped into the trench and started pressing forwards.

For the first time since landing she could see her platoons, each one readying a small aquila flag for the approach on friendly lines.

She could see the planet’s sun and feel the warmth of her skin and the earth soft under her boots. Trails of debris rained down like meteorites and las bolts streaked out from the upper levels of the temple as the defenders lent their fire against the retreating traitors.

“Captain.” The Master Sergeant helped her to her feet again, this time with a relieved smile.

“Sergeant.” She returned the grin.

She felt joy, joy for the sun on her face, and the mud under her boots, joy for the enemy ships burning up on entry into the atmosphere above them and joy for that their flight had stopped. That finally the legion would take not one step back.

There came calls and shouts from the temple and she felt her eyes misting over to hear the friendliness and joy in the voices.



2nd Thoth Askaris and Forgeworld Bagwa (page 7) @ 2021/04/24 09:36:13


Post by: Pyroalchi


Finally got around to finish a whole bunch of my stuff:
First of: bunkers:

these ones I build from 3D printed turret emplacements intended for Leman Russ turrets, printed at about 80% size to put the (also printed) Gryphonne pattern Chimera turrets on top. I purposely got the bunker bodies printed with not that good of a resolution to get a rough, hastily produced look.

Baneblade Bunker "Asya"

Something I always wanted to do. Baneblade turret from a bitsshop, tank commander from a FW Malcador. The bunker-body is made from foamboard. "Asya" is an African name meaning something like "Born in a time of grief", because the bunker was build from a wrack after a battle that went badly for the imperials. I'm currently waiting for a white enamel pencil to write the name somewhere.
Together I could see all three bunkers as Fortification complex. Pointswise they should be in the ballpark of a Baneblade without sponsons. The only difference would be a second twin heavy bolter instead of the Demolisher canon.


Next some tank kitbashes:
Light tank "Chensira"

This was based on an idea I found on thingiverse. A Gryphonne Chimera turret on the hull of an M8 Scott. Really cute little thingy and a nice Sentinel proxy. Fluff wise I imagine the Askaris got their hands on a couple of Chimera turret spare parts. And as they desperatly need tanks, they put the spare turrets on some local tracked chassis to make them usable until a real Chimera hull "gets free".
Chensira is an African name roughly meaning "born during traveling"

Pegasus Scout tank "Nahisisa"

The Centaur/Pegasus kitbashing project I mentioned in another threat. Inspired by an old white dwarf article. Consisting of a combination of Leman Russ/Chimera hull, a 3D printed Gryphonne pattern Chimera turret and lots of little accessories. Nahisisa is an african name meaning something like "Child of the shadows", as it is a scout. I really like the look with all the little equipments. Really looks like something scouting on its own.


Last but not least: Inquisitor Lady Natasha:

An Inquisitor put together from parts of an Anvil Industry rejected bits bag. I'm not yet sure with the color of the roses on her forcestaff and the feather at her hat (I tried them in red, violett, orange/yellow, but none of it really looked good). The blueish Aquilla is intended to be a Forcestaff. Also tried a little inquisitorial seal on the base.
I'm still working on her fluff but after a brainstorming in one of the threads on Dakka the rough outline is her being a member of the Ordo Barbarus that was in the region around Thoth having an eye on the various feudal and feral planet in the region, amongst others because the segmentum Pacificus was rather suspiciously peaceful (relativ to other regions of the imperium). I imagine her as not being ungrateful for this rather dull and boring task, her being not the most ambitious career beast in the Inquisition. Than the Night of a thousand rebellions happened and she was one of the few inquisitors right in the thick of the action and rose to the task.
I also consider my "Sister Sabine" that I so far had filed under "SoB Canoness" being another Inquisitor instead (most likely Ordo Maleus as she really looks like a demon hunter). She was send to look what Lady Natasha was doing in this region, her supervisors suspicious of the Ordo Barbarus. When Lady Natashas superiors heard of Lady Sabine arriving they ordered the Barbarus Inquisitor to find out what she was up to, so both women ended up being task to watch each other. After realizing what was going on they have developed something like a friendship, peppered with pointed word duells etc.


2nd Thoth Askaris and Forgeworld Bagwa (page 7) @ 2021/05/07 19:49:43


Post by: Pyroalchi


"... negative eagle 23. The 56th is to depleted and was struck from the army groups rooster by Munitorum decree. You are to hold position and cover the retrat while evacuation commences and then await further orders. Over and out." and with that, the final nail was put into the coffin of the Elysian 56th. Sergeant Johnson felt cold and empty, yet in some strange way... a sense of conclusion? It was hard to say. The first hit had come years ago, when they lost their material support. After it had dwindled for quite some time, the Forgeworlds in the sector had just stopped producing the equipment used by his beloved airborne regiment and if he was really honest to himself the 56th had been dead men walking from then on. Without replacements, every loss shrunk them smaller, they had to pull their damaged Tauris assunder to get the spare parts to keep at least some of them running. The number of their gravchutes had dwindled, but that wasn't even that problematic as there were fewer and fewer to even wear them. This mission as part of army group Long Spear had been the final act. All that was left were him and the three other elysians, crewing a single surviving Tauros Venator and assault vehicle each - and they didn't even have a single functioning gravchute amongst them...
And now the regiment had been struck from the rooster by the munitorum. So for the administration they were killed in action. The fact that corporal Smith, trooper Kyle and Langdon still draw breath was only a minor detail. It hadn't been said through the vox, but Johnson didn't believe there would be a place on the troop ships for them. They would just be left here to the approaching nids and forgotten, either dying in the fires of orbital bombardment or eaten by the bugs.
Looking around he met the eyes of his comrades and saw that they new. To break the awkward silence he opened his personal lockerbox to retrieve what he had saved for exactly this occasion. As he pulled out the bottle of finest Elysian amasec a sergeants pay could buy, the boys smiled and he poured each of them a healthy swig into their canteen cups. "Raise the glasses! For the 56th!" "For Elysia" Smith replied. "For Colonell Porter, captain Powel, Smitty and Jake" Kyle replied "And all the others. We miss you guys. See you soon" Langdon finished. "FROM THE CLOUDS!" they all chorussed their unit motto.
-----------------------------
The Carnifex kept on moving several paces, until his body realized that its head and a chunk of its upper torso had just been vaporized by the Tauros twin lascannons. When collapes it kept on shuddering and twitching for quite some time, until one of the approaching soldiers torched it with a flamer. That seemed to be the last of them. The commander of the approaching column of Guardsmen that Johnson and his men had helped out reiled the strange, two humped animal he used as steed around towards them and saluted, pulling down his shemagh so that they could see his face. It was a dark, sunburned one, but friendly. "Beg Mustafah ben Kemir, 45th Thoth Askari cavalry. My thanks Sergeant. You really safed our behinds there." "It was our pleasure. The emperor protects." answered Johnson returing the gesture of respect. The officer - beg being a major or something as far as he could see and not from Tallarn even if he very much looked like it - turned around to his unit mixed of rough riders and a hand full of scout cars and said something in a heavy, throaty dialect. It obviously meant they were to mount up and keep going towards the evacuation Point, while the command squad of the cavalry officer moved up to him. As he realized that Johnson and the other Elysians did not move to follow Beg Mustafah asked them in clear low gothic "You're not coming?" Johnson shrugg resigned and explained their situation and what he thought about the piles of groxdroppings in the munitorum. It felt relieving to vent a bit and what did it matter now, they could hardly court marshal a sergeant that didn't even exist in their files anymore.

The Beg listened intently "You are good soldiers and good men. It's a shame." He seemed to consider something. "Do you want to die here?" "Hell no, but what choice do we have?" Mustafah nodden, turned to his vox-trooper and took the handle "Call up the command staff... Chamsin 3 to command, over? Status report. Got attacked by Tyranids at 33'24'' to 89'16''. Two Elysian Tauros moved in to support. They fought valiantly but were destroyed, Emperor rest their souls.", Johnson lifted a puzzled eybrow, for a moment concerned regarding the intentions of the major "We continue towards extraction point Gamma with 87 cavalry two trucks and 8 scout cars, over". The vox crackled a bit before the voice of a young man answered "Chiroko 1 to Chamsin 3. Please confirm numbers. You went out with 10 scout cars and reported 4 KIA. I'm no scholar, but that's not 8, is it?" "Things got a bit confusing, we have 8." vox discipline detoriated a even more as the soldier at the other end of the line answered "Awww... come on Mustafah, we already put them on the casualty list. You know what a bi*** the paperwork will be?" "Don't be such a baby Raffah, just note it down as some vox interference or something." "Fine... Just hurry up, the troop ships leave in 6 hours."

Mustaffah had just turned around towards the Elysians as the vox crackled another time and an older female voice with a tone of calm autority came through "Beg ben Kemir, a word please..." The begs facial expression dropped, and he cursed silently, looking as if being caught at some shady buiseness. "Lord Commissar Jacquard, as always a pleasure to hear you. We experience some vox scramble, you are hard to hear...." "Don't give me that crap Mustafah. I just want to remind you of our little talk back on Gorondon Prime. The one about proper unit markings and dress discipline? We have quite some officials present at the extraction side and we wouldn't want them to get a bad impression of us, would we?", Mustaffahs face lighted up "Of course not Ma'am..." he paused a moment "And thank you Ma'am. Really." "Don't mention it, Jacquard out."

As the voxlink was cut, two of the Askari soldiers were already hauling small barrels of paint and a spraygun from the flatbed of one of the trucks, while others came forward with spare shemags and baggy burnouses, beginning to dress up their battle brothers. Beg Mustafah had meanwhile pulled a andfull of dogtags out of his pockets and threw them over to them. "So, if anyone at the extraction side askes, you are Hassan, Jamila, Omar and Ali. Now lets go and leave this rock..."






These are the big and small buggy from Mortian. I took part in the kickstarter and got one of each. Nice models, even if the drivers sold seperatly unfortunatly fit poorly into the driver position. They look really cool though.The red wing markings and the (for my regiment) unusual stenciled numbers are meant as a reference to the elysian pilots former regiment. Some time after the events from the piece of fluff they were safe enough to get back in their old clothes. As you can see in the size comparison to the Forgeworld Tauros, they are much beefier than these. For the paint scheme I tested out some airbrush putty from Greenstuff world. Also really useful stuff, I can recommend.


2nd Thoth Askaris and Forgeworld Bagwa (page 7) @ 2021/05/08 21:27:13


Post by: OldMate


Those mortian buggies are nice. I love the paint schemes, they both look really cool, a neat addition to your forces.


2nd Thoth Askaris and Forgeworld Bagwa (page 7) @ 2021/05/08 21:30:09


Post by: Pyroalchi


Thanks Oldmate. On a more fluffy point: I really wonder if the heavy flamer weapon option on the smaller buggy (and the old Tauros Assault vehicle) makes sense. It is a flame weapon directly over the driver in its open cockpit. I never saw a flamer live, but wouldn't fuel drop down from time to time? And even worse: sometimes still burning?
I know ruleswise the flamer is pretty good, but I guess my dudes will keep to the Grenade launcher.


2nd Thoth Askaris and Forgeworld Bagwa (page 7) @ 2021/05/09 11:22:42


Post by: OldMate


Yeah I think you might want a particularly long barreled flame thrower.
Spoiler:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aPQYK5ZMbWY 18:38 onwards. It dribbles fuel and fire so I think that is pretty worrying XD


2nd Thoth Askaris and Forgeworld Bagwa (page 7) @ 2021/05/10 13:44:30


Post by: Pyroalchi


Another note regarding the paint schemes of the Tauris: the intense blue on the "tubes" beside the cockpit, on top of the Twin Lascannon, on some parts of the larger buggies flatbad and at the armor plates of the drivers are intend to give both vehicles a kind of distinct link to each other, while separating them a bit from the rest of my desert colored vehicles. Of Course it's not really sensible for camouflage, but it works well with their fluff of being originally Elysians that got picked up. When mixed with my other vehicles one immediatly sees that the two of them belong together and are somewhat Special from the rest.

And as for modelling: While it seems the Twin (Multi)laser parts are meant as push fit, at least mine hat some slight miscast that made this difficult. An easy fix is to drill a whole in the mounting and the twin weapon, glue a strong wire (I used a cut wirespear from some Macedonian Sarissas) into one of them and use it as pin. The mounting is really thick, so one can easily drill 1-1.5 cms deep and get a real stable mounting.

For the smaller Buggy I would recommend either a lot of dryfitting or glueing the arms of the gunner last, after everything is put together. I had some problems because I did not dryfit enough and then had the arms a bit to high, so that the guns were pointing downwards. Therefore I had to modyfy the mounting a bit.


2nd Thoth Askaris and Forgeworld Bagwa (page 7) @ 2021/05/17 13:32:56


Post by: Pyroalchi


Next off: a Wolverine tank from Archons modular Terrain Kickstarter:
Fluff: Like the Jackal Scout tank, the honeybadger is another of Thoths domestically developed vehicle types. It is based on the badger infantry carrier that more or less went obsolete after the reestablishment of contact to the Imperium and the following switch to Chimeras for mass production as those are easier to manufacture and supply offworld. While the badger lacked the lasgun arrays and hull weapon for self defense, it did provide a larger and sturdier hull and a significantly wider turret ring, able to support a heavier turret. In an attempt to put the spare chassis to use, the Forges of Bagwa developed the honeybadger by putting an experimental high velocity anti tank gun into a rather massive turret - a feat that could only be achieved by mounting the gun in a side position. The idea behind the type was to provide the infantry with a long range anti tank option, specifically as Thoths Regiment has so far been unsuccessful in applying for one of the ever rarer Leman Russ Vanquisher. The result, munitorum referenced as Chimedon, Bagwa Pattern, is kind of a mixed bag. While the gun does indeed provide relatively heavy firepower for a troop transport, using it as an ambush tank hunter is kind of counterintuitive, while its armor is not sufficient to be used in an assault. The lack of self defense weaponry also reduces the combat use somewhat. The Honeybadger will therefore like be phased out, with no new items being produced.


Interesting and very detailed model. I liked how much little equipment stuff it has and also that the intererior is quite detailed, even if one doesn't see it. Even in the drivers compartment are quite some details. The driver even has a small escape hatch on the floor. But the model does not come with driverseats which is kind of strange when they took the time to put so much other stuff in there. Note that it has "only" ten seats in the transport compartment, no hull weapon and no Lasgun array, so is no real WYSIWYG for a Chimera. In my fluff it is a Chimedon preferably with some kind of "poor mans Vanquisher" as this thing looks like a high velocity gun. They had to remove the other weapons to fit the gun on it. Ruleswise it's likely just a stormchimera without a Hull Bolter.

As you can see the former is significantly bigger, has a much bigger turret and broader tracks.

"The old gang"

I already owned a Carnodon, but as a Christmas gift I helped myself to a Leman Russ Incinerator and a Malcador. All three tanks were in the same vacuum sealed storage facility, dating back to the last days of the Horus Heresy. While the Malcador did see some short combat use, the other ones were practically mothballed right from the production line, as the Forges moved over to Leman Russ and Baneblades. Rediscovered in the 42nd Millenium, the Askaris have been granted these old types in a seldom fit of generosity of the Munitorum. While it might have played a roll that few other regiments were keen on the rather outdated Malcador or the Leman Russ with its unknown - and upon discovery disfunctioning - gun, the Askaris hold all three tanks in highest regard, especially the Malcador that prowled on the battlefields when the Primarchs were still Walking between the mortals. Only the best tank crews are honored to drive such a renown machine and they naturally have the highest priority when it comes to repairs, ammunition or fuel. The Techpriests have noted that this respect seems to indeed calm and please the machine spirits as can be seen by the old types performing significantly better in Thoths regiments than reported from other regiments.


Bagwas Tech priest did not really understand the technical wonders of the Leman Russ energy gun. Yet they were able to rewire it in a way to make it usable, producing a focussed high energy stream, tuned to melt through heavy tank armor at very long range, at the cost of a rather low fire rate to keep the heat dissipation coils from melting.



I really like the Malcador, not only its rustic look, but also its lore as being a really old tank. I got a 3D printed demolisher cannon as possible weapons swap for the hull and have ordered a twin laser to turn it into a Malcador Annihilator if I want. I put two magnets at different positions into the demolisher, so that I can add it either in a raised, or hull down position. The writing on the sides is Pashtu (an Afghan/Pakistan dialect) for "Grandfather", but I don't know how it is pronounced



Really a beautiful model. The Mars Alpha Pattern (at least I think it's one) has so much flavor and the turret looks much better than the normal one. I did the best I can currently achieve with the gun and tried a bit of a glowing effect. I know that technically the position in the lower right is correct and the one on the lower left is upside down, but I like the upside down more (and who cares). I intend to use it as Leman Russ Vanquisher, as I imagine the Cogboys didn't really understand the HH-era Volkite and rewired it as long range energy weapon instead. Mostly because I find the gun looks like something that can seriously hurt a tank. The name is "Tariq" and means "Morning star" - the celestial body, not the weapon.


2nd Thoth Askaris and Forgeworld Bagwa (page 7) @ 2021/05/29 20:22:41


Post by: Pyroalchi


The Munitorum clerk tasked with overseeing the embarkment of the Askaris massaged his temple trying to chase away the beginning migraine. "No, definitly not. This thing does not go on our ship! And where did you get it anyway?" "He came by our camp for food and followed us afterwards. Became kind of our mascott during the fighting. Can't we just keep him? I mean, it's even stated in the Infantrymans uplifting primer, look!" the sergant of the squad of soldiers in front of him insisted, his low gothic heavy from his foreign accent. The Clerk raised a questioning eyebrow and took the primer, opened at a specific passage. Reading it he groaned and replied in a frustrated voice "It reads 'you have the right to bear arms', not 'the right to arm bears' you.... Ahh.. feth, forget it. Take it with you, but when it eats one of you morons, it's your own damn fault!"





A very cool armored bear I got from Atlantis Miniatures. He will be an Ogryn Bodyguard. The Slabshield is optional. I tried something else with the metal armor and the base and am pretty satisfied with both. Overall a beautiful model, easy to paint and looks impressive. It comes with kind of a platform that can be attached to the back, originally for a dwarfen rider. But it looks kind of strange because the "rider" would only be comfortable if the bear stands on its hind legs. But as far as I know they are much faster running on all fours. So I left it out.


2nd Thoth Askaris and Forgeworld Bagwa (page 7) @ 2021/06/03 07:11:39


Post by: OldMate


Wow that armoured bear looks great, glad you decided to for-go the rider, becasue seriously a giant armoured bear with a slabshield is awesome enough!


2nd Thoth Askaris and Forgeworld Bagwa (page 7) @ 2021/06/03 07:21:13


Post by: Pyroalchi


Yeah, regarding the size again: he can easily look my elephants in the eyes. They are one height approximatly.


2nd Thoth Askaris and Forgeworld Bagwa (page 7) @ 2021/06/03 09:27:39


Post by: OldMate


Well a rider is just going to slow him down in that case. XD


2nd Thoth Askaris and Forgeworld Bagwa (page 7) @ 2021/06/19 20:11:58


Post by: Pyroalchi


Tribes and Soldiers of the Thoth Askaris IX: The Usambaru Swamp People

Settlers of the vast swamp lands near the coast of the southern polar ocean, the Usambaru people live in the still untilled regions between the megacities. They have a reputation of being reclusive and provincial but fiercely loyal to their kin. As other tribes, they too provide troops for the Skyfathers armies, proudly wearing the colors of their people.


Another batch of minis from Wargames Foundry. I tried to give them the "panafrican" colors red, yellow and green that can be seen on lots of african flags. Also tried something new with the skin, more like a cinnamon tone. The bases are again from Microartstudio, this time a swampy theme. In the upper left you can see the Sergant and his "vox operator"


2nd Thoth Askaris and Forgeworld Bagwa (page 7) @ 2021/06/25 07:17:17


Post by: OldMate


As always nice work Pyro. I ca't wait for the next whole army shot, its going to be quite a patchwork unit


2nd Thoth Askaris and Forgeworld Bagwa (page 7) @ 2021/07/26 20:50:19


Post by: Pyroalchi


And even more models finished:
First off another elephant, this time a pigmy mamoth from Atlantis Miniatures. The model included the howda and fits three 25mm bases nicely. So it might be a very stylish ride for King Bantu, my Company Commander, and his bodyguards. So a Centaur Carrier proxy. I also tried something new with the base, more a grassy touch. The ruin piece is from Greenstuff world.


The next has a short story again:

The Administrativum drone signing of the latest contribution of Thoths tribes to the regiments war efforts looked up in disbelief, shuffled through his files and looked up again, his jaw hanging open. "What by the golden throne is that supposed to be...?" one of the N'Go'Ni engineers that had handled the megacities contribution of scout tanks shuffled over to help, glancing on the papers in front of the clerk. Mouthing silently while reading he also looked up at what was standing before them and chuckled, supressing to burst into laughter. "That's what the Munitorum ask for... kind of. See here, it says the pigmy tribes were ordered to deliver tanks. Obviously one of the pencil push... sorry, one of the clerks responsible for requisitions seemed to have mixed up" - or more realistically ignored - "the briefing files about the different tribes industrial capability. The Pigmies don't have any industry at all. They don't even have a word for tanks in their dialect. So it was translated as best as possible as 'something big and armored, with guns'... and that is what they brought isn't it?" the thing in front of them let out a series of lout snarls and clicks, swinging its giant antlers from one side to the other, about 50 tons of thick chitin that would do a Tyranid proud leaving a rather lasting impression to everyone present. The clerk swallowed, his pencil quivering above his files and forms. "But... that's not... are they equally...?" as if to answer his question, one of the beasts further in line, obviously agitated by something or challenged to prove his strength by one of his fellows grapped a metres thick tree at the border of the clearing, unrooted it in one swift motion before crushing it to splinters in one massive contraction of its antlers. The engineers put a calming hand on above the still shaking one of the clerk, directing it to check the corresponding form "I think we can take that as a 'yes' "


This one was really fun. It's Allarielle the Everqueens beetle I got separatly from a bits shop. I intended it to be a Carnodon proxy but damn... that thing is huge! I build the howda out of some 40mm bases, put magnets under it and build another set of 40mm bases with the twin Multilasers, the crew and some "flags" from some Seraphon kit.

I intent to one day build alternative setups with 4 mortars so that it can also be a Wyvern. The base was made with different grasses and tufts, some water effect material and aztec ruins from Greenstuff world. The color is darth blue metallic color shift paint from Greenstuff world (also very cool and I can wholeheartedly recommend it).

Last but not least a size comparison: as you can see, it is really big. Probably too big to ever see action as a proxy unless I have an extraordanary generous opponent.


One thing I could also imagine as rules would be to take it as kind of a mix of the Hades Breaching drill and a Carnodon. Basically something with the stats of a Carnodon + the WS, Attacks and CC weapon of the Drill for the cost of both together. It would have less wounds than both taken separatly and no deep strike so I would assume that to be fair.


2nd Thoth Askaris and Forgeworld Bagwa (page 7) @ 2021/07/29 10:54:45


Post by: OldMate


That beetle is awesome, I get the sense its hard to give the colour of its carapace justice in a photo.


2nd Thoth Askaris and Forgeworld Bagwa (page 7) @ 2021/07/29 14:20:44


Post by: Pyroalchi


Yes, it looks better in real life. The color is definitly great. And very easy to airbrush even for a beginner like me.


2nd Thoth Askaris and Forgeworld Bagwa (page 7) @ 2021/07/30 17:17:42


Post by: Pyroalchi


So I originally intended to work on one last infantry squad and some bikers before the next army shot, but it's currently to humid to basecoat here. So I started with something else I wanted to do for a while: another kitbash! This time it is a Scylla tankette. Some WIP pics:




Obviously I still have some clefts to close with greenstuff and the exhaust and the "bottle" in the back are not glued for easier painting, but I think it already looks kind of cute. In retrospect I should have come up with some larger hatches in the back to access the motor (or maybe you can do that from the inside) and maybe also some kind of grill for cooling. I might try and build the later out of some copper net I have lying around and place it where currently the "bottle" is.
The Multilaser is magnetized and can be exchanged with a flamer or heavy bolter, but I think the ML looks best. It's slightly tilted upwards, but as it's 3D printed and a bit brittle it broke when I tried to correct it. So I rather not touch it again. Maybe he is aiming on some upper storage in a building (looks like something useful in urban fighting anyway)


2nd Thoth Askaris and Forgeworld Bagwa (page 7) @ 2021/08/13 19:53:58


Post by: Pyroalchi


So while I intended to wait until I finish my current projects (another Infantry, bike and rough rider squad, a Scylla tankette and a Cyclops demolition charge) I had time and was in the mood for this years army shot. Also a good opportunity to rearrange my vitrine (now I have some space again) and to try and make some sense of the army structure:


It's a bit mixed up of different army parts and I know that technically IG should not mix that way. So for my headcanon they might be the survivors of the botched landing in our current Crusade of Fury. Hence the combination of tanks, light infantry and cavalry elements
I used the conventional british/american rank names instead of my own. I'm not quite sure if the "Tallarn" and "tribal" part should each have a colonel, but for now I stick to it as it is. So Bantu is Colonel as he is "the boss", than come Rasul (Maghrebians) and Juba (Cavalry) as Majors, followed by Shaka (N'Go tribals) and Iskander (Maghrebians) as captains and their secons. Ashanti as younger protegé should be a Lieutenant.The Scions and their heavy Bullgryn/Ogryn storm troops are led by Tempestor Prime Kumar.
While these Officers are in charge of the military command, Lady Commissar Jacquard is something of their "outside face" when it comes to interacting with higher ranks like generals, the Administrativum etc. The two Inquisitors on the other hand have the last word on a more global scale, deciding were the bunch will go and having an eye on the bigger picture...


Here are some detail shots:
Maghrebians (= Tallarns)
Spoiler:


N'Go tribals
Spoiler:



light Cavalry:
Spoiler:

heavy cavalry:
Spoiler:

Scions:
Spoiler:

Inquisitorial psychic conclave:
Spoiler:


Bullgryn Squad:
Spoiler:

Inquisitorial Demon Hunters and AdMech Detail:
Spoiler:



2nd Thoth Askaris and Forgeworld Bagwa (page 7) @ 2021/08/14 09:08:52


Post by: OldMate


You're army is getting rather large, some real nice additions and classics there


2nd Thoth Askaris and Forgeworld Bagwa (page 7) @ 2021/08/14 09:38:18


Post by: Pyroalchi


The crazy thing is: I still have kind of a rather large wishlist, so they will still get much bigger.
The current head count is:
215 infantry models (including the Ogryns)
25 cavalry (including the elephants)
27 vehicles (including Cyclopses, fortifications and the beetle).

Than comes my current project backlog:
10 infantry
9 riders/bikers
2 vehicles

And on my wishlist:
Victoria: 50-60 more infantry (mixed Van Diemens World devils, female "Tallarns" (squad and HWS), 1-2 Squads of Beastmen, some kilt legged N'Go and a couple of characters)
Warploque: another Bullgryn, some Terror Kiwis
Miniature Scenery: Tornadodo (as Valkyrie), Zephir (Vulture?) and Ursula heavy mortar (heavy bombard?)
Mortian: the Bullgryn commander and maybe the 8x8 wheeled tank
Titanforge: 5-10 Amazons on dinosaurs as rough riders
GW: a squad of Skitarii, maybe some Kastelans, a Banehammer
Forgeworld: Malcador Infernus, Valdor Tank hunter, maybe a Macharius Battletank build to be switchable with the Vanquisher variant, either a Gorgon or a Crassus transport (or both if my wallet allows)
Models and Minis: Salamander Scout, Trojan, Griffon
scratchbuild/printed: a bridgelayer and minethrower based on a Chimera Chassis (possibly magnetized with a Deathstrike as alternative), maybe a Stormhammer, a Squad of Silverback Marines (Agressor Bodies with two normal powerfists and some custom parts)
yet unknown source: some more priests
Edit: and Blood of Skulls: at least one of their new tankettes.

So I guess that will come out to around 10.000 points, nearly 300 infantry, and bordering 50 cavalry and tanks. But I still very much enjoy this army project, so I look forward to the adventure to get there! And while looking at this list sounds costly: I guess there are more expensive hobbies ;-)


2nd Thoth Askaris and Forgeworld Bagwa (page 7) @ 2021/08/21 08:42:03


Post by: Olthannon


Saw your post in the homebrew thread, I absolutely love your army. The lore is amazing and the models and conversions are just excellent. Such a cool theme for the army and the vibrancy of the colour schemes is wonderful.
Really nice to see the group shots as well.
The Ogyrns with my tongues out is definitely one of my favourites!

I think it epitomises the Imperial Guard for me because it shows what someone can really do to create their own lore, in a galaxy so vast. So much better than a bunch of boring bloody Cadian models!


2nd Thoth Askaris and Forgeworld Bagwa (page 7) @ 2021/08/22 21:47:24


Post by: Pyroalchi


Thanks mate, I feel really flattered.

I to really love what some hobbyists here and elsewhere online have come up with for their custom guard regiments. It's not that there aren't a lot of cool Cadian armies out there, but there can be so much more to imperial guard.
And while the Askaris are definitly not yet finished, I think at some point in the future I might start on some Truskan Snowdogs.... Anvil has some pretty cool skiers and equipment, as have puppetswar and Victoria... And rough riders on dogsleds... Walrusses with Multilasers... muahahaha

Also the single squad of Miasman redcoats I have deserve a nice, flamy Hellhound and a story... one day, surely


2nd Thoth Askaris and Forgeworld Bagwa (page 7) @ 2021/10/05 14:27:29


Post by: Pyroalchi


The last months were pretty busy with... stuff. So I barely got around painting and it took ages to finish the next batch. One of these times were I had to tell myself it's Ok to just paint 5 minutes every other day, because as long as I make any progress, I will reach the finish line eventually. This time some Desert Dwellers from Maxmini (which now belongs to TrollTrader).

Pretty cool minis, even though unfortunatly "just" 5 different sculpts. So they seem to have 2 sergeants. I guess I will mix them in with the rest of my guys. I tried out some greenstuff world fluopaint on the laspistol. Looks good to me, but I haven't tried out UV light in the dark to make it really pop. Apart from that lots of shades and contrast colors on wraithbone. So far I would call them my best looking "tallarns", as the clothing looks more natural than what I achieved so far.



2nd Thoth Askaris and Forgeworld Bagwa (page 7) @ 2021/10/26 15:20:59


Post by: Pyroalchi


Another unit finished:


A set of Blightwheel Miniatures Terror birds. The heads are Puppetswar Cossack heads, the shields from a Victrix Warelephant set. I tried to paint the birds according to some cool pics I found online of casowaries. Also experimented a bit with Greenstuff world Chrome paint. Really cool product, but I need more practice applying it. I went for two thin coats, but have to admit it looked better after just one. *shrugg* better luck next time. If you get it right it really looks like aluminum foil or something like that.

Lorewise they remind me a lot of the discription of the Struthilds (?) from Aexe Cardinal in the Gaunts Ghosts novel Straight Silver


2nd Thoth Askaris and Forgeworld Bagwa (page 7) @ 2021/11/09 05:51:08


Post by: OldMate


As ever really cool additions. Your entire cavalry force must be getting pretty big. The armour and shields of your guys look good and I'm a big fan of the mounts!


2nd Thoth Askaris and Forgeworld Bagwa (page 7) @ 2021/12/14 00:50:40


Post by: Drakka77


Hey is this the force that is in the new Crusade of Fury? or is that a different version of these guys?


2nd Thoth Askaris and Forgeworld Bagwa (page 7) @ 2021/12/14 07:34:34


Post by: Pyroalchi


Yes, that's them. But in the crusade force neither the Scions (Mustachioed Mongooses) nor the Inquisitors are present (yet). So just the basic dudes over there


2nd Thoth Askaris and Forgeworld Bagwa (page 7) @ 2021/12/17 21:20:39


Post by: Pyroalchi


Aaaand some more reinforcements. This time a squad of light bikers from Puppetwar. I decided to make them part of my Scion detachment, as their rides look pretty high tech. I considered giving them turban heads like the rest of my Scions, but I couldn't really bring myself to model a biker without a real helmet. The sergeant got a new chainsaw wielding arm, because I misplaced the original one. Looks as if it was meant that way, so it's fine I think. I also played around with Greenstuff world fluo paint a bit which is an extremely funny tool. The pic in the lower right does not really do them justice, it looks awesome in the dark.




2nd Thoth Askaris and Forgeworld Bagwa (page 7) @ 2022/01/16 17:16:18


Post by: Pyroalchi


First model of 2022 finished:


I really like the look of the T17E3 Staghound and wanted to build one. I think the large bore gun looks like a good standin for the Tauros assault vehicles Grenade launcher. I had an M8 Scott turret spare from another IG conversion where I had used the hull. So I 3D printed a slightly modified Staghound hull (without the front MG). After dryfitting I realized I would need a turret adapter ring or else the turret would clog everywhere but in the end it turned out fine. Fluff wise it is one of the numerous light vehicles the Askaris have requisitioned or salvaged from the PDFs of the planets they fought on and that they keep using until they eventuell break down. Not as good as the normal IG vehicle, but good enough and better than nothing


2nd Thoth Askaris and Forgeworld Bagwa (page 7) @ 2022/01/24 16:29:54


Post by: Pyroalchi


After a local Orc Warg had ben crushed by an imperial crusade, only one last Ork stronghold on the coast of the northern continent of Gallicum Secundus remained. Yet due to the stubborness of these last defenders of orkish souvereignity and supported by a misterious potion granting them strange powers, the Imperium was so far unsuccesful in removing them and therefore founded a series of Imperial Guard garisons on the neighboring worlds and moons to try and contain the problem, until an eventual solution presents itself. One of these is Kleinbonum, manned by brave Settlers from Gallicums moon who originate from a Regiment originally hailing in the Realm of Ultramar who were granted settlement rights. They use large felinids as steeds and wear platearmor of bright, shining metal. Due to the constant and fruitless fighting against the unconquerable orks, regiments are rotated regularly to preserve morale. One of their regiments even found it's way into the Segmentum Pacificus but was worn down to the point of one last squad of Equites Leonine, who - like others - were integrated into the Askari Rough Riders as reunification with their home regiment was deemed unpractical.




Some 3D printed rough rider models from Thingiverse:
https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2825509
They are a bit small compared to my other rough riders, so should be printed at maybe 130% or something. I used Greenstuff Worlds Chrome paint again and this time it worked out a bit better. Still not perfect, but better. Their story is a nod towards the Asterix comics. Kleinbonum was the name of one of the roman forts in the german translation.


2nd Thoth Askaris and Forgeworld Bagwa (page 7) @ 2022/03/18 10:34:13


Post by: Pyroalchi


It took quite some time, as I don't get to paint as much as I used to formerly, but I finished my set of Gaunt's Ghosts:








And as I think a great addition: the bagpiper from Victoria Miniatures as Brin Milo:




All of them were really nice to build and paint. The parts are well thought through, in the sense that I build several subassamblies that could easily be painted everywhere and then put together. I took more time than usual with the cloaks and the result... is better than usual for me, although not quite where I want to be with blending. But I believe in what they say: practice makes perfect. For the skin I used Bugmans Glow, Cadian Flesh and Kislev flesh as well as 50:50 mixes in between. The result was a lot brigther and with more intense contrast between the layers than looked right to me. So I experimented and applied a thin layer of Darkoath flesh contrast paint on top of it, that smoothened it out nicely. Maybe they look a bit more tanned than you would expect from Taniths, but its the best I can do at the moment.
Somewhere along the way I lost Larkins left arm, so he has a replacement from my bitsbox, but luckily it doesn't look out of place

I had a small motivation downer when seeing some other work here that was just miles better than everythin I ever did and still seen by the artist as "botched" because they can do even better. No hard feelings for that, I totally understand, it was just that right then, it hit something in me. But I could remind me, that I paint for myself and the enjoyment along the way and it doesn't matter at all if others do it better.
Just wanted to share, maybe some of you felt the same sometimes.


Now, if only I could get my hands on a cool Medic Dorden, Tona Creed, Shoggy and the others... Maybe a project for later. Or if anyone knows of good proxy minis for them, hit me up!


Lorewise I think the Taniths and Askaris stumbled about each other somewhere in the Sabat Worlds. I'm not sure if the Askaris where in the Sabat Crusade, but I think both regiments would have hit it off quite well. Especially since the Askaris are light infantry and scouts too, even though not so hyper elite as the Tanith.


2nd Thoth Askaris and Forgeworld Bagwa (page 7) @ 2022/03/20 08:29:39


Post by: OldMate


Looking good Pyro. the leaf litter in the bases looks pretty good, nice work on some classic characters!


2nd Thoth Askaris and Forgeworld Bagwa (page 7) @ 2022/04/19 19:20:35


Post by: Pyroalchi


After the common wealth fleet came to the rescue of the Thoth system during the night of a thousand rebellions, both forces engaged in various exchanges not only of goods, provisions, ammunition and equipment, but also troops. While the Askaris could provide huge numbers of light skirmishers and scout troops, they severely lack in professionalism and modern infantry tactics as the vast majority of them are recruited from tribal societies. Therefore several hundred soldiers - one might call them mercenaries - were hired from the Commonwealth forces and distributed between the regiments as advisors. Being battlehardened veterans they do their best to tackle the immense task of training their charges and grooming promising squads for command tasks, teaching them their much more refined trade.
One of the formations sending squads are the Klomn thorny dragons that hail from a dry rain forest as do some of Thoths tribes.



The Models are Van Diemens World Devils from Victoria Miniatures. The Bases were made with a Mandala rolling pin from greenstuff world. Guess they are in some temple ruins currently.
Some really cute details in there. One of the plasma gunners has a little Koala plush toy on her backpack. They will be a squad of veterans, as they just look a lot more professional than the rest of my dudes. Also thanks to oldmate for letting me borrow some of his lore for these.


2nd Thoth Askaris and Forgeworld Bagwa (page 7) @ 2022/04/22 00:57:54


Post by: theCrowe


Always great to see something new with the 2nd Thoth Askaris, still coming up with the freshest ideas in the imperium of mankind.

Keep up the great work.


2nd Thoth Askaris and Forgeworld Bagwa (page 7) @ 2022/04/23 07:17:42


Post by: OldMate


They turned out really well! I do like those las carbines and Victoria's plasma guns rock!


2nd Thoth Askaris and Forgeworld Bagwa (page 7) @ 2022/04/23 12:11:59


Post by: Pyroalchi


Thanks mates, always very motivating to hear from you. Currently I have a number of vehicles on my desk and will start with some of Victorias Ogryns soon.

I also still have a Taurus APC from puppetswar lying around that my son lost interest in and am still puzzled what to do with it. I think it will be a transport for one of my Inquisitors or maybe my scions. Regardless of what is covered by the rules I'm currently considering two puppetswar Missile launchers I have lying around + a heavy twin lascannon turret from Mortian OR 4x missile launcher or 4-6 Plasma guns from Puppetswar (two of those in a turret).

I think the tendency goes to the last option, would be something really exotic in my army and fit an excentric Inquisitors well. What so you think? The base vehicle is a transport with one turret slot and up to 4 additions weapon points at the sides

https://puppetswar.eu/taurus-apc-a-k-a-brick.html


2nd Thoth Askaris and Forgeworld Bagwa (page 7) @ 2022/04/23 12:15:43


Post by: theCrowe


 OldMate wrote:
They turned out really well! I do like those las carbines and Victoria's plasma guns rock!


Agreed! That little plasma pistol is about the coolest pistol I’ve ever seen. I’d want some for necromunda conversions to replace those late 90’s plasma bricks.


2nd Thoth Askaris and Forgeworld Bagwa (page 7) @ 2022/04/23 23:56:48


Post by: OldMate


I agree the taurus would make a good inquisitorial transport. And to my mind it'd make sense if said inquisitor wanted to upgun it with a heap of plasma guns. I mean they are pretty effective!


2nd Thoth Askaris and Forgeworld Bagwa (page 7) @ 2022/05/08 07:51:57


Post by: Pyroalchi


As they are of immense value for the training of the regimento, the Commonwealth Mercenaries are well taken care of and protected, amongst other measures by the provision of Abhuman "muscle" and bodyguards to keep them out of the line of fire. As mentioned before, the Askaris get along relatively well with Ogryns, Ratlings and other abhumans, regularly recruting them on Aoratea as well as absorbing left over Soldiers from destroyed regiments. Loyal and enthusiastic as they tend to be, some have even adopted the clothing style of their charges from the commonwealth, thus looking much in line with them. The reason being that for the simple mind of the Ogryn "Iff wez wear da same stuff as da little ladies, dem snipers cannot decide whom da shoot!". A plan that might have some flaws in it, but Grork, the old, grizzly Ogryn veteran leading the troop got a medal like sticker with E for effort from commissar Butch Baker for really putting his mind into how to protect his charges best.



The minis are the Ogre Mud Crunchers from Victoria Miniatures. I used a lot of Contrast and Washes this time, which made them quite easy to paint. Really satisfied with how the heads turned out. For the beard shadow I just added some layers of nuln oil, for the nose and Lips some Reikland Flesh shade and Carrabough Crimson. Looks much better than my other Faces so far.
I'm still considering addin a "mum" tatoo with a heart to the leader, but I forgot to do it before this photo.


2nd Thoth Askaris and Forgeworld Bagwa (page 7) @ 2022/05/12 11:20:18


Post by: OldMate


Great work, I do like the oldschool 'actual space ogre/troll' look victoria's ogryns have. great painting and I do like the lore behind this addition, its really cool.


2nd Thoth Askaris and Forgeworld Bagwa (page 7) @ 2022/05/14 18:37:00


Post by: Pyroalchi


Thanks Oldmate! One thing to note though: the armpair where both hands are one the gun only really fit to one of the three bodies. So definitly dryfit them BEFORE you glue your first set of arms to the body.
I too love this oldschool style. And Victorias Lambs work in general. Funny anecdote: I recently visited my local GW store to buy some paints and was chatting again with my usual "shop guy". He asked what I had been doing recently and I showed him the ogres, a bit unsure how he would take to 3rd party minis, so I felt obliged to add "yeah, I know, they are not GW. I just wanted to show you what I have been up to with the contrast paints." Turns out he met Victoria years ago on some convention and really appreciates her work.


2nd Thoth Askaris and Forgeworld Bagwa (page 7) @ 2022/05/17 11:58:35


Post by: OldMate


Good to hear it, there is a lot of character in Victoria's sculpts amd i think that goes extremely well with guardsmen.


2nd Thoth Askaris and Forgeworld Bagwa (page 7) @ 2022/05/22 09:29:18


Post by: Pyroalchi


I managed to finish a bunch of stuff recently. This time lots of vehicles for my Talarn half of the army.
First, thanks to the wonders of 3D printing a Twin Lascannon to turn my Forgeworld Malcador MBT into a Malcador Annihilator if I want to.


Then another happy little Cyclops from Models and Minis. It's almost the same size as the two I got from Blightwheel, but the little vision system on top looks really cute I think.


Next off a Scylla tankette. I saw this kitbash a while ago searching for interesting Guard vehicles and wanted to try it myself. Pretty easy stuff, as one only has to cut down a Chimera hull and tracks a bit and round it up with some parts from the bitsbox. If you try it yourself have an eye out for the tracks, as they don't fit that perfect anymore after shortening the hull. The arabic name on the side means "Amira" which should mean something like "little princess" as far as I found it.


Then we have a Manticore Proxy from Models and Minis. They also sell a variant with 4 missiles but I found the one with 7 looks cooler. The name is the arabic writing for hornet (I don't know how it is pronounced). I found it fitting relating to the sound of the starting missiles.



Last but not least: the Lamassu Minethrower. I found the real world Skorpion minethrower of the Bundeswehr pretty cool (to my knowledge the polish have the Kroton and the british Shielder are pretty similar vehicles). So I remixed and designed something similar on thingiverse: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4973120
Lamassu is a babylonian/assyrian mythological beast, a bull with the head of a man, 5 legs and often a pair of wings that is a guardian of doors and palaces. Sounded fitting for a minelayer and keeps with the tradition of naming guard vehicles based on the Chimera after mythological beasts.
The name of this specific one is Skorpion. Not only because of the real world vehicle it is based on because it also fits that you "have to thread carefully" where mines are involved. If you want to print it maybe wait a week or two. During my try I identified some things that did not work out the way I intended, so I will update the files in the near future to improve it.

Edit: in the lower right are the mine tokens it is intended to place on the battlefield...


2nd Thoth Askaris and Forgeworld Bagwa (page 7) @ 2022/06/03 13:59:52


Post by: Pyroalchi


Aaaaand another one. Again a conversion set from models and minis, this time for a recovery vehicle.
I used some 1/35 tiger 1 rubber tracks from AFV club for it, an idea I got from a Leman Russ tank of the user danesk. I think it looks pretty badass with those wide tracks and it fits perfect for a recovery vehicle needing lots of traction.
Funny little accident: I unknowingly ordered two right Chimera tracks and only realized while priming, even though I had looked at it and dryfitted it like... a bazillion times. But I just did not see that one side was upside down before the paint was on. When I told my wife, she basically said "wait, just leave it that way. Maybe your guys had a tank that lost one side and the only parts for repair were from a tank with the same side blown off. So they had to improvise. Just make sure to slap two different paint schemes on them."
Who am I to recejt such an idea. So I tried one side and the hull in a free "spray paint" stripe scheme and the other in a more "blotchy scheme" with clear borders in the same colors. It's... something. But maybe it would look even cooler if I had done the second side in the green color scheme of my N'Go vehicles. I will let it sit in my collection for a while and then decide if I will do that side again.

Edit: the mine plow is also from Models and Minis



The writing on the front and sides means "Aardvark" in arabic. I mean this animal:

They are pretty interesting nocturnal borrowing animals which kind of fitted. I personally like them a lot since the Berlin Zoo had two of those in their night animal house when I was a kid and I always found them pretty cool to look at.



2nd Thoth Askaris and Forgeworld Bagwa (page 7) @ 2022/06/04 22:28:38


Post by: OldMate


I love the idea of a techpriest having a hot-take when it realised it had 2 right track units for the single vehicle that was sitting half assembled in front of it in the workshop, then an Askari mechanic slaps the priest on the back and says "its perfectly alright, it just needs...a little adjustment."


2nd Thoth Askaris and Forgeworld Bagwa (page 7) @ 2022/06/05 22:29:32


Post by: theCrowe


You’ve put together a really interesting assortment of armour there. What a fantastic collection and some very spiffy paint jobs too.


2nd Thoth Askaris and Forgeworld Bagwa (page 7) @ 2022/06/06 12:01:11


Post by: Pyroalchi


Thanks Crowe, I appreciate it. I still have a bunch of IG stuff on my desk but as things go I recently got a nice AdMech lot from a guy who sold his pile of shame to concentrate on his main armies. Kind of hyped if the paint scheme I thought up for them will look good


2nd Thoth Askaris and Forgeworld Bagwa (page 7) @ 2022/06/15 07:01:38


Post by: OldMate


Looking forwards to seeing the ad mech stuff, do you have an idea for a colour scheme yet?


2nd Thoth Askaris and Forgeworld Bagwa (page 7) @ 2022/06/15 08:40:51


Post by: Pyroalchi


What I want to try is:

Skitarii robes: black-dark purple with purple highlights
The white glyphs painted with GSW fluo paint pink
Lenses/powerweapons: glowing orange
Metal parts: a grubby Iron tone combined with bronze

Vehicles: one of GSWs color shift paints, likely Darth Blue like my beetle. Also with glowing orange lenses.


2nd Thoth Askaris and Forgeworld Bagwa (page 7) @ 2022/06/17 21:25:02


Post by: OldMate


Sounds really cool, an interesting and unconventiobal choice of colours all round. i recently used GSW's flou orange on my praetorian's plasma gun and my carnodon's volkite weapons the glowing effect was pretty good. I think a darth blue dune crawler would look excellent, like a mechanical beetle!


2nd Thoth Askaris and Forgeworld Bagwa (page 7) @ 2022/06/21 18:56:12


Post by: Pyroalchi


New reinforcements!

First of, another Rough Rider (because I obviously don't have enough already *cough*). This time from Reaper Miniatures, with a rider cobbled together from various sources. I tried to paint him like a secretary bird, as I find those pretty cool. Really nice model, easy to handle and good detail for its price.


Next of: the N'Go approach to a Hades Breaching drill

I grabbed the mini for a hand full of Euros in my local games store and had it sitting on my shelf for quite a while. Then I saw a youtube tutorial on painting a Seraphon Carnosaur that looked stunning and decided to try and do that myself. Turned out pretty cool I think. I would intend it as a Hades Breaching drill. It might not really look like something digging through the earth, but the drills CC-profile definitly fits well. And as you can see the size does too:





EDIT: Oh, and with that I should now be almost at 7000 points... With like... 800 something still in my pile of shame... still going strong


2nd Thoth Askaris and Forgeworld Bagwa (page 7) @ 2022/06/21 21:07:44


Post by: OldMate


Some really cool new additions. I imagine the terror bird would make quite a good cavalry mount, with good avian endurance and heat tolerance (and decent insulation)and would certainly be able to do a lot of damge with powerful kicks and blows with that beak.
The ankylosaur certainly looks hazardous, the tail that topples war machines and shatters the limbs of other monsterous beasts. The Askaris could tip its club spikes with metal to aid in performance against armour...


2nd Thoth Askaris and Forgeworld Bagwa (page 7) @ 2022/09/09 09:09:23


Post by: Pyroalchi


And again something that took me way to long due to vaccations and lots of real world stuff going on. Nonetheless I present you the new ride + protection for my Inquisitors



The vehicle is from Puppetswar, as are the Plasmaguns, Heavy Bolters and the turret to fix the 3rd pair of each to the top. The Twin Lascannon turret is from Mortian. Everything is magnetized of course. I don't think there currently is a 6x Plasma vehicle in any codex. The version with the Twin Lascannon or Twin Heavy Bolter without something else might be a Twin Lascannon Razorback though. For myself Lady Natasha Obviously takes the 6x Plasma version...


And the cute little turret bots from Puppetswar. These are meant to be Tarantula Batteries. I fixed another magnet on top because I want to get a Skytalon sometime that drops these into action. Not legal ruleswise, but it should look pretty cool in my vitrine.


2nd Thoth Askaris and Forgeworld Bagwa (page 7) @ 2022/09/10 07:26:25


Post by: theCrowe


Very nice. You got that gloss black look with enough detail to keep it interesting to the eye but not so much as to make it a Christmas tree. (I unfortunately have a black chimera of the Christmas tree variety in my collection)

Great magnetic options with the weapon platforms too. My kids and I would just play with that and to pot with any rules and dice. Pew pew pew! We’d have a great time.


2nd Thoth Askaris and Forgeworld Bagwa (page 7) @ 2022/09/12 08:02:38


Post by: OldMate


Nice work on the inquisitorial vehicle and turrets. Is the twin las cannon turret from mortian? Fits really nicely. Really nice work as ever Pyro.


2nd Thoth Askaris and Forgeworld Bagwa (page 7) @ 2022/09/12 08:29:54


Post by: Pyroalchi


Yes the Lascannon turret is from Mortian. Looks pretty badass as it is really big.


2nd Thoth Askaris and Forgeworld Bagwa (page 7) @ 2022/09/29 09:43:35


Post by: Pyroalchi


Some new projects I finishes recently:

Bridgelayer Mamba

This one is a 3D print of a model based on the user Vontragg on Thingiverse. I just modified the bridge and delivery system to be a bit more massive. You can find the file here:
https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:5538270
as well as the version from Vontragg here:
https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:3697605
I botched the alignment of the "support beds" in the rear, but well... it still looks OK. The writing on the front is again Mandombe skript and reads "Mamba" which is the Swaheli word for crocodile. The symbol on the sides is "14" in the same writing system as I wanted to imply the Askaris having quite a few of these vehicles.
Here are some pictures of its function. The bridge is stable enough to support the rather heavy printed chimera and should be able to hold any GW plastic tank as well as an FW Carnodon. I havent tried my Malcador yet.
Spoiler:



Salamander Command Abshir
This is a conversion set from Models and Minis. I added some instruments and communication equipment as well as two backup guns and amplivisors in the front compartment to make it look more "command like". It is intended as ride for my Commissar Butch Baker and his aide (which are totally not Ciaphas Cain and Jurgen *cough*)
The name on the side is another interesting writing system named Kaddare Skript. It should read "Abshir" which is a somali name meaning something like "bringer of good news".




Sentinel Bizumesh

This one is based on an idea I got from the user Ezki here on Dakkadakka. Even though my conversion is much less refined than his. Still pretty fun conversion. The flamer arm is 3D printed, as I could not get my hands on the original part for a reasonable price. The flame is from Anvil Industry. I tried to do a variation of the paint scheme of my Ankylosaurus on the nid on the ground. It also got some bullet holes in his back before I decided to arm the sentinel with a flamer. So I used a match to literally melt its face and applied some Martian Ironcrust (not sure with the name, the crakle paint version...) and painted the black with grey drybrush afterwards to imply burned earth and Nid.
"Bizumesh" is an ethiopian name meaning something like "he has seen/experienced a lot", which seemed fitting for such an unholy field conversion done by the Askari mechanics.


a close up of the nid:


2nd Thoth Askaris and Forgeworld Bagwa (page 7) @ 2022/09/29 21:35:40


Post by: OldMate


Great work. Its always inspirational to see your new projects. Bridgelayer is really cool, i might have to check out getting one for my forces!
Always nice to see a salamander.

By the way how many salamanders and salama der proxies do you have by now mate? Its gotta be a few!

The deffdred sentinel pentence engine is a really cool 'field conversion' i like the thought of some Askari arv just chaining up and dragging a heap of mech hulks from the battlefield, then the guys at the workshop being like: 'well if weld this to that and put that arm here...'


2nd Thoth Askaris and Forgeworld Bagwa (page 7) @ 2022/10/02 13:17:51


Post by: Pyroalchi


Thanks Oldmate. Regarding the Salamanders: this one is the 4th, but one of those also looks pretty badass with a Flame gun as hellhound.

My next projects list contains a variety of Sentinel variants, so this part of my "light vehicle pool" will also be expanded some more.


2nd Thoth Askaris and Forgeworld Bagwa (page 7) @ 2022/10/25 17:31:14


Post by: Pyroalchi


During the imperial campaign to retake the supply depots on the karautschian highlands, the Astra militarum made use of a staggering number of infantry regiments, quite a few of those being penal guard to wear the enemies down before the final, decicive strike. Among those were several regiments of Beastmen, drawn together from all over the imperial space and thrown into the meat grinder, as their status as accepted abhumans became more and more fragile and thus there place amongst the ranks of Terras defenders more and more questionable. None the less persistent in their fury and eagerness for battle, few survived the finally succesful campaign and found themselves too little in strength to form even a single regiment. As happened before with other formations, the Thoth Askaris who where also present made use of their special granted right to fill up their losses with remaining stragglers in warzones, that were not requested by other, more prestigous forces. As one can imagine no one was eager to take up a hundred penal soldiers, not even to speak of them being abhumans. Yet coming from a backwater planet and not being really knowledgable about the ways of the Imperium, the Askaris did not really understand the meaning of either fact and just saw some fellow guardsmen that might be a great addition to their own figthing strength. The Beastmen Sergeants in charge realized that this transfer would also mean a switch from a penal into a normal regiment and were more than eager to agree and sign any paperwork the Askari Commanders were dropping their way. And when those papers finally arrived on the desk of the Administrativum clerc in charge, the fact that those were ABHUMAN PENAL soldiers must have gotten lost somewhere along the way, so that 254 former beastmen of penal legion five were struck from imperial record while "254 Guardsmen of the 3rd Brokan Longhooves" were orderly transfered and integrated into the Thoth Askaris, never to be heard again.

Of course sooner or later this had to come out, but luckily for everyone involved it was Inquisitor Lady Natasha of the Ordo Barbarus who first realized what had happened there and found those battlehardened veterans a more than welcome asset for her own means, keeping a protective hand above them from now on. In an instance of cosmic irony she even managed to get them some excellent equipment and glossy black armor from surplus stock of the famous Ventrillian nobles along with caches of high quality shotlases stamped on Thoths weapon forges themselves for export to this incredibly rich regiment.


Finally finished my Victoria Miniatures Beastmen Veterans. Right in time to see Veterans leave the Codex, lol. Anyway, the "heavy stubbers" are Victorias VERA guns and were intended to count as heavy flamers (I can see those hitting nearly everything as long as it is near). The shotlas were designed by myself and can be found here: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4804581. The current file has slightly broader gun barrels but they are still significanlty narrower than those of a normal Cadian gun. BUT: they have three... it's something. These were intended as shotguns.
Now with Veterans going the way of the Dodo I decided to repurpose them to being Inquisition Acolytes with Hot-Shot lasguns (the shotlas) and Voidsman rotor cannons (from the Astra Cartographica Voidsmen datasheet... the inquisition should get these) led by an axe+plasma pistol Acolyte. Therefore I gave them some cool looking armor in the scheme used for the Ventrillian nobles in the 8th Edition codex. Also as kind of an intergalactic pun, that out of all regiments these dregs of the imperial guard could have gotten their equipment from, it had to be the rich boys
I experimented on the bases a bit with Valhallan Blizzard. The first intention was to get some effect like dried salt, but it looks more than snow on badlands. Still nice though and something new amongst my collection



I also redid the base for my heavy mortar using a 3D file I bought in a bundle, I think from Makers Cult (but I'm not sure anymore). I edited it a bit to cut out the 25 mm bases for the crew and some space for the Mortar weels. Excuse the too bright second picture, but overall a nice result


2nd Thoth Askaris and Forgeworld Bagwa (page 7) @ 2022/10/27 09:28:25


Post by: OldMate


Those beastmen turned out quite nicely I like the black and gold armour, really fits for an inquisitor's bodyguard, even if the guards are rather unconventional themselves
I think the shotlass and VERA guns. A fair bit of firepower there!

The remodeled base for the heavy mortar and crew looks really handy. Nice work!


2nd Thoth Askaris and Forgeworld Bagwa (page 7) @ 2022/12/28 16:24:46


Post by: Pyroalchi


Managed to finish a bunch of dudettes for the Tallarn looking side of my force. Most of the minis are from Victoria Miniatures Desert Scorpion line. The Multilasers are a 3D design by myself that I got printed:

Platoon Commander with Command squad (don't mind the double vox, my other Command Squad lacked one)


Infantry Squad (the vox is just the GW one cut down and glued together slightly differently to fit the mini better):


Missile Launcher teams:


Multilaser teams:



The story behind the last minis is, that I'm not a big fan of the massive and heavy looking infantry based heavy weapons of GW. And I love Multilasers. So I designed a kind of "light machine gun" multilaser including a power station. The later is an idea I had that in my mind would be pretty nice for Guard: its basically a transportable pack where you can slot in the squads lasgun charge packs (with enough wriggle room that the size 3-5 difference mentioned in one of the Gaunts Ghost novels doesn't matter). Additionally you have a little charge indicator (the green and yellow dots on top) a powercable to either use the charge packs to power a Lascannon/Multilaser or the other way around charge the packs with an external source. And two "clampy thingis" where you might put a starter cable and charge them from a car battery.


And last but not least a size comparison. As you can see the Multilasers are much lighter then the GW stuff.



2nd Thoth Askaris and Forgeworld Bagwa (page 7) @ 2022/12/30 09:21:38


Post by: OldMate


Nice work Pyro I really like the multi laser heavy weapons teams. A very cool addition.


2nd Thoth Askaris and Forgeworld Bagwa (page 7) @ 2023/01/23 08:31:28


Post by: Pyroalchi


First Minis of 2023 finished:

a couple of priests:




the third one is at least "inspired" by this pic from the 8th edition Guard codex:



Next: a classic commissar. I tried to paint the dead Eldar a still glowing hole from the plasmapistol into his forehead. Thanks to Captain Brown for the Eldar parts by the way




and last but not least a Beastmen Hero to lead my Victoria Miniatures Beastmen into battle. Funny enough I was looking through the 8th Edition Codex/Index options looking for an IG unit that is allowed to go double power axe and indeed the Commissar that went to legends could. So that's what he will be. Should be motivating enough to have this guy screaming at you to charge.
The sliced up T'au is also from Captain Brown. As far as I read T'au have blue blood, so that is what I tried to do there on the base. The axes are painted with Greenstuff Worlds Cobalt Blue Chameleon Color shift paint. The foto doesn't really give them credit, but they look really shiny!



2nd Thoth Askaris and Forgeworld Bagwa (page 7) @ 2023/01/24 13:30:09


Post by: OldMate


Nice work on some really nice characters, I like the old school priests.


2nd Thoth Askaris and Forgeworld Bagwa (page 7) @ 2023/01/24 16:14:49


Post by: Pyroalchi


Two more minis I finished:


a Jokaero as companion for my Inquisitoress:
That model was really cute and fun to paint. I experimented a bit, using Greenstuff World Chrome paint on the metal parts, Chamelon Color Shift Paint (Darth Blue) on the eyes and blue fluo paint on the glowing things on the body.
I also had the idea to add a "holographic display" he just summoned up, made from some transparent plastic sheet. On that I painted a screen, some writing and some buttons with fluo paint, so that all of it glows under UV light. You get a hint of it in the lower right pic, even though my cellphone camera can't really capture the effect. But believe me it looks pretty funny.


Rogue Trader Jakob Georg Anton Fugger the older

An adventurous rogue trader from an old, well established family active in the segmentum pacificus. His dynasty came to considerable wealth by repeatedly lending money to various planetary governors - and finally seizing profitable mining rights, real estates and in one case all worldly belongings down to the last undershirt when their debtors failed to make their mortgage payments in time. When the Night of a thousand rebellions broke out, they lost access to some of their possessions due to uprisings, but could dampen the impact a bit by levering their pull in the Imperial Administration and seizing all assets of some of the rebellious - or overthrown - planetary governments. When Thoth as one of the very few affected systems remained loyal and became a staging ground for the imperial counteroffensive, Jakob seized the initiative and offered his trading fleet, including several mass conveyors and armed Q-ships to supply the Loyalist forces and transport Thoths armies to their deployment zones. This was helped by the fact that he was already the main shareholder of the large refuelling facilities and repair docks in the orbit of the gasgiant Zaori - a venture he has meanwhile bought up completely.
While not without risk of losing this massive investment should the balance tip towards the empires foes, his gamble has been extremely lucrative so far. He has also become a valuable asset and even personal friend of both inquisitors present, a relationship based from both sides on necessity, personal favor as well as sympathy.


This one is from Victoria Miniatures. I love the little ape holding the gun. I wanted to make him REALLY flashy and colorful and the contrast paints did a good job with that.
The name is a reminiscence to a german dynasty of medieval bankers and traders that on one point were a serious powerfactor in european politics. The given names are from three notable members of the Fugger family.


2nd Thoth Askaris and Forgeworld Bagwa (page 7) @ 2023/03/02 08:50:25


Post by: Pyroalchi


Bagwas lore from page 1 of this threat:
Spoiler:
Thoth 1 – Bagwa
Classification: Industrial World (in construction)
Population:
992.M41 (before the night of a thousand rebellions) approximately 20.000 Adeptus Mechanicum personnel, 100.000 Servitors
50 M42: 40.000 AdMech personell, 300.000 Servitors, 200.000 Skitarii
100 M42: 100.000 AdMech, 600.000 Servitors, 400.000 Skitarii


Being a rock planet about 70% the size of Venus, Bagwas orbit around Mawu is tidally locked, separating the planet into one side of eternal night and one of neverending day. Its atmosphere is composed predominantly of nitrogen and carbondioxyde with only traces of water therefore lacking any presence of clouds. Together with its mineral composition being rich in silicium and rare earths the planet is incredibly suited for solar power generation. After the system was conquered by the Macharius Crusade, accompanying Adeptus Mechanicus forces established a small outpost on Bagwa, mostly consisting of Servitors and tasked with the construction of concentrated solar power plants and photovoltaic cells and facilities to produce those. Furthermore the infrastructure to support a yet to be founded industrial complex on the night side was planned to eventually turn Bagwa into another forgeworld. The refounded colony on Thoth was ordered to support this outpost to the best of their ability in anticipation to have a powergrid ready within one decade. Complying with this task everyone involved got to work even after the Segmentum Pacificus fell into the Macharian Heresy after the saints death. Being isolated again from the imperium, the Adeptus Mechanicum mission expected to make use of the finished power grid never arrived. Puzzled about what was expected from them and concerned about potentially being punished for not following imperial orders, the rulers of Thoth decided to just continue plastering Bagwa with power plants – and the Servitors did not contradict anyway. By the time contact to the Imperium was reestablished a century later, getting rid of the surplus power had already become a problem and the grid was on the brink of breaking down due to the enormous amount of created energy. The build-up was slowed down and the forgecomplex planned so long ago finally build, focusing on the production and charging of power cells and the armaments for Thoths regiment.

But as the established power resources still exceeded the demand manyfold, Nac1r - the Magos send to the Thoth system and given free hand to regulate the Adeptus Mechanicus affairs in the region decided to instead try his hand in an ambitious endevour to terraform the 3rd planet of the system, Oya. Even though most of the technology used in the dark age of technology to change planets in incredible ways to make them habitable for mankind was lost, leaving the Adeptus Mechanicus with such limited tools as century or even millenia spanning atmospheric changes to heat or cool them, Nac1rs calculations indicated that all the frozen world in the system needed was some “significantly hard punches”. This led to the construction of a series of giant Macrolasers on Bagwas night side, pointing towards the outer system, with the first being finished and starting firing only a couple of years before the night of the thousand rebellions. Should Nac1r succeed in his endeavor, the system might be completed by another fertile world, ready for colonization – not a small gift for a simple backwater system, but truth be told, the magos purely undergoes it for his own curiosity and ego, eager to count himself amongst the few that could claim to have achieved such a feat since the golden age of mankind.

Besides this rather glorious purpose of the machinery, it has not slipped the attention of Thoths rulers that the macrolasers could as well – with only slight modifications – could crack Thoths crust and devastate the systems capital planet, should they ever give the Adeptus Mechanicus reason to do so. Confronted about it, Nac1r pointed out that this is merely a possibility as a last act of defiance, should the system ever fall to the heretical forces of the arch enemy, but nonetheless it remains clear that Thoth is well advised to keep on their Forgeworlds good side…


The fledging forgeworld of Bagwa, the planet closest to the systems star has seen a significant influx of population over the last decades since the night of a thousand rebellions. Just like Thoth for the Imperial Guard, Bagwa was amongst the few Forgeworlds in the segmentum pacificus that remained completely loyal and on top of that was not reached by the renegade forces attacking Thoth 993 M41. As the system became a staging ground for regrouping local loyalists and imperial forces send to quench these rebellions, Bagwas slow paced construction had to be kicked up a notch. Thousands of refugee Adeptus Mechanicus personell resettled on the planet, while various Forgeworlds send Skitarii cohorts on Mars decree to bolster the defenses, as Bagwas defence force was minimal. Concerned by a possible negative impact on production numbers, stability (and more than that their own influence) the native AdMech elite took care to thoroughly reprogramm the arriving Skitarii to ensure their pure and undivided loyalty to their new Forgeworld, erasing all ties (and memories) to their origins. A move that was at first opposed and protested by the aforementioned Techpriest refugees. But after some weeks these protests faded away after a series of meetings with the ruling Bagwa priests that led to an unforseen rise in patriotic feelings of the newcomers to their new home. While supervisors from Mars immediatly suspected some data editing going on, they let it slip for now, as they agreed on the efficiency of the matter.
Thoths rapid rise in population after the reestablishment of contact with the imperium and introduction of more advanced medical and agricultural technologies has also provided a well needed increase in Servitors to maintain and expand the planets infrastructure.

Bagwas history was always closely tied to Thoth and both worlds remain closely engaged with each other. While there were some tensions after the creation of Bagwas Megalasers, sticking together against external dangers in the last decades has improved relations again. Externally Bagwa sees itself as devout servant of Mars, even though the red planet was oblivious of the small Forgeworld for most of its existence - and will likely be again as soon as the Segmentum is pacified and Thoth returns to being some insignificant backwater system.

The planet itself is tidally locked to its sun, dividing it into a baking side of everlasting day that houses giant complexes of solar power generators and a night side that is slowly being covered in forgecomplexes to use the generated power. Due to the intense solar radiation and the elemental composition of the planet, the atmosphere is highly radiated and "life" is mostly lived in underground bunker complexes and environmentally sealed buildings. If they had to mention their most valuable contribution to the Imperial cause, most tech priests would choose the high quality armored glas lenses for Space Marine power armor and optics. But from the point of the Administrativum it is something else. Bagwa has only limited capabilities to build heavy armor like other, more well known worlds, but its natural ressources paired with almost unlimited energy makes it perfect for the production of ... the humble lasgun and its powerpacks. Billions of lasguns, lascarbines, laspistols, shotlas, and longlas are stamped every year, while the powerpacks produced, charged and delivered might reach that number every week - with ever increasing numbers.
An oddity at first sight is, that there is no specific "Bagwa pattern" of lasgun yet. Instead the Forgeworld possesses the STC of almost all commonly used variants and their powerpacks which are produced in variable shares. This has become rather sought after, as the rift through the galaxy has made it difficult for some regiments hailing from the imperium nihilus to get spare parts and replacements for the weapon patterns they are used to.

Only recently the development of a Bagwa pattern lascarbine has begun, with a focus of low maintenance, low production cost and an integrated powerpack-adapter. The later is another Bagwa specific product that has started to win quite some favor amongst Imperial Guardsmen, as the adapter allows lasguns to use off-sized charge packs from size I-VI. Another such innovation (or more an old STC that is just not produced outside of Bagwa) are so called "power stations". Basically a portable device the size of a suitcase with 10 slots for lasgun powerpacks (with size adapters of course) and a multi-inlet/outlet that can be attached to all kind of powersources from a car-battery to a plasma-reactor as well as serving as a powersource for squadweapons like Multilasers or lasguns. The device allows a squad to either charge their powerpacks from external sources, redistribute charges from full packs of a non-fitting size to emptied packs of a needed size or use their lasgun-powerpacks to fire heavy energy weapons.
Furthermore Bagwa also produces a relatively high number of Multilasers, that are a prefered heavy squad weapon of the Thoth Askaris.

The Symbol of Bagwa symbolizes their homeworld, with its light, sunbathed side to the left and the forgecomplexes on its right, dark side. Within the night side remains a symbol of an old Adinkra dialect from Terra that stands for ingenuity, wisdom and creativity.



To be continued...



Edit: I want to imagine my dudes as Rad saturated Forgeworld, as I found that most interesting from the Codex. Lorewise I'm still sonewhat undecided with the numbers. I'll have to dig a bit more into the lore to get a grip on population size on Forgeworlds and I have no idea if a billion lasguns a year is hilarious too many or pitiful few. It's intended to be significant but not enough to be imperiumwide famous.

And here are some first minis for this subforce:




This was mostly a color test and I might still deviate from that a bit. But overall I'm satisfied. The robes are dark purple with some plume highlights, the pants and the hat of the dominus this tourquoise shade and a lot of the brighter things are painted with Greenstuff world fluo paints. Especially the eyelenses and cables. For now I did them in orange, but I consider switching to pink. The bases were pretty fun too. Here I used Doomfire Magenta contrast paint paired with fluo paint on top. And the darker purple parts are Marthian Ironcrust with the dark purple contrast paint I forgot the name of. I considered painting the white cogwheel stripes you can see on most Skitarii artwork, but that would just be too much, as they are reeaaaaly colorful already. And damn, these minis are detailed. Took me a month to finish them.
Edit: also I like the radium carbines, lore and role of Vanguard, but prefer Ranger heads, so I just mixed both. I like the look and who cares whats in my collection

Here they are under UV-light:





2nd Thoth Askaris and Forgeworld Bagwa (page 7) @ 2023/03/05 01:58:10


Post by: OldMate


Wow. really nice work, the UV paint looks really cool and the overall scheme really seems to work well. The firey purple theme works much better than I'd have ever considered


2nd Thoth Askaris and Forgeworld Bagwa (page 7) @ 2023/03/09 10:05:45


Post by: Pyroalchi


Thanks Oldmate, I'm also very satisfied with the result.
By the way: I finally did an updated 9th edition head count of my collection and the points really did go up quite a bit. So I'm well over 8000 points already. + over 300 points of Admech. Onwards to 10.000 I would say...


2nd Thoth Askaris and Forgeworld Bagwa (page 7) @ 2023/05/07 17:55:51


Post by: Pyroalchi


Finally finished some more of my Admech guys. Damn those dudes are detailed. I was hoping to finish them end of March and now we have May... Anyway here you go: a Manipulus for whom I'm still figuring out if I can come up with some nice background. I again used a lot of fluopaint from GSW. My photography skills are unfortunatly pretty bad and the pic doesn't really do him justice. But I'm pretty satisfied with him. The lower right pic is under UV-light


Also some Ruststalkers and Infiltrators. I might make the darker parts of the bases a bit darker and change the rims to purple. The lower pic each is under UV-light



I'm still considering if and which decals I'll use. Put I put that off for the future. I have some half finished Pteraxiis next, the bodies are finished, the wings get primed tomorrow or so. And I'm starting on a pair of Kastelan robots now...
Great things to come.


2nd Thoth Askaris and Forgeworld Bagwa (page 7) @ 2023/05/10 09:55:04


Post by: OldMate


The colours work really well. Great work!


2nd Thoth Askaris and Forgeworld Bagwa (page 7) @ 2023/06/11 13:45:08


Post by: Pyroalchi


Again something that took ages to finish, because those little AdMech buggers have so damn much detail... A unit of Pteraxiis, again mixed between both variants because I wanted to play around. I much prefer the skystalker heads, so all of them got those. The cool bases are from deadly print studios. I continued experimenting with GSW fluo colors, including on the flames, but that really didn't work out. I did the white and yellow parts in fluo paint, tested the look under UV light and it just looked really bad (Fluo white has a distinct blueish hue, fluo yellow a green one and overall it just looked dirty). Unfortunatly that was in a state where I could not easily "walk back", so I just left it. The eyes and some cables and tubes are still nicely fluorescent, but if I ever display them under UV, I might revisit the flame parts to repair that.

The wings have a chamleon color shift hex camo (which one can see on the left pic in the second line). It's much better visible on the miniature, but I don't have the foto equipment to catch that.

None the less a cool addition to my collection.




2nd Thoth Askaris and Forgeworld Bagwa (page 7) @ 2023/06/16 13:52:44


Post by: Pyroalchi


I managed to finish a pair of the good old Robo-dudes. The cristals are phosphorescent crystals from GSW painted with contrast colors which is again a really cool product. One can illuminate them with an UV light for some seconds and they glow afterwards. Funny stuff. The bright green and pink parts are again GSW fluo paints. The alternative heads from Wargames Exclusive.
I tried out GSWs shiny black basecoat spray (which came on rather thick but that might be on me) and then added Chameleon Color Shift paints. Darth blue for the dark parts and then some stripes in Celestial Azure. The whole color scheme was a test if that would be a nice way to do the vehicles for my AdMech detachment. The result looks good, but I think I will go in another direction for further vehicles.
As the lenses are bigger than on the AdMech stuff I did so far I painted them with different fluo paints ranging from darker orange to yellow.



2nd Thoth Askaris and Forgeworld Bagwa (page 7) @ 2023/06/17 10:37:15


Post by: OldMate


I do really like the blue black of the castelan's rounded armour, it's like a beetle's carapace on these things and different coloured fluids coursing through the mad assortment of pipes. It really suits the mechanicus. Really nice work!


2nd Thoth Askaris and Forgeworld Bagwa (page 7) @ 2023/09/03 07:33:44


Post by: Pyroalchi


To somewhat mitigate the constant struggles to supply the Askaris with dedicated tanks, the Forge complexes of Bagwa and Heavy industry konglomerates on Thoth itself have adapted to produce some of the less common Chimera variants. While those can of cause not compete with their corrosponding Leman Russ counter part, they provide the still young regiment with invaluable fire support.
After their first combat campaigns during the change from 41st to 42nd millenium, some valuable lessons were learned leading to some further adjustments. This includes a change from the more conventional Chimera layout with the turret in the front, to the less common central turret design, that gives the driver and gunner another hatch to exit the vehicle. Furthermore some variation of the established camo design was introduced for testing, as the classical one adjusted for dry forrest proved to be suboptimal. Future will tell which one will be kept.


The main variants are so far:

Chimerro Bagwa pattern
To provide the ability to reload the hunter killer missile under armor protection, two different patterns were designed, or rather drawn from the STC fragments available to the system. The variant produced on Bagwa includes a large revolver on the side, which contains three slots for missiles, the inner most open to the crew compartment for reloading.


Chimerro Thoth pattern
A more simplified solution was found on Thoth, were a small armored hatch was included into the turret roof, with the hunter killer launch tube adjusted to be rotated 90 degrees just on top of that hatch. Following that the crew can open it and reload the next missile. While this design provides less armor for the projectiles and somewhat compromises the stability of the turret roof, it is well liked since it is almost indistinguishable from the conventional Chimera.


Chimedon/Chimedicator
The well known variant sporting a smaller caliber Conquerer Cannon was also produced in a small test batch, before switching to the jokingly named „Chimedicator“ that is armed with a scaled down Eradicator Nova cannon. The weapon was also adjusted to be used as a howitzer for direct and indirect fire and provides some much needed fire power against entrenched positions.


Chimerrax Thoth pattern
The production oft he Chimerrax variant – usually armed with four Autocannons – met some problems. The STC fragments at hand where incomplete and the weapon smiths of the system were not able to replicate a working system for the ammo feeds. To adjust and use their strength, they instead „rediscovered“ a subvariant with four Multilasers instead. The stop gap solution proved quite potent against ligthly armored flying foes like Gargoyles or dark Mechanicus Pteraxiis while also being pretty effective when focussed on swarms of heretic foot soldiers on the ground. The tranport compartment had tob e halfed though to house the massive charge cells and condensators to provide energy for the laser array.




________________________________

Last but not least: a farewell to my "old" vehicle park that I recently thinned out to make more room in my vitrine.

Now the following are gone:
the bridgelayer, the bunkers, the Wolverine tank, the orky sentinel, the M4 Scott with Chimera turret, the GW Chimera, the Models and Minis wheeled Chimera, the Scylla tankette and the staghound-Tauros-proxy. Also 10 of my rough riders, the ones on GW cold ones and the Mongols.
May they serve their new owners well


2nd Thoth Askaris and Forgeworld Bagwa (page 7) @ 2023/09/04 09:54:44


Post by: OldMate


Loving the new paint scheme. And the new chimera is really really nice!


2nd Thoth Askaris and Forgeworld Bagwa (page 7) @ 2023/11/04 14:29:55


Post by: Pyroalchi


Finished off a bunch of minis from Titan-Forges Amazon line which seems to be intended as Seraphon Proxies, but work well for Imperial guard I think. I apologize for the rather yellowish pics, the light around here is not really good for taking pics at the moment.
First a couple of dinosaur riders intended to serve as Deathriders or Rough Riders as well as Death Rider Commander:

Raptor Riders
Here I experimented a bit with the different contrast blue shades I have. Also worked in a bit of Catbarfs Coconut Crab style on the hind legs (even if one cannot see it very well here). The bases were made with Greenstuff world Aztec Rolling pins. I also like the effect of "Blood for the blood god" and used it on some weapons and claws.


Brutosaurus Riders:

a bit heavier cavalry. I wanted to try and paint them in a style similar to the european goldfinch, a colorful species from around here that I really like:

Also here is their officer "Jurassica, the first to charge" which is a pretty cool name under which it was sold, so I'll keep it.

Only downside to these models: the spears are reaaaaly brittle and are fixed to the body at the wrist which at least for my superglue is kind of a chalenge and they break of really easily.

Last but not least three minis that were sold as "heirs of Kong". I love them... they will be a trio of Bullgryns. My wife had the idea to give the first one a poor little Tyranid that he just ripped in half, including some guts sticking out, which turned out pretty cool. I also like the effect of "blood for the blood god" on his knuckles and chestplate


2nd Thoth Askaris and Forgeworld Bagwa (page 7) @ 2023/11/05 19:40:37


Post by: Pyroalchi


The next one was an MDF toy robot my daughter and me build to gether, but that she did not want to keep. So I decided to paint it up in a test color for vehicles for my Admech force and also add a 3D print of the Forgeworlds symbol. The half circle symbolizing the day side of the tidally locked planet and the half cogweel the industrial complexes of the night side.
My wife also added some LED lights, two on top and one at the "heart". And my local GW-shop guy gifted me a Carnifex head from the bits box which I put into the robots hands as if he had just ripped it out.
It seems to be knight sized, but I'm not into it enough to change the hands for the typical knight weapons. It's more of a little plaything for my collection, like a big brother for the Kastelan robots.






2nd Thoth Askaris and Forgeworld Bagwa (page 7) @ 2023/11/08 22:23:53


Post by: OldMate


The Gorillas and amazon dinosaur cavalry are really cool, pity about the brittle spears. You might be able to replace them with white metal ones from wargames foundry or the assault group (as they both make aztec weapons)

I really like the robot, and it sounds like a real collective effort! Props to the Pyroalchi family for an awesome project!
The carnifex head is a great addition.


2nd Thoth Askaris and Forgeworld Bagwa (page 7) @ 2023/11/21 14:13:47


Post by: Pyroalchi


Some reinforcements again. I also found a lighting setup for my camera.

Datasmith:
I modified my paintscheme a bit compared to the other Admech guys. It's still very colorful, but damped down a lot. With much more blue glow where the others had bright orange and pink. Also played around with the metal trash on the bases (I think they are from Microartstudio, but I'm not completely sure about it) using different metallic colors, shades, Typhus corrosion and Ryza rust, this time leaving out the pink fluo paint on the bases. The lenses, blue tubings and greenish lights are still painted with GSW fluo paint and are shiny under UV.


Technoarcheologist
As one can imagine, I'm trying to "bring the band together". Only a Techpriest and Cawl are left I think. Really nice model and a joy to paint.


last but not least: a Cullexus Assassin. I originally didn't even want to buy one, but I was getting some Admech stuff via Ebay and the seller had this guy for 5 Euro on top so I though "meh, why not". I tried (more or less successfully) to replace the weird skull face with a blank smoth white surface. Mostly because I personally find that more scary than a smiling skull. Also worked a bit with glossy varnish and GSW fluo green. Overall nice result I think.


2nd Thoth Askaris and Forgeworld Bagwa (page 7) @ 2023/11/25 09:44:52


Post by: OldMate


Some really nicely painted Mechanicus characters!

The completely faceless Cullexus really suits an agent that is working in the employ of the mechanicus, especially when combined with your signature fluro hoses and tubes!

Again I love the weird and wonderful assortment of coloured hoses, pipes and tubes, it really lends itself to the cobbling together of odd and barely understood technologies, exotic materials and probably highly hazardous chemicals!


2nd Thoth Askaris and Forgeworld Bagwa (page 7) @ 2023/12/15 12:50:42


Post by: Pyroalchi


another bunch of finished minis, mostly from Titanforge.
A N'Go Primaris Psyker to go as leader for the bunch of Witch Doctors that sit in my vitrine waiting for a Wyrdvane Psyker datasheet to come up again. I find the blue-purple-red fabric works surprisingly well and the pose is pretty funny.



Of course the Tallarn half of my force also needs another Primaris Psyker too, so here comes old Hasrabal (named after an NPC from an RPG I play that he reminds me off). That giant turban was just awesome to see and I knew I had to have him. Also a cool pose to have him flying but still have his teapot nearby.


Then we have good old Sly Marbo. I just wanted to get one before he maybe gets replaced by a new model. His skin came around a bit darker then intended, but it is OK. I have to say though, I like Victorias female Sly a little more (in spoilers for comparison)

Spoiler:


Then a bunch of amazon characters from Titanforge. I got them for free on a larger order (the dinosaur riders I recently presented). So I had no real plan for them and just played around with contrast colors to see what I got. As they are 6 women with a distinctive style, I'll file them under "Triumph of St. Katherine" for my personal "what's in my collection" check list. If I find a nice, stylish looking, Aztec sarcophagus I might put them all on a fitting shared base.



As Oldmate asked: a size comparison of my different Ogryns and Bullgryns

from left to right: Titanforge, Mortian, Victoria Miniatures, Games Workshop, Atlantis Minitatures, Reaper Miniatures


2nd Thoth Askaris and Forgeworld Bagwa (page 7) @ 2023/12/19 10:34:35


Post by: OldMate


I really like both Primaris psychers they both really suit the aesthetic and cultures of your forces, I have to say the combination of the spectacular turban and tea pot make the Tallarn fellow my favorite!

I have to agree I like Victoria's Sly Marbo a bit better too, I actually have one, I think I might convert her into a tank commander.

The amazons look great, sometimes it's good to have a handful of figures that you can experiment with. Indeed a sarcophagus and some assistant pterasaurs (instead of cherubs, rolling with the whole Amazon dinosaur theme) would be absolutely fantastic!

I'm not going to lie, looks like your three Ogryn proxies would rip the arms off an ogryn the way an ogyrn does it to a regular human. A real tough lot!


2nd Thoth Askaris and Forgeworld Bagwa (page 7) @ 2024/01/20 20:32:41


Post by: Pyroalchi


Finally finished the Serberys I have been working on through december. I got into a bit of a slump around the holidays with my birthday, christmas and new year in between. Therefore it took longer than expected. But as usually: hang in there and you reach the finishing line someday. And as this whole adventure is my way of unwinding after work it doesn't really matter if I need months for 3 guys anyway, does it?

I used the GSW fluo colors again and would claim I get better. I also changed my paint scheme for the armorplates following something I saw in my GW store: Retributor armor base, followed up by Flesh Tearers red Contrast and topped with Ardcoat. Gives a really nice red metallic tone that looks even better than in the pics in real life. From my fluff I just imagine the Forgeworld itself experimenting with different alloys to explain why my older AdMech dudes have matte, non-metallic armor plates.
I also switched the heads for the ranger heads, as I find those cooler, even though I wanted Sulphurhounds. The bases are again glowing as they hail from a rad saturated world. Doesn't matter if this doesn't exist in the army rules anymore, it was a cool background in 9th edition (or was it 8th?), it will stay in my book






Another thing: my daughter (10 years) showed interest in painting minis again (way back she experimented a bit with some tin-romans) and build and painted this funny dude here:

Recently she also designed a knight base with bushes and gamer grass and wants to paint some more "little plastic men... or horses... or dragons!". I want to motivate her a bit to try it out, partly because it shouldn't be a "boys only" hobby, partly because it would be cool to have one child interested in the same hobby as myself. So if any of you wants to leave her a comment on the pic, that would definitly make her day.


2nd Thoth Askaris and Forgeworld Bagwa (page 7) @ 2024/02/02 07:31:03


Post by: Pyroalchi


To: Lord Militant Ludovigo Piavozza
From: Departmento Munitorum Clerk 5th Class Pavel Dimetrowitsch, Segmentum Pacificus, Subsector Kappa

Subject: Briefing on local battle theater and regimento 2nd Thoth Askaris


Section 1: general adress


Congratulations on your promotion Lord Militant. May the emperor bless your command and lead your forces to victory.
As to your request I include the information requested by you within this briefing in the sincere hope that it will help you in your endeavors. Note that me and my subdepartment are fully aware of the current dire situation within the central rimward subsectors, but the segmentum HQ on Hydraphur have rated this battlezone a Gamma grade priority, while all available reinforcements are to be directed towards the northern subsector to protect the capital – Hydraphur itself. Therefore, no notable reinforcements are to be expected. Nonetheless I’m confident a commander as capable as you will be able to ensure victory, especially as your promotion would otherwise look a lot like a disguised death sentence layed upon a commander that made to much powerful enemies…

Section 2: current strategic situation

As you are aware the event referred as the Night of Thousand Rebellions in 992.999 M41 has plunged large proportions of the Segmentum Pacificus into chaos, with the battle lines only slowly stabilizing. Subsector Kappa, which you have been stationed to, is centered around the Thoth system, conquered during the Macharian Crusade (for a system description and historic briefing see files C12-D47). Unlike most systems in the vicinity Thoth remained loyal and successfully fought of 3 attempted smaller Chaos invasions during the last decades, with the help of allies from the Commonwealth (see files E7-E9). Due to the current situation the subsector around Thoth is partly isolated from the rest of the imperium and has become a staging ground for all remaining loyalist forces that are not able to reach the main lines. In accordance with Munitorum decree Eta 417-A-332 Thoth performed several emergency tithes to raise a regimento of adequate size to relieve pressure from the main imperial lines around Hydraphur, subdue neighboring rebellious systems and reestablish contact with the imperial main force (in this order of priority).
In contrast to usual Imperial practice, all regiments of the Thoth Askari regimento have been formed into a more or less cohesive army to be employed together.

Section 3: General Comments on the Regimento

The addendum “ 2nd ” in the regimento description is rooted in local history, to commemorate the first regimento that was raised in 741 M41 but was completely annihilated the same year by Hive Fleet Behemoth. During standard procedures, the separate regiments drop this number and only use their separate regiment numerals.
In accordance with the planet’s population the regimento is split between so called Maghrebians – decendants of Tallarn Guardsman that have been settled on the planet – and N’Go, the endemic population in a ratio of about 1:2. The Maghrebians act tactically rather similar to Tallarn regiments, specializing in desert warfare, but tend to not reach the amount of mechanization of this renown regimento. The N’Go hail from jungle regions and are rather adept at jungle warfare. Note though that Thoth is not a dead world and the N’Go therefore are no Catachans.
While the whole system is outright invested into providing equipment, weapons and ammunition for the regimento, the materiel situation is rather difficult (see the regiment descriptions in the following sections). Therefore, you should adjust your expectations regarding the combat performance of single regiments. Most notably is the inability of the local industry to produce long range cannons and large caliber high velocity ammunition in adequate quality and quantity, as well as a far underperforming output of Leman Russ Battle tanks. Instead, they have adopted a variety of Chimera based and locally sourced vehicles that are rarely seen in other regimentos as stop-gap solutions. Furthermore, a significant stockpile of Malcador and Carnodon tanks have been aquired by the regiment and are produced on world together with different patterns of the Macharius tank-schemata.
As another saving grace the planet itself as well as the local Forgeworld do have significant experience and production capability in las-weapons of all sizes, stamping 78.62 % of all lasguns of the whole Segmentum Pacificus, as well as autocannons, low velocity howitzers using Eradicator shells and missile launchers. In order to simplify logistics, all branches of the army try to focus on these weapon types, while plasma and melta weapons are so rare, that they are completely reserved to elite formations.


Section 4: Regiment Organization

Light Infantry

The vast majority of regiments raised on Thoth are light infantry regimentswhich make up about 80% of the total regimentos personell. The basic Thoth infantry squad is composed of 10 Guardsmen, armed with lascarbines and close combat weapons of various times (knifes, swords, spears, clubs etc.). Only about 20% of the guardsmen could be issued with light flak vests, but a type of at least bullet and lasgun resistant hardwood shield is rather common. While plasma and melta weapons are rare, each squad could be provided with either a combination of grenade launcher and light multilaser (equivalent to a heavy stubber) or a flamer and tread fether (a scaled down missile launcher) to deal with armored as well as infantry targets. 4 of these Squads, supported by a dedicated sniper squad and a command section including a vox caster form a platoon of 50 soldiers.
6 such platoons supported by an Ogryn and Rough Rider Squad form a Company, under a company command section including a preacher and a medicae team, 320 Guardsmen in total. Due to the limited amount of vox casters, the Rough Riders are intended as a backup to relay orders between the sections.
6 Companies form a regiment under a regimental command section under a Colonel and Major including a Ministorum Priest, Commissar and Junior Commissar with 1930 personell in total.
As demonstrated, the number of commissars is comparatively low while the Adeptus Ministorum presence is notable. Reports from the Commissariat so far paint a rather flattering image of the Askaris bravery and fighting spirit, with very little commissarial intervention necessary, as long as their religious needs are provided for by the servants of the imperial faith.
The infantry regiments themselves usually do not include transports due to the simple reason of not enough trucks being around. Instead 5 Regiments share a logistic company big enough to redeploy at least a single regiment within an acceptable time frame.



The numerically next biggest asset are the Askaris cavalry regiments, organized as light, heavy and mechanized cavalry.

Light Cavalry

Light Cavalry regiments not only provide the eyes and ears of the Askaris infantry but also a quick response force to stabilize a faltering flank or capitalize on a local breakthrough. Each is formed of 8 companies of 35 Rough Riders each, mostly armed with hunting lances, while some minor formations of lasgun and grenade launcher armed dragoons exist. Due to Thoths diverse megafauna and a significant intake of dispersed rough rider squads from other regiments, the species of mounts are rather diverse. While horses and horse like species dominate within the maghrebian regiments, the N’Go deploy amongst others fast reptiloid species, armored burrowing animals, ape like mounts that can traverse through the jungle canopy as well as bipedal birds with sharp beaks. All these have in common that they are well suited for jungle warfare and are able to at least partly sustain themselves from the local fauna if deployed within adequate vegetation, easing the logistic demands of such forces.
Each regiment is also complemented by a Support Company build from 5 platoons of 9 Support Sentinels each, a variant of the well-known unarmored Sentinel walker, armed with a large missile launcher for indirect fire as well as improved stabilizors to withstand the recoil. This brings the numbers up to about 1200 cavalry and 45-50 sentinels per regiment, with roughly 1 light cavalry regiment per 5 light infantry regiments.


Mechanized Cavalry

To provide heavier firepower to fast response forces, 3 light cavalry regiments are supported by a mechanized or heavy cavalry regiment, the former being predominantly present in the maghrebian regiments. Two Command Salamanders lead four companies, build from 3 Squads including a Salamander Scout Tank, two Tauros Venators and two Tauros Assault Vehicles each. The separate squads therefore has enough firepower to successfully skirmish and attack targets of opportunity but should refrain from engaging in prolonged firefights or against dedicated armor. Each Salamander includes a Vox-amplifier to provide better com-range and -reception for the infantry. These sum up to a total of 500 Guardsmen manning 52 vehicles.



Heavy Cavalry

N’Go forces instead prefer so called heavy cavalry regiments, which are composed of larger animals from Thoths megafauna. While those are significantly slower than a mechanized regiment, they can traverse much better through dense forests and jungles and are also independent from fuel logistics. The majority of used animals are mammals referred to as “Elephants” and manned by several Guardsmen armed with long power lances or in some cases multilasers and lascannons, while the animals themselves are formidable opponents in close quarters fights. 8 companies of 15 elephants each are supported by two heavy companies formed of 2x6 giant warbeetles. These Arthropoda surpass a Leman Russ battle tank in size and have been reported to successfully engage enemy tanks and Tyranid Carnifexes in close combat while also carrying a spezialized howda with two twin lascannons or twin multilasers each. Each regiment thereby is composed of 135 beasts and 500 cavalrymen.


Light Artillery

While the production of armored vehicles is yet insufficient, the inhabitants of Thoth did their best to provide at least some heavy firepower to their regimento by raising several light artillery regiments, with roughly 1 such formation for every 15 light infantry regiments.
The regimental command is formed by a Command Chimera and two Tauros artillery spotters with advanced telemetric and communication equipment as well as the necessary cogitators to calculate fire solutions based on the reconnaissance reports of other regiments. Two of the subordinate companies are intended for direct fire, including 3 towed heavy lascannons as well as 3 trucks with 3 Lascannon and Autocannon teams each.
Another 4 companies are intended to provide indirect firepower with 3 towed howitzers firing eradicator subatomic ammunition as well as 3 trucks with 6 mortar teams each.
A squad of 3 specialized support sentinels armed with skyspear missiles protects these assets from aerial threats, while a support element of 4 Tauros Cargo and 6 trucks carries ammunition.
In total this amounts to 500 artillerymen, 18 towed artillerypieces and 114 crew served weapons per regiment


__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

The regiments described above form a division in the mentioned ratio of 15 light infantry : 3 light cavalry to 1 heavy/mechanized cavalry : 1 light artillery regiment. Three such divisions form a corps, which also includes a regiment of Scions (usually Muan Mangooses), a Tank regiment, Artillery Regiment and as N’Go speciality an Amphibious Regiment.

Artillery Regiment

As mentioned in the introduction, Thoth itself has almost no capability to construct adequate large caliber high velocity cannons, therefore preferring missiles and mortars as artillery pieces. Hence, each Artillery regiment includes (at least in theory) one company each of 9 Manticors and 9 Wyverns while another two companies are formed up of various barreled artillery including Basilisks, Medusas and Colossus, sometimes self-propelled, sometimes towed. These weapons were mostly integrated from dispersed units of other loyalist forces or are battle salvages and captures. While it is intended to phase them out in favor of Manticors and Wyverns to simplify logistics, the current industrial output of Thoth makes it unlikely this will be successful within the next decades.
Two Praetor Launchers per regiment form a heavy company for high priority targets.
A support element of Trojans, Atlas and Powerlifters completes the regiment and brings the numbers up to 500 artillerymen in about 50 vehicles.



Tank Regiment

The relatively few tank regiments of the regimento are led by a Command Chimera and two Command Salamanders each and are further compromised of 4 rather specialized companies. Tactically these regiments are rarely used as indepent forces but rather distributed amongst the infantry and cavalry formations to provide heavy firepower and solutions for problems that can not be addressed by these much lighter elements.
The A company of each regiment is meant for engaging fortifications and includes two killteams, each formed of a Malcador infernus, two Hellhounds and two Chimedactors – a locally produced Chimera variant armed with a scaled down eradicator nova cannon. Each killteam is sufficiently armed to engage a common traitor bunker section.
B company is used for tank hunting and also comprised of two killteams, each composed of a Valdor tank hunter, two Destroyer tank hunters and two Lascannon armed Carnodons.
C company provides more multipurpose firepower, including another two Squads with a Leman Russ Exterminator leading two Chimerrax – a local Chimera variant armed with a quad-multilaser-AA-array – and two Chimmeros with reloading Hunter-Killer-Launcher and a squad of tank grenadiers each.
The Regimentos few Macharius Vanquishers form the core of the heavy Company, each supported by two Malcador Annihilators. Due to the aforementioned issues, the Techpriests of the local Forgeworld are aiming to reconstruct an STC design of a Macharius variant armed with Heavy Laser destroyers instead of Vanquisher cannons which might reach the frontlines within the next year.
Finally the support element includes three Atlas recovery vehicles with mine plows, three Trojans and three Lamashu Minethrowers to impede enemy tactical mobility. Depending on the situation a Bridgelayer-detail might also be added to the formation which in total is made up of 500 tankers in approximately 50 vehicles.


Amphibious Regiment

A specific oddity provided by the N’Go part of the force are Amphibious transport regiments that provide additional mobility in wetlands, swamps and the ability to cross rivers and similar waterways.
They are composed of 5 companies, the first two including 2 Gorgon heavy transports and 6 Kelpy amphibious transports each. The Kelpy is a less well known STC design using a modified Chimera track-arrangement fixed to a blocky main hull and can transport about 25 Guardsmen, a Tauros or a Sentinel under at least moderate armor protection.
These are supported by a company of amphibious tanks of the Alligator schemata, which is based on the Kelpy and exchanges the transport deck for a Chimera turret armed in the Autocannon, Chimerrax-AA-array or Chimedicator howitzer configuration.
D company provides two sections of 6 Anakonda amphibious rigs each, which are able to form an approximately 150 yard long bridge strong enough to be crossed by vehicles up to Malcador pattern. Alternatively the amphibious rigs can be used as ferries to cross wider water ways in a single- (up to 20 tons, Tauros, Sentinels and Guardsmen), double- (up to 45 tons, Chimera patterns) or triple- (up to 70 tons, Leman Russ patterns) configuration. Only the driver cab is armored against small arms fire though.
Finally a support company of 10 heavy trucks carries a compliment of 100 large, inflatable dinghy boats with outboard engines to provide more transfer capability for infantry.
The overall approach of these Amphibious Regiments is to start of with the Gorgons which are able to land a first compliment of two Infantry Platoons even on contested shores, which are provided fire support by the Alligator tanks. The Gorgons heavy dozer blades are used to prepare the shore for the subsequent landing of the Kelpys, transferring the rest of a Company. After a bridgehead is secured, it is strengthed by further Infantry transfers with dinghy boats while the rigs start to build a pontoon bridge or stable ferry transfer. Overall a whole Infantry regiment can cross a river in under an hour depending on their experience.
While these amphibious landings do seem kind of anachronistic in light of usual support by Valkyries and other Imperial Navy assets, these are stretched to thin in the local sector and within the regimento to be an adequate option, therefore making these regiments quite important.
A small fleet of armed and armored brown water navy boats to patrol waterways is also under construction and will be integrated into the Askari force.


Three of these corps formed from the mentioned heavier Regiments and 3 divisions each are unified into an army of about 330.000 personell, while 3 armies each build up an army group of about 1 million Guardsmen. 5 of these army groups are currently tithed and supported by the planet, including 5 million guardsmen and about 3000 Regiments. Due to the recent, pronounced population growth on Thoth, a 6th Army group is currently organized and will be available within the next two decades.



For further information I refer to the rest of this dossier…


2nd Thoth Askaris and Forgeworld Bagwa (page 7) @ 2024/03/21 22:16:56


Post by: Pyroalchi


Finished a whole bunch of thematic terrain from Archon Studios Rampart Terrain Kickstarter:
all parts:
Spoiler:



a three story building fixed together including selfmade floors
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backview including the floors:
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some details, including golden snippets for the walls and greenish toppers
Spoiler:


a couple of objective markers
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