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Don't know if I've posted in the right place.
Beat me if I have deviated.

This is more of a fluff-blog than anything else. Basically I'm getting into WH40k after a good ten years or more and thought I would do something really off-the-wall.
Browsing through the mythology I found some references to Naval Armsmen who on occassion are needed to fight in an infantry role either on planetfall or baording missions.
Since Munitorum law means that IG forces cannot have air support and the IN cannot have ground forces I though this was strange.
Looking through Forge World and their Imperial Armour series the IN ships are becoming very popular and now seem to be sneaking their way into the IG army lists. Apparently the IG are excused from having air support in the cases of certain Valkyries, Vultures and what not- mainly for their storm troopers but also a IG aeronautical regiment.
Well, if GW can bend the rules so can I.
I have always been fascinated by navy and marines (must be the uniform lol) so I thought the navy armsmen would be a common sight in the wh40k universe since not all ships have IG garrisons, and ships must be more likely to be in place when a conflict hits, or even just turn up in time. WIth massive ship's crews and surplus men- who are these armsmen?

Well, after months of fluffing it to death and writing reams of mythology to legitimise my Naval Infantry I have come up with some (IMO) FANTASTIC ideas which I will now start converting into a reality. My wife is glad that I am no longer 'discussing' it with her at three in the morning.

I will post the fluff and my own made-up Codex for these chaps as well as info on how I will make them. I will have to buy a few Aeronautica vessels as air support since naturally the Munitorum limits the Navy from all ground vehicles and most heavy weapons. With some interesting twists the Naval Infantry have developed a unique armoury and set of tatics that echo the IG but differs in the details, following a naval tradition that is just as old as the IG dating back to the days of the Imperial Army.

Hope you enjoy...

Sounds cool. Post some pics as it comes along.

Cool idea definetley support it

would like to see WIP pics as well. Good luck with it!

Cheers guys. Will do.
I will start off with showing you some concepts and then show you what I was thinking to represent it. Problem is if the scale fits, the models I was thinking of using are pretty unknowns I reckon because they are off the timescale/genre

Alright, been a while but I'm one step closer to getting underway. I realised that my idea will involve a gakload of cash that would go to waste if it was a totally invented army, so I've decided to work off the principle that they are in gaming terms just Imperial Guard. That way I can field them as a themed army.

First up then, they are all Drop Troops and I've decided that my fast attack and heavy support will be Valkyrie and Vulture gunships to give a real Naval feel to them.

My doctrines have been hard choices, my theme is that there will be some Naval special forces on top of the basic armsmen in my army. These special forces will be basically like storm troopers, but I think I will not buy back the Storm Troopers but instead use the Veterans drill which allows me more than one Veteran squad and yet the same kind of stats as Storm Troopers per model but cheaper as well as allowing what I consider more flexibility in the armoury. So these guys are my spearhead units, my Naval Commandos.

For the bulk of the naval infantry, I will have my 'armsmen' which with three doctrine points left to use I think I will give a Sharpshooter drill first, since they get a lot of time on ship to practice their skills, plus they are pretty overworked boys what with planetfall missions everytime the Guard aren't around to answer the call- and all those bloody boarding missions! I wondered about Close Order drill to represent the fact that they are not standard troops (like the Guard), or perhaps Iron Discipline or Hardened Fighters -that one is a tough call.

I then considered the idea of buying back Special Weapons squads, which although only gives me really two units they really do packa punch and I felt that I would paint/model them the same as my veterans/special forces, they will unfortunately lack the same stats (which is where the fluff fails) but they will carry some very nasty weapons which represent that SAS feel, these guys dropping into the battle next to heavy infantry or armour would be a real stunning effect which is exactly what my theme is all about.

I think I will go for a full five commissars (not sure what kind of fluff I will explain them away as... maybe 'Officers of the Watch'.) I will attach these to my armsmen units to give them some backbone since I am lacking heavy weapons and armour on the ground, I need all the help I can get.
The reason being of course is that they are naval infantry, light infantry who are prohibited by Imperial law from fielding certain equipment and so on....


Right, now that's all done, I'm going to start buying the models and see if they live up to my expectations. Looking forward to customising and modifying my naval infantry with a lot of kit, heavy backpacks, grenades, extra ammo- everything they will need for long range patrols behind enemy lines!

I don't see hwere you would have come up with a reason for ship-board infantry, as every ship has a ship based force to repell boarding actions, maintain discipline and of course provide security and boarding actions during wartime.

So modifiying it slightly to be a fiedable list would not be hard at all.

Cool concept, and look forward to seeing it fleshed out.

Mordian figures might make for an interesting choice to use. They have a kind of naval/marine look to them. I can't wait to hear more from you. Sounds like a very interesting porject.

Cool idea.

I would suggest that you keep vehicles to a minimum. Cramped corridors are tricky to move a Leman Russ down!

Sentinels would be okay, esp the Power Lifter version from FW.
If you could convert naval shotguns, it would be ace.
If you want more inspiration, check out 'Sabbat Martyr' and 'First and Only' by Dan Abnett. Lots of Naval Armsmen action. The use shottys that fire 'wire twists' [iirc] that do not penetrate starship hulls.
Close Order Drill makes sense aswell, but will probably disappear in the new IG codex.

good luck!

I would wait a few months before doing anything big, there's a new IG codex coming that should let you make a good Naval Landing Party.

I would go wtih stormtroops with shotguns (which will be a new plastic option) and then maybe Cadians with Pig Iron visor heads.

Really? OK, I keep hearing rumours from people... where has all this sudden talk of naval infantry in the IG list come from, do you have any links? WD?
I'd be really P*ed off if they are releasing a naval infantry, I thought I was on to something...

Thanks for the tips on the books, I reckon I will go for shotguns and plenty of assault weapons, flamers, GLs, plasma guns etc and of course no armour, just the air support