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Been seeing people's cool penal legion models on instagram, so looked into them. But after some searching, it looks like they don't really exist in the current rules - is that right?

And if so, just curious to hear if anyone on dakka does use them for fun (whether counts-as something else, houserules, etc) and how?

(Pardon if this was the wrong forum section to post this under)

Penal legion hasn't had rules since 6th edition.

Currently there are no rules for penal legion. But they are just Guardsmen in prison jump suits so use whichever doctrine you like.

Valhallan Counts as is the closest you'll get.

Play shadow wars and have them all as standard guardsmen with one skill picked from the skill tables...

You can only use seven of them (including Schaeffer) in Shadow War; the rest have illegal weapon options.

The best option would be to write your own datasheet for them. Just count them as a Veteran squad with more weapons than they're normally allowed.

I run a Penal Legion list using a mix of Last Chancers, Gaunts Ghosts, and Necromunda gangers using the Catachan rules, and a force of mostly genestealer cultists painted up with riot gear looking weapons as "prison guards" using Valhallan rules.

I use the Chancers as as many characters as I can. Schaeffer is Straken, Ox is Harker, Shiv is Marbo, Grease Monkey is a Commissar. The rest form most of an Infantry squad with Hiro as the squad leader, Rocket Girl and Fingers forming the heavy weapon team, and Animal as the special weapon. Scope is fielded elsewhere in the army with several of Gaunt's Ghosts as part of a Sniper Rifle command squad.

My other infantry squads are an Orlock gang, an Escher Gang, and a couple squads of Forgeworld Renegade Guardsmen. A Goliath gang is used as a squad of Ogryn and a squad of Bullgryn (with a WHFB warrior priest as a Priest with Eviscerator accompanying them).

The job of the Penal Scum is primarily to fling themselves at the enemy army and seek to gum up the works so that the Prison Guards can open up into close combat as much as possible.

 AndrewGPaul wrote:
You can only use seven of them (including Schaeffer) in Shadow War; the rest have illegal weapon options.

The best option would be to write your own datasheet for them. Just count them as a Veteran squad with more weapons than they're normally allowed.

Sorry I meant in Shadow War doing something custom, not using the Vet guard squad list.