Here is a photo of the drop troops laid out roughly how they would be used on the tabletop. There are a handful of minis still under construction.
This is the basic squad layout (except I just realised that there should also be a sniper). They will be veteran drop troops (or just veterans). There will be three squads like this one and one veteran squad with 3x meltas.
I like the idea of having a nice number of mortars so that the enemy is forced to attack. Given that most of my drop troop squads have missile launchers and sniper rifles they don’t really want to be moving. They will be a static defensive line. That’s the plan anyway.
The sentinels will be equipped with heavy bolters. Again they don’t want to be moving so they will be fire support.
I’m planning to have 2x Special Weapons Squads with 3x plasma guns. Really I would prefer to be running veteran squads with 3x meltas but I built a bunch of plasma gunners and this is how they work best. They will be used to flank and move into a fire support position.
Yeah, that’s a Chimera with a Baneblade Cannon… could count as a Basilisk. I’m planning to replace this turret with a twin heavy bolter turret though. They are all unfinished with the tank on your right not even having been washed yet. I’m also planning to replace the hatches which is going to involve a bit of cutting et cetera.
These guys are close to being finished. They are PDF, or in my head fluff they are subsector defence. There are three planets in the subsector which pool their PDF resources together as two of the planets are quite small (having been established in approximately M41.500 or 500 years ago).
These guys are also pretty much finished. They are subsector elites. I like to call them rangers. They would be used as a veteran guard squad with heavy stubbers for special weapons.
These guys are veteran guardsmen. I’d like to run them as 2x 7 man squads with a platoon commander. Each 7 man squad has a melta and a vox caster. I could run them as a veteran squad with just lasguns and a vox caster and a 4 man command squad with 2 meltas and a vox caster plus a platoon commander.
They are supported by a Chimera. Again I would get creative with the turret. Since I will also be running 2 Avenger Strike Fighters (which are yet to be fully assembled), I like the idea that this turret fires the same rounds as the Avenger’s bolt cannon.
I think this is basically all of the forces that would hail from Khormatar. They have a sister planet in the subsector called Khortar. There is also a larger planet in the subsector called Akkatar. In my head fluff this name has evolved into Arcadia over time.
Automatically Appended Next Post: If you would please indulge me and allow me to outline my “head fluff” in a bit more detail. I call it head fluff because whilst I have made attempts to write things down it mostly exists in my mind.
The main protagonist of my story is Jeremiah. He becomes a drop trooper but (SPOILER ALERT) he will eventually write a book of heresy which will lead to a separatist movement. He outlines the rights of Imperial citizens and the Imperium’s duty to protect his home world of Khormatar and the surrounding area. This arises as there is a large(ish) Ork threat in the area but their forces are always being tasked with supporting other Imperial actions far away.
The subsector is located at the extreme edge of the galaxy to the galactic sou-southwest of Holy Terra. These planets were originally colonised by Tallarn explorers 2000 years ago (approx. M40.000) who set up outposts. Then 500 years ago (approx. M41.500) the outposts on Khormatar and Khortar were developed into “castles” with the eventual goal of these becoming fortress worlds. Arcadia (nee Akkatar) has instead been made into a large cosmopolitan world hailed as a land of opportunity.
So the main protagonist of the story is Jeremiah who is a natural leader but he is also conflicted with his sense of things not being the way they ought to be. He has two friends: Jodah who is smart and mischievious and David who is a good natured meat head. Whilst Jeremiah feels strongly that they need to combat the Ork threat in the area, the Guard forces are instead sent to fight the Necron threat in the Orpheus Sector as part of the Orphean War and then the Tyranid threat from Hive Fleet Leviathan .
Before they are sent off to fight the Necrons and then the Tyranids, there is a small and perhaps half-arsed attempt to assault the largest Ork planet in the area, Blakrok. Blakrok has highly fertile land which could help feed the sector (and other nearby sectors also). The orks there are known as black bloods, a slightly different breed from the red blooded orks that populate most of the galaxy. I like the idea that these orks are comical (whilst still being large and scary also).
And so all my models are displayed on black sandy bases. Perhaps they are set, not as part of the first attempt to assault Blakrok, but rather after the attacks on the Necrons and Tyranids have taken place; once Jeremiah’s heretical ideas have taken hold. I have some Space Marine forces, namely the Angels of Wrath (aka Covert X) and Minotaurs which perhaps will somehow support the separatist movement. Perhaps Jeremiah will interact with some Space Marines during his adventures as part of the Orphean War and the fight against the Tyranids. Maybe even the orks are on the side of the separatists, perhaps protecting Blakrok from the Tyranid threat.
So I would like to write these ideas into three books, a trilogy, which sees Jeremiah first becoming a drop trooper and assaulting Blakrok (book 1), fighting the Necrons (book 2), then fighting the Tyranids (book 3). From there perhaps there would need to be another trilogy, but I need to write the first three before I think too much about how the story should continue from there.
There is a lot more to elaborate upon, but this is my basic idea. I would welcome any questions or further ideas. However this is supposed to be a hobby blog, so my main focus here should be on showcasing my armies.
Automatically Appended Next Post: I thought I should perhaps showcase some Orks.
The true leader of my Ork army is this guy. His name is The Big Papa, Grot Zapper. He dresses dapper with a hat ‘n that. He has the body of a Nob but the arms of a Runtherd. He commands an army of grots that are perhaps the brains behind it all.
The ork he’s pictured with here doesn’t have a name yet… but he currently doesn’t have a squad either and so he’s The Big Papa’s first matey.
These were the first orks that I put together as part of my Freebooterz army. I call them The Ol’ Boyz. They are perhaps among my dodgiest (with a dodgy photo to match) but I still like them. The whole ork army appears a little mismatched, but they are a work in progress and things are still finding their place.
I should probably work on these guys next. Being a part of a largely grot army, perhaps they have grotzookas. Otherwise I’m not quite sure what their guns are. Please excuse the work in progress shot.
These guys are Swashdakkas.
I think of these guys as Stikkbombers, although that’s technically not a
40k unit. You may notice I rarely adhere to
40k rules and unit structures. The rule of cool people!!
This is a squad of 20x Kromlech Tough Lads. I had to use a hairdrier to get these guys all pointing their guns. I want to give a third of them muzzle flashes. They are pictured behind barricades also from Kromlech.
Snagrat Krom
I have 4x Kromlech Grot Tanks as well as 4x Forgeworld Grot Tanks. Here two Kromlech Grot Tanks are pictured alongside a looted Dread from Wargames Exclusive.
Nobz
A more flattering picture of the Nobz.
Lootaz/Deffgunnerz
Meganobz.
These guys are inspired by the 30x Minotaur Terminators that are yet to be built.
And Superhero orks… because… why not? They are (from top left to bottom right) Tony Stork aka The Iron Ork, The Phantom Ork, Beast Boy, The Punish-Ork and The Flashiest Ork. I really need to frame this photo better but for now you get the idea.
There’s more but that will do for now. As you can see I have a lot of work ahead of me. I hope to have these finished before I die. No more new minis!! Unless I discover something really cool of course.
