Another diversion from what I should be painting, but something I had wanted to do for a while. These are 3mm Vanguard Miniatures tanks, proxying as the Ultramar version of the Imperial Army for my Calth collection.
First, some fluff:
“Ultramar, the realm of the Ultramarines Legion and part of the greater Imperium, consists of a sub sector of approximately five hundred habitable planets. Ruled over by Roboute Guilliman, the Primarch of the Ultramarines Legion, this realm is regarded as one of the most prosperous, efficient and advanced regions of space in the whole Imperium.
While the realm of Ultramar is exempt from the normal tithe of military units expected from worlds of the Imperium, the realm itself maintains many regiments ready for deployment outside of Ultramar.
The CCIXth Ultramar Auxilia Regiment is one such formation.
The Regiment is a combined arms force consisting of detachments from many Ultramar planets, each adding mastery of their own speciality to the whole. Comprising many tens of thousands of highly trained Auxilia the CCIXth included sub units of infantry, armour, artillery and various support arms. It should be noted that the term 'regiment' is not associated with a particular size of formation, and is more the generic name for a particular body of troops.
As part of Ultramar’s muster of force ordered by Warmaster Horus (supposedly for operation against an anticipated incursion of Orks in the Veridian system), the CCIXth was deployed to Calth alongside numerous other Imperial Army, Titan Legion, Skitarii and Knight units - as well as the Ultramarine Legion and the Word Bearers Legion. With barrack space being at a premium, the Regiment found itself billeted amongst several small settlements on the Northern Continent. In honour of the hospitality they had received, and prior to donning campaign appropriate camouflage schemes, the CCIXth’s vehicles were painted in colours representing the heraldry of the local principality.
On the day of the Betrayal, when the traitors of the Word Bearer Legion and their allies struck, this particular armoured detachment of the CCIXth found themselves without communications with either Regimental or Planetary Command. Initially assuming a planetary attack by an unknown foe, the armoured element took up positions to defend their billets. In time they linked up with units from the Ultramarines Legion, Adeptus Mechanicus Skitarii, Legio Praesagius Titans, other Auxilia Regiment and Knight detachments in order to take part in the fighting on the Plains of Dera against the betrayers – by then the previous well-maintained farmland had been turned to wasteland due to the host of powerful weapons unleashed.
Surviving elements of the CCIXth eventually made their way into the underground shelters following the Word Bearers poisoning of the Calth Systems sun and evacuation of the planets surface. There they continued to battle against surviving Word Bearer forces, protecting the remaining sheltering civilians. After years of fighting in the Underground War, the few survivors went on to form a new CCIXth Regiment.”
| With some Vanguard Stalkers for scale |
| Vanguard 'Centurion' MBTs. Proxying here for early 'Gantz' pattern Leman Russ tanks. |
| A few of Vanguards 'Heavy' tanks to reinforce the company. |
| Mixed in with the recent Ultramarine proxy detachment - also Vanguard 3mm models. |
| The very small, and the very large... |
| We fight for Macragge! |
This little lot help me complete the Challenge Island final location, for which Dave has made me a lovely burning Sherman, complete with flickering LED!