Taking Stock of the Astra Militarum

 So... I did a thing... AGAIN....

I picked up the new 9th Edition Astra Militarum Codex. 

Am I going to be playing 40K again soon? I don't know... but I do always like to be prepared! And the Astra Militarum are one of the largest collections of minis I own. 

I went a little overboard with 40K in 8th edition. I ended up with SEVEN Codexes!? (Astra Militarum, Grey Knights, Imperial Knights, Chaos Knights, Chaos Space Marines, Chaos Daemons, Drukhari - plus the T'au, Genestealer Cult, Ork, Eldar, and Harlequin ones the kids got!? ). So far I've only picked up Aeldari and Cadian codexes and NONE of the fluff books - The Arks of Omen books look interesting... but I bought SO MANY of the Psychic Awakening books and never made much use of them and they're pretty easy to find for, like, $5-10, now... so... I'll just wait. 

Maybe if there's an Emperor's Children book, but I have a feeling that won't be for another year (and, possibly, another edition!?). Haven't even picked up the Chaos Space Marine book - which is the only other force I kind of think about working on, from time to time... 

There have been some not insignificant changes to the Astra Militarum. Some are great. Some... less so... Some have made it a little more challenging to field certain forces of Astra Militarum that I have. 

Special Weapon Squads, Wyrdvane Psykers, Veterans, Platoon Commanders, Company Commanders, Lord Commissars, and Conscripts are all just gone... Well... there are still Platoon Commanders, but they've been included in the Platoon Command Squad - which is now a Headquarters option (Yay!). 

Other stuff that used to be Elite options are no longer so. Regimental Advisors - Master of Ordinance, Officer of the Fleet, Astropaths - are all options that can be added to Platoon Command Squads instead of being individual Elite options. There are SO MANY things that used to be Elites, but are no longer, that in some of my Guard forces I might actually have a hard time coming up with Elites to field to fill that slot in a Brigade Detachment!? 

Commissars are still Elites, but you CAN field one that doesn't fill an Elite slot for every Command Squad you have (I won't ever be using that option, as in many forces Commissars are the ONLY Elites I have now and they NEED to fill those Elite slots!). Commissars also issue their own orders (like officers), which makes them far more useful! 

The [Regiment] keyword is gone. You can include stuff from any regiment in a detachment and not lose whatever Regimental Doctrine you pick. 

In addition to Ursula Creed (daughter of Lord Castellan Urarkar Creed) there are a Cadian Castellan (which KIND OF replaces the old generic Company Commander) - a higher order of officer than the one in the Platoon Command squad... I just do not get WHY they called it a "Cadian" Castellan and not just a generic "Castellan" or "Commandant" or "Company Commander" or whatever... In game terms it would be a perfect thing to represent the old Captain Al'rahem (Legengary Tallarn Commander - which I have a few of!?)... but... it's called CADIAN Castellan!? 

There are a few weirdly named things like that: CADIAN Shock Troops (why not just call them "Shock Troops"?), ATTILAN Roughriders (why not just Roughriders!?), etc... I suppose it doesn't REALLY matter, because they can all be put in a unit together... but it kind of bothers me, because there are a few units I'll probably end up using that.. well... won't be "right"!? 

I have Tallarn Roughriders... Original Games Workshop models. I brought them out to a tournament as part of a force made up entirely of Tallarn models - just after 8th edition was released and Roughriders were in the brand new Index. Everyone kept calling them Attilan Roughriders and I had to correct them and point out, NO, they are actually TALLARN Roughriders - look at the freaking models!? Now if I were to show up at an even with them, people will still call them Attilan Roughriders... and they'll be right... because that's what they unit is called ATTILAN Roughriders!? 

I know, I know... it's a stupid hang-up... but there it is... 

The deal with Cadian Shock Troops is that they're just like your bog standard Infantry Squad except that they can't have a Heavy Weapons team, but instead can have two special weapons. Because Special Weapon Squads are no longer a thing, I'll probably fold a lot of the ones I previously had into "Cadian Shock Troops" units... except that they're Tallarn or Valhallan or Catachan miniatures... 

Oh, and there are actually "CATACHAN Jungle Fighter" squads!? They're a LITTLE like the Cadian Shock Troops, in that they don't have Heavy Weapons Teams and can have two Special Weapons... except that those special weapons can only be Flamers. But they do score extra hits on sixes when fighting Melee... Why not just call the "Assault Squads"!? 

The veterans in Platoon Command Squads no longer have a Ballistic Skill of 3+. But the medi-pack in the Command Squad is AMAZING, though (every time a model in the squad would lost a wound a roll of 5+ means it doesn't!?)!! So way more incentive to put in a medic and leave the Heavy Weapons teams in the Heavy Weapons Squads. Regimental Standards now have an aura ability that every Astra Militarum Core unit within 6" re-rolls 1s when making any attacks (instead of the +1 Leadership they use to confer)! Guess I'll be painting some of those up now! 

Vanquisher cannons on Leman Russ tanks now have a 14 strength and deal d3+6 damage!? Which now makes them worth taking! Previously they had been the same strength as a regular Battle Cannon... they dealt more damage, but made only one attack. As the Astra Militarum isn't known for it's amazing Ballistic Skill I feel like it's always better to have MORE ATTACKS as at least you'll hit with SOME of them and do SOME damage! That extra strength and damage is suddenly worth the risk (of missing) to deal some serious damage to heavily armoured opponents! Though Turret Weapons in Leman Russ tanks now get a +1 to hit, so... even more worth it! 

Kasrkin are back... which is weird to me... because the Tempestus Scions that kind of replaced them a couple editions ago are still in the book... and they're pretty much THE SAME!? I honestly thought the Scions were a generic form of Kasrkins and they'd disappeared from the previous codexes as part of a move towards more generic troops - no need to rules for Specialist Cadian troopers since Cadia has been... y'know...  DESTROYED and everything...? 

I know... I know... CADIA STANDS!!! 

Sentinels now have a 12" move! It was SO IRRITATING that the Reconnaissance unit of armoured detachments moves SLOWER than the actual tanks they were supposed to be probing ahead of!?  

I'm sure there are more things, but these are a few of the key things affecting the forces that I have! 

These are not particularly useful any more... Wyrdvane Psykers. This is the only deletion that affected me in any way - not that I ever got around to painting these. I picked them up because they looked fun, but I don't think they were particularly effective units and these never really went with either the Tallarn or Guaiacan (Catachan) models of the main forces I was working on at the time. Not sure what I'll do with them now...? Maybe pass them off as Primaris Psykers for some of the forces that done HAVE dedicated Primaris Psykers (Valhallans and Tallarn?) 

So... of course I dragged out ALL THE ASTRA MILITARUM and took stock of what I had and how it could potentially be organized and what needed to be done to complete forces. 

Here's what I've got...

CADIAN

I did a bit of a stock taking of these before (when I first heard the new Codex was coming - and heard a few of the rumours about the coming changes):

40K - CADIA STANDS!!!

I had been regretting the decision to rebase the Officers on 32mm bases when I heard they are no longer separate characters and are part of a Command Squad... But upon reading the actual rules, they ARE still considered "Character" models, so...not so regretful. 

Regimental Standards are so WORTH IT now - previously they only gave +1 leadership to any units within 6"... Now they give every unit within 6" the ability to re-roll any 1s rolled in any attack!? There is no longer stats for Colour Sergeant Kell - but I might just paint him up to include as a regimental Standard for one of the Command Squads! I have two other standard bearers I can paint up to include in the other two Command Squads (not that I'll likely ever use ALL THREE command squads)

(oh, and my Cadian medics can now have a Laspistol AND a Chainsword - as many of those old models are armed with! Previously, you could only have one of Lasgun or Laspistol or Chainsword) 

There are not stats for Lord Castellan Creed anymore... but there are stats for Castellans and I could paint up Creed to use as one of those (or just use him as a stand in for his daughter, Ursula Creed, who IS a character in the new book!?) 

So the force could be fielded as a Battalion Detachment and look like:

Headquarters (2-3)

• CREED! (using old model in place of new one) - 4PR
• Platoon Command Squad - 4PR
• (+ Astropath added to Command Squad +2PR)
• Primaris Psyker - 3 PR

Troops (3-6) 

• Cadian Shock Troops - 4PR
• Cadian Shock Troops - 4PR
• Cadian Shock Troops - 4PR
• Cadian Shock Troops - 4PR

Elites (0-6)

• Commissar - 3PR
• Commissar - 3PR
• Kasrkin - 5PR

Fast Attack (0-3)

Heavy Support (0-3)

• Heavy Weapon Squad - 3PR

Total: 43 Power Rating

I have other Regimental Attachés... but they're not particularly useful. Master of Ordinance buffs artillery and Officer of the Fleet buffs anything flying, and this force has none of either... The Astropath is now just a Psyker (with less wounds and attacks than the Primaris Psyker, but has a special Psyker Ability that can potentially generate a command point)

The only things I need to paint to complete this are the Kasrkin, Creed, the Standard Bearers and the Primaris Psyker - 15 models. So I imagine I will be working on those in the next week or so, just to have a COMPLETE FORCE!!!

If I were to start a Crusade Campaign with these (as there are SO MANY Crusade options in the book) I might begin with a Patrol Detachment that looks like:

Headquarters (1-2)

• Platoon Command Squad - 4PR
• (+ Astropath added to Command Squad +2PR)

Troops (1-3) 

• Cadian Shock Troops - 4PR
• Cadian Shock Troops - 4PR

Elites (0-2)

• Commissar - 3PR
• Kasrkin - 5PR

Fast Attack (0-2)

Heavy Support (0-2)

• Heavy Weapon Squad - 3PR

Total: 25 Power Rating

Regimental Preachers are still a thing, and I have a few of those that could be added in... along with some Inquisition troops which (I think) can be added to any Imperial detachment without losing a Regimental ability... or maybe its just an Inquiditor that can do that...? anyway, a few more things I could add in to bring it up to 50... 

VALHALLAN 

Next to none of this is done, but it's also a relatively small force (if just considering the infantry) so, could be knocked off before taking on some of the larger ones... 

I have:

• 3x Platoon Command 
• 1x Commandant ("Cadian" Commandant... but not Cadian... uggggh...) 
• 6x Infantry Squad
• 4x Heavy Weapon Squad
• 2x Commissars 
• assorted extras

With these, I should be able to put together a battalion detachment:

Headquarters (2-3)

• Castellan - 3 PR
• Platoon Command Squad - 4PR
• Platoon Command Squad - 4PR

Troops (3-6) 

• Shock Troops - 4PR
• Shock Troops - 4PR
• Shock Troops - 4PR
• Shock Troops - 4PR
• Shock Troops - 4PR
• Shock Troops - 4PR

Elites (0-6)

• Commissar - 3PR
• Commissar - 3PR

Fast Attack (0-3)

Heavy Support (0-3)

• Heavy Weapon Squad - 3PR
• Heavy Weapon Squad - 3PR
• Heavy Weapon Squad - 3PR
• Heavy Weapon Squad - 3PR

Total Power Rating: 53

I have a few other things - from an assortment of other manufacturers - that I thought I might use with the Valhallans. The AA-tank could be a stand-in for a Hydra, the other...? Maybe an Armageddon Pattern Medusa - self-propelled mortar/bombard. 

The Aerosan - vehicles on skis, propelled by giant propellers - one (the transport version) I thought might be a stand-in for a Taurox, the other two (reconnaissance) could be stand-ins for Sentinels.

The KV-2s would be stand-ins for Leman Russ tanks (I have extra barrels to replace the ones that came with the tanks). In Epic there was an Imperial Guard tank that looks a lot like a KV-2 called the Ragnarok - which is what I was going to call these... but I'll just use the Leman Russ stats. 

The BA-64s I thought could also be used as stand-ins for Sentinels.. 

If (when?) I ever got these all assembled and converted and painted, I'd be able to field a Brigade Detachment... 

Valhallan Brigade Detachment

Headquarters (3-5)

• Castellan - 3 PR
• Platoon Command Squad - 4PR
• Platoon Command Squad - 4PR
• Platoon Command Squad - 4PR
• Tank Commander (KV-2)- 10PR

Troops (6-12) 

• Infantry Squad - 4PR
• Infantry Squad - 4PR
• Infantry Squad - 4PR
• Infantry Squad - 4PR
• Infantry Squad - 4PR
• Infantry Squad - 4PR

Elites (3-8)

• Commissar - 3PR
• Commissar - 3PR
• Regimental Enginseer - 2PR

Fast Attack (3-5)

• Sentinel (BA-64 - 2) - 6PR
• Sentinel (Aerosan - 3) - 9PR

Heavy Support (3-5)

• Heavy Weapon Squad - 3PR
• Heavy Weapon Squad - 3PR
• Heavy Weapon Squad - 3PR
• Leman Russ Tank Troop (KV-2 - 2) - 18PR
• Wyvern or Hydra (1) - 6PR

Total Power Rating: 105 

THIS version of the force seems like it's a long way off, though (with all the assembling, converting, and painting of all the vehicles)... Maybe a retirement army...? 

  

GUAIACAN COMMANDOES 

Another Force that is almost entirely painted... but needing to be rebased. This will probably be the second priority after the Cadians... unless I get fixated on the Valhallan Infantry...? Once I finish up a few more minis to fill out a few infantry squads (absorbing Special Weapons troopers that haven't been moved into Platoon Command Squads) 

Here's what I should be able to field:

Guaiacan Brigade Detachment

Headquarters (3-5)

• Platoon Command Squad - 4PR
• Platoon Command Squad - 4PR
• Platoon Command Squad - 4PR
• Platoon Command Squad - 4PR
• Primaris Psyker - 3PR

Troops (6-12) 

• Infantry Squad - 4PR
• Infantry Squad - 4PR
• Infantry Squad - 4PR
• Infantry Squad - 4PR
• Infantry Squad - 4PR
• Infantry Squad - 4PR
• Infantry Squad - 4PR
• Infantry Squad - 4PR
• ("Cadian") Shock Troops - 4PR
• ("Cadian") Shock Troops - 4PR

Elites (3-8)

• Commissar - 3PR
• Commissar - 3PR
• Sly Marbo - 3PR
• Ratlings - 2PR
• Ratlings - 2PR
• Ogryn - 4PR

Fast Attack (3-5)

• Sentinel (1) - 3PR
• Sentinel (1) - 3PR
• Sentinel (1) - 3PR

Heavy Support (3-5)

• Heavy Weapon Squad - 3PR
• Heavy Weapon Squad - 3PR
• Heavy Weapon Squad - 3PR
• Heavy Weapon Squad - 3PR

Total Power Rating: 97

Tallarn Infantry

(and finished armour - basically whatever I could field NOW!) 

The Tallarn are the LARGEST force I have, by far. I could potentially field multiple detachments of Infantry and Armour (once they're all done)

Most of this needs rebasing... but what I have could ALMOST be fielded as a Brigade... I'd need one more elite - Another Commissar? Maybe a Ministorum Preacher or a Mechanicus Enginseer (I used to have the problem of TOO MANY ELITES and not enough slots!?) 

This is what I can field RIGHT NOW, fully painted (with an Enginseer or Preacher slipped in to fill an Elite slot!):

Tallarn Brigade Detachment

Headquarters (3-5)

• Platoon Command Squad - 4PR
• Platoon Command Squad - 4PR
• Platoon Command Squad - 4PR
• Tank Commander - 10PR

Troops (6-12) 

• Infantry Squad - 4PR
• Infantry Squad - 4PR
• Infantry Squad - 4PR
• Infantry Squad - 4PR
• Infantry Squad - 4PR
• Infantry Squad - 4PR
• Infantry Squad - 4PR
• Infantry Squad - 4PR

Elites (3-8)

• Commissar - 3PR
• Commissar - 3PR
• Enginseer? Preacher? - 2PR

Fast Attack (3-5)

• Roughriders (5)
• Roughriders (5)
• Sentinel (1)

Heavy Support (3-5)

• Heavy Weapon Squad - 3PR
• Heavy Weapon Squad - 3PR
• Leman Russ Tank Troop (3) - 27PR
• Leman Russ Tank (1) - 9PR

Total Power Rating: 117

(the Shadowsword would have to be in a separate Auxiliary Super-Heavy Detachment - and would add another 26 Power Rating - for a total of 141!?)

Really, I could not ever paint another Tallarn and I'd be FINE! 

But, y'know... just in case I ever had the opportunity to play some APOCALYPSE level games again... 

Tallarn Infantry TO DO

Still lots TO DO!

• ("Cadian") Castellan (Captain Al'rahem) - 3PR
• +2 more Platoon Command Squads - @4PR=9PR
• +8x Infantry Squads - @3PR=24PR
• +4x ("Attilan") Roughriders (5) - @5PR=20PR
• +10x Heavy Weapon Squads  - @3PR =30PR
• +6x Sentinels @3PR=18PR

I could potentially add up to another 104 Power Rating to the Tallarn force!? 

There is zero chance I will ever need all of these Heavy Weapon Teams/Squads... There are 32 Heavy Weapon teams making up 10 Squads - with a few left over (7x Heavy Bolters, 3x Mortars, 10x Autocannons, 12x Lascannons!?) - in addition to the two squads of Mortars I already have painted!? 

Tallarn Armour TO DO

Well this is ALL of it, really - painted and still-to-do. Initially, I planned on only having a couple tanks to attach to the Tallarn infantry as heavy support... but as I started acquiring more - through used lots that local dudes were selling off (dirt cheap!). I kind of amassed enough to field it as a purely armoured/mechanized  force!? 

I thought I might steal some of the to-be-painted Tallarn Infantry away to make a fully-mechanized force of sorts. It could be fielded as a spearhead Detachement... or Maybe a Battalion Detachment...? 

Tallarn Spearhead Detachment

Headquarters (1-2)

• Tank Commander - 10PR
• Tank Commander - 10PR

Troops (0-3)

• Infantry Squad - 3PR
• Infantry Squad - 3PR
• Infantry Squad - 3PR

Elites (0-2)

• Commissar - 3PR
• Commissar - 3PR

Fast Attack (0-2)

• Sentinels (3) - 9PR
• Sentinels (3) - 9PR 

Heavy Support (3-6) 

• Leman Russ Troop (3) - 27PR
• Leman Russ Troop (3) - 27PR 
• Leman Russ Troop (3) - 27PR 
• Basilisk - 7PR
• Basilisk - 7PR
• Manticore - 7PR

Transport 

• Chimera - 5PR
• Chimera - 5PR
• Chimera - 5PR

Total Power Rating: 170!? Sweet Jiminy!? 

OR

Tallarn Mechanized Battalion Detachment

Headquarters (2-3)

• Tank Commander - 10PR
• Tank Commander - 10PR
• Platoon Command Squad - 4PR

Troops (3-6)

• Infantry Squad - 3PR
• Infantry Squad - 3PR
• Infantry Squad - 3PR

Elites (0-6)

• Commissar - 3PR

Fast Attack (0-3)

• Sentinels (3) - 9PR 
• Sentinels (3) - 9PR 

Heavy Support (0-3) 

• Leman Russ Troop (3) - 27PR
• Leman Russ Troop (3) - 27PR
• Leman Russ Troop (3) - 27PR 

Transport (1 per Infantry)

• Chimera - 5PR
• Chimera - 5PR
• Chimera - 5PR
• Chimera - 5PR

Total Power Rating: 155

There are also "Tank Ace" skills I could potentially add up to 5 tanks at 2PR each...

These mechanized forces, like the Valhallans, are probably a LONG way off...  

I also have these two Valkyries. One I bought new, the other I got in a used lot. Not really meant to be part of any particular force. I had thought I'd do them in a generic Aeronautica Imperialis grey so they could be used with any force... But now I'm thinking I could do them in a green camo top and attach them to the Guaiacan Commandoes (I had previously thought I might use the original one in Kill Team as an objective - "Get-to-da-choppa!" extraction point, kind of thing!) 

Every so often, I get crazy, megalomaniac ideas of doing an entirely AIRMOBILE force - Infantry all mounted up in Valkyries and supported by other gunships and ground attack aircraft... but I don't think it can even be done in regular 40K anymore - as there are no Airwing Detachments and a max of 2 fliers in any other Detachments... (Also, it would be CrAzY expensive - Valkyries are now $100CAD, and the cheapest Forge World flyer is the Vulture gunship at  $150!?) 

Maybe I'll just have to get some Aeronautica Imperialis stuff painted and pick up a flight of Valkyries (and any enemy force I'd need) for that and have the air approach be "off-camera" and played out with Aeronautica Imperialis

And then there's the drawer FULL of assorted extra Astra Militarum stuff that aren't really part of any of the above forces. Most are earmarked for Kill Teams. I have Necromundan and Antari Rifles Kill teams that I'd started plus some Tempestus Scions that I got with the previous edition of Kill Team... then I got a MORE Scions and three or four more squads in a used lot I picked up... Almost enough scions to put together a patrol Detachment. 

I could probably convert the spares to other Kill Teams, and sell them off...? 

Or make a Mash-Up Regiment Detachment with squads from piles of different regiments that have all been 

WHEW!!! That was a LOT. 

Seems kind of daft, when I get it all out and take note of it all... 

Kill Team Reorg!

REORG!

Well... I was trying to not get sucked in by the HYPE-TRAIN, but I failed and an completely excited about the new Kill Team. Having read all the articles and reviews and watched the how-to-play videos I couldn't help get totally fired up. This new Kill Team looks like... well... everything I'd HOPED the previous version would be!

While the previous version WAS infinitely better than Shadow War: Armageddon and a step in the right direction away from the you-go-i-go of regular 40K... it was still a bit clunky and had a lot of problems and was a HUGE disappointment. I had hoped it would have been like the current Necromunda rules (which had been released a year or two before?)  with individual, alternating activation with action points. 

I debated for a long time about whether to just pick up the core box of just get the books... Ultimately I went ALL-IN and asked the guys at Dragons Den Games to get me the box... because... DEATH KORPS OF KREIG!? (and all that terrain - which I thought might equally find use in Necromunda - which I've started playing again as well!) 

A lot of the information from the Compendium has been posted online Like, there's a site that literally posted pictures of just about every freaking page of the book!? I'm still buying it, but it was nice to see the org charts to get things ready to hit the ground running when the game drops in just under two weeks. 

Along with reorganizing Kill Teams, I actually took some time to reorganize my workbench. 

Now, if you’ve seen pictures of my workbench before, this might come as a bit of a shock - I completely cleared it off! Normally there are hundreds of half-painted miniatures on it and… it was getting a bit overwhelming, even for me, who has worked like that for decades… I decided, going forward, I’m going to try to have just ONE project on the workbench at a time - ideally a unit of 5-12 models that I can complete in a few days to a week (We’ll se how long that lasts). I had to do a bit of a triage to decide what really is a priority and stuff that I will be working on were put in clear plastic boxes stacked nearby and rest were put into deep storage away in the basement (where I always fear they will be utterly forgotten).



So of course the first batch of miniatures I put back on the workbench.. 50+ miniatures for a massive Kill Team reorganization! To be fair, only about five of them are actually being PAINTED - the rest have just been rebased or need a touch up, or are just there because they’re part of the Kill Team so I could reference them while painting the new ones and I just wanted to keep them all together.

In this lot are Kill Teams of Tallarn, Valhallan, Necromundan Imperial Guard Kill Teams, a Fire Team of  Armageddon Steel Legion (HALF of a Kill Team) and a Harlequin Kill Team. (Need to track down a handful more Steel Legion to fill out a full Kill Team!) 

With the morale rules out the window, it looks like Imperial Guard might be a viable, fun to play Kill Team once again. In the previous version, if you took actual Imperial Guard. You'd have a HUGE Kill Team - but, on the first turn, your opponent would kill five of them, the Kill Team would break and that was the game. The only viable way to play Imperial Guard seemed to be take Tempestus Scions and spam Plasma guns... lame... 

I will have a PILE of other Kill Teams I can play with - Daemons, Craftworld Aeldari, Drukhari, Ecclisiarchy, Forge Worlds, Adeptus Astartes, Traitor Legions... probably more I can't think of off the top of my head... but I thought I'd start with preparing the Imperial Guard as that's what I'm most excited about.

These are the "On Deck" boxes of stuff I've decided are priority items to be worked on in the coming weeks and months... Teh plan is to focus on Warhammer Underworlds warbands, Necromunda gangs, Kill Teams, and assorted Warhammer Quest adventurers and adversaries - as these are the games I'm hoping to play most through the fall and winter. I have a feeling a few more boxes may be added when Kill Team comes out - for the models that get released with the box (Ork Kommandoes and Death Korps of Kreig), but also I have a feeling more 40K forces will need some reorganization to be added to the forces available to play! 

Valhallan Commander, Imperial Fist Scout, Necromundan Greenback Spider, You Know, The Usual...

Just a few distractions from the Hellboy miniatures I'm trying to get done...

Some of these were actually finished over a week ago, but I just didn't bother getting around to posting pics... I decided to wait until this morning... when the Wind Chill was -31°C...



This is Colonel Ansa Heikkinen, the commander of my Valhallan Regiment - the 275/341st - currently station on Xoxigar Prime. The 275/341st Valhallan regiment is an amalgamated regiment – originally the 275th Valhallan Infantry Regiment and the 341st Valhallan Armoured Regiment. The two regiments have served together for nigh two decades over countless war zones. They have both been greatly reduced in strength over the years. The Infantry regiment, once ten thousand strong, has been reduced to a couple of understrength companies of less than 200 each. The Armoured component, once boasted over twenty squadrons of battle tanks plus reconnaissance and support vehicles, is now reduced to a single, under-strength company of a dozen or so tanks and a few support vehicles...



Her back - for better detail of that camouflage - I think I accidentally used a darker grey than I have with others... ugh... Oh, well... Maybe this is the original colour - it just isn't as faded because she spends more time in an Ops Centre than Joe/Jane-Average in the field...?

The miniature is "High-Commander Lady Creedence" figure from Victoria Miniatures. Originally I'd based it on a flattish plastic base from Warlord games. All of my other (metal) Valhallans are on washers (like most of my metal miniatures) but I've never been keen on putting plastic or resin miniatures on washers (the weight just felt... wrong) I thought I'd try the thin plastic ones from Warlord... but then, since I started the BIG RE-BASING PROJECT (for the Necromunda miniatures), I've been rethinking my basing choices and decided to do this commander - and the ten other female winter soldiers I also picked up from Victoria miniatures to use as her Command/Veteran Squad - on the taller, standard plastic bases.

I'd picked up some snow for bases a year and a half ago and had experimented on some of the other Valhallans - and was pretty underwhelmed with the outcome. I tried a new approach with this one and... I... I don't HATE it... It's kind of growing on me. I'm not totally sold on the grey for the side of the bases...



I've been experimenting on some of the others with others I'm still working on - looking for something that goes with the white - that ISN'T white and has a "cool" look to it (as in COLD, not fashionably attractive or impressive...). I'm currently leaning towards the grey on the commanders base or the blue-grey on the sergeant's base... or maybe the lighter grey...? Thoughts?



Scout Nex -Imperial Fist Scout Marine (I don't think scouts are referred to as "Brother" as they are not full marines while still serving in the 10th (Scout) Company). While I DO have my own chapter (the Tangermarines!), I've been having fun painting a few marines from other chapters and have a few more I may paint up as Imperial Fists - mostly scouts.

The Imperial Fists maintain a Fortress Monastery on Necromunda. Presumably some locals are inducted as Neophytes and trained there and join the local detachment of the 10th Company as Scouts. I thought it not unreasonable that they might make training missions down to the underhive to practice stealthy insertions/extractions, tracking and taking out select targets, etc.

Scouts normally have a number on their shoulder pads - denoting the Squad they are in. I was originally going to do a "V" for fifth squad, but then thought I'd do an "N" for the "Necromunda" detachment - as they are just a detachment, outside the normal organization of the rest of the fighting chapter, which normally serves aboard Phalanx - the chapter's mobile fortress monastery ( the largest starship known to have been constructed by human hands).



The two Imperial Fists I've painted so far...

The other fellow is Sergeant Major Flarn - current deputy commander of the Necromundan Detachment. He was one of the first Necromundans to be recruited to the Imperial Fists and is an old veteran of dozens of campaigns - he lead battle brothers to war against all manner of enemies across the Imperium. Now he is old and tired and returned to Necromunda to oversee training of new inductees at the Imperial Fists Fortress Monastery. (though his rank is Sergeant, I'd probably use "as Captain" stats for him - because he's still THAT bad ass... and Captains, not Sergeants, are allowed Power Axes in the rules...)



Necomundan Greenback Spider - they are apparently very deadly. Colonel Raeven Mortz, of the 8th Necromundan Imperial Guard Regiment, apparently kept one as a pet and mascot... The figure is from one of the Reaper Bones Kickstarters.



DAEMONS!!

I actually painted these a while ago... but then got it in my head that it might be fun to rebase them... for... REASONS!? With the release of the new Keeper of Secrets model - that dwarfs this older one - I was thinking, if, y'know, I ever had a daemon army... and took it to a tournament or anything... I could potentially field this older Keeper of Secrets as a Daemon Prince of Chaos (of the Slaanesh variety!)


Coming Soon to Tim's Miniature Wargaming Blog:

I do have a bunch of Hellboy stuff in the works... but I also have friends coming over to play Necromunda on Sunday... so.. could be a Hellboy painting update, or it could be a Necromunda battle report... Stay Tuned!

Valhallans

Well... two of them...

Sometime ago, while organizing all the minis, I have I noted that, of all the Valhallans I had, I was two short to fully fill out the units I wished to have. So I've been keeping my eye out for some on eBay. But buying individual miniatures just doesn't make sense - often sellers that are selling them want a ridiculous amount and, once you add in the shipping, It almost seems like a better deal just to buy a whole squad... but then where would that put me? A couple guys short of what I need to field complete units!?

Luckily I noted that the Troll Trader had a single Valhallan with a flamer in stock AND it wasn't TOO unreasonably priced AND I was picking up a few other minis from them anyway... so I bought it. The second one Is just a Cadian sniper that I painted up to look like a Valhallan that I picked up in a pack of two, brand new, at Dragon's Den Games (my FLGS). The other will probably be painted as a Cadian to go with my small force of Cadians...

Why on earth did I paint up these two? Right now!?

Well... they just arrived. Usually when miniatures arrive I prep and assemble and base and prime them all before storing them away in their drawers until I get to painting them... and so I did that with these... and there was just the two of them... and it's been a while since I painted any Valhallans... so I painted them. Even though neither of the two different units they will be going in has so much as a dash of paint (though they are all prepped, assembled, based, and primed!). It seemed like a good idea at the time and it was a nice break from all the other stuff I'm flailing at.



Sniper and Special Weapons Trooper.



Both, theoretically are bound for Command Squads. It is possible they may see action in Kill Team as well...

In other news...



The painting desk is kind of overflowing with altogether TOO MANY THINGS that I am trying to paint all at once... This doesn't even show all the little boxes of STILL MORE STUFF that have been removed from the table, but kept perilously piled next to the desk on the floor and ledges and bookshelves within reach of the desk... It is in desperate need of to hobby triage and a good sorting out! On that desk, currently, is the Reaver Titan (in bits, all over) a Tallarn Mortar Squad, assorted Eldar, Necromunda Gangers, Ministorum priests and the assorted 40K characters, the last two strike Squads for my small Grey Knights force... Blackstone fortress figures... a pile of Vermyn I'm painting up for John to use as a Heretic Astartes Kill Team... Oh.. don't even get me going on what's in the precariously perched boxes just out of view...

What I SHOULD be working on is stuff for the upcoming Kill Team campaign weekend - a little less than four weeks away! This would include John's Vermyn and a bunch of terrain. What I'm MOSTLY working on (when not painting silly things like Valhallans!) is the Reaver Titan... Now it is a bit of a priority - as I need it for the Apocalypse events just a couple weeks AFTER the Kill Team weekend.

The Tallarn mortar Squad was a priority as it was my entry for this months painting contest for the Hunters of the Warp monthly painting challenge... AND I though I was going to need it for the Apocalypse event... but then when we decided to go ALL TITANS (and one Knight)... the motivation to complete then has gone right out the window.

We been getting in a few games over the last few weeks. We've knocked SIX games off our 10x10 family boardgame challenge, I've knocked one game off my own personal challenge list - and we've got in a couple other games totally unrelated to any challenges! This past weekend alone we played Sentinels of the Multiverse on Friday (a challenge game), Saturday afternoon The Girl and I went over to some new friends to try out Scythe, later in the evening one of the kid's friends came over to continue their Dungeon Crawl Classics campaign while Amanda and I went out to play the first session in a Call of Cthulhu game my friend Bruce is running (with SEVEN players), and on Sunday evening we played Power Grid Deluxe (another Challenge Game). We're planning to knock a few challenge games off the list this coming Friday and Sunday evenings (not sure which ones just yet) and I'm heading out to my friend John's annual game day: Freezerburn.


Coming Soon to Tim's Miniature Wargaming Blog: 

If I had to guess it'll probably be the Reaver Titan. Iv'e been working on some insignia I might add to all three.

AFTER that the main priority will be John's Space Rats... then some more terrain... yeah.. time to go clear the rest off the table (at least temporarily) so I can get FOCUSED!!!

Warriors of Valhalla (and other Astra Militarum troopers)

Well this week I've been utterly distracted from the Knight, by the arrival of a couple lots of new (to me!) 40K miniatures. Since then, I've been busy stripping old paint and re-basing and priming and organizing and then I finally got to putting some paint on a few of them...



The new stuff - well, the new Valhallans....



First up is the Company Commander for this new force. I think he was a character in previous editions (Commander Chenkov?). Unfortunately the only named characters in the current edition are ones they currently make figures for (So, Cadians and Catachans....) Ah well, he'll make a fine Company Commander...



The figure has a Hussar-style jacket - slung in customary hussar style. I decided to depart from the camouflage for this one item. I also did the fur trim on this, and the other bits in white, rather than the grey I've used for all other ranks. I wanted to maybe make it look like he has real fur - while the others have some sort of faux fur.



A command squad - the Company Commander's command squad - which differs from the the other two command squads, which will consist of a Vox-caster, a Melta gun operator and two veterans with Lasguns. I had a spare Heavy Bolter and a single Grenade Launcher, so they all ended up in this command squad.



The Company Commander and his Command Squad.

I still need to come up with some names and fluff for this new force....



The single Infantry Squad I have painted with their two new editions. I had previously completed the squad, but two of the squad members were actually mortar crewmen, which I have since made into a Heavy Weapons Team armed with a mortar. I guess they could STILL have been part of the Infantry Squad - as an Infantry Squad is allowed to upgrade two troopers into a heavy weapons team... (as I have done with all my Tallarn Desert Raiders and Guaiacan Commandoes so far - each infantry squad in both of those forces is armed with a missile launcher team). I do like uniformity, though, and I also just don't have nearly enough heavy weapon teams of any type to go arming all my infantry squads with them. As the Valhallans are also sort of modelled after WW2 Soviets, I also like the idea of waves of pure infantry squads being send into battle (although I'll have fewer waves of these than the Tallarn, in the end...). Each infantry squad is going to have a sergeant armed with a chainsword and bolt pistol, 8 troopers armed with lasguns and a single special weapons trooper armed with a flamer.



The entire (painted) force, so far.... a Patrol Detachment: Company Commander (HQ), Command Squad (Elite), and an Infantry Squad (Troops), Power Level 7.

Next I'll probably finish up two more mortar teams to complete the first Heavy Weapon Squad. Part of me feels like I should crank out another Infantry Squad first, but the solitary mortar team is an incomplete unit and I'd rather complete units before starting new ones... I guess I could see the mortar team as an "option" for the command squad, for the time being...? Nah, I'm going to finish the heavy weapons squad. It'll be quicker and easier to finish than painting a whole infantry squad. And there is no sense if having options for a unit that's not going to be fielded until I have more stuff finished!?

I think the order of things will be - finish two mortar teams to complete a heavy weapons squad, then paint two more Infantry squads, then paint a platoon commander (that will likely be fielded as another Company Commander)... That would get me to a "Battalion" detachment at Power Level 20 - a good, playable starting place for a small force. After that? maybe start converting some of those KV-2s into Ragnarok tanks! But that may be some time, as I do want to finish up the knights and some more Tallarn...



I also happened to paint up a pair of the new (to me) bog-standard Cadian-types. Part of me would like to have painted these guys in some sort of camouflage - like all the other Imperial Guard forces I've painted... but another part really likes the simplicity of the green and tan of the Cadians.


Coming Soon to Tim's Miniature Wargaming Blog:

I should have a post about all the games we've played in June tomorrow or the following day... after that...?

I really SHOULD get back to work on the Knight and finish that up - maybe both. I have some vague ideas about names and paint schemes and background fluff... but nothing that has coalesced enough to share just yet - stay tuned! Maybe I will mention that the second one I am considering some scheme involving a lot of WHITE - to possibly support the Valhallans. But I was also considering making the pair a team of Freeblades - one male on female - perhaps partners...?

I've also been thinking of, at SOME point, picking up some sort of Knight Armigers - just so I can field them all as a single Super-Heavy Detachment. The minimum for a super heavy detachment is three - otherwise they'd all have to be fielded singly as Auxiliary Super-Heavy Detachments.

Sisters, Valhallans, and Bog-Standard Cadian-Types

So I went a little overboard on Ebay again recently... but first a few more things I've actually PAINTED...

All of these figures are from Games Workshop.



Two more Sisters of Battle for Amanda's Adepta Sororitas force - a second Canoness and another Sister Superior. I picked up the second Sister superior because the complete squad I'd picked up for Amanda had a Imaginifier in it (which is actually a separate character now) and thus she had a character and a incomplete squad of 9... This second Sister Superior allows her to field the squad as two smaller squads of five or one of 10 (as this Sister Superior, armed with a bolter, could easily pass for a regular ol'sister...).



An Inquisition Acolyte with a big-ass flamer - to KILL IT WITH FIRE!!! I finished this one up to use as one of the extra characters for Blessings Unheralded. The Character is an Inquisition Acolyte that looks just like this figure... minus the big-ass flamethrower.



A renegade space marine... just... because... reasons...

I figured it's alway s good to have a handful of these as baddies for 40K roleplaying... I have two more to paint up, along with a pair of terminators and a squad and a half of cultists.

So... the other stuff...

A BIG order arrived in the mail today and I set to organizing them to see what I'd got myself into!


Valhallans



There are a few more minis inbound from different sellers (another mortar team, two more Infantry men and two more BA-64s). I will, ultimately, have a Brigade Detachment of these. HQ options will include up to three commanders (or possibly a Commander, a Primaris Psyker and Lord Commissar...?). I have six identical Infantry Squads for troop options (Sergeant, Flamer, and 8 Guard with Lasguns). I have three Command Squads for Elites (and possibly 2 Lieutenants, if I go with the Primaries Psyker and Lord Commissar options for HQ). I have four Heavy Weapon Squads for Heavy Support (Heavy Bolters, Lascannons, and two squads with Mortars). Additionally, for Heavy Support, I plan on converting those three 1/48 scale KV-2 tanks into Ragnarock tanks (which will basically use the same stats as Leman Russ tanks...). Maybe I could get a fourth and make it a Tank commander for ANOTHER HQ option...? For Fast Attack I thought I'd use three BA-64... and just use them as "Armoured Sentinels". I thought I might remove the diminutive turret (as no 40K guns would fit in it...) and place one of the Sentinel rocket pods on top. Alternatively, if I could find a model of an OT-26 "chemical tank" I could pass those off as Hellhounds...?

But wait, there's MORE...


Cadians



Because they had them, I picked up two squads of metal Cadians from the same place I picked up more of the Valhallans. At one point I had an entire COMPANY of Cadians - in plastic... but I traded (most of) them away over the winter when I decided I didn't need THREE full Imperial Guard forces... (of course, now I'm going to have FOUR). This force is a bit "top heavy" - I have three officers and three command squads for a force with only three Infantry Squads... Ah, well... I have no intention of filling this out to a full-sized force - definitely not getting any armour for this force. I thought I'd used them for Ship'sTroops for the Rogue Trader campaign or as a back up or supplementary detachement for another Imperial force - like the Sisters or my Knights... There's basically a Battalion Detachment there (with 9 Command Points!).

Oh, that wasn't all...


Adepta Sororitas
 

I also picked up another squad of 10 sisters from the same place to add to Amanda's force. I actually have another 5 inbound - so eventually this will be a Battalion force (when fielded as squads of five - or two of ten and one of five..?). It will bring the force to 29... they could all fit into three Rhinos - which might be the next addition - once these all get finished... and maybe PLAYED with!?

She will be playing with ONE of them Friday evening, as Amanda has called "dibs" on Battle Sister Henna Orten.

Shoot, I just realized She also picked up the Celestine: The Living Saint box for me to assemble and paint for her... (which are not included in this pic). That'd be THREE HQ options... Could this become a Brigade?! No... that would require a bunch more elites... and some fast attack... and heavy support... Battalion, though... sure, that's doable.

I'm not sure when exactly I'm going to get to painting any of these (or the Drukhari, or my Craftworld Eldar, or the couple handfuls of Marines and Chaos Renegades for that matter)? My original Game Plan set out a pretty full schedule of painting to try and get my Tallarn all done this year - and most of the ECW stuff... I'm sure I'll fit a few in here and there and it might be another year before ALL of the Tallarn get done. The problem is enough are done that I can play a pretty decent sized game, so some of the impetus to get them finished has gone. It gets harder to finish up units that I'm pretty certain won't ever see action (or not much...).


Coming Soon to Tim's Miniature Wargaming Blog:

Hopefully I'll get a chance to finish up that first Knight soon... but I do have new shiny stuff, so... I'll probably spend some time over the next few days stripping minis that need stripping, basing and priming all of them.

I also need to maybe take a break from painting and stuff and do some serious cleaning and reorganizing of the hobby dungeon. It is a bit of a mess. Has been for the last four years - never really recovered from the renovations in the rest of the house (when we had to take everything from the rest of the house and store it in the basement - some stuff just never found i's way back upstairs).

Over the summer, after I've cleaned and organized things, the plan is to haul everything out of the Game Room and do a little renovating in there - building some new shelves, dismantling the giant gaming table (to make room for a new gaming table that Amanda found last fall and has been propped up between the bed and the wall in Finnegan's room ever since...). But, as I said, the first thing is to clean up the giant mess downstairs.

Assorted 40k Minis

Taking a break from the Imperial Knight, I finished up a few odd and assorted 40K minis today. Some of these are to use with Blessings Unheralded - the Wrath & Glory Free RPG Day quick-start rules and adventure I'll be running on Friday. Others have just been on the workbench forever and I finally finished them up...



A solitary space marines of the Adeptus Astartes White Scars chapter. (Miniature from Games Workshop - of course!)



This will be Battle-Brother Trojon Kull - one of the pre-generated characters for Blessings Unheralded.



A female veteran Tallarn Sniper. The miniature is converted from an old I-Kore Void figure.



Navigator and Droid - from Lead Adventure Miniatures Astropolis II Kickstarter



Their backsides - so many bits and bobs and wee little details...



A pair of Astra Militarum Tankers from Games Workshop.  I painted them in standard Cadian green and Khaki, which is a colour scheme I don't mind. I started them ages ago and really just finished them up this week. After having taken these pictures, however, it has occurred to me that I won't actually HAVE any Cadian tanks... all my tanks (currently and planned for) are either Tallarn or Valhallan...

doh...



Detail of the one tanker and his t-shirt - taking a little inspiration from Jesse Custer's Zippo lighter from the Preacher comics...

(it said "FUCK COMMUNISM" - it had been presented to his dad by John Wayne himself while he was serving in Vietnam... I figured this t-shirt above might be the 40K version of such sentiment)



Valhallan Mortar team (from Games Workshop). The only new thing here is the mortar actually. The two crew I'd originally painted up on individual bases to use as regular infantrymen. I had the mortar, but as I only had ten Valhallan infantry at the time, I figured infantrymen would be more useful... now that I have a pile more inbound - including FIVE more mortar teams, I decided to paint up the mortar and rebase them as a team so I'd eventually have six mortar teams - which makes two Heavy Weapon Squads.



Some old school, Rogue Trader era Imperial Guard (from Citadel Minatures/Games Workshop). Four of these are minis I've had for 30 years and decided to strip and repaint a few years back. I though I might be able to pass the one on the right off as Sergeant Gael Harden - another of the pre-generated characters for Blessings Unheralded.


Coming Soon to Tim's Miniature Wargaming Blog:

I have one or two more minis to finish up for the Wrath & Glory game on Friday, so expect those in the next day or two... Then I suppose it's back to work on the Imperial Knight...

I was hoping I might get in a few games of 40K with the family (or friends) now that all the kids regularly scheduled activities have wrapped up for the summer - so there may be a battle report or two in the not-too-distant future.