Spring Cleaning Challenge: Imperial Guard (PROJECT COMPLETE!)

There’s a story to my Guard that will come out over the series of this project but for now suffice to say they’re from an Argi-Planet that has a serious issue with rebelling against the Imperium.

They never fall to Chaos just succeed from the Imperium and as a result of this the Imperium never gives them any real equipment. Almost everything they use is produced on world and in their traditional style. All their armour, weapons and clothing are kept as traditional as possible to try and satisfy their desire to rebel for Patriotic reasons.

There’s a story to my Guard that will come out over the series of this project but for now suffice to say they’re from an Argi-Planet that has a serious issue with rebelling against the Imperium.

They never fall to Chaos just succeed from the Imperium and as a result of this the Imperium never gives them any real equipment. Almost everything they use is produced on world and in their traditional style. All their armour, weapons and clothing are kept as traditional as possible to try and satisfy their desire to rebel for Patriotic reasons.

I’ve posted the handful of minis that have been painted so here’s part of the rest who haven’t.

Next Update will be some Fluff about the minis, I’ll try to break up Pic Dumps with some Fluff where I can.

All the Branches Have a Trim Colour which for the infantry is Pink.

Ok so that’s the Uniforms but what about the equipment.

The Men all Cary MK III “Tribal Pattern” Las Muskets that are muzzle Loaded with 50, 100 or 200 Round Magazines. The Magazine is simply placed in the barrel, the Musket butt of the Musket in then tapped on the ground to seat the magazine which magnetically clamps into place. Extra Ammunition is kept underneath the Barrel of the Musket where a Ramrod would Traditionally be held.

The Las Musket has Four Firing Modes. Safe, Full Auto, Semi Auto and Single Shot.

The Firing Mode is selected with the Hammer. Being drawn back slightly is Fully Automatic, Halfway is Semi Automatic and “Full Cock” is Single Shot.

The Nipple (yes that’s what it’s really called) has a gas vent that moves the hammer. For Full Auto the Valve is slightly opened allowing a small amount of gas to move the hammer a short way. For Semi Auto the valve is opened further which moves the hammer back further enabling it to move far enough to return to the semi auto position.

The Mode can be locked via a Selector Switch near the Trigger Guard. This way if the hammer doesn’t rebound enough to engage the Semi Automatic it will default to safe rather than Fully Automatic.

Every Man carries at least one spare Selector Assembly, if theirs malfunctions it can be easily removed and replaced in less than five minutes using a small tool that is also carried with the man.

Each Man also carries a Grenade Pouch in the form of a stiffened Leather Box on their Right Hip. Each Carries Four or Five Grenades in there along with the spare Selector Assembly. The man’s Company is written in Roman Numerals on the Box.

On their Left Hip they carry a Forage Bag that can be filled with personal property.

I’ve found some more minis although they lack bases so I’ll have to sort that out before I start painting.

I also found some more semi painted examples, a Commissar and a Tank known as a Grasshopper.

The unpainted Grenadier is carrying a Sniper Rifle equivalent, a Bren Gun taken from a WWII Warlord British Sprue.

The NCO is a Regimental Sergeant Major. Three marks on the Upper Arm and one on the Lower arm. He carries the Carbine and Wears the Turban.

The Commissars assigned to the Regiment are all from the same pool as any other Commissars of the Imperium, the only difference being that their Black Coats are trimmed in the Colour of the Branch they Serve with.

The Tank is a Flame Throwing Variant that Counts as a Hellhound

It Carries a Tribal Ariel in the Shape of a Twin Snake, the Symbol of the Tribe, and a Telescopic Device that Assists the Vehicle when Operating in a Scouting Capacity.

Lacking Any Official Astra Militarum Tanks these Men must make do with what they can. What Other Regiments would Consider Training Tanks not fit for Combat are Transformed into Scouts.

Barrels are Strapped Haphazardly to the Vehicles Hull and they Feed the Main Gun. While it is not the Safest Thing in the World it is the Only Way to Bring Enough Fuel to Have any Use. Many a Grasshopper lies Burnt out and Wrecked due to Nothing More Deadly than a Boltgun.

Smaller Tanks Feed the Bow Flame Thrower and are More Heavily Armoured than the Other Barrels.

I wanted to use a Cheap and Easily Available Kit but I didn’t want anyone to be able to tell what kind of tank it was at a glance.

A Panther is a Panther no matter how many 40K Gubbins you slap on it and it wouldn’t look right.

For those interested this is a Light Tank 38M Toldi II (B40), a Hungarian Light Tank form WWII. A perfect tank to convert. The Hull Flamer and Tanks are from the Cadian Sprue and the Turret Flamer is from a Forge World Land Raider Sponson Kit.

The Artillery is organised in 10 Gun Batteries.

Each Regiment is Given a Single Battery Crewed by the Artillery and is often broke up into three Divisions and a Command Gun.

The First Division is Called A Division and is Made up of Three Lascannons.

The Second Division is Called B Division and is Made up of Two Lascannons and One Autocannon.

The Third Division is Called C Division and is Made up of Two Lascannons and One Autocannon.

The Command Gun is Variable but Usually a Heavy Bolter or a Mortar. It is known as the “Command Gun” and is always attached to the Regimental Command Squad.

While the Artillery Man the Big Guns of the Guard it’s the Grenadiers who Carry the Man Portable Weapons to Battle.

At the Squad Level The Grenadiers Carry a Portable Missile Launcher and are Aided by a Grenadier Assistant.

At the Platoon Level the grenadiers Form into Six man Specialist Teams that Contain Three Special Weapons and Three Assistants. These men carry the Sniper Rifles, Grenade launchers, Flamers and the rest.

Upon Promotion to NCO Rank the Grenadiers have three options.

First they can Refuse the promotion and Take a “Veteran” Status that gives them NCO privileges but no increase in rank.

Secondly they can take the Promotion and move to be the assistant to a Grenadier Platoon Commander. Grenadiers are always dispatched in piece meal to different Battalions and a Grenadier NCO will always join the Regular Infantry’s Battalion Command Squad to give advice on their deployment. From there they can work there way up to RSM of Grenadiers where they give advice to the Planet’s Marshall.

Finally they can chose to take an available position as a Drill Sergeant at a Grenadier Training Academy. The pay is less, the prestige is not as good and he can be recalled at any time but at least the risk of death is greatly decreased.

The Grenadiers are not organised on a Tribal Basis, they all wear the Black Caps of the Grenadiers, inverted Colours of the Infantry (Blue Jacket and Green Pants) and wear the Trim of their Branch (Pink for Infantry, Yellow for Cavalry, Red for Armoured, White for Recon and Black for Everyone Else).

The only Squad level Weapons the Grenadiers Currently have access to are Portable Missile launchers but that is slowly being rectified as the Artillery slowly slacken their grip on Mortars and Heavy Bolters.

Those Grenadiers who have Achieved Veteran Status can choose to join the Assault Squads. The Danger is greater but the honour and medals that come from joining an Assault Squad can set a man up for life if he’s ever lucky enough to retire.

The Assault Squads are formed from Veterans and have greater access to Weapon Modifications. They can elect to carry Shotguns and can have the Platoon Specialists attached to them with Flamers or Plasma Guns to help them clear the enemy from their trenches or Bunkers.

The Shotguns are just cut down rifles. The Las Ammunition is swapped for a more dispersed Scatter Gun style ammunition. When fired from a full length Rifle the effect is essentially the same as firing a standard Las Round but when the Las Musket is cut down to the Second Barrel Band the shot spreads and becomes an effective shotgun, it also retains the firing mods of the full rifles.

Some Veterans take it even further and cut their guns shorter to get a wider spread.

While the Minis were drying I decided to work on the Fluff some more so that’s the next post.

While the Minis were drying I decided to work on the Fluff some more so that’s the next post.

So in between waiting for paint to dry I decided to design a Flag. I ended up designing 5 flags.

These are designed to be recognisable by any illiterate soldier at a glance and tell anyone looking at it everything they need to know.

• Infantry – Pink
• Armoured – Red
• Cavalry – Yellow
• Recon – White
• Other – Black

• Red – Deployed in Active Warzone
• Blue – Currently on Planet and Not on Active Duty
• Yellow – In Transit not to Home Planet
• Green – On Planet and On Active Duty
• Black – Deployed Off-Planet but not in an Active Warzone
• White – In Transit to Home Planet

I’ll upload the fluff for the artillery tomorrow but for now the Artillery is seen as the best unit to join for minor nobility with the Cavalry being the most prestigious for the upper nobility.

The relatively low death rate, the easy deployments (Artillery don’t scout, forage or anything like that) and the prestige that comes with being able to pay the expensive unofficial bribe to get yourself on the Artillery List all make post Military life very comfortable although not as comfortable as an ex-cavalryman.

All the pants have been basecoated with Crystal Blue. All Coats have had a first basecoat of Death Guard Green.

Nine Squads of Infantry, Five with Buglers, Four with Heavy Weapons.

The Regimental Home world is known to them as Galland but is known to the wider Imperium as Galland III.

Before being Liberated by the Fleet of Corax, Primarch of the Raven Guard during the Great Crusade it comprised of Eight distinct tribal groups each occupying one of the eight continents.

With the arrival of the Raven Guard all but two of the Tribes surrendered to them, possessing only black powder technology at the time, and two resisted.

It took less than three days for the Raven Guard to annihilate the two Tribes and a misunderstanding created the most important law of all Galland.

When the Council of Seven (One representative from each tribe plus the new Imperial Governor) thanked Corax for bringing them into the Imperium (it wasn’t really Corax just a Captain, Corax never set foot on the planet) he replied “Don’t mention it”.

Any mention of the two “Lost Tribes” is punishable by death ever since.

The Galland Military of the 41st/42nd Millenium is a complete mess.

After a full century in Rebellion after the fall of the Knights of the Blade they were mercilessly brought back into compliance.

It was then decided that a unified Military was too dangerous to leave in the hands of a local Governor or even System Commander and so drastic action was taken.

All Standard Issue Tanks, APC’s and pretty much everything bigger than a Sentinel was taken from them, the standard issue Lasgun and Flak Vest was replaced with more archaic variants that appealed to the traditionalist desires of the military who saw themselves as soldiers of Galland not of some Imperium that didn’t even notice they had left it for a century.

The military was also broken up. No longer would the Infantry have access to easily portable weapons like the Autocannon or Heavy Bolter instead the only real support weapon that the Infantry Squad can call on is the lightened “Galland Pattern” Missile Launcher officially designated the ‘Precision Infantryman’s Armour Terminator’ or “PIAT”.

The men who carried the PIAT’s were also seperated from the Infantry instead placed into a semi prestigious “Grenadier” Company. Each Battalion has a single Grenadier Company who are loaned out to the infantry squads or grouped together for dedicated duty. They wear no tribal colours nor any helmets wearing either a black side cap or nothing at all and an inverted uniform of a Blue Jacket and Green Pants.

Some Grenadiers carry Sniper Rifles designated ‘Battalion Reconnaissance Elimination and Negation Guns’ or “BREN” Guns. These are only ever loaned out to Platoons and fight as dedicated teams that hunt down enemies at the direction of the Officer to which they are attached.

All Grenadiers obey the orders of any Grenadier Officer above all others. If a Grenadier Lieutenant orders the to lie down and a Regular Major tells them to advance then they lie down.

Upon Promotion to NCO Rank the Grenadiers have three options.

First they can Refuse the promotion and Take a “Veteran” Status that gives them NCO privileges but no increase in rank.

Secondly they can take the Promotion and move to be the assistant to a Grenadier Platoon Commander. Grenadiers are always dispatched in piece meal to different Battalions and a Grenadier NCO will always join the Platoon Leaders Command Squad to give advice on their deployment. From there they can work their way up to RSM of Grenadiers where they give advice to the Planet’s Marshall.

Finally they can chose to take an available position as a Drill Sergeant at a Grenadier Training Academy. The pay is less, the prestige is not as good and he can be recalled at any time but at least the risk of death is greatly decreased.

The Battalions of the Galland Infantry are deigned with the Maxim “Less Men More Men”.

“Less Men” refers to individual Officers having control of Less Men.

“More Men” refers to more Officers to reduce the chance of a handful of renegades taking control of the military.

Each Battalion is Made up of Three Companies and is lead by a Lieutenant Colonel and a Major of the Grenadiers, they are assisted by a Sergeant Major of Battalion and a Grenadier Sergeant Major. Grenadiers are always considered to be subordinant to infantry officers when operating outside the Grenadier Company.

Each Officer has his own Command Squad of Four Men Lead by the NCO. The composition is entirely up to the Officer in question with some preferring a trusty Bugler and some Veterans with Lasguns to help him organise a battle while others will poach an Artillery Gun and lay down some serious firepower.

Each of the Three Companies is lead by a Major and is assisted by a Captain and Company Sergeant Major. If his Company contains any Grenadiers then a Grenadier Sergeant will be attached to his Platoon Command Squad.

The Company Command Squad is given the exact same freedoms as any other.

Each Company is made up of Three Platoons Each Consisting of Three Squads.

Each Platoon is lead by a Lieutenant assisted by a Sergeant and if he has any Grenadiers attached to his platoon a Grenadier Corporal will also be present.

The Platoon Command Squad is given the exact same freedoms as any other.

Each Platoon is made up of three Infantry Squads.

The Squad is made up of Ten Men:

One NCO (Corporal) Who Carries the ceremonial Sword and wears a turban covered helmet rather than the faux hair covered helmet of the infantry.

One Bugler (Two per Platoon) who carries a Bugle and has the option to carry a Lightened Carbine but these are expensive and purchased at the mans own expense, never the less the convenience of a carbine is quite often worth it.

Two Grenadiers (If Grenadiers are Attached to the Platoon otherwise Two Men with Lasguns). One armed with a PIAT and the Other a Loader. The issue of who gets the PIAT and who loads is not one set in stone. Many Veterans are happy to let the eager new recruits to lug the PIAT around while others are loathe to let some rookie handle the important weapon.

Six Riflemen. Six Men armed with a Lasgun and Grenades.

Their is no rank of Lance Corporal on the Galland Military instead men with the right initiative and skill are designated as “Veterans”

Veterans can be organised into “Assault Units” only at the direction of the Battalion Commander. These units can be issued with the shortened “Shotgun” variant of the Lasgun and are always tasked with the most deadly of missions but are given substantially increased pay and medals aplenty.

Veteran Grenadiers can volunteer to join such units but it is rare to see them in action.

The Veterans can elect to carry Shotguns and can have the Platoon Specialists attached to them with Flamers or Plasma Guns to help them clear the enemy from their trenches or Bunkers.

The Shotguns are just cut down rifles. The Las Ammunition is swapped for a more dispersed Scatter Gun style ammunition. When fired from a full length Rifle the effect is essentially the same as firing a standard Las Round but when the Las Musket is cut down to the Second Barrel Band the shot spreads and becomes an effective shotgun, it also retains the firing mods of the full rifles.

Some Veterans take it even further and cut their guns shorter to get a wider spread.

Each Battalion has Two Artillery Batteries each of Three Divisions and a Command Gun.

Two Divisions are made up of three guns, Two Lascannons and an Autocannon while the Third is made up of Three Lascannons. The Command Gun can be any of the available Variants. Most Battalion Commanders will use a Heavy Bolter for the Role to offset the Heavy Anti Armour Focus of the Battery.

The Command Gun is often crewed by the most senior men and given to the Battalion Commander to allocate as he sees fit.

Often the an Entire Battery will be allocated to a Single Company to create a strong anti armour position that can cover it’s neighbor. The other is normally left as a “Barrage Battery” for general use.

The Artillery is drawn from the minor nobility of the major cities. The Cavalry is seen as the most prestigious of the Branches but the artillery is more prestigious than slogging with the infantry or Emperor forbid crawling into one of the homemade Death Traps they call a tank.

The minor nobility often voluntarily enlist before a conscription officer can find them and drag them off somewhere unpleasant. In theory any volunteers (not conscripts) can decide with which regiment they serve but in practice the cost of outfitting yourself personally (Cavalry) or the bribes required to get the cushy services (artillery) are too much for the average man and even the moderately wealthy man.

The relatively low death rate, the easy deployments (Artillery don’t scout, forage or anything like that) and the prestige that comes with being able to pay the expensive unofficial bribe to get yourself on the Artillery List all make post Military life very comfortable although not as comfortable as an ex-cavalryman.

The Artillery wear double breasted jackets and tailored pants in the noble colour of Purple and show their bravery by wearing a soft cap rather than a helmet like other foot soldiers. Some Men even carry dress uniforms into battle with them slung over their shoulder in a special carry bag ready to show off in after the battle is over.

Each Gun is crewed by Five men.

Gun Corporal – He Commands the Gun

Gunner – Fires the Gun

Gun Sighter – Sights the Gun

Gun Aligner – Aligns the Gun

Vox Officer – Not an Officer but he carries a Vox Amplifier that enables the squad to send and receive Morse code vox messages. It looks like an old Rammer in homage to the Cannon Crews of Old.

For Long Range Bombardments the Autocannons can be Fired with a Lanyard that Holds Down the Trigger without the Crew being in Danger, either from the guns recoil or counter battery fire. A Mechanism can be Fitted to the Trigger that Holds it down when the Lanyard is released, the Mechanism can be quickly removed once the Bombardment Phase of the Battle is Over. It Requires Specialised Equipment to Fit so Once Removed the Effect is Permanent at Least Until an Armouer can be Found.

Officially the Artillery are meant to be solely responsible for the transport of the guns but outside of battle it is extremely rare to see them actually moving them on campaign. Often the crews will simply bribe some of the infantry they’re attached to and have them drag the guns.

The Artillery, like the Grenadiers, are a completely separate Branch of the Military and do not have to answer to other officers other than those of the Artillery. Artillery Officers are among the most educated men of Galland since promotion is entirely on merit (and the initial bribe to get into the regiment) they are very respected although seen as strange by other officers who can find themselves promoted to Captains or Majors within a decade while men they graduated with are still mere Lieutenants in the Artillery. At least the Artillery has a much lower mortality rate than the infantry officers and comes with greater prestige when a man retires. Although the Pension of an Artillery Officer is the same as that of an Infantry Officer and this means an artillery officer that wishes to retire better have another source of income to supplement their pension, after three decades of service an Infantry Officer Might Retire as a Colonel or Brigadier while an Artillery Officer would be lucky to make Major without a lot of his peers being killed in action or retiring early.

A Commission in the infantry requires three things.

1. The Reccomendation of the Tribal Council.

Some Tribes will require Applicants to go on some sort of short quest to get this approval while others demand proof of ability in single combat or winning games of stratergy while others still demand “Gifts” for their approval to be given.

2. Graduation from the Galland Military Academy.

Graduation Takes Two Years and sees about a quarter of the applicants fail and either repeat the courses or joining the Armoured Branch which does not require Formal Graduation only attendance.

3. A Nine Month Probationary Period as an Ensign.

Ensign’s are essentially Officers Servants who learn their trade on the field of battle.

After meeting all three requirements a man if Commissioned as a Lieutenant.

The Armoured Branch of Galland is extremely poorly equipped.

Possessing no Standard Imperial Tanks, APC’s or even Light Reconnaissance Vehicles (Sentinels are Part of the Cavalry) the Armoured Branch is forced to improvise.

Vehicles which Once mined the earth of Galland have Barrels of Fuel Strapped to them and crude Turrets installed.

Homemade “Tanks” are nothing more than uparmoured mining vehicles fitted with a more potent gun and expected to fill the shoes of a Leman Russ to great disappointment.

The Armour is considered the Dregs of the Military. Everyone is superior to them. That being said Armoured Members do not have to take orders from non-armoured Officers.

The vehicles are filthy, unsafe and unreliable. Every officer is expected to work on the vehicles with his men and almost all of them are GMA dropouts that couldn’t hack it in the infantry.

A few men take up the challenge and do genuinely want to serve with the Armour, some even seek to pioneer the branch to the open laughter of other officers even from their own branch.

The Light Tank, called Grasshopper, is a Flame Throwing Variant that Galland Nervously Equates to the Standard Hellhound.

It Carries a Tribal Ariel in the Shape of a Twin Snake, the Symbol of the Beige Tribe, and a Telescopic Device that Assists the Vehicle when Operating in a Scouting Capacity.

Barrels are Strapped Haphazardly to the Vehicles Hull and they Feed the Main Gun. While it is not the Safest Thing in the World it is the Only Way to Bring Enough Fuel to Have any Use. Many a Grasshopper lies Burnt out and Wrecked due to Nothing More Deadly than a Boltgun. The tanks are routinely reused no matter their condition save for the rear pressurised tanks that must be kept in good condition lest they leak their precious contents and make the tank even more useless.

Smaller Tanks Feed the Bow Flame Thrower and are More Heavily Armoured than the Other Barrels.

With no Air Power and Essentially a Tank Branch full of Light Tanks and Scouts the Men of Galland must look to Bayonet, Sabre and Lasgun to see them to Victory.

Officially Designated the A-T-R-F 14-R but known more commonly as the Grasshopper

The Naming Designation Breaks down to.

A = Armuld – The Civilian Vehicle Variant it’s based on.

T = Tank – Designates an Armoured Vehicle Designed for Combat.

R = Replacement – The Tank is an attempt at a direct imitation or replacement.

F = Flame Thrower – Flame Thrower, does what it says on the tin.

14 = The Model Number

R = Recon – Designates the Unit Role

The Name Grasshopper comes from a leading Pioneer of the New Tank Corps Colonel Ret. Waller Nottap, when he received the first tank he named his personal tank “The Grasshopper” and the name stuck.

With a Powerful Vox and a sophisticated digital telescope the Grasshopper can spy out the enemy and torch his once they’ve been spotted.

I want the Galland Regiment to have some Cavalry but Horses don’t seem to fit for these guys.

Horses are great for a Dedicated Unit or for Mounted Infantry but if you’re going to be charging a Carnifex with a Lance that has Grenades strapped to it a horse might be a tad skittish.

So I found a WH Fantasy Plastic Dark Elf Cold One and a Napoleonic British Hussar, gave him a Turban.

The Rider is just a stand in it can be easily replaced but what about the mount? Is it in scale with the rider? Does it seem justifiable that a Human could ride around on a Cold One type Mount? Should I give them proper lances or just say the Hunting Lance Attack is the Cold One Pouncing on the enemy and give them swords or carbines instead.

The BREN Gun Sniper Rifle operates as a Team Weapon. It is carried by the assistant in the “Safe Mode” with the Scope covered by the curved case.

The BREN is not a weapon to be deployed on a whim and it isn’t intended to be used that way.

The Curved Cover is removed and the scope (Yellow) is extended to almost the full length of the rifle, attaching at the Front via a jutting support bar (Red in the picture). The BREN is then given to the Man firing the weapon while the assistant retrieves a spotting telescopic device from the curved cover, the cover is then used as a resting mount for the spotting device.

When the gun is finally ready to fire the brass trigger assembly is lowered and attached, the gun is then ready.