Murdoch’s Mud Stalkers Veteran Guardsmen

The sky was pitch black and a steady autumn drizzle was further obscuring visibility. Trooper Kyle crawled through the mud, almost silently, he couldn’t see the rest of his squad mates but he knew they were there in the darkness. Kyle was part of Murdoch’s Mud Stalkers the elite squad of 9th company. Every member of the squad from Sergeant Murdoch to Trooper Stack, the squads sniper, were veterans. They had survived the beginning of the war far to the south, fought through the carnage of the Battle of the Bridges and now they were fighting the siege of Mundus Prime. Fighting a hellish war of attrition from the trenches and defence lines ringing the city of Mundus prime, Sergeant Murdoch and his squad were 9th company’s go to unit to get the tough jobs done. Tonight they were trench raiding, crossing no mans land, between loyalist and traitor trenches, their mission was to capture a prisoner for integration.

Suddenly Sergeant Murdoch’s voice whispered “Halt” into Kyle’s earvox, “Sentry 25 feet ahead.” Kyle couldn’t see the sentry not that he wasn’t surprised he didn’t have a Bionic eye like Sargent Murdoch. “Stack deal with it will you” Stack replied through the earvox. “Affirmative”. Stacks las-gun was highly modified, with a night vision scope and suppressor, and Stack was acknowledged as the best shot in the company together they made a deadly team. Kyle barely heard the shot but seconds later the earvox hissed with Stacks voice “target down”. Murdoch replied ” Squad move out”

Kyle was the first into the enemy trench dropping over the side and landing next to the body of the unfortunate sentry a ragged hole right through his forehead. The trench was filled with muddy water and discarded ration cans. A line of flickering lamps, several not working at all, were strung along the back wall of the trench. Sergeant Murdoch spoke “Our target is 30 feet left, follow the trench, it dog legs first, and the traitor command post is beyond that. Assault team hold your position here. Stack and Morgan cover the right hand side of the Trench make sure we aren’t surprised from behind. Kyle and Gunn move on the command post take out any sentries and secure the perimeter than the assault team will storm the command post and snatch the prisoner. You all know the plan, you all know your jobs remember the info you learnt in briefing and this will go smooth”

Kyle and Gunn slipped from shadow to shadow. Kyle had drawn his knife it wasn’t a regulation issue bayonet but a curved blade with brass knuckles built into the hilt and the blade was painted black. In fact Kyle thought very little of their equipment was regulation their armour was stripped down and painted black instead of regulation green. Gunn wore a bandana across his lower face while Kyle had a hood. Both carried more than their regulation allocation of grenades and their side arms were non regulation pistols Gunn used a Stubb gun while Kyle had an Auto- pistol with a drum magazine. The trench opened out into a wider area there were two traitor sentries one stood on the trench parapet staring out into the darkness towards the loyalist trenches. The other was sat on a stool, his back turned to Kyle and Gunn guarding a door in to the traitor command post.

Kyle wiped his blooded knife on the dead traitors tunic as he waited Sergeant Murdoch and the assault team. Gunn had finished rifling the other dead sentry’s pockets and was now crouched watching down the trench further to the left for signs of enemy movement. Sergeant Murdoch and the assault team were readying themselves to enter the command post. Private Benn readied his thermal axe to breach the door while Private Gibb would be the first to enter with his assault shield and combat shotgun loaded with heavy buck shot the rest of the team armed with shotguns and grenades would follow Gibbs and clear the command post. Sergeant Murdoch gave the order “Go” and Benn breached the door the assault team moved in there was the muffled sound of gunfire and a grenade blast but within two minutes the team emerged from the command post Benn had an unconscious, and zip tied, rebel officer slung over his shoulder.

Murdoch spoke into his vox “9th company this is Mud Stalker one be advised you have friendlies 20 feet out do not shoot I repeat do not shoot friendlies to your front” Kyle heard the familiar voice of Captain Holgate in his earvox “Rodger that Mud Stalker one was your hunt successful?” Murdoch replied “Affirmative command one piggy ready for interrogation and no causalities” Kyle grinned in the darkness, the tension finally draining from him, he and the rest of his brothers in the Mud Stalkers would live to see another dawn.

I wanted to make a hardened veteran unit for my slowly expanding Imperial Guard. In my mind I had this idea that the surviving regular PDF members of the decimated 9th company are spread thin as NCOs or technical specialists to try and stiffen the influx of raw civilian recruits. However 9th company command have grouped together the best survivors of the old unit into a special squad, outside the normal platoon structure, to accomplish the toughest tasks. From a purely game play point of view I should have just gone with the tried and tested 3 plasma guns and a heavy weapon set up but I really fancied kit bashing something more interesting so I hit upon the idea of trench raiders I don’t think these guys will be overlay effective in games but at least they will look cool while dying. Kit bashing wise there are pieces from old Cadians, old space marine scouts, GSC neophytes and the Voidsman kill team set.

A Little Holiday Project

Merry Christmas everyone hope you’ve all got some nice plans over the festive period. I’m lucky enough to have a decent break from work (thanks to my company replacing overtime with time off in lieu) over this Christmas so I thought I’d try and restore my son’s old Space Marine army over the holiday to something usable by fixing up the broken stuff and adding a new paint job.

I was having a tidy up of the wargames room recently, when I came across my son’s old Space Marine army, languishing in a box. When he was little (he is a grown man now) he briefly dabbled in 40k before football and computer games turned his head. I’m pretty sure most of the miniatures are from the Assault on Black Reach box (so 5th edition? ) but some of the miniatures are obviously from earlier like a Land Raider Crusader.

This is the 1st miniature from the army a nice little Dreadnought I’ve named Brother Ignis of a homebrew Chapter I’ve called The Crusaders Crimson. Thought I’d try my now usual Grimdark, battle worn with OSL effects paint job. I think its turned out okay for a rescue job.

Felix Septem Thunder Siege Tank.

Finished painting my Kitbashed Thunderer tank. Back in the day when Forge World started dropping the Imperial Armour books the models were well out of my price range but I loved a lot of the Imperial guard vehicles. For my new Codex 3.5 IG army I wanted to include my two favourite looking (and now sadly OOP) Imperial armour tanks (or should that be self propelled guns?) the Thunderer and the Destroyer tank hunter. This Thunderer uses a Demolisher cannon from plastic Baneblade and bunch of bits from the IG tank upgrade sprue. While I was building and painting this model I came up with some background which I’ve included below.

After the disaster of the Southern campaign which culminated in defeat at the Battle of the Bridges loyalist forces were ordered to retreat to the Capital Mundus Prime. As the PDF regiments limped into the capital many of their armoured vehicles had been abandoned and those they managed to bring with them were in a poor state. The PDFs engineseers set up new workshops in the capital.
The worst vehicles were stripped for parts and then their hulls and turrets were dug into the rapidly expanding defense lines being built around the city as immobile defences. Those vehicles that could be repaired were and then sent back to their units. Finally a number of “new” vehicles were cobbled together from what was left.
Felix Septem is one of these vehicles originally Leman Russ its turret was a wreck but the engine and hull were sound lacking a replacement turret the Adeptus Mechanicus engineseers instead added a spare demolisher cannon stripped from a wrecked Baneblade and extended the rear of the tank to accommodate more ammo storage.
Sent to the 10th company 9th regiment (mechanised) as a replacement vehicle the crew christened the tank Felix Septem, which in low Gothic means Lucky Seven, and hand painted the name and mural on the side of the tank.

Colonel Kruze of the 13th Fortress Regiment (Traitor) Mundus III PDF

Colonel Kruze was the 3rd son of a minor noble house who bought a commission in the 13th regiment. While buying commissions was common on Mundus lII it was rare for anyone to buy one in the 13th.

As a fortress regiment the 13th was the largest regiment in the Mundus PDF but its numerous companies were spread out across the planet manning fortresses and plantery defense weapons. The 13th was a dumping ground for the least fit conscripts of the PDF those with minor health issues, or disciplinary issues and old or incompetent officers. Most officers in the PDF looking for glory and fortune saw the 13th as a career killer.

Colonel Kruse was a corrupt man of low morals he had no interest in glory but instead pursued a life of wine, women and gambling. This life style soon accrued debts and colonel Kruze took to stealing and selling regimental supplies to cover the costs of his lifestyle.

These vices made Colonel Kruze an easy target for the Faceless King to turn him to Chaos first through blackmail and coercion and later willingly. With Colonel Kruze’s help the Faceless King infiltrated the 13th regiments command structure with his own chaos followers. When he launched his rebellion the 13th became one of the Faceless King’s most useful assets providing a force of trained men well equipped with heavy weapons and artillery.

I’ve converted up a Colonel Kruze to lead my Traitor Guard forces. I’ve modelled him to represent him later in the rebellion when Chaos has changed him to represent his true nature of a vicious glutton only interested in filling his base desires.

Gorefang Beastman Arch heretic

Another member for my Lost and the Damned forces. An Arch Heretic kitbashed to be a Beastman mutant. There are so many choices with a LatD army in 3rd edition 40k that I’ve decided to build three 1000 point armies one of mostly Mutants and spawn, one of mostly cultists and one of traitor guard ( I’ll probably use the siege of Vraks renegade list for that). The three armies could of course be combined to create large points armies quite easily. Not surprisingly this guy will be leading the Mutants and gribbly monsters army.

I used bits from a Tau stealth suit for the legs. The body, backpack and right arm are from the old plastic Chaos space Marine kit. The power fist is from an old space marine kit and the head is from a fantasy Beastman. As usual I’ve attempted to paint him in a Grimdark style.

9th Company Command squad, 1st regiment Mundus III PDF.

Slowly putting together my Imperial Guard army as a narrative opponent for my LaTD army. My Guard army is very much inspired by the City fight Guard list that appeared White Dwarf Chapter Approved during 3rd edition. The idea behind that list was that an Imperial Guard force trapped in a Stalingrad type situation would soon end up with a whole mix of equipment, as well as civilian recruits. They would probably lose a lot of their heavy equipment but make up for it by becoming veteran fighters and experts in their Urban battlefield. With lots of civilians press ganged into fighting alongside the surviving regular PDF members the army should look suitably ragtag. I converted up this company command squad to fit that look. So the medic is a civilian doctor now practising field surgery, the master vox is a communications servitor, the company standard is being carried by ‘Swede’ Johanson a miner from the south along side a regular officer Captain Manx and Guardsman Dyle with her flamer. I have had a change of heart about the officer miniature as his isn’t quite imposing enough for my company captain so this miniature getting a demotion to a veteran sergeant and I’m working on a new more suitable company commander miniature.

Chaos Cultists

During the Rebellion on Mundus III the Faceless King made much use of Chaos Cults to fill his armies. Many of the original cults were often generations old, small and wore recognisable ceremonial clothing. The largest cult during the war was by far the Cult of the Open Eye lead by Katherine The Black Cardinal a women with powerful oratory skills. The Open Eye was made up of new recruits from areas captured by the forces of Chaos many willing converted by Katherine’s speeches and teachings. While others were press ganged at the point of a gun. Wearing the civilian clothing of their past lives the Open Eye often wore a red mask or item of red clothing as a field sign. Crude fetishes and tattoos (often forcibly applied) were also common. Due to their numbers, lack of military training and light often crude weaponry the Open Eye often made use of fanatical human wave attacks seeking to overwhelm imperial forces with sheer weight of numbers.

These are straight up OOP Chaos cultists from the 6th edition Dark Vengeance box set with one or two head and weapon swaps to add variety.

Rogue Psykers

Here are some Rogue Psykers I’ve put together for my 40K 3rd edition armies. I can run them as Rogue Psykers from the Siege of Vraks Renegades list (were they are basically the chaos equivalent of Imperial Guard sanctioned Psykers), a Rogue Psyker adversary HQ choice from the Witch Hunters Codex, an Arch Heretic HQ choice in a Lost and the Damned army or Thrall wizards for a Tzeentch Chaos space marine sorcerer. Two of the miniatures are straight up from the Blackstone Fortress game the other three are kit bashed using Blackstone Fortress Psykers, Necromunda outcasts, Genestealer cultists and bits from my bits box. As usual I’ve tried to them in a Grimdark style.

Beastmen Mutants

When the Faceless king launched his rebellion on the planet of Mundus III his army had three main elements. The first two elements were the Chaos cults, which varied in size and efficiency from a few dozen men with homemade weapons up to well trained and armed groups the size of a PDF regiment, and rebel PDF units most notably the 13th Mundus regiment. The last part of his armed forces were the outcasts from the wild places of Munda outlaws, mutants and abhumans. Desperate, persecuted groups that were only to happy to throw in with the Faceless king and gain revenge on their imperial oppressors.

The Faceless king’s rebellion was years in the making and in that time he was able to bring these outcasts under his sway arm and train them turning them from poorly armed bushwhackers in to effective shock troops to throw into the fray.

Here we have some beastmen for my heretic Chaos army a mix of Blackstone Fortress and fantasy beastmen with conversions using spare fantasy beastmen arms and heads and Necromunda Goliath arms.

The Mundus 13th Traitor Guard

The Mundus 13th were unique among the PDF regiments of Mundus III. Designated as a fortress regiment the 13th garrisoned strategic points across the planet including fortresses, the Starport and the planets Defence Laser and Defence missile batteries. Most Mundus PDF regiments consisted of two battalions of five companies each of around 250 men and officers. The 13th instead consisted of around forty independent companies ranging from size from 50 to 1000 men depending on the garrison requirements of their post. In keeping with their role the 13th had few armoured vehicles and little organic transport but had access to more artillery and heavy weapons.

When the Faceless King was planning his rebellion he specifically targeted the 13th infiltrating and corrupting the regiments officer corps. When the rebellion started this not only gave the Faceless King control of the planets defence network but also several strategic fortresses. In addition he gained a large body of trained fighting men and heavy weaponry.

It was quite possible that in the early days of the rebellion many of the private soldiers in the regiment were unaware that they were the rebels and by the time they realised, their mistake, it’s was to late their souls already belonged to Chaos. In the later stages of the war the 13th embraced the Dark gods and revealed in their status as the Faceless King’s elite fighting force.

Equipment wise the 13th used exactly the same equipment as loyalist PDF units which resulted in some confused battles and numerous friendly fire incidents in the early days of the rebellion. To counter this units of the 13th took to wearing scraps of red cloth, as a field sign, latter they also often sported fetishes and symbols showing their allegiance to the dark gods.

So here we have a squad of the Mundus 13th set up for an assault role in the great trench battles that took place around the city of Mundus Prime. A mix of Blackstone Fortress traitor guard and a couple of the more guardsmen looking old OOP chaos cultists plus some head and weapon swaps.