Company Command Squad, A Company, 17th Hive Chosin indentured Militia.

Command squad in its entirety...

Captain & Vox operator...

Meltagunners...and lower image are the regimental advisors-two bodyguards.

Although Commissar Antaris is the guiding hand behind A' Company. Command nominally falls to Captain Bakarr.
A giant of a man with a brooding temperment, he had been given command of the Company because of his reputation in civilian life.

Bakarr had been the leader of 767, one of the largest 'contracted security guilds' (basically the largest most organised gangs) in house Antrim, organising protection teams on the great tanker land-trains and mine holdings and plotting attacks on the houses rivals.

Ruthless and never afraid to lead from the front, Bakarr was lightly wounded several times but had a reputation for escaping death in the face of impossible odds.

His vox operator is Corporal Schieo another 767 veteran of the inter-house trade wars, schieo's loyalty was to Bakarr first and foremost; having been brought up from a feral sub-level juvenile by the tough and brutal family that was the 767 outfit.

Captain Bakarr also has two troopers that serve as his most trusted aides and bodyguards. The first is Jorpal Thjornsson, a former smeltery worker in the Sire Estiff Mustafa contructorium, Journal found his calling in life in the hell of close quarters combat. As a squad sergeant he was a devil, both with a chainsword and the enemy and with any member of the 17th who crossed him with his fists. Mentally unsuitable for command Bakarr made him his personal bodyguard.

The second aide is the infamous 'Mutt' Maro, universally known across half the lower hive as mutt the bounty killer, almost a legend amongst the underclass of hive Chosin, mutt had carved out his career on the bounty of the southern continent's biggest outlaws, mutants and desperados, said to be able to shoot the tail off a running felid; or crush a man's skeleton with the strength of his bionic arm...

Trooper Bretz is mutts current main preoccupation in the command squad, a vile psychopathic murdering rapist only given a stay of execution because of his formidable fighting talents, even fitted with an explosive collar, Mutt still doesn't trust him with a meltagun.

Vekal and Rouse are the other two meltagunners, both combat veterans with very different backgrounds. Rouse as the boss of a sump side hijacking gang. Vekal as one of house Antrim's personal retainers

Company command squad - 50pts basic. x3 meltaguns +30pts. x2 bodyguards +30pts. Officer w/ bolter and Powerfist +17pts. Vox caster +5pts. Total - 132 points

The officer is the old metal catachan captain.
The vox caster is a 2nd generation 'fanatic' orlock mini with a Cadian comm link. ( I thought this more chunky than the catachan vox and therefore more suited to being the company's master vox)

The first bodyguard is the original alternative metal Catachan sergeant, which I think is a great (Perry?) Miniature you don't see that often. Mutt the bounty killer is a necromunda bounty hunter.

The meltagunners are an orlock leader. Metal catachans, and the reprobate is 'animal' from the last chances....as a unit from mixed sources I think they work together pretty well and apart from my amateurish painting... bring across the rag tag nature of a hive militia.

Infantry Squad One, 12th Kieler Armoured Pioneers.

Squad one in the infantry platoon, kitted out for fire support with a missile launcher, grenade launcher and vox caster - 75pts. They all have forgeworld resin backpacks, a few have respirator heads. The sergeant's chainsword is from the 2nd edition orlock leader weapon sprue and his laspistol hand is forgeworld. I was quite pleased with how the heavy weapons team turned out as you only ever seem to see them in static poses. The gunners right arm is from the old Leman Russ plastic tank commander. The loaders right arm is forgeworld, I cut the bipod down into a folded postion so he could be posed running with it. I also added a bloody boot and shrapnel peppered helmet as detail to the base

Platoon Command squad. 12th Kieler Armoured Pioneers.

Here is the command squad for troops choice no1 in my armoured assault engineers regiment. A lieutenant with a power fist, a Commissar, two plasma guns and a vox caster. 115 points. One of the plasma gunners is forgeworld, the commander and trooper have forgeworld backpacks from their upgrade pack. The Officer and Commissar minis are some of my favorites of the more recent IG range. I think the simple addition of the backpacks really improves the look of the cadian models, I think a few backpacks wouldnt have gone amiss on the infantry sprue. Although I suppose gw remedied the situation somewhat with the (? Years later) accessory packed plastic command box.

Leman Russ MBT, 12th Kieler Armoured Pioneers.

Here is a Leman Russ I built pretty much standard, the only minor changes are the hull heavy bolter being from the heavy weapons team set. And both the heavy bolter and pintle stubber having gun shield s from the same kit ( the shields fit the stubbers like they're meant to be! )..

In background terms this tank is a bodyguard to my king Russ demolisher, the regiments specialised assault engineering vehicles always having a regular tank 'riding shotgun' against enemy armour etc.

Leman Russ battle tank - 150pts basic. Pinter heavy stubber +10pts. Total - 160pts

'Traitor' Guard Veteran Squad, Brotherhood of Sin

When I bought a job lot of chaos bits recently, these were a lovely surprise, you couldn't really see them in the eBay photos under a pile of csm bodies and boltgun arms but lo and behold there were ten van saar gangers with greenstuffed gas hoods and a leader with a power fist from the old plastic eldar sprue.

In my opinion they were really nicely converted. Paint wise however they looked like they had originally been khornate cultists in a dark crimson scheme, but had been horribly overpainted at some point in a bright green nurgle type paintscheme. They took a lot of carefully stripping back, as I had to be carefull not to damage the Greenstuff heads.

In the end I was still left with a lot of red in the crevices. The only minor changes I made were to swap a plasma pistol back to a laspistol on one mini to make him into a 'regular' trooper.

One miniature had a multimelta (now carried by one of my havoc's) now he has a lasgun and a slightly oversized mace, and I added a skull to the leaders power fist for a bit of character.

I repainted them in a homemade purple mixed from blood red and regal blue. I think the green cabling works really well with the purple bodygloves and dark grey firearms to give them a corrupt, decadent, but well equipped and organised feel.

Originally I had thought they could be one of the new cultist squads in the 6th edition CSM codex, but after having checked out the rumors and scuttlebutt on the excellent faet212 blog, it doesn't appear that lowly cultists will be allowed such luxuries as powerfists, plasma pistols, or even meltaguns.
So instead they will become the mandatory troops choice in an 'traitor' guard 6th edition allied detachment; the Brotherhood of Sin.
I had thought about getting some more van Saar models off eBay and trying to model them to match. The plan being to end up with two veteran squads, and a command squad as a standalone miniforce. But the van saar models seem to fetch a premium, especially the more unusual ones like the plasma heavy and meltagun leader.
So instead I think I'll find an interesting mini to proxy as a primaris psyker / lord Commissar for the HQ choice. And a vehicle (or two)

Ive been looking at ramshackle games Gnu armoured transport and thinking it would make a great proxy chimera for traitor guard. If you haven't checked it out. I would recommend taking a look at their website. The new releases page has the best pictures of their recent range of resin vehicles and figure. I haven't actually bought anything from them yet. But I'm very tempted by a lot of their cool looking stuff that has a lot of 40k potential. Especially if you were building blood pact or similar and wanted a whole range of armoured cars/tanks to represent the urdeshi made vehicles in Dan abnetts excellent series of gaunts ghost books.

Veteran squad - 70pts basic. Champion with plasma pistol and power fist +25pts. Meltagun +10pts. Total 105pts.

Leman 'King' Russ Demolisher. 12th Kieler Armoured Pioneers.

Another tank that I picked up for five or six quid on eBay.

It had already received a well executed double track conversion and other bits and pieces including what I think is a space marine vehicle periscope/auspex thingy on the turret, Unfortunately it was missing some of the metal turret pieces and had the hull mount and one sponson armoured over with plasticard; the other sponson had a sentinel heavy flamer fitted.

I found another sentinel flamer in my bits box to match, added a hull heavy flamer and gave it a repaint. I decided to leave one panel in the original green as a tribute to its builder. (In fluff terms it would be a panel that's been hastily replaced after damage)

In game terms I count it as having extra armour (see drivers cab etc)and the double tracks as being a dozer blade ( I much preferred the old catch-all 'rough terrain modification' )

Leman russ Demolisher - 165pts basic, heavy flamer sponsons +20pts, extra armour +15pts, rough terrain mod/dozer blade +10pts. Total 210 pts

Warp Fiends Chaos Terminator lord - Ghastus Draik.

The mandatory Hq Choice for my little WIP chaos marine warband is this metal terminator mini, I bought this back when they were first released end of 2nd edition /beginning of 3rd?? he was one of the few miniatures to survive me leaving the hobby in my middle teens.

I gave him a quick repaint to match the warp fiends colours and that was that. Armed with a lightning claw and a combi melta ( I still need to do a little painting on his gun) I particularly like this head option as well. The first (post rogue trader) chaos marines were my favorite of my little armies back in the day.

Warp Fiends - Havoc Squad

A couple of months back, in anticipation of the upcoming chaos codex, I bought a large job lot of chaos bits and pieces with the intention of putting together a small Slaaneshi / pirate warband. In this box of bits were a few plastic and metal csm bodies, a load of broken plastic bits and bobs; and most interestingly...a load of necromunda van-saar gangers converted to chaos cultists (more on them later!)...........After a hefty raid on my bits box, this squad of havocs was the end result.

The champion is an old space wolf scout. for the lascannon marine I found an old rogue trader imperial guard shoulder mounted lascannon which I really wanted to use as I thought it had a ancient, pre heresy look to it, like he's been carrying that cannon for centuries, his tentacles are actually two skaven tails.

The chap with the back banner has a bolter made which is actually half a stormbolter from the imperial guard chimera sprue. The severed hand is another skaven bit, as is his extra tentacle.

The heavy bolter marine has an arm and backpack from a necromunda orlock heavy. I built the multimelta havoc more out of wishfull thinking in regards to the upcoming codex than anything else. If havoc's can't be given multimeltas, I'll just have to count it as a (badly maintained) meltagun.

Veteran Squad 1, Assault team, 31st Royal Kaylan Lancers.

Troops choice no1 for the Lancers.
A Mechanised infantry squad geared for close assault with a flamer and meltagun.
The only minor conversion is the demolition specialist, formerly a lascannon gunner with a forgeworld demo charge added, I thought his little remote control and glareglasses suited the role perfectly.

The chimera was built pretty much built out of the box. I've never liked the side lasguns on the chimera kits. They never look like they could traverse low enough to shoot at anything except flyers. Instead with my chimera I used a simple office hole punch to make some card discs which I could model open or closed; keeping the function of useable firing ports.

Veteran squad - 70pts basic. NCO w/ Bolt pistol +2pts. Vox caster +5pts. Meltagun +10pts. Flamer +5pts .Demolition specialists +30pts. Chimera w/ stormbolter +65pts. Total - 187pts.

...p.s in the background you can just about make out my WIP hive milita veteran squad, using the old last chancers ox as a sergeant Harker stand-in.

E Company Command Squad, 31st Royal Kaylan Lancers.

Here is the company command squad for my Lancers regiment

the officer is the old Colonel Schaeffer mini.
The master of ordinance is the old spotter model from the griffon mortor carrier with an added laspistol, and the two vehicle crewmen count as bodyguards... in fluff terms they are the major's armour liaisons / adjutants.

Their chimera is the new model with the old metal crew member...to try and tie it in a bit with the rest of the squad.

Company command squad - 50pts basic. Officer w/ plasma pistol & power sword +20pts. Vox caster +5pts. Master of ordnance +30pts. x2 bodyguards +30pts. Chimera w/ stormbolter +65pts. Total - 200points.

31st Royal Kaylan Lancers. Leman Russ Exterminator no7.

An old Leman Russ Exterminator, which I picked up on eBay for about a fiver inc postage. I gave it a quick repaint and am quite pleased with the result.

Normally Leman russe's wouldn't be present in a lancer regiment, but an exterminator can be classed as a scout tank according to imperial armour (although probably without the sponsons)

The 31st Royal Kaylan Lancers use their exterminator's as a force multiplier. Bringing them to bear at the largest concentrations of enemy troops as a shock weapon.

Leman Russ Exterminator - 150pts basic. Heavy Bolter sponsons.+20pts Pintle storm bolter +10pts...Total 180pts.

Chief Commissar Antaris. A Company, 17th Hive Chosin Indentured Militia.

Chief Commissar Vladimir Antaris is discipline master of the 17th regiment.

Formerly a training instructor for junior cadets, Antaris was a loud and brutal man, greatly feared by the men and responsible for over two dozen summery executions during the 17th's period of service. Chief Commissar Antaris generally attaches himself to the the Company Command Squad, all the better to keep a firm hand at the tiller.

Lord Commissar - 70pts basic. Power fist +15pts. Total 85 points.

Squad Vannick, 2nd Platoon, A Company, 17th Hive Chosin Indentured Militia

Sergeant Vannick Is a native of Tor-Nova hive in the central Cluster and fought in an ecclesiarchy militia during the archenemy uprising. Wounded in the eye early on in the fighting he was Lucky enough to be evacuated to the southern continent by the sisters hospitaler.

Devoutly religious he immediately volunteered for the indentured regiments when he was discharged from care.

Vannick's men make up a large proportion of the company's devout, and are far too clean and do-Gooding for the lieutenant's liking.
He has put Vannick in serious harms way on more than one occasion, but the old goat always comes back; maybe the Emperor does watch over him?

Same deal as before, plastic catachans, a few with Cadian heads, metal catachans and an orlock thrown in for variety.

Infantry squad - 50 pts basic. Sergeant w/ Bolt pistol +2pts...Flamer +5pts....Vox caster +5pts Total - 62 pts.

2nd Platoon Command Squad. A Company, 17th Hive Chosin Indentured Militia

2nd platoon 'the sumpers' are commanded by lieutenant 'Angel' Ferrera a savage former gang leader from the western slope. Originally a corporal, Ferrera rose to platoon command in the field after lieutenant Yoiup lost both legs to a fragmentation grenade.
His promotion was a gesture to try and placate the gang elements in 2nd platoon; who had long resented taking orders from a fancy pants mid-hiver like Fernandos Yoiup.

Alfus kroner was a former unlicensed tech... some would even say a heretek. Tall, thin and pale with a cranium pock marked with black market implants, Alfus is fundamentally untrustworthy. But very usefull at keeping 2nd platoons ramshackle equipment running.

On the vox caster is Big Daine Zeba, a loud bully who tries to pick on the weaker troopers in the 17th.

Troopers Veroigin and Kussle man a tripod mounted lascannon, with which they have accounted for five archenemy armour units.

2nd platoons Commissar is Andrei Dapplow a teenage cadet given emergency promotion to meet the desperate need for discipline officers following the mass conscription at Chosin. Overly fond of harsh discipline and summary execution, probably to hide the fact he was absolutely terrified and out of his depth. Dapplow was wholeheartedly hated by his men. Reported killed at the battle for spire kop, rumours abounded that Dapplow was actually fragged by the men when they realised the end of the war was near.

Lt Ferrera is the old Orlock leader from the original box set. Back in the day I had cut off his Boltgun for a shotgun. So ironically I had to go back and find another bolter to graft on.

The vox operator is plastic catachan with a sentinel pilot control arm as a basic auspex. And a shoulderpad from the new chimera kit.

The trooper is 'brains' from colonel Schaefers last chancers, the lascannon gunner was made from bits from the plastic catachan command sprue and his loader relaxing on a rock is an old metal tank rider.

The commissar is an old rogue trader mini; his bolt pistol arm is from the new chimera kit... it's a little too big scale wise, but i think it just about passes muster (why a repressed teenage junior Commissar might have an overdeveloped right arm I don't know!).

A Company. 2nd platoon Command squad - 30pts basic -officer w/ boltgun +2pts -Commissar +35pts -Vox caster +5pts -Lascannon +20pts Total 92 points.

Squad Ciatis, 1st Platoon, A Company, 17th Hive Chosin Indentured Militia.

Sargeant Ciatis prefers to let Corporal Arakis's squad do the bulk of the fighting. After all if they're stupid enough to jump every time Ortis clicks his fingers, why not?
Conversely, Ciatis's men often wonder how Arakis's mob never seem to get through their 'wet' ration. And where do they get all that obscura and Greenplant from?.

yet again plastic catachans, a couple with cadian heads, and a Orlock and metal catachan.

A company, 1st platoon, squad 2 50pts basic. -Sergeant w/ bolt pistol +2pts -Vox caster +5pts -Flamer +5pts Total - 62pts.

Squad Arakis, 1st Platoon, A Company, 17th Hive Chosin Indentured Militia

Led by the level headed and well liked Corporal Arakis, the squad had a reputation for getting stuck in to the thickest fighting. Usually so that ex-gang killer 'Doc' Brahn could use his flamer to maximum effect.

Lieutenant Ortis makes sure to keep Arakis and his boys happy, and well stocked with smokes and stash, as they seem to bear the brunt on first platoons combat.

A few plastic and metal catachans with a couple of orlocks mixed in to give the squad a rag tag look.

A company. 1st Platoon squad 1 - 50pts basic. -Flamer +5pts. Total - 55pts.

A Company, 1st Platoon Command Squad.

1st Platoon's Command squad, led by lieutenant Ortis, formerly a labour-gang boss with a nice sideline in black marketeering.

He was made an officer by dint of already being a figure of authority to some of the men. He quickly gained a reputation as an man who could make front line life more bearable - at a price. Or one who could make a troopers life unbearable if they crossed him. Lazy, greedy and self serving. ortis was nonetheless a tough fighter and an effective combat officer, although this can probably by attributed to his highly developed sense of self preservation.

Ortis's lackey, crony and adjutant is Corporal Clendiz. Loyal as a cyber mastiff (as long as Ortis keeps him sweet with lho sticks and amnsec) Clendiz always has one ear to the vox caster, listening in on all sorts of restricted bandwidths to keep 'the loot' up to date on what the brass aren't telling.

Gunter Gosling is an ex-tracker and shooter on the wilderness beast caravans. A good shot and self sufficient fellow gosling is nonetheless an abject coward who has stayed out of harm's way by keeping his head down as much as possible.

T-Bar and Lenry operate the platoons anti tank gun... an old carriage mounted lascannon, they make a good gun crew together, although T-bar is increasingly resentful of lenry's endless jokes about his gang-juve background and feckless manner, reckoning himself a veteran and worthy of more respect. After all how many men can say they've killed a leman Russ?

Lastly is Commissar Bulgarin, originally posted to H company, in previous life Bulgarin was a desk bound bueurocrat, Passing his career as a counsel in court Martials. A dour man; sallow skinned and unfit from years of desk work, he earned the grudging respect of the men for his crude yet effective work with a chainsword, and his complete and utter disinterest in any and all matters of platoon discipline as long as it didn't make him look bad in front of Chief-Commissar Antaris.

That's the background stuff... the command squad consists of the old catachan lieutenant mini, the commissary is the mordian lieutenant miniature who I think makes a great alternative commissar.
The vox operator is the spotter from the metal lascannon team with a plastic vox-link. And he has been replaced on the gun crew by an necromunda Orlock juve.
The trooper is 'fingers' from the colonel Schaefers last chancers set.

A company 1st platoon command squad - 30points basic. -Officer w/ Boltgun +2Pts -Commissar +35pts -Vox-caster +5pts -Lascannon +20pts Total 92 points.

A' Company, 17th Hive Chosin Indentured Militia - Background

When the full extent of Prime-Hive Danasck's descent into worship of the Ruinous powers was exposed, Lord Inquisitor Constantine Fleuroux retreated to the relative safety of Hive Chosin on the scorched and barren southern Continent.

Isolated and largely untainted by the heretical decadence that had swept through the central hive cluster like a cancer, Hive Chosin was a smog covered blister some twenty three miles square; dedicated to excavating the precious ores and petrochemicals buried deep under the wastes. It was also probably the only loyal imperial hive remaining on the surface of Danskanvel.

Acting swiftly Fleuroux gathered his own forces and PDF units stationed at Chosin, and organised a purge of the Hive to weed out the brotherhood cells that were already infiltrating the gangs and guild houses of Chosin's Lower hive.

As the central cluster was ripped apart by civil war. PDF units split between loyalist and traitor; debauched cultists boiling up through the hives in an orgy of bloodletting and violence, Fleuroux concentrated on turning the southern continent into a fortress. As far as he was concerned; the central cluster was lost.
The inhabitants dammed even if only by association.
The rot had set too deep.
All the remaining loyalists could do was buy time for the southern continent to prepare.

The PDF units stationed at Chosin could barely defend the hives vital facilities in the event of an attack and the imperial relief force, although inbound; was two months distant and had been stripped back to a minimum following raids by pirate elder in the Paraxis system that demanded the bulk of its armour and air-mobile units.

What Fleuroux needed was an army. Quickly intimidating the council of noble houses into submission. Fleuroux issued a decree stating that each of the seven noble house, and each of the sixteen houses ordinary were to furnish the munutorium agents with fully two thirds of their men of fighting age for induction into a series of new conscript regiments with which Fleuroux could take the war to the brotherhood on the mainland.

Over the next eight weeks squads of arbites and press gangs of local enforcers and PDF roamed the hive enforcing the decree in the most brutal fashion. Many of the more independently minded inhabitants of Chosin resisted, and open rebellion broke out in several of the lower wards. However, by the time the imperial navy arrived; scattering the brotherhoods so-called trade arks to the warp, Fleuroux had nearly a quarter of a million men assembled In great holding fields hastily built with flakboard and razorwire.

The next problem was equipping this vast force. Manufactorums and workhorses all across the hive were put to work so that each man might be furnished with a basic battledress, bedroll, Boots and mess kit. Ancient stores of weapons were unearthed from locked silos deep within the hive core.
The forces deploying from orbit were petitioned for armaments. And small arms of every type and pattern were issued to the militia regiments in the rush to equip them.
Although the munotorium made every effort to standardise patterns across companies and regiments, as inevitable attrition took place in combat, and units were slowly decimated and folded into one another a patchwork of small arms and support weapons were held by each unit, making effective supply of ammunition almost impossible late in the campaign.

An interesting aside to this is that only a tiny minority of the militiamen received the expensive triplex pattern Lasgun; but by the closing stages of the conflict they could be seen in almost every squad. As the troopers actively sought out and scavenged these rare and sought after rifles over all the other patterns.

Commissars from the fleet and regiments were brought in to provide training and discipline to the newly formed units. Many of these commissars were raw cadets given emergency promotion or previously deskbound members of the commiserate, more used to a cogitator or a dataslate than a bolt pistol and chainsword.
A few were hard bitten veterans, come from the more disciplined off-world regiments less in need of a commissar than their militia brethren.

It was their job to whip into shape a polyglot mixture of fervent volunteers and press-ganged reluctants, hard bitten underline gangers and hard working habbers, stevdores. Riggers. Miners and men from all walks of hive life.

The 17th regiment originally consisted of three thousand men organised into ten companies A through J. The men were all recruited from house Antrim, one of the largest houses ordinary with many holdings in the Prometheum fields of the lower steppes.

The 17th first saw action during the brotherhood of sins aborted invasion of the southern continent. Despite taking heavy casualties they held the junction township of Dar-es-Angkora for five days under sustained attack from massed cult levies and captured pdf armour; gaining invaluable experience for the coming assault on the mainland.

The 17th were in action for the whole of the sarissa landings, losing nearly one third of their strength at the landing site. And another five hundred souls in the series of rearguard actions the brotherhood fought on the inland railroad to theuniskraal. At the time of the battle for spire kop, after which the 17th was removed from the imperial rosters as an effective fighting unit; the regiment had been reduced to two understrengh companies. Each less than a hundred strong, the long and bloody path to Dansksval's central cluster had cost the 17th more than two and a half thousand ccasualties and had left the few remaining survivors as hard bitten a group of soldiers as any in the annals of the imperial guard.