My Penal Legion -- Does it Need Spicing up?

[Nicodemus Doloroso]

Briefly, the story behind these guys is that for years a good friend of mine played Catachans while I played Sisters of Battle. We did a series of battle reports for batreps.com between our two armies. In one of them, his power-fist wielding commissar "Commisar Akrim" killed my canoness, then was taken down in turn by my Redemptor Priest with Eviscerator (in the fluff back then I had the priest chop the commissar's arm off). In the next batrep, Inquisitor Soulis replaced the dead canoness and was himself knocked out of his terminator armour by a demo charge. So, when I started building my Imperial Guard (DKoK models, but lead by inquisition elements including a bionically-repaired Lord Inquisitor Soulis) -- I decided that to atone for their sins, the Catachans have been inducted into a Penal Legion.

 

http://images.dakkadakka.com/gallery/2013/2/3/459880_md-Penal%20Legion.jpg

 

I'm fairly happy with them as-is. They just need to be based. BUT ... I'm wondering if they need to be spiced-up a little? I was wondering if I should maybe have Inquisition =I= tattooed on their foreheads or arms? I am considering adding a second squad of these, so I need to add tattooed unit number to their arms.

 

I was thinking of making some that look more arco-flagellant like, with pacifier helms and lasguns grafted onto one arm and chainsword/flail on the other. I would mix a few of these into each of the units ... do you think that is fitting and would work? Anything else you think? Do they need more scrolls or the like? Or will it make them too busy if I start adding more?

[Phalanx Warder]

I like your penal legion, if they were mine I would try to give them a more desperate look, let's face facts the penal legion is a death sentence!

[Nicodemus Doloroso]

Any suggestions on what would make them look more desperate?

[outrider]

I think they're good but save for the central three models they lack individuality I would expect from penal legion. Also their belts and backs seem empty, at least from the picture. Maybe you could add a long catachan knife accross a back of one or two models, some grenades here and there, bacpacks, satchels, bayonets, water cans or whatever else that comes to your mind. Find the right balance and it should give them a look like they are ready for anything.

 

Tattooes are a good idea but personaly I would go for arms. Maybe instead of unit number a few digit prisoner number could be better. If you feel like painting more small details you could try some artistic/prison ttooes on arms and even heads.

 

Hope this helps.

[Nicodemus Doloroso]

Thanks, Outrider, some good ideas there. Yes, their belts are pretty empty -- I built these guys quite a while ago but I believe my thinking was that they'd been stripped of most of their gear and just thrown into battle so they can die fighting the Emperor's enemies in penance for their misdeeds. Canteens, pouches, weapons, and even food (bitz from the fantasy Bretonnian line would work, they have onions, parsnips, pheasant) might work but since Penal Legionaires don't have grenades I wouldn't add those.

 

I'll think about some more individuality for the second 10, then mix the two units together so there's a mixture of more individualistic and basic Catachans in each unit.

 

The centre guy in red/black is the Penal Custodian, painted in Inquisition colours since these guys are prisoners of my Lord Inquisitor per the fluff. So the other squad will have a similarly attired (and flagellum-armed) custodian also.

[outrider]

I know the codex show them attacking stripped of everything but a lasgun, but I personally see them more like last chancers and survivors. It’s not like anybody care for them, so they have to care for themselves. Battlefields are full of all kind of stuff that can be picked up and traded with other prisoners or even handlers so they turn a blind eye. Besides I don’t think anybody would care as long as legionnaires die at predicted ratio, preferably fighting and not in transit. I agree inquisitorial penal legion might be more strict, but I would never pass on an opportunity to do stuff like painting a backpack in a completely different cammo scheme or make one model a medic just to add sausages sticking out of his first aid kit.

 

I take your point about grenades, didn't really look at the rules, but I still think it's worth to put them on one or two models so they look like some explosive freaks. Besides, everybody can trade for a grenade, wherever it works or not is a different issue altogether. Also, I see the “desperado” rule as a get-out from any WYSIWYG challenge, so I would pack them with laspistols, knifes even two handed teadybears if you fancy it, because at the end of a day what you can do is determined by a die.

 

On the other hand you could just put them in grey pyjamas with a big P on their backs and equip them only with a lasgun and Emperor’s blessing. In any case nothing is stopping you from making 1 or 2 models like that anyway as transfer from other legions :”)

[Nicodemus Doloroso]

Thanks again, Outrider. I like your ideas.

 

I'll look into adding some bitz to the existing guys, and then for the next 10 I'll plan out some really unique things. This thread has already generated a few ideas. I like the idea of random weaponry and gear from other troops. I will put some DKoK bitz on them to represent trading with my regular troopers.

 

I'm trying to think of what the guy who wrecked Lord Inquisitor Soulis' terminator armour should look like. He did it with a demo pack, so maybe a demo pack hanging around his neck?

[Kierdale]

I too would recommend some additional had weapons for some of them. Tattoos, be they barcodes or numbers, or something inspired by real-world prison tattoos, would add character.

I added surgically-implanted bombs to the spines of my PL, made from sliced up sections of spear/rod with a little light cut into them. Easy and it looks good.

[spafe]

If you want to go the whole hog on him, slightly bigger base required, have him having to drag the termie armour behind him (Ie changed to him like a ball and chain almost). Doesnt ahve to be entire wreckage, maybe just a piece of it?

 

Or a demo charge with obvs glowing red timer on it?

 

A string of expolsives around his neck?

 

If you want it to be very grim, a head mask thingy that obstructs vision (like the flagenlants ones on the empire spru)

[Nicodemus Doloroso]

spafe -- awesome idea with dragging a piece of the terminator armour. I think I might have him lugging it strung over a shoulder using rope/chain like the member of BT Chaplain Grimaldus' retinue who's hauling that bit of imperial statuary. That way I can keep him on a regular base. I'm thinking that the torso back plate would be most fitting (since it's recognizable and the front plate took the demo charge, failing the 5++). Doing such a conversion for a reasonable price will be the issue -- don't have any terminator bitz in my bitz box.

 

I'll look into some tats on their arms. I want to make it fairly obvious which squad is which for my own benefit, so maybe prisoner numbers where the first number is their squad number or something.

[Nicodemus Doloroso]

@KIERDALE - I don't suppose you have a tutorial anywhere on how you do your spinal bombs? What spear/rod do you use? How do you cut the light? Thanks.

 

@SPAFE, OUTRIDER, ET AL - Thanks again for the ideas. You've really got my creative juices flowing and I started building the second squad of penal troops for my army last night. Here are the ideas I'm working with; I need a few more to round it out to ten (and then I'll mix the two squads so both have the same mix of unique and more generic penal legionaires):

 

Tarot reader -- guy with a helmet on, Emperor's Tarot cards in helmet band, maybe a card in his hand as well (I'm going to try cutting out some small cards from plasticard)

Knives -- guy festooned with all manner of knife and close combat weapons, probably a knife in each hand, lasgun slung across back
 

Gunslinger -- guy with pistol in each hand, another in holster, lasgun slung over a shoulder (have already modeled this guy)
 

Fixer -- guy with all variety of goods; demo charge, backpack, sausages/pheasant, grenades, hat head from militia maybe or a Cadian head (I figure every jail has a guy like this)
 

Preacher -- guy who went all religious; Imperial Aquila and inquisition sigils, book from zealot box, Catachan command box pointing arm
 

Zealot -- another religious zealot, this one with the flame head from flagellant box, hooked to a fuel tank strapped to back, some scrolls and religious iconography, armed with scythe and lasgun; probably use an Empire Flagellant body instead of Catachan torso/legs since with that flaming brazier head I think it would look too weird otherwise. But then he might not look enough like a soldier and people will think he's somewhere else, not the Catachan regiment. Thoughts?
 

Penitent - cage flagellant head , dragging bits of Lord Inquisitor Soulis' destroyed terminator armour (ordered a terminator torso off eBay yesterday), chains, lots of
whip marks (self flagellation?)

 

The Penal Custodian will be another Cadian painted-up in Inquisition colours with a laspistol and flagellum same as the Penal Custodian in the picture. So that brings me to 8. Any ideas for the remaining two?

 

Thanks in advance!

[Kierdale]

@KIERDALE - I don't suppose you have a tutorial anywhere on how you do your spinal bombs? What spear/rod do you use? How do you cut the light? Thanks.

Sorry, I don't have a tutorial but it was very simple really.

I used a spare WHFB spear but any solid rod 3mm or so in thickness would do. The Ungors I used for my penitents have hairy backs and prominent shoulder blades so I had to cut a flat area for the 'bomb' to sit in but with guard you wouldn't have that problem: their backs are flatter. I cut a cylinder three or so millimetres in length from the spear and glued it in place between their shoulder blades.

Then simple a pair of shallow parallel cuts into the face of the cylinder and a horizontal cut to join them: that made the 'light'. Painting the rest of the bomb metallic and the light red helped to define it.

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8493/8303084953_797559dc9b.jpg

 

 

And I did a pose like your 'Knives' ;)

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8075/8304138648_5b280ec2dd.jpghttp://farm9.staticflickr.com/8220/8304138548_c959c59422.jpg