(WiP) Third Cheme Legion - Now with Images!

[Captain Juan Juarez]

A fresh topic solely about the Third Legion of Cheme, loyal sons of the Emperor and regiment of the Astra Militarum (hate that name!).

 

There will be pictures - have some on my camera of 3/5ths of a Command Squad - but who knew you didn't get the required USB cable in with the bloody camera!?

 

First, some fluff:

 

 

Third Cheme Legion (Infantry)

The Third Legion are an old regiment of the Guard, dating back to the original founding on the feudal world of Cheme and have the unique honour amongst all of the Cheme Legions of never having been reconstituted.

 

Though millions of soldiers have passed through their ranks since their founding, the 3rd Cheme have an unbroken line of service back to that founding and there is an immense pride in that honour that can sometimes cause more than the usual conflict between the Legions of Cheme when they serve in the same wars.

 

The Legion is a self-contained fighting formation that is capable of carrying out combat operations in any operational theater short of a full-scale armour war. On the whole the Third Legion has demonstrated a particular aptitude for urban operations, having perfected these skills during the Twelve Hives Rebellion of Sakaan Prime, being able to more effectively utilize their infantry-focused Cohorts and the incredible impact the quick response of their air-mobile First Cohort can have.

 

Currently serving in the Legion are five Cohorts, with the Third Legion following the basic structure of any other infantry regiment with the only difference being one of terminology and rank:

 

Cohorts, Maniples and Decima replace Companies, Platoons and Squads.

 

Decima are commanded by Corporals, Maniples by Sergeant and Cohorts by a Lieutenant or Captain - the only exception to this is of the First Cohort which is commanded by a Major, the Legion's Executive Officer.

 

 

First Cohort "The Reavers"

 

First Cohort, Third Legion, is a veteran Cohort that follows the tradition of Cheme by being a double-strength formation and is also fully air-mobile - this mobility, as well as additional firepower, being provided by the Valkyrie.

 

First Cohort is currently commanded by Major Manannan.

Second Cohort

Second Cohort is a basic Infantry Cohort with a Light Infantry Platoon embedded.

 

Second Cohort is commanded by Captain Cantaray

Third Cohort

Third Cohort is a basic Infantry Cohort with a Light Infantry Platoon embedded.

 

Third Cohort is commanded by Captain Caibre

Fourth Cohort

Fourth Cohort is comprised of the Legions support elements, including anti-tank and anti-aircraft formations.

 

Fourth Cohort is currently commanded by Lieutenant Bodarch

Fifth Cohort

Fifth Cohort comprises the Armoured (Infantry) formation of the Legion, including their Reconnaissance element.

 

Fifth Cohort is currently commanded by Captain Keristae, with the Recon Element headed by Lieutenant Edrin

 

There will be a joint focus on both the modelling and the fluff elements of the Third Legion and I hope you guys enjoy both the aspects that I will present.

[Captain Juan Juarez]

Pictures!

I currently have built a Maniple Command Squad consisting of Sergeant, Vox-Officer and Standard Bearer - with more to be built tomorrow - plus I have First Decima of the Maniple currently in its box (plus another 30 Cadians and a CCS ordered!).

EDIT:

Second Cohort, First Maniple Command Squad is completed (pictures to follow):

Sergeant

Vox-Corporal

Standard Bearer

Legionnaires (x2 - I see them as bodyguards for the Sarge, Vox and Standard thus allowing the Spec. Weapons in my Decima)

First Maniple, First Decima (pictures to follow):

Corporal

Lance-Corporal of Vox

Decima Medic (Because I'm modelling for fun rather than legality, I see most squads having a Medic attached)

Plasma Gunner (wounded)

Legionnaires (x2)

Maniple Commander (Sergeant) with Vox-Corporal

Maniple Standard w/ Bodyguard

The Discipline Officer

[-Volsung-]

Astra Militarum?

The hell is that?

I think it's just called "Imperial Guards".

[Captain Juan Juarez]

"Astra Militarum" is what GW have rebranded the Imperial Guard, sire -Volsung-

 

Personally, I find the name diculous and prefer to still refer to them as the Imperial Guard and I don't think of my Third Legion belonging to the Astra Militarum.

[-Volsung-]

That was sarcasm, my dear friend!

Yeah, no one I know calls it Astra Militarum. It's a dead giveaway that one is a noob by referring to the honored Imperial Guards as such.

[WarriorFish]

Just keep using Imperial Guard, it's still correct :) I'm looking forward to seeing your Cheme regiment form up :tu:

[Captain Juan Juarez]

Having just finished a 14 hours shift, I come home to find my camera cable and am delighted. 

 

There will be no pictures until Thursday as unfortunately I have to work 14 hours again tomorrow and the unnatural light here is diabolical - but I do have a Command Squad and an 8-man Squad built to show off.

[WarriorFish]

Something to look forward to after those long shifts I'll bet, I can't wait to see the first pictures :D

[Captain Juan Juarez]

Look what arrived for me today :D

[WarriorFish]

Huzzah! It's a good feeling opening that box and seeing the boxes peering out from inside I'd post my box contents up, but that might ruin the ETL surprise

You are aware that now we know you have the models we'll be expecting pictures of them assembled soon right?

[Captain Juan Juarez]

I have Sunday and Monday off, so my plan is to - around my tattoo colouring on Monday - to spend a lot of time prepping and assembling and fluffing out some characters.

 

That initial batch has shown me how the two main infantry kits work so I am raring to go.

[WarriorFish]

Great! That's the sort of dedication you need, just be careful not to get carried away and get more boxes until you're done with these I've spent a long time getting my model backlog down...

[Captain Juan Juarez]

One question for a future purchase, regarding appropriate or cool bits:

 

I intend to make my Cohort Commander look cool on something like a HWT base so that I can pose him and maybe a Scion bodyguard - remember these are all just for my own enjoyment and not playing - so what cool bits should I look out for or try to get hold of?

 

My image, in my mind, of Captain Cantaray of the Second Cohort is very much of a commander  "in the trenches" with his men, who doesn't sit back and direct but puts the plan in place and then gets stuck in to getting the job done.

 

I was thinking about some of the Catachan bits but then they wouldn't exactly have the right look uniform-wise.

 

EDIT: Also, if no-one has noticed there are now pics in post #2 :)

[WarriorFish]

Piles of dead xenos to stand atop? The HWT has some a few sandbags, maybe those with some other bits and boxes on a churned muddy base with craters filled with water?

[Captain Juan Juarez]

Update! Some old pictures mixed in with some new, plus a bit of the fluff stuff.

The Master of Discipline, seen here with a Junior Discipline Officer, provides the men of the Third with that service is not a duty but a privilege, that regimental discipline is a matter most serious. Within the command echelon of the the Legion the Discipline Officers are often sited as being inspirational but as a matter of course this inspiration frequently comes from the barrel of a gun.

Corporal Aramchus leads Second Decima, First Maniple, Second Cohort.

With over twenty years of service, seven of them in command of Second Decima, Aramachus is a popular soldier within the Cohort as a whole, not just his squad. The Corporal is more than willing to enforce discipline, believing slack discipline will lead to wasted deaths, but is always to be found serving in the thick of the action - even as a Decima commander he does not stand back and will never ask anything of his men that he won't attempt.

Veteran Leander ® has served in Second Decima for three years, having been broken down from the rank of Sergeant of the Maniple (3^rd) for discrepancies within Allied Quartermaster Command during the Va'hun Pacification. Despite being found with forty-three Hellguns and three Lascannons in his possession from Cadian armouries the application of the political capital of Captain Cantaray was enough to preserve his life, though rank is now beyond his grasp indefinitely.

Veteran Koreas was a renowned marksman, serving directly under the commander of the Second Cohort in the sniper cadre. During the Athan Compliance then-Corporal Koreas took a glancing blow from a plasma discharge that ruined his left arm and the resulting bionic, whilst functional and allowing him to hit 91/100 targets, was not up to the standards he had previously set himself.

At his own request Koreas was returned to the ranks and has served Second Decima for six years and in that time has retrained both his mind and his body, becoming a lethal close-combat combatant.

One and Two Sections, First Decima, First Maniple, following After Action Report 00962.

KIA:

Corporal Zachus

Legionnaire Le'Bray

Maniple Command Squad Primus under the command of Sergeant of the Maniple (1^st) Hoshin, who has held that command for nine years formerly serving as a Valkyrie gunner in First Cohort.

[WarriorFish]

Good work, looks like you'll soon be needing to crack the paint pots out!

[Captain Juan Juarez]

So it turns out painting humans is not my strong point - so many fiddly bits! There shall be some more picture-free practicing but at the moment I am not happy - I have all the dexterity of a paint-maddened Chaos Dread. Now imagine that Dread trying to perform a Geisha ceremony....

[WarriorFish]

It's a matter of getting used to the models and that will come with time. Assembly line painting is always good for getting an army done but is almost essential for Guard. Simplify your paint scheme into manageable phases and work through as many models at a time as feels comfortable. Could be 2 at a time, or 4 - as many as you can without it being too much of a chore.

 

Maybe you can leave certain bits until later to return to, for example the winged skulls? It won't take long to get the hang out of how you paint them best, so stick at it - and if that's not enough just think that if I of all people can paint models to a reasonably good tabletop standard then anyone can! :lol::tu:

[Captain Juan Juarez]

My trouble is that I'm a perfectionist and that I will never be truly happy - but enough of my personal life!

 

I have another dozen or some Guardsmen to practice on but because of my dexterity issues I am not hopeful. However, failure is not an option so I already have an idea if I can't paint them to my own satisfaction!

[Captain Juan Juarez]

So after much deliberation, and a (vodka) mango sorbet, I am still not even slightly pleased with my painting of guardsmen which means that platoons are probably not for me!

 

This leads me to a dilemma - and also ignorance of the four infantry boxes on my worktop - and that is... Where to now? I'm thinking tanks.. - as they have some fiddly painting bits but a lot of large areas and surfaces - ..but I also had a left field and more expensive idea too.

[hendrik]

platoons can be fun to play with though! why not combine to pleasant to the unpleasant? say, you allow yourself 1 vehicle per infantry squad you finish!?

[Captain Juan Juarez]

Mostly because I may as well pack up my stuff and not bother at all; I work on the principle of if I can do it to my own satisfaction, not to bother at all. Painting infantry - of any kind - just doesn't seem to be for me, so I'll have to have a rethink.

 

Funny, 'cause I was quite excited by my hobby revival but thems the breaks one supposes.

[WarriorFish]

Tanks are great, you can paint some troopers then return to some armour after a couple of models. That way you'll still get them done albeit slowly :)