How to name a fledgling force and list comments

[stev]

So finally getting round to posting up my 500pt Guard allies list. Bout half way through building them atm.

 

List looks like this...

 

 

++ Astra Militarum: Codex (2014) (Allied Detachment) (500pts) ++

 

+ HQ (117pts) +

 

Company Command Squad (117pts) [Camo Gear for Veterans, Flak Armour]

····Company Commander [bolter, Camo Gear, Close Combat Weapon, Flak Armour, Orders, Warlord]

····Veteran Lascannon Team [Lasgun]

····Veteran w/ Medi-pack [Lasgun]

····Veteran w/ Vox-caster [Lasgun]

 

+ Troops (258pts) +

 

Infantry Platoon (258pts)

····Heavy Weapons Squad [3x Mortar Team]

····Infantry Squad [7x Guardsman, Guardsman w/ Flamer, Guardsman w/ Vox-caster]

········Sergeant [bolt Pistol, Close Combat Weapon]

····Infantry Squad [Autocannon Team, 5x Guardsman, Guardsman w/ Grenade Launcher, Guardsman w/ Vox-caster]

········Sergeant [bolter, Close Combat Weapon]

····Platoon Command Squad [Guardsman w/ Flamer, Guardsman w/ Heavy Flamer]

········Guardsman w/ Medi-pack [Lasgun]

········Guardsman w/ Vox-caster [Lasgun]

········Platoon Commander [bolt Pistol, Close Combat Weapon, Orders]

 

+ Heavy Support (125pts) +

 

Basilisk Battery (125pts)

····Basilisk [Heavy Bolter]

 

Comments/criticisms/improvements.

 

Primarially as allies for my World Eaters so will stay back and hold objectives and provide covering fire while rhinos and landraiders rush forward. May combine the to infantry squads depending on mission.

 

My other question...how to name guard armies. I want something bad ass and renegade sounding but no so chaotic that they couldnt ally with my Dark Angels.

 

Like not to imperial sounding, I see them more as the defense force of some backwater world whose true loylaties are somewhat questionable..

[casb1965]

Easiest thing to do is look at maps of the 40k universe, pick a planet you like the name of, check it's not a major one and work from there. That's how I came up with the 7th Kellersburg irregulars :)

[librisrouge]

casb has the short of it.

 

Step 1) Pick planet (real or fake)

Step 2) Assign number (preferably one not taken)

Step 3) Profit!

 

Its how I named my Cadian 333rd "Half-Damned"

[Jacinda]

Its how I named my Cadian 333rd "Half-Damned"

Maybe I'm showing my age, but my first thought was of a vinyl album and it took a minute before I figured out what half-damned meant.

 

Stev,

Heavy weapon teams are not exactly cost effective. Not only do they cost more points than including them in troop squads but they are easier to target and destroy as well. Also, the mortar teams are not like they once were. If these are the models you have that's fine but I would use a different weapon if it were me. Either autocannons if your primary detachment can handle armor or lascannons if you need the extra punch.

 

Mortars that do work well are those on Wyverns. If you need ranged suppressive fire, 2 of these cost almost the same as a Basilisk and can generate a ton of hits most any gunline. Not so hot against vehicles, tho.

 

Another option to think about is replacing the Basilisk with a Leeman Russ Battle Tank. Both are classic and distinctive IG tanks but I just don't feel the Basilisk quite warns its point cost. But if you would rather have artillery than a battle tank, taking a bassie is not going to hurt at all.

[hendrik]

the most conventional is indeed naming them after a planet+digits, but it could also be a single hive that went renegade and uses their militia.

in general there are 3 human main forces:

-the imperial navy, containing the mighty vessels. these guys hardly see any action on the ground, and most of their baatles are either boarding actions, supressing mutinies aboard the ships/keeping regiments from kill eachother, Air to ground support (in theory all flyers (bar PDF ones) belong to them, unless the regiment is special such as the elysians)

 

-the imperial guard. Do you wish to visit foreign planets, meet lots of new cultures and destroy the xenos and the heretic? then join the imperial guard! these guys see the worst of it, going from one fight to the other, with relative short breaks in between different conflicts. Usually this means that regiments get depleted and eventually die off. when a regiment has shrunk so much in size it cannot be considered a proper regiment anymore they usually get joined with a other depleted regiments to get to fighting strength. such mixed regiments can result in a mix of equipment, or they might get issued a new uniform altogether.

It is typical for a regiment to get assigned a singular role when it is founded (preferably one befitting their strengths, but this is the imperium, and bureaucratcy cares little for what your men might be best at) such as an armoured regiment, and infantry force (light or heavy), etc. note that a single regiment exists of multiple companies, and each company might specialize in something else. here's for example an overview of what an armoured regiment might look like:

http://i210.photobucket.com/albums/bb281/amorfatipictures/konigp1_zpsd78ccf8d.jpg

http://i210.photobucket.com/albums/bb281/amorfatipictures/konigp2_zpsf31b6452.jpg

As you'll see it contains a mix of chimera mounted infantry, leman russes, but also artillery and scounting elements. Note that all of these branches are organised in different companies though. so you could have a tabletop force consisting of elements from multiple companies.

 

-the PDF's and hive/country/whatever regiments. Often we speak of PDF's (planetary defence force), however in the fluff you'll often find that rarely a whole planet is capable of mustering itself behind a single goal/way of leadership. As such, just like our modern world, often countries/hives/whatever will each have their own forces, frequently even using these against eachother. these are often also organised completely different from the imperial guard, both on a command and a materials level.

 

Note that PDF forces never tend to leave their planet, and that the imperial guard, unless going heretic, can not travel between planets themselves ithout transportation of the imperial navy.

 

That is how things work on the loyalist side. on the traitors side anything goes. To suit your specific needs (eg a regiment that might jsut as well be allied to world eaters, as to dark angels) i'm suggesting you go for a more feral/crude type of army, as this will fit the world eaters best, and the imperium, being the imperium, cares little on how your forces look (eg savlar chemdogs). first off you'll need to decide how much work you're willing to put into converting the models, and what models you'll use as a base. Personally i'dd recommend basing them on the cadian line,as these have the most support from GW. what you could do is shave off their shoulderpads and replace their headgear. Work and moneywise this is very doable, and already will make your force look totally different from a standard cadian force. alternatively you could use a lot of the warhammer fantasy empire models (the handgunners) to go for a more loyalist(esque) look, since your force might just be hired guns,working for the world eaters without any chaos worshipping going on. Whichever route you go, i recomment you think on it deeply, since the force will look best when you have a clear picture of what you want your force to represent and look like.  The gaming needs can come second (as there is always a way to work any unit in your army)

[WarriorFish]

I'll just echo what has been said - you can do what you like more or less but most stick with naming the regiment after the world or system they were raised from as that's the standard. What that world (or system) is called and how your regiment is named after it is entirely up to you! You could also have further names such as nicknames (e.g. the half damned) or perhaps the crusade that the regiment is currently involved with?

 

You can't beat the Guard for sheer variety in how you can fluff them :)

[Father Mehman]

I'll put in my .02. You could even go so far as to name your companies within the Regiment. I'm working on an Infantry Regiment, the Ostheim 93rd Regiment, 7th Company "Timber Wolves", at the moment. They got that nickname because on the planet of Ostheim, large wolves roam the mostly untouched forests and peat bogs. The local term for a mammoth wolf is a "Timber Wolf". Very terrifying.

On the other hand, my other regiment, the Midtenheim 8th Regiment, has its second company called the "Iron Teeth". That company, and regiment, is an Armoured Regiment- meaning it has all the tanks and artillery with very little infantry (a few Armoured Fists [Chimera with an infantry squad]). The "Iron" refers to the tanks and the "Teeth" to their boomsticks (er, main battle cannons).

Sorry if that's all very simplistic. Just want to make sure everything is understandable .

[CyderPirate]

If you're struggling to come up with names, mythologies are a great place to start plundering from. A lot of stuff in 40k is lifted form Greco-Roman myth.

Alternatively, if they're going to be allied to DA, you could look at other names associated with Calliban. Prospero is obviously already taken, but there's also Sycorax (Calliban's mother), Setebos (Calliban's god)

Or a bit of wordplay? If they fight for both the Imperium and Chaos you could call them Janussaries (after the two-faced Roman god Janus, and the Turkish Janissaries)