Krieg 416th "Hussars" Amalgamated Regiment WiP

[TheTrans]

Hey all,

 

Seems to be the place to put our WiPs of guard up!

Always wanted to do a Krieg Death Rider force, and I know in 7th there was a formation that allowed it, but I honestly couldn't quite be arsed with relearning 40k after a few years off, espcially when it was such a bloated mess of an edition (and in Australia, there is a stupid fear of FW which is naf as heck, but I digress).

Anyway, with the advent of 8th it got me working on them again as it looks like it refreshed the community, then you have the added benefit of how good Rough Riders got..then the additional benefit of how massively aweseom Death Riders are now.... was just too much!!

Anyway I have finished 8 Death Riders, with another 6 getting finished up, following by a command squad (hopefully squadron commanders can give orders!!)

So pics!
So just a group shot of the bad boys. Wanted to move away from the overt drabness normally seen with Kriegsmen and found some excellent art on the net for the Death Riders and copied the broad strokes of the colouration for my guys. I don't know where the idea to have them as Hussars came from but I managed to find some awesome (if somewhat fragile) wings on ebay that work a treat!

 

Just a close up of a single rider. It is quite odd, singly they look a little busy colour wise, but as a group they look fantastic, go figure .

 

I know Death Riders can't take heavy stubbers, but I thought it would be a bit of fun to convert one up a little. My reasoning follows like..imagine they are out on a long range patrol with now fire support elements available to them, when they stage an attack, old mate above dismounts and lays down fire on an enemy position to keep their heads down, whilst his comrades YOLO over into the enemies with lances held out!

 

 

Here was the Death Rider Colonel I made for 7th (so now a Squadron Commander, fingers crossed that he is a HQ choice ). Was a pretty simple conversion, but I wanted him to stand out a bit also, hence his honking big power axe. His head is a swap from the Senior commander and his chest is just a senior command squad chest. His mount is based on the commissar mount, so its faceplate is a skull, I also made it have a bionic leg as well as gave it a rather large chest plate (I reckon thats where they'd mount the refractor field ). But overall was a pretty simple conversion.

Anyway, hope you guys like it!

 

We are doing a slow grow league at the moment based loosely on the Vogen campaign of yesteryear. I have some fluff pieces written up that I'll get up some time soon!

 

Cheers,

Nick

Edited August 22, 2017 by TheTrans

[duz_]

Nice looking great! :tu:

 

Look forward to reading some batreps! (With pics of course!) ;)

[Kierdale]

Excellent work!

The wings are a great addition :tu:

[The Pounder]

I'm doing the exact same thing!

I like that you've gone for a more Napoleonic type look!

The conversion for the Squadron leader is seemless and looks great.

I'm looking forward to seeing him painted in your scheme.

What's next for the Hussars.

[WarriorFish]

I love the colours, the winged hussars bit is a great extra touch :tu: I like the addition of the heavy machine gun too, they're oozing with character :D

[Pearson73]

The Hussar style looks great, nice work.

[Reyner]

And the winged Hussars arrived!

 

Hehe they look good the blue goes very well with the pale skin of the mounts.

[Bjorn Firewalker]

Excellent work on the rough riders.

[Captain_Krash]

What bits are those feathers from??? There seriously amazing!

 

Krash

[Gen.Steiner]

Cracking stuff. More please.

[Dr_Ruminahui]

I think the feathers are from the winged hussars, an old fantasy unit.  They look fantastic, BTW.

 

Inquisitor Psychologis Ruminahui

[TheTrans]

Thanks guys!! Really happy with how they are coming along. Haven't got much done this week as I have a LOTR tournament on this weekend and have been madly wacking away at some Iron HIlls Dwarves (so awesome!!).

The wings are from https://www.trolls.cz/products/hussars-wings . The quality is great, but I will warn you all that they are like super flimsy...like a light brush of the fingers will move the feathers flimsy. These will be gaming models, so those wings had a lot sprayed onto them, starting with a prime, then a polyeurethane resin-ish gloss varnish..then all the colours...then another resin-ish..then attached to the model..with another resin-ish varnish... then matt varnish etc...

This (given how thin the metal is) actually added a fair bit of bulk and stability to them.... still wouldn't want to drop one or pick it up by the feathers, but was a big improvement.

Anyway, in my lunch break the other day I whipped up a quick story. As said above we are doing a slow grow Campaign based around the battle of Vogen City (from the old school codex city fight from back in the day). So I wrote this in reply to a short combined story two mates did for their armies.

Please let me know what you think and what could be tightened up!
 

Watchmaster 064283-Drexler approached the building, from which he had spotted weapon discharges from. He was patrolling the edge of a current skirmish, that his force was not yet involved in, when the sound of xenos weaponry firing nearby caught his attention. Drexler approached the mainly bombed out building and dismounted from his Krieg steed. He didn’t need to tether it. It would stay in this location until it died of starvation, if it was left unmolested. Upon entry to the building he heard the xenos weaponry firing again a few levels up. He proceeded cautiously up the decrepit stairs, pausing occasionally to listen for the weapons fire. He had reached what he estimated was the 7^th floor, and this was the correct one.

Whatever weapon the xenos was firing would make a spooling noise then an almost physical ‘whoop’ that Drexler started feeling within his chest the closer he neared the firer. Upon each ‘whoop’ it would jolt all the dust in the area at once, reminding Drexler of when he fought under the feet of the Adeptus Titanicus’ god machines. The dust moved in a similar way to when their booming footfalls impacted the ground.

He quietly stalked through the level, following the growing loudness of the ‘whoops’ from the enemy’s weapon. The battle must have been fierce, or at least targets plentiful, as the marksmen was firing a barrage of aimed shots into the target zone.

Drexler finally found the xenos firing from a prone position out of a rent torn in the buildings outer wall. He stooped into a half crouch, drawing the full 50cm of his sword bayonet, holding it in an underhand grip. He slowly edged toward the creature. It’s oddly curved green armour and elongated helmet lent it an almost marine animalistic appearance. The rifle it was firing was a somewhat large weapon, of a similar scale to a Lucius pattern heavy stubber, bipod and all.

As Drexler closed on his prey, the xeno stopped firing to turn and grab at what he assumed was an esoteric radio pack. Drexler stopped dead in his tracks. There was no way the xenos couldn’t see him. For any normal human Drexlers sheer proximity would have been enough to set off every sub conscious warning system within the human brain, but the xenos simply chittered an odd sounding language into the radio pack and continued firing.

Not one to push his luck, Drexler pounced, plunging his bayonet toward the back of his opponent. The bayonet skittered off the almost ceramic looking armour of the xenos. It jumped in shock and quickly rolled over to fight it’s attacker. While Drexler was heavier than his opponent the xenos was fighting with the strength lent to it from abject terror. It somehow knocked the bayonet out of Drexler’s grasp and a high-stakes wrestling match ensued. In the process of the life and death struggle, Drexler had managed to bang the Xenos’ head into the ground a few times, loosening it’s helmet. After minutes of furious wrestling, Drexler gained the upper hand, managing to get himself astride the xenos and pinning its arms under his knees.

 

The face that looked back at him almost made him sick in his mask. It had pallid blue skin, a lipless mouth and a large slit where a human nose should have been. It was bleeding from a nasty gash in it’s forehead, a blue green liquid that reeked of something foul. It was letting out a low keening noise as it tried to free it’s arms out from under Drexler’s knees. If it wasn’t some abhorrent monster, Drexler would of sworn he could hear the creature sobbing, possibly even tears glinting at the edge of its pleading, almond shaped eyes. He shook the thought out of his head and fastened his hands around its throat and started applying his weight to them, slowly choking the life out of the xenos below him. With death rapidly approaching, the xenos used a last fitful burst of energy to free an arm, and let fly a clumsy punch to Drexlers head. Although a weak, badly aimed swipe, it did manage to knock Drexler’s gasmask free, only to reveal a pallid, impassive face, that even in the midst of mortal combat, showed as much life as the dead-eyed gasmask that had clad it. When the xenos had stopped breathing, and it’s body had spent the last of it’s death shudders, Drexler lifted himself up off of it’s prostrate form. He looked at the body then to the hole in building’s wall, shrugged to himself, and with a grunt of exertion threw it’s body from the 7^th story to the rubble blasted street below.

Drexler could see the battle raging about a kilometre from his position. He unclasped his binoculars case and held the instrument up to his face. He adjusted some dials on the binoculars and the battle swam into focus. He could see the kin of his late adversary in a desperate struggle against what looked to be normal humans but the silhouettes of their shapes didn’t sit quite right with him. He was focused on a xenos firing point blank into these humans, giving a good account of itself, much better than the creature he had just throttled the life out of. Just as the xenos had cleared the surrounding mob, a giant strode into view. Drexlers breath caught in his throat.

Astartes! he thought.

The retaking of Vogen would be easy with the blessed angels of the Emperor assistinance. He let his binoculars hang from their strap and almost sub-consciously made the sign of the Aquila across his chest. He again lifted the binoculars back to his eyes. He watched the Astartes closely…it attacked the xenos with an almost mirthful glee. He refocused the binoculars again to slightly sharpen the image. To his abject horror he realised this was not one of the Emperor’s own demi-gods, it was an Astartes of the arch enemy. Its armour was broken and weeping in places, massive rents in it spilling out all matter of flesh and filth. It had a sigil of three circles on its armour, making Drexler’s eyes itch and summoning the sound of carrion-insects buzzing in his ears while his gaze lingered on it.

A jubilant guttural voice entered his head.

“Pestilence, plague decay, all the joyous gifts I can offer you if you but….”

He tore his eyes away from the binoculars, dropped to his knees and scrambled for his gasmask. He refitted it and confirmed a proper seal in quick haste, hoping that the contagion was not widely dispersed. He admonished himself for letting his mask be removed in the first place.

The arch-enemy is here. Drexler calmly thought to himself, composure recovered. He must make his commanders aware of the new threat to Vogen. Drexler reclaimed his sword bayonet, sheathing it and ran for the stairwell.

He was only 2 flights down when he heard the ‘whine-whoop’ of a xenos weapon firing, then the unmistakeable roar of a Krieg steed. It would be a long dangerous trip back to his company if his mount where to die. He hastened his pace, drawing his laspistol and cavalry saber as he double timed it down the stairs. He reached the doorway of the building and stopped to listen for noise. There were two more ‘whine-whoops’ of the xenos weapon firing, as well as another roar from his steed. This was quickly followed by a low-level wailing. He rounded the corner, pistol held up, ready to fire, to see his bloodied steed standing over what looked to be a xenos in the same green tinged armour.

He approached, slipping on some gravel. His steed whirled around, its deep chest heaving. He could see multiple impact wounds and was unsure how much of his mount’s sub-dermal armour had mitigated the damage. It stared at him, impassive through the glass eye-plates of its gasmask, not unlike his own. It was shaking from an adrenaline dump and it’s injuries. It pawed the ground and lowered its head at him, wagging it side to side in a threat display. He looked at the xenos form on the ground, being slightly closer now he could assume what had happened. Logic would dictate this was possibly a spotter or some such doing a patrol for the creature he had just killed in the building. It had returned to find his steed no doubt standing exactly where Drexler had left it when he dismounted. The xenos would of fired at his mount, clearly misjudging the resilience of the Kreig steed, had suffered for its mistake.

Seeing no threat but his currently ovelry-aggressive mount, Drexler holstered and sheathed his weapons, holding his empty hands up to his mount in a placating gesture, making soothing noises and slowly approaching in an awkward half crouch to as not to seem a threat. He managed to get to his steed and grab its halter, running his hands over its long, muscled neck. It immediately dropped its aggressive stance and went back to the almost ‘at attention’ rest posture of a Krieg Steed. Drexler checked the monitoring device attached to his mount. Clearly the device had self-administered a cocktail of stimms as soon as his mount had taken fire. Its adrenaline levels where verging on toxicity as well as a variety of by products from the huge stimm dose and damage to the beast. Drexler administered a purge command, which would filter the blood of his mount in short order, stripping out the dangerous levels of drugs and hormones. He went and checked the 2 large wounds in the chest of the beast. He poked his fingers into one of the ragged holes to feel around for damage, his steed stood perfectly still but let out a deep, pained grunt as he did it. The hole was about as large as his fist, but it would seem, while it had made a mess of some of the chest muscles, the ceramic-weave fibres knitted deep into his steeds flesh had absorbed most of the force before it could penetrate deep enough to do any ‘major’ damage. The other hole was of similar severity. He went to a saddle bag and pulled out a spray can of synthetic skin and two sealed packets. Peeling these open, he pushed the contents of each one into the wound holes until they were filled up to the ragged edge of the damage. Once applied he sprayed the synth skin liberally over both holes until nothing could be seen of the wounds except for two patches of oddly coloured waxy looking skin and blood stains below that.

He stepped back and looked at his handy work. This would tide the mount over until it could get to the company veterinarian for surgery or euthanasia. Either way it would get Drexler back to the command post. He stowed the can and remounted his steed. He once again checked the monitoring device, the purge had clearly completed, bringing the steeds blood-toxicity levels back into acceptable parameters. Its heart rate and stress levels where still quite elevated due to the damage, but again where acceptable. Drexeler looked around almost conspiratorially as if someone may be watching. He then administered a small endorphin and pain-killer dump into his mount via the monitoring device. Although the steed was functional, he saw no need for it to be in overt pain. He would no doubt receive a reprimand from the company Quarter Master for unneeded use of sedatives, but Drexler always had been seen as too empathetic by his Death Rider fellows.

Information gathered, xenos killed and steed functional, Drexler set off at a blistering gallop back to his company’s command post to warn his comrades…..

Cheers,

Nick

[Gen.Steiner]

Poor old mutant bio-mechanical gene-engineered horse-thing. :(

[TheTrans]

Hey guys, been quite but there has been much work!!

Just finished my Squadron Commander the other day, let me know what you think!

Put him on a larger base to make him stand out from the pack a bit, also popped his companion on there because I thought it would look cool as heck!

Anyway, will try and get some more pics up soon (2 Centaurs, Destroyer TH and a Thunderbolt!).

Cheers,

Nick

[duz_]

Looking great his companion is a nice touch

[TheTrans]

Just a bit of fluff Varras got Faust (the dog)...

Colonel a47012-Varras and Faust.

Varras, like most upper echelons of the Kreigan Military, gained his rank not through birth right, schooling or competency, but by sheer ability to survive.

He was assigned to 416^th in the year 994.M41 during cleansing operations on Ichar IV after the defeat of Hive Fleet Kraken. He, although a fully trained ensign, was assigned to the 416^th’s 2^nd company’s veterinary cohort to help care for larger than normal compliment of Krieg Steeds. 

During the year 995.M41 while the combat elements of the 2^nd company where on a force-patrol into a heavily jungled area under the information there was a lone Carnifex that needed to be cleansed, their encampment came under attack. While Kraken was nominally ‘destroyed’ in 992.M41, there was still billions of Tyranid organisms that needed cleansing from any planets they had not full harvested of biomass.

The attack came out of nowhere, the brood of gaunts scrambling over the barricades, and firing into the camp, while the lumbering Tervigon burst through the makeshift gates. Given the skeleton crew that was left at the camp, the mass of enemies where too much, the kriegsmen not immediately killed in the first fusilated of living ammunition fire fellback in short order to the company stables.

 

It was a large metal walled prefab that could be easily airdropped flat and erected in a short amount of time. While it was solid it would only hold the enemy at bay for a short while.

A may-day report was put in over the vox, with the request of support acknowledged with an ETA of 10 minutes for a returning Air wing to strafe the area as they flew over.

The tervigon reached the prefab and starting tearing at the walls. Given there was only 23 Kriegsmen left, most of them of the Veterinary cohort, the odds were grim. Varras, thinking quickly, opted to release all the Kreig Steeds. Thinking that while they did not have their riders present the belligerent creatures would at least kill something before all of them where wiped out by the mass of horrors on the otherside of the plasteel wall.

 As the first couple of gaunts started trickling through the rents torn in the structure by the tervigon, they where shot by disciplined fire from the men inside, as the gaps widened and the gaunts finally swarmed in Varra’s used a small electo-flail to prod many of the Steeds into motion. With grudging grunts and some roars the steeds charged into the mass of gaunts, kicking, stamping and thrashing their heads against the xenos. While the gaunts had the numbers, the Steeds had bulk on their side. The tables where turning, until the Tervigon finally made its entrance to the fray, just barely fitting inside the prefab stable, it started scything down the Steeds and Kriegsmen alike.

There was nothing that could be done to the beast, some of the troopers ran toward the monster with primed Krak Grenads in a suicidal attempt to harm the creature, but with an alien cunning it sent its gaunts at those men first, allowing them to be destroyed so it may live.

Within minutes the stables was a charnel house, there was nothing left alive except a few gaunts, the tervigon and Varras, who had been knocked flying by a wild swing of the tervigons tail. Varras was more than happy to die for his emperor, but if the creature was not outside for the air wings arrival it would be able to slink off and spawn more xenos before his company could return. Sighin, Varras hefted a dropped las rifle and shot the two remaining gaunt. The Tervigon roared at him, a scream that was as much physical as it was ethereal…he felt both his physical body and soul recoil from the horror in front of him. The giant xenos blocked his avenue of exit with its sheer bulk, but he had no choice, he ran at the creature. Firing his lasgun with drilled precision, putting grouped rounds into the creatures face to try and disorientate it. He managed to duck under a swing from a monstrous scythed forelimb…still running and firing he dived under the creature…scrabbling and rolling wildly to avoid it stomping down upon him.

He half crawled, half rolled out from behind the monster, who in turn, swung its ponderous bulk around and followed him back outside into the encampment.

 He went to fire a with his lasgun, but it did nothing but whine, the power pack was drained. Again, sighing, he dropped the now useless weapon and withdrew his sword bayonet. He backed away further from the creature, drawing it out further into the open. It roared again, staggering Varras, who then slipped in the slick remains of one of his former comrades. Before he could blink, the Tervigon had closed the 10 metres of distance between them in a terrifying display of speed and was standing over him. It looked at him with an alien sentience glittering in its black eyes. It cruelly and slowly raised one of its monstrous scything talons to end him. He made the sign of the aquila on his chest and welcomed the absolution that was about to be deliverd… The blow didn’t fall, the tervigon roared again and span, wasting no time Varras ran from the creature and dived into cover, peeking back out he saw what had distracted the creature. One of the perimeter canines clearly hadn’t been killed by the first wave of gaunts, it had bloody gushing down its side from 3 or 4 projectile wounds, it was darting in between the xenos legs, biting at its ankle joints where its chitnous armour was softer and less protective. Varras admired the canines tenacity and sheer disregard for its own safety, but much like his knife, it would all end for naught. The Tervigon eventually managed to hit the canine with one of its mid-limbs, sending the poor creature flying into the stable prefab…hitting a torn wall and crumbling limply to the ground.

That’s when Varras world turned to thunder and light. The Imperial Airwing returning from a CAP and seeing the Tervigon in plain from a fair distance came in on a shallow angle to give them a longer firing time. Three Imperial Thunderbolt heavy fighters fell into formation on the shallow dive and fired with all of their remaining munitions. Autocannon rounds and lascannon pulses smashed into and around the giant xenos, detonating on chitinous legs, las pulses scything through its armour! The creature roared, then let out one of its almost psychic screams as it was pulverised by a fusillade of fire that would give a heavy tank regiment pause. Varras was flattened by the backwash of the thunderbolts as they streaked over the encampment they where flying so low that their VTOL engines were at work  to allow the almost lazy speed of the strafing run to continue for seconds longer.

He picked himself up and looked around, the Tervigon that had moments before been the end of his world, was now skeletal remains of chitin and bio-effluence… it was utterly destroyed. Varras waved at the unknowing pilots who kept on their way, munitions completely spent, who had saved his life.

Over his partial deafness from the onslaught he heard a canine roaring from the stable. Apparently, the creature was till amongst the living. Varras went charging in to find the injured canine in a life and death struggle with the front half of a gaunt. The canine and the gaunt had each others necks firmly clamped in their jaws and both seemed more than happy to die killing the other. Varras picked up a lasgun and shot the gaunt off of the canine, then turned it on the canine to put it out of it’s misery, he would of happily done the same for any of his comrades or equine charges. The canine looked at him, one eye missing, xenos blood spattered all over its body mixing with its own, hind legs limp. It didn’t whimper, it didn’t growl, it simply stared at him, the creature knew it had done its duty and by Varra’s reckoning was as happy to die for the Emperor as he was…

Varras looked around, superfluously as he and the canine where the only creatures left alive amongst the wreckage, for any Quartermasters and their miserly stares, but seeing non, he nodded to himself, knowing he had found a kindred spirit, he scrambled for an upturned surgical trolley…

Edited August 23, 2017 by TheTrans

[Naryn]

That last post looks to have the same fluff piece in it twice, but I enjoyed reading it nonetheless. Krieg are looking ace!

[The Pounder]

Loving your Deathrider Squadron Commander, looks great!

As duz said the dog is a lot of fun.

[Captain_Krash]

Seriously great writing love the feel of the Death Korps psyche, you've nailed it! Need to write more, maybe make it like a journal series of different troopers from your army!

 

Cheers

 

Krash  

[TheTrans]

That last post looks to have the same fluff piece in it twice, but I enjoyed reading it nonetheless. Krieg are looking ace!

You are indeed correct mate!! Has been fixed. Thanks!

 

Loving your Deathrider Squadron Commander, looks great!

As duz said the dog is a lot of fun.

Thanks man! Can't wait til guard get some Relics so hopefully there is a powersword or some such that gives an extra attack to represent him ;)

 

Seriously great writing love the feel of the Death Korps psyche, you've nailed it! Need to write more, maybe make it like a journal series of different troopers from your army!

 

Cheers

 

Krash  

Thanks man!! Hmm..a journal isn't a bad idea! I've got a narrative event coming up in a fortnight, I will try and write down the salient points of the battles and convert them over to some story action!