Lamb's World

[apologist]

+ Human lives and human tears; the stuff of which Imperium is made. +

 

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A rainworld, whose main export is liquid water, the inhabitants of [Lamb's World] have altered over recent centuries from nomadic tribes to forming permanent dwellings. Three large cities are the Lamb's Worlder's happiest boast – the capital Myrffn, cosmopolitan Pant-y-Gyrdl and Little Haven. The planet harbours a strong feral ork presence in and around the equatorial mountains and deserts; and the planet's forces conduct regular firesweeps to control the swelling and dangerous population. Recent Imperial development means that the booming planetary infrastructure is making this considerably more achievable, and some projections see the ork tribes wiped from the planet within fifty years.

 

Extract from Perigrinations through the Lamba System, the Marquesa Zuzen Barabar's celebrated travel documentary; Ca.M38 

 

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+ Caef-Maior Terentius Dresden +

 

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Lamb's World regiments are traditionally drawn from PDF regiments that have served in the ongoing Equatorial Culls; a campaign that has continued intermittently against the stubborn Feral Orks of the region since records began. Never numerous and hemmed in by the rocky terrain, the ork tribes pose little true threat beyond the equatorial belt. The Culls, while dangerous, ensure the orks never reach critical mass. That said, they have proven intractable; popping up years or even decades after at least four Imperial Commanders have declared final victory and the extinction of the tribes.The Marquesa's closing comments on the backwater agriworld were not entirely accurate, and while an extermination campaign saw some success in the closing years of M38, the orks have proved intractable and have seen resurgences over the intervening years as experienced PDF Regiments are sent to do their duty elsewhere in the sector; most notably in M40.333, when Little Haven was sacked.

 

 

Nevertheless, the agri-world's tithe is paid in water and blood – Lamb's World continues to provide stolid, if unremarkable, regiments to the Guard. The planet itself has developed since the Marquesa's journal, and while the principal cities still stand, many more have sprung up. The various ethnic groups of the inhabitants still bear hallmarks of their cultural histories, but their traditional nomadic ways have largely been subsumed into settled, urban living. Trade developments mean that the equipment and materiel used by the regiments seconded to the Guard are visually very different to regiments from the Marquesa's era. 

 

 

Of course, these differences are more than cosmetic; but such is the monolithic nature of the Imperium's technological distribution, that the operation of the different patterns of flak armour, lasrifles and other equipment issued to the current Lamb's World regiments are quickly assimilated by the obedient troops.

 

 

By dint of the sector's martial demands, Lamb's World regiments are supplied only intermittently, and rely heavily on their soldiers' willingness to make do and adapt. Exceptional in no particular form of warfare, Lamb's World nevertheless produces a variety of fairly reliable forces ranging from horse-mounted cavalry to urban warfare specialists, encompassing armoured and artillery companies. Nevertheless, it is the rifle-armed men and women of the infantry that form the vast bulk of Lamb's World's children.

 

 

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Edited June 18, 2019 by Apologist

[Ldorte]

Very cool write-up and regiment, the roughriders especially look great!

[apologist]

Thank you – thought I'd put together a thread for my favourite army. :)

[GuardDaddy]

This is great - good job

[ScionOfCorlesia]

Great job. Looking forward to seeing more.

[apologist]

Thanks all. I've been playing Guard since the tail end of Rogue Trader, but the Lamb's World regiments are my 'go-to' army. I've used this army in a number of settings, usually by changing the officers at the top. For example, Caef Terentius Dresden (first post) leads the Lamb's World 117th Black Hands in M41; while Caef Whittaker (below) leads the Bloody-faced 18th during the Alien Wars of the Nova Terra Interregnum:

 

+ Caef Whittaker, a new version of the officer that led my original RT Guard +

 

+++

Speakling of the Nova Terra Interregnum, here are a few individual shots (and some colour text, for a bit of fun).

 

 

As with all of the wars during the dark days of Nova Terra Interregnum, it was the ordinary men and women of the Imperial Guard – both Old Imperial and Nova Terran – who made up the bulk of the combatants.

 

Illustrated below are a selection of warriors from a single unremarkable planet – Lamb's World – as a representative sample of the fates of the majority of the Imperium's sons and daughters who found themselves in the Imperial Guard during this turbulent period.

 

It is perhaps notable that a single planet had birthed warriors that fought on opposing sides. Such is the tragedy of civil war.

 

 

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Shale Campaign

Shale is a small desert world in the Bothusion system of Antona Australis. It is covered in uneven dusty terrain and vast seas of finely ground rock. Small scale mining colonies, designed to harvest the modest mineral resources, are dotted across the solid areas of Shale's surface.

 

Its residents broadly remained loyal to the Old Imperium during the Nova Terra Interregnum. It was attacked on three occasions by Eldar of the Ythranmir Craftworld, the xenos advance gradually being brought to a bloody stalemate on the Northern Plains by the Planetary Defence Force. A detachment of Lamb's World soldiers were diverted to support. As rear-line support, they suffered light losses during the war, and the survivors remained for long years afterwards to stabilise the lawless region.

 

 

Io Merioneth. Shale Northern Theatre. KIA - confirmed: blood loss.

 

 

Cole Apseth. Shale Northern Theatre. KIA - confirmed: Partial disintegration.

 

 

Enzo Acton. Shale Northern Theatre. KIA - unconfirmed (body unrecoverable)

 

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Karminos Void Clearances

 

The Karminos Void clearances were an onerous but necessary duty to ensure the passage of evacuees from the world of Saltkind – a lone bastion of Nova Terran sympathisers – to safer regions closer to the Segmentum Pacificus.

 

The clearances took the form of a series of running engagements between greenskin pirates of the Moonbreakers and the Imperial Navy, with Imperial soldiery deployed to clear and secure the numerous dwarf planets of the region. Lamb's World troopers adapting to the microgravity difficult, and suffered catastrophic losses.

 

 

Prentice Iones. Karminos Void. Executed for cowardice. Justification: obeying the orders of an officer found wanting.

 

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Orar's Star

The prosperous and heavily-polluted worlds orbitting Orar's Star descended into a microcosm of the civil war raging across the Imperium; and Lamb's World auxiliaries found themselves fighting on both sides of the war. Beginning the war under the command of the infamous Marshal Fenkmann, his defection saw the Eighteenth Lamb's World Rifles ('Dricc's Dusties') overrun by the Fourth Lamb's World Armoured. The defeated soldiers were drafted back into Old Terran lines for the Siege of Bree, serving as a penal battalion.

 

 

Japeth Ffiniog. Orar's Star Campaign. KIA - confirmed: blood loss and exposure

 

 

Ascer Caper. Orar's Star Campaign. KIA - confirmed: disarticulation

 

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Trimunda

The Queen of O was the human face of an insidious xeno threat that emerged on Trimunda Secundus, and led much of its population in a counter-uprising against the Nova Terran occupiers. Its forces were initially supported by the Old Imperium, though the findings of Inquisitrix Barbari Kills led to the Old Imperium instead enacting saturation bombing on their former allies' fastnesses, at the hands of the Sons of Spectra.

 

The Lamb's World II were deployed in the aftermath, spending two decades picking through the sodden ruins to end the worm-ridden threat of the Queen once and for all.

 

 

Rhuddion Caul. Trimunda Plains. KIA – confirmed: drowning. 

 

 

Ogof Moel. Trimunda Plans. KIA - confirmed: gunshot.

 

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Intercession of Vega Rim

During the early years of the Nova Terra Interregnum, the soldiers of 'Riker's Bloody One Hundredth' (confusingly, officially the 46th Lamb's World Cavalry Regiment, under Caef-Maior Vedder) were diverted to the distant Vega Rim to stymie an advancing K'nib assault on the worlds of the Rim.

 

The bulk of the fighting occurred over the critical salt flats of Varrasland, with an ever-shifting front and sporadic vicious battles. During the later years of the war, many of the worlds declared independence from the Imperium, and the Bloody One Hundredth – still in garrison – were wiped out by punitive strikes enacted by the vengeful Gatebreakers Chapter Astartes.

 

 

Mordecai Frin and Otio Cymer. Intercession on Vega Rim. KIA – confirmed: bombardment strike.

 

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[Bjorn Firewalker]

Your efforts in modeling and worldbuilding, are most commendable.

[The Pounder]

I can see why these are your favourite army.

 

Loving the Cavalry and all the other conversions too!

 

Is this force still expanding? If so, what’s next?

[Expendable_Aquanaut]

Looking really good! Loving the narrative aspect of this. Does Lamb's world have any veterans? Sounds like they don't last too long. Also, I really enjoy that the lamb's worlders dont excel at any one type of warfare. It makes you root for them. Perpetual underdogs, you know?

[apologist]

Your efforts in modeling and worldbuilding, are most commendable.

Thank you

 

Regarding worldbuilding, The Alien Wars project is an invitational, so please do feel free to join in. There's lots of information and inspiration on the Nova Terra Interregnum setting  here.

 

I can see why these are your favourite army.

Loving the Cavalry and all the other conversions too!

Is this force still expanding? If so, what’s next?

 

Cheers; and yes, it certainly is expanding. Here's what's on the workbench at the mo:

 

WIP wheeled Chimera conversion, and Leman Russ Vanquisher. The latter will be the ride for a new Tank Commander. 

 

I wanted to build a more detailed Chimera, so I've popped in a driver and some transported troops. The old Valkyrie rider conversion works a treat!

 

Some very characterful sculpts, I'm sure you'll agree. As per the rest of the army, I've replaced the heads and removed the respirators from the chest. These are magnetised, so they'll come away from the seating when they disembark during a game (or simply to have a closer look at them). 

 

Most recently painted were a few odds and sods – here's a couple of WIPs, though the figures are now complete:

A selection of paint-in-progress infantry, command staff and a dog.

 

I've always wanted to avoid the army looking like an Elysian one – so I've incorporated bits from various manufacturers. This is a Victoria Miniatures figure with a head from an AT-43 model.

 

This is a close-up of the Cadian standard bearer. Nice figure, but I really wish GW would go back to blank flags (or offer some figures that have them), rather than such specific sculpted detail. This will likely end up as a way of representing the Relic of Lost Cadia, should I ever use it in-game. 

 

 

Looking really good! Loving the narrative aspect of this. Does Lamb's world have any veterans? Sounds like they don't last too long. Also, I really enjoy that the lamb's worlders dont excel at any one type of warfare. It makes you root for them. Perpetual underdogs, you know?

 

Yeah, the big appeal for me is that the Guard are the 'you and me' faction. I love Orks and Eldar and Space Marines – and they're so much more threatening and elite when you look at them from a baseline human level. 

 

Lamb's World was my project to explore a typical world (insofar as the concept exists in 40k), so they can cover pretty much anything in the Guard codex. Over the eight thousand-odd years as part of the Imperium, they've certainly had some veterans; and that's part of my next big expansion:

 

These are the first build-in-progress figures of a mechanised element. There'll be five chimera variants, each carrying ten men and women. They'll be able to be used as more line infantry – I'd like to be able to field a full complement of Troops in a Brigade – or as veterans. As you can see, I've used Cadian, Elysian and Victoria Miniature bits here.

 

I'll be building the squads with a bit of out-of-game character; suggesting that they're combat engineers, pioneers, sharpshooters and the like. Nothing that'll really stand out, but enough to make them interesting if you look more closely.

Edited June 20, 2019 by Apologist

[CommissarZac]

This is awesome.  This is just the inspiration I needed.

[duz_]

This is awesome. This is just the inspiration I needed.

My thoughts indeed your commitment and patience is to be commended :tu:

 

Does this army make it to many events? Would be a waste not to show it off more!

[Expendable_Aquanaut]

Really like the combination of bits on the new squad. Also, the valkyrie riders insert in the transport is spot on. Did you manage to grab one before forgeworld stopped selling them or did you have to troll Ebay until one came up? Just curious as I've been looking for that piece for what seems like forever!

[apologist]

 

This is awesome. This is just the inspiration I needed.

My thoughts indeed your commitment and patience is to be commended

 

Does this army make it to many events? Would be a waste not to show it off more!

 

Thanks both! I have taken it to a couple of campaign weekends, but most of my gaming is done with my mates from Uni. Always up for a game if anyone's around Surrey way, though :)

 

Really like the combination of bits on the new squad. Also, the valkyrie riders insert in the transport is spot on. Did you manage to grab one before forgeworld stopped selling them or did you have to troll Ebay until one came up? Just curious as I've been looking for that piece for what seems like forever!

Ta very much; and it's – shamefully – been lurking in my bits box for the best part of a decade (perhaps more).

 

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+ For Every Battle Honour +

 

I've been adding some colour text to go with individual pics of the army for a while now on Death of a Rubricist, just to give a sense of the scale (and senselessness) of The Alien Wars. Hope you enjoy.

 

+++

 

+ Highside +

 

Circa 379.M34 Highside made contact with the outside. Hesitant at first when the bubble of reality began to break down and fragments of the greater galaxy broke through. Had the traitors won? Did the Imperium stand? 

Sadly, the genetic forces of the Geno Zweitausend, lauded and hailed as heroes on Highside, were seen as aberrants and walking visions of distrust in the Imperium of today. 

Sidelined out of the Imperial forces they remain as the PDF of Highside.

Extr. Liber Corvus – Scribator Tewarts Finlay-Dye

 

The Highside Reintegration Campigns were a series of hard-fought battles between Regiments loyal to the Old Imperium, who invaded the long-lost Forge World with the intention of housing settlers displaced by warfare with Nova Terra. The Highside defenders – only recently finding the world's place in the Imperium – fought the clearances bitterly amongst the highlands and rocky places of their planet.

 

At the core of the – eventually successful – resistance, were the Geno Zweitausend; a genetically modified elite corps that outmatched even the Lamb's World own elite Grenadier corps.

 

+ With thanks to Andy of Corvuspaints on Instagram for the fantastic setting. +

 

 

+ XXIX: Braxas Bree. Highside Reitegration Campaigns. KIA confirmed – punjee trap +

 

 

+ XVII: Chastener Abrams Meph. Highside Reintegration Campaigns. KIA confirmed – martyred by ploughshare. +

 

 

+ XXX and XXXI: Ob Cwmbrae and Maras Fell. Highside Reintegration Campaigns. KIA confirmed – counter battery fire. +

 

 

+ XXXII and XXXIII: Zara Fanwy and Teeh Senwicce. Highside Reintegration Campaigns. KIA unconfirmed – MIA. +

 

 

+ XXXIV: Breffy Ap Tyl. Highside Reintegration Campaigns. KIA confirmed – blood loss. +

[WarriorFish]

Great to see so many close ups of the troopers, you can really see the detail in the kitbashing, conversion and painting The camouflage in particular is very nice, a great scheme overall - keep them coming!

[The Pounder]

As WarriorFish says the camo is very well done.

 

Though I must say Chastener Abrams Meph is one of my personal faves! (I've just been given that model and hope I can do it justice like you have!)

 

Looking forward to seeing more!

[apologist]

+ LeGuin's Star campaign +

Lamb's World forces were deployed alongside the Salizar 71st and 13th during the attempted Pacification of Urras. They operated with distinction under the command of Salizarian General Lõpez. The death of the reactionary Caef-Maior Tunte early in the war saw a brevet promotion for an up-and-coming officer Rhian ap Humphrey. Her canny leadership improved relations with the Salizarian forces, and saw LeGuin's Star won for the Nova Terrans in short order. +

 

 

+ XXXV: Briony Van Dam. LeGuin's Star campaign. KIA confirmed – Multiple bayonet wounds. +

 

+ XXXVI: Osc Druit. LeGuin's Star campaign. KIA confirmed – Decapitation. +

 

 

+ XXXVI: Keel Taif. LeGuin's Star campaign. KIA unconfirmed +

 

 

+ XXXVII: Genny Isdda . LeGuin's Star campaign. KIA confirmed – Insubordiation  +

 

 

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Great to see so many close ups of the troopers, you can really see the detail in the kitbashing, conversion and painting The camouflage in particular is very nice, a great scheme overall - keep them coming!

 

More to come; thanks for the kind words.

 

 

As WarriorFish says the camo is very well done.

Though I must say Chastener Abrams Meph is one of my personal faves! (I've just been given that model and hope I can do it justice like you have!)

Looking forward to seeing more!

 

Hope the above haven't disappointed :)

[Bjorn Firewalker]

Your models are well done. The camouflage pattern looks great on them.

KIA confirmed – Insubordiation

The descriptor "KIA" is in error, as that suggests Genny Isdda fell in battle, while the subsequent term suggests a Commissar ordered a summary execution for her, as punishment.

[apologist]

The full internal report reads: ‘[...]No loyal Guardsman would refuse an order; so in so refusing to follow said order (viz. assault the Nova Terran trenchlines), she revealed herself to have died within - possibly some time before. Therefore, her Commissar rightly identified her as some form of corpse-revenant - likely tainted by the forces of the Archenemy - and shot her in order to protect the spiritual well-being of her comrades. While she may have moved and talked for a while, she’d clearly been killed in action some time before.’

 

Of course, you can’t put that on a Munitorum form. They only accept ‘KIA’ or ‘Pending’.

[apologist]

+ Chu Tzu Offensive +

The chem-swamps of Chu Tzu – a 'protectorate' of the little-known Fomor species – proved a deadly deathtrap for the Lamb's World 103rd; with the regiment suffering near total losses in the brief hours of the initial offensive. Specialists from Veet Ling and abhumans from Balzene were deployed in support, but the campaign settled into a bloody quagmire for years afterwards. Hundreds dies of swamprot and fever; but many thousands more simply vanished into the mists during patrols.

 

 

+ XXXVIII: Mothy Shirefew. Chu Tzu Offensive. KIA confirmed – battlefield execution following being rendered unfit for service through limb loss. +

 

 

+ XXXIX: Bran Shummer. Chu Tzu Offensive. KIA unconfirmed + 

 

 

+ XL: Mothy Shirefew. Chu Tzu Offensive. KIA unconfirmed. +

[Phatsquirre1]

This log (and army) is amazing. I love the fluff and models, but the heavy weapons teams definitely take the cake! 

[Bjorn Firewalker]

Again, excellent work on the models.

KIA confirmed – battlefield execution following being rendered unfit for service through limb loss

I think the correct description is "Granted the Emperor's peace"- the Imperial term for euthanasia- "after being rendered unfit for service through limb loss".

[apologist]

Thanks for the kind words; and I appreciate the explanations of real-world terminology. Part of the appeal of 40k for me is the Kafkaesque nightmare bureacracy; and the atmosphere I want to get across here is the 'Whatever happens, you will not be missed' part of 40k.

 

As a result, I'm deliberately labelling things 'KIA' in every instance, even when that's clearly not right – such as dying in a field hospital or being executed by the Commissars.

 

Whether they're shot by the enemy, or their own side; whether they die of exposure, disease, or infighting; or whether they simply get lost and are abandoned in-theatre, to the Adeptus Munitorum, it's all the same.  Every Guardsman is 'killed in action', because the Munitorum doesn't – can't – care about individuals nearly as much as keeping their records tidy. 

[SickSix]

This makes me feel bad for just wanting to do a easy 'table top' job on my Eisenkern models. Fantastic work.

[apologist]

This makes me feel bad for just wanting to do a easy 'table top' job on my Eisenkern models. Fantastic work.

No one should ever feel bad for painting – but I hope that these've given you some ideas. Thanks for the kind words. 

 

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+ Camazotz War +

Fought against the Krell over the Nova Terran-sympathetic world of Camazotz, the Lamb's Worlders found themselves in a good position to finish the job begun by the Stellar Steeds Chapter Astartes some years earlier. Deployed in an anti-insurgency role, the Lamb's Worlders took part in only one set-piece battle, a one-sided affair that saw the herds of dominated citizenry sent across a desert plain against the long-range specialists of the Lamb's World 88th. The Lamb's Worlders' sterling efforts saw the world's wavering loyalty reaffirmed towards Old Terra.

 

 

+  XLI: Soddo Caprig. Camazotz War. KIA confirmed – battlefield execution. +

 

 

+ XLII: Bantas Toast. Camazotz War. KIA confirmed: caught in explosion. +

 

 

+ XLIII: Capy Fenton. Camazotz War. KIA confirmed: limb loss. +

Edited June 28, 2019 by Apologist