Armageddon – an eternity of war

[apologist]

+ The Many Wars of Armageddon +

 

Have I mentioned that I've really got into the Armageddon setting over the past few years? Between recreating the Blood Angels of the Second War for Armageddon, and building Salamanders for the same period, I've also been working, on-and-off on a single-topic blog, The Ashes of Armageddon (which you're very welcome to peruse).

 

 

Having built a wasteland-themed gaming table, my most recent twist on this particular region has been turning my attention to my personal favourite army, the Imperial Guard – and specifically the Steel Legion; and more specifically the 707th Regiment, part of the 7th Army Group. If you'd like a deep dive into Steel Legion lore, you can read more of how I've interpreted the various bits and bobs written about the  guard during the Second Armageddon War in this article.

 

... and so I'm now turning to the point of this topic, which is using the same army for multiple editions, and covering all three wars (and potentially an upcoming fourth?) – which sparked the idea behind 'an eternity of war'!

 

These Steel Legion have already fought in 6th edtion, 9th edition, 2nd edition (and even a couple of games under the old Age of Darkness rules), and a couple of friends have just invited me to get involved in a 3rd edition event. Here's how I'm preparing.

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Rutger's rebreather gave a protesting click. He was too tired to be nervous about the filter – all he wanted was for the interminable waiting to be over. The High-and-Dries had been encamped in the Hemlock valley for more than a week now, the orks sending occasional probing attacks along the line – not enough to warrant a decisive response, but more than sufficient to keep the whole line at ready status. 
Why weren't they attacking?

Little more than ten minutes later, Rutger would regret asking.

 

+++

 

It's been fun to dig back into old versions. The various niggles about particular details ('such-and-such was always rubbish/overpowered/absent in this edition' or 'I never understood why [X} happened that way under these rules') fade away a bit when you hop from edition to edition – and trying to keep the army vaguely consistent is interesting as you find which units are always reliable (or reliably underperforming!), and which ones swing wildly from 'paperweight' to 'ah, that's why everyone takes loads of those'.

 

In all the games I've played, the army has been built with a core of: a Command Squad; two platoons of at least two infantry squads (typically three each, so around 80 infantry all-in); plus a supporting Leman Russ tank or variant for each platoon. Like most Guard players I ever knew, I never had enough Chimeras to actually field the 'official' Steel Legion forces from Codex: Armageddon, so my army has mostly been fielded using whichever Guard Codex is appropriate for the edition. Here that's the first Codex: Imperial Guard released for 3rd edition – the one just before the doctrines one.

 

The draft army list is below. I'm still 80pts short, so happy to hear of any suggestions you have – though please bear in mind this is very much a background-led army; and what's great in one edition is often pap in another! :)

 

 

It's not just about the Imperium – I love the orks, too!

 

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Steel Legion 707th – the 'High-and-dries'

 

 

4th–7th Army Groups – Untithed, or 'Marlen's Men'
The 4th to 7th Armies were collectively known as the Untithed, and were made up of hurriedly-recalled Planetary Defence Force soldiers alongside barely-qualified recruits. With Von Strab and the Hive Governors unwilling to sanction the deployment of armour and vehicles intended for off-world export, the Untithed were in the unhappy position of being Steel Legion forces lacking in both transport and armoured support.

Of those able to be gathered, the bulk were moved to the Palidus Line, with General Marlen taking overall command of the 4th through to the 7th Army groups; numbering around three-quarters of a million men and women across 130 or so Regiments.

 

[...]

 

Marked out by a white thunderbolt on a green field, the Regiments that would become known as the Firesweep and High-and-Dries were stationed south of the Palidus mountains, on the eastern banks of the Styx River. Initially collectively referred to as the Stygians, the nickname fell out of use early on as the Army Groups' individual characters became apparent.

 

Disposition of the 1st, 2nd, 6th and 7th Armies at the start of the invasion.

 

[...]

 

'High-and-Dries' was a barely-tolerated regimental nickname that suggests the black humour of the soldiers that made up the 7th Army Group. Taking their name from their unique position as the only one of Marlen's Army Group to weather the initial assault, the Army Group's tenuous 'victory' proved short-lived as the Evil Suns ork tribe used their speed to surround and cut off the Army Group.

 

While the Regiments that made it up – notably including the 7-7th Engineers – attempted to break out on a number of occasions, the sallies proved increasingly bloody and unrewarding, and the casualties only mounted up. Eventually, the Army Group was deemed non-combat viable. The individual Regiments – often now down to mere hundreds – ceased to attempt to create an ordered path of retreat, and instead were ordered to 'improvise and adapt'.

 

This ill-chosen piece of strategic shorthand became infamous across the 7th Army Group as a euphemism for abandonment, and those that were able to escape the Evil Suns blockade never forgave their superiors.

 

1500pts

HQ – 445pts

 

• Command HQ – 178pts
  • Colonel (70)
    • Carapace armour (5)
    • Refractor field (15)
    • Power weapon (10)
    • Bolt pistol (3)
    • Bionics (5)
  • Standard Bearer (10)
    • Regimental standard (20)
  • Medic (10)
  • Comm-link (15)
  • Grenade launcher (15)
• Mortar squad – 95pts
• Anti-tank squad (35) – 115pts
  • Missile launcher team (20)
  • Lascannon team (30)
  • Lascannon team (30)
• Commissar (40) – 57pts
  • Carapace armour (5)
  • Bolter (2)
  • Power weapon (10)

 

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Troops – 320pts

 

 

• Command section – 81pts
  • Lieutenant (35)
    • Power weapon (10)
    • Bolt pistol (3)
    • Carapace armour (5)
  • Plasma gun (8)
  • Missile launcher  (15)
  • Comm-link (5)
• Infantry Squad (60) – 78pts
  • Flamer (3)
  • Missile launcher (15)
• Infantry Squad (60) – 78pts 
  • Plasma gun (8)
  • Heavy bolter (10) 
• Infantry Squad (60) – 83pts
  • Melta gun (8)
  • Missile launcher (15)

 

 

Troops – 320pts

• Command section – 81pts
  • Lieutenant (35)
    • Power weapon (10)
    • Bolt pistol (3)
    • Carapace armour (5)
  • Plasma gun (8)
  • Missile launcher  (15)
  • Comm-link (5)
• Infantry Squad (60) – 78pts
  • Flamer (3)
  • Missile launcher (15)
• Infantry Squad (60) – 78pts 
  • Plasma gun (8)
  • Heavy bolter (10) 
• Infantry Squad (60) – 83pts
  • Melta gun (8)
  • Missile launcher (15)

 

+++

 

Heavy support – 335pts

 

 

• Leman Russ Vanquisher (175) – 190pts
  • Hull-mounted lascannon (15)
• Leman Russ battle tank (140) – 145pts
  • Hull-mounted heavy bolter (5)

 

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As you can see above, much of this is already painted, but I recently was given a kind gift from a friend of mine; these specialists (and a few more) will be used to fill in some of the gaps in the Steel Legion range.

 

 

I hope you'll follow along, and if you also enjoy the Second War for Armageddon – whether Imperial or Ork – please do comment and post your own forces; I'd love to hear more from you!

Edited July 24 by apologist

[Marius Perdo]

That takes me back, I’ve probably still have the Codex in the garage somewhere - was it really a quarter of a century ago? Do I get a long service stud?

[space wolf]

You know, ive been loosly following your posts since your Praetors of Calth on Warseer. Ive always enjoyed your attention to detail. Dont know where youre located, but I consider it a goal, that one day, you and I will have ourselves a game! 

[apologist]

14 hours ago, Marius Perdo said:

That takes me back, I’ve probably still have the Codex in the garage somewhere - was it really a quarter of a century ago? Do I get a long service stud?

 

Y'know, I'm surprised GW hasn't started selling those!

 

Confession time: I've never actually owned a copy of Codex: Armageddon – I remember thinking it was a bit steep for 32pages – but I do now. It turned up last night. Spent a few minutes browsing through, and while most of it was familiar from various places, there were some interesting surprises and a couple of subtleties I'd completely forgotten.

 

 

For instance, I had remembered that the Steel Legion list was 'the' Guard list in there, but there's actually a few subtly different ways of playing Guard, including:

• The Steel Legion proper – that is, with everyone mounted in Chimeras).
• Armageddon Infantry company, which is effectively standard Guard but with a few restrictions like not Ogryns, Ratlings or Rough Riders, and the addition of Hive Militia.
• Armageddon Prime Ork Hunters – the Deathworld (read: Codex: Catachan) list

 

As noted above, I'm a bit short of Chimeras, so the Hive Militia seem like a fun unit to explore. The Codex mentions that Necromunda miniatures are ideal, but I'm interested to see if anyone has their own take on these.

 

9 hours ago, space wolf said:

You know, ive been loosly following your posts since your Praetors of Calth on Warseer. Ive always enjoyed your attention to detail. Dont know where youre located, but I consider it a goal, that one day, you and I will have ourselves a game! 

 

Oh, that's very kind! It'd be great to get a game in some time :)

 

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Small beginnings, but I've got four off the blocks and well on their way. I chose to pick four specialists (the fifth, the lasgun-armed soldier on the left, was already painted and is used as a colour reference) as I figured they'd add the most to the force – plus I wanted to paint the banner.

 

 

We've therefore got a comm-link/vox-caster, a colour bearer, meltagunner and a medic. I thought some blue sterile gloves would be a nice way to help pick him out.

Edited July 25 by apologist

[space wolf]

For hive militia, if you want to go Necromunda, the Palentine Enforcers is a good range to use as a local PDF. However if youre looking for "hey orks are attacking, heres a lasgun" tyoe conscripts then id say house orlock would be the way to go.

[Pearson73]

These chaps look cracking, I love the guy reclining against the hull of his tank. The blue gloves really pop on the medic too. 

 

 

[Firedrake Cordova]

I really like the Leman Russ mini-diorama  

[MoriyaSchism]

For Hive Militia I'd aim for a hastily armed civilian unit with Imperial Guard equipment. I'd try to do Orlocks or other similar models spliced together with Cadian flak armour chest plates/chest rigs and autoguns with some Imperial Guard las weapons mixed in. 

Edited Sunday at 04:26 PM by MoriyaSchism

[Viridia]

Seeing Codex Armageddon is always a welcome bit of nostalgia. I recently picked up a copy of the old 2004 Annual and it was nice to see the older army variants GW used to offer. Stunning colour scheme on your troopers as well!

[Bonehead]

Your problem with the militia models, as far as I can see, is going to be that a lot of modern GW kits are much, much bigger than the steel legion models. You might be better off looking to get old necromunda models, as opposed to new ones; quite a lot of the old metals, like the orlocks, really don't go for very much at the moment. I mean, I've got about twenty of them that I can't give away, so you should be able to pick up quite a few with very little problem in the various OG necromunda FB groups and elsewhere. Scatter in some of the other houses, maybe some of the old rogue trader adventurers and IG models if you can rustle them up, you could be onto a winner. Possibly even some fantic-era Necromunda stuff if you can find it; occasionally they turn up going cheap. Lots of those are kind of terrible models though, honestly.

If you don't mind third-party models, then there's always, as you know well, Victoria Minis. There are quite a lot of arm, leg and torso styles in that range that could be mixed and matched very easily for a un-uniformed militia look. Scale-wise, they're a very good match for old GW metals, bearing in mind that I've shortened these particular ones by around a mil:

Also in this shot you can see several other possible avenues to consider: among the cultists made out of redemptionists are a Frostgrave cultist from North Star (second left, with a redemptionist head grafted on) and then third left an Anvil Industries cultist. Now, I'm not suggesting those exact models, but North star also do models for Stargrave, the sci-fi version, and their plastic range is packed with good stuff. In this particular use-case, I think you may find the Stargrave Scavengers kit almost too good to be true, were it not for a need to perhaps graft on some GW weapons. Meanwhile Anvil's Regiments range is immensely varied and does contain a good few 'civilian' and 'militia' models that could really do you some good.

Anyway, good to see you back at work on the guard. Looking forward to seeing more!

Edited Thursday at 09:08 PM by Bonehead