Cavember Painting Contest Expanded!

Col. Gravis is having a painting contest centering around Rough Riders based on a post from the excellent Col. Ackland regarding what he's calling Cavember - originally it was centered around Praetorian Rough Riders in particular, as Col. Gravis makes some spectacular kits for the army. I'm a huge fan of both the Praetorians and Rough Riders in general, so I have been excited to see the various renditions folks come up with. Recently however, he's opened the contest up to Rough Riders of any regiment which has given me some impetus to get a little more work done on my own Mordian 7th!

I've included a unit of Rough Riders in every incarnation of the glorious 7th that I've done all the way back to the RT era. I started off using the original Imperial Guard Rough Riders on horseback, though in recent years I've gone for a Mechanized Rough Rider on motorbikes instead. The unit above was from my 3rd-4th edition days, and were made from a combination of the old Dark Eldar jetbikes and various bits taken from the Imperial Guard Heavy Weapons sprues. The original how-to was on the GW site yoinks ago in the "Dok Butcha's Konvershun Klinic" articles they used to do. I posted a walk-through on their construction a while back here as well...

My previous version in 5th edition utilized the fantastic bikes available from Ramshackle Games and the unit I'm going to be painting up is built using much the same process as those shown above.

At the moment they're just assembled and primered, so they aren't all that photogenic thus far. With the contest just being opened up to a wider audience I've got my work cut out for me - only 12 days to go before the deadline, and with a full 10-strong unit I'd better get cracking!

The intended Mordian 7th Regiment, D Company

My original intention for starting this blog is to document the process of recreating the Rogue Trader era Mordian 7th Regiment as detailed in the Warhammer 40k Compendium (see the original list here). However, there are some things to consider:

As the current iteration of the Guard army list bears little resemblance to those in the Rogue Trader era armies (and even less so in the upcoming codex from what I understand), some liberties will need to be taken to recreate the Mordian 7th Regiment of old. Things like Beastmen attack squads and jump pack equipped guard squads are the thing of the past, but with a little jiggery-pokery I hope to create a suitable homage.

On the other hand, I am a firm believer in the 'Rule of Cool' and so there will likely be certain models that just do not have a suitable analogue in the new codex - the beastmen attack squads are a perfect example. From what I understand, it's no longer possible to arm guardsmen with two hand weapons, and in such cases I plan on building the models anyway and agree on a suitable house rule with my opponents. Since all my games are of the 'for the fun of it' persuasion, this rarely causes any issues.

There are a number of models below that still require painting, but I'm quite pleased that at this time a vast majority of the army is complete, leaving me relatively free to purchase, build and paint a number of new upcoming releases without feeling too guilty about scads of unpainted models being neglected for 'new stuff'...

The HQ Squads:


Commander Evin Eldro and his attendant Commissar Fidel Arden originally were independent characters who rode Imperial Jetbikes. On down the line I plan to scratchbuild a pair of jetbikes, though mostly for fun than any particular in-game effect. I plan on utilizing the new Cadian command squads to build a new Commander and HQ squad. Currently, Commander Eldro and his command squad utilize the Creed fig and are accompanied by a medic, Vox operator and two guardsmen with Melta Guns. Depending on the new rules, I may replace one of the Melta Gunners with a Company Standard Bearer. The current iteration of the HQ Squad includes a Wyvern Pattern Command Chimera based on the excellent work done by Admiral Drax.

Commissar Fidel Arden (center) is joined by four subordinate Commissars to provide further backbone to the various Guard squads in the army.

The First Platoon - Tactical:

Platoon HQ

1st Squad

2nd Squad

3rd Squad

4th Squad

Armored Fist Chimeras

This set of miniatures has been in my possession since the original release of the new Cadians (now several years old). The squads have swapped the Lascannons of the original army list for Autocannons, though I intend to build enough Lascannons to swap out into the squads as the situation dictates. The Command Squad is currently being carried into battle in another Wyvern Pattern Command Chimera, and I have two other Chimeras to allow two of the squads to be taken as Armored Fist Squads.

The Second Platoon - Assault:

Veteran Assault Troopers

Veteran Chimera

The original Second Squad consisted of an HQ squad and 3 Squads of guardsmen armed with twin laspistols and equipped with Jump Packs. Obviously, neither of those equipment options are choices in the new codex, so my intent is to instead include three squads of Hardened Veterans mounted in Valkyrie transports to provide them with the deep strike/rapid assault capability the Second Platoon is intended to have. At the moment I have only a single hardened veteran squad built, though it appears that I'll need to re-arm them to fit the new codex restrictions. The Veterans are currently mounted in a Chimera when they do not infiltrate or deep strike.

I use a reverse paint scheme on the veteran figs - The basic troopers in the army all have red fatigues and grey flak armor, whereas the veterans have grey fatigues and red armor. I carry this paint scheme through the army, you'll note that the veteran sergeants in the Tac squads and various command squad models are denoted by this paint scheme as well. It allows me to easily identify on the field which models have the upgraded stat line.

The Third Platoon - Ogryns:


The Third Platoon consists of one of my favorite units; Thargadd's Thumpers. Widely discounted in many a tactica, I've always had good luck with Thargadd and the boys - they constantly act as a rock solid hand to hand unit designed with holding actions in mind. With their three wounds apiece, they've stood up to some of the most fierce opponents on the 40k battlefield, laughing as they pummel their adversaries into paste with the butts of their Ripper Guns.

The Fourth Platoon - Beastmen:

I currently am at an impasse as to how to represent the beastmen attack squads in the new codex. Originally a human Command squad and two 10-man packs of beastmen armed with hand weapons, it would be simple enough to build a couple squads out of WHFB beastmen, though I'm holding off until I have the new codex in hand to see what my options for proxy modeling may be.

The Fifth Platoon - Rough Riders:


While I am a big fan of cavalry in general, I wanted to do something a little different for my Rough Riders. In my continuation of the army fluff, the Mordian 7th Regiment lost their horses in a daring Snakebite Ork Raid (the poor beasts were into the Ork cook pots before a rescue could be mounted). Subsequently, the Rough Rider platoon has taken to riding Hornet scout bikes. In game they act exactly as Rough Riders, and are simply proxy models. I will be building a further 10 rough riders on bikes to round out the platoon.

The Sixth Platoon - Penitents:


In the original list the sixth platoon was comprised of 10 penitents. In my current army, the penitents are represented by Colonel Schaeffer's Last Chancers. The new codex apparently does away with this flavorful entry in exchange for an 'actual' penitent squad. It appears to be a simple 10 man squad armed with lasguns, so I will likely make do with a basic squad in prison orange, and keep this unit for special engagements only.

Ratling Marksmen Squad:

I was never a fan of the old Ratling Snipers, and as such never bought any. However the new models intrigue me and Dunno's Dead Eyes will be retaking the field (as soon as they're released of course).

Adeptus Mechanicus Detachment:

Here the army list deviates a bit more drastically from the original army list. One of the things that draws me inexorably back to the guard can be summed up in one word: TANKS. As such the Adeptus Mechanicus Detachment has expanded to include a number of vehicle choices:


Sentinels - The new codex apparently includes a number of new Sentinel variants as well as a bevy of new rules. I will likely include several more sentinels in the future.


The Scylla light tank is a fun little conversion made from a Chimera kit, and counts as a Sentinel with an armored crew compartment and armed with a lascannon.


The ubiquitous Leman Russ Main Battle Tank is a must-have in any self-respecting Guard army.


One of my favorite units, the Medusa Siege Gun emplacement has inflicted horrible casualties to the enemies of the Emperor.


A fun resin-cast model, this "King Russ" variant counts as a Leman Russ Executioner - the Plasma Destructor comes from the old Epic Imperator Titan. I have three more of these chassis in the wings awaiting the release of the new codex before I decide how I want to assemble them.


Yet another proxy model, this is a stand in for the Forge World Minotaur. Armed with two Earthshaker artillery cannons, the main chassis is my attempt to 'de-orkify' the battlewagon into its 'original' Imperial half-track version.


Continuing on up the scale of destructive power, I couldn't pass up on adding one of the excellent Macharius Super Heavy Tanks to my army.


Second only to the Gorgon as the largest transport super-heavy tank before entering the Praetorian class vehicles, the Stormlord was a must-have purchase as soon as I saw it. Extra sponsons of course, for twice the heavy flamer and lascannon fun!

I also plan to buy one of the excellent Forge World Thudd Guns, and I've been trawling ebay for an old Rapier platform.

The Imperial Navy:

Lastly, an Imperial Navy Thunderbolt adds some much-needed air superiority to the army.

Closing Thoughts:

The army is nearly completely painted. While I wait out the next few weeks for the upcoming guard releases I plan on finishing the paint jobs on the odd miniature here and there that remains unpainted as well as finishing off the numerous vehicles that I've only managed to get the base paint schemes on. There is a significant amount of new units that will be added to the army starting in May, including:

• Rebuilding the command squads to take advantage of the new box set's bits.
• Adding 2-3 Valkyrie transports and 1-2 more Hardened Veteran Squads to ride in them.
• 3 more Sentinels with various new heavy weapon options (Heavy plasma cannons ahoy).
• 5 new Ratling Snipers
• 1 new Primaris Psyker and a psyker battle squad
• 1 new Commissar Lord to better represent Fidel Arden.

Up Next: Painting goals...

Mordian 7th - 5th Platoon Rough Riders in progress

With a bit of a holiday weekend ahead I'm planning on finishing off the unit of Rough Riders that I pulled out for the Cavember contest that Col. Gravis is holding. It's been crazy with work of late, so I've only managed to block in the basic colors thus far - but hey, a little progress is better than no progress at all!

Now that there's a bit of paint on, it's easier to point out what all is in the unit. For special weapons, I went with a pair of flamers, and added enough lance-armed models to drive home the idea that the unit is armed with Hunting Lances. The unit is led by a counts-as Mogul Kamir, but I have included a chainsword-armed model as well to act as a normal sergeant for smaller games. The unit also includes a standard, though much like the one in the veterans squad, it's just there for flavor and has no in-game effect. In the original Mordian 7th, there was an entire platoon of Rough Riders, including a mounted command squad, so in this incarnation I'm going with these are the last remnants of the platoon, and one of the men has managed to keep the standard aloft throughout their winnowing.

With a couple days off coming up, I'm quite confident that I'll be able to get them done in time for the deadline!

Mordian 7th - 5th Platoon Rough Riders complete!

Happy Thanksgiving to those readers in the States today - among other things, I'm quite thankful for having the day off! Not having to go in to work at 6 in the morning, and having no other pressing demands (hooray!), I was able to finish off the Rough Riders this morning!

The Mordian 7th originally included an entire platoon of Rough Riders, let by Captain Hilts. While on extended recon patrol on Flotis III, the vast majority of the units horses were stolen (and presumably eaten) during a daring raid by Ork Kommandos. Captain Hilts led his men in a attempt to rendezvous with the rest of the regiment, afoot through Ork-held territory. Over two thirds of the unit were slain en-route by harassing attacks by Evil Sunz Speedfreeks, and Captain Hilts himself was savagely wounded after being set afire by an Ork Skorcha. Vowing to kill the Orks responsible and 'give them a taste of their own medicine', Captain Hilts requisitioned a number of bikes and several flamers, declaring he would forgo the stealth and range provided by riding horseback to the savagery and fire that he and his unit had experienced at the hands of the Orks. Captain Hilts generally hides his burned face behind a combination hood and rebreather, giving him a rather unsettling appearance. His hatred for Orks knows no bounds, though it's whispered among other units in the 7th that Hilts is every bit the savage now as any Ork, and that the 'breathing canisters' he uses contain not only oxygen, but Frenzon or some other combat drug..

I was worried that as all the bikes are identical, the whole unit would end up looking a bit monotonous, so I really tried to ensure the torso and arms for each model was significantly different. Overall I think it gives the unit a sense of motion and vibrancy.

The unit was designed such that it could be used as two 5-man units. The first half includes the standard lance-armed models and a sergeant...

...while the other half includes all the specialty models. A pair of flamers gives the unit a bit more anti-horde, while the other two models simply count as lance-armed guardsmen (well, discarding the remains of a lance in the case of the fellow on the far right). The masked man in the middle of the picture represents Captain Hilts, with his various tanks of combat drugs and an Ork Choppa. On the tabletop I plan to use him as a counts-as Mogul Kamir.

Another unit complete, and the Mordian 7th Painting Chart is turning green! Not looking forward to tackling the 35 infantry models in the 1st platoon, though. Oof.

By request: Mechanized Rough Riders

Much as I enjoy cavalry, I thought I'd do something different with the Rough Riders in the new army. I wanted to do guard bikers, and after poking around I decided to base them on a "Dok Butcha's Konvershun Klinic" article that used to be available on the GW:UK site (unfortunately I cannot seem to find the online article following the site update last year).



The raw materials to create the bikes is as follows:

• Dark Eldar Reaver Jetbikes
• Guard Heavy Weapons Sprue
• Guard Tank Accessories Sprue
• Small Wheels (I used the wheels from the old Guard heavy weapons platforms like these)

The main fairing of the bike is made from the body of a Dark Eldar Reaver Jetbike. I began by cutting out the jet nozzle from the rear of the chassis and filing it down. The front and rear forks that hold the wheels are made from the bipod and tripod legs from the Guard heavy weapons sprues. The front forks are from the bipod, and the rear forks are the two long legs from the tripod. Assembling this stage took a little patience, as it's fiddly and fragile.


Once I had the wheels, forks and frame assembled, I added an imperial eagle (or winged skull in a couple cases) to the front of the fairing, and used the head of the shovel on the heavy weapons team sprue to form the front fender. I also added a little stowage here and there to cover up the occasional gap and to add a little flavor to the bikes.


The riders were a bit of a challenge. I started by bisecting several pairs of cadian legs (as none of the existing poses would fit astride the bikes as-is), and then mixing and matching the left and right legs until I found pairs that would form the poses that I liked. I positioned the leg pairs spread astride the bike, and then filled in the gaps with greenstuff.


The torsos and arms were all adjusted through the use of a bit of greenstuff here and there as well. The 'pointing' right arm from the heavy weapons squad worked pretty well to hold on to the bike's handlebars, though to make things easier I did a couple riders either dismounted, or leaning on the bikes while they fired their weapons.

As fun as the unit was to build, one thing it is not is cheap. The parts (back when GW actually had a useful bits service) cost about $130 for the five-man unit. While I intend to build a further 10 man squad of bikers, I'm taking the easy way out and plan on utilizing the bikes with integral legs available from Ramshackle Games here. I have a set on order to see how they'll work, but as yet they have not arrived. My intention is to use the 5-man squad as the tank-hunting unit (they all have melta-bombs and include a melta gun), and the new 10-man squad will be more traditionally armed with hunting lances. Further updates to come once the new bikes arrive!

The new codex and the Mordian 7th Regiment

Apologies beforehand for the wall o' text!

I managed to get a chance to read through the codex yesterday, and thought I'd share my initial impressions. There are a number of notable changes to rules, organization, and points costs, so I sat down and re-worked my entire army list accordingly. To make things easy I use an excel spreadsheet to track every unit that I have, which allows me to then pick and choose units to build army lists for games. As I went through the old master file to update all the units, I color coded the changes to help me figure out what's new the next few times I play. Suffice it to say, the list changed considerably and got REALLY colorful. There's lots of new stuff to keep track of the first few times I play the new list.

A few changes really stood out to me:

HQ:
Many units which used to be HQ detachments/advisors moved to the troops and fast attack headings. While I like the fact that I can now give a commissar to any of my infantry squads and platoon HQs, it seems odd that in order to get a commissar for the company HQ I must use a force organization slot, meaning that in a normal game, I'll not be able to take both Commissar Fidel Arden and Primaris Psyker Morrin Dannel. The loss of the "leadership bubbles" is unfortunate, though I do think it'll be more fluffy to have the guard units panicking and routing left and right, followed by the merry tune of the commissar's bolt pistol (though I AM irritated that roughly half of my commissars no longer carry valid weapons, grrr). The vox network is now used to reroll Orders, though I find the ranges for orders absurdly short for the Platoon HQs. I would think an 18-24" Company/12" Platoon range would be a bit more useful compared to the new 12"/6". Personally, I'm not a huge fan of using special characters in 'normal-sized' games, though the 5th ed codexes all seem to be going that route to give the army flavor. At the moment I don't intend to proxy in any of the special characters for use in my army - The only one who interested me so far was Pask, who I might use as a Tank Ace for the King Russ Vanquisher. Nevertheless, I did like that they added some new special characters, and the backgrounds and histories for the new characters were all very entertaining!

ELITES:
Ogryns got scary - +1T, +1A, Furious Charge and Stubborn? With Assault 3, Str 5 Ripper Guns? Yes, please! I've always been a fan of Ogryns, so many tacticas I've read tend to disregard them as underwhelming for their points, but they have always performed admirably for me, and they're just darn entertaining to field. Fluff over Mathhammer any day of the week for me! I really like the new Ratling sniper models, so I'll be fielding them and the Psyker Battle Squad seems like a nice fluffy unit. Overall, I'm happy to see the Imperial Psykers getting a little upgrade. They were more or less useless in the previous codex, which was a shame.

TROOPS:
Oodles of scoring units in the new army - there's 8 troops selections in the new Mordian 7th list. Overall there were no real surprises, cheaper infantry squads, slightly more expensive platoon HQs. Disappointed at the lack of Col. Schaeffer's Last Chancers, but the penal battalion isn't quite the letdown I'd feared. Not great, but okay. Hardened Veterans moved to Troops, which I like.

FAST ATTACK:
Not much changed here for me, though I'm disappointed that my custom rough riders are no longer appropriately armed. I have a whole new set of bikes on the way however which should alleviate this problem.

HEAVY SUPPORT:
Higher Side armor on Leman Russ MBTs is nice, as is the Lumbering Behemoth Rule. I'm especially pleased to see the Executioner became a bit more useful - shorter ranged, but it's now Heavy 3/AP 2, a definite Terminator killer!

After a fair bit of re-typing, cutting/pasting, and updates, I finally nailed down the final complete army list utilizing the new codex.

Mordian 7th Regiment, D Company (following the conclusion of the Flotis III campaign):

HQ:

• Company Commander Evin Eldro & Command Squad - Vox, Medic, Standard, Melta, Wyvern Command Chimera: 180 pts.
• Commissar Lord Fidel Arden: 80 pts.
• Primaris Psyker Morrin Dannel: 70 pts.
• 2 x Techpriest Enginseers - 2 Tech Servitors, 1 Heavy Bolter Servitor each: 220 pts.

ELITES:

• Ratling Snipers - Dunno's Deadeyes (5 ratlings): 50 pts.
• Psyker Battle Squad - 6 Psykers & 1 Overseer: 80 pts.

3rd Platoon (based on original army list naming conventions):

• Ogryn Squad - Thargadd's Thumpers (6 ogryns): 150 pts.

TROOPS:

1st Platoon:

• Platoon HQ - Vox, Medic, Standard, Melta, Wyvern Command Chimera: 220 pts.
• 2 x Infantry Squads - Vox, Melta, Grenade Launcher, Autocannon: 71 pts. each
• 2 x Armored Fist Squads - Vox, Melta, Grenade Launcher, Autocannon, Chimera: 156 pts. each
• 2 x Anti-Tank Heavy Weapons Team - 3 x Lascannon: 105 pts. each

2nd Platoon (named as such in homage to the 1st ed. list):

• Demolition Veterans Squad - Missile Launcher, Grenade Launcher, Plasma, Melta, Chimera, Demolitions upgrade: 235 pts.
• Drop Veterans Squad (mounted in Valkyrie) - 3 x Melta guns: 105 pts.
• Drop Veterans Squad (mounted in Valkyrie) - 3 x Plasma guns: 120 pts.

4th Platoon (again, original 1st ed. naming structure):

• Beastman Attack Squad A - Knife Fighters, No Lasrifles (Proxy Penal Battalion): 80 pts.
• Beastman Attack Squad B - Knife Fighters, No Lasrifles (Proxy Penal Battalion): 80 pts.

6th Platoon (ditto):

• Penal Battalion: 80 pts.

Defense Line:

• Turret Emplacements - 3 x Twin Linked Heavy Bolters: 210 pts.

FAST ATTACK:

• Armored Sentinel Squadron - 3 x lascannons: 210 pts.

5th Platoon (more original list naming):

• Rough Rider Squad A - 10 bikers, 2 x Melta Guns: 140 pts.
• Rough Rider Squad B - 10 bikers, 2 x Melta Guns: 140 pts.
• Rough Rider Squad C - 10 bikers, 2 x Melta Guns: 140 pts.

2nd Platoon, Continued (these carry the Drop Veterans):

• 2 x Valkyrie Assault Carriers - Lascannons: 230 pts.

HEAVY SUPPORT:

• Medusa Siege Gun: 100 pts.
• Leman Russ - Lascannon, HK Missile: 185 pts.
• 2 x King Russ - Lascannon, Heavy Bolter Sponsons, Extra Armor, Massive (Dozer Blade): 210 pts.
• King Russ Vanquisher - Lascannon, Heavy Bolter Sponsons, Extra Armor, Massive (Dozer Blade): 215 pts.
• King Russ Executioner - Heavy Bolter, Camo Netting, Extra Armor, Massive (Dozer Blade): 235 pts.
• King Russ Eradicator - Heavy Bolter, Extra Armor, Massive (Dozer Blade): 215 pts.
• Thunderbolt Fighter - 2 x Hellstrike Missiles: 200 pts.
• Macharius - Heavy bolter sponsons: 345 pts.
• Stormlord - Extra sponsons, heavy stubbers: 620 pts.
• Stygies Pattern Leviathan: 1250 pts.

Total Points: 7694(!)

At the moment much of the army is complete and painted - however there are a number of units that still require assembly and/or painting (and in the case of the rough riders, purchasing):

Primaris Psyker
2 Veteran Squads (under construction)
2 Valkyries (under construction)
2 Beastmen Squads (test builds underway, pics to follow)
Penal Battalion Squad (using Catachans)
Re-arm 2 existing sentinels with lascannons
3 Mechanized Rough Rider Squads (5 old models being retired, 10 under construction, 20 bikes on order)
4 King Russ MBTs (under construction, 2 'vanilla', 1 Vanquisher, 1 Eradicator)
Leviathan (under construction)

Doesn't look too bad until I realize that's 80 more infantry/bikes and 7 vehicles (including the mobile building that is the Leviathan). Nevertheless, I'm looking forward to it! There are a couple things that I'm considering to bring the list in line with the original - there's supposed to be a human command squad that oversees the Beastmen attack squads, though the penal battalion rules that I'm using to proxy the Beastmen don't count towards the required Platoon units. I'm considering purchasing a second platoon HQ for the armored fist squads, then deploying them alongside the Beastmen. Fits the letter of the current rules, as I don't see that the platoon HQ must set up within a certain distance of their 'correctly associated' units, though they must be placed in reserve/deploy at the same time as said associated unit. Not a big problem as I see it, as my armored fist squads rarely start in reserve. In addition, I'm planning on replacing all the squad autocannons with Lascannons, as that's how the original list was armed, and these days all I ever seem to play against are Marines, where the autocannons come up lacking.

Overall I'm more pleased than not regarding the new codex. As is usually the case, GW has invalidated certain unit's equipment loadouts which means several models I had in the old army list are no longer viable under the new rules - Irritating, but par for the course. Overall however I think the army list is flavorful (even without the inclusion of the special characters), flexible, and hopefully fun to play with and against!

Road to Adepticon 2013 - test game, sort of...

Well over the past weekend I got together with my buddy Dave from Ex Fide Vivo with the intent to try out the guard army list I'd cobbled together for use at Adepticon next year. Unfortunately the weather was quite poor on Saturday and it started to snow and sleet fairly heavily, so we didn't get much past turn 2 before calling the game for weather. Nevertheless I did take a few pictures that I thought I'd share, as well as point you over to Dave's blog where he did a rather more in-depth write up of the game (as much of it as we got done, that is.

Setup - We ended up playing the Scouring with the diagonal setup. I liked the idea of the randomized objective values, though the placement that I chose for the ones on my side of the line came back to bite me...

 

Two of the three objectives on my side of the table ended up being "Sabotaged", and the forest in which the one on the left flank the located was also full of brainleaf fronds. Suffice it to say the squad in there fled for their lives! The potential for explosions drove my guard from cover in the middle of the table as well, which definitely hampered my plans.

 

I started to swing to the right flank to take that objective, and the rough riders showed up on that flank as well - I was feeling pretty confident... Until a full assault squad DS'ed right in the middle of 'em!

 

The vindicator had been stunned such that it couldn't fire its gun, so it attempted a tank shock into the Rough Riders. They danced out of the way rather deftly, only to be annihilated by the Baal Predator immediately thereafter.

I was unable to materially weaken the rampaging assault squads, who butchered their way through my line, and managed to surround and cut down the company command squad. At this point we ended up calling the game due to snow, but in all honesty it was pretty much all over but the shouting at this point anyway.

We spent some time discussing tactics and listbuilding and I've come up with a tweaked version of the list that cuts out some of the Chimeras, adds a defense line and quad-gun, and so forth. We're hoping to have a re-match soon!

Mordian 7th Regiment, D Company - Planning and build nearly complete.

So once upon a time, I started a blog that was all about the glorious Mordian 7th Regiment with the intent that it would keep me on target with my hobby work and allow me to solicit feedback from all you awesome readers. That worked for a while, but about a year ago I finally became fed up with all the little problems that I'd introduced into the army and I sold off a goodly chunk of it with the intention of starting over from scratch. In the mean time I've been all over the map with Orks and Ad-Mech and Dark Eldar (oh my!). Nevertheless, behind the scenes over the last year I've been slowly buying the odd box set of guard models and tucking them away in the Closet of Doom, and I've fiddled around with various army lists, knowing that the "original" Mordian 7th list is neither competitive, interesting from a modeling perspective, or in certain unit's cases even possible with the current codex. That being the case I've decided to toss out the plan of meticulously re-creating the original list and instead come up with a blended list that a) includes most of the 'signature' units from the original, b) would be fun to build and paint, and c) actually be a feasible army in the current edition.

I sat down, cracked open the painting chart (thanks to Admiral Drax once again for this fabulous idea) and set to mixing and matching what I thought would be a fun army to build and paint. Luckily I kept a number of units from the previous army, so a seed of already-painted models exists for me to structure the rest of the army around. I started from the top and worked down the army list...

Leading from the front is Company Commander Evin Eldro and his command squad. In game, I utilize Creed's rules to represent Evin's years of service, fiery temperament and superior tactical acumen. Though shouting "Eldrooooo!" is not quite as satisfying as "Creeeeeeed!"

The HQ slots are further filled with Lord Commissar Fidel Arden (shown here leading the rest of the members of the Commissariat assigned to the Mordian 7th)...

...and Sanctioned Psyker Morrin Dannel (taking refuge with the rest of the psykers that accompany the glorious 7th). There is also a small detachment of Techpriests assigned to the Mordian 7th as well, though I have no pictures of them at the moment.

Filling in the Elites slots are a number of Abhuman units - the Mordian 7th is well known (and a bit infamous) in their use of Abhumans. First and most often seen taking the field are 3rd Platoon, a.k.a. "Thargadd's Thumpers", a unit of Ogryns who have accompanied the 7th since its inception.

As diminutive (and sneaky) as the Ogryns are large (and smelly), Dunno's Deadeyes are the 7th's unit of Ratling Snipers.

Nicodemus is a disgraced Imperial Assassin that has thrown in his lot with Commander Eldro and is often sent on insanely dangerous missions, which seems to suit his need for atonement. In game, he counts-as Guardsman Marbo and is armed and modeled accordingly.

Now I'd sold off nearly all of the Troops choices for the army and have been re-building them. At the moment, no pictures, but it includes the following:

1st (Tactical) Platoon
HQ squad w/ Chimera
3x Squads of Guardsmen with Grenade Launchers, Missile Launchers and Chimeras
3x Lascannon-armed Heavy Weapons Teams. 

2nd (Assault) Platoon
1x Veterans Squad w/ 3x Plasma Guns and Valkyrie (anti-infantry squad)
1x Veterans Squad w/ 3x Meltas, Demolitions and Vendetta (anti-tank squad)
In the original list, all of these models used to be equipped with laspistols, CCWs and Jump Packs which is no longer an option. Instead I've kited them out with Grav Chutes and mounted them in Valkyrie/Vendettas which I feel is a fair approximation.

4th (Beastman) Platoon
10x Beastmen armed with two hand weapons. Packmaster Raakt is armed with a pair of Chainswords, but the remainder of the unit carries basic axes and swords.
In the original list, Beastmen were a valid unit choice. To represent them in the current edition, I utilize them as a Penal Legion who always have the "Knife Fighters" option and forfeit their lasguns. They are made from fantasy beastmen who have had their torsos replaced with Cadian torsos and occasional bits of equipment (canteens, grenades and the like).

6th (Penitents) Platoon
10x Penal Legionnaires w/ Lasguns
Very simple unit - the 7th is primarily modeled using Cadians but the Penitents utilize Catachan models to represent a more buffed-out criminal look. Painted in prison orange, complete but apparently I've never taken pictures of them...

On the Fast Attack front, the army includes a Bane Wolf, a trio of Mars-Pattern Sentinels (currently unbuilt) and a 10-strong unit of Rough Riders. Instead of horses however, the Rough Riders are all mounted on motorcycles and are led by Captain Hilts who is a counts-as Mogul Kamir (bonus points if you get the Captain Hilts reference).

As mentioned in the Troops section, the Imperial Navy has supplied the 7th with several aircraft. The Valkyrie has been assembled and painted for some time now, but the Vendetta still languishes in a box in the Closet of Doom...

On the heavy support front, the Thudd Gun that used to accompany the 7th has been replaced by a Medusa Emplacement. Hands down one of my favorite FW models of all time. I could have sworn I had a picture of the completed model, but apparently the only shot I have is an old in-progress picture.

The Rapier Laser Destroyer has accompanied the 7th for decades as well, and is usually watched over by one of the two Techpriests that are part of the army.

One can never have enough artillery, so a Manticore has been seconded into the army as well. My intention is to also include one (maybe two) Leman Russ tanks, I'm planning on a heavily magnetized version to allow for as much flexibility and options as I can.

The Imperial Navy also provides the 7th with significant air support in the form of an Imperial Thunderbolt...

...And a Vulture Gunship armed with twin-linked Punisher cannons. If all else fails, I guess I'll be more or less ready for the vaunted "Summer of Flyers"!

All told the army comes out to just a hair over 4,000 points as listed. Now all I need to do is paint about 80 infantry and 7 vehicles, as well as re-base nearly all the currently-painted models so the bases match my current theme. Looks like I have my work cut out for me!