That got me thinking that I might actually enjoy getting back into Warhammer 40,000, but I don't know if I could ever really muster the energy to actually play it. The ugly specter of painting the well over 200 War of the Ring figures reared its head. Luckily, I had a better idea.
John Sibbick: Rogue Trader cover, 1987
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Back in the summer of 2014, we started a Rogue Trader campaign that I've occasionally blogged about here under the Rogue Trader label. It's still ongoing, even if the cast of characters has changed somewhat. The campaign is set in the Acheron sector, which I've invented myself and set in the northernmost reaches of Segmentum Obscurus. One of the major events in its recent past, which makes an appearance in several characters' back stories, is the Ignatian Rebellion, where governor Ignatius Virius of the agri-world of Derbe declared independence from the Imperium. Eventually, he threw his lot in with Chaos, and Imperial forces invaded Derbe and restored order.
Because several of our player characters have backgrounds that involve the Ignatian Rebellion, we've actually detailed several units that fought there. So it occurred to me: why not build a Warhammer Imperial Guard army based on those units? We can even have specific models for those of our player characters who fought there. What's more, we can fight out battles they were involved in in Warhammer, and hell, I can give my players experience points for doing it. In other words, I can use my position as GM to bribe my players into playing Warhammer with me, and I get a good reason to build an Imperial Guard and Chaos army.
I think this is brilliant, so I'm doing it. The first objective is to round up some models and figure out how to play. The last time I played Warhammer 40,000 was third edition, so to put it mildly, it's been a while.
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My first mini-army is going to be an Imperial Guard patrol detachment. The Guard get bonuses for fielding detachments that are entirely from the same regiment, but I have two problems with that: our characters are from different regiments, and only painting models from one regiment would be incredibly boring. I'm sure I could fudge this by saying they're all from the same battlegroup that's functionally a regiment or whatever, but I won't: the role-playing aspect matters here.
To start, my patrol detachment needs an HQ unit, and while I was going through my old Warhammer stuff last summer, I found this absolutely wonderful old commissar model.
I painted it back in the day when I was very bad at painting, but I've done my best to touch it up. Because of that pose and especially that coat, there's no way he isn't Lord Commissar Zhukov. He's got a bolter, too: it's under his coat.
165th Ophir Highlanders
At the outbreak of the Ignatian Rebellion, the recruitment and training of the 165th Ophir Highlanders had barely started. The regiment was rushed to full strength so it could be deployed to suppress the insurrection on Athir. The Highlanders' youth and lack of training led to them being nicknamed the 165th Children's Crusade by the more experienced troops. Here, the 165th are represented by a unit of 20 Conscripts. Their tunics are German Camo Bright Green, the armor is Luftwaffe Camo Green and the trousers are Dark Blue Pale.
The green conscripts are accompanied into action by Brother Malachi, a Ministorum priest who will later become a Missionary in our Rogue Trader campaign. The model is a Games Workshop Warrior Acolyte.
76th Chirikov Rad-Guards
The Rad-Guards are recruited from the death world of Chirikov, a human colony ravaged by all-out nuclear war in its past and dominated by irradiated wastelands. Its inhabitants make motivated recruits for the Imperial Guard, as anywhere else is better than there! The Rad-Guards are represented by an infantry squad featuring a missile launcher team and a grenade launcher. Their coats are Dark Red, with Dark Blue Pale pants and gas masks.
This all adds up to the following army list:
Lord Commissar Zhukov - HQ, 30 pts
power fist (10), power sword (4), boltgun (1) = 45 pts
Ophir Conscripts (20) - Troops, 80 pts
Ministorum Priest Brother Malachy - Elite, 35 pts
autogun (0), chainsword (0)
Chirikov Infantry Squad (10) - Troops, 40 pts
missile launcher (20), grenade launcher (5) = 65
Total: 225 points
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That's the Imperial Guard, then; they're going to need someone to fight.
Athir rebels
While the center of the rebellion was on Derbe, an insurrection also broke out on the nearby death world of Athir. I'm including a contingent of these rebels as autogun-armed Chaos Cultists.
The models are GW Chaos Cultists, with the heavy stubber built from Genestealer Cult bits and a head from Brother Vinni's Female Punk Heads sprue. They're led by a rebel.
Iconoclast Chaos Space Marines
The Blue Bolts were an Ultramarines successor chapter of impeccable loyalty - until they came across something so blasphemous and depraved in Segmentum Obscurus that it shattered their faith. What it was, no-one in the Imperium knows, because shortly afterward, the entire chapter was corrupted by the Word Bearers and fell to Chaos, taking the new name Iconoclasts.
The models are plain old Chaos Marines, with some Berzerker and old loyalist bits; the missile launcher operator and aspiring champion's heads are from the same Brother Vinni sprue as the cultist machine-gunner's. Their original armor color is Dark Blue, but I've shaded it into Medium Blue and Black. The original armor trim was Silver, but I've added details in Copper and given many of the surfaces a red wash.
Since I'm playing Word Bearers, obviously my Warlord has to be a Dark Apostle, to be represented by a Chaos Dark Prophet model from Wargame Exclusive, but proxied for the moment by my Fallout World Eater.
Dark Apostle - HQ, 72 pts
power maul (4) = 76 pts
Chaos Cultists (10) - Troops, 40 pts
heavy stubber (4) = 44 pts
Chaos Space Marines (6) - Troops, 78 pts
power axe (5), Icon of Excess (10), missile launcher (25) = 118 pts
Total: 238 pts
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For this very small initial battle, we set up 2'×4' of my old Necromunda terrain, picked sides and set up our mini-armies. Since my players' characters fought in the Imperial Guard, I'll be playing Chaos.
We were playing the Only War scenario, and after we placed the objective markers, we rolled the version where you remove all but one randomly determined objective. Of course it ended up being the one on the bridge.
My opponent took a very Imperial Guard approach to securing it.
While the Highlander conscripts swarmed over the bridge, the Rad-Guards were shooting the shit out of my Cultists. This was one big lesson in 8th edition 40k: cover does nothing!
Since this was our first game, I decided what the hell, and had my Marines and Dark Apostle charge the conscripts on the bridge.
Soon enough, the Rad-guards wiped out my cultists, but in the battle on the bridge, my Marines were routing the conscripts. The Rad-Guards also charged in.
Eventually, the sheer weight of Imperial numbers wore my Chaos Marines down, and Lord Commissar Zhukov finished them off by defeating my Dark Apostle in hand-to-hand combat.
The game ended with my entire Chaos force wiped out!
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So, we played a game of Warhammer 40,000 that basically amounted to one huge melee. What did we learn? Mostly that it was damn good fun. We'll be doing more of this!
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