Commander in Chief of XVII Korps

3* General Tolstoy is a Vostroyan Officer from the usual base material of the Vostroyan officer corps.  However, unlike many, he didn't fight against being posted to non-Vostroyan appointments.  It is widely felt amongst the Vostroyan Officer corps that Vostroyan Officers often do not do well outside of (predominantly) Vostroyan formations.  Their particular style of leadership and cultural mores sometimes clash with people from other places.

Tolstoy is one of the more adventurous Vostroyans, confident of his own abilities and generous in his opinion of Imperial Guard of other ethnicities, he has served in appointments away from Vostroyan dominated areas (Klestor Sub Sector Command is currently headed up by a Vostroyan and therefore Vostroyan officers are doing rather well at the moment, probably a contributing factor to 4* General Zukhov's command of 72AG and General Pullamgowski's promotion for getting the Corbanian 1st almost wiped out.

Tolstoy gained his reputation campaigning on the rimward fringes of the Eye of Terror.  He commanded a Vostroyan Infantry Regiment (37th Firstborn) and then heavy tank regiment (12th Super Heavy First Born Armoured Regiment).  He then attended Staff College on Cadia.  He returned to the rimward fringe of the Eye of Terror to command the Vostroyan 44th Armoured Division.  By the end of the Smomery Campaign he was Divisional Commander of 14th Imperial Guard Division, a composite unit made up of remnants of many other formations who had begun the campaign.  

He then spent a tour as a tutor in Staff College on Agripinna before commanding a Division on Campaign putting down a rebellion based around promethium manufacture on the ice world of Stegen.  His Division was 17 Division.  When his headquarters was lifted from Stegen to become a Corps headquarters for 72AG, they kept the number of their old Division, as well as the remnants of the Necromundian 1st ("Deaths Head") Regt.  

Once on Devos IV and with the units for it's formations identified (even if some of them were still en route), 3* Gen Tolstoy demanded a number of officers from each of the units under his command and did most of the planning for the first year of the campaign with his Corps 'superteam' on the Ocean on their way to Benq. This is perhaps a major contributing factor to XVII Korps' success - all of the Divisional teams were aware of both the overall and the specifics of the other Divisional plans.

Tolstoy will get out to the front line and lead from the front when he can.  He knows that his place is to lead his Corps and that a major part of this is to defend his command from his Superior Officer, 4* General Zukhov.  He is under no illusion that if he and his fellow Corps Commanders allowed Zukhov to be more hands on, the campaign would be won, but the costs, one way or another, would be much higher. 

Bob Tolstoy has a Mykk Bush, a common enough house plant spread throughout the Endymion Cluster.  He takes care of this plant, taking it with him on campaign in its pot and feeding and watering it.  It has never flowered. 

His almost miniaturised twin linked storm bolter/lightening claw personal weapon system was created for him by the Ad Mech for managing to limit the amount of collateral damage on the refinaries at Stegen. 

You can see how PVP modified the minuture here

He is of course, a Vostroyan version of General Sturm from THQ's Dawn of War games. As well as that General Sturm, there' a historical German General Sturm and the notorious Noches Sturm from the Dan Abnett book "Traitor General".   

902 Divisional Commander & Staff

General Commandant Welbahnn (Armageddon) is the Divisional Commander of 902 Div.  4* General Zukhov did not want Welbahnn as one of his officers at all.  Zukhov is aware that Welbahnn and General Horpan ("Danny Bloodcoat" the commander of the Separatists) were in the same class at the Imperial Guard staff college on Agripinna.  Just what Zukhov is expecting is unclear.

Dry, punctilious, witty, musically gifted, Welbahnn drifts calmly around his headquarters like someone just taking the air.  Softly spoken (who needs to shout when you have a Division of the Imperial Guard to do your bidding ?) and spare with his gestures, the pace of activity seems to slow in his presence.

The majority of troops manning the headquarters are Necromundians and Cadians.  There is a Vostroyan Liaison Officer, Capt Adjernich, but his HQ is run by this small cadre of driven and trusted individuals.

At the outbreak of hostilities the Divisional Chief of Staff is Colonel Klunck, another Armageddon officer.  He lost his arm fighting Orks, but that was a long time ago and a long way away.  This war is to bring a world back into the Imperial fold.  Klunck is mission focussed, if a little whimsical in his private life.

He lost, as far as he knows, his extended family in Hades hive and will try to improve the lot of war orphans and children generally where ever he can. Klunck has a reoccurring dream where he is in a ballroom dancing competition and his partner is a shark.  The shark cannot live for very long out of water but will eat him if he takes it to water; if they loose the competition he will be executed for losing a ballroom dancing competition.  He has decided that this is some expression of survivor guilt, rather than evidence that he is a fruitcake.

After the final operation to secure the Nolag Heights (901 Cadian Inf Div), there is a general reshuffle of command positions.  Klunck is moved to Korps HQ where he becomes 3* General Tolstoy's Chief of Staff.  He is replaced in 902 Div by the Volscani Col Has.

The 902 Div Operations officer is Colonel Phandaal. He displays a phenomenal ability to absorb and process information. He probably has aspergers - he has very few friends, forces eye contact, lives for his job and has been very successful due to his ability to detect patterns in opposing forces' behaviour, giving his side a tactical advantage.

Once when he had to write up his own staff report, he wrote in that he was passionate about camouflage and misdirection.  This isn't untrue, but is only true because it was written about him fifteen years ago.

Major Nervensäge is Phandaal's staff assistant.  Phandaal is the only person who can put up with him. Nervensage is actually a pariah, a psychic blank, a null. He's only got as far as he has because he's a tough, hard to kill bastard.  But in order to have got where he has, he has accumulated a lot of useful experience and found ways to get results.  Which makes him useful.  The other officers of 19 Armd Regt are very pleased that he's representing them so well in the Headquarters. 

A junior officer once explained habius corpus to Major Nervensage.  Nervensage had him summarily executed as "almost certainly a heretic".  Good enough for the court martial; no further action was taken. 

902 Division's unit commanders

114 Coy Cdr Sturmbannfuhrer Erwin Boelcke.  Sturmbannfuhrer Boelcke was 19 Armd Regt's 2iC until his predecessor was slain in an ambush whilst on reconnaissance near the town of Guinvar.  Boelcke stepped down from his regimental appointment to lead 114 Coy.   He has done this to ensure effective leadership of the mechanised infantry element of 19 Armd Regt; he exhibits all of the usual traits one might associate with a Krieg Officer, coupled with an understanding of mechanised warfare and a dash of verve that has seen him patched up (resuscitated twice) and returned to the front many times.

Boelcke has seen decades of service and during one long furlough on Gudrun, discovered apiary.  He now devotes such leisure time as he has to its study - he has no expectation that has a 'dead man walking' he will ever see a hive again, but finds it gives him the mental space to return to his duties focussed and refreshed.  His other predilection are the two Krieg maidens who are his 'body guards'.  This has been overlooked in light of his proficiency in mechanised warfare, not many Krieg officers accumulate as much experience in Chimera operations.

Generalmajor Caulk Resnick is the regimental commander of 20 Armd Regt.  Unusually for a Krieg Officer he will find a way to keep his men alive and panzers running if he can.  Primarily this is seen as pragmatism - after all, you cannot win a battle if you are already dead.  But he has previously been mentored by a Kasarkin tutor when he was a Grenadier.  Whilst perfectly at ease with the concept of self sacrifice (who on Kreig isn't ?), the benefits of strategies and tactics that did not involve outright attrition were an eye opener for Resnick.  He has done well to disguise his humanitarian streak and still rise to a regimental command in the Death Korps. 

Resnick is quietly proficient where Boelcke is demonstrative, but that does not mean he lacks passion, he is supremely calm in the face of adversity and continues to inspire those around him and exercise effective command.  After so long fighting the emperor's wars, Resnick appreciates the opportunities to eat well and live in a degree of comfort where ever this can be found.  Whilst he is pleased with the provisions made for officers in an army led by Vostroyans, he nonetheless finds their comparative lack of focus on objectives and war aims to be a tad amateurish. 

Oberst Von Kreed with two of his command team, Unteroffizer Krell and Commissar Starling.  Von Kreed commands the Saranian 5th Gibergsjeager Regiment, a light infantry unit which provides a lot of specialist functions to 902 Div (scouting, tracking [including with dogs], surveillance, target acquisition and reconnaissance, difficult terrain operations).

Von Kreed is viewed by his men as something of a tactical genius; whether through skill, guile, tactical acumen or sheer luck, his record is an almost unblemished list of successes.  On a personal level he is curt and somewhat reserved, which fits in well with his Kreig contemparies in 902 Div.  He may look like an aging doorman or retired pugilist, but he has the manners of a schoolmaster.  Von Kreed likes working for General Commandant Welbahnn as he recognises Welbahnn's capability to use the assets in his Division to best effect.  He could have ended up with a Vostroyan Commander who failed to appreciated the capacities of the Gibersjeagers and squandered their strength in the trenches.

Unteroffizer Krell is a bombastic bully the like of which gets weeded out of most military units as detrimental to overall performance.  However, he is utterly devoted to Von Kreed and only moves at his leader's nod.  As a right hand man, Krell is without conscience or scruple. He is, quite simply a tool in Von Kreed's hand, albeit in human form.  Krell likes bare knuckle fighting and being intimidating.

Commissar Starling is a firm adherent to the Imperial Creed.  Whilst he would not shy away from sanctioning any of the Saranians, he believes that a greater part of his function is to lead from the front and by personal example.  He is immensely brave and this and his ability in close combat are respected even by Krell.  He like progressive jazz, sour foods, samba dancing and slapstick humour.

3D Printing Space Marine Army.

http://3dprintingindustry.com/2014/10/31/redditor-3d-prints-warhammer-40k-army/

You can clearly see what the article is on about when its talking about the quality not being there yet. But as with all new tech, it will only get better.

Link

Looking for 40K related 3D printing can bring up some interesting things:

Clacker lacker tracker

So, I feel it is worth applying the tracker from last year to this year.  And I'm going to try to apply the same rules to 'new stuff' as well.  One problem here is that I found a model that I just had to have.  It'll do for a 'gun cutter' in Inquisitorial service.  Sure it'll have a profile, but it's really scenery.

Han Solo vs Midas Betancore

So then, picking up where we left off:

DKK Salamanders - need finishing off. Slow extra steps taken + more !
Valhallans (need paint) Done !  Need a major basing event, though. Based. 
3rd Thunderer Conversion.  (Then all three would be ready for paint) No Progress Two under and base coated.
Additional Officers (Not Imperial - just a pile of parts at the mo') Now assembled.  I've started painting them. I painted the separatists, DKK Officers sent to paint.
"Word Bearers" er, um, tbc. 
Leviathan Mortis' - need construction, conversion and paint. No Progress
DKK Grenadiers (lost children of another army....you guessed it, in a box.) No Progress but new legs bought for conversions. Conversions started.
Full Size ATAT fleet (need assembly, conversion and painting) Chin mounted Gatling guns from the Dream Forge kickstarter arrived to make these viable Storm Lord proxies. 
DKK Hydrae (Always keep six spare Chimerae kits waiting; need assembly and painting) Admiral Drax popped by and assembled two of them for me.  Drax has now built these
Thunderbolts - Jeager Gruppe 52 decals purchased. Karitas popped by and assembled one and has taken the other away to assemble. One already sent away for painting
Clone wars Vendetta conversions  Vendetta Kits purchased.  Fans needed for engines. 
World Eaters Land Raider
Meridian Infantry
Inquisitorial Gun Cutter
Isenkearn APC 
Isenkearn Command Squad
Imperial Basillica
Elsyian Army  Gone to paint
TGG Kickstarter girls
And then a trawl of whats in the boxes

It somehow doesn't look as much as last year - probably because it isn't.  But it still feels like a bit of a tall order.

And I keep getting ideas for more unusual small units.  Still being good so far, though.

Missing Stuff

So, Marshall Argos has asked about the org and det of 72AG; whether we are talking about my collection or the Devos IV fluff is by the by; my collection being a small slice of some of the units present.

Anyway, yes: 72 AG has three Corps, XVII Korps, XVIII Corps and XXXVIII Corps.

Various units within XVII Korps, 72AG (Klestor Sub Sector Command)

Each of these is organised into five Divisions:  Each Division being between 4000 and 10000 men; so either one Regiment (ie the Corbainian 1st) plus attachments to round it out to an all arms force) or five(ish) Battalion sized bits of different regiments under a Divisional Commander.

Now I do have this tabulated in excel.  However, this will change through the campaign as Divisions are re-organised; ie the Corbainian 1st being rendered hors de combat - they will be rouled out (roulement being the attachment and detachment of units from formations) to either be broken up and used as Battle Casualty Replacements (BCRs) or used as a cadre about which the unit will be re-built.

I do plan on presenting this as an org chart with the usual symbols.  Col Scipio is good at this, so I'll ask him to give me a hand.  This will give a picture of the organisation down to unit level.

The Inquisitorial conclave and Black Templar mission are not included in this as they are not part of 72AG. (more about these this year as well) The Warp Runners detachment technically is a part of the Army (I can explain this, should anyone be interested), but is not actually under 4* General Zukhov's command - which is why it does not show up on the org chart.

Hammer Company, 3/99 ("Bloodcoats") AIR, 4 BCT 'Scorpions', 1 (Benq) Div, Devos IV PDF

Similarly, the Separatist PDF is worked out as well; the PDF consists of four Divisions, three of which are four BCT (Brigade Combat Team) roughly equal to a 72AG Division, but perhaps slightly smaller.  The BCTs are rounded out with a PDF Air Force Brigade and a Combat Supply Brigade. So this can be charted as well.

The PLA equals the Separatist PDF plus any partisans, mutant hordes or other visitors (which might include Skulltakers, Beserkers of Skallathrax, Emperor's Children sub factions, 'The Cleaved' and/or summoned or randomly manifesting deamons).

'Belligera Rex' formerly of the War Griffons, Now used by the Skulltakers.

I do have a map of Devos IV, but it is a schematic of the planet in a sort of Mercator Projection.  I have other maps in my head which I will try to get out and onto the e-page at some point.

To go back to 72AG.  Doubtless many of you are aware that some other blogger's iggies have been bleeding for the emperor on the dung covered steppes of Devos IV; elements of the Palladian Guard and Mordian 7th form 905 Div.  Elements of Cadian 24th and 127th form 901 Div.  It goes on...

Generally bloggers have reacted well to me randomly wiping out bits of their army in the Emperor's name.  If you have an IG army, do keep an eye out for the odd mention here or there.  If you hit the 'background' label and go back far enough you'll find narratives on some of the formations and biopics of some of the people.  If you back far enough, you'll find a point where 72AG is three Divisions each of five Brigades.  Retcon ahoy !

Of all of the things mentioned in the Devos IV blog so far, one thing I have not done is assign actual dates to events.  This has been quite deliberate.  DKK 19 Armd Regt did not go to Taros (IA3), it came to Devos IV.  The Chief of Staff of XXXVIII Corps was Col Winterborne's predecessor as CO of Prea 4 Mech  Regt. The Fantoma 313 Drop Regt were part of XXXVIII Corps, but before BG82 was formed, possibly before Marshall Argos was born.

So all of this needs sorting out as well.  Some of the posts in this blog are not in chronological order, you will have noticed.  What I have to do here is find a likely date and then stick it in as the start of the campaign.  So if I do ever PM you asking something that seems a little odd ('Its made up Zzzzzz, write what you like.' I hear some people saying), it just the pedant in me wanting to tie all the details nicely together.

If you have an intimate grasp of the chronology of the late M40, have a burning urge to see your iggies die in droves on the dusty prairies and smashed up cities, or want to know more (or add something in) then do PM me or leave a comment; Just to be clear here - 72AG as three Corps does stamp out the PDF all the way to Xyphonica - the arithmetic of war is pretty clear in this regard.  What they find defending the ruins you can pretty well guess at, it's red and purple and not a sunset.

The next couple of weeks have a few more character/background posts lined up - giving a little more depth, but still no organogram or timeline.  Soz.

Curious Cadian

Now, I suspect that, like me you often lose sleep wondering what Col Gravis does when he is not organising kickstarters.  I know, I know.  I sympathise.  I too have occasionally found myself daydreaming though important meetings thinking "So if he's finished the carriage mounted tesla cannon, I wonder what he's doing now ?"

Ladies and Gentlemen, I present, Sgt Harker with his clothes on, superbly sculpted by Col Gravis.

He's going to join the camo 'Corbanians'.

I am so looking forward to see Col Straken....

Robocock

I think this is, perhaps unfortunately, just sculpture.  But suspect that the dinosaur/chicken configuration is probably the way to go when it comes to bipedal walkers.