2nd line medicae

Ah, These then are the medical staff at the field hospitals.  These would be members of the Departmento Munitorium's medicae branch, not members of the Imperial Guard.  Which would seem to fit with the general way they seem to operate, with distinct separation between functions.

Things which are a part of modern armies, like sub units of logistics units being able to source and produce potable water in the field, would be done by the DM, to ensure that the Imperial Guard was entirely dependant on the DM and it's long, interstellar supply chain.  An umbilical cord which is also a leash, providing assurance that the Adminstratum's big heavy stick is always in the right hands.

So these were painted up for me by Admiral Drax.  When those Cadian Field Ambulance types scoop up their casualties, these are the people they bring them to. 

Hrossy Commandant General

Colonel Nevets (Doggel Tymm Nevets to his mum) was the Chief of Staff of 256 Imperial Guard Battle Group on Shimmergee II when the Imperium evacuated "all" of the Astra Millitarium assets prior to exterminatus.  The former commander of BG256, along with all of the other formation commanders, was arrested for dereliction of duty and assigned to a penal unit somewhere in the Cadian Gate war zone.  Of course, in common with most other situations like this, the Imperial loss of a world has more to do with resourcing than strategic acumen or tactical performance. 

For the newly promoted 1* General Nevets, the big picture remains important.  His combat command, 569 Div, has been deployed as a part of a large, capable force in a well resourced campaign.  His interest in the wider conflict means that he has made a favourable impression with 3422AG who have marked him as step up commander of XXXXIV Corps if 2* General Smagle should become indisposed. 

Nevets is a Hjaltlander by birth and a soldier by nature.  He has a natural gift for soldiering and is a successful and popular leader of men, being perceived as fair and competent.  He is aware that he has not had to work as hard as others who are in a similar position.  He's a vegetarian who enjoys performing in competitive tango when time and military deployments allow.  He is as technologically engaged as imperial norms allow him to be.  He always makes an effort to build bridges with the Ad Mech where ever he can.  Partially this is a recognition of their dependency on the Ad Mech to keep the vehicle fleet running, but also reflective of his aspiration to make the maximum possible use of of technology to aid C3 within his formations.

Having adequate infantry resources within 569 Div has meant that he has not had to worry about integrating non-Imperial Guard militia into his formation. Something which he regards as being more trouble than it's worth. Although he does realise that for VI Corps, who are XXXXIV Corps neighbours to the south, do have a critical need for foot soldiers, where ever they come from.

What is a concern, of course, is that all of these militia have to transit XXXXIV Corps (and therefore 569 Div) TAOR to get there.  As the most northerly formation, his commitment of four battalions of 1249th Hrossy Yeomanry to escort the militia through his TAOR.  This set the pattern for the militia transit through the Corps area; keeping the militia moving and preventing them from mixing or dallying unnecessarily.

3422 AG was then not able to report ready to High Command in the expected time frame; with four battalions out of the line, they would be two weeks behind schedule.  However, as Gen Nevets would be the first to point out, VI Corps wouldn't be ready until those same militia were in place, which would be a number of weeks after they'd left XXXXIV Corps area.

Cadian 466th Armd Fd Ambulance.

Now I'm sure a lot of you remember Col Corbane's excellent medical conversions who must have been a great comfort to the Corbanian 1st (Urban Assault) Regt.  Seen here supporting the extremely costly assault on the Cudlip Lines.  

Always a joy to behold.  

Who doesn't a little bit of FNP to share out amongst their iggies ?  So I thought I'd better get some medicae support for the rest of the army: 

Gamely, one could just sprinkle them over the army so that they alight on platoons across their formation and satisfy the need of the rules and reminiscent of attached persons who are deployed with units for specific functions like medic, intel or signaller, where the capacity doesn't exist in the unit organically.

However, in my mind, these guys are in a Armoured Field Ambulance unit - so these guys with a driver would crew the army's battlefield ambulances.  Called forward by sub unit medics to retrieve casualties from the battlefield, they would then keep the casualty alive until they reached the Mobile Army Surgical Hospital, which would be staffed by Departmento Munitorium Medicae staff, rather than actual iggies,

The eagle eyed amongst you may have already sussed out that there are sergeants and toilet roll wielding papier mache technicians.  So these guys are in pairs already.  Ably painted up by Admiral Drax.

So realistically, I don't need to make a fleet of ambulances for these guys as they should be embedded in platoons to fit with the rules.  However, I may do just one.  Y'know, just to illustrate...

Jornathi Regent General

Of course you'll all remember the explanation of what the KCC are doing on Devos IV.   And you'll have seen who actually did the brush work on him. 

The Regent General is effectively the deputy Plenipotentary for War; in his role on Devos IV, Gen Muntenfor uses his skills and experience to help actually run the war for the Imperium.  The KCC, being a significantly large organisation, has substantial C3 resources which enable 3422AG to function more effectively.

3* General Bisckell Eckrad is a scion of a cadet line of the Tolkhan industrial dynasty who supply (and are enriched by) the Jornathi Military.  Bisckell Eckrad was a newly mustered trooper who first saw operational deployment at the end of the Remit's Maw campaigning.

Given the chance, he will still engage the rank and file, telling them, with a twinkle in this eye, that he was once knocked unconscious by a huge Nob.  He is the epitome of the garrulous, fire breathing old warhorse, but that doesn't mean that he is an intellectual or doctrinal dinosaur.  It is partly due to his energy and leadership that the KCC, by the time they are deployed, have changed at least their mindset from Ork control to fighting a heretical rebellion.  He can still learn and manage change, he just looks like he wouldn't want to.

If he has faults, then a certain amount of pride, perhaps not unjustified, can sometimes rub people, whose contribution to the war is not as formidable as Jornath's, up the wrong way.  He can become exasperated with people who are not following the correct procedure.  However, of course, he is normally surrounded by a staff of Jornathi officers who make sure that his ire is never normally aroused.  Of course the friction of war means that there are unfortunate occasions when he has shot subordinates;  But life in the Guard holds no certainties, no matter who you are or where you work.

A Relic

Some of you may dimly remember me banging on about clearing out the garage (Devos IV !!!), there's stuff in there we boxed when we moved in which hasn't seen the light of day in decades, some of these boxes moving with me from house to house as I make my progress around the kingdom*.

And the last box had delayed it's final opening and reckoning because it was bigger and heavier than the others.  Anyway, as you have already deduced, you geniuses, I finally got it down without it crushing me and this was one of the things I found at the bottom. 

If I really did have a museum, this'd go in it.

Such a pretty box.

With hindsight, possibly better than the contents....(?)

But there y'go.  Another little piece of history.

*just for you medievalists.

DKK Riflemen

These are the repainted riflemen from the accidental large lot I purchased some time ago.  Now the plasma guns are unfinished, they still need two drybrushes with increasingly pale blue.

The Lt, his power fist a conversion by his previous owner.  I sort of like the way it hangs, he's carrying it as if it is heavy, as if he has to keep it away from his body incase it goes off.   Whilst we're on the subject has anyone who has ever done MA or re-enactment ever given any thought to how a power fist might be used by an iggie ?  It would seem straightforward for a space marine, less so for a guardsman..... (?)

Sgt waving chainsword.  Another bonkers hang over from the Sunbeam Rd version of GW.  There's a reason these things are tools for cutting wood, not weapons for chopping up people.  Just how fast would these things have to spin to be efficacious ?

Plasma and flamers

Once again, quite fun and reasonably quick to do.

And not too many conversions here, either.

Gonna need some more Chimerae to ferry these guys around in.  Not on parade here are the QM, his tally man and the platoon standard.  All of which need a bit more work.

yep, that flamer is missing it's fuel canister.  Every time I got to him doing another stage I though 'Oh I must put him aside and get him a fuel canister...' Oh well.

Single character

This fella was in the bounty from Devon that I inherited along with the Cadian 24th.  For those of you struggling to place him, he's a Catachahchahan Officer from their initial release in 1980frozen in pack ice.   He's metal.  Oh yeah, he's solid alright.

I think he'll make a nice =I= warrior type or mercenary.  I'm quite liking how he turned out.

Next, back to actually taking a bite out of the back log, not just nibbling.

Gene Stealer cultist conversions.

Next onto the BoS are half a dozen of the gene stealer cultists converted to Iggies.  All of the cult symbols were removed, and where removal was not an option, they have been covered over with purity seals (oh, the irony).   Two of them even have devotional aqilla on their shoulders, tiny brass etch.  Claws replaced by hands (much easier to go to the loo with proper hands, if you wear clothes).

Now, these are awful.  I made a huge mistake.  After base coating them green I dipped them in army painter strong tone and then just left left them, assuming it would naturally flow off, doing it's 'dip' job and leaving me the relatively straightforward job of just colouring in the bits that needed it.

Of course it didn't flow at all and I ended up with guys who looked like they'd been slimed in some grimdark version of Ghostbusters.  I got off as much as I could and cracked on with the repair job.  So whilst I'll hold my hands up to not just 'not great' but actually 'not very good at all'.  Nonetheless, much better than they were and finished (there are three or four greens on these).

There are another half dozen somewhere with helmets on.  I'll find them somewhere, I'm sure.

DKK Combat Engineers.

These are from that large DKK lot that I bought some time ago where a lot of the stuff needs a bit of TLC (more in a future post or two.  Or three.  Or more.) The Mole Mortar Team was already built but the rest of the engineers were still in the packet.

So up on the BoS today are are the men who will make up the rest of the Cbt Engr Det.  I havn't put these next to the ones PVP did, but the chances are they'll be on opposite sides of the table....

Having said that, I am pretty pleased with the way these turned out.  The Mole Mortar Team are scarily under equipped for soldiers in a combat zone, but that can be fixed. 

They are seriously pretty models; I know that they're everyone's favourite DKK (the grenadiers being a pain in the arse to assemble) and that there are minis out there which some may describe as 'practically painted itself', but these seven were fun to paint and gave me the confidence to begin tackling the riflemen repaints.  So yeah, they're super.

The mole mortar.  I did have a plan for powder weathering on the muddy end of that thing.  Must not forget that; if these hit the box before that happens, then it's unlikely to ever happen.  And that would be bad.

Who doesn't like a revolver fed shotgun ?  I wonder if they're cap and ball.....  Nah. 

Tube charges.  Nothing like wearing 18kg of RDX on your back to keep you facing the enemy.

The mole bombs are quite incredible pieces of technology when you consider what they have to do.  Launching them from a foot in the air ain't gonna help.  Put the lip of the launch tube on the ground and tip up to launch once the drilling heads are spinning at optimal speed. 

Gratuitous extra picture. 

Follow me.