Ole
04-13-2010, 04:56 PM
Not sure if this is the right place, but since I'll have to start somewhere...
I've got some IG models lying around here for quite some time now and I finally want to get around and start a small Guard army. As I don't really plan to play on tournaments or in too competitivly surroundings, I thought about an approach from the fluff-side of life.
As I've already got a nice Imperial Navy fleet for BFG, I'd like to have an IG army that somehow fits in. So I rummaged through some old White Dwarfs and finally found a small article about Imperial Navy crews sent ground-side to support local PDF's and the like.
I guess that the easiest way to get along with this background would be to use the IG codex and minis to represent Imperial Navy Armsmen. However, as things stand and as far as my background knowledge is concerned, I don't know if my skills (not to mention my time) are sufficient to convert them in a reasonable way.
So I'm currently thinking about the following background: A Guard regiment, trained to operate aboard starships (boarding enemy ships, defending Imperial ships) and to support local defense forces at remote planets (as an embarked regiment aboard a Navy ship is probably the first to arrive at such planets) or to keep small border worlds in line and remind them of the might of the Emperor (although the arrival of a Navy ship in orbit would probably enough to achieve this). So the regiment would be geared primarily for shipboard actions and secondary for operations on border worlds with a rather low tech level and/or against not so advanced enemies.
Game-/modelwise, such a background would necessitate some concessions I think - I've already figured out some of them, but maybe the cumulative knowledge here might help me find some more.
First of all there would be some weapon restrictions: The aforementioned White Dwarf article stated that aboard Navy ships only officers carry las-weapons, due to the risk of fire. So no las-weapons for anyone except officers. That also rules out flamers. Normal troops would have to do with auto-guns (anybody got an idea for conversions? So far I've gone with barrel and magazine swaps on lasguns) or where possible shotguns (seem to be quite popular for shipboard fighting).
Mortars probably wouldn't be very useful due to their trajectory.
Sniper rifles aren't very useful either I guess.
Personally I don't know about plasma weapons - I guess the risk of fire would apply to them too.
Meltas should be ok I think - short range, so no big risk there and great for cutting open bulkheads. Grenade launchers I also don't know about - I tend to keep them (after all, they don't generate very big explosions).
Demo charges are probably a bit too extreme.
As for units that I'd rule out:
Tanks of all kind - Should have some problems even aboard ships as big as Battleships, so I'd rule them out completely. Even Chimeras, as hard as that is.
Roughriders - Horses. On a ship. Yeah, I don't think so.
However, there are also some elements I'd really like to include (maybe not in every army list, but background wise):
Commissars - Definitely necessary. As many as viable. As Navy and Guard are normally strictly separated, somebody has to enforce this and to stop people fraternizing. And who else could that be?
Sentinels - small enough to be used for ship board actions and probably very useful for deployment on the ground.
Valkyries, Vultures, Vendettas, any kind of flyer I can afford - It's a starship, they should have flyers. And they might stand in for tanks.
Techpriests - plenty of them aboard a starship.
Priests - I think they should be present. Morale aboard has to be maintained somehow and distant border worlds might need preachers to remind them of their duty to the Emperor.
Psykers - I guess if everything goes downhill, the Guard might borrow some from the Navy. Under strict supervision of the Commissariate of course. And maybe they even got soem of their own.
Ogryns - there should be some aboard. After all, every captain can do with big, strong and dumb workers loading torpedoes etc. And they are probably dumb enough that the separation between navy and Guard personnel might be a bit relaxed where they are concerned.
Veterans - preferaby clad in carapace armour and armed with shotguns. Might represent either Guard veterans or squads of Navy armsmen who help in defending the ship.
Some options I'm however not so sure about/have no real opinion on:
Stormtroopers - I feel that carapace veterans might be the better option, but still I wouldn't rule them out completely.
Ratlings - Might be present aboard, but they would be only useful on the ground, won't they?
Conscripts - Could represent crewmen that are inducted to support the Guard, but that would conflict with the whole Navy/Guard separation.
Penal legion - Not really something speaking against them, but also not so much speaking for them I think. Might keep them in therefore.
Ffinally I'd thank all of you who took the time to read through this and ask for your opinions. Utter rubish? Great idea? Constructive critics? Destructive critics? And please, if there are some questions open, ask me - english is not my first language, so I'm not sure if I've always found the right words to convey my ideas.
I've got some IG models lying around here for quite some time now and I finally want to get around and start a small Guard army. As I don't really plan to play on tournaments or in too competitivly surroundings, I thought about an approach from the fluff-side of life.
As I've already got a nice Imperial Navy fleet for BFG, I'd like to have an IG army that somehow fits in. So I rummaged through some old White Dwarfs and finally found a small article about Imperial Navy crews sent ground-side to support local PDF's and the like.
I guess that the easiest way to get along with this background would be to use the IG codex and minis to represent Imperial Navy Armsmen. However, as things stand and as far as my background knowledge is concerned, I don't know if my skills (not to mention my time) are sufficient to convert them in a reasonable way.
So I'm currently thinking about the following background: A Guard regiment, trained to operate aboard starships (boarding enemy ships, defending Imperial ships) and to support local defense forces at remote planets (as an embarked regiment aboard a Navy ship is probably the first to arrive at such planets) or to keep small border worlds in line and remind them of the might of the Emperor (although the arrival of a Navy ship in orbit would probably enough to achieve this). So the regiment would be geared primarily for shipboard actions and secondary for operations on border worlds with a rather low tech level and/or against not so advanced enemies.
Game-/modelwise, such a background would necessitate some concessions I think - I've already figured out some of them, but maybe the cumulative knowledge here might help me find some more.
First of all there would be some weapon restrictions: The aforementioned White Dwarf article stated that aboard Navy ships only officers carry las-weapons, due to the risk of fire. So no las-weapons for anyone except officers. That also rules out flamers. Normal troops would have to do with auto-guns (anybody got an idea for conversions? So far I've gone with barrel and magazine swaps on lasguns) or where possible shotguns (seem to be quite popular for shipboard fighting).
Mortars probably wouldn't be very useful due to their trajectory.
Sniper rifles aren't very useful either I guess.
Personally I don't know about plasma weapons - I guess the risk of fire would apply to them too.
Meltas should be ok I think - short range, so no big risk there and great for cutting open bulkheads. Grenade launchers I also don't know about - I tend to keep them (after all, they don't generate very big explosions).
Demo charges are probably a bit too extreme.
As for units that I'd rule out:
Tanks of all kind - Should have some problems even aboard ships as big as Battleships, so I'd rule them out completely. Even Chimeras, as hard as that is.
Roughriders - Horses. On a ship. Yeah, I don't think so.
However, there are also some elements I'd really like to include (maybe not in every army list, but background wise):
Commissars - Definitely necessary. As many as viable. As Navy and Guard are normally strictly separated, somebody has to enforce this and to stop people fraternizing. And who else could that be?
Sentinels - small enough to be used for ship board actions and probably very useful for deployment on the ground.
Valkyries, Vultures, Vendettas, any kind of flyer I can afford - It's a starship, they should have flyers. And they might stand in for tanks.
Techpriests - plenty of them aboard a starship.
Priests - I think they should be present. Morale aboard has to be maintained somehow and distant border worlds might need preachers to remind them of their duty to the Emperor.
Psykers - I guess if everything goes downhill, the Guard might borrow some from the Navy. Under strict supervision of the Commissariate of course. And maybe they even got soem of their own.
Ogryns - there should be some aboard. After all, every captain can do with big, strong and dumb workers loading torpedoes etc. And they are probably dumb enough that the separation between navy and Guard personnel might be a bit relaxed where they are concerned.
Veterans - preferaby clad in carapace armour and armed with shotguns. Might represent either Guard veterans or squads of Navy armsmen who help in defending the ship.
Some options I'm however not so sure about/have no real opinion on:
Stormtroopers - I feel that carapace veterans might be the better option, but still I wouldn't rule them out completely.
Ratlings - Might be present aboard, but they would be only useful on the ground, won't they?
Conscripts - Could represent crewmen that are inducted to support the Guard, but that would conflict with the whole Navy/Guard separation.
Penal legion - Not really something speaking against them, but also not so much speaking for them I think. Might keep them in therefore.
Ffinally I'd thank all of you who took the time to read through this and ask for your opinions. Utter rubish? Great idea? Constructive critics? Destructive critics? And please, if there are some questions open, ask me - english is not my first language, so I'm not sure if I've always found the right words to convey my ideas.