If you look over on the right at the useful links, you'll see that I have added a link to a fan-made 'Codex Demiurg'.
The link takes you to a blog and if you check out the links it will point you to a downloadable Codex which tries to tie in Squats/Demiurg and Grymn into WH40k. Check it out, it is certainly worth a read.
Saturday, 10 April 2010
Sven.
Sven ducked down in the trench and began to shake almost uncontrollably. He jammed his back against the facing wall and put his face down into his hands as the noise of battled roared in his ears. Every now and then there was the stomach churning thud as heavy ordnance struck somewhere on the battlefield and the force could be felt through the earth and up into the body. Sitting opposite him, in the trench was Gregor. Gregor was staring open mouthed at Sven, which probably wouldn’t have been too surprising until you noticed that his entire left side was missing; replaced by a mix of blood, sinew and filth. Gregor was dead, of course. He had been staring open mouthed, wide eyed and with a look of horror for about six hours now. Sven couldn’t even glance in his direction without feeling the inevitable urge to throw up. This really wasn’t what he was expecting when he took his oath and started service in the Grymn army. He felt wretched. His hands were shaking, he was sweating profusely and he was clinging onto his SMG with such force that before he laid it across his knees, his hands had bled from contact with the trigger guard and the cocking handle. Every time there was the sound of incoming fire Sven jumped with surprise, even though there was no surprise to the constant chatter and thud around him. He removed his hands from his face and left bloody streaks where they had been. Grabbing his SMG Sven tried to get to his feet but his legs didn’t want to move. He was completely in the grip of shell shock and he was in no state to be in a battle. His head started to spin and he inadvertently glanced at Gregor with the expected response from his stomach; bile and his last meal exploded through clenched teeth all down the front of his plate armour and fatigues as Sven’s body convulsed. It was the final straw and he couldn’t stop the tears from rolling down his cheeks as he began to sob like a child.
‘What’s going on in sector three?’ Asked Hella; she was particularly annoyed because her brilliant battle-plan was going extremely well apart from over in section three which was currently collapsing under heavy resistance.
‘The defences are being over-run by the Bohkin assault troops. We need to reinforce as soon as possible’ replied Johan.
‘What do we have available?’ Hella asked.
‘There’s always Kjaran’s heavies’ came the reply as Johan studied the tactical display.
‘Yes...get Kjaran over to reinforce sector three and while you’re at it, arrange for some caffeine; I’m starting to lose my edge’ Hella rubbed her eyes and started pawing at the maps on her table as she spoke.
‘Right you are Ma’am’ he said as he disappeared from the tent.
Sven tried to get up again but couldn’t. He had stopped shaking but had no strength. He could hear the battle raging but felt powerless to make any moves to joining in. He looked at Gregor and felt the nausea building again but managed to suppress the feeling long enough to start to think. ‘What the hell am I doing? I’m a Grymn, for feth’s sake. I should be able to stand on my own two feet!’ he thought, as the feeling of annoyance started to flood his mind. ‘What would Gregor think of me if he could see me now? What would Dad think? I know what he’d think...he’d think that I was a damned coward!’ The annoyance was starting to turn to anger as he stared at his comrade’s shattered form. ‘Fething Bohkin, coming into my sector and killing my mates...they deserve worse than I’m giving them at the moment!’ His hands clenched the grip and stock of his SMG until they were white and he automatically began to stand. ‘I’ll show them!’ Cocking his SMG he turned in his trench, stood on the fire-step and began to blast away at whatever Bohkin he could see. There were plenty around and although his aim seemed to be true and he fired many rounds at them, none of them were falling. Sven was screaming as he fired and was beginning to attract far too much attention as the Bohkin finally realised where the shots were coming from. Suddenly from behind him came the sound of something landing heavily in the trench. Sven turned sharply to see a new Grymn standing there.
‘That’s the spirit lad!’ Said Aylton as he knelt down beside Gregor and gently closed his dead eyes whilst whispering a prayer. ‘Don’t worry about your mate here’ he said ‘there’s nothing here that will hurt him again’.
Sven turned away and continued firing at the Bohkin with more ferocity; the tears were starting to well up and he started screaming with more and more anger because none of the enemy were falling to his barrage.
‘Save some for me will you!’ said Aylton as he joined Sven on the firing step ‘you’ll run out of ammo at that rate!’
‘They won’t fething die!’ he screamed a hysterical reply ‘I shoot and shoot but they won’t die!’ By now Sven was sobbing again and his body was shaking with the effort.
Aylton placed a hand on Sven’s shoulder and carefully disarmed him with kind words and reassurance. He got Sven to hunker down in the trench with him while he inspected the SMG that had been so inaccurate.
‘No wonder they’re not dying!’ He said ‘look at this.’
Sven looked down and could not believe his eyes; the barrel and stock of the SMG were pointing upwards at a gentle slope. It was enough to send the bullets sky-wards without making them jam in the barrel and cause a misfire. Sven couldn’t help himself. He began to laugh through the tears that were coursing down his face. He laughed harder and harder until he thought his chest would burst.
‘They will die then?’ He thought as he laughed so hard he nearly stopped breathing.
Aylton broke into his thoughts with a question: ‘Do you feel like getting a bit even now?’
Sven looked at him and said ‘with what? My weapon is gone’.
‘It seems to me that young Gregor may be able to help’ he said as he brushed the mud from Gregor’s pulse-gun and handed it over to Sven. ‘Have you used these before?’ He asked ‘they kick a bit but work very well.’
‘I’m sure I’ll work it out’ replied Sven through the gritted teeth of a manic smile.
Sven took the pulse-gun from Aylton and hefted it from hand to hand to judge the weight of it. He found the safety catch and checked the power meter; he had seen Gregor do it many times and it currently registered three quarters full. He glanced at Aylton who was now standing at the fire-step picking his targets with the precision of a seasoned veteran. Sven almost felt awe at the sight. Here they were on the battlefield with all the death and the danger around and Aylton was shooting away as if he was on a range; he was even humming a tune as he fired. Sven climbed to his feet again and took up position next to Aylton and began to follow his lead. Things were different to earlier because what ever he shot at started to fall down now. Sven’s confidence began to build and he was starting to return to his senses when Aylton spoke to him.
‘How does it feel lad?’ He said through a broad grin ‘Isn’t it a wonderful thing to be in the heat of battle; wiping out the scum that the Fathers send against us?’ Aylton was studying Sven’s face while he spoke.
‘Aye, it is’ replied Sven almost without thinking.
‘Young Gregor would be proud to see his weapon in such fine form today, don’t you think?’
‘Aye, I think he would’. Sven looked at his feet as he spoke but this time there were no tears because he knew that the new Grymn was right; Gregor would have loved watching his gun killing so many enemies.
‘I’m Aylton by the way’ said Aylton ‘you’ll be young Sven won’t you?’
‘Aye’ he replied.
‘I thought so. You are the very picture of the Sven that Stefan described to me’ he laughed ‘I bet you’ll never think of dropping his precious flamer again!’
‘NO!’ came a rather dumb-struck response (there had been an incident where Sven had been asked to fetch a flamer for Stefan and in his haste to help, he had dropped it and been punched out for his trouble).
‘Well, I wouldn’t worry anymore’ laughed Aylton ‘you’ll be joining my unit when we get back and Stefan would know better than to pick on one of ours!’
Sven looked at Aylton in a state of confusion as he watched him casually shoot at the odd Bohkin that popped its head above cover. Why would he want him in his unit? He was just a green light-infantryman with very little experience.
Aylton glanced over at him and grinned ‘I couldn’t possibly let you out of my sight, now could I?’ He said ‘there’s no knowing what trouble you’d get yourself into!’
Sven didn’t say anything and continued firing at the enemy. The reinforcements had done their job and the battle was starting to turn. All along the sector, Grymn units were gaining ground and had begun to force back the enemy Bohkin. There would be an end to fighting by the following day.
Sven stared at his empty glass. The froth from the final mouthful was steadily sliding down the inside of the glass and through his drunken eyes it almost seemed to dance. He felt his pocket for some more money but found none. He realised that it was time to go to his bed and began to climb to his feet when a great weight pushed down on his shoulder and he was forced back into his chair. He looked around to see Stefan leaning on his shoulder with one hand and carrying two tankards of mead in the other. He placed one of the tankards in front of Sven; sloshing some mead onto the table in the process and sat opposite him with the other.
‘You’ll drink with me lad’ Stefan stated through his drunken stupor.
Sven said nothing. He didn’t know what to do so he picked up the proffered tankard and raised it towards his mouth.
‘Not so fast lad’ said Stefan, staring through bloodshot eyes at Sven ‘you’ve got a duty to undertake’.
Stefan climbed to his feet and in a booming voice shouted ‘everyone shut the feth up will you?!’
The bar went very quiet as Stefan was renowned for causing trouble and no one was ready for that tonight.
‘Young Sven here has a toast’ he said as he gripped Sven under one arm and lifted him easily to his feet. He grinned at Sven and prompted him to speak. Sven thought for a moment and looked into his glass. He thought of the battle and the friend that he had lost. He thought of the loss of all the friendly forces. He thought of what Aylton had said to him and he raised his glass to the heavens.
‘TO THE FALLEN!’ he boomed.
‘TO THE FALLEN!’ was the sombre reply.
‘No one can hurt them now’ he continued and got the same response from the room...but he couldn’t hear them as he began to sob.
‘Now that, lad, was a toast’ said Stefan as he put his arm around his shoulders and led him to his seat to finish his drink.
Aylton looked on and just smiled.
‘What’s going on in sector three?’ Asked Hella; she was particularly annoyed because her brilliant battle-plan was going extremely well apart from over in section three which was currently collapsing under heavy resistance.
‘The defences are being over-run by the Bohkin assault troops. We need to reinforce as soon as possible’ replied Johan.
‘What do we have available?’ Hella asked.
‘There’s always Kjaran’s heavies’ came the reply as Johan studied the tactical display.
‘Yes...get Kjaran over to reinforce sector three and while you’re at it, arrange for some caffeine; I’m starting to lose my edge’ Hella rubbed her eyes and started pawing at the maps on her table as she spoke.
‘Right you are Ma’am’ he said as he disappeared from the tent.
Sven tried to get up again but couldn’t. He had stopped shaking but had no strength. He could hear the battle raging but felt powerless to make any moves to joining in. He looked at Gregor and felt the nausea building again but managed to suppress the feeling long enough to start to think. ‘What the hell am I doing? I’m a Grymn, for feth’s sake. I should be able to stand on my own two feet!’ he thought, as the feeling of annoyance started to flood his mind. ‘What would Gregor think of me if he could see me now? What would Dad think? I know what he’d think...he’d think that I was a damned coward!’ The annoyance was starting to turn to anger as he stared at his comrade’s shattered form. ‘Fething Bohkin, coming into my sector and killing my mates...they deserve worse than I’m giving them at the moment!’ His hands clenched the grip and stock of his SMG until they were white and he automatically began to stand. ‘I’ll show them!’ Cocking his SMG he turned in his trench, stood on the fire-step and began to blast away at whatever Bohkin he could see. There were plenty around and although his aim seemed to be true and he fired many rounds at them, none of them were falling. Sven was screaming as he fired and was beginning to attract far too much attention as the Bohkin finally realised where the shots were coming from. Suddenly from behind him came the sound of something landing heavily in the trench. Sven turned sharply to see a new Grymn standing there.
‘That’s the spirit lad!’ Said Aylton as he knelt down beside Gregor and gently closed his dead eyes whilst whispering a prayer. ‘Don’t worry about your mate here’ he said ‘there’s nothing here that will hurt him again’.
Sven turned away and continued firing at the Bohkin with more ferocity; the tears were starting to well up and he started screaming with more and more anger because none of the enemy were falling to his barrage.
‘Save some for me will you!’ said Aylton as he joined Sven on the firing step ‘you’ll run out of ammo at that rate!’
‘They won’t fething die!’ he screamed a hysterical reply ‘I shoot and shoot but they won’t die!’ By now Sven was sobbing again and his body was shaking with the effort.
Aylton placed a hand on Sven’s shoulder and carefully disarmed him with kind words and reassurance. He got Sven to hunker down in the trench with him while he inspected the SMG that had been so inaccurate.
‘No wonder they’re not dying!’ He said ‘look at this.’
Sven looked down and could not believe his eyes; the barrel and stock of the SMG were pointing upwards at a gentle slope. It was enough to send the bullets sky-wards without making them jam in the barrel and cause a misfire. Sven couldn’t help himself. He began to laugh through the tears that were coursing down his face. He laughed harder and harder until he thought his chest would burst.
‘They will die then?’ He thought as he laughed so hard he nearly stopped breathing.
Aylton broke into his thoughts with a question: ‘Do you feel like getting a bit even now?’
Sven looked at him and said ‘with what? My weapon is gone’.
‘It seems to me that young Gregor may be able to help’ he said as he brushed the mud from Gregor’s pulse-gun and handed it over to Sven. ‘Have you used these before?’ He asked ‘they kick a bit but work very well.’
‘I’m sure I’ll work it out’ replied Sven through the gritted teeth of a manic smile.
Sven took the pulse-gun from Aylton and hefted it from hand to hand to judge the weight of it. He found the safety catch and checked the power meter; he had seen Gregor do it many times and it currently registered three quarters full. He glanced at Aylton who was now standing at the fire-step picking his targets with the precision of a seasoned veteran. Sven almost felt awe at the sight. Here they were on the battlefield with all the death and the danger around and Aylton was shooting away as if he was on a range; he was even humming a tune as he fired. Sven climbed to his feet again and took up position next to Aylton and began to follow his lead. Things were different to earlier because what ever he shot at started to fall down now. Sven’s confidence began to build and he was starting to return to his senses when Aylton spoke to him.
‘How does it feel lad?’ He said through a broad grin ‘Isn’t it a wonderful thing to be in the heat of battle; wiping out the scum that the Fathers send against us?’ Aylton was studying Sven’s face while he spoke.
‘Aye, it is’ replied Sven almost without thinking.
‘Young Gregor would be proud to see his weapon in such fine form today, don’t you think?’
‘Aye, I think he would’. Sven looked at his feet as he spoke but this time there were no tears because he knew that the new Grymn was right; Gregor would have loved watching his gun killing so many enemies.
‘I’m Aylton by the way’ said Aylton ‘you’ll be young Sven won’t you?’
‘Aye’ he replied.
‘I thought so. You are the very picture of the Sven that Stefan described to me’ he laughed ‘I bet you’ll never think of dropping his precious flamer again!’
‘NO!’ came a rather dumb-struck response (there had been an incident where Sven had been asked to fetch a flamer for Stefan and in his haste to help, he had dropped it and been punched out for his trouble).
‘Well, I wouldn’t worry anymore’ laughed Aylton ‘you’ll be joining my unit when we get back and Stefan would know better than to pick on one of ours!’
Sven looked at Aylton in a state of confusion as he watched him casually shoot at the odd Bohkin that popped its head above cover. Why would he want him in his unit? He was just a green light-infantryman with very little experience.
Aylton glanced over at him and grinned ‘I couldn’t possibly let you out of my sight, now could I?’ He said ‘there’s no knowing what trouble you’d get yourself into!’
Sven didn’t say anything and continued firing at the enemy. The reinforcements had done their job and the battle was starting to turn. All along the sector, Grymn units were gaining ground and had begun to force back the enemy Bohkin. There would be an end to fighting by the following day.
Sven stared at his empty glass. The froth from the final mouthful was steadily sliding down the inside of the glass and through his drunken eyes it almost seemed to dance. He felt his pocket for some more money but found none. He realised that it was time to go to his bed and began to climb to his feet when a great weight pushed down on his shoulder and he was forced back into his chair. He looked around to see Stefan leaning on his shoulder with one hand and carrying two tankards of mead in the other. He placed one of the tankards in front of Sven; sloshing some mead onto the table in the process and sat opposite him with the other.
‘You’ll drink with me lad’ Stefan stated through his drunken stupor.
Sven said nothing. He didn’t know what to do so he picked up the proffered tankard and raised it towards his mouth.
‘Not so fast lad’ said Stefan, staring through bloodshot eyes at Sven ‘you’ve got a duty to undertake’.
Stefan climbed to his feet and in a booming voice shouted ‘everyone shut the feth up will you?!’
The bar went very quiet as Stefan was renowned for causing trouble and no one was ready for that tonight.
‘Young Sven here has a toast’ he said as he gripped Sven under one arm and lifted him easily to his feet. He grinned at Sven and prompted him to speak. Sven thought for a moment and looked into his glass. He thought of the battle and the friend that he had lost. He thought of the loss of all the friendly forces. He thought of what Aylton had said to him and he raised his glass to the heavens.
‘TO THE FALLEN!’ he boomed.
‘TO THE FALLEN!’ was the sombre reply.
‘No one can hurt them now’ he continued and got the same response from the room...but he couldn’t hear them as he began to sob.
‘Now that, lad, was a toast’ said Stefan as he put his arm around his shoulders and led him to his seat to finish his drink.
Aylton looked on and just smiled.
Sunday, 21 March 2010
Void 1.1 rules for an in progress army.
I have started to build up an army of Grymn Tunnel Fighters and have decided to attach them to the Void 1.1 rule system. With that in mind, I have come up with some rules for the basic squads and have included some points values to aid with selection. I must at this point, give some credit to the lads and lasses over at the Celtos Legion site (see the link over on the right) as I have been picking bits from their down loadable Grymn army list.
So without further ado...here is the start of an army:
Grymn Tunnel Fighter Army (Void 1.1)
Special Rules: (all of the troops in the army will be subject to these rules).
Rough terrain specialists: All Grymn ignore any penalties for moving through broken ground due to their expertise at operating in tunnels and mines.
Buddy-Buddy: As long as any Grymn squad is not reduced to half its starting troop total or less, it will benefit from a +1 bonus to its CD value. Once reduced to half size or less, the bonus is lost.
Fire Teams: The normal idea behind building Grymn squads is to add fire-teams. Whenever you add basic troops to a unit, they will be added in pairs and must have the appropriate price paid for them. Leaders and support troops are not affected by this rule.
Basic stats (for all troops unless stated otherwise):
AS: 4
SH: 4
ST: 4
T: 5
W: 1
CD: 5
SZ: 2
MV: 4
Tunnel Fighter Infantry Squad:
Structure: Squad
Size: Leader + 4 to 9 troops
You may select one support model for each pair of standard troops.
1x Leader: Pulsegun, Combat Blade. 22 Points.
4 to 8 Infantry: Pulsegun, Combat Blade. 20 Points.
0 to 3 Support: Heavy Pulsegun, Combat Blade. 30 Points (s)
0 to 3 Support: Grenade Launcher, Combat Blade. 24 Points (s)
Special:
Leader: Tactical awareness, High morale (+1).
Support: Tactical awareness.
Tunnel Fighter Close Support Squad:
Structure: Squad
Size: Leader + 4 to 9 troops
You may select one support model for each pair of standard troops.
1x Leader: Shotgun, Combat Blade. 21 Points.
4 to 8 Infantry: Shotgun, Combat Blade. 19 Points.
0 to 3 Support: Flamethrower, Combat Blade. 30 Points (s)
0 to 3 Support: Grenade Launcher, Combat Blade. 24 Points (s)
0 to 3 Support: Chaingun, Combat Blade. 24 Points (s)
Special:
Leader: Tactical awareness, High morale (+1).
Support: Tactical awareness.
Tunnel Fighter Close Combat Squad:
Structure: Squad
Size: Leader + 4 to 9 troops
You may select one support model for each pair of standard troops.
1x Leader: 2 Auto Pistols. 21 Points.
4 to 8 Infantry: 2 Auto Pistols. 19 Points.
0 to 3 Support: Chaingun, Combat Blade. 24 Points (s)
0 to 3 Support: Grenade Launcher, Combat Blade. 24 Points (s)
0 to 3 Support: Flamethrower, Combat Blade. 30 Points (s)
Special:
Leader: Multiple shot (x2), Tactical awareness, High morale (+1).
Infantry: Multiple shot (x2).
Support: Tactical awareness.
That is it for now. I will be adding further entries as I finish more of the troops. Just to whet your appetites a little, here is the first complete Tunnel Fighter squad; a Close Support squad:
I plan on adding robots, command models and some vehicles to the army so there will be updates as and when I get another step forward.
I am hoping that this little army building session will give a small insight into how easy it is to include Grymn in other games...even if you don't have an existing army to proxy for.
So without further ado...here is the start of an army:
Grymn Tunnel Fighter Army (Void 1.1)
Special Rules: (all of the troops in the army will be subject to these rules).
Rough terrain specialists: All Grymn ignore any penalties for moving through broken ground due to their expertise at operating in tunnels and mines.
Buddy-Buddy: As long as any Grymn squad is not reduced to half its starting troop total or less, it will benefit from a +1 bonus to its CD value. Once reduced to half size or less, the bonus is lost.
Fire Teams: The normal idea behind building Grymn squads is to add fire-teams. Whenever you add basic troops to a unit, they will be added in pairs and must have the appropriate price paid for them. Leaders and support troops are not affected by this rule.
Basic stats (for all troops unless stated otherwise):
AS: 4
SH: 4
ST: 4
T: 5
W: 1
CD: 5
SZ: 2
MV: 4
Tunnel Fighter Infantry Squad:
Structure: Squad
Size: Leader + 4 to 9 troops
You may select one support model for each pair of standard troops.
1x Leader: Pulsegun, Combat Blade. 22 Points.
4 to 8 Infantry: Pulsegun, Combat Blade. 20 Points.
0 to 3 Support: Heavy Pulsegun, Combat Blade. 30 Points (s)
0 to 3 Support: Grenade Launcher, Combat Blade. 24 Points (s)
Special:
Leader: Tactical awareness, High morale (+1).
Support: Tactical awareness.
Tunnel Fighter Close Support Squad:
Structure: Squad
Size: Leader + 4 to 9 troops
You may select one support model for each pair of standard troops.
1x Leader: Shotgun, Combat Blade. 21 Points.
4 to 8 Infantry: Shotgun, Combat Blade. 19 Points.
0 to 3 Support: Flamethrower, Combat Blade. 30 Points (s)
0 to 3 Support: Grenade Launcher, Combat Blade. 24 Points (s)
0 to 3 Support: Chaingun, Combat Blade. 24 Points (s)
Special:
Leader: Tactical awareness, High morale (+1).
Support: Tactical awareness.
Tunnel Fighter Close Combat Squad:
Structure: Squad
Size: Leader + 4 to 9 troops
You may select one support model for each pair of standard troops.
1x Leader: 2 Auto Pistols. 21 Points.
4 to 8 Infantry: 2 Auto Pistols. 19 Points.
0 to 3 Support: Chaingun, Combat Blade. 24 Points (s)
0 to 3 Support: Grenade Launcher, Combat Blade. 24 Points (s)
0 to 3 Support: Flamethrower, Combat Blade. 30 Points (s)
Special:
Leader: Multiple shot (x2), Tactical awareness, High morale (+1).
Infantry: Multiple shot (x2).
Support: Tactical awareness.
That is it for now. I will be adding further entries as I finish more of the troops. Just to whet your appetites a little, here is the first complete Tunnel Fighter squad; a Close Support squad:
I plan on adding robots, command models and some vehicles to the army so there will be updates as and when I get another step forward.
I am hoping that this little army building session will give a small insight into how easy it is to include Grymn in other games...even if you don't have an existing army to proxy for.
Thursday, 18 March 2010
Silvia
Silvia sat at the bar. Her hair was bunched into two auburn pony tails; her flawless complexion was accented with a neutral lipstick and the merest hint of blusher; her perfect, hour-glass figure was tightly enclosed in a green, silk mini-dress with a plunging neckline and enough support to produce a cleavage that every male in the bar was currently wishing they could dive into. All eyes were on her as she sipped her soft-drink while spinning her beer-mat; carefully lining up each edge with the edge of the bar before turning to the next one. It was almost 20-00hrs when Silvia looked towards the opening door at the person entering. The new patron was dressed in standard Grymn fatigues, minus the armour plates and was rather dusty with a grimy face and hair matted with oil. Silvia waved and the new arrival came over, kissed her on the lips and sat down next to her. It was Hella and as she sat down, most of the males watching sat open mouthed as the sound of broken hearts echoed around the bar.
Hella and Silvia had been friends ever since they enlisted. Neither of them was happy with all the attention they were getting from their male counterparts so they came up with a way of avoiding it. They pretended to be lovers and then dealt with the only males fool-hardy enough to push their luck by using the chain of command and the rather brutal equal opportunity laws that existed in the Grymn armed forces. After basic training, the two girls followed different paths; Hella joined the light infantry and Silvia went for special operations and trained to be a sniper; a good one at that.
As Hella and Silvia sat chatting at the bar; occasionally touching an arm or brushing a cheek; the door opened again and in walked Edgar, in full battledress. He walked over and stood next to the girls and quietly cleared his throat.
“Silvia, there’s a job on” he said.
“When?” replied Silvia.
“Now, I’m afraid. You’d best say your farewells and come with me”.
Silvia did as she was asked and left Hella at the bar.
“What is so important that you feel the need to drag me away from a night out?” she asked.
“How does (he glanced over a shoulder to make sure no one else could hear) a Sleiti sound?” he said, with a glint in his eye.
“Really?!” she said, almost exploding with excitement “here?”
“Yes and yes” was the reply.
They walked hurriedly towards the barracks and began the preparations for the job.
Silvia slid her rifle into its bag; it smelt strongly of gun oil after its recent clean. She packed her armour piercing rounds in with the standard Grymn-stopper rounds in her webbing pouches and made sure she had enough clothing, provisions and miscellaneous equipment in her pack for the job ahead. She carefully checked her communications equipment before clipping it to the yolk of her webbing and tucking the headset into her pouch for the journey. While she packed, Edgar briefed her on the location of her target, how they were going to get there and when the target was expected to be viable. He showed Silvia a few of the most recent pictures of the Sleiti dignitary that was to be disposed of and she smiled; she had never been given the honour of assassinating a Father before and she relished the opportunity.
Edgar and Silvia jumped from the grav-vehicle and ran into the cover of the trees before it rose into the air and darted off, keeping below the tree line for cover. By now both of the Grymn were fully camouflaged with a full body leaf-suit and cam-cream covering any flesh that was bared to the elements. They began to trot towards the target zone with weapons ready, just in case they were expected. They moved as stealthily as they could; using every bit of cover and making sure that they left as little trace of their passing as they could. As they neared the snipers nest (the nick name for where the sniper lies in wait), they slowed down, switched to hand signals for communications and kept as low as they could to ensure that they weren’t spotted. Edgar had his scanner set to full range and he was starting to pick up the blips of the enemy forces in the camp that they were approaching (they were surprised that there weren’t more, especially bearing in mind the dignitary that was present...they must not have been expecting any trouble). Soon the final hand-signal came and Silvia ducked into the cover of some dense scrub and started setting up her firing position while Edgar kept watch, scanning the area for any threats. Once she was happy, Silvia signalled to Edgar and he broke communication silence to inform army command that ‘the bird was in the coop’.
Silvia settled down and with the help of Edgar and his scanner, pin-pointed where the Sleiti was expected to appear. It wasn’t too difficult as his field shelter had been elaborately decorated with gold symbols and silk hangings (the Bohkin were extremely foolish to bring such attention to their honoured guest...they must have thought that they were immune from attack or something!). As Silvia spied the tent through the magnifying scope of her sniper rifle she was almost startled as the rigid fabric door slid open and her target appeared, carrying a bowl of what appeared to be steaming water and a towel. He placed the bowl on a small foldable table and stretched; his bare, grey torso shining with sweat in the evening light. Through the scope, Silvia could see his jet black eyes and his pointed ears very clearly and there was no disputing that this was a Sleiti Father. She felt a kick from Edgar and she came to her senses. She carefully loaded a clip of armour piercing rounds into her rifle and took aim. She slowed her breathing and prepared to take her last breath before firing. She relaxed, aimed directly at the side of his head and took her last breath. Carefully, she started to squeeze the trigger. She could see the vein in his temple throb through the powerful scope of her rifle. She squeezed further and just before the rifle fired, the Sleiti turned to face her directly and smiled. He knew she was there; he knew what was coming and as the armour piercing round left the barrel, he didn’t flinch or make a sound. He was still staring at her when the impact hit him cleanly in the top of his forehead, taking out the rear of his brainpan in an explosion of gory mist and debris. He slumped forward onto the table, sending the bowl flying as the legs gave way and he tumbled onto the ground as the blood pumped arterially from his body. Silvia quickly and mechanically, switched to the laser designator setting of her rifle and aimed it at what appeared to be an ammunition dump and gave the signal to Edgar. He acknowledged the signal and said into the communicator ‘eerie one, fire-flash’. Suddenly there was a low whine coming from behind them. From her position in the nest, Silvia could see little commotion from the Bohkin camp; they seemed to be wandering around aimlessly as if stunned by the loss of their Sleiti master. As the whine became louder a few of the Bohkin came to their senses and began issuing orders but they were too late as a Grymn grav-tank squadron loomed up from behind the sniper’s position and trained their weapons on the designated target. As one they opened fire with rail-guns and heavy pulse weapons; annihilating the ammunition store in a blaze of brilliance.
Silvia threw herself upright and screamed. Her nightshirt was soaked with sweat and was clinging to her shapely form in see through patches. She stared at her hands until she realised that she was awake and looked at the clock. It was 02:00 hours; the same time as she had awoken every night that month and in much the same manner. She climbed out of bed and walked to her sink, switching on the small lamp above it. She stared at her gaunt and weary looking face in the mirror and ran some cold water into the sink. When she had finished she looked down from the mirror and at the water; in its surface she could just make out the jet black eyes and the smiling face of the Sleiti father. It seemed to laugh at her as her fingers broke the surface of the water and as she splashed her face the image splintered into a myriad of shapes and disappeared.
Silvia knew that it would return.
Hella and Silvia had been friends ever since they enlisted. Neither of them was happy with all the attention they were getting from their male counterparts so they came up with a way of avoiding it. They pretended to be lovers and then dealt with the only males fool-hardy enough to push their luck by using the chain of command and the rather brutal equal opportunity laws that existed in the Grymn armed forces. After basic training, the two girls followed different paths; Hella joined the light infantry and Silvia went for special operations and trained to be a sniper; a good one at that.
As Hella and Silvia sat chatting at the bar; occasionally touching an arm or brushing a cheek; the door opened again and in walked Edgar, in full battledress. He walked over and stood next to the girls and quietly cleared his throat.
“Silvia, there’s a job on” he said.
“When?” replied Silvia.
“Now, I’m afraid. You’d best say your farewells and come with me”.
Silvia did as she was asked and left Hella at the bar.
“What is so important that you feel the need to drag me away from a night out?” she asked.
“How does (he glanced over a shoulder to make sure no one else could hear) a Sleiti sound?” he said, with a glint in his eye.
“Really?!” she said, almost exploding with excitement “here?”
“Yes and yes” was the reply.
They walked hurriedly towards the barracks and began the preparations for the job.
Silvia slid her rifle into its bag; it smelt strongly of gun oil after its recent clean. She packed her armour piercing rounds in with the standard Grymn-stopper rounds in her webbing pouches and made sure she had enough clothing, provisions and miscellaneous equipment in her pack for the job ahead. She carefully checked her communications equipment before clipping it to the yolk of her webbing and tucking the headset into her pouch for the journey. While she packed, Edgar briefed her on the location of her target, how they were going to get there and when the target was expected to be viable. He showed Silvia a few of the most recent pictures of the Sleiti dignitary that was to be disposed of and she smiled; she had never been given the honour of assassinating a Father before and she relished the opportunity.
Edgar and Silvia jumped from the grav-vehicle and ran into the cover of the trees before it rose into the air and darted off, keeping below the tree line for cover. By now both of the Grymn were fully camouflaged with a full body leaf-suit and cam-cream covering any flesh that was bared to the elements. They began to trot towards the target zone with weapons ready, just in case they were expected. They moved as stealthily as they could; using every bit of cover and making sure that they left as little trace of their passing as they could. As they neared the snipers nest (the nick name for where the sniper lies in wait), they slowed down, switched to hand signals for communications and kept as low as they could to ensure that they weren’t spotted. Edgar had his scanner set to full range and he was starting to pick up the blips of the enemy forces in the camp that they were approaching (they were surprised that there weren’t more, especially bearing in mind the dignitary that was present...they must not have been expecting any trouble). Soon the final hand-signal came and Silvia ducked into the cover of some dense scrub and started setting up her firing position while Edgar kept watch, scanning the area for any threats. Once she was happy, Silvia signalled to Edgar and he broke communication silence to inform army command that ‘the bird was in the coop’.
Silvia settled down and with the help of Edgar and his scanner, pin-pointed where the Sleiti was expected to appear. It wasn’t too difficult as his field shelter had been elaborately decorated with gold symbols and silk hangings (the Bohkin were extremely foolish to bring such attention to their honoured guest...they must have thought that they were immune from attack or something!). As Silvia spied the tent through the magnifying scope of her sniper rifle she was almost startled as the rigid fabric door slid open and her target appeared, carrying a bowl of what appeared to be steaming water and a towel. He placed the bowl on a small foldable table and stretched; his bare, grey torso shining with sweat in the evening light. Through the scope, Silvia could see his jet black eyes and his pointed ears very clearly and there was no disputing that this was a Sleiti Father. She felt a kick from Edgar and she came to her senses. She carefully loaded a clip of armour piercing rounds into her rifle and took aim. She slowed her breathing and prepared to take her last breath before firing. She relaxed, aimed directly at the side of his head and took her last breath. Carefully, she started to squeeze the trigger. She could see the vein in his temple throb through the powerful scope of her rifle. She squeezed further and just before the rifle fired, the Sleiti turned to face her directly and smiled. He knew she was there; he knew what was coming and as the armour piercing round left the barrel, he didn’t flinch or make a sound. He was still staring at her when the impact hit him cleanly in the top of his forehead, taking out the rear of his brainpan in an explosion of gory mist and debris. He slumped forward onto the table, sending the bowl flying as the legs gave way and he tumbled onto the ground as the blood pumped arterially from his body. Silvia quickly and mechanically, switched to the laser designator setting of her rifle and aimed it at what appeared to be an ammunition dump and gave the signal to Edgar. He acknowledged the signal and said into the communicator ‘eerie one, fire-flash’. Suddenly there was a low whine coming from behind them. From her position in the nest, Silvia could see little commotion from the Bohkin camp; they seemed to be wandering around aimlessly as if stunned by the loss of their Sleiti master. As the whine became louder a few of the Bohkin came to their senses and began issuing orders but they were too late as a Grymn grav-tank squadron loomed up from behind the sniper’s position and trained their weapons on the designated target. As one they opened fire with rail-guns and heavy pulse weapons; annihilating the ammunition store in a blaze of brilliance.
Silvia threw herself upright and screamed. Her nightshirt was soaked with sweat and was clinging to her shapely form in see through patches. She stared at her hands until she realised that she was awake and looked at the clock. It was 02:00 hours; the same time as she had awoken every night that month and in much the same manner. She climbed out of bed and walked to her sink, switching on the small lamp above it. She stared at her gaunt and weary looking face in the mirror and ran some cold water into the sink. When she had finished she looked down from the mirror and at the water; in its surface she could just make out the jet black eyes and the smiling face of the Sleiti father. It seemed to laugh at her as her fingers broke the surface of the water and as she splashed her face the image splintered into a myriad of shapes and disappeared.
Silvia knew that it would return.
Wednesday, 17 March 2010
Using Grymn in Warhammer 40k
The easiest way of using Grymn in any existing game is to simply count them as an existing army. Since I first decided to tie my Grymn into the one game I had any rules for; Warhammer 40k, I have been basing them around the Imperial Guard. I know that some people use other races for them (namely Space Marines or the Inquisition) but I thought the Grymn suited the Imperial Guard but with a few alterations.
Troop availability.
If you are wanting to keep the Grymn to the original ideas, then there are a few things that I feel would need to be sacrificed in order to induct them into the Imperial Guard Codex.
There are some components of an Imperial Guard army that DON'T suit the Grymn. I would strongly suggest against any Psykers or Commissars because Grymn don't have psychic powers and the concept of a Commissar executing his comrades doesn't fit with the idea that Grymn are excellent team players. I also doubt that the Grymn would have Penal Legion squads or Ministers / Preachers / Priests. The Grymn do make use of conscripts but they are more willing volunteers rather than press-ganged troops. I wouldn't use Astropaths or Master of the Fleet as advisors for the Company Command squad either.
So, what can the Grymn have?
Company Command / Command Squads
Infantry Platoons
Veteran Squads
Stormtroopers
Ogryn Squads
Ratling Squads
Rough Rider Squads
All of the vehicles
Counts-As Equipment.
As I have said before, the armour that a Grymn wears looks a lot more like Carapace Armour than Flak armour so I would try to work that into the cost of the troops. In the previous version of Codex Imperial Guard, there was a system which enabled you to add Carapace armour to a squad for 20 points (irrespective of its size). I suggest that you get together with your playing partners and agree that this is fair, otherwaise you can either restrict yourself to units that are allowed to have Carapace Armour (Company Command, Veterans and Stormtroopers) or simply count Grymn armour as Flak Armour and have done with it (whilst kicking your 'so-called' gaming mates under the table for being beards).
Grymn weapons will need to be counted as WH40k weapons and I thought I'd get the ball rolling with the proxies that I have chosen for my armies:
Grymn Weapon / WH40k Weapon
Grymn SMG – Autogun / Lasgun
Twin SMG – Twin Linked Autogun / Lasgun
Pulsegun – Hellgun / Hot-shot Lasgun
Pulse Carbine - Hellgun / Hot-shot Lasgun
Heavy Pulsegun – Plasmagun
HMG – Heavy Stubber
Minigun – Heavy Bolter
Railgun – Missile Launcher
Grenade Launcher – Grenade Launcher
Flame Thrower – Flamer
Sniper Rifle – Sniper Rifle
Grymn Machine Pistol – Laspistol / Autopistol
Grymn Naval Pistol - Laspistol / Autopistol
Knife – Close Combat Weapon
Powered Axe / Sword – Power Weapon
Grenades – Frag / Krak Grenades
Mortar – Mortar
Converted Railrifle - Meltagun
OGrymn Chaingun – Ogryn Rippergun
As you will see, there are a few missing weapons (Plasma-Cannon, Las-Cannon, Auto-Cannon etc...) but that is mostly because there are no Grymn weapons available to proxy for them. That means that if you chose to use any of the missed out weapons, you can either use the WH40k weapons or find some proxies and convert them to fit in with the system (I have done this with a converted Railrifle that I use as a Meltagun)...just remember that you will have to make all of the converted weapons look the same and also tell your gaming buddies what they represent.
And Finally...
If you are a tournament player, these counts-as options will not work for you if you go to official events. So they will only be usable at events that allow proxy forces or for friendly games. What you can see from my work here is that it is very easy to fit a Grymn army into Warhammer 40k just by using a small amount of imagination and hoping that the people you game against will allow you to field them!
Troop availability.
If you are wanting to keep the Grymn to the original ideas, then there are a few things that I feel would need to be sacrificed in order to induct them into the Imperial Guard Codex.
There are some components of an Imperial Guard army that DON'T suit the Grymn. I would strongly suggest against any Psykers or Commissars because Grymn don't have psychic powers and the concept of a Commissar executing his comrades doesn't fit with the idea that Grymn are excellent team players. I also doubt that the Grymn would have Penal Legion squads or Ministers / Preachers / Priests. The Grymn do make use of conscripts but they are more willing volunteers rather than press-ganged troops. I wouldn't use Astropaths or Master of the Fleet as advisors for the Company Command squad either.
So, what can the Grymn have?
Company Command / Command Squads
Infantry Platoons
Veteran Squads
Stormtroopers
Ogryn Squads
Ratling Squads
Rough Rider Squads
All of the vehicles
Counts-As Equipment.
As I have said before, the armour that a Grymn wears looks a lot more like Carapace Armour than Flak armour so I would try to work that into the cost of the troops. In the previous version of Codex Imperial Guard, there was a system which enabled you to add Carapace armour to a squad for 20 points (irrespective of its size). I suggest that you get together with your playing partners and agree that this is fair, otherwaise you can either restrict yourself to units that are allowed to have Carapace Armour (Company Command, Veterans and Stormtroopers) or simply count Grymn armour as Flak Armour and have done with it (whilst kicking your 'so-called' gaming mates under the table for being beards).
Grymn weapons will need to be counted as WH40k weapons and I thought I'd get the ball rolling with the proxies that I have chosen for my armies:
Grymn Weapon / WH40k Weapon
Grymn SMG – Autogun / Lasgun
Twin SMG – Twin Linked Autogun / Lasgun
Pulsegun – Hellgun / Hot-shot Lasgun
Pulse Carbine - Hellgun / Hot-shot Lasgun
Heavy Pulsegun – Plasmagun
HMG – Heavy Stubber
Minigun – Heavy Bolter
Railgun – Missile Launcher
Grenade Launcher – Grenade Launcher
Flame Thrower – Flamer
Sniper Rifle – Sniper Rifle
Grymn Machine Pistol – Laspistol / Autopistol
Grymn Naval Pistol - Laspistol / Autopistol
Knife – Close Combat Weapon
Powered Axe / Sword – Power Weapon
Grenades – Frag / Krak Grenades
Mortar – Mortar
Converted Railrifle - Meltagun
OGrymn Chaingun – Ogryn Rippergun
As you will see, there are a few missing weapons (Plasma-Cannon, Las-Cannon, Auto-Cannon etc...) but that is mostly because there are no Grymn weapons available to proxy for them. That means that if you chose to use any of the missed out weapons, you can either use the WH40k weapons or find some proxies and convert them to fit in with the system (I have done this with a converted Railrifle that I use as a Meltagun)...just remember that you will have to make all of the converted weapons look the same and also tell your gaming buddies what they represent.
And Finally...
If you are a tournament player, these counts-as options will not work for you if you go to official events. So they will only be usable at events that allow proxy forces or for friendly games. What you can see from my work here is that it is very easy to fit a Grymn army into Warhammer 40k just by using a small amount of imagination and hoping that the people you game against will allow you to field them!
Wednesday, 10 March 2010
Grymn Versatility: The Second Batch.
To follow on from yesterday's post on Grymn versatility, I have a few more pix for ideas. First up, here is a better pic of an Inquisitor and some henchmen:
The Inquisitor has powered armour and has been converted (pose and head-swap). He is joined by a couple of standard Grymn and a converted fantasy Dwarf...never underestimate other ranges to add a bit of further flavour to a Grymn force.
Have you seen Serenity, Star Wars or even Space Balls? If you have, you will soon find out that they have star-ship crew members as the central characters. With this in mind I decided to put together a small crew myself. The crew I chose were all from Hasslefree but none of them were Grymn. They are a mix of pirates, human children and fantasy Dwarfs with a couple of other miniatures in the mix for more variation:
The next pic shows a Mystic Panda who is a rather diminutive version of a Wookie-like character:
In addition to the Panda, there is also a robot and there are future plans to add a Grymn security team to add a bit of punch.
Although I already have a desert force, I thought about making something that looked a bit more 'rag-tag' in nature so I decided to start a Grymn desert veteran army. This will be a fairly small force that will effectively be for reconnaissance and special ops. The whole army has extra equipment sculpted onto it and is being painted with a non-uniform scheme. The next pix shows the sniper squad, complete with partial ghillie-suits (added with green stuff):
Not all of the desert veterans will have ghillie-suits but they will be catered towards the desert environment with water bottles and extra pouches for those extra bits of kit needed for extended periods away from the main base.
So who said the Grymn can't be fun? I would just point them at the rather resigned looking Grymn below. He has obviously agreed to dress up for the children's, charity, Christmas party and is not looking forward to the event:
If that wasn't enough to make you think about what you can do with Grymn then what about changing their skin colour and going for a more evil look? This next pic is one of a Dark Grymn...just a paint scheme change and the world of Chaos is opened:
Add a few chips to the armour and maybe a few arcane symbols here and there and you could end up with a rather menacing character...and maybe a rather evil army to go with him.
As a final note, The Grymn could use all sorts of other miniatures to add to their versatility. Depending on whether you want tanks, APCs, anti-grav craft, giant robot walkers or allies from other races, you can tailor the force the way you want just by picking miniatures and vehicles from other ranges. This last pic shows a converted Grymn with six robots (converted from GW Necron warriors) and an APC from Old Crow miniatures. As a unit, they operate as a building clearance squad:
That about covers all of the bases I have tried so far but there are limitless options because of the fact that the grymn aren't tied to a specific ruleset. I hope the last couple of posts have given you food for thought and if they get you thinking outside the box, then my work here is done.
The Inquisitor has powered armour and has been converted (pose and head-swap). He is joined by a couple of standard Grymn and a converted fantasy Dwarf...never underestimate other ranges to add a bit of further flavour to a Grymn force.
Have you seen Serenity, Star Wars or even Space Balls? If you have, you will soon find out that they have star-ship crew members as the central characters. With this in mind I decided to put together a small crew myself. The crew I chose were all from Hasslefree but none of them were Grymn. They are a mix of pirates, human children and fantasy Dwarfs with a couple of other miniatures in the mix for more variation:
The next pic shows a Mystic Panda who is a rather diminutive version of a Wookie-like character:
In addition to the Panda, there is also a robot and there are future plans to add a Grymn security team to add a bit of punch.Although I already have a desert force, I thought about making something that looked a bit more 'rag-tag' in nature so I decided to start a Grymn desert veteran army. This will be a fairly small force that will effectively be for reconnaissance and special ops. The whole army has extra equipment sculpted onto it and is being painted with a non-uniform scheme. The next pix shows the sniper squad, complete with partial ghillie-suits (added with green stuff):
Not all of the desert veterans will have ghillie-suits but they will be catered towards the desert environment with water bottles and extra pouches for those extra bits of kit needed for extended periods away from the main base.So who said the Grymn can't be fun? I would just point them at the rather resigned looking Grymn below. He has obviously agreed to dress up for the children's, charity, Christmas party and is not looking forward to the event:
If that wasn't enough to make you think about what you can do with Grymn then what about changing their skin colour and going for a more evil look? This next pic is one of a Dark Grymn...just a paint scheme change and the world of Chaos is opened:
Add a few chips to the armour and maybe a few arcane symbols here and there and you could end up with a rather menacing character...and maybe a rather evil army to go with him.As a final note, The Grymn could use all sorts of other miniatures to add to their versatility. Depending on whether you want tanks, APCs, anti-grav craft, giant robot walkers or allies from other races, you can tailor the force the way you want just by picking miniatures and vehicles from other ranges. This last pic shows a converted Grymn with six robots (converted from GW Necron warriors) and an APC from Old Crow miniatures. As a unit, they operate as a building clearance squad:
That about covers all of the bases I have tried so far but there are limitless options because of the fact that the grymn aren't tied to a specific ruleset. I hope the last couple of posts have given you food for thought and if they get you thinking outside the box, then my work here is done.
Tuesday, 9 March 2010
Grymn Versatility
I was looking at this blog today and thought that it was in dire need of some pictures so I decided to put a few up to demonstrate the versatility of the Grymn. I'll start at the very beginning by showing a pic of my first army; a desert force:
The army contains a number of conversions; including a Female OGrymn, an OGrymn with a jump-pack and various reposes and head-swaps. You will also notice that I have a group of Judges at the front left of the pic and some Inquisitors at the front right. The army isn't finished yet but I got fed up with painting so many different shades of brown!
My next army pic is one of a complete force. These are my Grymn in temperate DPM. I used the Codex Imperial Guard book for the organisation and the army has two platoons of troops that are backed up by a small Ogryn squad, a Sentinel, a grenadier squad, 2 storm-trooper squads and a selection of heavy weapon squads:
I built this force using an older version of the Codex that had the Doctrines system. I was going to add some transports for the troops using Glaive APCs from Old Crow miniatures but although I got as far as buying the vehicles, I thought the lack of an airbrush was enough to prevent me from painting them...so they are languishing, unpainted, in one of my cupboards.
Finally, I have a small group of Judges. These are supported by a riot control walker which is actually a 1/144 scale Crab walker from the Xabungle Manga show. All of the troops are converted:
To add further flavour to the group I decided to put together some security robots to help the Judges police the populace. These are some of the plastic Daleks that came free with an issue of a Dr. Who comic a while back. I thought that the eyes on the top were perfect for police lights...so that is what made me think of using them as Judge robots:
To continue on an urban theme, I decided to add an army of urban fighters. These would be an infantry army supported by jump troopers, fliers and armoured walkers, transported in APCs. The first troops to be assembled were a platoon of jump troopers. Here are pix of the first two painted units:
There are eight more troops to go in the platoon; a four man command squad and a four man support squad. I have been working on the Urban army for a long time but find painting the camouflage hard work so these are the only painted troops so far. There are many more to come but they will be in a simpler paint-scheme once this platoon is finished.
Finally, for this post, we have my latest project; Grymn Tunnel Fighters. These are a mix of Grymn bodies with heads from Pig Iron Productions and a bit of sculpting to join the gap:
I have a lot of plans for these Grymn and have already painted twenty nine of them with various weapons. Unusually, I haven't even written an army list for them yet which makes them unique because I usually make a list, buy the troops and build the army.
The tunnel fighters will be supported by robots and custom made APCs. All of the ideas are in place...it just needs the time to build everything!
In the next post I will further highlight the diverse uses of Grymn miniatures so please stay tuned.
The army contains a number of conversions; including a Female OGrymn, an OGrymn with a jump-pack and various reposes and head-swaps. You will also notice that I have a group of Judges at the front left of the pic and some Inquisitors at the front right. The army isn't finished yet but I got fed up with painting so many different shades of brown!
My next army pic is one of a complete force. These are my Grymn in temperate DPM. I used the Codex Imperial Guard book for the organisation and the army has two platoons of troops that are backed up by a small Ogryn squad, a Sentinel, a grenadier squad, 2 storm-trooper squads and a selection of heavy weapon squads:
I built this force using an older version of the Codex that had the Doctrines system. I was going to add some transports for the troops using Glaive APCs from Old Crow miniatures but although I got as far as buying the vehicles, I thought the lack of an airbrush was enough to prevent me from painting them...so they are languishing, unpainted, in one of my cupboards.
Finally, I have a small group of Judges. These are supported by a riot control walker which is actually a 1/144 scale Crab walker from the Xabungle Manga show. All of the troops are converted:
To add further flavour to the group I decided to put together some security robots to help the Judges police the populace. These are some of the plastic Daleks that came free with an issue of a Dr. Who comic a while back. I thought that the eyes on the top were perfect for police lights...so that is what made me think of using them as Judge robots:
To continue on an urban theme, I decided to add an army of urban fighters. These would be an infantry army supported by jump troopers, fliers and armoured walkers, transported in APCs. The first troops to be assembled were a platoon of jump troopers. Here are pix of the first two painted units:
There are eight more troops to go in the platoon; a four man command squad and a four man support squad. I have been working on the Urban army for a long time but find painting the camouflage hard work so these are the only painted troops so far. There are many more to come but they will be in a simpler paint-scheme once this platoon is finished.
Finally, for this post, we have my latest project; Grymn Tunnel Fighters. These are a mix of Grymn bodies with heads from Pig Iron Productions and a bit of sculpting to join the gap:
I have a lot of plans for these Grymn and have already painted twenty nine of them with various weapons. Unusually, I haven't even written an army list for them yet which makes them unique because I usually make a list, buy the troops and build the army.
The tunnel fighters will be supported by robots and custom made APCs. All of the ideas are in place...it just needs the time to build everything!
In the next post I will further highlight the diverse uses of Grymn miniatures so please stay tuned.
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