The Black Fist (Armoured Company and Co.) WIP

[GuardDaddy]

check out the necromunda heads Black Guard - might be some opportunities for some simple head swap conversions in there. 

 

https://www.warhammer-community.com/2018/12/31/31st-dec-coming-soon-new-necromunda-upgradesfw-homepage-post-2/

 

Also that over the shoulder heavy weapon could be converted I reckon..... A lascannon barrel would really make it like the old lascannon in the original imperial guard box..... though thats a bit of a 90s throwback.. can't find image.

[The Black Guard]

Ooh very nice looking gasmasks etc. maybe for my sergeants and room for conversions (maybe as a character?). Thanks for that.

 

In other news finished a comissar:

 

And also a astropath (and the commissar again xD):

 

[Bjorn Firewalker]

The Commissar looks good in red, but why IS he red instead of the canon black? To show solidarity with your Regiment's red-clad personnel? Or to avoid "friendly fire" incidents when fighting the Black Legion and other black-clad enemies?

[The Black Guard]

This commissar has spilled enough blood of his soldiers during his extensive travels, accompanying several other regiments, to stain his coat red. It is a reminder to the troops neither he nor the Emperor will show mercy for cowardice. Forwards, for the Emperor!

 

(Basically I just painted it red because it looked nice lol!)

 

More updates on progress soon!

[duz_]

I like the red its a nice contrast with the troops, but ties in with other elements (tanks) :tu:
May also be in part because I personally get bored painting exactly like the studio all the time too

[The Black Guard]

So after a bit of time:

 

I got some kroot (14 to be precise) off eBay and I think  I will get 30 kroot and 2 shapers to use as mercenaries (they will be desert coloured with light skin).

 

Also I have been considering changing my paint scheme to an urban one (Cadian 122nd) to match the darker colour of the tanks, but I would like your guys opinions whether to jump ship or stick with my current one. Here's a side by side comparison:

 

What do you think?

[WarriorFish]

I think the colours work very well, but keep in mind that painting a camouflage scheme takes quite a bit longer so be sure to assembly line them as much as you can for efficiency :tu:

[Bjorn Firewalker]

I think the urban warfare camouflage looks better, but I understand it's time-consuming to paint. You can justify limiting its application by saying your Regiment was suddenly redeployed from its preferred desert environment to an urban one, was unable to acquire sufficient uniforms in the appropriate camouflage before it arrived in-theater, and was forced to make do. The appropriately camouflaged soldier is likely a Tempestus Scion or other elite, given priority for new equipment.

[GuardDaddy]

I do urban grey - not as nice as your camo effect but is so fast. block colours, nuln wash it all, do faces... done.

[The Black Guard]

Thanks, I think I'll do the urban one then - might have to change the title of the thread, but I do like Bjorn's idea about a mismatch of urban/deser though the kroot will be desert coloured (see below). GuardDaddy, I really like your commissar!

The 14 kroot mercenaries have arrived:

If any of you missed the lore for the kroot:

'Accompanying Sionsa (planet with the Black Fist) around the sun, Zynrind (a much larger planet) orbits a fair distance closer than Sionsa, meaning its once luscious jungles have been turned to barren dry deserts. Once Zynrind orbited roughly at the same distance as Sionsa and had many different species of sentient but primitive life with lots of biodiversity. However due to its larger mass was pulled closer (and still is) the climate got too hot for many of the species and they had to adapt to survive. After years of continual struggle to survive and an increasingly hotter climate, a dominant species emerged - honed to desert warfare and survival, with weapons to combine a crude rifle and a hooked spear. They blended in extremely well in desert environments and adopted hit-and-run tactics to maximise these advantages. They were called the Zynrine.

However, their planet was rapidly approaching the sun, and they needed to get off Zynrind in order to survive as a species as eventually it would become too hot for any life form. Luckily at this point exploration ships from Sionsa reached them and made contact (the Sioneese wore thermo-resistant gear and light-filtering gasmasks to protect themselves). After a few 'misunderstandings' the two races came to an agreement: the Sioneese would take them off their world and house and feed the Zynrine on Sionsa, and the Zynrine would become their mercenaries. The Zynrine would be rotated on a regular basis between working in the mines, fighting and resting (a few years each). In addition they have to work near the edge of the Noxis (darker and colder side) where it is hotter since it is close to the Solaris (extremely hot side), but that is where most of the mineral mines are located anyway.'

[GuardDaddy]

Wanted to say keep fluffing...... however could be taken wrong way...

 

Keep the great background fluff coming, I love the story behind regiments. 

[The Black Guard]

Cheers - I think I'll go for the urban scheme then since I'm not going to be painting masses of troops anyway since its an armoured regiment (might have to change the thread title somehow... and adapt the fluff slightly).

 

A WIP of a kroot mercenary and officer with camo scheme:

[Bjorn Firewalker]

Good job on the merc and the new officer.

[The Black Guard]

Thanks.

 

Fluff:

 

The Black Fist is a primarily military organisation that contracts in various mercenaries and other PMCs to wage war for the Emperor, whilst managing the organisation's homeworld of Sionsa. It is not officially part of the Imperium, but has very close ties with it due to the mineral exports and (basically free) mercenaries they receive. The Imperium allows the existence of the Black Fist also due to the organisation's base military (the armoured regiment) belief in the Imperial Creed, and having an Inquisitor and a detachment of specially trained guardsmen (Cadian) to accompany them on all their operations. Due to their often 'heretical' methods of waging war and involvement of alien mercenaries and weaponry, the Inquisitor accompanying their missions is always quite radical and usually from the Ordo Xenos. In addition the Black Fist must operate far away from other Imperial forces to reduce their interaction as requested by the Imperium and regulated by the Inquisitor/Cadians. The base military (The Black Fist's Own Armoured Regiment) are specialised in urban combat, with Elphinstone (the organisation's leader) an experienced veteran equally adept at waging war as doing negotiations.  

 

At the top of the hierarchy of the Black Fist organisation is Elphinstone. Beneath him are two separate bodies, the Council and the Chamber. The council consists of high ranking officials which officially represent each of the military groups contracted to the organisation, along with Elphinstone to represent the Black Fist's own military. The council is involved in mainly military matters, but also negotiate deals with Elphinstone as mercenaries. The chamber is the group of governors and Elphinstone that manage Sionsa along with its relations with the Imperium. 

 

A major part of the Council is the UC, United Corporations PMC, which have a variety of unusual weapons and troops. (This part will be expanded upon in the future along with other PMCs and mercenary groups) 

 

(Note: I realise some of this contradicts some of the earlier fluff, so soon I will finalise a formal collection of all the fluff. Meanwhile I need to edit out the fluff which now is wrong.)

 

The UC will be cool stuff from Anvil's afterlife game such as rough rider equivalents:

http://anvilindustry.co.uk/AFTERLIFE/Republic/Pulse-Mechs

 

What do you think? I changed the fluff so I can now fit in loads of different types of troops from different places, while still making sense lore-wise and gives me more diversity in my army (Note to Commissariat: I will be mostly running them as guard counts-as don't you worry, apart from the kroot/Zynrine mercenaries of course which will be run as kroot).

[Bjorn Firewalker]

How does the Black Fist defend itself from Puritan Inquisitors, the enemies most determined to eradicate Radical Inquisitors? The PMC will need allies beyond the Inquisition, in addition to downplaying its recruitment of xenos, to minimize the amount of work these allies must do to conceal what the vast majority of Imperial authorities consider heresy, and prevent these allies from ending their association due to sheer exhaustion.

 

Radical Tech-Priests who want to reverse-engineer xeno technology for humanity's benefit, influential Rogue Traders seeking to profit from questionably legal means, planetary governors desperate enough to "fight fire with fire" (hire xeno mercenaries) in order to defend their domains from threats the High Lords of Terra would overlook... The Black Fist should seek alliances with any and all of these individuals.

 

An example of the interaction between them:

 

Planetary governor (watching Kroot mercenaries in Black Fist service fight Ork raiders): "You collaborate with xenos?"

 

Black Fist warlord: "No, those are merely Ruststalkers- Adeptus Mechanicus Tech-Guard scout equivalents."

 

Radical Tech-Priest and Black Fist ally: "I aesthetically modified the Ruststalkers so their xeno-like appearance may terrorize traitors to the Imperium. I did not have time to reverse these modifications before the Ruststalkers were redeployed to defend this world."

 

Planetary governor (shrugs): "I don't give a damn what they look like, as long as they cleanse my planet of Orks."

[The Black Guard]

Hmm, I suppose just sticking a radical Inquisitor in there wouldn't do it then due to the angry puritans. The ideas you mentioned sound better than just sticking an Inquisitor to accompany them, and I suppose they would need to operate more as an actual PMC, under the nose of the rest of the Imperium. I like the radical tech priest idea meaning they can ply their trade to desperate planetary governors (for a price of course). I will probably edit the fluff above and add more about the parts of the council later today. Cheers for the ideas, plus it allows for some cool conversions!

[The Black Guard]

A WIP of my Zynrine (Kroot) mercenaries in front of my baneblade (almost finished).

[The Black Guard]

All kroot have got a base coat of Zandri dust, will probably then do another layer and other colours before washing.

 

Also I have been reading up a bit about the kroot lore and it's really interesting which I previously had no idea about!

 

I will list some of the parts of the Council (what the council is can be seen above):

UC (United Corporations PMC) - a selection of units from http://anvilindustry.co.uk/AFTERLIFE/Republic

Aegis PMC (a selection of units from http://anvilindustry.co.uk/AFTERLIFE/Unity-Council)

Zynrine Mercenaries (Kroot)

(and another one I haven't come up with a name for - basically guardsmen with pulse rifles but a bit more piratey lol)

 

Fluff to come soon.... as well as finishing the camo of the Black Fist infantry sqaud.

[Bjorn Firewalker]

The Kroot mercs are well-painted.

[The Black Guard]

Tried my hand at chainmail this weekend, first time so not amazing xD! I was pleased with the back of the kroot with his rifle on his back though.

 

What I've learnt:

 

Make sure you do them in larger areas, for example one section of green stuff for the back and the front rather than lots of sections, since otherwise it is harder to do the pattern without the green stuff sliding everywhere (I learnt this from the back of the other kroot I didn't photograph)

Place the green stuff roughly in the right place, and then make it slightly wet before adjusting it.

Green stuffing isn't as hard as I thought!

 

Any other tips would be vastly appreciated since I've just got into this properly. 

 

[The Black Guard]

More progress!

 

Just need to do a shoulder pad on one of them.

[The Black Guard]

Working on 60 conscipts kroot and a bunch of officers and characters as well as the infantry squad. Finished bullgryns.

[WarriorFish]

Nice work, you're well set on infantry :) That means you can get lots of tanks now :lol:;)

[Bjorn Firewalker]

The Bullgryns look appropriately intimidating.

[The Black Guard]

So I've got a game next sunday (not very competitive but i would still like to win  ) and here's my list, what do you think? 100 power.

 

CADIAN Battalion: + 5 CP

Creed

Company Commander

Kell

3x 20 man conscripts

3x Special Weapons Squad (3x flamers, 3x plasma, 3x melta)

Command Squad (Heavy bolter, heavy flamer, vet with las pistol/chainsword)

 

CADIAN Spearhead: + 1 CP

Knight Commander Pask (Executioner, 2 plasma cannons, heavy bolter)

Primaris Psyker (Psychic barrier, Nightshroud)

Leman Russ (Hammer of Sunderance, 2 heavy bolters, lascannon)

2x Heavy Weapons Team (3x Heavy bolters, 3x Autocannons)

3 Bullgryns (power mauls, 2x brute shields, 1x slabshield)

Priest

Chimera (double flamer)

 

CADIAN Superheavy Auxilliary:

Baneblade (Baneblade cannon, demolisher cannon, 3x twin heavy bolters, 2x lascannons, heavy stubber)

 

Warlord Trait: Creed, Superior Tactical Training

Relics: Company Commander, Laurels of Command and Priest, Deathmask of Ollanius (-1 CP)

 

Questions: Should i swap out nightshroud (bullgryns) for mental fortitude (conscripts) and what about vigilus detachments - which ones should i use (apart from the Armoured one as im already using it)?