The Great Mordian Restoration Project!

[Mordian Glory]

Greetings commanders,

Progress this week has been slower than expected. Sadly I was not able finish this weeks scheduled squad, still need to do half the shades and the basing.

I did have chance to play my first 1000pts game with the new Mordians though. It was against my oldest nemesis, my brothers hated Tau. The Tau are my brothers oldest army and they have been responsible for inflicting many defeats upon my Guard,especially through the madness that was 6th and 7th editions. My Mordians have been fighting these filthy xenos on and off for 15 years.

Make no mistake this was a (friendly) grudge match!

My forces outnumbered the enemy 3 to 1. I had 8 infantry squads, veteran squad, ogryns and 2x mortars squads, as well as character support. The Tau had 3 squads of fire warriors, ion hammerhead, missile crisis commander, 2x 6 strong stealth teams.

The mission was Vital Intelligence and the deployment was table quarters. I deployed an assault force of 20 infantry and ogryns against the stealth teams, 30 infantry were tasked with taking the center objective, facing off against the hammerhead and fire warriors. The veterans used the relic dagger to go into outflank with a junior officer. The remaining forces took up defensive positions in a ruin and prepared to provide fire support.

The battle started well with the guard seizing! The assault force moved towards the stealth suits, who had infiltrated forward. Orders were barked and a furious hail of lasgun bolts peppered the ruin the xenos were hiding in. Flamers and ogryn ripper guns joined in, but after the dust had settled, only 2 drones had been killed and and a wound on suit. The order to fix bayonets was given and the whole assault force attempted to rush the position,but furious Tau overwatch forced the attackers down. (I failed 3x 7 inch charges!).

In the middle the Guard moved and advanced onto the center objective. Thanks to Forwards for the Emperor, they were still able to shoot, and combined with the mortars teams a squad of fire warriors were killed. Finally, a cheeky krak missile was able to do 5 wounds to the hammerhead.

The Tau response was brutal. The stealth suits and missile commander shredded the assault force down to just 4 infantry and 1 ogryn, fortunately they stood firm thanks to the Lord Commissar with them. The hammer head was still recovering from the heavy hit it had taken and struggled to find its mark, only killing 1 mortar team. The Firewarriors returned fire against the center guard infantry and were able to kill half an infantry squad.

With the assault force badly mauled, the characters that had been supporting them retreated back to friendly lines. The remaining 4 guard and the ogryn, nick named Trevor, continued to attack the stealth teams, simply as a distraction.

The veterans came in behind the xenos tank and overcharged their plasma guns, dealing 6 wounds to it. The center force spread out to cover another objective and were able to kill another fire warrior squad with help from the mortars. Sadly the fire support squads were unable to finish the hammer head.

The Tau are swift and deadly in their response. One of the stealth teams shifts positions and in a double burst of fire (viorla stratagem) kill them all to a man. The other stealth team kill the remaining assault guard but amazingly fail to kill Trevor the Ogryn!

The guard in the center take the brunt of fire from the missile commander and the 5 man squad is finished off and a couple more are killed by the fire warriors. The hammerhead finishes of one of the mortar squads.

Turn 3 begins and Guard have a comfortable lead in points having control of 3 objectives, and having controlled the 2 point objective twice. But the infantry is looking thin on the ground.

2 of the fire support squads begin to move up to help cover the center objective and Trevor goes drone hunting. A smattering of lasguns, heavy bolter, 2x grenade launchers and mortar shells are able to clear the remaining fire warriors. A well aimed lascannon shot from an infantry squad scores a direct hit on the hammerhead. The high energy beam punches through the front of the xenos armour and out the back, destroying it utterly. A cheer goes up from the Mordian lines!

With their armour destroyed, infantry scattered and way behind on points, the Tau can see the writing on the wall. They try a last ditch effort to shift the guard with the stealth teams, but with no command points for double burst and no marker lights, they cant quite do it. Activating their jet packs, the commander and stealth teams leave the battle field and concede victory to the Mordian 50th rifles!

Edited October 30, 2019 by Mordian Glory

[WarriorFish]

A good win, well done Mordian! Let the xenos filth know their place - squashed flat under the Emperor's Hammer! :D

[duz_]

Sounds like a fun battle destroying those tau! :tu:

 

Where's the pics though? :huh:

[HallofStovokor]

Tau are pretty hard for an infantry army to defeat. Good win.

[Mordian Glory]

A good win, well done Mordian! Let the xenos filth know their place - squashed flat under the Emperor's Hammer!

Thanks WF, indeed the foul xenos were soundly beaten and it only resulted in 80% Guard casualties rate!

 

 

Sounds like a fun battle destroying those tau!

 

Where's the pics though?

 

It was a lot of fun! Sadly I did not take any pictures this time, I will Make sure to snap a few in the next battle :)

 

Tau are pretty hard for an infantry army to defeat. Good win.

 

It was a hard slog advancing turn after turn into a storm of fire, but faith and blood managed to carry the day!

[Mordian Glory]

Greeting Commanders,

 

It may have taken an extra week, but I can successfully report the completion of another Infantry Squad. It is another Assault unit (I seem to be doing a lot of those) and is the second squad of my second Platoon/Battalion.

 

This is probably one of the most characterful squads I have ever made. I used parts from many many different kits and sources. I used tried out using legs, torsos, backpacks and heads from Anvil Industry. I have to say that all the parts are really really good and if I was to start a Mordian army from scratch today, I would use the Anvil parade ground range. No warping, No flakey stuff and no imperfections. I highly recommend the bits.

 

I used the Anvil bugle bits for the squad musician. Like the drummer from the last squad, this model just represents a regular rifleman, but it was too cool not to buy and use in the army! I also used lots of bits from the Scion kit, like the vox caster, water bottles and daggers. I have a lot of spare scion bits and I plan on using them heavily going forward to add a bit of variety to the army. There are also parts from the heavy weapon team, command squad and chimera kits incorporated into the unit.

 

Finally, I found a way to brighten the colour scheme! After many weeks of trying different ideas, I went with some simple edge highlighting and dry brushing. I used warpstone green for the edges and niblet green for the drybrush on the green parts of the model. I then dry brushed the blue with calador sky. 

 

After 3 weeks of painting converted Cadians, I think am going focus on some classic metal Mordians during November. I have 2 more Assualt Squads (Melta and Power Sword) which I am looking forward to getting stuck into :)

 

[Arkaniss]

Lovely models! I particularly like the haversacks and all the facial hair going on

[Mordian Glory]

Lovely models! I particularly like the haversacks and all the facial hair going on

 

Thanks, I didn't realise I had used so many heads with facial hair for this squad, but its a nice happy accident :)

[Mordian Glory]

Greetings Commanders,

 

This week I was able to say on track and complete another Infantry Squad, even with the extra edge highlights and dry brushing :)

 

Its another Assault Squad this week. This time a classic metal Mordian unit, with an old school metal cadian melta gunner. I know I have been doing lots of these squads but they fit my current play style of always being on the move and taking the fight to the enemy. I have gone for a Power Sword and Melta gun loadout, to help mitigate the lack of anti tank in my army. I have another 3 squads with this loadout ready to be painted as well. Once they are all done, the bulk of second platoon will be complete :D

 

I am still getting the hand of edge highlights and dry brushing, so the results are a little inconsistent. Hopefully over a big horde it wont be too noticeable!

 

I had another battle this week, this time against Blood Angels. It was for my brother youtube channel, so when he uploads it I will link it here. It is a really hard fought and close game with a great ending.

 

Thats all for this week. I think for next week I will finish the characters for this platoon with another Lord Commissar and a Priest.

 

Edited November 11, 2019 by Mordian Glory

[Kolgrim DeathHowl]

Just went through this whole thread, you're army looks great! Amazing painting!

[HallofStovokor]

They look great as per usual. I would love to see them on your channel once they're completed.

[Mordian Glory]

Just went through this whole thread, you're army looks great! Amazing painting!

 

Thank you! I used to be terrible painter so its great o know my efforts to improve have not been wasted :) 

 

They look great as per usual. I would love to see them on your channel once they're completed.

 

I have now uploaded this weeks painting video :) I will be doing a full army progress video/post soon as well :) 

[Mordian Glory]

Greetings Commanders,

The new Lord Commissar, Bremer dan Gorst, has arrived to oversee the continued recruitment and training of the 2nd Battalion of the Mordian 50th Rifles.

Gorst embodies the best and worst aspects of the Commissariat. He is unflinching in the face of Alien and Chaos horrors, a skilled swordsmen and inspiring orator. He always leads from the front and was promoted to Lord Commissar after the successful bayonet charge against the Tau on Sobel VI. This action saw the entire Xenos force crushed, for only 87% causalities for the Guard in return, with a badly wounded Gorst slaying the enemy Fireblade Commander in single combat.

At the same time he is completely intolerant of any infractions and personally enforces the strictest discipline. Many Guardsmen have been executed by Gorst for minor offences, such as non-regulation facial hair or dust on uniform buttons. Sector Command has transferred Gorst to the 50th rifles, in the hope that the Iron Guards rigorous adherence to following orders, discipline and smart uniforms will temper some of his worse characteristics.

Edited November 15, 2019 by WarriorFish
Image fixed

[Bjorn Firewalker]

Good job on the Lord Commissar.

[Mordian Glory]

Greetings Commanders,

 

This week the characters of the 2nd Battalion have been completed. Brother Matthias has joined the 50th to protect the souls of the Mordians and ensure that they stay on their path to redemption. Armed with his trusty autogun and and chainsword, the priest has fought in many battles against the Forces of Chaos. He will fearlessly engage the enemy no matter the odds and is famous in the Ecclesiarchy for slaying a Death Guard Space Marine is single combat. However, Matthias has a fatal flaw. He is obsessed with collecting and hording ancient spiritual relics of the Imperium. Many times he has disregarded Company Commands plans in the middle of a battle to lead men to secure the location of a possible trinket for his collection. 

 

I really enjoyed painting this model and I found that all the creases in the robe worked really well with edge highlighting and dry brushing techniques. I did have an issue with chainsword hand, it would not super glue on to the arm no matter how hard I tried. In the end I had to use Milliput to fix it in place.

 

It has been a slow couple of weeks, with only 2 characters completed in that time. I am hoping that I will be able to pick up the pace and get the remaining infantry squads finished by the end of the year, but I am not going to compromise the quality of the paint scheme to achieve that aim. 

 

I am currently editing 2 battle reports with the Mordians, 1 vs Tau and another Vs Death Guard. When I have uploaded them to Youtube I will link them here :) 

 

[HallofStovokor]

I love that you gave your clergy man a color scheme to match your army. I might redo my priest with colors to match my army. I went with the safe red and white robes and I regret how much he doesn't fit with the army's aesthetic.

[WarriorFish]

I matched one of my priests to the army too, works surprisingly well :)

 

You need to sort your images out for the web Mordian, they are huge :confused:

[XIXWYRMEXIX]

The edge highlighting really makes you models look good. Well done.

[Arkaniss]

Those are some lovely character additions to your army! :D What are your plans next?

 

As for the images themselves maybe cropping them to remove the white space around the model will help make them small enough in file size?

[Mordian Glory]

I love that you gave your clergy man a color scheme to match your army. I might redo my priest with colors to match my army. I went with the safe red and white robes and I regret how much he doesn't fit with the army's aesthetic.

 

Thank you! I wasn't sure at first if matching it was a good idea, but it seems to work. I came up with a fluff reason which helped me justify it in my head too. 

 

 

I matched one of my priests to the army too, works surprisingly well

 

You need to sort your images out for the web Mordian, they are huge

 

I prefer matching Characters to my main scheme as they stand out enough already just by the fact that they are characters and have extra detail. 

 

In regards to the images, on my mobile they don't appear huge, but on the web they are much bigger. I add them using the "Special BB Code" button (next to the font option) and then copy the BB code from imgur, which is where I host my images. I don't know another easy way of adding images.

 

The edge highlighting really makes you models look good. Well done.

 

Thanks!

 

Those are some lovely character additions to your army! What are your plans next?

 

As for the images themselves maybe cropping them to remove the white space around the model will help make them small enough in file size?

 

Thank you! I think I am going to do a big push to get the Infantry Squads for second platoon finished. I have spent 3 weeks on these characters and have fallen behind a little bit. Gotta pump those numbers up! 

 

I add the images using the "Special BB Code" button (next to the font option) and then copy the BB code from imgur, which is where I host my images. I don't know another easy way of adding images.

[Mordian Glory]

Greetings Fellow Guardsmen,

 

Recruitment for the second platoon continues at a steady pace with another Infantry Squad completed this week. This is the 10th Infantry Squad I have finished since the start of the Great Mordian Restoration Project almost 8 months ago. I have just 2 more to recruit and then the 2nd Platoon/Battalion will be complete :)

 

This squad is once again an Assault Squad, made up of classic metal miniatures. Slowly but surely I am massing a sizable "Melta Hedge". This is a tactic I am bringing back from my old 6th and 7th edition days. It is a simple trick, I advance aggressively and take as much board control as possible, focusing on objectives. Then when the enemy tries to counter attack and beat the Guard in combat, they have to take really punishing level of overwatch. It is a good deterrent as no one wants to get hit by 2-3 Melta guns before they even roll the dice for the charge. With the Mordian overwatch hitting on 5s in 8th ed, this tactic should be even more potent :D 

 

I have put the pictures below, hidden by a spoiler because my pics are coming through very large. 

 

[GuardDaddy]

Mr Glory....

 

How far away are we from a group shot of the repainted units in all there finery? Would love to see!

[duz_]

My understanding is that it's all meant to be repainted by the end of the year, so soon I should imagine ;)

[Mordian Glory]

Mr Glory....

 

How far away are we from a group shot of the repainted units in all there finery? Would love to see!

 

 

My understanding is that it's all meant to be repainted by the end of the year, so soon I should imagine

 

I have a few group shots already, but they dont include the last two squads. Might post them anyway :)

 

And @duz_ I wont have the whole army done by the end of the year, just the first 2 Platoons. I will still have another 2 Platoons and all the support elements left going into 2020. After that  will need to move onto the tanks!

 

Still a long way to go...

[Mordian Glory]

Greetings Commanders,

 

Another week, another squad completed! I am now in full flow on the painting front and able to crank out a squad a week. Just one more squad to go and 2nd Platoon/Battalion will be finished :)

 

I wont go into too much detail this week, its another Melta Assault Squad. I have done many of these squads at this point into the project. The only thing of interest to highlight is that most of the pouches and extra bits of equipment came from the space marine tactical squad box. By combining lots of bits from different kits (not just using the pouches from the Guard Squad box) I am able to add much more flavour to the individual squads. Also by making each squad semi unique it stops me from going mad from repetition! 

 

And just  in case anyone is curious, the Medic model is an old classic metal mini from the old Cadian Command Squad. They pop on ebay all the time for a fairly reasonable price.