FAQ updates - guard and marines

So were on to the final part of the FAQ updates, were going to look at the Guard and Marine updates. This could be a long one, as there will be quite a few bits to cover, but first up I will cover the Marine FAQ. Now, I will be taking a brief look at the Space Marine FAQ, as there isn't a Blood Angles one, one of the few codices that hasn't been updates, along with the Dark Angles.

There is not a lot to really say with the marine codex, the only ones that are of note are related to stratagems. You can now use Auspex Scanner to strike at units redeploying on the battle field but not for units that can set up before the first battle round. So some good news and some bad. 

In other news, if you choose to use the Armorium Cherub after you have played the Flakk Missile or Hellfire Shells stratagem, you get to keep the benefits for the second round of shooting. This is quite a big bonus really as it can double the damage quite easily. Oh, but you cannot use the Flakk stratagem on cyclone missile launchers.

And that's it. While there is nothing much to write, there are some implications for the Blood Angles, as they share the same stratagems its mean that the rulings will apply, as in the main rulebook FAQ states that the stratagems with the same name in different codices can be considered the same stratagem. So, if the rules apply to a marine stratagem then they will apply to both the BA and DA ones.

So, we finally get to the main event, the Guard FAQ and there are a lot to go through. So where do we start with the three pages of goodness.

The first change is a good change and undoes a number of issues that the previous update did. Summary Execution got a tweaking, removing the word "must". This changes the whole rule and gives you the option to use it or not. This means that failing a test by 1 will not result in you loosing at least 2 (one for the rule and one for the reroll) men. A very good change. In addition to this, there have been some points changes in the Chapter Approved update, dropping down the cost of a Commissar and Lord Commissar. This is a double benefit and really does make Commissars viable again.

The next change is that Heavy Weapons teams across the codex have been brought in to line with each other, arming all of them with a lasgun and frag grenades, alongside their heavy weapon. In other wargear options upgrades, the Militarum Tempestus Command Squad get the option to take there lasguns or not when they upgrade to either a Vox-caster or Medi-pack. 

Baneblades and there brother variants got an update, mean that it can not longer fire overwatch with its guns when within 1 inch of an enemy unit. Which brings it in line with every other unit in the game. Well, you've got to take the good with the bad I suppose. In a similar vain, the stratagem "crush them" has been amended so that you can only use it in your turn. It makes more sense this way round. 

The next change is to the Cadian stratagem, although i'm confused as to why the change has occurred and what it is designed to stop. It seems to me that they have just added in a bunch of words to make the stratagem longer but it still has the same effect. The only thing that I can think is that the original stratagem says "an unsaved wound" but the update says "one or more wounds", thus stopping people playing the "its taken 2 wounds, you cant use it" card. Apart from that I don't really understand it.

There are 2 changes to relics as well, the Aquila can only be used now when the bearer is on the field and the Cadian relic has finally been restricted to a once per game only item, which is what I always though it should have been and that was always the intent.

There is a fun one with the Grand Strategist warlord trait, as it has been clarified that you roll a D6. Now I would have thought that this was fairly obvious but as it didn't say, so I suppose there was nothing wrong with rolling a D20! Chances of rolling a 5+ on that would be a little bit easier!

So that's the rules updates. Some good ones, namely Summary Execution, which makes Commissars useful again, and there are some not so good ones, like Crush Them, although there really aren't any bad ones. 

In addition to the updates there are the standard questions. The first one relates to the Catachan doctrine, clarifying that the rule applies to each individual weapon and not just ones to the vehicle. This will help some vehicles, such as Plasma Executioners, but I cant think of many others that will. 

The second new question is rather confusing and you can see why it needed an explanation. The question refers to the interaction of the Laurels of Command (LoC) and the Cadian warlord trait, Superior Tactical Training (STT). Now both of these give the ability to issue extra orders. So in theory issuing one order could result in 4 orders! How, well, issue you original order, and then using STT that order (on a 4+) will affect another unit. Then using LoC you can (on a 4+) issue an additional order and as you've issued an order (on a 4+) you can use SST to have that order affect another unit! Ok, so it requires you to roll a few 4+'s, so it's not going to work everytime, but of your using Creed, there is the possibility of turning 3 orders in to 12 orders! Which is pretty powerful. Ok, you'll need units around to actually take advantage of the rules and it won't work all the time, so your really only likely to get around 6 orders off.

So while there are not a lot of changes, there are some really good amendments to the guard codex and some clarification to the BA codex. After the nerfs we have seen in the past, it's good to get some love. Ive a few other posts waiting in the wings, then I'll have a review of how the various changes will affect my armies.

FAQ updates - main rulebook and chapter aporoved

So here is the second part of the FAQ review and in this part we will be looking at the changes to the main rulebook and chapter approved 2018. I'll start with the rule book and then go on to chapter approved. I will only be looking at the new information and not all the previous updates and information. There will be the occasional overlap with the Big FAQ review from last time and when there is I'll just gloss over those sections.

The main rulebook has had a few changes outside of what we saw in the big FAQ. The first change noted on the update is about ignoring wounds, which we've already talked about. The next item is changes to the embarking process. It is more of a claificlarifimore than anything, as the actual process hasn't changed, you still need to be within 3", it's just confided to the movement phase now. I guess with things like Eldar "fire and fade" or similar, you could have embarked at other times. Not so any more, although I can think of at least one time you can get around this, with the armageddon mount up order.

Next up is an odd one for me, as it's an update to the warlord rule. Now I thought that this was fairly simple, but there seems to have been a few bright sparks out there who have been bending the rules slightly and nominating a fortification as there warlord! Ok, so that old rules just said a model, so the fortification counts but it's not exactly very realistic now, is it? The update specifically says it can't be a fortification, so that loophole has disappeared. I just wish I'd though about it!

The next two and final updates for the main rulebook are about the organised events box, which i covered last times and also the changes to command points for battalion and brigade detachments, also covered previously.

That's the sum total of the changes to the rules in the main rulebook, however there are a few questions that I wanted to highlight.  Now I'm not going to go in to every question in detail, just go over the bits that I find interesting.

First up they cleared up the issue around being able to kill things you cant see, as in, you measure and check ranges before shooting and you keep shooting until you run out of shots, not until you run out of visible targets. Second up is a very interesting one, if two squads are in terrain and fire pistols in close combat, then they both get the benefit of cover! Also, when shooting the pistols, you have to shoot at the closest enemy models, on a model by model basis, whether your within one inch of them or not.

We also got the proper clarification that you can use stratagems from other codices as long as they meet the criteria on them and also stratagems with the same name from different codices  are considered the same stratagem. I don't think that this comes up very often, outside of the marine and chaos codices.

The modifications that advancing makes to movement characteristics can only be modified once in the movement phase, so if you get to move a second time, such as with a stratagem, you cannot advance again but your movement characteristics stays as the modified value. Also in regards to movement, you can never move if you are deployed from reserves and you cannot use any stratagems that you are required to use in the movement phase.

There was also some clarifications on the charge phase. A charge is only successful if you actually make the charge, if you fail the distance the charge is failed and you cannot do anything that requires you to have charged. The next questions answers the question if with the FLY keyword can measure charge moves diagonally. Now we know that they can and measure directly from base to base. Lastly, is you cant place a model within one inch of a enemy model at the end of a charge then the charge fails. So all those models hiding on to of a ruin, wobbly model syndrome doesn't seem to come in to effect and if there really isn't space to fit the base, then you cannot charge.

The next section covers reserves and starts off with what I am assuming is a change to previous versions. It now appears that you can now no longer make a unit bigger then it starts as, without paying reinforcement points. There is now also no argument for saying that you cannot move after deep striking, its now in black and white that you can, but you cannot use any ability to move, such as psychic or stratagems. So, no more warptime. The last two points clarify that using a stratagem to shoot at incoming deep striking units still follow all shooting rules in regards to characters and that a unit that drop pods in cannot be targeted but the drop pod can, however, you can shoot at the drop pod before the unit disembarks. So get those stratagems working on those heavy weapons.

The next section is about transports and we find out that aura abilities don't affect open top transports and all embarked units count as having moved if the vehicle has moved. Also embarked units count towards your deployment total, so deploying a Rhino with 10 characters in still counts as 11 units deployed for the purposes of the tactical reserve rule. Also they have put a stop to embarking in any phase other than the movement phase, which makes the Armageddon Steel Legion order more effective as it means that the ability is quite rare now.

There are quite a few questions answered in regards to units and weapons. Firstly, you can definitely use abilities such as Gate of Infinity and I guess the BA Upon Wings of Fire, to jump out of combat, which could be very useful. Also if something says fight again then that's is what you do, repeat the entire fight phase for that unit. The downside to this is that if this happens in the turn that you charge, if you destroy your chosen target, you cannot use your "fight again", as you cannot pick a unit you didn't declare a charge again. For abilities that allow you to shoot twice, you can select a separate target for the second attacks and you complete the first attack before starting the second. There are a few other questions that were answered but several are ones that I would have though were pretty self-evident but I guess nothing really is.

The last section is all about the missions. Distances from objectives are measured in all directions, including diagonally. Also any abilities that must be used before the battle must be used before deployment starts and that deployment is not a phase. Also if you deploy units in a flyer, you had better make sure that you have other units on the ground because they don't count for the sudden death rule. The last thing to note is that vehicle squadrons, once deployed act as separate units and each counts for first blood.

I'll go over the Chapter Approved changes here, as there are very few changes. Firstly there is some clarifications on the Skyshield landing pad, don't know what this means, as I don't have one. There are also some points updates, I'll go over the guard changes later, but the ones that interested me are the Eldar ones. The points increase to Dark Reapers is good as far as I can see, they are very powerful. Why the Death Corps changes are here I still don't understand.

There are a few questions answered but there is only one that caught my attention. It refers to weapons that don't require line of sight, such as mortars, and how they interact with the character rules. As many thought, the "does not need line of sight" bit does override the character requirements for being the closest and VISIBLE model. So, as long as its the closest, you can hit it even if its not visible. So bring on those mortars!

Next up is the last part of my look at the new FAQ's and its probably the one that will take the longest as its all about the Guard, with a little bit of marines thrown in for good measure.

FAQ Updates - the big FAQ

So, finally we have the spring FAQ or as GW have called it The Big FAQ 1. There are many FAQ's that have been updated, somewhere in the region of 25 or more and all on one day, which really is phenomenal. However, despite there being so many updates in one day there are really only 3 updates that I am interested in and one that doesn't seem to have been updated! These are the Big FAQ itself, the Main Rulebook FAQ and the Astra Militarum FAQ. The BA FAQ has yet to be updated and while it maybe that it isn't getting an FAQ at this time, there are some updates in the Marines FAQ that will be applicable to the BA codex, so I imagine that it will be updated soon. I will go in to these updates as well at the end, just for completeness.

Edit: the original plan was for one post but as I've been writing this it's been getting longer and longer, so I'll split it down in to at least 2 posts.

Now, there are a lot of changes within the FAQ's and I'll not be going in to all of them, as some of them have nothing to do with my armies, as such this review will only cover the bits that I think are relevant and anything that I found interesting.

First on the chopping block is the main FAQ itself, the BIG FAQ 1.

The first thing that you see in the FAQ is the implementation of the Psychic Focus and Targeting Character Beta rules, although with some subtle changes.

Psychic Focus has bee altered to get rid of Smite spam lists. This simply changes the Smite rule so that the number required to cast Smite increase by 1 every time you cast it. So it will still be fairly easy to cast 2 or even 3 times, but after that it will get a bit harder, requiring an 8 or more to cast a 4th time. This rule doesn't affect Grey Knights or Thousand Sons, as their Smite rules work slightly differently and they would be affected significantly more by the new rule than a lot of armies. This seems like a good idea to me, it nerfs Smite Spam, but doesn't stop players from casting Smite with a couple of pyskers. I usually run 2 psykers in my armies and this ruling means that I can still do so and not be penalised. The only issue for guard that I can see if for Wyrdvane Psykers, who cast on 1d6 rather than 2d6. While you can spam these guys, as there quite cheap, 24 points for a min unit, in order to cast smite repeatedly now, you would have to max out the units, and even then, you could only cast smite a max of 4 times before they could no longer cast it. So if you do spam Wyrdvane Psykers, you'll have to use them first.

The character targeting rules have also be updated to take account of some people breaking the system. In the old days, as in the early days of 8th, people took advantage of the fact that the character had to be the closest VISIBLE unit. if you made it so nothing else was visible, you could shoot any character you wanted. Now, you have to be visible AND closest, a small change but in means that as long as one trooper is closer, even if its hidden deep in a ruin, you cant shoot the character. This makes quite a difference, as it means that you characters can almost act with impunity, apart from snipers of course! The other change is minor but important, in the other characters effectively no longer count for determining if a character is closer, meaning you can't hide a character behind a character.

Next up is the new rules for tactical reserves. This is a huge change, by far the biggest change in my view and will be game changing. There are 2 main changes to note, firstly that not only does half of your total units have to start on the table but those units have to equal half of your power rating. Secondly, you can only drop units in to your deployment zone turn 1. The sum total of this means,, no dropping in half a dozen big nasty assault units while leaving 6 cheap as chips characters hiding in your deployment zone. The first part of this rule is going to get abused a lot I think, infantry already see lots of 6 man tactical squads and the like. The second part is going to nerf alpha strike armies. For me this seriously damages my Blood Angles force, as the while point is to drop in and assault. Granted it's not the end of the world, but I'm going to have to think hard about what to do with the likes of my death company. Don't wait until turn 2 or do I deploy and hope I get to go first, playing the forlorn fury stratagem? This ruling is really going to need mento sit downdand think hard about what changes in need to make, i thunk for starters that I'm going to have to paint my sternguard vets a lot sooner than I though! Now most of my guard armies it won't be a problem, as the scions are there for late drops and objective grabs anyway, so generally don't come in turn 1, the only issue could be the Dagr Ormr Militarum Tempestus force as they are based around the scions but there should be enough heavy weapons teams to soak up the damage and survive. As for my Dark Angels, well I'll deal with all those terminators when Ive finished my guard armies!

The new Battle brothers rules is next on the list and is a bit of a surprise. Granted, Imperial soup is a thing and I'm sure that Chaos and Eldar have similar things but I guess I didn't realise it was such an issue. I would have thought loosing the various detachment benefits would have been enough to off set any benefits you might gain from running a soup list but I guess not. At the end of the day however, this change is not going to effect me at all as I either run Astra Militarum or Blood Angles detachments.

Talking of detachments, these have seen some changes and while most people think it's a good move, most of my regular opponents have other ideas! With the increase for battalion to 5cp and brigade to 12 CP, my 1000 point guard list goes from 14 to 17 cp and my 1500 point list goes from 17 to 22 CP! That's a whole lot of command points! I still think that patrol detachments should have got a CP or two. If they had 1cp like the other detachments it would be better, but I'll take the other rises too. My blood angles will benefit from the rise, as they struggle with command points, usually having between 4 and 7, the extra 2 points will be very useful and enable me to use some of the stratagems that I don't use as I lack the points, like death visions of sanguinius.

The next bit that caught my attention was the changes to ignoring woulds. I feel that this is a good change and how it should be. Having an extra save is fine, having two or even three is silly. I don't have this issue, as the most I get is one on my death company and the BA command trait that give you one, calls out the death company save and replaces it. I also haven't come across multiple saves in my games, so it won't make much difference but I still think it's a good move.

The last two sections are the organised play section, which again won't have much of an impact on my games, as we don't play competitive and not many people spam units anyway, and the points section. The points section is interesting as there are some significant changes, most notably for me, the dark Reapers points increase. These are an excellent unit and are dirt cheap at the moment. The drop in points for commissars is good and will be covered in the guard review bit, because it's the rules updates to commissars which is more important.

Hildasay PDF

As is usual for me, I have a painting project trundling along in the back ground and right now it is the Hildasay PDF. These boys do not form an army on there own but rather form a part of the Dagr Ormr's strike force, alongside the Scions of the Dagr Ormr.

One thing you'll notice is the there are a lot of heavy weapons teams in the pictures and that's because the force is pretty much all heavy weapons, it's there sole purpose in the strike force. While the Dagr Ormr are a hard hitting army, they also lack any form of long range punch. Yes the Taurox Primes have some punch, but there expensive. Heavy weapons teams in the other hand are cheap and cheerful, plus they have extra options not available to Taurox Primes. 

The first batch, which forms just over a third of the models from the heavy weapons teams.

2 complete missile teams and two loaders, from the old 2nd edition models. 

The gunners. The guys will be assigned a gun, lascannon or heavy bolter, once the guns are completed. Again, there is a 2nd edition gunner on the right, who will rejoin his heavy bolters when it's complete.

The rest. These are mostly gunners mates, with the exception of the mortar man on the right. The three on the front left are part of the lascannon teams and the one between them and the mortar man is the mate for the 2nd edition heavy bolter. The four at the back are generic gunners mates and will go with either the mortars or heavy bolters.

This is the sole "complete" model in the collection as it is the only one which is actually based properly, as in fixed to a 60mm base. The rest will be based on 25mm bases and then placed on 60mm bases during the game, mostly for ease of transportation. 

A better view. I've posed this guy slightly differently as he's side on to the gun and is supposed to look like he's trying to adjust something or maybe clearing a jammed round. 

This is my favourite model so far in this collection. It's quite difficult to see in these pictures, I'll have to get some better ones, but the arms and binoculars (monocular?) are actually Tau. When you look closer you can see the three fingers, but at a glance, in works well. 

I also like the shoulder rifle with token camouflage, it needs some more work to lighten it up and add some contrast, but even so I like the effect.

1000pt Eagle Knights Vs Eldar

So this was my second game with the Eagle Knights, played last weekend. It was a 1000 point game against an Eldar army. It was looking like it was going to be a good game but things worked out badly in the end, mostly due to errors on my part. Ill go in to the errors later but first the army lists.

My list consisted of a supreme command detachment of a Captain with jump pack, Librarian with jump pack and Lieutenant with jump pack (spotting a theme here?). I also had a Vanguard Detachment with a Chaplain with jump pack, a 6 man Death Company with 3 plasma pistols and 3 power mauls and jump packs, a 5 man Death Company with 2 Thunder Hammers with jump packs, a 5 man Vanguard squad with 2 sets of power claws, a power fist and 2 power axes, all with jump packs and finally a 10 man Assault Squad also with jump packs.

My opponent had a Aultach on Skyrunner, a Farseer, 3 Dire Avengers, 2x 5 man squads and a 10 man squad, a 5 man Fire Dragons squad, a 10 man Striking Scorpions squad and a 10 man Dark Reapers squad.

Turn 1

Despite finishing setting up first, we decided to go with the Chapter Approved type roll off and I managed to secure first turn. I had decided to keep my Death Company squads, Librarian and Chaplain in to reserve and with first turn I decided to drop them in behind the main threat, the Dark Reapers. This was my first mistake and probably my biggest! Dark Reapers are a big threat, with the -2 ap missiles, long range and there always hit on a 3 rule. I wanted them gone quick and decided to throw the 6 man DC squad, Librarian and Chaplain at them. However, I got hit with Forewarned, a very powerful stratagem. This enabled the Dark Reapers to fire at the DC squad, wiping out 5 of the 6 members, leaving just one with a power maul. The Librarian and Chaplain remained, but the majority of the hitting power was gone. I still went for the charge but only the Chaplain got in. This was the only part of the plan that went right, as the Chaplain was wearing the Angles Wings jump pack, meaning no overwatch from the Dark Reapers and in the ensuing fight, he managed to put down 3 Reapers on his own. Unfortunately, the as the rest of the squad failed there charges, including the other DC squad going in on one of the Avenger squads, the first turn carnage turned out to be exactly that, just it was BA blood that was spilled and not Eldar.

In the Eldar turn I got hit with a second stratagem that pretty much finished me. Even though I had failed to eliminate the Dark Reapers, I though that I had at least stopped them shooting but no, my opponent playeea second stratagem, enabling the Reapers to fire, wiping out the Chaplain and last DC marine, with the newly arrived unit of Friends Dragons (who had been set-up in the Webway) turned the librarian in to dust. The second squad of DC marines also fell to the combined fire of the Avengers and newly arrived Striking Scorpions.

At the start of the bottom of turn 1

Just before the carnage started again.

My remaining forces at the end of turn 1

The Eldar forces at the end of turn 1

Turn 2

By this point the battle plan was in tatters. The DC should have pounded the Reapers to dust and now be starting on the squad of Avengers in the far building and the chaplain and Librarian should be chasing down the Farseer and Aultach. Instead I had nothing in range to threaten any Eldar models. So I decided to just throw caution to the wind and go for it, using my last command points to jump my vanguard vets forward, this time making sure that they were out of site of the Reapers. They managed to get in to combat, but due to some rather rubbish dice rolls, I managed not to wipe out the Reapers!

The end of the top of turn 2 and the Vanguard vets are looking a little isolated.

The view of my deployment area and there isn't much left.

You can see one of my assault marines combat squads moving up the table. They just failed to reach cover in the central building.

The Eldar didn't hold off on the punishment and while the Dark Reapers couldn't fire after falling back, they didn't need to, as the combined fire of the Aultach and Avengers took out the last two vanguard vets. The Fire Dragons moved to capture and hold an objective and the Avengers and Scorpions on my left flank took out the assault squad on that flank.

Bottom of turn 2 and it's looking dire.

Turn 3 and I was really in trouble. I had half and assault squad, a captain and a lieutenant. I moved up to see what I could do, which wasn't a lot. In reply the Eldar dropped there last unit in, a full unit of Dire Avengers. These dropped in to the centre and tried to kill off my last units. Fortunately they failed, everything else just moved up to prepare for the killing blow.

Turn 4

I knew that this was going to be the final turn and I decided that I really didn't have many options, so i did the proper thing and charged everything in tot he only unit I could, the newly arrived Dire Avengers. The assault marines went in first and managed to survive overwatch, taking just 1 wound, the captain followed suit. The lieutenant however, was just to far away and failed his 10 inch charge. The Angles did there stuff taking out the full unit with ease, the assault marines taking down half a dozen or so and the captain making short work of the rest. They were however now out in the open and exposed. So the scorpions and Farseer finished off the captain and a few of the marines whole the fire dragons toasted the lieutenant and the last remaining marines. And with this the game ended in a crushing defeat.

The final result. Lots of Eldar and no Blood Angles.

The final score at the end of turn 4. The red dice is mine.

In the end the Eldar lost just a Dire Avengers squad and 7 Dark Reapers, while I was tabled. Not really what I would call a good result under any circumstances. So what went wrong? Well, quite a lot really.

The big mistake was deep striking all the death company. I should have used the Forlorn Fury stratagem and placed the death company on the table. Of I had done this I could have moved one squad right up the table withing just a couple of inches of the Reapers and then used the Descent of Angles stratagem to get the Chaplain with angles wings in, denying the Reapers overwatch and also stopping the forwarded stratagem from destroying anything. I should also have moved everything else up in the first movement phase as well, rather than sitting back and waiting for the deep striking units to do there stuff.

The second big error was then throwing the vanguard vets forward unsupported, this was a desperate move really in an attempt to destroy the only unit with the capability to out range me, it didn't really work and while I learned from the first failed attempt by placing them out of line of sight before charging, i really should have known better than to just throw them in.

Other minor mistakes include not shooting in the fire shooting phase as I was so taken a back with the destruction of the death company squad that i forgot all about it. I also didn't really have any plans other than plan A, and I really should have. Always have a back up plan or at least don't put everything in to just one option.

I think the real lesson that I learnt from this game though is that the list doesn't really work. Yes you can make it work but it lacks a lot of options. It's a short range assault army and all it takes is to loose one unit and it all falls apart very quickly. I think that you could play this very differently and have some success, but as a standard list it doesn't work. If I was playing a 2000 point game, joing this up with a 1000 point guard list would be excellent, as the guard would provide the long range fire and the Angles the short ranged assault, plus you'd have CP's to spend. For my next game, I'm going with a very different list, back to a similar list To my first game and bringing back the tactical and devastator squads.

Aegis Defense Line

Up today is my only fortification, the Aegis Defense Line with Quad Gun. While 8th edition has reduced the prominence of fortifications, i rarely see fortifications these days and while i don't really use it much, i decided that it needed a coat of paint. It's a very basic paint job, minimum colours and minimal detail.

The complete collection

Defense line, front above and back below. Basic and simple as i said. I could have added more details, painted some more detail on the metal parts, which i think are speakers and communication equipment? However, i just decided to keep it simple most as it was quick.

The Quad Gun has got a bit more detail on it as i though that it's a bit more of a focus piece, plus there are a lot more details on here, with the cables, buttons and screen. 

I don't know how much use this will get in games, but its nice to finally get it all painted up.

The Hjaltland Light Infantry Company Photos

And following on from the earlier post of the Eagle Knights, here is a complete picture of the 851st Hjaltland Light Infantry. Lined up, rank and file for inspection by the commanding officer. This is quite a picture heavy post, so be prepared.

And again below is the list of the key officers and men of 851st.

Company commander

2nd in command

Command Squads

MoO

OotF

Priests

2 No. Primaris Psyker's

Troop 1 - Red Troop

PC

Squad 1

Squad 2

Squad 3

Squad 4

Troop 2 - Yellow Troop

Special weapons squad

PC

Squad 1

Squad 2

Squad 3

Squad 4

Special weapons squad

PC - Blue Troop

Vet Squad

Valkyrie

Vendetta

Wyverns

The 851 Hjaltland Light Infantry, 1st Company

Regimental Commander - Commander Ollaw Jhonisoun with Company command squad to his rear. The Squad includes Jhonisoun's personal medic and the 851st regimental standard, along side a Vox-caster and two veterans armed with special weapons for squad protection.

The Regimental second in command and the 1st companies commander - Captain Nicole Thomassoun, again supported by his command squad, this one sporting 4 plasma guns.

The veteran platoon, known as Blue Troop, lead by Platoon Commander - Lieutenant Andersoun, at the front. This is the total troop and is very much an elite hunting squad.

A view showing the heavy flamer and 3 meltas from the squad.

Yellow Troop, lead by Lieutenant Sandesoun, is considered to be the "assault troop" within the 1st company. While Blue Troop is tasked with more specialised missions, Yellow Troop is the bulk of the assault, containing no heavy weapons and each squad carries an assault weapon, usually a grenade launcher for its versatility.

Yellow Troop Platoon Commander - Lieutenant Sandesoun, with Special Weapons Squad

Another shot of the special weapons squad, all armed up with Grenade launchers. While this weapon is not a true substitute for a heavy weapon, it does enable the unit to carry some heavy infantry and anti-armour capability.

The squads of yellow troop. There are currently 4 squads in Yellow Troop, all equipped exactly the same, with a Flamers and Vox-casters.

Red troop, with Red Troop, commander Lieutenant Wischert to the centre right of the photo. This troop is the "defensive troop" with each squad containing a heavy weapon, usually the Autocannon, and a flamer for some close protection and anti assault capabilities. Again, the troop is formed of four squads.

The close support and counter attack special weapons squad, full of flamers to roast anyone that gets too close to the lines.

Red Troop Platoon commander - Lieutenant Wischert at the front of his troop.

While the majority of the force is formed of infantry, there are a couple of vehicles that operate with the 1st company.

The Imperial Navy Vendetta gunship "Wolf Slayer" from the Navies 325th tactical wing.

The Imperial Navy Valkyrie transport "Deliverance", part of the Navies 276th tactical wing.

The Wyverns of the Hrossey 56th Artillery regiment, 3 Battery, formed of 3 Wyvern heavy mortars. At present only two are operational due to lack of components to fix the damaged firing mechanism of the third vehicle.

The Aegis Defense Line with Quad Gun, deployed by the company when on defensive operations.

Reinforcements

Along side these forces, there are a a few new additions to the company. These take the form of 2 commissars, an additional company commander, 2 special weapons squads and a heavy weapons squad.

The reinforcements. 

Company commander on the left, will fill the position of 2nd in command of 1st company, 2ic to Captain Nicole Thomassoun. This commander will have a name and rank at some point but for now he's nameless. The commissar on the right is one of two in the force, the other is still in detol getting stripped. Behind the two characters you can see the two special weapons squads. The right hand squad will join yellow troop, adding some extra grenade launchers to the troop, while the other squad will join red troop and add 3 sniper rifles to the mix. While 3 isn't going to cause my opponents to quake in there boots, it will cause some problems and give me the ability to target characters.

The final reinforcements come in the form of a missile heavy weapons squad. The left hand team were originally part of one of the command squads, before 8th came along, and have since been left without a role. Now they will form part of the companies heavy weapons compliment and add some extra anti-armour fire power.

The final picture of the company, including the reinforcements off to the right. When all the models are paid Ted this will form the complete and finished article. I will add to it in the future, as i already plan on adding at least 1 ogryn bodyguard to the list, although i will not be looking at add anything else. There are still two more guard armies to finish, the Hrossey Yeomanry Mechanised and the Dagr Ormr Militarum Tempestus force with Hildasey PDF support, which is currently on the paint table.