Well, so much for the deadline. Ended up painting until 2am on the morning of the tournament and then adding bits to a few models on the coach in. Hmmm....I need more discipline in painting my models.
Tournament went well. Won one game and lost the other two. All three games were very enjoyable and all resting on crucial decisions (which we got wrong). Good fun and if the dice gods were looking the other way we might have done better, still a fun day and more importantly our army looked splendid.
Upon arriving home I found a very special package waiting for me....it was from Forge World.
Imperial Armour Volume 7: The Siege of Vraks Part 3. The culmination of the magnificent story based on the armoury world of Vraks. Forge World have done it again. Just reading the background, looking at the colour plates in the book and reading the new army lists left me with a strong sense of longing. I want it all. I want a Krieg army, I want Plague marines and Beserkers. But, I cannot have. I have decided that I must concentrate on my armies and my painting. To this end I am going to go back a few years. Back to Imperial Armour 3 and the story that really kick-started my desire for cool armies. The Taros Campaign.
The Taros Campaign was Forge World's first book to include a story, army lists and new rules. It also heralded the release of some very cool models, including Tallarn snipers. Whilst reading this book I was hooked on Guard. I needed a Guard army and the Tallarn were to be it. This was during the time I worked at Games Workshop and as a result I ordered in a massive box of Tallarn metals. It was this army that led me to start up this Blog (albeit a thoroughly incomplete and inconsistent one). So it is with great pleasure that I made the decision to go back to the roots and develop my Guard.
Since beginning this the new Imperial Guard codex has been released and with it it destroyed my ideas. The removal of lasguns for Sergeants ruined everything. I had based my infantry platoons around this concept and now I had to find an alternative. This was easier said than done, as there are very few (1 in fact) Sergeant model in the Tallarn range. Although cool looking, he is not available separately and I am, at this point, unwilling to shell out £20 to buy one man. I needed an alternative. Then it struck me. Looking back to the Taros Campaign I had my answer.
So, I have created the Tallarn 117th. The idea is based on the Tallarn 17th in structure. After the war on Taros the 17th were disbanded and the Veterans merged with other units. This has formed the basis for the 117th.
The 117th are a veteran regiment. Limited in numbers after a posting to a particularly brutal theatre of war, they have been merged with another regiment. The Cadian 141st. This is an armoured regiment, also from the same conflict as the 117th, but relatively unscathed. As a result the 117th act as veteran squads for the Cadians. This overcame the problem of needed Sergeants with Laspistols as it will be easier to give them shotguns.
I have drafted a list for the Tallarn for me to work towards and will keep posts updated (honestly). I am also going to be adding to the Salamanders I took to the tournament as I think they would make nice allies for the Desert Regiments of the 117th and 141st.
Will try to keep the progress updated and hope to have this done by Christmas so I can get a few games in in the Holidays.
Bloodthirster
