Update and Ideas 13/12/2012

Tis been a while since I've posted here.

Been playing the video game Dishonored, a game set in the steampunk city of Dunwall undergoing an industrial revolution powered by whale oil and ravaged by a rat borne plague. Tis a fun little game that I recommend picking up, it has also given me some ideas to flesh Morrdh out a bit.

*I have always considered to have something that has afflicted Morrdh, ideas I've had in the past ranged from zombies to aliens of a sort. Now I'm thinking of perhaps adapting the Rat Plague from Dishonored. I feel this would give Morrdh the status of an almost lost homeworld.

*One idea I had for the Morridane people was a collection of smuggling clans, though if I go with the Dishonored angle then I'm considering changing these to whaling clans. Course if I go with this idea then I could use The Drunken Whaler as an unofficial song of my army.

*And finally for more of a fluff and possible role play aspect is having an underground occult religion present on Morrdh, mostly in the form of hidden shrines and secret glyphs. This could be possible material for a Dark Heresy or even a Rogue Trader campaign, but I will have to see.

*I've also had an idea for a possible Necromunda setting, though this requires alot of work.

Hopefully I'll get some feedback on this, least it'll help make a decision on this.

News From The Front 1/10/2012

Well the tournie went fairly well, despite losing every game I managed to scrape a few points to end up in the middle of the listings. 6th Edition 40K certainly has proven to be interesting and I shall get some more games in if and when I can.

The Morridanes will slowly be built up over time budget permitting, though hopefully the new IG Codex will be out before I sunk a fair amount of money into the army.

Following my experiences from the tournie and going on the lessons learnt from it I'll probably be running this little number for a bit to get used to the new rules, also to get a bit of experience of the army built up as well.

Infantry Platoon 252 pts
-Platoon HQ
*Platoon Commander, Bolt Pistol

-3x Infantry Squad, Meltagun
*Watchmaster (Sergeant), Lasgun

Grenadiers Squad 146 pts
*Centaur Carrier, Extra Armour (Required squad upgrade), Searchlight

Using the Death Korps list from Forgeworld; http://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=2&cad=rja&ved=0CCkQFjAB&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.forgeworld.co.uk%2FDownloads%2FProduct%2FPDF%2Fk%2Fkreig.pdf&ei=nE5pUMmhLOa10QX2voG4Bw&usg=AFQjCNEn-2lv8J_uBK04oW-_PipttVrKiA

Not Dead But Sleepth

Well there are some stirrings of life amongst the Morridanes, chiefly involving a local Combat patrol tournie.

Asked permission to and was allowed to use Forgeworld's Death Korps armylist which'll at least give me a slight edge in combat over regular Guard. Decided to go for a three squad platoon with a Grenadier squad to give me numbers, something that may or may not give me an edge.

Heres what it boils down to;

Infantry Platoon 277 pts
-Platoon HQ
*Platoon Commander, Bolt Pistol, Power Weapon

-3x Infantry Squad, Krak Grenades, Grenade Launcher
*Watchmaster (Sergeant), Krak Grenades, Lasgun

Grenadiers Squad 120 pts
Demolition Charge, Krak Grenades
*Heavy Weapons Team, Heavy Stubber
*Watchmaster (Sergeant) Krak Grenades

TOTAL: 397 pts

The idea is that the platoon forms a solid block whilst the Grenadiers are flank runners that pack a punch when needed, the liberal use of Krak should allow me to deal quite effectively with whatever vehicles or heavily armoured grunts I encounter.

Expect an After Action Report Saturday evening or midday Sunday.

Standby For Further Information

Looking to revamp this blog and use it instead to focus on Role-Playing on the 40K universe.

Primarily this will be material for Rogue Trader since that is the closest 40K RPG currently in print to what I have planned.

Ah....

Due to life not going as planned this project is effectively on the back burner for the foreseeable future.

In the meantime I will be posting here instead; http://steamfittersrest.blogspot.co.uk/

Morrdh

Morrdh is a frontier world in the Koronus Expanse and was discovered by Sebastian Winterscale very early in his career. A lost world of man, it was covered in extensive ruins and great Cyclopean cities long buried beneath millennia of dark forest and dank swamplands. The native population were examined and found wholesome despite their long separation from the light of the Emperor, but for reasons unknown colonists were brought from the Greater Imperium to resettle Morrdh. Natives who were slow to abandon their old beliefs and practices were pushed to the fringes, and even today those with Native blood are viewed with some suspicion.

The tantalising prospect of Archeotech brought representatives of the Adeptus Mechanicus to Morrdh, while the prospect of conversion brought representatives of the Ecclesiarchy. Colonists sought to rule themselves alone, while Winterscale wished to exploit the mysterious bounties of the world for himself and his burgeoning dynasty. Fractious squabbling between these factions brought down the wrath of the Inquisition, who brokered a settlement – Morrdh and its people would be led by a council representing each faction, a council headed by a leader chosen from the ranks of the new settlers.

Queen Lothwyn XIV is the current monarch of Morrdh and planetary governor, ruling from the capital city of Morrdun. Beneath her, a Magos Explorator, an Ecclesiarchical official and a memeber of the Winterscale sit as advisers. Each has their own agenda, and each not-so secretly longs to rule alone. Were it not for the obsidian tower of the Inquisitorial manse casting long shadows over the capital it is very likely that one would have made their move by now. For now, they are content to plot and intrigue and to quietly indulge in smuggling ancient artefacts offworld.

Recently, Queen Lothwyn has pushed for her world to become a Garrison world. Her reasons for doing so are unclear, as it would entail far higher tithes and far more Imperial oversight. Some suspect that she hopes to force a confrontation between the other factions, a confrontation she clearly believes will end successfully for her. Others believe that she knows of some dark threat looming on the horizon. Those allied to Rogue Traders fear that it is the first step towards Imperial annexation of what they see as their rightful domain.

Despite the intrigue ridden politics, Morrdh is one of the major sources of promethium in the Expanse and its lumber is valued by Imperial nobles in the Calixis Sector and beyond as are the relics found in the mire-bound ruins that dot the planet’s surface….

What's This All About Then?

I've been playing 40K on and off since 2003, in this time I've always gone with the Imperial Guard.

My first army was Valhallan Ice Warriors of which I built up a sizeable force which included a few conversions, however I sold this army off to a local player who actually painted them up. In time I also started playing Warmachine, a game I quite enjoy and found easier to get into on a limited budget though I may save my ventures in that game for another blog. I also dabbled a bit with Mordheim, Necromunda and Blood Bowl.

But the itch for an Imperial Army stayed.

Now I've always fancied doing fluffy armies over competitive ones, the theme is more important to me than trashing the other guy's army. So I looked at doing armies based on different ideas, usually from a Long Range Desert Group based force through to an army of zombie hunters. I have also favoured doing armies with a low-tech theme, this is mainly armies inspired by the World Wars and extends to me sourcing models that resemble WW2 era Brits but remain SciFi enough for 40K. This search led me to the Secrets of the Third Reich game made by Westwind Productions, I got the models I was after but I would require making some conversions.

40K ended up on the back burner for a bit, but with the release of 6th Edition and a well paying summer job I've decided to give it another shot. After kicking some ideas about I finally settled on a force inspired in part by the Gibraltar Regiment and the Rats of Tobruk, a mostly artillery force with infantry support. I also settled upon the Death Korps of Krieg army list from Forgeworld, thus the 13th Regiment Royal Morridane Artillery came into being.

Next few posts should hopefully cover the army's fluff and some army lists.