Boarding Party

Afternoon everyone!  Exciting news: my long-awaited Boarding Party is finally finished!  After a few months of building, disassembling, reassembling and painting, I have a 4th Battalion squad ready for Zone Mortalis games.  Hurrah!

The entire squad: commander with plasma pistol,
two meltaguns, a heavy bolter and five shotguns

The project began way back in March, where the last update showed the construction work on the unit.  

(Unfortunately, one of the men was subsequently lost in action when I accidentally dropped him off my 11th floor balcony while undercoating.  Despite me rushing down to street level to assist he was gone - the upshot of which is that there's no flamer and the squad is now 9 men strong.  Relatively, that's the equivalent of you falling just over a mile, so I'm not surprised he didn't make it.)

There was a sneak preview of the paint jobs last month when I showed off the new bases from Secret Weapon Miniatures, and over the weekend I managed to finish off the paint jobs.  Incidentally, check out Col Ackland's blog for some interesting thoughts on Praetorian sailors as boarding parties ...

Before we see the pictures, this is the paragraph on the 4th Battalion from my master fluff document.  Since I've only done one squad this is all I have, although it will be expanded in time.  Mainly, I hope it will explain how Imperial Guard units are off doing boarding actions.

CRUCIATUS V. SC. ELUTORAE; 4th Battalion


The inauspicious origins of this unit belie its honourable history. The Perseus Containment Regiment was one of a number of regiments forming the Perseus Division to garrison the continent, although it was still a legionary unit. When the divine St. Elutor of Macragge visited the young Palladian system M32, the majority of units were dispatched to Palladium I, the home of the Ministorium Temple, to provide an honour guard and for security duties. The Perseus Brigade remained behind to garrison the capital planet. When the Saint’s ship moved passed Palladium Primus, it was pulled into planetary orbit by a tractor beam, originating from a captured spacedock held by heretics. Before her ship was boarded, St. Elutor sent a distress signal. In the absence of any other units, it finally ended on the desk of the Perseus Division, Maj.- Gen. Lucranius sending an acknowledgement before communications were severed. St. Elutor withstood sixty hours of the crudest and most barbaric torture, not once revealing that relief was bound for the spacedock in the form of the Perseus Containment Regiment. The ensuing battle on their arrival was made brief by the ensuing surprise.


The Holy Saint was duly impressed, bestowing the Emperor’s Blessing on the unit and insisting it was inducted into the now-expanding and recently christened Praetorian Regiment. They were renamed S t. Elutor’s Torture and retain their traditional role of heavily armoured containment infantry. Their armoured haz-suits and force shields giving them both a formidable appearance and legendary fortitude that strikes terror into the hearts of their opponents. When fighting alongside the Steel Legion on Armageddon M36, their Ork opponents bestowed the sobriquet “‘Ard Nutz” upon them; a name which they have since unofficially adopted. They are to be found fighting in the harshest of physical, chemical or biological environments, under the command of Maj. Valens, who has earned the respect of the numerous agents and officers of the wider Imperium he has served alongside. For the past ten years, the battalion has taken part in clearance operations in the underhives of Perseus, fighting rebels and heretics in the noxious vapours of these urban depths, followed by deployment to Edethor as part of Battle Group Tacitus. 

Well, that's enough waffle for now.  Pictures!

The officer

Detail of the grenades and plasma pistol - also badge of rank on the left shoulder pad

Shotgunner

Another - these all look very similar

Very dynamic - incidentally it was very difficult
to site the models centrally on their bases

Aonther

Detail of the squad 2i/c's shock shield

Corporal with converted meltagun

Second meltagunner

Heavy support in the form of a 'bruiser'

There we have it!  Really enjoyed painting and converting these chaps.  As I come to the end of buying all the bits for my 2nd Battalion army, I may move into more of these one-off squads as side projects.  Stay tuned this week, as there are plenty of new developments in the works - a steam tank, did I hear you say?  Command squad and Honour Guard?  No, I couldn't possibly comment on the rumours ... check back Wednesday evening ...