Starting a Death Korps of Kreig Army

I've decided to start a new Imperial Guard army.  After two years of Palladians, it's time for something a bit new.  Let me talk you through what I decided to do, and how.

I really like the Death Korps models; always have done.  I think it was reading a post on Zzzz's blog about the new platoon deals from Forgeworld that got me excited - my Palladians have reached a logical point to finish, so I'd decided on my new army.

Fluff Creation


Hades Breaching Drill - a big part of my 'Sapping
Platoon' idea.  Pic from Dakka Dakka.
Regular readers will know about my passion for fluff, so they may be surprised by my efforts to reduce the amount of fluff for this army.  The reason is, fun though all the Palladian fluff was, this is just supposed to be a nice quick army that's going to look great on the table.

I can use the vanilla DKoK fluff to give me any background information I need, leaving me to focus on the models themselves and a little bit on the unit and its characters.



For that I turned to Do You Have a Flag's famous Fluff Creation Post for some structure.  Using the plan there, I came up with:
  • Core Concept:  A small, elite platoon-sized force of pioneers and miners, based on sap and mining warfare of the First World War.
    • Purpose and Goal:  These are a regular part of a generic Death Korps regiment - well-equipped and trained, but new to the Death Korps 'ethos' and trying to get used to the fact that now they're all supposed to be 'unafraid of death'.
    • Personality and Approach:  Using a force of miners and sappers (in Hades Breaching Drills), they smash the enemy defences and move in teams of Grenadiers, under cover of heavy weapons.
    • Aesthetics:  In keeping with the DKoK fluff, the army is going to have a strong Germanic theme.
Models and Modelling Inspiration

Wow!  That mud is incredible - check out the thread here
Of course, the big thing with any Forgeworld models is the cost.  That's why I've decided to keep it to 750 - 1,000 pts for now, with a view to doing 500 pt games.  I want to use all Grenadiers, partly to keep costs down and partly in keeping with my elite infantry theme.  It will also be something quite different from the Palladian human wave tactics.  (This may involve playing with the army list - perhaps using 4th Edition doctrines to take Grenadiers as Troops choices, pending agreement from my opponents).

There will be no tanks - partly to again limit the costs, but also to be a bit different.  I also don't really like painting tanks.

To purchase these chaps I went Ebay hunting.  I managed to get an Engineer Squad, two Grenadier Squads and a Mortar Team.  Each one was up to £5 cheaper than the FW website price.  I also got the Command Squad direct from FW.  This wasn't on Ebay - but I just had to have one!

I wanted the bases to really be something special.  I did a Google trawl and found some really inspirational pictures on this thread.  In particular the mud was perfect, so I found the tutorial and stocked up on supplies:

The Command Squad, fresh out the box from Forgeworld.
Modelling sand, wood glue and wood chip at the top (for making the mud).  My local shop did me a deal when I cleaned them out of OO Gauge barbed wire, and I also found some Water Effects stuff there which was snapped up.
And there we are!  A momentous day, the start of a new army.  I'll be working on a few of the models in the next few weeks and once I'm happy with the style I'll do a tutorial post as well.

Thanks for reading,

Ed

Comments

  1. Excellent ! I'll make more room on the casualty table. Looking forward to seeing them started. Yes, started, a DKK army is never finished...

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    1. Already have a few interesting test models done, so a post on them soon! That's what I'm afraid of, 750 becomes 2,000 becomes 10,000pts.

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  2. I love the Death Korp range and even picked up a squad of Grenadiers years ago just to have on the shelf - they never made it past a test mini but I still enjoy looking at them. I quite like the Heavy Stubber model that fits the squad as well - a really nice pose.

    I think the heavy weapon teams are the best part of that range - again the stubbers and auto cannons stand out for me.

    Then there is the command squads. I prefer the line squad to the HQ squad personally - but both have great character, as do the Commissars that match the range.

    The Engineers are also a great bit of kit - that Mole Launcher is classic.

    The Heavy Artillery is also the bomb (pun intended) - the old school wheels and stripped down look to them screams WW1 artillery line to me.

    Who am I kidding - that whole range is worth buying - but then what from FW isn't these days. If cost wasn't an option and there was even a chance of me getting paint on them in this lifetime - then I would be diving straight into a purchase.

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    1. Cheers FM - everything you put there flashed through my head when I thought of the Death Korps. I think that's why I decided to keep them pretty vanilla since the stock, vanilla aesthetic is so cool - for a change, from GW.

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  3. The Death Korp range is absolutely fantastic, and I'm quite eager to see just what marvels you're going to produce with them ^^

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    1. Thankyou, your Royal Highness - stay tuned on them and an update to follow!

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  4. Sweeeeeet. Really looking forward to seeing the DKoK come together!

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  5. Pricey project, but quality costs, right?

    DKK are some super cool sculpts indeed. I'm eager to see your take on them.

    Traditional colour scheme or something more radical/different?

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    1. It does, but I've wanted these for so long. Something fairly traditional, I think.

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    2. Pricey? In Oz they are only 25% more than plastic Cadians, LOL. :p

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  6. I can't wait to see how these turn out. I'll be following closely.

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    1. Cheers John, will have a detailed update in a few weeks probably.

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  7. Oh boy - I'm looking forward to this fun already!

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    1. Thankyou, Admiral - should hopefully provide lots of blogging and gaming opportunities too, really looking forward to it.

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  8. Mud and blood in the 41st millennium, can't wait to see what you do with them.

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    1. Thanks a lot Chris - yes, think that my WWI stuff earlier this year may have affected my purchase a little bit...

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  9. Looking forward to your DKOK army, Those dudes always turn out nicely!

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    1. Thanks James - that's the beauty of FW models - they're so nice you really can't go wrong with picking a paintjob!

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  10. "Out of every one hundred men, ten shouldn't even be there, eighty are just targets, nine are the real fighters, and we are lucky to have them, for they make the battle. Ah, but the one, one is a warrior, and he will bring the others back."
    ― Heraclitus
    May your army be disproportionately filled with fighters and warriors.
    I dabbled with a squad of DDoK but never really got them together. You seemed to have jumped in with both feet. Totally the way to go with this sort of thing! Congratulations and good luck!

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  11. I'll filter out the expletives of my message to you, but suffice to say these look incredible. Was already looking forward to these when you mentioned the idea, can't wait to see more of these chaos sir. The bases and wire really add to it. Definitely think basing makes a huge difference. Looking forward to seeing them on the table

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  12. Fantastic work, the MG stand is amazing!

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