Uniform Pictures

Here's some more fluff I've been working on, with the artistic talents of Headologist helping me out .. some uniform plates!  These are a bit like the colour pictures you get in the Osprey books and I like doing these, as it gives a bit more depth and colour than just the standard issue 40K artwork.

These are both based on one picture, but I have a few more I'm working on and I hope to get some more updates in the next few days!  For those of you not familiar with the background of the army, these are the dress uniforms worn by the troops of the Praetorian units - consider it one step up from the smart uniforms the Mordian Iron Guard wear.

3. Captain of Infantry, Mess Dress.  The Mess Dress is worn on formal occasions only.  Usually, as the name implies, these are regimental events hosted by the R.P. to which officers are invited.  Some of the ceremonies might include the anniversary of a famous battle, the regiment’s Founding Feast, or a prominent Saint’s Day.  Palladian regiments have a very strong esprit de corps, and the Mess community is part of this.  The Mess Dress would not routinely be worn outside of such an event.

     

The uniform has the same cut and colour of the Field and Dress uniforms, with a number of accoutrements.  The most obvious is the heavy horizontal braiding across the chest.  This is a distinction of Palladian regiments and is universal to officers and soldiers.  Mess Dress is the only dress which only comes in single-breasted variants, which is the only variant possible by nature of the decorative braiding.  The buttons are gilt silver, and are sometimes embossed with the regimental number.  The Mordian Knots on the sleeves, unlike in the Iron Guard regiments, do not denote rank.  In this as with all officers’ uniforms, the rank is denoted by shoulder straps.  In this case the three gilt stars upon silver braid signify a captain.

Of note is the standing collar, present in some form in almost all Palladian dress.  The buttons on the collar sides are regimental distinctions; those regiments with the Bonus Imperatora are allowed to wear these badges.  The Mess Dress tunic does not have a matching belt.  The weapon, usually a sword for an officer such as this, would be worn suspended from a loose leather belt worn between the bottom two horizontal braids.  Mess Dress uniforms are finely crafted items and are sometimes individually tailor made for the more senior ranks.

     4. Cavalry Lance-Guardsman, Mess Dress.  Shown below is another example of Palladian Mess Dress, as prescribed for enlisted men.  Although Officer’s Messes are the only messes which routinely allow the wearing of Mess Dress, in exceptional circumstances enlisted men can be invited into the mess, and for this a special tunic will be tailored.  An example of this is if a man is to receive a senior award for gallantry, this will often be a ceremony held in his honour in the Officer’s Mess.

The uniform is identical in cut to the officer’s version; the shoulder straps upon which the officer wears his rank is a plain cloth strap in arm-of-service colour; in this case golden yellow for a cavalryman.  Rank insignia for enlisted men is not worn on black backing cloth (cf. plate 2), but a single braided stripe with decorative edging is worn at the same position on the sleeve.

     

Otherwise this item of uniform is identical to the officers’ version.  This is usually because in practice, enlisted mens’ mess dress is so rare that it is converted on an ad hoc basis from surplus stocks of officer’s uniforms and simply re-tailored.