Lucky 88th: Introduce myself, Inspiration

Sunday 19 April 2009

Introduce myself, Inspiration - Comments

Hi people.

as i now seem to have a couple of followers, i should start posting, then i might actually start getting comments.

currently very busy with uni work, but i might get some pics of the models i've done so far, get some feedback before i get round to finishing, kind of set this up ready for when uni ends and i get some free time on my hands after work...

i'm 23, ive been collecting 40k for around 10 years now. i started with a valhallen IG army, loved it like a child, it wasn't the best painted, but it had so much character and so many stories of heroic events (a heroic senior officer taking down an ork dreadnought, and a couple of killer kans. you couldn't make it up)

i then discovered inks... and bought some space wolves (brand new at the time) and set about making a nicely painted army - but dreams of grandure, it turned out i wasn't that good, but again, plenty of character.

dissapearing off to uni, i started to collect a new imperial guard army (the codex:cityfight had been released) so i figured i'd go for a cityfighting imperial guard. The Lucky 88th were born.

my basic plan for this army is as follows

Cadian Troops
Cityfighting look - no sponsons on leman russ' (to make them thinner), close Support vehicles aplenty.
Cityfighting effective - needs to be ready for a Cities of Death game, hard hitting units able to hold their own.
Character - going with the theme and fluff i have written, i want there to be a downtrodden feel, and a feel that they used to be a royal PDF force.
Plenty of Commissars, all the commander models will be commissar models, painted in army colours, aided by commissars in commissar colours, to give the image of the commissariat truly having a choke hold on the army.
LOTS AND LOTS of forgeworld goodies. i love everything forgeworld make for 40k, as such i have already spent double the money on forgeworld than i have on gw models for this army.
as much ""converting"" as i can do. im not an experienced scratchbuilder, but i do enjoy kitbashing and chopping and re-positioning. i think this army will look nicer if even the basic troopers are individual/unique, as much as possible.

Please feel free to comment on anything and everything. i'd love to hear what you have to say on anything from the fluff, the modelling and painting to the game effetiveness. (although i'd like to point out that my interest for this army lies in the look and fluff, more than the effectiveness on the gaming table)

3 comments:

The Herald said...: Sounds interesting
*Follows*; 19 April 2009 at 07:15
Admiral Drax said...: Huzzah!

I'm looking forward to seeing your models - and though I don't follow the fiction side of the fluff, I've certainly enjoyed the fluffiness of my own Guard armies over the last couple of years!

Here's to more...and pictures?

- Drax.; 19 April 2009 at 10:05
Craig said...: Lets see some pics then! It all sounds like a very good plan and It'll be interesting to see the models

Craig @ cadian8th; 21 April 2009 at 04:02

Post a Comment

The Lucky 88th History

The Lucky 88th

The Royal planet of Borlina is just off the Cadian gate, once a thriving hive planet with a high percentage of royal and rich descendants from Terra itself. Now a diseased, war torn hell hole, home to a twisted secret the Inquisition would rather not recount.

The Curse of Borlina

During a Chaos incursion (Blood & Bile of the Rich Invasion 960.M41) Inquisitor Payne ordered the Orbital Bombardment of the entire planet, choosing Viral Bombing as the means of execution of the foul beasts and corrupted Governors.
Unfortunately the Borlina PDFs were also sentenced to death, whilst deeply in conflict with the Chaos forces.
Under pressure from Inquisitor Rayvenn (of the Black Storm), Inquisitor Payne mercifully ordered areas with high concentrations of loyal forces to be bombed with a weaker strain of the virus. Whilst the planet was bombed with Virus 1, a highly corrosive airborne agent which subsides after 1 day. Virus 13 (a Plague like virus with no corrosive element) was deemed legal for use over loyalist troops, who were forewarned, advised to find cover and don gas equipment. Low on supplies, deep in conflict and without gas equipment the lucky 88th miraculously fought off Virus 13 as if it was a bad case of flu.

Affirmation

A nearby Commissariat fleet jumped at the opportunity to put together their own personal force and made planet fall to gather together the pockets of loyal troops into a fighting regiment. This proved quite difficult, requiring the aid of the nearby Space Marine chapters (“Dragon Marines” and “Black Storm”) to seek out loyal forces.

The largest surviving regiment had barricaded themselves in the Master Palace, which impressed the commissariat no end, for it was a disease ridden nightmare, the very palace itself was a Nurgle infested monstrocity.
Having already adopted the name “Lucky 88th” due to the large amount of survivors from the 88th regiment the troops added a Lucky Ace symbol to their armour and vehicles, much to the annoyance of the commissariat who view it as graffiti and unofficial. In return the more senior commissars keep their gas-masks on when in combat to stir anger into the men, making them fight harder for the injustice caused to them. Lower Commissars tend not to test such practises, wary of the men turning on them when cut off from high command.

Recruitment: The Virus Run

Any outsider coming into contact with any surviving member of the Borlina virus attacks must first be inoculated from the infectious version of the virus which can be fatal to weaker immune systems. New Recruits however are not so lucky. Firstly they are put through a year of heavy training wearing gas masks. Graduation into the Lucky 88th is only complete after a gruelling month fighting through the Virus Run, a heavily infected area of the former Borlingrav Palace, now a Bastion of pestilence and disease. The survivors of this infamous death zone gain the respect of the rest of the regiment, except for the veterans who hate all outsiders including the commissariat.