Military shovel

[MarcoSkoll]

Here's one that might be interesting for you.

I was looking around wimp.com this evening - they basically do a set of six videos a day, ranging from neat to "OMG, that is awesome" - and one of today's videos was this about the Chinese military shovel, which puts the Swiss army knife to shame.
To reel off its many uses: Shovelling/Digging, a pickaxe, machete/axe/knife, saw, measuring stick, wire cutters, pliers, climbing tool, grapple/anchor , buckler & (not so improvised) weapon, hammer (with a nail prier), bottle opener and an oar (obviously ).

On seeing it, it seemed exactly like something the Imperial Guard (at least, some regiments) would have, and would be a brilliant addition to the equipment of many guardsmen - not to mention probably quite useful in Inquisitor.
Anyway, I'll leave you to draw what inspiration you can from that - I know I've had ideas.

[DapperAnarchist]

I know that in the First World War some German assault units took to "borrowing" shovels and sharpening the edges, to use as weapons, because 1) better at killing in a trench than a bayonet and 2) the German serrated bayonet was considered a war crime by the British, so those carrying them could be executed legally.

[JoelMcKickass]

Okay, i am reheeheally drunk right now, and i saw that vid and did, pretty much think "OMFG THAT [EXCOMMUNICATE] IS FREAKING COOL I WANT ONE". However, once I started thinking practically, it's okay at best, The cool stuff, like the grapple and the "cut" and buckler are useless when in comes to Inquisitor. They'd be useful as a fluff piece in a novel, or maybe to give an Imperial Guard Unit a special rule in some 40k scenarios (when you've seen the size of the compact British version, you'll know what i mean compared to that 50 cm badboy, the uses are awesome, but a
knife can do half of them, and a knife and a the...thing i'm thinking of take up less room).

I mean okay:

Digging/Picking: They're essentially doing the same thing, i've personally had to do similar with the Entrenching Tool i was given, and it did the same thing i'm seeing here.

Chop: An entrenching tool is, in it's most simple form a spade with two sharpened sides, it's not necessarily a machete, but it's one if you need one, the chinese version is no different than any other in that respect.

Saw: poosibly the only thing that a chinese entrenching tool has which dominates others.

Cut/Chop: Seriously?

Measure: Where problems really begin. 30 cm of unmovable wood. Try getting a decent firing position with that digging into your hip.

Scissors: Bayonets are designed to fill the same role, they're used as combat attachments and as multitools.

Climb? I don't see any, i see a guy cutting at the bottom of a quarry and a guy climbing over the top, the in-between doesn't happen.

Anchor: Bull[EXCOMMUNICATE], sheer and simple. The guys climbing up are wearing t shirts, pants and boots. Try jumping a relatively easy distance in half kit and you'll realise how hard simple athletic tasks are. Try climbing up a sheer rock face with 45 pounds on your back and you'll see the impracticalities

Shield: Have fun sitting in your car whilst i try and hit your arm with a stick. Maybe i'll just go for you rtyres instead.

Grapple: Where?

Hammer/nail puller: Probably the only thing that it has an actual use for.

Bottle opener: Really?

Can Opener: Useful skill, also done by a knife...

Tightening: Damned useful. Another point i'll concede.

Hang: What?

Prying Tool: Again, another point i'll concede, though at this point it's looking as though it's a handy tool for a combat engineer, not an infantry man.

Oar: Just as good as your arms.

Isoltion belt:? Translation error?

Set Up Tents: I know for a fact the British army doesn't embarass themselves by setting up tents, we have Bashers, watrproof fabric which is angled provide the most warmth and dryness that can be found. Tents are more obvious, and thus more likely to be found, so we don't use them, the entire point is to see without being seen, and to kill without being killed. Having a camp set up with tents would piss all over that idea.


Aside from trying to find a use in Inquisitor, i'm actually trying to find a practical use within todays army.

Having said that, i am intrigued as to how i can 40kify all of those things into multitasking everything. The main improvement would be the climbing, it's something which is useless on this, it has the right ideas, but you'd need two of them, and you may as well get pick axes. Maybe getting one, and firing it into somthing, and then having it pull you up (rather than you leave all you rimportant kit downstairs), and then you get on with your job.

Actually, i'm intrigued as to how i can improve that these days...

[MarcoSkoll]

Okay, i am reheeheally drunk right now

Evidently. For that reason, I'm going to leave answering most of your points for now - many of which seem to be Engrish based.
(For example, there is a grapple there. It's what they're doing - grappling with each other.)

Aside from trying to find a use in Inquisitor, i'm actually trying to find a practical use within todays army.

You're probably thinking in a different way to me, and perhaps have GMs who throw less curve balls at you.
I'm thinking rather than an Imperial Guard knife - which I have on a lot of characters, but which seldom get much use in games (as most of them have more dedicated close combat weapons) - replace it with some kind of multi tool like this. Treat it as a weapon, which can be put to other purposes as needed.

Either way, I find the idea of a character who has his trusty guard issue multi-spade and knows how to use it to be wonderfully 40k.
There are far worse models for what the Imperial Guard might be like than the Chinese Army.

[Dust King]

Could be a good excuse to arm a guard veteran with a axe equivalent representing a sharpened shovel/ entrenchment tool.

Actually now I like that idea, makes sense and is more interesting than a normal knife 

[JoelMcKickass]

To be honest i was thinking in different game terms altogether. I was thinking how conspicuous it would be, posted, then realised a single word. Lascannon. So yeah, i missed the point on that badboy.

[Kallidor]

I had an a very old retired Guardsman character who used a shovel as you, 'never know when you might need to dig up some weeds'. Never got around to making the model but if I had my idea was to have the shovel head as an Aquilla; weapon, tool and holy icon.

[Swarbie]

It is wonderful how people can take a fairly simple tool (a shovel) and then make it suit so many more purposes. Next up: combat flashlights!

Think about it. A foot of solid metal with a blade near the head, the actual light made with shatter-proof plastic and then just give it enough candle-power (that's how they measure torch-strength, right?) to blind an incoming opponent.

I'm not sure if these exist, but they'd be cool.

[GAZKUL]

Next up: combat flashlights!

Think about it. A foot of solid metal with a blade near the head, the actual light made with shatter-proof plastic and then just give it enough candle-power (that's how they measure torch-strength, right?) to blind an incoming opponent.

I'm not sure if these exist, but they'd be cool.

i agree with this ^


This reply is pointless but i frankly don't give a s**t

[Dust King]

Next up: combat flashlights!

*Insert obligatory lasgun gag here*

[Myriad]

I can't help thinking that the imperial anaologue of a military shovel would probably be useless for most of it's official purposes.  Nevertheless, guardsmen have no doubt found them admirably adaptable for close combat purposes.  Certainly it'd be a fluffy piece of kit for a guardsman to carry.