Penal legion warband.

[Darksinger]

Ok guys, this has probably been done before, bt has anyone ever fielded a penal legion unit for a game of inuisitor? I had the idea, and wondered what you guys thought. If you could give me some idea of a statline for a penal legion trooper (and a custodian would help) and maybe the special rules to give him, that'd be great.

[Kaled]

That depends entirely on who they were before they were sentenced to serve in the penal legion - there's no such thing as a standard statline.  If they are a guardsman sentenced to serve then give them the stats of a guardsman (maybe with a lower than usual Ld), if they were civilians who've ended up in a penal battalion then they're likely to have lower stats - depending on how long they've served of course.

As for special rules - they could well be implanted with frenzon dispensers (psychon? Or maybe just causing frenzy?) and wear explosive collars (the convicts are likely to have low Ld, but could receive a bonus if they see one of their number executed by way of his collar).  Plus you could maybe include a human bomb - although he's not really the best character for a narrative wargame as his story is likely to be short and messy!  They're not likely to have much other equipment - some sort of basic weapon (shotgun, autogun, lasgun), a knife, maybe a flak vest and helmet - and then anything they've managed to salvage.

One thing I will say, if that this sort of single-archetype warband is pretty dull.  Why not just include a penal legion trooper in an Inquisitor's retinue, or an ex-human bomb (one whose harness failed to explode obviously) who has now hooked up with your Rogue Trader?

BTW - have you given up on Restin and crew?  Or are they still going to be turned into models?


P.S. Your avatar isn't being displayed - or is that just for me?

[Darksinger]

Naw, Restins still good. I'm just waitinng for my compiuter to start working properly again (i'm on my laptop now, it dosent have a working word processor) so i can load upmy latest characters. Also, i'm hoping someone will post on it before i post again. If you havent read it, it explains restins lack of child in an easy manner.

Single archtype? I would have thought a penal legion would be the most diverse! Its different people in for different reasons, from different planets and with different personalitys and or weaponry. I' thinking:

1.The Custodian
2.An ex-mechanicum guy with loads of bionics. charrged with sabotage
3.Ex-ministorium priest. falsly charged with dereliction of duty
4.Ex-cadian mute. charged with with thievery
5.Ex-valhallan sniper. declared unfit for frontline duty, recruited on the spot.
6.Civilian convict accused of forgery and blackmail. freed by the custodian whilst chasing a target through a dungeon.
7.Ex-Mordian cadet- Charged with desertion
8.Ex Catachan devil hunter. Sentanced to death, recruited on the firing line.
9.Ex storm trooper. Falsely accused of multiple crimes including murder, theft and lieing to a superior officer.

[MarcoSkoll]

Single archtype? I would have thought a penal legion would be the most diverse!

Not really. It for the most part is still mostly just soldiers of one form or another. Most warbands are considerably more diverse, including characters whose backgrounds aren't all based in the military.

An ex-mechanicum guy with loads of bionics.

One thing - it is not the "Mechanicum". The Mechanicum is what split into the loyalist Adeptus Mechanicus and the traitor Dark Mechanicum during the Horus Heresy, and has not existed for millennia.
It seems to have become a very common mistake since McNeill wrote that book to assume the two terms equivalent.

[Darksinger]

oh well. Single archetype warband it isthen. I'm still gonna make them, seeing as i can use the 28mm figs i have already as suitable standins before i get 54mm (after Restin ect.)

Mechanicum- oops. Not much cop with non-guardsman imperial history. He's one of the loyalists.

[Kaled]

I wasn't sure what sorts of thing you were looking for when you asked for special rules so I suggested a few ideas but was there anything specific you wanted?

Is the plan for the ex-Stormtrooper to still be equipped like a Stormtrooper and the Moridan to still be in his fancy uniform etc? Or are they all going to be in some sort of prisoner fatigues with just the odd thing here and there to hint at their previous career? What's the custodian going to look like?

[Darksinger]

They will all pretty much wear what they came in, maybe with their helmets or hats removed. They will all certainly have flak armour on their torso. Also, they will all (bar the custodian) be fitted with penal legion collars (which i'll need rules for. any ideas?)

My Custodian has the following profile (appearance attached)

Colonel Grayham
left handed.


WS   BS   S   T   I   Wp   Sg   Nv   Ld      
56   53   51   56   43   61   58   62   74   

Special Abilities
• Leader
• Fearsome

Equipment:
• Bolt Pistol
• Chainsword
• Flak armour on torso, abdomen, groin and legs (3 points of armour)
• Sargents cap on head (1 point of armour)
• Leather armour on arms (also on torso, but armour does not stack) (2 points of armour)
---------------
Apearance
---------------
6 foot 1. Dark blue eyes, Shoulder length grey hair and goatee beard.

---------------
Background:
---------------
Founder of The 18th vostroyan Penal legion, Grayham has never told anyone his true name, exept from the deseaced from his legion. As they die, he whispers his name into their ear as an indication he forgives them for their sins. Should he not whisper the name, the dying goes into death in the knowledge he has not found atonement, and failed in his mission. If he cannot, due to the manner of death, whisper the name, but would have, He instead fires a pistol round into the air. Grayham is an intimidating man, and it has been stead he has sent an ork burna squadron running in the other direction, straight into the path of a bare bone truck, killing everyone on board and all the burnas, most plant life and an unlucky grot in the resltant explosion. Weather or not this is true, Grayhams penal legion belives it enough to know that get on his bad side, you'll end up 6 feet under. Grayham has been the sole survivor of many a mission, although his latest team of legionaires has shown much promise. He has no orders as per yet, so trains his team constantly on board whatever ships he may be upon.

A point on my avatar- Its probably a faulty site. It dont display for me either- gonna change it. Its the dark rider from the dark is rising (played by christopher eccleston) hence the pesonal text

[Kaled]

I don't think Fearsome is really appropriate - how does he inspire such fear in opposing characters that they would hesitate to charge him? He's just a tall guy with a beard and bolt pistol.

An explosive collar is just designed to kill it's wearer, so the only rule you need is about how it's detonated and what effect doing so has on the other members of the penal battalion. Does the custodian need LOS to detonate it? Does it detonate automatically if they stray too far from the custodian? Is there a chance of it being detonated automatically when the character is hit in the head? As for the effect, a bonus to Ld and maybe Nv seems appropriate for anyone who saw their fellow prisoner being executed.

[MarcoSkoll]

I don't think Fearsome is really appropriate - how does he inspire such fear in opposing characters that they would hesitate to charge him? He's just a tall guy with a beard and bolt pistol.

Agreed. I've written rants on Fearsome and its application/misapplication before, so I'll just link to one of those and save myself the time.

... now read that before going on with the rest of this post.

However, the addendum here is that it would be valid to make him Fearsome to his underlings only - it's unlikely to come into play, but if they were to charge him, it would very probably be fatal (he can activate their collars if he wants!).

[Darksinger]

the idea was that he was fearsome to his underlings yea, although that wasn't realy made clear. The part about the orks is just a story, but its one of the methods he uses to keep them in line.

So then- Penal legion warband collar-

If the wearer goes outwith 12" of the custodian, the collar will self detonate.
If the head suffers acute injury, roll 2d10. On a result of less than 50, the collar explodes.
Should the custodian die, all models with collars immediatly gain 50 LD (max 80) for D3 turns
The custodian can detonate any collar at any given time, with or without LoS (remote operated)
Any legionaire within LoS of the legionaire whos collar is detonated gains 30 LD and 15 NV.
Should a collar be detonated, the character is instantly killed.

[Kaled]

If the head suffers acute injury, roll 2d10. On a result of less than 50, the collar explodes.

A D100 surely?  2D10 is always going to give a result less than 50.  If he suffers acute injury he's going to be out of the game anyway, it doesn't matter (as far as the game is concerned) if his collar explodes.

Should the custodian die, all models with collars immediatly gain 50 LD (max 80) for D3 turns

Why?  Surely if the custodian dies the penal trooper are likely to just flee the field rather than suddenly get much more disciplined, better at following orders and better at commanding others.

EDIT: Maybe instead lower their Nv for the rest of the game as they're no longer being compelled to fight and are now just looking out for themselves.

The custodian can detonate any collar at any given time, with or without LoS (remote operated)

I assume this takes a single action?  Or can he literally do it at any time?  Is the remote control something he needs to be holding in order to detonate a collar?  Or can he operate it while holding his pistol & sword?

[tzabazeus]

Just to throw in my experience of legionnaire collars, we had a campaign where each person controlled one character each due to there being 12+ people in the same campaign.
There was a penal trooper being used and his explosive collar was controlled by a commisar, but the main point I'm making was it was a remotely controlled device that took one action to arm and a further action to detonate.

Needless to say hilarity ensued whenever the commisar armed the device when the penal trooper didn't do what he was told.

Niall

[GAZKUL]

just out of curiosity i was aware that the bulk of penal legions were made up on civilian criminals as opposed to ex guard, i've got a copy of the Imperial Infantryman's uplinfting Primer in front of me and only two crimes actually get a soldier sent to the penal legions (wasting ammunition and not showing devotion to the emporer).

Most punnishments for crimes such as comerdice, desertion, theft, disobaying officers etc tend to invlove being shot, this may vary from regiment to regiment of course but it seems to be standard practice as opposed to wasting effort doing a job which a Lasbolt would do quicker and more effeciently.

[MarcoSkoll]

just out of curiosity i was aware that the bulk of penal legions were made up on civilian criminals as opposed to ex guard, i've got a copy of the Imperial Infantryman's uplinfting Primer in front of me and only two crimes actually get a soldier sent to the penal legions (wasting ammunition and not showing devotion to the emporer).

I disagree with McNeill there. The penal legions are a popular capital punishment - shooting someone is a waste, and only those who are totally irredeemable or need to be made an example of will be executed on the spot. A dead body is a dead body, a penal trooper has some use.

In my opinion, the penal legions are probably the most common death penalty, either for the military or civillians - but the civilian members tend to be even shorter lived. While there are perhaps more civilians sentenced to the legions, they probably make up a minority of its living members (at least after their first battle).

[GAZKUL]

i'll disagree on that point, while historically using punnishment batalions have been used for  such tasks as mine clearence by some countries. untill the mid 21st century death by firing sqad was far more common for misdeeds and it staggers belief that society has actually evolved in the 30 000 or so years since, especially by the imperial track record for ruthless efficiency. a penal legionarry will have to be fed, armed, housed and transported at the expence of the imperium for crimes which could cost all of a single las or stub round to correct, whatever use the pesron may be will be limited and at best they'll buy a few seconds for better men while at worst they'll desert to the enemy.