Alice Fenn, ex-PDF Commissar (now with +1)

[Koval]

Seeing as Alice is the character I'm most likely to turn into a model for a warband, here's a henchman (for which I'm planning to use Major Jackson as a base). His fluff is largely tied in with the Kaamos Incident so I won't bother repeating myself too much -- Alice gets the full life-history treatment showing us how she got to where she is, whereas Relander gets the Brief Backgroundy Bit treatment instead.

NAME: Viljo Relander

RANK / AFFILIATION: (Former) PDF Captain / Inquisition, formerly Kurabata Prime PDF

PHYSICAL STATS:
Date of Birth: (3)301979.M41
Place Of Birth: Nova Calcaria, capital of Kurabata Prime (Segmentum Pacificus, near the coreward border)
Gender: Male
Height: (dependent on Major Jackson model)
Weight: 65kg?

BRIEF BACKGROUNDY BIT:
Initially thinking he was destined for a future in the Imperial Guard, Viljo Relander quickly found that he had to reassess his career plans when those soldiers and officers being transferred to Guard regiments were of a higher standard than he was. Relander nonetheless succeeded in reaching the rank of Captain within the PDF and earning his own command of a rifle company in mid-007, proving wrong his critics who had frequently suggested that he might remain a Lieutenant for his whole military career. Further promotions, however, proved to be beyond Relander's reach when his company bungled a counter-insurgency operation in support of the Adeptus Arbites. Under Relander's direct orders, men from one of his platoons had fired upon a four-man fireteam of Enforcers and wounded two, having mistaken them for a heretic kill-squad; Relander, therefore, received a severe reprimand and was prohibited from further advancing up the chain of command.

During the Kaamos Incident, command of local PDF forces within Nova Calcaria fell to Colonel Virkkunen, who ironically put Relander in charge of PDF-Arbites liaisons in order to help contain the local riots. Came the emergence of the daemon, however, Relander discovered that with the deaths or insanity of Colonel Virkkunen and his fellow PDF Captains, he was the most senior surviving officer still fit for duty, and managed to rally the remnants of his company to support Inquisitor Skoll. While Relander's ability to procure a trio of Leman Russ Exterminators was quite considerable, given his tarnished reputation, their contribution did however go largely unnoticed as Inquisitor Skoll had already dealt with the daemon by the time the tanks arrived.

Following the Kaamos Incident's conclusion, Relander had a paltry thirty-nine PDF soldiers under his command, less than half of whom were still sane. As a part of Inquisitor Skoll's clean-up operation, the sane survivors -- together with other surviving PDF elements from across the planet -- were integrated into the Kurabacian 63rd Light Infantry, recalled along with the 22nd Grenadiers and 159th Mechanised to replace Kurabata Prime's PDF. Relander himself was relieved of his command for simply knowing too much about the Kaamos Incident and surrounding political struggles, but where he expected a bullet in the head for his troubles, Relander was surprised to hear that he was being taken off-world along with Commissar Alice Fenn to enter the service of the Inquisition.

Inquisitor Skoll's comments about Relander are very general in nature, as if Relander were simply an afterthought tacked onto Alice's own recruitment. Certainly it made no sense to simply kill Relander to silence him, though leaving him on Kurabata Prime carried its own set of risks; as such, removing Relander from the equation altogether was the most logical course of action, though Skoll himself knows little about him. Inquisitor Filipowski, as Alice's (and therefore Relander's) current patron, is more forgiving, but similarly has few things -- good or bad -- to say about the man, beyond that he needs the opportunity to prove himself. Relander himself has taken to his new position well, appreciating the greater need for personal responsibility without also having to be responsible for over a hundred soldiers. Although Inquisition service is far removed from Relander's initial desire to join the Imperial Guard, he is hardly going to start complaining now, and sees his current role as "about as close as I'm going to get".

WS BS S  T  I  Wp Sg Nv Ld
63 62 53 59 60 63 51 58 61

Handedness: Right

Equipment: Kurabacian "Warden" autogun with one reload, Kurabacian "Contender" stub pistol with two reloads, flak armour (AV 3 on all locations except head), microbead.

Skills and Talents: Combat Coordinator, Rapid Reload

Additional Special Rules: "Could You Repeat That, Sir?"


"Warden" autogun: Although Kurabata Prime is not an ice world, it is nonetheless a very cold planet, and what little Mechanicus presence there is on Kurabata must concentrate first on meeting the needs of the people rather than outfitting the Imperial Guard for war. As a result, the duty of manufacturing military materiel is left to lower-tech local manufactora; however, these facilities cannot produce more advanced equipment in any great quantity, and focus instead on ease of manufacture and sheer stubborn resilience. The Warden arose from such a design philosophy, made from inexpensive steel stampings and injection-moulded thermoplastics to replace the lasgun as a standard longarm.
The Warden is a SMG with a Drum Magazine (see the Revised Inquisitor Armoury). It has the following profile:
Type   Range        Mode         Acc    Dam    Shots  Reload  Wt
Basic    J     Sg/Sm(3)/F(10)     -    2D6+1     60      3    30
Wardens are standard issue among Kurabacian military units, Uncommon on Kurabata Prime itself, and Rare outside of the Kurabata system.

Jam-prone: The weapon has a nasty tendency to jam, which may be due to it having been poorly made or maintained, or the complexity of the mechanism.
Instead of only a natural 00 roll to hit jamming the weapon, these weapons can jam on a wider range of rolls. The Jam Prone effect increases the likelihood of a jam by +2, and will thus normally jam on rolls of 98-00. Other than this, the results are treated as any normal stoppage.

"Contender" stub pistol: see Alice's profile

Combat Coordinator:

The character can not only keep a cool head under fire, but excels at directing the efforts and firepower of others, calling targets and chanting litanies of marksmanship over the vox.
If the Combat Coordinator can draw line of sight to a target, any warband members on the same vox channel as the Combat Coordinator gain a +10% to all Ballistic Skill tests when firing at the 'called' target. In addition, once per game, he may impart the Heroic skill to everyone on his vox channel for one turn.

"Could You Repeat That, Sir?": Relander's dubious reputation for poor target identification has still not left him, despite becoming vastly more competent over the course of the Kaamos Incident. He must pass a Ld test to make use of Combat Coordinator against non-hostile targets.

[MarcoSkoll]

I'm afraid I haven't the time to read and comment on Relander now, but:

If this character is the same character as the one I'm thinking of, then I'm having an easier time imagining Kalle getting clotheslined, but clocking him works as well. (That said, I can't imagine either of those being especially pleasant with 300 pounds of bionic lady delivering them.)

"Clocked" is quite a wide definition in my book.

I guess it depends how you define clothesline - but the stricter definition (Arm held straight out to the side, run at opponent to knock them down) would actually look very weird outside professional wrestling.
I did however perhaps have the idea of a blow delivered via the forearm in mind (maybe a short-arm lariat). Possibly a little less bone breaking than being directly thumped.

If we're on wrestling moves though, another alternative could be a straight chokeslam - which while actually fairly safe in the faked arena, would not actually be all that pleasant if you actually did what they're pretending to do. (Besides, even if it didn't incapacitate him, it would certainly stop him.)

As for your final comment - I imagine Silva clouting you in any fashion probably wouldn't be very pleasant.

[MarcoSkoll]

...as Inquisitor Skoll had already dealt with the daemon by the time the tanks arrived.

For a non-Malleus Inquisitor, Skoll has a very good track record against daemons. Possibly because of that shiny sword he's got.

General story of Relander's transfer

Sounds about right for Skoll - he's neither hugely experienced nor a Malleus Inquisitor, so he's very likely more than a bit lax about how he handles the aftermath of daemonic incidents - the "kill everyone and repopulate" method isn't his normal style (or even really within the limits of the connections he has, particularly outside his home sector).

With a lot of civilians left over to tell their tales, he wouldn't have been in a rush to kill off Relander either - but, as you say, as he was in command, he did perhaps know more of the pieces of the story than was ideal.

That said, I may need to think more specifically about what Skoll's cover story would have been.
As a draft idea, "a heretical cult practising warpcraft", make sure any actual evidence that couldn't fit that story is utterly eradicated, then let a ignorant and fearful populace have distort their interpretation and recollection of events distorted by the official story.

~~~~~

I'm also not entirely sure about the idea that autoguns beat lasguns in cold weather. There's conflicting reports in the fluff, in that sometimes it's stated as a problem but the most famous ice world I can think of (Valhalla) still issues lasguns to its regiments.

In terms of actual physics, you really get into whether batteries work (Self-discharge rates go down in low temperatures, so batteries losing their charge is not the likely problem. Rather that the internal resistance goes up and thus the batteries have a lower effective power output and capacity) or lubricants freeze at lower temperatures... and it is (with current tech) a race slightly in favour of the batteries, but not by much with both becoming a problem somewhere between -50 and -60.
I'd add that neither kind of gun would stay cold in use - lasguns draw hundreds of amps, and propellants burn at thousands of degrees, so the problems would become irrelevant once a gunfight had actually broken out.

Personally, my favoured reason for regiments using solid-shot weapons rather than laser ones is simply that solid-shot can be produced on a lower tech level. It's modern day tech, but lasguns require Mechanicus backed manufactorums to provide the means to build them - things that only usually get put somewhere with plenty of available workers like a hive or forge world.

A gamma class world (which is what I think you said Kurabata Prime was), if it didn't have a world with a high manufacturing output in the immediate galactic vicinity could certainly end up relying on its own, lower tech, production to equip its regiments.

~~~~~

And as one last thing, similar to what I said with Alice, a former Captain (even if in the PDF) is also someone I'd consider a candidate for a high Ld.

[Koval]

General story of Relander's transfer

Sounds about right for Skoll - he's neither hugely experienced nor a Malleus Inquisitor, so he's very likely more than a bit lax about how he handles the aftermath of daemonic incidents - the "kill everyone and repopulate" method isn't his normal style (or even really within the limits of the connections he has, particularly outside his home sector).

Skoll never did strike me as the kill-everyone sort either.

With a lot of civilians left over to tell their tales, he wouldn't have been in a rush to kill off Relander either - but, as you say, as he was in command, he did perhaps know more of the pieces of the story than was ideal.

It also eliminates the problem of merging a unit whose highest ranking officer is a Captain with an existing, and much larger, unit; I don't imagine Relander would have fitted in anywhere.

(I feel I should clarify that the 39 figure is for troops under his direct command, of which he'd probably have started with about three times that, but nonetheless he was still the highest ranking officer in Nova Calcaria.)

That said, I may need to think more specifically about what Skoll's cover story would have been.
As a draft idea, "a heretical cult practising warpcraft", make sure any actual evidence that couldn't fit that story is utterly eradicated, then let a ignorant and fearful populace have distort their interpretation and recollection of events distorted by the official story.

I think it might need to be a bit more serious than just "a heretical cult practising warpcraft" considering the death toll, although "a heretical cult practising warpcraft with a heavy presence inside the PDF" might fit better.

I'm also not entirely sure about the idea that autoguns beat lasguns in cold weather. There's conflicting reports in the fluff, in that sometimes it's stated as a problem but the most famous ice world I can think of (Valhalla) still issues lasguns to its regiments.

[...]

Personally, my favoured reason for regiments using solid-shot weapons rather than laser ones is simply that solid-shot can be produced on a lower tech level. It's modern day tech, but lasguns require Mechanicus backed manufactorums to provide the means to build them - things that only usually get put somewhere with plenty of available workers like a hive or forge world.

I'll make that change when I get back in from work, as that makes more sense.

A gamma class world (which is what I think you said Kurabata Prime was), if it didn't have a world with a high manufacturing output in the immediate galactic vicinity could certainly end up relying on its own, lower tech, production to equip its regiments.

It's sufficiently high-tech to produce Leman Russes, chainswords, and power weaponry, but that's fair enough -- again, I'll make that change later.

And as one last thing, similar to what I said with Alice, a former Captain (even if in the PDF) is also someone I'd consider a candidate for a high Ld.

I'd considered it, but Relander's still not actually all that competent. I can push it over into the low 60s but I'm not going much higher than about 63.

[MarcoSkoll]

I think it might need to be a bit more serious than just "a heretical cult practising warpcraft" considering the death toll, although "a heretical cult practising warpcraft with a heavy presence inside the PDF" might fit better.

That just translates as a BIG heretical cult. 

Obviously, Skoll wants an explanation that the populace would buy, but perhaps less obviously, the local Inquisition too. Aside from knowing it's not information all Inquisitors can be trusted with (refer to how Kalle acted), he has been trained to ensure that his cover-ups aren't conspiracies where hundreds of people are in the know - because, contrary to what tinfoil-hatters would have you believe, those don't actually work.

Of course, he will have logged an accurate report of events if any Inquisitors really wanted to know exactly what happened... but that's going to be under lock and key in the Carthaxian Perditus vaults. (Little wonder that the Perditus have their enemies within the Inquisition, really.)

It's sufficiently high-tech to produce Leman Russes, chainswords, and power weaponry.

The thing with Imperial tech is that it's often very schizophrenic, in one part due to being as much religion as it is actual engineering and in another due to being transported between worlds. It'd be no great surprise to see a steam based rail network alongside factories producing forcefields and plasma guns.

So while power weapons are normally higher technology than lasguns, the ability to produce them on a small scale doesn't necessarily follow that a planet has the ability to produce laser weapons on a large scale.

[krenshar]

I think it might need to be a bit more serious than just "a heretical cult practising warpcraft" considering the death toll, although "a heretical cult practising warpcraft with a heavy presence inside the PDF" might fit better.

That just translates as a BIG heretical cult. 

Surely that translates as heresy?
Every man and woman of the PDF is unquestionably loyal and civilians need have no fear on that count.  Every citizen should have absolute faith in authorities that keep them safe in the name of the God-Emperor of Mankind.  The uprising was clearly instigated by a cabal of witches, supported by recidivist smugglers and pirates supplying off-world men and munitions, hence the substantial losses of the devoted PDF forces who lay down their lives and now rest forever in the love of the Emperor.
To suggest otherwise is heresy.  To question your preacher is also heresy.
Fear the heretic, fear the witch and hate the outsider. [/sermon]

[MarcoSkoll]

Every man and woman of the PDF is unquestionably loyal and civilians need have no fear on that count. Every citizen should have absolute faith in authorities that keep them safe in the name of the God-Emperor of Mankind.

I don't really agree. The average Imperial citizen is taught to watch anyone for signs of heresy and that anyone can fall, because... well, that's how things are. The Imperium can't afford to exempt wide swathes of the population from self-scrutiny.

Sure, questioning someone in authority is its own heresy, but whoever said the Imperium was fair and non-contradictory? It's the ol' Catch-22.

[Koval]

I've fiddled with the description for Relander's gun -- the gist of it is that the Mechanicus is too busy making heaters to equip the military, so the local manufactora do it instead. (Let's face it, if the population freezes every winter, there won't be a military to equip before long.)

As such, we've now got only a generic "it's cold" (Nova Calcaria's a bit like Vienna if you dial the average monthly highs/lows down by ten degrees each).

In case you're interested, the bit I'm going to use for the weapon is derived from a Cadian grenade launcher with part of a Chimera's heavy stubber in place of the barrel. As such, it looks like an extremely chunky version of a Lanchester with a sodding great drum underneath it -- sadly, I assume you're actually meant to hold the front end of the drum seeing as there's no forward grip. I might put a handle on the side, or put something just behind the barrel (or indeed just use part of a different weapon, probably the front end of a Space Marine's bolter)


Krenshar -- Kurabacians may venerate the Emperor and have great respect for those that serve him, but at the same time I've never assumed the average Imperial citizen to be an utter simpleton (unless, of course, they are) -- as such, although we ultimately have "heretics practicing warpcraft" in both your version and Marco's, I'd rather avoid the whole "absolute faith in the authorities" mess.

We could jazz it up, and say something like "no man can practice sorcery without forever cutting himself off from the light of the Emperor, and just as the heresy of a proscribed cult is greater than the sum of its parts, so too was the hole in the sky the catastrophic result of their blasphemy; but rejoice, for you are alive by the Emperor's grace and they are now condemned to the worst of hells for their heresy, the suffering they inflicted revisited upon them a thousandfold", followed up with something like "constant vigilance is the only defence against the darkness"

[krenshar]

I didn't mean to come across as heavily critical, just to suggest another cover-story option that still distorts the mass perception.  It's probably one of those posts that deserved more time than I gave to it, sorry.

Modelling-wise, the other arm to the grenade launcher set has hold of a side grip.  Though the hands look distinctly smaller than marine ones so may not be any use if you're working in 54mm.
I'm really looking forward to seeing the models you make for these too; Alice is cool and the first former-commissar background I've read that's grabbed me, but Relander has me wanting to know how he copes with inquisitorial service and has inspired a character that perfectly rounds out a warband I've really been struggling with.  Dunno if I'd have ever thought of it otherwise so thank you.

[MarcoSkoll]

I didn't mean to come across as heavily critical, just to suggest another cover-story option that still distorts the mass perception.

Suggestions are appreciated, but I do think there are flaws here.

You've got to remember that a sizeable fraction (although, as I gather, not a majority) of the planet's original PDF survived, and they would have their tales to tell about how their comrades had turned traitor. Hiding the fact that the PDF was infiltrated is near impossible without mass executions - which, in of themselves, would raise questions.
It's also not exactly beyond the wit of the average citizen to work out that the PDF can be corrupted, nor is the myth of incorruptibility one you'd want to convey (as it would make a repeat incident all the more possible).

While having to admit such a large scale infiltration of the PDF isn't a good thing, that's mostly because it happened at all!
The damage is already done, but I'm sure Skoll still ended up cracking together a lot of heads in the PDF Commissariat though.

Whichever story he went with, Skoll would have definitely kept any mention of daemons or Kalle out of it. Public knowledge of daemons is a definite no-no, and the Inquisition is a faction that the average citizen should not doubt. Also, he's not exactly keen to have his killing other Inquisitors* on open record.

*Even if strictly it was Alice, she was under Skoll's command (at least nominally) and Kalle was detained under his authority.

The number of times I've had to correct "Marco" to "Skoll".... ugh. I guess it's fairly obvious that when I say "Marco" I'm not referring to myself in the third person, but I at least try to keep it as a rough rule to help people trying to differentiate between player and character.

[Koval]

You've got to remember that a sizeable fraction (although, as I gather, not a majority) of the planet's original PDF survived

Most of the damage happened on a leadership level, hence Relander's sudden seniority being a big deal (but let's take Relander's roughly-30% as representative, ±10% or so, because that's all I can reasonably put numbers to). The mutants had roughly the right idea by targeting the ruling classes and the Adeptus Arbites in those bits of After Hours that actually played out, even if their success was mitigated by Skoll and Alice (and I think Pavor Vepres, but I think Necris has written AH off for whichever of his characters he used)

It's also not exactly beyond the wit of the average citizen to work out that the PDF can be corrupted, nor is the myth of incorruptibility one you'd want to convey (as it would make a repeat incident all the more possible).

If not potentially worse, because more regular civilians are likely to come along for the ride.

The damage is already done, but I'm sure Skoll still ended up cracking together a lot of heads in the PDF Commissariat though.

What Commissariat? As I understand it, most PDFs get on with it without even knowing they have a Commissar assigned to them, because they're usually deployed on a very small scale (because of disciplinary action or old age) and told to cover a very large area (which is why I made such a big deal over private messages that I couldn't initially think of why Alice got "only" a planetary posting).

The "new PDF" Commissars, if they stuck around and weren't redeployed, probably wouldn't need much head-cracking anyway.

I'm really looking forward to seeing the models you make for these

I get paid on Friday, so I'll be able to do the old pay-check-in-pay-check-out on some models.

Alice is cool and the first former-commissar background I've read that's grabbed me

Short of the female Cadet in Cain's Last Stand, I can't think of many female Commissars appearing at all. The Imperium should be an equal-opportunities employer (provided you're a loyal follower of the Creed) -- you can do your duty whether you're black, white, brown, male, female... I guess I just wanted to do something slightly different.

Relander has me wanting to know how he copes with inquisitorial service and has inspired a character that perfectly rounds out a warband I've really been struggling with.  Dunno if I'd have ever thought of it otherwise so thank you.

I'd be interested to see what comes of that.

[MarcoSkoll]

What Commissariat?

I know PDF Commissars aren't exactly plentiful, but I don't remember ever getting the impression that they were that rare - at least as far as Kurabata was concerned.

Short of the female Cadet in Cain's Last Stand, I can't think of many female Commissars appearing at all. The Imperium should be an equal-opportunities employer (provided you're a loyal follower of the Creed)

Equal opportunity or not, female commissars do have a reason to be a bit rare, as it requires a similar skill-set to the Adepta Sororitas, and with the Ecclesiarchy getting first pick of Progena... well, most potential female commissars end up there.

I think this would ultimately mean a lot of female commissars aren't entirely unlike Alice, in being less religiously fanatical than the men tend to be.
Indeed, my own Commissar Leith is also of a less strict persuasion (and similarly ended up in a somewhat unusual posting*).

*Due to a bit of a brouhaha, but having some friends in high places, she was shunted into a position of being a liaison for the Cuir subsector Munitorum. What this means is that she often ends up seconded to powerful figures who need to work with or around military conflicts.
(For example, she was alongside Lady Riemann at the IGT because Martejja's re-appearance was heavily driven by the latest developments of, and turmoil resulting from, the Ilithyia conflict - something that Leith would have been well versed in all the specifics of.)

Also, it's very useful to have spare models that can be shuffled into warbands where I haven't finished all the models yet.

[Koval]

Equal opportunity or not, female commissars do have a reason to be a bit rare, as it requires a similar skill-set to the Adepta Sororitas, and with the Ecclesiarchy getting first pick of Progena... well, most potential female commissars end up there.

I think this would ultimately mean a lot of female commissars aren't entirely unlike Alice, in being less religiously fanatical than the men tend to be.

I'll agree with that, although I'm now imagining what Sister Alice might have been like. Being as her skill set is more or less the result of moonlighting as a detective* among the regular military drills, it's not the prettiest image ever.

*Okay, so I'm stretching her involvement with the Arbites a bit, but the first notable thing we saw her do was jump out of a second-storey window and climb down the outside of the building in question, and all she did was pull something in her shoulder. Hence, Catfall and a high Initiative.

Also, it's very useful to have spare models that can be shuffled into warbands where I haven't finished all the models yet.

Which reminds me, I've got to think of a third/fourth character to fill out the group for any games/Conclave events/IGTs I ever attend. Unfortunately, the only two characters that spring to mind are a bit inappropriate, one because she outranks Relander and the other because every time I plan things for him, this song comes to mind immediately.


EDIT: Update on Relander's gun, I chopped up a plastic bolter and separated the grip, so now the weapon has a grip of sorts and retains the cool-looking chunky barrel. I also took the back end off so I can freely attach it to the back end of Major Jackson's laspistol.