Home Base, State of the Army

So at present my Mordians currently reside on the planet F.P.R.T.A Shelving (Flat-Pack Ready To Assemble).

Currently I have a multitude of Warhammer 40k Projects on the go: 1)finish the Mordian infantry, 2)finish the Valkyrie, 3)finish the Bastion and Aegis Defence Line, 4)finish the Mordian Rough Riders, 5)complete the Kasrkin squad, assemble 3 new Chimeras and 2 more Valkyries, 6)paint Mordian heavy weapons teams, 7)repaint the Baneblade and Leman Russes that just came in the mail, 8)answer the "Praetorian" question, 9)way too many Cadians. 

So I may have a little bit of what might be considered a herculean task list, but I have and abundance of time and considering the Mordian project has progressed to double the painted miniatures I started with 6 months ago (after several years hiatus) I think it may be attainable. Here is the current state of my Mordians (I am many things, adequate photographer isn't one of them)

  
To give you a running tally, that's 2 full platoons painted (the Platoon Command Squads are on the shelf above) and 3 squads from a third platoon. Total painted: 150 Mordians including command squads. This is where I am starting from, I have 13 more squads to paint, plus their platoon commands and all the heavy weapons. When I get too tired of painting static metal Mordians I will work on many of the other projects listed above. My goal is to complete this project by Christmas or early 2014 (definitely prior to the rumoured release of the new IG codex)
Next up: individual squads and characters, starting with the command staff and attendant advisors.

Thanks for looking,
-MedicMike July 12th, 2013

   

Why the 19th???

Every regiment needs a name, and a regimental unit number, the Mordian 19th, called Centurions of the Citadel, defenders of the Tetrarchal Palace, actually got their regimental designation based on one of my favorite series of novels. I am sure there are other Mordian 19ths and some might have even picked the designation before I did. I know there is reference in Imperial Armour 1 to the 19th Mordian Armoured division, This is no way an attempt to follow that piece of fluff or build on that backstory. I chose the number 19 because of Stephen King's Dark Tower series.

While I admit that some of King's work is a little bizarre, he is one of the authors I most enjoy, and this particular series is one of my all time favorites. The number 19 is a recurring theme that binds the protagonists together. Other characters and facets of my regiment borrow some names and  features from literature I have read, both historical and fictional.
A quick glance at my bookshelves makes it obvious that I have penchant for science fiction and fantasy. some other authors that are tops of my favorite list include: Robert Heinlein (all wargamers should read "Starship Troopers" the book is nothing like the movie), Tolkien; both the novels (although I still cant finish the "Silmarillion") and the movie treatments of Peter Jackson, Neil Gaimen, Isaac Asimov, and Ray Bradbury. Special mention goes to Margaret Weiss and Tracy Hickman for their work on Dragonlance and to various authors of both Star Wars and Star Trek novels. I am sure I am forget some other big names.
That's where the regimental number came from, the name "Centurions of the Citadel, defenders of the Tetrarchal Palace" came from my own brain, and fits nicely in with the Mordian fluff from the various Codices Imperial Guard.
MedicMike July 11, 2013    

Where it all began...

So the year is 1996/97 and thanks to some encouragement from my friends and their older siblings I got into Warhammer 40000. I must confess Imperial Guard wasn't my first choice, I wanted to play Eldar, but the group already had an Eldar player, so I chose Imperial Guard as my second choice and haven't looked back since. My first purchase was:

These guys are the first models I ever purchased or painted, aside from minor touch ups I have never repainted them since 96/97. Before you judge them to harshly remember I was 12 years old.

Troops aren't much good without someone to issue orders to them and keep them in line, my troops need an officer, so my second big purchase was:

note the massive anime-esque eyes, safe to say their was some cartoon influence here, But this guy took me days to do, and I was so exceptionally proud of him at the time I never had the heart to repaint him

Being 12 years old isn't really conducive to an expensive (relative compared to current prices) hobby but I had a job delivering newspapers, *back when there was a morning and evening edition, no digital copies, or paywalls and the 24 hour news cycle wasn't fully implemented yet* So I saved my coins and bought my first piece of 40k literature:

Speaking of cost, I think the Imperial Guard codex, cost $18-21 CDN and the troopers and lieutenant might have been $8.00 and $6.00 respectively, which is still a month of saving on a paperboy's salary 

That's where it all began, I bought more troopers and got some of my own paints for my birthday, and a couple of boxed sets for Christmas. Even in the second edition codex you needed a lot of troops, and the way you attached specialist units depended on incorporation of basic infantry squads. I was going to continue collecting for the next decade and a half

Just a couple more pictures of the original three, my start in the hobby. 

-MedicMike July 10, 2013

Welcome to my experiment

Hi, I'm MedicMike this is my inaugural attempt at a blog.
Over the past 17 years or so I have amassed a large collection of Mordian Iron Guard, this blog aims to chronicle the collection, the construction and the painting of a regiment: The Mordian 19th. Since I am not particularly tech-savvy (this is my first ever blog post on my first ever blog) There will, undoubtedly, be hiccups along the way, pictures, posts and blog functionality might be limited until I get used to how things work.
First and foremost, you are entering part way through the raising of the regiment, I have collected and painted, (in some cases adequately, although my early work is pretty abysmal, but hey I was a kid) a huge number of Imperial Guard. My goal is to finish my regiment under the 5th edition codex, before the release of the rumoured 2014 6th edition codex. I haven't counted points in a long, long time, what I do know is I have sufficient Mordian troops to almost maximally fill out an entire force organisation chart.
I will be posting pictures of everything that is painted, everything that isn't painted, and the squads that fill out any gaps in the completed regiment. It is entirely possible that I may become side tracked along the way with other projects, but Mordians are my primary focus and passion to collect and paint. I am looking forward to showcasing the collection and putting some creative stuff out there for my first time.
Finally some blog rules: I welcome criticism, both constructive and less so, I am interested in discussion related to all things 40K. I am happy to take suggestions as to what other content people would like to see. I ask only that people keep discussion and language civil; no personal attacks, no profanity; nothing illegal. Remember this is my first go at this and I am very open to ideas related to content and design.
Thanks, I hope everyone enjoys the Mordian 19th
-MedicMike, July 9th 2013