Death Blades Comms Officer

Responsible for communications between F Company Command and other elements of the task force, this comms officer is well trained in the use of the high gain vox unit he carries. Like other communications officers of the 9th Necromundan, and of many other Imperial Guard regiments, the comms officers are seen as a vital link to battlefield re-enforcements, emergency extraction, and resupply. They are also rumored to use their equipment for more nefarious deeds, such as monitoring other communications, allowing certain "off mission" operations to be organised by the company officers, ensuring that unofficial equipment, munitions and supplies can be obtained when needed. Allegations that communications officers within the 9th Necromundan have been organising covert meetings with local gangs for trade and combat drug resupply are, as of yet, unproven.

This is another old rogue trader era metal model from the Citadel RT05 Imperial Army range of 1987 - Comm. Officer Schmidt (seen here - The Stuff of Legends Imperial Army Page).

Like most of the models of the time, the style is a little different to the later Imperial Guard troops (like the RTB07 plastics that came later), with thinner limbs and more emphasis on the face and head. I painted him up to be a member of the F Company command squad (Yellow Co Yellow Platoon), so added a little bit of yellow here and there (squad badges and pin striping on the top of the boots) to help him fit in with the rest of the command squad.

I painted him in the standard colours for the army, with grey fatigues, brown pouches and dark hair. He is armed with a holstered laspistol on his chest, with the communications gear being the main point of emphasis for the model.

I kept the vox backpack fairly plain and not too over the top, in black and darker metal colours, to try and keep it looking like a fairly rugged (and heavy) piece of gear that I imagine the standard guard regiments would be issued with.

On the table in 40k games he will probably be used as a Master of Ordnance or a guardsman with a master vox. In 30k games he will be a vox operator in the Imperialis Militia command squad. If I play a game of Rogue Trader using the Compendium list then he would ironically be warming the bench, as the Compendium army list doesn't have vox operators. I will probably just bring him along anyway though, as it seems wrong not to include a relic model like this if I play a game of Rogue Trader!

So here's hoping this twenty-something year old model gets some use soon!