Very early on into my Dusk Raiders project I realised that I would be left with a considerable body of spare parts and miscellaneous bits. In particular, I intended to use the more ornate resin torsos to represent various classes of officer and functionaries, meaning that I would have a considerable number left over from things like the Destroyers, Bloodshield Breachers, and other Forgeworld kits. I also knew this would also leave me with one-or-two boxes of plastic Mk.III Legionaries, which had had their blank torsos raided, but apart from that remained essentially intact. I realised that I would probably have enough parts to make a basic allied detachment, featuring an HQ option, and two Troop choices.

Now, when I was originally mulling over my choices for a pre-Heresy force, there had been several other options in the running. First and foremost amongst these, had been a force of Warhounds: Whilst the Warhounds/World Eaters don’t really fit to my play style or character, I genuinely loved their pre-Heresy livery and iconography. So, even though I considered things like pre-Heresy Word Bearers or Thousand Sons in original, highly esoteric Rogue Trader livery, the Warhounds were also going to be the main ‘Plan B’ choice.

This also wasn’t the only feature of the pre-Heresy forces that interested me, but which wouldn’t necessarily fit into my chosen Legion. Being a child of the Rogue Trader era, I was also familiar with the original inclusion of ‘Field Police’ in the iconic colour plate from the original rulebook detailing the various chapters colour schemes, and those of other marine functionaries. I also loved the fact that Forgeworld had included a call-back to this, in detailing the work of the Consul-Opsequiari, so-called ‘discipline officers’, as a piece of essentially throw-away background to the early Wolves and the Warhounds, who were noted for their ill-restrained ferocity. There was even a side-long reference to them in the background of the Blood Angel‘s with Forgeworld’s Black Books noting that the Primarch Sanguinius continued to make use of them as Ofanim, or the ‘Burning Eye’ charged with keeping the Legion’s secret shame hidden from the wider Imperial authorities.

So the idea of having a force of ‘penitent’ Warhounds attached to my Dusk Raiders, led by a Consul-Opsequiari, was born.

Unfortunately, the Consul-Opsequiari do not have actual rules in Forgeworld’s Black Books, so I opted to model mine on the rules for a ‘Warmonger’ consul as this seemed the most appropriate. In looking for a name, I decided to delve into a little German regional history, and via considerable link-surfing, arrived at Wikipedia’s article on Vetkorpers and Skieringers – This led me to the term ‘Haadlingen’ meaning ‘Headmen’ and in particular the fact that they, “took over the role of the judiciary as well offering protection to their local inhabitants”. This seemed like the perfect choice, and so Consul-Opsequiari Haadlingen was born.

In terms of parts, I knew that I didn’t want to go the Chainaxe route – To me this is an inelegant weapon from the age of Angron and I wanted something cleaner. That being said, I felt that a discipline officer, particularly a Warhound, would still benefit from an axe, and that in terms of form, it would need to foreshadow the profile of the iconic World Eaters’ Chainaxe. Fortunately, Popgoesthemonkey provide the perfect solution in the form of their aptly named ‘Houndstooth’ bearded axe. I also wanted a ranged weapon which echoed the nature of a discipline officer in providing summary justice and execution. Once again, Popgoesthemonkey provided in the form of their ‘BF:38 Bolt Revolver’ (which also fits to the gunslinger-like profile of the Forgeworld illustration).

Unfortunately, whilst they do a phenomenal range of sculpted pads (including the Raptor Imperialis I used for Haadlingen) the one thing that Popgoesthemonkey couldn’t supply was a Mk.III shoulderpad featuring the iconic forked rune of the ‘Field Police’/Consul-Opsequiari. Instead I turned to Fallout Hobbies, and their custom pad service, to create embossed pads for my discipline officers. If you’ve never used their services, Ron and Jules do absolutely fantastic work and their customer service is top-notch, with great communication and dialogue. Given my previous positive experiences with their services, I also took advantage of their custom decal offer to create an additional sheet of transfers at various sizes, in the event that I needed to apply the iconography to other units or parts.

When it came to painting Haadlingen, I knew that I wanted to not only make use of Forgeworld’s updated scheme, but also give a nod back to the original ‘Field Police’ scheme. Consequently, Haadlingen’s armour has that dirty, metallic sheen (courtesy of a lot of metallic drybrushing, and liberal washes of Agrax Earthshade and Nuln Oil), as well as the burning orange rune and grey Raptor Imperialis. Whilst I eschewed the red helm of the original Rogue Trader field police (unfortunately red helms are too often associated with the Ultramarines and the legendary Aeonid Thiel), I kept the hazard stripes for Haadlingen’s crest.

All-in-all, whilst this was a quick and easy kitbash and paintjob, I think the end result far exceeds its humble nature, and I have the formidable, steadying hand my allied Warhound penitents will require to keep them in line. It’s just a shame that Haadlingen’s fate is not a happy one…