Fighting Tiger Heavy Support (Part I; Updated 04/2010)
Unlike Codex Astartes Chapters (such as the Ultramarines), the Fighting Tigers do not organize themselves into companies. Instead, the Tigers divide themselves into two castes, or jatis, one based on each of Veda’s continents, Mahaduyana and Ghuyarashtra. Each jatis is identical in size (about 500 Marines, plus attendants) and organization. Each jatis takes its name from its home continent and its markings from the tigers found there.

Fighting Tigers who make up Devastator Squads or crew Heavy Support vehicles are Tigers of Agni; Agni is the Vedic god of fire. Because Jatis Mahaduyana has traditionally emphasized strength over speed, most of my Heavy Support units are assigned to them. Basic colors are Fiery Orange and Chaos Black for Jatis Mahaduyana, Bubonic Brown and Bestial Brown for Jatis Ghuyarashtra.

Tigers of Agni
My Devastator Marines are some of the oldest figures I have. One of my squads from Jatis Mahaduyana is led by a Sergeant built from current plastic and pewter parts, but the four Marines with him are 1st and 2nd Edition-era troopers with heavy bolters (below).  Thus, the squad is painted in a mix of the original and simplified paint schemes. 

One squad from Jatis Ghuyarashtra consists of a Sergeant, three models with missile launchers, and one with a heavy bolter. Like the Mahaduyana squad above, they are painted in a mix of schemes. The Sergeant is a lead (not pewter) Rogue Trader-era figure with a shuriken catapult (!), back when Space Marines could have those. I treat the 'catapult as a storm bolter. I also cut off his original helmet and gave him a 2nd Edition-era plastic Imperial Guard Stormtrooper head (complete with painted-on beard).

The heavy-bolter guy and one of the missile-launcher guys are new Marine figures. The other two heavy-weapon dudes are plastic RTB01 figures from the 1st Edition (or "Rogue Trader") era. They carry missile launchers from the RTB01 set, first released way back in 1987. To jazz up the weapons, I painted a flame design on one launcher and a "shark face" on the other. 

Why no backpacks on some of these figures? Because the shoulder-mounted weapons kept the packs from fitting well on the backs of the figures. 

Predator Annihilator (“Tyger Tyger”)
Ever see drawings of those old Viking ships with the dragon heads carved on the prow? I used the same idea for this tank, with the tiger head coming from a plastic Voltron toy. The lascannons in the sponsons are from the original, Rogue Trader-era Land Raider. Years ago, I used the Vehicle Design Rules (veterans will remember them) to count the extra lascannon in each sponson as actual twin-linked weapons, but now they're just for show: 

Tyger Tyger uses Imperial Guard tank treads for extra armor and I added some spikes (painted white) on the back just for decoration. To make the tank a bit more distinctive, I put the gunner from the Vindicator atop the turret.

Vindicator (“Tiger Claw”) and Whirlwinds (“Sabretooth” and “Vedic Siege Gun”)
These models won’t win points for originality but they work well together in games. I’ve modeled Tiger Claw’s hunter-killer missile using the conventional launcher (painted white and black to break the monotony), with some cotton on one end to represent smoke billowing out as the weapon fires. 

When I was building Sabretooth, I imagined that a Whirlwind chassis would be able to pivot backwards to help fire rockets over very tall obstructions; accordingly, Sabretooth’s chassis is tilted WAAAAAY back. Like Tyger Tyger, Tiger Claw, and most of my other vehicles, Sabretooth has tank treads bolted to it to represent extra armor.

Slow-moving Vedic Siege Guns are used to defend the fortresses (or maths) of the Fighting Tigers on their homeworld, Veda: during the brutal attack by the Warband Bloodcomet, the Guns slew many a Khorne Berzerker. For protracted campaigns where heavy firepower is needed (such as the Blood Deserts of Auros IX Campaign), a few of the Guns may be transported to critical areas of the warzone.

My friend Pat made this model for me. The base is a cardboard platform painted Codex Grey and drybrushed with Space Wolf Grey. The actual gun is an Earthshaker cannon from the Imperial Guard Basilisk. Back in the day, I used the Vehicle Design Rules to make it the equivalent of a Space Marine Basilisk, but these days, I just count it as another Whirlwind.

Next page (pg 11): Heavy Support, Part II Previous page (pg 9): Fast Attack

Related Pages
Fighting Tiger Heavy Support
Tactics: Fighting Tiger Heavy Support
 

Originally posted April 2000; updated April 2010 

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