Tall Ass Asian

2021.02.17

The Mordant 'Lucky 13s'

In 2007, Games Workshop debuted the Apocalypse expansion for Warhammer 40,000, allowing players to play games of epic size and scale. In 2008, they kicked off the Lucky 13s Campaign, a two-year event that allowed players' games to affect the in-universe lore. The campaign was primarily a series of Apocalypse games played at local game stores, with Games Workshop releasing a new scenario each month. The campaign was fully supported, with a system that tracked game outcomes, player stats, and even offered challenges for in-game bonuses. But most of all, they re-introduced* an Imperial Guard regiment, the Mordant 13th 'Lucky 13s'. They had a unique paint scheme, lore, and even a special unit representing their commander.

Around 2010, I came into the possession of a small Imperial Guard army painted with the Lucky 13s' color scheme. It used to be a demo army at my local game store, built and painted for the 2008 campaign. I decided to continue building the army and cataloging any reference material I could find.

It's been over a decade since the original Lucky 13s campaign came to a close, and Warhammer (as well as the Apocalypse format) has seen multiple rules updates. Information about the original campaign and the Lucky 13s are now lost to time. This page hosts the information I collected about them, as it may be the only place this information is still available on the web. Content is primarily sourced from an ancient version of the Games Workshop website. I would cite that properly, but the web pages no longer exist, and Games Workshop no longer has copies. Yes, I checked.

Background

Mordant

Mordant, as described in the book Tactica Imperialis: A History of the Later Imperial Crusade, is a night world located north of the Eye of Terror. Its barren and uninhabitable surface hides a vast network of tunnels dimly lit by bioluminescent bacteria beneath. The same bacteria carved these tunnels with caustic acid secretions, which the Imperium harvests for a variety of industrial purposes.^[4]

The planet's inhabitants can be split into two broad categories: acid miners, and everyone else. The miners are organized in an ancient clan struture and exploit cheap local labor, barely paying workers enough to survive. Many disenfranchised citizens turn to a life of organized crime and gang violance, or join the Imperial Guard. Mordant regiments are often fielded on night worlds and are well-equiped for close-quarters engagements.^[4]

The Raising of the Lucky 13s

There is litte information about this iteration of the Lucky 13s. We know that their acting commander is Colonel Jago Kallowen, a native of the planet who graduated from the Command & General Staff Scholam. Kallowen and his 11-man command squad are veterans of close-quarters combat, riding into battle in a command Chimera and armed with flamers, power weapons, and modified mining gear.^[5] Kallowen's Lucky 13s would find themselves on a galaxy-hopping crusade against all manner of enemies, culminating in their final campaign on Bonner's Reach.

The only other information I gathered comes from several quotes, presented verbaitim. They originate from now-deleted articles on the old Games Workshop website.

Although all documents surrounding the final fate of the original Mordant 13th - the "Lucky 13s" - have been sealed by order of the Inquisition, I, on behalf of the Cadian High Command, order another regiment to be mustered and given the name "The Mordant 13th".
The psyker cadre that advises my High Command have divined, through the Emperor's Tarot, that just such a regiment will be able to protect the Imperium from all of its foes. It is with all haste that this regiment be raised and trained. We need these men to be hardended fighters in the service of the Emperor before the year is out.
- Ursarkar Creed, Lord Castellan of Cadia

Of course they'd come to Mordant for the saviors of the galaxy! We're the hardest gakking troopers you'll find in all the Segmentums!
I'm proud to lead these warriors of the Emperor where ever he needs us to fight. We'll stand fast against the myriad of foes that batter at the gaes of the Imperium.
I've scoured the mines and shanty-towns for the fiercest low-lives I could find. As I speak to you now, my men are already suffering through the most rigorous boot camp you could imagine. No soldier of the Lucky 13s will be grist for the mill.
- Colonel Jago Kallowen, Ranking Officer of the Mordant 13th

They're sending us where? They want us to fight who? Well, I guess the Emperor knows what he's doing, because those bureaucrats in the Administratum sure as gak don't!
- Trooper Gage Rorsche, 3rd Platoon, Alpha Company, Mordant 13th

Painting the Mordant 13th

This is the color scheme used for the Mordant 13th Bonner's Reach campaign. The following tutorial was created by John Shaffer, then a member of Games Workshop's US Promotions Team. The example model uses a conversion as its basis, but these colors and techniques translate easily to Cadian Shock Troopers and other Imperial Guard infantry.

	This image shows the conversion before painting. If you are interested in duplicating this conversion, the components are as follows: Forgeworld respiratior head and backpack Space Marine Scout assault weapon arms Archive plastic power weapon blade (glued in place of scout combat knife) Space Marine Scout grenade bundle Scenic base made by sinking various bitz into putty then texturing the putty with sand Lengthened coats sculpted from greenstuff
	1. Begin with a black undercoat. Apply a thin layer of Chaos Black to the model to ensure you cover any spots the primer missed. Drybrush the base with Charadon Granite followed by Codex Grey. Apply a final drybrush of Skull White lightly to the highest areas.
	2. Paint the fatigues and face mask with Charadon Granite. Be sure to get an even coat and get in all the recessed areas.
	3. Layer highlights to the fatigues and face mask by adding increasing amounts of Skull White to Charadon Granite for each successive highlight. Highlight the boots, gloves, and bolt pistol casing (or lasgun casing in the case of Shock Troopers) with Fenris Grey. Keep the highlights slight and concentrated on the very edges of the raised areas. Use Chaos Black to touch up any mistakes.
	4. Paint the armor, helmet, bracers, and boot armor plats with Calthan Brown.
	5. Wash the Calthan Brown armor with two coats of Devlan Mud. Paint the center of each armor plate with thin coats of Scorched Brown, leaving a little of the Calthan Brown showing on the edges of each armor plate. Alternatively, you could paint all the armor with Scorched Brown and edge the plates with Calthan Brown, but John found the wash method provides a more subtle transition from the dark areas to the light ones.
	6. Paint all the metal areas like the sword, badges, buckles, grenades, gun barrels, etc. with Chainmail. Paint any metal areas on the base with Chainmail as well.
	7. Wash the metal areas with Badab Black and re-highlight the edges of the metal with Chainmail when the wash drives. Areas in particular you should highlight are the beveled edge of the sword blade, and the hard edges of the bolt pistol and grenades.
	8. Paint in all the details. This will vary from figure to figure, but this example uses the following colors. Use Liche Purple for the lenses and gems on the power sword. Paint the rope with Bleached Bone and wash with Gryphonne Sepia. Paint the rocks on the ground with Bleached Bone and wash with Devlan Mud. Wash any metal on the base with thinned Vermin Brown for a rusty look. Paint the base rim Scorched Brown.
	9. The Mordant 13th have a spade insignia on their left shoulder pad. John painted in the design with Codex Grey and highlighted the upper edge with a thin line of Skull White. Afterwards, he carefully painted in a tiny 13 over top. If you are unskilled with freehand techniques, we've provided a sheet you can print out on transfer paper to make this process a little easier. This sheet is at the bottom of the page.
	10. Like most Imperial Guardsmen, the Mordant 13th have a three-digit number on their right shoulder pad as a unit marking. Much like the spade insignia, John painted this design with Codex Grey and highlighted with Skull White. The Caidan Transfer sheets that come in every box of Cadian Shock Troopers has transfers for these numbers if you prefer.
	11. The lenses and gems are painted with Liche Purple first, then highlighted along the bottom edges with a 50/50 mix of Liche Purple and Skull White. A darker section is painted along the upper edge with a mix of Liche Purple and Chaos Black. To finish the lenses and gems off, John applied a tiny dot of pure Skull White to the upper edges.

Footnote

* Originally, The Lucky 13s were introduced as a passing reference in the 3rd edition Imperial Guard codex published in 1999 as one of the many other regiments that exist in the Imperium. The regiment's homeworld is not listed, and they are drawn wearing a distinctly different uniform. The 1999 Lucky 13s are listed as having taken severe losses at the Battle of Low Corridor in 424 M41.^[1]

The regiment is next mentioned in 2007's Tactica Imperialis, and it states the regiment was reformed in 596 M37.^[2] The Tactica Imperialis regiment is also destroyed at the conclusion of the Black Crusade of Jihar the Lacerator on Hyrik V in 599 M37.^[3] However, the 2008 Lucky 13s campaign takes place sometime in late M41 on Bonner's Reach.

Is the regiment in Tactica Imperialis the same regiment in the Lucky 13s campaign? Warhammer 40,000's canon is full of contradictions, and most of the documents from the 2008 campaign no longer exist, so we have no way of knowing for sure.

Return

Citations

Jervis Johnson and Gavin Thorpe, Codex: Imperial Guard (Nottingham: Games Workshop, 1999), 28.
Dan Abnett and Andy Hoare, Tactica Imperialis (Nottingham: Black Library, 2007), 79.
Ibid,92.
Ibid,72.
Games Workshop, Jago Kallowen Datasheet (Nottingham: Games Workshop, 2009)