Posted by Long ago and far away, in the land of Notting-ham IV, Games Workshop used to issue a wide variety of equipment for their long-suffering Imperial Guard troopers. In this post, we’ll take a look at the various bags, backpacks, and satchels a dutiful member of the so-called Astra Militarum might find in their campaigns across the galaxy, in order of when they were released.
Some of these were released with a major game release as well, such as a new edition of Warhammer 40K or a spin-off game such as Apocalypse. I’ll try and detail this as I can for each one, but memory is hazy. As of this writing (June, 2023) GW has outsourced all props/cosplay stuff to other companies and so any additional backpacks might be acquired over time. If so, I’ll document them here for posterity as well!
If you know more details about these, please feel free to leave them in the comments!
Apocalypse Backpack (2007)
One of GW’s more sturdy releases, this was part of the Limited Edition Apocalypse set, back in 2007. Plenty of room for a standard GW case, codex, rules, and frippery. Nicely, it came with patches for both Cadia and the Volscani traitor legion! I, of course, am a loyalist and would never stoop to such heresy as to use the traitor patches…
Officer’s Signal Satchel (2012)
This one is a fun one, a full-on leather messenger bag/satchel, issued as part of an officer’s kit! Very nicely made, it was released with the Limited Edition version of the 6th edition of the Warhammer 40K core rules. Designed to fit the rulebook, a codex, and the usual selection of stuff, it is a very nice piece and I wish GW would make more. It looks like some of their licensed partners may be making more things like this, so stay tuned.
Departmento Munitorum Backpack (2013)
A reasonably sturdy bag, the screen-printed images and text would probably wear off if heavily used. Similar for the Hellfire Rounds pack, below. It DOES come with a lovely list of ‘things wot should be in the bag, under penalty of being transferred to the penal legion’ on the side pocket and someday I might build that kit, as everyone needs some unguents! It also came with a pair of pins, one a Chaos star, and the other a Tanith First and Only badge. This one with intact swords! This does not appear to be linked to any release, even the Tanith series started back in 1999. 40k “Dark Vengeance” was released that year, so this might have been part of the overall PR Push.
A reader with the moniker “Nosmo90” pointed out that Dark Vengeance came out in 2012, not 2013, so there goes THAT theory. Thank you!
Hellfire Rounds Backpack (2015)
This was one of the more interesting designs, built to wrap around a larger GW miniatures case than what is seen here, with room for gaming accessories and some straps for whatever strappy purposes you could come up with. It could reasonably hold a rulebook and a codex, and your dice and templates. This was released in 2015, alongside the “Crusade” case which also fits into the backpack straps. Light research shows this does not appear to be tied into any given release of a Warhammer 40K game or expansion. I do not own a Crusade case, but I might pick one up for completion’s sake! It fits the standard GW case as well as a pair of the smaller square cases they released. Fairly flexible for its purpose!
Departmento Munitorum Burlap Sack (2015)
I honestly have no idea, either! GW released a pair of burlap sacks, one for 40K and one for Fantasy, back in the summer of 2015. They appear to have been promo gift bags, but I cannot find any evidence of what they were paired up with. I find them to be hilarious. Maybe if you get enough, you can make them into Departmento Munitorum sandbags? They’re a good 2’x3′, or roughly 1.75m by 2m. Big! Somehow I ended up with two.
Defense of Cadia Shopping Bag (2017)
The last entry (for now) is a limited run shopping bag for the end of 7th edition, roughly 2017. This was the big “Gathering Storm” end of edition, something GW had done to mark the end of a set of rules that dated back all the way to the 3rd edition of Warhammer 40,000. Big changes meant big shopping? I have three of these, and I want to build some sort of prop kit which might have been issued to the fine folks of Cadia, in the end times.
In Conclusion…
I really love all the “in world” props and such GW has released over the years, and there’s more articles on this site covering things like clothing (everyone needs a hat) and ammo crates, including the massive Vortex Grenade case! Thanks for reading!
Links to other posts in this series
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