Captain Birzcran is the Commanding Officer of the Imperial forces on Chameleon 5. He is an experienced CO, having been in serving duty for 15 years before volunteering for the instructors post on the planet. He has master minded the creation of the unique fighting force of Chameleon 5, coming up with many of the ideas for the alterations to the equipment himself to make them useable by the Ogryns and the few Imperial Guard Penal troopers that inhabit the planet.
For the defenders, he is an inspiration, a true leader, always at the front line, fighting and masterminding. The odds on the Planet are unbelievably against them - it is up to him to ensure that most of the men survive long enough for the fleet to arrive and that every man who dies, dies well and for a good reason.
Captain Birzcran is always seen at the front lines and thus must always be taken if you are fielding troops from Chameleon V. He can be taken as the Army commander, but can also be taken just as a separate unit with his body-guard. This is due to his lower than average rank for leading an army but his ability to fulfill the roll of an inspirational Commander when the time requires him to do that.
As every Imperial guard player (and for that matter those of you who have played against the Guard) should know hand to hand combat is not one of their strong points.
Most of the Imperial guard troops on the Planet come from the Penal legion. These men have little to live for - if they survive then they will be sentenced to the rest of their lives serving the Emperor. Serving the man they probably betrayed in the first place to be sent to the Legion. For them, death would be better than to serve for the rest of humanity. The only way they could escape from their prolonged duty would be to do some heroic deed in the name of the Emperor on the battlefield.
It was from the most desperate of these men that the Forlorn Hope was born. These close combat mad-men drive themselves into a frenzy before they enter the battle - and attack without remorse or mercy - hacking away until their puny Human body's are torn to pieces by the orks superior close combat capabilities.
Many of the forlorn hope equip themselves with jump packs in order to reach the enemy more quickly, others ride into battle on simple attack bikes (quick and easy to find the parts even from what they have on chameleon V to build them). All of them with the aim of dying or preventing themselves from further service by carrying out mad acts of courage in the attempt. Whilst the hardest of all chose to face the enemy on foot - running at them shouting their insane war cry - determined to be reconciled or die.
They go into battle almost entirely dressed in black - some carrying small banners depicting the acts for which they are trying to be reconciled. All come back red - either from their own blood or of others.
The rules for the units can be found on the data sheet on another part of the site, and their detachment organisation is shown Here. Basically the models can either be converted - or as you may have realized - the forlorn hope encompasses both the Assault troops and the Imperial Bikers which were out-ruled from the current edition of the game from the previous one. I know that these are only one of many ways which people have bought the units back into the game - and there are many other sites which you can get other's opinions on how they should be used around the NET.
