Standard Bearer Conversion

This one was a little more in depth than the last:

For the right arm I started with a regular sergeant arm and cut away the laspistol and the hand. Then I took a grenade throwing arm and drilled/cut out the grenade so that the flag pole would fit snugly into the hand. Next I cut the hand from the arm and glued it to the aforementioned sergeant’s arm (tidying it up with a bit of greenstuff).

For the left arm I started with the other regular sergeant arm and cut/filed away the sergeant stripes and cut away the chainsword. I then took the laspistol (which I had left over from the right arm conversion) and after cutting away the right hand, glued it in place. I then had to do a bit of tricky filling/sculpting with some greenstuff to make the trigger finger look right, and also reshape the handle.

The banner itself is straight from a bretonian (WHFB) command sprue - though I had to cut/file away the hand attatched to it. I also added a purity seal from the marine (tactical upgrade) sprue I have lying around – just to make it look a little more like the one pictured in the codex.

Veteran Sergeant Conversion

Today I picked up a chimera transport from the local GamesWorkshop store (Walsall), and so I thought I’d get to work on my armoured fist squad.

I’ve already got most of the troops painted (just regular guardsmen), but I thought I’d forgo a heavy weapon team (to give the squad increased mobility) and just include a special weapon with this squad (either a meltagun or plasma gun). However, I think I would like this unit to pack more of a punch than that, and so I plan on including a veteran sergeant with a plasma pistol to lead them into battle.

The model is predominately cadian pieces with catachan pouches and grenade. The plasma pistol was made by cutting off the laspistol from the sergeant’s right arm and replacing it with a plasma pistol cut from a space marine arm (from the tactical upgrade sprue I purchased last month). It required a bit of greenstuff to get it looking right, but overall I’m happy with the result.

Recent Purchases

Here’s a quick look at what’s been arriving in the post this past week or so:

1. 20 cadian troops (£11.60 + 2.20 P&P)
2. 1 cadian heavy weapon team (£4.99 inc P&P)
3. Cadian special weapons (£7.00)
4. Misc. weapons (£0.80 + £0.75 P&P)
5. Imperial guard tank commander parts (£1.00 +£1.00 P&P)
6. 5 catachan troops (£2.60 + £2.20 P&P)

Pretty much all of the above (apart from the metal special weapon troopers) came from eBay, and now that they have arrived I think that I have enough infantry troops to give me a reasonable amount of flexibility when trying to put together army lists of various points values.

The miscellaneous weapons were a particularly good find, as it contains two meltaguns, a power sword, a chainsword, various pistols, powerfists, etc. – which I may combine with the tank commander parts to try and make my own unique captain/colonel model.

I also intend to purchase a chimera APC and another sentinel at some point (with the chimera being the priority) – which will enable me to field an army of around 750 points.

And then I can start thinking about some tanks!

So What’s Next?

Now that I have got a 400 point combat patrol army ready to go, I think I should probably start thinking about how I intend to build up a larger force.

So for starters I need to get a proper 2nd ‘troops’ unit sorted out …and for that I have a few options.

The first option would be to build up 2nd infantry platoon (consisting of at least another 25 men). I currently own enough (unmade) models to build one 10-man squad, and I could use the lascannon I’ve already got painted (from the 1st platoon command squad – replacing that with a mortar team) as the heavy weapon, and have a plasma gun special weapon guardsman (from a pack of 2 cadian special weapons troops I purchased earlier in the week). However this option means I need to purchase a lot more infantry models to fill out the rest of the platoon.

The second option would be to include an armoured fist squad. I could do something similar as above to create the squad out of models I already own (i.e. use the lascannon & plasma combination of weapons) – but then I need to purchase a chimera tank to complete the unit.

The third option would be to buy some proper metal ‘stormtrooper’ miniatures and use the ‘grenadier’ doctrine that would allow me to select them as a ‘troops’ choice. However, according to a number of internet rumours, there are supposed to be some plastic stormtrooper models being released soon (well… sometime this year anyway) and I think that I would like to hold off buying any of the current metal range until I have got a look at the newer (and cheaper) plastic stormtroopers.

The fourth option would be to build a conscripts platoon. These platoons consist of at least 20 men (so I’ll still have to buy some more models) – but I was hoping to eventually build one of these platoons from old plastic imperial guardsmen (just to give them a different look) as I still have a bunch of these lying around unassembled and unpainted (though not enough to make a full platoon – hence why I am keeping a close eye on eBay for a few more).

So… at the moment I’m leaning toward the first or second option, and probably favouring the ‘armoured fist’ solution - as that means I get to try my hand at painting a tank model. In either case I can start assembling and painting the infantry figures already in my possession.

Combat Patrol

If I’m reading various message boards etc. right (and I apologize if I’m getting a few things wrong – as I still don’t own the current rulebook, and only have the codex), there is something called a ‘combat patrol’ game that allows you to field a relatively low number of models without having to adhere too strictly to the force organisation chart.

From what I can gather, these types of game are typically 400 points, and the only real compulsory models you must field are one ‘troops’ choice.

So with that in mind, I have put together a basic army list with the miniatures I have painted thus far:

- command platoon - 96 points -
Command squad with junior officer (bolt pistol) & mortar
Sentinel support squadron (1 sentinel with multi-laser)

- elites - 65 points -
5 man hardened veteran squad with plasma gun & meltagun

- infantry platoon - 225 points -
Command squad with junior officer (bolt pistol) & lascannon
1st infantry squad with heavy bolter & flamer
2nd infantry squad with autocannon & grenade launcher

TOTAL 386 points (35 troops & 1 walker)

As you can see, I’ve still got a few points to spend (maybe on doctrines, or upgrades, or whatever), and it might not be optimised for competitive play …but I at least can play now – assuming I can find a friendly opponent.

And yeah, I know I really need to get a copy of the rulebook – but with all the rumours pointing to a summer release of 5th edition, it seems rather pointless wasting my money on a book that will soon be outdated (especially since money is a little tight right now, and could be better spent on more models).

First Vehicle

I recently got a sentinel walker on eBay for £6.50 (+99p P&P), and so I thought I’d take a break from painting infantry figures and try a similar painting technique on a vehicle.

The model itself was unassembled and still on the sprue, but was missing the original box, the instructions, and one of the alternate heads for the pilot – so, all in all, I think I got a pretty good deal (as the model usually retails for £12).

Anyway, I quickly realised that it would be near impossible to paint the inside of the cockpit once it was all assembled, and so I applied the base coat of paint while the model was in a few separate pieces.

Once these were finished and the model glued together (and touched up in a few places) I then applied the woodstain washes to the vehicle as I did with the infantry figures. Once dry I did notice that it left some of the large flat panels quite dirty looking (which kinda looked OK) but I decided to tidy these up a little bit and also add a simple highlight here and there.

And here’s the end result:

Once again, it’s not great - but I quite like the way it turned out.

Filling Out The Ranks

Here’s a quick pic of what I’ve painted and assembled so far:

It’s a little hard to make out any details on that photograph so here’s a diagram that details each of the units:

As I mentioned in the previous post, I could probably use the hardened veterans squad as stand-ins for stormtrooper models and use the ‘grenadiers’ doctrine to make them my second compulsory troop choice.

The rumour is that the next batch of plastic guardsmen will indeed be stormtrooper models, and so I’m holding off buying any of the (expensive) metal ones, and am instead hoping that this rumour is true.