Sunday, November 18, 2012

Imperial Guard - A whole mess of infantry painted!

With Adepticon bearing down on us, I really needed to get in gear and paint up the multiple squads of infantry that have been neglected for so long. Thirty of 'em were going to be needed for my planned 1850 list so there was no getting around the fact that I was in for some assembly line painting. Not my favorite way to paint, but it's efficient for those times when you just have a horde of troops to do.


On the up side, I'd already painted up the heavy weapons teams so there ended up being 24 of 'em on deck. I didn't document this stage too much, just snapped a quick picture about halfway through. The scheme is fairly quick and painless, so it only took about 5-6 hours to get them up to tabletop standard.



...Almost to the finish line! I still need to paint on the unit insignia and "winged 7" on the shoulder pads, but I wanted to get a first pass of sealant on them before I did so. I find that helps when it comes time to draw on tiny numbers and symbols - the sealant smooths out the surface somewhat so the paint flows really nicely onto the shoulder pads.


Couple closeups of the various squads - I don't tend to go overboard on detail for the troops - especially true in the case of the guard, as these guys get pulled off the table in double handfuls due to casualties anyway! The grenade launcher/missile launcher combo gives the squads the ability to deal with both hordes and light vehicles/elite infantry, alternately there's 3 lascannons that I can swap in for those times I know I'll be facing heavier mechanized opponents.


While I was about it, I brought the old unit of ratlings up to speed, touching up their fatigues, re-painting the weapon housings, and re-basing them. Luckily my old urban rubble theme is essentially the same physical form as my current method - just a re-paint from grey to brown, and the addition of some static grass is all that is required.


I'm in the queue to have the extraordinarily talented Ron over at FTW build me a new commander model for the army, but needed something for a stand in in the short term. Recently I've been using the rules for Ursakar Creed for my army commander Evin Eldro, which meant that the old model I was using wasn't armed appropriately and the real Creed model, while cool, just doesn't fit my vision. Twin hot-shot laspistols and a power sword? Turns out I have a model armed that way... Kal Jerico! A quick repaint of the coat and base and job's a good 'un. I'm hoping to have Ron do a similar model that includes a carapace breastplate and an officer's head - while the base Kal Jerico model is really dynamic, it needs some work to really make it blend in with a guard army. For now though, this'll do!


It felt really good to be able to swap the last of the big Troop units over to green on the painting chart. I also took a little time in Excel and got it to reference the point values of the army list and was surprised to find out exactly how many points of guard there actually are lurking in the Closet of Doom. I really can't think of much that I want to add to the army at this point - possibly another couple Leman Russ variants, maybe a Stormblade for grins, but unless GW comes out with a storm trooper kit that I can't live without, I can't think of any further infantry that I really need. Could it be that the project is finally reaching conclusion?

...Nah, probably not. Hah!

12 comments:

  1. Very nice work, if that's assembly line painting it's still great! Love the ratlings as well, great and vibrant colours as ever. Love it.

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  2. I agree with the good Colonel, its rocking good for an assembly line

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  3. I love that army.
    don't ever finish it- there is always something to add! :)

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  4. Cal jericho as Creed? Inspired!

    WE need another group shot just as soon as those winged 7's are done. :)

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  5. Sooo many infantry men. I feel your pain about painting bulk squads.

    The ratlings look awesome! Love those little fellas.

    I really dig your Jericho/creed proxie too. Very cool and I'm sure the final one will be awesome!

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  6. lol, I guess we all have a 'closet of doom'.

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  7. Thanks very much, folks!

    @Colonel Scipio & Impcommander - They are a bit more sloppy than usual, when I'm just cranking 'em out I don't go back and clean up quite as much. Nevertheless, they'll do for the tabletop!

    @Col. Ackland - Indeed! There's still plenty more to add on the horizon. After all, I don't *quite* have at least one each of everything in the codex. Hah!

    @Dai - I'm hoping to knock them out this week after work, more pictures ahoy! :)

    @The Eye of Error - Indeed, painting generic troops can be pretty tedious. On the upside, now I get to paint tanks, which I really enjoy! :)

    @Da Masta Cheef - Indeed! The CoD is an inevitable step on the path of miniature gaming enlightenment... Usually that enlightenment comes in thinking "Dang, I gotta clean out this closet!" Hah!

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  8. They look great and it's awesome to see the project is coming together. It usually takes a tournament to make huge blocks of infantry get painted in my armies as I feel the same way about assembly line painting. I can't wait to see them in person!

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  9. Thanks OST! It's been a long road with the guard, and it's wild to see how little remains to paint. Definitely looking forward to Adepticon, and if we don't get a game in during the tourney, we definitely at least need to lift a pint or three!

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  10. Loving the yellow, makes everything pop!

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  11. Love the Cal model and all the work so far, very inspiring.

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  12. The yellow/grey scheme looks great, very distinctive. and gold the chestplates on the squad leaders gives them a real old school 'rogue trader' vibe.

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