What do you want next for your army?

Morning all,

Again, I'll try and keep going with the updates here and there, in between bouts of overtime at work.

Last night, I was flicking through the Imperial Guard codex to have a nosey at some units and started thinking about what I'd like to buy next for them, to move me away from Mechanised transported squads and utilise more of the Imperial Guard book.

First up, there's a few more characters I want in the army...

Commisar Yarrick
  First up, the only named Independent Character in the book (well, one without being bought in a command squad to start with?). I've already made a plastic Commisar Lord from the Cadian command boxset, but next up would be to make this dude.

The idea being, that I've got plenty of Ork power klaws lying around, waiting to lop off his hand with. Add a storm bolter to the other, and his bale eye, and we're there. My Manutian equivalent of Yarrick.

Captain Al'Rahem
There's something I like about this guy as an upgrade to my Platoon command squad. Mostly because he's got better orders than a standard Platoon commander (Bring it down and First Rank, Second Rank), bigger order range, a unique order which lets you shoot, then run. And on top of that a plasma pistol and an instant death causing power weapon. So he's S3, big deal, he only needs 1 wound to land on a Carnifex for it to go pop. He's got plenty of fodder around him to take the hits!

As for converting Al'Rahem, the best thing to do is get his iconic weaponry - the plasma pistol and Claw of the Desert Tiger - and make him look a bit rugged and worn. I'm hoping a Dark Eldar power weapon and standard Guard plasma pistol can do the trick there, along with a goggled Catachan head and a cloak from Empire pistoliers. Job done... hopefully.

Commander Chenkov
I'm a pansy for special characters, I like to use them all over the show, just for the variation they can bring to a game. I'm intending on buying the bits for Al'Rahem, so it seems daft not to also do the other Platoon Command upgrade - Commander Chenkov. The main reason I was to use  him, is to back up a big Conscript unit. I

A Manutian version is going to be a bit awkward to do. His defining features are his cloak, greatcoat and sword. The only problem with that is I've used exactly the same gear for my Commisar Lord (excluding the bolt pistol). There's a few WHFB heads I can use for the beard and whatnot, and I should have plenty of broadswords lying around.

Conscripts
Continuing on from using Chenkov, I've always wanted a big meatshield unit of Conscripts. Literally to worry people about a 50 strong unit heading towards them and for the satisfaction of knowing they're pretty much just a suicide unit. The only problem I've got with that is painting and buying all those Conscript models...

I'm not sure how to make my Conscripts yet, I intially wanted to use the Catachan models as inducted Manutian Gangers, but having found no decent deals on the older boxes of models via eBay... I'm thinking I may as well just use the Cadian models.

Sentinels
Sentinels have always been a cool little unit, I like the thought of these scouting walkers to support Infantry units or tag along with mechanised infantry. I also like the amount of weapon options available to them, from anti-vehicle, anti-infantry, anti-terminator, anti-light vehicle etc. The only question is scout or armoured?

No change here, I'd love to just use the GW models as standard, hopefully magnetising the weapons and being able to swap the cockpit top in and out to swap between scout and armoured variants.

Rough Riders
Rough riders are my absolute favourite unit in the Guard codex. So much so that I've been hanging fire on building them, just waiting to see what new models are coming out for all the GW ranges, for what I can convert them from.

My initial idea for them came from an article in White Dwarf about Abhumans, with the use of Xeno mounts. At that time, using the very old and chubby Cold Ones. I didn't have an issue with those models, just that they were a pain to get hold of in bulk. So at the moment, I'm toying with either using Dark Elf cold one knights for the Xeno approach, or go the classic horse way and use Empire pistoliers.

Psyker Battle Squad
I know, I know. The internet loved / loves these guys and everyone else hates them... but I really, really like the idea of a Psyker squad. I love Psykers in 40k and think they're really, really underused. Mostly because they're competing for better slots in some armies (Weirdboys in Orks, for example) or whatever other reason. But I do want to try and force a squad of them in, to accompany my Primaris Psyker.

The intention for them is to have this rogue and tattered look about them. Probably using Empire Flagellants for them, or Bretonnian men at arms. However, when making my Primaris Psyker I did think about using Cadian Shock Troops with Empire bits to maintain the similar look - although maybe they'd be too similar for other players?

Hardened Veterans
The next thing on my list is to have some actual models for my Hardened Veteran units. The aim is for these to be my Chimera mechanised squads, and my current Mech squads can sit inside the Valkyries / Vendettas.

Now these guys are Wargames Factory sci-fi Infantry, but I really like the Killzone Helghast thing they've got going on. Plus they're pretty cheap. I think it's about £40 for 54 of them. Which is more than enough and with all the special weapons to boot. They're different enough from Cadians to get away with and also could be used to show Carapace armour?

Hopefully over the coming months I can start chipping away at the tons of units I want. Maybe before the end of this month I can look into that Psyker Battle squad, or the Platoon command special characters and Yarrick.

Next month's project is to start some Rough Riders!

Peace,
SB