Painting & Storage

I have very limited space in my house so I have used a few left over kitchen cupboards and put them in the garage.

Within the top cupboards I keep all my painting and modelling gear

In the bottom ones I keep all my models (well.. some of my painted models anyway. There is still a mountain of stuff elsewhere). These are kept in KR cases. I have a few cardboard ones and a couple of different size aluminum ones.

The smaller aluminium case actually holds all my Xwing stuff. The larger one is quite suitable for swapping out a current army to go and take elsewhere. The KR cases keep them nice and secure and dust free.

My painting table is actually the living room table. I take out the top hobby box and a large old towel and spread that out on the table, with a cutting mat on top.

In that I just about keep almost all my Vallejo and GW paints with the brushes and bits and bobs and a mat. The other hobby case is for modelling with spare bitz, lots of bitz, knife, basing material etc. I have a large box of modelling knifes and such like. On top of the cabinet is my compressor and metal box for stripping models.

For such a limited space I am able to keep everything neat, tidy and safe and it only means pulling out a box or two to get setup for a painting session. It does mean packing away afterwards and not being able to leave it out...but then with my 5 year old I would not want to leave anything out!

Models that are work in progress sit on a tray above a kitchen cupboard in the kitchen, out of harms reach and sight of everyone else.

Recruiting from the Hive Worlds

I have always seen my IG Company as being made up of the remnants of other companies and regiments. On the real battlefield you would re consolidate surviving troops into another formation. I also do not see why this could not be a more permanent state of affairs. The regiment could be formed and prove itself battle hardened and simply be shifted onto the next battlefield without breaking them up again and doing a costly amount of moving small squads around.

This at least gives me the excuse to use the models I like rather than be tied down to one particular style of models of type of regiment.

In my IG army I have mostly Cadians and Catachans, but I have a healthy number of Tallarns, old style Stormtroopers, Orlocks, SoB Militia and a few Mordians.

I like to think of them as a platoon of each type. They all have a common painting scheme (although the ones that are more like PDF/Militia/Conscripts have a simpler style and less camo).

In my opinion the older Orlock models make excellent additions to the IG, especially alongside the Catachans. In fact they work quite well the other way round. I always had a Catachan plasma gunner in my Necromunda gang and he did not look out of place.

Man Down!

These are some of the casualty models for my Imperial Guard.

These models are from Pig Iron

Pig Iron Casualty Models

Although not exactly the same wargear as your IG trooper from GW, the fact that they are casualities means they could be local IG, PDF or some other person. Scale wise they fit in nicely and do not look out of place, and although they are clearly non GW they still fit in the universe. Their weapons and gear could easily be IG or PDF and in fact I think they look a little like drop troopers.

They make great objective markers and add a bit of spice to the battlefield, which is why I have painted mine up to look different to my guardsmen (all several hundred of whom have a common theme and battle dress). This is also why they are on the larger square bases.

Rough Riding

There has always been something unique about the concept of the original Rough Riders. This strange anachronism of riding a horse into battle alongside laser and plasma weapons and giant mechanical constructs is quite telling about the 40K universe.

I know these are not the best painted examples in the world but I was a bit scared doing the horses with another 100 Bretonnians sitting on the shelf waiting for a lick of paint.

Gaming wise I always liked to field these, even if they have been over costed ever since Second Edition. I just like the idea of them rolling across the battlefield and throwing back a squad of power armoured monstrosities!

Medic!

I have always imagined that training for a decent regiment in the IG is a bit like the scenes out of Starship Troopers - where the trainer keeps giving them object lessons such as throwing a knife through their hand... then shouting "Medic!" in a manner of fact way.

Well these are the guys that have to wade in the middle of the battle and perform that function. Somehow I do not think there is a Geneva Convention on Red Cross/Medics in the 40K universe so they are still tooled up.

These are pretty much all the old metal models - they had some great character and I have finally got around to painting them up.

Ogryns!

I have always liked the original Ogryn models. I think a lot of the old gamers liked the short story about Norg Deddok.

I never really thought the models gaming-wise lived up to their reputation. They should have been tougher, harder or cheaper. But the models themselves do capture the essence of some brute force, simple minded, applied... well... brutality!

Hive Platoon

I have always loved the metal Orlock figures. They seem such a nice mix of guard, army, hive, scum and gang.

I actually use a fair few of them for a couple of squads (I have enough for a platoon... just need painting up and some need stripping).

They are also my chosen gang for Necromunda. I managed to get a fair few of them cheap on ebay many years back and eventually decided to paint them up for my IG army.

My IG army now has a platoon (of various sizes, but at least 3 squads) of: Catchans, Cadians, Tallarn, Orlocks, Militia, Old Style Stormtroopers.

They seem to fit the ideal of a hive platoon or even just conscripts/PDF.

Penal Legion

When you are really really naughty in the 40K world you get the joy and privilege of joining the Penal Legion.

Life is very short in the legion. With a lasgun thrust into your hand (maybe some clothes and shoes if you are lucky) you are kicked off the drop ship into the maelstrom of battle and pointed in the general direction of the enemy. If you manage to clog up their tank tracks with your lifeless body for a couple of seconds you will have done your job.

I wanted my unit to look like they were just a rag tag bunch they had been thrown into the fray. The blind nutter with the flamer and torch. The madman in the stocks with two live grenades in his hands. The masked one wielding some massive club. The crazy bearded fanatic with the banner pole and a laspistol.

I also wanted to give them a leader/shepherd who was not a commissar or similar. Perhaps he is also a condemned guardsmen but one trusted enough with all the keys and told that if he can lead his unit through another 10 battles he might earn back some freedom.

I plan on doing a good few more to add to this unit. These were just an idea. I have always wanted to make a Penal Legion unit right from looking at the 'codex' pamphlet that came way back with Second Edition (another unit I always wanted, just from the basic entry in that was the Electro Priests. Somehow the new models for them just don't jive with how I have imagined them the last 20 years).

All Crewed Up

These are the now unobtainable ( I believe) crew for the Imperial Guard.

I love the tank crew models. I believe there were rules for them as well at one point. If the Leman Russ took certain hits the crew could leg it and escape.

I also keep an eye out for the Valhallan models where they sit across the tank, much like what happened in WWII. I think GW missed a trick not producing crew and models to go on and around vehicles for all the different regiments. I think a lot of gamers and modellers would have snapped them up.

Snipers

These are the original Catachan sniper models.

I really like these models and their poses. I also have a couple of the plastic sniper models to make up (from the command kit) with the cape.

The main problem I have is I now have millions of arms and pieces but not enough torsos and legs to go round. It would be nice if there were a sensible option at a sensible price for this (everytime I work out I can get, say, 10 torsos and legs for £15 I think you might as well splash out the extra couple of quid and buy a new box set - this just compounds the problem!

I tried to get a half decent camo effect on these. I am pleased with how it came out. As usual the poor camera and lighting do not help, they do look a little better in real life.

Militia in the IG

These I use as another platoon (I have Cadians, Tallarns, Catachans, Orlocks, old style stormtroopers and a mixed platoon of bits and bobs). They are the original Frateris Militia for the Sisters of Battle.

They are not a bad little sculpt. The only trouble is there are only so many poses.

I think they would make great models for Necromunda as well, especially those with the autopistols. They do not fit in too bad with the Orlock platoon I have as well. You could easily imagine these to be some sort of militia or PDF drafted in to help the IG.

These were among the first models I experimented with edge highlighting once I got back into painting in my old age (previously it was a slap of thick paint on, done... now I am slowly learning how to bring them out a little bit more into a tabletop standard)

Captain Taske

A long, long time ago (but in this galaxy) I did used to actually play Warhammer 40K. It really started properly with 2nd Edition. I used to have regular games with a friend of mine and I liked to develop a narrative for each game into a long running story. My commander used to always be Captain Taske, originally using a metal Commissar model. More recently I picked up the newer model, in finecast (one of the few resin models I have) and decided to paint him up a little better than the original (which had the paint troweled on basically).

The pictures are not brilliant (camera on the phone and poor lighting do not help) but the model does actually have a few highlights and drybrushes... especially on the fur cloak. It is only in my old age that I have bothered to try to learn to paint better and improve, rather than putting down a single layer and calling it quits. This is a nice little model with a great deal of detail. I had no trouble with the resin itself and the paint took to it easily (I use a very simple priming solution - simple cheap acrylic paint watered down and then brushed on all over the model. I have used a proper primer.) The photo makes my attempt at a power sword look worse than it does in real life...however that is certainly a technique I need to try again and put a little more effort into exploring.

The Artillerist

I added this to my collection last year. The model was from Full Borer Miniatures... it very much fits the theme of an Imperial Guard advisor and is perfect for using as its namesake - Artillery Advisor.

The sculpt was brilliant and has plenty of detail (although my painting will never show it to full effect). I believe my one is actually metal even though that link is for a resin version. I think this would make an excellent addition to any IG army. I particularly like the data slate he is holding and the pose is just right, even for someone on a battlefield (you can just imagine him lecturing about the coordinates being slightly off while blast craters are popping up all around him).

Imperial Guardsmen - Armoured Company

I have collected a fair few footsloggers over the year years... as well as a pretty large collection of tanks Some of the ones below are the ones I have bought prepainted (or were painted a long time ago)

I have actually painted more guardsmen in the last couple of years than in all the twenty years previous to that... quite simply my painting was awful when I was younger... now if you squint really hard in a dark room it does not look too sore. I have actually done a few tanks since I collected the above lot... all painted up in a similar scheme... including heavily modified Salamander Command Vehicle. Watch this space while I dig out the pictures.