Friday 2 October 2009

Painting update ... only 24 Guardsmen to go! and Rippers Swarms WIP

Imperial Guard Army nearly complete!

I suddenly realised last night, I only have 24 guardsmen left to paint ... with over 140 guardsmen/rough riders/heroes/ogryns completed - not counting the 9 tanks and 9 sentinels:
  • 10 Catachan/Cadian combo's (might operate as 'penal' quad and they look weird).
  • 4 Servitors (like the Ogryns, I never take these despite the I1 S8 power attack ... just too vulnerable to being bumped off - might be good as an antitank close combat unit...?)
  • 3 Rough Riders including my Mogul Rah/Commissar conversion - been sitting on the 'to do' shelf for a long time... but I'm having a good run with rough riders recently ... alliteration.
  • 3 Vets to finish.
  • 2 Lascannon Crews and the Last Mortar crew needs painting, they're catachans are represent my 'fearless' unit in the tournament I'm playing - they look like nutters!
  • One Chimera tank ...
And that it! Apart from the additional 9 mortars I've ordered and received and am waiting on bases (the crew for these are already painted, they just need de-conscripting)...

The 13 guardsmen and three HWTs should take me two nights ... the Chug two ... the Rough Riders one night and the servitors a night. Add to these six nights another two night to glue, retouch, paint the bases and polish off the 9 mortars and in eight wokring nights I'll have the following:
  • 4 Chimeras
  • 1 Basilisk
  • 2 Hellhounds
  • 2 Leman Russ Battle Tanks
  • 1 Demolisher
  • 3 Heavy Bolter HWTs
  • 3 Lascannon HWTs
  • 3 Autocannon HWTs
  • 5 Missile Launcher HWTs
  • 15 Mortar HWTs
  • 6 Normal Squads (2 with flamer, 4 with GL)
  • 3 Veterans Squads (including a Harker conversion)
  • 20 assorted special weapon/special kit/ccw-laspistol guardsmen (for command squads or special weapons teams)
  • 7 Ogyrn
  • 10 Rough Riders (including a 'commissar' mogul kamir)
  • 9 Ratlings
  • 12 Storm Troopers (probably vets now as ST are rubbish)
  • 1 Techpriest and 4 Servitors
  • 3 Commissars
  • 5 Officers (including a Cadian Al'rahem conversion)
  • A Vindicare Assassin
  • Commissar Yarrick
  • Sly Marbo (le Soldat)
So not a bad turn out really.... only took me since Jan 2009 to amass. Let's not look at the Tau and Tyranids though - there's loads more to do there.

Ripped me a new one man....

Last night I could have painted some of these but instead the 'creative' bug caught me. Digging through my 'to do - build' box (looking for Tau firewarriors - I built four) I found the five bases and multiple rippers I was going to turn into a series of swarms...

Now, as frequently reader will know, there's nothing like a 'lost cause' unit to get my converting head on. Rippers are an easy conversion and straightforward. The trick is to think laterally...

ForgeWorld Ripper Swarms look awesome... Three rippers on a empty base look rubbish... I've only got three Rippers per base ... could buy more, but they're pants ... so why not 'bulk up' the base? BINGO!

A short while later and I have a total of 8 ripper swarm bases with between three and one ripper on each! Only two of the eight are painted (I did these a while back) ... but they'll give you an idea for the finish on the rest ... once the greenstuff dries I'll get these models painted up!

Ripper Base One and wo: "We're in ur kaszul advisin ur king!"









Basic Swarm of three rushing over the barracades!


Ripper Base Three: "Comeon you sons of bit .... KABOOM!"


The Rippers have live up to their name with this half buried trooper, but he's got one more surprise left in his hand...

Ripper Base Four: "Arrrrgggghhh!"

This was the first attempt and there's too many bodies, too many bits and too much - still a nice start...

Ripper Base Five: "Leaking! It's leaking!"

The Rippers Leap over a barrel full of fuel that's been thrown at them to slow them down.

Ripper Base Six: "Where are the sentries...?"

Probably already been eaten by a Lictor?

Ripper Base Seven: "I could use some help over here!"

This fellas run out of ammo at the wrong time ... I hope he's not trying to surrender?

Ripper Base Eight: "Five ... four ... three ... two ... one ... ignition!"
























This Ripper seems to have arrived just in time to see the rocket launch... or did he launch it?


So what do you make of these conversions... and what are rippers likely to be like in the next codex... the floor is yours.