Project: Stormtrooper, the PDF update

The final part of the Dagr Ormr force is now complete, kind of anyway, there are still a few headless models in there but they will have to wait until i am able to get in to my bits box and find the right parts. Here is all there glory are the Hildasay PDF regiment, along with accompanying characters.

Parade photo, HQ's to the front and the grunts at the back.

The two company commanders, neither has a name yet, however the one on the left is the senior of the two.

Power sword

The headless command squad. The two flamers, one of which is heavy, still need heads but the standard and medic are good to go.

I'm quite proud of this standard, nice bright and highly visible on the battlefield.

The "veteran" special weapons squad. These boys may get expanded in future to a full squad of vet's but for the moment there just a special weapons squad.

Priest and commissar, keeping the troops in line and fighting

Some of the details of the priests robes.

The final unit, currently a basic infantry squad. I could combine this with the special weapons squad to form a full vet's squad, although these guys have some 3rd party beret heads I got a while ago, no idea where they came from anymore.

So there it is, the Hildasay PDF soldiers. When I back up and running on my leg, I'll try and get a complete picture of the whole force together with the Dagr Ormr. I imagine it will.be quite a sight all layed out. 

Hjaltland LI update

 

With the current tournament at the club, I've been looking back over my guard models and I've decided to go back and finish painting those last few models from the Hjaltland LI.  Progress has been slower than I would have liked and has come in fits and starts but we got there in the end.

There weren't many models, a couple of heavy weapons teams, some special weapons guardsmen, some ratlings and a couple of characters, 32 in total but not all of them needed completely painting from scratch. All but 2 were primed and several had been started in one form or another. Only one model needed stripping and repainting and that was the Lord Commissar. I'll apologise for the poor photography but I'm still stuck in bed with my leg and using my phone the best I can but the light is really poor.

First up are the command squad. These guys are joining Blue Troop, the veteran troop, to form a small core of fighters to support and act as a small counter strike force for the Veterans as they go forwards. All are armed with pistols and chain swords for this purpose. While they aren't really a hardcore combat unit, they can put out a few attacks and do some damage. I do still wish that command squad had slightly better stat line, mainly 2 attacks, like a vet Sgt, as these guys are supposed to be the the best Guardsmen, so having 2 attacks base seems reasonable.

Next up is the expanded missile teams. There are 2 more teams to add to the original, to form a complete heavy weapons squad of 3 missile launchers. These we'll add a bit of extra punch, both to anti-armour and anti-infantry. If they bring the psychic awakening stratagems into the main codex then these guys are going to be even better.

The last of "Blue" platoon are the sniper special weapons squad. These guys are a bit, well pointless really. Sniper rifles are not great and 3 on guardsmen are  even worse. However, I have the models, 2 of which are old metal models, so why not. I've spent quite a bit of time on the paint job for these guys, just to make the "stand out".  I doubt these guys will see the table much but they will look cool

The last squad is Yellow platoons grenade special weapons squad. This squad is just to provide some additional counter punch fire power and some light anti-armour capability to the Yellow (Assault) Platoon. I know grenade launchers aren't the most powerful weapons but they are still better than flamers. 

Next up are the Psykers or rather they would be, if I could remember where I put them! While I already have 2 and don't actually need any more that that. I decided that this was a good opportunity to add a few more, just because.... Anyway, blue and green will join black and red to form the psychic quartet (when I find them).

Lastly we have the Lord Commissar. This model is a great old model, probably o e of my favorite metal models. While a lot of the models now looks very clunky and are posed rather silly, some, like this one, are full of character and have a very dynamic pose. You can just tell this guy is exalting the name of the Emperor to the troops, either that or reminding them what he'll do if they fail!

In addition I have painted up some Ratings, although I'm not sure these will be joining the Hjaltland LI or one of the other forces.

Dagr Ormr future plans

So, with the completion of the Dagr Ormr and the Hildasay PDF on the paint table, I have been thinking ahead a bit and how I can improve this list, as it's one of the few lists that can actually be improved. This is because most of the squads are short of men, with most of them being only 9 men strong and with only 2 special weapons each. Also, there are only 2 commanders and 2 command squads out of a max of three of each. The key question was, how do I expand the squads when Dreamforge Games stopped producing figures? Well, salvation came in the form of Wargames Atlantic and the re-release of the Dreamforge line

The only box currently available.

At present only the Eisenkern Stormtroopers are available, however, they have announced that the Eisenkern Panzerjagers (female warriors) are in the pipe line for release this year. As the boxes are 20 man boxes, just one box will be enough to expand our the special weapons, with 12 required, create a third command squad, with 4 models, and a commander, for a total of 17 models. The other 3 models can be used to add extra options for special weapons. Well I say 3 models but each 5 Man sprue in the stotroopers box, actually comes with 7 pairs of legs, so a total 28 legs. This means that I will need to find 8 bodies and packs, although at least 1 will be a vox caster, and I will have 11 spare bodies. Now currently there are no other options for the Militarum Tempestus in the Guard codex but I'm hopeful.we may get some extra options in the new version, maybe special weapons squads or maybe even sniper rifles. I would love heavy weapons and maybe even a fast option but I've gone over all that in other posts. So when the Panzerjagers are released, I will be getting a box to bulk out the force.

Another item I want to add to the force is transport and o don't really want the Taurox, not because I don't like it, even if it's is a bit of an odd design, it's more because I do t feel.that it fits the theme of my force. I have been looking around all.over the place to find a suitable replacement vehicle and I though I had found one with the Anvil Industries Taipan APC, but that project seems to have disappeared, and try as i.might, I can't find anything on it post 2017. So this has lead to a continued search that that lead to a few options but none have been either sensible in price, ie less than GW prices, and fit the aesthetic that I'm looking for. However, I came across this the other day and I think it has the potential to fit quite nicely, the Mantic Games Warpath Mule;

GCPS Mule 

 One addition benefit is that it comes in two forms, the GCPS Mule and also the Plague Mule, which is almost the same just a bit more battered and beaten on the front.

The plague mule version

The only issues are that it is open backed and armed with just a heavy weapon on top. In terms of size, well it's a pretty good fit for the Taurox, being a good fit in pretty much every direction. 

The open rear can be dealt with easily enough, such as mini void shields or repulser fields. With scions having a 4+ save and Taurox having 3+ saves, it's not a stretch to think of the vehicle having something extra to boost the save of the passengers. I could form some sort of structure to the back with plastic but my modelling skill are not that good. In terms of turrets, there are several around on eBay and the like, so that's not a problem. The issue comes with mounting it to the vehicle, I think it could mount on the top, just in front of where the weapon mount is now. This will probably mean cutting in to the chassis or similar, either way I don't think it should be a problem. There are several options on eBay for mountings, so that's another option. 

Either way I want to add 3 or 4 transports to the force for some mobile firepower. Ultimately I'm really waiting for the new codex to see what shiny new toys the codex brings.

Project: Stormtrooper, the PDF

 The great painting spree continues and I'm on to the second force, which is still part of the same overall force and the scions but forms the other side of the army, I am of course talking about the Hildasay PDF. There are not many models in this force, just 18 models, as the rest have already been painted up. This force includes the two company commanders, a command squad, a grenade special weapons squad (which my be expanded to a full vet squad at some point) and a bare bones infantry squad. These guys are here to act as screen and counter attack units for anything that gets to close to all the heavy weapons teams, which form the other part of the PDF force. 

The tray of primed models. The model top left is my reference models.

While I had some of the paints out, I made a start on a couple of characters, a commissar to keep everyone inline and a priest to add some extra punch if needed. 

Commissar

Priest