The only 40k post that will ever be on this blog (probably)

 When I was a teenager, I really wanted to wargame. I lived in a small town in the middle of Florida, and the only access to any gaming paraphernalia was 45 minutes away in a comic book store. This consisted of Dungeons and Dragons books and miniatures, and a handful of Warhammer 40k boxes. However, I didn’t even discover this fact until after I convinced my mom to take me to a game shop while we were in Southern California, visiting family before a wedding. So, 13 years ago, at the ripe old age of 14, I went into a store that sold almost entirely Games Workshop merchandise and came out $45 poorer and the owner of a handful of figures. A few years later, I got  another couple of boxes for another $45 dollars. Again, I received a handful of figures.

I recently ran dry of 1/72 medievals to paint, and I saw a trend online of people painting and modeling their Imperial Guard units to look like medieval soldiers hastily equipped with the weapons of the Imperium of Man. They look really neat. So, I dug up my handful of figures, and painted/repainted/rebuilt them!

My painting tray with the bits and bobs and the figures I painted up. I had 4 Imperial Guardsmen, and 1 Ultramarine Tyranid War Veteran. I really enjoy reading the Bretonnia lore from the old Warhammer Fantasy setting, so I decided to use what little I had to make the Space Marine an equivalent of a Grail Knight, and the Guardsmen akin to his peasant pilgrims, devoted to his service.

If anyone really loves Warhammer 40k, I know this probably doesn’t line up with the lore for the sci-fi setting. But then again, I don’t play Warhammer 40k. The Space Marine got the red and blue side-by-side for his armor with gold accents, as well as a few steel-colored bits—as if his faithful men had replaced his ruined armor with plate fashioned in a similar way.

I attempted to mix the paint for the Guardsmen’s blouses to look as if it was low-grade fabric, dyed to become livery in honor of their Space Marine master. I attempted to make their armor look like iron plates.

This guy is my favorite of the bunch. He gave me the most grief. See, GW manufactured this specific set of troopers to be one of its “easy-assembly” sets, for players who wanted to bolster their numbers or try out new paint jobs. They also wanted to keep you from creating anything awesome. So, they placed hole in the chest of each figure, into which the rifle arm (which conveniently had the left hand attached to the rifle) stuck. I wanted him to have a sword, though! So, I grabbed some bits, chopped some bobs, and glued a few things into place…accidentally removing too much of his arm with no solution to that problem. It was late, I was tired, and I got a little happy with the hobby knife. I also dry brushed the livery onto his helmet to differentiate him and his devotion even more.

But he is my favorite. I like to imagine that he is the dutiful sergeant, continuing to lead his men despite having lost his right arm in combat with some evil, razor-clawed monster. He doesn’t have a robotic prosthetic like others in the universe on account of the low-tech world he lives on. And look at that sword! Perfect for chopping into alien and native creatures.

The full spread, painted. I might use something like A Fistful of Lead for a game with them, or modify my rules. But for now I’ll just look at how purdy they are.

A close up of the fully painted and varnished Marine.

And a bonus, the other Guardsmen (please ignore how awfully I painted the eyes):

Next up, flocking the bases of ALL my miniatures. Any suggestions from more experienced hands? We will also resume our regularly scheduled medieval romp through the Barony of Bleudingle and Beyond!