WHAT WE GOT HERE IS...
FAILURE TO COMMUNICATE.
Firebase is a man-eater. I am convinced this magazine seduces the hearts of its masters and devours them with a voracious appetite. A mere six issues have passed and already three lovers have been entirely consumed. But I say no more to this wickedness! This mighty magazine, full of promise and feral complexity, shall be tamed. Together with my accomplished and ever increasing cohort Firebase will become more elegant, distinguished, enlightening, and dare I say regularly released? Aye, I do!Dear faithful and new readers both, my name is Gabriel Schrock. I am the newest sacrifi cial lamb to be offered up as the editor of Firebase. I’ve been on the staff since the second issue and have been a gung-ho little monkey from the very fi rst day, but now with
my grubby little hands fi rmly grasping the helm I hope to do my part in guiding this magazine to the heights previous editors have promised.
I will not lie. This responsibility is unnerving to say the least but I refuse to falter in my mission. I give praise to The God-Emperor that I am joined by like-minded devotees; we will support each other in the gallant and righteous cause we set for ourselves…. Our intention is that Firebase will not just remain great, but that Firebase will become illustrious.
-Gabriel “Gabe” Schrock, Editor
FIREBASE STAFF
Editor . . . Gabriel Schrock Specialist Games Editor . . . . Ben Skinner Advisor. . . Adam Smith Design & Layout . . . .Jon Mattison
Jon Webb Proofreaders . . . Greg Alexander Patrick Cullen James Maliska Matthew Phelps
STAFF
Cover Art . . . Tim Divar Art . . . Travis Andrews
Nacho Fernandez Comics. . . Brian Solomon Paul Wantland Graphics . . . Rens Jansen Writers . . . Michael Glaeser
Timo Lorenz David McGuire Brian Solomon
FIREBASE is published every three months in association with Warseer.com. All text and layout remains the copyright of FIREBASE. FIREBASE is a fully independent publication and its views are not the views of any company mentioned herein. All characters and artwork shown in this magazine remain the © and trademark of their respective owners. No part of this magazine may be reproduced without the express permission of the Editor or Deputy Editor. FIREBASE can accept no responsibility for inaccuracies or complaints arising from editorial or advertising within this magazine. All letters and emails received will be considered for publication, but we cannot always provide personal replies.
This fanzine is completely unoffi cial and in no way endorsed by Games Workshop Limited. FIREBASE is a nonprofi t making fanzine with the aim of promoting Games Workshop games, products and hobby.
IN THIS ISSUE
News from the Library . . . .5
Imperial Register. . . .9
Interview: Bell of Lost Souls . . . .11
Comic: Misfi re! . . . .15
Painting: Eldar Masterclass . . . .16
Conversions: Scratch Built Tau Remora . .27 Tutorial: Cadian Plastics . . . .33
Tutorial: Advanced Urban Basing . . . .43
Terrain Building for Dummies . . . .48
Bat Rep: Tau v Tau v Tau. . . .51
Snikrot and Ork Kommando Tactika . . . . .66
Introducing Youngsters to the Hobby . . .68
Fiction: Countdown to Midnight. . . .71
Dark Heresy: Genestealer Cults . . . .85
Specialist Games Supplement . . . .86
Teaser: Issue 7 . . . .87
16
There has been a delay in transmission,
43
Dark Apostle — Anthony Reynolds Horror movies have been raising the bar on barbarity and revulsion - as of late, the Black Library has jumped on this bandwagon and will hopefully continue to do
He presents Chaos and its followers as they should be presented: torturing, traitorous, mass murdering and corruptive to both body and soul.
Dark Apostle Jarulek and his gang of Word Bearers take over the imperial planet of Tanakreg, enslaving the population in order to force them to build a gigantic tower. Needless to say, in this endeavour he also knows to make use of the millions of corpses which his attack has left.
An armada of the Imperial Guard and the Adeptus Mechanicus arrive, hurling their soldiers and servitors at the feet of the corrupt Word Bearers.
In particular, the description of how Defi lers and Dreadnoughts are sent into battle bound in chains so making use of the lives of slaves may calm them down, if needed, is very well thought through.
Anthony Reynolds manages to shed some light on single characters in the course of this meat grinder-like novel, letting them walk a tightrope between hope and absolute
Only in Death – Dan Abnett
Brought to us by none other than Dan Abnett “Only in Death” is the eleventh novel in the Gaunt’s Ghost series. What will the Tanith First-and-Only encounter this time? You have every right to be curious!
The regiment is to explore and occupy an old house in the fortress world of Jago, known as the Hinzerhaus.
Upon arriving, the First-and-Only does not only have to endure the dust storms of Jago, and the lack of supplies, but also rumours about eerie sightings. Nothing is as it seems in the Hinzerhaus, there are noises coming from all over and the maps are as good as useless.
Like this isn’t enough to deal with already, the building is smack in the way the Blood Pact is using to advance, and the staff
division’s orders are “halt until supplies arrive”. A race for life and death ensues.
Once again Dan Abnett makes you say, “This is the best novel in the Gaunt series”. He fi nds a fresh tantalizing plot as well as new
NEWS FROM THE LIBRARY
This issue has it all. Ranging from perfect to not worth reading, two artefact books, a new Chaos novel, many gruesome ways of dying, and a new Gaunt’s Ghost novel (in which case I highly recommend you read the ten preceeding novels fi rst). Do you have any requests for reviews of older novels or would like to express your opinion on recent works?
Go ahead and send an email to [email protected], I’m looking forward to hearing from you all. On to the reviews!
Timo Lorenz
The Imperial Munitorum Manual — Graham McNeill
The Black Library’s “Artefact” books always bear a great amount of attention to detail. Accordingly, the “Imperial Munitorum Manual” does too. This book resembles vintage writings with its slightly yellowed pages, its sketches and drawings (unfortunately not all of these are new). To be honest, this book even smells old.
Nine sections all told proceed to explain the history of the Departmento Munitorium, the Imperial Army’s structure, and the equipment of soldiers and staff. It also elucidates
the correct way of fi lling out the “easily understandable forms” for all requirements of your daily life on the front, as well as all the punishments and procedures following the incorrect handling of the issued
documents.
The best part of this book is this: “The Departmento Munitorum recognises that waging combat operations is stressful, but no matter how terrible and brutal the fi ghting, there is no excuse for poor manners.”
Once again the Black Library proves that their background books are more than just plain written words; they are true collector’s items, not really exciting for the general reader but a defi nite must-have for an afi cionado!
Imperial Infantryman´s Uplifting Primer, Damocles Gulf Edition — Matt Ralphs
Shortly after the release of the “Imperial Munitorum Manual”, the Black Library provided us with a second “Artefact” book, which is able to top its predecessor. While the design is similar, including yellowed pages and the distinct smell of old literature, this Primer delivers a lot more “humour” in the form of Imperial propaganda, an appropriate design, new art work and very useful tips.
The book contains everything a fresh Imperial Guard recruit needs to know: chapters on punishment, equipment, command structure, enemies, fi rst aid, tactics, the proper behavior during warp passage, and an annex with the most useful prayers for the battle fi eld.
Honestly, it is hard to fi gure out where to start praising this book. Not only do the survival tips range from building a trap to removing leeches from one’s anus, it is also written in a very profi cient and humorous style.
The inherent propaganda is unmatched; it constantly provokes the reader to smirk. The Empire’s antagonists are degraded to the lowest level of ridiculousness, be they Tyranids, Eldar or Orks. Everyone is put into perspective. The Tau receive special attention since this is the Damocles Gulf Edition.
The reader fi nds out what happens to Imperial citizens that get involved with the Xenos, why the Tau are even bigger fi lth than all other races of the Xenos, and with what kind of inferior technology they try to copy the products of the Adeptus Mechanicus. A rather impressive piece of advice is, “Tau are frightened by thunder.”
What’s left to say?
An Imperial gamer not carrying this opus in his pocket should be reported immediately to his Commissar for due punishment! Star of Damocles — Andy Hoare
From childhood on you are told not to judge a book by its cover, but maybe I should have forgone this advice just once. “Star of Damocles” is one of the weakest novels in the universe of 40K.
In this second book of the Rogue Trader series, the Patriarch Lucian Gerrit crosses the Damocles Gulf with his family and a crusade in order to forge ahead into the Tau domain. In the course of this, he is betrayed by part of his family.
Now this sounds like it might be tantalizing, yet unfortunately it is not. Events are lined up one after the other without being given any depth at all. A few space battles, a conspiracy, and a dash of the mysterious simply trail one another. Among the latter is the appearance of an abandoned crusade
space ship in the Warp. Unfortunately, this event is in no way satisfactorily described. The only bright spot within this novel is the entrance of a demonic being into Lucian Gerrit’s ship during the Warp transit. However, this event is cut off far too quickly as well.
Since all strands of the plot are left open for the next episode, this novel leaves the reader feeling unsatisfi ed. This is not at all part of the high quality series we have become accustomed to thanks to William King or Dan Abnett.
I must confess I was glad when I reached the book’s last page because it meant I could fi nally grab another novel.
Descent of Angels — Mitchel Scanlon “Descent of Angels” is novel six in the Horus Heresy series, yet it does not seem to mesh consistently.
From the viewpoint of the young aspiring knight Zahariel, Mitchel Scanlon describes the feudal world Caliban - a world where knightly orders are fi ghting the great beasts that control the forests.
a gigantic crusade to exterminate the great beasts. Some orders consider this a danger to the old system, therefore an obstacle standing in his way.
After the crusade has ended, the Imperial troops land, and the Dark Angels are founded. Only the youngest aspirants become Space Marines, while the old knights serve as their leaders.
Scanlon dwells on the issue of the character’s connections, which will later lead to the Dark Angel’s fall, a tad too much.
The plot appears to be rushed after the Imperator’s arrival, as though a page restriction had been imposed upon the author.
The existence of Warp beasts and demons is accepted rather quickly. The topic is approached in too light-hearted a manner, seeing how the other novels convey great amounts of skepticism.
This novel would be more suspenseful as a Fantasy/40K Crossover like Ben Counter’s “Demon World” novel. It would allow the reader greater insight into life on a medieval world in the 40K universe.
Legion – Dan Abnett
I used to know a boy who watched The Lord of the Rings over and over, and in the scene where Aragorn beheads Lurtz, he always yelled "He did it again!" every time.
That's kind of how I feel when I read Dan Abnett's novels.
The 7th volume of the Horus Heresy delivers a new viewpoint, as well as new actors behind the Heresy and a view into the actions and motives of the Alpha Legion. Two years before the Heresy, the 670th Imperial Expedition Fleet is fi ghting on Planet Nurth. Their crusade has come to a stop: the Nurthene are offering fi erce resistance.
It is only after the Astartes of the Alpha Legion arrive that they begin to succeed. But has the legion just arrived on the planet or have they been there for some time? And why does it seem like Primarch Alpharius is in several places simultaneously?
There are not many fi ghting scenes for a 40K novel, the plot focuses on secrets, deception, and lies, and that is exactly what makes this novel so refreshingly different. The Alpha Legion is not the only force cultivating betrayal and lies. We are introduced to a new group that are
interested in the humans' affairs, the Cabal, who are trying to acquire information about the Astartes through one of their agents. I really don't want to go give away too many details of the plot because you defi nitely have to enjoy the web of schemes in its entirety. I would hate to even remotely reveal any part.
I'll just say one thing. This book is a thriller for all readers who love to uncover a story of betrayal and counter-betrayal.
It is suspenseful right until the end; Dan Abnett has delivered another fantastic novel! ”He did it again!
Desert Raiders — Lucien Soulban In this fourth Imperial Guard novel, Lucien Soulban, scriptwriter of the Dawn of War computer games, presents a heroic epic of the Tallarn Desert Raiders and their desperate struggle on the desert planet Khadar. A regiment is dropped off on the planet Khadar in response to an emergency signal.
Since the fl eet is ordered to a new area of confl ict, the regiment is left on the planet. Problems arise from the start. Not only was the regiment supplied with 200 rafts and tons of green camoufl age instead of water and solar plants, it is also made up of enemy tribes. The 892nd Tallarn consists of the Turenag and the Banna, who have been wrapped up in a blood feud for centuries. Obviously it is not surprising that all sorts of “accidents” keep occurring.
Again and again soldiers are being sent to their death to buy time for the regiment. Sentinels are sent out as bait to lure the Xenos horde away from the Tallarn base and a desert race until death ensues. Heavy support squads fi re missile upon missile into the attackers’ backs until their mined positions are taken over.
It is only when an alien ship crashes into the desert sand that they are able to settle their differences. A bigger enemy has landed on Khadar: the Tyranids have arrived.
From this moment on, Lucien Soulban provides us with high-speed action paired with a mix of honor, courage, and desperation.
“Desert Raiders” is a well-written novel. The author supplies entertainment from cover to cover, nothing less should be expected.
by Mike Glaeser
Welcome, citizen. The High Lords of Terra have expressed grave concern over the lack
The Imperial Register opens its books with more ideas and units to try! As always, these rules are not ‘offi cial’ and will require your opponent’s permission if you want to use them. Nevertheless, this series will cover new ground in an effort to make games more enjoyable and give armies greater depth and theme.
What would the Imperial Register be, however, without reader submissions? Do you have an idea for a unit, piece of wargear, or a new ability? Send us an email and let us know about it!
This issue we explore pets for the Imperial Guard and the mysterious Venenum assassins for all you Inquisition players out there…
IMPERIAL GUARD: OFFICER’S PETS Pets are very common within the ranks of the Imperial Guard. Most are small indigenous animals adopted by Guardsmen in the trenches, but within the higher echelons of the Guard, offi cers are accompanied by all manner of exotic animals ranging from the fi nest breeds of Terran dogs to majestic dual-headed eagles.
A successful commander might have
Offi cer’s Pets
Pts WS BS S T W I A Ld Sv
8 3 0 4 3 1 – 1 5 4+/
6+
Number/Squad: 1-2 per offi cer. They are part of the offi cer’s command squad and deploy with them. The pets count towards the offi cer’s wargear limit.
Weapons: Teeth and claws. Special Rules:
Protect your Master!: The pet does not strike normally in close combat. Instead, it infl icts an automatic strength 4 hit before any other attacks are made. Roll to wound and
THE IMPERIAL
REGISTER
VENENUM TEMPLE ASSASSIN Even more secretive than the four major temples, the Venenum assassins are masters of toxins and poisoning. Their handiwork goes unnoticed until the enemy suddenly collapses in spasms and dies, the victims of the Emperor’s justice.
Venenum assassins are rarely seen, relying on stealth and subterfuge to infi ltrate enemy areas. When confronted, the assassins
defend themselves with transparent
globes fi lled with the most toxic gases that can cripple or kill almost anything within
seconds. Even the best rebreathers and chem suits cannot offer suffi cient protection, though the assassins themselves seem to remain unharmed. In addition, every assassin carries a form of weapon generally called the “Taste of Death”. In most cases, it is a blade coated in a combination of lethal poisons that can kill by the slightest cut. Many argue that dying at the hands of an Eversor is a blessed mercy, compared to the agonising suffering infl icted by the Venenum.
Venenum Temple Assassin 0-1 Pts WS BS S T W I A Ld Sv
105 5 5 4 4 2 5 3 10 4++
Number/Squad: The Venenum assassin is as an elites choice and may be used with the Daemonhunter and Witchunter Codicies. Weapons: Taste of Death, Whispers on the Wind Special Rules:
Generic Assassin Rules can be found in either the Daemonhunters or Witchunters Codicies.
Taste of Death: A weapon that can only be used in close combat, the Taste of Death always wounds on a 4+ regardless of the target’s toughness and ignores armor saves (Invulnerable saves can still be taken).
Whispers on the Wind: In the shooting phase, the assassin may throw a barrage of poison grenades at an enemy unit. The Whispers on the Wind have the following profi le: Range: 12”, Strength: 3, AP: 3, Assault 3, Small Blast, Pinning
The blast templates MUST be placed end to end in some way even if that means that some of the unit might not be covered. They cannot be stacked.
Poisoned Aura: The assassin is shrouded by a nigh invisible cloud of toxic fumes that leak from its equipment pouches. All units within 12” of the assassin are at -1 Initiative and -1 Strength as they collapse to the ground, retching as they breathe the poisonous gases. Poisoned Aura also counts as frag grenades.
Subterfuge: At the start of the game, the enemy commander (designated by the
model’s owner) takes an automatic strength 4 wound, the victim of a spiked drink. Normal saves may be taken.
The Bell of Lost Souls (http://bellofl ostsouls. blogspot.com) has become one of the most prominent and well-regarded 40K fansites on the internet over the past year. Based in Austin, Texas, the Fly Lords of Terra put out a steady stream of fantastic hobby content, such as the 88-page “Warhammer 30,000: Battles in the Age of Heresy” rulebook; detailing the forces of both Loyalists and Traitors during the Horus Heresy. As well as
including Company-level data sheets for each of the Legions.
In November, two of the Fly Lords; Monty Kerr (mkerr) and Larry Vela (bigred) were kind enough to sit down and do a phone interview with FIREBASE about a number of topics about their site, their interests and their contributions to the hobby.
On the response to the site:
Monty: We’ve been really surprised at how welcome our site has been, and how much people like our material. We brought a softcover version of our Horus Heresy campaign book along to the Baltimore Grand Tournament, and universally, we had people asking “how do I get a copy of this?” We showed the book to Dave Taylor and Jeremy Vetock. Dave Taylor said he wants
two: one for his shelf at home, and one to chain to his ‘cube’ at the offi ce, so that people can come by and see it. He doesn’t want to lose it! When we talked to Jeremy Vetock, he said that this is exactly what the community needs. Usually, what GW receives from the community is the sort of feedback they got with ‘Lash of Submission’ – it came back to them in exactly the wrong way. It’s always a pleasure for them when they put material out to the community, like Apocalypse and the Horus Heresy books, and it comes back better.
That’s what we try to do with the site - take rules and ideas, sending it out to the community, and having people send in feedback, and really enjoy the whole experience, rather than come up with a game/tournament exploit. People seem to really be interested so far, and it’s been a great experience.
On the articles that helped jump-start their site’s popularity:
Monty: I think there are two areas that really started to get us going. Some of out fi rst big articles were my ‘abusive tactics’ for Witch Hunters and Daemon Hunters. I wrote them because I want people talking about the game. What I found was that, on places like Warseer, it was volatile discussions about tactics like this that led to people thinking about the rules for the game in a different way. I’ve been playing Witch Hunters and
Daemon Hunters for a long time, and what
I found was that no one really seemed to know how to play them. Almost every player used them the wrong way. So, I wrote posts on Warseer saying ‘well, here’s how you can use them, here are things you can do,’ and in those conversations, we came up with some dirty tricks, like the Vindicare being able to target friendly models. I think its dirty tricks like that which initially got attention for my articles. People would fi ght and argue, but it would get people thinking about how to use those armies. Now, I think we see more people using Daemonhunters and Witchhunters than they have in the last fi ve years. We’ve gotten so many letters from people who say that they’ve picked up an Inquisitorial army because of your tactica. The other big series was Larry’s decal sheets. When he started making pre-Heresy decal sheets, and decals for Chapters that didn’t have them previously, we got a ton of hits. The pre-Heresy group in particularly is extremely loyal.
Larry: I’ve been a player since Rogue Trader, and pretty much, there’s always been a little sub-culture of pre-Heresy players. I don’t want to congratulate ourselves or anything, but over the past six months, since we started pushing a lot of pre-Heresy stuff - decals, titans, the Age of Heresy book - there have been a ton of people starting up pre-Heresy armies. You go on eBay or Warseer, and you fi nd people building and trying to fi nd old resin Titans. Fundamentally, people think Titans are cool, pre-Heresy is cool, and
I thought ‘Ok, great! I have an interest in it, I have these old magazines going back twenty years now, so let’s dredge up all these old materials, all these new novels, and make something interesting out of it.
Monty: That’s an important part, too. When the new novels started coming out, people started thinking more about the Horus Heresy, and it was almost a coincidence that these books started coming out as we were starting pre-Heresy armies, and a pre-Heresy league.
Another big article was a two-part article on Lash of Submission that I wrote. We were sent an early playtest copy of the new Chaos Codex, and we started playing with it on our own, and we started putting things up on the blog about out experiences playtesting. Lash was probably the hottest topic we’ve ever had. Everyone came down on one side or another of the issue, and we actually expected it to break the tournament scene. In our preview copy, in fact, Lash had an unlimited range, and one of the few changes we saw between our copy and the fi nal version was giving Lash a 24” range. Hopefully, our discussions online about Lash were helpful, and we got the designers thinking about the potential for abuse in that one rule.
On “Offi cial” rumor sources:
Monty: We get our previews the same way as everyone else – leaks. We do have sources outside of GW, however, and they’ve proven
reliable. One of the biggest arguments we have, Larry and I, is which rumors do we put up? Which are viable? When you see rumors up on the blog, it’s the product of a long discussion about what to put out to the public. Larry: As the site has grown, we’ve seen a marked increase in anonymous things that show up. People can’t resist spilling what they have.
Monty: I mean, we chat with the developers, and we’re on the board for Adepticon, so we’ll sometimes hear things through those connections, but very rarely is it anything that isn’t already out there in the community. People think that there’s a revolving door of information coming from GW, but there’s really not. The offi cial line is very tight. We fi nd out more from the retailers, or people who overhear or see things than we do from any offi cial source, by far.
I mean, at fi rst, when we started the site, we thought there must be an “offi cial leak”, and thought “Oh, if we get that big, they’ll contact us and say ‘Hey, you should tell people about this new Ork Codex…’”, but we don’t get anything out of offi cial GW sources. They’re very good about that. We talk to Dave Taylor every few weeks, and he
these exclusive rumors!” Ten minutes later, he gets up in front of a room full of people and tells them the same fi ve things! He wouldn’t tell us anything he couldn’t tell everyone. We know the Studio is reading us now, though. When we interview people, they’re familiar with our site. People check our site every day, which is really satisfying.
The Genesis of the Bell of Lost Souls:
Monty: We’ve been doing campaigns for ten years, but we might as well have not done them, because all we have is memories, and some weird models that we’ll never use again. So, the site really started just for us, as a way to keep a record of all the things we’ve done. Really, the most surprising thing, for us, was that anyone would read what we do. To me, it seems like it’d be really tedious, like listening to someone talk about their D&D character – “Oh, y’know, that’s great that you had a really good game, and you beat that guy.’ But, people like reading battle reports. People like reading our opinions on the game.
Really, though, it’s all Larry. The whole site’s Larry. We’ve got something like four contributors, but all of us added together – multiplied, even – don’t do as much as
out all the junk your desk or garage, Brad will come by and say “What’s that?”, and next week, it’ll be a Gargant.
Monty: So, we’ve got three of us who are sort of the main crew. We all love the hobby part of it, though, and love campaigns.
On the Site’s Attitude Towards GW:
Larry: One of the fi rst decisions we had to make was, “Do we go Forum, or no
Forum?”, and I think we fundamentally made the right decision there. We love the hobby, and we’re going to be ‘pro-GW,’ or at least not ‘anti-GW’, and by not having a forum, it allowed us to uniquely position ourselves as a content site, rather than another forum. Monty: We very consciously don’t have a forum.
Larry: So, no one can come one our site and say ‘well, I’m the best there is, and here’s my cheaty list!” They come to us, and we tell them what the rumors are, and we give them lots of cool stuff that we can download for free, and that sets up people’s mindsets. Monty: And keep in mind, we’re game
developers. That’s what we do for a living. We mostly do adult leisure games – pinball, trivia, card games. We understand how hard it is
their product, and they rely on players to overlook their mistakes, but because of the carefully-cultivated tournament circuit, it goes in the opposite direction, and people take advantage of things that are mispriced, or mistakes they’ve made. Now, while we try to give tacticas out for advanced players, so they can have some interesting ideas on how to play competitively, that’s not how we play. We play the game to enjoy the hobby. We still do tournaments, and hope that we’re competitive players, but that’s not our army focus.
Where Did ‘The Fly Lords of Terra’ Come From?:
Monty: Originally, we were an Adepticon team. We’re actually on the board for Adepticon now, and try to help them out as much as we can. We think that Adepticon is really doing the same thing we are; “by players, for players.” That’s exactly what the hobby needs: game players contributing to the hobby. Adepticon is the biggest event in our hobby, and they’re really just amazing. We contacted them early on, and asked how we could help. Now we’re helping them with marketing and software, because we really think they’re fantastic.
Anyway, the name started out as an
Adepticon team tournament name, and we kept it as a way for us to identify ourselves at tournaments and other big events, you know, a travel thing. Now, though, we’ve expanded it to include everyone who helps test and contributes to the site.
Its funny how many people ask what it means, really, it is! At a tournament, I had someone come up and ask if I was really a Fly Lord, or if I’d just bought the shirt or something. He was sort of hoping that I was bigred, because he wanted to argue with him about something. I told him no, I was the guy who wrote the Lash tactica, so he decided I was a jerk anyway. It was a great way to meet someone. We ended up having a really long discussion about it. At the same tournament, a guy brought his girlfriend over because his girlfriend was getting into the hobby, and wanted me to talk to her about Sisters, since I’m something of a Sisters expert…
Larry: He’s good with the ladies, he is. Monty: Yes. I am a ladies man. I do it all for the ladies.
That’s how we came up with the name, though - to appeal to people in their 30’s who would remember the Fly Girls. People really get a kick out of the name and the logo.
Larry: Thank God we didn’t go with “The Heavy Flamers.”
Thanks to Monty and Larry for the interview, and for all their efforts on behalf of the hobby!
The Fly Lords of Terra have just announced a new campaign book: THE MACHARIAN CRUSADE! Features will include:
· 120 full color pages
· 8 week campaign for 2 to 40+ players · 7 Imperial Guard army groups
· Multiple renegade and xenos empires · 40+ special characters
· New units
· Over a dozen Apocalypse formations · Full color hobby section
Last Year, you walked in the footsteps of the 1st Founding Legions...
This year, take part in the greatest Imperial Campaign since the Great Crusade.
ADEPTICON 2008
CROWNE PLAZA HOTEL IN ROSEMONT, IL APRIL 11TH- 13TH, 2008
THE ULTIMATE GAMES WORKSHOP CLUB-RUN EVENT! WWW.ADEPTICON.ORG
2007 Rogue Demon; Best of Show by Bennet Blalock Doane Don’t miss out on your
chance to take home some of our legendary price support!
Be a part of our exciting tournaments, including the 40K National Team Tournament, the largest 40K tournament in the world!
Take your skills to the next level by attending our Hobby Seminars, taught by our award-winning lineup of instructors!
Mark your calendars and make your travel plans, because AdeptiCon returns on April 11-13, 2008, for its sixth year of miniature wargaming excitement. We’ll have 24,000 sq. feet of space for our tournaments, seminars, demos, and much, much more.
Online registration for Adepticon 2008 is now open! To register, or for more information, go to www.adepticon.org and take part in the greatest convention in the Games Workshop hobby!
Warhammer 40K Events: • 40K Gladiator Tournament • 40K National Team Tournament • 40K Championships
Forge World Events: • Aeronautica Imperialis Warhammer Ancient Battles Events • Legend of the Old West
By: Tobias Pernler
After about fi fteen years in the hobby I one day suddenly, and not without surprise, found myself slightly troubled by the complete lack of a playable army in my collection of miniatures. Converting and painting has always been my main interests, but recently I had experienced an urge to let my little toy soldiers see some real action in the struggle for survival in the grim future of the Warhammer 40,000 universe. As it happened, this shift of interest occurred about the same time that the new edition of Codex: Eldar was released.
I’ve always had a soft spot for the pointy ears. Only the somewhat outdated range of miniatures had hitherto discouraged me from expanding my collection with warriors of this dying race. Seduced by all the shiny new stuff produced by Games Workshop, this was soon going to change.
For myself, building an entire army was a completely new approach. When painting I normally go all out on even the humblest of miniatures. I am always trying to better my skills with the brush. Taking each miniature to a Golden Daemon-standard was obviously not an option in this case though. Even if the battles take place in the 40th millennium, I really wanted the army fi nished well before then. At the same time, however, I wanted to create a force that would catch the eye.
To achieve this I put some considerable effort into choosing the colours of the army. I wanted a strong theme for my Eldar and it all started to take shape when I settled for snow on the bases. From there I proceeded to choose the main colours for the army – blue bodies with white helmets. These colours emphasise the cold implied by the snow and also makes for great contrast with each other. Normally you see the Eldar elite warriors painted up in their respective aspect shrine colours, but I chose to paint them all in the same basic scheme to get a consistent look to the whole force.
Regardless, I still wanted each unit to have some individuality, and so I decided to give each one a distinctive colour in addition to the basic blue and white. This colour is refl ected in the eye lenses on the helmet as well the soul stones and any other special features (such as the billowing hair of the banshees). In addition, the aspect warriors got their trinkets painted in a golden yellow to make them stand out from the basic guardians.
All in all this makes for a coherent force while at the same time letting you easily pick out individual units.
To create that slick result that had so far only existed in my mind I took a closer look at the miniatures and tried to fi gure out how to go about the actual painting. I wanted the
painting to be fairly simple and fast while at the same time crisp and clean and, most importantly, consistent over the whole army. This meant: no drybrushing or inking and a minimum of mixing colours and more refi ned techniques such as wetblending.
The Eldar miniatures are all, more or less, built up of three layers: body suit, armour plates and “bulbs”. Thus I choose three progressively lighter blue colours, with the darkest for the lowest level of the body suit, and the lightest for the bulbs. Each shade of blue also got to act as the highlight colour for the level below (this will become clear in the step by step tutorial). For the white parts I also chose three shades: white (obviously), a slightly off-white, and a blue for the darkest shadings. This blue is the same as the
lightest shade in the blue range, which helps tying the two main colours together.
To get a smooth fi nish I always water down my paints. This means that I usually need to apply two or three layers to get a good coverage, but the result is well worth the effort. This is especially true for the white parts, where it is not unusual for me to apply ten or even fi fteen thin layers; fi ve or six should suffi ce – it is really only your patience that sets the limit!
STEP 1
The bodies are painted a solid Imperial Blue over a black undercoat. On the Banshee I have also roughly applied the base colours for the other main areas to get a feeling for the end result. Note that I have not completely assembled the Guardian’s arms and head. This is to better access the chest area and, specifi cally, the soul stone. The head is left off since the area around the neck otherwise gets pretty hard to reach with the brush without making a total mess of it. The Banshee is fully assembled since it does not sport any hard to reach spots. I also used both pinning and green stuff when I attached the sword arm and prefer to have this done before the painting starts.
STEP 2
The armour plates are picked out with Magic Blue, and the body suits are highlighted with the same colour.
STEP 3
The bulbs are painted Ice Blue, and the armour plates are highlighted with the same colour.
STEP 4
All the blue areas are now given a wash of very thinned down Stormy Blue. This really ties the different blues together, toning them down a little as well as providing some extra shading.
STEP 5
Next is all the white parts. The helmet and the Banshee’s tabard as well as any ribbons are painted Wolf Grey. At this stage I also fi nish the bases, which are made with sand and a few pieces of slate. They are painted with Chaos Black and then drybrushed with Adeptus Battlegrey, Codex Grey and Astronomican Grey. The rim is painted Codex Grey.
STEP 6
The white areas are shaded with Ice Blue mixed with a small amount of Wolf Grey (approximately 4:1 ratio).
STEP 7
The white highlights are built up gradually with a lot of thin layers of Skull White. By using watered down colours you can let some of the underlying colour show through, thereby creating smooth transitions without having to mix colours.
STEP 8
The sword hilt and all the jewellery on the Banshee are painted with Bubonic Brown.
STEP 9
STEP 10
Highlights are created with Bleached Bone. I stop at this point, since I do not want it to look like gold (I fancy the Eldar without any kind of metallics). For a more gold-like effect, you could go further and create another sharp highlight by mixing some white in the Bleached Bone, in addition to creating another darker shade.
STEP 11
Next comes my favourite part – the soul stones! I know many people like to paint all the bulbs on the eldar armours and weapons like gems, but I limit myself to one. Doing so I think they stand out more, acting like a focal point for the eye when looking at the miniature.
The base colour for the Guardian is Warlock Purple, for the Banshee I use Scab Red.
STEP 12
The lower right half of the stone is then painted in successively lighter and thinner slivers as follows:
Guardian: Mix Skull White with the Warlock purple. Repeat until the mix is almost white for the fi nal thin line.
Banshee: First sliver is painted Red Gore, the next Blood Red, and then Blood Red mixed with Bronzed Flesh, and fi nally a sliver of pure Bronzed Flesh. To make it “red” again, apply a very thin wash of Red Gore.
STEP 13
A dot of Skull White is applied in the upper left corner of the stone.
STEP 14
The eyes are painted Warlock Purple and Scab Red respectively. This mirrors the soul stones.
STEP 15
Next paint the centre of the eye lenses in progressively lighter colours in the same method as each soul stone, until there is a really light and small dot in the middle.
STEP 16
Now it is time to paint the hair on the Banshee. The base colour is Scorched Brown.
STEP 17
Paint the hair Red Gore, leaving the darker colour in the recesses.
STEP 18
A wash of watered down Chaos Black is applied to create some darker shading. By applying it after the fi rst layer of red the colours are
STEP 19
Highlight with Blood Red. The contrast will be pretty sharp at this step, but this is necessary for the next step.
STEP 20
A couple layers of really thin Red Gore are applied. This will tone down the highlights and lighten up the shaded areas, tying the different layers together.
STEP 21
STEP 22
A mix of Ice Blue and Skull White (5:1) is painted on the edge of the upper part of the blade and in the centre of the lower portion.
STEP 23
Paint the same parts with progressively lighter mixes (by adding more Skull White), keeping closer and closer to the tip on the upper half and closer to the centre of the painted area on the bottom part.
STEP 24
STEP 25
The strips on top of the Shuriken weapons are painted Ice Blue.
STEP 26
The edges are highlighted with Wolf Grey.
STEP 27
The bulbs on the Shuriken weapons are painted with Adeptus Battlegrey, and the edges of the weapons are then highlighted with Codex Grey. The pouch on the Banshee is highlighted fi rst with Adeptus Battlegrey, then with Codex Grey.
STEP 28
Finally snow is applied to the bases. The Snow consists of a mix of PVA glue, a few drops of water, snow fl ock from Games Workshop, and some bicarbonate of soda. On top of this I sprinkle some more bicarbonate of soda (baking soda). Beware though that some PVA glues dry with a slightly yellow tint. Try to avoid these or add in a small amount of white paint to make the mix dry white. After it has dried completely (I usually let it dry overnight to be absolutely sure) I brush the surplus bicarbonate of soda away.
FINISHED
The miniatures are now ready to take part in the fi ght for their species and Craftworld!
I hope you have enjoyed this article as much as I have enjoyed writing it. Who knows, maybe one day we will meet on the fi eld of battle, and if my luck and strategy have not improved by then I will show you why they say the Eldar are a dying race...
Photography by Tobias Pernler and Lars Törnfeldt. Thanks to Wizard Games for letting me use their gaming table for the set up of the army for that picture.
Reference guide for each colour: VMC = Vallejo Model Colour CC = Citadel Colour
CF = Citadel Foundation
Blue: VMC Stormy Blue, VMC Imperial Blue VMC Magic Blue, CC Ice Blue
White: CC Ice Blue, VMC Wolf Grey, VMC Skull White
Black/Grey: CC Chaos Black, CF Adeptus Battlegrey, CC Codex Grey,
CF Astronomican Grey
Pink: CC Warlock Purple, VMC Skull White Red: CC Scorched Brown, CC Scab Red, CC Red Gore, CC Blood Red. CC Bronzed Flesh
Yellow: CC Bestial Brown, CC Bubonic Brown, CC Bleached Bone
By Stefan Sheckells MATERIALS:
• 1 x Tau Gun Drone sprue (you will only use the body and the underbody, you will not use the Pulse Carbines or the antenna). • 1 x large fl ying base – I used 60mm bases
I had left over from another project and my preference is to use these large fl aying bases. You are free to use any size.
• 1 x targeting array from a Crisis Battlesuit model.
• 2 x Burst Cannons – I used Crisis Battlesuit Burst Cannons as these look the proper
scale to a gun drone. If you use larger Burst Cannons (say from a Devilfi sh), they may look too big for the gun drone and you may have to use the body displayed in the advanced section (see end of this guide). • Styrene sheet / plasticard for the wings – I
used 1/16” (1.5mm) or 2mm thick sheet. • 1 x rectangular styrene tube – 0.125” x
0.25” (3.2 x 6.3mm).
• 1 x square styrene tube – 0.25” x 0.25” (6.3 x 6.3mm).
• 1 x round styrene tube – 0.156” Dia. (4mm). • Green Stuff.
SCRATCH BUILD A TAU DX-6
REMORA DRONE FIGHTER
Objective: To build a Remora facsimile from left over bitz, new materials and odd and ends.
NOTE:
• I am not trying to reproduce the Forge World Remora exactly.
• I am NOT including steps such as fi ling edges, smoothing or sanding etc unless they are unique.
• I always use glue then place Green Stuff to ensure a bond. So where you see Green Stuff the join also includes the application of glue prior to the Green Stuff being placed.
STEP 1: WINGS
Draw the wings onto the plasticard sheet using the pattern and dimensions given below, cut them out using a sharp knife. DIMENSIONS:
• RED = Each wing is in a 30mm x 40mm box.
• GREEN =20mm • FUSHIA = 25mm • PURPLE = 10mm
STEP 2: SENSOR ARRAY
Cut your Targeting Array in half. Optional Step: Trim the outside edges for a fl at front surface.
STEP 3: ENGINE INTAKE
For each Remora cut from the rectangular tube a 10mm piece. Mark one edge with a slanted line as shown (it is a 30-60-90 degree triangle), cut along this line to get an angled edge.
STEP 4: BODY ASSEMBLY (UNDERSIDE, SENSORS, AND ENGINE INTAKE)
Attach the under-body armature. Then cut off a small section (in front) to position the Sensor Array. Place a small bit of Green Stuff and glue. Place the modifi ed Target Array from step 2 and place more Green Stuff behind it – enough to allow the engine intake from step 3 to sit level with the Target Array. Fill the engine intake with something (I used foam), enough to fi ll most, but NOT ALL, of the cavity. This last step is to reduce the amount of Green Stuff you’ll have to use in step 10 though you could skip it and fi ll the engine intake completely with Green Stuff if you wish.
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STEP 4: CONTINUED
STEP 5: BURST CANNONS
Glue the Burst Cannons on to the sides of the engine intakes.
STEP 6: WING ASSEMBLY - INDENTS Mark the armour plating indents onto the wings. Then create the indents. I used a Dremel rotary tool but they could also be cut with a sharp knife.
Cut the round tube to match the width of the wings…25mm for mine (FUSHIA). Glue the round tube to the edge of the wing.
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STEP 8: WING ASSEMBLY – ATTACH TO BODY
Your Remora body should now look like the picture below. Place a small roll of Green Stuff onto the wing as shown. Glue the wings to the Remora body next to the Burst Cannon. One wing per side. Note the angle of the wing placement.
STEP 9: BODY AND WING ASSEMBLY The picture below is what you should now have…
STEP 10: ENGINE INTAKE COMPLETION
Fill the engine intake with Green Stuff. Smooth before creating the intake vanes with horizontal sculpts. Also fi ll in the holes at the front of the round tubes.
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STEP 11: REAR ENGINE ASSEMBLY For each Remora cut two 15mm long pieces and two 10mm pieces from the rectangular tube. You will now have a total of four pieces. Mark each 10mm piece as shown, then cut along the mark creating an angled corner. Glue this angled piece onto the top of the 15mm piece. Fill the front hole with Green Stuff.
STEP 12: ATTACH REAR ENGINES TO BODY
Attach a small roll of Green Stuff onto each rear engine as shown. Place the rear engines onto the inside of the Burst Cannons so that the engines are orientated with the angled piece at the top.
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STEP 13: COMPLETED REMORA These are images of completed Remoras attached to large fl ying bases. I purposely varied the wing angles to add variety to the squadron.
SCALE COMPARISON:
ADVANCED TECHNIQUE: MORE TRUE TO THE FORGE WORLD MODEL:
Originally I tried to match the drone size to that of the Forge World model. The Forge World Remora has a drone body close to the diameter of a small fl ying base rather than the smaller gun drone diameter. I choose not to continue with this prototype because it is a lot more work i.e. you have to cut a small fl ying base, cut the plastic curve from a soda bottle, glue Targeting Array and plastic curve onto modifi ed small fl ying base and add Green Stuff. You then have to add in the armour indents with a Dremel in a circular fashion on the small fl ying base (which I didn’t do on the prototype) as well as fashion a larger underbody…for me using the gun drone was enough.
By Brian “Slipstream” Johnson
Welcome to the Cadian Plastics Class! Ever since GW released a fully plastic Imperial Guard Army (that wasn’t Catachans), I’ve been interested in seeing just what can be done with the sprues alone. After starting to fi ddle with the sprues, in an attempt to build a ground-pounder army, I have found that, while lacking in many key areas, the Cadian Sprues do their job well. That job, of course, is to put basic troops on the fi eld.
In truth, these sprues pale in comparison to the new sprues coming out of the Citadel Design Studio, but with a little work, they can be made into a surprisingly large number of Army Choices from the Imperial Guard Codex.
As always, please make sure your work area is clean, and well lit. Make sure you have a comfortable chair, and your beverage of choice. Always take a break from working after an hour or two. Get up, stretch out, and spend
helmet strap, one vox-caster, and four standard). There are fi ve sets of grenades (some with extra clips, some without), a helmet, a spare lasgun, fi ve canteen/ bayonets (some with empty sheaths – more on this later), A grenade launcher (with spare clip/canteen), a fl amethrower (with backpack), a Voxcaster backpack, fi ve lasgun arms (three with bayonets attached, two without) in various poses, a grenade arm, a laspistol arm, and a sergeant’s chainsword arm (it has three stripes).
If you take a moment to look at these sprues, you’ll see that there are several small, but important, details. First is the pose of the legs. There are three legs that imply motion, as if the model was running, and two, which imply that the model is standing still. This is important, as poses can give a squad a unifi ed ‘theme’ – useful when trying to WYSIWYG up Imperial Guard Doctrines. Interestingly, the lasgun arms are paired with the legs. There are two lasguns set tight
CADIAN PLASTICS: MORE
BANG FOR YOUR BUCK
SYMBOLS
Can be done straight from the Cadian sprues.
Requires some cutting, fi ling or trimming.
Requires the use of metal bitz, bitz from another army or the use of plastic card or rod.
This is a heavy-duty conversion, requiring the use of greenstuff and is beyond the scope of this tutorial. This is simply not possible to do with the Cadian sprues alone.
TOOLS
• X-acto Knife (keep a supply of fresh blades. • Flush cutters/nippers
• Files (fl at and round) • Cutting mat
• Pin vise, with various sizes of drill bits
MATERIALS
• Styrene rod: 1/16” rod (1.6mm) and 1/8” tube (3.2mm)
• Paper (copy paper is fi ne) • Plasticard (thin)
There are only a few ‘optional’ components on the sprue, but one of the key items is the fact that the canteen/bayonet bitz pair up with the fact that some of the lasguns have bayonets, and some do not. When using these bitz, remember to use an empty sheath with a model whose bayonet is attached to their lasgun! Some of the extra pieces (such as the spare lasgun) can be used with the available arms, to try and create some additional poses, useful for WYSIWYG. Over on the Heavy Weapon Sprues, you get a LOT more optional pieces. Sandbags, weapons, binoculars and a slew of heavy weapons. In fact, every heavy weapon, allowing you to create a wide variety of conversions! Remember, a heavy weapons team box can be used to make every heavy weapon in the IG arsenal. Combining the heavy weapon box with a Cadian Shock Trooper box (and some extra ‘large bases’), you can stretch that box into all fi ve heavy weapons teams!
Finally, the Cadian Vehicle Accessory Sprue has some very interesting pieces, including a head with a peaked cap! Now, we have everything we need to create an entire IG army. WYSIWYG
Why is this important? Well, the concept of ‘What You See Is What You Get’ is important when you put your troops on the battlefi eld, especially in competition. Your opponent cannot argue that your model has a meltagun…when the model has a meltagun. By making sure your models are WYSIWYG, you do yourself, and your opponents, a big favor. Plus, it makes your models look that much better!
HQ CHOICES
For an HQ squad, right out of the box, the conversions are fairly simple. We’ll start with the offi cer. A Junior Offi cer can be made with a helmet less head, plus whatever options you want him to have. Typically, this is a laspistol and chainsword. On the chainsword arm, you’ll see three stripes, as seen below: It is an easy thing to use an X-Acto knife,
or fi le, to remove stripes. For offi cers, you’ll want to remove all of the stripes. For Sergeants, consider removing one stripe for a regular Sergeant, and leave all three for a Veteran Sergeant. Work with care, and smooth out any cuts with a small fi le. In this way, you can use the chainsword arm to help identify offi cers and sergeants in your Imperial Guard Army.
For a Senior Offi cer, consider using the
peaked cap head from the Vehicle Sprue. This quickly sets the model apart from the rest of your army. Use the helmet from the Cadian sprue to give your offi cer a way to survive the shrapnel, by gluing it to his beltline.
HQ
Junior Offi cer . . . Senior Offi cer . . . Heroic Offi cer . . . Vox Caster . . . Special Weapon Squads . . . Priests . . . Veteran . . . Standard Bearer . . . Medic. . . Heavy Weapons Squads . . . Psykers . . . Commissars. . .
A Heroic Offi cer can combine a variety of arms from the various sprues, to show that he is leading. Consider putting him on a larger base, with scenic details, to set him apart! On the left, you’ll see a Junior Offi cer, made with the pointing arm from the Heavy Weapons Sprue, a helmet less head, and
a chainsword arm. He also has a Space Marine pistol holster. In the middle, a Senior Offi cer, made with the raised arm from the vehicle sprue, whose hand I trimmed off, and replaced with a laspistol hand. He is also using the torso from the vehicle sprue, to give him that offi cer braid. On the right, on a 40mm base, a Heroic Senior Offi cer, using all the bitz from the vehicle sprue (legs, torso, head, and arms), plus the sandbags from
make both a full command squad, with some special weapons, as well as several special weapons squads. You’ll fi nd that you will have an excess of grenade launchers and fl amers, if you equip your army with plasma and melta guns. So, consider using the extra fl amer and grenade launcher bitz
to augment your HQ with fl amer or grenade launcher special weapon squads. Two of the special weapon squad options, the Sniper Rifl e and the Demolition Charge, are Moderate Conversions. Check the Weapons and
Wargear section, later on in this article, on how to make those. Plasmaguns and Meltaguns are best handled with metal Citadel miniatures.
To the left is a full HQ Squad, consisting of an Heroic Senior Offi cer, Standard Bearer,
VETERANS
One of the easiest ways to identify a
miniature as a special unit is through a paint job. Extra decals, special coloration on the helmet, or shoulder pads, or even insignia on the armour itself can make a miniature stand out. For Veterans in the Command Squad, I like to paint the shoulder pads a different color (Chaos Black, for example) to signify their elite status. I’ll also use backpacks from the Heavy Weapon Team to signify that these are experienced campaigners. Once you have your ‘scheme’ for making Veterans, adding a few details to the miniature to make it a Medic is fairly easy. You can paint the backpack white, with a red cross upon it, or some other variation. Again, a black
shoulder pad with a white cross works well here. Alternatively, you can use bitz from a company like Tamiya, who makes 1/48th scale items for WWII Armour modeling, including backpacks and stretchers.
A standard bearer can be made, using the grenade arm from the Cadian Shock sprue, a plastic rod, and a paper fl ag. Carefully drill out the grenade, using your pin vise, and a drill bit slightly larger than your plastic rod. The 1/16th inch rod will work here, for the standard pole. Slide the rod into the hand, expanding the hole if necessary, and glue everything in place. Print, paint or photocopy your banner of choice, and attach it to the standard pole, draping the paper to look like cloth. If you’re feeling adventurous, you can add some greenstuff ‘rope’. There are also
several IG Standard Bearer miniatures from Citadel, which will save some time, as well as standards from Fantasy armies, such as Empire or Brettonians.
In the picture below a standard bearer; using a grenade arm with a Brettonian standard attached, and a left arm from the Cadian Shock sprue, whose hand was trimmed off and rotated to hold a spare lasgun. In the middle; a medic with a backpack from the heavy weapon sprue, a grenade launcher arm and a Tamiya stretcher. Finally; a Veteran using a laspistol arm, and a hand (leftover from the senior offi cer conversion).
ADVISORS
The Commissar, Priest, and Psyker Advisors are diffi cult to do with the standard sprues. Only the Commissar, using a peaked hat,
the torso and arms from the Cadian Vehicle Sprue, and a greenstuff-formed Trench coat, is easily within the realm of conversion. Since there are many models out for these Advisors, I ‘advise’ using them, instead of trying to make them yourself. The Elite Choices of the Imperial Guard Codex are diffi cult to convert. However, some of them can be made with a bit of effort.
HARDENED VETERANS
The easiest of the bunch, Hardened Veterans are simply gussied up IG troops. Use extra helmet less heads, the IG heads whose chinstraps are undone, and other bitz to show that these gung-ho guys are the elite of the unit. Extra knives (from the Heavy Weapons Sprues), canteens and clips, and backpacks can quickly set these miniatures apart from the rest. Of note, since the Veteran Sgt. CAN take ‘offi cer only’ items; you can use this to set him apart from the rest of the squad. If you have access to the older Catachan Sprues, consider using elements from there, such as heads, arms, and knives. Mix it up! These are the ‘dirty dozen’ of your IG force, and they should be rough, tough, and ready!
ELITE
Hardened Veterans. . . Ogryns . . . Ratlings . . . Storm Troopers . . . Techpriest Enginseer . . . Servitors. . .From Left to right: Catachan Arms and head with Cadian Torso and Legs. A hardened veteran offi cer, with Catachan arms, and Cadian body and head. Note the sword on his back, a “Trademark Item” from the Offi cers Only kit. A Veteran of the Cadian Gate; well equipped with grenades and spare clips, about to hurl a grenade into his foes. RATLING SNIPER
The next easiest conversion is to use regular IG models as snipers, instead of Ratling models. Setting up a squad of IG sniper teams is an incredibly characterful way of making your army stand out on the battlefi eld. Use the instructions for converting a ‘long-las’ sniper rifl e, from the Weapons and Wargear section, along with
troops into such forces as the Warhawks, and others. These use greenstuff kneepads, and armour pieces to ‘bulk up’ the IG model. Some backpacks (such as Tau Backpacks, or purchasing Stormtrooper backpacks), Vox Heads from the Cadian Sprue, and some greenstuff for hoses can make a very unique conversion. It is, however, beyond the scope of this article.
OGRYNS, TECHPRIEST
ENGINSEERS, AND SERVITORS These are, for the most part, not really workable from the base Cadian Sprues. It might be possible to build Servitors, but you’re probably better off buying the Citadel Minis
Boy, these are the easy ones, huh? Straight
INFANTRY PLATOON
In addition to a unifi ed paint scheme, take a good look at the poses of the miniatures. Remember to pair up the ‘braced shooting’ arms with the ‘standing’ legs, and vice-versa. It’ll help a great deal for squad identifi cation. Remember, there are going to be many times that several squads of your troops get involved in a multi-squad Close Combat scrum. You MUST be able to select the correct casualties from the pile! Visual identifi cation is key, here.
Also, remember that the canteen/sheath bitz match up with the bayonets on the guns. It looks a little silly to have a guy with a bayonet on his rifl e, and another on his belt. CONSCRIPT PLATOON
These guys are your low-grade recruits, or militia. The easiest way to ID these guys is to give them guns without bayonets and no canteen/sheaths. Paint their helmets or their shoulder pads a unique color scheme. The standard Cadian scheme, for example, uses a white vertical stripe on the helmet.
ARMOURED FIST PLATOON
Teamed up with a Chimera, most of their belongings are stored within or on top of their transport vehicle. Consider a different
TROOPS
Infantry Platoon. . . Armoured Fist . . . Conscript Platoon . . .
None. There are a few tutorials out there on how to make Cadian Rough Riders, but the Cadian Sprues, regretfully, do not come with horses. Or bikes.
HEAVY WEAPONS PLATOON Again, another easy set. The Heavy Weapon Box is a wonderful set of sprues, full of details and customization options. Remember, you can use those kneeling legs in other squads. They’re particularly helpful when making snipers, or customizing your HQ squads. Mixing and matching these sprues with the Shock Trooper Sprues make for some interesting modeling options The two heavy weapons teams below are a mix of Cadian Shock and Cadian Heavy
sprues. Bitz from the sprues have been used as part of the bases, as well as some bitz from the Citadel Ruined Building Sprue, to make it look like these teams have ‘dug in’ to their positions. Using Cadian Shock legs, instead of the kneeling legs, frees up two sets of legs for other conversions in the army.
In many ways, WYSIWYG modeling can represent the doctrines from the Imperial Guard codex. While some doctrines (such as Independent Commissars) simply allow you to set up your army differently, the Cadian Sprues can be used to represent a wide variety of these army options. If your opponent can clearly see which doctrines are applied to your army, you’ll both have a better gaming experience.
DROP TROOPS
This is the most diffi cult… and, in some ways easiest, conversion. You can use the IG troops right off the sprue, to portray drop troops. However, to really make an impact, you’ll want to convert them. Either with special backpacks or going
whole hog, such as a Warhawks conversion, your troops will look great on the battlefi eld. MECHANIZED
Pair up the guard with Chimeras, and you’re ready to roll! Everything from the Armoured Fist entry applies here. Remember, many companies make 1/35th and 1/48th scale bitz to show stowage on your tanks. Go to town on making your tanks look lived out of, and you’ll have a fi ne Mechanized fi ghting force. This is the easiest of the three Regimental Doctrines to make from the basic Cadian Sprues.
GRENADIERS
As mentioned previously, it is possible to convert Guardsmen into Storm Troopers. Remember to differentiate between Storm Troopers and Grenadiers!
HEAVY SUPPORT
Heavy Weapons Platoon . . .FAST ATTACK
Rough Riders. . . .DOCTRINES
Drop Troops . . . Mechanized. . . Grenadiers. . .SKILLS & DRILLS
Die Hards. . . . Independent Commissars . . . . Hardened Fighters . . . . Light Infantry . . . . Xenofi ghers . . . . Iron Discipline . . . . Close Order Drill. . . . Jungle Fighers . . . . Sharpshooters . . . . Veterans. . . .Important Note: Many of the doctrines, such as carapace armor/storm troopers/ grenadiers, or hardened fi ghters/hardened veterans, can easily be confused. If you are using multiple doctrines that create similar-looking miniatures, take extra care to differentiate between them, either with the selection of bitz, poses, or paint scheme. DIE HARDS
Certainly one of the easier doctrines to model, Die Hards is simply a morale modifi cation. Consider purity seals or other
IRON DISCIPLINE
An offi cer
doctrine, the use of a good pose, or purity seals can show that this offi cer’s ability to command is better than average. It is important to show which offi cers in your command have this ability! INDEPENDENT COMMISSARS This is purely a deployment and game doctrine, no conversions needed. CLOSE ORDER DRILL
Mostly a game-based doctrine, in how you group your miniatures, a forest of bayonets really conveys this Doctrine to the hilt. HARDENED FIGHTERS
I like giving these miniatures all bayonets, and some extra knives. Knives are easy to get, both from the heavy weapons sprues, and other armies.
JUNGLE FIGHTERS
This was made for all the Catachan Players,
LIGHT INFANTRY
This was designed for the ‘Gaunts Ghosts’ line of Metal Guardsmen, but can still be done with Cadian Sprues. A bit of greenstuff can make cloaks, but remember to fi le off the ‘bump’ on the back of the Guardsman torso. To show that they travel light, use the running legs/arms poses, as well as showing the heavy weapon team (if any) carrying their equipment. SHARPSHOOTERS
Remove all bayonets from the guns, and add scopes to the rifl es. Do not use the ‘longlas’ option, as these are not snipers. Also, consider
SKILLS & DRILLS
Die Hards. . . . Independent Commissars . . . . Hardened Fighters . . . . Light Infantry . . . . Xenofi ghers . . . . Iron Discipline . . . . Close Order Drill. . . . Jungle Fighers . . . . Sharpshooters . . . . Veterans. . . .
XENOFIGHTERS
This isn’t seen very often, unless you’re purposefully creating a ‘fl uffy’ army, or you know that you’re fi ghting a given army on a regular basis, perhaps as part of a campaign. Using heads and bitz from the army in question is the easiest way to portray Xenofi ghters. There’s nothing quite like a head on the top of a banner pole to say; “We hate Orks.”
VETERANS
Everything in the Hardened Veterans section applies here, except you get to have three units of them, instead of one. Consider using themed paint jobs and equipment to show that this is an entire unit of Hardened Veterans, instead of just one squad.
CHEM. INHALER
If you have a good stockpile of Cadian Vox heads, you can make good-looking Chem. Inhaler units simply by using vox heads for your entire army. For a little extra work, trimming the side unit off of the helmet, and adding a greenstuff hose and canister will easily set your army apart. Asking around,
you might be able to get Voxheads from other Cadian players, and many bitz-sellers online carry them. CAMEOLINE An Easy-to-moderate conversion, this could be as simple as painting all your troops with a detailed camo pattern, or for a Moderate Conversion; adding greenstuff/ cheesecloth ‘ghillie suits’, and other camo cloak options. This Doctrine was designed to work with the ‘Light Infantry’ Doctrine.
CARAPACE ARMOUR
In the same realm of the Storm Trooper/ Grenadier conversion, you can use
greenstuff and plasticard to up the armour of a standard IG miniature. Also, platemail torsos from the Citadel Fantasy lines can be made to work as well. This conversion is beyond the scope of this article, but there are tutorials out on the Internet.
CYBER ENHANCEMENT Designed for people who want to make Adeptus Mechanicus Armies, this represents the entire army having bionics, or augmented armour. This is defi nitely one of those major conversion projects.
WARRIOR WEAPONS
Probably one of the easier conversions; barring the lack of a ready supply of laspistols of course. Finding pistol holsters, or other close combat weapons can make this an easier job. Consider using weapons from the Citadel Fantasy line, such as the Empire Militia or Pistoleers sprues. Space Marine Pistol Holsters are also readily available.
IMPERIAL GUARD ARMOURY
A variety of items can be made from the sprues. However, having access to a friend who runs Space Marines will make this section of conversion ideas a lot easier.As you can see, certain weapons come by default on the sprues. The rest…you have to beg, buy, or make yourself. Metal Citadel miniatures represent many of these options, and their purchase will certainly save you some time. However, a few conversions are easy to do from the stock sprues and some plastic rod, such as Sniper Rifl es and Demolitions Charges.
SPECIAL EQUIPMENT
Chem. Inhaler . . . . Carapace Armour . . . . Warrior Weapons . . . . Cameoline . . . . Cyber Enhancement. . . .WEAPONS
Close combat weapon, laspistol, lasgun, fl amer, grenade launcher, frag and krak grenades . . . . Bolt pistol, plasma pistol, power fi st, power weapon, force weapon, bolter, eviscerator, shotgun, storm bolter, plasmagun, sniper rifl e, meltagun, demolition charge . . . .SNIPER RIFLES
A moderate Conversion, but still easy on the list, ‘Longlas’ pattern sniper rifl es can be made from a stock Cadian Rifl e, a Scope, and a bit of plastic rod.
Using a fresh X-Acto blade, cut the barrel out of a standard Lasgun. Keep the fl ash suppressor and the gun, discard the barrel.
Using a pinvise, drill a shallow hole into the gun, and the fl ash suppressor.
Next, cut about 3/8th of an inch (5-6mm) of plastic rod that matches the barrel diameter (I used 1/16th” rod – 1.6mm)
Finally, assemble the gun, gluing
DEMOLITION CHARGES
There are Citadel Miniatures, which represent the Demolition Charge very well. Additionally, you can make demo charges using plasticard tube and rod, plus a bit of greenstuff to fi ll gaps and holes, as seen here.
SPACE MARINE BITZ
The following weapons from the standard space marine sprue can easily be used. (I suggest fi ling off any skull icons):
Bolt Pistol, Plasma Pistol, Power Fist, Power Weapon, Bolter, Shotgun (Space Marine Scout Sprue), Storm Bolter, Plasmagun, Meltagun.
Much of the Wargear listed can also be acquired from the sprues of other Armies, especially Space Marines. However, a few items can easily be made, so I’ve included a short tutorial on making purity seals and medals from greenstuff and paper.
are also Space Marine heads with built-in bionic eyepieces, which can also be used.
COMPANY STANDARD
Much like a Standard Bearer, this is simply a much more ‘fl ashy’ Standard. More
greenstuff tassels and rope, a ‘topper’ on the Standard Pole, and posing the miniature on a large scenic base are all ways to make the Company Standard really stand out.
MASTER-CRAFTED WEAPON, TRADEMARK ITEM
The easiest way to represent these items is by a good paint job. A splash of gold on a chainsword’s hilt and handle, or a scope on a laspistol, will do the job nicely. Alternatively, using the weapon bitz from another army,