Thursday, January 28, 2010


I wanted to talk today about how you go about creating your armies. What inspires you? How do you decide to get started? What do you start with?


For me it was a few things. My favorite army is the Imperial Guard simply because in a world of crazy daemons, super humans, and rampaging aliens, these guys still get the job done with a lasgun and a flak jacket.. With the release of the new Imperial Guard codex I decided it was time to build a show army using my favorite IG line, The Death Korps of Krieg. The way I create armies is by mixing fluff I enjoy with competitive units to help me build a themed yet viably tactical force. Over the new few months I will be taking you through the army as I complete it, unit by unit. I want to break down why I chose each unit and how I reflect their roles in modeling them. This I hope will come more into its own once I reach command squads, characters and the like.

I started the mini by using vallejo's new model air line and an Iwata HP-B airbrush. I gave the model coat of US Gray making sure to leave some black creases showing. Coincidentally this is codex gray, just watered down a lot for an airbrush. I wanted to keep a suitibly dirty look, a very worn torn look. These guys win wars through attrition, I wanted that reflected in the models. After the initial airbrushing I went back with a normal brush (Series 7) and picked out all the details. Mostly using foundation paints and the new GW washes I was able to create a nice dirty feeling for him. I finished the whole process off by spraying on a mix of scorched brown and vermin brown (the same colors used for the base) across the lower half of the model with my airbrush. Once that was dry I gave the model two coats of Vallejo Matte Varnish.

I was pretty happy with the results. So I decided to see if this would translate well to an entire infantry squad. Thinking back to my list I knew I would be running the army using the normal IG codex so that I could use it in tournaments. One thing I noticed right away when building the squad was the Watchmasters come with lasguns. In the new IG book this can't be done. I had to figure out a way to convert the model to be carrying a laspistol and CCW. I decided to give the Cadian Shock Trooper weapon bits a try. To my relief they fit fine. After green stuffing a sleeve, and trimming down the shoulder pads they blend right in. Here is the finished product.



As it stands right now I'm fairly happy with the model. My only concern is that I want to give him a normal sword instead of a chainsword. Just in case I want to give him a power weapon for a match. I corrected this on a future watchmaster conversion. I plan to go back and fix this one as well. Anywho, here is a final shot of the squad.



Now that I have figured out how I want to paint my Death Korp, I will go on to make a starting list at 2000 points with them. Briefly explain why I took each unit, and what I hope they do on the field. This however is the topic of another post. I will also be creating matching terrain + table for them. Keep an eye out for step by step tutorials on that as well! Until next time!

~ So there you have it guys `n gals. I`m curious how others get their armies started? Do you begin by looking at what models you want to field, the rules or a combination? As always, any questions feel free to email me. Col.festus@gmail.com

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