Holding Pattern

Well seeing that all my stuff is on hold at the moment due to me awaiting new models or supplies, I don't really have too much to share with everyone. I might have a sit down and try to figure out where my army comes from, to pick their own world and why they have been out of the world so long.
Just to get out that feeling of nostalgia ill include a listing of the actual Squat models I have most of which do not yet have a purpose in my army. So far everything save a Living Ancestor are awaiting roles to be assigned to them. Suggestions, as always, are more than welcome.

- Two Command Squads of three Squats each
- Mole Mortar with two Crewman
- Three Heavy Weapon Teams
- Five Squat Exo Suits
- Two Squat Sergeants
- Squat Commander
- Squat General
- Twelve or thirteen Squat Troopers

I would include some pictures but they are even worse than the ones I made in my first posts. If pictures are needed Ill give it another go with my iPhone.

So beyond waiting, writing a background, the other thing I can do is tinker with my Robogear models and try to figure out how to kitbash some of them into a Manticore and a Valkyrie for starters.
Of course I might keep some of the models as they are, they do look kind of like working machines....well kinda.
My version has a big shovel like hand and of course the weaponry is installed diffirently without the missiles on top. Could use them as stand ins for possible Apocalypse games or for my regular IG army...not that I have one yet but with the sheer amount of armless models I got laying around now.

Humans Allowed?

So seeing I have some people actually reading this now, I pose the following question: Should I allow some human sized models in my army for bulking out purposes or stick to Meta-Humans only? (At the moment it isnt even Squats only as I do have some Ratlings and Ogres).

The reason for asking this is because I rediscovered that I have enough of these Kolony Militia by Pig Iron Productions laying about to fill myself an entire conscript squad. And what better way for a few humans to serve in the Squat Military Machine as a very small expendable cog. 

I ordered the lot of them ages ago when I was concidering a more traditional guard army (which I might still start, if I get enough lasgun holding arms to actually build all my Cadians). I do like the look of their helmets and ordered in more than enough to equip all of them with their proper heads and leave enough left over to convert the Cadians as well. So Human Meatshields? Yes or No?

And to stay somewhat on topic. I think the guy on the left might serve as either a high ranking officer or my Army General. I mean....he has a top hat and a suit.

There really is no competition there right? Right?

Well for today I'll actually do something in the form of carefully clipping my Leman Russ Executioners out of their sprues and perhaps start some basic assembly as I await the arrival of the magnets and the rest of my goodies for the coming month.

Anyways, thanks for reading! And I tip my hat to you, Sirs

(The model above is only 25mm tall, including the top hat, so smaller than a regular Dwarf).

Ulkans

So after spending close to what I will allow me to spend this month...or well actually coming month. It only makes sense that I discover even more awesome looking models. The models depicted with this post have been sculpted by Pega who is just now starting up Pega Mini Designs, now he doesn't call them Space Dwarfs or Squats, instead he refers to them as being his "personal interpretation of the so called hi-grav planets miners." Which to me, is just another word for Squats!
I mailed him yesterday as at the moment the two models he does have are both sold out, but he replied (via e-mail and on his site), that there would be stock again soon as well as a third model.

He calls his models Ulkans and they are indeed of the Space Miner persuasion with the weapons carrying names like CrushHammers and MagmaGuns. The fact he sculpts them so beautifully, as well as having a tendancy to smoke cigars, I think they would make awesome Veterans, Sergeants or anything other special you can have them do.

The scale of these models is listed as being for the 30mm range with the size of the actual models standing around 25mm, making them still a head shorter than most human sized models in any and all armies.

Included below is an image I found on CoolMiniOrNot of the Ulkan wielding the CrushHammer. I personally think it looks awesome. I will include the link to the actual page here.

Click me to get a proper look...

Call for Reinforcements, Received!

As payday has come and gone, I've put in some orders from several diffirent companies. Ordering some of the usual suspects most people tend to have a use for. In all honesty I should have had this stuff already but I jumped into getting models first, after all I've spent some time away from the hobby.

I ordered the following basic essentials:

- Round Bases; to allow me to mount my models properly, as the Fantasy Dwarf boxes which are the base for my Squats use square bases.

- A boatload of Neodymium Magnets; to allow me to get the weapon swapping options I was planning to have.

- Green Stuff; A must have for heavy duty conversion work.

- Cans of Base Coat and Varnish; well speaks for itself really...

As I'm taking this seriously I also invested in new tools, partly spurred on by the fact I actually managed to snap the blade on my modelling knife and I cant for the life of me remember where my spares are. So new tools, new glue, and new super glue activator.

Now to get to the 'Reinforcements' bit, I ordered in 5 of the Grizzly Exosuit - Starship Trooper models I mentioned in my last post. From a site specialized in bits I ordered in 20 Dwarf Bodies, and only 3 Lasgun arms as they ran out, also got myself the bits needed to finish off my version of 'Iron Hand'. As for the bodies, I figure ill see how far along I will get, I need 4 complete models to round out my Veteran Squad and my Platoon Command Squad, 6 more are destined for some additional Heavy Weapon Teams, leaving me enough bodies for another Infantry Squad.

As for vehicles, I ordered in a model from two seperate stores to see which one I like better. I ordered a Tracked Glaive Medium APC from Old Crow Models as well as getting myself the Half Ute from Ramshackle Games so I can see for myself which of the two I prefer for my army (and for the other I am sure I will find a use as well). Of course I also ordered something extra from both companies. From Crow I ordered in an additional turret and Ramshackle will send me one of the Boring Machines as well.







I also ordered the Kolossus Units from two different suppliers. Of the two War House Games is closer to where I live, so in the hope of getting a single set before the others I ordered one Unit from them so I can get to converting as soon as possible.

The other supplier, Miniature Market is the cheaper one but is situated in the U.S whereas I am in the Netherlands. But I will end up with 9 of those lovely looking AT-43 Red Blok - Kolossi(?). From the Miniature Market I also ordered three other models, also from the AT-43 Red Blok miniature line. I haven't mentioned these before but I was considering wether or not to get some. These so called Dotch Yaga will be my Basilisks most likely. 

Maybe I shouldnt mention the load of Robogear models laying around for the purpose of kitbashing, alas for this month the Grymn and B'dass will have to wait as this is about what I can afford without cutting into those pesky things such as food and rent...

Oh and seeing I actually have some Followers now (welcome one and all), would anyone know if there is any place to get model drills? Let me rephrase, instead of Dozer Blades, I would like to stick big drills on the front of my vehicles to reinforce the idea of the Squats being miners and such.

Stand Ins

I have to admit that at the moment I do not have the amount of time to spend on building my army as I would like. At the moment I am working 6 days a week with one day off as my weekend, and this will continue for at least another month. So at the upside im raking in some cash to continue my hobby, on the downside it leaves little time for modelling and painting. Well, modelling works out okay, just painting gets left behind (not one of my strong suits to start with).

Mik mentioned in a comment to my previous post he was planning on using his Squat Bikers as Sentinels to allow them to pack some more 'Oomph'. I do agree that using them as Rough Riders is downgrading their abilities somewhat but to me that is the only one that fits. If used as Sentinels that means you can have no more than three models in a loose unit which seems a bit too few. Of course there is also the size discrepancy between their size (which brings up the question does it matter if you are already using diffirent models?).

Seeing its almost payday, I'll list off some models I have acquired, am in the process of acquiring or will acquire to be used as stand in models for my army.




Monowheel by Tobsen

The image to the right is of something called a MonoWheel. My initial plan was to use these as a stand in model of sorts for a Hellhound.
The 'plan' was simply to model a left over Squat Biker model as the driver and stick a Flamer from the regular Sentinel models on one of the sides and complete it with a diffirent weapon on the other side. As the model arrived it was actually smaller than I thought it would be, and though I briefly considered mounting it on a Warhammer Fantasy Regiment Movement tray to get the same 'footprint' as an actual Hellhound. Unfortunately for the Monowheel I found some other models to use for either a Hellhound or my Sentinels.



AT-43 Red Blok - Kolossus

 Of course I do not actually have these models in my possession (yet), but I do plan to acquire them when my pay comes in as they are actually looking pretty awesome and are not too expensive at all.
I proudly present the Red Blok Kolossus from the (discontinued) Rackham game of AT-43.
They are taller than regular 40K Models, but smaller than a Dreadnought if I saw correctly.
In my eyes these would make excellent Sentinels or Hellhounds, all depending on what weapons are modelled on them.


(I so need to check out the differences between those two units now, might just use them for both model types)





Starship Troopers - Grizzly Exosuit

 

Sadly there are even more stand in models I am considering. Off to the side here is what I am considering for either my Stormtroopers or Ogryns. Seeing their size I think Ogryn's would suit them better due to their bulk, which is considerable compared to regular troopers. In fact it almost seems like there is a Squat inside them operating them like a Tau Battlesuit. Guess that means Exosquats will have to be the Stormtroopers then, now to get some more of those as well....



Below here are Grymns with a Pig Iron head swap. The person who made them uses them as a tunnel fighter army of sorts, he collects an army but doesnt actually play them but if he had to give them an home in the 40K-verse he too would pick Imperial Guard. Im tempted to perhaps get a unit or two and use them as my Penal Legions.




Grymn Tunnel Fighters

Anyways thanks for reading, credit for the images and helping me find all these models goes out to Viktor von Domm and Inso from Dakka Dakka for allowing me to pester them with questions about cool looking models and where to get them, also a big Kudos to Mik for being a good sport about me being way too inquisitive and giving my blog a shout out. Seems like a lot of the models I really like all belong to Out of Production ranges. Go Figure.

Squat Bikers



I wish I could claim ownership of that paint job...


So I mentioned my Squat Bikers in a previous post and can admit I have been slacking off on working on them. Part of the reason is that the amount of original model arms do not match how many bikers I own. I also am not too fond of the look of the original plastic squat arms, so to improve on them I've been messing about with using Cadian Arms to fix the short'n'stubby arm issue. Of course I learned that if I do not change the length of the arms the bikers end up looking like a bunch of long armed monkeys.

Not exactly the image I was hoping to convey. In all honesty I am not even sure how useful a Rough Rider squad is in a Imperial Guard army but the models are too iconic not to use them (and anything less than a full squad just feels silly to me). I actually ended up with more than 10 bike models so this will allow me to pick the best looking ones. All I need now is to get some more cavalry bases so they can be based properly, as these were not included when I acquired them off of eBay.

Shadowsword for Armageddon

So I believe I mentioned in my last post that I have (or will have) a Shadowsword as a Super Heavy Tank. I feel quite lucky to mention that I did not actually buy the boxed set as depicted to the right.
As I was browsing my way through blogs and forums I stumbled across a link that lead me to the Heroes of Armageddon blog. After reading what they were all about I decided to support them and made a donation.
This was whilst I was working a nightshift Friday going on Saturday. Imagine my surprise that the next day I had won the weekly prize in the form of one of three possible prizes (my pick). The choices were a Blood Angels Battleforce, an Ork Stompa or a Shadowsword. Seeing that I have a very limited amount of Orks, and didn't feel like saving a new army in the form of the Blood Angels this left me the Shadowsword. Of course the fact that I was just starting up an Imperial Guard army in the form of my Squats was a lucky coincidence!

So I would like to ask everyone to head on over to the Heroes of Armageddon blog and read what they are all about. And if you want to get in on those Weekly Prizes and get a chance to win one the four armies they are building donate some dollars. If you look at the location of the weekly winners you can see that anyone anywhere is able to get in on this. They are in the process of building the following armies:
Steel Legion, Blood Angels, Speed Freaks and Orks.

The Army so Far...

Aloha, no crappy pictures at the moment (I'm writing this from work which is suitably slow to allow me time to do so). I figured I'd give a brief overview of the miniatures I have and are either already converted or in various stages of assembly. So far I have the following (or will have there is one tank still in the mail):

My base for Col. "Iron Hand" Straken.

HQ:
1 Living Ancestor (Primaris Psyker)
1 Enginseer
1 Col. "Iron Hand" Straken

Elites:
3 Ogryns
10 Ratling Snipers

Troops:
1 Command HQ (5 Models, 1 Heavy Weapon Team)
1 Infantry Squad (10 Models, 1 Heavy Weapon Team)
1 Infantry Squad (10 Models, 1 Heavy Weapon Team)
1 Veteran Squad (8 Models)

Fast Attack:
10 Squat Bikers (Rough Riders)
2 Sentinels

Heavy Support:
2 Leman Russ Executioners
1 Basilisk

Super Heavy:
1 Shadowsword

Col "Iron Hand" Straken is in the progress of being converted but I lack the bits to finish him (namely the Plasma Pistol). In fact I am out of Plasma Guns entirely so I need to get my paws on some so I can outfit the units properly. Also need to get two more cloaked dwarf bodies to round out my Veterans. I also need to finish up the Servitors for my Enginseer (and perhaps add a second one), I have a load of Epic Land Raiders all ready to go. I might have to make some troopers into Vox Caster bearers as well...


Considering these for my "Chimera" Transports.

 The Bikers are currently being reassembled, they arrived from eBay with the original mold lines still in need of clipping! Of course some of them have also been assembled wrong but who cares about a thing like that really...
The Sentinels and Leman Russ Executioners have not yet been assembled. For the Sentinels I might go another route and use stand in models. I have a nice collection of Robogear stuff laying about to allow me to do some kitbashing. The Executioners are awaiting my paycheck so I can order in some magnets to allow me to make the main weapon swappeable.

And when I get around to it I need to look around to get some troop transports sorted as well. At the moment I am seriously considering the model depicted to the left. This is a Half Ute by Ramshackle Games, a company whose models are also in the 28mm range. They also sell the vehicle parts seperately to allow people to design and create their own combinations. Of course in order to know how well it fits it means I need to order one, luckily they are not too expensive.

As I do not have my book handy I am not entirely certain wether or not the Imperial Guard has any Deep Strikers (I thought Stormtroopers have it). What I do know is that there is no option to buy any Drop Pods for the army. Which is a shame....

Drop Pods! Kinda.

...because who says that Deep Strikers come from above. They might as well emerge from the ground! In any case they should make for some neat tabletop scenery.

I have already started thinking about a possible color scheme for my army, but as I am short on basecoat at the moment the actual painting will have to wait a while longer.

Primaris Psyker - Living Ancestor

Wait till I get my hands on you, you young whippersnappers!

And here, finally, is my HQ choice. Once more inspired by ArbitorIan on DakkaDakka. Unlike his Living Ancestor (pictured below) the model I could get my hands on was the one seated in a sidecar, so I decided to turn it into a wheelchair of sorts.

After experimenting with using diffirent types of shields to make the wheels I decided to go an alternate route and mount the entire model on top of an Epic Land Raider giving him a mechanized chair which does seem to be in line with how technologically advanced the Squats are.

As the picture is most likely unclear (grr) it may be hard to tell but I like how the model seems to be so very static. He is laying back in his seat almost as if in a coma or asleep but at the same time he is keeping a cane ready to smack some sense into his enemies.

Ow, my Back!

As you can see ArbitorIan's Living Ancestor looks to be a lot more sprightly than my old guy taking a nap. Well at least my guy doesn't have to walk anywhere so there is that.

For those who actually read this, my updates will slow down, they always do, unless I'm kept motivated. Well I'm off to glue my Squat Bikers together now.


As for the caption....well couldn't help myself.

Heavy Weapons!

W.I.P: Heavy Weapon Teams





I figured drinking would be an integral part of being a Squat.

And here are some pictures of my work in progress on my Imperial Guard Heavy Weapon teams. I am still trying to figure out on how to make the weapons swappeable so I can swap them out to suit my Army Lists. I did figure out the back of the weapons extend an almost equal distance, at the moment I mounted the Heavy Bolter (nothing glued to the base just yet).

Most likely I will make the ammo loader removeable to easier keep track of wounds and to have an additional soldier or three to use if needed. I do have the bits to create three more Heavy Weapon Teams with either Mortars or Rocket Launchers, but at the moment I am out of proper bases.



Apologies for the crappy quality of the pictures.







I just joined the Space Dwarfs Online community, and hope some of them will come across this and keep me motivated to continue the project as is. I somewhat jumped the gun on my first post just to have an image online to relink there. I might....might...make a P&M Blog Thread on Dakka Dakka as well.

And then there was one...

So for some reason after playing a game of Warhammer 40K against the Imperial Guard I've decided to collect my own army of them as well. It is not the first time I have toyed with the thought as I did own a Cadian Battleforce (unassembled) but have been looking for that special surge of inspiration.


The Humble Beginning of my Army.



As I also play Deathguard Chaos, my initial thought was to make an army of Traitor Guard so I can use both together in my games against the forces of the Imperium. But somehow something was missing, I did order a large number of Pig Iron troopers to get the Death Korps vibe but still...

Then I came across this P&M article on Dakka Dakka by ArbitorIan as well as the Squat header on the Mik's Minis blog by Mik.

So with having a load of unassembled Cadians laying about, and after being thoroughly inspired, I placed an order with GW to get myself some plastic dwarfs. I have since learned that converting is easier with the previous boxed set of plastic dwarfs as their heads, arms, torsos and legs are seperate whereas the new set has the entire body and head in two pieces of plastic. In order to make the Lasgun fit it means a lot of repositioning, delicate cutting and filing down bits and pieces and even then it doesn't always align properly (hence the space marine shoulderpad).