While Orks remain my main interest in the wargaming scene, that doesn't mean I haven't dabbled in other armies over the years. I have, at various times, fielded Dark Angels, Chaos Marines and Necrons. Some days, you want to actually have an armour save, you know? One WH40k faction I was always tempted by was the Astra Militarium, or the Imperial Guard as they were classically known. These were an army of underdogs and WWII tribute acts, but with one thing or the other, I never pulled the trigger on them. Part of the reason was skin tones; I always found that intimidating, and went out of my way to avoid fleshy bits on models. Ork green is a totally different matter. That technically doesn't exist, so have room for your own take. Human skin is something you see every day, so you can tell when it's wrong. But you know what? I'm better at painting these days, I'm sure I can figure that one out. Some day. Eventually. These Iron Brothers however have full head helmets and are quite inexpensive, so I can work out a colour scheme while I'm figuring how how to do skin.
The Iron Brothers are from Ramshackle Games' military range, a source of Imperial Guard proxies sold on their low price and head variations. I used the default helmet style for these. After a couple of false starts, I decided to follow an old speed-painting guide from Midwinter Minis, see here, to paint 5 of them. In 40k terms, this would be half an Infantry Squad, or a heavy infantry unit in Xenos Rampant. The basic idea is to spraypaint the main colour, then pick out fabrics and detailing with appropriate colours, and then wash it with Agrax Earthshade. Once that's dry, tidy it up with a bit of highlighting and drybrushing, and it's done. I don't normally paint like this, and I'm very set in my ways when it comes to undercoating. That said, I can't argue with the results. I had an issue with my black paint, but these do pass muster as the rank & file. I even added in black boots and brown gloves for variety. It's a quick process too, you could easily do these of an evening and let them dry overnight. Here I used Color Forge Desert Sand Spray, Citadel Zandri Dust, and Death Guard Green for the major colours, with Vallejo leather and Dark Gunmetal for detailing.
I probably spent just as much time prepping and basing these models though. Part of that's just me being me, but its also the fundamentally "one dude in a workshop" nature of Ramshackle Games' product. Aside from a certain degree of flash and brittleness inherent to the resin, these come pre-moulded on little bases of limited use. the Killbots had these too, although I neglected to mention it then as they had plastic bases with them, so it didn't matter. Consider these tobe side effects of the casting process, because it's what they are, and that's fine. I used 32mm bases here with gap filler on top, which are possibly a hair too big, prompting some additional gubbins to fill the space. As models go, they are smaller than Orks and rough around the edges, but not in a bad way. Lessons learned, with a new bottle of Vallejo Black in hand, I took a swing at another 5. These had the benefit of experience, but also different poses. Generally I was happy with the process, and worked more brown into the mix for pouches. By completion however, I was thinking that black wasn't ideal for the guns so I tried something else for the next group.
The final l painted for this little project were a group of flamethrower troops with different heads, the "chem" variant to be specific. These heads had a face mask and goggles look which I felt matched the weapons. The bodies and guns meanwhile are clearly based off the chaps above, but with added bulk. I'd go so far to say the flamers are too big for the bodies, but I liked them more than the alternatives, and they match the backpack pretty well. I added some scrap plastic and EVA foam to improve the look and I tweaked the colour scheme a bit too, adding green, gunmetal and Soulstone technical to the head. The guns were done with Vallejo Sombre Dark Gray, while the business end of the flamers got an attempted burnt effect with copper craft paint. I probably shouldn't have bothered with that one black headband, but the overall effect came out pretty great. I'd use these as a Support Infantry unit in Xenos Rampant, with Close Quarters Doctrine and Engulfing to represent the burnyness, although I don't think there's a direct equivalent in 40k just now. I'd probably reshuffle these guys into other squads.
Much later: I realised that these had a "Bob the Hydra Agent" thing going on. Unexpected. But I think I have this method nailed down. I’m quite happy with the results.
Overall, I'd say these models are fine for what they are, but I had to keep reminding myself of the price angle. Depending which set you get, these work out to about 78p a model before postage, which is pretty damn cheap. Sufficiently cheap that any prep work you need to do, or additional basing material you need, seems churlish to complain about. Then again, Stargrave and Death Fields are a thing these days, whose models have a similar price bracket, look more professional if we're honest, and have all the advantages of being plastic. So, while I won't say that these models are for everyone, they definitely are a valid choice if the look of them appeals.
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