Right then, part 4. I worked on some Heavy Weapon Teams, and another Infantry Squad this week. I did a brief double-take when I realised that I committed myself to an entire army where each individual model has some green stuff and/or kitbash work. That's something I honestly wouldn't have attempted in decades past, but given that I seem to be producing at least one legal unit a week, its not wearying me as yet. Hell, I did three for this update.
So what are Heavy Weapon Teams/Squads then? Well, its time for another lore/usage discussion. Heavy Weapon Teams are one of the more distinctive aspects of Guard, going for the borderline realistic option of a gunner, loader and weapon on a single base. Most other 40k factions don't do that, although Aledari Guardians have their own take. Its been a bit of a barrier to completing Infantry Squads for people, if I am totally honest, as these are often sold separately in a "hot-dogs are sold in packs of 8, but the buns are sold in packs of 6" kind of inconvenience. Infantry Squads really do need the dakka. Dedicated squads of three teams are another issue. Putting three big guns together is justified from a concentration of fire perspective, but its markedly easier for a foe to damage them. A heavy weapon in an Infantry Squad of 10 can absorb 9 wounds before loosing function, where as the Heavy Weapon Squad equivalent starts loosing guns at two wounds. As Guard are an attritional force at the best of times, the team of three option can be unpopular for that reason. The heavy weapon is often more important than the guy firing it. If that sounds like a callous disregard for human life justified by game mechanics, well, welcome to 40k! You ain't seen nothing yet!
With that in mind, I opted to make a squad of Mortars, and a squad of Autocannons. Mortars sidestep a lot of problems by being indirect fire, thus keeping them behind the lines and out of sight, while Autocannons are a solid generalist weapon. I will likely go onto build more of these teams as this project goes on, as to swap into squads as needed, but this seemed a good place to start. In terms of build, the mortars were stock with Cannon Fodder crew, while the Autocannons used Cadian crew, but two kitbashed guns. The Chem-Dogs are reputed to strip weapons off vehicles that have ran out of fuel, so I worked that in here, with one plastic Sentinel Autocannon and a white metal one that turned out to be the precursor to that very same gun. I also took the opportunity on both to use surplus putty to add details like tarps. I did however make the mistake of preparing bases with wall filler before attaching models, which made painting much easier, but gluing them on tricky.
Ultimately
the heavy weapon units came out OK, not perfect yet, still learning,
but definitely acceptable, and quick. As for the infantry Squad, I
did them up to match the first batch, so I could field them as one
big unit. These were initially done in-between the above drying,
which meant progress was slow, followed by a foolish rush once the
big guns were done. Final assembly had a few issues too, like having
to make a second batch of heads, the aforementioned basing issue, and
replacing the arms on one. Nothing I couldn’t fix, but I wasn’t
pacing myself properly. Otherwise, I went for the elephantine mask
style, with a few resin heads leftover from the Iron Brothers. I
managed to start painting these on the Monday, and got them done bar touch-ups on the same day. I still need to go back and tidy up a visor, but these turned out fine.
One thing I did realise while working on the squad though was that I’d been using an obsolete pdf of the Index list, and this led to a further realisation: Guard units with Heavy Weapon Teams have non-standard model counts. Because its two dudes/dudettes on a base, that can have some interactions with the Blast rule. Interesting? Probably not, But its something that may make a difference in actual gameplay.
Up next: I'm gonna build that Sentinel, I think. For a change of pace. And probably only the one unit this time as I have a busy weekend.
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