Kitbash: Cannon Fodder Sergeants

 

I will admit to being rather impatient for that new codex to come out. I was a little bored over chrimbo, which is not good when I’m over-tired too. I’m not especially fond of GW’s approach to releases either; I like that Krieg boxset, but I don’t £130 like it, and I try to resist FOMO these days. Eventually, rather than wait for the codex, I decided to do some busy work on my force, namely replacing the sergeants in my battleline units. This was potentially risky at the time; the impending codex had a non-zero chance of making such a choice obsolete, but as my chosen load out was also found in the Death Korps of Krieg killteam box, I took the chance.

So, when I first built my squads last year, the options had been largely driven by what bits I had spare, and what I could recast. As far as the sarges were concerned, this meant a bolter and power sword. While these were just fine as a first attempt, but as I got more games in, I slowly went off that combination both in terms of gameplay and as modelling work. I felt I could do better, and that under the current rules regime, it made more sense to use plasma pistols instead. As 40k (currently) only provides a points cost for whole unit, not individual bits in it, you often get situations where one option drastically outclasses the other, and the plasma pistol is one. While opting for a bolter is technically a more rounded option, plasma weapons as a tool are better for general purpose marine killing. You may only get one shot out of this, but its a shot that matters when it connects. And is overcharged.

These were very much in the style of those Krieg and Catachan expansions I did last year, and represented a chance to practice my technique a bit. The base models are Cannon Fodder again so they fit, while the new weapons are loose bits from Anvil Industry. That company does a lot of 40K style resin bits, including the “Daughters of the Burning Rose” from which I sourced these weapons. Scale and proportions worked very well here, although joining the parts was trickier than I expected. Also in the mix was Stargrave bits again, and a sword from the <deep breath> Death Fields Les Grognards Command and Heavy Support kit. I’m planning to use/talk-about that last one once I get my hands on the Astra Militarum codex.

 

I painted these over a weekend in the hope of getting them game ready for a Monday evening. I ended up skipping skin tones, and somehow produced jumpsuits with a lighter tone of orange. I attempted to put a blue tint on the power swords, but it didn’t quite work. My mud paint mix ended up a bit off model too. Nothing bad though. Having the squad leaders stand out a bit doesn’t hurt.

 

Of course, theses were completed the day before GW started doing rules previews for the new codex. And subsequently, all the leaks in the world. I’d called it, basic Infantry Squads are over. Seems I held off just long enough.