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.

Kitbash: Heavy Weapon Teams

OK, let me tell you how this blog works currently. I normally like to run a buffer of 4 weeks, alternating topics where possible. Circa October, this was looking more like 6 weeks, as I prepared to wind things down over December, my busy period at work. I mention this because A) it means I have a lot of inertia, and B) I don't try to be topical any more. That's why don’t see me writing much about GW's periodic Balance Dataslates, as I’m just not nimble enough to match a newscycle. With today's subject though, I have to acknowledge such things.

Heavy Weapon Teams are something I enthusiastically built when starting my Chem-Dogs, but slowly went off as I learned more and the rules changed. Running these in dedicated units of three was manifestly unwise, as not only were they priority targets, they had the durability of wet cardboard. The only time that worked was as mortar units, but that ploy lost some utility when the rules for indirect fire got overhauled. Most of my heavy weapons were then shuffled into regular infantry squads, not necessarily because this made for a brilliant ranged unit, but because it gave the infantry options and made killing the guns harder. Over time, this tactic became less of a mainstay for me as I experimented with other battleline units and enjoyed tanks. I still had a stockpile of guns awaiting assembly and/or kitbash, but no real inclination to use them. Then the October Dataslate and points changes landed, and this changed the equation. A squad of three guns was now 50 points, and its hard for anything to be cheaper than that in 40k currently. You can just throw them into the list, and as long they do their job adequately or otherwise add an element you lack, its worth it. That’s how I use my Scion units currently; bare-bones and disposable to do secondary mission objectives. So, I decided to build a few out of what I had spare. No rush, and even if the forthcoming codex changed how they worked, GW was unlikely to retire a unit with a kit they made for 9th edition and was still actively selling. The worst case outcome would be that I would have more options. And bar the bases, it was money I'd already spent.

 

This build was mainly a combination of three different kits, the old school plastic heavy weapons, the Cannon Fodder kit, and the Stargrave Mercenaries. Its basically the same job as those Cadians I did recently, just with kitbashed carriages for the guns, often featuring wheels off toy cars. In the name of simplicity, I went for pre-existing helmeted heads, but I still did green stuff rags and tarpaulins. The crew were painted separately before affixing them on to the bases, the colours slightly remixed. I was kind of burnt-out on infantry and had a few things on my mind, trying to stop myself from buying more models without finishing some others first, when there’s a new codex around the effing corner, so it took a while to get motivated, but once I got going the process was fairly quick.

The weapon selection here was dictated mainly by what I liked the look of versus what spares I had. This meant five lascannons and a heavy bolter, to be combined with existing models to make two anti-tank, and one anti-infantry squad. The rational here was to pair the lascannons with something scary to force dilemmas on people, while the heavy bolters could make good use of the unit's overwatch bonus. I did consider more mortars and missile launchers, but I'm not hugely into either, and I'm holding onto my spare autocannons for now. Actual gameplay performance? Well… in the first game, one died horribly without acheiving much but blocking, and the other over-performed against a land raider. The second saw them sniping the odd Custodes.

So, maybe there's something in it?

Kitbash: Wargames Atlantic Cannon Fodder Part 2

 

Today, I'm gonna talk about the Wargames Atlantic Cannon Fodder 2 kit (Females), how I used them for my Astra Militarum army, and how you can use this kit for general kitbashing. This is part two in a two part series, please take a look at part one, as I don’t want to repeat myself.

 

Why Kreig? I gave a brief overview back in part 2 of Project Chem-Dogs, but some context here won't hurt the word count. With one of the least subtle names in the 40k setting, the Death Korps of Krieg are more or less scifi WWI. We're talking folk memories of gasmasks, trenches, mud, bayonets, and absurdly wasteful expenditure of human life. They are a gasmask wearing death cult with no concern for thier own losses or individuality. This makes for a good addition to 40k in general and the Astra Militarum in particular, but their prominence is relatively new. Stop me if you've heard this one before, but the Death Korps were something Forgeworld was very interested in, that has since made the jump to plastic, and are due a range expansion shortly. Mechanically, they are one of those odd units whose options are (currently) dictated by a Killteam boxset. These feature more specialist weapons than the other battleline units, and a resurrecting model mechanic. The reason I wanted them is to act either as frontline troops or APC passengers, thanks to their weaponry and odd ability to become better fighters as they loose models.

 

Using Cannon Fodder as Death Korps of Krieg: The use of Cannon Fodder for these is somewhat head dependant. The bodies don't have anything about them that screams Verdun, but you do get full space helmets on the sprue. I'd made most of mine with green stuff gas masks, thus making them passable as Kreigers, incorporating wire and tiny beads for the hoses. That's fiddly work even if you've sculpted before, so don't be afraid to source heads from elsewhere. Otherwise, turning the girls into the Death Korps is a similar challenge to regular Infantry Squads; you don't need heavy weapons, but you are looking at a greater density of specialist weapons, and the need for a medic.

What I did: As before I made these as plugins for an Infantry Squad to simplify matters, while taking the opportunity to make a few weapon specialists to round things out. The heads here were often leftovers from the Bulldogs, as well as assorted bits from the Stargrave Mercenaries sprue. I probably need to talk in more detail about that last one actually, I use that kit a lot. Expect an article, um, Novemberish. Meanwhile some crude recasting was used to create the medpacks, and melta nozzles for use with the energy weapon on the Cannon Fodder sprue. I did the same thing for flamers and such in part one, you can do a lot with a new barrel and some new furniture. Menawhile, Sniper rifles were created by using the CF scope with a regular gun, a fiddly little bastard of a thing, with a bead as a barrel extension, and sculpted rags to hide the join. The grenade launchers are from the aforementioned Stargrave sprue, lengthened wih a bit of tube. Painting then followed, and turned out OK.

I hope this brief series was of use to you. Next week, back to Transformers.

Kitbash: Wargames Atlantic Cannon Fodder Part 1

Today, I'm gonna talk about the Wargames Atlantic Cannon Fodder 2 kit (Females), how I used  them for my Astra Militarum army, and how you can use this kit for general kitbashing. This will be part one in a two part series, because, well, I had ideas.

 

So, Ive played a few games with my Chem-Dogs, and I think Ive found my balance with them. The army has deviated from my original intentions though. Initially, I'd wanted a very old school infantry gun line sort of affair. A meat grinder designed to rope-a-dope a foe, and then jump on any mission objectives later on. That's why I have 40 basic infantry, 2 command squads, and 2 heavy weapon squads. That's more less a classic infantry platoon, with a few extras. Unfortunately, that isn't really how 40k is played at the moment. With the mission how they are, they may be different by the time you read this, need you to be active and playing to objectives almost immediately. The capitalised Infantry Squad does well with the home objective, and static dakka, but I find the other battleline choices more appealing. So I needed to expand and alter my footsloggers. My first instinct was to modify some squads into Catachan Jungle Fighters, but then I thought, “Why not others?”, and so this became a two-parter.

Its probably necessary to provide an overview of the kit in question. Coming from the Death Fields series, the Cannon Fodder (Females) box features 24 models, six to a sprue. These notably lack bases, an omission common to Wargames Atlantic's entire range, although thats more of a sundry expense these days. The individual models are largely setting agnostic, although their guns have a lasgun vibe, as well as a convict theme. These are ladies in jumpsuits, with the choice of head and colours affecting their overall vibe. One image of the box shows off the kit done up as 50's style silver spacesuits, whereas going for caps and green makes for a second line infantry look. There's also a fair few bionics in the mix too, as well as a bounty of alternative heads. Actual equipment though is a touch more limited. There is a bulky energy weapon, drum magazines, fiddly scopes to make a passable sniper rifle, and a few pistols on each sprue, but you don't get a fancy melee weapon for the squad leader, or a real choice in weapons. This seems to be a weakness of the male Cannon Fodder box too, and you may wish to look into compatible kits, like the Bulldogs. I got lucky during Project Chem-Dogs, I’d chanced upon an old Cadian BattleForce box which provided a lot of sundry bits and weapon options with made running them as regular infantry much easier. Recasting these bits was not entirely successful, and I would probably recommend other solutions going forward. My sarges where equipped with bolters, easily found, and power weapons, less so. Vox units were recast with wire aerials. I would likely just add an aerial to a spare cannon fodder backpack next time, its probably a more elegant solution. On the plus side there's a number of bits that lend themselves well to Heavy Weapon teams and similar, like binoculars and pointing hands. You have enough for the rank and file, but for the squad specialists you'll need some bits and some creativity. You'll also note that mine have a lot in the way of sculpted gasmasks and capes. I'm not talking about that too much today, and its definitely not required for your models.

 

So, how to make these as Catachan Jungle Fighters? Well, these have famously limited options, so making these is fairly straightforward versus the other battleline units. I built these as "swaps" for existing Infantry Squads, so I skipped the Vox units. You need a melee weapon for the sergeants, here being leftovers from my attempt at Rough Riders. The flamers were a combination of old Black Templar examples, and the energy weapon from the Cannon Fodder sprue. I cut the business end and canister off a flamer, and attached them to the existing weapon, which had been trimmed for length. These were then painted in my usual way, and came out pretty well.

 

At the same time, I took the opportunity to make a "counts as" Sargeant Harker. That’s a bit of change for me, I don’t think I’ve fielded a named/special/epic character like this before. At least outside of Bloodbowl. This was based off a Bulldog body for increased size, but had the same basic idea as the flamers above. While this worked out nicely, it does highlight a potential weakness with the Cannon Fodder, they are somewhat slight of proportion. I'm also not good at faces.

Up next: Death Korps

Plamo: Wargames Atlantic Bulldogs

Back when I started Project Chemdogs one of the options I considered was Wargames Atlantic's Bulldogs. Part of their Death Fields range, these were British themed sci-fi troopers, with a variety of heads, and in one memorable example, a cup of tea. Now, I am not immune to the occasional spark of patriotism, but I am somewhat aware of the history of the British Empire, so I eventually went for the less nationalistic angle of prison conscripts. I did however have a lingering idea of prison guards, or possibly another regiment or two mixed in. The Astra Militarum does not have to be uniform, in fact I'd argue in favour of variety. Too many damn Cadians these days. Meanwhile, the Tempestus Scions were coming up a lot in competitive play discussions. These are fairly inexpensive in game, somewhat more elite than my usual fair, and very mobile. I'd been having trouble with the whole claiming objective thing, so I was tempted. Then I had the idea I could do them up like British policemen, thus contrasting with my orange prison troops, and things flowed from there.

 

These are somewhat simpler of a  project than my usual infantry, as these are meant to be a well-equipped and professional force, not prisoners in jumpsuits and tattered rags. The main thing would be modifying them to visually suggest a Scion profile. This meant sculpting on a chestplate to justify a 4+ save, and adding cabling to the guns. While effective, the chest plates would interfere with some of the arms, most noticeably the grenade launchers. In my defence, they're coppers, even without the stabproof vests on, they tend to look a bit portly. This also resulted in me using the "single" arms, and being confused by them. I eventually came to the conclusion that these featured bionics and/or heavy gauntlets, but I mistook them as regular hands at first, and painted them as such. Maybe I should have looked at some painted examples, you know, actual preparation before charging in, but it was an easy fix. Meanwhile the stereotypical "tit helmet" was achieved via the use of pith helmet heads and some adhesive gems painted silver to suggest the elaborate badges such things have. I'm sure there's better solutions out there, but the desired effect was achieved.

The equipment of these chaps (and presumed chappettes,) was largely driven by the composition of the Bulldogs sprue versus the current Scion data sheet. I'd wanted to do these up with multiple plasma guns, I had spares, but this isn't actually legal. Fortunately the grenade launchers were a convenient alternative and vaguely sensible in game. Less useful was the limited number of backpacks, prompting the use of spares from the Cannon Fodder sprue, which makes them less cohesive as a unit, but I gave those to the weapon specialists to compensate. Sarge types were done up with power swords and "counts as" plasma pistols, which probably isn't optimal, but I honestly couldn't be bothered with making power fists when the sword option was right there. Its not like you expect guard units of 5 guys to do much in a melee as it is. Speaking of unit sizes, while I made these as two squads of 5, I also made a spare bobbie so I could field a legal squad of 10 by swapping out a sarge. Its a squad compostion thing, look it up. I did not make a vox operator at this time, as he would be downgraded to a pistol and that looked bad, but I have the bits should I change my mind.

Painting was matter of rummaging for a suitable blue and ink wash, and then aiming for a slightly less drab look than my other infantry. The "Flying Squad" has a dirty job, but they get decent kit and are vaguely professional about it. Uniforms were done in Vallejo Medium Blue, with a careful application of old Drakenhof Nightshade. Details like skin and backpacks were done in my usual way, although I went lighter for some of the metallics. While I briefly considered doing the gasmask lenses in orange, I felt that was too Helghast, so I did them in Soulstone Technical instead, atop an off-white to brighten them. I then proceeded to muddy up the bases and boots.

 

Perhaps not my best work, but certainly table-worthy.

 

Project Chem-Dogs: Part 2

Having a nice selection of pristine sprues, but a waiting an order of bases, the initial week of actual work was mainly about feeling things out and recasting a few bits, before blitzing things over the weekend. The old battleforce box had examples of largely all weapons available to the guard footsloggers, although not always in abundance, hence a variety of two part moulds. There was much trial & error, but I did eventually get useful bags and "officer's weapons". I did also manage to get kinda-passable meltaguns, although the grenade launchers resisted, and I decided to kitbash them instead. Given the raw numbers of guard, you can go through a lot of weapon upgrades, so its good to have spares if you need them. What was complicating the process was that I hadn't quite decided what kind of Battleline grunts these were gonna be.

Now, I fully intend to keep this project flexible and system agnostic, but as this is a 40k thing I have to be vaguely aware of what's a legal unit. Of the current rules, I found myself torn between the classic Infantry Squad and the more specialised Death Korps of Krieg. Now, I like the Krieg. In a sort of horrors of the Western Front way, or cultural memories of trench warfare sort of way. This could easily have been Project Krieg. They are also gasmask boys, and while they are not on drugs, they are a weird death cult, so there is a certain "counts-as" argument you could make there. Eventually though, I decided against it as the DKs don't necessarily fit the style of play I want, so I went for the Infantry Squad, safe in the knowledge I could always switch later by exchanging weapon dudes.

The models I'm working on currently are the Wargames Atlantic Death Fields Cannon Fodder 02 (Females). These are part of their system agnostic sci-fi range, the company apparently specialising in low cost but seemingly good value plastics. The only complaint I have is that these don't come with bases. As to why I've chosen the female box over the slightly more numerous male box, well, at at the risk of embarrassing myself, I've painted basically no female 28mm models before, and I wanted something different. Orks are masculine in much the same manner as laughing at farts or having a football riot, so going for a squad or two of heavily armed ladies is a novelty. Hell, I think I can manage a 50/50 gender ratio with what I have so far. My only concern was accidentally going into the realm of incel cringe and fetishism, and that's not a look I want. If I wanted some of that, I'd be building Drukahri or Battle Sisters, not Guard.

As plastics go, these girls are straightforward, being fixed posed in the body, but having lots of arm and head options. I find the crouching body to be great for weapon specialists, using one as part of a Missile Launcher team, although it edges into the possibly-too-distinctive-pose problem that those marines had. There's a variety of heads, and a few more robot hands than I was expecting; an observation, not a complaint. Weapon options are however a touch thin on the ground, although I knew that going in. Its nothing a decent bits box can't handle, although I find the energy weapon a touch indistinct by itself. I added a bead to the business end. I put a squad of ten together in stages, first bodies & arms, sculpted rags on top, before preparing the gasmask heads separately. This was a process of slow and careful work, but the bulk of the painting was done in an afternoon, much quicker than expected. There's still refinements to make, but its definitely table-worthy. The skin actually came out okay for the first time ever, and I free-handed some arrows on there. Yeah, I’m not happy with the powersword arm, but its passable in a hoard army, and otherwise I’m pleased.

As for what I'm planning for those old school Cadians? Well, I'm not running them as Cadians, that would be boring. I think I'll do them Catachan scouts/speedbumps given their stockier proportions. Visual language, and all that? Call 'em the Prison Gym Bros or summat? While I don't want to run the entire army like that, lest it be too similar to Orks, there is a brief bit of fiction where they do scout stuff and burn things. So it fits.

Hopefully I’ll have something to show of them next week.