Rogue Trader Imperial Army

I’m going to be catching up on a few posts from before Christmas here and there, and this is one of them.

Going back to that conversation I had with Matt about whether I had any old Imperial Guard models (just a few, it turns out), I dug out my old first edition collection for review.

I had some I’d picked more recently that had been painted in one scheme but not based, loads in an old scheme I painted in the late 1980s, and some never touched. What else could I do but spend some time updating them, getting them consistent, and basing them!

 The first challenge was finding a match for the OOP GW Codex Grey - got there in the end, but you may notice the odd slightly lighter or darker mini here and there. I went for speed and simplicity over quality, but I’m pleased with how they look as a group.  Where faces or other parts were OK, I left as is, to get some variety in skin tone.  

Sneakfeet

Thanks to another Wargames Illustrated/ Wargames Atlantic freebie, I ended up with one of the ‘not Ratling’ Sneakfeet, and couldn’t resist assembling and painting them.

As usual with Wargames Atlantic there are loads of fun options and they go together pretty well.  Also really easy to paint, with nice definition and not too much fussy detail.  Reminded me of Copplestone’s sculpts in that regard.

Armament wise there are enough sniper rifles and SMGs for everyone to be armed the same, or to mix and match.  There are also a couple of really characterful options like a frying pan with eggs cooking, a thermos flask, and a head smoking a massive pipe.

I would make a couple of really minor points - definitely test out the fit: you may need to try a few left arms before finding the right one for a particular weapon; I’d have quite like to have the option for a sling weapon on the right shoulder, to pair up with the pointing arm; and there is a fantastic overstuffed backpack on the frame, but it won’t work with any of the slung weapon options, which seems a shame, as it would make for a nice marching model.  But these are really minor quibbles.

For anyone interested, here are a few comparisons.  They’re fairly chunky. Definitely bigger than my old GW Ratlings; comparable to an old style Squat.  Sizewize they’re also a good fit with Wargames Atlantic’s Einherjar, which raises some intriguing conversion possibilities.