Guards! Guards!

 In case you are wondering, I'm not talking about the Discworld book.

Today it's all about these loyal fellas

I got a second hand RTB07 Imperial Guard box a lot of years ago (I mean a lot!), and it was about time to finally get them painted!

I once had an Imperial Guard army (a tiny example here), but sold it quite a long time ago. If I was to start it over again I wanted to go in a different direction, so no desert camo pattern whatsoever. I truly felt I had to go full Rogue Trader with them.

So grey it is!

You all know this pic, but just let me bring it back for reference:

Basic idea, but I'm taking some licences

I have the impression that the sculpt is meant to depict a jumpsuit with shoulder and breastplates more than a vest over the fatigues, but honestly, the black vest idea looks much more better, so I'm sticking up to it.

Basic colours

Agrax all over

Getting to somewhere

The highlights are too much, I know. I expected this Vallejo grey to look a little darker when dry, but in the end I worked with it. I only provided two highlight layers instead of my usual three, but I hope it's enough.

At this point I have to say that I was painting three 10-men Squads, but I had no Command Squad at all. I had a look at eBay looking for the old banner bearer (oh, how I do regret letting that mini go!) and some other minis of the like, but the prices were simply absurd. But the box provides 36 Guards (quite an odd number!) so I had six spare Guards...

Just need four to build the Command Squad

Medic, special weapon, comms and banner

Oh, well, you are right. It would have been a fantastic idea to plan this in advance and paint these alongside their other damn thirty colleagues. That would have avoided repeating the whole process for just simply four minis. Well, apparently I'm not such a good planner, what can I say.

On the other side, I'm quite proficient at paying attention to absurd, ridiculous details nobody cares about. For example, military insignia, ranks, badges and how to convincingly apply them to my models. Let's talk about the circle badges on the breastplate, for example. I'm most definitely not using the colour code in the illustration above. I had come to a solution years ago for my first Imperial Guard army, so I am following it again, of course. Vertically split badge, using two camo colours, identifying the Platoon and Squad numbers:

2nd Platoon, 1st Squad

That still leaves me the issue of the Company badge. I first thought of the shoulderplate (as in the illustration), and even got some decals to give it a try. But I didn't see it. With this black and grey pattern, such a white number/icon/whatever would draw too much attention.

Didn't really want a white number stand out that way on them

So I came with a more military-looking solution. I simply painted a black badge on the shoulder pocket with the Company number on it.

Now that I think of it, I should have done the same on the other arm with the Regimental number. Hmm...

For the same reason I painted the rank on the shoulder in grey. My first instinct was to do it in yellow, but it was way too visible.

Only for Cpl and Sarge. Should do the same for Pvt, I guess... Hmm...

 

Anyway, if there was a place to add some colour, it was the banner. This Squad is the Company Command, so the banner shouldn't be too flamboyant, after all it's not the Regimental Banner. I drew inspiration from my previous work on my old Guard banner (the one in the link I provided above, here you have it again just in case), but kept it way more simple, I thought it was better this way.

Less is more

 So now I have a Company Command Squad and three riflemen Squads. Quite a Codex compliant basic force. OK, the OCD in me drives me to an uneasy conclusion. I have a Company Command and a three squads Platoon. But I do not have a Platoon Command Squad. You too see the gap in here, I hope!! Well, that will be a problem for the future me. For now here you have the three riflemen Squads...

2nd Platoon, 1st Squad

2nd Platoon, 2nd Squad

2nd Platoon, 3rd Squad

 ...and the Command Squad:

Oh, BTW, I tried the classic skull on the badge

 I have added this Captain and a Commissar so this Command Squad has proper... well, command.

The Commissar doesn't need to be embedded in here, but anyway

 If I was to build up an army (which I'm not!) I would require a Command Squad per Platoon, as said, and kind of at least three Platoons, as well as heavy weapons and logistics. That would sum up an Infantry Company, which is what I had back in the day, but I'm not going back there. Honestly, if you are playing a 120+ miniatures army, you don't want to play WK40K, you want to play Epic.

That will come too. But not today.

Ahem.

For now, here you have the whole batch!

It had been a long time since I hadn't done this kind of mass painting

I know, I know, I have to provide a backdrop!

 This will be it for today, but I can tell you these chaps are going to see some action pretty soon! They're already singing this classic:

Another day nearer the battle

So drink up my lads and look brave,

'Cos everyday nearer the battle

Is another day nearer the grave.