Red Coats are for Christmas

 It's that time of the year when you start to see random people on the streets (and everywhere) dressed in vibrant red, usually their beards waving in the cold wind. The vision of those red garments tends to bring joy to everyone, and calls for heartwarming feelings.

Oh, if only I could pay tribute to that feeling with my minis.

Oops, but I don't currently have anything even remotely similar to that. Or do I?

Oh, some time ago I got these gorgeous not-Praetorians from wonderful Victoria Miniatures (they are called "Victorian Guard" on their web). They certainly have the red coat and many of them have proud beards. Their vision brings joy to all faithful servants of the Emperor and calls for the annihilation of His enemies. Hmm. Close enough. They'll have to do.

I'm not sure about them bringing gifts though.

Anyway, let me show what I got. First of all, a 10 men regular squad.

Joy to the world and all that

Ho ho ho, have you been nice this year?

I didn't add any heavy weapon, just a melta gun. I'm not starting a full army, simply wanted to have a fistful of minis. I thought they'd make a nice escort force for my Governor mini (which is already dressed in red!), so I wanted to keep them light in equipment, if ready to face any potential threat to the boss. So I'm building a couple of infantry Squads: this one and a Command Squad.

Fortunately they are not Star Trek redshirts. In WH40K their life expectancy is bett... Oh, wait

I gave them my usual treatment about Squad identification, with the parted circle, the left half signalling the Platoon and the right half the Squad.

I should have started with 1-1. It occurred to me later

Here you have the other Squad, the Command one. There were some nice bits I wanted to use (mainly the bugle), but I added some other minis and conversions.

The special character, called "Cpt. Caine", should remind you of somebody

I got a few characters that gave some personality to this force. Apart from the Captain, which you have just seen, I got two other minis that don't belong specifically to this Victorian Guard. One was the drummer, a not-Mordian mini which only needed a replacement on the hat, and the bagpiper. I've always loved bagpipes (please check my first post on Imperial Guard, 12 years ago). They were easily integrated into this squad, and I like how they look. The banner pole was a conversion and the banner itself is just painted on a piece of paper, as usual.

But in the end they all work

The whole Command Squad

But I not only got these. In fact, the infantry squads were but a side purchase. It all started with the Kickstarter for Rough Riders, which got my eye since the very beginning. I got this squad:

I have to say that they are impressive in every detail. The design is flawless, every piece fits in smoothly and the casting is simply perfect. The horses look marvellous and imposing, and the whole squad looks great.

Codex cover

So once I got the Rough Riders I couldn't let them be alone and got the infantry fellas. They all form the Governor's Retinue, a flexible and agile ceremonial detachement ready to defend him from any unexpected issues that may appear (Oh, how handy would these had been that time when the Governor had to escape!).

Here you have the whole Retinue with the Governor:

Now I have to create an scenario for them!

Well, maybe they are not the bearded blokes with red coats you were expecting, and they may have horses instead of reindeers, but I hope you'll indulge me given these days.

Anyway, speaking of the date, just let me wish you all merry Christmas and happy new year!! Here's to 2025, I hope to read you all pretty soon. Enjoy these days!!