Starting an Imperial Guard Army

I can’t believe that it has been two weeks already since I first started this blog; my apologies for lack of updates but things at work have been a little hectic. So I am currently in the process of building and painting a new Imperial Guard army based on the Cadian 8th Imperial Guard. So far I have completed painting 15 infantry models and I have another 10 on the way. I’ve decided to incorporate the ForgeWorld Cadian Upgrade w/ Respirators sets into most of my units. The key reason is that out of the box, the Cadian models look a little light in that they are lacking the extra gear that modern soldiers are always carrying around. When you look at pictures of today’s infantry soldiers they all have packs, backpacks and extra ammunition everywhere; even when they are mechanized. The upgrade pack includes new heads and backpacks that add depth to the models that really appeals to me. I’ve completed one squad, a heavy weapons unit and a few other models and I’m really impressed with how they are turning out.

I’ve deviated from my normal style in that I have gone back to my scale modeling roots. As mentioned before, I was a scale modeler long before I got into painting miniatures. So with this army, I am taking a more realistic approach to the painting and weathering. I’ve begun to weather using oil washes, pastels and airbrushed effects and so far I’m really pleased with the results. I hope to have some pictures posted in the coming weeks as I am in the process of creating a light-box so that I can get proper photos of the models. I tried to take some pictures earlier but I was not happy with the results so I decided not to post them; the new light-box should resolve this issue.

The army will be based around two full platoons of troops and will include both artillery and tank squadrons. I’ll be purchasing the upgraded turrets for the Mars/Alpha Leman Russ models from ForgeWorld as I want the army to be a little different than what you normally see on the table. I also want some flexibility with the army so I’ll be adding various units as the army grows. However, my first goal is to get a playable 1000 point list together that will be the basis for future growth.

That’s all I have for now but I’ll try to get some pictures up within the next week so that you all can see the progress.