Hobby Progress – The XII Comes Out of Retirement

For a good portion of 5^th edition, I played an infantry-heavy Imperial Guard regiment. Since everyone and their brother was using Cadians, I decided to do something different. If Games Workshop had ever updated the Mordians or the Valhallans it would have been an easy decision for me to make, but sadly this never occurred. Instead, I went to Forge World and came away with a massive Death Korps of Krieg Siege Regiment.

I wish I had held onto this army, but when Chaos came out in 6^th edition I traded the army away for a new batch of spiked psychopaths. I was happy for a short while with the new Chaos Space Marines army, but ultimately I am a spoiled 3.5er and my heart yearns for a return to the Legion rules. Since that didn’t happen, I was left with ashes in my mouth at the loss of my morbid, gas hood-wearing Guardsmen.

Enter Codex: Astra Militarum. I originally had no intentions of playing this book, but I do buy each Codex as it comes out so I can learn the other armies and what I can expect to face when I journey outside my hobbit-hole to sling dice. The fluff engaged me almost immediately, and I remembered all the things I like about the Imperial Guard. The heroic sacrifices, the tragic wastes of life, and the eternal struggle to hold back terrible adversaries that butcher humanity like cattle. The Space Marines draw the glory; because of the Guard, the Imperium endures.

After one read-through of the book I had decided to resurrect the old regiment. Unfortunately, the Death Korps infantry squads are all showing out of stock on the website. I got in contact with the guys over at Forge World and found out they are creating new molds, and they should be back in stock soon. With that knowledge, I decided to go ahead and start working on the armored components that would accompany them to war.

Before showcasing my first completed piece, I have to go on a self-indulgent aside. I have only ever completed two or three of the many armies I’ve owned over the years. Usually, my initial enthusiasm causes me to build a catastrophic amount of models that simply overwhelm my ability to paint. Sometimes, when I set up all my winged Tyranids, they cause a tiny blip on a screen at NORAD.

To prevent my Death Korps from falling into a similar situation, I’ve decided to take a different approach to building the army. I will purchase the pieces as I can afford them, but I will never have more than two unpainted kits assembled at any given time. The idea:

1. Build Kits #1-2

2. Prime and airbrush both kits.

3. Complete Kit #1, including all detail work and a coat of spray varnish.

4. Build, prime, and airbrush Kit #3

5. Complete Kit #2...

With this process, I will never have more than two kits that have been assembled and not painted. The goal is to never have a model hit the tabletop that is less than 100% completed. Since my group plays a significant amount of Apocalypse and Campaign games, I’m not too worried about finding out a unit is less than efficient after completing the paint job.

So far I have assembled and painted my first Chimera, designed for a Grenadier squad in the coming weeks. The second kit is a Leman Russ Executioner/Punisher/Demolisher, and the third is a Basilisk. I also have a Junior Command and a single Infantry Squad that are on their way across the Atlantic right now.

For this week, I have the painted Chimera to showcase. My army is a siege regiment, themed around the war on Vraks, and they are veterans who have been fighting for several years. As such, the mud and the hell of trench warfare have left their mark on each fighting unit.

You may notice that, while the armor has taken a beating, the weapons are pristine. In my mind, Kriegsmen would dedicate themselves wholly to keeping their weapons in good working order, the better to cause death to the enemies of the Emperor. While the tanks would receive routine maintenance as well, I imagine the paint is of little concern, and the tracks would quickly become consumed in the quagmire once more.

I focused the weathering on the areas that I imagined receive the most traffic. The rear ramp is coated where the squad has embarked/disembarked for trench patrols, and the paint on the center of the door is most chipped. Rust pooled around the rivet heads, where the heaviest amount of water would remain concentrated. Although it isn’t highly visible, I also lined the edges of the hatch with a No.2 pencil, to show that the crew climbing in and out has worn the area down to bare metal.

As always, comments and criticism are welcome and encouraged! There will be much more to come in the following weeks as the XII prepares to man the trenches once more.