Friday 15 January 2016

From DaveB - More Catachans - 28mm Imperial Guardsmen (215 points)


I did not win the lottery draw, so I won't be traveling to England this year for Salute, the Bovington Tank museum, nor teaching Ray how to run a 5k through the woods the Potawatomi way. ;)

It's a little overcast today in Michigan as icy rain is forecasted, so these are all going to be a touch dark. I changed up my 5 layer flesh mix for the first squad pictured above. Death World vets are allowed LRPs for fast attack. These fellows are proficient at scouting and harassing enemy forces. They will set up ambushes and begin the game hidden in the jungle. It's a longstanding tradition that the first squad/first platoon is not the best. Above is Bravo Patrol they have a six layer mix of green for skin tone and black ink to give them the illusion of camouflage paint. The vet Sgt carries a long bladed Catachan knife in addition to his lasgun and they have a melta-gun as a special weapon choice.

My daughter has dubbed them the Poinsettia squad as their refusal to change up the traditional Catachan red bandannas has left them looking like that Christmas plant.
 


Alpha Squad, or Apache Squad have a bolt pistol armed Sgt with a flamer for a special weapon. They sport warpaint from inks and are entirely formed from the plastic Catachans. They do mock the Poinsettia Bravo squad as much as possible.


This is both the LRPs pictured together. I recently discovered P3 Coal Black which is a nice blue black and is great for a base coat for NMM painting. The two squads also got a wash of nuln oil on all except flesh areas as it really helped to tone down my highlighting.

Above is LT G "Cud"-Bear of Second Platoon with the 1st squad. 1st squad has a vet Sgt with las pistol and chain sword (really good for carving a path) a melta gunner and a heavy flamer. 1st squad also has a com link trooper for the PL to contact higher.



2nd platoon 3rd squad has a vet Sgt with bolt pistol and chain sword, a plasma gunner and a heavy flamer. The Chainsaw warrior, heavy flamer and two bare chested helmeted troops are the oldest GW figures that I own besides a few marines and eldar. This is also the first time they have ever been painted as I have long since given up on ever finding the chainsaw warrior game, as well as the other figures.

3rd squad 2nd platoon has my favourite Catachan Sgt as it's squad leader. 3rd squad also has my only Perry automatic SSW the heavy bolter. A plasma gunner completes the squad.



I filled 3rd squad with all of my favourite Perry sculpts.
 

A close up of some of my work, The chainsaw warrior has a red band as he didn't have a bandanna.
 
 This army has enough painted models to be legal now with a HQ, two troop choices, two fast attack, and two elite. They can purchase a heavy support by way of traps.

Besides changing up my NMM for these fellows, I also had to change the basing as GW no longer makes graveyard earth. I used "Stirland Mud" which has clumps of grainy pigment in it which can be broken down by adding more water. This makes it easy to have grainy, thick rocky mud or a skim coating of dark earth. I dipped the models in my flock after painting the bases and allowed the paint to stick to the paint. after drying I tapped off the excess than placed a few drops of PVA for static grass clumps. I will have to change this as one of my friends just told me the technical line was just dropped. Really!?!

I better go see if I can find some more, in the meanwhile....

43 Catachan infantry.
PS: Millsy, I just found an unpainted Perry Catachan tank commander - the one with the helmet - if you want him, I will see about sending him to OZ.
Holy cow - I've clearly been some kind of snob when it comes to the Catachans, as there is obviously a lot of appreciation for them out there when you look through the Challenge.  Dave, another excellent entry.  Your appreciation for the setting and the character of the figures really comes through in your posts, and your brush work is top shelf.  You shame my Catachan cynicism! 
Very cool to see the Chainsaw Warrior in the group - excellent work fitting him in!

The technical line has been dropped? After being on sale for a couple of months? With no explanation or reason? I don't know, but that sounds like the way the ass clown collection in charge of GW rolls.  Watch for them to appear in a special "legacy paints" collection in two years for four times the price...

Another big batch of points Dave - 215 for the pile - keep up the good work.

29 comments:

  1. I never thought it would happen, but you've totally converted me to Catachan plastics Dave. These are just *beautiful* and if anything even better than the last set.

    I'm seriously keen to add to my force again now with a couple of extra squads of vets made up from Rogue Trader sculpts after seeing yours. Using that chainsaw warrior is genius! I should probably paint Schaeffer's Last Chancers first though :-)

    What's next? I'm bouncing up and down in anticipation...

    PS. Regards the tank commander, you are most generous mate and I'll definitely take him off your hands! I'll have to find something to send back in return and I'm sure I can come up with a fair swap. Curt, this kind of camaraderie is exactly why I love the challenge so much!

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    1. Thanks! The command squad and heavy weapon squad have the improved plastic sculpts and I highly recommend them for mixing with the squad Catachans. I also highly recommend tooling up and repurposing minis for the Catachan Devils as they are loaded for hunting stuff bigger than bears! ;)
      I glad you can use the tanker as mine are pure infantry and he does need a ride! I'll begin getting his VISA in order. ;)

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  2. The metal Catachans are great, it is only the plastics that were disappointing.

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    1. The metal ones are the best, but the command/heavy weapon sprues make up for the squaddies weak showing.

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  3. I appreciate these. I personally have always liked the catachans because they embrace the human fragility in 40k and do not resort to heavy tanks all the time, like so many Imperial guard players do.

    Brilliant

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    1. Thanks, Clint! That is the very reason as I like them too. Plus the whole Sly Marbo and other Rambo riffs. Kinda why I liked the Necromundia stuff too. ( House Escher, es-Cher; Mad-Donna, Madonna) I just enjoy the whole playing with words and imagery. ;)

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  4. They are great, look proper hard

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    1. Thank you,Martin! A lot more to come, but I've passed the halfway point!

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  5. They are really nice, a fantastic painting work.

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    1. Thank you, Juan! More to come including powder experiments!

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    1. Thanks Dave! With my schedule and all my kids now playing basketball, I was wondering if I was going to make it on time!

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  7. Excellent! These all-Rambo armies seem to be en vogue lately. Very well done on all of them.

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    1. Thanks! It has to be the knives, everybody always wants to see knives! ;)

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  8. well done!
    and welcome to jungle;-)

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    1. Thanks...and now Guns-N-Roses are stuck in my head!

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  9. I had some Catachans back in the day, but yours are far better painted grand work indeed!

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    1. Thanks, Sander! You should see my early stuff with thick layers of Testors gloss enamels!

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  10. These are some of the best Catachans I have seen to date :-)

    Ian

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  11. Wow, so many muscles! This is a great project and you are nailing it. I too am happy to see the chainsaw warrior pressed into service.

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    1. Thanks, Sean! He may be overdressed for the Catachans, but he definitely shares the attitude! ;)

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  12. I really like the way you're using the old school catachan codex to bring these guys to life with real flavour - really excellent work!

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