From TeemuL: Valhallan Imperial Guard (50 points)

These fine gentlemen are metal Imperial Guard from the Valhalla, sculpted 20 or so years ago by Perry Twins, if I'm not mistaken. I believe they sculpted all of these guard figures from different planets. For me they are not really Valhallans, they are more or less fine gentlemen from the Imperial Reenactment 7th. For those who don't know, they are like theater act or LARP players in the 40th century, they are used to rise the morale of the citizens, advertise the military for the new recruits and provide some entertainment for the people. Some of them are civilian volunteers, some are actual guardsmen on leave, on punishment, on reward, on commission, retired or misplaced. This nice background allows me to play different games with these, I can fight Armageddon over and over again, fight any enemy anywhere, since it is actually just play.

But it is not all fun, this is the grim dark future. Several time Imperial Reenactment 7th (and others like this) have been incorrectly ordered to real battlezones - the administration of the Imperium is not very clear, efficient or correct in many places. So sometimes they arrive on real warzone, they even might have some live ammunition. Sometimes they have blanks. Sometimes they have live ammunition when performing a play... Since most of the troopers are or were soldiers they can handle the situation quite well - others soon learn or die. This allows me to play real battles and real campaigns, like the Argovon Crusade on the White Dwarf magazines. I can even play against unpainted armies, since they are just poor special effects or holograms on the play. :D

Their reenactment role also explains their rather impractical uniforms, they have very bright colors, the primary colors to be exact, so that the spectators can see them easier. That applies to real enemies, of course, but you can't win every time. They are painted with Contrast paints, except the bases, the eyes and the sword of the sergeant. If you take a closed look at the guns, you will see why I like Black Templar paint - it is perfect for guns. It is not really black, so don't use when you want black, but use it on guns instead, all the guns have just one coat of Black Templar and for the time and effort, they look great. Please steal the idea and use it.

One more thing, this reenactment allows me to use all kinds of different Imperial Guard troopers in my army, Cadian, Catachan, Valhallan, Mordian etc and it is just to show, that Imperial Guard is for everyone and it doesn't matter where you come from and what you like, you are good enough (for cannon fodder) just as you are. While writing this, I'm wondering, should I paint some rainbow flags for them?

Here's a closeup of two fine gentlemen, as you can see they have nice mustaches, which (if I remember correctly from the Challenges past) means they are truly painted and ready for war.

10 28mm troopers, each 5 points, so 50 points in total.

When adding these to my previous Rohans, I have now 125 points total and 125 points total in GW side duel.

Next I'll finish my Entry Fee and start my journey in the dungeons...