Opinions Needed on New Regiment

[Father Mehman]

Right then, troopers, I need some advice. You see, for years I've been collecting Imperial Guard units and, in the process, I've gotten myself quite a backlog of boxes. To help combat the boxes, it has been decided that I should create a new, glorious regiment. Well, she just asked "do something with these, will you?" but I took that as a challenge !

Some of you might be wondering about my glorious and illustrious 93rd Ostheim, 7th Company. I still love them but I feel it's time to paint another regiment. New paint scheme, new fluff, new allied Armoured Regiment - that sort of thing. I don't think making a new company is an effective answer but I could be wrong.

Anyway, here's what I've been thinking about and why I need some opinions: alpine or urban?

I absolutely would love to have a company in an alpine scheme. The possibilities are endless!

An urban company would be equally as nice to own and would give me more reason to field a Baneblade, I think.

Really, I guess that's it. Do I need to make a new regiment or just a new company? Alpine or urban themed? Coke or Pepsi?

[Doctor Perils]

I'd say alpine, as there are already tonnes of urban-themed regiments, but a dirth of alpine themed regiments.

 

Of course, in the near infinite vastness of the Imperium, it's definitely possible to have an alpine hive world, giving you alpino-urban regiments :P

 

Good luck :)

[Olis]

I'd say Alpine, too. Urban is a nice theme and looks stunning when done well but Alpine is just not terribly common, so taking a crack at an underdone theme sounds like it could be interesting. 

[WarriorFish]

I agree, an alpine scheme would be great :tu:

[Father Mehman]

Well, that has me swayed! To be honest, I was very biased towards wanting to do the alpine force. Urban would be nice but, I agree, there seems to be quite a few of them out there. I guess my Baneblade can be a roving fortress in the woods now.

Thanks for clearing that up for me, gents. I shall get on making a test model soon !

[WarriorFish]

I look forward to seeing your test model :tu: Have you had any thoughts on the particulars of your scheme? Colours, camouflage etc?

[Olis]

Might I suggest a point of inspiration? The Ardennes Counteroffensive (aka Battle of the Bulge).

[Father Mehman]

@Olis - I hadn't thought of the Battle of the Bulge. I think I'll pick up a book about it when next in town as I know little about it except that it was utter hell. Our ancestors really were made of tough stuff, weren't they? I'm reading through a WWI book right now (well, off and on reading) so adding one more book about war shouldn't be that hard.

Well, I've had very little success with fluff at this point but I think I've nailed the paint scheme down somewhat. Follow me on a trip to some pictures, will you?

In the above photos, we see three uniforms (and two very dangerous looking knives). From left to right in order: A - leftmost, B - center, C - rightmost.

The plan is to have the guardsmen, command and troopers, in uniform A as it seems to blend the best into the trees and undergrowth. For veterans, though, I'm having a hard time deciding between B and C. Uniform B is white with sparse green while uniform C is white with, I believe, two forms of grey. Both look equally great, in my opinion, so I guess I should leave that up to someone else's choice. Equipment (flak armour, helmet, bayonet sheathes, etc) will be the tan colour that picture C is sporting and their lasguns' cowling will be black or grey - not sure on the lasguns yet, either.

My choice in having the equipment being tan is because the camouflage pattern needs to be broken up by something besides green. I'd rather have another colour besides black for the lasguns but if that looks the best, so be it. Actually, black could work now that I think about it. I redact that bit about me not liking black .

You know, the more I look at the above pictures, the more I like uniform C for the veterans and officers. Priests, NCOs, and Guardsmen can have uniform A.

[WarriorFish]

I like C too, lets you have your cake and eat it :)

[sebs_evo7]

Looking forward to seeing your test mini. I'm still undecided on my colour scheme but i know i want the webbing to be tan/coyote possibly with khaki fatigues

C definitely has my vote

[duz_]

I was going to suggest maybe a Stargate SG-1 theme.

Where the regular platoons wear the alpine camouflage, officers wear "dress uniform" and the vets where a solid colour. 

 

Are you planning on going the full digital scheme? That's what I decided on my RG... freehand... It looks neat but I've only done 4 models and 1 panel of a drop pod and I starting to regret it! Haha

[our_baz]

Uniform C for me, I like that idea of a winter alpine camo. I'm not sold on the khaki, I think it really jumps out at you. I would go for a light blue, personally. Test model please!

[Father Mehman]

@sebs - I like your idea! Tan on khaki could work as long as the tan was suitably dark and the khaki light. Paint one up and show us !

@duz - Ah, Stargate SG-1. Truly a love of mine. Not so much Atlantis, though. Anyway, I see what you mean. The officers will have leather jackets like my 7th Company but their trousers will be veteran coloured. I guess veterans will be in uniform A so the brown can have something to go against and not look too stark a transition.

Yeah, I'll be doing my normal stippling method on them and it turns out to look like digital camouflage so it's all good. Here is a horrid picture of my 7th Company Timber Wolves so you'll get the idea:

I really should take the picture on a black background but I think you see what I mean. That's supposed to be German flecktarn camouflage. It looks convincing in person ! Anyway, you couldn't get me to do it on a vehicle, though. Take a look at some tanks on your favoured search engine - they're usually one or two colours. Then, you have some that use splinter camouflage like the Swedes (and my 7th Company). I haven't seen that many digital camo patterned vehicles as it takes so long to produce them.

@baz - I had the same thought about the tan gear but it works - I promise ! We'll see when this test model is complete because you very well could be correct.

Right then, everyone, the decision has been made. The troops will be in Winter MARPAT, or uniform C, and the command and tank crews will be in uniform A. I didn't think so many people would like the idea of an alpine company but I'm glad everyone does . Oh yeah, they're going to be a company in the 93rd Ostheim Regiment. No need to throw out good material!

[Ulrik_Ironfist]

So, Mehman, I figured I might interject a little nugget of real world inspiration. It was common during the battle of the bulge for US troopers, who were not issued any winter camo gear (the US didn't really have any), to wrap themselves in white linen sheets and whitewash their tanks and helmets.

 

Additionally, in current military alpine operations we use what are called overwhites. Basically it's a thin garment made to be worn over the cold weather gear. This allows them to don and doff the snow camo, so that they don't stick out when they need to descend below the snow line, or ascend above it.

 

Mountain warfare units are often Light infantry, meaning they carry all of their necessary equipment on their backs, and generally are deployed using air assets. You could, with some green stuff, make rucks for your troopers, with rolled up overwhites on some squads, others wearing part of the set, and others wearing all of it. Make their body armor the same color to give some continuity across the squads so you know they belong to the same Company, just adapting to changing conditions in the same AO (Area of Operations).

 

Alternatively you could look at the now obsolete US army UCP pattern, which while it was lackluster in the woods, it excelled in arid and arctic environments with its light shades of tan and green and overall greyish appearance (Having used it in snowy airsoft games, and not getting shot because no one really saw me, I can attest).

 

As an example:

Hidden Content

 

 

I hope this helps. I also suggest the UCP pattern because it's versatile, as it works very well in urban environments also (Uniformed pedestrians at Ft Campbell will attest).

[Father Mehman]

@Ulrik - I didn't know about the bed linens during the Battle of the Bulge. Whitewashing tanks sure, but wrapping up in sheets? That's genius!

You make a fair point about overwhites and the underlying fatigues beneath. I had not remembered them, to be honest. Tank camouflage is covered without whitewashing as they'll be painted using Finnish patterns.

I had hoped to do this project without resorting to UCP as I don't really care for the pattern. GS rucksacks sound great, though. They'll be a simple fix.

I knew it was too easy. Looks like I'll be doing some more research .

[Ulrik_Ironfist]

I'm not saying to use UCP, as there are plenty of other patterns out there that function similarly and would be easier to paint. Like ATACS for instance. The arid version also transitions into snow fairly well. I know a lot of Airsofters and hunters out west in the higher elevations that really like it.

 

I've actually used the bedsheet trick myself, not owning any overwhites and wanting to play in the snow, this was before I had the UCP cold weather gear issued to me (I wish I could have kept that gore-tex suit).

 

As for tactics and such, you may want to think twice about tanks. If you have a desire to use tanks, I might suggest the fluff be not so much alpine as arctic. Mountain warfare behooves you to be on foot (since this is the guard, mechanical feet are also acceptable). So I'd be thinking more Infantry, walkers and cavalry, as things with legs deal with uneven terrain much better than tanks and trucks (jagged enough rocks will puncture tires and throw tracks, both are hindrances to mountain warfare, and large enough rocks can prove impassible). This is why the 10th Mountain Division has a Combat Aviation Brigade.

 

Now, I'm not trying to tell you what to do, if you want tanks that's fine, perhaps the mountains your troops are used to dealing with are not as steep or they have wide open plateaus on which to fight tank battles, or perhaps they just have a good way to get their tanks over the impassible terrain. Maybe the whole regiment uses Sky talons to get everything in place.

 

The fluff is up to you, but a good story has a hefty amount of reality in it (that's why we like the guard right?).

[Father Mehman]

It seems I misspoke about the tanks when I was thinking of Sentinels and the tops of Valkyries. I fully realize that they couldn't do their intended job for the reasons you've pointed out. That's what I get for typing without recaff in my system.

 

After having a think about it, I believe a white tunic with bits of green and grey over uniform A trousers will suffice (ref German forces utilizing white coats over flecktarn fatigues). There will be no need for them to go into an urban war zone as I plan to have another company that excels in that method of warfare. If they ever get called in to fight for a hive or a concrete jungle, so be it.

[Ulrik_Ironfist]

Now, for the tunic, if you're going for a snow camo, don't forget to stipple in a bit of grey, since actual snow camo has some greys to it. This is because it adds depth to the pattern which aids in concealment (I don't know how much you know about camo and why it works). It'll give your minis some depth as well.

 

Since I have recently redone my regiment's fluff, and My sentinels will be going to my desert themed section of troops along with my tanks, and my Mountain/Special Operations troops will have knights for support (since knights and stormies are pretty much the line troops for that part of the force). Even Superheavy walkers would do fine in an alpine environment.

[Father Mehman]

Alright. My test model is almost done. The contrasting camouflage patterns actually look alright together so huzzah! Also, this grey automotive spray primer is amazing. It is my new go-to primer. Well, if the model is lightly coloured or has a lot of flesh then I'll use it. If it's black, like my Iron Hands, I'll use Chaos Black; if it's white, like my Death Guard, I'll use Skull White -er, Corax White.

Finding out new things is fun !

[HackedDuck]

Looking forward to seeing the whole regiment together ;)

[Ulrik_Ironfist]

Mehman, I have been using black automotive primer on my models, brite-touch to be exact, which you can find in most auto parts stores stateside. It comes in black grey and white if I'm not mistaken. Works just as well for much less money.

[Father Mehman]

@ Duck - That'll be the day !

@ Ulrik - I was wondering about black and white primers. This grey is so great that I'm looking to get the other two. It's at the auto parts stores and Walmart carries it, too - Rustoleum Auto Spray Primer. I'll have to give Brite-Touch a go one of these days.

[Ulrik_Ironfist]

The brute touch is like 3.50 a can. It does not come in white from what I can tell. Only black and grey. If the rustoleum is working for you that's great.

 

Always nice to find cheaper alternatives to make the hobbying experience better.

[Inso]

I like the idea of alpine troops and I think the scheme you have chosen will look good :)

 

Will you be converting your troops with cold weather gear?

 

If you fancy 'off the shelf' winter troops, you could do worse than these (top of the page):

 

http://www.fouraminiatures.com/page2.htm

[Ulrik_Ironfist]

Inso, part of the whole thing is that Meh has a ton of boxes to build, and so probably isn't in the market for more minis right now.