Application to enter the Astra Militarium boot camp.

[NerdyFellow]

Hello comrades,

 

I've recently decided to enter the ranks of the guard, and I'd like to pay my respect to the Commissariat.

 

As a fresh-faced recruit, I'd like to get some advice from the veterans of this army. I have no idea how to actually play the game, and I don't think I'll learn before I've painted a couple of armies, so I'm purchasing armies "blindly". Meaning cool trumps quality, at the moment. I think I'll start of by purchasing the "Start Collecting! Astra Militarium" pack, but there is something to be said for the two packs of Cadian/Catachan Defense Force Packs. I think I prefer the Cadians over the Catachan forces though, what's the general difference/opinion on these two forces?

 

Either way, once I've got my plastic, I'll start posting updates on my progress. I've done a bit of painting, so I'm not new to it, but I'll probably learn a lot from any feedback, and either way I think journaling my progress will be therapeutic and motivating.

[WarriorFish]

Welcome to the Guard Nerdy The Start Collecting boxes are good for Guard as you'll find use for the models easily in anything but an old army The Cadian models are newer and better for it, but if you're intending to create your own regiment it's entirely up to you what you do. Guard are one of the best armies for DIY forces as they're so diverse; you can pick your models and rules essentially.

 

In 8th having a good core of Troops is essential, so you won't go wrong with Infantry Squads. They're cheap with some flexibility in how you run them. The main work is done by the armour and Guard boast some of the best tanks available, so you will be spoilt for choice if you love tanks There's also a good selection of artillery, Guard lists are full of variety and that's before you extend to the Stormtroopers and abhumans.

 

When in doubt, getting a bundle or two to complete while you decide on where to go next is always a good plan. Do you have any thoughts to what you'd like to do colour scheme wise? Even if you do pick an official army such as the Cadians, there's just as much choice for colours.

[NerdyFellow]

Sounds like I'll be going for Cadians then, but not sure if I should splurge for the Defense Force or Start Collecting pack yet. But I did some number crunching, and it seems to me like I'm better off getting two Start Collecting packs, as the value is way higher then the Defense Force pack.

 

2x Start Collecting:

 

2x Leman Russ Battle Tank

2x Heavy Weapon Team

2x Prefectus Commissar

20x Cadian Troops

 

Defense Force Pack:

 

1x Leman Russ

1x Chimera

1x Heavy Weapon Team

1x Command Squad

20x Cadian Troops

 

 

The only question is, if there's any point in owning two Prefectus Commissar's?

 

As for the color scheme, that's yet to be decided. On one hand, the canon color scheme looks really good, but on the other hand it's nice to have your own touch. I really like some of the grey and marine blue schemes I've seen around, but I'm probably going to experiment with a few schemes once I get my hand on the models. It would be fun to have a camo pattern on them, but I'm not sure I'm skilled enough to pull it off yet, and with the amount of troops you need to paint, it might be a bit too ambitious.

[WarriorFish]

Indeed, though there's the element of what you need the Defence Force is more of a single buy thing generally. A couple of the Start Collecting boxes is a nice start to a force, the only bad point is the Commissar as you say. One is fine, but two identical ones less useful. Sadly the excellent previous models are not sold by GW any more, as aside from being fantastic models had three varieties. A good excuse to try out a bit of conversion perhaps?

 

I DIY all of my armies as I find it part of the fun, but don't be put off by a camouflage scheme. It depends on the pattern of course, but they can be a lot easier than you'd think (desert in particular) - and if I can do a camouflage scheme anyone can All it takes it a bit extra time on each trooper - but he then looks great forever

[NerdyFellow]

A good excuse to try out a bit of conversion perhaps?

 

That's just the excuse I needed. I'll go for two starter packs, and hold off on one of the Commissars until I have some nice parts to kit-bash with.

 

Also, I originally wanted to splurge on two different armies at once, but I think I'll hold off on a second army to begin with. If I get fatigued by the same models/theme, I'll just work on the Tanks or one of my friends board games. But I just did paint 40 skaven clan rats, so 20 guard troops shouldn't be too bad. They look a bit easier to paint as well.

 

Thanks for the advice comrade, it can be a bit daunting to decide, and I'm famously bad at deciding on things like this.

[WarriorFish]

It's easy to keep things fresh with Guard due to how much variety you can have. For example you can paint 20 Guardsmen, then a tank, then 3 Bullgryns - all could have entirely different paint schemes :P

[Kain Mor]

A couple points on the breakdown between bundles you did, is the Defence force comes with a heavy weapon *squad* (3 teams) vs 2 teams in the start collecting, so you could embed them in your infantry but not run as a stand-alone squad. Next, unless you do some converting (which wouldn’t be hard at all) the start collecting boxes have no real source of orders. Lastly, the command squad box really is the best source of special weapons in the range, as the infantry squad box only comes with flamers and grenade launchers.

 

One Defence force is also a bit cheaper than two start collectings.

 

Otherwise, welcome to the guard! It’s a great army. Was my first, and is still my favorite.

Edited January 6, 2020 by Kain Mor

[NerdyFellow]

A couple points on the breakdown between bundles you did, is the Defence force comes with a heavy weapon *squad* (3 teams) vs 2 teams in the start collecting, so you could embed them in your infantry but not run as a stand-alone squad.

 

This is a really good point, and really changes the math I did! It's still about 12$ more "value", but then again the extra Commissar is kind of a dead rubber.

 

Next, unless you do some converting (which wouldn’t be hard at all) the start collecting boxes have no real source of orders.

 

So, I've not read the rules, but from what I gather, orders are special abilities that you can use points to activate, right? I assume it's the command squad in the Defense Force pack that allows you to issue orders?

 

One Defence force is also a bit cheaper than two start collectings.

 

Where I live, two Start Collecting Boxes are the exact same price as one Defense Force pack. Weirdly enough, it's actually cheaper here then it is in the US, the price for stuff here is usually 10-30% more expensive then in the US.

 

Hmm... now I'm thinking maybe go for 1x Start Collecting box, 1x Command Squad and maybe 1x Sentinel (open for suggestions), or just 1x Defense Force. Does the Command Squad in the Defense Force pack come with all the same accessories as Command Squad box?

 

Thank you for chiming in. I'm sure I would be happy with my purchase either way I did it, but it's still an investment, and it's nice to nail it.

[Kain Mor]

Yeah the command squad sprues are same either way.

Orders are what turn our infantry from really bad to surprisingly strong. Every officer can give a set number of orders per shooting phase. (Company commander gives 2, platoon leader gives 1)

 

The command squad is really great for bits, but most common use of the first iteration of the kit you buy is 1x company commander and a squad of 4 as the command squad, but you can just as easily make a bunch of officers out of it if you don’t run the command squad.

 

Start collecting, sentinel, and command squad is also a really solid purchase breakdown, and it’s quite similar to the route I went when I started. Sentinels are cheap and useful in the fast attack slot, and then you’ll have plenty of options as far as infantry and officers. I tend to run my Commissar most often as a Lord Commissar and he’s a pretty stand out second HQ in my experience.

 

Fair play on the price, I shouldn’t have assumed regional pricing would all work out the same.

[NatBrannigan]

Do you have any idea how you would want your army to play? Guard can do pretty much anything they want with the massive amount of options available. Cadians suit a static gunline, Catachans have excellent tanks and pack slightly more of a close combat punch, Tallarn are your mobile regiment.

 

If you're not sure you might want to consider converting those Infantry so they're not 'obviously' Cadian. I've done that with a simple headswap on everything, so costs a little extra but there's no extra work to do. Now I can choose whatever regiment rules I like in case I want to mix up my playstyle at all.

 

Welcome to the Guard, you've made the right choice!

[Nicodemus Doloroso]

Welcome to the wonderful world of the Imperial Guard/Astra Militarum!

 

The box sets you are getting are good value and will give you a very good core that is certainly playable/effective on the tabletop, so learning how to play after painting that stuff up will certainly not be a problem IMO.

 

NatBrannigan's question is a very good one -- how do you want your army to play?

 

Guard are pretty flexible and various play styles can be accommodated. Keep in mind what sort of force you want when governing purchases by rule of cool (i.e. if you want an armour heavy fource, buy tanks ... if you want to pummel your enemy with heavy artillery before moving in for the kill, look into Basilisks, etc.).

[NerdyFellow]

Do you have any idea how you would want your army to play? 

 

NatBrannigan's question is a very good one -- how do you want your army to play?

 

Well, I don't know yet. I think I'll just paint up what I have, and see what happens. If Nat's description is accurate though, then Cadians doesn't sound too bad to me. Maybe I'll get some artillery later.

 

Speaking of, I got the things I ordered last night. I've left the Leman Russ and Sentinel unclipped, and I'm focusing on the men on the ground first.

 

I'm trying to get get the most possible use out of the pieces I have, so I've ordered 2 bigger bases in order to create two extra heavy weapons teams, and also a few extra feet and arms in order to use all the chest and head pieces I have. I'm trying to figure out if I should get some extra weapons as well, but I wanna figure out what weapon loadout I want first.

 

A couple of questions about the Heavy Weapons Teams. Do both infantry carry Lasguns in addition to the Heavy Weapon, or just one of them? If both do carry Lasguns, does it suffice to just add one weapon on the model? Or any at all? And with one of each heavy weapon, I thought I'd go for Mortar, Heavy Bolter and Lascannon. Now I don't have the tripod legs or the front shield for the Lascannon, but I was thinking of just modeling a dirt hill to replace the tripod, is that still legal for play? I might just do it anyway, sounds like a fun challenge.

 

It's a lot to think about, and I'm taking my time to consider as much as possible. I did assemble one lone Guardsman though, and I'll have him painted by the end of the weekend. I'll keep you posted.

 

EDIT: In case I wasn't clear. I got Start Collecting, Command Squad and one Sentinel.

 

EDIT EDIT: Ohh, and thanks for the warm welcome guys!

Edited January 11, 2020 by NerdyFellow

[WarriorFish]

For HWTs one has the heavy weapon, the other a lasgun. The HWT model is flexible with bits so you can spread them across multiple models (mortar being a prime example), you just need the extra bases (cheap enough from GW) and to grab bits from other Guard kits :tu: So long as they have the gun, that's what counts - plenty have done mods and conversions for the weapon :)

[NatBrannigan]

Ah the Heavy weapon team box, they don't make them like that any more! Good idea to get the most use out of it.

 

Now then, I believe we were promised a painted guardsman by the end of the weekend? Or should I fetch a Commissar... ;)

 

Just FYI we're half expecting some new rules in a campaign book soon, and the obvious (although when have GW ever done whats obvious!) thing to give Guard is the build your own regiment rules that Marines and Eldar got. That should give you all the flexibility you need to make your army play the way you want. Just another reason to build it however you think looks best and then consider rules etc.

[Shamansky]

 

I'm trying to get get the most possible use out of the pieces I have, so I've ordered 2 bigger bases in order to create two extra heavy weapons teams, and also a few extra feet and arms in order to use all the chest and head pieces I have. I'm trying to figure out if I should get some extra weapons as well, but I wanna figure out what weapon loadout I want first.

 

A couple of questions about the Heavy Weapons Teams. Do both infantry carry Lasguns in addition to the Heavy Weapon, or just one of them? If both do carry Lasguns, does it suffice to just add one weapon on the model? Or any at all? And with one of each heavy weapon, I thought I'd go for Mortar, Heavy Bolter and Lascannon. Now I don't have the tripod legs or the front shield for the Lascannon, but I was thinking of just modeling a dirt hill to replace the tripod, is that still legal for play? I might just do it anyway, sounds like a fun challenge.

 

It's a lot to think about, and I'm taking my time to consider as much as possible. I did assemble one lone Guardsman though, and I'll have him painted by the end of the weekend. I'll keep you posted.

 

EDIT: In case I wasn't clear. I got Start Collecting, Command Squad and one Sentinel.

 

EDIT EDIT: Ohh, and thanks for the warm welcome guys!

 

 

 

 Don't worry. The Heavy weapon team is the gun +2 guys on one base. They can be done in whatever way you want with or without those shields or pods. Use the sand bags from the kit to replace the tripod, however i think that a heavy bolter would be easier to put on them than a lascannon. Or make an elysian-style Heavy bolter with a bipod. Missile launchers are good allrounder too, especially with the recent point cost drop (in addition you can assemble them using just regular stading guys without a bipod).

 

I may be wrong in my calculations, but i think you sill need 10 (or so) more troopers for a battalion detachment.

Edited January 13, 2020 by Shamansky

[NerdyFellow]

Now then, I believe we were promised a painted guardsman by the end of the weekend? Or should I fetch a Commissar...

My apologies, please don't report me! I have indeed finished the guardsman, but I felt it was a bit spammy to give you guys progress reports every day

Don't worry. The Heavy weapon team is the gun +2 guys on one base. They can be done in whatever way you want with or without those shields or pods. Use the sand bags from the kit to replace the tripod, however i think that a heavy bolter would be easier to put on them than a lascannon. Or make an elysian-style Heavy bolter with a bipod. Missile launchers are good allrounder too, especially with the recent point cost drop (in addition you can assemble them using just regular stading guys without a bipod).

Thanks for the tip. I've yet to assemble all the heavy weapons teams. I'm waiting for an order of spare bits. I'll be mounting the lascannon on a custom base, I think it'll look cooler. My plan is to build a mound for it with some clay I have, and stick a shovel in the mound. I'll be a tiny scene.

So I've just completed 9 guardsmen with lasguns and a seargent with laspistol and chainsword. I worked a tiny bit every day on them, taking my time on the first few. I was a bit nervous about the colors I chose, but I think the scheme worked out in the end.

My first three guardsmen. I tried a few different things. The dark ones look great in the pictures, but in real life the lighter grey ones were much more pleasing. So that informed my next six guardsmen.

My next six guardsmen were assembly painted, and I finished them up with a heavy dose of dry brushing with white. Not sure it's the best choice, but it gives them a sort of dusty look. I guess it's fine.

I saved the Seargent for last. After painting with the color scheme a few times, I felt a bit more confident, and decided to try out edge highlighting instead of dry brushing. It's my first go at edge highlighting, and I think it turned out decent. Still not great, but it's something. I should get a better brush for this though.

My first squad of Astra Militarium. Theres some slight differences between the models, as I was trying out different things, but I think it's fine for now. I might add some stencils to them later.

So that's where I'm at, at the moment. I still have a Leman Russ and a Comissar assembled and ready to be painted. Once I get all the bit's I've ordered I'll have a complete Heavy Weapon Squad, a complete Command Squad, an additional Commander, two more Guardsmen with Lasguns, and an assortment of guardsmen with different weapons. I ordered 9 legs and a bunch of arms and different doodads, so the next batch of guardsmen should give me a bit more variation to play with. Should be fun. Ohh, and I also have a Sentinel still in it's box. I think I'll save that for a rainy day.

[WarriorFish]

Nice work, the weathering turned out well I think. A squad ready for battle is an important milestone :) You'll only get faster too as you refine your processes and keep painting :tu:

[Galron]

There are many ways to play the guard since it is a very flexible force if not the most flexible codex in the game. Just depends on what you want to do with it. Some ideas using the main codex:

Air Cav:  Uses squadrons of Valkyries and lots of infantry. Also tends to have some of the FW aircraft as well to buff up the firepower.

Tempestus(Or Storm Troopers as older players call them): hard hitting elite force with their own special Taurox and makes even better use out of Valks. Smallest IG force available and aside from the Valks you can build it 100% from Start Collecting boxes making it the cheapest IG force as well.

All Infantry: An entire horde of infantry numbering in the hundreds. My list is light at around 200 dudes. Tends to take forever to build paint and play. Only about a quarter of the way done on mine

Artillery: Lots of infantry for screening and batteries of Basilisks, manticores, and wyverns with some hydras sprinkled in for fire support. I have never played it but it seems like it would be fun if going first against a deepstrike heavy army to maybe try for a wipe before the reinforcements come in. With Masters of Ordinance and the Catachan doctrine it could be nasty but gunlines aren't my cup of tea.

 

Now for stuff you can actually build with Start Collecting and defense force boxes for the main army:

General: This is most likely what you will play until you get some models and play time under your belt. Just your basic mix of infantry and tanks, fairly balanced. Nothing wrong with it.

Tank Heavy: Lots of Leman Russ tank commanders and basic tanks. Minimum troops to fill the requirements. I enjoy this style. I prefer it with Tallarn rules.

Mechanized: Most everything is a tank or is mounted in a transport tank. If I am not playing air cav or Tempestus, this is my preferred style. I have 6 various leman russ chassis(Magnetized where you can to get the most out of your turrets) 5 or 6 twin heavy bolter/heavy stubber chimeras and usually some hellhounds or lascannon sentinels. I run using Tallarn rules.

 

Look up how to magnetize your tank's weapons, it will save you money

On most leman Russ chassis, the plasma cannon should be your go to sponson weapons.

 

Personally I am loving the Demolisher "line breaker" Russ with the Demolisher, Multi-melta sponsons, lascannon hull. I always bring one and it does pretty decent damage

.

A good tactic even if you aren't going mechanized is to have one squad mounted in the chimera and keep it out of sight as much as possible, its job is to simply take an objective for VP. Mordian Glory calls it the Lone Wolf Squad.

[GuardDaddy]

Troops look great

[NerdyFellow]

There are many ways to play the guard since it is a very flexible force if not the most flexible codex in the game...

That's a lot of helpful advice! I'm looking forward to the day I actually play my army, until that time though, I have a hard time deciding on anything. Good thing that I'm in no rush! After I've painted what I have, I might even pick up a Start Collecting box from another faction, just so I can play with a mate. Who knows! I do like the idea of artillery though, and all the vehicles of the guard seem like a lot of fun to paint. I wish I had learned about the magnetized guns on the tanks earlier, because I just went ahead and glued it on, so my Leman Russ is stuck with Bolt Guns. Ohh well, it's not too bad I guess.

Nice work, the weathering turned out well I think. A squad ready for battle is an important milestone You'll only get faster too as you refine your processes and keep painting

Thanks mate! I does feel good to have a whole squad done.

Troops look great

Cheers mate!

As for my current progress:

This was my progress two days ago. I contemplated what colors to use, and how to use them, on the Leman Russ. I decided on having a wavy pattern streak across the tank. I might go back and make the light grey parts red though... I'll have to think more on that. Luckily mail arrived yesterday that kept my mind focused on other also fun things.

LEFT: All the parts I ordered. In retrospect I should have ordered another 2 chests and pants, but It's not like I don't have enough stuff to paint, so whatever. I did get a free base and a free arm (though it's sort of broken) with my order though, so that's awesome! TOP RIGHT: Laying out all my parts, making sure everyone has arms and heads and so on. I didn't notice at first that some of the helmets from the Command Squad box had different designs for medics and vox operators, before this stage. It's a nice little detail, I appreciate it GW. The Heavy Weapons Team will be glued up at a later date. BOTTOM RIGHT: And there they are. All glued up. Ordering up all those parts wasn't free, but it allowed me to create a Heavy Weapons Squad and a whole bunch of other figures. Those figures should provide a nice variation, after doing all those regular guards. PS: Ignore those filthy Skaven.

LEFT: Adding some sand and giving the troops accessories before priming them with Grey Seer. For some reason the Grey Seer from the spray can is different from the color in the paint bottles. Weird. All in all, after removing sprues and mold lines, gluing and basing, and finally priming, I must have spent about 8 hours just to get them ready. Removing mold lines is really time consuming, but I just cant bear to leave them. Gluing these soldiers together isn't very fun either (damn left arms), but I'm sure I'll get better at it. BOTTOM RIGHT: I'll be painting this fella tonight. I'm gonna paint these guys one by one, or maybe two by two, cause' they have too many fun details to just rush them.

TLDR: I'm having fun guys! I'm also learning stuff, like the fact that I should probably get some green stuff next time I order a whole butload of stuff.

Edited January 24, 2020 by NerdyFellow

[WarriorFish]

Great stuff, you're making excellent progress! Keeping things diverse is a good way to stay active and keep things fresh - especially when you have to churn out a fair few infantry models. Keep us updated on your work :tu:

[NerdyFellow]

Cranked out a couple more guys.

I tried thinning out my paints a bit more, and I'm happy with the improved quality of the details, like in the waterskin. Reflection in the glasses was also a new thing for me, so I pretty happy with how that came out as well. I got a new brush after painting this model though. I'd like to highlight better, and there's a few things on this model I had to abandon because of my affro-brushes.

Getting a few new brushes was delightful, and I happily engaged the most tiny details. I don't think I could have done the red trim with my old brushes. I would have liked to add some gold details to a couple of things, but being creative with the paints I actually own, is it's own sort of reward. Also, the rocks at his base is actually just sprue-clippings, so that's for sure something I'll use in the future as well.

Next up will be a guardsman with lasgun and vox-caster. The vox-caster really dominates the figure, and has a lot of fun little bits. Should be great fun to paint.

Edited January 27, 2020 by NerdyFellow

[NerdyFellow]

A few more days, and a few more units. I spend way too much time on each single units, so if I want to expand I think I'll go for a mechanized in order to keep my sanity!

I loved painting the Vox-Caster on this guardsman, and I'm happy with the color-scheme as well. Painting the tiny reflection on his helmet-cam took a bit of messing around, but it worked out in the end.

The most important part of any army is it's medics (totaly not biased by being an army medic myself)! Started painting pouches and packs etc. in brown leather colors. My first guys had black leather, but I think this looks better.

Another fun model to paint. I think dark grey works better for weapons then black does, so I'll keep painting them that way. The lasguns will remain black though, there's no way I'm going back and repainting all my lasguns!

My next two models and... what's this? Scenery? I guess this division of the guard are duking it out on a backwater planet, where internet has not yet been invented, and houses are still made of wood. I started puzzling the sprues together as a break from painting. I don't know how far I'll go with it. I might try replacing the wooden panels with something. There's a frozen pizza that comes in plastic trays at my local grocery store, those might work as a metal wall or something, once they are painted up.

And some reinforcements. I'm starting to understand what you guys are talking about. Money is burning holes in my pockets, and the only way to cool it, is to buy more models!

[duz_]

Ingenious use of sprues! :tu:

 

Push fit guys are great so is ebay for cheap 2nd hand rescue models

[HallofStovokor]

Like duz said, you can save a little money with snap fit Cadians. When I expand my infantry I buy 1 infantry squad box and 2 boxes of snap fit Cadians. The infantry squad sprues have the bits to make 2 sergeants, 2 voxcasters, 2 grenade launchers and 2 flamers. This means that you can buy the $7 snap fit models to fill out your 2 infantry squads. Using just infantry squad boxes, it will cost $78 to build 2 infantry squads. Doing it the way I suggested will only cost $53.