Commissar's Personal Challenge/German themed Guard

[commissar_roach]

So I had originally plan to make this whole thing into a video series, but I've found that I don't have much in the way of time for that lately. So I have changed up my plan so that I post mostly on here and maybe do I video every now and then.
 
Now just what am I talking about?

Well I've been in the hobby since back in the 4th edition days, where I started my collection with a Cadian Battleforce box bought from a relic of that era (Thewarstore.com). After a very long hiatus from the 40k hobby I started back into it last year during the pandemic when I started to pick up Tau. Now with 9th edition making the Tau a bit, lets say, underpowered on the tabletop I have found myself having trouble keeping real motivation to finish painting my Tau force.

with my resent purchase of a few 3D printers for other historical wargaming projects I've had this idea swimming around in my head for a few months about trying to make a force for 40k with as few actual GW miniatures as possible. something that follows a theme and actually looks like it belongs on the tabletop alongside of the official forces.
 
with this most basic premise in mind I've come up with a set of guidelines to follow for a personal challenge over the next year.

• I will have 12 months, starting in July 2021, to finish this force
• the army must be 2000 points at a minimum with the current codex
• I must use as few official GW miniatures as possible when building the force
• I have to play this force in a tournament at one of my local game stores

now I do plan on using a few older models I have laying around, most notably being two metal commissars and a Col. Shaffer, from back in my 4th edition days. other then these I plan on buying GW only if I cannot find a fitting model that is cheaper (doubt this will come up much).

so, with all of the useless preamble out of the way lets get into that actual force.

I wanted to make this force with a overall theme in mind and have been doing a lot of searching around trying to come up with a good starting point. that was until I came upon the Wargames Atlantic Raumjäger box about 2-3 months ago.

I love the look of these guys!
they fit right in with the general 40k aesthetic while also having a historical feel to them.
 
with this in mind the theme of the force solidified in my mind, a Imperial Guard force themed off of 40's Wehrmacht troops (just the color scheme).
I actually find it funny since I've been most a historical wargamer for the last 10 years and I actually have never collected WW2 Germans.

With the Raumjägers as a base for my infantry I set about to find a good fit for vehicles that could proxy leman russ tanks as well as fit the Wehrmacht theme. I came upon Grim Prints and found exactly what I needed.
 

It's a perfect fit for both the theme and the scale.

he has a lot of other files that I will be using for transports and the like as well. 
 
I plan on starting to build up and paint the force this week and sharing my progress on here as I go. I hope you all will stick around, either I'll come out on the other side with a nice looking army, or fail horribly

Edited August 15, 2021 by commissar_roach

[Slave to Darkness]

Lemme know what you think of the Raumjager, I have only worked with their Grognards, Halflings, WW1 Germans and Einherjar, and have been wondering about these. 

[WarriorFish]

They have a very Steel Legion look, maybe you can base the army around them somewhat?

[GreenScorpion]

For German based vehicles you can also look into Meng World War Toons tanks, since they scale nicely with GW's stuff and are typically quite cheap and can be built without glue, which makes them quite easy and fast to assemble. For reference, they are typically around 11-12€ from the store I use to get them.
I have a few of these 2 models and I think they fit well with your theme:

 

[commissar_roach]

For German based vehicles you can also look into Meng World War Toons tanks, since they scale nicely with GW's stuff and are typically quite cheap and can be built without glue, which makes them quite easy and fast to assemble. For reference, they are typically around 11-12€ from the store I use to get them.

I have a few of these 2 models and I think they fit well with your theme:

 

when I was first starting to look around for the right looking vehicles those were really high on the list! the reason the Grim Prints ones won out was mostly due to me really wanting to play this army at my local shops, and therefore wanting to make sure everything is as WYSIWYG as i could. 

 

for reference (since the image i posted is just the prerender on the Grim Print store page) here is a test Print i made of his "Grim Tiger" that will be the backbone of my tank force for this army.

 

that one specifically wont be used for anything other than a paint test due to it having a few errors that have since been corrected, but it's made to be fully magnetized and compared to an actual Leman Russ it's pretty darn close in size. 

Edited July 4, 2021 by commissar_roach

[GreenScorpion]

Given you are looking for complete proxies and you decided to go with raumjagers, I am curious to see what you will do for things like sergeants, command options and potentially HWT, since those are not yet covered by the kit. Are you going to mix them with GW parts to get those done or are you going for 3d party or 3d printed options?

[The Pounder]

Really like your ideas, looking forward to seeing more.

[commissar_roach]

Given you are looking for complete proxies and you decided to go with raumjagers, I am curious to see what you will do for things like sergeants, command options and potentially HWT, since those are not yet covered by the kit. Are you going to mix them with GW parts to get those done or are you going for 3d party or 3d printed options?

I plan on using 3d printed parts for the sergeants, stuff like chain swords can just be glued to the belt and be fine for tournament play. command options will also be done this way as i don't plan on having really over the top commanders. 

 

for HWT's I think I'll wait and see what wargames Atlantic do with the line, if nothing comes out after a while i plan on using the crouching poses and 3d printer parts to make rough HWT mortar's. i have a good number of files from "The Makers Cult" that should work without to much trouble.

[commissar_roach]

So I got a chance to get some work done in my hobby shop today. not a huge amount done related to this project, I'm in the middle of painting up a small group of Napoleonic French, but I did get a few figs built from one of the boxes of Raumjägers I have.

 

I was able to get three boxes of these guys during a sale a few weeks ago

 

someone on here asked me to comment on how I liked these guys. so far they look to go together fairly well, if a bit limited in the options you have when putting them together, but overall I think they look nice and when i get through my current project on my painting table I'm sure they will take paint well. my only really problem is I feel like their collar is a bit to big when compared to the body size. I would have also liked it if the body was just a tad bit smaller so as to make conversions a bit easier.

for comparison here are two of the Raumjägers lined up next to a few other figures I had on hand.

from left to right they are - A Perry Napoleonic French officer, 3d printed Valor corps officer from "The Makers Cult", a Raumjager, 4th edition era metal Guard Lt. from GW, another Raumjager (with one of the female heads), and a 4th edition era Col. Shaffer from GW.

 

if all goes well this week I plan on having the first Raumjagers that I built today painted up, I want to nail down a good paint scheme before i really dive into building and printing for the project.

[commissar_roach]

Alrighty, I'm afraid I don't have my first test batch of troops painted up yet (those damn French coats on my current project are really slowing me down), but even with that being said I have been working in the background trying to iron out the finer details of this army. I have come onto a bit of a cross roads and I think it'd be good to get other peoples opinions on this.

 

So I'm currently working out what I should use for transports in this army. As I said I want to go for a Wehrmacht theme with the vehicles in the force, this presented a problem as there are not that many halftrack like proxies that could work as a stand in for the standard guard chimera. this has only recently been solved as I found 3 good choices all within about a month of each other, and each have their own benefits and problems.

 

1. is the line of 3d printable vehicle files released by Tabletop terrain. 

it's not just a single kit since there are 3 sets that make their own vehicles but can also be swapped around and changed.
LAV

ARV

MBT

 

now this kit is great, it has a lot of options and is very modular while also being fairly cheap. my really only problem with it for this specific project is that, while it is modular, there don't seem to be any options i could use that would make it fit with the Wehrmacht theme. i can totally see this kit being used for a whole host of projects themed around armies with a more modern feel but I'm not sure it works as well in this case.

 

Example images

 

2. The Bullfrog Transport from Blood and Skulls industries.

Now this was going to be my choice before i found the other two options on this list. for one it actually has an option for a Half-track layout and that really goes along way to making it fit in with the theme of the army i have planned. My biggest problems with it are that it is a resin kit, so it's more expansive then a 3d printable kit, and that while there is a half-track option it doesn't necessarily look like it fits in as much with the other vehicles i plan on using. the Retro future look is lost a bit with this option and, in my opinion, it looks a bit more just standard sci-fi

 

now who knows, maybe with a coat of dunkelgelb and a few skulls on it it might fit into the mix a bit more.

3. the Grimm 251 by Grimm Prints

Now as you can see this bad boy has a lot of options and obviously fits in with the theme of the force. it's a 3d printable kit and not only can be used to proxy a standard IG chimera but I believe it can also be used to proxy a Taurox. with all of these positives you'd think it would be a no brainer right? well my only problem is that while the other stuff Grimm Prints has put out seem to keep the almost cartoony proportions that many of the IG kits have this kit seems to be a bit to real in it's proportions. I'm not sure if will fit in with the other vehicles I plan on using or with the Raumjagers I'm using for infantry.

 

maybe it will look a bit less out of place with a few skulls glued on it.

 

I'd like to know all of your opinions, I find that hearing other peoples opinions really helps me come to a decision when I'm stuck on something. I know where I'm leaning but really an argument can be made for each of these.

 

the plan is to have 2-3 of these for the force. I don't plan on using all of theme all the time but i would like to have the option to toss a few squads into transports if the need comes about. price wise I'm not really worried about any of these, even the Bullfrog resin kit is only a little over $35 USD. with my experience in 3d resin printing I know the two 3d printable kits will cost about 10-12 USD at the most for resin, so any of these options will be a cost saving over the official GW kits.

[GreenScorpion]

I would say that the 3rd option would likely fit better and the kit is certainly not true scale in terms of proportions (scale half-tracks are narrower for that length).
A chimera is roughly L-11.5cm W-9cm H-6cm and the third option according to the website is L-14.1cm W-7.2cm H-6.8cm (with turret).
While it is longer and narrower than a chimera, 14.1 is not that big compared to 11.5 and you can always make it slightly wider with stowage.

Obviously it is up to you to choose, but this would be my recommendation :)

[commissar_roach]

I would say that the 3rd option would likely fit better and the kit is certainly not true scale in terms of proportions (scale half-tracks are narrower for that length).

A chimera is roughly L-11.5cm W-9cm H-6cm and the third option according to the website is L-14.1cm W-7.2cm H-6.8cm (with turret).

While it is longer and narrower than a chimera, 14.1 is not that big compared to 11.5 and you can always make it slightly wider with stowage.

Obviously it is up to you to choose, but this would be my recommendation

aye it does seem to be the better option, though the other options I would love to see being used more in peoples armies, I may just go ahead and print out a single one and see how it compares in person.

[commissar_roach]

Well that took longer then i thought it would, my other current project really slowed me down, but I got the first 4 of my troops painted up. these were test models and that meant the paint plan shifted around a lot. In fact I'm still debating on if I should try something different with the infantry armor, maybe a panther yellow/dunkelgelb would contrast a bit better.

 

the basic troops

The Plasma Gunner

The Vox Trooper

 

out of all of this first batch I like the look of our lady Vox trooper the best, I've never used the Vallejo washes that much and it seems you have to be very sparing with them or they can really mess with the undercoats.

 

overall I really like the kits, my first thoughts that the collars were a bit to large turned out to be wrong as with paint on them I really like them. I might go ahead and try to build are squad sergeant out of the kit here soon, I think it might not be as hard as I first thought it would now that I've gotten a bit more familiar with it. Heavy Weapon teams are going to be a bit of a problem I think, but again I'll have to see what I can do in the future.

 

let me know what you all think, I really like to have constructive criticism about new projects, it really helps me get everything worked out early before it can become a problem.

[Tallarn Commander]

The troopers look excellent! Great basecoats, shading, and highlighting.

 

I have a few minor constructive criticisms:

1. The red dot on the back of the one backpack seems a bit off-putting. Perhaps tone it down with just a touch of black or dark red Wash.

2. The black helmets seem to need something. Maybe a very light drybrush of dark Grey? Or maybe just adding some satin or gloss varnish to the black helmets might do the trick.

3. The light grey on the troopers' goggle lenses seem a bit bland. Perhaps highlight the lenses up in the same blues with which you highlighted your (excellent) plasma gun?

 

Take these suggestions with a grain of salt as they are very subjective.

[The Pounder]

I’m with Tallarn Commander, the goggles would really pop in the plasma style glow.

 

Looking fantastic though! I really like the muted militaristic colour palette you’ve gone with.

 

Definitely gives a special opps impression.

[commissar_roach]

The troopers look excellent! Great basecoats, shading, and highlighting.

 

I have a few minor constructive criticisms:

1. The red dot on the back of the one backpack seems a bit off-putting. Perhaps tone it down with just a touch of black or dark red Wash.

2. The black helmets seem to need something. Maybe a very light drybrush of dark Grey? Or maybe just adding some satin or gloss varnish to the black helmets might do the trick.

3. The light grey on the troopers' goggle lenses seem a bit bland. Perhaps highlight the lenses up in the same blues with which you highlighted your (excellent) plasma gun?

 

Take these suggestions with a grain of salt as they are very subjective.

 

 

I’m with Tallarn Commander, the goggles would really pop in the plasma style glow.

 

Looking fantastic though! I really like the muted militaristic colour palette you’ve gone with.

 

Definitely gives a special opps impression.

 

Yeah I'm thinking of trying something different with the goggles, at first I tried a off white but felt it was a bit to bright, there are a few options I can try to make them a little less bland.

 

The paint scheme its self is actually fairly close to that of WW2 era German uniforms, really the only thing i had to work out was the armor color. i still need to work out if that current armor color works, the next step is to build and paint the rest of the squad and see if they look good together as a group.

[commissar_roach]

well with the paint scheme (mostly) worked out I have now moved onto the next major step to making this army actually work. Since I want this force to be WYSIWYG I need to find a way to make troops like sergeants, this is a problem since the Raumjager kits don't actually have melee weapons.

after looking through my stl files I found a possible solution and printed off a few to see if they fit and didn't look out of place.

 

pardon the poor picture quality.

 

I actually really like the way these look, I think the pistol styles totally fit with the theme I'm going for. I might be a bit limited in the poses I can pick from but over all I think these will do nicely. even better is that fact that these are from The Makers Cult so it means if I really need extra bits stuff from their other stl's should work fairly while.

[commissar_roach]

Well after a few days of work I'm got some actual progress to report on the project. not only have I finished up my first 3 sergeants but I also got enough troops finished up to complete my first squad for the army.

 

since this was a bit more of a big step I even broke out my good DSLR camera to take a few shots with.

 

The Three sergeants

don't pay much mind to the bit of white dust that is one the minis, that's just a bit of the varnish I spray them with that dried before hitting the figure. honestly I really like how these turned out, I worked out a slightly faster painting method for them that doesn't seem to really result in less detail or the like. I also really like the 3d printed arms, I think they fit really well with a coat of paint on them and I don't think I would be able to tell they were 3d printed if i wasn't the one that printed and built them.

 

The first Squad

I've always thought that the best way to see if a paint scheme will work is for you to get a full squad together using it, and I have to say I think this one works to my eyes. I was worried that the grey armor wouldn't work, but seeing this I think that having the muted grey helps make the few bits of color pop more.

 

so with the first squad now done I've spent a bit of time working out a more detailed plan for the force I plan on building for this challenge. I'm going to have 6 ten man infantry squads all armed with plasma guns, these will form the backbone of my infantry block, and will be the first thing I'm going to spend a bit of time on trying to finish.

 

Once I work out an actual list I plan on sharing it here.

[Bjorn Firewalker]

Excellent work on the models.

[commissar_roach]

So I don't have to much of an update. I'm still painting infantry, but as I've already shared what the paint scheme looks like I don't want to just fill this thread with pictures of endless figures all painted the same.

 

So this is actually about a bit of work I was able to do on the motor pool for my force. I was able to get one of the halftracks that I will be using to proxy chimera printed and built. it took a bit longer then I would have liked due to a bit of warping, but that's nothing a little bit of putty and a lot of sanding couldn't fix.

 

 

The scale is really good and I already have ideas on what I want to do for painting and weathering, I just need to wait on a few extra supplies to arrive before I can start to work on it. I also really need to figure out if I'm going to use historical ww2 German hull numbers or if I'm going to use a bit more gothic looking hull numbers on it.

 

Just so you all can get a bit of an idea of the scale and proportions of this model here it is next to an actual chimera i built way back in 2008 but never painted.

[Commisar Necros]

Looks great, the more historical krieg looks works great with those kits and good work getting the arms right on the 3d print. Scaling is such a pain. Where did you get the files for the trak? it looks great id love to buy em. Where was the warping to? I dont see any in the shots there.

[GreenScorpion]

Looks great, the more historical krieg looks works great with those kits and good work getting the arms right on the 3d print. Scaling is such a pain. Where did you get the files for the trak? it looks great id love to buy em. Where was the warping to? I dont see any in the shots there.

It is https://grimprints.gumroad.com/?sort=page_layout as stated above in the options comparison post.

[commissar_roach]

Looks great, the more historical krieg looks works great with those kits and good work getting the arms right on the 3d print. Scaling is such a pain. Where did you get the files for the trak? it looks great id love to buy em. Where was the warping to? I dont see any in the shots there.

 

 

 

Looks great, the more historical krieg looks works great with those kits and good work getting the arms right on the 3d print. Scaling is such a pain. Where did you get the files for the trak? it looks great id love to buy em. Where was the warping to? I dont see any in the shots there.

It is https://grimprints.gumroad.com/?sort=page_layout as stated above in the options comparison post.

 

 

Aye that's where I got it from. it's actually a really nice kit, has alot of options that can be used to proxy alot more then just transports, alot of the vehicles I plan on using for this for will be coming from grim prints.

 

as for the warping, I only got one picture of it before I build it.

I know it's a bit hard to see but the sides are supposed to be straight. it's not alot but it's enough to make the top plate fit oddly and have very notable gaps that need to be filled.

[Commisar Necros]

For some reason the first grimm link isn't working for me. They look cool though, and have a great price. The print is odd, I've had that happen to. Its not quite a misprint, but there's a misalignment. I re-leveled and it went away, hope its that easy for you. I can see it more now that you've pointed it out, but it'll buff out as my grandpa used to say. Im curious how it will look painted.

[commissar_roach]

Alrighty, it's been a hot minute since I posted an update to this project. since the last time I posted I've been pretty swamped at work and haven't had much time to paint until recently, but that didn't stop me from get more infantry done. Currently I have 19 figs painted up and I thought it was about time I actually based some of them up. 

 

Normally I tend to wait until I'm near the end of a project before I finish the basing of my figs, but for this army I kind of want to finish them in batches to make things a bit easier. Nothing is worse then spending a week painting bases on 70+ figures.

 

example of the basing style I'm going with for this force.

\

 

I'm not sure if I should do more, maybe use some static grass or use a larger grit sand. Since the finale force I'm planning on having will have over 70 of this in one form or another I don't really want the bases to be that detailed. so right now I'm kind of debating if this is enough for a horde army or if I should do more, let me know what you all think.

 

The Grim 251 has been glued together and is mostly ready to be started, I would have already but I have a historical gaming meet that is happening this month an I needed to get some more work done on my Napoleonic French force. once I get another batch of them done I think the transport will be the next thing on my hobby desk to be started, I just need to work out the exact process I want to use for it. my current idea is to use Vallejo chipping fluid airbrushed over coats of paint to make a worn out look, I guess one of the best things about 3d printing these is that if I mess up I'm only out about $6