I realized the other day that I’m not entirely sure exactly what I have for various troops/armies laying around in various boxes, piles, and bags I thought the best way to sort them out would be to do a quick post with some photos and rambling comments. Turns out in this case I had a lot more Infantry than I thought I did.
I decided to start with my long dormant GW Warhammer 40K Imperial Guard troops. This was the first army I did when I ‘got back into’ wargaming sometime around 2000. When I left the active duty Army in 1988 I figured my war gaming days were through. Fortunately, at one of my Son’s Scout meetings they did a little something with war gaming figures (as I recall, the first exposure I had to formal rules with toy soldiers was through the Scout magazine, Boy’s Life I think it was called at the time). Unfortunately, that launched him, and my credit card, onto the money draining path of Games Workshop in the late 1990’s. On a positive, it was through the GW White Dwarf magazine that I saw an advertisement for a HMGS convention, (I think it was a joint convention in MD, but I don’t recall exactly - it didn't work out with my schedule) and the rest, is history.
In any event I have fond memories of helping him assemble and paint his Space Marines, and then his Lord of the Rings Orcs, and Drwaves. Somewhere along the way I was seduced and end up buying a few Imperial Guard troops, and then a few more. And then he gave me a Sentinel for Christmas. And from there it snow balled. But all good memories of quality time with my Son. In fact the last time we talked part of the discussion was around his Tau forces.
As I said, I had just gotten back into the hobby when I painted these, so their a little rough, and for some strange reason I thought you should paint eyes… maybe because they were so much bigger than the 15mm Napoleonics I had last played with? Honestly, WTH was I thinking trying to paint on eyes.
Unless noted, all of the Infantry figures are the ‘old’ GW Cadian lead figures. When they went to plastics, and changed the rules for the umptenth time, I called it quits. Maybe someday I'll find a new SciFi rule set and these will get out on the table again.
First up, the crew served weapons.
A couple of Lascannons
Heavy Bolters
Mortars
Missile Launchers
And some Vehicles
Sentinels
Chimera APC
Basilisk Artillery
Leman Russ Tank
Elite Troops
Storm Troopers
Heavy Weapons
Plasma Guns
Melta Gun (I think)
Grenade Launchers
Infantry
Commanders/Leaders
Beauty first
with those crazy eyes you can be excused for looking at her chest or that sliver of leg she's showing instead of looking at her face
It can't be 40K without a chain sword
And the mandatory power fist
Radiomen
Odds and endsPlastic missile launcher
Flamer armed Infantry, a couple of leaders, and another grenade launcher, all lead. I found these after the photo shoot was done
More plastics
That's it for the Sci-Fi Troops
Up next, Romans.
I had started this post in the 3rd Quarter of 2020 and was finishing up the photos, when I received a phone call that no Parent should ever have to receive and I sincerely hope no one reading this ever does. Given the memories that I associate with these figures I just couldn’t force myself to finish it at the time. I’m now far enough along the healing process that the memories are welcome.
1988 – 2020
You will always be my little boy
So much lead, so little time.