"The Famous" 42nd Tyrok Skyborne

[Kravunhive]

Hey guys, so I've taken a break from my Lexxian Sawtooths for the time being but I have been working on a number of other projects... plus real work keeps eating into my free time, grrr.

I've got another Imperial Guard and a Space Marine army on the go. Trying to find time for them is tricky. However, whilst I was digging around my old boxes, I came across an old project I started 5 years ago! These dudes havn't seen the light in ages so I thought it would be a good idea to resurrect them and post the progress on here to keep me motivated...

Firstly, what and who are they?
Back in 4th ed I had an idea to create a drop troop force, inspired by two things; Band of Brothers and Owen Rees Tahnelian Airborne. (A full page spread is in WD298 for anyone interested)

And so I invented the Tyrok Skyborne, a mostly infantry based force. The project went well and I assembled pretty much all the infantry, although in those days there wasn't the variety of plastic kits to choose from. The project halted for some reason, probably the inspiration well dried up. But here was the look I went for...

Tyrok Skyborne






I created the grav-chutes from space marine back packs, just by cutting off the lower vents. I thought it was a great idea at the time but upon seeing them now I'm not sure. I think I'll remove them and load the troopers up with extra gear instead. I intend to finish what I originally set out to do. I'll add 2 sentinels and a storm trooper squad, they'll probably be a kit bash job. I also want to include some mysterious Afriel Strain troopers...

I'll post more pics as soon as I can. The weather in the UK isn't too good here atm. I'll be adding an updated fluff to accompany the log and explain the narrative of this regiment.

Let me know what do you guys think? I'd appreciate feedback and advice. Cheers for stopping by.

Kravunhive

[Horus Aximand]

Too right about the weather mate. Got winds gusting up to 0 knots up here :O

So far so good, although I'll have to wait to see painted images before making any real criticisms. An interesting idea with the SM backpack, however I would recommend adding extra kit to it to make it less Marine-y. Try changing the angle of the vents so that they point upwards rather than down, and perhaps add extra baggage in the form of pouches and roll mats, either from the sprue or made from green stuff to reinforce the drop trooper look.

Keep it up

[Gorman]

That's a nice start, but I do think that the SM backpack is just too noticeable as Astartes gear to be used as a grav-chute.

I'm also starting up a few drop troopers for my Guard army, and found that the respirator bit on the Cadian command squad sprue is really useful for adding that flavour. The bulky heavy weapon pack is also good, as is the Hasslefree metal jump pack or (if you're feeling rich!) the FW grav-chute.

Personally, i just think a big backpack does the job. You could say that troopers are rapelling from Valkyries, or maybe that the grav-chute mechanism is in the backpack.

[terribletrygon]

You could replace the backpack exhausts with chaos smoke launcher tubes. I used them on a grenade launcher bit for the grav-chutes on my Word Bearer Zealot Storm Troopers.

[Brother Alexos]

How did you make that pistol? I like the model, it's looking good.

[Vex]

The question is with your "skyborne" to you intend for them to fly about with jump packs or are you just doing vertical insertion like Storm troopers do out of Valkyries?

How they get to the battlefield can be irrelevant since they're all "straightleg" once they get there.

[Hushrong]

Interesting use of the SM backpack. It actually looks good on the IG I'm surprised to say. Is it intended to be like the grav-chute?

@Vex: It may be irrelevant how they got somewhere when the boots hit the ground but it designates a units training and purpose. No different that the US Army "All-American" 82nd Airborne Division. A bunch of infantry with parachutes that jump out of perfectly good planes.

[icecream boy]

I for one actually don't mind the SM backpack for the grav-chute. Maybe a little more tweaking to make it less recognizable. Keep us posted!

[Commander Zane]

The question is with your "skyborne" to you intend for them to fly about with jump packs or are you just doing vertical insertion like Storm troopers do out of Valkyries?

How they get to the battlefield can be irrelevant since they're all "straightleg" once they get there.

they could be like the Elysains, there specality is drop insertion and advance recon and they can fucntion fine on the ground when there down

the gaurdsmen look great just make the pack a tad smaller and your set

[Kravunhive]

Interesting use of the SM backpack. It actually looks good on the IG I'm surprised to say. Is it intended to be like the grav-chute?

It was an attempt at making a cheaper grav-chute. I think it can work, just may need tweeking as suggested by others.

The question is with your "skyborne" to you intend for them to fly about with jump packs or are you just doing vertical insertion like Storm troopers do out of Valkyries?

Yes, the idea is that they either jump out the back of a Valkyrie or some other mass infantry carrier.


Little update:

So yesterday I removed all the back packs as I just weren't feeling them anymore. I'll replace them with kit bags and other bits a bobs. But now I'm worried they'll look no different than regular cadians only loaded down with bags...

[Vex]

One thing paratroopers don't do is haul their parachutes around with them once they hit the ground.
So Tyrok Skyborne may use some sort of propulsion kit to aid in slowing their descent out of what ever perfectly good flying vehicle that brought them to the "dance". That kit would then be discarded upon landing for recovery later.

That being said and staring at the pictures, my first thought would be to only use heads with chin straps buckled. Next, you could put bigger wings on the helmet to seperate them from the standard IG bunch.

Kravunhive

The use of the SM backpack isn't totally objectionable. Remove the vents on top, the thrusters as some might designate them as. Maybe, mount it a little lower and fill the blank space with some sort of other IG bit.
Wait, vehicle sprue, skull with wings. Wings go on helmet and the Skull on the pack. Add an antenna?
OR MELTABOMBS!
No, it would have to be something not critically needed in combat since it would be hard to reach. Press mold of a pouch, or part of a vox caster, or spare grenades.

Just my humble opinion.

[Cry of the Wind]

I wouldn't give up on the marine pack just yet. Cut it down a little more and try to fit the bags and extra gear under it like an Elysian. As Vex suggested cover the vents as that will make them less like Space Marine packs.

Failing that just grab a bunch of Elysian packs like I did... (you can see one example in my Angel Encarmine log, I posted a member of my Inquisitorial Guard in there)