Steam Punk Napoleonic Imperial Guard.

[Valkraye]

Hey everyone and welcome to what is the first post in what is going to be a (sadly) very long, very drawn out log. At the end of this process, however, I intend to have a 2000 point Imperial Guard force. But not just any force - a fully converted mash-up of Steam punk, Napoleonics and the 41st Millennia.

This is an idea I have been toying with for some time, a very long time, and watching and reading the Sharpe series (again), more hours than I can count looking at source material and a determination to not have a "run-of-the-mill" Guard army has been a driving force behind the idea. The idea has had its up and downs and lulls and highs, going almost forgotten for a few months whilst I took time to rework my Ork army. But now I feel like it is time to finally really begin this project.

So, I ask you, the brilliant community of Warseer to help me achieve this goal.

I have some ideas for what to convert, what to buy and how to go about putting this mash up together, but it is only a rough idea. I implore anyone willing to pay attention and bear with me for their expertise, their judgements and their criticism when the time comes for models to get built and painted. I especially need sources for some items and ideas on how to convert others.

Cheers for reading,
Phill.

EDIT:

Please have a look at the latest post, it goes a long way to disregarding some of the information and ideas I have compiled in regards to the standard infantry Guardsmen in some of my preliminary posts, though other people's suggestions are definitely being taken on board, and their ideas are well worth reading.

[cornonthecob]

I would say go for it.

[Valkraye]

Lists of Components:
Imperial Guardsmen

Torsos:

I was thinking of using these fantastic torsos, they fit the period and the look I am going for and won't require conversion work, or not much if there is any needed.


(http://www.victorialamb.com/store.html)

Legs:
Standard Cadian legs with a slight conversion to add gaiters, as seen here:



Tutorial can be found here. This is not my work by any means, and I hope I might be able to one day emulate the conversions posted on the blog, but it was one of the conversions/logs that really drove my early obsession and love of this concept.

Heads:

I decided back when I first decided on this course of action, that for the army, that standard Imperial Guard helmets just wouldn't look right. I think I might replace the heads of most of the infantry with heads from various Empire sprues and box sets, for example:





Alternate Imperial Guard Infantry - Highland troops

I was thinking of having a platoon of "Highland" infantry. My initial idea was to replace the standard Cadian legs with the fantastic looking Highland legs made by Victoria Lamb, using them for both the attached heavy weapons teams as well.




My dilemma, however, is I want to use at least one major Games Workshop component (legs or torso) so that I might be able to play the army in store. My question here is, how might I use the legs and not use the bodies? Or do I go all in and use the legs and bodies, but keep this platoon to a minimum?

Weapons

I have been looking at ways to 'Steampunk' the humble Lasgun, but haven't come up with any concrete ideas and haven't found any pre-existing ideas that really appeal to me. Can anyone suggest some examples of previous work that I might be able to bastardise?

For the grenade launcher I was thinking of having a 'hand cannon' looking weapon, something like the top two below.


For flamers I was thinking replacing the standard Guard promethium tanks with something that would resemble the really old iconic scuba suit helmet. A very out-there comparison but I can't think of a better example. The weapon itself would be another very old looking weapon, perhaps an elongated blunderbuss type weapon...

I'll cover heavy weapons teams later on in another post.

[Valkraye]

I would say go for it.

Thank you, and thanks for the picture. I was thinking more of a British theme, but that pistol has me thinking about plasma weapons conversions.

[Steam_Giant]

interesting idea. If you like that picture, check out the rest of the 'Dystopian Wars' artwork (Spartan games), Its excellent.

[Valkraye]

Rough Riders

This is something I haven't given as much thought as I should have.

Initial idea was to have Empire Pistolier horses and legs, and add the same torsos as I was using for the infantry, though shaving down the leg armour to fit it with the rest of the army.
The heads would probably be entirely from the Pistolier box set because I do like the plume'd helmets, plus there is already a lot of 'Imperial' iconography.

Or, you know, 100% Victoria Lamb items. Man, does she come up a lot already in this log...



The problem is the hunting lances. Miss (Mrs?) Lamb does sell her lances separately to the rider legs, and I think it may be a cool idea.



I was, however, hoping for a more steampunk looking variety, perhaps adding an underslung weapon of sorts to an already existing spear/lance, or making my own from copper tubing.

[Valkraye]

Heavy Weapons

For the heavy weapons, I was thinking of really bringing the Steam punk element home.

Lascannons

Originally I was thinking that I wouldn't be getting any lascannons into the army back when I was thinking along the lines of pure Napoleonics given how radical they were and how difficult they would be to justify to myself, and then a genius employee at my local Workshop suggested something so simple yet so utterly perfect that blew my mind on the subject, and expanded the idea well and truly into the steam punk:

Warp.
Lightning.

His idea was to use Warp Lightning Cannons as the basis for Lascannons given their Steampunk look and feel.



I imagine that I'd remove almost the entire weapon carriage (too big for a heavy weapon team, though not for a basilisk stand-in artillery piece...) and would mount the cannon itself on some form of old spoke wheels. And there is another dilemma - where do I get authentic-looking, 28mm scale, oversized cog/spoke wheels? Or how do I make them? A real world example:



Could anyone point me in the direction of some appropriate manufactured models, or even a tutorial on how to build these? Or, if push comes to shove, could people help me come up with a method for making them?

The alternative, and the path that I think I would prefer to some degree given my love of them, would be to hunt down some of the older models.



Though, I plan to have some 10-20 lascannons in the army, so while either option is going to be damned hard to pull off, this one might be nigh on impossible.

Missile Launchers

Simply put, cannons. Probably just Empire cannons, with some steam punk elements added. The crew would get the 40K make over, with Imperial torsos and the such. For the cannons, basically:

This:


Meets these:

Attachment 135334


Auto Cannons

A relatively simple idea with difficult execution. I was thinking Puckle Guns.






Converting one would be difficult, but I think it would suit the army pretty well, especially with the addition of some warp-stone-esque details, or perhaps a steam-powered firing mechanism.

Heavy Bolters

Another simple idea, with a difficult execution. For Heavy Bolters, I was going to experiment with multiple barrel Gatling guns as this gives the impression of a lower calibre and higher rate of fire compared to the Auto-Puckle-Cannons.

Something like this, a fantastic piece of work by Col.Gravis from the Tauonline forums (here):

[Col.Gravis]

I'm liking your concepts alot

One thing you could consider for the Highlanders to fit in some GW bits would be to make them Storm Troopers, or Veterans with Carapace Armour, mixing in torsos perhaps from the Outrider kit for the armour since your planning on using those heads, its not a traditional look for highlanders but would mark them out further an elites in the army perhaps?

[Valkraye]

I'm liking your concepts alot

One thing you could consider for the Highlanders to fit in some GW bits would be to make them Storm Troopers, or Veterans with Carapace Armour, mixing in torsos perhaps from the Outrider kit for the armour since your planning on using those heads, its not a traditional look for highlanders but would mark them out further an elites in the army perhaps?

This idea, I like it. It is something I definitely will explore. Thank you very much, good sir.

And thank you for your fantastic conversions, truly a source of inspiration.

[Anarnaxe]

The grenade launcher, I would suggest using one of weapons from the Pistoliers/Outriders frame. I forget what the weapon is called, but it would be perfect.

[zombiefish]

This is a pretty cool idea and im intrested to see how it turns out. One way you could make napoleonic guard is converting mordians (a little green stuff on the torso to make the cross across the chest and the funny hat it might work?). Im also intrested in your take on tanks they should be good.
Thanks

[Galvatron1701]

There's a picture in the gallery on Dakka of a converted Napoleonic Redcoat which looks pretty good. I can't link to it unfortunately, but a Google image search shows it.

[Valkraye]

The grenade launcher, I would suggest using one of weapons from the Pistoliers/Outriders frame. I forget what the weapon is called, but it would be perfect.

Was this the weapon you were thinking of?



I like that idea. Simple and effective. Perhaps an arm swap, or a slight elongation of the weapon, make it a tad bulkier make it look more suited to infantry than cavalry... Ideas, ideas.

Cheers mate.

This is a pretty cool idea and im intrested to see how it turns out. One way you could make napoleonic guard is converting mordians (a little green stuff on the torso to make the cross across the chest and the funny hat it might work?). Im also intrested in your take on tanks they should be good.
Thanks

I did at one stage consider the Mordians, but I think that to locate in the realm of a hundred of them would be far to time consuming and expensive for me. Ms Lamb's models are readily available from one source. As for the tanks, I am attempting to draw up a half decent representation of my plan for them. I have described my idea to some people but my descriptions come off as madness. Bear with me and I should have some horribly drawn concept designs up by the end of the weekend.
And thank you.

There's a picture in the gallery on Dakka of a converted Napoleonic Redcoat which looks pretty good. I can't link to it unfortunately, but a Google image search shows it.

Are those Nedius' Napoleonic Guard? (found here) His work has been a pretty big inspiration, seeing how the conversions were an achievable thing, not just a crazy dream.

[Brother Jones]

if you do order from Victoria, can you tell me who will deliver the stuff to you? I've had a lot of problems with postal services other than the royal mail when it comes to overseas shipping.

[Valkraye]

if you do order from Victoria, can you tell me who will deliver the stuff to you? I've had a lot of problems with postal services other than the royal mail when it comes to overseas shipping.

This I can do. Though, I think your problems should ease if you are from the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, apparently Ms Lamb relocated in recent months to London. She used to live in Australia, but no more, so I assume I'll be getting them via some generic courier service or Australia Post.

[Galvatron1701]

Are those Nedius' Napoleonic Guard? (found here) His work has been a pretty big inspiration, seeing how the conversions were an achievable thing, not just a crazy dream.

Those are yes, they are very good conversions!

What will you be doing for heavy weapons? I use Empire cannon carriages for my Praetorian Lascannons. I'd like to turn one into an Autocannon puckle gun similar to those seen on Empire Total War.

[precinctomega]

I StumbledUpon this today and thought of you:

R.

[Galvatron1701]

That's cool.

There are these as well:

http://www.ironcladminiatures.co.uk/...aram=cid%3D%26

[StratManKudzu]

Just to add, you had mentione Mordian Guard and the cost/difficulty of acquiring them, Mordians are still available direct from GW. But I really like your concept!

[Tomxj]

Those Dystopian Wars Pic remind me of the Kellerkind range You might want to check them out.

I've converted a couple of squads of Pyran Dragoons from Perry Napoleonics, they came out quiet well.

Regards

Tom j