Steam Punk Napoleonic Imperial Guard.

[Valkraye]

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.

Indeed they are. I love the look of the models, I might even have a go at converting some stovepipe hats for some of the infantry based on Nedius' tutorial.

As for heavy weapons, I intend to make puckle guns for Autocannons, very early style gatling guns for heavy bolters, cannons for missile launchers and Skaven warp lighting cannons for lascannons. As for the carriages, I need to find something very similar to the Empire cannon carriage, or somewhere to get them en masse.

I StumbledUpon this today and thought of you:

R.

That is a fantastic conversion. Absolutely fantastic. Simple looking (I imagine not so simple to build) and very effective. Definitely something to consider.

That's cool.

There are these as well:

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

Also rather impressive looking models, and completely different to how I had them pictured. As for the pictures I promised, I'm going to have a go at drawing them on MS paint or some such program. My scanner decided cooperation was not what it wanted to do.

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!

Truly? I was under the impression that GW had stopped the production of things like Mordians, Praetorians and Valhallans. This might change things...

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

I love your conversions. Absolutely love them, and the models would look perfect, after a little steam-punking. How are they for scale? I know some of the Perry infantry suffers from being in true 28mm scale rather than Heroic scale, but I haven't ever seen any of their cavalry before, but they look very very close to 40K proportions.

Thanks everyone, I now have quite a bit of information to process.

Cheers,
Phill.

[Valkraye]

What I am about to unpload to this log may be considered crimes against humanity, an a front to every god, and the spark that caused World War III...

I present to you, dear Warseer, the worst concept design sketches known to mankind.



In an attempt to reconcile that madness with sense and reason, a colour code:

Light Brown: represents a wide flat-bed carriage
Dark Brown: represents large cog/spoked wheels
Grey: represents Imperial barriers (the terrain pieces)
Red: shows the very rough location of the main weapon, mounted on some form of brace
Yellow: shows the very rough location of the crew men
Green: represents a very steam-punk, very strange looking warp-stone-style engine.

Almost imagine a very, very basic, wooden steam train. This is the idea I came up with 4 am one morning in an epiphany that woke me, made me draw and then sent me right back to sleep.

[Student]

Cool idea. I like your concept sketch, it reminds me of the unit markers from the battle reports in old white dwarves. I look forward to seeing it made.

[Brother Jones]

I've ordered some stuff from Victoria miniatures, some gun arms and kilts for my guardsmen, I'll let you know what the stuff is like when I get it.

[Galvatron1701]

Her gun arms are very good quality, just be careful of the straps- the metal is soft and they bend very easily. Her heads can be a little tricky, I've got her pith heads and the quality of the cast was a bit poor- some detail was lost due to mold lines.

[Yodhrin]

If you've got the green, I heartily suggest picking up a few of the DKoK Weapons Packs from Forgeworld; you get a "hand-cannon" style grenade launcher, five lasguns that actually look like rifles rather than assault rifles, and a few other special weapons you could take or leave. If you bought a couple of them I doubt anyone could object to you casting a few extras for personal use(other than GW/FW ofc, but they don't need to know ).

[Galvatron1701]

Yodhrin speaks the truth, the flamers and grenade launchers on those sprues are much better than the Cadian or Catachan sprues. I think though that the Vic Mini rifles would be better suited to you.

[Shrapnel]

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:

Attachment 135330

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?

There are places were you can buy rubber moulds to make your own metal napoleonic figures - you could get a cannon carriage set and make as many as you need. Here's one that I've gotten moulds from. The quality isn't great and they're only 25mm scale, but with a bit of tweaking (and seeing as you'll be converting stuff anyway) it might do the trick?

[Intrepid Adventurer]

Awesome idea, but so much work...

[Valkraye]

Cool idea. I like your concept sketch, it reminds me of the unit markers from the battle reports in old white dwarves. I look forward to seeing it made.

Haha, it does look a bit like those, doesn't it. And I am glad you like it. I just need to work out how I am going to do the sponsons. And how to build the wagon. And how to build the gun...

I've ordered some stuff from Victoria miniatures, some gun arms and kilts for my guardsmen, I'll let you know what the stuff is like when I get it.

That would be absolutely awesome, man. Thank you so very much in advance.

Her gun arms are very good quality, just be careful of the straps- the metal is soft and they bend very easily. Her heads can be a little tricky, I've got her pith heads and the quality of the cast was a bit poor- some detail was lost due to mold lines.

Thank you for the warning. Though, I think I'll have to ignore the pith helmets - I might have convinced myself to convert ~130 shakos. You know, because I am clearly insane.

If you've got the green, I heartily suggest picking up a few of the DKoK Weapons Packs from Forgeworld; you get a "hand-cannon" style grenade launcher, five lasguns that actually look like rifles rather than assault rifles, and a few other special weapons you could take or leave. If you bought a couple of them I doubt anyone could object to you casting a few extras for personal use(other than GW/FW ofc, but they don't need to know ).

That isn't a bad idea at all. I'll ready be hitting up Forge World for DKoK Commander and Commisars (Commander and Junior officers respectively, or maybe even Commissars). Casting would be tricky... But those DKoK weapons ARE dead sexy.

Yodhrin speaks the truth, the flamers and grenade launchers on those sprues are much better than the Cadian or Catachan sprues. I think though that the Vic Mini rifles would be better suited to you.

Mmm... That he does and that they are. If I can get them separately, I think I might just have to grab a couple. I need to work out the list first, however. I might post a rough one relatively soon, actually.

There are places were you can buy rubber moulds to make your own metal napoleonic figures - you could get a cannon carriage set and make as many as you need. Here's one that I've gotten moulds from. The quality isn't great and they're only 25mm scale, but with a bit of tweaking (and seeing as you'll be converting stuff anyway) it might do the trick?

It might indeed... I'll have to have a go at it me thinks, even if I don't end up doing it due to being really, really bad at actually doing it, it is too tempting to pass up entirely.

Awesome idea, but so much work...

It will be a labour of love. By the end there will have been much blood, much cursing and many a sleepless night, but it'll be worth it. Not to mention the poor bank account. He is going to hate me really soon.

Again, thanks for all the suggestions guys. I'll follow this post with a very rough version of the army list. Very, very rough. Coarse-sand-in-the-eyes rough.

[Valkraye]

The Unamed Company From Some Place - 1750ish point list.

HQ

Company Command Squad
- Regimental Standard
- Vox-caster
Total = 70 points

Troops

Infantry Platoon 1

- Platoon Command Squad 1
- Platoon Standard
- Vox-Caster

- Infantry Squad 1.1
- Grenade Launcher
- Vox-caster

- Infantry Squad 1.2
- Grenade Launcher
- Vox-caster

- Infantry Squad 1.3
- Grenade Launcher
- Vox-caster

Total = 230 points

Infantry Platoon 2

- Platoon Command Squad 2
- Platoon Standard
- Vox-Caster

- Infantry Squad 2.1
- Grenade Launcher
- Vox-caster

- Infantry Squad 2.2
- Grenade Launcher
- Vox-caster

- Infantry Squad 2.3
- Grenade Launcher
- Vox-caster

- Heavy Weapons Squad 2.1
- Missile Launcher x 3

- Heavy Weapons Squad 2.2
- Missile Launcher x 3

- Heavy Weapons Squad 2.3
- Missile Launcher x 3

- Heavy Weapons Squad 2.4
- Lascannon x 3

- Heavy Weapons Squad 2.5
- Lascannon x 3

Total = 710


Infantry Platoon 3

- Platoon Command Squad 3
- Platoon Standard
- Vox-Caster

- Infantry Squad 3.1
- Grenade Launcher
- Vox-caster

- Infantry Squad 3.2
- Grenade Launcher
- Vox-caster

- Infantry Squad 3.3
- Grenade Launcher
- Vox-caster

- Heavy Weapons Squad 3.1
- Heavy Bolter x 3

- Heavy Weapons Squad 3.2
- Autocannon x 3

- Heavy Weapons Squad 3.3
- Autocannon x 3

Total = 455


Fast Attack

Rough Rider Squad 1
- 5 additional Rough Riders
- Mogul Kamir

Total = 145

Rough Rider Squad 2
- 5 additional Rough Riders

Total = 105

Which comes to what... 1715?

Which leaves me with enough to points to add in either 2 hellhounds or a Punisher.
I am thinking the Punisher and a couple other bells and whistles. Maybe another 10 Rough Riders.

As I said, this is very much an early draft. Already I am thinking less weapons, more infantry, even just to save me from having to converting a million weapons.

[Valkraye]

Greetings to anyone who may have been paying attention to this thread,

I have found my first hurdle (more of a wall, really) and need some help getting around it.

Basically, using parts that are not Games Workshop or scratch built/converted parts makes my army illegal in stores and at tournaments. This is very bad.
While I had suspected, it has recently been confirmed beyond a doubt.

So, out go all the beautiful Victoria Lamb parts I was going to use.
Which was most of my models.
A fact made even harder by the fact she just released a whole bunch more components.
Made even more difficult by the fact that she made KNEELING legs.
Perfect legs...

Mustn't think about it. That way lies madness.

Now I am facing the problem of locating Games Workshop equivalents to fill in for my standard troopers torsos and legs.

I was thinking that I would go with something like this:


The torso comes from the Empire Militia box set
The legs come from the Empire Militia box set
The arms and weapon come from the Empire Handgunners box set
The Human head comes from the Empire Militia box set
The skull comes from the Vampire Counts Dark Knight box set.
(All of the individual images are from the Bitz Box website, where the parts would be sourced from.)

The skull would be painted a bronze colour and would be worn by every single soldier, infantry or rough rider. The riders might get some sort of plume/front-to-back crest, as well.
The junior officers would wear similar whilst slightly more ornate masks/helmets, while the senior officer would wear this (minus the beard-ish bit):


The other option is to keep it more "human" with the bare heads and Empire-like hats.

The skulls are meant to reflect a much darker image than what I was going for, as well as bring the steam-punk aspect more in line with the 40K universe.

Any thoughts or suggestions?

Cheers for reading,

Phill

[Shrapnel]

Do GW still run tournaments? Stores can set their own rules, fair enough, but are there no independent tournaments running in your area? and i thought the rule was the models had to be at least 50% GW bits?

[Galvatron1701]

I do think it a shame that you're going to abandon your initial ideas. I think you need to work on the models that give you the most pleasure regardless of GW's stance.

[Colonel Gordon]

In interesting Position. I need more pics from the minis. Do ypu have an testmini ?

[Valkraye]

Do GW still run tournaments? Stores can set their own rules, fair enough, but are there no independent tournaments running in your area? and i thought the rule was the models had to be at least 50% GW bits?

Not aware of tournaments run specifically by the Workshop themselves anymore, but the last I attended was run by employees. And being in Australia, MOAB is one of the few we have going around, other than the non-invitational Lords of Terra.

As for the 50% thing, that is the assumption I was operating under, but apparently it is not the case.

I do think it a shame that you're going to abandon your initial ideas. I think you need to work on the models that give you the most pleasure regardless of GW's stance.

I am upset too, but it is an army I would like to play in stores. What I think I might do is compromise - use the Militia bodies and legs but also have that Highland company I wanted, regardless of these miniature composition rules. Oh, and all of the special and heavy weapons will remain the same.

I am however liking the idea of the skulls a lot for some reason.

In interesting Position. I need more pics from the minis. Do ypu have an testmini ?

Sadly no test mini at the moment. However, rest assured that the second I have one it'll be up here.

[Chem-Dog]

Have you considered using these heads as a basis for a shako/stovepipe style piece of head gear? Bitzbox and LtDD both seem to have plenty hanging about (always a bonus when ordering specific parts in bulk) and they shouldn't be all that difficult to shave, file and whittle into something useful (perhaps with some of this located on the front). It certainly says both "steampunk" and "napoleonic" better than feathered hats do IMHO.

I'm a big fan of using the empire hangunner weapons, I've use them in several experimental models and will be using them for a basis for weapons for a group of renegades at some point. And the Hockland Rifle has to get in there somewhere...Maybe sniper rifles.

That's all I got. Subbed and waiting eagerly for more developments

[Valkraye]

Have you considered using these heads as a basis for a shako/stovepipe style piece of head gear? Bitzbox and LtDD both seem to have plenty hanging about (always a bonus when ordering specific parts in bulk) and they shouldn't be all that difficult to shave, file and whittle into something useful (perhaps with some of this located on the front). It certainly says both "steampunk" and "napoleonic" better than feathered hats do IMHO.

I'm a big fan of using the empire hangunner weapons, I've use them in several experimental models and will be using them for a basis for weapons for a group of renegades at some point. And the Hockland Rifle has to get in there somewhere...Maybe sniper rifles.

That's all I got. Subbed and waiting eagerly for more developments

I hadn't thought of using those heads, no, though now it is something I can contemplating.

And yes, the Hockland is definitely getting in there. I love it too much for it to not make an appearance. It will either be as a sniper or to mark out a sergeant or something to that affect.

Cheers for your support, man, I appreciate it.

Once these uni exams are dead, I get a month off uni. That means that I should be posting up some test miniatures before too much longer. There are a few different ways I want to try the heads, from shakos to a couple different variants of the skull idea. I was thinking necron heads in the way of this tutorial, though probably shaved down even more, with no teeth showing. Just a blank, expressionless mask, probably bronzed.

[Chem-Dog]

Valkraye! Have you had a chance to look at UKWD 378 (just out, heavy coverage of 6th Ed)?
I've had a flick through and saw an Army that made me think of you, it might be Chris Peach's army (I can't remember for sure, the shop had sold out and I was briefly looking through the store copy). It might be worth a look if you haven't seen it already.

[Valkraye]

Valkraye! Have you had a chance to look at UKWD 378 (just out, heavy coverage of 6th Ed)?
I've had a flick through and saw an Army that made me think of you, it might be Chris Peach's army (I can't remember for sure, the shop had sold out and I was briefly looking through the store copy). It might be worth a look if you haven't seen it already.

I did catch a glimpse of that army, and it was nice to see something along those lines. While I don't like the use of the feathers on the standard infantry, I do like his army overall. Very much. Mine will be blued-steel-type-metals though rather than bronze, I think, but the cavalry will look very similar.