Squats Imperial Guard Style

[Ross]

Hello there, for a while i've been tinkering on this little project The Refugees Of Golgotha. Now after "graffiti on the side of a Titan" I always thought it was Gazgukhul that stomped out the Squats (not just the rules development boys), anyway my idea is that a ship full of squats broke tradition and fled.
Anyway, lots more fluff where that came from, here's what i've done. This is not all that has been created, but gives you all the idea what I've accomplished.
I use the IG rules with Hardened Fighters, Cameleoline (short stature), Die-Hards, Enginseers.
I forgot to shoot my Enginseer so will add that at a later date.
Please tell me what you think, email would be better but I'm not adverse to you putting an opinion up on here. I't taken alot of effort so far and I'd love some positive and maybe some negative feed back.


My Hellhound, JO, 10 Squat Squad, HSO.

[jasevx]

Great fluff idea, but using Dwarfs as Squats worry me, they look like WH with Lasguns, wereas Squats were something different. The troops need to be brough upto date, especially the great work you've put into the vehicles!

[Sling]

The tanks are great but the troops are a little bit to much fantasy...

[Lockjaw]

i'd use more IG bits, make them a bit more techy, a bit less fantasy

[DigitsDavid]

Are they plastic Dwarves? If so, it would be quite easy to remove the helmets and swap on Cadian ones. Add a few shoulder boards and they should look a bit more 40k.

The tank however is great and as mentioned above, the fluff is good. Check e-bay for a few original squats and mix them in a bit to add credibility.

[scrubout]

Wow that chimera conversion is ace for squats.

I however ain't feeling the actual squats though...sorry. They need to be more teched-up. More helmets, less chainmail.

-peace out
scrubout:skull:

[Ross]

OK, cool, I just read the first (of hopefuly many) post on here, went outside for a "They didn't like em" cigarette, back calm and colected lol. I had a rethink, Squats being tinkerers would undoubtably fiddle with their equipment right? So I was thinking of little 'rebuilds' (I detest rebuilds lol).
What about:
if I used greenstuff over the chain shoulders and made plates,
put a few 'sensors' into helmets, target eyes, antena.
Any other ideas on how to tech them up, keeping in mind there a small model to play with and i'm not keen on the idea of Cadian helmets (tried it, looked rong. Tried SM shoulderpads, too big and wrong too but had merit).
I do want these to be the best they can be and I think I missed the mark a little.

And corrections, those tanks are indeed 'one' tank, 2 shot, Hellhound, I have a Chimera but it's still in construction phase, just the turret to do.

Thanks for the feed back guys, keep it coming.

[Ross]

Just downloaded some squat pics, got a better idea (NOT DOING TRIKES lol). I'll come back with some 'testers' to keep you alll up to date.

[Ross]

Just made a tester, used IG helm, 'bionic eye,' and Cadian arms for that 'future' look. Bit blurry (had to zoom like a mother ######).
I knocked it up in about 20 mins, needs some greenstuff fine tuning. I loft the arms open for this one as getting them to hold a gun so it looks good is quite a bit of work (damn beards). I noticed a few of the old squat models had sunglasses and cool hair styles so if this one looks 'correct' to you guys then that will be my next aim (if only I can find someone with a big enough boof-head).

Let me know ..........

[bloody_sabbath]

I like the new prototype very much. IMO its better than the originals.

[He Who Laughs]

Sweet, good onya for posting piccies up of them.

Your old ones look good - but the new concept looks even better, exactly what I remember a Squat to look like. Now, all you need is to apply a thin layer of greenstuff over the torso, and score it up with a knife and taa-daa - good old Squat Flakjackets.

Best of luck with the new ones mate - they're going to look awesome. Four monkey thumbs up!

EDIT: Just had a close look at the older ones with lasguns, they look pretty darn cool. A little time and effort spent on de-fantasy-ing them, and they'll fit right in.

[Ross]

Hey He who Laughs, any ideas how I can de-fantasy-eeing (that's not really a word is it) them without pulling them apart? The guns cover much of the bodies so I was thinking helm and shoulder pad work, maybe shirts and plate shoulders for the open arms ones.
I dunno give us some hints people!

Keep in mind there's 41 to do (all lovingly painted with blood sweat and lots and lots of tears!!!!!).

[scrubout]

That's much better, good on ya for trying out a new style as it has improved them a whole lot.

As for the already assembled ones, perhaps they can be hardened vets? Try the shoulderpads on one and see how it looks and say because their honor guard or whatever (someone know more about squats?) that they have 'family-made' armor? Storm Troopers perhaps?

Definately looking forward to the hellhound.

-peace out
scrubout:skull:

[Ross]

Scrubout <pout> that is the hellhound <sob>
Do you all think it's better off as a Chimera?
I do have a chimera still in production with a more traditional look.

[DigitsDavid]

Much better. I would avoid SM shoulder pads as they are too big. However, it is possible to carve out the Cadian Shoulder boards and use them over the dwarve shoulders without having to use the cadian arms. I agree with the other postings in that a bit of greenstuff over chain to make "padding" would look good. Poping a few amo puches / grenades on their belts would help too.

[jasevx]

Its a Chimera with Flamers. Hellhounds have the tanks. As scrubout says, great improvement! I think the easiest way of the heads is standard cadian with GS beards, and long hair.

You could also cut off the horns off the standard helms and GS them to blend in if you wanted to keep the 'Dwarf' look.

Great turn around, remember the idea of this forum is to 'guide' you in whats exceptable on the table, however its your army and you have the last say.

[Bob Hunk]

Nice idea, I like the test models and the Chimera especially. I'm looking forward to seeing more of this project.

[Barbarossa]

Yep, cut off the horns from the helmet and make the axes less visible (strapped on the back maybe). Squats always seemed to be a practical bunch so they'd rather have their guns in their hands instead of waving axes at the enemy.
Have you thought about using the carapace doctrine? It could show how they are tougher than humans but not as tough as Space Marines.

[Ross]

Again thanks all for the encouragement, the new ones (waiting for GS to dry on 1st tester then I'll paint it and post it) do look good don't they.
Thanks to all for the de-fantasy-ing ideas, keep em coming.
While waiting for GS to dry I popped the head of a pre-existing plasma gunner andgave him a catachan crew cut. I also tried using small amounts of GS (yes I painted it as soon as it was 'sort of' dry) flattened over the chain shoulders and painted it as lacquered carapace with chips.
Yes again the pics are a little blurry, going to try some new camera tecniques for the next 'show-off' so sorry, but you can almost make out the detail lol.

The new one is on the left and I put an old one on the right for comparison.
The new one has the fur shirt (a grey white paint job) and the old one has the leather jerkin.

[jasevx]

That makes a world of difference. Totally de-fantasyfied it!