Plastic Fantastic Stormtroopers

Check out the plastic. yo

I love Stormtroopers. I really do.

Despite my deconstruction of the latest iteration of Stormies, I have always had a soft spot for the Imperium’s finest and I’m not talking about those geneseed-augmented super hominids clad in powered armour, I’m talking about the orphans schooled under the Schola Progenium, drilled and trained to be the best a man can be.

Having ‘hellguns’/hot-shot lasguns and looking super cool also helps.

I’ve always loved the beret-troopers, and it helped that the Kasrkin grenadier-look is also what I expect the best of the Imperial Guard to look like, (less said about the moon-suits the better).

Here come the Men in Black.

When I first saw the rumours of the plastic stormies/arbites upgrade, still a distant possibility, I would seriously consider collecting them, despite their relative uncompetitiveness under 5^th edition (non-scoring making a huge difference).  Atrotos over at Rules Manufactorum suggests a Storm Trooper Officer as such a fix, and similiarly,  thinking about the current 5^th edition IG codex I would suggest in future changing the ‘Lord Commissar’  entry to do just that: perform as an upgrade to allow the taking of Storm Troopers as Troops.

Seems a natural fit, and an easy fix. Sales of Stormies go up, people will actually start taking a Lord Commisar into games (sales of them will go up too).  Job’s a good ‘un. But that's another discussion for another day.

The 'rumoured' plastic stormies release, since debunked as portfolio photos for a 'test' model

Alas, it’s years on and still no sign of the elusive plastic Stormtroopers. I had to take matters into my own hands.

Sure, there have been many attempts (notably here, here, and here and last I checked definitely here) at making them, but I wanted a unique take that would fit into the look I’ve adopted for my Kasrkins/Berets, but would also make them stand out on their own, to get that ‘Wow, where did you get that pose?’ quality, but also would be easy to use and adapt with my existing bits and bobs (plenty of Cadian surplus).

Wargames factory to the rescue!

Do you like 28mm gas masks, Nazi helmets, greatcoats, shotguns, railguns? If so, please consider the contents of this box.

Their ‘Sci-fi Greatcoat Infantry’ from the ‘Alien Suns’ range seemed to me, the perfect match.  With their variety of weapons included in the sprue (easy pump-action shotguns for my vets, and unique ornate-looking railguns that I could use as Hellguns), the ease of use and adaptability with Cadian parts, and most importantly, Greatcoats!

Pumping your action? Vets ahoy! CHIK-CAK pew pew pew

Combined with a set of Forgeworld Cadian respirator heads I had lying about, and adapting surplus voxcasters (plus having those 'railguns' double as the hot-shot lasguns) I think I’ve managed to achieve that look and feel of a certain Mr. Goodwin’s concept art. What do you guys think?

Concept sketch (2nd edition) Imperial Guard - Jes Goodwin / GW copyright

I really must say that for the budding Imperial Guard player I cannot recommend the wargames factory sprues highly enough (you get real bang for your buck, real cheap too compared to current GW prices as you get plenty more figures for the comparable price hence the incredible value for money). Understandably there will be issues with the usage of non-GW sanctioned products kitbashed together, but in friendly games who gives a feth!

Group shot at the Library

Slap on some Pig Iron heads and you could end up with great looking Death Korps of Krieg / Armageddon Steel Legion / Valhallan Ice Warrior / Adeptus Mechanicus Skittari, but for the now the versatile and high-quality bodies and parts have found use as my new Stormtroopers, giving one an even greater range of poses from the standard IG parts.

Point before you pew pew pew

I’ll be slapping on the black paint and detailing them up soon, ready to take them out for a spin with my beret and Kasrkin stormies!