The Cadian 228th / 1971st Catachan Rifles

[Pax Urbis Pax Imperi]

Welcome to my Imperial Guard Army's Blog, the Cadian 228th Rifles, or as they have come to call themselves, The Urban Pacification League.

Their colors in the field are Grey and Olive, with no camouflage scheme. The Right shoulder is red, with the other shoulder to designate which squad they belong too. Blue is Heavy Weapons, Red is HQ, Goldenrod is Special Weapons, Olive for normal troopers, Dark Grey for Veterans. Veterans have their colors reversed from regular Guardsmen; whereas a typical guardsman is wearing Olive flak armor over grey fatigues, a Veteran is reversed: Grey flak armor over Olive fatigues. Special Forces wear black flak and fatigues.

The Platoon Commanders will have a Red Stripe on their left shoulder pads to signify Officer status, and Sargents will have a white horizontal stripe on the back of their helmets. Easier for charging Guardsmen to find their Sargents!

Motto: PAX URBIS, PAX IMPERI ~ "Peace in the Cities, Peace in the Empire"


A bit about the Regimental Standard that is carried into battle. The colors on the Banner do have actual meanings in mind when it was designed. The two main colors, White and Red, are a nod to the motto of the 228th Cadians. The White side signifies peace, tranquility. sincerity in its devotion to the Empire and its Emperor, while the Red side shows the martial strength of the company, and to the martyrs within who are ready to die, and have died, in the name of Terra. The blue shield, showing loyalty, is an obvious protection device used by many over the centuries, and with the Silver Eagle of the Empire, the League will defend the Empire loyally as long as there is peace within. The Bell has long been used as a method of dispersing evil spirits, and to have it rung over Purple Grapes is to indicate that the 228th will never quit until Peace rings out, causing happiness in the Empire. Purple is of course, is an Imperial color. The Tawny Goldenrod of the Banner with the Motto signifies what a Worth Ambitions this unit has in the Emperor's service, and the Black Horse shows that the 228th is constantly ready for deployment for king and country, or rather, for Emperor and Terra. Finally, the banner is divided diagonally by crenelations, signifying a town or city. This is again a way to show that this company is primarily deployed to urban environments, rather than rural ones.

Here is one of my squads, Squad 251. All Guardsmen wear the Cadian Gate over their Red Shoulder pauldron.



Here is Squad Mike 501, Veteran. Veterans have the earned the right to have a symbol of their own, and this Vet squad has a Spade. Although the word spade today is mostly used as a synonym for a shovel, the suit in playing cards is more likely derived from the Greek word for SWORD (spatke). As a suit in a deck of playing cards spades are associated with fighting, destiny, and death.





I'll be giving this Squad the Demolitions doctrine, so one of the squad of course, has a demo charge.



Comments are appreciated!

[mardaddy]

Xenos taint! Ork demo charge! Heretic!

Seriously, though... nice work there. I'm not a fan of red & green for uniforms, but you made it work.

[Gabriel Lupus]

Neat and impressive work so far, and you've really gone to town on the bases - Kudos!

You've struck on one of my personal preferences too - ensuring you have a background/logic to the colours you've used. Especially impressive that you've researched the symbols of coats of arms (having a family coat of arms myself, I rather enjoyed looking at the link ).

The detail you've done for the eye's in particular is really groovy - good work, and bring on some more!

[Pax Urbis Pax Imperi]

Here is a unit of Penal Legionnaires I made from Catachan Jungle Fighters: Penal Squad Baker Sam 13-624-6 aka "The Blue Skulls"

Now, you ask, why Catachan? Because when anyone mentions Penal Legion, these models leaped to my mind. I love the look, and they already look like they have prison issued clothing, so it was not much of a stretch for me.

I was going to "throw this squad" together, but then I saw how complicated they were. If anyone has an army of plastic Catachan, you now have my undying respect. This was a real pain to build!



The Penal Legion have some minor conversions: some leg and arm repositioning, everyone is sporting a knife or a bladed weapon of some kind (for the Knife Fighters/In for a Pound doctrines), everyone is sporting a Lasgun, except the the Custodian (pictured below) who has a Laspistol and a detonator, and instead of a bomb strapped to their necks, they have anklet bracelets (which can track and/or blow off their legs if they run/tramper with the device.)


I think the Custodian will also be my "Marbo" stand-in until I get another.

The ankle bracelets are made from a thin slice of sprue, which curved nicely to place around the back of the boot. Since I had to slice off the stock of most of the Lasguns to use with the Penal Legion, I used the back of the stocks as "buttons" for the bracelets, and sliced off some ends of plastic rods for explosives, etc. It looks pretty good, I think.



I painted them in gray and olive fatigues (since my base trooper uses gray fatigues, and my Veterans olive fatigues) to show that this squad is a mix of unit types. I thought that Catachan models would be best for this unit, and I was right, they look great. I have some old decals (from 1994!) and used a blue skull as a "unit" mark, and cut out the product codes and used them as "prison numbers" on the right shoulders. If I have another squad (and I might, not sure yet), they will have red skulls on their shoulders.

Penal Squad Baker Sam 13-624-6 aka "The Blue Skulls"









Here is a close up of the Custodian's tattoo: ¢¾ Mom, with an arrow through it, and a bit closer on the squad's penal designation.

I've also fitted my Penal Legionnaires with leg trackers/bombs instead of the neck bombs. Here is a blurry picture...


This squad was a pain to model, but was fun to paint, and honestly, I have fun playing them as well. I am giving serious thought to another Penal Legion Squad. I am also toying with the following deployment: Gunslingers - the PL use a Scout move and go forward as far as they can; Psychopaths - Use as Outflankers to smash into that stray back squad (with the Fleet rule, there is a potential there); Knife Fighter - Scout ahead and use as a screening force.

Comments appreciated!

[Lledwey]

Love the tattoos on the legionnaires, keep up the good work ;D

[Soap]

Very good work there. Not a fault I can see. The bases even look well done. Now come and paint my guard to that standard

[Gabriel Lupus]

I think Catachans are a rather apt choice for Penal Legion - if for no other reason than the vast amount of knives that come with/on them. As for issues with their construction, I completely agree. I made a veteran squad using them and they were really awkward (This changed my mind about getting a Catachan army... unless I can get hold of the old metal ones...).

You're continuing to put some really good detail work into your models - they're going to be a really groovy sight all together.

[igdude]

I really like the detail work with the tattoos, and I love the conversions!

[Pax Urbis Pax Imperi]

Thank you, everyone. I appreciate the comments.

I have converted two old metal Empire Warrior Priests from Warhammer Fantasy. One Ministorum Priest is wielding an Eviscerator, the other has a shotgun.

For the first priest I cut off his right arm and shoulder pauldron, cut off the hammer, cut off the right hand and rotated it for an underhanded grip, drilling out the left hand so that it can hold the Eviscerator at the bottom of the haft, drilled out the right hand to hold the upper part, added a 1" long plastic card dowel, and attached an Orc-chain sword blade and added an on/off switch. Finally, I pinned the right hand to the right arm, and the right arm to the right shoulder, then I GS'd the gaps.

*whew!*

The toughest parts was the drilling and pinning, and probably the GS on the shoulder.




I love the "Here I come" pose that the model came in. He is my second favorite conversion so far.



After converting a Brother Fantasy Warhammer priest into an Eviscerator-wielding priest (now known as Brother Isaiascas), I decided that I hated that hammer he had. It just didn't fit for me, but what could I do? But wait, check your bitz box....




I found a Marine Scout Biker shotgun, and cut off the cuff. Then I removed the hammer and the hand holding the hammer. Then I drilled pin holes in the hand and wrist area before I GS-repaired the chain-mail, covering a nasty flat gash where I had cut away the hammer. I then pinned the shotgun hand to the wrist, and GS the gap. Viola! A Shotgun-wielding Ministorum Priest to bolster one of my platoons.




I painted Brother Armitage up, since it would be very simple to do quickly. I also added a purity seal to the Shotgun for added effect, and drilled the barrels out a bit.

[Dedrier]

Those Priests are pretty bad ass. They seem like they fit in worth your force as well.

[Pax Urbis Pax Imperi]

Again, thank you!

Here is a Techpriest model that I have made from a Warmarchine model...

its not a games workshop model, but I loved the look, and since I would most likely never end up fielding one... I figured what the hey. When I came across a Servitor's arm in a buddy's bitz box, and after I acquired said item, I realized how nicely I could fit that on.





Turned out really well, I think.

[Paradill]

I'm loving these conversions and this thread in it's totality actually. Keep up the good work so I can keep being reminded why I spend hours of my life playing with toy soldiers!

Paradill

[Pax Urbis Pax Imperi]

I had purchased the plastic Cadian Command sprue, and there were lots of parts to cobble together some nice models. Here is my conversion of a Cadian Guardsman Marbo, Corporal Dekker.



The idea for me is that since he is like a Special Forces type character, I gave him black fatigues and black flak armor, each highlighted with a different color gray. The camo cloak is painted to resemble the base each model has (gray stones, tall khaki weeds, etc.) The Cadian Gate symbol was painted on using Slate Grey, to mute the white it normally would be. And of course, his face is painted with camo to help him infiltrate and hide until it was time to strike.


I gave him his Sniper Pistol, and elongated the barrel of the Las pistol by adding that thin plastic rod that are on plastic Sentinels (after all, longer barrels increase accuracy, right?), and then half of a scope from the Sniper Rifle.


The Demo charge is from (I think) an epic rocket launcher or something, just some bits I've had for years, with pieces of the gas mask cut up and used on the demo charge to give it a "cobbled together" feel. And of course, a large ubiquitous Knife.

A fun model to put together, and paint. And best of all, he is Cadian! Love it...

[Gabriel Lupus]

I see you're continuing to make really nice conversions and paint them to a really good standard! Excellent news!

The first priest in particularly put a smile on my face - good work!

[Pax Urbis Pax Imperi]

Today, I present the Chimera "Gloria", Squad 728's personal transport. The reason that I chose Bravo 728 - 3 is that the stripe I painted on either side of the Chimera was their base color. I think I will paint a white and (insert color here) of whichever Squad the Chimera is for. Makes it easier on me when trying to grab the correct squad.

Chimera - "Gloria" <55 base points>




Here are some close up of the brass panniers that I got from Secret Weapon Minatures. They work great, once you know what you are doing, and that's a small learning curve.



Almost everything is magnetized: the dozer blade, the turret weapons, the pintle mount, and the hull weapon switches easily out. The back door opens as well, but with the paint on it, it is very difficult to do so now. I really like the decals I used too, especially the one right below the turret. CCMMVIII: 228th. My Unit's number.

[Dedrier]

Well painted, but far to clean for my tastes.

[Gabriel Lupus]

Delicious. As for the "cleanliness" - maybe it's new to the battlefield, or is fighting in a city (hence no/less mud splash... )

[Soap]

Quality! Looks fresh out of the Chimera Showroom!

[Paradill]

I'm very impressed with these, it obviously takes you a lot of time and effort to achieve the standards of excellence that you continually put out. Bravo! If you don't mind I would quite like to steal your idea for Marbo? I have a few spare people from the command sprue and you have inspired me, I'll even call him Guardsman Pax.

Paradill

[Pax Urbis Pax Imperi]

Well, I am of course honored by that suggestion. By all means, steal away!

Now, here are two more vehicles that I have added to my stable. Here are two Sentinels, Echo-01 "Jolly Roger" and Echo-02 "Lucky Joe". I have the weapons magnetized so I can swap out easily (though they are currently modeled with multi-lasers), and I have cages (in a twist of Brass Panniers and Details from MisterJustin's Secret Weapon Minatures) protecting their power source.




The armored tops have also been magnetized so that I can easily swap between Scout and Armored Mode.



And for fun, the drivers are also magnetized so I can swap out between Sentinels.



They also have numeric identifiers on their backs, and when in Armored Mode, the CCXXVIII is on the back of the armored cockpit; there was no other room.



Please feel free to comment, good, bad or otherwise, on this or anything else you may see here.

[Paradill]

I like the attention to detail and how they are all completely painted, even the areas most people just leave base coated. Another triumph to add to the list, I would love to see a shot of all these models together when you have an amount you are happy with. I can imagine it would be rather impressive.

Paradill

[Pax Urbis Pax Imperi]

More Special Character time! Being the completist that I am, I started making several different Cadian versions of other characters, with my own twist on the theme.

We will start by lesser ranking officer. I love the concept of Capt. Al'rahem, with his ability to outflank and his deadly Claw of the Desert Tiger sword, so I went about creating a Cadian version for my army. Here is Capt. Hampten and his sword Emperor's Wisdom.



I used the sword and part of the right arm of a metal Commissar miniature (pg 77 of the IG Codex, Commissar w/ Power Fist) and mated it with part of the plastic arm and pauldron, so that it looks like he is carrying it on his shoulder. The power supply of a plastic rebreather gives the sword its power. Then I added part of a flag tassel to make it "fancy". He is missing the plasma pistol, but if I really want to add it, I could remove the pointing hand, I suppose.



My current list that I am playing with in a campaign was light on close combat ability. By choosing Straken, I am able to provide a bubble of some pretty awesome combat abilities to my troops, which has proven useful so far. The problem is, Straken is a Catachan Col. Here is my Cadian version: Col. Jaspur Munro



I really like this model: It has a plasma pistol, a shotgun on his back, and a bionic arm with a Sword, to give it a power weapon feel. I pinned the shotgun (from an old Scout Marine Bike that I had, same place the Priest got his shotgun) to the back of the model to ensure it would not be removed by an accidental drop.



Finally, what Cadian army would be complete without a Creed to command at some point? However, I hated the look of the current creed model, and loved the look of the Master of Ordnance advisor. Here is my supreme commander of the Cadian 228th Rifles, Lord General Jakob Pauls.



The MoO is such a great sculpt that I had to use it. With the fancy pauldrons, the hand to the ear, and the wrist computer to keep track of the battle, this model was screaming to be converted into a Creed



With the simple addition of the holstered pistols from the Cadian Command Sprue, Creed was born. I had to flip one of the pistols around, and use green-stuff to fill in the gaps and create a holster strap. I also painted him to look like he was going grey, but in a distinguished way.



Patton is one of my favorite WWII movies by far, so the Ivory handled pistols seemed a natural fit to a pair of personal Hot-shot Las pistols that Creed has. If were to do it over, the holster that I had to craft looks too big, I would make it smaller. I think I used to much greenstuff.

And along that vein, where would Creed be without his personal watch-dog, Sgt. Kell? Again, I put my own personal spin on this, using the Regimental Banner of the 228th.

Here is Sargent Major Malloy, with Power Fist and Power weapon, vox unit, and Regimental Standard.





Edit: His right paldroun now has "005" in it, along with a Cadian Gate symbol. One of those things you notice later, and go back to fix, but the picture has already been taken. *shrugs*

[Gabriel Lupus]

A positive slew of converted special characters - all appropriate to represent their counterparts and modelled, converted and painted with a real sense of attention to detail. Kell and the Regimental Banner in particular are my my favourites because of the "correct" posing of the parts and the arguably fantastic work you've done on the banner itself!

I must admit, I'm getting really quite excited to see a line up of the whole army togther...

[Pax Urbis Pax Imperi]

I got this tank in a trade over a year ago (10 metal Karskins for a 10 man Infantry Squad and a tank that I desperately needed because at the time, I had none. I was using wood tanks). I'll show you my process in restoring this tank over three posts.

I have to admit, this Russ is in really bad shape, but I can explain the damage as "Battle Damage" (makes 'quotation marks' with my fingers), I think. The person who had put the tank together had no idea about mold lines, not using a ton of glue, and making sure there was no spaces between seams. (Plus, he had a crappy paint job.)
But what can you expect? I traded a 10 man squad of Stormtroopers for this tank + a 10 man squad of guardsmen. I like to think I came out a head of the deal...

My plan (at the time) was to magnetize the turret, cut off the Battle Cannon and magnetize that so I can swap out weapons if I want to, and magnetize the sides so I can attach turrets. I also wanted to magnetize the Las Cannon on the front so I can swap other weapons for it.

Here are the fronts and backs of the parts.





This is the Turret. I plan to use plasticard on the bottom to assist in magnetizing.






And finally, the treads.





Lots of work to do...

[Gabriel Lupus]

Looks like an entertaining challenge... But I think it can be rescued