42nd Krieg Engineer Korps

[majorspeirs]

Welcome to my new army blog for the 42nd Krieg Engineer Korps.

I once read that guard players never collect other armies, just more guard. Whilst not strictly true, there are a suspiciously large number of guard players with more than one guard army. I have been playing guard for 6-7 years, and my original army is both large and flexible (here), if not entirely finished.

When I started thinking of collecting another guard army (I didn’t even think to consider another race), I wanted a compact, cohesive and heavily themed force. The question was what models? I’ve always loved steel legion and vostroyans, however I am (almost) an engineer myself and love tunnelling and geotechnics, so I couldn’t go past a force of Death Korps of Krieg Engineers?

This isn’t going to be the typical “trench fighting, rows of artillery, WWI Germans” that most Krieg players strive for. I want it to fit with the imagery of WWI, without being restrained by it. As I intend my new army for tournament use I am going to use the standard guard codex. At the heart of the list there will be three engineer squads riding around in blimps (vets in valks/vendettas), which will be supported by a variety of tanks and infantry.

Through 10 months of planning, I have acquired all of the models I need and have set a completion date for the end of the year. I have just spent two long evenings washing and scrubbing 2000 points worth of highly detailed, gorgeously cast resin models:











Construction is to commence in the next few days. I plan to do most of the building in the next few weeks, so keep posted. Painting may take a little longer (I need a colour scheme after all).

Comments, criticism, advice suggestions and the like are highly appreciated.

[dangerrod]

Wow! thats a lot of resin!

Good luck, will follow keenly :-)

Danger Rod

[commissarbob]

Jun 17, 2012 2:00:54 GMT -5 majorspeirs said:

This isn’t going to be the typical “trench fighting, rows of artillery, WWI Germans” that most Krieg players strive for.

Technically they portray the French as they have the Adrian style French helmets, not the Stahlhelm of the Germans... Sorry, had to get the pedantic rant out of the way.

I look forward to seeing what you do with these, especially for the blimps. I have an idea myself for how to tackle these for my WWI force, it would be nice to see how others do it.

[Cosmic]

You have more resin than me I am ashamed....

Can't wait to see some paint on these though!

[cheminhaler]

A lot of resin indeed.. Good choice for a new army.

[Welsh Paul]

A lot of those pieces, especially the artillery and bases, do not look like Forge World models; can we have a break down of what you have there?

[3ff3ct]

Jun 18, 2012 3:01:30 GMT -5 Welsh Paul said:

....and bases, do not look like Forge World models; can we have a break down of what you have there?

Seconded

[krasimirova]

Paul Welsh: Some of that isn't from forgeworld, the baggies and the type of resin isn't FW..

I am not one to judge thou..

Hope they are gonna turn out to be a awesome army, and the DKoK is one of the coolest IG regiments out there..

[commissarbob]

I see some Kromlech cannons, bases could be from a couple different sources, and I am not sure what the large jet engine looking bits are from.

[majorspeirs]

@ commissarbob – I’m not a good person to play pedantics with: technically all I said was that most people typically think of them as Germans, not that I did . That said, I am guilty of just assuming they were WWI Germans, and I thank you for broadening my knowledge.

About 75% of this army is official FW and other gaming companies (such as Kromlech). The rest is “FW but not FW”, if you catch my drift. If you plan to ask about this (including the yellow resin) please PM me and I’ll be happy to explain (I’d rather not discuss it at length here). This has been a very large investment (much larger than I had initially planned) and my finances were not endless, so I had to cut one or two corners towards the end.

@ krasimirova, the above photos were taken all at once and show different models; the stuff spread out on the trays had already been un-bagged (most of the FW), whilst the stuff in the bags doesn’t feature on the trays (most of the non-FW).


Here is an inventory (I think it covers everything):

30x FW Engineers
10x FW Infantry Squad (at ease)
Assorted FW Weapon sets
1x FW Heavy Bolter Team
1x FW Lascannon Team
2x FW Grenadier Centaurs (+crew)
1x FW Artillery Tractor Centaur (+crew)
1x FW Heavy Artillery Crew
1x FW Psyker (from the Inquisitor retinue)
3-4 FW Cadian Veteran Heads
2x MaxMini Siege Guns
4x Kromlech Field Guns
2x Kromlech Heavy Mortars
10x Secret Weapon Miniatures 25mm trench bases
3x Secret Weapon Miniatures Flyer bases
10x Cavalry Bases (bought of ebay)
1x Valdor
1x Infernus
1x CCS
1x Quartermaster
7-8 Commissars and Infantry
8x Rough Riders
50+ trench bases
3x Contemptor Lascannons
3x Storm Raven jet engine pairs
3x Soft Drink Bottles
Lots of florists wire
Lots of plasticard
A large sheet of fabric
Magnets

Here is an approximate list of what I intend to make:

Priest (w/ shotgun)
Veterans w/ Shotguns, 3x Flamer, Power Fist, Carapace and Demolitions
Veterans w/ Shotguns, 3x Meltagun, Power Fist, Carapace and Demolitions
Veterans w/ Shotguns, 3x Plasmagun, Plasma Pistol, Carapace and Demolitions
Veterans w/ Lasguns, 3x Grenade Launcher, Heavy Bolter and Harker
Vendetta w/ 3x Lascannon
Vendetta w/ 3x Lascannon
Vendetta w/ 3x Lascannon
8x Rough Riders
2x Medusa (or Colossus)
2x Hydra
Manticore

This is about 1800 points, but it will be expanded to around 2000 points with additional infantry, though I’m not sure what yet. I have the capacity to make a CCS or Penal Legion or another vet squad or Storm Trooper squad or potentially even a small platoon. I need to get my planned squads built so I can see what models I have left to play with.


I come here today with more than just waffle, I bring photos of my first tank. It is built from a Valdor chassis and is largely unaltered. I’ve inserted a MaxMini Siege Gun (a lovely piece of kit) and build a new section of hull (between the top and the plates on the side there are about 100 rivets). This gun rotates from about -10 to 60 degrees, so I can use this as either a Medusa or a Colossus. I left the doors off the engine bay because I like the look of the engine. Today I plan to finish building its sister tank (made from an Infernus hull):











Comments and criticisms are welcome (now is the time, as I can still make changes).

Also I’m open to suggestions on paint schemes. At the moment I want to steer clear from traditional DK colours (green/brown/tan + mud).

[Purple Dice]

Wow. That is indeed a very large amount of resin.
I have not yet reached the point where I own any resin miniatures
Hopefully in the next couple of years I will.

I am really keen to see how this goes and totally support you on your decision not to follow the standard paint scheme. Do you think you could let us know what sort of terrain they would be fighting on? Unless that's what you are asking suggestions for as well. I always decide the terrain they will be fighting in before the scheme. Helps a lot.

I'm really impressed with your conversions too. I've never seen anything like it and it really shouts WW1 to me. I am also always impressed by any plasticard conversions. Great job. I assume it will be one of your Medusae/Colossi?

Will be following this avidly, all the best.

Purple Dice

[zeke]

Its..... Beautiful.

Good luck with your army build my friend. I will be watching this with great interest.

[Deleted]

I like the upgrades on your malcador boy, I can see your engineering studies have paid off.

On a more serious note your like me, vets vets and vets . Only a real man can shun a platoon

[Aeon]

oh man oh man oh maaaaan I wanna see these assembled and painted and all beautiful and nice!!! show meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!

[majorspeirs]

@ Purple Dice, I don't have a specific board to play on. The bases however are going to be broken duckboards (I've got lots of these). The ones I have look more like a broken galleon deck (lots of timber), and I may not use them. Even if I don't, I'll be getting more Secret Weapon Miniature duckboards.... in short, they will have duckboards on the bases



True to my word (for once), I have finished the compatriot for the above Medusa/Colossus:












I just want to make a note that I will not be painting the models I’m building here for at least a few weeks (likely a bit longer). At this point I’m trying to build everything so that I can clear some desk space to tackle the blimps (which I am anticipating to be a messy job). I’m hoping to have the Hydras and Manticore done in the next day or two, say tuned....

[Purple Dice]

Another beautiful piece of armour Major.
I was thinking more of what you had pictured in your mind, when asking what terrain they will be fighting on. For instance, due to the duck boards I assume some fortifications? Are you interested in snow, desert wasteland, chemical waste, mountainous, woodland, or something else?

Purple Dice

[krasimirova]

Looks good Major..

As I mentioned before, i couldn't care less about where you got the resin from.. I have heard of people who have put stuff in my collection that might not be made at FW either..

Nice conversions on the arty pieces!

Purple dice, that font colour is terrible to read..

[Welsh Paul]

I like the use of the brass aquila sigil on the side of the tank but this does raise a question: are the sponsoons magnetised to allow you to remove them for different games?

[Purple Dice]

That is a terrible shame

I guess I will keep with green then.

[upguardsandatem]

You've got a lot to keep you busy there, loving those heavy tanks, can't wait to see more.

[Deleted]

Really nice work

[majorspeirs]

@ Purple Dice, to be perfectly honest I don't have any specific surrounds in mind. I can picture them in a grim, wasted "Western Front" kind of environment, but I am liking the idea of them being a flexible and mobile kind of regiment. Oh, and yes, the purple writing is abominable

@ Welsh Paul, no the sponson is glued in place. In game terms it will be representing the hull weapon, and I'll only allow it to fire straight forward. I would have like to put the flamer on the hull, but didn't really have anywhere to put it, and I didn't want to have it pintle mounted.


I have had a busy day today, working on my new Manticore. I had always wanted a Katyusha style Manticore for my original Guard army, but never got around to it. This project was the perfect opportunity to give this concept a go. Instead of building a flatbed truck I’ve used a little Centaur Artillery tractor pulling a small trailor, as I think it fits in better with the WWI/Death Korp theme. There are 12 rockets in total, representing the potential of up to three templates per volley (I’ve got this image of missiles wildly careening off in random directions, with looping and veering smoke trails).

All that is left to do is build a simple base to make game play easier. Hope you like it:














Over the next few days I plan to build my pair of Hydras, which will be built in a similar fashion. After that I’ll be able to start assembling the infantry, and eventually the airships.

[commissarbob]

Looking good so far. I love the malcador conversion, it is one that I have personally wanted to do since seeing it, I just have not had the available funds to do anything about it.

[Deleted]

Really excellent work so far, the tank conversions are excellent. Get them painted up me lad

[Purple Dice]

Another great model mate. I am really loving your individual spin your putting on all your models. Makes it really original which I absolutely love.
Your idea of how your manticore fires is a beautiful image, I can totally imagine it.

I'll think on some colour schemes.

Keep it up, super looking forward to how you do your Hydras.

Purple Dice