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My FLGS just got the Wargames Factory Zulus in. I like the company and its ethos and decided to purchase some for this project, a Tribal African Theme Imperial Guard Army (although currently I'm considering having them from a Hive World). The price helped a lot £15 for 30 compared to GW's £36 for 30. I've got a couple of boxes and currently have enough Lasguns for at least 1 squad probably 2 and can almost certainly beg, borrow, steal and scrounge enough for the rest. The army will be equipped and act like a normal guard army it will just be formed by Tribesmen. I'm planning to finish this army in time for the UK Student Nationals in April next year. This blog will also probably feature some stuff on the stripping and repainting of my old guard tanks and attached units. I have no idea what list I'm planning and it will probably be decided based on what I fancy and what fits the theme. But without much further ado heres the first model........

Interesting Idea.

Those models make lasguns actually look frightful

One of them needs to be named !Xobile *Hopes someone gets the referance*

And yea the Lasguns look scary huge on em, but somehow it works

Hmmm.

Lasgun-packing-Zulus from a hive world? I probably couldn't handle that, and you'll have some explaining for the Fluff-Gods to do, but I think this could be very, vert interesting.

sA

I thought it was appropriate.

Well I would like to see more,give us an update soon.

smiling Assassin wrote:Hmmm.

Lasgun-packing-Zulus from a hive world? I probably couldn't handle that, and you'll have some explaining for the Fluff-Gods to do, but I think this could be very, vert interesting.

sA

It could be a mud-brick and thatched roof hive world

metallifan wrote:One of them needs to be named !Xobile *Hopes someone gets the referance*

And yea the Lasguns look scary huge on em, but somehow it works

You're right Metallifan, nothing better than a name with a click in it.

Cheers.

I like the concept maybe a death world with some "catachan" as well.

good luck on this!

It is a good job Michael Cain is not alive in M41...

Though it would be fun to see these guys square off against the Praetorians.

Edit: These guys look a little small compared to the base and the lasgun as well... do you have a guardsman to compare them with?

Not with me here SilverMK2 their true scale as compared to the heroic scale of GW models which means there smaller and in proportion unlike GW. The fact is they're closer to scale I mean a Catachan is the same height as a Marine or more. If anybody whinges I'll just say either A)their pygmies B) the Low Gravity on their world done it

To be honest loincloth clad warriors make sense to me in a hive world after all the problem with a hive won't be cold, in fact the enclosed space with no wind would probably be hideously hot. Also the fact is Hive Worlds would probably lack the resources to make clothes for the bulk of their population. Its currently a vague idea as I started this project out of pure impulse and I need to think about that stuff some more. Although to be honest the combination between Low and High tech of 40k has always appealed to me. The urban bases however will stay regardless.

Even then there's plenty of open land on most Hive worlds. You can always say that they lived in plains villages on a savannah-like Hiveworld and they were called to help recapture a hive that turned from the Imperium if you're getting second thoughts

Wouldn't it be high gravity that makes them short? (Although a poor availability of food would probably be the most likely reason for a shorter population.)

I think having a Praetorian guard as a sergeant and possibly HQ would add to the effect. The guard would use them as auxiliaries and would need the Praetorian to keep them in line like commissars.

And if he did name one !Xobile, then he'd have to shout the name just like Peters did.

Orkeosaurus your probably right although I'm basing my comment on David Weber's idea that high gravity requires the muscles and strength to offset it (or that matter GW's Ogryns). I don't really consider these models short so much as more petite and delicate than GW models which would imply a low gravity as they do not need to develope the musculature to deal with it.
Metallifan you've definitely got a point although I haven't developed the background at all really yet. I tend to try and set up a feedback loop models I decide I must have feed the background and it gradually grows. Currently I'm looking at using War Elephants as Sentinels which doesn't fit with a Hive World (need to research this a lot before this aspect gets of the ground). An example of this is my Beastman which have developed more and more of a Witches Minions theme as the projects gone on. Indeed as I've acquired models their moving more towards pure beastmen and away from the vague almost resurrected dead idea I had at the beginning of the project.
Burbledwar I'm not going to do this although I might acquire some as allied troops originally I was planning to used Tallarns for the more civilised and weapon literate units. Then I realised this was the 41st millenium when noone understands how their weapon works and felt I could just use more tribesmen for them. I'm going for a full tribal army not an Imperialist force altohugh I may change my mind for the Advisors later on. Sergeants will definitely remain Zulus as the Wargames Factory set includes some great feathery headdresses which will work perfectly for Sergeants and Officers.


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Oh and Deff Dred Red Edition love the music! Great for inspiration thanks a lot.

I don't know, I'm a bit unsure about it. I'll need to see more so get cracking!!

What a splendid idea...

and I'm not just saying that because I have recently devised a very similar scheme involving WF Zulus as Daemonettes in a Fantasy army

I've built the first 30 and even managed to slap some paint on a few recently. I must say, even a very simple paint scheme turns out looking pretty good on these models.

Good luck and remember Colour Sergeant Bourne's advice: "Look to your front. Mark your target."

Get some shaman type zulu's also and use them for priests.
Using warpaint to denote elite units would bring a lot of character to the army.
I can't wait to see how you paint them up.

The shaman priest concept is a great idea Burbledwar it definitely allows me to tie the Zulu models into the 41st millenium. Incidentally you probably don't want to see my painting I'm at a low gaming standard and it shows I'm better at and far enjoy the modelling more than the painting. You know you were talking about Praetorian advisors well for this project I'm looking at war in Africa in the late 19th early 20th century and the most interesting aspect to me is definitely the East African campaign so some Krieg may make it in at some stage....I also may have to add some bee hives.
Thanks a lot everybody else for the kind words.

Now for the main update some people seem interested in scale comparison shots so heres a couple. The first features Scale Dude a 2nd Ed marine that I've put to compare to a bunch of manufacturers figures before this and an Ork.

While I don't have any IG figures with me at the minute I've got an Empire Militiaman to compare the Zulu as well.


Here however is my main accomplishment my first full squads been completed.

I'm really happy with how fast I've done these. Especially with the scenic cityfight bases which were uch more simple to do than I thought. However unfortunately a lack of spare Imperial Weapons means the modelling will stop with this squad for now. I will however start painting them fairly soon. Unfortunately I'm not quite sure how theres two vague ideas I have. A purely traditional warrior and a camo warpaint idea. The Camo Warpaint would cover the entire model including the skin and shield in an urban war camo pattern of greys. The traditional warrior would be just that does anybody have any feelings abd advice about this?


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Incidentally another question I've got is this any advice on making them look like science fiction warriors rather than historical figures I've slapped a Lasgun on?

Very interesting idea for an imperial guard regiment, the first things I thought of would be a regiment off of the planet of Davin from the Horus Heresy.

Wow! I was just completely absorbed in thinking about this exact project for several days. I was almost to the point of ordering despite a half completed more ordinary imperial guard army. I really like the idea of imperial guard as a sort of homage to great warriors of history, and of more than 40,000 years of war and white guys. I have to say though ,seeing one, the lasgun is just too big - at least how it looks on the first figure. They don't look so bad on the squad from a greater distance. I will be watching your project with interest to see how they wind up looking. Will determine if I every do my own. Some of my ideas:


- the line troops would carry lasguns, ammo pouches, lots of grenades, knives etc - as you say, to look more futuristic. The sarge in each squad would be armed traditionally with shield. The different styles of heads on the sprues would be a great way to create your different platoons (the zulus were grouped by age and identified by hairstyle (among other things) I beleive. I was going to invest in commissars (a primative regiment would need alot, and they are a key to the infantry horde) to great a good counterpoint. I was also thinking 3 psycher battle squads using varioius african shaman figures (perry brothers have some nice ones).

Zulus are in many ways classic imperial guard infantry horde - disciplined, with small vulnerable command groups, regimented, motivated.

I don't think the cammo warpaint would work personally. Traditional warriors would probably look best but as Kestral says, go crazy with grenades and ammo pouches to emphasise the 40K nature of your guys.

Foundry do some nice packs of Zulus which would be pretty cool to add some flavour. In particular I'm thinking of the Command pack guys in Ceremonial dress and the fellows in captured jackets.

http://www.wargamesfoundry.com/collections/DA/24/index.asp

These will be making their way into my own plans at some point for unit champions and standard bearers. But I can pay for them in GBP and don't get gouged on both the postage and the exchange rate

Empress miniatures also do some Zulus, but I haven't had a chance to look at their sculpts in the flesh so have no idea of quality or relative size.

http://www.empressminiatures.com/userimages/procart4.htm

Hope that's of some assistance and keep up the good work.

SilverMK2 wrote:would be fun to see these guys square off against the Praetorians

On that subject Wargames Factory posted this on their website:

http://www.wargamesfactory.com/AnnouncementRetrieve.aspx?ID=25558

Granesh- thats a cool idea. Is Davin the one I think of where Horus is inducted into a warrior lodge and falls to Chaos the short story of that in Space Marine was great!

Kestral-I've got to agree with you about the Caucasian dominance of 40K thats one of the reasons for the project. The problem with sorting the squads by head type is that their just won't be enough variety for my tastes in a squad that way although the feathered headdresses have been earmarked for Sergeants and Officers. At the moment I want to give quite a few of the figures shields as their great for covering up awkward joints and with all the slight limb twists in the squads thats useful. Also I reckon they make the squad look more like it has a 5+ save! The gear idea is well worth bearing in mind. I'm planning to add a few Commissars myself although Psyker Battle Squads are currently unpopular in my gaming group it's certainly worth bearing in mind although I personally like the idea of using them as priests. (we have a gentleman's agreement not to use them). Games Workshops huge weapons aren't Wargames Factories fault although I quite like the large guns on them as it makes the weapons look like poorly thought out standard issue! Do you know of any better smaller plastic science fiction weapons? Also go on join the Zulu horde at Wargames Factories prices it won't exactly break the bank.....

Xhequimunqui- I'm leaning towards the traditional look myself now . I'm actually UK based myself although it doesn't show on my location I just haven't bothered to change it! The Foundry models are nice although currently the plastics will just be much easier on the wallet and for the modelling! Thanks a lot for the links through the Masai in masks could be good for something in the army. I'm more than willing to mix and match what I like regardless of where its from!

The good news is that I've found some more Lasguns enough for another squad the bad news is RL will be getting in the way of actually continuing this project. This might be a good thing as I need to stop and consider it a bit before I carry on brashly ahead!

Well I've spent awhile considering it and I'm definitely going with the traditional look on the urban bases. I'm probably going to move back from the Hive World and return to a more traditional setting for them. Probably a verdant plain world with nomadic herders, although I've got much more research for this yet. This projects inspiration is probably going to owe a lot to the Empre of Man series by David Weber the adaptable intelligent Mardukans are definitely close to what I want the Zulus to be! Great read as well. Another source of inspration may well be the Kingdom of Manticore and the Winton dynasty from David Webers Honor Harrington series as well as Mdebele and Nfecane.

My cornerstone theme however is WRENCHING DISTORTION the idea of recruiting brave tribesmen from a world and throwing then in a nightmare meat grinder of urban warfare is part of this (A historical example of this would be elements of the Soviet army in Stalingrad). Also the combination of tribesmen and rayguns is another element. These are however never going to be mindless fodder I want them to be intelligent resourceful, skilled, warriors who have adapted well to this environment. I therefore don't plan to use more technically sophisticated support troops I want Zulu Tanks!

Still at the planning stage with these guys although I've just acquired bases for all 60 of them and a gubbins raid at the local DIY store has produced all matter of interesting bits and bobs for the bases. Its also much cheaper using sprue and ducting than plasticard and official modelling parts. I've also acquired a selection of pastels with which I am going to attempt a weathering powder technique ala Gundam Mecha on these. This is as my own experience of working on demolition and building sites is that dust is a defining characteristic!

Well I've got the powders prepared anyway its a simple satisfying technique.
1) Get pastels of the colour you want.
2) Place into a reasonable quality sealable plastic bag.
3) Seal it
4) Take Hammer.
5) Crush the pastels with the hammer!
The first squads undercoated as well but finding Lasguns is going to be more difficult than I hoped. I've put some bids on bitz on E Bay and I have a trading post up on Dakka. Eh well.


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Good news is the bits are due in next week so the project should be back on line with painting beginning tomorrow.


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I've also looked at the article on Zulus on Wargames Factories website I'll probably go with black shields with a stylised Aquila in White along with brown loinclothes. The bases will be heavily weathered urban wastes bases. The Lasguns hmm I'm not sure I'm inclined to go with Black again. The bayonets will be pure silver.

Changed my mind on the Aquila its simply too complicated instead I'm going to use the Ultramarines chapter symbol. I'll also use the standard symbols for squads and the like a HS symbol for the Heavy Weapons Squads, Tactical Symbols for Regular Squads and so on and so forth. This is to provide an element of totemism as well as to tie the regiment into the part of the galaxy I've decided their from. I've decided their from the fringes of the Octarian Empire and currently stationed on the forge world of Ladysmith which is being constantly raided by splinter forces of both factions.


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Sorry about the lack of substance to these updates I'm currently mainly using this blog as a record of my ideas and concepts as well as for a reference for later on.


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Feel free to comment of course!!!

This will be the last update before the first painted models arrive. I should also have "First Contact" a piece of fluff explaining how the relationship between Islandlwanda and the Ultramarines came about.

I've decided to go far more into the totemism and mimicry of the Ultramarines down to making the regiment almost a codex chapter. This means I will have the following Regimental Structure
1st Veteran Company
2nd Battle Company
3rd Battle Company
4th Battle Company
5th Battle Company
6th Reserve Company (Tactical)
7th Reserve Company (Tactical)
8th Reserve Company (Assault)
9th Reserve Company (Devestator)
10th Scout Company.

The first problem is I'm not sure whether to break these companies down into 10 platoons or 10 squads?

The second problem is that while Tactical Squads=Regular Squads and Devastator Squads= 2 Heavy Weapon Squads I'm not sure how to represent Assault Squads. Currently I'm leaning to Commissar led squads but Penal Legionnaires and Rough Riders are possible. If I want to represent speedy assault units the most obvious answer is to mount them up in Chimeras. Another possibility is that if I want units optimised for Close Assault I should use Special Weapon Squads for them instead. Any ideas advice?

Thirdly there is a problem with the Scout Platoon. This could be two things either Veteran Scouts or Conscripts representing young initiates. The conscripts possibly fit the Zulu scheme quite well actually although currently I'm leaning towards veteran hunters? Any opinions.

I'm now wondering about going for blue shields. This would make the Ultramarine link much more apparent. However currently I want to leave the shields black as it seems slightly more camouflaged. The Ultramarine Blue shields however would remind me of the wonderful Polynesian shields in the British Museum. My favourite was the one remembering the cause of the conflict the shield was used in. That was the killing of a drunk so the shield bore a beer brand logo. Fosters if I remember correctly!

I'd have thought if you're going with a Zulu theme, the scouts would be the veteran hunters as they would be the most skilled trackers. Ratlings would fit in here too.