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Coming in fresh-faced after a while out of the hobby, I figured it was time to start a log here to let others track my progress on my Guard.
I'm doing two regiments at a time, the 143rd Heavy Infantry and the 130th Armoured {with the 17th Armoured sneaking in after their near-destruction in M41.770}.

I'm also in the process of writing a book (slowly and a bit unsteadily) based upon my Guard. So here's some fluff on the system my noble soldiers hail from.

"It was only when I saw the heaps of dead traitors and the determined looks on the faces of the soldiers around me, the way they obeyed their commanders while retaining a level of self-decision for unexpected situations, that I realised I probably found myself amongst the best troops in the Segmentum. I am proud to accompany these men to the inevitable destination of the Emperor's Holy Light."
- Remembrancer Claudius [deceased] on the soldiers of the Lehrian Imperial Guard in the aftermath of the Battle for Thimen City, M41.772

Lehr System, Ultima Segmentum
Lehr is a habitated system of medium size. Although their original founding dates have been lost to the wear and tear of time, it is known that the first Lehrian colonists were descendants of the mighty people of Cadia, a feature that still shows in their foolhardy combat prowess and aptitude for war. Indeed, much like Cadia, the system has had to contend with multiple offensives of the Old Foe, the Orks, as well as a small splinter fleet of Tyranids, cut off from their tendril by battles to the galactic east.

Lehr, Capital World
The planet of Lehr is the most heavily populated in the system after the loss of Bayernus to the Tyranids in early years. It is the main source of manpower to the Lehrian war machine.
Due to the mild, temperate climate, its people are blonde or brown-haired. To be raised on Lehr is to experience military propaganda from an early age, as well as a deep education of the Imperial Faith. Lehrians are devout people, with chapels and churches spread throughout every city. The Grand Cathedral in the capital city of Barlin has become a pilgrimage destination of sorts to the people.
The Parliament is the building-fortress where the Planetary Governor and his advisors hold court.

Mervedium, Military World
Mervedium is where all soldiers in the Lehr system receive their training. Every fighting man and woman, from the lowliest soldier to the commander of the largest unit formations, are trained by the most experienced men in the system. Guardsmen that have served their 5 years in the Guard can, instead of moving on with their beloved Regiment or House as it is officially designated in the Lehrian Tactica, opt to receive a post in the training of the next generations of Lehrian combat personnel, passing the knowledge that they earned on the battlefield on to the new recruits.

Krupp, Industrial World
As every soldier needs his food, every vehicle needs it fuel. Krupp's industries supply both of them, with enormous manufactories producing whatever the Lehrian Guard to move on in and after battle.

BVM Primary, Forge World
Its surface obscured from view by the massive foundries and factories, BWM Primary produces the exotic Tiger and Panther tanks that are unique to the military of the Lehr system.

BVM Secondary, Forge World
The main producer of supporting military equipment in the system. The world’s manufactorums produce everything from ammo crates to the BVM trucks that have become the signature product of the world.




First up, some brave fellows of the infantry:


Major Vorendorf {143rd}, Lieutenant Varn {130th, 9th Co, 1st Pltn}


Commissar Hohenburg, shown here besides his personal Cebrius 250 half-track.


Guardsman & chief medic Krist of the 143rd, shown besides a Devilcat medium tank of the 130th.


A {WIP} pict of 2nd Squad, 1st Platoon, 9th Company of the 130th}

Panther sighted!

How are the hobby boss kits as far as level of detail? I'm used to building Tamiya stuff, but can't really bring myself to pay Tamiya prices for a model I'm going to chop apart to 40k-ize.

@ Nowlan: HobbyBoss is ok, though a little less sturdy than good ol' tamiya. But then again, they're one-thirds of the price!

And to give you a starter:

The HobbyBoss T-34 1944 has full interior! {which I'll be using to good effect}

I'm using HB KV2's as Ragnaroks for the 17th:





Though I must say Tamiya has the widest range of models:


Lehrian trackbike, used for scouting operations and messenger services.


{WIP} Supply Officer Arion with cart, and the recently developed Goliath-pattern of the Cyclops demolition vehicle {nicknamed the 'Beetle Tank"}

/+LOVE IT

Very pro style. Keep up the good work.

Very nice, i, guessing they are WW2 based

very nice i always like ww2 based tanks

nice one man, great use of tamiya models. are they pretty good to scale compared to 40k? i was thinking in the future possibly buying a desertised challenger 2 and other british stuff and 40k-ifying. what scale is closest to 40k?

Thanks for the comments, glad to see you like 'em!

I use 1/48, which IMO works perfectly as long as you take of the vehicle guns (obviously), although you can always use 1/48 tank guns as autocannons .
For infantry weapons (rifles, pistols) 1/35 is better. For example, the stock of the lasgun on the trackbike here above is from a 1/35 Kar98k.

PS: Dark6spectre, I love your sig

sorry, why do you have to take off the vehicle guns?
tar man your the first one to complement it

This is gonna be awesome!

Well because:


{picture by Chris13f}

If he'd have left the original gun on, it's like there was a small metal bar sticking out of the turret (about the size of the lascannon barrel)

cleveland tone: aawww, thats nasty....

What do you mean? It's a pretty cool conversion (heck, better than mine come to think of it)

So the barrel of the gun that comes with the tank is smaller than the Autocannon for the pred?

Cool conversions, I´m using 1/35 vehicles for my IG too, but I went for Italian designs are they are less known to the average gamer.

M.

I like the leman russ, very simple, but effective

Heheheh, this one's just from the 17th, wait until the {count-as} Russes of the 130th..

The reason for removing the original weapon from the 1/48th scale kit is because weapons in 40k are a bit obnoxiously scaled.
Take the Medusa Siege Mortar for example.
The cannon on that thing is about equivalent to the gun on the german karl-morser from WWII. ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karl_mortar )
This thing fired shells that were 24" in diameter. Shells 2 feet wide, weighing 3700-4800lbs depending on if it was a heavy concrete breaching shell, or light concrete breaching shell.

Basically... everything in 40k fires obnoxiously huge munitions, and the weapons from the actual model kit would look puny and silly if not replaced.

Thanks, you just saved me the hassle of taking a comparison pict

Did some more work on Major Kurtz's Ragnarok Vanquisher; I finished the weapon housing {as in: stuck a piece of plasticard on it} and added the turret side extensions, a standard feature of Ragnarok command tanks in Lehrian service used to generate more space for the tank's larger array of vox-apparatus.


Once I get my hands on a Leman Russ, this baby will get a cupola, gun barrel and hull weapon.

I've decided that in order to give the other Raggies/Ragnies/Rokkies (?) sponson weapons, I've got no other choice than to mount these onto the sides of the turrets. Looking at the tank above, it might even look the part!

Lawkeeper wrote:What do you mean? It's a pretty cool conversion (heck, better than mine come to think of it)

no sorry i mean that its nasty about the whole 40k scale thing (im well known with my friends to complain about the scale of 40k) and that to make something look 40k you have to 40k-up everything.
but TBF FW elysians and kriegers look more real life than the gw plastic stuff.

the tank as a whole looks great. i was looking at tamiya stuff and was thinking about in the future buying a bradley tank to act as a chimera, although ill have to do some conversions.

Speaking of Chimerae...




And with exhausts & track skirts:



I figured using a Tiger would be cool, but this is even better IMO. It still needs an extension on the back (hence the 'step') with a drop down ramp.

tigers are so bad ass.
where is that one from?

Your major and LT have inspired me to go forth and do great things. Many years from now retire from the game knowing your style will live on in the works of others.

especially love the scarves worked into the neck with GS.

You should consider covering up or doing something else with the engine deck on the tiger if you intend to use the rear of the tank as a troop transport area. It'd look funky otherwise.

@ Usernamesareannoying: It's the Tamiya Tiger I.

@ Carabine: Thanks!

@ Nowlan: Nah, they're specially-designed air filtration systems that can be sealed airtight at the press of a button .

I need to do some sort of firing ports on the Chimera Tiger, any ideas? I was thinking about a side extension again.

I'd suggest something like individual ball turrets, similar to the ones originally on the chimera, but extended upwards on little tubes/towers, allowing them to shoot downwards and hit targets closer to the hull of the vehicle.

And today's efforts:




It can hold a lot more guys than the Chimera, as you can see here:



I went for 'boxy' fire points with hatches to remain in keeping with the appearance of the Ragnaroks, and to keep the vehicle from becoming too wide. Basic idea behind these fire points is that the hatches are opened by the soldiers within the vehicle, and they stick their own guns out.

I wanna see some painting!

Always makes things pull together imho

Looking good so far though