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So, as of late, I literally ran out of ideas for things to build, and in desperation I looked over at some more complex ideas. Then, reading the Codex, I saw again the Rough Riders! They fit my regiment's recon/light infantry theme very well, and I felt there was lots of potential. The only problem is, the existing models are pretty mediocre or of way too different aesthetic, so I figured I'd have to do a lot of converting.

I looked at the different options. I didn't want Bikes, because I find them a bit too boring and because I was captivated by the idea of animal mounts more.

It didn't take long to realise that meant there really wasn't anything in the entire 40k range that was that suitable for my vision, so I looked at the WHFB range, since there was obviously plenty of mounts. I looked at the Empire, and saw some potential with pistoliers/outriders, though the plate armour legs would be annoying, out of place, and I'd still need to get some lances that didn't bar me from entry into my local GW, because its quite a nice place.

I looked at Bretonnians and Reiksguard, but got turned away by the horse armour. RR's have 5+ saves, so it would have looked pretty nonsensical, and I didn't like the idea anyway. I'd seen Cold One RR's before, and they looked good, but I figured the mounts would be too hard to paint, I didn't think that having dino riders, while cool, was particularly sensible or realistic because I don't imagine my regiment being able to tame them. At this point I more or less forgot and gave up on the project.

Then, I walked into my local GW last weekend, and saw the Wood Elves Sisters of the Thorn/ Wild Riders kit for the first time.The original plan was to use the Wild Rider torsos, but they're a bit too small in scale. I also planned to use the cloaks, but saw potential in using them as camo cloaks elsewhere in my Guard army. I particularly liked the idea of the Stags, because my regiment isn't actually Cadian as such, I've written my own fluff involving them from being a more low-tech world and being issued with some standard Cadian equipment. I suddenly had a good feeling and bought a box, and had a frustrating first experience trying to build my first, mostly down to the fiddlyness of some of the WHFB parts, which just demanded patience and tactical use of "third hand" equipment. Nevertheless I got there in the end.

Today, I got to the prototype model up to this point, my first of the first five. I'm pleased with how my idea came out, though I'm going to endeavour to clean up some stuff I missed and make sure all my new Riders are as pristine as possible since I haven't painted or built anything for quite a while since this.







Thoughts, criticisms, etc I'm all open to. I'm particularly conflicted about the colour scheme of the stag, which I'm very open to changing at this point. I have no idea how the GW Wild Rider Stag was painted. I'm going to guess blindly that it was Skull White and a Seraphim Sepia wash for the most part?

Looks like you're onto something good here. The conversion looks natural and neat.