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Basically the point of this venture is to create something as similar to this as possible without breaking the bank:

So when it comes to modeling Praetorian Guard I have found there are three major options:
-Victoria Miniatures: Whose sculpts are excellent, and while I do like them, and they're surprisingly economical given that they're custom third-party bits, they are still more expensive per figure than GW and I do have a miserable budget)
-Convert from GW models: I'm currently looking at the Cadian, Mordian and Vostroyan guardsmen kits from good old Games Workshop and it doesn't actually look like it would be too difficult to convert them from one of those kits (Legs and torso from
-Convert from some historical game: I haven't found any that are any good yet, but my googling continues (If anyone does have suggestions at all I would love to hear them)

I'm currently looking most at Vostroyans - as they already have the vintage feel to them - and Cadians - as with the right colour scheme and their shoulder pads shaved off I think they'd look decent. Then with Maxmini Pith helmets and Satchels added on top. I still don't quite know how I'm going ot model bolt-action lasguns, but I'm thinking about it.


Sorry I just sort of threw everything up in one big mess, but I'm trying to get as much across as I can. Again, any suggestions about literally anything will be greatly appreciated. Cheers guys.

If you look at that pic, the legs and torso are practically identical to Cadians, the only missing part is the shoulder pads and helmet. Frankly, Cadians with pith helmets of choice and Lasguns painted in a wooden pattern rather than metal/ceramic would make perfectly acceptable Praetorians, I think, and historical aside, are the most economical option. The issue with historicals (might not be a problem for you) is that they are often in very limited in pose, and true-scaled, so mixing GW weapons will be very difficult.

Mordians share the same bodies as 3/4 of the Praetorian mini line. They're a lot cheaper than their counterparts, too.

I used cadians with historical British line troops from the zulu wars for the heads (only the heads).

The kit I used was the old Wargames factory stuff - which came with bare heads, pith helmets and soft cap heads. All of which fit with the cadian bodies.

That said, I got rid of that army when I got out of the game and don't even have pics left of the infantry.

Look for mad robots line of minis...they have their own pith helmeted range now...

I'm assuming you couldn't/can't find used GW praetorians on eBay? They were a limited run I know. But they were pretty damned nifty:




Id think the hardest part would be the pith helmets.

I should get around to painting my praetorians. I only ever bought one squad, I thought it was going to be a permanent faction, but sadly, it was a one time thing :(

Yeah, I was looking for some of the OOP mini's but I can't find a sensible sale and I'd honestly want a coherent set of models for the force.

And looking at everyone's thoughts (Thank you for replying!) I reckon I will go with either Mordians or Cadians with some Pith helmets thrown in. I'll probably use Mordians for officers and commanders (As they are metal and I find metal awkward to work with) and then use Cadians for the rank-and-file. Or maybe they'll all be Mordians, they'll probably all be Mordians, but I'll see what I find.

Victoria's Miniatures Victorian Guard range is the one for you. You don't have to buy the whole squad, you could pick up some cadian legs/parts for relatively cheap and just pick up her heads.

http://victoriaminiatures.highwire.com/products/victorian-guard?pagesize=12

Ramshackle games has these heads I like. Pop them on Cadians, maybe find some replacement rifles and paint appropriately.