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Hi Dakka,

I've recently embarked on a new 40k adventure. I have a playable sized IG/AM force which is highland themed and mostly converted with FW or custom mold parts, but have been wanting to start a new army for a while. I couldn't make up my mind for ages which new army I would have to replace my old force until it dawned on me... I could have TWO IG/AM armies! Which would then also be playable alongside one another in the same army.

My girlfriend is Australian and this year we're travelling to Gold Coast together to meet her family. I've been so excited about this trip because my whole career has been geared around moving to Australia. All this excitement at the same time as deciding to build a new IG/AM army inspired me to create an Australian themed Imperial Guard.

I've been doing a ton of research about alternative parts suppliers, the Aussie outback and jungle and the Australian Army as reference for the new force and have read a ton of conversion threads online. Below I've included some highlights for my inspiration.

Here's a link to my pinterest board where I've been collecting images for inspiration: https://www.pinterest.com/b3rt4n14/aus-guard/

I'm not the first here on Dakka to make an Aussie themed IG/AM army, user: HenryH (https://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/user/profile/31402.page) made a really cool force called The "Taipans" which can be found here - https://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/561676.page

There's also a user called Tyra_Nid on the Warseer forums who made an awesome Australian army which can be found here: http://www.warseer.com/forums/showthread.php?53849-Australian-Lighthorse-IG-Project-Log

Then there were a few discussions on other sites about Aussie themed armies:
- http://www.40konline.com/index.php?topic=132901.0
- http://www.warseer.com/forums/showthread.php?380109-Project-Digger!-An-Australian-Imperial-Force-Themed-Imperal-Guard-Army

Warlord games produces a Chindit force for bolt action which has 28mm Australian soldiers, the slouch hats they have are glorious.

For regular guardsmen I love the slouch hats that the diggers wore in WWII, but I've seen some really cool looking modern Aussie soldiers with modern military gear, so I'm thinking of mixing and matching modern/40k gear with some of the slouch hats. Below is a list of the parts I've ordered and where they come from.

From Warlord Games:
- All 4 variants of Chindit heads, found here: https://store.warlordgames.com/collections/british-chindits

From Mad Robot Miniatures:
- Desert Torsos: https://madrobotminiatures.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=9_14&products_id=239
- Fatigue Torsos: https://madrobotminiatures.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=9_14&products_id=101
- Rolled Sleeve Arms: https://madrobotminiatures.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=9_18&products_id=105
- Desert Veteran Heads: https://madrobotminiatures.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=9_10&products_id=235
- Shemagh Heads: https://madrobotminiatures.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=9_10&products_id=234
- Slouch Hat Heads: https://madrobotminiatures.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=9_10&products_id=56
- Spec Ops Heads: https://madrobotminiatures.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=9_10&products_id=32
- MOLLE Torsos: https://madrobotminiatures.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=9_14&products_id=33
- Backpacks, Medium: https://madrobotminiatures.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=9_17&products_id=108
- Backpacks, Large: https://madrobotminiatures.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=9_17&products_id=107
- Officer Arms - Two Hand Sidearm: https://madrobotminiatures.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=9_18&products_id=225
- Butt Packs: https://madrobotminiatures.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=9_17&products_id=128

Puppetswar:
ANZAC Guardsmen heads: https://puppetswar.eu/product.php?id_product=116
Desert troopers heads: https://puppetswar.eu/product.php?id_product=277

Victoria Miniatures:
Rolled Sleeve Rifle Arms (male): http://victoriaminiatures.highwire.com/product/rollsleeve-arms-5-pairs
Combat Legs x5 (Resin): http://victoriaminiatures.highwire.com/product/5-combat-legs
Combat Legs Kneeling x6: http://victoriaminiatures.highwire.com/product/combat-legs-kneeling-x6
Slouch Hat Heads x 10: http://victoriaminiatures.highwire.com/product/slouch-hat-heads-x-10-resin
Universal Rolled Sleeve Rifle Arms (male): http://victoriaminiatures.highwire.com/product/universal-rolled-sleeve-rifle-arms-male

I'm hoping that with all these parts I can make something looking like a cross between the following images of Aussie army:










I was looking into what kind of camo they actually use and it looks to be either AMP Twill or MULTICAM Ripstop which looks like this:




I'd like to try and recreate this camo on their uniforms, any recommendations for which paints to use dakka?

For vehicles, there is a very clear and relatively simple colour scheme seen here:

But again I'm not sure which paints to use for this.

As for terrain and bases I have been experimenting! There's both red desert and heavy jungle in Australia and I wanted to get this mix just right for bases and other kinds of terrain pieces. I was going through these pictures of the outback which I've tried to recreate on a standard base.






I tried using Martian Ironearth technical paint for the red desert look with different red and brown coats underneath, drybrushed over with Skrag Brown layer paint. What do you think dakka?



The colour from the camera isn't quite accurate. The left is painted: Skrag brown basecoat, Martian Ironearth, Skrag Brown drybrush. The middle is painted: Doombull Brown basecoat, Martian Ironearth, no drybrush. The right is painted: Red Gore (old citadel) basecoat, Martian Ironearth, Skrag brown drybrush. The grass tufts roughly match the bushes and shrubs in the desert.

I also want to make some aussie jungle themed bases but I'm not sure how to make/paint them, any advice dakka?

I'll post more pics of the army once all the parts arrive and I've started assembling some guardsmen. I hope this theme excites everyone else as much as it excites me! But for now, I'm really hoping for some advice one what to add and how to proceed from dakka and some C&C on the bases.

There's still so much more that needs to go into this army, I don't even know what to call them yet! really looking forward to reading feedback from the forums.

Looks great, I can't wait to see where this project goes.

I like the left base the best. Looking forward to seeing some minis!

Lots of research going into this. Good luck.

Cheers,

CB

I agree that the base on the left looks the best.

Left base is most "authentic", at a glance, but I also love the reddish-ess of the right.

Jungle bases often look cartoonish (not necessarily a negative criticism). I assume you're after a more realistic look? Australian rainforests have lots of brown tones in the underbrush, and plenty of ferns. A google image search for "daintree rainforest" will get you a good look.* No idea how I'd recreate that in 28mm, though. Might be some guys making Warlord New Guinea-themed armies you could look at?

For my money, you should go with the reddish scrub bases.

Keen to see how you get on, especially with all the prep work you've done! Good show!

*edit: I see you've already done that! Also, Lamington is great.

Nice project, mate. I don't have much time atm, but a couple of notes regarding camo:

Currently, the ADF are using a variant of Multicam (as you've got swatches of above) but the recent, and most iconic Australian Camoflague are the various patterns of DPCU aka AUSCAM. There's a bit of colour variation in them, but the "bunny" pattern makes it distinctively identifiable as Aussie at a glance. The multicam variants look great, but pretty much every western nation these days wears a variant of it now, so it's not at all distinctive. AMP Twill is Australian Multicam Pattern which varies from "standard" multicam by featuring the "bunny heads" and "jellybeans" taken from DPCU. Similarly to how the British variant of Multicam is loosely based on MTP.



http://camopedia.org/index.php?title=Australia

I've got to reorganise my IG with the coming of 8th edition (not to mention take some decent photos). They're mostly older models, painted in AUSCAM, though there's scope for conversions and you've got some great conversion parts lined up (I have the Chindit heads as well for future use)

Thanks for all the feedback! I think the drybrush and tufts are what makes the left base look good, although I decided to stick with the Doombull Brown basecoat underneath the Martian Ironearth because it gives slightly more colour variation and makes the cracks more visible.

Here's what the middle one looks like with a drybrush of skrag brown and some tufts:


Unfortunately only the Warlord Games Chindit heads have arrived so far, but they look fantastic and they're perfectly sized compared to a FW respirator head:


I've been gathering accessories to gear the guardsmen up with. I've got a ton of spare FW and GW guardsmen accessories and backpacks. I've also been using silicone molds to make a few extra ammo packs and backpacks:



@goblinpaladin: I'm thinking of having different squads with different bases of Aussie terrain. One will be with the red desert, one jungle and one possibly with a beach theme?

As for jungle bits, I've got some of those aquarium leaf things that are always pictured in jungle terrain pieces online, as well as some dark green lichen and clump foliage. Would Agrellan Earth and an Agrax Earthshade wash be a suitable addition for jungle bases? I'm not thinking of covering a base with crackle paint for the jungle like the desert is, but having a little patch that a guardsmen is stepping in or something.

Do you have any links to good New Guinea-themed army threads? I've had a little browse but couldn't find much.

@Azazelx: Thanks for the advice reguarding camo! Loving the look of your guard army, you nailed the Auscam on that Ogryn! As good as it looks though, I think I prefer the multicam patterns without the bunny heads. I'm basically aiming for this uniform:


Also to those Aussies in the thread, any advice on moving to Australia? A visa isn't an issue for me, I'm elligible for the marriage/long term partner, company sponsored and skills based versions. What would be the biggest shock for me moving over there?

This is what you're going for, in that case:



Remember, colours will vary because of photos, light balance and light. If you're moving here you may want to hold off painting the uniforms, since you can just buy a shirt, etc from a Military/camping good store and match the paints much more accurately.

For your vehicle colours, this is a thing that exists. I've got it, but my IG have been on hold for awhile, so I haven't used them ...yet.
http://ak-interactive.com/v2/?product=australian-camouflage-colours

The biggest shock could possibly be the weather? Of course, it depends on where in AU you're moving to. It's a big place, after all. Or the fact that it'll feel much more "American" to you than the UK. (though Americans tend to think it feels British here, so... we're really in the middle in many ways.)

The martian iron earth comparison is really helpful, thanks for posting.

Think this is an awesome idea btw, get used to being called a kant.

It might have been the angle of the light, but I did like the extra reddishness of the Skrag basecoat. The new one looks good as well, but it's definitely paler. Depends on your look, I think.

I'm curious to see how the WG heads match GW bodies. GW is usually pretty chunky compared to a lot of ranges, but then so is Warlord (I'm doing some BA Poles).

BEACH THEME! I assume you're going for a Very Serious design, so my mental image of ratlings in red speedos will have to be put aside for another day. There are some good tutorials out there for beachy basing; love to see what you'll do. With two or three basing themes, are you concerned about the force looking unified on the table?

I'm afraid I don't have any useful advice for Jungle bases in terms of Agrellan or whatever. I think I'd mostly cover the base in ground layer garbage and lichen and what have you, without leaving a lot of flat earth exposed. As for PNG-themed armies, if you're on the Warlord newsletter, you've probably seen all the same things I have. Such as this, this, this - actually, the WWPD guys have a few Australian-themed blog entries, so that could be handy.

RE: Moving here. Hmm. Visas are a nightmare (my flatmate has direct experience with it) but you sound like you've got that handled. Property prices are a nightmare, but you're from the UK, so you'd be familiar - and if you're not moving to Sydney, probably still better than London. Personally, I dislike Queensland - it's too hot and the politics are problematic but, again, that's not really different from the UK. If you've got specific questions, you can hit me up. Including about the visa - my flatmate found a bunch of really useful resources when she was dealing with hers.

@Azazelx: That Ogryn has the most Australian expression I've ever seen on a miniature. Amazing.

I'm really liking the depth of research you have put into this project. I think those chindit heads are going to definitely give your troops the "digger" look. Really looking forward to seeing more!

On a side note, I just noticed your thread after finishing up a Civ 6 play through as John Curtin. Makes me extra happy to have found your work!

Keep at it

@Azazelx: That image is just what I'm going for, cheers for posting that. Looks like the vehicle colours are olive, tan and black, in citadel paints I'm thinking of using some combination of steel legion drab/baneblade brown/ushabti bone and elysian green/castellan green. Are these roughly accurate? if not what other colours would you recommend?

Also I've been thinking about vehicles to include/convert, more of that below.

@Process: Glad the comparison was useful! hopefully you'll be able to see more of that when I've got some models together. I already get called a kant by my girlfriend lol

@globalpaladin: I think it may have been the light, with the skrag brown drybrush its only really the cracks that are a different colour on the improved middle base.

I am a little concerned with how they will look on a table with a bunch of different bases, but I am already contemplating fielding them alongside by highland themed guard which have rocky/snowy bases, so either way they won't look particularly uniform on a board.

Where can I find good beach themed base tutorials?

I had seen the first page of those links you posted but not the others, thanks for finding those! Some of those images were big inspirations for this project. I was thinking of going with a green uniform like they have, but am really keen on the multicam.

I may well PM you with other specific Q's if you don't mind? I'm looking at moving to Gold Coast (where my girlfriend is from). She has family in real estate there who can help us get cheaper properties.

@LeminyFresh: I play a ton of Civ 6 and since the Australian update I have played as no one else other than John Curtin! He's my favourite leader by far, that update also served as inspiration for this project.


As I mentioned above, I've been thinking about vehicles and how to include them in this kind of force. I looked through a few photos of Australian military forces to try and figure out what they use, from the first pic of the tank I posted it looks like they have some M1 Abrams tanks, but a lot of their gulf war images have various 4x4 vehicles suitable for desert warfare. I've included some examples below.







For GW vehicles that I could include I was thinking of using some tauroxes with wheel conversion kits, something like this: https://www.zinge.co.uk/collections/vehicle-accessories/products/apc-vehicle-conversion-kit-2-x-axels-4x-27mm-wheels-and-2-upgrade-forest-sprues

If I went with tauroxes I would aim for them to look like this:


(There's a full album of this taurox here: https://spikeybits.com/2015/12/real-life-meets-the-grim-dark-conversion-corner.html)

On that same site, they have a good looking Modular Military Buggy: https://www.zinge.co.uk/collections/vehicles/products/modular-military-buggy

As for vehicles like those pictured above, I was looking at some WW2 and modern military jeeps like these:
https://www.perry-miniatures.com/product_info.php?cPath=23_74_75&products_id=3221&osCsid=1s9is1ahn938ng22fgnb3aiu16
http://www.offensiveminiatures.com/itemDetail.asp?pName=EBEA503

There's also a good site for humvees, tanks and LAVs here: http://www.empressminiatures.com/userimages/procart36.htm - What should I go with?

Not long ago I also was given a FW Tauros Venator which might be quite good for this kind of army. Should I stick to the same colour scheme across all these vehicles or change depending on vehicle type? I'm thinking of the M1 olive/tan/black combo for tanks and a tan/desert camo for fast attack vehicles like cars/taurox.

A mix of terrain bases will also let you do really neat things with campaigns, too. And anyway, bases are rarely going to match boards, so it's probably fine. Just as long as platoons have internally consistent basing, I suppose? Although the Daintree does reach down to the beach, so it's not like an company fighting in rainforest terrain isn't automatically going to be far from a beach.

Beach basing! My partner is painting a few mermaids, so I looked over her shoulder as she did some googling once. One second... Eons of Battle have a YouTube* tutorial here, using plastic putty for waves and a mix of different sand/plaster for a rocky coast look. There is a Flames of War Pacific tutorial over here, although it's 15mm and they aren't that inspiring. Another Pacific army (I think 28mm) is here, with lots of beach flora. This isn't a tutorial but the base looks great (Pinterest).

I know I've seen some armies wading through the water to get up the beach, but I frustratingly can't remember where I saw them. Possibly a Roman legion on the Warlord forums? Possibly something else, somewhere else? That's not very helpful, I know.

Feel free to PM me with questions, absolutely. I've never lived on the Gold Coast - but anything else, happy to help.

Ever since I first saw the Taurox-with-wheels conversions, I've thought they'd look great for your kind of project. I have a soft spot for the tracked versions in an old-school SF kind of way, but the conversion kits to make them look 'realistic' are fantastic. They definitely suit the Australians-in-Afghanistan thing you're talking about.

The buggies, though - what would they Counts As in 40K? Been a while since I looked at an IG codex.

I'd be inclined to lean more towards the Taurox end of things, otherwise you run the risk of your IG army looking like a Bolt Action force.

= = =

*I don't like YouTube tutorials, but Eons of Battle videos are very short. I use a different one of their techniques on my Dark Eldar. See my signature.

This Update has been sorely needed for a while now, but I am pleased to say I have finally made some good progress on this project.

It took a while for the parts to arrive and I've been caught up at work, but I found some time to assemble and base the first few guardsmen for this army!

here they are based:






Next they need a lick of paint! I'm going to start working on their camouflage soon enough. I bought some new paints to use so that they match the multicam pattern here's the list:
- karak stone
- loren forest
- straken green
- dryad bark
- ushabti bone
- gorthor brown
- castellan green

@goblinpaladin the buggies would count as tauros venators, I have one in need of assembly which will eventually be part of this project.

Fantastic! what a bloody ripper of an idea and perfectly done with those parts, i'm going to be very interested in this force if they are all so intrinsically Australian :-) love it!

Those guys look really solid. I'm excited to see this project on the front page and keen to see what the paint looks like. Nice.

@nerdfest09 @goblinpaladin Thanks guys! more on the way, will post some work in progress and painting pics over the coming days.

Prepping a few more for the bush life to finish off the unit, still very much WIP:



Really pleased with the new parts, the torsos are a great replacement for regular guardsmen armour

First test model completed, fairly pleased with results, let me know what you think Dakka.







C&C welcome on this. Not sure about how I've done the scarf, was trying to go for a shemag look.

The colours are good. You've done a really solid job on that camo, with clear and crisp lines that make it easy to pick out. The highlighting/weathering on the knees is especially good - I don't know that I'd ever bother with details like that.

I am a little concerned about the faded, low-intensity colours possibly being a little indistinct from three feet away during a game, but they're all so well executed that I'm really reaching for a criticism there.

The eyes are my only problem. They're a bit wide and staring, but I rarely enjoy eyes on 28mm miniatures, so feel free to ignore me.

Base is solid. The red is a good hard contrast to the faded grey/green uniform colours, allowing both to pop, while the faded grass (which looks different colours from different angles - nice) shows that the soldier belongs in this terrain.

Great job.