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I know there are key uniform differences between Steel Legion and Krieg. The former are some combo of German WWII uniforms and the latter are mostly WWI French plus some WWI German influences. For some these are huge differences; for others, minor.

But was there any insider, in-studio reason why GW went with two “great coat w/ gas mask” IG? Now that videos are coming out from ex-studio folks I haven’t seen anything on this admittedly minor curiosity.

Death Korps were originally a variant scheme for the Armageddon Steel Legion:

 Fugazi wrote:
I know there are key uniform differences between Steel Legion and Krieg. The former are some combo of German WWII uniforms and the latter are mostly WWI French plus some WWI German influences. For some these are huge differences; for others, minor.

But was there any insider, in-studio reason why GW went with two “great coat w/ gas mask” IG? Now that videos are coming out from ex-studio folks I haven’t seen anything on this admittedly minor curiosity.

The answer is of course....
Nothing more, nothing less.
There was (and still is) plenty of room & demand for IG in both WWI & WWII style uniforms.

The steel legion were released by GW as part of the armageddon campaign.

The death korps were released by FW for their Imperial Armour series.

FW's IA narratives pretty much always created new regiments/chapters/craftworlds to tell their stories. I imagine so they could play in their own sandpit without GW controlling it as much.

But now FW is folded into GW completely, and the Death Korps got really popular due to IA so GW plastified them.

well, there are more than 2 greatcoat guard regiments..

Valhallan Ice Warriors are the original WW2 greatcoat regiment doing the eastern style winter uniforms while Krieg does the western style WW1 uniforms and SL is WW2 "summer" uniform.
In addition we got Vostroya with pre-WW1 style or Guard style uniforms

and the Greatcoat in general goes with the wars before 1950s as theme and therefore is an often chosen style element to catch that style of warfare
while shorter more clothing is rather connected to modern uniforms outside of the russian winter theme (though also there the Greatcoat fell out of favour for combat units)

I think it's really that the guys in the studio thought greatcoats looked really cool.

Look at the artwork for the Imperial Guard soldier in the 2e Codex Imperialis.

Perry Brothers were inspired by historicals and made a bunch of "historicals in SPAAAACE" dudes, which is a lot of what 40K boils down to.
Greatcoated Russians and Greatcoated Germans from WW2 were two of those. Death Korps were originally an alternate paintjob for Steel Legion, but then the sculptors at Forgeworld decided to give them their own minis for Siege of Vraks and went for an even more WW1 look to play into the trench and siege warfare themes of that campaign. Then Blanche (I believe?) came up with the Vostoroyans who had a similar aesthetic but 40kified to a huge degree. I think Vostoroyans should be the default Guard actually, they're the most 40K of any of them.

I have always liked Steel Legion, probably because of fond memories of the Armageddon campaign. I didn't realise they were based on German Paratroopers until relatively recently!

The Battle for Armageddon chit-game was notably albeit loosely based on the Eastern Front, as well.

Also back in '90's GW did metal models and releases weren't tied up with codex releases as tightly so it was much easier to do various models and just toss them out. Hence quite a few commisar variants we got.

Metal models were perfect for quick design, put into production and out into the wild when you aren't expecting to sell crapload of them.

 Fugazi wrote:
I know there are key uniform differences between Steel Legion and Krieg. The former are some combo of German WWII uniforms and the latter are mostly WWI French plus some WWI German influences. For some these are huge differences; for others, minor.

But was there any insider, in-studio reason why GW went with two “great coat w/ gas mask” IG? Now that videos are coming out from ex-studio folks I haven’t seen anything on this admittedly minor curiosity.

There is no "in-studio reason" and you might have some facts confused.

For one, when Steel Legion came out, the Death Korps were the same models as Steel Legion, they were in fact an alternate paint scheme for Steel Legion.

Second, there already was another greatcoat guard army out at the time, and that was the Valhallans.

When the Death Korps models came out much much after the Steel Legion, they were a big hit. There was no "why we decided to have two great coat w/ gas mask" question or reasoning. When death korps became the second "coat and gas mask" army, there was already the "greatcoat and no gas mask" valhallans, and the Steel Legion have short coats, not great coats.

The reason for making any of these models was the same, to make sci-fi models inspired by various historical armies. That two ended up having both gas masks and a coat is a reflection of coats and gas masks being common pieces of military uniform and equipment.

 Da Boss wrote:
II think Vostoroyans should be the default Guard actually, they're the most 40K of any of them.

This comment made me look at the vostroyan models properly for the first time ever. If it weren't for the furs/hats, I'd actually like them and agree with you. Everything else I've disliked about them in the past has been the paint scheme.

On the plus side the krieg killteam box makes kitbashing the greatcoat armies much easier. Although, you won't be running a hoard army with ten to a box.

Notably, Wargames Atlantic got them to plastic first with their Grognards (not-Vostroyans with conversion potential for not-Krieg) and Raumsjagers (not-Steel Legion). Those sold really well, too well for GW not to have noticed.

I’d severely doubt they noticed or cared.

 Mr Nobody wrote:
On the plus side the krieg killteam box makes kitbashing the greatcoat armies much easier. Although, you won't be running a hoard army with ten to a box.

Why not?
All the old metal ranges (Cadians, catachans, vallhallens, mordians, tallarns, Vostroyan, steel legion) were sold 10 to a box/2 per blister.
And FW Krieg & Ellysians came in 10s.
That never stopped people from building huge infantry forces.

So why would 10 plastic Krieg per box become the bread point?

ccs wrote:

 Mr Nobody wrote:
On the plus side the krieg killteam box makes kitbashing the greatcoat armies much easier. Although, you won't be running a hoard army with ten to a box.

Why not?
All the old metal ranges (Cadians, catachans, vallhallens, mordians, tallarns, Vostroyan, steel legion) were sold 10 to a box/2 per blister.
And FW Krieg & Ellysians came in 10s.
That never stopped people from building huge infantry forces.

So why would 10 plastic Krieg per box become the bread point?

At $75 a box that can add up and very little opportunity to take advantage of a box set. You would also want to use some of those bodies for gunner crews and tank crews. At least, if you wanted to exclusively use the KT box. There are 3rd parties that might be more financially viable.

 Mr Nobody wrote:

ccs wrote:

 Mr Nobody wrote:
On the plus side the krieg killteam box makes kitbashing the greatcoat armies much easier. Although, you won't be running a hoard army with ten to a box.

Why not?
All the old metal ranges (Cadians, catachans, vallhallens, mordians, tallarns, Vostroyan, steel legion) were sold 10 to a box/2 per blister.
And FW Krieg & Ellysians came in 10s.
That never stopped people from building huge infantry forces.

So why would 10 plastic Krieg per box become the bread point?

At $75 a box that can add up and very little opportunity to take advantage of a box set. You would also want to use some of those bodies for gunner crews and tank crews. At least, if you wanted to exclusively use the KT box. There are 3rd parties that might be more financially viable.

Well, good thing I'm in the USA where plastic Krieg are only $60/box.
And then factor in any discounts I can wrangle.

 Gert wrote:
Death Korps were originally a variant scheme for the Armageddon Steel Legion:

Spoiler:

Not quite, while that's the first time the Death Korps is represented with a model, the 1999 IG Codex for 3rd Edition had those pages with a bunch of IG regiments on them. The Death Korps was already, as were the Death Riders who were already mentioned as riding enhanced mounts. The Steel Legion is noticeably absent from those page, only coming up in the Armaggedon book in 2000, so the Death Korps actually predates the Steel Legion.

Because great coats are just that badass


Automatically Appended Next Post:

 Bobthehero wrote:

 Gert wrote:
Death Korps were originally a variant scheme for the Armageddon Steel Legion:

Spoiler:

Not quite, while that's the first time the Death Korps is represented with a model, the 1999 IG Codex for 3rd Edition had those pages with a bunch of IG regiments on them. The Death Korps was already, as were the Death Riders who were already mentioned as riding enhanced mounts. The Steel Legion is noticeably absent from those page, only coming up in the Armaggedon book in 2000, so the Death Korps actually predates the Steel Legion.

When I got my copy of the first iteration of IG codex for 3rd, I was shocked to see the Steel legion didn't exist yet.

Steel legion don't wear great costs.

The other great coat regiment with minis is the Valhallans.

There's no reason for it, just what sculptors thought was cool.

chaos0xomega wrote:
Steel legion don't wear great costs.

The other great coat regiment with minis is the Valhallans.

There's no reason for it, just what sculptors thought was cool.

I will stand by this statement too- Steel Legion wear trenchcoats

It is a big part of why I never liked proxying Steel Legion with DKoK models. All the small details are different, but so is the big one... The exception is Steel Legion officers, which do wear greatcoats.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

 Bobthehero wrote:

 Gert wrote:
Death Korps were originally a variant scheme for the Armageddon Steel Legion:

Spoiler:

Not quite, while that's the first time the Death Korps is represented with a model, the 1999 IG Codex for 3rd Edition had those pages with a bunch of IG regiments on them. The Death Korps was already, as were the Death Riders who were already mentioned as riding enhanced mounts. The Steel Legion is noticeably absent from those page, only coming up in the Armaggedon book in 2000, so the Death Korps actually predates the Steel Legion.

It is interesting, because the DKoK soldier in the 3rd ed 1999 codex looks more like a Steel Legion model with a shorter coat than the later designs, although already has puttees instead of jackboots. Given Codex: Armageddon was released the following year with loads of Steel Legion artwork, I am confident that the writers of Codex: Imperial Guard knew what the upcoming Steel Legion looked like and chose not to hint at them in the Guard codex.

ccs wrote:

 Mr Nobody wrote:
On the plus side the krieg killteam box makes kitbashing the greatcoat armies much easier. Although, you won't be running a hoard army with ten to a box.

Why not?
All the old metal ranges (Cadians, catachans, vallhallens, mordians, tallarns, Vostroyan, steel legion) were sold 10 to a box/2 per blister.
And FW Krieg & Ellysians came in 10s.
That never stopped people from building huge infantry forces.

So why would 10 plastic Krieg per box become the bread point?

They also costed lot less and you needed lot less. 40 was already lot.