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Having painting umpteen quadrillion (more or less) Imperial Guard I noted something cool I want to pass on, canteens.

One thing I always liked about 40k is that people have pockets and pouches and carry stuff. They don't go to war in spandex. The APCs and Giant Robots have engines and exaust pipes, and the Imperial Guard have, well, canteens. One reason I loved RT marines is their ammo pouches, side arms and knives. Features mostly dropped in the 2nd edition marines who looked more like knights or Iron Man.

Even in the Grim Darkness of the Far Future (TM) people will need water and something to drink that water out of. Compare that to Imperial Storm Troopers or Star Trek Security and you can see the different. Not sure if the Colonial Marines had canteens, but they also managed to look like

Of course what's funny is that since most of the IG came out in the 90s, real world armies have moved away from canteens to Camel Backs that allow soldiers to drink without using their hands, but that's another story.

Anyway it's just one little but significant touch that gives 40k the texture it has. Sure it's a game of green fungus monsters vs space demons vs anime bots, but you still get a feeling that there is a real, or at least plausible, world around them.

I don't know about the current kit, but the old box-o-Marines came with plenty of pouches and holsters and stuff. Never used them myself (on my Marines, at least) and seldom have seen them used, but they're -were- there.

Other than that, I love that the Ork Boyz (or was it Nobz?) sprue comes with a pouch full of cigars.

That's one of the reasons why I've always liked the Steel Legion. Not only do they have canteens, but they have a bedroll, a bayonet, and a load bearing harness with extra magazine pouches sculpted right onto the model.

I like the catachan Sprues. Get a few backpacks. Glue the spare weapons on the side.... I don't think any of my special weapons troops actually have the weapons in their hands they all have lasguns with the weapon magnetized to their pack. And you get the cool carnivorous flowers.