So let's hope the Emperor Protects while we charge home... |
This is a fun Rogue Trader project to share! A squad of ten 28mm
Imperial Guard Roughriders from the Rogue Trader era. Many of us have
projects or collections that go on and on for many years, but for me
this one is special - I've been working to get this squad together since
2007! This unit was a submission for Curt's Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge.
WIP shot - drying in the base "goop" |
It was in 2007 when I first started to
acquire some surplus boxes of plastic Rogue Trader-era Imperial
Guardsmen - a major nostalgia interest for me. There were some really
great eBay scores for me that year - whole boxes of 36 plastic
guardsmen, some unpainted officer figures etc. In the midst of these was
a set of three Roughrider torsos. As I worked to assemble and paint my
other troops (see here
for an example of them in action), I resolved back in 2007 that I would
keep my eyes peeled to eBay to try and assemble enough spare parts to
put together a Roughrider squad.
These were a little awkward to assemble. I miss the old Rogue Trader figures, but they were not the easiest models to work with... |
Little did I suspect just how long it would take to put together a proper 10-man unit…
Sergeant in the middle, and a lascannon gunner (not exactly a "classic" cavalry weapon) beside him |
The
roughriders were basically an option to
mount an Imperial Guard tactical squad on horses. After all, the horse
would surely still be part of many worlds and cultures among the
numberless, teeming masses of the Imperium of Man. Some of these horses
would be used in the Imperial military.
Good view of the excellent lance arms from Victoria Lamb |
The
Roughriders were armed identically to a tactical squad - lasguns, one
grenade launcher, one lascannon - but with a twist. They carried lances
equipped with exploding tips. I think an actual exploding lance tip
would be daft for a real cavalryman, but it fits well in the 40k
dystopia. In game terms, it gives these troops quite a punch when they
charge - for one turn, at least :)
You can see a couple of the bush hat dudes here |
The
Roughriders have carried on in the GW fluff over time, and I think they
are still an option for Guard players today, although the models are now
OOP. The Roughriders became space huns - the "Roughriders of Atilla".
The Tallarn-style guardsmen (desert themed troops) also got Roughrider
models. Ultimately Forge World took the baton - the grim Death Riders
of Krieg are quite marvellous figures (if you can afford them), while
the Tallarn troops got alternate Roughriders who essentially rode space
camels called "Mukaali". I don't think many current GW players bother
with Roughriders as a selection for the table.
Another view of the bush hats...what a crazy combination of themes...very Rogue Trader |
When
I set out to get a squad of Rogue Trader Roughriders together in 2007, I
didn't think it would take too long. I was wrong! The Roughrider bits -
special legs and torsos, including a special dude with a Grenade
Launcher, and some guys wearing bush-cap style headgear - did not pop up
very often on eBay. It would be a torso here, a few legs there…and
sometime I ended up with the wrong part. Did you know GW had two
separate types of "rider" legs - one for horses, and one for
motorcycles? Me neither…found out the hard way after an eBay acution. Anyway it was not until late 2013 that I got enough
bits together to do the proper squad - almost seven years after I started collecting the parts.
I like this guy, about to stick the exploding lance into a target - I'm sure that will work out safely... |
The
lance arms are courtesy of Victoria Lamb. Thank goodness for her
awesome products, as the GW originals did not actually have proper lances
(much less cool ones with exploding tips) and I wasn't sure how I was
going to swing that. Victoria Lamb's stuff is amazing. Consistent
with my other Rogue Trader guardsmen, I slapped a "current" lasgun into
the back stowage of the riders. It would have been cooler to sculpt a
strap for the guns - but I'm no sculptor…
Another view of the Sergeant - that's supposed to be a "122" on the number plates (122nd Regiment), but due to my freehand painting skills it mostly resembles a scrawl of crud |
Even
getting the horses together was a challenge, as GW's horse sprues have
changed over time. The current plastic horses are too large (and a bit
too silly). Again, I had to watch and wait on eBay for the parts to come
up.
The perfect cavalry weapon - a 40k grenade launcher |
Once I had all the bits together, it took a
little while to put them all together. I started building them in
November last year, and finally painted them for the challenge. Even
with the excellent Victoria Lamb bits, these are not particularly
glorious figures - they sit awkwardly on the horses, no natural riders
among them, that's for sure. A cavalry enthusiast will find these to be
just awful! But it is a genuine nostalgia
thrill to have these fellows finished.
Hopefully they will pop off some
of Dallas' Rogue Trader Orks the next time we play some old school 40k.
7 comments:
I've always had a soft sport for the helmeted Rough Riders. Very nice!
This. Is. Awesome.
I salute you! I have been in the game since RT days and have just gotten back in after 9 years away from the hobby. Thank God for ebay!
Wonderfully painted troops - not familiar with them, but they look great.
Great work! Thanks for the trip down memory lane.
Sheer Awesomeness in this post.
Great job and great looking unit.
Great work, Greg!
Always liked the old, RT era stuff!
Oh they take me back! Loved the idea of rough riders but GW certainly had some fascinating ideas about how you control a horse during this period! You'v really brought them to life nicely here.
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