Wahooooo!

I did it! My Praetorian army I painted for Band of Brothers is complete. So chuffed with myself for getting them done, and actually thrilled with the finished result too.

Here's what 1499pts of my quirky take on Praetorians looks like:

I'll get some close ups posted later, but for now I'm going to relax and spend twenty minutes putting them back in the cabinet!

Praetorian Medusa

The second in the line of Harness pattern artillery vehicles is now ready for paint. This is a medusa, made using plumbing parts for the main weapon.

Quite happy with the end result. Not a huge fan of the skirts but that's to hide a couple of miscast roadwheels. Had it not been for the Band of Brothers timeline I'd have ordered some more resin and cast another set but never mind. Adds a bit of variety if nothing else :)

Praetorian Platoon Command Squad

And the final part of June's build (you can see why it went down to the deadline!), the platoon command squad. It comes with a commissar and vox caster.

Nothing too ingenious here, though I am quite happy with the vox caster model (on the left above).  Painting is a little ropey in places, rushing doesn't help when you paint as slowly as I do!

Praetorian Ratlings

Third of four parts of June's build. These are Kindred from Hasslefree Miniatures.They're sculpted as ww1 era soldiers but I thought their rifles were suitably sniper-esque and the tin hats could be painted as piths.

I love the sergeant, I think he's probably my favourite model of all the out of the box sculpts in my army.

Praetorian Griffon

Another part of June's build, the Griffon artillery. This is the first of my Harness pattern vehicles, another one is in development.

I decided to use the FW thudd gun rather than a traditional single shot mortar. Just preferred the look and when the gun shield fitted the gap in my vehicle I new it was destiny!

I tried to get a more WW2 feel for these, I think they look slightly Wespe with the open tracks and big metal guard.

Cadian Auxilliary Truck

Part of June's BoB build, this is the chimera transport for the Cadian Auxilliaries. It's based on Dave Taylor's trucks (check them out, they're immense). I've tried to do my own take rather than recreate his (I didn't use his templates, just his ideas), but that's possibly more to try and hide my inabilities to do what he does rather than any artistic reason.

Still, I'm very happy with the result. Had a go at photos in natural sunlight, not sure if they're better or worse but here they are.

As with every other month was a bit rushed so some of the details aren't perfect, but it's painted and it still surprises me when that happens. So many of my models are just plain white plasticard for years.

Praetorian Auxilliaries

Woah got to remember to update here more. Things have been hectic but progress is definitely being made on the Praetorians for Band of Brothers.

Here's the final part of May's entry along with the Leman Russ seen previously.

These are old school Cadian Shock Troops I bought when they were first released. I stripped them down for this project and painted them in line with the uniform guides I posted before. Quite happy with the results, although painting them was hellish. You forgot how hard it is to paint nasty old metal models when compared with sharp new plastics. It's the interpretation bit I can't do, where there's a huge chunk of metal because they can't do undercuts, and you have to try and guess what colour to paint it. Bah.

Anyway, moving swiftly on.

Praetorian Ogryns

The Ogryns and their Sergeant Major are now complete!

Really happy with ow the unit turned out. Desperately trying to keep this army fairly light and characterful, so fun units like this always help. Quite happy with the sergeant major's facial hair too. He does have a battle scar around his right ear (cadian sergeant heads have no right ear, so I had to try and sculpt one myself), but it all adds to his history I reckon.

BoB in May will bring a Leman Russ and Cadian auxilliaries. But both with a difference of course.

Praetorian Vehicles Pt 2

Further vehicles of the 108th Praetorian.

Medusa Heavy Mortar (Harness Pattern)

It is with the heavier armament that the Harness pattern really demonstrates its superiority over other artillery constructs. The lower centre of gravity reduces chassis roll when firing the main weapon leading to increased accuracy over sustained barrages. The extra stability and enlarged gunnery station also improves crew endurance in prolonged deployments.


Leman Russ Battle Tank (Bromhead Pattern)

The Bromhead pattern battle tank shares it's turret with the more common Ragnarok. Larger than the standard pattern Russ, the Bromhead affords greater ammunition capacity, and accommodates a crew of seven (when fitted with twin secondary turrets). However the increased mass is at the cost of top speed, and the larger silhouette makes the Bromhead a more prominent target in open battlegrounds.

Praetorian Vehicles

The vehicles of the 108th Praetorian,currently engaged on Kataan IV.

Chimera APC (Chard Pattern)

 The Chard differs somewhat from the more common Chimera patterns. Being somewhat smaller it forgoes both the amphibious capabilities and the armoured turret. The result however is a more nimble vehicle, better suited to urban and jungle conflicts. Primary armament is cupola mounted, exposing the gunner to enemy fire but giving improved field of view.


Command Chimera APC (Chard Pattern)

The Command Chards are often constructed as a six wheeled variation, providing increased speed and ride comfort. Armament is housed in a dedicated mid turret, enabling the inclusion of data terminals and a vid scanner in the forward bay.


Hellhound (Chard Pattern)

The Chard Hellhound is similar in design to the lesser seen Graia pattern Hellhounds. However the inferno cannon is situated in a hull mount with a more restrictive 90⁰ fire arc. The benefit of this is a superior flow of fuel from the storage tank to the cannon.


Griffon Mortar (Harness Pattern)

The Harness artillery chassis fell out of favour with many Imperial Guard regiments due to it's slow speed and relative scarcity of parts. Regardless, many of the Praetorian regiments still make use of the Harness, its lower centre of gravity and longer wheelbase offering a stable platform for sustained bombardment.

The Harness Griffon is unique amongst the various Griffon patterns, the armament consisting of four linked small caliber mortars rather than the traditional single, large bore mortar. This makes the Harness Griffon more effective at scattering massed infantry ranks, at the cost of pentrative power.

Praetorian Hellhound

And the second BoB entry for April, my hellhound. I think I posted unpainted pics of these here before, but here it is with some paintwork. I need to do the weathering and try and scorch the end of the flame cannon but other than that it's almost there.

I've got all four Chard pattern vehicles on the desk next to each other at the moment, and I have to say they look rather cool. Love that whole standard pattern reused for different things vibe. One more vehicle on the same pattern for next months BoB, then we're onto the as yet unnamed artillery pattern vehicles. Harness pattern perhaps? hmm

Praetorian Ogryns

Woohoo, after my enforced internet hiatus my ISP has finally provided me a connection and we're back!

First of two in-progress Band of Brothers entries then. I did my first praetorian ogryn back in 2006, really can't believe it was so long ago. I always intended to finish the squad but never got around to it. BoB is just a great idea for finishing off lost armies.

Here they are before the paintwork:

The guy in the coat is the Bone ead, sculpted that a couple of years ago and it was very ambitious for me I think. The result is ok but not as crisp as I'd have liked. Not saying I could do any better now mind..

And with the basic paintwork done:

Will get these finished today and post up another picture. The highlighting is almost done now, a few small details then edge the bases and jobs a good un. I'm actually ahead for this months BoB. Considering the first two months have come down to minutes (seconds on month one) I'm feeling pretty damn smug.

So smug infact I'm making these guys a 'mascot' in the form of a Sergeant Major, standing on a pair of sand bags, barking orders. If it works it'll be cool. If not it doesn't have a points value so no harm no foul :D

Praetorian - Veteran Grenadiers

The other item from March's BoB was a squad of veterans. These guys are grenadiers kitted out with carpace armour, shotguns and a bank of special weapons.

Colours are going to be standard for vets in my army, so the command squads and the like will have the tan trousers instead of the blue of the rank and file. Shotguns I found as a conversion somewhere, I think Life of Shan on DakkaDakka. I'll update this with a link when I have net access at home! Quite cool flamer/lasgun hybrids that look kind of like big spas 12 type things.

Every model is converted to some extent, all the bodies are slimmed down scouts, pith helmets are from Col. Gravis, sculpted far beyond my skill level.

As is often the case when I'm painting the individual models I get a bit disheartened at my own abilities, but always really like the final group effect. As someone said quantity has a quality all of its own!

Not quite sure on the BoB plan for April. I'm thinking ogryns and a hellhound but I'm still juggling figures (and need to figure out how much time I'll have for construction without making it a last desperate gasp on the painting).

Praetorian - Primaris Psyker

Hi there! Back after a little hiatus. I moved home at the start of March and am still waiting for TalkTalk to bother connecting up my internet, most frustrating. But I am still chugging away, my BoB Praetorians are developing nicely.

This month was a light one for me in the comp, just two items. First up is my Primaris Psyker. This is an old second edition IG Psyker model, one of my favourites in my collection. Probably one I saw in a WD battle report back in the day and liked so much I bought it (the same reason I have the old IG Assassin).

Painted in fairly muted colours, but I'm quite happy with the results. Things I'd like to do to it but at the moment I lack time and talent unfortunately :)

Praetorian Cavalry

Hallo there. Things have been hectic here, namely because I move home in two days, but thanks to BoB over at AmmoBunker I've been keeping my Praetorians moving forward and I have a few things finished.

First up are the rough riders, my new pride and joy! They need some tweaking here and there, the riders especially, but since BoB is technically a competition and I had a deadline they'll be tidied up at the end.

I'll do some better individual photos when I get a chance, but there are four riders with lances, one with a heavy flamer and one with a grenade launcher. The guy pretty much in the middle on the purple bird is the sgt, but currently lacks any distinguishing features. He'll get a few extra details when I have the chance.

Praetorian Infantry

Progress has slowed on all my projects as I spend a lot of free time packing my belongings ready for moving home. However I have been up to a few bits.

Main thing is painting the infantry squad. I'm so slow at painting it's really frustrating. I'd got it all base coated and washed about a week ago. I spent an hour (literally) painting gore red onto the torsos to give it a highlight. Decided it didn't work, so spent another hour doing blood red. Still not happy. Not looking forward to another hour. Frustrating.

Anyway plenty to do on these but here's a couple of work in progress shots:

More updates as and when I have them. Hopefully I'll be in my shiny new home soon and I can crack on!

Praetorian Command Chimera

The Command Chimera is almost finished. Needs a bit more weathering, a few details and the end of the barrell painting. I'm also working on a design for the company insignia which will go on a banner. Getting there though..

Praetorian Cavalry - Band of Brothers

Howdy. I've joined up to the Band of Brothers over on the Ammo Bunker, which if you've not heard of is sort of a competitive group build type thing. You choose an army within some set limits, and commit to paint 250pts of models each month. The idea is by summer you have a fully painted army. So me and my Praetorians are going to do it!

This first month I'm painting the wheeled command chimera, an infantry squad and my rough riders.

I've painted up the first rough rider as a test, here's where we are so far.

Still a bit of work to do on it, but I'm really happy with the way it's going. Five more of these guys to do then!