15mm Sci Fi - Alternative Armies Laserburn Imperial Troopers

Warhammer 40K Space Marines were not the first incarnation of that glorious order.  That honor belongs to another, the Imperial Troopers from Laserburn.  I will not go into detail about this game or the background.  That is available online.  In any case this range was sculpted by Brian Ansell back in the early 80s for his Laserburn miniatures game.

The sculpts are true 1:100 in scale.   This means they are a bit smaller than some of the minis coming out today from various companies.  I have about 50 of these guys, done in the same scheme: Tamiya German Grey, Reaper Deep Red, followed by a light drybrush of Reaper Blood Red and Phoenix Red and a touch of Vallejo Orange Red.  These figures have a lot of armor details; I found drybrushing the easiest way to bring these out.  I added white dots at various places to represent light hitting various points.  It aids the eye and gives some extra pop!

Alternative Armies Grey Alien, Imperial Trooper, GZG UNSC, GZG Tomorrow's War US Marine

 The range has a lot of different sculpts, from regular troopers to various special weapons.  The weapons are not super detailed but the heavier ones are slightly different from each other which aids in visual identification.

Dreadnoughts are Proto Space Marine Terminators

 Personally, I LOVE these sculpts.  They are my favorite sci-fi miniatures out there.  Period.  The pictures on Alternative Armies web site do not due them justice at all.  These could easily represent any 40K Space Marine faction, including Chaos Space Marines.  In Alien Squad Leader they easily fit into the Human Imperial Range and as Alien Imperials.  For more traditional games like Tomorrow's War I use them as Vilani marines from the Traveller universe.

15mm Sci Fi Old Crow Grav Vehicles - Steel Legion camo scheme

Sometimes it pays to have packages you never open.  Years ago I purchased a set of 15mm Old Crow grav vehicles (the reason being long forgotten).  Upon cleaning my shed I found this buried treasure and promptly painted them up.

If anyone guessed, I have a special place in my heart for the 40K Steel Legion for the Imperial Guard. Without having any better ideas I decided to use that scheme for this force.  The pattern was simple: Tamiya NATO Black, Vallejo Model Air Dark Sea Grey, Tamiya Green Gray followed by a highlight of Vallejo Game Color Dead Flesh (all airbrushed).  When done I gave them a wash of Minwax Tudor.  Stowage was picked out with various model air colors (by hand of course).

 I always fully mechanize any infantry forces I field.  Glaive APCs & Lancer.

15mm Old Crow Glaive Grav APC

 Infantry need armor support.  Gladius Grav tanks support the advance.

15mm Old Crow Lancer Grav APC & Gladius Grav Tanks

 Heavy armor is always present, just in case. Sabre heavy grav tanks are just the thing.

15mm Old Crow Sabre Grav Heavy Tank

 Finally, some add hoc support units: MRLS support along with a pair of light mecha for urban fighting.

15mm Old Crow Gladius Missile Tank & Battletech Marauder Mechs

These boys will fit with will my GZG Outrim Coalition and UNSC infantry forces.

Advice: vehicle stowage is a great way to cover up mistakes made during model assembly or painting.

Warhammer 40K Imperial Guard Steel Legion - Steel Legion Troopers

Well, here they are finally: my Steel Legion troopers themselves.  The force was 300+ strong.  Every conceivable troop combination was possible.  I used almost no washes in this force.  Everything was shaded by hand. 


The old model range was all metal and contained no flamer, melta guns or autocannons.  I had to do a lot of conversions to assemble a force with those weapons.  It was long, arduous and in some cases physically painful (filing and drilling...sometimes drilling myself).




There is little else for me to say here.  Let the pictures speak for themselves.

Warhammer 40K Imperial Guard Steel Legion

Imperial Guardsman

The Steel Legion range had no flamer equipped troops.  I had to improvise and custom build models.

Steel Legion troopers with Flamers

Is it hot in here?

 ...again, the Steel Legion range had no Melta guns.  Custom building was required.

Steel Legion troopers with Melta guns



Steel Legion Officer Corps

Steel Legion Standard Bearer

Steel Legion Heavy Bolter teams

Steel Legion Lascannon teams

Steel Legion Missile Teams

Steel Legion Autocannon teams

Imperial Guard Special Characters

This completes my tribute to my old Regiment.  Hopefully they are winning battles for the Emperor...somewhere.

Army Painter Dip or Minwax?

Over the years I have used both Army Painter Dips and Minwax.  Personally, I find very little difference between the two products.  I prefer Minwax Tudor for versatility and price but Army Painter Strong Tone is also an excellent choice for shading earth tones.

However.....if you are considering using Army Painter Dip or Minwax on figures or vehicles I HIGHLY suggest applying a coat of Future Floor Finish or another Gloss Cote of your choice before applying the varnish (not so much on 15mm figures but definitely on vehicles).

The varnish slides off the glossy high spots much easier and generally makes the whole process better (IMO).  Whenever I use the products on uncoated models I always have problems.

You can use mineral spirits to thin if necessary; but don't use too much or the stain will separate and you will have a messy model which will need redoing.

Warhammer 40K Imperial Guard Steel Legion - Stormtroopers

When it comes to models, I have always been more of a collector than a player.  Typically I over-amass on things that I love.  Imperial Guard Stormtroopers were no exception.

 I never used these guys much in combat.  Points were always scarce.  However that did not stop me from having a large force...just in case.  I used them more as Steel Legion proxies, mainly for Veteran Infantry Squads.

Warhammer 40K Imperial Guard Stormtroopers

My primary opponent played Blood Angels.  I did my best to annoy him.

Up next, and finally....the Steel Legion troopers themselves.

Warhammer 40K Imperial Guard Steel Legion - Psyker Squads

When I did my Steel Legion years ago there were no models for the Psyker Squad unit for the Imperial Guard.  So, in old school fashion I made my own.  Using Cadian bodies and heads from Pig Iron Miniatures I produced the following three squads.  Not my finest creations, but they worked, 30 troops total.  Considering this was ten years ago my skill is slightly higher now.  Close up pics always seem to show every damn defect.  This was the first and only time I tried painting black as a primary colour on a miniature.  I was not pleased with the results

Up next, Imperial Guard Stormtroopers.

40K Imperial Guard Psyker Squad