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.

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

Warhammer 40K Imperial Guard Steel Legion - Chimeras, Support Vehicles & Air Support

Installment #3 of my Steel Legion Chronicles for 40K - APCs and Support systems.


Although I had several hundred Steel Legion infantry, my vehicle pool only contained 6 Chimera APCs, enough for six squads (as if my games ever got that large).  Everything was magnetized, with each platoon having its down color coded markings and flags.  The flags were removable which would indicated a loaded APC with infantry or empty.


My force also contained a flame thrower tank and three Forge World mortars for fire support.


Rounding out the force was of course air support - one Valk with a full lascannon loadout and a Forge World Vulture Gunship.  I was quite insane at this point in life and even painted the pilots and cockpit interior, complete with computer readouts.




Not much to say about the painting.  Everything was airbrushed per my usual scheme.

Warhammer 40K Imperial Guard Chimera APC

 

 

 

Warhammer 40K Imperial Guard Hellhound

Warhammer 40K Imperial Guard Valkyrie

Warhammer 40K Imperial Guard Forge World Vulture Gunship

Next up will be the infantry themselves.