+ inload: Catachan 634th – The Ever-Readies +

+ The Ever-Readies – Catachan 634th +

'He raised his eyebrows at the question, then leaned in with a conspiratorial grin. "Regimental Motto? Well, 'ficially, it's 'Wherever, Whenever, However'. Ain't remember a time no-one used those words 'zactly, of course." 

You couldn't help but respect the Catachans – for all their burliness and noise and flash, their fieldcraft was second to none.'

[+Ambrose Osctain, Embedded with the 634th+]

+++

+ Last time we looked at the Catachans here on Death of a Rubricist was to look at the two special releases – the Catachan Colonel [+noosphericinloadlink embedded+] and sergeant 'Ripper' Jackson [+noosphericinloadlink embedded+]. Since then, I've been the recipient of a kind gift of a dozen or so Guardsmen from fellow PCRC droog Omricon, and have picked up a couple of specialists. +

+ What does that spell? That's right – Kill Team. +

+ I'm delighted to say that we've got a big meet-up planned for the first time in... ooh, a couple of years, I think; and Kill Team is on the agenda. Amongst others, I'm hoping to see Bob Hunk's awesome Gron's Kommandos [+noospheric exloadlink embedded+] in the field at last; and rumour has it Warmtamale is bringing his Kroot. +

+ Do I bring one of the many things I've painted in the big lacuna since we last met up for gaming? Of course not – this is our gang, the PCRC, where last minute panic-painting is de rigeur. Onwards with some Catachan Devils from the 634th, then.+ 

+ From left to right, the squad so far is made up of a Comms Veteran; two Trooper Veterans; a Hardened Veteran (the Catachan Colonel, with the power fist counting as the bionic arm); a Confidant Veteran (Sergeant Jackson, whose boltgun fits in perfectly with this role) and a Demolition Veteran. +

+ We've looked at the previously-painted figures elsewhere [Vizref: inloadlinks above], so here we'll just look at the newly-painted additions. +

+ As I've harped on about before, the Catachans offer a great opportunity to practise painting skin. Unlike most of the bare-faced figures I paint for 40k, I wanted the Catachans to (mostly) look vigorous and healthy – a perfect opportunity to try out rich, tanned skintones from a variety of ethnicities. +

+++

+ History of the Guard +

+ All sculpted by the inimitable Perry Brothers (the Catachans largely by Michael, I believe), the 90s-era Imperial Guard models have lots of sentimental value for me. I'd owned the Rogue Trader plastics and metals, but these larger-than-life single-piece figures were full of the character and motion typical of the Perry Brothers' work. +

+ While they're certainly more caricatured and 'heroic scale' than the cool new Cadians revealed yesterday, the exaggerated features and single-piece nature made them also hugely rewarding to paint. Indeed, I think my 2nd ed Imperial Guard army, led by a Rogue Trader model rejoicing in the name Colonel Whittaker, and made up of a motley mix of Catachans, Cadians and Valhallans, was the first fully-painted army I owned. +

+ Each of the Imperial Guard Regiments was originally released as a ten-man boxed set. The Catachan Jungle Fighters box included a sergeant with a bolt pistol and chainsword, melta gunner, missile launcher and loader, and five lasgunner sculpts, two of which were duplicated. The figure above is one of the duplicate lasgunners. +

+ After the various Regiments had all been released, follow-up waves expanded each range. These typically included four new lasgunner sculpts for the regiment; a new sergeant, Lieutenant and Captain; a vox-man; three additional special weapons; and more heavy weapons teams. This particular trooper is from the later expansion blisters.  +

+ The Catachan Vox-trooper is one of my all-time favourite sculpts, as it really sums up the Imperial Guard: engaged, resolute, and disciplined – but with a definite sense of weariness and being under-supplied. +

+ This particular example is second-hand, and came lacking a vox-backpack (replaced with a plastic one) and the aerial on the handset. +

+ The Catachans were unusually well-served in comparison with the other Regiments. They got their own mini Codex, which was accompanied by a few news metal specialists, like this demolition trooper. In the next inload, I hope to bring you a look at one of the heavy flamer troopers and snipers that was released at the same time, too. +

+ Besides these additional releases, they also got a plastic kit (not a favourite of mine); a Catachan sentinel sprue; a special release grenade launcher (making them the only regiment that had access to all the special weapons); and, later still, some new officers. These were released later than the others, and so are rarer to find second-hand. + 

+ The holy grail of Catachan collectors is the banner bearer, which remains unreleased. +

+++

+ In terms of paint scheme, I've gone for:

• Uniform combat trousers (the method's detailed in the Sergeant 'Ripper' Jackson inload linked above, but basically Gretchin Green and Zamesi Desert patches over Halford's Brown Primer); 
• Charadon Granite gun casings and hard equipment (grenades, scabbards and the like); 
• Battle Green soft equipment (pouches) and armour;
• The bandanas, jackets and shirts will be slightly more motley, and provide the contrast and impact of the scheme. The vest are usually white, yellow or olive green (i.e. the same colours as in the camouflage trousers), and the jackets are green or Charadon Granite. The latter are differentiated from the hard equipment by getting a warm Agrax Earthshade wash rather than the Nuln Oil black used for the equipment.

+ This WIP shot shows some of the colours I'm using, including the two for the bases (on the left). It's also a sneak preview of another two on the blocks. +

***

+ Halfway there, and three days to go +

+ The full set. Which models can you pick out? +

+++

'The God-Emperor needs your service, soldier. He ain't here right now – but I am; and I need you to capture that hill.'

[+Colonel Carl 'Mustang' Oakland , 634th Ever-Readies+]