Rogue Trader Imperial Guard



The fate of all Imperial Guardsmen...

After our game this past Sunday, the Doctor pulled out his latest Imperial guard models. Let me explain the history of these models. He bought his 1st box of these models the week (perhaps even on the day) of release back in '89 in down-town Ipswich at our local game store (War & Peace) . The 1st few models he painted were based on the schemes found on the back of the box and within White Dwarf. This was a regiment that was tithed from a mysterious planet called 'Necromunda'. The 'Necromunda Spiders' they were called. 

The paint scheme was simple: Grey uniform, black flak jacket, Silver Helm, brown boots & belt, and brown pockets.

He painted only a few of these models back then, before moving back to the states.

Painted by the Dr, 1989 in Suffolk UK.

The fellow to the left is one of these models from that time. Complete with wing icon on the shoulder and squad numerals. It was this model that I wanted to copy. I spent a summer with him back in '94 and he allowed me to paint some of this models for him.

Painted by Neverness in '94

This was a squad that was based on the original IG list in White Dwarf and inspired by a piece of Paul Bonner artwork. The Space Marine back packs were originally 'Jump Packs' according to both Rogue Trader and the back of the original boxed set. The gear we refer to today as 'jump packs' were originally 'flight packs'. This is a squad of Imperial Guard with jump packs. Note that the Doctor was experimenting with some different base techniques back then, and this is one of the ones he intends to redo.

IG painted by Neverness '94

This is another group of Imperial Guard that I painted that summer as well. i think I would've painted them all had we more time. We're not sure, but it's possible that a few of these guys might've been painted by him. We're not sure, as our styles were sort of close at this point. Note the Sgt. with the 'Confrontation' sawed-off shotgun!

Painted by Neverness, '97-'98?

I painted these models at a later point, around '97 or '98. It was around this point that I started to gather some of these classic IG myself, ordering the female IG from the UK Mailorder. The Dr. allowed me to paint this one for him, as well as this IG Sgt.

Now, onto these newest models. Or rather, the latest models. The Doctor ended up making a strange deal with a guy we'll call 'Ford'. Over the past 10 years Ford had to paint a huge pile of models for him. The years weren't the deal, it just took him that long to do it. Ford was permitted to model these figs, with the encouragement to make them as dynamic as possible. So the Dr. provided him the bits to do it, as well as the newer style of Lasguns from the newer versions of the IG plastics. The only rule that Ford had to follow was to stick to that original paint scheme. He did very well we think:

I hope these picks give a good indication of the dynamic poses Ford came up with! But my favorite has got to be the one at the top of this article! That guy has to be the one in front! LOL

So in case you're wondering, yes, I have Imperial Guard. And I will be following this paint scheme as well. I hope to be able to show you some soon...

-Joel