Imperial Guard On The Horizon From Games Workshop?
March 11, 2014 by brennon
Games Workshop seem to have found an old Latin schoolbook somewhere and are using it to name the new Imperial Guard. What do you make of the rumours we've seen coming out of Bell of Lost Souls and elsewhere surrounding the Astra Militarum and Militarum Tempestus.
The first image we're taking a look at is the Astra Militarum Codex cover which I believe is going to be the new name for the Imperial Guard as a whole. It certainly seems like it, using the solo figure on the cover and I imagine this will cover everything Imperials want to use on the tabletop.
It seems as if the Imperial Guard are also going to be getting their hands on an online only codex as well which allows you to run an entire detachment made up of the Militarum Tempestus (or Storm Troopers to you and I). Let's take a closer look at those miniatures...
Above we have the rather interesting looking Taurox and some of the Scions for the Tempestus arm of the Imperial Guard. I actually quite like that big truck they have on the cards, it reminds me of something from Judge Dredd. Alongside that the Scions are pretty epic too and it's certainly a massive step up when it comes to the look of the Imperial Guard troops.
I think we're in for a bit of a treat when it comes to the Imperial Guard with the rumour of updated Ogryns and more on the way too. I'm a big fan of those berets on the Scion's heads!
What do you think?
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That vehicle. What were they thinking? It’s across between post-apoc and an Ork Battlewagon.
Paint em red, lads. Red uns is faster!
I maybe would have made the track section a bit bigger BUT I think it’s not a bad vehicle at all.
BoW Ben
The little tank doesn’t look too bad I must admit, but I can’t help imagine it being driven by a certain ‘Allo ‘Allo character. 😉
100% agree. I’ll be using something else in it’s place.. likely the Eisenkern APC or the big amphibious monster from Empress Miniatures..
For people that do want to keep it though (and not use it as a battlewagon) I would suggest pulling the tracks out from underneath it a bit so it doesn’t look so top-heavy..and well.. goofy. The Scorpion from Halo has a good track configuration for this type of thing.
I have been waiting fir the IG codex to be re-released before I got back into 40K. I like what I’ve been hearing and seeing. But the first thing I am going to do when I get that truck is either put on some wheels, perhaps eight of them, or some tracks that run the length of the chassis.
I don’t think the Tempestus Codex is just digital- it says it’s ‘hardback’, and although it says ‘online only’, I think that means it can only be ordered online rather than bought in stores.
Ah yes you may indeed be right there – I hadn’t noticed the little hardback bit! Well that is a turn up for the books!
BoW Ben
That is such a divergence from all other Guard tracked vehicles it just won’t blend in well. You don’t see GW drop the ball like this often. The troops on the other hand are GREAT!!!!!!!!
In matters of taste there can be no argument, as the old saying goes. I really like that new vehicle. Personally I never liked chimeras and was disappointed when I found out that IG couldn’t use rhinos instead. This new transport looks like it gives us an alternative so I can make a chimera-free force.
Wow, thumbs down. Have I upset the chimera fan club or was it wrong to say I prefer one GW model to a different GW model? Harsh!
I think it was more you said you like the Taurox. I honesty also like it, though I will certainly be changing the treads out since they’re far too small for my tastes.
Taurox seems terrible but you can’t really tell until you know the width? Also it has an alternate look. As someone else pointed out if it was for Squats then things would be very different! But it looks like another GW clusterf*ck > dwarf BS-copter. The Taurox with a bit of modifying would be great in a game of Warpath for the Forgefathers methinks. If it turns out to be the rumoured Ogryn delivery system then you can imagine such a disgusting mutant faction riding around in such absurd looking vehicles. The Stormtroops imo are beautiful and group together several… Read more »
I read someone say “the Imperial Guard are so fed up of Orks looting their vehicles, they decided to loot the Orks first, this time round”
Good thing they brought a banner
Stormtroopers are meant, historically, to infiltrate the enemy lines – STORM them without warning – I don’t know about you, but I would never infiltrate without a nice big banner!
I thought Stormtroopers were hired for their inability to hit a barn door from five yards….
Hired to resemble the precense of an entire barn on the battlefield … what id like to know is do i get a drummer boy in the squad box or do i have to buy it separate?
Ah but they are no longer Imperial storm troopers 😛
I see what you mean .. 41k years into the future is bound to have given us some pretty awesome banner technology, stuff we cant even begin to imagine today. Without warning it expands and becomes full size in a matter of milliseconds.
Look, wrt to the banner, strictly speaking these aren’t Stormtroopers but are Tempestus Scions (although it could just be a name change so that GW can copyright the name more easily).
Anyway, I’m interested to see what else the vehicle might look like, and I love the look of the troops, but while I really don’t want to be “that guy”, I’m really hoping that the price point of those 5 models, is just for a command section, and that there is a troop box of 10 somewhere that isn’t so high per model (more than marines?).
I think the truck looks stupid. I’ll just go buy a $5 Tonka for my proxy, and it’ll look better. I might even be able to find one that can make cool vroom vroom engine sounds.
Are you sure that they’re the imperial guard and not space military.
It’s the Imperial Ice Cream Dispenser Van
– dispensing FnP(1) to all units within 6”.
Brain Freeze tests must be taken.
The last pic reminds me of the Red Devils in Dust
is that a half-track gone wrong? ugleeeh !!!
So the imperial guard as a name is dead??? I for one am quite shocked… And I don’t like the new name at all…. I never excelled in my latin. But it’s probably so they can get a big TM going on them. But I do like the paras in space… But I think I’ll stay with my WW2 now I’ve seen this… And I was really hoping this would be my excuse to play again. IG was my love and I think I’ve lost a childhood right there… In actuly quite sad I know it’s only a name but… Read more »
i think i might have to skip this edition of the codex 🙁
Look!Ogryns…and more…
http://descansodelescriba.blogspot.com/2014/03/con-de-o-ogrete-y-hde-horus.html
😉
Having stated my dislike for the models the mustached bonehead has potential for a bizzare diorama – looks like he has time traveled from the 70’s to fix the plumbing 😛
Aw man those Ogryns look… souless. Ok. But souless. Nork Deddog is awright but he seems to be bereft of detail, I wonder if he’s a plastic model rather than resin :s Too much CAD.
…i like their shields though *shrugs*. Missed opportunity. Easy to convert though, hopefully they’ll be a load of extras on the sprue to flavour them up. Third party resin heads made specifically for them might be the way to go.
Never judge GW miniatures by the official paint jobs. They always make them look like ugly toys.
I thought it was the heroic scale effect doing that ? Dunno about these particular models, but the none FW imperial guard have looked like absolute crap for a long time, paint or not. Last time they looked good were during the metal cadians, imo
Only they rarely make them look like ugly toys, hire some of the best mini painters around, and often paint their miniatures stunningly. If it looks like an ugly toy, the chances are it’s because it IS.
And it’s pretty damn easy to look at a model and remove the paint job and project your own colour schemes with your own mind’s eye / see the model for what it is and ignore the paint job.
Yes they hire good miniature painters and then direct them to paint in this horrible style. And its really not easy to remove the paintjob and project your own painting onto it. Its actually very difficult to do indeed. It’s the reason why when you’re selling your house you should paint your walls white.
I’m sure I’m not the only one who can tell if a bad paint job is ruining an otherwise good model or not. It’s not that difficult. And GW have always been roughly on top of painting their models excellently – some exceptions of course. This is not an exception. Perhaps you don’t look at models as some others do, the colour is irrelevant when judging the aesthetic – though a good paint job can help – and mislead – its the detail and sculpt that people are looking at. Those admittedly grainy pics lack character and detail they’re still… Read more »
@poosh you don’t get it do you? This has nothing to do with colour. I’m talking about the style of the painting, not the colour of it. All GW models are shaded and highlighted in a style with makes them look like small pieces of plastic. All those harsh edge highlights look good on hard edged surfaces, but the GW painters use them all over the miniature taking no account of the material being represented or the texture it should actually have. Yes it is possible to tell if a bad paintjob is ruining a miniature just as it is… Read more »
While I would agree the painters are technically brilliant – choice of schemes and styles often does not do the models justice. I am not sure if the same person still does it but schemes used to be approved by a colour blind person.
However those ogryns look like even Michalangelo would struggle to make look passable. Storm troopers are uninspired and oddly the vehicle is probably my favourite – more for something different than for quality.
Maybe they are AM now rather than IG as it can also describe the new models A&%$ minis as well as the force.
@erastus no I really do get it. It’s just not true. Back in “the day” GW really did use to Taste The Rainbow, and it was still awesome. Sometimes GW mess up the colour schemes, most of the time they look great. The style of painting has been the same since the days of old, bright colours, make it all stand out so it photos well. Many oldschool painters advocate BRIGHT colours, ’cause it’s technically tougher supposedly (seems true to me). I think those new Storm Troopers have a bad colour choice but, like most people, not being defective of… Read more »
@poosh you’re doing it again, talking about colours when I specifically said I wasn’t talking about colours. I’m talking about shading and contrast and highlights. Look at the trousers on the Ogryns. They are shaded and highlighted in a way which makes them look like they are made of plastic, not cloth or leather. Plastic. Every part of the miniature is shaded and highlighted in a high contrast, hard edged way as if it was made of hard plastic. It has absolutely nothing to do with what colour they are painted! The way a miniature is shaded and highlighted changes… Read more »
@poosh – sorry yeah – its take kaskerkin, apply stupid knobby bits to breast plate and regurgitate beret heads. Well to me anyway – for those that like them all good.
I think GW runs in to this more and more for my tastes because they are static – its a reinvention all the time rather than expanding – not that I cannot see business reasons for it, just think between that and no filler games its made them a bit limited and predictable. Still just my view.
Heroic scale is what it is. It’s just the style of the miniatures, a style you either like or you don’t. The painting on the other hand does not do the miniatures any favours. If you look at most official GW paint jobs, everything is painted in the same way and high lighted in the same way as if it were made of plastic. It makes the minis look horrible if you ask me.
It is what it is and because it follows proportions poorly it makes most of the miniatures look like toys.
Love the troopers from what I could see but not the vehicle – it really does have that ‘Tonka’ esque ‘toy’ look someone else commented on to my eyes. Think for me it could be greatly improved (again for me) with different tracks or wheels or something. I think it just looks too top-heavy and jars somehow. Can’t wait to see more of the troopers though!
Just looked again – I could be going mad here but can I see a kind of 40k Empire steam tank vibe going on there in the design (only slightly maybe)? I genuinely mean that in a that’s kind of cool way not in a snarky way too.
I find the truck hideous … though it might not be bad if we replaced those ugly mini-tracks with some big ol’ wheels. I actually like the idea (if I use it, and this isn’t something I had planned to do with vehicles) of replacing it with the Eisenkern APC. Most of the infantry units in my planned IG army come from elsewhere; I had kind of wanted to stick with GW for vehicles. But not this horrible thing. But I will [b][i]NOT[/I][/B] call the Imperial Guard “Astra Militarum,” just like I don’t call the Space Marines “Adeptus Astartes.” And… Read more »
they tryed to copy this http://www.clash-of-steel.com/gallery/pages/med/m_WnW_Quad.jpg
but it ended up looking like a heman toy
Getting rid of the name “Imperial Guard” actually seems like a pretty big deal to me. I guess this has something to do with the recent failed lawsuit over the term “space marines”? Maybe GW is trying to create a more specific brand–ie, they next Marines codex might be Adeptus Astartes.
Regarding the name change, I have mixed feelings. I do actually like the fact that they are changing the name. I have very fond memories of 1st edition and all of those Cod Latin names such as the Adeptus Custodes and the Adeptus Arbites. I’ve always called space marines the Astartes as it sounds more evocative of the setting (“space marine” just sounds far too generic – as does “Imperial Guard for that matter). The current series of name changes, such as the Adepta Sororitas, feels like 40k going back to its roots. However, while I like the idea of… Read more »
GW sure dont think of space marine as generic .. they think they invented the term.
For me, the name change is kinda fun so no bones about that. That Taurox vehicle is a complete fail. Absolutely hate it. However, the new storm trooper Scions are just fantastic. That’s the type of miniature boxed set you’d buy even if you don’t play the army! Love them.