Iron Snakes: Centurion Squad Build Complete

Hi folks,

Squaduary is a hobby challenge being held this February, organised by Rory from Stepping Between Games. The idea is to construct and paint a squad of Infantry for your army, that has perhaps been waiting a little to long for some love. Well... I have plenty of squads that would fit that bill, but my Iron Snakes Centurions are at the top of the list. I had a bit of a head start with Kryto, the sergeant pictured above, because I wanted to see if the concept was worth pursuing. Last night, feeling confident but exhausted from my first week back at work, I converted the final two Centurions to be armed with plasma cannons.

"You did what now?" I hear the internet howl. I conceived of these Centurions being up-scaled versions of my Sterguard, which are equipped with combi-plasma weapons. Of course there is no Codex entry for this but MOAR PLASMA.

The first Centurion is my favourite. If you have built Centurions before you will know that the pieces aren't easily interchangeable between poses; you have to be very careful following the instructions for each arm position. Everything interlocks and the design elements are layered in such a way that modifying one piece effects the positioning of many pieces.  Despite that, this guy came together perfectly, with the power supply of the plasma cannon bending all the way up to attach on the power plant. He also has a very "come at me bro" look to him.

There's nothing like miniature photography to highlight the flash that you forgot to remove the night before...

The other Centurion was the polar opposite; everything was more difficult. Primarily, the power supply of the plasma cannon had no way of connecting to the power plant without changing its look completely. I had a long look at the pose after dry fitting it and came up with a bit of a story for this guy, that will play out as I base him and with the paint scheme.

I am going to paint the plasma cannon as if it has been fired and is overheating. The power coupling will be attached to an emergency heat sink on the base behind the figure. It looked to me as if this guy was grimacing while he unloads with the heavy bolter, plasma cannon held aloft as it recharges and cools down.  This mini-diorama that tells a story seems to me like a better idea than forcing the conversion any further. Let me know what you think ;-)

See you across the table,

Marc