Eggs on legs!  The greatest Warhammer 40,000 miniatures of all time!  Chibi Terminators!  The most iconic Squat models!

Thane Rædwald in Exo-Armour – a tough egg to crack.

This Exo-Armoured Squat Thane is the first Squat miniature I ever bought for a bargain 60 pence.  He’s the nucleus around which my Squat obsession has grown, and has sported several paintjobs down the years.  His chainsword arm is taken from a Chaos Squat in Exo-Armour, and is a conversion necessitated by the original owner.  I can feel guilty chopping up such rare Exo-Armour components – but you can’t make a omelette without breaking a few eggs.

Eggs on legs.  In this colour scheme, Kinder Eggs on legs.

The banner is tomato purée foil plus King Kazador’s back banner.  When converting Squats I try to keep their components (bases aside) from 1994 or earlier so the sculpting and detailing style match.  1994 marked the release of the last ever Squat model in the form of the Epic Thunderfire Cannon, so everything up until that point I consider fair game for conversions.

The bases are a tad excessive at 40mm, but I started the squad back in 2012 32mm bases weren’t on the market.  Such big bases help them pass for Terminators more easily in games.  Plus it means I can build up the bases’ height to allow the Squats to get a little closer to being eye-level with their opponents.  As the elite Squat unit it gives them a great presence in the army.

The hard-boiled Rædwald and his retinue supporting Strifemaster Borun.

I’ve modelled the squad with a multi-melta, which feels the most Squatty of all the heavy weapons.  It’s also a commonly enough available component from the Rogue Trader era to be chopped up guilt-free.

Lots more Squats coming soon!

There are several must-haves in a Squat army – and Exo-Armoured Hearthguard are several of them.  Like Space Wolves and their Wolfguard, these heavily-armoured characters can be sprinkled around the army to bolster the ranks, or formed up into squads for real hitting power.

This model may’ve been influenced by the famous Sutton Hoo helmet. It’s as though the Perry that sculpted these models saw it and thought “Hey! That would look great as a robot – all it needs are hands and feet.”

Eagle-eyed amongst you would’ve noticed that there’s a discarded RTB01 helmet on the base. This is to commemorate the Squats’ victory against Mark’s Storm Giants in our ongoing army challenge. So great was the massacre of these green Marines that Mark has switched to collecting Ultramarines.

Next off, let’s round these chaps out to a squad with all the variants.

We’ve thrown down the gauntlet at wotk to build armies for 40K6 at a rate of 250 points a month.  I’ve picked Squats – particularly apt as they’re name-checked in the new 40K6 rulebook.

First up is the Furnace Valley Brotherhood Command Squad.  Brotherhood Lords are in charge of their Stronghold at a tactical level, leading the Warrior Squads in the thick of the fighting.  They’re one step below Warlords who I’ll model later in the project with ornate carapace armour.  On the left is Commissar Gustav (kindly donated by my friend Luke), who is acting in an advisory rather than disciplinary capacity.  This Mark Copplestone classic is the only non-Perry miniature so far.  The Powerfist and Power Sword is quite overkill, but the model’s too damn awesome to kit out otherwise.

Left to right: Commissar Gustav, Trooper Stoner (Bolter), Medic Faunts, Warmaster Curiz, Trooper Sterling (Stronghold Standard) and Trooper Gast (Battlesynth).

The first Warrior Squad is composed entirely of Perry-sculpted Squats.  I picked all the models with photochromatic visors as the translucent red looks gives the squad a visual kick, and also satisifes my pedantic side where in Rogue Trader squads were either entirely with or entirely without the eye protection.

I’d have liked to’ve avoided using the metal/plastic hybrid Squats in this squad (and make squads of entirely hybrids later) – but the Plasma Gunner is festooned with Heavy Bolter pouches and I’ve no oldskool Heavy Bolters from White Dwarf 97.  I’ll split the squad up later – and might even split off the Squats with AK47s from the Lasguns.

Here’s the whole 250 points altogether.  It’s a nice nucleus to grow the army around.