Here is a quick how to for Imperial Guard Cadian Rough Riders!
I wanted to put together some rough riders and wasn't really thrilled with the available offering for Cadians. I decided to Kit Bash some together and I'm pleased with the results.
Here is what I used to put them together. The below purchase can create 5 Cadian Rough Riders with Lances:
A Box of Empire Pistoliers - $22.00
A Box of Cadian Command Squad - $25.00
A Box of Chaos Marauders - $22.00
Bike Bases purchasable from the Games-Workshop Site. $4.50
You of course won't be using the entire boxes so if you prefer to just go with bits instead that's also an option. The prices are from GW's website.
If you're looking for value and plan on making more than 5 I strongly recommend picking up a Cadian Battleforce which includes 20 shock troops AND a command squad all in one box.
From the Empire Pistolier Box we'll be using the Horses and the Legs:
Just go ahead and glue the horses together and remove the legs from the sprue. You can glue on the legs now if you wish but I usually wait until after I glue the horses to the base. The horses have the plastic ridges on the bottom for inserting into the fantasy bases. You can either cut your own grooves into the bike bases and seat them using the ridges OR you can simply cut off the ridges entirely and just glue the horse legs onto the bike base directly. I chose the latter option.
After the horse is securely glued to the base I put the pistolier legs on the horse. I then removed the remaining pieces required from their sprues. They include the following:
1 Cadian Torso
1 Cadian Head
1 Cadian Left Arm (Any kind works, some better than others)
1 Cadian Right Arm (Any kind works but Laspistols can be used with no conversion)
1 Chaos Marauder Arm with Spear
Now you can get creative. If you're using a Laspistol for the right arm I recommend just gluing that on as is. Then we'll 'kitbash' the left arm together to hold the lance. Do the following:
a) If needed, cut the cadian hand off the cadian left arm
b) Cut the marauder hand and spear off the marauder arm
c) Glue the marauder hand and spear to the cadian left arm
If you aren't using a Laspistol for the right hand then we'll put the lance in the right hand instead of the left. Do the following:
a) Chop the cadian right hand off the cadian right arm
b) Chop the marauder hand with spear off the marauder arm
c) Glue the marauder hand with spear onto the cadian arm
In the bits example above I am not using a Laspistol and using a vanilla right hand with a left hand for special weapons. In this instance the special weapon arm makes it look like he's grabbing the horses reins. I took a Laspistol holstered from the command squad box and glued it to his waist.
<<EDIT - it seems as though the only part of the marauder used is the spear arm, before shelling out on a box just for one bit it may be worth checking out http://www.bitzbox.co.uk/
as they are only £0.40 each APD>>
Obviously put on the torso, head and converted arms and you're done: A Rough Rider with a Lance!
