FREMEN ARMY PT.2

Welcome back, I hope you enjoyed the first article on the Fremen trooper conversions. This article will cover House Corrino aspects of the army, including the dreaded Sardaukar Terror Troopers, Laza Tiger Assassination squad and Ground Car.

The Ground Car

Let's Begin with the Ground Car. The Ground Car was the general form of terrestial conveyance in Dune, used by those who could afford them (nobility, wealthy merchants, military personnel, etc). As is the case in many of his books, Frank Herbert lets the reader's imagination fill in most of the details, using instead sweeping descriptions of landscapes to set the scene. As the Ground Car was barely, if not really ever, described in detail, I decided to go with a sort of Art Deco styled vehicle, using a '53 Corvette model as my base. The Ground Car would stand in for a rhino, so I had to ensure that it was the right dimensions (I am very serious about this aspect: in order to be playable all my conversions match base size and general scale of mimicked models.)

Here we go:

After some serious hacking, sawing, hotgluing, super gluing and modeling cement, the finished (and primed product).

To give a brief run over, The hull had to have 2" section removed to fit a rhino's scale. This later was put on top to cover some nasty spots and add detail. The storm bolter is represented by two slug throwers mounted on the hood which were made from IG grenade launchers and dozer blade hydraulics. There are a bunch of tank cupolas around the based of the Ground Car- with some extra bits and model parts these made nice anti grav thrusters.

Here is the finished version, with the Golden Lion emblazoned on the hood.

Sardaukar

But really, what's a transport without a squad?

The main reason I made this squad of Sardaukar, instead of another unit of Fremen, was to fill a tactical hole. Until this point, whenever I wanted to bring infantry, they either had to be on foot (a no-no for me) or mounted on a sandworm. As one can imagine, bringing two LR's a game can be cheesy and point heavy, so this option filled a much needed role.

As to fit the fluff, anyone who has read Dune or seen the 1984 film or the scifi miniseries knows that the Sardaukar invaded Dune and were one of the main opponents to the Fremen Jihad. So why have them on the same side? Easy. After Paul Maud'Dib's ascension to emperor of the known universe, the imperial legions fell under his command. Indeed, it was not until late into the reign of his son, Leto II, that the Sardaukar were finally disbanded after a failed coup (led by Duncan).

So, it is more than plausible that the Sardaukar might have fought alongside the Fremen during the great Jihad to unit humanity, since they had an expiration date of over 1000 years.

Anyhow, onto the conversions. I had to think hard about how I wanted to show my Sardaukar. The book describes them as wearing ' Sardaukar Grey' or black uniforms- that's it. Also, it mentions they all carried kindjal knives and often were known to grow their hair long as a sign of arrogance (and to conceal shigawire). So what did that mean for me? Well, as Dune is the most harsh planet in the known universe, it was reasonable that the Sardaukar might have donned helmets or at least some form of protective gear. As for 'uniforms,' I decided to go with my favorite conversion set- the Cadian infantry sprue! With a little head swap from Pig Iron minis, I had some nice looking Sardaukar. Also, sardaukar were cc monsters- not ranged fighters. To represent this, I needed them wielding kindjals and carrying maula pistols. Surprisingly, the solution came easily from the space marine scout assault arm bits. I originally tried assault marine bits but, even without the shoulder pads, these proved grossly out of proportion.

I also added two special weapons- the first is a power fist stand in, a stun baton (not to be confused with a modern plastic rod, but an electromagnetic dissonance device). This was made from the chainsword scout arm and given a mortar round as the club. Also, I wanted to mix it up with my assault weapons (my meltas ALWAYS roll 1's to hit) so I gave the squad a flamer instead (this has proven on many occasions to have been a wise choice). The flamer was standard IG bits with a little custom piping.

You may also notice golden boxes on each Sardaukar's belt. These are not lasgun ammo cases (as intended) but represent personal shield generators as worn by nearly all soldiers of the period.

Laza Tiger Assassination Squad

Next, a little venture I had always wanted but generally proves less than useful. This is my Laza Tiger Assassination Squad, the final house Corrino element. They represent a BT Bike Squadron armed with melta (lasgun), flamer and power weapons (stimulant injectors). I used the WHFB High Elf Chariot's lions as my base, and added custom bits and biker bases to complete the deal.

Well this concludes the segment on House Corrino! More articles to come soon.

Klaus