My original force didn't include a Rough Rider force. I consider them one trick units and usually only good for the first charge. Then of course GW redid the whole Fantasy Warriors of Chaos line and I was sold. At first I liked the new chaos knights and how cool all the armor looked, and it started my mind thinking. The problem with the knight horses is the large size. They were just too big for any rough riders. While I have seen others convert Cadian RRs out of empire knights, I never thought the look fit the cadians too well, and the horses were a bit out of place with all the empire coverings on them. Then I saw the new plastic Marauders riders, and I had found the perfect kit! The horses were the right size and the riders could be converted with some of the bits from the FW renegade line, so I waited till the new box sets came out, and grabbed up 2 boxes of riders on the weekend they came out...WOO HOO!!
With a few bits from the bits box I set off to work on what I think is one of the coolest conversions to the army. I cut the marauders in half taking the riding legs and matching them to the FW Renegade torsos, which turned out to be a perfect fit. The horses came in lots of cool poses and I was also able to mount them on round 40MM bases like the Deathriders of Krieg, which looks better then the cav bases some RRs use in 40K. Above is my prototype model with the needed bits to make a good mix. I used a Cadian Sgt's chainsword arm for the lance arm, and I attached a marauder lance to the arm after cutting off part of the chainsword. I added a few bits from the tank sprue to give him some wargear. I used the arm of the Cadian grenade launcher as the other arm where he will hold on to the horse. On the other side in the pics below I used the folding stock Lasgun as an alternate weapon strapped to the horse, like an old style carbine. I also gave the rider a pistol as another option for weapons choice. At the time the old codex was being used, so some of the weapon options are not available with the new codex, but I will s till model them with the weapons, since I think they look great with them.
The arms are pinned in so I can adjust them to whatever pose I want him in and see what looks best for the action pose of the model.
The other arm will hold the chain strap, and notice the other weapon options for the rider, as well as the extra gear roll on the back of the horse.
For this squad I am going all out on the Sgt, and using one of my prized Enforcer torsos. I usually use them for officers only, but in the case of this one unit I made the exception and am using him as the squad leader.
With the prototype now finished, I will begin construction of the rest of the squad now, along the same formula.
Enjoy!
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