Defenders of Macragge
The latest edition of Warhammer 40,000 is now out and over the weekend Hobby Centres all over the world were packed with delighted hobbyists all keen to get their hands on the new rules. There were a range of reactions in our stores, from raucous excitement as everyone tried to tell everyone else what all the new rules were and show each other their favourite new piece of artwork to scenes of total silence as gamers read through the mighty tome, absorbing information, cogitating tactics and writing new army lists and as they went. And in some cases there was cake... lots of cake.
One of the most popular changes has been the addition of allies to your army, which means that you can now combine miniatures from your collection into a single force. A good example, if you're not familiar with this rule yet, would be a Grey Knight Brother Captain and a squad of Grey Knight Terminators fighting alongside an Imperial Guard force. Essentially allies are the best excuse we, as hobbyists, have ever had to create the most characterful, colourful, themed army we can possibly think of.
One man who's already started is Chris Parsons, who up until now had two armies - an Ultramarines strike force and an Imperial Guard regiment painted as a planetary defence force from Macragge. You can probably guess where this is going...
This is Chris' combined Ultramarines and Macragge planetary defence force army. At the moment the majority of the models in the army are Imperial Guardsmen and Imperial Guard tanks, many of which have been subtly converted to give them a unique look. The rest of the force is made up of Ultramarines from the illustrious second company.
The tanks instantly caught our attention. The combination of Predator turrets with Chimera chassis is a superb idea that really changes the profile of the vehicles. We're not sure if Chris has given these tank designs a name yet, but we've been calling them Predimeras for the moment. Or Chimeradators. We aren't all in agreement yet...
Chris used the spare chassis of the Predators to create Rhino APCs for his Tactical squads and the sponson guns for the turret on his "Hellhound."
Chris' Rough Riders go to war on Space Marine Scout bikes. A clever kit-bash of Scout bike, Cadian parts and Forge World heads has given Chris a unique unit that is exciting to look at on the battlefield. The addition of Razor Wire and bits of rubble to the bases really add to the look and feel of the squad. Scroll through the gallery above to see more pictures of Chris' fantastic allied army.
