An AT-AT from the '8th Iron Legion' strides through the low-lands of Dandoran...

... And a rendezvous with an Imperial Shuttle ready to disembark a squad of feared Dark Troopers...

I decided it was about time I got the armoured might of the Emperor's '8th Iron Legion' painted and based up ready for the table-top (I have plans for these fellas in a forthcoming themed game)

So, let's crack on and head to the Walker Factory...

The bases were cut from 3mm MDF. Size wise, they match the dimensions of two large X-Wing ship bases positioned end to end. For flexibility, I wanted to create modular scenic bases (more on this in a minute), so the walkers needed a way to slot on and off their bases. Fortunately, the Action Fleet toys already had suitable holes positioned in their feet, so it was a case of creating 'pegs' with a width that provided a firm enough fit to allow the model to stay securely on it's base, whilst being able to be removed with a slight tug...

The AT-STs bases match the size of standard X-Wing ship bases

Paint jobs to follow...

Nice work.

With the main bases constructed, it was time to move on to the scenic 'over-lays'...

The modular over-lays were cut from plasti-card. For the first batch, I went for a woodland / jungle finish. These were created by gluing on modelling sand, a couple of coats of mud effect paint and a suitable dry-brush highlight. Once dry, I patch covered the bases with two different types of flock, one light and one dark, to add a bit of contrast. The final touch was to glue on some foliage clusters from Woodland Scenics.

As a test run, I also created an alternate Hoth / snow world base for one of the AT-ATs. This was built in much the same way, but this time finished off with Army Painter snow effect...

Awesome! Not that it probably matters much from a game perspective but do you know the scale on the walkers?

Onto the minis.

Like many galactic nuts, I've been playing a lot of Star Wars: Commander on the ol' dog n' bone recently and I've been inspired by the lush forest setting of Dandoran...

I've also been inspired by the Imperial Veteran units and in particular, the bad-ass looking black AT-ATs...

The Veteran AT-AT received a blast of black car primer, followed by a gradual highlight of GWs Dawnstone grey. The glowing red command view-port was painted before the undercoat and masked off with tape - A whole lot easier to paint that way

The paint job for both the standard AT-ATs and the AT-STs pretty much followed the same approach, apart from this time, they all got a blast of grey car car primer . The models then all received a wash of GW's Nuln Oil, followed by a highlight of Administratum Grey mixed with a little White Scar.

I love the scenic overlay concept. That's brilliant. Your walkers look really stunning. Well done.

Awesome! Not that it probably matters much from a game perspective but do you know the scale on the walkers?

Hey Macross I may have this wrong, but I believe the AT-ATs are 1/188 scale (Vs X-Wiing's 1/270).

Effectively, the models are about 5" tall and 5" long.

The '8th Iron Legion' ready to crush the Rebellion!

All that's left now is to build a board for the Legion to wage war on...

Really nice results. So how do you handle walker movement?

Spectacular!

NICE!!

Very nice work mate

That 90's action fleet AT-AT scales quite well with those micro-machines AT-ST's

I used to collect the action fleet stuff and had at least two or three copys of all the star trek and wars micro machines + most of the play sets.

Note the word HAD....

My %&@# brother did not pay for his share of the storage unit (unknown to me) so I lost everything

So much stuff lost

I bet some of those go for a pretty penny on ebay these days....

Very nice job on the painting and the basing! I have done something similar that you may or may not have seen:

http://community.fantasyflightgames.com/index.php?/topic/105371-dont-hassle-the-hoth/

The AT-ATs are a little smaller than yours and not as detailed but will still serve the Emperor well!

Incredible work, man, and I love the SW Commander tie-in. I love how both games are breathing new life back into the SW vehicles and ships I was such a fan of in the 80's and 90's. Your Elite AT-AT is dead on.

Wow¡¡¡, amazing, I love the paint job, what collection are from???, greettings.

Badass TUZ!

Wow¡¡¡, amazing, I love the paint job, what collection are from???, greetings.

Cheers

The AT-ATs are Action Fleet

And the AT-STs are Micro Machines

Badass TUZ!

Cheers Joe Boss - I will get it on the BATTLE BUILDERS, promise

Incredible work, man, and I love the SW Commander tie-in. I love how both games are breathing new life back into the SW vehicles and ships I was such a fan of in the 80's and 90's. Your Elite AT-AT is dead on.

Very kind sir, cheers!

Very nice job on the painting and the basing! I have done something similar that you may or may not have seen:

http://community.fantasyflightgames.com/index.php?/topic/105371-dont-hassle-the-hoth/

The AT-ATs are a little smaller than yours and not as detailed but will still serve the Emperor well!

Dude, THAT is awesome!

Fantastic work. The minis look great, I particularly like the Tauntaun riders

Your rule set looks intriguing - have you play tested it much? I did toy with applying the front facing 45o fire arcs on my bases like you have... but I ended up going full jungle!

Nice job!

Really nice results. So how do you handle walker movement?

Hey Rob - good question...

I hadn't given it a huge amount of thought up til now. I'd originally toyed with the idea of adding the little range ruler 'positioning guides' that are on the front of the ship bases, so that speed '1' straights / turns could be utilized (alongside a possible 'turn 90o on the spot' rule). These can always be modelled onto the bases if playtesting proves them to work..

Now that i've seen DB Draft's excellent efforts, I'm inspired to give a potential rules set some earnest thought

Any suggestions / ideas your end?

Thanks for the kind comments TUZ!

I have only really playtested all the units a couple of times as a major battle but I am happy with how things have been going. I spent most of the time getting the infantry units to work in a unique way as they are the most versatile units around and can act in a group. The hardest thing is getting the snowspeeders to be effective against the AT-AT, I have yet to succeed at this.

Your bases really make the models "stand out" which is good and you could easily have a Hoth style base for your walkers so they are interchangable.

The huge template idea for the AT-ATs works well. They plod along annihilating anyone who stands in their way but they can be easily outflanked.

We've used AT-ST and AT-AT in a ground scenario. The AT could only go straight or bank 1, while the ST could go 1 bank, turn, straight, or straight 2.

I have only really playtested all the units a couple of times as a major battle but I am happy with how things have been going. ... The hardest thing is getting the snowspeeders to be effective against the AT-AT, I have yet to succeed at this.

Seems legit, actually.