Xhorik 87th Regiment, 3rd Company, 2nd Platoon Command Squad

Even though I have finished quite a few models for my Xhorik 87th army, it has been a long time since I painted any actual Elysian Drop Troops models. The last ones were the melta gunners. It felt good to get back to working on the core models for the army, even if they are very time-consuming to build. The fatigues are so deep and textured, it makes them fun to wash and highlight.

I'm happy with the way the lieutenant/platoon commander came out with his gas mask, officer's hat and power fist (Strength 6 - watch out!). Unlike the Force Commander this guy has a grav chute, as he makes the jumps right alongside his men, and is normally the first one out of the Valkyrie. In games using the Drop Troops rules, the entire platoon will either deep strike together or start on the table together.

I added a few more grenade launcher guys in order to have enough to equip the bodyguard in an Imperial Auxilia platoon command squad since there is no other use for them. They are not a great weapon against Space Marines since they cannot pierce power armor and they struggle to even glance Rhinos but they have style and you get a bunch of them with the Elysian infantry sprues so may as well use them.

The Auxilia command squad includes a standard bearer so I took the opportunity to paint one up. It does not seem very practical for a drop trooper to jump out of a Valkyrie with a banner pole, which is why they are not part of the regular Elysian Drop Troops list. I'm not crazy about the banner since the orange bird reminds me somewhat of a rooster... but orange is the regimental color. I thought about doing the bird white and the rope orange but that would look too much like the Imperial Aquila and not distinct enough. I do like the way the bone color fabric looks and the orange bird is growing on me. It has personality, at least.

I also had to paint a rifleman to make up for stealing a vox operator from my 20-man infantry squad (and you can never have too many basic riflemen).

I also took one of my vox operators and added a simple conversion I have seen others do to extend the antennae with a bit of wire. It is now a lot easier to spot the vox in the squad and it looks cooler. He will be part of this command squad. The vox caster allows deep striking units to land nearby without scattering and it allows artillery with indirect fire to draw line of sight from this unit to help reduce scatter if the artillery doesn't have direct line of sight. (He is not new so he is only in the last pic of the platoon command squad as it will look on the table.)

The lighting and glare are a bit harsh in the photos, especially the last one.

The five new models I painted: two grenade launchers, rifleman, standard bearer and lieutenant with power fist. 

They are just as loaded with packs, canteens, knives, ammo clips, and grenades as the rest of the drop troopers. They all have grav chutes like the rest of the platoon so they can deploy together.

Head-on shot so you can see the banner. Look out - it's the Rooster Regiment!

Finally, the platoon command squad as it will look on the table. I can add a medic or additional grenade launchers, if I want to paint more up. You can see the extended antennae on the vox operator.

This was also a good chance to get a picture of some troops in front of the Tauros garage so you can get a better idea of the scale of it. Now I just need a name for the Lieutenant and a nickname for the platoon.