Arbites "Army"

I've long wanted to have an Arbites army despite their place in the background of 40K making army sized deployments extremely unlikely.  In a universe focused on war, amidst other Imperial organizational factions like the Inquisition and the Ministorium who are much more likely to field army sized forces, I wanted them to be able to take the field in narrative moments of insurrection, invasion and insanity.  

Over the years I have attempted to start such an army several times with the help of other hobbyists like Tim Hucklebery and BoLS.  There were conversions to go along with those attempts, of course:

March 2007

January 2013

Sometimes many conversions inspired again by other hobbyists like John's Toy Soldiers...

February 2013

...but like all of my 40K projects they got no further.  Maybe a few more years passing and blogging about the next attempt will improve upon my current track record.  

2020 Update:  Never finishing means you can always start over which I did in the summer of 2019 with bits from Anvil Industry including their medium armor torsos, shortcoat legs and armored arms combined with the Skitarii Vanguard heads which is another idea borrowed from the hobby community.  The plan has generally been to run them as Astra Militarum veterans with three special weapons.  The 2013 Arbites will be downgraded to local enforcers to fill out a basic infantry platoon and maybe a maxed out squad of conscripts.

June 2019

Incaladion Skitarii Vanguard Unit

Incaladion Vanguard

When the Skitarii Ranger/Vanguard models were released I loved the Rangers with their hoods and couldn't get excited by the Vanguard.  Sure, their radiation weapons made for an even grimmer fate than the Rangers, but I couldn't bring myself to make any of the models.

Eventually I decided to put the Vanguard bits to work so I used third party greatcoat bodies (thinly lead lined to extend the operational effectiveness of the troops I reasoned) to make the alpha and radium carbine models. but all of my special weapons had been committed to the Rangers so the unit sat waiting to be completed.

  

Eventually, when the Nighthaunt models were released I managed to come up with a conversion idea that would let me buy some while also completing the Vanguard unit.  Rad troops should be among the worst of the stock Mechanicus units a foe would face so the idea of horse skulled, tumor laden near corpses accompanying the Vanguard seemed about right.  If I were a better modeler then one or more with the robes burned off could make for a truly repugnant conversion.

Having also read up a bit more on the Incaladion forgeworld, the idea of a Magos with even more ferociously recycled units than the norm kind of fits.  Since I intend to paint my Mechanicus in the Mars color scheme, Magos Thule Garman and his forges on Incaladion will be loyalists working to both quell remaining rebellious forges and defend the world from all of the outside attention it receives.