Chaotic Distractions

Sometimes it's good to put a project to the side and let a curveball generate some enthusiasm. The past month has featured some distracting radness courtesy of my good friend Pob. After a pretty bum day at work, I came home to a package which included several wonderful old models, including something I've always wanted to paint. In summery, I've ended up with several classic Chaos models, an Eldar Warlock Titan (!!!!!!!!) a Genestealer Hybrid and some assorted other figures. It's safe to say that my Harlequin painting schedule has been put on hold for a while! So far, I've finished up three Blue Horrors of Tzeentch and two World Eaters of Khorne Marines.

Gribble

The Blue Horrors were some of the fastest figures I've ever painted, pretty much finished them in less than a day. They were a real blast to paint and I finally managed to try out one of the new blue glazes which really intensified the hue and took away the chalkiness of the some of the highlights. They're some of the most characterful sculpts I've painted recently and I can see why people go mad for collecting old Chaotic demons. Didn't get a picture of the whole crew, so this fella looks rather lonely here.

 - W O R L D  E A T E R -

I think these are Dave Andrews sculpts judging by the chunkiness of the design and the amount of skulls on them. Whilst not being the most elegant or iconic examples of World Eaters of Khorne (that honour in my opinion belongs to the later semi-armoured assault marines also by Dave) these have a real charm of their own. Despite going for a bright, 90's paint scheme, I decided to add some wear, dirt and bloodstains to make these figures a little bit more relevant to today's tabletops - that and the fact that painting blood is super fun. 

It was a really good chance to paint some figures that I would have otherwise never have got to work on and I'm really looking forward to painting up the Eldar Titan for the local store's next competition.  It's also been a great break from painting the Harlequins and I'm happy to say that I've only got the one Troupe leader left to finish up now. After that, I'm planning on painting up two war-walkers and ten scouts to form the core of the force. The best part is that Pob has got back into painting again and has been knocking out some rad old fantasy figures with his kid Rhys. So stoked when stuff like that happens!

Dancing With Myself - A Harlequin Revue.

Years ago, more often than not, you had to buy multiple blister packs in order to make up units. If you were looking to buy a Harlequin Troupe, firstly you'd have to track down the blisters with the good miniatures in (any that included a model with the Harlequin's Kiss or a Solitaire) as well as pick out a Death Jester too. However, for a kid like me on about £2-£5 pocket money a week, a bulk purchase was never really an option. I couldn't save money if my life depended on it and mail ordering was out as there was no way I was ever going to get my parents to voluntarily give their card details away on one of the order forms on the back of White Dwarf. Unless a birthday or christmas rolled around I very rarely had money and if I did, any ideas of committing to any sensible plan of investing in a single, coherent unit was well out the window and I'd buy a stupid new tank or something instead.

ALL THE COLOURS - ALL AT ONCE IN YOUR FACE.

Harlequins always interested me and I think one of the main reasons for that was my love of combative dance Jes Goodwin's utterly amazing sculpts and John Blanche's artwork in the Eldar Codex. His images of the Troupe Master, Solitaire and Shadow Seer are pyrographed into my mind as iconic, visual ideals. To my pre-pubescent eye, these images and their descriptive counterparts were so fantastically baroque and alien that they literally changed the way I appreciated art. However, I was always aware that as much as I loved Blanche's work, I was never going to be able to, or wanted to ape it. His artwork has always had a cinematic feel, as if the artwork is a split-second snapshot of a movie rather than static piece. I could never paint Harlequin like Blanche drew them and to my knowledge no one, not even Blanche has ever tackled the subject. I think the closest thing to such a thing would be his limited edition Femme Militant range - a Blanche-esque Harlequin could be a great challenge for the future!

Love the way the mask is changing in this. All of the Grotesque faces in the armour are amazing too. I can pretty much feel his disdain for us Mon-Kei from here!

What isn't there to like about this? The massive jewel face and antique pistol are so gnarly.

The fucking anguish in this is so grim. Sad Solitaire looks well like Chris Corner of IAMX too.

Mental illness bone daddy disco fabulous. Such a burly image.

When I decided to revisit my love for RT/Second Edition Eldar, I knew I had to include a proper unit of Harlequins to exorcise the demons of my misspent youth. With the wonder of eBay and trading sites, I've managed to get all the figures that captured my imagination way back without having to trawl through loads of crappy blisters.  In a strange twist of fate, whilst gathering ye olde Troupe, Games Workshop released a new set of plastic Harlequins, based loosely on the metal ones that came out in 2007. The last incarnation of Harlequins were a joy to behold - a great rendition of a classic Eldar staple with all the litheness of the mid 00's Eldar metal releases. They were and still are in my opinion, some of the best modern figures that have been produced, echoing their forebears in spirit and design. This Troupe was painted in 2009ish over a summer of unemployment and they were a huge learning curve in regards to precision painting. - black and white contrast is very unforgiving! They're not perfect by any standard, but at the time I was really proud of them. I think I'll tidy these up a little once I've finished this present Troupe.

Dance magic dance.

These two sculpts in particular really do it for me.

The new releases initially piqued my interest. The new kit came with a massive selection of easily convertible plastic parts, plus dozens of extra bits -  but closer inspection bummed me out. Whilst the recent metal releases had some real strength of line and acrobatic rigidity to them, the new plastics seemed sloppy, almost wet in their poses They also appear too uniform to my tastes when compared to the wildly differing selection of outfits and styles the original set. Even the character figures are re-works of the previous models, with poses and additions which don't really add to the overall look of the figure; showcasing the potential of the materials used (in all fairness, the stuff GW are doing with plastics at the moment is incredible) rather than being an opportunity to expand on the corpus of Harlequin imagery. One figure released did excite me though. The Solitaire, although posed in a somewhat awkward way is an interesting model which I plan to include in my 'new' Eldar army purely for completeness. I like his mask and cowl which in a way, is a gesture towards that famous Blanche portrayal. Plus, if I get him done, I can finally sort out the Shadow Seer that has been on the to-do pile for the last few years!

The undercoated WIP pile. New Solitaire is between the two versions of the Shadow Seer.

Anyway, enough of my bitching. I'm now halfway through working with the Troupe, choosing against the classic 'all colours and patterns at once' look and instead going for a limited palette of blue, pink and grey to create some kind of uniformity whilst breaking that up with sparing use of black and white to give the models a greater sense of difference. Hopefully this will work without the whole crew looking overly garish. They'll be twelve altogether, ten Troupers, one Solitaire and one Death Jester. Painting chequered patterns hasn't been too much of a hassle yet, but I think I've been lucky and unknowingly got the spacing and ratios right. Sure that won't last long!

EVERYBODY DANCE NOW.

You could never find this model in a blister pack - ever. Still feels special to own it!

Agh, need to sort that mold-line out!

Unconscious nod to the Hart Foundation.

Such an iconic sculpt. Can't believe Jes Goodwin did all of these.

So glad the rad crystal gun thing has made a return to the modern game, no idea what it does, but it looks cool!

Should hopefully have them finished off in the next month or so. I'm hopefully going to make a start on the meat of the Eldar force then, focusing on ten rangers, ten guardians and two war-walkers before moving onto a character or two. That is if I don't get distracted by a new, super jazzy tank or something. Old habits die hard!

Lead Drift

I always considered myself a GW fanboy. I've been known to buy overpriced sand, gravel and other ridiculous items from their stores out of some strange sense of brand loyalty. I used to be seriously down on aftermarket parts and considered anything non-canonical to be non-legit. However, in the past few years this rigid attitude has thawed dramatically for many reasons and I can happily say that it's made the hobby loads more exciting and rewarding. Let me take you on a journey,...

Go away Xander, you're ruining the photo!

As well as being into little men, skateboarding and other assorted lameness, I'm also a massive fan of Willow Rosenberg the TV show Buffy. When I discovered that Hasslefree had created some sculpts that were (in no way) related to the show, I had to have them. They are the very first non-GW sculpts that I had ever laid my paws on and it was strange. It felt a little like blasphemy. The scale was slightly different, the details finer and more realistically rendered. In short I was smitten by the design and effort put into the figures. 

Buffy Summers and Mr Pointy.

If you've never painted any of the Hasslefree range, I whole-heartedly recommend you pick one of their figures up. The casting is perfect with minimal trim or cleaning needed. They're also really sturdy for small figures too, so no worries for people like me who have been known to damage brand new models before getting the chance to paint them. Buffy was a joy to paint and suited a super-thin, multiple layered wash style of painting to make the textures a little more realistic.

Blurry Blondie Bear.

Not the greatest picture, which is a shame because this sculpt is fantastic. It's must be easy for sculptors to get lazy when it comes to things like long jackets, but thankfully, this figure is a massive exception to the rule. The coat is full of subtle curves at the back and the fineness of the detail is stunning. 

Vampire Willow is best Willow.

Er,..yeah. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't into Vampire Willow. She's the bestest. Really love the proportions on her hips and the outfit is spot-on to the show. I must admit the facial sculpt is probably  the weakest of the three, but it's still a great model.

Buffy and Spike talk about hatesex, whilst Vampire Willow
thinks about throwing matches on things.

So that's Hasslefree. As for other rad companies, one that's recently come to attention is Slow Death Games, who are producing a 'Warriors' esque game using rad looking gangs based on musical genres as inspiration. So far, only Sid the crusty punk has been cast, but there's so many amazing looking greens on the production line - especially an amazing selection of goth girls which look like the most fun to paint. Here's Sid!

Tuff guy.

Tuff guy bad end.

This figure is great. The proportions are great and it's a really nice to paint someone holding a realistically sized weapon. There's a great picture floating the around the web of this guy with a Conflict back-patch which has come out loads better than my attempt at a Crass logo. Kinda wish that I'd been a bit more adventurous with the colour, but it's not my fault that crusties like black denim! I ended up buying two of these models, so I may paint the next one up as a Juggelo and sculpt a little staffie for him.

Sid and Buffy discuss bands they've seen at the Bronze.

So yeah, I can no longer claim to be a GW purist and I think it's a good thing. I'm quite sure that the universe of 40K will always preoccupy the forefront of my daubings, but it's nice to know that there's alternatives out there when things get stale. I've already been scouring the ranges of other model producers to track down a suitable Giles to hang out with the Scoobies. If anyone else out there is having second thoughts about exploring other ranges then do yourself a favour and get in there!

Killing Your Darlings

In the grim darkness of the far-future, no one will clean your tank.

Access granted – Beta level – clearance of Scribe Joachim

Hieronymus lies close to the Sabbat worlds in Segmentum Pacificus, approximately 9000 light years from Terra. Whilst officially classed as a Feudal world, over a quarter of the planet has been dedicated to production of Imperial goods, providing a modest amount of the supplies needed for the Sabbat Crusade under Warmaster Slaydo and Macaroth in 600. M41. She obits the nearby star of Hildegard, has an Equatorial radius of 6241 miles, and a temperate climate with polar regions similar to that of Terra.

Hieronymus is also more often thought of throughout the system for her large Ecclesiastical presence rather than her industrial production. The population are deeply involved with the Cult of the Emperor, and the planet has many reputedly holy sites dedicated to lesser saints dotted around the surface. Her main attraction however is in her principal city of Sophronius, the Cathedral Church of Our Lady of Hieronymus, claiming to be the primary reliquary for the bones of St Sabbat Beati. This is of course disputed by her sister sites on the nearby planets of Urdesha, Balhuat and in particular, the Saint’s homeworld of Hagia. Despite this, Hieronymus seems to dominate the pilgrimage routes around the southern regions of Pacificus, attracting a large number of Adaptus Soritas from the nearby convent world of Ophelia IV.

The planet has respectably sized standing unit of Imperial Guard, consisting of 5 regiments and 3 tank companies. The Hieronian Guard are known to follow a Feudal code, with many conscript companies being little more than barely-armoured serfs. Another notable trait is the regiment’s use of personal heraldry for Barons and Lords, which is often reflected on those troops beneath them. The use of personal heraldry on Hieronymus was questioned by the Inquisition in 959. M41, but was not deemed as a heretical practice.

The Heironian Regiments have only been involved in one major campaign, serving with notable success during the Sabbat Wars. However, they have been pivotal in the removing of heretical cult activity on neighbouring planets, the most recent of which was the Slanneshi cult on Eusebius. At present, their main theatre of operations continues to be within their own system, primarily against the chaotic war-band known as the Bloodpact.

End transmission.

This is a goodbye post, a fond farewell to the army that re-kindled my love of painting little men after a decade long break. Here is the swan song for the Imperial Guard of Hieronymus,...

The initial inspiration for this project was again, rooted in nostalgia. Whilst growing up, my best friend Rory had the raddest combined Imperial Guard / Blood Angel army and always kicked my arse with it. In a way, the genesis of this force was a take on the Cadians my friend had, albeit based on the new multi-pose plastic ones. However, I also wanted to explore the idea of creating a unique Imperial Guard regiment, so introduced elements from the then new Empire fantasy range to give a Germanic, semi-feudal feel to the force. The majority of these figures are nearly 15 years old now and still look pretty good compared to the new plastics. Despite this, it's a collection that I've not got an awful lot of interest in now as they are never displayed. Even when packed away in army cases they take up a lot of room, which is not something that a Victorian terraced house has in abundance. The paint-scheme (although suitably drab) is pretty dull and I've definitely moved on from 'black undercoat on everything' since 2006. In many ways they were great to collect and put together but I feel the time has come for them to move onto grimmer, darker (and more active) battlefields - what better way to send them off than with a self-indulgent walk through the great and good of the Hieronian 2nd?

Commander Helmut Von Kappaschun with two trusted meat shields bodyguards.

The leader of the force, Commander Helmut Von Kappaschun. This guy is joined by two veterans who are there to represent the 'look out Sir AGHH!' rule. These were really fun to put together. There's some really nice bits on these figures and I'm especially proud of the Commander's gorget and green-stuff fur trim. Most parts from these guys come from the Imperial Guard Command squad frame, a really nice kit that has all sorts of rad bits in it. I'm particularly fond of the bandaged arm!

Drama cape!

Some details of the Commander's snazzy back. The Warhammer Empire plastic range was raided and used liberally on all of the army, but is especially visible in this great flappy cape. The paint scheme is pretty unimaginative, but at least it's neat and consistent. This army was the first I ploughed into after a long hiatus, so there's a lot of 'excited to be holding a paintbrush again' free-hand painting and additional parts on most models.

Command squad, now with drummer boy!

If there's one thing I dislike about new GW sculpts it's molded flags. Fuck that noise. Flags and banners should be flat. That said, I do have a few of them in my Dark Angel army -  but they are on the list of things to be replaced, so I'm not a total hypocrite. The banner was one of the first green-stuff projects I ever attempted and I think it came out okay. Again, loads of Empire bits included on these guys.

Obligatory Vindecare Assassin.

Pretty dull paint-wise and not the best version of this model. The Ork skull was the most fun part to paint of the whole model! It must also be noted that this dude has the most detailed buns of any GW model. 

Commisar Greig and his cuffing paw.

This figure is so beautifully sculpted. I'm a massive sucker for anything with books or scrolls and this model ticks all the right boxes for me. The entire range of Commissars that came out around 07' / 08' time are perfect. If any figure is worthy of a big hero base, it's this dude. 

Random Guardsman Squad. 

A great deal of people go on about the original Rogue Trader era Imperial Guard figures, but I think that the plastic Cadians really do come out on top as being the most successful at capturing the feel of the 'nameless trillions'. Don't get me wrong, I have a massive soft spot for the original IG plastics, but the clunkiness of their sculpts and awkwardness of their poseability (not to mention their increasing cost!) is a massive detraction from putting them together. This army features four squads with exactly the same armoury as the one pictured above, separated into two platoons of twenty, headed by a command squad. 

Leman Russ armoured column.

The original Leman Russ tanks from 96' are still my favourite incarnation. The newer versions didn't exactly change anything for the better and the weapon options seem a bit over the top. For me,  nothing says 'Imperial Guard' more so that than particular silhouette. So good I decided to include three! The banner on the lead tank is green-stuff and came out okay. I think I'll miss these guys most of all.

The Hieronian 23rd Irregulars  -Veteren Squad

Not content with painting fifty of the normal IG troops (paint sadist) these guys were the last of the infantry completed for this army. Being veterans, they look slightly more grizzled (helped out by the great GW IG head set) and have loads of kit and better weaponry. The Valkyrie was bought especially to be their ride as the visuals of these guys being deployed amidst a hail of missile fire was too good to miss. Oh, there's some Sentinels in the background too, but they're pretty boring so don't get their own picture.

'God damn sexual Tyrannosaurus'

The leader is a stand-in to represent the heavy-bolter toting Catachan Sgt 'Stonetooth' Harker. He's based on the classic Necromunda Orlock heavy stubber fella. If I ever played this guy, you can guarantee that I'd be annoying the hell out of everyone by quoting Jessie Ventura from Predator constantly.

Von Sharpe's Nuisances.

I love these figures so much. Von Sharpe's Ratlings are flies in the ointment of anyone's plan. My old friend Rory had a squad of these that constantly ruined any hope of victory I may have had.

Rough Riders are a formation that never gets the attention it deserves. I was always obsessed with the idea of using cavalry in future wars and when the Attilians were released I was bitterly disappointed with their look. Those figures really are the pits. I always imagined that Rough Riders would be specific to the planet of their origin, so these guys ended up looking suitably Germanic. These were some of the first finished figures for this army and were painted when the new Citadel washes were released - the washes were instrumental in achieving the natural tones on the horses. That stuff really is 'skill in a bottle'!

Rough Rider Sgt Lossow.

Really like this figure in particular. Pretty sure it was the first plastic horse I've ever painted too. Stoked on how the dapples came out on the neck. Really happy with the pose on the Sgt too. He's all like 'whoa there' and stuff.

HAI GUYZ!

More detail of the Sgt. Most of the additional parts for the Rough Riders came from the Empire Pistoliers and Outriders set - some great bits on those kits! Really glad that the newer 40k kits are getting the same kind of multi-unit treatment as the Fantasy box sets these days.

Too big for a shelf!

Pretty sure it wouldn't be an Imperial Guard army without a Baneblade. This thing really is a big kit. It was a moving in present from my Brother back in 2008 and I had a lot of fun painting it. However it really is the biggest thing in the world and it's never on display. One other thing that bums me out about it is that I always imagine playing Warhammer 40000 as a skirmish game - something that super-heavy tanks should rarely if ever feature in. That said, it really does have great tabletop presence.

Wish the engine in my car looked like this.

Love the back end on this, the detail on the altar at the back is a wonderful contrast to the plebeian look of the rest of the vehicle. Using the Imperial Armour Forgeworld modelling guide, I had loads of fun modelling little chips and wear all over the Baneblade. If you're ever in doubt about buying those books, put those niggling thoughts aside and purchase - book one in particular is fantastic.

'Pretty sure we can just park it here,..'

Finally, the Valkyrie gunship. This is another large kit that is too awkward to display. It's primary purpose is to drop the aforementioned veterans into battle. However, more often than not, it's used by me to fly around the house in making aeroplane noises. It's a pretty mundane kit, the best bits are the engines and the spare pilots you get. These guys were modelled to represent downed survivors, using a map to find their way home.

IMPERIAL TRAFFIC INFORCEMENT - SHOOT TO KILL.

So that's those guys! Pretty sure I'll miss them something awful, but I can't just keep stuff for the sake of 'what-ifs' if I'm only ever playing the game 6-7 times a year. Plus, there's always the chance to build and paint a better, more display-friendly force with the skills these guys taught me. I'll be popping these guys up on evilbay soon, complete with two older copies of Codex Imperial Guard and a large army carry-case. If anyone knows anybody who's after some Space Prussians from the future drop me a line!

New Stuff Times!

After a few weeks away from painting it seems like it’s a good time to get my teeth in the first of this years projects! The main inspiration for this (as always) is the excuse to paint up some of the figures I missed out on as a kidling. Other inspiration comes in the form of the amazing artwork that was around during the late 80’s and early 90’s, in particular, this amazing piece by Dave Gallagher.

You don't know how disappointed I was to find the vouchers were out of date.

This was the cover to issue 147 of White Dwarf and I remember coming across this at a car-boot sale. The cover image instantly affixed itself one of the cannon Eldar visuals in my head (which was helped by my innate love of red-heads and the fact that one of the troopers looks a bit like Sweet Dreams era Annie Lennox!) I still love the vibrancy of the colour scheme and little details such as the banner/sash squad markings and the power-fist giving the horns gesture. I think this must be the only artwork that makes guardians look hard too. I never got around to painting an Alaitoc army as I was all about painting Ulthewe black as a baby bat. However, looking back over their fluff as a Craftworld full of wistful, potential rangers, it seems odd that I never went down the path of painting blue (i think it was my loathing of Ultramarines). A year or so ago when this project first came to mind, I decided to do some test models to see what they’d be like.

Primary colour camo schemes!

Still an amazing and iconic design after nearly 30 years.

The guardian was a fun paint job, although I’m not looking forward to all the yellow! The aim of this was to try and make it as vibrant and clean as possible, just so I knew it could be done without it being a chore. The Dreadnought was super easy as all the components could be painted as sub-assemblies, reducing the danger of secondary colours. It's not going to be a huge force, but will definitely have a heavy Craftworld feel to it as I'm not too fussed on painting up any Aspect warriors right now.

Project times!

So here’s the first batch of trimmed and based figures ready for undercoating. It’s going to be a predominantly ranger force with a small squad of guardians and a large troupe of Harlequin allies. I’ve also got a Warlock and Farseer on the way soon, but still need to snag a couple of the more dynamic Harlequins as I reckon I'll need about ten in order to brake up all the blue and yellow. I'm also considering putting the effort in to track down around five of the original guardian jet bikes, but they seem to be well expensive at present. Will give it a few months and see how the army is looking then. So incredible to think these were all sculpted by Jes Goodwin over twenty five years ago and they still look amazing. 

The Lure of the Cult,..

Firstly, I want to say a massive thank you not only to Olrygg from Realm of Chaos for mentioning me in his new blogs post, but to everyone who has popped by to check out my pile of guff.  So rad to be featured by such a sick hobby journal and so good to think that my stuff might inspire new projects and whatnot. Anyway, enough gushing, onto the little men!

There was always something alluring about the Cultist forces listed in the second edition of 40k; the was just enough fluff to ignite the spark of interest, but little enough rules and miniature support to make developing a force a real challenge to create and play with. Despite always wanting a Cultist force of some persuasion as a kid, I never had the money to make a real go of it. There was an abortive attempt at a Genestealer Cultist force using the third-hand remnants of old Space Hulk Hybrids and Necromunda proxies, but it never yielded the kind of army I imagined. That's why I'm kind of so bummed out on my recent, second attempt of a Genestealer Cult not really working out; maybe it was never meant to be!

Anyway, a more successful project came in last year when I found myself at the end of an army project. I was once again bitten by the old desire to create a Cultist force, though this time inspired both by nostalgia and the insane work coming from the spiky rat pack collective. This time around it was to be Chaotic in tone. Again, my main source of inspiration was from the late Rogue Trader and second edition 40k period, but more specifically from a certain piece of art. There is the most amazing Adrian Smith drawing of a group of Nurgle Cultists in Codex Imperialis that for me, defines a Chaos Cultist force better than any other illustration. The version below however is taken from the Lost and Damned book.

Utterly brutal. Adrian Smith ist kreig.

The picture has such weight to it, you can almost feel the press of bodies as the pestilent masses push against the swamped marines to the left and forward towards the viewer. The work has a distinctly unhealthy, tainted feel to it, all of the subjects being somewhat warped and damaged versions of the people they once were. However, they are all seemingly vulnerable in their barely-armoured state, yet give off such an air of brutality and madness that they still inspire great terror.  My modelling and painting skills are nowhere near good enough to do justice the the illustration above, so I resolved to model this army in the spirit of this picture. I also wanted to create a Nurgle themed army that didn't look overly Nurgley either, so played with the idea that the force is made up of Cultists and Imperial Guard from a recently turned renegade force. Thankfully the task was made easier by the availability of the excellent cultist miniatures from the ubiquitous Dark Vengeance boxed set. With them as a base and with some Imperial Guard and Forgeworld bits, I got (albeit slowly) to work. The end result were these guys.

Don't look under the bucket.

Okay, so it's a massive cliche to be using this guy for anything these days, but he's just so perfect. It's no wonder GW capitalised on his success and came out with those Blightknights recently. This loveable brute acts as the leader of the force, hence why he's the gribbliest looking one. There's no major conversion work on this guy, just a weapon change and some guitar wire. Stoked that I finally found a use for the Tamiya buckets I've amassed over the years! One massive breakthrough with this force was the use of Laimian medium for mixing flesh transitions - where has that stuff been all my life? It's especially useful on large, flat areas of skin. Well worth trying!

Distinctly unhealthy.

This is the only close-up shot I have of the 20 cultists I haven but they're all very much the same. Some of them have hoods sculpted up from the original heads as a nod to the Smith artwork and some of them have buckets over them instead because er,.. buckets! In all seriousness, the buckets were a little nod to the dark humour that permeates the earlier version of the 40k universe and it balanced out the grimness of the Forgeworld stuff in a kind of Mad-Max way. Other than that, all of them feature heavy weathering and differing levels of blood smears on weapons and hands. The FW apostate preacher at the front was especially fun to paint, so many differing textures to play with.

Love Sentinals, such great models.

The force has two Sentinals, both pretty similar to the other in terms of paintwork and armourment. The motif on the placard has been lifted from a John Blanche Plague Marine illustration from the original Codex Chaos.

Improvised weapons are awesome.

Managed to snag this fella from ebay super cheap as he was originally covered in several lumpy paint-jobs. Thankfully he stripped easily and there wasn't that much missing from him. Love the narrative behind this figure, the up-rooted street light really gives the impression of hulking power. Mark Bedford made an incredible job of the Vraks renegade range; all the classic GW tropes are there, but all turned up to 11 in terms of grimdarkness.

It's all gone a bit Event Horizon,..

This renegade pysker is one of the most disturbing figures Forgeworld has ever produced; well done Mark Bedford on the grimdark front! I think the things where his eyes are are supposed to be bolts or screws, neither having any business being in that area! It also looks like he's wearing someone else's skin over his face, so that's why there's a horrific/comical amount of blood.

Every army needs at least one tanky-thing.

This is the first new version of the Chimera chassis I've painted and it was okay - I kind of preferred the original with its silly one-eyed skull motif thing. The Wyvern turret thing was fun to assemble and paint though. As always, weathering tanks is a joy, especially when you get to do old regimental markings and stuff!

The completed force on my modded Necromunda tile.

Here they are, the Opridian Seditionists (okay, so not all of the fluff was nicked from second edition) ready to ruin somebodies day. I doubt they'd ever be winning any battles, but I'm sure they'd at least ruin the carpet or something. I came third in the GW Chester Armies on Parade competition in the end which I was stoked with as there were some amazingly painted forces entered. I'd like to build on them more in the future, perhaps using some of the Empire flagellant figures as a base for more Smith-esque cultists. The idea of a swarming mass of cannon-fodder baring down on a small, elite army is also quite exciting!

So yeah, Cultist themed armies will always have a soft spot in my heart and will always inspire me, no matter how many times I leaf through old codices and magazines. They'll never be popular as mainstreams armies as they're difficult to win anything with without diluting them with predictable allies. On the plus side however, for smaller skirmish games or narrative campaigns, I imagine they'd be characterful and fun things to play with and make great side projects as you don't need too many models for them. There's also so many avenues of modelling and painting ideas to go down, so if you're looking to challenge yourself you can't go wrong with a good Cult!

Unless you bump into the Rev Jim Jones that is,...