All of our Geckos have had a busy summer, painting away in the safety of their homes whilst their family and friends have been out enjoying the sun – but don’t feel bad for them, look how beautiful their painting is! (and if you want more, each Gecko’s insta tag is in the description!)
What a beautiful bunch of minis – let’s see what the gang can cook up this autumn!
Caught up in the wave of recent Primaris releases, Alan has added some of the new Vanguard units to his Rout…
Seeing the Shadowspear release was a real thrill, GW are knocking it out of the park at the moment with amazing sculpts and seem to have upped their game in relation to social media.
I managed to pick up two boxes of Shadowspear for the Rout and have utilised the infiltrators, eliminators, suppressors, wolf guard battle leader, wolf lord and rune priest. The sculpts are amazing, really detailed models although somewhat limited with the monopose and repeats within the packs. Mine will be painted as part of my Space Wolf Primaris army, the Vlka Gungnir or in low Gothic ‘the Wolf Spear’ and part of the NÍDHÖGG Great Company.
Led by Wolf Lord Sigurd Fraegr, known throughout the Rout as the ‘NÍDHÖGG’, in low Gothic translated as “dreaded striker.” Feared for his ability to strike without notice or warning causing chaos and destruction amongst the enemy. His Great Company is utilised when a finer touch is needed. They are the spear tip, striking at high value assets, enemy commanders, logistical lines before the rest of the Rout arrive.
Wolf Lord Sigurd Fraegr was created using the primaris captain in phobus armour, a head swap with a KF studios skull helm and a space wolf belt. A forge world cataphractii chain axe was swapped in for the pointing figure, as every space wolf needs an axe!
My favourite model in Shadowspear is the librarian in phobus armour, or in the case of the Vlka Gungnir he is Torrvald Tostig the Rune priest! I found on eBay the most amazingly painted head with tribal tattoos on a deathwatch veteran body, managed to win the auction and have been looking for a suitable body worthy of the head – and here it finally is! The rest of the model was ‘wolfed up’ with an icon and neck charm from the space wolf primaris upgrade set.
The primaris lieutenant was turned into a wolf guard battle leader. The head was again swapped out for a Kf studios skull helmet and an axe from the space wolf upgrade sprue swapped in. I then attempted a first – green stuff-ing a pelt. For a first attempt I’m quite pleased and will try and utilise these through my army.
The infiltrator pack is a lovely kit. It does have a few duplicates, however the models were simple to kit-bash. Heads swapped out with space wolf upgrade sprue from the Grey Hunter kit as well as wolf tail charms and belts used. The pack leader was given a Forge World grey slayer head and axe to separate him out. It’s a gamble arming him with an axe – which at the moment will be his close combat weapon – but hopefully as with the Intercessors, the pack leaders will be able to take a power weapon when the multipose separate kits come out.
The eliminators are stunning sculpts and fit nicely into the space wolf fluff wise, veteran scouts. ‘Pack Volsung’ Grizzled veterans of centuries of war in the Allfathers name. Ulrik Volsung directing his pack brothers to deal death from. Using knowledge and experience gleaned throughout the Sea of Stars, their steady aim and rate of fire assists the young pups on the battlefield.’ To fit them in with my existing army, Forge World grey slayer heads were used along with wolf tails and icons.
The suppressors I left until last, horror stories abound of the stands with not only these but also primaris inceptor set. I resolved then to ditch the stands and mount them on the base, hopefully I will have no problems with modelling for advantage! Again a Forge World grey slayer head was used to denote the pack leader. The right pauldron will be marked with blood claw markings of yellow and red, in my fluff they are brash recruits with an interest in big guns!
Only the infiltrators have seen the battlefield as yet, they did a fantastic job of preventing deep striking genestealers! I’m looking forward to getting the rest on the table soon and finding how they work alongside my current forces. ‘Fenrys Hjolda’!
Nice one Alan, looking forward to seeing how the Wolf Spear perform on the table!
We have a special article for you all today – George is sharing with us how he begun on his journey to start an Imperial Cult!
When the new Genestealer Cults models were announced I became very conflicted. I had always loved the aesthetic of the GSC, particularly their rugged civilian vehicles, but had always been put off by their fluff. As a loyal son of the Imperium, I wasn’t about to join a dark cult obsessively trying to advance the wellbeing of a distant star god, where success would mean that I was consumed by the mindless beast that I had truly been serving.
Before I think too much about that last sentence and get a visit from the Inquisition, I should get back to my story.
My resolve was greatly tested at the Vigilus open day, when I was able to see the Attilan Jackals first hand. They were exceptional models that looked to have a vast amount of conversion potential. I vowed that, even though I wouldn’t be doing a GSC army, I would buy some Jackals for conversion into Astra Militarum Rough Riders. Problem solved, I thought.
And then this happened:
The Achilles Ridgerunner. Everything I had always loved about the GSC aesthetic in a sleek, fast, menacing vehicle. I knew I had to build and paint at least one of these, but how to fit them into my armies? I toyed with the idea of an Astra Militarum Tauros (an idea I have shelved but definitely not dismissed) but then a stray thought crossed my mind. As I gazed at the Ridgerunner I thought to myself: “That almost looks like a 40k police car.”
And there it was. The solution. I could return to one of my first Warhammer loves and attempt to build an Adeptus Arbites themed GSC army.
After the initial glow wore off (about 4 minutes) I realised that this left me with a number of problems.
Fortunately, the happy confluence of the new GSC Magos model and another of my favourite models that I have never found a place for in any of my armies gave me the answer to the first three of those questions.
I have always loved the Wood Elves, and the Wildwood Rangers kit has always sat at the back of my mind (and, I must admit, my cupboard) as a possible basis for kitbashing. But who, in the 41st millennium, would wear ridiculous capes, like intimidating hoods and have a penchant for wielding massive axes?
And there was the answer. The Inquisition. Another of my favourite parts of the 41st Millennium, thanks in great part to the excellent novels of Dan Abnett. I had always wanted to explore the Inquisition further, and they are an excellent vehicle for conversions as each Inquisitor has a wide latitude for idiosyncrasies. I decided that my Inquisitor would have a penchant for cloaks and axes.
The fluff of my army then began to write itself. One of the roles of the Adeptus Arbites is to defend the authority of the Imperium against its own forces if any local governor or Planetary Defence Force should decide to challenge the power of the Emperor. Many Inquisitors have the same role, including the Ordo Hereticus and the less well known Ordo Militum, who are tasked with overseeing the Imperium’s diverse armed forces. Should a planet rebel or begin to fall under enemy control, the Adeptus Arbites and the forces of the Inquisition might well be the last servants of the Emperor to remain loyal and keep fighting against impossible odds. Likewise, an Inquisitor might be willing to adopt unconventional fighting methods, using their own followers and the local knowledge of the Arbites to lay traps and ambushes, fighting an asymmetric war against the invaders.
And that is how the forces of self-declared Grand Inquisitor Deza and Arbitrator Metus, co-ordinator of the Capital District came to be, at least in theory. How the models for each conversion were picked and how they were then constructed and painted is a story for another day (or two, or possibly even three).
And question four? I’ll let you know if I come up with a definitive answer, although I do have a cunning plan involving [REDACTED].
Nice one George! Looking forward to seeing what you do with your culty boys – George will be sharing with us the next stage in his journey very soon!
Eliot has been dabbling in the Middle Earth SBG universe and has started a Mordor army – check out his orcs below!
When it comes to geek franchises, I have a natural affinity to naughtyness and tend to side with the big baddies. For Star Wars it’s Vader. In DC it’s the Joker. In 40K it’s… well it’s everyone. In Lord of the Rings, for me it’s always been about the Witch King.
I was a big fan of the Lord of the Rings miniature range when I was young, and I had been looking for an excuse to paint up some tasty models. So when I saw the Pellenor Fields box-set announced with some of my favourite models of all time included – the Fell Beast and the Mordor Troll – it was a no brainer purchase.
I started this journey with a whole bunch of Morannon Orcs – I ended up with 40 in total! I wanted my Mordor force to be super elite, and these black gate bad boys are tough.
One thing about the Morannon kit is that there are only actually 12 poses… So I grabbed my green stuff and clippers and converted the heck out of these orcs. I ended up making sure each model was unique, re-enforcing this through painting. I did 4 different skin tones in this kit, really wanting to show the variety in orcs who are here to defend the Black Gate.
I also saw these chaps as an opportunity to try some free hand painting on shields. I trawled through the Return of the King footage looking for glimpses of the orcs, and then just went ham with the Orc Skulls.
My favourite model in this unit is actually a metal banner bearer from the magazine that I picked up super cheap online. I had loads of fun painting the banner.
Now so far I have actually only painted 20 of these dudes, so I have 20 more ready, but I’m breaking it up with some troll painting. Hopefully I will have some more LOTR minis to show in the near future!
Stay tuned for some more army and Model spotlights in the near future!
HOUSE OF GECKO 