Insidious Growth - More Chaos Cultists

The trouble with a cult is that it can grow. A charismatic leader and an attractive offering brings the desperate, vulnerable and weak-willed. I've recruited some more cultists to the Benevolent Brothers - this time a pair with autoguns and my first disciple, Grund.

The Benevolent Brothers door to door preaching.

Introducing Johnny Noggin, Notorious 'Sunk' Mutant

I do like making models as a result of external influences. Those suggestions that your mates make. The themed group projects. The online community competitions.

This latest figure has been created for the 'Beware Mutants' competition on the Emporium of Rogue Dreams Facebook group (the same group that hosted the Abdul Goldberg competition last year).

The rules for the 'Beware Mutants' competition are simple:

1. Make a single figure
2. It needs to be a mutant (use random mutant generator chart in Rogue Trader if you like)
3. It needs to be a newly created figure
4. Submit pre- and post- paint photos
5. Provide a backstory

I rolled up a single mutation for my mutie, which turned out to be a pin head.

Excellent. That sounds like fun! Here's the resulting mutie:

Johnny Noggin - a pin headed mutie with a rather natty sense of style!

Heavy Calibre Maniac with 'Auto Cannon'

I managed to find time to paint up another member of my Maniac Helsreach Mercenary gang this week - this time in the form of some heavy firepower.

 

RT era human models with heavy weapons are almost exclusively of the 'shoulder-mounted' school of design, but there is a nice Vasquez-style female Imperial Guard who totes a rather nice underslung heavy weapon:

 

 

Of course, "Auto Cannon" didn't have quite the right look for my Maniacs, so I rectified that by giving her a head swap from Venus Bluegenes from the Citadel Rogue Trooper range. A little bit of resculpting to the neck and back-pack, and she's good to go.

 



 

Dastardly Abul Goldberg Strikes Again!

If you flick to the rear pages of the Rogue Trader rulebook to browse the scenario generator, you may find your eye drawn to a name which keeps cropping up.

"Abdul Goldberg stole your ship off you - the poker game was rigged and you're sure he put something in your drink."

"The authorities chased you all the way to the spaceport where Abdul Goldberg was waiting with the getaway ship, however the double-dealing rat had done a bunk..."

You get the idea. Abdul Goldberg is a mysterious antagonist who is repeatedly used as a plot point for scenarios. This underhand, double-crossing swine appears to be a mix of crime lord and smuggler, undertaking nefarious deals on the wrong side of the law.

Happily, the Emporium of Rogue Dreams Facebook group embraces just such characters, and has run a competition to create a version of Abdul for use on the tabletop. As no images exist of the villain, this has allowed folks to delve into their creativity and produce their own, very personal version.

I started with the head. I wanted my incarnation of Abdul to be characterfully someone you shouldn't trust. After playing around with some options, I dug out an old Citadel Corsair of Umbar who had the requisite look. I then went off-piste and turned up the militaristic Traitor General from Citadel's 2000AD/Rogue Trooper line. With the addition of a small pet, this was the resulting conversion:

My Abdul is not an all action gunslinger, but a wily, aging smuggler. He doesn't get his hands dirty, but operates a network of fixers, and hires muscle for the inevitable enforcement work.

Genetically engineered super trooper - the Afriel strain

Over the last 4 months or so I've been involved in a very entertaining Inquisimunda campaign (28mm scale Inquisitorial warbands played with the Necromunda rules). My warband, led by radical Ordo Malleus Inquisitor Dirske, is comprised of bizarre mutants and daemonic entities.

Dirske has proven himself to be a) cowardly and b) a pretty poor fighter. He now tends to take a strategic view of most engagements (i.e. hanging at the back and watching the others do the fighting!). One minor fly in the ointment, is that members of the warband keep on getting themselves killed. And I don't mean through bad rolls on the serious injury table either; I mean being eaten or obliterated in-game. Thoroughly, irreversibly, dead.

This didn't end well for Scrat!

Scrat, my first ratling assassin, was eaten by a draconid Hex Wyrm in dense jungles (whilst trying to steal one of its eggs) - see above. His replacement, Sneek, was eaten by an unknown monster which snatched him from the shadows. HIS replacement (Sculk), was killed by a haywire robot on a space station. Thankfully, ratling assassin #4 - Snak (note the name) is still fighting fit. Unfortunately, my poor, stupid, two-headed mutie Gron-Slom died in my most recent game. He was eaten by the same (or possibly related) monster that snacked on Sneek.