Rogue Trader Commissar

 One from way back when that’s been a long time waiting for a proper paintjob.  Metal body with plastic arms - in this case the crossbow wielding arms from the Empire Militia kit. I wanted a stock for the lasgun, so the crossbow was removed and replaced with a shortened plastic lasgun, and cuffs built up with greenstuff.  Honestly, I can’t remember when the conversion work was done - it’s been on the ‘to paint list for a while!

Painting made deliberate use of drybrushing and more grey tones than I might usually use, to deliberately create a worn and faded look, from whatever environmental conditions require use of a gas mask.

Imperial War Wagon, Engineer, and Nostalgia

Yep, I definitely gave in to nostalgia on this one!

Do I need a War Wagon? No.  Do I know how to incorporate it into my Empire Army? No.

But what the hell.  I ordered one, and a few weeks back it turned up.

Construction wasn’t great, lots of warped parts, and some of the joints were distinctly iffy.  But it looked much better when the paint went on.

Not sure how you would add an extra engineered in here!

Yeah, that’s a bit wonky!

Testing the crew fit.

I do really like the new engineer, and I enjoyed painting him.

Having some fun with backgrounds.  This is Hardwick Hall in Derbyshire, just down the road from me.

And again, but with extra GrimDark!

Empire Demigryph Knights

Finally finished.  I admit, they were a bit of a slog at times - lots of details, and I made my life hard by deciding to paint all the detailed decoration. Pretty pleased with the end result though.

Hunting Party

Frankly, Governor Balten had been hoping that the monstrous corpses the mercenary squat team had brought in would be an end to the trouble. He had enough on his plate with complaints from the Moss Guilds about the independent lichen farmers.  But rumours continue to persist about ‘creatures’ lurking in the jungles.

So he did what any Imperial Governor would do.  Declared everything sorted and banned anyone from talking about it. Although he couldn’t shake a sense of unease at the hysterical reaction one of his advisers had on seeing the corpses, shrieking about the ‘Great Devourer’ or some such nonsense.  Poor chap had spent decades in the Guard, clearly left him unhinged; he’d had to be put on permanent ‘gardening’ leave.

But still the stories persist…

Out in the settlements, moonshine and bravado combine, and a group of lichen farmers are determined to see if the stories are true, and perhaps bag a trophy.

Left to right, Old Pete, Patch, Hank and Cletus, and the Cyber Mastiff, F1D0.

The hunters split into pairs to cover more ground, Hank and Cletus taking F1D0 with them.

As the farmers pushed through the dense brush, something else was already stalking them. 

Out of sight of the others for a moment, the creature struck at Cletus before vanishing again into the jungle.

Rushing to the sound of screams, the others found their friend laying still and bloodied on the ground, with no sign of his attacker.  But F1D0 had a scent now, and Hank released him the flush out the beast.

By now the creature had worked its way behind the hapless hunters, and revealed itself, hoping to make short work of the four legged creature hunting it. Hank got a snap shot off as it charged, but the rounds just bounced off the creature’s hardened exterior.

Despite the furious strikes of its terrifying claws, the plucky cyber hound held on.  Taking the risk of hitting their canine companion, the remaining three hunters opened fire, frantically spraying the creature in front of them.  This time the hard rounds found its weak spots, and it fell with an inhuman shriek.

Surprisingly, the hunters found Cletus sat up - dazed and badly injured, but definitely alive, complaining of thirst, and apparently completely unable to recall anything about what had just happened.  Clearly too much to drink, or perhaps not enough!

Either way, they had one heck of a trophy…

Big, Angry Lizards

 A handful of ‘90’s vintage Saurus Warriors, to provide some proper muscle to back up their skink cousins. Just a quick ‘table ready’ paint job.

I think a skirmish scenario in the jungles of Lustria beckons.

Now, where did I hide those Amazons…

Tiny, Angry Lizards

I should be painting Griffins, but I’ve always been easily sidetracked.

A tidying the washing machine cupboard (don’t ask) unearthed a load of Foundry Conquistadors and a handful of old, unpainted lizard men, including some skinks, I picked up from somewhere on a whim.

A quick, rather than careful, paint job.  Still plenty of satisfaction in getting something table ready though.

Some Estalian explorers about to get a nasty surprise 

A few Saurus Warriors may follow.

Now, about those Griffins…

Who’s a Good (Robo) Boy?

Yet another freebie model courtesy of Miniature Wargames Magazine, a Robo Mastiff from the Wild West Exodus range.  This has been sitting around so long I’d forgotten about it, but it was the perfect quick break from Empire Demigryphs.

Assembly was easy, no instructions needed, but the sprue was in a pretty horrible orange plastic, which took a few coats of paint to hide.  There’s a reason most manufacturers use a simple grey.

Straightforward paint job.  Liberal washes and some sponge chipping to give it a worn look.

I’m sure I can find a good use for him.

Robo dog’s not scared of anything!

“Fetch!”