9th Babyaga Abhuman Pioneers

Thorn Moons!

Just posted some works in progress for the Regiments of the Thorn Moons Invitational over at Iron Sleet, this is a wonderful site and I am very excited about this event.

The 9th Babyaga Abhuman Pioneers:

From left to right: Company Commander, Priest, Psyker and two Platoon Commanders.

Babyaga is a forested moon in orbit around a gas giant in a remote Imperial backwater. The moon is home to a small abhuman population that is tolerated by the system's rulers as a useful pool of helot labour for collecting valuable botanicals from the surface. The abhuman population also make good scouts and cheap forward troops for the system's IG levy. The 9th Babyaga Abhuman Pioneers is a small and poorly equipped regiment, understaffed with a small number of human officers in command of unruly and poorly disciplined troops. 

I wanted something that captured the grim fairytale quality of the Thorn Moons concept but also referenced early Rogue Trader. Here are some shots of the individual characters:

 

Company Commander Piotr Athos "the Woodsman": Athos was a promising young officer from a wealthy family, a fine future in IG in front of him. That was 30 years ago: a night of drunkenness and an ill advised duel cost Athos his commission and his arm. From that day to this Athos has slowly climbed back through the ranks, natural talent and a desperate fatalism guiding his command decisions.    

Ministorium Priest Beria: Beria views Abhumans as children and treats them as such: his talents lie in reducing the complexities of the Imperial Cult to the level of a nursery rhyme and the use of force to instil the proper devotion to the God Emperor.    

Primaris Psyker Snegurochka: The highest ranking Babyaga native, Snegurochka's Abhuman traits nearly prevented her from becoming a sanctioned psyker. Her lower limbs, characteristic of many on Babyaga, were removed at an early age and replaced with bionics to make her more "acceptable" for Imperial service. Despite years of indoctrination she still nurses a smouldering hatred of the Imperium. The abhuman troops respect Snegurochka as a powerful witch and most consider her the true leader of the regiment.

Platoon Leader Thundershank: A large and powerful Gor, Thundershank is a natural leader, his humanoid face makes him more acceptable to the regiment's staff officers. Thundershank is, like many of the regiment's officers and troops, a dangerous drunkard.  

Platoon Leader Slyhorn: Capable and cunning Slyhorn is a natural scout and soldier.

On the new 40k.

First post of a new blog, though I don't know that many people still read 'em. I decided to do one after posting a few miniatures on Face Book and having them generally well received. Hopefully it will serve as a bit of an impetus to convert and paint more miniatures.

This blog will discuss 3 main topics:

- Painting and Miniature Conversion.

- The tabletop and roleplaying games produced by the British company Games Workshop, particularly Warhammer 40k but also certain Old School games such as Warhammer Fantasy Role Play.

- Old School Roleplaying games and play philosophy.

Today we will look at some miniatures from the Games Workshop Dark Imperium Boxed Set with some plague bearers thrown in.

You can't fault the Dark Imperium boxset for value for money. I was particularly impressed that it contained a hard back rule book. I am still a little unsure about the scale difference that now exists between different marine models but I do think the sculpts in this box are of very high quality. I still have the blight drone and pox walkers to complete, the blight drone is very nice but I do feel that the pox walkers are a little over sized, I might use them in conversions instead.

On the whole I am a great supporter of what GW has done with 8th Edition 40k. I started 40k during the Rogue Trader era and my fondest memories of the hobby are from playing narrative war bands generated from the Realms of Chaos books. It is good to see the return of core rules that support more narrative play (power points and faction key words), my primary interest in 40k is in building models and war bands that support my conception of the 40k aesthetic. The 40k aesthetic advanced by John Blanche, Paul Bonner, Ian Miller, Adrian Smith and Jes Goodwin in their art and miniature painting is, I think, the main reason for the hobbies longevity and enduring appeal. Encouraging a wide variety of armies and play possibilities would seem an important step in allowing hobbyists to explore the 40k aesthetic.

In the current era I feel that the aesthetic is maintained by sites such has Iron Sleet, The Convertorum and Ex Profundis that produce really fantastic work on a regular basis.

I hope that the following models demonstrate something of my understanding of the 40k Aesthetic. Several of the models have very minor conversions, in the future I want to use this blog to explore original painting and conversion.  



Nurglies:



Charge!



Ultramarines Ancient (I feel the new big marine models need a bit of help/conversion to make them suitably Grimdark):



Gravis Captain:



Assault Sergeant:



Lt. with Auto Bolter: