Chaos cultists from Dark Vengeance

It's been a bit quiet at Miasma of Pestilence over the last couple of weeks, but I've managed to bash out a few more cultists from the Dark Venegeance box to join Arnold Porkinson's merry band of miscreants...

Again I've tried to go for a quick, sketchy style.  I have to say, though, I think I'm struggling a bit with the human flesh tones. Each time I'll be thinking "it looks pretty good so far", and then I'll somehow over-egg the proverbial pudding, and then struggle to get it to a state that looks semi-reasonable. And that state will be different to what I was hoping for in the first place!  Not to worry though. Practice can be no bad thing...

I've doubtless said it before, but these cultist models are great. Not only are they decent looking characterful models, but they are relatively straightforward to paint. They seem to lend themselves quite well to the use of a fairly limited palette.

Nurgle Apostate Preacher #2

I've broken out the paints and brushes again after what seems like bloomin' ages.

I finally got around to painting the second of my Nurgle Apostate Preachers. I picked these up at Forge World last year. I was afraid to paint them for ages, for some reason. Both of them were a real treat to paint though, so perhaps I had no real cause to be nervous about it.

The first one can be found at the link below:

Nurgle Apostate Preacher #1

I really love these models. They have an inherent sense of wrongness about them. Take this chap for instance. What purpose do all these tubes and pipes serve? What manner of filth is being pumped around his system and then into his lungs through his archaic breathing apparatus? What filth is he broadcasting through his loud-hailer?

Class.

Imperial Guard / Cultist Beastman tester model

I've recently been inspired by Victoria Lamb's Broolian beastmen / guardsmen which as well as being fantastic, reminded me of how awesome the Rogue Trader era Imperial Guard beastmen were. And those models have been a long standing set of vintage models that I've always wanted since I was first going to GW in 1987/88.

So I did a bit of research to find out if anybody had been making suitable conversions at all, and lo! They had. It seems that Gors fit well with beefed up (blatantly steroid munchin'!) Catachan Guardsmen in terms of size. They (the Catachans) are much bigger than their Cadian counterparts, and fit very well with the Gor heads.

I'm told the Ungor heads fit quite well with the Cadian bodies... Another experiment for the future. Anyways, I digress.

So a couple of Ebay shops later, I got some stuff together, and this is the first one I've put together...

The gap by the arm will get filled. The glue was still setting
when I took this.

This ought to give you a rough idea of scale. He's a big brute. Make no
mistake!

Chaos cultist from Dark Vengeance

Simple as. Just a quick job on a Chaos Cultist from the Dark Vengeance box...

Pretty happy for a quick enough job. It's a bit of a rough cut, so there's probably a couple of bits that could do with tightening up.

These cultist models are boss, though. I love the bits of guard uniform that crop up on these models.

Nurgle Apostate Preacher

I managed to actually finish this guy off the other day. Although, as usual, I might well go back and do a bit more, when in all probability I decide I'm not happy with how he's turned out afterall...

Sorry for the dodgy photography, which is in places, blurry. But I'm not forcing you to look, so you've no cause for complaint (right?)...

Well, here he is.  As you can see, I've taken a different approach to weathering the metal areas than the one I use on my Death Guard. I figured that cultists would have access to a far lower standard of kit than space marines would, such as Imperial Guard or PDF type items, which would theoretically degrade in a different manner.

The preacher, here for example would be carting about stuff that he'd nicked from an Ecclesiarchy shrine for desecration purposes, etc. The censer that he's carrying, I figured would be made from some type of soft precious metal, so I've just tried to generally scum it up with a grey-greenish matt finish, and a light tarnish.

Nurgle apostate preacher W.I.P

I've had this model from Forge World for quite a while now. Well, for practically a year, as I bought the pair at Salute last year.

I've been putting off making a start on this one as I was sure I'd probably mess it up big time.

So far, so good though, I think.  I wanted  it to come across as really crusted with filth. In the end, I'm hoping the robes will look filthy and stained, and that the banner will have a hint of mildew about it.

Chaos Cultist leader, the first mini of 2013.

Over the last couple of days, I've been working on the Chaos Cultist squad leader from Dark Vengeance.

In my current lists, he leads a squad of 20 cultists, and has already achieved infamy in a few games (for all the wrong reasons).

In my local gaming circle, he has been lovingly named Arnold Porkinson, and I've dreamt up a bit of background for him.

Porkinson is the disgraced son of a planetary governor of an Imperial garrison world somewhere in the Ultramar segmentum.  As the second son of a noble in this region of the galaxy, he was tithed to the local  Imperial Guard Finishing School for Officers, where he soon excelled, and was earmarked for a career as a morale officer with the Commissariat.

Again he excelled in his training, until one fateful day of training exercises and live-fire battlefield simulations. On that fateful day, he was set up by a jealous cadet, one Giles Coriandus, who took it upon himself to trip Porkinson whilst simultaneously shooting the instructing Commissar in the back with his bolt pistol.  In the ensuing confusion, Porkinson and Coriandus' bolt pistols were mysteriously swapped, and the blame thus pointed at the seemingly clumsy Porkinson.

Despite his protestations of  innocence, one severely maimed Commissar later, Porkinson was unceremoniously discharged from both the Commissariat and the Imperial Guard Finishing School for Officers AND the Imperial Guard itself.  He was subsequently sent back to his father's holdings in disgrace.  His father of course was outraged.  Officer or not, Commissar or not, the second noble son must serve as a soldier, in some capacity or other.  Thus Porkinson was required to enlist in the local Planetary Defence Force.

However, the local PDF is no place for a noble's son, as he was soon to find out.  The PDF of course is made up of grunts who just can't cut it in the Imperial Guard, along with thuggish miscreants who have failed to find paid employ elsewhere.  He was victimised and bullied by his new found peers until he proved himself worthy of their respect by busting heads and breaking noses in a barracks brawl.  He even rose as high as the rank of Sergeant several years later, and it seemed he had managed to find a niche after all and redeem some honour for himself.

That is of course until a chaos cult emerged on planet and the subsequent spread of sedition. Eventually, an offshoot of an invading chaos fleet arrived in the system and soon made planet-fall. The Imperial Guard were called in to help put an end to the invasion, and this was when Porkinson and Coriandus were to cross paths again.

It seemed that Porkinson and his PDF unit had been tempted by the seditious whisperings and pamphlets that had been distributed by the chaos cult, and thus when they found themselves backing up a brave charge by the Imperial Guard, which was being led by the dashing (and smirking) Commissar Coriandus, there was another "friendly fire" accident.  All Porkinson's bitterness, resentment and jealousy at events from a few years back once again bubbled to the surface once again, and one well placed las bolt to the back of the head later, Commissar Coriandus smirked no longer, and Porkinson took Coriandus' greatcoat and cavalla sabre as his battle spoils.