Chaos Mordheim gang

A Mordheim gang for a now lapsed campaign. They're a combination of classic old Chaos Warrior figures and converted Marauder Orx from Mantic, mixed up with old plastic Chaos Warrior bits.

The one on the far right was a recast of another figure using oyumaru.

The gang used the rules for the Chaos Beastmen, and had a minotaur with them. They were quite fun to put together, but lacked any kind of missile weapons so were pretty limited in how they played.

Kitbashed Necromunda Gang equipment upgrade

My Necromunda gang, the Berks, benefitted from the 'Underdog' rules from the last scenario, earning enough experience to bring their Gang Rating closer to the other players' at Dreamdealers. The ganger's increases overall are taking them toward a more hand-to-hand style of play. I'm not sure how I feel about that.

After the game I had the gang blow their entire stash on chainswords.

Leader Dhecker's sword has been upgraded to a chainsword, Heinz has a chainsword hanging from his backpack after an enemy Juve got a bit up close and personal last game.  All the lasguns now have red lenses at the end of their barrels, and Purple Head's weapon now has an angry purple end.

Duke and Smiler (Left) don't have chainswords as they already have Strength 4. By giving them bludgeons (+1 STR), they instead injure at S5. The two Juves on the right have now been promoted to New Gangers, so they can work territories. They were presented with chainswords on graduation.

The ganger on the left, Sot, had a mantic orc sword before, but I've changed it to a chainsword to fit the theme. Blood spatters are from a nice shiny gloss paint.

Toffy and Squints get chainswords and Toffy's guns have had some gold trim added because it fits with him looking like something of a fop.

Bring on a zombie scenario.

6th ed Chaos cultists conversions

I've been chopping up models again.

It's common knowledge that the Dark Vengeance cultists contain a lot of duplicates, which is sad for a troop type that is supposed to be so numerous.

Spot the twins.

I remembered all the sets of 3 models you can get where, upon closer inspection, you see that they've just used the same model but swapped a head or limb for variety, so I did the same.

I also converted all of the pistol and ccw cultists to wielding autoguns.

The heavy gunner on the left has a head from a DV terminator's base, and his arms are from Mantic's orx. It'll probably be another flamer.

'Iron Grumbler' tank from Ramshackle games

The Iron Grumblers arrived from Ramshackle a few weeks after ordering. They take some time to arrive because the company doesn't hold stock, instead casting as orders come in.

Pros:

Price; the 3 tanks came to £27 including postage. This compares well to the GW equivalent, with unpainted Rhinos going on ebay for about £15 -£20.

Size; to Space Marine Rhino; about half an inch longer and taller, so no complaints from opponents.

Modular; I like that all the bits come separate, so there is some room for customisation and adjusting the height of the central parts.

Cons:

Material: Resin, haven't used it before, probably won't buy anything so large in resin again. It's heavy, but feels fragile; if this gets dropped it's going to shatter like peanut brittle. The little protruding exhaust pipes might not survive much transportation.

Casting errors: The tank tread detail is significantly obscured by faults. All I could do with them was chip away the biggest lumps and think about hiding all the gouged out holes with mud or something.

Bits; no bits, unlike GW kits. How much of an issue this is depends on your own access to bits.

The difference in price helps me see past the models' faults, and I'm looking forward to filling them with cultists and marines.

Painted Chaos Cultist / Rogue Trader mercenaries kitbash unit

Mixed feelings with these ones. After spending hours converting and painting the mercenaries, the Games Workshop Purity Seal varnish has done a horrible frosting effect on the models, obscuring some of the detail. 

If anyone can recommend a fix I’d love to hear it.

Anyway, here they are, at least they’re done.

Chaos Cultist / Rogue Trader mercenaries kitbash unit

 In anticipation of the new Chaos Cultists due to be released with the 6^th edition starter set, I have been scratch building some pirate types to accompany the Space Marines.

I don’t have a clear vision for fluffing the force, so I’m concentrating on making the models as versatile as possible. So these ‘cultists’ don’t have imperial markings, but also aren’t slavering chaos-star waving fanatics either. I imagine them to be ganger scum, or opportunists under the employ of a rogue trader. They could fit a number of roles because of the deliberate lack of markings.

They are a combination of Warhammer fantasy empire militia, catachans, and some mantic orc bits and fantasy chaos warriors. There’s also a couple of Toy Story soldier heads.

I have concentrated on trying to build them with believable poses, making sure the face and the leading foot are pointing in the same direction. In the past I’ve been quite slapdash when putting models together, and ended up looking like mental disco dancers.

I've had to have a bit of a guess at their equipment. I don't think lasguns counting as autoguns is much of a stretch, and those wielding hand weapons and pistols will probably join the rest of the lasgunners, as I've heard assault is quite weak in 6th ed (not that I've played enough 40k to make any real judgment).

I've also put together a heavy bolter for the marines squad, which I will increase to 10 models so as to warrant a rhino.

Ramshackle's 'Iron Grumbler' is of comparable size to Games Workshop's rhino, so I have ordered 3. They take a little while to process orders as everything is done by one man, but I am looking forward to getting my hands on them as I think they'd suit the slightly weird looking marines.

Pre-Imperium Techno barbarians

A unit of 5 techno-barbarians, painted without faction markings so they can be used as either chaos marines or loyalists.

From Lexicanum:

Techno-barbarians is the name given to the warriors who battled over the ruins of Terra during the Age of Strife. They formed the troops of the warlords who dominated Terra during the period, and were equipped with a primitive form of powered armor which would become the basis for the developments of Space Marine armor.

The Emperor arose in the later part of the Age of Strife to reunify Terra. Under his leadership his army conquered the other warring techno-barbarian factions.

and this segment gave the archaic looking and odd designs a thumbs up;

 This early armour was produced on a completely local basis and as such individual suits varied heavily and their exact designs were often a matter of personal taste.

 White Dwarf 129 (UK), Space Marine Armour by Rick Priestley, reprinted in Warhammer 40,000: Compilation

All backpacks are from the Chaos marine spru, to make them look as old fashioned as possible.

The old plastic fantasy chaos warrior helmet made me think of thunder armour, because most of the pictures of it show a topknot;

I have been meaning to see how the chaos marine and old chaos warrior plastic kits fit together for some time now, and I found the proportions to be similar. With the leader and the marine below I attempted to sculpt the legs myself with milliput, but in the end I just opted for the easier way; cutting the marine and warrior legs at the calf and sticking them together.

The biggest issue with fitting the kits together was cutting and repositioning the arms. Most fantasy figures have outstretched arms for brandishing hand weapons, whereas a lot of 40k ones require arms that 'hug' a gun closer to the body.

After this miniature came out a little short looking I tried bulking out the joins with plasticard to add height and width.

  Finally, here's a shot of a couple of WIP cultists / renegade guard, in anticipation of the new unit for Chaos in 40k. They're mostly fantasy empire militia, but I'll be hunting for any scraps to make them suit the 40k universe.