The Rogue Trader Lizard is an obscure collector’s piece.  Designed to take the plastic RTB01 Space Marines, this miniature was only available through Mail Order for a brief time in 1988.  I nabbed one for a bargain years ago, but never had the willpower or funds to collect enough to make a full squad (as, enviably, Ed Gladdis has managed).  Then axiom had a game planned and an opportunity arose.  Presenting Mungo Beefhead and his trusty steed Drayne.

Yes, he’s called Drayne.  Drayne the Lizard.

axiom’s game was grox-herding.  Grox are the Warhammer 40,000 equivalent of cattle, and as a participant I’d have to bring a figure to round up herds of this dino-livestock.  Lacking any sort of subtlety I deployed every cowboy cliché I could.  But in space.  Space Cowboy.  Like that Jamiroquai song.

The rider was originally Johnny Cuba from the Citadel Miniatures Judge Dredd range.  I’ve had the figure knocking around for years in my bitz box as I’ve been buying up power boards.  But with his cowboy hat and his lunging skysurfer legs, he needed only minimal further conversion.

Johnny Cuba as he appeared in 1985’s 2000AD Prog 427.

Citadel’s JD13 Skysurfer range.  Image thanks to Source of Legends

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I swapped his bare feet for boots from an Imperial Army jetbike rider, and then after some experimenting I added a lasso made from brass rod (for the top section where robustness is important) and lead solder (where the ability to bend it made modelling easy).

An early experiment with an entirely solder lasso.

Painting-wise I went for garish primary colours because the concept and source miniatures were inherently goofy.  I intended to paint Mungo in a palette evocative of Bravestar (who is cool) but ended up channelling Sheriff Woody from Toy Story (who is not cool).

On the day of gaming itself Mungo Beefhead rounded up his herd and led them to the pen at the speed of cheeba, but was pipped to the post by sho3box thanks to a series of poor tactical decisions (read: me nobbing over the wrong people with special play cards) and being nobbed over by people’s special play cards.  Great fun.  Thanks to axiom for putting together a very fun gaming experience.

Photo courtesy of Jean-Baptiste of Lead Plague.

I have absolutely no future plans for this figure.  I will not make a squad of them.  He will not build into an army.  Though, very generously, axiom did give out grox hatchling miniatures to all participants, so I can revisit the theme at a future date.

Check out axiom’s post about how he made the herds themselves and modelled the grox pen.

At this year’s Knavecon, sho3box ran a game of Dinoproof.  He provided a table full of jungle terrain and crates of dinosaurs, and participants had to make a Warhammer 40,000 big game hunter.  This was the excuse I needed to model someone wearing a pith helmet, much like the classic Mœbius character Major Grubert.

Un explorateur colonial un peu ridicule.

Just for this occasion I’d stashed away a Praetorian gunner torso.  His hands, unhitched from a heavy weapon, look like they’re clutching binoculars – a conversion idea seen on countless 1990s tank commanders.  The bottom half of the figure is a Dark Ages archer, as he was wearing a pair of shorts that would reinforce his British pomposity.  (I challenge you to name a 40K human wearing shorts.)

“I, of course, do not have a British accent.  That’s just how things sound when they’re properly pronounced.”

I sculpted the bottom of his tunic, then added a pouch and some frag grenades to distract from the Dark Age archer’s slightly narrower waist.  The Plasma Gun is from a Forge World Elysian, which tucked under his arm nicely enough to not have to be carried by an attendant or modelled strapped across his back.

Initially I painted his clothes entirely in Death World Forest, as he’s trying to camouflage himself in a … death world forest. But the epaulettes bothered me – ceremonial affectations seem at odds with jungle stealth.  Then I realised the initial vision of tropical fatigues was further undermined by the dress tunic.  I threw in some more colours and re-imagined the uniform as regimental rather than camouflage.

 “An air of superiority is the ultimate expression of military power.”

Major Henry Fortisque-Smyth fared badly in the tropical jungles, being eaten by a series of sho3box’s childhood plastic dinosaurs.

There’s a blog about the dinosaur skeletons here.

There’s a blog about sho3box’s DinoProof Ogryn here.

There’s a blog about testing the DinoProof rules here.

There’s a blog about making chocolate cakes here.