Back at the turn of the millennium, there was a hyper-rare Space Marine that was only available in England if you spent £500 in a Games Workshop during the Skulz programme. On a pocket money budget, it took the co-ordinated efforts of all my friends to get one. And over two decades later, here he is painted.

He’s a stellar miniature that was really ahead of his time for a number of reasons. First, he came with a solid metal base (40mm no less, when nothing larger than 25mm for infantry had ever been seen) depicting a fallen Chaos standard – at a time when scenic bases were incredibly rare. Second, he clutches a standard of Ultramar – a sculpted banner at a time when banners were paper affairs you photocopied from White Dwarf or came supplied as self-adhesive labels. Third, he was sculpted by Shane Hoyle, one of my favourite sculptors – and notable as he’s one of the first Imperial Space Marines since 1990 not sculpted by Jes Goodwin.

I wondered back in 1999 if he was Ancient Helveticus – the Ultramarines special character. But Helveticus’ defining feature is the Banner of Macragge, and this sculpted banner didn’t match the design from White Dwarf 195. Plus his wargear didn’t match the 2nd edition Warhammer 40,000 Ultramarines Codex (or the 3rd edition Chapter Approved incarnation). And critically, as you can just about see in the photo above, his left shoulder has a skull marking inside an Ultramarines’ inverted omega sculpted on – meaning his rank is more likely Sergeant than Chapter Ancient.

On the subject of shoulder marking – his right pad features a sculpted-on Tactical Squad arrow. This is a source of irritation to me, as I’ve copied the white trims of the original ‘Eavy Metal paintjob. If you’re strict about the Codex Astartes – and Ultramarines are strict – the only two Companies identified with white shoulder pad trims are First and Tenth, and neither has any Tactical Squads. I will conceptualise my version not as a Chapter Ancient (or Company Ancient for that matter), but as a Third Company Sergeant with non-standard trim markings denoting Veteran status (and will back this up by pointing to the Crux Terminatus on his left calf as further proof of Veteran-ness), holding a sacred Ultramarines standard (but not a Company or Chapter banner).

HIs release through the tertiary channel of exclusive Skulz retail incentives makes him one of the rarest Ultramarines miniatures, except for perhaps the 2004 Black Library Uriel Ventris diorama. So here he is alongside my other limited editions, marching for Macragge.

Ninjabread out!

Golden Demon!  Games Workshop’s prestigious painting competition I’ve dreamed about winning since I was an eleven year old boy.  Like the Oscars – there’s big statuettes.  Like the Nobel Prize – the winners are selected by internationally respected judges.  Like the Turner Prize – there’s a no contribution to the actual world of art.   It’s the ultimate battleground for miniature painters.  And these Sisters of Silence Prosecutors took home the bronze statuette at the Warhammer 40,000 Vigilus Open Day.

Silence is golden (demon).

I spent three weeks of hobby time getting these miniatures from sprue to plinth, sweeping all my ongoing projects aside to focus solely on these Sisters.  The pressure of an immovable deadline and the harsh scrutiny of the judges meant I pushed myself hard to make the squad’s copper Vratine armour truly shine.

Prosecutors in early November, broken into sub-assemblies and looking intimidatingly unfinished.

The Prosecutors are each designed with one fixed pose – your only real choice is the way you point their head. Assembled out of the box, all have their Boltguns held across their chest.  Reposing is a challenge, but with lot of cutting, putty and spare arms I opened up three of the poses to make the squad more action-packed.

Silent.  But deadly.

I was itching to introduce a bit of component variety into the squad, such as a heavy weapon, or a fancypants sword for the Sister Superior, but the Index Imperium wargear options forbade it.  To get the squad to (silently) scream “LOOK AT ME” I added a massive banner from Wood Elf Eternal Guard kit.  The original detail has been carved off and sanded away so I could paint on my own Adeptus Astra Telepathica designs on both sides.

“Exigua est virtus praestare silentia rebus, at contra gravis est culpa tacenda loqui.”

I wracked my brains for a phrase to freehand onto the banner.  I considered Latin versions of “Enjoy the Silence” and “Hello darkness my old friend” – but tongue-in-cheekiness didn’t suit these dour space nuns.  So I found two high-minded lines in Ovid’s Ars Amatoria which translate as “Slight is the merit on keeping silence on a matter, on the other hand, serious is the guilt of talking on things whereon we should be silent.”  I’ll save the Depeche Mode for some goofy Rogue Trader or Blood Bowl nonsense.

Patterns in the Ivy

The ivy on the banner was originally a Captain Crooks suggestion.  I used swirly ivy creepers on the breechcloths and cloak outsides, and angular ivy leafs on cloak insides.  In folklore, ivy is taken into the home to ward off evil spirits much like Sisters are taken in your Imperial force to ward off evil.  Aaaaand, ivy is mildly poisonous to humans, in the same way Sisters of Silence and their Pariah gene are psychically unsettling for humans to be around.  I’m so happy with the symbolism of the plant that I might spin it out to the iconography of the whole Sisterhood Vigil (equivalent to a Space Marine Chapter), if I do any more.  Call them “Crimson Ivy”?  Mmm, no, too burlesque.  “Ivy League”?  Mmm, also no.

The skullrific bases are from a Shadespire warband (Magore’s Fiends) with their footholes sculpted over.  To ground them in the Warhammer 40,000 universe I added a helmet from a Thousand Sons Scarab Occult Terminator.

Squad Philomela supporting the Nemesis Chapter battlelines.

Patreon Painting Tutorial

Last week the Patrons of Ninjabread got access to a detailed stage-by-stage write up of the paints and  techniques used to paint the copper armour.

If you become a supporter today and you’ll get access to this in depth masterclass tutorial, and also the back catalogue that also covers two varieties of Space Marines power armour, and human flesh.  Thanks to everyone’s that signed up to date, I’m really enjoying spending the time sharing the secrets.

Now the competition is over, and the intense focus has ended, I’m enjoying picking at preslotta odds and ends on the painting desk, toying with possible future competition entries.  I need to blast through some gaming level paintjobs for a bitand get back to my Space Marine armies over the Christmas break.  Watch this space!

This is one of my Golden Demon entries – Sergeant Rophocalas of the Blood Angels chapter.  He was entered into the Staff Category at Golden Demon Space Marines back in 2015.

Sergeant Rophocalas with Breacher Squad Aceldamus during a boarding action on the Space Hulk Dies Inproba Apollonis.

Sergeant Rophocalas is the event-exclusive Mark III Boarding Marine from Forge World.  He’s had a head-swap with a Forge World Legion Preator so I had the opportunity to paint some flesh.  I also built a step-style base out of Necromunda bulhead and Zone Mortalis fittings to help draw the eye up the model.

I really enjoy painting limited edition figures.  I feel they’re intrinsically more valuable than their mass-produced counterparts.  My enthusiasm for limited editions is more likely to last for the scores of hours that it takes to paint models to a high competition standard, so it’s a great completion strategy.  And, at the end of the day you have a extra-special piece with an extra-special paintjob

There’s a number of techniques on this Blood Angel I don’t normally do on my gaming miniature.  My standard Space Marines are largely flat block colours on their panels as I’m painting them (at least theoretically) for gaming.  But on Rophocalas I wanted to push my blending and transitions.  His red armour has has smooth transition from dark to mid red.  Areas like the silver on his combi-bolter and the gold aquila on his shield are done is a non-metallic metal style.

I didn’t nail the standard or style to be a Golden Demon winner, but I got closer than I’d been previously.  I wince a little bit looking at parts of this entry now – but I learned a lot and stretched myself.  It wasn’t the best Space Marine in the Golden Demon cabinets that day, but it was the best Space Marine I’d done up to that point.

Eggs on legs!  The greatest Warhammer 40,000 miniatures of all time!  Chibi Terminators!  The most iconic Squat models!

Thane Rædwald in Exo-Armour – a tough egg to crack.

This Exo-Armoured Squat Thane is the first Squat miniature I ever bought for a bargain 60 pence.  He’s the nucleus around which my Squat obsession has grown, and has sported several paintjobs down the years.  His chainsword arm is taken from a Chaos Squat in Exo-Armour, and is a conversion necessitated by the original owner.  I can feel guilty chopping up such rare Exo-Armour components – but you can’t make a omelette without breaking a few eggs.

Eggs on legs.  In this colour scheme, Kinder Eggs on legs.

The banner is tomato purée foil plus King Kazador’s back banner.  When converting Squats I try to keep their components (bases aside) from 1994 or earlier so the sculpting and detailing style match.  1994 marked the release of the last ever Squat model in the form of the Epic Thunderfire Cannon, so everything up until that point I consider fair game for conversions.

The bases are a tad excessive at 40mm, but I started the squad back in 2012 32mm bases weren’t on the market.  Such big bases help them pass for Terminators more easily in games.  Plus it means I can build up the bases’ height to allow the Squats to get a little closer to being eye-level with their opponents.  As the elite Squat unit it gives them a great presence in the army.

The hard-boiled Rædwald and his retinue supporting Strifemaster Borun.

I’ve modelled the squad with a multi-melta, which feels the most Squatty of all the heavy weapons.  It’s also a commonly enough available component from the Rogue Trader era to be chopped up guilt-free.

Lots more Squats coming soon!

Necromunda’s just been re-rereleased, and there’s a piece of art floating around in White Dwarf and Warhammer Community that doesn’t correspond to any of the miniatures released yet, but is a lovely call back to a couple of 1980s classics.

Necromunda Mauretania makes all her decisions on the hoof.

The hoofed mad-haired Amazon in stockings is a leitmotif Games Workshop trot out occasionally – much like female miniatures.  Let’s chart a quick family tree.

John Blanche’s Amazonia Gothique on the cover of White Dwarf 79 (July 1986).

This piece of art was made into the LE15 Kinky Chaosette miniature released a couple of months afterwards.  The version on the left was a conversion by John Blanche himself, rather than a commercially available miniature.  I’d love to know where the gun component came from.

White Dwarf 82 Amazonia Gothique miniatures (October 1986).

The Amazon with a gun concept did appear as a commercially available miniature a couple of years later, sporting a paint scheme very similar to the John Blanche conversion.  She’s an Amazon, but she’s in space.

RT601 Space Amazon Adventurers, White Dwarf 99 (March 1988).

This Space Amazon turns up in those exact same colours, zebra stripe, leopard spots, piebald cow blobs in the John Blanche art compilation a year later.  Sto’Knor Macekiller has painted his copy to match this, right down to the polka dot neckerbow.

Space Amazon by John Blanche, from Ratspike (1989).

Flashing forward to 2017, past some other possible miniature incarnations of the Amazon, and the cheeky nostalgia monkeys at Games Workshop re-relaunch Necromunda with this character popping up in the promotional art teasers.

Interestingly, I think the yellow patterns on her armour are meant to evoke the shape of the shield from the original Amazonia Gothique.  I hope we see a miniature based on the this concept!  Until then, I have painted the Rogue Trader incarnation based on the new (and the original) artwork.

Mauretania and the Claw Nebula pirates in the Jericho Ironworks on Necromunda.

The next episode of Choose Your Own Adventurers will be brought to you be sho3box.

CYAO Episode 13 – Phineas, the Navigator (axiom)

CYAO Episode 12 – Doug Orewell, Squat Miner (sho3box)

CYOA Episode 11 – Indiana Jones, Xenoarchaeologist (Curis)

CYAO Episode 10 – Rico “Snakey” Vitovitch, Pilot for Hire (axiom)

CYAO Episode 9 – Erica James, Sister of Silence (sho3box)

CYOA Episode 8 – Steppenwolf, Mutant Outlander (Curis)

CYAO Episode 7 – Cinereal Jeannie, Inquisitional Psyker (axiom)

CYAO Episode 6 – Joan Grace, Null Maiden (sho3box)

CYOA Episode 5 – Nebuli Tsar, Ventolin Pirate (Curis)

CYAO Episode 4 – Short Jern Silvo, Ratling Cook (axiom)

CYAO Episode 3 – Garnier Wangst, Eldar Trader (sho3box)

CYOA Episode 2 – Paradox Zeeman, Pirate Captain (Curis)

CYOA Episode 1 – Obi-Wan Sherlock Clousseau, Inquisitor (axiom)

The Citadel Miniatures Chaos Thug range is melting pot of influences and ideas.  Unlike Games Workshop’s modern Chaos Marauders, who are uniformly bearded barbarians, the classic Thug range had odd chaps with mullets, Saracen-flavoured archers and even stray ninjas.

Hot as thuggery.

It makes the individual Thugs fun to paint, as they’re each full of unique details. The mullet man has a pair of horns poking out his hairstyle.  The archer has a leering face kneepad.  All three have plumped for asymmetrical trousers.

The ninja has a ninja throwing knife for stealth kills, but today he’s chosen to fight with the less subtle morning star.  Maybe he wields that stealthily too, assassinating targets with a silent swing of the massive spiky ball.

Pazyryk Banefire’s Thugs sacking the town of Æbbe’s Hill.

Having a single archer in the otherwise-melee unit slightly bothers me, but given the chaotic appearance of the the unit I can cope with it in games of Age of Sigmar and Dragon Rampant.  The mix of troop types also gives me a nice selection of models to pick for Frostgrave.  In time he will split off to found a Chaos Thug mob with bows, made up of a mix of the Battle Masters plastic Chaos Thug and the chunky punky Marauder Chaos Thug range from the early 1990s.

Decades of exposure to Games Workshop’s marketing materials has conditioned me not to paint individual figures, but regiments, and then armies.  There was no stopping at just one Gnorman Gnoll.  Gnot on your gnelly.  eBay trawling has turned up two more preslotta gems from 1981–3.

Lord Tisserand with his hawk Antonius, accompanied by two Gnolls.

Lord Tisserand is a simple conversion of the Wargames Foundry ex-Citadel Normans with the arm from a Black Tree command figure holding a hawk swapped in to make him a regimental champion.  I also sculpted on a strap so he could carry a shield while waving around the Bird of Command – but that’s barely worth mentioning as this sentence took longer to type than the strap took to sculpt.

You can see the original figure as it appeared in White Dwarf 92, with the cliché French names variously inspired by Inspector Clouseau, Rémy Martin cognac, Marie Brizard liquer and maybe ‘Allo ‘Allo characters.

And just what is the French for “cliché”?

Why a hawk?  Hawks were a symbol of authority in Norman times.  The Bayeaux Tapestry initially shows Harold holding a hawk, and switches to showing William holding a hawk when his claim to England’s throne becomes legitimate.

I might push this idea of animals symbolising command into the realm of fantasy and model a Norman King on a giant hawk or griffon.  I am enjoying the blend of historical and fantasy in the same project.

Lord Tisserand and the Gnolls against Undead Wights.

All three Gnolls I have painted now are variants of the same figure.  In the above image the right-most Gnoll is the unadulterated miniature.  The one on the left I converted with an arm and sword from a 1980s Citadel Goblin.  The central Gnoll is the resculpted version that appeared in the later C13 range – who has the same body but a new weapon arm and head.  Challenge now is how to convert future Gnolls to provide enough variety for a complete Gnorman regiment.

My teenage Orc and Goblin army featured a Night Goblin shaman on Cockatrice.  I’ve sold the bulk of the army, but hung onto the Cockatrice out of sentimentality.  Bulking out my Frostgrave Chaos into a Dragon Rampant force demanded a fantastic monster, so this mythological bird resurrected itself from the ashes.

The wings on my Orc and Goblin Cockatrice weren’t the original MM44 ones, but had been nicked from an High Elf Dragon.  I replaced these original replacements with a pair of 15mm Demonworld dragon wings.  Since I was converting the figure with non-Citadel parts, I figured I’d swap the rather dull tail with a scorpion one from the Dark World Manticore.

The Cockatrice torso showing his original yellow paintjob.  He was known as “Lemon Chicken”.

I did plan on him having a Chaos rider, and tried every single mounted Chaos figure in my collection.  However, anything bigger than a weeny Night Goblin shaman looked ridiculous, and the wings and neck all obscure the rider.  So Stingwing is an unbound monster, which also means he’s easier to legitimately field in Age of Sigmar.

Chicken stripped.

Attaching the Demonworld wings, and at a different angle to the original MM44 wings, required hacking away the sockets on the torso and some heavy pinning.  I used three layers of putty to first fill the gaps, then sculpt muscles, and then add fur.

In my efforts to bend the old lead wings into curved shapes I managed to break the left one straight in half.  The metal along the split crumbled, and I had a pig of a time trying to reattach it.  I managed it with pins in the only two places that joined, and a good amount of putty.  Luckily the membranes had very little sculpted detail so my repairs are barely visible.

Anyways, here’s the finished beastie! I went with a mainly flesh, and ran the warband’s signature red colour onto the comb, wattles and scorpion tail.

Cockatrice breaks through a clearing in Mourningwood.

Sadly I have no good photos of the six-way Dragon Rampant game from the Knavecon weekend – I’d borrowed sho3box‘s selfie-stick and only managed photographs of my own arm.

Put in black and white, however, this looks intentionally arty. And you can’t see my Superman socks clashing with the hotel carpet.

The monsters is also an iconic Dungeon and Dragons monster, and will be featuring in some upcoming adventures!

Pazyryk  Banefire and the Thugs in the Matityahu Temple.

We’ve thrown down the gauntlet at wotk to build armies for 40K6 at a rate of 250 points a month.  I’ve picked Squats – particularly apt as they’re name-checked in the new 40K6 rulebook.

First up is the Furnace Valley Brotherhood Command Squad.  Brotherhood Lords are in charge of their Stronghold at a tactical level, leading the Warrior Squads in the thick of the fighting.  They’re one step below Warlords who I’ll model later in the project with ornate carapace armour.  On the left is Commissar Gustav (kindly donated by my friend Luke), who is acting in an advisory rather than disciplinary capacity.  This Mark Copplestone classic is the only non-Perry miniature so far.  The Powerfist and Power Sword is quite overkill, but the model’s too damn awesome to kit out otherwise.

Left to right: Commissar Gustav, Trooper Stoner (Bolter), Medic Faunts, Warmaster Curiz, Trooper Sterling (Stronghold Standard) and Trooper Gast (Battlesynth).

The first Warrior Squad is composed entirely of Perry-sculpted Squats.  I picked all the models with photochromatic visors as the translucent red looks gives the squad a visual kick, and also satisifes my pedantic side where in Rogue Trader squads were either entirely with or entirely without the eye protection.

I’d have liked to’ve avoided using the metal/plastic hybrid Squats in this squad (and make squads of entirely hybrids later) – but the Plasma Gunner is festooned with Heavy Bolter pouches and I’ve no oldskool Heavy Bolters from White Dwarf 97.  I’ll split the squad up later – and might even split off the Squats with AK47s from the Lasguns.

Here’s the whole 250 points altogether.  It’s a nice nucleus to grow the army around.