More Early Rogue Trader Squats... but terrible photographs! :(

I've been a busy Goblin. But first of all, an apology.
My camera has broken, and so I have been taking photographs with my phone. Some of them are fine, some blurred. I did try with some several times, but I'm just not getting there. So, here are the Squats. Think of it as bad sub-space comms (been watching DS-9 again  :)  )

Anyway, apart from work and other such nonsense, I have been painting Squats. Lots of them, and they have been fun to paint. After a recent lull in painting, I am quite enjoying painting the early Rogue Trader era Squats. As I mentioned in my last blog update I am loosely basing them on the early release paint schemes, which are a mix of greens and browns, with dashes of colour. When I think of this era of Squats, these paint schemes are that which spring to mind, so why not choose them?

I am basing the army on the Hylgar's Hell-Raisers army list from the 1988 Book of the Astronomican, but ignoring all but the compulsary Human elements, and focusing on the Squats. I have done this because I think that this list better reflects the miniatures, it will also act as an opponent to the Ork list army I have, and I also have enough plastic Squats to create an army from the layer Squat list. I'll detail more on the exact composition of the army in a later blog update.

Enjoy (best you can)  :)

WIP army.
I'm filling the gaps via e-bay, and the army is nearly 'collected'.

The last couple of weeks painting.

'Loader Powl', from the RT9/RT303 Squat Heavy weapon range. He is primilarly designed to accompany heavy weapons carriers. He is armed with a Plasma-Gun, and I intend to use him as a Squat Sergeant-Major in the Hylgar list as he fits the entry nicely.

'Galil Lankhester', a musician miniature from the RT302 Space Dwarf /Squat Command Group range. He is a keyboard player. Synth was big in the 1980's . :)

'Gunner Karl' armed with a Conversion Beamer.

Beamer side.

'Waltha Twelvebore'.
Squat armed with a flamer. I have painted him similar to the artwork in the Rogue Trader rulebook, below.

'Waltha Twelvebore' and 'Colt Stoner', jus' patrollin' downtown.

A blurred photograph of a Bloodbowl Dwarf with a Bazooka.
He is 'Barik Farblast', from about 1988, and is armed with a football launching bazooka. I plan to use him as a missile launcher.

Rear view.

Two versions of 'Gatt Gunslinger'.
I like how a different paint scheme, within the overall theme, can work on the same miniature.

Rear view.
Citadel made two different versions of 'Gatt Gunslinger'. The first one, on the left, had a seperate backpack/jump-pack (the same one used on the 'Roth Bergman' miniature). The second version received a minor resculpt, replacing the seperate backpack, with a cast-on one.

On the left 'Capt. Khyrk', from the RT9 Heavy weapon crew range. I photographed him now, as he is off soon on a 5 year misson. ;)
On the right, 'Koch Wesson', a Squat flamer (the backward cap, also popular in the 1980's).

Rear view.

'Heckler Smith' and 'Lee Hotchkiss'.
Both based on the same base sculpt, they are going to be part of the Assault Squads.

Two 'Lewis Gunn'.

Two 'Maxim Bang'.

On the left 'Luger Gerlich'.
On the right 'Mauser von Dreyse'. Apart from the blot gun, he is the same sculpt as 'Lewis Gunn'. 
I do love the firearms names of the Squats.

'Colt Stoner' and 'Barry Schmeisser'.

Rear view.
The 'Barry Schmeisser' miniature has a backpack, maybe a jump-pack, in a similar style to the original metal Space Marine ones.

Next update, more Squats.

Early Rogue Trader Squats.

I have been collecting and sorting out my 3rd Edition Warhammer Fantasy armies for a little while now, and fancied a little bit of a change. Now one of my great loves is what I consider very early era of Rogue Trader, 1987 to 1988, and one of the key elements to that era were the early release of Squats (Space Dwarfs), before the Iron claw Range, and before the plastic range.

Before the 1989 Squat army list, which many consider the epitome of Rogue Trader Squats, they were more akin to an adjunct to the Imperial Army, so much so that they were an integral part of the Imperial Army list in the 1988 Book of the Astronomican. That is my approach to these. They comprise only miniatures released from the initial releases of Rogue Trader, and I will be basing them on the Hyglar's Hell-Raisers from the 1998 Book of the Astronomican, taking their paint schemes  from that era.

Why? Because I love the look of the early Squats and their green/brown/khaki colours. Also, in the Hyglar list many of the Squats are issued with mesh and flak armour, which I feel befits the miniatures more than just the flak of the later list. Anyway, I have another plastic and metal Squat army to use for the later list.

There is a cavet to all this. I am painting these for fun. I might complete this army or move on. I have a contemporary Astra Militarium army which I am looking to paint, and so many other things to do, but for now, I'm enjoying painting these.

Oh, and I'm painting some Rogue Trader Tyranids as well.

Enjoy :)

White Dwarf 94 release of Squats (Space Dwarfs).
Many of these are in the Rogue Trader rulebook.

Book of the Astronomican Space Dwarfs.

Book of the Astronomican Space Dwarf Command.

Squats!
My camera has broken, so these are taken with my phone!

'Maxim Bang'.
The early Squats/Space Dwarfs were all named, and named after firearms.
He is armed with a las-gun, the same one used by the Space Slann, and many human adventurers, and Judge Dredd miniatures.
By the way, they is a lot of smoking going on amongst the Squats.

Rear view.

'Lewis Gunn' (told you, named after guns!).
His body is the same base torso as 'Maxim Bang's'.

Rear view.

'Mauser von Dreyse'
Again, based on the basic 'Maxim Bang torso. He is armed with a bolter.

Rear view.

'Luger Gerlich'.
He is armed with looks like an Ak-47, but can be used as an Auto-gun. It is later listed (and I am using it here as) a Las-Gun.

Rear view.

'Smoothbore Sten'.

Rear view.

Squats bothering the Orks of the Charadon Empire somewhere in Kolarne system. 

I re-painted my old wrecked car scenery.

My painting table!

What's next? Probably more Squats, I'm having fun painting them. :)

Undead Horsemen of the Lichemaster.

Just a quick update, carrying on from my last blog post, I have painted a few Undead Cavalry. I  painted these in a similar style to the Lichemaster characters from Ian Miller's artwork. They are going to part of a 3rd Edition Warhammer Undead army based on the forces of the Lichemaster. In the Terror of the Lichemaster scenario he was able to Summon Undead Horsemen, so I think they will fit in nicely (well, evilly really, but you get the idea).

Painting wise they were fun to do. I enjoyed trying out the Ian Miller style palette on other Undead miniatures, and keeping to a limited set of colours. Concerning the Undead Steeds, the Warhammer rules state that Undead Cavalry can move through walls at half speed. This got me thinking that perhaps there is something extra magical about Undead Horsemen, conferred from thier steeds. So I thought I would painted the steeds with a more ethereal look to them, rather than just a rotting 'bag 'o bones'. I did'nt do this for the riders as I thought it might make them look too much like a spectre, plus it helps to keep the steeds that extra spooky!

Enjoy :)

Three Undead Horsemen.
Left to right: ME72 Deadman of Dunharrow; C21 Undead Cavalry 'Bloodharvest'; and C21 'Doomsmile'.

'Bloodharvest'.
This is probably one of my favourite of the range, the old style helmet and detailed armour, as well as the sycthe, not normally a cavalry weapon. He just has a menacing moodiness about him. He is mounted on the undead horse 'Rotskin'.

Right hand side view showing the lovely armour.

'Doomsmile'.
He is a good, standard Skeleton rider, armed with a halberd. He is riding 'Fallen Flesh'.

ME72 Deadman of Dunharrow.
This is the earlier solid based version. This is a lovely sculpt, with a very mournful air about him.

Side view.

Ian Miller's 'Terror of the Lichemaster'.

Next update will probably be more Undead.

The Terror and the Vengeance of the Lichemaster: Heinrich Kemler, Mikael Jacsen, Ranlac, and Krell.

Terror and Vengeance abound!

After my last blog update on Ian Miller's artwork, I re-read Ratspike and looked long and hard at his Terror of the Lichemaster artwork. Looking at it I was really inspired by the bright colours used, so I decided to paint up the central Evil characters in this style.

I am really happy to be back painting again after not really painting anything for a few months (I've been buying things, but more on that in another blog update). I am also really happy to have chosen this paint scheme and style as it is really quite unusual. When I, and I am sure when many others, consider Undead, rusty and dull paint schemes often spring to mind, but the Ian Miller inspired really does look interesting. It may not be the most 'realistic' look, but for a fantasy army it does work.

Now, I find myself sorting out C16/C17 range Skeletons and Undead in order to build at least the bare minimum of the army for the Vengeance Scenario, and with an eye to using this as a core for a full 3,000 point Undead army. I have all the Undead required for the Vengeance scenario, and lots of odds and ends too. They are fun, and quite fast to paint, I painted all the four characters here in four hours (excluding varnishing and basing time).

Enjoy :)

 'The Terror of the Lichemaster' artwork by Ian Miller.

 From left to right: Krell; Heinrich Kemler, The Lichemaster; Mikael Jacsen; and Ranlac.
I am really happy with them, the look and vibrancy of the colour scheme.
For reference, The Lichemaster and Mikael Jacsen are both slotta miniatures, Ranlac and Krell are pre-slotta. The Lichemaster and Mikael Jacsen were made specifically for the scenarios, whilst Ranlac and Krell are from the Citadel C17 Skeleton range, and were designed by the Perry Twins.

The Lichemaster.
I wanted to capture the look and colours of the artwork and looking at it the palette of colours was very simple: Red, orange, white, and yellow, with green for the hat, and a few items gold. .

 The Lichemaster's cloak.
I purposely went for a bold contrast in highlighting to mimic the art. I think that cloak alsmost looks aflame.

Side view.
I love the sculpting of the face, very much with a driven evil intelligence. I'm happy how the white flesh looks. A simple watered down black paint wash helped to give depth.

Mikael Jacsen.
In the Terror of The Lichemaster Mikael Jacsen is the lieutenant of the Zombies. He also has a flaming skull and shrieking piercing shriek.
This character is of course based on the singer Michael Jackson, and the infamous incident which occurred in 1984 when his head was set on fire during the filming of a Pepsi commercial. I think the shrieking alludes more to his singing.
The miniature was great fun to paint, and I copied the orange armour with gold trim.

Rear view.

Ranlac.
Ranlac was the captain of Krell's Guard. The miniature has an oriental look to him, with the flowing robes, the Katana, the Oni or Noh looking face on his shield, and the Samurai looking helmet. It does make one wonder about the life time adventures of Ranlac.

Rear view.

Krell.
Krell was in life a great Chaos hero. He now serves as The Lichemaster's lieutenant.
I like the look of this miniatures, he looks as all good Skeletons heroes should: a hero from an earlier age.

Rear view.
I enjoyed painting the rich coloured cloak. I only used highlights with red, orange, and yellow paint, without ink or contrast paints.

Next blog update will probably be more Skeletons, as I appear to be painting an Undead army now. :)