Blackstone Fortress: Chaos Cultists

First things first: let me get my excuses out of the way. This blog has been quiet lately and its probably going to stay that way for the next little while. I’ve not managed to comment on other people’s blogs very much either, although I have been reading them when I got the chance. My wife and I moved house at the start of December (well, I did the moving – she directed) and almost as soon as the last box was carried through the door our daughter was born (mum and baby doing very well thanks). She’s wriggly, healthy, tiring, wonderful and can shout for Scotland.

Needless to say building and painting miniatures just isn’t something I’ve been doing and won’t be for a while either I suspect. However I do have a bunch of models that I painted back in November (which seems like a long, long time ago now) and never got around to posting so prepare to feast your eyes.

Anyway, to no-one’s surprise I’ve gone and joined a cult. Well they all said it would happen one day… In this case it’s the chaos cult that lurks in the twisting halls of the Blackstone Fortress. I actually painted these a while ago but I’m just getting around to posting them now.

Leading the mob of insane faithful we have this cultist firebrand, ready with his flamethrower to give civilisation a helping hand if it doesn’t collapse quickly enough by itself!

I got so carried away painting the cultists from the Blackstone Fortress set that I even painted a couple of new ones from the recently released kit.

Much like the new Ork boys I really like these models but it’s a damn shame they’re not easier to kitbash, or at least come with a couple of alternative builds.

Anyway, with these done I now have a mighty mob ready to harass adventurers and treasure-seekers in the Blackstone Fortress, cause trouble in the Necromundan underhive or catch some bullets for their chaos marine overlords.

Plus, with the addition of the adventurers I painted a while ago, this means the entire Escalation expansion set for Blackstone Fortress is complete.

This will undoubtedly be my last post of the year, although I’ll try to put together a round up, but not a bad place to end things all things considered. Who knows, next year I might even get Blackstone Fortress finished entirely.

Dark Disciples

Time for two downhive lowlifes turned religious fanatics in the service of the Chaos Gods. Amongst the ranks of the Chaos Space Marines the Dark Apostles serve as a priest class, conducting the bloody rituals, preaching the savage creed and interpreting the will of the Gods on behalf of their battle brothers. Of course this is a lot of work for one man and so a Dark Apostle worth his salt soon recruits a few Dark Disciples to assist him. The Disciples are then on hand to waft cursed incense, stab hapless victims at appropriate moments, tidy up afterwards and even be fed to a summoned daemon themselves if no-one else is available. 

Again these are “neglected models” which have been sitting around three quarters painted for at least a year. Together they make a pair of characterful additions to both my Chaos Marines and Necromunda collections. At some point I’ll need to get the Dark Apostle himself painted but he’s not a priority for now. 

Any Spare Change – Part 9

The bird-headed man is finished at last and ready to promote the labyrinthine schemes of Tzeentch with the business end of his shotgun.

Any Spare Change – Part 8

With the Nurgle caravan rolling into town some might have feared that my butterfly mind has flitted away from Tzeentch but worry no longer – the Changer still has me firmly in his grasp. However I have been taking some time out to think about my biggest problem with my Tzeentchian cultists, the fact that they are all difference sizes. Now really that shouldn’t be an issue, after all the god of mutation is probably the most likely of all the Chaos powers to have followers short and tall, thin and wasted scholars marching alongside bloated horrors tumbling into spawndom. However when I put the models all together it never looked right, they were a jumble without anything to give them cohesion or create the appearance of a unified force. Bases were also an issue, the big models hung off the sides of 25mm bases, the smaller ones were lost in the middle of 32mm bases and when I tried a mix of base sizes in the squad it only served to highlight the disparity in sizes. Time for a re-think.

The answer came to me when I was considering the Tzeentchian cultists in Age of Sigmar and their ambition of ascending through service to their God and being transformed into Tzaangors. Surely the cultists of the 41st Millennium would harbour a similar purpose. With this in mind I split my Tzeentchian collection into three groups depending on how far along the road to ascension they have travelled. Some of these regular readers will have seen before, some will be new. Yet under Tzeentch’s influence not all that appears familiar is unchanged…

The Least

The weakest, and often the least experienced, of the Great Architect’s many followers, the Least are desperate to prove their value and rise in their master’s gaze. Already some have begun to manifest changes and ambition seethes around them for truly each is bound for unrivalled power and glory.

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A raw recruit, risen from a worker gang, determined that a better life can be his if he has sufficient will.

This one may possess a bestial form but he is still a long way from achieving true ascension into the ranks of the Tzaangors.

This one is watchful… ever watchful… What schemes and visions boil and churn within his birdlike skull?

The Ascendant

Whilst countless of their brothers have fallen along the way the Ascendant care not. The glory for which they strive is almost within their grasp and even as those around them are pulled down into darkness and spawndom they force onwards, towards the light and the spiralling laugher that echoes from it.

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This one has grown in stature but his head remains a tiny, half-moon. Tzeentch does not need wits to challenge his own amongst his followers, sometimes raw strength is enough to achieve what must be done.

This one is just a straight up, unconverted Silver Tower acolyte. I just happen to really like the look of him.

This one is well on his way to becoming a Tzaangor.

However the Changer clearly has a much stranger fate in mind for this one.

And this one is no less twisted!

The True Children

Only the strongest and luckiest survive Tzeentch’s labyrinth of trials to join at last in the braying flocks of the Great Conspirator’s chosen. They have seen many things along the road however, exposed to the raw energy of the Warp and the capering flocks of daemon’s therein. They know now that to become a Tzaangor is not the end of the road, merely a stepping stone from which the ambitious can rise toward a greater destiny. Princedom calls and the Changer’s twisting web pulls ever tighter.

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I’ve only made one Tzaangor so far, converted from one of the Silver Tower models. More will come eventually.

A comparison shot to demonstrate the differences in size that have been troubling me.

Next steps will be to bolster the ranks with more cultists of various stripes, plus coming up with some characters to lead the flock in enacting its labyrinthine schemes.

Any Spare Change – Part 1

Following on from the return of Magnus the Red and his Thousand Sons to 40k the maddening schemes of Tzeentch are now reaching into the Mortal Realms of Age of Sigmar. The warflocks are gathering for battle, the flux-cairns are daubed with dark sigils, all kinds of models from the Silver Tower boxset are enjoying separate releases  and there are plenty of rumours (and not a little wishful thinking) that even more is on its way.

Of course, in spite of the fact that I’ve got more than enough projects to be concentrating on, I too am feeling the pull of the Changers of Ways’ insidious influence. With that in mind I’ve started work on a little coven of Tzeentchian cultists, ready to do some of the heavy lifting and pave the way before my Sorcerers finally arrive.

First of all we have this chap, converted from a Kairic Acolyte and ready to spread havoc in the 41st Millennium.

Alongside him we have this shotgun-wielding metaphysician. Who knows what elaborate schemes his masters plan to inflict upon the universe whilst he watches from behind that inscrutable bird mask?

Then we have this beastman, who you may recall I showed before, upgraded to a larger base in keeping with his new comrades.

…and just to prove that I can build a model without converting it here’s a Kairic Acolyte straight from the Silver Tower box.

Last of all here’s a group shot of the whole coven so far. As ever suggestions, feedback and any good ideas that I can steal are more than welcome in the comments box!

Magic is Afoot

With the power of Tzeentch on the rise I couldn’t resist summoning this cultist to do my bidding.

The Hunter

This kit bash is pretty old. It pre-dates the Kadetheron 13th (my traitor guard) by a considerable time, it may even pre-date the Beasts of Ruin altogether. Like the ogrens I showed recently it’s been through various incarnations and like them I wanted to use the opportunity of working on my traitor guard to finally get it finished.  I’ve always thought sentinels were really nice miniatures, full of sci-fi character. Of course they don’t actually do anything that a genehanced scout or servitor-piloted drone couldn’t do better but every Imperial commander knows that sentinels have been part of their arsenal for ten thousand years and nothing is going to make them change now. And of course every follower of the ruinous powers knows that if the servants of the Corpse God have something they should steal it and stick spikes on it.