The Cult of the Abyssal Gaze – Part 7

Remember Kutter, the outlander Goliath who joined up with the Irondogs after his old crew were wiped out to a man by the rise of the genestealer cults? For those who don’t, here’s a quick reminder of what he looks like.

The model for Kutter originated as an attempt to convert a leader for my Goliath gang (a project which, on the third attempt, turned into the mighty Korak Kingbreaker). The first version knocked around the bitsbox for a little while before being rescued and reused as the basis for Kutter. However between the dismissal of the Kutter version and the eventual success of the Korak version a second model was attempted, butchered, sworn at, and hurled back into the box from when it came in a fit of disgust. There it lay, biding its time, until I came up with the back-story behind Kutter and his old gang’s ill-fated encounter with the Cult of the Abyssal Gaze. Did all the Goliaths die in those rusting, ash-choked tunnels, I found myself wondering. Were some taken prisoner, or fell willingly or unwillingly under the sway of the cult, coming in time to worship new masters, take on new forms and bear the mark of the alien…

Meet Brother Narlek, former Goliath ganger and now the “muscle” behind many a raid by the cultists. Of course, if you find him too fearsome looking you can always imagine that he’s shouting “Taxi!”

As one of Kutter’s former gangmates his transformation represents a profound and personal insult to the Goliath and a vicious rivalry is bound to follow.

Whilst I was working on Narlek I decided to focus my bolstered enthusiasm for the cult to get a couple more recruits finished. After all, you can always use another rank and file cultist with a shotgun…

…meanwhile a webber brings a bit of tactical versatility to the cult (and should be handy for keeping those rampaging Goliaths tied up – both figuratively and literally).

As previously mentioned work and family commitments remain extremely busy at the moment so snatching hobby time is proving a challenge, as it stands I’m not even finding time to keep up with my fellow bloggers let alone paint much of my own. Hopefully things will settle down over the next little while but until then expect updates to remain somewhat sporadic.

The Cult of the Abyssal Gaze – Part 6

Every section of Imperial society contains a priest class tasked with interpreting the God-Emperor’s will and tending to the spiritual welfare of the masses. Where possible such preachers are dispatched from the monastic shrine-worlds which churn out priests in the same industrial production-line fashion as everything else to which the engines of the Imperium are directed. On a hive world such as Necromunda however the numbers required are too great and so much of the population must rely on locally-born, self-taught mendicants. Although at times this has an unfortunate effect on the degree of spiritual deviation and results in a disturbingly high level of observance of non-standard faiths the fanaticism of these individuals, and the resultant increase in the propagation of religion amongst the masses, is regarded as an acceptable counterbalance.

Amongst the ash-crust miners of Delving Alpha-12 responsibility for spiritual oversight lies with Vyrion the Elder. Born into the insular community Vyrion proved from a young age to be gifted with a grand vision, combined with a natural skill for oratory. Whilst most of his clan preferred to remain amongst their own kind for fear of suffering the judgement and suspicion of outsiders Vyrion undertook pilgrimages to the other delving in the local cluster, from Alpha-7 in the north to the deep warrens of Gamma-9 beneath the slag dunes to the south. There he has won many convert awed by the minor miracles of which he is capable and inspired by his visions of the Void-Emperor who watches over them all and, when the moment is right, will descend in righteous hunger to consume and remake this bitter world.

Having devoted his life to spreading the good word amongst the miners  and championing their rights to the manufactorum lords, Vyrion has now turned his unblinking gaze towards Ironhouse. Leading a small band of the faithful he seeks to establish an outpost within the bastion settlement and make it his gateway to the mills and forges of the hive proper. Even before the pilgrims set out word reaches them that the Goliath brutes who claim it as their turf have been bled almost to extinction. Truly the will of the Void-Emperor is at hand!

The genestealer magus is just a lovely model and the opportunity to include it in the gang was too good to pass up. At some point I’ll probably add a combat orientated alternative leader for the gang but to begin with we wanted to explore using a psyker in the game as well. Of course this also gave me the excuse to paint up a familiar to accompany him.

I always found the idea of the familiars as psychic manifestations slightly silly. I know that the Tyranid hive mind is probably the most powerful psychic entity in the galaxy (sorry Tzeentch but you can’t create the Shadow in the Warp now can you?) and so presumably conjuring diminutive beasties is no trouble at all, but surely it makes more sense that these are just tiny Tyranids spawned to serve their master? After all despite it’s psychic prowess the thing the Tyranid race is most famous for is its capacity as generic manipulators, spawning creatures of all shapes and sizes, from warrior beasts, to ripper swarms, to vast living spacecraft, so a mini genestealer would be no bother at all. Am I alone here?

With these two complete the gang is finished for now so this is a fine opportunity for a group shot.

I do however have a few more models built (as previewed previously) which I’m aiming to get painted in the early part of 2019. You’ve not seen the last of the cult yet!

The Cult of the Abyssal Gaze – Part 4

The creature known as The Lurker is a true horror, its name a byword for shapeless dread amongst those who work the dank pipes that run beneath the ash-crust from Ironhouse to Sumpside. To the Cawdor bone pickers it is a devil made manifest a monster risen from the ashes of the God Emperor’s dreams. The Orlock clutch there weapons closer as they pass through the dark reaches of its territory, the cyber-mastiffs brisling and growling as the headlight beams are swallowed by the shadows. None have yet connected the ragged corpses it leaves in its wake with the ash miners attempting to establish an outpost in Ironhouse.

Korak however has seen the fear growing amongst his people and heard the whispers that the Lurker prowls within the walls of his domain. Soon, he knows, the people will fear the beast more than they do him. If he is to nurture his little kingdom through its first cycles he must rid it of this monster. He has broken gang-lords and mutant-kings before, but some amongst the Irondogs fear that they have not yet gathered the strength to deal with with such a monster and when Korak begins his hunt in the darkness of the tunnels, he does so for the final time…

The Cult of the Abyssal Gaze – Part 3

In the dark depths of the Underhive the xenos invaders gather their strength…

Over the weekend I managed to find some time to crack on with my genestealer cultists gang. With three more neophytes done my goal of getting the gang ready for action by Christmas is starting to look more achievable. To be honest there’s not a whole lot more to say about these beyond reiterating what so many other hobbyists have said previously; that these are amongst the finest models Games Workshop have produced and tie-in brilliantly with the Necromunda setting. Anyway, without further ado allow me to introduce Neophyte Zhu…

… plus their clanmate Neophyte Xixos…

…and lastly the sinister Neophyte Castus…

Next up, a neophyte with a grenade launcher to bring some added punch to the gang, plus the early generation monster with a rock saw which I showed a WIP of previously, then I’ll need to crack on with the cult’s magos and his familiar.

The Cult of the Abyssal Gaze – Part 2

“And if thou gaze long into an abyss, the abyss will also gaze into thee”.

Fragment of text attributed to the pre-Imperial Terran Friedrich Nietzsche, believed to be predicting  the coming of the Tyranids

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As you may have gathered from the previous post a xenos invasion of the Underhive is underway. We’re getting into the darkest part of the winter, time to stay indoors in the warm, paint miniatures and perhaps even play some games. My partner has been talking about wanting to try out Genestealer cultists in Necromunda and so, in a fine case of biting off more than you can chew, I’ve decided to try and get a starting gang ready before Christmas. You are welcome to cheer me on or mock me when I fail, whichever floats your boat.

Dipping a toe into the waters with a couple of test models, here’s the first recruit, Neophyte Gaius…

…accompanied by one of the wonderfully belligerent looking aberrant models, a monstrosity which goes by the name Abomination Omega.

Having tallied up what looks like a suitable starting list, I’ve still got seven more cultists to paint over the next couple of weeks, not an insurmountable challenge but expect to see a fair number of insidious aliens around here for the next little while.

The Cult of the Abyssal Gaze – Part 1

“We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars.”

― The Ancient Terran playwright Oscar Wilde

Infested! – Part 12

So, by the time you’re reading this, this model will already be winging it’s way even further north towards Big Boss Redskullz and the rest of the Nestorian Infestation. However due to the weird way time appears to move in the Warp, and the even weirder way it interfaces between my life (currently hectic – blame the start of a new job) and this blog, you’re only just getting to see the finished article now.

Anyway, excuses suitably made, here they are – the finished genestealer corrupted mother and her truly terrifying offspring.

And here’s the whole group, ready to begin their journey.

As they prepare to begin their journey north the group of infested civilians are unaware of a shadowy presence observing them from the shadows…

Off we go!

Infested! – Part 11

Another corrupted civilian of the Nestorian Infestation, an ecclesiarchical servitor-cherub twisted by the genestealers into a spiteful little imp.

I’ve always loved the little cyber-cherubs that appear in artwork buzzing over the heads of the Imperial forces and I’m hopeful that the recently announced Sisters of Battle re-release, currently due to emerge in 2019, will emphasise the gothic flourishes of the Adeptus Ministorum in the form of more cherubs and servo-skulls with which to decorate our models, rather than just being nuns in corsets. Who would have thought a decade ago that we’d have adeptus mechanicus, genestealer cultists and truescale space marines but the poor old sisters would still be stuck with kits that came off the ark?

Anyway, I digress. Here’s the nasty little guy in all his twisted glory.

Whilst we’re about it thank you to everyone who gave me feedback on the genestealer mother and baby I showed previously. After some deliberation I’ve stuck with the head I used originally but I have smoothed down and softened her features a little to make her look a little more female, whilst still remaining a filthy xenos. Here’s a quick shot showing her as she is currently, still part painted but well on her way towards completion.

There’s just her to finish off now to bring this project to completion, after that there are a few other irons in the fire waiting for attention so watch this space.

Infested! – Part 10

Look to the heavens now brothers and sisters! See the fires which descend upon us! The star children come to bring us deliverance, yet before they raise us into their glory we must complete a final trial. The skies burn with the spite of the failing Imperium! The finest warriors of the dying Emperor are sent amongst us. Take up arms my kin, for the last great struggle has come. Let us show the true gods that we are worthy!

Work continues apace on the corrupted civilians of the  Nestorian Infestation with just the cherub and the mother and baby left to paint. I’m dimly aware that Tommy (aka Big Boss Redskullz) set a deadline of “preferably prior to Easter” and that’s pretty much now so all being well expect to see those last two models soon(ish).

Infested! – Part 9

One of the things I wanted to explore with my contributions to the Nestorian Infestation was the way the airborne tyranid spores released by the genestealer cultists would corrupt all aspects of life on an Imperial world, and what better way to do that than with some tainted servo-skulls?

Where once these skulls served the Imperial authorities now they have become slaved entirely to the will of the cult, the inflated gas-bladders growing from them swollen with more spores, ready to corrupt yet more loyal citizens.