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 7

How many Tzeentchian sorcerers does it take to change a lightbulb?

Just this guy – many hands make light work!

Any Spare Change – Part 6

Some might say that I don’t really need to be building more Tzeentchian sorcerers. They might even go so far as to suggest that  I’ve got enough hanging around the place as it is and actually painting some of them would be time well spent. Naturally I reject those claims out of hand!

Any Spare Change – Part 5

Just found this Dark Angel rattling around in the bitz box (probably looking for the Fallen in there). Indeed I think I first acquired him as a test model for a scheme to build some Fallen Angels to serve as backup to my Chaos Marines, a scheme which has been on the backburner almost as long as the Dark Angels have been hunting for the real Fallen.

Empowered by the warping energies of Tzeentch, and with the Changer of Ways very much on my mind after this weekend’s releases, I found myself asking – could I turn him into a Sorcerer using the parts that were left over from Mazzakim? After all robes are very much the clothing option of choice for knights of Caliban and wizards alike.

Overall I’m pretty please with him – what do you think?

Any Spare Change – Part 4

In the Mortal Realms and 41st Millennium alike the power of Tzeentch is waxing. Being, as I am, a degenerate worshipper of the Dark Gods, I’m easily distracted from my expressed goals (the Chapel and my shambling undead horde) and have rushed out to beseech the Changer from the comfort of the nearest unnatural flux-cairn. In return the Great Conspirator inspired me to manufacture another cultist through which to do his nefarious bidding.

He still needs a little greenstuff to make the head fit snugly on the neck and of course at this stage he’s still subject to change (see what I did there) so as ever your feedback is appreciated

Any Spare Change – Part 3

Some of you may recall that, back when the Heresy-era version of Ahriman was released I picked one up with the intention of turning him into the leader of my Tzeentchian forces – Mazzakim the Liar. In the end however I decided that the Ahriman model, nice though it is, lacked the sheer grandiosity I was looking for in Mazzakim. That left me with an unused Ahriman model so could I turn him into a Thousand Son’s sorcerer ready to join Mazzakim’s cabal?

Overall I’m pretty pleased with him – to my eye he reads as more than just Ahriman with a different helmet. I debated removing the “cow horns” from his collar but have left them for now, as per the principle that it’s easier to cut them off later than to stick them back on. As usual though I’m open to suggestions.

Any Spare Change – Part 2

Do you think Princedom tempts me? The Changer has offered me that and more. It is not enough. Do you think that I would labour ten thousand years simply to claim that which was offered to my father as payment for his ignorance? No – my destiny will be so much greater. When the hour of my ascension comes it is Magnus and his brothers who shall kneel before me!

Let there be a sacrifice! Long has humanity known the power invested in the spilling of blood. Force and influence can be bought this way, gifted from the Gods of the Warp. Even the crudest of Khorne’s dogs knows this. The greater the kill the greater the reward and so whilst they work their axe arms raw upon the weak I pursue a prize far grander.

We are bound together, Kell and I. That alone has remained true through every vision and prophecy. Be it cast in the bone runes of feral world shaman, drawn in the crystal tarot of the finest spire tops or spread in the steaming entrails of my slaves, that remains a stable nexus of fact in the shifting currents of the future. Without me he shall never live to see Terra. Without him I shall never reach the throne room in time.

Surely this is the honour we all seek above every other now? In his hearts what warrior of the Nine Legions has not dreamed of this moment? Many believe it should be Abaddon’s kill, that he has earned it. Others think that one of the Primarchs shall take it, placing themselves forever above their brothers as Horus never could. Some even think it shall be Kharn, brain buzzing to self-destruction, racing up the steps against all exertion and agony to tear his grandsire from his throne at last.

Let it be me! Every warrior within the Eye has thought it once! Without that Abaddon could never have overcome the inertia of ten millennia spent licking our wounds and the Angel of the Abyss would be doomed to remain there.

The others would waste this kill on spite or personal glory. I shall use it to ascend. Let Abaddon take the throne of mortals when I am gone. The death of the Emperor will birth a god. Let that god be me!

So here he is; Mazzakim the Liar, leader  of my Tzeentchian hosts. Overall I’m rather pleased with him, although I’ll need to turn those Sigmarite sigils on his wings into eyes at the painting stage. Once again though your thoughts and feedback would be greatly appreciated.