inquisitors and veterans

Another spurt of updates, but since I finally got my hands on a camera, I figured I should put some more up here. This time, it's about the Inquisitors (counts-as sergeants), the squads of 22nd Thracian Veterans they lead, and Inquisitorial operative Winter, one of Rosenadel's agents.

First up is Inquisitor Yjan Malkom Lobo, "Venom". I haven't quite worked out the backstory for the other inquisitors that Rosenadel is teaming up with, but they are all radical, to greater or lesser degrees. Accordingly, I have named, code-named, and modeled them all referencing radical or chaotic characters from other fiction. Yjan Malkom is a reference to Ian Malcolm from Jurassic Park, a subscriber to Chaos Theory. Originally, his code name was "Lobo", a reference to a Marvel Comics alien mercenary villain/anti-hero who killed off his own race for a "high school science project". Tell me that's not the embodiment of Chaos in a nutshell. However, upon modeling Yjan, it came out looking more like Bane from Batman, so Lobo became the surname, and "Venom" the codename, after the drug Bane uses.

Venom is based on the Khorne Exalted Hero body, inspired by a sweet conversion elsewhere. I gave him a Chaos Space Marine head, a CSM sword arm, and a loyalist bolt pistol arm. Added a grenade/pouch/knife combo from a Blood Angels kit. Inquisitors need personality, so I decided to add the flamer pack from the IG Squad kit, along with hoses made from guitar wire. And thus, the Bane look came into being.

Yjan Malkom Lobo, "Venom"

Yjan Malkom Lobo, "Venom"

Next is Inquisitor Jonathan Olivus, "Archer". While not exactly a chaotic or radical character, Oliver Queen, Green Arrow, does become an activist for lower classes, something unheard of in the Imperium. I chose him because he helped Batman fight Superman in The Dark Knight Rises graphic novel, which is radical enough for me. I'm not sure anymore why I chose Jonathan as his first name, though his code name is obvious enough.

Accordingly, the model has a green cloak, and a lasgun mounted on his back in place of a bow. The model itself is the Empire Witch Hunter. The lasgun is from Chapterhouse studios, the SCAR lasgun bit (http://chapterhousestudios.com/index.php?route=product/product&path=77&product_id=192). I added only that and a grenade/pouch from the IG Squad kit to give the model a more 40k appearance. I couldn't really add more bitz since I thought it would take away from the super-sweet model.

Jonathan Olivus, "Archer"

Jonathan Olivus, "Archer"

Next are some finished 22nd Thracian veterans. As mentioned previously, these lads are inspired by the 22nd SAS regiment. Accordingly, I wanted to make them look as close to the classic 1980's image of the SAS as reasonably could. The conversion actually ended up being pretty simple. I knew I wanted gas-mask heads, but it turns out that most such heads look more like WWI German gas masks. But, I found the "Gas Masks - Rolled Helmet" on Secret Weapon Miniatures (http://www.secretweaponminiatures.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=47_48&products_id=458), and they're almost perfect as-is. However, I decided to cut off the filter in the front and add it to the side of the mask, since 1) the front still looks to German/Krieg-ish, and 2) the classic SAS mask also has the filter on the side. This is what I'm talking about:

SAS, baby!

So, that took some very, very careful doing, but all of them are side-mounted now. The only other conversion was the lasgun. Since the guns are very long, and such special forces often work in close quarters, they often have guns with shorter barrels to better navigate doorways, narrow hallways, and other tight spaces. They also usually have sweet scopes. So, I snipped off the barrels of the lasguns and reattached them on top to make scopes. I also added some cylindrical bits for extra laser-sights on some. Can't have too many laser-sights.

Examples of the 22nd Thracian veterans.

Veteran, front.

Veteran, side.

Finally, Winter. She is inspired by two characters from Star Wars: Mara Jade, former Emperor's Hand, later Jedi, and Winter, Leia Organa's longtime friend and Alliance spy. Both are highly-skilled covert operatives, and totally bad-ass. Especially Mara Jade. So, this Inquisitorial operative is known only as "Winter", and has Jade's orange hair. This model has quite a few non-standard bitz. The legs and body are Combat Armor Legs (http://www.maxmini.eu/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=22_26&products_id=129) and Combat Armor Torso (http://www.maxmini.eu/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=22_26&products_id=129) from Maxmini. They're a little bigger in size than the normal IG legs and torso, but they look cool, and the difference isn't too noticeable. The arms are both standard IG trooper arms. The one holding the knife has the hand cut off and replaced with a heavy gunner stabilizer hand to better look like she's gripping the knife. The gun is a  "M-gun" (http://www.maxmini.eu/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=22_25&products_id=77), again from Maxmini. These are a little bigger than lasguns and are obviously based on the M-16. But again, they look really cool. Finally, the head is a Dark Eldar wych head, with the spot to glue on a topknot cut off. All this special stuff for this model is because Winter counts as Guardsman Marbo, perfect for Winter's role in Rosenadel's group of henchmen. Though Winter is painted much the same as the 22nd Thracian, she bears a golden triangle on her left shoulder guard signifying her status as an operative, and a red "=][=" on the other, signifying that she works directly for the Inquisition.

Winter, inquisitorial operative.

Winter, inquisitorial operative.

Winter, inquisitorial operative.

That's all the updates for now. Four more inquisitors are on the way, including Rosenadel himself, as well as pictures of the snipers once they are painted.

inspiration

Salutations,

It's been a while since a new post has gone up, but all pict-recording devices seem to break when I touch them, so I haven't had any pictures to show. But I got my hands on a camera, and took some picts of my recent work. I'm still working on Inquisitorial Operations Cell "Accipiter" (counts as Imperial Guard). My plan is to end up with a somewhat modular list that can be toned down or up depending on what kind of game I'm playing. While this army probably won't be done for a while, I am taking a few units in it as an ally to the Angels Malleus for OFCC this year (a friendly tournament in Vancouver, WA run by Ordo Fanaticus; http://www.ordofanaticus.com/blog/).

The story behind this army is that Inquisitor Rosenadel has founded an Imperial Guard regiment through his inquisitorial influence to act as his personal special forces. These are the 22nd Thracian Irregulars. However, when fighting the most dangerous of enemies, even this is not enough, and so he enlists the help of a cell of fellow inquisitors, who take direct control of squads. I have indeed decided that the sergeant in each veteran squad will be modeled as an inquisitor, and these models will come later. As mentioned previously, this army is inspired by modern-day special forces, and I've done what I can to model units like their real-world equivalents as well as name them similarly. For example, the Irregulars are the 22nd in homage to the 22nd SAS regiment, the most well-known of the SAS and whose training and methods are the basis for most other special forces units the world over.

Delta Squadron snipers, 22nd Thracian Irregulars

The Delta Squadron snipers above will count as ratlings, but are modeled as humans because Rosenadel is very much against abhumans. He's a radical, but everyone has their prejudices. The models are based on Cadian troopers and modified with some non-standard bits. The first is the head, which is the "Boonie Hat Heads" from Maxmini (http://www.maxmini.eu/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=22_23&products_id=200). These kind of hats are worn by special forces guys a lot in various movies and games, so I thought it an appropriate choice. Next, the backpacks are also from Maxmini (http://www.maxmini.eu/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=22_26&products_id=19), given to these guys to make it look like they are ready for an extended stay in the field to set up a sniper nest and wait for their prey. Finally, each lasrifle has a sniper scope from Anvil Industry (http://www.anvilindustry.co.uk/index.php?route=product/product&path=60_103&product_id=208) and has the barrel clipped off and replaced with a suppressor (http://www.anvilindustry.co.uk/index.php?route=product/product&path=60_103&product_id=160) to make them look like sniper rifles. The Thracian Irregulars have four squadrons, just like the 22nd SAS, but these guys are from Delta Squadron in homage to the two US Delta Force snipers, Randy Shughart and Gary Gordon, who gave their lives protecting the crash site of black hawk "Super 6-4" in Mogadishu, Somalia, as made famous by Black Hawk Down.

Two Vendettas at the ready.

Next are the two completed Vendettas. These two are from the 160th Thracian Special Air Wing, inspired by the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment (SOAR) of the US military, also in Black Hawk Down. 

Clear and Present Danger

 The names on the two Vendettas are titles of Tom Clancy books (if that wasn't obvious): Clear and Present Danger and The Sum of All Fears. 

The Sum of All Fears

Interior of The Sum of All Fears.

Shown above, the interior of The Sum of All Fears is representative of how all the insides are/will be painted for the four Vendettas in the army. Red lighting is used in the interior so that personnel can see, but don't have their night-adjusted vision ruined.

Sum of All Fears interior shot, with green "go" light and gunner shading.

All of the Vendettas will have the door-mounted heavy bolter option, and I have attempted to shade the gunners and their gun mounts to look like the light is originating from inside the doorway. Inside The Sum of All Fears in particular, I have painted two green "go" lights (I don't know what they're really called) signifying that the troopers inside are clear to jump out the ramp at the back. I fully intend to use the Grav Chute Insertion rule a lot, and especially for The Sum of All Fears, I intend to model a kneeling and pointing jump master telling the troops to "GO! GO! GO!".

Magnetized battle damage representing hull point removal.

Finally for now, a picture of the finished battle damaged that represents a lost hull-point. It's in a different location than the previous post since this is a different model. I put some extra bits in the landing gear pocket to make it really look like there are exposed components, as well as some Leadbelcher to make it look scuffed-up.