Hello chaps, two posts in one week!! I must have my painting mojo back or something! Anyhow… carrying on my humble efforts on the Rogue Quest project that Asslessman and Axiom kicked off, I would like to present my third entry. As a reminder, the brief is to build a six-strong adventuring party for Rogue Trader/Confrontation, where each member portrays one of the classic dungeon crawler tropes:

• Barbarian
• Bard
• Cleric
• Fighter
• Magic user
• Paladin
• Ranger
• Rogue/thief

For my third effort I decided to tackle the ‘Barbarian’ trope. Several reasons for this – 1: I wanted a fighter on the team, 2: I wanted a human on the team, and 3: I had just the model in mind – ‘Slasher’, the rather vicious and awesome looking Chaos Thug from top-right corner of this page of White Dwarf 82. She’s a cracking little sculpt, full of character and dynamic as hell. That said, I did have some reservations about using her… She is clearly having a wardrobe malfunction, and I really don’t like the childish misrepresentation of females in some Fantasy & Sci-fi sculpts… I decided to proceed because I don’t think that this model is in anyway ‘sexualised’, but just for the record, I want to categorically state that my choice of model is based on an appreciation of a fine OldHammer sculpt that is very much ‘of its time’ – it isn’t meant to offend or shock, and it certainly isn’t a result of any kind of misogynistic or sexist attitude on my part. That ain’t how I roll.

There. Hopefully that’s that, and so, here she is:

With regards to converting Myrleia, I really didn’t want to change too much at all, as I didn’t want to detract from the savage nature of the figure. I took my usual approach to the base and swapped the sword for a chunky-looking Chainsword from the Chaos Marine kit, and that was it… she doesn’t even get a gun! Hopefully that’s enough to place her firmly in the 41^st Millennium, but hopefully not to the point where it takes anything away from the original sculpt. I painted her up quite roughly to be honest – lots of corrosion and ink washes to accentuate the primitive aspects of the model. The war paint was fun, as was the animal print on her top. Finally, I thinned down a little ‘blood for the blood god’, and blew droplets from a loaded brush… I imagine that the giant Chainsword would create quite a bit of mess!

Here’s her backstory:

“Myrleia hails from the feral world of Terme – a sparsely populated planet with a harsh atmosphere, right at the outer limits of the Imperium. Terme was a world forgotten after the first expansion of mankind, and the remaining humans have regressed to a roughly Iron-age level of technology. The population now comprises of scattered warrior-nomad tribes, who vie with each other for food and resources. Although nominally part of the Imperium, entire generations can grow old and died between visits from the Empire, which leaves the Termeans vulnerable to predation in general, and slaving raids in particular. Myrleia’s tribe, (the Azmaa), had the misfortune to be targeted for such a raid by Ork pirates, but, in accordance with their warrior tradition, the tribe resisted the slavers with all their might. Using their wilderness skills and survival instinct, they fought the slavers in a series of hit-and-run engagements over many weeks. They bled the pirates without mercy – striking unexpectedly, and disappearing just as quickly. In the end, the Ork pirate captain Grubnuz decided that enough was enough, and that the stinkin’ oomies weren’t worth the bother. With typical low-cunning, he decided to bait a trap so tempting that the entire fighting strength of the Azmaa would be drawn out, and then he planned to encircle and destroy the entire fighting force of the tribe and enslave what was left without resistance. However, Grubnuz did not suspect that his raiding days were numbered, and that an enterprising young Rogue Trader had tracked him down to Terme in order to claim the bounty on the pirate chief’s head.

Arturo Lamina arrived as Grubnuz sprung his trap, and joined the Azmaa in the fighting. The battle was brutal – the Azmaa eschewed the use of ranged weaponry as a matter of tradition, and the Ork raiders revelled in hand-to-hand fighting. Arturo and his hand-picked unit had no choice but to join the melee. At one point, he found himself fighting back to back with a young tribeswoman whose skill with a blade was nothing short of mesmeric. Where Arturo relied on his armour and powersword to defeat enemy, the young fighter used skill and speed to cut the raiders down. They each saved the other’s life several times during the battle, and as the last Ork was dispatched, they regarded each other with respect and gratitude. Without hesitation, Myrleia proclaimed a lifelong warrior bond between them, for among the Azmaa it was customary to form such a bond between warriors who had faced death together. Arturo tried to explain that he couldn’t stay with the Azmaa, but this did not dissuade Myrleia. Her honour demanded that she accompany Arturo, and so she left her tribe without a backwards glance and embarked on a new life among the stars. Her savagery, honour, and skill with the blade earned her a place as Arturo’s most trusted protector, and she continues to guard his back as he continues his rise as a Rogue Trader.”

So, there we go – a third Rogue Quest adventurer completed, and yet another cool character to join my Rogue Trader crew. Happy days! :-)