Hello chaps, carrying on my humble efforts on the Rogue Quest project that JB and Jon kicked off, I would like to present my fifth 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

This time, I’ve tackled the ‘Cleric’ character, and I must admit, I have really been looking forward to this one… I used the classic ‘Techpriest Schlan’ model from the Adventurers range as the base model – a creepy and disturbing individual if ever I saw one! To be honest, the base sculpt is so-so IMO, and I felt compelled to make a few ‘adjustments’ here and there. I embellished the staff with several bits from the Flagellants kit (a great source of bits!), and bashed together a creepy mechanical claw and backpack/flamer from various AdMech bits. I should probably explain that I started out with AdMech in mind for this guy, but over the course of the conversion I got to thinking about him as more of a heretical type… the battered feet, the raggedness, the hunched look… they all suggested a wandering vagrant to me, rather than a powerful AdMech priest, so when it came to painting, I deliberately avoided using too much red. I did slip a little bit in to tie him in with the RogueQuest crew, but I (hopefully) avoided making him look obviously mechanicus. I kept the pallet muted and weathered looking – this guy clearly isn’t rich or powerful! The feet were particularly fun to do – whether the sculptor intended it or not, (one of the Morrisons, Naismith or Copplestone I believe), I interpreted the exposed and skeletal feet as being cybernetic, and painting the transition between flesh and metal was good fun. The other major point on the painting side is the religious icon… I spent a lot of time on this, and it’s the most ambitious bit of freehand I have ever undertaken… I’m hoping some of you may recognise the image that I was trying to reproduce here???  ;-)

Anyhow, here are some pics, see what you think:

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And here’s the fluff:

“Hass used to be a Mechanicus exploratory priest from Urdesh, and he travelled the galaxy widely in order to gather artefacts and data for the holy Omnissiah. His services were highly prised, for Hass’s expertise covered many fields – biological, medical, linguistic, mechanical, electrical, and even social. He never questioned the doctrine that he had been programmed (literally and metaphorically) to believe, until a fateful discovery on a distant and uncharted moon in the galactic south – a region of space seldom travelled by the Imperium. The moon held evidence of an ancient population, and the rulers of Urdesh held its existence as a jealously guarded secret. Hass was one of the few explorators to ever be sent to the moon, and the mission was so clandestine that, unusually, he went alone. The high priests of Urdesh dispatched Hass with a small craft and no crew, (apart from a handful of mindless servitors), in order to preserve secrecy. Hass was unperturbed, and accepted the mission without reservation.

On arriving at the designated moon, Hass spent several weeks surveying the small, barren world, and he eventually identified an equatorial area that appeared to have a subterranean complex of intelligent design. He landed his craft, and set about organising servitors to assemble a bio-dome and begin preliminary excavation. The servitors soon broke through to the subterranean complex, and Hass ventured in to explore and document thoroughly. To Hass’s amazement, he discovered that the site was an ancient human habitation dating back to the dark ages before the Great Crusade, containing examples of technology that pre-dated even the STC system that his peers worshipped with such zeal. What was most surprising was the sophistication of the computer systems that he found, far more elegant than the simple servitor-driven systems that he was used to. It took time to connect power feeds from his ship and bring the habitat to life, and even more time to figure out how to work with the machines, (they were operated by delicate keys in a language that had been dead for eons, but eventually he gained access, thanks to a cryptic yellow note that had been helpfully left attached to one of the terminals). Hass discovered that the ancient humans called the machines ‘Windows’, and  he could see why – the ancient monitors were like windows to an unimaginable life that was vividly painted in pictures and words. He poured over millions of files over many months, and learned much of this ancient civilisation. Much was strange to him, but what came across clearly was how much art, beauty, curiosity and free thinking was valued by these ancients, and how little superstition and reverence they possessed. Nothing it seemed was beyond their curiosity, and Hass was filled with admiration and inspiration. One image in particular kept recurring, that of a mechanically enhanced man who seemed to embody this wilful expressiveness and creativity in his gaze. Hass committed this picture to hard copy, convinced that it must be the image of some profit or saint of the ancients.

All too soon, Hass completed his survey. He knew that he should return with his findings, but to his surprise, he found that he didn’t want to… for the first time in his existence, Hass had feelings of defiance and wilfulness that ran counter to all his teachings. He ran countless diagnostic checks on his own systems, and each showed that he was operating perfectly, and yet Hass felt different – changed. Put simply, he wanted to be free – free of dogma and ritual, free to express and create, free to explore and grow. In that instant, Hass resolved to escape his life, even though he knew that such heresy was punishable by death. He quickly calculated that the only way to escape the Adeptus Mechanicus would be to stage his own death in a crash-landing, to sever his connection to the Noosphere, and to find another crew where he could hide under a different identity. The plan was risky, but Hass knew that it had to be done. He left as if to return to Urdesh, and picked a sparsely populated Imperial trading outpost en-route where he could implement his scheme. He over-rode the pilot servitor engrams in such a way as to make it appear as a fault, and he manually guided the craft into a crash in uninhabited part of the world. The crash was calculated to be severe but survivable, and Hass was able to leave on foot, rigging the ship’s plasma drives to detonate once he had reached a safe distance. He waited until the precise moment of the explosion to fire a low-pulse laser into his own cortex in such a way that he physically destroyed the portion of brain that connected him to the Noosphere without causing too much incidental damage. To anyone tracking his Noosphere connection, it would appear is if he had been vaporised with the ship.

Wounded and disorientated, he wandered the world for months as he recovered from his ordeal, before finding himself in a minor trading port. He learned of a visiting Trader named Arturo, and he introduced himself to the young man and offered his services in any capacity that Arturo chose to name. Arturo was intrigued, and asked Hass what he could do – he was suitably impressed at the long list that Hass provided. Arturo agreed, and Hass joined the trader as an apothecary and engineer. He integrated well with the crew, where his usefulness and personality was welcomed by all, and Hass enjoyed the freedom and liberation of the environment in turn. Over the course of several weeks, Hass felt a growing sense of responsibility and loyalty to the crew… Although discovery by the servants of the Omnissiah was unlikely, he didn’t want to endanger them in any way, so he decided to confide with Arturo regarding his past. Arturo listened patiently, and remained quiet and still during Hass’s story. He thought about all the ex-priest told him, weighing risk against benefit, and accounting for the friendship he felt for Hass. Eventually, Arturo agreed that Hass could remain a part of his crew on the condition that he shared and developed his new-found philosophies, for Arturo saw them not as heresy, but as a way of free-thinking that brought him a trading advantage in a dogmatic and superstitious galaxy. Hass agreed, and now travels as a member of Arturo’s crew, proudly displaying the picture of the ancient visionary that he recovered from a long-dead moon – an image that embodies the power of creativity and curiosity, ever reminding Hass of the value of free though.”

So, there we have it – six RogueQuest characters completed, and six crew members to accompany Arturo on his RT adventures. I hope you have enjoyed this little project as much as I have, I’m not sure what I’m going to do next, but it’ll probably be some civilians to populate my imaginary world… watch this space ;-)

Finally, I just want to thank JB and Jon again for letting me crash the party and for your kind words and encouragement – I’ve loved watching your interpretation of the brief, and I hope that you enjoyed mine in return. I really hope that I get to meet you guys at BoyL next year, and maybe even get our RQ parties together on a table! Now that would be cool :-)

Hello chaps, carrying on my humble efforts on the Rogue Quest project that Asslessman and Axiom kicked off, I would like to present my fifth 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

This time, I and very happy to have ticked off the ‘Ranger’ category… I picked up a lovely post-apocalyptic sculpt from Moonraker’s ‘future skirmish’ range, and did a bit of chopping & weapon swapping to bring her into the Rogue Trader universe. I added a lasgun from one of the IG tank kits, (I really like the folding stock!), plus a scope and a new barrel to create a convincing sniper rifle. She also got a Dark Eldar left arm with a wicked dagger in a reverse grip. All in all, she looks like a very accomplished huntress to me, and I went with a subdued colour scheme to accentuate this. The only real colour was the red Yasser headscarf… the detailing was a pain in the buns, but worth the effort I think.

So, Devana was looking pretty awesome, but she still didn’t look quite right… something was missing, but then it occurred to me – she needed a hunting dog! A quick bit of Google-fu turned up the rather spiffing ‘Unity Counsel Stim Hounds’ from Anvil Industry. I only wanted one, but £12 for 4 is a bargain! I ordered some up and ‘Hound’ was born. I admit, Hound was originally a ‘she’… A quick bit of GS work turned Hound into a ‘he’, just so I could say that at that moment in time, my sculpting was, quite literally, the dog’s bollocks :-)

Anyhow, here’s a few pictures of Devana and Hound, and some more with the rest of the RogueQuest party:

And here’s her story:

“Devana is a gifted killer from the Imperium-abandoned world of Utrel Secondus – a savage world of warring techno-barbarian clans that picked over the shattered remains of crumbling hive cities and mechanicus forge-cities. As a youth, Devana rose to prominence within her clan as a peerless hunter of beasts, men and mutants, ably assisted by her faithful beast ‘Hound’. Eventually, by the age of 14, her skills brought her to the attention of clan chieftain Gaxton, who invited her to join his personal kill squad. Devana gladly accepted Gaxton’s offer, for to be a member of the Chieftain’s kill squad was a prestigious position – little did she know how this decision would shape her destiny in ways she couldn’t imagine.

Chief Gaxton was a reasonable man, (if such can be said for the savage chieftain of a post-apocalyptic barbarian tribe!), but Gaxton had sired a son of twisted malevolence. This son, Melsin, was of an age with Devana, and was a sadistic and vicious creature. He pursued Devana’s affections, at first with flattery and gifts, but he was refused by the girl. Frustrated, Melsin tried increasingly bold approaches, until the fateful night came when his patience snapped and he tried to take by force that which Devana would not give willingly… Melsin tried to rape her, but Devana was a fighter of superb skill. A single strike with the hilt of her dagger burst one of Melsin’s eyeballs within his skull. Screaming, he ran to his father, claiming that Devana had attacked him without provocation, and so Gaxton had Devana seized. Out of fairness, Gaxton demanded her side of the story, and was unsurprised to hear of his son’s attempt at rape. Gaxton was nothing if not fair, so he had his son gelded, (for he had other sons to carry on the bloodline), but he was also honour-bound to have Devana’s eye put out as punishment for her assault on his family. Devana was banished from the tribe and was left to wander the wastelands, yet Gaxton bore her no malice, and so he allowed her to take her hunting dog for company, and her favourite rifle for protection.

For many years, Devana made the most of her new life – collecting bounties on fugitives and mutants, trading salvaged tech at wasteland trading posts, and becoming an expert survivor in the process. She would spend months at a time in the wilderness, exploring and hunting, always moving, and ever alert to opportunity. It was on one of these treks that she discovered a set of hidden catacombs in the western desert, and during her investigations, she discovered an exquisite scarab created of an untarnished silver metal… She had never seen anything like it, and knew that it would raise a small fortune if she could find the right buyer. She marked the location of her find in her memory, and headed east for several weeks until she reached the nearest trading settlement. After many days of asking around for a suitable buyer, Devana was put in touch with a galactic trader – a so-called ‘Rogue Trader’ from the semi-mythological Imperium of Man. The trader’s name was Arturo, and he offered Devana a fortune in exchange for the scarab. Once he held the machine, (for machine it was), in his hand, he fixed Devana with his gaze. He told her that what she had discovered was both a relic of a long-dead civilisation, and a harbinger of the destruction for her own… Devana had unwittingly discovered a Necron tomb, one of hundreds that spanned the planet, and which had been showing power surges that Arturo had been observing from his orbital void craft over the last few months. Arturo made Devana an offer – join his crew and leave Utrel Secondus now, or remain and die as the Necron’s awoke and re-took their planet. Devana didn’t believe Arturo at first, and so Arturo convinced her to lead him to the catacombs that she had discovered. The journey was a brief one in Arturo’s atmospheric landing craft, and once in the catacombs, Arturo used strange technology to navigate much deeper into the tunnels than Devana had dared to go. After hours of walking, they entered into a vast chamber that contained thousands upon thousands of skeletal robots, stood sleeping in silent ranks. Arturo explained that Devana’s entire world was built on top of thousands of similar chambers… millions upon millions of these undying warriors, just waiting to rise up from the earth and re-take their world. Finally convinced, Devana agreed to leave with Arturo, providing her faithful companion Hound could be saved as well. Devana integrated well with the crew, and now adds her formidable scouting and infiltration experience to the team.

As for the Utrel system, Arturo alerted the nearest imperial outpost and provided the scarab as evidence, as well as his own vid-feeds from the catacombs. The sector was subsequently quarantined by the Imperial Navy, pending conclusive evidence of Xenos activity. Two years later, the system was overrun by the rising Necron dynasty of Hepmatak… The fate of the human inhabitants is unknown, but with the system scheduled for exterminatus, their fate is already sealed.”

So, there we go, RogueQuest entry number 5 (plus doggy!), and another member of Arturo’s crew. I hope you like her folks, she’s certainly one of my favourites! Just so you know, I’m about to take a week away from painting, (and therefore blogging), but I’ll be back as soon as I can with my next effort – a rather special ‘Cleric’… I’m excited about him already!

Hello chaps, carrying on my humble efforts on the Rogue Quest project that Asslessman and Axiom kicked off, I would like to present my fourth 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

I went for the Bard category for my fourth effort, and there was really only one model that I wanted to use here – a certain Mr. Kelos Longfinger from the RT402 Eldar Command Group. I managed to track him down thanks to the Oldhammer trade network, and I was really looking forward to painting him up! Unfortunately, I really struggled with whole painting experience and it was difficult to summon much enthusiasm for poor old Kelos – he is what I would describe as a ‘soft’ sculpt – no clear delineation, not much detail/missing detail, and some very strange proportions… he isn’t called Longfinger for nothing you know – just check out his left hand! I found him to be a pretty unfulfilling model I’m afraid to say… I can’t even be bothered to make up a name for him, and just went with the catalogue name. Still, I persevered and got the job done, and he does make an impression… he’s certainly 10/10 in terms of being ‘Bard-like’! I went for an authentic Rogue Trader era paint job – dark grey-blue for the body, and a bright red for the helmet & key armour areas… (I was tempted to go with yellow, but I wanted to keep the group looking coherent). The squiggles on the helmet are a must for the period imo. Finally, I tried for a bonelike effect on the derpy church organ thing on his back and the harp… y’know, bone singers and stuff…        yeah…

Anyhow, here he is, see what you make of him:

Nice organ!

And some backstory:

“Kelos, called the long-finger, was once a young bonesinger from the Milantos craftworld. He worked diligently at his chosen path, but unexpectedly began to develop a psychic foresight and precognitive ability that terrified the Farseers of Milantos. The reason for this fear was that Kelos only ever foresaw one event – the total destruction of his craftworld and the death of his kin. Kelos tried to convince the counsel of the validity of these visions, for he was certain that they were a true-sight, but these disturbing lines of fate were undetected by the Seer counsel and they began to view Kelos as an abhorrence.  The taint of Chaos was suspected, and he was banished from his world by the counsel. Alone and afraid, Kelos began to wander the stars while his kin thought themselves wise and safe… Weeks later, the craftworld Milantos was overrun by the minions of Slaanesh, its people destroyed, their souls consumed by She Who Thirsts.

Kelos felt the destruction of his world, and was distraught. Many months of mourning passed – his soul was a battleground where his guilt and shame waged war with rage and fear. At the end of this time of madness, Kelos emerged with a new sense of purpose and strength, for his premonitions had changed since the demise of his craftworld. He was now convinced that his destiny lay with the Mon-keigh, specifically, one Arturo Lamina, though the ultimate reasons for this were obscure to him. Regardless, Kelos followed the threads of fate that lead him to Arturo and finally caught up with him on the desert world of Frenos, where he found Arturo caught in a skirmish with a mutant desert tribe. Kelos was able to intercept several mutants that were in danger of outflanking Arturo’s position, killing the savages with a sonic/psionic weapon of his own devising, and so was able to swing the battle in the Rogue Trader’s favour. He introduced himself to Arturo after the battle, describing how fate had conspired to bring them together and how their destinies were intertwined. Arturo also felt the hand of destiny in this meeting, and so invited Kelos to join the Rogue Trader’s band.”

Phew, another RogueQuester in the bag, and another member of Arturo’s growing band of misfits… I hope that the next one is more enjoyable to paint!

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! :-)

Hello chaps, carrying on my humble efforts on the Rogue Quest project that Asslessman and Axiom kicked off, I would like to present my second 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 second effort I decided to go for a magic user, and I admit that I was really torn on which way to go… I have a number of old RT psyker models to choose from, and I even have the entire Marauder Psyker Gang for Confrontation on the lead pile, but I really want to use this project as an excuse to paint the more unusual models in my collection… In the end I went for the excellent Slann model from the Colony 87 range (funnily enough, from a Kickstarter by Jon/Axiom!).

When I first saw the model, I immediately thought of him as a merchant or trader of some kind, but I started to look at him in a different light following a bit of light reading. In RT, Space-Slann are a thing… they are the Old Ones – former rulers of the galaxy, probable creators of many of the main species, and all-round mysterious & powerful doods. In Rogue Trader, they basically comprise of the ‘proper’ Slann that have withdrawn to an area ‘north of the galactic pole’ with all their mystical jizz-jazz, and the primitive remnants of their once-mighty empire in the galaxy ‘proper’. The ‘primitives’ had models back in the day, but I don’t believe that this was the case for the more civilised kind, (what with them being all reclusive and aloof…). The Colony 87 sculpt doesn’t look like a primitive to me, so the thought of him being a powerful mage from the more civilised and powerful Slann popped into my head… Ometeotl the Mage is the result:

I didn’t feel the need to modify the model in any way (nice job Jon!), so really this was a straight forward base & paint. I went for fairly muted blue body suit and a rich red cloak, and had a play with inks and metallics for the various mystical bits & bobs that he’s carrying. I thought long and hard about the flesh tone, but ended up settling on a really bright yellow & black spotted motif, followed by a good coat of gloss. There is mention of brightly coloured Slann as being ‘often extrovert, talented or especially noteworthy in some way’. I wanted to play with that idea, using the skin tone to suggest that Ometeotl is a frog with a great destiny…  Here’s the fluff:

“Ometeotl is young by the standards of his race, scarcely more than 3000 years old by human reckoning, yet for all his youth, Ometeotl possesses great power and foresight. His early centuries were spent meditating and practicing his skills in metaphysical manipulation in the vast temples of his people, safe and secure in the self-imposed isolation of the Slann. Yet, while most of his race were intent on looking outwards to new galaxies and dimensions, or forwards through time itself, Ometeotl always felt drawn to observe the galaxy that his ancient race had helped to create and mould. At some point, he decided that his mystical observations were no longer satisfactory, and he petitioned the temple elders for permission to live amongst the short-lived creatures below, for he sensed a critical turning point was approaching the galaxy as a whole. To his surprise, he was granted this permission almost immediately – in fact, the priests had long known that Ometeotl had a destiny to fulfil beyond their temple-world, and had been waiting for him to realise it himself. Their only problem was how to contain and limit the awesome power that Ometeotl possessed, for the galaxy was in no way ready to be reintroduced to the god-like ability of the Slann. Ometeotl suggested that he might have his powers artificially limited to reasonable levels through the use of arcane technology, and so a limiter was fashioned and incorporated into his flesh. Reassured, the priesthood agreed to Ometeotl’s request, and he was projected through unknown dimensions to re-emerge almost instantaneously in another part of the galaxy.

And so, Ometeotl found himself on a frontier hive world known as Jarman’s Folly, at the edge of the Imperium of Man. Almost immediately, the innate suspicion and xenophobia of the local denizens made life difficult for Ometeotl – humans were a fearful, greedy species, and many attempts to relieve him of property and life were made. With regret, Ometeotl was forced to use his powers to defend himself on several occasions, and although his powers were limited, they were still vast by human standards. He soon learned to stick to the more cosmopolitan areas of the hive, such as the spaceports, where exotic races were less remarked upon, but unfortunately, news of the strange xeno and his magic was soon spreading among the hive gangs. It wasn’t long before a notorious witch-hunter gang came looking for Ometeotl, intent on killing the alien as an abomination against the Emperor. Ometeotl managed to evade the hunters for many weeks, but was eventually cornered in a busy part of the port. With heavy heart, Ometeotl drew on his powers once again, and used them to destroy the humans utterly, all the time aware that such a public display would undoubtedly draw more unwanted attention. He went into hiding again, but sure enough, local authorities and Imperial agents were soon scouring the port for any sign of Ometeotl.

Fortunately, a young human ‘Rogue Trader’ called Arturo Lamina managed to find Ometeotl first, and convinced the Slann that he could help him to escape the planet in exchange for a few ‘favours’. Left with little choice, Ometeotl agreed, and followed Arturo to his landing craft. The Imperial authority carried by the Rogue Trader allowed them to leave without incident, and they soon docked with Arturo’s voidship and were underway. Ometeotl thanked Arturo, and in return Arturo asked the Slann to examine an exotic object that he had retrieved from the underhive on Jarman’s Folly. The moment that he held the object – a green crystalline cube covered in ancient Slann script, Ometeotl knew that his fate and that of Arturo were intertwined. Ometeotl agreed to study the artefact, on the condition that he could join Arturo’s crew. Arturo agreed – he had heard about how effective the Slann had been in dispatching his puritanical hunters in the space port, and ever the pragmatist, he knew that the mage’s powers would be a huge benefit to his ambitions. At the same time, Arturo also felt the call of destiny…”

So, there we have it – another Rogue Quest adventurer completed, and another cool member of my Rogue Trader crew in hand. Hope you like him folks, I might do a human next ;-)

Hello chaps, I’m delighted to present my first effort for the Rogue Quest project that JB (Leadplague) and Jon (Magpieandoldlead) kicked off – I shamelessly crashed the party, (thanks guys!), so by Christmas we’re looking to build a six-strong adventuring party that portrays six of the classic dungeon crawler tropes… the trick is that they need to draw on Rogue Trader/confrontation inspiration and influences, and fit in with the RT universe. We get to choose from the following list:

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

Now, I got really excited about this concept – it’s the sort of thing that forces you to look at the lead pile a little differently, and to maybe consider picking up models that you might not otherwise be looking to paint. I certainly found that to be the case for my first submission – a Rogue Quest Thief. The model comes from the Spacelords ‘Personalities and Civilians’ range (set 3706, available on Moonraker Miniatures) – a lovely little range that Jon brought to my attention. I must be honest, I completely overlooked this range at the first pass, but I just kept coming back to one particular miniature… he manages to look shifty, and also strangely innocent to me, and he has a pet cyber-monkey that no doubt allows him to access areas that are strictly off-limits! I decided to give him a go, and added a Scion dagger to at least have something of the 40k universe on his person.

Once he was based and undercoated, I took a good look at his face – he’s got a bit of a monkey-like look to him, or at least something not quite human… I started mulling over different flesh colours, and decided to go with the dark red you see here. The tail got added as an afterthought, just to make it clear that he isn’t human and to tie him in more with his pet. It’s the first time I’ve converted something that was already being painted, but I’m glad I did it because I think it gives him a slight resemblance to Nightcrawler, (a firm favorite of mine!).

Anyway, enough chit chat, here are some pictures:

And here’s his background:

‘Veela hails from the forest moon of Scorpio 4 – an unremarkable little world of no strategic or material value, the Scorpio system has been practically ignored by the wider galaxy. Veela’s people have existed for thousands of years in a state of technological primitivism – not through lack of intelligence or skill, but simply because there was no imperative to develop beyond a simple level of civilisation – they had all that they wanted or needed. They were a peaceful arboreal species who trod lightly upon their world, but sadly, this peaceful existence was shattered when a detached tendril of a passing Tyranid hive fleet happened to touch upon their world – the voracious creatures began to devour the forests and all life within them. There was no defence against the tide and extinction was almost assured, though Veela was far removed from the initial outbreak and was unaware of the danger.

Meanwhile, Rogue Trader Arturo Lamina received a lucrative contract to escort a prominent xeno-biologist to Scorpio 4 so that he could study and document the early stages of a Tyranid incursion. The contract was mostly focused on orbital observation, but a couple of field trips to areas far ahead of the Tyranid swarm were judged worthwhile. It was on one of these trips that Arturo and his crew were ambushed by a Tyranid biomorph that was ranging far ahead of the main body of the swarm. Shots were fired and lives were lost before Arturo and the survivors could get back to their lander and get off-world to the safety of their ship… In the confusion, they also managed to pick up a stowaway!

Veela was always a curious young man, and couldn’t help himself when one day, the peace of the forest was shattered by the scream of a vast metal bird as it settled in a clearing near to his home nest – his lifelong pet Chicho the monkey tagged along, and the pair went to investigate this strange happening. He discovered the metal bird settled in a clearing, strange peoples coming and going from the beast’s belly. Veela wanted a closer look, and waited for an opportune moment to venture down to the beast to take a look inside. Soon, the strange people had ventured away and the coast was clear! He crept down to the metal bird, and carefully ascertained that it was asleep before sneaking inside to have a good look around. Veela was just investigating a particularly interesting storage locker and the clothes that it contained, when he heard shouting, banging and screaming from outside. Footsteps pounded up into the beast, and Veela was forced to hide as the bird began to roar into wakefulness. With growing alarm, Veela realised that the bird was taking flight with him and Chicho inside! In panic, he tried to escape, but it was too late… the way was blocked by the strange people, and they soon had him cornered. Veela was certain that he was going to be killed – the strangers did not seem pleased to see him, and they shouted in a language he did not understand while pointed shiny metallic sticks at him as the bird shook and began to fly. After a few minutes a large individual is a suit of metal arrived and appeared to take charge of the situation. The metal man removed his head-shell, and offered Veela water and comfort. He looked sad, Veela thought.

Shortly, the metal bird arrived at what Veela assumed was its nest – a huge metal cave where all the strangers lived together, along with many more of their kind. Veela was given a nesting box of his own, and saw many strange and frightening things in those first few months, but as time went by he grew less afraid and even began to learn a little of the speech used by the strangers. It was during this time Arturo, the man who had first offered him comfort, began to visit him regularly. From these visits Veela learned of the existence of the wider galaxy, and of the many dangers that is contained. The culture shock would have broken most people, but Veela was resilient and curious. Arturo also asked may questions of Veela, and seemed to delight in the tricks of balance, agility and stealth that came so naturally to Veela. As time went by, Veela grew to worship Arturo. One day, Arturo came to him, and led him to a part of the nest he called ‘the bridge’. Veela was stunned to see a holographical representation of a barren rocky orb in the vastness of space. He asked what it was, and with great sadness, Arturo explained that it was Veela’s home. By now, the Tyranid invasion had stripped the moon of all biological life, and Arturo had the awful task of explaining this – Veela and Chicho were the last living creatures to survive from Scorpio 4. Veela wept as a vast explosion consumed his now-dead world, for Arturo had summoned the Imperial Navy to deliver the blessing of Exterminatus to the moon.

Veela recognised that Arturo had saved him, and swore to serve the Rogue Trader to his last breath. Arturo accepted Veela into his service, explaining that his and Chicho’s stealth and cunning were valuable gifts. Veela sealed the pact with the offer of two sacred feathers that he had been carrying when he first stowed away, and Arturo still wears these on his armour with pride. For his part, Arturo has gifted Veela and Chico with several advanced cybernetic implants that allow Veela to link more closely with his pet – seeing what Chicho sees, hearing what he hears. The natural stealth and agility of the pair make them ideally suited to espionage and theft – skills which are always welcomed and valued in any Rogue Trader’s retinue.’

Arturo and some hired henchmen create a distraction while Veela and Chicho prepare to embark on some skulduggery!

So there we go! Hopefully Veela meets the criteria for the Rogue Quest project, and as a bonus, he doubles up as a pretty cool companion for my Rogue Trader! :-)