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Hi all

The Inquisition is an area of 40k that I have always found very interesting and now that I am moving much more into just painting the minis I want to paint regardless of what rules apply rather than painting and modelling for that day one day in the future where I might play a game I thought now is the time to start some warbands. I had a hard time choosing which one to do so I've ended up starting forces for all three major Ordo's. Another thing I love is the fluff and while my last force I didn't bother too I usually try and write individual fluff for each mini I paint. The way I am setting up these 3 =I= forces is that the Ordo Xenos relates to the Tau and Imperial Guard forces I am about to start work on while the Hereticus and the Malleus are related to each other: a Puritan Heretic vs a Radical Malleus. Each force I am also trying to have a unique flavor/theme to:

Xenos: High tech black ops kill team.
Hereticus: Your classic "Witch Hunter" vibe, very WFB in flavour.
Malleus: A very electic band of minis, predominately minis I just like and really want to paint.

All of these guys will be converted in some way really, some are very heavy conversions while some are quite minor. My painting skills aren't great and sometimes my conversion skills aren't quit the best either but hey got to try right!

I actually have finished the Ordo Xenos Warband itself baring actually putting snow on their bases, which I will do when I start on the Tau and I do have a Valk to paint for them but I will do that at the same time as painting 2 other flyers. I am now just starting on the Ordo Hereticus. There is the odd mini for the Ordo Malleus done as well. Anyway here is the Ordo Xeno's Kill team all together. I'll post up some more pictures as I get the Fluff written but it should be done in the next day or two and I'll put some WIP pictures of the Hereticus Warband up at the bottom of the post as well.

Ordo Xenos Kill Team Cove: Lefax Reclaimation Force






L-R: Xeno Biologist – Hermisk Jup, Sharpshooter – Astrid Shale, =I= - Petyr Cove, Bodyguard Lucius Scrit



L-R: Arco Flagellant - Thalit 78K “The Killing Machine”, Crusader - Privast Calal “The Sword of Redemption”, Ogryn – Stum Bonecrusher, Crusader – Privast Hesker “The Mace of Light”

=I= - Petyr Cove




“There is a time to study and a time to kill. Now is the time to kill”.

A relatively young Inquisitor at the age of 38 Petyr Cove is a former student of Harkon Dolke and the Lefax campaign forms his 3rd investigation. Born to a Rouge Trader family with historic ties to the Ordo Xenos Cove was the 2nd son of the Family Head and as such was destined for military service. His father, owing a unnamed debt to the Inquisition gave his second son up instead. Cove has gained a reputation for being something of a focused individual when it comes to the more “direct” methods the Inquisition uses. As an Acolyte and Interrogator his master recognised his talents lay not in spending months researching but more in the hunting down and targeted destruction of the Imperium’s foes, something that his Rogue Trader connections come in handy for. On the snowy plains of the Lefax, Cove’s mission was simple: find and capture a Tau Ethereal for study or failing that remove the Xeno’s leaders from their positions with lethal force. It is a mission that Cove took to with vigor. He constructed a team around him that contained members suited to both long range assassination and an up close blood bath. As a matter of course he equipped his entire team with Type 5 Helmets commonly worn by Regiments like the Elysian Drop Troops, although where he found one to fit an Ogyrn is anybody’s guess. The fatigues worn are of a similar pattern to those worn by the Dunblain 5/9th so it can only be assumed that whoever it was who was in charge of acquiring equipment for the team once they arrived on the ground (and found it to be completely different to what the intelligence said it) would have been got the fatigues from them. For himself he typically armed himself with a storm bolter, and a Jiltac Power Spear as well as a Shurkian Pistol, a trophy taken from a Eldar Pirate Princes dead body, as well as a back up auto pistol. His right arm can be seen to be supported with a augmetic rig, this was as a result of an injury sustained in the battle against the aforementioned Eldar Pirate where his arm was shattered. The augmetic has removed that disability and granted him addition strength in that shoulder similar to that of a power fist.



Anyway that's that, here is what I am working on at the moment:





And what they look like at the moment:



I'll get some more WIP pics up soon.

Wow, that first squad looks awesome! Great work on the camo pattern, although I would throw in another colour to make the pattern a bit more varied (some brown parts perhaps?)

Looking forward to see your next group of Inquisition groupies

Interesting ideas going on.

@Ezra Tyrius: Thanks for the feedback, I did consider adding another spot color to the camo to make it more "effective" but in the end decided against it simply because I wanted to go with the "rule of cool" rather than painting it in my style which is more into battle damage and weathering, it was quite nice to do something very clean cut with few colors and stark contrasts!
@ SJM: Thanks! Hopefully you like what follows!


Right so first up another member of the Ordo Xenos:

Xeno Biologist – Hermisk Jup

“This is incredible, the specimen seems to be mostly intact, if you could just cover me while I retrieve some samples I would be forever grateful to you. No? Oh… well that is a shame.”






A lay Biologist Adept of the most Holy Order of Yertish Diviners, the Invasion of Lefax was Jup’s first time “in the field” so to speak. The Diviners are a small and obscure sect of the Adeptus Mechanicus dedicated to the study of Xenos Biology, numbering less than 1000 brothers they are typically confined to their monstry by both their own wishes and the Inquisiton. The exception to this is that before any member can begin to receive mechanical implants they must first serve the Order on the front lines and experience the true horror of the Xeno’s threat. Small, frail and all together a strange man Cove recruited Jup for his almost photographic memory and his vast knowledge of pheromone markers. It has long been theorised by some branches of Xenologist scholars that the way that Ethereal’s exhibited control over other branches of the Tau race was through a pheromone born mind control substance and while Cove himself was not concerned with proving that theory without doubt he did have a hunch that if it were true then it might be possible to track an Ethereal by following trail amounts of that substance in the atmosphere. Ultimately any concrete evidence of this came to light is classified along with all other information relating to the success or failure of the mission.


And here are some more pictures of that "Crusader" member of the Ordo Hereticus:






Pretty obvious where all the parts for that come from and I'm fairly pleased with how the conversion has come out, hopefully the paint job does it justice. Thanks to a 14 hour work day there has been no movement on that front however!

Well in my one day weekend I got more fluff done and a bit of painting as well.

Bodyguard Lucius Scrit

“Incoming skimmers, you two, with me, time to show them that this isn’t a friendly neighbourhood.”






Lucius Scrit was one of the first team members that Cove recruited upon becoming a full member of the Inquisition. A member of a mercenary company acting as Private Security for a closely allied Rouge Trader family of Cove’s father Scrit first came to attention of Cove when he help foil an assassination plot that would have killed Cove’s father and many others. Despite saving his employer and his commander officer’s life Scrit was dismissed for not following orders. Cove immediately offered him a place on his team. Since then Scrit has become Cove’s right hand man. A dependable solider whose biggest vice is his inability to know when to keep his mouth shut he could have gone far within the Inquisition but his eventual fate is unknown.


I'm really happy with how this conversion came out seeing as what an odd pose the original mini has, however with my trust clippers and dremmel the head and armswap has made the pose a bit more natural. I was going after the idea that he was mid reloading his lasgun when something charged him and he turned to his plasma pistol to fend them off. Converting old metal minis and making them work, while harder than the Fine Cast I find is much more fufilling.

Anyway onto the current PIP's they are coming along, finding the right balance of the colors is proving to be my biggest hurdle at the moment, I want them to be linked but not uniform.

@Ambience 327: Glad you like it! I'm especially happy with the sheild, I've been wanting to use that bit for ages as a shield and I've finally managed to do it!

Thanks to work being crazy atm (36 hours in 3 days) there has been no painting progress I'm afraid. However there is some fluff:

Sharpshooter – Astrid Shale

“Range, 963 meters, Cross wind 10 clicks per hour. Copy, Adjusting… Firing… Target down, good riddance”.





Shale was a member of Cove’s former master’s retinue and joined Cove when he was promoted to the rank of full Inquisitor. The exact reasons for this are unknown although given their similar age and history of long service with each other assumptions could be made. A tall thing woman with closely cropped hair Dolke found her at the age of 15 among the ruins of a settlement which had recently fallen to a Ork raid. The orphaned girl was found hiding in a library with a long las in her grip executing Ork stragglers at ranges of 800 meters. Immediately seeing the potential Holke took her with him before consigning the whole world to fire and the history books. A woman of very few words she was known to be surly and un-cooperative to all by a few. Given the proficiency she had with her long las nobody seemed to mind greatly. Along with Scrit who often served as her spotter it was she who was tasked with the long range elimination of the team’s target should it present it’s self.

This isn't a GW mini obviously but a "Guardsman Sniper" from Max Mini, a mini I loved but had to change just because, not much is changed though, just a head swap and a barrel extension. This was actually the first Non GW mini I have ever bought. A couple more have appeared since then. She is also the first mini I painted for this war band. Originally she was supposed to be part of the Mallus group but I found the scheme so fun to paint I decided to do a few more.

Two minis Fluff this time, I know it's cheating a bit giving them both the same fluff but they are both from the same order so it works!

Crusaders – Privast Hesker “The Mace of Light” and Privast Calal “The Sword of Redemption”

“We, the Wings of the Emperor, will serve unto death and our joining with him”.











Two members of the Crusader Cult “The Wings of the Emperor” the two “Privasts” as they are ranked formed the core of Cove’s close combat team. The Wings of the Emperor are a Crusader Cult who regularly contribute members to the Ordo Xeno’s as a result of a long standing agreement based around the continued protection of the Wing’s homeworld in the Segmentum Obscurus. Both Hesker and Calal were prime examples of the Privasts of the order: pious, un-relenting and deadly. Rumour had it they also never smiled or even laughed but that could just be put down to the normal frictions that happens between fighting men. Hesker’s chosen weapon was a Power Mace while Calal preferred the sword, both were armed with a rare version of storm shield: a Yalex pattern that must have been acquired through the contacts of Cove. Capable of pushing out a force field to an area of a meter either side of the shield for short periods of time they are highly prized by Inquisitors and other high ranking members of the Imperium for their tactical versatility.

Also got a bit done on the Witch Hunters:

Bases, not very interesting:


Been focusing on the skin at the moment and also beginning to add those freehand touches that make a mini feel complete, I do it at this stage to get an idea of how the mini is going so while not all the colors are their final layers I at least get an idea of what the mini is looking like. I've changed this mini a little once I realised that it could work very nicely as a Feudal Arbite so I ditched the hammer and just went with the shotgun, I think it's a nice mix between the classic Arbite look of the shotgun and shoulder pads along with a metal breast plate and a half helm that looks a little Arbite but at the same time quite low tech as well. The hammer I felt pushed it a little too far away from the Arbite side of things.




As you can see in this second image a re-accuring theme in terms of the =I= is appearing. I also got rid of some of the red on him, it was becoming a bit over powering on him. Not sure what color the sheild is going to be yet, probably black I think with a big white =I= on it.



The meltagun isn't attached yet but he is getting places as well. You can't see all of it but the =I= runs up the middle of his coat.


I'm trying very hard not to buy minis because I have enough already but I caved and picked up these for about $4 NZD, I mean you can't have a Ordo Hereticus Warband without at least one Sister of Battle. Not sure what I'll be doing with the second one yet, doubt I will sell her though.

Some more fluff:

Arco Flagellant - Thalit 78K “The Killing Machine”

- Trigger Word “Hellfix”
- Pacifer Word “Imperiete”






A convicted tech heretic sentenced to Arco Flagellation for his crimes the "Killing Machine" was a crew member of a rouge trader ship which, after chancing upon the ruins of an Eldar craft world began to trade in artefacts they had lifted from its surface. The flow on effects of this action the Trader himself never considered in his greed. Within 5 years the nearby Imperial Sector of Cristoh 7 exploded with Eldar raids, without mercy they ripped through settlements as if searching for something. Guard regiments and PDF forces were deployed to combat the raids but to no avail. It seemed that every time Imperial Forces were increased to combat a threat the attacks increased. The only demands made by the Eldar Pirates was the message "Return her to us", a ghostly vox message before and after each attack. It was then that the Inquisition began to investigate. Through contacts within the black market they discovered the flow of Eldar artefacts and quickly set about tracking down their dealers. Thalit was one of the first to be captured and interrogated after being “lifted” in a drug den on a asteroid way station. Through the testimony of him and others like him a list of possible items were discovered that could be the cause of the Eldar Raids. Once identified these items were rounded up and jettisoned into an asteroid field and the co-ordinates communicated to the Eldar Pirates, who, upon their entering into the asteroid field were then ambushed and annihilated. The vast majority of the items were never recovered by Imperial forces however and despite the raids ceasing after the incident local forces continue to be on alert should they resume. As for Thalit, he like every other crew member involved was sentenced to pay for his crimes by Arco Flagellation, the Rouge Trader himself was tortured and then executed. How Thalit then ended up in Cove’s service is unknown.

Well 5 months of real life work has come to end so hopefully I'll be able to spend a bit of time now in my "holiday" *cough* unemployment *cough* doing some painting!. First up is the final member of that Xeno's warband.

I love Ogryn, I really do. Big, brutal, stupid and also a little innocent at the same time and with a combination of the new kits and the Ogre range I've had great fun converting up the two I have. This is the second one I've done. The first I converted for a Penal Legion force I'm about to sell although I will be keeping him and using him for my radicals. Obviously there is a bit of conversion work that's been done on his guy. His head is the main thing, it started out like as one of the gas mask heads but has had the top half completely removed and resulpted, he has had fur added to his torso armour which I am very happy with as I hate sculpting fur. The real challenge when painting him was the flesh, because it was such a limited pallet and everybody else has no flesh showing this guys arm's threw a spanner in the works, I could have painted them black and said it was a body suit but that seemed like a cop out. Instead I tried to make the skin as pale as possible without being albino, thankfully it seems to have worked and I don't think the skin tone is too out of place in the squad. Anyway I hope you like him.

Ogryn – Stum Bonecrusher

“Blue skinned thing smells funny… Not like things that smell funny. Blue skinned thing needs to be die”.







Stum Bonecrusher was born on the mining world of Junipat, a arid desert world on the edge of the Segmentum Pacificus. Originally destined for a life in an open caste mine he was spared this fate by a Munioritorum demands for a tithe of Ogyrn to serve in the Imperial Guard. As a young and fit Ogyrn Stum was immediately choosen. 10,000 Ogyrn shipped out as the “5th Junipat Abhuman”. By the end of their first engagement fighting Ork Goffs they numbered less than 900. The heavy loses of the regiment were as a result of uncaring commanders using them as shock troops in a brutal trench war in the Trasax conflict. Within another 5 years the numbers had dropped to 120, the regiment was disbanded and individual units seconded to other formations. Stum ended up being assigned to an artillery unit serving as a loader. It was there that Cove found him after Stum got into a brawl and laid out 14 members of another unit.. Upon careful testing and with the insistence of Scrit Cove decided that the big brute would be a valuable asset to the team even if he only served as a fire magnet. In subsequent conflicts he showed himself to be a savage fighter and Cove was considering having him blessed with psybernetic implants similar to those of a “Bone’ead” upon the completion of the Lefax mission.


Right well this guy is done: Just needs some dullcoat and some fluff now:




And this guy is pretty close as well, a little GS in the arm join and some touch ups and he will also be done.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
So here is the fluff for him and some pictures, I ended up touching up the metal on his breast plate a little after seeing that previous photo. Glad to get him done as he is the one I’ve been most worried about in this warband.

Adeptus Arbite Judge Teritis Halg

“Judge, jury, executioner. I am all 3 and you, scum, are guilty. The sentence is death.”







Halg was born on the Feudal world of Sealus, a dark and brutal world located near Cadia. A pious man whose parents were murdered by petty criminals at the age of 13 Halg spent the next 5 years of his life in the Scholum Progenia, however unlike many others he did not bow beneath the heals of the Drill Abbots there. While a dedicated student of the Emperors teachings he was also driven by rage and the thrust for revenge and was constantly attempting to escape and track down the drug dealers responsible for his parents death. The many beatings and lock ups that followed his escape attempts forged him into a man of iron will and the brief periods of freedom honed his tracking skills within the cobbled streets to a fine edge. When he was finally released from the high walls of the Scholum he immediately enlisted in the local Enforcer network for the Planetary Lord and within 6 months had executed his parents killers. The event was judged as righteous kill by 15 independent witnesses. From there he was soon brought into the Adeptus Arbites despite his appalling record at the Scholum. How he came to be in the employ of the Inquisitor Speare although it is theorised that Speare possibly fled to Sealus following the events on the nearby world of Helios Bane, somehow their paths may have crossed then. Regardless of the how and why Halg has proved to be a reliable mouth piece for Speare when dealing with local law enforcement.

So my intention to get a lot of painting down got completely sunk by a last minute job that came up, although to be fair being paid to ride a motorbike around the country isn't a bad distraction to have! Unfortuantly I'm off again at the end of the week for 10 days for a job in a city 10 hours away so little painting will get done there either. However I have managed to get a little bit of stuff done:

Update on the Crusader:




I just need to paint the beak and brown wash the eagles head to tone it down and his body is done. Just his shield and sword to do now.

Time for some completed minis and fluff:

Interrogator Hector Nilliam




Nilliam was born into an Adeptus Ministorum career family, for 6 generations the men and women of his line had faithfully served the priesthood primarily on the battle lines as warrior priests but also as healers and as a confessors. For his part Nilliam started as a Ministorum Priest attached to the 786th Catachan and with those rough men he forged himself into an effective fighter facing the worst the Imperium has to fight in over a decade of war. Following the merging of this regiment with the Trankud 37th, Nilliam was retasked to training duties at the Schola Progenium school in Yulim Hive, Osgath 7. He proved to be an extremely effective tutor using the skills he learnt on the battlefield to bring out the best in the orphans and noble’s sons that made up his students. It was five years into his teaching at the Schola Progenium that the Crafter Uprising occurred. Various artisan guilds across the hive had been infiltrated and swayed into the worship of Slaanesh, a corruption rumoured to be in part encouraged by the actions of a radical inquisitor. Once the rot had sent in it was not long before it had spread its pervasive taint through the rest of the civilian population, riots and killings soon followed and once they began it was impossible to stop. Local Arbites found themselves out numbered and out gunned by the sheer scale of the cults. Local PDF units were of no support due infestation within their own ranks. To try to stem the tide Schola Progenium stepped in to assist. 14 years old with faith and las rifles, though trained in their use, did little to stem the tide. Within 6 months the Hive had fallen and a cleansing by fire began, Inquisitional Kill Teams from the Ordo Hereticus, under the command of Bartholemu Speare consigned entire hive blocks to the sword. Out of a school of 3000 only 18 students and 2 drill abbots had survived the Uprising and filled with burning rage at the senseless loss of so many students destined for greatness in the emperors name Nilliam took to the streets with the Inquisitorial Kill Teams (and survivors of the School) slaying any he came across. Speare impressed by his zeal offered him a place in his retinue as a bodyguard and eager for the chance at revenge Nilliam took it.

Nilliam sees Speare as one of the few righteous warriors of the Imperium left and will do anything to protect him. The Crafter Uprising had a profound effect on him, once where he was a brash and loud man he is now reserved and his peity is inner, gone are the days when his voice would ring out across the battlefield encouraging Imperial Forces onwards, now he fights in silence, bolter in once hand and a brutal long handled hammer pick in the other.

I actually completed this guy about a year ago and he was originally going to be in the Ordo Mallus warband but Ive decided he fits better with these guys. Simple head and weapon swaps really. Still an effective change I think. This next guy is new though and I'm pretty happy with him, nice and simple conversion there, a bit of a classic one actually that hopefully I've put my own spin on by the inclusion of the FW backpack.

Hereticus Enforcer Regius Tallman






Like his brother Honorus Tallman, Regius was born on the Fuedal world of Ferolk 8. Better known as the “Iron Orb”, it has a level of technology akin to those many of the techno barbarians worlds found across the Ferolk system. A former prison planet where the vast majority of the population are the descendants of Imperial Criminals the planet is one of the most pious and creed observing in the sector. The inhabitants believe that the sin of their forefathers is incapable of being worked off in a single lifetime and it is the duty of their descendants to continue to work off this sin, in some cases for hundreds of years.

One way to do this is join one of two martial sects that stem from the teachings of two of local Imperial Saints in the hope that the practitioners death will go some ways to wiping the slate clean of sin. Regius followed the path of Saint Innocuous the Fury, a firebrand preacher of the Hiupt Quadrant, while his brother chose that of Saint Iterius the Defender. Follows of Saint Innocuous routinely brand themselves with burning coals and believe that only through the searing heat of battle can one find absolution. It is no surprise then that they tend to use melta and plasma weaponry in battle. Inquisitor Speare has traditionally always had at least member of each sect within his forces, following the deaths of his previous two he sent Nilliam to recruit two more. The Hallman brothers were not Nilliam's first choice instead thinking them two brash and arrogant to fit well within the warband, however their performance within the trials soon convinced him otherwise. While they are still loud and obnoxious the brothers have proved themselves more than capable and Speare has come to rely on them to lead his attacks on the corrupted whenever collateral damage is not an issue for it is these types of attacks that they excel in.

Not getting a lot done at the moment thanks to work still which sucks, however the Bretsader is nearly done, just got his sword to go:




Also picked up a lexmechanic for cheap, still unsure which warband he will go in but I'm leaning towards the Hereticus simply because it doesn't seem like the sort of thing that a Radical Xeno's would be dragging around with him. Colorwise this is what I'm planning:

Got the Crusader finished:

Hereticus Enforcer Honorus Tallman






While the more humble of the two brothers to say that Honorus is a modest man would be a gross exaggeration, for all his faults however he is also a very pious and religious man often spending hours going over a single stanza of holy text. A follower of Iterius the Defender Honorus follows a more reserved and protective form of the warfare than his brother. Equipped with a power shield and sword he see’s it as his duty to protect his Regius while he takes the fight to the enemy with his melta-gun. This combat relationship is not an uncommon one between members of the sects and comes perfectly naturally for the two brothers.

The bird that Honorus carries is a psyber eagle of Speare’s, flying above the battlefield it attracts less notice than a servo skull and can be perched for hours observing the foe without them realising it.

If I'm honest I'm not 100% happy with the way that the red highlight have come out on the shield, they are a bit too bold for my tastes however right now I'm just happy to get a mini finished, there has been far too little progress over the last couple of months on anything!

Working on the Lex Mechanic now since it's a very simple paint job and shouldn't take too long, just lots of paper mainly so I'm doing all that up till the final layer first.

Blocked out all the colors now and just need to apply a final bit of white and then some text to the paper and then at least that part of him is done. The red around the hood front will be broken up a bit at the end but it's easier to paint it as one solid line at this point. Metal needs a wash and then a highlight and the skin obviously needs doing, going to try and get it really pale like I did on the Ogyrn in the Xeno's warband I think as it will provide a nice contrast to the otherwise probably quite dark mini. Or maybe not as the white paper will lighten it anyway. See what happens really, good thing about painting minis like this is that you can get away with a lot in terms of making each mini different as long as they have the unifying spot color and theme.

Just got the base to do but I'm pretty pleased with how this guy has come out:




Might touch up the thick line of writing on the back scroll but other than that I like him, should fit in well with the other Witch Hunters.

EDIT: WOW just seen that right arm cabling and how it needs to be touched up!

@Anteater: Thanks mate! Here he is all based:

Lexmechanic Sevit P3L





Sevit P3L acts as Speare’s Scribe and Autotactician. A native of Mars he was brought into Speare’s retinue following Speare’s liberation and cleansing of the Forgeworld of Telsula 8, a world corrupted by the forces of the Alpha Legion. Sevit P3L was one of only a handful of Mechanicus members who were spared being put to the sword due primarily to the fact that he had only been present on the planet for a matter of 2 weeks before Speare arrived and begun his investigations.

Sevit P3L particular talent is calculating probabilities, he has an uncanning ability to filter information and consider variables and Speare has become more and more reliant of these calculations during his search to find the ever illusive and unorthodox Icarus Var. Unluckily for Speare’s foes the more data than Sevit acquires about this targets the more accurate Sevit’s predictions become as he begins to build up a picture of the habits and thought processes of his quarry. It is for this reason that Speare values Sevit P3L above any other member of his team.

Been a while I know but in recompense.... I have two finished minis for you and a 3rd conversion/fix-er-up I'm working on. First up, a simple kitbash for a Priest:

War Priest Valot



A former ganger and hive criminal from Necromanda Valot was forced into Imperial service at a young age. After stealing the wrong suitcase of what he thought were drugs from a local dealer he joined the Necromandian 12th to escape the coming blowback fully intending to jump ship at the next available port and resume his criminal ways. Unluckily for him the first port of call ended up being a Tyranid infested warzone, while there his entire platoon was sent on a suicidal charge to take down a Carnifix. Valot was the only survivor although he lost an eye, 4 broken ribs, internal bleeding and a large blow to his head which knocked him unconscious, when he came too in a military hospital 4 weeks later his mind had been forever altered, he saw his survival as divine intervention and from then on became a firebrand of his faith and a battlefield preacher following in the foot steps of the Redemptionist cult of his home world. It became obvious to his commanders that he couldn't function as professional solider anymore so he was left in the care of the regimental padre who was less than happy about the fact but tolerated the obviously deranged ganger.



Valot came to the attention of Speare while the 12th was deployed to combat the 3rd Histisn Insurrection and the subsequent purges. Valot was almost rabid in his desire to murder the "filth who had betrayed the very essence of their humanity by turning from the Emperors light", with his eviserator in hand he had personally killed 128 heretics both in the fires of battle but also a great many in cold blood. His bloody minded obsession with redemption appealed to the Inquisitor and he was offered a place within Speare’s retinue. Within the team he is a valuable asset when the concern for collateral damage is not present, in other situations he has proved to be a liability at times although Speare’s concern about this is minimal.



He was a bit of a tricky one to get the arms in the right position but he was a blast to paint, really enjoyed it and while I was quite scared at first about the fire I think it came out ok, esp seeing as this was my first attempt at painting it!



I've always liked the Sisters of Battle minis with one exception, that horrible hair! I managed to pick up two of them second hand, one with a bolter bare headed and one heavy weapons operator with no weapon or backpack but with a helmet. I sold the one with the bolter on and was left wondering how I was going to use the HW, finding a new HW for her would be impossible so I turned to the bits box and with pretty minimal effort I must say I came up with his:





Now obviously it needs a bit of GS work at points and some mould lines cleaned up but I think it looks pretty in keeping with the other SOB minis. All it is is a cut down Beserker backpack, 2 Dark Eldar arms, a SM plasma pistol and a IG chainsword with a bit of dremelling on the sleeves to make them fit. Looking forward to painting her, which is good as she is up next.

Working on the fluff for this guy now that he is finished:



And what oh what could these be?

Bartholemu Speare



A hard line Puritan of the Ordo Hereticus Speare was born into a noble family on the shrine world of Distocoma IV in the Crosscruxian Sector. From a young age he was trained by his family's servants in combat and in the rule of the imperial law. At the age of 15 he earned a scholarship to one of the finest finishing schools in the sector to study theology. It was there that he and 15 others was hand picked by a representative of Inquisitor Lord Tslim "The Bloody Red" Hagash for further tests.




Speare’s almost psychotic obsession and pursuit of his fellow Inquisitor Icarus Var has become something of a legend wihin Inquisitional circle within the sector. Speare’s hatred of Var stems from their difference in creed (Speare being a Monodominist and Var a Xianthite) but also from the allegations that Var was a responsible for the Hagash’s death. Var has not specifically denied them but as a member of the Inquisition he doesn’t have too unless concrete evidence is presented confirming his participation in such a crime. This hasn’t stopped Speare from pursuing him with a vengeance for nearly 8 years however and to aid him in this he has forged alliances and called in favours from nearly every branch of the Imperium but primarily from with the Church and her allies. Very few times has Speare actually managed to face Var directly but their feud has left a trail of bodies behind them that has seen both sides face censure from their respective camps and cost Speare his right hand. Var for raising the profile of the Radical cause and Speare for sheer deathtoll that he is beginning to rack up and the drain on resources that his actions are having. No one is quite sure when this battle of wills will end but one thing is for certain, the only way it is going to cease is once one of them is in the ground.



Speare is known to be a supremely intelligent and driven man but is also an intensely arrogant and proud individual, utterly dedicated to hunting down traitors in the Imperium’s midst whatever the cost.


So that's him done, 3 more left for this warband and then they are done with, this lady is up next:

Bit of an update on the SOB:



Decided to go with a DIY order to make her more in keeping with the rest of the warband. The schemes for Ebon Chalice and Matyred Lady were closed but had a bit too much in the way of color, I think she will fight in nicely with this scheme.

Finished up the SOB:

Sister Agatha Fleck of the Holy Order of the Sacred Light




Like Speare, Fleck has a personal stake in the hunt for Var and is the reason for her employment by Speare. Fleck is one the last remaining members of the Holy Order of the Sacred Light, a small order that was based on the outlying world of Gastreim’s Beacon. An offshoot of the Holy Order of Our Martyed Lady the Covenant was wiped out and plundered by a raiding party of the Destrian the Aggravator in what seemed like a random attack. However Speare subsequently uncovered that Destrian had in fact been pointed in that direction by Var as a means of securing a holy relic for a ritual. The only reason Fleck survived was because she was escorting one of the Sisters Hospitaler to a nearby settlement to deliver medical supplies. When she returned she found her home in flames and all her Sisters dead. Speare arrived 5 days later and found the Sister praying in the ruins. Since then she has accompanied Speare on almost every mission he has undertaken and will not rest until Var and his band of heretics is brought to justice.

Great stuff, as always! I really like the bits of fluff you add for each model, really makes them come to life

Thanks Ezra, glad you like the added touches, writing fluff for every member of a force can sometimes be tricky but with warbands and the like it really is free reign so you can have a lot of fun with it.

Starting to make some slow progress on one of those SM's. He was originally going to be a Black Templar but now looking at him I'm thinking I will end up using this body (but not the head) for the second marine and make a new body with a half robe for the BT.



As for what chapter this guy will be I was thinking Fire Angel but I don't think the metallic color scheme will fit very well with the rest of the team, he might stick out a bit too much, which is a pity since their fluff is perfect. Instead I'm thinking maybe Marine Exemplar:




What do you think?

I've started work on the shoulder pad and chapter symbol:



Work is slowly getting there on the BT body as well:

Right can you tell I really don't feel like working on this tabard:



That was the sum of what I did on the BT today... really not looking forward to trying to make that tabard work. I'm using "From the Warp"s method for it this time as I will probably try and link it to a chest piece, first time I've tried it. I'm putting it off though, should really try and do it tomorrow.

Slightly more exciting is this though:



the ME's arms. And..... mock up time:




You will notice there he has a slightly different back pack to normal. That's right this guy will be totting a heavy bolter, DIY backpack curtesy of an Assault Cannon mag and two mags from the Centurion HB combined with a normal backpack. I think it fits the bill. The next question I have to face is whether or not to have him belt feed to the back pack or magazine feed (that gets refilled in his backpack). Belt feed looks cooler but will probably be a PITA to do and isn't as practical. Hmmm decisions, decisions.

Also in that image and along with the next you can begin to see an issue I am having with shoulder pads:



The standard TDA shoulder pads look a bit off, they are a sightly different shape and not the right length so I am trying to work around that. I think I am going to have end up filling out the top curve of it a but to make it look right. The one I am using for the right hand side on the ME is actually a GK shoulder pad and it works really well but I don't want to have to go and buy GK shoulder pads for all 3 of these TS SM's. Here is a line up of the ones I am currently working on:



As you can also see I didn't end up finishing off the ME's shoulder pad. I didn't actually get much done at all tonight...

Went back to my old method because I couldn't get a result I was happy with with the other one. I'm not sold on this version yet either but I know how to fix this one. It's a WIP:

That's a good point actually, although there is the issue that the BT is armed with this:



So he may not be able to work as the loader. One of the other team members could do it though, thing is that's a little demeaning for an Astartes. I'm still looking into the servo arm idea. Your idea is back up though.

Started work on the top part of the robe, early days yet. And I'm still not happy with the bottom part so I may swap it out for something cobbled together from that Skaven cloak. See how it goes.

I think the robe is looking pretty good. What about it isn't working for you?

Very cool stuff indeed. So good my phone fell over twice trying to view it.

D

Sorry guys I didn't realise you had replied!

 youwashock wrote:
I think the robe is looking pretty good. What about it isn't working for you?

I just didn't like the way it fell, didn't seem right however on second thoughts and combined with everything else going on I've changed my mind and kept it the way it is. The belt really helps to bring it together I think. Take a look below and tell me what you think.

 evildrcheese wrote:
Very cool stuff indeed. So good my phone fell over twice trying to view it.

D

Thanks Evil! Hope the phone wasn't too damaged!

Well I haven't been idle but since I'm waiting on some final parts for these two progress has slowed. That said they coming together, a whole lot of BT icons arrived last week so I could begin to add final touches to the BT. I'm still waiting on his sword and his proper helmet (decided I wouldn't go with the Mk2, it just doesn't feel right for anything other than a 1st Founding to have them imho) so this mock up is done with the ME's helmet:




It's funny, only now when I look at it do I see just how much GS I've used! Would explain why I'm running out!

As for the ME, well I have solved the problem of the loader but I won't let you guys know what it is till I can do a proper reveal and that means waiting on some more parts!. Meanwhile. Here is his HB:

Very nice. Adding all the extra bits have made that BT really characterful, I reckon it'll look awesome when it's done.

D

Well that is one brilliant TS Templar, well done.