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Pics look much nicer and the story is quite interesting. I'm enjoying every update.

I really like the little luggage servitor. A very nice addition to the team.

The Luggage reminds me of the Discworld series. Love it

The expanded retinue is great. Luggage is one of those inspired little models that every collection needs.

Thanks guys! Really glad you like them

Luggage is definitely inspired by the Luggage from Discworld although this one's a bit more cowardly than that ferocious beast

I'm with you on the idea that every collection needs something like a Luggage. A little non-combat model, or maybe a guard dog or gribbly xenos pet. Since at least 11000 bc people have been domesticating animals, and you can bet that we were using them before that. And seeing as 40k is 'medieval era in space' I see no reason not to continue the practice

Now, recently I've been pretty good at sticking to one warband at a time. Getting at least five or six models before slewing off in another direction, but I've built up a bit of a backlog of painted models I haven't shown yet so I thought 'sod it lets just post them' so here's the first of the batch



I didn't realise they had priests, or shamans, or whatever they are.



That's the thing. People seem to think they're animals. Mind you, most people who think that don't tend to think it for very long...

Someone over on the INQ28 boards also mentioned that it would be cool to see some closer-up shots. Unfortunately, my phone struggles somewhat with macro photography, but it does shoot in pretty decent resolution so I can happily crop away if people prefer this sort of shot then I'll start cropping some more





I also thought it would be a neat idea to start offering links to high-res versions so people can zoom to their heart's content and merrily point out all of the casting lines I've managed to miss

Wolf duders:
Here, here, here, and here

Biologis Gribblies
Here, here, and here.

I'll be ordering a lightbox soon so I'll do a big high-res redux when I get that

Awesome work! I particularly like that staff. Where did you get the skull bits?

Your kitbashing skills leave me in awe. Well done brother. And your painting skills are improving. Well done well done.


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Your kitbashing skills leave me in awe. Well done brother. And your painting skills are improving. Well done well done.

Thanks guys! Glad you like them!

The skull bits are from those Wulfen trophies on top of their backpacks (there's some neat xenos ones too which is cool).

I'm glad the kitbashing's looking suitably impressive. A ton of really fiddly work on these! Worst of all is the teeny-tiny little Dryad jawbone I had to stick beneath the shaman's skull-helmet to make it seem like there's a regular head under there.

Nearly lost it twice!

He's very cool. He fits in perfectly. These little societies you are building with each of these bands are awesome.

Best I like so far, and that's saying a lot. That model is seriously cool.

This is one of my favorite threads on Dakka right now. I really enjoy the models and the storyline is engaging. Thanks for sharing all of this.

Thanks guys and you flatter me Skalk

I'm definitely having great fun with these little bands and cultures. Worldbuilding has always been my favourite aspect of fantasy, and this little project is really letting my run wild with it I'm three cultures down (although there's more to come for each of them), with five more that are worked up fluff-wise awaiting painted models, and one more after that who I've trialled a model but need some more work on their background

One of those five awaiting models is done enough to share though! I've had these guys waiting for ages and have been itching to finish them

On the darkened moons above the nine realms lurk a pale and pallid people. Void-folk the kearls call 'dokkalfar'.



There are few among those stranded folk that retain the ability to travel between worlds. The Crows have ships, with which they flit between battlefields picking over the spoils. The dokkalfar have ships, with which they raid and plunder the worlds below.



Alfar voidsuits, although roughly made, are prized possessions throughout Útgarðar. Similarly, alfar weaponry is deemed to be of finer quality.



If life is so hard on their airless moon, you ask, why don't they invade the land below? Simple. Gravity.

Their bacchanal rites before raids involve ritual partaking of steroidal substances, for despite their continual consumption of low-grade steroids a kearl still has an edge. In the long term, our world is as hostile to them as theirs is to us.

So that's the first of the Dokkalfar the idea and look of these guys has been rattling around in my head ever since I saw this awesome thread over on the INQ28 boards. The phrase 'The Handmade voidsuits of the nomadic tribes of the northern Segmentum Ultima reflect a familial lineage of mariners, explorers and merchants. However, The fires of the heresy have driven many voidsmen back to the old ways.' just opened my mind to the idea of techno-tribal cultures living in void environments.

At the same time, I had another idea floating around of a raiding culture that descended from the crew of a crashed tithe ship, with a religious belief that they have been given divine licence to 'tithe' resources from the other cultures around them. Only recently did it occur to me that I could combine the two ideas for this project the resulting idea was pretty close to how Dark Eldar raiding society functions, so given that my kearls are descended from abandoned Space Wolf serfs they'd probably conflate the two and start calling these space-borne raiders 'alfar' as well

So yeah hope you like them!

Oh, and here's some high res shots:

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Two
Three

You've done it again. These guys are pretty sick.

"..techno-tribal cultures living in void environments." This is my jam. These guys look solid and I'm really impressed.

Love your style, gonna check in from time to time!

Some great minis here, really enjoying your work!

Woah, those look massively eerie. Really nice. Didn't even know that was still possible with 40k figures, especially nowadays.

Thanks a ton guys! Really glad you like them

Just got back from holiday and finally got fed up with struggling to get decent quality photos, so picked up a lightbox, two crows, my copy of On the Origin of Species and a very helpful mate with a grownup camera. I've only got the one shot from all our mucking about, but I'm dead chuffed with it


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Oh, I also have this slightly darker/moodier version. Which do people prefer?


High res

I mean what a difference a camera makes (or, more likely, someone who knows what they're doing with a camera). Honestly blown away. Just take a second to zoom in on the high res shots. You can see all the mould lines I forgot to remove in exquisite detail!

While the darker picture suits your style, I like the top picture because it gets us a better look at your work. Lovely choice for the stage, by the way.

This is a truly inspirational log of remarkable creativity.

Thanks guys! Really glad you like them

I think that's the consensus youwashock. Personally I prefer the darker pictures as they're more atmospheric, but I suppose I know what they look like already! I'll try and get a mix/compromise so you guys can actually see what they look like too

Here's the next few we've managed to take


High res

When battle's done and bodies lay,
And widows weep in pain'd dismay,
The crows descend from blackened ships,
To pry their spoils from dead men's grips.

-Edda Óvættr, verse eight.


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The last shot in particular was very tricky to get. It was a real struggle to get enough light to show the detail on the crow, but not too much to blow out all the colour on the crow-dogs. If we had access to photoshop it would be as simple as taking two different exposures and fading one into the other, but this was the best we could get in a single shot. The crow should be a little lighter really, and the crow-dogs a smidge more purple

Is that the folio society's collectors edition "On The Origin of Species" you have them perched on?
Awesome work aas usual, cant wait to see what you do next!

Here, boy! Here, boy! Treat!

The crow-dogs are just too good.

Those Kroot-pugs look amazing. Very nice photo too there in the end.

Love the Kroot-dogs, but my favourite part is the plinth they're standing on, some sort of ancient monument to a pre-Warp scientist.

I concur those kroot pups are great, and the light purple really makes them stand out from the crow.

Thanks a ton guys! Really glad you like them

And it is a folio society version of Origin of Species, by the ancient terran biomancer 'Darvinius'. Largely discredited in the 41st millennium, as clearly mankind was made in the Emperor's image. Plus, there isn't a single mention of His Holyness' Mighty Astartes in the book so it can't be an official GW product...

It does make a kickass backdrop though

Speaking of which, more photos! Including a new dude who's been awaiting photography for a while now





We call them 'rooks'. Just big crows really.



"Is it true they eat our dead if they find them?"





I think the word translates to 'concubine', although 'witch' would work too.









...and the new guy...



The crow-chief peered intently at the great ships of the Wolves. He tilted his head in curiosity as clockwork thoughts rattled through his brain. The pack's fleet was mustering. His curiosity piqued, he flitted a signal to Muninn, his sister-ship. Something was afoot. He could feel it.



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So, the only crow without good photos until now was the crow-priest:



It's the various petty chieftains who organise scavenging sorties, but the true power lies with their priesthood. Each tribe is nothing without its lander, and each lander is nothing without its priest.



Also, it's about time I posted something new recently, someone mentioned the idea of subspecies, which is too cool an idea to leave be...

When walking in the woods you find,
A body hung from branches high,
Your wits about you must you keep,
For shrikes around their larders creep.

- Extract from the Edda Óvættr (An Ode to Monsters)



Crow-kin, but don't mistake them for flighty scavengers. These are the ones they abandon at birth. Mutants. Vicious things.



Yes, I'm aware of the irony of mutants abandoning mutants. I'm informed it's a matter of perspective, although as far as I'm concerned we should purge the lot.



And, as ever, high res versions
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So much good abhuman stuff here, thanks Ynead for a great storyline and models!

Nasty looking bugger, that one. The new photos all look great, too.

Fakking brilliant work man, lovely gathering of concepts into an abhuman whole. From small to large, these guys are really something special.

On the witch, is that an Escher torso in there? And I just realized I could easily give my Escher Kroot spines too O_O

- Salvage