All Together Now!
That, I think is reflected in the fact that every model is really an individual, rather than being part of a themed warband.
Their individual character is also reflected in their backstories, each almost completely unrelated to each other except for the role played by Quintus Severus. What I loved in developing these stories is how Quintus emerged as a manipulative figure, playing on the weaknesses of the other characters to ensure they serve him.
While right now my attention has been once again captured by Age of Sigmar, I still have plans to expand this band of misfits. For sure I want to add another Crusader, so that I can play them in regular 40k using the Imperial Agents codex. Then, I've realised XA-305 could be a central character, perhaps the leader, of a gang of rebellious cyber-gladiators. That would be the chance to work more on a theme rather than seeing what I can do with whatever bits I have at hand.
Anyway, all of this will have to wait. There's an Eclipse to watch for...
Ministorum Delegation
I've been juggling with quite some work in the last few weeks. Nonetheless, I've managed to add two more men to Quintus' Retinue: Gerard the Crusader and Confessor Ian Tull.
Confessor Ian Tull
Confessor Tull is a firebrand orator. Towards the end of M41 he led countless masses on every civilised world across the Ultima Segmentum to confess their sins and join him in a crusade of repentance. The number of Frateris Militia following Tull had began to be a serious concern for Imperial authorities when Quintus Severus found a better use for them. A xenocidal crusade against the Orks of Octarius would have covered the Inquisitor's operation in the sector perfectly. Tull embraced the plan, sure he would have replicated the successes of the likes of Solar Macarius and Sebastian Thor. Yet, the Confessor only saw his rag tag army mauled by the greenskins. Ever since, he has grudgingly followed Severus, awaiting for the occasion to once again lead the righteous in the name of the Emperor.
Busy as I was, I forgot to take WIP pictures, but the shotgun holster, gown and right sleeve are sculpted from GS.
Gerard the Crusader
The bastard son of a feudal world Governor in the Ultima Segmentum, Gerard was raised by his father's captain of the guard and eventually joined it. Consumed by ambition, he joined Tull's xenocidal crusade against the Ork empire of Octarius, hoping to carve his own kingdom on one of the liberated planets. There he met Quintus Severus. It was on Gerard's ambition that Severus played to secure the man's skills at arms for his retinue. Needless to say, the Inquisitor has no intention to keep up his promises to support Gerard in claiming his father's seat. Yet, Gerard is blinded by his own dreams of greatness and still unquestioningly follows Severus many years after the first met.
The Ministorum Priest
Some years ago with my gaming group we used to run a large, multiplayer festive game and a Furtive Father Christmas gift giving. It was a Secret Santa thing (why my English friends decided to rename it is still outside the grasp of my Italian brain) where we gave a fully converted and painted model to one of our friends. For Christmas 2013 I had to give my Furtive Father Christmas to Warboss Kurgan. At the time he was working on his Inquisitor Lenk's retinue and the hive-gang know as the Sumptraders. So I decided to contribute to his growing Inquisimunda collection. After a long break from this project, he has just started working again on them, and I thought it was time to show my little part in it: the Ministorum Priest.
The body, head, hand with book and deamon skull on the base come from the Battle Wizard kit. The arms are from the Cadian Infantry while the sword and granades on the belt from the Catacham Command Squad, the purity seal and scrolls are from the Space Marine Tactical Squad. Repositioning the hand to rest on the sword hilt and getting all the right angles there was probaby one of the fiddliest conversions I've ever made, but it was well worth the effort!
The model still needed some extra futuristic wargear, so I chopped the exhaust off of a Space Marine backpack and hang a flamer on it. With the addition of a couple of purity seals, the skull and hourglass from the Empire Flagellants on the other side, the backpack looked suitably 40k-ish to call it done.
What was left then was painting the model to match Warboss Kurgan's style. That took a few subtle questions, disguised as asking for advise on how to paint yellow on some Space Marines I was working at the time, if I don't remeber wrong. I think it worked, as he looked suitably pleased and surprised when he unwrapped his Furtive Father Christmas! I managed to get the right tints, but I tend to keep highilights to a minimum, so Warboss Kurgan is just thiking to add a couple of highlights more. The Inquisition symbol on the book was another clue I wanted to include to show this was not just any Ministorum Priest, but one in the service of Lenk himself.
Who exactly this Priest his, what's his name and how he ended up in Lenk's retinue I leave for Warboss Kurgan to decide.
