Genestealer Cult - Macrocosm Space Dwarf Bikers Kickstarter

Today, amid the turmoil of the rapidly changing world we now inhabit, I have some rather unusual delights for you. A while ago I became aware of a new project from Macrocosm, some space dwarfs, including bikers. There were parts to convert them into mutants, which look very much like genestealer cult squats, so naturally I was most interested.

Chris from Macrocosm was kind enough to send me a selection, and I set to work. They are modular, so there are a variety of arms, heads, weapons, packs and so on. Along with the number of regular squat parts, there are several hybrid heads along with some mutated arms, and a dedicated hybrid biker body with an extra arm.

I used that very biker body here, on Dagur Griefkin, Atalan Jackal of the Kabeiri. The set was sculpted by Bob Olley and Alessio Cisbani. I'm quite the fan of both sculptors, and as Bob has sculpted so many genestealer cult minis before they fit in nicely.

The bikes are metal, so have quite a bit of heft to them. I recommend pinning where possible.

Here we have Baerdal Clawhammer and his gunner, Lythur Griefkin on a Wolftrike. (A very fine proxy for the Atalan Jackal Wolfquad) The trike is a charming mini, perfectly at home in a retro Bob Olley heavy cult. I do recommend painting it in sub-assemblies though. I tested out my scheme for vehicles for the Kabeiri on these bikes, and I'm quite happy with it. I think it'll work well on ridgerunners and goliaths.

The faces on the hybrids were a joy to paint, with lots of nice detail. I used mostly contrast paints on the skin, and essentially washed in all the colour over a Pallid Wych Flesh basecoat, with only one set of highlights over the washes.

There is also a set of infantry available. So for anyone wanting a nice squad of modular hybrid squats, now's your chance. The claw arm on this guy is a conversion, using the hand from the mutated arm in place of a regular squat hand. There are heavy weapons as well as melee and ranged arm options for these.

So, if you fancy some of these, head over to the kickstarter which is due to start any day now, and see what tickles your fancy.

Kickstarter - Bonefields

My good mate Chris from Macrocosm is currently running a kickstarter for his new game Bonefields. It's a skirmish game where all the factions are undead, starting with dwarves and goblins. As you can see from the image above, I've already gotten my paws on some of the miniatures from the game. The goblin vampire is pretty great, and also hilarious. There are some really nice miniatures coming down the line should the kickstarter do well such as the goblin poker and gobbers and the dwarf berserker king. It's a great project to be involved in.

The rules are being written by James Hewitt and Sophie Williams from  Needy Cat Games. James has previously designed such games as The Horus Heresy: Betrayal at Calth, Warhammer Quest: Silver Tower and Gorechosen, Necromunda: Underhive and the upcoming Adeptus Titanicus.

So it looks like it could be a pretty fun game. You'll be able to progress the members of the warband, adding skills, picking up injuries and such. Models can be killed in game but don't leave play as they can be resurrected. There's a development blog for the rules here.

The project funded in two days and at the time of writing has already knocked down the first stretch goal, zombie dwarves. If you like your undead you'd be well served to take a look at what's on offer. Aside from the boxed game there are a lot of add on sets that can be used for pretty much any game, from undead pony and wolf riders to goblin catapults.

I love the character models. Look at that dwarf wight king. Isn't he... groovy? There are also several token, scenery and objective sets. The four you can see above are literally perfect for Legions of Nagash grave markers.

So there you go. Take a look, you can check it out here.

Bonefields - Goblin Undead

Today we have another tasty pair of goblinoid skeletons from the upcoming Bonefields Kickstarter from Macrocosm, a heavy infantryman and a fanatic. Well, I assume he's a fanatic on account of the nasty looking ball he's wielding. He looks like he means to do woeful harm with it anyhow.

There are several goblin heavy infantry sculpts as far as I know. They'd make a great bodyguard unit for the goblin vampire.

Macrocosm's Bonefields kickstarter begins Feb 23rd.

Bonefields - Dwarf and Goblin Warbands

I've just finished off the latest dead lads for the dwarf and goblin warbands for Bonefields, two more slayers and three goblin spearmen. As has been pointed out, the way I've painted the slayer's loincloth makes it look like saggy soiled underpants, which after I finished laughing about I decided only added to the undead horror. Truly a fate worse than death.

The painting has reached a point where they can now be called warbands. The goblin vampire above commands four archers, four spearmen, two swordsmen, one goblin hero and one heavy infantryman with halberd. I can also let slip what you get in the Bonefields starter set for the goblins.You get the lads here below:

So it's four spearmen, four archers and the goblin vampire. There is an insane amount of units you can add to this starting warband. I hear tell of undead Squi- ah, I mean rotund cave dwelling monsters, cavalry, command models and even war machines. The sculptors Alessio Cisbani and Darren Edwards are doing mighty work indeed, along with the indefatigable Chris Nicholls, owner of Macrocosm and creator of Bonefields.

As to the dwarves, here's the warband as it stands. The dwarf necromancer controls a dwarf hero, two dwarf wights, four slayers, (two with greatweapons and two with two axes) and four warriors with sword and shield.

For the dwarf side of the starter set you get four warriors, four slayers and the dwarf Necromancer. All told the set contains eighteen miniatures at the time of writing.

The dwarves are likewise set to receive a load of models to expand the warband. Cavalry, zombies, crossbowmen, command and even artillery.

I have two more undead on the table at the moment which I'll be using to build a painting tutorial for techniques used on the models seen above. One is another goblin heavy infantryman for rusted and worn armour and the other, the bone tutorial, is fanatical about his ball and chain.

The Bonefields Kickstarter kicks off on the 23rd of February.

Bonefields - Characters

Following on from my earlier post on Macrocosm's upcoming Bonefields release, I've been beavering away on some more of the new range. First up is this fantastic goblin vampire. I don't recall ever seeing a goblin vampire before (gobpire? Vamplin?) but Alessio Cisbani has done a fantastic job on this evil wee spud. I'd love to see him do other types of goblin vampires.

I moved away from the traditional goblinoid green for his flesh to up the vampireosity, just adding some green glazes to his eyes and other facial recesses. I painted him in fancy lacquered red armour, but, as he IS a goblin after all, it's dirty and knackered looking. Two rusty swords complete to look for this diminutive blood-drinking nutter.

I've also completed two more goblin undead, a spearman and one of the goblin heavy infantry. As with the other goblin skeletons they paint up nice and easy. I have some of the more exotic goblin undead on the table at the moment, but that's for another post.

Next up we have the wizened little dwarf Necromancer. He's all feet and head this lad, and has a scuttling sneaky pose that's distinctly un-dwarfy.

Flanking our creepy wee necromancer we have two of the new undead dwarf slayers/berserkers. They still have their golden arm clasps, but those luxurious beards are gone forever. Truly a fate worse than death for a dwarf. They must be mad as hell.

I have another batch of Bonefields minis on the painting table at the moment. Once they are done it'll be time for some warband photos. There are some truly hilarious models in the pipeline, I can't wait to get to some of the more unusual undead, they'll be a lot of fun to get on the gaming table.

Macrocosm - Bonefields!

Over the last while I've been secretly beavering away on a project for Macrocosm, doing things like that there logo above. It's a game with a theme dear to my heart in fact, with both factions being undead. That's right, everyone in the Bonefields box is dead. Well, bar the dwarf necromancer, but necromancers are a hazy one. Alive? Dead? Or just badly in need of a bath?

Anyhow, Macrocosm are bringing Bonefields to kickstarter in early 2018. The set will contain two full warbands, and will be a skirmish style game (with Mr Jake Thornton offering some tips and looking over Chris's rule-set) where undead dwarves and goblins attempt to continue their bitter feuding well after they have all died. That's stubborn for you. There's a goblin vampire too, it's sweet. In fact, there are a load of units for both factions in the works. Skeletal wolf riders? Yep. Bony ponies? Indeed. Dwarf wights? Aye. It goes on kids. Alessio Cisbani and Darren Edwards, the sculptors on the project, have many treats in store. There are over sixty sculpts in the works, including more infantry, cavalry and even artillery. Paul Naylor (former Golden Demon winner) is also working on Bonefields scenery. I do hear that rules for Macrocosm's pretty huge fantasy range will be forthcoming for Bonefields also.

I was fortunate to have been sent some of the miniatures from the starter set for a little brush tickling.

Dwarf hero with wights and warriors.

Goblin hero with great axe, archers and warriors.

The minis are pretty characterful and paint up very easily. Getting a warband together for this game will take most folks very little time, and of course, easily slot into a pile of other games. My favourite minis so far are probably these lads:

Dwarf hero and his bros.

You'd think I'd be all about the gobbos, but I like the idea of dwarven wights. Mind you, when the heavy goblin infantry and wolf riders hit I may change my mind.

I've also been working on some bases for Bonefields, which will be a set of resin bases and look very much like the ones above. It'll be pretty cool to see my bases in production. Now you can all have a little Saturday in your life. There are a lot of other goodies in the works for Bonefields, but right now that's yer lot. I'll dispense more news as it's released from Chris' vault of secrets.

Also, that's Deadcember sorted. Hah.

Shadow Empire - Guardians Unit

Close on the heels of  my test guardian come the rest of the unit. From Macrocosm, these are awful fun things to paint. I'll be using these as a unit of scouts for Dragon Rampant. I have a healthy five units for the Shadow Empire now, with another three or four left to do.

I stuck to the same palette as the test model, which worked just dandy across the models. I particularly enjoyed painting the eyes, giving them bright blue eyes to give them some pop and tie them into other units. I added some gloss to each one, which really does the trick. I may come back and add a second scout unit in time, or a dead deflated guardian for an objective or casualty marker.

Now that the guardians are done I'm going to take a break from the Shadow Empire and head over to Khornetown to work on an AoS Skirmish warband. After that though, it'll be either vampires, the three storms or terracotta cavalry for the next addition to the army.

Lo Pan looks right at home with these lads. Right, that's my lot. May Ching Dai have mercy on you until next time.

Macrocosm - Malignancy Jetbike

Two jetbikes for you today, new releases from Macrocosm for their Malignancy range. These fellows were part of the Macrocosm Kickstarter, and were designed by myself and sculpted by Drew Williams. I'm very happy to see these get a release.

They are a very welcome additions to the Malignancy range. They also make great reinforcements to a genestealer cult, bike-mounted brood brothers and hybrids being something of a rarity model-wise. I'll certainly be adding some to my own cult.

I kept the bike quite civilian, possibly a police bike at a stretch. These guys would be mostly urban dwellers, so it made sense to keep the bike non-military. They have a heavy dose of 1950s vehicle design elements, as befits a bike with an actual jet-engine. A friend mentioned a little gun side-car might be a cool addition though, and I do like that idea.

The riders are separate from the bikes, and come in three parts, a pair of legs, two torso and two heads, so you can make one of four varieties of rider from the basic pack.

So, if you're looking to add some high speed action to your Malignancy force or genestealer cult, these guys are now available. You can get some here.

The Dire Grem - Concept to Complete

Over the last year or so I've been crossing the divide into miniature design, providing concept art for several new miniatures. I really get a kick out of seeing a concept of mine turned into a three dimensional object, and the idea that these miniatures will be gracing gaming tables for years to come gives me a little glow.

The original concept.

One model I've particularly enjoyed seeing move through this process has been the Dire Grem for Macrocosm. The Dire Grem is part of the Grem Alliance, which have just been released. Essentially a  sci-fi troll, it's not something I had seen done before, so it was great fun coming up with one. Added to that the sculpt was created by Diego Serrate, one of my favourite modern sculptors. Seeing the concept pass through his hands into a green was a pleasure.

The final painted versions you can see here below, with some of the variant heads. With their release, this trio of hungry nutters is now off into the wild to join armies and warbands in need of some muscle. Sniff! They grow up so fast!

Heavily armed, and not a braincell between them.

Macrocosm - Malignancy New Releases

I've gotten to be quite a fan of the Macrocosm line of miniatures over the last while. Macrocosm leans heavily on the Rogue Trader era for inspiration, often taking long abandoned but still well loved factions such as the Squats and the Genestealer Cult and giving them a new lease of life. The range is growing extremely rapidly, with their current Kickstarter (funded and approaching the first stretch goal at the time of writing) giving us two more factions and new units for the existing factions. I've been lucky enough to be involved with designing the concepts some of the new models, and there are some very cool things coming.

Today, however, I'm going to look at some of the new Malignancy releases. First up, the Malformed Host Special Weapons set.

Malignancy Host with flamer

The Malignancy are a Godsend for anyone building a genestealer cult. Beforehand, anyone assembling a cult faced quite a job finding components, sculpting, converting and so on. Now, I love all that, but many do not. For those folks, these guys are the very thing. Even with my love of conversion, a ready-to-paint specialist like our flamer-toting friend above is too much to resist. There are several special and heavy weapons available. Like most Malignancy models, this guy is pleasantly chunky, and a nice clean cast. They are larger than you expect, in a good way. A huge amount of miniatures now are designed with 3d packages, and many are indeed technically excellent, this guy has the hand-sculpted individuality and charm which is so common in so many sculpts of the 1980s, and so rings my bell.

Malignancy Host with plasma gun

This host is much the same as the flamer, clean and well cast. None of the models in the images are cleaned up, they are straight out of the pack. I like the masks they are wearing too, more common on the 2nd wave Malignancy releases. 

Malignancy Infested Og

Next up, the Malignancy infested Og. This guy is big. You could pour him into a sock and cosh someone to death with him, no trouble. It's a 40mm base for this guy at least. Anything less than that and it's topple time. Again, a nice clean sculpt with very little cleanup. I would recommend pinning the hell out of him though, and maybe painting the gun separately. There are three head options, one hooded and masked and two hooded. The hooded heads remind me of medieval grotesques. I'm going to have a lot of fun painting those faces.

Infected Og Heads

I like the idea of infested Ogs, it gives the Malignancy some big guys, and something new and interesting for cult players. Here's a scale shot with a Primogen.

"Hey! Hey ugly!! This way!"

Finally we have two Primogen Hosts, the middle management of the Malignancy. These aren't new releases, but I hadn't reviewed them before, so here they are. They make good squad leaders, or could even function as the elusive Hierarch in a genestealer cult. Once again, they are clean casts with lots of nice detail. Bags, pouches, canteens, chitin covered third arm...

Oops. Little blurry on the front shot there. 

Forward, my swollen-headed brethren!

So, for devotees of the cult we have such rarities as leaders, specialists and hulking infected abhumans. For Malignancy players a growing range of horrific alien-infested nutters. Initially I was interested in this range for my own genestealer cult, but as they variety of models increases I am getting more and more curious about the Macrocosm universe and rule system, which is free, I might add. 

If you're intrigued, give the Macrocosm Kickstarter a look, there's never been a better time get some Macrocosm goodies for the Malignancy, the Diggers, or the new factions, the 3rd Race (mech battlesuits) or the Grem (well-equipped and very serious greenskins).

Macrocosm - Next Races Kickstarter Goes Live

If you likes you some Rogue Trader inspired miniatures, Macrocosm's new Kickstarter is now live, and very much worth a look. They are using it to launch two new races, the mysterious 3rd race, who utilise remote battle suits, and the Grem, a curiously well organised faction of greenskins. There are some nice stretch goals, (and some exciting ones to come) and they are offering deals on the existing factions, the Malignancy and the Diggers (Genestealer Cult and Squats). So if you were thinking of picking some up, now's the time.

Unsurprisingly, I'm a big fan of the Malignancy, and I'll be reviewing the new host specialists and infected Ogs very shortly here in Mumbleville.

Macrocosm - Kickstarter Imminent

Macrocosm have announced they intend to run a kickstarter this Autumn (starting 27th August) for two new factions for their game. You can read about it here. They are the Grem, and the 3rd Race. Here's the lowdown:

“Who are the 3rd race? As yet no one knows, they use mechanical suits of unknown make. There has never been a living entity captured on the battlefield. Intelligence suggests these suits are being controlled by craft in orbit of the colonies.”

"Who are the 4th Race? The Grem Alliance! The Grem Alliance are a race of three different creatures who used to be slaves. They banded together to overthrow their evil slave masters centuries ago, and since then have grown in size and intelligence. They are very militaristic and expansionist.

Their main industry is War. The Basic Trooper is supported on the battlefield by its distant cousins the Dire Grem and the Gremlings, whilst not exactly as evolved as the Grem are they still have found important roles in the Grem society.”

I may have been lucky enough to have had a hand in designing some of the upcoming range, and they are going to be a lot of fun if the Malignancy and the Diggers are anything to go by. Speaking of the Malignancy, I do love anything vaguely cult related, and there are some very tasty things coming from Macrocosm for fans of the Malignancy in the next wee while.

Macrocosm - Malignancy Renegades & Weapon Teams Review

With another batch of Malignancy troops from Macrocosm hitting my welcome mat, I thought another close look at these shiny new fellows was in order. There are three packs this time, the Malformed Renegades, gatling gun team and missile launcher team. First up, lets take a look at the missile team.

These are raw models with no cleanup. As you can see, they are pretty clean. There are no major flash lines to speak of. My favourite thing about this range is that they are pleasantly chunky. They have a nice heft to them. The detailing on both is very nice, and offers plenty of scope for the painter to got to town. The host with the backpack is probably my favourite model from the entire range. He has a great face, and carries that gun like he really means to shoot you with it. The weapons are again, very near future, which I like. For my own purposes, this pack offers me that holy grail, special weapon hybrids for my genestealer cult.

Next up, the gatling team.

Much the same as the missile team. Clean crisp sculpts with lots of nice little detail. The gatling carrier has a great pose. I'd be putting some rubble or the remnants of a wall on his base for him to fire over. The carrier with the ammo box is also well done as it looks like there's some weight to his gear, I like the third claw arm holding up the gun while he lugs the ammo with his free hand. Sometimes it pays to be hideously infected I guess.

Lastly, the malormed renegades.

These come in a pack of five. As before, nice clean models. They are all single piece, bar the guy with the rebreather. His gun and arm are a seperate piece, which might be better painted before attaching, but it'll work either way. A great selection of poses, and like the malformed hosts, they look like alien terrorists, so perfect. More manna from heaven for genestealer cult players, and easily my favourite faction from Macrocosm. There's something horrible about the fact these guys will all inevitably explode in a horrific shower of gore as the infection reaches it's height. Eurgh.

So there you go. If you fancy giving Macrocosm a go you can find the site here. If you're after bodies for your genestealer cult, look no further. With more releases for the Malignancy coming down the line, it's a good time for horribly disfigured alien-infected nutters of all ilks.

Macrocosm - Malignancy Model Review

I recently got my hands on some of the models for the Malignancy faction for Macrocosm. (The Malignancy background is really very unpleasant/fantastic indeed.) Nothing puts a model through it's paces like painting it, and I decided to paint up one of the malformed host models. He's a two piece model, the hand with the mace being the separate bit. Most of the Malignancy are single piece sculpts, however. There was very minimal cleanup with this chap.You can see him here below in all is infected glory.

Give us a twirl.

The host model was very pleasant to paint, and has lots of interesting little details. The modern/near future style weapons and ragged gear are a nice touch, and make them seem more like an alien terrorist group than an army, which is appropriate I guess. The faces in particular are very well sculpted. Overall, they just look like a bunch of total bastards. Here's another shot with a GW model for comparison. Why did I pick this particular model for the comparison photo? Oh, no reason...

So... ahm, I can see we're going to get along.

Let's not beat about the bush here. The Malignancy are undeniably useful as genestealer hybrids, and for anyone that isn't into converting, these models are a godsend. The high collars, bald bulbous heads and extra chitinous limbs are enough to get any Malignancy host or renegade into a cult only party without getting stopped at the door. Here are some of the other hosts and a brood bro - I mean infested thug. All nice, chunky sculpts that will paint up very nicely.

There are over twenty sculpts at the moment, including heavy weapons and leaders, more than enough for the core of a cult force. I can see these boys appearing on a 40k table near you soon, but with the Macrocosm rules being free to download, why not give it a blast? 

For more immediate gratification, you can also catch all the goings on for Macrocosm on Facebook.