Gyrinx #2

Gyrinx number 3

Not actually the second gyrinx, but the second post about gyrinx (whats the plural of gyrinx anyway?  ”Gyrinx” surely, like “sheep”).  Its probably not going to be the last post about space cats around here either…

Sporadic bouts of good weather have disrupted my painting regime.  In this part of the world one has to make hay (or sit outside drinking wine, reading books and eating BBQ) while the sun shines, which isnt very often.  So painting output shrinks accordingly.  That said, after a discussion on the Lead Adventure Forum where I have been posting photos of my 40k skirmish stuff recently, I was inspired to paint the cat above from Black Cat Bases, so things havent ground completely to a halt at least.

Comparison Shot courtesy of http://deathworldadventures.blogspot.dk/

It was pointed out by “Jonas” of Deathworld Adventures that the figure shown was quite similar in design and pose to the original Rogue Trader gyrinx and he kindly supplied the photo above to illustrate.  Jonas also light-heartedly pointed out that gyrinx are red in colour according to the background – a detail that I had chosen to ignore when painting my two previous gyrinx.

As a card carrying ailurophile and miniature hoarder I had one of the Black Cat Bases cat miniatures in question buried in Monté Figuero, so I decided to paint it in a variant of the official Rogue Trader colours.

Vulpix the Pokémon – courtesy of Bulbapedia.

The Black Cat Bases cat is a bit odd looking, possibly a bit too cartoony to represent a Terran domestic cat.  But it is perfect for representing a space cat.

The colours worked out well, although the entire time that I was painting it was reminding me of something.  I thought that it might be the Pokémon “vulpix” but when I looked up images of vulpix it turned out that I was wrong.  Then, as I was looking at vulpix images it dawned on me that the painted model reminds me of the Firefox logo.

Not the most challenging paint job, but I am quite happy with how it turned out.  I am enjoying painting these little, cat sized projects and I am learning little things while I paint, which is nice.

Psychic, blind, future dark age cat fancier and associates.

Commissars Headroom & Trude

L to R: Commissar Headroom, Commissar Trude

While they didnt feature in the original Warhammer 40,000 Rogue Trader rulebook, commissars showed up as part of the Imperial Guard soon after.  They were a defined part of the 40k universe quite early, long before second edition came out.

The first White Dwarf that I ever saw (#108, December 1988) featured an article that introduced both Space Marine Chaplains and Imperial Guard Commissars to 40k.  It has taken me a quarter of a century to get around to painting a commissar model.

Oddly enough neither of the commissars that I painted are official GW commissar models, more obviously in the case of the female.  That figure was supplied as part of the “Into The Streets” collection of “Street Violence” figures from Foundry a decade or so ago.  This figure is the eponymous “Mistress Trude” from “Mistress Trudes Street Girls“.

To be honest, the girls were the pack from that set that I was least interested in, but when I started prepping Headroom for painting it occurred to me that I might as well paint Trude up at the same time.  I tried to get away from the fetish imagery that features in the Street Girls pack a bit but Im pretty sure that the figure doesnt look like any sort of real officer.  All of that said, Trude is a military officer from a futuristic space army, so maybe battleship grey belly-tops and patent leather thigh-high boots are standard issue where she is from…

Commissar Trude

The other figure is originally from a range called “Shockforce” I think from “Demonblade” miniatures (or perhaps the other way around…), although I bought it from Mega Miniatures who had the rights to the range before they closed down.  The figure is obviously a not-Commissar, although both the pose and style of the model are superior to the majority of Commissars that have been available from GW.  At least the figure has an air of authority about it, rather than being dressed like Liberace and waving a massive axe and a flamethrower around the place.  Well, maybe he is still dressed a little like Liberacé.

Commissar Headroom

I didnt paint the eyes on either of these figures as my own eyes and hands couldnt take the strain.  Thats why Headroom above has a bit of a zombieesque thousand yard stare thing going on.  The models face kept reminding me of the actor Matt Frewer, so the commissar was named after one of the sci-fi characters that Mr Frewer is most well known for.

I really like Headrooms sabre hilt and swagger stick grabbing pose.  Not many people could make that work, but he does I reckon.

Totenkranz – Navis Nobilite Heir Apparent / Novator

 

Navigator Totenkranz

This vision of loveliness is Reaper Miniatures Dr. Totenkranz.  I picked the figure up a few years ago intending to use it as a zombie boss type – some sort of sci-fi necromancer/evil scientist and possibly the root of the zombie outbreak.  I ended up being distracted by something else and never got much further than assembly until last week.

House Totenkranz

Painting Navigator Heinlein made me decide to paint Totenkranz for use as a Navis Nobilite Heir Apparent (usually called a Novator in later literature).  All that really means in practical terms is that I tried to tie the two figures colour schemes together a bit.  Mr. T will be perfectly able to serve other duties as an evil zombie master or to show up in Judge Dredd games or whatever too.  Amusingly versatile considering how oddball the figure is.

A Big-Boned Navigator  (http://www.obsidianportal.com/)

According to White Dwarf #140, printed way back in August 1991:

“The most powerful Navigators in each of the Great Families are called Heirs Apparent.  This signifies that they may one day contend for the position of Paternova, the ruler of all of the Navis Nobilite.”

“The Paternova is the leader of all Navigators and the most powerful of his kind.  The Paternova may live for up to a thousand years.  When he dies all the existing Heirs Apparent begin to change – they begin to grow even larger and stronger.  Their gill structure becomes fully functional allowing them to survive in hard vacuum as well as underwater or in normally poisonous environments.”

Floating fat man from space.

This description gives lots of leeway as to how Heirs Apparent might appear.  From bloated and heavily deformed, to very elderly and artificially sustained,  to hardwired to the peculiar instruments that navigators use to ply their trade etc.  The Totenkranz model covers many of those bases rather well.  That the figure is also suggestive of Baron Harkonnen from Dune - itself a series that 40k draws heavily from – is a bonus

Rear shot L to R: Totenkranz, Heinlein. Im not really sure why Heinlein seems to be wearing a gronk pelt, but he is.

I painted Totenkranz chair to look like it was in working order.  Arcane and peculiar was the goal, rather than decrepit and patchwork.  I quickly painted three vials on the rear of the chair with various brightly coloured liquids, all of which appear to be entering or leaving Totenkranz cadaverous physique.  It was a quick job, but it adds some visual interest.

Late in the painting process I decided to paint the panels on the chair with the blue used on Heinleins jerkin in an effort to suggest that it night be a Navis Nobilite house colour.  The red elements tie the figure together a little more.  Totenkranz really quite sore looking flesh was painted in the same way as Heinleins, with a murky pinkish cast to it, plus some extra orange added to the scabby, irritated areas.

Eurovision Song Contest Runners Up – 0.328.988.M41

 

Heinlein – Navigator

Heinlein – Navigator of the Navis Nobilite

Further distraction from my DreadBall stuff, this peculiar looking goofball is a companion piece to the blue gyrinx from last week.

Not to be confused with astropaths - the blind, psychic communications nodes that keep information travelling around the Imperium – navigators in the 40k universe are members of a genetically engineered mutant sub-species of humanity.  Navigators can “see” the warp and in particular the Astronomican via their mutations.  This unique ability allows Imperial human vessels to travel through the galaxy more rapidly than those of other space faring factions.  Navigators are crucial to the maintenance of the Imperium as any sort of whole entity.

Lustram Locarno, the example navigator from Warhammer 40,000 Rogue Trader

Navigators often have mutations, usually from the following list in various combinations: lack of hair, elongated limbs, enlarged hands, feet, head or eyes, webbed fingers, translucent skin and gills.  In pretty much all literature about the navigators other than the very early stuff (the entry in the original Rogue Trader rulebook above and the sample navigators in the Book of the Astronomican below), mention is made of navigators third “warp” eye, located in their forehead.

As Heinlein here is quite an old figure (1980′s) and was sculpted presumably around the time that the original rulebook was written, it doesnt have a third eye.  Although adding an eye to the model would have been within my meagre sculpting abilities, I decided that I would rather not tamper with the original sculpt.  I can happily imagine that this particular navigator currently has his third eye closed.

The page of sample Imperial Navigators from the Book of the Astronomican

I painted Heinleins rather flashy jerkin blue in the hope that it would visually tie the navigator to the gyrinx.  I painted most the rest of his outfit black to represent some sort of formal dress version of a form-fitting flight suit, as per the rough description in Rogue Trader.  I doubt that on duty navigators wear outfits like this: the different forms of lacing, clasps, buttons and buckles holding Heinleins outfit on look a bit impractical (although in the Imperium, practicality of wardrobe doesnt tend to be a priority, so who knows?).

There is a bit of a shine on the navigators head in the photos, but thats because I photographed it before I varnished it.

Navigator and pals, 40k-ing-it-up, eighties style.

Gyrinx

Gyrinx

I got a little distracted from my ongoing and quite substantial DreadBall project over the last few days and painted these two guys.  I did base one of the figures for use as a DreadBall coach though, so I didnt get completely sidetracked.

These furry little predators are domestic cat models bought from the sadly very soon to be no more Mega Miniatures, painted to represent a bit of old school 40k nonsense called “Gyrinx”.

Gyrinx as illustrated in Warhammer 40,000 Rogue Trader, 1987

According to the first Warhammer 40,000 rulebook (AKA Rogue Trader):

A Gyrinx resembles a large cat, with very thick and fluffy ginger or orange fur and bright blue eyes.  They can grow to as much as a metre in length.  Gyrinx are not intelligent as such, but they have an astounding ability to empathise with other creatures, forming a mental bond with their owner which is comparable to true friendship.  This mental empathy is of great benefit to the creatures owner, whose own speed of thought and action are actually improved whilst the Gyrinx is in close proximity.  What benefit the Gyrinx obtains from the relationship is unclear, but there is plainly some deep-seated need being fulfilled, because an ownerless Gyrinx will actively seek out and adopt some other creature.  Oddly enough, Gyrinx show a slow metabolic change so that they come to resemble their owner physically, tempermentally and in habit.

Obviously, these are creatures of great value, and unlikely to be owned by ordinary people.  Typically they would be owned by Inquisitors, Rogue Traders, high-level members of the priesthood and the like.  Even evil aliens might own a Gyrinx – the creatures inherit their morality from their owner so they can be pretty mean!”

An eldar warlock hanging out with his gyrinx master from Warhammer 40,000 rulebook 4th edition, 2004

The original 40k book was full of daft little entries like that, more like something from a RPG bestiary than from the modern Codices.  The aim of the game at the time was to have as many ways as possible for players to use various miniatures that they already had in their collections, rather than prescriptive lists from which deviation is not allowed.  There are pros and cons to both approaches of course, but 40K was a very different beast in those days.

A few of the entries were defined by the various other miniature ranges that GW produced at the time, with the model of Dave the orangutan mayor of Mega City One from the GW Judge Dredd range being the inspiration for the Jokaero for example.

Although I am bit out of touch with the 40k background these days, I am pretty sure that there hasnt been any proper reference to gyrinx since the eighties (although you can see in the picture above that there was a sly reference to gyrinx in the 2004 rulebook).

Work Night Out, 41st Millennium style

I bought a few cat models for use in the long stalled, but definitely still going to happen Personal Vanity Project, (I like cats). I had planned to paint up a few as gyrinx for ages, so painting these two was a satisfying little diversion.  The description above states specific colours for the fur and eyes of a gyrinx, but I went ahead and painted mine in exotic space-alien colours.

GW did make a limited edition gyrinx model back in the eighties but it goes for daft money on Ebay these days.  It isnt a particularly knock out model (it has a bit of a Looney Toons, Sylvester the cat, cartoony vibe).  All of that said of course if anyone reading this has one that they are willing to part with then let me know and we might be able to make a deal.  Death Ferrets also glady accepted  :)

Failing the procurement of vintage, oddball space cat miniatures these domestic cat models are perfectly suitable for that role.  The blue model above will take part in my WH40k Skirmish project whenever I get that off the ground.

Sideline Staff

For the laugh I based the purple cat up for use in DreadBall as a coach.  If you read the background text above you will see that the notion of a mildly psychic cat granting enhanced reflexes and cognitive agility to players from the sidelines isnt that much of a stretch.  It makes as much sense as anything involving psychic space cats does really.

6 Steps to Attractive Balls

An Ursa Miner Bruin and an OCP Patriot with magnetic balls.

I attached magnets to the bases of my DreadBall miniatures.  I also magnetised the bases on my Blood Bowl teams a while back.  During play the ball (with corresponding magnet) can be quickly and easily placed on the players base, where it will stay during play.  It makes a surprisingly fiddly aspect of the game easier.  Those of you who have hardly given a thought to where you position your balls may be sceptical, but its worth the minimal effort.

The process is simple but as a few people asked me how I did it I decided to put together a post about it.  The materials and tools that I used to make my balls attractive are as follows:

• 1.5mm diameter x 1.5mm height magnets (1 per ball)
• 3mm diameter x 1.5mm height magnets (1 per base)
• Drill with 1.5mm bit
• A small clear plastic bag (I used a small ziploc bag that a miniature was supplied in)
• Superglue
• Permanent marker

Magnetised Blood Bowl Balls

1) Drill a 1.5mm diameter hole at least 1.5mm deep into the underneath of both of your DreadBalls.

2) Mark two of the smaller magnets on one of their flat sides with the marker.  Make sure that the the same side of each magnet is marked – the marked sides should repel each other and the unmarked sides should attract the marked sides.   This is the most important part of the entire process, so dont rush it.  Make certain that the same pole is marked on each magnet.  The last thing that you want is repulsive balls.  Trust me on that.

3) Place one of the marked magnets on a rigid, flat part of your work surface.  It doesnt matter whether you put the marked side of the magnet face up or face down as long as you are consistent with all of the magnets that you plan to use in the balls.

A Blood Bowl Skaven mutant models the magnetic effect.

4) Put a small drop of superglue into the hole in the underneath of a ball and press the ball down on the magnet with a quick motion.  If you do it too slowly the glue is likely to cure too rapidly and jam the magnet halfway in.  Repeat this process for both balls.  Wait for the glue to dry fully.  I magnetised the balls last January and didnt take photos, so I have no visual aid for this step, sorry.

5) As I have been using painted balls to play the game for the last six months or so I want to make sure that they dont get glue or anything on them in the next step.  So I put one of the balls into the small, clear plastic bag.

A breathtakingly dull photo, but it gets the point across.

6) Put a drop of superglue into wherever you want the magnet to go on the underside of the base.  Put a magnet near, but not in the glue and pick the base up.  Hold the magnetised ball (still in the bag) against the top of the currently upside-down base near the glue and the magnet will shoot from wherever it is to that location, flipping over if required.  This flip is why this is the easiest method that I have found to get the magnets in the right place AND in the right orientation.  Doing it this way 100% ensures that the magnet ends up where it should.  Its not rocket science, but its a hell of a lot better than gluing a magnet into a drilled hole the wrong way around, trust me on that too.

This short, no expense spared video should make the process very clear.

You now have attractive balls.

EDIT:  I was subsequently asked where I bought magnets suitable for this process.  The answer was usually from China via Ebay.

 

Power Armoured Libby – DreadBall Corporation Keeper

 

OCP Patriots Guard and Keeper (Libby)

While prepping an extra guard for my OCP Patriots DreadBall team I remembered that I have had a Hasslefree Power Armoured Libby sitting in the box of unpainted Blood Bowl stuff for years now.  A bit like Barik Farblast and Flint Churnblade the Libby figure is better suited to the sci-fi DreadBall setting than it is to Blood Bowl anyway, so I modified the football Libby is carrying into something a bit more DreadBall-y and painted her up.

L to R: Guard, Striker, Keeper, Jack, “Lucky” Logan.

Like Barik, Libby will serve as a proxy for a “keeper” position player, keepers being upgraded guards that can crudely manipulate the ball (regular guards cant touch the ball at all).  Keepers have heavier armour than standard guards too, so Libbys heavier appearance fits thematically too.

Libby is also a suitable substitute for the Anne-Marie Helder MVP if required.

Flint Churnblade – DreadBall Forgefather/Blood Bowl Dwarf

Flint Churnblade

Another vintage addition to the Ursa Miner Bruins, Flint has been hanging around the unpainted figure mountain for ages.  DreadBall seemed like a good excuse to get him painted, so I went for it.

I painted Flint at the same time that I painted Barik Farblast and I treated Flints chainsaw the same way that I treated Bariks bazooka.  Although there is justification for Bariks ball launcher being present in a DreadBall game, to date there is no in-game reason for a forgefather to carry a chainsaw around with him in the arena.

I dont really care though.  I saw an chance to paint a figure that had been sitting around for decades and went for it.  If Flints in-game presence is required then I will happily justify the saw somehow.

Like Barik, Flint is ever so slightly smaller than the forgefather miniatures, the guard in particular.  These old GW guys are shorter than average short DreadBall folk, but within normal racial parameters I think.

Barik Farblast – DreadBall Forgefather/Blood Bowl Dwarf

Barik Farblast

Barik is a 2nd edition Blood Bowl Star Player who overcame his racial inability to throw the ball satisfactorily by using a (surprisingly high tech) bazooka.  The models clean lines are quite a contrast with more recent Blood Bowl dwarf miniatures (which tend to look like Warhammer miniatures with their weapons clipped off rather than sportsfolk).  I think that the figure probably fits in better with a game of DreadBall than it does in Blood Bowl.

Barik Farblast features three rows down, third from the left.

Photos of the painted Barik miniature featured in the first White Dwarf magazine that I ever saw/bought (#108, December 1988).  Before I saw that magazine I had no idea that miniatures of fantasy sport themed, bazooka wielding dwarfs could be purchased, let alone painted to such a high standard and subsequently gamed with.

I pored over this magazine and this page in particular.  So from that day I wanted to paint my own Barik Farblast miniature.  Twenty five years later I finally got around to it.  Barik has been waiting for paint since before some of my gaming opponents were born.

I painted Barik with the same palette used for my Ursa Miner Bruins.  While it isnt a match with the original BB scheme shown in the scan above, it has some coincidental similarities.  The armoured style of the DreadBall forgefather miniatures is quite different to the sportswear look that Barik has, so I had to work a little to get the scheme to fit.  In retrospect its possible that I should have added a yellow stripe travelling front to back on the top of Bariks helmet, but that idea only just occurred to me now.

I decided to paint the bazooka in the same way that I paint the bases on my DreadBall miniatures.  I reckon that it makes the weapon look a little more like its something from TRON or Automan or possibly some sort of holodeck style re-sequenced photon projection rather than a big ol’ mechanical apparatus.  I think that it looks cool like that, but YMMV.

In DreadBall “guard” position players occasionally evolve, Pokémon-style into “keepers”.  As well as being tougher versions of regular guards, keepers also get the rather dubious ability to handle the ball crudely and launch it down the field via modified DreadBall launchers.  This makes Barik a pretty perfect proxy model as a DreadBall keeper, all the more so because the keeper models are not available yet.

L to R: DreadBall forgefather striker, Blood Bowl 2nd edition Barik Farblast, DreadBall forgefather jack.

Barik is a fraction smaller than his teammates and the style of his kit is a little different, but I think that he fits in just fine.  Im looking forward to using the model in a game after a quarter of a century wait…

Cialis Cowgirls – DreadBall Cheerleaders #1

Bambi, Tiffani & Candi.

Most Blood Bowl figures are a bit too fantasy looking to be suitable for use in DreadBall.  DreadBall miniatures are also a bit smaller than the GW heroic 28mm that Blood Bowl figures conform to, which also limits compatibility.

Those restrictions dont apply as much to the second edition Blood Bowl miniatures range.  Those figures were sculpted twenty five years ago, when miniatures were just a little bit more miniature and the aesthetic for Blood Bowl figures was quite different.

In the brief lull between getting DreadBall Season 1 finished and starting work on DreadBall Season 2 I decided to work on some old and neglected Blood Bowl figures that to my mind fit in mechanically and conceptually with DreadBall.  DreadBall is the catalyst to finally get those models finished and on the table, which is fun and satisfying itself considering that I have owned some of them for them for quarter of a century…

First of the repurposed BB figures finished are these cheerleaders.  They are not terribly sexy looking to me, but then I am not an ork or goblin.  Presumably the Cowgirls shown would represent a Beyoncé level of physical attractiveness to me if I was.  Its all about current cultural norms anyway: your grandchildren might well be very attracted to human women who look like this.

Maybe.

Bambi and Candi have passably modern cheerleader attire.  Not very sci-fi, but I suppose the fact that they are little green women will carry that aspect.  The orc/ork/orx (Tiffani) is a bit more fantasy looking, with a chainmail skirt and a couple of other fantasy trappings hanging from her belt.  I decided not too worry about it: the figure is too unique a painting opportunity to leave out just over that.