Genestealer Cult Acolyte Hybrids

Full-throttle painting continues as I finish off a 5 man squad of Hybrids. These are some nice models, and I'm happy with how they came out, but did they have to make them with so many arms! It sure makes them harder to paint!

This batch also includes my converted leader, with a rather costly Bonesword and lashwhip combination.

Next I plan to paint one more Purestrain Genestealer, to round out the unit to a legal quantity, before plunging into the next 5 Hybrids. If I can manage all that, this force will really be coming together - with a finished HQ, 2 troops choices, a vehicle and even an elite choice.

I've added a lot of pictures below, as ever comments and questions are always welcome.

Genestealer Cult Hybrid Acolyte Conversions

I've been hard at work again building my next unit for the Genestealer Cult force. This time I've been putting together some Hybrid Acolytes from the Deathwatch Overkill box. After looking through the codex, I was struck by how good they are; with a low points cost and up to 4 rending attacks each on charge. They're definitely going to be a force to be reckoned with on the tabletop!

The acolytes also have access to some nice options. For 10 points the Cult Icon adds an additional point of WS - taking them to a much coveted, and rather killy WS5. The leader is also able to take a Bonesword and Lash whip combination, which while costly in points makes him a real monster. I decided after a bit of deliberation that I wanted to have both options, but as the models are from Deathwatch Overkill they didn't have any options with them and a little conversion would be needed.

Thankfully, it wasn't hard to find what I needed hiding in my bits box. I raided some Skaven bits and found a cool blunt ended sword that would make a great bonesword as well as a scenically tattered banner for the Icon. Thankfully, a year or so ago, my brother had given me a Dark Eldar whip for a different project. In the end I didn't use it for that project, but I always thought it was a cool part. It was an easy choice to make the Lash Whip out of it. I've just about finished building the rest of the squad, but I didn't take any photos as they're all built stock.

I also did a bit of conversion work on one of the Deathwatch Overkill Mining Laser guys to switch his weapon to a heavy stubber, to be included in my Neophytes later on.

Other than all of that excitement, work was slowed significantly this week as I went in to London on Wednesday night to see Japanese all-girl hard rock group Band-Maid at The Underworld (and yes that really is a sentence that makes sense!)

Anyway, assorted pictures below...

Just for fun, a few really blurry shots from Wednesday night - I usually don't take photos at concerts as I'd rather enjoy the show, but I took one or two for mementos more than anything else.

Genestealer Cult Purestrain Genestealers

Another day, and more miniatures prepare to enter the fray. This time I've been working on the one thing that really defines Genestealer Cult - the Genestealers themselves. I know the colours aren't very standard, but it was really important to me to have them match the rest of the force. In the end I went with a similar skin tone to the Neophytes and a stark blue for their armour panels. So far I've finished 4 of them, so one more will make it a legally fieldable unit (always a good goal to have). As the force expands, I've been looking towards making an actual "army" out of it. By that, I mean that I bought the codex and started to calculate a 500point force to get me started, as well as looking at a possible 1000 points. Like most horde armies, I think the key will be loading up on plenty of cheap troops and swarming all over the place. They also have access to a lot of rending and very cost-effective infantry. We'll see how the force develops as I go, as usual I'm just working on units that I like at the moment....

Genestealer Cult Chimera

Well, I had a very productive weekend on the Genestealer Cult front. I spent about 6 hours over Saturday and Sunday painting up my first vehicle - a good old fashioned Chimera. I went fairly light on the conversion work on this one, mostly focusing on adding some railings and other small details. It was important to match the worn and weathered industrial look of the infantry, so I replicated their colour scheme almost completely; just bigger!

Those who saw the posts on my Traitor Guard might recognise the coaxial heavy stubber set up from one of their Chimeras. What can I say, I guess when I find something I like I stick with it!

Genestealer Cult - Seismic Cannon

I've just finished my unit of Neophyte Hybrids - the last two additions were one more autogunner and this rather nice Seismic Cannon. As I'm still loving these cult models, I finally caved and bought a Deathwatch Overkill set; damn my weakness!

I also got a few free Genestealers from my brother (a self confessed Tyranid fanatic, who happened to have them going spare anyway). So I'll be starting work on a few of them soon as I wait hungrily for "The big box" to turn up. For a side project I started on a bit of a whim things seem to be getting more and more serious by the second...

K

Genestealer Cult - Thant, the 50p Magus

Well, I think I'm going to call this one a success. I got a really battered plastic Empire Wizard that had been converted into a Wraith rather badly from the bargain bucket at Marquee Models (my local games store). I only bought the thing as it was 50p and I had a vague idea that I could probably build something out of him. After a lot of cleaning as best as I could (he had rather a lot of melty plastic glue on him!) the conversion was surprisingly simple. A head swap, new backpack with robot arm and the icon from the Hybrids box was basically all it took. I've named him "Thant" after a particularly memorable character from Heroes of Might and Magic III as the resemblance was quite striking when he was finished.

Anyway, enough talk - more pictures!

When I originally painted him the first time, I did the whole cloak in yellow, but he didn't blend into the rest of the force very well. The weathering also clashed with it rather horribly; making it look like a dirty plastic Mac. After a lot of to-and-fro over the whole thing I repainted it black and now I'm glad that I did.

If you're wondering about the additional mechanical arm, I'm hoping to tye him into the background of an upcoming campaign against a mechanicus force, so think of him as a corrupted tech-priest or something. Well, that's the gist of it till I get more time to develop the storyline.

The original Thant in all his retro glory

Genestealer Cult Neophyte Hybrids Painting Progress

well, another day and more progress. I've painted another 4 hybrids and the force is staring to feel like it might actually get off the ground; rather than being just another pipe-dream. I've also been working on a Magus built out of a miniature I got for 50p from the bargain bucket. So far it seems to be going well, but check back in tomorrow to see the results!