Inquisitor 28: The Buddy System

So, after last week’s crude drawings, let’s get back to actual models, shall we? 😉 Work on Inquisitor Gotthardt’s retinue continues, and it certainly feels good to finally put some paint on some of these models: The warbands is one of my earliest projects for INQ28, with many of the models dating back a couple of years at this point, so finally painting them, giving them a pat on the head and introducing them to all the nice people out there really feels like I am tying up some loose ends!

So I am going to show you some of the new models I have managed to finish, of course. But I would also like to use this occasion to talk about a certain dynamic about this project – and, in fact, about INQ28 character creation in general – that I find rather fascinating. A warning in advance, though: What follows will be a rather wordy post on the minutiae of my creative process, so if you’re just visiting for the pretty pictures, feel free to scroll down 😉

 

When I created the first characters for Inquisitor Gotthardt’s retinue, the warband was intended as a bit of a foil to the gang I had created immediately beforehand: The warband of one Inquisitor Antrecht:

Antrecht is a radical with Istvaanian leanings, and his retinue certainly reflects that: Since many of his colleagues in the Ordos see him as a dangerous heretic, he can no longer move through the Velsen Sector too openly and has to rely on some rather shady characters to do his work for him (such as a runaway Magos, a bounty hunter, a former Officio Assassinorum operative, a twist sniper and an actual daemonhost). The rest of his retinue is made up of arco-flagellants and combat servitors: tragic creatures and certainly not wholesome characters. But in the desert, a man has to take such water as he is offered.

Now Antrecht’s former-friend-turned-pursuer Erasmus Gotthardt is still far more moderate and puritan in his views, even if he has already had to make a compromise here and there. This allows him to travel the sector more freely and recruit retainers that are somewhat less extreme (if still rather unconventional at times). In short, fewer twisted monsters and more actual people. And once again, I wanted the retinue to reflect this quality, lending it a more adventurous, somewhat picaresque feel. I’ve already mentioned that many of the members of the warband are based on the classic archetypes from the Inquisitor rulebook. But while working on the models, something interesting happened: While I started by merely ticking off boxes (Rogue Trader, check. IG veteran, check. Huge Inquisitor in golden armour à la Inquisitor Tyrus, check), the various models suddenly started to develop a life of their own. That is, I started to think about their motivations, their backstories and what had led them into Gotthardt’s service.

Now developments like this always feel very rewarding, because they make the models grow beyond their origins as mere playing pieces into actual characters, which is a lot of fun. But it went even further here in that some of the characters suddenly brought their buddies on board. Case in point, I had a security agent named Remus Ingram, and suddenly I felt that he certainly needed a cyber-mastiff to accompany him on his patrols through the underhive. Now in this particular case, it took me years to find the right base model for the cyborg-canine, but I ultimately did, and now Remus has his personal mutt, “Balzepho”:

Rogue Trader Iskander Gagarin was a similar case: The model was originally built to resemble Duke von Castellan from the Inquisitor rulebook: a strangely eclectic character in a fantasy uniform. So far so good. But when PDH sent me a powder monkey from one of the WFB Empire kits one day, I realised that the little guy would make for an ideal pet for the flamboyant Rogue Trader with a bit of work. So PeeDee the Monkey was born — and became the actual template for Iskander’s paintjob later on:

Now neither the dog nor the monkey are extremely deep and important characters in the larger narrative, of course. But they serve as a deeper explorations of certain facets of their respective masters, if you will, making the characters a bit more real in the process. Plus they were just a lot of fun to build and paint!

Now one of the new models I promised you really takes this whole buddy concept to the next level. You may remember Cpt. Esteban Revas, one of my oldest INQ28 characters (he also has quite a bit of backstory as well):

I originally built Esteban as a variation of the IG veteran archeytpe. I really liked the idea of a guard regiment in (somewhat ridiculous) getup recalling both renaissance clothing as well as the military uniforms of the 18/19th century. The resulting model was built with a much smaller bitzbox than I have today, but I am still enormously fond of Esteban even now: I think the model is really quite characterful. Esteban Revas looks like a rather arrogant peacock, but there’s also a hint at something deeper, a hidden tragedy maybe? Plus there’s always the fact that he must have had some inner quality to become a member of an Inquisitorial retinue.

The longer I thought about the character, the more I felt that his background deserved further exploration: I had invented a regiment for him, the 126th Haaruthian Dragoons, but that was just a name and didn’t really mean anything. But now I started thinking about Haaruthia, about the Dragoons and about Esteban’s backstory, and suddenly I had an idea about another character to accompany the good Captain:

An aristocratic officer like Revas would certainly have some kind of servant to lug around his gear, clean his boots and just serve as a whipping boy, if the need arises, right? So with that idea in the back of my head, I built the first version for Trooper Salvador ‘Sal’ Koltz, formerly of the 126th Haaruthian Dragoons and personal retainer to House Revas:

Koltz was originally created as a bit of a joke character, actually: His almost medieval getup was a hint at the feudalist structures inside the Haaruthian military, with proud nobles being handed officers’ ranks without any need for actual qualification while the commoners could only ever hope for a place in the trenches, more fodder for the meatgrinder of war. At the same time, I gave him a huge amount of gear to lug around, because just because we’re in a warzone doesn’t mean that Cpt. Revas can possibly do without his smoking utensils, right? In a small yet effective stroke of absurdity, I even added a small treasure chest from the Bretonnian Men-at-arms kit to the pile of gear on Koltz’ back. The screaming head from an old Empire kit was chosen to invoke the impression that Koltz is just a regular guy who is way out of his depth: “What has that idiot gotten me into this time?”, he seems to be hollering.

While I was happy enough with the resulting model, the various characters in the warband were still very much in flux, and so Esteban Revas became more and more rounded-out: While he remained a proud and haughty character, his backstory also revealed a deeper nobility, an inner urge to do what’s right and neccessary. And while this made him a better, more believable character, it also meant that Koltz would have to grow along with him, becoming less of a caricature and more of a believable person himself. I exchanged lots of ideas on this matter with DexterKong, and in the end, while the Master and servant dynamic between the two characters remained in place, Koltz also became a straight man to Esteban, serving as an unabashedly lowbrow, yet also surprisingly cunning and loyal foil to his master. I wanted him to be less downtrodden and more confident. This coincided with a small but important change to the model: Dexter suggested replacing the characterful (but somewhat panicky) head with another bit from the Empire range, this time from the Free Company:

And I think you’ll agree with me that the different head totally changes the feel of the model: Koltz looked way more confident and self-assured now. A grizzled veteran rather than a panicked everyman. The screaming head was cool, no doubt about that, but it simply no longer told the right story.

I was really happy with the model at this point, all things considered. So what did I do next? Well, I put Koltz away and didn’t paint him for several years, that’s what 😉 But after Esteban Revas was completed a while ago, Koltz’ time had finally come, and so I dusted off the model and got to work last weekend.

And while the model may be a fairly straighforward conversion, coming up with the right paintjob turned out to be rather challenging for a number of reasons: For one, it shouldn’t surprise you that I wanted Koltz and Esteban to really work as a pair within the bigger framework of the warband, with Koltz serving as a straight man to his, ultimately decent yet also fairly foppish, superior, and they also embody the class distinctions in the Haaruthian military, with commoners serving as the rank and file, while the nobles (with their very romantic concept of warfare) get handed the command, with little to no regard to their actual suitability for such positions.

I tried to achieve it by painting Koltz’ livery in a way that makes it look like a less grandiose, ruddier version of Esteban’s dress uniform. I also wanted to include some hints to the 126th Haaruthian Dragoons’ heraldry. And while I wanted the model to look a bit more subdued, I also needed to add some small touches and tweaks to make it suitably interesting from a visual standpoint.

So here’s what I ended up with:

While Koltz may no longer technically be a member of the Dragoons, he’s still wearing their colours and heraldry, including a numeral “126” on his left shoulder pad (spliced together from two Cadian decals — maybe I should have looked at the available numbers beforehand and then chosen the regimental number afterwards…), a generic IG winged skull on his right shoulder pad and a small plaque with a stylised “H” (for Haaruthia) dangling from his belt. He also has the same very dark silver armour with a gloss finish as his master.

Here’s a look at all the gear on his back:

Making him look like a bit of a packing mule without seeming comically over-encumbered was a bit of a challenge, but I think the overall effect really works. I still think that small treasure chest is a rather beautiful touch 😉

In order to add some subtle visual flourishes to the model, I have Koltz a five o’ clock shadow on his face and added a slight woodgrain pattern to the casing of his rifle. Both effects may not be spectacular or anything, but I am still fairly pleased with the result!

Bound by a debt of honour to Lord Bestrald Salazar Revas, Trooper Salvador “Sal” Koltz has vowed lifelong service to House Revas and has become Esteban Revas’ personal retainer, serving under him in the 126th Haaruthian Dragoons and following him into the service of Inquisitor Erasmus Gotthardt afterwards. While he may seem irreverent, indolent and unashamdely lowbrow at first glance, Koltz actions reveal a surprisingly crafty and unfailingly loyal individual whose feeling of obligation towards Cpt. Revas goes far beyond any notions of military discipline.

 

So much for the character himself. Here’s Koltz and Revas together — I hope you’ll agree with me that there really is a certain dynamic between the two models:

Koltz may not be a spectacular piece, but I am still enormously pleased with the model. When all is said and done, my chief goal in this hobby is to invent, build and paint characters rather than mere playing pieces, and it just feels like I have come pretty close to achieving that goal with these two guys!

As for the bigger picture, additional buddies like the two cyber-pets and Trooper Koltz have made Inquisitor Gotthardt’s retinue grow beyond what was originally planned, and that is something that has indeed happened to me on several projects. But while the temptation to add a character here and there might get me sidetracked occasionally, it’s also a great way of further exploring the inner workings and backstory of any given warband/army, so it’s a temptation that I am usually just too happy to indulge! 🙂

One more model before we wind up, and yet another oldie but goldie 😉 Back when I built the first models for Inquisitor Gotthardt’s retinue, I decided to also include a character based on the “Drill-Abbot” archetype from the Inquisitor rulebook. So I made this guy:

Another fairly simple conversion, and one that reproduces several elements of GW’s 54mm model for Preacher Josef, such as the robe, thunder hammer and devotional knicknacks. But while I was happy enough with the conversion itself, it took me ages to find the right angle for this guy: Call me weird, but it’s far easier for me to actually paint a model for INQ28 when I have even the slightest idea of who they are as a character.

Unbelievably enough, it took a couple of years for me to return to this model, but suddenly things just fell into place: I was thinking of the “Quelling of St. Berthold”, an event DexterKong came up with for our shared INQ28 setting, the Velsen sector. I don’t want to give too much away, seeing how Dexter is probably going to reveal some of the story on his blog sooner rather than later, but the general idea is that a daemonic incursion occured at St. Berthold and had to be fought back by a coalition of Imperial forces. For a number of reasons, the event became a turning point in the lives of many of the characters involved. Looking at my little drill abbot here, I asked myself: What if he participated in the operation as a member of the Imperial Guard? And what if the things he saw during that campaign instilled in him an utter piety born out of sheer terror and made him take a cloth and become an Ecclesiarchy cleric?
Not a momentous idea, certainly, but it was enough to rekindle my interest in the model and finally get it painted. So here’s the finished Drill Abbot:

Funnily enough, I chose a colour palette very close to the one used by the ‘Eavy Metal team for Preacher Josef — I just liked the look of the paintjob and also thought it might go well with the rest of the warband. But even though much about the model recreates GW’s Preacher Josef, I hope there’s still enough originality about Father Harlan to turn him into a character in his own right.

In fact, one aspect of the model ultimately turned into a part of his character in a rather organic way: When I originally posted the WIP model on the Ammobunker, a fellow forumite joked that the little casket worn at the model’s right hip probably contained some kind of alcoholic beverage. Now I had originally intended that element as a vessel for holy water or some kind of unguent, but I liked the idea, so when PDH suggested adding a drinking cup to the model’s gearbelt, I did just that. Now given Father Harlan’s backstory, maybe his drinking habit might be another consequence of his experiences at St. Berthold?

Father Endric Harlan is a Drill-Abbot of the Velsian Ecclesiarchy currently serving as personal confessor to Inquisitor Erasmus Gotthardt. A veteran of the Imperial Guard, his experiences during the Quelling of St. Bertholdt led him to pursuing a life of piety, haunted by the utter fear born of of having witnessed firsthand the terrible powers of chaos.

 

Regarding the bigger picture, I am really happy to say that I have managed to finish nearly all the members of Inquisitor Gotthardt’s retinue — just one more character to go, although that will be quite a challenge. Because the last member of the warband will be Elisha Gorgo:

We’ll see how that turns out…

In the meantime however, here’s a look at the retinue so far:

I hope you have enjoyed my – unfortunately rather wordy – look at my creative process. Please don’t hesitate to let me know any feedback you might have! And, as always, thanks for looking and stay tuned for more!

INQ28 Desktop roundup II: The good, the bad and the ugly

It is very clearly a great time for being an INQ28 aficionado: More and more people are trying their hand at converting their own Inquisitorial retinues, and with John Blanche’s column in WD regularly dedicated to INQ28 models, and with the work of exceptionally talented artists like PDH and migsula indeed being published in WD proper, it seems like a second spring for a game that was pretty much abandoned by GW years ago.

Looking at so many great models has given me a new hunger for building more INQ28 models and tweaking some of the existing ones. So I would like to show you a small gallery of my latest WIPs. Some of these are models I already posted some time ago I chose to revisit and touch up. Some are recent additions to my collection. I usually enjoy working on several of these at the same time, different as they may turn out in the end. But all of them have one thing in common: They are either good, bad or ugly* — or a combination of the above. Let’s take a look:

 

1.) Inquisitor Gotthardt’s Retinue:

The first few models will end up as retainers to Inquisitor Erasmus Gotthardt, of the Ordo Hereticus. All of these were previously posted in the first INQ28 desktop roundup, yet I have worked on them some more since then, hammering out the last kinks and rough edges, dealing with unfinished stuff and taking to heart the feedback I received on forums.

Former Guard Captain Esteban Revas

Since I designed Revas to decidedly look like a fencer, I thought it would be interesting if his fencing style incorporated a longer and shorter blade at the same time, so I added a Sanguinary Guard dagger at his hip. It’s only a very minor detail, to be sure, but one I am very pleased with nonetheless, because it serves to further define the character. All in all, I am very pleased with this model, and will paint it up as soon as I have managed to stop obsessing over the colour combination…

Drill Abbot

I followed the advice of my fellow forumites and slightly shortened this fellow’s neck, to make him look like a bulldog of a man. And I added a couple of additional items to his belt to bulk him out even more and to show that he carries some additional equipment (and quite a few items of worship, like the small reliquary and a cask of holy water at his side):

Painting wise, I imagine a combination of rich reds and browns would be the best way to go for this character, along with a healthy complexion and a grey beard. We’ll see…

Retired Arbites Judge/Security Agent

I wanted this guy to look like a tough-as-nails ex-hive-cop who knows every trick in the book and is quite used to walking the beat on the wrong side of the monorail tracks, and the pilot model from the “Battle for Maccrage” boxed set nicely fit the bill. Since we last saw this guy, I replaced the clunky DA power maul with a more fitting stun baton, spliced together from the grip of the aforementioned maul and a WFB Marauder weapon. Again, it’s a small but important change.

 

2.) Inquisitor Fiegmund’s retinue

As an addition to Inquisitor Antrecht’s collection of carnival freaks and Inquisitor Gotthardt’s more middle-of-the-road approach, Inquisitor Fiegmund’s retinue will be as gothic and scary as they come. You see, Holm Fiegmund is a puritan member of the Ordo Hereticus whose hunt for Antrecht has driven him over the edge (and horribly scarred him for life, causing others to refer to him behind his back as the “Maimed Man”). In short, I want Fiegmund’s retinue to be a pretty dark and uncompromising looking bunch. Here are the first models:

Preacher/Redemptionist Priest

Well, you cannot have a puritan Hereticus warband without one of these. The model is a pretty straightforward kitbash, using parts of the Empire flagellants, a Guard laspistol and a Khorne Berzerker chainsword to make a suitably imposing eviscerator.

The Dancer

This bonny lass, codenamed “The Dancer” is a (death cult) assassin in the employ of Inquisitor Fiegmund. I have this idea about several members of Fiegmund’s retinue being female, which should be an interesting way of setting off the dark, gothic look.
In this case, the model was built using mainly Wych parts from the Dark Eldar Venom kit. I then added a couple of more Imperial looking bitz, including a servo skull for a head. I want to leave the Dancer’s actual nature deliciously ambiguous: Is she a cultist, a servitor or something altogether different? Only Inquisitor Fiegmund would know, and he certainly isn’t telling…

Expect more pretty fethed up models for this particular retinue in the future…

 

3.) Yet another retinue — Xenos this time?

I’ll be honest with you: Building Inquisitorial retinues is a pasttime I simply cannot get enough of. I can get quite a kick creating new Inquisitors pondering their relations to their retainers and all the stories behind that, even withhout ever actually having to use the characters in a game. And I recently realised that I had not yet managed to come up with an Inquisitor belonging to the Ordo Xenos…

Oh, and by the way: Some of the following conversions were only made possible because my buddy Biohazard was awesome enough to let me have his batch of Dark Vengeance cultists, so I am free to use them for all kinds of INQ28 goodness (and for several other projects as well).

WIP Inquisitor

Well, this guy is turning out to be a bit of a toughie: When I got my hands on Biohazard’s cultist, I planned to transform one of the champions (the chap looking like a Commissar) into an Inquisitor. My original plan was to simply make a more ostentatious looking version of Inquisitor Antrecht, but that really didn’t work all that well. So I was left trying different combinations of parts. Here’s what I ended up with after a while:

You’ll probably agree that this guy will need quite a bit more work: I love the pistol and overall pose, but the head is clearly too big. And while I like the thought of giving him a tie or cravat of some kind, it was pointed out to me by fellow forumites over at the Ammobunker that the one in the picture above makes him look like a Western character — and we certainly can’t have that!

So I tried a new tie, as well as a couple of different heads. Here’s a composite for you:

As you’ll probably agree, some of these would lead to wildly different outcomes. While I am personally rather fond of options A and B for some reason, I haven’t decided yet, so you are very welcome to put in your own two cents on the matter!

Kroot Shaper/Pathfinder

While getting the Inquisitor in fighting shape may yet take some doing, I am fortunately quite a bit further along when it comes to some of his tentative servants. First in line is this Kroot shaper/pathfinder inspired by a fantastic Mike Anderson GD model which also appears in the 40k rulebook. I posted an early mockup of him quite some time ago, but it has taken quite a while for the model to reach a point where I am actually really happy with it. The model received a hunting bow (spliced together from a Kroot rifle and High Elf bow) and a machete (a shaved down Ork choppa), and I added a couple of details to make this guy look like a “noble savage”. I actually have quite an interesting/tragic backstory for the character, floating around half-formed at the back of my head, and painting him should be a nice change of pace. I also think he might have an interesting, if grudgingly amicable, relationship with the next character…

Imperial Guard Veteran/former Hive Ganger

I had always suspected that the heavy weapon cultists would make great base models for IG veterans, and indeed, all it took was a couple of bitz! The Space Wolves scout head gives the model some punk attitude, so this guy could conceivably have been a ganger before being drafted into the guard.

In any case, the Xenos retinue will need a bit more work, but I am definitely getting there…

 

4.) Servants of the Dark Gods

Well, you know what they say: Evil never sleeps. So it was clear I also needed to build some more villains.
Some of these will end up doing double duty for both INQ28 and my Traitor Guard, but they’ll probably feel right at home in either…

Eyeless Crawler

Quite a long time ago, I built some crawler troglodytes to serve as the genetically enhanced brood of one rogue Genetor Amnon Helix, a recurring nemesis to Inquisitor Antrecht. The models were posted ages ago on Molotov’s blog. Now I didn’t do a whole lot with these for some time, but when the new model for chaos champion Vilitch the Curseling was released, I started wondering whether those crawlers wouldn’t be even more disturbing with a near featureless face, not unlike Vilitch’s.

The original model used a regular WFB Crypt Ghoul head, and now I shaved off the model’s eyes and nose and smoothed out the whole are with Liquid GS, opting for a horrible, mostly featureless face. This makes the creature look quite a bit more revolting (and far less like Gollum, which is also a plus).

Chainsaw maniac

This guy was a conversion I had been wanting to do for ages! It was really simple too: Just clip off the barrels of the flamer, add the blade from an Ork choppa and presto: Industrial saw! I also added a disturbing, patched together hood from one of the other cultist models for that certain “Leatherface” look. This guy will definitely be used in my Traitor Guard, but I can easily see him putting in the odd cameo in INQ28 or Necromunda, as a “miniboss” or some kind of “environmental hazard”  😉

Father Pain

Having already built champions of Khorne, Nurgle and Tzeentch for my Traitor Guard, “Urash’s Marauders”, I needed a model to represent a mighty follower od Slaanesh. The solution to this particular problem arrived when Biohazard sent me the chaos priest from the WFB Warshrine of Chaos. Since the guy was quite the beefcake, I thought his immaculate physique would make him a nice fit for a follower of the dark prince:

Two new hands, a new head and some GS later, Father Pain was born. I realise the greenstuffed area will need quite a bit more work, but I think you can see where this is going. The glaive came from the new WFB plastic Chaos Lord, by the way:

All in all, I think the model makes for a quite convincing champion of Slaanesh, and he would also work as a cult leader in games of INQ28.

 

As you can, see, I have got lots and lots on my plate regarding INQ28 models. Lord knows when I am actually going to get around painting these, but I just can’t stop kitbashing them — it’s just too much fun… 😉

In any case, C&C are always welcome! And, as always, thanks for looking and stay tuned for more!

 

* I do of course realise that the idea of arranging INQ28 models by their respective goodness, badness or ugliness was very much migsula’s idea to begin with. So let’s just say I was inspired by his work (which is totally true) and didn’t just steal this particular idea 😉

Inquisitor 28: Desktop roundup

Right, with Inquisitor Antrecht’s retinue so thoroughly documented, let us turn to my other INQ28 models, of which there are currently about 30 in different states of completion. Some of them are pretty much complete, some are early sketches, still others are simply useful 40k models that I managed to pick up (from cousin Andy’s extensive collection, in more than one case). I’d like to showcase these models in a series of posts that I call “Desktop roundup” to show you where my different Inquisitor projects are headed. I also encourage you to let me know your ideas and criticism! Many of these models are nowhere near finished, and they can only get better with your help. So let’s get this show on the road!

In today’s post, we’ll take a look at a number of models I built (or am still building) for the retinue of Inquisitor Gotthardt. You’ll notice straight away that, compared to Inquisitor Antrecht’s freakshow of a warband, Gotthardt’s followers are a lot less extreme. Nevertheless, I am trying to make them interesting and rounded characters.

First up is Rogue Trader Iskander Gagarin, in Gotthardt’s service ever since the Inquisitor convicted him of smuggling Xenos contraband and made him an offer he could not refuse:

With this model, I tried to partly channel the look of Rogue Trader von Castellan from the Inquisitor rulebook. I like the idea that rogue traders are pretty much naval merchants on speed, sporting a wild mix of gaudy dress uniforms and more exoctic features, so that’s what I tried to achieve with Gagarin: I used a Cadian officer’s torso and right arm with the left arm and legs coming from an old WFB Empire cannon kit. The head is a Space Wolf scout’s, while the flashy fur cloak is from the WFB Empire Knights. To represent Gagarin’s dealings with Xenos cultures, I gave him a shuriken pistol from an old Eldar CC weapons sprue and a Dark Eldar knife on his belt. He is also carrying his family’s heirloom sword (again from the Empire Knights). All in all, I am rather pleased with the overall effect. He looks suitably swanky, with just a bit of a swashbuckling vibe. I’ll probably go for a pretty loud paintjob, in order to make him look like a 19th century military officer turned up to eleven.

Next in line is a character that I intended to be the very opposite of Gagarin: Captain Esteban Revas, former regimental champion of the 126th Haaruthian Dragoons, who was dishonoured in the eyes of his regiment, his family and his homeworld for the crime of actually doing an honourable deed (go figure!):

I wanted to build a model that was clearly recognisable as a (former) member of the Imperial Guard. I also wanted the model’s pose to be full of confidence, even arrogance, to underline his military upper-class background. Again, I used a mix of Cadian parts and bits from WFB Empire kits. Revas is supposed to be an accomplished fencer and duelist, so I gave him a weapon (and some absurdly ornate equipment — check out his helmet!) to match this effect. Though I used components very similar to Gagarin’s, the resulting model looks very different, and the dynamic between the two characters should be fairly interesting in the background as well.

While Gagarin’s and Revas’ characters and respective background are pretty far along, there are some additional members of the warband who haven’t yet made it beyond the modelling stage, with little or no background in place.

On of those is a drill abbot I built:

I wanted him to look like an older, world weary type who nevertheless can hold his own in battle. I used a stocky monk’s body from the Bretonnian men-at-arms, combined with a Space Wolf head, a power hammer from the power armoured Grey Knights and a couple of bits. I also gave him a lantern for good measure. All in all, the model’s a bit shorter than I would have liked, but that cannot be helped. I haven’t come up with a background for him yet, but I’ll work something out.

Then there’s this guy:

You all probably recognise the model as the shuttle pilot from the Maccrage box set. I really love this guy, so I talked cousin Andy into letting me have him. After thinking for a while about what I would actually use him for, I decided to attach him to an Inquisitorial warband as some kind of retired Arbites judge, security agent or something of the like.

Towards that end, I clipped off the case he was carrying and added a power maul (from the Dark Angels veteran kit) instead. However, I am not quite sure whether I should clip off the maul’s head or not, or replace it with something different…any ideas? I also added some gloves from the Bretonnian men-at-arms to his belt.
Apart from that, I’m pretty sure I won’t change too much about the model, since the base model is great as it is. But if there are any suggestions, let me know!

And finally, here is a character I have been toying around with for quite a while now:

A Kroot mercenary I built from some parts that had accumulated in my bitzbox. However, I always saw the Kroot as more than just a couple of flesh-eating “birdmen”. I’ve been intrigued by a number of conversions I’ve seen over the years that chose to emphasise the tribal aspect to the Kroot culture, picturing them as some kind of “noble savages” if you will. And however dated (and downright politically incorrect) that concept may be in actual literature, I think there’s little harm in applying it to a race of alien birdmen from space.

The model you see above was heavily inspired by a Kroot conversion published in the new 40k rulebook. The model throws some High-Elf (and Wood Elf) bits into the mix to add some tribal elements. However, as you can see, this guy is not finished by a long stretch, and I am also not sure whether he’ll actually end up in Gotthardt’s entourage or will rather be held back for the warband of a Xenos Inquisitor I have yet to build.

Anyway, that’s the first few character sketches currently loitering on my desk. If you have any questions, suggestions or ideas, let me know in the comments! I am looking forward to hearing from you!

In any case, as always, thanks for looking and stay tuned for more!

Inquisitor 28: Inquisitor Erasmus Gotthardt

Once I had begun putting together Inquisitor Antrecht and his retinue, I found myself thinking about both possible friends and enemies of his as well. Today, I would like to introduce you to a man who, in a way, is both. Meet Inquisitor Erasmus Gotthardt.

I am always easily drawn towards certain visual archetypes. One that really fascinated me while browsing through the Inquisitor rulebook was that of Inquisitor Tyrus: A massive, implacable man, quite intimidating and possibly terrifying to behold, as he is slowly advancing towards his quarry. So in a way, Inquisitor Gotthardt started out as a way of building a character similar to Tyrus at the 28mm scale.

Here’s the result:

I started with an AOBR Terminator to make the model look suitably massive. However, I didn’t want him to be wearing a standard Terminator armour, so I added a couple of bits to individualise the armour: The shoulderpads are armour plates from the Ork boyz kit, while his chestplate came from a Chaos Space Marine. I also added scrolls and decorations to make him look more like an Inquisitor and less like a Marine sergeant. The head is from a WFB Empire flagellant.

Regarding the paintjob, I went for the classic “Inquisitorial” colours of gold and crimson for a rather regal look.  I have to be honest with you, though: That meant I could also use the Inquisitor as a test piece of sorts for the colour scheme I wanted to use for a small Custodes project. Oh, and I decided to paint his energy mace in light blue to make it pop more.

All in all, Inquisitor Gotthardt is quite an imposing figure. One thing that’s important to note though is that he is not actually supposed to be wearing Terminator armour! He may be based on an AOBR Termie, but I wanted his armour to look if it was more of a special design. If I ever were to do an INQ28 Space Marine, it would be a truescale version, so he would look just as big as, if not a little bigger than Gotthardt. So the armour is really supposed to be some “regular” power armour, pretty much like the one Tyrus is wearing. Maybe it’s even only partial power armour. I really only build him that way for looks, not because I wanted him to be invincible during games.

As for the character’s background, I already mentioned that, while working on the model, I hwas thinking of Gotthardt as some kind of Tyrus-expy: A bombastic, narrowminded Monodominant, strict in his rejection of what he considers to be Heresy (i.e. pretty much everything). However, as I began to think about the various possible members of his retinue, Inquisitor Gotthardt’s character somehow slowly began to transform. I now see him as more of a “good guy” (insofar as that category can even be applied to Inquisitors at all): fair and straightforward, if a little orthodox in his philosophy. But at the same time, he is a tortured man, full of insecurity over his old friend Antrecht’s seeming betrayal and torn between what he believes is right and what Antrecht has told him during their various confrontations (Fear not however, the role of pompous, insane Monodominant will be filled by somebody else — I have a plan!).

So with this gradual shift of his character in mind, I sat down to write a short piece of background for Inquisitor Gotthardt:

Inquisitor Erasmus Gotthardt, Ordo Hereticus (formerly of the Ordo Malleus)

Inquisitor Erasmus Gotthardt is a man torn. Torn between old loyalties and his beliefs. Torn between what he has been told and what he believes to be right.

Once he was one of Inquisitor Antrecht’s closest friends, and both of them worked tirelessly to smite the daemon wherever it was found. Many were their exploits in the service of the Ordo Malleus, and their friendship endured through all the hardships they had to face during their arduous work.

The two of them went separate ways when Antrecht set out on a quest to take down the notorious heretic Amnon Helix, and they did not see each other for a long time. So Gotthardt was all the more shocked when he heard the accusations leveled at Antrecht after the disappearance of Witch Hunter Ferrante. He could not believe that his friend could have fallen so far, so he sought him out in order to make him see reason.

During their confrontation, Gotthardt implored his old friend to finally come clean, to accompany him before the Conclave and deal with the accusations. Gotthardt felt that they were beginning to work out some kind of understanding, but then the rash and fanatic Inquisitor Fiegmund, an erstwhile pupil of Ferrante,  interrupted their discussion and tried to apprehend Antrecht by force. In the ensuing three-way fight, Ferrante was attacked and horribly maimed by Antrecht’s Daemonhost, while the Inquisitor managed to get away. Afterwards, the Inquisitorial Conclave at Pervatia Secundus addressed the question of how best to stop Antrecht. Inquisitor Gotthardt was thorougly examined and interrogated due to his connections to the fugitive and the grievous injuries dealt to another member of the Holy Ordos, and there were those who suspected that he was Antrecht’s accomplice in the matter. Riddled with doubt over what he had witnessed and weakened by his long interrogations, Gotthardt adressed the Conclave:

“You may keep arguing about whether there is any method to Lazarus Antrecht’s madness. You may keep searching for a name to give to his philosophy: Call it Istvaanianism or Antrechtism or call it by its true names: Madness. Heresy. That is the only classification I need. And though I may weep for the friend I lost, I must not waver in my task. For he whom I knew is dead and gone, and the last service that I may do him is to run down and take out the monster that he has become.”

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As always, thanks for looking and stay tuned for more!