Upir the Leech & Bring Out Your Lead 2025

Bring Out Your Lead (BOYL) was held at Wargames Foundry in Newark near Nottingham last weekend. For those of you who don't know, this is an annual Oldhammer event featuring classic Citadel miniatures and a range of games large and small. This year you would have seen games of Rogue Trader and 2nd edition, classic Warhammer scenarios like McDeath and the Vengeance of the Lichemaster, plus Space Crusade, Heroquest, Necromunda, Man O War and more. There's even space for non-GW games as long as the vibe is right. For my part I pitched my Paul Muller cultists against Mat's Rogue Trader mutants in a game of Stargrave.

Traditionally there is a limited edition event miniature available to attendees. As a general rule, this has a nod to an old-school theme, and is often sculpted by a legendary sculptor. This year, we were lucky enough to have Paul Muller sculpt us Upir, the Underhive Leech:

Crooked Dice Junktown Scrap Walls

I've had a bunch of Crooked Dice's Junktown bits waiting paint for a long while. As I needed some new walls for this coming weekend's Stargrave game, I decided I'd paint up the scrapwalls from the set. I really enjoyed working on these. The paintjobs are superquick with sponging, drybrushing and washes. A few spot colours for variety and some graffitti with my Posca paint pens, and it was job done!

You can buy almost anything in Junktown. Whether it works or not is another matter!

The Word Spreads - Muller Cult Reinforcements

Here are a few extra cultists for my Muller Cult. I needed this trio to round out my 10-strong Cult crew for a game of Stargrave I'll be playing at Bring Out Your Lead 2025 in a couple of weeks time.

Ever-more corrupt cult followers emerge, showing degenerate attributes and mishapen forms.

All hail the Scavvy King (no, not that one)!

Back with the Sinkhole Boggarts, my Marauder-themed scavvy gang. This time I've finished off their leader, who I'm currently calling Ned Crundle (TBC). I probably spent far too long thinking about this figure, but ultimately I'm happy that he fits nicely with the Marauder aesthetic.

The stinking Sinkhole Boggarts, led by Ned Crundle with his unstable plasma pistol

Bits & Pieces - Servitor Bodyguard & Warning Sign

I have a few hobby tasks I needed to complete prior to Bring Out Your Lead 2025 between 8-10 August. Mostly these are bits I want to use in a planned game of Stargrave, which should see my Muller cultists take on some mutie scum. I'm working my way through the to-do list: first up is a figure kindly given to me by Aidan of Warfactory Miniatures at Lead & Steel earlier this year.

Big Lad with a Big Club - Scavvy Scaly

Although scalies only became part of the scavvy gang in Necromunda, I liked the idea of including one in my Confrontation era Marauder scavvy gang. I could have used a 1990s or 2000s scaly, but I wanted one that fit the Marauder aesthetic. That meant digging out a suitable Aly or Trish sculpt. I looked at a lot of orcs, ogres & trolls, but ended up settling on the brilliant Talisman Troll sculpted by Aly. I had to modify him of course!

Grolch is regularly used by the Sumphole Boggarts to protect their miserly stash of 'valuables'.

Sinkhole Boggarts - More Scavvies

Between the Citadel and Marauder scavvies, there are plenty to make up a full gang. The different in sculpting styles is petty evident however, so I decided to build out two gangs: a 'Marauder' gang (I'm calling the Sinkhole Boggarts) comprised of Aly and Trish sculpts, and a 'Citadel' gang (name TBC) comprised of Jes sculpts. As there are only four official Marauder sculpts, that meant I had to start converting some more to bring up the numbers.

A ranging group of scavvies seek riches amongst the piles of scrap.