Insidious Growth - More Chaos Cultists

The trouble with a cult is that it can grow. A charismatic leader and an attractive offering brings the desperate, vulnerable and weak-willed. I've recruited some more cultists to the Benevolent Brothers - this time a pair with autoguns and my first disciple, Grund.

The Benevolent Brothers door to door preaching.

The Benevolent Brothers - A Cult for Mutants and their Supporters

Necromunda is home to all kinds of cults, Imperial devotees, sinister xenos bands and spire-based secret societies. Chaos cults are not unknown - there are those who seek (or are found by) dangerous and unpredictable powers. There are also those cults who provide havens for the unwanted, the lonely and the dispossessed. The origin of the Benevolent Brothers is rumoured to have been a soup kitchen run by a pair of missionary brothers, seeking to bring the light of the Emperor to the mutant slums of Borscht's Crack. No-one knows for certain what happened to the brothers, but the rise of the Benevolent Brothers, a cult of mutants and their human hangers-on, is led by a charismatic and eloquent pair of mutie brothers...

Chaos cultists stalk the streets of the underhive.

Eternal Wanderlust - Eldar Scout Characters

Part of the fun of Kill Team is including a wide range of individual specialist fighters. Whilst I'm limiting my Eldar Kill Team to the Ranger/Scout theme, that doesn't mean that I can't include proxies like my "grav platform" guy with his big gun. And like my illegal 2nd edition unit of Scouts with shuriken catapults, I see no reason why long rifles are the only weapons that an Eldar Scout would utilise.

Pathfinder Bres Ayvan leads his scouts through Imperial ruins.

So my next two additions are the leader of the Kill Team, and a guy with a handy special weapon. In game terms my leader, Bres Ayvan, represents a Dire Avenger Exarch (hence his shuriken catapult), and the fusion gunner is a Storm Guardian.

Ranger Support - Eldar Scouts with Alternate Weapons

I wanted to add some variety into my Eldar scout-themed Kill Team. I figured the best way to do this was by way of proxying some scouts with different weaponry. My favourite unit in my 2nd edition 40k army was a squad of scouts armed with shuriken catapults. These guys in fact:

This veteran unit has experienced the horrors of being boxed and discarded for decades.

I converted this unit by clipping off their long rifle barrels and replacing them with Dark Elf crossbows. At some point in the late 1990s or early 2000s, the unit got further upgrades with fur and Wood Elf accoutrements, and were used as Exodites. It was only a few weeks ago that I suffered the acutely embarrassing realisation that scouts armed with shuriken catapults are not a legal 2nd edition codex unit. I can tell that you're shocked.

My current Kill Team will salvage and refurbish some of the horrifically converted scouts owned by my younger self. And will possibly redeem my rules illegality in the process.

Eldritch Outcasts - Eldar Scout Unit

Back at the start of the year I confidently predicted I'd be painting up a Rogue Trader Eldar army. That may yet prove to be the case, and perhaps my current project will help ease me into it.

I'm painting up an Eldar Scout/Ranger* force two hit two hobby outcomes. The first is to create a new force to use in games of Kill Team, the new 40k skirmish game. The second is to participate in a fun two-month challenge in one of the Facebook groups I'm a member of. The Old World Sprint Challenge challenges participants to paint at least 10 models from the system of their choice.

I'll be painting 6 standard Eldar scouts plus some conversions to represent the different troop types available in Kill Team.

Max Data V2.0 - New Tech Gang Leader

One of the elements that I really enjoy about an extended Necromunda campaign is the progression of your fighters. In the campaign I've been playing in for the last few months, my Tech gang, the Data Kings have gained some really useful fighters - Osbourne who can snipe almost anyone with his plasma cannon. Fischer who's a deadeye with his hot-shot lasgun. Of course Sinclair has a strength-sapping injury, and Celerity has a badly damaged hand, but that's all part of the fun.

My Leader, Max Data, hasn't had too many progressions, but I have invested in some rather tasty gear. He now walks the underhive equipped with a las-plas combi weapon, energy shield, mesh armour, laspistol and a las projector. All this necessitated a new model to accurately represent Max Data and his gear.

To the Victors, the Spoils - Necromunda Campaign Trophies

My gaming group's Necromunda campaign, 'Welcome to Deadwired', reaches its culmination this week, with my fellow arbitrator Mike deviously planning a multiplayer finale. Knowing Mike, there will be numerous dangers and gribbly beasts in the shadows. I can't wait!

Ahead of the final week, I've prepared some trophies for winners of various campaign benchmarks. The trophies are fairly straightforward - figures painted in metallic paint, mounted on some resin display plinths from Model Display Products.

From left to right: 

• 'Regular Guy' (most games)
• 'Executioner' (most opposition fighters taken Out of Action) 
• 'Overlord' (campaign winner) 
• 'Killer Rep' (highest reputation increase over the campaign)