Tuesday 19 May 2020

Kill Team: Rogue Trader 1987

I admit it, over the last couple of months there has been a little bit of a hidden agenda with regard to some of my output. When Kill Team: Rogue Trader was released in September 2018, it sparked off the idea that I might be able to replicate the Imperial forces using actual Rogue Trader miniatures from the 1980s, rather than the modern plastics (which are fantastic miniatures of course).

This wouldn't be an exercise in proving that old is better than new, but rather that the modern figures have their archetypal roots embedded in 40k history. Below is my 10-strong proxy group of Kill Team: Rogue Trader Rogue Trader equivalents, comprised of:



Kill Team: Rogue Trader 1987

Kill Team: Rogue Trader 2018


Apart from the cyber-mastiff (painted in 2015 and borrowed from my Adeptus Arbites), the entire Kill Team was painted this year. The group is broadly period correct (~1987), and apart from the Rogue Trader herself (repurposed from the Warhammer Norse line) and the cyber-mastiff (converted AD&D Blink Dog), the figures are all unmodified Rogue Trader figures.

The last two newly painted additions to the group are the Imperial assassin, and heavy weapons trooper (standing in for the Voidsman with rotor cannon).

Imperial Assassin

This is a lovely sculpt (I suspect by Bob Naismith) which is really hard to photograph. She is posed in a dynamic, leaning stance, with both arms tucked in close to her body. Whatever angle you try to photograph her, she looks like she has mis-matched legs and weirdly short arms. These things are not true. She is a lovely delicate sculpt, with a really beautiful feminine face, and I really enjoyed painting her!






I replicated the black with orange colour scheme I used on the Rogue Trader and the commandos. Black works really nicely on an assassin after all!


Ordinary guards are no defence against the skills of an Imperial assassin.

Heavy Weapons Trooper

I based the heavy weapons trooper on the Imperial Guard with autocannon (as described in the 1991 catalogue). Quite possibly this could be a flamer, or a lascannon or something else entirely, as it doesn't follow any of the standard patterns for weapons. It's definitely a heavy weapon of some variety though!

She got the same uniform as the rest of the commandos, although her orange-visored helmet is slung on her waist. In retrospect, I'd have liked a little spot more colour somewhere on her upper body - there's a lot of black going on!







In order to tie the figure in better with the rest of the troopers, I covered up the vest top that the original sculpt wears, sculpting sleeves and a high-collared tunic. I also added another greenstuff cast backpack to match the rest of the group.



At this point I began to agonise about her head. I wasn't sure if the free-flowing locks fit the totalitarian militaristic style that the rest of the troopers had. In the end, I bit the bullet, chopped off the head and replaced it with one from a modern Sister of Battle. The more severe haircut and respirator do the job to tie her visually with the rest of the squad better, but at the sacrifice of a bit of a focal point to the front of the miniature.


All in all though, I'm pretty happy with how she works alongside her fellow troopers.



I'd love to hear your thoughts on the Kill Team: Rogue Trader 1987 project - hopefully I've captured elements of both the modern game and the classic miniatures. I've got my thinking cap on about Blackstone Fortress too - watch this space!

30 comments:

  1. Very nice recreations of their modern counterparts. I think the simple colour scheme really helps them glue as a unit.

    Blackstone will be a fun one to see your rein vision.

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    1. Thanks Dai! I think the colour scheme helps to tie the models together, rather than having them as a visually incoherent group.

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  2. Very nice indeed. I wonder if the assassin is meant to represent the sample assassin character in Rogue Trader. I think the conversion work on the autocannon gunner has paid off well. I like your way of painting black, too.

    I've been playing some Blackstone Fortress (I bought it without the miniatures for about £20) and it was good fun. It got a little samey, so I've put it on pause, but overall it was a good game with interesting rules, especially regarding initiative. Definitely worth a look.

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    1. I'm not sure about the assassin, I'd need to check RT to see if the wargear matches! I struggled with black for ages, but I reined back on the highlights. I much prefer the softer black as a result!

      I've actually got Blackstone Fortress somewhere about here, but I've not got round to giving it a go ;)

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  3. I laughed when I read this. What a fun idea!

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    1. Glad you like it! Gives me a smile too :)

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  4. Absolutely nailed it. This is really fun!

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  5. This is a great project. I can understand why you agonized about the trooper with the autocannon. I'm rather fond of that model myself. But she came out well, so . . . all's well as ends better. :)

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    1. It's ironic really, I really like the autocannon trooper and have now made two conversions based on her...but I've never painted an unmodified copy! One day perhaps. But for now this version fits this group!

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  6. Spinning the Imperial Assassin as a Death Cultist works with her wargear so much better than the standard route of promoting her to one of the "big four" Assassin Temples. And that's a really clever use of Techpriest Zon. This was one of my favourite blogging projects right from the word go, now it's gone up a league from there!

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    1. I'm not entirely sure when the Assassin Temples came into being, but certainly in RT they were just a generic clandestine organisation headed by the Lord of Assassins. The Gothic and Eldritch Jes Goodwin sketchbook dates the assassin concepts for the current iterations to 1995, so I'm happy keeping her generic. Although it might be fun to do a little bit of a RT themed group of temple adherents!

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    2. Early to mid 90s for the Assassin Temples/Clades for sure. Drip released in WD for a while, with the Culexus added a little later I think.

      Google says WD 188, August 95, but I haven't checked that.

      Regardless, as Curis says, going for a lower grade assassin than the godlike planet killing main four was definitely the way to go.

      This is a wonderful project. As you say, not a project to claim one version is better than another, but a way to achieve a mirror project using figures that simply because of your own vintage, have a little more resonance.

      Top drawer work. I painted twelve of the smallest Gellerpox Infected recently. Maybe one day we might get to face the two forces off :)

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    3. Good stuff, mid-1990s for the Temples then. I've never really been a fan of assassins in their battlefield dominating incarnation really. It seems a bit odd to have them charging across the front lines in full view, when in reality they should be sneaking around at the enemy's rear to try and take out the generals.

      Glad you like the project! Sign me up for that face off :)

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  7. Stellar, as always! Thanks for sharing

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  8. Funny, i would have bet on jes goodwin for the design of the assassin, rather than bob naismith. Nice band!

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    1. I wouldn't know for certain, but there are lots of cues that point to Bob Naismith - the sword design is very similar to other Naismith sculpts, including his Cobalt-1 line, the hunched stance and boots that are very similar to his 40k space pirates.

      Jes tends towards crisper, cleaner sculpts that are generally along a single plane (like the male 40k ninja assassin). His weapons in particular are very conservative - they make sense as functional weapons, rather than the esoteric configurations on the female assassin. His wardancers and harlequins date from roughly the same time, but are much easier to read.

      For me it's enough to convince me that it's a Bob rather than Jes sculpt!

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  9. Ha! I love the twist you introduced here! Wow, the mere concept opens quite a number of collecting/sculpting/painting opportunities. Well played!

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    1. Thanks Suber! I've come round to the idea that models should provide lots of varied gaming opportunities, rather than only be suitable for a single theme or setting. This group of figures (plus the others in the same theme) give me plenty of scope to fit them in to a range of games!

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  10. Nice conversions! I think the female Autocannon trooper is my favourite, like you said, the change of head/hairstyle makes her fit in with the unit theme better.

    As regards her weapon, I'd always considered it some kind of combi-weapon with a combined autocannon and flamer, ideal for clearing out the narrow confines of spacecraft, blast the 'cannon down long hallways, and shoot some hot flamey death through side doors and vents when you get to them!

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    1. I'll buy into the autocannon/flamer combi-weapon idea. Sounds perfect for clearing those genestealer infested corridors!

      Glad you approve of the adjustments to the heavy weapons trooper - that vest and 1970s hairdo just weren't doing it for me!

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  11. Superb work - so much to like but I think my favourite thing is that killer black and orange colour scheme.

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    1. Thanks very much! I wanted something relatively quick to paint, striking and sinister!

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  12. An extremely well put together Kill Team :)

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    1. Thanks! I think the colour scheme holds them all together :)

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  13. Your highlights over black are really subtle and clean. The Paint scheme overall really pops I like the orange helmets/face shields especially. I think it’s great taking a modern game replacing the figs for superior old lead. Cracking.

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    1. Thanks! The highlights are relatively loose,but a black wash really helps to soften everything and blend it. Glad you like them!

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