Stargrave Bestiary: Bileworms and Horat

As part of my ongoing prep for future Stargrave games, I've been looking at models needed to fill in the bestiary slots for Encounters. Some of the bestiary options will be filled from my existing collection (bounty hunters, repair bots and drones for example), where as others will be new paint jobs on figures I've been planning on getting round to (like the Warbot / Rogue Trader robot from last week). Some creatures necessitate some brand new models, so I've started looking around to see what might fit.

The Dreaded (Rogue Trader) Ambull

Ahead of the release of Stargrave, I've been chatting through the requirement for a range of beasts for mid-game encounters. Although I have quite a few beasts, there are some gaps - I don't have any flocks or alien birds for example - nor did I have any giant insects. So I've started looking in my boxes to see what I could dig out. First up is this lovely Rogue Trader ambull, which will also stand in as the giant insectoid porigata for Stargrave.

Oh dear, you don't really want something like this emerging from the undergrowth!

An Eight-Legged Reptile with a Petrifying Gaze - The Basilisk

A basilisk is an extremely dangerous beast. Its gaze can petrify living creatures up to 10 yards away, and has been known to dissolve flesh and metal.

But who knew they looked so cute?!

One-Eyed Tentacled Slaver Aliens

Technically, these things should come in threes, and although I have a third on its way to me, I wanted to share this pair of newly painted monocular levitating alien beasts.

What you're looking at is a duo of rather nice resin sculpts which could easily proxy as psychic slavers in the retro science fiction wargame setting of your choice. The larger of the beasts is Cortex Eater from Crooked Dice that I was kindly sent a pre-production sample of. The smaller one is a fan-produced sculpt that was gifted to me well over 12 months ago. Whilst I'm rather embarrassed it took me so long to paint it up, I'm pleased that it is actually painted and not consigned to the shameful box of incomplete projects!

Necromundan Shadow Hound

The folk tales of Necromunda are full of references to terrifying shadowy dog-like creatures. There's the Black Chuck of the Ostpost Angles of Trazior Hive, and the Bargust which purportedly ravages the settlers of Spoil Heap Island in Palatine itself, to mention just two. Of course the dark spaces of Necromunda are infested by innumerable dangerous creatures, but a sighting of a Shadow Hound is almost universally considered by Necromundans to be an omen of impending death. Often within seconds! 

Earlier this year I was planning to take part in the "Here Kitty, Kitty" competition on Yaktribe (make and create a creature for Necromunda). I instantly thought back to Tony Ackland's creepy alien-esque hound that he drew for Confrontation:

Confrontation illustration by Tony Ackland

Beware the Cthellean Cudvark

Every worldly-wise space adventurer or rogue trader is familiar with the wide variety of xenos creatures he or she may encounter: burrowing ambulls, river-dwelling crotalids, the ferro-beasts of Yimbo-bim.

The Cthelle Death World consists primarily of cool woodlands and mountains - inhabited by the easily recognisable Cthellean Cudbear - a shaggy purple beast:

The Cthellean Cudbear as depicted in Rogue Trader