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| "Here, kitty, kitty, kitty!" |
These three 28mm plastic pre-painted models of Marro Marrden Nagrubs were made by “Wizards Of The Coast” and used to be available from their "Heroscape" Swarm Of The Marro Master Set 2 range.
Initially super-glued upon 40mm circular bases, the deadly massive hounds were all undercoated with "Citadel" Abaddon Black, dry-brushed with "Vallejo" German Grey and then washed with "Citadel" Nuln Oil. Once this Shade had dried they were each given a second, significantly lighter dry-brush of "Vallejo" German Grey over their bellies and legs, and had their sharp pointed teeth painted using a combination of "Vallejo" Gunmetal Grey and "Citadel" Nuln Oil. Finally each monster's head and spinal carapace was given a coat of Abaddon Black.
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| "Well, not much to say, is there? Death was instantaneous." |
A very much appreciated gift from Jez of "Carrion Crow's Buffet" I was originally somewhat tempted to actually stick to these Nagrubs' original colour scheme of a bone underbelly and legs with green chitinous armour. However I soon decided that they'd actually make excellent H.R. Giger-inspired Alien dog-creatures, and as a result I have painted them in exactly the same way as I have with my previous "Horrorclix" Aliens.
In addition to finishing these 'loyal guards of the Hivelord', and I currently have another six on my painting table awaiting priming, I have started blocking in the base colours of ten Evil Hooded Minions cast by "Pulp Figures". These characterful Bob Murch sculpts are part of my planned Pulp Side-Challenge submissions for the Sixth Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge.
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| Evil Hooded Minions WIPs - These unrecognisable fiends just need some washes to be applied |
As these various "nefarious members of a criminal cult" are predominantly purple, on account of their robes and hoods, and because I thought simply painting their trousers and footwear black would make them look a little monotone, I've been trying to give each disciple different coloured slacks in order to try and give the impression they've just thrown their 'garments of office' over the top of their day-to-day clothes.
In addition, although I do plan for these villains to be lead by the fearsome Crimson Scorpion, another of Bob's terrific models from his "Weird Menace" range, I thought I'd paint one of the minions up as a (sub)leader of sorts. As a result I've decided to paint one of the miniatures who is clearly pointing in the direction of an order he's just given with a bright red hood.
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| Doctor Who teams-up with the Cyber-Controller to battle the Great Intelligence and his Yeti in the Death Zone on Gallifrey |
those marro dog look great now and a perfect addition to your Alien forces, the "Hooded claw" and chums look great too, perhaps you should try to find a Penelope Pitstop?
ReplyDeleteThe Doctor teaming up with the cyberleader! the fate of the universe must be dire indeed to make him deal with the devil like that!!
Cheers Roger.
Many thanks Roger, hopefully you can see why I ended up buying a 'few' more Nagrubs once I saw what these three 'beauties' were going to look like :-)
DeleteI'm really pleased with all of Bob Murch's sculpts so far. But these Hooded Minions are proving especially fun to paint - and doubtless I'll be ordering more at some point simply to bulk up their numbers. I'm sure someone somewhere does a not-Penelope. Although I thought the minions in that show wore brown flat caps?
As you'll hopefully recollect during "The Five Doctors" its every alien for themselves in the Death Zone, and if that means the Timelord needs to make a temporary alliance with the silver giants in order to survive (as the Master once did) then he'll do it... at least until Rassilon's games are thwarted ;-)
There is absolutely no doubt that your Nagrubs had to be painted up as Giger-esque dog-like aliens. They just fit the role perfectly.
ReplyDeleteI'm very much looking forward to your next batrep featuring Doctor Who, the Cybermen and the Yetis. I'm guessing you'll be using the Zombicide rules for it. Whatever you decide on, best of luck.
Cheers Bryan. Much appreciated. I think a pack of Nagrubs scurrying in front of a horde of Aliens should prove rather an alarming sight on the tabletop, and allow me to use both Walkers and Runners for an upcoming Alien-inspired "Zombicide" BatRep ;-)
DeleteAs advertised, albeit in rather tiny lettering, next Tuesday's BatRep posting will actually be a game using "Age of Sigmar" rules, so should be quite the bloody affair - apart from the fact it predominantly concerns robots :-)
Terrifying beastie! Looking forward to next week's Doctor Who!
ReplyDeleteThanks Gordon. More Nagrubs coming soon and I hope you enjoy the BatRep ;-)
DeleteI'm so going to be looking for a not penelope now as per Roger's comments lol
ReplyDeletefine work as always Simon! im particularly loving the cultist as you well know and look forward to seeing them completed.
did I see AoS as your rule set for the batrep....interesting. although i have been an avif WFB player for over 25 years AoS was the nail in the coffin for GW inmho i'm looking forward to your take :-)
Cheers Andy. Please do let us know how you get on with a not-Penelope. I should have the first of my Hooded Minion postings ready this time next week, so fingers crossed they won't disappoint.
DeleteYeti vs Cybermen will indeed be an "Age Of Sigmar" game, simply so we can try out the rules before deciding whether to go the 'whole hog' into the game. Although I've already got a few minis partially painted. "AoS" certainly seems to be a bit like Bovril so I'm hoping we like it!
My objection to AOS was based purely on the destruction of the Warhammer universe, one that I had lived in for such a long time. I haven't played the game despite having the rules and masses of figs that can be used as a consequence. At some point I might be tempted back so I'm really interested in seeing what you think ;-)
DeleteThen hopefully you'll be able to get a lot out of the BatRep Andy, and I'll be happy to give you my detailed thoughts in the rules afterwards if you're interested. I never really played "Warhammer Fantasy" but did enjoy the "Gortrek & Felix" novels etc. Recently I've listened to "The Realmgate Wars" audio plays and absolutely loved 'em; especially as the world keeps harking back to the WH Universe. I've a lot of energy & enthusiasm currently for "AoS", so hopefully I can pass that on to you ;-)
DeleteVery much interested in hearing your thoughts Simon, thank you. I miss the Warhammer of old I guess :-)
DeleteGotrek and Felix novels were great, try the Konrad saga as well matey, if you haven't already I have reread them so many times the books fell to pieces lol. My absolute fave novels from that universe though have to be Malus Dark-blade. The dark elf antihero every time I read it, which is at least every 6 months or so I vow to collect a highborn retinue.....
No pressure then Andy ;-) I think I have some Konrad novels somewhere, along with some "Blood Bowl" too as I recall. Huge fan of Malus Darkblade myself, though from the comics as opposed the books, and I even have his miniature on top his lizard steed somewhere :-)
DeleteI think the novels really allowed us to explore his dark, petty nature and get a glimpse into the secretive dark elf "civilisation" and society. I've got the blood bowl one somewhere, which was fun and a good one about a bounty hunter but the name escapes me at five to midnight....lol
DeleteNo pressure at all dude :-) just interested in your thoughts on AoS and the like ;-P
Fingers crossed for this weekend's game then, and I'll be sure to take plenty of photos to populate the BatReps post with :-)
DeleteAnother veritable feast of delights Simon. I received a lovely gift from Jez too, but may have to wait to Dinovember to unveil mine.
ReplyDeleteThanks Michael. Jez is a top fellow, and I look forward to seeing yours... though that's an awfully long wait!!
DeleteDogs look very much like the cow/dog (Depending on whether you read the novel or watched the film) from Alien 3 - good stuff!
ReplyDeleteRed hood is a genius touch!
Cheers Dai. I was tempted to actually paint these beauties with some dark brown highlights, as the "Alien 3" creature always seems to be brown in colour to me. Glad you like the Red Hood; he'll be a stand-out minion in my games of "7TV2".
DeleteNice work on those Alien-dog choices. :)
ReplyDeleteThanks PulpCitizen :-)
DeleteAlien do! I think I need to watch "The Thing". OKay not Giger but still an alien dog.
ReplyDeleteCheers Clint, and that's an extremely terrifying alien dog you'll be watching too :-)
DeleteThose are top notch sir!
ReplyDeleteMost kind Fran :-) And inspired by your AHPC submission I've now got the "AVP" boxed set to paint too!!
DeleteVery nice work, Simon. Really look the part now and I'm looking forward to seeing your Alien horde. I'm sure I saw some not-Aliens that were designed for 15mm, but had bigger mid-sized Aliens that might make good Fatties - possibly Khurasan? I'll have to go and check now...
ReplyDeleteAnd I'm liking the cultists too.
Cheers Jez, and once again many thanks for these. I've actually picked up some Alien Infants and Alien Stalkers by "Prodos" to flesh out my 'Walkers', with the intention of using the larger "Horroclix" Aliens as 'Fatties'. But I'd be very interested in any alternatives you find. The cultists are nice sculpts :-)
Deletehe's right it is Khurasan...
ReplyDeletehttp://khurasanminiatures.tripod.com/15mmscifi.html
and there it is.
Cheers Roger.
OMG... Roger, what have you done!?! Have you seen how many fantastic different sets of aliens those people do? And they all look awesome - there are even some not-Gorn tugging away at my "Star Trek" monies!! What a terrible link to post - I'm tempted to delete it immediately and save my pennies ;-)
DeleteGreat hounds, Simon. Definitely have the Geiger look.
ReplyDeleteThanks Finch. I've certainly been inspired into buying a few more ;-)
DeleteI do like they way you've painted up those beasts - very Giger-esque and who can resist your bog-standard cultists ?
ReplyDeleteCheers Joe. I think the Alien paint-scheme was a must tbh, and I'm glad you like it. The cultists are great Bob Murch sculpts imho and should look very good on the tabletop if I can do them justice.
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