"You Are Proof. That Emotions Destroy You."

"Originally evolving on Earth's lost twin planet of Mondas..."

This 28mm scale plastic model of a Cyberman is produced by “Warlord Games” and is one of the twelve Mondasians found within the "Doctor Who: Exterminate!" "fast-paced tabletop miniatures game". Created by Dr. Kit Pedler and story editor Gerry Davis in 1966, these particular sculpts are based upon the "technologically advanced Cybermen" which appeared in the May 2013 BBC Television series story "Nightmare In Silver", and, due to their sprue containing a selection of separate right arms, can be assembled in a variety of poses.

As I plan to use this Cyberman in order to play the game's introductory scenario "A Meeting Of Metal", I decided to turn him into the species' Cyber Leader by building the miniature so it best replicated the illustration of the character's recruitment card. This caused me to pose the model as if the silver giant was in mid-stride, with his integral cyber-gun arm raised, and about to fire. In addition, I assembled three small cyborgs to use as his accompanying Cybermat Swarm; an extra base of diminutive guards which comes free "as the Leader's Retinue special trait."

"...The Cybermen were humanoids who strove to improve their bodies... through radical cybernetic implants."

The figure was primed with "Citadel" Abaddon Black and then treated to a double coat of Ironbreaker. It was then washed with Nuln Oil and dry-brushed with more "Ironbreaker". To make the Cyber Leader stand out on the tabletop that little bit more, I picked out his chest piece with a combination of Nihilakh Oxide and Drakenhof Nightshade.

With my Cyber Leader finished I subsequently painted the first of the miniatures needed for his faction's two Cybermen recruitment cards. These add "four Cybermen per card", so using the aforementioned techniques explained above I quickly had the beginnings of an impressive-looking Cyber Force. As a final step though I super-glued some lead shot beads to the underside of all their bases in order to give the Mondasians the hefty gravitas in the hand I felt the metallic monstrosities deserved.

Captain Nimue WIP - The "Legendary" miniature's  waves have been primed, washed and dry-brushed

Sticking with my "Salute" swag, I was rather pleased to discover upon arriving at the "South London Warlords" show that one of my free promotional models this year was a fantastic-looking diorama of Captain Nimue for "Wild West Exodus". This wonderful sculpt genuinely caught my imagination as I slowly shuffled forward in the increasingly lengthy entry queue, and I was determined to find out more about the "fickle force for change in the Wild West." 

Admittedly, I know next to nothing about either the rule-set or "Exodus" universe, except that I (perhaps foolishly) quit the game's Kickstarter just before it successfully finished, and that more recently the franchise has been acquired by "Wayland Games". But that hasn't deterred me from spending a considerable time piecing together the incredibly complicated multi-part plastic kit, and working on its frothing wave crest.

Blackheart leads the Union against Ballista and his Engineers in a 'friendly' game of Guild Ball

The rest of the miniature appears equally as engaging to paint, with the "formidable adversary" presumably perched atop "the newly dubbed HMS Nautilus", fighting off some huge tentacled mechanical squid with her trusty trident, and proved a doubly welcome 'freebie' when I discovered its new owners (trading as "Warcradle Studios") were literally giving away the "35mm Wild West Sci-Fi Miniatures Game" rulebook at their stall.

Weighing in with a hefty 300 pages, the vast majority of which is fantastic fluff, this hardback tome is a real treat to the eyes, and provides a tantalising glimpse into the world of Jesse James, General Ulysses S. Grant, Billy the Kid and Chief Sitting Bull. In addition, it came with a voucher allowing me to receive a free copy of the rulebook's second edition once it is released. How horrifically tempting an enticement is that..?