N17 Campaign NPCs and Hangers-On WIP

[Merzbau]

This project started out with two goals- making an Uphive Agent and a set of bystanders for Down-Town Dustup- but spiraled out of control, partly because I realized getting stub guns for WYSIWYG townies would be difficult and the Orlock arms are a bit annoying to fit to other torsos. It’ll still happen, but for now I’m working on the easy stuff.

Left to right:

1. Uphive Agent. Cadian commander legs, Empire/Freeguild Greatswords torso and gorget (this is a temp job since I mistakenly ordered the wrong torso to fit the gorget to without having to file off detail; the correct one’s in the mail), Catachan medic head, Cadian commander arms. I like the head and its suggestion of a veil or mask, but the chin is quite pointy and I expect I’ll have to pick an alternate.

2. Slopper. Catachan command squad torso, IG vehicle crew legs, Catachan arms, Greatswords head. A simple job, but I wanted something kind of crude and low-rent- he’s wearing an undershirt and dog tags and a leather cap and I’d imagine doesn’t smell too nice. The closest to being done, bar cleaning the parts; the legs don’t offer a very dynamic pose so I tried to make it look like he’s either impatiently gesturing to the next poor son of a bitch in line for skip or threatening to gut someone. Or both.

3. Ammo-Jack. Catachan command squad body, Orlock head, shotgun shells from (I think) the Space Marine Scout Bikers kit? They’ll be finessed into place to cover up any imperfections once I scrape the Aquila off his flak vest. He’s got no arms, obviously, but once I can scare up a Catachan commander’s bolter arm and another big muscley right arm I can get a hammer into, I’m set. For a non-Thunder power hammer, I’m using one of the hammers from the Ravenwing command squad; depending on the arm I find, I might have it with an extended shaft and the head resting on the ground, or hoisted on his shoulder.

Next will be a Rogue Doc, which would be a little closer to completion if the needle from the Catachan command squad hadn’t arrived bent, and a Dome Runner. I think I want to base it on a Chaos Cultist body; look up GW Duncan’s House Griffith Kill Team in White Dwarf for the kind of convertibility that particular model has. And finally, because I’m a goddam maniac, an additional doc and two (!) Ammo Jacks with different poses and loadouts, so the maximum number of Hangers-On can be represented in a home Turf campaign mission.

 

[cainex1]

I'll be doing exactly the same thing. I'm trying to set one up specifically Van Saar allied and any others as kinda generic hiver.

 

[Merzbau]

I’d love to see what you come up with! I’m making these to be usable by pretty much any gang, even Cults, so I’m going for a kind of lowlife hive scum theme wherever possible.

 

[cainex1]

I'll be happy to share when I get to building... likely the scummer medic since I got the female doc from Mutant Warzone. I'm in the air, I have the med kit from the tempestus scions and the needle arms from some Catachans.. decisions decisions...

 

[Merzbau]

The latter is what I’m going for, coupled with kneeling legs and a suitably bearded/grizzled head. If I can snag some bottles from the Empire Knights or similar kit I’ll scatter those around as well- basically I want to build the *last* person you would ever want stabilizing you after a grievous injury

 

[cainex1]

Absolutely classic. Maybe even add a little touch of red to the nose.

 

[Merzbau]

Absolutely classic. Maybe even add a little touch of red to the nose.

I think with the beard that might tip him a little too far into Santa territory but you know that needle’s going to be rusty

 

[cainex1]

Hey, I didn't say to make him jolly...

 

[Merzbau]

FWIW, if anyone else is considering using the IG vehicle crew legs, be aware that the pouches molded into the belt restrict your torso choices a bit and mean a lot of otherwise standard IG bits (like this Catachan torso) will need some moderate filing, coupled with filing away the inside top edges of the pouches themselves. I’ve got him mostly glued together but there’s still a tiny visible gap at the very front of the torso/legs join I’ll have to fill in later.

 

[cainex1]

Which crew legs? I have the Taurox legs (gunner and driver) and they are clean at the waist, even have a little indention in the middle that makes them even easier to work with.

 

[Merzbau]

From the generic IG vehicle sprue with add-on options you can buy separately

 

[Merzbau]

Two more in progress:

Murder Cyborg one of three, all to be built from the basics of Genestealer Cult bodies, Skitarii heads, and Sicarian arms (one will have an Orlock sawed-off if I can get the part and work out how to get a secure join without removing/flattening too much of the arm at the shoulder). The slung bolt pistol is from a Space Wolf kit and, well, it’s frigging huge; it may work if I shave down some of the stuff on his belt, and make sure to have a similarly-sized bolt pistol in his outstretched hand. I’m thinking of just straight-up using a Marine hand holding a bolt pistol if I can find a lefty.

I started with this body just because it’s the only one in the kit with no Cult icons on it. I’m going to play around with Sicarian right arms until I find one that gives him a slightly more active pose- the body might also lend itself well to the Orlock shotgun. We’ll see. For the other two, I’m planning a combo of shotgun + Sicarian claw, and one with two bolt pistols and a shotgun from the Scout Bikers kit slung on its back. I’m also using a heavy weapon/third-gen hybrid body for one to give it a more hunched posture.

Next is the one I’m really excited about, built on the spur of the moment after seeing the basic parts (from the Empire Hurricanum) for sale: a sinister Ghast farmer for the Ghast Hunt mission. I swiped the head from my Uphive Noble since I’m pretty sure it won’t fit under that model’s gorget/collar properly and because I wanted the menacing, concealed look for this guy. As usual, the Aquila will be shaved off when it comes time for assembly.

The plan is to run him with a gang of hired thugs (probably the old plastic Orlocks I picked up as ringers to fill a slot in a short Last Gang Standing introductory campaign) and a few point defense turrets I’ve made from Guard heavy bolters. I’ll let this guy munch Ghast like any other ganger, with the respirator bonus so he’ll still fail on a natural 1, and drop extra tokens and some sort of Mysterious Clue for the campaign if he’s taken down.

 

[Merzbau]

The Slopper is almost done, though I'm a little disappointed with his stiff-legged pose and wish I'd waited for one of the Catachan bodies that just arrived. Or that I'd waited a few weeks and just bought the Catachan command squad box itself, which would have saved me money at this rate >_< Anyway, I think I can salvage him with some basing details to set the scene, though fitting them on a 25mm Necromunda base will be a challenge. I've also swapped in a more straightened knife arm to give it a sense of weight, and to draw attention to the bone handle.

 

[Gdolkin]

Creepy chemist guy rules

 

[Merzbau]

Thanks! I still need to look for some stuff to hang around his belt or on his back to future him up a little more and distract from his pointy wizard shoes...

 

[Merzbau]

Some more fairly hasty work- mostly bits selection, as I've literally just gotten home after over a week on the road for the holidays and received a couple of bits orders.

This guy now finally has the correct chestplate for the gorget and an ornate dagger from the Scions kit; still looking for a head that looks more like a snotty, privileged Uphiver.

I slapped a spare chem-synth onto this guy. It'll take some green stuffing when it comes time to attach it since it's meant to fit exactly onto the hip of an Escher ganger, but I like what it adds. I'll be searching my bits box for a holstered pistol next, preferably something with a dagger as well- I want to run him with a fairly basic setup of (some kind of pistol), stiletto knife & chemsynth, and the pole with the rules (and points, if those break down cleanly) for Mad Dog Mono's grab hook.

This Ammo-Jack now has his power hammer, from a Dark Angels Ravenwing command kit. I'm going to cut away everything below the power bit and make a new handle (probably from another kit's standard bearer) to bring it to full length; depending on the left arm he ends up with it'll either be slung over his shoulder or resting head-first on the ground. I kind of prefer the latter, to give it a sense of weight.

The Rogue Doc is pretty much complete, with the addition of some fresh parts. A word to the wise: exercise care ordering from Bits & Kits, as I've been totally unable to get them to respond when inquiring about parts broken in transit like the first needle arms I bought. These (and the medic pack) are just straight from the Catachan command squad, since that's proving an invaluable resource for hive scum.

A new head for the Slopper, from an Empire/Freeguild kit. I wanted him yelling, and the big railroad spike through his cap is another nice bit of detail on an otherwise quite plain model (the bone hilt of the knife was pretty much it). Still needs some minor gap filling, probably carefully applied liquid green stuff, at the waist, and some more accessories to further hide it, add interest, and hide the fact that he doesn't have a belt.

A second Ammo-Jack, in progress. The right arm will likely be the single-arm shotgun from the Genestealer Neophytes kit; as with everything else, that aquila's coming off. I'm not sure I'm happy with the head- it doesn't quite read as old and grizzled (what I was going for, to accentuate the slightly knock-kneed posture from the Valkyrie gunner body and missing limb) and looks a little too large.

And finally, three Murder Cyborgs, now largely complete:

The first, now with an Orlock shotgun that better fits his pose and a different head. As with the other two, still in need of a left bolt pistol hand, which may require some careful snipping.

The second. Both of these are using the more hunched-over Neophyte heavy weapon bodies; I had originally only intended for one Cyborg to look particularly monstrous in this way but I like the idea of these two being kind of subordinate or lesser assassins for the "Rise of the Servitors" scenario outlined in whichever Gang War (and, I think/hope, the new rulebook), with the leader of the three having an antenna to relay commands in the field and override Servitors. Also needs his Cult icon filed down and something else carefully placed over it; I'm definitely taking suggestions.

Finally, the least human-looking of the three, with a Sicarian's Chordclaw arm and a Scout Biker's shotgun slung over his hunched back. Unfortunately, the shotgun is missing some detail on its rear side, so I'm looking for ways to either hide or reconstruct that, maybe by simply adding a rivet with the Forge World water-filter method (which I haven't tried yet). I was a little disappointed that the Chordclaws are only really easy to get on the right arm- it leaves me unable to use the Neophyte bolt pistol arm I had saved- but there's only so much I can worry about these guys being WYSIWYG. A single holster and a drawn pistol in their off hand will have to do; the shotgun is where they get most of their visible threat.

 

[cainex1]

Looking good, for the second ammo jack you could give a vertical eye scar, those are always characterful and badass. As for the icon, if you feel up to the task, do what I do. Just cut it to nothing and round the last link of the chain then carve in the folds of the loin cloth thing. On your slopper, why not just go for a belt? A thin strip of plastic (or paper with a few coats of primer) would be easy peasy and just superglue on anything with a flat back for a belt buckle.. or just fill the gap with some thin model glue and let it melt a bit to look like a tucked in shirt. You have anumber of options.

 

[Merzbau]

Thanks for the suggestion! I had a couple of heads from the Cadian command squad with similar eye scars I ended up rejecting, mostly due to overfamiliarity on my part. I ended up going with the eyepatch head from the Catachan kit. It's nice since his eyepatch is on the same side as the bionic arm; I can carefully glaze some sore/scarred skin around it to further drive home that something awful happened just to his left lo, these many years ago.

In the meantime, I noticed I had one base left, a part I loved and hadn't found a use for yet (the outstretched Catachan gun arm with a knife strapped to it) and slapped together a bounty hunter that's become one of my favorites entirely out of nowhere:

The body and arm are from the Catachan command squad, the head and cloak are from a Chaos Marauder, and I think the gun (which will count as a long las; thankfully that additional power cell at the end of the stock sets it apart visually) is from the basic Catachan squad. He'll probably have a plasma pistol, but I'm not gluing him yet so I left it open for now. I might also trim away the skull and have him standing on something else as I've already used this body for a makeshift Orlock, and the skull fits a little better there since I'm basing those on ash waste-style bases, with some more buried skulls, etc.

 

[cainex1]

I love that head, I did one up as a Librarian for my Blood Angels (of course it isn't painted or fully complete, but he is eye to chin with a Primaris like they should be)

Really thoughtful kitbash. It comes together quite well (Catachans are awesome I would love to see a new kit with modern detailing.)

 

[Merzbau]

Thanks! The older kits are so easy to convert but it's so much work to get any sense of implied motion compared to newer models with more restricted poses. This bounty hunter feels like the clear standout in my conversions so far in terms of telling a story or looking like he's *doing* something interesting.