Creating Your Cult |
| One thing you’ve probably noticed by now
is that this army list has very few actual figures made for it! This article is here to
help though, with some tips and ideas for converting up existing figures to fill the gaps.
We’ll go through the list model by model, but first some overall notes:
Bald is Beautiful Your Genestealer Magus & Hybrids should always be bald. Try to trim or file away any facial or other hair on any models you use for them. Skin tones should range from very nearly human coloration for the Magus, to more and more pink/purple the more the hybrid ranges towards pure Genestealer. Ditto for appearance – the Magus should look very human in form, and the hybrids more bestial. Acolytes should look almost human, with perhaps only slightly purple skin tones or a claw instead of a hand. Neophytes are closer to the purestrain form, so they should have 3 or 4 arms, strong purple skin tones, and very alien faces. I like to paint all Patriarch, hybrid & purestrain eyes with a flat black, with just a touch of Grey as the highlight. This contrasts well with the pink/purple skin, and gives a sinister and alien look to them, like shark’s eyes. Cult Colors Most Cult players like to use blue and purple for their clothing and vehicle color scheme, for obvious reasons. I would recommend this also – it’s a visually strong scheme, and not in use by any other armies. One other thing is to try and unify your style of clothing as much as possible. Remember, your Cult is a religious force, not a military one. Try not to mix around with different styles too much – if you like your Cultists in robes, try to get everyone in robes. Obviously neither of these are hard and fast rules, but I think you’ll find your Cult looks sharper if they project a unified color and clothing approach.
OK, enough decorating tips – on to conversions. As a good general idea though, leaf through your Citadel Annuals in all the sections, not just the 40K part, for model ideas. Many of the figures below are not from the 40K range!
Genestealer Magus There are several old Citadel figures for these, but almost any character model will work. In my Cult, I liked the idea of everyone wearing robes, or at least heavy overcoats. Thus my choices for Magus models lean towards several Warhammer fantasy wizards, Eldar Warlocks (with the heads replaced of course!), and other robed figures. I’ve worked up one based on Chaos special character Ahriman’s body with a bald head from the plastic Chaos Warrior regiment, and another from the Empire Grand Theogonist (who rides on the War Altar). Remember the Magus should look almost 100% human, with only a slightly purple skin tone; other than that any regular looking human model will work well for him. Remember you’ll only need one in your Cult, so really go to town on him! For those who want the old models from Mail Order, here are the part numbers: Magus with Staff
072596/5
Patriarch He should be a very large, very ancient looking Genestealer. You could work one up based on the regular Genestealer model (perhaps by adding extra armor plating & ridges, and doing paler skin tones), but frankly I’d recommend getting the old Citadel model for him via Mail Order. Here’s the part numbers: 072596/7, /8, /9.
Hierarchs Like the Magus, any human looking figure will work here. I envisioned my Hierarchs being more into commando style missions, so I like using the more action-looking figures. Bald heads are still important, so I picked ones such as the Catachan Lt model (010504701), Necromunda Underhive Scum with Bolt Pistols (059906304), Necromunda Delaque leaders (059900610, 059902417), and any of the Imperial Preachers or Missionaries from the Sisters of Battle line.
Cult Limousine You have a choice here of working from a commercial plastic model limo or car here, or converting from regular citadel vehicles. If you go with the former, make sure it has some armor plating attached, unless you’re going for the Unarmored Limo option. The later is harder, but gives a more unified appearance (as if all the Cult vehicles had been worked up from the same common stockyard). I’ve made up some using Rhino hulls, with Chimera siding, small bike tires, and a lot of thin sheet plastic. I created the transmission and axel housings using a metal Hellhound fuel hose (010505509) & Leman Russ sponson rear half cylinders (010505310). Almost anything will work fine though, as long as it doesn’t look too big or too heavily armored.
Purestrain Genestealers Anyone having problems with these should go back to playing Space Marines. You’re just not ready to take over the world just yet <g>.
Genestealer Hybrids I like pretty much using regular human models here, with some swapping of arms & heads to give the hybrid look. We’ll cover each type separately:
Acolytes Like the Hierarchs, these should look very human, but be "wrong" on at most one area. For example, a nearly human form, but purple skin tones. Only two arms for them normally (3 at most!), but one can be a stealer claw. Use the plastic stealer arms & claws here to swap out for regular human arms & hands.
Neophytes These should look more alien, with 3 or 4 arms and a strong purple skin tone. I’ve made several using the Ork Slaver model (again, using the robes as the unifying theme for the Cult) with new stealer claws. I even turned the Red Gobbo from Gorkamorka into a Hybrid! You can even use the plastic genestealer bodies, with human arms (the plastic Catachans work fine here). The overall goal though should be models be like Genestealers with a slightly human look, as opposed to the Acolytes who should appear more like humans with a slightly Genestealer look. There are quite a few old Citadel Hybrids too. I recommend just the two below though: Hybrid with Power Sword & Autopistol:
072557/6 I like these two as they are the best looking of the bunch, and you can easily convert them to have other weapons. The first one can be changed to carry any manner of pistol or most close combat weapons; the second to take pretty much any two-handed weapon or even a heavy weapon.
Brood Brother Comrades Dead easy here: Imperial Guard or Adeptus Arbites are the obvious choices. File off the offending Imperial symbols and you’re ready to paint! I’d stick with the more "military" looking style models here to differentiate them from your Initiates; I use Valhallans mostly (heavy overcoats) with some of the old Arbites models too.
Brood Brother Initiates & Bodyguard Speaking of which… You’re spoiled for figures here. Necromunda models are the first choice for most Cult players (I went with Delaques to continue the bald & robed scheme of my Cult). You can also use regular Warhammer Empire figures (especially the plastic Soldiers of the Empire regiment figures), especially for your Feudal style Cults. Frateris Militia models are also great too. No matter what you choose though, your Initiates should present a much more rag-tag look than your Comrades. These should look more like armed civilians, rather than a military force.
Mounted Cultists & Hybrids I like using Bretonnian Squires here, with my Hybrids coming from the Tallarn Rough Rider line. Kislev Horse Archers can also work well for your Cultists too – pretty much any horsemen with little or no armor will work.
Cultist Bikers & Hybrids I use Chaos Bikes here, as they have a nice Hog look to them. I filed off the chaos symbols and most of the spikey bits, and replaced both bolt guns with metal Chaos Bike targetters (to look like headlights). I also trimmed away the TV set scanners on the handlebars too. The overall goal was to make them look more like civilian bikes than military weapons. Ork Warbikes also work well here too (file off the Evil Sunz bits!) – a mix of the two bike types give the right "biker rally" feel to the unit. As for the riders, the legs from the plastic Ork or Chaos riders are OK with some trimming, but I like using other torsos like plastic Necromunda Goliaths. Heads from plastic Catachans mix in well too, or left over pilot heads from the plastic Sentinel. Arms are harder – I either stick with trimmed regular Chaos or Ork driver arms, or convert from metal biker arms like the Gorkamorka Biker. I generally only have one arm on the wheel though – they all look wilder that way!
Hybrid Sidecar Use the regular Space Marine Attack Bike sidecar chassis, chair back, and mudguard. Lots of figures will work as a basis for the sidecar hybrid, especially Gorkamorka Ork or Digga Truck gunners. You can build up a sidecar shell around the hybrid using sheet plastic, or even the old metal Space Marine Landspeeder fairings. Both the new plastic Sentinel and also the old metal one also give a great sidecar shells too!
Cult Light Attack Vehicles Ork Wartracks and Warbuggies, natch. Replace the Orks (especially their heads) with human parts (again, gotta love the plastic Catachan & Sentinel pilot heads here). Replace the weapons as necessary with metal or plastic ones (IG heavy weapons work well here).
Cult Battle Trucks Same comments as above, but using Ork Wartrukks or even Gorkamorka Digga Trucks here as the basic model though. As a note, you don’t need to try & fit all the Initiates into the truck though. I generally put one or two on the board to show my opponent that yes, there are indeed reckless Brood Brothers on board; the rest are set aside away from the playing area. When they get out or the truck is destroyed, I put the rest out on the table.
Brood Brother Heavy Weapon Teams Regular IG heavy weapon teams, of course. Anyone not realizing this immediately might not be cut out for doing a Cult <g>.
Cult Support Weapons These are old Citadel Models, all available via Mail Order. Here are the part numbers:
Really ambitious modelers and True Hobbyists will of course have a go at scratch building them. I salute you all! For the gunners, I like using IG models with either lascannon controls or comm links. Mortar loaders are perfect for Mole Mortar crew too. Again, these are supposed to be Comrades, so I use more militaristic looking IG or Arbite figs here.
Special Characters: Janos Armistadt the Traveler I used the old Warhammer Fantasy Light Wizard as his basis, cutting off his sword and staff top. The staff top was replaced with the bottom of Arhiman’s staff, and the sword with a nice looking Bolt Pistol with a scope attachment. For his Protectorate, I used the Light Wizard Acolytes so the entire unit had a very strong unifying look. The acolyte figures are easily converted to carry pretty much any weapon needed. For their Suicide Bombs, I used Epic 40K Hydra radar dishes (030500805), though any small techie bit will work well. Warhammer Empire Light Wizard:
073791/6
Manos the Mad The main body comes from poor old Uriah Jacobus (010802101), but his right arm was replaced with a plastic Genestealer arm. I added a regular flamer in his new lower right arm (plastic flamers work well; I used a metal Necromunda Redemptionist Deacon’s flamer 059900708 though as it had some nice flame markings). The Eye of Judgement was made from the top of a Necromunda Weird Telepath (059905201), cut off and placed upside down. At the top I added the tip from an Eversor Assassin Array (010800303) to create the actual Eye. I kept the rest of the array though – it makes a great backpack for a hybrid! I added a Mounted Wight sheathed sword (020702711) to top him off. Originally Manos was my Cult Icon Bearer from my 2nd Ed Cult army, but one of the perks of writing an army list is that you get to create new special characters and he was just calling out for some special rules!
Genestealer Ark This is a big one, and not for the feint of heart! The main chassis is a Griffon, but with sponsons added by cutting off the hull sidings after the second panel. Plastic Leman Russ sponsons are added, with heavy flamers from the vehicle accessory sprue. If you choose not to add sponsons, just assemble the Chimera side armor as normal. A heavy flamer is also added in the hull weapon mounting (the plastic one from the vehicle accessory sprue, or the metal one from the Baal Predator 010117504). The rear bed was covered with sheet plastic, then screen mesh. A Hellhound Fuel tank assembly (010505503, 010505506) was mounted in the rear, and a regular storm bolter to the top hatch. For the record, the plastic sprues used here are:
The Patriarch model is an old Citadel model of a Patriarch on a Throne (072583/1, /2, /3, /4, /5, /6). I used more Hellhound Fuel hoses below and in the rear of the throne to create the look of heavy power lines running into it. His Hierarch advisor can be any model, though I used one of the old Magus models (Magus with Laspistol & microphone). I cut off the Laspistol and added a human hand to give him a better pose. It’s a tight fit to get both the throne and the Hierarch in the rear area, but it can be done. The figure popping out the hatch was made from a Delaque Heavy Stubber body (059900607) cut in half, and given new hands. To tech up the Ark, I added the front plate and support from a Tarantula (072170/4, /2), plus some space marine bike TV sets to each side. Any other tech looking items (like video cameras from Apothecary backpacks) can be added as desired; I added some Leman Russ plastic handholds as it looked like it could be a rough ride for the Hierarch! I added two Epic 40K plastic Genestealers to the front as garnish, and it’s ready to strike fear in the hearts of all unbelievers!
Other bits that can come in handy: Titan Devotional Bells – make great Bells of Righteousness! (076027/27) |