Rogue Trader: Alien Creatures (Part 1)
Posted by
MortiS-the-Lost
–
MortiS-the-Lost
–
Rogue Trader: Alien Creatures (Part 1)
If your anything like me you may find that you have a lot of modeling ideas that you may never get around to doing, can't afford to or just simply can't be bothered to do. Rather than let all these ideas goto waste I thought I'd write them down and post them here so other gamers can have a go at doing them. So here is the first of what may turn out to be quite a few articles packed with modeling raw, as-yet-unused modeling ideas, I hope you have as much fun reading and trying out my ideas as I have thinking them up and if you do give any of my suggestions a try take some pictures and post them up, I'd love to see them!
In this article I'm going to take a look at Rogue Trader's bestiary. If you own a copy of Warhammer 40,000 Rogue Trader open up to page 207 and read along with me as I take you through some modeling ideas for some of the more bizarre creatures that used to inhabit the 40k universe. If you don't own a copy of Rogue Trader, just sit back and look at all the pretty pictures of miniatures, some of these creatures also appear in Necromunda and in scenarios for modern versions of Warhammer 40,000.
Ambull
Although Games Workshop did produce a miniature to represent the Ambull, but it has long since gone out of production and is very rare, so chances are you probably won't have one.
But fear not, help is at hand ... you see the Ambull bears a strong resemblance to a D&D creature called the Umber Hulk. Note that in the first edition monster manual the Umber Hulk is described as a subterranean predator with iron-like claws that enable it to burrow through solid stone. (it seems that a lot of the creatures in Rogue Trader where inspired by D&D creatures.)
This is Asmodei the Fiend from Blacktree, he's an Umber Hulk and he's ok*. With a little conversion (mainly on the head) you've got a passable Ambull.
*actually I think it's supposed to be a similar looking creature called a Hook Horror, but then if I called it that I couldn't do that terrible joke now could I
Repears Hooked Hulk is more like it, you could use this as an Ambull with little or no conversion needed.
Bouncers
No not the large people with no necks you find at the doors of nightclubs, but an odd balloon like creature from a planet called Chbal. To the best of my knowledge Citadel never made a miniature to represent the Bouncer and since no manufacturer dose a giant-testicle-with-feet model, it looks like you'll be scratch building.
I'd suggest adding some spare monster claws to an empty walnut shell, also there are things like dried seed-pods and the like (found in florists and home stores) that would work well too
Carnivorous Sand Clam
It seems GW are were fond of these outlandish creatures, as well as RT they appeared in the original WFRP and even found there way into the underhives of Necromunda. Sand Clams are also very easy to model – all you need are some small sea shells.
Shells are free from the beach or can be bought in craft shops among other places, people like to put sea shells in their bathrooms so they are not as difficult to find as you might think. Stick 2 similar sized shells back to back and glue them to a base and your done! If your feeling more adventurous add a severed limb from the zombie sprue poking out of the 'jaws'. For a truly alien look to your Clams you can even add teeth to the shells.
Catachan Devil
The legendary Catachan Devil look bewildering to model at first, but lets take another look at this fearsome deathworld beast ... it's basically an elongated scorpion. So all you need to do is get your self 2 or 3 Giant Scorpions depending on how long you want your Devil to be, cut them up in front and behind the legs and stick them end to end.
I'd suggest using the Giant Scorpion from Black Tree's 'Harlequin Fantasy' range as it's body is about the same thickness for most of it's length and what is more it's quite cheap. Those wanting to get the head more accurate to the illustration may be interested in Black Tree's Carrion Crawler miniature as well.
Catachan Face-eater
Also hailing from the Catachan Deathworld is a creature that may cause you to devolve a deep seated phobia of flannels.
ok maybe not ... The Face Eater appears in both RT and Necromunda both suggest you use blu-tac or plasticine to represent them in games. I suggest also adding a LARP element to game by making players wear cold moist flannels over their faces.
Crawlers
a long with the Ambull, Crawlers are from the hot-polar-rock-deserts of Luther McIntyre IX and are apparently the Ambull's favorite food too. To model these bizarre drill-squid-things I'd suggest try and get hold of some squid miniatures and replace their bodies with the tip of the Necromunda Pit Slave Rock Drill arm or something similar. Reaper do an octopus in one of their familiar packs but it's not really what we're looking for and I can't seem to find any squid miniatures else were, mind flayer heads are another thought but that could prove expensive. So it looks like you'll have to sculpt your own or use the Crawler's rules to represent some kind of burrowing insect.
Crotalid
There are plenty of crocodile toys out there the right size to be considered 'giant' on the games table and you can always add spikes to the croc's back to warhammer-ize it a bit.
Also a few miniature manufacturers make giant crocodile miniatures, check out Ral Partha's River Denizens above (the crocodile is also available on it's own) I myself use a 1/35 scale pre-historic crocodile type creature from Tamiya's Mesozoic Creatures set (see the entry for Dinosaurs a little further down)
Cthellean Cudbear
And we're back to silly creatures again, in this case a giant purple bear from the Cthelle Death World.
Plenty of companies do nice bear models, pictured above are Grizzly Bears by Copplestone Castings and one of Reaper's Dire Bears. Painting these purple is easy enough but you can also go about adding claws and pointed ears if you want.
Dinosaurs
Reaper, Ral Patha, Copplestone Castings, Black Tree and just about every manufacturer do dinosaur models. But I'm going to recommend something by a company that isn't a miniature manufacturer in the strictest sense.
This the Mesozoic Creatures set by Tamiya a company normally associated with tanks rather than dinosaurs. I thought I'd draw your attention to this set because it is nice and cheap and contains a good verity of dinosaurs, including a crocodile type creature called a Crocodylia you can use as a Crotalid. The Archaeopteryx also paints up well as a Phoenix for fantasy games.
Ferro Beast
Who the hell came up with the stupid planet names they use in RT? Here's a creature from the mineral deficient world of Yimbo-bim. This creatures background is even more stupid than the planet name though – why would a creature that feeds on metal evolve on a world lacking in metals? It just makes no fucking sense ... why not feed on something there's a lot of? - I don't know, maybe they're implying that Ferro Beasts ate all the mineral deposits. Any way onto the modeling side of things ... this creatures reminds me a lot of the D&D Rust Monster. Interestingly Gary Gygax apparenly based the rust monster on a plastic monster toy he found in a bargain bin. Although the illustration looks more tortoise like than anything else.
this is Black Tree's Rust Monster, it appears black tree are the only company that still make them.
Genestealers
Our friends the Genestealers have changed a great deal since the days of RT. As I plan to do bunch of Genestealer conversions for Space Hulk, I'm going to cover Genestealers separately
NEXT TIME...
Coming up in part 2 I'll be looking at Gyrinx, Mimics and Petra Squirrels among others.
If your anything like me you may find that you have a lot of modeling ideas that you may never get around to doing, can't afford to or just simply can't be bothered to do. Rather than let all these ideas goto waste I thought I'd write them down and post them here so other gamers can have a go at doing them. So here is the first of what may turn out to be quite a few articles packed with modeling raw, as-yet-unused modeling ideas, I hope you have as much fun reading and trying out my ideas as I have thinking them up and if you do give any of my suggestions a try take some pictures and post them up, I'd love to see them!
In this article I'm going to take a look at Rogue Trader's bestiary. If you own a copy of Warhammer 40,000 Rogue Trader open up to page 207 and read along with me as I take you through some modeling ideas for some of the more bizarre creatures that used to inhabit the 40k universe. If you don't own a copy of Rogue Trader, just sit back and look at all the pretty pictures of miniatures, some of these creatures also appear in Necromunda and in scenarios for modern versions of Warhammer 40,000.
Ambull
Although Games Workshop did produce a miniature to represent the Ambull, but it has long since gone out of production and is very rare, so chances are you probably won't have one.
But fear not, help is at hand ... you see the Ambull bears a strong resemblance to a D&D creature called the Umber Hulk. Note that in the first edition monster manual the Umber Hulk is described as a subterranean predator with iron-like claws that enable it to burrow through solid stone. (it seems that a lot of the creatures in Rogue Trader where inspired by D&D creatures.)
This is Asmodei the Fiend from Blacktree, he's an Umber Hulk and he's ok*. With a little conversion (mainly on the head) you've got a passable Ambull.
*actually I think it's supposed to be a similar looking creature called a Hook Horror, but then if I called it that I couldn't do that terrible joke now could I
Repears Hooked Hulk is more like it, you could use this as an Ambull with little or no conversion needed.
Bouncers
No not the large people with no necks you find at the doors of nightclubs, but an odd balloon like creature from a planet called Chbal. To the best of my knowledge Citadel never made a miniature to represent the Bouncer and since no manufacturer dose a giant-testicle-with-feet model, it looks like you'll be scratch building.
I'd suggest adding some spare monster claws to an empty walnut shell, also there are things like dried seed-pods and the like (found in florists and home stores) that would work well too
Carnivorous Sand Clam
It seems GW are were fond of these outlandish creatures, as well as RT they appeared in the original WFRP and even found there way into the underhives of Necromunda. Sand Clams are also very easy to model – all you need are some small sea shells.
Shells are free from the beach or can be bought in craft shops among other places, people like to put sea shells in their bathrooms so they are not as difficult to find as you might think. Stick 2 similar sized shells back to back and glue them to a base and your done! If your feeling more adventurous add a severed limb from the zombie sprue poking out of the 'jaws'. For a truly alien look to your Clams you can even add teeth to the shells.
Catachan Devil
The legendary Catachan Devil look bewildering to model at first, but lets take another look at this fearsome deathworld beast ... it's basically an elongated scorpion. So all you need to do is get your self 2 or 3 Giant Scorpions depending on how long you want your Devil to be, cut them up in front and behind the legs and stick them end to end.
I'd suggest using the Giant Scorpion from Black Tree's 'Harlequin Fantasy' range as it's body is about the same thickness for most of it's length and what is more it's quite cheap. Those wanting to get the head more accurate to the illustration may be interested in Black Tree's Carrion Crawler miniature as well.
Catachan Face-eater
Also hailing from the Catachan Deathworld is a creature that may cause you to devolve a deep seated phobia of flannels.
ok maybe not ... The Face Eater appears in both RT and Necromunda both suggest you use blu-tac or plasticine to represent them in games. I suggest also adding a LARP element to game by making players wear cold moist flannels over their faces.
Crawlers
a long with the Ambull, Crawlers are from the hot-polar-rock-deserts of Luther McIntyre IX and are apparently the Ambull's favorite food too. To model these bizarre drill-squid-things I'd suggest try and get hold of some squid miniatures and replace their bodies with the tip of the Necromunda Pit Slave Rock Drill arm or something similar. Reaper do an octopus in one of their familiar packs but it's not really what we're looking for and I can't seem to find any squid miniatures else were, mind flayer heads are another thought but that could prove expensive. So it looks like you'll have to sculpt your own or use the Crawler's rules to represent some kind of burrowing insect.
Crotalid
There are plenty of crocodile toys out there the right size to be considered 'giant' on the games table and you can always add spikes to the croc's back to warhammer-ize it a bit.
Also a few miniature manufacturers make giant crocodile miniatures, check out Ral Partha's River Denizens above (the crocodile is also available on it's own) I myself use a 1/35 scale pre-historic crocodile type creature from Tamiya's Mesozoic Creatures set (see the entry for Dinosaurs a little further down)
Cthellean Cudbear
And we're back to silly creatures again, in this case a giant purple bear from the Cthelle Death World.
Plenty of companies do nice bear models, pictured above are Grizzly Bears by Copplestone Castings and one of Reaper's Dire Bears. Painting these purple is easy enough but you can also go about adding claws and pointed ears if you want.
Dinosaurs
Reaper, Ral Patha, Copplestone Castings, Black Tree and just about every manufacturer do dinosaur models. But I'm going to recommend something by a company that isn't a miniature manufacturer in the strictest sense.
This the Mesozoic Creatures set by Tamiya a company normally associated with tanks rather than dinosaurs. I thought I'd draw your attention to this set because it is nice and cheap and contains a good verity of dinosaurs, including a crocodile type creature called a Crocodylia you can use as a Crotalid. The Archaeopteryx also paints up well as a Phoenix for fantasy games.
Ferro Beast
Who the hell came up with the stupid planet names they use in RT? Here's a creature from the mineral deficient world of Yimbo-bim. This creatures background is even more stupid than the planet name though – why would a creature that feeds on metal evolve on a world lacking in metals? It just makes no fucking sense ... why not feed on something there's a lot of? - I don't know, maybe they're implying that Ferro Beasts ate all the mineral deposits. Any way onto the modeling side of things ... this creatures reminds me a lot of the D&D Rust Monster. Interestingly Gary Gygax apparenly based the rust monster on a plastic monster toy he found in a bargain bin. Although the illustration looks more tortoise like than anything else.
this is Black Tree's Rust Monster, it appears black tree are the only company that still make them.
Genestealers
Our friends the Genestealers have changed a great deal since the days of RT. As I plan to do bunch of Genestealer conversions for Space Hulk, I'm going to cover Genestealers separately
NEXT TIME...
Coming up in part 2 I'll be looking at Gyrinx, Mimics and Petra Squirrels among others.
| Free forum by Nabble | Edit this page |
7 Comments
Re: Rogue Trader: Alien Creatures (Part 1)
Re: Rogue Trader: Alien Creatures (Part 1)
Re: Rogue Trader: Alien Creatures (Part 1)
Re: Rogue Trader: Alien Creatures (Part 1)
Re: Rogue Trader: Alien Creatures (Part 1)
Re: Rogue Trader: Alien Creatures (Part 1)
Re: Rogue Trader: Alien Creatures (Part 1)