Vastarian: Cultist Painted

Lonely vigil.

At long last I have found the time to paint one of the resin casts of the generic cultist model I converted for our Vastarian setting! It was refreshing to paint a model based off of an older sculpt since it lacked a lot of the superfluous detail seen on some modern sculpts. I decided to paint the model red, so that they would fit nicely beside two models I converted for the Pilgrym event, also using old metal Brian Nelson sculpts!

Zone Secundus: Church of the Red Athenæum - Painted Genestealer Neophyte

Bleed out.

Following up the last post, where we shared a collaboration with Nicky Grillet where she illustrated the Cardinal of the Church of the Red Athenæum, we wanted to show off the first Church member painted this year, a converted Genestealer cultist! It is nice to be painting miniatures for the Church of the Red Athenæum again after what has felt like a long hiatus. The Genestealer Neophyte models are surprisingly complex models with all manner of small and weird details. I found myself on numerous occasions unsure what certain details were to even represent (there are lots of little switches, knobs, and cables everywhere). This also resulted in the model taking much longer to paint than I was initially envisioning. Despite this, I am really pleased with how the model turned out!

Zone Secundus: Church of the Red Athenæum - Petr Danev

Geometry of Murder.

With October coming to an end, I wanted to paint a creepy model, in the spirit of Halloween. Back in July, I converted Petr Danev, a halfling for the Church of the Red Athenæum, a radical splinter of the Imperial Cult that believes suffering is the highest form of veneration of the God-Emperor. The model is laced with scars and has their cheeks sliced open creating a wide, sickly grin of a killer, perfect for Halloween!

Zone Secundus: Bibliognost of the Church of the Red Athenæum

Greater Invocation of Disgust

When Games Workshop released the Sister of Battle Special Character Aestred Thurga, Reliquant at Arms, I knew the kit would be perfect to create another model for our growing Church if the Red Athenæum (mutant, heavy, gunfighter) for the Zone Secundus setting. Instead of using Aestred, the power armored Sister of Battle in the kit, I had my eyes set on the older, less armored companion: Agathae Dolan, Hagiolater. Dolan’s non-combatant design and older age seemed ideal for the Red Church, an organization that is populated primarily by down-trodden Imperial citizenry. The look largely mirrors that of Ehret Filipovic, Chief Bibliognost from our first Church of the Red Athenæum warband for the Pilgrym event. With this in mind, I decided to convert a bibliognost for the Secundus warband, and thus Klaasje Akhmatova was born!

Zone Secundus: Church of the Red Athenæum halfling

We are so very worthless, and everything we do is meaningless.

Throughout the year, I have been converting new members for the Church of the Red Athenæum, a radical splinter of the Imperial Cult that believes suffering is the highest form of veneration of the God-Emperor. Although we originally created the Church for Iron Sleet’s the Pilgrym event, we wanted to start exploring the organization again, and realized K0rdhal’s community event/setting Zone Secundus was a great opportunity for it. Since creating the Church, we always imagined their organization had a favorable view towards mutants in their congregation, recognizing their devotion, even though they are often persecuted throughout most of the Imperium. And while we created one mutant for our original warband, we always wanted to create more, to make it a recognizable element of the group. The Hedonites of Slaanesh Blissbarb Archers set contains a wonderful halfling model holding a banner, which caught my eye and seemed like a great model to create a mutant for my new Church if the Red Athenæum!

Zone Secundus: The Church of the Red Athenæum - Marcelo Lythgoe

By Endurance We Conquer.

After finishing converting two members for a new Church of the Red Athenæum warband for the Zone Secundus setting, it was time to paint one. I decided to start with the heavy weapon specialist, Marcelo Lythgoe, finally putting some paint on the BAR conversion I did years ago!

Zone Secundus: The Church of the Red Athenæum - Heavy Weapons Specialist

Army of Two

Last month we had the opportunity to talk to K0rdhal about his community event/setting Zone Secundus, which expands the lore on the radioactive waste of Hive Secundus, on the planet of Necromunda. Rather than creating an entirely new concept for a gang, we decided to use it to develop the Church of the Red Athenæum, a fanatical Imperial Cult we designed for Iron Sleet’s Pilgrym event back in 2016. Our first model for the new warband was a gunfigher with a score of autopistols. We wanted to create a second church member, this one a heavy weapons specialist, also using a model from the Scions of Flame Warcry warbands.

Zone Secundus: The Church of the Red Athenæum - Gunfighter

A Genestealer Cultist next to a member of the Church of the Red Athenæum.

 

We recently had the pleasure of chatting with the prolific miniature artist K0rdhal about his community event/setting Zone Secundus. Building on Necromunda lore, it takes place in the radioactive waste of Hive Secundus, after the nuclear bombardment to rid the city of the Cult of the Second Son Genestealer Cult. The setting takes influence from books like Roadside Picnic and Metro 2033, as well as post apocalyptic video games like Stalker and Fallout. It is a claustrophobic, desolate setting, defined by radiation sickness and failing equipment. With such an evocative narrative setting, we could not help but get involved, and after some brainstorming, we realized it would be a great opportunity to revisit one of our favorite creations, the Church of the Red Athenæum. Designed for Iron Sleet’s Pilgrym event, the Church is a radical splinter of the Imperial Cult that believes suffering is the highest form of veneration of the God-Emperor. Wanting to share their enlightenment with the wider Imperium, they sent missionaries out to populated hive worlds, where their ideology took root. Being so close to Terra, Necromunda was one of the first worlds to be reached by the Red Church, where they built a bastion to their faith in the ill-fated Hive Secundus, which is now an irradiated sump of twisted metal. But their faith is strong. Vivere est Pati.

The Pilgrym: Told in pictures

Secrets and Lies.

The dust has finally settled from the massive undertaking that was the Pilgrym event.  It is difficult to convey how awesome it all was, from playing the game to meeting all of the talented individuals that took part in it.  My brothers and I took a whole host of pictures during the event, and have endeavored to show a selection of them with descriptive captions to help convey the story of the event, and reveal the fate of the elusive Pilgrym!

The Pilgrym: The Order of the Crimson Hour Painted

Blood Simple.

Progress continues steadily with the Church of the Red Athenæum. The two Order of the Crimson Hour battle sisters are now complete. They mark the first time that I painted two models simultaneously in years! And while they took much longer than I was anticipating, I am happy with how they turned out.