Toxichobbit

There hasn't been a 3rd. The first model (the one in your post) has an alternative build for using her as a trooper/Sergeant with a lasgun - people might be mistaking that for a separate release. Or they could be thinking of Severina Raine, who was another BL female Guard character that got a release 4 or 5 years ago, though she's a Commissar, not a Cadian.

You're right to be worried. There's been three very similar releases of Black Library characters and their mates in AoS - the going rate is £47.50. Unless there is a price increase between now and her release which will almost certainly put her up to £50.

Yeah, that's right. I think the Sanctum is the only kit to ever include the cool arches & statues. The Basilicanum statues were in some of the Kill Team Killzones, but those are long OOP as well.

Miniset.net has pictures of all the sprues for the kit, as well as pictures of different angles of it completed and a detailed description of what was in the box. It's another great resource for anyone wanting to know what they'd need to re-create it.

"We have a group called "Ministorum delegation" "But what about the name Ministorum refering exclusively to the Ecclesiarchy in the Book of Faith?" I suspect that's the heart of the problem, though it's a different problem to how they're dressed. Their name is Ministorum delegation and yet they are not part of the Ministorum/Ecclesiarchy. For that one, I've got nothing, as there is no explanation for it. Personally, I think it's a bad name. I could guess that it's meant to imply that they are Ministorum sanctioned, or that the Ministorum allows them to use their name as a stamp of approval, or that the games designer forgot that Ministorum is just an alternate name for the Ecclesiarchy. But all of that would just be guesses. "wearing the symbol of the Ecclesiarchy" "the pious Matriarchs provide the Clan House* with genuine holy objects drawn from the stores of the Ministorum..." - exact quote from House of Faith. That explains the Ecclesiarchal symbol. They have access to holy objects, relics etc that the Ministorum holds in storage. So anything with Ecclesiarchal/Ministorum symbols on it is obviously going to be something drawn from those stores. The symbol above her chair fits in perfectly with the lore. *it's referring to House Cawdor here. "I don't recall anythin in the Book of Faith implying that Ko'iron is " the most visible official representatives of the God Emperor on Necromunda" and "they have it's backing and from a faithful Underhiver's perspective they are the same thing"." It doesn't state it directly, but it's fairly obvious, though you do need to go outside of House of Faith. Necromunda is the most detailed world in the Imperium. It has significantly more lore than even Holy Terra. And yet there's barely any mention of the Ecclesiarchy. We know there's a Sororitas Covenant somewhere in Hive Primus, though they are never seen and barely mentioned. It's safe to assume that there are Ecclesiarchal chapels in the Spires and Hive City. But there is no notable presence among the Underhive or Ash Wastes. Necromunda lore has always been very clear that the main Imperial religious organisations are House Cawdor, the Redemption and more recently, House Ko'iron. Given that House Ko'iron is at the top of that food chain and present in all levels of Necromundan society, from the Spire to the Underhivve, with House Cawdor almost being subservient to them, it's not hard to see that they are going to be the most visible religious representatives. Not to mention they dominate Hive Temnos and have pilgrim trails and shrines all over the planet. House of Faith tells you that they have the backing of the Ecclesiarchy, if you go beyond the words and consider the implications of them. They have close ties with the Ecclesiarchy, they supply thousands of troops to Wars of Faith to curry favour with individual Ecclesiarchs, they have the ear of the Sororitas on Necromunda, they have a grand cathedral at the top of Hive Temnos as well as shrines all over the planet and they have access to at least some of the Ecclesiarchy's stores of relics. Given the nature of the Ecclesiarchy and how enthusiastic it is about stamping out Imperial faiths that it doesn't like, I think it's safe to say that they are fine with all of this. If that's not the backing of the Ecclesiarchy then I don't know what is. If you read enough Necromunda lore you can know exactly how faithful Underhivers would view a member of House Ko'iron. They unlikely to know the difference between them and the Ecclesiarchy and they're unlikely to care. Ko'iron are a noble house, they have almost no presence in the Underhive and as such, most of the details about them is a mystery to underhivers. The Ecclesiarchy is even more of a mystery, because it has close to zero presence in the Underhive (it may actually have zero presence, but I'm leaving the door open in case there's some obscure bit of lore about a shrine somewhere in the Underhive or something). All across the lore, for the last 3 decades the underhives ignorance of anything beyond the underhive and the organisations that operate in it has been made clear. So when a priestess comes down in to the underhive, with both her and her bodyguards covered in religious trappings, performing prayers, rituals and blessings, do you really think these people who are ignorant of almost anything that goes on in the Spire and the wider Imperium are going to say "Wait, you're not the real Ministorum". Of course they aren't, they won't know the differrence and as long as they get blessed they won't care. They're even described it as "her touch akin to the touch of the God Emperor for such worthy souls". It doesn't outright state that the underhivers would consider Ko'iron and the Ecclesiarchy the same thing, but if you know Necromunda lore it's pretty obvious. "Redemption was nearly excommunicated and Redemtionist are outlaws, so saying that Ecclesiarchy has no issues with them is weird to me." I don't think they were nearly excommunicated - as far as I'm aware that would require them to have been part of the Ecclesiarchy to begin with and they never were. But I haven't read the stuff about them in the old RPG so maybe it's in there. Either way though, you're right, they are outlaws. Yet both the Inquisition and the Ecclesiarchy use them as agents and foot troops (Inquisitor miniature game and Siege of Vraks have info on this if I remember correctly). It's also worth noting that House Ko'iron doesn't care that they are outlawed either, only the Enforcers and Guilds seem to care about that (and by extension, the Imperial House, though I think Imperial House agents will also work alongside them so who knows). But basically, this is a prime example of the hypocrisy of the Imperium at work. The Redemption are not sanctioned and at least on their home world, are an illegal organisation. But multiple Imperial organisations have zero issue with that (or the way they dress) and will include them in their ranks. It might seem weird to you, but to me it seems perfectly 40k for Imperial organisations to say one thing but do the opposite - as is the case with the Redemption. I think at this stage I've provided more than enough evidence that having the bodyguards dressed in religious gear is perfectly in keeping with the lore of House Ko'iron, their relationship with the Ecclesiarchy and the purpose of those models (in regards to them being specifically for trips into the Underhive). You don't have to agree, but there is plenty of lore that supports the way they are dressed.

Probably. But you'd need some Manufactorum/Sanctum Administratus sprues, 2 sets of Alchomite Stacks & a Ferrotonic Furnace, plus some of the Sector Mechanicus walkways. Plus a few bits of brass rod to create rebar/wires sticking out of the broken Mechanicus walkways. That wouldn't give you an exact replica, as some of the Mehcanicus panels are lifted up or missing on the original, but it'd be so close I doubt anybody but you would know. The problem is that the Ferratonic Furnace is OOP and the cheapest way to get the walkways & Alchomite Stack is Sacristan Forgeshrine. So you'd be looking at 2 x Sacristan Forgeshrine, 1 x Sanctum Administratus & then sourcing the bottom part of a Ferratonic Furnace from somewhere. But yeah, if you can get the parts then it's definitely doable. Miniset.net is the best place for pictures if you do decide to embark on such a project.

If they'd brought back the Derelict Factorum I'd have been all over it. I missed that one when it was out and it's a really cool unique kit that you can't make with anything else.

For anybody considering the MTO Sector Imperialis - Manufactorum. The sprues inside are identical to the Battlezone Manufactorum: Sanctum Adminstratus (you can see this by comparing them on GW's webstore). The Sector Imperialis - Manufactorum contains 2 wall sprues & 1 floor sprue, is £50 and MTO (so GW webstore only and FOMO). The Battlezone Manufactorum: Sanctum Adminstratus contains 3 wall sprues & 2 floor sprues and is £63.25, is still produced (so no FOMO) and not GW webstore only, so you can get it discounted at a 3rd party webstore. Don't buy in to GW's marketing with this FOMO and pay them more money for less value. Just shop around and you can get 66% more building for almost the same price. Hell, even if you buy the Sanctum Adminstratus directly from GW, you're still getting 66% more building for 25% more cost.

My interpretation is not that the Prima Materis is not a "real priestess" (whatever that means) - I own House of Faith, I know what she is. Given that you have already assumed what my interpretation is and got it wrong, I think it's best if we stop assuming and deal with facts. The Prima Materis is a "real" priestess - she performs rituals, prayers and blessings. But she is also an agent and enforcer of House Ko'iron. So there is no "masquerading", she is not "pretending to be a member of the Adeptus Ministorum". She is a priestess, she's just not an Ecclesiarchal priestess. The Frateris bodyguards are veterans of Wars of Faith and bodyguards of an important member of one of the seven great Houses of Necromunda. However, they are not priests or members of the Ecclesiarchy. To expand upon my first post as to why it's important that these are members of House Ko'iron rather than the Ecclesiarchy - House Ko'iron has survived thousands of years (not an easy feat on Necromunda), has strong ties to the Ecclesiarchy and the Sororitas and has access to Ecclesiarchy relics. They're one of the seven great Houses of Necromuda. They have held on to their position for so long because of their faith and because they have connections with both the Ecclesiarchy and the Sororitas. It makes perfect sense that they would be using as much religious splendour as possible when they are out among the masses, because their very existence is maintained by their position as the most faithful Noble House and the most visible official representatives of the God Emperor on Necromunda. They may not be the Ecclesiarchy, but they have it's backing and from a faithful Underhiver's perspective (and bare in mind that these models are representing members of the House going into the underhive), they are the same thing. Finally, the crux of your argument seems to be (and please correct me if I'm wrong) that the Ecclesiarchy will take issue with them wearing mitres and other priestly regalia. Where does this assumption come from? I have never seen any lore stating that only the Ecclesiarchy can wear priestly regalia and that the Ecclesiarchy has a problem with anybody else dressed like that. I have, however, seen evidence to the contrary. Astartes Chapters wearing priestly regalia (robes, censors, rosarius etc) and the Mechanicus are often dressed as priests (though they do have a distinct style and are obviously priests of a different religion) - so the Ecclesiarchy doesn't have the monopoly on priestly regalia. But most importantly, the Redemption have been dressing as priests, including wearing mitres, as far back as 1995. They're an independent (i.e. not Ecclesiarchal), outlawed Cult that's part of House Cawdor, mostly made up of zealous underhivers. And yet the Ecclesiarchy is fine with them wearing all the priestly regalia they want - as evidenced because the Ecclesiarchy has no issues with the Redemption joining them for Wars of Faith and Crusades. If the Ecclesiarchy was going to have a problem with other people wearing big hats, then they'd for sure have a problem with the outlawed cult of zealots before they had a problem with a powerful Noble House on one of the most important worlds in the Imperium. From the perspective of House Ko'iron, it makes perfect sense that they would have any visible members wearing as much priestly regalia as possible. And from the perspective of the Ecclesiarchy, given their tolerance of other organisations religious trappings and their acceptance of the Redemption, they don't seem to care either way.

These are not Imperial clergy and their underlings. They are Necromunda nobles, with all the arrogance and superiority that brings. Equipping their bodyguards with headgear that is normally reserved for clergy is absolutely spot on for the type of people these models represent.

This model has nothing to do with Dark Mechanicum. It's an Imperial Heretek (as in an Imperrial citizen who is being naughty). Trying to read into it's design language and guess what Dark Mech could look like is like looking at the Rogue Doc and guessing what a medic for a Guard regiment would look like.

It's a hellstorm heavy bolter, which is why it has the drum mag. They don't have rules anymore, they're just heavy bolters now.

I'm not sure "Shove a poultice on it and drink these herbs mixed with wolf urine brother" and chanting "wolf wolf wolf wolf" at various volumes counts as Apothecary and Chaplain duties.

It's a moomin.

When I owned an LGS, one of the things that we were advised early on (about RPG books, but you can expand it to other lines) is that you need the stuff that rarely sells to sell the stuff that regularly sells. If all your stock is the popular stuff that everyone buys, then people are less interested because a limited amount of options is boring. If you stock lots of stuff, people are interested by all the cool things you have, even if 99% of the time they just buy the popular stuff. I'd imagine GW know that if all they did was sell Marines, they'd quickly crumble as people got bored. With a wide product catalogue, there's lots of enticing stuff to get people interested, before those people go off and buy more Marines anyway. Basically, making your product lines look varied is more appealing to consumers, plus it gives you a wider customer base. I don't know if this is GW's reasoning or if the theory scales from a single LGS to a multinational, but it's a possible explanation.