If by "Cultists," you mean slaves to the whip...

[Kaldoth]

Hello my dark brethren, I've got a bit of a project under way and I need your help!

 

I recently got myself back into the hobby, and being tax season, I've spent quite the ridiculous amount of money on models for my Iron Warriors force :D I only have a handful of units left to purchase, but the largest of the ones that remain is something I have been dreading: Cultists. Well, up until now, that is.

 

After a trip to my local hobby store to pick up boxes upon boxes of models to build, I was perusing the store for Cultists. I really don't like the GW cultists, as the selection within the box isn't very... Well, varied. They're great sculpts, don't get me wrong, but there just aren't enough of them. I'm pretty obsessive about having as few repeat models on the tabletop as I can. So, I started looking at IG to use instead. Though the militaristic feel of them goes well with the Iron Warrior ethos of battle efficiency, I just don't see the IW as a force that would go about trying to recruit or corrupt local planetary defense forces. Leave such subversion to the likes of our Alpha Legion or Word Bearers brethren. We do not waste our time recruiting. Either join us, or be cut down before us! :P

 

So, rather in dismay about what to do about my cult forces, I started a ponderous drive home. Then, an idea struck me: Slaves! Duh! :P So, this is where I need your guy's help! I could definitely see the Iron Warriors landing on a planet, laying a capital city low within a night, and declaring anyone who will not work, build, and fight for them dead where they stand. And seeing as how the cultists in my unit will be used as a walking meat-blob anyway, I felt like this would be perfect. The two ideas I have in my head are as follows:

 

1. The slaves need to look run down, tired, whipped, and beaten. I wouldn't see them being well armored, maybe a pilfered suit of flak armor off of a corpse in passing, but nothing the IW would supply them with. They are, after all, meat shields. I can paint lash marks, dirty clothes, and pallid skin easy enough, but it's finding models that would accurately represent this shambling force of doomed imperial citizens that has me perplexed. I know I'll be buying some hobby chain to make manacles and collars for them, but beyond that, I really don't know what to use. Any suggestions? Keep in mind I need around 80 of these guys, so bulk is better!

 

2. Slave drivers. These would act as the cultist champions. These guys I want to model as armorless, shamed Iron Warriors. They either failed the Warsmith in some unforgivable manner, challenged the authority of a superior within the warband and were beaten down, or something of that nature. Thusly, they have been ritually shamed, stripped of their armor and their honor, and left to herd the masses of cultists forward into the grind with lash and pistol. Problem is, I have no idea how to model these guys :huh: They need to be armorless, but significantly bulkier than the cultists so they can be identified still as space marines. Given that this is not a true scale army, I'm at a loss on how to make these guys or what bits to buy. Thoughts?

 

Thanks all!

 

-Kal

[Res Ipsa Loquitur]

I don't know if you'll feel they fit, but I'm planning on using Flagellants from the WFB Empire range as Cultists.

 

You'll need to buy pistol holster bitz for them. Some of the heads are blindfolded, you could get more of those and have them all blindfolded...

[Kilofix]

You can use WFB Beastmen, Flagellants, etc.

 

But regardless here's a good place to get them auto rifles / auto pistols:

http://www.anvilindustry.co.uk/The-Armoury/Rifles-Shotguns-Pistols

[Luther - the fallen]

you could go the way Storm of Iron goes, and have them wear the remnants of uniforms from a conquered Guard regiment. I second the Flagellant idea, as for the "handlers", that's harder. Arms could be Catachan, but their bodies are very short, so they'd look somewhat small next to a marine I think, though it's worth a look.

[Lord Asvaldir]

I'm happy you brought this topic up Kaldoth, as I have the same dilemma. 

 

I've looked at human models from across the warhammer and 40k range and I must say I haven't quite found yet a model that really fits. Cadians just look too militaristic and well equipped, and catachans are far too buff and in good shape to be malnourished slaves. Flagellents work but I must say I'm not a huge fan-I don't want a unit of dress wearers. Beastmen ungors are also an option if you want a less human look. 

 

The best I can come up with is some mixing and matching, not the best option when you need a lot of models. I haven't tried making any models yet, but I figure catachan legs/torsos would work, along with arms from the flagellents or cadians kit. Heads can really be from anything. That's the best I can come up with, really can't find anything else that would work. 

[Targetlock]

mine are beastmen for my khornate force, in reference to the old school beastmen units but I also use all manner of random models, ghouls, flagellants, guardsmen etc. I would recommend flagellants too, especially if you want the slave look, or maybe even use skavenslave models? :)

[Kaldoth]

Well, I definitely don't want to go the route of Beastmen.  That would imply corruption by Chaos, and IW to me have always seemed more in line with the AL and NL as far as using Chaos as a tool and not succumbing to it (with a few exceptions every now and again, of course). I love the heads on the Flagellants, but the weapons are a downer for me. Maybe I can find a bits ordering store to get just the heads.  I'd love to throw some female bodies in there too.  I don't feel like out of an entire conquered planet the Iron Warriors are going to care enough to recruit just men to throw in front of enemy guns :P

I've been perusing bits, and I was wondering if anyone knew how Cadian torsos looked on top of Catachan legs? I have zero experience with either kit, but I feel like the combination of body armor and cargo pants would look pretty rag-tag and "issued-ish." Looking at Forgeworld, their Renegade Militia Weapon Arms pack looks promising. Only downside is it looks like you get one sprue of arm sets, and it's six autoguns, three autopistols, and special weapons.  I only need close combat arms for all of these cultists. That, and buying 80 sets of arms is going to be veeeeeeery expensive :( I really need to find some sleeveless arms that don't look super bulky like Catachan arms that are kitted for close combat. Any suggestions, or do I need to broker a deal with the dark gods on that one? :rolleyes: 

[Tipper]

Fierfek site won't tell me the scale, and they're expensive, but human and mini of a size.

http://www.hfminis.co.uk/shop?category=modern-%26%0D%0Apost%252dapoc

[Forté]

Another vote for the Flagellants. Bare foot, bare chest, dressed in rags. It's easy to avoid using the more fanatical looking parts too.

 

The odd guard model too could vary it nicely.

 

As for handlers for an IW force, that's a tougher one. Maybe look at the Skittari and Astra Millitarum kits for parts to have a more armoured bionic look.

[Res Ipsa Loquitur]

Building on Forte's idea, a totally robotic handler could work well with the IW theme...

 

How about Catachan torso and arms with the 'Bane' marine head, all on marine legs?

[totgeboren]

As the owner of more cultists that I ever imagined I would own (and have painted, almost 100 now!), I might have some useful input.

 

First off all, with the previous IG codex I of course needed lots of traitor guards, but I also used lots of Conscripts with Send in the Next Wave, and for conscripts I used flagellants with lasguns and 3ed party heads.

 

Traitor Guards based on mixed Cadian and Catachan bits with 3ed party heads and gs shoulderguards and Cultists with lasguns based on flagellants with lasguns and 3ed party heads can be seen here.

 

Then of course we have the GW cultists, seen here with some random Necromunda models mixed in.

 

And then I have my outlier, entirely 3ed party models, these from Pig Iron Productions with headswaps. Since autopistols are submachine guns, and these models have submachine guns, having them count as pistol and cc wasn't that hard. Though I would have preferred to give them CSM knifes (big as swords on these dudes), but sadly didn't have enough bits.

 

So, some different versions, perhaps none of them fell in your taste?

 

About the IW slavedriver, perhaps a Khorne Skullreaper from whfb could be used as a base? Or maybe they are too big?

[kaz'sax]

How about chaos marauder? They're similar sizes to a marine

[Slaanbull]

For my own cultists I'm using stuff from cadians, flagellants, empire militia, skaven stormvermin, through greatswords, chaos marauders, and of course FW's excellent upgrade kits and the clampack cultists. Including a few I can't recall.
A true multipart cultist kit from GW main would be a dream come true though, plastic Noise Marines first though

For a demoted space marine maybe you could shave a beastman gors upper body and give it some armoured legs(old chaos warrior legs spring to mind). Or you could retain his breastplate+legs from the space marines and remove his helmet and backpack and give him bare arms from beastman/marauder kits?

[Iron-Daemon Forge]

I'd also suggest Flagellants & look that the Cadain, Guard in general to show fallen company, etc....  like we see in Storm of Iron.  ALso try searching out the classic Pit Slaves models from Necromunda they could be good as Servitor's (sp) or to theme them as the more heavy working cultist for those trench & building bunker.  You also got some bits from the new Mechanicus models to convert up for the tech/bionic theme.

 

Beastmen as well would be another great kit.  Could be a Daemonic world the IW over taken.

 

Check out Dave Talyer Bloodpack army just to get a few idea.  I think we have a link to his blog in the resource topic.

[Kevlarshark]

Try Victoria miniatures penal legion if manacled, ragged, slaves is the look you want.

 

I can also recommenced curious constructs bits for that renegade look.

 

Both of these marry very well up with the Cadian and forge-world renegade militia bits.

[Iron Skull Mask]

For your idea, the flagellants sound good. In Siege of Castellax however, we see that the IW do outfit their slave forces with what they need to be useful (in the case of Castellax they need gas masks for example). I personally wanted my cultists to be more military style and wearing gas masks and great coats, so I went for steel legion as DKOK are too expensive for me.

[totgeboren]

I just have to point out that slaves are probably much better represented by use of IA13 and the Vraks list there. I personally love having a few 10-man squads with lasguns (where each squad costs about the same as 2 marines), though they have random Ld and WS/BS 2 and no save.

 

Still, they are so crappy and throw-away that they are a joy to field, not to mention great for holding objectives. Just run to an bjective as fast as you can and go to ground. If they die it doesn't matter, if they live, great, they are in the way, meaning the enemy is forced to waste firepower on them.

 

You might think CSM cultists would work just as well, but they have a much too high initial cost combined with having to pay extra for lasguns, meaning a 10-man squad with rifles costs 2x as much as a 10-man from IA13. I highly recommend them, they are basically like cultists, only 2x as good at doing their job (which is being meatshields and allowing our marines to do their job of killing stuff).

[Targetlock]

really need to get this book for my traitor guard i think :)