Squattish Shooters Ahoy!

[Karak Norn Clansman]

“You can run, but you’ll only die tired.”

“Whom did ye call short-arse?”

Here are some Squats I converted and painted some years back. The armoured ones are Mantic Forgefathers with helmet faces in particular resculpted. Note double skull kill markings on the marksman’s helmet.

“I’ll cut ye down to proper size, tally!”

Badoom! Broadbeard, a loudmouth one-Dwarf illegal radio station sending live from his heists and battles. My character in a Kill Team-RPG campaign. More here:

WIP

“Need a light?”

Beep…! Beep…!

This terrain piece’s name goes along the lines of “Mining operations network (MON) Omnibeacon” and I’ll explain my thoughts about it once it’s finally painted and photographed with something better than my backwards cellphone.

It is entirely built out of plastic caps, plasticard, some “pins” of various shaped, small nails, super glue and a little greenstuff. It was a Christmas scratchbuild. Of course, like an iceberg it’s supposed to be 9/10 under ground, since it’s a Space Dwarf construction.

Art

“The stronghold oldsters back at home might not have approved, but around these parts there aren’t any stronghold or oldsters. Or home, for that matter. Chap, in the Biker ‘guilds’ you’ll be your own man, with your own ride far away from safety and responsibilities. Us outriders have our own customs, so thus you’ll have me with this spiky, radical beard style, see? At least I didn’t tint it teal.”

“Life is a trampler. I like to keep a rug of a beard around to better receive life as it is in the hallway.”

"Pal, come now. Really? If you think I look weird now you should’ve seen me before the flamethrower accident."

And finally a drawing:

Squat Power Boarder

A mercenary prone to casual violence, Trough Mac Broigum has served the psychopathic Rogue Trader Tyrel “Destroyer” Cathek for over seven decades of ceaseless voyages between distant stars. As his master has cut a bloody swathe through long-lost Human colonies and Xeno worlds alike, so has the abhuman Trough served Cathek with savage glee.

Trough Mac Broigum has participated in more xenocides and extermination campaigns than most senior Inquisitors can lay claim to, and he has often been at the forefront of the burning and slaughter. Trough leads an sabotage squad of Squat clansmen who have mastered the difficult vehicle known as the power board, a self-propelled ride capable of great leaps and even some limited flight.

The Squat power boarders are experts at striking through backstreets and narrow alleys after heavier units have opened a breach, rushing through urban mazes and space station corridors to deliver a lethal cargo of demolition charges, incendiaries, gas canisters, neurotoxins or virus bombs to soft strategic locations (such as waterworks or aeroprocessors) in the midst of population centers. Trough and his ilk will celebrate every triumph of mass civilian extermination with strong beverages, and will constantly retell their most daring feats of martial power board acrobatics in the face of enemy resistance.

[centre]_____________________[/centre]

Drawn for Oldhammer Art Contest II. Usually I base my doodles loosely on official sources at best (these fictive worlds are always best for freewheeling exploration and imagination of one’s own), but this one was different. The Squat Power Boarder is a reference to three things from Book of the Astronomican: The tabards of Rogue Trader troopers, the signum of Tyrel “Destroyer” Cathek, and the power board of Stugen Deathwalker.

“Kickee Cool” on the boots was a nonsense catch-phrase which I used for a Shadowrun Dwarf kickboxer during a short RPG session. I know nothing about Shadowrun, but I made said dwarf (with neon hair & beard implants, constantly shifting glowing colours) with the wacky spirit of Rogue Trader 40k in mind.

 

Squattish Grav-Jack

Grav-jacks are gravity repulsor units fitted to landbound vehicles, treasured and rare through the Imperium of Man, yet commonplace among the Kin of Squats. A halfway house between a skimmer and a groundbound tank, a heavy vehicle equipped with grav-jacks may fire up the anti-gravitic engines to lessen ground pressure. A light thrust may prove sufficient for the vehicle to escape becoming mired in mud, marshes, crystafields and still more alien kinds of treacherous soil. Yet should the vehicle run stuck, a strong thrust will be employed to lift it out of the trapping ground. Grav-jacks have limited energy and will require recharging via the vehicle's batteries between uses, yet grav-jack patterns employed by the Leagues of Votann have been noted to be powerful enough to function as grav-chutes for heavy vehicles during their entire descent through atmosphere, something which is far beyond the wilted abilities of Imperial relic grav-jacks. Grav-jacks are believed to have originally been designed to move freight-containers during the Dark Age of Technology, and a lot more can be found out about them here.

The basis for these extensive conversions are the tracks of a resin Ramshackle Gnu armoured transport vehicle. The rest of the behemoth build is yet to be finished.

 

Comments and criticism are as welcome as always.

Cheers!

[space wolf]

Holy crap dude. Love your commitment, looks great!

 

[N1SB]

I am in awe.

[Karak Norn Clansman]

@space wolf: Thanks a lot!

 

@N1SB: Thank you kindly!

 

@MetalMammoth: Thanks! And he sure is!

 

 

Ral-Terak Combine Warrior

 

The Hearthkyn Warriors of the Ral-Terak Combine live up to their League's reputation of being armed to the teeth and tooled to the temple. True to maximalist Kin design, this line infantry do not only bring potent firepower, thick armour and voidsuit self-sufficiency to bear. It also bring tools, sidearms and gear aplenty. This stack of equipment is topped off by adornments ranging from ancestor medallions, through individual runes to Kindred markings and League heraldry.

 

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This is a test conversion for basic Squat infantry built out of the new Leagues of Votann kits. The NASA-punk elements will in due time be matched with converted Mantic Forgefathers and converted Kharadron Overlords, not to mention Warhammer Dwarf conversions along the style of Rogue Trader Squats.

 

I have long pondered shortening the legs, trunk and arms of the new Kin miniatures, but eventually I decided against it. The difference in size and proportions will be down to diverging branches of Squats, carried into their cloneskeins. The long millennnia of divergent physical change and traditional wargear design was then brought into full view when two minor Leagues combined to form the large Ral-Terak Combine, an acquisitive and ruthless astral mining conglomerate willing to fight the denizens of hell itself for mining rights. Rock holds.

As regard the new Leagues of Votann models, I was not content with the sizeable length of upper arm left without armour on the Hearthkyn Warriors. I played with the idea of gluing 7th edition WHFB Dwarf facemasks beneath the pauldrons, or sculpting a segmented plate. In the end, I decided to add a a sliver of overlapped quilted armour, as a nod to Rogue Trader Squats. Obviously space Dwarfs will need entrenching tools, and so I cobbled together a quick spade design that could be mass-produced with some ease. Ergo the lack of sharp corners. The base is covered with hints of various xenoid flora and fauna.

 

Huge thanks to my brother EEJR and my friend JAB for unexpectedly giving me the largest Warhammer present I've ever received (aside from a Warhammer fortress from our father, given to me and my brother in 2003): A Leagues of Votann army set, complete with a fantastic new codex, one of the best things ever written for Warhammer 40'000. Now that is solid worldbuilding.

Edited January 13, 2024 by Karak Norn Clansman

[Rusted Boltgun]

I like the quilting nod to the original Squats, I wish the GW models had brought that forward (though I understand why they didn't). Great anvil emblem too!

[Valkia the Bloody]

The love and dedication going into this is amazing.

[phandaal]

5 hours ago, Karak Norn Clansman said:

one of the best things ever written for Warhammer 40'000. Now that is solid worldbuilding.

 

Agreed, GW really knocked it out of the park with the lore for Votann.

[Karak Norn Clansman]

@Rusted Boltgun: Thank you kindly! I would have liked to see that as well.

 

@Valkia the Bloody: Thank you very much!

 

@phandaal: Incredible, really. I had never expected such a polished and thought-through background update for Squats. I'm still surprised!

 

 

 

Ral-Terak Combine Sagitaur ATV

 

As is standard practice with all vehicles of the Ral-Terak Combine, this Sagitaur (nicknamed Gustr, meaning puff of wind) is heavily ornamented and carries plenty of baggage and equipment for expeditions. Since the Sagitaur is but a light scout and transport vehicle, it lack grav-jacks altogether, unlike the heavier wains of the Ral-Terak Combine such as the Hekaton Land Fortress.

 

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Warm thanks to Eisenhans for gifting me this Sagitaur kit when it was brand new for Christmas 2022 A.D.

 

I immediately set about cleaning mouldlines and assembling this joyful moon car, filling in gaps at once as they appeared when parts were glued together. It was all but assembled, and then life threw a big spanner in the works, and most of my home had to be packed down into boxes for renovations and upgrades. After a hectic and draining 2023, I have finally started to catch up with health and various projects again. The Sagitaur was the first of my own miniatures to be unpacked when I two days ago decided that I should work on my own collection for once. Everything in green stuff and bits taken from 7th and 6th edition Dwarf kits were added on over two days, and suddenly the vehicle was finished as regard assembly and conversions. Painting will have to wait until I have decided upon a colour scheme, but I am unusually eager to get this buggy painted.

 

The new Squat background is fantastic. Some of the absolute best ever written for all of Warhammer 40'000 from Rogue Trader and onward. The background and visual nods to the Dark Age of Technology happened to play into my hands so strongly that I am laughing all the way to the bank. Unbelievable free goal served on a silver platter by official sources, so to speak.

 

As to looks, Games Workshop did great work when designing the Sagitaur in particular, and overall I am impressed how well the NASA-punk aesthetic works for Squats in general, reminiscent of Terrans from glorious Starcraft. The aesthetic is not a perfect fit, but that only means that Games Workshop left me a challenge to make the aesthetic threads come together in a knotwork of futuristic design, runes, ancestor medallions and an abundance of baggage and tools. And big beards!

 

Seeing Olthannon's wonderful conversions for his Kin in general and his Sagitaur in particular spurred me to unbox this vehicle and copy his conversions. I have built nothing as fine as his trailer, but I hope to eventually walk in his tracks on that count as well.

 

Kin is kin. Rock and stone!

Edited January 13, 2024 by Karak Norn Clansman

[Terminatorinhell]

So much good conversion work.. I love really clean GS work and these models are incredible. 

[Doghouse]

These all look great, well done. 

[Karak Norn Clansman]

@Terminatorinhell: Thank you most kindly, Battle Brother!

 

@Doghouse: Thanks!

 

 

 

Impaled

 

"Da stunty kept bounceen aboot like a squig whun we kicked 'im. Zoggin' fat un, ha! Den da stunty stayed put afta we chugged a stake in 'im. Hur-hur!"

 

- Vox-thief recording of the boasts of Ork Nob Harbak Facebiter following the sacking of Kin mining outpost Gygi 11 on Frijdrak Quadralis in the Badab Sector, Ultima Segmentum

 

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Sculpted as a gift for a friend's mad Mega-Gargant build.

 

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Stoppage

 

"Thordrûk, get the hammer hose! A3 has clogged up with viscous."

 

"Hit a Caryllian semi-clay stratum again?"

 

"Nope. Natives this time."

 

- Vox-recording captured from Tracked Stripmining Mill-Hulk (TSMH) Lokhnårflagynning Gamlr of the Ral-Terak Combine, a League of Votann responsible for eradicating 93% of all Imperial colonists on Sjöfn Minoris

[Rusted Boltgun]

Brutal!

[Firedrake Cordova]

Excellent work, as usual

[Karak Norn Clansman]

@Rusted Boltgun: Cheers!

 

@Firedrake Cordova: Thank you kindly!

 

 

Boar: Export Model Hekaton Land Fortress by Ral-Terak Combine

 

It's a-chargin' in a rut!

 

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This Hekaton Land Fortress is not built for my own army, but for a friend's collection. Let us call him the Count. I assembled it, with magnetized weapons to be added later, and he will paint it. I took the chance to go to town with some fun decoration on this export model, although if I ever get a Hekaton for my own collection you can count on it sporting far more customized details.

Edited January 21 by Karak Norn Clansman

[ZeroWolf]

Now that's a lot of details! Your friend is going to have his work cut out for him!

[Firedrake Cordova]

Your friend is rather lucky

[Rusted Boltgun]

Love the Boar's butt and the raised finger emblem, the customisation really brings the model alive.

They remind me of the old illustrations in the RT book, the armour marks and helmet scrawls which, I assume, were themselves inspired by actual photos from the Vietnam war, etc.

[Karak Norn Clansman]

@ZeroWolf: Thank you kindly! I hope he will have!

 

@Firedrake Cordova: Fingers crossed he thinks so too!

 

@Rusted Boltgun: Haha, thanks a lot! Aye, and Vietnam is right. For more in that vein, I can recommend that you do yourself a service and check out Chris Metzen's Starcraft drawings. Brash Rogue Trader spirit all over the Terrans. Cheers!

 

 

Hound: Export Model Sagitaur ATV by Ral-Terak Combine

 

Sic 'em!

 

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As with the previous Hekaton Land Fortress (Boar), this Sagitaur is not built for my own army, but for a friend's collection. Let us call him the Count. I assembled and converted it, and he will paint it later on. Having assembled a Sagitaur for my own army before, it turned out that I needed no instructions to fit this vehicle together. Fun kit.

 

Continuing with the enemy-insulting and foe-crushing themes of the Count's Boar Hekaton, I took the chance to depict a Slaught Dream Eater and a Breg-shei ground under the wheels. No official depiction of the Breg-shei exists, wherefore I attempted to carefully reconstruct them for Malfunction following all available descriptions, both in M31 and M41.

Edited January 27 by Karak Norn Clansman

[ZeroWolf]

Superb stuff, those details are crystal clear.

[Karak Norn Clansman]

@ZeroWolf: Thank you very much, sir!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Raven, Bull, Ram, Pony: Export Model Einhyr, Grimnyr and Brôkhyr Equipment by Ral-Terak 

Combine

 

The makers cast us from the crucible from the very beginning.

 

We have always been cloned.

 

We were crafted to mine the heavens.

 

Grasp and ken.

 

Delve deeper.

 

All is toil.

 

All springs from toil.

 

A fine burden.

 

Weighed and wanting.

 

Sparks upon the anvil.

 

Rock holds.

 

Debt must be paid.

 

Doubt becomes debt.

 

Claimed in sweat, kept in blood.

 

A grudge stands.

 

Strike truth.

 

On heavy scales.

 

Harken in quiet.

 

Talk till regret.

 

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The above sayings are Kin Truths that I came up with while cobbling together the pictures here. They will see use in future essay writings and stories. Enjoy.

 

As with the two previous vehicles, these Einhyr, Grimnyr and Brôkhyr models are not built for my own army, but for a friend's collection. Let us call him the Count. I assembled them, converted a few miniatures, filled in gaps and sculpted various runes and ancestor visages. While the vehicles are splendid models, the Einhyr and Brôkhyr are parts of the Leagues of Votann range that I am left wanting for more when looking at, although not as much as with the Cthonian Bezerks. I will share feedback for the kits here below.

 

The Grimnyr miniature is so well-detailed straight out of the kit that I found no need to add anything, not even to the C.O.R.V. robots. The only thing I could have wished for, was for it and the entire Leagues of Votann miniature range to be shorter and sporting the classic spherical Warhammer Dwarf and Squat proportions, from before tall Lotr movie Dwarves played their influence upon Warhammer Dwarrows.

 

The Brôkhyr mining exo-suit concept is great, and all the individual parts and sense of depth in the kit were a treat to see and assemble. Yet the sum of their parts come off as lacking something in my eyes. There should be something more in there that makes the model pop, but I cannot place my finger on what. Often, things like these come down to heads. If I ever get Brôkhyr models of my own in the future, I might try to convert big mining helmets and see how it pans out.

 

The Einhyr are more questionable in my eyes. Sure, I love the sleek visual tie-ins with both the Dark Age of Technology and Power and Terminator armour alike. And as a lifelong fan of Starcraft I will always welcome designs reminiscent of Terran Marines. But the overall look doesn't cut it for me as a Squat exo-armour suit. I note that the models look more appropriate for that when viewed from behind, for they are indeed chunky and wide. Tall height for a space Dwarf aside, I believe that the Einhyr exo-armours could be made to work better for Squats if one was to bulk out their waist to rotund thickness. When viewed from the front, the Einhyr have too slim waists for Dwarfs. I am pondering various armour additions to the waist and extra codpiece bulkiness that I hope to try out in drawing or modelling in the future. I am an ardent friend of linking Squats to Dark Age of Technology mankind, and I will grant Games Workshop that the NASA-punk aesthetic works a lot better than expected. Nonetheless, there is room for improvement. Often some extra decorations will do the trick, but with some miniatures the silhouette need to be bulked out to looks right for Homo Sapiens Rotundus. Besides, I like the revolving shoulder-cannons, although something protruding behind the right shoulder would have made for some better symmetry. A sensor, teleport beacon or ancestor face sticking up should do the trick, and I plan to doodle or convert such in the future for my own collection.

 

In the meanwhile, the Count has now received the hard core of a readily modelled Squat force, along with an invoice from the Ral-Terak Combine.

 

Rock holds!

[Rusted Boltgun]

I would agree with your assessment of the models. If we'd never known Squats I think the customer base would be broadly happy but as they aren't a continuation of what we had before, some of us will always be looking in the rear view mirror of a trike, revving hard.

 

A grudge stands, indeed.

[Firedrake Cordova]

That's some quite subtle green-stuff work - if you didn't know to look for it, they'd pass as stock GW (a good thing, IMHO).