The Elite of the Elite (Skål's R&F 4)

These creatures are not devils or ghosts, as the Underhivers know all too well. They are the sons and daughters of the Noble Houses that rule Hive Primus and the whole of Necromunda from the fastness of the Spire. These siblings of noble blood are cast down into purgatory to prove themselves tough and resourceful enough to take their place amid the ruling families. In a hive containing so many billions of souls, only the most dynamic and merciless individuals can expect to rule, or indeed to survive.

 This month I painted up the Spyrers from the Outlanders expansion. This gang was a fun one to paint up. I first had to strip most of them of their 1990's me paint jobs as they needed a fresh, dark look to fit in with the rest of my gangs from this project. So after a good clean up I dove into painting this little team up. I originally was going to use this month as my Wild Card month but I ended up being able to paint up 10 Spyrers, all different, all original (besides the Patriarch and Matriarch).

The Orrus embodies the most brutal aspects of the Spyre Hunters. Its distinctively oversized powered arms and hulking shoulders betray the Orrus’ fearsome combat style: that of crushing and battering its opponents to a bloody pulp. Ranks of armoured pistons power the arms and its blunt, claw-fingered hands, and each fist is backed by a rack of bolt launchers to blast apart opponents at a distance. Though the Orrus is the slowest of the Spyre Hunters it is also the most indomitable.

I painted each of these between two different days. I had a rough idea of what I wanted to do with them and just sort of grabbed what I had on my desk that I thought might fit with my vision.

The Yeld is the most bizarre of the Spyre Hunters: a winged fiend with pinions of chameleonic metal and claws of laser energy. When not in use, the Yeld’s wings sweep back to form a pinioned cloak of steel and reveal the heavy forearm units bearing laser tubes that are its primary weapons. Its wings are jagged with edges sharp as razors so it can slice its victim as it swoops overhead. 

I was lost at first on how I should paint these two. At first I was just working on one and then I was hit with the idea of shooting them both from the top with a dark grey blue and then hit them from underneath with various reds. So in a fury of inspiration I was able to knock these two out rather quickly. 

Malcadon are cunning and subtle in their hunting, trapping their victims in webs of iron-hard silk before tearing them apart with steely claws. Two bulbous spinarets for creating the web threads are mounted on the suit’s arms and connect to the Malcadon’s hunched back amidst a snake’s nest of tubes. The rest of the elongated limbs and back of the Malcadon are covered with downward pointing spines and overlapping plates of armor.

With the Malcadons I went with the classic red and purple schemes. I always loved the classic colors of the originals and though it would still fit in with the style I was going for for the gang. I was very happy with the way they came out and the glow of the eye on them.

Here are two you don't often see in the wilds of the web. I had a hard time finding any good images of the Patriarch and Matriarch, so here is my take of the lovely couple as they visit the Underhive to lend a hand to their murderous children. So here is my take on the both of them.

The Matriarch has a very Khorne vibe looking at the fig so I rolled with it and let her embrace her darker side.

The Patriarch on the other hand gave me a Horus vibe so I thought it would be fun to give him the glow from his armor's life support around his head. His armor was a lot of fun to paint up and it comes off as older but kept up, like it has been passed down from father to son for hundreds, if not thousands of years.

Last but not lease is a group photo of the entire gang. I realized once I had put away my scenery and started to write this post that I did not get any solo shots of the Jakara models. You can catch a glimpse of them in this family photo. I painted one in a very subdued color scheme like the rest of the gang and on in a very bright orange. The reason I did this is the orange one will draw the eye of the opposing player and draw fire while the rest the the gang can move up. I am still on the fence with her being orange and I may dip her and paint her to match the rest of the team. We shall see.

In all this Hive, why I do think

There are five reasons why we drink:

Good kills,

good ammo,

lest we be hunting

and till our oaths are filled.

SKÅL