Over the weekend of the 20th of November 2021 Games Workshop did their prize giving for the annual Armies on Parade. I had entered into the “Best of the Rest” category and was lucky enough to get 3rd place!.

Below is a bunch of pictures of my entry and the various parts. this will be a long one.

If you want to leave a comment on this, any feedback etc, you can do so in the blog entry here

Background:

My club decided to play necromunda this year and while i was trying to work out what gang to play, i was not inspired by the actual gangs (i had played Delaque back in 1995 and while the new ones are cool they are not my matrix guys). But i saw the Venator gang and got inspired to go back to my roots of kitbashing entire armies (but not in metal this time). This would give me a way to paint up random models i liked from GW that i would normally have no use for.

Part way through the year as i was getting into it, i saw the announcement for Armies on Parade and as i was building some terrain as well i decided to see if i could get an entry done.

The theme for the army is an inquisitorial retinue of an Ordo Xenos inquisitor purging the underhive, following rumours of a Genestealer cult infestation. The scene would have them having cleared a sector of the hive, showing some subtle clues to the GSC being there.

It all paid off with me getting third.

The Entry:

Photos from GW - these were their edit of my photos:

These are my photos of the full entry and then the WIP of the display.

Painting: the grey was Mechanicus standard grey, heavily washed with my own wash made up of black, burnt umber and some green. then drybrushed a pearl colour. the bone was Zandri Dust, washed the same way and then drybrushed with Titan Buff and then a bit of white. the blue glow is talassar blue contrast over white, and then drybrushed white. i stippled a lot of burnt umber and then also olive green and bright green for the moss. the black scorch marks are Black 3.0 and the blood splatter is Quinidrone crimson (thick), and i used GW yellows for the hazard markings. I used a lot of masking for the hazard stripes but forgot to get a photo. Metal is vallejo metal, inked, and then silver drybrush.

Assembly - the base is a GW necromunda tile , and i lifted it up with some of the other necro terrain and plasticard. i used a variety of kits and wedged in the Haemotrope reactor between the pillars (this was the most annoying part), a bunch of plastic card to make it all fit.

The Models:

In all i made up 18 models for this. i used 8 or 9 of them in the game but a lockdown meant we did not end up with many games but i got into the assembly and conversions. I don’t recall how i painted all of them so iIm not going to focus to that. I have some other models i bought that I was going to add, and i may still do. its a project i can just keep adding to as i see cool models.

The early batches of models were just spares i had lying around, but as i got into i bought specific models for the gang. I also did not take many WIP, but where i did, i have them below.

First some group shots and then the individuals.

Venator 1

A basic one, before i knew how the game played i had the idea of a bunch of this guy as inquisitorial troopers, but he was the only one i did. He originally had a different head but i swapped it out for a GW one when i decided to enter the comp.

Venator 2

A WHFB flagellant with a goliath head, escher whip and gun and some pouches. At this point i could see the scale creep of the older models as he is quite short. not a huge issue as it makes them look more motley.

Venator 3

Ive always liked the gladeguard models, and so it was cool to use one. I used an enforcer bolter and had to sculpt it a bit to fit it with the small arms. the hardest bit was the face. its the hooded head from the elf but i carefully scraped out the face and then carved down an escher face to fit it in. I like the fact that you really cannot tell.

Venator 4

Ive had this commisar ever since i bought the imperial guard starter set. I took his head (i wonder where that is, i will use it for someone) and his arms, and the thing he was standing on and added a couple of flagellant arms, with a Mechanicus pistol, messed up flagellant head and some bits. he came out really well as a disgraced commisar. the WIP pic is not great. I used the glow effect from a cool tutorial on tale of painters.

Venator 5

I knew i wanted a dodgy priest and when i saw the head from the brettonian men at arms i had to use it. Its an Acolyte Iconward body, and i had to sculpt some feet on it. goliath arms and armour plates to finish it off. fairly simply but one of my favourites.

Venator 6

An Ordo Xenos who is not super straight and narrow would have some odd allies. I had these cool beastmen and had to use one. I sculpted on his head piece and eye and added a bunch of chains and exo skeleton stuff from the Orlocks to his back. i was going to keep his axe but changed my mind and went for one from the Corpse Grinders. His pistol is from the Goliaths and i added grenades and bits, and his axe got an eagle from some Forgeworld etched brass. This guy was actually part of my 2nd batch but i got the ordering wrong.

Venator 7

This guy was in my 2nd batch but i got the ordering wrong. I had to have a squat and this was a good way to get to use a Kharadron. i got a set of the Underworlds gang cheap and used one that worked. Fairly simple in that i cut off his KO stuff, and added in Scion bits and a bunch of greenstuff to make it work.

Venator 8

The heavy. he is an enforcer body, carefully converted to carry a Genestealer cult Stubber and backpack. I used a brettonian man at arms head and added some gubbins to him. simple conversion but he came out well.

Venator 9

The leader and last of batch 1 (which were models 1-5, 8 and 9). I had this guy from a trademe deal and thought he would be cool converted. he got a Scion head, and a mechanicus gun arm and greenstuff to make it fit. the loin cloth to rough him up a bit.

Venator 10

From batch 3, one of the models i bought specifically for this and one of my favourites of the conversions as it looks like a potential GW model. its a GSC Biophagus, with the torso over cadian walking legs, GSC arms with escher knife hand and the medical case from the Scions. head is from Orlocks and backpack is from the Cadians. i wanted a jaded guard veteran as medic and i think it worked.

Venator 11

I used the limited ed female catachan model, and gave her the Orlock juve arms, and head, resculpted her sleeve and arm and gave her a Delaque rifle. Keep an eye on other bits from this model, she was very useful.

Venator 12

Really liked this model. its a Techpriest model. i gave him an Orlock powerfist and an enforcer arm and gun. the head - i added in an enforcer face mask and sculpted the hood forward to cover it. again i like it because it looks like its meant to look like that.

Venator 13

This model is the Lumineth wizard, from here i got into converting up AOS models just for the fun of it. i had envisaged a death cult assassin in the guise of a noble lady but when i saw the giant sword from the Dark Elf horse guys i had to give it to her, so not quite as subtle. I used the female catachan head and sculpted on the veil and added the hair from the wizard back in. i was going to try and paint her clothes as translucent but chose not to, but i liked painting her feet as dirty. I had to sculpt in the hole in her stomach from the odd elf thing she had but it worked out ok. Somehow i forgot to paint the rim of her base, but no one noticed.

Venator 14

Now we are having fun. I randomly saw these models pop up and wondered how i had missed them (someone else on the Necromunda facebook page had used them), so i grabbed them to convert.

i gave her the enforcer sniper rifle and added it to some Escher arms, a sister of silence head and the chainsword from the female catachan.

Venator 15

the other half of this AOS box. I gave him the enforcer shield with a Censer and binocs. a delaque SMG bulked up with plasticard and the sword from the other model in the box. head is from an Orlock (the Orlocks have the best heads) and a Scion Knife. Shield has a brass etched eagle.

Venator 16

I had wanted a Kroot from early stages but could not find any cheap but i got the Dayak Ghrek instead. its a very flat model. i changed his gun to a mechanicus one but added back in the blade. i took his bracing arm and twisted it and added it as the handle of the gladeguard giant blade. added an orlock shoulder pad, sculpted a bunch of stuff and then added in the ork skull as a mask. probably my least favourite for all the work, though it turned out ok. the gun pipe got tucked between his legs and glued in.

Venator 17

I wanted a psyker and wanted to do glowing fire hot hands. this model is cool but i dont play AOS. its the slaanesh Shardspeaker. i changed the arms to the catachan female left arm and i am not sure what the right hand is from, might be a delaque. she got some grenades and delaque holster and a brass etched eagle where the slaanesh symbol would be. She is standing on a lascannon power cell from the devastators box. i spent ages looking for a head for her as i did not want to use the original hat. in the end i decided to sculpt hair which did not come out well, she has too much forehead and it was a bit weak but i think it still works and the burning hands really worked.

Venator 18

Lucky last. this is the eldar sniper from Blackstone. took off the head and arms. Gave her the Escher flamer arm and a sword arm. added in a a Genestealer cult backpack and twisted the piping to fit. the head is from the Dark elf horse wizards and i sculpted on the fur ruff. i cut down the gem in the middle of the chest and then added a line of greenstuff to make it look like she was wearing low cut armour. Came up really well. i am very happy with the flame, the skin like colour on the cloak and the markings and i love the armour colour as i stole the colours from Squidmar.

So thats it all. so many models and photos. i really enjoyed it and it was great to get the kitbashing juices going.