Warhammer 40K: Khorne Chaos Cultists

Little more than levy rabble, Khorne Cultists are driven into a frenzied state through their worship of the Blood God. In battle, Khorne Cultists typically serve in the first wave of the assault, serving as expendable shock troopers, charging their enemies en masse. Even the most battle-hardened guardsman will admit that Khorne Cultists are a force to be feared due to their large numbers and frenzied state.

Khorne Chaos Cultists (front)

Khorne Chaos Cultists (back)

Games Workshop’s Chaos Cultist range is limited to the ‘easy-build’ Chaos Cultist set.  However, with some ‘kit bashing’, it is an easy task to bring a greater variation of cultists to the tabletop.  I put together the six Khorne Chaos Cultists shown in this post using the Age of Sigmar Flagellants box set, with the lasguns/laspistols coming from the Catachan Jungle Fighters and Cadian Shock Troopers sprues.

For more images of these miniatures, please visit the Khorne Cultists section in the Old Guard; a website dedicated to Games Workshop’s Warhammer 40K miniatures, with a focus on the classic range of Imperial Guard models from the 1990s.

Cadian Shock Troopers: Woodland Camouflage Pattern (Imperial Guard/Astra Militarum)

Once a mighty Imperial Fortress World located near the Eye of Terror, Cadia is the home world of the Cadian Shock Troopers; Imperial Guard regiments renown for their disciple and devotion to the God-Emperor. The entire planet of Cadia was destroyed in the 13th Black Crusade; despite this, the ‘fighting spirit’ of the Cadian Shock Trooper still lives on through the 3 million Cadians who have fled their planet’s destruction.

Cadian Shock Troopers with lasguns (front)

Cadian Shock Troopers with lasguns (back)

Cadian Heavy Bolter Team (front)

Cadian Heavy Bolter Team (back)

The metal Cadian miniatures reminded me of the U.S. Army combat uniforms of the 1980s; as such, I painted this group of six miniatures in a four-colour woodland camouflage pattern, based on the U.S. Woodland camouflage pattern (the U.S. Woodland camouflage pattern was introduced to the U.S. military in 1981).  This collection of Cadian miniatures includes five guardsmen with lasguns and on one guardsman operating a heavy bolter.

The metal Cadian Shock Troopers were introduced in 1994, when Citadel Miniatures moved away from their generic Rogue Trader era Imperial Guard models, to Imperial Guardsmen themed around the specific home worlds they were recruited from.  The metal Cadian Shock Troopers were designed by Michael Perry; while the heavy bolter was designed by Norman Swales. 

For more images of these miniatures, please visit the Cadian Shock Troopers section of the Old Guard.

In a future post, I plan painting six metal Cadian miniatures in a tri-colour desert camouflage pattern.

Old Guard: An Astra Militarum/Imperial Guard Fan Site is a website dedicated to Games Workshop’s Warhammer 40K miniatures, with a focus on the classic range of Imperial Guard models from the 1990s.

Warhammer 40,000: Gaunt’s Ghosts Miniatures

Created by legendary Games Workshop writer Dan Abnett, Gaunt’s Ghosts is a series that spans 15 novels, 1 novella and several short stories. Gaunt’s Ghosts focuses on the Tanith First-and-Only, an Imperial Guard regiment founded on the world of Tanith; a world destroyed by Chaos. Originally Colonel-Commissar Ibram Gaunt was tasked with raising three regiments from Tanith; however, a Chaos splinter fleet attacked Tanith on the day of the founding, and only 3,500 of the 6,000 Tanith guardsmen managed to escape the planet before it was destroyed. The surviving Tanith guardsmen were reorganized into a single regiment: the Tanith First-and-Only (nicknamed Gaunt’s Ghosts by Tanith Master Sniper Mad Larkins).

Left to Right: Colonel Colm Corbec, Colonel-Commissar Ibram Gaunt,

Female Ghost & Ghost with Plasma Gun (front)

Left to Right: Colonel Colm Corbec, Colonel-Commissar Ibram Gaunt,

Female Ghost & Ghost with Plasma Gun (back)

Left to Right: Generic Ghost, ‘Mad’ Larkins, Doctor Dorden,

Brin Milo & Generic Ghost (front) 

Left to Right: Generic Ghost, ‘Mad’ Larkins, Doctor Dorden,

Brin Milo & Generic Ghost (back)

In the early 2000s, Citadel Miniatures released 10 metal Gaunt’s Ghosts miniatures (please see Collecting Citadels Miniatures for more details).  I have painted nine of these miniatures, which includes: Colonel-Commissar Gaunt, Colonel Colm Corbec, Doctor Dorden, Adjutant Brin Milo, Sniper ‘Mad’ Larkins, Generic Ghost with plasma gun and three Generic Ghosts with lasguns.

Female Ghost: The original Ghosts are all male, and the people of Tanith are described as having dark hair, blue eyes and fair skin.  Blue ‘Celtic-style’ tattoos are common among the people of Tanith.  At the end of the third novel (Necropolis), several members from the Vervunhive Primary and Vervunhive Scratch Companies joined the Ghosts.  Includes with these new additions are several female Ghosts.  The people of Verunhive have a more diverse appearance; as such, I painted the female Ghost with ‘dirty-blonde’ hair.  Another difference between the Vervunhive Ghosts and the original Tanith Ghosts is that while the lasguns of the Tanith have nailwood stocks, the lasguns of the Vervunhive Ghosts do not.

For more images of these miniatures, please visit the Gaunt’s Ghost section of the Old Guard.

Old Guard: An Astra Militarum/Imperial Guard Fan Site is a website dedicated to Games Workshop’s Warhammer 40K miniatures, with a focus on the classic range of Imperial Guard models from the 1990s.