Heresy & Heroes

Dispatched by the Prince of Pleasure to guard her servants in the depths of the Underhive (or wherever else they need her), the Guardian Huntress is a stealthy assassin who will protect her charges with her own unnatural life if necessary. In her hair she wears the feathers of the unflamed Phoenix, and she bears signs of transformation into a daemonette – something she cannot escape, though her Goddess has slowed her transformation so that she may be better suited to her current duties. Let’s look closer at this dark warrior.

This is my hand-to-hand combat specialist for my Dark Mech Slaaneshi warband, and while she isn’t Dark Mech per se, she has been sent by Slaanesh to ensure that the Magos’ mission succeeds. I’m thinking that in terms of weapons, as well as the obvious claw and dagger, said dagger should be dripping with some sort of poison or potion that Slaanesh has crafted – perhaps one that seduces any model it hits and makes striking back at the Guardian Huntress a little harder to do. When I get to writing some rules for them, I’ll be sure to keep it fluffy.

The miniature is obviously based heavily on the Sisters of Silence kit, but there are  daemonette and Escher gang kits involved too, and the bronze shoulder armour is from the Helstrider kit. A little bit of greenstuffing, and the whole thing went together quite easily.

Above you can see the cloak that I worked on for this. It’s loosely based on the pattern of a clouded leopard, but I wanted to try and make it not an easily identifiable animal in the end – more of an exotic beast hunted in the realm of the Prince of Pleasure. I’m particularly pleased with the feathers in her hair which are nice and subtle, yet interesting enough to be a focal point on the miniature. The brass armour was fun to do as well, and also has a subtle yet flashy look to it.

The base was plenty of fun to work on. The stone has a muted purple hue to work with the theme of the miniature, while beneath that stone, the grime, decay and ruin of the world using mud, a broken pipe and some fallen fencing, show through. What’s best about the base though is that it adds to the miniature’s character. It gives her a real hunter’s stance, and you instantly get that her foes would hate to see her towering above them like that, ready to strike.

She has been a very fun little project to get in to, and it was fun to work on something a little more subtle after the glaring bright tones of the Noise Marine. What’s more, she really fits in with the gang she’s now a part of…

And the gang is almost all here, but there’s something missing I feel. As this is Dark Mech, shouldn’t there be a robot in there? Well, I think there should, and I will be addressing that in a couple of months, so stay tuned for that. In the meantime, I hope your own painting work is going great guns. Onwards!