“Murzon Kyro spent his youthful years lurking around the Imperial Fists Interests atop the Spyre and eavesdropping on every conversation he could. It is believed that from these noble warriors (or more likely their serfs) he first learnt of the Xenos warriors known as (according to Imperial classifications) Striking Scorpions. He became obsessed by the idea of them and would, years later, spend part of his family’s fortune obtaining weapons from the Van Saar, and toxins from House Escher, as well as developing his own body through clandestine methods to match the speed, armament and abilities of these warriors (or what he thought these warriors to be based on his approximations). This is what first brought him to my attention, but after the death of his brother, Arfiz, Kyro Murzon has descended into the Underhive looking for answers presumably, and as such, has slipped beyond the light of the Emperor’s Inquisitive gaze. He is now said to haunt the shadows of the crumbling depths, and is growing quite the reputation as a lethal entity.”

– Inquisitor Thor Henshu (Ordo Xenos)

Long ago, I attended a Horus Heresy and Necromunda weekender at which Andy Hoare did a Q&A and someone asked if we would ever see Xenos representation in Necromunda. Andy responded by saying, essentially that, Genestealers aside, no, they likely wouldn’t show up because this is a very Imperial setting. However, he went on, the idea that some Spyre brat has heard of the Aeldari, and wants to emulate them, is a viable one, though he wouldn’t have seen one so his efforts would be based on clandestine research and hearsay. All of that has been percolating in me for, I think, 5 years now (or is it 4 – 2020 ruined my sense of time-keeping) and this is finally the result of that – the Stalking Scorpion.

For a start, it’s great to be back working on Bounty Hunters again. I do love making them and it’s been a while. Secondly, it is amazingly satisfying and therapeutic to bring this idea to life after all this time. It has been scratching and gnawing at the back of my hobby brain for an age now, and it’s wonderful to finally exorcise it and make it a real thing.

It was such a fun premise to work with. What would a Spyre-brat who desperately wanted to look like, and fight like, an exotic alien do to make that a reality. For a start, he could afford Van Saar weapons and tech to enhance him. He might have done research into what a scorpion actually was, and found out about their venomous nature, so he would engage the Escher. He would have worked out, and dreadlocked his hair, and he would have found illegal information about how these aliens operated. Why a Striking Scorpion? Because they’re my favourite Eldar unit of all time.

So for this kit, I took the Eversor assassin and did some chopping and changing with a few Van Saar and Escher bits. I also had to make his locks and each one is a very thin strand of green stuff. I then used one of those weird spine things from the Van Saar and turned it into a tail because I thought Murzon would have seen those images of scorpions and presumed Striking Scorpions had tails. I used the Striking Scorpion colour palette and adapted it slightly for the grimy world of the Underhive and I ensured he’d have glowing red eyes because I just think that would look cool and the idea of gangers, hive scum and bounty hunters alike being terrified at the sight of those eyes in the dark was really fun.

There’s a shot of those dreadlocks for you. “Fiddly” doesn’t even begin to describe it. I also thought long and hard about how to emulate the Scorpion’s Bite, and that’s where the shoulder mounted needler comes in (which our bounty hunter here calls the “Scorpion’s Sting”). I like the idea that it follows his eyes and is slaved to the laspistol trigger. And the laspistol is there because I really didn’t think a Shurikan catapult would make sense in Hive Primus.

I’ve got a few more Necromunda Bounty Hunters in the pipeline so I’ll get round to them at some point. I think I’m now at 24 and I quite like the idea of at least hitting 30, but I’ll see how I go. I’m also now very much drawn to the idea of creating a Van Saar gang as their design (which initially I didn’t love) has really started to grow on me. We’ll see. Onwards!