Burnt Scorpions Storm Troopers

Here is my second squad of Storm Troopers, the Burnt Scorpions. These Chaos Squats in Power Armor are my favorite Squats of them all, and have been part of my collection since they were first released in May of 1989. These minis spent their formative years as part of a Chaos Warband under the old Realm of Chaos Slaves to Darkness rules. I reworked their paint jobs when I revived my dreams of a Chaos Squats army, and gave them new accessories.

These minis originally came with Chaos Renegade plastic backpacks, but I didn't like the size compared to the Squats, and had some RTB01 Mark 6 Beakie Marines to turn into World Eaters, so they spent many years with unsatisfying bumps on their backs. I tried a few colors on them, but nothing really worked.Many years later, Citadel released some nice plastic Dwarf Miner Backpacks for Warhammer Fantasy battle, solving the back-bump issue. I've found that many of the Dwarf bits released for WFB 6th and 7th editions make nice additions for Squats. Especially the Arm bits, as will be seen later.

Facing front now, these are Storm Troopers Dooley Udun and Tharbad Nurn, named for the Black Land of Mordor's most popular vacation spots. I've tried to give them an unhealthy looking glow by painting some very old Bad Moon Yellow over a Fire Dragon Crimson base. The Bad Moon Yellow was a very translucent color when originally released.

These are the second variant of the Chaos Squats in Power Armor; this pair are Troopers Xerxes Duath and Antiman Lithui. Their mighty horns symbolize the Mountains of Mordor from whence they draw their names. They are done in almost identical color schemes, but have different patterns of Chaos symbols painted on their heads and arms.

From behind, we see two more variants of the Dwarf Miners backpacks.

You may also notice some mutant rats accompanying them, as well as many of the other troopers. They are all from various Skaven sprues from the past 10 years or so. I started putting them on my bases because Jervis Johnson once said in an old White Dwarf that there will Never Never Never be Space Skaven. But also because mutant rats look cool, and I like to imagine that they are scurrying over many a battlefield in the distant future.

The Hungry Ghosts are not only very sloppy eaters, but have been cursed to feast but never swallow, so there are plenty of elf-meat scraps falling out of their beards to attract the pox-laden scavengers.

Finally, we have the Chaos Squat in Power Armor Champion, now Storm Trooper Master Sergeant Möltar Skørpios. Skørpios is armed with a Power Sword, Plasma Pistol, and gratuitous umlaut. He is standing proudly over the smoldering handlebar that is all that remains of a vaporized Eldar Shining Spear Aspect Warrior.

From the rear, we can see the Scorpion's Tail mutation that gave Skørpios his name, earned from his time in the late 1980s leading a Chaos Warband. It is made from generic epoxy, and he has been freshened up with the Champion's Backpack from the Dwarf Miner sprue. My first attempt to paint a glowing candle, though I didn't go so far as to try a source-lighting effect from it.

Here's a picture of both squads of Storm Troopers cornering some unlucky Dark Eldar. In honor of Admiral Ackbar's recent surge in popularity, I have named this artwork "It's A Trap!"