Chaos Squats 40K Special Characters: Col. Teckja Ras-El-Dugmit

Today brings the Hungry Ghosts version of Tallarn Captain Al'Rahem, Colonel Teckja Ras-El-Dugmit, nominal commander of the Moriad XIV Spectral Beards Platoon. There are those who doubt a Dwarf can stalk, and there are those who die; there are many of those who are both.

Col. Ras-El-Dugmit is based on perhaps the least greasy-looking of the maligned greasy-biker strain of Squats, Guild Master 2. I have kept the Arabic-sounding name for the Colonel, which is an anagram of 'jacket guildmaster'. The Guild Master was a bit too clean shaven for a Squat who lies in wait for the enemy, so his bare chin was enhanced with the braided beard of a Warhammer Fantasy Battle Beastman Gor Warrior Head. His beard was cut and positioned so it flows in the direction of his gaze, made to appear more impressively long by reaching out like a tentacle to probe the battlefield debris at Teckja's feet.

From a slightly different angle, Col Ras-El-Dugmit's probing beard can be better viewed. This time, the detritus of War is a wheel from the 1990s Imperial Guard Heavy Weapons and a miscast Headlight bit from one of the Squat Motorcycles. This mini has a strong visual theme of long thin lines in alignment with each other created by his sideburns and parted head-hair, as well as the folds and pocket lines of his jacket. The overall pattern of his head reinforces this with the hair line ending at the bandana, which is snug against his sunglasses, the curves of which draw attention down to his expressionless mouth. The beastman-beard echos this theme with its braided pattern, reaching to the tread pattern on the wheel. The Imperial Eagle emblem worked with this theme, but had to be removed at the request of Khorne.

To go along with all of this, Col RED has a Plasma Pistol like the standard Captain Al'Rahem, but he is armed with the 40K 3rd edition Chaos Space Marine Champion version of the Plasma Pistol with its emphatic cabling. Since we are in Chaos Dwarf territory, the Claw of the Desert Tigers and the entire left arm was replaced with the Maul of the Skull-Breaker, which also features a cabled portion. The Maul is the Pit Slave Chief Mace from the Necromunda range of minis.

From the back-right angle, Teckja proves to be another Squat in the Moriad who does not use the original Squats arms at all. Also from the Necromunda bin, the right arm is an Orlock bit from the plastic sprues that came with the mid 1990s Necromunda starter box. The bandana on the arm goes along with that on his head, while the bare bicep and forearms increase his Bad-Ass Level. Plus one glove- Sham-on!

Additional extraneous cloth...well, perhaps not so extraneous. I would suppose a heavily bearded Dwarf dressed in leather blasting away with a Plasma Pistol might get a bit sweaty. Anyway, the cloth streamers, from a plastic Bretonnia Knight's Head, goes with the flow like the QotSA song playing on his antenna radio...oops, I mean with of the cabling on the Plasma Pistol and the Orlock armband. All together, they create the impression that Teckja is in the process of raising his arm. His backpack is from a Forge World Krieg Engineer.

Back to the front my disposable heroes...ah, it's been a long night. But here we can see a nod of the noggin to the Desert Tigers, in the form of a small cat. I am almost certain it is an ancient pre-slotta Wizard's Familiar from the days of cross-branding between Citadel and Ral Partha, on a big metal sprue with a couple of birds, a very small dragon and demon, and some sort of tiny Temple Dog looking critter. Anyway, the fine skull necklace was added from some bit in the WFB plastic sprues.

Which serves to point out the other visual theme, circles, spotted circles. Most obvious is the Maul of the Skull Breaker, repeated by the design of the IG wheel and headlight on the base. The Kat of Khorne's necklace and the studs and muzzles of the Plasma Pistol go along, as do the bulgy round sunglass lenses and Teckja's nose.

These circular patterns are easily noticed from above. Also visible are the two axes of the overall miniature - the first Teckja swinging to his left, swaying his beard, and pointing his Maul in the direction of his gaze. I placed the Squat on his base as far to the right as the slot as possible, to allow an emphatic gesture without his bits sprawling too far beyond the edge of the base. In this position, his right shoulder and Plasma Pistol also jut out of the boundary of the base. The wheel at his feet was placed similarly.

The second axis is created by his right arm, almost 90 degrees in angle from his left arm, with his head and snakey beard in roughly the 45 degree position between Ras-El-Dugmit's arms.

A back-and-left look shows that Col RED's Krieg Backpack also goes beyond the base, while the Kat of Khorne fits snugly against the left leg and under the backpack, though his snub tail pokes out a bit. Overall Ras-El-Dugmit fills his allotted base-space and more.

Tekja's AM/FM head antenna is aligned with his Maul and Gaze, just a Battlefleet Gothic Imperial Cruiser bit. But what's that on his left shoulder? A Knight's Lance-Arm section of plate-mail. Where did it come from? The Skeleton Army set. You just can't run out of uses for the Skeleton Army sprue bits. I've been doing it for well nigh 25 years.

Soon we will take a voyage beyond the Citadel...