Warhammer 40K 25th Anniversary Squats Grudge Master

As we conclude our Rogue Trader reminiscing upon this 25th year of Warhammer 40K, Hungry Ghosts brings forth a Special Edition Space Dwarf to mournfully memorialize the greatest loss to the Emperor's Oubliette.

Standing before the Red Door of Anger is the Legios Moriad XIV Grudge Master. The Squats were abandoned by the cruel overlords of Games Workshop after their glorious victories throughout the Rogue Trader era; after teaching the Imperium of Man the secrets of metallurgy and warfare from their Forge Worlds. For this, they were betrayed. How could Space Marines stride mightily across worlds when they can't fix a flat tire without invoking some mumbley nonsense about divine wrenches? Because their brains are too simple to remember righty-tighty without a psalm, they had to pretend that it had to be Magick to fix a flat. Thus, those who could work a beer-tap without a servitor had to be taken out of the picture.

But simple it would not be, as the little green troll would put it. The Space Dwarfs stubbornly remained as the Second Edition appeared, with a provisional army list included in the Codex-in-a-Box (along with the most awful Space Marines ever conceived).

8 Squats were sculpted, who stealthily hid under mountains deep and world's of power armor smushing gravitational force, to reappear at times of great need. Without capering about like glam-rock lunatics like those Black Librarians. Just 3 Champions, 3 Berserkers, 1 Trooper, and 1 Exo-Armor Commander; the 2nd Ed Squats can be seen here: 

 http://www.polycon.org/squats/unID2ndEd.html

This Trooper and 1 Champion appeared in the 1994 Dark Millennium rules supplement and a Warhammer painting guide. As we can see, he is firmly in the grasp of the Primary Colours Period of GW in-house painting style that ruled the early 1990s. (picture borrowed from the website above)

The 40K 2nd Ed Squats also looks more than a bit like the WFB Dwarfs of the period (4th-5th Ed).

 

Champion with Winged Helmet

 Champion with Horned Helmet

Berserker with Cybernetics, like a Slayer who ate some Anvils

Our Grudge Master Neiër Grevess is a sturdy fellow with a fine beard, standing in a vigilant position. He brings improved weaponry and enhanced armor compared to most of the Rogue Trader Squats, a Bolter and what would best be classified as Carapace Armor.

Grudge Master Grevess had a slotta-tab that broke off, leaving little bits that fit nicely into a sci-fi interior terrain base that was given out to Adepticon attendees, so no intentional harm was done to the rare Squat trooper. But of course he was converted a bit. Two skull medallions were added to the shoulder armor, Space Marines purity seals with the little banners removed. His bumpy beer can grenades are sculpted on.

On the other side, 2 more skull medallions from SpaM purity seals. Also a skull chained to the belt, from the WFB Empire Flagellants. A small symbol of Khorne fit nicely between the armored shoulders, from the Bloodletters sprue.

A pair of triangular bits of armor featuring more skulls were added to the tops of the shoulder armor, Dark Elf donations with the ends chopped off. The bolter got a nice little bayonet with 3 prongs, a High Elf helmet decoration bit. The Squat Trooper is a compact miniature with most parts attached solidly to other parts, so not much opportunity to play around with, unless you're prepared to do some major reconstructive surgery. But there's always room for more skulls and pointy bits.

For the Special Anniversary Limited Edition Squats Grudge Master, I tilted the paint scheme toward that of the Primary Colours Period he was sculpted during. And BRIGHT RED was the signature tint of the time, so MSgt Grevess has red armor with highlighting moving toward orange, and not much of his ink wash shadowing him. His blue accessories pop out toward Space Wolf, and his Beaten Copper metal trim and Bolter were melded with some gold, but also with a bit of Bad Moon Yellow, a bottle from the early production of the color which is very translucent. The Grudge Master's bountiful beard flows at the lighter end of the typical Hungry Ghosts hair scheme, somewhere between the red of the armor and the gold-copper hue of the accessories.

In addition to hewing toward the color preferences of the era, the Grudge Master is there to be noticed. He is a bold bearer of the truth that Squats survive and thrive despite efforts to erase them from the history of the galaxy.

But the minimal amount of flesh that can be seen is black. Every Chaos Squat can use some black.

Grudge Master Part 2 will appear tomorrow.

Space Dwarfs Beyond the Galactic Fringes: Fantastic Miniatures Squat Berserkers

Another chapter in the sporadic review of Space Dwarfs Beyond the Galactic Fringes (that is, Space Dwarfs not made by Citadel). This chapter will take a look at a series of miniatures sculpted by the Grand Beardmaster Bob Olley for Fantastic Miniatures in 2004 and 2005. They have been variously referred to as Squats, Space Dwarfs, and Futuristic Dwarves. There are 13 Fantastic Miniatures Squats, most or all of which are still available from Fantastic Miniatures through their eBay store (though none right now due to the holidays).

This breed of Squats includes 4 Berserkers, including 1 Limited Edition Champion, 3 Warriors in Heavy Exo-Armor, 3 Infantry Troopers, and 3 Heavy Weapons Troopers.

First is the Limited Edition Squat Berserker Champion. This Squat is a single-piece sculpt armed with a what is probably a Lasgun that also functions as a double-handed Power Axe. He has a rather complicated hairstyle, ornate clothing, and a malevolent glare.

From the back we can see that this Berserker has put a bit of forethought into equipping himself for battle, not very typical for his type.

This particular model is 186 of the series of 250, and came with the business card sized Certificate of Authenticity. A compact and effective sculpt that wards off any conversion attempts with his fierce gaze and big axe. But that lower right leg is looking rather vulnerable to the X-acto-wielding mutator, Mr Berserker.

The other Squat Berserkers came as a set of 3 Bodies and 6 separate Arms to mix and match. Berserker 1 has a Road Warrior in Ninja Booties outfit and 2 Very Large Pistols, 1 with a Very Large Bayonet. Like all proper Berserkers, he is in a lurching forward for the attack position.

These Berserkers were molded with pins in the arm-slots and holes in the arms, which affected the range of possible positions. But since the arms were separate from the bodies, there was still the opportunity to match the weapons with the bodies. B1 has his legs spread out, as well as his beard and hair above his ears, so he was given arms that would also be spread wide, and the nubbins sticking out on top of the guns work well with his hair tufts above his ears.

B1 has a nicely armored back with some fine spikes to give second-thoughts to any creeping Tyranids who might be contemplating an ambush.

Berserker 2 bears a Headband of Thorns and also a fondness for Skull-shaped belt-buckles. He has been given a fine machete with serrated edge. Also some sort of Flamer or a plasma-spewing gun, again with a bayonet should the fuel canister run dry before the enemy is crispy or the gun has exploded.

B2 is also nicely protected from treacherous assaults from the rear as he rages forth across the battlefield. B2 was given the Left-Arm with Big Flamer Gun as his stance was advancing forward with his left foot, while the machete arm worked better with the straight right leg, ready to hack to death any still-moving burning critters. The circular shapes on the Big Flamer Gun go nicely with the circular bits and buttons on his gear.

Berserker 3 shares the Mad Dwarfs Beyond Thunderdome style. His Mohawk hair and bald head went well with the potato-masher grenade as well as the shape of his probably-plasma pistol.

Lots of small ridges and bumps on B3 from combining his body with the Grenade Arm and the Plasma Pistol Arm. I pity the fool who makes fun of his parachute pants.

Overall, these Berserkers are a nice groups of frothy-mouthed additions to the Hungry Ghosts army. The sculpts all fill out their bases nicely, while the different stances allow them to be placed close together without getting their weapons caught together. Their style is also a departure from both the old Bob Olley Squats made for Citadel and the Scrunts Space Dwarfs made for his Olley's Armies brand. And while their upper bodies are well detailed, those bare arms and puffy pants leave a bit of room for adding some extra spikes or chaos symbols.