The lightbearers - Pilgrims and colonists

Now this feels odd. It's been a month I hadn't painted nor blogged anything, one month out, vanished. It wasn't exactly wasted of course but painting is a bit of a metronome for me so it felt weird getting back. Weird and pretty hard actually.

I've had the idea of this little group for quite a while but had always postponed them for more flamboyant projects or model required for games and events. But here they are.

I'll be honest right away, I didn't enjoy them much and although I do enjoy the overall group and think it's not too far from the initial idea, there are still some details I find unsatisfying but hey, done's better than perfect they say so here they are.

I somehow thought it would be easier to present those to you in coherent groups. The first group is made of 2 of the late 2nd ed  missionaries, they're both variants of one another but with a bit of converting you have 2 distinct roles with the leader on the right and his trusted bodyguard on the left.

There's little to say about Nelson sculpts other than they're always pleasant and "right". No time wasters, I like that.

Oddly enough (or annoyingly enough actually), there's a weird reflection in the leader's eyes that make him have a weird look. I should probably fix that before posting but right now I just want to get them out of the desk...

Qocis and Hamstat have known each other for a long time now, their first common memories dating back from the imperial orphanage they were raised in and where they were raised to repay their debt to the Imperium. Qocis' way with words and Hamstat's with fists have always made a formidable association.

Although Qocis is the official leader of the "lightbearers", his authority owes a lot to Hamstat's cold and silent authority and both keep that sweet balance between them.

At first, I sort of wanted to have as many models with a staff as I could get for this band but it quickly became stupid. Although an imperial psyker may not exactly be the first guy you'd assign to a band of pilgrims and colonists, I believe the practical use of a psyker for messages and other stuff must be of use. Maybe just to impress gullible masses...

Marcy Gore has spent more than his time on the battle fields, sending plasting waves of raw energy. When the authorities assigned him to escort and support the "lightbearers", this was a revelation. There could be more than war...

Obviously, mankind being what it is, his new assignment wasn't exactly paradise on earth. But it wasn't hell anymore...

Now here are the most recent models of the group, 2 of the Astropolis crew members from LAM's excellent kickstarter. I did want to make the "lightbearers" a group of something more than blunt zealots, they had to be a bit of that but also colonists, here to give faith, prospect for information on fringe worlds regarding technology and other cultural aspects. Hence came the idea of having 2 technicians in the crew. I imagine such a group has to be self sufficient to an extent.

And the last 2 are obviously the 2 most desperately orthodox of the group. The ones living by the book ALL THE TIME. I suppose they do have their good sides like that ability to accomplish the dullest tasks without asking a question. Qocis will usually assign recording and data storing to leave those with better people skills to the front. 

So that's it, a few models in the bank, just to get back into it. I hope the next ones won't be as painful. I have no big plans (which might be more depressing than liberating to me but that's another story) so I'll try and pick fast rewarding models to boost my confidence a bit.