Rogue Trader – the Gellerpox

A motley assortment empowered by the powers-that-be to explore or exploit the uncharted regions of the galaxy as they will, Rogue Traders are, to me, the ultimate expression of the adventure and creativity that can you can enjoy in this hobby. They’re the best parts of conquistadors, militant missionaries, privateers and pirates, adventurers, and explorers. In my next few posts, I hope to be covering just how awesome the concept can be.

With that, I was stoked to find out that Games Workshop is bringing back the concept with the expansion set for Warhammer 40,000 Kill Team using the same moniker. Though I was less than impressed at the one-dimensional nature of the box, I bought it anyway, since I appreciated them working with the concept, and the models are ace.

Ironically, though I’d bought the box primarily for the Elucidian Starstriders and the sweet shuttle terrain, I found myself inspired to paint most by the Gellerpox Infected. Now, I hate Chaos as much as the next red-blooded Imperial, but there was just something about these models. The cartoonish grotesqueness of them had me looking at past White Dwarf issues for inspiration. I didn’t have to look too far, and in the March 2018 edition, I found this in an edition of Blanchitsu:

There it was – the perfect recipe for painting these weird, grotesque miniatures that so evoked the imagery of a blanche-style painting.

Here are the results:

I started with an airbrushed-on white primer, then used very few coats of pretty thinned base- and layer- paints from Citadel to pick out the various different colour combinations. Screamer Pink for mouths, tentacles, etc, Troll Slayer Orange for fatigues, Dryad Bark for leathery parts, Leadbelcher for metallics, among others.

Once the basecoats were done, I washed certain models’ skin tones with Reikland Fleshshade (something I picked up from Chris Peach over on Warhammer TV). From there, I followed Blanche’s advice with a 60/40 Serphim Sepia/Agrax Earthshade wash all over the models. While this was still wet, I dabbed spots of black and brown in random places to simulate pox.

Once dry, I added splodges of various GW washes in various places – Carroburg Crimson, Coelia Greenshade, Biel-Tan Green, even more Agrax Earthshade and Seraphim Sepia in places to reinforce the color. Even added slodges of Typhus Corrision in various *ahem* strategic places. Once everything was dried, I threw my usual 70/30 mix of Lahmian Medium and Typhus Corrosion all over the models.

In the end, I think I managed to get a reasonably gross look that evokes the feel of what these models represent. They’re quick, messy, and disgusting – and I had a ton of fun painting them.

Some of the key takeaways to get this look: thin down your base coats more than you would normally, and don’t worry about getting solid coverage; go crazy with the washes, but don’t just cover over everything – you definitely want variations in tone; and finally, just have fun – models like these aren’t meant to be neat, so in the wise words of the Plaguefather Ross (probably): “We don’t make mistakes, just happy little nurglings”.

Hope you enjoyed reading!

-Ash