Rogue Heresy - New Logo

Hello,  it's an exciting day for me here as I get the pleasure of unveiling the new Rogue Heresy blog logo.

How did this come about, well for a long time I have felt that my tired old blog banner which I cut from the Warhammer 40,000 3rd Edition codex Witch Hunters page border didn't reflect the content of my blog which is very much Warhammer 40,000 Rogue trader era blog, some of you might remember my blog started off back in January 2013 and focussed on using Rogue Trader Citadel Miniatures for the Dark Heresy roleplaying game but as I got more engrossed in the Oldhammer community the blog evolved into painting and sometimes gaming with Classic Citadel Miniatures from the golden era.

Now I am pretty poor at graphic design, photography and photoshop type activities or maybe just being a busy working parent I value my hobby time of 45 minutes a day and this is ring fenced mainly for painting over all other endeavours. I have been thinking for a long time I needed my blog logo banner updated and when I want a job done to a high standard at home I bring in a tradesman and this thought stayed in my mind for over a year, so out of the blue I contacted Zhu Bajiee of Zhu Industries and author of the wonderful and insightful Realm of Zhu as I have always admired his graphic design for years and his knowledge of typography of the classic gaming products that can't be surpassed.  I asked Zhu if he could do a commission and although he was very busy with other projects that I am sure you will see, he came back with some great concepts really quickly, we discussed these designs and this lead to Zhu designing the great work I am proud to unveil on the blog today.

The following images were designed by Zhu Bajiee for this blog.

Concept design phase.

I explained my requirements to Zhu and was excited when he send me his preparatory rough sketches done in pencil to get some feedback on his ideas, there are many influences from Rogue Trader publications and super ideas like the word 'Heresy' stamped over the word 'Rogue' on number 4 but what got us both really excited was number 2, now I had always wanted to incorporate the Chapter Approved skull design into my blog banner but my personal attempts had been amateur at best so when I first saw Zhu's concept number 2 I was blown away. 


Enjoy the Concepts below.

Rogue Heresy Logo Concepts

Rogue Heresy Logo Concepts

Logo Design Phase.

After the Zhu's showcasing of the concepts we agreed Zhu should run with concept 2 and produced these amazing designs for this blog.

Rogue Heresy Logo Design

Rogue Heresy Logo Design

I really fell in love this the design above the fonts, style, background which is definitely homage to the styles in Warhammer 40,000 Rogue Trader The Book of Astronomican.

Snippet from The Book of Astronomican

Rogue Heresy Logo Design

Rogue Heresy Logo Design variants

 Final Banner Design for Rogue Heresy blog produced by Zhu.

Final Rogue Heresy Blog Banner

I hope you enjoyed this post, a big thanks to Zhu for all his hard work in making this possible, get over to his blog Realm of Zhu if you want to see more.

J

Warhammer 40000 Rogue Trader - Minotaur

Hello, a rare treat for you today, a classic Oldhammer miniature, a Warhammer 40000 Minotaur, sculpted by Nick Bibby and released for a brief period via a mail order flyer
in 1987.
I recently spotted that the base miniature for this minotaur sculpt is the C Series - C25 Minotaur - 'Big Mac Gore Blade' (see image below).

He is equipped with a Cyborg head with targeter and sensory array eye, mounted Imperial Army Autogun and a human sized Bolter with a massive grip, probably left over from the original axe Big Mac held, he also appears to wearing flak/mesh armour.

As usual lots of photos from all angles to show you parts of the miniature you never get to see.

Warhammer 40000 Minotaur - front

Warhammer 40000 Minotaur - back

Warhammer 40000 Minotaur - side

Warhammer 40000 Minotaur - front

Warhammer 40000 Minotaur - front

Warhammer 40000 Minotaur - front

Warhammer 40000 Minotaur

Warhammer 40000 Minotaur (last one)

Big Mac Gore Blade - first Minotaur on the left

I bet you are thinking of his stats in Warhammer 40000, I would go with a Beastman Minor Hero or a Ogryn Champion, see stats below.

Beastmen - Page 174 Rogue Trader Rulebook

Ogryns - Page 175 Rogue Trader Rulebook

Those who took part in the Space Raiders kickstarter might remember the Space Minotaur I painted up when I received my miniatures, you can read the post here. 

There are 3 Space Minotaurs available at Knightmare miniatures here.

Space Minotaur by Knightmare Miniatures

I hope you enjoyed, follow if you want to see more.
J

Rogue Trader - Space Goblin and Space Orc with Blaster

Hello, todays classic Oldhammer miniatures are another recent paint job that completed my first March 1987 Warhammer 40K mail order flyer project, the Space Orc with Blaster and the Space Goblin

First up we have Space Orc with Blaster, the first official Warhammer 40000 Rogue Trader Orc before the Orcs got renamed Space Orks, scupted by Kev Adams there are a few later variants of this miniature that apear in the RT102 Space Orks range.  The blaster is obviously a Bolter, I went for a military dull palette for this miniature as I am not too keen on bright colourful orks I try to capture feel from the back and white illustrations in the Rogue Trader rulebook.

Space Orc with Blaster - front

Space Orc with Blaster - back

Space Orc with Blaster - front

Space Orc with Blaster - back

Secondly we have the Space Goblin, the first official Warhammer 40000 Rogue Trader Goblin, when the rulebook followed the space Goblins were now know as Gretchin a name that I love and still refer to them as now, sure they became grotz or something naff sounding.

Sporting German helmet, sawn-off double barrelled shogun, a big knife, pistol and a bandollier of grenades this Gretchin means business, it also looks like he has a bomb harness strapped on his back.

Space Goblin - front

Space Goblin - back

Space Goblin - front

Space Goblin - back

 Thanks for stopping by.
J

Rogue Trader - Piscean Warrior aka Saharduin

Hi Folks, todays Oldhammer miniature is a recent paint job that helped to complete my first March 1987 Warhammer 40K mail order flyer project, the legendary Piscean Warrior.

The minature is labelled as Saharduin on his slotta tab.  Sadly I do not know who this one was scultped by but I have my suspicions.  I painted this Piscean to match my Knightmare Miniatures Piscean Warrior which I painted back in 2014 you can see that miniature in this previous post here, I have the other Knightmare Miniatures Piscean Warrior lined up for a paint job soon.  This Piscean Warrior is armed with a Bolter with a stock, scope and a power sword.

Piscean Warrior - side

Piscean Warrior - front (I love this profile)

Piscean Warrior - side

Piscean Warrior - back (for completeness)

Piscean Warrior - side

Piscean Warrior - front

Piscean Warrior - side

Thanks for visiting
J

IC301 - Iron Claw Pirates - Part 1

Hello, today's post is on a Oldhammer project I have had simmering for a long time, the IC301 Iron Claw Space Pirates, they were released in 1987 and appeared in the fabled Rogue Trader Book of the Astronomican in 1988.  
They were sculpted by Bob Olley, to some Bob Olley is a bit of a marmite sculptor some love his sculpts and some not so much, I love these Space Pirates but was never the biggest fan of his Realm of Chaos Beastmen although I did paint one up, example here, I also have the Bob Olley Limited Edition Bolt Thrower Miniatures Space Viking to paint one day.

Now what I love about the Iron Claw Space Pirates is that they ooze character in a similar way to how the Rogue Trader Adventurers do, have you checked out the characters up close up you have a female cyborg, a sentient robot, a handful of aliens, a space seer, lots of strange and identifiable weapons and unlike the slightly later range of Rogue Trader Pirates not a pirate cliche in there. Some superb naming character in this range too.

Two down 15 more to go.

First up we have 'Banzai Jones' a rugged looking human, he is wearing a flying jacket and helmet adorned with strange markings that appear like a bat or insect, could this be his pirate gang insignia who knows?  Armed with what looks like a classic shotgun. He appears on the classic White Dwarf 100 poster painted by I think John Blanche.

IC301 - Iron Claw Pirates - Banzai Jones - front

IC301 - Iron Claw Pirates - Banzai Jones - back

Next we have 'Loritta' aka Cyber Girl as the miniature tab reads, sporting a little dress, big boots, a cybernetic face, a massive machine gun slung over her shoulder and brawling gloves with mounted claws I pity anyone on a starship when she is on the boarding party.

IC301 - Iron Claw Pirates - Loritta - front

IC301 - Iron Claw Pirates - Loritta - back

IC301 Iron Claw Space Pirates

Bob Olley Space Viking coming soon

Thanks for popping in, lots more blog posts queued up

Stay tuned

J

C Series C23 Oriental Ogre

Hello, todays post is another queued up blog draft, the classic Oldhammer Citadel Miniature C Series C23 Oriental Ogre sculpted by the legendary Jes Goodwin and released in 1985.  Everyone loves a bargain right and this one cost me £5.00 with a broken weapon which was an easy fix with a bit of pinning, I never overlook a cheap damaged miniature and always enjoy the restoration job.

This Oriental Ogre or Oni has obviously been plying his trade in Nippon, armed with some sort of Naginata (polearm or glaive) with a spiked ball and chain attached, adorned in segments of samurai armour but I dare not name them all as I would bore you off to another blog.

I went for feudal Japan with my style and choice of colours on the clothing, influenced by those beautiful flowing garments in my favourite 1980's 'Samurai' movies and shows like Ran, Shogun Assassin and James Clavell's Shogun miniseries (which I have to watch every time it's on TV). Finally I added some electrostatic tuft flowers which I purchased really cheap off eBay.

C23 Oriental Ogre - front

C23 Oriental Ogre - side

C23 Oriental Ogre - more side

I originally attempted to paint the word pain in Japanese on his sword scabbard but it was a disastrous effort so I started again in English, it was well received by the twitter masses.

C23 Oriental Ogre - back

C23 Oriental Ogre - coming at ya!

C23 Oriental Ogre - trying to get the angle right

C23 Oriental Ogre 

C23 Oriental Ogre - White Dwarf Advert

Close up of C23 Oriental Ogre 

Now if this post has got your juices flowing I suggest you go and enjoy Colin's excellent blog posts on all things Nippon here and here, its very enjoyable and I must not forgot Zhu with his very unique style of blogging has much to say on the subject here.

I hope you enjoyed this classic miniature, more to come so follow me on Twitter for lots of #Oldhammer tweets, the Twitter Oldhammer community is growing come join in.

thanks
J