Rabble

They have been LONG overdue, but I have finally painted some basic cultists to accompany the Choleric Order of the Yellow Bile.

In truth, the delay has really stemmed from not being able to settle on the figures to use. Frostgrave cultists were the obvious option, but lacked the crude, improvised weapons that I really wanted (I kitbashed a couple of test models using GW Skaven and Night Goblin weapons, but wasn't satisfied with the end result).

At Salute in April, I managed to pick up a box of Fireforge Games' Living Dead Peasants from their new Fantasy line and knew that I'd found my cultists. These guys are zombies (a 'living' peasants kit is coming in due course) but still armed with tools - axes, a scythe, a sickle, etc. They're ragged and wretched, and with the exception of a couple of heads (one that's half-skull and one with a raven plucking out an eyeball), everything works perfectly as plague cultists.

Unlike the Templars, I didn't want these guys to look too uniform, so I kept use of the 'cult yellow' to a minimum (the cowl on a single figure) and expanded the role of a couple of colours that I'd previously only used sparingly. They blend in nicely with the rest of the cult while still looking rough-and-ready.

There are three male and two female bodies on the sprue... but only two female heads (hair swept left and hair swept right). I like having both male and female options, but I do wish there were more heads. Fortunately, the arms don't have that problem - they fit on the male bodies as on female bodies. Even for 28mm Fantasy figures, some of the weapons are a bit big - there's a sickle and some pruning-style blades that just don't do it for me. I sawed one of them down into a knife, though, so they'll still get used somehow!

The box comes, somewhat oddly, with 18 figures, so I'll be painting these up in batches of six, and I reckon I'll stick to using the 'cult yellow' on one model per batch. As all my other 'units' are organised in multiples of five, I've decided to split them into two groups, each one led by a Cult Magister. I've updated my 'army list' accordingly.

The movement tray comes from Warbases and, while I'm unlikely to field the force in this way, they make storage so much easier and, most importantly, I love the feel of unity it gives the army. I've sorted out trays for all the units (save for Dirty Frank, who is a unit of one). They even made me a custom tray to accommodate the tiny Wretch...

The Choleric Order of the Yellow Bile...

• Poxwalkers – 10 pestilence-ridden demons
• Plaguetouched – 5 half-demonic berserkers
• Dirty Frank – blind king of the sewer-dwelling Wretches (20, here and here)
• The Faithful – 2 Magisters and their flock of cultists (6 of 18)
• Hunters – 5 scouts and saboteurs
• Templars – 9 soldiers of the Cult Militant, led by their Grandmaster

...and friends...

• Ghoul King, bloodthirsty savage

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