I usually keep a small pile of bitz at the ready on my desktop at all times, in case of sudden spells of inspiration. One of the models that resulted from such a moment is the gladiatorial World Eater I posted quite a while ago:
Without a doubt, Angron’s gladiatorial origins and the legion’s attempt at channelling its Primarch’s traditions are among the more interesting bits of World Eaters lore. So after building the first model, I realised it would only be a matter of time before I would revisit this particular concept. So when inspiration struck again recently, I decided to build and paint a new playfellow for the lonely gladiator.
The catalyst for this decision were some of the Beastman weapons I had aqcuired with an old box of Gors and Ungors. I realised that not only do some of those weapons make for brilliant gladiatorial wargear, but the Gors’ muscular arms also nicely fit CSM and Chaos Marauder proportions alike.
So, a short while later, this WIP model was standing before me:
The basic construction was very similar to the older model: A pair of CSM legs was combined with a Marauder torso. the left arm came from a regular CSM, while the right one came from the aforementioned Beastman Gors. Both swords are also Beastman weapons.
The head was angled downwards, to make it look as though the gladiator were staring down his next opponent. I do realise that the old berserker head is a case of love it or hate it for some, although I can be firmly placed within the former camp: While the fangs may be a little corny, the face really looks like that of a veteran of the Long War. Plus the cabling on the back of the head is still one of the best possible representations of Butcher’s Nails across GW’s entire catalogue, if you ask me.
All that remained was to add some bitz and bobs: The loincloth is a slightly cut down part from the Chaos Lord in Terminator armour. I added some Space Marine grenades at the model’s hips to make it look more 40k and to slightly bulk out the silhouette. The skull shoulderpads came from the Chaos Marauders. And a shaved down orcish armour plate was added to the model’s back to make it look like it was intended to protect the gladiator’s neck.
Granted, the pose is fairly static, and also quite similar to the other model. However, not only am I a true fan of the “present your weapons” sort of pose, but I also think it works really well with the swords. It’s also a great fit for a gladiator, if you ask me.
So I quickly painted this guy. You simply won’t believe how much more fun Chaos Space Marines are to paint when you have a pretext for ditching those cumbersome backpacks 
Anyway, here’s the painted model:
As you can see, I stuck to my regular recipe fairly closely, save for one important difference: A red, warpaint-like tattoo was added to the gladiator’s forehead, harking back to Angron’s own facial markings:
A brilliant idea that was “borrowed” from fellow World Eater Szczur22′s thread over on ToS. I think I’ll add variations of this to all the coming models in the squad.
Here are the two gladiators together:
And here they are, together with the Forsaken I completed earlier. I took this photo for no other reason than the fact that those guys look great together
It’s fun little projects like these that will keep you interested in an army, even if you haven’t got the time (or motivation) to finish a tank or a whole squad. Sure, this guy didn’t bring me much closer to finishing the next 500 (or even 50) points for my army, but he offered me the opportunity to add some character to the force and to explore the background lore of my chosen legion — and as far as worthy hobby endeavours go, that has always been good enough for me! I also think there may be more models where those two came from — maybe each of them wielding a different set of gladiatorial weapons? And some of those models will also have to be quite dynamic, come to think of it…
Anyway, let me know what you think! And look forward to seeing more World Eaters-related stuff. Just sayin’…
And, as always, thanks for looking and stay tuned for more!
Filed under: 40k, Chaos, Conversions, paintjob, World Eaters Tagged: 40k, chaos, chaos space marines, conversion, gladiator, khorne, khorne's eternal hunt, paintjob, skull champion, world eaters
