Rogue Trader Space Marines 

These eleven early Rogue Trader Space Marines were sold to me at a wargames show 7 or 8 years ago. I bought them with the intention of stripping them for a project that I had in mind. That project has not yet materialised and looking at them today, I no longer feel any desire to strip and repaint them. I have come to appreciate the splendid paintwork and the perfect way they capture that early Rogue trader vibe! The unknown original owner and painter has obviously created his own bespoke chapter (name unknown) and painted them in various camouflage schemes as seen in some very early depictions of Space marines. 

The concept of Space Marines painting their armour  (and vehicles) in camouflage schemes didn't last very long and are never depicted this way after those very early days. Games Workshop took a year or two to start defining a lot of aspects of the 40k universe. The Rogue Trader rule book and associated figures and artwork were a collection of ideas that were to be refined over the years and that to me is a huge part of the appeal of the Rogue Trader era. The loose boundaries and concepts meant your imagination could run riot resulting in some of the bizarre figure creations which I will share over the coming months.

Early influences in the Rogue Trader universe were many and varied, but the British weekly comic, 2000AD, is undeniably one of the most prominent. The graffiti ridden scenes in Mega city and other strips, shows up clearly in artwork in the Rogue Trader book and on figures painted by the creative team at Games Workshop. The use of graffiti slogans on armour and weapons was quite common but became increasingly rarer as time went by.

These figures reflect all of these things. The non uniformity of the Marines, in varying camouflage schemes, the hand painted slogans on weapons and armour and other embellishments like the skull face shown above. 

I don't know the name of the original painter of these figures and neither do I know when they were painted. They were all figures that were available in the first three or four years but I acquired them about seven years ago. Were they painted in the early days between 1987 and 1992? I don't think so. My gut feeling is that they were painted as a project much later, possibly in the early 2000's but deliberately attempting to capture that very early Rogue Trader feel.

The quality of the paintwork is exceptionally nice when seen in the flesh. My attempts to capture them in these photos does not fully do them justice. They are painted with a precision that I could not emulate and then finished with a touch that shouts old school......they are gloss varnished!

I religiously varnish my wargame figures, but with a mat varnish. My larger 'toy soldier' armies as shown in my other blog 'Tales From The Toy Room' are always gloss varnished, but never their smaller brethren. 

So what should I do with these eleven individuals? Should I strip and repaint them? Sell them? Give them a coat of Matt varnish? Rebase them so that they fit in with my normal basing style? So many options.

Whilst writing this article, I came to a conclusion....I shall do nothing to them. I shall keep them primarily as a display cabinet group, perfectly illustrating the irregular and quirky style of Rogue Trader Space Marines. They will serve as a perfect counterpoint to the rigid single colour schemes of the millions of Space Marines painted in the last 40 years! A reminder to the observer to think a little outside of the box!

Will they ever see action though, I hear you ask? Well they are a strange bunch armament wise with  five different heavy weapons and only two figures armed as 'grunts'. There are two technical/comms figures and two more that look like command figures. Not exactly a typical Space Marine detachment. What they do make me think of however is a special operations team, packed full of specialists and equipment allowing them to punch above their weight. 

Now the 'Dirty Dozen' theme might make more sense. Or perhaps Sgt Fury and his Howling Commandos? I may just try them in a special mission scenario where the odds are stacked heavily against them and all of the heavy kit will be needed if they are to have any chance of success. But what to call them? Any ideas?

Tara a bit!