Ever since EM4 released the Phagon beastmen I knew I had to get some... Of course, beastmen are a disorganised bunch so they need someone to keep them in check. What better person to do that than the rogue Traveller who hired them? The EM4 Trader with cape is a perfect model for a rogue Traveller. It's a very characterful mix of a classic space explorer and a Trader with a slick and wealthy appearance. To emphasise this duality I painted the trousers and boots as if they were practical space gear and the shirt, cape and armour as if they were his fancy clothes. To really stress his success he carries around a gilded needle pistol to show off and to shoot anyone who breaks a deal or rips him off. Of course one needle pistol won't hold back a group of pirates so he commands two squads of beastmen: one squad with needlers and one with laser rifles. I undercoated the beastmen black and started by drybrushing the fur. First with Vallejo Charred Brown and then with different colours ranging from Vallejo Beasty Brown to Vallejo Khaki. This added some basic variety.

After that I painted the armour green and white to match the colours of my Traveller and my imperial army. I like to paint my weapons black but to distinguish between the weapon types I painted the tubes on the laser rifles blue and I painted the ribbed top on the needlers red. To finish off the models I added squad markings: a smiley face for the needlers and an orange chevron for the laser rifles.