Malancholy Flower

 It's a sign of things to come that I'm painting Tyranids again. 

Having done all those cultists, it's nice to get back to the interstellar horrors they worship. None is more Cthulhoid than the Malanthrope, which also has almost exactly the right silhouette to match the Genestealer Cult icons. Not exactly an astonishing coincidence, I know...

This one's a present from Kas, unexpectedly turning up in the last shipment. Done in the standard Afanc colours, it's nice to have a leader for the Venomthropes. There was a time when these things were quite meta, although that's long gone. Stacking -1s to hit plus effortlessly putting their shroud over Monsters (Venomthropes couldn't quite hack it originally, if I recall) made them a handy booster for your lineup. 

Not quite so much these days, where they seem to be paying a points tax for being a Forge World bogeyman. Nine wounds lets them hide behind other units, which is nice, but 150 gets you an HQ character which can deal out mortal wounds if it survives a round, then grant nearby units rerolls of 1 to wound if any enemies die nearby. But with no invuln or psychic powers, a fairly mediocre stats line and a boost I have to get perilously close to combat to earn, I think I'm taking it for character rather than value!

The rafflesia on the base is some Dungeons and Lasers scatter. Nothing says 'floating death squid' like the infamous Stinking Corpse Lily, after all. I was planning on having a bit more lichen padding it out, but the bag it's in has gone walkies, so I'll have to wait until it turns up. Plastic rosemary to finish, and it's a nice addition to the Hive Fleet. Cheers, Kas!