40k Rares - Adepta Sororitas Sister Famulous and Frateris Militia of Saint Javelin

June and July 2022 was a peculiar time for me- I acquired all the of the rare 40k miniatures I was hunting for, within a couple of weeks.

These included the Eisenhorn Black Library set which I had been actively searching for, for well over a year, and several rare unreleased 40K Adepta Sororitas- including my 'grail',  the Sister Famulous. I resolved to have the Famulous and the rare Frateris Militiaman painted by the end of 2022, and I finished them right before the New Year rolled over.

The Frateris Militia group includes the four standard varaints, an unreleased miniature, and a 3D printed 'Commander Z' from Reptilian Overlords which I digitally modified to carry an autogun. I scaled his head up about 10% to match the bobble headed proportions of 40K miniatures. The flag is brass rod and foil. I freehanded the saint image, the rest is decals from the Inquisition transfer sheet and from Forgotten Chapters.

Frankly, I can see why the Frateris was unreleased, as he's not up to par with the others.

 

The Sister Famulous on the other hand was a lot of fun to paint and fits perfectly with her non-militant order Sisters, the Dialogus (a horrible model) and the Hospitaller.

I also painted up her two charges, 3D printed miniatures from Vae Victus and Marchen.

40k Frateris Miltia - Special Weapons - Preacher - Shrine

I decided to finish up a squad I've been working on for over a year, some 2nd edition 40k Frateris Militia. I needed to add some special weapons, as well as a standard. I also had a priest that could go along for the ride.

I decided to go with two hand flamers, and two heavy stubbers. The heavies use the relatively new genestealer neophyte stubbers. They're ridiculously big, even by 40k standards, but I didn't want to take the time or spend the money trying to get Necromunda bits from the olden days. The standard pole is from the Flagellant kit, with a foil banner. The banner is part painted, part waterslide transfer. I swapped some weapons and heads around as well.

I also painted the metal shrine that came with the old Sisters of Battle boxed army.

My militia group uses a few models from the VOID game, which will serve as Frateris or general mooks and rebels as needed. I like the look of these models a lot. I painted two new ones for the group.

Lastly, a group shot showing an Imperial Preacher whipping the crowd up for a crusade.

Frateris Militia Recruits

A small group of five fresh recruits for the Frateris Militia band I'm working on.

Four of the figures are conversions based on the original Frateris bodies,  the woman is from the VOID/Urban War range. One of the laspistols is resin, from Mad Robot.

I recently read the 2nd edition 40K Sisters Codex again and saw that a Frateris band can have four special weapons if they number over ten figures, so I'll probably convert the next group to have two heavy stubbers and two hand flamers. I also need to add a standard bearer, then this unit will be done.

Frateris Milita Recruits

I added two new recruits to my small Frateris Militia band. The woman is from the Void/Urban Mammoth range, the man is a militia miniature from the old 2nd edition 40K days, with some weapon swaps from Mad Robot.

Frateris Militia and Frills & Fauna Critters

As I work on painting a batch of figures I often squeeze in a random thing that doesn't quite fit the rest. I bought some weapon conversion bits from Mad Robot for use on some Frateris Militia, and wanted to test out the fit right away. The resin head is from a 3rd party as well- I think it might be MaxMini. This was a relatively quick paint over a crummy undercoat.

I also painted a few more resin miniatures from the 'Frills & Fauna' Kickstarter. I have them all built and based, but not primed, so they will trickle in over time.

The 'Mammoth Jird'. Here is Krakon Games' description: Giant flesh-eating jirds… A rogue’s best friend. Very little loyalty is required when your sole purpose is to make people disappear.

Robot Hound. No space-faring adventurer is complete without mechanical sidekick.

  

Group shot for scale, with some Chaos Cultists. I thought I had taken a pic of the 'Snapper', but apparently not...

Dr. Lye once described these creatures as “Walking Piranhas”. he’d have probably referred to them as that many more times had they not eaten him alive as he attempted to befriend one. Is it a fish? Is it a dog? Are you brave enough to find out?

40K Frateris Militia

I've had these figures primed for a few months. I wasn't very excited to start painting them because I wanted them to be dressed in a dreary, dark, and beleaguered "Imperial Citizen" attire. Once I got into though I enjoyed it. Sadly I have about 40 more to go...

The guy with the blue shirt is a VASA militia figure from the Urban War game (formerly VOID). The rest are Games Workshop Frateris Militia from late second edition and early third, if I recall correctly. The bald guy has a resin head from a third party manufacturer- I believe it is from Mad Robot.

They make great generic rabble, suitable for Sisters of Battle auxilia and zealots, Genestealer Cult Brood Brothers, or simple disaffected Imperial Citizens about to meet with some Arbites...