Thursday 24 March 2022

THEY'RE FLOCKING THIS WAY

 On one of my recent post Joe pointed out that I hadn't really explained what a Kroot was, and he was quite right to point this out, so for anyone unfamiliar with this species here is a description of them.

The Kroot (Krootis aviana), also designated by the Imperium as Kroot Carnivore, are a xenos species of savage humanoids who are members of the T'au Empire. The Kroot evolved from avian creatures on their homeworld of Pech.

Kroot are tall (a good half-metre taller than most Humans), their avian ancestry giving them a bird-like beak and long quills protruding from their heads like hair.

Smaller quills, possibly the evolutionary remnants of feathers, can be found scattered over their bodies.

A unique feature of the Kroot is that they evolve by selecting genetic traits of their defeated foes to absorb by eating them. Due to this, the many Kroot warbands across the galaxy often look radically different.

Kroot leaders are known as Shapers; they are generally the Kroot with the best ability for recognizing desirable traits in defeated foes and tell their kindred (the word for a Kroot clan) what to eat to reshape themselves to suit the task at hand.

For instance, a Shaper who wants his Kroot to gain muscle mass will campaign against Orks to acquire the suitable DNA, while extensive feeding on flying predators will allow the Kroot to grow wings.

This eating of their foes ties in with the religious beliefs of the Kroot: they believe that when a warrior of any race dies, his warrior spirit should be kept, and the only way to do this is by eating his flesh. The Kroot practice this in their "burial" customs, in which the body of the deceased is consumed by the kindred.

Kroot, who prey extensively on a particular species, will begin to take the characteristics of that creature. In sentient species such as Orks and Humans, they may take on cultural aspects of that people as well. Kroot, who have fed on Drukhari, for example, soon begin to show signs of the cunning and intense cruelty the Drukhari are known for.

In the case of animals, this sometimes leads to evolutionary dead ends. A kindred will find itself locked into an animalistic and unintelligent form, unable to evolve themselves any more. Species such as Tyranids who also absorb the DNA of their prey are hazardous for Kroot to prey upon, as they may acquire too many undesirable Tyranid characteristics.

The ecology of the Kroot homeworld of Pech includes many species of animal that are partially Kroot, the results of a kindred's evolutionary missteps. The Kroot use these related creatures as labourers, pack animals, and even as weapons. The most common examples are the canine Kroot Hounds, the lumbering and powerful ape-like Krootox, the dromaeosaurid Knarloc riding beast, and the massive, dinosaur-like Great Knarlocs.

Another creature of note is the Kroothawk, an animal held sacred by the Kroot, possibly because it may be their evolutionary ancestor. There are other Kroot sub-species that are considered outcasts in Kroot society and are killed by Kroot if found.

In order to gather genetic material from all over the galaxy, the Kroot offer themselves as mercenaries and sell their services to anyone willing to pay them. They travel the galaxy taking limited contracts from both major and minor intelligent starfaring species and are regularly employed by the T'au.

While the contract with the T'au is supposed to be an exclusive one, the Kroot regularly send out their warspheres to continue their mercenary trade amongst the wider cosmos.

Hopefully it makes a bit more sense now, for anyone who didn't know. So this week I've been working on something new, but it's not quite ready to show yet, but I have managed to finish another Vulture Kindred, these Kroot have been fed on birds to regain the gift of flight.


And here he is with the rest of the pack so far, still got 3 more to convert.


The other thing I have managed to achieve this week is getting the rest of the army I have so far based, first up is a standard squad.


Next is the second standard squad, performing their favourite task, gathering meat.


Next is the Master Shaper, and his two personal hounds, I made these a bit stockier than standard, almost like a Rottweiler version compared to the normal greyhound type.


Next we have an elite squad the Headhunter Kindred, these Kroot have been on a diet of all the most poisonous creatures and have a poison attack, hence the one spitting venom, and the frills like the Dilophosaurus in Jurassic Park.


Next up we have the start of my Krotox squad, just need to add 10 Kroot to the unit.


Another heavy unit, is the hunter kindred, they use Kroot hunting rifles, that lose the close combat attacks but counts as a sniper rifle, I removed the blades, and extended the barrel, and added a scope to help represent this.


Last up today is a Great Gnarloc, and herders, this was sold by Forgeworld, just wish I'd got the other 3 variants ! LOL


That's all for today, so until next time stay safe and have fun !

Cheers Dave 

28 comments:

  1. I love the colors you've chosen for these guys. Thanks for the Kroot lesson. There was a lot I didn't know (like all of it). That Gnarloc is pretty fantastic! You could totally use that in Death Match!

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    1. Thank you Keith, wanted something a bit more tropical, compared to the standard GW muted colours, glad the information was useful. Daniel Cockersell did a stunning job on the sculpt, and that could be a very interesting idea mate !

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  2. Marvellous posting, Dave. Plenty to see (and read) with this one. Lovely colour choices on all of the figures. Think the Gnarloc is my fave too tbh. Do FW still make them or are they OOP these days..?

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    1. Thank you Simon, I have been a bit lax with the information of this species, for anyone who didn't know them, so did a quick google search, and found the 40 K wiki page had it all layed out. Looked at tropical birds for inspiration, which was where I got the idea for the red talons. The Gnarloc is a stunning piece, but unfortunately all the Forgeworld Kroot are OOP, which is such a shame, they did 4 variants of Great Gnarloc, and 3 Gnarloc riders.

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  4. Very cool and I do love the tropical inspiration. I didn’t know anything about Kroot other than they’re part of 40k so I liked the info. Sounds like a fun army to play. 😀

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    1. Thank you Stewart, Tropical seemed the way to go, if I wanted some colour to the table. Glad you found the information useful, as an army they may not be the best on the board, but they're certainly interesting to play.

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  5. Great insight into the Kroot Dave and have to say they look wonderful, as for FW models I think we all have our regrets 😕

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    1. Thank you Frank, I am pleased with the overall look of the army. As for FW regrets, too many ! LOL

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  6. Great stuff Dave! Not familiar with the game or models - though it's quite popular at our club - it's a bit mad to me how deep the lore/history is in the 40k world, amazing.

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    1. Thank you Ivor, the biggest problem with 40 K lore, is they keep changing it ! It's almost like they forget what they originally wrote, and just make something up on the fly ! LOL

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  7. Kroot are the best part of the Tau army imo along with the buzzy insect aliens.

    Great to see these out for their parade. That Great Gnarlock is just badarse and yes, you should have gotten the other two. O well. :)

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    1. Thank you Dai, agreed, the Tau are far too bland for my tastes.
      Glad you like them mate, and he is a bit of a beast that one, and don't I know it ! LOL

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  8. The feathered Kroots are really something, I love the concept. Nicely done! What an imposing army you have here!

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    1. Thank you Suber, the conversions I've seen all have extra wings, I thought as they were evolved from birds, why not just add the wings back to the arms. What they lack in firepower they make up for in numbers.

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  10. I'm glad to see that the Kroot haven't changed their lore too much. I remember the evolutionary thing about them even though I think it sounds oddly similar to Tyranids. I also can't quite grasp why they're pals with the Tau but that's okay! I'm not too invested in 40k overall. I love how these look and I'm used to seeing fairly drab color schemes for Kroot so this is a really cool change of place. Keep up the awesome work on these guys. Will you be pairing them with any Tau in the future as well or no?

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    1. Thank you Jeff, as GW haven't done much with the Kroot, they haven't changed the background yet ! LOL they do have some similar traits to the Tyranids, but then GW aren't renowned for coming up with much in the way of new races. Kroot originally were going to be a race release of they're own, but ended up just being an ally for the Tau, overcoming the Tau's weakness in combat. As is the case a lot of the time, GW show a colour scheme, and everyone just follows along, I really wanted to show the birds evolution, so went my own direction. No Tau with these guys, pure Kroot list, but might create a vehicle for them, maybe as a payment for they're services, so depending on which species they were working for, would influence the style.

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  11. Fantastic work on all these chaps, Dave, and thanks for the lesson on what the kroot are! I've seen these minis online mainly painted in browns, so your choice of brighter colours really makes them stand out. Nicely done!

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    1. Thank you Matt, no problem on the information, Joe pointed out for anyone who didn't know these guys it would mean nothing, which he was right about. I shouldn't have any problems finding my Kroot, in a sea of everyone else's ! LOL

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  12. That's a great looking Kroot force, Dave! Not something you see very often at all, especially these days. Great use of colour on them as well to give them a real "tropical bird" feel. Especially impressive is that big ol'Knarloc! :)

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    1. Thank you Azazel, I think the amount of converting needed put a lot of people off doing a Kroot list, plus they wouldn't allow them at tournaments. As I liked the idea I've kept on with it, and as I'm using them at home, no problems on the rules. Glad the tropical bird theme shines through, and the Knarloc is an awesome model.

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  13. Thanks Dave for the backrougnd material, it makes for a very interesting read. The figures look great, a very colourful lotthey are too. I very much doubt the Grnaloc's hereders have a great deal to say about it's movement though - what a cracker of a model !

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    1. Thank you Joe, glad you found the background useful, and hopefully makes a bit more sense. The colours may not be the normal for them, but I thought it gave them a bit more character. He is a beast of a model, I always think of the herders as guides or protectors rather than trying to impose their will, as you say I'd think they'd lose in that argument ! LOL

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  14. These are brilliant minis, Dave, and very nicely done! :-) Although not a GW follower I was familiar with the Kroot figures but didn't know any of their background, so thanks for including that!

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    1. Thank you John, glad you found the background useful and enlightening. The Kroot for me was one of the more original ideas GW had, just wish they had done more with them, but means it's pretty open for me to play around ! LOL

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  15. Great looking Kroot force!
    Best Iain

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    1. Thank you Iain, I'm pleased with how they've ended up.

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