I have been trying to get through some of my skaven stuff the last few weeks. Going through boxes, seeing what needs to be painted and even striking up some conversion ideas but i did find a packmaster model that was mixed in with some clan rats i had bought off ebay months ago. Everything went pretty straight forward you know the usual, clipped off sprue, cleaned mold lines, primed and painted , but the more i was looking at the model the more i was thinking about its clan, Clan Moulder. Probably the coolest clan i have never really looked into.
So what are Clan Moulder mostly known for? Each of the the major clans are know for certain things like clan Skyre and their weapons so what's Moulders deal? Their ability to make monstrous creatures such as the Hellpit Abomination, rat Ogors, giant rats and even controlling rat swarms is what they do and they do it well. But it's the hellpit Abomination that got me thinking. It's stitched together from muscle, limbs, flesh and made for war, hell the model represents it perfectly it's something straight from your own nightmares. So it got me thinking is a hell pit Abomination the same creature every time? The only straight answer i can give is it can't be. When the rats of Clan moulder are making the abomination i can only imagine they're not going to be making each one identical? If they do then Clan Moulder are heavily underestimated!
Straight from your nightmares to under your bed
So why has this got me invested in Clan Moulder lately? Think about it. No Hell Pit Abominations can be the same and you could add rat Ogors into the mix here. So i got thinking about HP Abomination conversions and i know in warhammer you can make conversions for anything and im all for conversions because it's part of the hobby but the HP Abomination is the ideal conversion monster. It's literally made from parts that are found by Moulder members stitched together and powered by warpstone. This is all the base i needed to get thinking about a making a different one. It doesn't b have to be the model that GW supplies. Currently now im working on a Giant/Gargant converted into a HP Abomination. And the conversions are endless. The only thing i wanted to make sure it had was a warpstone powersource.
Now i know the argument could be "But you can do that to any army in warhammer" and i know that but it fits directly into the fluff of clan Moulder. The fluff literally says to you "these monsters are made from bits and pieces by a mad group of rats, go nuts". You got a licence to go nuts and really use you imagination. You could have any creature like dragon with a Gorgons arms but no wings etc.
My idea so far is a giant's body and two skaven coming out of his neck instead of his head
Excuse the bad photos but you can see what i meant about the rats coming out of his neck
My interest in clan Moulder is only starting with the giant conversion, but one thing did come to mind. If i really get into converting a few HP Abominations can i field them all? In Age of Sigmar yes you can and i will cover that in a new post.
One thing i mentioned earlier that i want to add before i finish is the rat Ogors. Maybe a little harder to convert because they're not made they are bred, not made from scratch and the only models are not as easy to come across on ebay (without paying a heft price that is). They are a lot more specific than a HP Abomination but its still do-able like i was thinking of adding maybe crypt horror bits to make it look a failed rat Ogor or maybe a bigger rat Ogor but that's still awhile away yet.
In short give Clan Moulder a look in. They make monsters! They are crazy and not the "ha ha" crazy but "oh shit they're coming with some messed up looking creatures" crazy! And that's one of the many reasons i love the skaven...