The abandoned depot was a welcome shelter from the abrasive ruststorm that howled outside. The T’au vanguard had made camp amongst ancient manufactorum crates and now huddled together around the blue glow of their fusion-heaters. Hovering drones hummed and whirred around the perimeter, motes of dust dancing in their infrared beams. Shas’nel D’yini’s jaw was set sternly as she listened to the latest reports from her scouts.

A fragmented hologram of the industrial Sector rotated in the space before her, uploaded and patched together from her Pathfinders’ reconnaissance data. The laboratory complex that Tetra team Darkshoal had discovered twelve tor’kan from here was undoubtably connected to their wider mission. Greater Good prevailing, the the gue’la’s secret knowledge would soon be theirs. It was time to assemble a kill team of her finest fighters!

Welcome back Fire Warrior. Today’s miniature is a conversion I’m quite fond of; Shas’nel D’yini, the stoic Fireblade of the Shining Path Infiltration Cadre.

I wanted a Commander for my army, but I’ve never really liked the stock Cadre Fireblade model. Particularly as my army is based around an incursion force, the showy cape and sword-waving pose didn’t fit the look I wanted.

Instead of posturing, I wanted my Fireblade to be leading by example, so I clipped off the arms and replaced them with a pair from the Fire Warrior kit. Afterwards I carefully removed the cool Fireblade markerlight from the original pulse rifle and spiced it onto the replacement gun. The resulting pose is an understated but powerful forward advance.

Next, I did a head swap as I wasn’t a fan of the original face either. I took the opportunity to use the female Fire Warrior Shas’ui head, replacing her small pigtail with the bigger hairdo from the original Fireblade. I like the way the hair swings round and conveys her sense of motion.

Clearly though, a Cadre Fireblade isn’t complete without a Bonding Knife. I removed the fingers gripping the blade originally held aloft on the stock miniature and attached it to the power pack on her back in the same position as my Pathfinder Shas’ui. I also added a pulse pistol, pouches and grenades to her waist to tie in with the rest of my force.

The paint job is very similar to my Pathfinder team but I’ve denoted her senior Shas’nel rank with a white shoulderpad, antenna and both her ankle pads. In addition, I’ve given her a pair of honoury Ta’lissera knife symbols on her shoulder pad.

To accompany her I’ve used a pair of drones from Forgeworld’s Shas’O’Ralai to represent her attendant markerlight drones. I’ve painted the lenses to match the larger markerlight on her pulse rifle.

I finished her off with a Sector Mechanicus base, modified with some corrugated plasticard and texture paint.

I’m looking forward to using my Cadre Fireblade in Kill Team. I’ve not played with Commander rules yet, but the ability to buff the already pretty nasty For the Greater Good ability sounds great! 😈

Drop me a comment if you like what you see!

‘Till next time!