Kamoteph the Crooked - Necron Technomancer

"The secrets of the universe are within my grasp. You cannot stop me now."

Illuminator Szeras

Readers of my last post might have (correctly) inferred from the Aeldari rune for the Warp Spider Aspect Shrine lurking at the bottom of the page that I had been planning to paint up the Phoenix Lord Lhykhis. 

I purchased, kitbashed and assembled The Whispering Web with the intention of using her to cross off the paint a Warhammer 40,000 character box on the WarhammerChallenge bingo card, but every time I sat down at my hobby desk last week I found myself feeling a stubborn lack of motivation to actually start painting. (I've opped a pic of her on my Instagram and Bluesky feeds if you're interested in checking out what I changed though).

I've thought about why I couldn't get into the mindset to start painting Lhykhis quite a lot and I think that it's at least partially due the fact that while I still find a lot of 40k stuff cool, I've no desire to play the tabletop game and being able to use painted minis for games is a significant motivator to get paint on them. There's probably also an element of opportunity cost involved too to be honest, as hobby time isn't always the easiest to come by. First world problems for sure, but they were posing something of an obstacle to making progress on my bingo card.

As chance would have it though, the Inverness Warhammer store's anniversary fortnight kicks off shortly and last weekend, the manager popped up a post on the store Facebook page: 

which set the wheels in my head turning, because I've picked up quite a few of the Commemorative Series over the last few years, but which one to paint up? An analysis paralysis spiral threatened to manifest for a little while as I worked through possibilities, all of which brings me finally, to Kamoteph the Crooked. The mini has actually been assembled for the last couple of years because I got excited after reading The Infinite and the Divine by Robert Rath and thought I might paint a few of the minis from the Indomitus set, but as is quite often the case, I never quite got around to it. In fact, Kamoteph was already something of a contender for paint a Warhammer 40,000 character when I first began thinking about who might fit the bill, so I'm sure you can see the kind of "two birds with one stone" plan that was forming.

When I built Kamoteph back in 2022, I made a couple of small changes to the mini because I wasn't too keen on the scaled cloak and segmented plates hanging from their right arm, so while I was just about ready to get started, there was one thing still missing - a suitably fitting base. A rummage though my bits boxes yielded a suitable candidate for what I had in mind in the base of Dhoraz Giant-Fell from the Warhammer: Underworlds Warband Xandire's Truthseekers and the shattered skull of a Necron Warrior taken from a Space Marine sprue provided the finishing touch.

For the most part, I've painted Kamoteph up in a similar fashion to the Szarekhan Dynasty scheme on the boxart, but I couldn't help making a few changes because it wouldn't be one of my projects if I didn't. The inspiration for the enamelled faceplate and carapace came from the Heirotek Circle Kill Team, while the idea for the alternately coloured glass beads came from looking at the Tomb Kings from the Old World range. The colour scheme for the base was based on the same one I used to paint The Crimson Court a couple of years back as it seemed perfect to put Kamoteph amid the shattered finery of a Szarekhan Tomb World.

I don't think I've painted a Necron melee weapon since the Pariah's were available back in the early 2000's, so while the blade on Kamoteph's Staff of Light is a bit rough around the edges, I'm pretty pleased with how it came out for only an hour or so's work. The prism at the centre was painted in the same way as the blue glass beads, and as the second to last element of the model that I finished up was quite fun to work on because of the way that light strikes the staff. 

With Kamoteph completed, I've been able to finish off the line on the New Year, New Challenge bingo card (as well as pick up some store anniversary swag) netting a pretty cool challenge coin as a result:

Although I've not been aware of many other folks taking part in the challenge either locally or online, it's been great to be able to get involved and I hope that we'll see New Year, New Challenge return in 2026 as it feels much more inclusive and accessible than New Year, New Army, especially for the middle-aged hobbyist who has adulting to do. 

I'm not quite sure what I'll have on the hobby desk next as there's a few things I'd like to work on, including an Underworlds warband or two and potentially some more Hobgrots, but until then, as always - thanks for reading and happy hobbying.