Weekly Waffle #404 – Feathered Fear on the Pitch
6th December 2025
For this week’s weekly waffle I have continued with the dark and brooding Morticians but I have a little something else I want to share before I show you what I’ve been up to. As this is supposed to be a waffle I thought I would share some ideas that have been floating around in my head.
Don’t judge me for this but I saw some human Tau auxiliary kit bash’s that I really liked the look of. And it got me thinking that I would like to have a go at doing something like this. Just a single squad as a bit of painting project.
Not something I have to share with you at the moment but this idea of a single squad has grown in my head into a way of producing a full 40k army with units that could be used in both 40k and Necromunda. It’s the sort of thing that if I’m being honest with myself then it’s not something that I will ever get around to. Although I may get some bits of it done.
I have a few of these project ideas documented in various places and may start sharing them to see if they give some inspiration to others, who may actually do something with the idea. As opposed to them just sitting on my phone or PC.
But whilst I’m working on the morticians I will start to pull some of these ideas together so share at a future date.
Getting back to this week’s update I’ve been working on Dirge who is the Morticians mascot. I’ve kept the colours the same with the addition of a little green for the vines. I really like how it’s turned out but what do you think.
You can see more Guild Ball miniatures at my gallery here
Every guild has its mascot, that loveable (or occasionally less-than-loveable) critter that scampers, flutters, or lumbers onto the field to add a bit of character. The Brewers bring their faithful monkey, Scum the cat stalks around for the Butchers, and the Engineers… well, they’ve basically turned mascots into a mechanical arms race.
And then you’ve got the Morticians, who looked at the idea of a cheerful team mascot and said: nah, let’s go with a terrifying raven that embodies the cold inevitability of death itself.
Ladies and gentlemen, meet Dirge, Obulus’ winged herald, the bird that circles overhead to remind you that no matter how well your game is going, the crows are always waiting.
In the fiction, Dirge isn’t just some oversized raven picked out of a nest. He’s more like an omen in feathered form, a companion to Obulus that functions as a symbol as much as a presence. When Dirge is perched on the goalpost or circling above the pitch, it’s a constant reminder that the Morticians aren’t here to play fair, or even to play Guild Ball in the conventional sense.
Where other teams use mascots to hype up the crowd or bolster morale, Dirge works differently. He unsettles. He haunts. He casts a pall over the opposition, a living banner of doom that signals to everyone present that death, decay, and the grave are never far away.
It’s perfectly thematic. The Morticians don’t do cheerleading. They do dread.
Now, mascots in Guild Ball are never the stars of the show, but they’re far from irrelevant. Dirge is no different. He’s not there to smash faces like Ghast or manipulate activations like Obulus. But he provides support in a way only the Morticians could dream up.
Dirge is fast, able to dart across the pitch to provide support exactly where it’s needed. His mobility lets him act as an anchor for Mortician plays, extending auras and putting pressure in unexpected places. Like many mascots, Dirge isn’t about raw power. Instead, he hands out buffs, provides key positioning advantages, and helps the rest of the Morticians team set up their sinister shenanigans.
He’s also not a tank by any means, but he’s surprisingly slippery. Opponents often waste valuable resources chasing him down, which is exactly what the Morticians want, distraction and misallocation of effort.
Okay, maybe this isn’t written on his card, but anyone who’s ever played against Morticians knows the feeling. Dirge feels scarier than he probably should. There’s something about that looming raven, waiting to swoop in, that adds just enough pressure to make players second guess themselves.
Dirge is the kind of mascot that works best in a subtle, supportive role. He enables plays, he extends threat ranges, and he helps keep the Morticians’ web of control tight. He’s rarely going to be the model you remember at the end of the game, but you’ll certainly notice if he wasn’t there.
Think of him as the background music in a horror film: you might not pay attention to it at first, but it’s setting the mood, and when it stops, you suddenly realise how much tension it added.
Now, do you kill the bird? That’s always the question.
Some players get fixated on removing mascots early, denying buffs and easy influence. Against Dirge, that’s often a trap. Yes, he’s not the hardest target in the world, but committing resources to hunt him down usually means you’re not focusing on the real threats. Obulus pulling your striker out of position, Scalpel carving your formation apart, or Ghast looming with his giant hammer.
Of course, ignore Dirge entirely, and he’ll quietly make everything worse. He’s the pebble in your shoe, the nagging cough, the little persistent annoyance that amplifies the Morticians’ control game until you’re wondering why everything feels harder than it should.
The best approach? Respect him, account for him, but don’t overcommit. The Morticians want you to obsess over the bird. Don’t give them the satisfaction.
Every gaming group has that one person who insists the mascot is the real MVP. You know the type. They’ll score a cheeky goal with Salt the otter and talk about it for weeks. They’ll run around with Princess the dog just to annoy you.
Dirge attracts a different crowd. The players who pick Morticians often have a soft spot for their raven, but it’s not the warm, fuzzy affection other teams have for their mascots. It’s more like respect. Admiration for the bird’s efficiency, its symbolism, and its ability to unsettle opponents just by existing.
And if you’ve ever had to sit across from a Morticians player who cackled as Dirge swooped in at just the wrong time, you’ll know exactly why he earns that devotion.
Dirge is the perfect Morticians mascot: unsettling, useful, and always just a little bit more dangerous than you expect. He won’t steal the spotlight, but he’ll make sure everyone else on the team shines or, more accurately, broods menacingly in the half-light.
On the pitch, he’s fast, evasive, and supportive, an enabler of the Morticians’ brand of disruption. In the lore, he’s the harbinger of doom, a feathered omen that follows Obulus like a shadow.
If Obulus is the puppeteer and Scalpel is the scalpel (no prizes for guessing that one), then Dirge is the raven circling overhead, croaking out the one truth the Morticians want you to remember: sooner or later, the grave claims us all.
That’s all I have for you this week. I’m enjoying the process of working on the Morticians and I have more to work on over the next few week’s. So I will have more for you next week. Same time same place. Until then I hope you all have a grate week and get lots of successful hobby time in.
