Level 15 Sorcerer (205pts)

So I felt that my collection of models (an 

So I felt that my collection of models (an army?) needed a leader, so I dusted of this converted sorcerer on a Palanquin raised by Nurglings. I've jumped between Warhammer Armies and the Lost and the Damned here, choosing a Level 15 sorcerer profile (155)  from the former and giving him the palanquin (50) a free (ridiculously) Staff of Nurgle from the latter. 

The main part of the model, the palanquin, is of course the classic Citadel version, unadulterated, but I didn't really like any of the riders that came with it (I have him going spare) so created my own from some plastic zombie and chaos bits and greenstuff for the cloth. 

The staff of Nurgle uses one of those Beastmen heads from the sprue on a plastic spear. Here's more on what appears to be quite a potent staff:

The wormpile model I shared in my warband post is perfect to represent the remains of the failed magic test model. 

So with this sorcerer leading the masses the total now equates to a current total of 2995pts which seems like a good opportunity to take a group shot of a 3000pt army:

 

Much more to come though.... 

Classic Chaos Beastmen (150pts).

This blog was originally set up, some years ago, to chart my progress in creating a Nurgle army from the classic Lost and the Damned tome. Along the way I have been easily, inevitably and enjoyably sidetracked by a plethora of new ideas, miniatures, games systems and competitions, but for now I've decided to come back to the project and try and complete it! Ive finished my Warhammer 3rd Edition Chaos Allies Contingent, which have the same basing, so I looked back at my many incomplete Lost and the Damned units and decided to tackle the unit which needed the least amount of work.

I had painted half of these classic Chaos Beastmen some time ago, and I remembered collecting them so that they were a disparate, ragtag bunch (certainly not just goats), of different shapes, sizes and races and of course choosing some of my favourite sculpts from this era along the way.

Here’s the now completed unit:

I've painted their skin with a variety of tones, trying to unify them slighlty by keeping the colours slightly drab and pastel like, and as always allowing the basing to tie them together further. 

The banner is painted from an image in Fighting Fantasy's Army of Death and is held by a Beastman that was regularly headswapped in Dale Hurst's iconic Tzeentch warband from White Dwarf 135, something I had always wanted to do since I first saw the article in 1991 and here I've done so with a new, plastic plaguebearer head added to the Citadel lead body. 

Here’s the original illustration  by Nick Williams, as found in Fighting Fantasy: Armies of Death:

The last part was to construct a movement tray, which is really more of a display tray to hold the unit together. More on how I do this in a future post.

So then that’s 14 Beastmen, with standard, making a total of 150pts.

Chaos Allies - Chaos Dwarves

It’s been a long time since I painted up a full Warhammer unit and, if truth be told, it broke my hobby mojo. But after a break, I’ve come back determined to complete it (and other unfinished projects). The unit consists of the original Chaos Dwarf Renegades as command, a Chaos Ogre for some beef and visual height and a range of the classic Citadel Chaos Dwarves which I had slowly collected over a number of years. This unit will form the backbone of my Chaos Allied list from Warhammer Armues 3rd Edition, which is now complete! I’ll take photos of the entire contingent kater. For now, here’s them Dwarves:

Chaos Allied Contingent Commander

As I embark on a huge painting marathon, I decided to break the load into more manageable portions. I''m starting with a Chaos Allies Contingent from Warhammer Armies 3rd Edition and the first models to be introduced to the brush and paint are a Contingent Commander and his familiar.

The contingent will be made up of Minotaurs, Chaos Dwarfs and Centaurs, so the book stipulates that only a Chaos Sorcerer can lead such an eclectic band of races.  Now I love the little illustrations in the Warhammer Armies book so I decided to use the illustration for the Sorcerer as inspiration and procured the necessary models to recreate it.

Here's my attempt using the Prisma app to try and transform and replicate the style of the illustration from the photograph of my completed Commander and Familiar:

And in colour:

And the original illustration:

Very Lost and very Damned

Having just completed a major project in my Retinue Table Challenge, I now feel a bit lost as to where to begin with my next, even larger hobby project. At the same time I feel somewhat damned by a whole load of projects that I have already started...

So, focusing on just my Fantasy projects (the sci-fi/40k stuff is much smaller in scope and can be worked on in-between the bigger concepts), I decided to get out all my models that are ready for painting to see where I want to go next. It's a bit overwhelming...

My Lost and Damned Army and all it's Allies:

Some close-ups:

And to break it down into more manageable targets, this next set of photos is just purely the Lost and the Damned Nurgle Army:

And this next set is a Chaos Allied force from Warhammer Armies (seeing as how the Lost and the Damned Army list does not allow for Minotaurs, Chaos Dwarves or Centaurs):

Whilst it was fun to get all my models out and put them together to see them ranked up, it does present me with a real challenge in terms of getting them all painted during my life-time. You'll notice a fair few gaps within units and this is generally where incomplete conversions will sit. There's also some much larger models to add - a Giant,  a dragon and a GUO. 

I'd better get cracking...

Freehand banners, my collection so far (plus a tutorial)

Here's my latest freehand banner, the first model for my Bitzbox Warband, a cowman, carrying an image borrowed directly from Fighting Fantasy's Trial of Champions (Illustrated by Brian Williams):

Here's the illustration which I copied, I found it quite appropriate for a beastman unit and this standard bearer also has a Skaven head at the top of the pole to re-emphasise the rat-theme.

So here's a short step-by-step of how I created this banner, which is pretty much the same technique I use for all my freehand banners:

The piece of cartridge paper was drawn to size (based on the size of the space on the banner pole) and two lengths kept at the banner end for attachment. This was then cut to size with a scalpel. It was painted with bleached bone on both sides and washed with a sepia mix to exaggerate the creases I had already added.

At this point you can see a very fine ink outline being applied, taking care to ensure accuracy.

Most of the outline has now been applied and some detail and tone can be added.

By adding a touch less water to the ink, it becomes more opaque and I can build up some darker tones and marks, while still leaving the lighter mars as they are.

At least three tones have been added. dark, medium and light.  The composition/placement of the image was a bit unsatisfactory as it left too much space at the top of the banner, so I decided to add some lettering. Partly inspired by the banners of Bryan Ansell's Chaos Army from Warhammer Armies and from the Beastman description in the Lost and the Damned, I decided upon "Children of Chaos".

Here you can see how I worked out the spacing for the lettering, 17 digits (including spaces) were drawn onto the paper next to the banner and then the letters were painted on within that space. I wish I had placed them a few millimeters lower..

The final stage was to add a frame around the banner to give it a bold edge and keep the image grounded and then some red to the eyes of the rat, a yellow Nurgle emblem in the space to the left of the design and finally some very pale white washes in the areas of highlight on the rat and skull. I just find this helps make it "pop".

So there you go. All that was left was to attach the banner to the pole with some superglue and when dried I then tweaked, teased, bent the banner to give it a sense of movement. Ideally the banner should have come off the pole at a greater angle, closer to horizonal, to capture the sense of movement as the beastman runs, but I had to settle for the appearance of it being caught in a breeze across the model.

Having completed this model I realised that I was quite proud of the numerous freehand banners I have created in my collection, so I thought I'd put them all into one post for you to see (and for me to do some sort of geeky cataloging):

From my small Chaos Cultist warband, based on an illustration by Bob Harvey.

From my Rensburg (wip) army 

My deamonic banner for the plaguebearers, Very similar to my cultist banner I realised as I documented these!

The banner for my mercenary ogres, the Rusty Flails. This illustration was from the Warhammer Armies book

For my small Orc Warband I used this illustration by John Blanche which I found in the 3rd Edition rulebook.

I wonder which your favourite is?

And here's the next standard bearer which I'll attempt, for my Beastman unit, but I'd like one of you to suggest an image for me to use here, ideally based upon oldschool gaming, so from one of GW's early (3rd edition or earlier) publications or from the Fighting Fantasy oeuvre:

Please post your ideas below, thanks in advance!