28 Plague Zombies and Plague Cart (185pts)

The diversity of the Nurgle Army list in the Lost and the Damned tome, is one of the most appealing features in my desire to create an army from it. I love the Zombie concept and the list allows me to have a unit of them amongst my Nurgle legions. I'm not a fan of any of the GW zombies, whether lead or plastic, past or present, but I am a massive fan of the Mantic variety and about 5 years ago I bought a load of them and skeletons in some deal. 

They really are a very good plastic kit, the multi part element gives lots of options and with a little imagination in reposing you can easily create that wandering, shambling horde look as the zombies stumble towards their prey enmasse. I'd painted about 10 of them back then and now 5 years later, I've finished the other 17, the Sorcerer and the movement tray. The painting was over the top of a white undercoat and was comprised of a succession of washes and glazes of yellows, browns and greens and then for blood, purples, browns, blacks and reds. 

Here you can see a wip photo of the painting process, as well as the variety of shambling poses:

Zombies generally need a Necromancer to animate them so I've included the option for a level 10 Undead Hero, which in this case, for narrative reasons, is an Undead Nurgle Sorcerer.

Now this is far from my favourite ever Nurgle model, but I had it for some reason in my bitz box and decided to try and improve it. Off went the silly, crooked hood and over the top staff and a horn and skull were added respectively. 

The Lost and the Damned also allows for skeletons, but I'm not keen to include them, I don't want this to be too similar to an undead army, however it does allow for a Plague Cart, for free (!) which of course is very NURGLESQUE and can be part of the Calvalcade that I have in mind later for this army. This was painted a few years ago for the annual Deadcember competition and I was lucky enough then to win a prize for it, a Zombie dragon. But that's for another day and another army... 

So 28 Plague Zombies + Level 10 Undead Hero + Plague Cart =185pts.

The current cumulative total for the army now exceeds 2000pts at 2055pts. 

Until next time...  

Deadcember: Scibor Necromancer

 Scibor miniatures produce some lovely sculpts (perhaps not everyone’s tastes) but still wonderful character and detail, in my opinion. This is the first one I have bought from them; having been disappointed to find the original sculpt of this being only available in 54mm size. I loved the sculpt as soon as I saw it with the Necromancer actively raising his undead minions and the lovely triangular composition in particular being pretty inspiring. So I was made up when I heard that this sculpt was also available in 28mm scale too and immediately purchased it from their website. It was, I’m sure you can imagine, a pleasure to paint after I had decided to base the Necromancer on the Emperor Palpatine due to their very similar appearance. I knew I wanted him to made up of blues and blacks and have slightly warmer, contrasting flesh tones for the summoned zombies. The model will fit in well with my Mantic zombies and therefore they have a new leader to direct them around the dungeon.

Frostgrave Bestiary Challenge: 6 zombies

I've added a new gadget to the right which is another to do list / completionist project that I've set myself; to paint all the models that could be needed for Frostgrvae. Why? I ask myself (or you may ask). Well I've got a pile of miniatures (not all lead) that need to be painted and with the help of lists and project ideas I can choose carefully from them to help me paint in a structured and efficient(ish) way. It gives me some way of accomplishing a secondary feat (crossing them off and tracking my progress towards a goal) to just the completion of painting a model and helps my mind plan ahead with a clear direction. I probably should have waited until I'd finished one of these previous lists (be it another set of dungeon tiles or the Nurgle retinue table) but it does mean I've got a nice eclectic mix of models to paint up over the coming year. And I'm sure there will be some currently unplanned, list additions along the way too.

Today I painted some Mantic zombies to add to my growing undead horde; for Frostgrave and Heroquest. Very simply these were undercoated white and a multitude of thinned glazes were applied directly over the white  to the skin, ranging from purples, blues, oranges, greens and yellows. I used some darker blues around the yellow areas to create bruising and also around the eye sockets to create some depth and a certain tired/dead look.. Some dried blood was added with a combination of red, purple and black inks applied liberally to the wound areas, mouths and hands. Small dabs of Tamiya clear red were then applied into the wounds to make them looks but fresher, as if they were still oozing a bit. So here are the zombies:

I must add that layer of green/yellow paper to represent the slime under the grille.

Enter the Undead

I've created lots of warbands (here, here, here and here) to play Heroquest or Frostgrave with, but I don't have any wandering monsters painted up on the appropriate bases to fight against, yet. Once again Frostgrave has inspired me to get some of my miniature pile painted; so I rummaged through my box of Mantic undead and found some skeleton and zombie sprues initially and then I remembered that I had the Ghoul Warband from Heresy and finally an old Citadel Chaos Warrior who works perfectly as a Vampire/Necromancer character. Oh and a Lord of the Rings model to be used as a Wraith (I have no idea where or why I collected that one..)




So here are all the Undead assembled and based, ready to start painting:

I found a really useful online guide which lists the maximum amount and the full range of monsters which are needed to play Frostgrave - and I like lists to help focus my collecting impulses. So here's what is needed for the Undead contingent:

• 12 Armoured Skeletons
• 9 Ghouls
• 5 Skeletons
• 1 Vampire
• 1 Wraith
• 6 Zombies

Yes that's 34 Undead miniatures to paint...


And all the other creatures in the Bestiary (some of which I already have and some others which I will need to purchase):

• 2 Bears
• 1 Boar
• 4 Giant Rats
• 2 Spiders
• 3 Toads
• 2 Snow Leopards
• 1 Gorilla
• 2 Wild Dogs
• 3 Wolves
• 2 Large Constructs
• 2 Medium Constructs
• 2 Small Constructs
• 1 Imp
• 2 Major Demons
• 3 Minor Demons
• 1 Giant
• 6 Giant Worms
• 2 Trolls
• 1 Werewolf
• 1 Genie
• 6 Statues

That's a significant addition to the [not so] miniature pile and the painting queue... Let's get to it.

More Mantic Zombies

Just a quick post today. I really love these Mantic zombies; they're so easy to put together and convert, if you so desire and the level of detail on the sculpts make them fun to paint too. So here's another 9 to add to the group:

I shall take some individual photographs to show the level of detail, and the way I painted them, on my next Zombie installment as I approach what is suspicously looking like a completed unit of models..... I may have to even make a movement tray!

Decorating and Zombies

I've just finished my first full week of the school summer holidays and have triumphantly decorated the living room, much to the happiness of the wife. I don't know how many times I've had to traipse to B&Q and back though...:

There is a correlation with my hobby I realised, everything is just scaled up - so instead of trimming mold lines with a small scalpel I've been sanding floorboards with a heavy duty, powerful electric floor sander. Applying primer with a roller rather than a spray can and adding layers of paint with a huge decorating brush rather than a Windsor and Newton Series 7 size 1 brush! Now I consider myself quite skilled with a brush, but boy do I struggle with skirting boards, perhaps I should have reached for one of my smaller, hobby brushes for the corners....

In the evenings I have treated myself to some hobby time and have had to adjust everything back to a miniature scale - which each time took a little while - my painting seemed slightly heavy-handed at first. So the first 7 Mantic zombies are complete awaiting another couple of batches of 7 which I'll start sometime soon:

 These guys will be making an appearance at BOYL 2014 (next week!) and I hope to add to the completed list before then, now the decorating is done and I'm in the wife's good books!

Some Mantic Zombies

A little while ago I got hold of some of the Mantic zombies with the idea of starting up an Undead army (another one of those "plans") but never got around to it and the box of miniatures languished, in a torpor, under my bed, amongst old shoes and some of my wife's unused handbags.

So with my Nurgle Sorcerer painted and looking increasingly like a Necromancer I decided to put the zombies together and add some paint - I'm now thinking that this will eventually be a unit of Plague Zombies as described in the army list pages of the Lost and the Damned. Perhaps I'll add a plague cart and some skellies too....

So WIP:

I've used multiple washes and glazes over the white basecoat (using a dash of washing up liquid as always) and tonight I'll add some layering to the clothed areas, some blood splatters using red, purple and black ink mixtures and complete the bases and smaller details.

I love this Zombie kit and would heartily recommend it to anyone.