A Finisher of Things

...which, as any longterm reader of this blog will know, is not me.

But, as the saga of the Bridge Over the River Chai has now drawn to a close, I am able to return to other members of The Unfinished.

Lets start with the last things that went into the painting queue:

Terror of the Lichemaster. These have been just lying around in a box for some time now. A few nights ago, my powerfully cruel imagination forced to me to consider the what-if scenario of one of these figures contracting lead rot. Panic struck, and I undercoated them as soon as I was able!

These are just pictures of the named characters - the others are coming.

Scenario 1:

Scenario 2:

Scenario 3:

Where's Krell, you ask? Well, I've already got a painted one of those. It was all I could do to get the time to even photograph these, let alone dig around trying to find him.

And the whole lot, scrounging for some love.

Unfinished that have seen a paintbrush - 15 halberdiers, their various commanders, a troll, a skull chucker and the iron claw chariot - a figure I've come to hate...

Unfinished that haven't even seen a paintbrush - two chaos figures from the August painting challenge I never finished (because of these two), some goblin command, the iron claw stone thrower, the remainder of the dungeoneering party I was putting together and some other assorted baddies:

But just as despair is about to set in, perhaps we should consider the good news? Because painting has happened, you see - some people may even remember these chaps from the Bring Out Your Lead! 2013 get-together. Off the back of many threats made aeons ago to produce a chaos army of Nurgle, I finally got around to painting some chaos warriors. Long time readers my recognise Onowitz Mann'fluh, which was produced as part of that plan over a year ago now.

Now Nurgle's magic number (or whatever its called) is seven, meaning that most units in the army must be comprised of seven figures or multiples of seven. Mild OCD suggested to me that I would never be able to cope with the incomplete rank such a number of figures would produce. So, a conversion - once again, champions of Slaanesh seem to be much better suited to Nurgle:

And then regular grunts:

What follows is a relatively modern figure - probably my favourite of the last two decades. Being a character of Nurgle, he was a no brainer:

...and relax - back to old lead:

As I was trying to get the unit painted quickly, I decided to select models that were equipped with two handed weapons, meaning I wouldn't need to paint shields. Of course, all chaos warriors are equipped with Shields, but I can't imagine any of the lovely oldhammer community would mind if they didn't happen to bring them along...

This next chap was given to me as Gratnak Nakk - the half orc from Forenrond's Last Stand. Quite how the giver arrived at that conclusion, I don't know, but he has always been a half-orc from that point on. Of course, the gods of chaos are equal opportunity employers, so he was welcome:

And Mann'fluh. Sometimes a chaos sorcerer, sometimes a banner bearer. As the army develops, he may very well become the army standard.

When preparing for BOYL! 2013, I decided to roll up a chaos champion. In a curious twist of fate, he actually came out relatively well and normal. Not only that, but he got a chaos steed! This, then, is Baron Bodiyoder:

And, because I like I know you, dear reader, like army shots, I thought I'd take a look at what I could scrape together that was expressly and obviously of chaos. I know I could throw the goblins in there as chaos goblins, but we've seen a lot of goblins lately, so I thought I'd spare you. Also, They were under a lot of other things that would mean I would have to not take this picture and organise my painting station instead. I think you'll agree, this was probably the better outcome:

Its nice to finish with those that have successfully escaped from The Unfinished - heres to many more months like it!

Realms of Chaos: Er...mish-mash?

Sometimes, when left lone for long enough, I commit my mind to feats of brilliance. We've had no progress in the Battle of Koles Lorr (and alas, no update tonight), so this afternoon, I found myself left alone for long enough. I pondered over the cure for cancer, refining my experiments in this area. I thought about the piracy issue in Somalia and of the solution to that land's difficulty. I drafted up a potential plan for the Euro and what the chaps over in Brussels ought to be doing to get out of the sticky mess Europe finds itself in. I offered some marriage advice to some people.

All in all, pretty humdrum stuff.

But then undiluted brilliance hit me with its full force: I have some painted goblins!

Let me explain: before, when I used to play Warhammer 6, I made use of a goblin army. No orcs, just goblins. These hordes were all crafted from the awful plastics produced for the 6th ed. release. In the end, I sold that army, to return to the one true way, which turns out to be several kilograms heavier.

But, I kept some of the more special figures. Special to me, that is. They were hardly remarkable on the field, let me tell you (apart from Manny - more on him later).

So, moving on, I realised that if I added those remaining few goblins to my collection of Groms, I could  scrape a unit of 10!

Following that train of thought, I realised that I could then use these little fella's as chaos goblins - either as an ally contingent, or just as some followers of a Chaos Champion from Realms of Chaos.

By now, my tiny mind was in overdrive. Unable to draw the brilliance to a halt, I then conceived an even further element of inspiration: What if Grom (the chariot based one) could be used as a Chaos Champion? There are many chaos gifts that can render a champion immobile, resulting in that champion needing to use a cart or a chariot.

Being far too generous to keep this idea to myself, I immediately set about taking a picture of what that could look like:

Anything can become a Realms of Chaos Warband...

But still, brilliance was bursting from every pore and bouncing off the walls. What if I allied my Undead with that Chaos Warband?

So I took a picture of that little scenario:

Realms of Chaos Warband and Friends

And then focussed on specific areas, because that picture was awful:

The Left Flank

The Right Flank

The goblins that caused it all. Essentially, three Groms, a Skarsnik from the 90's and assorted war machine crews. I had to rebase the non-Groms, but such a small effort enables so much! Of course, once I've painted up my 80's goblins, these ones will be decommissioned, with the exception of Skarsnik (4th ed's close enough, and besides, there's Grom too!), Manny and Weazil. More on those famous personalities below.

What other dominant chaos attribute could it be but Enormously Fat?

You would have seen these dwarves before. Unfortunately, I had a modelling accident, in that I held the matt varnish spray can too close to the two chaps on the left, resulting in their faded out looks. I'm not really sure of applying any gloss will help, or if I need to fix them with paint touch-ups (advice welcome) but I will need to do something to restore them to their cheery selves...

Chaos Dwarves

Grim Reapers and the Necromancer

Skeleton Warriors (of the Nightmare Legion)

An Enormously Fat Chaos Champion called ... Grom

Manny and Weazil. You're unlikely to know them, but these are the very definitions of Special Characters as GW would have you believe. Together, they formed the core leadership of the afore mentioned Goblin army. Manny was the general of the force, but was only a hero level character (35 points - he totalled 39 with his shield and his chainmail) - not a lord. Greatest of all his accolades (and there are many) was his defeat of a blood thirster in a challenge. With no magic weapons. Granted, the blood thirster didn't flee, so Manny had to spend another round with it, which turned out for the worst, but imagine the look on the guys face when he realised that his blood thirster had just taken a wound from a goblin, for none received. Priceless, as those clever chaps from Mastercard say. Manny was named from two sources:

1: The leader of the orc army in the 3rd edition scenario 'Forenronds Last Stand' is an orc called Mandraks the Murderer. The name has stuck with me forever, so it seemed right that a more diminutive version of the Mandraks name lead the goblins.

2: Making a second reference to Flintloque - the goblins in that world are positioned as being the occupants of Portugal - that is, the Portuguese. At the time, I knew enough Manny's to go with the stereotypical Portuguese name and stamp my goblin leader with it.

Manny and Weazil

Weazil was the army banner bearer. He was modelled to have the something-or-other red rowdy banner, which gave +1 leadership to everyone. You may note that my online moniker on most forums has been taken from this brave little goblin, who has controlled the discipline of thousands of goblins across all sorts of theatres with his calm, collected presence and the vigourous waving of his banner.

From the back...

Weazil is an unmodified figure from the current edition metal goblin chariot.

Manny is actually a grot from 40k. I picked the figure because I loved the fact that he was shouting. Of course, his main job as a general was to shout at the whole army, but this figure was especially chosen, because Manny's main body guard came in the shape of three very large and very stupid stone trolls (sadly, no longer with us...). Suffice to say, those trolls required an awful lot of Manny's vocal guidance. Imagine, if you will, Manny's exasperated voice as he directs the trolls in the actual direction he wanted them to go...

Here he is with an original, unmodified grot:

Manny now and Manny then...

So what we have here is a ... well, mish mash of stuff. It's lots of painted figures all stuck together and crowbarred into a Realms of Chaos force of some sort. Because I could...

Anyway, hopefully there will be more on the business of Koles Lorr soon, but thanks for stopping by!

Humble Beginnings: Realm of Chaos

Whilst we wait for the conclusion of the first turn of the Battle of Koles Lorr (yes, it's underway!), I thought I would regale you all with some painting progress.

So, Chaos Dwarves. Everyone loves 'em.

What we have here is eight of the little fellers, which just happens to be the smallest Chaos Dwarf unit one can take in a Realms of Chaos army of Khorne:

Of course, if I'd painted two more, then they would be the smallest unit available through the Chaos Allies contingent. I've got more, but I started getting bored of the painting. It feels like six figures for a particular unit is the right level for me before I need to change. So, I'll probably move back to some Undead (for whom this ally contingent is ultimately aimed at) before completing this unit.

Anyway, these are they:

The back rank:

As you should be able to see, they are equipped with heavy armour and two handed weapons, meaning they will contribute 124 (116 +8 for the banner) points to my fledgling Realms of Chaos army that I guess I've just started.

Now the interesting thing is that I wasn't really aiming to make them Dwarves of Khorne. I just like red.  I'm just lucky that I've only painted eight, and that happens to work in a particular army list. Also, by way of further coincidence, I have another eight chaos dwarves, a bazuka, and a tenderiser. All coming soon*.

*Rounded up to the next thousand years

Sinister Little Buggers

In my last post, I promised that I would post painted figures. I've not got as far as I would like (two out of ten), but let's fulfil the promise, lest you lose faith in me.

So. Chaos Dwarves:

I used transfers for the banner. I painted over the bits to try and take the glossy shine off them, but the camera still picked up the place where the transfers end. I have yet to varnish these chaps, so hopefully a nice matt varnish should dull that down a bit. As all bloggers say, it looks much better in real life.

Also, need to finish basing the chap on the left.

And the back, if you're interested...

I'm fairly sure that all collectors of fine warhammer wares from the 80's relate to the desire to own Chaos Dwarves. The quintessential collector's piece, the now long OOP dwarves represent everything that was good and wonderful about GW in the 80's. Quirky, deliciously twisted and evil, yet fun and cute. Even my wife thinks they're cute. She wants me to get more.

I showed her how much they cost on eBay and it turns out twenty is fine after all. That is, twenty combat dwarves,  a bazooka crew and a tenderiser. Ultimately, I want to get twenty four combat dwarves, so that I can use them in the Realm of Chaos Khorne army list, where multiples of eight are the order of the day.

Anyway, I've not abandoned the Undead I was working on, so to speak - these chaps would serve as a fantastic ally contingent for them. I'm planning to do ten of them and a bazooka team, before moving back onto some Undead stuff. Maybe some Zombies and young Mikael Jacsen next?

EDIT:

Just off the back of Blue's question in the comments - the banner is custom. The original dwarf is this one:

I am not aware of any command models for chaos dwarves from either the Citadel or Marauder ranges. I know there are other current manufacturers that make Chaos Dwarves, but where possible, I will try to stick to the original GW products. Looking at the available models, this chap looked like the most obvious banner bearer, so I thought I'd do a custom job on him. Let me tell you - it is nerve wracking customising old, out of production miniatures!

Basically, I clipped the trident, drilled out the hand and replaced it with a banner from the bits box. If my memory serves correctly, its one of the banner poles of an Orc special character on boar. The name escapes me now. Anyway, I used that, together some tin from a baking tray for the actual flag (a tip I believe from White Knight over at the Lead Adventure Forum).

Marauding Chaos Knights and the Citadel of Confusion

Of all the figures I ever fantasised about owning, the Chaos Knights of the 80's were almost the highest on the list. Before this blog, I had never owned a chaos army, mainly because after 4th edition, it was never the same army.

Back to the knights: they looked thoroughly mean, without being the sinister, spiky dorks of the modern Games Workshop. And, in a world where 25mm meant 25mm - they were big. I dare say they would be almost the same size as a modern knight, but I don't know, because I don't have any.

So,  few months ago, when I saw some knights titled Marauder Chaos Knights on ebay, I thought, "Silly fool - Marauders are the more modern name of the light cavalry available to modern chaos armies. Those aren't Marauders, mate - those are Chaos Knights!"

Thoroughly self satisfied, I bought them.

No doubt you can see the trap I'd fallen into. Marauder was the name of a miniatures company, owned by Games Workshop. Everyone has heard of Marauder Dwarves. Even me. I can't tell you why I hadn't put those two facts together.

Anyway, the point is, I ended up with four Marauder Chaos Steeds (with Citadel riders, no less!)

The scale problem was immediately evident. I have no idea how the Marauder Chaos Knights (the riders) actually look on the steeds - but the citadel ones positively dwarfed the little buggers.

This is a comparison between the Marauder and Citadel steeds:

Marauder vs. Citadel Chaos Steeds

Top left and bottom right are the Marauder ones. The difference is astounding. I now know that this was mainly due to the cost of metal back in the day. The Marauder ones were obviously cheaper to produce.

But I don't care. What the hell am I supposed to do with four Chaos Shetland Ponies? So, for months, they've sat forgotten in an (eventually) outbound eBay queue.

That takes me to yesterday. Having now reached a stage gate with the Undead, I realised that I was a bit bored of painting undead.

I need to paint something else. I would love to paint my Orcs & Goblins, but that means that I won't really be able to capitalise on the painting I've already done.

But a Chaos army gets me around that. If I paint up some Chaos stuff, I can get a huge army for a small amount of painting effort, and because it's Chaos, I can do some very interesting painting if I want. And the Undead can ally with them (or even be summoned by them, I suppose).

So, following that track, I ended up looking at my figures and producing a 500,000* point Chaos army. In that list, I realised that I could use the diminutive Marauder ponies to make a unit of Thug Horse.

As far as I know, there are no models for this unit, and, given that they are (in my mind) supposed to be smaller than the Chaos Warriors that are further along the path of chaos than they are, this seemed very fitting.

Which now puts me in the place where I either need to find another Marauder Chaos Steed, or I need to find another older Citadel horse of a similar scale, to create the minimum of five that I need. And, given that, due to recent events, I suppose I'll be chasing down a Realm of Chaos Slaanesh army, I'll actually need to get two, because you need six in a Slaanesh army.

Such is the way of chaos. The despised become the loved.

So, I don't suppose you have any Thug horses Marauding as Knights, do you?

*Slight exaggeration. But it's 3rd Ed. Chaos, so you get the idea.