Doomriders (undead cavalry)

Apparently bunch of skeletons left the closet!

And not only skellies but their meaty mounts as well! That means Army of the dead just got some fast unit (if we can really call anything fast in Undead army). Models you see below are deaders from Black Tree Design line. I got them long time ago so it was high time to see if there's anything going oin in their graves - and there was: boys sure wanted to take a ride...

Painting skeletons is always fun. Too bad these riders have only one version of mount. Sure it's oldchool and has lots of Oldhammer vibe, but painting another version of the very same sculpt is just boring. That's why I gave them different tones - just to make the team bit more interesting looking from over tabletop. Not mentioning the fact in old army books there were colorful zombies (green, yellow or even blue) - not total "grimdark" like nowdays... 🙄

I am big fan of metal models but after dealing with these guys I am pretty sure plastic or resin would be better material. Since everything is metal I didn't manage to pin bits together so there was only superglue used to bring them back to life. And that's the problem - I am pretty sure those heavy shields would be the first to fall off in case of any accident. 

Oh well - at least I don't play WFB anyore so it shouldn't be an issue... 😕

To lead them to battle there's mighty wight lord (painted also this year) and Leopold the Exhumed - which I got no idea how and when (most probably by accident during miniature swap ages ago). On the very bottom of "undead jar" there are some broken parts of skeleton horsemen staggering - I should check if I can assemble any complete models using those bones, 'cuz right now they become part of bases - just like Great Unclean One's...

Hope you like them anyway. Time to decide which models should be next saved from the depths of oblivion.

Mounted wight lord

While cleaning painting desk  once again I've stumbled upon some conversion bits I wanted to assemble and paint for a long time: mounted wight lord based on zombie dragon's rider. The model is based on  wight torso and 4th ed necromancer's legs and pony - painting necromancer was also on my shameful list but all in all decision was made to swap parts to make both models unique.

Initially the idea was to paint it grimdark way - which seems to be kinda popular nowdays. But while undercoating the model I changed my mind: it's oldschool model after all so it deserves properly oldschool paintjob - which fits Undead Army Project. Keeping strong contrast on painted miniatures is always good idea so I decided for black armour combined with bright blade and barding (or whatever the hell is the name of horse's clothing).

Painting something colorful is a really nice change after working on Bolt Action (mostly monotone) stuff. Besides after over solid 20 years I've finally found proper use of those ridiculous decals from oldie skeleton warriors boxes 💀

Anyway my display case Undead got another wight commander (the previous one was mounted on wyvern). Looks like now I have check if there are any jobless mounted undead models in the pile of shame to provide a company for the new undead character. 

So here's the necro-candy:

And the scale shot: wight lord commanding unit of skellies:

Herr Carstein has just arrived

Hello again,

It's been a while and I really missed posting. And painting.

But recently reality has thrown 'uuuge lump of shit into my life fan so hobby had to wait.

Anyway the previous post was about idea of building 2500 pts 5th ed Undead army. Since that time I've managed to paint ~530 points, which are:

- a skeleton (8 points)

- zombie horseman (28 points)

- vampire lord (495) - 5th edition rules after all.

For marketing purposes - here's current state of the main unit: (in theory) unbreakable tarpit of rotting flesh and bones. These should actually be skeletons but I think I'll mix skellies with zombies to make whole block more interesting. And heavy.

Freshly painted toys stand in the very middle:

my favorite vampire model from the back days and trusty skeleton champion emerging from below the ground:

I've always loved this sculpt: 100% member of Carstein family.

It's centerpiece of the army so decision had to be made which color scheme would fit it best: "official" night blue was really nice but I liked striking red published in 'Eavy Metal armies painting guide much more. 

But again - that would be the only such a colorful model in the whole army...

So looking for something in between Mr Carstein was painted rather simple and "believable":
since other vampired already wear violet / purple robes (funeral elegance...) this one also got similar outfit with some bright gems and healthy, dead-white complexion for contrast.

Looking at the pics now I think I should've added something on the black part of cloak- more than mid-grey highlighting...

It's sure fine for gaming purposes and I ain't going for Golden Demon (or anywhere else) with the piece, but leaving such a large area simply dark is kinda waste. 

Yeah... I'll definitely try to do something about it and take better photos: without filter on lamp minis cast shadows and raw photos seem to be "burnt". Thank Satan for GIMP...

As for the vampire's little buddy - it's my solution of the cloak problem:

model sure looks nice standing in the wind (maybe casting spells? or summoning storm? or whatever else) but that fucking cloak makes placing model between rank and file deaders pain in the ass.

There were several ideas about dealing with the problem:

- placing it on larger base: interesting idea for modeling purposes but idea was to make it gaming piece,

- using unit filler,

- not using cloak at all,

- something else.

I chose the last option: luckly there were some random bits of skellies in my bits box, which allowed to convert deader responding for vampire's call...

Convertion took like 10 minutes and I've finally found use for metal champion's head: I remember original owner used to fall because of head's weight.  

The army I am planning to assemble also contains cavalry:

not as main unit, which I used to field back days, but rather flanking group and / or mounted necromancer's cache.

A while back I got mysterious zombie rider (which actually turned out to be "Leopold the Exhumed" - Citadel C21 Undead Cavalry, sculpted by Bob Naismith, 1987) but it came with standard placcy skeleton steed instead of original one.

While looking for replacement for the mount I found Black Tree Designs skeleton cavalry: total Oldhammer! 

Models are simple but definitely fit oldschool army. There are 5 different skeletons riding zombie ponies, which is exactly what I need for the army.

Here's the first one - skleton horseman champion:

When the vampire's cloak is redone I'm starting skeleton chariot...