Skeleton warriors (Highland Miniatures)

Painting skellies is kinda like knitting:

you get pissed - you paint some bones - you get better.

Too bad I didn't realize it bit earlier, but apparently better late then never.

Anyway last week I excavated another part of spoils of war looted during Oldhammer Weekend 2022: skeleton warriors unit from highland Miniatures range. Models look pretty cool: poses are different, proportions are correct - these guys definitely fit Warhammer range. There's one flaw though: since these are printed, they are also really fragile (those thin limbs and spears especially!). So fragile, several models arrived broken and it's even despite the fact they were pretty well packed. So yeah, if I could choose - purely of gaming purposes I'd pick plastic models instead of printed. Luckly I still had some spare limbs left by the previous boneheads unit, which added bit more vatiety to the freshly dug out death squad.

I have only 15 models from this line so I think these will be just support squad for the main unit or screaming skull catapult / second class character bodyguards. Of course - that is only in my head, because don't think there's even slighiest shade of chance these will move an inch after I put them in the display case hibernation chamber 😵

So here they are - corpses in the park. I think I've managed to adjust lighting a bit so photos turned out really decent:

And some scale shot: restless skeletons are defending city park against Dusk Realm Demon:

And here - skeletons supported by Mr Carstein himself and converted battle standard bearer are trying to convince chaos lord of Slaanesh city park and fresh grass is no place for heavy barded ponies:

Bloodthirster / Daemon prince

Actually I was hoping to paint something slightly different but it's hard to drop Warhammer Fantasy habit when it hits back... 🥴 Slaanesh warriors army has been finished but there was one more oldie daemon model dug deep under the pile of shame which could be used as alternative genral: Khorne's Bloodthirster.

It's really old model and I got it somewhere during high school era - which was really long time ago. Since that time I tried to paint it several times - with no success. Since that time model also got it's original whip-hand broken and then lost. In fact I was more then lucky I found spare hand in bits box which could be used on this model...

As for painting I was hoping for more reddish tone but Vallejo reds I have are more rapsberry then red - no idea why. In fact I had other bottle of red ink which was red as fu#c but this one is just damn rapsberry... On the other hand that's not much of loss because apparently it's the only model from under Khorne banner, so decision was made to paint it as Chaos Undivided creature or maybe even Slaanesh style to fit Warriors army.

I am really glad I've FINALLY crossed this one off the list. It was way too cool piece of Oldhammer history to be left in the bucket-of-shame-purgatory. So here are the pics.

First - one of the most epic duels possible back in 4th /5th edition: mighty Bloodthirster facing Lord of the Dead - Nagash! These were days there single models were pure metal and pretty small compared to modern (stupid as fu#k 🙄 ) standards...

And below - Bloodthirster and Dusk Real Demon in deadly struggle with Daemon Prince of Slaanesh:

And some solo pics:

Gotta check if there are any more old farts on the bottom of bucket of shame worthy rescue...

Take care!

Warhammer The Old World - battle report

Well, kinda... 🙄

After 3-years long break from Warhammer (and before that there was like 10-15 years gap...) I finally got opportunity to take Chaos warriors army for a walk through Empire's north lands. To my surprise instead of hordes of defenceless peasants I found angry mob of Undivided Chaos warriors - also looking for easy prey...

All in all both lords decided to discuss differences between gods of Chaos and their views on the manking. Strength of arguments was supported by enchanted blades, charging cavalry and and savage beasts fighting alongside Chaos warriors. Result of the debate was almost perfect draw: 940 : 900 for the guests, which is pretty amazing since I haven't read rules 😊

I was hoping to make nice battle report but the flying reporter managed to paint only single war-picture while circling the battlefield on wyvern's back (above) so having only limited resources the report isn't something as epic as Slaanesh would appreciate.

The game was 2000 points battle, no magic items used. The reason for this was it was my very first Warhammer The Old World game, so it was just casual game with some beers around instead of regular match or some sort of powergaming bullcrap.

So here're some piccies:

First epic clash of claws and paws: Chaos poochers vs Chaos poochers:

During the game I recalled why I quit Warhammer ages ago. The rules changed (surely for better) but whole logistics and army transporting is still just pain in the ass - especially if compared to Bolt Action. Game is definitely more balanced then editions I played before but again - it's not much compared to BA. Apparently skirmish games work better for me... 🤔 

Apart from that bitching is was nice to see models on battlefield instead of just in display case (staring on my back while I work). Watching these toys fighting in the name of Dark Gods reminded me what got me into wargaming ages ago. Despite all flaws the game has and Games Workshop's attitude, Warhammer Fantasy world is just cool. 

And the game was opportunity to meet old buddy who is actually regular Warhammer battle player, master of rules and armybooks and it was his idea to confront army of Slaanesh against horde of Undivided Chaos. Thank you for the meering, Dr Satan - hope for re-match anytime soon.... 😈

Slaanesh Chaos army - finished 🤘🏻

It is done!

The army is painted so it is time to sum up the Chaos army project. It took longer then I expected (no surprise with avarege painting ratio ~4 models per month...) but Slaanesh has finally brought his army to the Empire of men. It was nice to dig out and made use of some oldies from the very bottom of the Bucket of Shame.  

Surely I don't have enought models for another force like that but while looking for proper Warriors models I found some oldies from WH 40.000 range, so I actually might try to assemble some oldschool styled combat patrol. That is as long as it's not purple... 🤢

I've always loved that themed army pics from old White Dwarf zines and army books: wide pictures with painted background etc. It's impossible to take such pic on painting desk that's why especially for this project I brought the toys to gaming bunker and prepared more-less natural backdrop for army-size photos. As for the very first time - turned out pretty fine. 

So here they are - already raging through the Empire:

And some close ups with links for detailed pictures: Daemon Prince, Dragon Ogres and trecheous Ogre mercenaries (those back-stabbing bastards were serving Undead Lord during Oldhammer 2022 campaign):

And here - warhounds, exalted champion on Slaanesh steed and some Chaos warriors: 

Below - some more Chaos warriors and Chaos knights:

Pair of Chaos spawns / fiends of Slaanesh and the chariots (one of the led by sorcerer):

Heavy hitters once again:

More Chaos infantry:

And the backdrop - apparently there was perfect weather in Empire for the raid... 😈

Fiend of Slaanesh #2

Looks like fiend of Slaanesh I painted recently just got twin-brother (or sister - you can never be 100% sure with Slaanesh stuff). They are supposed to be part of the same battle force, so I tried to keep the same, or very similar color palette. Must say I really like the way they look standing on classic green battlefield. Brings back memories of Middlehammer era.

I hope to start working on 6-men strong unit of badass chaos knights soon. I never liked that official vivid pink or purple color of Slaanesh armour (frankly in my opinion that looks like sh!t) so thinking about final look of the main unit of the army took pretty lot of time. Now, having both fiends done, I think "crabby" tone of claws and stings is something what should do the job. That combined with black horses and steel armament should looks striking as hell, when placed on juicy green field of battle.

So here there are - about to rip apart block of zombies somewhere on Elbląg outskirts:

And mr brother / sister himself / herself. Not sure about color of the scales - might repaint that part one day (too much washes and dry pigments):

And here crab-daemons guarding general of chaos warriors army (515 points according to the current army list):

🤘🏻💀🤘🏻

Slaanesh Warriors army project

A while back I had a little chat with my buddy about old Warhammer Fantasy Battle (Middlehammer frankly). It was overall about supercool line of models back days but mostly about f#cked up rules, which in my opinion made the game simply discouraging (I totally forgot about it until Oldhammer Weekend 2022).

My buddy mentioned about 6th edition of WFB, which in his opinion totally changed the game, made it balanced and simple - made if fun. 

So because of this stupid talking I started checking if my oldschool Undead army could be adjusted to meet 6th edition requirements. Well it couldn't - I need too many models... 😒

Buuut after browsing contents of pile of shame and display cases if turned out I am like 1000 points ready to start Chaos army. Chaos warriors was my very first army ever - it was really small: 3 units and 3 characters only which were sold long time ago. Since half of the force is already under my command I thought maybe it's high time to do the job right and finally gather playable detachment. It's Chaos so it's relatively small therefore whole army could get one large display base a'la Jakob Rune Nielsen's ubercool Khorne Warriors army.

Here's what I have in mind. Normally I'd choose Nurgle but since I have daemon prince done and some demonettes and fiends of Slaanesh waiting for painting, there'll be Slaanesh army: chaos warriors led by daemon. Sounds just f#cking badass! 😈

No idea what is it's battlefield efficiency though - I put there models from the glass case because I like them and the general rule is: if you like the model it should see the battlefield! Slaanesh magic number is 6 so tried to make most units 6 (or it's multiple) - models strong. Hope to make some minor changes to make 6 or 12 models in warhounds unit.

Standard (Chaos) [1,999pts, 7 Casting Dice, 5 Dispel Dice]:

Heroes:

Exalted Daemon [365pts, 4 Casting Dice, 3 Dispel Dice]
Selections: General, Level 2
Profile: Exalted Demon
Hero of Slaanesh
Selections: Master of Mortals, Sporofic Musk

Exalted Champion of Chaos [210pts]
Selections: Gaze of the Gods, Hero of Slaanesh, Steed of Slaanesh, Sword of Might
Profile: Exalted Champion, Steed of Slaanesh, Weapon: Hand Weapon

Sorcerer of Chaos [190pts, 3 Casting Dice, 2 Dispel Dice]
Selections: Hero of Slaanesh, Level 2, Power Familiar
Profile: Sorcerer, Weapon: Hand Weapon

Core:

Knights of Chaos [345pts]
Selections: Champion, Chosen, 5x Knights of Chaos, Musician, Regiment of Slaanesh
Armour: Heavy Armour, Shield, Profile: Champion, Knight, Weapon: Hand Weapon
Standard Bearer
Selections: Rapturous Standard

Mounted Daemonettes [180pts]
Selections: 6x Daemonettes
Profile: Daemonettes, Mount of Slaanesh

Warriors of Chaos [265pts]
Selections: Champion, Musician, Regiment of Slaanesh, Shield, 11x Warriors of Chaos
Armour: Heavy Armour, Shield, Profile: Champion, Warrior, Weapon: Hand Weapon
Standard Bearer
Selections: Banner of Wrath
Special

Chaos Ogres [234pts]
Selections: 6x Chaos Ogre, Light Armour, Two Hand Weapons
Armour: Light Armour, Profile: Chaos Ogre, Weapon: Additional Hand weapon, Hand Weapon

Warhounds of Chaos [60pts]
Selections: 10x Warhound

Profile: Warhound

Rare:

Spawn of Chaos [75pts]
Selections: Fiend of Slaanesh
Profile: Spawn of Chaos

Spawn of Chaos [75pts]
Selections: Fiend of Slaanesh
Profile: Spawn of Chaos

And here's my painted ~640 gold coins worth Chaos force. There aren't too dark but Slaanesh like vivid colors. Some close ups of Daemon are here while ogres - in these posts. Surprisingly the unit hasn't got group shot yet... 

Hope to see any progress on the project soon... 🤘🏻

Undead army wyvern #2

Undead army just got another fast attack unit.

After finishing the "serpentine" wyvern I was actually hoping for a bit more from the rider. Thought it would be bit more "epic" - it's wight lord after all. On the other hand it's just better dressed and armoured skeleton so I guess it fits the mount. To make it more coherent with the other units model got black-and-white stripes on the shield. It got spike in the middle 'cause shield to hide the pin - don't want it to fall off in the heat of the battle...

It's a big model so I tried to take some herohammer styled pics for group shots. Using large game mat was good idea but the landscale background is just too small. I think I'll just have to paint one sometimes instead just using prints.

So here they are:

diving from the blue sky to bring death and destruction to the empire of men! Bwah! Ha! Ha!

Another scale shot:

(most probably) about to get dead-ass kicked bit time by Khorne's daemon prince:

And here matched duel with greenskins wyvern:

Supporting unit of zombies:

This is where the magic happens. Looking at the picture I am quite sure I need like twice wide background for taking pics of large units or armies. The game mat I use comes from terrains4games - definitely recommend stuff they make!

And some close ups:

Thanks for reading.
Next stop: dark future... 💀