TheOttoVonBismark's Oldhammer Slann WIP

Hi All,

The high astronomer of the Jade Throne informs me that the auspices for me getting some 3rd Edition Slann are favorable. Good thing too as they have been sitting in the box unloved for nearly 20 years now!

Without further ado:

Eagle Warrior (Test Model)

Front
img_4796.jpg


Back
img_4801.jpg




For fun I made some 10mm Versions - mind you, they are on the big side of 10mm, I will be making them smaller on a theoretical later iteration ;)



10mm Eagle Warriors

Front:
img_5410.jpg





Currently in the painting pipeline are a unit of Eagle Warriors, Warrior Priests and some Scouts/Jungle Braves. I will post some more pics of WIP as we go.
 

phreedh

Member
Rumours on the interwebs are that you have a sizeable stash of space slann too. Will you get to these as well? =)

Good job on the test model.
 
I wish I did have any proper space slann!

I never actually saw any even on sale in Ireland so I never bought any - not likely that I will buy them now at exploitation prices either. I predict in that in 5 - 10 years I will use some kind of futuristic scanning and 3d printing that has not been fully developed to get the 40k ones ;) .

I have a couple of converted attempts mostly WIP. They are bound to get some lovin' in the course of this project though.

Space Slann WIPs

Mage/Psyker
space-slann-on-cold-one-side.jpg


Slann Dude
img_5435.jpg


Other Slann Dude
img_5429.jpg


Graviton Gun Dude
img_5881.jpg

img_5880.jpg
 

phreedh

Member
Nice conversions, still. I thought Paul moaned about you keeping a box of Slann from him. Could've been the fantasy ones and I just assumed he meant scifi slann. Never mind.

I quite like the space slann but don't really care for the fantasy chaps. It's fun seeing what others do with them, but I have no urge to own them myself. My wallet is thankful and my wife is less enraged. Good things!
 

Asslessman

Member
Slann goodness yumy yumy !
Looking froward to seeing the progress of this one but I love what I'm seeing so far. Get that mage/psyker painted, it looks splendid even now !
 
Thanks for the +ve feedback!

Paul did seem to think I had 40k ones, but I only ever showed him converted fantasy ones.

"I quite like the space slann but don't really care for the fantasy chaps"

Fantasy chaps ARE space chaps really (warning - your wife WILL fail her frenzy test if you try to make the following point).

They are from the same background in RT and WHFB a pan-galactic culture in decline. The WHFB versions represent the culture regressing to a relatively primitive and barbaric form. I intend to have some fun with this idea during the project as I envision that the Slann of the warhammer world still have some of the relics from the Old Empire, now revered in a sort of Ancient Aliens style. For example a "magic sword" will be represented by a force or power sword. An icon of divine wrath might be that the standard bearer has a laspistol. The Slann who are most civilized (and who brown nose the tribal elders I suspect!) are inducted into the secrets of the hi-tech perhaps (they also get a copy of Chariots of the Gods and a DVD boxed set of Ancient Aliens as part of the induction).

Thantsants has some excellent Amazon fluff in this vein:

http://teasgettingcold.blogspot.ie/search/label/Amazons


Painting wise I have to finish the first 8 Eagle Warriors (which are nearly done now) before I can look at that Psyker/Mage chap but he is high on the priority list for this project. It may be very hard to resist doing a quick test piece for the warrior priests first though.
 

Goblinlee

Member
Great to see more old style Slann, look forward to the WIP photographs.

Like the flesh colour and tones on your Eagle Warrior, and the converted Cold One Rider is excellent too.

I did a similar thing in RT days in converting up Space Slann, although I have ended up paint stripping them now and returning them to the Jungles of Lustria as fantasy conversions. The Graviton gun Slann looks great, I like how you use the remains of the club to look like a gun handle.

I have some Slann on my blog : http://goblinlee.blogspot.co.uk/2013/05 ... -army.html

and Space Slann http://goblinlee.blogspot.co.uk/2013/08 ... leted.html
 
Thanks for the feedback Goblinlee!

When you say you have some Slann on your blog what you should say is "I HAVE ALL THE SLANN CAST IN THE LAST 25 YEARS MOO HAAA HAAAA!".

Having the full 40k set is also well cool!

I have previously had a good pouring over your blog and am very impressed (slack jawed with wonder more like) with the amount of lead you have accumulated. You have some choice models in there. The Sabre Tooth Tiger (Pang Tang Range) really appeals to me - I managed to scrounge some of the other version of the model myself back in the day. They are very lurvly cats.

The Graviton gun guy is probably my favorite of those conversions - might change my mind if the cold one rider turns out purty.

Now back to those Eagle Warriors, they are not gonna paint themselves the lazy buggers!
 

Goblinlee

Member
Thank you, glad you liked them.

the Pan Tang tigers were nice, it's a shame I did'nt get more at the time.

I do look forward to how your army is going to turn out. I really like the posing of the Cold One rider.

Once I have sorted out my Warhammer Armies project, and probably painted the 40k Squat Army, I am planning sometime in the summer 2014 re-visiting the Slann Army. Plan to change some of the standards, tidy up the painting, paint better sheilds, and finish the whole army off, including the tiger!
 
Goblinlee":2qpn75lj said:
Once I have sorted out my Warhammer Armies project, and probably painted the 40k Squat Army, I am planning sometime in the summer 2014 re-visiting the Slann Army. Plan to change some of the standards, tidy up the painting, paint better sheilds, and finish the whole army off, including the tiger!

Your squats are a fine collection and the repaints you have up are pretty sweet - it would take me a while to paint that lot so hopefully you are working quicker than me ;). Revisiting your Slann for makeovers sounds like an interesting if daunting task given the number of them. Tackling one of the big units is a significant amount of work. Stuff like this is always retro-satisfying to get done so there is definitely motivation to get the work done. Looking forward to seeing how you get on.



Some WIP for the first batch of Eagle Warriors, overwhelming are they not :shock: ? They are not the easiest models I have ever painted but I am hardly making it easy for myself with that Bennetton selection of colours. The yellow chap features more refinement of technique than his predecessor:
dsc_0618.jpg


Here are some blurry images of WIP Warrior Priests. I am trying to get my priests to look more like the chaps carrying the war altar than the iconic guy with dagger and heart. The idea of a unit of guys all holding hearts out never really appealed to me.
dsc_0621.jpg


Finally one of my favorite models is the Jungle Brave with the club, picture came out grainy for some reason. I love the primitive vibe from him. Being lead he can be reposed for added dynamism. Here he is posing with some buddies. Note the use of the modern goblin plastic shields, inverted with the icons filed off.
dsc_0622.jpg




That's it for now!
 

Asslessman

Member
The yellow chap's face is brilliant ! You're not making things easy for yourself with that rainbow coulour scheme but it's looking really good.

Don't know if the weapons are meant to stay Deep red and black like they are now but they look really goog too that way. Smashing people's heads with obsidian weapons is as Slann as can be. The contrast between the very simple treatment (yet very good) on braves compared to the eagle warriors makes it really interesting. You're gonna raise the price of those slanns a bit more (not that they needed it... :lol: ).
great work
 
Asslessman":2l8m9zr9 said:
The yellow chap's face is brilliant ! You're not making things easy for yourself with that rainbow coulour scheme but it's looking really good.

Don't know if the weapons are meant to stay Deep red and black like they are now but they look really goog too that way. Smashing people's heads with obsidian weapons is as Slann as can be. The contrast between the very simple treatment (yet very good) on braves compared to the eagle warriors makes it really interesting. You're gonna raise the price of those slanns a bit more (not that they needed it... :lol: ).
great work

Thanks for the feedback Asslessman! The weapons are staying deep red although I plan to introduce more variance in the weapons to break up the cookie cutter effect of having the same model repeated in the unit. Slann weapons are pretty easy to either cast up or to make by hand using thin plastic card (the weapons on the 10mm versions were made using plastic card) and perhaps a small amount of green stuff. I have found lots of Slann models end up with their weapons missing - I suspect that this is due to them having been used in Blood Bowl to some extent.

One thing that plagues the Slann range is that there are a very limited model selection for the Elites (effectively if you don't count the extra Alligator Warrior). I am looking forward to creating some Eagle Warrior conversions off the base model. When I was a kid I always wanted to do more with the base model and now I have the maturity and skill to realise this sort of work. I will have to do something extra special with the Alligator Warrior unit. The base model is not really good enough. He looks more like a shamman! Goblin Lee had an excellent solution using another model for them. These guys look like badasses:

all+of+the+slann+part+1+023.JPG


I think I will end up doing a green stuff makeover (it's not like Alligator skin is too hard to sculpt) of one of the models to create the heavily armored Alligator Warriors that reside my minds eye.


I am glad you noticed the theme of contrasts! That is definitely what I am going for, contrast between the troop types to get the feeling of an army made up of disparate warriors bound together to fulfill tribute to the Jade Throne. The Eagle Warriors are like the knights of the status quo and need to look the part. The priests mysterious and sinister in black (with red drug crazed eyes), the jungle tribes naive and simply attired, the colourful spawn bands of militia with mixed equipment, bull slann identically equipped and uniformly big and so forth....
 

Chico

Member
Looking rather tasty their mate. I'm banned from buying Slann so i'm going to live my Slann dream though others with a larger back account hwhw
 
Cheers Chico. Nice to hear that you will live the Slann dream vicariously through this project. To be honest I will need the encouragement, it's far easier to focus on painting this kind of stuff with some community support!

I am planning to complete them (3k points with magic items to begin with anyways) and then take them to the Oldhammer 2014 event, so you might even be able to give them a test drive if you are there.
 

Chico

Member
I'll be there this year, the saving fund as been started and I'm going to be running a rather massive Genestealer Cult 40k Invasion game which you are more the welcome to join if you have the spare time.
 

Goblinlee

Member
I haven't really started the Squat army at the moment, still picking up odds and ends. Nearly there though, just need to organise it. I have slightly changed the paint scheme replacing the red flak jackets with brown ones, but still keeping some red details. Very tempted to paint them now, or the Slann, but need to finish the Wood Elves off. :)

I really like what you have done with your Eagle Warriors. Giving them different coloured suits is a good idea as the Aztecs used to do that with there various suit warriors. It is an idea I was thinking of doing with my Jaguar warriors.
The skin tones are great too, very clear and bright (makes them sound like they moisturise!) and the whole effect works very well. It does break up the 'cookie cutter' look.

The weapon swaps on the priest Slann are good idea (from the C32 Slann 'Huemal and 'Mixtecas' ?) , as is getting rid of the heart and adding shields. The repositioning of the Slann with clubs is good too, gives them that less static look. Might steal that idea from you ;)
For Aztec/Maya/Inca weapon swaps, shields, and banners both the Assault Group and Outpost Wargames sell them at:

http://www.theassaultgroup.co.uk/store/home.php?cat=30

http://www.outpostwargameservices.co.uk/

and Wargames Foundry do banners too.

I understand the need to not to end up with an army dominated by a 'cookie cutter' effect. My first approach was to mix up all the minatures, but that made the army lose it's coherency and feel. So I decided, and will modify more later, to keep the more regular units all the same miniature and have a mix in certain others.

The Totem Warriors, Bull Slann, Venom Tribes are in the background all meant to be more regular uniformed units, so I picked the best miniatures for them and kept to them. With the Spawn bands, as they are local milita all the 'left over' Slann went into those. I also made a couple of the scout units more diverse for fun, and also will do some raider type Cold One riders after looking at Thantsants blog here:
http://teasgettingcold.blogspot.co.uk/s ... abel/Slann

Glad you liked the idea and the choice of using alternative Slann models for the Totem Warriors, the unit you picked is a favourite of mine too. If you don't want to or cannot get all the same model for an alternate Totem warrior unit, my suggestion is to pick a dominate shield design for them, releated to the Totem. Also, a little green stuff conversion for Aligator/Eagle feathers/Jaguar skin patterned capes, clothing or sheilds (I like the idea of Aligator skin shields). Personally I avoid using any of the later Lizardmen parts or miniatures. This is purely my own personal tatse and wanting to keep the earlier and later of the Slann incarnations seperate, although the shields you have used look great. However it sounds and looks like you have an excellent conversion plan in progress :)

Painting wise, I decided that the mass of the Slann population would be green so that when I painted the Spawn bands, I could add brighter colours to the shields and clothes without it looking too overwhelming. As the Totem warriors are drawn from the best of the Slann Warriors, so they ended up with green flesh too. I also did this to constrast them with the other more exotic units of Slann such as Bull Slann, Venom tribes, scouts, and Jungle Braves. As they are from specific spawnings or tribal areas I gave them the distinct flesh colours, something which is commented on in the army list entries, and from photographs of Frogs/Toads, however unltimately there is no right of wrong way to paint any of them :)

For the equipment, you have a good approach to the mix of colours you want to use. I would suggest using copper/gold for blades, although a few stolen/traded iron ones would look good. The obsidian on the blades I find generally looks good black.

If you are having problems sourcing Slann, I can suggest Reaper Miniatures who do a Aztec-ish Frogman range, Gaspez Arts who make a Frogman Bloodbowl-esque type team (and a good Wizard subsitiute model as a 'head coach'), and Otherworld miniatures who do excellent looking Frogmen as well as beast such as Giant Frogs, Leeches, Spiders, etc. (although I have not, as yet, bought any).
For Human Slaves there is the option of historical ranges. They are many Lizardmen and Troglodyte ranges about too. The odd Human Slave or Lizardman would'nt look too out of place in unit, especally as standard bearers or musicians. A couple of old C series Lizardmen in an Aligator warrior unit might work.
Don't forget to look in the Dark Elf listings on e-bay for Cold Ones. Both armies used them and they are cheaper in the Dark Elf auctions.

I like the look of how you army is shaping up, your approach to painting and modelling them. I am really looking forward to seeing how they turn out.

All the best,
Lee.

:)
 
Goblinlee":3joym5tw said:
The weapon swaps on the priest Slann are good idea (from the C32 Slann 'Huemal and 'Mixtecas' ?)

Huemal it is, I love that sword he is swinging and a great model in other respects. It broke off him years ago so I just used the broken bit to make a casting. I want it to feature in the more wealthy (whatever that means to a Slann) warriors like the Priests and the Totemic warriors. The Maquahuitl is from Pulque (Fulque?) another part that detached from the original, so fair game for another casting. I would sooner destroy a stained glass window than mutilate any of the original models.

Goblinlee":3joym5tw said:
I understand the need to not to end up with an army dominated by a 'cookie cutter' effect. My first approach was to mix up all the minatures, but that made the army lose it's coherency and feel. So I decided, and will modify more later, to keep the more regular units all the same miniature and have a mix in certain others.

Definately important to keep the feel of each of the Slann unit types as laid out in 3rd edition. I think the front rank being the foremost visible rank is the best place to have some uniqueness with the minimum of conversion effort. The spawn bands look really good with the mixed models.

Goblinlee":3joym5tw said:
The repositioning of the Slann with clubs is good too, gives them that less static look. Might steal that idea from you ;)
For Aztec/Maya/Inca weapon swaps, shields, and banners both the Assault Group and Outpost Wargames sell them at:

Steal away! I recommend using a needle nose pliers with some kind of silicon rubber covering the ends to minimise the lead bruising the figure will experience from this treatment. They are in a great pose for reposing to begin with. Thanks for the links, there is some great stuff in there, I am already getting new ideas...after seeing some of those figures a golden mask looks like an awesome bit of costume for a high level Slann General and coincidentally I am sculpting a masked head for Asslessman - serendipitous I would say.

Goblinlee":3joym5tw said:
The Totem Warriors, Bull Slann, Venom Tribes are in the background all meant to be more regular uniformed units, so I picked the best miniatures for them and kept to them. With the Spawn bands, as they are local milita all the 'left over' Slann went into those. I also made a couple of the scout units more diverse for fun, and also will do some raider type Cold One riders after looking at Thantsants blog

You have some great looking units and selected the most apt models for them for sure. I always thought that the Bull Slann would make an intimidating looking unit en masse and you proved it! I was thinking that Conan The Barbarian style war paint would look great on unarmored scouts - I will probably give that a try soon on those 5 above. Thantsants blog is great, my rekindling of interest in my old army is largely due to him blogging his excellent work.

Goblinlee":3joym5tw said:
Glad you liked the idea and the choice of using alternative Slann models for the Totem Warriors, the unit you picked is a favourite of mine too. If you don't want to or cannot get all the same model for an alternate Totem warrior unit, my suggestion is to pick a dominate shield design for them, releated to the Totem. Also, a little green stuff conversion for Aligator/Eagle feathers/Jaguar skin patterned capes, clothing or sheilds (I like the idea of Aligator skin shields). Personally I avoid using any of the later Lizardmen parts or miniatures. This is purely my own personal tatse and wanting to keep the earlier and later of the Slann incarnations seperate, although the shields you have used look great. However it sounds and looks like you have an excellent conversion plan in progress :)

Common shield iconography idea on totem warriors is a good idea but I will be able to field enough totem Warriors for the force (Eagle and Aligator Warriors were the backbone of my old army). The Jaguar Warriors were a bit out of place in the rules so I never had many - the essential problem with them is that they should work like elite light infantry perhaps as scouts rather than being line heavy infantry - I would like to convert up a small unit of 10 with Javelins as a support unit as they look so pretty. I think they would look great on cold ones also.

After seeing your alternate Alligator Warrior unit I was quite inspired to have a go at a complex green stuff conversion. You see while I had seen that model in catalogs, I had never seen one painted so I never really appreciated its awesomeness. The armour on that model is great and I would like to basically combine your unit style with the Alligator warrior style of the book. Rather than go for 2 handed weapons I think I will opt to equip them with the Shields ( Alligator ones :) ) so as to have a heavy and shield unit to be a defensive formation (not that I ever did anything but charge headlong at the enemy with my Slann army but it's nice to have options). Once I get a prototype built I can clone that with some casting.

Goblinlee":3joym5tw said:
Painting wise, I decided that the mass of the Slann population would be green so that when I painted the Spawn bands, I could add brighter colours to the shields and clothes without it looking too overwhelming. As the Totem warriors are drawn from the best of the Slann Warriors, so they ended up with green flesh too. I also did this to constrast them with the other more exotic units of Slann such as Bull Slann, Venom tribes, scouts, and Jungle Braves. As they are from specific spawnings or tribal areas I gave them the distinct flesh colours, something which is commented on in the army list entries, and from photographs of Frogs/Toads, however unltimately there is no right of wrong way to paint any of them :)

The most fantastic thing about painting race of frogmen is that you can do literally anything with the colour scheme, and there is so much wonderful source material in nature. In the interests of expediency having a generic colour is not a bad thing at all. Painting those Eagle Warriors so Bennetton is a time sink so there won't be many more units like that but they are the flower of the force so deserve the attention. I have the rough rule of bands having their own distinctive shared skin markings where they would have spawned together also so I think we are on the same page here - no hard and fast rules with this stuff, there is no wrong way to do it really once it make sense in the mind of the painter. The Eagle Warriors (and other totemic fighters) are elected from all types of Slann of different spawnings so it makes more sense that they should be different skin colours to me.

Goblinlee":3joym5tw said:
For the equipment, you have a good approach to the mix of colours you want to use. I would suggest using copper/gold for blades, although a few stolen/traded iron ones would look good. The obsidian on the blades I find generally looks good black.

Snap! Don't forget the odd laspistol and power sword! ;P

Goblinlee":3joym5tw said:
If you are having problems sourcing Slann, I can suggest Reaper Miniatures who do a Aztec-ish Frogman range, Gaspez Arts who make a Frogman Bloodbowl-esque type team (and a good Wizard subsitiute model as a 'head coach'), and Otherworld miniatures who do excellent looking Frogmen as well as beast such as Giant Frogs, Leeches, Spiders, etc. (although I have not, as yet, bought any).
For Human Slaves there is the option of historical ranges. They are many Lizardmen and Troglodyte ranges about too. The odd Human Slave or Lizardman would'nt look too out of place in unit, especally as standard bearers or musicians. A couple of old C series Lizardmen in an Aligator warrior unit might work.
Don't forget to look in the Dark Elf listings on e-bay for Cold Ones. Both armies used them and they are cheaper in the Dark Elf auctions.

That will be tomorrow mornings research. :)

Goblinlee":3joym5tw said:
I like the look of how you army is shaping up, your approach to painting and modelling them. I am really looking forward to seeing how they turn out.

Thanks very much. I look forward to seeing what I do with them also. :grin:
 
Back
Top