Slaves to Darkness Inside and Outside the Citadel

Outsider

Member
I have been messing around with Warhammer on and off for quite some time; but one thing I've never done is to make a Chaos army; over the last two years, reading about Oldhammer and such one of the big draw that got me back into the Old World was the appeal and look of Chaos and the fluff, etc from the older books. I think it's fair to say that the 1980s Chaos miniatures are some of the best loved miniatures by fans of the older aesthetic, rules, etc and has no doubt led to many coming back or even into this area of fantasy wargaming.

However, this also means that these models sell at a premium on ebay and while you can be lucky here and there, for someone starting out right now trying to buy a decent army of old school minis either requires great luck or deep wallets; I don't have too high reserves of either commodity but the low mini, visual appeal and chances for scenarios, etc make me want to get a Chaos army that at least appears at a glance to be oldschoolish. With time and luck, I will gradually mix in more and more Citadel until I have a good force; with a whole host of other minis to bolster it. But for now, this is about what i have at the moment to try and ease my groaning lead drawer.

So with a combination of currently in print miniatures, careful bargains on ebay and an extended long term plan, I decided to put together my own force of dark eldritch gods and here's how much I've currently collected since March.

7zNQ8H9.jpg


The general idea behind this concept is that some right bugger of a mercenary commander was forced into a desperate last stand after effectively annoying everyone in the area and was forced into the forest, where previous deals, etc caught up to him and he was forced to make a bargain with the dark gods. Usual stuff, but that allows me to include a good chunk of the usual old school chaos lovelies into the mix.

3prw7P8.png


The first batch of my evil minded Chaos chaps; a solid unit of warriors/maurauders depending on what I want to use them as plus my champion. The warriros themselves are a mix of reprint Grenadier, Ral Partha and Citadel, with a proper metal one and the 90s plastic Chaos warrior in the mix. The Champion is of course Old School Mini's rendition of the 3rd Edition hammer-man; in all honesty he will probably be the first to be swapped out when the time comes but he's big, bulky and sinister so he'll be leading these twisted remnants of the mercenary's forces heavy infantry.

X3dyNde.png


As I haven't really put any gunpowder (except for one conversion which I do plan to expand upon... at some point) in my dwarf army, I've been set with a craving for more gunpowder on my table. And I did pick up a band of Grenadier reprint handgunners. The rules in Warhammer Armies say that maurauders can have crossbows, but I don't plan on playing with army list settings all the time so enter these chaps. I'm using them to represent some of the more relunctant entries into the dark pact, clinging to their antique equipment and firearms, practically slaves bossed around by the real masters of gunpowder and steel in this force. Crossbows will be fine to represent their poor quality powder and shot, and in scenarios, friendly games (as if there isn't any other type), they'll be using handguns.

5PyADZI.png


The biggest chunk of old school lead in the force (and the costliest part of this army so far...) these Chaos dwarves and their leader (not yet acquired...) march with the former mercenaries, maintaining their weapon, treating those not chosen by the Gods as slaves or worse and providing all the nefarious things metallurgy and explosive wise a bunch of Chaos worshipping types could ever want. I probably, unless getting a nice surprise or good luck on ebay, will not be adding too much to these from old citadel stock. However, there's several other sources for the Maruader style chaos dwarves out there (Ral Partha now and others) so I will be expanding upon these.

A small horde of beastmen surrounded the mercenaries when they fled into the forest, driving them to the arcane spot where their commander pledged himself to the Dark Gods, and as a gift, a number were given by the Lords of Chaos to their new follower to bolster their ranks. I decided to take advantage of Black Tree Design's constant sale here and picked up a nearly full set of their beastmen to act as a nice chunky force and add a bit more chaos-y flavour to the army. I forgot to take a picture of them before starting work, so no clear nice shot of them, but I do rather like them.

This is how far I've gone with the collecting so far. Like I said, I have plans to expand; obviously I need some daemons or such. I also plan on picking up some Foundry miniatures to add a unit of Maruauders/thugs to the mix, more chaos dwarves, perhaps some cavalry and some sorceress sorts; I might use the Heroquest miniatures i have, but I am loath to cut them up, so I may or may not add them as I go along. With this army, aside from the general theme, I will pretty much add what I want or feel is right as time goes on. Hey, it's Chaos, right?
 

Outsider

Member
And here's where I am with everything so far; recently I've become a convert to gesso for priming and quite frankly even though it technically means I spend longer per miniature basecoating, the work I've been able to do has just shot up as I can clean, base and undercoat a miniature without leaving my desk; in addition I no longer have to worry about the priming going wrong due to humidity, temperature, etc as I did with the spray so I'm getting nearly perfect results ever time.

Alright, the plug from Big Gesso over, here's where I am at the moment. I think I'm going to hold off on painting and cleaning the dwarves beyond the swivel gun now as I don't have the miniatures for a full unit yet and I like to paint units in batches to keep consistency. Other than that, progress is steady.

RcRsf5G.jpg
 

Scalene

Member
This is looking really promising. I’m looking forward to seeing them painted. I think there’s no need to restrict yourself to old models to get the right feel, and this will be a great army.
 

Outsider

Member
Scalene":3p8gl4xj said:
This is looking really promising. I’m looking forward to seeing them painted. I think there’s no need to restrict yourself to old models to get the right feel, and this will be a great army.

Thanks; I think so too. There's plenty of great miniatures out there and it's a shame to not include them.

However, working completely contrary to this, I got a decent deal on three Warriors recently; one I won't be using and will likely be putting up for sale soon, two however will be joining the regiment.

IMG_20180926_164107501_BURST000_COVER_TOP.jpg


One thing I especially appreciated was that one of them had their spearhead removed already, allowing me to modify it without feeling a twinge of guilt for carving up some old OOP lead; it's a bit sad of me, but I like to get around it if I can. A few minutes with a pin vice and some jewllery files later and I've got the army standard/regimental standard ready to go with a proper large banner pole ready for me to humiliate myself with some hand-painted banners.

IMG_20180926_161442227.jpg


The gunners are the first to get actual paint on them, sorting out the flesh first. Also i need to clean my keyboard, so I'll crack on with that.
 

portman

Member
lol - that keyboard is almost as bad as mine - don't clean it, set fire to it and buy a new one :grin:

Great start on what will be a good looking army. I don't think it matters too much about mixing old and new miniatures - it's the spirit in which they're collected and played with that counts IMHO.

Cheers!
 

Outsider

Member
portman":93sovafk said:
lol - that keyboard is almost as bad as mine - don't clean it, set fire to it and buy a new one :grin:

Great start on what will be a good looking army. I don't think it matters too much about mixing old and new miniatures - it's the spirit in which they're collected and played with that counts IMHO.

Cheers!

I agree. Speaking of, today is beastman day.

IMG_20180928_191115033_HDR.jpg


IMG_20180928_211908178.jpg


I think I might go for teal with the loincloths, but not sure.
 

Outsider

Member
I've decided to be a bit less adventurous and go for a red/grey mix; I'm going to be adding more shields when I find the right ones as I wasn't too fond of the shields they came with so there'll be more red in there to tie the unit together. Still need to finish a few things (red needs another coat, as does the horns, plus washing, highlights, etc), but they're nearly there.

IMG_20180929_132129848.jpg
 

Outsider

Member
Work continues slowly; currently the focus in on the warriors; nothing too fancy going on here; I picked the usual medley of chaotic colours and am slowly working my way through them.

bVXZEI3.png
 

Outsider

Member
Coming into the final steps; I've mucked up the marauders a bit but they look tabletop worthy so I'll leave them be for now. Got a few details to add and two Chaos warriors to highlight.

Pics of the finished Champion and Swivel Gun crew. Not the most original colour scheme, but could i paint the 'Evil Warrior' any other way?

IMG_20181020_200648885.jpg


IMG_20181020_200639558.jpg
 

Outsider

Member
Stage one of the army is nearly complete; first time I've freehanded shields; I need to tidy up the checkered one and do the edges/back, but I'm really happy with the other one.

IMG_20181021_220720858.jpg


I've picked up some more Chaos Dwarves, but this right now is looking good; just need to finish the bases, decide what to paint on the shield and varnish. And of course, try and paint the banner.


UJBEmOY.png
 

Outsider

Member
Time to paint my first freehand banner; went for a nice simple pattern and edited it in to see how it'd look.

IMG_20181021_221038390.jpg


And here's what I managed to accomplish! Um... close enough?

IMG_20181022_123107749.jpg


Needs some clean up and fixing, especially a few things I only noticed when I took the photos, but it'll do for now. Thank heaven chaos is generally known for being a bit more dingy and dirty than other factions! I also trimmed down the banner pole as it was a bit too high as I originally had it.

IMG_20181022_123352815.jpg
 

Outsider

Member
JonAtron":19k1y2ak said:
Loving that red. Its got pop and luster against the darker colours. Eye catching.

Thanks. Red's a classic 'chaos' colour so i had to include it somehwere especially as I wanted a more general Chaos army and not one dedicated to a specific god. I also wanted something to help tie the whole army together and a bit of red in every unit helps to accomplish that. It also, as you say really pops against the darker shades that make up most of the army.
 

Outsider

Member
ardyer":26gti6nn said:
The banner design is great!

Good to see it's pleasing; going to do some more work on it in a bit. Looking at Orlygg's tutorials, a bit of white weathering can help, plus a bit more tidying up needed.
 

Outsider

Member
I know I should base these models before doing this but what's the point of toys if you can't play with them?

IMG_20181023_220342921.jpg


"So where in the God's name are your men, you stunted bastard?!" Helmuth Hexenhammer snarled over to the dwarves, busy inspecting the squat, ugly piece. The dwarf lifted his head, glaring at the twisted face of the warband's leader. "Told you, they said they'd be back at 8th watch, look at the sun, manling, it's not yet seventh." He grumbled back, used to the insults of the champion, thoughts of powder placed just right under sleeping rolls and bad fates for wordy humans who did not know their place, filling his mind as he swiveled his gun, oiling the joint.

IMG_20181023_220359702.jpg


Waiting in front of them, the men of Hexenhammer's retinue waited, the unfurled banner rustling int he wind, a soft clanking and murmuring rising from the body of men, held at ready for the last hour or so, and growing restless. "It can't be that far to Orfington, boss." Smitt grumbled, cleaning the fouling from his touch hole, his waxy, pale face becoming more sickly each day. "if that prophet wants us to burn the town, we should just head there now. Before those mutants get rowdy; what the hell are they doing in the woods anyway?"

IMG_20181023_220500117.jpg


Hexenhammer spat; "Ever since the Shaman left, they've been spooked; the roads offend them. They can find some solace in the trees at least." Smitt looked dully at the grunting, beastial shaped cavoriting in the woods, and spat into the touchhole. "Well, if they can hold themselves from eating and murdering more of the men for a few more days, they'll serve good as arrow fodder..." A burly hand suddenly grabbed Smiit's colour, lifting the man up off his feet. "You swore the same oaths I did, Smitt; don't forget the beastmen are chosen of our new Gods." he growled. "Khorne's teeth, boss..." Smitt whimpered, the name of one of his new gods burning his tongue as he spoke them, as well as his soul, each time he spat the blasphemous words.

IMG_20181023_220332392.jpg


"I was just joking..." Hexenhammer glowered at him, dropping him back onto his feet. "Don't joke in earshot of the children, or I'll throw you to them. Now where in the name of the Gods is that damn sorceror?! This raid is going to hell and we've just set out!" snarled the commander, as he peered into the distance, hoping to catch a sight of the missing dwarven contingent.



Alright, fun over. Back onto the painting part of my desk with them.
 
Back
Top