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.
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.
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.
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.
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?
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.
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.
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.
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.
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?