Sometimes the old ones are the best. That's a statement not usually applicable to jokes, but I really do think it applies to GW Chaos Miniatures (see the Realm of Chaos section here). I do like some of the newer Chaos stuff, but it all seems too regular - a unit of the new Chaos Warriors is a regiment of almost identical looking, similarly armed soldiers that appear to be marching in unison - where's the "Chaos" in that? Surely that look of the unit would be more suited to "Lawful Evil"? Why are Daemons and Beastmen separate armies now?
Just needed to get that off my chest...
There are a few "Oldhammer" blogs (and a forum) out there at the moment, and I love both the idea and the nostalgia. While I'll never have enough old miniatures to create a valid army, this time last year I thought it would be cool to create some warbands for games like Skulldred and Get The Girl, Kill The Baddies, using some lovely old miniatures, and maybe mixing in a few newer figures that "fit". My first warband was a group of Barbarians, but I got bogged down with other projects, and never did much more. The bug bit again, Easter came around, and I spotted this miniature sat around in a box:
He had a ropey old paint job that was probably 20 years old, so I stripped him and started again. It's a quick paint job, so it has a few rough edges, but I'm pleased with the result. The "old-school" (I don't like the term old-school very much, but I couldn't think of anything else, and it's at least better than "retro") in the title should give you an idea of the look I was going for, and although the green is possibly a little too jade green for Nurgle, I think it works. It's a base coat of Caliban Green, washed with Agrax Earthshade, then highlighted with the green and then mixing in a bit of Steel Legion Drab, and then some Rakarth Flesh to finish up.
The leather bits are a base coat of Rhinox Hide, again washed with Agrax Earthshade, and then highlighted with Rhinox Hide and then mixing in more and more Snakebite Leather. The axe handle is the same, but with Dryad Bark and Steel Legion Drab instead. The metallic parts are simply Army Painter Gun Metal base, washed with Nuln Oil, Chestnut Ink and a little watered down Dryad Bark. This was then highlighted with the Gun Metal and Chainmail, with a combination of blending and dry-brushing.
The shield is my favourite bit of the model. I've never really done a lot of freehand work, so this was a little trial and error. I tried to combine a lot of Orlygg's tutorial here with a bit of Realm of Chaos/John Blanche style. It's possibly a little too "regular" (it should have been a little more "swirly"), and the eyes aren't great, but I'm really pleased with it.
So with Krull N'Garth completed, I've been digging out other old miniatures to fit in to the "Soul Hunters" warband. I have a Sorcerer (a hooded chap with a scythe), a couple of old Marauder beastmen and a couple of old armoured zombies that will make "nice" plague victims. One thing missing so far is toadstools, a must-have in all old Warhamme,r so I will get the greenstuff out and get creating them.
How this will all work out as a warband I have no idea, or even if I'll ever get to play with them, but painting them will be a whole lot of fun. :-)
In other news, the Ancible team had a grand old time at Firestorm Games in Cardiff, playing Star Wars X-Wing, shopping and hurling abuse at one another. My win record in X-Wing has dropped to 25%, which is probably a lot better than most other games I've played, but even in my losses we've had some fantastic games.
It was also really great to meet up with Jeff from Pirate Viking Painting, who I haven't seen for a few years, and just ramble on about life, painting and gaming for a while. :-)
As always, comments and criticism welcome!