Killa-Kan

I've been playing with my 3d printer again and have spent some time exploring files on the Bambu Handy App which are free for me to use and come already laid out on the build plate, making things much quicker.

There's only a limited range of relevant files on there and some are of dubious quality. However, there are quite few useful files that I'm looking at making use of...such as this one...

This Ork Dreadnought (or more appropriately, Killa-Kan) is a single piece print and so didn't need any assembly after it printed.

However, it did need a good amount of time tracking down all the supports that were tucked away in recesses that needed removing.

The file printed well and there were no issues, however, it does lack some detail on the back. Also there are some areas, such as the drill arm, that don't seem appropriate to an Ork vehicle, being too organic in appearance. 

However, I'm not too worried. It's a free model and you can explain anything away with Orks.

From the front, I think it looks great.

As ever with my Orks, I kept the painting incredibly simply, relying on sprays, washes and sponging.

My only real concern with this model is that not only does I probably need a gun of some sort adding, I think it also needs at least two friends adding to its unit.

I'll need to check.

Acquired: -76

Painted: 396

Lead Mountain: 373

Path of Damnation: Cavalcade of Nurgle

One of the features of the forces of Nurgle as outlined in Realm of Chaos: the Lost and the Damned was their tendency to move of festering caravans of carts, wagons and chariots, travelling from town to town and visiting plague upon them.

Sadly, this feature seemed to disappear quite quickly outside of Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay, but I have managed to cobble together my own Chaos Chariot to perhaps be a precursor to my own caravan of corruption.

My chariots, bearing a Sorcerer of Nurgle has been scraped together from my bits box, and owes more than a little to my Vampire Counts army.

Obviously, the skeletal horses are the most obvious element, but the winged sides are hefty chunk of metal from the chariot of Arkhan the Black, who was jettisoned from my army in the Great Sundering (Arkhan himself went to a friend).

The chariot body is from a Wargames Foundry Ancient Briton chariot, which, when I bought them, were featured in the pages of Warhammer Ancient Battles and so counts as official.

The element across the back of the horses is actually a Wood Elf bow.

I made the decision to use skeletal horses because the only other horses I have available are not Games Workshop models and look far too healthy.

Before I opted to plump for a solely Nurgle army, I did have the idea to mutate those horses with eyestalks, horns and bright colours to dedicate them to Tzeentch, but that would feel out of place with where the army is now.

Anyway, in The Lost and the Damned the Nurgle army list includes Plague Zombies and Plague Skeletons and a unit called a Plague Cart pulled by skeletal oxen, and so the undead feel to this model feels appropriate to me.

If the opportunity presents itself, it could also function as a Plague Cart in a game of 3rd edition Warhammer Fantasy Battles.

Thr Chariot is crewed by a single metal Ghoul I had knocking about. Technically this should be a Chaos Warrior with a Halberd, but I'm a bit short on Chaos Warriors and didn't want to use one on the Chariot (also, they're all too bulky to fit).

The Sorcerer is Azoth the Faceless, another of the Heroes for Dungeonquest alumni featuring in the army. It's quite hard to get a decent photo of him given how he's buried beneath the wings.

I'm really pleased with how this unit has come out as it brings a bit more weird into the army., I'm also pleased to finally get to use at least part of the Arkhan the Black model I bought with birthday money many moons ago.

Acquired: -77

Painted: 395

Lead Mountain: 373

Path of Damnation: Heavy Metal

I think I've mentioned before that I never really took to the more ordered aesthetic Chaos adopted with the transition to plastic.

Nowhere was this more apparent than with the plastic Chaos Warriors, whose bulk demanded a very regimented pose to allow the models to rank up.

They weren't bad models, far from it, but combined in thire serried ranks, pressed shoulder to shoulder, they didn't exactly shout 'chaos'.

Fortunately, this is not going to be an issue with this motley bunch of glamorous all-stars.

I think I've lamented in these pages before about selling my unit of Champions of Slaanesh before I'd ever painted a single one of them.

They were a beautiful set of models.

Although the combination of drawing together a mishmash of Chaos Warriors and them dedicating to Nurgle means that they will probably lose out on beauty. However, this magnificent seven more than make up for this with their collected renown and notoriety.

First up we have one of those most stalwart and fearsome denizens of the halls of Heroquest, the Chaos Warrior.

This is a great model that only slightly shows it's age around the horns (which merge into the armour round the sides) and still cuts an impressive figure.

Next week have a pair of Champions, one of which the eagle-eyed will notice, is actually a Champion of Tzeentch.

I opted to include this anomaly because I felt that nothing would amused Grandfather Nurgle more than a corrupted former servant of his arch-enemy still bearing his former livery besmirched in corrosion and filth.

The Champion of Nurgle bears only the slightest hint of his allegiance in the sculpt. Only the rune of Nurgle at his breast and some cracks in his armour betray who he serves.

I like this choice as the rest of the Champions of Nurgle are so corrupted that they don't really suit being used as merely the champion of unit of Chaos Warriors, whereas this guy fits the bill perfectly.

Next, as a step up from champions, we have some real 'heroes'.

On the right is the Warrior of Chaos character model from the boardgame Talisman, who not only had the power to corrupt those he came into contact with (somewhat appropriate for this army) but also would receive gifts from the gods each time he slew an enemy.

He was one of my favourite characters to use in the game, and I'm pleased that the colour palette I'm using for this army allowed me to make a nod towards his appearance in that game.

One the right is what I deem to be his successor (later versions of Talisman don't count), the Warhammer Quest Chaos Warrior.

This chonky boy made for a somewhat odd companion in groups of heroes that could include Wardancers, Warrior Priests of Sigmar and Witch Hunters.

However, he is a beautiful miniature and would make for an excellent Chaos Lord were it not for the fact that there is no way I'm putting that amount of points and death-dealing killyness on foot. Therefore, he shall serve as the unit's champion of champions.

Yes, I know the spike on his ace is bent, but I quite like it. Imagine what he might do with that hooked end...

Finally we have some real celebrities, named characters in fact, to add a sprinkling of glamour to proceedings.

On the left we have Thargrim the Dark Lord from the Heroes for Dungeonquest expansion to, unsurprisingly, the board game Dungeonquest. I've already added four of the Dungeonquest alumni to the unit of Chaos Marauders, and there are still a couple more to come if I can find a way to include them.

On the right, the last of this all-star line-up is none other than Duke Luthor Von Hawkfire, the somewhat superfluous thrower for the Chaos All-Stars Bloodbowl team. I say superfluous because the majority of throwing that team would do would be if Goblins, specifically Dirty Dan. However, the presence of Morg'th N'hthrog (later bastardised to Morg 'n' Thorg for simpletons) meant that the All-Stars favoured the punching and running game.

Duke Luthor isn't the only Bloodbowl player destined to join the horde, but he is, in all likelihood, going to be the most famous name amongst their number

Acquired: -78

Painted: 394

Lead Mountain: 374

Path of Damnation: Ancient Dragon

My goal with my my Warriors of Chaos army project is to build an army solely from the pile of ancient lead and plastic that has sat unpainted for 30+ years, with the ultimate of fielding it in games of Warhammer: The Old World. Sadly, this means that some of my collection can't be fielded due to the lack of suitable rules to use.

However, the recent release of the Warriors of Chaos Arcane Journal included the rules for Warpfire Dragons, meaning that I can now include this beast in the ranks of my horde of Nurgle.

This is technically a Blue Dragon that was released by Citadel in a boxed set with a Sorceress and a pile of books in 1987.

I still have the Sorceress, and she actually served as a Necromancer in my Vampire Counts army for many years, however, I have never even tried to paint the Dragon. Admittedly, it sat in a friend's garage for twenty years, but it's well past time it hit the table.

I think the pile of books got sold as part of a lot I should never have gotten rid of.

The 'Blue' Dragon is curious and characterful sculpt, in a pose that is unusual for fantasy Dragons. Rather than attacking or rearing, he's sat on his haunches, giving him a pot-bellied look that is not out of place in Nurgle's ranks.

Being all metal, you'd expect assembly to be tricky, but I never had a problem with this one, but some patience was required with the wings.

With painting, I went with mainly contrast paints, which work extremely well on metal models that are sculpted with this much detail. A newly bought pot of Plaguebearer Flesh for the scales and Skeleton Horde for the wings and underbelly give him a sickly and unpleasant look.

I furthered his links to the Plaguefather by painting some of lumps on the body (which I think might be meant to embedded jewels) as pus filled boils using Nazdreg Yellow and ringing them with Carroburg Crimson.

Another curious design feature is that this Dragon has hair along its spine, which I gave a coat of Basilicanum Grey, for a dirty, matted look.

Finally, claws and horns were done with Ushabti Bone, a few bits of jewellery were done with gold and washed with Nihilakh Oxide for a corroded look and the eyes were done red.

My usual basing with AK Scenics Muddy Ground and then pools of Nurgle's Rot technical paint completed the model.

To say I'm pleased with this one is somewhat of an understatement. This was the first 'big' model I ever owned and it was therefore the most intimidating to paint to young me. It's a shame because it's such a good model and the excellent level of detail would have helped a young me get a decent result with just a little patience.

Added to that, I'm really happy with the colour choices I've made. The paper pallette gives him a sickly Swamp Dragon feels that suits the looks and feels of the army. I also feel that including a Dragon in such a small force is a true homage to the spirit of 3rd edition Warhammer Fantasy Battles as you could just add monsters to your army, pretty much as you saw fit.

I'm really beginning to get my teeth into this project, so expect more disease and corruption in coming posts.

Acquired: -78

Painted: 387

Lead Mountain: 381

Path of Damnation: The Frog Prince

I've been slowly painting Chaos Marauders cobbler together from some of the oldest miniatures in my lead pile for a while now. However, having reached the point where they might actually be a functional unit, I decided to reward myself with a character model.

Not one to start small, I opted to honour,in a small way, the insane conversions of the The Lost and the Dammed, from which my inspiration for this army is being drawn, and kitbash together a Daemon Prince to lead my burgeoning horde.

As ever, the limits of my kitbash were defined by what I already had access to in my bits box and lead pile.

Fortunately, after completing my Heroquest project a couple of years ago, I still had a second Gargoyle, which was in fact the damaged one I had originally owned back in the eighties.

Way back in the mists of time, I had intended to use my Heroquest Gargoyle as a Bloodthirster, but back then, I very rarely acted on my intentions beyond buying a few random packs of miniatures (at one point I owned a whopping three Bloodletters) before the next idea struck.

Obviously, in it's original form, the Gargoyle looked to much like a Daemon of Khorne, and so I combined a metal head that I believe comes from a very old modular Chaos Spawn, a trophy rack from a plastic Daemon Prince (to hide the break in the wings) and the tail from a plastic Screamer of Tzeentch (to cover up where the hideous glue I'd used to fix the wings had filled up the chainmail).

I then threw in a weapon swap (the whip evoked it's Bloodthirster-like origins) and a couple of metal Nurglings on the base, and ended up with something that could work as a Nurgle Daemon.

They don't all have to be fat. It's Chaos.

When it came to painting, I opted to go for green skin. I'll admit that this decision worried me. 

The model has been sitting in my queue for some time because I was concerned that if I went for the traditional Nurgle green, there was a chance that my converted Daemon Prince might bear more than a passing resemblance to Kermit the Frog with teeth.

Fortunately, I opted to go for Elysian Green and give it a wash of Agrax Earthshade (along with everything else) and it seemed to work. He's still fairly reminiscent of a Kroxigor, but the wings, spines and Nurglings do root him firmly in the Chaos family.

There's nothing particularly clever going on with the painting, but liberal doses of Nihilakh Oxide, Nurgle's Rot and Blood for the Blood God technical paints were used to cover any inadequacies not drenched in Agrax Earthshade.

I should point out that I was surprised at the level of detail in the Chaos Spawn head, there it quite a lot going on, and it serves as a good focal point to draw the eye away from what is, to be honest, a some what simplistic sculpt from Heroquest.

Overall I'm delighted with how my Daemon Prince has turned out. He fits the aesthetic of the army so far and it's clear what he's meant to be. I've also managed to salvage a damaged model and get the first character for my army. I also still have the Gargoyle head that might find it's way into a different project.

Admittedly, he's a little small. Compared to more modern Daemon Princes, he's tiny, but he's also somewhat towered over by the original metal Greater Daemons. However, I opted to raise his base to give the illusion of height.

Also, Chaos is chaotic. If it amuses the Plaguefather to create a diminutive, frog-like Daemon Prince, then who's going to stop him?

Acquired: -79

Painted: 386

Lead Mountain: 383

P.S. This post takes me past a notable landmark. So far this year I've painted more models that I actually have left in the lead pile. That's promising...

Path of Damnation: Chaos Gets My Goat

As I'm sure both of my readers are aware, I've been slowly working my way through some very old metal miniatures in an attempt to create a Chaos army for Warhammer: The Old World which is reminiscent of those that originally appeared in the Realms of Chaos books, specifically The Lost and the Damned.

Having worked my way through Chaos Thugs, assorted Barbarians and mutated Chaos Dwarfs, I've now turned my attention to my limited assortment of Beastmen.

Astute observers will no doubt be somewhat confused as not only do Beastmen not appear in the Chaos army list, they also have their own entire army list.

Does this mean I'm engaging in some allied shenanigans?

No. I only have six Beastmen and I'll be adding them to my Chaos Marauders in an attempt to bing even more mutated variety into the unit.

I think I've said before that I really didn't like how as the concept of 'Chaos' developed, it became less and less chaotic in both aesthetics and army design.

The models I've painted actually come from three different generations of Beastmen, and, to some extent, chart the development of the concept.

First up is this sculpt from 1987, apparently called Asmos, that was later branded as a Beastman of Slaanesh at points. There's nothing that screams Slaanesh about this model, although I'd suggest that the straight horns were similar to some of the later sculpts for the God of Pleasure's servants.

This is from the 'anything goes' era of Chaos and so the model lacks the traditional cloven hooves, perhaps it's more a goatlike mutant of the 'Bray' than a typical Beastman Gor.

There seems to have been a veritable herd of Beastmen being released at the start of 3rd edition Warhammer Fantasy Battles, and so these three, along with many others, showed up in 1988.

Although they lack names (other than Mace 1, Mace 2 and Morning Star) they are part of a range sculpted by Bob Olley that have a definite look that suffered than what else was being released. They are chunkier than the earlier models and lean into the goatman look that Beastmen came to embrace.

Finally we jump to 1994 and these two Beastmen who seem much more slender and upright, with more prominent horns. These sculpts demonstrate how Beastmen had become much more uniform in appearance. Something that would only increase with the move into plastic.

The shields aren't original, but do suit them well.

I do actually have one other Beastman in my possession, but hest unfortunately a Khorngor. I could look past the doglike appearance as just another mutation, but I can't bring myself to file down the rune of Khorne on his warhammer.

And here they are with the rest of the Marauders, forming a slavering horde of 21 models. I still need to add a standard bearer and musician (which will require a little conversion work) and I also have a mind to create a unit filler to really bulk things out.

I personally think this is a massive improvement on the frankly awful plastic offerings that were recently re-released, and seeing them together is giving me impetus to get on with this project.

Once I've finished this unit, I'm going to treat myself with a character model of some kind.

Acquired: -79

Painted: 385

Lead Mountain: 386

Bringing a Tank to a Gunfight

This weekend, our little gaming group decided to play some small games of 5th edition 40k at 500 points a piece.

We've been playing some three-way 500 points games using a scenario that was found fir just such an occasion, but now Wes has jumped into the retro 40k pit with us, it was a chance for something a bit different.

Naturally, as I've just finished them off, I opted to run my Astral Claws as vanilla Space Marines, and as I've been busy printing, I also decided to be 'that guy' and bring a tank.

My army list was as follows:

• Librarian
• 10 Tactical Marines (Flamer & Missile Launcher)
• 3 Bikes (Power Sword & Meltagun)
• Vindicator

I appreciate that the Vindicator might seem to be a somewhat over-powered selection, but in my defence, it does have a really massive gun.

Game 1 vs Pete's Space Wolves

I've been on the receiving end of Pete's Fenrisians in other editions, so I knew what to expect. He would cross the table quickly and try to rip my face off.

Fortunately, he'd only brought one unit with jump packs and no vehicles, meaning that I should have time to thin them down, in a direct role reversal from when my Blood Angels play his Alpha Legion in 30k.

To the best of my memory, his army was:

• Wolf Priest
• 8 Grey Hunters
• 7 Blood Claws (Power Fist)
• 5 Skyclaws (Jump Packs, Power Fist)

He was as delighted as you'd imagine to discover that he'd be charging down the barrel of my Vindicator and so set about hugging cover as much as he could, sending the Blood Claws and Wolf Priest down my left, the Grey Hunters down the centre and the Skyclaws screaming down my right.

Unfortunately for Pete, Vindicators can fire indirectly and I scored a lucky hit on the Blood Claws, killing all but two of them.

The Skyclaws ploughed into the Tactical Combat Squad I'd left Manning the ruin, winning the fight but failing to break my unit.

In return, I charged in the second Combat Squad that I'd pulled back from the advancing Blood Claws. Accompanied by the Force Sword wielding Librarian, they made short work of the Space Wolf assault troops and steadied the line.

With the Wolf Priest and remaining Blood Claws isolated by my Bikes refusing the flank, the Grey Hunters were left to assault my line alone.

The Grey Hunters bravely charged in and killed several Astral Claws, and drove the Librarian back. 

However this was somewhat of a phyrric victory as they were much reduced and then counter-charged from both sides and cut down where they stood.

Although Pete still had troops on the table, we decided to end the game as he would not be able to kill enough of my units in the time remaining, handing victory to the Astral Claws.

Game 2 vs Matt's Biel-Tan Eldar

Matt made the decision last year to invest in a subscription to Combat Patrol magazine, and this is eventually going to start quite a few new armies, including the Eldar.

His army used pretty much everything he's painted so far:

• Farseer
• 10 Guardians
• 5 Jetbikes
• Wraithlord

Matt had given Wes's Imperial Guard a torrid time using hit and run tactics and this game began in much the same vein until I once again managed to score an indirect hit on the Jetbikes, killing three of them.

I'd also managed to race my Bikes forward to savage the Guardians in close combat and they were now free to harry the Eldar rear.

It should be pointed out that I had benefitted from some atrocious Eldar shooting, with the Wraithlord's Brightlance, guided by the Farseer, repeatedly missing the Vindicator and the Jetbikes' Shuriken weapons failing to significantly dent power armoured Marines.

With the Guardians killed, the Bikes were conveniently placed to charge in and kill the Farseer, robbing Matt of his leader.

Although the Bikes were now fair game for the Wraithlord, it could not stop the Jetbikes being forced into the open where they were destroyed by Bolter fire, winning the game for the Astral Claws.

All in all, a successful night and a chance to field some units that I hadn't used yet.

However, I suspect that the next time we do this there might be a few more tanks in attendance.