Realm of Chaos – Nurgle’s Children 2018 #13: Malifaux Killjoy (Metal Version) as Herald of Nurgle

May 14, 2018 by Azazel

OK, no pretence here – I picked this model up a few years ago both because it looked like a cool model, and like something that would drop perfectly nicely in with my Nurgle forces. I know that Malifaux is supposed to be a rather excellent skirmish game, but I’ve already got a ton of games I’m not actively playing, so I’m not about to dive down that particular rabbit hole right now.

I figure that this guy fits perfectly well in a Daemonic Nurgle force for either 40k or AoS as a Herald. I’m pretty happy with how well this model turned out. It’s a great sculpt, and I guess that’s the thing that really inspires taking it that bit further. Could I have converted him slightly by sticking a monohorn on top of his head. Sure. Does he need it? I don’t think he does. He’s more of a small Great Unclean One than a large Plague Bearer.

Beyond the use as a Herald in the Warhammer games, he also fits well into the Kings of War Undead army as a Flesh Golem or some such using the Undead Troll stats, or could optionally drop into a Renegades and Heretics 40k force alongside the Bones Flesh Golem as a Renegade Marauder Brute. Along with that, there’s obviously the D&D-ish role-playing options along with potential use as a Zombicide Abomination. Quite a cool model with a lot of versatility.

Citadel Chaos Beastmen Gors (Michael Perry, 1995-6)

April 26, 2018 by Azazel

Regular readers will know that I’m a bit of an Oldhammerer, and I’ve got a decent collection of the original Realm of Chaos models, including beastmen of the chaos dieties, and even some of the Beastman Champions of Chaos models.

As much as I love those older models (many sculpted by Jes Goodwin), my favourite series of Beastmen that were sculpted in a consistent manner are Michael Perry’s line of goat-headed models, initially sculpted and released in the mid-1990’s. These models were later specified as “Gors”, and joined by Ungors, Bestigors, Centigors and so on – as they became the template of all non-specifically-aligned beastmen in Warhammer lore right up to current times. While the recent return of Tzaangor were a welcome release, and we await Khorngor and Slaangor (and wonder what happened to the anticipated Pestigor), these have become the archetypical Games Workshop Beastmen – and yes, they’re still pretty much Broo in their heritage and lineage.

Shields are taken from the later, plastic line of beastmen. I like those models a lot as well, though not as much as these earlier metals. Their shields, however are perfect for these and convey a nice, wild and feral feel much more effectively than the standard plastic shields of the day.

If it were next month, these three would count as Neglected Models. I don’t remember when I started them, or even why. But April has been a tough month for painting motivation, and I’ve not gotten a whole lot done. Certainly nothing like I’d planned. I’ve assembled a bunch of smaller models, rather than something especially large and impressive – and worse – nothing that I really want to show off or share here on the blog in their current states. So turning to a few older models still sitting on the desk and getting them complete has at least given me the chance to feel a little bit productive.

Realm of Chaos – Nurgle’s Children 2018 #12: Sammy the Snail

April 20, 2018 by Azazel

This cute little fella is a random thing that ended up in my figure boxes. I don’t remember when or where or who it came from. It’s basically a life-size snail. I suspect that it was one of those little shelf knick-knacks in soft-ish pewter that people put on their shelves or whatever, and I can only guess that it came from my mum.

Since I’ve been painting the Nurgle Daemon stuff lately, I decided to get it done, finally. It’s not quite a Beast of Nurgle in stature (unless it’s a puppy!), so I figure it can be used as a non-combat familiar model. Maybe an Objective marker occasionally. Something to follow the GUOs around or put amongst the Nurgling bases like a protective guard dog for them. I could even use it as a Plaguebearer in a pinch.

It took longer to paint than you’d expect. Mostly in my dithering around on the shell colours and patterns. In the end what I settled for isn’t perfect, but it works and is good enough.

Here’s a size comparison shot with a Plaguebearer, so as you can see, Sammy makes for a pretty large familiar.

Realm of Chaos – Nurgle’s Children 2018 #11: Scotia Grendel Dungeon Crawler & Devout Tormented

March 16, 2018 by Azazel

Time for some March Posts, finally! This pair of model has been showcased before when I first completed them – the Leech in October 2014 and the Tormented in July 2015. The leech is one of three figures from the Scotia Grendel Dungeon Crawlers kit that I picked up bout 15-20 years ago. The big dude is probably unfamiliar to most readers, being a Devout Tormented from the Chronopia line of the mid-late 1990’s. Chronopia was essentially Heartbreaker’s take on Fantasy Skirmish following on from the Success of WarZone. It came in a two-pack with a resin-metal demon-centaur… thing that had some awful connection points.

Originally the leech had no specific purpose aside from getting the thing painted. You know the sort of thing – generic D&D-ish monster for RPGs and narrative miniatures gaming and such that never actually gets used. The Tormented was originally to be a Daemon Prince in the first version of my Nurgle Chaos Cult force, that I sorta created based on some 3rd-4th edition rules (Lost & the Damned). In the current force the leech will be a Beast of Nurgle (I don’t care that the model’s physical profile is radically different – just compare the GW Beast models over the years!) and the Tormented will make a decent Chaos Spawn – in profile/stats at least. Think of him as a Daemon Prince that’s failed Papa Nurgle in the worst way and has been cursed to continue serving his Patron in such a state. You might have thought Khorne would be more appropriate – but just look at that horn. He’s gotta be Nurglesque! And the viscera fits as well.

My first take on a Nurgle Cult force.

While neither of these models has an outstanding paintjob or anything, I’m happy enough with what they are – a pair of decent looking older models that have had the smallest amount of touch-up, and have been rebased onto higher-lipped bases with some rocks and tufts added to them in order to make both figures fit in better with the Nurgle Daemon force – so they now both have a home.

That’s good enough for me!

Realm of Chaos – Nurgle’s Children 2018 #10: The Army So Far (End Feb ’08)

March 9, 2018 by Azazel

So this is the state of the army now, two months into 2018. Four packs of Plaguebearers, two Beasts of Nurgle, 1 Daemon Prince of Nurgle (represented by the original GUO), 1 Great Unclean One and Mamon the Transfigured. I’m not even going to worry about “proper” points at this stage, but it comes to a Power Level of 54 for 8th edition 40k, so we’re getting towards a decent sized force – though a ton of those points come from the Great Unclean One.

Realm of Chaos – Nurgle’s Children 2018 #9: 3rd Wave Plaguebearers (Again!) (2001) 3rd Wave Plaguebearer Command (2007). #Squaduary Painting Challenge Success. #Fembruary Painting Challenge Success.

February 24, 2018 by Azazel

If you’re sick of Plaguebearer posts, you’re not alone. I’m sick of them myself. The good news then is that this post represents the last of all my metal Plaguebearers painted and completed. Sure, I’ve got a ton of plastics to paint up at some stage, but since I ain’t touching my plastic kits until ALL of the older metal is done, we have a reprieve.

I’m sure they’ll still feature in some other posts. I should do an “Nurgle Daemon Army-so-far” post sometime soon and I’ll do a personal Squaduary wrap-up in the next few days, though I still need to put the final, finishing touches on the Wolfpack first. I’ll do the same for Fembruary, though that will be closer to the end of the month, or even the first weekend in March, since the month ends on a Wednesday and then I’ll need a few days to photograph and then write up a blog post. And of course, there will be my final February wrap-up post encompassing everything I got finished this month, but after that I can only see them turning up in batreps or subsequent “Nurgle Daemon Army-so-far” posts as the force continues to build up.

Here they are, united with the original batches of “green” Plaguebearers.

Realm of Chaos – Nurgle’s Children 2018 #8: More 3rd Wave Plaguebearers (2001) 3rd Wave Plaguebearer Command (2007). #Squaduary Painting Challenge Success (Again). #Fembruary Painting Challenge Success (Again).

February 21, 2018 by Azazel

Okay. We’ve had the Green Plaguebearers and the Tan Plaguebearers, it’s time for the Brown Plaguebearers. As with the last Plaguebearer post last week, the batch is made up of a mixture of the 3rd wave metals, with a couple of 2nd wave metals, and the shitty 2007 3.5 wave command trio.

I already shared my opinion on these in the last Plaguebearer post. Suffice to say, if you think these look okay, then I’ve managed to successfully slightly polish a trio of turds. That and we’re looking at them from their most favourable angles here. The pointing finger was missing from the Champion/Plagueridden, so I used a “bone axe” hand from a Shieldwolf Mountain Orc as a replacement.

Since posting up the previous batch of Plaguebearers, I’ve found that not only did Aly Morrison sculpt these 3rd Wave models (which are a mixed bag – my favourite three are above) and those embarrassingly awful abominations of a command group, but he also sculpted the original Great Unclean One, which stands as a timeless classic (to me, anyway). Talk about an uneven resume.

Here’s a pair of 2nd Wave Plaguebearers. I never liked these compared to the originals, or even the 3rd wave models. They always struck me as a series of unnecessary resculpts. In that they looked quite close to the originals, while still being noticeably inferior. I always assumed their main reason for existence was because Kev Adams had moved on (or been moved on?) from GW. Not sure if that’s true or not, but this range still seems to me to be one of the more redundant series of models ever released. Sculpts are by either Aly Morrison, Colin Dixon, or both, depending on where you look, as I’ve found them both individually credited for this range as well as “and-credited” for this range.

I ended up with an awful lot of that hunched-over Plaguebearer, so here’s a pair in brown along with a friend. The overall palette and techniques for these guys was pretty much identical to the tan and the green, just with a different base colour, hightlight and shade for the core flesh. The discolourations, tentacles, horns, bone, wounds, etc were all done in the exact same way, which will unify them nicely with their fellows I think.

As with the last set of Plaguebearers I painted, I’ll call this another completed submission for Alex’ Fembruary Painting Challenge 2018 as well as the Squaduary Painting Challenge. I’ve still got a few more Plaguebearers to show (I finished them concurrently with these ones), so now I can shift painting gears a little and try to finish some other models before the month ticks out. I’ve still got that pack of 9 wolves that I’d like to complete for Squaduary, as well as the Dark Elf Sorceress and the Escher to complete for a more traditional set of models for Fembruary.

And then there’s the two Ork Nobs that are all I need to complete their two Mobs.

Of course, the “to paint” list is endless, but it’s good to have the next few targets decided on…

Azazel's Bitz Box.

Painting, Modelling, Miniatures, 1:6, Games… Whatever else I find interesting.

Category Archives: Realm of Chaos