In my last Combat Geometry post, I mentioned about adding a command group to my second Warrior formation. On paper, this is a good idea, giving the various bonus to combat resolution and striking power. The problem is that I don’t have a second Warriors of Chaos command group.

I do, however, have my version of Khagra’s Ravagers, a set of Underworld figures from Games Workshop that are among my favourites they have ever made. This gives me a champion (you can probably guess who) and a sorcerer who could be conscripted into counting as a Musician (something you can get away with when only playing in groups.. However, a banner bearer HAS to be a banner bearer in my opinion – it adds a pleasing visual element, an icon or banner hanging over the battlefield, something to draw the eye. Initially I looked at simply cutting and replacing parts on one of my existing figures (the older Chaos Warriors are especially good for this) but after a little bit of investigation, I found a better figure to go with.

Yep, it’s a different Sorcerer. There are a lot of sorcerers in Age of Sigmar’s Slaves To Darkness range and they are great to work from for banner bearers. This is for a couple of reasons; for one, their staff wielding (usually held upright) is a good starting point for attaching a banner to. The second is that Slaves to Darkness Sorcerers are almost all armoured, making them fit in rather well next to the rest of the range. I could have used the limited edition Tzarketh, Bane of Law, but his pose is a touch too “I’m a mage” with his off hand holding a suitably book. On the other hand, the latest Chaos Sorcerer Lord is VERY martial. Sword out, leaning on the staff in front of them, with a pose much more suited to a banner bearer. I could already visualise them fitting in the army – the armour is fancy (as befitting a hero character) but this does open up this figure to be used for potentially a Battle Standard Bearer (if my army grows big enough or I decide to re-roll my collection in a different force). Having decided on the figure, I headed over to Leodis Games and got them ordered on Sunday evening. By Tuesday, I had a box in my hands, and so kicked off a Wednesday night conversion project

(And then I got distracted running tech support for my buddies on SP-Tarkov so oops)

Back to work though, the first step was assembling the basic figure. I left off some of the fur pieces and the head to begin with. I had pondered about rotating the sword to lie across the body, but a discussion with two of my fellow wargamers pointed out some potential pitfalls. In the end, I decided to go with the body as close to stock as possible. It helps that it’s a lovely sculpt to start from!

One of the big problems with using Age of Sigmar models for Old World is getting the damn things to rank up. This is especially a problem with Chaos figures thanks to all those spikey bits. A key part of assembly was putting together a figure that fitted in with its fellows. As you can see above, the Ravagers were used as the test models. I had to cut down part of the Champion’s base to guarantee a fit, but this was a tweak I’d need to do later. I was a little worried about the sword into the back rank, but that wasn’t a major concern – there is plenty of overlapping blades in a Chaos force.

After this initial test, and after putting the banner pole from the Chosen sprue into place, I decided to flip the figure 90 degrees. This moved the sword to protrude out of the front rank (rather than into the rear), while still allowing the standard plenty of space. A little tweak to the exact facing of the banner pole’s slot moved it to face in a better direction.

And speaking of the banner, once the pole was in place, the next stage was to get the main event in place. Most banners use the same guide slot, so I was able to take a look through the collection to find a banner I liked. I ended up going with one from the Chosen sprue. Admittedly, it’s not the most exciting design but the empty space would allow for more chances to paint it in a unique fashion.

The problem is that I have already used this banner in my army – I prefer the banner style over the Chaos icon, so my chosen march under this banner (with a demonic head added for good effect). This meant I’d need to make this version look slightly different, while also befitting an important standard for when the character would be pulling BSB duty. One of the staff tops from the Sorcerer Lord kit was ideal, taking the existing bannertop concept and giving it more – quite literally in the case of number of points on the icon. I’d have to trim it down to fit, as well as removing the existing spikes and the mounting from the banner itself. Once glued in place, the icon covered pretty much all of the cutting work while also standing out from other banner designs.

After a little bit more work (including fetching a head from the new Marauders kit and trimming the neck to fit, she was done. I’m still working on the little details like names and character, but the physical creation side is over. I’m really happy with the end result, both from doing a quick physical kitbash for a change but also how all the pieces came together. I think the Age of Sigmar sculpting team has been going from strength to strength and even a relatively “normal” figure is still packed full of details. Flipping the model 90 degrees was the moment that really pulled it all together, giving it a very different look to the original figure.

When the new character is put along the others, you can see the other benefit of turning her slightly. It makes the front rank look a little more uniform, a united command group preparing for a fight. She is a little taller than the Champion so not using the scenic base was a good idea. Put together though, they do look like a group of hardened fighters, which is the feeling I really want out of my Chaos Warriors.

And speaking of, any excuse to get out the collection and see how they look together. This is all of them – original plastic Chaos Warriors, Slaves to Darkness push-fit and regular kits, a converted Chaos Lord, a Made To Order exclusive Chaos Warrior character, the Underworlds Band and finally the latest addition. I love the aesthetics for this range, with each figure having some little touch to make them individual while still fitting into the whole of the unstoppable armoured fist coming to strike down your lines.

The next step is to get her painted up, which should hopefully be a relatively simple job. I’m just doing my best to avoid thinking about how the banner itself it going to be done…

Liked it? Take a second to support Michael Charge on Patreon!