And so, all good things must come to an end. The Necromunda Campaign that we started all the way back in October came to an end after 6 weeks of furious gaming. It’s been a great little ride, giving em a chance to try a brand new game, build up a cool gang for it and then beat up my friends in open combat.

However, before we wrap up, we must first talk about my trip t’up North to Middlesbrough to catch up with the campaign arbitrator (and former housemate). One of my goals in terms of moving back was to be able to catch up with my friend groups in the Leeds/York/Middlesbrough area but in a move that will shock literally no one, that didn’t happen due to the past year. However, it was nice finally getting up there and just hanging out, going for food and few beers on the Friday evening.

But enough life stuff, lets talk about the games! So the big thing about going up north is getting to play on different types of terrain. Despite having a pile of MDF buildings, most of my terrain is very modern realistic, with not a massive variety in terrain elevation aside from maybe a floor or two. This is in contrast to the Campaign Administrator’s pile of terrain – from the tiles of the Underhive release up to this rather marvellous multiple layered monstrosity that he came up with. The MDF is all from Mad Gaming Terrain, which I have to say is a pretty fantastic set with plenty of nice design features – I particularly like the fact they have assembled a full system with different wall sizes, doors and more. Plus they are easy enough to go from walls on a single plane up to multiple levels with large detail pieces to stretch between the levels.

This is also the third style of terrain for Necromunda I’ve played on, adding in a greater amount of vertical terrain than I’ve tried before. It’s great seeing how the same rules work in different ways, with the vertical terrain adding in another level of horror/complications to the usual gang fights. Different gear becomes much more useful – things like grav-chutes and rappels went from “a nice handy thing” to “incredibly important to get an edge”. Also positioning becomes much more important – being near edges means you’re likely to fall off if your stats are lacking.

With that pre-amble out of the way, lets run through the games!

Game 1

On the Friday night I kicked off taking on an Orlock gang. As someone who had only been fighting Delaque and choas gangs so far, fighting Orlocks was a pretty major change. They feel a little bit like Enforcers with their statline but OH BOY they have some fiendish tools at their disposal. The combination of demolition charges and jet packs would prove to be a pretty nasty setup.

In the game, the mission “The Hit” was decided, with Orlock competing for my Whisper Broker. Thanks to the bar on the board, it was obviously the McNespy boys had been hitting the beers when suddenly the Orlock attack! And let it be said, the Orlock attack was pretty damn effective. Sending in the juves in jump packs and demo charges let them out manoeuvre my guys (especially with the weekly event of Bad Air slowing my guys down) and drop large templates of death down on people. My attempts at return fire were… unlucky to say the least; one of the Orlock gangers ended up with 10 serious injuries after being opened up on by a close range heavy bolter attack, made worse when the knockback pushed him into a pit right next to a secondary objective. On the other hand, I did cause some damage – the Heavy Bolter on Grom actually did wreck another Orlock but Kimsesys managed to do some glorious death from above before destroying a few other gangers.

End Result? The Orlock guys took control of my Racket and I had some guys out of action for the following day.

Game 2

Game 2, after a breakfast of Greggs Steak Bake, saw me face off against the Van Saar gang that had been kicking ass left right and centre and was at the time leading the pack with how many territories and kills they had. Because of this, I had a little bit of worry facing off against them.

As predicted, the game had the most out of actions I think I’ve ever seen, with the Enforcers ending up with a single figure who eventually bottled out. However, aside from a few standout deaths (including me 66’ing one of the Van Saar champions who had been a Pain for most of the campaign) the vast majority were simply knocked cold or into recovery, leaving each gang relatively well off by the end. The Van Saar provied just how dangerous their shooting was. However, after some tutoring the night before form my fellow Enforcer player, I realised that concussion weapons and edges were going to be key. That said, the best drop related death had to be what’s pictured above – a falling Van Saar manged to land and knock out my ever useful bounty hunter.

The mission however was key – Manufactorum Raid. This required the Van Saars to actually get across the board to all three locations and set off bombs. I managed to hold off one flank, thanks to the combination of Heavy Bolters and building hugging Bounty Hunters and this just scraped me a win thanks to some interesting wording in the scenario, despite managing to set off the other two bombs.

In the post game, I managed to reach into intrigues and pulled “Resurrection”. This intrigue is dangerous with a very high chance of knocking your alignment around. Luckily, I rolled successfully and my favourite Grenadier Tikho returned to the fray.

Game 3

***Image Missing – reminder to always take photos of games!***

The final game of the weekend was supposed to be a full size battle but unfortunately we ran out of time due to the first game overrunning. Because of this, we settled on doing a Gang Raid, something quick and fun to wrap up. Even better, we settled on Clandestine Rendezvous – a rogue enforcer? I guess someone in the McNespy organisation was about to tell the rest of the gangs about what we’ve been up to and has joined up with the OTHER Delaque gang. I end the campaign as I started – fighting Delaque!

And to make it even more of a similarity to the start of the campaign, a certain intrigue card re-occurred. Turns out Tikho wasn’t exactly who we thought he was, swapping sides and adding a grenade launcher to the Delaque arsenal. The bigger problem was that it removed half of my coverage of the map, giving an easy route out for the corrupt enforcer. A good win for the Delaque!

On the other hand, Grom once again proved his worth by just vaporising a juve turn 1. I’m really annoyed I didn’t get the heavy bolter out sooner – it’s definitely worth the 305 points he totals.

Wrap Up

And with that my campaign finished. I unfortunately missed out on the finale game as I was busy the following weekend but from all the photos, the remaining gangs had to survive the ravenous hordes of hungry cannibals.

Of course, as part of the wrap up is seeing how well I fared in the grand scheme of things. There are several “triumphs” that are awarded at the end of the campaign and I managed to do pretty well overall! Out of the 11 gangs in the campaign, ending up in the top 5 for everything was a pretty successful result.

How did I find it personally? Honestly, a Necromunda campaign is unlike anything you can play. I love campaigns anyway but the addition of all the extra building blocks means that Necromunda just sticks in your brain for long time. I spent several evenings still thinking about what the next step of the gang would be, what gear and gangers do I need, what might I need to purchase for. Enforcers were both a good first choice and maybe a little bit of a crutch at the same time – they have a well rounded statline and a pretty handy house equipment list but the free juves is a real good safety net. On the other hand, you’re lacking some of the more exciting elements – only having a max of two champions, a lack of weird and wonderful alternative gangers/juves/champions and less chance to do wild and crazy things. If I run them in a future campaign, I’ll probably push in a few other directions with them, such as leaning HARD into the boltguns and picking up more concussion weapons.

However, there is a whisper on the breeze that there will be a new campaign next spring… and I do have all these Escher to assemble. Necromunda will return…

Godric sat in his tent, enjoying the feast before him, all of it freshly prepared. Boar, hen, baked bread made by the servants given to him by his new master, even some roots that had been foraged and prepared, mixed with spices and honey. He nodded gratefully to one of the marauders, whose family would have brought down the boar and enjoyed the reaction it elicited, a strange hand gesture mixed with an almost bow, the smile creasing her painted face as she returned to her own meal.

It was strange being here, he considered. In a warm tent as the wind howled outside, surrounded by people his former comrades might have called barbarians. They would laugh at them inside their castles far to the south, assuming anyone up here would be simpletons resorting to base violence. And true, it had taken him a while to get used to the idea of having servants he owned rather than simply employed. Or how frequently he talked to demons and Godlings as if they were any other comrade. But he had found a common purpose with these warriors, now seeing them as trurer friends than any knight he might have once fought alongside.

The wind howled once more as the flap opened, a trio of armoured figures joining them. Two of them, Musongo and Kazour, bowed and headed to their usual seats while the third came to kneel beside his seat, her hair pulled up into a topknot, the side of her head shaved and marked with tattoos.

“My Lord…” His Seneschal started, but Godric merely placed a hand on her shoulder, causing her to pause.

“Rhazgra, my dear, come sit, you must be famished. I had worried the Templars had caught you.” He smiled down at her, spotting the confusion in her face slowly turning to relief.

“I… thank you my lord.” She seemed to relax, taking her seat and quickly biting into the food that Kazour had passed her. Godric smiled at the way the Embalmer had served his superior before himself and wondered idly if the older warrior had once served some general in the South. Musongo, as she always seemed to, had already started talking animatedly to Kraureth and his Queen, the hearty laughter of the trio soon filling the silence as the Wanderer started up her story.

Godrivr leaned closer to Rhazgra. “I assume you encountered our mutual enemy?”

His Seneschal took a moment to swallow but then answered him, a childhood of manners the northern chill hadn’t pulled out of her. She answered, matching his quieter tone. “They did My Lord. And as you predicted they were far too easy to trap. The undead did our dirty work.”

“And I assume that your sister gave them a parting gift?” He smiled, already picturing the younger of the two girls casting down green fire upon their common foe. As much as he may dislike the Templars and their ways, Rhalar had a hatred for them that lit a fire in the young woman. He didn’t press her on it, but the Templars were not kind to those with knowledge of the arcane and the scars on her face were the sort of wounds an Inquisitor would inflict.

“She did.” Rhazgra smiled in response.

Godric couldn’t help but smile back. “Good girl. And the artefact?”

“Already presented to The Speaker, as you requested.” She bowed her head slightly, the candle light catching the golden ring through her eyebrow. “It was an honour to serve you this day, my lord.”

He smiled at her again. The two of them were not so different – both had fled the Empire for their own reasons, and turned their talents to thriving in the north. They may have travelled different paths to be sat in the tent in their pitch black plate armour but there was a connection there. She and her sister served him admirably and in return he rewarded them based on merit – a far cry from snivelling lords buying themselves commands in the south.

Tearing a leg from a cooked game hen, he pointed the exposed bone at her. “The honour comes to you because of your skills, not because I grant it. But for now eat. Rest. Tomorrow we return to our Lord and see what his next command is.”

I thought I was done with painting Chaos Warriors. I thought I’d had my fill of the black armoured bastards, the fridge sized units that are one of the best designed things Games Workshop have come up with. I’ve painted the Underworlds band, I painted both the classic design and the newer one (that still needs a separate release) and I even painted a limited edition one after doing mod work to it. Sure, there were some Chaos Warriors I had missed out – the Exalted Heroes which are made of finecast and probably not worth my time preparing or even painting for how much bullshit I’ll have to deal with (even if the Crom the Conqueror model does give me some massive flashbacks to seeing his figure being released in White Dwarf all those years ago) and the limited edition Slambo figure already has a call back from the Underworld’s band that does it better and more in keeping with the current range.

And then while walking around Warhammer World, I spotted… Him

Oh dear, another Chaos Warrior character. From 2012, this guy is actually in plastic which surprised me. He comes from that era just before Age of Sigmar, where characters were often sold with moulded plastic square bases – I also have two models from the Dark Elf range (the Assassin and the Sorceress) which are similarly equipped. As someone who never really into Warhammer Fantasy Battle, square bases always feel archaic. Buying models with them on, especially these sculpted ones, always is a pain. It just adds some additional work that needs to be done to clear them up, trimming down the plastic edges so they can be placed onto the regular bases.

However, there was another thing I’d need to do. As mentioned before, I’m using the Chaos Warriors to represent the armoured warriors of the Northern Kingdoms, realms beyond the control of the central Empire of the setting. For these reason, these characters are not the heavily mutated warriors of fantasy (we’ll get to those guys later) but instead highly trained warriors clad in well made armour. For this reason, I’d need a headswap to something more human. Luckily, one advantage of having a 3d printer is that it opens some doors in terms of spare heads. Looking through the collection of Mercenaries from Reptilian Overlords (which are basically a collection of parts for making Mordhiem mercenaries), I had an idea.

With how my world is setup, it’s very possible (and more common than the Swordmasters would like to admit) for an Imperial Knight to leave his posting and head into the north. Perhaps they grow tired of the Empire’s constant wars, maybe some betrayal on the field of battle leaves them alone and far from home. Once they arrive in the north, these Knights will need to prove themselves to their new liege lords (and their fellow warriors) but bring with them knowledge that the locals may lack – especially when the Northern Kingdoms head south to raid the coast or push back any Imperial advance across the Sea of Storms.

To apply this, I went through and found a suitable head, eventually settling on the classic veteran look of horseshoe moustache and eyepatch. Running it through a quick printjob, installing just required trimming the bulk of the head off the neck piece from the kit before filing down the joint. I also tweaked the head position – where as the original was glaring down an opponent, the new heading is a touch more relaxed, a little more posed.

Painting wise, the model is the same style as I’ve used through all my Chaos warriors. the nice thing about this scheme is that it’s simple but provide the effect I’m going for with ease. I’m still really happy with the black contrast on metal look, as well as how the purple stands out against it, really catching the eye. The main additions for this model was adding some bone colours to the snarling face and horns – I like the idea that this guy is a touch more ornate with his armour, the snarling skull probably something he slew back when he first arrived. I also played around with adding a touch of hexwraith to the spear to fill in some of the cracks with green. You can see just a touch of it which give an effect but I might need to rethink it for next time.

I think at this point I’m safe from future chaos warrior plans. As mentioned at the top, I’m really not interested in painting anything Finecast in this range, as the moulds are more trouble than they are worth in the clean up stage. I think my Chaos Warriors force is now going to look elsewhere for additions – I still need to paint up the knights and associated “Lord on Crocodile” but that will be a project I have to drag myself through (because painting horses). There are also some other Chaos forces to paint up – I now have three Chaos Warcry bands waiting for paint and some extra figures to accompany the big boss. Turns out I may not have bought anything at Warhammer World but the trip did give me some ideas…

“What’s the matter girl? Did you not think I would find you, even down here in the bowls of the earth? Did you not think that Our Lord would send someone to keep an eye on you, his Seneschal?”

With her pale hair running over her shoulder, the golden beads glinting in the torchlight and a humourless smile across her face, Musongo the Wanderer stepped over the shattered corpses of undead, her two handed mace swinging across the floor like a broom, sending the shattered bones spinning aside, before coming to rest on her shoulder. She extended her hand to Rhazgra before pulling the younger warrior up with ease, the strength of years as a fighter and traveller making even her commander a simple burden.

She grimaced again. “Do not be so weak Seneschal. One day I may come for your position, just as you came for your predecessor. And on that day I will need you fighting fit and ready for my challenge” She paused, and then her lip curled further into a genuine smile “Although that position does sound like a very boring thing to do – too much planning and commanding, not enough fighting and exploring. Much less interesting than wandering the world to find things that Our Lord might find useful.”

She clapped her hand on Rhazgra’s back, almost driving the air from her lungs, before point her mace up the tunnel. “Come this way – your Disciples lay beyond and they are eager for your successful return…”

As any fan of the blog can see, I am a fan of the Chaos Warriors from Games Workshop. I’ve painted the Underworlds group, I’ve painted both the old and new warriors. I even have a set of cavalry to paint up, although the sight of horses is perhaps slightly concerning. So, you might have guessed that when Games Workshop showed off a rather cool looking Chaos Warrior earlier this year and then announced she was event only, I may have been a touch annoyed.

Cut to a few months later and guess who reappeared on the Games Workshop site? Announced for a Made to Order promotion, and available for only one week, it was my time to bite the bullet and order something from the GW store rather than my local Leodis Games. It happened to fall over my Necromunda weekend, leading to me waking up on my friend’s sofa to see the pre-order up for £21. A little more than you may want to pay but I bit my tongue and bought her, in a large part just because I love the sculpt.

A week after pre-order and she arrived in my hands. Holga Clovenhorn (as this warrior is named) comes in the standard pack for a character sprue, complete with plastic surround inside the cardboard. The sprue itself is slightly tweaked, with thinner gates and careful placing. I should have grabbed a photo but from looking around it seems to be so you could assemble the figure at the event. It also went together in the easy build fashion, with some cool layering work to hide the joins.

And then as I reported in my SITREP post, I took the clippers to the limited edition model. Before you shout Blasphemy, it’s my model and I’ll do what I like. I think if you’re making a Chaos Warband for Age of Sigmar, then sure, the horns are a great touch. However, in my setting of Midgard, I use the Chaos Warrior models to represent the highly skilled fighters of the northern kingdoms beyond the Empire. These guys and girls are often warriors from elsewhere that have travelled north to find a new life free of the Empress’s orders – they aren’t mere puppets of a corrupting set of gods but actually well trained and hardy opponents.

The conversion itself was pretty simple – I cut away most of the horn with my clippers and then tidied up the mess with a mixture of hobby knife, file and even some sandpaper to really break through the material and smooth it down. For the horn stub, this was a touch easier to hide thanks to the character’s long hair. Trimming down most of it, I then worked greenstuff over the gap to cover it before threading it in a way that it looked like an extension of the existing hair piece. I did notice that removing this horn left a void of “dead” space on the model as well as making it look a little less special. However, it does now look closer to all the previous chaos warriors I have.

When painting her, I decided to try out a character with darker skin, using the method on the Games Workshop site. My previous skin paint jobs have been really limited in scope, either using Medium Fleshtone + wash, a base colour and a lighter drybrush or relying on contrast. So this time I decided to really push the boat out and go whole hog. I even added a spot of Druchii Violet in the eye socket to give it some depth (and save me painting eyes).

However, with the rest of her being using a paint style (detailed in earlier posts) that is quite quite dark in tone (I literally cover the armour in black contrast), her dark skin would be lost amongst it. For this reason, I decided to go with white hair – the wrestler Jade from AEW pulls off this look with very vivid bright white hair that is frequently paired with dark clothing, so I looked to her for some inspiration. I ended up going for a few layers – dawnstone over the black undercoat, a layer of wraitbone, black wash for depth and then a highlight pass of wraitbone. This came out with a really nice effect I’m a fan of.

Having done the conversion work on the horns, I’m really happy how my fixes now look after being painted up. The patterning on hair on the right side was perfect to add some golden touches as little pieces in her braid (perhaps inspired by another character I like) and these stand out amongst the white in a pleasing way.

I didn’t go too hard on the shield, just giving it a few details including the nickel oxide eyes and the painted tongue. With the darkened metal, I ran a drybrush of leadbelcher over the top just to make it pop.

You can also see stripes of gold covering the exposed part of her head – this was my attempt to fill the dead space mentioned above. Gold is the shortcut for high ranking characters in my Warriors and having chunks of it always makes you look important. With two stripes along her skin, as well as a golden earring, it makes Musongo look important among the rest.

And speaking of the rest, the most important thing – She looks perfect alongside the first batch of models I painted. With a different pose, she’ll definitely work either as a champion or as some heavy muscle. The new style of painting I tried on her (using extra passes rather than just basecoat + wash) is definitely something I’ll be using more of going forward.

Actually, thinking of her role made me think a touch more about what sort of character she might be and what name would suit her. I eventually settled on her being a rival/ally to the Seneschal – someone powerful enough to be a threat but also useful to butt heads with when it comes to making plans. A two handed maul is a heavy weapon to wield, so naturally she has to be a tough lady. Eventually I settled on her being a Wanderer, someone that would slide in and out of the Seneschal’s story. Looking up wanderer in various languages, I settled upon the Bantu word for Wanderer as it fit the feel for the character. I can already see her as someone who came north and was granted her cursed armour, before venturing off on her own stories. I look forward to weaving her into my tabletop games – if she comes up against the Swordmasters, then she will be a fierce foe.

A friend of mine reached the ripe old age of 30 this time last year and, due to lockdown, we were unable to get out and do anything for it. In a year with fewer restrictions (for now), a plan was hatched to go down to Warhammer World to hire some tables for a Necromunda and look around the exhibition hall. However, due to the weekend chosen being a LOTR event weekend, no tables were available; instead, we went down as a group to enjoy the rest of the facilities (which naturally included a pint of Bugman’s finest) and hopefully not spend too much on plastic crack.

I’ve dumped a whole load of pictures beneath the Read More (it’s a weird mix of whatever I liked the look of) but I just wanted to quickly add some thoughts. Firstly, getting down there to see my friends was a real joy – it was definitely a real treat to get out and about, relax in the pub and then browse a lot of pretty models. We managed to introduce some of the party to GW’s fantasy offering (I forsee some ratboys in the future) and had a fun time just geeking out.

Second – for all the issues you might have with GW (be it the over complicated rules, the large prices, the tone of the settings or many many more things about them as a company), it’s hard to leave Warhammer World not excited about the hobby. Seeing all the models, painted by the pros and nestled among the dizzying collection of dioramas, is just a reminder of how Cool Age of Sigmar and Warhammer 40,000 can be. Just walking through the halls fills your brains with ideas and inspiration – I think Games Workshop does some incredible design in their models, be it tiny details or strange and bizarre methods of fitting the pieces together. Something that I also noticed was just how open and friendly the venue was, with plenty of families there as a group and taking part in the hobby (highlights included the family all doing a painting demo and the dad being dragged around by child while staring at the Forgeworld models in the display case)

Third – I actually came having spent relatively little (picking up the exhibition ticket and getting a rather tasty burger and a few drinks). This is mostly because walking around the gallery reminded me of just how many cool Games Workshop models I have in my collection needing assembly and painting. Seeing giant pieces like Morathi and War Cry terrain all assembled and painted reminded me of all the cool ideas I should get back to. As attractive as NEW NEW NEW is, I have plenty of fun things to enjoy painting and then put into battles using the setting of my own devising and whatever rules I feel like.

That said, I did look at the new AoS Dragon Riders and go “that person would be a super good looking knight on the right horse…”. So I might be making a trip to the bits library at some point.

Anyway, enjoy the photos, I’m going to go finish off the monthly update post.

Aside from finishing off massive impression pieces, hobby time has mostly been focused on Fantasy figures. Mostly Games Workshop’s Chaos range.

I am well on the way with the limited edition Chaos Warrior that turned up on the weekend (and then I immediately modified). Took me a little bit to remember how I painted the first set of Chaos Warriors (keep notes on painting people) but I still love the moment when black contrast goes onto the leadbelcher paint and that armour tone appears. There is still a fair amount left to do (including a ton of detail work on the face) but even at this stage I’m really happy with the look. I’m also excited to see the contrast between the hair and dark skin once I’m done.

I spent my Wednesday evening watching Dune with The Sister (yep, that film is still amazing). Alongside that, I broke out the reccently arrived Red Harvest box and got to assembling. As cool as the spider bros are, I was mostly interested in the Darkoath Savagers to go with my current Barbarian force (that I still need to properly write about) – I just really like that style for my fantasy setting, the clash of half-naked brutes in warpaint vs plate armour. The new Darkoath Savagers are this to a T – I haven’t yet got to some of the more dodgy figures that some people spotted in the preview but assembling the eyeless witch, the Barbarian from Heroquest and the gang leader is pretty great.

I also used Tamiya Extra Thin Cement and Hot Damn, I am putting my Contacta Professional in the bin. Well not actually, I’ll use it with a different applicator, but not having to unblock the nozzle every time and the fact it just works are definite plus. Additionally

Speaking of Red Harvest, I’m also really excited with the terrain in the box. It’s some fantasy styling mining, all wooden board and channels. I’m going to do at pass at some point through all my terrain to de-Warhammer-ify it (as much as I can) so it can be used for a whole host of fantasy shenanigans. The mine especially would be ideal for the first mission of a campaign JUST before you venture into the caverns beneath.

However, I must now take a pause so I can do the monthly update. The Project update will appear on this blog but if you want a sneak peek of what else I’m working on, why not take a look at my Patreon where the planning post will be going up tonight.

I just wanted to shout out to everyone reading along with these posts (I’m seeing the pleasing bump in my stats) – I’m having a really fun time writing semi-regular updates and it’s much more fun than throwing together a tweet. One little change to them going forward, I’m going to be setting them to post at 11am on the following day rather than rushing to finish them after a full evening hobbying. That way, it should appear for people to glance through either at lunch or first thing in the morning for the guys in the US.

Also while I’m doing the house keeping, you may have noticed I’ve finally worked out a colour palette to the site. Apologies for all those using OLEDs that I was burning out with a full page of white, the new scheme should be a little easier to read. If you spot any issues, just comment and I’ll take a look!

After taking the pause on the game planning I decided to do a few fun and different things. As well as writing up some more of my BPRE thoughts, I also got to crack open some plastic kits that I’d been eagerly awaiting. This was made even better by the fact that the weather outside was crisp and cold – perfect weather for building model kits.

Yep, you all knew I was going to get her. I’m a really big fan of the Chaos Warriors from Games Workshop (as you can see) and have built a pretty good selection of them ready for skirmish games. So when Games Workshop announced Holga earlier this year, I definitely pulled an unhappy face at the news she was to be event only.

Which set me up perfectly to be a mark when GW announced she was coming to the online store as made to order. She’s definitely on the expensive side but it’s such a glorious pose.

However, I was not going to simply paint her up. My chaos warriors are a lot more “highly skilled north warriors” and less “corrupt followers of the Dark Gods”. So the horns had to go. Originally I was tempted to merely trim them down (in the same way my converted chaos lord has) but eventually realise she would look pretty great with both of them removed. After some clipping, knife work and filling, I’d cleaned up the large horn to reveal a shaved side of the head and reduced the size of the broken horn. This was then covered up with a quick piece of green stuff. My greenstuff skills are only so-so but I’m relatively happy with how it will look. I think my Monday night paint session will be getting her done in the same style as the rest of my force… and then she might turn up in December in a game.

The Changeling is one of my favourite models GW has ever done. If you ignore the fact he looks like Orko from Master of the Universe in some kind of gritty cinematic remake from the mid-2000s, he’s a great example of what a chaos demon can be if you don’t just build the default troop types. Asymmetric arm arrangement, the curling flames and the lack of a face – as someone who adores writing tricky bastards into his stories and campaigns, this is going to be a glorious character to drop in, probably as a final reveal. On the other hand, I did have a horrible glue leak while trying to assemble the swirling robes, to the point where I melted some of the features of the clothing. Luckily, a little bit of IPA (Iso-propyl Alcohol, not the other kind) got rid of the worst of it.

And here they are with the black undercoat and ready to paint. One reason why I’m not sure 3D Printing will kill GW’s business is that actually assembling these models was a lot of fun. GW knows how to design some glorious models, and then break them into a way that is (for the most part) fun to build. I still have quite a few boxes in the pile to work on and it’s nice to have some around for days when I just feel like doing a little bit of assembly.

“Taking their time down there aren’t they?”

The rough voice of the Northman Halfgar barked out, his grinning face looking around the group of warriors that stood among the scattered rocks and broken ruins of the entrance to the despoiled tomb. Rubbing the back of his hand on the rough stubble on his face, he continued, “Probably been killed by a tomb wraith or something. Or torn apart by skeletons. Maybe the Templars trapped them down there, hurr hurr” He chuckle again to himself, running a worn finger over the edge of his axe-head, his eyes jumping between his comrades

The other warriors, for the most part, just attempted to ignore him. Instead they focused on their own tasks. Wulf was busy preparing the fire, the former flame cultist staring directly into it as if looking for meaning in the flickering lights. The rest stood in formation around the cave entrance, looming over the rocks like a collection of statues placed among them, sentinels from a past time.

Halfgar’s laugh was only interrupted when one of the other warriors pulled off their helmet, revealing close cropped hair and an angry scowl. “Give it a rest Halfgar you swine. We all know you’re angling to take over, replace Rhazgra and become our lord’s Seneschal although somehow I doubt your idiot ambition would stop there.” The red haired woman smiled, pushing up the golden ring through her nose so it shined in the weak morning sunshine coming in over the top of the mountains. “Either stop being a coward and challenge her, or shut up and save us all hearing your voice. It sounds too much like goats rutting.”

He fixed her with a glare before cracking a smile revealing the tombstone like teeth in the front of his mouth. “Easy for you to say, Zorath, you’re all buddy buddy with one of her cronies. Bet you’re more than happy to let Arkfel wrap you in that stinking beast skin when we camp, snuggle alongside him to stay warm, hurr hurr”. He began to laugh harder, a hacking rumbling laugh, which only intensified once Zorath got to her feet with a look of rage in her eyes.

This time the laugh ended much faster, the sound of an armoured hand smacking the back of Halfgar’s head. He moved, a snarl in his throat about to turn into words when suddenly he found himself looking into a skull mask staring back at him. Dark eyes glared out of the eye sockets at him, daring him to respond before the dull low tone of Kazsour the Embalmer started to speak, echoing out from behind his death mask.

“Halfgar, son of Horath, your comments towards your comrades bring much dissent, breaking the common bonds of warriors that bind us together. Your repeated insults to your leader bring you shame. It would be wise to hold your tongue.” The stare he fixed Halfgar with continued until the younger warrior looked down, all trace of the arrogant smirk now gone.

Kazour hefted the warhammer onto his shoulder, looking around over the mountains. The others bowed their heads to him slightly – Kazour had been a warrior longer than many of them had been alive, a rarity in the warriors. After the battle was done, it was he who would collect the dead for final rites, preparing them to go into the great beyond. Even Rhazgra, their leader, knew to take his advice – she would always bring him into council meetings with her, a calming presence against the manic rage of the Herald and the overpowering command of their Lord.

“We are our Lord’s Disciples, his followers into war. From his commands, we follow The Seneschal. This task we have been given, will bring us great favour with our Lord and his Patron. Now, prepare yourself – the enemy is close and we must prepare to defend for as long as The Seneschal and our brothers needs us to.”

I’ve written about my first lot of Chaos Warriors (the Underworlds Warband) in a previous post. For me, that group was always going to be the introduction into painting a full force of the heavily armoured icons for skirmish games. That first post includes my screed on why the Chaos Warriors are so awesome and so I’ll not reprint it here. The main focus in this post is talking about the models I finished off, which can split into two groups, the New and the Old.

Soon after picking up the Underworlds Warband, I started looking for how to expand. There are two sets of Chaos Warriors available. The main box is the classic plastic set, with models that have been in circulation long enough for them to still be the primary way of getting your hands on the heavily armoured fridges. I’ll detail more on them later.

The other set are a small number of models that were included in the Start Collecting box for Slaves to Darkness. Being much newer, these are less focused on the ability to rank up (Age of Sigmar having become a much more skirmish-y game than Warhammer every was) but are still incredibly easy to assemble. In fact, these models are push fit assembly, not even requiring glue. They are also incredibly dynamic, covered in details and might be some of my favourite troop models from Games Workshop.

In terms of assembly, the only option you have are picking is heads – everyone is armed with a hand weapon and shield combo either in hand or slung over their back. There are two heads for each model – one with a helmet and one without. I’m really impressed with the variation of both options – there is a nice mix of helmet styles and different facial features. Now, I’m kind of make it a goal to become slightly better at painting faces – the good old “flesh tone + wash” is fine for bulk armies such as my WW2 British or my moderns but for more character focused games, it makes sense to make the people look like heroes rather than line troopers. For this reason I did a few extra figures with exposed heads, rather than going purely for the faceless bad guy look.

I’ll cover painting in a second because…

Upon hearing that I was working on some Chaos Warriors, my Dastardly Regular opponent decided to throw a spanner at my ratio and dug out this box of Chaos Warriors that were buried in his shed. No, literally buried, I watched him dig through the piles of stuff to get them out. The sprue was pre-owned but only missing a single body, giving me an additional 11 warriors for the war band. The box design also gave me a vague clue to the age, as I remember visiting the Games Workshop in Exeter while on a family holiday in my childhood and being dragged away from a box very similar to this. And that was back around 2003.

Now, these old Warriors are absolute classics. In contrast to their newer Age of Sigmar brethren, they are much more static looking figures, with the entire unit sharing the same pose. You get a nice selection of heads, the ability to choose between dual weapons and hand weapon + shield combo as well as pieces for a champion, standard bearer and musician (from back in the olden days).

I ended up assembling them with shields and hand weapons (to match their more modern brethren). I also skipped out on the banner bearer and musician, they aren’t hugely useful in the skirmish games I’ll use them for). However, I did use the champion head and the skull face mask – they seem ideal to break up the group, especially the skull. As you can see in the start, the combination of the skull and warhammer is the starting point for a cool character idea.

For both sets of models, I went with the same paint scheme I used on my underworld figures. The Lead Belcher + Black Contrast works really well for getting the pitch black armour while the purple of the cloaks nicely offsets it. The actual scheme is quite fast to get onto the model, taking full advantage of wolf furs and washes to get everyone done. With the bare heads, it was fun painting the actual features, using the Contrast paints and then lightly highlighting to get the detailed look. I’m honeswtly impressed overall

With these Chaos Warriors done, a big chunk of my Chaos force is done. I did start looking at the Chaos Knights, but did not have a good time painting the horses. There are a lot of details hidden away that still need touching up. I’ve also been distracted by other things, but I think I might paint up the various Chaos warbands (such as the Scions of the Flame and the Godsworn Hunt/Darkoath figures) before coming back to the heavy armour.

The dark armoured warriors stepped further into the darkness of the tunnels, moving carefully over the loose sand and scree that covered the incline. There were four of them, the rest of the band left above to guard the entrance against any intruders while the chosen few ventured deep into the tombs. They were looking for something, something to bring their lord greater power.

At the bottom of the stone ramp the warriors paused, listening. The tunnels around them were inky black, not even the strange glowing crystal the cave above had contained. It was also quiet, still, not even the sound of the wind whistling through the caverns.

“Rhalar, light.” The tone of the leader of the band, Rhazgra the Seneschal, was short and to the point, the brisk words of a commander used to seeing her action done. She didn’t bother to turn, instead crouching behind her shield, her mace held low in the enclosed space.

“Of course, sister” the taller mage answered, her voice with an ethereal edge to it, the greenish glow of the scars in her cheek become stronger as her hand ignited, green fire wreathing it like a beast desperate to flee. With a delicate motion, she place the fire inside the top of the staff, letting it writhe over the metal as in it was in pain.

“Where to now Seneschal? These tunnels all look the same.” The Dour asked, his voice like the grinding of stone against stone, his axe resting against his shield as his helm leaned forward.

“Rhalar will guide us, won’t you beautiful?” Arkfel the Slayer, the pelt of a great scaled beast over his shoulder moving as he laughed quietly to himself, only stopping when he felt the glower from his leader.

Ignoring such pedestrian things, the sorcerer lifted her glowing hands, the magical energy now spilling fully from her eyes and the scars on her face before evaporating into the air. She turned to look down each of the tunnels, the glow seeing to burn away the darkness, before she focused on one in particular. “The way ahead. There is something dangerous, old, long dead but now disturbed.” Rhalar lifted up her hands, letting the staff float beside her as she pushed her mind forward, attempting to understand the presence before her.

“The treasure’s guardian? Or something else those damn Templars have disturbed?” Rhazgra asked, turning slightly to look at her sister. Spotting the way her hands shook and the way green fire was emitting from her eyes even as her face creased with the effort, Rhazgra placed her shield down and delicately guided her sister’s hand back to the staff, the cold metal bringing her back to the present. She seemed to sign, her shoulders heaving as she drank in the cool air.

“Careful, beloved sister. It would be unwise for you to push yourself too hard before we have reached the prize. I’ll need your mind to unlock it’s traps.” She pulled her taller sister’s head down so their brows met, the anxious sweat of the mage resting against the cool of the warrior. “Besides,” she smiled “I would hate to have to leave you behind in favour of the treasure.”

Rhalar smiled. “I know sister, but I do not think you will need to. I know The Patron smiles on us this day. I can feel her whispers in the air.”

Yep, it happens to the best of us. Eventually anyone playing Sci-fi or Fantasy finds themselves looking at Chaos Warriors and reflecting on just how cool they look. They combine the glorious appeal of knights in armour but with that dark fantasy baroque look that means they just drip with character. They are the warriors that burn down the hero’s village as child, thus setting off the story. They are the Dark Figures that chase your heroes across the plains, slaying anyone in their way. And right at the end, they are the army you fight through to take on their leader. As you might guess, I adore the artwork and mental images, even if the normal models (released back in Warhammer Fantasy Battle days) are very static/designed for ranking up.

Seeing as I’m now working on very small (honesty) fantasy collection, and after seeing the Underworld Warband back when it was announced, I decided that these much more dynamic warriors were exactly what I wanted. Each of them looked like a real threat, a champion of the dark gods assembled alongside allies and rivals to take the fight to the enemy. What better troops to follow my Chaos Lord (who I’ve designed as some kind of Cursed Warrior/Undying King) than a collection of highly skilled individuals who just happen to be able to work together.

As a test bed, I decided to paint up the Underworld Warband “Khagra Ravagers”. Comprising of three warriors and a mage, it’s a great little introduction into the range. There are lots of shared character design elements among them – the armour and cloak combination, the multiple weapons and shield all ready to go, the smattering of decorations showing their allegiance.

As an aside, before I get into the figures, I’m just going to mention that I’m using my own names and descriptions for them. As much as I like Games Workshop’s setting, I’m one of those people who really like writing their own settings, characters and stories. As part of this, these four warriors will form the leaders of my Chosen Warriors, set to accompany the Lord into battle (seeing as he fights on foot). Additionally, as the greatest warriors among them, they are sent off to do specific tasks for their leader, ideally setting them up for small skirmish games.

First up we have a Warrior with shield and axe, ready to attack but in a relatively guarded pose. This is “The Dour”, an old warrior in a profession where that is a rarity. He’s basically Rhazgra’s main advisor/strong man, ready to offer the blunt opinion when required but then following her orders to the letter.

He’s also just really fun to paint, a relatively open pose with lots of finer details to add to. As the first figure painted, this was where I decided on the colours I would be using. Going for Valejo’s Royal Purple for the cloak really helps to make them look regal. I also used the classic Leadbelcher for the armour but after a quick look, a layer of black contrast over the top made it look the classic black armour that the Chaos Warriors are known for. On most, I decided to use mostly brass colours rather gold, helping to make them look less “fancy” than any Templars I am doing. The exception was the leader and mage, the gold marking them out as a little more important.

Next, with a weapon in each hand and animal pelt over the shoulder we have Arkfel the Slayer. With a pose like that, leaving himself entirely open and daring his enemy on, he seems like a real charming bastard of a warrior. Combine that with the pelt over his shoulder, I worked up the idea of the charming asshole who knows he has the skills to backup his boasting. Plus, if I’m doing the writing, a perfect partner to the mage, standing there to taunt attackers away from his beloved.

This guy is really similar pose to the Slambo figure from the olden days and I kind of love it. It was really fun working on him, especially with the scales over his shoulder. I originally started off with the colours reversed, only swapping to a more realistic look once I double checked some reference.

Rhazgra the Seneschal is of course the leader of this warband, standing in a dynamic pose to command her warriors forward. Her gear is more ornate than her fellows, she goes to battle without her helmet and that sneer of command. In her role as Seneschal, she is responsible for making sure her Lord’s affairs are in order, as well as enforcing his commands and protecting him with the help of the Chosen. At other times, she will go and do important tasks and quests herself. As for her (and her sister’s) origins, they are shrouded in mystery. Some say she is the daughter of a northern tribal chief, others say she ran away from the Templars as a teenage trainee to protect her sister. Either way, she’s a formidable warrior and great leader of her force.

As the figure that attracted to me this band, I was very careful to try and get her done just right. As well as the ornate details, the face is really well sculpted. Normally, my faces are apply base colour, wash, finish, barely even bothering to do the eyebrows. With Rhazgra, I used the Reikland fleshshade but then went back, adding eyebrows, highlights for the nose and cheek bones as well as a touch of gold though the piercing on her eyebrow. The markings on the side of her head were an attempt at tattoos which I think have the right effect. I also spent a lot of time on the hair, working from the black basecoat to the strip of white. In sort of the opposite way, I started off the wolf pelt with a very light grey, working my way down until the layer of black contrast paint over the top portions. Overall, I’m really happy with this model, one of the ones I’m most proud of.

And then we get to the mage.

So at first I originally painted her up using the original head. This sculpt was my least favourite in the set. I understand the visual of the cursed mage with the horns and hairless, and it makes sense for Warhammer. But in my head, this wasn’t the look I was wanting for the warband. These are supposed to be well trained and skilled warriors, not yet corrupted fully. The other issues was that the head lacks a lot of the details I’d usually rely on when painting – it’s not got much topological features to let the wash run into. I tried my best with the black and gold bands but it just looks so agressively… eh.

After a weekend of staring at the model, I decided enough is enough and went looking for an alternative head. I had, a while ago, purchased some alternative Stormcast heads (which are now being used in my Templar forces which I’ll be showing off soon) so I could get away from the “nope, we’re totally not space marines” look. Those heads, waiting for me to finish the box of Paladins I got for cheap from the local corner shop back up in Edinburgh for a tiny price, have been in my bits tray for a while. Pulling them out, I found one which was ideal, matching the look of Rhazgra while still looking a little magical. The only problem was that all the detail was on the wrong side of the head, forcing a slight change in pose.

Removing the head without damaging the paintwork was one of those butt clenching moments of hobby, trying very hard to scrape as little away as possible. Luckily I made a clean cut, cleaned up the resin part and then re-assembled the head into the slot, undercoating it via brush.

And now, here she is finished – Rhalar. With the new head, she looks like a true battle mage, just as likely to kick your ass with her fists than she is with magic. This better suits the mental image of her, working as her sister’s magical aid right next to her in battle. Her origins are as mysterious as her Sister’s and she shows promise of an even greater level of magic than she has already shown.

I’m really happy with the headswap, elevating this figure from okay to something I’m really happy with. I like how similar this model is in terms of gear to the actual warriors (such as the armour, cloak and the fur around her neck) while still having plenty of pieces that are different enough to make her stand out. The flames were especially fun to paint – I used the Hexwraith technical paint over a white basecoat and it worked out exactly as planned. I also managed to drip a little bit into the scars on her face, just to show the magic beginning to seep out.

Overall, this Underworlds unit was a fantastic way into painting more fantasy figures. I really recommend anyone interested in trying out a new Warhammer army take a look at these figures – they have some really nice details and it isn’t a huge amount of models to paint up. I’m also pretty happy with how the group has turned out, with a paint scheme that is relatively simple but looks awesome.

Next stage with these guys? Well I have 10 warriors, 5 knights and a lord on angry crocodile to finish off in a similar way to this warband. Beyond them, there are a few more less armoured chaos fighters to paint before I can move onto the big parts of the force – my Lord and his Patron.

Only a little terrified at the prospect of those two.

They are… complete.

The forces of ‘McNespy, Daughter and Sons’ for the upcoming campaign into the Mercy Longshore Docks have been gathered. With Elizabeth McNespy and her cyber mastiff at the head, this team of 10 Enforcers, 6 Subjugators and one lho-stick addicted Eldar in her power suit as their untrustworthy ally (aka the bounty hunter).

Having now reached the end of this project, I’ve got to say I’m really happy with the final result. This is the first project I’ve actually finished on this blog since the C130 board back in 2018 and there is that real sense of satisfaction from it. I’m very excited to actually play some games with it soon.

As for the boss lady herself, I decided to roll hard with the Sarah Connor look the sunglasses PMC head evokes. The white hair and black leather trenchcoat definitely helps her to standout from the rest of models in the force, while still being tired to them by the green armour, tan clothing and brown boots.

For the dog, I decided to match her colours as well, going for white armoured plates over the lead belcher painted body. The blue eyes and yellow safety handle help to finish him off.

The black leather coat was actually painted up using Burnt Umber as the base but then painting the black contrast paint over the top. I think this helped to give it a warm colour at the base, making it look a little more like leather. I then finished it off with a highlight of white along the edges, making it pop a little more.

The Subjugators are complete! The last two of the lads in heavy armour, the pair of stock baton and shield to provide backup for the Subjugator Sgt. I really enjoyed getting these two to look similar to their boss, colouring the shield decorations and berets to all match up. Also, with the project coming to a close, I am finally at the stage where I can actually work through this paint scheme at a relatively good speed – just in time to finish painting them.

And this is how my Subjugators stand. I really like how they look as a group and they are incredibly chunky they are. The touch of colour from the beret and shield symbols stop them feeling too one-note, as well as decorative enough to fit the 40k setting a little more. The main thing is that they are visual obvious as Subjugators but you’re unlikely to find a group that looks similar if I turned up at a Necromunda weekend.

I’m also really liking the look of the Enforcers for non-GW game. With the arrival of Stargrave later this year, I think I’m going to have a pretty good starting set for a heavily armoured crew or the pirates they will need to deal with.

Well, we’re into the final two figures for Project Enforcer – The Captain and her Cyber Pooch ally. I actually have some other Necromunda themed figures that would suit the group, so I’m still debating if I should get them painted up now, or take a little break. But we’ll see!

Look.

It’s very hard to get away from Games Workshop as a hobbyist. For all of their flaws (and by god there are many of them), they have continued to make some of the best-designed models in the industry as well as useful hobby items (if you find them for the right price). It’s also definitely the main entry point for most wargamers, with the shops on the high street providing a one-stop point of corruption for many.

This weekend saw the latest of their major previews and the first for 2021. Taking place on Twitch and the Warhammer Community websites, these replace similar preview events at conventions such as Adepticon or Warhammer Grand Tournaments that haven’t been taking place due to the current situation. These previews usually cover a wide range of products that will come out over the next six months and oh man, did we get some cool stuff.

First up, Sisters of Battle… sorry Adepta Sororitas are getting themselves a war suit. Similar to the Dreadknight the Grey Knights got (which look incredibly dumb), these warsuits will provide an alternative to Penitent Engines that are a bit more Cool Battlesuit and a bit less “horrifying punishment machine”. Its definitely not for everyone but I think the idea is really cool – the sisters are portrayed as Knights in a way, so seeing them armour up to take the fight to the monsters is suitably gothic.

The model however, I’d personally have added some more intricate detail on the armour panels – it looks very much like the Primaris releases, with large panels with no detail. They mentioned this in the preview as a way to allow people to add their down free-hand painted artwork (as Sisters fans often do) but for the less skilled amongst us, having the extra texture helps.

On the other hand, I have had several people plan on removing the armoured plate, swapping the Sister out for a guardsman, mounting a lascannon on them and using them as a Sentinal alternative. I think this sounds great but frankly, it just needs a big knife to finish the touch.

Now, this bit is one of Games Workshop’s little sneaky tricks. Last year, they showed off the Heavy Intercessors back in September as part of the preview for the 9th Edition Space Marine codex. As someone who likes heavily armoured chaps with guns (and especially guns held like a chain saw), I’ve been looking forward to adding them to my Deathwatch collection. Except, despite being included in that preview, the kit is yet to appear. Despite the statlines being in the Space Marine codex, no sign of their release. Fast forward to Saturday and what should be part of this kit? The Heavy Intercessors (and their Captain) have arrived!

The good news is that this box is pretty exciting – Heavy Intercessors and Flayed Ones, cool characters, new Necron terrain and a complete set of stuff for getting into Killteam (including rules for figures from last year’s 9th Edition starter set). The guys at Goonhammer have made some comments on how unsuitable it is for getting into the game (based on points of the two forces included) but I’m more interested in knowing how many people will be buying this box purely to strip it for parts and sell off on eBay. I’m sure GW likes getting the number of sales that this tactic works, but I would love to know

No release date yet, but I’ll be keeping an eye open for the armoured boys on eBay when this box is released.

There is a new titan coming for Titanicus! This isn’t really on my radar as a game but based on the reaction of the Titan fans in the chat, people are quite hype to add a new Titan.

Age of Sigmar continues to release models that makes me sit there going “how the hell did you design this?”. I’m not the biggest fan of the Lumineth Realm-Lords line of figures but I can definitely appreciate the work and technical care used to make them come to life. They are also making models that fit their fantastical world, rather than simply rehashing Warhammer Fantasy design in new armour. Some of the shadows in the video below are very interesting, including what looks like some new Elven Swordmasters.

Despite being someone who just picked up some Witch Elves from GW, I’m not that fussed about the new battletome that the Daughters of Khaine are getting. However, I do very much like the Endless Spells. While designed in the game to be the effect of a mage at work, I think that giant blood snake is a really good looking model. I might end up picking this stuff up as my legion of villains for fantasy skirmish expands.

And speaking of fantasy villians, god damn am I picking up these figures. Warhammer Underworlds as a game is yet to get it’s snares into me but I think it continues to be one of Games Workshop’s best ranges. By only needing a very small number of figures per group, they can go all out making some cool and dynamic ranges. These vampires do a fantastic job of both harking back to the day of Warhammer Fantasy, while also feeling like the Age of Sigmar times. I also like how each vampire feels like a unique hero but all the group fit together thanks to a few similar features. Sadly, I think this set has already booked out some space on my shelf (and in my figure database).

Speaking of ranges that let Games Workshop show off (and has found a slot in my wallet), the secret reveal in the preview was the announcement of a brand new Warhammer Quest game, Cursed City. Warhammer Quest is a board game with a pile of miniatures, letting players (between 1 and 4) take their heroes on missions against the insidious enemy (be that the game or the person controlling the villains). There have already been three other Warhammer Quest games (two in the Age of Sigmar setting and one in 40k) and each brought with it a set of exciting and unique hero miniatures (apart from Shadow over Hammerhal that bundled existing models together), often that stepped away from the existing release to bring you other elements of the setting.

And oh boy, the first hero shown off is definitely new, yet also familar. This is a Vampire Hunter and the “pop-off” in the voice chat I was in when he was shown was immense. I really like this the design of him – sure it’s over the top, but he has that real Van Helsing look to him, covered in his tools of the trade including the long rifle with underslung stake launcher.

We also have some guesses from looking at the Social Media artwork at the top. The website lists 8 heroes and the previews have shown us 6 so far:

• Jelsen Darrock – the Witch Hunter (previewed model + appears in the title art and the key art above)
• A human captain in plate armour with sword and wolf pelt over their shoulder (appears in the title art)
• One of the Dwarfs of AoS armed with a giant harpoon (appears in the title art and the key art)
• Some form of mage/priest (as shown on the left in the title image)
• What appears to be some kind of Elf with Antlers (centre frame in the key art)
• A bulky Ogre looking brute with a carved face on his shoulder (right side of the key art)

Of course, heroes need villains. The setting of Cursed City is a location in the Realm of Death so we’re going to be fighting a lot of undead – including this rather fantastic looking model. He is one of five Overlords the heroes will need to fight, as well as presumably a pile of horde figures you’ll need to fight past before they overwhelm you. Gorslav is perfectly gribbly, looking like something out of Pan’s Labyrinth. I’m looking forward to seeing who else we’ll be going up against.

With just these first two figures, and as well as the trailer that announced it, Games Workshop is going for very Gothic Horror feel to the game. It is also VERY heavily reminiscent of the game Darkest Dungeon, with the stark colours and ominous tone. Perhaps our heroes might have more to contend with in the Cured City than simply survival of body?

Also yes, I am already signing myself up for this. These figures would probably match up with more grounded fantasy and would be ideal for setting up some Frostgrave gangs.

Overall, a pretty good preview. A nice mix of models and ranges, giving most players something interesting to look at. Even if you weren’t excited for anything in particular, there is still some really nicely designed kits coming and a new Warhammer Quest is definitely a high point among them.

And then on Sunday, GW announced next week’s pre-orders. As well as Dark Angels and the required Primaris releases, the new warband for Underworlds is coming. I have a soft spot for the Chaos Warriors in their plate armour and frankly, it’s a good set if you just want a few heavily armoured figures to pick up.

Two more Subjugators finished! These two are the first with shields, finally adding some armoured fists to the group. On the left, we have the Sgt for this group – I think he looks incredible 40, from the skull on his shield to the club to the pose and red flowing cape. The right figure is ready to clear some rooms with revolver and pistol.

Originally I wasn’t sure how to paint the shields – do I go bright with colour or go grime? I decided to go grime, painting them in Leadbelcher. I then painted on a layer of black contrast before wiping the top layer away to leave it settled in the lower areas of the shield. To prevent them being a simplistic metal colour, the blue visor at the top and the bone/colour/gold detail on the front helping to make them pop.

The end of project is almost in sight!

Last week I managed to finish off my last batch of Palatine Enforcers and begin the process of working on my more heavily armoured Subjugators.

While my other sets of Enforcers were more standards, these guys are definitely much more of the Special guys. A marksman, two leader characters and then my gunslinger/massive mistake.

Painting wise these were mostly the same as my other Enforcers with a few tweaks. The Marksman was drybrush and painted a slight shade of grey, her armour covered in dust to help her hide among the rubble. Meanwhile, the gunslinger and commander also had a touch of gold added to their paint scheme, making them look special among the other troops. In contrast, the Concussion carbine user has a bit of Typhus Corrosion on his guns, giving them a slightly more worn look.

Having spent a chunk of assembling these guys, I’m quite happy with how the paint job worked on these “special” characters. They match the basic colours, while still looking unique with a few colour touches.

This is how the gang currently looks with the regular enforcers. They have a nice uniform feel with the green and tan which is appropriate for a merc group, but each character then has enough extra elements to make them stand out at a distance. I’m also still a fan of how my bounty hunter matches the green rule but still is distinct, mostly by towering over the other characters.

Now, lets take a look at the BIG boys. Subjugators are the guys in super heavy armour that covers most of them, giving them the real riot control guys. For the first two figures, I decided to paint the ones not carrying shields, giving me a chance to actually paint all their armour.

The other tweak these guys have is the cloth handing off the armour. It does help to make these guys look a little more 40k, especially with the purity seals and winged skulls on them. I did scribble on some writing using a detail brush and black contrast paint and I’m really happy how it looks with the guy on the left.

One thing I’ve been trying with these guys is edge highlighting, something I haven’t really done with my moderns before. The Subjugators require a lot more of it (as there are more edges to detail) and by god, it makes me not want to make an army of Space Marines if all those panels need detailing. It does, however, look really good – I’m tempted to go back and add the highlighting to my vehicles, just to make them pop a little more.

Next week’s hobby time will be finishing off the last four Subjugators before moving onto the special character and her doggo. I keep thinking of stepping away to do some individual figures as a break (such as the Spectre Tier 1 MG gunner) but honestly, I’m so close I think I’ll just push on and get the project done. I can have some time between this and WW2 time to try painting different things.

First figures of 2021 painted, finished just after midnight on the 1st of January (“start as you mean to go on” they say). Four more Enforcers done – after having worked out the scheme with the last two models, it quickly escalates up to batch painting. I’m really happy with how these figures have turned out, both with the extra conversion pieces and the paint scheme. I think out of this group, my favourite has to be the white-masked trooper with the bolter – I had worried about his pose looking awkward but I got to have a little fun giving him a decorated face mask and the old-style bolter. I’ll get some more detailed shots once all the models are painted up.

This week, I’m onto the final set of normal Enforcers to paint. Well I say normal – the presence of the sniper and gunslinger mean I get to work on some extra cool bits. After these guys, I then have the Subjactors to do, before finishing off with my special character and her doggo. And THEN I get to start work on the WW2 project.

Another week, another enforcer done in the new pattern. And stupidly I managed to pick a figure in exactly the same pose, just with a different weapon/head. This time I picked up one of the shotgun figures, one modelled after some of my airsoft kit (complete with helmet and chest-mounted pistol). I had a lot of fun painting this guy up – the scheme I’ve come up with works rather well.

The only thing I think I messed up was doing the flesh slit around the eyes. I seem to have covered up all the details on my first pass, and then after scrapping some of the paint off, it hasn’t really gone back together well. This is still something I need to work on, but luckily this model just has a very small gap of flesh.

As for further comments on painting, I’m really enjoying using the black contrast over lead belcher for a lot of things. The helmet was done this way, not even needing a dry brush. I’m not sure I’ll move over to contrast for everything but I’m really happy with it.

I also had fun adding the final touches for my helmet – the white writing on the back of it. I didn’t really do it 100% accurately but it evokes it enough. That flash of colour to draw your eyes.

Last week’s paint session was me finally getting some paint on the first of my Enforcers. It’s taken me a while to work out which scheme I actually wanted to do, but I finally came up with one that I think is suitable for a group of Space Faring Mercs in the 41st Millenium. Dark green armour and tan clothing evokes the traditional Cadian 8th colour scheme from the Imperial Guard (or Astra Militarum if you want to be on brand), something that a successful group may want to emulate – it looks good to the client if your group turns up looking like the bees knees. The other colour reference with this combination of colours (especially with leather boots) is it definitely evokes the American airborne of WW2 which I admit I quite like.

The colour list for this scheme so far is

• Black Undercoat
• Russian Uniform – Armour
• Iraqi Sand – Cloth
• Mahogany Brown – pouches + boots
• Leadbelcher – metal
• Black Templar Contrast – pistol grips + optics casing
• Sand Yellow – colour stripes
• Khorne Red – antenta optics

In terms of techniques, I tried out a few specific things:

• Rather than only a single wash, I decided to double wash just to double down on the effects (making the dips darker)
• After the wash, I went back to the armour and highlighted the raised portions with the base colour, just to make it stand out a little more from the washed areas. this can be seen especially on the shoulder pads
• Using contrast paint over metallic leads to a really nice lacquered effect, making it look like plastic compared to the bulk of the metal
• The base was done the same as my Eldar bounty hunter’s except I repainted the edds

Next week (or today when this goes up), I’m going to get to work on my next enforcer. Seeing as I only have a small number, I’m only going to paint them in very small batches – I don’t need to rush this, and I want them to look as good as I can make them. I also haven’t varnished this guy yet, purely so once I’m done, I can go back and do any touchups that might be required (such as neatening up the shoulder elements).

Another Monday hangout (chatting with a fellow friend about how to make some more cultists for his Necromunda gang) but also, we got into the final week of assembly for my Enforcers! Yeah, I’m shocked as well. With a total of 16 plastic figures (and a secret additional set that arrived this week), this project is already a chunky one, giving me a sizeable group I’ve poured my ideas into. But enough of that, let’s take a look at this weeks work.

First step, the last two chunky boys. Sorry “Subjugators”. These two were both designed to be the backup for the Subjugator Champion from the last SITREP and so I went with some “club and board” setup for them. I also delved into my bits box and pulled out vehicle icons from an old Black Templar sprue. This ties into these lads being on the more religious side, while also breaking up the circular motif that dominates the normal enforcers. I also gave them the same masked head as their boss, tying them together as a squad.

Chunky Boy 1 has the beret/goggle/mask combo in a similar pose to his boss, ready to form a wall for corridor blocking/clearing.

Chunky Boy 2 is a bit more rough and ready, with headgear removed and banging his shock baton/stave against the shield. He also has a slightly different style of pistol on his armour, pulled from an ancient space marine box, which gives him a slightly tweaked look.

Now back to the normal dudes. After building all the cool guys, I had to make a set of Red Shirts to be ready to fill in the rest of the group when casualties inevitable happen. Combined with the fact I was reaching the end of the box, this is what I would call “the danger zone”, where the desire to finish off and a lack of fun bits leads to some… less visual exciting figures. This happened with my Intercessors pretty badly. However, this time I had a secret weapon – a crapload of parts from Anvil and a bits box

Standard bolter bro, but the bandana adds a little bit of personality to him. I’ve also added items across his chest, just to cover up the central motif the Enforcers have. in this case, putting them at an angle gives them a sense of movement

Similarly, another bolter character. This time though, I decided to use one of my Space Marine style bolters and show it slung, letting the character use the hand gun. The sling is just a simple tube of greenstuff, running around the body to hold the bolter in place.

One of my new favourites, time to setup another shotgun guy, However, after looking through my options, I found the arm holding the shotgun by the pump. By then taking the arm holding the manacles and clipping it down, I was able to make it look like he’s pushing shells into the loading door. The head position also makes it look like he’s heard a sound in the darkness of the hive (such as a horrible bastard with a flensing weapon) and is pausing mid-reload.

He also has a back mounted element, which I’ll cover below.

Now that I’d filled my basic gang (with a few low level replacements, I decided to have some fun. The Goonhammer review of the Enforcers explicitly mentions an unflattering opinion of the autopistols in the trading post. At the same time, it also floated the idea of a two pistol gunfighting champion. Which, although poo-poo’edby, sounded like a really fun idea. After pulling in the autopistol from the Subjagator sprue

When I first finished, the pose looked great, the guns were cool but… there was something missing. With another delve into my bits box, I found a cloak, stuck it over one shoulder and finally… I had her. I had a gunslinger. That said, I did then break out the green stuff to fill in the gaps and turn an arm cloak into a proper serape. I’ll admit, I did look at Overwatch’s McCree to get the basic idea (helped by the fact he’s similarly covered in armour) but I think the end results works out very well. We’ll see more once I put some paint on her.

After doing my constructions, I decided to go back and tweak a few other models I’ve already shown off. As well as adding the antennas I’d mentioned in my first post, I decided to add some additional armour elements to my Gang Leader and Champion. Pulling a piece from the Intercessor sprue (the mags for the Auto Bolt RIfle), I trimmed them down and added them to the rear of the armour. In my head, these are effectively an armoured sensor cluster/radio setup, just something to mark them out. In-game, they won’t do anything but it’s just a cool addition. Also yes, I need to trim down that mould line on the side of the box.

The final tweak to finished models was detailing on my sniper. I’d already included a cloak for them, but it needed a little more detailing. My plan was two-fold – build up the hood to smooth the join between armour and cloak, and then add strips of greenstuff to look like rags to break up the cloak itself. It’s only a really simple tweak, but I like it.

Now, I’ll admit, one of the things that brought me to the Enforcers was seeing the preview of the Forge World special character for them. Scruntinator-Primarus Servalen is a wonderful figure, an ideal offset to the large and armoured figures, with the pose and flowing cloak giving her a great sense of motion. Assembly was also really easy – there was a little bit of cleaning off the sprue with no major issues needing fixing. I did, however, do my little tweaks – swapping a head from one of the Anvil Industries PMC head (for the glorious sunglasses) and a small layer of green stuff over the chest plate to smooth out the circle and make it look more solid. She will play the role of “The Colonel”, one of the McNespy’s that run the outfit.

Doggo is perfect and needed no changes. I really like how this kit goes together, with a few sensible parts that fit together with barely any need for instructions. Having read through the rules, I’m very excited to see this guy on the board.

Well then 18 figures assembled, two boxes and a pile of spare parts I’ve assembled my gang. Even if I never actually get these guys on the table, it was a really good experience just building them all. The Necromunda kits are really good fun – even if the poses can feel a little bit restrictive you can usual bodge stuff to make it work. Adding the Anvil parts helped me to take them from the incredible designs from GW to something a little special.

Next step is painting. I’m still deciding the scheme, but I’m going to try and make sure it fits with the idea of a military/merc unit while still being slightly offset from the green I used for my Eldar Bounty Hunter. More details on that when I start putting brush to plastic!

First Monday in November so I spent it building some rather large lads for my Enforcers. The Subjugators are the rather large gentlemen who will be kicking in some doors, taking the lead (and the incoming lead) when it comes to breaking into the gang hideout. After working out a rough list, I needed to assemble two more figures for my starting gang – a Subjugator with a grenade launcher (but no shield) and then the Subjugator champion with his beating stick. And then I decided to have some fun.

Objective number 1 – grenade launcher man. Due to the way the points worked out, I managed to squeeze in a grenade launcher for putting some krak grenades down. Unfortunately, the Subjugator kit isn’t designed this specific configuration (it’s assumed you’re either using shields or the assault ram) so a little bit of improvisation was needed. I decided to go with the grenade launcher held at low ready, while the other arm is covered in strips of grenades. I kind of visualise him being a grenadle launching specialist so I could imagine him having some kind of auto-loading rack on his wrist, letting him reload without taking a hand off the carry handle, while a second rack waits for loading.

In addition, he also has parchment over his groin plate, some religious script offering protection (and matching with the other Subjugators) with a chest mounted stub pistol ready for action. The open void helmet is perfect for someone checking the fall of shot from the blooper.

Objective 2 – The Big Stick Boss. When I started putting him together, the pose I chose just came out so dynamic, shield held forward as if he was a knight, clad in armour. With the shock stave in one hand, shield in the other (along with a suitable holy symbol to match the stub pistol Subjugator I already made), he looks suitably dramatic. I decided to give him a little bit more personality by giving him the beret and gas mask but leaving the eyes open (making him stand out. He also has a stub pistol on the back of his shield, just in case.

Of course, no leader is suitably dressed without a cape – even in the underhive, one must be dashing to inspire the locals.

Finally, I had some fun. There are two heavy weapons that enforcers can pickup – a heavier version of the concussion rifle (I used last week) or the Assault Ram (a mix of grenade launcher and melee). Going on rule of cool, and matching with the visual image of smashing in bulkhead doors, I built the Assault Ram. The void helmet is suitably encompassing for hard work, the required stub pistol in a rear belt carry (assuming the trooper would simply carry the front grip while aiming the pistol) and hanging off his forward arm (obviously to protect him) another piece of Black Templar religious gear to once again tie the squad together.

These guys were really fun to assemble – all of them are big chunky boys, a nice change from the regular Enforcers. They look gloriously ready for beating the crap out of anyone they might encounter in the tunnels. It’s also amazing just how much a simple head swap can make them look different from the original models – they are really fitting into my idea of these guys being sci-fi low tech mercenaries.

I’m aiming to finish these enforcers this month, so I still have another six guys to assemble and then the painting can begin. It shouldn’t take too long to put the last few together – probably going to be a mix of boltguns and shotguns to round out the team.

Space Marines! Wait…

Yeah, I’ve finally finished assembling all the Primaris Space Marines I suddenly seem to have collected from various places. They still need to be undercoated and then painted but I seem to have enough guys for maybe a small force for 40k. I don’t intend to play 40k but I might end up in a situation to play some games with my friends who have their own groups. I do need to bulk out the Reavers and the Inceptors (probably) and I would like to order a few extra units (I’ve always wanted a Redemptor Dreadnought and the Heavy Intercessors look perfect).

The final few models done, I then moved on to assembling the last few pieces of MDF from the Sarissa Alamo packs I backed on Kickstarter earlier this year. Having now built it all, it’s a pretty impressive collection. There are plenty of buildings to use, as well as some smart design within them.

I can already see plenty of different layout that would work using them, and can’t wait to get some figures on it and play a few games. I have some other opinions on it (and especially but they will be in a separate post.

As a final thing, I made up the Technical Charlie from Spectre that arrived earlier this year. Really nice construction, great quality on them with very little clean up required. This will pop up later once I finish painting.

Not sure what I’ll be working on next week – part of me wants to finish off this Cypher character on my desk but I might do some more Enforcers or finish tweaking my Brits. But another SITREP next time I hobby!

Another Monday, another long-distance painting session with the Dastardly Regular Opponent. While he started work on some more armour for our chain of command games, I decided to take a break from painting Space Marines to assemble some more of my Enforcers. Remember them?

Well, I have managed to start putting the basic list together so might as well put a few more cool guys together. As in the first SITREP, the idea is to make some Sci-Fi Mercs ready to act as enforcers in the Underhive.

First up, we have the Captain. One of the McNespy boys, sent by his Dad/Boss to clear our the Underhive and make some coin. The bald PMC head + shades seemed the most appropriate for the leader, and I decided to combine that with the stance used by the leader in the box. Additionally, I liked the image of him with pistol raised, ready to finish off a downed foe. As you can, I also added a load of kit around his waist including some Black Templar bits with a short command staff. I shaved off the Black Templar icons so it now looks suitably utilitarian.

Next up, we have a standard bolter armed trooper. However, rather than using the usual enforcer one, I discovered I had a few of the classic boltguns in the bits box. Suitable for a veteran Merc, I had to do some surgery to attach it. However, as you can see, it looks pretty damn good. The pouches big enough for bolter mags were a final addition to make the trooper.

So this guy was definitely the “oh damn the sprue is almost over and I need to make a final figure”. It doesn’t help that the Concussion Rifle on the sprue only has a single hand version so it can only be used in a single designed pose. Not wanting to use the pose recommend, I ended up with this slightly idle pose, the handgun twisted slightly to add some movement. Biker PMC head and all the kit in the world were the final touches.

Finally, we have the sniper figure. The leaning forward sniper seemed a little lacking in tactical look, so I went with a classic crouching look. I’m not technically finished with her (I need to smooth the join between the cloak and the armour) but she’s already looking pretty cool. The Female PMC head is really nice as well, with maybe a few painting tweaks to make it look a little more 40k.

At the moment I have seven assembled enforcers, six Palatine and a single Subjugator. I’ve still got the rest of the two boxes to build and plenty of parts to do it with, so there will be plenty more of these posts to come.

I’m also thinking about the colour scheme. I’m definitely not going the classic look, but I’m still not 100% on what I’ll choose. With the idea of some classic grungy mercs in space, some Colonial Marine inspired colours might be high on the list.