C48 Gargoyles - Zheted and Gotalot

Hello all,
As part of a recent shopping spree on Ebay, I got my hands on a couple of the old Citadel Gargoyles. They are part of the C48 range, dating to ca. 1984. They were cheap but unfortunately came without their wings. So I decided to greenstuff them a bit and make them look like smaller beastmen. They will thus be part of Akward's warband which is increasingly becoming a collection of beastly Slaaneshi followers.

The sneaky one on the left is Zheted, who carries a small sword or a large knife with him. He looks very much like a stealthy assassin, creeping through the forest, hunting for opportunities. He appears to have been gifted with a small scorpion tail, probably dripping venom...

The weird looking one on the right is mr. Gotalot (of what?). He is armed with a spear and a nasty attitude. He also seem to have received a mutation of scaly skin, giving him a better armour save.

Picture stolen from Stuff of Legends

 The original advertisement for the C48 range - some nice beasts here - would love to paint a complete set... I would buy Bld'Ngor and the rest instantly if the price was right :-).

The place where the wings were supposed to be inserted needed some serious green stuffing, but I think they turned out fine - it is very difficult to spot where the holes were.

They have been painted to fit Akwad's warband - i.e. purplish hooves, horns etc. They fit the role of smaller beastmen fine - could also work as mutated humans.

Hope you enjoyed them, they were a plesure to paint!

All the best,
Kasper

Old Beastmen - Harlequin and Citadel comparison

Hello all,

So, delving deep into the intimidating pile of unpainted lead, I found a couple of old beastmen. One is a classic Citadel, while the other is a somewhat odd creature from Harlequin. Now it is odd, not because of mutations or similar extravaganza, but because it carries a Crossbow, and looks like it knows how to use it. I wouldn't normally agree with the notion of a beastman using such 'sophisticated' weaponry, but hey, this is Chaos! You can complain to the big mutated chap in the head office...

I painted both of them to match the "Beastie Boys", a Slaaneshi warband led by the minotaur Akward - e.g. humanoid flesh, purple horns and hoof. 

I think they turned out fine, and it is always interesting to see how the old miniatures rank up.

 

Smada'Vek, on the left, is the old Harlequin beastman. I remember buying it primarily because I needed Crossbows and fancied giving him a different weapon, although this never happened. I think I have one or two more of this type. 

It was originally marketed as 7303 Beastmen Crossbows, it was designed by Kev Adams in ca. 1996. It is still available, and sold by Black Tree Design as part of the HM1152 Beastmen Crossbows (3):

His companion is the unnamed Beastman number 7, sculpted by Michael Perry in ca. 1994. I find it a great shame they stopped giving their minis suitable names, but as a result this beast didn't get a fancy name but it did get its very own line in the 1995/96 Citadel catalogue:

 The two actually fit each other. The Perry one is hunched over, but if it stood straight there would be little different in their bulk.

 So the only difference is in their weaponry and if you are in the market for a crossbow wielding Beastman (perhaps for a chaotic warband), then this would be a cheap and nice-looking solution.

They'll join Akward soon, and might even allow the photographer to stay alive long enough for a group photo to be taken :-).

All the best,
Kasper

Old Plaguebearers: Maggotgut and Leperflesh

Hello all,
Found a couple of the delightfully nasty old citadel Plaguebearers. And how can anyone resist painting such lovely sculpts? They simply ooze of character and were very fun to slap some paint on :-).

 On the left is Mr. Maggotgut while the lovely gentledemon on the right is Dr. Leperflesh.

Wanted plenty of gore and goo, but also wanted to try a few different colours - Leperflesh was much darker to begin with but I decided he looked a bit too serious :-).

Good fun painting these, although I have no idea if they will ever see any kind of action - might throw them into a Heroquest mission just for a laugh.

All the best,
Kasper

Heroquest: Mighty heroes ready to rumble!

Hello all,
With the blessing of a new camera and a new photo set-up, I figured I would take a few snap shots of my Heroquest figures. We, as a family, really love this game. It provides fun for even the youngest (5) whose dwarf is an unstoppable beast. The eldest finds it entertaining and even the wife joins in the fun. I get stuck with the job of the evil gamemaster - infuriating how difficult it is to hit with the evil creatures! - and we all have fun.
So without further ado, I bring you the heroes of Heroquest:

There is little to say regarding their paintjobs - quick and fun, the minis are surprisingly well sculpted (they are a bit square, though) and little effort was required.

Elf

The elf figurine is tall and slender, armed with a short one-handed sword. He is equal in attack strength to the dwarf, but is able to use one element's spell - air, earth, fire, or water magic. He has still fewer body points than the dwarf, but higher mind points allowing him to resist magical attack. His starting weapon is a short sword. He starts with 6 body points and 4 mind points.

Barbarian

The barbarian figurine is depicted as being tall and muscular, brandishing a broadsword. He is the strongest character in combat, benefiting from excellent attack and moderately good defense, but lacks any magical abilities. He has the most body points, so he can withstand a lot of injury. His starting weapon is a broadsword. He starts with 8 body points and 2 mind points.

 Dwarf

The dwarf figurine is short, stocky and well armored, carrying a battle axe. He is very good in defense, but lacks the attack strength of the barbarian and has no magical abilities. The dwarf also has the unique ability of being able to disarm traps without special equipment. He has slightly fewer body points than the barbarian. His starting weapon is a short sword. He starts with 7 body points and 3 mind points.

 

 Wizard

The wizard figurine wears a full-length cloak and carries a staff. In combat, he is the weakest in attack, but compensates for this by being able to use three elements' spells, for a total of nine spells. Has very few body points so can be easily killed in combat. His high mind points allow him to be more resistant to the effects of magic. His starting weapon is a dagger. He starts with 4 body points and 6 mind points.

Thats that - monsters coming up soonish :-).

All the best,
Kasper

Beastie Boys - The Beastial parts of a Slaaneshi Warband

Hello all,
So my Slaaneshi warband seems to consist of two parties - the greenskins (featured here) and the more perverted animalistic party. This consists of Akward, the minotaur, and his two beastmen followers - twisted into a arachnid/spider bodies.

I've still to actually roll some dice to create this warband - more a case of painting what I feel like - but I think it could be fun to reverse engineer the group and see what they actually represent. I guess these two beatmen could also work as centaurs?

And the green brigade:

Not the most impressive warband so far, but already too large to fit in one photo :-).

More beastmen coming soon(ish).

All the best,
Kasper

Old Runequest Miniatures: Scorpion Men (Beastmen conversions)

Hello all,
Along with the old Runequest Dragonnewts (pictured here), I also got some fun looking Scorpion men. I initially bought them because I thought they were variants of the old "Runequest Box 4: Beast Men - Scorpion Man with Club". 
Unfortunately, they were not and are two pretty crappy conversions, or rather destructions of the originals - the clubs ares gone, shields have been inexpertly added, and bothhave received (even more inexpertly) a new beastman head. 
I've been working on them with green stuff to hide most of the old conversion and have added a little something special to them to make them more Slaaneshi - I think they have, under the circumstances, turned out just fine :-):

Mr. Scorpion Man #1

The distinct claws were bought - after much searching - from an online bitz-shop.

Mr. Scorpion Man #1

The purple should tie them in with the Slaaneshi warband nicely, but I guess that the browns could have used a bit more variation.

Mr. Scorpion Man #1

The original scorpion men looks like this:

 (picture from http://www.collecting-citadel-miniatures.com/wiki/index.php/File:RQ4-10.jpg)


The beastman head used for Mr. Scorpion Man #2 (below) may have been a skeletal head originally - not sure. If anyone can identify where these heads originate I would appreciate the information.

Mr. Scorpion Man #2

I've left this scorpio's shield blank until inspiration strike me for a motif.

Mr. Scorpion Man #2

Considering the circumstances I think they look effective, and - if you don't look too closely - they look nice :-).

All the best,
Kasper

Bum Fuzzle and his Confusables - Greenskin Slaaneshi Warband

Hello all,
Time to give an update on the greener parts of the Slaaneshi warband I've been painting over the last month.
If for no other reason, then because they look like a happy familyu in this group photo:

So the leader is the mighty orc champion Bum Fuzzle (more pictures of him here), a powerful Orc who for some reason has found himself in the service of Slaanesh. He has yet to fully graspthe differentiated nature of the Chaos gods but was told that a service to them would provide amble opportunity for slaughter. 

He is still waiting for the promised experience of a throne of skulls and rivers of blood and wanders around somewhat confused about why he needs to don purple armour but due to his fickle memory he keeps forgetting to seek employment elsewhere. Oh, and for a long time he also wished he had a boar to ride into battle on - Slaanesh, amused by the confused orc's thought,decided to bless him with a mighty steed:

The beast and orc were brought together in a chance meeting in the woods. Fuzzle's first thoughts were along the lines of how much wargear he could buy with the huge teeth on the Sabretooth. But the beast's vicious growlings made him pause and a slow sense of respect - something entirely new for the orc - grew. The two are now inseparable, hunting the wilderness killing and maiming everything they find, be it animals or sentient beings. Never before has the Orc been so close to happiness and his confusion has been momentarily forgotten. But Slaanesh is a fickle being and grows tired of the pleasure gained through the orc's rampagings  so life will probably bring new challenges for the warlord, and soon.

Bum Fuzzle's life has recently been complicated (and even more confused) by two new groups of followers. The first is the remnants of a goblin raiding party (more pictures of them here). The four goblins (Torg Dwarfsmasher, Snurd Hideflayer, Urag Legeater, and Gigblad Childsplatter) are what is left of a waargh that went entirely wrong. 

Their shaman got confused and led his chieftain to believe that they should head north into the chaos wastes instead of the lush, fat lands of the empire. 

One by one they were killed, maimed, and eaten by the inhabitants of the north (who were all quite happy to have small, bite-sized beings enter their domain) until the four unhappy goblins decided to leg it, and leg it fast. They kept running until they found an orc and have since refused to leave him out of sight, clinging to him for leadership and guidance in (what they have learnt) is a very, very scary world. Unfortunately for Bum Fuzzle that orc is him and he has since their arrival been utterly confused as to why they continue to shadow his every step and why he has not yet killed them - yet the voices in the back of his mind insists that he should let them live for now. 

The other followers are two more goblins. At least that is the conclusion Bum Fuzzle's addled brain has reached. Short, weak, and green equals goblins. And although the 'real' goblins keep jabbering something else, Fuzzle has lumped the two groups of smaller greenskins together.

Actually the two are young skinks. The last two to crawl out of the spawning pond, the rest of the lizardmen had left by the time the two exited the waters. Left on their own, the two wandered aimlessly, confused about everything. Through some fluke - or the workings of Slaanesh - they went through one of the Lizardmens magical vortexes andstumbled upon Bum Fuzzle. As two addled chickens they have decided that he is their mother and have since followed him, scrabbling with the goblins for his attention.

This little warband thus so far consists of a brute of an orc on a tiger the size of a horse, continously trailed by a group of lesser green beings consistently arguing amongst themselves and adding to Bum Fuzzle's continous state of confusion.

If there ever was proof of Slaanesh's perverted senses this warband is surely it!

Oh well, better get back to painting some more followers to make dear mr. Fuzzle's life ever more confusing :-).

All the best,
Kasper

Old Runequest Miniatures: Dragonnewts

Hello all,
Two miniatures that snuck into an ebay purchase have finally been painted. I had no idea what these two things were (nor how tiny they are) but figured they would be fun to paint and could be used as skinks or something similar.

Dangerous Dragonnewts!

After some research it turns out they are both old Runequest Miniatures. They were sold in "Box 5" as a "Crested Dragonewt with Javelin" and a "Newtling with Sling".

(Image from http://www.solegends.com/citrq/citrqb5v1dragonnewts/index.htm)

After having seen the contents of this box, I want - no, need! - the other newts. They would make very nice lizard-beatmen!


Close ups of the painted newts:

Crested Dragonewt with Javelin

Crested Dragonewt with Javelin

I have no idea whether these were dangerous, but considering their size, I don't think that is likely :-). I did find a very nice writeup of the life of a Newt here: http://level2-wardy-la.blogspot.dk/2011/12/runequest-dragonewts.html. But whether this is 'official' Runequest lore or not, I'm not entirely certain.

Newtling with Sling

I really like how individualised these two are, and how the armour and weapons are kept on a realistic scale.
They were both fun to paint, although quite a few details were missing or destroyed by previous owners - e.g. half the face of the sling-newt was more or less without any details.

Newtling with Sling

I went with a slightly purplish colour scheme to make them usable for my Slaaneshi warband, although it may be difficult to conjure up a plausible reason for two skinks entering the service of the confused orc champion, or the Slaaneshi pleasure God...

They do look sneaky, don't they?

Next up will be a group photo of the Orc, Goblins, and these two - the beginnings of a mighty force...

All the best,
Kasper

Citadel Speciality Set 4 - Goblin Raiding Party

Hello all,
So, what is it with these old Citadel miniatures? How can they be so fun to paint, even though the sculpting is not always perfect, nor do they have the fluid poses of many new miniatures? To hazard a guess I think it is a combination of little pressure (as in you didn't just pay 12£ each in a GW store) and the 'realistic' take on the minis - i.e. they do not have piles of giant skulls all over the place nor do they have swords the size of cities.

The sweet goblins from Citadel's Speciality Set 4 (the Goblin Raiding Party) is a great example of this:

Let's go raiding!

Realistic goblins, with weapons of a suitable size and actual armour and equipment. they do look like raiders and they each look like they have a history. Oh, and the fact that they are named also gives them plenty of character.
So, it was with great pleasure that I painted these four gobbos and I'm definitely searching the market for the rest of the raiding party!
Each of the four miniatures are oozing character:

Torg Dwarfsmasher

Urag Legeater

Gigblad Childsplatter

Snurd Hideflayer

And together they form a very nice - if small - force of goblin raiders, from the time before huge WAAAARghs were the only thin greenskins did.

Dem' be Pro'er Gobbo Shieldz!

Anyways, they will be joining the Slaaneshi warband, as confused as to why they are there as their Orc Champion.

All the best,
Kasper