Ben's Stirland Undead - Wrap up post

During July, I did a quick paint job on some zombies to bulk out my army.  Firstly, some Zombie Ogres, slightly converted for variety, from the Mantic 'Dwarf Kings Hold' game that has popped up throughout this challenge.  And secondly, some GW/Fireforge peasant zombies, which unfortunately got a bit messed up by trying to spray undercoat them on a rare hot, dry day, but did give me the chance to paint the last banner photocopied from the Undead Army book.

11 Zombies, Banner - 48 pts
Necromancer - 68 pts
3 x Allied Chaos Trolls, Banner - 260 pts

Then of course I got the whole army out on the table.  Right Flank (Skeletons):

Centre (Command and ex-townsfolk):
 

Left Flank (Cavalry):

The whole army:

Totting up all the points...

Intro
Month 1: 174 pts
Month 2: 939 pts
Month 3: 563 pts
Month 4: 567 pts
Month 5: 475 pts
Month 6: 742 pts
Wrap-up: 376 pts

Grand Total: 3,836 pts

Ben's Stirland Undead - OWAC VIII - Month 6

As I've completed my rank and file and leader months, this month was meant to be about chucking in a few more miniatures as a wildcard.  I finished the mummies, which were the last of the minis I'd primed and based in January, really early.  So then I started a grand plan, sticking together a bunch of Archers and undead Tileans, which turned out to be just a bit too much... so I'll be going back to flock the bases and do a few touch-ups before the final post - you know, the things you only notice when you're inserting the pictures, and realised you missed something important (looking at you, Liche with mysteriously blank scroll).

My favourite bit was painting up a couple more of the banners from Warhammer Armies Undead (which meant I've nearly completed the whole black and white page), and touching up another banner which was one of the only surviving parts from my original teenage undead army.  Just as skeletons can be raised, buried and resurrected many years later as part of some evil scheme, so can miniatures, I guess.

Foundry/Heroquest Mummies, led by Dark Art Studios Tomb Reaper (Mummy Tomb King):

GW/Mantic/Wargames Atlantic Archers, led by Mantic Necromancer:

Wargames Atlantic Skeleton Horsemen (long-lost Tilean Mercenaries, I imagine) with GW shields:

June total: 742 pts

5 Mummies, Standard - 270 pts
Mummy Tomb King - 100 pts
11 Skeleton Warriors, Bow, Standard - 120 pts
Necromancer - 68 pts
6 Skeleton Horsemen, Light Armour, Shields, Standard, Musician - 184 pts

Ben's Stirland Undead - OWAC VIII - Month 5 (Leader)

It's been another busy month, but I've managed to finish off my Leader (the mighty Mannfred von Carstein) plus baggage train (a carriage to carry his coffin on campaign, in case he wants a nap between battles).

Mannfred von Carstein (Dark Art Studios Vampire) - 475 pts:

Baggage Train (Westwind Vampire Counts Coach):

Next month's wildcard will hopefully be some combination of Mummies, Skeleton Archers and random Mantic undead gribblies.

Ben's Stirland Undead - OWAC VIII - Month 4 (Rank and File)

This month I have painted Skeletons to bulk out the horde, a Necromancer to help them rattle along, a Screaming Skull Catapult, and a couple more bat swarms (with dead trees thanks to my son's 3D printer):

Total points for this month: 567

Necromancer 68
Wraith champion 75
23 Skeleton Warriors, shields, standard, musician 225
Screaming Skull Catapult 74
2 x Bat Swarms 200

Ben's Stirland Undead - OWAC VIII - Month 3 (Rank and File)

March was Cavalry month for me!  I repainted one of the few survivors from the teenage army to be my Battle Standard Bearer, and accompanied him with the corrupted knights that represent the old Count's bodyguard.  

The models are Citadel Reiksguard Knights, with slight conversions to some of the heads, on Fireforge horses.

The banner, originally based on the one held by this Wight Lord in the Warhammer Armies book, just needed a bit of neatening, but the model got a repaint and a not-so-shiny new horse.

I also completed a unit of 6 Skeleton Horsemen (one I started as a test model in December), with a Doom Rider banner based on Dieter Helsnicht's.

Finally, I painted up a Skeleton Chariot, with a Zombie Banner from the army book:

Total points for this month: 563

Undead Battle Standard, steed 89
5 Wights, spears, shields, heavy armour, skeleton steeds, standard 264
5 Skeleton Horsemen, shields, spears, standard 132
Undead Chariot, scythed wheels 78

Ben's Stirland Undead - OWAC VIII - Month 2 (Rank and File)

The vampires (or their necromantic followers) have been kept busy this month, resurrecting ancient heroes and rounding up swarms of giant bats from the bogs and forests surrounding Nachthafen.  

My favourite model this month has been the ancestor of the previous Count, whose skill with a battle-axe I decide must have been the reason for the family's heraldry.

Here is his bodyguard of scythe-bearing reapers.  I particularly enjoy those rising from the earth.

Some Giant Bats with evil spirit riders, who will count as Carrion.

And a host of Bat Swarms, to provide a menacing, sky-darkening backdrop to the march of the undead legions.

I've not quite nailed the contrast between model and basing colour scheme in the way I'd like - but with Skeletons and bats being quick to paint, at least I've had time for a bonus banner, and been able to add a chunky 939 points in total to the horde:

Wight Lord, Shield, Heavy Armour 69
24 Skeleton Warriors, double handed weapons, standard, musician 260
3 Carrion 135
Wraith 75
4 x Bat Swarms 400

Next month I plan to add some cavalry!

Ben's Stirland Undead - OWAC VIII - Month 1 (Rank and File)

I decided I needed to be as organised as possible for this project, so I first primed all the models and then painted and drybrushed every base, to give me a head-start in the upcoming months.  I intend to add some flock/clumps to them all in one go at the end.  

Then I made my start proper with the vampire thralls (Westwind Vampire Clan), and transfixed town militia (Foundry ex-Citadel Mercenaries/Heroquest Henchmen), that together will represent a bunch of  Zombies.

I'm really enjoying painting the green and yellow scheme of Stirland, and a suitable Empire banner - unfortunately, neither victory nor death but undeath is the fate of these unlucky troops.

A couple of minor conversions here - replacing the gun from one of the thralls with a flagellant's bell, and adding feathers from Anvil Industry to the hats of a few of the militia to 'Empire' them up.

More troops for the back ranks

Here's the full unit - several sets of twins in this town (I accidentally ordered two of the same pack of mercenaries...).

As a treat after painting all those slashed clothes, I painted a corpse cart / chariot (Dark Art Studios Death Cart) which was much easier going, and decorated it with a few checks and flames.

This brought my total so far to 174 pts:

    22 Zombies, standard, musician - 96 pts (one a test model with a new shield and feather)

    Undead Chariot, scythed wheels - 78 pts (note shield repurposed as base decoration...)

Here is my tribute, which hopefully will prove suitable to join Laurent's Slaanesh horde.  He's a C35 Chaos Warrior 'Count Metalmane' that I got amongst a random bunch of models.  Unfortunately he had a missing head, but I took this as an opportunity to grant him the reward of the head of a Slaanesh Fiend.  Just don't ask how he gets his chainmail shirt off.

Ben's Eldar - OWAC VII - Wrap-up post

What a fun way to fill in some of the gloomier months of the year - even so, I'm glad it's finished!

I've been able to finish off a couple more Vyper Jetbikes - I enjoy that they remind me of the horde of Alaitoc jetbikes, lost in the mists of time, that I used to field when I played Epic.  

And what says 'Space Elves' better than a jet-powered flying wizard?  I've now, I think, painted one of each Warlock sculpt; sadly, when I stripped the paint off this one, it turned out to be (yuck) finecast, and when I tried to straighten the sword, it promptly snapped, so I had to convert him a Singing Spear with a couple of spare parts.  Perhaps he's zapping someone with some kind of eldritch curse.

Adding up the points for the almost 100 models I painted this year, and I am slightly astonished (even though it contains a load of very expensive characters) to find it's over 5,000 points!

Wrap-up Month: 186 pts
Warlock, Singing Spear, Vyper Jetbike - 121 pts
Vyper Jetbike, Shuriken Shrieker Cannon - 65 pts

Wildcard Month: 444 pts
Baharroth - 161 pts
Warlock, Singing Spear - 76 pts
Exarch, Swooping Hawk Wings, Lasblaster - 95 pts
4 Swooping Hawks - 112 pts

Rank and File Month 4: 949 pts
8 Guardians, Lasgun - 88 pts
3 Guardians, Jetbike, 1 Shuriken Cannon - 98 pts
Lascannon on Anti-Grav Platform - 59 pts
8 Scouts - 184 pts
Dreadnought, Missile Launcher - 205 pts
War Walker, Lascannon, Scatter Laser - 150 pts
Asurmen - 165 pts

Leader Month: 646 pts
Avatar - 300 pts
Warlock Master, Vyper Jetbike, Singing Spear - 222 pts
Ghost Warrior (Solitaire), 2 Power Fists, Shuriken Catapult, Refractor Field - 124 pts

Rank and File Month 3: 1,414 pts 
Warlock, Witch Blade - 66 pts
Exarch, Dark Reaper Range Finder, Missile Launcher - 100 pts
Exarch, Web of Skulls, Chainsword - 77 pts
Exarch, Fire Pike, Melta Bombs - 80 pts
Exarch, Flamer, Melta Bombs - 64 pts
Fuegan - 176 pts
Maugan Ra - 179 pts
4 Fire Dragons - 112 pts
4 Fire Dragons - 112 pts
4 Dark Reapers - 268 pts
4 Sun Basilisks - 180 pts (estimated!)

Rank and File Month 2: 820 pts
Jain Zar - 187 pts
4 Howling Banshees - 81 pts
Exarch, Banshee Mask, Power Sword, Laspistol - 69 pts
Exarch, Warp Spider Jump Generator, 2 Death Spinners - 90 pts
4 Warp Spiders -164 pts
8 Guardians, Shuriken Catapults - 118 pts
3 Warlocks, Witch Blade - 66 pts
Shuriken Cannon on Anti-Grav Platform - 45 pts (estimated)

Rank and File Month 1: 900 pts
Warlock, Singing Spear - 76 pts
Exarch (converted), Shuriken Catapult, Power Sword - 61 pts
Karandras - 150 pts
2 Guardians, Jetbike with Shuriken Catapults, Jetbike with Shuriken Cannon - 67 pts
4 Dire Avengers (converted) - 88 pts
3 Striking Scorpions - 78 pts
5 Wraithguard - 175 pts
Dreadnought, Extra Distortion Cannon - 205 pts

Grand Total: 5,359 pts

As I've finally got to the bottom of the pile of minis... I couldn't resist taking a picture of my whole army, including stuff I painted last year as part of another challenge:

Ben's Eldar - OWAC VII - Leader Month

"The Avatar's gaze seemed to bore into the very heart of the Eldar warriors, kindling the fire of battlelust there.  All fear, all hesitation was burned away by unholy joy and murder lust.  The killing power within them stirred in answer to the being's call.  A cry of pure exultation was torn from Karhedron's throat.  It mingled with the great roar of the entire army."

I'd have liked to save the Avatar till the end, but due to holidays I only had a couple of weeks' painting time so it made sense to make April my Leader month.  I found this terrifying god-incarnate to be the best and also hardest model I've painted so far - I wanted to make him look like he was made from molten iron, so he had to be dark red with yellow in the hottest parts, but the process of painting lighter colours rather than the usual shades into the crevices took some getting used to.

He's on a nice big base like all the models in this project - there are many things I love about the look of 2nd edition models, but feet hanging over base edges is not one of them - and raised up on a big hero rock to make him stand out further. Lastly, to try to create the blood that is said to drip from his left hand, I mixed some red paint with PVA and carefully glooped it onto his fingers.

Next, I patched up a 3rd ed Farseer (whose arms I'd previously stolen for another Farseer conversion) with bits of plastic arm and high elf banner pole, and mounted him on a Vyper which I was able to pick up fairly cheaply as it was missing its turret.  I'll have to count him as a Warlock Master as I already have one Farseer for this army.

Lastly, I painted up an Assassin-class Ghost Warrior.  This lovely Rogue-trader era model was the very, very generous gift of fellow OWACer Graeme.  In the lore, Ghost warriors were, like Dreadnoughts, machines powered by the souls of dead Eldar.  However, unlike the looming, powerful Dreadnoughts, they are small and stealthy, fitted with energy shields and built of a material that hides them from sensors, and so they act as infiltrators, assassins and saboteurs.  They disappeared in 2nd ed, and so for points I'll count it as a Harlequin Solitaire with a refractor field.  I used more yellow than usual and a diamond pattern on its arms to make it stand out from other troops and give the idea of harlequin-like stealth fields.

All these characters leave me very short of troops and support, so next month's challenge is to rectify this - I'm aiming to paint my pledged Warlock, squad of Scouts and a War Walker, but also fill out the army with some extra Guardians, Guardian Jetbikes (one of which was another very kind gift from Graeme), a Support Weapon, and a squad of Swooping Hawks if I have time.  Then, for the last month, I have plans for some terrain and/or objectives.

April Total: 646 pts

Avatar - 300 pts
Warlock Master, Vyper Jetbike, Singing Spear - 222 pts
Ghost Warrior (Solitaire), 2 Power Fists, Shuriken Catapult, Refractor Field - 124 pts

Ben's Eldar - OWAC VII - Rank and File Month 3

"Nearby atop a great butte, Dark Reapers arranged in three-man fireteams, stood immobile as statues.  Their massive forms radiated menace yet their presence was strangely reassuring.  Karhedron knew no enemy could approach without being the target of their missile launchers."

This month I've mostly been painting Aspect Warriors, with some non-standard colours to follow the army's blue-green-yellow-white colour scheme.  I started with some Fire Dragons including Phoenix Lord Fuegan.  When I got him with some other models, his gun was broken and power weapon missing, so I fixed him up with a sword and the end of a Guardian meltagun:

Inspired by the green elements on Fuegan, I painted another squad light green, and picked up a later edition Exarch to accompany them - not a Jes Goodwin sculpt, but nice for variety:

To match my Dark Reapers, I had converted an Exarch with a Missile Launcher and added Range Finder vanes to his helmet.  Instead of his pistol, I gave him a chainsword to help defend them at close quarters:

Looking for a colour scheme for my custom Aspect Warriors, I searched for pictures of desert lizards.  I found a rock lizard with a bright blue body and yellow head, and thought this would look striking:

I finished off another Warlock - these are definitely my favourite sculpts.  And finally, as I enjoyed painting Fuegan so much, as a bonus treat I picked up a model of Maugan Ra and after a bath in paint stripper, gave him a quick bone and dark blue paint job:

March total: 1,414 points 

(though I'd have to paint up a lot more squads & support to include all these characters...)

Warlock, Witch Blade – 66 pts

Exarch, Dark Reaper Range Finder, Missile Launcher – 100 pts

Exarch, Web of Skulls, Chainsword – 77 pts

Exarch, Fire Pike, Melta Bombs – 80 pts

Exarch, Flamer, Melta Bombs – 64 pts

Fuegan – 176 pts

Maugan Ra – 179 pts

8 Fire Dragons – 112 pts

8 Fire Dragons – 112 pts

4 Dark Reapers – 268 pts

4 Sun Basilisks - 180 pts (estimated!)

Ben's Epic Orks Rank & File Month 4 - Deathskulls Clan

Sometimes it feels a bit daft trying to apply highlights to 6mm scale miniatures, but the thought of the finished post - even if I struggle to take great photographs - always spurs me on...

Unlike my other clans, this month's Deathskulls I've painted in a mixture of several colours to show how they've looted bits and pieces from a range of owners.  But I still tried to keep the emphasis on the main clan colour (blue) so they look part of a group.

I started with some Traktor Kannons (most plastic, one combining a later metal model with a thudd gun) and Shokk Attack Gunz, and made some quick alien woods from spare Loonshrine mushrooms:

I added some Nobz, busy here doing some looting:

And some more supporting gunz - a Doomdiver Magna Kannon to pull fliers out of the sky, and a Soopa Gun to zzap titans, made from some Ebay purchase odds and ends.  The Magna Kannon gun is mounted on a Gutrippa chassis.  I don't know where the zzap gun is from (it looks non-GW to me) but it fitted fairly nicely on a spare battlewagon chassis which I finished up by mounting an older battlewagon skull ram on the front for a Deathskulls look:

Then I finally slogged my way through another 15 Boyz stands, plus a few Gretchin to do the fetching and carrying (and to complete the Clan if I use it to play Epic Armageddon):

That gives me a total of 875 points for the month!

Deathskull Clan (4 Nobz, 15 Boyz) - 500 pts
Gretchin Mob (4 Gretchin) - 0 pts
Shokk Attack Gun Team (4 Shokk Attack Gunz) - 100 pts
Traktor Kannon Battery (5 Traktor Kannon) - 75 pts
Doomdiver Magna Kannon - 50 pts
Soopa Gun - 150 pts

My ambition for the wildcard month is to deplete the leftovers box further, by either making a Mega-Gargant  building site, or painting a Blood Axes clan which will mean I have one of every Ork clan :)