I’ve added some more big beasts to my army of the Ghoul Kings in the form of three Crypt Horrors. As with the Ghouls, I wasn’t keen on the sculpts originally, but by choosing the parts I liked and painting them in my chosen pale colours I am now very happy with the result. Or whatever the equivalent of happiness is for a cold hearted necromancer like myself.
The Crypt Horrors turn the town into a charnel houseMad hunger fuels these beastsCrypt Horrors tower over other Ghouls
I still have the Terrorgheist to add to the force as well, but for now I’ll probably move on to other vampiric houses and practitioners of the necromantic arts. I do like the idea of adding a unit of human followers in the form of the Strigany to the Ghoul Kings though, eventually.
My Oldhammer Dwarfs have called their warriors to war, and a solid regiment of 20 has been raised under the ancestral Banner of the Anvil. For the troopers I used plastic figures from the Fantasy Regiments box set. I equipped them with a mixture of axes and hammers but decided on plain helmets rather than horned ones to better fit in with the other regiments in the army. The champion in the metal command group is a random Norse dwarf from my collection, which I will eventually replace with an Imperial version. At that point I will obviously have to start a Norse mercenary force to put him to use.
Dwarf warriors line up to defend their land
Since these warriors are not part of a standing army but a militia, raised as needed from the local craftsmen, farmers etc., I gave them a mix of clothing and shields with various colourful, simple patterns. This still leaves me the option of later adding runes or symbols as the regiment distinguishes itself through heroic deeds. I think the variety in colours and shapes also helps break up the mono-pose look.
Each dwarf carries their personal colours
The banner is a freehand job, inspired by a version in Warhammer Armies. It’s simply painted on paper, with PVA glue between both sides that helps keep its shape.
An anvil symbolises the tough nature of these fightersThe warriors take their place in the dwarf battle line
My mate undeadhighelf kindly sent me three Grotz, providing me with the perfect opportunity to expand my Blood Axe warband with a Runtherd and his minions. Usually part of the Squig Katapult crew, they make great looking assistants working in the Squig Acquisition department of the horde.
Stab, net and stash – the three steps of squig hunting
Once a warband reaches a certain size, it’s really time to hire a GR Manager to keep all those pesky employees in check that are not like Orks motivated enough by the prospect of the next good scrap. The Runtherd is a firm believer in the carrot and stick approach to leadership. Unfortunately for the Gretchin, the squigs ate all the carrots.
Grot Resource Management is a thankless taskHeadin’ out to hunt sum squigs
There’s a lot of rank and file painting going on for my Orcs & Goblins and Dwarfs for Warhammer 3rd Edition lately. In-between I also managed to complete the command for my greenskins finally, consisting of an Orc Shaman and an Orc Warlord.
Zogdrek and Durgork muster the army
The wizard is the very same I bought in the early 90s (?) as part of the Poly the Wyvern box set. It had base colours on for a couple of decades but only now can be considered finished.
The shamanic staff crackles with malevolent energy
The hero is a new addition but also a vintage model, courtesy of Kev Adams of course. He’s a real brute, with possibly some Black Orc blood in his family tree.
The general holds a rousing speech that is unfortunately too vulgar to be related here
In lieu of any significant hobby progress and to battle the Salute-That-Never-Was 2020 blues this weekend I set up a Discord server for The Lost and the Damned. I hope some of you lot will join me there for raving discussions and colourful banter about toy soldiers and the worlds they inhabit.
For my part I’ll be using it to present some of the activities that don’t make the cut for a blog post, like staging this single player Warhammer 3rd Edition battle between my nearly finished Orcs & Goblins and my not quite so nearly finished Dwarfs.
