In the world of Fantasy most tables at Salute 2016 were run by manufacturers demoing their products and games.
An exception was this massive table heaving with miniatures brought together by the Ilford Wargames Group. The Fall of the Life Goddess witnessed a titanic clash between the forces of Good and Evil, using a wide variety of fantasy races and sculpts from Citadel Tomb Kings to Grenadier Barbarians.
Fall of the Life Goddess by Ilford Wargames GroupFall of the Life Goddess by Ilford Wargames GroupFall of the Life Goddess by Ilford Wargames GroupFall of the Life Goddess by Ilford Wargames GroupFall of the Life Goddess by Ilford Wargames Group
On the other end of the spectrum, Otherworld Miniatures ran skirmish level encounters with their range of classic D&D inspired figures.
Skirmish gaming with Otherworld MiniaturesSkirmish gaming with Otherworld Miniatures
Renedra built this display table with their new plastic castle set.
Castle by Renedra
For Freebooter’s Fate this demo table in a sunny lagoon made great use of aquarium plants.
I’ve had the temple kit from Citadel sitting around for a while, undecided on the style to paint it in. Now working on my Tomb Kings for Warhammer Fantasy Battle again, it seemed like the perfect opportunity for creating a set of army specific terrain.
The legions of the Tomb Kings rise in defence of their necropolis
The only paints I used for the sandstone are Zandri Dust, Agrax Earthshade (pure and watered down) and Screaming Skull (for drybrushing).
I left everything as single pieces to allow maximum flexibility in terms of layout. There is enough stuff in the kit to khemrify a whole battlefield, and it can also be used for dungeon crawling and skirmishing in and around.
The pillars of the temple might have tumbled, but its defenders still keep their watch
I wanted to add a few faded spots of colour to both hint at the past grandeur of what are now desolate ruins and to tie the terrain in with the theme of my army. I picked the blues from the shields in the Skeleton Warriors regiment (Kantor Blue and Enchanted Blue) and drybrushed over them in the same sandstone tones as for the rest of the piece.
Those who pass under these arches enter the realm of the dead
To pick out the inlaid skull on the floor of the temple I painted it in white, applied some light washes in the recesses and then drybrushed over the top with sandstone.
The temple is a focus for necromantic powers
The obelisk I painted in the same way as the other columns. There is the potential to pick out individual areas separately. The top for example could be bronze or golden and the panels painted. I’ll wait until other core elements of the army itself are finished before making any such additions, since I am undecided on whether to introduce another colour like dark red to its theme, maybe to indicate some units’ elite status.
An obelisk proclaiming the might of a long forgotten ruler
I’m revisiting my Tomb Kings for Warhammer 8th Edition, and my plan for this year is to finish painting a core of infantry, cavalry and chariots plus some accompanying scenery. Additional motivation for this project was provided by the excellent BBC documentary series Immortal Egypt which is now on the iPlayer to catch up on.
Some years ago I raised a regiment of Skeleton Warriors with simple base colours and drybrushing which I’m improving gradually by applying additional highlighting. I’ve done that so far on the first rank and am now happy with the overall look of the unit. Eventually I’m hoping to revisit the rear ranks as well, but first I want to make progress on the new elements of the force to get them all to a battle worthy state.
Deep ranks of spearmen are the backbone of the armies of Khemri
Also part of the force already are two units of Skeleton Archers and a Liche Priest that I bought second hand, painted to a nice standard as a bonus.
The army of the Tomb Kings is lining up in battle formation
I’ve returned to my Forces of Undeath army for Oldhammer which I ‘finished’ last year to add more options, additional corpses to raise from the grave by foul spells and just satisfy my desire to paint more old bones.
There are no rules for Skeleton Ogres in Warhammer 3rd Edition, but since Rab kindly did all the legwork and shared his house rules, I’ll simply add these as an extension to the Warhammer Armies list.
For a review of the sculpts, WIP shots and conversion ideas, check out Azazel’s Bitz Box.
Skeletal ogres are towering over the rank and file of the undead
There are only two figures, but for old school Warhammer I’ve never fielded monstrous creatures in larger units anyway. The sculpts fit well with the classic Citadel/Marauder aesthetics and feel like a natural addition to my army.
Swinging a large club isn’t a problem even with an entirely empty skullA man-eater in life, even in death the ogre still hungers for flesh
A small group of Giant Slayers has joined my Imperial Dwarfs for Oldhammer. They have a very distinct look from anything else in the army, but are instantly recognisable as Dwarfs.
Fiery haired and eyed Slayers seeking their doom in battle
Based on the same basic sculpt with identical legs, torso and axe, these early Slayers were created by the Perry brothers, along with all the other figures in my Dwarf army so far.
Their hefty double headed axes can fell the largest monsters
The “very upset berserker” from 1985 and his two mates were incorporated into the Norse Dwarf range and could be fielded as a unique troop type. For my purposes, they are Slayers and got the orange hair treatment to tie them all together while adding variety in styles.
With berserk fury these Dwarfs throw themselves at the enemy
The Lost and the Damned 