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.
The second of my armies for the undead in Warhammer Fantasy Battle is themed around the Ghoul Kings. It’s another force that has been decades in the making and is utilising figures of various ages.
As their name implies, the Ghoul Kings are followed by a court of ravenous carrion eaters, and other monstrous creatures of darkness flock to their unholy aura. Zombies rise in their wake, recent victims of their raids into the lands of the living.
Reaping the lands of the living
This army makes for 1,000 points under 8th Edition rules, ready to be combined or mixed with my existing Vampire Counts army should the opportunity arise. The Strigoi Ghoul King is a metal sculpt from the time of an earlier edition, when this type of vampire was first introduced as a distinct faction. The lowlier vampire in his thrall I just painted now, using the plastic rider from the Terrorgheist kit.
The Strigoi Ghoul King commands his minions
A vampire leads the ghouls on the hunt
Shambling dead follow the necromantic will of their master
I had finished the Varghulf some time back, but took the opportunity to highlight its wing membranes and claws further while also scattering a couple of bones on its base for decoration.
The Varghulf knows only hunger
Gratuitous bat shot for Mark
It’s a compact little infantry force, well suited for a battle even on a 4×4 gaming table. However, plans are obviously afoot to expand the army to 2,000 points. While using some existing models like more bats and Dire Wolves, the main new addition will be a Terrorgheist and some Crypt Horrors I have yet to build.
It turned into a bit of a slog towards the end, but I managed to complete my horde of 30 zombies in thrall to the Ghoul Kings for Warhammer Fantasy Battle.
The war dead march again
A dozen of the figures are metals from The Assault Group that I ordered with their Kickstarter in 2017. Five of the sculpts are now available from their store, while the sixth was an exclusive. They will tie in nicely with my fledgling Empire army, hence I painted some of the zombies up in the state colours of Ostermark and Ostland.
Once proud warriors of the Empire
Former soldiers of Ostermark
To complete the regiment I dug through my bits box and combined Citadel plastic zombie heads and arms with bodies from the archers and militia sets. One is using the legs and torso of a Perry Miniatures mercenary, while two do not use any legs since I modelled them to be emerging from the cursed soil of Sylvania.
Dark magic stirs the dead to life
Altogether I have a horde of 60 zombies now for my masters of the necromantic arts to call upon. The upcoming Fireforge zombies are looking pretty nice as well, so I might add another unit of them in future. Maybe something for my Salute 2020 shopping list.
I am sticking with the undead forces for Warhammer Fantasy Battle for the time being. Between painting up a horde of zombies I managed to complete a small hunting pack of ten ghouls that I had purchased a while back when dreaming up my Ghoul King’s force.
My existing ghouls consist of the two ranges released in metal in the 90s, while these additions are using the still current plastic set. I never liked them very much but wanted to add variety, and there isn’t much choice in ghouls for mass battle units.
The Ghoul King sends his minions on a hunt
After building them I started to like them a lot better. There are a bunch of faces I am not keen on, but by keeping those to a minimum I am quite happy with the pack now. Some of the bodies needed to be glued at an upward angle as they were leaning forward on their bases far too much (a strange practice Citadel employed on a number of regiments at the time, including their skeletons and flagellants), but other than that I did few adjustments.
Ghouls pour out from the mausoleums
The ghouls leave their cemetery with murderous intent
I’ve had some figures built for a second 30 strong unit of zombies for a while, which I am aiming to complete as part of my Ghoul King’s retinue.
The first ten are now painted, consisting mainly of figures from the Citadel plastic kit, with a few skeleton parts thrown in to make use of my spares and add variety. I also like the little rat scuttling through the mob.
The Lost and the Damned 