More Snakemen, and a Gorgon.

This week I have painted a few more Snakemen, including two converted Standard Bearers. I am really enjoying painting them, and think that the 40mm square bases do give them the room they need. I also repainted and rebased an old Citadel 'Night Horror' ranges 'Medusa with sword'. I have added her as I plan to add her to the army as part of a bound Chaos Host.

I have also been thinking about the composition of the Snakeman army, and how they can be best represented. Originally I decided to use the Snakemen as a stand-ins for Chaos Warriors. However this would make them really expensive in points, and also crowd out any other of the options avalible to support the Snakemen. In a 3,000 point army, I would end up with 20 Snakemen/Chaos Warriors, plus a couple of Sorcerers and an Army General. Five Snakemen/Chaos Warriors, including a Magical Standard (Warbanner) and Magical Musican (Battlecall), works out at 568 points.

So,  I have been considering the following two options. Apart from the Chaos Warrior only option, I could either go for a mix of Chaos Warriors and Chaos Marauders, or Beastmen:

The Beastman option, while seeming a natural idea, means that the Snakemen would be constrained to light armour and shields, and not have the option of any Magical Standards or Musicians. This would also mean for close combat I would require larger units than the minimum 10 to stop the Snakemen from being just brushed aside in combat, a minimum of 14 at least. In addition, a unit of 14 or so, or anything on 40mm bases, takes up a lot of room on a battlefield, and is very unwieldy. Also, to make it work, I might also have to spend (a lot) more money on more Snakemen.

On the Plus side, Beastmen do have W2 and T4, and their heroes are pretty nasty in close combat, unlike the Human Chaos Marauders and Chaos Warriors with T3. They are also very cheap in points compared to Chaos Warriors and Marauders.

The mix of Chaos Warriors and Marauders does mean I can keep the heavy armour. It also allows for Magical Standards and/or Musicians, and also the option of  bows and crossbows for the Marauders  if I feel the urge to convert up some Snakemen. I also think this allows for the retention of the 'feel' of the army which I wanted: a small, focused, elite army, rather than the usual hordes I favour.

The drawbacks to this are the point values again and size of the units. The minimum size for Marauders is 10, so a basic unit with magical Standard and Musician, and Chaos Warrior leader is 552 points. However in a four wide and two deep formation with two at the back, you end up with a +4 to the units combat resolution (1 for rank bonus, 1 for the standard, 1 for the magic standard, 1 for the Magical Instrument). As I have 44 Snakemen, I can have the maximum 30 Marauders, plus some Chaos Warriors, and independent Snakemen heroes, and allows for increasing the army's points value above 3,000 points.

I might go for the mixed Chaos Warrior/Maruder option, so I can field a more workable 3,000 army, and have room for the 'add-ons', such as a Medusa, more Sorcerers, and maybe some Chaos Trolls.I will work on an army list for a future update.
Enjoy :)

More critters!!!
I mananged to paint six more Snakemen, and a Medusa, despite being in a very lazy mood! :/

Standard Bearer.
I had a broken version of S'lararet Splintered Fang, he was missing his hand and sword. So, a simple cross-bar made from brass rods, and a green stuff banner, with a green stuff hand, was added.

I painted the banner simply. I have been reading some Moorcock recently, and read a description of a Pang Tang banner that had a star of Chaos in amber. So I thought a simple glowing Chaos star, which looked like it belonged more to another plane and was hovering on the banner would look good.

The second standard bearer.
Again I had a broken miniature to use, this time a Higgat Dwarf Slicer.
The standard is a simple old Marauder miniatures shield, filled with green stuuf, stuck on a brass rod pole, with a skull on top.

Rear view.

S'Sorron Fangthrane.

Saranth Elf Mangler.

S'lon Life Smasher.
I painted the shoulder pad as a skull. I want to add a little more colour and Chaos  to the standard bronze/gold armour. 

S'lararet Splintered Fang.

Again, I painted the should pad up a different colour.

Medusa: 1980's Night Horrors range 'Gorgon with sword'.
The Chaos army is the only army in Warhammer Armies to have the option of a Gorgon, and then only one. They are handy at turning creatures into stone. I recall doing that to a Treeman once.  :)

The Snakemen so far.

Next week will be more Snakemen. I'll see if I can sort out an army list as well. I will also add some of the conversions and old Trolls I have for the army as well.