More Unreleased Slann, and the Warhammer Armies Slann Regiment from page 115.

One of my ongoing interests is collecting 1980's Slann, especially the unreleased ones. I already have some unreleased Slann, as well as a good number of the Slann from the general releases. A few weeks ago I was lucky enough to buy a batch of unreleased Slann from someone, some of which I have wanted for a long time. It has also enabled me to start, and nearly complete a slightly mad Oldhammer project.

The crazy project is simple. On page 115 of the Warhammer Armies Book (1988) is a photograph of a Slann regiment, and I am going to collect my own version of it. I have done this before with an Empire Regiment from Warhammer Armies here:

http://goblinlee.blogspot.com/2022/04/helblitzen-regiment-project-part-two.html

However, there is a caveat. As a long time Slann collector it always concerned me that there are several miniatures in the photograph which I had never seen in blister packs at the time or seen listed in catalogues. This always puzzled me until I found out that the Citadel sculptors sometimes made miniatures which never made it to release for some reason. That could have been due to casting problems, that they were just conversions which were given a test casting, or that they might just never got around to releasing them. Several of those in the photograph seemed to fit into that definition,
and so I put the idea to the back of my mind, until a few weeks ago.

As I mentioned, I managed to buy at four of those unreleased miniatures in one go, as well as another which is unlisted. This got me re examining the photograph, and over several evenings I think that I have managed to identify all of the miniatures used, with one possible exception. Leaving aside that exception for the time being, I found to my surprise I now only require one Slann to complete the regiment.

Anyway, below are the Slann from the batch which I purchased. Also there is a quick run through of the miniatures which I think are used in the regiment. If anyone has any better information please feel to let me know. I don't intend starting painting this regiment yet, but it has definitely got me thinking about the Slann again. Anyway, all of the Slann in the regiment appear to be from the slotta based C32 Slann releases sculpted by Trish Carden (at the time Trish Morrison), or conversions of her work from the range. There is a great reference for all the released Slann at the CCM Wiki page here:

http://www.collecting-citadel-miniatures.com/wiki/index.php/Slann_-_Collectors_Guide#White_Dwarf_96_.28December_1987.29_-_C32_Slann

Enjoy :)

The batch of Slann.
All of the Slann here, except for the bottom left one, are unreleased. The bottom left one was uncatalogued, but not particularly uncommon in blister packs.

This Slann is armed with a dagger, and has a boss for a shield. The body appears to be sculpted from the Slann 'Unlisted with club '. The dagger is the same as the one used on the Slann 'Toltec'. 

Side view.

Rear view.
Unlike the 'unlisted Slann with club', this Slann appears to have more of a flower headdress and less of a fur cape.

Slann with sword.
He appears to be a conversion of  'Itzadodyl' , with the addition of the sword from 'Nanuazin', and the feather headress from 'Allda'.

Rear view.

Slann with, erm, something!?
I think it is a type of double handed weapon or Slann Scythe in the shape of a birds head. Alternatively, given an interesting paint job it might be used as a standard. Anyway, this Slann appears to be located at the rear right of the regiment.
He appears to be a conversion from 'Cupacocoa'.

Rear view.

Slann with skull on a stick and dagger!
This Slann may have been sculpted to be a Mage/wizard, or maybe a standard bearer/totem bearer?
He appears to be a conversion from Alligator Warrior 'Pek'.

Rear view.

The Slann 'Unlisted with club'.
This miniature, as mentioned above, was unlisted in any catalogue or release sheet, but wasn't uncommon (but by no means as common as the other C32 Slann) to see in blister packs at the time.

Rear view.

The Slann regiment from page 115 of Warhammer Armies (1988).

My interpretation of which Slann were used in the regiment.
From left to right, and starting with the front row:

Hacienda, Lumholtz, Huemal,Unlisted with club, unreleased Slann.

Toltec, unreleased Slann, Zipanzuma, Naxlatl,Unlisted with sword.

Unreleased Slann, Huastecan, Unreleased Slann, Unreleased Slann with axe (missing from my collection, see below), unreleased Slann.

Nanuazin, Allda, Potzalco, possible TSF18 Space Slann 'Scoitz',* unreleased Slann.

*Concerning the possible TSF18 Space Slann 'Scoitz', I have only identified him by his head. It is possible, and likely, that there is a conversion of him using the same body. I have a vague recollection of seeing a conversion of the Scoitz miniature with two heavy swords, similar to Nanuazin's one.

The unreleased Slann with axe is the only miniature which I am sure of missing. I have only seen it pictured twice, once in the Warhammer Fantasy Battle 3rd Edition rule book, page 232 (pictures in the centre of the above photograph), and secondly converted into a standard bearer in a White Dwarf (I can't recall the issue number, it's from about 1987). 
Needless to say, I would like to acquire this miniature, not only to complete the regiment, but as I have always wanted one anyway.

Regimental Leader, the Slann hero on a Cold One.
The hero is quite straightforward. It is a converted 'Hacienda' miniatures, riding the Cold One 'Runner', neither of which are really that rare (well, for Slann anyway!), and a long spear with a spear tip from the Slann 'Quinenz'.

Unreleased Slann.
As an aside, this is another unreleased Slann miniatures which I have. This one is based on the body of 'Zipanzuma'. He has been given an extensive (looted?) chain mail coat, and an unusual looking axe. Given the extensive use of unreleased Slann in the Warhammer Armies Slann regiment, it is possible that this miniature may have been used, rather than the ordinary Zipanzuma model. I will investigate the photograph again, and maybe swap them around, just so this unreleased model is with others.

Rear view.

Next blog update may be on a number of things. I am currently sorting through my old 40k Praetorian army with an eye to repainting and reorganising. I have also been sorting out my early Rogue Trader collections, namely the Orks, Tyranids, and Imperial Army. Also, I have been looking again at my Slaves to Darkness era Daemon armies. As of yet I haven't settled on a project.

The Last of the Tomb Kings (for now).

 For now, at least, this is the last Tomb Kings update. I have finally finished the army, although I do still have one regiment converted from old Khemri Blood Bowl miniatures on hold, but the army is essentially finished. Also, given GW's impending released of new Tomb Kings miniatures (later this year?)  I am sure I will be painting a few more before the year is out.

In truth, I had finished painting these miniatures in May, but the photographs have been in the 'reserve' awaiting a blog update. In the meantime I have been addressing other projects, which I am eager to make a start on, and I have also felt that this project has gone on long enough. This is the main reason for this last update with everything left to blog about in this one update.

I have thoroughly enjoyed painting the Tomb Kings, and loved giving some attention to a lovely old range of miniatures which I felt I had neglected for years. I have learnt a lot about different and new styles of painting and colours, and enjoyed returning to both Undead, and revisiting real world Ancient Egyptian history and mythology as I painted the Tomb Kings. 

Enjoy :)

Converted Liche Priest.
I have used the Necromancer body from the Mortis Engine, an Old Tomb Kings head, and a Tomb Kings chariot spear blade. I love the floaty menace he has! 

Another converted Liche Priest.
This Liche Priest is converted from GW's current plastic Necromancer miniature, with another old Tomb Kings head, and a Tomb Guard blade 

Metal Tomb King.
This was the Army General of my first Tomb Kings army at the time of their first release, and so I was pleased to be able to give him an updated paint. It's a lovely miniatures, with the outstretched arm seemingly grasping for more temporal power.

Tomb Prince.
Again, another old metal miniature from my initial Tomb Kings army. Again, a lovely miniature, especially the shield (see below).

Tomb Princes shield.

Converted Tomb Herald.
I wanted a bodyguard looking Tomb Herald miniature, and so used an old metal Icon Bearer miniature as a basis, then added a pair of plastic skeleton warrior arms, and an old metal Tomb Guard shield.

Left hand view of the converted Tomb Herald, showing the shield. 

Two regiments of 40 Skeleton Warriors.
Both regiments are armed with swords and shields, and in addition have light armour.
When constructing all of the Skeleton Warrior for the whole army, I took care to keep the torsos with armour to one side in order to equip these regiments with them.

The first regiment.
This regiment has the straight swords from the Skeleton Warriors set, as well as the helmets heads from the same kit.

Command group.

Three Warriors with their straight swords.

The second regiment.
This regiment is equipped with the curved swords from the Skeleton Warriors kit, although not with the helmets.

Command group.

Swordsmen.

Archer regiment.
I have a few plastic skeletons left at the end of everything, and so bought another few to make a further archer regiment of 20.

Leader.

Standard bearer and musician.

Archers.

More archers!

Mummy.
I had an old 1990's Mummy miniature laying around, and so painted him up. He will probably end up as a Tomb Prince of Liche Priest.

And that's it, for now. As I mentioned before I have a few odds and ends Tomb Kings left to finish off, but I will revisit them when the new GW releases appear.

The next few updated will be returned to some older Oldhammer miniatures.

Tomb Kings: Settra the Imperishable.

The great ruler of Khemri himself, Settra the Imperishable.

I had been putting off this miniature for a while as it was a complicated one to assemble, and also required me building a special base for him to sit on. This is the old pewter metal one which I have had sitting in a box for about 15 years! It is a lovely miniature, surprisingly fun to paint, and fun to do.

First of all I had to build him a specific base, as he wasn't supplied with base big enough, and I didn't have a plastic base big enough. The base was simply a piece of plastic card cut to size, and then modelled with Milliput. I added a variety of spare bits to add some flavour to the base, and added the skeletal horses to the Milliput whilst is was drying so they were embedded strongly onto the base.

Once the base was built, it was on to the construction of the metal Settra and his chariot. Both of these were again more straightforward to assemble than I thought they may be. I assembled, and then kept  Settra and the chariot separate, so they would be easier to paint, with the idea of assemble them together at the end.

Painting was easy. I used the dusty method, which worked well with the model. I added a few more details that I would normally have done, but there was nothing too problematic in the painting, or in the painting of the base.

And that is it. It's a lovely model. It will be interesting to see if GW produce a new model for Settra in their forthcoming Warhammer: The Old World releases, and if they do what he will look like.

Enjoy :)

Settra the Imperishable.

Slightly closer view of front.

Thundering across the desert.

Side view.
I was quite impressed by the detailing on the chariot.

Close up of Settra.

Scarabs fleeing Settra's oncoming chariot.
I wanted to convey a greater sense of motion and dramatic onslaught to the model, so I added the flying scarabs from the various Tomb Kings plastic kits.

More Scarabs.

Random skull decoration from the GW Arcane Ruins set.

Skeleton (spare from the Casket of Souls), scarabs, and skulls.

I only have one more update on the Tomb Kings left to do, and then they are finished. Well, until GW releases the Warhammer: The Old World.
Meanwhile, I am looking to paint some goblins at some point, and I am also returning to my 1988/90 Realms of Chaos Daemon Legions as well.

Tomb Kings Screaming Skull Catapults.

A Rare choice option for the Tomb Kings armies, the Screaming Skull Catapults.

With so many lovely and terrifying options for Rare choices in a Tomb Kings army, I sometimes felt that the Screaming Skull Catapult was overlooked. The models are great, but can be a problem to assemble, and being all pewter glued to pewter, they could be fragile. I always liked the idea of having some sort of war machine in the Tomb Kings army, and one which can shoot over the heads of regiments always meant they could be positioned behind the army, whilst the rest of the army didn't have to worry about getting in it's way.

The models themselves are great. The idea is to have a bone constructed, walking, shooting, undead war machines, an idea reused by GW in the Ossiarch bonereapers army. The Tomb Kings version shoots piles of skulls which magically burn fire, and scream at you at the same time! You can also upgrade to Skulls of the Foe, effectivity shooting back the skulls of your enemies, presumably also screaming and on fire as well!

Anyway, back to the models. They were fun to paint. One problem I did encounter was that a second hand e-bay purchase was missing the feet! So to counter this I built up the base with millput to suggest that the Screaming Skull Catapult was partly buried in the sands.

Enjoy :) 

Both Screaming Skull Catapults.
I placed both on the chariot sized bases to make them sturdier.

The first of the two (with feet!).

Side view.

Front.
This one was missing the little beard on the left side skull, so I just added millput to suggest a little mound of sand.

Left side.

Crew.
The crew are the same for both, so I only photographed one set.

The other Screaming Skull Catapult.

Side view showing the buried feet (or rather not showing them!).

Front view.

Left side view.

As the Tomb kings project is drawing to a close, I shall be posting the backlog of photographs of completed items of the next few weeks. I only have one more regiment left to paint.