The Tomb Kings arise once again!

 One of my favourite armies over the years has always been the Tomb Kings. I've always had a love of the Undead, and Ancient Civilisations, especially Ancient Egyptian. Add to that the magic and the backstory, and of course some lovely miniatures, and I was sold (twice over, once each at both releases!). The Mummy (1999) also being one of my favourite films helped immensely.

At both Tomb King releases I (2002 and 2011) I collected and gamed with them, but I was never satisfied with my painting of them. My painting style has changed over the last few years, taking more account of highlighting, and being less fussy. I have also decided to paint things in a way I want to rather than how I felt I should. The old painting of my tomb Kings army was fine, quite serviceable, but I never felt the soul (or soullessness?) of the army. So, I never really enjoyed gaming with them felt the painted had been a chore, and I didn't really appreciate the miniatures. The same is true of my 40k Praetorian Imperial Guard army, which I am also looking to re-visit, but that will be a later project.

Anyway, I spent some time looking again at the Tomb Kings artwork, re-reading the background, looking at how other people people painted their Tomb Kings (often now the articles are some years old given the time frame of the demise of Warhammer and rise of Age of Sigmar), and generally getting the feel and vibe of the Tomb Kings once more. Whilst doing this I found an interesting article, with the link below.
https://echoesfromthewarp.wordpress.com/2015/04/18/painting-awesome-tomb-kings-in-5-easy-steps/

Here the painter has opted for a darker tone, but with form of directional light painting style reflecting the glow of the desert sun. Now I'm not a fan of directional light painting, but the dark, dusty, non fussy style is similar to how I originally envisioned the Tomb Kings via watching the Mummy (1999) film, and the general feel of ancient Egyptian artefacts and tombs. So I slightly modified the paint scheme, focusing less on the directional light glow (although not totally abandoning it) and more on the dusty feel. I'm very happy with the results, and they are very quick to paint (helped by me being on holiday last week). I haven't yet finalised the basing technique I am going to use, but a darker desertlook using a darkened down Citadel Agrellan Earth texture paint is at the forefront of my approach. The following miniatures are a mix of test models, and items I just wanted to paint in the new colour scheme to try it out.

Enjoy :)

Swordsmen.
I have opted to keep the turquoise blue as the colour theme for the army as it just feels very Tomb Kings. 

Close up.

Spearman test model.

Converted mounted Liche Priest.
I swapped the staff and right arm for the right arm and halberd from the metal Tomb King model.

Left hand side.

Sepulchral Stalker.

Ushabti.
This is one of the few Finecast models I own. I have experimented with a mix of Citadel Agrellan Earth and dark brown, and then slightly highlighted, as a possible basing technique.

Chariot test model.
I like how the horses look, and the faded, dusty look of the chariot body.

Bone Giant.
I love the Bone Giant miniature, and in the first army book it was the formidable monster for the Tomb Kings. However when the second army book was released I always thought they were eclipsed by the new Warsphinx and Necrosphinx models, although I still always tried to include one in an army.

My other Bone Giant.

Plastic Tomb Guard.
I love these miniatures, and they were a great plastic kit.

Close up of a pair of Halberdiers, and the Standard Bearer.

High Queen Khalida.
Unlike the rest fo the Tomb Kings army I have opted to for green as her theme colour. She will is the leader of a large unit of Skeleton Archers (see below) who I have also themed green to differentiate them from the rest of the army and to suggest they are a slightly separate contingent from the city of Lybaras.

High Queen Khalida leading her archer regiment.

The next update will be more of the Tomb Kings army. I want to keep working my way through this army until I finish it. i will update more in detail about some the the models above, and hopefully I will have based them.

Horus Heresy Thousand Sons: Contemptor Dreadnoughts, and Heavy Support squad.

 Amongst other things, I been continuing painting my Horus Heresy Thousand Sons. Now after last months internet related debacle, I am pleased to say I now am back online (after three weeks, and a £70 Computer repair bill!).

Anyway, painting wise I have painted 3 Contemptor Dreadnoughts, and a 10 man strong Missile Launcher armed Heavy Support Squad. I have a few more odds and ends for this army to paint, but I am eager to move on to some older miniatures. I have been paint stripping and reorganising a couple of my more Late and Middle- Hammer armies, namely Tomb Kings, and Praetorian Imperial Guard, with an eye to re-visiting the look and feel of the armies. More on that another time though.

Returning to the Thousand Sons, I have been painting them following the suggestions from an old Games Workshop YouTube video which I have found to be useful, for which the link is below. There is a more recent version of the video as well, but I found it unnecessarily complicated, and so I followed the older one.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f91CuI4U3F8&t=75s

The bases were achieved by first cutting up some plasticard in small squares to look like stone slabs. I painted them in a black and white chequerboard style to add some contrast to the base, and because I like the style. I added the texture by using Citadels Martian Ironcrust texture paint, and then when it has dried, dry brushing the Martian Ironcrust, the slabs, and the bottom parts of the legs with Citadels Eldar Flesh to suggest dust.
I still need to add add the Thousand Sons transfers, but I shall probably do that for the whole army in one go.

Enjoy :)

Contemptor Dreadnoughts.
I have opted for the twin-linked lascannons as I like the anti-vehicle punch, and they look good. I also added a spare Tomb Kings scarab (from the Warsphinx kit I think?) to the shoulder to give that little extra decoration which you sometimes see in the Thousand Sons artwork.

I should really name these, but for now here's the first one!

Rear view.

The second one.

Rear view.

My converted Contemptor-Osiron Dreadnought.
This mark of Dreadnought is unique to the Thousand Sons and is a form of Psychic Dreadnought. I thought it would good to have one in the army. It is converted from the Dreadnought kit from the Betrayal at Calth box set. I did this rather than buy the Forge World kit because I didn't want to spend the money on the expensive Forge World kit, and because being Forge World resin I didn't really trust it not to snap or melt, or to arrive damaged. So I converted my own unique one for a kit I had to hand.

Rear view.

Side view showing the magical inscriptions.

The Contemptor-Osiron Dreadnought is also equipped with a Gravis Force Blade. In order to have one of these on the Dreadnought I used a Tomb Blade from an old Tomb Kings Tomb Guard arm. This I found was a good size, has lovely inscribed arcane details on the blade, was free as I already had one (!), it fitted the look well with the skull hilt being away from the arm, and of course it is less like to snap off or droop, unlike the Forge World one.

Heavy Support Squad.
I wanted a Heavy Support squad in the army, and opted for the Missile Launchers as they have a good anti-vehicle role, anti-aircraft role, and can also shoot infantry if the need arises. I wanted to use the Mark III bodies to give that heavy, chunky feel, however I didn't have any Mark III Missile Launcher arms. So I used the Mark IV ones I already had, which I don't think really notices greatly.

The Sergeant (he has extra gold painted on him) on the left, and an ordinary Marine.

Views of the missile launchers.

Next blog update may be on some more of the Thousand Sons. However I am currently (last night and this morning in fact) test painting and working out colour schemes for my revamped Tomb Kings army, and so I might feature some of those. I also want to get the Tomb Kings painted with a wish to working on some Goblins toward the end of the year. 

New edition horus heresy thousand sons.

 First of all,  this is a bit of an ad hoc blog update.  My nieghbours house was struck by lightning (they are ok)but this has shorted out the phone lines and internet.  As a consequence,  I am updating my blog via my phone!

Anyway , I have been busy.  I have caught the 2nd edition horus heresy bug (not in the same way as the death guard you understand!), and I have started a Thousand Sons force. 

I love the new miniatures for the horus heresy, and so thought it would be great fun to paint something contemporary. I chose the Thousand Sons as I like their tragic backstory, the paint scheme looks great.

I will do a proper update when I have my internet up and running,  but for now this s is just a little preview.  In addition I have also been revisiting my Praetorian army.

Enjoy 🙂

Paladins, Knights, and Lords of Battle.

 A bit of a busy month this month, but not alas with painting. I have however painted a few 1980's Citadel Paladins, Knights, and Lords of Battle range miniatures, really just for the fun of painting them. Nothing special in the painting, but I just wanted to paint a few of the Knights which I have had for a long time, and never painted. They will probably end up in a Rieksgard unit for my 3rd Edition Empire army.

In addition, I have been caught up by the current release of Games Workshops Horus Heresy range. I have dug out my old (2015, so not old really!) Betrayal at Calith box set and have been glueing plastic Mark III and IV Marines with an eye (a Horus based eye if you will) to build a Traitor Legion force, in my case a Thousand Sons army. More on that in a later update no doubt.  

Enjoy :)

F2 Fighter 'George Eaglehelm'.
I do love this miniature. He is bulky without being too big, and has splendid armour. The halberd/spear/double-handed weapon is unusual as well. He is actually only one of the miniatures in this batch which I had painted before, back in the 1980s, paint stripped, and repainted.

Rear view.

F5 Paladin 'Sir Kull of Death'.
I have no idea why I painted the armour red, but I thought it would suit him. With the two swords I think he looks a little more like a bandit or duellist, but he might just be a very earnest and determined Paladin?

Rear view.

F2 Lord of Battle range 'Furioso' (not to be confused with the Dreadnought class!).
He is a sturdy looking Knight with a heavy duty looking two-hand morning star. I though the ball and plume on his helm looked a little like a thistle, and so I painted it as such. He might end up as a Knight of Harkness in the rebel army from the McDeath scenario.

Rear view.

Another F2 Lord of Battle, this time 'Gustavus'.
He is armed with a big, mean, looking axe. His upper armour looks a little too bulky, but is fine, adding to the bulky feel of the model.

Rear view.

The final miniature is an old pre-slotta C01 fighter. I am not aware of him being named. I love the daemon head decoration on his helm.

Rear view.

A very modern distraction.

No idea what the next update will be on, I am currently between very modern miniatures, and some lovely Oldhammer things.:)

Step pyramids and Slann Blowpipers.

 Ok, this isn't the "Oldhammer themed showcase of something quite special and interesting" as promised, as the absence of available time has intervened to delay me, but soon, I promise.

However, in the last few weeks I have been tinkering with my 1st to 3rd Edition Slann collection. I have converted some Cold One riders, and also painted a couple of new background boards, three step pyramids to grace the jungles of Lustria, and finally I have painted 26 Slann.

I am not going to focus on painting Slann at the moment as I have some other areas I am working on, namely the cataloguing and organising of my 3rd Edition Warhammer Fantasy Battle Armies. It was however quite fun to back to the Slann for a while. Anyway, for now, here are the Step Pyramids and the Slann blowpipes.

Enjoy :)

Three Step Pyramids.

The first pyramid was originally produced in the 1990's by Fantasy Forge miniatures, then by Grendel Miniatures. It is currently being produced by Scotia Grendel, and like all three of the pyramids it is made from resin, although unlike the others, this is a multi-part kit.
For a step pyramid it's an odd design, not very 'stepped' really. However I do quite like it, and it has a weird sci-fi Slann feel, and I can imagine Slann leaping up the sides.
I based all of the pyramids on plastic card, and then added plastic card squares to the bases to look like ruined flagstones.

Side view.

The top of the pyramid.
The decoration looks sort of Aztec-ish, but also has a weird alien look to it, suggesting some sort of magical or arcane technological function. It reminds me of the 2nd Edition Warhammer Fantasy rules for Power Weapons where they drag the unsuspecting wielder to pyramids in Lustria to perform routine chores and lever pulling (it's true, look it up, p28 of the 'Battle Magic' Book!).

The larger of the two more normal looking step pyramids.
I cannot recall from whom I bought them, but it was at one of the Salute conventions a good few years ago. I painted a little bit of colour on every third step to break up the grey, and add some Slann mystic mystery.

Side view.

The smaller of the two pyramids.
It's just like the other one, but smaller and with blue every other second step.

Side view.

25 Slann Blowpipers moving through the jungle and past ancient pyramids.
Some time ago I painted 20 of the C32 Slann 'Akabylk' miniature, but I grew unhappy with the way they looked. So I had decided to split the regiment of 20 into two units of 10, and update the paint work making each unit slightly different. I have based the look upon the description of the Venom Tribes.
In addition, I painted another 5 in blue, to fulfil the function of Scouts.

The first unit.
They have green loin cloths and a blue markings on their blowpipes. I painted different marking on the blowpipes to help with quick and easy battlefield identification.

The second unit.
They have orange loin cloths, and green markings on their blowpipes. 

Scouts!
I wanted to keep these simple and to paint some Slann blue as per the physique description of Slann in the various editions rulebooks.

C32 Slann 'Pintamilkada'
I painted him just for the fun of it whilst I was painting the blowpipers.
Another comedy Slann name too!

The next blog update will probably be the Slann conversions as I wanted to show what I have been doing, and also I may be a little pushed for time in the next few weeks and might not be able to paint anything else. I'll see. :)