Absyrtus' Flesh-Eater Courts Painting Log

[Absyrtus]

Howdy all!

I'll start with a quick introduction - I joined CN a few years back, but I'm military, so my work frequently gets in the way of my hobby (and when it doesn't, my family life does!)

Originally a LOTR SBG and then 40K player, WHFB was the last GW mainstream game that I got into. That said, in many ways it is my favourite. The 40K ruleset has gotten too dispersed and complex for me to follow (with codices, supplements, etc. etc.) I'd always enjoyed Fantasy from when I started with Bretonnians in 7th, through to Wood Elves and VCs in 8th. VCs ended up being by far my favourite army to play, although I enjoyed painting Elves the best as I got table-decent results with minimal effort (Bretonnians, at the other end of the scale, were even worse than Space Marines to paint).

I played a few games of 8th (maybe half a dozen, tops?) with my VCs and then got busy with work - during which time my beloved World-That-Was got destroyed. Distraught, I didn't touch AoS and pretty much gave up on the hobby except for painting the occasional 40K miniature and playing things like Space Hulk (and much later, Deathwatch Overkill).

That changed when Total War: Warhammer came out. I laid hands on that and *loved* it, which promptly led me to (literally) dust off my VC miniatures. I started checking out this AoS thing and found the simple rules (very reminiscent of LOTR, my first - and highly enjoyable - gaming system) now appealed to me as I am time poor for hobby and relatively quick, narrative battles are exactly what I'm after.

Checking out the FEC battletome, I was really taken with the whole idea of the mad Flesh-eater Courts, where everyone believes they're a Bretonnian lord of peasant but everyone is just a cannibalistic wretch. Except the abhorrants, of course - I recognised the Strigoi Ghoul King in his new guise and was glad; I'd always wanted to give one a go but always ran Vampire Lords in 8th.

Anyway, a couple of weeks later, here I am. My goal with these is to paint table-ready miniatures with a minimum of time and effort (but still have them look halfway decent). To that end, I've used my old GW Foundation Paints (probably my favourite paints from them, ever) and the new washes/shades pretty heavily, drybrushing where possible.

Without further ado, here we go with the burgeoning court of His Majesty, King Bloodgullet, First of That Name...

 

[Absyrtus]

Perhaps fittingly, the first unit painted was 20 Crypt Ghouls, a solid (if fragile) unit that I always loved in 8th. These were half finished from years back, so it was a matter of building on a basecoat and finishing them off.

 

[Absyrtus]

Next is my Marquis Gruelsop, who is visible as bare metal behind the ghouls. He towers over them, of course, and has had some success eating chunks out of units in 8th, so looking forward to seeing him in action painted in AoS.

I'll need to knock up a bit of a lightbox when I have more time, to enable better photos than these Galaxy S7 ones. Still, you get the idea.

My learning point with him was that I really need a reduced Drakenhof/Lahmian Medium mix for the flesh wash, as it still pooled too much at 2:1. In keeping with my minimal effort philosophy, I'll leave him as is, but will take that lesson forward for my next planned job, which will be the King.

 

[Borgnine]

Good to see new people around here Flesh eaters sure are getting popular lately.

I would expect them to have at least something similiar between them, but maybe it'll develop later I myself have my Varghulf completely different than ghouls. They could use some highlights, but they are still good and should work well. That philosophy of yours is good - better to go for next minis than refine single one endlessly. The bigger collection, the better. If they are all finished, then one can repaint I'm looking forward to some of your vampires

 

[Absyrtus]

Thanks very much Borgnine

In hindsight, I think the Varghulf needs a few highlights to brighten him up a bit...he is a hero, after all, and so rates some extra effort. My ghouls (much as I love them) are just cheerful little fodder cannibals, so they don't get highlights

My intention is to actually use different flesh colours to denote rank/type/position within the Court. At the bottom, of course, are the ghouls, with their greenish flesh (a la GW studio). Crypt Flayers, when I get them, will be flesh coloured, with purplish wings similar to the Varghulf's. Crypt Horrors, I am undecided as yet whether to go greenish or flesh coloured.

The true aristocracy are the pale blue flesh...the Ghoul King I'm about to start is going to have that, and the Varghulf already does.

I haven't yet decided how I'm going to paint my Zombie Dragon (or Terrorgheist when I get him)...those I think I'll figure out as I go.

Also, as a general rule the characters have blood around their mouths and on their claws - it's a kind of unofficial way that I'm setting them apart from their fellows (at least at the moment).

Thanks again for your comments - I am definitely wanting a painted army on the table, and once that is there, I'll consider tarting it up a little. My pre-heresy Word Bearers are painted to a higher standard, but due to how long that takes, I've painted two of them so far (took me less time to paint everything in this log). As rewarding as that can be, finishing models is a big motivator for me to paint more, and I really want to get this army done, so I can then get onto my other VC models that need paint too...I'd like to lavish some time and attention on Mannfred, for instance, and even more so once I lay hands on his Mortarch version!

 

[Farmer7574]

@Absyrtus I like the colours you've used on the ghouls - a nice blend of greenish flesh that allows the bones to stand out nicely. That varghulf is lovely too. Nice work mate.

 

[Absyrtus]

@Farmer7574 Thanks very much mate, much appreciated!

Here's some WIP shots of my Abhorrant Ghoul King, His Majesty King Bloodgullet. I think I'm calling the miniature itself done (might apply some blood to his fangs but apart from that he's table ready) so I mainly need to sort out the base. I might chop up an old Bretonnian archer or something to give a half dismembered body or something on the ground...his next (last?) meal, perhaps?

Once he's finished I'll get a plain white background and take some proper shots.

 

[Wasteland Jack]

Very cool. I like the grey skin look. I have been battling on color schemes for my flesh-eaters, finally went with natural color, but now I like this. Ack! I have spent way to long painting my ghoul king.

 

[Borgnine]

Well, I cannot not like pale blue vampires - best skin tone for them IMO Yours turned out great, I really like how deep and pronounced the shading is - especially that left hand, looks almost skeletal, fits him very well That's also a good use of that rock - and a good side of AoS that it allows bases bigger than normal - more place for him and some cool basing

 

[Farmer7574]

Very cool use of the ZD rocks, the positioning is cool and cold colours better so! Nicely done.