Everyday we're shufflin

[Bounce]

So I just bought a new Vampire army after getting a bit tired of my orcs and goblins always running off.
the fluff behind my army is based on an elven prince whom during a battle is bitten by a vampire but manages to survive but slowly succumbs to vampirism.
Now many centuries later he is still raising the dead from ancient battlefields and the small part of him which is left leads him to throw the undead hordes at other evil armies that get in his way as a form of redemption.

But onto the models. Am afraid i am not a very good painter, for me getting it between the lines is a good job.
Here is my Vamp lord and one of the necromancers (a high elf mage who seeks to become a vampire one day)

Both of them i painted up quite a few years ago.

The banshee with the wraiths.

Once noble high elf heroes and the vamp lords lover who unsuccessfully turned on him when he became a vampire.

The first three of my 180+ zombies

I've gone for a greenish skin colour, like they have been moulding away for quite a long time rather than being freshly dead.

The Spirit Host

Some Imperial soldiers, I painted them black than grey and highlighted with white but they sort of look the same as when they started.

The Grave Guard

They are not quite finished and there are a few more who didn't fit into the pic. I decided to go with a green and purple theme. Green as my favourite colour is predominant on all my armies. I wanted to try out the purple for something different and for some reason I feel its very appropriate to vampire counts.

Anyway i'd like to know what you think.

 

[Raizi]

Welcome, looking good so far. I like the vampire/female pair. One suggestion I would make is to use some washes with the skin tones, they really help bringing out the detail.

I like the selection of mini's you use, the spirit host especially is a nice change from the usual.

Looking forward to see more of your stuff.

 

[UndeadSi87]

Looking good and I like the idea.

Its great that his lover was punished becuase you turned on him for becomign a Vampire...Talk about harsh....And he clearly took her clothes! lol

 

[con-fusion]

Great theme. Nothing says punishment like getting made naked and having your lower leg swapped out for something funky. I say put her on a 40mm base and call her a Varghulf.

Also, I second the suggestion of applying washes. Nothing adds depth to color and picks out details a quicky and easily as a wash. Armor was on weapons and armor, flesh wash on skin, and brown wash on leather works wonders.

Another possibility is priming your minis black, and leaving thin lines of primer showing where different parts meet. For example, where the vampire's cloak meets his skin don't add any paint. This black line will provide instant shading and depth without costing you anything.

 

[Bounce]

Thanks for the comments. Sounds like I should get some washes. I tried a green wash once but it just made my green look green, maybe i was using it wrong?
The funky bit of her leg is actually a tree trunk as the model is a half-dryad, although I am not really sure why it has claws?
I know if someone did that to me I'd want to scream about it.

Here is the Wight King

The model is from the Tomb Kings necrosphinx which I won as the door prize to a tournament so i feel he is sort of lucky. Winning the door prize of the same tournmanet this year got me the army book I think he fits in with the Grave Guard pretty well considering they are completely different ranges although his head is substantially bigger than every other model I own except maybe the orcs which is a little bit wierd.
Also I may just be a bit odd, but I think he would look pretty awesome if he had a guitar for some reason- Terry Pratchett Soul Music style.

Am still waiting to get the fell bats, 2nd necro and werewolves in the mail

 

[Malikos]

Tomb / Wight king looks good!

I highly recommend trying out some brown washes on those bone / skin colors. A light application can go a long way in smoothing out your models. I discovered washes a few years ago and haven't looked back since!

-M

 

[Raizi]

When using washes make sure the undertone is light enough, because they don't provide much of an effect if used with a dark paint.

Another thing is to mess around with colors, use pink undertone with a purple wash, try yellow undertone with a brown wash and so on.

You will invent a lot of cool methods to paint just by experimenting how washes work with different colors (and even with each other!)

Happy painting!

 

[Grish]

Now I have this song in my head... good theme though! I think you need a skinny dude with a 20s style robot head somewhere in your army though...

 

[Santawraith]

that model gives the army a nice ancient feel from a time before the barbarians when things were civilized and advanced. Nice so nice.

 

[Bounce]

Thanks for the comments.
I think that could be why my washes didn't do much in the past I was washing onto dark green.
Here is a pic of the first lot of 60 zombies. Still heaps more to go. :O
Afraid the pic isn't great as my cameraphone can't cope with such a big unit.

 

[Bounce]

RE: Everyday we're shufflin

Last lot of models came in yesterday
So I paused the zombies to have a go at them

Necromancer/Vampire

Fell Bat

Like most of my stuff still need a bit more work but am happy with how they are looking so far.

Also for anyone interested wrote up some fluff here -> https://www.vampirecounts.net/Thread-The-fall-of-Prince-Bounce :konrad:

 

[Santawraith]

RE: Everyday we're shufflin

Hehe I use reaper models too, Loving the dire bat's looking forward to seeing more of your work.

 

[strigoi85]

RE: Everyday we're shufflin

Painting a little flat, but beautiful army! particularly varied erv:

 

[Bounce]

RE: Everyday we're shufflin

The dire bats are amazing! Particularly for their price, they are 1/3 GW price and substantially bigger.

Some more reaper minis - The Vargheists

The one on the left's pose looks a bit weird but overall I quite like them and might consider getting another three. Reaper has a good variety of poses for them.

A unit filler - Balin's Tomb
Have had this sitting around for years and it suddeny dawned on me perfect way to save painting 15 zombies.

@Strigoi805- Thanks, flat is definitely true, need to buy some more paints and washes and brushes to get some good highlighting and shading

 

[Bounce]

RE: Everyday we're shufflin

I reckon this would make a great black coach.
http://lego.cuusoo.com/ideas/view/2551

 

[Seneschal]

RE: Everyday we're shufflin

Do they now sell it as a kit? The creator was saying that it's 200 pieces but didn't say which sets he got them from.

 

[Santawraith]

RE: Everyday we're shufflin

Love the varghiests very bestial

I have a balins tomb hmmm now I have diabolical idea's for my grave guard.

 

[Bounce]

RE: Everyday we're shufflin

After finding this website, hasslefreeminis. I really love some of the female miniatures and so have been thinking about how to add them to my army.
I was thinking if I give it more of a lahmian theme and make my female Vampiress the general they could act as female warriors that she has picked up after being impressed by their battle prowess and suitably revealing clothing and included them as part of her bodyguard, with the possible intention of turning them into vampires in time. I thought I could scatter them in my grave guard unit giving a nice contrast between the dead skeletons and the living warriors.

Thoughts? Would that make the unit look confusing or silly or just super awesome and sexy?
Here is a couple.
http://www.hfminis.co.uk/shop?product=shimmer~hfe002&category=miniatures~fantasy-elves
http://www.hfminis.co.uk/shop?product=kalee-%28b%29~hfh033&category=miniatures~fantasy-humans
http://www.hfminis.co.uk/shop?product=svala~hfd002&category=miniatures~fantasy-dwarves
http://www.hfminis.co.uk/shop?product=suzi-%28b%29~hfa025&category=miniatures~modern-adventurers

I have also ordered some more vargheists, hexwraiths and ghosts so they will be coming along soon as will some more pictures hopefully.