Malisteen's Army Log: 5/16 Drakenhof Templar

[Sception]

Well, I'm finally back from out of town. Unfortunately, not much time before classes start. Haven't been quite up to painting yet, and too cold for priming, so I've been doing some modeling:

Sorry for the poor pictures. Camera's not doing too well lately.

Anyway, I figured since Crypt Horrors are ghouls mutated by drinking a ghoul king's vampyric blood, that the most powerful among them would be those who drank the most blood and showed the most vampyric taint from it, hence the use of Vargheist bits on my unit champ.

They still need some green stuff gap filling, especially where I used non-standard arms - not just on the champ, I also swapped arms a bit on a couple of the others just to avoid the chorus line effect. That's why the champ's trophey spikes aren't on his back yet, don't want them to get in the way of the sculpting work.

I was looking at different options for unit fillers to get to eight, but none of them were working out too great, so I eventually opted for the broken columns seen above. I think it works well enough for now. Still need to get a metal unit tray for them, and pick up some more magnets for the bases as well.

 

[Titcher]

That Necromancer is unreal, love the green effect.

 

[Sception]

Test model for arvhers. Sorry again for poor pics.

Didn't want to mix skeleton styles in the army, but didn't want to do any effortful conversion work. This seems a lazy enough middle ground.

work has continued on other stuff as well. Just found out that the lical gw has been running an end times themed escalatiob league sort of thing for a while - first ive been there since the holidays. Theyre about to go to 2k, so im gonna jump in there. In the spirit of the end times, this is the list im looking at

Nagash
Lv 2 necromancer
40 zombles cmd
40 zombles cmd
20 archerz, std n mus
5 wolves, chp
5 wolves, chp
Spirit host
Spirit host
Heirotitan, im using the nightbringer
Casket

Assembly wise, ive got to do the archers, and finish the titan. Everything needs painting.

*pls forive typos, am on mobil

 

[Sception]

we had an unusually warm day today, and i was anle to use it to get the rest of my 2000 point army primed. List is as above, except adding a champ to the archers at the cost of downgrading the lv2 nec to an lv1 with dispel scroll.

Anyway, that includes:

Nagash, and:

Morr's Lament, my counts-as-heirotitan using the nightbringer model.


Still need to add texture paint to the bases of the archers and casket before theyre really ready to paint, but i should be able to make some progress this weekend.

 

[Blutsauger]

Good use of the Nightbringer model. I wouldn't have thought to use it, but it doesn't look at all out of place!

 

[Sception]

I've been doing some work on new unit trays and figure cases, sort of following @Mc1gamer 's design, though not as fancy as theirs. I like them, but will probably be replacing these cases with better ones in the future. Here's one of them:

I hot glued in wavy foam for Nagash, and will likely have to do similar for other tall models in the future.


I've also purchased and assembled my first Mortarch kit. I had originally planned to magneized, but since I plan on collecting or converting all nine Mortarchs eventually I decided not to bother and just assembled my favorite of the three: Arkhan. Well, my favorite for model and narrative, of the three abyssal riding mortarchs I think Manny's my favorite rules, wise, but some times you gotta go with your heart. I modeled him toppling a statue of Morr, as an act symbolically representing the victory of undeath over death, but mostly to keep the model from wobbling like a bobblehead every time you move it, which is the one thing I don't like about the dread abyssal model as is. Unfortunately, I didn't realize that, between the slightly more reared-up pose it ended up with as a result, and arkhan glued on top with his staff in the air instead of removably magnetized, he would end up too tall to fit upright in my cases, so he'll eventually need to get a foam bed like nagash.

It still needs a bit of cleaning & gap filling, plus basing, but it should be ready to prime next week, when the weather's supposed to warm up a bit.

I've done a bunch of other modeling, basing, & hobby stuff, but nothing much for pictures.

 

[Sception]

Been working on my grave guard, Krell's Doomed Legion. This lot is ready for (re)priming - those with paint on them are relics from a prior color scheme that will be re-painted in the new black and green.

As usual please forgive the questionable photo quality:

Krell and his Doomed Legion rally around the Screaming Stone, a Nehekharan obelisk of dark power carved from the same cursed material as Nagash's Black Pyramid, and surrounded by the wailing spirits of the dead. Between the guard, heroes, and unit filler, my wight horde is currently a solid four ranks of ten.

Here they are from the back. As you can no doubt tell from the unit tray, I intend to eventually add another box of ten, in order to fill the unit out to an intimidating maximum unit strength of 50.

Krell is joined by the grim specter of Emperor Wilhelm the First, recruited by Vlad Von Carstein during the Battle for Altdorf. As the Legion's newest member, Wilhelm has been granted the honor of carrying Nagash's personal standard, the haunted Victor Mortis.

The wights of the Doomed Legion march into battle armed to the teeth. Those carrying two-handed cleavers stow their shields on their backs, while those carrying their shields keep their great swords similarly close at hand. Whatever gear the unit actually has, the wights carrying those weapons in their hands will simply be moved to the front ranks.

Care was taken to ensure that Krell can fight from his retinue while everyone still ranks up properly.


---------------------------


Apart from the wights, which took up the last few days of modeling work, I've been busy with unit trays, basing, and various other non-painting type hobby activities. Ghouls are assembled & repaired. Transport cases magnetized. I still need to finish assembling and basing some black knights, fix up the mortis engine, convert a few lich priests, fix up more unit fillers, and build a few more unit trays....

But the day is fast approaching when all of my undead legions will be off the sprues, out of the bits boxes, assembled, and ready to go. Only then shall painting begin in earnest.


The local GW manager mentioned that he and a few other managers will be running an informal sort of painting competition, with victory judged by bulk completion rather than individual quality.

Needless to say, my wicked cackle upon hearing this news darkened the skies and set children crying for miles around.

 

[Adam_Barrow]

Damn, that's some good stuff. Really impressive.

 

[Sception]

Thanks!

Now that I look at them ranked up, I'll probably replace the skeleton banner the unit standard bearer is currently carrying with the usual grave guard one. The skeleton banner dates from a time when I was planning to use the grave guard banner for a BSB conversion, but the empire banner bit won out over that idea. I also might replace Wilhelm's "KF" shield with something else, though doing so while salvaging the raven that's currently perched on it would be enough of a pain that I might decide to just leave him as he is. I'm still waffling on the matter.

But other than that, and maybe adding another 10 wights next time I get paid, this lot has more or less joined the 'good go go' bin waiting for painting to start, along with my casket, titan, zombies, nagash, arkhan, wolves, horrors, morghasts.... just, just a lot of stuff really. I'm probably forgetting some.


EDIT: Alright, a full list of work I'd like to finish before priming:

Model Assembly/conversion:
- 4 Black Knights
- 1 Mounted Wight King conversion
- Magnetize Mortis Engine (?)
- Rebase Mortis Engine (?)
- Nameless conversion
- Lich High Priest conversion
- Lich Priest conversion
- Unit Fillers (3 arches, 2 broken columns)
- couple spare skeletons
- repose ghouls to fit with fillers (if needed)
- Wallach conversion*
- Zombie Giant conversion* (colossus/filler)

* Wallach and the giant are high-work,
low-priority conversions, and may be
postponed until after painting the rest.

Movement Trays & Transport:
- 1 8x2 cavalry tray
- 1 7x5 infantry tray
- 3 5x10 infantry trays
- 1 10x2 infantry tray
- 1 7x2 infantry tray
- 2 5x2 infantry trays
- 2 2x1 spaced Morghast trays
- 2 3x1 spaced Morghast trays
- 2 2x1 spaced Fell Bat trays
- 2 2x2 spaced Fell Bat trays
- foam bed in travel bin for Arkhan

Basing:
- Everything under assembly
- 42 Skeletons
- 27 Ghouls
- 8 Fell Bats
- Trim on all Movement Trays

Still To Purchase (short list):
- 1 rank of Grave Guard
- 1 box of Morghasts
- 1 Arcane Ruins (more unit fillers)
- 1 more Travel Bin
- hand cart for travel bins


Of course, the long purchase list is too long to fully write out, and frankly unrealistic given my budget, so I don't know how much of it I'll be able to actually pick up before 8e wraps up and much of these models become unavailable. It includes things like more mortarchs and conversion fodder for mortarchs without models, 3 more boxes of zombies (between spare zombies I've got and unit fillers I'm getting, that's enough to put together a unit of 100), hexwraiths, vargheists, second terrorgheist and mortis engine, chariots, sphinxes, horse archers, more dogs, etc etc etc.

I will reassess that list after doing a new inventory, which will follow the completion of the above hobby work and purchase of short list items in preparation for painting to begin.

 

[najo]

Nice work Mali!

 

[Sception]

Thanks. Sadly, due to a bunch of work and class junk, I have been unable to make progress for the last week or so. But things have evened out, so I should be able to get some work done tomorrow and friday.

EDIT: Well, camera's out of bats, so no pics, but between some birthday money and some free time, I did make some progress today, picking up the final boxes of grave guard and morghasts, fully assembling the 3 harbingers, and partially assembling the grave guard. Still have to get arms and weapons on the guard, assemble 4 black knights, and do some bsb conversion work, then base all that stuff I just said, plus do new trays for the knights and ghasts.

 

[Sception]

More modeling work on the doomed legion, fixing up the unit banner a bit, replacing the head & horn on the musician (there was some damage to it, though it was not super visible in previous pictures, and most importantly filling in that last rank:

Spoiler

I also got assembly done on a trio of morghast harbingers, to play counterpoint to my archai in the host of death I'm building. Care was taken to ensure they rank up nicely:

Spoiler

Basing still has to be done on all these models (including anchoring the morghasts so I don't wobble when I move them). Plus the morghasts need a bit of gap filling on the top of heir skulls. The ghasts also need magnets and a spaced unit tray. I don't know whether I'll get to that this weekend or not. I may not get any modeling done tomorrow, and even if I do, assembling a few more Black Knights is next on the agenda. And Sunday's right out due to a groupwork thing.

 

[Sception]

Assembly is nearing completion on the Host of Death. First group shot is together:


Nagash and his most faithful lieutenants lead a small handful of the Supreme Lord of the Undead's most deadly warriors into the final battle with the forces of chaos. Of course, Nagash fully intends to fill out his forces with fresh conscripts once the battle is joined....

Spoiler

Hard to believe that's a 5,000 point army right there.


Morghast Archai defend the Casket of Souls:

Spoiler

Note that care was taken to ensure they can form ranks when locked in combat.


The last remnants of the Drakenhof Templar lead the cavalry of Krell's Doomed Legion into the final battle:

Spoiler

Obviously some assembly is still needed on the black knights, along with finishing conversion work on the mounted vampire BSB (and suggestions on what to do for the banner are greatly appreciated). The important thing is that they all rank up, not just in this ostentatious 8x2 formaion, but also in a more practical 5x3 block, even with the vamp lord conversion making things difficult.


Skulking in the Doomed Legion's shadow, Vlad von Carstein searches the battle for his stolen love, Isabella:

Spoiler

Vlad also is tricky to rank up, but again I made it work, though the wight behind him had to be modeled with both great sword and shield stowed on his back to do so.


Still have to finish cavalry assembly, BSB conversions (the mounted vamp BSB needs an actual banner, plus his shield back, and the wight king bsb on foot needs the 'KF' on his shield partially dremled away and re-puttied into a 'W'. Plus the Harbingers, a rank of the grave guard, and some of the cavalry need basing, and the morghasts and knights need unit trays. Still, an end to assembly is in sight for this lot, and the day I actually start painting again may finally be within reach.

 

[Theerteen]

I like what I see here. Much idea, very wow! I really dig the one winged CH, that's much cooler than this hero vamp model with the single wing! Also I really like the GG unit. Something I still work on, bringing mine to a larger number than 20, but still have no idea how (I have the old ones, which I like very much, but they are screaming for some ambience in their rows). Keep your stuff coming, all of it looks great so far!

/edit: Autocorrect can dig itself deep in the desert!

 

[Sception]

Thanks! Sadly I won't be making much progress for the next couple weeks, as my usual hobby days are being eaten by assorted work and family commitments. I did get the magnets installed under the Harbingers, and some cork board rocks on their bases, including anchoring a couple (the third is waiting for a zombie sprue tombstone that I couldn't find today. I know I still have one around somewhere...)

Anyway, no pics of them, they're in my car, and it's not really much to show.

I'm glad you liked the crypt horror champion! I'm pretty proud of that one myself. I haven't worked on the unit since I finished their conversion, assembly, gap filling, and basing, but it occurs to me that I never posted pictures of that, and they aren't in the car, so here's final pics on them before painting (though who knows when that's going to be, as they aren't in the Host of Death lot who get first dibs):

Spoiler

Pics of stuff I did a month ago and forgot to post then counts as progress, right? Right, guys? C'mon, back me up here....

 

[Hellion Nox]

the unit looks amazing, can't wait to see it painted!

 

[Theerteen]

Pics of stuff I did a month ago and forgot to post then counts as progress, right? Right, guys? C'mon, back me up here....

If not, no one would make progress any more

 

[Sception]

I've been busy with classes, but I did get some work done on unit trays, including one of the skirmish trays for the morghasts:

Spoiler

 

[Shadespyre]

So much stuff to love here. It's going to be an epic painting task, though?

 

[najo]

Can't wait to see it painted

 

[Farmer7574]

Nice looking eery green glowing zombies and skellies. Looking forward to seeing more stuff completed!

 

[Sception]

You'll all be waiting a bit. I'm a busy man, and I've still got a lot more assembly, conversion, and basing to do before everything's ready, and for some crazy reason I've got it stuck in my head that everything must be ready before I proceed to paint anything further.

 

[Sception]

Work continues on basing, trays, and unit fillers, but in the mean time I must make a confession - I have broken my sacred vow to never again purchase a finecast model:

Spoiler

You see, she's such a pretty model, and I feared if I didn't pick her up before 9e hits, I might never be able to get her at all.

There were only minor casting issues which were either reparable or not too visible to begin with. Didn't have to send her back once. She ranks up with Vlad.

Of course, there are no official rules for her that are UL playable - her terrible VC rules aren't accessible, and her equally terrible end times rules arent either. That's part of why I picked her up - with her end times rules being so underwhelming, and her base size not fitting with any chaos units, I can't really expect my chaos opponents to supply her for scenario games, but now I can nobly step in to donate a terrible waste of lord points to them, no trouble!

More often, though, I'll probably be running her in my own army as a generic vamp lord. I'm currently looking at the following set up, as an attempt to balance fluff and function:

Spoiler

Isabella Restored;
Vampire Lord, Level 3 wizard (vampires, shadow, or death), Heavy Armour
Aura of Dark Majesty, Beguile, Fear Incarnate, Quickblood
Nightshroud, Biting Blade, Potion of Healing, Opal Amulet

Run alongside Vlad (hurray stacking leadership penalties) in a unit with the screaming banner and maybe roping in a tomb king for the golden deathmask. Standard undead legion fearbomb. Yes, it's more gimmick than real tactic, but vlad's presence helps, and if an enemy does fail the test (with -2 penalty, rerolling the first success, and worst 2 of 3 dice, plus no inspiring presence or BSB reroll), then they'll be hitting on 6's (5 to hit the TK's shared WS6, -1 for vlad's mortarch rule). She's not too tough, but she and vlad cover for each other defensively - her night shroud cancelling strength boosts and his mortarch ability reducing to hit rolls.

I'd be tempted to opt for another potion - strength maybe - to funnel a few more points into her weapon, but the potion of healing is a better fit for her blood chalice, fluff-wise.

She was, of course, a special order, and came in alongside a second arcane ruins box for more unit filler, and a box of empire knights to convert to blood knights (though I'm still not sure what heads to use).

 

[Eternal Salvation]

I love this model too! I probably should get one too before they're gone.

Some of the ghoul heads look pretty vampish. I got a couple off of a bits store the other day for baby vamps.

 

[Hellion Nox]

Work continues on basing, trays, and unit fillers, but in the mean time I must make a confession - I have broken my sacred vow to never again purchase a finecast model

Oh I'm totally with you on that one.. I can't glue the sword arm on isabella.. It just won't hold with glue and then you're sitting there for minutes holding her arm (vlad would be jealous).
Anyway, I did get 2 boxes of ushabti, having them in mind as substitute crypt horrors.. their weapons are a pain to make them fit. So I loathe the finecast models..