Undead Host of Menkeroth

[Menkeroth]

Well, actually more of Nepher'Amon, my vampire-lord on zombie dragon, but since he's not yet ready for war, that suffices. So, here's the first my ever undead soldier, a wight king. A lovely model, what to say, which I wanted to buy even as I was still in 40k. Really great model.

Name: Guidarn the Relentless.

Occupation: a long dead wight king serving as the chief lieutenant of my vampire-lord

Known facts: was a king of some human tribe in north of Shyish, namely the Frozen Dale in the Icy Cairn Mountains. He carved a kingdom for himself and became a great ruler, but after his death his sons couldn't agree with his choice of the heir and started an infighting among themselves, which lasted till the armies of Chaos arrived in Shyish. Horde of Bloodbound warriors overran the kingdom and destroyed it, but they didn't manage to break the wards on the king's tomb. Which came in handy when Nepher'Amon, a soulblight vampire-lord, arrived after many centuries in these lands fleeing with remnants of his army from this very Bloodbound host. He reinforced his forces with the long dead warriors of the tribe and broke the seals of the king's cairn. Guidarn appeared as skilled and ruthless a warrior in undeath as he was in life, and led his now undead servants in the final battle with the crazed berzerkers of the Blood God, carving a bloody path through their ranks and beheading their Bloodsecrator with a precisive blow. Eventually the Bloodbound horde was slaughtered to the last, having reinforced afterwards the ranks of the undead army of the vampire. Since that day the king fights at his side with the same efficiency and brutality as he did in his former life.

Any comments will be greatly appreciated

 

[Irisado]

The lighting makes it a bit hard to see in some of the pictures, but the from facing shot is excellent. I really like the choice of colours and the colour of the crown in particular.

 

[Menkeroth]

Thanks! I like the colors too, while I think black and dark red suit the undead the best - yes, it could be too generic, but I can't help it with them - they make servants of Nagash even more ominous and brooding. As for the crown it was painted gold over black and then blackwashed. Very simple but effective.

 

[Irisado]

Red and black is by far my favourite colour combination for Vampire Counts as well. It is very iconic and looks so good. It conveys that impression of dark majesty that Vampire Counts are infamous for.

 

[Menkeroth]

Ganz genau, likewise that is. I don't doubt that in our future battletomes GW will depict more color schemes, both classic and various new, but in the case of the undead there are few combinations that really work with them. I've seen a unit of black knights painted in bright gold and blue, like it is often with elves or Tzeentch, and while the painting was superb, the scheme didn't fit at all.

 

[Borgnine]

Yes, the gold details, black armour and red cloak work really good together. I also like the story you wrote for him, it also gives a good justification to mutiliate some bloodbound miniatures and use them as zombies The idea of setting them on flowers is... interesting - but I think some more toned-down background could help to bring out the qualities of the mini itself.

 

[Menkeroth]

Yes, the gold details, black armour and red cloak work really good together.

Indeed. Such a scheme is one of my favorites since 40k, where in similar manner I painted my CSM. With glossy varnish they looked really beautiful, although not undead

I also like the story you wrote for him, it also gives a good justification to mutiliate some bloodbound miniatures and use them as zombies

Good idea! Why not. Especially considering the fact GW zombies are old and ugly and yes, I am writing short biographies for all my heroic miniatures since 40k as well, to flesh them out and make stand out more compared to average warriors.

The idea of setting them on flowers is... interesting - but I think some more toned-down background could help to bring out the qualities of the mini itself.

You are right, I'm working on this issue, but as of yet the room flowers are the best what is around

 

[Farmer7574]

@Menkeroth I like the scratched blackened armour with the gold and red, kinda reminds me of the black legion chaos marine scheme.

 

[Menkeroth]

Aye, BL legion scheme I like as well, it's beautiful and menacing at the same time. And for undead is iconic, I'd say.

 

[Menkeroth]

A small update. He does look good in the snow

 

[Shadespyre]

And only now I realize that instead of shoveling snow today, I should have been photographing my Frsotgrave minis in it! Nice work

 

[Menkeroth]

Thanks ^_^ I found that the natural landscape is the best background for our boys, so will do this from now on. The inspiration for me was, funnily enough, a picture of a trio of arachnarocks somewhere in the grass of somebody's inner yard

 

[Borgnine]

I was confused at first, seeing a new post, but without any pictures - only accidentally I found new pictures while scrolling up. He does indeed look better in the snow, those leaves looked a bit too lustrian

 

[Menkeroth]

Well, I guess there can be snow in Lustria

 

[Menkeroth]

Several statues, I guess they are from the LotR. Was experimenting with them, not that bad in the end. Partially can certainly fit the theme of Shyish, can't they?

 

[Farmer7574]

@Menkeroth These statues have turned out pretty well, I like the look of the red one on the right especially.

 

[Menkeroth]

Thanks ^_^ must be more accurate and neat, need to keep practice. But otherwise not bad indeed, I like to experiment. Some of them I am planning to use as Shyishan statues, but the general landscape still needs to be thought out.

 

[Borgnine]

Yeah, the red statues look as if they are made out of blood - that's both incredibly metal and quite fitting for a realm of death too!

 

[Menkeroth]

Thanks, that was intentional, and though not the best result, quite decent to keep experimenting I am also working on the black knights and since I've acquired the paint set from "Revell" which includes pigments for rust, that will come in handy for the riders

 

[Menkeroth]

First of my black knights. I immensely love those models, and was experimenting with rust and mud. It seems I have to apply rust more, and also dark brown / black pigment, but mud seems quite enough for a start

 

[Farmer7574]

@Menkeroth That black knight is looking great - the red robes and black armour really works nicely. I've never tried verdigris on black armour before but I think it could work really well here

 

[Menkeroth]

Thanks! It's all down to paints it seems, because black is really a jet-black glossy paint, and the steel appeared to be burnished, like a sable tone, which is all nice but black and dark colors devour all the others! But again, not that bad.

 

[Borgnine]

That black looks truly awesome indeed! Especially when paired with that red and white - it's probably my favourite scheme for undead Good call on using those paints, looks really good!

 

[Menkeroth]

Thanks! I see that I still need more practice, but otherwise like him very much too. And yeah, black, red and white are a classical undead scheme which never ages and for them I find it the best of all. Truly a menacing and dark scheme. That's why I also used matt varnish instead of glossy one ^_^

 

[Menkeroth]

Added the standard bearer, and also made this small composition out of remaining statues. It's more convenient to use them in this way plus they can be an objiective on the table.