The fearsome War Hydra |
This little guy took a lot longer than I had anticipated. For starters, there was a great deal of analysis paralysis when it came to choosing his colours. I ultimately decided for a "sea" theme to the army, allowing the force to play the role of commandos and marines, fighting on any terrain as necessary. With this in mind, I finally settled on blue and green for the army colours. At the same time, I also didn't want to do something that I had seen everywhere else, particularly with this hydra. Then I had the brilliant (so I thought!) idea... no matter what the model, you always see the raised areas painted more lightly (that is, "highlighted") and the recesses painted more darkly (that is, "shaded")... why not reverse this trend?
So I "hatched" (excuse the pun) the clever plan to do the opposite with my scaly little monster. His scales would be coal black, as if burnt to a crisp in the frigid winds of Naggaroth, while his underbelly would be bright and brilliant, showing through the cracks in the scales. Well, it took many tries to get this to look even close to what I was imagining. I hope you find this modest first attempt to be interesting!
Before I leave you, let's take a quick peek at the War Hydra's stats in Warhammer Fantasy Battle 4th Edition.
The Hydra is a many headed monster with a scaly, reptilian body. Its serpentine heads belch out smoky flame, but they can also attack by biting enemies with their sharp teeth, and crushing them in the coils of their necks. Their bodies are low and squat, heavily muscled and covered with thick scales which are as hard as iron.
Hydra scales are said to be even harder than dragon scales, and are much sought after to make suits of armour. Few men are foolhardy enough to ride such a creature yet there are tales of Chaos Champions riding Hydras into battle and of Chaos Sorcerers who cast their dark spells from the back of a multi-headed beast.
M | WS | BS | S | T | W | I | A | Ld | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Hydra | 6 | 3 | 0 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 3 | 5 | 6 |
Hydras are tough customers indeed. Toughness 6 is no joke (needing a 6 to be wounded by most attackers) and 7 Wounds is phenomenal. The 5 Strength 5 Attacks means he is no slouch in combat either, something which is helped out by his fiery breathe and his ability to cause terror. Hydras strike me as a great substitute when you want something close to a Dragon in power but you don't want to spend the points. Admittedly, the scaly skin rule (which just gives them a 5+ armour save) is a bit of a letdown, given the description of the beast's scales in the background fluff. In 5th Edition, this got upgraded to an unmodified save, which made it much better (although the bound monster rules meant that the Hydra's poor Leadership was more of a liability in that edition).
Great job pulling it out. Analysis paralysis is a big problem for me usually as well. Sometimes you just have to put the headphones on and get stuck in. I like your "reverse" color scheme as well.
ReplyDeleteI like really much the reverse color scheme, it came out an excellent job! Amazing, also, the contrast with the winter-pattern base. I am looking forward to see the entire force like this.
ReplyDeleteLovely, I quite like the bright blue you used for the underbelly, makes it pop
ReplyDeleteI love that phrase "Analysis paralysis". It described me to a T. As for your figure, I didn't know it, but now I need a Hydra too, thanks alot. Superb!!! (Yes 3 exclamation points well earned)
ReplyDeleteBest approach to analysis paralysis is to pick up the brush and start painting. Something. Doesn't even have to be the target model itself. The act of doing itself will lead to inspiration and motivation (for me, anyway)
ReplyDeleteOne of the best paint jobs I've seen on this model. Looks amazing!
ReplyDeleteI love your take on this model - might steal this idea in the future! ;)
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