The Renegage Parade: James WRR’s Introduction

 G’day,

If we've not met, my name’s James, and I’m a writer and miniature painter from South Australia. Though now, for my sins, I’m living in England! You may remember me from such events as FMS, SMC, WMO, Salute and more, hobby publications like 28 Mag, or from my own (neglected) social media home at @illuminator_hobby.

I’m thrilled to be taking part in my first ever OWAC. It seems like such a natural next step on my hobby career, retreating as I am from modern Warhammer and the ever-changing, wallet-emptying meta of 40K 10th. 

In recent months I’ve been building up forces for games like Turnip 28, TONKS! and Forbidden Psalm, while also dabbling in some Warcry using a small collection of classic Kev Adams gobbos as a base. 

 

Some of my gnarly Squigs for Age of Sigmar: Warcry

I chose these models because I absolutely adore Oldhammer. I may not have even been born by the time many of my favourite models were sculpted (or even picked up dice until 6th edition WHFB) but my heart belongs to the lead, D1000 tables and punk aesthetics of the late 80s and early 90s. 

And if there’s a love above all else in my hobby life, it’s for the Realm of Chaos.

 

Inspirations from my Wunderkammer

The two RoC books have inspired my hobby works for years now. They’re treasure troves of madcap ideas, horrifying concepts, eye-searing colour schemes and (dare I say it) “soul”. When I think Warhammer, I think Realm of Chaos.

And so, I wanted to take this opportunity to dive headfirst in, building my first Rogue Trader army. I aim to create, at least, the foundations for a larger army dedicated to my Chaos God of choice: Slaanesh, the Dark Prince.

 

This ain’t my first Oldhammer rodeo, really. I started collecting a pile of lead back in 2013(ish), eventually building up enough to make a nice little mixed Tzeentchian/Slaaneshi warband. Of course, this followed no rhyme or reason, I just painted what I thought looked cool. Rules be damned! 

 

My original Realm of Chaos warband (circa 2015) - The Host of Ashmodeus

 

But now I want to go legit, to follow the rules of early army construction and create a cohesive force. Of course, me being me, I also want to push this to the limit - using rules for Warbands within RoC: Slaves to Darkness to make my small army unique (and to give my random assortment of Oldhammer models a home).

Over this challenge, I want to use as many authentic, era-appropriate Citadel models as possible, though I do have a few alternatives in the wings to cover some gaps. I’ll be introducing a trio of depraved Freebooterz from the mid-90s, for example, and I do have plans for a slightly more modern armoured transport. But the largest chunk will be made up of classic Chaos Renegades and Daemons. Ahh, I do love those ugly little freaks:

 

The core of my Emperor's Children army, just missing a vehicle and some Wildcard surprises

The only issue is that I still need to really settle on my colour scheme. I know I want to take the colours to an appropriately Slaaneshi level, but I also want to leave some flexibility there for the models’ eventual inclusion in a wider 2nd Edition army (which will include forces dedicated to the other Chaos Gods). 

So, as of right now, my army list looks a little like this:

• Lieutenant Commander Ashmodeus, returned from the Stripping Baths
• 5 Terminators
• A Possessee 
• 6 Daemonettes
• A Mounted Lieutenant/Chaplain
• A Techmarine and Dreadnought pal
• 6 Tactical Marines, a Medic
• A dedicated transport or assault vehicle 
•  A large Warband of various weirdos and creatures, led by the Dread Sorcerer Sirrell Thriceblessed 

And that, by the book, should absolutely rocket past the old 1,000 point goal of OWAC. Not a bad start to a collection, I don’t think.

 

The depraved Chaos Lord Ashmodeus Harkonnen

 

I think I’ll leave the rest up to the imagination. I’m sure all you Oldhammer-devotees out there are more than capable of imaging great things, and that’s the beauty of this community. I’m really looking forward to seeing what emerges from this year’s challenge!