Clarence's (Quindia Studios) All Conquering Slann Horde

Well, it will be the start of a little horde... 

So, I’ve been painting toy soldiers for... well... forever. Sometime in the 90’s I GAVE AWAY all of my Warhammer Fantasy collections. Many of the ranges were incomplete and I was very much into converting the plastic models. The new ranges didn’t look right with the old ones so why keep them? If I’d only known that eBay was on the horizon! Or better yet, if I’d only known I would want the stupid things again. ALL of my Rogue Trader stuff escaped the purge, though more by luck than design as they were packed away in my parents’ attic - out of sight and out of mind.

I’ve maintained my own websites pretty much since the technology existed, but when I started blogging, it opened up larger communities. One of those was the Oldhammer movement. I might have just noticed and thought ‘what a neat bit of nostalgia’ if I hadn’t stumbled on the Rogue Trader cashe around the same time. I had been collecting and painting oldschool Heritage D&D models at the time and thought it might be fun to paint up some of these old models too.

It was...

I started my Oldhammer/Rogue Trader blog in 2014, Stro’knor Macekiller, named after my favorite Chaos Warrior and you can see my Chaos and Undead armies there, as well as my growing collection of 40k models. I suspect most of us are already familiar with each other’s work so the direction is really more for those who stumble on this blog in the future.

I decided to start hunting eBay to rebuild my old fantasy Chaos army. Two of the other armies I gave away came back to me and soon I had a good collection of fantasy stuff again. One of my best (and most expensive) finds on eBay was the core of a Slann army, still in their original blisters. I spent a year adding bits and pieces and slowly built up enough models for a 1500-point 3rd edition army (really the ONLY edition I’ve ever wanted a Slann army).

It’s been a busy year for me and I haven’t painted nearly as much as I normally do. When I saw this painting challenge, I decided to enter to gain a little extra motivation and get a new army finished. Honestly, I don’t know if I’ll have the time, but nothing ventured and all that. Two hundred points per month is a leisurely pace (unless you’re painting goblins, Iannick) so I should be fine even with my current schedule.

My goal on building any army is very Stillmanesque with two or three large battalions that form the core of the force designed to do the bulk of the fighting and absorb casualties. Smaller units are chosen to support the core, fill specific rolls, and generally add variety. I also like to ensure that I don’t have more than 20-25% of my points in one unit or model so if something ties them up or wipes them out I don’t lose too much in one shot. In the force below, the Spawn Band Warriors and Eagle Warriors are my core - too small for my liking, but I’ll bulk them out when I go to expand the army beyond 1000 points (and currently they meet my 20% rule). I’ll add a third large unit as I expand too.

Here is my tentative list, though it might change as we go forward...

• Wizard, lvl15, litter: 199pts 
• Hero, lvl5, heavy armor: 45pts
• 20 Spawn Band Warriors with shields, including standard: 210pts
• 5 Bull Slann Riders with shields, including standard: 198pts
• 15 Eagle Warriors, including standard: 208pts
• 10 Venom Tribe Warriors: 120pts
• Animal Handler with 6 Slann Warhounds: 48pts

Total: 1028 points

Cunningly, most of the units fall in around 200 points and I’ll cram the smaller stuff into their own month. One of my Spawn Band Warriors is already painted (LAST OCTOBER) so that month’s total is exactly 200 points. If it were important to round the army down to closer to 1000 points, I’d drop a couple of Spawn Band troopers or Slann Warhounds. The hero might end up on a cold one depending on how inspiration strikes me when I get to him - I’d like to add a little extra punch to the Bull Slann Riders. I’ll probably start with the larger units first. If I can keep to schedule, I’ll may paint a baggage train in month six.

Anyway, good luck to everyone. I’m looking forward to seeing all of these awesome armies!