Paul's Gribbly Beasts: Month Three (265 pts)

Offalspike could feel the taint of Chaos pulsing in his head, he could taste it on the air like rancid meat. It had been pulling him onwards through the filthy sewers of Felmoor, cursed human stinkpot that it was, ever since he had broken free from the holding pens beneath the arena with his fellow Minotaur, Kronos. He didn't think the other Minotaur was a devotee of the ruinous powers, but neither did he care. That would come in time or it wouldn't. It made no difference to Offalspike.

Finally the pair emerged from the sewers outside the town, breaking through a rusted sluice gate, hides slick with slimy effluent, a small pack of beastmen stood in a circle, their positions describing a five pointed star, their chanting now recognised as the pounding beat he had been following on the journey through the sewers.

Offalspike raised his spear and bared his broken teeth, bellowing a mighty challenge to the leader of the pack, looking to establish his dominance over these lesser beasts

The beastmen brayed nervously for a moment but then calmed and went strangely still, eyes vacant, swaying slowly from side to side. A voice that was not their own issued from the gibbering mouths of the mongrel men, all speaking the same words.

"Well met mighty Offalspike and noble Kronos, victors of the bloody pits and survivors of hardships too many to tell. I am The Watcher, and I have watched you both. Now I look to guide you first to safety away from your former captors and then to future bloodshed and plunder in the name of the Grandfather. Follow Gorehide and his pack to the place they call Goathill where I gather my forces...."

The beastmen bleated pitifully, some falling to their knees and vomiting bile as the momentary possession passed. Such a demonstration of power was to be respected. When the red skinned beastman got to his feet and began to lead his pack away... the Minotaurs followed.

Blimey, are we half way done already!? It has certainly been a busy month for my OWAC project as I upped the mini count from February and added to existing units already in my collection to add to the overall army. This involved some rebasing of the existing models, toning down the green slightly to match the OWAC forces.

First up was the classic D&D style Troll from Ral Partha. It was a really evocative mini to paint and I do love him, but the base is an unforgiving chunk of lead and the pose is slightly stooped when stood flat, so it needed some creative basing to bring it to life so I added some height so the pose is more dynamic and menacing as if it is about to leap off the rock on its victim. This also helped this scrawnier Troll look less wimpy next to his Middlehammer era River Troll mates, and I used the same 'frog-bellied' paint scheme so they sort of work as a unit and will do double duty in my Orc and Goblin army.

Next was Festemus from Knightmare Games Pantheon of Chaos range - I'm using him as a unit leader for my Plague Bearers and I think he fits the bill perfectly. The restricted colour palette ties him in to the key colour scheme for the force , whereas the rest of the Plaguebearers vary slightly. I also used the same worm purple and fleshy pinks as I did with the 'beasts of nurgle' on the second Plaguebearer I painted up to complete the unit and tie it in to the overall force despite them being painted much earlier.

This one needed some TLC in advance of the challenge as he came to me having been cut/filed flat on his belly as he had been used as part of a scenic base, so back in December I added a press mould of the alternate head from The Carver) and 'sculpted' a basic simian-like face on the nurgling at his feet (as it had too had been filed flat) and re-sculpted a broken arm - all of which serves to make it stand out a bit from the original sculpt (which I already have two of in the unit)

I'd been looking forward to painting the Minotaurs and  wasn't dissapointed, especially with the Grenadier sculpt with the axe. It evokes classical mythology for me more than some other Minotaur sculpts and outside of this warband I could even see him as a Neutral or Good aligned NPC or even PC in a D&D game. I tried to use the restricted colour palette so he fits in with the warband but isn't too overtly chaotic in case he does need to do some moonlighting in the future.

His larger, and slightly cruder companion seems more primitive and barbaric in comparison and I wanted to to give him a colour scheme that would also hint at possible Khornate tendancies. I'm not sure this paintjob works as well as I'd hoped to be honest, although the ruddy red skin tone is what I was going for, it drowns out the rest of my chosen colour pallete a bit. This hasn't put me off Minotaurs however and I spent a good amount of hobby time this month prepping an additional three of the blighters to add to my Challenge pile.

I also added another five Beastmen to the pack. Not wanting to over do the purple in this warband I decided to mirror the colour scheme I used on the minotaurs. I don't dislike this, and the sickly yellow and mouldy green-whites work well to tie them in to the rest of the force, but unfortunately I don't think they look great alongside the five Beastmen I painted in month one as part of a single unit.

So.... I think I have accidentally painted myself into a corner and now I have to do two units of Beastment. Lucky then that I also acquired and prepped an extra set of Beastmen command figures this month, and stripped the rest of the plastic monopose hulks I had been holding back for 40k conversions. Happy little accidents as Bob Ross always says ;)

Total for the month:

5 Beastmen - 10 pts each = 50 pts

2 Minotaurs - 40 pts each = 80pts

2 Plague Bearers - 35 pts each = 70 pts

1 Troll = 65 pts

TOTAL = 265 pts

Here's a shot of the whole gribbly bunch so far (inc. the existing models I was adding to) now we are half way through. There is absolutely no chance I would have this warband so far along without this challenge - thanks again to Iannick and everyone involved :)

I also acquired, repaired, and prepped a Middlehammer era Beast of Nurgle this month, to complete my unit of three , but April promises more Beastmen, Chaos Hounds, and hopefully more Minotaurs!:D