Paul's Gribbly Beasts: Month Four (235 points)

The presence of the foul choatic beasts thronging around Goat Hill had started to have an effect on the very land around them, and the creatures dwelling there.

The mutating nature of chaos had reached out into the land and twisted what it found. The famous giant hounds from the plains east of Felmoor were hunting in packs. Having sprouted horns and bony spurs, claws lengthening like knives, these were no longer mans best friend...

It's touch reached into farms and cattle sheds, melding man and beast into hideous goat and bull headed abominations to swell the ranks of the Warband.

The Grandfather was surely pleased with such corruption and The Watcher smiled a sickly grin as  the portal pulsed to life, vomiting forth a huge, slug-like, Daemonic Beast of Nurgle on a tide of maggots and filth...

Well, I certainly wasn't expecting April to be the slog fest it was but my work/life balance has been all over the place and I'm damn sure that if I didn't have the OWAC to keep me on track I would have done zero painting this month. As it is I'm really chuffed to have produced what I have, even though I'm not 100% happy with the finish on some of these.

First up we have a small unit of middlehammer era Chaos Hounds. Not may favourite Chaos Hound sculpts by a long shot but I felt like they fit the army theme and have given them the alternate red-yellow-grey colour scheme as I can see them doing duty in a number of armies/games and didn't want to overdo the Purple. This also ties in with the beastmen and previous two Minotaurs, and helps feel like they are part of a identifiable group or retinue within the Warband.

I mentioned last month that I have a new found love of painting Minotaurs thanks to the OWAC, so I decided to strip a couple of second hand Marauder Miniatures Minotaurs that I've had for quite a while and add those to the mix. Slightly regretting not taking pictures of the previous owners paint jobs for posterity as they had a certain charm even if they were a bit 'Brother Clarence'.

Added to these two classics is a new sculpt from Krakon Games which was part of their recent AxeGrind KS. I really like the oldhammer-esque "pathetic aesthetic" on this and there is a beastman from the same range with a similar vibe that I hope to include before the challenge is done.

These three have certainly not diminished my love of Minotaurs and I'm going to think about acquiring some more in the future. Probably not for this years OWAC though... probably...

Finally we have a Trish Carden (nee Morrison) sculpted Beast of Nurgle, with a bodge-job set of replacement tentacles on the right hand side as they were missing when I purchased it. It's a funny old sculpt and I still prefer the original (my wallet doesn't though!) but I like it a lot more now it is painted up and it definitely has the 'killer-slug' vibe that all good Beasts of Nurgle should have.

Slightly naughty of me but I already posted this in the Oldhammer Group's 'Make-a-Trish' competition for April as it was too much of coincidence and golden opportunity to miss. It's been fantastic seeing Trish share so many unique memories and photos with the community and hats off to the lads on the Oldhammer Group for organising such a fitting tribute! :D

So the breakdown for the month is:

5 x Chaos Hounds (8pts each) = 40 pts
3 x Minotaurs (40 pts each) = 120 pts
1 x Beast of Nurgle (75 pts each) = 75 pts

Total = 235 pts

Next month needs to see the ranks of the beastmen swell considerably if I am to be compliant with the rules by the time we finish, so I can see lots of batch painting in my future but hope to break it up with command figures.

Congratulations to all those left standing/painting!