Joe’s Compact Chaos Company

This is my first go at the OWAC. I usually paint things very simply in bright colours, and it’s usually chunky plastic stuff from the 90s, so I wanted to try something very different for this. I’ve used the Chaos army list in the 3rd edition Warhammer Armies book to write my list. Partly this is because I don’t have the RoC books or the 4th ed Chaos book, but also because I really like the undefined feeling of earlier Chaos stuff.

Here’s my list. If there are any glaring errors, please excuse me, and don’t hesitate to correct me. I haven’t played 3rd, and this is my first time crunching through the army creation rules.

11 Beastmen without armour @ 10 points each including standard (10 points),

led by Glod the Mock (level 10 hero- 110 points)

UNIT TOTAL 230 points

3 Minotaurs with light armour and double-handed weapons @ 56 points each

including standard (40 points)

UNIT TOTAL 208 points

5 Marauder Horse @ 45 points each, including a standard (45 points),

led by Pesk the Profane, Margrave of the Salted Marsh

(a Chaos Knight champion with lance and chaos steed - 108 points)

UNIT TOTAL 378 points

1 Chaos Sorceror

Grumbulligan of Clothpile, level 20 Soulflayer,

Mounted on Chaos Steed

UNIT TOTAL 272

Mercenary Giant, Poxley the Inconvenient.

UNIT TOTAL 250 points

Baggage train

UNIT TOTAL 0 points (I think?)

ARMY TOTAL

1338 points

I’m aware that choosing Chaos is playing on easy mode as far as army size is concerned. I’ve tried to allay that a bit by choosing the beastmen, and Marauders rather than Knights. However, I don’t want to set myself an unrealistic goal on my first OWAC, especially as I intend to push my painting a bit further than normal, so a smaller army suits that.

Stylistically, one of the main things inspiring me at the moment is the 1986 book by Stewart Parkinson, Heroes for Wargames. The colour schemes are dark and strange and there is a fantastic weirdness about them. I also want to capture that pre-4th edition ‘pathetic aesthetic’ thing- my army will mostly be wonky weirdos rather than bicep bulging barbarians.
My miniature choice is party governed by what’s already in my leadpile, and by what ranges of minis I like the look of. I’m not really too bothered about minis being aesthetically consistent- if a chaos army can’t look chaotic…

JANUARY - BEASTMEN

This unit is really an excuse to use a lot of my favourite sculpts from Barry Minot’s Pendragon range from the 1970s. These are reeeaaally bizarre and pretty lumpen and crude, even by the standards of the time, but they are full of surreal character. Happily, they are still for sale, now from Wargames Design Workshop.

FEBRUARY - MOUNTED MARAUDERS and CHAOS KNIGHT CHAMPION

These are from Essex miniatures’ FAN series (before Bob Olley’s work for them I think). I’m not sure who sculpted them. They are weird and wonky and have brilliant cartoony faces. The Chaos Knight champ on a Chaos Steed is a plastic one from Battle Masters. His lance snapped off, so he’s got a new metal one. His steed is a resin rhino from Alternative Armies, supplied as a mount for an ogre (who's currently steering the baggage train from atop the quadroped, but he might not stay)

MARCH - MINOTAURS

These are three bovine beefcakes that were banging around the bottom of a box. Not very consistent it has to be said. The standard bearer is a Bob Olley sculpt, a fairly recent one for Forlorn Hope. The weapon had broken off, so the standard pole replaces it, made from a bamboo skewer. The other two are old Citadel. I've added some height to one of the shorter minis with an old plastic 'giant' skull from a kids' anatomical model.

APRIL - GIANT

I found an original plastic Fighting Fantasy plastic troll figure cheap on eBay. Being made for a larger scale, it’ll make a fine giant in 28mm. Indeed, a couple can be spotted in the third ed WFB rulebook being used for just this purpose. In the flesh he’s a bit rough around the edges. If I decide he’s not going to bear the scrutiny he’ll get as an inevitable centrepiece, I may find an alternative model. Maybe even a scratchbuilt one.

MAY - SORCEROR ON STEED

This is an old and broken Citadel wizard. His steed will be a converted something or other- maybe the beaky beast he's currently sitting on with some extra conversion.

JUNE - BAGGAGE TRAIN

According to the rules, I can’t hire my mercenary giant without a baggage train, so this is a necessity for the army. It’s also a chance to use a really odd model I came across in the Irregular Miniatures catalogue- the Hero of the Skull Cult on Giant Quadroped- although I’ll just be using the lanky quadroped as a draft beast. It’ll be pulling a magical cart/wagon of some description. possibly a sort of mobile home for my sorceror. I may need to add some troops to attend the baggage train if I'm being strict about rules.

and that's that. Good luck everybody!