Chris Pridmore's Wrap-up Post

So, I painted an army! I'm honestly a little surprised that I got it all done. And I did the things I intended to do with it. The colours are bright, and I got to try out some new ideas and techniques, from the rainbow chaos symbols to colour-changing paint. I like to think that I've captured something of the mid-90's I remember, and it's been great to paint some minis that I've owned since those days, as well as a few more recent purchases and a whole lot of stripped and rebuilt second-hand stuff. It's recycling!

The final list is as follows:

Chaos Lord 91pts

Chaos Champion 58pts

Army Icon Bearer 55pts

Chaos Sorcerer 52pts

Aspiring Champion 30pts

9 Chaos Terminators 459pts

Aspiring Champion 30pts

9 Chaos Space Marines 225pts

Aspiring Champion 30pts

9 Plague Marines 315pts

10 Plaguebearers 350pts

Great Unclean One 275pts

Chaos Dreadnought 135pts

Total 2105pts

That's a lot of points for a compact force, and although I very rarely play any flavour of 40k, I think its reasonably balanced and playable, if perhaps a little slow-moving. Chances are I'll never play it, but I've finally got the glass cabinet that I've wanted for years, and I love the way it looks in there. Took a quick photo of a few of my favourites marching into town, and of course, the classic cheesy picture!

 

Chris Pridmore's Rank and File Month 4 - The Slighted Circle

 10 Chaos Terminators = 510pts

A motley band of 2nd edition and Rogue Trader terminators, including the first Chaos mini I ever bought as a kid (the skull-faced fella on the end). Tried to build them with as much variety and character as the models allowed. For the paint job, I continued the scheme I've used all year, with particular nods to last month's dreadnought in the yellow and black legs.

 I'll be honest, these guys were the models I was least looking forward to painting, and they weren't easy. They're covered in awkward little details, and ten at a time was challenging batch. Still I finished them (just!) and with that my first OWAC is complete! I'll take some better pictures for my wrap-up post in the next week or so. For now I can rest!

Chris Pridmore's Wildcard Month - The Eternity of Iron

Chaos Dreadnought = 135pts

This model came to me in a woeful state, and took a fair bit of restoration. For example, the hips had to be rebuilt with plastic rod, and the flail needed replacing entirely. Like so many of it's contemporaries, this dread was missing the central spike at the top, so I replaced it with a mace head - perhaps that was the occupant's favored weapon when he walked amongst the living. Paint-wise, I tried to keep it looking brutish and functional, with a few nods to models from previous month.

Chris Pridmore's Rank and File Month 3 - The Rusted Snare

 9 Plague Marines + Aspiring Champion = 345pts

 

 

Ten plague marines of assorted vintage, with a wider assortment of arms and weapons. I've painted dozens of plague marines in traditional green before, and a whole army in dirty white, but this was a chance to try a whole new scheme. I incorporated Iron Warriors colours along with a whole load of rust, and a call-back to last month's Plaguebearers with the purple sword. Tried a few experiments like the glowing green skull face on one fella, and a two-tone colour shift paint on the revolting distended bellies. That last one is quite subtle, and works better in person, but you might might spot the unearthly green-pink sheen. 

 

Chris Pridmore's Rank and File Month 2 - The Grandfather's Clockwinders

 10 Plaguebearers = 350pts

Ended up spending a lot longer on these guys than intended. There's so much character to each model, I really wanted them to look their revolting best.

Chris Pridmore's Chaos Marines Month 2 - Leaders

It's Leader Month for me, so I've painted a little command group.

The Warsmith (a Chaos Lord) 91 points

Fabius Bile (a Chaos Champion) 58 points

Army Standard Bearer 55 points

Chaos Sorcerer 52 points

 A bit of a challenge to paint each of them. There's a lot of detail going on and I was adapting paint schemes on the fly. They're all pretty distinct, but hopefully they complement each other fairly well. Quite proud of the two bare faces, I was learning a new method for those.

Chris Pridmore’s Rank and File Month 1

10 Chaos Space Marines – 255 points

Very happy with how these guys turned out, especially the Champion and the ancient Traitor Marine. The squad was also a great chance to try out the scheme that I'll be using for much of the rest of the army.

Also had time to paint a little something extra…

Great Unclean One - 275 points

Before I painted him, I rolled a few times on the Realms of Chaos name generator see what he’d be called. I rolled Doom + Ash (OK, but more of a title than a name I think), Blister + Spike (good solid daemon names) and finally Toad + Buttock (Hells yes!). Mashing them together as the book suggested, I’m proud to call this fella Blisterspike Toadbutt, the Ashen Doom. This gave me several ideas for the paintjob, and inspired a little story as well:

 "Following recent calamities, I have set my mind to a full study of the foul creature known as Blisterspike Toadbutt, so that loyal servants of the Throne may find a way to purge the Emperor's galaxy of this most blasphemous emanation. I have collected eye-witness testimonies from those fortunate enough to survive an encounter with the beast, and compiled these along with material drawn from my Ordo-sanctified collection of scry-glasses, wyrd-viewers, and sundry other instruments. May the Emperor’s Light guide me as I undertake this perilous research.

 Witnesses describe an aura of decay so intense that the very ground on which the creature walks is reduced to lifeless ash. From this phenomenon the daemon has gained its title, The Ashen Doom. My scrying has shown me the grumbling work-gangs of the lesser Plaguebearer strain which follow in their master’s wake, ploughing the corrupted ash into the soil to provide a rich loam for the Grandfather’s Garden. And oh, how green that garden grows! Oh my, how leafy, how verdant, how... [passage obscured by filth unknown]

Returning to the witness testimony, those who were able to see the back of the beast (much to their obvious relief) reported a curious patterning on the creature’s posterior. They describe its backside taking on a vibrant hue, akin to certain venomous amphibians. Isn’t that fun! I think it’s fun. Ha ha! But my apparatus has shown me far, far more than this colourful detail.

 I see a great throne, deep within the fecund garden. That can’t be right, can it? There is only one great Throne, on Holy Terra, and no such filth could ever sully it. But yet, I have seen it! On this mighty seat reclines a being far greater than Blisterspike, alike in form but incomparable in size and sheer pestilent majesty, and Blisterspike is merely a servant before it. And here, oh here, I see the meaning behind the creature’s name, and also the source of the revolting effluvium on its horned crest. It is clear, indisputably, that the service which Blisterspike provides to his liege-lord is a very simple one. Cradled gently in the hand of the Lord of All Plagues, Blisterspike’s horns are used to scratch the boils upon his master’s..."

  

Recovered by the Inquisition from the soiled writings of a nameless researcher, following his untimely and extremely untidy demise