Frank's Great Task, Building a Daemonic Legion of Slaanesh (Wrap-up)

 Well, half a year come and gone, and another Old World Army Challenge met. My plans for this year were more humble than in the past, and yet, I barely met the challenge. Only 38 models were completed, although some of those were quite large. However, on the WFB3/ROC points scale it is still quite an addition to the overall Legion...

Keeper of Secrets/900, Daemon Prince/810, Familiar/0, Fiends of Slaanesh x12/480, Daemonettes x3/300, Skeleton Archers x12/240, Liche/345, Spectre/200, Slaaneshi Legionaires x6/168

A grand total of 3,443 points added to the legion. So, I may not have managed to finish the number of models I had intended, but there are some accomplishments to be proud of regardless.

First and foremost, the maximum numbers of daemons available to the Legion were reached. This added up to being a new Keeper of Secrets, a new Daemon Prince, another three Daemonettes, and a dozen new Fiends of Slaanesh. There is a little bit of wiggle room to add to that total, but not much. In the case of the Daemonettes, extra Daemonettes can be used to lead packs of Slaaneshi Spawn. But these would be part of the Legion's auxiliaries rather than the Legion proper. In addition, the random chart provided in Slaves to Darkness, allows for a maximum of five Greater Daemons in a daemonic legion. This is a practical limitation, but not an absolute one. The daemonic legion rules indicate that players may agree on any total of greater daemons, but that the maximum greater daemons that can appear in a single legion is the chaos God's sacred number. For Slaanesh, this is six, and thus one more Keeper of Secrets could yet join the ranks. For me, this possible sixth slot is reserved for the elusive unreleased keeper of secrets, who if ever acquired will be my last. 

The second accomplishment is the completion of the Undead auxiliary contingent. There are now 48 models in the contingent. This is after adding 12 more skeleton archers, a ghost, and a liche as the contingent commander. 

Lastly, I am particularly pleased with my final Daemon Prince which was sculpted by Satyr Art Studios as an homage to the John Blanche art of Slaanesh 'themself'. Throw in the unit of chaos legionary Beastmen and it was a succesful OWAC in total. 

Of course, at this point I couldn't resist getting the entire legion out for a parade of horrors. I discovered that they do look quite 'Realm of Chaos' all out together now, a veritable riot of colors and forms. A total points estimate, including this year's additions, would put them at over 10,000 points now, depending on various magical items, chaos weapons, and gifts. And keep in mind that the five Keepers of Secrets are free in a daemonic legion! 

Does this indicate then end of this project? Is the great work complete? There is room for a few more units here and there. Some mortals and monsters could still be added and not break the maximums laid out in Slaves to Darkness. Perhaps, there will be one final push, or maybe I should accept victory here with the daemons fully painted now. What do you think? Is enough, enough?

Valtteri's Undead Legion - July Wrap-up Post

 

Well here we are, my first OWAC done and dusted! And it was just great! I painted a lot, pretty much every day for six months and still it felt like fun.

I managed to paint a respectable Undead army, more than 4000 points worth of models. This should be more than enough for all my gaming needs, allowing me to field multiple different army compositions.

I painted two units as a test before the challenge proper, the archers and the Skeletons with spears. Even though they're not part of the challenge and are not included in the points and model count, I still wanted to include them in the overall army picture.

My phone camera sort of failed me though. I just couldn't get the lighting, colours and focus right for the whole army shot. Luckily the previous posts contain better pics of all the models.

The eagle-eyed among you might have noticed that I managed to paint one new model on July:
the mighty 4th edition Ghost. The model was quite silly back in the day and time hasn't really done him favours either. Be that as it may, I still wanted to include one in my army.

The highlight of July for me was entering the Vampire Lord to painting competition (The Cold North Open at Ropecon, Finland's biggest gaming convention, ran entirely by volunteers) and coming away with Bronze! Finland may be a small country but the judges certainly weren't: there were two recent Golden Demon winners and Louise Sugden (savage_ork_guy) as the judges. I'm amazed that a mini from -93 and painted in the style of that era could compete with modern styles and techniques.

Plan vs reality

Like I said in my first post, I was fairly sure I could finish the big skeleton units easily, thanks to using enamel washes and a simple but strong color scheme (bone, metals, red as a spot color). 

I decided to do all of the core units first and tackle the more exotic units and characters afterwards. Just like those old army collecting articles in White Dwarf. I stuck to my plan, even though it was a bit of a chore at times, and it paid off.
I even had enough time to add some extra units and terrain. I've meant to do proper hills for ages and I'm so happy I finally did, they'll help me in pretty much all of my games!

The initial plan. 

Originally I meant to just paint the characters from the Armybook cover, not do a full recreation of it. I'm really happy I did though, it was my favorite part of the challenge! I also planned to build the magnificent piece of scenery below but realized fairly soon that I just wouldn't have the time. Maybe someday.

Statistics

My total for OWAC9 is 4507 points and 138 models.
If I counted the 2 test units it would be a whopping 5089 points and 186 models.

It is at this point that I feel that I must apologize. Even though my army definitely looks like it came straight from 90s, most of it didn't.
I only have 20 old metal models, if I counted correctly.
All of my core units are new models, both plastic kits and prints with an old aesthetic and I even included two 3D printed scans of the old Chariots. I hope I didn't break the spirit of OWAC too much. In my defense I think the proxy models I included are really cool and I hope that more hobbyists find them!

That being said, consider this lovely Zombie Dragon from the 80s as my apology:

I bought this old chap midway through the challenge and just barely managed to paint him before the end of July (that's why he's not in the army shot).
I haven't put together big old metal minis in a long time and boy was it a blast from the past. I think assembling him and filling the gaps took as much time as the actual paint job. Lovely sculpt nevertheless and I admired the way the pieces were designed - all the joints are strong without any pinning. My other Dragon is painted in a bright 'Eavy Metalesque way so this one is just muted naturalistic tones, as a befits an old Dragon.
I doubt I'll ever use 2 Zombie Dragons in a game so I'm not including this one in the final tally.

Final Words

I really don't think I could've pulled this off without the added pressure of the Old World Challenge. Like most hobbyist I tend to get bored after a few units and gravitate towards different projects. But thanks to OWAC and all the other participants I powered through and now I have the Undead army I've always dreamed off. I couldn't be happier! And to top it off I've played a few games of 4th/5th ed. Warhammer which I never did as a kid, even though I really wanted to. 

I'll sign off with a pic of the happy Necromancer and his tiny minions. Thanks to the everyone who's followed my ramblings and who knows, maybe I'll write some more blog posts in the future. I cerrtainly have enough old minis in my cabinet for that!

Previous posts:

Intro
January - Rank&File

February - Rank&File

March - Rank&File

April - Leader

May - Wild Card

June - Leader

Frank's Great Task, Building a Daemonic Legion of Slaanesh - June (Rank & File)

I got a late start on the month's batch of models due to a new puppy in the house. He's charming, but exhausting. I had planned to finish off the last of the Legion's Daemonettes, but I wasn't feeling them for whatever reason, and time was growing short. Therefore, I pivoted to completing the Legion's undead auxiliary contingent. 

Now in Realm of Chaos - Slaves to Darkness, an undead contingent can be quite large. I wanted mine to still adhere to the "rule of six" in some capacity, but keeping the chaos god's number in unit sizes is optional in an auxiliary contingent. Also, a lot of the draw of these undead units in a legion is to get some larger units than are available in the rest of the Legion. I already had painted 20 skeleton warriors, 12 skeleton archers, and a pair of undead champions of Slannesh (here). I decided to bulk the contingent out to 48 models (a multiple of six seemed appropriate here). To get there, this month I painted another dozen skeleton archers, a liche as the contingent commander, and I rebased a spirit model to be a spectre.

For the skeletons, I followed the same color scheme I used for the rest of the skeletons, with a lot of contrasting red and naked bones. The archers are pretty hopeless on the daemonic battlefield, but one can give any models armed with them missile weapons and magic ammo. At the cost of another 10 points (also what the skeletons cost) they can all have bows which are magical (and can hurt daemons) and never miss. 20 points per model is still comically cheap on a daemonic battlefield, so that is the plan. Like my skeletons who came before, these were Crooked Dice sculpts. That is also where I found the sculpt for the Liche. I gave her a 3D printed Slaaneshi icon on her staff, but otherwise I left her unchanged. Her wardrobe is already somewhat Slaaneshi, so no changes were needed here. I gave her a pallid skin tone and dark eye sockets to emphasize her almost skeletal and undead appearance. I am really quite pleased with how she came out, and kudos to Crooked Dice on a great sculpt.

The Spectre came from a Reaper sculpt I decided to remove from a Keeper of Secrets diorama base, which I painted years ago. She will hide in a skeleton unit until she gets a chance to make a nuisance of herself. 

All told, this month I added 13 models to the Legion. I am not counting the spectre in this count as she was just a rebasing job.  Her paint job was another attempt at using Citadel Contrast paints. I think this effort came out a lot better than when I tried it on the fiends. The lighter tones do succeed in giving her a 'ghostly' feel.  Simple but effective in my mind.

This completes my daemonic legion's Undead contingent, and a merry bunch they are too...

These models add another 785 points to the Legion.

            Skeletons w/ magic bows x12     240

            Spectre                                         200

            Liche (Wizard 20)                        345

For next month's wrap up, I will go over which portions of the Legion have been completed with this year's effort. I will also provide some updated pics and list of the Legion as it stands today. Till next month...

Frank's Great Task, Building a Daemonic Legion of Slaanesh - May (Rank & File)

 

This month's efforts were a bit less focused but had some real gems. The pride of place, without question, goes to the 'Consort of Slaanesh', but we will get round to 'them' in a bit. First off there are a few more daemonettes. 

I painted three more daemonettes not to be another unit, but to be handlers for the Legion's packs of chaos spawn. The Realm of Chaos Slaves to Darkness daemonic legion of Slaanesh army list requires a champion or a daemonette to be included as a handler for each pack of spawn. A Slaaneshi legion can field up to four packs of spawn. I have one champion converted up to lead a spawn pack. In fact, he is almost a spawn himself. But, for the other three packs these three new daemonettes will serve. None of these are original citadel sculpts. The two on the flanks here are Satyr Art Studios sculpts. His offerings are always great at keeping that oldhammer style and fit in nicely with the legacy sculpts. These came from a pack of six the rest of which were retained for another idea. You will, of course, have noticed that one of them is quite different. This model began as a Hasslefree Miniatures sculpt, which was clearly an homage to the "Kinky Chaosette" classic citadel sculpt. 

I conducted some minor conversions to make her a special daemonette model. I clipped one of the hands and replaced that hand with an extra daemonette claw. I then used a whip from another Slaaneshi champion to give her a barbed tail. She was made because there is a slight chance that any individual daemonette comes with a random magic item. In a legion, a player can always buy a model chaos armor as well. This model was intended to allow for either possibility, as well as a daemonette who gained the "chaos lord" chaos attribute. 

The next model added is a familiar. She is an odd little creature who somewhat resembles a daemonette. She was painted with no 'parent' model intended, rather she can server as a familiar whenever one is called for from the random generation of characters. I'm not quite sure where the sculpt came from, maybe Reaper Miniatures. 

This next unit is a bit of a departure from theme as they are mortals (more or less). In a daemonic legion mortal units can be included in the form of units Legionnaires. These models can be of any roughly man-sized race and their profiles are always the same. For my first unit of Legionnaires (The Old World Army Challenge: Frank's: The Great Work - A Daemonic Legion of Slaanesh, Slaves to Darkness Style, "Wildcard", June 2023), I made fallen elves. This time I wanted some 'children of chaos' and opted for classic beastmen. I have had several of these models, in various states of repair knocking around my collection for many years. They were dusted off, rebased, and prepped. One was too thick with old paint so he got stripped, the others just got a clean up and I painted right over them. I also added Slaanesh icons for their weapons whereever that seemed practical.

You will notice that these models are all roughly in the same pose. I believe that they were all created form the same 'dolly', with different armor sculpted on and different mutations. As I had five, I still needed a sixth model, as all units in a Slaaneshi legion have six models. I found another one with a Fiend's head and a snazzy armored corset. I converted him with bits from a champion to make him more of a mutant and to up the armor on him to being proper chaos armor. Now he has two crab claws and chaos armor. He is my sixth legionnaire, but he could be another chaos champion if I needed those mutations, or even a very mutated daemonette. 

Now for the main event, what I'm calling the "Consort of Slaanesh". This model probably should have been in my Wildcard or Leader months, but events conspired to prevent me completing 'her' until this month. This model was sculpted by Satyr Art Studios and is a loving homage to this John Blanche depiction of Slaanesh him/herself from Realm of Chaos Slaves to Darkness. 

I, of course, had to make a few additions of my own. This pose on this model seemed very agile and athletic, and I wanted to depict 'her' as some sort of deadly fast, although still huge duelist. 'She' will serve in the legion as the third and final daemon prince allowed. But, 'she' could also be the sixth Keeper if I so desired. In fact, modern rules for Slanneshi daemons now have a named daemon prince who is a hunter of other greater daemons and some such. So, I gave 'her' a nasty pointy wall-shield, which is really a buckler on 'her'. I also changed her scepter into a full-blown icon of Slannesh. With the new toys, 'She' could stand in for the names Keeper model nicely, and it gave 'her' a distinct look from the other Keepers in my legion.

So, that's all for May. In total, have ten 'normal' models and one 'large', granting an adjusted score of twelve. As to points, well... the Daemon Princess/Keeper of Secrets weighs in at 810, the trio of Daemonettes are 100 each, the unit of legionnaires (without magic items or spell upgrades) cost 168, and finally the familiar costs nothing, as she only appears as a random gift for another model. Total points for May then are 1,278. And as far as my own goals go, this month sees the Daemon Princes for the Legion maxed out. Here they are together looking fabulous.

 

Tom's Goblins and Orcs: Rank and File #2

This month, February, shalt be the month of the wolf...  As with war machines, I really struggle with anything calvary-like, so it's a massive relief to have these done! 

I think it's because I'm never quite comfortable with painting them all glued together, so I have to paint them in two parts, wolf and rider. Which I don't like 😂

Annnnyway...

This wolf has got a bit of blood on him. What a good boy.

The shield design is just some thing super simple. Channelling that rosengarten_paints_black - instagram - energy, (although to a much less accomplished state!)

On the same  tip, I gave the wolves pupils. I'd usually go for just red, buuuut...

And here's all five of them together. 

Please excuse the dark pic. Bit of a last minute photoshoot!

Flushed with success I moved straight onto the orc chariot. Best get it out the way whilst motivation strikes!  It came in its original hardshell blister - a lovely swap with highland_painting (instagram) for some earlier era orcs 🙂

Here's the two crew.

And I pinned the front bit that saddles the wolves onto the chariot, and then pinned the wheels into the base.

And here it is! The boys are a bit side on, it's super cramped in that chariot!

Getting da bossez shield to fit was a pain too! It's why I chose the smallest on I could 🙂

Of course they've nailed a falcon or other bird of prey to it. Probably to taunt the hated elf.

If you look super closely you can see the pin poking out of the bottom of the chariot, from the orcs foot!

Hopefully the last thing you see after encountering da rampaging boyz!

And the shot of them all together agin :)

Here's the links back through the challenge:

Intro: link

January - rank and file: link

February - rank and file

45....   5 x wolf riders

81....   1 x orc chariot

Total: 130 points

See you next month for more rank and file!

A game of Warhammer Quest with the boy