Graeme's Skaven (part three - Revolutions)

Graeme's Skaven - OWAC 7 Introduction Post

Paint something different this year! That was my plan. I wanted to get out my comfort zone and paint something new. Not more Skaven. Definitely not!

I put a poll up in the OWAC Facebook group and Slann came out on top, with Norse coming a close second. I dutifully dusted off both my Slaan and Norse models and started counting out and organising them. I had enough models to do either. I had some interesting models looked out to give both armies a bit more character. I opted to go for Slann, because they're ancient, sentient, space frogs, with an Aztec theme!

Then, halfway through my prep, I hit some snags with my Slann...

...and at the same time came across my remaining Skaven models.

I got to thinking...

I wasn't happy how I left off on OWAC 6...
...and I still didn't have a full 3000 point Skaven army I could play with...
...and I had a bunch of already prepped Skaven, just squeaking out for some paint...
...and I was tantalisingly close to having enough painted models to be able to field that Skaven army I dreamed of...

...and, in the end, yet again, the lure of the Great Horned One was too great!

There's definitely some masochistic tendencies needed when choosing a Skaven force to paint for an OWAC. The Jes Goodwin sculpts which make up my force are packed full of detail, which makes them a real pleasure to look at, but sometimes a bit of a chore to paint. And you need lots of them for a decent horde army.

So, ehm, I might have gotten a bit carried away with my prep...

I mean, I had a few Clan Eshin Gutter Runners lying around from my first OWAC...

And it was obvious I had to add to the Clanrats I had left over...

And maybe I could either add to the main Clanrat unit, or create a new Stormvermin unit...

Bulking up the unit was spears was needed...

And adding to the Skavenslave unit was a no-brainer...

Then I added to the bunch of Black Skaven I had lying around...

Obviously I'd need some firepower from Clan Skryre...

And some muscle from Clan Moulder, with something exotic thrown in for good measure...

And, of course, we have to have some leaders and special troops...

To be honest, I stopped counting after a while. It's the largest number of models I've ever prepped for an OWAC. The only thing I need to do in the next five or six months is paint (sounds so simple, right?). I have a few of conversions and something special in the pipeline, but only if I have time.

Realistically, though, I'm going to aim low. To complete a legal, practical force which I'm likely to actually play with, I'm going to focus on finishing these:

• 20 Clanrats, armed with hand weapons, light armour and shields (120 points)
• 10 Clanrats, armed with spears, light armour and shields (65 points)
• 5 Skavenslaves, armed with spears and shields (17,5 points)
• 2 Jezzailachis teams (78 points)
• 2 Poisoned Wind Globadiers (52 points)
• 1 Plague Censer Bearer (41 points)
• 1 Warpfire-thrower team (81 points)
• 1 General (level 20 hero, around 100 points)

This little horde of 42 Skaven only brings me to about 550 points - well short of the target 1000 points.

Either I paint a LOT more Skaven from the core units, or some elites (Black Skaven or Gutter Runners), or I recruit the swarm, Rat Ogres, and the Manticore (or Harpies that I planned to use last OWAC) to bump up the points. We shall see!

Fingers crossed I can make it through at least the stuff I plan to do. I'm hoping for more, but I've seen real life get in the way far too often.

Good luck to all the other challengers! (Especially the other member of #teamSkaven this year - AdamH).

There are some great-looking plans already afoot. I suspect this will be a sensationally good OWAC!

Graeme's Clan Moulder Marauders for May (213.5 points)

The gap in the defender's lines was small, but enough for the horde to exploit. The masses swarmed forward....

I got off to another great start in May, getting a Clan Skryre Warpfire-thrower and hero done quickly. I experimented with different metal effects this month and was pretty happy with how the barrel of the warpfire-thrower turned out. I finally managed to get the right sequence of inks, washes and verdigris. I tried a similar effect to create a bronze-style blade on the Rat Ogre.

Warpfire-thrower team - 81 points

Clan Chieftain (Level 5 Hero ), with spear and light armour - 31 points

I had admired Brendan's mass of Giant Rats from January and March and set my mind on a big unit of them for May. Real-life intervened again.... my job threw a spanner in the works, then tossed in the rest of the toolbox for good measure.... so the heaving mass of Giant Rats turned into a rather modest unit...

Sixteen Giant Rats - 32 points

One tip for the fashion-conscious rat overlord: your giant rats really shouldn't be seen dead without some earrings this summer... flesh wounds are optional.

Three beastmasters - 31.5 points

One Rat Ogre, to bolster the Clan Moulder contingent - 38 points

All of May's force

Warpfire-thrower team - 81 points

Clan Chieftain - 31 points

3 beastmasters - 31.5 points

16 Giant Rats - 32 points

1 Rat Ogre - 38 points

Total for May: 213.5 points

Total for the army: 1085 points

Even though I've reached the 1000 point target, I'm going to keep going - I want to build some Clanrat or Slave units and finally get a banner or two done, so stay tuned for more next month!

AdamH’s Month of rest – (239.5 Points)

“Our time together grows short, it seems like just yesterday you stumbled drunkenly into my warren looking to make a name for yourself, now you barely cling to life; I expect to see the last of my brood come forth.

Well I have a treat for you this day, you will get to meet my chief gnasher, the claws and teeth of my army as well as a few more familiar friends, and who knows, if you manage to live long enough you might just get to see one of my crowning jewels.”

So this was the month I thought I would take a bit of a break, I decided to paint a couple of high cost models (three of them in fact that compromise ¾ of the monthly total) however half way through the month I thought I should also probably get started on the pile of Slaves that were waiting for me. So in the end what was supposed to be a low model count month ended up being just as high as all of the others.

We start once again with a few more Gutter Runners, taking my total to ten and a decent unit size to harass warmachines and lone characters on the battlefield:

Also, this month sees another Warpfire thrower, the first of my high point cost models designed to give me a bit of a rest. Although after taking this picture I saw a few areas I missed so I will have to go back and tidy them up before I varnish this one:

Next for the units is again more Slaves, 15 of the blighters making a dishevelled 37.5 points… I have the scheme somewhat down after last month which meant that actually these didn’t take me as long as I thought they would, although I do find their lack of details or colours, part of what makes them slaves, also makes them quite dull to paint. In a 2,000 point army I would probably want to field at least two units of 20 of these so I still have a few more to paint if I expand this army:

And finally, only the second Character choice to appear in the army, a Warlord General. He is technically the lord choice/leader of this force although I believe his strings are being pulled behind the scenes by someone else. Unfortunately, I don’t think we are going to get to meet that particular puppeteer during the challenge but who knows what next year will bring. Anyway, onto the model, classic Skaven sculpt this that I tried to bring a bit of extra colour with some poisoned wind globes, which were also practice for something a little…. larger that may just roll onto the scene soon:

To summarise, this month’s entry is:

Gutter Runners x3, Additional Hand Weapons, Throwing Stars [42]

Warpfire Thrower [70]

Skvenslaves x15 (Inc. Musician) [37.5]

Warlord [90]

  

Total – 239.5 points

After taking these pictures I put the models away in my small carry case and discovered I have actually now almost completely filled it with painted rats. A great feeling indeed but also means I need to buy more storage.

We are in the final stretch now, just one more to go (technically I have now passed the challenge goal however I like to try and make a big splash in the final month so I am not going to rest until the brood mother sings!

Best of luck to everyone in these last few weeks and I hope all you following along at home are still safe and sound.

Brendan's April Clan Moulder - (214pts)

Bring on the Heat!

For April I think I painted the smallest number of models for my group of clan Moulder, but they all pack some punch.  To start I figured I would sell some rat mutants to the local clan Skyre to get a warpfire thrower.  Nothing invokes fear on your enemy like a fire rat!

Warpfire thrower team: 70 points.  Dousing your friend's Dwarves and Norse on fire?  PRICELESS!

Continuing with my Moulder theme I added three more rat ogres to the list.  I got a little off "old world" with these guys as I had two of the newer rat ogres.  But this would also mean that I would have 6 different sculpts of rat ogres.  So I talked myself into it.  Fee free to berate me.  I can take it. However, I do like how they came out!

And here is how they all look with my rat ogres from a previous month.  No two alike!

3 rat ogres: 124 points.  I also added some handlers for them as well.

2 pack masters: 20 points.  And finally, my army shot after 4 full months of painting Clan Moulder!

AdamH’s Skaven – Month one and it almost killed me (201 Points)

“Welcome man things, I see you have found my nest. Who am I you speak-ask? Never mind that now, all in good time. I know why you seek me out, you want to know my power yes-yes? Well I have many clans under my rule but you will have to wait-see. For now, I will introduce you to my festering brothers, they are quite fanatical you will see and trust me, their bite is just as bad as their squeak! Don’t get too close now…”

This month genuinely almost killed me, I had almost three weeks of travel for work and the holidays that resulted in only a week’s worth of painting plus a couple of evenings here and there between travelling. However I am writing this blog post at 23:30 GMT on 31/01, so technically I succeeded!

I totally took the easy route though, as soon as it was clear I wasn’t going to get 20+ Plague Monks painted plus a character I switched gear and painted a couple of high point weapon teams to make sure I crossed the points threshold for the month.

So onto my actual entry this month. Well as you can see it is pretty low on the model count, first we start with two Warpfire Throwers. Some of my favourite models both visually and in-game I love these guys. I have slightly modified them to connect the barrel slave and the gunner by cutting some guitar string to connect them.

All of the slaves in my army will have similar paint scheme, dirty brown cloths and rusted metals. I want them to look as downtrodden and stripped of any unique aspects as possible to show their status in Skaven society.

The clans however will all share a bright colour pallet (in this case yellow) and their clan colour, which for Skyre is red.

Next up we have the start of my Plague Monk unit which is just the first rank. A pretty standard mix of the original 80’s models and the updated 90’s sculpts that I think mix well together. I wanted them to be bright and sickly looking so went with a very putrid green again with rusty, filth encrusted metal and weapons.

So this month’s entry is:

Plague Monks x7, Additional Hand Weapons (Inc. Standard and Musician) [61]

Warpfire Thrower x2 [140]

Total – 201 points

A whole one point over! Smashed it…

Rochie's Ho Ho Holy shit!! A rat ogre!!: 226 pts

Hello and seasons greetings folks, hope everyone has had and is having a cracking time doing whatever it is you're doing!

So here we are in the second month of the challenge, and given the time of year I decided to play it safe this month and just get a few high value models done to stop me getting bogged down. So without further ado, I present to you this month's installment!