Armies on Parade and a Monstrous Engine of Pain

The Court on Parade

After a couple of years painting them and a few weeks creating their display board, the Court of the Fisher King were finally ready to be submitted for the 2020 Armies on Parade online competition!

Shock Manta prepares to enter the drop zone while Trench Runner leaps from his own platform

The court stalking down the shoreline to enter the icy depths

I created the staggered board so that all of my knights can be seen at once

The most challenging part of the whole build was getting the platforms to line up correctly with the base cut-outs; particularly as the water levels were also different for each of the knights!

Deep Dive and Barracuda Squall perch on a rocky outcrop where they can be easily seen above the knights on the shoreline

There's a real feeling of intent now that all of the knights are moving toward the ocean as a united force

Trench Runner is jumping into the depths from a vertical aqua deployment ramp (a knight sized diving board...)

From a more elevated position, you can better see the transition from sandy cliffs to shoreline platforms to the ocean itself 

I love this image so much! The smaller knights picking their way forward while the lancers easily traverse the cliffs up above!

It was important to me that the Fisher King took the prime spot, higher even than Reef Thresher; fitting as the most senior member of the Court, he can be seen towering above them all

Reef Thresher marches with the King on the top tier

The diminutive Mudskipper working his way down the flank

Quake Hydra towers over Mudskipper!

Sacristan Nautolex watches his mechanical charges deploying for battle 

Conga Blue leads the Court, striding out confidently into the bay

Shock Manta appears to be taking one last look at the horizon before his drop

I even managed to find a place for Snapper who is found near a cliff face entry hatch

Building the display board

In my last post, I showed a few images of the poly sculpting I was doing to get the basic structure for my display.  Here are some more images covering off the rest of the process!

The rather naked looking polystyrene shapes!

The next part of the build was to add all of the platform cut-outs and other plastic details which I made while poly sculpting.  I hot glued these in place then began the process of coating the display with external filler (on the cliffs) and plaster on the water areas

This stage was extremely messy and it was difficult not to get filler and plaster on the plastic elements!

I waited until the plaster was starting to cure before creating the wave patterns with gloved hands

After the whole display had dried (this took about 24 hours), I then went back and added additional sand and gravel before priming everything with a mix of pva and paint.  Note that I was using this mixture rather than biscuit spread which the jar suggests!

The base coat of glue and paint took a whole day to dry fully, but it was necessary to seal everything, strengthening the plaster and foam

It was then just a case of painting the rocks, sand and sea to match the army!

Once I'd finished the basic painting, I tested the knights on the display and made small colour alterations to better match them up, then blacked out all of the edges with a mix of thick black acrylic paint and pva.  Again, this took 24 hours to dry, but it levelled and protected the edges nicely for handling

A torture engine like no other!

I realised a couple of weeks ago that with all of the knights and titans on my blog, I have completely neglected to produce anything even vaguely resembling a giant monster for some time and that I needed to remedy this by finishing some of my kaiju backlog!

 

As a result, I finally completed my Drukhari Wrack Knight with a lick of paint!  I'm so pleased with how this monster turned out; he's so unique while fitting perfectly into the coven.

My Wrack Knight in all his gory glory!

Not as bulky as a regular Wraithknight, he is still an imposing presence!

The bladed sails jutting from his back project a shadow field over this mighty monstrosity

Just like his smaller kin, this Haemonculous' creation is studded with dark technology

Double jointed legs give this construct a much more alien feel

As with all servant of the Haemonculi, the creature's face is hidden behind a Wrack mask

The huge trophy rack on this beast's spine displays victims from a wide variety of species...

A twin disintegrator cannon makes for a devastating secondary weapons array

While disintegration is scary, the thought of being killed by a titanic husk glaive is terrifying! 

What Wrack is complete without an exposed spine and hunch back?

Like regular Wracks, the Knight wears his torturer's apron with pride.  The hooks at his back are used to hang trophies during battle

Where the Hex are the rest of them?

As I've not shown them on the blog recently, I thought I'd also take a few group shots of the Coven so far - enjoy!

The Hex in all their dark majesty

Last but not least...

I decided it was time to dust off the Tantalus and start painting...

Delving into the Archives

Seek and though shalt find some old stuff

I was searching for some pictures on my external drive the other day and rediscovered some pictures from about 5 years ago.

I thought I'd share these as I'm still quite fond of the concept behind each of the groups - I put together several groups of miniatures for a gladiatorial style 40k weekend called the Blood games.

Each team presented a different challenge and increased in difficulty as the player teams upgraded with cards that they could buy from the 'shop' after each battle.

It was a big undertaking as I ended up building and painting all 16 sets of adversaries on my own so that it was a big surprise for the players; not knowing what they were facing was key to the success of the Blood Games as they had to bet on who would win or lose their battles.  They could then use the coins they won during battles or in betting to either bet on the next round of battles or buy upgrades from the shop.

At some point, I may well convert the rules and teams into 8th edition and run the event again as it was a lot of fun!

All of the teams had a theme and all 8 players would fight as and against each of the arena teams with their own champion.

In order to make things a challenge, the teams were organised into 3 tiers.  Tier 1 was grinding chaff - killing them all within the time limit was a real challenge for more elite layer teams.

Tier 2 was a different kettle of fish.  Tricksy and tougher enemies made defeating the arena far more difficult.  The two teams below were both from tier 2...

Drukhari Archon's Court

At first glance, these guys didn't look too challenging for a player team to overcome.  But that's because, there was a sting in the tail.  As soon as the Archon was killed, he would curse the galaxy with his dying breath and submit to the rage of Khaine, becoming a living idol of destruction - an Avatar of Blood...



I love a good Archon's court.  They really are so full of flavour...



The armour of the team is painted in the same dark bronze with a deep red spot colour to tie them all together

Again, the Avatar of Blood mirrored the colours of the Archon, including his white mask which really draws the eye...

I love this miniature so much - I'm really glad it can now be used in an awakened state in a Daughters of Khaine army.

I carved away a Drukhari face to make the Archon's helm and filled the gaps with putty.  I love the blank white helm - it just adds to the feeling that he's a dispassionate monster...

Again, red was used as a spot colour on the Archon's pistol to make it look 'bloody' and tie in with the inner cloak

Never ask an Archon to skinny dip with you...



The detail in the Lahmian miniature is exquisite - it's a real painter's delight!

I had a spare head after constructing the first Medusae, so constructed a second one from spares. After all, two eyes are better than one! :)

Quite literally brains over brawn

Look deep into their eyes - they can help you stop smoking... by kicking over the pile of ash you've become!

Only very slight changes were made to one of the Sslythes to make them look unique

These guys are some of my favourite ever ingle sculpt miniatures from Games Workshop.  So much character and menace, so many arms!

I used real snake patterns for reference when painting these guys but in a more fantastic palette!

My Urghul was made from a Flesh Eater Courts Ghoul King.  Aside from making a base, the only thing I changed was a quick face resculpt and a finger nail trim! Such a simple conversion, but a firm favourite!

 

Drukhari Beast Masters

This team was a lot more straightforward from the player's perspective, but still packed a punch.  The hydraleth happily spewed flames over a more than one unsuspecting champion!

The beasts from left to right: Giant Ambull, Mechanical Razorwing Flocks, Clawed Fiend, Hydraleth and Khymerae pack

Each of the beasts had their own skyboard riding handers that were visually tied in with their chosen creatures

You can probably guess where I got my inspiration from the Hydraleth's colour scheme!

If you look at the Beastmaster's skyboard, you'll notice that it's adorned with 5 coloured Hydraleth heads

As he is supposed to be the leader of the Beast Masters, I gave him an elaborate skeletal mask and crown

Khymerae are such iconic sculpts...

...I only swapped out the back mounted spines on two of the beasts to make them unique.

This scratch built Ambull was quickly sculpted over a few evenings to give me an additional but original Clawed Fiend

This beast master proudly wears the amber hues of him monstrous charge

Although it was a very quick sculpt and the pose is a little wooden, it makes me smile to see a reimagined beast from yesteryear

I did try to reference the original Ambull sculpt, including these weird looking bulbous brainy tubules on his back

Annoyingly, I didn't notice the putty crack on his arm until I was painting it... :(

Clawed Fiend.  Classic.  Never leave home without one!

His handler looks a lot more brutal and armoured as he has to content with this angry monster!

The Beast Master is actually wearing a clawed fiend pelt!

Mechanical bronze razorwing flocks.  'cos you can never have too many clockwork killers!

 
 Thanks for reading! :)