Realm of Chaos, the Abode of Ravens

THE ABODE OF RAVENS

OVERVIEW
Since getting back into the game I've been collecting a large Warriors of Chaos force, however I lacked direction - until now. I've decided on a force of over 10,000 points of Warriors of Chaos! I will be painting these in a simple Tzeentch theme (Boltgun Metal and Enchanted Blue basically). There will be a lot of conversions and I've even gone as far as to write some fluff for my army. They are the Cro Tribe, worshipers of the Raven God, Tzeentch. Now that I've got a concept for the army and a real direction, I'm running with it. I don't know when or if the project will ever really end, but it should be a fun ride while it lasts.

SIDE PROJECTS
In addition to the actual army I'll be working on several related projects of varying sizes.

■ Display Board
■ Turn Counter

I will have a separate log for the following:
■ Gaming Table
■ Terrain

I'll be talking about these things in more detail as time goes on. And of course, I'll have regular updates on [ my blog ] as I work. Thanks for reading, and if you have questions, complaints, comments, or criticisms - feel free to share.

TOURNEY LIST
2498 pts, 98 models, 11 units (2 independents).

■ Esmer, Sorcerer Lord of Tzeentch (On foot) [Complete]
■ Exalted Hero of Tzeentch (BSB on Steed) [Complete]
■ Exalted Hero of Tzeentch (On Disk) [Complete]
■ 5 Chaos Warhounds [Complete]
■ 5 Chaos Warhounds [Complete]
■ The Pleasure Seekers, 5 Marauder Horsemen of Slaanesh [Complete]
■ 15 Chaos Warriors of Tzeentch (Halberds, Shields) [Painting]
■ 24 Chaos Marauders of Khorne (Flails) [Painting]
■ 24 Chaos Marauders of Khorne (Great Weapons) [Painting]
■ 11 Chosen of Tzeentch (Shields, sorcerer bunker) [Painting]
■ 3 Dragon Ogres (Great Weapons) [Complete]
■ Chaos Chariot [Planning]
■ Chaos Chariot [Painting]
■ Warshrine [Complete]

Note: Though I already have a generic display board, I will be making a larger board from scratch specifically for this army.

KEY
■ [Complete] - Finished models.
■ [Near Complete] - These are usually fully painted and in need of final assembly or some other late stage such as last minute detail painting and basing.
■ [Painting] - These are either just primed or at some stage in the painting process.
■ [Modeling] - Some conversions take time, green stuff has to dry, etc.
■ [Planning] - These models are still conceptual, I'm probably gathering bits for them before I get to work.

Notes: Questions, Comments, and Criticism are always welcome - so don't ever be afraid to speak up. Also, though I am starting with my MSU tourney list I will no doubt be adding more models and even new alternate army lists worth of models, these will all be part of my growing army which sometime will hit the table at more than 10,000 points.

As soon as I got home from Shiloh I cracked open my bits box and got started on my first unit of Khorne Ogres, I learned a lot about using Ogres over the weekend, most notably that large (wide) blocks just aren't very maneuverable, which more often than not leads to an expensive unit that at best does nothing, at worst gets taken out by enemy artillery. As a result, I've decided on two smaller units of 3 each, with Mark of Khorne and an Extra Hand weapon. With their natural Strength and extra attacks these should be absolutely brutal. Each includes a Mutant, but no Standard or Musician.

Here's the first unit, already in progress.


Some detail of the Mutant from behind.


I'm using the Beastman Minotaur models, along with some Ogre bits, though I've replaced the gut plate on the Mutant with a shield from a Marauder Horseman to help him stand out. Likewise, I've added some armor plates from the Daemon Prince model.

Updated:
The first unit should be primed tomorrow, but I think I'll need to make a trip to TSE for some paints before I really get to work on these guys (need more Dheneb Stone). I wanted to include the process on these for anyone else thinking of converting some of these, also I get a lot of people asking about how I do my bases, and from the pics I think you'll get some idea. I'm just using rocks and pieces from the Skeleton Warrior box, so far I've only used 1 box of skeletons with plenty of bits left for more models, but I've already purchased a second. The trick is not to fill up each base with bits, spread it out and it not only lasts longer but also looks more "realistic".

While I had some green stuff ready, I figured I'd slap together the Limper, a Nurgle Sorcerer on foot. I'm not entirely sure where all the bits came from, but I'm pretty sure there's at least some Zombie pieces involved. After some extensive green stuff he ended up looking the part imo.

Front


Back


I'm considering making a scratch built Nurgling familiar for him.

I dug around and salvaged eight OOP Chaos Warrior models, after some work with the snips, files, and xacto knife I ended up with my first Forsaken. I've decided to up the ante and make a unit of 20 (since they're so cheap) I just need to get my hands on some more OOP Warriors.

If anyone has a box or two of the old Warriors hit me up...

Of course, it should go without saying that these guys have an appointment with the green stuff...

I converted a unit of 18 Chaos Warriors of Khorne with Halberds using the lances from Knights, I'm on the lookout for more lances to make a second unit of Warriors.

Note: This unit includes a Khorne BSB, converted using extra bits from the Lord on Manticore model.

Fus Ro'dah, the Howler

I was talking to one of the Brettonian players over the weekend about "flying models" and the challenges they represent. It got me to thinking about how I wanted to handle a Tzeentch on Disk. I actually picked up a cheap one on eBay a while back but hadn't done anything with it. Instead of using the clear plastic pins I decided to create a plume of magical fire, inspired by a piece from one of the GW terrain pieces using wire and green stuff. I'll post pics step by step on this guy.

Stage 1


Stage 2

I'm putting together a bunch of Marauders with Great Weapons, but I'm doing some conversions on these guys, giving them some Daemonic mutations along the way.



I got the first two ranks assembled today, and the third partially assembled. Unfortunately, I've only got enough models to put 40 together atm. So, I'll be picking up a Giant model for filler and we'll see where we're at then.

(I might be able to trade some Warriors for Marauders since I've still got about 40 unassembled Warriors).

I'm going to be assembling a block of Chaos Chosen soon, I just haven't decided exactly what I want to do with them, we'll see.

I started working on filler for my Marauder block today, I'll be using 2 converted Ogres and a Giant model to fill the base and break things up a little bit. Frankly, the unit just looks that much more interesting with something different in there and I think the ogre "temple of skulls guard" are working well, using plasti card for the tiles unfortunately they don't show very well in this pic.

More coming soon...

On the slab today, my new general Fus Ro'dah, Sorcerer Lord of Tzeentch. As you'll note from the pics, there was a lot of green stuff work on this guy, in particular on the pillar of flames keeping the Sorcerer and his disk aloft. I got the idea when a particular Brettonian at Shiloh was having problems with a Gryphon rider. The flames themselves were inspired by the Balewind Vortex model, however I didn't want it to be that high, and I had a bunch of green stuff - so this happened...









There are a total of 4 Skeleton Warriors (Vampire Counts) on the base and several skulls in the flames, there's even a couple that were hand sculpted coming out of the bottom of the disk. I've also included a handful of spikes and tentacles to make the disk a little more "lively" these most likely came from the Chaos Spawn, but it's hard to tell since everything in my bits box gets organized by "spikes, skulls, tentacles" not the model it came from

What's next?

I've got some more Minotaurs to turn into Ogres (thanks Brian) and a handful of Marauders to add to the 50 block. I'll be using 2 Ogre conversions and the Giant as filler, but I'm also going to be adding some marauders to the giants base. The unit's already looking good, but I think once the filler is finished it'll be damned impressive.

I also think I may have found an unopened box of OOP Chaos Warriors, so the unit of Forsaken just might be shaping up very soon. There's still a lot more models to work on, and if the weather clears up a bit this week I'll get some stuff primed and start painting again.

On this edition of Heroes...

First is my Tzeentch Champion, made from 4 different models I think it works. And he should be a reasonable stand in should I decide to field a Tzeentch Exalted Hero at some point.





And here's my Khorne BSB, also made from 4 different models and the same base scenery I used on my Tzeentch on foot. Gives him some nice elevation and keeps him easilly identifiable compared to the rest of the troops in the block.





I also banged together 17 Warriors with Swords and Shields to make up my Tzeentch block, but no pick just now. I just ordered a bunch of crap from GW (sold some magic cards, computer parts, and wow gold) so the painting should be in full swing next week. Meanwhile, I gotta get everything assembled and in movement trays so I can play a few practice games. And yeah, I decided to just make my new roster from scratch... Because I had literally that many unused models laying around...

I got a couple of surprises in the mail today, 4 Mournfang Ogre heads and a single Beastman Minotaur. Which means...



I got the second rank of Ogres finished. They just need some work on the bases, then prime and paint.



The unit looks appropriately dangerous now.

With the extra Minotaur body I was able to get my other Ogre filler piece together for the Marauders, so I'm waiting for the Giant now for these guys...



I also decided to get a battle board together, the previous tenant in our apartment left some furniture in varying degrees of repair. A small black cabinet contributed 5 boards in reasonable shape, I'm going to toss four on the shelf for later and use one for the display base. I laid out everything to get an idea, I used my Tzeentch Warshrine here but I'll be putting together a Khorne shrine to go with this roster and some new Knights of Khorne. At any rate, it's coming along. More coming soon...

It's kinda sloppy outside today, so no priming today. However, I received some goodies from Games Workshop. Namely, the Painting Station+ some paints, a brush, pva glue, and snow. Meanwhile, I got to work on my Knights of Khorne, I grabbed some stones from the local park - I filled a cup with shale pieces, I've cleaned them and now they're fit for basing. Shale is very fragile, which is both a good thing and a bad thing. First, it's a good thing because it means you can easily make the stone fit with a little patient "breaking" of the stone. It also means that if you ever drop the model, your base is probably going to fly apart in shards of jagged stone.

All that said, I try to avoid dropping my minis in the first place just more incentive to be careful. I wanted to make my Knights stand out, so I used some shale on the bases and did a few minor conversions on the Knights themselves. For starters, I'm using the Skull horn from the Marauders and a Bloodletter head for my Knight Champion. Here's some pics...





Here's the Champion, I could probably use him as an Exalted Hero if I felt like it too - but for now, he's definitely going to be my unit Champion.





I can't wait to paint these guys, and that's all for today - thanks for reading...

Good news/bad news kinda day. First, the good news I received a few items from eBay that I had been waiting on: Realm of Chaos supplement (older box with a Chaos Book, spell cards, etc) mainly I got it for nostalgia sake and for more of that sweet Chaos lore type stuff. But more importantly, I received my Giant mini - I've been waiting for this thing since last Tuesday and I was ecstatic when I saw it had arrived (never thought I'd be excited about unit filler) anyhow, was anxious to get it home and get to work on him. I opened the box and found that my WARHAMMER GIANT NEW IN BOX / FACTORY SEALED was actually a fairly worn box, with a pair of 2750 Ogre Kingdoms rosters, some used Ogre sprues and 2 giant sprues with next to nothing left on them...

I've already contacted eBay and the seller, now I've got to open a window... so much smoke came out of my ears that I think I'm going to choke on my own anger lol.

UPDATE
Received a response in seconds from the seller, which reads.

Dear lucio38,

I should have opened the sealed item and checked myself - my total screw up

instead of sending it back and making things even worse I am just going to give you a full refund including shipping costs and write the hole thing off as stupidity on my part

sorry - i learned my lesson on this one / next time I will open it up

will refund payment immediately

best, mike

p.s. maybe you can do something with the item - afterall its free

----------------------------------

So, I'm not so mad anymore. I am a bit disappointed, since I really was anxious to put the thing together. But, at least I've got some free bits out of the deal, I'll just think twice before dealing with this guy in the future.

So, I got some models lined up for paint. And I decided to take a crack at a test model, here we have a Warrior with Hand Weapon and Shield. I think I've found my colors though, and I'm pretty satisfied with the result (though I was a little sloppy with the PVA glue and snow). The color palette on these is actually very small, primed in black, Scab Red base on the armor, Badab Black wash, Red Gore dry brush. The metal is Tin Bitz with Badab Black wash, and a liberal Chain Mail dry brush. Overall, very pleased with the results and anxious to get cracking on the rest. As always, C&C welcome.

That is amazing for the number of colors you used.

I often find myself struggling to get good results if I just use three or four colors.

And I saw a pale horse, and the name of him who sat upon it was Death...





My back's been killing me today, so I decided to take my mind off of it by working on one of my knights, four more of these and I'll start working on the Marauder block.

This morning I'm feeling better, and I decided to knock out the Exalted Hero I scrapped together a couple of weeks ago. I also decided to do a little experiment with photographing him, I'm using an iPhone to take the pics (I know, not ideal) and my lighting conditions are kinda crappy, I live in a studio apartment and the weather hasn't been helpful for lighting. So, I positioned my magnifying lamp and tried a few shots through the glass, the extra light on the front of the model works perfectly. The only real drawback is that there is a mild distortion of the image thanks to the large rounded lens I'm shooting through. Anyhow, hope you guys like. As always, C&C welcome.

No painting today, I got the parts in for my giant and decided to get to work on the conversions. With the filler finished, I'll be able to focus on the Marauders. Statistically speaking, it's a block of 50 (in horde formation) with Great Weapons and Mark of Khorne. Though in reality, there's actually 2 converted Ogres, 1 Giant, and 38 total Marauders, 2 of which have spears instead of Great Weapons (they're there to motivate the Giant. I can't wait to see this unit painted.

Okay, I lied - I did get some painting in today... A unit of Warhounds just about ready to go. they need some blood and I've got to finish their movement tray.

Couldn't sleep, so I decided to play around and knock out the other unit of Warhounds (I've dropped 5 from the roster I'm currently working on). I think they turned out good, I'll fix up their movement trays this week.

The Diamond Dogs


The Skeevers

Another late night, I finished up the front rank of Warriors. 10 to go, then the movement tray and the unit with the BSB and Halberds.

Ladies and Gentlemens, I give you Sorcerer Lord Fus Ro'dah. I finished my Tzeentch Sorcerer conversion last night, the disk hungers...

Busy day today, but I'm staying on schedule. I got a couple of warriors painted for my Tzeentch unit, and I even tossed together a movement tray for them. First time I've really textured a tray but turned out nicely imo.

Been a nutty week, but I got some stuff knocked out today...

First unit of Warriors finished!


And I got a tray done for one of my units of Hounds!


Unfortunately, I'm low on some key paints. Good news is I've got some eBay auctions clearing that should fix the situation quickly. That also means I should be getting the parts for my Warshrines and display board this week. I also have a few new ideas I may be putting together sooner rather than later, but I'll keep that hush till I know for sure...