Friday 18 May 2018

"They All Keep Their Eyes On The Axe."

"They can't help it. That's when you sink the cutter in deep."
This 28mm scale "push-fit" model of Arnulf forms part of the "Warhammer Underworlds: Shadespire" starter set manufactured by "Games Workshop", and can also be used to represent a "warrior of a murderous band of Khorne-worshippers, called Garrek's Reavers" in the Nottingham-based company's "Age Of Sigmar" tabletop wargame as well. Despite there being "not a great deal that’s noteworthy about Arnulf – even when he’s Inspired", this warrior is "useful for triggering Supports with your other fighters, holding objectives or being sacrificed to score certain objective cards or activate your Inspire condition."

Initially primed with "Vallejo" Heavy Skintone to help 'eradicate' the figure's vivid red-coloured plastic, the Khorne Worshipper's trousers and boots were painted with "Vallejo" Black, whilst his leg armour, thigh plates, right arm-guard, torc and axe-blade were treated to a combination of Heavy Sienna, Brass and "The Army Painter" Strong Tone Quickshade. In addition, the miniature's chains, helmet, blade and belt-buckle were given a layer of "Citadel" Ironbreaker, before being washed with Nuln Oil.
"Khorne cares not from whence the blood flows."
The Blood Reaver's belt, leg straps and axe-handle were 'picked out' with some "Vallejo" Heavy Sienna and Strong Tone Quickshade. Plus his loincloth and back spikes were given a double-coat of "Vallejo" Heavy Red and subsequently a generous shade of "Citadel" Nuln Oil. The maniac's flesh was created using "Vallejo" Heavy Skintone, a splash of "Citadel" Reikland Fleshshade, and then a thin-line of (more) "Vallejo" Heavy Skintone across his scars. In addition I 'filled' the Chaos symbol burnt into his flesh with two helpings of "Citadel" Carroburg Crimson and pigmented the figure's fur-lined footwear with a little "Vallejo" Heavy Bluegrey and a splodge of "Citadel" Badab Black.

The model's skull trophy was originally given a coat of "Vallejo" Dead White, before being muddied and bloodied with "The Army Painter" Strong Tone Quickshade and "Citadel" Carroburg Crimson. It was then 'bleached' with a light dry-brush of (more) "Vallejo" Dead White. Finally, in order to ensure the model matched my Chaos Host for "Age Of Sigmar", I painted its highly-detailed base with "Citadel" Doombull Brown, Rakarth Flesh and plenty of "Citadel" Agrax Earthshade.
Rangers Of Middle-Earth WIPs - Three of "The Lord Of The Rings" boxed set's plastic miniatures
My version of Arnulf differs quite substantially from that of the official "Warhammer Underworlds: Shadespire" paint-scheme, as I disliked both their studio's red armour and helmet, as well as their stony-coloured spikes rising from his back. Spookily, I actually decided upon making my model's chaotic blessing red because I inadvertently rubbed the "Vallejo" Heavy Skintone undercoat covering the protruding barbs off during my handling of the figure. This led to the bare red plastic clearly showing on the miniature and I rather liked the contrast it created with the Khorne warrior's paler flesh.

Sticking with "Games Workshop", the wargaming developer has recently caught my eye with its efforts to once again support its range of miniatures for "The Lord Of The Rings". I was a big fan of this strategy battle game many years ago, and having seen their re-release of the Champions Of The Shire, alongside both the Gundabad Orc Warband and Nazgûl of Dol Guldur Collection, I have tentatively placed a handful of plastic Rangers of Middle-Earth into my painting queue...

28 comments:

  1. Arnulf looks great. His skin tone looks awesome, cracking job on that. The model is just superb, they have done the fantasy barbarian vibe brilliantly and your paint job really brings it to life. Great job and the group shot is excellent too. Lord of the Rings? Do you really need another project in your paint queue? I do agree it was/is a great rule set so I can't really blame you. The Forgeworld models are superb as well but I have too much other stuff on the go to dip my toe into the game at the moment.

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    1. Thanks Undercoat. Arnulf is a great-looking sculpt imho. I think there's always room for "LoTR" in the paint queue, and these archers should prove reasonably simple to finish with all their brown and black leather.

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  2. Outstanding! I just pulled out some LOTR figures myself lol Hopefully you'll continue painting up some Middle Earth goodness going forward :)

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    1. Cheers Ivor. I'm hoping to get a few of my "LoTR" minis painted tbh, but obviously have a couple more "Shadespire" and "Burrows & Badgers" minis to finish first.

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  3. Fab job dude. I love the Rangers sets they did for LOTR. I wished I'd got some back in the day especially some of the metals.

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    1. Thanks very much Simon. Did you know that "Games Workshop" have the plastic Rangers all back in stock? ;-)

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  4. Great job on Arnulf Simon, changing the colour scheme just makes it more personal to you, and there's nothing wrong with that. Nice progress on the rangers as well, perhaps GW are getting ready for the TV series as they had a lot of models at Warhammer Fest

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    1. Cheers Dave. Arnulf seems to have gone down very well. The "LoTR" minis are old partial paint-jobs so probably need a bit of TLC before being finished, but I've certainly been enthused by "GW" push with its old range in recent weeks. The link to the TV Series is a good shout :-)

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  5. I have not tried GW's "Shadespire" is it any good or just another GW expensive game?

    The rangers look good though, Middle earth is a better place for having the rangers and you have done them a credit

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    1. Well tbh Clint, I've not had a proper game yet myself, simply watched a fair few battle reports and followed the game since its release. Its a 15-20 min action-fest, so seems suitably fun though imho, and great for a series of games in one evening. The rangers are one of my favourite "LoTR" mini boxes, so hopefully I'll do them justice.

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    2. Shadespire has pretty much taken over our game days around here. I think it's a contender for their best competitive rules set ever, honestly. Very tight rules, and a surprising amount of depth. The way they spread the cards out across the different sets is frustrating if you want to really be competitive, but for casual play, it works fine with however much you want to pick up.

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    3. That's splendid to hear, WestRider. Thanks for the heads up on the game. I'm certainly looking forward to playing it myself, once the last of my Khorne Blood Reavers is finished :-)

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  6. Nice khorne Psycho and your rangers are moving along nicely, never really got into GW Lotr in spite of the figure range being lovely!
    Best Iain

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    1. Thanks very much Iain. Still a couple of Khorne maniacs to go.

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  7. Lovely work of the Khorne mini's, they look just as the should (formidable bada**es!!), you wouldn't want to face then on the field of battle.

    Nice work too on the Lotr figs, never had those, but I did get the original boxgame and a few of the packs as samples back in my "Valkyrie" days, another thing that passed into and out of my hands....

    Cheers Roger.

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    1. Cheers Roger. Much appreciated. I'm going to have to re-work a few of the rangers as their paint-jobs are old - and the paints now OOP. But hopefully at some point I'll be able to post a few finished "LoTR" minis up.

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  8. Very nice skin tones and the helmet, brand and skull are also excellent, I can't see the lower body very well but I'm sure it's as good the upper part.
    Nice dynamic figure as well.

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    1. Thanks very much Vagabond. The lower portion of Arnulf is predominantly black trousers and boots, with some brass leg guards and red strapping. I think all the "Shadespire" minis are super dynamic personally, although a little time-consuming to paint as a result.

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  9. The Chaos Warrior looks excellent mate, well done. :)

    PS - Sorry for the general commentating absence.

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    1. Cheers Leon. Very much appreciated. No worries about commenting, everyone seems to have ebbs & flows with real life, so there's never an expectation for anyone to comment.

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  10. Amulf looks great Simon, and those rangers are excellent!
    I'm a huge LoTR fan, but I've obviously missed something judging by the comments - "the wargaming developer"? "perhaps GW are getting ready for the TV series"??
    It's past 2am, but I'm off to exercise my 'Google Fu' ;-)

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    1. Thanks Greg. I understand that “Amazon” are planning on doing a TV series based upon the exploits of Aragorn, and are investing $250 million into the project - hence my thoughts as to why “GW” may be putting new life in their minis range.

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    2. I found a couple of articles on the web, and it all sounds promising :-)
      It had all slipped under my radar, so I'm really chuffed that you painted and posted your rangers and sparked the alert!

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    3. Great news, Greg. I’m sure if I get hooked on the tv show then you can expect loads of “LoTR” postings :-)

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  11. Arnulf looks great mate. I too like the more simple scheme compared to the garish studio choices; gives him more of a "Baddie from Conan the Barbarian" look. Which is kickarse.

    Just wish the LotR range matched better scale-wise to GW's regular stuff. -__-

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    1. Cheers Dai. Arnulf was great fun to paint, and I agree with the "Conan" palette. I'm a big fan of the "GW" "LoTR" range, but know what you're saying ; albeit some of the character models are well out of scale with the plastics so perhaps a bit closer to GW's regular stuff?

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  12. What a wonderful figure that reaver (reiver?) is! I love the very dynamic pose andeven his large axe fits perfectly in the overall scheme and of course it's all been brought to life by your superb painting and attention to detail- I certainly wouldn;t have take it as being initially red, let alone plastic!
    Thanks for the group shot too and the up-coming new additions.

    (Also thankful I could take my overcoat and various warm layers off for this post)

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    1. Most kind, Joe, and Arnulf is certainly a fearsome chap, imho. Only a couple more Blood Reavers to go, and then its on to something sci-fi for a change.

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