“The Beast Of Nurgle Is A Truly Horrendous Aberration.”

"Even after death, however, its presence lingered, as crops grew sickly and many fields had to be torched..."

This 28mm scale Finecast "Age Of Sigmar" model of a Beast of Nurgle is made by “Games Workshop” and can not only “batter their victims with their Claws and Tentacles”, but also “shower them with affection by enveloping them with their Slobbering Tongues.” As a result the Chaos Daemon, which is “no less deadly than it is ugly”, can muster an impressive D6 Attacks with its sharp talons and pock-marked appendages, as well as cause D3 wounds with its “primary organ of taste.”

These days sold by the Nottingham-based manufacturer as a “Webstore Exclusive”, the 48mm tall model was disappointingly something of a nightmare to assemble. However, my difficulty in super-gluing the “horror on the battlefield” together was not due to the miniature’s much-maligned resin, but because the multi-part casting came with both the wrong-sized circular base and no instructions whatsoever.

"Nurgle Rotbringers"

Such a complete ‘lack of direction’ for a ‘seven-component’ model which “has the appearance of a sticky and mottled pallid slug, with a face of writhing tentacles” really was incredibly annoying and it subsequently took a long time studying various illustrations of the “immense slug-like” monstrosity to work out precisely which piece fitted where. In addition, I had to wait until “Games Workshop” posted me a couple of 60mm plastic bases before I could really ‘get going’ on the “finely detailed resin cast kit” as I found the daemonic beast an almost impossible build without first gluing, and thus stabilising, its “webbed feet” to a flat surface.

Once assembled though, “the essence of mindless decay and horrid rot given putrid flesh” was an absolute joy to paint, as every one of its hideous details genuinely appeared “as crisp as ever in Citadel Finecast.” Indeed, just as soon as had I finished undercoating the Beast of Nurgle with a double coat of “Vallejo” Heavy Khaki, washed it with “Citadel” Thrakka Green and dry-brushed it with more “Vallejo” Heavy Khaki, I promptly ordered a second model from the “Games Workshop Webstore” to either accompany my first “curious and inquisitive pet” or be simply summoned when needed on the battlefield by my Rotbringers Sorcerer.

Nurgling WIPs - These tiny daemons just need their pimples to be 'picked out' with "Vallejo" Heavy Ochre

With my primary painting phases complete, I then began trying to ‘pick out’ all the aberration’s “slimy secretions” which are dripping “with puss and ichor”, as well as its numerous sores and “grotesquely misshapen… maw.” These areas were thus either simply washed with “Citadel” Agrax Earthshade or Carroburg Crimson and then dry-brushed with even more “Vallejo” Heavy Khaki, or given a layer of Heavy Red, Heavy Warmgrey or Heavy Ochre (combined with a “Citadel” Reikland Fleshshade wash).

The Beast of Nurgle really is a fun piece on the “Age Of Sigmar” tabletop, as it actually acts very much like a bounding, overly-excited puppy dog. Its “Attention Seekers” ability seems to especially embody this desire to find “new friends to play with” by allowing the nightmarish conglomeration to charge in the same Turn in which they run or retreat. Whilst the slug-like creature’s inadvertent “Slime Trail” can cause opposing units to comically slip up “in the toxic slime trail surrounding the daemons.”

Mega-City One Undead WIPs - This zombie's futuristic garb will be a dirty yellow and blue, with orange knee-pad

Sticking with my ever-growing Host of Nurgle, I have been persevering and painting the multitude of “pernicious and capricious Daemons” I need in order to field a minimum strength unit of Nurglings. These cute yet fearsome terrors are certainly time-consuming to paint due to all their eyes, tiny teeth, boils and bleeding sores, but I hope to have enough of the multi-part plastic Khan’gurani’i completed within the next few days to assemble at least two more stacks.

Finally my participation in Zomtober 2016 continues to motivate me and I am making some good progress on another of my “Mongoose Publishing” Mega-City One zombie models. This partially plastic "Mantic Games" miniature is actually the first of my figures to feature one of the "Judge Dredd" Kickstarter's metal torso with arm conversion bits, as well as another of its excellent knee-pads, and as a result I have tried to make the brain-eating cadaver as colourfully-garbed as possible.