(Lead) Mountain Musings - "Judgements Of Khorne" April 2019

"Bloodletters are Khorne's foot soldiers."

What with the Ninth Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge concluding and the “Salute 2019” show having just taken place, this month’s themed attempt to whittle away at my ‘lead mountain’ is already something of a lost cause to be honest as I ended up purchasing far more at the “South London Warlords” one-day event than I could possibly paint within the space of four mere weeks. To that end, I’ve decided to instead predominantly focus upon a number of scenic pieces, namely the recently released Judgements Of Khorne by “Games Workshop”, whilst all the while prepping, basing and priming some of my “Salute” swag.

As a result I aim to expand my current 500-point strong Blades Of Khorne Army for “Age Of Sigmar” to 750 points, incorporating the Wrath-axe, Bleeding Icon and Hexgorger Skulls into my force, along with the Slaughterpriest needed to summon them. Unfortunately, having assembled the fourteen-piece plastic kit which provides the “Blood God’s answer to endless spells” it has become abundantly clear to me that some of the pieces should probably be painted as separate parts as opposed to a single piece.

Blades Of Khorne WIPs - A Slaughterpriest and the Hexgorger Skulls

The eye sockets belonging to the Hexgorger Skulls for example, are impossible to properly darken as the marvellous sculpts are actually hollow and even the thinnest of my brushes can’t reach all of the nooks and crannies found inside. This means I’ve had to make a watered-down “Citadel” Abaddon Black soup with which to pour through the eyes and then swirl around inside in the hope of it at least providing the grey plastic with a minimal undercoat.

The Wraith-axe is similarly problematic in that it’s now near impossible to reach anywhere close to the bottom of its axe-head or ‘pick out’ several of the many skulls dotted about its flaming shroud. Luckily I don’t think this will too much of a problem though, as for my own sanity’s sake I’m hoping that a lot of the sculpt’s intricate detail will simply be ‘highlighted’ with a little dry-brushing here and there.

Judgements Of Khorne WIPs - The Wraith-axe and Bleeding Icon

Finally, I have assembled the Slaughterpriest with Hackblade and Wrath-hammer who will be conjuring up these bloody nightmares upon my battlefield. “Games Workshop” currently produce a formidably-tall demagogue, but luckily I found an alternative miniature from my own plastic pile, that as memory serves was given out free with a copy of the September 2016 issue of their “White Dwarf” monthly magazine.

Of course, I still need to put the finishing touches to the 500-point Khorne warhost I began painting a couple of months ago. However, having been enthused by the arrival of my Judgements Of Khorne I have now completed the last three of the Bloodletters required to field a twenty-model strong unit of the chaos daemons on the tabletop. This means I just need to finish my force’s general, Skulltaker, before fully setting my sights upon the Blood God’s Judgements and his Slaughterpriest.