“The Life-size Recumbent Effigy Was First Found In The Tombs Of Royalty…”

"...And then spread to the nobility."

This 34mm long resin model of a Mouse-oleum – The Tomb Of The Mouse Lord is produced by “Oathsworn Miniatures” and can be purchased as part of their “Burrows & Badgers” range. The small(ish) scenic piece was part of a handful of miniatures I picked up from the company’s stall whilst at “Salute” 2019, and has been super-glued onto one of the 50mm circular bases I predominantly use for my objectives markers.

The effigy was initially undercoated using two coats of the old “Citadel” Layer paint Charadon Granite and subsequently heavily washed with Nuln Oil. It was then simply dry-brushed using more Charadon Granite. As a final touch I later mixed some “Vallejo” White in with the “Citadel” Charadon Granite and very lightly dry-brushed this combination over the entire model so to help highlight its excellent detail. 

My Daemonic host prepares to advance supposedly safe in the knowledge that the Nurglings will protect them

Sticking with science fiction-based wargaming, I have also managed to play my first 'proper' game of "Warhammer 40K" by "Games Workshop", fielding a 736-point strong Khorne/Nurgle Chaos force against a similarly costed unit of Ultramarines, who were additionally aided by a pair of formidably tough robotic combat walkers. The ensuing battle for an ancient relic upon a planet increasingly lost to the plague-ridden sores of the Plague God and bleeding iconography of the Blood God was understandably bloody, but despite being unable to finish the game to its conclusion due to time constraints, it reaffirmed in my mind just how very much I am currently enjoying this "newest edition of everybody's favourite wargame" as the fight is never seemingly over whilst playing it until the 'fat lady sings'.

This ability to suffer serious set-backs yet still entertain the hope of ultimate victory proved itself time and again during this game, especially in its early stages when I unwisely utilised my Nurglings' "Mischief Makers" ability to place them just 9" away from my enemy's deployment zone. Seemingly shielding a rock-solid core of twenty Bloodletters and twenty Plaguebearers behind their tiny chittering bodies, I felt confident the "Gleeful Castoffs" would keep my opponent busy up for a couple of turns at least and give my larger daemons ample time to advance within reach of their foes.

The Armiger Helverin and Knight Errant start firing upon the Bloodletters and Plaguebearers

Enter an Armiger Helverin, supposedly the "lightest class of Imperial Knight combat walker", and its raking firepower, and my 'delaying tactic' was spread like so much mulch all over the ground with the roll of a fistful of dice. Such a disheartening loss at the very start of the fight left my entire centre wide open to the guns of a towering Knight Errant and my initially terrifying Bloodletter formation began to slowly get whittled away before my very eyes.

Fortunately, despite my opening set-back I was still able to push my main units up the table towards Khorne's Bleeding Icon (which was being used merely as an immobile terrain feature), whilst a pair of Beasts of Nurgle bounded along my left flank to take control of a small stargate which had been identified as the battlefield's one and only valuable relic. However, ominously spread out in front of my warhost ready for the second turn's Shooting phase, was an incredible amount of the Emperor's firepower, including a Primaris Lieutenant who almost glued himself alongside the reassuringly solid form of his force's smaller "fast-moving weapons platform, as well as the rest of the Ultramarines, which assembled before my Beasts of Nurgle.

The Bloodletters, Beasts of Nurgle and Plaguebearers fail their charges 

I can only give thanks to the Dice Gods that my Chaos daemons weren't completely eradicated in the subsequent hail of bullets that followed, especially after both my Bloodletters and Plaguebearers failed their charges. My Plaguesword-carrying warriors at least had their "Disgustingly Resilient" ability to help them soak up all the wounds which were riddling their ranks, but my liver-coloured "Slaughter-Kin" were increasingly finding their 5+ Invulnerability Save for being "Daemonic" wasn't enough protection when caught out in the open before the tender mercies of an Imperial Knight's weaponry.

Eight of the Bloodletters fell before the combined firepower of the Intercessor's Lieutenant and the "Questor Imperialis in High Gothic", utterly breaking the backbone of my once mighty close quarter combatants, and making it clear that the Blood God had probably been less than impressed with their decision to charge the solitary Ultramarine Officer stood atop a pile of ruins, rather than the nearby 'ancient battlesuit'. Certainly I wasn't looking forward to an impossible Morale phase as it even the bravest of Khorne's foot soldiers would surely flee from such a beating..?

Bloodletters swarm the Lieutenant, whilst the Beasts of Nurgle get stomped upon by the Imperial Knight

A single roll of the dice later and 'reality had blinked'. Not only had my Bloodletter's "Daemonic Icon" ensured that "no models flee", but it had bolstered my horde with five freshly-resurrected "Slaughter-Kin". Suddenly, the Lieutenant's position looked far less survivable, whilst my Plaguebearers and Beasts of Nurgle both finally made it into contact with their respective foes. Sadly, time was against us to finish the conflict, so the game's final act was to see the hulking Imperial Knight, quite possibly incensed by suffering a wound courtesy of "Smite", squashing one of my 'enthusiastic monsters who love to play' with its feet...

"Your Curiosity Will Cost You Dear, Human."

"The creature's tongue drills a tiny hole in Johnny's skull. Then it feeds upon his brain."

These additional four 31mm tall plastic pre-painted Dire Wraiths by "Wizkids" are all number 010a from the "Marvel" Guardians Of The Galaxy "Heroclix" range, and are based upon "the main opponents of Rom the Spaceknight." Created by Bill Mantlo and Al Milgrom for the December 1979 issue of "Rom", the extraterrestrial species "are Skrullian Deviants engineered by the starfaring Celestials. 

Having removed the "stocky and troll-like" aliens from their clicky-bases and super-glued onto "Citadel" 40mm circular bases, they were all primed with two coats of "Vallejo" Heavy Red, and enthusiastically washed with "Citadel" Agrax Earthshade. In the past when I've painted these villainous shape-shifters I've actually undercoated them using a layer of "Vallejo" Squid Pink first, but with hindsight don't believe the vibrant Game Colour ever had any effect on the model's subsequent hue so missed this additional step out completely.

Instead these particular "demons from distant space driven in defeat to our shimmering planet" were simply dry-brushed with more "Vallejo" Heavy Red, before having their tiny heartless eyes 'picked out' with a spot of Heavy Ochre. As I wanted these sorcerers' merciless pupils to especially stand out, I didn't bother washing them either, and instead just tidied their edges up with some additional "Citadel" Abaddon Black.

The Intercessors start out well, taking control of an objective and slaying the Bloodletter's Warlord

Alongside my painting, I have also managed to host a 'skirmish' game of "Warhammer 40K", with my Bloodletters taking on a 159 points of Intercessor Ultrmarines, including a Primaris Lieutenant (and using the "Chapter Approved" 2018 costs). As you can imagine with such a low costing confrontation, a couple of home rules were employed to allow the individual models plenty of independence from one another, yet we were still able to follow the vast majority of the miniature wargame's principles as found within the "First Strike" core instruction booklet.

Settling upon the "Slay and Secure" victory conditions, both forces fought over four primary objectives dotted about a ruined Imperial city, with my Khorne warriors suffering an immediate set-back by having their warlord, a Bloodreaper, gunned down during the first phase of shooting without even yelling out a command in anger. Fortunately, my startled Slaughter-kin survived the necessary Morale check, but the Primaris space marines had already snatched D3 Victory Points by slaying my leader during the battle's opening salvo.

A pair of Bloodletters continue to tie-up the majority of the Imperium's forces

Luckily for the Blood God, his foot soldiers "Daemonic" ability to roll a 5+ invulnerability save subsequently proved invaluable time and again during the ebb and flow of the conflict, even surprisingly deflecting three simultaneous wounds on more than one occasion. This incredible run of fortune saw just a couple of meagre Bloodletters tie-up half the Primaris party, including their Lieutenant, for most of the game, allowing me to overwhelm the rest of the scattered space marines through sheer weight of numbers.

Equally as impressive was the daemons' Hellblade, which as a melee weapon with -3 Armour Piercing allowed my Khorne combatants to consistently carve through the Adeptus Astartes irrespective of their impressive 3+ saving throw. Add the fact that "any attacks with a wound roll of 6+... have a Damage characteristic of 2 instead of 1" and you have a mighty melee weapon which not even the Intercessor Sergeant could resist for too long.

The Primaris Lieutenant charges another Bloodletter, as the remaining Intercessor captures an objective

Of course, even though the Ultramarines' number slowly fell to the point where they could no longer hope to contest all four primary objectives, the day could still have partially belonged to the Emperor if their Lieutenant, capable of a whopping 4 attacks in close combat, had actually managed to hit anything during the fight. A couple of Bloodletters did finally begrudgingly fall beneath his Power sword towards the end, but by then time was badly against the officer and his remaining men.

A few Khorne charges later, tapping into the daemons' "Unstoppable Ferocity" which provides the heartless creatures with +1 Strength and Attacks until the end of the turn, all except the Primaris Lieutenant and a single Intercessor were left alive, with the Imperium only holding one primary objective to the Bloodletters' three. This resulted in a 6-4 victory to the forces of Chaos, and the promise of an escalated re-match to come in the near future...