Human Slave Test Model

The Warhammer Armies entry for Human Slaves

 

Test model for the Human Slaves.  Based on the Perry twins Mahadist Ansar plastics.  I have opted to paint him a little like he is of Norse origin before his…reconditioning.  I like having them with the ridiculous leashes, it is suggestive of many things I want to associate with these unfortunates.  I am thinking of the captive pet humans in the movie La Planete Sauvage (Fantastic Planet) more and more as I work on these guys…

Green stuff used for the collar, leash. ankle restraint as well as the top of the club

Lizardmen Warriors

The Lizardman Warriors entry from Warhammer Armies

This month sees me making an effort to get more Slann forces painted in preparation for the Oldhammer game we plan to run at Knavecon on 01 March.  We are using the Mordheim rules for this one so 30 odd models is lots for that system.  The Lizardmen here are Bob Olley sclpts (with the exception of perhaps the leader guy in the armour).  They have languished on my lead heap since the early 90’s so it is nice to finally get them painted!  I couldn’t afford to spend too long on them so I fell back on the standard drybrush and ink techniques, nothing too fancy there.  I couldn’t resist doing a little green stuff roots and leaves on the bases.  It didn’t delay the work flow as I needed to chop and disguise the integral bases with green stuff anyway.

 

Lizardman Warriors

 

The 10 Lizardmen takes the total up to 27 models painted for the Slann force.  The plan is to bulk up each of these units to bring them up to full combat strength for the army later on.  For now it’s fun coming up with the first bunch of models in each unit and integrating them into the developing army colour scheme.

The Slann warband so far…

 

Here is a close up of the Slann Hero who is now painted up well enough to be game ready.  Room for improvement on him later, as he is fun to paint he will end up being a time sink no doubt.

Slann Hero on Cold One

 

 

An Eldritch Gauntlet

Jungle Braves

The 3rd edition WFB entry for Jungle Braves

These are the first 5 of what will eventually be a unit of 15 Jungle Braves for the 3rd edition WHFB Slann force.  They represent the most primitive subjects of the emperor and as such I have painted them in a very simple colour scheme relative to the rest of the army.

Simple colour scheme of greens and browns with an accent of purple

I decided to paint the clubs a little like an Irish shillelagh for the hell of it rather than particularly going for something of south american inspiration.  I don’t plan on following along with real world historical precedent too closely, I am just going on my gut feeling of what I think will look good.  Generally I like to mix and match stuff in an anachronistic style as I think it suits the Warhammer feel more appropriately and leave historical accuracy to the historical wargamers.

 

In terms of gaming with them the Jungle Braves are levy troops and so have diminished statistics compared to the other Slann warriors while costing less points to field.  They can be used in closely formed units but are not exactly front line troops and would need to get onto a flank or rear of an engaged enemy to have any chance against decent enemy units.  They make for an inexpensive reserve unit and can bulk out a force considerably when used in this manner, a bit like Skaven slaves really.

Close formation

They make for a good skirmishing unit standing in front of the expensive elite troops and generally taking any missile attacks the enemy can throw at them with their excellent toughness of 4.  I would not rely on them to do much actual killing of the enemy though except perhaps to chase off other skirmishers.  They are some of the worst shots in the Warhammer world so missile weapons are not a great option at all really unless you want to use them in a small skirmish game where you want adversaries who are inept at shooting at your central cast of characters (like any native who has fired a missile at Indiana Jones).  I have opted to equip them with shields as I intend to use them to “catch” any missiles destined for my precious elites.  They are also invaluable for drawing out the inevitable goblin fanatics!

Skirmishing

For levy troops they have excellent Cool so they will tend to stand their ground and not panic when friendlies flee past them, highly desirable in WHFB 3rd edition.  Leadership 7 while good by levy standards is still about as reliable as a cowardly hooman though!

Run away!

 

The Eagle Knights of the Slann

Did I not mention my army theme yet?

Finally getting over the drop in enthusiasm for doing anything hobby related over the Xmas period I got some solid work done on the elite Slann Eagle Warriors .  As you can see the colour scheme is inspired by the great Liberace.  Whenever I think that a colour scheme is too over the top I look at a picture of this guy for 20 seconds.  It makes me realise that I was being conservative in the first place!

Enough blathering on with da figgaz!

“GrrrUrrkkkk”

I have been experimenting with a basing scheme for the Slann.  This one is not bad.  There is simple oldschool charm to just using sand and painting it.  I have used colours on the bases which appear in the unit colours helping in gunking this unholy colour palette together in a credible manner.

This unit is the nucleus of a Slann army

This many took me bloody ages to crank out but they were worth the effort in the long run.  I need to make up a musician and a standard bearer next.  The musician will have a horn based on a John Blanche concept sketch for the Slann.  The standard I have not really coalesced a clear idea about yet.  I think it will have to be on the big side for sure.  I don’t want to make an Aztec banner or anything but something more Warhammer and painterly I think (but with feathers natch).  Perhaps a portrait of the man himself with an eagle for a head….with me it will probably end up being something batshit crazy.

Those headdress feathers were a pain in the arse but I did love painting the brightly coloured feather PJ’s

I will need to do another 9 standard guys to go with that musician and standard bearer to bring the unit up to full battle strength.  I plan to do those ones with reposing and greenstuff resculpting in order to break up the cookie cutter look.  I have a higher threshold for planning, preparing and converting than for painting so it will not take me very long to get those guys made up when I get the wind in my sails for this unit again.

Skirmishing

There are still some minor touch ups to be done here and there but as I have reached my sanity threshold for this unit it’s time to move onto another unit for a while.  Next up is finishing off those primitive Slann Jungle Braves I started ages ago.

Eagle Warriors Unit Champion

Nearly finished unit champion or hero for the Eagle Warriors. Metallic paints for the suit on the heirloom technology on this the most senior of the totem warriors. I will do a freehand design on the shield later on when I base him.

WIP Slann Warrior Priest

 

This is the colour scheme I am going with for my Slann Warrior priests:

Needs the highlighting but you get the idea.  The model is a conversion of the Warrior Priest model.

 

 

Warhammer 3rd Edition Slann Eagle Warrior

Warhammer Fantasy Battle 3rd Edition Slann Eagle Warrior

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These guys were +3 shock elites in 3rd ed.  These were the go-to guys for a Slann army where you could expect to find the general, army standard bearer.  Talk about having all your eggs in one basket (boom boom!).  Ahh but sure that was the stlye of the game in them days.