Mortreich Von Todtstein

Mortreich Von Todtstein is a brother of Kain Von Todtstein. He is as cruel and merciless as Kain, and equally vicious and capable commander. The two brothers always competed for dominance. Even in life, from the time they were little kids fighting with wooden swords, these two were constantly battling each other, be it in a direct way or by plotting schemes behind the curtain. Now in undeath, they are again confronted in the eternal battle for the favor of the supreme commander and their lord Kruger "Der Nacht König". Mortreich was absent for several centuries while at the same time his brother supposedly banded with the Night King in his expedition to the Black Pyramid. It is said that he was roaming the lands of the old world on his own, in a search of a magical blade, an ancient dark relic of great power - the “Nightfang". Eventually, his search was successful. Some say that the sword was hidden within dimensions of the dark gods and demons, beyond this universe. Equipped with this ancient blade, it is widely believed that he can open various portals to netherworld and summon a vast horde of spectral minions in an instant. Therefore do not be fooled by his appearance of a lone vampire count warrior. The shadows that follow him reluctantly are always there, waiting to be unleashed upon his single commanding word from a death spell. There are even stories that the blood that ends up on this ancient blade never coagulates, keeping it in liquid form indefinitely. Words about Mortreich wielding the mighty Nightfang reached Kain fast. Thus his hatred towards his brother grew even greater, for every vampire’s dream is to hold this potent weapon. What will the future bring, and will this bad blood ever come to an end, only time will tell.

I remember, some 20 years ago, when me and my friends were playing Warhammer Fantasy Battles 6th edition, this was one of my favorite Games Workshop models. I was playing Empire at the time and was so envious of my friend who played Vampire Counts. I wanted this Red Duke model so bad. :) Today, 20 years later, I still find this mini to be bloody awesome! The Duke is so full of character. Something that today's minis lack, in my opinion. And I finally own it! :D 

Mournful Knight standard bearer and progress on the unit

Standard bearer for my Mournful Knights (Blood Knights) is done! I'm keeping the same color scheme throughout the unit to make them look a bit uniformed. Lots of black and red and dark metallics. Having completed the third model, out of five, I've noticed there is a problem which is repeating on every model. There is a huge gap between the rider and the horse when I want to glue them together. They just don't fit. On all three models I had to make a ball of Green Stuff to fill the hole and glue them properly. I also pinned the banner to make sure it wont fall off.

I also addressed the issue of fitting the basses together. I had to reposition one of the knights so that I am able to fit them all together. I barely managed to find space for all three. Hopefully I'll manage to somehow squeeze in the remaining two as well.

Mournful Knight and Armored Skeletons Command Group

Recently I have finished my second Mournful Knight from Gamezone Miniatures. I'm happy how it turned out. However, I realized I can not fit the bases of the two models together, which is quite frustrating because I want to be able to put all the models in one unit. I guess if you are playing Age Of Sigmar this wouldn't present an issue, but for Warhammer Fantasy Battles it is crucial that you are able to do so. I will try to reposition the models so that the bases can be placed side by side, but I'm not sure if that would be even possible since the models are pretty wide.

Also, I have painted the command group for my Armored Skeletons. I'm not completely sold on the (Bretonnian) banner though. I might replace it with one from the Grave Guard box and make more traditional design to fit better with these classic models.

Adding non GW miniatures to my Vampire Counts army

Last two weeks I've been painting non GW miniatures for a change. I've used three different companies for the first time. I'm pretty happy with the quality of their stuff and I'm going to use them again.

I've had my eye on Scibor Miniatures Necromancer for quite some time and finally decided to get it and paint it. He will be designated to the Todtstein Shock Troops. Model is cast in resin, great quality, no air bubbles, minor flesh to be cleaned. I had to place him on 50mm base, so he is taking four spaces in the unit, which is kind a logical since there are three zombies emerging from the ground around him. I had to put in extra effort on the base, to make the zombies look as though they are raising from the ground.

I'm pleased with the end result. Only thing I'm not 100% sure about is the green glow. Think maybe it would look better if I made it a bit more subtle.

Another company I've been wanting to try out for years is the Reaper Miniatures. I've always been a huge fan of their Bone Horror model, so I ordered it together with some Arachno Assassins. These are metal miniatures, although the company has many ranges, some in plastic, some in metal. I decided to paint one of the Assassins first. The design is really simple but effective! Since the model is 90% bone, you can paint it really fast.

Far back in the past, while browsing the internet, I stumbled upon Mournful Knights by Gamezone Miniatures. My mind was blown! They looked so menacing, vicious and packed with action. The whole unit looked as if in the glorious charge. I thought these models are really ahead of it's time. And still, even today I consider them to be one of the best cavalry models out there. That being said, there is some work required prior painting. The miniatures are metal and there are some gaps that needed to be filled with modeling putty. Another thing thing I noticed while painting my first knight is that sometimes it is hard to differentiate what is what on the model. All in all I really like the final result and can't wait to add more knights to the unit!

Kruger "Der Nacht-König" Wärgner

The king of the eternal night and supreme leader of "The New Night Order"

It is believed that he presently abides in one of the ancient Sylvanian castles/ruins of the northern regions. The castle itself has its own forbidden legends and dark stories to tell. Apparently built by the first Von Carstein nobles, "The eldars", who performed horrible rituals and sacrifices during their reign within the castle walls. In order to achieve immortality in what they called "the pure blood rite", they slew thousands of innocents in the darkest era known to mankind – in pre-Sigmar times. The castle was burnt down and abandoned after the first fall of the Von Carsteins. Since the appearance of the Nameless one, the castle walls can be seen again in all their previous might and glory, but only during nighttime. What happens during daylight hours remains a mystery. Is the castle just an illusion? Does it exist for real? Is it trapped within parallel dimensions? This is a conundrum for sages to solve. Glowing green light can be seen frequently from inside the castle during long Sylvanian nights, suggesting powerful necro-magic within its fortified towers.
 

It remains unknown whether he was just another great fallen hero to become a Vampire count Blood Dragon by some foul play of destiny or it was something much greater, darker and far more terrifying - beyond the grasp of mortal comprehension - that spawned him. Is it a myth brought to life? A rumor? A story to scare children? Something else entirely? Nobody knows for sure. There were stories, legends and rumors back in the old days, many tall tales indeed, but most have fallen out of memory since. One of them still survived, though, and it speaks of the following:

Back in the old times lived a great hero. Whether of Bretonnian or Empire stock, it remains unclear. He possessed great strength and charisma and was considered a war-master. He honed his skills and tactics through countless battles against evil. However, it is said that one day he came in contact with Chaos so powerful that it was too much even for him to bare. He was last seen entering the great black pyramid of Nehekhara with the remnants of his once great army and was lost in the labyrinths below for untold centuries to come. Was it he that came to Chaos or the other way around, or was it some other foul and dark force that summoned him back to life wearing his body and armor remains a mystery. Some say he opened the portal to other worlds within the pyramid itself. From there he traveled to the distant future where the Chaos reigned supreme and "tapped" into it, returning with all its forbidden secrets far back into the past of the Old World in order to change the history and conquer all...only this time in the name of the Dead, rather than Chaos.

Throughout history, Kruger was known under various names and different titles. The common folk, mostly terrified out of thier minds and fearing for their souls, wouldn't dare to speak his real name out loud. So when they mentioned him in conversation, he was referred to as "The Namless One". One thing is certain, though. He is a horrible creature of darkness and undeath bent to a single purpose in the Old World - to create the "New Night Order". A world without life, forever.

For the Kruger character I decided to go with Mannfred Von Carstein miniature from Games Workshop. I really like the model, the character looks both as brutal warrior and a mage. However, this model is form the Games Workshop Finecast range. When ordering models from this range it's like playing the lottery. You never know what will you get in terms of quality of the cast. These models are cast in resin and often have small air bubless in the parts. This particular model was worse than usual and I had to fill many holes with modelling putty prior painting. There are still plenty of small air holes in the fur which I left as is, because it would take me ages to fill them all and it can pass as a fur.
My biggest challenge when painting this model was the OSL effect. I had to get out of my comfort zone, since I don't have much experience with this technique. I wanted to make the green glow from the staff reflect on the armored horse and Kruger. I'm quite pleased how the effect turned out.