Oldhammer Undead Queue

Since I've been way to busy lately to attend my beloved Undead, I thought it would be a cool idea to share with you part of my Warhammer Undead collection from the 80s. This selection of minis contains both slotta and pre-slotta miniatures of various skeleton warriors, undead samurais, night horrors, zombies, etc. dating between 1984-1987. I spent a small fortune to collect these miniatures and still miss some in my collection and plan to acquire them in the future. :)

Marik Varma

Being a gypsy from a long line of fortune tellers, Marik can easily read people's minds and manipulate them. This helped him win the favor of blood-thirsty Valdemar whom he now serves. Marik was born in the Kingdom of Ind where he was raised in the circle of nomadic, gypsy sorceress. He was very gifted and learned fast. In his early adulthood he already realized he surpassed the knowledge and skills of his masters and he wanted more! Simple magic, charms and fortune telling were simply not enough for young Marik. There was another thing that separated him from the bright nomadic society and made him a black sheep - his perverted fascination with all things dead, which he fetishized. 

It is believed that at some point in his early life his path crossed with Al-elib Iblis, a mad necromancer traveling in a chariot filled with putrid corpses. The madman was fascinated by the boy whom he caught sniffing the carcasses of small animals behind the graveyard gates. Al-elib saw in a boy a kindred spirit who shared his obsession for everything dead, rotten and putrid and who reminded him of himself as a little boy. The boy enjoyed his little bag filled with corpses of small animals just as much as he did his corpse cart loaded with rotting bodies. By all accounts he took young Marik under his wing and introduced him to arcane necro magic. Like his elders before, Al-elib was impressed by the speed at which Marik was learning, but this time the dark arts. After traveling together for many years and spreading terror all across the Old World, they finally arrived as peers in Sylvania and went separate ways. Marik was a grown man at this point but looked way older then his age. Hunched, with cold grey eyes and rotten teeth he truly was personification of death. Today he serves Valdemar Von Todtstein, a vicious vampire whom he helped win many battles by raising endless waves of animated corpses. Impressed by his loyalty and service, Valdemar presented him with an unique gift, an ancient artifact – Soul Furnice. This magical crown belonged to the legendary necromancer Melkhior. It sucks the souls of recently deceased into its core, where they are being devoured and channeled as potent arcane energy into the body of its wielder, making the caster of necro magic far more potent and dangerous. When the vast undead army lead by Kruger Wargner himself faced the army of Averland at Kleiberstorf, Marik Varma and Al-elib Iblis got reunited on the battlefield and wreak havoc on long lines of enemy archers and artillery by casting the Akar'aran spell, making the ground open to reveal a portal through which long-dead knights rode to do battle. This was the first time, but will not be the last that these two powerful necromancers, a father and son almost, meet on the battlefield.

For Marik Varma I have used Heresy Lab Necromancer miniature. As I said in earlier post, I am not a big fan of those crazy, over the top flaming crowns, which you can also find on some of the Age Of Sigmar miniatures, like Flagellants or Hexwraiths, but it kind of fits this mini. I wanted to make a blood dripping effect from the skull so I experimented with a small piece of plastic nylon which I glued to the necro's hand and reinforced with super attack so that it doesn't bend. Then I painted it with Blood For The Blood God color.

Chariot Of The Harvester finished!

I have finally finished my second Corpse Cart! It is a Chariot Of The Harvester model from Gamezone Miniatures. I must say I am glad this project is behind me. It gave me headaches at times. The thing that was especially annoying was paint constantly chipping away during the painting process as I was handling the model. Also, there was a lot of green stuff-ing involved because there were huge gaps after I assembled the model. All in all I am pleased with the final result and I think this will be a nice addition to my Undead Legion.

Chariot Of The Harvester WIP pt.2

Quick update on the corpse cart. I finished the two banners. I was surprised that I managed to paint them in one afternoon. Next I'm gonna be painting wheels and other the wooden parts.

Chariot Of The Harvester WIP

I have started to work on my second Corpse Cart. This time I am using Gamezone Miniatures Chariot Of The Harvester model.

When I assembled the pile of corpses I was left with huge gaps that needed to be filled with Green Stuff. The only time I encountered such huge gaps on a model was when I bought 6th edition Empire Steam Tank back in the days.

Painting went smooth. I basecoated everything in bone color and then used mostly washes and drybrushing. All in all it went pretty fast and I'm happy how it turned out. Next I'm gonna be painting the banners.

Zombie Horde Is Growing!

I am happy to present you the current state of my zombie horde! Few days ago I finally reached the number 50. However, the final goal is to have a unit 100 zombies strong. For now I'll take a rest from zombies and paint some skeletons (I just love skeletons, I can newer have them enough! :) ).

So here are some shots of the unit:

Oh and by the way, I wasn't completely happy with my Landsknecht zombies, they were to clean. A bit of rust, dirt and blood goes a long way. So here they are updated:

And finally, a cool shot of Arachtian raising the dead in the local cemetery:

Black Coach WIP pt.2 + New Necromancer

A little update on my Vampire Counts. I continued to work on my Black Coach. I have painted the Wraith, two torches and the coffin. The flames on the torches I painted in vibrant green color. I use the same green color on the eyes of the skeletons and everything magic related. This way I get a nice contrast with the red/black color scheme of my army. Next I need to paint two Nightmares and make a base for the model.

I also painted another Necro for my Undead force. This time it's a Heresy Lab miniature. Usually I am not a big fan of those crazy, over the top flaming crowns, which you can also find on some of the Age Of Sigmar miniatures, like Flagellants or Hexwraiths, but it kind of fits this mini. I wanted to make a blood dripping effect from the skull so I experimented with a small piece of plastic nylon which I glued to the necro's hand and reinforced with super attack so that it doesn't bend. Then I painted it with Blood For The Blood God color. I think that the effect turned out ok. Now he needs a name and a background story. :)

Arachtian

Necromancer and master of dark arts known only as Arachtian was infamous throughout the old world. His frequent appearances within the cities of the Empire made him one of the most wanted man. Elector counts employed the toughest witch hunters to hunt him down. Rewards on his head were spiraling. He was never seen in one place for too long. He was constantly on the move escaping various holy groups, mercenaries and witch hunters.

Upon his arrival to Sylvania, his path crossed with one of the most vicious vampires known to man, vampire Kain. This hateful vampire lord saw a great potential in this corrupted and foul man, who already had a great knowledge of dark magic. Kain realized immediately that he would be of great assistance to the New Night Order since his abilities to rapidly raise big groups of undead servants were unparalleled. His nomadic lifestyle had a specific purpose. Everywhere he traveled, he was in search of potent artifacts and forbidden books. Most valuable items in his collection were ancient artefacts and tomes from the deserts of the old. These unholy scripts gave him unique insights into arcane dark science which was long gone and forgotten. In one of his experiments and rituals he apparently succeeded in creating a levitating dead host, a living corpse like zombie only faster and stronger. This of course is yet to be confirmed on the battlefield but it is no wonder that commander Kain wants him by his side.

The news of his involvement with Kain spread throughout the Empire and caused fear and concern among men. The word is that he is working day and night on raising the new breed of undead warriors that shall serve the New Night Order. If this turns out to be more than a tavern rumor, may Sigmar help us!

The model I have used for Arachtian character is a Necromancer miniature from Scibor Miniatures. This is the first non GW character in my collection. I really love this model and it fits perfectly with GamesWorkshop miniatures. The size is spot on. To read more about this mini and for some WIP pictures follow the link to this post.

Al-elib Iblis

From the south, all the way from the lands of Araby came this deteriorating mad man, riding an obscure corpse cart filled with rotting bodies. On one stormy night he arrived to Sylvanian forest drawn by the very potent dark energies he felt. It is not known whether he was summoned by some powerful individual, Necrarach or Blood Dragon, who are lately gathering the troops within the Sylvanian borders, or for some other obscure, personal interest. The word about the pale rider with piercing insane eyes started to spread among townsfolk all throughout the Empire. It is said that the corpses risen back to life and fueled with arcane necro magic are pulling the damned thing relentlessly, day and night, without ever needing to stop for food or sleep. Cloaked in the green mist he is rarely to be seen and most often his arrival is foreshadowed only by unbearable putrid stench and cackling sadistic laughter. However, once he reveals himself, there better be no living person around! Stories have been told about men being paralyzed by his abysmal gaze and whipped to death, only to end up on his ever-growing pile of corpses. The sound of the sinister bell mounted on the top of his chariot freezes the blood in the veins of the living. When the chariot stops, Al-elib is seen knocking the bell four times, most often in vicinity of the graveyards and sites of the recently ended battles. Upon the fourth knock, the souls of the departed are seen leaving the bodies and being sucked by the demonic bell. It seems he is using the bell to collect the souls of the recently deceased and then channel this energy to the corpses pulling the cart and attacking the unsuspected pass byers. On top of all this, it is also believed he is bringer of disease, for wherever he arrives people start to suffer from various infections and deadly illnesses and so the misery he brings stays with people even after his departure. This mad man is whipping the animated corpses for no other reason than for pure fun. When bodies become wrecked beyond recognition, he likes to change the crew. So by all means, if you ever encounter this wicked necromancer and his cursed entourage, run as fast as you can!

I think this is a really cool looking model from Games Workshop and for the most part I enjoyed working on it. However, once I finished painting the cart, placing the corpses inside was a real nightmare! I barely managed to squeeze them in, using force. In the process the paint got pealed off on some of the hanging limbs. I would definitely recommend gluing the corpse pile on the wooden bottom of the cart prior gluing the poles that are sticking out. If you are interested in the whole process of painting this model and checking out all the posts concerning Al-elib, follow this link: corpse cart