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. :)

Nightfang Specter Lord

This horrible Wight champion only appears when summoned by Mortreich von Todtstein and the means of his magical blade "The Nightfang". By wielding this powerful ancient weapon and reciting but a few of his dark incantations Mortreich can instantly summon a great host of undead warriors to join him in battle. It is no wonder that this object remains one of the main reasons for envy and hatred towards Mortreich from almost every other undead commander serving under the “Night King”, especially his brother Kain. That being said it is not known where does this warrior captain originally came from and what was his role in the past life. Even his very name remains unknown both to the world of the living and the dead. He is mounted on what was once a mighty, heavy warhorse, but now a nightmarish steed, skeletal and sinister, just as his rider. Most often, when summoned, he comes forward leading the undead cavalry in unstoppable charge. The extraordinary helmet he wears and the mighty sword he is wielding tell the story of their own. Some believe these were forged in the heart of Dark Lands, near the foothills of Worlds Edge Mountains, by the Chaos Dwarves themselves and imbued with immense magical power providing him with unnatural strength and speed. Townsfolk whisper that by tapping into his true origin and rediscovering his real name one might achieve ultimate power and control over him. Is this really true or just some deranged dark fantasy of the common people hungry for power it is impossible to say, at least for now. Will it ever happen or will the world burn and become shrouded in darkness instead, we shall hopefully witness in the coming events. For the evil and the restless dead never sleep. And they never, ever, come alone...

One of those models I immediately fell in love with! The moment I saw this Mounted Wight for the first time in White Dwarf I was fascinated by it. It is hard to explain what is it exactly that I like so much about these 90's Warhammer miniatures. I absolutely love everything about them and this model embodies that style perfectly for me. I decided to paint his ancient armor in rusty tones and oxidized bronze. The only thing that is not from the original model, is the shield. I believe it is from Grave Guard upgrade kit.

Kardak Khan

 Kain wasted no time with the gathering of the troops. Commanders and powerful undead individuals were summoned to serve as captains in the upcoming war. In many areas of the old world, graveyards had the so-called "sinners ground" – a part of the graveyard dedicated to murderers, thieves and other villains who lie in unmarked graves, condemned forever to oblivion.
Once buried there, there was no turning back. Or so they claimed...
Upon entering one such site, Kain felt the strong negative energy and was drawn to a special unmarked location, a mass grave in form of a catacomb. Endless corridors filled with corpses led to the deepest point where Kain discovered a corpse in heavily damaged full body armor. These where the remains of Kardak Khan, a cruel and merciless killer. A mercenary and a sadist who killed in the most horrifying ways – women and children, young and old, all was fair game. For profit or for sport, it mattered not. This perverted individual was obsessed with pain and suffering of others. When he was finally caught and brought to justice his torturers had a special treatment in store for him, for some of them were relatives and family members of his victims. After torturing him for days they strapped on his armor and dragged him to the local town square for public stoning. Full body armor allowed stoning to last for hours until Kardak was crushed both physically and spiritually. It is said that his last words to his torturers were a promise of vengeance and return.

Kain didn't hesitate for a moment and raised a perfect captain for his growing army – one among many to follow, and thus, after so many centuries, Kardak kept his promise. After all, evil calls upon evil.
Fear the return!!!

For Kardak I used Krell of the Great Axe, Lord of Undeath by Games Workshop. This is one of my favorite GW sculpts from the newer era. It was a real joy painting this mini. Lots of different metal textures allowed me to experiment with various pigments and washes to achieve rusted metal and oxidized bronze. Green glowing eyes and read on his helmet break the monotony of dark colors that dominate the model.

Hiram Von Todtstein

Way back in the old days this ancient king was the last descendant of one of the oldest noble families that called the Empire their home. He was a mighty warrior and a wise king, accompanied by a trusted retinue of men who never faltered in the face of peril. As a ruler, he displayed awe-inspiring fearlessness and his warriors followed him unflinchingly in battle. His black, pronged crown was a gift from a mighty wizard from the eastern lands – a far region that Hiram once defended against the beastmen in one of his countless campaigns. The crown was made of a very rare, unknown material and was imbued with powerful magical incantations. This artifact gave him even greater power in battle, more control over his troops and caused great terror to his enemies. It was said that he couldn't be defeated by any means while wearing the sinister black crown. But there was a trick to it too, a dark side of the coin. Anyone looking at the king while having bad intentions towards him would became cursed by the crown and slowly but surely wither under the foul influence of the mysterious artifact. With time, or at least some sages claimed so, the crown took a life of its own. The king was possessed by it completely, his willpower eventually shriveling to nothingness. Eventually, the king went raving mad and became a soulless puppet controlled by the crown. On his last known campaign against the rising threat from the east, it is said he just rode off during a moonless night into peculiar mists that appeared out of nowhere. He was not seen again. Apparently, this mist led him to another world, one yet unknown to mortals. There, he was lost for ages – until today. He was last spotted near the Sylvanian border, leading a vast contingent of skeleton warriors, their standard bearer displaying the flag of the New Night Order. Another mystery surrounding Hiram? Another threat to the old world? Time will tell.

Although I am a huge fan of the classic, Games Workshop, metal Wight models sculpted by Gary Morley in the early 90s, I also really like the current plastic Wight King model. The sculpt is really awesome and the pose is very dynamic. The King is standing with one leg on a tombstone and his robe is flaunting on wind. I used a cotton ball to create the effect of fog spreading around him. I'm pretty pleased how it turned out.