Archive for ‘daemons’
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Back into the big pile of Horrors of Tzeentch to paint for Project Change. This Blue Horror has been done in Liche Purple through to Jade Green. Not blue as such, but both colours are almost there.
Games Workshop have just released their new plastic Horrors. It’s a big departure from the third generation of truly disturbing Horrors. But, oddly, there seems to be no tip-of-the-hat to their splitting any more. I’ve yet to get my hands on the sprues themselves (but it’s my birthday soon so fingers crossed) so I could be wrong. There’s no game reason to paint them blue these days, but I’m sure people will. Here’s how they appear in blue with a little Photoshop magic.
Now, how to capture that effect with paint?
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A Thousand Sons has just been released by Black Library. So to celebrate I will focus on the Thousand Sons for a little. This is Daemon Primarch Magnus the Red, commanding his legion of Epic-scale Tzeentch minions.
Magnus the Red was one of four Daemon Primarchs released by Games Workshop in 1992 in Epic scale. Each of the four major Gods got one – Khorne got Angron, Slaanesh Fulgrim and Nurgle Mortarion. Pertarbo and Lorgar are the only other two Traitor Primarchs surviving in the present game setting, and both have been elevated to Daemon Prince status too, though neither have seen models. (And while I’m on the subject of Primarch models, Leman Russ is the only Imperial Primarch to have had one. Oh, and Lion El’Jonson’s Lion Helm comes with the Azrael model. Oh, and one of Horus’ Lightning Claws now belongs to Abbadon. I digress.)
The classic ‘Eavy Metal Magnus the Red is of course blue. It was painted blue by Jay Tanner presumably because blue is Tzeentch’s singature colour, and Mr. Tanner decided that the Red meant that in fact he was a ginger. Cap’n Facebeard of Warseer beautifully points out the 1992 studio colours “made him look like a 90s cartoon villain. You were always waiting for the Ninja Turtles to foil him.” It is so bizarre that during Games Workshop’s Red Era they decided not to paint Magnus the Red actual red.
With the Horus Heresy series of books it’s stated that Magnus the Red had red skin. And instead of being a goofy Harryhausen Cyclops he has a one normal eye and an eyeless sockect. I will explain away all these differences by saying Tzeentch changed Magnus’ appearence when he elevated him to daemonhood.
I decided to paint my Magnus with pinky red skin akin to some of my Pink Horrors, as I felt bright red skin would make him look Khornate. And I decided my Magnus would also be a redhead with matching orangey wings. I wanted to do his vambraces copper, but that was too many similar colours on one model.
And, to be honest, goofy as this model is it’s also sculpted in a cockingly awful fashion. See his right leg? It’s just a weird amorphous blob I despaired at painting. The back of the model looks like an afterthought. And what’s going on with his giant head, and gibbon arms? It’s either a Jes Goodwin or Colin Dixon sculpt, and I’m hoping it’s Colin Dixon as he’d just started out at the company. I fancy doing one in the blue scheme at some point.
Yellow is an interesting colour. Doubly so when shaded with the gaudy Warlock Purple. Would you experiment with that combination? I have. Here’s a 1990 Epic Tzeentch Flamer adopting the guise of Maynard Flux‘s Daemonic Familiar.
Interesting? Lurid? Psychedlic? Well, I’m a little glad I didn’t do it on a larger model. Maybe a more sophisticated approach is called for. And now I realise that going forward I should avoid painting any of Tzeentch’s bird minions in yellows to avoid comparisons with Sesame Street.
I noted with the Epic scale Pink Horror that this generation of Chaos models were laughably out of scale. Let me explain this a little more. Epic is nominally a 6mm wargame, meaning the average trooper measures in at about 6mm. Here’s the Epic Flamer next to an Epic Dark Angel Hunter.
Why this hideous scale fail?
Theory One – the Epic Chaos Daemons were done at a time when Games Workshop were simplifying the amount of detailing on their Epic-scale models for ease of mass production. This meant chunkier details, less details, and bigger models (all the better to put big chunky details on).
Theory Two – Epic is out of scale with itself. People complain about not being able to fit ten Marines inside a Rhino in 40K. Well, try putting thirty 6mm Marines inside a Thunderhawk only 10mm long. Epic models were more abstract counters representing the troop types present on the battlefield, rather than being scale models.
Theory Three – Chaos Daemons should be this big all the time, it’s the 28mm ones that are scaled wrong.
Well, anyway, Games Workshop corrected it in 1998 with the Epic 40K plastic Chaos sprues. Here’s a comparison shot.
This is one of the few examples of Games Workshop’s models getting smaller over time.
Trish Morrison’s Pink Horror Champion. His trademark grin was self-inflicted because he wanted to show his facially-scarred girlfriend he still found her attractive.
I can’t put my finger on when Lesser Daemons first got their Champions, as I still need to find a copy of 4th edition Fantasy’s Warhammer Armies Chaos. But I know the first official Daemon command models came out in 1997. (Ahhh. 1997 – when Minotaurs had great models.)
The Pink Horror Champion had an extra WS, BS, S, I and A over the standard Pink Horror. This was back in 5th edition Warhammer Fantasy, when Champions could regularly take magic items of their own rather than just being the guy at the front with a different name and an additional attack. But Daemon Champions couldn’t take magic items (unless they were a Daemon Battle Standard Bearer) and didn’t get access to any Daemonic Rewards (the Daemons’ equivalent of Magic Items). And so, with the exception of the improved stats, I can’t work out why people took them.
In modern Fantasy the Pink Horror Champion has been renamed to Iridescent Horror, and can also be fielded in 40K. There is no model for Iridescent Horrors yet, or Heralds of Tzeentch, so the Pink Horror Champion tends to crop up in both these roles. (Though the cheaper and more common approach is just painting a Pink Horror a different shade of pink – tsk.)
I did originally feel a little guilty that so much of Project Change seems to be Daemons. So, I counted up all the models the project’s scope includes, and then counted how many of them are categorised as Daemon. It’s a whopping 83% at present (not including the Daemon Engines, dragons possessed by daemons, sorcerers riding bound daemons or those weird Man O’War things I really ought to research more). And, as with this model only 74% of Project Change is classified as Daemon, I’m okay.
And, I realised that two Horrors ago I collected enough to field a 7th edition Fantasy regiment. Here they all are on a movement tray celebrating their new-found gamable status.
This is one of my Warhammer turn-offs. You spend an age painting your army, only those not in the front rank to be hidden away where the painting goes unnoticed.
Another smiley-happy Trish Morrison Blue Horror of Tzeentch (far left). Now I have two so I can split a G2 Pink Horror in half in games and have everything I need to represent it. This pleases me.
This model is a particular favourite of mine as I got it way back in 1997 when Gorkamorka was released. I’d ordered my Gorkamorka boxed set from Mail Order, and as a treat they threw in this very Horror with a note something along the lines of, “This is coming out soon, have it for free”. I painted him up even before I did my Gorkamorka mobs and used him as a sidekick for my Warhammer Quest barbarian hero – Pugnax the Pugnacious.
I’m trying a colder blue at the moment, as until now my models have had mostly warm schemes. I would like to do something more with the orange than just the eyes, so I tried the daemon-jewelery in a copper, but it didn’t work. And it puzzles me why they wear jewelery. Where does it come from? Did Trish simply sculpt it on in order to hide the rough bits of the sculpt?
And, I’m off travelling again, this time to Lahndahn (big-ben-red-bus). Ninjabread 20, rather than being postponed to the weekend just gone will just be pushed back a whole week to this coming Space-Friday. Sorry. If it makes you feel better have this dumb joke only historical wargamers will ever appreciate.
Another foray with the teeny-tiny aircraft. I think it’s because I saw Top Gun recently.
The Doomwing was one of the three Dave Andrews Tzeentch-specific Daemon Engines released in March 1993 – the other two being the Fire Lord and the Silver Tower. The concept of welding technology and warp creature together was never introduced properly into 40K-scale until a decade later with the plastic Defiler kit in 2003.
The Doom Wing was a small interceptor armed with a Flame Cannon. Quite how it shot down other aircraft using forward-firing gouts of fire puzzles me, but both fire and flight are Tzeentch’s trademarks. It also carries over the horse skull vibe from the earlier Tzeentch-aligned 40K and Fantasy models.
The colour scheme was inspired by the cover artwork for Queen Rocks.
It would have been perhaps more fitting for the larger Fire Lord model which has more flat surfaces to have fun blending, and also the word “fire” in its name. Oops.
This little fella’s called Screamer. But he’s not a Screamer, which is also one of Tzeentch’s daemons (unbound Discs of Tzeentch), but rather a Horror called Screamer. Most the G1 minor daemons had individual names, and this is Screamer. Confused?
I feel this guy needs to be modelled as part of a diorama with a little plaque that reads, “It was this long”.
As most my G1 Blue Horrors follow the scheme of blue with pink arms, I thought I’d try reversing it for the Pinks. I also feel that that the arms should change colour again at the knuckles. I, however, do not feel that the fingers should have bits of static grass stuck on them as the photo above has. Oops.
There are three variations on Screamer (and indeed all the Pink Horrors of Tzeentch) as there were three sets of legs each of the twelve bodies could be plonked atop. This means there are 36 variations on the original Pink Horrors which will mean years of trawling eBay and pestering people for close ups of their legs.
And now, here’s all three generations of Pink Horror alongside each other.
Notice how the first two iterations are broadly similar and could be mixed together in the same regiment, and how the third is a complete and very wibbly departure. (And notice how the G2 Horror in the middle needs to be modelled as part of a diorama with a little plaque that reads, “It was about this tall”.)
Hailing from the depths of 1995 comes this Marauder Miniatures Flamer of Tzeentch. This one in an experimental pale chalky scheme that’s an attempt to copy the studio scheme from the 1997 Realm of Chaos.
Marauder Miniatures?! They’re not Games Workshop. Well, back in the days Marauder was brand that Warhammer miniatures sculpted by Ali and Trish Morrison were distributed under. They were gradually subsumed back into Citadel in 1993 (according to Source of Legends), though these models are tabbed Marauder and 1995. Who knows. Actually, I’m fascinated to learn the reasons behind the split and subsequent reabsorption.
I recently discovered thanks to the Collecting Citadel Miniatures Group that Marauder also produced a pair of Greater Daemons – one for Khorne and one for Tzeentch. I’m rather excited, as there have been several Lords of Change knocking around eBay that I’ve dismissed as knock-offs. But no! They are official Games Workshop models. And ones I go rabid for as they’re obscure and retro. If anyone out there’s got a photo of the Khorne one, I’d love to see it.
Back in September 1989, White Dwarf 117 had a page chock full of models painted and photographed by Fraser Gray – a suitably gothic-looking man whose backdrops probably served as the inspiration for the current range of 40K terrain pieces.
And among the weird Tzeentch conversions were the two Flamer-based ones above I’ve nicked the colour scheme from. (The prototype Flamer made me wonder if originally the Horror bodies were designed to fit on the Flamer torsos, but playing around with them I conclude not.) So here’s my unconverted tribute. It’s come out quite differently as I was really trying to veer away from painting my model red.
Now to add it to the WotR movement trays I line up the Project Change models in. Or is there a better way to display them?
Another of my hobbies is browsing discount toy shops for cheap Transformers knock-offs. On one such stupid adventure I found a Jungle Rack playset.
I bought it in a flash and hurried home excitedly. Some glue, sand, drybrushing, grassing and bushing later I had a gorgeous tiered display piece of just the right size and shape to put in my glass display cabinets.
First attempt at drybrushing a terrain type of thing for a long while, so it was a learning experience. I want some more subtlety which I might achieve with weathering powders. I also want more Jungle Rack playsets, if not least to melt down the tiny plastic lions with matches.
