Warriors of Chaos

In mid 2010 I started work on a long-overdue project: A Chaos army for which I had had the majority of models in my collection of "Things to get around to" for quite some time (approximately 20 years, in fact).

Most of the models shown here are from Warhammer 3rd edition or earlier, the notable exceptions being the Hellcannon (which is a complete scratchbuild), the Chaos Marauders (which are a mix of old Chaos Thugs and newer Marauders) and the Warhounds. The mounted Generals is also a notable model as the Daemonic steed version is a heavily converted plastic foot warrior on what was originally a one-headed, un-barded horse.

Other units have been partially upgraded - anyone with a shield has a new Citadel shield, for example and any Knights on plastic horses are on relatively modern steeds.

One major departure for me was the way this army was painted as it saw my first use of airbrushes which were used to base-coat the models and then apply several layers of washes to give that "dried blood" look to the armour. The rest of the detail and horse-flesh were then brushed on as normal.

See individual unit entries for more details. 

The photos were taken on different visits to Warhammer World hence the differences in the lighting.



This model is in actuality a Greater Daemon of Khorne from Circa 1990. Back then saw the first issue of dedicated books of army lists "Realm of Chaos - Slaves to Darkness" and "Realm of Chaos - The Lost and the Damned" that were to spawn the "Warhammer Armies" books that we now enjoy. Prior to that, Warhammer Armies was a single Tome which contained all the lists for every army.

The modern Greater Daemon models are far larger than these older models, but since my army is very Khorne-looking I have decided to use this model as the Daemon Prince as it's about the right size (wingspan excepted).



Another collection of older models with a few modern plastics added in for bulk. Front and Centre is a model from waaay back: a female Chaos Warrior (IIRC GW used to give a lot of their models names and she was called ''Ludmilla Loinripper''). She also features my original brush-painted colour scheme which I abandoned as too labour intensive. The red is a little more vivid than the airbrushed version.

The model on the rear rank, fourth from the left is actually a very old "Empire" knight to which I added a lance and horns. Other models circa 1990 but with newer horses and shields.

Well, I had three very old Chaos Dwarf models which were doing nothing and your Chaos chappies have no ranged weapons at all. The Hellcannon looked fun from the army list, but I didn't really like the model and didn't want to pay £40.00 for a model I didn't like. So I made my own from plastic piping, foamboard, scrap bits of plasticard and some chains & milliput.

I had to get Cthulhu into the army somehow!

Another view of the HellCannon

Models from Circa 1990, updated with modern shields and (apart from the centre and left-most model) horses.

Shown also here is the Mortal General model - a heavily converted "Rough Rider" style horse, broadened, given two heads and a load of Milliput armour and topped with a plastic Chaos Warrior. This will be photographed elsewhere in greater detail at some point.

The model "front and centre" is an old Citadel Figurehead - it was a very popular model from the late 1980s which was one of the first models with which I can claim to have been happy with the paint-job I did. It had a very minor amount of repainting before it joined the Chaos army - it's trousers were repainted to match the "dried blood" look of the rest of the force.

The two models at the left and centre of the rear rank are the only other Citadel models in the unit, the other being from a Citadel offshoot called "Marauder Miniatures" (now demised). The marauder models have a much more "foppish" look to them - all floppy hats and puffy sleeves.

Still - they make for a striking unit (no pun intended).

This model is in actuality a Greater Daemon of Nurgle from before 1990. 1990 saw the first issue of dedicated books of army lists "Realm of Chaos - Slaves to Darkness" and "Realm of Chaos - The Lost and the Damned" which is where the bloated Nurgle Daemons were first seen. This model is an earlier and ver different take on the rotting horrors we know today. A very rare model and the only one of it's kind I've ever seen.

The "Nurgle" model shown alongside one of the more modern plastic Spawn models

Another unit of Warhounds.

This unit is a mixture of old Chaos Thug models and newer plastic Marauders. One of my favourites, it contains two female models (front-left and the other is obscured by the banner).

This unit is largely built from new plastic models (the model front-and-centre is an exception). I was very pleased with the way the paintjob turned out - I was dubious about the models until I'd finished painting them but they have become a firm favourite.