Warhammer Fantasy: Warriors of Chaos Army Blog
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With the elites of the army all in place, it was time to tackle the high command.
Archaon: Lord of the End Times
With a supremely damaging statline and wargear to match, I knew I wanted to be able to break out Archaon for special occasions. However, at over 600 points, I knew the model would function as a regular chaos lord most of the time. To achieve this versatility, I swapped the iconic helmet for a chosen warrior and changed the armor color.
I was surprised by just how bad the sculpt was, especially when it came to attempting a proper fit. It took a generous amount of green stuff and re-sculpting in order to make the horse look whole. More green stuff was used on Archaon's torso to ensure the assembly held, especially the shield and strap holding arm. It gives me a healthy appreciation for today's model kits.
Harry the Hammer
Limited edition models add credibility to any collection and the Warriors of Chaos enjoy the two sided blade of having them in spades. It's great to have access to so many different sculpts, but from a collectors standpoint it can be costly to track them all down. Ebay gave me access to the models I was looking for at an affordable price. For every 10 sellers who wanted $125 for this model, there was 1 who offered it for less than $30. My advice to the would-be collector is if you have a model you have your heart set on, decide how much the model is worth to you before you go over to eBay. Have patience, and you will find what your heart desires for a price that will not break the bank.
The base comes in 3 different pieces that need to be glued and filled in order to support anything. Even though I prefer to paint all the pieces of a model separately before gluing it together, there just wasn't any way I was going to be able to fit it all together without ruining the paint job. I tried to fit as many different army heralds on the remains as possible.
This was also the first model where I learned the magic of highlighting black with blue. I had always used grey or nothing at all to highlight black, but blue gave it a very cold feel that complimented the model.
Lord of Chaos on Juggernaut
This was one of those "just because" models that were purchased without regard to it's actual in-game effectiveness; too cool to pass up.
In construction, this model was a marvel of design. The kit cleaned up quickly; the fits simple and intuitive. The shoulder joint where the left foreleg joins the body is a perfect example. They could have just left a small peg to plug into the body, but they made the join run the entire length of the shoulder, giving it a massive amount of surface area for the glue to hold. The detail on the model was immaculate as well. For goodness sake, the thing had the symbol of khorne on it's hoof.
The only complaint I have is with the extra skulls the come with the kit. On a model that is otherwise made to assemble without pinning, these bits have nowhere to sit that isn't prone to damage.
Valkia the Bloody
When GW released the new army book for WoC they provided models for the most, but not all, of the units in the book. The severity of the omission was in direct correlation to it's in-game effectiveness. No one cared that the forsaken were left out but many questioned the lack of warshrines.
There are two major camps of thought: one saying model omission is a problem and another saying it is an opportunity. I fit in the latter category.
I checked around the net to see what other players were doing, and most of them were basing the model on Saint Celestine from 40k. They were good conversions, but she just didn't have the feel I was looking for.
The classic range Lelith Hesperax from Warhammer 40,000 had a dynamic pose and well sculpted features. The trident she held was swapped for a lance head from the knights of chaos. A shield with the demon head on it fit the fluff from Valkia's entry. I realized the new spear blade was entirely too long to have her standing on solid ground, but as a flying model that wasn't an issue.
The wings came from a 40k chaos possessed backpack. Once trimmed from the pack though, it was plain to see the supporting arms were entirely too muscular for Valkia's slender frame. I slowly and carefully whittled the arms down to a more appropriate proportion. I had a pleasent surprise when I went to fit the wings into her back, as there was already a gap on the armor for a piece from Lelith's sprue. At times it was as though this model had always been intended to be converted.
So with the big'guns all in a row, there were only a few more guys left to go before the army was declared done.
Next Article: Part 4
