The Shrine of the Bestial Skull

If we’re going to have beasts that walk on their hind limbs as men, and men who howl and gibber in the darkened forests as beasts, then we’re going to need a dread alter at which they can conduct their foul rituals beneath a ghastly moon. This skull-shaped shrine from MOM Miniatures fits the bill nicely, making a fine herdstone for the beasts of chaos and a good addition to my collection of chaos terrain in general. It also fits in nicely with the new Heart of Ghur terrain from Games Workshop (which I’ll be painting at some point and in which giant skulls feature heavily).

As a size comparison I grabbed a few finished miniatures that were sitting near the desk (providing in a bit of a hint at some of the things I’m planning to paint next!). Really I should have found some warriors of Khorne or a few beastmen but that would have meant digging them out of storage and, frankly, I couldn’t be arsed so instead we have something that looks like the start of a joke; a Khainite elf, an Orlock ganger and a northman sworn to House Stark walk into a bar (pausing only at the giant skull outside)…

Next up – even more terrain!

Bestigor

I’m not entirely sure where this Bestigor came from, I’ve only ever had the one so I can’t have bought a set of them. Anyway he’s another case of a model that’s been waiting a long time for paint and at last I’ve got around to him. I write that a lot don’t I…

Against a goat with a big axe what hope can the forces of civilisation really have? 

Getting My Goat

Nothing fancy today, just a nice, old-fashioned beastman from Knightmare Miniatures. 

To me it looks like he’s shouting “You kids, get off my lawn!”. Or in his case probably “You elves, get out of my woods!”. 

Blackstone Fortress: Beastmen

With the Negavolt Cultists out of the way the next step for my Blackstone Fortress project was to turn my attention to the fearsome beastmen. In Games Workshop’s fantasy universes, beastmen are uniformly savage and chaotic – indeed the name “beast man” derives from “best man” and refers to their hedonistic, untamed nature combined with their tendency to consume alcohol in quantity and instigate shenanigans. In the 41st Millennium beastmen enjoy a greater range of personalities and many are loyal to the Imperium, serving in Imperial Guard regiments and even appearing as one of Necromunda’s most famous faces. Despite this they are generally abused, looked down upon and used as cannon fodder with the result that many choose to throw in their lot with the servants of the Ruinous Powers, who also tend to abuse them, look down upon them and use them as cannon fodder. The models from Blackstone Fortress, it should be noted, fall firmly into the latter camp.

Being crude and hairy myself I’ve always had a soft spot for these rowdy creatures and often planned, usually without much actual progress, to model some of my own during the long years in which they vanished from 40k almost entirely. Thus finding them in the Blackstone Fortress set was a real thrill and I’ve been looking forward to tackling them ever since.

It took me a while to get the colours right on these but I’m definitely pleased with the outcome. What more they’ve left me so enthused about all things bestial that I’ve already started working on some more, this time destined to rampage around the Mortal Realms instead.  All being well I’ll have them ready to show you all soon.

Bretonnian Week: The Beast

In the most recent edition of the Beastmen army book for Warhammer there was a little snippet of text describing the Warherd of Khorok Manripper which roams the Forest of Arden. As the Forest of Arden was obliterated alongside the rest of Bretonnia during the End Times, I’m sure Games Workshop will have no issues with me showing it here.It’s such a wonderfully “Warhammer” concept, full of the setting’s trademark blend of grubby eccentricity. Moreover it’s one of my favourite bits of Bretonnian fiction and as soon as I sat down to write a list of concepts to cover in this week I knew I had to include a beastman from Khorok’s herd.

I’ve enjoyed all of this week’s models a great deal, and I’d be hard pressed to pick a favourite. If you put a gun to my head and forced me to choose however I’d probably plump for this one*. Perhaps it’s because he’s a conversion, and thus uniquely mine, whilst the others were built pretty much as intended, or perhaps it’s because he’s chaotic and evil whilst the others have been honourable goody-two-shoes.

*Or in my panic just name whichever I thought of first and blub a lot. So please don’t, there’s really no need for violence here…

I tried to match his heraldry to that of the other Bretonnians I’ve painted (with the exception of the Green Knight of course) in order to create the impression that it was the cousin or brother of one of the other knights that he looted the armour from. Of course, there is the darker possibility that this knight was never killed at all but was simply corrupted and mutated by the forces of Chaos until he found himself roaming the forest in bestial form, becoming a braying warrior of the very herd he once set out to slay…

Although I aimed to repeat similar heraldry on all of the knights you may have noticed that I avoiding repeating it exactly. The aim was to reflect the idea that each knight is a hero in his own right and, although he proudly wears the colours of his house, he also puts his own spin on it so he can be recognised in battle and his deeds celebrated.