A Warhammer Bestiary: Norse

Next up on my project to paint a single model for every entry in the Warhammer Third Edition rule book sees us stopping among the Norse. One thing that may strike the unwary about this race is that back in the day the Norse where just another human society and pretty much neutral in the case of alignment. They could be good and they could be evil, just like any other human. Chaos was a less tangible thing and was largely unheard of by the general populace of the Warhammer World. This ignorance of ultimate and inevitable doom is what made the mythos of the '80s so powerful, something that the impossibly insane modern interpretation seems to lack. 

Now in many cases the Norse were a missing army from Warhammer Armies. Their armylist saw the light of day in WD 107 and can been viewed by following this link. A quick scan through the units will reveal a very different view of the race when compared to the modern chaos infested tribes. Here we have tribes of coastal raiders just as likely to battle with groups of goblins as they are clashing with the mortal powers of chaos. Invasions of the Old World would be just as likely as desperate pacts with fellow humans to defeat the hideous foe. 

The stereotypical Norse is everything the historically inaccurate viking would be. Bearded, axe in hand with an impractically horned helm perched aggressively on the top of their blonde haired head. Well, I chose something different. This wonderful shield maiden/valkyrie miniature. She has the whiff of Wagner about her, don't you think? Something suitably operatic that fits wonderfully with the old interpretation of the Warhammer World. 

She was a pretty straightforward paint too. Skin, hair and armour where all completed with tried and tested techniques that I have used previously on models in this project. The only slight difference was the use of a blue glaze to subtly changed the colour of the silver armour she wears over that ample bosom. It was to be the clothing that I would put the time in. Sweeping folds of material are another one of those challenging jobs for me. This is most likely due to my previous method of basecoating and washing to create the depth. The wash always let the the fabric looking too deep if such a thing sounds reasonable?

Having a quick think about things, I opted to use a similar method of blending as I have used for larger creatures, such as the fimir. Starting with a light blue basecoat (using the same ink as I used on the armour) it was a simple case of layering up the shades to purest (ish) white. I was satisfied with the result but would like to play around with the technique with a darker colour in future. The shield finished off the model and was completed using my usual method. However, I used a metallic rim rather than a black one so the boss of the shield would fit in with the rest of the model. 

In conclusion, a really enjoyable paint up this one. The model is a testament to the old school sense of humour that used to prevail against the ever encompassing tide of 'skullz 'n' grimdark'. 

Orlygg.