A Tale of Four Oldhammer Gamers: Plague Skeletons

This weekend was a little bit of a busy one, and Fallout 4 currently holds me in its post-apocalyptic embrace but I still managed to get these four plague skeletons finished. These are the the rank and file of the seven skeleton unit I am planning for my Nurgle force. The command models - a skeletal champion, standard bearer and unit commander remain unfinished on my paint station. The standard bearer is a conversion and needs more work, while the other two models only arrived in the post this week and have yet to see undercoat. 

I was keen to make these models a little more generic, rather than go all out on the Nurgle iconography for much the same reason as I did with the plague cart. These models will also be able to become part of my undead force, and as I have three painted metal skeleton warriors elsewhere and future ten man unit is a possibility.

These old Citadel skeletons are full of character. I used to really despise them and strongly favour the plastic models from Skeleton Horde, but actually playing Warhammer has softened my few of them, for the plastic models are so light and spindly they are so easy to break. These chunky boneheads are much more hardwearing than their plastic cousins. I also love the variation of pose, armour and style the skeletons of the '80s bring us. I think all of the major sculptors working at Citadel at the time had a crack at at least one bonehead and they sold is suitable millions over the years to make them very easy to collect now. 

They are totally crap in combat mind, but they look great! 

Unusually for me, I painted the four models as a batch, working on each area separately before moving on to the next. For the bone, I used my trusted Foundry boneyard triad. The rusted metal was fairly simple, with a black undercoat drybrushed dark silver and then orange/brown to create the rusty look, with the dark silver back over the top. I highlighted the chainmail here and there with pure silver, and edged the helmets, plate and shields with the same. As you will have seen, I opted to give each skeleton a 'colour' to add interest. This is where these models differ from my standard undead army models as they stick to a scheme of black, bone, white, metals and brown. 

As is my usual style, I knocked up a couple of shields and had a go at some tiny little freehand skulls. They look naff up close but work reasonably at a distance. 

The 'green' skeleton is my favourite of the bunch. I have always loved the figure ever since I saw one fielded by Thantants at a game in Mansfield. His collection (particularly the undead) has always been a big influence and inspiration to me. This skelly's cheeky beard (still hanging from the jaw) tickled my fancy and I managed to find one cheaply on eBay. Lovely model! 

Right, I am off once again. I have a game in just over a month (In Defence of Far Corfe) and need to produce my units over the next few weeks. Hopefully, I can get a few hours in to finish this unit before March. Until then, enjoy what ever you are painting! 

Orylgg