Slaves to Darkness Era Khorne Beastman

Hello again fellow Oldhammerers! Hope you like my Khornate (why did GW stop using these excellent and atmospheric words?) beastman? I actually painted him up just before the last Oldhammer Weekend and only found the time to get him photographed today. Despite being August, the weather in England has been its usual drenched self and so I lacked the light to get a decent shot outside. 

Today is a little better and so here we are. 

With this figure, I was hoping restore my trademark superfast painting style. Completeing a model in a single sitting is the only way for old Orlygg to go and so I was keen to get back up to speed. There is a little conceit in this, as I actually undercoat, basecoat and wash all of my figures before starting work on them proper. Sometimes years can go by between the time I prime a model and actually sit down to paint it. Not so with this model. 

He was undercoated in white then based entirely in a dark red. A few dark brown washes over the top of that and he was ready to work on. Drybrushing and highlighting made short work of the fur and skin, with increasing amounts of orange being added to the red base coat. I used British Camo Green for the trousers, highlighting with Foundry's Boneyard paints - an essential shade, with a great many uses. 

The metals were easy too. Black undercoat, then based in a black/dark metal tone. This I washed over with a chestnut ink wash to age the metal before drybrushing over again with silver. For the shield (a metal Maurader one, I think) I went a little further and based with bronze, before washing over with glazes to create an aged verdigris look. Again, a bright silver was drybrushed over to bring out the detail. 

Painting the horns was a little more challenging and I was pleased to see my hands growing more steady and confident. I used the Boneyard Shade for Foundry to complete these (working from a black base for the hoof, to create a little variation) before adding a brown glaze to tie the colours all together. A three tone yellow highlight of my own devising helped finish off the rope belt and the boots and eye-patch were drybrushed in grey before being highlights along the edges. 

All in all, a thoroughly enjoyable painting experience and a fantastic model, from a less overwrought and more subtle age. A classic Warhammer model that deserves to be in everyone's painted collection. 

How many of you have one? 

Orlygg 

Finally, images of the unreleased MARAUDER Bloodthirster!

Unless you have been living under a rock, you'll know all about the mysterious eBay seller named fsfminiatures and his spectacular collection. Over the last couple of months this individual has been slowly selling off a veritable wonderland of old lead, including a large number of extremely rare (ney, near mystical) vintage figures.

Nuln Spearman?  

Check 

Combat Card Dwarf Wizard?

Check

Though not really the remit of this blog, which is focussed on the collecting, painting and gaming of original released 1980s Citadel, I thought this worthy of record. We knew that Marauder produced a series of metal greater daemons and even have the serial numbers: MM95/1 Greater Daemon of Khorne and MM95/2 Greater Daemon of Tzeentch. 

The Greater Daemon of Tzeentch produced by Marauder was a lesser well known model that turns up occasionally (I assume it saw a period of general release) and I have a couple of examples in my collection. Sodemons carries a painted example by ex-'Eavy Metal luminary, Steve Mussared.

But the Khorne daemon had remained a total mystery, at least to me. Sodemons carries no photograph of the model to this day and the eBay listing posted this week, may well be the first sight anyone has had of the model in the collecting world. And like the original released Citadel model, the daemon comes in multiple pieces. 

In my opinion, the Marauder Greater daemons are just not as good as the Citadel originals, which (I assume) is why they never made it to wider release. Still, it is fascinating to finally get a glimpse of one of the more allusive models in the old school Warhammer pantheon. With bidding at £39.00 as the time of writing (with over 5 days still to go) it will be interesting to see how much this extremely rare model will fetch. With the Nuln Spearman and the Dwarf Wizard fetching 4 digit amounts it makes me wonder if the previously unknown model will reach the same dizzy heights!

Before I disappear back into the myriad whirls and eddies of the warp, I will also share this little delight, which proves that not all exciting, unreleased models need to be massive, multiple part affairs. Fsfminiatures has also just listed this lovely hamburger eating dwarf. 

Here is the full site address for fsfminiatures if you are interested in watching this sale develop or fancy a flutter on one of the lots. And just so you know, I do NOT know the identity of the seller nor am I in contact with him or her in anyway. The purpose of this post is merely to comment on the appearance of a previously unknown model's appearance and to direct interested enthusiasts or collectors towards the eBay listings.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/usr/fsfminiatures2016?_trksid=p2056016.l2559

Orlygg

The Mysterious Citadel Chaos Agent

Welcome to 2016. I have to say that I am glad we are getting a little more light now as the days are slowly becoming longer. With my will to paint now quite strong (and I have a number of little projects that I am working on at the moment) and with the need to complete fifteen skeletons by the end of the January, I felt its necessary to get going with brush, water and paint something. I chose this rather unusual model from the depths of my collection. 

He was part of a big job lot I bought a couple of years ago, I knew he was something unusual then, just from having collected these models for years, but I knew very little about him beyond him being some kind of follower of chaos. If your observe the detail on the model - and my photograph is too poor for you to do so here - you will see a tiny Khorne symbol on his chest badge. So he was clearly meant to be a follower of the Blood God in some way. 

I am an advocate of speed painting. It really does help strengthen your skills and can help get a greater number of models complete and on the table, if you can cope with the drop in finish (which I can). I set myself of two hours for this model and set to work. Most of my time was spent on the robe, which was built up in stages using layering. To each layer I added a little bit more yellow to slowly draw out the folds of the material. I spent just under an hour on that part of the model, which meant that I had an hour left for the rest of it!

The rope was simple. A brown base coat and wash (dried with a hairdryer) layered over with my Foundry triad for bone. This took all of five minutes to complete and I really cannot recommend Foundry paint and hairdryers enough! The flesh took a little longer to work out, but I ended up with a purply pink. It was at this point I realised that the face and hands were a little mis-cast and much of the fine detail obscured. I just painted the worse affected areas black and highlighted with a little grey. I don't think it looks too bad. 

With time running out, it was a case of a quick layer of dark silver on the blade and gold on the pommel of the dagger, and a quick highlight before work began on the base. I used my usual high speed retro method for the base and took advantage of what little natural light remained to snap this picture. 

All in all, I am pleased with the result but I was left wondering what range the figure really belonged to. So, I headed straight over to Solegends and the collection of Orclord. By my reckoning, the famed collector (who also goes my the strange moniker of Richard Hale) would have a decent painted version of him and I could find out a little more. I was in luck, as it seems he was originally called a Chaos Agent and was released with two zombies - one of whom was the Vietnam dressed example. This rang a bell with me somewhere, and I recalled fairly certainly that I had seen these figures in Rogue Trader packaging at some point - so perhaps they were part of 40k. 

Now as many of you will know, I am a Warhammer-centric painter and collector, and Rogue Trader doesn't really interest me much at all. The figure is still very useful to me as a character model for my Khorne army mind, and it was with such a purpose he was painted. But what did he have to do with Rogue Trader? I certainly don't recall seeing him in a White Dwarf, nor can I recall any associated rules for chaos agents and their zombies!

Luckily, Orclord has already found the answer to this mystery. It seems that they were produced as an expansion of the Chainsaw Warrior miniatures set, but were ultimately released with 40k packaging. More visual material can be found here if you are interested.

So the Chaos Agent has a bit of a strange pedigree. Designed for Chainsaw Warrior, released under the Rogue Trader banner and now serving as part of my old school Khorne army.

An interesting figure to own and paint.

Orlygg

Orlygg's Commissions: Chaos Champion (Slambo)

Now that I have got my painter's block well and truly subdued, I have cracked on with another project I have had on the go for a while. That of the commission that Steve 'Citadel Collector' Casey made in return for a rare Alpine Dwarf model - which long term readers will know I have been after for a while. 

He was after a classic Citadel Chaos Warrior and a shield (one of the ogre face jobs that many of my chaos units have) and we spoke about suitable models. Eventually, we settled on Slambo and instead of just doing another shield, I suggested having a go at something I had been wanting to do for a while - painting chaotic little faces on the armour itself! 

Well that project is complete... As you can see here. 

I think Steve is happy with it. Hopefully, over the next few days I shall have a spare moment to wrap him up and send him off.

My next commission is something a bit bigger in scale!

A dragon!!

Orlygg

Showcasing My Realm of Chaos Armies for the Oldhammer Weekend

With the packing complete, all I have left to do is write up the armylists Stuart and I will be using in our Realm of Chaos game. I am planning on including as many models as possible, but it will ultimately depend on balance. I don't want one force more powerful than the other so we have a fair game. Personally, unbalanced games are neither thrilling nor rewarding to play. Though, of course, balance isn't really the point of a RoC game. As you can see, my new wargames table is just the right size to accommodate forces of this size, though its plain to see why next year's board will need to be twice this size! 

In preparing these shots, its was the first time I had actually fielded everything from the Khorne and Slaanesh armies at once and the sight was indeed satisfying. One questions I get asked a lot is 'how long did  it take to collect and paint two old school armies'? Well, I worked on the two armies here and there over period of about three years. At the basis of both armies are the small warbands that Dan and I used during our Realm of Chaos campaign in 2010-11. Back then, we had about twelve models a side. Now, the armies consist of much larger numbers. The Khorne army has about sixty models in it while the Slaanesh one has about forty. 

I am so pleased with the 'look' of my board that I shall be using exactly the same method and resources to build by larger table next year. With this in mind, I shall at some point start adding flock and grass to my miniature bases to help things blend in a little better. Not that its a huge problem, as you can see the old school style of basing I use fits in perfectly with the board at the moment. 

One thing I am in two mind about is the use of gradients on a wargaming table. The slight hills I build using polystyrene and plaster look great but can be a bit annoying when it come to ranking up models. I will have to play a few games before deciding whether or not to include such things next year. 

Onwards anyway, this blog is not about my wonderful new wargaming table but about the models themselves. What will follow is a comprehensive look at each of the units I intend to use in the game tomorrow. Let's start off with Slaanesh shall we!

Slake-Sin's Throng of Exquisite Pleasure

Slake-Sin and his honour guard. His seer, Jesterspite, can be seen to the left. 

Slake-Sin lie span twists back before the founding of the Empire. Born an elf, he found himself loathing the subtle ways of his people and found joy in the hedonistic pleasure cults that existed openly in Elven culture in those days. Eventually, his desire for sensation lead him to the Northern Wastes were he learnt to serve a new master, Slaanesh. Serving in the Court of the Twisted Sodomite for millennia, Slake-Sin fought in the aeon long struggles that rage in the Realm of Chaos, caring little for the candleflame lives of mortals in the world to the South. This has changed in recent years, with his patron concerned about the influence a major rival of his is having over the Khornate champion, Ulthur Deathfist. Slake-Sin has been ordered south in pursuit of the Deathfist, and to end his reign of slaughter. 

Slake-Sin is armed with a flail and is a level 20 sorcerer to boot. He is fielded alongside 9 of his most decadent Chaos warriors and marches beneath his magical banner. 

To his left can be seen one of his chaos sorcerers, the level 15 sorcerer, Jesterspite, Slake-Sin's personal valet and seer. 

Bullnip the Wailing leads his centaur followers. These troops act as Slake-Sin's advance guard and scouts, bringing his information about his enemies. They ride ahead and torture those they find in the most depraved and hideous fashion. 

Veteran of his Realm of Chaos campaigns, these centaur have followed Slake-Sin for many years. Originally a great herb, but endless combat has whithered their numbers to a mere five. Insane and violent, these creatures exist solely to destroy their hated foe - followers of Khorne! They are lead by their champion, Bullnip the Wailing. 

Susak Lee's Slaves to Sensation- a chaos thug unit ten strong.

Susak Lee began life in Cathay. After a long career as a pirate around the Oriental coasts he fell beneath the sway of Slaanesh. Converting his crew to view his inhuman delights as the only true way of serving any god, they set sail to the North and found themselves involved in the skirmishing that rages between warbands around the boarders of the Realm of Chaos. Not long in the service of Slake-Sin, Susak Lee's original champion was Slain by Jesterspite during a small battle in Troll country. With the champion dead the carnage ceased, and Slake-Sin's seer offered Susak and his followers a position in their force. Armed with a magical weapon, Susak is a Level 10 champion.

To the left, Balndidir can be seen. She has worked tirelessly as Slake-Sin's agent among the people and lands of Empire, and his been instrumental in located the Deathfist. She lost a large part of his warband during a recent skirmish with Grimgrunt, the Deathfist's second in command, and has subsequently slipped down the rankings. She is still a powerful sorcerer, though somewhere inside her soul she suspects that she is on the slow decline of spawnhood. This is something he hopes to chaneg in the coming battle. If Slake-Sin won't notice here, then she will make sure her patron will! 

Much of Slake-Sin's force is made of of beastmen, most of which have marched with him from the Realm of Chaos. Slitherlimb, one of Slake-Sin's lesser champions, has been rewarded with charge of their lustful filthy ways. 

Sliktherlimb is one of those champions content to serve another, happy to accept the scraps or treasures that are passed down to loyal followers. He leads the large beastmen unit of 15 souls against the enemies of Slake-Sin. Level 15 and armed with a magical weapon, he sings of the joy of killing the hated foe. The unit is armed with a magical banner. 

Throgg the troll, lurks to the right of this unit. A longstanding follower of Slake-Sin and a member of his force since the very early days. Utter and totally stupid, but devoted to his master and the pleasures he offers. 

Jaketh. Sorcerer for pay. He delights in gathering chaos items and exploiting them for his own advancement. 

Jaketh is a level 20 sorcerer and in pay of Slake-Sin. Though devoted to the power that chaos can provide, Jaketh worships chaos as a whole and cares little for the whims of individual powers. He is happy to serve all, as long as the price is right, and brings with him considerable knowledge of the monsters that lurk in the dark forests. he has gone as far as to bewitch one of the giant spiders that live in the Forest of Shadows to serve his paymaster's needs. 

Grubshat. The ensorcelled giant spider. 

Grubshat is a giant spider. Jesterspite discovered this beast wounded near the Old Forest Road after it had been hunted by goblins. Healing it with perverse magic, the spider now blindly followers it master, chittering happily when ever there is flesh to be rendered from bone.

Gluttonspoor and his minotaurs. Fickle in their allegiance, these beasts could easily end up on either side. For now, they serve Slake-Sin, as long a fresh meat is provided daily. 

Finally, Guttonspoor and his minotaur killers. Like Jaketh, this beast of chaos fight for money and do not care which God they align themselves too. Having fought for and against all the major powers over these years, this terrifying beasts could even switch sides mid battle to best suit their depraved needs. 

The Host of Ulthur Deathfist

The Deathfist and his chaos retinue. Level 25 and armed with a chaos weapon and a magical axe that can destroy undead, he is a fearsome sight. Expect to see this unit in the thick of the action. 

The Deathfist is feared across the forests and scrublands of the Old World. The most successful chaos leader in one hundred years is slowly building his influence, having spent the best part of three years fighting against rivals within the chaotic community. Shamed by his defeat by the undead, Ulthar hates all undead creatures with a passion, though his hate of the feeble minded followers of Slaanesh runs deeper still. Ulthur has little interest in reaving souls amongst the weak mortal humans and elves that live around his area of operations, preferring the challenge of his own kind. He plans to crush Slke-Sin once and for all, before marching north to carve himself a kingdom in the Chaos Wastes. 

Chaos marauders and Chaos thugs. The units are unnamed but are lead by Ulthur's up and coming champions. Axelicker the Bound leads the thugs, while Jon Flamehaired leads the marauders. Both are dangerous fighters. and level 15.

Following a strict heirarchy, the youngest warriors must serve amongst the thug units in his retinue. Once they have proved their worth they move up into the heavily armoured ranks of the Marauders. The lifespan of these fighters is often short and brutal, but the glory in violence which they aspire to is welcome reward. Ulthur hopes to expand on this units in future and is always on the look out for magical artefacts to construct banners for his followers. 

Brune, a level 15 champion, and a veteran of many skirmishes. 

Few beastmen remain in the Deathfist's ranks. The psychopathic rage these creatures display is almost suicidal and they live only to bath themselves in the blood of their enemies in the service of Khorne. Their leader, Brune, is the sole remaining beastman from Blandidir's host. 

Ubba Axesplit in his chariot, a gift from his brother. Borak Splinteraxe looms on the right. His orders are to maintain the chariot and preserve the missile units.

Borak Splinteraxe is a successful chaos champion in his own right, but like all dwarfs seek a lord to serve. Borak brings with him ranks of missile weapons and maintains the chaos chariot bequeathed to Ulthur's brother, the vile Ubba Axesplit. He has his own retinue of chaos warriors. More thoughtful than meany of his companions, the dwarfs serve Ulthur to serve themselves. One day a stronger more successful lord may arise, and on that day Borak will depart and make a new contract in chaos. 

Ulthur is no fool and knows from experience that the magical fire his forces take needs to be countered. Hence he has employed a unit of dwarf projectile weapons. Their targets will be lightly armoured throops and wizards. The bazooka team also specialises in taking down gigantic creatures. 

Borak's Meatmanglers are a crack unit of projectile specialists. They prefer to kill at a distance and delight in the carnage they can create. Two small a unit to make a difference in the battle line, this troops have often been battlewinners for Ulthur. If faced by overwhelming odds, Borak will retreat. In his view, Khorne can be better served by fighting another day than dying needlessly. 

The World Famous mange is lead to battle by Ogpog from the East.

Finally, Ogpog of Mourngal, Ulthur's beastmaster. he is in charge of the chaos hounds, including Ulthur's beloved hound, Mange. This hobgoblin from the far east, specialises in finding gaps in the enemy line for his dogs to exploit. Creeping around the enemy's flanks is another favourite of this creature. 

Well, there you have it....

I am off to finish off my armylists and ensure that Stuart and I have everything that we need for tomorrow. If you have a chaos warband and you want to join the fight, please side either with the Deathfist or Slake-Sin.

See you at BOYL!

Orlygg

The Host of Ulthur Deathfist: A Warhammer Third Edition Khorne Army

The day grows close. Early Saturday morning I shall be embarking on the journey north to Nottingham and the Wargames Foundry for Blog-Con and another game of Warhammer Third Edition. I shall be fielding my Khorne Army for the first time and have started to create the Army Roster I shall be taking with me. this includes the full background of the army, the special rules and the characters. This post will introduce to you the forces that I shall be taking and try a give a little detail about each unit.

I started this army in January in celebration of 25 years of Slaves to Darkness. Little did I know then that this would be an journey that would lead me to not only playing WFB3 with old school Citadel with a couple of like minded individuals, but with a far larger number at the Wargames Foundry under the benign gaze of Bryan Ansell himself! 

Onwards!

Ulthur 'Slambo' Deathfist - Level 25 Champion of Khorne. Army General.

Gluttonspoor - Minotaur Level 20 Champion

Pendraken Headcleaver - Level 15 Champion of Khorne with Daemonic Banner



Darklock the Disembowller - Level 15 Chaos Dwarf Champion with Ulf and Thorgrim the Howling, the mortar team.



Titus Shieldstorm - Chaos Thug Level 5 Champion (green mohican) and 7 chaos thugs. Unit known as the Shieldstormers.



Ironcron Steelsmith - Level 5 Marauder Champion and 7 chaos marauders. Unit known as the Fists of Khorne.

Dreg Horngore - Level 5 Beastman Champion and 9 beastmen. Unit known as the Flesh Hackers.



Eirik Doomaxe - Level 10 Champion of Khorne with 7 chaos warriors. Unit known as the Doomaxes.



Leif Spinesplitter - Level 10 Khorne Champion mounted on a Chaos Chariot. Second in command.

There may well be an additional unit on the day, one that I shall be keeping under wraps in case it isn't actually painted and ready for the game. I am also toying with the idea of using my undead army as Chaos Auxillaries. 

Any thoughts or comments?

Orlygg.

Chaos Warrior of Khorne Standard Bearer

You may remember some time ago I embarked on an attempt to paint up a Citadelesque '80s banner. My efforts can be seen here, here and here if you are uninitiated. Well, I am happy to say that I have finally finished it and got the banner attached to a painted chaos warrior!

Here it is. There are a few little details that I am not sure of yet. The colour of the text on the banner, more white highlights on the hair of the warrior and a dulling down of the silver on the warrior's amour. Any tips?

Otherwise, I will let the pictures do the talking for once. And yes, this WILL be most definitely leading my forces at Blog-Con!

Orlygg.

Thoughts on Estalia, Khorne miniatures and more!

Hello one and all!

Some of you may have been intrigued to know the reason for my absence from the old school scene, well I have been on my holidays (with wife, kids and in-laws) to Spain and have had not touched base with this blog, my Facebook group or the Bloodforum for many days. Having a bit of time away from work and hobby is always a good thing as it gives you the time to reflect on how things are going with your collecting and painting. I spent a week or so in Jaeva (or Xabia in Catalan) pondering how best to draw my Khorne army to a close, what to do next and if the many people I met or walked past, or sat next to, were secret Oldhammer fans. Perhaps I should have worn one of my t-shirts?

I didn't do any hobby. Though I did toy with the idea of taking some paints and miniatures with me, though the hassle of shifting the basics across the world was too great. I did read Zaragoz though, which was quite apt as the story was set in Estalia. I intend to do a post about the novel in the near future.

However, I was quite busy up to the point of holidaying and thought you might be interested to see what I have been working on. Namely, the final unit for my Khorne army, a monster of an eBay steal and a shield or two. So without much of a furtherado, let's have a look!

The Citadel Spider! An 1985 sculpt I think. This was a real steal on eBay and cost me a couple of quid. It was broken but was a fairly routine fix. Lots of washes and drybrushing produced a rather realistic, for a gigantic spider, look. I made the base by sticking two 40mms together.

Four thugs. All Khorne!

More thugs. More Khorne!

This was my first Fraser Grey inspired shield. I used the boss to form the nose though I shied away from enamels!

As I was saying earlier, I spent quite a bit of time toying with the idea of what to do next. The challenge of working on the giant spider was a real eye-opener for me, so I thought about painting up a menagarie of monsters as a next step. Off the top of my head, I own a giant bat, a chimera and a manticore. All interesting pieces to work on. Then there is the 25th anniversary of Slaves to Darkness. I've just spent six months with a mortal Khorne force and fancy a daemonic Slanneshi legion. Or there is the human army I was contemplating, probably an Imperial one.

Choices.

To help with this I am after some specific models. After my first tumble with the world of trading, I've got loads of wonderful miniatures but nothing I can make a decent unit out of. These are what I am after. I am open to trades but would prefer to buy outright. This is what I am after, can anyone help?

Cheers,

Orlygg.

Slaves to Darkness 25th Anniversary Launch: Acceptable in the '80s Special

Hello and welcome back to Acceptable in the '80s: my history of all things Third Edition told through its releases, supplements and miniatures. In today's post we will delve into the White Dwarf coverage published at the launch of Slaves to Darkness, some twenty-five years ago. Instead of focusing on a single issue of White Dwarf, this post draws on material published in WD 104, 105 and 106. 

So the year is 1988, and Realm of Chaos has been in development for over 5 years. During this lengthy period, the supplement had gone through many changes and improvements. One thing that had remained pretty consistent during this time was Citadel's approach to the the supporting artwork, much of which had been produced many years previously. With such a talented cohort of artists, it is not surprising that there was a wealth of mind-blasting (and that is what much of it is) art available for inclusion. Some choice selections were used in support of the release of Slaves to Darkness and were used regularly to advertise the book. 

What follows is the entire launch article from WD104. This includes the famous 'Mutating Metal' modelling guide, John Blanche's essay on the Colours of Chaos (very useful if you are painting, or planning on painting, and old school style warband for the summer) as well as plenty of photographs of classic miniatures. This article has been, and remains, one of my major influences in my collecting, painting and gaming goings on here at Realm of Chaos 80s and I am pleased to be able share it with you.

Hopefully, you shall find it just as illuminating and inspiring as I have done. 

Roc Launch by orlygg

Over the next few issues, Citadel published a great number of full colour adverts for the new range of Realm of Chaos miniatures. I present them for us below in a kind of 'retro review' of the Khorne and Slannesh releases from 1988. Overviewing the material, the colour schemes really stand out for me. These days, there is much talk about 'army coherency' (which is ridiculous really, for no army through history has ever been presented in a coherent set of tones like many wargamers seem to think is so necessary) at the painting stage. I am sure you have heard people talk about using Shadow Grey as the basis of their space marine army, or Sunburst Yellow for their Eldar. What has always impressed me about the models painted for this release is that, even though a great number of different colours have been used to paint Khorne and Slannesh models, they look unified but are also distinctly chaotic.

Quite an achievement, and one I hope to emulate with my future Khorne and Slannesh mortal and daemonic armies. 

The first things to discuss on this retro review are the daemons of Khorne, namely the Fleshounds and the Bloodletters. I love these models and in my opinion they have never been bettered in the sense of design. Even the more modern plastic GW kits are obviously heavily influenced by the Perry's original sculpts. The bestial, loping forms of the hounds, complete with skull faces, leathery fans and lion's tails are suitably twisted  as are the Bloodletters, with their long, gangling arms (that suggest peculiar multi-jointed elbows) and dog like legs. They look un-natural and daemonic, something that was obviously lost on whoever sculpted the 4th and 5th edition models - which look like muscular sub par Conans with 'bloody great horns on.' I have loads and loads of these models and they are great fun to paint. If you haven't got a brace or two of these in the leadpile I really do recommend investing in a few. Be careful of the Fleshounds though, they can be a little uncomfortable to handle!!

What can we learn from the '80s paint jobs? The most important thing to point out here is that these demons DO NOT HAVE TO BE PAINTED RED! Black, brown or even brass daemons are possibilities and will slot into even modern fluff. I like the way that the Fleshounds have tones of purple running through them, a colour that suggests to me disemboweled innards and coils of glistening intestines. Very suitable for these beasts. As for the lesser daemons, the final model, almost black, just shows you what you can do with a bloodletter with a little bit of imagination. I don't like the dodgy red ends of the hellblades though. I am a real believer that 'less is more' when it comes to representing blood in miniature and the flat colours do nothing for me. 

Gorgeous. That is the only word that I can think of as I type these words to describe the daemonettes. A varied, alien and strangely exotic collection of dangerous lewds. You can imagine the depravity just by looking at the suggestive clothing and the subtle pincers. Yet, they seem cold. Souless even. Damned as all followers of chaos ultimately are. Like the bloodletters, these models are reflected in the modern plastic GW kit, though the mohicans are (sadly) long gone. Also like the bloodletters, these daemons were replaced by some appallingly cartoony big pincered faux pas that must have sent many veteran chaos players running for the nearest exit. I have many of these models in my collection (the 80s ones!), and will always buy more because I adore them. On to the Fiends then. I have three of these and they are a right bugger to get hold of (or so it seems to me) or, indeed, to put together when you have some. But they are so well conceived that you forgive the fiddly bits. A mix of scorpion, horse and goat with a row of voluptuous breasts? Surely a jaded leadhead's dream?

As for the painted examples, let me return to that word again, gorgeous. The blending and tones on some of these models are incredible, and can only be by the hand of Mike McVey. Incredible skill. And models like this make me glad I choose to work on my Khorne army first, just so that I can be practised enough to have a crack at blending colour to even a fraction of that skill. I also love the model on the top right. Covered in tattoos or body paint, the designs not only contrast wonderfully with the flesh tones but they have an inhuman immediacy that seems to crawl from their very limbs towards your unwitting eye. 

Into the Dark Millenium. I mean, how many times has that been used over the years? Well, here we have the original inhabitants of the Eye of Terror for all to see. These models have grown increasingly popular in recent years and looking at them you can see why. Varied, vibrant and characterful. Though tiny in comparison to modern chaos marines, these models make up for their diminutive size with martial otherworldness that makes them seem far more corrupted and villainous than a space marine with a few spikes on. 

Strangely, quite a few of the Khorne marines presented here are painted green. This again goes to show that when you are painting old school miniatures (or even modern ones) there is no reason not to 'think outside of the fluff' for a moment and try something different. There is clearly a historic example to follow is there not? The pink and green marine with the daemonette face is my favourite here. Once day I will get my hands on that model and I intend to have ago at painting it with the same scheme as the one presented here. My favourite Slanneshi marine ever!

Then we have the heavy weapons marines. I have most of these in my collection and the weapons are fantastic! Quite why they changed the design I do not know. I loved the fact that the chaotic weapons looked so different to those sported by the RT marines. I have also called these paint jobs 'Liquorice Allsort' marines, and I really like them, the pink and black particularly. Below them, we have the Steeds of Slannesh and a couple of renegade riders (remember, this was the time when Chaos Space Marines didn't really exist, they were called renegades) which I am also proud to state that I have in my collection. These look great mounted on the '80s Citadel plastic horses too, and there are far more of them available than were shown here. 

After are detour to the world of Rogue Trader, we return to more familiar models. These are the beastmen and champions that we are quite accustomed to here in the Oldhammer Community. So much so, that they often turn up on this blog and many others. I have painted most of these models and have nearly all of them in my collection. Its worth noting that these are just some of the champions that Jes Goodwin produced for Realm of Chaos and all of them are excellent. In fact, no-one has ever done a better job than he did with these models.

Ever!

I am still amazed that these are not recast and sold today as they are some of the finest models Citadel have ever produced.

Buy them!

And finally, the Juggernauts of Khorne. I have mixed opinions about these. I am not a fan of their faces as I find them a little too cartoony but they don't half feel nice and solid when you have built one and based it. Heavy and dangerous, just as you would expect. Here we see more of the renegades and champions that we saw earlier. 

Here ends our review. What did you think? What are your thoughts about this range of models. Are you a fan? Or do you loath them for the daemon spawn that they are? As always, please leave your thoughts or opinions below or email me (if you are a lurker) at realmofchaos80s@yahoo.co.uk.

Cheers.

Orlygg.