Vampire Counts: Cairn Wraith

A brief sojourn away from 40K here, as I look at the Cairn Wraith from the Vampire Counts army.  I know, I know!  Square bases are bad for your health!

The sculpt on this guy is absolutely fantastic, and a brilliant demonstration of how things have moved along with the use of plastics in recent years.  You often see this model modified for 40K in Blanchitsu features in Warhammer Visions, and it's clear to see why - the gothic horror aspect of the model gels so well with the Grimdark!

Vampire Counts: Vampire Lords

This spoony chap is a VERY old Citadel Vampire from Back In The Day - he used to be painted in fairly primary colours, but when I updated my army and muddied them up a bit, I thought this guy (who I named Von Briers - in reference to the sheer Brown-ness of my army, and Richard Briers' role in the similarly Brown 'Ever Decreasing Circles') should get the same treatment.

This dude, on the other hand, is one of the Von Carsteins - before they got the recent Over-The-Top-Beast treatment that we have seen with the recent End Times releases.  I have to say, for characters supposedly leading an undead horde, they are both fairly underwhelming figures.  Whilst I disapprove of the idea of pretty much ALL of the new VC characters being borne aloft on beasts of the night, at least they represent a suitable centrepiece to an army.

Vampire Counts: Varghulf

A beast! A crazy Vampire Beast! Here's something a little different, now: a Warhammer Fantasy Battle LARGE CREATURE! This was bought for me by my friend, Matt. For ages, it was left untouched, but I was so pleased when I finally did it.

He was an old, metal sculpt, so some of the fittings were a bit iffy, but I got there in the end, with the help of a bit of green stuff! Now, I'm really pleased with the results.

Vampire Counts: Zombies

I flipping love the Vampire Counts Zombie kit - there are so many fun bits to it.  It might be a bit dated these days, and a bit cartoony compared to a lot of the range, but they're great to put together.

As with my Skeleton Warriors and Grave Guard, these chaps were largely done with rough drybrushing and the use of a red spot colour, and then a liberal dousing in Agrax Earthshade.

I normally have trouble keeping my attention focused upon one thing long enough to complete a full unit, but these chaps were so quick and easy to paint that I was able to steam through them pretty rapidly.

Here are some individual models, to give you an idea of how they look outside of a horde context.  There's nothing complicated about them.

Using 'Ardcoat gloss varnish for the gore and viscera helps to give them a slightly more gnarly feel, and makes them a little less spoony/goofy (delete as appropriate).

Limbs for weapons? Like I said: loads of fun!

Vampire Counts: Grave Guard

Aha! Back to the world of the Undead!  These Grave Guard infantry are elite troops within my army (hence there not being very many).

As with the skeleton warriors, It's all a mixture of reds and silvers, with the bone colours obviously mixed in.

Everything is dry-brushed with Baneblade Brown to give a dirty, dusty feel...

...and then, of course,  washed with Agrax Earthshade! Like everything I do!

Vampire Counts: Skeleton Warriors

And now for something completely different!  It's not just Warhammer 40,000 that I have been working on over the years, but a bit of Warhammer Fantasy Battle as well (because I'm just cool like that).  These miniatures are actually not Games Workshop ones, but made by a company called Mantic.

Usefully, their miniatures are built to the same scale (1:28) as the Citadel ones, and use the exact same base size, so they slot neatly onto GW movement trays.

Even more conveniently, they were being sold 3-for-2 at Hobbycraft at the time, so I was able to buy a mountain of them!  With Skeletons, you really need a horde to get the desired effect, I think.

All of my Skeletons were painted with the minimum amount of time and effort, and were mostly the result of just drybrushing and washes.  Reds for the armour, bone colours for the... well... bones... and some steel for the armour and weaponry.  Slather it in Agrax Earthshade wash, and they look as if they've just got out of the grave! Hurray!