Middlehammer Mashup

"Hark trespasser! You've come upon the camp of the Grimpeak Axes without tribute! Prepare to pay your dues with steel and blood instead of gold!"

I got my start in wargaming around 2004, during the era (I think is) known as Middlehammer where model ranges were shifting from metal to "fully posable" plastics kits. Given that I began collecting almost a decade ago, during which I've moved and mistreated more minis than the average moose, and therefore have a very disparate collection of half-broken butchers who've been living in my bitz box for at least the entire pandemic. 

(these kits were the bread and butter of my LGS back in the day, and now they're both OOP)

Before that, the Chaos Warriors that are part of this post had been rebased, primed, and taken to a 2v2 AoS tournament late last year. They were really bumming me out because although they filled a mechanical purpose, these models weren't part of my vision in neither narrative nor depiction, and the lack of intentionality in the craft of them reflected a lack of love. If I'm going to bring a model to the table, I want it to be there because I wholly want it there, and then maybe because its got a good statline or ability. This year I figure I'll take my time to make things I'm actually excited to build and paint and play with, because otherwise what's the point?

(Fun fact, I threw almost my entire Genestealer Cults army into my bitz box this year on account of this very philosophy. I figure they deserve a fresh start too.)

So while tinkering with these borked up chaos warriors, I noticed that their chestplates and capes looked pretty good with the legs chopped off. Since I've been borderline obsessed with Chaos Dwarfs the past few years, I took the opportunity to do a mock up on a 25mm base.

There was something kinda delightful about how much of the model was just cape, and how much their demenor contrasted their swaddling, so charmed as I was I cobbled together two more. Their leader has a horned king vibe (I was thinking the Black Cauldron,) thanks to some bits I stole off my Blightkings.

After that, I went a bit hog wild with the seamblending and the conversion additions. The cloaks all needed more fur, and all of their legs looked a bit too stubby to work with, so I added some small sheets of armor to protect their bits. Also, I realized how their height might make painting certain spots of them unfeasible, so I built up their bases a bit with debris to give them a bit more stature and myself an easier time in the future.

And then I gave them the old one-two with the Zorn Palette. I wanted to keep the undercloak areas in heavy shadow to downplay any of the seams I couldn't smoothly blend, and to emphasize how small they were in their big swaddly cloaks. I think my favorite part for painting these guys was when I tackled the horns/antlers for the company leader. Turns out the Zorn palette is great for bones too!

I'm pretty satisfied with these lads, and my mom got pretty excited about the capes so that makes them extra satisfying. While I don't have a plan exactly for where these models might find a home, they were super fun to convert and paint, so I'll call this a healthy step towards this year's philosophy. 

I reckon if I really feel strongly about it, I could rebase them on 32's and make them two more friends, they could be a unit of 5 Chaos warriors, or make 7 more and have a unit of Infernal Guard Ironsworn. Either way,