All I Want For Christmas Is You (Off My Back)

Santa was kind to me: another single model from the Nice List, and this is one I've really been looking forward to.

Rod Hell & Emo

Say hello to The Curseling and his Little Friend!

This model was a turning point for me: I'd read the fluff in the battletome and thought he'd be a good addition to our ongoing Age of Sigmar Tzeentch Battle Saga (we haven't revisited that for a while, but don't worry, we'll get to the finish. We move slow, but we're not G.R.R. Martin).

So I bought the model, immediately cleaned, built and primed him. The first basecoats were going on, and I was congratulating myself that, at last, THIS was how I would approach the hobby from now on, with no needless purchases, procrastination, or sky-high painting piles.

And then something distracted me, and I haven't touched him for six months.

Lucky his number came up in the painting lottery, really.

Interestingly, there is a sharp divergence in the fluff for the The Curseling between his origins in Fantasy Battle and his current incarnation in Age of Sigmar.

Fantasy had him as a unique character, named Vilitch, with a fairly pedestrian backstory about a feeble brother whom Tzeentch had fused to his hulking twin, making the big guy a mindless automaton (basically Master Blaster from Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome).

Whereas the Age of Sigmar makes 'Curseling' a generic title to a sorcerer who is cursed by a parasitic creature known as a Tretchlet, who continually hisses advice to its host. As the Tretchlets can detect lies, the Curselings are the inquisitors of Tzeentch cults, and all potential acolytes must endure their trial.

In-game abilities allow them to irresistibly cast enemy spells they have just dispelled, and to glean magic spells. So not too shabby if your opponent is bringing a lot of wizards to the table.

For me, the new version seems a lot more fun that the old. And, for that matter, makes a lot of sense of the sculpt: according the the Fantasy fluff, Vilitch is in full command, so why is he whispering to the mindless warrior? It would be like having a conversation with your leg (can you imagine that, elbow, talking to your leg!)

As fickle fate would have it, during The Curseling's painting hiatus, I became very practised at painting turquoise armour with gold trim, so that was fairly briskly achieved.

The Tretchlet part was going to be more challenging, as it was yet more pale skin (and I wasn't overwhelmed with my efforts on the Tenebreal Shard), but I went with a modest base colour and carefully layered up from there, making sure my paints were well-thinned. The result wasn't too bad: I'd maybe had preferred the skin to look a little lighter, but when I got to 80% happy, I didn't dare mess around any further.

Recipe as follows:

• Gold armour: Retributor Armour base, Reikland Flashshade wash, Golden Griffon drybrush
• Blue armour: Thousand Sons base, Nuln Oil wash, Thousand Sons layer, Ahriman Blue layer
• Tretchlet skin: Deamonette Hide base, Rakarth Flesh layers (several, progressively thinned)
• Tretchlet feathers: Naggaroth Night base, Genestealer Purple drybrush
• Sword glow: Averland Sunset base, Cassendora Yellow wash, Fuegan Orange wash Yriel Yellow tips
• Sword: Chaos Black base, Ironbreaker drybrush, Nuln Oil wash
• Metal: Leadbelcher base, Nuln Oild wash, Ironbreaker drybrush
• Staff: Ushabdi Bone base, Agrax Earthshade wash
• Loincloths: Celestra Grey base, Drakenhof Nightshade wash, Ulthuan Grey layer
• Gems: Stormhost Silver base, Soulstone Red glaze

And so we have a new contender for the Ark of Alternative campaigns. And I get another roll, and another model from the Nice List! Go Santa!