The Daemon Formerly Known As...

I got the Daemon Prince model for Christmas, then I assembled and painted it right away - it's a new me!

Although it took the best part of month to finish it, so it's definitely the old me.

Whatever the game system, if you're running Chaos, you've got to have a Daemon Prince.

I held out for a couple of years because I really didn't like the derpy display model. However, Santa Claus brought me this kit (no doubt for being a good boy during Advent), so I thought I would add some badly-needed punch to my Thousand Sons.

Once I got the sprues in my hand, I changed my opinion about the kit - for the same price as a monopose Stormcast cavalry, you get a winged monster with five arms, three heads and a choice of wings or back spikes (not all at once, although anything's possible).

Lots of options then, and there was no way I was going to limit myself. Consequently, the wings, arms and heads were magnetised (which is why this project took forever, the tricky little buggers). Now I have a choice of daemon princes for use in both 40k and Age of Sigmar.

Not that I used any of the heads on offer - this is one of the Lord of Change heads, giving him an avian appearance more suited to Tzeentch. That one alteration has catapulted this model from one I wasn't that keen on, to possibly my favourite in the army. Change is good.

After spending December learning how to layer pale skin, I went back to the old wash-and-drybrush with this one - he's a big enough model to take it, and I wanted that grubby look on his skin.

Everything else is just Thousand Sons' paint scheme, so he looks like a lucky Sorcerer who's just burst from his armour. I gave him pink-red wings, which makes him a colourful individual, but it does tie into the cloaks worn by the other Sorcerers (in my mind, he folds them over his back at rest, just like the Disney Gargolyes did).

• Skin: Celestra Grey base, Drakenhof Nightshade wash, Ulthuan Grey drybrush
• 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
• Feathers: Sotek Green base, Drakenhof Nightshade wash, Ahriman Blue layer
• Beak: Skavenblight Dinge base, Nuln Oil wash
• Tubes: Grey primer, Nuln Oil washes
• Spine and tail: Druchii Violet washes
• Loincloth: Ushabdi Bone base, Seraphim Sepia wash, Terminatus Stone drybrush
• Magic glow: Ulthuan Grey base, Nihilakh Oxide wash, White Scar highlights
• Gems: Stormhost Silver base, Waystone Green glaze
• Wings: Screamer Pink base, Nuln Oil wash, Pink Horror drybrush

And here is the ground level version, with a more generic head (the only one in the box that I liked) and a Hellforged Sword. Not sure when I'll choose to use these - but I couldn't help magnetising them.

This guy didn't do too well in his last battle (me forgetting the rules and allowing him to be illegally shot off the table didn't help), but his actual debut came a few days earlier against Kasfunatu's Khorne Daemons.

I lost the battle (contain your surprise), but the scrappy little Daemon Prince excelled himself: taking out a Bloodthirster before doing down in the process of ripping apart a couple of Skullcannons. How weird to have a melee option for the Thousand Sons!

Still more Sorcerers to go - I'm nowhere near tournament-ready!