Back to Basics: Chaos Warriors

The hordes of Chaos march on!

To add a ticking clock to my little Chaos project, the whole reason I had to finish my Tomb Kings was because I had a 3,000pt game scheduled for the new year. So by abandoning Tomb Kings to paint Warriors of Chaos, I was committing myself to getting them to 3,000pts instead.

This was going to leave me with an interesting 'point of no return some time in December', when I would have to decide whether I would ditch the Chaos project to give myself enough time to finish the Tomb Kings, or crack on with the Warriors of Chaos and no safety net...

Fortunately my next unit (and, in terms of bodies, the largest in my army) was already half-done. I had painted up ten Warriors of Chaos way back at the start of Age of Sigmar and got reasonable use out of them. But that had passed, so it was time to bring them home.

I wasn't sentimental about the round bases - having snapped enough ankles, I've learned that the best way to separate model from base is to just destroy the latter. And so, showing no mercy, I hacked the rounds to pieces - off to the mortal realms with them!

Once that was done, reattaching them to their new 30mm bases was simple. I'm not planning on rebasing all my old armies (the greenskins alone would finish me off!), but these models were always so crowded, it's nice to give them a bit of elbow room (and be able to remove casualties without disrupting the entire group).

In a shock twist for this army, I've always dispensed with the snow bases (which has been a characteristic of my chaos armies - across all systems - for several hundred models). These guys have already invaded the sunny uplands of the Empire, so we've gone for a 'pine forest' flock. To be honest, it has more grit than greenery than I was expecting, so I might have to season it up before the next batch.

The real challenge of this unit was adding the extra numbers: I had five more Warriors of Chaos to add to the unit, and needed to remember how I painted models seven years ago. Luckily, the WoffBoot blog proved its worth as a hobby chronicle, and I could retrace my steps.

• Armour: Black Primer, Leadbelcher drybrush, Stormhost Silver layer on amulets and helmets
• Cloaks and Shields: Celestra Grey base, Averland Sunset base, Seraphim Sepia wash, Yriel Yellow drybrush
• Boots and gloves: XV-88 base, Agrax Earthshade wash
• Horns: Zandri Dust base, Fuegan orange wash
• Buckles and weapons: Runelord Brass
• Weapon hafts: Balor Brown base, Tallern Sand base, Agrax Earthshade wash

With fifteen warriors done, I still needed a few more places in the ranks (and buying new models would defeat the purpose of the exercise), so it was unit filler time!

I've been waiting to have a go at this skeletal signpost - this is 'Milton', the unofficial mascot of the WoffBoot Chronicles, so I popped him on a 30x60mm heavy cavalry base, along with a skeleton warrior tombstone. The vibe may be more Vampire Counts that Warriors of Chaos, but I'm sure the lost and the damned still kill people. 

Finally, another character: this will be the guy who actually leads the army on the ground (since I have plans for the general), so I made him the Battle Standard. Chaos characters are pretty robust, so he will be able to stand up to enemy leaders, as well as wave the flag around.

The model was another refugee from the unpainted pile (I had plans for another Thousand Sons sorcerer) that I made a few adjustments to: adding a banner, a bare head and replacing his daemonic advisor's puny staff with a good honest axe. If I ever neglect to give him the chaos mutation 'Extra Arm', that should count as an automatic forfeit.

All that adds up to a 6x3 unit of hardended chaos badasses. Just don't put them against Wood Elves.