With them, however, is a lone infantry skeleton. He's more dangerous than that would imply, however, because he's armed with an RPG-7 rocket launcher! Look out! When asked why such a creation exists, the only answer given was: "The rules state that the summoned skeleton can be equipped with any hand-held weapon."
There are ten "standing" bodies in the box, presumably to man the chariots, and I've made up four of them as spearmen to join the ranks of the rank and file. This puts the two spearman regiments up to 15 skeletons each.
The total size of the Skeleton Horde is now 60 models, aiming for 63 models when the other four armored skeleton cavalry units are done. Quite the horde!
The five gangers are built primarily from Wargames Atlantic Cannon Fodder, except for the heads. Their skulls are from the Citadel Skulls box while the four Drone skulls are Wargames Atlantic (which are a little larger). I once again removed the front parts from the Cannon Fodder rifles to make them a reasonable size and remove the "bayoneted lasgun" vibe.
Gray Matter is another figure from the "Sentinels Tactics Miniatures:
Minions" box; the character is listed as The Broker. Once again, it's
soft PVC, and the sculpt isn't great. I stuck a giant's skull from the
Citadel Skulls box onto the front to tie it into the gang's aesthetic.
Then, I just drybrushed and washed most of the figure in greys to hide
the doughy sculpt and imply that she's hidden in the shadows. It works
well enough, but I'm not entirely pleased with the finished product. A
series of mistakes led her to be placed on a tall spaceship stand, which
I installed into a custom-designed 3D-printed base; it was a lot of
very unnecessary frustration, but it did lead to the idea for the drone
swarm surrounding her.
The bases, either flat or textured, had a base layer of Vallejo Heavy Violet (72.142), then a drybrush or stipple of FolkArt Imperial Red (4669).
The "drones" can also be used in D&D as undead Flameskulls, the namesake for the gang, or as floaty magic skulls in anything that uses my skeleton horde.
The parts for this little chariot come from all over. The cart itself is a Reaper Miniatures Pig and Cart. I've previously posted the pig. The cart came filled with molded-in vegetables like pumpkins and such. I put a bunch of bone bits over them from the Wargames Atlantic Skeleton Infantry sprue and the Citadel Skulls box. The wizard himself is largely Wargames Atlantic, but the hat and hourglass are from the Frostgrave Wizard II sprue. The left arm is from the Frostgrave Cultist sprue. The wizard is rising from the pile of bones like he's a part of it, perhaps suggesting a regenerative ability. The skeletal horse is from the brand new Wargames Atlantic Skeleton Cavalry box. Finally, I printed the base on my 3D printer. It's 50 mm by 100 mm to match the size of the Corpse Cart in Warhammer. That's a hefty kitbash!
The Skeleton Horde is now 54 models.
With the sixteen "basic" spearman I've built thus far, I have two regiments of 13 (5 command + 8 basic) skeletons each. Not a very round number, but it tells me I need 14 more basic spearmen to get both regiments up to 20 models. Goals!
This batch brings the total for the Skeleton Horde up to 53 models. They are now, officially, my largest force after beating out the cultists' 48. Great work, bonefellows.
With this duo complete, it brings the painting total for January 2024 up to 50 models. This makes it my most productive month ever (though, consequently, a not very productive month in other areas). Skeletons almost feel like cheating here, but there were a lot of other miniatures this month as well. Since my goal for the year is 130 miniatures, this puts me at almost 40% of my goal. Strong start!
Warhammer: The Old World just released, so I went through one of the free Legacy Army Lists, Vampire Counts, and totaled up a use for my painted skeleton horde. They're about 719 points (depending on what the Giant Skeleton proxies for). Neat! With my upcoming plans for more skeletal reinforcements, I'll probably be able to get that up to at least 1000 points, if not 1250.
The model stands 75mm tall from base to the tip of the sword. The attached giant rock he's standing on helped with that lift. I mounted it all on a 40mm base, then added a bunch of skulls from my trusty Citadel Skulls box to fill in the space and make it more dynamic. That box of skulls is a gift that keeps on giving, but I think this might be the first time I've used it for basing—which was its intended purpose by Games Workshop.
I used some of the last of my "old" Agrax Earthshade as a wash for this figure, which is why it looks nicely blended instead of shiny and pooled.
Totaling everything up, I now have 45 units for the Undead Army. This puts them just shy of the Embers of Alexandria Cultists' 48 units. I get the feeling that the Undead are going to have reinforcements before too long, though.
These boney chaps look a little different than the old skeletons, mostly because Games Workshop heavily changed the formula for their "Agrax Earthshade" wash. It functions differently now, pooling heavily and looking shiny/wet. The eventual matte spray varnish should tamp down the shine.
I also painted up a necromancer, which is a Reaper Miniatures "Dreadmere Wight." Presumably, he's helping to summon and/or maintain this mob of skeletons. I've wanted to paint this miniature up for quite some time, but I couldn't settle on a paint scheme until I decided to lump him in with the skeletons. The brass, red, and brown is simple but effective, and the green skin (like the mummies I did recently) is good enough.
I love everything about this figure. It has great detail across the entire model. I love the tombstone turned into a hammer, I love the menacing pose, I love the little details like the normal-sized sword sticking out of his ribs--I could go on. With the little skeletons at his feet, this is almost a diorama. This big fella is definitely in the running for my Miniature of the Year.
While a phenomenal figure for D&D, I can also see this guy being the backbone for a skeleton army, as its "big monster" in whatever system (e.g., SAGA: Age of Magic, Dragon Rampant).
The painting was simple. Prime with black, then heavy drybrush brown, then light drybrush Vallejo Bonewhite (72.034). Do the weapons with Dense Red and Brass. Finally, heavily wash with Agrax Earthshade. Quick, easy, and it still looks great. This is literally the only type of miniature force that I can ever see myself painting an entire army for.
The 28 little skeletons are: