The Charnel Guard Marines army is almost finished…
The infantry models wrap up with Asteroth, the final character for the force. This miniature is a third-party sculpt of the original design. I followed the style of the rest of the army, with blood red armor like Mephiston. He has armor panels sculpted with muscle pattern. I gave him slightly different skin tone to the other bare-headed members of the army to make him stand out more. The deathly pallor was built from a grey-blue base, with a mix of grey and flesh tone highlights.
He has the same winged jetpack as the one I used for Dante. He launches forward with his Black Axe aloft, held up by trailing purity seals and litany scrolls.
The other pics are the real beast, the Death Company Dreadnought. This guy was a real effort, with tons of detail. Like other models this size and complexity, I had to paint him in pieces and assemble after.
He is covered in decoration befitting a Death Company hero. The original model is of course Blood Angels-themed, but a few changes made him Charnel Guard. His right shoulder has the blood red color used on the shoulder pads of the Marines, with the chapter icon. I added a fair amount of battle damage and wear and tear. I like some paint chipping and corrosion, but it can get overboard quick. His loincloth has a red-black fade, representing the cloth soaked in blood.
The scrolls have the words LETUM (death) and STRAGES (bloodshed).
With these two miniatures, only a pair of Predator tanks to finish.
The Dreadnought pics was taken with a new photo setup. I used a grey backdrop, and I think it works very nicely.
The Charnel Guard are nearly complete. I’ve finished the leader character for the army, Commander Dante. He leads his companions, the Sanguinary Guard.
Dante is usually depicted in golden muscle armor, resembling a Greco-Roman god. The deathmask helmet looks like a classic Roman Equestrian ‘sports’ helmet. The gold works well with Blood Angels’ bright red armor. The Charnel Guard I’ve been working on however is much more of a dark Gothic look with charcoal grey and blood-red armor. An accent color used throughout the army is a deep bronze (common on chest eagles and weapon casings). Dante gets this bronze all over to reallt make him stand out.
The armor was painted with a GW Warplock Bronze base, washed with Agrax Earthshade and small areas of Seraphim Sepia. It was then highlighted with mixed Bronze and Vallejo Silver. This gave a shiny but somber bronze effect, looking rich and ancient. Some details like his chest eagle and belt buckle were picked out in much brighter Vallejo Bronze. His oak leaf wreathe was painted in Gehenna’s Gold. His long loin cloth is a simple clean white. The halo on his head is a bluish silver, with a white ribbon.
Danet’s axe was painted to really pop on the table. The blade was based with a mix of black and Vallejo Nocturnal Red, blended up to Mephiston Red, then Army Painter Red. The edges got further highlights of red and yellow. The carriage for the axe was picked out in golds and lighter bronzes to further brighten the weapon. It would be conspicuous against the backdrop of the commander himself.
The GW miniature has had a few simple additions. The shoulder pauldrons have been swapped from the generic Blood Angels iconography to the Charnel Guard and a skull and scroll design. The other change is the jump pack. The original jump pack was not nearly ostentatious enough for this bronze god, so I swapped a winged pack from the third party-designed Lemartes (seen earlier)
The pack was the same bronze as Dante’s armor, with the feathers in black. This was to further match him with his Sanguinary Guard.
The Sanguinary Guard are the personal companions of the commander, hand-picked for skill and bravery. This unit is a 3D sculpt like the rest of the army (Dante being the only actual GW infantry model). They wear the same deep bronze armor as their leader, with light bronze details like belt buckles, icons, chest eagles, and ornaments. The also have the white loin cloths and red axes (though not nearly as bright as Dante). Other details matching Dante are the blueish silver halos- even carried over to the standard. Their wings are more organic looking than Dante’s (a different company’s sculpt) but the look is unified.
I’ve stepped into the time tunnel for the newest edition of Warzone, the Mutant Chronicles miniatures game. So much nostalgia!
I always loved the style and aesthetic of the art and miniatures, courtesy of the great illustrator Paul Bonner. They had a serious 40K-esque vibe with big pauldrons, over the top weapons, and grimdark setting. The newest designs harken back to 1st edition, but with some restraint and modern sculpting techniques.
I painted a bunch of Warzone back in the day. My favorite faction then was the Imperials, the Brits, with a mix of WWI-in-space Trenchers and SAS commandos in the form of Blood Berets and Golden Lions. I picked up the starter box and have had a few games so far. The models are 3D prints from Trenchworx.
The first pic is the completed starter set. It has a Blood Beret leader, Blood Beret Trooper and RPG Trooper, 3 Trenchers, and Golden Lion Operator and Trooper. It’s a good mix of the weapon loadouts and uniform styles.
Next are the Trenchers. These are the poor bloody infantry, so aren’t flashy like the other units. Instead, they are right out of the Western Front, with gas masks, ragged cloaks, and good old Brodie helmets. I kept their colors intentionally drab, and made their armor scuffed and dark.
Next are the Blood Berets, the elite line soldiers. They got a nice green uniform with a simple camouflage. The red berets certainly give mixed signals on stealth though …
I gave the Leader model industrial striping on his chainripper knife to make him more visible on the table.
Finally the Golden Lions. Their bright red armor is patterned with black tiger striping. No subtlety for these commandos.
I’m not sure what I’ll add to the force to expand it. We’ll see what new units get added.
The Charnel Guard continues…here we have a pair of characters to lead the squads. Both are Chaplains, assigned to the two Death Company squads.
First is the special character Chaplain Lemartes, leader of the Blood Angels Death Company as a whole. Guess he’s joined on with the Charnel Guard, or simply has a separate Chaplain with similar rules (always good for making your own fluff). The miniature is a 3D print like the rest of the army, with a unique sculpt.
He leaps off a pile of rubble, pistol and crozius arcanum at the ready. The sculpt originally had a winged jump pack, but I wanted that pack for the army’s Commander Dante, so they swapped. Can’t upstage the boss! I did add a winged goblet icon to give him just a little more zazz befitting a named character.
His armor is the typical black and bone, with the darker bronze edging seen throughout the army. This gave him the same somber tone, despite all the gold, silver, and red details.
Second is a generic unnamed Chaplain. He is also a third-party 3D sculpt. He stands out from Lemartes with all the scripture and seals decorating his army. I like the pose, looking like he’s just coming in for a landing. I did decorate his left shoulder with a Charnel Guard transfer.
Next is Dante and the rest of his Sanguinary Guard.
The Charnel Guard army is nearing completion. All the Intercessors and Death Company are done (40 Marines). Next up are the Sanguinary Guard and characters.
The two Death Company squads in all their glory. They all have identical decoration, but have X wound markings on either side of their jump packs.
The units have a mix of extra weapons, with the first squad carrying 2 Power Swords, 1 Power Fist, 2 Eviscerators, 1 Plasma Pistol, and 1 Inferno Pistol. The second squad has 2 Plasma Pistols, 2 Eviscerators, 2 Power Fists, and 1 Power Sword instead.
Next up some characters. Looking forward to Dante in proper Charnel Guard color and decoration.
This week we played a pair of battles for Age of Chivalry. A friend and I picked different factions each time to give them a whirl. We used scenarios from the Poland tournament PDF.
Battle 1: Scottish vs. German in the Sacred Ground scenario. I used my Scots while he used his Dwarfs from Age of Magic as Germans (I painted that army). Scots were Warlord, 6 HG, 2×10 pike Warriors, 8 Pike Warriors, and 12 bow Levy. Germans were mounted (barding) Warlord, 8 foot HG, 2×10 Warriors, 12 crossbow Levy, and a Cannon. A hill, small wood, and ruin served as the sacred ground objectives.
-The Scots managed to pull off a slight early lead due to the ability for the pike Warriors to advance in the German turn, claiming the center and right objectives. The German HG took the left sacred ground and would not be pushed out. We both effectively abandoned our side objectives to the enemy in favor of putting our efforts into the center hill. The HG holding the objective did rob the Germans of a powerful unit for the whole game.
-The Scottish pike and Hearthguard on the hill weathered crossbow and cannon fire, while fending off charges from German infantry and the enemy Warlord. The Front Lines ability to buff the Warriors and shrug off damage for the HG meant they could hold on under pressure.
-The German cannon proved very unpredictable, misfiring 2 times and accounting for only 3 kills over the course of the game.
-German auto-hits and bonus attack dice were met with Scottish bonus defense dice. Lances High let the Hearthguard close ranks and still dish out plenty of attacks.
-Late game the Dwarf Crossbow were charged by a fresh Pike unit, which Hammered the Nail and ground them down to only a few members. They rolled great on saves which kept it from being a total slaughter.
-In the end the Scottish came out on top, with a serious lead in Massacre points from kills and the objectives.
Battle 2: English vs. Free Companies in the Take and Hold scenario. I used my English and my friend used his Lizardmen (he only has fantasy armies). English were Warlord, 6 HG, 3×9 bow Warriors, and 9 spear Warriors. Free Companies were mounted Warlord, 2×4 mounted HG, 2×8 Warriors, and 2×12 bow Levy. 5 objectives were arranged in an X pattern, deployment diagonal from the corner on each side.
-English shooting in the early game was useless, with the Lizards saving almost all hits, and the second turn’s Saga dice meant the archers couldn’t get off the volume of arrows needed while the Free Companies closed in.
-Only at point-blank range were the longbows effective, but the Lizard HG cavalry still caused some damage to the bow Warriors.
-The English counter attacks crushed the Free Companies center Warriors and HG, but the archer line took damage from enemy bow fire and Warrior charges.
-The objectives were mostly contested, but the Free Companies Warlord and HG held one on the flank until they were ready for a charge. The center was fought over between English HG and Free Companies Warriors. The HG also weathered constant arrow storms from the Levies.
-In the late game English bows woke up and created a murderous crossfire, thinning down Free Companies units before charges finished them off. The remaining archers units managed to get off 3 shooting attacks each in one turn. Fatigue spending from the Free Companies avoided the English being exhausted.
-The HG holding the center were run over by the Free Company Warlord, but he was exhausted by melee and shooting, letting the English Warlord pounce and finish him off.
-The Free Companies were let down by their Saga dice a few turns, not giving them the symbols to use the bow Levy effectively or use some of their good abilities. The English were able to overcome a bad Saga dice turn since most of their units were Warriors.
-The English won eventually, holding 3 objectives (Conquest points) plus a lead in Massacre points.
I’ve been working on the Charnel Guard chapter Space Marines for an army. These Blood Angel successors really lean into the gothic vampire aesthetic.
Here are a couple small 5-man Assault Intercessor squads.
Squad 3 has a Sergeant with a power sword and plasma pistol. All the sergeants in the army have the maximum loadout allowed, the better to smash with. To more easily identify the squad on the table, they have blood red greaves (the 10-man Squad 2 has red kneepads).
Squad 7 has a Sergeant with power fist and plasma pistol. Appropriate to such a weapon, he and the rest of his squad have red left arms as their identifying coloration.
Last is the first model of the Sanguinary Guard. The unit wears deep bronze armor with black feathered wings. His Encarmine Axe is a deep red with bright red edges.
I have finally acquired the new Age of Chivalry book for Saga. I have already built armies for the supplement (or adapted armies from Blood & Crowns). I have English, Scots and Burgundians ready to play. The first 2 armies are set up for Saga, but I will have to add more models to the Burgundians, especially cavalry.
My English, under warlord Thomas Beauchamp.
My Scottish army, under Archibald Douglas,
I played out a demo game to see how the armies actually play on the table. Theory becomes practice.
For a break between squads I usually work on characters and big models. The first character is Mephiston, the so-named Lord of Death. The most vampirey-non-vampire you could ask for.
The army is almost entirely made of 3D prints, and the characters all have alternate sculpts.
Mephiston is an awesome sculpt, showing off the majesty of the Blood Angels’ vampiric curse but also exuding menace. He wears his characteristic muscle cuirass armor and a flowing blue-black cape and cloak. Since he is part of a Charnel Guard army, his red armor is closer to the deep red used by that chapter, with darker metals to keep the gothic theme. The chest pieces were done with a base of GW Screamer Pink, blended with layers of white and Khorne Red, then finished with P3 Red Ink.
The Charnel Guard Marines with bare heads show pale cadaverous skin. While Sergeants I’ve painted have black hair, Mephiston has a shock of white, further separating him from the common Marines. His eyes are a predatory blank yellow.
To make his force sword really contrast i made if a black-green, blending from deep black to a bright yellow green at the tip.
I’ve been adding to the first Death Company squad, in the form of more special weapon troops. The squad now includes a plasma pistol and inferno pistol. Not much to say about the plasma pistol, but the inferno pistol Marine bears mention. I wanted him to have a cool pose to go with pointing the pistol in a power point stance. I used an optional empty hand sculpt, with his chainsword latched on to his right hip.
First we have the completed Assault Intercessors squad, marked Squad 2. The description of the color scheme was covered in previous posts. The Sergeant carries a plasma pistol and power sword, and 2 other Marines carry plasma pistols. The army will have 2 more 5-man Intercessor squads. I also included a pic of the squad on a table.
The second pic is part of the army’s Death Company. The squad follows the traditional Blood Angel color scheme for those squads- black with red X’s representing wounds scattered on the armor. Their weapons are also red to make them stand out from the Marine. The full 10-man squad will have 2 plasma pistols, a power fist, and an eviscerator chainsword (the last two pictured here).
Bughaus Miniatures 