KitXV

Heralds and Banner of the Army of the Dead 👻

Finally back to painting miniatures! Continuing work on my Army of the Dead, I'm getting really close to finishing all the models from this army list that I currently own. Today I'd like to present both Heralds and the Banner Bearer on foot.

COLOURS

After my experiments with the cavalry and the violet-purple tones on the horse cloths, I wanted to push that idea a little further. This time, however, we're getting closer to the elite ranks and royalty of the army, so I decided to use more saturated colours on the banner and pennants.

I chose purple for the banner to visually connect it with the cavalry and the rest of the force. For the pennants, however, I went with a more burgundy tone. To me, it feels more regal and fits the theme I want to continue later on the King of the Dead miniature 😉

The figures themselves were painted using the same colour scheme as the rest of the army: cold, ghostly blue tones combined with weathered browns and blacks on weapons and armour.

BASES

I had a lot of fun working on the larger 40 mm cavalry bases, so going back to 25 mm bases felt a little restrictive. These miniatures are quite large and cover most of the available space.

That said, after recently adding flower and grass tufts to my basing collection, I really wanted to include them here as well. They add a surprising amount of visual interest, and fortunately I managed to find enough room for them despite the limited base size 😉

SUMMARY

Overall, I'm quite happy with the final result. The one thing I'm not fully satisfied with is the purple banner. I think the colour ended up a little too muddy and lost some of the contrast I was aiming for.

On the other hand, I'm really pleased with the burgundy pennants. They feel aged and weathered, as if they've spent centuries alongside the Army of the Dead, while still retaining a hint of their former royal status.

The father of Warhammer 40k art direction and the man that has inspired me as an artist, down to inspiring my current artstyle (and I am sure will continue to inspire me, even in death). 40k just wouldn't be 40k had it not been for the foundation of grimdark sci-fi that he laid.

Farewell, you absolute legend.

Warhammer 40k Space Marine Collage: Dark Krakens Chapter

Commissions for @corviacore (Left, Sororitas) and @sirlazz (Right, AdeMech) !

Who a pretty lil guy?

You a pretty lil guy.

Oh so fancy too!

Final part of the Marienburg Look-dev, part of a larger body of work for a GW mock task. The aim for this project was to diversify the look of Marienburg units from their Empire counterparts without making them look entirely dissimilar.

To this end, I tried to infuse fashion and styling inspired by the Dutch Golden Age, among other sources. This period is a little bit too advanced (by about 50-100 years) for The Old World's setting, so I tried to retrofit these elements stylistically to make them sit better in-universe. The idea is that a regiment from Marienburg wouldn't necessarily be any more technologically advanced than the Empire, but they would appear well funded and equipped.

Finished painting up this unhinged lil guy!