Strange rumors are hardly enough to deter treasure hunters and glory seekers from entering this forgotten realm. For those both brave and lucky enough to even survive the journey, they have no idea the fate awaits them – for they will only find sand and blood under the baking sun.
We back baby! I haven’t posted an update to this project since October 2021 – a full year and a half go. So what happened? Why are we returning to the burning desert of The Land of the Dead? That answer is twofold; first the Warhammer Fest 2023 preview for Warhammer: The Old World unveiled an incredible new Tomb King on foot. Just seeing this 2023 edition of a beloved character model was enough to get my hobby fire burning. Second, I joined the ranks of A Middlehammer Tale. This project takes inspiration from the legendary White Dwarf Tale of Four Gamers articles and via the Facebook Group and dedicated website the participants are prompted each month with a different theme, artwork, terrain and background narrative.
Sprues & Glue
Chariot Crew! Each of the three Skeleton Chariots has two Crew – a Skeleton Drive and Skeleton Warrior. The Driver is armed with a hand weapon and the Warrior has a hand weapon, spear and bow. I wanted to mix up the six Crew as much as possible and ended up building two with bows (also a reminder to fire those bow shots each turn!), one driving the steeds onward with a whip, one with a classic khopesh-style hand weapon, one with a spear, and one with a halberd from the plastic Tomb Guard. And speaking of Tomb Guard, I used the Tomb Guard heads for all six of the Chariot Crew. In the fluff, only Nehekharan nobility were permitted to fight aboard a chariot and using the Tomb Guard heads to represent these elite warriors helps sells their noble status.
In an effort to make painting easier, the Crew won’t be attached to the Chariots themselves until after everything is painted. The final step will be to glue them down into their war machines. I still haven’t decided if I will glue the Tomb King onto his Chariot or not. Gameplay wise, there is a very real possibility of having the Chariot destroyed while the Tomb King himself survives the attack. So I probably want to have the option of putting him on-foot.
Paint Splatter
The first pledge for A Middlehammer Tale is a Core unit and a Character to lead them. As no Tomb Kings army worth its bones can go without a unit of Skelton Chariots, it was an easy pick for me. I had already painted the Skeleton Horses and the bases back in Part V but the Chariots themselves are only primed. With the crew now built I got those six models primed as well. I continued my “base up” approach and started on the Chariots before the crew. This will be a bit of a challenge as, unlike the Crew, I don’t have a great idea for my process to the paint the Chariots. Flipping through the long out-of-print How to Paint Citadel Miniatures for inspiration I stumbled upon a section of Tomb Kings with a rather striking purple scheme. Going with a purple chariot will keep this until in cohesion with the blues I’ve already used for the Skeleton Warriors with bows but will also mark them as an elite unit. Purple is a classic color for nobility.
Using my old notes and previous Skeleton Paint Guide I applied the same method for the wood, brass, red and teal. I want this army to have a cohesive look, but each unit should also have some notes on individuality. For this unit, the purple on the chariots themselves will set them apart from the rest (the Skeleton Arches have their teal bows and the Skeleton Warriors with spears have their red spear shafts). But besides the purple, all the other colors match.
I’ve finished one of the chariots so far and have two more to go to complete the unit. All six crew only have a basecoat and the Tomb King/Prince chariot is coming along nicely as well. To mark out the Tomb King/Prince chariot from the rest of the unit I’ll apply an additional highlight on all the brass to give it more of a gold look. Should be just enough to mark it out (besides to two banners on the back of the chariot itself).
Progress Report towards battle with Cole
Cole, like me, is still working on his 3,000pts of Dwarfs. These Warhammer: The Old World previews gave Cole some hobby hype as well. But at this pace, we are looking at 2025 for our game!
Heroes:
Liche Priest on Foot – Done
Liche Priest on Foot – Built
Tomb King in Chariot – Built, Paining in progress
Core:
Tomb Swarm – Done
x12 Skeleton Warriors with standard and bows – Done
x12 Skeleton Warriors with standard and bows – Built
x16 Skeleton Warriors with full command, spears and shields – Done
x16 Skeleton Warriors with full command, hand weapons and shields – Built
x3 Chariots with standard – Built, Paining in progress
x6 Chariot Crew – Built, Paining in progress
Special:
Tomb Scorpion – Done
x3 Ushabti – Built
You can read all the updates on News from the Front!
Chicago Dice 