Warriors of Morr -- Starting the planning process

I've been doing quite a bit of thinking about my Warriors of Morr over the past few weeks, and my plans are starting to coalesce. I've decided that my "list" will be something like this:

• 12 Knights of Morr (refurbishing models I built and painted ten years ago)

• 30 Flagellants (I've had the plastics for a long time but haven't painted any up as flagellants, I'll focus on the bell-ringing and hourglass accessories)

• 30 Spearmen (the rest of this post talks about my thoughts for these soldiers)

• 2 Cannons (I can't get away from them)

• 1 Mortar (you saw the beginnings of it in my last post)

• plus a few very characterful commanders, a massive rolling altar, and a few more hangers-on/onlookers.

For my Spearmen, I want to have them marching in column, on their way to war. As soldiers of Morr, they'll be in black uniforms, so I want to have a few things that can really push the look and iconography of Morr. To that end I hope to sculpt up a few pieces and have them cast up (for my own personal use only) that will help with that goal. Above are two ideas for heads for the Spearmen. Both are half-masks, the first is obviously a skull, while the second is more of a Venetian-inspired, beaked-nose mask that could echo the hoods worn by the Corpse Handlers (who will be my artillery crewmen).

Which do you think I should go with? I'd sculpt two variants of the design I eventually choose, and then cast the rest.

The arms of the Empire Spearmen are arranged in an "advancing phalanx" fashion, none of them are at ease or on the march, so I'm going to have to sculpt some new arms. At the moment I'm thinking I'll work on arms that'll provide me with the four poses above. If I do them right I can use sturdy brass rod and the spear shafts that will slide into the waiting hands. I can also then create a few different spear tips, halberd blades, and perhaps even a few scythe blades.

And the final step will be to create four or five different shield designs. At the moment I'm leaning towards a "coffin-lid" look, but could be swayed. The sculpted icons would focus on the symbols of Morr: the hourglass, the black rose, and the scythe, with a smattering of bells and skulls too.

If you have any other suggestions, feel free to leave them in the comments below.

Cheers

Dave

PS. I think my posting might be a bit spotty over the coming weeks as my second daughter is due to arrive any day now. There'll be a lot of rushing around, a lot of adjusting, and very little time for hobbying or blogging.

Well, it's been a mixed bag...

I realized last night that it had been almost two weeks since I'd taken a photo of anything I've been working on. Well, It's been a mixed bag of stuff. On my painting desk at the moment I have six or seven different projects I'm working on. No wonder I can't get anything finished...

Anyway, work continues on updating my Grey Knights in preparation for sale. Above is the Grey Knight Librarian I built from the new plastic kits. Below is the first Paladin unit I've been working away on. A little more work and I'll have that banner finished off.

I got a little bit of time to mess around with the base for the Black Kraken. I'm painting this up for the cool charity raffle at Adepticon next year - Celebrity Dreadfleet. Click here to check out the blog! I used the GW recipe, which was quite interesting to see come to life. I'll have a post up soon on the CD blog about that experience.

Back in July, at Games Day Chicago, my friend (and crazy awesome painter) Todd Swanson handed me a very cool base. It was a cast of the base he used on his Golden Demon-winning entry (seen here). It has been kicking around on my desk since then and last weekI finally got the urge to stick a model on top and get painting. I've added the Ghoul King from the Zombie Dragon kit (I bought that kit to add the wings to my Jabberslythe conversion) and I've started painting it up. I'm thinking I'll paint him up as some kind of underhive mutant or possibly daemonhost. Let me know what you think.

And finally (for this post) here's the first model I'm starting on for my Warriors of Morr army. It will be crewed by a bunch of Corpsehandlers who'll be pushing and pulling it to war. The smartass in me wants to call it a Morrtar ; )

Cheers
Dave

What the hell is Desert Bus?

So a week or so ago I was contacted by some folks from Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, concerning a charity event I had never heard of. They've been running this annual charity event for the last four years (this year being the fifth) and are looking to expand their geeky audience into the tabletop miniatures realm. Unfortunately I'm too busy at the moment to have helped out, but I'm sure I'll jump in next year!

Anyway, back to the original question, what the hell is Desert Bus?

Well, you can check out their website here, but essentially it's a great bunch of folks from the lovely city of Victoria (on Vancouver Island) who sit down and play a video game for hours (24 hour shifts apparently) on end and stream the excitement online. Thousands of people around the globe tune in and place donations that all go to the great charity Child's Play.

Desert Bus is apparently a super-crappy game that was never released in which you drive a bus from Tuscon to Las Vegas. You don't get to stop to pick up or drop off passengers, and you don't have to avoid any roadkill, you just have to drive forward. Oh, and the bus occasionally pulls to the right.

So, head on over to the site, check it out, take a look at the cool stuff they're auctioning off, see which celebrities they're talking to via Skype, and so on. In just under 24 hours they've already raised over $33,000!

Next year, myself and a bunch of other miniature painters will be providing models that will be auctioned off during Desert Bus 6. Should be good to join up with more folks doing good things for kids : )

Cheers
Dave

It's funny when obsession strikes

I was just thinking the other day that I probably wouldn't be entering into the 2012 Armies On Parade competition. Although I've been working on some lovely models (Thundertusk and Ironblaster) and have quite a few armies I could spruce up, I just wasn't "feeling" that any of those were real options.

Fast forward to last night at my friend's place, where I was playing in a big Warhammer game to conclude our recent campaign. While the vile stunties on the opposite side of the table shuffled forward and readied their cannons, I took the opportunity to check out some of the terrain models in Eric's painting queue. Ever since I first saw the Dreadstone Portal (above) I've known there was some great potential for a wacky Empire piece.

Add to that the very cool Garden of Morr box on Eric's shelf, and my mind started to tick over. There are a lot of fun things I can do with this piece that could really push the boundaries of the craziness that is now the Warhammer World.

Priest of Morr

And after a look through my copy of Blood On The Reik (a wonderful book full of excellent Dave Gallagher concept sketches) I knew I was hooked.

I'll be working on a crazy mix of "Warriors of Morr"/funeral procession that will include a lot of unique models and considerable conversion, perhaps even some original sculpted parts and backyard casting.

What follows are images that will inspire and inform my obsessed mind and hands as I embark on yet another Empire army.

Doomsayer

Corpse Handler

Grave Diggers

Imperial Judge

Amethyst Wizards

Barber Surgeon

Hobby Horse - I don't know what this is, but I know I want one

Amethyst Wizard

Corpse Cart

Lietpold The Black

Wish me luck, I think this is the first time I've worked on an army that was inspired by scenery rather than miniatures : )

Cheers

Dave

PS. All of these images are from Games Workshop's website, Forge World's website, and the Black Library artbook Blood On the Reik, and are used without permission.

Grey Knights - Soon up for Sale

Back in 2003 (I think it was) when Codex: Daemonhunters was released, I painted up an army of Grey Knights and Ordo Malleus Inquisitorial support. With the release earlier this year of Codex: Grey Knights, I figured it was about time to pick up some of the Grey Knight plastics, update the collection of models with some of the new equipment, then sell them on.

Above you can see the first updated squad, a unit of Purifiers, which of course were not in the original codex. These guys are equipped with a Justicar with Daemon Hammer, 3 with Halberds, 2 with Falchions, 2 with Psycannons, 1 with a Warding Stave, and 1 with a Sword.

Although the paintjobs are reasonably basic, I have made sure that each model has it's own personal heraldry. Below is the top hatch of the Purifiers' Rhino.

So my big question for you all is, with the army to include the following:

Draigo, Librarian, 2 units of 4 Paladins, 2 units of 5 Terminators, 1 unit of Purifiers with Rhino, 1 Strike Squad with Rhino, 1 Interceptor Squad, 1 Dreadnought, and 1 Land Raider.

Should I sell it all as one big lot? or sell it as individual lots?

Cheers
Dave