Hear ye, hear, ye! Roll up, hobbyists and painters of every description – Armies on Parade 2021 is almost upon us!
That’s right, folks – Parade Day is less than a month away, and we’re already entering the last week before the submission deadline for this year’s competition. If your entry isn’t already finished, get ready to start painting flat-out, as your time is nearly up.
At 23:59 (GMT) on Sunday the 31st of October, the submission window officially closes.
If you’ve already finished your entry, submit photos (or even a video!) of your entry via email to
as soon as you’re able to avoid missing out. When you do so, please make sure you add the following information so we know exactly who each entry belongs to:
– Your full name
– Where you live
– Which category you’re submitting your entry into
– Your entry’s faction
And that’s it!
In case you needed any last-minute inspiration to get your entry over the final hurdle, we caught up with Armies on Parade veteran Tyler Mengel to check in with his progress on his entry. Over to the man himself.
Tyler: This month, my Soulblight Gravelords army took a bit of a detour with some spectral allies. I already had over 4,500 points of painted Nighthaunt, but I decided to add a little bit more for an upcoming gaming event I was going to. Painting an entry for Armies on Parade can take a lot of time, but that doesn't mean you can't work on other things as well. An entry doesn't even have to adhere to regular army building rules – it's all about the rule of cool! I was lucky enough that the units I was painting up for my Nighthaunt collection can also fit into my Soulblight both visually and thematically, as well as legally in terms of army building.
Since we’re in the Era of the Beast, I decided to see how three Mournguls would do for my ghosts. I made each one visually different with a little bit of conversion. I decided to have the third one look like it was knocking over a pillar. This required me to remove the horse from its left hand and reposition the right arm and both wrists slightly. I was able to hide the gaps on the wrists with elements taken from the Soulsnare Shackles endless spell. I thought this tied it into the aesthetic of the new Nighthaunt stuff a bit more as well. The pillar, meanwhile, came from the classic Arcane Ruins scenery set.
What would a Knight of Shrouds who’s captured three Mournguls look like? I wanted to make him look like a bit of a beastmaster and an expert hunter. Before I started on the actual miniature, I collaged some images together to get an idea of what I wanted to go for.
The body is from the Liekoron the Executioner model, with the spear coming from a Glaivewraith Stalker. The fur on his back is from one of the Untamed Beasts, which I then sculpted around the edges with modelling putty to extend and blend it into the rest of the model. I was a bit stumped at first with what to do with the head but ended up using a spare head from the Blood Knights set. I carved away a bunch of it to make it look hollow, then extended the lower half of it with putty.
I'm really happy with how they turned out, and with the visual diversity they add to my Armies on Parade entry. All of my Death armies hail from a region of Shyish I came up with, called the Soulshard Expanse, so I based them all the same way. I can definitely imagine my Soulblight army hiring the services of this Knight and his beasts in exchange for some tormented souls.
Additionally, Games Workshop was kind enough to send me a copy of the upcoming Warhammer Day Vampire Lord, Anasta Malkorion, ahead of time. It's such a great sculpt, and I was super excited to paint her. There’s a classic Necrarch vibe to her, the bloodline of vampires from the World-that-Was most attuned to magic and necromancy. I've already painted up Prince Duvalle and his Crimson Court, where I went with the traditional red armour.
I plan on fleshing out a full vampire wing of my army, and they will be much more martial, with that same red armour. I wanted to tie Anasta more to my Deadwalker contingent, so I gave her black armour with purple robes, with a pallid, undead skin tone, so she stands out next to the Necromancers – who are still technically alive – and the more green-tinged Gravekeeper.
Thanks, Tyler! If you’d like to know more about the specifics of entering this year’s competition, make sure you check out the FAQs as well as the terms and conditions on the Armies on Parade landing page. Remember that your local store will also be hosting a local Armies on Parade, so get in touch with your store’s manager for more information on how to join in. And whatever you do, put Parade Day on Saturday the 20th of November in your calendar or diary of choice, and join us on Warhammer TV for the live awards show.