The Warhammer Community team is – unsurprisingly – made up of people who are quite into Warhammer. It's not unusual after a long day of work concerning little plastic warriors, for us to toddle home and set up at our painting stations to continue spending time on Warhammer.
Just like the rest of the world, we are incredibly excited about each and every upcoming release. The office is currently abuzz with anticipation for what’s happening with the Dawnbringers series in Warhammer Age of Sigmar, so we decided to paint up the four Harbinger miniatures featured in the first Dawnbringers book.
Steve: Grimhold Exile
When I first read about Grimhold Exiles I knew I wanted to paint one. A chronic survivor carrying a spark of their lost Magmahold’s heart fire, upholding their ancient values and honour, and seeking out the largest of foes to crush in Grimnir’s name. All while holding out hope they may stumble upon a new Magmahold where the destructive fires they wield can instead be used to build a home. Such a great story, and one I wanted to be a part of.
My style of painting has evolved over the years and this miniature is well suited to my current technique – namely using Contrast as a base coat, then layering up to highlights. I made it in two subassemblies, the hair and the rest, as the main contrast paints I would be using for those parts were different, and I wanted to work on one while the other was drying.
I’m really pleased with how he turned out, especially as it only took a couple of hours from start to finish. When he does find a group of other Fyreslayers to fight alongside, they will swiftly be battle ready as well.
Luke: Harbinger of Decay
When I first returned to the Warhammer hobby after a long hiatus – a common story I hear – I devoted myself to Nurgle in the Age of Sigmar. Since then I’ve picked up three other armies, but returning to the warm, pungent embrace of the Grandfather’s zealots is always an inevitability.
With the new Harbinger of Decay I was in hog-heaven. An iconic miniature revitalised by a modern take on a classic design, he’s absolutely oozing with revolting details. It’s such a centrepiece miniature that he’s the perfect excuse to return to an army I have dabbled with for nearly seven years.,
It’s a rotten banquet of a miniature, and so I pushed myself pretty hard to get it done in the short time frame. Thankfully the kit is ridiculously well designed, making sub-assemblies a cinch, which allowed me to lavish plenty of attention on areas like the scythe and the shield. After finishing this dismal envoy, I think I have now used every single green paint that we make across the whole army. With a new General’s Handbook just out, and a riveting campaign just started, I think I might return to the befouling hosts of Nurgle and crack out a few games with people in the office.
Charlie – Marrowscroll Herald
I've long enjoyed the delusional, tragic degeneracy of the Flesh-eater Courts, but never quite found the opportunity to start an army. Jerrion's Delegation let me nab all the core models, plus the new Marrowscroll Herald – and what a model it is!
I have a penchant for kitbashing, but I made only one change to this gorgeously grody gift-giver – a mask clipped and filed down from a Stormcast Eternal, which he wears as a courtly false face for his diplomatic work. I wanted to give the Herald a jaundiced look, rich and golden in a morbid sort of way – his "cloak" is Hobgrot Hide, shaded with Casandora Yellow and highlighted with Flayed One Flesh, while his own skin is Wraithbone with Skeleton Horde Contrast, highlighted with Ogryn Camo.
I adapted these colour recipes straight from the Citadel Colour app – they're a great reference point, even if you tweak them a bit as you go.
Tom: Rabble-Rowza
I’ve always loved Moonclan grots, ever since I clapped eyes on those goofy black-robed Night Goblins who plagued the World-that-Was with their dubious schemes. The Rabble-Rowza seemed like the perfect basis to dip my toes into a new army for Warhammer Age of Sigmar.
Because I didn’t have much time, I decided to go with a simple and popular technique. I used a black undercoat followed by a much lighter spray of Wraithbone from an acute angle, and then a few squirts of White Scar from the top – you then use a single coat of Contrast Paints which should flow naturally into the shadows created by the layers of spray. In practice, I was heavy on the trigger for the black and lost a bit of detail, but the whole project only took a couple of hours and will look great on the tabletop, and I think he could be topped off with a few targeted highlights to brighten him up. As he is right now, he is the epitome of Battle Ready.
Everyone in the team has been turning their minds to the Mortal Reams over the past week or two, and we’re all excited to see what comes from the sprawling new Dawnbringers narrative. Let us know what projects you’ve been getting up to on the official Warhammer Twitter and Facebook pages.