Warhammer Underworlds: Embergard is available to pre-order right now: it’s the packed core set for a new edition that contains everything you need to play. Everyone is eager to get in on the action, and Luke and Jon from the Warhammer Community team have split a box to paint, taking two different approaches to the warbands within.
Luke: Like a lot of people, I picked up Warhammer Underworlds: Shadespire when it was first released. On top of being a great game, Warhammer Underworlds warbands have always been perfect painting projects – full of character and faction flavour in just a handful of models.
We got our box of Embergard around the same time as early copies of White Dwarf 506, which serendipitously featured an ’Eavy Metal article on how to paint Skaven, which was firm inspiration for painting Zikkit’s Tunnelpack.
Keeping in mind the ragtag nature of the Skaven forces, and with six pages of recipes in front of me, I cooked up a plan to treat each member of the warband as if they were from a different Great Clan.
For Zikkit Rockgnaw I opted for the Masterclan robes recipe to signify his status as leader, while Rittak Verm’s chaotic Kill-wheel marks him out as the Skryre aficionado, so he got the burgundy treatment – with an attempt made at those devilish freehand details.
Niche Singe-snout is the obvious go to for Pestilens with his noxious bombs, and Krittatok fits the mould of Eshin assassin with his flensing blades. Tik Tik is just a soon-to-be ex-rat, but he provided another opportunity to test out one of the many fur recipes.
Various wood, metal, and warpstone recipes made it onto the miniatures, and they work as a way to tie the warband together. My absolute hero paints during this process were Ratling Grime, Gore-grunta Fur, and Wyldwood Contrast, all of which were used in glazes over metals for quick and easy shading and discoloration, to give that dingy, tunnel-dweller look.
I am excited to take some of my old warbands for a spin in the new edition with the new Rivals decks. Freed from their temporal prison (my display cabinet) Ephilim’s Pandaemonium have been dusted off in preparation for the upcoming release of the Warbands of Embergard card set.
Jon: The arrival of the first Warhammer Underworlds Shadespire game was an exciting time and I eagerly embarked on this new hobby adventure, even having the opportunity to play a few games on the Warhammer Twitch Channel (losing them all, naturally). Eventually, as my life became busier, I just couldn’t keep up. A few years and two babies later, the new edition of Warhammer Underworlds seems like a fantastic opportunity to jump back into the game.
Having small children, my hobby time is very limited – a common theme with many other parents. Starting full of enthusiasm to complete all three members of the Emberwatch, the reality of the time I had available (not to mention my efforts to keep pace with Luke’s outstanding painting*) means that for now only Ardorn is fit for battle beneath the city ruins.
I knew I wanted to keep things simple, sticking to colours and methods that I knew, but I also wanted to do something a little bit different than the box-art. As a result, I decided to retain the iconic gold armour, but paired it with rich red and warm white as the secondary colours.
I knew I would have to use sub-assemblies, which can often be a challenge when painting push-fit kits. The Emberwatch break down pretty easily, with only Yurik needing to be split into more than two pieces for easy access to the inside of the cloak. My top tip when using sub-assemblies for push-fit miniatures is to clip off as many of the locating pins as you can – this means you can get a snug join between the different sections when the time comes to assemble the painted pieces.
Jon's original converted Brightshield from Steelheart's Champions in the first Warhammer Underworlds Shadespire box.
I used the same classic combo of Retributor Armour and Reikland Fleshshade that I had on my original warband from Shadespire. To maintain the warmth of the scheme, I used Wraithbone as the basis for the cloak lining, shading and highlighting on top to build up the shape of the folds. Incubi Darkness went on the weapon casing, mixing it with Khorne Red to shade the folds of the Mephiston Red cloak. As a final time-saving flourish, I added a glowing blue effect using a glaze of Teclis Blue under White Scar for Ardorn’s eyes, thus saving me from having to add the dreaded black pupil dot!
Warhammer Underworlds: Embergard and White Dwarf 506 are currently available to pre-order. Check out all the great Embergard warbands that the wider community painted for us for even more inspiration.
* Luke has a greyhound, which is a lot less work than two children.
