I've honestly never tackled Vampire Counts or Tomb Kings before Sigmar. Vampire Counts felt like there was only one way to play them, while Tomb Kings suffered from many crippling drawbacks, not the least of which being if your horrifically fragile Heirophant died (usually to rune-etched Dwarf cannonballs), it was basically game over.
Not that I can really use that excuse. I was, at the time, playing Beastmen which were arguably as bad!
So when I pondered my options for a new army for 2017, there were three real contenders. Ironjaws, with their plate-armoured wall of infantry and the infamous toad-dragons. Nurgle Rotbringers, with a disgustingly low model count of Blight Kings and a heavy focus on Characters riding virulent monstrosities. Or Death, in its entirety, complete with masses of infantry, several cavalry options, and a menagerie of monsters and constructs that loom over the battlefield.
A handful of players in the local scene already played Ironjaws, and all of them centred around the Ironfist Warscroll (who can really blame them), which meant I'd be running a similar kind of army as everyone else... Because I would also be succumbing to the lure of the Ironfist (who can really blame me?).
So Ironjaws got scratched.
Rotbringers were written off for a different reason entirely. Mostly because I felt they lacked range and that I would get distracted from them far too easily! To do a true-to-the-cause Rotbringer force, I was spoilt for choice with characters, both named and generic, but with Blight Kings as my only real unit (Battleline or otherwise), I felt that it would get stale for me very quickly. That's not to say that they are bad models; in fact, they are fantastic. But with an attention span as deficient as mine, it wouldn't take long for me to meander away from an army that revolves around a single kit. I know my flaws, and I can recognise the warning signs!
This made Death an easy decision. Currently, it is by far the smallest and least represented of the Grand Alliances, but here in lies it's beauty. I didn't feel as if I had to pick a sub-faction in order to keep a unified theme.
While Order for example, is much bigger, and has had several sub factions fleshed out to complete stand-alone armies, it has a lot of sub-factions that borderline on redundant. Stormcast Eternals, Sylvaneth and even Fyreslayers have complete ranges (although it still feels like we're getting a brand new Stormcast character every couple of months), while many other forces (High Elves, Dark Elves and Empire spring to mind) have each been split into several branches that are almost too small to sustain an army themed around them (until GW shows them some love of course!). And I do love a strong cohesive theme, especially on armies as big as the one I'm planning! While I love all of Order's models (and I'm picking Order as an example, not as a target), the grand alliance contains factions so diverse in appearance that I don't know how I could make it into a single cohesive army.
Not so with Death! Literally every sub faction in Death is useful and cohesive with the next. Keywords are abundant and synergies stretch across the entire Grand Alliance! Not only that, but the Death Grand Alliance is currently small enough that tackling it as a single army does not feel unrealistic! Not only that, but every model looks like a natural fit to the eye. The whole Vampire Counts range is just amazing, and really plays on that Victorian Horror theme! Tomb Kings obviously have a strong Egyptian theme, which looks altogether out of place next to VC's but I have a solution! More on that later, though...
Death will be my main army for '17, and I'm keen to try out different units and combos. The options are expansive! But you gotta start somewhere, so I decided to open my foray into Death with Deathrattle.
This was an easy choice. Skeleton Warriors are generic Battleline, meaning that no matter what kind of army I was building, they could help reach the obligatory requirements if needed. The Wight King offered me with a fantastic (and let's be honest, pretty darn powerful) Hero to lead the first stage of the horde. With Battleline and Hero requirements within easy reach, I was also supplied with faster support in the form of Black Knights and the sheer, horrific damage output potential that can be found in Grave Guard.
As I researched further, it just so happened that Deathrattle even have their own Warscroll battalion that nearly bundles everything together and gives it some handy bonuses! With that in mind, I punched out a 1000pt list to work toward! And here it is...
Deathrattle Horde Warscroll Battalion (80)
Wight King (120)
20 Skeleton Warriors (160)
10 Skeleton Warriors (80)
10 Skeleton Warriors (80)
20 Grave Guard (320)
5 Black Knights (120)
Eventually, I'll fill all three units of skeletons to twenty and add another five Black Knights (for the OCD in me), but this formation will be the foundation upon which my whole army will be built! But I want to have the 1000 points painted by the Blog's birthday in January.
Not so hard, right? It probably wouldn't be until I realised how intricate and detailed even the most basic infantry is!
First off the bat was, of course, my fearless leader, the Wight King!
Well, I wanted this army to catch people's eyes and pop on the table, and I'm happy with where my pallet landed. The worn, rusty armour and dark cloth of the model are offset by the pale bones, and of course, the flashes of pink that are designed to contrast starkly on the table! Not to mention, pink armies are few and far between, and I'm hoping this gives it a unique look!
After finishing my hero and settling on colours, I got stuck straight into the masses of infantry on my painting desk, the first of which were half the unit of Grave Guard. I'm really happy with how the colours looked on a full unit, as it can sometimes be hard to visualise how it will appear after only painting a single model.
It's a long process painting the Death infantry, but hopefully I can slog my way through it! I better; there's plenty more to do.
After I finish this formation, I'm going to pick another subfaction to give attention to, and hopefully build my army in large chunks that way, though I'm not opposed to picking and choosing random units that catch my eye or to break up the monotony of painting bones. The key is to keep it fun!
Flesh Eater Courts will make an appearance at some point, as will Nighthaunt and Deadwalkers. These two factions could have some fantastic work done on them I feel, similar to the love that FEC received. Both are iconic to the Death faction, with the spirits and ghosts of Nighthaunt floating across the battlefield (oh, for a new Black Coach model!), while it would be great to see Deadwalkers get some new models in the form of perhaps some monstrous infantry (zombie ogres?) or perhaps even a Zombie Giant! Wishful thinking I know, but wait! I'll fill you in on one of the elements of this project that most excites me!
Conversions!
With the Tomb King range gone, and the Egyptian theme not matching anyway, this opens the door to many potential hobby projects, not the least of which are Ogres and a Giant being converted and 'zombified' to represent Ushabti and a Bone Giant respectively! This allows me to continue using these out of production units, while still fitting the theme and looking the part! I also have some plans for Necropolis Knights and a Casket of Souls that will fit seamlessly into the force!
All in all, I'm very pleased with how this project has launched! It's humble beginnings, but I feel that if I can remained focused (and I am determined to do so), that it won't be long before I'm adding some of the titanic models in the Death range to my own army! Yes, Nagash, you...
Cheers for reading, and for coming on this journey with me!
Gabe