Fecadermis Ringwurmm's Clan Rat Regiment!

Scurrying triumphantly through the ruins of a human town come Clan Chieftain Fecadermis Ringwurmm's Clan Rats, eagerly seeking more filth and victims!  Yay!

Well to the fore (since there are no enemies in sight just now) is Fecadermis himself, armed with a cruel and grimy scimitar and what appears to be a cluster of poison wind globes.

Rat drummer.  This is my first Skaven Clan Rat regiment, but not the last, as these regular troops constitute the backbone of any Skaven horde...three more of these regiments will follow in the fullness of time...one more hand weapon and shield regiment and two spear and shield regiments...the largest will have thirty six models.

The standard bearer hoists aloft the ragged, crusty banner of his clan, all the while encouraging the more reticent amoung the hoist with an occasional flick of his whip...

The bulk of the troopers from this unit are derived from the ancient Warhammer Fantasy Regiments boxed set, first released in 1990 or 1991. Above is half of a two page advertisement which appeared in an issue of Dragon magazine that came out around that time.  Mightily impressed was I, yet a lanky teenager by the sight of those smart ranks of unlovely creatures...

Close up of one of the plastic Skaven painted by some youthful hand long ago...The detail on these, as you can see, is not great and I normally abhor plastic, but some of the figures from the Fantasy Regiments boxed set inspire such a sharp pang of nostalgia that I can give them a pass...

On the left are two of the plastic models, and on the right two metal ones which I used to fill out some gaps in the ranks.  

Closer look at the plastics...they aren't that bad but...

...the metals are clearly the better pieces...to my eye anyway.

Grr...Fecadermis's warriors advance.....

"Forward!  Victory is ours!"

Skaven of the Flea Fell: Sorcerers and Poison Wind Globadiers!!

A trio of Skaven spell casters and their escort of globadiers consolidate their hold on a fallen human settlement.....

Recently played a rousing game of Oldhammer with some old friends.  My pal The Ratboy was so enthusiastic about playing with the painted Skaven that I did have (mostly Skaven slaves and Clan Moulder stuff) that I got motivated to paint up some more.  So here are some key players in the army of the Flea Fell...

A Warplock engineer designates a target for his globadiers...most likely he will be one of the army's junior spell slingers but his warplock pistol is likely to mean trouble for his enemies even if he runs out of spells...

The Army's chief wizard...I've always hated this 4th edition era model.   It suffers from 'Giant Weapon Syndrome'  that deadly curse that fell upon Citadel miniatures in the mid nineties.  But the fact is that the original Skaven miniatures line had so few Wizard models that I was forced to search further afield than 2nd/3rd edition to find what I needed.

He'll do, I suppose. 

I'm much more fond of this fellow, even though the sculpt is just a modified globadier, he's still got a delightfully sinister look about him.

The globadiers mass for the attack.  Hopefully they won't bump blindly into one another in their gas masks and drop a globe.

There were only two globadier poses in the original Skaven line, but that doesn't bother me too much as they are such characterful little fellows and you can only have a maximum of six in your army anyway.

The WW I style gas masks may seem out of place in a fantasy setting, but I've never found it to be distracting with these guys...

 It just makes me think of The Evil Genius in Time Bandits...Anything that makes me think of Time Bandits is good.

"Hee Hee!  Smash-smash!  Watch 'em choke & die!"

Evil little devils capering in triumph...need some Clan Rats now...

Clan Mouder Attacks!!! (Again!!!)

Man, It's been a slow year for minis so far!  I never seem to have any time to paint, but I have managed to finish out the balance of my Clan Moulder forces!  I now have as many Clan Moulder Beastmasters as the army list allows together with thirty giant rats and eight rat ogres!

 In addition to the latest packs of beasties and handlers here is Beastmaster Thrattle, who commands all the Clan Moulder contingents in The Flea Fell.  I intend to field him as an independent lvl 20 hero...armed with an ensorcelled goodie or two...

Rat Ogres are one of the meanest things going in the Skaven army, and they gobble up a lot of points, which is helpful when you're trying to get an army together.

Grrr…

I already have another two of each of these models in the horde...GW only produced two rat ogre castings...

...so to add a splash of variety I went with these fellows for Rat Ogres #s 7 & 8.  They are old Grenadier models, sold as "Giant Wererats" and sculpted by Julie Guthrie, I think.

They have a slightly more refined, sophisticated air about them but I suppose we can forgive them for that.  They are just the right size, and I think they fit in nicely. 

Ack!  More giant rats!  I always loved the look of enormous Andy Chambers' giant rat pack and wanted one of my own.  A great swarm of thirty of the little devils should be fun to field.

Plus the models have a lot of character and are fun to paint.

Eek! Eek!

"Willard!  There's rats in the basement!"

Last three beastmasters I'll ever paint.  Makes me a little misty, as I've always enjoyed working on them.  I do have a couple of others that I use as drivers for my skaven slave regiments....

I think I'll call this one...Socrates!

Skaven Jezzail Teams

Skaven Jezzailachis hunt Jabberwocks amoungst the Slithy Toves.  Brave souls.  Best of luck to them.

I think I've gotten quite a bit closer to the look I'd like my Skaven army to have.  Slathering on lots of dark brown wash and experimenting with inks (thanks, Dave) has resulted in a substantially more filthy, flea-chewed look.

                                                      There's one!  Hold still, dang it!

Overall, much happier with how these little rat friends look.  Now I just have to go back and give some of the other regiments I've painted a makeover to match them.

These original Skaven scupts are still the best ever produced in my opinion.  Nothing else comes close.

...and this is was of my favorite sculpts in the line.  He didn't come out very well overall, but his broach looks ok.  This is the first time I've painted one of those big fat warhammery gemstones and have had it come out looking sort of  alright.  That's a bit encouraging.

Ka-Blam!  Plenty more to do.  Next comes some more Clan Moulder stuff, then a mighty block o' clanrats.  Then again I have to get back to my Flames of War stuff soon.  Grr!  So many projects, so little time!

Pit Master Frikkit's Skavenslave Levy

In the inky blackness beneath the Flea Fell teeming hordes of Skaven slaves toil on interminably, mining, delving, gnawing at the roots of the world.  When war comes, companies of the toughest and most hateful, vicious slaves are dragged up out of the darkness and herded into battle where the luckiest amoung them will die a quick death under the blades of the Skavens' enemies.

The pit bosses who manage the slaves in their miserable labors are also the commanders who drive them into battle.  Bosses like Pit Master Frikkit here enjoy some considerable status in Skaven society, for among the indolent and neglectful Skaven race little is accomplished without slave labor. 

I started a Skaven army a good long time ago, but after I'd painted a few units I became discouraged because I couldn't get that marvelous, disgusting, makes-you-itch-to-look-at-'em look that Andy Chambers' Skaven had.  Despite my efforts my own Skaven looked sort of natty and...cute!  Horrible. Very disappointing. 

Recently I was inspired by Matt Sullivan's engrossingly repulsive Vengeance of the Lichemaster Skaven  to get out my own rat boys and start building on the army again.  Matt's ratmen were so delightfully, inspirationally disgusting!  Surely, I thought, I'll get it right this time.

Well, as you can see, my technique turns out to have changed not at all and still yields 'cute', Disneyish looking Skaven instead of creepy, dirty looking Skaven.  I'm resigned to it.  This is just what the army is going to look like I guess.  Next up are some Jezzail teams and more Clan Moulder stuff.  Hopefully I'll find a way to make them look more nasty and repugnant but I'm not counting on it.

                         The army's two Skaven slave regiments advancing into action together.