Honi soit qui mal y pense! My noble Bretonnian army is finally finished ;)

February last year I made serious headway painting my noble force of Bretonnians. Then Adeptus Titanicus popped up on my paint station and other distractions followed. This army almost ended (as a lot of Warhammer projects end) with twenty ghouls peasant bowmen and a noble lady half painted on the table, windowsill and finally in a cupboard somewhere. As I recently finished two proud beasts for the menagerie that accompanies this army I decided to sit down and force myself to finish my Bretonnian army once and for all. Starting with the true inspiration for all chivalric acts: the lady astride her unicorn.

For honor! For Chivalry! For the lady!

I tried to convert a properly chivalric looking icon of purity and strength for my army to follow. Unfortunately my green stuff skills where not quite af great as I hoped when I tried to sculpt a dress and hat on the lady...ah who am I fooling? Don't tell my army, but these aren't actually Bretonnians. I have finally put the finishing touches on my Flesh Eater Courts army. For those of you not into Age of Sigmar lore: the Flesh Eater Courts are corpse (usually) eating ghouls with a shared delusion. All of them believe that they are part of a noble chivalric empire. They hold titles and have banquets where eloquence and poetry is celebrated. Only the non-deluded outsider sees them for what they truly are: a bunch of corpse eating, growling monsters. 

I'd blow you brave knights a kiss, but it seems I've managed to drop my kissy throwing hand. Anyone willing to pick it up?

If these outsiders decide to act on the presence of these monsters, things get ugly. The Abhorrent Archregent or one of the Ghoul Kings can declare war and call on his knights. Before you know it the murderous cannibals are out on a quest to kill you, the monster intruding on their realm (I'm suddenly reminded of I am legend (the book, not the 'we missed the point' movie)). All in all the Flesh Eater Courts give you a wonderful excuse to paint horrifying gore soaked monsters whilst at the same time using some old Bretonnian bits to dress them up. That's what I did. 

"Sire the peasants are revolting!"
"Didn't we make this joke two posts ago?"
* Sounds of people being eaten follow * 

I added a trumpet, a relic and some assorted bows and quivers to this group of peasant bowmen. I imagine them proudly taking position in the forest to blast the enemy with well placed volleys of long bow fire. In actuality they'll just zombie around said forest, dragging their bows through the mud and most likely using the trumpet to bash in some hapless fool's brain prior to having it for dinner (the brain, not the trumpet). 

Not bad for a day's worth of blood splattering and detailing. 

Aside from bows, quivers and arrows I used some Bretonnian helmets (and one hood) to add to the look of this unit. I also have one ghoul actually carrying a full pavise style shield. I added proper iconography to that as well. I picked the color scheme last year. After much agonizing I went with white skin to maximize the effect of blood on their hands and mouths. As a final step, after applying the blood effects, I reworked parts of the faces to regain the goofy expressions these models have. 

I know, I need to figure out a way to take proper army pictures...

As I was taking pictures anyway I thought why not get one of the whole army. Now I know why not. I'm really not set up for these kind of shot. I'll be needing to think up smarter ways to get group shots of my armies (whilst also retaining the old school 'group shot in scenery' style). Anyways, here is the entire group. I just did some calculating with the new fangled AoS app and (assuming I did nothing wrong (not likely)) the entire army comes in just under 2.200 points. Enough room to wiggle a bit when I make a 2.000 point army out of them. Lets move on to some individual shots. 

Is that the charge of the rotten brigade I hear? 

The Crypt Horrors are seen by the other members of the Flesh Eater Court as noble knights riding their steeds into battle. One of the models has a corpse impaled on its back. In this unit I switched the head with a Bretonnian Knights head. The 'knight' on the left is wielding a big pavise shield and the one on the right is holding a lance. I replaced the top half of its skull with a helmet crest. 

I sortof assume the Crypt Horror with the flag can just barely grunt out the word 'Flag' as it charges. Also that lance looks to be going in a dangerous direction in this picture.  

I added a banner to the second unit of knights and I gave the corpse on the back of this model a lance to ride into battle with. It must be quite mystifying to be charged by these deluded brutes. If this all looks familiar, all the models after the army shot are ones I painted (and (mostly) blogged about) last year.

Painting squares: it's a must have skill for that true eighties vibe and also quite useful if you wish to paint diamonds.

Speaking of deluded brutes. Units of Crypt Ghouls are led by a Crypt Ghast Courtiers. As the entire ghoul kit is an older one (from before The End Times) it still has a separate unit sergeant marked by a skeleton tied to its back. I took these models, added arms, banners and different skulls to the skeletons and made them into peculiar looking cavalry. They stand out pretty nicely riding amongst their peasants to goad them into battle. One of them also (mostly) scratches my banner itch. 

I most definitely should've taken a better picture of this guy...ah well live and learn.

The Abhorrent Archregent leads entire kingdoms of Flesh Eater Courts into battle. I added most of the Bretonnian bits for this model to its base. It has a heraldic shield, crested helmet and even a sword at its disposal. All these will be ignored once the slaughter begins of course. 

Where's my bloody throne...yeah that was a bit too easy.

Every king needs a proper throne to sit on in the field. The Flesh Eater Courts teleport (I suspect) one in when fighting. Games Workshop makes a themed piece of scenery but I had a disused Magewrath Throne lying around. I added lots of leftover bits from other undead kits and skulls from the ever useful pack called 'Skulls'. That box is the best investment you can make at your local GW if you ask me. On that subject I should've invested in more Mordheim Turf as I've run out and GW stopped selling it. I actually had to base the last units with slightly different looking grass tufts. I'll consider it my punishment for not finishing this army quickly enough.

I had the hapless torso hanging from the center of the throne's back in my bitsbox for years and I never could find a proper place to put it, until now.

I mentioned in an earlier post that I usually try to avoid adding blood to models as I think it can easily look cheap and lazy. You can safely conclude that I did not hold fast to this rule when thinking up this army. I have to say it was a rather fun experience to go completely wild with gore. It also looks properly disgusting and horrifying in the display case. Right now I have two (Billy) shelves filled with vampires and generic undead (and two flavors of Nagash), one shelf holds my Nighthaunt army and the shelf below that one holds this army. The contrast between the ghostly Nighthaunt and the gore soaked ghouls from the Flesh Eater Courts is rather fun. Also I really should look into painting an Ossiarch Bone Reaper army. I'm still a bit disappointed their battleline models are not on 40mm bases, but iI should get over it just so I can claim I own one of every (current) undead army (and a few older models (but sadly no Tomb Kings)). 

Quick someone feed that thing a breath mint! 

I would be remiss if I didn't add a few pictures of the menagerie coming with these Flesh Eater Courts. First and foremost there's the recently finished Zombie Dragon. I managed to stave off my 'whatever lets glue it in place' attitude and keep the Vampire rider separate. 

A noble knight riding his pegasus into battle. 

This makes it possible to add an Abhorrent Ghoul King as a rider. Shown at the front is the Ghoul King's 32mm base. I used a Lumineth bit and just added skulls (no blood though, what was I thinking?). I drilled a small bit of paperclip in the Ghoul King's ankle. That helps him stay on the dragon. Beneath the small hole in the 32mm base is a rather strong magnet. It attracts the paperclip which helps the model stay on its base during battle (I hope, I have yet to take him out to test this theory). 

There's only one thing more terrifying than a Terrorgheist: an unpainted Terrorgheist.

Last but definitely not least is my Terrorgheist. After terrorizing me for almost a year with its unpainted presence I now use every opportunity to stick another picture of it online. I recently fielded him in a Vampire Counts Soulblight Gravelords army so the curse of the freshly painted miniature is behind it. I can't wait to do some real damage with this monster. With that I'll leave off. For those wondering: I have made a bit of progress on my Cursed City models as well, although not as much as I would've liked. Finally finishing the twenty ghouls and one big ghoul makes it well worth the delay I think. I no longer have to (shamefuly) move them around on my paint station. With that cheerful thought, until next time and: for the lady!!! 

All I need to add to this is a band name in an unreadable font. 

Oh dear almost forgot to post this Endless Spell. I needed it last Friday evening so it was a bit of a speed paint as I plucked it out of the cupboard primed and just went to town with a combination of airbrush and regular brush. I nominate it as one of the most metal things GW has produced in a long while...