MM43 Chaos Champion on War Griffon

When I first read the descriptive for the latest bonus round for the Analogue Challenge, "mounts and rider" I immediately decided there would be no way I would submit a boring horse and rider! I'm knee deep in Oldhammer at the moment, so obviously It would have to be a hero mounted on some kind of exotic monster! 

I settled quickly on my choice; the "MM43 Chaos Champion on War Griffon", a classic Marauder Miniatures multi-part kit released in 1990. I was, and still am, a big fan of Marauder Miniatures, and this piece is no exception. A nice Christmas gift to myself!

 

The original WD advert

I will admit it doesn't really fit in the rest of the Realm of Chaos range, it seems almost too clean and the Griffon looks more "Empire" with the tassels and all than Chaos. But at the same time difference is what makes Chaos, and the Champion definitely looks the part! Heavy nostalgia love factor for me in this one.

It took me some time to find one at a decent price, in fact I found it barely two months ago, and the one I got was still in its original blister. And yes, I did what some may consider heresy and opened it and painted it! I'm a collector, but dammit miniatures are meant to be painted and loved and played with! The assembling went better than anticipated (heavy wings are a serious pain to glue!) although those early pieces are always tricky.

You rarely see it painted, in fact I've only seen three painted examples, and that's including the one painted in 1990 for the White Dwarf advert (see above). I painted the Champion's armour a bright colour, in this case green (I think those who follow my blog have noticed my army's green theme by now!), which is something you would often see in the golden age of Warhammer. The Griffon I painted a bright palette, too, mostly of white, green and red. I'm really happy with the way the white fur came out, I think I nailed it.

Not very evil colours, maybe, but the early Warhammer Chaos colours were all over the place and that's something I loved. It's Chaos, not undead! I'm quite happy with the way he's come up, even though I find the photography don't do justice to the red wings at all. I glued the rider in a slightly different position than he was meant to be, so he seems more in attack mode (the original position looks a bit likes he's sitting comfortably on an Elran couch, I have to admit).

I just need to find a proper name for the Champion and his mount and he's ready for combat! Suggestions?

(And happy new year to all!)

At last! They're all mine...

We wants it
We needs it
Must have the precious

Some figures stay with you. You see them in an advert and you fall in love. That's what happened to me when I first saw the Marauder Chaos Knights (officially "Mounted Chaos Warriors").

How many hours I spent looking at that advert as a child?

I wanted them so bad! They probably started my love for Marauder Miniatures. Unfortunately I never could find them as a child. In those days it was a lot more difficult getting a hold of specific figures than it is today, especially living in Canada. No internet ordering, no Ebay. My only option was visiting regularly the lone Hobby shop in Montreal and hoping they would get them in their shelves one day. They didn't. I swore one day they would be mine! And then teenage years happened and I stopped searching. When I started collecting GW figures again they were very high on my wish list. But Ebay is a cruel mistress and every damn time I had them in my grasp I was outbid or such. One time, I found them all in one lot, and I promised myself no price would be too high. I won the auction and ecstatic I was! Finally, they would be mine! The seller, with a perfect 100% rating, never sent them, never answered my inquiries, never relisted them, total silence radio. Oh, life can be so cruel!

I was back to square one, and I was starting to wonder if it was not meant to be. Maybe I was cursed to wander the earth forever, never finding those figures who had been eluding me for most of my life!

And then I found the Oldhammer Community FB page and its sister, the Oldhammer Trading group. So my very first post on the Trading group was inquiring about these knights, and if anyone could lend a helping hand. And then my patience was rewarded. Two members came to my rescue and 1 month later, I have 9 of them. And a tenth is on the way from another member. I have a complete unit! Every variant is now in my possession, including the ultra rare grinning one (you might recall I love the similar Chaos Warrior). Alleluia! Its a pretty awesome feeling finding something you've been looking for over 20 years.

One of my little childhood dream, sitting on my kitchen table

 Yes, it deserves a happy dance!

I'd love to find the shields, too, if a reader has a few lying around per chance (and I could always go for a bigger unit, if you want to sell a few knights). The hardest part will now be to paint them. They intimidate me, as I want to do them justice!

Chaos Dwarfs

When I decided to start an Oldhammer Chaos army, these guys were high on my wish list as they were some of my favourites when I was young. So they were the first I painted, last fall actually. There was two ranges of Chaos Dwarfs in those days, the Marauder figures sculpted by Ally Morrison in 1988 and the Citadel figures sculpted by the Perrys in 1986, both of very similar style and quite compatible. I had 8 of them as a child, all Marauders, so the rest were found on Ebay. I'm certainly not the only one who loves them, as these fellow go for a very high price on Ebay.

The Marauder Dwarfs. So awesome. I have 11 of them, so basically I'm still missing half!                      
 Enough for a complete second unit, if I can afford them!

 The Citadel Chaos Dwarfs were more bizarre and twisted than the Marauder ones.

I was actually very lucky a couple of years ago to find a complete set, still in their original box, of the Citadel Chaos Dwarfs Renegades box set. I shudder to think how much it would cost today! As a collector, I often find the packaging as cool as the actual figures! I remember seeing the box set in my gaming store as a lad, but could not afford it.

Its a great boxset, that cover artwork is superb, and the figures are amazing. Looking at the back cover you can see how Warhammer was a lot more "RPGish" in those days, with each individual figures having its own cool name.

I love the fact they gave two first name (Drum and Drone Ulsen) to the two-headed chap! 

There is 21 Dwarfs in my unit, a mixture of Marauder figures and Citadel figures.  I have a soft spot for the Marauder ones, as is often the case, especially the sorcerer in the front row. But really all of them are amazing sculpts full of character and reeking of nostalgia. Ahem, that's how proper Chaos Dwarfs should look like!! No top hat and blunderbuses in that lot!

 

As expected, the figures were a lot of fun to paint. I decided to paint them in a very traditional blackened armour, as will be most of my Chaos Warriors. My first contact with Warhammer Chaos was a plate of a Chaos warrior in black armour (in the Warhammer RPG rulebook)  and that's how I envision my Chaos, at least the undivided kind. I used a bright green to give a splash of colour (and a wink to the 80s style of painting) to this evil bunch, and I'm quite pleased with the results.

Of course, not a single duplicate in this unit.

 

 

The movement trays are from Litko; instead of texturing the whole tray I tried to give it a moss covered look. I think it came out allright, and yes a bit of lazyness on my part, as it is less time-consuming than texturing the whole thing.

A banner will be added to this unit later, but I intend to do all the army's banners at the end, as I have to do some tests first. I also have to acquire at least one more dwarf to be converted as a standard bearer.

Next post, I'll talk a little about the planning behind my Chaos army.