Mordheim 2019 - Holiday terror

Ahoy all.

As mentioned over on Yaktribe and here in the Welcome sub-forum, our household is undertaking a challenge this year for Mordheim's 20th anniversary. Inspired by the many "Dickensian holiday village" displays in many homes and for sale in stores every December across much of North America, my wife has challenged me to build a "Mordheim holiday ruined city board" display for our own home, and the warbands to battle through its devastated alleys. Some specific warbands:

A skaven warband of rat-people.

An undead warband with some redcoats as skeletons and zombies.

A beastmen Krampus warband.

With these, and with a gothic "sugar plum fairy" hired sword [warlock or witch?], and some other young lady as a hired sword [a duellist perhaps?], we can have The Nutcracker battles through the ruins of the city each year.


So this thread will chronicle those efforts, as works in progress.

Anyone here who is also on yaktribe, none of this will likely be new for you, as this thread follows the thread that is posted there.

First, as they are a finished group, and have been for years, here are the Krampus [beastmen warband]:


The leader of the band.


Halberds can be quite unpleasant in the hands of gors.

A shaman who is likely to be repainted in some rather more "festive" colours, to suit the "Krampus" theme.  Likewise, the gor holding the elf head is intended to have an "elf hat" added, fallen, to the base after they all get some snow.

Familiar for the shaman.  


A couple more gors.

Hounds.  The Mordheim beastmen hounds were an excellent sculpt, and I do wish they had informed the Beasts of Chaos update to the main WFB line's miniatures.

The lantern goblin hired sword, looking to be like the 'cool kids.'

And an image of an actual antique Krampus card from Europe, from the early 1900s [the Krampus tradition itself goes back to the 1600s], to show the intent and inspiration for including this warband in the project.

A full gallery for this warband can be found at
https://yaktribe.games/community/media/albums/the-krampus-a-beastmen-warband.2119/

Our Restless Dead [undead] warband is also coming along. This particular variant warband from the BTB "expansion" allows me to make use of a Reaper minis model that I love, and also allows me to have an excuse to use the new GW nighthaunt, which are lovely sculpts.


The lich that leads the warband. The warband as a whole has scattered papers [pages from some forbidden necromantic tome, or from A Christmas Carol [which is a necromantic fiction]?] scattered about their bases.

A group shot of the Lich, the Necromancer [the closely cowled fellow with the hammer, shovel, and scrolls there on the right], and the "grave guard." I am using nighthaunt chainrasps for both Grave Guard and Wights, rather than something more skeletal, because I want the chance to use the nighthaunt sculpts, and because three ghosts is traditional for these holiday stories, and because of all the Mordheim warbands, this one has the closest "fit" for rules.

The skeletons. Reaper miniatures also make skeletal archers with clothes [!], allowing me to get some red in the coats, and thus helping to tie in to the Nutcracker themes.

A group shot of everyone except the skeletons. Yes, even that lantern goblin. Yes, even the familiar for the Lich.

The full gallery for the Restless Dead warband can be found at
https://yaktribe.games/community/media/albums/project-log-mordheim-aos28-risen-dead-warband.1958/

The portable laboratory.

Are you a rising lich or necromancer or mad scientist? Are you having trouble committing terrible acts of soul-blasting evil, and dabbling in arts long forbidden to even the most unhinged amongst humanity? Do you wish that lightning in the city of Mordheim had a better sense of narrative? Do you miss your castle-tower laboratory sitting abandoned in Sylvania while you work for your masters here tonnight?

Complain no more!

This portable laboratory accommodates all your needs as a madman seeking to defy death itself.










Lending library not included.

A more elaborate tour can be found at
https://yaktribe.games/community/threads/project-log-mordheim-anniversary-risen-dead-warband.8390/

Very few of these have involved any actual modeling or converting [well, a bit of very minor converting here and there], well, except for the portable laboratory, and one of the grave guard.

This one.

It began as two spare bits - one of the front facings left over from the push-fit Chainrasp Horde nighthaunt, and one arm from the driver of the Corpse Cart. Making use of these two bits, this extra-insubstantial nighthaunt can be easily created.

Cutting the shoulder from the spare arm, the shoulder element becomes the hunched back behind the head. Shaving down the back end of the arm's fabric allows it to be both thinner, and less ruler-straight. Clipping the pins off the back of the push-fit facing allows the shoulder to be mounted, and then both pieces are attached separately to the base, at a fair spacing.

OUTSTANDING! That is quite an array of BEAUTIFULLY painted pieces. I like your selection of miniatures. VERY WELL DONE!

Good to get a fuller exploration of this project. Fun selection of models on the undead, especially that simple conversion of the 'extra insubstantial' ghost.

& I look forward to seeing the rat-men in future!

Wonderful work

Your card says "Greetings from Krampus" in German, which makes my wonder why I've never heard of him before, being German myself and all. Turns out I'm just living in the wrong parts of Germany/Europe, it being more of a Myth from the Alpes-regions. You never stop learning...

While not a part of THIS campaign, a recent discussion on the Mordheim Facebook Group had me digging up my Bretonnian warband which fought with some success for a good long while in the ruined streets, and for which it turns out I still have the roster sheet [along with, of course, the models].

Jeanne d'Acadie, the leader of the not-so-merry band of heroes:



Her two loyal [?] knights:


and



The two squires, and a "blacksmith" henchman:


And the three knights dismounted.


The three occasional Hired Swords - Road Warden, Freelancer, and Halfling - can also be found over at the Yaktribe Gallery for the warband:
https://yaktribe.games/community/media/albums/mordheim-bretonnian-questing-knights.1872/

As for the "three ghosts" Restless Dead warband, they too have had a few additions readied for eventual hire:

A Bone Goliath, and a few Hired Swords such as the Beggar, the Lantern Goblin, the Grave Robber, and even a coach for them to be able to defend, as scenarios may require.

https://yaktribe.games/community/threads/project-log-mordheim-anniversary-restless-dead-warband.8390/page-4

Bone Goliath:


Coach:


One of two familiars, and an Ogre Bodyguard:


Beggar:


Grave Robber:

SPLENDID STUFF! The Beggar is my favorite. GREAT WORK!

I love most of your model choices, expecially the undead.

Leavhon is taking the words out of my mouth! Some very fitting (and not so often seen) models you have there. What manufacturer is the Bone Giant from?

Grimscull wrote:

Leavhon is taking the words out of my mouth! Some very fitting (and not so often seen) models you have there. What manufacturer is the Bone Giant from?

The Bone Goliath model is the "graveyard golem" from Reaper miniatures, available for surprisingly little cost as part of the "Reaper Bones" plastic range.  A few of the minis are Reaper - the lich, the necromancer, the grave robber....

https://www.reapermini.com/search/graveyard%20golem

Reaper models are all well & good -- but I'm never not pleased to see a classic Black Coach.

Some lovely work on pretty cool models there, with a wonderfully weird gothic flavour to them. I especially like the coffin-wielding ogre!

Rhydderch wrote:

weird gothic flavour [...] I especially like the coffin-wielding ogre!

Thanks!  There are quite a few miniatures sculptors who have interesting and curious models excellently suitable to Mordheim.  Reaper does have quite a few [and yes, so does Marauder/Citadel/Games Workshop - I too love both the original Black Coach and the new], but are far from alone.

Westfalia Miniatures out of Quebec have some lovely sculpts [especially for a Knights Of The Kitchen Table halfling warband], for example. The Rackham goblins are incredibly characterful. And then there are the next additions to these "merry" bands, from Stonehaven Miniatures out of New York.  Namely, this "zombie" to be painted up in "Bag End" colours:


And as a Dwarf Treasure Hunters slayer, this "undead slayer":

They are OH-SO-COOL Little Fellows. There are quite hordes of splendid miniatures that would work fine with the Mordheim setting. It is a wasted opportunity sticking with only G.W. pieces.

Rhydderch wrote:

I look forward to seeing the rat-men in future!

Speaking of other companies, these "pi'rats" will be the rat men that my wife will be building into a [MiM] Metal Mongers [skaven] warband.  They are from Punga Miniatures.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1799238918/pirats-ratmen-fantasy-football-team

And extra good news for ME, we should be getting the goblin "pugilist" and the goblin undertaker from the add-ons as well.  Hurray!

Also, speaking of companies making good sculpts, Games Workshop's "Underworlds" board game has a variety of teams which feature lovely sculpts for Mordheim warbands, such as their skaven team, or the upcoming ogre, or their beastmen, or ghouls.

Rats, Troll, & Goblins look TERRIFIC & WONDERFULLY imaginative...I especially like the Goblins. Have FUN with them all!

Both 'Underworlds' & Blood Bowl are handy sources of dynamic miniatures for repurposing. Of course, some Underworlds warbands are little use -- you'd struggle to fit Stormcast Eternals into Mordheim, by any reckoning -- but the Skaven, goblins, marauders, & beastmen are all easy fits, & the ghosts are so nice that you could easily proxy them as an undead warband. I... might also be writing faction lists to let me use some more things, like the skeletons, in Mordheim... Warcry's a good source for cultists & marauders too, plus pit-fighter types.

But yes, there are so many other manufacturers making great models (often at better prices). & often they have an advantage of being more compatible with old GW stuff than new GW models are, given the scale creep GW have seen over the last twenty years.

Also, those pi-rats are lovely & I want them. 'Nuff said.