My burgeoning Undead army!

Having already cited a catastrophic loss of interest in Warhammer 8 and the general direction the 21st Century Games Workshop is taking as one of the reasons for my creating this blog, allow me to present the second:

Before I knew I would walk away from 8th edition, I had started collecting an undead army that was meant to be constructed from the older, smaller metal figures I remember from my childhood. I started doing this because I just didn't like the ranges available for either the current Tomb Kings or Vampire Counts. Off the back of that, I had started buying a little bit here and a little bit there on eBay, but before I knew it, I had about seventy skeletons!

Of course, that dovetailed nicely with the creation of this blog, because I am already well on my way to a solid Warhammer 3rd Edition Undead army. Having just done a rough calculation, I can easily get around 2000 points just with the Undead. If you look closely, however, you will see that the army also includes a small (but desperately expensive) ally contingent of eight Chaos Warriors:

You might recognize the chap second from the left as being from the current GW Chaos range - he's a champion of Nurgle, I do believe. I was lucky enough just to be given this one day at the club. I'm not that keen on the new Chaos range, but I think this figure is superb - definitely a keeper!

Why only eight? Each of these guys is 74 points! If I added a contingent commander, this unit would add up to about 750 points!!!

Looking at the army as a whole, I reckon I could create around 3000 points with what I have.

In terms of the main host of the army, it breaks down as follows:

The command 'staff'. Keen collectors will notice that the first figure on the left is in fact a Chaos Sorcerer. I love the figure, he's got bones on, so I'm making him a Necromancer. I've suspect there's a way of cutting a 20mm square in a 25mm base, so that if I do want to use him in a Chaos context (and thus, a 25mm base) I can fit him into that.

The second model from the left is from the Albion campaign GW ran some years ago. I've never quite known where to use the figure, but hung on to it 'just in case'. He gets to be another Necromancer.

I've only managed to get two horsemen so far. The one on the left is a Liche and will probably be the general of the army. Depending on how easy it is for me to find other cavalry figures, the guy on the right will either be a regular Death Rider, or who might become a Spectre on Spectral steed - an option from the Ethereal Host. I hope he'll be part of the former...I don't think he's epic enough to be a Spectre, but beggars can't be choosers. At worst, it should be easy to strip and repaint him if (when!) I do get more cavalry.

The next fellow on is also from the Ethereal Host - I'll use him as a ghost.

Moving on, we have Ennio Mordini, the leader of the Nightmare Legion - a Regiment of Renown. He'll just be a normal Undead Hero.

Finally, we have a large and sinister Death Elemental figure, which I will be using as another Undead Hero, to lead the Grim Reapers:

An Undead army must have at least ten Grim Reapers, which are skeletons with two handed weapons. Here we have nineteen of them, being led by a Undead Hero. This was the least blurred picture I had on camera, unfortunately.

Next up:

These are nineteen Skeleton Warriors with hand weapons. They will be led by one of the necromancers. An Undead army must have at least twenty Skeleton Warriors in it. From what I understand of the rules, unless I have more skeletons (I've only mentioned nineteen so far) then the necromancer would become the unit champion and may not be able to leave the unit. I need to check that.

Or...just bring more Skeleton Warriors - this time with spears:

This is the one that Ennio Mordini leads. In fact, about half this unit is made up of Nightmare Legion figures. I think they're supposed to have halberds, but Skeleton Warrior units can't be equipped with halberds in the army list, so I'm using them as spears. You may notice some later versions of undead in the unit as well.

Finally, we have ten Skeleton Archers:

As you can see, there are actually only nine - the necromancer makes up the unit champion (and thus cannot leave the unit). I'll fix that as soon as I get some more archers. Or arquebusiers - note the 2nd from the left is armed with a blunderbuss!

I also have a (currently unassembled) Plague Cart and a Skull Chucker of non-GW origin (I think it's a Mirliton) still to add.

So, I've just started 3rd Ed Orcs & Goblins army, I'm halfway through an Undead army, and at 74 points a piece, I'm well on my way to a Chaos army as well! And I haven't even painted one of them yet...