A Painters Perspective: ‘Non 40k Previews’
Today, Games Workshop has held an hour long preview showing off all things NOT Warhammer 40,000. I grabbed a brew, checked in with some pals over discord and we got set for some things we expected, some things we didn't…
The aim of this article (the first of a series) is to go over the previews with the eyes of a painter, including what’s getting me hyped and how I plan to go over painting them. Preparation is half the battle of course! So, with that let's see what we have coming to Age of Sigmar, Old World, Horus Heresy, Warcry and Underworlds.
First up, Cities of Sigmar!
So I've been growing more and more excited for this release the more that gets shown off. I super love the ‘grim mortal’ aesthetic and the heaviness these models exude. They have a kind of angular clunkiness that will be a great contrast alongside the Stormcast Eternals, who are more streamlined, lean and rounded for a sleeker more ‘heavenly’ finish.
The combination of chunky worn and weathered dark iron alongside all the leather and bright fabrics makes for a great partnering. It's a welcome departure from the more historical humans of Fantasy Yesteryear (But more on those later).
The Steelhelms are easily my favorite unit. A nice spread of details, lots of unifying consistent features (You all know I LOVE a transfer, which I assume is what the design is on the shield).
I'd tackle these in one of two ways. Either airbrushing or priming with a nice dark iron metallic colour (Dark Silver from Monuments Pro Acryl range), and then using their non metallic range, block in the non metallic features, give a nice thinned all over black wash, and then apply some layered highlights, sort out the faces, bosh! I'd be even tempted to paint a stripe down the centre planks of the shield, or even mix up those wooden details in varied squads for ease of differentiating. Then a super bright and minimal silver highlight on the metals and they'll look rad.
The other way to approach is a zenithal prime and contrast those bright non metallic colours, and then fill in the metallic details around them. But there's a lot of room for mistakes there, so I'd deffo stick to method #1.
And then there's THIS! Absolutely wild. I'm eager to see what else this kit can offer, as I'm rarely fond of running named characters.
As a painter though, this looks tremendous fun. I'd be tempted to paint a more palid albino ivory lion, with a grey black fade on the wings with my airbrush, and keep the scorpion tail a Burgundy to magenta accented finish. And then keep the bright colours and details on the character on top.
Overall, an exciting launch coming for AoS. 8 brush licks out of 10.
Horus Heresy #1 - Knights!
I ruddy love Knights. Big and small! After these somehow found their way online in the form of a plastic sprue winding up on ebay, us Heresy nerds saw these coming a mile off.
I'll be hosting a Knight painting Workshop as soon as these and the plastic lancer are available. Knights are INCREDIBLY simple, fun and rewarding to paint. Whether you have an airbrush or not. Planning a Knights scheme is a priority. Know where your colours are going, any stripes or checks you want, transfers, the base. I'll cover this all in depth with attendees at the workshop, so stay tuned for details on that Workshop to come.
Knights are great. 9 Clean wet palettes out of 11
Rat rat rat rat rat: Skabbik’s Plague Pack
Underworlds has some great models in its collection. These Plague Monks are a very welcome addition to the game and to every rat loving Skaven player in the hobby. These warbands make fun inexpensive projects for any painter maybe debating trying something new, and the game is also a shining star in the specialist game catalogue.
I myself would dedicate these models to a zenithal prime, some contrast/speed paint and then spend time on picking out the bits that deserve it. The Warp stone, the teeth, the warts and boils. And where possible, blast those smoke plumes with the airbrush to push a bright eye catching colour.
13 Yes-Yes’ out of 10.
The Old World Cometh… very slowly.
With the rate they're showing off models for the hotly anticipated Old World, I reckon we'll see it… this time next year. Maybe. But I'm happy to be proven wrong!
At this stage, I was expecting to see more for the Old World than a single, resin model. As nice as it is.
I'd tackle this in the classic method. Black prime, acrylic colours down, subtle line shading, some fun highlights and transfers. It (The model) personally just doesn't feel very inspired, but I appreciate this model is for a range I have had nothing to do with in my 20+ years in the hobby. I imagine this is right up the street of Bretonnian fans… All 5 of them.
/Banter, please don't @me Old World fans I am very excited for you all.
4 starved poorly armed peasants out of 8.
WARCRY ORRUKS AND… BABOONS?!
Super left field, super bizarre, super cool. I strongly believe WARCRY is GWs strongest contender for best range of miniatures. The warbands are each so unique and inspired that it's hard not to see one of them and be overcome with the urge to take your fight to the Eightpoints and beyond. These Orruks continue this successful trend.
The inclusion of the primates is fitting with the current Ghur narrative. And they're suitably menacing and feral alongside the greenskins leading them.
I'd paint these in the same way I painted my current Kruleboyz. Zenithal prime, contrast base layers, selective recess shading to push depth and let the highlights of rusted poisonous weapons and bright warm green flesh do the dancing. The apes I'd painted as close as I can to how they are shown here. That alongside some nice moist looking swampy bases, bring them on!
50 Wild feral rabid Baboons out of 50.
Wanna know what I love more than Heresy… TINY HERESY!
THIS is what I've been waiting a few months for. And it was full of surprises after a few teases since WHFest.
As I've gotten older and wisened in the hobby, I've started to really appreciate the smaller scale games. I fell in love with Warlord Games Epic American Civil War, and with them teasing Epic Ancients, I couldn't be more frothy for epic scale games. Do that with Space Marines, Titans, Tanks and planes and good LORD the magic is happening.
I'll be picking this up day dot and already have the project planned out. The Space Marines will be World Eaters, the Solar Aux my custom cohort of traitor allies, and the Warhounds will be Legio Audax, now we have access to plastic Ursus Claws!
The new bases are a nice touch to help ensure the scale matches between big beasts and little dudes. And I wonder if they're sculpted to have those little concrete details on the, if so that's superb.
Now, I'll be looking to do a massive video tutorial around this box set. I think I'll be able to paint this lot up in 24 hours as I did with my Crimson Fists Leviathan army. The ability to have an entire army or even two if you wanna keep the factions seperate is a testament to how much fun hobbying at this scale is. Include that with all the other bits to come for this range, and the inclusion of your Adeptus Titanicus AND Aeronautica Imperialis models for the game, this could be my hobby focus for the rest of the year if its done and handled right!
In terms of painting. Contrast for days! Painting at this scale lends itself more to the speed painting elements of the hobby. With a very few select highlights and details to worry about, it's absolutely ZERO effort to have your forces looking amazing on the table. If you're intimidated about applying 28mm painting methods to these, don't stress! It's a whole other ball park and is a lot more forgiving than some people maybe perceive.
More on this later, and I cannot wait to get loads of content on this and help you guys enjoy it as much as I hope you will.
100,000 Legiones Astartes out of 100,000.
Which of the new reveals is your favorite? And what's gonna be your approach to painting them? Either way, thanks for reading and for more, don't forget to check out my socials and stay tuned to what I'm painting and playing.
Peace! 🤘🏻
