Exiles of the Green Casket

This army started some while back (5 or 6 years ago actually) when I had the chance to pick up a bulk lot of skaven at a good price and thought they'd complement the horde of AHQ plastics I was then painting. Unfortunately most of the lot was the Colin Dixon sculpts, not the best skaven which are, as everyone knows, the Mordheim plasti.... only joking, the Jes Goodwin originals. Nevertheless they're nice models if chunkier and less gribbly ratty than their elder cousins. I painted most of the force for a Tale of Four Gamers challenge and finished it last weekend as the final month of the Odds and Sods challenge, another army in the bag!

Like many I expect, my interest in a skaven army came from seeing the pictures of Andy Chambers' grand host. I remember giving myself eye strain staring at those WD pics and trying to make out what individual models were there and how they were actually painted. The whole was a glorious mass of texture and desaturated colour totally suited to the ratman swarm, but impossible to tell where one model ended and the next began. A while back the man himself posted new pictures of the army against clean backgrounds so you could see better what was going on and I will confess to being a bit disappointed. They didn't seem to have the character I remembered. I guess studio lighting and the limits of early 90s photography and print technology did a lot to contribute to my overall impression of the army. Nevertheless I have tried to incorporate a lot of Andy's elements into this force- the body markings, muted palette, emphasis on overall army appearance rather than individual models etc.

Clanrats ought to be the core of any skaven army. Mine are the AHQ plastics (which also make up a lot of Andy Chambers' units, mixed in with the metals). Great models in my opinion but they have one flaw- ranking up! I have just about managed it on 20mm bases by careful staggering, making putty rocks to raise up the front foot of many of them and having the back feet of the back ranks overhanging the bases a little. At some point I'd quite like to add another unit of the 4th ed plastics which I also have a fondness for, but I'll wait until the prices drop again for that! There's a sneaky assassin here too, a Heartbreaker model I believe. Painted in dark green, he's obviously been listening to Lord Vetinari's advice.

More plastics for the obligatory Skavenslaves regiment. This time the smaller, finer-featured Fantasy Regiments skaven. Another set of models I remember fondly from my youth. Mixed amongst them are some of my own Gnawlochs from The Woods line which were intended to fit alongside the Jes Goodwin ones for size. Oh, and an actual Jes Goodwin Skavenslave, one of not nearly enough produced!

Gnawdoom leading the Plague Monks. He's one of my favourite ever skaven models and a central character in the army since the vague fluff I have for them has them exiled from polite skaven society for failing to retrieve the Black Ark from Kemler at the battle of La Maisontaal. My banner images and quotes (though they're hard to read in the photos) are taken from the Deptford Mice series by Robin Jarvis. Some of the most disturbing childrens' books available, they, alongside Redwall, were particular favourites of mine in my early teens and have left a lasting impression. I recently found out that Jarvis was also a modelmaker, I wonder if he'd be up for a range of Deptford miniatures... 

Globardiers with what I believe the cool kids these days are calling OSL. Pretty quick paint jobs, essentially just a zenithal highlight (another cool kid term for something we've been doing for decades) with some colour washing and a few highlights. Don't get me started on 'Slap Chop', it's a dodgy American meat restaurant as far as I am concerned.

The chunky Jezzails. Sniping is such a skaven thing to do.

The smaller unit of Strom Vermin (I prefer the German Sturmratten!) mixes in some Grenadier ratmen and a couple of Jes Goodwin sculpts. They're lead by another White Seer. Apparently in the official fluff the White Seer is less powerful than the Grey Seer but ever since I read of them in the Marvel Heroquest Special the albino rats have been the ultimate skaven wizards in my mind.

Warpfire Throwers can be attached to units of Storm Vermin to provide support so I have one for each. The original (and still best) models before they got ridiculously oversized. These feel more like support weapons.

A second, larger unit of Storm Vermin, this time lead by an albino warlord.

These more modern Warpfire Throwers I am fielding by themselves as a self contained war machine. With guns that big I don't imagine they want to be moving around much! Now I think about it perhaps I ought to make them some little stands to save their backs... 

Packmasters from a variety of sources with their little pets. Some Citadel giant rats but mostly the excellent Ral Partha Europe giant rats. There are also a handful of Chariot Miniatures 15mm giant wolves in there, which look like weasels to me, including a sneaky snotling along for the ride! 

The best rat ogres. Unfortunately both the same sculpt, but one had a damaged hand so the addition of a nasty modern ork fist and axe makes a nice variation.

Lastly, this is the piece I was waiting to finish- the Screaming Bell. Several years back Mike from Broadswords and Beasts gifted me this lovely Valley of the Four Winds Great Bell as I mentioned I was thinking that would make a nice old school alternative to the 90s model. I wanted a Screaming Bell in the force as the Andy Chambers scratch-built prototype I have loved since I saw it in WD. That one was pulled by the 2nd edition Blood Bowl skaven and I wanted to do the same thing, but the prices are silly so when I was asked to sculpt some Blood Bowl type figures for Macrocosm I said could I do a ratman team and have some of the castings. They arrived last week and I was able to finish up the project. 

Whilst I was sculpting them I was thinking about where I could put chains. The length attached to the bell end at the base and are aligned to the ends of the ones on the model so they can be removed and replaced without disturbing the delicate links. Apart from the Plague Monk, the rest of the crew are Heartbreaker (except the musician which I am told is Harlequin) and came in another eBay lot. You can't see easily but the pennants read 'Peel', a dual reference to the bell itself but also to the word as extensively used in the Deptford Mice series meaning 'Flay'. Yup, skinned (alive) rodents are an offering to several dark gods in this quaint kids' series!

 The only thing missing I'd still like to add to this model are the wheels on either end of the bell shaft, the means by which it can be swung. On Andy Chambers' model these are plastic wheels from the skeleton chariot, sadly I have none spare and can't bare to deprive a complete chariot of some essential components but if you have any surplus to requirements do let me know!

Exiles of the Green Casket