From Millsy: 28mm Warhammer / Oldhammer Undead Fantasy Army (147 points)

Millsy starts his Challenge in scope, scale and style by finishing the better part of an entire undead army for OldHammer!  Woo!

From Millsy:

As some of you may know I've decided to try and paint an entire "Oldhammer" Fantasy army over the course of the challenge. It's a very fluffy undead army that appeared in White Dwarf issues 309-311 under the guise of Heinrich Kemmler's Undead Army of the Cairns. I've been collecting the models for about a year now and when Curt opened the challenge to fantasy and sci-fi I jumped at the chance to get the army painted quick smart. I'm pleased to say week one of my challenge has seen some solid progress...

First up we have a couple of core units. These are Simulacra, essentially animated statues from barrows and mausoleums. They're the original wight models and some of my favourites from the fantasy range. In total there are 12 figs split into two units of 3 bases each, or I could play them as one big unit if required. They were undercoated black and then dry brushed and inked a number of times to get the desired stony finish.

Next up is another animated statue but this one much larger. This is a Tomb Stalker (one per unit) and is one of the early Chaos Centaur models. He's a special choice in the list. He was painted the same way as the Simulacra but given his size I've spent a bit more time on the basing.

The third set is a pair of Ghosts, one each per unit. The female is a pretty recent banshee sculpt and the other is an old skool ghost miniature. These count as core choices in the list. They were painted the same way as the Simulacra and Tomb Stalker.

Second last is a unit of eight Mummies from the old Khermi range. These are classed as special choices under the list. They were undercoated brown and the dry brushed, inked and then over painted to get the desired result. I've painted these figs three times now over the years and this is the first time I've been properly satisfied with the outcome.

Lastly is the piece of resistance (and didn't he resist!), a Winged Nightmare. This is also a unit of one and counts as a rare choice. When I purchased the model it was in a horrible state. Past owners had attempted to pin the joints numerous times and had damaged him quite badly in the process poor chap. It took 2.5 hours just to pull him apart without further injury. Another 4 hours was spent pinning and rebuilding him, including filing away the saddle behind the head, followed by carving and inserting two more spines to give the right look. He's the 6-million gold piece monster! "My Spikey" was undercoated black and then painted in layers with a bit of dry brushing on the leathery part of his wings. He's very dark (obviously) and has more depth in real life but no amount of Photoshop Foo could bring him up better unfortunately. He's my entry for the monster category BTW Curt. 

And to finish off here's a "family photo" with everyone together. The gang are wishing Curt and the other challengers a very safe and prosperous holiday period, whether you're up to your neck in snow or sweltering in 41 degree heat like me.

Whoa!! Now that is another cracking debut entry! Fabulous work Millsy. I really like how you created moss for some of the statue figures and your rehabilitation of the Winged Nightmare seemed appropriately nightmarish, but you did a beautiful job on him. 

The only thing your missing for this force is a beard. ;) 

Most of the rank-and-file are fairly straightforward to score. For the Winged Nightmare I'm giving 25 points as it's better than the equivalent of a 40mm 'vehicle' especially when you take into account the repairs and modifications. So, Millsy's grand total for this entry is a well deserved 147 points. Well done!