Undead Spearhead 6 - The Choir of Ashes

 

Another small unit of skeleton warriors across the finish line. This time it's the Choir of Ashes, led by the bellicose Sergeant Wollf. 

This unit is the second ten-corpse group I need for the Spearhead project. It's a mix of ranges, from Citadel, Skull & Crown, Diehard, Bonefields and others. I do like to shop about. I have plans to boost these guys to a twenty strong unit in time. 

It took a while to settle on a banner design. I kept the colour scheme I used on Raoul de Tosny's Banner of the Horned Sun, I may use a variant of it on ghostly fellows too. The banner design really was the thing that needed some thought. Eventually, I settled on a portrait of Samael the fallen angel, though as Morr, (or Morrda in Age of Sigmar) God of Death in this setting. The Ashen standard is held aloft by Malach Veyr.

I'm very happy with the result. The banner itself is a chopped up ogre standard with some green stuff work and added grisly trophies. These old 90s Citadel standard bearer minis, more often than not, didn't come with a banner, just the banner pole. You had to add the flag yourself. With this being a particularly fancy banner pole, I felt it needed a nice flag. 

The Choir of Ashes is so named for the dirge that rises from it's members as they shamble across the land. A genial song of praise to Morr it is, that they may be released to his peace. Morr is not a vengeful God, but holds the choir fast to their oaths. Only when they are fulfilled will he let them rest, but, for the moment, the song eases their burden, as songs do. Wollf hushes them with a bark all the same, when focus is required. 'Enough whickering my morose fellows, there's sword-work to do. Step lively now!'

Undead Spearhead 5 - Melchior Dregomir

This project I’m working on needs a leader. A wight king, to be exact. There were many candidates, but in the end I picked this tall gent, a Heartbreaker undead lord from the 90s, sculpted by Chaz Elliot. As you can see, compared to his bony minion, he’s a fairly big mini, and a fine Oldhammer era commander for the host. His sword was missing its grip and pommel, so I picked out a new one. (I since found the original, irritatingly.)

Paint-wise, Melchior got the same treatment as my other wights, bar the white fur ruff and the glowing orb. The orb was my first time using fluorescent paint, and it was a bit of a learning curve. I think I’m getting the hang of it.

Melchior is a creature driven by sinister purpose. A towering wight lord of terrible aspect, made more awful still by the enormous sword he carries, the wight blade known as Absolution. This weapon passes harmlessly through the innocent, but wrenches the souls from the guilty. These shades are then bound to Melchior's magical phylactery, the Cweartern. There they dwell until such time as Melchior calls on them to perform some service, or until he deems their penance concluded.

Melchior is no cruel warden, but is unrelenting in his righteous castigation of the wicked. If one could get close enough to listen, one might hear him quietly admonishing his ghostly charges on the errors of their ways. 

So that's our champion of justice ready to lead this bony minions. More rattlebones soon.