Oldskool Warzone Dark (Sept. 20 '25: Deathbringer)

[Malebolgia]

Back in 2017 I backed the Kickstarter for the Siege of the Citadel boardgame, run by Modiphius. After an awful campaign and after almost 4 years the game finally arrived (with mould in the core box nonetheless)! And being a Mutant Chronicles nut I really wanted to play. Turns out the game is a lot of fun and me and my mates have started a full campaign. Hooray for actual games instead of doing only virtual games!

But the PVC miniatures are not the best. Some are nice...but a lot are terribly designed, are poorly cast or are too modern for my taste. But fortunately I still have quite a lot of oldskool metal Warzone miniatures. So time to dust them off and get some paint on them for Siege of the Citadel! And once Warzone Eternal comes out, they will probably be used for that game too . I started with some Undead Legionaries and a Necromutant and for the colours I used Paul Bonner's art as inspiration.

Group shot


Necromutant



Undead Legionaries



Maaaaaaan, these were a lot of fun to do. Even after more than 25 years they look so cool and paint up so easily.
Next up some more Necromutants and a Centurion.

[Battle Brush Sigur]

These are some really cool figures, and I very much like the bold green and red in there. No easy colours to balance without getting a "christmas" look!

I also love your chipper attitude given what seems like a pretty bad KS Modiphius ran there. Not sure I'll ever become a fan of PVC figures.

Either way, great that you enjoy Warzone and that those classic figures got a neat paintjob. Have fun!

[Daeothar]

Wonderful work

They're both grimy and gaudy at the same time; a combination only the nineties could produce (and painters inspired by them ).

I discovered just how nifty those old Warzone minis really are when I painted up a bunch of Capitol Sea Lions a couple of years back, as cheap corporate cannon fodder for use in the scifi RPG campaign I was playing in at the time.

But I found that, against all my expectations, I liked them a lot! Warzone, to me at least, had always been 40K's simpleton cousin back when the 1st and 2nd editions could still be found in brick and mortar stores. They were even more over the top than their contemporary 2nd ed. 40K competitors, and the game never got (any?) traction around these parts.

But they have really grown on me, and now I actually love that nineties over the top heroic look, and I recently picked up the 2nd ed starter box for cheap (with the eighty plastic minis), with the rule books inside, and they actually seem fun too!

What faction will you be doing up next? Or will you be sticking with the Dark Symmetry for now?

[Malebolgia]

These are some really cool figures, and I very much like the bold green and red in there. No easy colours to balance without getting a "christmas" look!

I also love your chipper attitude given what seems like a pretty bad KS Modiphius ran there. Not sure I'll ever become a fan of PVC figures.

Either way, great that you enjoy Warzone and that those classic figures got a neat paintjob. Have fun!

Yeah, the Kickstarter was a disaster. Almost 3 years of delays, lots of unclear information (and I think a lot of lies), varying model quality, component quality varies a lot (the cards for instance aren't uniform at all), a lot of people had mould in their core boxes. And there was more I think. But I am still glad I got the game as it's a fun one with mates. The rules are quite straight forward and play nice...and it's Mutant Chronicles! . But the PVC has to go as much as possible, so I'm looking for a lot of metals to replace the pvc crap...
And thanks for the compliments

Wonderful work

They're both grimy and gaudy at the same time; a combination only the nineties could produce (and painters inspired by them ).

I discovered just how nifty those old Warzone minis really are when I painted up a bunch of Capitol Sea Lions a couple of years back, as cheap corporate cannon fodder for use in the scifi RPG campaign I was playing in at the time.

But I found that, against all my expectations, I liked them a lot! Warzone, to me at least, had always been 40K's simpleton cousin back when the 1st and 2nd editions could still be found in brick and mortar stores. They were even more over the top than their contemporary 2nd ed. 40K competitors, and the game never got (any?) traction around these parts.

But they have really grown on me, and now I actually love that nineties over the top heroic look, and I recently picked up the 2nd ed starter box for cheap (with the eighty plastic minis), with the rule books inside, and they actually seem fun too!

What faction will you be doing up next? Or will you be sticking with the Dark Symmetry for now?

Yeah, Warzone paints up so nicely. It's like painting Pulp Figures or Copplestones; loads of character without having tons of annoying detail (like a lot of GW or Infinity models). And you can let your 90s painting vibe run wild too! . I love the whole Gwar-like look everything has and once painted it works so well on the table.

The cool thing about Siege of the Citadel is that you need a LOT of Dark Legion stuff and heroes from all other factions. So I need to paint all kinds of models and paint schemes, not 20 of the same types. And that is just what I like the most about painting miniatures: as much diversity as possible. I hate painting rank and file and with this game I don't have to. Even with the Legionaries they are all so different and unique, they feel like painting totally different models.

[Dentatus]

Wow - Blast from the past. Nicely done.

[eilif]

I love your paintwork on those Legionaires!

 I'm a low-key fan of almost all the various sci-fi figures that have that 80's and early 90's exaggerated heroic aesthetic.   40k, Warzone, Future Warriors, Void, Shockforce, etc...

I agree that Warzone has some great figs.  I've worked some into my various forces over the years. One of my favorites was a Bauhaus Hussar on Dino who -somewhat ironically- commands a unit of Void Junker dino riders.

I have no particular use for them but a few years back I acquired a the box set of original metal Warzone Etoiles Mortant just because they are such cool figures.

[jetengine]

I think what jives with me, is that instead of trying TOO HARD to be ultra serious about how evil they are (ala chaos) these Necromutants look like they've stepped out of Doom. Ludicrously iver the top in a wonderful way.

[majorsmith]

Really liking these

[hubbabubba]

Great painting, you can tell that you had a lot of fun doing them.

[Major_Gilbear]

I remember when I was young and these came out - I passed on them at the time as I simply couldn't afford any more wargames (and I couldn't really afford the ones I did play...!). I've sort of been tempted by them again on-and-off over the years, but I have resisted.

Your paintjobs really show these old classics off at their best I think, and like Hubba says I think it shows that you had a lot of fun painting them! Well done, and I look forward to seeing more of them. 

[Malebolgia]

Cheers guys! And exactly, I had a lot of fun with them because of their absurd looks and over the top designs. I've bought all kinds of models from the corporations from fellow gamers and I can't wait to do all of these too.

[johnl5555]

I am also an unabashed fan of old school Warzone! I love it. When Target went under I was buying up blisters at a dollar or two each. i picked up around 3-400 blisters. The Dark Legion are one of my favorites. Lots of Undead Legionnaires with necros and Razides. You did a very nice job on them. Those figures just have so much character. I also picked some things when Prince August runs sales. Needed some Imperial figs along with some Bauhaus to fill a few units out. When 1st edition came out we were playing the heck out of it. I still like it! Hopefully the new edition may get things sorted out with the new plastics. I guess we'll see.

Thanks

John

[Malebolgia]

Some more Necromutants finished, all in the same colour scheme. And a lot of fun to do again. The one with the mask is one of the first Warzone models I bought back in 1995, so it was excellent to finally have him painted.





And a group shot with all 7 Necromutants that are done. Should be enough for most Siege of the Citadel games. I see now I didn't paint the upper lips on the old ones I did some years ago like the way Paul Bonner did them! Oh well .

[johnl5555]

 You really are doing a great job on these! They really look the part for Warzone. Keep em coming!

Thanks

John

[Delmair]

Since you love to paint and are also much better than others, if I were to look for other Warzone metal miniatures, I decided to sell everything.
I have a large quantity available, boxes still sealed, blisters still closed, loose miniatures to paint and even a Bauhaus Grizzly GBT-49!