Author Topic: Mors Ab Alto, Classic Grenadier Undead & Winged Nightmare [PICS] (Read 1271 times)

Pil · « **on:** July 13, 2023, 10:57:50 PM »

Hello adventurers!

Question: What would you do when you have an undead army larger than you could field on a table and 80+ zombies?
Answer: Why, order more classic undead to paint these lovely models and boost the zombies to 100+ of course!

I've been eyeballing my missing pieces from the classic Grenadier for a while, expecially the undead giants. A while ago I bit the bullet and placed a sizeable order at Mirliton to get my hands on these. I seized this opportunity to also expand my zombie collection to 100+ because I've had so much fun fielding zombies in games, and I also wanted to see how these models hold up when painted.

And so I prepared a fresh batch of corpses for my army and present them here for your viewing pleasure:

I added twenty zombies, six skeletons, four vampires, three giants and one flying dragon.

I'll start off with my dragon rider. I made him to use as a Wight Hero on a Winged Nightmare. A model that I enjoy fielding in my Warhammer Renaissance armies, and for which I did not yet have a properly based figure (40mm square). His banner reads "Mors Ab Alto" (death from above) and depicts a human skull with wings.

The dragon is Julie Guthrie's Skeletal Dragon. I cut it from the base and reworked it into a flying position. This took only a little reposing and sculpting. I mounted him on a screw-on base for easier transport. This also allows me to field him on either a 40mm square or a 50mm square by swappint out the flying base.

To make the model look more convincing in flight I added wing membranes from lead foil. The rider is a Citadel death rider on a saddle made from a coffin lid shield and putty.

This side of the banner reads "Mors Vincit Omnia" (death conquers all) and depicts a dragon skull.

I have previously painted loads of zombies but I wanted to check out these as well. Also, it never hurts to have an extra command group as zombies work well in smaller units. Shown here are three command figures and two zombies, all by Bob Naismith from the Fantasy Warriors range. The banner reads "Vivi Mortui" (the living dead) and because of it's narrow and long shape, depicts only an outstretched arm from the grave.

The Grenadier undead from Fantasy Warriors were a mix of zombies and skeletons. I took some effort separating them from each other as my painting style differs for both. The zombies are listed as made by Bob Naismith on Lost Minis but I do feel strongly a couple of these are made by Nick Lund instead. Several models are clearly copies of each other with head swaps and weapon swaps, while other models are unique sculpts. Not all poses are very convincing and some models look a bit flat. I'm happy to add them to my collection but if you're looking for fantasy zombies I probably wouldn't recommend these first.

Among the models I ordered I spotted five bearing the hallmark of Mark Copplestone. I really love these even if four of them are basically conversions of the same base figure. I can't find the original source of the badass looking zombie barbarian, but he'd make as fine a zombie champion or hero as any command figure!

These three super detailed and small zombies are the "Unholy undead" from the Nightmares (formerly Cthulhu) range. These were my favourite zombie acquisition of the batch as the sculpts are so very characterful. They seem small compared to the rest but in my zombie collection I have several 25mm figures so they'll fit right in!

These are the skeletons I was left with after I sorted out the zombies. Again I feel there might be some Nick Lund sculpts in there next to the Naismith ones. In general the Fantasy Warriors undead feel a bit hit and miss to me. The weapons tend to look oversized and some poses are just awkward. On the other hand the skull on the skeleton on the left looks like it would fit right in among Citadel skeletons. Of course in a big unit there is room for all.

Zombies need leaders right? And I could do with some more cool looking vampires! Pictured there are models from the Nightmares range: three "Vicious vampires" and one half-misty vampire from "Vampire's vault". After binging "Nosferatu" movies (notably Nosferatu, Nosferatu the Vampyre and Shadow of the Vampire) I decided the two Nosferatu-type vampires would be dressed in black only. The vampiress got a white dress and red hair to double up as a banshee. The half-ethereal vampire got a purple suit and a back cloak. Most models are more Victorian in their garments but I feel they still work well in a fantasy army.

The main reason for me to order at Mirliton was to get my hands on more giant undead monstrosities! Obtaining them 'automatically' by buying second-hand lots had proved to be impossible over the years. Luckily they are still available, so I got everything I wanted at once. Pictured are a Skeletal Cyclops, a Giant Liche Lord and a Lord of Death, all from the (second) Fantasy Lords range. I gave all but the liche a fairly straightforward colour scheme. The liche got black robes with purple lining and magickal sigils, similar to the outfits of some of my other spellcasters.

I figured I might be using the liche as Nagash in a game at some point (not having a Gary Morley Nagash) so I painted three symbols on his back to connect him to this character: a Chaos star, a sigil that says "Nagash" and a simplified symbol of Nagash based on his current incarnation (but whatever, I like the picture). The models (at least the cyclops and the liche) were sculpted by William Watt.

After the overview shots I took some extra shots for your enjoyment.

I also have two unpainted pictures of the Winged Nightmare for people who are into that sort of thing.

An unpainted shot of the Winged Nightmare.

Elk101 · « **Reply #1 on:** July 13, 2023, 11:09:51 PM »

What a great collection. The wings work well, nice job.

OSHIROmodels · « **Reply #2 on:** July 14, 2023, 07:07:00 AM »

Old school cool

Daeothar · « **Reply #3 on:** July 14, 2023, 08:59:40 AM »

What a great bunch of decaying mayhem!

I especially love the cloaked Nosferatu vampire. I have the very same model, I got it years ago out of a bargain box on the counter of a gamestore I visited. He's been doing duty in Frostgrave games, still in his original paintjob, but now I'm tempted to finally give him the paintjob he deserves.

Love the other vampire too btw; I want two for my Frostgrave games (to beat the statistics when rolling for monsters

) and I also want one in the same style. But I never knew this companion mini existed, so it'll be on my wants list now

All other undead are looking great too, but your lighting and scene setting also really add to the pictures in a big way, so kudos for that as well!

blacksmith · « **Reply #4 on:** July 23, 2023, 08:04:12 PM »

Scary and terrific!

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Author Topic: Mors Ab Alto, Classic Grenadier Undead & Winged Nightmare [PICS] (Read 1271 times)

Pil

Mors Ab Alto, Classic Grenadier Undead & Winged Nightmare [PICS]

Elk101

Re: MORS AB ALTO, Classic Grenadier Undead & Winged Nightmare [PICS]

OSHIROmodels

Re: MORS AB ALTO, Classic Grenadier Undead & Winged Nightmare [PICS]

Daeothar

Re: Mors Ab Alto, Classic Grenadier Undead & Winged Nightmare [PICS]

blacksmith

Re: Mors Ab Alto, Classic Grenadier Undead & Winged Nightmare [PICS]

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