Ideas for a 15mm Moorcockian chaos army for Mayhem?

[Hobgoblin]

As I paint up goblin and reptile armies for Mayhem, my thoughts are - inevitably - drifting to another project. At least it's a related and compatible one!

What I want to do is an army of chaos in 15mm. Not a GW-style "regimented chaos" (eh?) army, with lines of identikit marching armoured warriors and strangely uniform beastmen (who all derive from goats for some reason), but a properly chaotic horde that might have shambled from the pages of the Corum or Elric novels.

I envisage the centre of the army would be several "great hordes" - on bases four times the size of normal elements (so 100cm square). The constituents of the hordes could be anything from recognisable humans to amorphous blobs, and everything in between. I'll be scouring my 28mm pile for anything suitably random, as size isn't a constraint. One of the nice things about Mayhem is that you can stat up a formidable horde just as easily as a pathetic one. So gigantic creatures will work fine amid lesser ones.

Other ideas include some undead (I've been eyeing up Splintered Light's marvellous range of skeletons), demons, beastmen, beasts of all sorts and humans. I don't want "chaos warriors" (though I'll probably get a few heavily armoured types as "heroes"), but will probably use wildly war-painted barbarian types. Variety will be the key thing - I want this to be an army that could conceivably commanded by a giant red octopus or a floating gigantic god or a mounted skeleton with a flaming horse or a warrior in immaculate golden armour - or anything in between.

So, the point of this thread is to ask "what unusual 15mm gems are lurking out there"? Bizarreness and variety are the keys here. I'll get some of the Demonworld beastmen (a little uniformly piggish, but I hope to mix them up with other things), and probably some Copplestone barbarians (especially the mounted ones), but what else should I be looking at? Any and all suggestions gratefully received!

[CptJake]

Rebel has some stuff that may work.











Khurasan also has stuff that may work (some may need weapons modded):

 















Plenty more too in the Khurasan ranges.

[Hobgoblin]

Wow! Many thanks!

I'd looked at the Khurasan site, but hadn't seen half of that stuff. There's loads there that looks perfect for this.

And I don't think I'd seen any of that Rebel Minis stuff. Those eagle-headed lions are very Moorcockian - and that  Ammit looks tremendous - and very appropriate.

Many thanks again - plenty of food for thought (and attrition for the wallet)!

[Imp522]

The bottom two pics listed for Rebel, Just FYI are from Splintered Light, and until the 3rd they are having a 25% off sale

[JollyBob]

You might also find something useful in the Demon World range from Ral Partha:

http://www.ralparthaeurope.co.uk/shop/demonworld-15mm-c-76/

Really nice little sculpts, plenty of character and some very unusual monsters and war machines etc.

The Dark Elves would make a nice Melnibonean contingent...  


EDIT: And reading your OP properly I notice you have already looked at them for beastmen etc... Sorry about that. 

Still think they have more figures in their other armies  that would work well - the death cult and other cultists in the Empire ranges, and some of the savage beasts and warroirs of the Thrain army, and the whole Icelords range could be really  interesting to repurpose.

[LawnRanger]

have a look at magister militum ,
      There chariot minatures could fit in nicely for you snake ,cat ,croc,goat heads,bird head figs,, you can even have a duckman !in your army

happy gaming hope this helps ..

[LawnRanger]

ah forgot to say they have a whole meerkat army, with  meerakats riding  giant cobras !

 http://www.magistermilitum.com/scale/15-mm.html#order=name&limit=36&p=1&dir=ASC&cat[]=59679&cat[]=59937

i think you could do very well at magister militum fill your boots 

happy gaming LR

[Hobgoblin]

Many thanks, all! There are some terrific suggestions there. Although I'd looked at most of those sites, so many of those 15mm companies have all kinds of nooks and crannies in their online stores, so I'd missed loads of stuff.

And these suggestions produce some great tangents too - JollyBob's dark-elf suggestion prompted me to look at Splintered Light's dark elves - and they just ooze Moorcockery - especially the lizard riders, which have a strong whiff of Pan Tang.

[fastolfrus]

East Riding Miniatures had some very odd looking stuff (I think they were imported) based on old drawings, men with no head but a face in the abdomen, Hieronymous Bosch style stuff, octopus-men etc, but I don't think they still do them, although they still have some 15mm and 28mm fantasy also the Golgo Island range has some exotic looking figures

[Imp522]

East Riding Miniatures had some very odd looking stuff (I think they were imported) based on old drawings, men with no head but a face in the abdomen, Hieronymous Bosch style stuff, octopus-men etc, but I don't think they still do them, although they still have some 15mm and 28mm fantasy also the Golgo Island range has some exotic looking figures

Imported from Australia, Evil Gong Miniatures. Blymies I think they were called.

[Hobgoblin]

Blemmyes! They're still for sale and are exactly the kind of thing I'll need for this project. Thanks!

The chief difficulty with all this will be getting enough non-duplicates. The curse of 15mm is duplication, which matters not a jot for most armies, but is a bit of a pain for this one. In that regard, the 15mm.co.uk site is looking quite handy, as it offers a lot of sample packs of miniatures, with just one of each variant. I like the dog-men, which have a suitably morose Moorcockian look, although they'll need to be blended in with plenty of other creatures. The Irregular Armies goat-men also look quite promising - rough, but more bestial and less human in shape than many.

I found this description from The Revenge of the Rose, which is quite evocative (I think it may owe a little to Cormac McCarthy's celebrated description of the Comanches in Blood Meridian):

"An army of bestial men and manlike beasts, some with natural carapaces, like gigantic beetles, all armed with pikes and morningstars and maces and broadswords and cleavers of every description, some riding one upon the other, some dragging snoring companions, some in mysterious congress, some pausing to throw dice or settle a quarrel before being beaten back in line by their officers, whose helms sported the yellow blazon of eight-arrowed Chaos.

Snorting and wheezing, whiffling and sneezing; grunting and squealing and yelping; bellowing like bulls in a slaughterhouse, the Chaos army advanced: a single appetite."

And here, for good measure, is the McCarthy:

"A legion of horribles, hundreds in number, half naked or clad in costumes attic or biblical or wardrobed out of a fevered dream with the skins of animals and silk finery and pieces of uniform still tracked with the blood of prior owners, coats of slain dragoons, frogged and braided cavalry jackets, one in a stovepipe hat and one with an umbrella and one in white stockings and a bloodstained weddingveil and some in headgear of cranefeathers or rawhide helmets that bore the horns of bull or buffalo and one in a pigeontailed coat worn backwards and otherwise naked and one in the armor of a Spanish conquistador, the breastplate and pauldrons deeply dented with old blows of mace or sabre done in another country by men whose very bones were dust and many with their braids spliced up with the hair of other beasts until they trailed upon the ground and their horses’ ears and tails worked with bits of brightly colored cloth and one whose horse’s whole head was painted crimson red and all the horsemen’s faces gaudy and grotesque with daubings like a company of mounted clowns, death hilarious, all howling in a barbarous tongue and riding down upon them like a horde from a hell more horrible yet than the brimstone land of Christian reckoning, screeching and yammering and clothed in smoke like those vaporous beings in regions beyond right knowing where the eye wanders and the lip jerks and drools.

Oh my god, said the sergeant.”

[JollyBob]

Yes, that's what I think of when I think Chaos Army, not hundreds of identikit heavy armoured types marching in perfect unison (since we're talking Moorcock - that's a description of the forces of Law!).

I think Revenge of the Rose might pre-date McCarthy's work though? Not sure on that, mind.

I remember there was a great description of the Chaos Horde in one of the Corum books as well (one of the ...of Swords trilogy), I remember the heroes being pursued along a canyon by a guy with a horse's head and some kind of flying manta ray turning up at some point - it's a while since I read it, so maybe the details are getting  bit lost there

If you're happy to entertain bigger stuff as well, some of these from Eureka might make nice centrepieces for army elements:

http://www.fighting15sshop.co.uk/chaos-army-1028-c.asp

Some other fantasy stuff from Eureka in 15mm:

http://www.fighting15sshop.co.uk/fantasy-armies-47-c.asp


And I was also thinking, what about mixing in some baroque sci-fi minis as well? I can vaguely recall the army in Champion of Garathorm having some troops equipped with flame lances (i.e. laser rifles) that Hawkmoon was familiar with from his own world. Plus a distinctly Imrryrrian contingent.

Where you'd find them is beyond me, though.... 

[Hobgoblin]

Yes, that's what I think of when I think Chaos Army, not hundreds of identikit heavy armoured types marching in perfect unison (since we're talking Moorcock - that's a description of the forces of Law!).

Yes, yes and thrice yes! That's what I dislike most about the current GW-style chaos forces: the homogenisation of chaos (an oxymoron if ever there was one!). Even the beastmen have become near-uniform: goat-men who are recognisably members of the same species.

It wasn't always thus, of course. The pre-slotta GW chaos stuff had a very strong Moorcockian flavour, with warriors in heavy armour, light armour and none, and a fantastic array of styles. Also, things like chaos warriors with bows - and why not? And I yield to no one in my admiration for Trish Morrison's beastmen, which make the current crop look extraordinarily dull. Seahorsemen, walrusmen, slugmen, eaglemen, camelmen, horsemen, wolfmen, ostrichmen, tigermen, fishmen, mantismen and so on - and yes, the occasional goatman too.

I think Revenge of the Rose might pre-date McCarthy's work though? Not sure on that, mind.

Revenge of the Rose is 1991; Blood Meridian was 1985. Both writers have Texan links, though I'm not sure if Moorcock's predate RotR. The echo (to my ears at least) might just be coincidence, but it's the use of polysyndeton that makes me think that there might have been an influence. It's a good one if so!

I remember there was a great description of the Chaos Horde in one of the Corum books as well (one of the ...of Swords trilogy), I remember the heroes being pursued along a canyon by a guy with a horse's head and some kind of flying manta ray turning up at some point - it's a while since I read it, so maybe the details are getting  bit lost there

Yes, there's Polib-Bav (?) or something, the horse-headed leader of the beastmen (who was once some official in the human kingdom).

If you're happy to entertain bigger stuff as well, some of these from Eureka might make nice centrepieces for army elements:

http://www.fighting15sshop.co.uk/chaos-army-1028-c.asp

Some other fantasy stuff from Eureka in 15mm:

http://www.fighting15sshop.co.uk/fantasy-armies-47-c.asp

Wow! Yes, those are perfect! A lot of those Boschian things, like the walking egg, look entirely scale-agnostic. I shall place an order forthwith! Many, many thanks!

And I was also thinking, what about mixing in some baroque sci-fi minis as well? I can vaguely recall the army in Champion of Garathorm having some troops equipped with flame lances (i.e. laser rifles) that Hawkmoon was familiar with from his own world. Plus a distinctly Imrryrrian contingent.

Where you'd find them is beyond me, though....  

That's a great idea! I'm a firm believer that "fantasy" doesn't mean "medieval or ancient levels of technology" (why should it?). And Mayhem has rules for rifles ...

[JollyBob]

Happy to help, mate, or at least provide food for thought. 

I am a long term Moorcock addict, and I think I must start planning an army or warband based on his books at least once a year. I never quite see it through though as I can never find enough figures that have the right look (to my mind anyway), especially in my own preferred scale of 28mm.

Proper chaos hordes, the Beast Legions of Gran Bretan, Imryrrian mercenaries (after the fall, natch), Kamargian Flamingo cavalry, the not-quite-men of the Kelmain Horde... all these things are pleasing to me. 

Must admit I'd never considered 15mm, and I am surprised at how much variety is out there, not to mention the quality of the sculpting at that scale!

[Hobgoblin]

Happy to help, mate, or at least provide food for thought. 

Much appreciated!

I am a long term Moorcock addict, and I think I must start planning an army or warband based on his books at least once a year. I never quite see it through though as I can never find enough figures that have the right look (to my mind anyway), especially in my own preferred scale of 28mm.

Proper chaos hordes, the Beast Legions of Gran Bretan, Imryrrian mercenaries (after the fall, natch), Kamargian Flamingo cavalry, the not-quite-men of the Kelmain Horde... all these things are pleasing to me. 

Must admit I'd never considered 15mm, and I am surprised at how much variety is out there, not to mention the quality of the sculpting at that scale!

I always think of Moorcock when painting up 28mm chaos stuff. I had a go at kitbashing a warrior dubbed "The Beloved of Pyaray" from a Sigmarine last year. Although Pyaray was red. The Moorcockian vision of chaos armies is just so vivid and compelling compared with its pale reflection in gaming (especially once GW went from beastmen to goatmen ...).

I got hooked on Moorcock at an early age. I think I was eight when a long quest to find something to follow The Lord of the Rings led me to pick up Stormbringer in a second-hand book sale. The only other satisfying fantasy I'd found by that point was Alan Garner's stuff (which is brilliant); Moorcock proved instantly addictive. The quality varies, of course (Stormbringer is one of the roughest from an editorial point of view) but the weirdness and power of the visions are pretty much constant.

On the 15mm front, I had a mild epiphany last night when I remembered the Caesar 1:72 ratmen (there are few at the bottom of this page). I've already adapted some of the Caesar lizardmen as giant lizardmen or troglodytes for 15mm Mayhem, but the ratmen are different. While the lizardmen are big and beefy for 1:72, the ratmen are small. That makes them perfect large beastmen (especially the first three from the left in the photo on that thread, which look suitably imposing). They see eye to eye with DemonWorld orcs, though the ratmen would be taller if they stood up straight. So they look big, but not too big.

Also, their rattishness isn't overpowering. While they're clearly based on the Skaven (by far GW's best "chaos" concept to my mind), they're vaguely enough featured to be "generic" beastmen for the most part. They could certainly be painted up to point towards non-rodent origins, and one or two could lose their tails. I think they'll look pretty good mixed in with a variety of other creatures. And, because I got 40 or so for £6 and have painted up but five, I've got loads of them left for the 15mm project ...