Beastman Rehab

Once upon a time, I used to play Beasts of Chaos in Warhammer Fantasy Battles.  The year was 2004, and the Beasts had just had their long-awaited 6th edition book released, and a slew of new models along with it.

Fast forward to today, and the Beastmen (as they're now called) have a newer release that's a couple years old and a whole bunch of new models.  I never updated my army - having taken a break from Warhammer in general, and having lost interest in the army as well - but as I struggle to collect models for a new army, I'm resigned to playing with the models I have. 

For a long time, I thought this meant I'd have to play my High Elves - another army I'm tired of.  Then, I listened to the Bad Dice Podcast's Beastmen episode (#56), which features Mark Wildman discussing his beast army and tactics.  What can I say?  I was inspired  :-)

So, I pulled out my old bins and found a neglected and partially destroyed Beastmen army in serious need of love and care - or whatever it is that beastmen need to grow and flourish.  I decided it was my duty to bring these models back into fighting trim.  Taking stock of what I had, I identified the following pros and cons for the project:

The Good:

• The entire army is already painted to what I would consider an above-average standard.  Its not to my current tourney standard, but most of the hard work is done.
• The army has some great conversions.  Not to pat myself on the back too hard, but I did a lot of work on this army.  Admittedly, it was in the infancy of my Greenstuff development, but there's some good stuff in there
• The army is already focused toward lots of infantry.  The core of a solid 8th edition army is already there.
• I've still got a bunch of unpainted chariots, gors, and monsters.

The Bad:

• Many of the models have damage.  Weapons have broken off and disappeared.  Horns have vanished.  I'll have to dig deep into the bits for repairs
• I used NMM when I painted the army.  It was a grand experiment & challenge when I originally created the army, but I've abandoned the technique in the intervening years.  I'll have to brush up on my skills and find some workarounds.
• Despite the fact that I have a lot of models, its clear I'll need more to finish it off.  I hesitate to pour more money into the cause.
• The old basing I did was horrible.  The entire army needs re-basing.

The Ugly:

• There are new unit types available that I don't have models to represent
• Some of the old models are no longer included in the army book - Dragon Ogres, anyone?
• The army is prominently festooned with Khorne symbols, because once upon a time you could mark units.  This is going to look a little odd going forward - especially with all the magic I intend to employ.

So without further ado, lets take stock of where we're at, shall we?

Starting off with the worst of the bunch - The Bestigors
These guys were made on the cheap with old plastic Gors and even older plastic Chaos Warriors.  I say on the cheap, because it was literally a cost-saving measure for me at the time.  There are currently 15 models.

What they need:

• New basing
• Weapons repaired
• Red improved
• NMM gold and steel improved
• Approximately 15 more models - perhaps new command models

Not so bad - The Minotaurs

I've actually got 8 of these bad boys, but 6 of them are in serviceable shape and I don't see myself fielding more than that.

What they need:

• New basing
• Horns/teeth repaired
• NMM Gold and steel improved

Pretty close to good - The Harpies

These models were made from old metal warhawk wings, plastic gors, and dryad hands.  I have 5 of the buggers, and I figure I'll need at least 5 more.

What they need:

• New basing
• hands repaired
• NMM gold improved

Ramshackle mess - The Chariots

I love chariots.  It pains to see all my lovelies in the shape they're in now.  Missing riders, broken sycthes and weapons, terrible bright green static grass - its painful I tells ya.

What they need:

• New basing
• Repairs galore
• At least one charioteer
• NMM gold and steel need improving
• Red needs improving

Actually, these guys aren't so bad - The Characters

We're not too far off done with these guys.  The only issue being I'm short on shamen and long on wargors.  In addition, I've got another beastlord model (based off the Mordheim one) somewhere in another box.

What they need:

• New basing
• Some NMM gold and steel improvement
• 2-3 more shamen models
• repaired Braystaff

The unwanted - The Dragon Ogres

What can I say?  I put tons of work into these guys and they are no longer legitimate in the eyes of Games Workshop.  I'll have to find a use.  Ghorgon?  They do have four arms after all. . .

What they need:

• New basing
• not much else, to tell the truth

OK, that's all for now.  I still have to find my gors and ungors.  They're packed in a box somewhere if I'm lucky and filling a landfill somewhere if I'm not.  I should have approximately 30 of each, but time will tell.