Games Workshop has a reputation for occasionally making rules with no models. I’ve actually seen some complaints on this and it’s a trend they seem to be moving away from, however I feel that the spirit of this concept was to allow players and hobbyists to create their own versions of the character or unit in question using existing models as bases or even scratch building pieces.
I have a big Skaven army I got practically new on the sprue and Skaven remain my favorite fantasy battles army, however, I was able to get my hands on a great Beastmen army, in various stages of construction, last year and started to mess around with them a bit too. Though they seem to be one of the least popular choices, their personality appealed to me and this force came with lots of models and options, some of which are hard to find now.
One piece I got was an incomplete pewter Doombull.
It was a bare metal piece with no arms, weapon, or decorations I thought would be fun to convert into one of the Beastmen lords with no model, Taurox the Brass Bull.
I used the rune-inscribed axes from the minotaur kit to make his “Rune Tortured Axes.”
His shoulder guards are actually vambraces from the Cygor/Ghorgon kit I didn’t use. Because his body is metallic I got a chance to play with the Nihilic Oxide technical paint I’ve been wanting to try and gave his armor and ancient, oxidized tone to make it stand out from the copper-gold used on the rest of the model.
I originally had a severed hand as base décor, but decided for someone as massive and vicious as Taurox that would never do… Using a Lord of the Rings Elf horseman archer, I cut his legs off and sculpted some guts out of green stuff. The head comes from a Skaven Stormvermin sprue (it was two heads clutched in a fangleader’s claws, I simply cut one off) and sculpted some hair out of more green stuff. Painting the guts was layers of Biel Tan Green, Carroburg Crimson, and Nurgle’s Rot to give it the slimy, transparent sheen.
Just to use the rest of the technical paints I hadn’t played with I used Agrellan Earth for the base.
I hope GW keeps the rules without models in the army books and codexes for years to come. Creating your own versions are some of the most fun a hobbyist can have. You’ll never see two Tauroxes that look the same!
Check out my previous painting posts for more!
40k Rescue: Blood Angels Land Raider
And for more 40k my Kharn illustration posts! Part 1 and Part 2. And my fond farewell to the World of Battle.
Revenant Publications 