Citadel Chaos Chariot

I've always wanted a chaos chariot in my armies over the decades but it's never quite happened, until now.

I'm surprised there was never a C Series mid 80's one, in a time where other races did have them. Eventually the late 80's Realm of Chaos one was released, with the ginormous plastic non chaotic looking steeds, generic for mounted models at the time, fantasy and 40k alike. I do own that one but wasn't ever really a fan and I don't think it really fits into the earlier chaos range.

One of the primary issues for me with creating a custom chariot, is the choice of steeds. Whenever I've considered creating one before, I've always ended up drawing a blank and giving up. This time, the idea dawned on me of using the lizard horse from the Undead cavalry range. I've always loved that model but found that it doesn't really look at home with the skeletal horsemen it was released with. Now, another bonus is, that there are two variants, one being a two piece casting, the other a single one. There are differences in pose and appearance, which is ideal as I can have two matching steeds but slightly different. Perfect!

Anyway, the chariot itself is a Bob Olley goblin effort, which I think suits the chaos ethic pretty well. As usual with chariots, one of the original wheel scythes had been lost at some point so I've used two halberds from the chaos warrior, Utokh Vilespike. This does sound a tad extravagant, I know but one was damaged and the other has recently been converted to a standard bearer in the regiment.

The crew are two chaos warriors, of course, the driver being Ludmilla Loinripper (her newly acquired whip is from the driver from the late 80's chariot) and Panedal, whose pose is ideal for being stood behind. I'm pleased with how the demonic looking yoke appears to be gripping the reins of both steeds.

I'm wondering whether, after getting this completed, I should give the chaos project a break for now. I'm more than happy with what I've managed to achieve over the past five months and feel I'm at a suitable stage to pause it. I'm not totally decided on this plan as yet. I'll give it some thought over the next few days.

Citadel C23 Chaos Ogre

Continuing with the army, next up is one of the two ogres that will feature in the ranks of chaos. Now this guy is my favourite of all of the C23 Jes Goodwin ogres, the chaos ogre, released in July 1985 (Christ! Nearly 40 years ago!).

This is the third or fourth time I've painted this model over the years and each time, I've added the same SH1 metal shield, basically because it's the only one I have that's big enough to look suitable on him. Plus, it's a damn fine chaotic looking shield of course.

The face is an absolute joy to paint with such menacing detail. I went for a fairly pale complexion to contrast nicely with the weathered dark bronze armour.

The plan was to get started on Skrag the Slaughterer next but I've discovered that my one has casting issues around the face so I'll have to have a rethink on what's next while I look out for a replacement Skrag. Meanwhile, there's another ongoing army piece to finish off which hopefully should be sometime next week.

Citadel Chaos Warriors - Second Rank

 

 And so the second rank is complete. I've gone for a visual variety of models, ranging from pre slotta C35, slotta based C35 and CH2 ranges.

 Most of these featured in my original chaos army from the 90's, stripped for the greater good. L to R: Bandog, Udkar, Ulrich Doomface, Chenghis Crump and Pifco the Deliverer.

Some individual shots:

Pifco the Deliverer

Bandog

Ulrich Doomface 

Chenghis Crump 

Udkar

 

Front and second ranks complete 

 I will get to work on the back row soon enough but for now I've got another couple of chaos projects on the go, one I've been picking away at while I've been working on the guys above, something that I'm hoping will be among the stand out models of the army.