90s gothic undead

TMS

Serf
I'll come right out and say it - I'm a late 90s kid through and through, and my hobby focus has long been on the 5th edition of fantasy that ran through the second half of the decade. I will however also say that the older era has put some charm on me and when searching for inspiration I often look backwards rather than forwards. I'm pretty sure the style and spirit I've infused this army with will fit right at home here.

But enough about that, let's get to business!

Behold the growing army of count Luthor von Carstein, currently being played with as Vampire Counts.

The dead heart of this army are the contents of a Skeleton Army box that I bought last year, completely unbuilt (with extras). I had a bunch of these miniatures when I was little but they've regrettably been lost to time. Getting a second chance to build, paint and treat them well has been wonderful, what an absolutely amazing thing this box must have been when it was first released!

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Army pics are so hard to do right. Let's have some closeups instead.

Here's the big bat himself, count Luthor. He's the 3rd edition (I believe) blood bowl miniature of the same name with a fancy sword put in his hand. Out of all the Gary Morley vampires, and 90s vampires in general, this one is by far my favourite. That grinning face is just the best kind of goofy.

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Next is a special case. Helena von Carstein, the count's daughter, is an amalgam of several different miniatures including Gandalf's sword from his duel with the balrog. She's the army's second-in-command and designated monster rider, being able to be played a little more adventurously than the undead general.

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Here is the most recent addition which I've shown in a separate thread already. Frankenstein's monster on his trusty steed, the perfect enforcer of the count's will.

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And there's also this little familiar. Always handy to have one around. :)

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Now into the meat and bones!

Here's the elite body of the force, a regiment of grave guard (or wights, if you will). The cavalry spears and black armour give them a really striking look, I'm really happy with how they've turned out.

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Following up with a small unit of black knights (wights on horses). Equally happy with these, particularly with the half-horse-man banner top pointing them in the right direction. :arrow:

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Here are the beginnings of the skeleton horde that will make up the majority of the army. They will eventually be separated into two regiments, one with shields and the other with scythes, but for now the group will join together for strength in numbers while it grows.

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And lastly, and the odd one out you could say, is Fluffy. It's a little ironic that this probably is the miniature in this collection I've had the longest, having bought it back when it released in 2008 while the rest, though technically older, are more recent purchases. Either way he serves well as a big bat beast, standing in for some suitable monster. As a little bonus that I've alluded to before he's got a magnet mount on his back so that Helena can jump up and hitch a ride.

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I hope this little showcase has been to your liking. The plan is to grow all parts of the army over time and, of course, to fight many battles with it.

Thanks for reading!
 
Very tasty. Big fan of a gothic undead army, and your choice of vampire is superb. Lovely work on the conversions.
I'll come right out and say it - I'm a late 90s kid through and through, and my hobby focus has long been on the 5th edition of fantasy that ran through the second half of the decade. I will however also say that the older era has put some charm on me and when searching for inspiration I often look backwards rather than forwards. I'm pretty sure the style and spirit I've infused this army with will fit right at home here.

But enough about that, let's get to business!

Behold the growing army of count Luthor von Carstein, currently being played with as Vampire Counts.

The dead heart of this army are the contents of a Skeleton Army box that I bought last year, completely unbuilt (with extras). I had a bunch of these miniatures when I was little but they've regrettably been lost to time. Getting a second chance to build, paint and treat them well has been wonderful, what an absolutely amazing thing this box must have been when it was first released!

View attachment 17699

Army pics are so hard to do right. Let's have some closeups instead.

Here's the big bat himself, count Luthor. He's the 3rd edition (I believe) blood bowl miniature of the same name with a fancy sword put in his hand. Out of all the Gary Morley vampires, and 90s vampires in general, this one is by far my favourite. That grinning face is just the best kind of goofy.

View attachment 17700 View attachment 17701

Next is a special case. Helena von Carstein, the count's daughter, is an amalgam of several different miniatures including Gandalf's sword from his duel with the balrog. She's the army's second-in-command and designated monster rider, being able to be played a little more adventurously than the undead general.

View attachment 17702 View attachment 17703
View attachment 17704

Here is the most recent addition which I've shown in a separate thread already. Frankenstein's monster on his trusty steed, the perfect enforcer of the count's will.

View attachment 17705 View attachment 17706
View attachment 17707

And there's also this little familiar. Always handy to have one around. :)

View attachment 17708 View attachment 17709

Now into the meat and bones!

Here's the elite body of the force, a regiment of grave guard (or wights, if you will). The cavalry spears and black armour give them a really striking look, I'm really happy with how they've turned out.

View attachment 17711 View attachment 17712

Following up with a small unit of black knights (wights on horses). Equally happy with these, particularly with the half-horse-man banner top pointing them in the right direction. :arrow:

View attachment 17714 View attachment 17715

Here are the beginnings of the skeleton horde that will make up the majority of the army. They will eventually be separated into two regiments, one with shields and the other with scythes, but for now the group will join together for strength in numbers while it grows.

View attachment 17716 View attachment 17717

And lastly, and the odd one out you could say, is Fluffy. It's a little ironic that this probably is the miniature in this collection I've had the longest, having bought it back when it released in 2008 while the rest, though technically older, are more recent purchases. Either way he serves well as a big bat beast, standing in for some suitable monster. As a little bonus that I've alluded to before he's got a magnet mount on his back so that Helena can jump up and hitch a ride.

View attachment 17718 View attachment 17719
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I hope this little showcase has been to your liking. The plan is to grow all parts of the army over time and, of course, to fight many battles with it.

Thanks for reading!
These are super awesome! Love the black armour and the _not_ grimy look that has done the rounds in the past few years - fantastic!
 
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