Building a Daemonic Legion of Slaanesh

[Rivetbull]

These dead boys are also from Crooked Dice. Their role in the legion is still one of charge absorbing cannon fodder, but their use is a bit different. The melee armed unit are given the task of providing a meat (bone) shield for other units in the legion by moving along in front of them. The archers, on the other hand, will form a static barrier but pelt the enemy with their longbows. Interestingly, Realm of Chaos Slaves to Darkness (page 181) allows a Daemonic Legion to include any missile weapons desired, so long as the models are actually carrying them, at no cost. This generous price is likely because the vast majority of models on a daemonic battlefield are quite immune to normal arrow fire. However, one can also issue magical ammunition to any model desired. In the case of units they must be armed identically. I will therefore be equipping the Unending Revellers Archers with 'Seeking arrows" as standard. This means the archers will never miss. Mind you, a volley of Strength 3 shots with no armor modifier is not very impressive on a daemonic battlefield, but they will do the odd wound here or there. And, despite the arrows costing just as much as the archers, they are still a comically cheap unit, which will not cause one tear to be shed when they die over and over preventing a charge or soaking up gunfire targeting an actual unit of my lesser daemons.

 

[Rivetbull]

So, in theory the undead Minotaur Champion could lead the undead contingent, but as I have a unit of line skeletons and a unit of skeleton archers, I wanted a proper leader to provide some sorcerous support. My poor undead minotaur was demoted tolead the line skeleton unit, and I went with a liche for the overall contingent commander. I decided this model was likely not part of the fallen cult who made up the Legions undead fodder, but rather a fallen necromancer who made a deal with a slaaneshi daemon to extend her life. The result was losing her soul, which is now carried as a jewel in the armor of the Legion's commanding Keeper of Secrets. She is indeed immortal, having cheated death, but has to serve forever at the head of a cohort of doomed fools for her new master's entertainment. For the model, I noticed two of the old Chaos Sorcerers clearly had been made from the same manikin. One was a generic Sorceress, the other a Slaaneshi spellcaster. I simply took the arm with the slaanesh icon wand from one and put it on the other. The result was a convincing sorceress. She got the same red paint scheme that her minions were given.

 

[chrisgoodone]

Love your thinking behind your gang (and your painting obvs). Good stuff!

 

[Rivetbull]

Thanks. Quite a few of these models sort of told their own story as I worked on them, others are just monsters or whatever.

Building this was a sort of gaming bucket list item for me. Getting it on the table using its original intended rules set against another proper legion is another box to be checked.

 

[Rivetbull]

Tonight I present a unit of Slaaneshi Legionaries. They are an interesting troop type which never received dedicated models in the range. Slaves to Darkness describes Legionaries as a body of immortal but ultimately trapped and damned soldiers, who could be from any race. The army list entry for Legionaries gives them a human-ish profile and provides them with a standard chaos weapon and chaos armor. It is a lot of freedom, and I wanted to come up with something distinctive for the Legion. In Slaves to Darkness, the mortal Slaanesh army has several Dark Elf units. Although, Games Workshop stripped them out of the list in fourth edition WFB, I still like the idea as the presence of some fallen elves ties into Slaanesh's lore nicely. Therefore, I decided to model a couple units of Legionaries from elves.

The standard dark elves of the era are decent models but they are very distinctively Warhammer 'dark elves'. I wanted something more chaotic, and looking less like a transplant from another army. I noted that a few of the old Wardancer models had studded leather body suits and crazy hair. This was just the sort of thing I was looking for. Then I remembered the Blood Bowl elves. Studded leather, crazy hear and the addition of elaborate masks made them perfect for this job. In order for mine to bring capability to the legion, other than being cheaper expendable Daemonettes, I purchased them longbows and seeking arrows, which, as we learned with the skeletons, is a legal option in a Daemonic Legion. This way they can jog along with the rest of army while tossing arrows down range, which will never fail to hit, and can actually harm their daemonic foes. So, I converted them with what I think are plastic High Elf charioteer bows, and various knives.

These models have a number of nice fat jewels sculpted on their gear, which was the fashion with elf models from this era. I took the opportunity to paint these using the 90s style technique, which I think I got the hang of now.
Overall, I am quite pleased with the full unit, and the leather clad dark elves look like they belong amongst the horde of Daemonettes.

 

[Brother Meredith]

These are great! Smart use of the BB minis as suitable proxies for the unit.

 

[Rivetbull]

Thanks. They were fun to do. Might do more of them.

 

[OuteRimTim]

Thanks. They were fun to do. Might do more of them.

I really like this unit. It is great to see a unit of Legionaries. Your use of the blood bowl elves is inspired. And the paint jobs are great on top of it all. Thank you for sharing.

 

[Rivetbull]

Next we have a pack of chaos spawn. I chose to paint them in wildly divergent color schemes. The first is an odd little beast, the model for whom I found at Fenris Miniatures, and added quite a few bits like the wings, extra tails, and spikes. His similar sized comrade, is a classic Citadel chaos dwarf mutant, who I simply mutated further by taking away his normal hand holding a club, and giving him more tentacles. Next we have the mid-sized spawn. These two are fantastic Satyr Art Studios sculpts, which I was lucky enough to acquire second-hand, as they are no longer for sale. I didn't convert them at all, because that was clearly unnecessary. I painted them to be as different from each other in pallet as they are in form. Lastly, we have a strange reptilian creature with a crested mutation and far too many legs. This model is a Reaper miniatures basilisk, and so I also have assigned him an 'Evil Eye' mutation. The bright color scheme was done in hopes of making him pop with his pack mates.

Overall, the spawn serve no useful purpose in the legion and are at best merely cannon fodder. This is despite them being 100 points a model (same as the far more capable and reliable daemonette). It is telling that these same models cost a mere 25 points in Lost and the Damned army lists. I believe that the writers felt, at the time, that the potential for a random profile and mutations meant that there was always a chance for a spawn model to be far more valuable than its 100 price tag, and this justified the otherwise pricey base level. In practice though it means that you are always better off with more lesser daemons than you are bringing a spawn pack. There is however a workaround. A champion serving in a legion can bring along any followers, including spawn, for the modest cost of 30 models each, plus 15 for each follower reward they have received. There is a catch however, the followers must have at least three wounds to be eligible. 30-45 points a models ‘feels’ about right for a spawn though.

 

[Gobbit Snotrag]

Tonight I present a unit of Slaaneshi Legionaries. They are an interesting troop type which never received dedicated models in the range. Slaves to Darkness describes Legionaries as a body of immortal but ultimately trapped and damned soldiers, who could be from any race. The army list entry for Legionaries gives them a human-ish profile and provides them with a standard chaos weapon and chaos armor. It is a lot of freedom, and I wanted to come up with something distinctive for the Legion. In Slaves to Darkness, the mortal Slaanesh army has several Dark Elf units. Although, Games Workshop stripped them out of the list in fourth edition WFB, I still like the idea as the presence of some fallen elves ties into Slaanesh's lore nicely. Therefore, I decided to model a couple units of Legionaries from elves.

The standard dark elves of the era are decent models but they are very distinctively Warhammer 'dark elves'. I wanted something more chaotic, and looking less like a transplant from another army. I noted that a few of the old Wardancer models had studded leather body suits and crazy hair. This was just the sort of thing I was looking for. Then I remembered the Blood Bowl elves. Studded leather, crazy hear and the addition of elaborate masks made them perfect for this job. In order for mine to bring capability to the legion, other than being cheaper expendable Daemonettes, I purchased them longbows and seeking arrows, which, as we learned with the skeletons, is a legal option in a Daemonic Legion. This way they can jog along with the rest of army while tossing arrows down range, which will never fail to hit, and can actually harm their daemonic foes. So, I converted them with what I think are plastic High Elf charioteer bows, and various knives.

These models have a number of nice fat jewels sculpted on their gear, which was the fashion with elf models from this era. I took the opportunity to paint these using the 90s style technique, which I think I got the hang of now.
Overall, I am quite pleased with the full unit, and the leather clad dark elves look like they belong amongst the horde of Daemonettes.

Brilliant conversions!

 

[twisted moon]

this is some good work.

 

[Rivetbull]

Thank guys. It has been a pleasure (see what I did there?) to build these guys. When I was a teenager, I was immediately smitten by the absolute weirdness of a battle between daemonic legions. I had played just enough Warhammer Fantasy Battle to realize how batshit crazy such a battle would be. The handful of art pieces and the tiny pictures in Slaves to Darkness fired my imagination. I tried to find a models for a legion. I was able to get a Keeper of secrets, a unit of daemonettes, and even a couple fiends. It was enough to keep a slaaneshi warband supported by any daemons that got rolled up, but it was never going to measure up to a legion. I painted those models, for the most point to a shockingly poor degree. However, a year or two later, and I was firmly enamored with Warhammer 40,000, an obsession that would last for the next half decade. Then came Warzone, and the military and many things from the “before times” were lost. But, a year ago, I bumped into an old friend and he still had one of my old daemonettes. Here she is in all her glory. This is the same paintjob from 1989. I just fixed a few scrapes on her bald head.

 

[Rivetbull]

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[Brother Meredith]

Oh my!

 

[Rivetbull]

Lol. Too much?

 

[Fimm McCool]

I don't think you went quite far enough...

 

[Rivetbull]

Tonight, I started working on my fifth Keeper of Secrets. This model was a pretty complicated conversion, and is still a work in progress. The four other Keeper of Secrets models I have done each had their own theme to give them a role and character in the daemonic legion. Thus far, I have a ‘General’, a ‘Battle Standard’, a ‘Gladiator’, and a ‘Duelist’, each with their own color scheme. This fifth Keeper of Secrets is going to be the ‘Mutant’.

First, I took some extra sets of downward Keeper claws, leftover from the other conversions, and clipped off the armored claws. I used these to replace the non armored claw, and one of the hands. I also clipped off the last hand and I will be replacing it with another armored claw once I can acquire another one. Having only claws gives this model an unsubtle and brutal profile.

I then chopped the tail from an incomplete Fiend of Slaanesh model. This became a nice meaty tail for the Keeper. He is very much still a work in progress, but the claws and the tail taken together give my Mutant Keeper the brutal look I am after. I discuss him more as work progresses.

 

[inchmurrin]

So, in theory the undead Minotaur Champion could lead the undead contingent, but as I have a unit of line skeletons and a unit of skeleton archers, I wanted a proper leader to provide some sorcerous support. My poor undead minotaur was demoted tolead the line skeleton unit, and I went with a liche for the overall contingent commander. I decided this model was likely not part of the fallen cult who made up the Legions undead fodder, but rather a fallen necromancer who made a deal with a slaaneshi daemon to extend her life. The result was losing her soul, which is now carried as a jewel in the armor of the Legion's commanding Keeper of Secrets. She is indeed immortal, having cheated death, but has to serve forever at the head of a cohort of doomed fools for her new master's entertainment. For the model, I noticed two of the old Chaos Sorcerers clearly had been made from the same manikin. One was a generic Sorceress, the other a Slaaneshi spellcaster. I simply took the arm with the slaanesh icon wand from one and put it on the other. The result was a convincing sorceress. She got the same red paint scheme that her minions were given.

Learn something new every day, I've had the Slaaneshi mini for years and never made the Slaanesh vonnection. Thank you for these fascinating posts.