From the WARP!

The 40k Blogger Group FTW is now expanding to include a listing of Fantasy blogs! My sister blog about my 40k Space Marines army is already a member of that wonderful group and now this fledgling site can join the ranks! Thanks, Ron!

A long time ago...

Well, okay, just a few years ago...I started playing Warhammer 40k (I had some cool students who got me into it). I chose Daemon Hunters/Space Marines and set about gettin' stuck in. A short time later, the store at which I played started promoting Warhammer Fantasy...I think Ogre Kingdoms had just had new models released or maybe an Armybook...can't remember. Anyway, GW was starting its Mighty Empires "expansion" and everyone jumped on the wagon. I looked at all the available armies to see which one fit me best. Ogre Kingdoms had really cool models and the units were interesting and formidable. Dwarves in fantasy novels and LotR are my personal favorites, but the models are too small/too numerous and the fluff is a bit too Viking/Runic for me. Chaos Dwarfs were right up my alley, but not really official and supported. Skaven were very interesting, but again there were the numerous and tiny models. Same with Orcs & Goblins. Never had an interest in Elves of any kind really, so there went Dark Elves, Wood Elves, and High Elves. Empire and Bretonnians were boring... Most everything was represented in amongst the guys at the store...even Dogs of War.

But someone happened to mention Minotaurs...my all time favorite mythological creature. I loved them in ancient myth form. I loved them in fantasy novels. I loved them in movies. I loved them so much that my main character in World of Warcraft was a Tauren...essentially a Minotaur. Combinations of human and animal have always held a fascination for me. In fantasy short stories I have written, I've always included Centaurs, Minotaurs, were-creatures, and even created my own gene-spliced creatures in prose. But I digress... They told me that Beasts of Chaos was the way to go. Take a Doombull General and Minotaurs were Core choices in 6th edition. Add in some Hordes of Chaos Chosen Knights for good measure and I was set.

Back then, you had to have at least 2 Core choices, so I fielded a Beast Herd of 13 AHW Gors and 10 Spear Ungors (which are now split into two separate kinds of units) and a Bestigor Herd (which are now a Special choice) with full command and a Wargor. With my Doombull General, I also fielded up to 4 units of 3 Minotaurs as Core choices. I converted some Orge Kingdom Bulls into Chaos Ogres because I hated the metal models they sold to represent them. They were fielded in a unit of 4 w/full command. I could also field Spawn, a Giant, and a Shaggoth. Centigors never got assembled because I bought them before realizing they sucked. Everything that could had the Mark of Nurgle for its superior +1 Wound, Fear, and/or 5+ Scaly Skin save.

I played for awhile until the furor died down and life became too busy to play with any frequency. I then refocused on 40k...taking Nurgle Chaos Space Marines this time. Nurgle had infected me in WHFB and served me well for quite a while. Currently I play Loyalist Space Marines, The Holy Ghosts, which have there own blog here... http://spacemarinechapter.blogspot.com/

Now, with 8th edition rules looming close and the fervor that has accompanied it, I have resurrected my Warherd and stand ready to unleash my Beastmen (without their Chaos allies) upon the unsuspecting denizens of the Old World. Most of my 13 Minotaurs have special converted weapons. I never got around to painting more than 3 of my Minotaurs before. The picture above is of my 4th painted Mino which marks my return to painting. He isn't perfect, but not a bad start for an old guy with bad eyes. The picture makes him look kind of reddish/yellowish...which is definitely isn't in real life. I shall post more of my force and other tidbits of information in the weeks ahead.