Slaanesh Warband: Chaos Warriors

Chainmail. How do I hate thee? Let me count the ways.

Probably the best thing about painting a Slaanesh warband is that your colour scheme can be summed up as "anything you like, just don't use red". As I said back at the start of this project, painting what are basically evil knights in random vivid or pastel colours appeals far more than the green/brown of Nurgle or red/brass of Khorne (I've never been interested in Tzeench). It's also way better than the current Slaanesh colours of grey, black and pink. And now I've finally completed my nine Chaos Warriors, it was even more fun than I thought, apart from the bloody chainmail, which I found to be a nightmare at times just making sure all the tiny depressions were actually filled in.

Anyway, here they are:

Husq is the warband's longest-serving warrior and the trusted lieutenant of its champion, Phemorous Vardonai. A devoted servant of Slaanesh for longer than he can remember, Husq has proven his worth in battle time and time again.

Husq is an iconic Citadel mini, originally named Slambo in the ads, and was first released in 1986. He was going to be either white or ivory, but I chickened out and ended up nicking his paint scheme from the Flawless Host, a warband of former Emperor's Children Space Marines (and a possible future project). So, tons of Vallejo Pink shaded with watered-down Warlord Purple, with Purple for the trim. The axe handles are Silver Grey and the horns Ivory.

Brudotch and Ulirr are solid, reliable fighters and valued members of the warband. Husq uses them when sheer brutality is called for and they're both more than happy to get stuck in with relish.

Electric Blue has always been one of the mainstays of Slaanesh colours, so I was bound to paint one warrior with it. Brudotch's hair or mane or whatever it is is Army Painter Jungle Green, highlighted with Green Yellow. The horns and teeth on his helm are Bonewhite.

Ulirr was the penultimate warrior to be painted before Husq. I was a bit stuck for colours at this point but Scorpy Green raised its head and worked perfectly. I was iffy about the ball things on his helmet as they made it look like a bobble hat, but gave in and painted them Brass. His face is Bonewhite and washed with Army Painter Flesh Tone. I thought about giving him evil red eyes but a wide-eyed manic stare is creepier.

Tumyl and Essok are second only to Husq for length of service in the warband. Both are vying for the spot of lieutenant if — or when — Slaanesh elevates Husq to Champion status.

I'm pretty sure Tumyl is painted Blue-Green but I can't quite remember. I did have a whole internal debate about doing his shoulder pad and gauntlet in Pink but as it's Slaanesh we're talking about, anything goes and it turned out looking great.

Essok's painted Purple, with Pink trim and Oily Steel for his helmet horns. He was the first warrior to be painted, and the first one to generate my hatred for chainmail.

Galfre and Syrau have served Phemorous and Slannesh for decades, spreading terror and slaughtering hundreds for the Dark Prince with frenzied glee.

I have to admit, I hated Galfre's mini the second I saw it. But it did grow on me as I painted it (despite all the bloody chainmail) and now I think it's a great model just because it's so different to all the others. Galfre is resplendent in Blue Violet, with Warlord Purple trim highlighted with Pink. His sword hilts gave me the opportunity to use my new Metallic Gunmetal Blue, and it looks great.

Syrau's armour was originally Army Painter Moondust, a pale yellow, but it didn't work for me. So I overpainted it with Vallejo Lemon Yellow, shaded him with thinned Army Painter Daemonic Yellow and used Moondust for the highlights. I was a bit done with one-colour armour so decided to give him an Andrea Blue helmet (I have no idea why the colour is called Andrea Blue) and Orange Brown for his hair/mane.

Aumyt and Ystros are relative newcomers to the warband but have already pleased Phemorous with their passion for killing and their veneration of Slaanesh.

It's only now that I realise Aumyt looks like a West Ham supporter in his claret and blue. I used Red Violet and Blue Violet for his armour and Ivory and Off-White for the hair.

I've always been a fan of orange and doing a warrior in that colour appealed to me. Ystros got a base of Heavy Orange before being coated in Bright Orange with added Bonewhite for the highlights and details.

I have to say it, these are awesome minis that are full of character, and the slightly out of proportion hands and heads (a hallmark of 1980s Citadel figures) just add to that. Like almost all of Citadel's figures back then, these warriors were named in the adverts in which they appeared. As I didn't bother to look for those ads on the google (unlike my Daemonettes), I got the names from this awesome site, except for Husq, whose name popped into my head while I was painting him.

With these and my Daemonettes done, it's time for some non-Oldhammer figures. But I'll be expanding the warband again soon, probably with some beastmen.