Kitbash challenge – Vermintide

I saw the post Laughingboy put up on the site and the video for the new computer game looks awesome.

The factions from Warhammer fantasy that I wanted to get involved in as a kid were Dwarves, High Elves and Empire.

Dwarves because, well they’re Dwarves and that’s awesome.

High Elves because a kid at school sold me them and they looked really cool painted up in the White Dwarf magazines he shared with me.

And Empire because they had a cool tank and their flamboyant pleated clothes looked great. I also liked the look of the Bretonians because at the time I didn’t really enjoy the magic side of gaming, I was more into history and my 1/72 1/76 scale soldiers, tanks and aircraft.

Sadly the elves and dwarves were lost in a house fire years ago. I never had the money to invest in the expensive GW range beyond a few fledgling Dwarf blisters and the elf half of a starter box.

The inspiration for this gent came from the guns firing in the video against the horde. I thought if I was going to take a Frostgrave style mini away from just medieval fantasy and into Warhammer skirmish style urban fighting that a black power weapon would be a good start.

The build came together quite quickly.

The right arm is from a Warlord Games Pike and Shotte cavalry sprue.

The left arm is from a Frostgrave Soldiers box sprue, basic bent arm with an open hand.

The body is from the Oathmark Humans sprue. (I love this rivets on leather type of armour. It reminds me of a terrible but brilliant TV Robin Hood adaptation from my youth – I remember it had a fairly young Ray Winstone in it. ? )

The head is from the Oathmark Human sprue as well because the handlebar moustache was reminiscent of the old Warhammer Empire models.

The axe and the sheathed sword are from a Wargames Factory Saxon weapons sprue.

The only trouble was that the Frostgrave soldier left arm came with an extra piece of cloth at the shoulder that the right arm did not. I used a blob of Greenstuff to give both shoulders some overhang from the clothing around his neck.

The base was made from off cuts of the tab between the feet of minis. They make good pathing stones.

I still may find the perishing thing, but could not find the solitary Skaven head I had from a bits box I got from ebay years ago. I wanted the severed head to show just how good in a fight this guy is.

I glued my man to his base and he just looked unfinished.

I splashed some Blood for the Blood God paint on the base and it still wasn’t enough. So I painted some static grass black to act as Skaven fur. I clipped off a Mantic Games Abyssal daemon shoulder piece that looks like a claw.

I think it tells the story of the one that got away but is hopping as he does so.

I based him too far to one side on the base. If I find the Skaven head I will place it behind him on the back portion of the base. If I don’t find it I might place a discarded pistol with some teddy bear stuffing smoke rising from the muzzle.

For the colours I just went for some of my favourites.

• I primed him Mournfang Brown GW spray paint.
• I love Army Painter Chaos Red so this is the main clothing color. I have started to highlight with some mephiston red and Chaos Red mix.
• The gloves and leggings are Zandri Dust with a couple of shades of Agrax Earthshade.
• I used a mixture of Bugman’s Glow and Army Painter Barbarian Flesh for the face.
• The hair was a base of Zandri Dust then a wash of Casandora Yellow and a heavy highlight of Jokaero Orange.
• The Brass coloured bits are Vallejo Laton 70.801 Brass.
• The other metal pieces and armour rivets are painted with Leadbelcher.
• The axe haft and wood of the pistol is painted with vallejo Panzer Aces 311 New wood.
• Some of the leather is Army Painter Leather Brown but I did mix in a little New Wood here and there.
• I used some Rakarth Flesh for highlights on the Zandri Dust and the pouch and the wrist strap on his right glove.
• The torso leather armour is a mix of Abaddon Black and Chaos Red. After a Nulin Oil wash it went darker than I intended at first, but on reflexion I prefer it this way.

This is Eddard Rattenfäller.

I remember from my limited knowledge of the Empire that there were a few ‘Franzs’, ‘Vans’ and ‘Dorfs’ that all sounded very Germanic to my ears.

I looked up ratcatcher and lumberjack in German and came up with my bastardised surname that way.

I looked my painted mini square in the eyes and decided I wanted to give him a solid first name. I thought about Godwin, Bernard and finally Edward, but Edward didn’t quite blend with his surname so it morphed into Eddard.

Given his surname he comes from a region of the Empire that long suffered problems with rats and members of his ancestry had distinguished themselves in battle against Skaven hordes of the past.

The Rattenfäller family almost always had some of it’s prominent sons in the Imperial Army, the family were wealthy, but ultimately were looked down upon by other families of the Imperial top table. Even after making the ultimate sacrifice of losing family to various wars during dutiful service against the Empire’s enemies, the Rattenfällers were still ‘new money’ pretenders to some. Their wealth came from a successful Empire wide pest control businesses and sadly the stigma of such an industry bars them from making marriages into the more renowned (and sadly elitist) families and advancing up the social ladder.

Eddard faces the Vermintide by an unhappy accident. He had been told of complaints about poisons not working, their best traps being sprung and the bait taken and one of his father’s employees had been savagely murdered in a sewer. Eddard is a pragmatic, strong, trust worthy, son of one of the most wealthy branches of the family and had been trusted to investigate the pest control issues and chase the local constabulary for answers about the poor mutilated body of their youngest, keenest and sadly most unfortunate employee.

Eddard had wanted to join the army but his enthusiasm to become stronger, more resourceful, better skilled with a blade and a pistol, just made him more useful to his father. His father decided that Eddard’s younger brother Tomas would be sent to the army and that Eddard would project manage and oversee the smooth running of the biggest and most important regions of the business.

Eddard isn’t old, but feels his time passing by and yearns for adventures before he is too old to have them. Eddard would love to prove himself and in so doing improve his family’s standing to a higher level, where he feels they rightfully belong.

You can see that his own investigation into the murdered employee has brought him into contact with a larger rat than he has usually had to deal with. The blood trail from the severed claw will no doubt lead him to the nest. With a sense of trepidation rather than fear he heads into the dark. His keen senses are alive to the risks and he checks that his powder is dry as he ventures on… ?

I looked at some Vermintide YouTube videos and realised I shouldn’t just be creating characters at random. The game has a class system so I made an ‘Empire Soldier’ with a huge great sword.

The body is from the NorthStar Oathmark Humans sprue.

The arms and attached sword are from the NorthStar Frostgrave Soldiers Sprue.

The head is from a Conquest Games Medieval Archers box.

I was going to add a pistol to his belt but I think it was too big and ruined the aesthetic. I could add a sporran, but feel that the tartan was only a nod to say be isn’t your average Imperial captain. Not to make him actually Scottish, because the Warhammer Empire didn’t have a ‘Scotland’.

For the colours I just went for some of my favourites again.

• I primed him Mournfang Brown GW spray paint.
• The Kilt was made using a base of Death Guard Green, shade of Biel tan Green, Zandri Dust and Mccragg Blue lines, then a nightshade blue over the blue lines.
• The leggings are Zandri Dust with a couple of shades of Agrax Earthshade.
• The gloves are Abaddon Black with a highlight of Vallejo German Grey and Nulin Oil shade.
• I used a mixture of Bugman’s Glow and Army Painter Barbarian Flesh for the face.
• The hair was a base of Jokaero Orange then a wash of Casandora Yellow.
• The Brass coloured bits are Vallejo Laton 70.801 Brass.
• The sword and armour rivets etc. are painted with Leadbelcher.
• The sword handles was Army Painter Leather Brown with a heavy Agrax Earthshade wash.
• The leather sleaves are Army Painter Chaos Red and the shirt sleaves are Army Painter Wolf Grey.
• The torso leather armour is a mix of Army Painter Leather Brown and Chaos Red with a Nulin Oil wash.
• The shoes as Vallejo Mahogany Brown with a Agrax Earthshade wash.

The base was made from off cuts of the tab between the feet of minis.

They make good pathing or cobbles. I chose to make a row of bricks look like a mossy drainage gully. To add an extra element I used some Greenstuff vines.

The pathing had a base of Mechanicus Standard Grey, Agrax Earthshade wash and with Rakarth Flesh / grey mix highlights. I used Death Guard Green and Nurgle’s Rot on the vine and the gully.