Hobby Update: Second Batch of Smashy Skeletons

Up now is the second big batch of Skeletons with two-handers for the ever-growing ranks of my Undead army!

The first batch was started over the fall and was finished up about a month ago. While my intent was to do these all up at once, all my various projects just got to be too much for me, and I had to break things up into smaller more manageable parts.

Another horde's worth of smashy skeletons, in blue rags.

The first batch utilized a lot of weapon swaps, which mostly worked, but was a lot of work snipping things down, and then getting the right amount of cement to get a join without taking too long. These were much easier! As-before, I snipped off the speartips from the base Oathmark Skeleton box, but this time I used spare Mallets from the Mantic Dwarf Shieldbreakers, which came with hole and could be dropped right onto the spear shafts.

A regiment with square hammers and blue rags.

Everything still had to be posed and the rags needed to be green-stuffed, but the weapon-construction was at least very streamlined.

The second square hammer regiment.

I had about half of these from when I was considering starting a Free Dwarf army, and Joe, our local Dwarf player, hooked me up with the rest that I needed to complete these. I now have a horde's worth of square hammers in blue rags, and then another horde with varied dwarf hammers in green rags.

Another horde with green rags an a variety of dwarven hammers.

Aside from the new mallets, everything else was the same. Minis were posed, green-stuff wraps applied to the hands, the bases pasted, and then everything was primed with a bit of a zenithal approach using up the last of a gray rattle can as the base, with a blast of white from above.

A regiment in green rags.

The ground on the miniature's stands got hit with a black base coat, and then bones got hit with a Palld Bone Speed Paint from Army Painter. I went back with Agrax Earthshade from Citadel to darken up some of the sockets and such, and then the shafts got a darn tan kinda color, the metals a gray metal, and the rags blue or green, depending on the unit.

Another green regiment.

Assembly was the biggest hurdle, and these otherwise painted up quickly. Once painted, I glued them to the base, added paste around the stands, and then carefully applied a black base coat to all the ground, so that the stands of the mini and the new unit base all had a strong black base coat. This took several layers of paint, but we got there. 

With the base coat done, I dry brushed a dark gray and then a light gray, and then went back with a handful of cheap brown craft paint for my mud coloring. Then one night after work was spent applying the glaze for the shiny mud effect, and then the following day the Poly-Fil Fog Effect was added. 

For those keeping count at home... that is 7 regiments-worth of smashy skeletons in my collection. That might be overkill?

We've seen them on the table twice now, in Battle 095 and Battle 096. Surge and reforms have proven to be a little tricky in the midgame, but otherwise they are performing as-expected. As mentioned elsewhere, the inspiration is the Brothermark Penitents, which are a cheap unlock, a decent chunk of Nerve for the points, and a few damage a round in melee if left alone. The Skeletons get an extra point of Nerve as well as Fearless, so they seem like a decent way to clog up the board if I feel like it. They Undead have been a lot of fun so far, and we'll see what they can do in the future!