Undead Warband: Court of the Pale Lady

For my first warband, I chose Undead because I liked the idea of having a very a central emotional and narrative figure, but I had trouble finding a vampire that I liked. There were some more monstrous vampire options available, which I liked, and then there were a whole lot of “tits out” vampire STLs available too. Then I found Annika, the Thirsting Blade and she was perfect, but just needed a new head to fit the Lahmian appearance, so I went looking for a suitably Frazetta-esque head. I ended up finding a sculpt of a “Martian Princess” which worked perfectly.

I had originally envisioned using oil paints, but that was a new and scary undertaking, and I also had just received a big set of Army Painter Speed Paints, so I decided to try those out. I had been staring at these minis for awhile, sort of with painter’s block, and the speed paints were fantastic for just letting me choose some colors and get paint on models. After that, they did look very speed painted still, but an all-over oil wash with Mr. Weathering Stain Brown really brought the entire set of diverse colors together. After that, I went in and refined details and highlights individually on models, and tried to banish areas of pooling that speed paints often leave behind, to give them a little more of a refined finish. I found that using black contrast paint, combined with the oil wash, and just a touch of highlighting actually produced a decent rusted/worn NMM look with very little effort, so I can generally avoid TMM on my Mordheim things, which is something I’ve wanted to try. The level of wear and the fact that there’s not much metal on the miniatures compared to space marines, makes it pretty approachable!

For the bases, I searched for bases or base toppers that I could use that had a matching tile-able terrain option, with the idea that they had taken over a ruined church or cathedral, and I wanted the bases to match both a display box and an eventual building on my Mordheim board.

Overall, I’m very pleased with the look achieved! It allows me to move through a warband relatively quickly, but also since I’m using the same set of speed paints across all my warbands and terrain, they all fall into the same palette and feel, so they look like they belong to the same dark and gloomy world.

Vampire

The Pale Lady Juliette Valbrecht of the Lahmian Sisterhood seeks Wyrdstone to gather and study, but has also been sent to Mordheim to keep an eye on any vampire activity in the area from the other bloodlines, especially Von Carstein. She is young by vampire standards, hopes to gain additional favor and prestige with her sire and her other courtly sisters through her findings. Before being turned, she was an Imperial alchemical researcher, so the Wyrdstone is of particular interest to her, and she believes she can find particularly potent new uses for it with the many centuries of unlife ahead of her.

Model is “Lady Annika, the Thirsting Blade” from Games Workshop.

Banshees (Ghouls)

Many years ago, these Banshees were Lady Valbrecht’s most trusted attendants. In life, they followed her through courts and intrigue — and in death their devotion, love, and even obsession endured.

Models are “Myrmourn Banshees” from Games Workshop.

Dregs (Left to Right)

Rolf Ketter came to Mordheim with a mercenary band in search of Wyrdstone, but he was the only one who survived. Hopeless and lost, the Lady Juliette found him and he sensed her power, though not her unnatural nature, until it was too late.

Model is “Dreg — Lantern and Cleaver” from My Dungeon.

Joren Falk was once a witch-hunter’s apprentice, but lost everything after the comet fell. Lady Valbrecht found him wandering the ruins, and her beauty and ethereal voice entranced him. Now he follows her with the same fervor he once devoted to hunting the damned.

Model is “Dregs” by Magori Miniatures.

The first of her handmaidens from after Lady Valbrecht was turned, Mara Diering is known for her temper and her fierce devotion to her mistress. Mara is ruthless and willing to kill at the slightest provocation — especially for her lady.

Model is “Bandit Thug 03” by Tytan Troll Miniatures.

Barefoot and blinded by the twin comet, Elsbeth Reine drifts through the ruined city, guided by a crow that never leaves her side. Elsbeth claims it knows the way to heaven, but it always leads her downward.

Model is “Eerie Child – The Stolen One” by Infinite Dimensions Games.

As a healer, Magda Rook stayed behind when the twin-tailed comet devastated Mordheim, to try to help those in need. She quickly learned that sometimes healing is what is needed, but more often than not, a swift end is the greater mercy for those driven mad and broken by the comet’s fall.

Model is “Old Hag” by Onmioji.

Hired Sword: Ogre Bodyguard

Karnak Skullsplitter doesn’t care about Wyrdstone or the ruins of Mordheim, only that someone points him at trouble and pays him after. He remembers who treats him fairly, and who doesn’t, and for a lucky few, he even develops a sense of loyalty and will go a little further to help them, so long as they keep him paid.

Model is “Ogre Spearman” by Assault Sloth.

Necromancer

Father Armand Draegschul once led a church of Sigmar. When his congregation was killed by a plague, he prayed to Sigmar, but something else answered. Dabbling in the necromantic arts with the corpses he once shepherded, he drew the attention of Lady Valbrecht, who he now serves. While his necromantic power pales beside hers, she finds him useful for controlling the decaying dead she considers unbecoming of a Lahmian.

Model is “Necromancer” by Colossal Miniatures.

Zombies

When a plague claimed his parish, Father Draegschul prayed but found only a dark god listening. Through necromancy he raised his lost flock as Zombies and together they still inhabit the same church they did in life.

Models are “Zombies” by RM Printable.

Dire Wolves

Father Draegschul raised these Dire Wolves from the forests outside of Mordheim. They move with uncanny precision and a silence that is surprising for their enormous size.

Models is “Tempest Hold Zombie Wolves” by Fantasy Cult Miniatures.

When I started Mordheim, I decided I wanted to have really bespoke items that matched the feel of this warband, so I made little blood drop wound counters, Wyrdstone, and status marker arrows. Some models like my Dire Wolves don’t cleanly lay face down or on their back, so having knocked down and stunned markers seemed important, so I also made some for fleeing, frenzy, reloading, etc.

Tape measure is “Wargaming Tape Measure | Baron’s Coin™ Compatible | Cursed Vampire” from Baron of Dice.

The dice are “Cursed Vampire Dice” from Baron of Dice.

Bases are the “Broken Tiles” set by Table Top Minis. I used their 25mm, 32mm, and 40mm bases, and have been using some of their tile-able squares on some terrain projects as well, so everything matches!

Nameplates are “Classic Bordered Name Plate Builder” by Tagmybase.com and edited by me in Blender to use the “Cloister Black” font.

Wound tokens are “Drop (Blood, Poison, Water, Mana) — Board Game Resource or Status Tokens” by CYDPL.

Wyrdstone shards are “Wyrdstone Shard” by an unknown creator on Thingiverse.

“Mordheim Status Markers” were created by me and can be downloaded in a .zip file. They’re my first 3D sculpting project, so I didn’t quite size them right before generating all the variations, so I’d scale them down to ~40% when printing, but they all printed great on my Elegoo Mars 5 Ultra. The statuses covered so far are: