My first time buying a Lizardmen army was by accident, really. Like many kids, I walked passed a local Games Workshop and was drawn to the fantastical creatures. The starter box at the time, late 1996 or early 1997, was Lizardmen versus Bretonnia, with 88 miniatures divided between the two. They're still in my collection, as well painted as any 9 year old would at the time, especially with the starter citadel colors. As things evolved, I got out of Warhammer and back into it, always trying to follow the "canon" colors. When the Lizardmen went from green to blue, I followed, bought some new sets in the early nillies, but stopped painting and playing after realizing how difficult of a game it had become. So it was with great interest that I got drawn back into the game, thanks to Age of Sigmar. An occasionally well functioning adult now, I went on a shopping spree and dove back into painting. Liberated by the freedom AoS gave me, I didn't want to go with the standard blue or green, nor try something with any bright colors. I went with a solemn desert theme. See it as a metaphor; just like my passion for Warhammer, these Lizards have been hiding in deep desert. I imagine even the Old World Slann didn't remember these Lizards existed near Araby, until the End Times. They fought, but were wiped out, just like the rest of the world's inhabitants. Still, every time the Seraphon now go to battle in desolated areas, the Lizardmen of the desert constellations are the first ones to be summoned into this world. The painting scheme will feature a lot of Ushabti Bone, Tallard Sand, Balor Brown, Bestial Brown, Dryad Bark, Seraphim Sepia and Agrax Earthshade. I finished a couple of units, and I would like to share them in these thread with you guys, to see what you think of them. This guy served as inspiration for my painting scheme. First time assembling one of those, what an annoying motherfucker he was. Attempting some base conversion. Want to give this one a strong desert theme, but not go too far. After trying this on some Saurus warriors, I went for a cork base, a piece of cinnamon from pot-pourri (not kidding), some old Saurus shields and sand. Primed black, washed with Bestial Brown (Mournfang Brown now, I think), Tallarn Sand and Ushanti Bone drybrush. This is the finished base. Added some more grass (no Mordheim tuft) to make it look not too bare boned. The stegadon, sans howdah. Frontal shot. Went a bit overboard with the Ushanti bone, perhaps, but I wanted the howdah to have a throne of bones for my Skink priest to stand on. The most color I allowed was the Xereus Purple for the shields, one of the few. Balthasar Gold base and Hashut Copper layer for the Engine, drybrushed finish with Auric Gold. Side shot. Rakarth Flesh with an Agrax wash for the cloth (might be a tad zoomed out for that) on the howdah. Comforting shot from the back. Either the Stegadon has ran past you and not through you, or you're an ally safely hiding. This is the view from the back. The tail is the whitest it gets, to accentuate the bony structure of it.
It looks great!! I like the idea of desert lizardmen! And funny fact that you used cinnamon , I thought it was a wood stick, it looks really good!!
@Tlac'Natai the Observer had some desert-themed fluff for his army as well! But that was mostly based in the not-American-southwest region of the Warhammer world. Yours has a lot of interesting potential! Lizardmen secretly living in the deserts near Araby, potentially trading with the Arabyan caravans (or raiding them), fighting with the Tomb Kings over lost technology... so many ideas! I am curious to see what other ideas you come up with. Beautifully painted stegadon as well! The base is rather wide, but very detailed! Definitely fits in with the desert-color scheme, how do you plan to paint your skinks/saurus? MOAR pictures when you take them please!!
Thanks @Warden, @Bowser and @Jorgik for the kind words! Over the past weeks, I finished up 10 Skinks and 20 Saurus. I'll add some pictures to this post! I painted them before this guy and was trying out some color combinations and see what works. Not entirely happy with them, but I'd love to share. Lore and fluff might definitely be a thing. I love how AoS plays, but the fluff hasn't convinced me at all. After I finished parts of my desert army, I will convert some of my old 5th ed Bretonnian Knights to some desert crusaders. I imagine they set forth to fight some Skaven, got lost in the desert and nearly perished. The cold ones might be brutal, but they must recognize kind hearts and take them in. The liberty Age of Sigmar gives you could even make it an option for me to add the crusader knights and archers to my Seraphon army - who knows =) If Undead, Skaven or Araby convoys happen to pass through the desert lands of these Lizardmen, chances are that they die without even knowing what happened. Spawns are rare, but throughout the ages, the Saiph Lizardmen have adapted to their environment so well that an untrained eye cannot discern them from the terrain. The nimble Skinks prefer to eliminate their opponents from afar, but if one of them would happen to be close, they will not hesitate to bash in some skulls. For many a smuggler the Moonstone Club was the last they saw before their end was met. I went heavy on the basing here, because I was thrilled to try out using cork to make these elevations. In my initial attempt at making these, I really wanted to go for a heavy reddish desert, like the Grand Canyon, but I simply failed to get a color that really felt right. The cork is also very rough, since it soaks up a ton of the paint, darkening it a lot. Drybrushing with Tallarn Sand and Ushanti Bone proved to be my saving graces. The tree trunk came out of one of the totally overpriced GW prop boxes, but it fit nicely here. The skull underneath is a bit hidden, but should serve as a warning for many! Once again, the Skink Crew in full. I went with a mix of colors for my Skinks, by the way, I'm not sure if the photo shows it really well. The two Skinks in the middle are different; the left one has a watered down Balor Brown & Ushanti Bone mixture, washed with Seraphim Sepia, while the one on the right has a basecoat of heavily watered down Rakarth Flesh, finished off with an Agrax Earthshade tone. I strongly prefer the Seraphim Sepia type, since they have more of an ocre color, but I think the two fit well nicely, adding in some diversity in the group. If I may criticize myself - the lack of contrast and color might bite me in the ass when my army is finished. Up close, it looks solemn and nice, but I'm afraid that it will lack some character when finished. My Saurus have a tad more color, and I really like what I did with them. In case the invaders pack more of a punch, the Skinks swiftly call in back-up from their larger brothers to remove the assailants from these plains. I did some converting on this guy, giving him a Temple Guard head and a Tyranid Warrior sword. Couldn't get it all in the picture because of the sheer size (my excuse, always - I'm terribly sorry for this). I feel like he's rushed and sloppy in some places, but the fierce red eyes, the green scales and the purple shields I really, really dig. They have so much color, while being subtle enough at the same time. The sword is too golden for me (I really want more of a Bronze feel), but I'm keeping it like this for now. Some have Temple guard heads, some don't. I mixed the spears up a bit and took some of my Saurus Knights. A Saurus doesn't walk in formation, I feel. While disciplined, once its fighting it turns into something savage. Jabbing a spear into someone instead of thrusting it seems like just the thing a Saurus Warrior would do. Close up of this guy. At first, I went with the same pattern as my Skinks, the Nurgle Green, this time washed with the GW Green Wash. This felt too light for me, so when I switched to Warpstone Glow I was much more of a happy camper. The occasional feathers are blue, green and purple, to summarize the scheme I'm going for with these guys. They might be the least desert-like of the bunch, but I really dig their style. For the bases I prefer what I did on the Skinks and EotG And that ends my elaborate exposé of the day. Thanks for reading and your kind comments, make sure to keep following for more. On my list: 1 Slann Starmaster (finished) 1 metal Kroq-Gar (finished, but a while ago) 3 Ripperdactyl (WIP) 20 Knights (WIP) 30 Skinks (WIP) 40 Saurus (TBD) 1 Skink Starpriest (TBD) 20 Temple Guard (TBD) 1 Troglodon (TBD) 20 Bretonnian Crusader Knights (TBD) 40 Bretonnian Crusader Archers (TBD) Plenty more to come!
This army looks fantastic! Just absolutely brilliant! The fluff is great and the odd coincidence of desert lizards mixed with Brets is amazing! The fluff works for aos pretty well I think, the slann just happened to remember a time when his troops took in some lost brets and they fought alongside each others. So now you have some Brettonian soldiers made of Azyr helping out the army in the new age. Memories are funny that way. A lot of fluff options!
Nice looking skinks and saurus! I like the inclusion of the sword for that saurus chief, looks like something from the dark eldar/elves range. If you need inspiration for desert crusaders, definitely check out this army over at the Round Table: "To Khemri" by Kako k. Spoiler: Khemri Crusade Halfling archers! Arabyian Fast Cavalry! Ogre Maneaters/Mercenaries! I hope when I finally paint my grail knights they turn out half as good as this guys!
Wow... these are really nice. You've created a very impressively themed army. Love the unique colour scheme!
Really great idea, also impressed by your painting schedule! I get bogged down and paint once in a blue moon.
@BeardyGecko @NIGHTBRINGER @Bracnos, thank you very much! I'm having a blast painting these, so I'm not too worried about keeping the schedule. Allthough these old Bretonnian Knights are giving me a hard time. Painting cloth is not my best skill.
A small update on what's coming forth out of the desert: Did the basing for the rest of my Skink cohort, ready to be primed. Went a little less overboard than last time, but I really dig the combination of cork, bark and small stones. My attempt at painting horses is... not going well. Dreadful job on this model, and I'm not helped by the fact that the model is partially roughed up by bad paint and glue jobs from the past. The wash didn't come out as I wanted at all, so I'm considering whether to continue this. One Knight is mounted, gave him a fancy sword since the early Bretonnian lances are really poor in quality. Tried to look for some Imperial or Bretonnian lances, but all the bits were sold out. The Dark Elves lances could be an option, but they are a bit too much. Back in familiar territory, this is the painting scheme I went for on the Cold Ones. I like this style a lot, but I'm afraid it doesn't mesh too well with my general army scheme - the Balor Brown is a bit too bright, and I think I actually prefer some Rakarth Flesh or Ushanti Bone on the flesh. The scales are fine, I think, allthough they are harder to paint (imho) than the Saurus & Skink ones. Four bad boys lined up. This is my alternative paint job, with the Rakarth Flesh base. Khorne Red remains the go-to choice here. I really like the combination with the Ushanti Bone Saurus and the Ratskin Flesh scales. So, some new beginnings, a potential dead end and some choices to be made. What do you guys think?
The cold ones and the scarvet look fantastic, tough to tell how they will match up with your army, but they do look great! Maybe saurian spears insread of traditional lances for your knights.
Finished my first unit of five knights, finally liking the style on them. I'm digging how orange will be the color of my knight saurus and green the one for my warriors. These bright colors really give a great contrast. Love how my banner knight is leaping up on the rock. I wanted to go for a really action packed Saurus Knight, bending over fiercely to stab an opponent. A ton of the knights I have incoming have a ton of mobility. I took some of the Skaven spears and mounted them on the Saurus lances. They're a lot rougher looking, which I totally dig. The Skaven spears have a ton more variety, and I'm wondering why the Seraphon are left with such boring spears... Here they are, in column with full command. The Alpha has a Tyranid Sword (I love them so much). Content with how they look
These look amazing with the riders on. The dynamic pose on that banner knight looks incredible. The bases in general are really sharp. Great looking unit.
In a bit of a dilemma regarding my skinks. I like the purple theme and went with it for my stegadon skinks, so now I'm considering painting all of my skinks in a similar theme. Would love to hear your thoughts on them.
I do like the colour scheme on the left, but there is something about that purple. Maybe do the alpha for each group purple, or other way, all the skinks with the purple, but put the Alpha with a different colour scheme to have a definitive leader.
Also the bases look fantastic, the scale detailing is brilliant, and you have got those eyes perfect. Very expressive. They all look spectacular.