Village Attacks - Lich & Vampire

Look at this nerd with his book and walking stick!

The biggest issue with the Lich, aside from the bent staff, is that he has layers of robes which I couldn’t paint all one colour for fear of him looking like a giant purple blob. In the end I decided on the outer robes to be purple, the under-robes to be grey and the hood and tabard to be black trimmed with gold. With the main scheme decided, the actual painting became fairly easy: Xereus Purple and Purple Tone for the purple robes, then layer with a mix of Xereus Purple and white on the folds. Oddly the Purple Tone gave the robes a shiny finish, so when I was done layering I had to give it a coat of matt varnish lest his robes look wet and slimy. Next I used Mechanicus Standard Grey for the grey robes and Corvus Black for the black cloth, both washed with Nuln Oil. For the grey robes I highlighted with Dawnstone and for the black robes I used Mechanicus Standard Grey. For the gold trim, I used Retributor Armour and washed it with Nuln Oil to match the rest of the dark robes. 

For what little skin is showing I used the same method as the Succubus and Dullahan: a base coat of Rakarth Flesh, followed by a wash of Nuln Oil and then layer back up with Rakarth Flesh again. For the bandages and the pages of the book, it was a simple case of Skeleton Bone followed by Strong Tone to give them a nice worn effect. 

I wanted the book to be the centerpiece of the model given the lack of details in the face, so I set out to try a worn leather look. I started by base coating the book with Dryad Bark and washing it with Strong Tone. Then I used a mix of Jokaero Orange and Dryad Bark applied with a small sponge, similar to how a chipped effect is created on vehicles. I also used a brush to paint this mix on the raised arcane symbol that’s on the cover of the book. 

For the staff I gave it a base coat of Leadbelcher then painted a layer of Black Templar contrast, similar to how I did for the Dullahan armour. I felt the dark metal colour didn’t detract too much from the rest of the model. For the gems I painted them with Leadbelcher then mixed Blood Angels Red and Talassar Blue contrast paints, as I didn’t have a purple one.

This vampire does in fact say “blah blah blah”.

The Vampire seems to be the most detailed miniature of the starting five, probably I saved him until last then. The model itself is dominated by his billowing cape and exposed midriff, so I started by basecoating the cloak and his trousers in Vallejo Night Blue and gave it a wash with Drakenhof Nightshade. The skin was painted in the same way as the Succubus except that I pushed the highlights a bit further to really define the muscles. 

The metallic parts were given their usual coat of Leadbelcher but this time washed with Basilicanum Grey. For the various tassels I used Khorne Red washed with Nuln Oil, the red contrasted nicely with the dark blue on the model. For the skirt thing, I used Dryad Bark for the quilted and Skeleton Bone for the cloth, both washed with Strong Tone. And finally for the hair, I used Ulthuan Grey washed with Apothecary White contrast paint. 

Turns out I forgot to put the grass tufts on before taking a photo. Oops.

I had planned to do an elaborate post about this but in the end I kept it rather simple for the bases: Astrogranite, washed with Basilicanum Grey and drybrush with Dawnstone getting a bit of it on the models to give it a dusty feel. For the Lich, who takes up about 95% of his base area there was nothing further I could do. However, the others had a bit for real estate for me to work with. For them, I put a grass tuft on them that I had lying around so the bases were not so bare. And finally, I painted the rims for the bases in their respective monster type colours.