So I'm looking at getting back into wargaming after close to a ten year hiatus. Through some trades I've ended up with a small khorne daemon force consisting of

20 Bloodletters (metal axe-wielding kind)
10 Bloodletters (new plastic versions)
2 Bloodcrushers (newer style but metal)
1 Bloodcrushers (older version)
1 Daemon Prince (plastic kit)
5 Flesh hounds (of the big-teethed variety)

I've always been fond of 'themed' armies so I want to stick with a Khorne daemon army but want a bit more variety in troop types (almost purely for aesthetic reasons) so the idea is to convert/proxy units as lesser-known khorne/generic daemon units that would be 'counts as' existing daemonic units (plaguebearers, etc).

I will likely never play in a GW store or tournament so all manufacturers are viable. Also I only have a white belt in GS and lean more towards kitbashing conversions.

Some ideas that have been percolating already

Warbringers - Old metal bloodletters with axes - count as Plaguebearers. Since I have about 20 of them coming to me and they look quite different than the current bloodletters (which I also have) I figure they might be used as a different unit type. I think I'd want to do something to make them look a little different from just 'old bloodletter models' but I'm not sure how the models are going to lend themselves to conversions

Warbrides - counts as daemonettes - again looking for a bit more variety so I'd like to incorporate a female unit into the mix. I've been finding it really difficult to find female demonic models that don't look too slaaneshish. Was thinking maybe bloodletter legs, some sort of armored female torso and helmeted/mask covered heads.

Bloodspawn - counts as Horrors - ??

Bloodreavers - count as Seekers - was thinking a centaur-type unit for this

Beasts of Khorne - count as Beats of Nurgle - big scary dudes, I like the old confrontation wolfen minis but not sure if the style would jar with the rest of the army, converted up rat ogres might be an option too

Just looking for some ideas/comments/suggestions to start me down the right path. Any help is appreciated.

While supporting your enthusiasm I truly think the path you've already chosen is of the kind where only You can determine what's right or wrong.

All I'm gonna say is that it takes lots of skill and hard work to do what you're aiming at. Like 10 times the hard work it takes to put together and paint a 'normal' out-of-box army.

I've seen people do it, though. On this forum too. So just get to it and show us all the pics!!

agreed - really I think what will help you the most is a cohesive theme where your opponents can clearly tell what is what.

I can definitely back up the claim that mono-god counts as armies are a hellish amount of work (pun unintended, but recognized and accepted). However, I'll also say that they are really fun and rewarding.

As for your units, these are my thoughts:

- PB: Awesome! The fact that the old Bletters have armor on is a great, quick way to represent the thoughness of PB. I wouldn't try to do much converting on them, as they already look Khornate and are solid hunks of metal. Converting them would NOT be fun.

- 'Nettes: You aren't going to find anything female that is big enough to scale with the Bletter legs. I would recommend doing something like a kitbash between Dark Eldar and 'Nettes. Give all the models the Wych helms with no faces and add akhornate paint job and you should be good to go. Probably use Dark Elf or Dark Eldar arms with weapons, as the Damonette claws really look Slaaneshi. Come to think of it, 'Nette bodies, Wych heads, and Dark Elf spears would look really cool, and quite Khornate with the right paint scheme and the occasional chain and skull tossed in.

- Horrors: Nothing comes to mind right away, but there has to be a solution (that is, if you even want Horrors, they don't belong in every army). I'll see what other sort of brainstorming I can come up with.

- For the Seekers, centaurs would be awesome. Use whatever you do for the 'Nettes, along with either Chaos Warhounds or the horses from the Marauders.

- Beast of Nurgle: One of the most maligned units in the Daemon book. They aren't unusable, but there are certainly better choices. If you do want to use them, this might work. Would also probably work for Fiends too.

And finally, as DReign said, with a project this big, whatever you feel like doing is ultimately the best thing to do. And don't be afraid to make mistakes and change things. Most of my Tzeentch conversions went through at least 2-3 versions before I found something I liked.

Good luck!

For Horrors, I had a thought. Might work to use skeleton bodies as a base, order a bunch of the skeletal ram heads (I think they are originally from the TK, but can be found on Ebay from Hoard o' Bits pretty easily in bulk). Pose them so they are hunched over a bit, then either have them all chained up (as Khorne detests magic users) or on fire (as they have Flaming attacks and magic), or both. Not sure how it would work out. Probably either REALLY cool or REALLY lame. Most of my ideas tend to be like that actually...

Hey there,

I've had this same idea a few years ago, only for 40k rather than fantasy.

Bloodbeasts are mentioned in liber chaotica, and I used them as fiends. Just make 4 spawn khorne looking (lots of spikes, the hand with an axe, the khorne helmet).

For horrors, I used dwarf thunderers converted to wear chaos warrior helmets as chaos squats, although the mechanics for horrors in 40k are a bit different than fantasy (they just have a shooting attack, rather than magic levels, so a squat with a gun worked just fine).

You could use sister repentia from the sisters of battle range as daemonettes, replacing their chainswords with weapons from the warrior sprue.

Plaguebearers...I'd use the old khorngors. They're old oop models but still knock around on ebay.

Good luck!

Thanks everyone for the responses and some very interesting ideas. A bunch of my stuff has shown up (pics below).

I really like the idea of 'enslaved' models as horrors as it fits with my daemon prince concept that I have in my head (more of a stone-cold calculated killer who will use any weapon to defeat his enemies than a frothing at the mouth berserker type)

I have some ideas on a Beats of Khorne and have ordered some stuff from hordeobits (thanks for the recommendation). I want to hold off till they come in and I see how they come together before sharing too much, but I do plan to keep this thread updated with any progress I make (though expect progress to be slow, but I promise pictures will be better )



Bloodletters


Old Bloodletters


Bloodcrushers


An old Juggernaut (I didn't know one of the crushers was going to be the old model) and some Confrontation pre-paint minis that I may or may not use.

Those hounds of dirz could make good fiends!

Good point. I may paint one up as test to see how it comes out.

Some WIP stuff.

My first bloodletter (and first model in like 6 years). Still needs some details done, dullcoated and rebased.



And my Daemon Prince assembled. I think I may still want to add some more stuff to this one

I really like the bright rich red tone of that Bloodletter. The details look pretty damn good already, so if you're not done I bet it's really gonna shine when you are.

Where did you get the head for that DP?! It looks awesome on him.. Not sure you need to add that much more gear on him either.. I think you got a nice clean model there, and the head is fantastic.

Thank you for the compliments . The head is from an Ogre Kingdoms Iron Gut, I'll admit to stealing the idea from elsewhere on the net (I think it was one of my google image search adventures) and when I saw it gave the off the perfect stone cold killer warrior vibe I wanted. I was going to try and add a pair of downturned horns to the helmet but the particular bit that I was going to scavenge them from seems to have grown legs. I also might do something to dress up the left shoulder, haven't decided for sure on that part yet.

I would leave the helmet as is. Horns would run the risk of mucking up a REALLY cool head swap.

A spike or two on the left shoulder would probably look pretty cool though.

I disagree. As it is thats all it is, an irongut headswap.

Needs horns!

I found the misplaced bit so I may see about tacking some horns on to get an idea if they're going to work. I find I'm in need of some square bases as most of the stuff I got in trade only came with round bases. Any suggestions on a good place to buy them (I need 10 solid bases and 20 slotted bases, all 25mm)? GW seems overly expensive and am unlikely to go the resin route as I'm trying to keep hobby costs to a reasonable level.