Spearhead!
The journey begins...
Greetings and salutations, all!
It’s that time again: the launch of a new Warhammer partwork from Hachette. This is the sixth such launch, following Conquest (2018), Imperium (2021) and Combat Patrol (2024) for 40k; and Mortal Realms (2020) and Stormbringer (2023) for AOS. Spearhead follows closely to the format established by Combat Patrol, giving multiple small, themed armies designed for the quick-play version of the main game system. By the end of the series (90 issues), collectors will have 12 full Spearheads, lifted directly from the Spearhead: Fire& Jade book that came with the Skaventide starter set, along with rules for playing, background and paints, brushes, gameboards…
I absolutely love these partworks1, especially in the multiple-army format. It suits my hobby butterfly, ADHD-addled way of collecting a bit of everything, and my love of completing full sets of things. this way I can indulge both!
Plus, the miniatures are significantly cheaper when bought in the collection, and I do love cheaper miniatures!
So, with the release of Spearhead I’m going to try to do something I’ve never managed with one of these partworks, despite a couple of attempts. I’m going to try to paint the minis as I get them, as an ongoing project, and I’m going to document it here. I have subscribed to the collection, so I’ll be getting the issues monthly in blocks of four, rather than weekly, so I don’t know how often I’ll be updating my progress here, but I’d love it if you followed me anyway.
Having said that, I have bought a copy of issue 1 as it was released to the shops because…well…okay, I’m a hopeless plastic crack addict and the prospect of getting four really spiffy miniatures for just three quid was way too much of an opportunity to pass up. I mean, just look at them!
I’m a huge fan of the current Skaven models, especially the characters, and that Grey Seer is a particularly nice sculpt. I wasn’t hugely enamoured with the Stormcast Eternals when they first arrived- I didn’t like their background and most of the miniatures left me cold but since the background has been made a little more grimdark, and the more recent miniature releases have reflected that, I admt they have grown on my somewhat. I’m never going to do backflips over the troops models but the characters are looking great, and I do rather like the Lord Veritant. The excellent ‘eavy Metal paintjobs really do the sculpts justice, too.2
So, having the early copy of issue 1, I’ve been able to get a head start and I’ve got the miniatures assembled and ready for painting, as you can see. They’ve been given a black undercoat, with a zenithal spray of Wraithbone, followed by my favourite underpaint mix of Agrax Earthshade, Athonian Camoshade and Mortarion Grime.
With my little bit of a head start I have about two weeks until the next issue comes out (which I am absolutely not going to buy just for the sake of getting it…)3 and about three weeks (according to my communications with Hachette) before I can expect my first subscription delivery of the first four issues. I’ll then have another month to finish these, the Rat Ogors and Liberators before issues 5-8 arrive (which I’m expecting with have the Clanrats, as well as the already announced special edition Lord-Celestant, Karnus The Seeker.) This extra time is good because these are models that deserve some time being spent on them, and I don’t want to rush them.
So, here we go. The beginnings of what will hopefully be an ongoing project over the next 15 months! I will be describing my processes, techniques, colours used, etc. along the way, so there may even be something useful amongst all the blather…!4 I hope you’ll follow along with me. Please feel free to like, subscribe, comment, share, etc. as much as you can, if you feel so inclined, I’d very much appreciate it!
Onwards!
except for the paint issues. I have so many pots of Abaddon Black, Leadbelcher and Retributor Armour it’s not even funny any more…
interestingly, I notice that the Veritant for the Spearhead release is different to the one featured in this shot from the Skaventide announcement. In the new magazine her flames are blue and she has the gold armour. The gryph-crow is darker, too. I think I prefer the new colours…
this is a lie…
for instance: a word of advice when assembling these models- I always clip off the pegs that allow for push-fit assembly. They can sometimes be difficult to push all the way in, and can lead to breakages and gaps between pieces.