Thundering out of the Chaos Wastes on roughshod hooves ride two mighty champions of Tzeentch!

Here’s a work in progress on my unit of Chaos Knights. I decided to go to town with these guys and try some new painting techniques to convey the eldritch glow of their Ensorcelled Weapons and Marks of Tzeentch. I referred to the excellent tutorial by Garfy on Tale of Painters to get the glowing NMM style I wanted.

The Doomknight is gifted with a gribbly arm mutation bestowed upon him by his patron god. I converted this from 40K Possessed arm and a few of the mini tentacles which you can see poking out from under his pauldron.

The Standard Bearer is a personal favourite of mine. Once again I used a bright magenta to mark out the command group models and used a converted icon of Tzeentch from a 40K Chaos Space Marine kit. To paint the War Steed I blocked in the skin areas with Charandon Granite and washed it back with Drakenhof Nightshade. Mid tones were picked out in the base colour and then hightlighted with glazes of Stormvermin Fur followed by a thin edge highlight of Baneblade Brown. The longer hair was highlighted with Rackarth Flesh and Pallid Wych Flesh instead.

The freehand on the banner was inspired by the runes found on the Chaos Chariot and Chaos Warshrine kits. I wanted to use this to tie together different parts of the army. I use runes and apotropaic symbols on my models to convey the fickle aura of sorcery surrounding those that bear the Mark of Tzeentch.

When this kit came out I was blown away by it – the War Steeds looked straight out of an Adrian Smith painting. Compared to the new Chaos Chariot though, it’s starting to show its age.

A close up of the Doomknight’s crystalline weapon wreathed in claws and tendrils. As a Champion of Tzeentch I imagine this to be constantly shape-shifting from sword to glaive to axe, his body wracked with convulsions as the power of change surges through him!

The Standard Bearer carries a vicious pick imbued with the daemonic essence of a Lord of Change.