Doubtless, this was the easiest army I think I've ever painted. Hordes of skeletons don't take a lot of time or skill to paint. The miniatures are a mix of Chariot and Black Raven Foundry. The Black Raven ones are more detailed, sturdier, but quite a bit larger. The Chariot ones are more slight, and have had a few "accidents" when ankles or even waists broke to scrap the figure. I primed and painted the skeletons white, added clothing and weapons, then did a heavy black wash on them to give them that "just crawled out of the grave" look.
Now that I think about it, I'm not sure if I've ever played a game with commanding my skeletons -- they always seem to be on the other side. Maybe they scare me! Interesting...
Undead archers seem to be a staple of most Undead Fantasy lists, so here are mine. I also converted a few spearmen over to javelinmen, too. That handy-dandy basket for extra javelins is from the tip of a pencil with the eraser picked out. I thought this picture turned out fairly well, so I'm showing it first to get you in a good mood!
One thing that an undead army must have is hordes and hordes of skeleton infantry. Because I play more than one set of rules, I grouped these by weapon type. The spear in the foreground are from Black Raven Foundry, while those in the rear are from Chariot Miniatures.
More hordes of skeleton infantry, this time of swordsmen. Once again, the larger, more detailed Black Raven Foundry in front, the Chariot minis in the back.
To the tune of "Ghost Riders," these guys trot out onto the battlefield. Their speed and mobility makes them one of the more effective troop types in this army, on the tabletop. The ones in the middle are Chariot, and I believe the ones on the flanks are from Reaper Miniatures. Something about undead horsemen that looks great...a vivid nightmarish quality (no pun intended...)
Sometimes a human summons and controls the undead hordes, and sometimes it is the more powerful of the evil creatures themselves that are the driving force behind the army. Here is a vignette of a undead Lich Necromancer working some deviltry at a fountain, accompanied by his chief minions. The brass looking fountain is actually a simple plastic thumbtack, painted and with the point trimmed off. Pretty clever, eh?
WraithActually, I'm not quite sure how to classify this spirit when it haunts the battlefield. This is an old, old fantasy role playing 25mm figure that works fine as a 15mm monster. I find that to be true over and over -- you can dig out leftover monsters from your dusty figure bins, splash a fresh coat of paint on them, plop them on a base, and you've got another 15mm fantasy unit! And yes, that lettering on the tombstones is handpainted -- no cheating with ink jet printers or reducing stuff on a photocopier for me! Maximum eye strain is my motto, apparently!