The start of the new year signals the beginning of another painting challenge. This year the Warhammer 40k Second Edition Army Challenge is being run by the ultimate dream team of The Wachtmeister AND Dr.TheViking! Be sure to check out their blogs for full details on the challenge, and summaries of the participants.

After 3 consecutive years, I am officially retiring from painting Space Orks. I’m thrilled with all that I’ve accomplished painting them, but there are many other unpainted miniatures who have been patiently waiting for their turn under the brush. This year I am tackling a Rogue Trader-era Chaos Space Marine force.

When I started in the hobby, one of the most interesting lines of models that I somehow never got into was Chaos Space Marines. I was intrigued by the “Chaos Renegades with Heavy Weapons” models I saw advertised in “Dragon” and “White Dwarf” magazines. In fact, when a game store was closing down I had a chance to buy an entire rack of them for $1 per blister (36 blisters for $36 USD!) when I was a kid, but couldn’t justify such a huge outlay of cash at the time for something I didn’t know what to do with. However, when I bought the “Warhammer 40,000 Compilation” book (1991), I was enthralled by the Genestealer Cult Army and their corrupting allies of Chaos (the beastmen and demons). So when I progressed from RT to 2nd edition the seed was already planted to go back and create a Cult army inspired by the Compilation book: brood brothers, Patriarch, hybrids, coven limos, and chaos allies. I felt that the 2E cult needed some extra toughness and shooting help, so including chaos marine allies would help strengthen the army, while also giving it the same feel as the “Compilation” army list that started me down the road to Tyranids in the first place.

This is a long-winded way of saying my original intention for the Mark 7 painting challenge was to paint that Genestealer Cult army I always wanted. But it turned out that I wanted to include so many models that I would never be able to finish what I wanted within the time constraints of the challenge (and create a legal army list in one go) without painting hundreds of minis. I had enough Rogue Trader-era Chaos models to field a legal force on their own, so I decided to lean into it and just paint Chaos this time around, Genestealers next time. All of the models I had on hand were RT-era metal, with the exception of the Beastmen from GW’s “Battle Masters” game. I originally intended to include a second squad of 7 Chaos Marines, but last month when I heard that our beloved Dr.TheViking had returned, I decided to celebrate and bought an ebay lot of 7 metal 2nd edition Chaos Terminator marines. The price was right, and I figured they’d add a little more visual variety to the army (and some legitimately second-edition presence). If I somehow manage to finish everything listed in my starting photo, I hope to add the second squad of 7 marines as a bonus. Since we only need to paint 5 out of the 6 months, I’m listing the 2 packs of beastmen as my month-6 optional goal. If I manage to paint them, great, since it’ll save me from painting them next year for the Mark 8 40k challenge… Chaos Space Marines are so overtly spawned from the depths of all that the heaviest of heavy metal stands for, that it was meant to be. “Bovimeth” is my take on the Slaaneshi black metal scene. I’m hoping their first album, “Darned to Heck,” will set the charts/Imperium on fire.

Thanks again to Wachtmeister for co-hosting this Mark 7 challenge! Running the painting challenge is not for the faint of heart, and he always carries the battle standard from the front lines. And with great tintinnabulation and censers blazing: we welcome Dr.TheViking’s return from the Eye of Terror! We all missed you!

As before, you can follow my hobby progress on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/pygmyhippo/

The Horns of Bovimeth – Chaos Space Marine Chapter

CHARACTERS
“Ejaculus,” Chaos Lord of Slaanesh (102)
“Dr. Mindbender,” Sorcerer of Tzeentch on flying disc (102)
“Menstruan,” Champion of Khorne, riding “Chungus Bloodfart,” Juggernaut of Khorne (141)
Keeper of Secrets (wouldn’t be much of a secret keeper if we gave away her name, right?) (280)

SQUADS
Chaos Space Marine Squad (7 models)
Chaos Space Marine Terminators (7 models)
Noise Marines (5 models)

SUPPORT
Chaos Space Marine Dreadnought (190)
Beastman Pack 1 (15 models) plus Champion (264)
Beastman Pack 2 (15 models)

POINTS: 2273
MODELS: 54