From PeteF: The Gribbley Horror Project Begins - Nightstalker Spectres and a bad Pun (55 points)

Last year I was introduced to the delights of Kings of War, Second Edition. I fell hard for the game and bought the hard back rulebook, the softback (players) rulebook, the 2019 Clash of Kings (updates to the armies for better game balance), casualty and angle markers and a beaten up Forces of Nature army - which has now been rehabilitated. Then third edition came out in October.

I played a tournament in the summer where I was lucky enough to get a Nightstalker Starter Army as a prize (I didn't win anything in the tournament, quite the opposite, but thankfully the prizes were randomly drawn). The Nightstalkers are Mantic's own faction and very different from the usual fantasy tropes - which are also featured in the game. I don't know what the word "gribbley" really means but it seems to fit Nightstalkers. They are the stuff of nightmares and are invading the world through some kind of interdimensional rent. They have come to terrify and destroy. Muwahahaha.

Along with third edition came the 2 player starter set which included mo' Nightstalkers and some lovely Northern Alliance miniatures (think Wildlings from Game of Thrones). I also succumbed to a couple of unwise, late night E-Bay purchases which included yet more Nightstalkers. On the upside I now have enough Nightstalkers for a good sized army.

The army is going to have a scary/horror/gribbley movie theme - something on each stand will reference some thrill or chill.  Not all of them will be as obvious as this one but I'm hoping my opponents will have fun trying to find all the movies in the army.

These creatures are Spectres. They are "ghostly, skeletal and cowardly". They "lash out with soul sucking mist". I went with a paint job that looks quite similar to the one on the box - using Citadel Wraithbone primer (at HOW MUCH? a can) and contrast Aethermatic Blue. I tried to do some of the tendrils in sparkly Colour Shift green and tried picking out teeth and other features but the contrast paint ended up looking right on its own. So I feel a bit cheeky claiming 5 points for each of these as they took less time to paint than a schutzen's rifle. I'll make up for it by doing some plaid on a future entry.

The base has a couple of pools of blood (Woodland Scenics realistic water) and is meant to look like a burned up and shattered hellscape. This base represents a troop of spectres who are a type of ranged infantry. To be honest they are next to useless in the game in 3rd edition - the power of shooting has been reduced across the board and these guys have less range and less punch than they used to. However, I'll keep them in the army and use them as skirmishers to screen a more valuable unit.

It feels right that this is entry number 13 for this challenge. The spectres were hard to photograph in a way that shows their true colour. Too much reflection from the pale bits or something. Hopefully they look sufficiently spectral and menacing.

11 models for 55 points. Did you guess the movie and spot the terrible pun? My apologies.

From MilesR: Very spooky indeed.  I have yet to sucumb to the siren call of contrast paints but suspect my days are numbered.  They kind of remind of a certain music video, aw those thriller days of yesteryear.