Painting Your Passion

I think most of us have a passion project when it comes to the hobby. That one army or faction that you keep cycling back to no matter how many new avenues you try to explore. For me that's the forces of Death in AoS, and at the moment, the Nighthaunt in particular.

When I first started seriously trying to paint an army for what was then Warhammer Fantasy I picked the Tomb Kings. I've always loved anything having to do with ancient Egypt, plus I think the undead are pretty cool, whether thats skeletons, zombies, or ghosts. Then when Age of Sigmar came out I decided I wanted to start a Stormcast army so I could have the new main faction of the game. After working on them for a bit I found myself cycling back to my Tomb Kings and adding more and more to my collection.

Once they were discontinued I started thinking seriously about what new army I wanted to do. I still kept adding things to my Tomb Kings here and there, but I wanted to have something that would be able to grow with the game and fit into the current, official narrative for it. After a few test schemes, I unsurprisingly, settled on another Death faction, the Nighthaunt. Since then, what started out as a 1,000 point army for a team event has sprawled into over 4,100 points of painted models, with another 1,100 points waiting their turn at the paint station.

Everything I have painted for my Nighthaunt at the moment

I obviously have a soft spot for the ghosts, but I'm also trying to make a Legions of Nagash army starting with the Deathmarch battalion. I've been slowly working on that one here and there since the Nagash Battletome came out. It's funny, since back in the Old World I didn't really like the Vampire Counts. They were too Count Dracula for me, with Sylvania and all. Since the release of AoS though that's all changed. They have background lore that I find really engaging. They're not just all thralls to some Vampire somewhere... They're all thralls to Nagash now, which is much better.

Even though I love painting my Death armies I have branched out into other factions. I have completed a 1,000 point Daughters of Khaine army, as well as a 1,000 point Maggotkin of Nurgle army which is slowly growing to a full 2,000 points. What I found nice about working on these is that I could work on something for my Death stuff in between. I'd paint up two units of Daughters, then work on a unit of Nighthaunt before going back to the Daughters. This not only gave me a nice little break from the devotees of Khaine, but it gave me a nice break from Nighthaunt.

I love the army, and I love painting them, but whenever you paint so much of the same faction you'll probably start to feel a little burnt out. By sprinkling other projects in between I give myself a bit of a breather and I'm always very happy to return to something within Nagash's domain. There's been numerous times where I painted up a Nighthaunt model after awhile of not working on them and I'm always reminded of why I love painting them so much.

Having a passion project within the hobby gives you a bit of an anchor. Something you always know you'll enjoy when you're not sure what direction to go in, or you find your self struggling with a new project. I'm sure a lot of people out there have a faction or army they identify most with. I know Chuck Moore loves his Daughters of Khaine and Nick Bayton is a son of Ultramar through and through. I plan on expanding my Daughters and Nurgle armies more, as well as finally scratching that Stormcast itch, but I'll always have more Death projects lined up. They're my hobby bedrock. I know I'll always have something to work on, add to, and paint that I enjoy.

What's your favorite faction or army within Age of Sigmar or Warhammer 40,000 that you never tire of working on?

Until next time,

Tyler M.