Before I discuss my army, I should introduce myself: my name’s Nick, and I’m the lead concept artist here at Privateer Press. My job is to help design the look of the characters, warbeasts, and warjacks that will ultimately find their way to your tabletop. This year at Lock & Load, I had the pleasure of meeting many of our amazing hobbyists, and hopefully I’ll see you all there again in 2014!

So now…let’s talk about the Butcher!

Ever since I created my first concept piece for Privateer Press—Kommander Zoktavir, the Butcher Unleashed—I knew I wanted to play Khador and take The Butcher (in any of his iterations) as my warcaster. I imagined a force of madmen and maniacs drawn to his banner, a barely contained horde of savage, bloodthirsty, psychopathic killers whose ferocity and aggression was only matched by their peerless leader’s.

Two solos immediately drew my attention, the Manhunter and Yuri the Axe. A single bit of lore in particular caught my attention:

There are dark whispers of manhunters who enjoy the hunt too much and give in to their animal urges and the euphoria of the kill. These hunters often possess track records good enough to offset the dark rumors, however—and there are none better at chasing an enemy to ground.

With this in mind, I began converting a new Manhunter figure to better express the grim depravity the passage alluded to. Looking to my favorite horror and slasher films for inspiration, I sculpted a necklace of ears, tanned human hides, and a skinned human facemask for him to wear.

Of course, the theme didn’t stop there. I next similarly modified my Yuri the Axe model to sport a complete cape of human skins, and I adorned his knee with a stretched and dried human face.

In addition to these nightmares, I also had a fairly fun idea for Fenris. As you can see, my model has been painted as if he skinned his horse, revealing the raw sinews and muscle striation beneath.

Another unit I fell in love with were the Doom Reavers. Needless to say, these abominations perfectly fit my theme and were an “auto-include” in my force. To better represent their background as “re-purposed” criminals, I adorned them with prison tattoos of Menofixes, skulls, stars, and onion-domed towers.

Currently, I’m working on a bunch of new miniatures for my force, including a Kodiak, a Man-O-War Demolition Corps unit, Widowmakers, and, of course, Kommander Zoktavir, the Butcher Unleashed.

I hope you’ve enjoyed this little trip into the heart of darkness. Stay tuned for more updates on my army and concept sneak peeks in the near future!

Keep it crazy,
Nick