Underworlds The Dread Pageant
It’s been a while since I’ve shared some of my Underworlds warbands, and the upcoming Season 5, Harrowdeep, has me very excited to see what future warbands are in store for the game. I sadly was unable to play any games for the current season, Direchasm, due to the ongoing global pandemic, but I still managed to get a fair few of the warbands painted.
The stars of the starter set for Direchasm are the Dread Pageant, a distinct and varied group of Slaanesh Hedonites. Every fighter in the band are gorgeous in their own right, a fantastically realized group that stands out as one of the best in the game, in my opinion. They offer a great opportunity for a host of bright and bold colours, and I obviously jumped at the chance to paint them in a distinctly Slaanesh scheme.
The leader of the warband is Vasillac the Gifted, a stunning Chaos Warrior and a fighter that was an absolute joy to paint. While I kept much of his colour scheme similar to that of the rest of the warband, I was sure to make him stand out among them, with his shimmering cloak of regal purple and the blue tinted face plate of his helmet. I also tried to give his shield a pearlescent look, which turned out fairly well I think.
Glissete might be my favourite fighter of the warband. I love her casual, relaxed pose. The way she holds herself speaks to an arrogance that I find very captivating. Her outfit is also worth mentioning. It’s such a great aesthetic for Slaanesh, unique among the worlds of Warhammer and especially for the warriors of Chaos, while not feeling overly sexualised like so much of the Dark Princes forces. (I know that sort of ties into Slaanesh as a whole, but in the past it’s felt very juvenile and just sort of tiring when it’s the only thing anyone can think to do with such an interesting God whose whole thing is obsession and perfection, not just boobs.)
Next up is Hadzu, a ranged fighter who, I’m happy to say, has the same attire as his female counterpart! This was a pleasant surprise for me, as usually it’s only the women who wear clothing/armour that reveals their skin or shows off their body. I had a lot of fun painting the fletching of his arrows, going for something resembling a peacock, which I felt was a very fitting choice.
And last but not least is Slackslash, the strangest of the bunch. An imposing and disturbing Minotaur, they’re a very welcome addition to the group. Not only do they bring some needed muscle to the warband, they’re also a very cool addition to what a force of Slaanesh devotees can look like. I’d love to see more like them dedicated to the other Chaos Gods. I opted for a very pale skin tone, which contrasted nicely against all the black leather they wear, and which made giving the brands on their back a bloodied and gross look all the easier.
