Painting the Hedonites of Slaanesh Spearhead

Why the Hedonites of Slaanesh?

In all my history with Warhammer I never bothered too much with Slaanesh, the models just never clicked for me. I still dislike the models of the Daemonettes and their chariots and when I got into painting Warhammer with 40K’s 10th Edition again I didn’t even bother to look at their model range.

However when the Emperors Children released for 40K I found myself enjoying these models quite a lot so I took the plunge and roughly a year later I am craving for more… excess if you will, and decided to just try to paint the Hedonites Spearhead for Age of Sigmar as I really enjoyed the look of the mortals, so here we are.

Table of Contents

Painted Blissbarb Archers unit displayed together, viewed from a top-front angle.

Painted Blissbarb Archer with ornate armor details, viewed from front angle.

Painted Blissbarb Archer in dynamic pose with drawn arrow, top-front view.

My Goals

The Hedonites of Slaanesh are my fifth army for Age of Sigmar. I am not sure how much effort I will put into that army in the future as it is absolutely true that these models take long to finish (and even now just adding the pics here I see more details I missed while painting), but I will get the occasional box every now and then. I already ordered 1 box of Myrmidesh Painbringers and I am super excited for Glutos.

Painted Shardspeeker of Slaanesh with flowing robes, viewed from a top-front angle.

The Painting Journey

So painting these is wild. I enjoy these models and the first stages of painting were a lot of fun as usual, but then you just keep finding details and one more gem. That got old really fast. Won’t stop me from buying more though.

With the color scheme I kept it mostly close to the box art but with a bit more “white” for the cloth.

Painted Slickblade Seekers cavalry unit displayed together on their mounts, viewed from a top-front angle.

Painted Slickblade Seeker on mount with glaive raised, front angle.

Painted Slickblade Seeker leaning forward in a charging pose, viewed from top-front angle.

My favorite details

The skin — I have painted a lot of skin in my painting journey so far, but most of the time it is very defined muscles. The Archers have hardly any defined muscles and you often hear how people say painting undefined skin is hard. I would agree, and my skin is absolutely nothing to brag about, but I had a lot of fun painting it.

Painted Slaangor Fiends unit displayed together, viewed from a top-front angle.

Painted Slaangor mid-stride with twin claws, viewed from front angle.

Painted Slaangor with axe, top-front angle.

Challenges & lessons

The Slaangors were the models I enjoyed the least. They are not bad models at all, but compared to the others I found them a bit boring. In the long run I’ll probably get another spearhead and paint 3 more, but after that I am unlikely to get more Slaangors unless they are part of any future combo box.

The Slickblade Seekers are pointy as hell and while trying to reach for a paint I broke one of their weapons. I’d put my money on them breaking at least one mini per game.

Paint recipes

All miniatures were base coated with White Scar spray

Blissbarb Archers

Painted Blissbarb Archer pointing forwards viewed from a slightly elevated front angle.

For the loin- and face cloth as well as the fringes(?) I used Luxion Purple Contrast
The white cloth I left with the White Scar base paint
The center of the shoulder plate and the headpiece plumes I used Volupus Pink
With the bows I have used Black Templar Contrast for the non-metal parts
For the blades, chains and shoulder armor I used Vallejo Mecha Color Steel
Most of the jewelry I painted with Retributor Armor base or Runelord Brass
For the feathers of the arrows I used Terradon Turquoise Contrast
The entire miniature was then covered with Nuln Oil
For the skin details I used Kislev Flesh
The cloth details I did with Genestealer Purple
Some of the gems I also highlighted a bit again with Retributor Armor
For the white cloths I also added some white highlights with Corax White
Some of the sandals I painted with Morghast Bone

Shardspeaker

For the loin- and face cloth as well as the fringes(?) I used Luxion Purple Contrast
The white cloth I left with the White Scar base paint
The center of the shoulder plate and the headpiece plumes I used Volupus Pink
With the bows I have used Black Templar Contrast for the non-metal parts
For the blades, chains and shoulder armor I used Vallejo Mecha Color Steel
Most of the jewelry I painted with Retributor Armor base or Runelord Brass
For the feathers of the arrows I used Terradon Turquoise Contrast
The entire miniature was then covered with Nuln Oil
For the skin details I used Kislev Flesh
The cloth details I did with Genestealer Purple
Some of the gems I also highlighted a bit again with Retributor Armor
For the white cloths I also added some white highlights with Corax White
Her boots were done with Black Templar Contrast
The mirror and the ball I painted with Frostheart Contrast

Slickblade Seekers

For the loin- and face cloth as well as the fringes(?) I used Luxion Purple Contrast
The white cloth I left with the White Scar base paint
The center of the shoulder plate and the headpiece plumes I used Volupus Pink
With the bows I have used Black Templar Contrast for the non-metal parts
For the blades, chains and shoulder armor I used Vallejo Mecha Color Steel
Most of the jewelry I painted with Retributor Armor base or Runelord Brass
The entire miniature was then covered with Nuln Oil
For the skin details I used Kislev Flesh
The cloth details I did with Genestealer Purple
Some of the gems I also highlighted a bit again with Retributor Armor
For the white cloths I also added some white highlights with Corax White
Some of the sandals I painted with Morghast Bone
I highlighted the skin of the Hellstriders with Blue Horror
The eyes of the Hellstriders were done with Yriel Yellow

Slaangor Fiendbloods

Painted Slaangor with ornate armor and horns, viewed from slightly elevated front angle.

For the loin- and face cloth as well I used Luxion Purple Contrast
The white cloth I left with the White Scar base paint
The center of the shoulder plate and the claws I used Volupus Pink
The plumes were painted with Terradon Turquoise Contrast
For the blades, chains and shoulder armor I used Vallejo Mecha Color Steel
Most of the jewelry I painted with Retributor Armor base or Runelord Brass
The entire miniature was then covered with Nuln Oil
For the skin details I used Kislev Flesh
The cloth details I did with Genestealer Purple
Some of the gems I also highlighted a bit again with Retributor Armor
For the white cloths I also added some white highlights with Corax White
Some of the sandals I painted with Morghast Bone

Next Steps

A box of Myrmidesh Painbringers is already ordered and on the way, but they will probably stay a bit on my pile of shame. After I am done with them I’ll probably get Glutos and most likely a second spearhead (if by the time I get around the current spearhead is still available).