Calling the Brayherd: Minotaurs

When I first thought about starting a Beastman army I had no inclination to purchase any minotaurs. They are overpriced - points wise - and aren't very tough. When GW put out the models, they were laughed off the internet (and I remember myself pretty much hating them).

I heard you like muscles so I put muscles on your muscles and tossed in a pinch of muscle.

After I purchased the initial battalion boxes with hobby cash I was interested in stuff that wasn't the standard. I had a ton of gor, ungor, and bestigor. I had my characters. I needed some more cool stuff that would set the army apart from just a bunch of rank and file.

The minotaurs really fill that gap. They're huge and intimidating. They are monstrous infantry, with impact hits, extra hand weapons, and frenzy. They're an offensive juggernaut... if they make it there. Every combat they win they receive an additional attack. With stomps, extra hand weapons, and full supporting attacks, they're gonna delete units if they can make it into combat.

From the front

The models themselves were alright to put together.They're almost like action figures, they're so large. Getting them to rank up with huge bodies on smaller bases and all kinds of weapons everywhere AND horns is really, really, really tough. I think there is really only one way my models will rank up, and one dude basically has to face out or backwards.

Front corner view

I gave them a mix of two hand weapons and great weapons, as I figure I'll use either one sometimes. That way I can tell my opponent at the beginning of the game what they're using (and it'll be on my roster) and it shouldn't be a problem.

Side view

I feel like the GW paintjob really didn't do the models justice. They've done that a few times in recent history that I can recall with various models. The extreme shading on the muscles made it look really bad and people hated them.

ESPN Skycam view

I am bringing a nine strong minotaur unit on Saturday. I painted all nine, including bloodkine (champ), standard, and musician. After I primered them in my human flesh color, I basecoated all the parts of the model, then dipped. I really like how the standard came out... I am very intimidated by free hand painting but I think it looks pretty cool.

Standard shot

Each minotaur without an armor plated nose received some sort of blue warpaint. This is because my Beastmen army is blessed by Tzeentch. I like how it turned out and breaks up the flesh / brown colors, and pops the models a bit.

Hopefully what you'll never see

All in all I am impressed with these models. They're my first full unit painted for Beastmen, and they're a good start. I've painted a few character models, including my beastlord, BSB, and great bray shaman, so I'll probably continue and paint a big gor block next.