In 30 years of being involved with Blood Bowl…I’ve never run a Chaos team. Chaos generally isn’t a big faction of mine and the Khorne flavor of the generic Chaos team never appealed. I’m actually more of a Tzeentch or Nurgle gamer if it came to it, but Chaos in general traditionally doesn’t do anything for me. It’s ironic then that I’ve painted so much of it the past few years…

Starting with the Age of Sigmar 1st edition starter set and continuing into Warhammer Underworlds: Shadespire, I found myself painting a lot of Khornate worshipping Bloodbound models as my son was interested in the Stormcast Eternals half of each starter set. Not really sure what to do with Khorne, I wanted to paint this faction fast. Pouring around online I came across a subgroup called the Iron Horde. These guys were pretty much all iron. Easy to paint. Looking for a contrast to all the metal, I figure why not go bold red as the skin color? Thus the Bloodskins of the Ironkeep were born. Below are their Age of Sigmar models.

Next the two Bloodskin warbands in Warhammer Underworlds.

I know the Blood Bowl universe doesn’t take place in the Warhammer Old World, much less in the Age of Sigmar, but this has been a working formula for me and this faction. I’ve grown to have a little appreciation for this group of Khornate worshipping crazies as I’ve played them more than any other faction the past three years. I never would have guessed.

So, when the Chaos Chosen team was announced for Blood Bowl, I knew that if I were to ever paint those models…they’d have to be the Ironkeep Bloodskins.

There was a little bit of gnashing of teeth when the Chaos Chosen team was announced. Some, didn’t like the muscle beach look of the blockers. Fans had long been use to the Chaos Warrior look of the 3rd edition models. To be honest, I much prefer the new blockers. they look more like they belong to a sports team opposed to the 3rd edition aesthetic of fantasy warriors across the BB line. Plus, these models remind me of some of the classic 2nd edition art.

So, here’s my attempt and bringing the Chaos Blitz Bowl team into my little Bloodskin universe. 

I wasn’t sure if all the iron/steel color would end up making them look like fantasy warriors or not, but I think they turned out alright. The transfers were a huge pain as they had to be cut really close to get to fit on the shoulder pads. This was the first time I’ve gone with multiple iconography on one team. I was hoping for them to have some sort of “Adorned in Marks of Khorne’s Blessings” look. In a slight not to the Tomax and Xamot twins from GI Joe, I have them sort of mirrored versions of each other, except a small difference or two.

The Beastmen posed a little more of a problem. What color would they be? I guess I ended up going even lazier with them. I didn’t want the Beastmen the same color and I liked how the Khornehound thing turned out on my Blood Warrior Shadespire warband above. Plus, that creature was done using a color called Scab Red. This seemed a no brainer.

Like their AoS counterparts, I’m really pleased how this team turned out so am  actually looking forward to playing Chaos in my upcoming Blitz Bowl league…hopefully this Summer.