Yes, I have a new painting plan as well

Why am I changing my painting method?

There are a number of reasons actually; they are listed here:

1. I want my Humans of Araby to have a uniform appearance
2. I want to keep the painting simple while still having layers
3. I think some of my former painting ideals are rather unrealistic
4. I wanted to take advice from a friend before deciding on coloration

Now that that is cleared, let me break this down by the layers and paints without making you have two or more tabs open

The Armor painting

Believe it or not, these guys will share an armor-layering fashion with my "The Lord of the Rings" Easterlings; due to both being masters of bronze armor.

I will base the armor with Screaming Bell and ink it with Reikland Fleshshade. This will end with me doing Detail Brush highlights with Sycorax Bronze.

The Silk Painting

My Araby guys are going to all have their silks collectively base-coated with Kantor Blue. Next I will ink their clothes with Drakenhof Nightshade, and finally apply highlights with Alaitoc Blue. However, this will be the only glazed part of my guys. Their silks will have a Gulliman Blue glazing

The Blade painting

I am still using the same blade painting method as with my Easterlings for LotR but both will have simple 3-step layering, like this: Base of Leadbelcher, Shade of Nuln Oil, and Layer-highlight of Runefang Steel, because honestly I feel like Ironbreaker makes better iron than steel

Painting the Genetics

Because Easterling humans of Middle-earth and Araby-humans of Warhammer World share the Indo-Saharan phenotype (medium-tone skin with dark hair and dark eyes) with one-another, they will receive tan skin and dark eyes. The Men of Araby in particular will get their hair painted Abaddon Black with Nuln Oil wash and highlights of Eshin Grey. Also, unlike the Easterlings, the Araby guys will actually have their skin layer-painted: Bugman's Glow for starters, then Reikland Fleshshade to fill gaps, finally highlights will be done in Cadian Fleshstone. They will have pretty much the same eye-coloring as my LotR Easterling guys: White Scar dots by Detail Brush, then a Fine Detail brush gives them Rhinox Hide outer cores and Abbadon Black inner cores.

Genies' skin

Genies will be the only beings in my army with pale blue skin instead of "medium nougat" skin. Starting with Caledor Sky, I will then put Drakenhof Nightshade over it, then the final steps will be Lothern Blue highlight with Gulliman Blue for glazing.

Elephants

The Sgt. Major Miniature Elephants will be painted with Mechanicus Standard Grey with Nuln Oil and Dawnstone for skin. They will have plain Abaddon Black eyes, and their tusks will be layered with Celestra Grey, followed by Nuln Oil, followed by White Scar. I will armor them with makeshift armor of thick cardboard and paint it like the human armor. Their War-paint will be just plain Altdorf Guard Blue. The howdah will be layered like the human silk, and the woman-warriors up top (converted from Wood Elf Waywatchers) will have identical painting to their Core Unit and Special unit counterparts.

Basing

I am simply going to leave the sand glued to the tops unpainted and then I shall paint the rims of the bases and movement trays with Kislev Flesh, a layer paint.

That's all

Yup, I have changed both my collecting plan and my modelling plan, and now I have changed my painting plan as well. I will post something new some time from now.....

~KP

Change of conversion plans

Why the change?

Because I feel like sticking to Warhammer models instead of trying to also make due with LotR ones makes sense, especially given the extra dough that would be spent on extra bases, "Warhammer Bitz" and so on. I'd rather save my money by restricting my WH army to WH models and my LotR army to LotR ones, ya know?

How will these new conversion plans go?

Quite simply actually, I have even devised a simple flow-chart, using a "before -----> after" system. Also, the vast majority of appearance changing will be done by molding on Citadel Green Stuff on each troop type

Lords

Captain of the Empire with Great Weapon -----> Caliph

Markus Wulfhart -----> Salah Ad-din

Empire Wizard Lord -----> Grand Vizier

Heroes

Brettonian Damsel -----> Jasime Silverveil

Dark Elf Assassin 2 -----> Hashihins

Dark Elf Assassin with Two Hand Weapons -----> Malik Ibn-La'Ahad

Ogre Kingdoms Araby Maneater -----> Genie

Empire Battle Wizard -----> normal Vizier

Core Units (I will have 10 units of each of these)

Empire Free Company -----> Warriors of Araby

High Elf Archers -----> Bowmen of Araby

Empire Free Company -----> Corsairs

Wood Elf Glade Riders -----> Desert Riders

Special Units (I will have [and am limited to] 3 units of each of these)

High Elf Spearmen -----> Palace Guard

Empire State Troops -----> Janissaries

High Elf Silver Helms -----> Mameluke

Empire Handgunners -----> Nomad Hunters

Empire Huntsmen with large flying base stems and 50mm monster bases -----> Flying Carpet Riders

Empire Free Company (yet again) ----->  Naffatun

Rare Units (I will have [and am limited to] 2 units of each of these)

Brettonian Trebuchet -----> Araby Onager

Wood Elf Great Eagle -----> Araby Giant Eagle (Roc)

Sgt. Major Miniatures 28mm Elephant, Screaming Bell Base, Wood Elf Waywatcher trio & some cardboard -----> War Elephant of Araby with standard crew

Conclusion

I have made this decision completely for the better. So I will make assembly a lot easier on myself and I will save a lot that would otherwise be spent on replacement bases.

~KP

Who will I seek the alliance of?

Hello, guys

I have decided to tell you guys who I am to ally with and why.

Allies I already have

The only armies allied to the humans of Araby are the High Elves of Ulthuan and the Dwarves of World's Edge Mountains. I have decided that while these two groups have been very consistent allies to my Warhammer World People, just the two of them will not be enough for Araby's future success. These two need to share with others a common purpose of helping my Grand Caliphate. Here's why (and each reason starts by naming out a faction I look upon as an enemy)

1. Dark Elves are constantly raiding the coast of Araby, and have none of the moral decency that even people-owning Arabyans have
2. Skaven (people-like rats) were incited by an illegitimate "Sultan" to help plunge all of Humanity (including Araby) into Chaos, who in turn persuaded him to attack Brettonia and the Empire relentlessly (causing hostility between these two and Araby)
3. Animate Skeletons from the Land of the Dead once haunted and even waged war on Araby because they physically could
4. Vampires (medieval military versions of the 30 Days of Night kind, not any of the old or nostalgic kinds) attacked Araby out of hunger for raw muscle and thirst for blood at least twice
5. Chaos Warriors & Chaos Daemons assaulted Araby quite a few times apiece, and I suspect they will try my Warhammer World people again.
6. The Greenskins (Orcs and Goblins) attacked Araby so many times that it go to the point of High Elves and Dwarves needing to band together with the Humans of Araby to give the Greenskins a taste of their own medicine!

Intended Allies among the official armies

1. Wood Elves
2. Lizardmen (managed to secure alliance with these dudes already) :-D
3. Empire (hopefully we can make amends)
4. Bretonnia (hopefully we can make amends)

Intended Allies among the unofficial armies

1. Albion (basically the Celts of Warhammer World, which makes these guys the Warhammer Fantasy World equivalent to my ancient world ancestors)
2. Cathay (these guys are like the Ming Dynasty of Warhammer World, making them very versatile)
3. Nippon (the Samurai of Warhammer World, these people are insane in the best possible context as well, being technologically similar to the Cathayans)
4. Kingdoms of Ind (these guys are to Warhammer World as the Rajput armies of India were to the real world, making them quite the people to look to for alliance against the Ogre Kingdoms)
5. Norse (these guys remind me so much of Skyrim and are so awesome all by themselves [Mammoths with howdahs for example] I just have to ally with them)

The total

I shall have eleven allies when I go to do Warhammer Fantasy stuff at events like Connecticon and at simple Gaming Events (hosted by me or by another fan-class gamer, NOT anything like "Games Day (insert year here)" or anything Games Workshop-hosted. So yes, once I secure all those alliances and pressure to make happen all of the peace agreements that need to be made, THEN the People of Araby can be certain they are well-supported!

~KP

Painting the Soldiery of Araby

Introduction

This is not the same post as my earlier one: granted, it is similar in format. Instead, this is merely discussing and linking (aka referencing) the multi-layer systems I will use. Note that as with my Lord of the Rings Easterlings, my Warhammer Fantasy Arabyans will also get their eyes from me dotting the eyes in with White Scar and the irises with dark colors like Rhinox Hide and Kantor Blue, as well as really tiny pupil dot-ins with Abaddon Black. Now that that's cleared up let's learn my coloring plan, based on the Citadel Paint System (you'll want to open the "CPS" link in a separate tab to cross-check my refences), minus the Dry Compounds:

Lords

Salah-Adin:

1. Clothing will use Khorne System with no use of Kindleflame at all
2. Armor will use Brass System with no use of Golden Griffon at all
3. Scimitar will use Steel System with no use of Necron Compound at all
4. Skin will use Tanned Flesh System with no use of Eldar Flesh at all
5. Hair & beard will use Sheer Black System with no use of Longbeard Grey at all

Caliphs:

1. Clothing will use White System but with no Praxeti White whatsoever and with Ceramic White for Base coat on everything but the head-scarf. Celestra Gray will be used for Base-coating the head-scarf.
2. Armor will use the same coloring scheme as Salah-Adin's scimitar
3. Same Skin coloring scheme as Salah-Adin elaborated above.
4. Same Hair & beard coloring scheme as Salah-Adin above.

Heroes

Jasmine Silverviel:

1. Her skin will use the High Elves coloring system. Thing is though, I am not including Etherium Blue
2. Her clothes will have the Blue coloring system, but not only am I excluding Etherium Blue, but I am also excluding Hoeth Blue from the layering
3. Snowmane will have the same coloring scheme as the Caliph's non-head-scarf clothing eleborated above.
4. Her hair will have identical color scheme to Salah-Adin's beard & hair
5. Her sword, being the only double-edged blade of any in the army, still follows the Salah-Adin coloring scheme for swords

Malik Ibn La'Ahad:

1. See my clothing plan for the Caliphs, but ignore the second sentence of that plan.
2. For his vambraces I may consider doing the Steel coloring scheme without Necron Compound on the left and the Warm Brown without Tyrant Skull one on the right.
3. His skin will use the Tanned Flesh System like the majority of troops around here
4. His Goatee will use Sheer Black without Longbeard Gray.

Genies:

1. These guys will share skin coloring scheme with Jasmine Silverviel
2. Their armor (wherever armored) will use the Gold coloring scheme, minus Golden Griffon
3. Their swords & katars (punch daggers) will use the Steel scheme without any Necon Compound use at all
4. The lamps will share schemes with their armor
5. The Tornado looking things will use the Ultramarines system, minus Etherium Blue

Hashishins:

1. These guys will have identical cloth-coloring to their ruler, Malik
2. They will also share skin, blade, and armor color with him
3. Their silken face-masks will have a Bone system color scheme to them, excluding Praxeti White

Core Units

Warriors of Araby:

1. The armor and helmets and blades will have the Steel coloring system without Necron Compound
2. The silken clothing will be using the multi-layer process of the Fire Dragons system, minus Kindleflame
3. The wooden stuff will be colored using the Yellow System but not including Hexos Palesun
4. The skin will be using the Tanned Flesh scheme without Eldar Flesh
5. The facial hair shall use Sheer Black system without using Longbeard Gray
6. The Bowmen of Araby will have identical coloring to their better-armored Warrior kin

Corsairs:

1. The tunics will use the Sheer Black scheme with no sign at all of Longbeard Gray
2. All other silks will be colored by the Blood Angels system though not using Kindleflame
3. Skin will be Tanned Flesh minus Eldar Flesh
4. Blades will be using the Steel system, minus Necron Compound

Desert Riders:

1. The armor & helmets on these guys will use the Bronze system without Golden Griffon
2. The blades will still be Steel without Necron Compound
3. The head-clothing will use Ultramarines system with no sign at all of Etherium Blue
4. All other clothing uses Yellow system with no use of Hexos Palesun at all
5. Skin will be same as with infantry counterparts above (Warriors & Bowmen of  Araby)
6. Facial hair will mirror that of infantry counterparts above
7. Wooden stuff will be Warm Brown but not with Tyrant Skull anywhere at all

Special Units

Palace Guard:

1. Armor will use the Steel system without even a hint of Necron Compound, and so will the blades
2. Skin will use the Uruk-hai system but there will not be a Terminatus Stone application
3. Clothes will use the Dark Angels system, minus Underhive Ash
4. chain-mail face-cover and head-scarf will be the same as armor and blades
5. Wooden stuff will be Sheer Black minus Longbeard Gray
6. Mamelukes and their horses will share color scheme with the Palace Guards

Janissaries:

1. Armor will be identical coloring to that of the Palace Guard
2. Clothing color will also match that of the Palace Guard
3. Skin will be the Flesh coloring scheme with no use of Eldar Flesh at all
4. The White head-dresses will be using the White coloring system
5. The mustaches will be Sheer Black without Longbeard Gray.

Naffatun:

1. The clothing will be painted with the Ultramarines and Dark Elves systems (subtract Etherium Blue and Lucius Lilac from the equation) according to the Corsair of Umbar coloring
2. The thrown devices will be painted with plain and simple Wazdakka Red
3. The blades and masks will be painted using the Steel system with no use of Necron Compound at all
4. The skin will use the Tanned Flesh system without Eldar Flesh

Nomad Hunters:

1. Head-covering silk will use the White system, minus Praxeti White
2. Torso-wear will use the Fire Dragons system without Kindleflame
3. Leg-wear will use the Uruk-hai system without Terminatus Stone
4. Skin and hair will be the same as with Warriors and Bowmen of Araby
5. Armor and wood will have Warm Brown system without Tyrant Skull
6. Barrels on 3-barrel pole gun will each be simply Ironbreaker

Flying Carpet Riders

1. Head-covering silk will use the Blood Angels system, minus Kindleflame
2. Torso-covering silk will use the Dark Elves system, but without Lucius Lilac
3. Leg-wear will be painted along the lines of the White system, minus Praxeti White
4. Carpet will be painted with the Khorne coloring system, but not with Kindleflame
5. Armor and Wood will be the same as with Nomad Hunters

Rare Units

War Elephants:

1. "War paint" will be applied to the creature using the Uruk-hai coloring system, minus Termanitus Stone
2. The Howdah will be painted with the Ultramarines system, not including Etherium Blue
3. The crewmen will basically be painted the same as the Warriors and Bowmen of Araby

Roc Eagles:

1. The eyes will get the Blood Angels system without Kindleflame
2. The Head will get the White system without Praxeti White
3. The body from the neck backward will get the Yellow system without Hexos Palesun
4. The beak and claws will use the Gold system without Golden Griffon

Onagers:

1. The crew will be painted the same as the Warriors and Bowmen
2. The machine will be painted with the Bone and Uruk-hai systems according to where the packaging implies each system goes
3. The stones will be painted through the Grey system without the use of Longbeard Grey

Conclusion

Now that I have told you my painting plan, I am going to take at least a week's break before posting again. When I come back, I will post about who my allies and enemies are as a General of Araby, and I will elaborate on who I intend to have for future allies and who I intend to depose as future enemies........

~KP

Collecting and Modelling The Humans Of Araby

Introductory Words

When first I looked into the Araby Army book, I noticed there were indeed a lot of troop types to represent! I thought long and hard about how I want to represent the People of Araby, and decided maybe I should mostly look to the Haradrim, Corsairs, and even Easterlings for most of the characters since they are the only Near-Eastern-looking Citadel Miniatures available. So here is my collecting plan and modelling plan:

Lords

Salah-Adin:

Markus Wulfhart model with hat replaced with a turban made of Citadel Green Stuff. Arrow chipped & sanded away and the bow replaced with a scimitar molded from thin card.

Caliphs:

Kings of Men from LotR with round bases swapped out for square ones and sculpted with Green Stuff to have turbans on top of head-scarves. Also Green stuff on them to make them look lamellar armored.

Heroes

Jasmine Silverviel:

Bretonnian Damsel sword-person sandpapered and Green-Stuff-molded to be dressed as Silverviel herself is in the Araby book

Malik Ibn La'Ahad:

Dark Elven Assassin with face redone to look like a human face with facial hair like Malik Al-Sayf from Assassin's Creed 1, but with shadow over eyes.

Genies:

Ogre Kingdoms Araby Maneater with horns and spike removed, severed from the waste down to make room for a tornado-shaped molding of Green Stuff. Little guy replaced with Genie Lamp made of Green Stuff.

Hashishins:

Haradrim Hasharin from LotR replacing round base with square base and molding on a Green Stuff hood to ensure they look different from the Hasharii of Harad

Core Units

Warriors of Araby:

Haradrim Warriors replacing round bases with square ones, spearmen who can have spears easily removed get thin card figure-8 shields and thin card scimitars while spearmen with half the spear hugged to their bodies will simply get these figure-8 shields attached to their belts. All will get conical helmets upon head-scarves.

Bowmen of Araby:

the archers from the Haradrim Warrior kit with the same base replacements and head-decorating described above.

Corsairs:

Corsairs of Umbar from LotR with head-scarves and silken face-masks molded on and the round bases replaced with square ones.

Slave Guards:

These guys won't appear in my army because how can you fight if you have another dude cuffed neck-to-neck to you? Doesn't make sense to me!

Desert Riders:

Haradrim Raiders from LotR with same head-molding as Warriors of Araby above, giant spinal dream-catchers excluded from assembly, all spear-armed ones given crescent shields a.k.a. figure-C shields, and all bases to be replaced with closed cavalry bases

Camel Riders:

How do I build these guys without overpaying for camel models? Not appearing in my army.

Special Units

Palace Guard:

Easterling Warriors from LotR with Green Stuff molding of dome-helmet and chain-mail face-masks to all heads (while NOT gluing on the 3-horned helmets), all round bases replaced with square ones. For the ones with shields I will cover their shields with thin card oval shields, but the ones with bows will have their bows removed and instead have "Great Weapons" (whatever those are) used with both hands.

Janissaries:

Empire State Troops re-molded with Citadel Green Stuff to look like the Janissaries of Medieval Turkey.

Mamelukes:

Easterling Kataphrakts from LotR line with same head-molding and shield-altering as Palace Guard, replacing round bases with closed cavalry bases. Finally, swords get replaced with makeshift spears from toothpicks with Green-Stuff heads

Naffatun:

Corsairs of Umbar with non-sword weapons (including shields) replaced with sculpted little spheres of Green Stuff. Round bases replaced with square bases, and extra molding to make the figures look more covered up (including chain-mail face-mask)

Nomad Hunters:

Haradrim Warrior Spearmen with spears remolded into 3-barrel pole guns like in Deadliest Warrior restoration of Ming Dynasty weaponry, replacing the Haradrims' round bases with square ones.

Flying Carpet Riders:

Haradrim Warrior Bowmen on scratch-molded carpets on toothpicks molded to Monstrous Cavalry bases

Rare Units

War Elephants:
African Elephant doll from Safari Ltd glued to Screaming Bell Base with makeshift thick card howdah with Green Stuff-armored Watchers of Karna from LotR placed in the howdah (replacing their round bases with square ones)

Rocs (Giant Eagles of Araby):
Wood Elven Great Eagles with no special modifying whatsoever.

Onagers:
Brettonian Trebuchets with all crew "Arabized" using Citadel Green Stuff (turbans and head-scarves and bushy beards). Yeah, it's actually that simple.

Conclusive Words

This is merely the collecting and modelling stages of my Warhammer Fantasy Arabyan Army. The next post whenever I have time will be about the Painting stage, how I completely ignore the Citadel Dry Compounds like with my Lord of the Rings Easterling Army, and which Systems in the Citadel Paint System page I will use for different mannerisms. After that comes who is already allied to Araby and who I intend to forge additional alliances with....

~KP

Introduction to Araby army validity

Some things I want to clear up right away:

1. No, Humans of Araby is not an official Warhammer Fantasy Army and therefore cannot be used in things like "Armies On Parade" or "Games Day North America"
2. Yes, Humans of Araby is based on the Medieval armies of the Middle East, which in the Middle Ages was the land of the least criminal governments on Earth (a stark contrast to modern times)
3. Yes, there is an unofficial Araby Army Book you can read at no charge at all here
4. Yes, this army still requires a legit copy of the Warhammer rulebook in order to understand how to use it, like all official armies and all other unofficial armies do.
5. No, the human army of Araby is not totally evil. In fact, they have very strict policies on keeping cheap-labor employers nice to their "owned" laborers; and they even have strong friendliness with the High Elves and the Dwarven folk of Warhammer World. As far as Order vs. Chaos goes, these humans are what you would call "Independent Lean-Order", so basically the Humans of Araby have a strong "The Good Guys"-orientation but unanimously they are Neutralists.
6. Yes, I did request Games Workshop to make an official Araby army for Warhammer
7. No, Their culture is not original: for an unmentioned example, their religion, their god's name (Ormazd), and their level of human decency are completely ripped off from the Ancient Iranian pseudo-democracy of the Achaemenid Persian Empire from the 6th Century BC of real life.

Now that we have that cleared, let me begin by clearing that I only got into Warhammer because of being open-minded and also it opened up a new Citadel Hobby opportunity for me, with the The Lord of the Rings Strategy Battle Game being what made me into a Games Workshop hobbyist!

There are still some things I need to understand. I am already a seasoned intermediate Easterling general in the Middle-earth line, but I actually do need the 532-page, hardcover, full-cover bulk that is the Warhammer Fantasy rules manual.

Next post will be about my conversion plans to resemble whatever can be represented in the Warhammer Fantasy Game

~KP