Introduction

The inspiration for this came from my dislike of the design chosen by GW for their Khandish warriors. 
Personally I think that the Psuedo-Mongol/Samaurai look to them doesn't fit the Variags at all, and I think that a 
more Scandinavian design would have been more suitable (especially considering that it is highly likely that 
Tolkien's Variags were inspired by the real world Varangian Guard, who were Scandivavians who went south 
and east while the Vikings went west). To fill the roll of more 'faithful' Variags, I chose Crusader miniatures 
Varangian Guard in Parade Dress.

Materials Used:
* Sand
* 25mm Round Slottabases
* PVA Glue
* Superglue
* Files/knife
* Greenstuff
* Sculpting Tool

Miniatures Used:
* Varangian Guard Minis
Paints Used:
* Chaos Black Spray
* Chaos Black
* Mechandrite Red
* Gretchin Green
* Denheb Stone
* Tallarn Flesh
* Scorched Brown
* Bestial Brown
* Chainmail
* Graveyard Earth
* Devlan Mud
* Gryphonne Sepia
* Ogryn Flesh
* Thraka Green
* Baal Red

Preparation
Clean any moldlines and flash from the mini with the files and/or knife and glue to the base with superglue. 
When this has bonded, apply PVA glue to the base and dip the model in your sand. Leave overnight for the 
glue to fully dry. Now mix up some greenstuff and taking a thin sausage apply to the miniatures where the 
incomplete straps are (the strap is for the shield supplied with the miniatures, but as the Variags of Khand do 
not carry shields, I have decided to make this into a sort of sash or baldric). Using the sculpting tool, flatten the 
greestuff against the mini and use the blade to trim it down so it matches the rest of the strap.





Leave the greenstuff to dry over night and then spray with Chaos Black. When this is dry, touch up the mini 
with watered down Chaos Black paint.




Painting the Mini
Begin by basecoating the tunic with Mechandrite Red. When this dries, wash with Baal Red.





When the wash is dry, basecoat the skin with Tallarn Flesh, and the leather areas (boots, belt and strap) and 
base with Scorched Brown. Highlight the leather areas with Bestial Brown. Now give the painted areas a wash 
with Ogryn Flesh.





Basecoat the cloak with Gretchin Green and then wash with Thraka Green. When the wash dries, give the cloak 
a second wash, this time with Devlan Mud.





Paint the hair and trousers with Denheb Stone, and drybrush the base with the same. Paint the axe haft and 
base rim Graveyard Earth. Now give the cloak, trousers, axe haft and base a wash with Devlan Mud, and the 
hair a wash of Gryphonne Sepia.





Lastly paint the axe head and broach with Chainmail, and you're done.





To make a Chieftain for them, simply reverse the colours of the cloak and tunic, and add a few extra details 
of your choice (for example, on my Chieftain above, I gave him purple trousers to denote a degree of wealth and 
painted the hood to resmble a sort of skull cap, but you could easily give one of the minis a different head 
or weapon if you were so inclined).
Conclusion
Well, that's how to make and paint an alternate Variag of Khand. I hope you've enjoyed readin this article, 
and that it will inspire you to try your own alternate designs for other profiles.