The Briar Queen was once a death mage of formidable power, a great enemy of Shadespire whose undead armies breached the city walls and threatened to tear down all that the Katophranes had built. Only after unthinkable bloodshed was the Briar Queen defeated, captured and sentenced to an eternity of imprisonment and torment in the Nightvault, far beneath the city streets. Years passed, and this agonising existence slowly drove the Briar Queen to madness.

Trapped for centuries in a cell of obsidian shadeglass, she was consumed by misery and despair, yet an ember of hatred for those who had condemned her to this fate still lingered. She was the perfect tool for Nagash to unleash upon those who dared to trespass within the Mirrored City. The Great Necromancer dragged her screaming essence from her crystal tomb and fashioned her inchoate malice into the dread form of a banshee, with her former mastery of necromantic magic still intact.

Miniature Review

Whereas I wasn't the biggest fan of the Stormcast Eternals in the Nightvault box set I really like the Nighthaunt. The Briar Queen looks great, being much larger and with a unique weapon that makes it clear that she's the leader.

The other miniatures fit really nicely together but also have a lot of unique details so it's easy to see who is who at a glance. The floating effect works really well on all of them and I like the distinctions between what's ethereal and what's in the material world.

Painting Techniques

Ghost

Nihilakh Oxide was mixed with Lahmian Medium 1:3 and applied using a couple of layers. Coelia Greenshade was then mixed with Lahmian Medium 1:4 and applied to the inside and deeper recesses like the hands and face.

Cloaks

Gold

Copper

Steel

Bone

Leather & Rope

Wooden Planks

Wooden Handles

Vines

Flowers

Base

Dark Rock

Light Rock

Roundup

Originally I was just go to paint them all with the ghostly effect and leave them at that. However, I really liked the idea that the Briar Queen was almost completely white, while all the lower ranked ghosts wore black robes. This added a lot more time to the paint job but was really worth it to add variety and help the leader really stand out.