The unit filler...

We all know that infantry and large amount of models is 'king' in 8th edition. And with the dawn of massed ranks of infantry, people have looked for ways of expanding their army without breaking the bank. That's where unit fillers come in.

Don't get me wrong, unit fillers have always been around - even in 7th edition. But they have really shot to popularity in 8th. The more tournaments I go to, the more interesting unit fillers I see. Personally, I love unit fillers. You can let your imagination run wild with some conversions and kit bashing. You can go from as little as a cavalry base taking up to two 25mmx25mm sized models, or you can go all out and have a chariot base taking 8 25mmx25mm models. The possibilities are endless.

Plus, you save money. With the new Savage Orc plastic kit, you are given 10 models with 10 bases to work with. But you're also given a cavalry base - in case you want to make yourself the 'Big Stabba'. Ah, you see where I'm going with this? You can stick one Savage Orc on that cavalry base and with so many spare bits on the sprues, you can add a bit of flare and scenery on that cavalry base. 11 Savage Orcs in a box of 10. If you have a spare monster base (50mmx50mm) laying around, then that's an additional 4 Savage Orcs to fill in your ranks.

And with that, I have decided to run a horde unit of Squig Herd in preparation for The Pilgrimage. 24 Squigs and 16 Night Goblin herders, for a grand total of 40 to be exact. Unfortunately, you can only get these in Finecast blisters and at $33 each (blisters contain 3 Squigs and 2 Goblins), the total cost you would have to pay is not pretty.

I have decided to have a crack at making an additional 2 unit fillers for my Squig Herd. One unit filler for the Squigs, the other as the Herders.

I had a spare 40mmx40mm base and I decided I would use this for the herders. Using just the sprues, I cut them out and clipped off the edges to represent the wooden stakes on each of the corners. Rummaging through my bits box, I found some good ol' Dwarf medallions and decided to stick it on the wooden stakes - to represent stolen treasure or the like. I also managed to find some other bits to stick on, like a Snotling, some Dwarf shields, rocks from the GW scenery set, a small mushroom and pointy rock.

I wanted to keep it simple, but you can definitely go all in with unit fillers. By keeping it simple, I finished off this project in less than an hour.

For the Squigs, I took a 80mmx20mm base and 2 unpainted Squigs. I took another spare Snotling and half a barrel from an Empire kit and used them to spread along the base.

Since the Snotling I found looked like he was swinging a small club, I thought I could make it look like he was trying to ward off a hungry Squig...

Now it was time to finish off the unit fillers by adding the flock and the rare earth magnets.

And the finished product!

Keep in mind that this was just a simple example of a unit filler. The possibilities and results are endless. When done right, unit fillers give your units a unique feeling on the table top.