The garb of the witch king of Angmar is a distinctive and fearsome attire worn by the leader of the Nazgûl. The Nazgûl, also known as the Ringwraiths, were powerful beings corrupted by the Rings of Power given to them by the Dark Lord Sauron. Among them, the witch king was the most powerful and feared. The garb of the witch king is designed to strike fear into the hearts of his enemies and further emphasize his dark and malevolent presence. It consists of a long black cloak that billows out behind him, giving the illusion of a shadow gliding across the ground. The cloak is tattered, hinting at the age and decay of the witch king, and is adorned with markings and symbols that represent his servitude to Sauron.
The cloak is tattered, hinting at the age and decay of the witch king, and is adorned with markings and symbols that represent his servitude to Sauron. **However, the most striking and iconic part of the witch king's garb is his helmet.** Shaped like a twisted, demonic crown, the helmet is crafted from a black metal and covers his entire face.
How to Paint the Witch-King of Angmar
Hey everyone, welcome to Lazy Paint Productions. Today I’m writing a guide I’ve wanted to make for as long as I’ve played the Middle-Earth Strategy Battle Game: How to paint the Witch-King.
The Witch-King of Angmar is probably my favourite villain of all time. Anyone who knows Lord of the Rings knows how cool he is, and he just keeps getting cooler the more you read about him in Tolkien’s extended media. And his MESBG mini is a knockout, especially the one on horseback; it’s so evocative and simple stunning, it’s one of my favourite MESBG minis. Since I doubt anyone wants to learn how to paint a boring brown horse, I’m gonna cover how I painted the model on foot. This guide will work for any other Ringwraiths (Nazgûl) you have too, btw. Let’s jump in, I’m gonna be using only Citadel paints so get a conversion chart if you don’t have them, as I’m too lazy to do all that myself.
Start off by priming the mini black. I used a paint-on black primer by Vallejo cause I’m stuck in a Northern Canadian blizzard coming straight out of Santa’s backyard that makes spray priming unavailable, but a spray primer is better.
1: THE ROBES.
Yeah, I kinda snapped his crown spike in half and glued it back on.
The straight up biggest feature on any Nazgûl model is their iconic black robes, and the Witch King is no exception. I’m going for a worn, tattered, dirty, aged black for these robes as it feels suitable for these undead Grim Reapers.
1. Start off by basecoating all the robes with Abaddon Black (or any pure black you prefer). Thin your paint, use a large brush and be messy with this, just make sure to cover all the robes.
2. With the basecoat established, time to start building up the highlights. We’re gonna be using drybrushing for this, to get that dusty, ragged feel to the robes. Start off by giving all the robes a heavy drybrush of Skavenblight Dinge. This will be the foundation for our midtone, so be fairly heavy and make sure you get all the raised and flat areas. Use a big drybrush to get this done quickly.
3. Follow this up with a lighter drybrush of Stormvermin Fur, to get a nice highlight appearing on the raised areas.
4. At this point, the robes are gonna be looking kind of grey. Time to use the secret ingredient to knock them back and get that aged black look: Nuln Oil. Slap a good coat of this all over the robes, using a big fat brush to apply a generous amount. Make sure it doesn’t form massive pools at the bottom of the mini, though.
Once that Nuln Oil is dry, it’ll have knocked back those highlights and made the robes look black again. However, it will have lowered the contrast a bit, so we’re gonna fix that in the next steps.
5. As Nuln Oil is a slightly off-black, not a pure black, it’ll have made those Abaddon Black shadows a bit lighter. So, the first thing we’re gonna do is darken those shadows even more and make the robes look even blacker. Take some Abaddon Black and dilute it with a lot of water so that it’s quite thin and inky, almost like one of the thicker Contrast paints. Paint this into the shadows and recesses of the robes with a small detail brush, being careful just to keep it in those shadows. The natural folds of the robes make this actually quite easy.
6. Next, it’s time to add a nice edge highlight to finish off the robes. We’re gonna return to Stormvermin Fur for those, but this time we’re gonna use a detail brush to apply an edge highlight with it, on all the peaks and edges of the cloth. Instead of doing the typical solid fine lines, make these edge highlights ragged by almost stippling with your brush as you’re doing them. Don’t forget to thin your paint, and make sure the highlights are still thin and fine, however. This will really sell that ragged effect. If you want your highlights to be a bit brighter, do a second pass to brighten them up.
7. Finally, do a dot highlight on the sharp corners and ends of the cloth with some thinned Dawnstone just to add an extra punch to those robes.
And there we go, that’s the robes completed. Remember, the big key to selling the ragged robe look is with those ragged edge highlights, so take your time and make sure they look good. If they’re thick and fat, the ragged edge edge effect won’t sell.
2: THE METAL.
Dunno why this shot came out so shitty compared to the first one, my apologies.
The second biggest (only) other part of the Witch King and his Nazgûl is their dark, old, evil-looking spiked armour. Fortunately, it’s fairly easy to get it looking good once you know how, and that’s what I’m here for. I use this recipe for virtually all armoured undead like death knights, Wights, vampires, etc.
1. Start off by basecoating all the metal (armour, crown, mace, and sword) with Leadbelcher (or any dark silver). Use a size 1 and/or a size 0 brush for this to make sure you don’t get it on the robes.
2. Apply a coat of Agrax Earthshade wash all over the metal. Apply this a bit more thinly then you normally do with a wash, as we don’t want to shade the metal, just tint it to get that rusty aged look.
3. Then apply a coat of Nuln Oil, just as you’d normally do with a wash. This will give it that shading and darken down the metal, and over the brownish Agrax tint it’ll produce a nice dark, aged, evil looking metal.
4. Once that wash is dry, highlight the metal with Leadbelcher. Pick out all the raised areas such as the designs on the armour, spikes, and edges, and use a fine detail brush for this. You can just do a heavy(ish) drybrush on the mace and sword to make it easier.
5. Finally, apply an edge highlight of Stormhost Silver to the edges of the armour and crown, tips of the spikes, etc. Be sparing with this, you don’t want your metal to end up to bright. Just reserve it for the sharpest and highest edges. Pick out the belt buckles right now too.
And that’s the metal done. The Agrax and Nuln Oil combo is what really gets that dark, aged, slightly rusty look. Never underestimate the power of washes!
3: FINAL DETAILS.
This is just the final steps to finish off the Witch King.
1. The belt. Start off by basecoating it with Dryad Bark. Use a fine detail brush, thin your paint, and make sure not to hit the finished robes. Next, apply a wash of Nuln Oil to add some definition and darken it down. Lastly, make a 50/50 mix of Stormvermin Fur and Gorthor Brown to get a greyish off-brown and do a fine edge highlight of this on the belt. Try to get that ragged look again, to make the leather look worn.
2. Next, drop some of that thin Abaddon Black mix for the shadows from earlier into the face-hole and eyes in the helmet to make them really black, as you’ve probably got some washes in it by now.
3. Lastly, do a light drybrush of Steel Legion Drab around the bottom edge of the robes to get a nice easy dirty weathered look.
And that is the entire Witch King finished. It’s a fairly high level paint job, so you can just leave the robes after step 4 and drybrush the metal (with a really small drybrush to not get it on the robes) if you’re not confident enough to do all the edge highlights and detail work. That being said, this is actually one of the easiest and most forgiving minis to try these more advanced techniques on, so I encourage you to give it a shot. I hope you found this useful, like, comment, join the LPP Discord (link: https://discord.gg/jZVegD3fUR), and I’ll (hopefully) be back with some more content soon.
Kaiden Sabbadin
Writer & Community Manager of the Gallant Goblin, leader of Lazy Paint Productions, and generally a fan of anything D&D, Warhammer, and miniature painting.
5. Finally, apply an edge highlight of Stormhost Silver to the edges of the armour and crown, tips of the spikes, etc. Be sparing with this, you don’t want your metal to end up to bright. Just reserve it for the sharpest and highest edges. Pick out the belt buckles right now too.
Two elongated eye slits are the only visible feature, glowing with an eerie red light that strikes fear into those who behold it. The helmet not only conceals the witch king's identity but also enhances his powers. It is said to grant him the ability to instill terror in his foes and exert control over the minds of those he wishes to manipulate. The combination of his cloak and helmet creates an aura of darkness and menace, making the witch king a formidable adversary on the battlefield. **In addition to his garb, the witch king wields a powerful sword that is said to possess magical properties.** With this weapon, he is able to strike down his enemies with ease, further adding to his fearsome reputation. The garb, helmet, and sword all come together to create an imposing figure capable of commanding the forces of darkness. Overall, the garb of the witch king of Angmar is not only a physical representation of his power but also a symbol of his connection to Sauron and the forces of evil. His distinctive attire helps to establish his dominance and strike fear into the hearts of those who stand against him..
Reviews for "The Witch King's Regalia: A Reflection of Evil and Power"
1. John - 2/5
I found "The Garb of the Witch King of Angmar" to be quite disappointing. The plot was confusing and it felt like the story dragged on without any clear direction. The characters were one-dimensional and lacked development, making it hard for me to connect with them. Additionally, I felt that the writing style was tedious and overly descriptive, with an excessive amount of unnecessary details. Overall, I struggled to engage with the book and would not recommend it to others.
2. Mary - 3/5
While "The Garb of the Witch King of Angmar" had an intriguing premise, I found the execution to be lacking. The pacing was uneven, with some parts of the story feeling rushed while others dragged on unnecessarily. The world-building was also insufficient, leaving me feeling disconnected from the setting and unable to fully immerse myself in the story. Moreover, I felt that the dialogue was stilted and lacked authenticity, further hindering my enjoyment of the book. While it had its moments, I believe that there are better fantasy novels out there worth investing in.
3. Richard - 2/5
I had high hopes for "The Garb of the Witch King of Angmar," but unfortunately, I was left disappointed. The characters were underdeveloped and lacked depth, making it difficult to empathize with their struggles. The story itself felt predictable and lacked any originality, following a generic fantasy formula without bringing anything new to the table. Additionally, I found the prose to be overly flowery, with long-winded descriptions that felt unnecessary and tedious. Overall, I was expecting more from this novel and would not recommend it to fellow fantasy enthusiasts.