Blanche – The Old World Club

The End of the Road

Part 6

This army was assembled for a painting challenge which has now concluded. The final result is arrayed before you – 2,500pts of Ostlanders painted in 3 months.

I wanted to let a battle report determine the ending to the narrative component which you can read below, but first it’s time to take a final curtain call before we learn the fate of the Wolfenburg survivors:

Town Militia of Wolfenburg w/ Goodmother Fulda the Wise Woman

The Count’s Gamekeepers

The Wolfenburg Witch Wardens led by notorious soldier of fortune Helbrandt Grimm

The Hunters of Sigmar and Grand Master Jerik Wildorn

Warrior Monks of the Eternal Flame

State Troops

Der Alte Kessel

Border Patrols

Imperial Ogres (not just filler)

Salvaged Artillery

Dramatis Personae

And now the play

Two nights had passed since the food ran out. A grim-faced engineer shovelled the last few coals into the steam boiler and warmed his hands as Morrslieb rose above the silhouetted treeline.

A stirring in the branches. Whispers carried on the wind, but the words were nonsense, backwards.
Stench, metallic and foul, followed. Finally footfalls. A strangled cry from the first watch. The creatures of the forest were at last upon them…

Army Lists

OSTLAND



++ Standard (Empire) [2,497pts] ++

+ Lords +

Grand Master [175pts]
. Jerik Wildorn (The Hunters of Sigmar): General
. . Magic Items: Helm of the Skavenslayer, The Silver Horn

Wizard Lord [300pts]
. Magic Items: Grey Wand, Shroud of Magnus
. Wizard Level 4
. . Lore of Fire 4: 1. Cascading Fire-Cloak, 2. Flaming Sword of Rhuin, 5. Fulminating Flame Cage, 6. Flame Storm

+ Heroes +

Battle Wizard [95pts]
. Magic Items: Rod of Power
. Wizard Level 1
. . Lore of Death 1: 2. The Caress of Laniph

Captain of the Empire [116pts]: Full Plate Armour, Hand Weapon
. Magic Items: Hammer of Judgement, Holy Relic

Warrior Priest [107pts]: Hand Weapon, Medium Armour, Shield
. Magic Items: Van Horstmanns Speculum

Witch Hunter [80pts]: Hand Weapon, Pistol
. Magic Items: Cold Iron Blade, Dazh's Flint, Sigil of Sigmar

+ Core +

Halberdiers [60pts]
. 10x Halberdier: 10x Light Armour, 10x Polearm/Halberd

Knights [225pts]
. The Hunters of Sigmar
. . 9x Knight: 9x Great Weapon, 9x Heavy Armour, 9x Lance (Mounted), 9x Shield, 9x Warhorse
. . Musician
. . Preceptor
. . Standard Bearer
. . . Magic Standard: Banner of Courage

Knights [127pts]
. Templars of Sigmar: Preceptor
. . 9x Knight: 9x Brace of Pistols, 9x Light Armour

Pistoliers [115pts]
. Outrider: Repeater Handgun
. 5x Pistolier: 5x Brace of Pistols, 5x Hand Weapon, 5x Medium Armour, 5x Warhorse

Spearmen [162pts]: Musician, Sergeant, Standard Bearer
. 22x Spearman: 22x Light Armour, 22x Spear (On Foot) & Shield

+ Special +

Great Cannon [100pts]
. 3x Crew: 3x Hand Weapon

Greatswords [233pts]
. Count's Champion
. 17x Greatsword: 17x Great Weapon, 17x Medium Armour
. Musician
. Standard Bearer
. . Magic Standard: Banner of Sigismund

Huntsmen [150pts]
. 15x Huntsman: 15x Bow, 15x Hand Weapon

Imperial Ogres [102pts]
. 3x Imperial Ogre: 3x Great Weapon, 3x Light Armour

Mortar [100pts]
. 3x Crew: 3x Hand Weapon

+ Rare +

Steam Tank [250pts]
. Conqueror
. . Engineer Commander: Repeater Pistol

Created with BattleScribe (https://battlescribe.net)

BEASTMEN

++ Standard (Beastmen) [2,496pts] ++

+ Lords +

Doombull [345pts]: General, Hand Weapon, Mark of Khorne, Medium Armour
. Gifts of Chaos & Magic Items: Axes of Khorgor, Gnarled Hide, Ramhorn Helm

+ Heroes +

Bray-Shaman [225pts]
. Bray-Shaman
. . Gifts of Chaos & Magic Items: Hunting Spear
. . Tuskgor Chariot
. . Wizard Level 2
. . . Lore of Beasts 2: 1. The Flock of Doom, 3. The Amber Spear

Special Characters [200pts]
. Moonclaw, Son of Moorslieb
. . Wizard Level 1
. . . Lore of the Wild 1: 2. Devolve

+ Core +

Gors [222pts]: Foe-Render, Musician, Standard Bearer
. 24x Gor: 24x Two/Additional Hand Weapons

Minotaurs (Taurox, Doombull or Gorebull as general) [390pts]: Bloodkine, Musician, Standard Bearer
. 8x Minotaur: 8x Mark of Khorne, 8x Two/Additional Hand Weapons

Tuskgor Chariot [80pts]

Ungor Raiders [60pts]
. 10x Ungor Raider: 10x Hand Weapon, 10x Short Bow

+ Special +

Bestigors [300pts]: Gouge-horn, Musician, Standard Bearer
. 18x Bestigor: 18x Great Weapon, 18x Mark of Khorne, 18x Medium Armour

Centigors [124pts]: Gorehoof
. 6x Centigor: 6x Spear (Mounted) & Shield, 6x Throwing Axes

Preyton [100pts]: Forest Stalker, Insane Bloodlust

+ Rare +

Ghorgon [225pts]

Ramhorn [225pts]
. 4x Bestigor Crew: 4x Great Weapon

Created with BattleScribe (https://battlescribe.net)

The Steam Tank rushed ahead with boiler at maximum only to fall short of the monsters that loomed over it. Cannons failed, their boreholes suspiciously plugged in the darkness.

Bart fired off some fireballs into the gloom, torching only a solitary Gor.

Bogged in the mud, the Steam Tank was charged by both the Ghorgon and the Ramhorn however despite having 50% arms made of can-openers, the creature could not penetrate the hull.

Centigors charged drunkenly at the Hunters of Sigmar, only to be cut down in combat by the great axes of the ranger knights. The Minotaurs, alas, were not far behind.

The Pistoliers fired wildly as a Preyton leapt from the thicket and had their throats torn out by its weird buck-toothed fangs.

Their Doombull having chopped Jerik Wildorn into jerky, the Minotaurs gorged themselves on the flesh of troop after troop of loyal Ostlanders – racking up the maximum Frenzy bonus for Bloodgreed.

Helbrandt and the Witchhunters fled here and there in the confusion of battle although stopping to fire a volley, they blew away half of the Khorngor.

Leaking steam and boiler sputtering out, the Steam Tank finally fell in turn five.

The scouting Archers and Ungors fired ineffectively at one another in the darkness.

Whittled down to only a few remaining, the Khorngors charged into the Spearmen nonetheless, their frenzied axe blows sufficient to liberate many men of their skulls. Braying for blood, they chased them down.

The meandering Ogres were run down by the steam-maddened Ghorgon.

The Minotaurs caught up with the Wardens/Templars at last and swallowed the last of the survivors. Only Helbrandt Grimm was left alive.

Moonclaw was useless and did nothing, but you already knew that.

Hellbrandt Grimm heard the cawing of crows signaling he had survived to day break. From the high branches of the tree he took refuge in, he could see the red remnants of his comrades fading to black. The only survivor of the massacre…why did this keep happening to him?! Perhaps fate would one day let him find out. By the look of the creatures sniffing around the base of the tree, it may be soon. THE END

Bearers of the Torch

Part 5

Sparks sputter from the altar as a red-cowled monk makes obeisance before it. From outside the priory comes howls and gibbers and the scrape of claws on oak portals.

A brother of the order enters the threshold of the chamber where the surviving monks are huddled in prayer, and calls out to the congregation from the shadowed transept.

“Father Abbot, we cannot hide in here any longer! The creatures are attracted to the Eternal Flame of the Comet’s Tail, we must extinguish it before their dark tendrils corrupt its light!”

“Come forth into the light my son so you may be blessed.”

There is no sound of footfalls. The abbot turns from his prayer to inspect the speaker. With a speed surprising for his years, he snatches a handful of blessed ashes from the brazier and hurls them at the intruder. An alien scream pierces its lips as the fire burns away its disguise and the abbot’s sword pierces the cowl up to its twin-tailed crossguard.

As the figure slumps to the floor, the abbot beckons to the gathered brothers.

“They have got in. Hitch the altar. We’re taking the flame with us.”

This is possibly my favourite ogre sculpt. One of the last made before the Ogre Kingdoms book debuted, it embodies the Brothers Grimm, Jim Henson Creature Shop look of the classic ogres. While Ostland is known for its collaboration with Imperial Ogres, they are also a poor province so the lack of extravagant uniform helps this guy fit in with the rest of the party.

Pleased with how the skin tone turned out. Want to get a shinier gold paint for his gold tooth.

I included the model on the left as a Witchhunter; I thought he was part of their Warband. Suspicious of his meat accessories, I discovered that this was in fact a town butcher from the Frenzied Mob. Oh well, still works. A starving band of survivors needs someone to provide the bratwurst, just don’t ask where the meat comes from…

Compared to the Bright Wizard, I tried to capture a softer glow of yellow torchlight on the arm with a bit of starker overall lighting and some reflections in the glasses to give a sense of light.

The Roadwarden needed a little extra something to make him stand out so I gave him a checkered flag in the Ostland colours – makes sense for flagging down stagecoaches on the high road. Normally I would prefer to freehand the scrolls but this is a timed challenge and the sculpted text was a welcome shortcut.

Three more adventurers from the Ostland warband done. I felt the first few got a bit too much saturation in the red+yellow tones (what is this a Talabecland army?), so I kept these to mostly B/W + metal and put a bit more work into the faces to make them pop.

The Hunters of Sigmar are complete!

Following with the lore for the Knightly Order, each member has poorly maintained, improvised BYO equipment. Some have old provincial colours that have chipped and faded, others rusted away to bare steel.

I think I was successful in capturing variations of colour while keeping within a constrained palette. Looking forward to doing more specialty Orders.

Had to squeeze in some plebs in between showcase pieces so we have some shabby looking spearmen:

Keeping up the variations in clothing on the militia even though it is time consuming, but you wouldn’t expect to see two peasants with identical overcoats like they both shop at the same department store.

Couple of cannons with classic crew. Can’t complain. Might come back and elaborate on the bases a bit more than just “mud puddle”.

No it’s not Kojak, it’s the Deacon from the local chapel. After losing his brother in a cart-crash, he abandoned his faith and turned to the bottle. Surviving the burning of Wolfenburg proved a second calling, now the fire of Sigmar once again fills his veins (along with the cinnamon schnapps).

Speaking of the clergy, the Altar of the Eternal Flame rolls into battle.

This model was not designed with anything to go into the altar so I placed a torch flame (with a magnet in case I ever want to swap it out) and lit the inside with the light from the fire – a bit of a shame as there is some lovely patterned upholstery sculpted on the inside.

I kept the outside a simple lacquer and gold scheme, with marble statues, however you could certainly make a bright, garish nativity scene out of this piece. I may come back and add some freehand banners to the pole…it will be difficult to attach due to the sculpted ribbons coming out around the crossbar.

The chap pushing it had a Glade Guard head puttied on to tie him in with the monks.

The warrior monks have a ton of detail to make up for their skinny legs and funny faces. Red hoods mark them out as an elite unit. Fun models, I suspect the crosses are what kept them out of production.

So that concludes this update – the deadline is starting to loom and we may see some batch painting for the remaining infantry. They can be the back ranks.

If everything goes to plan though I have a few late arrivals which might come in as reinforcements and rescuers.

Hope you all enjoy and continue to follow my projects.

Chase Away the Night

Part 4

Smoke and dust fills the air, suffocating whatever rays of sun make it through the clouds. The dust and char turns to mud as freezing fog bites the skin and burns the lungs. Parties sent out to gather firewood have returned to the convoy empty-handed, unable to find anything dry. A miner’s orphan grabs the soldiers’ attention, telling them of an old mobile furnace the coal-miners used to pull their carts at a nearby pit.

Several scavenging goblins scatter in the shadows as the torchlight flickers down the mineshaft. An ogre mercenary, serving the Empire in exchange for his supper, wrangles the rusted hinges open and loads the coals; Bart the Bright Wizard blows life into the burner. Eyes widen as light floods the tunnel. Hinges screaming from rust and caked with coal dust, but still very much alive, the steel behemoth lumbers forward out of its slumber.

Having painted one of the gigantic 6th edition steam tanks, this antique from 4th edition was a breeze in comparison – and about 250g lighter. The colours could have been a bit dull on their own so I went hard on the mud and pigment with an elaborate base. Hard to see from a photo but the tank is rolling down a muddy bank to cross a rocky shallows accross a stream. The mud is soilworks SAP-007 Autumn Ground and the water is Secret Weapon Scenics – Realistic Water (this is getting hard to find so get it while you can). Doing water in several layers instead of one big pour allows you to but bits and leaves and flotsam in the water at varying depths. The orphan is from a spare Questing Knight banner. Painting freckles is an interesting process – too big+dark and they look mud-spattered, too light and you can’t see them. Painful but essential to sell the character as a genuine redhead.

Painting a lot of black and white makes you think a lot about relative value for colours – that is to say something white doesn’t have to be pure white, just the brightest point on the model. A histogram of your model should be a bell curve, where only the deepest shadows are pure black and almost nothing should be pure white unless it’s sunlight reflecting on silver.

Freehanding the bull of Ostland makes me wish the Chicago Bulls sold transfer sheets on their merch store.

The Freelancer is from an era of adding complexity to sculpts by tacking on bags, belts, bits and bobs – in this case though it makes sense, we have a nomadic sword for hire with all of his possessions inserted about his person somewhere. Don’t leave home without your lucky lance rat. I glued his arm on before I painted the lance so the stripes are a bit wonky (I have never got this effect quite right on Bretonnians either) but I think it lends a sort of organic and hand-crafted feel to it. Overall I think if a newly vindicated Johnny Depp was cast in Tim Burton’s Don Quixote, he’d look a bit like this.

My old man is a fisherman so I had a real-life reference for the shield-trout. Should be able to eat at the start of any turn to regain 1 Wound.

Bruno the mercenary captain gets to be less covered-in-shite than everyone else. Not crazy about the shield, might replace it later.

This Hunter of Sigmar prefers chopping heads over spearing spines. He’s here to kill Gors and drink schnapps, and as you can see he’s almost out of schnapps. The axe comes from a Mordheim weapon sprue.

Someone brayed their last bray. Sword is from militia.

Quite happy with how Brutogg turned out – he would not have as much uniform/insignia as the others (standard sizes don’t come in ogre and Ostland can’t afford a tailor). Put a lot of attention toward differentiating the different leathers, ropes and furs texturally so that it doesn’t all just become a mass of brown against his brown skin.

A quick note on basing:
On top of sand I am using some dark brown static grass in patches. The I add little dots of PVA glue and sprinkle some leaf scatter so that it catches on the dots (rather than clumping on top of the glue as a layer). Using Green Stuff World Micro Leaves Brown and Micro Leaves Orange in a 2:1 ratio as the orange ones are very bright.

The Autumn Ground mud effect comes out very shiny so adding some brown pigment powder (also from SWS) can matte this out as desired.

The night is dark and full of Chaos Spawns

Part 3

Outside the boundary of the firelight, the night seems darker than ever. Survivors tremble and cower as the men who still have their strength patrol the periphery, trying to hide their fear as howls echo in the surrounding forest. A snap of branches and a horned figure staggers into the light, bleating through multi-rowed teeth. ‘Hooknose’ Neumann scrambles for his halberd but the beast is upon him already. As it lunges for him and tears at his face, an axe lands in its spine, splitting the beast open. The wielder helps Neumann to his feet and examines the wound.

“A mercy, there is only the stench of death here. Come follow, for you cannot tarry here and it is dangerous on these roads. There is much for us to hunt.”

My militia has no nose.
How does he smell?
Awful!

So not sure if this is a worn/damaged piece or the previous owner disfigured this guy, but he doesn’t appear to have a nose so now he is ‘No-nose’ Neumann. No matter, I figure he’s a veteran and lost it in a battle as per above vignette. His friend is missing an eye. Made good use of reddish shading on the white cloth to keep them looking thematic and not too clean, while keeping the high pass with pure white for contrast. I want the Free Company to be plain-clothes as much as possible.

W.I.P. old gray mare she ain’t what she used to be

The first of my Hunters of Sigmar order is represented by the Freelance Knight – not only does he have the janky, ad-hoc equipment typical of the Hunters, but he also comes sculpted with an Ostland shield (although there’s something fishy about it…). The horse armour is designed to look like it was once painted a bright colour but has been stained and rusted by the elements. Transitioning through ochre tones and tying it all together with a sepia wash has gotten me the closest to J.B. artwork so far. I’m also trying out small brushtrokes for the horse’s coat to give it a greying, grizzled look for a rickety old nag.

One thing I’ve found while working in this palette is that adding orange paint colours doesn’t seem to gel with the rest of the spectrum – I’m going from earthy red to earthy yellow to dirty white and when I try to include orange it either looks fluorescent and over saturated, or it has the wrong…temperature? Not as hot or cold. So Bestial Brown is acting as a mix-in to ease red into yellow.

The Spearmen from the old starter set are lacking a bit of variety in their sculpts and poses so I went for some different patterns on the shields to add some interest. You can’t get better contrast than black and white, so can get away with some more intricate patterns and still have them readable at small scale (as opposed to blue on purple for example).

If all the glue joins on this steam tank failed, the old paint would still hold it together. Really doesn’t matter though since once I finish the detailing, I’m offroading this ride with an assortment of mud, soot and pigment effects. Considering options for a toot of steam. While it’s always tempting to do a lush freehand triptych on the flat panels, Ostland is about restraint.

To cap off the weekend, I threw together this mess: a Mordheim Witch I will use as a Wizard of Death/Shadows. A good model for a messy paint job. The Forest of Shadows has many wise women, herbalists and healers…it also has horrible hags, häxen, whores of Satan etc. Which one is this? Who’s to say…

Ostland Carries the Flame

Part 1

After 20 years of Warhammer Fantasy, I will be painting my first ever full army of The Empire. Until now I was paralysed with indecision, both on the colour palette and on the story I wanted to tell with them. What if I rolled out the finest batteries of Nuln’s artillery corps only to find I missed the simplicity of the common man with a sharp stick? Would Knights of Morr look out of place alongside the defenders of Middenheim? Can I face painting a whole army of lemon yellow uniforms?

Eventually I will probably have a bit of everything – I can’t help myself. All the better to run a civil war campaign with. But the time has come for me to commit to a project, and I intend to make up for all those years ignoring the heart and soul of the Old World. On this Warhammer Fantasy discord server, community elder NXL is running the second iteration of a grand army painting contest – evoking the spirit of the legendary Tale of Four Gamers series. The perfect opportunity to lean hard into a theme in a way you can only do if you’re painting an army all at once.

This is my submission for the contest:

The Wanderers of Wolfenburg are a band of defenders and refugees who survived the ravages of the Storm of Chaos in Ostland. Led by a hardened mercenary captain, they are guarding a relic rescued from the destruction by the cult of Sigmar who have vowed to carry it through the scorched landscape and chaos-haunted forests in search of a safe place. They are guided along this bleak road by an Imperial Roadwarden, and offered protection by the Order of the Hunters of Sigmar. This is taking place in the timeline of WFRP 2nd edition, which chronicles the aftermath of the Storm of Chaos canon.

Some of the models I’ve tracked down for this project range toward the obscure. The thematic heart will be the Ostland warband for Mordheim, who epitomise the rough and rugged, suspicious and superstitious nature of the province. Armed primarily with pistols, they will be fielded as the Knightly Templars of Sigmar Order (using supplementary rules from Warhammer Armies Project).

Also joining us from Mordheim are the Roadwarden and the Freelance Knight, whose shield already bears the bull emblem of Ostland. The Mordheim Witch is making an appearance too, as a Baba Yaga type of figure (perhaps the Beastmen ate her gingerbread house).

The original steam tank from 4th edition suits the scale of a warband type army better than the larger renditions which feel like they belong in a grandiose parade. At night, the Wanderers will gather round its boiler for warmth as the winter closes in.

The Hunters of Sigmar (originally styled on the old GW website) are armed with shoddy equipment, and often favour great weapons and woodsman’s axes to the standard lance. Famous Beastmen hunters, they will be adorned with the paraphernalia of the hunt and the trophies of their catch.

Most expensively, I have found a use for some rare models in my collection. This unit will be run as Greatswords (with a Unit Filler), however the models are actually a Warrior Priest unit – an unreleased sculpt by Games Workshop for the Empire that I suspect was planned for release in the late 90s. The holy relic they are transporting is a prototype Empire War Altar, also unreleased, and sculpted I think by Marauder. Far smaller than its later editions and lacking rules, I felt the best use for it was a thematic component of an infantry unit.

These will be backed up with a rag-tag band of irregulars, armed with bows and pointed sticks and torches, dragging the last of the artillery they could salvage from the town.

Finally, I have challenged myself to paint this army in a limited colour palette such as that employed famously by OG Warhammer artist John Blanche. Ostland’s provincial colours are already black, white and red, and the burnt, brutalised landscape will have no green left. I also will try my hand at lighting some of the models as if they are illuminated by torchlight and campfires, although this runs the risk of everything being too dark and dingy to make out details. Part of the challenge.

NXL’s Great Waaaaaagh challenge runs from 1st July through the end of September. Updates will be posted here as well as in Discord.