Lore – The Old World Club

Campaign Game V – Northern Blood

Gyorgy emerged first from the tunnel. His hunter’s senses had caught the scent of a great life-force, its blood a beacon in the darkness of the warrens. Now under the stars, Vaszoly could see the beast too. Never had they encountered so much blood in one body. This would be a foe worthy of his skills and perhaps, the blood of this great tusked creature might quash the red thirst for some time.

King Harold Uronjir shook the Seer’s shoulders – still they traversed the low road, in a feverish trance brought on by their wounds. They would have to face this foe blind to the fickle fortunes. Harold drank from his horn, ate from his golden plate, and made sacrifice to his forefathers, for without the wisdom of the runes, who knew if this was the day he entered the Golden Halls?

Vampire Counts come into their full functionality once you can afford two Necromancers, allowing you multiple chances to cast Invocation as well as access to all the spells you need to make the army work.

Returning alongside Vaszoly the Vampire are Regiment of Renown the Drakenburg Deadshots and Gyorgy the Varghulf. Joining them for the first time in this campaign are the über-elite Blood Knights (although only a couple of them).

++ Standard (Vampire Counts) [1,325pts] ++

+ Heroes +

Necromancer [110pts]: Hand Weapon
. Magic Items: Power Stone
. Wizard Level 2
. . Lore of Necromancy VC 2: 0. Invocation of Nehek, 2. Hellish Vigour, 4. Raise Dead, The Curse of Undeath

Vaszoly - Vampire [192pts]
. Blood Dragon Vampire: General, Hand Weapon, Heavy Armour, Shield
. . Magic Items & Vampiric Powers: Blademaster, Bone Blade, Dread Knight
. . Wizard Level 1
. . . Lore of Necromancy VC 1: 0. Invocation of Nehek, 1. Vanhel's Danse Macabre, The Curse of Undeath

+ Core +

Bat Swarms [90pts]: 3x Bat Swarm, Expendable

Crypt Ghouls [60pts]
. 10x Crypt Ghoul: 10x Skirmishers

Dire Wolves [60pts]: 10x Dire Wolf, Expendable

Skeleton Warriors [116pts]: Skeleton Champion, Standard Bearer
. 24x Skeleton Warrior: 24x Hand Weapon, 24x Shield

Skeleton Warriors [120pts]: Skeleton Champion, Standard Bearer
. 25x Skeleton Warrior: 25x Hand Weapon, 25x Shield

The Drakenburg Deadshots - Skeleton Warriors (Ranged) [104pts]
. RoR | -1 to Hit
. 12x Skeleton Warrior: 12x Crossbow, 12x Hand Weapon
. Standard Bearer
. . Magic Standards: Banner of Hellfire

Zombies [63pts]: 21x Zombie

+ Special +

Corpse Cart [90pts]: Corpsemaster, The Restless Dead

+ Rare +

Blood Knights [130pts]: Kastellan
. 3x Blood Knight: 3x Heavy Armour, 3x Lance (Mounted), 3x Shield
. . 3x Nightmare: 3x Barding

Gyorgy - Varghulf [190pts]
. RoR - Armour Piercing (1)

This was my first game playing against the Norsca army book which I had only skimmed since its recent big update. King Harold’s army was 1,375pts (my opponent had more games under his belt) and consisted of something like the following:

++ Standard (Norsca) [1,375pts] ++

+ Lords +

King [212.50pts]: Fur Cloak, General, Hand Weapon, Medium Armour, Shield
. Magic Items: Enchanted shield, Girdle of Might, Seed of Rebirth, Sword of Swift Slaying

+ Heroes +

Valkyrie [110pts]: Light Armour, Shield, Spear (On Foot)
. Magic Items: The Gleaming Torc

+ Core +

Bondsmen [192.50pts]: Herse, Musician, Standard Bearer
. 25x Bondsman: 25x Fur Cloak, 25x Hand Weapon & Shield, 25x Light Armour

War Wolves [60pts]: Expendable, 10x War Wolf

Whalers [80pts]: Musician
. 10x Whaler: 10x Hand Weapon, 10x Javelins, 10x Shield

Whalers [80pts]: Musician
. 10x Whaler: 10x Hand Weapon, 10x Javelins, 10x Shield

+ Special +

Berserkers [130pts]
. 10x Berserker: 10x Fur Cloak, 10x Great Weapon

Ice Wolves [185pts]: 5x Ice Wolf

+ Rare +

War Mammoth [325pts]
. 5x Marauder Crew: 5x Hand Weapon, 5x Javelins

The scenario rolled was Dawn Attack – a particularly precarious one for Vampire Counts as proximity to the General is vital (or should that be mortal?). Fortunately, Vaszoly was able to deploy fairly centrally although the corpse cart was off to one side. Gyorgy the Varghulf and the Knights of Blood Keep were taking the right flank, able to move more independently than the Undead minions.

The carrion eaters surged forwards at the scent of whale meat from the ships, Ghouls and Dire Wolves Vanguarding ahead of the main force. The Norscan counterparts did likewise, with the War Wolves and Ice Wolves advancing cautiously.

Norsca 1

The Mammoth trumpeted a primal fanfare as it started its unstoppable momentum towards the enemy.

Skirting around the side of the pine copse, the Whalers released their harpoons at the oncoming Dire Wolves, stopping 5 of them in their tracks.

Their Seer, recovering from wounds sustained in the last battle, was absent from this fight – no magic was available to Norsca this day.

Vampire Counts 1

Leaping over the bodies of their packmates, the Dire Wolves launched themselves into the Whalers on the left flank, losing two more of their number to hastily hurled harpoons.

The Necromancer, having all of the Winds of Magic at his disposal, resurrected two of the wolves and summoned a unit of seven Skeletons to support them.

A loud creak came from the crossbows and the bones of the Drakenburg Deadshots as they loosed their flaming bolts at the Ice Wolves, killing one outright.

The Dire Wolves traded one kill for two, drawing the combat.

Norsca 2

Distracted by the movement, the Ice Wolves barreled into the Bat Swarms, snapping and biting at the dark cloud flitting around them.

Cautious of overextending, King Harald commanded his troops to whittle down the enemy numbers some more with their javelins and axes. Three harpoons found their way into the Crypt Ghouls’ chest cavities. The last of the Dire Wolves was sent to a permanent rest, leaving the Whalers free to threaten the flank

Vampire Counts 2

Under the hail of harpoons, the Ghouls failed to muster the courage to charge, creeping an inch forward instead. Cursing their craven cowering, Vaszoly chanted an ancient phrase and two of the three dead Ghouls stood back up. Next to them, six Zombies popped out of the ground to slow the Mammoth’s progress.

Vaszoly’s squires from Blood Keep lowered their spearpoints and urged their Nightmares toward the War Wolves, who fled from the thundering onslaught.

Gyorgy lost the trail of the Berzerkers he was tracking but picked up the scent of hot Mammoth blood instead, ambling around the side of the Norscan line.

Norsca 3

Angry at the loss of their packmate, the Ice Wolves continued on to stampede over the Deadshots although losing two wounds in the process.

Whining and howling, the War Wolves fled the board to escape the lances of the Blood Knights.

Reaching their full frenzy, the Berzerkers tore through the intervening zombies…but lost in their frantic hacking and frothing, only managed to pursue two inches beyond.

Vampire Counts 3

The Wind of Death weakened and the winter fog grew thicker. The Necromancer’s distracted incantation was easily dispelled by the resilient Norscans.

Blind Gyorgy leapt towards the haunches of the Mammoth, trying to find the hot pulsing that would indicate where its throat lay. Their courage bolstered, the Ghouls scurried also toward the Mammoth’s towering tusks. Between them, they struck three wounds from its total ten. In response the Mammoth let out a gargantuan bellow that would have burst the eardrums and shattered the resolve of any mortal, but was ineffective on the Undead.

Norsca 4

Berzerkers clashed with Skeletons in the centre field and Vaszoly deflected their clumsy, animalistic blows to fell several. A chill wind crept up behind him as the Ice Wolves fell on the rear of the Skeletons, killing all of them and leaving Vaszoly alone. The Mammoth stomped on the remaining Ghouls this turn as Gyorgy tore at its haunches.

Vampire Counts 4

Returned from their hunt, the Blood Knights signaled a charge towards a greater prey: Mammoth. As prophesied by your dear narrator however, two of the three failed their Dangerous Terrain test and fell into stake pits set by the Norscan scouts. Their Kastellan continued on alone as his companions met their final death.

The Necromancer urged his horde into the Whalers and, unable to assist Vaszoly any further, summoned a Skeleton cohort behind them.

Blade flashing faster than the eye could follow, Vaszoly dispatched the remaining Berzerkers and turned to face the Ice Wolves alone.

Gyorgy, now enraged by the blood starting to pour from the wounds in the Mammoth’s hide, bit deep into its artery. Spooked by the pain, the Mammoth crushed the Blood Knights Kastellan into the mud as it turned to flee. Alas, the summoned Skeletons stood in its way, and their rusted blades cut the beast’s tendons as it tried to escape. With a throat full of Mammoth blood, Gyorgy pursued into King Harold and his band of Bondsmen.

Norsca 5

Making way through the ranks of his men, King Harold tightened his mighty girdle and chanted a verse to his ancestors while the Valkyrie’s song of doom vibrated in his ears.

Swinging first, he landed a series of titanic blows on the beast only to watch in horror as its vampiric flesh stitched back together, empowered by the monstrous blood upon which Gyorgy had gorged. Taking advantage of the old King’s shock, Gyorgy lunged past the household shieldbearers and caught Harold by the throat, draining a pint of royal blood. Harold’s blood brothers bore him back to the ships, no more to take part in this chapter of the saga.

Across the field, Vaszoly also fell before the fangs of the Ice Wolves, unable to parry the whole pack at once. Minions started to falter and crumble, losing several Skeletons from each unit before the Necromancer picked up the slack.

Vampire Counts 5

Seeing the Ice Wolves approaching like the turning of the season, the Necromancer fled his unit and made a break for the Corpse Cart. He used the remaining power from his reserves to bolster the unit of Skeletons supporting Gyorgy and bless them with Hellish Vigour.

These Skeletons buffed by both the dark magic and the invigorating aura of the Corpse Cart, managed to dice up eight of the Bondsmen. They fled for their longships and were hunted down by the enraged Varghulf.

Norsca 6

“HEIAJAHO Harold, go not yet to your rest” sung the Valkyrie, and hurled herself at the Necromancer to the sound of spectral hunting horns. Alongside her, the Ice Wolves fell upon the Skeletons.

The Whalers on the periphery of the battle continued to launch their harpoons, felling half a dozen Zombies but failing to slow their inevitable march.

The Valkyrie’s gleaming torc blinded the Necromancer’s nocturnal vision and her spear found his heart singing “HI-JO-TO, Greet your dark master face to face!”. With a clap of thunder and the swelling of an unseen orchestra she charged onward to be immolated upon her pyre, in this instance made of Zombies.

Vampire Counts 6

As the Zombies clawed at the wings of the Valkyrie, the Skeletons fended off the Ice Wolves and ran them off, forestalling the fimbulwinter for one more season.

The game ended with a close score after six full turns, only 96 points in favour of the Vampire Counts – with half points awarded for both the Ice Wolves and for Gyorgy, who was unable to restore a wound with the Thirst despite gulping so much pachyderm blood.

As victor, I rolled another Regiment of Renown roll – this time giving Stubborn to the Blood Knights (not wasted as they do not crumble like Undead). To roleplay this Stubbornness however, I intend to run them through a forest at least once per game to reflect their Stubborn refusal to avoid Dangerous Terrain.

King Harold was left with a permanent -1S from his wounds.

Vaszoly was captured by his foes as per the following result:

As we are not playing for Relics, his Bone Blade was awarded to the Norscans as a trophy, and we shall have to engineer some sort of rescue party or prison break scenario.

The whalers chanted a hymn of healing as they rowed their King back to the long ship. Although he lived to rule another day, the blood loss had left him weak and frail. Harold’s shieldbearer wept not for his king, for they hoped to restore him with the blood of their captive – the vampire bound by silver chains to the dragon-shaped prow.

INTRO | I | II | III | IV | V

Campaign Game IV – Pandaemonium in Londinium

INTRO | I | II | III | IV | V

From the diary of Phineas Storch (prodigal genius) – 1st day of Brauzeit

I have been observing these savage people for several days now as they have been about their harvest festival that they label “Felltaine”. They cavort around their erect momunents with no regard for modesty. I of course would never participate in such indecent conduct, even if invited.

It seems the dance involves two teams of youths, who have a shrine at each end of the town that they must capture while defending their own. This has devolved quickly into brutality as each tries to prove his manhood by savaging the other suitors. A death slows them not a bit, but excites them to a faster frenzy.

2nd day of Brauzeit
The vile pagan shrines have a strange shimmer about them now, and shadowy outlines flit across their face, as though someone inside wishes to join the dance.

3rd day of Brauzeit
All hell has broken loose.

To mark the passing of May Day, we organised a 3-player game in a 1v1v1 matchup – Phineas’ sinister research expedition caught between two rival armies of Daemons. I will have to add that disclaimer that the following presentation is only inspired by real events, as I forgot to save my notes.

Phineas Storch has grown in power and become a Master Necromancer, bringing along his most powerful creation yet: a Terrorgheist he stitched together from specimens collected in Albion.

++ Standard (Vampire Counts) [1,225pts] ++

+ Lords +

Phineas Storch - Master Necromancer [270pts]: General, Hand Weapon, Master of the Dead
. Magic Items: Forbidden Rod, The Cursed Book
. Wizard Level 4
. . Lore of Necromancy VC 4: 0. Invocation of Nehek, 1. Vanhel's Danse Macabre, 2. Hellish Vigour, 4. Raise Dead, 5. Curse of Years, The Curse of Undeath

+ Heroes +

Wight King [150pts]: Hand Weapon, Heavy Armour, Shield
. Army Battle Standard
. . Magic Standard: Cursed Pennant of Mousillon

+ Core +

Bat Swarms [120pts]: 4x Bat Swarm, Expendable

Skeleton Warriors [165pts]: Skeleton Champion, Standard Bearer
. 29x Skeleton Warrior: 29x Hand Weapon, 29x Light Armour, 29x Shield

Skeleton Warriors [136pts]: Skeleton Champion, Standard Bearer
. 29x Skeleton Warrior: 29x Hand Weapon, 29x Shield

Zombies [69pts]: 23x Zombie

+ Special +

Failed Experiments - Corpse Cart [90pts]: Corpsemaster, The Restless Dead

+ Rare +

Re-Animation Experiment 14 - Terrorgheist [225pts]

The table was split into four deployment zones and a roll determined preference for starting position.

A statue in the centre represented an objective to hold, with 200VP to the occupant.

Caught in the middle of the fray but eager for battle, Khorne’s cloven-hoofed creatures charged ahead to meet the enemy head on – Juggernauts getting confounded for a round by the swarms of agile bats but bursting the partially manifested (assembled) Plaguebearers with a snake-eyes instability test.

Khorne’s wrath was felt immediately with a boulder hurtling from the aether to strike the Terrorgheist for half of its wounds.

Ignoring his miniature kin, Experiment 14 flew past the front line to shriek its displeasure at the god that smote it, although the damage to its health prevented it from destroying one of the Flesh Hounds.

Unable to sneak a series of spells past the protective Collars of Khorne, Phineas scraped through a rite of resurrection, spawning a unit of Skeletons to protect his flank.

Nurgle’s menagerie of things that lay eggs in stagnant pools hopped into action.

Unaware in its frenzy that its friends were vanquished, the Flesh Hound tried to fetch the bones of the Wight King BSB, only to vanish to the weight of the Skeleton horde pressing forward.

The droning and croaking of Nurgle’s cavalry drew nearer and grew into a cacophony. Using the reserve power of the Forbidden Rod, another unit of Skeletons was summoned forth to hold them back. Deep behind the lines, Nurgle’s Herald turned to face the iron clad cavalry.

Furious that their rot could not infect the blood god’s finest by magical means, the Plague Cavalry tried to dent their brass armour instead. A recourse to the rules reminded all that neither Daemons nor Undead were susceptible to poison, and the brass axes gave the amphibians a new set of gills.

Their initial momentum starting to falter, the Juggernauts were halted by the Herald’s aura.

Phineas felt a strange surge of power from somewhere , channeling the maximum Winds of Magic but feeling a tug in a direction he didn’t know existed. Nagash’s Gaze burned a hole through a Juggernaut and The Curse of Ages was cast on the Bloodletters in the centre of the board but could only send two daemons back to their realm. Experiment 14, healed by the flow of necromantic magic, came in to clean up the rest of the Juggernauts with a powerful screech at just the right resonant frequency.

Finishing off the other unit of Juggernauts, the pestilent herald made towards the objective in the centre.

Confidence bolstered by his forces’ strong position, Phineas tried on the Winds of Magic for his lucky number eleven again. Ironic fate betrayed him though as he also rolled an eleven for his Leadership test as demanded by the Reign of Chaos table…subjecting him to Daemonic Possesion. A three-fingered hand, swollen with rheumatism and seeping from whitlows, dragged Phineas into the Realm of Nurgle and switched his place with a bewildered Herald. The undead forces begin to falter…

From this point on, the new Herald tied up the remaining Skeletons long enough to crumble them while the Plaguebearers held the centre to the end, securing victory for Grandfather.

For their efforts, the Plague Cavalry were rewarded with a magic Banner of 50pts.

Khorne’s influence in the mortal realm damaged by the defeat, the Herald is unable to manifest in their next game.

Unable to keep up with the demand for fresh corpses, the Zombies will be limited to half-strength in their next appearance.

Phineas reappeared from a sphinctral portal – appearing outwardly unscathed but feeling a bit worse for wear. He will be -1 Strength for the remainder of the campaign.

From the diary of Phineas Storch (prodigal genius) – 5th day of Brauzeit

My work is hindered somewhat by the shaking of my hand, which has been progressing since my sojourn to that infernal garden. The skin is drawn and pale, the veins beneath almost appear to be writhing of their own accord. No matter, a small price to pay for obtaining the serum, with which I have had remarkable success…re-animating the freshly dead with no need for an incantation!

Perhaps an injection to my hand might have a restorative effect.

INTRO | I | II | III | IV | V

Realm of Imagination – Walach Harkon

Walach Harkon first appeared on the cover of Warhammer Armies: Vampire Counts (5th Edition)

Tricking his way into Blood Keep and slaughtering the Knights of the Blood Dragon Order, he bequeathed the Dark Gift on the worthy among them and became the Grand Master of their now undead Order.

In his first (and only official appearance), he fulfilled multiple roles on the battlefield: General, Army Standard, Level 3 Necromancer, and devastating combat capabilities superior even to other Vampire Lords.

Despite the memorable artwork and profile, Walach was never rewarded with a model – it was left up to players to devise their own. Now that Walach is back in Warhammer Armies Project – Vampire Counts 9th Edition, it felt like time to add him to my collection.

Walach himself was cobbled together from the Blood Dragon who rides the plastic Zombie Dragon kit. I had recieved some sprues from this in a job lot, and although some important parts were absent (such as upper arms), there was enough potential for a cohesive looking character. The bald head from this kit had Green Stuff hair added to give it a bit of character. Upper arms were also sculpted in as sleeves.

In the artwork, Walach is holding a magic item called the Blood Chalice, which he can sip from each turn to restore his Wounds, or he can coat his blade with to increase its lethality. The plastic rider however, already has a goblet on his belt, and the unit entry does not include a shield – this left me freedom to add something exciting to this hand.

An unfortunate witch hunter was the chosen victim, who I based on Helhunten’s Redeemers from the Empire Uniforms and Heraldry book. Clad in black and tan, this Regiment of Renown from Stirland specialises in hunting vampires – in this case he’s gone in for a staking and missed his mark.

The body is from a spare plastic artilleryman and the stake whittled from his botefeux; the hammer taken from a Mordheim accessory sprue. The ribcage was cut from an ancient white-plastic Skeleton Horde warrior, and is attached via paperclip pins running all the way through.

Walach’s steed needs to stand out a bit from the standard offering, most WHFB vampires coming on a mass-produced plastic horse with a metal custom head. The Grand Master of a Knightly Order would have only the best. This piece was released for the Specialist Game GORKAMORKA and was a mutant alien horse ridden by the human mutant faction. Here I think it looks like a demonic blood beast powered by dark energy. The missing tail was replaced with a skull bit from a Juggernaut and some extra gubbins were stuck on around the place. I chose a paint job to give the impression its skin had been flayed off to reveal bare muscle fibre.

The book on Walach’s belt bears a rune of Shyish – the Wind of Death. His sword is called the Crimson Blade in his profile, and rolls on a custom table for which extremity it chops off. Making something stand out as ‘crimson’ when the rest of the model is already red is a bit of a puzzle. I used the heavily pigmented contrast paint Doomfire Magenta to draw it towards the purple/pink end of red, standing out against fiery red armour, blood red gems and fleshy red horse.

My Vampire Counts collection is based in an autumnul Halloween style so some fall leaves are sprinkled about the battlefield among the fallen combatants.

Walach bears the banner of the Blood Dragons. The banner piece is taken from the Marauder Horsemen box. For this I created custom heraldry based on an old piece of artwork I found of a red dragon. When searching for a freehand reference piece, it is always a challenge to find something simple enough for the average hobbyist to transpose onto a tiny, uneven surface. I often add tags such as “tattoo”, “graphic”, “heraldic” and “cartoon” to my image searches. Anything with too much fine line work is going to be tough going.

The knightly helmet is a standard heraldic design but normally is surrounded by ornate mantlets, the floaty spiky ribbons that are all over coats de arms. This is the dumbest, hardest shape to try and paint well and I recommended avoiding it whenever possible. I went for red dragon wings here, which are only slightly less difficult a shape but don’t take as long. The banderole reads ORDO DRACONIS. The background of a complex banner like this should, in my opinion, be a fairly neutral and flat colour, so as not to distract from the design. This one is mostly black with a hint of plum, like a new leather sofa.

At the time of writing, I am partaking in a narrative campaign with my Vampire Counts army. When the points value reaches the threshold where I can field Walach (~4k pts), I intend to report back with a road test…if you’ve read the rules in Warhammer Armies Project: Vampire Counts, you’ll be as excited as I am.

Until next time.

Campaign Game III – Ogres among the Ogham

INTRO | I | II | III | IV | V

In the centre of the stone circle a mound of bones had been built into a fire, and the hulking silhouttes drummed on their belly plates with a rhythmic clang. Smoke from the charred offerings wafted into the wide nostrils of the ogre troop’s Slaughtermaster. Gripping the bound feet of a captured hart, the ogre seer cut a slit from horn to hind and spilled its living entrails onto the stone slab. Peering at the still-pulsing guts, he selected a particularly auspicious organ and tossed it into his mouth – then turned skyward to consult the heavens for glimpses of the future. Odd, a comet blazed more brightly than before.

King Lwyd watched from the tree-line, outside the reach of the bonfire’s light. He turned to his steward Cadog, who as a faithful servant had been honourably buried with his king.
“……………………….”
Cadog lifted a scrimshawed sceptre and the shadows seemed to close in nearer to the standing stones.
“……………………”
Satisfied with this answer, Lwyd gestured at the henge’s stone portal, then tapped a finger bone to where his heart once beat.
An inscription in an ancient spiralling script was briefly illuminated on the lintel stone by a flicker of flame:

ᚌᚑᚄᚑᚇᚒᚔᚇ ᚔ ᚉᚓᚏᚏᚔᚌ ᚆᚔᚅ ᚌᚐᚅ ᚂᚒᚔᚇ ᚁᚏᚓᚅᚔᚅ ᚔ ᚒᚂᚐᚇ ᚆᚑᚅ

“Gosodwyd y cerrig hyn gan Lwyd brenin y wlad hon”

“These stones were laid by Lwyd, King of this land”

Both blood and bone are spilled in Albion as King Lwyd’s wights meet an unexpected foe. My scheduled opponent unavailable, I played instead against a new belligerent. To accomodate the situation, we added the campaign XP before the game, bringing the points up to 1,250. Good thing I brought some spare skeletons and there were more lying around, as I’d be needing those later.

After some quick adjustments, the list read as follows:

++ Standard (Vampire Counts) [1,249pts] ++

+ Heroes +

Cadog - Necromancer [140pts]: General, Hand Weapon
. Magic Items: Forbidden Rod, Sceptre de Noirot
. Wizard Level 2
. . Lore of Necromancy VC 2: 0. Invocation of Nehek, 1. Vanhel's Danse Macabre, 4. Raise Dead, The Curse of Undeath

King Lwyd - Wight King [115pts]: Hand Weapon, Medium Armour
. Magic Items: Sword of Kings, The Accursed Armour

+ Core +

Skeleton Warriors [170pts]: Musician, Skeleton Champion, Standard Bearer
. 29x Skeleton Warrior: 29x Hand Weapon, 29x Light Armour, 29x Shield

Skeleton Warriors [150pts]: Musician, Skeleton Champion, Standard Bearer
. 25x Skeleton Warrior: 25x Hand Weapon, 25x Light Armour, 25x Shield

Zombies [60pts]: 20x Zombie

+ Special +

The Black and Wight Order - Black Knights [222pts]
. 7x Black Knight: 7x Heavy Armour, 7x Lance (Mounted), 7x Shield
. . 7x Skeletal Steed: 7x Barding
. Hell Knight
. Musician
. Standard Bearer
. . Magic Standards: Standard of Hellish Vigour

Barrow Barons - Grave Guard [312pts]
. 19x Grave Guard: 19x Great Weapon, 19x Heavy Armour
. Musician
. Seneschal
. Standard Bearer
. . Magic Standards: Banner of the Barrows

+ Rare +

Aoibheall - Tomb Banshee [80pts]: Hand Weapon

My references tend to creep towards the obscure, so an explanation – Aoibheall is an Irish spirit tied to the O’Brien family (plus is pronounced like ‘evil’) and the Black & Wight/white comes from the colours of Cornwall.

My best recollection of my opponent’s list:

++ Standard (Ogre Kingdoms) [1,247pts] ++

+ Lords +

Slaughtermaster [283pts]: Great Weapon
. Magic Items: Cathayan Jet
. Wizard Level 3
. . Lore of Heavens 3: 0. Iceshard Blizzard, Fate Manipulation

+ Heroes +

Butcher [140pts]: Hand Weapon
. Wizard Level 2
. . Lore of the Great Maw 2: 0. Spinemarrow, Bloodgruel

+ Core +

Gnoblar Fighters [130pts]: Expendable, Standard Bearer
. 40x Gnoblar Fighter: 40x Throwing Weapons, 40x Two/Additional Hand Weapons

Regiments of Renown [254pts]
. Golgfag's Mercenary Ogres
. . Golgfag: Medium Armour, Two/Additional Hand Weapons
. . Musician
. . 3x Ogre: 3x Light Armour, 3x Two/Additional Hand Weapons
. . Skaff: Light Armour, Two/Additional Hand Weapons

+ Special +

Gorger [50pts]

Leadbelcher [240pts]
. 6x Leadbelcher: 6x Hand Weapon, 6x Leadbelcher Gun, 6x Light Armor

+ Rare +

Slavegiant [150pts]: Hand Weapon

Turn 1:
Casting the bones in the sign of a constellation, the Slaughtermaster bestowed the Leadbelchers with Harmonic Convergence, who dusted off several Grave Guard from across the table.

Cadog’s dark crystal pulsed as he summoned his countrymen from their slumber and eighteen answered the call as the dead marched forward.

Turn 2:
Golgfag Maneater counted his wages again (paid in meal tokens) and, satisfied with the tally, urged his boys forward into the freshly raised dead, crashing right through them and carrying on all the way to the Grave Guard behind them with their momentum.

A combined volley from the Leadbelchers and the Gnoblar horde put ten Zombies back in the ground.

Their glowing eyes betraying their concealed position in the forest, the Black Knights caught the attention of the Slave Giant who took a runup and flying leap, landing on top of the Knights and crushing all of them flat.

In an attempt to slow the onslaught of the Giant, a unit of Skeletons was sent in as a distraction and wounded his shin as he flailed around at them.

Bolstered by success, Golgfag bellowed a challenge to the rusted revenants before him. His blows dented the Accursed Armour of Lwyd, causing two wounds but failing to finish the job. In retaliation his retinue cut down several Maneaters, who suddenly decided it wasn’t worth the pay and tried to reverse course but were hamstrung and dispatched by the grave glaives of their pursuers.

Popping out of a muddy warren, a Gorger crept up behind the undead ranks.

Turn 3:
In a clash of titans, Gnoblars leapt into action against the Zombies, knocking over six of them with well aimed gravel and cutting the rest down with their paraphernalia.

Further flailing by the Giant only dropped one skeleton but five more fell to his stomp and the unit’s resolve (and marrow) began to crumble. With a final attempt to jump up and down on the enemy, the Giant instead fell onto them, crushing the last five flat.

This did not phase Cadog, who merely summoned supplementary Skeletons behind the old ones.

Aoibheall the Banshee shrieked at the Gorger – its sensitive eardrums split and a spout of blood poured from its head.

Urged on across the board by the sound of spectral xylophones, King Lwyd charged in to solidify the fortunes fortold by the Ogre seer. The blows from the brass guns could not deter the Barrow Barons from reclaiming their turf and the Slaughtermaster was cut down. His unit fled the field too and the blood of all but the Butcher was spilled.

Turn 4:
The Butcher fled from the field and Lwyd turned back to rejoin the fight in the center.

Their leadership structure gone, the decision was made by the Ogres to concede as between the Giant and the Gnoblar horde, precious few brain cells remained. Cadog was spared the attempt to be stuffed into a sack.

Final score came out something like 1,092-613 so a Solid Victory for the Vampire Counts. With a fortunate campaign roll, King Lwyd earned himself a free magic item worth 40 points, and the ogres bestowed a 60 point banner on a regiment of renown.

***

Trampling on the embers, the Barrow Barrons extinguished the bonefire at altar. Cadog brought forth the king’s ancient signet ring, tarnished by the centuries, and placed it into the notch below the inscription. Ancient counterweights and pulleys screeched to life and the trilithons slid aside to reveal a cached treasure beneath the stones. King Lwyd cast aside his Accursed Armour – already a symbol of servitude and now dented by the Maneater’s blows – to don his own armour, kept intact by the magic of the stone circle. An aura of darkness emanated from the Armour of the Night and the last flickering coals from the fire died. Overhead, the comet winked out.

INTRO | I | II | III | IV | V

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.

Realm of Imagination #1 – Converting Beastmen Characters

The 6th edition of WHFB dropped most factions down to two, perhaps three special characters, at the same time rebooting most of the model range – sometimes just ’cause (Teclis?). This trend started to reverse in 7th with many fresh faces joining the rogues gallery however many who made it into the rules were left behind on the sculpting-room floor due to time constraints or market viability. Here we shall explore how you can bring these characters to life on the tabletop with a few nips and tucks.

The Beastmen added stacks of new characters in their 7th edition book with the possible intention of releasing the missing models with their next refresh…which sadly never came. As they are mostly uncompetitive on the battlefield there was little interest in them from tacticians, but the concepts are cool enough to demand representation on the battlefield.

Moonclaw

“Moonclaw, son of Morrslieb” is the man in the moon. Shot out of the chaos moon in an egg/chrysalis, he radiates a warm warpstone glow and talks in backmasked satanic messages. His abilities sound bonkers but in practice he is bogus. The artwork for Moonclaw is so vague and scribbly that it could have been drawn by Mr. Squiggle (also from the moon), so it is hard to tell exactly what he should look like.

Little monster man on a big monster dog? The general idea is he should be twisted and crazy enough that everyone nearby suffers Stupidity. I personally interpreted the character’s mutant mount Umbralok using the very feral and beastmen-like ‘Thing in the Woods’ from Mordheim:

The rider is made of various chaotic bitz draped with putty tendrils to emulate the fur(?) in the art. Pick some Ungor legs with a wide stance and they should be able to fit on a mount.

The landscape around him changes and twists with flames in a colour out of space as it is pulled into his upside-down dimension.

A conundrum with this guy is that the rules imply he’s cavalry-sized, but nothing much suits this scale for mounts – Beastmen don’t really do mounts. I have seen a conversion that used a plastic wolf as the basis and another with a Chaos Warhound. I think a Dark Eldar Warp Beast has suitably bizarre looks for this purpose (I’m talkin’ about the googly eyed metal ones of course). The newer (Khymera?) version is sized better if you run him on 50x50mm as above.

Going back to the artwork, the heads all have a slightly beaked appearance – the Tzaangor kit is perfect if you want to emulate this.

Ungrol

Ungrol Four-Horn is a two-headed changeling consumed with horn-envy. His artwork is a little clearer:

It is a near-effortless conversion (Gor heads on an Ungor body 4horns1gor) but I’ve never got around to making him because I know that I could any time I want. Ideally use the more lengthy and impressive horns from the Bestigor kit.

Molokh

Molokh Slugtongue is a festering beastie who makes the enemy army fungry. This aura (D3 wounds no saves on T test) has the potential to be very valuable against some lineups so he’s a surprisingly rounded choice for a wizard.

Slugtongue – Beastmen 7th edition Army Book

Another easy conversion, you can take the skull from various Orc or Ogre banners and jam it on any necromancer, Chaos Sorceror etc. you have spare. There are one or two examples of this online. To complete the picture, the staff he holds in the artwork looks very much like Morghur’s:

I was going for ‘glowing ember’ and got ‘baked potato’

I could also see Ethrac Glott making a good base for this guy, with a bit of fur added here and there:

Ethrac Glott currently employed as a Fimir

Taurox

Taurox enjoyed the most popularity of these characters since all it took was a pot of Brazen Brass to get a 1+ save for your Doombull. He was finally rewarded with the Daemonic Gift of an official design when released as a legendary lord in Total War: Warhammer II after years as only a headshot:

But the TWW design is nowhere near as fun as what we can do with our imagination.

The plastic minotaurs with their smooth Blender3d muscles already look like cast bronze statues, so all they need is a coat of metallic paint. If the traditional bare-arsed bovines are more your bag, armour plates can be fashioned from Chaos kits such as Skullcrushers and applied on top of an old sculpt for a metallic aesthetic.

The Doombull (F-L) and Bloodbowl Mino (F-R) are begging to be brassed up

Replacing the cow head with the head from the Juggernaut of Khorne (particularly the lord mount) is a good touch. My own plan for a Taurox conversion is clipping the wings off a classic Bloodthirster:

This conversion will also allow me to run him as Ograx the Beastfiend, a lore-only character from the Archaon novel. Ograx is an Australian beastman who achieves the favour of a Bloodthirster and is gifted with a brass body.

From out of the lore-forest come some other characters who could spice up your herd:

* Ragush of the Bloody Horn is a XXXL Doombull who likes his steaks rare.
* Kha’rak Stoneheart is a Bray-Shaman’s ghost possessing a minotaur’s body. (Buy the Wizard Hat on a Doombull, you know you want to)
* The Harbinger, a wizened shaman who sells out to Nurgle in the end times.

If you have converted one of these characters for your own army, I’d love to put together a compilation of inspiration – leave a comment or email me below: