The Blood Legion of the Doomspire Fleet

Dreadlord Amarth Doombringer
The Lord of the Doomspire

Before the Daemons came, before the birth of Aenarion himself, in the early days of the world is when my story begins. The race of elves were beginning to raise the first of the great cities across Ulthuan and upstart noble families assumed rulership of the early kingdoms. My story begins as I was scrabbling amongst the rocks in the wilderness; the knife at my hip being my only possession. Starving and searching for food I was alone, cast out in exile for crimes long forgotten to me and desperate for sustenance. I found nought amongst the cruel sea of stones and howled at this injustice; cursing elves and gods alike, cursing the Old Ones themselves for my very creation. 

It was then that I fell. Through years of rock and earth I tumbled into the blackness until I found the deeper darkness of another age. In the bowels of the earth I found the Emperor Dragon known only as Tyrant: an ancient power from before the coming of the Old Ones who lay broken and defeated from a primordial battle with the first of the creators. He promised me power, great sorceries and the means to cast down the agents of the Old Ones to restore the rule of dragons. The beast spoke of power and I saw potential in Tyrant's offer, but I also saw weakness in the dragon's wounded form and I hungered.

The beast screamed as I cut through it's eye, causing earthquakes as my knife rent great gashes in its surface until the fluid burst forth and I could climb into the dragon's skull. Tyrant howled as I crawled deep inside his head and as my teeth bit deep into his brain. Soon all screaming stopped as the knowledge of the ancient dragons became mine, as their power became mine. I emerged from the darkness with the strength of another age and raised a mighty keep above the broken body of the dragon. I consumed Tyrant's brain and later learnt how to consume his soul as well. His power is now my power: the mighty emperor dragon is little more than a hollow corpse bound to my will, a curiosity beneath the Doomspire whose power has sustained me beyond death itself. I have risen from nothing to a mighty Dreadlord with entire armies at my command. I have foreseen my glorious purpose as conquerer and saviour, the true lord of this world who will inherit the fallen kingdoms of dragons. 

I am Doombringer and only darkness follows...

The Blood Legion of the Doomspire Fleet

The Blood Legion is Doombringer's personal army of loyal Dark Elves; originally merely the guards of the Doomspire itself the army has grown over thousands of years to resemble the other great hosts of the Dark Elves. The Blood Legion travels across the world to enact Doombringer's will upon the mighty Doomspire Fleet: a large flotilla assembled since the sundering to include three mighty Black Arks and their accompanying armadas.

Sat upon his Ruby Throne the Lord of the Doomspire gazes across the world; his heart burning with a desire unshackled by boundless arrogance. All that he sees he would have and even then that would not be enough. First he shall have vengeance upon the elves of Ulthuan, then upon the Old ones themselves. Even he has forgotten the ancient deeds for which society cast him out and first led him to Tyrant, all he knows is that the world will drown in his darkness and then the stars themselves will bow to him...

House Lancarion

House Lancarion were a noble house from Chrace who sided with Malekith during the Elven Civil War. They were defeated and chased from the border of their homeland and made a living as mercenary captains in service to greater Druchii houses. Ruthless and ambitious they have grown over the years into the most powerful of the houses serving Dreadlord Doombringer. Serving as generals and administrators of his armies they have been richly rewarded for their services to the Ruby Throne and have recently been granted the Black Ark: The Palace of Loathing and their leader, Khalzar Lancarion has been made Lord-General of the Blood Legion, first-amongst-equals of the High Council of the Doomspire.

Part 1, 2, 3 and Showcase

House Victarian

The Lord-Admiral is chosen by the Corsairs of the Doomspire Fleet upon the death of the previous incumbent. The current High-Admiral is Helkhan of House Victarian whose family has profited immensely from his new office. Brutal, efficient and well-loved by their men; the reaver-lords of House Victarian rival the Lancarions in power and have even constructed their own Black Ark: The Tower of Hate to serve as their power base, seemingly intent on keeping the title of Lord-Admiral within their family.

Part 1 and Showcase

Doombringer and the Temple of Khaine

Doombringer has long been a generous patron of the Temple of Khaine, realising that the Lord of Murder would be the best god for his armies to worship and receive boons from should his world-dominating megalomania ever come to fruition. More can be seen of the Temple of Khaine in this showcase post: The Temple of Khaine.

Lady Shadowstalker and the Disciples of the Savage Hunt

Lady Shadowstalker is one of Dreadlord Doombringer's most loyal servants and some even say lover. She is fanatically devoted to him; even forsaking her ancient birth rights by refusing to pursue her family claim to a seat on the Witch-King's council and giving her ancestral Black Ark: the Palace of Loathing to Doombringer to do with as he pleases. She is his chief Huntress and a disciple of the goddess Anath Rema; wholly dedicating herself to hunting down the enemies of the Doomspire and proving herself to the Dreadlord.

Lord-Chancellor Dazmir Darkspine

Oldest of Doombringer's servants still living, Dazmir Darkspine is an ancient elf with a mysterious agenda. More can be read about this twisted druchii here: The Lord-Chancellor.

Lady Morwen Shadeheart

The Supreme Sorceress of the small coven located on the Doomspire, Morwen was raised from birth by those loyal to Doombringer to serve him and only him. Having only the barest of connections to the sorceresses of Ghrond her talents are exclusively in the employ of the Dreadlord whom she owes her power to. Unusually unambitious for a Dark Elf she values loyalty and obedience to hierarchy; giving her allegiance to the only person she believes fit to rule: Doombringer.

Dreadlord Amarth Doombringer

The Megalomanic who rules from the Doomspire, Dreadlord Amarth Doombringer is my avatar in the Warhammer world. I have made many different models or him over the years, I think this is probably something like the tenth version of him and the first one I have been really happy with. Recurring concepts across all his models is the lower-half of his helm covered with a scarf and three horns sprouting from the front of his helmet. I used a mix of Dark Elf, Dark Eldar and High Elf parts to make him which I think gives him quite a unique look, I also gave him a pair of wings to make him more imposing and play off of one of his monikers: the Crimson Angel.

In his original incarnation it was Doombringer himself who rode the dragon Fearfang into battle, now it is his champion Kardath Lancarion and the Dreadlord himself fights on foot. I do still entertain the idea of putting him on some form of mount, a chariot in particular appeals to me at the moment though I do quite like the idea of putting him in a howdah on the back of Tyrant's corpse but I am yet to find a suitable model for the ancient Emperor Dragon that I can afford.

This army began back in 2007 when the 7th edition Dark Elf army book was first released. I had only really dabbled in Lord of the Rings miniatures at the time but a few months previously had been playing some elves in a Mordheim campaign my school's wargaming club was running. It was then that my first hobby mentor gave me some high elf and wood elf miniatures to paint and play with. Not long afterwards the new Dark Elf book hit and I was blown away by the new miniatures. The sinister elegance and boundless hatred of the druchii convinced me to build an army of these murderous elves and the rest as they say is history.

Buying the book I discovered that the Dark Elves were the perfect army for me; everything from their background to their play style I thoroughly enjoyed. The models were gorgeous to behold and a wonder to paint. This army has undergone several different iterations as my painting style has changed or improved and as I have reimagined characters or units, but they have ever been the slavishly loyal legions of Doombringer himself who looms menacingly in the background of all my Warhammer fantasy armies.

The red colour scheme that I chose for my Dark Elves was in fact based off of the cover of the 7th edition army book. The crimson and dark steel was a beautifully sinister contrast to the whites and blues of their cousins on Ulthuan. I added golden helms and other small gold detailing to add a regal touch which also helps to breaks up the dark silver. This scheme has only really changed very subtly over the years, for example there used to be a lot more instances of green to complement the red but this has slowly been phased out leaving only a few models with that colour.

Whilst this army is quite large I still entertain many ideas of expanding it. Should the harpies ever get a new model I would quite like to have a big flock of them. Some more chariots would be nice as I quite like the new Scourgerunner chariot and I would also quite like to add a unit of Bleakswords whose models look very nice compared to the old warriors. More than anything though I would like to make some of these units bigger. Spearmen, Witch Elves and Corsairs in particular I would like to make into hordes and now that End Times: Khaine has been released I am also contemplating adding some Wood Elf and High Elf allies to this force. 

To be honest I'm not really sure how many points this army even is and it has never grown in any kind of logical direction, but it is my favourite army and I never get tired of repainting or adding to it.  Most people seem to have an army like this, one they can never quite get away from that grows on whims and has seen a hundred battles. There is always something satisfying to returning to such an army; each unit of murderous hate-filled psychopaths being a fond memory or achievement. Whilst I could wax lyrical about Dark Elves all day: the joys of seeing your enemies driven before you, the lamentation of their womenfolk, etc. I will end this post here before I begin indulging my inner dark elf too much. 

This is my world. You just die in it.