How to: Basing Middle-Earth

The finished bases

I'm trying to put more painting and modelling guides onto the blog so I thought I'd start a year likely to be filled with Middle-Earth miniatures with a guide to how I do them, alongside a few thoughts I have at the end on variations. For reference, I have largely followed GW's grassy plains tutorial for my Middle-Earth miniatures but with some minor difference.

I wanted a consistent basing scheme for all of my Lord of the Rings and Hobbit stuff, rather than a different one themed to each force. This is so that should I choose to ally forces I will still have a fairly unified looking army, and it will make using miniatures in different armies (for example, my orc warriors will turn up in the Angmar, Mordor, Barad-Dur, and Isengard forces I field) much easier from a visual point of view.

Sand --> Mournfang Brown

First up is applying the sand. The way I did this was to water down some pva glue (just a little bit), apply it all over the base, and then dunk the base into a tub filled with sand. I made sure to keep dunking the miniature until no more sand would adhere to the base, then I waited to let it dry.

Once the pva had all dried (I like to leave it overnight), I then covered the top of the base and the rim with watered-down Mournfang Brown. I'll come back and tidy the rim up to a firmer colour later.

Agrax Earthshade --> Mournfang Brown

I then deviated from the GW method linked above by washing the top of the base with Agrax Earthshade, before dry brushing with Mourning Brown. This is just to make sure any sand I may have missed with the first layer is at least stained brown, and also makes the recesses just that bit darker which is just personal preference.

Zamesi Desert --> Ushabti Bone

This is then followed by a dry brush of Zamesi Desert, followed by a dry brush of Ushabti Bone.

Mournfang Brown on rims and blood tidied around hooves

Once the dry brushing is complete the rim of the base can have Mournfang Brown reapplied to make the colour solid, and if there are any effect around the miniature's feet (like I have done with blood around the hooves of the Mouth of Sauron's horse) this can then be applied to the base around it.

Grass and any finishing touches

Following this add a bit of grass to finish off the generic 'plains' look. My plan is to use only dead grass (my favourite Mordheim Turf is great for this) on my evil armies, and living grass (I'll probably use the somewhat muted Scorched Grass) for my good armies. This will mean that allied forces will maintain a level of cohesion, while at the same time there is a subtle differentiation between good and evil. The only exception I might make is the Dead of Dunharrow, where I'd be tempted to use a mix of living and dead grass for thematic reasons.

Then you can add on whatever subtle touches you fancy like tree-roots or rocks. I plan on putting a skull or two on the bases of my Angmar heroes, and a few bits of ruins on my Moria bases, but otherwise I'll continue to follow the scheme laid down here. A bit of blood (if not already applied) may also be welcome if thematically appropriate, but I think I'd be tempted to keep gore to a minimum on Middle-Earth miniatures, don't know why I just would. Whatever you add, neutral and dark-to-mid toned colours are going to be the ideal.

These bases are ultimately designed to be fairly simple to do and also generally unobtrusive. While one would usually base dark miniatures on lighter bases and vice versa, this is more of a mid-tone so it can work fairly well with just about anything. The goal here is to allow the miniature to take centre-stage and not be overshadowed by a busy base.

I hope you've enjoyed this little how-to and best of luck with your own basing in Middle-Earth!

Project Orc - Part 1

"The age of men is over..."

After flicking through the 'Armies of the Lord of the Rings' book in preparation for doing some new projects, I realised that by simply buying some Orc Warriors I'd be able to field several more armies than I currently can. Due to the somewhat random collection of miniatures I own, I worked out that if I had just one set of basic orcs I could not only bolster my Isengard and Mordor armies, but I could also actually field armies from Angmar and Barad-Dur as I owned relevant heroes but not any warriors.

So I've decided to get myself a bunch of orcs off of eBay, one of which I've converted into a Captain, and three of which I've converted into banner-bearers. Each banner-bearer will have a unique banner: a white hand for Isengard, a spooky-looking sigil for Angmar, and a crimson eye to use for Mordor* so I can switch which banner the squad has to represent which faction they are part of. The orcs themselves will be painted fairly drab and dark so as to fit in with any evil force I choose to use them with.

This little orc project to kick off my Middle-Earth adventures in 2019 will be a great boon to my Lord of the Rings projects and will dramatically increase my ability to get a range of games on the table. As the first supplement to the game coming out is 'Gondor at War', I think my WIP Isengard army is going to be pushed aside in favour of the forces of Mordor. I have just acquired Gothmog and begun rebuilding the Witch-King to lead this army, and I'm looking forward to painting up this rabble and bringing about the time of the orc!

*Tolkien mentions nothing of Sauron's heraldry in the second age (he seems to have adopted the red eye only after his expulsion from Dol Gulder), so I don't think I'll bother converting a banner for a Barad-Dur force. In the rare instance I'll play a game set during the War of the Last Alliance, I will either not field a banner or probably just use the Mordor one and ignore the anachronism.

Thinking about Inquisimunda/Inq28

For the first time since I've been at uni (which is getting to be quite a long time now), I've been going along to the wargaming evening that the Tabletop Society runs on a Friday and there has been talk of a possible narrative campaign some time next year using the Inquisitor or Inquisimunda rulesets. I've never played in a campaign like that before but I've always wanted to really go crazy kit bashing a bespoke little war band for 40k and creating a story with them. Many years ago I had a great time doing something similar with Mordheim and I'm getting that itch again. I've long been an admirer of the guys over at Iron Sleet who have churned out some glorious projects over the past few years, The Pilgrym in particular being absolutely stunning and exactly the kind of modelling and gaming experience I'd like to have with some fellow minded hobbyists.

I've always been amazed and inspired by the Navigator projects done by weirdingway (Found here on DakkaDakka) which have always made me want to explore the Navigator houses myself in a modelling capacity.  Though it may be a while before I have the chance to do some converting, I have started to do some sketches roughing out ideas and thinking about parts I might use to create a unique-looking Navigator war band.

Hopefully in the next few months people will start coming together and the campaign can get organised. I'm getting rather excited at the prospect of such a project so I really hope it gathers enough interest to take off. Even if it doesn't, I may do some of these conversions anyway as a fun little side piece to the other projects I plan on undertaking next year. Much like how I briefly worked on a Kill Team alongside my Custodes this year. We shall see, if things go ahead I'll make sure to try and document my work and the campaign as best I can on the blog.

Custodes WIP (June)

The crusade begins!

So I've finally managed to get hold of the first few boxes of Custodes I will need for my initial 1000pt army. I know that at the start of the year I would only start on a Custodes force when I had finished some more projects, but due to my decision to sell my Dark Angels and Imperial Guard I somehow managed to justify spending my cash on a few boxes of Custodes. I had bought some gold spray paint a while ago for my Sisters of Silence and I've had some free time after exams so I couldn't help but start putting things together and laying down some base colours.

So the core of this force will be two squads of three Custodian Guard, one with spears and one with swords. To make these I have mixed and matched three Custodes with three easy-build Stormcast Liberators, alongside some spare bits. One thing I've really tried to do with my Custodes (where the kits have allowed it) is to create a strong, square silhouette. I decided to start this force back when Trajann Valoris was first previewed because I loved how square he was and how solid and intimidating a look that is. I've therefore endeavoured to create a 'squareness' to my Custodes, creating vaguely square silhouettes by refraining from using tall helms and changing poses to create strong visual lines.

Fluff-wise I am terming this force: the Mourner-Host, being composed of members of the Adeptus Custodes who ordinarily do not leave the confines of the Imperial Palace due to the fact they primarily do not serve the Emperor in combat-roles. These are his librarians, his philosophers, and the private executioners of his will. Though they maintain  a traditional colour-scheme of gold and scarlet, they continue to wear the black of mourning as they mourn not only the Emperor, but also the death of his dream for humanity to which they were particularly close. They have been gathered by the Lord-Historian, newly wakened from his millennia long cryo-sleep, to accompany him on his travels through the Imperium. The wisdom, knowledge and ideals they bring with them, will be a familiar assurance to the Lord-Historian who has found himself in an Imperium far more alien than any he has awaken in before.

Apologies for the poor photos, I only had my phone camera available and not the best lighting conditions but you get the idea of what I'm doing. 

- The Neo-Sigillites
Made using Custodes torsos and Stomrcast legs, this is a conversion I have seen many times before and though looked quite effective. Mix and matching Custodes with Stormcasts was not as difficult as I thought it might have been, it just required a little thought when cutting and some use of green stuff to cover the few gaps. I then added Allarus helmets to keep their silhouette low and squarish which I'm going to paint red in lieu of them having crimson plumes. I've added books at their hips as I imagine these as the keeper's of the Emperor's personal library on Terra. They are loyal servants of the Lord-Historian who attend to him while he is in cryo-sleep, now venturing forth at his side to collect new materials for the Emperor's library.

- The Watchers
So I made these using a combination of Custodes legs and Stormcast torsos. I've been very unimpressed with attempts I have seen by a few people to make the most of the Custodes kit by simply sticking spare heads and weapons onto Stormcasts. In my opinion they just look like Stormcasts holding the wrong gear, and I think my torso/leg swap is much more effective at making them distinctly custodian. I've also added some cloaks to help add 'squareness' around the shoulders and emulate the robes of mourning seen on the cover of the book 'Watchers of the Throne' which has served as inspiration for my colour scheme. These individuals with their long plumes and ornate armour are philosophers, they are known as the Watchers because they spend much of their time standing upon the walls of the Imperial Palace, looking out over the surface of Terra and ruminating on the nature of death and sacrifice.

I've then build two Shield-Captains with the appropriate load-out to lead each squad.

- The Wall
This was the very first character I envisioned for this force and rather than waffling about how I put him together I'll just paste my first write-up of fluff I wrote for this army: This grim Custodian never speaks, indeed no one knows quite who he is or how old he is. His armour is certainly aged and atop his head The Wall wears the helm of an Imperial Fists Legionnaire. Many believe he was there upon the walls of the Imperial Palace when the traitors laid it to siege (from whence he has gained his moniker from the Watchers) and wears the yellow helmet in remembrance of a fallen companion from that battle. Whether he is a truly ancient Custodian, or if many have inherited the armour and role, nobody knows. When he leaves the Palace, he is followed by a procession of Custodians who feel drawn to him as a manifestation of the Emperor's will and follow his silent commands into war. Mysterious as The Wall may be, he is respected and revered by his fellow Custodians for being a near-mystical expression of of their order's duty and vigil of remembrance.

- Commodus Vendyrion, Lord-Magister
I wanted to try and adapt the look of a basic Custode, making them sleeker and more agile looking. My initial idea was to convert a squad of Custodes Assassins but non of my ideas panned out so I decided to just take my best ideas and apply it to a single miniature to use as a shield-captain.
Fluff-wise, he is a keeper of ancient knowledge from old Terra, a master of mysticism and an expert on long-extinct ideologies that promised their adherents enlightenment. His armour is not marked with the same symbols of the Emperor as his brethren, instead I will cover it in arcane glyphs from times long forgotten.

- The Emperor's Executioners
Alongside this core of my army I have my Allarus Custodes who I think are absolutely gorgeous miniatures. As hunters of enemy commanders, I decided to make my unit look like grim executioners and swapped out their heads for ones with cowls from the Deathwing set, while removing the plume to lower their profile. This order was responsible for the execution of prisoners, political dissidents, and others during the Unification Wars. They persisted until the time of the Horus Heresy and the Scouring, keeping a level of fear and order on Terra in that turbulent time.

- Theophilos Drax, The Lord-Iconoclast
I happened to have another Stormcast body from an old abandoned project which I have extensively converted into a Shield-Captain in Allarus armour. The Lord-Iconoclast joins the Executioners but has a duty beyond simply killing the leaders of the Emperor's foes. He is also tasked with the destruction of enemy artefacts. This position has existed in some form in the Custodes since the Unification Wars where the Lord-Iconoclast was charged with the destruction of ancient Terra's holy places following their conquest by the Emperor's armies. I see him and the executioners as those more responsible for clean-up and pacification than actual combat, but now sally forth with the Lord-Historian in hopes of fulfilling their ancient roles in a new galaxy.

It was my birthday recently and I received some more Custodes stuff which I should hopefully start work on soon. This includes some Vertus Praetors whose helms I've already purloined for the Watchers, Trajann Valoris himself (who I'm very excited to work on), and Tribune Ixion Hale from Forge World who I plan on converting into my Lord-Historian who will lead the force when I'm not fielding Valoris. Lots still to do on these current ones though and I hope that this entire project doesn't end up lasting longer than this year!

Fell Bats Conversion

For a long time I have wanted to include Fell Bats in my undead forces and unfortunately the current GW miniatures are really old and unfit for purpose. So earlier this year I spent some time rifling through my bits boxes to see what I could come up with. These are the results of which I am rather proud. I forgot to take pictures of them without paint (I got excited and started painting right away so these are very WIP pics) but I think its fairly obvious what I've done here. These miniatures can be put together quite easily, and are made from pieces most Death players likely have lying around.

The base of this conversion is the spare pieces from assembling a unit of Crypt Horrors. If you assemble the Crypt Horrors you will be left with the wings, hairy back, and head of the Vargheists. I began by taking these pieces and gluing them together in a flying pose. The heads glue really easily onto the top of the hairy back piece and the wings can be glued to roughly where the shoulders should be with relative ease, though you may need to cut the joints a little for the best fit. 

For the claws I then took some spare Ghoul arms and glued them to the bottom of the back piece. This may require cutting down the shoulder joint of the arms a little. I also elected to go with arms that weren't holding any items and showed the bare claws. 

This leaves us with all of the bat except for the front of the torso. You could green-stuff in some muscles or something but I elected to glue a skeleton shield to the front of the body for ease. The round shields from the Skeleton Warriors kit cover this front area quite nicely and I thought it would provide a nice space to display the colours and heraldry of an army. After all, I like to think of these bats as a proud Vampire/Necromancer's pets that they would want to cover in their personal colours or sigils. As an extra detail I added some arrows poking out of the bat above to show where enemy archers had tried to bring it down. 

I then used some green stuff to fill in gaps, make small tails, and generally smooth any connections that didn't look quite right. Finally they were glued to a standard 40mm base by their wing-tips (I'm not a fan of using flying bases but they could work equally well) and where necessary I glued coins to the bottom of the base to make sure they wouldn't fall over. 

I believe these Fell Bats are a fair bit larger than the current Fell Bat miniatures but with a more dynamic pose and more modern pieces I think you'll agree they are much better. I also think they fit within the aesthetic of most undead armies better than using Tyranid bits, which seems to be the most common means of converting Fell Bats that I have seen previously. I'm sure that others will be able to refine this method further, but for now I rather pleased with my Fell Bats and I hope it inspires others to try rooting through their bits boxes to see what they can make! 

Autumn Workbench - Malifaux, Monsters, and More

I have been incredibly busy over the past few months but I have managed to get quite a few hobby things done in my spare time (i.e. procrastinating between more important things!). While I haven't managed to work on my Flesh-Eater Court or my Witch-Hunters, I have managed to do plenty of work on side projects. 

One of my main projects for this year, though smaller than my main army projects, is an experimental Lich Warband which I'm not putting together for any particular reason than wanting to try out some random painting/modelling ideas. The core of the war band are some small groups of skeletal warriors which are nearly done, just the basing and final details to do now.

One of my favourite miniatures GW has ever produced is Krell and I decided earlier this year to buy him on a whim, adding him to this project as leader of my skeletons. I even largely painted him like the GW scheme but with minor variations to fit the rest of the war band.

Perhaps my favourite conversion for this project thus far is this random Vampire Priest I cobbled together from spare parts. I wanted him to look like a non-combat orientated character, but more shamanistic than wizardly which I like to think I have achieved. 

With the Skeletal core of the army almost finished, I have started work on a Command Squad of wights as heavier hitters. This little unit is led by a character I'm currently just calling Lord Famine that I mounted upon a slightly-converted cow from the Giant kit, a piece that I've been wanting to use for ages now. This weird squad is probably most representative of the design philosophy of this project; that being pure creativity and experimentation. 

I've also managed to get a fair bit done on this Corsair war band for Age of Sigmar which I converted over the summer. It has been quite fun doing something a little different, even if it has admittedly distracted me from more important projects. I've used these miniatures as a test for using Tamiya Clear Red, as I'm currently considering a Horus Heresy project which I might use this colour for. 

I've also made a load of progress on the Malifaux stuff I ordered over the summer. I still have quite a way to go with these miniatures but I'm quite pleased with them thus far. I'm hoping that over the Christmas period I will be able to get my hands on The Jury for this crew as well as get in some of my first games of Malifaux.

Looking back at my hobby plans for the year, I realise that I have had mixed results thus far to say the least. I'm hoping that by the end of the year I will have managed to finish off the three projects mentioned above as well as get some other stuff done as well. After buying the Malifaux stuff in September I decided not to buy anymore miniatures until I had gotten more of my unpainted stuff done as I seem to have entered a never-ending cycle of starting new projects without finishing old ones while continuing to ignore my Tomb Kings. At the start of next year I shall do a 'year-in-review' post and we shall see how successful I have been! 

When you accidentally kit bash a new project...

I like to think we have all done it. You find yourself sat down idly gluing some miniatures together when you realise that you have a spare body left over, and wouldn't it look good with that head you had spare from the last box you stuck together? Oh and do you remember that cool sword you had left over from the hero you converted two months ago? Lets stick that on him. Mmmh, well he's looking pretty good now, lets add a bit of greenstuff, and don't I have another one of these bodies laying around somewhere as well? Might as well make him a friend or two and maybe I could buy a box of this or that to round it out to a little force...

I do it all the time. Many of these projects are aborted or recycled before they can see the light of day but I've recently started one I think might go somewhere. It has been my intention for a while now to do a few AoS28-inspired war bands. I've already started work on 'The Brides of Nagash' and 'The Reliquary of St. Leonis' which should hopefully materialise some point in the coming months alongside my Flesh-Eater Courts army. After reading City of Secrets, which was a fun little book I'd recommend that really fleshed out what non-Stormcast people get up to in the mortal realms, I couldn't help but be inspired to chop up a long neglected miniature of Crone Hellebron I've never used for anything and see what I could make of it.

Apologies in advance for the bad photography, I happen to have limited means of taking photos presently. 

Morvhana Chillwind: privateer and assassin-for-hire

The result was this charming lady who ended up looking more of an assassin than the Scourge Privateer Captain I had envisioned. I therefore decided to try making such a miniature and began raiding my Dark Elf bits box. Before long I found myself chopping up a few Black Ark Corsairs and I have ended up with a little war band of elven pirates with which to reave the seas of the mortal realms. I did have to cringe a little seeing the paint on these miniatures as I think these corsair pieces were done about ten years ago now. Hopefully I shall be giving them a new lease of life with a fresh lick of paint sometime soon.

Vallach Kildare the Sea-Snake, and the crew of The Revenger

I certainly had a lot of fun with these miniatures. The Corsairs were my first plastic Dark Elf miniatures and I really enjoyed building and customising them back in the day. Now that the corsairs no longer need to be ranked up I could have even more fun with their poses and weapons. This was merely my first endeavour in seeing how far I could push the Corsair kit and I'm really tempted to pick up another box to see what other dynamic poses I can pull off. 

Telemore the Wind-Rider

While looting some of my elf/eldar bits boxes I came across a spare sail from the Dark Eldar Raider kit and some kind of Eldar grav-platform I think is part of a Guardian heavy weapon thing. An idea took shape and now this thing exists. Not sure what to call it but I'm imagining it as some kind of magical wind board that flies along the currents of sorcerous energies that blow through the realms. 

I also found out some Lothern Sea Guard that currently don't have a home and I'm thinking of converting them with Corsair bits to make them into a little group of harbour guards that protect the on-land interests of the Scourge Privateers. A while ago I also kit bashed a Sorceress on Dark Pegasus, which I may add to this group for some magical support if I can find what I've done with her. 

With regards basing I think I might repeat the kind of basing I did on my Hobbit Collection, in order to simulate the planks of a ship. I think I might even have the mould I made for the Goblin Town scenery laying around somewhere, though I think I might paint the wood in a lighter brown than I did with the Hobbit stuff. As for painting I'm not really sure what I am going to do with them. I'm currently leaning towards a bit of a reinvention of my old Dark Elf Army scheme with reds and golds but far brighter to reflect the more mythic-fantasy setting of Age of Sigmar better. 

No idea if this project will actually develop anywhere at all and its likely to remain unpainted for a time, but it was fun to stick together and play around with for a bit. We shall see...

Reviving my Dark Eldar - Lord Havelock Dread-Hand

"I can taste it in the air, the sweet elixir of battle. Blood. Sweat. Fear. Pain. I drink it in through every pore of my skin and feast upon it with my hungry eyes. I live for the violence of our age; if only so that I can dance as a gore-drenched God amongst the stars revealing in my own murderous prowess."

Gladiator and assassin-for-hire, Havelock Dread-Hand was hired by Admiral Karzein Depravum shortly after the fall of Lethis on Lehron IV. Whilst Durizael was incapacitated, Karzein decided to flee to Kharcis Prime to escape the wrath of jealous Archons in the Dark City. The Admiral sent Havelock to Commoragh where he managed to retrieve most of the information stored by the Depravum in their Citadel as well as several relics which had not already been taken by looters. He bought them to the Fleshless Palace on Kharcis Prime and was rewarded with sponsorship from the Faceless Archon and the title of 'Lord' within his court.

This model happened a bit at random as I was taking apart some models I decided I no longer wanted in my army. The parts just fell together and after one quick mock-up later I decided this would be a perfect addition to the Scions of the Skin-Lord. Using nothing but his fists (albeit augmented with Hydra Gauntlets) Havelock relishes getting close and personal to the kill. His stance screams arrogance and also contemplation; as if he has just torn your guts out with his hands and is watching you writhe around on the floor dying.

In games I will be using him as a Succubus with Hydra Gauntlets, probably in smaller games when I don't want to field an Archon but want maximum killing power.

I was going to post my review of End Times: Thanquol this weekend but for various reasons I am yet to finish reading the book despite it sitting open on my desk permanently. I should however be able to get that review up next weekend as I have a far less busy week this week than last. I have been able to do some more painting though this week; Nagash is about half-way finished and I have done some converting with my elves but not much. All of this I should be able to get on the blog sometime near the end of the month. 

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...

Army Showcase - Part 16 - House Victarian

Masters of the sea!

The bloody and brutal naval arm of the Blood Legion; House Victarian command the corsairs of the Doomspire Fleet from their Black Ark: the Tower of Hate. Lord-Admiral Helkhan Victarian leads his men and monsters from this sinister bastion to enact the will of Doombringer wherever in the world he so wishes.

You can learn more about House Victarian and see pictures of their forces without the new monsters in this blog post which I recommend you read before continuing with this one: House Victarian.

Reavers of the Doomspire Fleet

Project: Sisters of Battle - Assessing my Collection

The Ecclesiarchy

1. Adepta Sororitas - Sisters of Battle
2. Astra Militarum Allies - Representing the Frateris Militia
3. Inquisitorial Detachment - Representing a Cardinal and his guards 

Until I have the funds necessary to buy the models I require for my Inquisitorial Stormtroopers I will be focusing on my Ecclesiarchal half of my Witch hunters. Here I have assembled my current collection and assessed how each unit will be used according to the current army-plan as laid out above. This post is meant as only a rough outline of my thoughts so expect it to jump around a bit in places.

My Glottkin woes and hobby life as a student.

For a while now the blog has been largely running on pre-prepared posts I have scheduled in advance due to the fact that I am now at university and do not have time during the week to do much hobby stuff. This will therefore be a slightly unusual post for me as it will largely just be ranting and random thoughts: a bit of a vague general update on my hobby life more than anything else. 

First I will rant a bit about Glottkin. Getting hold of this book has been an absolute nightmare and ultimately I have failed to procure myself a copy. As you may have seen a few months ago I bought the Nagash book and wrote a review of it; praising the design team for such an excellent product. I have no doubt that Glottkin is just as impressive but has been much harder to get a hold of. 

I managed to miss the book when it went up for Pre-Orders on the webstore due to being a student and actually having a Friday night social life. I was then unable to reserve any copies from any of the local suppliers and on the day of release the woefully few copies my local GW had were sold out in literal seconds. I even called in a range of favours people owed me, ringing friends across the UK and telling them to run to their local warhammer shop to buy me a book. None of them; from York to Oxford, Chesterfield to Aberystwyth, were able to get a copy for me. 

Nooooooooooooooo!

Game of Thrones - House Baratheon of Dragonstone

All Hail the One True King of Westeros!

The King in the Narrow Sea
Stannis Baratheon

With all these pretenders to the throne fighting in the Riverlands I have finally turned my attention to the rightful King: Stannis of the House Baratheon, King of the Andals, the First Men and the Rhoynar, Lord of the Seven Kingdoms and Protector of the Realm. Protecting his right to the throne are two war bands I have created; the first being loyal men of Dragonstone led by the Hand of the King Ser Davos Seaworth and the second being some Lysene Pirates led by Salladhar Saan. Thus far I am yet to find a satisfactory model to use for Stannis the Mannis himself but I promise he will follow eventually.

Reviving My Dark Eldar - An Army Reborn

Looking at my armies this year as I finish off the last few models I decided that my Dark Eldar army looked a bit bland and uninspired despite the amount of background I wrote for it. You can see it in these posts: Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3. I decided it was time for a dark and gritty re-boot so I moved the story of the Depravum on a few years to their fall and to what sick creatures have risen from the ashes. You can read the start of the story here: Rise of the Faceless Archon and it will continue over a series of upcoming posts that will be grouped together on a dedicated page. For now you can enjoy some army/unit pictures and some of my thoughts on the Scions of the Skin-Lord...

The Scions of the Skin-Lord

Game of Thrones - House Lannister

House Lannister is arguably the most interesting of the great houses of Westeros with a slew of complex characters at the very centre of the sexy political intrigue that makes Game of Thrones so enthralling. Continuing with the 'War in the Riverlands' theme I have built a heavily armoured Lannister patrol to be ambushed by the Blackfish or Thoros of Myr.

Hear Me Roar!

This war band represents a Lannister patrol led by Ser Addam Marbrand: the leader of Tywin Lannister's outriders from the books and a childhood friend of Ser Jaime Lannister. What this war band lacks in ranged combat it makes up for with cavalry, three knights of the Westerlands and Ser Addam himself leading the charge against the rebel northerners.

New 40k Project: Witch Hunters

++ Burn the Heretic, Kill the Mutant, Scourge the Unclean ++

It's been too long since i've had a good Witch-hunt...

Over the next year as I start university I will be undertaking two new projects: one fantasy and one 40k. My 40k project will be an attempt to recapture my first and favourite 40k army: Witch Hunters. When 5th ed. first came out I decided it was time to start a 40k army but few of them were of any interest to me. I eventually narrowed it down to three armies and in the end it was the baroque aesthetic and fanatical zealotry of the Sisters of battle that won me over. The chance to field an army of enigmatic Inquisitors with their eccentric war bands and the faithful legions of the Battle Sisters was too good to pass up. Exploring the darker aspects of the game I was enthralled by the art and background, but unfortunately support for them dried up and I was forced to leave my beloved Witch-Hunters half-worked upon as I picked up new fantasy and 40k armies. 

The Codex cover that convinced me to play 40k

Now, having largely finished with my current armies, I have decided to return to my favourite 40k army with renewed vigour. The new allies rules and new forms of Force Organisation have opened up fresh avenues for me to explore. I intend to build a Witch Hunters army full of John Blanche inspired models that call up some of the gothic pieces of art from the 2nd and 3rd editions of 40k. I want to create an army that is a veritable toolbox of righteous madness for an Inquisitor to build his forces from that covers all the goodness of the 3rd ed. Witch Hunters Codex with everything from Battle Sisters to Stormtroopers; as well as adding things like the Frateris Militia from the 2nd ed. Sisters of Battle Codex and elements from the deeper background like the Cardinals Crimson. 

The Blanche- inspired 'mood' I want to capture

I have broadly divided this force into two halves; further divided for force organisation purposes and presented below:

The Ecclesiarchy

1. Adepta Sororitas - Sisters of Battle
2. Astra Militarum Allies - Representing the Frateris Militia
3. Inquisitorial Detachment - Representing a Cardinal and his guards 

Witch Hunters

1. Inquisitorial Detachment - Ordo Hereticus Warbands
2. Militarum Tempestus - Inquisitorial Stormtroopers

Whilst this may sound overly ambitious this is a project I intend to take slowly over the next two years and is intended as an army designed to look great together but can be easily split up into detachments I can field in any combination with one another and with my Astra Militarum army or my Dark Angels army. 

I will be posting further plans as well as concept art sketches soon and models in the near future as and when I am able to get round to it. Like, share, comment, follow, etc. to see more from this project as well as everything else happening on Eyes of the Snake and I will see you again soon.

Doombringer out.

Burn the Heretic!

Reviving my Dark Eldar - Scions of the Skin-Lord

He choked on the air, thick with ash and vaporised blood it made him retch. Not that it was an unfamiliar sensation; but rather in the ruin and pain of Lehron IV Durizael had taken leave of reality. The thick black bile slopped messily from his broken jaw: a cocktail of half-digested flesh, acrid stomach juices and his own life-blood mingled into a stream of undiluted self-loathing. He could barely even see the world around him as one of his eyelids flapped uselessly where his face had been half stripped from his skull, his right eye burning red raw from exposure to the cruel desert world beyond the safety of skin. The left eye remained mercifully clothed in flesh though no less bloody giving him a vision of only gory ruin.

Durizael had long since fallen to his knees, scrabbling amongst the dirt for his senses. He crawled spasmodically along the dust carpeted floor; kicking up clouds of fine grit that attacked his exposed muscle and sinew. Finding energy to drag his broken form further through the jagged grey rubble, Durizael lurched forward like a crippled beast in flight from a hunter. Sounds of battle raged on every side, echoes of death and woe as promethium flames held his kinsmen in tortured embrace.

This had been madness from the start, she had gambled everything and lost. Worst still she had dragged him into this; beloved sister and psychotic bitch, Lethis had done this to him. Ruined all he had worked for. Ruined the family. Ruined his face. His handsome, handsome face. This would not be the end he vowed. This was only the beginning. They had mocked him, defeated him in battle and had taken her away from him. The universe was such a cruel mistress; a mistress with a needle-knife of suffering. Cutting away everything. 

Durizael's breathing was becoming more and more haggard as his internal organs began to fail him. This was almost it, he could feel the predations of the warp caressing the outermost parts of his soul as the darkness began to close in around him. Merciless unknowns and uncertainties played along the edges of his consciousness, sinister legends of damnation attempted to slither between the lobes of his brain to bring mental anguish to the dying vessel. But he would not allow this. His own madness would sustain him, a violent force of hate and malice wrapped in black fury consumed every fibre of his being. This was not death. This was rebirth. With red agony coursing through his veins Durizael raised his hands. This was not death. This was rebirth. Spidery fingers tensed as they gripped his once handsome features now half-hanging limply from a ruined face. This was not death. This was rebirth. Setting aside the insanity of an uncaring universe and all the pain of a hopeless future he tore the dangling flesh from cheek to cheek. This was not death. This was rebirth.

Fleeing from the defeat of his sister Lethis on Lehron IV, Durizael Depravum managed to gather what was left of the crumbling Depravum empire and fled the Dark City to the death world of Kharcis Prime which lies on the very borders of the southern galaxy. Having lost his face and much of his sanity Durizael vows he will take revenge on the cruel universe: all his life he had cowered in the shadow of his sister as a failure to his family but no more. The Fleshless Palace of Kharcis Prime will soon be adorned with a thousand bloody tokens of vengeance as the skin is torn from the living bags of meat who dared to wrong him and hung as tapestries for the Faceless Archon to enjoy.