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About Me

Found 53 results

  1. Hello! I am preparing a mutli-layered present box for my brother to get him into AoS. I know he is into Khorne (in 40k at least) but can't afford another army. So far he wasn't hooked by AoS due to my other brother's Stromcast stomping him while he playtested Daughters of Khaine. The box will include 700+ Points worth of Blades of Khorne and the Battletome. Each layer contains several models and the final layer includes the Battletome. I wanted to make this special with each layer being seperated by one or two scorched pages with Khorne Fluff inscribed on them. I want to symbolize how he strides further and further on the path of khorne until he finally serves Khorne utterly with opening the final layer, which is the Battletome. I was looking for hints on short fluff texts I can use but I was unable to find any so far. So I was hoping you could help me out. I am looking for prayers to khorne, short stories and descriptions of the red feast, eight lamentations etc. Any help is highly appreciated!
  3. Clan Prepnik This blog is dedicated to my Skaven clan. Please excuse me in advance for the language errors, as I am not a native speaker. I am French but I will do my best to share my clan tales in English. I intend to combine fluff, hobby and play in this blog with stories, pictures of my models, battle reports and list building. I warmly welcome any feedback and hope you enjoy the read. The story of Clan Prepnik originates from the one of Grey Seer Bouldrak, its chieftain. A long time ago, Bouldrak was imprisoned by his sneaky-treacherous acolyte, and consumed with a powerful spell of Black Hunger. For weeks, Bouldrak was left with nothing but his basest instincts, devoured by a terrible need to feed. But he resisted. “Bouldrak is destined to great success, yes-yes. A confident of the Horned Rat cannot starve like a weak-foul skavenslave! No starving anymore, never-never”, he swore. The fear of hunger was born, and it led Bouldrak ever since. Grey Seer Bouldrak, chieftain of Clan Prepnik The birth of Clan Prepnik Once Bouldrak escaped his prison and exterminated his treacherous acolyte, he began to build the largest and greatest food supplies of Skavendom. There will be so much food in this reserve, he thought, that all Skaven, Human-things, Dwarf-things and other weaklings will swear allegiance to him once the Black Hunger strikes all. They will have no choice but to beg Bouldrak or die of starvation. Bouldrak recruited dozens of gullible and starving Skavens of the streets of Blight City and they all fled for Aqshy, the Realm of Fire. This was the perfect place to build a secret stockpile. Nobody would suspect Skaven farming on some arid aqshian land, he thought. Clan Prepnik was born. Thanks to the devoted clanrats and the dangerous power of warpstone, Clan Prepnik managed to farm black corn on Aqshy to a very successful and profitable extent. The supplies grew exponentially, along with the clan population. Aside from farming, Clan Prepnik further increases its supplies through raids, extortion, blackmail and trade in Aqshy and elsewhere. The resources allowed to build a fortified place to keep all this food safe. The organisation of Clan Prepnik Clan Prepnik lives off its tremendous amount of food. Some is traded for warpstone, weapons, resources, machines, slaves and beasts. Most of the supplies comes from black corn farming, which no other Skaven clan masters more than Clan Prepnik. The black corn is kept in gigantic silos guarded by the Grainkeepers, elite stormvermins completely consumed by fear of the black hunger. Bouldrak prematurely expose them to the same treatment he has received: being imprisoned with a spell of black hunger until they either die or escape loyal to Bouldrak. They are no Skaven more loyal to him than the Grainkeepers, and they are thus the ones who are trusted (more or less) to guard the supplies. The leader of the Grainkeepers is Clawlord Snut Grainsplitter. The legend tells he can split a black corn grain in the air. Clawlord Snut Grainsplitter The silos are often the target of great envy, including among some low rats of Clan Prepnik who do not always understand why food must be kept safe rather than eaten quick-now. If a thief were to be caught stealing from the silos after having avoided the Grainkeepers, Clawlord Snut Grainsplitter, Grey Seer Bouldrak (who lives in the silos) and the various traps, he would be condemned to die of starvation in the very silos of his envy. Bouldrak monitors the population of Clan Prepnik very closely. With this much food, it would be easy to expand to a very large number of Skaven, and this is sometimes done before battle to provision for the dead to come. Yet having too many members would put the food supplies on stress and run the risk of not having enough food in reserve. The members of Clan Prepnik are given just the food they need, served as some sort of foul black porridge. Females are genetically bred to have small litters, and carefully monitored by experienced Packmasters and Bouldrak himself. When the population gets too high, a certain number of clanrats are imprisoned and left starving together, until one Skaven emerges as the sole survivor and gets promoted to Clawleader. Clanrats of Clan Prepnik The banner and rune of Clan Prepnik When clanrats are not at war, they endlessly toil in the black corn fields. The manual labour is eased to some extent by the machines and foul brewages of Clan Skryre. Arch-Warlock Deerik supervises these unholy inventions to the greatest yet suspicious satisfaction of Bouldrak. Warpfire Throwers burn what is left to burn on Aqshy to make space for the crops. Gas-masked rats known as the Cornraisers throw globes of foul warpstone-infused pesticide all around to kill whatever or whoever wants to stop the never-ending cycle of black corn. Curiously, the life expectancy of clanrats toiling the fields is quite low, even to Skaven standards... Arch-Warlock Deerik The Cornraisers spreading foul pesticides Clan Moulder provides Clan Prepnik with huge beasts to run enormous mills. When they are not a war either, Rat Ogors and Stormfiends push millstones in circle all day and night to transform black corn into some sort of dark flour used in ignoble preparations. Rat Ogors bred by Clan Moulder Bouldrak is currently considering involving Clan Pestilens and Clan Eshin to begin his masterplan of spreading Black Hunder throughout Aqhsy and the Mortal Realms. Gnawholes are being pierced throughout the Mortal Realms as you read this story. Perhaps one has even appeared in your backyard while you were asleep... <To be continued on this blog>
  4. Introduction One of the things I really like about the latest Warhammer 40,000 releases for 'The Gathering Storm' is the idea of a Triumvirate. This was a word I had not heard before and as well as sounding very cool I also liked the meaning behind it: I have also recently been thinking about backstory writing for my Age of Sigmar mixed Order army, and as I recently finished my third centre-piece model for the army (A Freeguild General on Griffon), it seemed the perfect chance to add my own "Triumvirate" into my army. The Roots of the Story: When Age of Sigmar first came out, I put together a backstory for my army called 'Siegfried's Desperados'. I had a blog on Dakkadakka which was quite popular at the time, perhaps because it was one of the safe havens away from the heat the game was getting from some disgruntled veterans (especially on Dakkadakka). You can check out the thread here if you are interested: https://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/663727.page To summerise, the initial background I created for my army was that they were a mercenary outfit (called the 'Desperados') operating out of Azyrheim. I wanted to add a bit more grey and a bit more low fantasy into the backstory (as it was something Age of Sigmar didn't really have at the time), so I came up with some hooks and ideas of the dark side of aelven society in Azyrheim (lots of intrigue and assassinations among the nobles), the ideas of slums in the city, and that a mercenary outfit might employ a necromancer in their ranks. This was also an excuse to add in Aelves, Duardin and even Death into my army which was all a lot of fun to play with before the General's Handbook came out. But since the General's Handbook came out the narrative and story behind my army has taken the backseat. I have been focusing a lot more on Matched play and my narrative outlet has been with Hinterlands. As the recently finished Freeguild General on Griffon was meant to be Siegfried Stormhart once more, I thought it would be fun to update the story of the Desperados, and so the Triumvirate was born. The Triumvirate of Mistmire; Master Geppetto, Siegfried Stormhart and the alchemist, Massym Al-Izzar Creating a Triumvirate: I want to throw out the question to all of you, what cool Triumvirates could you add into your collection? All you would need are the following: 1. 3 Cool Models 2. A Cool Story that connects them For me, I had my 3 Centrepieces. The Griffon, the Steamtank and the Hurricanum. I wanted them to have some sort of purpose other than being in an army together, so I decided to bring back the old Necromancer I used to run in the Desperados pre-GHB. He goes by the name 'Cornacaprious'. I decided that he has since betrayed the Desperados, and has resurrected an ancient vampire (with the title of the "Blood Queen"). This gives me a reason to finally paint my Neferata model and also gives the triumvirate a goal to accomplish (they of course seek to kill both the Necromancer and the Blood Queen). So with the scene set, I put together a 4 pages as if they were from a campaign book and detailed my Triumvirate of Mistmire. I would love to hear what you think, but more importantly I hope this inspires you all to go off and create a Triumvirate for one of your armies too. My Triumvirate:
  5. Version 1.0.0


  6. As the Kastellan drew closer his witch sight began to make out the arcane warding that pervaded the place, and had sealed the ancient tomb shut. There was the symbol of rest. There the glyph of containment. Nine runes of binding glowed faintly around the dais that the tomb rested upon. Senechal Konstantine reached out to the traces of magic, seeking to discover their creator. The weaving of magic was subtle, but had an unmistakable flair. Their author was not a humble spell weaver, no there was power there. There was confidence, pride. The vampire drew his conscious back with a start. Neferata, Queen of Lies and Mortarch of Blood. Whatever lay at rest in this box, the Tyrant of Nulahmia herself had sealed away. The Kastellan proceeded up the onyx steps of the dais with caution, his muscles taunt in expectation. Finally he stood over the Iron-Bound coffin. What could have been so terrible that Neferata herself had seen fit to seal it away? Why would Arkhan want it released? Konstitine shook his head, it did not matter. Arkhan had commanded Konstintine would obey. The Kastellan gathered himself, and set to work unbinding the myriad spells. The vampire's brow furrowed, he felt his mind strain to the breaking point at the extreme difficulty in unweaving such a masterful tapestry of magic. Finally he could take no more, Konstintine stumbled and caught himself on the edge of the tomb. A chill jolted up his arm, Konstintine tried to recoil and found himself stuck in place. The air in the crypt began to move, slowly at first but soon whipped into a fierce gale. The howling wind sounded like the screams of damned souls. The seals Konstintine had been working so hard to dispel flared in strain and the tomb beneath him began to shudder. The Vampire pulled back with all of his unnatural might in a desperate attempt to free himself from whatever trap he had fallen into but he could not. Pain erupted up his arm as a shock of black lightning ripped up his trapped limb, burning the flesh away. Beneath Konstintine the tomb exploded in a blast of magical energy, flinging the wounded vampire across across the barrow. The Kastellan crashed against the rough stone wall with a groan, weakly raising his head to gaze upon the terror he had unleashed. Gazing down back at him, framed in the unnatural glow of wraith fire was a towing wight clad in tarnished baroque maroon and gold plate armor emblazoned with the symbols of death. Upon the wight's skull sat a massive horned helm with a bristling red plume. I am Krell. Lord of Undeath and Mortarch of Despair. The skull of this Krell did not move yet his commanding voice echoed throughout the barrow mound, originating from nowhere and seemingly sounding from every corner of existence. Konstintine scrambled to his feet, and simply stood, mouth agape at the thing in front of him. Krell. He had never heard of any Krell. Then again, he had never paid much attention at all to the hundreds of thousands of deathrattle empires that the wight kings rule over. And yet this Krell had named himself a Mortarch, no mere petty potentate, an equal to Konstintine's master, and to his jailer Queen Neferata herself. Such a thing seemed impossible. That this Krell could be amongst the vaunted Deathlords and for a right hand of Arkhan the most foremost of their number to know nothing of him... It made no sense. Finally sense returned to the bewildered vampire. Konstintine was wounded, exhausted and in no shape to duel with this Krell who may or may have been a mortarch, but whose aura of immense power was palpable in the air. With this in mind, the vampire knelt in the dirt before the massive skeleton. “Hail Krell,” he addressed the wight “Allow me to introduce myself, your lordship. I am Konstintine of House Tervyrn, Kastellan of the Knightly Order of the Blood Wolf. I am here on the orders of his holiness Arkhan, the Mortarch of the Sacrament.” I care little for you name. What is your purpose in releasing me? Speak. “I am afraid I do not know, your lordship. I know only that my master asked me to.” Take me to him, leech. “Pardon me?” Konstintine responded in surprise. Temporarily losing his veneer of polite obedience he stood definitely and sneered “One does not simply demand an audience with my master, wight.” The Kastellan realized his mistake immediately. The wind in the chamber began to howl again, wraith light blazed in Krell's eyes, black lightning cracked through the air blasting holes into the stone. The wight lifted a massive black bladed ax in one hand and began to walk towards Konstintine at a deathly slow pace. I am Krell the Lord of Undeath, and Mortarch of despair. I will be obeyed. Take me to Arkhan or I will destroy you and seek him out myself. “My apologies, your lordship. Please allow me to redeem myself.” Konstintine fell back to his knees “I can lead you to my master, your lordship. Please.” Krell's pace never faltered, the heavy clank of his antique plate heralded each deliberate step. “Your lordship, I swear to you, I will take you to Arkhan directly. Only I know of his location with any certainty, I beseech you, listen to me.” Krell continued his march all the way past the trembling Vampire and into the tunnel leading into the starless night. Come, miserable leech, lead me to Arkhan the Black. Konstintine sucked his teeth. Hate burned through every fiber of his being. Krell was too strong for him to duel outright, but perhaps he could lead the wight into ruin. Thus he is most the master when playing the slave. Yes. This is what he was doing. And it was a brave thing, surely, to plot and attempt the betrayal of such a mighty being. Yes. He was brave, and he was in control of the situation.
  7. Hello - first thread Beyond the change in tone and approach to the more recent AOS fluff (mostly 2017-2018), I'm sure many of you noticed some "retcons" in the "up-to-date" fluff, starting with January Maggotkin of Nurgle Battletome : 1. Nurgle Lord Gutrot Spume does not come from Norsca anymore, but from a coastal village in Ghyran (unlike the Glottkin, still said to be from the World-that-was). 2. The Brimstone Peninsula isn't anymore attached to the Ashlands in the Flameworlds sub-realm of Aqshy (from Godbeasts), but is now set in the Great Parch, on the continent called Khul's Ravage (see attachment). I quite like those changes I found for the better, as Spume is now well established in AOS with notably Plague Garden, and his "screen time" in WFB was short. I also vastly prefer the Great Parch and existant Mortal Realms cosmology than the more vague and often contradictory one found in the initial fluff. Also, the Brimstone Peninsula map itself (from the first AOS "main book", and from Quest for Ghal Maraz) is not invalidated, it's the Godbeasts one that isn't valid anymore. We just need to know where the Solar Drake Ignax was in fact really held chained before being freed (as it's still official fluff, reading the timeline on the MP website). My questions (I guess, mostly for the narrative players and hobbyists ) : - What do you think of those changes ? - Have you spotted other "retcons" like those two ? (P.-S. ; I guess we'll see more of those, as this year was already rich on new and expanded background (Malign Portents, DoK and Idoneth stuff about Slaanesh, etc.), and promises to be even richer with the new Core Book 200 pages of fluff and later the AOS RPG).
  8. Hey, folks. I made an interactive story as the origin of my Ironjawz army. Here's a link: http://chumak.io/twine-megaboss-charnush/ I wanted at least the boss to have a more complex motivation than the usual Ironjawz "biggest, baddest and out to prove it". So I figured what if he's Waaagh!-deaf and doesn't get what the fuss is all about (probably thinks it's all a scam by those pesky shamans!). Anyway, I hope you like! Any and all feedback is super welcome. If you're curious about the technical side, it's a Twine story hosted on GitHub Pages. Cheers. (:
  9. Hi everyone, brand new to the site and to AoS in general. I’m trying to decide on a faction. My friend, who is also brand new, was immediately drawn to Order. I’m thinking Death. My question is: When the chips are down, and it’s ‘end of days’ level of seriousness, would Death and Order side together against Chaos? Like, there is no death without life, from death springs life, that sort of thing, or would they be enemies to the bitter end? Hopefully this is the correct forum for this question
  10. Hi there, at first: I'm pretty new around here and hope, that this is the right forum for the question. I'm not a native english speaker and stumble over the word "endrin" within the Kharadron Overlords Battletome a lot. I assume it's made up by Games Workshop, an should mean something similar to "engine", as there are Endrineers. But I'm not really sure because it's used a bit differently here and there ("endrin-works" and "aether-endrin"). Is there some notion to a native Speaker in "endrin" that goes beyond "engine"? Thanks in advance!
  11. What do we know of their dwellings? I've almost forgotten about it since waiting for a new book! But now we can make some articles, can't we? It's good for inspiration and overall impression - I like, when GW explains how the society works and operates. So here we go. Of the Dispossessed we now know little and have no pictures of their cities. But we do know that they lived and live in mountain holds, mostly under them, for example, those who fled to Azyr have carved enormous cavern kingdoms under Azyrheim. Their domains and fortresses are all hard lines and unyielding angles, as rigid and unforgiving as the warriors who have created them. From the societal point of view it seems they live in typical feudal societies you'd expect from fantasy in general, with clans, kings and the like. The Fyreslayers live in great forge-temples, residing mostly in mountains or under them. As they all need power to power (pun intended) their forges, they are very creative about it - from lava to great solar lenses (as does one lodge in Hysh). Slayers are organized around one runefather who is the patriarch of the lodge (think military or mason lodges). And we do have one picture of their forge-temples and one lodge in Aqshy also. As far as the Kharadrons are concerned, they live in air cities high in the atmosphere. Their society is meritocracy at work - the most successful and luckiest gets the most, so everything is organized around profit and Admiral Court who oversee the whole life and comprised of the best and wealthiest pirates at the time. And this time GW was so generous they provided us with lots of pictures about their cities and life in general. Also, we have the Ironholds, a fortress built by the chaos dwarves for Archaon, and the awesome and atmospheric trade chart of the KO in all the Realms. As a small bonus. Hope it helps a bit what do you guys think?
  12. Hi guys. New to the Seraphon and I've been reading the fluff (I followed the end times fluff closely then sold my Lizardmen when I heard the rumors of AoS/Fantasy being killed). I'm back into AoS now I really, really miss the fantasy game and Lizardmen are still my favourite army of any system ever. So following the end times - The Lizardmen as a race were all destroyed and the Slann teleported back into the stars. As far as I can tell now - this is where they remain and are working on a overarching grand plan to destroy chaos. When Slann do appear via the stars, normally in a dramatic white light blinding beam teleportation fashion it normally seems "random" to other races but it's actually again part of the "big picture". Slanns have different ideas on how they will vanquish chaos and restore order, but that's what they've ultimately been planning since they were birthed from Dracothian, the great star dragon who breathed life into them. The Seraphon "army" isn't a real thing in itself, it's a army brought into reality from the Slanns raw magical power and is fueled by Celestial energy (Does Sigmar have any part in this or is it purely willed into existence by the Slanns raw power) and the army are made of celestial power. Once the Slann has decided the objective is completed the Slann return to the stars and the armies they have willed into existence go back into memory / celestial energy to be called upon again? This is what I've understood so far. Am i off the mark or this is about right?
  14. I've been thinking a lot recently about where the mortal realms are going from a design perspective and thought I'd slap some of those thoughts onto the internet to see if people disagree with me as vehemently as I'd expect. There's a lot of ground to cover here, I'm not talking specifically about fluff, or model design but more broadly in terms of the overall feel of Age of Sigmar as a distinct portion of the warhammer oeuvre so apologies if it goes all over the place and I turn off any one potentially still reading after I used the word 'oeuvre'. For the sake of this discussion I'm working on the assumption that GW obliterated the world that was and reforged it into the world that is in an attempt to both create a more distinct IP and build a higher fantasy, more bombastic world that is more appealing to a generation raised on MtG and WoW. I think a lot of people get the wrong idea about the IP side of things, seeing orcs change to orruks and assuming it's just about stopping other miniature companies making models with the same names, when to my mind it's more about creating a wholly distinct IP, and while 'Orruks' is a small brick in that wall it's a component none the less. Ignore for a moment that GW have never seemed keen on the relinquishing of control inherent in allowing the warhammer worlds to be filmed so that I can make a point here; No one ever needed to make a warhammer film because they can make a film about orcs and elves and dwarves and city guards and magic and it can stand on its own, or it can be the Hobbit or world of Warcraft or whatever else. Making Age Of Sigmar more unique makes it more marketable, perhaps not right now while it lacks the attachment and history of classic warhammer, but perhaps in the future when all the kinks have been ironed out. So, what has this got to do with anything and what am I actually driving at? When the end times concluded and AoS made its shakey entrance down Jervis Johnson's metaphorical birth canal a lot of people were incredibly angry about the destruction of the old world, and understandably so. GW sought to temper that by giving them an outlet to continue using their toys post-WHFB, while also giving themselves a bit of a break by virtue of not having to deal with the Hobson's choice of either having a wargame out with very few playable factions, or having to very quickly design and release a number of completely new factions and hope they met with approval. This lead to a bit of an awkward phase, the repercussions of which are still being felt, whereby gamers felt their favourite denizens of the old world were owed representation in the new one. At its inception AoS's fluff was obviously thin on the ground, and as a new universe was being built from the scorched earth up was predictably spartan. (Worth mentioning that I'm not actually a big fan of the gw books but struggle through them as I like the fluff as a whole and want to get a handle on what's going on). There were a lot of people that begrudgingly came over to age of Sigmar but complained about the still formative fluff bizarrely not having the richness, depth and familiarity of a 25+ year old universe based on their own world and other well worn tropes. So the fluff came, and it couldn't just be stormcast and khorne to eternity so old friends from the warhammer world were shoe-horned in and the scope started to broaden. From my perspective there is a very clear aesthetic divide between models designed for Age of Sigmar and those for the warhammer world. I'd suggest also that maybe a lot, if not all of the end times stuff was designed with the former in mind and released prior to the onset of AoS to ease people in to the change, although that's pure speculation. So here's where we're at presently. I really enjoy the freshness and scope of Age of Sigmar. I love the way that GW have taken elements of the warhammer races and exploded them into factions in their own right. I read that - for example - the megaboss was designed as a proof of concept for how orcs could be reworked for Age of Sigmar and I think what they've done with the ironjawz and sylvaneth and fyreslayers and so on is exceptional and feels very exciting, especially in respect of what could be to come. I'll just break off here to interject that we are now in the domain of the 'new GW', who listen to their fans and in some ways this worries me a little. I'm of the belief that Age Of Sigmar needs to play to its strengths to succeed in its world building. It needs to take advantage of the infinite nature and possibilities of the realms framework, the epic scale and the transmutable, chaotic foundation. My favourite, and the most evocative things are things like the Skaven infested city on the back of (and inside) an enormous worm, Argentine the zodiac serpent, the kharadron skyports and associated shark like creatures, these things are about as high as fantasy can get and just not feasible in a lot of more grounded worlds. The problem with GW listening is there's a growing clamour for more from the fluff, and while I'll eagerly concede that it needs expansion and greater depth, the received wisdom seems to be that the way to do this is by giving us the humans and cities and subterfuge of the old world. We've had city of secrets and firestorm recently, both of which have a feel.of the old world to them. City of Secrets was a good read, but to me it felt like an old world novel with a few bits tacked on to transport it to the mortal realms. Before that we had shadows over hammerhal, which again felt much less AoSy than Silver Tower and consequently was less interesting to me. It feels like this warhammerification of the mortal realms is the cheap way to build attachment and intrigue, when what would provide a stronger setting would be to build on what makes Sigmar... Sigmar. I think they would be better served seeing something like starwars as a guiding light than what they've done before. I'm not a writer, and as you can see I've already expended far too much energy thinking about this but there must be a better way to make the realms richer than falling back on what has gone before. Personally, and I know this is going to be hugely unpopular, I would like to see AoS stand on its own two feet, I was glad to see the compendium stuff being slowly detached and would ultimately be pleased to see anything pre-end times phased out in favour of a completely new and purpose built universe where everything felt like it belonged. The way things are going I'm more concerned that it is backsliding into a halfway house between the potential of the mortal realms and the (perhaps false) security of the warhammer world and I don't think this will give us a game with a cohesive feeling background. I've tried to make it as clear as possible in writing that all of the above is just my opinion and I'm expecting others to differ greatly but I just thought it may be of interest to get a different perspective than the norm. Next year I think will be massive for AoS and I'm very keen to see where it goes, and interested to hear what other people think about its potential and direction.
  15. Liberator Prime Stoneham cleaned the ichor from his warhammer and counted his troops: half a dozen Liberators, a couple of Judicators, and Judicator Prime Sparrowclaw. The assault on Marrowpeak had been successful, but at great cost: scorch marks revealed where lightning had burst the faithful back to Azyrheim, and the bodies of broken bloodbound lay heaped around each crater. “Sparrowclaw, get everyone together. We need to find a realmgate to take us back to the musterhalls.” The Judicator Prime nodded, and called orders to the remaining Hallowed Knights. The route to the realmgate would take them through Candlefane Vale. The thought filled Stoneham with something close to dead. He muttered a quick prayer and twisted his hammer in his hand. “Sigmar protect us.” ±±±±±±±±±± The Duke Mauvaises Graines surveyed his estate. He could see workers toiling in the gloom, sowing crops for the changing season. Bitter winds swept through the fields, carrying with it the ever-present howl of nighthaunt. “A storm’s coming, sire,” croaked Morrlyn. The seer consulted a pocket dial, watching its green pin spin slowly counterwise. “Something the matter, old man?” “I’m not sure sire. There’s copper on the air. Blood and thunder.” Lightning cracked. Storms were rare this deep in the Candlefane Vale. When they came they could be brutal, washing hamlets from existence and driving ancient creatures from the barrows. He looked back out at the men in the field, and felt a fatherly tug in his heart. He called into the keep, “Riverblood!” Out from the chamber stepped a colossal warrior. Lord Riverblood was the head of Mauvaises Graines' knightly order, and the Duke’s equerry. “Sire, can I be of service?” “Sound the alarm bell. I want the freemen in from the fields. And form up hunting parties – I want to make sure we’re ready if some foul leviathan crosses the vale.” “As you wish.” From the rear of the castle, an animal cry went up. The smells in the air had drawn the attention of the Duke’s menagerie, and they began to bay at the sky. “Care to take a walk, Morrlyn?” ±±±±±±±±±± Further down the valley, thunder rumbled. The Hallowed Knights paused at the crest of a great barrow, sighting stars to get a fix on the realmgate. “To have Voss’s Prosecutors with us now,” muttered Sparrowclaw, “Or even Otford’s lantern to see by.” “Have faith, friend.” Stoneham clapped the Judicator’s shoulder, “We’ll see the halls of Azyrheim by tomorrow’s night, I swear it.” “Movement!” The shout came from Jentar, a Liberator at the crest of the mound. She gestured to a glimmer some hundred yards off. Gaunt shapes loped across the fields, led by brute in rusty plate. “Form up!" Stoneham bellowed, "Liberators to the front, Judicators behind. Don’t attack until the last second: for all we know they could be the faithful.” “Hah!” Sparrowclaw laughed, “Better to place your faith in gods than miracles.” Beneath his silver mask, Stoneham smiled. ±±±±±±±±±± The Duke halted as he saw the glimmering shape on the hill ahead. Riverblood had taken his knights rimward, while he, Morrlyn and the house guard made for the Marrowpeak pass. In another flash, he saw it: a lightning beetle. Twenty legs tottered, supporting a silver-blue shell glistened in the starlight. Its mandibles clacked together, in some crude approximation of language, shouting at his men. “Steady yourselves, men of Shyish. These things spit electricity and have hides as thick as steel. But, if you can, spare its life. Remember – it, like you, is merely afraid.” Morrlyn cast him a withering look, “Is the menagerie not full enough, sire?” The Duke ignored the old man, and drew his blade. “Form on me, faithful of Candlefane!” Lightning flashed. ±±±±±±±±±± So, with RAW17 just around the corner I figured it was time to paste my hunter and leviathan's backstory. The Duke of Mauvaises Graines is my hunter, a noble warrior and benevolent lord of the Candlefane Vale... sort of... The Duke's my ghoul king, converted from an Orruk brute with leftover bits from a Crypt Haunter kit. He'll be my hunter for the event, seeking to expand his menagerie. He'll be supported by Morrlyn – a necromancer/old Mordheim dreg – and an array of ghouls and gals. Riverblood will be the Court's general, heading up an Abbatoir. I kept the Ironjawz theme for his conversion, kitbashing the weapons from a Morghast as cleavers. He made his debut at Blackout a few weeks ago, and was impressively sniped off the table in the first turn of three of my games. These noble warriors will be defending the Vale from beastly intrusions. Knowing I'd be taking a court to RAW, I got in all kinds of knots about what Leviathan to make. I wanted it to be a metaphor, playing into the delusions the Flesh Eater Courts are known for. Initially I thought about having some sort of large spirit host, the souls of the court, doubling as a monster they wanted to capture. I also thought about having a mirror-tree, in which the court see the monsters they are reflected back at themselves. I then thought about getting some sort of noble stag and making it a hunting party... but I couldn't find the right kind of thing for that. I then listened to the recent Hardcore History about the romans and celtic tribes, and started thinking 'Man, what would the court see those formations as?' The thought was still with me while I read Plague Garden, and I thought there might be something in the whole 'locking shields' vibe of Stormcast chambers. I'll be honest, I hoped the models would be knit together more tightly than the sculpts allow, but I still like the idea. To the Stormcast, acting as one body is the best way to wield the strength of every warrior in the chamber – to be the anvil or the hammer. But to a ghoul king? That's just a great shiny creature with way too many legs and sharp bits. Anyway, four weeks to go and I think everything's together. Just down to list selection now. Might blog about that in a week or so.
  16. Just like the major sky ports, the leaders of Elgi-Bar also interpret the Kharadron Code to reflect thier own way of warfare and trade. When batteling with an army from Elgi-Bar, they follow the Code in the following ways: Artycle Defend your territory - Your units doesn´t need to make any battleshock tests while being in thier own territory. Amendment Trust to your guns - Your units add 1 to thier Bravery as long as there are no enemy units within 3" of them Footnote Heed to your instincts - Once per battle after the first battleround, instead of rolling for whom gets the initiative, you can take the first turn that battleround. Abilities Master monster hunters - Add -1 to all weapons rend characteristic when your units is attacking a unit with the MONSTER keyword. Artifact of power Ancestral gromril chainmail - Cared for since the days before founding Elgi-Bar, this extra layer of armour protects its bearer from all but the most mortal blows on the cost of some mobility. The bearer of the Ancestral gromril chainmail must lower its Move characteristic with 1 and counts as 2 models while embarked upon a SKYVESSEL. When making save rolls for the bearer of the Ancestral gromril chainmail, ignore the enemy´s Rend characteristic unless it is -3 or better. (These rules are not made for matched play, solely for my own amusement and with narrative in mind).
  17. Hi all While we have a "Let's Chat" KO thread, which is great for army building ideas & tactics, I thought it might be a good idea to start a separate thread for narrative/fluff discussion for the faction. Specifically so that it doesn't clutter up the great tactical discussion going on in there. Mods, please feel free to move/alter as you see fit if this is in the wrong place. I'll go first, although I'm only starting to work this out myself. Fleet: The Black Iron Charter Port: Barak-Gazul Admiral/Flagship: Jhasson Grundvengryn/Unbakit A smaller sky-port located in Shyish, the realm of death, Barak-Gazul began as a small joint venture between the dour traditionalists of Barak-Thryng & the pragmatic militarists of Barak-Zon. The port was named after the ancient Duardin god of the dead at the suggestion of the founders from Barak-Thryng as an intent to honour their ancestors. However, over time it has taken on a darkly humorous tone as its inhabitants encounter more and more of the undead that populate the land below them. The Black Iron Charter is a highly effective military fleet based at Barak-Gazul. The fleet has a remit to conduct search & destroy missions against perceived threats against the port, and as such has been granted considerable lee-way as to how it conducts its operations with respect to the Kharadron Code. The current admiral, Jhasson Grundvengryn, has spent a considerable part of his career as both a Thunderer in the employ of the Grundcorps, and a Skywarden prior to promotion to his first captaincy and subsequent elevation to the Admiralty. He is a grizzled veteran not given to many words, and commands the respect of his crew through his actions (and his custom Aethershock Bludgeon). Code: Artycle - Settle The Grudges Amendment - Prosecute Wars With All Haste Footnote - These Are Just Guidelines
  18. This was an idea for a Hinterlands setting which is actually close to Shadespire, in the Petrified Mountains. It was essentially a city during the Age of Myth that lies within Shyish, an was a popular stopping point for merchants heading to Shadespire from the Petrified Mountains. It was prosperous, until a warband of Khorne Bloodbound swept through it, killing everyone. Here is a bit of cinematic flair from the Storyteller's perspective: "Back during the Age of Myth, the Petrified Road was a long and arduous trek through the appropriately named Petrified Mountains, though, many who made the trek were rewarded for their efforts by gazing upon the City of Spirits, Kalii. Kalii was a popular stop for the many merchant caravans heading to and from Shadespire through the Petrified Mountains, a bustling settlement as far as I could see. They paid their respects to Nagash and he let them be for the most part, a fair trade I say. Kalii was the shining jewel in the mountains, and all who lived there knew prosperity. Then..unfortunately, came the Age of Chaos, and with it, the Goretides of Khorne. In merely a day and night they swept through the city, killing everything they found, and eventually, nothing was left except the few that hid in the deepest crevasses. When they emerged, they had seen their city in ruins, their kin slaughtered, and their prosperity fading away to the annals of time. Now the only thing left are Grots, Orruks and Ogors fighting the descendents of the survivors, backward tribals who pine for a past they no longer remember, for scraps of a dead civilization. A pity really, but so to all who perished in that savage age..." I was inspired by pictures of the city of Cappadocia in Turkey, and I hope that I could find time someday to recreate the city in miniature terrain form. But for now, these pictures and my imagination will have to do....as for the Storyteller, he is primed and ready for paint, I'll try and get to him this weekend. Until then, this is Nash, signing off.
  19. Admiral Skyrock had bearly returned from the siege of Barak-Nar, when she received the news of Elgroz´s failing health and no medical treatment of the Overlords seemed to work. Without even stopping to restock her fleet, she quickly gave the order to set course to Lake Rurbedas where a Realmgate to Ghyran could be found on the lake´s bottom. Once in the Realm of Life, Skyrock hoped she would find a solution to Elgroz illness. Ignoring the safe route to Rurbedas, a journey normally taking 6-7 days she braved monster filled jungles and canyons for a risky shortcut. After being under constant attacks from the predators preying there, Skyrock´s fleet reach the shores of Rurbedas after mere 3 days. Killing the endrins of her ship in mid-flight, Skyrock and her crew plunged through the Realmgate at the lake floor. On the other side of the gate, the small fleet´s vessels float to the surface of Rurbedas twin lake in Ghyran. Not bothering cleaning of the seaweed, they took to the skies once more. Soon after the fleets arrival to the vibrant realm, they came across the Sylvaneths of the Shimmerbark grove. There she made a deal with the Treelord Direroot (after a long complaint from Yllrud about the lack of Sylvaneth clothing) to help the tree folk vanquish a conclave of filth ridden rat men which poisoned the life-giving waterfalls. In exchange of a remedy for Elgroz, Skyrock´s fleet´s cannons brought brutal retribution upon the vermin folk. After receiving the sought prize, the essences of a life pod, and quickly establishing a future trade contract, Skyrock set course home. Back in Elgi-Bar she literally jumped from her ship in flight down to the sky-city to quickly deliver the medication to Elgroz. The jellyfish was brought back from the brink of death, and that´s how Admiral Yllrud Skyrock became the much-praised Admiral she now is.
  20. Somewhat of a celebrity in Elgi-Bar, Admiral Yllrud Skyrock is an obstinate commander of the crews under her command. A veteran from Brokk Grungsson´s counterattack on the siege of Barak-Nar and saviour of Elgroz´s life, she has earned her place as Lord-commander of Elgi-Bar´s sky-fleet. Her most striking trait is however her known dislike to seeing bare flesh. She is considered uncommonly prude among a folk rumoured being savages. This is normally not a problem since most Kharadron Overlords wear covering body armour, but her interactions with the tempered Fyreslayers across the mortal realms have been uncomfortable ones for all included. Some say it is this aversion of undressed folk is the driving force for the expeditions she makes for the Rerekfjiord corporation, rumours which she does not comment on. Aside from this prudish quirk, Yllrud is like all Kharadron Admirals a driven, cunning sky captain and deadly combatant. Her distain of unarmoured foes has made her an expert marksman with her aetheric volley gun Dhurn (slayer), firing them swiftly down before they can reach her. Those that does engage her in melee are mercilessly crushed under her heavy skalfhammer.
  21. While becoming more modern since regaining contact with rest of the Kharadron society and agreeing to the terms to the Code, there is still one grudge every duardin of Elgi-Bar still carries within them. Even though millennia have passed since the age of Chaos began and now recently the stormhost from Azyr have start driven the ruinous powers from the Mortal realms, the Overlords of Elgi-Bar have not forgiven the god king Sigmar for abandoning their ancestors, taking their creator god Grungni with him and fooling the duardin warrior god Grimnir to his death. Even though the Code allows them to do business with other races, the merchant lords of Elgi-Bar have been known to double the prices many fold of their wares and services when encountering inhabitants from Azyrheim and Sigmars armies, or straight out refused to aid them in their need. Emissaries from Sigmars court have been send to try make amends to the rulers of Elgi-Bar, but have only been met with propositions to contracts demanding outrageous prices like the god kings sacred hammer Ghal Maraz and that Sigmar himself should swab the decks on every sky vessel for many generations.
  22. Characterized by the wildlife of Ghur, the Kharadron Overlords of Elgi-Bar are considered poorer and not as civilized as the other major sky-ports and is somewhat looked down upon. It is true some members of the arkanaut companies of Elgi-Bar still uses the same armour their ancestors bore the days when they left their mountain holds, and the city´s technology is not as advanced as others (many foreign admirals often comment this to the fact that the inhabitants of Elgi-Bar still haven´t been able to extract the Aether-gold from the giant jellyfish). The reason some of the companies still uses ancient armours is because that discovering ore-veins in Ghur is a hard task, since the land itself is most of the part animal to. So, the metal they manage to mine and flay of the hides from the metal-beasts at Adamant peaks is often used to build new sky vessels, repair damaged ones and bolstering the defences of Elgroz. What the sky folk of Elgi-Bar makes up for said shortcomings is that they are better at caring for their equipment (it is said that that their fleets flagship “Karak-Dahendra” the everlasting thunders weapons never have malfunctioned even now it is reaching its 500 birthday) and they are the best hunters ever taking to the clouds. Surviving so long in the beast filled landscapes of Ghur have given the crews on the sky ships a deep intuition on how beasts behave and use it to their advantage. This can either be in the form on how to best avoid the winged hydras that nests in cloud-caves or where to fire at a feral preyton´s weakest spots. This alone makes the mercenary companies of Elgi-Bar good choices for escort jobs through monster filled lands, even over the renowned Grundstock corporation’s artillery. What the Overlords of Elgi-Bar undeniable chare with their sky faring kin is their sense of business and inventive entrepreneurship, like having monopoly of trading live basilisks and skywyrm jackets. No grudgebound contract is too dangerous for the fleets hailing from Elgi-Bar, which in the eyes of their richer peers is considered equally admirable and foolhardy. Never less, the beast riding city Elgi-Bar is a rising civilisation and economy in the Age of Sigmar.
  23. It was under the great exodus during the age of Chaos, where the ancestors to today’s Kharadron Overlords fled to the skies, a castaway fleet of frigates in search of a sanctum came across the giant Elgroz. Filled with the well coveted substance “Aether-gold” the refugees first tried to extract it from this sky leviathan, but at the time their tools where not suited to even pierce the transparent skin of Elgroz. Fearing to lose it (and it´s valuable gas) the fleeing duardins decided to settle upon it until they could claim the Aether-gold. This was the start of an unintentional symbiosis. Elgroz unaware of its new inhabitant living upon it, proved to be both a safe home and a mighty guardian. Even due to the call of Aether-gold, many of the lethal beasts of Ghur avoided Elgroz, fearing its mile-long unescapable paralyzing tendrils. Those foes who tried assaults from above were met with fierce resistance from the great cannons of the duardins, utterly devoted not to let their gas formed treasure get lost. As a bi-product of the increasing cityscape on its body, Elgroz was after many years covered with a thick layer of armour making it into the heavenly bulwark it is now. The duardins accustomed to their new way of life and proud of their unique sky-port have giving up on the thoughts of mining Elgroz of its Aether-gold. Instead they see to it with reverence and care, knowing without each other they are nought.
  24. The sky fortress Elgi-Bar in the wild beast realm of Ghur is a peculiar one for the society of the sky faring Kharadron Overlords. In contrast to the fully mechanical city-ports commonly populated by their kin, this metropole is built upon a humongous gas filled jellyfish, named “Elgroz” which in the local tongue translates to “soft skinned giant”, which drifts with the sky torrents.
  25. I finally realized what I love most about the 'regular humans' armies in 40k and AoS. I get to name them! I've named every single Catachan Guardsman (and woman) in my IG army and intend to name every member of my growing Free Peoples force. I've just named my General on Warhorse "Johann Gambolputty von Hautkopft of Ulm". Its a Monty Python reference, and I know his real name is much longer but it wouldn't fit on the underside of a 60x35mm oval base. My General on foot is name "Apple-banger Horowitz" and my General with the banner will be christened "Burstein von Knackerthrasher". Amongst my Catachan Imperial Guard some of my favorites are Butch Deadlift, Bolt Vanderhuge, Buff Drinklots, Smitty McNotakroot, Lil' Hotness, and 'Your Mom! OOOOOHHHH!'. So how many people out there like to name their little plastic dude-man-bros? Do you go for thematic in-world names or just what you think would be funny? I think you can all see what I prefer but I'm curious.
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