AOS28 | Ulguneth | The Eclipse Comp

The Witch Hunters of the Ulguneth are a contridiction,

Forever between Order and Madness,

Witches hunting Witches,

Neither Beast nor Man.

Mystic, Witch-hunter, Head-taker.

Here's my entry for the Ex Profundis Witch Hunter comp!

That's three of seven Dark Aelf archetypes done for the Ulguneth warband.

AOS28 | Ulguneth

Shape-shifter

Head-taker

Dragon

Elder-thing

Beast-hunter

Mystic

Daemon

Witch

All and none of these illuminate the Ulguneth

Here's the first two pieces from my fledgling Ulguneth (Shadow Aelves / Dark Elves) warband for AOS28. I'm trying to create a piece for what I feel is each archetype of the Dark Elves. Hopefully you can tell pretty clearly which each of these are! I have 8 archetypes to work through.

Really happy with the overall conversion of the Mystic, and the OSL for the Head-taker!

Currently working on what I feel is one of my best conversions ever for the Ex Profundis Witch Hunter comp!

AOS28 | Tree Revenants

Here's my two completed  Tree Revenants for my AOS28 Sylvaneth warband! As the greens and blues of my chosen Sylvaneth paintscheme are so bright, I used only greys on their clothes to accentuate / not overpower these colours.

The idea behind these guys is that they've been disguised as humans, infiltrated into a city and gathering intel on enemies of the Dreadwood Sylvaneth. To fit into clothes they need to shave down their bodies, a form of flagellation that causes unintentional growth, as seen on their arms.

This Revenant is more of a traditional Tree Revenant, operating in a scouting role to secure information.

Whereas this Revenant has assumed a role as a wizard's apprentice, using his innate magical properties as a Sylvaneth to gain a more prominent position.

AOS28 | Tree Revenants WIP + Development Thoughts

Lack of a couple of paints has dampened any progress for a while, here's a WIP shot of two Tree Revenants built for the warband.

The idea behind these guys is that they've been disguised as humans, infiltrated into a city and gathering intel on enemies of the Dreadwood Sylvaneth. To fit into clothes they need to shave down their bodies, a form of flagellation that causes unintentional growth, as seen on their arms!

AOS28 | The Wych / Wider Warband Thoughts

Tonight was a particularly quiet night for the City Watch. Since Chaos had been ridden from the area by the valiant efforts of The Order, not much had occured of note. This was partly the reason why Alan didn't pay much heed to the small group entering the city from the marsh. The group appeared similar to every other group that had entered over the past few hours, clad in an array of indistinct cloaks and other clothes of the region.

Alan forgot the other reason he didn't pay much heed...

__________________________________________________

The Wych entered the city with her seedlings intent on planting herself into the upper echelons of the city in order to ascertain information pertinent to the defence of the Grove. Her countenence was that of a light wind on the leaves, which suited her well for the trials ahead. 

Her followers were varied but each had their uses. It would take many cycles to reap their full potential.

Here's my first character for my fledgling AOS28 warband, a Branchwych!

Parts used are;

Base model - Wanderers Spellweaver
Head - Dryad
Weapon + arm - Tree Revenant
Left hand - Spit Revenant
Shoulder Pad - Kurnoth Hunter
Spites - various sources.

Painting wise I stuck to a limited colour palette, greens and browns in the main aside from the leaves and eyes, which I used to make the model pop, and a little more eye catching! Taking inspiration from one of the Pilgrym warbands, I added texture to the skin through use of the Typhus Corrosion technical paint.
___________________________________________________________

Moving onto the next few models in the warband, I'll be kitbashing them from scratch, rather than using an existing model as the basis like this first one.

Current influences on the warband included the Genestealer Cult, Aenur the Sword of Twilight and the Church of the Red Athenæum from the Wier Brothers! Here's a WIP shot of the next guy on the paint table!

Dreadwood | Conflicted Brethren

Since Drycha's rebirth, that malevolent one has held sway over the Dreadwood, herself and the Spite Revenants controlling what this once sombre grove will do. They know only war, and war is needed.

However, there is another view within the wood, those older beings remember.

Remember a time before this great war, a time when we lived in peace, at one with the land.

A time before we took up arms against the foul one, and began to cast him out of our land. Drycha fights for vengeance, we fight for peace...

Dreadwood | Twisted Brothers

Following their initial meeting, Myrddin advised Lord Constantine and the rest of  The Order to seek refuge with the Forest Spirits. Hoping to learn more of The Fulcrum from their masters, deducting that these beings may know something of The Fulcrum due to being able to communicate with them whilst on it!

Eager to learn more of these creatures, Myrddin invited the leader of the group aboard The Fulcrum.

"Tell me more of your people," Myrddin began.

"We are much changed since the return of Chaos, many of my brothers are broken, something has snapped in them. They are spiteful, likely to attack their allies as much as their enemies if it means the protection of our race."

"Hopefully they see the importance of this Fulcrum to our plans, otherwise we may be leading your people into great danger."

Dreadwood | A Strange Meeting

Myrddin sensed a new presence nearby. Continuing on their pilgrimage, assembled regiments of The Order had finally reached a break from the endless fields. Setting up camp in a dense forest, Myrddin, atop the Iron Fulcrum, began to hear some impossibly distant whispers. After deducing the whispers were benevolent, Myrrdin settled in for the night.

Waking to the sound of voices raised in anger, Myrddin rushed out of his quarters on the Fulcrum. In the centre of the camp, surrounded by Men-at-Arms, were five of the strangest things Myrddin had seen in his long life. The creatures reminded him of his Aelven aquiantances back in the College of Magic in Azyrheim, but with some obvious differences...

Remembering rumours of Forest Demons in the deep woods of Azyr, Myrrdin shouted; "What is your purpose here? knowing instinctively that he would be able to understand them.

"We have come to parley," replied the clear leader of the band.

Stepping down from the Fulcrum, Myrddin continued his questioning; "parley for who?"

Myrddin was shocked by the creatures response, as it spoke as though it were a light wind rustling through a leafy tree.

"How can you understand these creatures?" Asked Constantine.

"I could only understand as I stood on the Fulcrum!" replied Myrddin preposterously.

Returning to the pulpit of the Fulcrum, Myrddin repeated his question; "Parley with who?"

"Drycha Hamadreth."

The Order | Free Peoples Army

Been a while since posting, but here's my complete (for now) Free Peoples army, The Order!


Marshal Agravain

A veteran of Constantine's house, Marshal Agravain has served the Freeguild since before Constantine was born. Noone dare ask how one of such age keeps has hair from turning grey.

The Amber-Gilded Zweihanders

The Zweihanders are Constantine's very best troops, surviving many ordeals in the service of the Freeguild. 

They have half jokingly had the first part of their title added by the rest of the guild in reference to the state of their well-worn weaponry.

Knights of the Round

These three have loyally served Lord Constantine's family for as long as anyone could remember.

The peasantry of the Freeguild spoke of "Golem" in hushed whispers, however the truth may be far more disturbing...

Their livery and armament hints at their true nature for those who delve deep into mythical writings...

What is Karlfranz? The maker of the weapon? A bound spell?

Blub's Men

Blub was even more tired than usual. His regiment had been on the move for as long as he could remember. Even through absolute fatigue however, he knew each and every man would follow the Order to Aqshy and back to achieve their goal, even though it seemed unfathomable to these common men.With their lives on their backs, Blub's men were scouts of the assembled Freeguilds of Azyrheim, part of which had been attached to The Order long ago. Moving through the Realm of Beasts at the forefront of The Orders forces, they were tasked with tracking any signs of Chaos they could find, with particular importance given to that of the servants of the pus god Nurgle...

Lord Constantine

Lord Constantine was inducted into the Order after being gifted with armour plate and parchment from the Holy Stormcast after serving them in Azyrheim in his early years. Constantine brought his Freeguild detachment with him on his Pilgrimage with The Order. Only he of all the Freeguild is fully briefed in The Order's purpose.

Constantine rides his griffon Dimfeather into battle, raised by Constantine himself from an egg gifted to him by the griffon handlers of Azyrheim.

In smaller skirmishes, Constantine rides to war on an atrophied pegasus, found after a clash with the Beasts of the Forest.

Drafted Freeguild

Many Freeguild Guard followed Constantine and The Order out of Azyrheim, none understood the hardship they would face out in the Realms. Constant travel, war and fatigue soon took it's toll, only the hardiest of men still survive.

The Priest

Many priests of The Order give up their names and titles upon entry. They each adopt hoods to cover their eyes, needing only the light of Sigmar to guide them...

The Iron Fulcrum

Discovering this long-lost device amongst the ruins of a lost civilization, the wizard Myrddin sensed it's arcane power and took it for his own. In battle, Myrddin channels his power through the Fulcrum, augmented by it's natural meteorological energies.

The Order - New Army Thoughts!

I've wanted to start a new army for a while, having done most of the things I wanted to do with the Nurgle army (although there is of course always more to do!). I decided to begin a Devoted of Sigmar army, as I liked the idea of Flagellants being buffed by a load of Warrior Priests! In typical fashion, I have so far painted exactly one Devoted model, my Excelsior Warpriest. I've instead focused on AoS-ing some spare Bretonnians. I felt these would fit the aesthetic of the Devoted more than the traditional Empire equivalents. I also had a spare Island of Blood elf on griffon I was dying to convert into a Freeguild Lord on Griffon, as well as needing to fill out the army until more Devoted of Sigmar stuff is released for AoS.

I'm beginning to stockpile stuff for the Devoted lot, but for now am building up my Path to Glory warband for Hobbyhammer's Realm Hoppers event. On the workbench currently are 3 Demigryphs and 10 Greatswords, which will act as the hard units for the force (if I ever get a game in!).

As I said before, up next on the blog should be a unit of Demigryph Knights, which I've come up with a pretty interesting backstory for!

Interspersed with the photos below are pieces of fluff written for the Realm Hoppers campaign for each unit.

Blub was even more tired than usual. His regiment had been on the move for as long as he could remember. Even through absolute fatigue however, he knew each and every man would follow the Order to Aqshy and back to achieve their goal, even though it seemed unfathomable to these common men.With their lives on their backs, Blub's men were scouts of the assembled Freeguilds of Azyrheim, part of which had been attached to The Order long ago. Moving through the Realm of Beasts at the forefront of The Orders forces, they were tasked with tracking any signs of Chaos they could find, with particular importance given to that of the servants of the pus god Nurgle...

The first unit I did for the army, old metal Bret Squires (hence the varnish)

Lord Constantine was inducted into the Order after being gifted with armour plate and parchment from the Holy Stormcast after serving them in Azyrheim in his early years. Constantine brought his Freeguild detachment with him on his Pilgrimage with The Order. Only he of all the Freeguild is fully briefed in The Order's purpose.

Constantine rides his griffon Dimfeather into battle, raised by Constantine himself from an egg gifted to him by the griffon handlers of Azyrheim.

This is the dude I converted from the Island of Blood griffon. I heavily underestimated the green stuff work needed after chopping off the elf rider! Doesn't look too bad from a safe distance though. I'm really happy with the rider however. I wanted to convey a more priestly look to the model, rather than the standard guy charging with lance and shield with a helmet on. I feel I achieved this with the less aggressive left hand and lowered lance, plus the bare face, which incidentally covers the eyes, something which I intend to do with all the priest type characters in the force as a narrative element.

Many priests of The Order give up their names and titles upon entry. They each adopt hoods to cover their eyes, needing only the light of Sigmar to guide them...

The hooded head came about as I wanted to really differentiate between this model and the stock Warpriest from the Silver Tower set. I also changed his weapon into something other than a hammer, to link him to the units in the army.

Many Freeguild Guard followed Constantine and The Order out of Azyrheim, none understood the hardship they would face out in the Realms. Constant travel, war and fatigue soon took it's toll, only the hardiest of men still survive.

These guys are standard Bret Peasants, now used as freeguild guard. Tried to do something different with their shields, as I felt such a large surface area of the model deserved something other than blank colour.

The colour scheme for the army is;

Reds: Mephiston Red, Agrax Earthshade, Wazdakka Red

Greys: Eshin Grey, Skavenblight Dinge, Adminstratum Grey

Bones: Bleached Bone, Agrax Earthshade, Bleached Bone + Skull White

Skin: Kislev Flesh, Agrax Earthshade, Kislev Flesh + Skull White

Metals: Leadbelcher, Agrax Earthshade, Mithril Silver 

Rust: Typhus Corrosion, REyza Rust, Mithril Silver

Weathering/Bases: Doombull Brown, Light brown (can't remember which!), Typhus Corrosion, Doombull Brown, Light Brown.

Cholothrax the Ascended + Future plans!

Hey guys, real late to be posting this, but been a busy summer! Here's my complete Daemon Prince / GUO based on the Glottkin kit! Unlike my other daemons, I used a base of Ogryn Camo for the skin, as I liked the official paint scheme for once! This was followed by Biel Tan Green wash, then 5050 mix of bleached bone and ogryn camo for the highlight! Purple was Screamer Pink washed with Druchii Violet, followed by pure red for some highlights! The horn areas were the most time consuming by far, I tried to blend from Doombull Brown to Bleached Bone! Quite hard but think I did an OK job... this was washed with Agrax to further try to blend the two colours!

Here's the fluff for him -

Thanks to Cholothrax's successful alliance with the Skaven of Clan Festerscar, the Rotbringers were experiencing success after success in the Realm of Beasts. Cholophract remembered his time serving under Cholothrax before his disappearance. He often wondered what had happened to his brother after he followed the Prophet through the Rot Tree and if he'd live long enough to see him again... 

Cholophract and the other leaders of the Rotbringers were close to figuring out the correct ritual to traversing the Rot Tree, being able to use it in the manner of a regular realm gate, and when the moment came, he would mount an expedition into the other realms to find Cholothrax...

I'm now focused on the next Rise of Empires narrative campaign, and will be rolling up a Free Peoples army using the Path to Glory tables beginning in September! I'll also try to post up about my Renegade Guard progress at some point!

May's Complete Hobby Projects

Hi guys, busy hobby time in May for me, aimed to get three warscrolls done for Rise of Empires' May challange. Got a fluff post over there too continuing mine and Patrick's joint Rotbringer / Skaven story.

First of the three warscrolls is Damphead, my herald of Nurgle. I used one of the guys from the Glottkin set for this guy, deciding to swap his head for a Plaguebearer one. I feel that, between the head swap and posing of the head, it changes him into a completely different model! I tried to ref. the Glottkin's tentacle on the Nurgling on the base there.

I'm particularly proud of the rust work on this guy, I think I've pretty much perfected this now, with the addition of a final step of drybrushed Mythril Silver on top of the Ryza Rust in various places.

Next up is the Prophet of Nurgle, counts as a Rotbringer Sorceror in game. Tried something really different with the skin on this guy. Pallid Wytch Flesh with a Druchii Violet wash. Really happy with that, but am wanting to use this skin on other things, but struggling to think of anything, any ideas anyone?

Love how the green contrasts with the purple on him.

Finally I did another unit of Chaos Warriors. Kind of slept through these guys, left on a couple fo Khorne symbols by accident... Pretty much the same process as my last batch of warriors, but with the added Mythril Silver step on the rust.

This month I'll be working on a unit of Minotaurs, a couple of Clanrats... and possibly building the Glottkin/GUO! If I can pluck up the courage to do it that is...