Haha thanks guys glad you like the little critter (trying to source parts for a second now!). I've also got a kickass idea I want to try out for a steed of some sort
I'll definitely think of something to stitch together into a graphic-novel style thing. Nothing too ambitious at this point, but it would be a lot easier if I actually pulled my finger out and started gaming
Also, I jsut have to show off this awesome sketch Youwashock made of my Crow-Shaman wish I could sketch half this well!
Particularly love the little changes (for the better!) of making the top of the staff into a horse's jawbone and attaching a little hanging bird skull. Awesome stuff dude
So this is where you've been! I was thinking it was a while since the eldar stuff was updated.
Those Iron Sleet models are amazing. The big crow with pistol and spear is my favourite so far. Also so much character in that little pink animal thing, looks like some ad mech got their hands on a parrot and a badger, drank a few bottles of buckfast, then woke up in the morning with one of those
Haha yeah this is where I've been hiding was just having a conversation on Emberlordfire's plog about having multiple plogs meaning it's harder for people to find updates :S
Glad you like the crows though! Yeah I like how the big guy turned out too. I always think that in any group of people there's always one that thinks of themselves as 'the fighter', and for these guys it's him.
I've got a bit of headcanon for the gribbly crow-dog thing about its missing limbs. I'm thinking that in lean times they'll rely on these for food, but why waste a whole pig-dog thing when a limb will keep you going and you've got a bionic one lying around spare
I forget you're an udlænding. That's a Sleipnir. Quite common around these parts.
The Fenrisians, both Kearls and wildlings, use them for recon and warhorses. Trade them with folks in neighbouring systems as well. Not sure how the Crows got them though. Probably stole them I expect.
Thought I'd tie in some more Norse mythology with my dudes. There are a number of mythological animals surrounding Odin, which I've based these guys loosely around. The first of which are his Wolves, Geri and Freki, represented by the Vlka Fenryka. The second of which are his Ravens, Huginn and Muninn, represented by my crows. Another is his mythical steed, Sleipnir, the 8-legged horse. Thought that would be a good basis for a xenos/gene-modified steed of some sort for Kearls and Wildlings
Apologies for the murky pictures. After having spent ages mucking about trying to find a lighting setup that works with the camera on my phone I then go and set light to a puddle of petrol I was crouching over (moron) and melt the lens :S Inopportune timing a handful of days before Iron Sleet's deadline, so I'm scrambling to find another setup that works! The above are from my Canon point-and-shoot, and the below are a couple from my mate's phone and some other trials with lighting. Not sure what works best...
Parent's phone (pretty similar to mine, maybe washed out a bit but can't quite work out):
Point-and-shoot (not enough light for this one, although it does look atmospheric):
The 'stitching' is actually a little tattoo, similar to the ones on the crows themselves. Initially the main reason for that (and the skintone) was to tie it into the limited palette of the rest of the scavenger band, but someone pointed out that it's got a neat little suggestion that the Sleipnir may in some way be related to the crows (or not, as the case may be...who knows!).
I've also been thinking that my little scavengers need a little gender-variety. Ordered some of the new Escher gangers so we'll see how they work out!
I honestly think this is the best thing I've seen in a while out of the hobby, and certainly anything GW produce as a kit. This feels like it's come straight off the pages of the older artwork, real 40k grimdark.
Hey Ynnead it's been a while xD , these crows look amazing, you really have a talent for kitbashing that is something to aspire too. On another note i'm having a blast trying to identify all the bits your using.
Hey Rhivan! Great to see you over this way. Welcome to Dakka when do we start seeing yours pop up over here? No pressure of course
You flatter me Creee(eee)d I was largely despairing of the official releases for a while until someone pointed out the kickass little detail on the Ironstrider kit with the exposed underslung servitor. Such a beautifully grimdark little detail. Actually the whole Ad Mech line (and the GS Cults too) really show just what can be done within the official models that isn't just yet another Marine variant
First trial run of photos for Iron Sleet still think they're a little too dark, even with some additional lighting. What do people think? Not sure my point-and-shoot agrees with low-light indoor stuff particularly well.
I've also finally got round to adding a little snow to the bases I'd always intended them to be sifting through snow-covered moon surface. Actually the whole landscape I'm picturing them in is inspired by a trip to Iceland. Crumbly jet-black volcanic sand covered in crisp snow, sparse vegetation clinging on.
Managed to sneak just one more in before today's deadline
The little scavenger padded its feet as it stood, trying to drive out the cold. There was little, really, to mark it as female beneath its layers upon layers of rags. A slightness of build perhaps, but little else. Not like the concubines of the Crow-Chief, or the zealous warrior-women that visited the Wolves on occasion. Just another scavenger among the multitudes. Another faceless, nameless individual to anyone looking on.
And the whole little scavenger band, marching through the bitter wind and snow.
The irritating this is that I did! That's with two lamps, one above and the other on its side to the right, and then my phone's torch illuminating the left from lower down. My point-and-shoot is apparently very sensitive to lighting (although the photos are far crisper and better resolution* than my phone).
Think brighter lights rather than more of them is the key. Scarmbling to get one sorted I could only find low-level side-light lamps rather than proper daylight stuff :S
*if you open the pics in a new tab and then take out the 'c_scale,fl_progressive,q_80,w_800/' part of the url it'll show them in full resolution
I’m no expert on photos, but the pics suit them. You might try taking pics on a neutral background and see if that helps. Although the rough wood counter makes a thematic backdrop for them.
Thanks guys! Really glad you like them (and shall do kitbashermagos!).
I'm glad you think the photos suit them. I did do a couple of photos on a black background which definitely lets the colour through more, but it came out way too warm which didn't fit with the snow bases and feel I wanted for them.
It's been a while since real life has given me enough time to actually get some hobbying done, but managed to sneak a little in over Christmas
Strange to think, isn't it? None of those optics are theirs. All scavenged from battlefields. They spend their lives looking through the eyes of dead men. What an odd perspective on the world that must bring.
Managed to finish off a few models I'd got half-done, including crow-pig-dog number 2...
...and this lovely lady...
I think the word translates to 'concubine', although 'witch' would work too. Psykers the lot of them. They appear to intentionally breed them. Send them out as favours to the other crow-chiefs, strengthening the various tenuous alliances between groups.
Hah! Everyone asks that. I think they use their witch-powers to keep warm or something.
I'm up to three female Crows now...
...and thirteen total
I'm going to call this band nearly done I do have a couple more ideas though, and something big coming for them soon! Then it's onto expanding the next piece of the picture for these little dudes
Wow, the concubine/witch(concu-tch?) is amazing man. Love the overly augmented look to her, looks really scary and gruesome. I really like the descriptions as well, I can picture some rogue traders or mercs sitting around drinking and observing them.
Made me think of this Tell you what though, those crows must be as brave as they are crazy. Remember the old sergeant? Stories are that one night he came across an "overly friendly" witch that was cast out from the tribes. Poor bastard never walked again.
Thanks man! Yeah I really wanted her to be a mismatch of lithe female body and heavily augmented bionics
I'm glad it comes across that they're being observed. I've made a conscious effort to very rarely ever describe anything from the Crows' perspective. Makes them seem a little more on the periphery of your known characters, and also fits with how people tend to observe nature which fits their animalistic tendencies
I have got the next thing in the little world of the Crows sorted, but it's a little sideways step. The idea being to expand a little on the world surrounding the Crows to give them a little more depth (and give me the opportunity to play around with different bits!).
They trade sometimes, with the Elk-men. Fellow nomads, meandering through this icy plane.
Oh nothing of real value. Mainly scavenged tech and weapons, food supplies, little handmade trinkets. That sort of thing. Sometimes the Elk-men barter passage to other systems.
The elk-folk wander around in bands of five or six usually, plus a pack animal or two. People say they used to congregate in massive numbers, but not any more.
There were millions of them once. Great warherds, stretching as far as the eye could see. Not seen them in any sort of numbers for a couple of centuries now.
So that's the first of the Elk-folk not that there will be many...
Still, enough to tell their story at least, and how they link in with the Crows and the Wolves
Still have a couple of Crows to come too, so we won't be seeing the last of them
Wow really liking that elk-man. My favourite part of him is the right hand for some reason. Why did he replace his entire arm but keep his organic hand? Does it have anything to do with the hand print on his helmet? Some things we were never meant to know!
Yeah somewhat uncharted territory or at least I hope it feels that way for these guys. Set on the wild fringes of the Imperium, far from the crowded hives, deafening forges and incense-ridden cathedrals (although hopefully lacking none of its weird anachronistic techno-feudalism feel). It will all loop back to the Space Wolves in some way, but hopefully in a way that feels cool
That's the plan anyway
Ooh I love the idea that the still-biological hand could have something to do with the hand-print motif boundless not that I'll explain it mind you're absolutely right that some things are meant to be left a mystery...
Great idea Desubot! Haven't looked at the new Necromunda rules yet but they'd definitely be the best fit for most of my little gribblies hope there's plenty of scope for mutants!
I'm glad you like him though as here's another!
Over there, I spy two big stags. White Hands by the looks of it. I know little of their braying tongue, but enough to barter us supplies. Perhaps enough to procure a guide to our destination.
Looks like they're on their way to the herdstone. Meeting places for the horned folk. You can find them scattered all through the twelve systems, and a little beyond. Monuments to the Old Gods...
Great stuff - the basing really works - light enough for contrast, but very barren and bleak with what look like little whisps of vegetation. The Crow band is outstanding all around!
I'm happy the bases work. It was my first real foray into actually painting bases and snow effect and things. The snow's trickier than it seems using the ol' baking soda and glue method. I find it dries really quickly and clumps together making it hard to apply. Perhaps I've got too much baking soda or something...
Either way I'm happy they look suitably bleak
@Ember Ooh I love the idea of a 'moss-gatherer/priest' no idea what it is but it's evocative! My google-fu has failed me on that front, care to elaborate?
I was actually thinking of doing some sort of priest as a narrator model. As part of the inspiration for these warbands I've been reading a lot of late dark-ages/early medieval history about Saxons and Vikings and Franks and Britons and the like, what we know of their pre-Christian pagan beliefs, and the priests that were sent from Rome to convert them.
So, I thought of the idea that these systems are populated by a host of different creeds of technobarbarians with various polytheistic faiths. These Elk-men worship the Old Gods (the Ruinous Powers) in a sort of 'gods to be appeased so they don't kill everyone' way (more on that later!), whereas the Kearls and other people's left behind by the Space Wolves have pagan faiths worshipping Astartes (again, more on that later I hope!).
The little narrative/diary snippets I was thinking would be good coming from a Ministorum Priest sent to convert these heathens to the light of the Emperor so yeah, I priest would be kickass!
It's not all waffle though I have a little update too first bit of scenery as well!
There it is, the herdstone. Great stone menhirs erected where the veil allegedly wears thin, back in the times when the warherds swept through these worlds. Fell monuments. See how this one weeps blood from its pinnacle.
The two big stags collided with a sickening crunch. Enough force behind them to break bones. Enough force behind them to pulverise a Crow. This was the rut. One of the few times the Elgr gather in greater numbers, filtering in from the deep forests of their worlds. A time of blood and bone and muscle. A time to ensure that the future of their kind is as strong as possible. Strong enough to survive the coming hunts.
See the younger bucks on the periphery. Not quite their full-horned glory just yet, but practicing for when their time comes.
Another two Elk-men done that's nearly my whole scatter-herd. Just waiting for a final bit for the last model and we should get a little closer to why they're here, and just what the story of their worlds is...
Glad you like the differing helms Youwashock. That was half-inched directly from 40k beastmen where big horns are indicative of higher social status
Very pleased you like the worldbuilding aspects amazingturtles as that's by far my favourite bit about coming up with this stuff I've got a whole host of ideas just waiting for models to show them off with, from ogryn-like ettins to voidborn dokkalfar to Fenrisian wolf-people (as a bit of a teaser!).
I'll try and keep it up Thunderfury!
You nailed the Ruststalker legs CREEEED, but the bodies and upper thighs are Ungors (the older ones are some older sculpts I had spare and the younger ones are the newer kit), and the heads are from the Blightkings kit
Haha thanks guys! I'm just happy I've found a medium where I can quite happily witter on about the little worlds I concoct
I definitely think that's a major thing that 40k has going for it. It's phenomenally easy to come up with a little short snippet of fluff, a little window into the 40k universe you've created, and just throw it out there to see if people like it. Takes very little time compared to, say, writing a short story about it. Plus you get a little model to set the tone
So yeah, 40k's great
Oh, and thanks for pointing me to your mutant scavvy dudes Desu they're great! If anyone hasn't seen them they're delightful
This is one of the most unique conversion projects I've seen and it's very well done. I especially enjoy the story behind the models, it creates an atmosphere that qualifies the conversions. Without that reference they would be excellent models without application beyond a creative expression.
@Ember Ooh I love the idea of a 'moss-gatherer/priest' no idea what it is but it's evocative! My google-fu has failed me on that front, care to elaborate?
Well, reindeer are the only large animal that can digest lichen, and feed primarily on reindeer moss. It'd be cool if your deer-people had some sort of bioengineered stomach that allowed them to do the same. The might also have a certain love of hallucinogenic mosses, which allow them to "speak" with the gods.
Neat Ember you learn something new every day a priest/shaman is next on the list actually (just waiting for the right head to arrive in the post).
Definitely adding the 'genetically engineered stomach' to my headcanon for the Elk-folk. I was just talking on the 'Favourite Headcanon' thread in the Background forum about it's part of my headcanon that humanity in the 41st millennium is largely unrecognisable biologically and genetically from humans of the 2nd millennium.
My thought was that during the DAoT humanity would have had the capability to eliminate a ton of issues with our biology via genetic engineering. Things like reducing muscle-wastage in freefall and increased ability to tolerate alien foodstuffs. Some of it would likely occur on the species-wide level before we set out to colonise the galaxy, and some would have been done on a more local level in different hubs of population to deal with local difficulties.
Cue the Old Night and everyone gets cut off for thousands of years and technology largely goes to pot, then the Emperor set out to unify 'humanity' (or, rather, anything that superficially still looks close enough to the human form regardless of genetics).
Not only does it allow for some kickass modelling and fluff opportunities with different types of human, but it also really hammers home the ignorance of 'the Holy Human Form', given that not only is 'humanity' unrecognisable genetically from when we evolved, but also that humans from different planets could easily be classified as completely different species let alone sub-species, but are marked as a-ok just because they look vaguely human enough.
So yeah, elk-folk with holdover-genetic engineering to allow them to digest a whole load of largely inedible plant foodstuffs, helping them survive in the frozen forests
See that one over there? That's a Bray. Close as they get to cultural leaders these days. Elders who preserve their histories, administer what passes for justice amongst their kind, and lead the bacchanal rites to appease their vengeful gods.
It's curious, really. At first I believed the herdstones to be malefic structures, with little purpose but to provide a focal point to tear the veil of the materium. However, from my time with them I believe their actual function is to bleed off power from the immaterium in manageable doses. The constant weeping of blood, the bacchanal orgies of violence, the blood-sacrifices. All serve to prevent the anger within from bubbling over.
More than most, my time among the elk-folk has given me an insight into their psyche. I believe they view themselves as exiles, cast apart from their forebears who lived side-by-side with their Gods. Forced to wander through this icy plane and scratch a meagre existence. They remember the times where their kind swept through these systems as a great conquering tide. They remember the great armies of the Emperor arrayed to stop them, the mighty Wolves of Fenris at the fore. They remember the days their Gods forsook them, and left them upon these frozen worlds. For them, their rapture has come and passed.
So there we go! That's the last of the planned Elk-Folk (although I do have a few more ideas to revisit if the bits-box contents align)
Hopefully the fluff snippets have given a decent insight into their history, but if not here's a little explainer. These elk-folk were a bunch of feral-worlders picked up as chaff for a Chaos Warlord's army which swept through the sector before being stopped by the Space Wolves. Their armies crushed, the PBI (Poor Bloody Infantry) were abandoned planetside and over the centuries since have carved out a society alongside the other abandoned inhabitants of this world (we'll get onto those next!).
The idea about the herdstone was a thought I had about human cultures living under the gaze of the Ruinous Powers. In order to have survived for this long, even primitive cultures that find themselves close enough to warp-rifts must have some sort of mechanism to deal with the machinations of the Gods. The herdstones are in actuality arcane monoliths designed to relieve the pressure of the warp in places where there's danger of a breach, quite literally bleeding off the power as a constant trickle of magically generated blood, augmented and maintained by bacchanal rituals and sacrifices to appease the War God.
The fact they can also be used to rip holes in the materium is just a secondary function, put to ruinous use during the times of the great warherd.
Thanks dude! Yeah I'm really enjoying this bunch of people
You won't have to wait long
When Morkai's sons are on the prowl,
When moon is bright and wolves do howl,
Within thine walls stay safe and fast,
For teeth and tools of murder pass.
-Verse from the Edda Óvættr (An Ode to Monsters)
It seems, wherever the Vlka Fenryka tread, a trail of myths of mutant wolfmen follows them. Many fallacies and fabrications abound in populations overawed by His Holyness' mighty astartes, but this one is curious in its ubiquity. Those who are privy to current inquisitorial investigations into the thirteenth company might believe they pertain to the mutant astartes known as 'wulfen'. However, upon closer reflection it would appear there is a secondary phenomenon at play.
Common in extant myths is the infectious nature of the bite of a frekr, as they are dubbed. If this bears truth, this poses a significant risk to Imperial security. Recommend immediate travel to infected worlds for research purposes, followed by immediate reprisal against the chapter once proof is obtained.
Recovered cave-writings from exterminated populations here suggest the native freki believe they were stationed on this world for some higher purpose. A grand task bestowed upon them by their Gods. More likely is that they were dumped here on this backwater world, hidden away from prying inquisitorial eyes. No longer.
This is my favorite thread on Dakka right now. Excellent craftsmanship and artistry mixed with an interesting storyline based on the established lore. The presentation of both is what really draws me to this. The unfolding drama is tense. Well done.
Haha thanks guys! I'm glad you're enjoying them as much as I'm enjoying making them
Speaking of fitting them within established background, I've tweaked the fluff above after someone pointed out some of the little problems between my fluff and the account of Space wolves who fail the Test of Morkai in Space Wolf by William King (which I haven't read!).
The mutants tend to be pretty short-lived, and would be all male since they begin as Astartes. Those two factors would make it difficult for them to spread to different worlds (especially as the Test of Morkai takes place on Fenris).
He also pointed out that the Wolves seem to be ashamed of their mutated failed aspirants, so would probably be averse to using them as tools.
So, I've tweaked the fluff above which I much prefer now! Means I get to sandwich some inquisitorial intrigue into the story, and rope in some more werewolf tropes than previously
Yeah I had to go a little outside my regular bitsbox for these guys (no Sicarian legs, what is this?!). I wanted something that looked suitably feral, and was searching for ages for something human-shaped but in an animalistic pose.
Stumbled upon the Blood Bowl Skaven runners, and the Skaven dude from Silver Tower which form the base models. The heads are Wulfen with the face cut off and a Dryad face spliced on. Their arms are from the new Ungor kit with one Wulfen hand, one chord claw and a Kroot rifle. Oh, and there's a Lychguard mechanical tail thing as a metal spine on one of them, and various kroot bits of meat
These look really cool man, they look like they're prowling around trying to stay hidden and the paint scheme works beautifully for them.
EDIT: The background that you set up as usual is great for your models and really sets them in the setting with both a grounded and unique feel that adds a lot to them.
Glad the paint scheme works for them too. I originally had them in off-white moving to brown for the fur like an actual wolf but it just didn't look right. Tried another scheme of white with bluish hair but didn't like that either, so stripped them all off with dettol and started again definitely happy with this iteration
Oh, and I forgot one last picture showing the size difference between the three peoples we've seen so far
Although saying that, the wolf-people would easily be the size of a man if they stood more upright.
I read through your entire thread today, all of your conversion work is inspired and very well done. I'm already fan of your current work, curious how some of your older projects fared.
One thing that is standing out to me is the lighting on your photos. It really adds atmosphere to the story line, but you are losing detail to shadows and it hides the finishing touches like shade gradients, color on smaller objects, etc. At the beginning of your thread you had a DIY light box. Have you considered bringing something like that back for completed models?
Sadly, if anything's posted up here but not painted yet it's currently sitting on the shelf of shame :S some of them will get repurposed, but mostly they're waiting their turn
Getting some proper photography equipment is something that I'm well overdue doing. Atmospheric and brightly it aren't mutually exclusive, but I haven't managed to pull it off just yet :S once I do I'll do a big photoshoot with all the back-catalogue done right
I have however got a new phone which might help the pictures somewhat. Not sure, what do you think?
Men, elves, crows, elk. Even the ettins of the northern forests. All are fair game once the hunt has begun.
Despite local folklore, preliminary tests indicate bite of wolf-mutants non-toxic. Hypothesis 2: transfer of mutant genetic material. See below data from experiments thus far with Fenrisian diaspora, control hive-world subjects and the mutant Astartes kindly provided. Results following intravenous injection of mutant Astartes blood.
Subjects 3, 7, 8, 14, 16, 24, 27, 33
Death via fever.
Subjects 1, 4, 9, 10, 11, 17, 21, 28
Death via mutation (unstable).
Subjects 2, 5, 13, 15, 18, 19, 20, 22, 26, 30, 31, 32
Recovery: retained for further study, followed by euthanisation.
Of note: Surprised at low death and mutation rate in Fenrisian subjects. Further research required.
+++Thought for the Day: Fear the Mutant, For He is the Enemy that Lurks Within+++
+++End Entry+++
The fluff at the start also hints at the next few ideas on the drawing board, and the latter a little of the genesis of the Freki and the threat they (and the Wulfen) potentially pose. A threat an Inquisitor with a grudge would be more than willing to capitalise on...
That Heavy Metal magazine is just awesome been looking at cover art and it's like Conan meets 40k. Some kickass inspiration
Skalk Bloodaxe wrote: Subjects 2, 5, 13, 15, 18, 19, 20, 22, 26, 30, 31, 32
Recovery: retained for further study, followed by euthanisation.
Have they been euthanized yet, or is that still pending?
Now isn't that a question lets just say that science experiments in the 40k galaxy don't tend to go quite as planned
I'd love to show you, but I've been fighting with the camera on my new phone for a couple of days now and just haven't been able to get it to work consistently. Stock camera app on the Z5 is garbage for close-up and you can't choose whether to shoot in macro or not (and the macro focal depth is teeny-tiny so you can't get even one dude all in rough focus). One other camera app works ok close up but will only focus on the centre of the screen rather than where you select. Another I've just tried will let you choose where to focus, but the auto-exposure setting is schizophrenic. Gah. I'd rather be spending my time painting and modelling and writing than faffing about with camera setups!
Still, managed to get one good shot out of the two days. Good enough for a teaser at least
I have a Canon Powershot A480. I've taken thousands of pics with it and it is still awesome. It's also taken far more abuse than an electronic device should and it still works very well.
Thanks for the advice man I have heard that smaller point-and-shoots can be better than expected when it comes to macro photography. I'll give that a try I have been playing around with the settings and they're not perfect, but they're in focus and not blown out! Good enough
+++Access Personal Log: Adept XIV+++
+++Vox Entry+++
+++M41.976.127+++
Bitten again by a subject during euthanisation. Must ensure greater caution going forwards.
+++End Entry+++
+++Access Personal Log: Adept XIV+++
+++Vox Entry+++
+++M41.976.131+++
New development. Despite no visible symptoms some recovered subjects are carriers. Extreme stress provoked by attempted euthanisation results in delayed onset of mutation. Prolonged close quarters struggle before subject was overcome. Lab will require significant decontamination before research can recommence.
+++End Entry+++
+++Access Personal Log: Adept XIV+++
+++Vox Entry+++
+++M41.976.137+++
Two subjects breached containment. Appear to have freed others. Antipyretics must be impairing my judgement. Currently barricaded in laboratory pending escape. Likely outcome is abandonment of facility. Client will be most displeased.
Freaks and mutants looking, ...well freaky and mutated! Love the originality and theme from them. Stuff like this really captures the spirit of early 40k. Inspiring work as always.
I didn’t want to bump your other thread, but was thinking about your various Eldar when looking at the new Daughters of Khain stuff coming out. Any plans on adding some winged a/o snake girls to your assorted chaos/exodite/normal Eldar forces?
I reckon the snake elves would be good for Medusae and/or Croneworlder Eldar, personally, and I'm not just saying this so that Ynneadwraith does exactly that and then I could steal all his ideas/life energy.
Thanks to the recent week spent at home due to snow (office had no heating!) I've got a real bumper crop of models coming, including two more of in this Biologis Adept's little menagerie. Unfortunately, I'm still fighting with my camera. Seems the previous shots were a bit of a fluke as the 50 or so I took last night are to a man really washed out and pale. Not pleased. Shall be messing about with some settings tonight to try and get that sorted
Great minds think alike Nev and Goblin I've had an idea in my head for a leader of my Croneworld Eldar troupe called a 'Favoured Plaything'. Basically a croneworlder who's managed to become a favourite pet of Slaanesh (as much as food can be a pet that is), and has had a number of 'gifts' bestowed upon them.
The Bloodwrack Medusa was a favourite option, but these new Dark Aelveolas are pretty much tailor-made for my Croneworlders! Dead pleased with them and will definitely be picking some up as soon as possible
Think I'm finally getting the hang of my camera here's the first of many from a backlog!
'What happened at the lab was regrettable'. On the face of it that didn't sound like that stern of a rebuke, but only an Inquisitor could say it in such a way that you knew you were up the proverbial creek. Now he had a new task. Travel into the Fenrisian Reaches and recover evidence of these wolf-mutants in the wild.
The Fenrisian Reaches! Emperor's teeth. Not a place he'd hoped to visit. Less an official sector, more a band of space radiating from the home of the Wolves. An unintentional diaspora of fenrisian stock, scattered in the wake of the Wolves' crusades. A savage place inhabited by savage people.
Still, he was a little excited to be out in the field again. Cataloguing strains of human mutation was his primary mission after all. Perhaps there would even be the opportunity to sell some novel ones to his contacts in the lunite gene-crafters or something. Yes, you know, this expedition might not be that bad at all.
IV and VII were just simple replicae-drones. Capable, obedient and most importantly easily replaceable. Ideal for a trip to the Fenrisian Reaches.
Luggage, on the other hand, he was genuinely proud of. Simple thing really, but it was entirely of his own design.
Luggage is definitely inspired by the Luggage from Discworld although this one's a bit more cowardly than that ferocious beast
I'm with you on the idea that every collection needs something like a Luggage. A little non-combat model, or maybe a guard dog or gribbly xenos pet. Since at least 11000 bc people have been domesticating animals, and you can bet that we were using them before that. And seeing as 40k is 'medieval era in space' I see no reason not to continue the practice
Now, recently I've been pretty good at sticking to one warband at a time. Getting at least five or six models before slewing off in another direction, but I've built up a bit of a backlog of painted models I haven't shown yet so I thought 'sod it lets just post them' so here's the first of the batch
I didn't realise they had priests, or shamans, or whatever they are.
That's the thing. People seem to think they're animals. Mind you, most people who think that don't tend to think it for very long...
Someone over on the INQ28 boards also mentioned that it would be cool to see some closer-up shots. Unfortunately, my phone struggles somewhat with macro photography, but it does shoot in pretty decent resolution so I can happily crop away if people prefer this sort of shot then I'll start cropping some more
I also thought it would be a neat idea to start offering links to high-res versions so people can zoom to their heart's content and merrily point out all of the casting lines I've managed to miss
Your kitbashing skills leave me in awe. Well done brother. And your painting skills are improving. Well done well done.
Automatically Appended Next Post: Your kitbashing skills leave me in awe. Well done brother. And your painting skills are improving. Well done well done.
The skull bits are from those Wulfen trophies on top of their backpacks (there's some neat xenos ones too which is cool).
I'm glad the kitbashing's looking suitably impressive. A ton of really fiddly work on these! Worst of all is the teeny-tiny little Dryad jawbone I had to stick beneath the shaman's skull-helmet to make it seem like there's a regular head under there.
I'm definitely having great fun with these little bands and cultures. Worldbuilding has always been my favourite aspect of fantasy, and this little project is really letting my run wild with it I'm three cultures down (although there's more to come for each of them), with five more that are worked up fluff-wise awaiting painted models, and one more after that who I've trialled a model but need some more work on their background
One of those five awaiting models is done enough to share though! I've had these guys waiting for ages and have been itching to finish them
On the darkened moons above the nine realms lurk a pale and pallid people. Void-folk the kearls call 'dokkalfar'.
There are few among those stranded folk that retain the ability to travel between worlds. The Crows have ships, with which they flit between battlefields picking over the spoils. The dokkalfar have ships, with which they raid and plunder the worlds below.
Alfar voidsuits, although roughly made, are prized possessions throughout Útgarðar. Similarly, alfar weaponry is deemed to be of finer quality.
If life is so hard on their airless moon, you ask, why don't they invade the land below? Simple. Gravity.
Their bacchanal rites before raids involve ritual partaking of steroidal substances, for despite their continual consumption of low-grade steroids a kearl still has an edge. In the long term, our world is as hostile to them as theirs is to us.
So that's the first of the Dokkalfar the idea and look of these guys has been rattling around in my head ever since I saw this awesome thread over on the INQ28 boards. The phrase 'The Handmade voidsuits of the nomadic tribes of the northern Segmentum Ultima reflect a familial lineage of mariners, explorers and merchants. However, The fires of the heresy have driven many voidsmen back to the old ways.' just opened my mind to the idea of techno-tribal cultures living in void environments.
At the same time, I had another idea floating around of a raiding culture that descended from the crew of a crashed tithe ship, with a religious belief that they have been given divine licence to 'tithe' resources from the other cultures around them. Only recently did it occur to me that I could combine the two ideas for this project the resulting idea was pretty close to how Dark Eldar raiding society functions, so given that my kearls are descended from abandoned Space Wolf serfs they'd probably conflate the two and start calling these space-borne raiders 'alfar' as well
Just got back from holiday and finally got fed up with struggling to get decent quality photos, so picked up a lightbox, two crows, my copy of On the Origin of Species and a very helpful mate with a grownup camera. I've only got the one shot from all our mucking about, but I'm dead chuffed with it
I mean what a difference a camera makes (or, more likely, someone who knows what they're doing with a camera). Honestly blown away. Just take a second to zoom in on the high res shots. You can see all the mould lines I forgot to remove in exquisite detail!
While the darker picture suits your style, I like the top picture because it gets us a better look at your work. Lovely choice for the stage, by the way.
I think that's the consensus youwashock. Personally I prefer the darker pictures as they're more atmospheric, but I suppose I know what they look like already! I'll try and get a mix/compromise so you guys can actually see what they look like too
When battle's done and bodies lay, And widows weep in pain'd dismay, The crows descend from blackened ships, To pry their spoils from dead men's grips.
The last shot in particular was very tricky to get. It was a real struggle to get enough light to show the detail on the crow, but not too much to blow out all the colour on the crow-dogs. If we had access to photoshop it would be as simple as taking two different exposures and fading one into the other, but this was the best we could get in a single shot. The crow should be a little lighter really, and the crow-dogs a smidge more purple
Is that the folio society's collectors edition "On The Origin of Species" you have them perched on?
Awesome work aas usual, cant wait to see what you do next!
And it is a folio society version of Origin of Species, by the ancient terran biomancer 'Darvinius'. Largely discredited in the 41st millennium, as clearly mankind was made in the Emperor's image. Plus, there isn't a single mention of His Holyness' Mighty Astartes in the book so it can't be an official GW product...
It does make a kickass backdrop though
Speaking of which, more photos! Including a new dude who's been awaiting photography for a while now
We call them 'rooks'. Just big crows really.
"Is it true they eat our dead if they find them?"
I think the word translates to 'concubine', although 'witch' would work too.
...and the new guy...
The crow-chief peered intently at the great ships of the Wolves. He tilted his head in curiosity as clockwork thoughts rattled through his brain. The pack's fleet was mustering. His curiosity piqued, he flitted a signal to Muninn, his sister-ship. Something was afoot. He could feel it.
So, the only crow without good photos until now was the crow-priest:
It's the various petty chieftains who organise scavenging sorties, but the true power lies with their priesthood. Each tribe is nothing without its lander, and each lander is nothing without its priest.
Also, it's about time I posted something new recently, someone mentioned the idea of subspecies, which is too cool an idea to leave be...
When walking in the woods you find,
A body hung from branches high,
Your wits about you must you keep,
For shrikes around their larders creep.
- Extract from the Edda Óvættr (An Ode to Monsters)
Crow-kin, but don't mistake them for flighty scavengers. These are the ones they abandon at birth. Mutants. Vicious things.
Yes, I'm aware of the irony of mutants abandoning mutants. I'm informed it's a matter of perspective, although as far as I'm concerned we should purge the lot.
Thanks a ton guys always glad when they're well received!
The witch's torso is actually a Witch Elf made her before Eschers were a thing, although I do have something Escher-bodied coming soon (and they'd look great with quills!)
I think the better camera picks up the green of the grass much more strongly than the previous ones. I'm not actually sure which is more true to life actually. It's probably something somewhere inbetween...
I've got a couple of new guys to show too! Again on the theme of subspecies...
They're mudlarks. Grounded crows. Pathetic little things.
I don't know really. Probably out scavenging when their landers broke, or were attacked I suppose. Some of them are intentionally abandoned I think, but lord knows why.
Most of them wander around in little bands, looking for other Crows to barter their way back onto their ships. Sometimes it doesn't take too long, but some have been here for generations. You get little villages of them sometimes, when they know they're in for the long haul. Some of them have been there so long they've forgotten they were crows to begin with...
For those who don't know, a mudlark is a name for scavengers in the Victorian era who made a living grubbing through the mud of the river Thames for discarded valuables, and a shrike (or butcher-bird) is a morbid little bird that catches lizards and small rodents and impales them on thorny plants for later consumption.
The difference in the mudlark models is subtle, but I've tried to make my mudlarks slighter of build and more earthy in tone than their space-borne brethren. I've also left their skin a little darker by not doing my usual drybrush of Pallid Wych Flesh over the Druchii Violet wash to give them the impression of having spent more time in the sun.
I'll have more planned for both, but for now the high-res photography marches ever onwards!
The crows trade, sometimes, with the elk-men. Fellow nomads, wandering through this icy plane
You are too good at taking a bunch of random bits and making a something fantastic out of them. I look forward to what you are gonna do next with these guys as it's always a treat.
You're right on the comic panel vibe Youwashock if I could draw I'd love to make a webcomic of some sort with these guys. Black Powder and Bionics or something like that for now, Prisma will need to suffice:
Actually, this next update's got some other more natural-looking photos dotted through it redux of my elk-men (with a couple of new additions!)
Over there, I spy two big stags. White Hands by the looks of it. I know little of their braying tongue, but enough to barter us supplies. Perhaps enough to procure a guide to our destination.
Looks like they're on their way to the herdstone. Meeting places for the horned folk. You can find them scattered all through the nine systems, and a little beyond. Monuments to the Old Gods...
There it is, the herdstone. Great stone menhirs erected where the veil allegedly wears thin, back in the times when the warherds swept through these worlds. Fell monuments. See how this one weeps blood from its pinnacle.
See the younger bucks on the periphery. Not quite their full-horned glory just yet, but practicing for when their time comes.
The elk-folk wander around in family-bands, plus a pack animal or two. People say they used to congregate in massive numbers, but not any more.
Judging by the silhouette I'd say a young doe. Not yet a full mare. Barely of breeding age by the looks of things.
See that one over there? That's a Bray. Close as they get to cultural leaders these days. Elders who preserve their histories, administer what passes for justice amongst their kind, and lead the bacchanal rites to appease their vengeful gods.
And now for the new guy I've been waiting for a while to share this one!
Bjorn's teeth! See that over there. That's a mammut. Elk-men giants. Sometimes an elgr's born that never really stops growing. They do slow down a bit around the fifteen foot mark, including bionics, but I've heard tales of ones up to twenty five.
Poor things are sterile, mind. Part of the reason you don't get many of them.
Call themselves 'Tsagaan Gar'. White Hands. Forest folk. Quite different to their warlike cousins on the steppe.
So yeah! That's the elk-men so far must admit it was a little daunting painting such a big model after so much painting little dudes, but it went really smoothly I've been wanting to add a little more height-difference to some of my warbands so expect some more as soon as funds have recovered
Elks are grand (big'un too!), Crows continue to rock, love the prisma'd meeting pic. As a funny side note, I once bought 3 boxes of rust stalkers to convert into Eversors (...) but then returned them when my sanity returned. Every time I see your work part of me regrets returning them, as they do have brilliant cyborg-legs and great heads for creepy not-animal dudes (also lovely dakka pistols for the dakka throne).
Elks are grand (big'un too!), Crows continue to rock, love the prisma'd meeting pic. As a funny side note, I once bought 3 boxes of rust stalkers to convert into Eversors (...) but then returned them when my sanity returned. Every time I see your work part of me regrets returning them, as they do have brilliant cyborg-legs and great heads for creepy not-animal dudes (also lovely dakka pistols for the dakka throne).
- Salvage
I got some and turned them into crusaders - but thought along the same lines as you and made one into an eversor (didn't really convert it much though).... I like them less when I look at them in comparison to the sheer creativeness of these though.
Wow, amazing conversion. The big dude just has so much character in him. You can instantly see he's looking for the next fight but there's futility and pain running through him. I literally didn't think you could take the crows to higher places than you already have but there you go!
Haha thanks a million guys always happy when people like all my mucking about
@Ember Steal away! It's what the Crows would do If you are doing the Ironstrider legs thing I'd get the base the Ironstrider comes on too. The Thaumaturge one is a little too small and I had to buy another one...
@Salvage and @Monkey You're more than welcome to donate unwanted Sicarians to me! those things are worth their weight in gold for little gribbly techno-bits. Between the faces for my Crows and the legs for...basically half of what I've ever made they're by far my favourite kit
I'd love to see an Eversor conversion for them, or a Crusader I've seen a few cool conversions with Fantasy Empire bits to make Knight Worlders that would be awesome
@Boundless Yeah that's the impression I got from him too (completely unintentional mind...). Enough that I sort of bent his fluff a little to suit it, but sadly didn't get to work it in just yet. Basically where all the other elk-men have regular tattoos, mammut (as 'favoured by the gods' wind up with tattoos that etch themselves into their skin, or develop where their accelerated development causes it to split and semi-heal over. Like Khornate scar-tissue.
Tough life living in the shadow of the Gods...
@Yorkright Yeah the camera's made a real step-change or more likely my mate who's behind it and actually knows what he's doing
@Youwashock Glad you like him man he's definitely turned out to be one of my favourites!
@Llamahead Glad it feels narrative-y. The whole worldbuilding thing has always been my favourite part of 40k, either on a small-scale with jsut a couple of guys or full-scale shaping sectors and suchlike
Next up is the wolf-men! Still need to sort most of the photos (and one of a new guy!), but here's the first
Thanks guys glad I've managed to avoid being a one-hit-wonder
Bit of a detour as I'd intended to move on to the Frekr wolf-men next, but I've just taken some photos of two new Mudlarks and thought I'd get them out while everyone still remembers what they are
Crows sometimes hire little bands of them as local guides. Folks like these have been here too long to want to return to the ships, but something as valuable as a firearm would command a princely sum to such downtrodden people.
'Same species, same specimens', as the Biologis say.
Sweet af dude, always happy to see more of such a great design. Really appreciate the height disparities within these clans too, between different torsos, leg augments or sheer bulk.
Yeah I've always found height/bulk differences to be one of the really interesting features of Inquisimunda-style warbands. The real varied nature of the groups lets you really play with that
I've got a couple more ideas I want to try out with that as well actually. Just picked up a couple of sprues of Gnoblars which seem about the right size for youngling Crows and Elk, so there should be size differences right the way from a Gnoblar all the way up to a Thaumaturge on stilts!
Most of my individual bits I get from a combination of Bitzbox, Bitsandkits, Forbidden Gaming and Let the Dice Decide. Some kits I buy whole if they're chock full of good bits (mainly Sicarians as I use the faces for Crows and the legs for basically everything...).
All caught up. I cannot say what has not already been said by myself and others, but will reiterate this is the most absorbing thread on Dakka for me. Have to make a note of your decision to present your models on the 'Origin of Species' cover- brilliant meta, was a "wha... oh wow that's cool!" moment for me. Thank you for that.
I'm really enjoying your Elk people, they are fantastically done (the playing with the height as you mentioned was very good) and the chaos marauder bits mesh really well with the overall image.
As for the Raven men the new additions are fantastic (and you are really getting mileage out of your secutarii legs)
Yeah I thought that 'On the Origin of Species' would be fitting...although ironic once I get round to the origin-story of the Crows
Oh, and yeah I'm fairly certain that those digitigrade legs are my all-time favourite bits. Use them on damn near everything even found a way of working them into these guys:
I didn't realise they had priests, or shamans, or whatever they are.
That's the thing. People seem to think they're animals. Mind you, most people who think that don't tend to think it for very long...
When Morkai's sons are on the prowl,
When moon is bright and wolves do howl,
Within thy walls stay safe and fast,
For teeth and tools of murder pass.
-Extract from the Edda Óvættr (An Ode to Monsters)
Awesome work, love the mix of parts, just spent a good 20mins studying some of the pictures to work out what came from which kit or had been very nicely sculpted.
Cool sets of minis, not to sidetrack you with ideas but one could even make some kind of new skirmish wargame with these beast guys. Especially with that shrine thing, although you've only done one.
I'm very lazy when it comes to sculpting, or rather I try to make my dudes entirely out of plastic wherever possible. Definitely need to branch out into sculpting some more, but it's quite a fun challenge trying to make everything from plastic
I'd absolutely love to make a little skirmish game with these guys as it stands, there's a pretty awesome little fan-made ruleset called Age of Munda which being very liberal and freeform has basically everything you need to represent any little gribblies you can come up with I especially like the quirk of non-pistol guns having a minimum range (representing the enemy being too close to risk using a rifle and having to resort to close combat weapons).
Now I just need to do that social thing and find someone to play with
Alas, I don't have an update quite yet. I've got a load of models painted and ready, but need to collar my mate with the good camera again
However, I've just come back from holiday to these absolute beauties:
Sweet Mary Mother of Mutants, they're perfect not only are they pretty much tailor-made for crows, but with a bit of tweaking and paint-schemes to emphasise different bits of their clothing they're perfect for about half a dozen other ideas I've been wanting to do
I can tell I'll be bankrupting myself on Cawdor sprues as soon as these come out...
I'm still anxiously awaiting the future-crow Cawdors, but until then here's a little distraction
They're hegri. Grey-herons. Hernshaws. Crow-fishers. Wade through the lowland salt-marshes hunting fish and birds. Mudlarks by any other name, just a different culture.
Cowardly things. Most of 'em got wiped out when the draugr came. Not much good for fighting anymore, but they make good scouts.
They've still got a few villages left, down on the heronmoors. Funny places. All built on stilts.
Complete and utter diversion, but I saw this piece of art while scrolling through IG and it was just too cool not to do something with.
Marshwalkers by Tom Simpson
Plus, I've had a neat idea about a wasteland scavenger using a bow with grenade-arrows for a while now and it's great to actually put that into plastic
Also, we've experimented somewhat with the photos for these. Not using the LEDs for the lightbox, but using diffuse natural light and a really long shutter. Still needs some fettling for brightness and it's a bit dependent on conditions, but you can see a lot more detail that would otherwise be obscured by shadow. Here's high res to take advantage of that
I've got a bit of a collection of sub-species going on now. Took a little family photo
Left-to-right: Shrike, Mudlark, Crow, Grey-heron
Back to our usual programming now with two more Crows. Thought the warband was getting a bit top-heavy so here's two more regular duders also started a bit of an odyssey into the history of the Crows, so that's our next stop
Curious, is it not, how such lowly scavengers could come to possess two ships as sizeable as Huginn and Muninn. At least, my employer certainly thinks so. Posing as a trader, for the Crows adore traders, I discovered that they pilot their vessels from an auxilliary bridge on the engineering decks. Sensing a lead in my enquiries I loosed a number of my diminutive spy-skulls into their halls and tunnels. While some appear to have been eaten by the feral beasts that roam their decks, the survivors reported some astonishing revelations. Upon the true bridge of the Muninn there lies the corpse of an ancient Astartes, bearing the legionary insignia of the XIX, resplendant still in the commander's chair. The crow-mutants appear to have constructed a makeshift shrine around it, with offerings of bone, food and trinkets littering the area.
This is but the first clue of the myths and origins of the Crows. More to come! Til then, here's high res photos
Thanks guys! Really glad you like him eventually I plan to pull him off his base and ensconce him in a proper derelict bridge-shrine scenery tile, but he'll do for now
For now, here's the next part of the tale
Sadly, my spy-devices had reached an impasse while searching the lower decks. I let slip my hosts, and delved down into the darkened vessel. Bypassing secured bulkheads, a derelict laboratory opened before my eyes. Rank upon rank of replicae tanks stretched along the low walls of the chamber. I'm ashamed to admit a gasp of shock escaped my lips upon discovering one was still occupied!
While quite dead, the specimen was clearly a crow, remarkably preserved in the amniotic fluid. Curiosity piqued, I fired up the ancient and dusted databanks. Imagine my revulsion upon learning that this crow began life as human! It now appeared to be some form of hybrid, bearing ill-formed mockeries of the Emperor's holiest implants. But why would the astartes of antiquity conduct such gruesome research? To what end? And how had they met their demise? All these thoughts raced through my mind.
Hope you like the next twist and turn! There should be enough here now to piece together their origins, if you know your XIX
Sadly, the photo isn't quite up to standard on this one. Had to take it with my regular point-and-shoot as it missed the boat for the DSLR and the difference in visible detail is quite a lot when looking at the high res version.
Still, helps move the story along about time too as it's the second one I've made! The first I trialled clear resin casting inside the chamber but it turned out a bit milky and ruined it :S
Oh, and now I'm just itching to get hold of the Cawdor models. The next part of the story probably needs one, so they'd better hurry up and release them!
And yeah this is the first mask-less Crow we've seen I was struggling for a while to find a suitable face, but while making my Frekr I found one of the other dryad heads had the perfect combination of almost-human features
So yeah he's a mix of dryad, kroot and OOP Ungor bits
Sadly, my inquiries were cut short by a blinking proximity alert. My hosts had fathomed the connection between my absence and the captured spy-devices. With haste, I fled deeper into the bowels of the ship. Deeper and deeper I delved into the dark until I chanced upon the entrance to a mighty cathedral, unlit and undiscovered. Sanctuary at last! Upon entry a flickering torchlight sprung to life, and a harrowing sight met my eyes. This was no sanctum. It was a morgue. Dusted skeletons littered the floor, slack-jawed and broken, firelight flickering across their ivoried limbs. Mutant and astartes alike, locked in death's embrace. For a moment I stood paralysed, until a voice echoed from behind, breaking my stupor.
"Most kin don't know," it croaked in heavily broken gothic. "Down this far they don't be-digging." The voice belonged to a black-clad raven, silhouetted in the doorway. He wasn't even aware any of them understood gothic, let alone spoke it. "Great secret of crows you now know. Of why following Wolf-gods, not Ravens." The blackbird glanced at my pistol, then to the heavy-set rook beside him. "You fight," it chimed, "Maybe be-killing us. Maybe escape. Before you try...remembering something..."
"We killed our gods."
So that's it for this little trilogy (although there is a follow-up thing coming). With that and a little background knowledge of the Raven Guard you should be able to work out where my little gribbly crows came from if not, here's a spoilered explanation:
Spoiler:
During the Heresy, the much-depleted Raven Guard began cloning experiments in an effort to bolster their numbers with superior astartes, which resulted in the Raptors. However, after an initial batch of 500 the project was sabotaged by Alpha Legion operatives, resulting in misshapen mutants rather than astartes+1. In his desperation, Corax inducted the less-mutated astartes and purged the rest.
...or did he...
'Exterminate cargo'. It was a simple order, considering they were held in stasis. Perplexing, but simple. Reaf's squad had stepped forwards. They were green recruits, but he was glad he had such willing volunteers. It would be messy work. Only after several hours had passed did he begin to grow suspicious. Where the hell was Reaf?
He gathered his veterans and descended to the labs. As the great vaulted doors swung open a familiar tang danced across his enhanced olfaction. Three of Reaf's squad lay torn and lifeless, the final having scrawled a message in his own dying blood.
THEY'RE AWAKE...
That one little origin piece has spun off a whole load of different ideas for the crows and their religion/cosmology which we'll be getting into soon hopefully
+++Thought for the Day:+++
Trust not the mutant, for their corruption is plain for all to see.
Love the Crows! You are truly an inspiration. From fluff, to modeling, to painting. The Crows are probably at least partially responsible for my planed Kroot/Human hybrid models and I’m not sure if I could point to exact bits but your amazing fluff has almost certainly sparked ideas for my own in terms of themes and style.
Have you considered doing an article with all your amazing work collected in one place?
It's definitely not the end for the Crows beyond this next update there's still two big pieces photographed waiting for their time, as well as a couple of ideas I want to try out I was actually thinking how much more I'd need to get a 500pt Renegades & Heretics army and it's not as far as you'd think! I'd need a good 30 regular crows, but once the new Cawdor models come out I should have 20-ish already
I have wondered about an article of some sort, or perhaps a little blog. Hell, if I could draw a bit better I'd love to make a little codex in the vein of the stuff done for Tor Megiddo and Rhossum Secundus (google them if you haven't seen them, they're both brilliant!).
@ChaoticMind Kroot/human hybrids? Ooh count me in looking forward to that
As for now, lets take a little dive into crow mythology...
In the beginning there was nothing. The Void. From the Void sprang the Old Ravens and their many cousins. The Wild Wolves and the Iron Men, the Sons of Eyes and many others. Despite their differences, the gods set out to conquer the galaxy together. However, none could agree on how best to do so. Tempers flared, for the gods are prideful, and fighting began. Two of the cousins were most bitter, the Old Ravens and the Many Headed Snakes, for their similarity in nature drove their rivalry.
War raged on, and the Old Ravens needed footsoldiers to assist them. So, they set out to make the crows, envisaging their children as mighty and obedient. However, through their manifold eyes and ears the Many Headed Snakes discovered their plan and were jealous. Seeking to undermine their rivals they snuck into the Old Ravens' tower and found the unborn crows. There, they gave them the gift of free will, for what use is a soldier who questions his orders.
Fearing the Old Ravens might steal their gift the first crows fled aboard their ships, wandering the Void seeking sanctuary. Eventually, they found the Wild Wolves, who tolerated their presence and scared the Old Ravens enough that they wouldn't come seeking their wayward children.
So it came to be that the crows worhip the three houses. The Old Ravens created us, but wish to enslave us. The Many Headed Snakes saved us, but are tricksy and false. The Wild Wolves protect us, as a treacherous mountain shields the valley below. Together, they represent the three virtues of the crow world: necessity, guile, and intimidation, and all have their followers.
The idea for these guys came from thinking about how the crows would view the conflict between the Raven Guard and the Alpha Legion during their creation, from a perspective way below all the intrigues and politics of the Heresy.
Who would you view in a more favourable light? Your creators/enslavers the Raven Guard, or your saviours/enemies the Alpha Legion? From where I'm sitting in crow-town neither seem like a good bet, although both have had their part in your creation.
So we end up with your typical polytheistic belief structure, with multiple gods all with their own agendas (none of which are strictly on your side), and various adherents and advocates who identify more with one or the others' core tenets
Not that the Astartes care or even know what pathetic little crow-mutants believe about them
Oh, and the juiciest bit about this little interplay is that these guys are set in the midst of the Thorn Moons crusade...which features The Rout vs The Hydra. I sense turbulent times coming in crow society...
Re. Mythology: SQUEEEEEE!!!! As an (extremely) amateur student of mythology you’ve done a great job. It really feels like the truth of the word around them as they knew it got retold over and over until you got this interpretation. The way the legions are referred to is also perfect for how more human level beings might identify them.
Of course hitting on one of my favorite traitor legions in my preferred interpretation doesn’t hurt. Definitely love how you have the Alpha Legion as dangerous but occasionally useful/noble.
Extra glad that you like the mythology. Spent a reasonable while reading up African and Native American folk tales about the beginning of the world and tried to copy their tone. They use a lot of animism to represent different concepts, and all seem to have this almost children's story-like quality to them that I hope I've got across right
Makes me wonder whether a lot of oral history is actually transmitted between parents and kids, rather than between adults. Perhaps most of what we know about mythology is actually just stories parents were telling their children about how the world works...
Gets a bit f'd up when you start reading some of the Greek stuff in that light though. Perhaps they were a little more...liberal...with what they told their children than us moderns...
Although we're moving on slightly, we haven't seen the last of the snakeskins in a spot of excellent timing the Naggaroth Nightmares BB team has just come up for pre-order with an assortment of scaly cloaks and tabards:
For now though here's the first of two bigger models for the Crows. Been waiting to finish this one for a while!
"Truly they're an affront to the Mechanicus," the robed Martian intoned, "Brimming their scrap-carts with sacred machinery, scurrying away to the dark to dismantle and tinker and construct." The venom with which the mechanical spat those three words took even Hjalti aback. "Heretical creatures. We'd retaliate if they weren't so beneath our attention. For now we have to console ourselves with pot-shots as they flit about our periphery."
Well, that guy took forever to paint! I honestly have no idea how people can paint whole armies of tank-sized dudes.
Still, dead pleased I made it there's something delightfully anachronistic about a band of spaceborne scavengers descending in a lighter/shuttle and then a horse-drawn cart wobbling out to load up bits of tech-gubbins too heavy to be mutant-portable. Plus, it's useful for carting your wounded back to the ship even when the main fighting's over battlefields of the 41st millennium are dangerous places to be...
Very good entries on both accounts +1 having a minor enthusiasm for legends and lore and an extensive knowledge on 40kic an see how this can all intermingle it flows rather nicely its rather sad and power at the same time if you just take it from a context less and empathic view though
I usually just quietly appreciate this project from the shadows, but nice work on the scaly bois and even nicer work on the cart. That pink mutie pony
Been following the teasers for Kill Team? Feel like it's a great way to get a lot of these grimdark warband projects onto the table (though I don't expect you're worrying too much about that end of things ), with some counts as crowbaring ...
I finally read through all of your Crow entries and all I can say is “Wow!” What an incredible job merging the visual and verbal storytelling. There’s so much history and depth to these guys just from a few short snippets and the pictures of the models themselves.
Haha thanks a ton guys! Really glad you're enjoying it as much as I am
I get what you mean AlabamaHeretic, and glad it threads its way through the background nicely. Their story's quite tragic, although as far as the life of a mutant in the 41st Millennium goes they've done quite well
@Salvage I have been following Kill Team! I've also been keeping a close eye out for the Necromunda rules for House Cawdor as they might fit quite nicely
Really I just need to go find some decent narrative games as you can usually shoehorn the rules to do whatever you like provided you find the right atmosphere
Onwards and upwards though! Next model, and it's a biggun (for me...)
Two things make a crow happy. Scavenger technology, and not having to trudge through this god-forsaken mire. These two must think they've died and met the Allfather.
And sadly faultie now that you've caught up with them this will probably be the last Crow for a little while, at least until the Cawdors come out and/or I get my hands on a couple of DE Blood Bowl models. But don't go anywhere! There's so much more to see So far we've seen a little under half of the warbands I've got in the works, and I've got a few more ideas underway for my existing cultures, so stay tuned!
Incredibly inspiring, as always. The crows and subspecies you've been working on have been one of my favourite projects to follow for a long time, but these new vehicles are something else. Thank you for continuing to post.
Long-time no post, but thanks a ton guys! Really glad you like them
The walker is definitely one of my favourite models so far. Particularly I like sticking its scavenged-high-tech next to the wood and draft-horse scrapcart
I was originally planning these guys for Necromunda (as much as I ever plan anything to fit a ruleset), but it occurred to me that I'm not actually that far off a 500pt Renegades and Heretics army which would be really neat
Well, Cawdors have been released...and I'm still waiting for mine. Ordered them through a third party site and forgot that the last time I did that (Eldar Triumvirate) they turned up about a month after they were released. Not cool.
Still, I haven't been idle while I've been waiting
When frost and ice extend their claws,
From northern woods and tundra-moors,
Come lonesome ettins and their kin,
To hunt young kaerls for meat and skin.
-Extract from the Edda Óvættr (An Ode to Monsters)
See those markings carved into that rock? That's trollsign. Means there's ettins about. Rare that you see them this far south. Cave-dwellers. Maneaters. Bad news.
Ogryns? No. These are a completely different animal. An ogryn wouldn't know the butt from a barrel and will happily club you over the head with either. These guys build traps. Make their own gunpowder. One-for-one...they're as cunning as us.
I had the idea for these guys while I was reading about how a society of solitary predators might work over on the Worldbuilding Stack Exchange (fantastic resource btw). First off they'd be fiercely territorial so face-to-face communication would probably be very limited, but there's a wealth of opportunity for written markings and messages carved into trees and rocks along the borders of territories. Struck me as an interesting way to do an ogryn-like abhuman species while actually making them environmentally viable (ogryn fall squarely into the 'Too Dumb to Live' category so favoured by TV Tropes).
Also, figured I talk about kaerls enough I might as well make some more on those later...
Next though, is some more Crows got hold of some Dark Elf bloodbowl dudes and dudettes so my snake-cult gained some new members
The scaled priests bickered amongst themselves. Since time immemorial they had recounted fables of the Many-Headed Snakes. Tales of tricksters as lessons both good and ill. Now, among the smouldering ruins of the Thorn Moons...they had met their gods. For the first time in thousands of years, they could not agree where their loyalties should lie...
And the snake cult as it stands
Ahead of finally getting my grubby little mitts on the Cawdor kit I've also made another little female crow (Cawdors will be all male so will throw off my proportions a bit).
So that makes 4 regular crow-women (well, one of them's a concubine)...
...4 more crow-women of other groups (a snake-cultist, two mudlarks and a grey-heron)...
Lovely crow round up The tall bare mid-drift chick (concubine? ) is still one of my favorites, although all three of those rooks are superb representatives of the style.
And well done expanding into the snake crew further! Very cool that you continue to delve into the tribes, while continuing to explore new avenues with fresh things like the Ettin.
@llamahead the Ettins are based on Orruk Brutes. They're a little smaller than Ogres, but slightly bigger then Ork Nobs
What's next? Well, I finally managed to pick up a set of Genestealer Aberrants a few weeks back. Why on earth they haven't released these as a dedicated kit I have no idea as they're brilliant sculpts. Used my first one to make this:
Feth, that's a wargor. Bad news. Sixteen hundredweight of muscle, steel and anger.
Once was a time they were all as such. A time of blood and the ruin of worlds. The elk-men who inhabit these forests are the sons of cowards who fled rather than fall on the battlefields. Every so often the old blood percolates up from the deep.
Their genesis is...not pleasant. Muscle appears torn and stretched upon their distorted frames with little apparent thought for previous biology. The favour of the bronze god is not to be sought lightly...
So that's a wargor I've been wanting to push things a little further with the chaos-influence on my elk-men. Even though they've largely been abandoned by their gods, I'd imagine the effect on their bloodline would linger like a curse...
Also managed to get this delightful little shot
Mammut looking down on his diminutive (relatively speaking) kin Buck>Stag>Wargor>Mammut
Woah! Always love it when I come across this one. That walker is amazing, and the Ettins, while understated, are super evocative and really fit in with the whole theme. The Crow Lizards add a nice mix to keep it from being too slavishly norse. Three armed Wargor? Brilliant! One thing I particularly admire this way you get proportions that seem "right", but also "wrong" in your conversions, if that makes sense.
Thanks a ton guys! Always appreciative of the positive feedback
@Youwashock Yeah the idea behind this sort of area is the dregs that are left behind after an Imperial Crusade has swept through an are that was already a bit of a backwater. All the big players have come and fought their battles, and the poor bloody infantry they've roped along have been abandoned in the wake
@kestral Glad it's not coming across as a direct pastiche of norse mythology I've tried to weave little bits and pieces in throughout it, but in a low-key way or a way that wouldn't necessarily be directly obvious. The snake-crows are a great example they sort of tangentially link with Jormungandr (I'm going to weave that in to the Alpha Legion origin story of the crows, maybe as the ship name of the task force who corrupted their gene code), but it's not shoving it down your throat like the Wolfy McWolf-lord Space Wolves so hopefully it feels more natural
No big new update yet (still putting the finishing touches on a few new dudes), but here's a little distraction until then
Regular crows tend to keep their younglings on their ships until they fledge. Mudlarks don't have that luxury. Wherever they wander, the whole clan goes with them.
Big fan of fleshing out warbands (where suitable) with not only the fairer sex but also children and animals too. Makes it feel a little more realistic to me
How have I never come across this blog before?! Great stuff on every page, so very creepy and sinister. I love all the muted colours they have, it makes them seem like they have spent a lot of their lives living in darkness which is awesome!
Haha thanks man glad you're enjoying it! Glad you like the muted colours too I've really got into the swing of painting in this style so happy it's worth it
Overdue update time:
Homo Sapiens Fenrisiensis
By blood, they're mostly Fenrisian. Descendents of kaerls and soldiers posted as garrisons, or just too slow to make it back to the landers when the crusade left. They're littered all through the Fenrisian Wilds like so many spent casings.
Figured I'd spoken enough about kaerls so it was about time I actually made some these guys will be able to double as a warband in their own right, and a retinue for Udinn, my Longfang spymaster
Not sure about anyone else, but I find it helps to make the Poor Bloody Infantry of a warband first as a grounding point to then leap off the edge with weird and wonderful gribblies (more of those coming soon!).
Haven't looked at the Kill Team rules yet but I really should I'm sure there should be a way of adapting them, especially if there's some form of Renegades & Heretics/Chaos Cultist/GS Cults rules if not, I'll just have to bulk out the warbands with some more gribblies fit for Kill Team!
Really must find some games too...
I'm glad they could nearly pass for Fantasy models that's exactly the low-tech look I was aiming for them. Look like Fantasy...until you look closer and see various scavenged bionics
Next dude finished
Virskr gazed out into Ginnungagap, the yawning void between stars. He remembered well the whispering, wheedling hunger that clawed his mind in that abyssal place. With clenched teeth he steeled himself against his fear. His gods demanded service, and he was oathbound to obey.
Great conversions on those Fenrisians! And the paintjobs compliment them really well, you seem to have gotten the "blanchitsu" style down. Somehow messy but at the same time clean and accurate, I like it very much! I hope to do some INQ28 inspired models and practice the painting style in the future, but we'll see when I have a bitz box large enough
Looking through the kill-team ruleset I suppose it's GS Cults that seem the best fit. Human(ish) with a bit of a close combat focus, although I've got a Truescale Astartes coming and the only real option for a mixed mortal/astartes kill team is CSM. Could still work quite well
And yeah, for some reason this latest guy definitely feels 50% more viking than any of the others
I'm glad you like the messy-ish painting style I'm really pleased I found it as I'm really not a naturally neat painter. I tried edge-highlighting once and gave up after the first squad. Definitely not for me. A light drybrush highlight followed by a wash seems to give a much smoother transition and a much nicer texture, especially to metals
Next model coming up!
That's our Ulfsark. Men who have dedicated themselves wholly to Morkai the Animal God. Men who have stripped their minds and bodies of all that was once human, such that they might better understand their patron.
Amazing work!
I'm a big fan of your Eldar thread and after finally finding this one, you managed to amaze me yet again!
Got so many different vibes from these models, especially the elk men. Had to put on some melodic black/folk metal and imagine myself wandering in a freezing foggy field or forest while seeing the silhouettes of them slowly emerge.
Keep up the good work, I will be coming back to check on this.
Haha funny you should mention black/folk metal and imagining silhouettes through a frozen forest. That's what I was doing when I came up with the idea!
I really should get back to my Eldar. I am a little worried that I've progressed enough as a painter that I'll have to redo a lot of them so they look consistent :S still, I've got some awesome ideas
Next guy done too!
The jarl towered over his followers. You could certainly see how he came to power. The man was a mountain. People say his mother was an ettin...and looking at him I could almost believe it.
Dead pleased with this guy. I bought the chieftain a while ago and made a jarl out of him, but just wasn't pleased with how he turned out. Turns out a head swap to something more inhuman, toning down the warpbeast pauldron and giving him some heads to hold was all it took to bring him up to scratch!
Ynneadwraith wrote: Haha funny you should mention black/folk metal and imagining silhouettes through a frozen forest. That's what I was doing when I came up with the idea!
I really should get back to my Eldar. I am a little worried that I've progressed enough as a painter that I'll have to redo a lot of them so they look consistent :S still, I've got some awesome ideas
Great minds think alike
I can relate to that feeling. That's the reason I'm repainting most of my Eldar at the moment.
Would really like to see more of your ideas! I took a lot of inspiration from your suggestions for some of my conversion projects, like the swooping hawks. Sadly they are still very much WIP.
The last guy looks great!
Kinda reminds me of Predator: the skin colour, the black gear, the skulls, the pose holding the heads. He just needs a different head.
@Ezki Just re-discovered your thread posted over there!
@youwashock Thanks man! Always pleased you like my stuff you're right he does look very Mad Max. Stick him on a red sand desert base and he'd fit right in!
@stonned_astartes Yeah finding the right shade of grass is tricky actually. A lot are really vibrant. I ended up mixing together a brighter and a darker type which worked well
@Tim You're right all he needs is some dreads and he's there
Next one coming up!
The young crow-girl gazed through her optics in awe. The valkyr was terrible and beautiful to behold, her bronzed skin and taut musculature visible 'neath radiant plumage. The polar opposite of her own wiry limbs. For a moment, she stood entranced...until the danger of her situation dawned upon her.
"Yes, I have seen their ilk before," the Inquisitor intoned. "The inhabitants of the Daedalus sector call them 'harpies', and righteously drive them from their spires. It surprises me little that the heathen natives here not only tolerate but positively revere these godless 'valkyr' tech-witches.
Also also, has anyone spotted the new Delaques yet? Sweet imperial saints they're cool already have some ideas I want to try out with them I was thinking the other day about how I wanted to revamp my Dokkalfar voidborn pirates and here these guys come, perfectly suited to the job!
Necromunda absolutely has been a goldmine. That along with the new Black Fortress. GW have really been knocking it out of the park with convertable models
Terrain is absolutely on the to-do list I've got some ideas, just need to do them!
Next model coming up though!
Udinn, One-eye. Late is the hour in which this charlatan chooses to appear. Mutant-kin I name you. Ill news is an ill guest.
Silence, Harkr. He has earnt his worth. Speak, Longfang. What news of the wilds have you? What news do your stormcrows bring?
I've heard some kaerls mutter that he's senile. Wasn't aware that could happen to astartes, but he certainly doesn't help himself playing god to his little crow-mutants. If he wasn't such a useful spymaster I expect he'd have been sent on his Last Hunt by now. You know, 'die with a sword in your hand'. That sort of thing.
So yeah! That's my take on Udinn, the Long Fang spymaster from way back at the start of this project it's taken quite a while to amass the bits I wanted for him, but I'm glad I waited for the right ones (the Deathbringer head was the only one that seemed to fit for me).
I'm glad that he came out a little lumbering and bulky. I've always thought the idea of Marines leaping around being all dynamic didn't quite fit my headcanon for them. As far as I'm concerned they should have all the subtlety and grace of a armoured rhino
I'm really enjoying painting in this style so glad to hear it looks good! The main thing about it is it's fast. Spray, base colour, drybrush highlight, wash, done. Takes a little longer as I tend to mix colours to get variation, but it's still dead fast
Happy he comes across as a bit of a wizened wanderer. I've got this idea for a couple of warbands wandering the wastes that function as the intelligence services for various Astartes forces. I always thought that astartes would make catastrophic spies, but their keen strategic minds and awe-inspiring presence would make them ideal spymasters (a job that I'd imagine would attract some pretty non-standard astartes characters). So this guy is the Wolves' spymaster, and there's pending Raven Guard and Alpha Legion dudes coming then stuck inbetween all that are my Crows, caught inbetween three rival factions of their gods
Speaking of which, I thought it would be a good idea to flesh out the Crow's pantheon a little more hence this guy!
Each young crow must learn the ways of the gods. All are fickle and dangerous, even our own, but some are even moreso.
The Corpse-walkers are malevolent gods of the dead. Once mortal like the other gods, they sold their souls for the ability to transcend death. They now dwell in the nowhere-place between worlds, and are the only gods who can hunt a crow through death and into the afterlife.
The Butcher-hounds are gods of slaughter. Their minds are consumed with the anger and hate of all living things. If you lock eyes with a Butcher-hound, there is nothing, no champion, no machine, no god, that can save you from a gruesome death. All that you touch will be slaughtered.
The Flayed Men are gods of the void itself, and hunt in darkness. They stalk their prey across the stars, and create great tapestries from the hides of their victims. Once they have your scent, they will forever know where you are, no matter how far you run or how well you hide.
These three we fear most of all.
it's inspired somewhat by Bruticus' bare-torso'd Slaaneshi Marine, but I thought the idea would fit quite nicely for a Khorne Berserker given that the original berserkers were men that went into battle wearing nothing but animal skins (although that depiction of them has fallen out of favour).
The fluff is also a little teaser for some other dude's I'm putting together at the moment
Also took a pic with his new buddy (or not...)
I'm quite glad that the heretic Astartes has turned out about a head bigger. I've always quite liked the idea that Chaos Marines should be even tougher, nastier and deadlier than regular Marines. They are the same dudes, but infused with chaotic power after all they should be bigger and nastier.
Looking wicked! Love the colors and tones on your Berzerker, and the way he radiates this unhealthy, unearthly ambiance. The strong light/dark contrasts work very effectively. Great job!
Great work as always!
On a first glance I could not tell that these guys were painted that quick. It's a good skill to make amazing looking models consistently without getting stuck for too long.
Something I should definitely learn.
Yeah I like mixing light and dark tones onto my models were I can. Lots of people mix warm and cold colours to great effect, but to try and the all my models together I've been keeping all my colours cool (basically mixing blues onto most of the colours, even the red on the Berzerker). So it's only really the light and dark contrast I can plan with
And yeah I tend to find that if painting a models stretches on a bit it gets to be a bit of a slog to finish so I'm definitely one for low-effort paint schemes I think it's the drybrushed highlights that help disguise the speed of the paint. With a wash they give a bit of a gradient to the highlights which looking much better thanks it has anything right to
Oh, and there's only so much time I can go without making more Crows, so here's my first effect from the Cawdors kit:
Oh, and while I was at it taking group shots of the kaerls I thought the Crows deserved some love too
Tried to get a big shot of all my crows...but here's the problem:
They don't fit!
That's a chief and his concubine, a tech-priesty thing I still need to find a snappy name for, a priest of the Old Ravens, a Rook, a crow-walker, a scrap-cart, a sleipnir horseman, twelve regular crows, a juvenile and 2 crow-pig-dog-things add onto that the snake-cult which are part of this group but didn't fit on the book and that's a lot of Crows!
This keeps getting more and more intricate. You really have a knack for showing your world building through your models-- like really good illustration, it's still very possible to track the spiritual "posture" of all your models through image alone! Very, very nice!
Thanks guys! Always flattered that people like my little gribblies and I'm glad the worldbuildingy stuff is coming through well. That's what tends to fill the slower parts of my work day so good to see it paying off
I really must make a bigger display board/scenery tile so I can take some proper group shots.
Onto the next warband!
"Stop Haaric...STOP! You know what happens to those taken by the Wyrm. They walk, they talk but they're dead Haaric. He's a wyrmwight now."
And lo, the mountain rose above the horizon as a bleak and forbidding tower. Smoke bellowed from its summit, and the fearsome sound of industry echoed through the hills. The home of Fafnir, wyrm of the north, was terrible to behold. There he lurks, jealous and protective of his horde.
Those who fail to escape his clutches are brought beneath his thrall. Wyrmwights we call them. Their minds replaced with metal, they are nothing but slaves to the great dragon now.
In the lands about the great wyrm's lair scurry and slither his ill-begotten progeny. Lesser wyrms and wyrmlings. Transliterated copies of his own fractured and animalistic mind, let loose to found their own colonies.
But see, amid the fogs and wealds,
a shape does creep and crawl.
A writhing thing of hate and steel,
from out the soaking squall.
The folk doth cry with mortal peals
the kaerls become its thralls.
For dragon's breath the fate it seals
of young and old withal.
The poem is a repurposed verse from The Conqueror Worm by Edgar Allen Poe. I really like writing poetry, but at the moment I find it tricky to come up with structures that flow and have good cadence. So for now I'm happy to half-inch other poet's work and call it a 'homage'
Haha thanks man I've found I tend to make a couple of proof of concept dudes and leave them for a while before fleshing out a warband, then doing that all at once so I wind up with nothing for ages then a load of ideas all at once
Speaking of which, I've run out of Wyrmwights and Wyrmlings to share, but I've been working on fleshing out some of the other dangers that stalk the Wilds. Bit of a refresher first:
When walking in the woods you find, A body hung from branches high, Your wits about you must you keep, For shrikes around their larders creep.
- Extract from the Edda Óvættr (An Ode to Monsters)
Shrikes. Crow-kin, but don't mistake them for flighty scavengers. These are the ones they abandon at birth. Mutants. Vicious things.
Yes, I'm aware of the irony of mutants abandoning mutants. I'm informed it's a matter of perspective.
You're right about the crows looking positively civilised. I've got a neat little comparison of degrees of mutation coming which should be cool need to share the models first!
Here's the next shrike
Like many mutant populations, shrikes seem to praise their affliction. Those with extreme 'gifts' are treated with awe and reverence. Favoured by their feathered gods.
Had great fun making this guy I figured that as crows get more mutated, they probably get more avian in their physiology. Makes sense from a thematic perspective, but also from a background perspective too. If there's any ruinous power that would have a hand in sneaking Alpha Legion operatives into a Raven Guard facility to meddle with their cloning experiment (where the crows came from) it'd be Tzeentch.
As far as I'm concerned, if your bloodline was once tainted by the ruinous powers then that curse will persist indefinitely. So, like the elk-men and Khorne, the Crows/Shrikes are forever susceptible to Tzeentch's influence
This is an absolutely beautiful blog. From the seamless kitbashing, to the clear photos, to the fluff, to the regularity of updates! Really love the individuality of the tribes that somehow still definitely feel like they are all from the same world. Keep it coming!
Ooh tek-wights I like the sound of them! Having a look now
And yeah I'm fairly certain I've cleaned out quite a few bits sites on numerous occasions
Glad they all look like they're from the same place. I've tried to keep the same dozen or so colours for every warband I've made to keep them all looking like they're from the same palette, but then varied which are the focal colours and mixed different quantities together to get variety between them glad to hear it's worked!
Next guy coming up!
Their magi and wyrds never cease to plot and scheme. Of all the wretched witches this forest holds, it is they who are most dangerous.
Shrikes congregate in vicious little mobs and gangs. It is rare there is any kinship between their members, with the majority being strays or foundlings. It is similarly rare to encounter any unity beyond a dozen or so shrikes, for they are forever plotting and scheming against their rivals.
So that's the Shrikes so far I've got at least two more ideas that I really want to do with them, but need to collect some bits.
The magi is pretty heavily influenced by Bruticus' excellent Slaves to Darkness Malal shaman. I've been wanting to do something similar for ages
It's also somewhat influenced by black herons, which are kickass birds that lure fish into the shade beneath their wings
The little sparse bits of grass are two different colours of loose static grass mixed together, a light and a dark one juat stick a blob of pva on the base, a pinch of static grass and poke it around a bit with a cocktail stick
Run out of finished shrikes to share, but onto the next evil lurking in the woods!
Our guide explained in hushed tones. It was a drowned man. An aptrgangr. A draugr. Men lost at sea would sink to the depths...and some would walk back out, dripping with briny seawater.
He told of an ancient evil, dead and sealed beneath the waves. But creatures such as this do not respect death. It still dreams in the deep, and its rotting children dream also.
The productivity is a bit misleading. I had a 3 month break from posting stuff (work computer decided to block a load of forums so couldn't post stuff during lunch breaks), but didn't stop making stuff so ended up with a bit of a backlog. Nearing the end of that now :S
I'm glad you like my take on Nurgle. I wanted to do something that was less 'virulent world-ending plague' and more 'inexorable creeping horror'.
One of the ideas behind this setting is that there are fringe worlds between fully chaotic and fully Imperial where the Chaos Gods are ever-present, but not world-endingly apocalyptic. Sort of like a window into what the universe is like far from the titanic struggles of the 40k superpowers, where no-one's really paying much attention.
Still, doesn't mean it's not full of all sorts of horrors:
The draugar come in depth of night to steal our people. Whole settlements taken. They drag them back to the deep to twist and bloat into more of their kind.
That last line really sent a chill up my spine when combined with the models and their scale. Beautiful concept for Nurgle, as I always love alternate takes on each Chaos god.
Thanks man glad you like my creepy little gribblies
I'm a fan of alternative takes on the Gods too. There's a really neat concept by the chap from the Convertorum blog about 'Plague-borg' techno-augmented nurgle gribblies that's a brilliant one.
Next one coming up too
It's not often the slow-witted draugar manage to capture a valravn, but when they do they fill their lungs with seawater and turn them into carrion-crows. Scouts borne aloft on leathery wings.
In ancient times, kaerls and kin lived in glory. From mighty cities their kings ruled, and their priests would speak directly to the Gods. Ships of the Alfar would come, trading riches for thralls and warriors. But it was not to last. The One Who Sleeps stirred beneath the waves, and his rotting children staggered to the shore in ever-greater numbers, no longer but a nuisance to the coastal powers.
It took the intervention of the Gods themselves to end the threat, and such was the ordnance lain upon their stronghold at Sokkvabekkr that the city itself was driven into the sea. Not a single city of old remained, and the lands of the kaerls were occupied by wolves and elk and ettins.
So that's the draugar so far again, lots of ideas for more that will be coming in the future
I also quite like the idea that there are mutants...then there are mutants...then there are mutants:
The little sparse bits of grass are two different colours of loose static grass mixed together, a light and a dark one juat stick a blob of pva on the base, a pinch of static grass and poke it around a bit with a cocktail stick
Thanks guys! Really glad you like the creepy deep-sea Nurgle I've managed to cobble together one more draugr for the group so far, but he's just awaiting the final touches for paint.
Until then, I managed to pick up a hostiles sprue from Blackstone Fortress which is filled with brilliant goodies
By their nature, crows are often found in a motley assortment of rags and scrap plates. As befits their status in the eyes of the pure.
That's four different bases for your standard crow now
Chaos Cultist, Cawdor, mishmash of Ad Mech, Traitor Guard
If GW releases any more kits that are perfect for Crows I'll have an army before I know it
Seeing as the Carrion Crow is a Nurgle corruption of Valravns, will we be seeing uncorrupted Valravns at some point? They sound like an awesome concept!
Speaking of new resources, I've been waiting for my Delaques to arrive as I've got plans for them too I've also got ideas for more kaerls so should be more stuff for them as well
The crows above are uncorrupted valravns although, if you want a winged variant I've got one of them coming for this gribbly lot:
Fee-fi-feathered gods, full of flame and fury.
O Thousand Thinkers find this feast for thousand feathered fiends released.
+++Translated war chant/incantation overheard in battle with shrike-mutants.+++
Mutations among females are rarer, but not uncommon. They skulk and plot like the rest of their wretched kind.
Thanks guys! Not yet done something with the Delaques, but have been busy with the last batch of Shrikes
At times, it is difficult to know where shrikes end and beasts begin...
Ingvirri and his warriors had cleared the den of shrikes a little over a day ago, driving them off deeper into the forest. At first, he'd been revolted by the macabre display, but now...he wasn't so sure. The bodies strung up among the branches were still deeply unsettling, but the more he stared the more it seemed like there was...art...to them. Purpose. He could almost imagine the careful placement of a hand, or the tilt of a head being laboured over by its grisly architect. What it was all for he had no idea...but it definitely seemed like it was for something...
So that's the shrikes I'd initially planned to do nine (because sacred number), but the little bird mutant just sort of made itself from all the bits I had left over from the others and I liked it so much it had to stay
So, lets say that shrike gangs get a little uneasy when they're not in multiples of nine, like a Tzeentchian Dunbar's Number
Thanks dude I must say I really enjoy making the little gribblies. People have lived alongside domesticated gribblies for millennia, so I see little reason they'd stop just because they've mutated a bit
Speaking of gribblies (although not exactly little ones):
Tis but a lesser wyrm, despite its grand stature. But a fractured transliterated copy of its progenitor. Still, it's cunning animal logic and fiery breath make it a threat beyond which you are prepared to face.
He's been through a couple of iterations that didn't quite hit the mark (either too human or not imposing enough), but as soon as the Nighthaunt chaps came out I knew I'd found it
Also, sorry if I haven't been commenting on everyone else's threads in a while. I usually do that in work breaks, but the internet blocker's decided dakka is a 'game site' and restricted access :S
@Boss Salvage Yeah horses sort of look fairly sized until you stand right next to a big shire (or even just have a moderately-sized horse try and nudge you out of the way). It's only at that point that it hits home that a horse weighs about as much as a Space Marine!
@IGtR Thanks man! Plenty more of that on the way
The scope was crude, but effective enough. Bersi could even see the heavy breaths of the stag fogging the air and the steam rising from its sweat-soaked skin. Steadying himself, he carefully exhaled...paused...and squeezed the trigger.
The bough leftward of the stag exploded into fragments. "Drittr," he muttered as it disappeared into the undergrowth. It had been weeks since his group had made a kill. This year's cull wasn't going well at all.
I've also head-swapped my Wargor. Was never really happy with how the old one turned out, but this one is much better
glad you like the little critter (trying to source parts for a second now!). I've also got a kickass idea I want to try out for a steed of some sort 
) is still one of my favorites, although all three of those rooks are superb representatives of the style.
.jpg)
