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So I just had my first few games of KoW and was playing Abyssals. I am thinking of taking a more creative approach and to scratch build the army out of tentacle warriors bursting from the ground. I usually don't think of lore for my armies but I will make some as I make the army. The basic premise of the army is that a nameless hero was questing and came across an unholy object unleashing the horror. First the lore then the pictures:

A light drizzle woke the hero from his rest. His bedroll was damp; turning the dusty from the camp floor to slow cakes of mud. A soft pale orange light shone uncomfortably in his eyes against the twilight skyline. The campfire embers sizzled with each passing drop from the sky. He squinted out to the edge of camp. A crumbling citadel in view, defiant to the low country and alone as the tallest constructing for miles. Every tree touching the stonework was withered and twisted. Corrupted to a gnarled and alien appearance. The hero would swear the building pulsed slowing, almost breathing in rhythm with his own. He turned his eyes downward. The horrible acts committed to pave the path to this point. After all the gore and blood waded through, the betrayal and the merciless deeds just to stand before this construction of stone, wood and...and something else. He must continue on. He has already shattered his soul. Without the trinket that rests inside it would all be for nothing.
"We go on?" The travelers sole companion emerges from the darkness around the camp. The figure rests his grimy hand on the metalwork of the pommel for his sword tucked inside a green scabbard about the waist. He runs two fingers along the edge of the intricate design of hound chasing a fox. The figure tilts his eyes towards the citadel and unease visibly runs along the sharp features of his face. The hero pushes his bedroll from his legs and begins to stand.
"Onward."

Each post I will try to add more to the story to flesh this thing out, but for now here is where I got to today.


and some simple sketches for that I may do with other units.


Till next post.
~AA

Awesome sculpt, great to see the thinking process as well. Interested in seeing it painted up, and more of them!

It might start to look a little same-y after a while. I would suggest mixing in larger tentacles, eye stalks, mouth pits etc onto multi bases.

A large mass of creature bursting through cracks in the ground (with boulders etc being thrown out) would look cool.

@SilverMK2: I agree about the same-y problem. I also plan to add in besides the boulders and mouths and such, other warriors being impaled or torn in half by the tentacles. Maybe for Imps I'll have a mass of tentacles crawling all over some farm equipment or steps. Keeping it pleasing to the eyes is important.

@naRna: Thank you! I hope to put some paint to him today. Fortunately there are not as many details on tentacles but I will have to invest in purple paint pots.

Have you got the Uncharted Empires book? The Night Stalker list would also fit these models might be worth working out how to use them for both lists.

@Llamahead: I haven't gotten the Uncharted Empires book but I do need to think about cross-pollination between armies, I will explore The Night Stalkers. Your response also got me thinking of if I will use allies. Maybe have a bunch of allies strung up like marionettes with Tentacles or with a tentacle Stuck through their head controlling them.

Lore time:
Both travelers crouched along the side of the roadway. The moon was high lighting the muddy path. Small eddies formed in pools of rainwater and reflected the moonlight back into the inky sky. Each leaf on the surrounding branches were dancing with each passing drop of rainwater. A humming trepidation made the forest uncomfortable. Neither man was at ease and they tried to lay as still as possible. A dark figure broke the horizon along the roadway in the direction of the citadel. His cloak was dragging through the mud. He brought with him a horse on a lead laden with sacks of grain. The horse looked sickly. Long greasy strands from it's hair were stuck in the horses eyes and mouth from the rain. The horse seemed undisturbed by this and continued weakly along the path. The figure passed the men without a glance but the horse tilted it's head towards the brush the travelers were hiding in. The hero put his hand on the handle of a knife he kept along his belt. He darkened the blade in the campfire coals before the embarked not wanting to draw any unwanted attention from a perceptive eye. The horse still knew they were there but walked on until out of sight.
"Think we were spotted?"
"I don't think so. It's like the horse was looking behind us." The hero looks over his shoulder into the forest. He had the feeling the trees were closing in on them. Obscuring where they both came from and pushing them further towards their goal.

I finished a test paint job, no basing yet.




Till the next post
~AA

Cool nice and gribbly

@Llamahead: ALL of the gribblies!

no lore this post maybe another on the next update.

I had a few hours this morning so I put together some WIP stuff for the next tentacle and a test for Molochs.


Till the next post.
~AA


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Little more work tonight on the big tentacle before bed! I am happy with where this is going.


Till next post
~AA

Had a break during finals season and finished up a little more with the Moloch. I ordered some regiment bases from tectonic studios and soon these guys will be planted on them for easier use and basing. I also had a chance to finish up the next regiment dude.



What is in the docket is another Moloch with the modeling putty baked, I think the Moloch's will be my first finished unit for this army.
Till next post.
~AA

Very excited to be finishing up with School and having some free time. Yesterday I was busy and made some progress. Plus, I a got an order of bases in from Tectonic Craft Studios.


And the Lore:
The hero sat down on the bark of a fallen tree. A moldy perfume wafted up and filled the air. Reaching into his rucksack he pulled from it a pipe and attempted to strike a match. The rain had let up by the air was humid and hung a blurry filter in front if his view. Where has the time gone? He thought to himself. Night fell what seem like days ago but still no sun.
"Time flows strangely as we draw closer." He muttered to himself.
"I am running low on ration. If we continue without resupply we risk shriveling away in the mud." The figure called out. He was running his hands through the satchel of a corpse propped against a tree. Though decayed, the face of the body had injuries that looked slightly healed. As he rummaged the body shifted and the cap of the corpse shifted revealing the fatal blow. A hole dug deep into the back of the skull.
"Meager Meals." The hero replied and took a puff. Savoring the flavor on his tongue. "Camp?"
"Best not, we don't know what prowled here and suffer a similar fate." The figured pulled on a bracelet and tried to hide a piece of silver in his pocket from the hero. The flash from the coin brought the hero attetion and saw the slight of hand but was distracted as he had a better look to the body. The clothes were so odd to the hero. Unknown symbols on a sash and colors uncommon to this region. The body had on boots made from a leather stained a dim yellow and a belt with an image of a creature he could not recognize.
"Do you recognize the clothing?"
"No and his feature are foreign too. The only one from his bloodline to ever set foot here I would imagine."
"I would agree." The hero pulled more smoke from his pipe and exhaled into the night air.

I got some more work done on the models and now with the bases I can start mounting them to their regiments. The molochs are the furthest.


and this is the beginning of a Well of Souls. The metal dolly is going to be suspended int he air by tentacles.


Till next post.
~AA


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Made some progress and finished sculpting the last 2 molochs and began work on a 4th with a sword.




Also was inspired to start on the succubi unit. The little wire will make a smaller "ensnaring" tentacle.


Question: For the Abyssal Guard Unit, should I stick with 5 per troop base? Attempt to stuff 10 of them in (though I worry it will be to crowded)? or Put 5 little "imp" tentacles in between for 10 total models on the base but 5 proper guards?

Input is greatly appreciated.

Till next post.
~AA

Did some painting yesterday! and mounted the Molochs to the base and another abyssal guard to the movement tray.

and a weapon shot of the 2nd regiment of Molochs


Till next post
~AA

Very cool!

I take it that "Day of the tentacle" was among the sources of inspiration for the project?

@zywus I never actually played day of the tentacle but one of my club mates said the same thing (though i did watch a game review when it was mentioned). I wanted to keep an art style that was simple and had high contrast so it would pop. I figured lots of purple gribblies would get same-y if I didn't add some pop. DotT is similar and has that humor to it. Thank you for the kind words!

~AA

Had a chance to get a game in with some proxied models against an men force.


The grizzlies ended up faltering but came away with some new info.
-Molochs do need to worry about nerve tests.
-Regeneration is awesome on the Abyssal Guard
-Well of Souls is super useful and durable

On the lobbying front I made some painting progress with the succubi unit and the counts as imp unit.


Also added a bit of detail to the well of souls. It will hopefully look a bit like a sarlacc pit.


and created a themed objective marker.


Till next post
~AA

This is phenomenal!

These are amazing, some really great GS work.

@bbb: Thanks! Stay tuned for more.

@kleggt: I wanted to take on a project that let me improve and challenge myself without twisting my fingers into knots sculpting it.

And a preview for some more work tomorrow.


Till next post
~AA

This is brilliant. Great work dude.

EDC

TENTACLESSSS

Obviously a big fan of this army of gribblies, and consistently impressed at how fast you're moving along, paint included! I'm curious what list you're building towards - I got some idea from that game last weekend but between all the blank bases and my distraction at the novelty of playing outside I couldn't really say what you fielded. Though I do know that I'm happy to see the Well of Souls performing for you, easily one of the most unique units in the game.

Speaking of the Well, what's the dolly's fate when it comes to fleshing it out? Going for drained desiccated corpse merhaps??

- Salvage

@evildrcheese: Thank you! keep and eye out for more in the future.

@Boss Salvage: After last weeks game I came to realize how much I like the succubi and magic. So I will probably beef up to 2 regiments and another unit of imps for a speed bump. The molochs did not get a chance to perform and failed a nerve check after you left leaving them ripe for some trimming. I want to try them out again. The flame bearers in 2 small units were good and the abyssal guard performed well (regeneration is sweet!). Probably more succubi (sexy tentacles), more magic and another unit of hellhounds since they performed well.

The body will be suspended above but not desiccated, either in full armor suspended aloft or mutated Akira style. Think Harbinger of the tentacle than bloodbag for Nux.

Also pictures since I got a chance to do more sculpting. I have been slacking on the lore though.....

Molochs get suckers.


The well gets fangs and the lips that go around an octopus beak


Bulking out existing units.



An objective marker that is a book.



and another that is a throne.


Till next post.
~AA

 Albanyadriel wrote:
Think Harbinger of the tentacle than bloodbag for Nux.

*swoon*

How much Inspiring are you running? Any? Can't remember what your couple characters were ...

Special props on the objective markers, way to go the extra mile already

- Salvage

@Boss Salvage: For characters I am thinking of the Well, 2 Succubi Characters for bane chant and a harbinger or champion with wings. Lord of Lies is cool too. although With an army of tentacles emerging from the ground, Flying is hard to represent credibly. Suggestions are appreciated.


Little bit more work today. I want to have these guys ready for a game this weekend!


Till next Post
~AA

Late night work on the beak for the well. *Snip Snip*

Till Next post
~AA

Dang, I'm loving the sculpting here! These are things that would scare the help out of my D&D players too! Fantastic modeling skills and the fact that you're adding all these little differences between the models defiantly keeps it from looking too same-y.

Very cool. I really like the skeleton on the throne.

EDC

@Erikonil: Thanks! I Think this makes for good practice. Getting the chance to build them up makes me happy and trying to add lots of little character while keeping the theme is a fun challenge.

@EvildrCheese: Hopefully I will have some lore to go with the guy! I need to think up a cool story.

Made a lot of fun progress this week. Almost finished painting another unit of Molochs, Succubi Tentacles and Imps. Also started on a unit of Hellhounds who will probably get armor and the flying blobs will be gribbly tortured souls. Better pics over the weekend I hope.



Also some side projects too.


Also spent some time finding Different types of epoxy and hopefully the package arrives on Saturday. Grey/Brown stuff from P3. Does anyone have experience with it?

Till next post
~AA

I love this thread. It's tenta-cool.

EDC

So creative and well done

@evildrcheese and @theophony: thank you! Keep eyes peeled. I look forward to the weekend!