Brennos the Elderhorn

Brennos the Elderhorn gets little respect in the game of Warmachine/Hordes, but his model is amazing. I did a minor conversion to reposition his staff so it wasn't jutting straight out to the side.

There must be a way to get good use out of him in the game, so I will not give up. For now he looks good in my display case!

Sacral Vault

For what is essentially a big block of stone on wheels, the Sacral Vault battle engine is a rather intricate model to build and paint.  From what I've seen, many hobbyists forego gluing on the many candles, skulls, and other adornments in the effort to get this thing finished as soon as possible.  But for me I couldn't resist piling on the candles.

I also opted to convert the model to change the nature of the sacrifice being conducted on the vault's altar.  The original model has a decapitated human tied to the altar, with the Gatorman holding the severed head aloft.  I used a Legion of Everblight Spell Martyr to change the sacrifice to a Nyss (a wild elf from the north) with his ribcage burst open.  The Gatorman now brandishes the unfortunate Nyss's extracted soul.  The "soul" was a leftover swirling soul from another model that I had in my bits box (Lich Lord Asphyxious).  The game rules for the Sacral Vault very much revolve around the collection and use of souls, so this conversion reflects this very nicely, in my opinion.

I had some issues selecting colours for this model, as I collect and play all the forces that this battle engine will work for (Minions, Legion of Everblight, Circle Orboros), and so it needs to not look out of place in any of these.  I essentially merged the colour palettes and base decorations I use for all three of these armies (although I left off the snow that I would normally use for Legion of Everblight models).

Zuriel

Zuriel is one of the great new character heavy warbeasts released by Privateer Press from the Exigence book.  In Mark II of the game, Zuriel was a lot of fun to play, primarily in the forces of Lylyth, Reckoning of EverBlight (Lylyth 3). Lylyth made great use of his dragon breath and his "Predator's Instinct" animus made herself into an infantry-clearing powerhouse. Not quite sure what to do with him amidst all his changes in the new edition. (Edit July 2016).

Wood Elf Spellsinger

I have always enjoyed playing each of the Elven races in Warhammer Fantasy - High Elves, Dark Elves, and most of all, Wood Elves.  In recent Warhammer events the Elven armies have all been combined into one force in the book Warhammer End Times: Khaine.

This amazing event has led me to dust off my Warhammer Fantasy collection and merge my Elven armies into a Host of the Eternity King.  So not only do I need to finish painting a sizable Wood Elf collection, but I also need to add High Elves and Dark Elves into the mix.  The challenge I have set for myself is to unify the three branches of Elves with one colour scheme.  Naturally I will follow my classic Wood Elf scheme, because I have the most models already painted this way, and at the end of the Khaine book, all the Elves now share a home in Athel Loren, the forest of the Wood Elves.  I am curious to see how the High Elf and Dark Elf forces will look in a woodland theme!

To start things off, I will introduce the colour scheme with a converted Wood Elf Spellsinger on an Elven Steed.  I first needed a mounted magic-using Lord level character for my Wood Elves army, and I didn't really want to use the original mounted wizard last seen in the early 90's.  I have such a model, but I prefer to use the newer more realistic horse sculpt that was introduced a decade later, and wanted to use elements from the brand new Sisters of the Thorn kit for my character.

I will still use this Spellsinger in my Host of the Eternity King because I like the various magic lore rules she comes with, even though the High Elves and Dark Elves also come with a bunch of good wizards.  And I still prefer my army general to be a Wood Elf!

Wood Elf Spellsinger

Wood Elf Spellsinger

Wood Elf Spellsinger

Wood Elf Spellsinger

Mountain King

The Mountain King is probably one of the most impressive wargame miniature ever made.  Privateer Press has released a Gargantuan/Colossal model for most of its factions at this point, all of which are incredible.  As a crazy collector, I will showcase at least three more of these in upcoming posts (in addition to the Prime Axiom previously discussed).  The Mountain King is my favourite, although it is hard to get enough work out of him during a game to justify his point cost.  I still use him in almost half my games (when using Trollbloods), even though most players now give the Mountain King a miss.

Mountain King

Mountain King

Because the model is so evocative of the mountainous wilds, I have created a mini landscape on his back - a little grassy knoll with a tree.  I wanted him to look like he recently burst out of the ground where he has been chained up for hundreds of years.  It seems that as these massive trolls age, they grow more rocks on their backs.  This idea was first seen on one of the Trollblood character Dire Trolls, Mulg the Ancient.  I first got the idea to add a tree to a Troll's back when I first painted my Mulg (see below), and so it was natural to continue this idea on the Mountain King, which benefits from a larger working surface area.

Doomshaper, Mulg, and Mountain King

Incidentally, this is the second Mountain King that I have painted.  The model pictured below was painted for a friend, using his army's colour scheme.

Khal's Mountain King

Absylonia, Daughter of Everblight

The Hordes faction Legion of Everblight consists of a race of elves (Nyss) co-opted and mutated by the dragon Everblight, along with a host of dragon-spawned monstrosities.  Absylonia was once a Nyss, but has been extensively mutated to become basically a half-dragon, at least in appearance.

Absylonia Daughter of Everblight is her epic version (following Absylonia, Terror of Everblight), in which the mutations coursing through her have been finalized and locked into place.

Absylonia, Daughter of Everblight

I have converted the original sculpt of this model such that her wings are on her arms, rather than sprouting from her back.  The wings for arms was always my favourite part of the earlier version of Absylonia, and I wanted to replicate that idea in her epic version.

Absylonia, Terror of Everblight

The earlier sculpt of Absylonia is disliked by many, perhaps because true to her terrifying nature, she is portrayed in a non-idealized way.  I quite like the old sculpt, as it is very characterful and intricately detailed.  This model needs to be painted very carefully (in my opinion) to bring out her character and mood - it looks to me like she is almost sad and introspective, realizing just how much she has been changed by Everblight.  And then with the new model, she is finally enjoying her mutated powers.

Kirai Ankoku

Many game companies release a host of exciting new products at GenCon, and Wyrd is no exception!  As I was not able to attend, I need to extend a huge thank you to Stinkmunk (Malifaux blogger, gamer, painter, and all around enthusiast) for offering to "ninja" shop on my behalf!  One of the amazing sets picked up for me was the Kirai crew, which I am trying to get onto the tabletop as fast as possible!  So far I have finished Kirai herself, and Ikiryo, her soul - that literally leaves her body to wreak vengeance upon those who have done her wrong (principally the killers of her lover/fiance, who died while saving her from assassination by the Guild of Malifaux).

Kirai

Kirai

The new plastic model of Kirai has certainly grown on me during the painting process.  The original sculpt (see below) was very grim and evocative, while the new one with its "skipping" pose, doesn't quite sell the spirit of vengeance motif.  This is partially explained in another GenCon release - the newest Malifaux rulebook "Crossroads." In this book, Kirai meets Molly, another Resurrectionist master (see my earlier post).  So as Kirai makes friends and slowly comes to terms with her lover's death, she isn't quite so angry and depressed all the time.  She still has the powers that were unlocked through her traumatic experiences, but now she can move past her specific issues and begin helping others.

Kirai - original sculpt

I was never able to get my hands on the original sculpt of Kirai, but I will still keep my eyes out for it.  While I might somewhat prefer the old Kirai model, the remainder of the new Kirai set is absolutely amazing.  In particular, Kirai's projected soul, Ikiryo is a dramatic improvement over the old sculpt.  The new Ikiryo is massive and terrifying.  The long hair evokes the Japanese horror movie Ringu right at the moment when the spirit starts crawling out of the TV.  One of the scariest movies I've ever seen (as an aside, many people debate which movie is better - Ringu or its Hollywood remake The Ring.  In my opinion, the scariest is the version you see first).  I am sure this same fear is duplicated in players who have Ikiryo materialize beside one of their key models during a game!

The Resurrectionists' story in the Crossroads book describes how Kirai meets Molly, and shows them hanging out together.  While reading this narrative, I kept being reminded of a website that continually amuses me - They Fight Crime: Movie Idea Generator .

Molly is an undead newspaper reporter down on her luck. Kirai is a spirit of vengeance looking for love in all the wrong places. Together they fight crime!